Author's Notes: Here is a new story that I had rattling around in my head while I was house sitting/petsitting for nearly a month. This one will have the GHOST family plus Rex and Ahsoka. In this story the ship is on a mercy mission and gets caught in a space anomaly that sends them into another galaxy to crash land on a planet with a single moon (Earth). They land in the Pacific Northwest in Washington State near the Columbia River. The story is set years before any towns are formed and everything is wild country...
VOYAGE OF UNKNOWN
Chapter 1 The Anomoly
The GHOST hurled through hyperspace towards the Outer Rim world of Maridun. The Lurmen people who normally wanted nothing to do with the rebels, had called for help when a sickness hit their village. The GHOST would bring medicines and supplies with the help of Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka aiding with their Jedi healing abilities.
The ship exited hyperspace near Maridun and Hera Syndulla breathed a sigh of relief for the mission so far was going smoothly.
"Hera?" Ezra Bridger called over the ship's com, "Is Kanan up there with you? I need his help with my lightsaber."
"Yeah, I'm here, kid," Kanan Jarrus answered looking over at Hera, "I'll be right down..."
"Kanan...," Hera gasped as she gazed out the viewport, "Have you seen anything like that?"
She pointed to where a strange anomaly was forming in the path that the GHOST was heading for.
"What the?" Kanan gasped.
Hera pressed the com button.
"Ezra, you, Sabine, Zeb, Rex and Ahsoka get up her quick!"
Soon the boy, the Mandalorian girl, the Lasat, the former clone trooper and the former Togrutan Jedi came through the doorway into the cockpit.
"Karabast!" Zeb, Ezra and Sabine said at the same time.
"My sentiments, exactly!" Rex responded, his brown eyes wide.
"Hera," Ahsoka said, "What is that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Chopper gave out a frightened beep and turned to Hera telling her he didn't know what it was either.
"Hey, Chopper, think it will eat ya?" Zeb said not being able to resist the urge to poke a jab at the small astromech.
Chopper's answer came in a slap to the Lasat's leg with one of his manipulator arms.
"Why you little..."
Kanan closed his eyes reaching out to get a feel for the anomaly that resembled an imploded star cluster but wasn't. The thing churned with swirls of color the likes none of them had ever seen.
A beep from her console startled Hera out of her awe-filled stare.
"Great!" she yelled over the alarms now sounding through the cockpit, "That thing is pulling us towards it!"
She activated the GHOST'S main drive to try and pull away, but to no avail. The ship shuddered and the engines whined in protest straining against the pull.
"It's no use!" Hera called, "The GHOST can't pull free! There's not enough power!"
"Kanan!" Ahsoka called over the din, "Let's you, Ezra and I try something my master did once!"
"What's that?" Kanan asked feeling the ship lurch.
"Lay your hands on the controls and delve deep into the Force..."
The three Jedi moved forward much to the surprise of Rex, Zeb, Hera and Sabine. They placed their hands on the console over the engine controls. Closing their eyes, faces in deep concentration, they reached out to connect with the engines and it's many parts.
"Kanan!" Hera called out, "Whatever you're doing, keep it up! We're pulling free!"
A rumble from deep in the ship sounded and the GHOST shook violently.
"That didn't sound good!" came Sabine's reply.
Rex and Zeb kept staring at the phenomenon their eyes wide with fear and amazement.
Another rumble sounded and a smell of burning circuitry. Chopper let out a squeal and tried to locate what was burning.
"It's no use!'' Hera called out, "I have to shut the engines down before they overheat!"
Her shutting down of the engines caused the three Jedi to fall back, blood seeping from their nostrils. Zeb, Sabine and Rex sprang forward to help them up.
"You okay?" Zeb asked of Kanan as he saw his friend open his eyes.
"Yeah...I've never...felt anything like that..."
"My head hurts!" Ezra muttered, his head against Sabine's shoulder.
Ahsoka was being cradled in Rex's arms, the trooper looking down at her in a concerned manner.
"Everyone hang on!" Hera called back to her friends, "We're being pulled inside!"
They all closed their eyes silently praying to whatever gods they believed in. Chopper placed his manipulator arms over his photoreceptors in a gesture of fear. The little droid let out a squeal.
The GHOST shuddered making everyone on board feel like their teeth were rattling. The ship entered the anomaly's event horizon and the shuddering grew worse with sparks flying from the consoles. Hera, with Kanan's help, shut everything down except life support. An eerie squeal sounded setting everyone's nerves on edge. Zeb put his hands over his pointed ears, the sound affecting him the worst. He groaned and shut his eyes to the pain he felt. Blood seeped from his ears and between his fingers. The loud sounds became muffled to him and he fell to the floor. Ahsoka saw him fall and bent down to help when the ship shuddered again.
As the VCX 100 freighter entered the anomaly, it was like a giant had grabbed the ship and was trying to shake her apart. Anything that wasn't bolted down, was thrown through the air in slow motion. Ahsoka was hit by a flying part of the console and fell near where Zeb was on the deck still clutching at his ears. Ezra opened his eyes first and beheld something that made his eyes widen.
