The sun rose on the Fire Nation capitol, as Fire Lord Zuko looked outside from his bedroom in the royal palace. He saw some people going from one place to another, stopping sometimes to say hello to passersby, while others were repairing some of the damage done to the city during Zuko's Agni Kai with his sister, Azula, who was currently spending time as a patient at a specialized Fire Nation mental hospital. But none of that was on the young Fire Lord's mind. His nation's reputation was finally repaired after a hundred years of war, but none of that mattered as long as Zuko had one last thing to do before finally making peace with his past.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the dining room, Aang and the others were having breakfast as one of many celebrations they'd had since the end of the war four months ago. Although, it was hard for Sokka to enjoy his breakfast with Aang and Katara always cuddling and acting all mushy to each other. Every once in a while, Sokka would groan in disgust, until eventually, Toph started getting annoyed.
"What's your problem?" she asked.
"I'm still not used to Aang being Katara's boyfriend now," Sokka responded, "I know Aang's like family, but it just gives me oogies."
Toph raised an eyebrow at Sokka's statement, "Oogies?"
"Yeah, I'll explain later," Sokka said.
A few minutes later, everyone turned to see Zuko enter the dining room.
"Hey Zuko," Aang greeted the new Fire Lord, "you're just in time for breakfast."
"Thank you," Zuko said with a weak smile, "but I'm afraid that I must decline."
"Why? What's the problem?" Aang asked with concern.
"Yeah, the war's over and we were able to convince the Earth King to agree with letting the Fire Nation colonies be independent from either nation," Katara said, chiming in.
"And on top of all that, you're the new Fire Lord!" Sokka stepped in, "You should be celebrating!"
"I know, I want to," Zuko stated, "but not yet…there is something I need to take care of."
"You wanna talk about it?" Aang asked.
"I…" Zuko began, but then stopped and sighed, "I can't say, it's too personal."
"Zuko, you can tell us," Aang reassured him, "We're your friends and you're part of our team."
Zuko let out another heavy sigh before deciding that Aang was right, "Alright...I still need to find my mother."
"Your mother? I thought you said your father killed her," Katara said as she recalled what Zuko told her when they were imprisoned together in Ba Sing Se.
"I thought she was dead too," Zuko said, "...but then I found out during the eclipse that it's not the case."
"What do you mean?" Aang asked.
"My father told me that many years ago, when he begged my grandfather to be next in line for the throne after my cousin Lu Ten's death, my grandfather wanted to punish him for insulting my uncle for his son's death and wanting to revoke his birthright as the next Fire Lord," Zuko began to explain, "...and the punishment was to kill me, his first born son so my father would bear the pain of losing a son like uncle did with my cousin."
Everyone went wide-eyed in horror at Zuko's story.
"That's horrible!" Katara exclaimed, "How could your grandfather command something so horrible!? You were just a kid who didn't do anything to him!"
"Yeah! Although, I doubt your dad would've had a problem with that, given what he did to your face a few years ago," Sokka commented.
"Sokka!" Katara shouted disapprovingly at her brother.
Sokka shrugged, "What? I'm just saying."
"So?! You don't just go blabbing out something like that! Especially when it brings back bad memories for Zuko!" Katara said as she continued to scold him.
"No, it's true, Katara, while the Agni Kai between me and my father was the worst moment of my life as it marks my shame and banishment from the Fire Nation...literally..." Zuko said, wanting to continue his story, "…My father wanted me dead since the day I was born, he considered me as weak and wanted to throw me over the palace walls…luckily I was saved by my mother…and she saved me again."
"How?" Aang asked.
"That night, Azula came in, gloating how father was going to kill me as his punishment. She told me grandfather's words to my father for his penalty was 'You must know the pain of losing a first born son, by sacrificing your own', mother heard it and took Azula out to scold her for her bullying," Zuko continued, "At first I thought Azula was lying and was being cruel like always…but the very next morning before dawn, my mother came in and told me never to forget who I was…that was the last time I saw her."
Zuko's story was saddening to everyone, especially Katara and Sokka since they too knew what it was like to lose their mother.
"Then on the eclipse my father confirmed that my sister was telling the truth, and my mother found out his plans she wanted to protect me from being killed for my father's arrogance," Zuko went on, "She knew father wanted the throne, so she came up with a plan to make him Fire Lord like he wished, and in exchange, I would be spared."
"You mean she…" Katara began.
Zuko nodded, confirming what everyone was thinking, "…My mother killed Fire Lord Azulon."
"But how was your mother spared?" Aang asked, "What she did was treason, and isn't that punishable by death?"
"In the Fire Nation, the penalty for treason is different," Zuko explained, "Instead of receiving the death penalty…she was banished…like I was."
