Crossroads!
After leaving the Jedi Order,
Ahsoka Tano finds herself far away from the life she once knew.
Here in the underworld of Coruscant,
she meets Trace Martez, an aspiring pilot, and her older sister Rafa,
a streetwise gambler with lofty aspirations.
In their short time together,
Ahsoka realizes not everyone sees the Jedi as heroes,
a lesson she only recently learned herself.
I can tell you've worked on starships before.
That must have been some academy you went to Topside.
Yeah, the best.
What was it called?
Uh... Skywalker Academy.
Skywalker? Never heard of it, but what do I know living down here?
I never really heard of any academy.
Not like I was ever gonna attend one.
Why not?
First, there aren't any academies down here.
Second, if there was, I couldn't afford it.
I mean, look around. This is it.
Rafa and I inherited this hangar after our parents... split.
And the shop Rafa owns?
She won it gambling so she could use it as a front for her schemes.
Where'd you get the ship?
This? This is me.
I did odd jobs, mech work, whatever I could to make some credits,
and assembled it piece by piece.
All that, plus Rafa chipping in. And now I've got myself a starship.
Impressive.
No, impressive is coming up.
Once the Silver Angel revs up its hyperdrive.
The Silver Angel?
Yeah, why?
I don't know. I just never heard a name like that before.
Wait, you're saying it's a bad name?
Hey, it's your ship, you call it what you want.
Why don't you name my bike while you're at it?
I did. Trash. Its name is Trash.
Very funny.
So, once you're done, where are you headed?
I don't know. This is all new to me.
That's why you should stick around.
I figured I'd be on my own for a bit.
Yeah, that doesn't seem like the best idea.
I mean, you crashed here on that piece of junk.
What if you didn't crash on my landing platform?
Things could've gotten messy for you.
Believe me, things couldn't be a bigger mess for me
than they already are.
So you'll stay a little while longer, at least.
That way we can test the Silver Angel.
All right, as long as Rafa doesn't mind.
"As long as Rafa doesn't mind" what?
Ahsoka's gonna be staying on for a bit.
You got any skills?
Only useful ones.
We'll find out soon enough.
What's up?
Look, I wouldn't ask you to do this, but I'm in a tough spot.
I hired a starship and crew for a job.
You what? You were gonna leave me here?
No, I was gonna do a job, make us some money, and be back.
But then the pilot backed out and took his ship with him, and...
I don't know what's worse. That you were gonna do this
or that you hired a pilot other than me to do it with.
Well, now I need you.
Only as a backup.
What's the job?
I'll tell you once we're underway.
I still haven't agreed to it.
Trace, please, I need your help with this.
You mean, you need the best pilot around and the fastest ship you know?
Yes, to both of those.
Who looks out for you, huh?
You do, Rafa.
That's right. Remember, we can't count on anyone.
So we count on ourselves. And maybe Ahsoka.
Maybe.
Come on. I wanna get going. Go warm the engines up.
You show up outta nowhere,
suddenly you and my sister are inseparable?
What are you after?
Excuse me?
Come on. Everyone plays an angle.
I don't mind, except when it involves Trace.
So tell me, what are you after?
Her mech-bay? Her ship?
I don't have an angle, unless maybe to keep you both out of trouble.
Hmm.
You ever thought you might be the trouble she needs to stay away from?
Ahsoka, Rafa, welcome aboard the... the Silver Angel.
The Silver Angel? You should rethink that.
That's what I told her.
Ugh, just strap in.
Trace, where are you going?
I'm just trying to get into this lane.
That's a military lane. You can't go there. That's a restricted area.
We're being hailed. Don't answer that.
We have to answer that. No, we don't.
Trace, just get us out of here.
Don't do anything that makes us look suspicious.
We already look suspicious.
Fly higher. Stop telling me what to do.
Pull up. Pull up! Stop telling me what to do.
Don't answer that.
This is the Silver Angel. What can I do for you?
Have you lost your mind?
This is military airspace.
