A tug on his arm woke him up. He jumped into a crouched position and felt it again. Confused, he looked down and saw a shackle on his wrist. "Just like old times," he muttered.

Someone cleared their throat. He looked over and found Sul-Juuk glaring at him. A human male stood behind her, his arms crossed. "Get up," Sul-Juuk ordered. "We need to move."

"Where's Kazumi?" Kiernan asked, pushing himself to his feet.

He looked around and found they were in some sort of large corridor. Grey metal walls glinted under a line of bright lights. The whole place was empty except for a bunch of people who were chained in pairs and a bunch of different colored doors in a row. He spotted Kim-Ny and Kazumi in a group of people being herded toward a small black door.

"They're over there," the human said, pointing to the group. "So I suggest you move before we lose sight of them."

That pulled Kiernan out of his stupor. He nodded and they headed for the droids.

Kim-Ny was about to be pushed through the door when Sul-Juuk shoved the droid behind her out of the way and pulled her back. "Ama!" Kim-Ny said, throwing her arms around her mother.

Kiernan watched the two embrace and remembered a time when he had that kind of relationship. Before life became a complicated, jumbled mess. Before he and Zillah had lost everything. He longed for a friend he could really talk to; wished Sul-Juuk could be that person. But if they made it out alive things would just keep going the way they always had before. She would sell him, he would run away, and she would find him again.

He supposed he should be grateful he even had that. Someone who would always search for him. Someone who would find him no matter what. Sul-Juuk might not see it, but that was something Kiernan had come to treasure. She never came after him because she cared about him, but over the years he'd come to see that she did, even though she tried to hide it. She was the closest thing she had to a mother, and although their relationship was certainly strange, he wouldn't change a thing.

Kazumi leaped into his arms and he hugged her to him. "Hey girl. Sorry I took so long."

She purred and stretched in his arms. A droid approached them, trying to keep the small group moving through the door. Kiernan faced it with a harsh glare. Kazumi hissed, pawing at the air in front of it.

"They go through last, got it? You get your way, we get to say goodbye. Now go handle the others."

The droid didn't reply, but it backed off, so he figured it must have understood.

"I'll find you again, Peyna. I promise," the voice of the other guy chained to their small team caught Kiernan's attention. He turned to see the guy embracing another human, this one female.

"Don't die ,Mazhdar," Peyna whispered back.

Mazhdar nodded and stepped back, releasing her. One of the droids stepped between them, directing Peyna through the door with its blaster. Kim-Ny and Sul-Juuk were talking, so Kiernan held Kazumi and waited, uncomfortable being forced to stand so close to Sul-Juuk and Mazhdar.

Sul-Juuk stepped away from Kim-Ny and Kiernan knelt to hug her before the droids could force her away. He handed Kazumi to her. "Take care of each other, okay?"

"We will," Kim-Ny promised.

She looked at Sul-Juuk, who watched them from behind. Kiernan could tell she was worried about her mother. "Hey, don't worry, Kim-Ny. I'm going to bring her back to you alive, okay. I'll keep her safe, I promise."

A small smile appeared on her face before the droids got annoyed and tore her away from him, pushing her through the door. She disappeared from view as it slammed shut behind her.

"Come on, we need to start moving," Mazhdar said.

***

The door was made out of some sort of green metal that shined in the lights along the corridor. It was the only door left open. Next to it was a plaque inscribed with rules. Kiernan read it aloud to Mazhdar and Sul-Juuk.

"There are only four rules. If you die your companion will be killed as well. Anything goes except cross-teaming. Once you enter you have to go through everything to make it out. If you make it out, you and your companion will be reunited."

"Sounds fun," Mazhdar muttered.

A small drawer opened under the plaque. Sul-Juuk checked it and pulled out three small syringes with Kiernan's name on them. She looked them over and then handed them to him. "Any idea what they might be?" Kiernan asked.

"Probably another 'gift' from Dasram. Considering the effects the other ones had, I doubt it's a good idea to use them."

