Chapter 2: A New Family Part 1
Authors Note Part 1: Alright, so not that many people have looked at the story so far, and I'm going to assume that's because this is in a category that isn't really popular yet. But beside that, not much to say here beside the fact that we're actually getting into episodes now! So, the chapters are going to be longer, and the plot will actually start to come into play!
Now, a bit of info here. Because some episodes start out right after a mission has happened, I'm most likely going to try to write out said missions once I get everyone's personalities down. So, you can expect hopefully longer chapters for those episodes.
Oh! Something else that I should mention! The other kid that was mentioned in the last chapter has nothing to do with the story! I just felt like implementing him in as a little joke. So for those of you who are worrying about more than one OC appearing in this fanfiction, DON'T! It will only have Jack as an OC. (Unless the need arises for me to create a single OC villain for a later chapter so that Jack doesn't interfere with a fight that has to happen the way it's shown).
For those of you who read the first chapter, and are still interested in this story, I'm glad to keep you entertained, and I hope that I can continue to do so. But for now, let's get to the actual chapter!
One Month After Jack's Arrival:
You ever have one of those days where- Wait. Let me rephrase that since I've already said it. You know those times in your life, where you think you have it all planned out, only for everything to suddenly be thrown away when something comes into your life? Well, that's how me and Ezra felt a month after meeting each other. The day we met what would be our future family. And one of which would end up being the most important person to me right next to Ezra. But, we'll get to that part later. For now, let's get to how we actually met them.
Two figures can be seen standing on the walkway of a tower out in the middle of a large field of grass. One of them is shown to be Ezra, while the other is a newly outfitted Jack. When he had first come to the Star Wars galaxy, he had been dressed in what you would assume to be street gang clothes. And that wouldn't be far from the truth since he'd been a run-of-the-mill street rat back then. Which, he still was. However, after living here for a month, he'd changed so that he wouldn't stand out… At least not too much. Now, using some credits that had somehow been changed into the galaxy's currency from the American dollars he had in his backpack, he'd bought some new clothes to help himself and Ezra during their life living off the streets.
In place of his jeans, he now had loose fitting pants. Although he had kept his long sleeved grey T-shirt, as well as his black fingerless gloves. But he'd removed his jacket, and placed it in his backpack for other occasions, and instead bought some light armor. It was colored white, much like a stormtrooper's, but since Jack was quite used to using spray paint, he'd styled some designs onto the light metal. These designs consisted mainly of random spirals or lines, but there was one that stood out immediately. It was a rectangle that had the top left corner filled with blue, and fifty small white dots. The rest of the shape was filled with thirteen alternating red and white horizontal lines. When asked by Ezra what it was for, Jack had replied that it was from his past life.
The dimension-traveling teen had spray painted this symbol onto each of his shoulder guards. He'd also gotten some armor to protect his legs, and had his boots outfitted with some metal as well so that he wouldn't have to buy completely new ones. He'd used his credits on similar things for Ezra, but made it so that the armor wasn't as noticeable. Instead, it was woven inside of his clothes, and was a strong metal, but able to bend with the cloth so that it wouldn't restrict his movements.
What completed the new look for Jack was the blaster, that the real name of which was apparently a "Laser pistol", which Jack always kept at his right waist. Apparently when he'd traveled through dimensions, the "toy" had been changed and was now a real laser pistol. Needless to say, it helped the two street rats live easier since the local thugs couldn't threaten them as easily as when Ezra had been on his own. It also helped Jack's nerves that in this dimension, there weren't bullets, and the laser pistol had "infinite" ammo. At least long as the battery pack wasn't overheated or destroyed. Although, it surprised Jack that only the Empire had those kinds of weapons at the moment, since he'd been sure that Han Solo had one in one of the Star Wars movies… Though he figured it was simply because he was in a time before then… This didn't make him feel any better about how he may or may not affect the timeline.
But, after a month of living together, the two street rats had created a bond much like older and younger brothers had. Jack would constantly be looking out for Ezra, and Ezra would normally look up to Jack. The fact that Jack had been living on his own for two more years than Ezra also helped solidify how the younger boy looked up to the older street rat for advice as a younger sibling would to their older one. Though, they were both happy to have someone since before they'd met, they didn't have anyone else on their side. So they helped each other in that regard.
However, at the moment, the two were in a state of peace… Until a familiar sound reaches their ears, and they looked up into the air to see an Imperial ship flying above them. They share a look at the situation, before rushing into their living space, running down to ground level, and then climbing onto their shared speeder. Then they take off towards town, and the direction that the imperial ship was heading. Not knowing that their lives were just about to change drastically thanks to their decision.