Civilian transports are not authorized to be in this sector.
I'll have your star pilot license for this!
"License"? Do I need one of those?
Uh, sorry. So... So sorry.
It won't happen again. Just teaching my younger sister to fly.
Oh, you're teaching me to fly? That's a laugh.
Who is this? What's your license number?
Just get in the transport lane and fly.
Who was on board that transport?
Oh, just some rookie pilots, apparently on their first maneuvers.
I was just about to send a detachment to arrest them.
Should I send a detachment, General?
No. It's nothing.
You still haven't told us where we're going.
She doesn't like surprises, I see.
Really? How'd you manage that?
This is what I was working towards. Take us out, Captain.
This is exciting. I've never been to hyperspace before.
What? What have you been flying?
Oh, mainly speeders, you know, maintenance vehicles.
Whatever I could get my hands on.
See why I tried to hire a different pilot?
Trace's flying is more of a dream than a reality.
What did you say? Oh, I-I said the ship flies like a dream.
Yeah, a bad one.
What? Oh...
I left the air brakes on. That could've been bad.
Kessel. You're taking us to Kessel?
I'm taking us to fortune and glory.
I've heard pilots talk about this place. It's legendary.
Yeah, it's legendary for its corruption.
Rafa, what are we doing here?
Picking up medicine.
This place is beautiful.
See, Ahsoka, there's nothing to worry about.
Which one of you is Rafa Martez?
I am.
I am Kinash Lock, King Yaruba's majordomo.
We've been expecting you. We've prepared a banquet
to show his thanks for your services.
Lead the way, Sir.
Welcome to the big time.
So, when is the king showing?
He leaves matters like this to me.
However, if you show yourself to be dependable,
you will have the opportunity to meet His Royal Highness.
We won't disappoint.
I've got one of the fastest ships around.
What kind of medicine are we transporting?
The essence of the medicine.
You will deliver three containers of unrefined spice.
Upon satisfactory delivery, you will be awarded a full shipment
and a contract to transport for us on a continual basis.
May as well get that contract ready.
'Cause we've got the fastest ship around.
They know, Trace.
We're working for a king.
Many things can be made out of spice and they're not all good.
I'm not sure what you mean.
In this time of war, our spice is refined into a medicine
that saves people across the galaxy.
The Yaruba Family of Kessel
has always been a promoter of health and happiness across the stars.
Now, come, Ms. Martez. Let us get the spice into this very fast ship.
Running spice is dangerous. The transport ships get attacked often.
Yeah, by pirates looking for a quick score.
But they always go after the bigger Kessel transport ships, obvious targets.
That's why the king hired us.
We don't fit the description of your normal transport.
But we're leaving Kessel. It's not hard to figure out what we might be here for.
You know a lot about Kessel for a mechanic.
I've heard the stories.
Then you better hope the pilot of the Silver Angel
is as good as she says she is.
I'm starting to see why Rafa didn't originally hire you for this job.
It's dangerous.
That's just your nerves talking.
No, I'm serious. Running spice is no simple transport mission.
Rafa looks out for me.
Sure, I wasn't her first choice for this job.
But she wouldn't have asked me to do it if she didn't believe I could.
How many times has Rafa done a job like this?
I don't think she ever has.
So, how can she possibly know what we're up against?
Hey, there's a first time for everything.
We're coming up on the mining zone.
Now, this looks like the Kessel from the stories.
Spice mining has made the people of Kessel wealthy.
There's always a price to be paid.
There's the platform now.
Look at all those droids.
The king's spice sales must buy thousands of them.
Trace, those are not droids. They're people.
Must be local workers. I think the term is slaves.
Can't be. An operation this large, the Republic wouldn't stand for it.
They'd shut the place down.
Yeah, you'd think they would.
You're all ready to depart.
Ahsoka, let's go make sure they secure the bins.
I'm not sure if I like her or not.
You never like any of my friends.
She's not family, Trace. Remember that.
I'll keep an eye on her. You just do your job.