He nodded absently, turning one of the vials over in his hands. Each was labeled and had its own unique color. There was a red one for strength, a blue one for agility, and a purple one for speed. "These should really come with a side effects list," he said.

"We should get moving," Mazhdar pointed out.

He'd been anxious ever since the droids dragged away his girlfriend, but Kiernan understood the feeling. Kazumi and Kim-Ny had been taken too, and he wouldn't be satisfied until he saw both of them in one piece.

It's funny how quickly Kim-Ny has grown on me. I never used to have friends. I guess this is what it feels like. He glanced at Sul-Juuk. She answered the unspoken question by stepping through the door. Mazhdar and Kiernan followed.

The door closed behind them with an ominous bang. Before them stretched a long series of obstacles. The beginning appeared to be two thin paths. They were close enough that the chains would stretch across with slack, but too far to easily step from one to the other. "It was designed for a team of two," Mazhdar observed. "This may be more difficult than we thought."

Proton torpedoes flew through the air in intervals, and mythosaur axes swung back and forth from the ceiling, accompanied by roaring flames. Explosions went off on the ceiling periodically as well, but it didn't seem to do anything, so Kiernan decided they were meant to distract them. Eventually the two beams connected to one floor that connected to a single, closed door.

"Sul-Juuk is in the middle, so she can go behind me," Kiernan decided. "We'll go left, Mazhdar you go right. If someone is knocked off we pull them back up. If someone is killed we'll have to cut them off or everyone will die. When we get to the floor we stick together and fight together, got it?"

Sul-Juuk let out an irritated breath. "Who put you in charge?" she asked, raising a brow. "What if I want to go with Mazhdar? What if we all went on the same one?"

"Do they look like they'll hold all three of us? Besides, I doubt you really want to go with Mazhdar."

She glanced at Mazhdar. "That's not the point."

Mazhdar looked between them, a look of confusion on his face. Then he grinned. "I see what this is. You don't like taking orders from a former slave."

"He's still a slave," Sul-Juuk snapped.

Kiernan matched her stance, raising a brow. "You have any other ideas?" he asked.

She glared at him for a moment and then gave up. "We don't have time for this. Let's just move."

Kiernan shot a triumphant grin at her and stepped onto the beam. Mazhdar did the same and they began the slow cross.

Sul-Juuk hissed suddenly, her ears flattening against her head as she stiffly walked across the beam.

"What's wrong?" Kiernan asked, glancing back at her.

"Agruss is controlling me." A low, angry growl emanated from the back of her throat.

The first mythosaur axe swung by and Kiernan quickly stepped past, lowing his arm so it wouldn't catch the chain on the return swing. Mazhdar jumped forward past a gap in his bar and landed on his hands and knees, ducking underneath a hail of proton torpedoes and jerking on Kiernan's other chain. He faltered and dropped into a crouch, grabbing the beam to regain his balance.

"Careful. We don't want to drag anyone off," Sul-Juuk reminded them. Mazhdar nodded and Kiernan stepped forward again. Mazhdar moved with him and they eventually developed a pattern. Kiernan and Mazhdar would skip past their obstacles and Sul-Juuk would follow afterwards. This way they didn't knock each other off. The main issue was the chain's short length. It made their progress slow, and the further they got the more Kiernan could feel the shaking.

Soon the beam was moving up and down with their footsteps. "It's going to break!" Kiernan warned.

Sul-Juuk glanced at Mazhdar's beam. "If this can't hold two of us, the other won't hold three," she answered gruffly.

"Can we run?" Mazhdar asked.

"No. We go like this as far as we can before we jump to the other and run," Sul-Juuk said. "Our chances of surviving might improve."

Mazhdar nodded. "Alright. Let's pick up the pace, then."

They sped up, causing the beam to bounce even more. Whatever it was made out of wasn't very strong, and Kiernan could tell it was right at the point of breaking.

Sul-Juuk seemed to move more at ease than she should have. She was also snappier, growling when something didn't go her way. She powered through the obstacles as though she'd done it hundreds of times before, ducking past the axes and fires as though they weren't even there.

