STAR WARS - INTERLUDE NINE
"Goodbye Twilight," written by Scott Bower and edited by Mark L. Stinson

They brought in another set of armor and as usual it's going to take some cleaning up to get all the blood and shit out before it can be used. Don't these rebels believe in taking prisoners? It would be nice if we could get some information from a few of these Guardsmen. I guess I'll have to stress the importance of intelligence-information, once again. When it comes to the Guardmen, these rebels just don't think straight. We need information on the troop movements and the supply routes of our enemies. I'm curious though...if our plan to short out the batteries was working perfectly, we would be getting back many more suits of armor. Maybe they discovered what we did...and compensated for it. But, if they discovered what we did to their batteries, why is the plan working at all. I have a bad feeling about this. Wait...here comes another patrol back from the field...no, it's Ton Kimble and another figure, heavily cloaked. Well I'll be, it's Naben Leeds...the Factory Manager. I didn't think he wanted to be seen around us trouble makers. Ton motions me over to their table as he and Naben take a seat and settle in. "Hello Mr. Leeds, to what due we owe the pleasure of your visit to our headquarters. Slumming?"

"Just a little 'retirement party' with some old friends. I guess Vette is out making life hell for my ex-employers. I knew he was special...that first day they brought him to me, when he was but a child. Well, since the rebellion has made production impossible, I'm not needed in the factories above anymore." Naben looked nervous, like he was about to commit to something he had spent a lot of time thinking about... "I've come to do what I can to help...for the rebellion. And I must plead with you to not attack the factories like some of the other borrough-rebels. When this is over we need whatever we can salvage to rebuild and make this place our own. To survive, we will need to become a productive planet. Ton has agreed with me in theory, and has agreed to preserve what he can of the factory system. I understand there may be times you will need to destroy facilities that are actively helping the Hindars. I want to offer the services of my factory in repairing armor and weapons. I have hoarded some backup energy, and we can adapt our computer programs and robotics tools to a variety of minor tasks."

I was suprised at what Naben was offering, but perhaps the Naben that Vette has spoken so highly of was starting to surface. He continued talking, spilling out ideas and offers to help the rebellion...and then he said something I had been waiting to hear for a long time..."Ton Kimble mentioned you have a weapon you wish made of an alloy resistant to energy. Some of the power tools at the plant may work towards creating this weapon...in the hands of my most skilled machinist."

I glanced over to Ton and saw that he was giving me a nod of approval. I am a man of few words, so my response was to the point. "Glad to finally have you aboard. If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back..Oh,...Naben do you got anything in your factory that will take the stench of death out of these hijacked suits of battle armor?"