War. All Urlow knew in his life was war. His father was in the Republic Navy fighting the traitors from Geonosis to Courasant. His father died above Yavin when Urlow was 17, fighting some other group of traitors, ones loyal to the traitorous Jedi. Urlow himself seemed to be apt at war just like his father. Urlow though was no Captain, he was never all that interested in how the great metal shells would throw green specs at each other.  No. Urlow loved four things in this world: Halkori Ale, the Empire, the feeling of victory, and an intense battle, anywhere, anytime, any range. Which made him a perfect stormtrooper. 

Urlow had joined the Stormtrooper Academy at the age of 13, and he didn’t leave until he was 20, having had to go to officer school on Courasant, Pilot Training at Kryat, and Stormtrooper training on three dozen worlds only half of which he could remember. Now it had been four years of non-stop war for him. First on Mimban, where he taught those filthy Jedi-lovers a lesson with the butt of his E-11 Blaster Rifle and knife. He loved that planet, the mud, the war, the smell of burnt dirt and blood, it a paradise of a young man seeking revenge against his father’s killers. Unfortunately, the Mimbanese couldn’t withstand him and the rest of the 42nd Stormtrooper Division forever, and soon after he was attached to an army hunting that rat bastard Luke Skywalker. He knew Luke would never hear of him, but he could make his rebel friends pay for killing his father. Urlow came to love the tight, close quarters fighting of cramped little Corellian Corvettes and the halls of those Squid-Faced fucker’s ships. Best of all he got to use his knife more and a flechette thrower. Those traitors never stood a chance as he and his ever-changing squad would make those halls run red. For his bravery fighting alongside Lord Vader who personally ordered his promotion of Lieutenant.

Now, Urlow was taken from the fighting and sent to some Outer Rim backwater called Toa to help “pacify” the locals. To call Urlow disgruntled with the state of affairs would be an understatement. He was hoping for a new Mimban, not helping train local Imperial Army units and Stormtrooper Newbies. Each night he’d join his fellow officers only to listen to the Navy brats act like he was the same man as his father, like they knew him. He only found comfort on the ale. That all changed one morning when AN-0124, the trainer in charge of getting the Tankers back in fighting shape was nearly killed by an accident involving an AT-ST’s leg joint failure, and Urlow was told to take his place. There, he too was injured by an AT-ST parts failure and was ordered to “take it easy” and “enjoy the local sights” or was teased by his higher ups “to find a woman to give you a son that’d make your poppa proud”.

Now, Urlow is walking about one of the suburbs of Toa, he’s still walking around normally but his C.Os are not letting him get back to work. The streets of the suburb are lined with colorful houses, with ornate flower patterns and occasional cafes and shops. However, if Urlow hated one thing about the Empire, it was a belief that his idol Vader held too, slavery was a moral blight upon the Empire’s greatness and should be ended. In part because Urlow figured that the slaver races like the Trandos would be a brutal fight, but that was “totally” irrelevant to his stance. 

Urlow was not used to this kind of quiet world either, he was told not to wear his uniform and was forced to wear local casual clothes, which he found to be much too light and breathable when compared to his “fine dress” of battle-scarred stormtrooper armor.

He finds himself getting a bit hungry and finds himself one of those cafes that seem to be everywhere until you want one. He tries to enjoy the serenity, and after ordering he takes a seat at one of the tables outside, as he waits, he watches the locals running about their lives and is reminded of his purpose here as some of the I.A patrols actually don’t fuck with the locals for once. He runs his hand along his face, feeling all the little scars from all his favorite battles, the one just right of the eye that he got on Mimban where a local nearly shoved an axe into his skull, or the one that forms a ring around his left where a rebel grenade blew out the lens on some ship before he shot the man at least two dozen times.

Not long after he sits down a Lupi girl of all races comes up to the café, orders something, and sits at the table adjacent to his. There’s a silence for a time, but eventually the girl speaks up.

“You must’ve lived a hard life, did the empire do that to you?” She asks. She seems almost saddened, but clearly has already seen and determined the scars across Urlow’s face.

Oh great, lemme guess a local university student coming to bitch about the empire. He thinks. Actually, lets have some fun here. “I guess you could say that.” He says trying his best to smile.