"Agruss is controlling me." He must be the reason she's so good at this. He already knows the course. He's guiding her through it.

Kiernan slid under another mythosaur axe and was greeted by empty space. His wrist was violently yanked upwards and he groped for the beam, his heart slamming in his chest. The chain bit into his wrist and blood began to drip down his arm.

"Mazhdar help!" Sul-Juuk yelled. He looked up and saw her pulling herself up onto the other beam. It shook under the trio's weight.

"Hang on, we've got you," Mazhdar said, helping Sul-Juuk onto the beam.

She managed to get into a crouching position on the beam and began to hoist Kiernan back up. Mazhdar grabbed the chain and helped her. As soon as he could reach it, Kiernan grabbed the beam and got onto the beam, carefully crawling to his feet.

The beam trembled. "Go, go, go! This won't hold our weight," he yelled.

Mazhdar nodded and they ran recklessly through the rest of the obstacles. The beam crumbled beneath them just as they jumped for solid ground.

The stood there for a moment, breathing heavily. Kiernan stared back across the obstacles. He could have fallen to his death, dragging Sul-Juuk and Mazhdar with him. The experience was like a wake up call. It made him realize he didn't want to die. He had things to live for; people to live for. Kazumi, Sul-Juuk, and even Kim-Ny.

Sul-Juuk and Mazhdar looked just as shocked as he felt. Their faces were blank, but Kiernan knew Sul-Juuk. She was thinking about Kim-Ny. Probably horrified, knowing that if she died Kim-Ny would too. It wouldn't have surprised him if Mazhdar was thinking the same thing about that girl, Peyna.

After a moment Kiernan spoke up. "We need to keep moving."

"Yeah," Sul-Juuk replied.

The door was still closed when they approached it, and there didn't appear to be anything to open it with.

A screen appeared in front of them. On it was a number pad. "It wants a password," Mazhdar said.

"We don't have one," Sul-Juuk told him.

"Yes, thank you both for stating the obvious. They wouldn't have put this here if there wasn't a way to solve it. There must have been a code hidden somewhere," Kiernan replied, examining the room.

They thought for a moment. Mazhdar shook his head. "I can't think of anything."

"How many tries do we have?" Sul-Juuk asked. "Maybe I can guess it."

"I don't think it's that simple." Kiernan stared at the room, concentrating. "Did anyone notice with door we came through?"

"The third one. Are you thinking that's the first number?"

"No," Mazhdar interrupted. "That would be too easy. It probably doesn't mean anything."

"Unless it's the number of digits in the password," Kiernan suggested.

"That still leaves way too many options. There's no way we would be allowed to try enough times to get it."

"There are three main traps that follow a pattern," Sul-Juuk mused. "The proton torpedoes are fired in five second intervals, the axes swing back and forth eight times before stopping for eight seconds, and the fire is set off every seven seconds."

Mazhdar grinned. "You timed them?"

"I had a hunch. Should we try it?"

The others nodded so she typed in 587. The screen blinked red. Wrong password. One try left.

Sul-Juuk glared at the screen. "That had to be the answer. Those are the only three numbers."

Kiernan glanced at the traps and a smile lit his face. He reached out and typed 875. The screen blinked green and the door clicked open.

"How did you get it?" Mazhdar asked.

"She had the obstacles out of order. The axes came first, then the fire, then the torpedoes. When Sul-Juuk mentioned the patterns I figured she must have missed one," Kiernan said.

Sul-Juuk pushed the door open further. "Let's see what else awaits us."

***

Mazhdar's eyes scanned the new room upon arrival. The walls consisted of a shiny silvery color scheme that contained the black and white symbol of the Galactic Empire. The smuggler couldn't help, but shudder at the sight of it. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed his partners react the same way.

"Welcome, contestants!" a booming voice reverberated around the room from an intercom. " To kick off the second part of the games, you will go have to get through a field. At the end of this field, weapons await you, but there is a catch. You will have to survive AT-AT and AT-DP walkers that will be used by our cadets to hone their skills. Good luck!"

