Ralc City. A small, dirty riverside town on a Small, dirty Moon by a major Hyperlane. The perfect place for anyone to live or die in obscurity. No one noteworthy has ever come from this little corner of this hunk of rock floating in space. Besides a small Imperial facility on the opposite side of town, nothing in this town would even remotely put it on anyone’s radar. And it was here that Hounn was from.

Hounn and his friend Kam strolled downhill towards the river. The two boys were both dressed shabbily in factory worker clothes. The Weequay and the human would often strike up small talk on their way to work. The dirt street shifted under their feet as they looked up at the orange sky projected by the sunset. The actual sun’s setting was overshadowed by the hill and the village on it. The street lights flickered on as the small town residents started sauntering back to their homes, as darkness rested over the village. The two boys passed the bar as the patrons started stumbling out. Hounn recognized the regulars as they went through the usual banter they had with the bartender.

“-And I don’t understand why the fuck Bor has to shout all the time. I mean, we’re DOING it; it just takes some time to do it. ,” Said Hounn, “And I don’t see why he has to ride MY ass whenever something wrong happens. I mean, There’s thirty other guys and somehow it’s my fault when the smelter breaks down.”

“Hmm.” Said Kam nonchalantly. Hounn looked over at this human he usually worked with. Kam was hired about two months after he was. His wiry scraggly brown hair, green eyes, and freckles made him almost stand out from a crowd, but his sheer nonchalant behavior made him blend in with most groups.  Hounn thought he was a little too quiet, and, frankly, he always worried that people would walk all over this kid. He wasn’t very strong-willed, and Hounn began to think he had manufactured his entire personality around avoiding conflict.

“ I think that guy’s just on his period ALL THE TIME. And I know he’s just pissy ‘cause Dooland’s breathing down his neck to push the quota. I swear, that guy only wants the factory at its peak so the Empire’d be interested in contracting the factory.”

“Yeh. Looks like it.”

“I mean, if the Empire starts making the calls in the factory I’m fuckin’ gone. Dooland can beg for scraps, but you’ll never catch me on my knees for some Imp.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them continued down to the riverside. Various Shops and restaurants dotted the dirty waterway, but the two of them walked on by further down, the factory stood out of place, its sheer metal walls clashing with the earthy grey-and brown of the town. Dark smoke billowed out of the smokestacks and was carried away by the winds.

The two entered the loud factory interior. Lifter droids were carrying trays of ore to processors while Humans and aliens alike performed manual labor at the many stations. They walked up to one of the work directors for today’s assignments.

“Hey, Jake, What’s the deal today?”

The Scraggly, tattooed human looked up from his tablet. “Bor wants you two up in his office today. We’re getting a visit from His Majesty and they need muscle for a job.”

“You got it.”

Dooland might have been a local business leader, but whenever his profits could use a boost, he’d send out a select few of his employees for “Special errands.” With a quick look around the factory, you could easily tell most of the employees are ex-cons, and Dooland liked it this way. Easier to deny involvement when your employee’s already been caught for the same crimes you’ve sent them out to do.

Hounn and Kam walked up the stairs on the side wall up to the square office. Bor’s office was full of clutter. Old computer components, industrial piping, vidscreens displaying employee surveillance, and even a minifridge decorated the room. Bor, a goateed pale Ratatak with an aging face stood to the left of the desk, listening to Dooland’s vivid description of his family vacation to Naboo. Dooland, a medium built human with an orange tan and salt-and-pepper hair, was in the middle of describing the lake region when he noticed the two teenagers entering the office.

“Hey, there’s my boys!” He said, clapping his hands before opening them in a wide gesture. Dooland would always put on a fatherly show when he actually showed up. He was the kind of boss that’d want to be your friend so he could pay you less.

“Hey, Dooland.” Said Hounn.

“Well, hey, sit down, buckos, ah- Hey! Bor, get the boys something to drink!” Bor grabbed a couple of fizzy drinks from the cooler and handed them to the boys.

