Aboard the Phantom II

Ahsoka's travel through hyperspace wasn't exactly quiet. With 6 talkative birds, she had to maintain the peace between them.

Poor Onni, being the youngest of them all, felt intimidated by Pebble and Gotcha's presences. The best he could do was hide under her chair, raising his crest of feathers once in a while.

Gotcha, while being one of the 3 Moluccans known to Ahsoka, wasn't acting "territorial" like Pebble, and only wanted to play with the younger Umbrella Cockatoo. "I gotcha ! I gotchu !"

Onni poked his head from his hiding spot. "Peekaboo !"

Pebble, being the oldest of the bunch, had no trouble voicing her frustrations. "Fucking bitch ! Fucking little fuck ! You're fucking lost forever ! Fuck the Empire ! Fuck the Stormtroopers ! Fuck the Emperor ! Fuck 'em all !"

Kiwi turned towards Pebble's incessant ranting. "What a bird ! Good bird ! What a cutie ! "

Harley, the other Umbrella Cockatoo in the group, seemed at a loss how to respond to Pebble's foul language. "Hello ?"

For the Cockatiel, Sunny, he only stared at the lights of hyperspace and sing a song he learned. "All the pretty ferrets sing… La la la…"

Ahsoka turned to Pebble. "You in the feathers cursing like a clone, knock it off !"

"Shut up ! I'm talking here ! Are you fucking actual ?!"

Ahsoka had enough of Pebble's profanity. "HEY ! Enough, I said ! You're being a bad girl, Pebble ! Over to the corner of the cockpit, NOW !"

Pebble turned around and mumbled off.

Gotcha ran to Ahsoka's feet. "I need to use the bathroom ! I need to go in there ! I'm a really good boy !"

Ahsoka's eyes rolled in their sockets. "Then go, Gotcha. The door opens when you're close enough. Go on."

Thankfully, the small ship did have a refresher area for the non-droid members of the Confederacy. Inside, Gotcha just had a quick look at the surroundings. Just a small shower, sink and a toilet. Nothing extravagant. "I gotchaaa !"

Onni ended sitting on Ahsoka's lap for the remainder of the trip. He huddled himself against her armor, feeling protected from the other birds, especially Pebble.

Both Kiwi and Sunny stayed on the control board, just chirping away. While Pebble stewed in the back corner, Gotcha and Harley chased each other for fun.

An hour of flight later, she would finally reunite with Rex and the others on Seelos.

Imperial Command Center, Lothal

Stormtroopers arrived from a Lambda-class T4a shuttle. One of them carried a locked metal box with air holes. There, they met with the Nogri assassin, Rukh, whom was in charge of the operations during Thrawn's absence.

"Halt ! What is in that container ?" He pointed.

"Special delivery for the Grand Admiral, sir ! A Rebel ally captured on Garel during one of their fuel heists." One of them quickly explained.

"Let me have a look." Rukh released the lock and opened the top, revealing a still stunned Max. "I will take it from here. Keep an eye out for those Rebels. They may attempt to rescue this animal."

Minutes later, Rukh entered Thrawn's office. Quickly activating the holo-projector, a hologram of Thrawn appeared.

"What is it ?"

"A group of Stormtroopers have captured this animal on Garel. I trust you know of this ?" He showed off Max, whom was just starting to regain his senses.

"Excellent. We have the bird of the elusive original Fulcrum agent now in our custody. Whatever happens, Rukh, it must not escape ! Do not let it out of your sight." He turned his back momentarily. Turning back to face his assassin, Thrawn revealed an evil smile. "On second thought, summon Governor Pryce to my office. She will be charged in watching over it. It ought to be a suitable punishment for her recent failure. Make sure that she stays in my office until I get there. I am on my way."

Rukh bowed eagerly. "As you command, Grand Admiral."

Once the communication ended, he pressed a button on the control board. "Governor, you are expected in the Grand Admiral's office immediately. You've been given a task of great importance. Don't delay." He warned.

Minutes later, Arihnda Pryce entered in the office. "I'm here, Assassin. What's that task that you deemed so important ?"

Rukh pointed to the container. "This animal has ties with the Rebellion. You will be watching over it until the Grand Admiral arrives. Do not let it escape… and you are not to bring harm to it in any way." He quickly stepped out of the office to resume his watch duties.