When the two arrive, they see one of the townsfolk being cornered by a few Imperial stormtroopers, as well as a couple commanding officers. When he's grabbed, and one of the commanding officers grabs his fruit, the two street rats share a look, before nodding to each other. Jack walks off, while Ezra walks between the officers, "asking" for some spare fruit, before nabbing the skinny commanding officer's communicator. When he meets back up with Jack, they share a smile, and Jack takes the communicator before activating it, and signaling for Ezra to go to the roof of a building nearby.
"All officers to the main square! This is a code red emergency! I repeat code red!" He exclaims, keeping his voice low so that it wouldn't be recognizable. He watches as the stormtroopers drop the citizen, while the officer slams his basket of fruits onto the ground. Then they rush away, and Jack walks over to him, the communicator still in his hand. As the citizen looks up, Jack activates the communicator again and gives a small smile. "All units stay on alert, I repeat, this is a code red!" He says, dropping down onto one knee in front of the farmer, who holds out a fruit.
"Thank you." He thanks Jack, the street rat in question giving a small smile as he takes the fruit and places it in his bag, before looking back at the citizen.
"Eh, mind if I have another for my friend? He's the one who swiped this little puppy." He asks, waving around the communicator a bit. The citizen nods with another smile.
"It's the least I can do for you two." He agrees, holding out another fruit, which Jack places with the other in his bag as he makes his way towards the building that Ezra's sitting on.
"Thanks a lot sir!" He exclaims with a mock salute, before disappearing onto the roof with Ezra, leaving the citizen to chuckle at the two as he gathers his fruits and walks away.
"I wonder… Just who are those two?" He mutters to himself, chuckling again as he continues to walk away. Meanwhile, the two in question are crouched low on the roof of the building they'd climbed, and are looking down at the town square as the officers meet.
"What's the emergency?" The skinny one from before asks the commanding officer stationed at the square.
"Emergency?" The officer asks with confusion evident in his voice.
"You called in a code red." The fatter one tries to remind him, only for the officer to remain confused. Jack chuckles into his hand a bit, elbowing Ezra as they share the secret that Jack had been the one who called in the "code red".
"I'm not sure what you mean. My orders are to get these crates to the Imperial port." The officer answers again.
"Well, get them loaded then!" The skinny one exclaims, trying to cover up his confusion and annoyance at the false alarm. The two street rats that are on the roof chuckle a bit more as Ezra rests his arms on the edge.
"I almost feel bad for them, bro." He tells Jack, making the teen in question turn to look at him with a smile.
"Almost." He says with a chuckle, which Ezra copies a few seconds later. However, the fourteen year old suddenly stops, and turns to look in a random direction with a focused gaze. Jack raises his eyebrows at this, and turns to look in the same direction out of the corner of his eyes. That way, if anyone was looking to see if they were gaining attention, it wouldn't seem that way. What he sees is some random man standing in the middle of the pathways. The two street rats focus on him, before flattening themselves to the floor as he turns around to look in their direction. The man raises an eyebrow when he doesn't see anyone, and this makes Jack raise his own eyebrow. It's almost like the man… Knew they were there, and was confused as to why he couldn't see them… But he shakes it off to see what the man does.
The two street rats watch as the man walks by a doorframe, and pats his leg a couple times. A few seconds later, something comes out of the doorframe, and stands where the man was a second ago. Then, as the man continues walking, he stops by a seemingly random person, and pats his leg two more times. In response, the seemingly random person taps their leg three times, before turning around and starts walking towards the Imperials. "Interesting." Ezra murmurs.
"Yeah, you're telling me. It's almost like they're a… Team." Jack mutters, before his eyebrow raises a bit as he realizes that's just what they are. And if the person throwing a disk onto the stormtrooper's speeder is any indication. Then Jack was willing to bet that he knew exactly what they were a team for. The fact that a few seconds later, the speeder explodes only solidifies his guess, and he gives a smirk too small for Ezra to see. Well, well, well. Looks like we've got a rebel cell here… He thinks to himself, before sharing a look with Ezra as the stormtroopers are ordered to protect the crates "at all cost". The two share a smirk when they hear this.
"All costs huh?" Ezra asks rhetorically.
"Well, I like the sound of that." Jack agrees, before they run across the rooftops after the speeders. When they arrive, the man from before had just finished off the stormtroopers, with some help from the other creature. The two street rats share a knowing look when everything's done, before leaping down onto one of the vacant speeders that contains a couple crates.
"Thanks for doing the heavy lifting." Ezra thanks them, before backing the speeder out of the path.
