YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! 100+ reviews?! YOU! GUYS! ARE! SERIOUSLY! SO! WONDERFUL! A writer couldn't ask for better readers! ❤ THANK UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ALL SO MUCH!
Lewa Neor – dude, thank uuuuuuu ^_^
alkatie – thank you so much! Yes, Kallus was definitely not holding back his thoughts in this episode! Seriously, though, I just imagine him having to bit his tongue so often, that he's probably a little giddy to talk back now that he's been ousted.
Ahsoka9613 – thank you! I love exceeding the expectations! Cannot wait for the season 4 sneak peek this weekend!
PrincessCadence2012 – thank you! ❤ I'm glad that you thought the pay off was good! Now to keep that ante up!
Phoenixofmyth – thank you! I'm glad you found everything well written! It's always a worry whether or not I'm doing it right.
Lynn Friedman-kinsey – Thank you! Yes, I HATED his escape in Rebels… like, it was just so… anti-climatic! Hopefully this is better 😉 Not very kid friendly though.
xCoatl – Thank you so much for your insanely detailed reviews! I can't wait for next season, and definitely how Thrawn will adjust with Kallus being gone and his "defeat/win" against the Rebellion.
Midnight Luna – Poor Kallus wouldn't join that club it seems XDDDD
XinterestingX – YAY! Glad I maintained that level of suspense!
Eirian Erisdar – Yes comfort, poor poor baby needs that comfort! *weeps*
Takeno – aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh, please take no offense, but I've got experience with these kinds of things. Tasers don't hurt so bad. And while they ~can~ kill, cause bones to break, usually it's never that extreme. During it? Yes, your muscles all are forced to constrict, but once it's over, you just feel exhausted and burned out, but no more pain. Broken ribs hurt, but much of the pain is increased if your mind begins to panic when it discovers you can't breathe fully.
doodly-squat – very glad to hear it! I hope you stick around to see what else I have in store 😉
Jaki822 – you know, I was really wondering how he was planning to escape, but even in the episode, he goes into the lift with his hands bound, and the two storm troopers are knocked out as he's getting the hand irons off, so…. I imagine he had to use his head XDDDD I mean, granted in the show, his old leg injury apparently improved so he could have kicked them, but what else does he have?
Molly – I hope to keep the update speed high! Thank you!
Maliwan – THANK YOU! :D
storyteller2899 - OH I WILL WRITE A FAN FICTON ABOUT IT! Because it's the most adorable idea ever in the world, but I'm pretty sure that if Forest Witaker is coming back for season 4, then there HAS to be some kind of showdown between Saw's Lasat and the Ghost crew... and it's obviously going to involve Kallus in some way. BUT WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.
Mistress Malica - HI! I'm just floored you think there's nothing to offer feedback on! XDDDDD I'm sure there is, LOL! As for Thrawn, my only exposure to Thrawn is through Rebels, and he certainly never acted motivational to anyone underneath him on the show! A lot of people have been recommending the Thrawn triology/Legends/EU books to me, so I'm probably going to have to pick them up at some time.
"We've got an incoming transmission?"
Hera couldn't believe it. The entire rebel fleet already had their communication systems synced. No one would be attempting to hail them unless it was Imperial. Reluctantly, Hera reached over and touched the panel next to the communications computer. Hey, if it was Thrawn, that would be something to listen to.
But on the other end, nothing happened. There was just silence, and coordinates. Coordinates would mean someone wanted to be picked up.
"There's an escape pod on my scope," Hera said after checking her screen.
"An escape pod?" Kanan echoed. "From where?"
"I don't know," Hera said – honestly, how did Kanan expect her to know with the absolute mess of a battle field they were currently navigating, "but it's Imperial."
"It's Kallus!" Zeb shouted.
Hera weighed her options.
On one hand, she distrusted the Imperial spy. It was hard for her to forget being hunted down all over the galaxy by that ISB agent for nearly two years. Not to mention all the horrible things he'd done – the destruction of Lasan, framing them for the murder of Minister Tua, allowing Kanan to be tortured by that Inquisitor…? The list could go on indefinitely.
The moment Kanan told her that Agent Kallus had played the part of Fulcrum – that he knew the secret code phrase – that he was actually helping? Hera was serious when she warned the Ghost crew to take caution with their new friend.
