"Always make the most of the time you have." - Schnur Absi, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

The Horseshoe Crab had just entered the Tatoo system, with its twin suns shining bright, and Patrick wanted nothing more than to stay on the ship, drink some tea, and maybe practice his Umbaran calligraphy. He knew how important this was, and he wanted to help Obi-Wan Kenobi, if he was even still alive, but he was scared. There were so many ways this could go wrong. He could die, or worse, Pete could die. He couldn't shake the feeling that this would all turn out to be a complete disaster.

As they came closer to Tatooine, Patrick got a better view of the planet. It was just as he remembered: a brown, sandy world, nothing particularly special. Yet, there was a large group of Imperial ships orbiting Tatooine, and they were about to close in.

Patrick hummed a tune to himself, hoping that it would make him feel better, and within seconds, Pete walked in. "I heard you singing again," Pete said as he sat down next to him. "It sounded amazing."

"Thanks," Patrick said, blushing.

"I just got a hologram from Andy, by the way," Pete said. "Apparently we're flying a Z-95 together."

"You would have known that already if you went to the strategy meeting."

"Strategy's boring."

"It's important. We can't just rush into everything."

"But wouldn't it be more fun that way?"

"We're not here to have fun. We're here to protect a planet full of innocent people."

"I don't see why those two things have to be mutually exclusive."

Patrick sighed. "Can we focus?" he said. Pete nodded, and Patrick said, "I love you, Pete, but I'd really like to defend Tatooine without us getting killed."

Just as Pete was about to respond, Joe barged in. "We're about to rendez-vous with the Z-95," he said. "You two need to climb aboard."

As the two of them headed toward the bridge, Pete grabbed onto Patrick's hand. "Are you ready for this?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Patrick said.

When both of them were on board, Patrick took control of the ship, disconnected from the Horseshoe Crab, and flew closer to Tatooine. As Patrick tried to focus on steering, Pete did everything he could to divert his attention, but somehow, he didn't mind the distraction.

"Hey Trick, could you sing me a song?" Pete said. "Maybe something like 'Pete, I know you're the patron saint of liars and fakes, but you're still awesome and you're totally going to win this epic space battle?'"

Patrick smiled. "Maybe after we get back," he said as the Z-95 zoomed toward a cluster of Imperial starships.

As their ship drew closer, Patrick saw that some of the Truwel Rebellion's other ships were already here. There were three other Z-95s, chasing after Imperial TIE fighters, and the Black Mariah and the Horseshoe Crab were already shooting down the Empire's cruisers. Pete eagerly reached for the ship's cannons, but when he fired, he shot right over the nearest TIE fighter and almost hit the Horseshoe Crab.

"Pete!" Patrick exclaimed as he swerved out of the way of one of the TIE fighters' laser cannons. "You could have killed Mikey and Joe!"

"Sorry," Pete said.

"Maybe we can get the astromech droid..."

"R1-69?"

"Yeah, her," Patrick said, blushing furiously. "Maybe she can help correct your aim."

Patrick connected R1 to the ships' cannons, and with the help of his droid, Pete's aim started to improve. However, there was hardly any use for it when Frank was in the Black Mariah, sending whole rows of Imperial fighters crashing toward the surface of Truwel. Soon, the Truwel Rebellion was no longer outnumbered. The Imperial fleet was decimated.

As the Horseshoe Crab shot at one of the few remaining Imperial ships, causing it to spin off into deep space, Pete picked up the radio, connected to the Horseshoe Crab, and said, "Not bad, Joe."

Joe laughed and said, "Thanks, Pete" before he disconnected.

The battle was starting to wind down. The idea of keeping the Empire from invading Tatooine had seemed daunting, but in the end, it wasn't too hard. The Empire hadn't sent too many ships, and their soldiers were awful shots. As Patrick checked the essential systems, he saw that the Z-95 had barely taken any damage at all. They were safe, and soon, Tatooine would be too.

Of course, maybe this would turn out like Truwel. Maybe they'd win once, only for the Empire to strike back harder. Maybe this was all for nothing.

Patrick hoped that wasn't true.

Just as one of the other Z-95s shot down the last Imperial ship, Pete turned to Patrick and said, "So Sophomore Stump, can you sing me that song I wanted?"

"What did you want to hear again?"

"Pete, you won your epic space battle, so here's a song with a ridiculously long title about how you're in love with your own sins and how you're not nearly as cute as your boyfriend."