"And keep on doing what you're doing! We could use some more people like you around here!" Jack agrees, ducking a swing from the man's partner as the two teenagers continue to back away from them.
"Ugh! Now what?!" The creature exclaims in frustration. The man seems to still be surprised, but manages to focus and let out a slightly aggravated growl.
"After those two!" He exclaims, the street rats in question backing up through a crowd of stormtroopers, before driving off with the two crates still attached. Unfortunately, the man and creature follow close behind on their own speeders. As the chase continues through the town, the two street rats suddenly feel their mode of transportation shake a little, and turn around to find the "random person" from earlier sitting on one of their crates.
"Pretty gutsy move you two!" They exclaim, the tone of the person's voice revealing that the speaker is female. Ezra tries to shake her off, but the attempts fail and she pulls out a pistol, before aiming it at Ezra. The boy in question gasps, as Jack's expression suddenly hardens and he quickly draws his own laser pistol, and aims it at the girl's helmet with a stern glare.
"I don't care who you are, and I don't care if you're part of a rebel cell. If you blast my little brother, just know that he's not gonna be the only one with a hole between his eyes." He warns her, making her pause for a second in surprise, before she lets off a chuckle.
"If the big guy catches you two, he'll end you. Good luck! And you." She says, gesturing to Jack. "If you do live, try to contact me. It's been a while since I've met a guy who has as much guts as you do." She tells Jack as she shoots the locking mechanism keeping the second crate connected. Ezra speeds up with a small smirk on his face after she does this, and the girl jumps off the crate, pushing it down an alleyway as she chuckles a bit at how protective older street rat was of his younger brother "Ezra", and how gutsy he actually was. People like that were hard to come around these days, and she had learned to respect them. The street rat in question turns to look at Ezra when he holsters his pistol, only to see a familiar smirk and look on the younger boy's face.
"Oh hell no, bro. She sounded at least my age!" He exclaims, making the younger street rat give a small frown.
"Aw, come one bro! At least give me a chance!" Ezra exclaims, only for Jack to place his hand on his forehead in exasperation.
"What am I going to do with you?" He asks Ezra rhetorically. Only to get an actual answer in response.
"Uh, how about you help us stay alive!" Ezra exclaims as he speeds up the speeder, making Jack look up and see the crowd of stormtroopers setting up a firing line in their path. His eyes widen when he sees this, and he realizes that he needs to act now.
At the same time, the man from earlier notices the line of stormtroopers, and reaches towards his holster to grab his pistol. However, before he can even touch the metal, four laser blasts are released from the second person riding the speeder in front of him, and all the stormtroopers go down from laser blasts to their heads. He stares in surprise at the feat, before focusing once again and speeding up his own speeder to try and catch the duo in front of him as they take the turn.
"Who are these guys?" Ezra asks as he looks over his shoulder, before looking at Jack. "What was that you said earlier about a "rebel cell"?" He asks his older brother figure. However, before Jack can answer, he notices where they're heading.
"Forget about that for now! Look forwards!" He exclaims, turning Ezra's head to look in the direction they're heading, and making the younger boy notice the street stalls that he's driving towards. He quickly pulls up on the handles, making them "drive" in the air above the citizen's heads, before turning and continuing down a different path. This path leads them to the main street, and the small group continues driving their speeders down the speedway. Unfortunately, a couple of stormtroopers notice them, and start after the group. Jack looks over his shoulder as laser blasts start to fly by their ride, and sees the man chasing them attempt to blast the two. Jack just shakes his head. "Amateur." He mutters, before drawing his own pistol and aiming down the crosshairs. "Ezra, hold us steady." He says.
"I'll try. But in case you haven't noticed, we're kind of being shot at!" Ezra exclaims.
"I'm taking care of it." Jack tells the younger boy, before letting off a blast that sends one of the stormtroopers sprawling onto the asphalt below. Unfortunately, he blasts the wrong one, and the other stormtrooper blasts one of the hover devices on the speeder, making the back drop down, and smoke to be let out of one of the exhaust pipes.
"That's never good!" Ezra exclaims in slight fear, just before the speeder veers off course, and jumps the break between the two lanes. Causing the two street rats to drive on the wrong side, against oncoming traffic. Luckily, they only have to dodge a couple cars, before the traffic becomes non-existent, and Ezra speeds up. As all this is going on, the creature from before was taking care of the last stormtrooper left, while the man tries to catch up to the duo. Ezra notices that he had managed to speed up enough and be neck and neck with the two. In response, he scowls, and speeds up. Unfortunately, this makes the man leave his crates with the creature from before, and allow him to speed up enough to catch up with the two street rats.