But he'd rescued Sabine from the Imperial fighter pilot academy, and helped Zeb survive on the ice moon of Geonosis. He'd helped Ezra and Kanan escape the factory on Lothal. It seemed genuine.
Kallus could have lured the rebels into a trap. He'd never asked the rebellion for anything in exchange for what he was doing. No requests for rebel information, no pleas for amnesty. His desire to help had been entirely one sided.
But Thrawn had also found the location of their rebel base, and Kallus had known where it was.
Kallus didn't give that up easily, Hera told herself.
And as much as she still was conflicted about Kallus's end game, leaving him behind didn't feel right.
"Let's get him," Hera said, hitting a button on the adjacent panel, accepting the escape pod's call. The two navigation computers began talking, and the Ghost suggested a new trajectory for pick up. Hera pulled on the stick, sending her ship in a bank.
The escape pod was hard to see out of the window, but once its' own navigation computer began its rendezvous maneuver, Hera could see the tiny speck of light begin to move. At least she didn't need to go back – with the swarms of TIE fighters hounding their retreat, it would have been impossible to go back.
"Zeb, we're going to have to make this quick," Hera ordered. "I need to jettison that escape pod before we can jump."
As the Lasat left the cabin, Hera risked a look in Kanan's direction.
"You made the right choice," Kanan said. Hera smiled. Her conflict must have sent a ripple through the Force. His reassurance was all she needed – he hadn't seen Kallus earlier, when Thrawn snidely presented him to the rebel command in his hologram message. There had been too much going on to explain it, either. But if Kanan was willing to accept Kallus, she could give him a chance, too.
Hera watched out the window, her navigation computer recommending another course adjustment, the escape pod approaching quickly. It zipped under the hull of her ship, and a dull clank shook the floor beneath her.
"Got him," she said, hitting another few buttons, and banking again to regroup with the rest of the fleet.
"Zeb, you've got to jettison that escape pod!" Hera reminded him over the intercom. When her displays didn't indicate otherwise, Hera looked over at the inner-ship display screen. The hatch to the Ghost was open, so at least the two ships docked properly. Was it empty? Was it a trap?
"Zeb?" Hera asked again, urgently. The last thing she was going to do was tow an Imperial escape pod with them in hyper space. Never mind the cost in fuel, those things had trackers. Even if the fleet wouldn't head straight away to Yavin base, she didn't want to be tracked anywhere.
"Hera…" she heard Zeb's voice. "It's…."
But whatever it was, Zeb couldn't find the words.
-SWR-
Zeb was outside the hatch before the escape pod even docked. Waiting… nervously.
He'd been elsewhere when the rebel command team received the last Fulcrum message, but when the fleet began to mobilize a quick response, the explanation was chilling. Agent Kallus had only managed to deliver a few words of a message before being cut off. Zeb didn't like it.
And he'd been with Rex helping to get the shield generator up and running when Thrawn had hailed their base, so he didn't know what kind of a state his friend was in. But if he'd been on Thrawn's star destroyer? If he was in an escape pod? Connecting that to the fact his Fulcrum message was cut off… it didn't sound good.
Even if some of the other members of the crew were still unsure of his intentions, Zeb understood where Kallus was coming from. Ezra didn't stop complaining after his failed extraction that Kallus was merely setting them up, that he would betray the rebels. It didn't matter how many times Zeb had to tell his roommate he was wrong, the kid was fixed in his opinion.
Kallus didn't want to be rescued because he didn't feel like he deserved it. Zeb understood. Granted, he didn't think Kallus was right, but he understood where he was coming from. He'd felt the same kind of guilt for being unable to save his home world.
For a while, he'd hoped that if he managed to kill Kallus, then it would make some move towards redemption. End the life of the one who ordered the use of disruptors against his people? That would balance things out alright.
But when he'd been trapped with Kallus, when they were forced to work together and talk? Zeb realized Kallus had felt the same way about him…. The way he described his first meeting with a Lasat… that he was paralyzed with helplessness, unable to save his friends from being brutally murdered? Kallus had been doing the same thing Zeb had been– hoping that if he was able to kill Zeb, that somehow it would heal the scars of what he'd been through, to mend the pain of not being able to do anything to save his friends.
And then Kallus had apologized for what had happened on Lasan. "It wasn't supposed to be a massacre," he'd said. "But I realize the Empire wanted to make an example. I know before, I took credit for it-" It had been difficult for him to say. But it was sincere. And with that, Zeb was able to move on, and forgive himself, too, for his own failure to save his world.
