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Imperial Labor Camp

Kuat

"Wake up, 7134, you've got a hell of a day ahead of you."

Aeron startled awake. He sat up, trying desperately to take stock of his surroundings through his unfocused eyes. The stormtrooper that had awakened him walked away. He blinked and shook his head, trying to clear whatever it was that was dulling his focus. "What happened?" he wondered to himself. Then he remembered. He had gotten stunned after clocking Scrap-Eye. He looked around, finally finding focus. He was in a high-security cell. He stood up, grimacing as his back popped and crackled. The bed wasn't any more comfortable than the bunk he usually slept in. He walked to the door, and peered out through the thick durasteel bars. He wasn't even in the same area as the other prisoners. In the distance, he heard an alarm sound. It was time for the morning work shifts. Aeron stepped back, expecting the door to open automatically. It didn't. Instead, a security droid came by with a set of electro-hobbles in one hand, and a stun baton in the other.. He opened the door, and stepped in. The space, already cramped to begin with, was almost completely taken up by the hulking droid. Aeron had no choice but to sit on the bed and allow the hobbles to be fastened. The hobbles were a set of four cuffs that would allow only a limited range of motion in any of his limbs. The droid grabbed Aerons shoulder and pulled him to his feet, then, still holding him, escorted him out of the cell and to the factory floor. Aeron was forced to shuffle awkwardly, as the hobbles wouldn't allow him to walk normally.

The droid released Aeron when they arrived at the work assignment station. Two stormtroopers, each wielding stun batons of their own to its place. Aeron was assigned to the melting pits, and, as extra punishment, was not allowed gloves or any other protection. Aeron felt a cold pit of worry form in his stomach. This job was dangerous. Prisoners were required to move large, often razor sharp pieces of scrap metal into the melting pits. Without gloves or heat protection, Aeron could badly cut himself or die of heat stroke if he wasn't careful. The hobbles wouldn't help either. If he lost his balance next to one of the melting pits, it would be all over for him. If he refused to work though, his punishment would be much more unpleasant and painful. As the stormtroopers led him away, he thought to himself, "This sure is going to be one hell of a day."

It was late afternoon when the emergency klaxons began blaring. All the workers stopped and looked around, unsure of what was happening. The stormtrooper directed them to keep working, giving any who disobeyed a jolt from their stun batons. The alarms continued to blare for the next five minutes. Then the power went out. Aeron froze, his only illumination was the glow of the melting pit nearby. After a moment of silence, the emergency lights came on, and all hell broke loose. The ray shields that blocked the exit from the factory floor had failed to come back on, and now the prisoners were making a run for the exits. The guards quickly responded and the screams of beings and the load buzzing of stun batons filled the air. Aeron was about to make for the doors himself, when he felt a strong, armoured hand grab his shoulder, and heard a stun baton being activated. He had completely forgotten about the two troopers that had been watching him throughout the day.

"Don't even think about-", the trooper was suddenly cut off by a load snap-hiss. Aeron jumped away and turned to see the the two troopers, each impaled by a bright white energy beam. The blades were pulled from the troopers' bodies in one motion and their owner stepped into the dim illumination of the emergency lights. She was Togruta, one of the few species Aeron actually knew. She wore light combat armor over her robes and held herself with a regal grace. Without a word, she leapt over Aeron, and the melting pit, and began running towards the stormtroopers that were now pouring into the room. Aeron stood there for a moment, bewildered and amazed. Then a stray blaster bolt pinged into the floor beside him, causing him to snap out of his haze. The area had devolved into complete chaos. Prisoners continued to fight the stormtroopers and now Aeron could see even more fighting each other. Aeron could now see four figures, two with blasters and the other two with glowing energy blades, aiding the prisoners in their battle against the guards.

"Well ,well." came an all too familiar voice from behind him. Aeron turned to find Scrap-Eye and four of his Nikto buddies coming up behind him. All were armed with various tools and scrap metal, all were there with one intention.