When he's back to being neck and neck with them, the man purposefully drives to the break between the two lanes, making him jump over to right in front of the street rats, before he swerves slightly, and sends sparks up into Ezra and Jack's eyes. "God damn it!" Jack exclaims, trying to block the small sparks from flying into his eyes. When it stops, the two open their eyes, only to see the man blocking their way forwards.
"Woah!" Ezra exclaims, pulling back on the handles to break. They manage to stop just before they hit into the man and his speeder. Ezra slumps slightly, before turning to face the man. "Who are you?" He asks.
"I'm the guy who's stealing that crate." The man responds.
"Hey, look. We stole this stuff… What-whatever it is, fair and square." Ezra argues, folding his arms as Jack just watches the exchange with a raised eyebrow. Still thinking about what he'd seen earlier from this guy and his partners, and how they were probably some kind of rebel cell.
"And you two made it pretty far." The guy admits. "But I've got plans for that crate. So today is not your day." He continues, not noticing the Tie-fighter closing in on them. However, Ezra and Jack do.
"Eh, day's not over." Ezra argues, driving off on the speeder again.
"I'd consider jumping off that thing if I were you!" Jack calls back with a wave as the guy hears the tell-tale sound of the Tie-fighter, just before the Tie blasts the speeder, sending the man sprawling as the two street rats speed off on their still functioning speeder.
"Have a good one!" Ezra calls back with a wave, Jack giving his mock salute. The duo manages to make it out onto the field once again, and head off towards their makeshift home with small smiles on their faces… That is, until they hear the Tie-fighter making a return run. "Whatever's in these crates must really be worth it." Erza says, before him and Jack have to duck under a laser blast.
"I'll tell you one thing bro, they better be worth it!" Jack exclaims, just before the Tie lands a hit, and the speeder explodes, sending the two sprawling as the crate goes sailing off in a different direction. The two look back at the flaming wreckage of the speeder, before turning to see the Tie turning towards them once again. Just before the fighter can blast them, the sound of different cannons firing can be heard, and the Tie-fighter blows up. The two turn around to see what did it, only to see the guy standing on the hatch of a different ship.
"You two want a ride?" He asks them, gesturing to the ship. The two look off into the distance and see more Tie-fighters closing in, before sharing a glance. "Do you have a better option?" The guy asks them rhetorically. The two street rats share a nod, before running towards the crate. "Come on! Leave the crate you'll never make it!" The guy calls out to them as they activate the anti-gravity on the crate, and run towards the ship. The Tie-fighters closing in start to launch blasts at the duo as they raise the crate above their heads, before they push off of the ground. At first, it seems like they won't make it. But then, they catch the lip of the hangar door with the crate, and hold on to keep from falling. Jack turns to Ezra, and starts to shove him, helping the younger boy get onto solid footing. When he successfully makes his way up, he hands the crate off to the guy, and helps Jack up and into the ship.
Once inside, the duo sees that everyone that they'd run into before was currently standing there looking at them. Ezra makes his way up towards the crate as the lid is removed, and sees a stack of guns. "Ohhhh. Do you have any idea what these are worth on the black market?" He asks them as he picks one up. Meanwhile, Jack stays near the door, hand ready by his gun in case he needs to use it. These people may have saved him and his "little brother", but he'd learned long ago that when people do that, it's usually because they have an ulterior motive.
"Actually, I do." The man responds, keeping an eye on both of the new passengers.
"Don't get any ideas." The creature from before threatens, only for Ezra to smirk slightly.
'They're mine." He says, before sending a glance at Jack. "Well, mine and Jack's." He amends, before the creature snatches away the gun he was holding.
"If you two hadn't gotten in our way…" He lets the sentence hang there, and Ezra leans into his face.
"Well too bad. We got to them first." Ezra says with a determined look, only for the man to break them up.
"It's not who's first, it's who's last." He tells Ezra, making the younger boy scowl slightly, and Jack to silently nod his head in agreement. "Keep an eye on our friends here." He tells the creature, placing a hand on his shoulder before climbing up the ladder. As all this is going on, the Tie-fighters continue to shoot at the ship the group was on. Jack takes the time that the ship swerves to look around the cabin, and notices a small red light blinking in one of the corners. He narrows his eyes, before nodding slightly, letting the person on the other end know that he knew they were watching what was going on. As he does this, Ezra starts to talk once again, now sitting on one of the crates.
"Look, we were just doing the same thing you were. Stealing to survive." He tells the two, the creature mostly glaring at Ezra, while the girl from before seems to be trying to keep both Ezra and Jack in her sights. If she noticed that Jack was ready to fire at a moment's notice, she didn't let on.