So we are basically game show contestants to them? Is that what they tell their viewers across the galaxy?

Mazhdar was then jolted out of his thoughts as the Zabrak tugged him and the slaver forward. "Come on, let's go!"

The green door slid open as they exited the room and came upon a vast, snowy field surrounded by large, brown walls the size of starships. All around them, various rebels with at least one other rebel chained to them were heading out across the chilly arena when the walkers appeared in Mazhdar's line of sight. The bigger AT-AT walkers, their armor shining bright in the morning sun, were spread out in a line across from them. The AT-DPs were perched on top of the walls around them. Mazhdar glanced warily at them as he and his partners made their way across the snowy ground.

"You suppose they will fire once we get into their line of fire?" the smuggler asked. No sooner had he said that, the AT-DPs fired red laser beams at the rebels, causing them to scatter.

"That answers your question, I suppose," the Cathar slaver mumbled. All three threw themselves onto the cold, wet snow to avoid the shots streaking all around them. The smuggler lifted his head to see that the approaching AT-ATs, the distance closing between them, start to fire as well.

Kriff, how did I end up in this mess? he wondered. Well, it didn't matter now. He had to survive this obstacle for Peyna. After all, he had made a promise to her that he would return to her alive. He had no intention of breaking it anytime soon.

"Guys, look!" the Zabrak pointed ahead. Mazhdar gazed over where the young man pointed at and his eyes grew wide as he saw unoccupied SPHA-Ts lying prone across from them. Seeing their dark brown shapes gave him an idea. Those Clone Wars era weapons could come in handy in taking out those advancing giants.

"Good thinking!" Mazhdar shouted as all three stood up and started to make a dash for the vehicles. Having three individuals chained to one another really hinders the ability to run properly which caused him to stumble twice, hurting his left leg worse than it already was.

Those kriffing bucketheads really got me there, he thought back to the battle on the moon not too long ago as he limped on. With lasers streaking around them, they had finally made it to their destination, though not without running into two other rebels. He instantly recognized one of them.

"Well, well, if it isn't my smuggler friend," the male bounty hunter smirked at him. Chained to him was the female bounty hunter while he held a blaster in his right hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Sha'ar," Mazhdar returned the smirk. "I would appreciate it if you stepped aside and let us get the vehicle."

"Oh, that's not going to happen, " Sha'ar cackled. He raised his blaster and pointed it at them. "Who wants to go first?"

Startled, the smuggler involuntary stepped to the side, causing his two companions to barrel into him. In turn, Mazhdar slammed into the startled bounty hunter, resulting in Sha'ar's partner falling over them. Before they could react, a laser shot tore through the female bounty hunter. Capitalizing on Sha'ar's shock at losing his partner, Mazhdar grappled with him for the blaster. The smuggler managed to wrest it out of his adversary's hand and wasted no time blowing his head off. He slowly stood up as did his partners, though a little clumsily.

"Come on, let's go!" the slaver motioned to the SPHA-T. Not needed to be reminded, Mazhdar hobbled after them into the vehicle. He gazed around the interior of the weapon until his eyes landed on what he assumed was the control center of the weapon.

"You know how to operate it?" the Cathar asked, her green eyes gazing at him.

"I think so," he replied. He turned to the Zabrak. "You, man the controls."

"Got it," the Zabrak went ahead and took a seat. Mazhdar appeared behind him and looked over the controls. His eyes then landed on a green button he had deduced to be the firing button.

"Fire away!" Mazhdar ordered. Soon, a small green beam shot out of the turret and hit an AT-AT, causing it to fall to its knees. That caused a chain reaction where the others tripped over it and were incapacitated. Mazhdar turned his attention to the AT-DPs on the wall which were now firing at their vehicle.

"Take them out as well," he ordered. The Zabrak pressed the button yet it had no effect.

Kriff! I forgot these weapons take a while to recharge!

"Never mind, let's abandon the vehicle and make a dash for it!"

