The idea of just how Isabella got to the point she's at in P&F Star Wars took over my brain. So, this is going to be some backstory for her. I've tried to match up to the known Star Wars timetable as much as possible.

While the first few chunks are all chronological, I intend to jump around in the timeline a bit eventually. Think of this as a collection of stories, not a single cohesive story itself.

P&F Star Wars, like the original movie, is set in the year 0 BBY (0 years Before the Battle of Yavin), except the ending which is in 0 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin). (The fight against the Death Star? That's the Battle of Yavin. Because, yeah, let's base our dating system on a battle station blowing up.)

The characters 'feel' a bit older in P&F Star Wars, so I'm assuming that the boys and Isabella are about 13.

This initial part is set in 5 BBY, when Isabella is 8.

The eight-year-old girl ducked in to Docking Bay 74, her Chihuahua Pinky at her heels. She stopped just inside to catch her breath and look around for a hiding place. There were some crates nearby, presumably being loaded on to the SCT-1500 transport that sat in the center of the docking bay. Quickly, she limped over and hid behind them.

A moment passed, and she looked at Pinky. The dog looked back at her and cocked his head.

"Maybe we lost them?" she asked quietly. The dog shivered and panted in reply.

She looked down at her leg through the tear in her trousers. "Darn it," she said. "It's bleeding." She'd tripped over a garbage pile while running through the back alleys of Cuipernam, trying to get away with her latest score. Unfortunately, she'd lost it - enough food to last her and the dog a couple days - when she'd tripped.

It had been a pretty bad day so far. She'd woken up hungry, almost got caught swiping a meal, got chased by Stormtroopers, and lost the meal while running away. How much worse could it get?

"It's a pretty nasty cut," she said to Pinky. "If only I had a tube of dermaseal."

Pinky yipped enthusiastically, then slunk out of the docking bay. Isabella tried to tell him to wait, but it was too late. She sat and waited, holding the tattered remnants of her trouser leg over the cut.

Outside the docking bay, she heard a Stormtrooper voice say, "There's the dog!" Several blaster shots echoed out, and then another Stormtrooper said, "Nice shooting, TK-421."

Pinky! Isabella wanted to shout. The little dog was all she had left after her mother's death a year ago. They'd spent the year on the streets of Cuipernam, living on their wits and what they could beg or steal. And now she was alone.

"The dog came from in here," a Stormtrooper said. She heard the door to the docking bay open, and the tromp of Stormtrooper boots in the dirt. She peeked out between two crates, seeing two Stormtroopers, weapons ready, looking around the docking bay.

This is it, Isabella thought, her eyes watering. Cornered. No way out.

With a hydraulic hiss, the boarding ramp on the spaceship lowered, and Isabella saw a blue female Chiss walk down. "Troopers," the Chiss said. "Can I assist you?"

"Have you seen a young girl with short black hair? She's wanted for 19 counts of theft," the lead trooper said.

"Nope. She's not in here," the Chiss said. Isabella could swear the woman's eyes flicked over to her hiding spot, but the troopers didn't seem to notice.

"You're sure?" the trooper asked dubiously.

"Quite sure. A little dog ran in here, sniffed around, and ran back out, but that's all that's come in here in the past hour. Other than you two."

The trooper grunted metallically, then turned to his partner. "Okay, let's move out." The two of them walked back out of the docking bay.

"Okay, you can come out now," the woman said. "They're gone."

Isabella peeked out from behind the crates, eyeing the Chiss warily.

"Listen, I'll make a deal with you," the Chiss said. "Help me load up these last few crates, and I'll take you along to my next stop. Get you off Ansion. Deal?"

Isabella wiped her eyes and limped away from the crates. "Deal," she said.

"What happened to your leg?"

"Cut. Tripped running through an alley."

"Come on up to the ship, let's get some dermaseal on that."

Isabella followed the Chiss into the spaceship. It felt huge inside, a large cavern half-filled with packing crates. "What's your name?" the Chiss asked.

"Isabella."

"I'm Mada. Let's take a look at that leg." She wiped the grime off with a wet cloth, then applied an even coat of dermaseal along the cut. "Good as new."

"Thanks," Isabella said in a low voice. She paused a moment, then asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Mada smiled. "Because when I was about your age, I snuck into a docking bay in Csaplar to hide from the police who were after me. Old Drido let me go with him, and...I never looked back."

"Oh."

"Come on, let's get those crates on the Sunchaser and get off this rock."

"Sunchaser? Is that the ship's name?"

"Yep. Drido left her to me when he retired. Of course, she was called the Eternal Peregrine then. He always was a bit pretentious."

Isabella was bored.

They were on their second day in hyperspace, carrying droid parts from Ansion to Rustibar. And however fond of her Mada had seemed at first, she was suddenly less thrilled to have a passenger intruding on her personal space. She'd answered Isabella's first few questions enthusiastically, but Isabella could see her interest dropping with each question.

Isabella sat in the main compartment, poking at the crates. She let out a deep sigh.

"All right, fine. Come here," Mada said, gesturing toward the cockpit. Isabella followed her in.

"What'cha doing?" Isabella asked.

"Setting up a pilot sim for you. Here, take a seat." Mada gestured toward the pilot's seat.

"Really? Me?"

"Sure, why not. It's in simulator mode now, so you won't affect the actual ship. It'll give you some training on basic piloting, then throw a few tricks at you."

Isabella sat in the pilot's chair eagerly, buckling herself in and sliding the seat forward.

"Training session 1," the computer said.

It took her a few minutes to get the hang of it, but shortly she was virtually piloting the ship around an obstacle course.

"You're a natural, kid," Mada said. "It's...kinda scary, actually. I haven't seen anyone take to piloting that quickly since that Skywalker kid who won the pod race a few years back."

"Oh? What happened to him?" Isabella asked as the weapons tutorial popped up on her screen.

"He joined the Jedi, last I heard. Probably got killed when they all went rogue and the clone troopers put them down. Any history of Force sensitivity in your family?"

"Nope," Isabella said as she blasted a drone. "But supposedly my father was a pilot. He joined up with the Rebellion a few years ago, and we haven't heard from him since." A quick jerk of the control sticks, and her simulated ship spun on its axis. A blast from a drone skimmed past, through the space where the ship had been, and then an answering shot from the ship's lasers eliminated the threat.

Mada whistled. "Okay, that's pretty impressive."

Isabella smiled back at her. "Really?"

"Really. I'm not just blowing snowflakes at you. I know the deal was until the next planet, but if you want to stay on-board and help out, I'll teach you how to run a ship. I think you could be really good at this."

"And then when you retire, I get the ship?"

"Ha! I'm not planning to retire for a good long time, youngster."