Is it finally over?

Sha'ar lay on the ground in the middle of hangar,  breathing heavily. His companion, Kaikai, stood over him with a concerned expression.

"You sure you are going to be okay, Mr. Sha'ar?" he asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine," Sha'ar said between breaths. Or at least, he had hoped he would be. His blue eyes flicked around the dark blue hangar and he saw the rest of the rebels in the same shape as he was, exhausted and beaten after the last obstacle. 

How much of this can we take?

He had originally dedicated himself to surviving these challenges for the credits offered at the end, but after what he had been through, he was not so sure anymore. All that was important was that he and his companion leave this whole ordeal, assuming that the Imperials actually intend to let them leave with their lives.

"Alright, on your feet!"

Sha'ar looked up to see two stormtroopers appear over him and push Kaikai to the side. They grabbed Sha'ar and roughly hoisted him to his feet. Sha'ar could only wince in pain as they started to drag him across the steel gray floor.Through the corner of his eye, he could see his sidekick receive the same treatment as him. He felt white-hot rage fester inside his stomach as he viewed Kaikai shrieking and squirming violently. 

So this is what it comes to, he thought bitterly. All this fighting and killing...for what? Are credits even worth all this?

He glanced around to see his fellow rebels being lifted up and forced to their feet by the soldiers of the Empire and despite their current state, the Imperials prodded them on like cattle toward a shuttle. 

"Typical of you Imps," Sha'ar grumbled. "You ever heard of something called empathy? Or are your helmets so thick that you can't understand anything?"

The only response the stormtroopers gave was a hard shove to get the bounty hunter moving. The Shi'ido yelped in pain, but kept moving.

Sorry I even asked in the first place.

Before they had arrived at the gleaming grey shuttle, one of the rebels, a huge Zabrak, started to struggle violently. He was successful in pushing off his captors, but before he could make any further moves, a man dressed in the gray garbs of an Imperial officer pointed his finger at the fleeing rebel. Blaster fire erupted and Sha'ar could see the tall Zabrak flinch when each shot made its mark, but miraculously he never slowed down. From the corner of his eye, Sha'ar saw a stormtrooper raise what looked like a RPS-6 rocket launcher and fire it at the fleeing Zabrak. In as little as ten seconds, a huge explosion shook the hangar and the fleeing rebel was no more.

"Kriff!" Sha'ar had cringed at the sight. Angrily, he turned to face his captors. " Can't you give us a break already?! I mean, we were forced into three different arenas for your entertainment without eve a minute's break! Do you have any idea how tiring that is? No, I didn't think so.  The least I would expect is some sort of com-"

"Shut up!" the stormtrooper hit him with the butt of his weapon.

Sha'ar bit his lip to avoid crying out as they were settled into the shuttle. Each rebel had a chain around their hands and legs while stormtroopers guarded each of them. Sha'ar bitterly gazed around at the dark grey interior of the spacecraft. He felt an immense amount of rage every time his eyes rested on the dreaded insignia of the Empire. He had hoped all this was a nightmare and if he pinched himself, he'll snap out of his nightmare. However, that did not happen and only resulted in Sha'ar feeling even more sore.

"We are approaching the Eclipse!" an imperial officer on board shouted. 

Sha'ar gazed out the window and his eyes grew wide as he saw a massive Star Destroyer which was darker than the darkness of space. It's massive form hovering just ahead of them gave Sha'ar an involuntary shudder.

That must be a Super Star Destroyer, he thought. He had only heard rumors of these massive Star Destroyers, but hadn't seen one until recently. They even made the Venator class destroyers look like small shuttles.

" Get the prisoners ready!" the officer shouted. 

As he was forced up the white armored stormtroopers, Sha'ar frantically scanned the area for his young assistant, but saw no sign of him as he and the others were forced up by the stormtroopers.

"Make haste!" the officer shouted as the doors opened and they were prodded like cattle into the Super Star Destroyer. The rebels then crossed a hallway lit by bright lights as they were brought upon a blueish door with the dark Imperial insignia. What made Sha'ar tense up was not the the fearsome door, but rather the red-clad guards standing in front of it. The bounty hunter recognized them as the Emperor's personal guards. 

What are they doing here? 

" Keep it moving!" 

The bounty hunter felt the blaster of the stormtrooper prod into his back as he made his way toward the door. Right when it shot open, Sha'ar fell to his knees, panting. He ached all over and the blows he had received from the blaster felt like needles being entered all over his body. Suddenly, he felt as if a million volts were swimming though his body.

What is this horror!? he thought as he convulsed in pain. That was when the Shi'ido noticed that the guards had struck him with their pikes and it had shocked him. What's worse was that they had struck him on his wounds, exacerbating the pain.

" On your feet!"

Sha'ar was forced up by the stormtroopers and then hauled into the room.

"Augh!" Sha'ar shouted. "You seriously have no consideration for the well-being of your guests?"

His answer was a blow to the egad with the stormtrooper's weapon which resulted in brief wooziness. By the time he was seated on a chair in the middle of what looked like a conference desk, he was aching all over. Sha'ar had wondered what they had in store for him. At this point, he really didn't care if he had died as it would alleviate him from his current state.

Wait..no, what am I thinking? What will Kaikai do without me?