Rubbing her neck, she slowly approached the container. "What could be so important to the Rebellion about this creature ?"

Before she could make another move, Max, now fully awake, popped his head out of the box. "Hiii !"

"It talks ?! Oh… oh no…" Realization quickly dawned on her. She would need to put up with it, no matter what, until Thrawn arrived to take over… and probably execute her on the spot. She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Hello… I'm Arihnda. What's your name ?" She felt so silly for attempting to engage a conversation with the animal.

Max beat his wings and chirped several times in a row, then u-turned to the left on his spot many, many times. "Hiii ! Hiii ! Hello ! Hey, Max ! How are you doing ? Little boy ! Hiii ! Hiii ! Hiii !"

Pryce slowly stepped forward. "Your name is Max ? So you're a boy ? And you seem to be able to talk fairly well…" She attempted to pet him, resulting in a painful bite from Max's strong beak. Strong enough to draw blood ! "Ouch ! Oh, you little monster ! How dare you ?!" She quickly drew a blaster and aimed at him. Max, oblivious of the danger, simply kept beating his wings and chirping.

Before she pulled the trigger, her conscience spoke to her. "If you kill it, the Grand Admiral's ire will be even worse than it already is ! This is a clever way to punish you for destroying his prized Tie-Defender factories. Deal with it !"

Max did a squeaky toy noise for about a minute before he decided to scream his lungs out, deafening Pryce. "No, no, no, NO ! Stop ! Stop ! STOP ! WILL YOU BE QUIET ?! AHHHH ! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS ?!"

5 hours later…

Pryce was on her knees, crying out of despair. "Pl-ple-please… stop saying "Hiii !" I can't take anymore of this !"

"Hiii !" Came Max's response while he squealed and raced around her.

"Bawwwwww !" She slumped to the floor, crying her eyes out. "This is pure torture ! Can't Thrawn arrive sooner and kill me now ?!"

Joopa Base, Seelos

The Ghost had just landed on the modified AT-AT in which Clones Gregor and Wolffe made use of once the Empire abandoned it over 2 years ago. Inside, the two greeted Rex, Hera and Ezra. They weren't alone, though. The bounty hunter Ketsu Onyo sat on one side, while Hondo Ohnaka and Melch sat on the other.

Hera peered over to the end of the room. "Hondo ? So you've got our message."

The old Weequay slowly stood up, taking a swig of rum, knocking off his partner Melch from his stool. "Captain Syndulla, when I heard that we'd help Ezra, I knew I had to come. You've helped me before, so it's time that I would return the favor… in some way."

Ketsu Onyo turned her head towards him, snorting a laugh. "You weren't exactly hard to find. You smugglers leave a trace that's too easy to follow."

Hondo quickly corrected. "Bub, bub, bub ! The "correct" term is "pirate", my dear ! I don't like the sound of s-sm-smuggler ! Sound so… sleazy !"

Ketsu rolled her eyes in response. "Okay, whatever."

Rex broke the tension and moved on to business. "The reason why we're all meeting here is that we're going to do an important mission. We're going to help our friend Ezra free his homeworld from Imperial reign."

Wolffe cupped his chin and raised an eyebrow. "Has this been approved by High Command ?"

"No, it hasn't." Hera began. "We'll have to make do with what we have. There's no guarantee that all of us… will make it back."

Hondo walked over to Ezra, wrapping an arm around him. "There is nothing I wouldn't do for Ezra, here. You know… you remind me of the good times, when we had something to believe in."

"The Jedi." Ketsu added.

"That's it !" Hondo only then noticed that Kanan wasn't with her. "Your Master Jedi, Captain Syndulla… is he not with us ?"

Memories stung at Hera's heartstrings. "Kanan sacrificed himself back at Lothal… It allowed us to escape and it also took the Tie-Defender production down for good !"

Wanting to show some respect, Hondo removed his cap and placed it on his chest. "Master Jarrus was killed ? I did not know this… I am sorry for your loss."

"All the more reason to free my world. So that Kanan's sacrifice will account to so much more. It's fitting that we honor him by doing this. He would want us to finish what we started." Ezra stated.

