"The Jedi are a hundred thousand strong. Together, we can do anything we set our minds to." - Yu Solusar, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

Even with Gerard there next to him, Frank had never been so nervous. They were approaching the Truwel system, but the planet they'd left was nearly unrecognizable now. There were TIE fighters everywhere, and the planet was crawling with stormtroopers and Imperial droids. Ray was down there somewhere, trapped on an Imperial-occupied world, and somehow, Frank and Gerard had to rescue him. Frank only wished he knew how they were going to do it.

"Everything's going to be alright," Gerard assured him as he wrapped his arms around him, and for a moment, Frank thought it might be true.

He glanced out the window, and near Truwel City, he spotted a small shipyard where he might be able to land the ship. From there, he and Gerard might be able to make it to the rebel base without anyone catching them. There were stormtroopers surrounding the base on all sides, but if they could get past them, they could talk to Andy. Maybe he knew where Ray was.

It was a risky plan, but it might just work.

Frank didn't know why he was so afraid. He was Fun Ghoul, the Most Dangerous Man in the Galaxy. He found himself in mortal peril on a near-daily basis. He'd pulled off all kinds of reckless stunts over the years, from stealing spice from the Hutts to organizing the biggest prison break in history. He'd been to some of the galaxy's most hazardous planets. He'd even broken into the Imperial vault. There was no reason for him to be nervous about a minor heist like this one.

Maybe he was getting soft, or maybe he was just worried about Gerard. Maybe he didn't want to lose the best thing that had ever happened to him.

He held Gerard close as he steered the ship toward the surface of Truwel.

The landing was fairly smooth, but as soon as Frank and Gerard stepped out of the Black Mariah, they saw a group of stormtroopers patrolling the street in front of them. "How are we going to get past them?" Gerard asked.

Frank tightened his grip on his blaster as he looked around. All of a sudden, he noticed an Imperial cruiser parked next to him. Its door was wide open. "I have an idea," he said.

He took Gerard's hand and led him onto the Imperial ship. Just as Frank suspected, in the back of the ship, there were a few extra sets of stormtrooper armor. "Are there any small ones?" Frank asked as Gerard rummaged through the suits of armor.

"They're all the same size," Gerard said.

He quickly put one on and then tossed another to Frank. As Frank clicked each piece of the armor into place, he noticed a few problems. The boots were too big to walk in, the chest plate went down to his stomach, and the helmet was falling off of his face, but it would have to do.

"We could take their blasters too," Gerard said.

"No thanks," Frank said. "I'll keep mine."

"Are you sure?" Gerard said. "You could get caught."

"It's my blaster," Frank said. "I'll die with it if I have to."

Gerard shrugged, grabbed one of the stormtroopers' E-11 blasters, and tucked the last few strands of his beautiful red hair into his helmet. They were ready to go.

The two of them ran out of the Imperial cruiser and approached the stormtroopers patrolling the street. "Don't mind us," Gerard said to them. "We're just passing through."

"Who's your friend?" one of the stormtroopers asked. "He looks a little short for a stormtrooper."

Frank immediately pointed his blaster at the stormtrooper. "Call me short again and you'll..."

"Frank, don't do that," Gerard whispered. As Frank lowered his blaster, Gerard told their adversary, "Oh, don't worry, he's definitely a stormtrooper."

"What's his serial number?"

Gerard hesitated, so Frank jumped in. "I'm FG-4242," he said.

"That's impossible," the stormtrooper said. "I'm FG-4242!"

Frank raised his blaster again, aimed at the stormtrooper, and fired. The stormtrooper immediately collapsed, and as his comrades rushed over to help him, Frank sprinted away. "Gee! What are you doing?" Frank shouted as Gerard tried to figure out what was happening. "Get up and go!"

Gerard started running, but as he darted toward the rebel base, the stormtroopers raised their blasters and fired at him. He didn't look back. As blaster bolts whizzed past his head, he kept running until he caught up to Frank.

Luckily for Frank and Gerard, the stormtroopers were terrible shots. None of their blaster bolts hit them as they ran toward the rebel base. Frank was easily able to take out most of the stormtroopers, and even Gerard got a few good shots in. Frank got the feeling that if the Empire put any effort into teaching their stormtroopers how to shoot, they could be a real threat, but as it was, they were mere obstacles.

Eventually, they got to the base, but there was another squadron of stormtroopers blocking the back entrance. "Don't mind us," Gerard said. "We're just passing through."

"Who's your friend?" one of the stormtroopers asked. "He looks a little short to be a stormtrooper."

Frank rolled his eyes. "Not this again," he said as he shot the stormtrooper.

Once again, chaos erupted, but Frank stayed focused. One by one, he took out each stormtrooper. He shot one in the chest, he slammed another into the building, he gave one two shots in the back of the head. When there were only a few stormtroopers left, firing on him and Gerard in a hail of bullets, Frank found a way into the building. "Come on," Frank said to his boyfriend as he ran past a stormtrooper and ducked through the back entrance.

Once they were inside, Gerard and Frank went straight to Andy's office, but when they got there, Ray was standing in front of the door. "Ray!" Gerard exclaimed, but Ray immediately put a blaster to his head.

"Who are you, and how did you find us?" Ray asked.

Gerard took off his helmet, revealing his bright red hair and his gorgeous hazel eyes. Frank did the same, and all of a sudden, Ray understood exactly what was going on.

"I thought you looked a little short to be..." Ray said, laughing.

Frank pointed his blaster toward Ray. "Finish that sentence, and I'll shoot," he said.

"Okay, Frank," Ray said. After Frank had lowered his gun, he sighed and added, "I can't believe you guys forgot about me."

"I know," Frank said. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Gerard said. "You've always been there for us, and we've failed you. We never should have left you behind."

"I forgive you, but you'd better not do it again," Ray said.

"We won't," Gerard said.

"Come on, Ray," Frank said as he put his helmet back on. "Let's get you out of here."

"How are we going to do that?" Gerard asked. "There are still stormtroopers everywhere."

All of a sudden, the door to Andy's office creaked open. "There's a secret passageway from the base to the shipyard," he said. "Just take a left, go downstairs, and then keep going straight."

"Thanks Andy," Frank said.

He ran toward the stairwell, and Gerard and Ray quickly followed him. As they headed back toward the shipyard, the three of them talked about everything that had happened over the last few days.

"Truwel's a mess," Ray told them. "I've spent most of my time in the base, helping Andy, but I know the Empire's out there, destroying the planet. I was wondering how long it would take the two of you to realize I was missing."

"I'm sorry!" Gerard exclaimed.

Eventually, they made it to the shipyard, but when they got there, they found a group of stormtroopers surrounding the Black Mariah. "There he is," one of the stormtroopers said as soon as he saw Frank. "That's the one who killed FG-4242."

Frank pulled out his blaster once again and fired on the stormtroopers, but there were too many of them. He couldn't do this alone.

Thankfully, he had Gerard and Ray by his side. The two of them gunned down as many stormtroopers as they could, and eventually, Frank, Gerard, and Ray shot enough of them that they could climb aboard their ship. There were a few close calls, but none of them were seriously injured. At last, they could leave Truwel and head for Kriselist.

The three of them ran onto the Black Mariah, and Frank launched the ship as quickly as he could, knowing that more stormtroopers could arrive at any moment. As soon as they were out of the atmosphere, Frank leaned over the dashboard to kiss Gerard.

"We did it," Frank said as he pulled away, breathless. "We got Ray back."

Ray rolled his eyes. "Get a room, you two," he said.

Frank laughed, but more than anything, he was just glad that he was here, with two of his favorite people in the world. He was glad to be alive.