"You have no idea what we were doing. You don't know us." The creature argues, poking Ezra in the chest to reinforce his point.
"And I don't want to. I just want off this bird." Ezra argues, gesturing to the door for emphasis.
"Please. Nothing would thrill me more than tossing you out!" The creature admits. "While in flight." He specifies, only for the sound of a blaster priming to meet his statement. Making him look up and see Jack aiming his laser pistol at his head.
"You do that, and the same thing I told the chica over there will happen to you." He says with a scowl. For some reason, the chica in question doesn't do anything to stop his threat. Before anything else can be said however, the ship is hit by a laser blast, and shakes a bit. Unfortunately, the shake is enough to make the creature fall onto Ezra, and crush him between the floor and the creature in question.
"Get, off." Ezra says through clenched teeth, before slamming his fist into the floor. "Can't, breathe." He grunts out as the creature gets up.
"Oh come on. I'm not that heavy in this gravity." He argues as Ezra gets up with the help of Jack.
"Not the weight. Ugh. The smell." Ezra clarifies, waving his hand in front of his face. The creature scowls in response to the jab.
"You don't like the air quality in here eh? Fine! I'll give the both of ya' your own room!" he exclaims, grabbing the two street rats, and throws them into a closet a few rooms down, closing the door behind them. The two glare at the door, before Jack notices something, and nudges Ezra. The younger boy looks where Jack's pointing, and sees the ventilation shaft. They share a grin, before opening the vent and climbing in. Jack goes in last, and as the two reach a corner, they hear the voice of the man from before resonate through the ship.
"Zeb, Sabine, where are the kids?" He asks, making Jack scoff.
Long gone. He thinks with a smirk.
"Zeb? Where are they?" The guy asks again when there's no answer.
"Well, they're still in the ship." The creature's voice echoes, giving a name to him. Then, another voice joins them.
"Oh they're in the ship alright." The girl, who Jack now knows is named Sabine, says, making Jack stifle some laughter as he realizes she knows where they are, and was making a joke about it. Suddenly, the ship shakes even more, and Ezra is suddenly dropped out of the ventilation shaft in front of Jack.
"Shit! Ezra!" He calls out, climbing forwards only to see Ezra sitting in a chair. He drops down behind the kid, and looks out the window with him.
"We're… We're, in space." Ezra says with a large smile, before two Tie-fighters start to fire on their position. "And we're about to die!" He exclaims. Jack looks on with wide eyes, before his years of living on the streets allows him to focus again, and he looks down at the seat that Ezra was currently in. He quickly pushes the younger teen out of the chair, and sits down, grabbing onto the controls in front of him a moment later. Then, another voice echoes through the speakers.
"Shields are holding for now, but you need to buy me time to calculate the jump to lightspeed." A female voice, not the same as the other one, echoes through the ship. The man's voice from before answers her.
"Buying time!" He exclaims, and as Jack watches, red laser blasts are launched at the fighters from somewhere on top of the ship. Jack smirks as he decides on a gutsy, and risky, move of his own.
"Looks like you could use some help!" He exclaims into the mic that he sees in front of him, before gripping onto the controls and launching blasts at the fighters, managing to hit two within a span of twenty seconds. Thank God these controls are the same as the ones at the arcade for video games with jet fights. He thinks in relief. Suddenly, Ezra speaks up from his side.
"Hey, my name's Ezra. What's yours?" He asks, making Jack look out of the corner of his eyes at the younger street rat. Unfortunately, he can't see who he's talking to from his angle, but he can take a guess.
"Bro, how many times, have I told you not to flirt with every girl you see?" He asks his younger brother figure, putting emphasis on words each time he launches another laser blast. "Because I'm pretty sure that I lost count at fifty." He continues, before he hears another person enter the control room.
"My name's Zeb. You loft rat." He hears come from behind him. He scowls as he continues to fire, bringing down yet another Tie-fighter in the process.
"Hey fluffy. You want me to introduce you to a laser blast?" He asks Zeb. Before anyone can answer, he hears the woman's voice come back over the speaker.
"Calculation complete I just need an opening!" He hears the woman exclaim as he sees the last fighter heading towards them.
"You got it!" He replies, blasting the Tie-fighter to smithereens just before they fly through the resulting dust cloud.
"Thanks for that. Now entering Hyperspace!" She exclaims, and everyone in the control room looks out the window as the light starts to speed past them, and the ship enters Hyperspace. When they enter the swirling mass of blue, Jack leans back in the chair with a smirk.