Before anything else was said, a blip appeared on the Clones' radar. "There's another ship coming in !" Gregor pointed excitedly. "This is Joopa Base. Identify yourself. Over."

A familiar voice came through. "This is General Ahsoka Tano of the Rebellion. I'm coming over to give the Ghost Crew a hand in freeing Ezra's home. And I've brought friends whom I think will allow us to pass through security quite easily."

Wolffe couldn't believe his ears. "Co-commander Tano's still alive ?! I thought Darth Vader killed her a few years ago."

Rex gripped Ezra's shoulders a bit tightly. "You have this kid to thank, Wolffe ! He entered some sort of special dimension and was able to save her life."

Once Ahsoka entered, she was covered in birds. Pebble and Gotcha were perched on her left shoulder, Harley and Onni were perched on her left shoulder. Finally, Sunny and Kiwi were perched on her left and right montral respectively. "Sorry I'm late, everyone, but I had to make a stop at Alderaan before coming here."

Wolffe quickly closed the space between himself and Ahsoka. "Commander… I… I'm sorry for what happened back during your trial. I should've listened to your plea before stunning you."

She shook her head, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That happened a long time ago, Wolffe. You're forgiven. I'm thankful that you weren't the one that shot down Master Plo all those years ago. You were always a loyal ally to us and still are."

"Could've been Comet, Sinker or Boost that did the deed, Commander." He quickly changed the subject. "So… you said you were bringing friends to help us infiltrate the Imperial Command ?"

"You're looking at them." She pointed to herself. "These birds are a special loan from Senator Organa. Don't be fooled, they're highly intelligent and will assist in distracting the Stormtroopers guarding the Imperial Complex." She lowered her head slightly. "There's another reason that they are coming along. A good friend of theirs, Max, is currently in imperial custody. So while we work to free Lothal from occupation, we have to save my bird before the Empire can get Rebel secrets out of him."

"And how do they feel about the Empire ?" Hondo asked.

Ahsoka cleared her throat. "Pebble ? Wanna tell our friends here how you feel about the Empire ? Vader ? The Emperor ? The Stormtroopers ?"

Pebble immediately let loose. "Fucking Empire ! Fucking Stormtroopers ! Fucking Vader ! Fuck the Emperor ! I will torture him ! I will chop his artery ! I will shove an axe ! I will shove it in him ! Fuck 'em all ! Fuck ! FUCK !"

Gregor immediately took a shine to Pebble. "Heh heh heh ! I like that one !

Pebble kept ranting. "No question ! I will kill the Emperor ! I can't chew ! I can smoke ! I'm still afraid of mom ! I'm a pickle !"

Ahsoka petted Pebble. "Ok, sweetie. That's enough swearing for now. Feeling better to let it all out ? Good girl, Pebble !"

Sunny greeted everyone. "Hi ! What are you doing ? Hi Sunny !" He extended his wings. "Bat Bird ! Bat Bird !"

Gotcha flew over to Melch, perching himself on his head. "I gotcha ! I love you !"

Kiwi took an imaginary call. "Brr ! Brr ! Brr ! This is birdphone ! Please leave a message after the beep ! Beep ! Beep ! Beep !"

Harley and Onni weren't too sure how to interact with the new group, so they remained on Ahsoka's shoulder. Hopefully, they would do their part when the time came.

So everybody is gathered and ready to go ! How will the birds distract the Stormtroopers ? You'll find out on the coming chapter. Some of you may have noticed that there has been some significant changes if you checked out my profile page. A good number of stories have been removed. Why ? I wasn't quite satisfied with them. To those of you who were waiting for the Metroid/Clone Wars crossover to continue, I am deeply sorry. The truth is that I lost interest in the story. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get back into it. Now, I feel I need to bring up a few things. First off, I've decided to raise the rating to M because of Pebble's streams of F-bombs. Second, if you aren't familiar with Pebble, she was an abused bird before she ended up with Kelly, her current owner, whom runs the megabirdcrazy and Pebble the Crazy Cockatoo YouTube channels. Pebble learned the swearing from her previous owners, and as a result, has been left quite traumatized. At least Kelly puts up with it and makes it look funny. He's a good keeper like Max's Dan. Feel free to leave a review.