Aang walked over to his friend and put his hand on Zuko's shoulder, "We're sorry that happened, Zuko. And we'll do everything we can to help you find her," he promised.
"That's the problem, when I confronted my father again after the comet…he refused to tell me anymore," Zuko stated, "And I still don't know if she really is alive regardless of her banishment."
"I'll get him to talk," Toph said as she cracked her knuckles.
"No Toph, that's just what he wants," Zuko warned her.
"Aw, come on!" Toph whined, "I've always wanted to play the good cop-bad cop routine!"
"Yeah, well in your case, it'd just be the bad cop routine," Sokka commented.
"Exactly," Toph said with a smirk.
"Anger and violence won't solve anything, guys. It's just what he wants us to do," Zuko said, "But while my mother is gone he is still going to use her against me. Which is why I must find her and see if she's okay, and finally get closure and be free of my father's games once and for all."
Aang nodded in agreement, "Well then, I guess we'd better start look…look…" Suddenly, as Aang struggled to finish his sentence, he started to feel an unbearable chill run through him, as if a dark and cold sensation had come over him. It was one of the worst feelings he'd ever had. His friends noticed this and grew worried.
"Aang? What's wrong, sweetie?" Katara asked with concern.
"…Something's coming," Aang stated as the feeling persisted.
"What is it?" Zuko asked.
"I don't know…but it's bad," Aang said.
A few hours later, high above the planet, a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers exited Hyper Space and hovered in orbit. Aboard the command ship, Grand Moff Tarkin stood on the bridge of the ship overlooking the planet, eyeing every little detail. Their long-range scans had told that the planet was capable of sustaining life, perhaps even human life. But considering how the planet was newly discovered, Governor Tarkin felt that the inhabitants of the planet were most likely nothing more than savages who needed to be eradicated. But the Emperor gave him explicit instructions to establish an Imperial presence in the planet's system, along with orders not to engage any inhabitants unless it was absolutely necessary.
Suddenly, Tarkin was broken out of his thoughts when he was approached by Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau.
"Governor Tarkin," Agent Kallus began, "we've come out of Hyperspace and are not in the planet's orbit."
"Excellent," Tarkin responded.
"I will inform the fleet to begin the landing procedures," Kallus said before Tarkin stopped him.
"Not yet, Agent Kallus," Tarkin told him, "First, we must learn what we can about this planet before we reveal ourselves to its people."
"And how do you suggest we do that without making contact with the native population, sir?" Kallus asked.
"The Seinar Systems have developed new Probe Droids with special cloaking devices," Tarkin explained, "We have acquired a few of the prototypes, and we will test them here to see if they are suitable for mass production."
"As you wish, sir," Kallus responded, "I will inform the fleet to begin deploying them immediately."
And with that, Agent Kallus exited the bridge. Minutes later, Tarkin turned back to the window to see the Probe Droids being deployed across the planet, entering the atmosphere in streaks of light.
Later that evening, Aang stood out on a balcony of the palace looking up at the night sky. He had done it many times before when he was troubled, but this time was different. He saw that a small meteor shower was taking place, but he couldn't help but feel that whatever was falling out of the sky and towards the surface, wasn't meteors.
"Aang? Are you okay?" said a familiar voice from behind him. Aang turned to see Katara standing in the doorway and shook his head in response. "Not really," he said, "That feeling still hasn't gone away. And now look."
Aang gestured towards the sky and Katara looked to see the meteor shower.
"A meteor shower?" Katara asked.
"No," Aang responded, "I don't know how, but I know that it isn't a meteor shower. And, somehow, I also know that it has something to do with this bad feeling I've had all day."
"Maybe you should contact Avatar Roku or some of your other past lives and see if they might know anything," Katara suggested.
Aang nodded his head in agreement, "That's probably not a bad idea."
"I'll leave you alone so you can do that," Katara said as she left the room.
As soon as his girlfriend left, Aang got down on the floor and sat cross-legged. He then began to meditate. Before long, Aang found himself inside his mind and his past life, Avatar Roku, appeared out of a cloud of dust.
"Good to see you, Aang. It's been a while," Roku greeted.
Aang nodded, "Yeah, I've been kinda busy. But there's something I need to talk to you about."
"You are referring to the meteor shower," Roku stated, already knowing what the problem was.
"Yeah," Aang said, "I don't know how to explain it, Roku, but I just know that it's not a meteor shower."
"I see," Roku responded as he slipped deep into his thoughts, "I do not know what is happening either, Aang, but I fear that a new enemy may come into the world. One that will bring with it, a new war."
Aang went wide-eyed at Roku's statement, "A new war?! What can I do to prevent it?!"
"I am not sure if the Avatar will be able to prevent it this time," Roku said sadly, "but you may be able to help end it."
