Day Four

     Seven and Fox arrived at the set the next morning at the same time, where they both promptly reported to their respective places: Seven to the Makeup room and Fox to the motion capture room.  After several more hours of listening to Jennifer the Makeup Lady ramble on about things that didn’t concern him the least bit, he was finally free to move about the set and start his questioning.  Shooting for the day still hadn’t started yet, and most everyone was just hanging around the set waiting for the word to go. 

     He didn’t want to waste time in his mission today, mostly because he didn’t like the idea of returning to the Seal Breaker tonight and telling Jen that he still didn’t have any leads or information on how this show even got started.  Jen then would cancel their mission and go to Plan B, which was the destruction of the entire set in a very unsubtle way.  He was going to need to get information, and get it quick.  But, like he said, he didn’t want to waste his time, and he had a feeling that talking to the regular cast members would be a waste of time.  None of them was going to give him any information to work on.  He might give them a shot later on, but first he had some other options to try out.

     There were only four people so far on his list of people he needed to “interrogate”: Executive Producer Owen, Director Trotter, and lead writers Mike D. and Tommy G.  Truthfully speaking, he wasn’t very optimistic about any of those options.  Owen and Trotter didn’t seem to associate with anyone outside the high command structure, while the two writers just seemed to talk to each other.  He didn’t think any of the four would be very forthcoming with information asked in a casual manner.  He had to try, though, else Jen would nail him to a wall and use him for target practice.  Might as well try for the top first…

     He walked over to Owen, who was decked out in full Reno attire—complete with robes and a scarf thrown over his shoulder—and in close discussion with Trotter.  In fact, the scarf seemed to be the topic of discussion.  So important was it that they completely ignored Seven as he stood there in front of them.

     “You don’t think this scarf makes me look a bit too…you know…” Owen said.

     “Oh no,” Trotter said, assuredly.  “Not at all.”

     “Are you sure?” Owen asked.  “Because I’m not.  I think it just makes me look like I’m…”

     “Absolutely not,” Trotter said.

     “You’re sure?”

     “Definitely.”

     Owen shook his head.  “I’m not convinced.”

     “Look, Owen,” Trotter said, exasperation showing in his voice.  “It doesn’t make you look like any less of a man—”

     “What?!” Owen erupted.

     “The scarf,” Trotter said.  “I thought you were asking if it made you look a little too…feminine.”

     “I was asking if it made me look a little bit too heroic!”

     “Oh…”  There was an awkward silence.  “Well no, you look great.”

     Seven tried to intervene.  “Uh, excuse me…”

     “I want the scarf gone,” Owen said.

     “What?”

     “The scarf,” Owen repeated.  “Gone.”

     “What?  Why?  It looks great!” Trotter said.

     “Apparently it looks ‘feminine,’” Owen stated, an edge in his voice.

     “No, no,” Trotter responded.  “On anyone else, yeah, it would.  That’s why I mentioned it.  But for you, booby, no, no way.  You make it work, you really do.”

     “You think so?” Owen asked.  “Really?  You’re not just saying that?”

     “Hey, would I lie to you?” Trotter asked.

     “Umm, excuse me…” Seven attempted again, but to no avail.

     “In a heartbeat,” Owen said back.  “I want it gone.”

     “No can do,” Trotter shot back.  “We’ve already established in the early episodes that Reno wears a scarf.  You can’t get rid of it now.  It’s called continuity.”

     “I don’t care about continuity!” Owen barked.  Suddenly Seven was getting a little more interested in their argument, because it was heating up rather quickly.  The tension was very similar to their confrontation the day before.  “I do care about being laughed at.  I want the scarf gone, and I want it gone now.  Don‘t forget who I am, Trotter, and who you are.  I‘m the Executive Producer of this show, and you’re just the director.”

     “You’re one of the Executive Producers on the show,” Trotter shot back, a little intensity creeping into his voice.  “Need I remind you that there are two?”

     Now that was news to Seven.  He had known that Owen was credited as Executive Producer for Sith Squadron—It was listed on his script—but he hadn’t known there was another Executive Producer.  That was not on his script.  Since they weren’t paying attention to him anyway, he casually glanced at his script.  Nope…only Owen was listed as an Executive Producer.  Maybe the script was printed early and the other Executive Producer was a late addition?  Perhaps.  Interesting.

     “No, you don’t need to remind me of that,” Owen grunted.

     “Good,” Trotter shortly said.  “Now look, about the scarf…I’ll talk to Xa…is there something you want?”

     It took Seven a second, but he finally realized that that Trotter was talking to him.  The mention of a name beginning with “X” had thrown him so off guard that he forgot he was standing in front of them listening to their conversation.  Xanthis?  That was a definite possibility.  It would also explain things, like how this show had so much inside information on Sith Squadron and its activities.   

       “Umm, I just wanted to say…um…” Seven tried to find something to say.  For some reason, asking them questions about the command structure here didn’t seem very appropriate.  His mind raced with things to say, excuses to rattle off.  Finally, he remembered the meeting the Siths had in the briefing room a few days ago, in which they initially saw the footage of the show.  “…I just wanted to say that I think that scarf is fabulous.”