"Well, I'd say that was a job well done." He says, before swiveling the chair around to face the other occupants of the room (1). Unfortunately, before he can get a good look, a large hand suddenly grabs his shoulder, and lifts him up. Then, Zeb starts to walk off with Jack in one hand and Ezra in the other. All the while, Ezra tries to escape, while Jack debates whether or not to lay Zeb out cold on the ground. Unfortunately, before he can decide, they arrive at the main control room for the ship.
"Let go! You can't keep us here! Take us back to Lathal!" Ezra exclaims, just before Zeb drops him on his feet to the floor. The two of them glare at each other, just before one of the two other occupants of the room speaks up.
"Calm down that's exactly what we're doing." The woman from the speakers tell them.
"Wait, right now? With Imperials chasing us?" Ezra asks incredulously, spreading his arms in disbelief.
"We lost the Tie's when we jumped and the Ghost can scramble it's signature so they won't recognize us when we return." The woman replies, pressing a few buttons for reasons unknown to Jack.
"Woah, that's pretty cool." Ezra says in awe, before snapping out of it. "So then just drop me, Jack and out blasters back to capital city and-" He's cut off as the guy and girl from before walk in. The only difference being the girl has her helmet off. And if Jack was to be honest… He could see why Ezra hit on her earlier. Though, he wasn't going to go doing the same thing… At least, not in the way that Ezra did.
"They're not your blasters." She tells the two street rats.
"And we're not going back to capital city. The job's not done." The guy continues. This makes Jack raise his eyebrow in confusion, though if his suspicions about them being a rebel cell was correct, then he had a few good guesses as to why they needed the guns.
As the ship lands on the planet, everyone walks out, with the guy from before, who Jack now knew was called Kanan, and the woman, whose name was Hera, head off in a different direction than Jack, Ezra, Zeb and Sabine. Ezra watches them walk off, and turns to the other two that were already a part of the ship's crew.
"Hey, where are they going?" He asks as Zeb, Sabine and Jack all continue walking, each with their own crate.
"If I told you I'd have to kill you." Zeb says with a smirk. "Oh, and I, might just kill you anyway." He adds onto the end.
"You try anything like that fluffy, and I'm following through with my threat from before." Jack warns Zeb, just before Sabine speaks up.
"Grab a crate, pull your weight." She tells Ezra, the teen in question watching on as Jack just nods for him to do as she says, and then continues walking as Ezra grabs his own crate from the ship and follows after them towards the town. When they reach it, Ezra takes a look around.
"I've lived on Lathal my whole life. Never been here." He admits, shaking his head.
"The Imperials don't advertise it." Sabine responds.
"Locals call it Tarkin town." Zeb continues, before Sabine goes on to explain why, and Zeb explains what happened to the others who weren't sent here. They make it to the center of the small town just after sunrise and Sabine smiles a bit as Zeb speaks up. "Who wants free grub?!" He exclaims, spreading his arms out wide, before him and Sabine take the lids off their crates, and reveal the food inside. Jack and Ezra do the same as the townspeople gather around, before one stops by Ezra's side and places a hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." He thanks Ezra, before walking off.
"But… I didn't do anything." Ezra admits. But the person's long gone. Zeb and Sabine continue to hand out food to the locals with smiles, while the two street rats watch on. About an hour later, the two can be seen sitting in front of the ship, looking out over the small settlement that they'd just given free food to. As this is happening, Ezra suddenly starts to look back towards the ship, before getting up and walking in. Jack just watches him go with a small smirk.
"Try not to break anything while you're in there will ya'?!" He calls out to the younger boy, getting no response. Jack just sighs, before he lies down on the grass and closes his eyes. Laying his right arm over his eyes to block out the sun. "Who would've thought? The first person I meet is a guy who can use the force." He mutters to himself with a small chuckle. A few minutes later, he hears the sounds of feet walking along the ground, and lifts his head up to see Zeb and Sabine walking towards him. He gives a small smirk to the girl since she hadn't done anything to get on his bad side, but scowls slightly at Zeb since he'd constantly threatened Ezra. "Y'ello." He greets, pushing himself up into a sitting position. I'm guessing it's time to go?" He asks, getting a nod from the girl.
He pushes himself up onto his feet, and brushes some dust off his shin guards, before turning around and starting towards the ship. When he gets aboard, he realizes that he doesn't know where to go, and lets Zeb pass before stopping Sabine. "Uh, hey. Any chance you could show me the way to the kitchen?" He asks with a bit of embarrassment since he has to ask directions around a small-ish space. She stares at him for a few seconds, before nodding and walking off. Jack follows soon after, and the duo arrives in the kitchen. Jack immediately takes off his backpack, and takes out one of the fruits from earlier. He ends up needing to ask the locations of the plates and knives, but eventually he cuts the fruit handheld pieces. As he does this, he glances over at Sabine. "Uh, hey. About earlier on the speeder… I just wanted to apologize. At the time, I actually thought that you were gonna shoot Ezra." He admits, Sabine looking over at him with a small smirk.
