The Ghost was not what she once was. over thirty years since the end of the Galactic Civil War, while Hera had done her best to keep it in top shape, her old ship, much like her self, had began to tire with age.
"I know, Chop," the old Twi'lek said from the captain chair of the far too quiet ship. "But Kanan will forgive me... I just... I have to try." New Republic Senator Hera Syndulla-Jarrus sighed.
This ship was once bustling with activity. It was once a home. It housed her family. A family that has since scattered and splintered.
She left in the night, while her blind husband laid sleeping. There was no doubt he would be angry, but she had to try. She had to.
After the Battle of Starkiller Base, she knew she had to make one final attempt to reach out. Even if it cost her her life, she knew she would be with her husband again when he would eventually be taken by the Force. Of all the Senators, leaders, generals, and even the legendary Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and General Leia Solo, she had the best chance at bringing peace again.
She brought the Ghost out of hyperspace, and she saw the grand flagship, a Ultra-Stardestroyer, one of a kind, and much larger than even the Super Stardestroyer, floating in space, specifically awaiting her.
Without even asking for identification, a familiar voice spoke through the com, instructing her to land and breaking her heart at the coldness that sounded. Hera's lower lip trembled a moment before she manuvered the ship into the landing bay of the massive flag ship.
Hera walked down the ramp to find the chrome plated Storm Trooper alone awaiting her. "The Supreme Commander is awaiting, Senator."
"After everything we've been through, all I am is a senator to you?" Hera asked, not masking her sadness.
"You know you mean more to me," Captain Phasma replied, "But things have changed. I have changed."
"A simple chrome armor? it definitely shows you have changed," Hera noted.
"It catches all the colors around it, constantly changing," Phasma explained, "Like me."
"You can't believe any of this is right," Hera stated as the two walked through the empty hallways, obviously been cleared for her visit.
"You don't know what I believe," Phasma replied, "There's a much bigger picture none in the Republic can see. I still am surprised you and Kanan can't see it."
"Then show us, work with us," Hera replied, "What he is doing is wrong, how many lives has he taken? destroyed? The first was our family!"
"Sacrifices for the greater good, Hera, you of all know what that means," Phasma replied.
"He's not Ezra anymore, Sabine," Hera stopped and turned directly toward the Storm Trooper. "You have to at least see that..."
"I... I know this," Phasma lowered her head, "But he's all I have left of him. And for better or for worse, my place is by his side. Just as yours is by Kanan. And don't tell me if Kanan had turned to the Dark Side, you wouldn't still stood by his side. You love him. Just as I love him."
"Sabine..." Hera breathed.
"Come, the Supreme Leader awaits..." she approached a final door, and stood by it after opening it for the Senator.
Hera gave her one final look before she entered the darkened chamber. It looked like a ruined Jedi Temple that they had explored years earlier... before the dark times came... before she watched her family fall appart.
The hologram of the massive, scarred creature appeared before. "You are quite bold to make contact with me, Senator Syndulla..." Supreme Leader Snoke chuckled
"Save the theatrics, Ezra," Hera snapped at the Supreme Leader, "I don't want to talk to the puppet, I want to talk to My Son!"
Snoke chuckled a moment before fading away, along with the visage of the fallen temple. Hera found herself in a large open metallic room, and a moment later she was standing before the Ghost on Lothal. "You used to love my theatrics, Hera..."
a dark, graying-haired man in dark robes stepped down the ramp of the old ship and his blue eyes focused on Hera. He walked up to the Twi'lek and they embraced. For a solitary moment, the war was an after thought.
"I missed you..." Hera whispered.
"And I've missed you," Ezra Bridger replied, "And Kanan, Zeb, and even Chopper..."
"Ezra, end this, please..." Hera clung to the front of his dark cloak. "Please... come home... no one outside of our circle knows who you or Sabine really are... you can come home, and let this go." Tears she didn't even know she had been fighting ran down her cheek. "I can't bear this anymore, Ezra... I ... I need my family. I need you home. You and Sabine... we need you. we miss you..."
"Even if Luke and Leia would forgive us... especially for what I've done to Leia and Han'd son... and Han himself... it's too late for us. we've gone too far, and you know it..." He smile sadly, "For the good of the Galaxy, for the good of you and Kanan, and even Luke and Leia, I have to stay the course."
"They'll kill you!" Hera cried, buring her face in her son's chest, "Ezra, they'll either kill you out right or publically execute you... And for what?"
"It's better none of you know, but it is for the greater good, Hera," Ezra stated, his own tears flowing. "I have to continue to play this part. I wish I could make you understand but for now... we have to be enemies."
"Ezra ... please..." Hera sobbed, no longer a Rebel General, no longer a Republic Senate, no longer a warship captain, but a broken mother losing her son to darkness.
"I appreciate your care, it means more than you'll ever know..." Ezra stated, holding her tightly. "If this leads to my death, so be it. I didn't wish for Sabine to follow me, but I'm doing my best to protect her. I promise you that." He cupped Hera's face, the face of the only mother he ever knew, "One day, you will understand why I have to walk this course..." He stepped back from her, "You may leave in peace, Hera, but never return. Until this is over... we can never see one another again. For that, I am more sorry than you'll ever know..."
Hera took a step away, still staring at her son. after studing him for what seemed like a lifetime she turned her back and placed her hand on the exit door.
"Hera..." Ezra called after her, "For what it's worth... I love you."
"I... I know," Hera half sobbed without turning back to him, "I love you, too, Ezra..."
"And... tell Kanan... I'm sorry..." Ezra said as she walked out of the chamber.
"She's right you know..." Phasma stated, walking up and removing her helmet. "No one outside of our little circle of former friends knows that we are who we are..." she said standing beside her lover.
"After Kylo Ren struck down Han Solo?" Ezra asked, as he manifested the visage of Supreme Leader Snoke before them. "We have to stay strong, so we can make the New Republic strong. So that the Jedi Order and the Republic Fleet will rise strong enough to face what's coming, and understand that they will need to be stronger than they are." Ezra stared into the eyes of his creation, "They need a monster to fight, to rally against, and test their strength, then when the real monsters come... they will be ready." he sighed, but remained determined. "Kanan taught me that it's better to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good. And that's what I'm trying to do... all the lives that we've taken... the deaths we caused... the planets Starkiller destroyed... the Solo family... Han... we have to... make them mean something, Sabine."
"And we will..." She took his hand, "We will..."
just a short little plot bunny I had after rewatching The Force Awakens. What if Snoke and Phasma are really Ezra and Sabine? then the plot bunny mutated into another beast in what if the First Order is not even what the leadership and Knights of Ren think it is? What if it's just Ezra preparing the heroes to face a greater monster, and to do so, fell to the Dark Side of the Force and intentionally became a monster for them to face and prepare... likely and hopefully not cannon but I had to exercise that beast...