They'd saved each other, in more ways than one. Even if the others in the crew didn't believe him, he trusted Kallus completely.
The Ghost shook, and the panel next to the hatch lit up – a red button switching off and a green button lighting up. Zeb pulled down on a lever, and the Ghost's hatch opened up.
"Kallus?" Zeb asked, stepping inside the escape pod.
At first, he thought it was empty. No one was in the seat. Zeb took a step inside, looking around, annoyance replacing his worry. Did this thing malfunction? Was it merely bugged, like Hera was thinking, in order to track them? Zeb's face fell as he looked around his head. Was it a bomb?
He took a step to leave, but then noticed there was a spot on the floor that didn't reflect the light… it was cloth.
"Kallus?" Zeb called out again, rushing forward. Kallus was crumpled under the control panel, his black Imperial uniform perfectly camouflaging him inside the black escape pod. Zeb smiled, happy to see his friend really had made it. And he was ready to tease him, figuring he'd gotten knocked out when the two ships docked. He hadn't been wearing his restraining belt, after all.
But when Zeb grabbed Kallus's shoulder and turned him, he jumped back.
Hera's voice warbled over the loudspeakers, but Zeb didn't register any words.
"Kallus? Hey, Kallus?" Zeb said, his heart sinking, giving Kallus's shoulder a firm shake. His face was just an absolute mess…. Dried blood all over it. His eye utterly black and swollen shut…. They'd certainly done a number on him.
"Zeb?" Hera's voice called out again.
"Hera," Zeb replied. "It's…"
Zeb looked Kallus up and down, and knew they didn't have much time. Quickly, he dragged Kallus out from where he'd landed. When Zeb saw his broken leg, his hands lost their grip.
"What did they do to you?" Zeb said. It was definitely not the time to ask questions like that. Zeb wormed an arm under Kallus's shoulders and the other arm under his knees. Zeb was surprised with how heavy the human was – when he carried him on Geonosis's moon, he'd still been conscious. The dead weight was unnerving.
Zeb got out of the escape pod, and barely remembered to jettison the escape pod. The hiss of hydraulics echoed.
"Thank you," Hera's voiced over the intercom. The ship rattled a bit and suddenly the rid went smooth – they'd made the jump.
"Garazeb," a faint whisper. Zeb looked down, long enough to see Kallus's eyelids flutter open, and close again.
"Don't worry, buddy," Zeb said. "You're on the Ghost now. You're safe."
Safe from the Empire, sure, but from his injuries...
Next chapter – patching the poor guy up. The comfort side to the hurt/comfort category 😉
Alright, but seriously, show-universe-wise, how was Agent Kallus supposed to send the Fulcrum symbol in a transmission from an Imperial escape pod? SERIOUSLY? Was it saved on a disk or something? Why would he not be searched? WHY WOULD HE JUST NOT SAY SOMETHING?! *head desk* Show… show…. *shakes head disapprovingly*
But I ~did~ love Zeb saying that it was Kallus and not "Fulcrum". AND HIS FACE WHEN HERA IS CHECKING HER COMPUTER?!/1 Awwwww, bestie best buds!
Also also, I know you guys probably wanted Hera to be more space-mom-y. She will be... next chapter. When she gets a better idea the lengths Thrawn went to to punish Kallus for defecting. But remember, most of her reactions to Kallus-being-Fulcrum have been extremely stand-off-ish and skeptical... I didn't like how quickly they cut things in Zero Hour.
Also, a lot of you asked about me writing another chapter with Thrawn coming back to his star destroyer and flipping out on Governor Pryce for letting Kallus go… and I'm personally not very interested in writing that. Would he flip out? Yes. Would he probably attempt to exact some kind of punishment on Pryce for being absolutely idiotic in her choices? Definitely. But writing women getting hurt is extremely unpleasant for me, even if it's a villain, and even if it's only mentioned in passing (even writing that was awkward for me). So don't expect to find a chapter like that in the future, I'm sorry! (though I'm sure season 4 will open with Pryce most likely being out of the picture in some way. She let Kallus go, a ship was destroyed under her watch, and the entire rebel fleet managed to get away. She's not going to be around, folks)
Also, I got my Thrawn book in the mail, so I won't be updating for a little bit while I read this book with relish! ❤ THE BARNES AND NOBLE BLACK EDITION IS SERIOUSLY SO CHOICE.