"You're really protective of him. Aren't you?" She asks, making a small blush appear on Jack's cheeks."
"Heh. Yeah, you could say that. I've been looking out for him for a while, and I guess that I've started to become even more protective of him the longer I stay with him." He admits, making Sabine give him a small smile. After Jack tells this to Sabine, he takes a bite of one of the fruit slices, and Ezra walks into the room. "Hey little bro, catch." He says, tossing one of the pieces to Ezra, who catches the slice of fruit and takes a bite.
"Not too good at following directions are you?" Sabine asks the young teen, referring to how she had heard about Ezra walking through the ship a few minutes ago.
"Not so much." Ezra admits, walking over to join the two. "You?" He asks, taking another bite of the fruit.
"Never been my specialty." Sabine admits with a chuckle. Ezra bounces a bit in place after she answers, and asks another question.
"Who are you people anyways? I mean you're not thieves exactly." He clarifies.
"We're not exactly anything." Sabine says. "We're a crew. A team. In some ways a family." She says, making Ezra deflate a little. Sabine and Jack notice and the latter puts Ezra into a headlock before giving him a noogie.
"Hey! I see that look in your eyes. Stop thinking about that stuff you hear me Ezra?" He asks with a small smile, still rubbing the younger boy's head.
"Alright, alright!" Ezra relents, waving his hands around to get Jack to stop. The older teen does so with a nod, before leaning against the counter next to Sabine once again. "So, then, what happened to your real family?" Ezra asks Sabine. She just scowls and looks to the side.
"The Empire. What happened to yours? Well, except your brother here that is." She asks, nodding her head to Jack during the last sentence. Before they can clarify that they aren't brothers biologically, the door opens to reveal Zeb, and Jack instantly scowls at him.
"Kanan wants us in the common room." He announces, banging on the top of the droid that works in the ship before pointing at Ezra and Jack. "If they try anything sound the alarm." He tells the droid, making Jack's scowl deepen. "Or shoot them." He adds on, making Jack add a glare to his scowl as the droid makes some noises. "Shush. Just watch them." Zeb says, turning and walking out of the room. Sabine grabs her helmet and follows shortly after, stopping to look back over her shoulder at the two boys.
"Sabine. My name's Sabine." She tells them, making the two smile.
"Nice name." Jack compliments with a small smile, getting a nod of gratitude before Sabine walks out of the room, the door closing behind her. Ezra tries to speak up before she's gone completely, but the droid rams into him to stop him, making the teen scowl and cross his arms. The two humans in the room share a look, before they smirk. Jack whistles innocently while walking around as Ezra walks over to the cabinet from earlier. As he opens the door, Jack knocks the droid onto its side, and Ezra slips into the ventilation system again. A few minutes later, the droid finally pushes itself onto its wheels, lets off a string of beeps at Jack, and then ushers him out of the room with a taser. Eventually, the duo arrives at the common room, only to find Ezra already there in the middle of the room. Jack "Tsk's" at the scene in front of him.
"Ezra, Ezra, Ezra. What did you do to get caught this time?" He asks with a small smirk, making the younger teen blush in embarrassment. He coughs to try and play it off, and then turns and looks back at Zeb as he walks forwards and readies his fist to punch the younger teen.
"Can we please get rid of him?" He asks, only to be met with two hands holding him back, as well as a blaster primed and aimed at his face.
"If you want to be gotten rid of yourself." Jack tells him with a glare, only for Kanan to turn to him and lower his gun by pressing down on the top of it with his hand. Jack gets the message, and holsters his weapon.
"No, we can't." Sabine says, making Ezra smile. "The kid knows too much." She continues, making Ezra sigh while Jack chuckles a bit as Hera walks forwards and helps Ezra to his feet.
"We don't have time to take him home anyway, we need to move now." She continues, walking away with him. "I'll keep an eye on him. And Jack too." She says, making the older teen roll his eyes before walking after the two. When they get back to the main control room, Ezra sits in the chair beside Hera, while Jack sits behind him.
"You know this whole mission idea is nuts. I'm all for sticking it to the Empire, but there's no way I'd stick my neck out this far. Who does that?" He asks, making Jack sigh at Ezra's mentality, which still hadn't changed over the month he'd been living with the teen.