With that, they evacuated the SPHA-T before it took so much fire that it exploded. Mazhdar and his two companions were thrown through the air. The smuggler felt the breath leave him as he hit the cold, hard ground. He lay there for a bit, trying to regain his breathing as the AT-ATs in front of them started to rise back to their feet.

"I guess our lasers weren't enough to take it out," the Cathar muttered. She then tugged them violently to their feet. "Come on! Let's get out of here before they are fully recovered!"

***

Sul-Juuk focused on the cave in front of them as they sprinted across the snow. Well, the other two were sprinting. She was merely jogging.

Humans were slower than her, but Mazhdar's injured leg slowed them down even more.

She looked over her shoulder once to check for any pursuers. They were so close.

Sul-Juuk practically dragged them inside the last few feet, snow spraying inside as they tumbled over on the rough floor.

The height of the cave was about nine feet tall, but the width of immense – almost as wide as the field itself. They couldn't quite tell what was inside since it was so well shielded from the sun, but from the message they assumed it was weapons.

"Agh, my cuff is chafing on my wound," Kiernan said with a sharp breath as they all stood.

Sul-Juuk glanced at his wrist as she pulled snow off her boots, "We could amputate your hand."

Kiernan frowned at her for a moment, unsure if she was serious. She took the snow from her boot and stuffed it under his cuff, making him wince as the cold coated his wrist.

"Thanks," he said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Is your leg alright?" She asked Mazhdar as he caught his breath.

"For now," he grimaced.

Kiernan nodded at the faint outline of a weapons rack inside, "Then let's go."

They went inside to find blasters, each taking one and continuing past the racks and into the darkness.

"Think it's safe?" Kiernan asked.

Mazdhar scoffed, "Nope."

Sul-Juuk raised a brow in amusement. "Into the perilous gloom it is."

Walking blindly deeper into the cave, the sound of the footsteps began to echo more broadly, as if the area around them was getting bigger.

The floor dropped out from under them into a steep slope, sending them sliding down the smooth surface, gaining more and more speed.

Suddenly lights flickered on and they could see their curved descent to a flat space and a wall. They put up their feet as they slid straight into the wall, abruptly stopping with a loud metal bang.

"That was fun," Mazhdar said bitterly as he struggled to his feet.

The wall was just that – a wall. It was dark, it was metal, and it was smooth.

"Now what?" Kiernan asked, "Another puzzle? Maybe they'll give us a nice, simple riddle this time..."

Mazhdar pointed to a place in the wall. "What's that?"

A pew rang out as a blaster shot rammed into the wall. An invisible door slid open in response.

Mazhdar and Kiernan stared at Sul-Juuk as she held her blaster, a smug grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Bulls-eye."

They walked through the door, a couple of unimpressed faces following after Sul-Juuk. As they entered, more white lights flickered on. It was the same sight as before – a plain wall.

"This again?"

Kiernan barely finished speaking when the wall behind them began to move. It began to move toward them, pushing them to the other wall.

"The door!" Mazhdar shouted, "It's gone!"

"There's got to be another dot here somewhere," Kiernan said scanning the other wall.

Pew!

"Would you stop that?" Kiernan snapped at Sul-Juuk.

"No! Move!" Sul-Juuk growled as they ran through the new opened door. It immediately slammed shut behind them as they entered a new corridor.

When the wall began shift, it slid faster than the last wall.

Sul-Juuk fired at the other wall, but no door appeared.

"Did you miss?" Kiernan asked.

"I didn't miss!"

Mazhdar pointed at another point along the wall, "There's another one."

This time Kiernan shot it, opening the door.

All three collectively sighed in dread as there was yet another wall. As they were pressed forward, a panel in the floor broke loose in front of Mazhdar. He only just stumbled over it as Sul-Juuk and Kiernan blasted three dots.

They continued on, each corridor progressively adding harder elements. There were more points, there were faster walls, there were unpredictable panels, and there were even sparks against the sides as the walls sped after the three rebels. Eventually Mazhdar's leg gave out and the other two had to help him. The stages were longer and harder and many times were close to death. It seemed as if they would never end, only keep them running until they collapsed.

