(Hey everyone how's your Fourth of July weekend going? I'm doing good. And I just saw the Independence Day: Resurgence and I found both it and the prequel very beautifully put together. And in honor of this feeling I still have for the two movies and the holiday I am taking a temporary step in showing you all the sequel to Star Wars: The Transformers. Please enjoy this peek into the future after the Clone Wars and the Autobots. Don't forget to Read & Review. I want to hear your comments. Oh yeah. I do not own any of the Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars, or Transformers of any kind. They belong to their respective owners.)
As the crew of the Ghost entered the bar, Sabine, the Mandalorian artist member of the crew took her helmet off. She watched Kanan and Ezra Bridger, the two human Jedi and Padawan, training in the fields. It was obvious that since they met, the boy that Ezra was having a difficult time with some of the Jedi training.
Sabine sighed when she saw Ezra tossing the Loth-cat in frustration. She turned to walk inside the bar.
Getting up, frustrated by his lack of success, Ezra Bridger turned to his master, Kanan and demanded angrily, "Give me your lightsaber and I'll make a connection!"
Kanan looked at his Padawan, "Excuse me?"
Sighing, Ezra crossed his arms, "Sorry. I just don't get the point of this."
"The point is that you're not alone." Kanan said as he reached out to the force, directing his arm to the Loth-cat, "You're connected to every living thing in the universe."
The Loth-cat kept growling at the humans while Kanan continued to explain, "But to discover that you must let your guard down. You have to be willing to attach to others."
Ezra glanced in shock when he saw the once snarling Loth-cat was now meowing happily at them.
Looking back at his master, Ezra asked, "And what if I can't?"
"If you hang on to your past. If you always try to protect yourself. Then you'll never be a Jedi." Kanan answered, lowering his arm.
"Then maybe I'll never be a Jedi." Ezra replied, sounding tired and defeated.
In all the time that Kanan had known Ezra, the Jedi never heard or thought that Ezra would say something like that. He asked, "Kid, whatever is going on with you. You need to spill it."
Sighing in defeat, the teenage boy turned back, "I'm sorry, Kanan. I don't mean to wear you out. Today's not a good day. It's never a good day."
"Today?" Kanan asked, confused by his student's word.
Looking away Ezra explained, "Empire Day."
The Loth-cat meowed briefly, turned its head upwards and growled menacingly before scurrying away. Three TIE fighters flew overhead, towards the bar that the others were in.
Kanan and Ezra looked at each other as the later asked, "What are so many TIEs doing out so far?"
"Nothing good! Come on!" The former replied and led the two back to the bar, running to get inside before the Imperials did.
They saw the TIEs descending at the front entry way of the bar, so they walked in through the back entrance that their teammates used.
Once inside, they saw the three TIE fighter pilots enter and start looking around. Ezra reached for his stunner slingshot, but stopped when he saw Kanan's raised hand. The Jedi said, "Not unless we have to."
They walked towards the counter as the TIE pilots continued their search throughout the bar. One approached the Twi'lek and Lasat, members of the crew that Kanan and Ezra belonged to. The Pilot kept his eyes on them until one of them shouted, "Over here!"
The other two pilots converged on the pilot who shouted out. They appeared to surround a Rodian patron at the bar. Getting up scared, the Rodian tried to get away. Howevver, he was stopped and held in place by one of the pilots who, at the same time, was checking an image of another, different looking Rodian.
Taking a glance at the photo, Ezra recognized the Rodian on the image and breathed, "Tseebo?"
"What?" Kanan asked, trying to hear what his apprentice had to say.
Looking back at the bar counter Ezra said, "Nothing."
The TIE pilot holding the image turned to the others and said, "He's not the one."
The two pilots forced the Rodian back in his seat. While they were interrogating the Rodian, the pilot with the image turned and walked to the counter, slamming his fist against it as the Ithorian bartender placed a glass on it. The Pilot shouted, "The Imperial Holonet Broadcast is supposed to be on at all times!"
"No one has requested in well…ever." The bartender nervously replied.
"It's the law…" The pilot growled back. The Ithorian had no choice but to tune it in, watching as the announcer from the news cast spoke. Everyone shared a perplexing looks while Ezra glared at the news darkly.
"-because today is Empire Day. Celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the Galaxy's salvation. When our great Emperor Palpatine ended the Clone wars, drove the invaders into extinction, and founded our glorious empire. On Lothal, Governor Pryce has commissioned a parade."
