Ezra's POV
We were just moments from dropping out of hyperspace to the spice mine planet. It was going to be a smash and grab for these wookies. Hera grabbed my arm as I went to follow Kanan out of the cockpit to prepare for the drop. She said seriously," Listen to Kanan out there. You are just a kid and we would rather not see you hurt."
I forced myself not to roll my eyes at her as I nodded. These rebels have no idea about what I was. I stood off to Kanan's left side as we waited for the drop. He kept shooting me strange glances that had me wondering if he knew. The intercom sounded and Hera said," All right boys prepare for the drop." I bent my knees and counted to five before the bottom drop us on the surface.
I landed perfectly on the platform with Kanan landing feet from me. The stormtroopers surprised by our presence took a moment to react. In at time I shot two of them with my protoculture blaster and rounded on a third. He tried shooting me but thanks to my reflexes I was able to dodge. I got him in the chest and moved to the wookies. One of them growled at me in its language and swung its fists. It fully intended to incapacitate or even kill me.
I held up the keys to their cuffs as I dodged the blow and said," Whoah wait a moment. I'm here to rescue you. With those morons." Glares were sent my way from the crew who took offense. The wookies gave me a look that was akin to disbelief but I moved closer to the one who had tried to attack me. I used the data spike to unlock the cuffs and stepped back.
The wookies looked down at its arms that were now free before giving a loud sound and the others came closer to me. I unlocked all their cuffs and they began attacking the stormtroopers. I felt a tugging on my jacket and looked down. A young wookies who only came up to my waist and held up its cuffed hands. I smiled softly and unlocked its cuffs. I was about to straighten when my instincts warned me something was wrong.
I picked up the little wookies and threw us behind some crates just in time to miss a grenade exploding. I shot at the stormtrooper that had thrown it with my protoculture blaster. The stormtrooper went down harder but more kept coming. Kanan called for a pickup so that we could get the wookies out and make a hasty retreat. I looked up to see the ship flying in with several ties on its tail. It would have to be a quick pick up.
I bit my lip thinking,: Hera could use some help. My Veritech is operational... for the most part.: I looked around at the others and knew there was no way they could cover me long enough to pull out my Veritech and get it started up. Damn! They landed behind the crates so that Kanan and the others could get the wookies on the ship. I took out three stormtroopers to clear a path for me to run over to Kanan. He noticed the wookie in my arms but didn't say anything just nodded to the ship.
I put the wookie back on the ground and said," Come on let's get to the ship." I looked up a Kanan who nodded his approval then jerked his chin back to the ship. I nodded to him before running to the ship pulling the small wookie along behind me. We had almost reached the ship when I felt a tug and the wookie released my hand.
No! The little wookie had been pulled back by the man who had captured me. Who was this guy?! Zeb tried to grab me and tell me to get on the ship. Instead I ducked under his arm and ran back into the fight. Zeb yelled after me," Kid don't! Damn it if you get left behind again its not my fault!" I ignored him dropping to a knee behind the box that Kanan was behind.
I said in a whisper," The man in the black uniform has a wookie child. What are we going to do?" A blast of wind signalled the ship taking off again. I took a few shots at the stormtroopers but for every one we took out five more appeared. I could hear that Hera was still having trouble with Tiefighters even with Zeb on the ship. Kanan said finally," Hera prepare for a 22 pickup."
I could hear Hera's incredulous tone as she said," You want to do what?! Are you sure about this Kanan? Once you do that you can't take it back?" I asked looking up at the strange man," Anyone want to let me in on what a 22 pickup is?"
Kanan said serious before putting his blaster away and pulling out two metal pieces," Kid I'm about to let everyone in on the secret." I wanted to pull the man back but Zabine said," Don't. He knows what he is doing."
Kanan put the two metal pieces together to form the lightsaber from earlier. What is going on? The one that had the wookie child held up his hand to stop the stormtroopers from firing. Like myself he was curious to know what Kanan was up to. He ignited the lightsaber and stood confidently in front of the stormtroopers. That's when it hit me and likely the stormtroopers as well. Kanan was a Jedi.
The man in black said pointing to Kanan," A Jedi. Kill the Jedi!" I smiled faintly at seeing the wookie kick the man in the shins forcing him to drop the wookie. The little wookie ran off in another direction with two stormtroopers on its tail. I looked at Kanan to see him deflecting blaster fire. Kanan couldn't help at this point so I ran off after the little wookie and the two stormtroopers that followed it.
Kanan's POV
He was mildly surprised to see the kid run off after the wookie. He thought that the kid would have left it to fend for himself. Kanan had to admit Ezra was surprising him. The agent called a retreat after he had taken down several of the stormtroopers. Hera and the Ghost came around the ramp dropping to allow him and Zabine to jump up into the ship.
He went to the cockpit where Hera said," Kanan it would be great if you could get on one of the guns and tell Ezra to get his ass up here." Kanan said," The kid chased after a wookie that got away from the agent. He went towards a dead end. We need to prepare to receive them both. I'll tell Zabine and Zeb to get on the guns."
Hera bit back a groan. They were influencing the child already. Most people from Lothal would never risk their own neck to save a wookie or even a member of their species. Kanan rushed out so that he stood on the top of the Ghost as they approached where Ezra was.
Ezra stood shooting at stormtroopers only to be forced into hand to hand combat with the agent. The boy as skilled as he was was at a disadvantage trying to protect the wookie. He looked up at Kanan when he yelled," Kid! Jump!" The Ghost was lowered so that when Ezra jumped he landed on the Ghost. Kanan flinched when he saw the boy had a laser burn on his upper arm but it didn't seem to bother him. Kanan had to admit that he was impressed at how little battle seemed to faze the boy.
They dropped into the cargo area where the rest of the wookies were. Kanan watched with a small smile as Ezra reunited the wookie child with its parents. For a moment he caught a flash of envy before Ezra's mask was back in place. He envied the wookie child? Why? That seemed to be a question for another day as Hera called over the intercom," Ezra get your ass in here. Now! I need you as my copilot."
With a last look at the wookies Ezra ran to the cockpit while Kanan and Zabine went for the guns. Kanan was busy trying to clear a path for them to make the jump to hyperspace. He could hear Ezra making the calculations for a hyperspace jump. After a moment he said," Clear path we are good to jump." With that he and Zeb finished clearing the remaining ties and the jump was made. Finally the battle was over and the wookies were safe.