"Kiernan," Sul-Juuk panted as she leaped over a broken panel and fired at the opposite wall, "Those syringes Dasram gave you... do you still have them?"

"Yeah," Kiernan grunted in reply as he pushed Mazhdar away from a gap in the floor.

"Use one!"

"You told me not to!"

"Since when do you listen?"

"Fine, which one then?"

Sul-Juuk shot the last point on the wall. "Pick one!"

Kiernan paused at the door to yank a syringe out of his vest and inject himself with the first syringe his fingers touched. Agility.

He stood straighter and appeared brighter and fresh. "I have an idea."

"Good," Mazhdar puffed with sweat collecting on his forehead.

"Get on my back. I can carry you now. I might even to be able to keep up with you, Sul-Juuk."

She nodded with a deep breath.

"Let's go."

With Sul-Juuk leading, Kiernan followed close behind her, making sure she had enough chain length to fire her blaster. Mazhdar helped with his own blaster when he could from Kiernan's back.

"There's only a little bit more left," Kiernan assured Sul-Juuk when she began to slow significantly, "I can feel it."

"I hope so," she replied in a choked voice, betraying her exhaustion and anxiety.

She felt as though she could collapse at any minute. She wanted to give up. She wanted to end the burning in her legs and the aching in her lungs.

But she couldn't. She had to stay alive. She had to stay alive for Kim-Ny. She had to be there for her... and for Kiernan.

"We're almost there! Sul-Juuk, keep going!" Kiernan shouted from behind. He sounded muddled and distant, but she kept on. She kept on until should could no more and as she tripped through a door, she fell to her knees. She expected death but all she could feel was the cold surface beneath her. She couldn't hear the sparks, she couldn't see the points on the wall. It was just her, her breathing, her heartbeat... and a hand on her shoulder.

"Sul-Juuk."

She looked up to see Kiernan's face.

"We made it. Are you alright?"

Sul-Juuk slowly nodded and took a few deep breaths before wobbling to her feet. She was shaky and unsteady, but she wasn't dead.

"Peyna!" Mazhdar pointed over to a large cylindrical shield. Rebels sat inside together including Peyna, Kazumi... and Kim-Ny.

Around them was nothing but dark, desolate planet. There was no corridor, there was no snow field, and there was no obstacle course. It was only solid planet.

They started towards the shield, but Kiernan stumbled and nearly collapsed.

"I knew there would be a side-effect," he mumbled. "Stupid Dasram. Never asked for his help anyway."

Mazhdar pulled him up against his shoulder, "Here. Let me return the favor.

The three limped to the shield, other chained rebels outside of it talking to their friends and loved ones inside.

Kim-Ny came running with Kazumi at her side.

"Ama, you made it! There were so many who didn't make it – so many."

"Hey-hey, I'm here. I made it," Sul-Juuk shushed her.

Kiernan wearily knelt against the shield and Kazumi put her paws up.

"You made it too," Kim-Ny grinned at Kiernan.

"Yeah, I did. Are you okay in there?" he asked, eyeing some of the other rebels that seemed conspicuous.

She bobbed her head, "I'm fine. Remember the brothers from space? Well, Defik was really nice and stayed with me while he waited for Mayek. He and another really, really big Zabrak came out just a little while ago."

"Hm," Sul-Juuk hummed thoughtfully. She watched them a few feet away.

"I told you I would find you," Mazhdar said to Peyna as they placed their hands against the shield.

Peyna smiled with a twinkle in her eye, "I never doubted you."

Suddenly there was a rumble through the planet and a mechanical whir. Above the shield through the darkness in the center of its diameter, stood a pedestal. No one could see who or what was on top as it slowly descended, lowering the shield as it went.

As the shield vanished, rebels scattered from the pedestal. Kim-Ny backed into her mother's arms.

A black clad figure stepped off and pushed back his hood to reveal pale white face.

"Kaladin!" a few voices yelped – or growled in Mayek's and Defik's case.

He smiled eerily wide with his hands behind his back, "I hope you enjoyed my game."