Stand By

Chalmun's Cantina is crammed with pilots, misfits, and assorted criminals, as usual, in various stages of intoxication.

A small crowd has gathered around a bounty hunter and a pirate facing off in a game of sabacc. The pot has grown to several hundred credits, an airspeeder, and a stolen military scanner, although the players keep getting distracted regaling the crowd with tales of their adventures.

Dia sits at the other side of the table, between the two players, listening intently to their stories.

" – and that's why I'm not allowed on Alderaan anymore!"

"Pfft!" The pirate doubles over in howling laughter, slapping his knee.

Giggling, Dia leans forward, swiping a handful of credits under his poncho. "That's such a cool story! I wish I could go on adventures like that!"

Oblivious, the bounty hunter chuckles and ruffles Dia's hair. "Maybe someday you will."

Dia grins and sits back, sliding the credits into his pocket. He nudges the bounty hunter's mug of Jawa beer closer to her.

"Hey, have you ever met a Jedi?" Dia asks innocently.

"Oh, I have!" the pirate interjects, recovering from his laughing fit. He clears his throat. "It was on Coruscant, three years ago. I was runn- er, tactically retreating after a job went south, and the next thing I know, a kriffing Jedi is chasing me! With a lightsaber and everything!"

"How'd you escape?" Dia asks, rapt.

"Very luckily." The pirate shudders and drains his mug of ale. "I'm not going back to that district anytime soon."

"Although, the Jedi are all busy with the war these days," the bounty hunter says.

"Hey, did you hear Ryloth has been occupied by the Separatists?" a spectator pipes up.

The others murmur together, concerned.

"Well, the Republic army will free Ryloth soon enough, right?"

The bounty hunter snorts. "They're spread too thin. It'll take a while, if it happens at all."

"You know, I can't really blame the Separatists," the pirate admits. "I mean, the Republic is so corrupt – "

With a screech of her chair, the bounty hunter stands abruptly. "The Separatists destroyed my homeworld," she growls. "Don't talk about what you don't know, cheeskar nok."

The pirate narrows his eyes and stands up, swaying unsteadily on his feet.

Dia steps back, but hovers, still watching.

"Come on, then," the pirate mutters. "Bootlicker."

"AARGH!" The bounty hunter leaps over the table. She and the pirate go down with a loud crash.

As they wrestle and shout furiously, Dia swipes the military scanner from the abandoned sabacc pot and sprints out of the cantina. He manages to escape into the streets without being stopped, and stashes the scanner more securely in his satchel, hidden under his poncho.

He stops by the marketplace and buys a new power capacitor, which he carries on his shoulder back to Peli's hangar. As the door slides shut behind him, Peli pokes her head out from the workshop.

"Good, you're back! The Jawas are here with your delivery."

"Oh, great!" Dia hurries over.

The workshop has grown messier and more chaotic over the past month, as Dia and Peli have gathered tools and parts to repair the ship. A new table's been cobbled together, where the Jawas proudly gesture to the new components.

"Whoa, look at those blaster cannons!" Dia exclaims, setting the power capacitor down and stepping up to the table. "These are perfect!"

The two cannons are taller than he is, and the table creaks under their weight. Dia runs a hand over the gleaming metal with a grin.

"And deflector shield generators, too. Those'll work well."

"They picked up some more scanners, too," Peli adds. "Nothing's sneaking up on this ship, that's for sure."

"Great, I'll start setting those up today." Dia steps away from the table, looking at the Jawas. "What about the seismic charges?"

Peli repeats his question, and one of the Jawas answers.

"They're still looking. But they're optimistic, so…" Peli shrugs.

"Hm. Well, thanks." He counts out a couple hundred credits and hands them to the Jawas.

"Any compatible weapons systems you find, we can use!" Peli calls as they leave. She turns back to Dia. "Can you handle the scanners on your own? I've got an airspeeder to fix."

"Sure. But first, look what I found." Dia's eyes glint as he reaches into his satchel and produces the military sensor.

Peli takes the sensor, peering at it curiously. "Whoa… This thing is heavy-duty."

Dia nods excitedly. "It's got masking and jamming capabilities, apparently. So we won't be detected."

"Perfect," Peli approves. "I'll help you set it up this afternoon, and we can tackle the cannons tomorrow." She hands the sensor back and pats Dia's shoulder with a proud smile. "You're doing really well with this, Dia. The ship should be flight-worthy in a few weeks."

Dia grins. "Thanks, Peli."

"Anytime, kid. Holler if you need anything," she adds, stepping out of the workshop.

Setting the sensor down, Dia gathers up the scanners and carries them to the other end of the workshop, blocked off by a metal sheet door. He types in the code, and the door rattles up, revealing the ship, half-hidden in the shadows. Dia flicks a light on, and sets down the scanners. The ship is mostly complete. All the external plates are in place, and the engine and thrusters are working. It's only missing some internal systems and weapons additions, and then it'll be ready for Boba.

The paint on the hull is peeling, though. Dia makes a mental note to buy some paint next time he's out.

He slips off his poncho, hanging it up by the door, and ties his hair back. Humming a tune, he spends a few minutes cleaning all the sand out from the scanners. Then he grabs a spanner and removes a panel from the side of the ship. Fiddling with the wiring inside, he finds what he's looking for and makes a few adjustments, then picks up one of the scanners and connects it to the wiring. Carefully, he fits the scanner into the space behind the panel.

He climbs into the ship, to the control panel, and tests the sensor. It works first try – a near-miracle – and he begins setting up the rest of the scanners inside the ship.