“Boys, I’m gonna be straight with you: This next job’s not gonna be easy. It’ll be tough. Intimidating. And believe me, there’s not another team I’d trust this to. You’re my boys.”

He touched a holoprojector, and a 3D image of the next valley over glowed in the office.

“Okay, boys, I’ve got it all figured out. A rival company’s making a shipment tonight with a heavy shipping speeder. It’s going on this road. Just a couple of unarmed drivers to take care of, and you can take the shipment to the usual garage when you’re done. Simple.”

Bor interjected. “Are we sure it’s just two? We’ve been hitting these guys a lot lately, and they might be beefing up security.”

“Ah, I’m sure it’ll be fine. The other boss is a skin-flint. Never pays money he doesn’t have to.”

“Reminds me of someone.” Thought Hounn.

“Best of luck fellas. You’re the best, nobody can do it like you guys, I know you got this.” Dooland stood up and made a beeline for the door. If he didn’t have to be at work, you could bet he wouldn’t be. As soon as he was out the door, Bor took back his desk seat and relayed the real plan.

“Okay, I’ve secured a detonator for this job, and found a decent spot for a roadblock.” He zoomed in on a particularly narrow part of the road with rocky outcroppings. “We’ll take down this part of the outcropping. When the truck stops at the rockslide, I’ll take the driver, Hounn takes the copilot, and you take the easy spot in the back.”

“Figures I get the tougher of the jobs.” Thought Hounn.

Almost as if he could read minds, Bor said “And I don’t want to hear any complaints. We’re taking a speeder to that ridge. Jake’s dropping us off, so our only ride back is getting the job done.

The four of them clocked out and exited the factory just as total darkness settled. They stepped onto a beat-up green speeder and zoomed off into the night. Jake left the three of them alone on the ridge above where they were supposed to set up before speeding off in the direction of town.

Bor turned to Hounn. “Hounn, Kam and I need to be down where the Shipping speeder stops, so I’m trusting you to cause the rockslide.” Hounn grabbed the Detonator, but Bor didn’t let go until he said “Don’t fuck it up.”

Hounn found a place decently far enough away so he could set off the rockslide without taking an arm off. He watched as the two of them descended the rocky hillside. Even now, Hounn felt sympathy for the hesitant Kam. Even though he was two years older, Hounn could tell this farmboy hadn’t seen as much of the world as he had. These outings Dooland sent them on were probably the furthest he’d ever been from home. Even now, he could see Kam taking every jump from ledge to ledge hesitantly.

-

After an hour or so, the massive Shipping speeder came into view. The lights sped towards them as Hounn readied the detonator.

Half Kilometer away…

750 Meters…

Quarter Kilometer… NOW!!

Hounn activated the detonator and tossed it at the base of a gigantic boulder. It exploded thunderously, and the gigantic boulder started tipping over and over and… Nothing.

Hounn looked on shocked and annoyed. The boulder was tipped just shy of falling over.

“Shit!” Hounn exclaimed. It figured this would happen. He ran down the hill frantically as he saw the Speeder rush towards the stopping point. He just knew Bor was going to blame him for this. Not to mention Dooland’ll change face on him. Everyone knew his friendly side ran out whenever his profit margin was at risk.

Hounn got to the boulder and did the only thing that came to mind. He slammed into the boulder with all of his weight. The thing barely budged. He tackled it again, and nothing. He wasn’t going to be the screwup. He put all of his weight into one final tackle, and the Boulder tipped over the other way.

He watched the chain reaction of rocks roll down the hill and almost blindside the speeder. The shipment made a complete stop, and he bolted down the hill to where Bor was.

“What the fuck happened up there!?”

“The detonator didn’t do the job!”

“Yeah, nice excuse. Put your mask on, the job needs finishing.”

Bor always gave him a hard time. Hounn pulled up a bandanna and goggles, and jumped off to do his job. Bor pulled out a blaster rifle and shouted for the driver to get out of the car. With his buddy distracted, it was easy enough to pull the copilot out. A quick jab to the head was enough to knock the scrawny guy out. He hopped into the seat as Bor stunned the driver and stepped in.