"We do." Hera responds, making Ezra turn and look back out the windshield as they exit Hyperspace next to their desired location. Then, Hera starts acting. What surprises Ezra and makes Jack laugh is that she succeeds in getting them docked. About a minute later, Kanan checks in with Hera.
"No troopers. The security's solid." He announces, slightly confusing Jack at how the security could be solid if there wasn't anyone there, before the com suddenly turns into static.
"Specter one, come in." Hera says, before pressing a button. "Specter four?" Another button. "Specter five? Ugh, com's down." She announces after trying again as Jack stares out of the windshield with a slight glare.
"Why do I have a feeling that we're about to get into a whole heap of trouble?" He asks nobody in particular, having managed to play some of the scavenged war games with the other street rats back in his galaxy, and having similar situations show up on the screen multiple times. And Hera's next sentence just solidifies that fact.
"No, not down… Jammed." She tells the two teens, just before they all look out the windshield and notice an Imperial ship show up from Hyperspace. "That's an Imperial Start Destroyer!" Hera exclaims, making Ezra turn to look at her.
"This whole thing was a set up!" He exclaims.
"It's beginning to look that way." Hera agrees, pressing a few buttons as the Star Destroyer draws closer, before slowly drawing both ships towards its cargo hold. "You two need to board the transport and warn them!" She exclaims, Jack nodding and getting up while Ezra turns to look at Hera in shock.
"What?! Why can't you do it?!" He exclaims.
"I need to be ready to take off or none of us stands a chance." She tells him.
"No! No way! Why would I risk my life for a bunch of strangers?" Ezra asks, and before Hera can answer, Jack speaks up.
"Because it's the right thing to do. And if we don't go warn them, then even if we're not the ones pulling the trigger, then we are to blame for their deaths." He tells his younger brother figure with a determined look. Ezra looks between his older brother figure and the Star Destroyer, uncertainty clear in his eyes as he attempts to make his decision. And Jack is able to tell that it's tearing him apart inside. Because for the first time, he's starting to see what it's like to look out for others, and not just yourself and one other person. Now, Jack just hoped that he would make the right choice.
Authors Note Part 2:
(1): Not entirely sure if the chair in there is actually able to swivel, but swivel chairs are awesome! Therefore, almost all chairs on the ship shall be swivel chairs.
Well, I think that's as good a place to stop as any. After all, I've written over 8,000 words for this chapter, so I think that makes up for last chapter's shortness. Now, as you can see, I've made it so that the two street rats have an older and younger sibling like bond. This will come into play multiple times down the line, since Ezra will be looking to not only Kanan for advice, but Jack as well. As for the question about Jack using the force or not, well, as you can see in this chapter I've decided to make it so that Jack will not use the force, and instead focus on using his Laser pistol.
Also, you can already see the attraction to Sabine starting for Jack, and a slight attraction to Jack for Sabine. Although, their first meeting wasn't exactly what you guys were expecting now was it? Yeah, seems that Jack takes his older brother roll quite seriously. So, it might take a couple episodes for Zeb and Jack to settle their differences because of this. But, going off all this, I guess I should get to replying to the reviews shouldn't I?
WoodElfJedi:
Well, sorry if I disappointed you by making Jack not use the force, but the next person who reviewed actually brought up some good points. I just hope this won't make you dislike the story, and I can keep you loving it.
Kid-N7:
Well… This is probably the longest review I've actually gotten. Although, a few others definitely come close… But I digress. Thanks for the review, and thanks for your suggestions as well. As you can see, Zeb and Jack will have some issues to work out first, but I might just add that in. Also, as for the "pulling a Han Solo", yeah, I'll probably include that somewhere. It's too good to pass up!
As for your suggestion about the episode, thanks! I was actually thinking about this episode, but you've definitely made it a larger possibility. The only way it would change is if they come out with a few new episodes before I write out that one, and one of them gives a better time for the two to get together. But beside that, I like your idea of the AVP references, and will most likely include that at some point. (In fact, I may use it to a larger degree than you originally suggested). Then again, I'm trying to figure out if I should write a story where I actually have the crew watching and reacting to the movies. But that would mean that I would have to watch it… Meh, I'll think about it.
And, as you can see here, I've used "fuzzy" as you suggested, but I already had that scene planned out. So unfortunately the conversation you suggested didn't happen. But I also really like your nicknames suggestion! I'll probably use them, and now I just need to think of one for Jack to use for Sabine… Thanks again for the review!
Anime PJ:
Good to see you reading this story as well! I also hope that I can keep you entertained through it, and that you like the way I have it planned to go.
Well, I think that's about it for this chapter, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I'll see you all next time!