Ezra's Search: Chapter 5
Ezra, his friends and Luke Skywalker are on Ryloth, searching for Hera and Kanan. But before they can search for them on the Twil'ek home-world the planet is attacked by an Imperial Remnant that uses piracy to fund their goals. Now Ezra, his friends and Luke Skywalker find themselves during a battle to save the Twil'ek's from surrendering credits, a great many of their young females to be sold into slavery and all their fuel.
Kanan awoke and reached past the sleeping form that laid next to him. Carefully picking up his optical implant from the charger he placed it into his right eye socket. After blinking once it activated and he could see again. Over his left eye he wore a black eye patch. Standing he felt the automatic focusing mechanism clear his vision and he glanced back and smirked.
"What are you smirking at?" Hera asked as she sat up and picked up her robe.
"Just admiring the view." Kanan replied gawking at Hera, as she rolled her eyes and put her robe on. "Aw your no fun." Covering her naked body with the red robe.
"Like it isn't something that you have not seen before." Hera got up and stood on her toes to give him a good morning kiss.
"Well at night I am blind after all, I have to let this thing charge. Eventually we need to find a bio-electrical cell so that it charges automatically when I am sleeping." Kanan said as he put on his robe, then followed Hera through the ship to the small bridge and piloting station of the Ghost.
Checking the local scanners, she smiled. No intruders, no movement and nothing wrong. She had gotten in the habit of checking the scanners every morning. Clicking on the broadcast net her eyes widened. An incoming broad-based message was repeating on the communication systems. Activating it Kanan and she heard.
"This is the Great Admiral Rosot Gindors, you will surrender and give me, Five hundred thousand credits, two-thousands of your females ages 18-20 and all of your starship fuel. Failure to do so will result in your destruction." The One time Imperial said over the general communication net.
"Should we go and help?" Kanan asked as he sat at the co-pilot station.
"Yes, then we might have to go somewhere else, my father contacted me yesterday and Ezra by now has arrived. Unless you think it is safe for us to come out of seclusion." Hera responded activating the start-up systems. "Chopper activate the auto-fire on the weapons, we might run into TIE's." The droid complained and spun its head, turning on the auto systems.
"I do not know, I sense something has changed." Kanan glanced at the ceiling as if he was looking beyond what he was seeing. Not feeling the Ghost lift off from the large cave in the southern desert and head for the Capital city.
Ezra and Tristan ran to join the ground defense army that rallied near the main entrance. The army's commanders set the different Twil'ek soldiers into different defense positions and had heavy weapons prepare to defend the entrance. Seeing the seven drop ships slowly setting down a mile away. Ezra pointed out that the eighth was circling to the north. Guessing Rex was right, they hoped to keep the main forces busy while another went around and attacked the rear.
"Tristan, you better go tell Rex to expect some Imp's coming his way." Ezra whispered as Tristan flew off, to tell Rex.
Over seven hundred Storm-troopers converged on the main entrance and the five hundred defenders fired back. Ezra found himself busy using his lightsaber on a AT-AS that had somehow survived the heavy weapons fire from higher up on the cave entrance. Slashing one of the legs, cutting off just above the axis joint, it crashed to the ground. Looking over he saw that the defenders were being pushed back. The Two AT-AT walkers were pounding away at the defenses and with the Storm-Troopers approaching and providing ground support, the defenders just did not have the fire-power.
"Commander, you need to pull back. Those walkers are just too powerful. Without air-support they will devastate your forces." Ezra said to the over-all commander of the defenders.
"We cannot fall back. If they gain a foot hold in the entrance it will be impossible to stop them." The Commander said as he tried to have one of the heavy weapons fire on the AT-AT walkers.
Cursing, Ezra realized he was right. Once the Storm-Troopers set up offensive positions at the entrance it would be a slaughter. Seeing the Large AT-AT getting closer, he began to wonder if he could make it close enough to cut the one of its legs off before it shot him or the Storm-Troopers would be able to. Just as he was about to tempt fate, he saw a familiar ship zero down and hit it with Five Photon Torpedoes. Blowing it into scrape. Almost all the defenders yelled in relief and approval. Leading the counter-strike Ezra joined the Commander to push the Troopers back. The other AT-AT walker was not in position to support the trooper ground forces, and before it could Ezra saw Kanan leap out of the Ghost and slash the Metal Control Head off. The rest of the huge construction fell over. This rallied the other defenders and all of them attacked. In less than twenty minutes the battle was over.