The inside of the anomaly was a swirl of energy and color that pulsed with the rhythm of an almost living being. He heard Zeb groan and bent down to help his friend.
"Z...E...B...," his voice sounding slow and distorted.
"K...A...R...A...B...A...S...T!" the big Lasat muttered back his hearing getting more garbled.
"F...E...E...L...S...I...C...K," was Rex's slurred response as he covered his mouth.
Sabine was on the deck vomiting and looked over to see Hera and Kanan moving slower than normal people would be doing. Even the alarms sounded too slow! Ahsoka hung onto Rex's arm and her eyes began to close.
A deeper rumbling from within the ship sounded and then everyone except Chopper lost consciousness. The ship went deeper into the swirling mass and the little droid took over the controls.
Hold together, he said in binary to the ship's computer system.
Can't...came the GHOST'S response.
You have to, was Chopper's heated reply, We have to save the organics on board. Put in these coordinates...
What seemed like hours passed by as the ship went deeper into the anomaly, Chopper navigating the GHOST through the malestrom. With a final rumble, the GHOST exited the anomaly.
Chopper beeped a sound of amazement as he gazed at the unfamiliar stars.
Hera, Kanan, Ezra, Zeb, Sabine, Rex and Ahsoka began to come around and opened their eyes to a sight unfamiliar to them. Hera got her wits about her first and consulted the ship's computer.
"Chopper, where are we?" she asked rubbing her eyes. She looked over at Kanan seeing him also rubbing his eyes. She looked back and saw the other's stirring awake for the most part. Zeb was rubbing at his ears that looked to be bleeding but she wasn't sure. The little droid beeped in a confused way.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
Chopper beeped again holding up his manipulator arms in a gesture of almost regret.
"Ugh...," Zeb grumbled rubbing the back of his head, his ears hurting more.
"Hera, can you pinpoint where we are?" Kanan asked as he helped the others to their feet.
The Twi'lek pilot's brow furrowed in concentration, her green eyes widening with shock.
"Kanan," she whispered looking over at him, "W...We're nowhere near Maridun. According to Chopper and the ship's computer, we've traveled over...one million light years from Maridun or anywhere in the Outer Rim."
The Jedi's eyes widened in shock.
"Are you sure?" he asked knowing the truth. He looked back at the alarmed expressions on the other's faces.
"I've checked it over twice and so has Chopper," Hera answered a sad look on her face.
"Can we get back home?" Sabine asked feeling Zeb move up behind her. The Lasat was still rubbing at his ears but took one hand to lay on her shoulder. Ezra moved up to his two friends who were more like siblings and layed a hand on Zeb's arm. Zeb put his big arms around the teenagers feeling them tremble. His hearing was still muffled and the pain was getting worse.
"According to the readouts and Chopper's calculations," Hera began to say her voice heavy with emotion, "Even at a sustained speed in hyperspace, it will take us over one...hundred years to even reach the farthest part of Wild Space. The GHOST will run out of fuel long before then."
A collective gasp sounded from everyone and Ahsoka fell into Rex's arms. Zeb held Ezra and Sabine closer as he swallowed hard. He couldn't hear everything that Hera had said, but got the most of what he could. They were never going home.
"How about something to lower your spirits more?" Hera said checking over more readings, "We have to land the GHOST. The ship is badly damaged."
"Where?" Rex asked.
Chopper added a sad little beep of his own.
"There!" Hera said confirming with Chopper's readouts. She was pointing out the viewport to a planet that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The planet was covered with green and blues of massive bodies of water. A single moon orbited it.
"Do you know which planet that is?" Ahsoka asked checking some star charts.
"It's not listed on any of our star charts or the Empire's," Kanan answered, "But it will sustain life. I'm not reading any evidence of cities or civilization. Seems to be covered with forests, deserts and two big oceans."
"We've got to land," Hera added, "I'm losing control of the engines that even Chopper can't repair."
"I've found us a landing area and it is near a river," Kanan said.
"This is going to be a rough landing, so hang on!" Hera called back to the others.
"More like a crash!" Zeb yelled out.
Sabine gave the Lasat a jab to the rib cage getting a grunt from him.
Hera, with her usual expertise, guided the GHOST through the atmosphere, the ship shuddering in protest. Everyone gazed in wonder as the ship broke through the cloud cover that surrounded the vast mountain range that was near the river. Rain pelted the viewscreen and lightning flashed around the ship followed by loud cracks of thunder.
"Swell!" Rex yelled out, "We land on a strange planet in kriffing who knows where, and in the middle of a thunderstorm!"
Zeb grinned over at his friend and gave him a poke to the ribs before rubbing at his sore ears again. Rex eyed him with concern seeing the blood drying on the Lasat's neck fur.
The GHOST came to a rough landing in a meadow not far from a forest and the river that was over a mile wide! Everyone was thrown through the air and hit the walls, deck and each other. Not one of them escaped from being injured. Chopper let out a squeal and went over to check his shipmates.
Outside the ship, the storm raged on, pelting the metal skin with rain and hail...