"Do not hide your robes, your lightsaber, or your devotion to the Force. Be proud of who you are!" - Pala Karaay, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

Patrick was curled up on the floor of the escape pod, his eyes fixated on the ceiling. He didn't have the energy to move, and his whole body felt like it was calling out for food and water. The good news was that the pod was nearing Alsakan, but he didn't know how he would land the ship in this condition, and he sure didn't trust Pete to do it.

"How do I look?" Pete asked.

Patrick lifted his head, but that only made him feel like everything around him was spinning. He glanced toward Pete, and he could barely make out a patch of his skin, covered in tattoos. "You look great," Patrick said. After three days without water, his voice was dry and scratchy. He rested his head on the ground, hoping to stop the dizziness.

"I'm trying to look less like a Jedi," Pete explained. "I ditched the tunic, but I'm not sure if I should get rid of the outer robe too. Maybe I'll just modify it a little..."

Patrick was about to protest, but Pete took off his robe, ignited his bright blue lightsaber, and sliced the sleeves off. He then turned off his lightsaber and put the robe back on, although it looked more like a vest than a robe now. "How about this, Patrick?" he said.

"Pete, we don't have time for a fashion show," Patrick said. "We need to land the ship." He tried to get up, but he immediately started to feel lightheaded.

"Patrick, are you okay?" Pete asked.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. Here, I'll land the ship."

"I thought you couldn't fly without your droid."

"I'll give it a try," Pete said. "Just get some rest."

"I don't need rest. I need water."

"There's probably water on Alsakan."

Patrick lay back on the ground, knowing that with his luck, Alsakan would probably end up being a desert planet. Meanwhile, Pete took control of the ship. He steered toward the ground, constantly lurching from side to side as he made his descent. Before long, Patrick felt sick to his stomach. He knew that Pete was approaching the ground too fast, but there was nothing he could do. He hung on to the side of the ship, desperately hoping that Pete knew what he was doing.

Just as they were about to land, the escape pod dropped out of the air and hurtled straight down. Pete yelped and tried to correct it, but that only caused the ship to take a nosedive right into the surface of the planet. "Patrick?!" Pete shouted as he searched for an escape hatch. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled as he tried to get up. He'd bruised his elbow, but that was nothing to be worried about. "Is the ship still working?"

Pete turned it on for a moment just to check. "Yeah, it looks like it." Then, he opened up the escape hatch. "Come on."

Patrick crawled out, and he looked out over the surface of Alsakan. The star Alsakan was orbiting was much brighter than Coruscant's sun, and it took Patrick a minute to adjust to the light. Once he did, he saw that they'd landed on the side of a road, winding its way into a nearby town. The city wasn't huge, but it was big enough, and Patrick was sure that they'd find everything they needed there. He stumbled toward the town, and Pete followed him.

On the edge of town, there was a merchant stand, run by a small, blue creature with a long trunk and large, floppy ears. "Do you have any blue milk pizza?" Pete asked before Patrick could say anything.

"Pete!" Patrick said. "There's a menu right here!"

"Maybe pizza's on the secret menu," Pete said.

"No secret menu," the merchant said. "We have many traditional dishes from Orto though! The special is very good!"

"We'll have two of the special and about thirty glasses of water, please," Patrick said as he placed a stack of credit chips in the merchant's hand.

"Thirty glasses of water?" Pete said. "Really?"

"I'm really thirsty," Patrick said.

They waited for a while, and eventually, the merchant brought them their food. Pete and Patrick carried it all back to the escape pod, and once they were there, they split up the food and water. The special turned out to be nothing more than a bowl of brown goo, and it tasted almost as bad as it looked, but Patrick wolfed it down anyways. It was better than nothing.

"I told you this would all work out," Pete said as he finished the last of his food.

"I guess you were right," Patrick said, feeling better now that he'd eaten. He turned toward Pete, and he finally got a good look at him. Pete was right: he looked more like a punk rock kid than a Jedi now. His deep brown eyes were caked in eyeliner, and he'd taken off his tunic, revealing his intricately tattooed arms. Patrick wondered what those tattoos could possibly mean.

"So what are we going to do now?" Pete asked.

"You talked about getting a hyperdrive," Patrick said. "Maybe we should do that next."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Pete said.

Patrick got up and headed back toward the merchant stand. "Hey, thanks for the food," he said to the merchant. "Do you happen to know any mechanics in town? We need to fix up our starship."

"Laura Jane Grace's repair shop is just down the road," the merchant said. "She's the best mechanic in the galaxy!"

"Great, thank you," Patrick said. He walked down the road, and Pete followed him.

As they headed into town, Pete and Patrick passed by shops, stands, outdoor markets, houses, cantinas, and more. There were souvenir shops, fruit sellers, hat sellers, florists, metalworkers, artists, pilots, fortune tellers, amateur musicians, and many more. It seemed like the voices of shopkeepers, tourists, and residents went on forever in the beating heart of the city.

