A man gazed through the thick, transparent floor of his room. The abyss he stared into was filled with thousands of brightly colored vehicles as they swooped and swerved around each other.
Walling the flying cars in was a complex grid of skyscrapers, each stretching miles into the sky; their matte walls were dotted with with light blue windows. A bleak smog hung over the city, its tendrils drifting lazily between the artificial monoliths.
A sudden beep broke the silence of the climate-controlled room. The man pulled a palm-sized device out of his pocket as a crackling voice began to talk, “Hey, I’ve got-”, but did not get the chance to finish.
“Who is it?” the man interrupted, casting a furtive glance around his small room. A fake potted plant rested on a black coffee table, and a small kitchenette extruded unobtrusively from the back wall. As if sensing nothing suspicious, he ambled over to the nearby couch.
As he sat down, another static-laden transmission announced a new attempt at conversation. “Your name is Lorn Pavan, and quit messing with me. I’m the only one who has your number.”
“True,” Lorn Pavan said with a smile.
“Stop it, Pavan, or I’m not going to give you the info,” the man said. A brief whirring noise almost drowned him out as the couch adjusted to Lorn’s physique. “And if you do a favor for me, I’ll give you it for free.”
Lorn chuckled as he replied, “You know I don’t do that.”
“Well, today you do. All I want is for you to grab some data cards from the warehouse where you’ll be going soon.”
“Whose warehouse?”
“Zitto the Hutt’s,” the man said after a long pause. Zitto was an extremely dangerous and powerful crime lord. But power came with money, and if you pulled a successful heist on him, then you were set for life. However, the odds of that occurring were close to zero.
Lorn wisely replied, “No.”
“Come on man, if you do it, we’d be rich.” The man was persistent, Lorn acknowledged.
“Cracking the access code? Evading the surveillance? Getting past the guards? Your job is next to impossible!” Lorn jabbed his finger down to terminate the call but froze when he heard, “I have the access codes. Here's the deal - I give you the codes, you go into the warehouse, grab my data cards, and grab anything you want on the way out. It’s a win-win.”
“Send them to me.”
* * * * * 

Lorn was rethinking the plan. He was currently being chased by two brutish thugs spraying blaster fire in his direction. The bolts ricocheted off the metal surfaces of the corridor, exploding giant shipping containers. Smoke filled the air and he started coughing. A blaster bolt flew dangerously close and his clothes lit on fire. He fell to the ground and rolled, narrowly avoiding another shot.
“Now, I-Five!” Lorn Pavan called out the name of his droid. I-5WQ was a precisely one point seven meters tall, and loaded with the latest illegal gear. Finger lasers, painful ultrasonic speakers, a microwave projector beam, secret compartments, and spotlight eyes. Despite being his droid, I-Five was treated with the same respect and dignity as a human business partner.
“Certainly, Pavan,” the droid replied as Lorn cupped his hands over his ears. A loud, wailing shriek emitted from the droid. The burly guards screamed, fell against the intricately-tiled wall, and writhed in pain for a few seconds before falling unconscious.
“Well done, I-Five.” Lorn Pavan ran to the guards, stripping them of all their weapons. He started to walk away before turning back and pumping each guard with a few stun bolts. A smile flitted across his face. “I always wanted to do that.”
Lorn and I-Five ran down the narrow passageway for a couple minutes and reached a large, solid metal door. Lorn Pavan raised his blaster and fired a few fruitless shots. Each one blistered the skin of the door but didn't come close to breaking through.
“Lorn, that won’t be necessary. We have the key to this one.” I-Five interrupted. He held out his hand, pressing it to the doorknob. Two consecutive clicks and a hiss later, they were inside.
Lorn Pavan took five steps before freezing.
He was greeted by enough riches to feed a multitude of worlds. Entire fortunes lay scattered on the floor in bags. Stacks of gold and rare minerals piled hundreds of feet into the air. The walls were lined with inlaid gems and expensive art. Beautiful spacecraft lay parked on giant, hovering platforms.
“Well, I think we just hit the jackpot.”
“I concur, Lorn Pavan. The man said the data tapes were in the side room over there.” He pointed towards a small, inconspicuous door. The duo walked over, gazing at the treasures before them. It became even more apparent that this job was dangerous. Cameras swiveled in their direction, but saw nothing due to I-Five’s advanced sensor disrupters.
They opened the door, revealing a small room holding only one computer and three thumb-sized black cubes. Growing more and more paranoid, he grabbed the chips and put them in I-Fives’ chest compartment. They turned around, and saw the two thugs they had stunned earlier.
“Run!” yelled Lorn. He pulled his blaster and fired four shots. One of them hit the first guard in the chest, knocking him over a table, his scorched body armor filled the room with a horrible smell. The second thug ran up to Lorn, and before he could fire a shot, pulled the blaster from his grip. “I-five, help me!”
The yellow-eyed droid turned around and held his hand up. Two streams of brilliant red light flew towards  the guard,  bouncing off his armored chest. He turned around, and I-Five shifted his hand, pointing it towards the big man's face.
“Argh!” he screamed in pain and dropped to his knees, eyes cupped over his burned and useless eyes.
Both ran from the room, passing the first guard who lay unconscious on the floor, heading towards the exit. They were only a few steps away when an alarm began to sound and the great doors began to lower. The piercing ring made Lorn remember - they needed to get something!
“I-Five, grab a box!” I-Five looked around and selected the nearest one, a small red box resting on a hovering push-cart. The two guards must have been manning it before they saw Lorn Pavan and I-Five. It was on full power and already on.
I-Five used his superhuman strength  to grab the cart  and pull it out through the door  in the nick of time. Panting, and out of breath, Lorn Pavan whispered, “To that car.”
Five armed guards turned the corner and opened fire on the two as they leapt into the waiting car. In it, the driver hastily said, “Hi, Lorn,” before bolting out of the alley. Lorn Pavan recognized the voice, and told I-Five to hand over the data chips. As the tarnished droid opened his chest compartment, a raspy voice came from the hovering cart.
“I don’t know who I’m talking too, but give me back my son if you value your life.” Both men paled as they heard the voice of the most feared crime lord in the galaxy. I-Five slowly opened the crate, revealing a Hutt baby sleeping peacefully on the pillows inside.