"You heard the man! Raise your cups to Emperor-" The pilot continued. Suddenly, the transmission began to get garbled as the image changed to a middle age human with Lothal conditioned skin tone and graying hair.
"This is Senator in exile, Gul Trayvis." The garbled voice of the human senator said as he continued to send his message across the galaxy or at least the Lothal system.
"I bring more news that the Empire does not want you to hear. I urge you to boycott all Empire day celebrations to protest against the ongoing injustices of the imperial regime. Remember how the Empire falsely accused the brave heroes from outside the galaxy who came in our time of need. Remember all of their sacrifices and deeds during the Clone Wars."
Ezra looked to his master and asked, "Who's he talking about?"
However, before Kanan could reply to his apprentice, he heard one of the TIE pilots, who had heard enough and noticing the looks some of the bar patrons were giving each other, slam his fist against the counter, "Shut this off!"
"Can't, it's the law." Jho shot back at the human.
Having heard enough the TIE pilot growled, "We're done here…"
With that the three pilots left the bar, entered their TIEs and took off. After they were gone, the Ithorian bartender turned the news off.
"TIE pilots on search patrols? What's going on?" Kanan asked Jho. Sabine joined the two at the bar.
"Imperials have locked down the ports and put destroyers in orbit. It's a full planetary blockade." The Ithorian told his friends.
Looking back at the Rodian that the TIEs were ganging up on, the Jedi added, "They're after a Rodian."
"Just be glad they're not after us." The Mandilorean artist/demolitionist pipped up as Hera and Zeb came over to the bar.
Smirking, Kanan said, "With what we got at today's parade, they'll be after us again tomorrow."
All the time Ezra remained silent. Finally he told his friends, "Well you're gonna have to do it without me."
Getting up, he began to walk away. Kanan asked, "where'd you think you're going?"
"I need to be alone. Today brought back some memories…" Ezra added before leaving the bar. The rest of the Ghost's crew includiing the Lasat, Zeb looked on, concerned for their young friend.
Ezra returned to his hideout, the tower he was living in and met up with Kanan and the others. Leaning against the railing, he asked himself, "Why are they looking for Tseebo?"
He entered his hideout and approached a box. Taking a deep breath, as if to brace himself, Ezra opened and took out a keycard. He looked at it sadly before taking another deep breath, then heard a voice he didn't think he would hear again.
"Ezra." The voice was female, kind and caring, as it said his name.
Ezra's eyes snapped open as he asked, "Mom?"
He looked around for the source of the voice. Giving up, he looked at the card, letting the memories flow back after suppressing them for so much time.
"Ezra."
"Dad…"
"Ezra, we have to stand up for people in need, especially those in trouble with the empire. Remember, freedom's the right of all sentient beings." Ezra remembered his father telling him.
"Tseebo…I know where he is…" He said as he took the keycard and left his hideout. He did not notice an air-speeder with a strange symbol on its hood unrelated to any faction or enterprise that was known throughout the galaxy.
The symbol on the air-speeder resembled a noble and determined face. The speeder itself was blue with pink highlights and small for speed. If anyone could see inside the one way windows they would see that no one was driving the vehicle. A high pitch voice spoke in a language not heard in the galaxy in fifteen years, {This is Blue comet to Grey meteor, I've spotted the Lothal-cat leaving his nest.}
{Roger that, Blue comet. Green star and I are heading to your location. Forest rock, your status?} A deep gruff voice reported back as an older voice added, {Just need to find a better disguise.}
{Navy asteroid, be ready to get the ship over here for pick up after securing target.} The gruff voice commanded.
{As you command, Grey Meteor.} A sage like voice replied and the small blue speeder took off to get into position.
From the other side of the main city of Lothal, a sleek looking acid green land-speeder with a dark grey colored transport sped along till it reached the roads leading into the city, waiting for entry.
{This'll be a great show for dem Imperials.} A scrappy British accented voice said from the green speeder.
{Easy, remember the prime directive.} The Dark Grey transport said as they remained still. Then they took a small space forward.
{But 'Hide-}
{Listen 'Hairs, I know you're eager for payback, but Prime's orders still stands.} The dark grey transport said as they took another space forward.
{Yea, yea, Ah hear ya.} The green speeder known as Hairs muttered. They shut up as they neared the check point.
The storm troopers at the gate approached the driver side of the vehicles and knocked on the windows which slowly lowered. Sitting in the driver seat, an unshaven gruff looking human in his late forties, with scars on his face, looked at the storm troopers, "Is there a problem officer?"
"What are you carrying?" The Storm trooper asked the apparent human.
