Cover Artist: John Van Fleet

In the fledgling days of the new Empire, Shea Hublin commands a squadron of V-Wings involved on an assault on Kelrodo-Ai. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he firmly believes that there is a place for everyone in the Empire, regardless of species. In an assault on the main defending fortress, he loses a group of pilots who were flying through a pipe to destroy the reactor, and on a replay of their cameras, he finds they were killed by a life form infesting the pipe. With some information provided by his Kelrodoan valet, he learns that he needs to move very slowly to avoid destruction at the hands of the life form. Taking what he has learned, his squad succeeds in destroying the reactor and escaping with their lives. He tells his valet that they only succeeded because of his information, and then gets an unexpected call from Moff Tarkin himself, congratulating him on his success.