Patrick was about to point out a sign for Laura's Ship Repair when all of a sudden, Pete swiped a black fedora from the hat seller and promptly placed it on Patrick's head. "Pete!" Patrick exclaimed. "Give it back!"

"You can't go into that shop looking like a Jedi," Pete said quietly.

"Stealing is against the Jedi Code."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. Anyways, we were fine at the food stall. You shouldn't have taken the hat."

"You were the one who was concerned about landing on an Imperial planet. Besides, you look super cute right now, so I don't know why you're complaining."

Patrick blushed, sprinted over to the hat stand, placed a few credit chips on the counter, and ran back to Pete. "There," he said. "At least we've paid for it now. Let's go to Laura's."

Pete and Patrick ducked into the repair shop, and they were greeted by a woman who looked to be only a few years older than they were. "Hey," she said as she pulled her messy brown hair away from her face. "How can I help you?"

"Are you Laura Jane Grace?" Pete asked. The woman nodded. "We're looking for a hyperdrive installation."

"And I'm looking for a revolution," Laura said. "Where's your ship?"

"It's on the edge of town."

"Can you fly it here?"

"Patrick? Would you mind?"

"Yeah, I can do that," Patrick said. He left the shop, and as he walked back through town, he thought about everything that had happened. Already, he missed the temple. His life as a Padawan hadn't been perfect, but at least he'd always known the right course of action. He'd had his master and his order to guide him, but now, all he had was a thief as his traveling companion. Patrick still didn't know how he felt about Pete, but he couldn't be angry with him for long. After all, Patrick wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for him.

Patrick climbed into the escape pod and launched it straight upwards. Once it was in the air, he flew it over the town, heading toward Laura's shop. Patrick looked out the window, amazed by how the city looked so tiny from up here. He turned back toward the control panel, and he carefully lowered the escape pod onto Laura's landing pad. As soon as he was sure that everything was in place, he climbed out, and he immediately heard Pete's voice.

"You won't remember that we were here," Pete said as he waved his hand in front of Laura's face.

"What are you trying to do, a Jedi Mind Trick?" Laura said. "It's not going to work."

"I wasn't trying to do a mind trick."

"Sure," Laura said skeptically. She then turned to Patrick. "You want a hyperdrive for that thing? It's obviously not built for deep space travel. You might be better off buying a new ship instead."

"We don't have the credits for a new ship," Patrick explained.

"Okay," Laura said. "I'll install a hyperdrive on this one then. Just give me a few minutes." She climbed into the ship, leaving Pete and Patrick alone together.

"You tried to do a Jedi Mind Trick on her!" Patrick exclaimed as soon as Laura was gone.

"So?" Pete said.

"So you're going to blow our cover!"

"If it had worked..."

"But it didn't work."

"I thought it would! I guess she's just too strong-willed."

"And now she knows that we're Jedi."

"Maybe she doesn't. Maybe she thought I was just messing around."

"That doesn't make any sense."

Pete waved his hand in front of Patrick's face. "You don't want to argue with me. You'll save the sass for when we get someone safe. Also, you think I'm your best friend, your partner in crime, and the hottest guy in the galaxy..."

"You're trying to do a mind trick on me?" Patrick said. "Pete, you can't do a Jedi Mind Trick on another Jedi! That's not how the Force works!"

Pete frowned, and Laura finally stepped out of the escape pod. "I think I've got the hyperdrive installed," she said. "You two can come on in and check it out if you'd like."

"Sure," Pete said. He and Patrick climbed into the escape pod, and sure enough, the ship had a brand new hyperdrive. They checked to make sure that all of the systems were working properly, and then they climbed out again. "Thanks, Laura," Patrick said as he handed her a small stack of credit chips.

"No problem," Laura said. "Are you two taking off soon?"

"Maybe we could stay on Alsakan a little longer," Pete suggested.

"No, we should probably go," Patrick said.

"Come on, Patrick. Don't you want to see the planet?"

"I'd rather be safe. We need to leave the Empire now."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Maybe you should explain it to me one more time."

Patrick sighed and told Laura, "We'll be back soon." He left the shop, and Pete reluctantly followed him. "Pete, you know we have to get out of here."

"But Alsakan's such a nice planet."

"Whoever orchestrated the raid on the temple might find us here. We have to leave."

"We'll be fine."

Just as Pete said that, Patrick looked up and spotted a strange ship flying overhead. A huge Imperial Star Destroyer was approaching the surface of Alsakan. Patrick watched it land nearby, and he glanced at Pete as a figure wearing black armor, a cape, and a helmet approached them. Patrick could hear the mysterious figure's loud, labored breathing as he stepped closer and ignited his bright red lightsaber.

Patrick didn't know what any of this could possibly mean, but he definitely had a bad feeling about this.