     Then, before either could say anything, he turned around and started to walk away.  It was best not to stick around anyway, as he could already hear Owen yelling at Trotter about the scarf.  Well, it wasn’t how he had planed to go about getting information from them, but it had worked.  And, in retrospect, it had probably worked better than asking them questions would have.

     The mention of someone with a name starting with “X” sure scared him, though.  Or at least put him on guard.  He supposed there were tons of people whose name happened to start with “X”, but Seven only knew of one person, and it wasn’t someone who he liked very much.  He suddenly wished that he had his lightsaber with him.  He would certainly feel a bit more secure with it.  Maybe he would have to find a way to smuggle it into the set.

     Seven stopped himself from that train of thought.  He was getting way ahead of himself.  The letter “X” didn’t always equate to Xanthis, nor did he have any reason to believe Xanthis was behind this.  Still, though, best to run it by Jen later anyway.  And at least he would have something to report to her.  Maybe not enough to stop her from blowing up the studio yet, but at least something.

     That would be much later, though.  Best not to think about that too much.  They hadn’t started shooting yet today, and Seven had the strange feeling that it was going to be another long day.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     It was about four hours after he had overheard the conversation between Owen and Trotter, and he hadn’t gotten much in those hours.  He had questioned Zak “Jace” Tucker and Laura “Sky” Cain about what they knew of the show, and had gotten what he had expected.  That is to say, nothing.  To them, Sith Squadron was nothing more than an acting job, and to Laura it wasn’t even a good one.  She didn’t seem to like that her character was portrayed as a drunk, which struck Seven as odd considering everyone in Sith Squadron was a drunk.  Zak didn’t have the same complaints as Laura, but he didn’t want to take his time talking about the show.  He seemed much more interested in discussing his past, where he entertained sentient beings (male or female, human or alien) at a Coruscant strip bar called “The Blue Dice”.  Seven didn’t learn much more than that as he quickly made up an excuse and ran off.  In some ways Zak was creepier than the real Jace.

     But with those two being busts, he decided to skip the rest of the actors.  His initial guess was probably correct.  The actors themselves probably had no information worthy of questioning for.  They were just actors doing what the scripts said.  The scripts that were written by two people who just happened to be on set all the time.  Mike D. and Tommy G. were sitting near a crate of lighting equipment when Seven approached them. As far as Seven could tell, they both had notepads out and were making notes. It sounded like they were pitching story ideas back and forth and either agreeing to the story idea (by saying "sold") or denying them (by saying "rejected"). Considering how well just listening had worked last time, he decided to try it this time around and hope he struck gold again.
     "Okay," Mike said, "Sith Squadron goes to an alien planet and Reno gets some kind of weird alien virus that makes him get really old really quick, but Star is eventually able to make a counter-virus and Reno is saved."
     "Sold," Tommy said, countering with his own story idea. “But what’s he do in the interim? Fall in love or mentor a young kid?”

     “No!” Mike said. “That’s too deep. Our audience wouldn’t understand it. No, we just cut back and forth from him getting older and older and the rest of the Siths—”

     “Sith,” Tommy corrected. “Sith is plural.”

     “Whatever…anyways, the rest of them reminisce about the past. We make it a clip show and save money!”

     “We haven‘t even finished our fourth episode yet,” Tommy pointed out.  “Do we have enough footage for a clip show?”

     “Sure,” Mike replied.  “We’ll recycle some clips, too.  They’ll never notice.”

     "Sold.  Okay, here goes: A figure from Ryvo’s past returns and confronts him about the sins from his past, and it culminates in an emotional battle where Ryvo is forced to kill someone he used to love to save the life of someone he doesn’t like very much."
     Mike made a face. "Ugh, rejected."
     "Why?"
     "It’s total crap, that’s why," Mike said. "Who cares about emotional battles and sacrifices? Our fans really wouldn’t understand that. Try this one…Sith Squadron runs across a strange alien device that makes them switch bodies for a while. Think of the wacky shenanigans that would ensue! Thunder in Jace’s body, Jace in Reno’s, Reno in Fox’s…"
     "Erg, you’re right. Sold," Tommy admitted. "All right, let me try…Star and Jace are accidentally shot by an alien gun that makes them ‘out of phase’ so no one can see them but each other…and then they embark on an emotional journey where they explore the lives that they could’ve had together if fate had not intervened and led them down their dark paths."
     Mike shook his head. "The first part is good, I like that. But drop the second part. Instead replace it with...um...after they are out of phase, they explore their voyeuristic desires and spy on the other Sith in the shower or something. And don’t make it Star and Jace…make it Star and Palin. They would get hot from the voyeurism and then get it on!"
     "Wow, that’s good," Tommy said. “Do we cure them from the ‘out of phase’ thing?”

     “Yes, we have to,” Mike said.

     “But do we like have tension between Star and Palin in the following episodes?”

     “Nah, too much continuity,” Mike said. “The less there is of that, the less work for us. No, we end it with a scene in the bar where they are at different tables and they catch each other’s eyes and just kind of nod to each other. Something dramatic like that.”