Kid, I got us a job. The rest is up to you.
Now, let's get this spice where it belongs.
Next stop Oba Diah, right?
Oba Diah, indeed. Marg Krim better have my money waiting.
Marg Krim? The Pyke crime boss?
Why am I not surprised you know about the Pykes?
As a matter of fact, how do you know about the Pykes?
I know you can't make a deal with them.
Already did.
Trace, how does she know so much?
How do you know so much?
I pay attention to the world around me,
like the fact that the Pykes are gangsters.
Gangsters? What, like Pintu back on Coruscant?
No. Much worse. Galactically worse.
They'll take your ship, your life, everything!
My ship? Well, I took a job, Ahsoka.
We need all the credits we can get.
This is bad, Trace.
Rafa, what are they gonna do to my ship?
Nothing! See, this is why I didn't want you for this job.
I wouldn't bring that up right now if I were you.
Why not make the best of a bad situation
and deliver this spice to some place that can use it for medicine?
No one is taking my ship. Because that doesn't pay,
and Trace and I have a lot of people on Coruscant waiting for money we owe them.
No. You owe them, not her.
Sisters take care of each other. We can't pay off debt with your morality.
No one is taking my ship.
Think of all the good you could do
if we delivered the spice to some place else instead of the Pykes.
Think of all the good you can do by helping us finish this job.
I said no one is taking my ship!
What was that?
Oh, no. What did you do? What did you do?
I dumped the spice.
You did what? You did what?
Problem solved. Neither one of you gets your way.
And I keep my ship. You're welcome.
Of all the choices you could make, that is literally the worst one.
I can't believe this, but I agree with her.
What?
The spice gave us options. Now...
Now we have a deal to deliver spice to an intergalactic crime syndicate
and no spice to deliver.
But I thought delivering spice to gangsters was a bad thing.
It is. But you have to pay them somehow. Right now, we owe the Pykes.
Then how was turning the spice into medicine gonna solve anything?
Well, that was more of an ethical debate.
I hadn't figured out how to solve the Pyke problem yet.
You two are just a pair, that's for sure.
I'll tell you what, I can think of one way to pay off the Pykes.
And I'm standing in it.
No one is touching my ship.
You should have thought of that
before you dumped 30,000 credits worth of spice into space.
Stop it, both of you.
I said I didn't have it figured it out yet!
Oh, but you do now?
We'll find out.
Okay. Do we need to go over it again?
Nope. Because no matter how many times we go over it,
I can tell you, it's not going to work.
Why?
Because it's a bad plan.
It is a pretty bad plan.
I'm sorry. Did either of you have a better one?
Well, then, sounds like my plan is the best one we got.
That's not really addressing whether or not it's gonna work.
Don't worry. I've got a trick or two that you don't know about.
Care to share?
No. Not yet at least.
I assume that you had no trouble transporting the spice from Kessel?
Not at all. This is one of the smoothest jobs I've ever had.
Hmm. Good.
If anything had happened, it would have been very unfortunate for you.
Here is your payment.
Now, let us take a look at that cargo.
You don't trust me? I mean, you hired me.
I don't trust anyone who isn't a Pyke.
You want to pay us our credits and send us on our way.
Here are your credits.
Now, go on your way.
I take it back. I'm liking this plan.
This is highly irregular.
I'm going to make sure everything sorts out to our liking.
Sure.
Thanks for everything. We'll hopefully see you soon.
Fire up the ship.
Just a moment.
I need the code to unlock the bin.
Uh... I think we transmitted that to you already.
Let's get out of here, Trace.
Where is the spice?
What? I don't believe it.
Kessel must have double-crossed you. Well, that's really unfortunate.
I want patrol ships to cut them off. Engage the tractor beam.
You better get us out of here now.
Patrol ships.
They won't be able to keep up.
What was that?
That is a tractor beam, Rafa.
Just so you know, when they interrogate me,
I'm blaming the whole thing on you.
Between the three of us, there's plenty of blame to go around.