"Scrap-Eye", Aeron said trying to act calm and smug. "How's your nose feeling?"

"Stupid piece of human trash! Get him boys!", The Nikto yelled.

Aeron dodged the first five attacks from the group. He would have dodged a sixth, but the hobbles tripped him up and sent him tumbling to the ground. He got back up just in time to receive a piece of metal tubing to the ribs. He felt something crack and then excruciating pain. He fought to stay on his feet. Then he took fist to the side of the head, dazing him, knocking him to his knees. Still he fought, throwing wild punches and moving as much as he could. It was all fine until one Nikto with a sharp piece of scrap metal put the nail in Aeron's coffin. With a sickening jolt, Aeron felt himself being impaled right below his shoulder. Suddenly light-headed, he fell back onto the ground. Looking down, he saw the point of the metal sticking out of him. Blood was already beginning to flow from the wound. It wouldn't kill him right now, but if he couldn't stop the bleeding, Aeron would be dead in well under an hour. Scrap-Eye approached casually. He squatted down next to Aeron, and the rest of his gang gathered around.

"Do you know what it feels like", Scrap-Eye said menacingly as he pulled out a small sharp piece of metal from his sleeve. "to lose an eye?"

Aeron felt himself grow angry, angrier than he could ever remember being. It wasn't bad enough that he was going to die, he was going to be mutilated first by this sick, sadistic being. He felt something building up inside him. He felt like he was about to burst. As Scrap-Eye brought the jagged metal up to his face, Aeron lost it. On pure instinct he threw out his hands, screaming in pain and anger. Scrap-Eye and his accomplices went flying across the factory floor. Nearby scrap metal took flight as well, sailing away from Aeron in all directions. Utterly spent, Aeron let unconsciousness take him.

Ahsoka heard a scream and felt her danger sense prickle. She ducked, relying completely on instinct and the Force. A small, jagged piece of metal flew over her head and sank into the durasteel wall behind her. It had gone too fast to have been thrown. Throughout the the factory floor, scrap metal and other debri had sailed into the walls. Ahsoka made her way to the epicenter of the blast, deflecting stray bolts from the few remaining stormtroopers. Most of the prisoners had left the area, and were on their way out into the world. Those who remained were either dead or wounded. Leaping over a work station, Ahsoka arrived at the site of the blast. She found the last thing she had expected. A teenage human male lay in a pool of blood with a long piece of scrap metal impaling him at the shoulder. Ahsoka could feel his presence in the force, weak, but still there. She could also feel… She gasped. She could feel the Force within him, bright, abundant, and very strong. She triggered her comm.

"Kanan, I need you over here." she said, letting the urgency of the situation tinge her voice.

"On my way",Kanan replied. Within minutes, he had crossed the factory floor and was arriving at her side.

"I'm here, what did you….", he trailed off after seeing what the center of her focus was. "He's-"

"Force sensitive, yes", Ahsoka said. "And he'll be dead unless we get him to the Ghost." Without hesitation, she cut off the metal that was protruding from the boy, but left the rest still in him.

"If I remove it now he'll bleed out." She said as she deactivated her lightsaber. "Can you carry him?"

"I must." Kanan replied simply. With a grunt, he hefted the boy onto his shoulder and started towards the exit. Ahsoka activated her comlink.

"We're leaving, now.", she said. "First one out needs to contact Hera and tell her to prep the medbay."

"I'm on it", came Sabine's reply. "Are you or Kanan hurt?"

"No, but tell her anyway.", Ahsoka replied.

"Okay, I guess, see you at extraction." The comlink clicked off and Ahsoka returned her attention to the boy. She wondered who he was, and what his future might bring.

Aboard the Ghost

Hyperspace

Do you think he'll make it? I don't know, if we had a full bacta tank, he'd have a better chance. I wonder where he came from. His past doesn't matter right now. We need to focus on getting him healthy and then figuring out what the next steps will be. What will be next, will you train him? Like I said Hera, one step at a time. Ahsoka, I think its something you should start thinking about now, we should act like he is going to recover until he doesn't. You're right Hera, I'll think about it.