"Just some things to make Empire Day more spectacular for the folks of Lothal to remember." The scarred, tough looking man replied.
"Open your cargo doors." The storm trooper demanded as two more went behind. The man sighed as he opened the back doors. All they saw were fireworks, foods and drinks.
The driver narrowed his eyes, "Is it wrong for trying to show how generous the Empire is?"
"Can't be too careful, especially with those rebels about." The captain told the driver. The soldiers in the back gave their captain the secure signal, while closing the doors to the back.
Looking at the driver, the ST said, "Enjoy yourself at the festival, Citizen."
"I will, sir, but first I gotta rev up and roll out." He said as the window raised and the transport hurried along.
The acid green speeder followed along the Dark grey supply transport. It made a turn to avoid being spotted traveling with a supply vehicle.
Near where the imperials stood, a dark green version of their ITT, Imperial Troop Transport, rolled over to get into position. Like the others, it grumbled to itself, {Can't believe I'M stuck doing curb side duty...}
{Keep calm about it, Forest rock, we can't make a move until we know for sure that the Rodian our intel picked up is here with the ghost cell. And remember remain in disguise.} The dark grey transport reminded his dark green comrade, {Begin radio silence. Do not open the coms unless absolutely necessary.}
A slim light blue speeder drove up and parking nearby, but not on the main street since the parade for Empire day was using the main street.
The "person" driving the open cockpit speeder was a very attractive, well-toned, electric blue skinned Twi'lek with exceptional beauty. One look from this woman's eyes and you could tell that she might hurt you if you looked at her funny. She was parking her speeder out of the way of the parade while keeping an eye on everything.
Soon an image of a woman with a slightly tanned complexion, showing that she was probably born on Lothal before joining the Empire, appeared on a large screen in front of the Imperial complex. Her hair was tied in a bun and she wore the Imperial Minister's uniform. She began to speak to all gathered, "Citizens, I am Minister Maketh Tua. Governor Pryce sends her regrets, but she was invited to Coruscant to celebrate with Emperor Palpatine himself!"
"Lothal is just as important to our Empire as any world in the galaxy. And she wanted me to show you why. Citizens, I present you with the latest vessel from Lothal's Imperial shipyards, the Sienar Systems advanced TIE Starfighter! And who better to take this beauty on her maiden voyage that one of the best Imperial pilots on Lothal—Baron Valen Rudor."
The man in the imperial pilot uninform who was standing near the minister snapped to attention when his name was announced.
A man with hazel eyes, in a dark imperial uniform and wearing a helmet, looked through the crowd and he spotted the electric cyan female Twi'lek. He stared at her with a curious, interested look before continuing to look through the crowd. Suddenly, he spotted a Rodian. He advanced to him, turned the poor being around rather roughly and checked his face with the image on his card. Seeing as they were not a match he said, assuring the startled Rodian, "Enjoy the celebrations, Citizen."
No one paid attention as the grey supply transport backed up for the Storm troopers to bring out the supplies that were apparently requested to make Empire Day more enjoyable. When they carried their fireworks and things, the Transport drove away.
Everyone stared as they saw the fireworks going off. Enjoyment was reflected in their eyes as they saw the many different colors and shapes exploding overhead.
Watching from her ride, the electric cyan Twi'lek gave an impressive smirk. She reached for the ignition and began driving away, not wanting to get in the way of the parade.
The dark green ITT was parked near where the others were. Two Storm Troopers spotted it and one asked, "Hey, isn't that against regulation?"
"I don't know, could come in handy in those tropical jungles I've been hearing about." The other said before the two noticed the fireworks going off.
Hound, the dark green ITT, thought that the fireworks in the air were from Ironhide, when he noticed the girl in the Mandalorean armor and a Lasat tossing detonators into the air. The detonators exploded into fireworks that made the ITT attempt to grumble, quietly, so that the troopers wouldn't hear.
Suddenly he felt something pressing against the stern of his alt. mode and used one of the sensors to spot someone with brown hair, a tanned complexion and a familiar cylinder device on his belt. It looked like the device was separated intentionally to keep it from working. Hound studied the face, feeling as though he knew the man from somewhere before. It wasn't until he saw him leaving his hiding place that he thought, 'Well I'll be a scrapyard on Junkion. There are other survivors.'
He watched the man place something on the new TIE fighter and smiled to himself, well if he could smile while in this form. He kept a scan on the man until he heard a Storm Trooper say with hostility, "You there! This area's off limits."
Thinking quickly, the man with the hair tied back in a tail innocently asked, "Did you see it?! It was so beautiful! All the colors, it's like a-a-a… Like a rainbow!"