“Were you a slave as a kid too?” She asks. “I-i-it just looks like you have a electro-prod scar on your neck.”

“It was an electro-prod, but I’ve never been a slave.” Urlow answers. 

“I can tell you’re not from around here, so what brings you here.” She asks inquisitively.

“I’m a-“ Urlow catches himself, remembering his orders not to tell anyone he’s with the Empire off base. “I’m here for work.” He says.

“You aren’t a slaver are you?” She asks seeming to pull back.

“If I had it my way those bastards would be declared enemies of the empire and have every Stormtrooper Corp in the galaxy from Tatooine to Courasant descend upon those wretched worlds and give them a taste of a book on their neck.” Urlow says smiling at the idea of fighting Trandosans.

The girl smiles. “I’m Lop, and you are?” she asks.

“Call me Urlow” he says returning the same smile.

Their orders soon come, Urlow gets his “house special” of some noodle disk and tea while Lop only gets some tea. The two continue to talk about the planet and the empire as their conversation continues. For the first time since his childhood Urlow finds himself enjoying a conversation with a civilian, it’s a warm feeling, one that isn’t a dark tinted as conversations with his fellow stormtroopers.

“Yeah the Empire’s been pretty brutal here later, they’re cracking down on a lot of the old ways, like the lightsaber tradition, the old force dances, and all sorts of things, its really getting people angry.” Lop says.

“Really? You call this brutal? I’ve been on planets where the I’ve seen I.A boots help the slavers keep people in chains. Even Lord Vader hates slavery in this empire.” Urlow remarks.

“Wait WHAT?!” Lop says in shock.

“The Imperial Army thing or the Vader thing?” Urlow asks.

“THE VADER THING OF COURSE! How’d you even hear about that?!” She demands.

“I was on Kryat -I think- I heard the some of the dock workers, old clones, talking about how Vader was actually General Anakin from the Clone Wars, but the Jedi tried to kill him for falling in love and pushing to end slavery in the Republic. It’s why the 501st were so loyal to him, so they claim, was because he treated them like soldiers not slaves, and the rest of the Jedi treated the clones like slaves.” 

“No way, Vader being General Skywalker? That would mean that Luke Skywalker is what? His kid? Did his lover run away with Luke and the Jedi raise him or something?” Lop asks.

“I have no idea, all I know is from what old clones told me and if you’ve ever met one of them, then you’d know they only love two things and hate three.” Urlow says.

“I’ve never met a clone before Urlow, I was just a baby when the Republic died, and the C.I.S never really bothered from what Yasaboro told me.” She says, her ears flopping down.

“Its fine, the Republic wasn’t that great, it was run by those Jedi Slavers, and it was overthrown by Palpatine who led the clones in rebellion against them. It was corrupt, so much so that the Hutts ran the outer rim and they let Deathwatch takeover Mandalore. It was horrible growing up. I’m glad that failing oligarchy died.” Urlow rants.

Lop considers his words and opens her mouth to speak but a holodisk on she has begins to beep. “I’m sorry Urlow but I have to go, you uh want to uh meet uh here tomorrow?” She asks eagerly, bouncing on her two feet. 

“I’d love to” Urlow responds. 

Not long after Lops leaves Urlow, he too leaves back to base. He’s wearing a smile, not the smile he has in battle, but a softer, calmer, more relaxed one. This change isn’t lost on his peers. 

“Hey Urlow, I hear rumors that they want to promote you to Colonel around here, and maybe an indefinite station to this base, top brass thinks you might be too valuable to put back on the frontlines. That wouldn’t upset you right?” Pokes the General in-charge of the local operation. 

“Did someone shoot Urlow and replace him? I’ve never seen him smile like a normal person” laughs the Captain of the other Stormtrooper unit on base. 

“I think I know what happened to our dear peer Urlow the Bloodthirsty, he met a girl.” Smugly says another officer. “I’ve seen it before, in the Clone Wars with General Kenobi, and once more with Yrawn, both met women and vanished from history, likely filling their days by filling their women.” He says raising his arms at the room’s near universal agreement.

Everyone expected Urlow to sneer at them, but instead the unthinkable happened. Urlow laughed, a good heartly laugh. “You think I want to stuff a Lupi?” He laughs.

