I know I said I'd update before Wednesday, but I was bored so Chapter One is up in advance.

So, just a few author notes. The main characters of Defiance are OCs, and people who know Kanan's background should be able to recognize their names. Plus, Caleb and Depa seemed fitting. Also, I put the pairing as Kanan x Hera, but really it's only minor stuff because you know, they had a kid. I don't want to spoil anything else, but the pairings will become clearer further in the story. Anyway, here's Chapter One of Star Wars Defiance.

Chapter One

The swirling blue colors give way to the darkness of space as a small, fighter sized ship exits hyperspace. The ship glides through space while its pilot, a light green skinned Twi'lek, checks the various screens around her.

"Looks like nobody's noticed us yet. Chop, are you picking up anything?"

A rusty, mostly orange colored droid responds with a drawled out beep from its position atop the ship.

"Good. This mission is starting off pretty well …" Depa Syndulla says, grabbing the Phantom's controls. She eases the ship forward, guiding it toward a small, white sphere in the distance.

"Keep scanning," she warns the droid. "Something made this place drop off the map."

Or someone …

Depa sees tiny specks in the distance, surrounding the sphere in what seemed to be an organized pattern. The closer the Phantom got to the planet, the bigger the specks got. Within a couple of minutes, the specks grew to the size of large, gray wedges, floating in space.

Chopper immediately starts beeping wildly, metal arms waving even though Depa can't see him from the cockpit. The ship's translation comes across as a message on the screen in between her hands.

"Imperial Star Destroyers?" she repeats, eyes wide. She'd heard stories about them during the war, when she was five, but she'd never seen one before.

Now she was about to get up close to one.

She pushes the worries out of her mind. If they got past the blockade of Destroyers in one piece, there'd be nothing to worry about.

"Turn off all power on my signal."

Chopper responds with, "Are you malfunctioning?!"

"Just be ready," Depa replies before pushing the controls forward. The Phantom rapidly increases in speed, zooming toward the fleet of enemy ships.

Just a little more … Now!

"Cut it, Chop!"

The Phantom instantly loses power, shutting off the engines and stabilizers. However, the momentum propels them forward, and Depa watches the fleet in wonder as the Phantom drifts safely toward the planet's atmosphere. With the ship's power down, the only thing the Destroyers could scan would be Depa, and one single life form didn't matter much to an enormous warship.

I never thought a ship could be so big. Depa had been to a lot of planets and space stations in her sixteen years, but she'd never seen a freighter larger than a Rebel Alliance medical frigate.

A new message pops up on the screen in front of her, and she smiles. "Thanks, Chopper … I just came up with that."

She waits a few more seconds before manually restoring power, and then she pilots the Phantom through thin, white clouds.

When the Phantom breaks through clouds, Depa doesn't believe what she sees. Desert … everywhere. She'd read that the planet of Mandalore used to have forests and mountains, but now it was just a barren wasteland with barely any life in sight. She'd heard Mandalorian clans fought each other for supremacy and honor, but Sabine Wren hadn't been mean to her or her parents before she disappeared.

A frown appears on her face. Depa hadn't thought of her in five years, ever since she vanished when Depa was eleven.

Focus on the mission. The faster you find what you're looking for, the faster you can get back to Mom and Dad.

Eventually, Chopper is able to locate the Mandalorian capital, Sundari, where Depa was supposed to look for any information regarding the Mandalorians' problem. Once Chopper gives her the coordinates, Depa accelerates toward the bio domed city on the horizon.

—

It hadn't taken as long as Depa thought it would to find a place to land. She knew she had to avoid the main spaceport, so she chose to enter the dome through one of the larger vents on the side, where the Phantom rested safely on a steel platform overlooking the city inside.

"There are multiple Imperial speeders patrolling the streets," Chopper informs Depa as she sits in the pilot's seat. "They will likely be checking identifications of any suspicious characters."

Depa raises an eyebrow mark. "Who are you calling 'suspicious character'?" It was meant as a joke, but Chopper obviously didn't take it as one.

"Twi'leks are not common on Mandalore. There is a 73.2% chance we will be detected before the mission is finished."

"'We'? Sorry, Chop. You're not coming with me," Depa says as she grabs the belt wrapped around her chair.

"Now there is a 86.5% chance you will be detected —"

"Quit making up numbers, Chopper. I'm going alone, and that's final." Depa frowns again. I sound like Mom … when she gave lectures to me and —

Depa stands and shakes her head, feeling her lekku brush against her back. This isn't the time or place to think about him.

She clips her utility belt into place around her waist, and she checks the small blaster in its holster to see if it was loaded. Once she's done, she glances at her right leg; a small tube was tightly strapped to the side of her calf. Hopefully I won't have to use that.

Finally, she heads toward the back exit and presses a button on the wall to her right. The hatch swings open, revealing a displeased Chopper.

"I should come to support," the droid protests again.

Depa sighs. "Chopper, I can handle myself." They wouldn't send me on this mission otherwise.

Chopper lets out a disappointed whistle before rolling inside the Phantom. "Keep the ship hidden. If an Imperial comes by, move. Or … deal with him, if you can," Depa instructs. The droid beeps his affirmative.

When the hatch closes, Depa walks to the edge of the platform and observes the busy capital.

Well … here goes nothing.

She jumps off of the platform and begins her mission.

I'll leave it at that. Like I said, no spoilers. The next chapter will probably be longer. I appreciate reviews, on an end note.