'Figures.' Hound thought as he was about to activate his engines and do something to help the obvious surviving Jedi, when a young boy, no older than fifteen with navy blue hair and a farmer's complexion came hurrying calling out, "Dad! What are you doing?"
"Sorry mister, my dad's just so… patriotic." The boy said to the trooper who watched as the man showed an over dramatic enthusiastic display for his "love" for the empire and Empire Day. Somehow it convinced the Storm Trooper, who let them go.
When they got far enough away, he heard one of his comrades saying, in Cybertronian, {'ey, 'ound! Best git yerself ready for a heatwave.}
Shocked, Hound did just that, and just in time to see the new TIE fighter exploding. Some of the flames and debris hit his armor; but it only made him hiss in pain while everyone else was screaming and shouting as they ran in fear.
Ignoring the outraged shouts from the minister, the veteran Autobot kept himself still for any more surprises. Such as a certain Pau'an with Imperial designed armor and a lightsaber with a ring around it, who gave the Wrecker the impression that he was one of those Inquisitors he had heard about as well as a wielder of the force. Hound did everything he could to keep himself silent, still, and unfeeling like any of the vehicles, so that the Inquisitor wouldn't detect him through the force.
He didn't have to keep the act up for long. Someone fired a shot at the Inquisitor, forcing him to dodge. Another shot fired and caused the TIE on him to explode a little more. When the smoke cleared, the Pau'an was seen walking away while the poor storm trooper was blown apart by the force of the explosion. He obviously didn't make it out as easily as the Force-user. Following the Inquisitor's gaze with his onboard cameras he saw how the Jedi's group fled and briefly let out a smirk, well, if he could while in Vehicle mode.
The Twi'lek in the electric blue speeder parked itself to "get out of the way" by parking over in the spot that the Ghost cell left. When she answered the Storm troopers who approached her that she didn't see anyone and she was too scared to even leave her speeder, they ran another way after assuring her of her safety. When he troopers left, the Twi'lek couldn't help but smile, commenting, "Men. Always wanting to play the heroes. So easy to manipulate."
The Pau'an then walked towards the blond headed woman and Agent Kallus. He heard Kallus ordering a trooper, "I want schematics of the city's ventilation systems, sewers, everything."
Seeing that it was a good notion to take precautions, the Inquisitor pulled out an imperial comm. device and ordered, "Lock down the entire city."
"Sir! Yes sir!" Multiple voices answered from his comm. as he lowered it and began looking around, sensing with the force for any means of locating the Jedi and his apprentice.
"These rebels ruined Empire Day!" Minister Tua exclaimed, furiously before adding, "They must be punished!"
Turning to her, Agent Kallus assured, "We all want that, Minister. But our priority is still the Rodian."
Kallus escorted the Minister back to the Imperial headquarters. Just as the Inquisitor was about to leave, he felt a tremor within the Force and turned to the forest green ITT. He studied it for a moment, then turned away to begin investigating for the Rebels.
It was hours before someone came to get rid of the formerly new TIE fighter and made sure that the ITT that it had crashed against wasn't too badly damaged. The trooper guard then entered the ITT, and took it, following two others on Imperial made Swoop bikes.
As the Trooper inside the ITT was scanning, the two were searching all over the residential district of the city, looking for the very Rodian that Forest Rock and his small group were looking for. Both heard the sounds of blaster fighter and thuds on the ground. A young girl's voice was heard complaining about missing someone. As the trooper opened the door, he looked around and noticed the man that Hound knew was a Jedi.
The Jedi then grabbed the trooper, and flipped him to crash into his buddy, leaving him unconscious on the ground. Just as he turned the camera to where they came from, out came the boy, leading the very Rodian that he and his team were searching for. Before anyone got on, well, inside. Hound opened a channel and said, in his native language, {This's Forest Rock, I found the informant. I repeat: I FOUND him. He's with Ghost cell. Lock on to my En-signs and follow up.}
The three Rebels, two at the controls, began to start it up. Kanan noticed a dark metal design on this control handle had an emblem on it. The emblem looked like a face; it made Kanan feel as though it was familiar to him somehow. If only he could remember or even have time to focus on it. Right now he needed to focus on getting Tseebo out of the city before the Empire got him, and took the information back. He needed to get this information to Hera and consult with her on where to send him next.
(What did you all think of Part one of my Story? I'll be getting part two down asap, definitely before 4th of July ended. Tell me what you think and you can ask all the questions you can think of)