"How?" Aang asked.
"When the time is right, only you will know," Roku told him before disappearing.
Aang then stopped meditating and sighed heavily, "Well, that was helpful," he said sarcastically.
Just then, at that exact moment, many millions of light-years away, Kanan Jarrus slept in his cabin aboard the starship dubbed The Ghost. As he slept, he began to see visions of people displaying all kinds of spectacular abilities. He saw a blind girl moving a rock without touching it, a teenaged boy with a scar on his face blasting balls of fire from his bare fists, a young girl about Sabine's age levitating and manipulating water by simply moving her arms, and a young boy with glowing eyes and arrow tattoos controlling all four elements at the same time. Suddenly, Kanan saw him and his crew fighting alongside these people against a group of Stormtroopers. He then awoke from his dream with a gasp just as he heard a knock on his door.
"Hey Kanan!" said the voice he recognized to be Zeb's, "Hera needs us in the common room! You coming?"
"Uh…Yeah Zeb, I'll be right there," Kanan said after a moment of catching his breath.
A few minutes later, Kanan was in the common room with Zeb, Hera, Sabine and Chopper.
"Well, we didn't get paid much this time," Hera said as she counted the Credit chips they were paid for their most recent mission, "but Vizago did trade us some intel."
"What kind of intel?" Zeb asked.
"The Empire is preparing to colonize a new planet somewhere in the Outer Rim that, according to rumors, has a substantially large human population," Hera explained.
"Then there's nothing we can really do about it," Sabine chimed in, "Why would Vizago want to send us there?"
"My guess, he wants us to gather information about it to see if it'd be worth his time to expand his 'business' there" Hera continued.
"So what, we're location scouts now?" Zeb complained, "I thought we were arms dealers."
"Apparently, we're both now," Hera responded, "What do you think, Kanan?"
Kanan was listening to the conversation, but was also thinking about his dream. He knew from his dream that they had to go to that planet. It was as if the Force itself was telling him to go there.
"Kanan?" Hera asked with concern.
Kanan looked up for a second. "Hera, could I have a word with you in private?" he asked standing up.
Hera paused for a moment then shrugged. "Of course."
Both Kanan and Hera stepped into the hall. After the door slid shut, Kanan turned to the Ships pilot with a fearful look in his eyes.
Hera saw that look before, and it usually meant something bad, "You had a vision, didn't you?"
"Yes," Kanan answered rubbing his forehead, "And I think it was about that same planet. From what I saw, it's inhabited by people who have these, I don't know, abilities which somehow seem like those of Force wielders.
Hera just looked at him confused, "What do you…?"
"Somehow they were just using their movements to control different elements, like air, fire, water, even the ground. Plus, there was one person who seemed to be more powerful than anybody else. If the Empire gets to him first, then we could be looking at Order 66 again or possibly something even worse.
Hera stood still. She knew how Kanan felt about Order 66: the one order that caused all the republic clones to betray and slaughter the Jedi Knights. It was never easy for him. But the idea of something worse than the event that killed every Jedi in the galaxy… she didn't even want to think about it. She then put her hand on his shoulder, "I understand, Kanan."
Back in the common room, Sabine, Zeb and Chopper were waiting for Hera and Kanan to finish their discussion.
"They've been in there for a while," Zeb stated, "I wonder what they could be talking about."
"My guess, probably some sort of benefit of going to this new colony and scoping it out," Sabine suggested while pulling out one of her pistols, "The population could have a good array of resources that we could use."
Just as Sabine was checking something on the pistol, the door opened and their pilot and leader stepped through prompting her to put it back in her holster.
"We're taking the mission," Kanan announced.
"What?! That's ludicrous!" Chopper exclaimed.
"For once, I agree with Chopper," Sabine commented, "Why should we go there if the Empire's already there first?"
"Because it's important," Kanan said firmly, "There's a good chance that the empire may be attempting to colonize a populated world with no means to defend themselves against them. If so, many of that planet's population could die."
Zeb and Sabine looked from their leader to each other. They knew that Kanan was right. The empire took over each of their home worlds and on both occasions many citizens were killed.
"Count me in," Zeb stated with an attitude.
"Me too," Sabine said, "I've been looking for an opportunity to blast a couple storm troopers anyway."
"So I guess we're all in," Hera said as she stepped forward, to the table "and it's a good thing Vizago gave us the coordinates for the system. I suggest we all gear up, and move out as soon as possible."
"You're all idiots!" Chopper said before leaving the common room.
Me: I hope you guys like this new story. It begins a few months after Sozin's Comet and a year before Spark of Rebellion, FYI. Also, if you guys have any ideas for how this story should continue, I'm all ears. Please review.