Aeron awoke to the sound of a hatch sliding open. He kept his eyes closed, listening to his surroundings. He heard the constant beep of a pulse monitor, then the sound of the door closing and a pair of armoured boots walking. He felt his heart sink. He was in the prison infirmary. He opened his eyes. After nearly half a minute, his eyes finally focused….on the last thing he was expecting to see. He was in a cramped, yet well-organized room, whose only other occupant was a girl who looked about his age. Her short hair was brightly colored in blue and orange, and her colorful armour was of a style that he had never seen before. Her brown eyes were expressive and intelligent.

"Who are you?", he asked, his parched mouth and tongue making the words sound raspy. The girl jumped, startled.

"Karabast!", she said, holding her hand to her chest. "Don't do that, you almost gave me a heart attack." She straightened and walked over to a control panel on the wall.

"Spectre 5 to Fulcrum, our guest is awake.", the girl said into a microphone. Aeron tried to to sit up, only to find that he was strapped to the bed. The girl noticing his struggle, walked over and pushed his shoulders back down.

"Easy there, hotshot.", she said. "Those are there for a reason."

"And what would the reason be?", he swallowed, trying to get some saliva back to his dry throat.

"Well two reasons really", the girl replied. "For one, we took you from a prison, so until we know we can trust you, you'll be restrained. Also, you've got three broken ribs, if you tried to sit up right now you would probably pass out from the pain."

The door slid open and two beings walked in. One was a tall human man with a green tunic and armour the other was the Togruta he had seen at the prison.

"Spectre 5, would you give us the room?", the man asked.

"Sure", she replied. Without another word she left the room.

"Just want to give you advance warning", Aeron rasped as the door slid closed. "At least half of the questions you ask me, I won't be able to answer."

The Togruta raised an eyebrow as the man filled a cup with water from a sink. He approached Aeron and put the cup to his lips.

"Drink, please, you sound beyond thirsty.", he said with a small smile. Aeron drank reluctantly. Had the bed he was strapped to been flat, it would have been impossible, luckily it was in more of a reclining position. After he drained the cup, the man set it down and moved back to the Togruta's side.

"What's your name", the Togruta asked, speaking for the first time.

"Aeron", he replied, his voice less raspy now that he had drank.

"Just Aeron?", the man asked.

Aeron nodded.

"Tell me Aeron, where are you from?", the Togruta asked.

"As far as I can tell, the collapsed bunker on Kuat. I can't remember anything before that.", Aeron said.

The man and the Togruta exchanged glances, then turned back to Aeron.

"Why were you imprisoned?", asked the man.

"According to the Imperials, I'm a 'rebel sympathizer', whatever that means. My memory is shot so I can't confirm or deny that."

"Do you recall having any family, or friends?", asked the Togruta.

"No"

With that, the questions seemed to be over.

"We're going to discuss what's next with the rest of the crew", the Togruta said as she turned to leave. "We'll be back soon."

The Togruta then turned and left the room, the man following behind her. The door opened then closed, leaving Aeron alone in the room.

"I say we chuck him out the main hatch at the next planet.", said Zeb. "This whole 'lost memory' thing seems pretty suspicious."

"I don't know, Zeb", Hera said. "It could have been caused by head trauma when the bunker collapsed."

"And that's the other thing", the Lasat said. "Why would a kid like him be in that bunker?"

"The rebels on Kuat had their spouses and children stay there for safety.", Sabine said. "He's probably someone's kid."

"So he's an orphan, he's got nowhere else to go.", Ezra summarized.

"And he's Force sensitive", said Sabine. "We could always use another Jedi."

"I say we put it to a vote", Kanan said. "All in favor of letting Aeron stay."

All except Zeb were in favor.