In the floating city Anthan Spire, Dr Aphra remarks that the storms are fierce and asks if the information broker the Ante is not worried about having his base here. He explains that tourists come to watch the storms, which he likens to asteroid belts but with more style. When Dr Aphra asks if it is possible to navigate through the asteroid belts, he opines that it is not possible. Dr Aphra allows her droids Triple Zero and Beetee to have fun while she and the Ante talk.
Meanwhile, Darth Vader and Inspector Thanoth mobilize a strike force of stormtroopers. Using the Dragon's data, Thanoth was able to pose as an interested party and arrange a meeting with the Ante. Thanoth believes that the Ante will lead them straight to the larcenists behind the theft of the Son-tuul Pride fortune. The two depart with a contingent of stormtroopers aboard a Lambda-class shuttle.
Elsewhere, Dr Aphra tells the Ante that she is after the location of Luke Skywalker, the rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star. However, the Ante reveals that other parties are interested in Skywalker and that he has raised the price. Using the credits from the stolen Son-tuul Pride heist, Dr Aphra is able to leverage the Ante into revealing that Skywalker is on the planet Vrogas Vas.
Vader and Tanoth's forces storm the Spire
Meanwhile, Triple Zero is playing a game with a Duros but ends up losing his credits. While receiving orders from Dr Aphra to return to the Ark Angel, Imperial forces storm the Spire. When Triple Zero grumbles about losing a game to the Duros "cheater", Beetee instigates a gunfight by shooting a patron, leading to a gun battle between the Imperials and gamblers.
Following the gun battle, Darth Vader and Inspector Thanoth confront the Ante at his base. The Ante surrenders and offers to help the Empire despite the destruction of his records. He tells them that the Plasma Devils' base is on the Thanteen Substrata on Anthan 1. Before he can offer more, Thanoth tells him that they are looking for the culprits who stole the Son-Tuul Pride's treasure in transit. The Ante identifies a fleeing Dr Aphra as the culprit.
Darth Vader uses the Force to deflect a Mon Calamari sniper's blaster bolt at the Ante's chest, killing him in order to prevent him from divulging more information to the Empire. Inspector Thanoth dispatches stormtroopers after Dr Aphra while Vader vows that she will not escape. With the help of Beetee, Dr Aphra escapes through a sliding blast door. She runs into Darth Vader who tells her not to struggle before Force choking her. Aphra reveals that she knows where Skywalker is but will tell him later.
Darth Vader allows her to escape by blocking the path of Thanoth's stormtroopers with debris. When Thanoth arrives, he claims that she prepared a trap. Meanwhile, Dr Aphra and the droids fly the Ark Angel through the storms. Despite being pursued by an Arquitens-class light cruiser and TIE fighters, the Ark Angel escapes through the Imperial blockade into space. Vader promises that they will soon have Dr Aphra in their hands. Thanoth replies that they will see what she has to say.
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