“A LUPI? I’d fill a Lupi, a Trando, hell even a Bonthan with myself!” Cheers one of the Naval officers.

“I’m more of a Twi’lek guy myself, but I’m waiting for Vader to take power so that old bastard on the throne’s 2000 years out of date ideas can die with him on inter-species relationships.” Laments on of the supply officers.

The conversation turns away from Urlow’s change in attitude to one about the women of the galaxy, the one’s they’d been with, and they ones they’d want to be with. Urlow sees himself to his quarters and watches the Galactic Nightly News to find that the Empire had found a rebel base on Hoth and destroyed it but not before most of the forces could flee. The fighting looked like a boring slow advance, not even worth fighting when there were so much better ongoing campaigns. Urlow goes to sleep at his usual time, about 21:30, this time thinking about meeting Lop again tomorrow rather than the next time he gets to shank a rebel in the throat. 

The next day comes, and Urlow goes back to exploring town before going back to the café with Lop already waiting for him at the café. “Hey Urlow, how well do you know this city?” She asks.

“I know it exists, there’s a cute Lupi named Lop, and the noodles here have spices in them.” Urlow says trying to be funny.

“Wait say that again.” Lop asks.

“I know it exists” Urlow says.

“After that.” Lop requests.

“There’s a cute Lupi named Lop.” He says.

Lop’s ears flush red, and she smiles. She stands up, resting her hands above her shaking bunny tail, and says. “Come on Urlow, I bet you’ll find the city to be fun.”

Urlow follows lop to a train station, getting on what seems to be just a regular old speeder train. The city is relatively normal looking to Urlow, but as he knows, most cities look the same from afar, the difference is within them.

“Say Urlow, how long are you going to be on Toa?” She asks.

“As long as my high ups want me to be I guess.” Urlow states.

“So where are some of the other places you’ve been around the galaxy?” Lop asks, curious as to the galaxy out from beyond Toa’s orbit.

“Well I was on Couresant for a good portion of my schooling, then Kryat for pilot training, after that a few dozen worlds for C-D School. I went back home to Dantooine for Dad’s funeral after he died during the battle of Yavin. Not long after I began my first real Job.” Urlow says, not telling a lie, but using words he knows are misleading.

“Your Dad died above Yavin?” Lop asks. “Was he Rebellion or Imperial?” She further questions.

Urlow gives Lop a look that says are you serious? “My Dad was first Republic, then Imperial, every man in my family had been in the Navy as far back as anyone can remember, you could probably look up the Mandolorian Wars and boom one of my ancestors was probably fighting right next to Revan. All my brothers are Navy, all my sisters married navy men.” Urlow shrugs.

“But what about you?” Lop asks. 

“I tried to be Navy, I learned I prefer to have my feet on solid ground.” Urlow says.

“So your family is all Imperial?” Lop asks, clearly upset by the news.

“They’re just navy, republic, empire, it doesn’t matter really.” Urlow says.

“I think it matters.” Lop says.

“Have you ever left the outer rim?” Urlow asks.

“No.” Lop says.

“I want you to tell me how horrible the empire is out here, and I’ll tell you my experience.” Urlow says.

“The Empire is trying to keep us down, restrict our freedoms to move around the planet, they try to usurp power from the old clans, and establish themselves, they try to make everything based around them. It’s a scary prospect, it got people worried, and I’m worried that something bad is gonna happen. My sister tried working with the Imperials here, and the clans attacked them, and now they brought in more Imperials and the clans are too scared to do anything about that. I miss my sister, Ocho, I don’t know what the imperials did with her after the attack.” Lop says.

“If I told you I was a stormtrooper would you still want to talk with me?” Urlow asks.

“What kind of question is that?” Lop states.

“A silly one, but try to answer it.” Urlow states.

“If you, Urlow, was a stormtrooper… I don’t know…” She says trailing off.

Urlow can feel those words stab into his heart worse than any Mimbani bayonet. “Its just a what if, don’t worry too much about it.” Urlow says forcing a smile.