Hounn leaned out of the window and yelled back “Hey, Kam, everything good back there?”

Silence

“Kam, how’s the shipment? You all good, bro?”

Slowly, he saw Kam step out from behind the shipping compartment. Hounn was about to ask what was wrong when he saw it. There was an armed guard standing behind him, holding a blaster to Kam’s head.

“Oh, shit, he’s got Kam!”

Hounn looked back at this confused, frightened farm boy. And tried to think his way out of it. Maybe if he could take out the security guy with Bor’s blaster? Yeah. Yeah, that’ll work.

Hounn’s voice sounded out in the tension. “Bor, gimme your rifle, I’m gonna peg this guy between the eyes.

Bor didn’t move a muscle.

“Bor, c’mon.”

A moment of silence passed. The speeder lurched backwards as it sped out of the situation.

“What the fuck are you doing!? We’re not leaving Kam behind!”

Bor didn’t say anything. Kam and the security guy shrank in size until they faded into the distance. The entire time, Bor didn’t say anything. Except for the sound of Hounn’s angered pulse beating in his ears, he ride back was completely silent.

The usual place they went after these jobs was an abandoned speeder garage twenty Kilometers away. Both Hounn’s and Jake’s speeders were parked outside of the building. The Shipping speeder slowly backed into the open doors, and an Ugnaught ran around to shut the door. Hounn hopped out, furious.

“What the FUCK, Bor!?”

Bor looked weary and dead in the eyes. “I had to make a call.”

“You left Kam behind, man! You never-“

“It was the only option we had. If we tried to rush the guy, he’d’ve shot Kam. At least he’s alive.”

“Oh, yeah, I bet it’s that easy for you, huh!?”

“It’s NOT.”

“What seems to be the trouble, boys?” Dooland walked in from the office .

“Kam got nabbed.”, said Bor.

Fake concern washed over Dooland’s face. “Oh, that’s terrible. Good guy, Kam, we’ll all miss him.”

Hounn burst, “It’s not too late. If we can intercept their security transport, we can grab-“

“Sorry, bud, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. But hey, It’s Kam’s first offense, I’m sure they’ll let him off easy.”

“But-“

“Hounn.” His voice turned darker. “The decision is made.”

Dooland’s face lightened once again. He rubbed his hands together and said, “Okay, let’s check out that cargo.”

Jake and the Ugnaught dragged out a heavy cargo crate, and Hounn thought for a minute that this trouble might all have been worth it. Had they finally stolen something that was worth it? Jewels? Weapons? Credits?

“Ah, Scrap!”

“What?!?”

Dooland pulled out bits of twisted, shiny metal. “High-grade scrap! Add this to the ore processing, and I could bump up the quality of the final product. We’re gonna make a few hundred off of this stuff!

“’A few hundred’?”

“Yeah! Heck, maybe this stuff will finally be quality enough to catch the Empire’s eye!”

Hounn was done. Hounn looked at this two-faced cheapskate and the racket he had going and realized the path he’d take him on. Hounn wasn’t going to end up a thrice-jailed octogenarian for some guy who considers him disposable muscle. He wasn’t going to work for some Imperial brown-noser. And he Certainly wasn’t going to steal garbage for a living.

Hounn kicked over the crate, sending metal clattering all over the floor. Dooland turned Immediately.

“WHAT DO YOU-“

“Fuck you!! I quit!”

Hounn stomped out of the warehouse, slammed the door in his wake, and sped off in his white speeder.

Dooland looked around at the scattered pieces of metal on the ground, then stared at Jake and the Ugnaught impatiently, saying, “Well, I’m not going to pick this up.”

-

Two days later, Hounn was standing in line at the spaceport with a ticket in his hand for a shuttle to Nar Shadaa. He’d already said goodbye to his Mom and his girlfriend, and traded passing remarks with his dad. He looked ahead towards this beat-up old shuttle thinking about what he’d leave behind, and what lay ahead.