     “That’s good stuff!”
     "Hey, I didn’t win two Enny’s for nothing," Mike said.
     Seven tried to stifle a laugh. Winning an Enny wasn’t something that was extremely worthy of bragging about. Supposedly they were for achievements on holoshows, but everyone knew that the things were rigged. The people who won were the people who either had the most money or the best connections. In fact, there were many jokes going around that one reason they were called “Enny’s” is because “Enny-body with enough money could buy a win.” That Mike had two wasn’t a very big accomplishment.

     Apparently Seven hadn’t hid his laugh too well, as both the writers turned to look at him.

     “Something you need?” Mike asked.   

     “I was just hoping for a minute of your time,” Seven said.

     Mike and Tommy exchanged a glance and sighed.  “Look,” Mike started, rambling off on what sounded like a speech he had said a million times before to other actors. “We’re writing an episode for you as we speak, you’re getting a big push, lots of scenes for your character coming up, getting a love interest, blah, blah, etc…happy?”

     “Um, no,” Seven replied.  “I just wanted to ask a few questions.”

     “Jeez, this better not be about your character’s motivation...”

     “No, no,” Seven assured them.

     Mike and Tommy were visibly relieved.  “That’s good,” Tommy said.  “Laura was around earlier and she just wouldn’t shut up.  ‘Oh, my character wouldn’t drink alone,’ ‘I think this goes against what I believe my character would do,’ ‘Are you sure this is keeping in line with the character that my fans have come to expect?’  One more question and I would’ve shot her.  Sorry, what is it you wanted?”

     “Oh, well, I’m still new here and I’m not familiar with everyone in the cast and crew.  I know you guys are the writers, and Trotter the director, and Owen is the Executive Producer…but I heard there is another Executive Producer, and that person isn’t listed on my script.  Nor is the Producer.  Do you know who they are?  I also don‘t even know who the creator is, who thought up this weird idea of Sith Squadron.”

     “Well, the Producer is just some guy who works over at Sacul Productions,” Mike answered back.  “Rick something…”

     Sith Rick? Seven thought to himself.  That would make a lot more sense out of this situation.  Rick had a lot of knowledge about Sith Squadron—certainly enough to create a holoshow about it—and he had mysteriously vanished on the squad’s mission to Coruscant to get Sky, although it took weeks, if not months, for anyone to realize that Rick was gone.  By the time they had, no one really cared enough to go looking for him.

     “Yeah, Rick something,” Tommy continued for Mike.  “I can’t remember.  I only met him once.  He was a late addition to the crew.  They brought him in after the pilot.  I can’t figure out why, though.  His stuff—”

     “Excuse me,” Mike said, purposely interrupting him and giving him a look that Seven could only describe as a warning.  “Not now, Tommy.”

     “Sorry.”

     Mike turned to Seven.  “Done?  We do have work to do here.”

     “Just one more thing,” Seven continued.  “The other Executive Producer…?”

     “Honestly, no idea,” Mike said.  “I’ve never met the guy.  Only Trotter has, I believe.  Maybe Owen.  Besides that, you got me.  I do know that the other Executive Producer is also the creator of the show, though.  Beyond that, I don’t know.” 

     This conversation definitely hadn’t been a waste, and once again he walked away with a lot more information than he thought he was going to get.  Not only did he learn that the other Executive Producer was also the creator, but he got a name for the Producer.  Rick.  Sith Rick, perhaps?  It was not a possibility that Seven was discounting.  It seemed far-fetched, sure, but not impossible.  There was still more to this puzzle, though, and he needed to find out what those pieces were.

     Seven nodded.  “Thanks,” he said, and left.  As he was walking away, he heard them continue.

     “Okay,” Mike started.  “Reno and the others are trapped on the HoloDeck because of some crazy malfunction—”

     “We have a HoloDeck?” Tommy asked.

     “Don’t we?” Mike asked back.

     “No.”

     “No?”

     “No.”

     “Shoot, sorry,” he apologized.  “That was the last show I wrote for…”   

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     “Cut, tail slate, and print!” Trotter yelled out.  At his command, Jason clapped down the slate and a loud bell rang out on the set, indicating that they were no longer filming a shot.  The Sith involved in the scene, Michael “Seven” Hicks and Nicole “Thunder” Vest, left the set

     “Great job, guys, great, I loved it, I really did,” Trotter said.  “Now break for lunch and we’ll re-shoot it all after.”

     Seven watched as Michael walked off the set and headed down towards Catering, and then casually followed him.  Since he had ended up being really lucky with information on Owen, Trotter and the two writers, Seven was feeling really optimistic about his chances of getting something out of this kid.  Heh, kid.  Kind of a funny statement, considering Seven only had about two years on him.  Oh well.

     Once in Catering, Seven headed over towards the line and grabbed a tray off the stack.  Before he could even take a step, though, Zhukov was standing on the opposite side of the counter and already piling some food onto his tray.

     “Dare I ask what this is?” Seven said.

     “Is…” Zhukov started.

     “Good for me?” Seven finished.

     “Yes,” Zhukov said. “But is also Tarkalian stew.”

     “Does it taste good?”

     “Is good for you.”

     “Yes, but ‘good for you’ and ‘tastes good’ are two different things.  Which is it?”