Returning to the command bunker Ezra sat down, he was exhausted. Cham came over and handed him a bottle of water.
"We have drove off the two Star Destroyers." Cham barely whispered. "But we lost the Light-Cruiser to do it." Ezra knew that must have been costly, but in the long run it might work out. As Ezra looked at the aft end of one of the Star Destroyers on the visual scanners its propulsion flamed out. With Two Frigates and Nine Correllian Cruisers baring down on it, they quickly surrendered. But the Pirate Admiral Gindors got away in his ship.
Sitting down he waited for his friends and Luke to return, he did not expect to see Hera and Kanan stride into the large room. Hera immediately almost ran over to hug Ezra and he held her tightly. Then Ezra hugged Kanan. Hera went to hug her father.
"Where in the seven suns have you been?" Ezra said frustrated at Kanan and Hera. "You know that we have missed you two for almost three years." Kanan looked at his friend and shrugged his shoulders.
"Well we did not want to draw attention to you or Sabine. So, we thought it best to disappear." Hera explained as she stepped over.
"That is fine now. I think the New Republic is no longer a danger, but we still will not announce that I or my children are on Mandalor. You know my Daughters are getting pretty good with using the force. I haven't started teaching my son yet." Ezra saw the startled looks on Hera and Kanan.
"Your son?" Kanan asked.
"Yes, his name is Torva and he is one year old." Ezra informed them. "See you have not checked in or visited so you have not been there to know what is going on." Ezra watched as Kanan tensed up as he saw Luke Skywalker walk in.
"What is he doing here?" Kanan asked as Luke approached. "I take it he knows that you and I are Jedi." Ezra saw Kanan subconsciously reached down to grasp his lightsaber.
"Yes, I do. But do not worry Ezra has shown me that I am not ready to restore the Jedi Order, or even lead it." Luke quietly said as he kept his own hand away from his weapon. "I need to learn more about the force and have a better understanding before I can confidently train any future Jedi."
"How did you do that?" Kanan asked as he seemed to be shocked.
"Let us just say that his skills and techniques are not exactly where they should be." Ezra said then looked at Luke. "While we wait for the others, how did you defeat Darth Vadar? I mean even Asoka Tano had trouble with him and she was a master swordsman."
"I have been thinking about that ever since you told me that you could have defeated me. I think he went easy on me."
"Wait, Darth Vadar went easy on you. That does not make any sense." Kanan almost whispered as he glared with his optic eye at Luke not understanding.
"He was once Anakin Skywalker, My Father." Luke could almost see the shock and fear on Ezra's and Kanan's faces as they processed what he just said. "Now I believe that I need to learn to use the Force and my Lightsaber, otherwise I do not have the right to Restore the Jedi Order. I will be leaving soon. Do not worry Ezra I will tell no one where you are or that you are even alive. That goes for you too Kanan. When you think I am ready though I hope you seek me out."
"We will see, right now though I think we need to visit Mandalor. See Sabine." Kanan said as Hera came back over glaring at Luke as he left flipping his hood up and departed. "That is after we make sure that those Imperial Pirates are really gone that is."
Kanan and Hera was happy to see Zeb and Rex again, they even hugged Tristan. As they went to the Guest Quarters they began to talk about the experiences that they had. Hera and Kanan were going to stay another couple of days to make sure that everything was secure on Ryloth then they would come for an extended visit to Mandalor.
As Ezra waved to them as the Ramp of the Assault shuttle rose into place, he knew that they would come for a visit, soon.
On Mandalor Sabine had just left her daughters and was slowly walking into Torva's room. Then she felt the breeze from the door seal and her eyes widened. Throwing the door open she ran into the room her hand went to her mouth. Torva was gone, the window had been removed. Running to the window she looked out and saw a ship rise and blast off heading toward space. Hitting the alarm several Mandalorian warriors in armor ran into the room led by Ursa and Alrich were in the lead. A note hung on the crib and Sabine took it and read it then burst into tears thrusting it at her mother.
"I have your son; Ezra Bridger will meet me alone on Tantooine at these quadrants below in one week or I will give your son to the Empire. I am sure they would love to have a powerful Jedi's son to mold into their next emperor. Fenn Rau."
"I do not believe it, why would he do that?" Ursa stammered out in tears. "Prepare an Assault force I will go personally and kill him and get back my grandson."
"No, mother. As much as I would like to go and kill him myself. He wants Ezra. We need to call him and tell him." Sabine said angrily not understanding why Fenn Rau would do this. As her father Alrich came over to hold his angry and upset daughter.
To be continued.