Ayoo, chapter four. Sorry for takin' so long with this one, but once spring break ended, well, had to return to reality. School work and real life n' whatnot.

I feel like the quality of my chapters vary depending on how high/tired I am when I write it. Oh well, judge for yourself, I just write this because Star Wars is awesome, and Rebels is a good show. Anyways, enjoy.

Zeb was expecting a couple of things when he woke up that morning. For starters, he expected to be woken up by either Ezra or Chopper. It was the latter today, a certain shock rod being his weapon of choice. Yes, he had expected that, which is why he decided he would spend this morning relaxing, listening to his favorite music off the old stereo-box, and watching the sun rise over the plains of Lothal. At least, that's what he expected.

Zeb rubbed the sore spot on his back where the shock had abruptly woken him from his sleep. It just had to be in the early morning too, the droid didn't even have enough mercy to let him sleep in, especially after the mission they pulled last night. He expected to be sore, because it went wrong, as per usual. He recalled Kanan's words just before they departed. "What can go wrong?" "The entire operation being a trap, that's what." He grumbled to himself as he stood up.

He sighed, picking up his stereo as he made his way to the Ghost's common room. Ezra wasn't in his bunk when that scrap pile of a droid had woken him up, so Zeb assumed he was awake. It wasn't rare for Ezra to be awake at this hour, especially if Kanan thought of a new training regime for them to do. Zeb could tell Kanan was nervous when it came to Jedi training, something about not being ready. But Ezra seemed thrilled enough to start learning, so that counted for something at least.

The door opened with a swoosh, and Zeb's eyes immediately drifted to the caf machine. He saw Kanan talking to a very tired looking Ezra as he made his way over, and it was clear that Kanan had got another one of his spontaneous Jedi training training ideas, and unsurprisingly Ezra was not thrilled to have it happen at sunrise . "Sucks for the kid." He thought as he started up the caf machine.

Yeah, Zeb expected to get shocked awake, he had expected to see Kanan and Ezra training. He expected the caf to be bitter, not going into town for supplies due to the recent increase in imperial activity can do that.

Zeb also expected to sit back, listen to music and relax when the Ghost's ramp came down, the cool morning breeze causing his fur to rustle. What Zeb was not expecting, however, was the body of a stormtrooper, laying facedown in the grass only meters away from the ghost, behind a tall rock formation, one of the many dotting the plains.

"Oh, karabast."

One hour prior.

The chirping of some insect or another could be heard, the only thing breaking the overwhelming silence. Fixxer walked clumsily, exhausted and dehydrated. The last of his water ran out nearly an hour ago, and he wondered if there was any way out of the situation he had put himself in.

The Empire had yet to show. He tore the comms unit from his helmet hours ago in panic, so he was completely blind to their movements. "But that doesn't mean they're blind to mine." He thought, shuddering.

Fix had no idea how long he had been running, or how long ago he ran out of energy and started to walk...or how long ago he started to stumble. His mouth was dry, and his legs burned, but the grip on his blaster never loosened. There was still nothing for miles, except for the grass and occasional rock formation. He could see one up ahead, a massive rock on a small hill, blocking his view beyond.

He came to the base of the hill, and fell to his knees. "Maybe...maybe i'll just sleep here..." he thought blearily, his mind groggy from exhaustion. The night sky shone with thousands of stars, the lack of clouds or light pollution allowing a clear view. Fix might have admired it's beauty had he not passed out the moment his face made contact with the ground.

"Uh, hey guys. Think you're gonna want to see this."

Ezra woke with a start, his head resting on his fist as he leaned on the holotable. Kanan had them do some more meditation, and Ezra used this opportunity to catch up on the much needed sleep Kanan had robbed him of.

He looked to Zeb, Kanan opening his eyes off to the side. "What's up?" Hera said next to the caf machine (when did she come in?), beating Kanan, who looked like he was about to ask the same thing.

Zeb scratched the back of his head, "Err, just come'n take a look, yeah?" He said, motioning with his head for them to follow him as he made his way back into the hallway. Hera and Kanan exchanged confused glances as Ezra rubbed his eyes. He stood up slowly, following Kanan and Hera as they went down the ladder to the Ghost's loading ramp. He was tired, but the look on Zeb's face worried him, and he decided, just this once, that using this opportunity to sneak to his bunk and sleep is not the best idea.

They exited the Ghost, making their way down the ramp. A chilly gust of wind made Ezra shiver, slightly more awake than he was before. "Zeb, what's this all abou-...oh." Hera's eyes widened, and Kanan raised an eyebrow. Ezra, walked around them, and his mouth formed a small 'o' when he saw what they were looking at.

"This morning just got a whole lot more interesting."