     Zhukov smiled.  “Is good for you.”

     Seven sighed.  “That’s what I was afraid of...”

    He turned away from the counter and searched for Michael, who had taken a seat at the far end of Catering, at a table by himself.  Perfect.  Seven made his way through the crowd and over to the table.

     “Mind if I sit here?” he asked.

     Michael looked up from his meal and shook his head.  “Not at all.”

     “Thanks,” Seven said and sat down.  “So, this is your first acting job?”

     “Yeah, it is,” Michael said, biting into a sandwich.  “I was so happy to get this job.”

     “Was?” Seven asked, picking up on something in Michael’s voice. 

     “Oh, I still am,” Michael quickly put in.  “It’s just…things haven’t been so great since the pilot episode was shot.”

     “Why not?” Seven asked, suddenly interested. 

     “It’s just…the pilot episode was good.  Very good.  A great story, great characters, it had it all,” Michael said.  “But since then, things have changed.  Despite a positive reaction all around, the studio suddenly demanded a bunch of changes.  They wanted to take everything that worked in the pilot and change it.”

     “How so?”

     “Well…Sacul Productions demanded that there be a female character who was into all kinds of weird alien sex and stuff.  It didn’t make sense in the story, but they demanded it anyway.  It totally went against what the creator wanted his vision of Sith Squadron to be, but he couldn’t do anything since it was the studio that wanted it.  And, so, Thunder is now a character who is into all kinds of weird, kinky alien sex.”

     Seven held back his laughter much better this time, at least on the outside.  He needed to keep a straight face.  Straight face.  Must keep a straight face.     

     “I see,” he said, biting his lower lip.  “Anything else?”

     “Oh, yeah,” Michael said.  “Sith Squadron was originally going to be a huge continuous story.  They had this whole twenty-year story arc planned out.  But, after the pilot, the studio came down and said they wanted a bunch of single episodes with little to no continuity.  They said it would be easier for syndication.  And that was all before Rick came along…”

     Seven’s eyes widened a bit.  “Yeah, tell me about Rick,” he said, trying not to sound too eager or inquisitive.  “I just heard about him.  Never met him.”

     “Not much to say, really,” Michael said.  “He’s not your typical producer, though.  Normally an Exec Producer outranks a Producer…but Rick seems to have high connections in the studio.  He’s less a producer than he is a watchdog for the studio, to keep an eye on production and make sure everything is going as they said.  He seems to be more of a powerful lackey than anything.  And nobody likes him, especially the writers.  He basically vetoes all their good suggestions in place of tired clichés.  Have you heard them talking?  They don‘t even try to think of good stuff anymore.  They just pump out crap that they know the studio will approve of, so they can keep their jobs.”

     “What about this other Executive Producer?” Seven asked.  “The one who’s also the creator.”

     “Never met him myself,” Michael said.  “But I heard he isn’t happy with what the studio is doing to Sith Squadron.  I mean, he came to them with a great series that had everything.  Story, character development, continuity…and they’re butchering it in favor of a clichéd sci-fi, outer space, shoot’em up western show with alien sex.  But, even though he’s an Exec Producer, he can’t seem to do anything as long as Rick is around.”

     “Interesting,” Seven said.  “Do you have a name on this guy?”

     Michael shook his head.  “Not a whole name, but I did hear Owen mention it once, or at least part of it.  He stopped when he saw I was in earshot.  Started with an “X” or “Z” or something.  Same sound.  That help?”

     “Yeah,” he said slowly, letting the possibilities run through his mind.  “Yeah, it does.  Thanks.”

     Seven sat with Michael in silence for a while, though neither spoke.  Michael just continued to eat his lunch while Seven mulled over all this new information he had.  So far he had two leads to play off, though he wasn’t sure which he wanted to follow up on first.  One was the very distinct possibility that Xanthis was the “creative mastermind” behind Sith Squadron, and one of the Executive Producers.  In that case, it was very likely this was all a trap.  The other possibility was that Producer Rick was the former Sith Rick, and he was…what?  Seven had no idea what he would be doing, if it were in fact the same Rick. 

     Well, he wasn’t going to solve this sitting here in Catering, nor did he think he was going to solve it by just thinking about it.  He was going to have to ask more questions and gather more information.  There was still half a day left of shooting, too, and he had a lot of scenes coming up.  And after that, back to the Seal Breaker for his nightly debriefing session with Jen. 

     Until then, lunch was about over, and he had to get back to the set.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     I slept in!

     Palin couldn’t believe it.  Not only had she fallen asleep before the computer had even finished her search, but she had slept in hours later than she normally did.  Even though she had nothing to do on normal days, she always woke up early, or at least as early as she did before she was pregnant.  She didn’t want to fall out of her routine simply because of pregnancy.

     Once up, she moved as quickly as she could over to the computer, which informed her sometime during the night that it had finished its search.  They had a match for one person, a Lt. Edwin Mosley, who had joined Sith Squadron about a month ago.  He was assigned to bridge duty, which made his presence down by the docking bay even more suspicious now.

