After lunch, Amir opened his communicator and found an email from an unknown sender. When he opened it, he saw a holographic recording of a landscape.
Dim light faded from the horizon, and two orange-red stars descended in the distance. Endless sand dunes, swept by the wind, resembled rippling waves. Nearby, a stormtrooper helmet lay covered in sand and dust.
"Is this the Twin Suns of Tatooine? The iconic, timeless scene from Star Wars." Amir was completely immersed in the scene. There was no doubt that this was from Kayin.
Having defected from the Empire, Kayin must have become a wanted criminal. Only in the Outer Rim, the farthest reaches of the galaxy where Imperial authority was weakest, could he find relative safety—though even that safety was relative, as this lawless frontier had its own dangers.
It was a haven for bounty hunters, fugitives, and pirates, where everyone lived with their heads on a platter. For the sake of profit, they would do anything, including blasting someone's head off with a blaster.
Amir wasn't worried about him, though. Kayin might be naive, but he isn't stupid. With his exceptional combat skills, safety shouldn't be an issue.
"It seems I'll have to make a trip to Tatooine soon and check on young Luke. If I could meet Obi-Wan, that would be even better," Amir thought.
At that time, Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin Skywalker, was only ten years old and was growing up under the protection of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine.
After closing the email, Amir recorded a message for Ahsoka explaining Gulina's thoughts.
After finishing, he stood up and walked out of the shop with Gulina, who had been waiting nearby. The witch also put on the black robe that concealed her appearance.
They continued down the narrow path, quickly descending from the third underground level to the fifth. This was the heart of the chaotic district. Even if a riot broke out here, the Coruscant self-defense forces might ignore it.
The two approached an inconspicuous, small door and rang the doorbell.
There was no response from inside for a long time. Gulina frowned and rang the doorbell again.
A few seconds later, she pulled a connector out of the inner lining of her clothes, plugged it into the door's socket, detected the correct key, and the door slowly opened.
Gulina rushed inside anxiously and called out softly, "Lorrin! Lorrin! Are you there?"
Still no response. Gulina panicked and searched room by room.
"Calm down, Gulina. The room is tidy. There shouldn't be any danger," said Amir as he looked around.
Suddenly, the floor in front of Amir made a noise. The floorboards were pushed open from below, revealing two heads, one large and one small.
The larger head exclaimed, "Amir? What are you doing here?"
This man was Amir's "cellmate," the young rebel soldier Hak.
"Gulina, over here!" Amir called out helplessly. The hidden space in the room had escaped the witch's notice.
The young witch's footsteps grew louder as she rushed into the room and ran over to hug her younger brother, Lorin, who was eight or nine years old.
Amir finally took a closer look at the boy. He had the same golden hair and green patterns on his forehead.
"I haven't thanked you yet, Amir. Ashoka told me that without the shot you gave me, I might not have survived that day." Hak climbed out of the cellar and smiled at Amir.
"It was nothing. Why did you come back here? Aren't you afraid of being recaptured?"
"Escaping the pursuit was easy. We were just too impulsive this time."
"What about the old man? How is he?" Amir thought of another "cellmate," an elderly man of unknown origin who was barely clinging to life.
"Jeda? Don't let his age fool you. He's strong. He recovered faster than I did. He only spent a few hours in the medical bay and is now on Coruscant."
The brother and sister finished their conversation and walked over.
"You were captured just to save them?" Amir asked.
"Yes, it was an Imperial biological research facility. They captured many children for experimentation, and we accidentally discovered their location." As he spoke, Hak's face betrayed his anger. "Unfortunately, we couldn't save them all."
"Many children?" Amir frowned. Though he had expected it, hearing the word "many" still startled him.
"They were special children, mostly connected to certain religions, with unique abilities, like our support points," Hak explained, choosing his words carefully.
"I know that," Amir replied, recalling his previous life and the films he had watched about the Empire's Inquisitors capturing children with Force sensitivity. However, he had always assumed they were secretly being trained to become new Empire Inquisitors or Sith assassins. He never imagined they were being used for research! What a bunch of scum!
"How many children are trapped there?"
"There were sixteen when I was there," Little Lorin said, her eyes filled with sadness. "My friend is still inside."
Gulina and her brother were the only ones from their tribe who had been brought here. At the time, they had just been transferred to the research institute and hadn't yet been moved to the detention cells. They were rescued along the way.
"We plan to rescue them all. The research facility hasn't moved; it's still in the industrial zone on the surface," Hak said.
"You mean Ahsoka is here too?" Amir asked doubtfully.
"The Pivot isn't here, but we're planning to transfer all the Coruscant members this time. We'll launch a major operation before leaving," Hak said, filled with battle intent. "There are over ten of us, and I'll be in charge!"
"Is it okay to tell me all this?" Amir felt embarrassed that this person had shared the entire plan with him.
"Haha," Hak scratched his head. "It's fine. The Pivot said you're someone we can trust."
"Then let's celebrate your victory in advance," Amir said. He had no intention of getting involved. He still had friends and family, and being discovered by the Empire would cause trouble.
"Thanks."
Since the siblings had found an organization, Amir saw no need to continue meddling. With the rebel army's help, food and safety were now guaranteed.
Gulina suddenly spoke up. "Mr. Hak, can I join you this time?"
"Huh? We already have enough people. We don't need inexperienced fighters like you."
"I want to join you and learn how to fight," Gulina continued.
"Haha, of course you can join us. However, learning to fight will have to wait until we leave here."
Seeing that everything was on track, Amir said goodbye to the three of them and returned to the repair shop.
It was just after noon when he arrived at the warehouse to assemble the robot with Sain.
"Have you considered making a robot to be the Traveler's first mate?" Sain asked spontaneously.
"Assembling robots is hard enough without giving them a soul. Let's talk about it later."
"But the spaceship needs a first mate. We can't expect BD-4 to stretch its legs all the way up to the ceiling to pull the lever." Sain continued.
"Beep beep beep! Zzzz!" BD-4 jumped up angrily beside them.
"Are you jealous of my spaceship, Sain?" Amir glanced at the blue T'Rex, whose obsession with machinery was equal to his own.
"Just go out for some fresh air occasionally..." Sain stammered.
"Just mind your shop. Don't always leave Pierre to handle the work." Amir tightened the last screw. "Done!"
"What? So fast!" Sain and Amir had each assembled half of it, but Amir had finished the frame while Sain was still working on it.
"That's why you have to hire a Wookiee as first mate!" Amir exclaimed.
"What Wookiee? Answer me! How did you do that so fast?"
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