It takes an hour or two to get all the scanners are in working order, by which point Peli finishes repairing the airspeeder and joins Dia to set up the military sensor. It's a finicky piece of tech, and takes all their focus, but eventually it's installed in the control panel, and all the functions are working.

"Of course, the only way to make sure it works is to test it in the field," Peli says, wiping her forehead with a rag. "But it seems alright."

"Hmm." Dia is distracted, fiddling with the controls.

"So have you come up with a name for this beauty yet?" Peli asks.

Dia shakes his head. "Still thinking."

"I see. Well, why don't you go grab us some dustcrepes while you think? It's about dinner time."

Peli gives Dia some credits and he hurries out to the marketplace. As he walks, his thoughts wander. He's spent every day and night of the past month rebuilding the ship, diligently training until his bones ache, and scouring cantinas for bounty hunters' tales, all for Boba. All so he can be useful, instead of a weight dragging Boba down – a liability, that's the word.

He finds the dustcrepe tent and buys four dustcrepes, then begins walking back to the hangar.

Every day that passes without word from Boba, he grows more worried. It's been over a month already, and there are a thousand dangers in the desert. Boba could easily be captured, wounded, or dead, and Dia would have no idea.

And what if Boba never comes back? What if Dia's stuck on Tatooine forever, never –

"Dia!" someone exclaims.

Startled, Dia looks up. Elan is standing in front of him, smiling.

"Elan? What are you doing here?" Dia asks, surprised.

"I came to see you." Elan glances over his shoulder. "Can we go back to Ms. Motto's hangar to talk?"

Dia nods, and the two walk back to the hangar. Peli lets Dia and Elan have the dustcrepes, and goes out to buy her own dinner, letting them talk privately. They sit beside each other on a bench in the main hangar. Elan eats both his dustcrepes in pensive silence before he starts talking.

"Are you sure this life-debt is the best choice?" he asks gently.

Dia doesn't reply, tearing off another bite of dustcrepe.

"You have a second chance, Dia. You've been freed. You could go back home if you wanted, or- or stay here and work on the Lars' farm. Don't sign your life away, please. You're still so young."

"So's Boba," Dia says, "and he's set on getting revenge. I'm worried about him, Elan. I want to help him how I can, because we're fr– " A lump sticks in his throat. Frustrated tears begin to well up in his eyes. "Well… I care about him. Even if he doesn't think we're friends, even if that stupid murishani ruined everything – "

"Whoa, whoa! It's alright, Dia, calm down." Elan hands him a handkerchief. "Tell me, how did the bounty hunter ruin everything?"

"He did something to Boba," Dia sniffles into the handkerchief. "Got in his head somehow. I don't know. But now Boba's all rude and saying we're not friends."

Elan winces sympathetically. "Oh, dear."

"Bane was at Jabba's palace, too. H-he told me that Boba was only ever using me. That he'd already forgotten about me. And I… I believed him. I thought Boba would save me, but he- he didn't even try!"

Elan scoops Dia into his arms, hugging him tightly. "It's okay," he murmurs. "It's okay."

"But I don't care," Dia insists fervently. "I promised I'd stay with him, and I meant it. I can help him, Elan. I know I can."

Elan sighs. "Alright. I know I can't convince you." He gives a small smirk and ruffles Dia's hair. "You're the most stubborn kid on Tatooine, you know that?"

Wiping his eyes, Dia can't help but smile a little.

"And I don't think you should listen to Bane. What does he know? I saw you and Boba running around together for months, and you were inseparable. If you two aren't friends, I don't know who is."

He's right. Dia knows he is. Of course he and Boba are friends – How could he have been so stupid as to doubt that?

Elan meets Dia's eyes somberly. "That bounty hunter got in both your heads. But you both know the truth, deep down. When you see each other again, if Boba's still acting weird, you give him a piece of your mind, alright?"

Dia chuckles and nods. "Thanks, Elan. Now I feel kinda bad for doubting Boba."

"Don't be. You're still kids. That's why you have to look out for each other." Elan draws back from the hug, his expression concerned. "You'll look out for each other, won't you? I'll be worried about you once you're off in the galaxy."

"We will," Dia promises. "And I'll come back to visit. I promise."

Relaxing a little, Elan smiles warmly.

"Ooh, can I show you the ship?" Dia pleads. "It's almost ready, and Peli says I did a really good job."

"Sure. I don't know much about starships," Elan admits as Dia tugs his hand, leading him over to the workshop, "but I'm sure it's impressive."

"So turns out it's actually a Kuat Systems ship, and it's got four XF-16 power generators, which we're lucky the Jawas gave back, 'cause we would have never found replacements. And the sensor array is packed, we've got so many scanners! Plus we just set up the cloaking device yesterday – "

Dia gives him a detailed tour of the ship – the small bunkbed quarters, the cockpit, the passenger seats, and the extensive storage space – and tells him all about the tech and the weapons systems. Most of it goes over Elan's head, but he's impressed by all of it.

"Does it have a name?" he asks as they walk back down the ramp.

"Back when we first talked about restoring the ship, Boba said I could rename it. But I'm still deciding," Dia admits. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Hmm… Well, animal names are overused, I think."

"True."

"You could take inspiration from your goal? Something about revenge, maybe?"

"That could work."

"Nah, revenge names are overused too," Peli disagrees, walking up beside them. "Didn't it used to be Boba's dad's ship? Something "heirloom", maybe?"

"Hmm…" Dia tilts his head, studying the ship. "Hmmmm… AHA!" Elan and Peli jump. Dia grins. "I've got it – the perfect name!"