     Nothing in his history file seemed to draw any flags with her.  Just another highly trained computer specialist who had decided to enlist with their pirate group.  Happened all the time.  His file showed no connections to anyone on or even near Coruscant.  Even his connections had no connections to Coruscant.  From the file, it seemed very doubtful that Mosley had anything to do with the fake Sith Squadron show.

     And yet, there was just something not right about him.

     She typed away at the computer and ran a check of his workstation and everything he had done in it recently.  Most of it was just routine work—

     Wait a second…

     He had accessed the squadron archives.  Both personnel and video archives.  Recently.  He was looking up restricted information on the squadron.  Oh boy…this was it.  She had it. 

     She was going to have to check him out.  Maybe even interrogate him herself.  She supposed she should tell Reno or someone about this, but that didn’t sound like fun.  If she did that, they would just thank her and tell her to stay in her quarters.  Something wasn’t right with him, and she intended to get to the bottom of it.  She could take care of a simple little bridge crew chump by herself anyway.  She didn’t need their help.

     If nothing else, it gave her something to do, and let her take her mind off some other things, and other people.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     It was two hours after lunch until Seven got a chance to see Fox, which was the first time he had seen him since they arrived at the studio in the morning.  They didn’t seem to have any scenes together, so he never saw him on the set.  And since the Nuprin character that Fox played wasn’t a very important character, most of his scenes were shot Second Unit.  Seven was lucky enough—or perhaps unlucky enough—to be a main character on the show, so all of his scenes were shot with the First Unit, directed by Trotter.  Sometimes Seven really wished he was a minor character so he could shoot Second Unit, away from Trotter.

     Seven waved Fox over when he saw him, though the furry little alien wasn‘t the only one who came.  Michael Hicks was standing near where Fox was, and apparently thought Seven had waved him over, as he ran towards Seven, too.  He wanted to talk privately to Fox, but that just wasn’t possible at the moment.  The reason he got to even see Fox was because Trotter had called a cast meeting, and everyone was present.  Now wasn’t going to be the best time to talk about Sith Squadron matters.  At least not real Sith Squadron matters.

     Michael opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Trotter walked up in front of the crowd, waving his arms and trying to draw attention to himself.  Next to Trotter stood a horribly dressed guy in a yellow suit and hat, holding a suitcase.

     “Hey, everyone, listen up, I have a couple announcements” Trotter said.  Once everyone had quieted down, he continued.  “First off, I’d like to tell you that tomorrow we’re going to have a couple visits to the set.  Rick, our Producer, is going to drop by for a visit to check on our progress.  The studio wants to make sure we’re making the show they want, not the show we want.  Be on your best behavior.”

     That news was certainly good for Seven, even though the rest of the cast either didn’t seem happy, or just didn’t care.  If Producer Rick was Sith Rick, then he would find out tomorrow.  That was definitely good news.  Jen would be happy.  Hopefully.

     Once the crowd murmur died down, Trotter continued.  “Second, we’re going to have a new addition to the crew tomorrow.  Since we asked nicely, the local Imperial garrison was kind enough to point us in the direction of a retired military pilot, so we’re going to have a military technical advisor.  I don’t know his name.  We’re hoping he’ll help us make the show a bit more realistic as it relates to our tactics and use of weapons.”

     That announcement didn’t really interest Seven one way or another, nor did the cast seem to care.  Just another crewmember hanging around.  Big deal.

     “Last, but certainly not least…”  Trotter pointed to the man with the yellow hat.  “This is George, one of the studio’s marketing executives.  Bah, I’ll let him tell you.  George.”

     George nodded and turned to the group.  “The demographics from the pilot episode showed that Sith Squadron scored very well with the 12-19 male demographic.  Therefore we have created…”  He opened up the suitcase and unveiled his product.  “Sith Squadron: The Action Figure Set.”

     With that he unveiled the merchandise in the suitcase: twelve action figures in their boxes.  They looked surprisingly detailed, and Seven was rather impressed at the craftsmanship.  For a moment he was excited at that prospect of having his own action figure, but then he remembered exactly why he was here and sobered up a bit.  Still…it was kind of cool.

     “This,” George said, holding up a figure, “is Baron Reno, with two green lightsabers, a bottle of Whyren’s, and a scarf…”

     “I want the scarf gone!” Owen yelled.

     “Not now,” Trotter muttered.

     “Here is Sith Two, Thunder,” George said, holding up another toy.  “It comes with a lightsaber, bottle of Whyren’s and her own telbun.  We also have, what we call around the office, a “ho” Thunder coming out.  That’ll be a huge success with the kids.”

     That brought a smile out of Seven.  He was going to have to see if he could get one of those for Thunder.  He was sure she would enjoy seeing her “ho” version of herself.

     “Here are the toys for Ryvo Lorell and Sky, complete with lightsabers and bottles of Whyren’s…”

     “That doesn’t even look like me,” Laura commented.

     “Not now,” Trotter repeated, while sighing.

     “Wait a second,” Zak interrupted, standing up.  “You skipped me, Jace Sidrona.”

     But George shook his head.  “Sorry, but I didn’t.  Look carefully at the box.  It reads “Sith Squadron: The Action Figure Set.” Jace Sidrona not included.”

     Zak gasped.  “What?  Why am I not included?”