Lop is lost in her thoughts. “If Urlow was a stormtrooper…”

The city is crawling with I.A Grunts, many of whom are antagonizing locals against policy, and Urlow takes mental note of which platoons are doing it. This is why people hate the fucking Empire, lazy ass officers are just letting their grunts run wild. You know what? If I get a chance to become some big shot on this base I’m gonna run this ship airtight Urlow resolves. 

“Hey Urlow you look upset, is anything wrong.” Lop asks.

“Yeah, in all my travels I’ve never seen I.A forces this out of line, if Holny were he I bet the local imperial base would have so many court martials and summary executions of officers they’d have to bring in those red robed fuckers to train new ones.” Urlow laughs.

“Really its that bad?” Lop asks fidgeting nervously as an I.A patrol passes.

The two of them spend the day running around the town, going to shops trying deserts, and all sorts of things people with a day off would be doing. By the end of it they’re at some riverport, looking over the water as the sun begins to set. 

“Oh, right, Urlow, can I get your holonumber?” Lop asks.

“Yeah sure.” Urlow says handing Lop his holopad.

After inputting the information, Lop types something on her side and runs off. Moments later “Lets meet here tomorrow around noon.” Shows up on his screen.

Urlow and Lop meet up the next day. And the day after, and every day for the next week, then month. Eventually the seasons change and Lop can’t come out as much as its harvest season. Urlow is promoted to Lieutenant colonel and begins keep the companies under his command on a tight rope when doing patrol duties. Later the Colonel is recalled to Couresant for political reasons leaving Urlow as action Colonel on base, and using his newfound power enforces his stormtrooper discipline on the other units. He also found out that Ocha, Lop’s sister was attending a Governing University on Couresant, free of charge as a gift from the Empire to her directly.

One evening Urlow is made to join his fellow officers at a meeting with local clans and their families to discuss the status of the occupation. While waiting for the conference to start, one of the local clan leaders, mentions his daughter hanging out with a man named Urlow.

The entire room turns towards Urlow. “Dynamo Yasaburo, Urlow is the acting commander of the local base, if you need to speak with him, he’s right there.” States one of the Navy Officers.

Almost instantly after that was said Lop walks in the room with her full formal dress on. “Lop, my dear daughter, the man you’ve been spending time with is Urlow yes?” Asks the man.

“Yes, Urlow.” She affirms 

Urlow feels his heart sink as Dynamo Yasaburo begins to speak again. “Do you know what he does for a living?” He asks.

“No, I do know he’s been to a lot of planets for work though.” Lop says obviously confused as to why she’s being questioned.

Dynamo Yasaburo raises a hand towards Urlow. “Is that man perhaps Urlow?” He asks.

“N-“ Is all Lop says as she turns to face Urlow “U-h-h-h Th-th-th-that’s Urlow.” She says staring in shock at the saddened Urlow. “Urlow why are you here?” She asks.

“Remember how I asked you how you’d treat me if I was a stormtrooper? Well I was a Lieutenant at the time, but over the time I’ve known you I’ve become the leader of the entire occupation of the city.” He says.

Lop stares blankly at Urlow. “So, it wasn’t just a silly question was it.” She says. 

Urlow feels his heart sink as he says his next set of words. “I suppose you’ll have to make that decision now.” He says each word paining him. “Also, Ocha will soon be done with her Governing degree on Couresant and will be being integrated into the local Imperial Government before assuming power herself. The Governor-General of the System has been diverging from the Tarkin doctrine to adopt the Thrawian one in the wake of Tarkins death nearly 8 years ago now.”

The conference goes about a smoothly as it could’ve. After discussing terms, and a newly raving review of the discipline of the occupation forces, the celebrations begin, and it leaves Urlow and Lop sitting next to each other in the corner of loud room between deafening silence.

“Urlow.” Lop says.

“Yes Lop?” Answers Urlow.

“Why did you lie to me then?” She asks.

“I was under orders to not tell anyone I was a stormtrooper except fellow officers.” He explains.

“So you didn’t have a choice.” She says.

“No, not really.” Urlow answers.

“Would you have if could’ve?” She asks.

“I’m not sure, I really liked spending time with you but I thought you’d be scared of me if I said I was a stormtrooper, and I didn’t want you to be scared.” Urlow answers.

“You’re right, I don’t think I would’ve then, but now’s a different story isn’t it.” She says, her ears lifting slightly.