"I don't think that's true at all, but I'll give it a shot."

Patrick opened his mouth to sing, but all of a sudden, a Star Destroyer appeared out of nowhere. It was larger than all of the Truwel Rebellion's ships combined, and it was carrying a whole squadron of TIE fighters. With this many ships and this much firepower, the rebellion didn't stand a chance against the Galactic Empire.

Pete turned on the ship's radio again and asked, "What do we do?"

"I have no idea," Frank said. "TIE fighters are one thing, but how are we going to take down a Star Destroyer?"

"The Empire's stronger, but we have faster ships," Hayley said. "Maybe we can outmaneuver them."

"They're the Empire," Frank said. "We're not going to win just by wearing them out."

"Do you have any better ideas?" Hayley said. When Frank didn't respond, she said, "That's what I thought. Everyone, focus on dodging their blasts, and try to take out their fighters if you get the chance."

Pete kept the radio on, but he focused on aiming his laser cannons toward one of the TIE fighters launching toward them. Meanwhile, Patrick steered the Z-95, dashing across the battlefield at full speed. He swerved back and forth, trying his best to avoid the Imperial fleet as the Star Destroyer slowly drifted closer to the surface of Tatooine.

Both the Black Mariah and Hayley's Z-95 got a few good shots in, and none of the Truwel Rebellion ships were too badly damaged, but they were still outnumbered. At this rate, the Empire would land on Tatooine before they got the chance to really fight back. They were losing the battle.

"Hey, could we maybe try shooting the Star Destroyer's engines?" Pete said into the radio. "That would make it explode, right?"

"That's a one in a million shot," Joe said.

There was a series of beeps, and then Pete said, "Actually, R1 thinks it's more like a one in 42 trillion shot, and there's a one in three chance of the laser ricocheting off of the Star Destroyer and blowing us up instead, but it's worth a try, isn't it?"

As Pete aimed toward the Star Destroyer, Patrick said, "Pete, what are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Pete said. "I'm going to blow up a Star Destroyer."

"You just heard how dangerous it is."

"And I'm going to try anyway."

"Pete, we're both far too young to die."

Pete thought about it for a minute and then took his hands off of the controls. "Fine," he said. "I still think taking out the Star Destroyer is our best shot at ending this battle and keeping Tatooine safe."

Patrick went back to speeding around the Star Destroyer, trying to dodge the dozens of laser bolts flying in his direction, but when he turned back to Pete, he was firing at the Star Destroyer again. The bolt flew past the ship and into deep space, but Patrick was painfully aware of how that move could have backfired and killed them both.

Then again, maybe Pete's idea wasn't so crazy. They had the Force on their side, after all.

Patrick took control of the cannons, and he let the Force flow through him. He felt the energy connecting him to everyone else on the battlefield. He felt their tension, their fear, their determination. Most of all, he felt Pete, and underneath his gorgeous brown eyes and his goofy smile, there was a sharp wit and a kind heart. There were anxieties and insecurities there too, but there was also inner strength. Patrick turned inward and tried to harness his own inner strength as he aimed toward the Star Destroyer's engines and fired.

The bolt flew right toward the engines, and in an instant, the Star Destroyer exploded.

"Wow," Pete said as he wrapped his arms around Patrick. "That was incredible, Trick!"

"Thanks," Patrick said. "It was your idea though, and the battle's not over yet."

There were still a few TIE fighters left, but as the Black Mariah fired on them, they surrendered and started to retreat. A handful of ships couldn't take over a whole planet, especially when the Rebellion was standing in their way. Tatooine was safe for now.

"So now that the Empire's gone, can you sing something for me?" Pete said. "Maybe something like, 'Pete, you actually had a good idea for once, so maybe it's okay that Tatooine is so two years ago and Patrick Stump is the eighth wonder of the galaxy...'"

"Yeah, of course," Patrick said.

"Wait, I wasn't finished with the song title."

"Maybe you should try making your song titles a little shorter then."

"Okay, how about 'Pt, y ctlly hd gd d fr nc..."

"How are you even pronouncing that?"

"I don't know."

All of a sudden, something crackled through the radio. Pete and Patrick both leaned in closer to hear what was going on, but it was clear that the transmission wasn't from any of their fellow rebels.

"Hello there," the voice on the other end said.

"Holy smokes," Patrick said. "It's Obi-Wan Kenobi."