     “Well, demographics showed that you were the least popular character of the pilot episode, and the least likely to make us money.  If your quarter hour ratings go up, we’ll see if we can put you in Series 2.”

     Dejected, Zak sat back down.

     “Here are Fox and Narska Plo‘kre, both of which come with lightsabers and realistic fur.  Narska also comes with detonators, and we have “Hairball Coughing” versions of both in production.”

     Seven cast a glance over at Fox, who didn’t seem happy with that last announcement.  He heard a low growl emit from Fox, and for a second Seven thought he was going to bum rush George.  Since that would cause nothing but problems, Seven rest a hand on his shoulder.”

     “Easy,” he said, trying to calm him down.  “Don’t growl up a lung there…or a hairball.”

     Fox shot him a look.  “That isn’t funny,” he grumbled.

     Seven smiled.  “I thought it was.”

     Up front, George continued.

     “Here we have the basic Seven and Palin figures, each of which come with lightsabers and Whyren’s.  We also have some variations of these two coming out: Bruised-face Seven and Slapping-Action Palin.”

     Suddenly, Seven’s smile vanished, though Fox erupted in laughter.

     “Now that is funny,” he heard Fox say, though Seven didn’t justify the comment with a response.  In fact, it was so not funny.  Accurate, perhaps, but still not funny.  On his other side, Michael slapped him on the back.  Seven turned to see that Michael was also laughing, apparently enjoying the fact that he would have his own action figure that came with a bruised face.

     “Oh man,” Michael said, still in minor fits of laughter.  “Isn’t that just great?”

     “Fantastic,” he muttered, his voice deadpan.

     “Here are the figures for Skate and Star, just the basic ones with lightsabers and Whyren’s.  And last but not least, Jen.  She comes with a lightsaber, Whyren’s and a Tyros Dakon figure.  There is also an “Exhausted” Jen and Tyros set coming out later, as well.  That is all that we have so far.  We’re working on figures for Xanthis, Gimmer, Vanicus, and Nuprin.  We’re also hard at work on some playsets, like the bar on the SSD, or the other bar on the SSD, or the Cantina on the SSD, which used to be the bar.  Vehicles are coming out for each toy, and there is an SSD being worked on, which is not going to be done to scale.  That’s it.”

     “Beautiful, George, thank you very much,” Trotter said.  “All right, let’s everybody get back to their sets.  We got a couple more shooting hours left in the day, let’s make the most of them.”

     The group nodded in consent and started to separate, but before Fox could get far, Seven pulled him aside, off to an empty corner of the set.

     “What?” Fox asked, once Seven let him go.

     “There’s something strange going on here on the set,” Seven said.

     “Psh, tell me about it,” Fox commented sardonically.  “I’m dressed up in a suit that looks stupider than the one I wore on Reuss and I’m playing the role of Nuprin in a holoshow about our lives.  That definitely qualifies as strange.”

     “I meant with the inner workings of the show,” Seven replied, a bit annoyed.

     “How so?”

     “I think it’s being sabotaged,” he said quietly.

     “What makes you think that?” Fox asked, the tone in his voice serious for a change.

     “I was talking to Seven…”  Fox cast him a strange glance.  “The other Seven.  He said that the pilot episode was really good, but for some reason they brought in a Producer—Rick—that no one likes, and seems to be only working at making the show worse.  The creator of the show is apparently very against Rick, and Michael said the writers are against him for sure.  I don’t know about the rest of the actors.  Look…there’s too much information to go over right now, Fox, and this place isn’t private enough.”

     “So what do you want me to do?” Fox asked.

     “Ask questions,” he repeated.  “I want to find out what the actors think about Rick.  I don’t get to see a lot of the cast since they’re off shooting with you.  Focus on them.  Rick is coming tomorrow, and I want to know as much as possible about him before he is here.”

     Fox nodded.  “You don’t think it’s the same Rick—”

     “I don’t know,” Seven interrupted.  He really didn’t know, either.  In some ways he was hoping it was Sith Rick, in others he was hoping it wasn‘t.  “We’ll see.”    

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     “Wow,” Jen said when Seven was finished giving his report.  “I’m hesitant to say it, but good job, Seven.  That’s information we can definitely work from.”

     “So no Plan B?” Seven asked.

     “Not yet.”

     Seven nodded, a bit relieved.  He in no way liked acting, but he didn’t want to have to destroy the entire studio to set back, or eliminate entirely, the production of the show.  It would be a senseless waste of lives, and that wasn’t the way he operated.

     “Fox, what did you get today?” Jen asked.

     “Well,” he started, “Seven told me to get the actors perceptions of Producer Rick.  We already knew that some people didn’t like him, mainly the writers, but it seems to pretty much be the general consensus.  I didn’t run into anyone who liked Rick.  They all had pretty much the same opinion: He’s ruining the show.  That plays pretty much into Seven’s theory.”

     Jen turned her head and looked over at him.  “You didn’t mention a theory in your report,” she said, an edge in her voice. 

     “Well, it’s not a complete theory yet,” he said.  “It’s just pure speculation at this point.  I didn’t feel it was worth mentioning until I had some facts to back it up.”

