“You, too, can be part of the Imperial family,” a recorded voice boomed from the speakers located above the spaceport’s Imperial security station. “Don’t just dream about applying for the Academy, make it come true! You can find a career in space: Exploration, Starfleet, or Merchant Service. Choose from navigation, engineering, space medicine, contact/liaison, and more! If you have the right stuff to take on the universe, and standardized examination scores that meet the requirements, dispatch your application to the Academy Screening Office, care of the Commandant, and join the ranks of the proud!”

Ezra Bridger had been continuing his work at the busy spaceport, and he easily ignored the Imperial propaganda recording as he placed more stolen items into his backpack. But he couldn’t help hearing the screeches of TIE fighters as they circled back overhead. He looked skyward and spotted an unusual freighter descending toward a landing pad. By his eye, the freighter’s long, angular hull resembled a large, blunt weapon.

Despite all the noise around and above the spaceport, Ezra also heard approaching footsteps. He stepped aside just in time to avoid being knocked over by a squad of stormtroopers who ran to the edge of the landing pad beneath the incoming freighter. He realized that the TIE fighters had escorted the freighter to the spaceport.

Blasts of steam from the freighter’s thrusters kicked up dust as the ship touched down. Curious about who or what the freighter was carrying, Ezra walked closer to the landing pad but kept his distance from the stormtroopers who stood watching the freighter. He came to a stop beside some empty cargo containers.

A hatch opened at the back of the freighter, and a tall reptilian humanoid stepped out. Ezra recognized the alien as a Trandoshan. The Trandoshan wore an ill-fitting pressure suit that exposed his long muscular forearms and lower legs. His clawed feet were also bare. He carried a black mortar gun with an extended barrel and had ammunition cartridges wrapped around both legs, just below his knees.

One of the stormtroopers walked up to the Trandoshan and the two began talking. The Trandoshan dipped a claw into a pocket on his pressure suit and showed a datacard to the stormtrooper. The stormtrooper nodded, then turned and walked away from the landing pad. The other stormtroopers followed him.

Still standing by the cargo containers, Ezra watched the stormtroopers walk off, then looked back to the freighter. The Trandoshan had vanished. Ezra noticed that the freighter’s hatch had sealed, and he wondered if the Trandoshan had returned to his ship. He took a cautious step forward so he could have a wider view of the landing pad, but as he edged around the cargo containers, he found the Trandoshan standing in the shadows of the containers, facing him. The Trandoshan held his mortar gun at a low angle, its barrel casually pointed at Ezra’s legs.

The Trandoshan hissed, “Looking for something, shorty?”

“I was just admiring your ship, sir,” Ezra said.

“Don’t admire it too closely. Its security system has a habit of blasting snoops.”

“I’m not a snoop, sir. I’m—”

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” the Trandoshan interrupted as his red eyes flicked to Ezra’s left wrist. “An energy slingshot. Cute.”

Ezra cleared his throat. “Please allow me to introduce myself. Ezra Bridger, official guide to Lothal, at your service.” Ezra bowed.

The Trandoshan snorted. “At my service? Kid, do you have any idea what line of work I’m in?”

“Well, I’m just guessing, sir,” Ezra said, “but I couldn’t help noticing that your ship is equipped with missile launchers as well as quad cannons, and that the Imperials seemed very interested in your arrival. And given the size of your mortar gun, and the way you don’t mince words, it’s my impression that you’re a professional bounty hunter.”

“Maybe you’re not as dumb as you look,” the Trandoshan said. He lowered his gun. “I need to meet a guy at a joint called Ake’s Tavern. Unfortunately, the Imperials weren’t very interested in giving me directions.”

“Ake’s Tavern is in the northern market district,” Ezra said, “but it’s kind of hard to find. I’d be happy to bring you there myself, Mr.…?”

“Bossk.”

“But I regret I’m somewhat busy at the moment. You see, I’m selling tickets for a major sporting event tonight, and I—”

“Get me to Ake’s Tavern right now,” Bossk interrupted, “and I’ll pay you one hundred credits.”

Ezra said, “I hope you won’t think me difficult, but my time is worth more than that.”

“And my time is more valuable than yours. You’ll get one thousand credits, and not one credit more, if we leave now.”

Ezra knew he’d be pushing his luck if he haggled further, but he said, “Half up front?”

Bossk gave Ezra a chip worth five hundred credits. Ezra aimed a thumb in the direction of the spaceport’s exit and said, “Right this way, Bossk.”

“Watch your mouth, shorty,” Bossk said as he wagged a thick-clawed finger at Ezra. “To you, I’m Mr. Bossk.”

Inside a tall building that overlooked the spaceport, Lieutenant Jenkes, a gray-uniformed officer of the Imperial Security Bureau, stood before his office’s wide window. From Jenkes’s elevated vantage, the pedestrians at the spaceport were so far away that they appeared as small dots to the naked eye. But Jenkes was peering through macrobinoculars, and he could clearly see the Trandoshan who was being led by a dark-haired boy through a cluster of travelers and past the Imperial security checkpoint. Because Jenkes had observed the Transdoshan handing a credit chip to the boy, he suspected the Trandoshan had hired the boy, if only temporarily.

A loud electronic chirp sounded from a holocomm console behind Jenkes. He lowered his binoculars and turned to see a hologram of a stormtrooper materialize above the console. The stormtrooper said, “TK-5331 at checkpoint five to Lieutenant Jenkes.”

“Report,” Jenkes said.

“The bounty hunter has left the spaceport, sir.”

“Dispatch Squad Five to keep an eye on him,” Jenkes said. “His assignment has been approved by the Imperial Security Bureau, but only if he captures his target without the use of firepower. I won’t tolerate any blaster fights within city limits.”

“Yes, sir,” said the stormtrooper, and then his hologram flickered and vanished.

Jenkes reached into a pocket on his gray tunic and removed his private comlink. He checked the comlink’s controls to make sure the scrambler was activated so no one could record his transmission or trace it back to him. He keyed in a series of numbers and held the comlink close to his ear. A moment later, he heard a deep voice respond, “Yes?”

Jenkes said, “The bounty hunter has left the spaceport and is heading for your position. He may be accompanied by a boy with dark hair, wearing a backpack.”

The deep voice responded, “You said Bossk would be alone.”

“I said he usually works alone.”

“Is the boy working with Bossk?”

“Possibly.”

“We never talked about a kid being involved.”

“The boy isn’t my concern,” Jenkes said. “I only mentioned him to help you spot Bossk.”

The speaker with the deep voice laughed. “I don’t think we’ll have any trouble spotting a Trandoshan bounty hunter on Lothal. You want the kid blasted, too?”

Jenkes exhaled loudly through his nose. “I said the boy isn’t my concern. That means I don’t care whether he lives or dies. But just so we’re crystal clear on the situation, you’re only getting paid to kill Bossk. Understood?”

“Understood,” said the deep voice without any indication of pleasure.

Jenkes broke the connection and put his comlink back in his pocket. He returned to his holocomm console and pressed a switch. The same stormtrooper that he’d spoken with earlier reappeared and said, “TK-5331 here, sir.”

“Make sure Squad Five uses remotes as they follow the bounty hunter,” Jenkes said. “If anything unexpected happens at Ake’s Tavern, I want recordings.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jenkes switched off the holocomm and smiled. He was looking forward to watching the recordings.