The exhausted bounty hunter looked up to see the stormtroopers leave the room only to be replaced by the red guards. He raked his gaze around the room to see the dark blue room devoid of anything save for red guards and Imperial banners. He trained his gaze ahead and noticed a chair in front of him face away from his direction, concealing anyone that would be perched in it. 

What is the purpose of all this? Is it another obstacle or an interrogation?

Without warning, the chair swiveled around to face the bounty hunter. Seated in the chair was a ghastly form of an elderly man with red eyes donning a black cloak. Something about him gave the Shi'ido an involuntary shudder.

"Welcome, bounty hunter," the old man croaked. " I take it you are comfortable?"

"No thanks to you!" Sha'ar snarled. "If you want to torture and interrogate me, go on and do it already!"

"Oh, we don't want to torture you," the old man cackled. " You had already been through all that in the various obstacle courses set up by us. We want to make you an offer that you can't refuse."

"So you are behind all this!" Sha'ar felt white-hot rage consume him. "Wait..who is we?"

That was when the door shot open and a mechanical figure in all black stepped into the room and made his way to the side of the old man. The sight of the imposing figure seemed intimidating to the bounty hunter, but what had caused him to become paralyzed in fear was the heavy breathing that gave away the figure's identity. 

"Lord Vader, glad you could join us," the old man croaked. " It is time to make our offer to the bounty hunter."

Sha'ar felt his breath hitch as his eyes were locked on the dark lord himself. This was the man responsible for obliterating Kaikai's village and killing his family.

"Whatever your offer is, I am not interested," Sha'ar growls. He points to Vader. "He is responsible for the misery of my young assistant."

"Ah yes," the cloaked man smirked at him. "It was thanks to the false information you gave us that had resulted in the razing of that village in Dantooine, but that doesn't matter now. One village can be overlooked by the entire galaxy."

"How can you have so much disregard for so much human life?" Sha'ar snapped. 

He was leaning over the table, but then he felt his neck tighten. It felt like an invisible noose was tightening his neck. Gasping, Sha'ar clawed at his neck, causing further wounds to erupt from his already existing ones. After about a minute, he felt it go away.

"Watch how you address the Emperor," Vader's voice boomed. 

Sha'ar looked up to see that Vader had his hand stretched out to him like he was choking the air. It dawned on him that he was just force-choked. His heartbeat started to pick up when he had registered that the old crone across from was none other than Emperor Palpatine himself.

"Now, where did we leave off?" Palpatine snickered. "Oh yes, we have an offer you can't refuse. First off, are't you tired of being stuck in the games?"

"Yes," Sha'ar answered in a menacing tone.

"Well then," Palpatine chuckled. " What if we told you that if you accepted the offer to work for the Empire, you would not have to worry about all this anymore. In fact, you would be living in a luxurious enclosure at the center of Coruscant with a lifetime supply of credits at your disposal?"

Sha'ar looked thoughtful. The offer was much too tempting. All his life, he had desired nothing, but credits.  Without them, he would have nothing to live for. He was tempted to say yes, but there was something else. Sha'ar loved and lived for credits, but his perspective had changed once he met Kaikai. He had realized that there was more to life than just credits.

"That is quite an offer, but no," Sha'ar responded.

"I see," Palpatine murmured. "Perhaps you should reconsider your answer."

Sha'ar then felt his body jerk violently with some sort of electric force. He looked to his right to see that one of Palpatine's guards had poked him with his pike. Once the pike was pulled back, Sha'ar sat there trying to regain his senses. Before he could say anything more, he was zapped with the pike again.

"S-stop!" Sha'ar begged.

"Have you thought over your decision?" Sidious asked.

"I-I h-h-have," the bounty hunter struggled to get his words out due to the shock his body was in. The temptation was too much and he was losing the battle to resist it." I..I..have t-to s-say.."

Sidious and Vader awaited the Shi'ido's answer.

"No!" Sha'ar blurted out.

"I see," Sidious sighed. "We have a stubborn one here."

Just then, the door shot open and an Imperial messenger, escorted by a couple red guards, went over to Sidious and Vader. Sha'ar tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, but he could not really hear anything due to the ringing sound in his ears. That may have been the result of his recent torture.  As soon as the messenger left, Sidious turned to him with a smirk.

"We have some news for you," the Emperor smiled, revealing his yellowish teeth. " It looks like one of our officers broke the truth about your involvement of the incident in Dantooine to your young assistant. I don't think he will be your assistant much longer."

No! It can't be possible! All these years I have kept the truth from him and now it all crumbles? I just don't know! I just...

"So if I were you, I would give up this pointless resistance and join the Empire," the Emperor informed him. "You would find your life much easier once you do."

After hearing those words, Sha'ar had felt himself not in pain anymore, but feeling as if his soul had left his body and he was nothing, but a shell of himself. Was there any reason to fight anymore knowing that he would have nothing to fight for?

"Well?" Palpatine awaited his answer.

" I h-have n-nothing to lose s-so here is what I h-have to s-say," Sha'ar answered while convulsing . "y-you c-c-can t-take y-your d-deal and sh-shovei-it u-up y-your r-rear!"

"Well, it appears you lack foresight," Palpatine sighed. " You have no need for your eyes then."

At the Emperor's signal, two red guards headed over to Sha'ar. Before the Shi'ido could decipher what was happening, two pikes were stabbed into his eyes and the shock wasn't the worst part.