     Seven could tell that Jen wasn’t happy.  She had wanted everything reported to her, regardless of whether it could be backed up or not.  “Let’s hear it,” she said.

     Seven took a deep breath.  “Okay, just bear with me here.   Five months ago we came to Coruscant to recruit a new member: Sky.  The team was supposed to be just you, Thunder, Jace and Skate, but Palin, Rick, Star and I tagged along.”

     “I remember,” she interrupted.

     “Well, at the end of our mission, we came back with Sky…but we forgot someone.  Rick got left behind.”

      “He shouldn’t have wandered off in the first place,” Jen said.

     “Maybe not, but that’s beside the point,” he replied.  “So Rick has no real money to live off of, or buy passage off planet.  For several months he just kind of keeps a low profile, hoping that someday we’d remember that he got left behind and would send a rescue ship.”

     “Doubtful,” Jen muttered.

     “So one day Rick hears about this new show: Sith Squadron.  Obviously it rings a bell, so he goes and investigates.  As it turns out, it’s an almost exact copy of the group he belonged to.  Now even though we forgot him, he didn’t forget us.  So instead of infiltrating the set and becoming lowly actors like we did, Rick instead infiltrated Sacul Productions and took on the role of a lapdog Producer.  From there he would be in the perfect position to sabotage the show, so that our secrets never got out, or at least as many as he could control.  And he was probably hoping to make the show bad enough that it would tank in the ratings and get cancelled.  It’s a lot of speculation, Jen, but it makes sense.”

     “But if Rick is just a Producer who came in after the pilot was already shot, then how did they get the idea for Sith Squadron in the first place?”

     “That also goes back to our Coruscant mission,” he replied quickly.  “Remember, we weren’t the only ones who made an attempt to grab Sky.  Someone else was on the planet looking for a new apprentice.  Someone who has something of a grudge against us.”

     “Xanthis,” she replied.  “Why does it always have to be Xanthis…”

     “He was on planet at the time, and we haven’t heard a thing from him since,” Seven said.  “He also has a detailed knowledge of our squadron, and of the events we’ve been through.”

     Jen shook her head.  “Not this detailed,” she shot back.  “Some of the episodes I’ve heard they shot had absolutely nothing to do with Xanthis, so I don’t think he would know that much about them.”

     “But remember,” Seven said.  “Reno was a TOS prisoner for about a month.  Although I don’t like the thought of Reno breaking and giving them information about past operations, it’s certainly a possibility.  TOS has ways of breaking people.  Xanthis could’ve gotten everything from Reno himself.”

     “And also keep in mind,” Fox added, “that apparently the other Executive Producer’s name starts with an ‘X’.  That alone doesn’t make it Xanthis, but it certainly puts more weight on that side of the argument.  Who else would do something like this?”

     “Okay,” Jen said, raising her hands to stop either from talking.  “Let’s assume this theory of yours is correct, Seven.  Xanthis went to a studio and persuaded them to create Sith Squadron, and Rick got wind of it and is battling him behind the scenes and trying to get the show cancelled.  Ask yourself this:  What is Xanthis’ motivation?  What would his reason be for doing this?  He has as much to lose as we do with this, considering he would’ve made himself a central character.  Why would Xanthis do this?  Why would he expose everything about both of our sides?”

     Seven had to admit that she had a great point, although it was nothing he hadn’t thought before.  That was one of the reasons he hadn’t mentioned the theory before.  He still had to identify a motive for the act.

     “Maybe…” he started, trailing off, trying to think of an answer. “Xanthis is trying to lure us here, out in the open. He would know that the show would draw our attention and we would send people to investigate.  Maybe just getting us here was the goal all along.”

     There was a long silence and it looked to Seven like Jen was pondering this.  Maybe he had finally gotten through to her.  She had been rather…obstinate…since they had arrived.  Perhaps he had finally given her an idea she thought was possible.           

     “It’s a little farfetched,” she finally said, “and based on a lot of speculation…”

     “Just as I originally said,” Seven cut in.

     “…but it isn’t entirely unlikely,” she conceded.  “Okay, executive decision time.  From now on, we’re operating under the assumption that Xanthis might be behind this all, and is waiting in the wings to spring a trap on us.  I want you two to take your lightsabers with you on the set.”

     “Security is pretty tight,” Fox said.

     “Yeah,” Seven added.  “I’m not sure we can get a lightsaber in.”

     “Then be real resourceful-like,” Jen said.  “Find a way to get one in.”

     Seven and Fox nodded, since there was nothing else they really could do.  Jen was in charge.  What she said was law.

     “So what do think we do about this new Imperial military technical advisor?” Seven asked.

     “Nothing,” she said back.  “He means nothing to us, nor is he a part of our mission.  He’s just some random retired Imp pilot.  Stay out of his way.”

     “Roger that,” Seven said.  Now came the big question.  “And what do we do tomorrow if Producer Rick does end up being Sith Rick?”   

     Jen sighed.  “You’ll have to confront him,” she said.  “If your theory is right and he’s helping to stop the show, then I don’t think he would blow our cover.  That said…”

     “Stay on guard?”

     “Exactly.  He might be working to stop the show, but I have a feeling that if it is him, he probably isn’t too happy with us.  I mean, we left him behind and forgot about him for a couple of months.  That can’t do much for your ego.  If he’s trying to stop production, he probably has other motives than a desire to help us.  That is, if it is Rick at all.”

     Seven nodded.  “Well, we need to get some sleep,” he said.  “Tomorrow should prove to be very interesting, and I think we’re going to need every bit of sleep we can get.”

     Fox nodded and retreated to his quarters.  Seven turned to go, but before he could reach the door Jen stopped him by grabbing his arm.

     “Something else, Colonel?” he asked, again using her title.  Considering how confrontational she seemed to be on this mission, he thought it was better to be as respectful as possible.

     “You did well today, Seven,” she said, her words slow and kind of trailing off like she wanted to say more.

     “But…?”

     “But you still need to get this done quicker,” she finished.  “You have two days left to stop the production of this show.  You can’t afford to just keep asking questions.  You‘re going to have to take action.”

     “I need to get a full grasp of the situation before I act,” he said.

     “But you’re never going to get a full grasp on the situation,” she said back.  “That applies to any mission, really.  You aren’t going to be able to learn everything about a situation before acting.  Sometimes a leader has to act on their instincts and hunches, and isn’t allowed the luxury of having everything laid out in front of them.  It’s just the nature of our business.  You could spend four months on that set asking questions and getting information, but you’ll never learn everything.  That full grasp that you’re looking for doesn’t exist, Seven, and it never will.”

     “So what do you want me to do?” he asked.

     “By this time tomorrow, I want a plan of attack,” she said.  “No excuses.  We need to get this operation done.  Make your plan tomorrow, execute it the following day, and then we’ll get back to the SSD in plenty of time for the Argolis mission.”

     “You still keep saying ‘you, you, you’” Seven noted.  “I need to make my plan, I need to execute it.  I need to do this.  This would be a hell of a lot easier if you started doing your job, too.”

     Jen stared harshly at him, and for a second Seven thought she was going to punch him or something.  But then the anger quelled and she seemed to calm down.  She took a deep breath.

     “I am doing my job,” she said, while pushing herself past Seven.  “You just make sure you do yours.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     Palin waited until Mosley was off duty before following him around.  Before she confronted him, she wanted to at least see if she could spot any strange behavior.  Maybe even catch him in the act of doing something.  After he left the bridge, the first thing he did was go to the mess hall and talk to some of the off duty soldiers.  Stormtroopers and other naval lieutenants, mostly.  She couldn’t read his lips, but it again looked like he was questioning people.

     That’s it.  I’m confronting him. And I’m not being gentle about it.

     As Mosley left the mess hall and the doors slid closed behind him, she grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up and into the wall on the opposing side of the hall.  Mosley, so startled and scared by the incident, let out a terrified cry.

     “Help!  Help!  Don’t hurt me!  I didn’t do anything!”

     “I’m not so sure of that,” Palin said.  “What was the price, Mosley?  What did they pay you to spy on us?  How much did they give you for all that info you gave them…enough to start their own Sith Squadron show?  Million?  Two?”

     “Please, my lady…I don’t know what you’re talking about!  Honestly!” Mosley cried.  “I’m just new here…I’m scared!  I just wanted to know what things were like here!”

     “Oh, a likely story,” she countered.  “One that might pass with other people.  Not with me.  You’d better start telling me the truth, or I’m going to beat it out of you…”

     “Palin!”

     The new voice startled her.  Star was running down the hallway towards them, a concerned look on her face.  Although it was well within Palin’s rights to beat up any crewmember whenever she wanted, Star was always one of those people who objected to such behavior.  Kind of one of the humanitarians of the group.  Seven was also like that.                                

     Seven…

     “What are you doing?” Star asked when she reached Palin and Mosley.

     “Just a little interrogation, nothing to be worried about,” Palin explained.  “Mosley here has been going around the SSD questioning people.  Been asking about stories, squad members, the whole works.  Computer records show that he’s also accessed the video and personnel archives, which is a restricted area for him.  Add that all up, and I’d say we’ve found our leak.”  

     Star looked between Palin and Mosley, and finally nodded.  “Okay, if that’s the case then you should’ve come to us.  In your condition you shouldn’t be hunting down traitors.”

      “I’m not dead,” Palin said.  “Just pregnant.  This was well within my capabilities, thank you.”

     “I didn’t say you couldn’t take care of it, just that you shouldn’t—”

     Then Mosley made his move.  He reached towards his wrist chrono and pushed a button, which made the device begin to emit a gaseous substance.  With his other hand, he grabbed a portable gas mask that he apparently kept tucked away in his uniform and put it on.  The gas that he had in his chrono was powerful stuff, as Palin was instantly feeling drowsy.  Star, she could see, was already beginning to collapse.  Palin felt her grip on Mosley slacken, and the young lieutenant—or whoever he really was—pushed her to the ground and ran away. 

     The last image she saw before blacking out wasn’t Mosley running away, though.  Instead, she saw Seven’s face, smiling at her as he always did. As she slipped away into the darkness, she just hoped that it wasn’t the last time she saw it. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *