Sabine flicked her bright purple bangs out of her eyes as she doubled checked her gear. The bombs they needed for the mission was going to clean out her C4 supply. Smoke bombs and explosives bought them so much time even if they timed their ambush perfectly, but the break in was not what was bothering her. The last time the crew intentionally attacked a communication tower, it ended badly when they had to leave Kanan behind. After Fulcrum 'ordered' them to go into hiding, she did not know whether to lock herself in her room or graffiti every blank wall on the ship.

Sighing, the artist knew she had to meet the others in the cockpit. Someone would check to see what she doing to waste the little time the crew had to prepare. Clipping the detonator to her belt, Sabine walked out and started down the hallway.

Are we really this close to finding Ezra?

The hopeful thought was pushed to back of her mind the closer she got the cockpit. The young woman learned to always be cautious when it came to information. There are still days where she told herself that her academy days were in the past. It was hard to forget how they willingly withheld information for their 'safety.'

A hiss brought Sabine back to the present. Right inside the door, Chopper blocked her way.

"I'm here," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I was just preparing some explosives we may need while were on the ground."

Everyone knew that Chopper was protective of Hera. The droid made it obvious every time any male species tried to flirt with her, but it never occurred to them he was this attached. Who knew they would see the day he would scold them?

"Come on, Chopper," says Zeb. "Let her through."

The astromech stubbornly faced the lasat as he manically ranted.

Hera looked over her shoulder from the pilot's seat, annoyed. "Chop, move out of the way! We don't have time for this!"

Chopper finally rolled to the pilot's side.

Sabine did not know what was going on with the little guy, but he clearly was not happy about guarding Caden. She couldn't blame him for wanting to taser the guy if he set foot on the ship again. Sadly, there was nothing they could do without Kanan or Hera finding out about their attempt.

"What's going on with Chopper?" asked Sabine.

"He's been throwing a fit about his assignment ever since he finished charging this morning," Zeb said, amused. "Make sure he doesn't kill Caden."

Kanan spun around in the co-pilot's seat, giving them stern glares. The last thing the jedi needed was to carry the dealer to the med bay with second-degree electric burns. After yesterday's meeting, he could tell Caden would not hesitate to injure, or in Chopper's case, dismantle them for simply turning on him. Before of any of them woke up, he and Hera talked about what they would do in the event of that happening. They found it was best to throw him in the hold if the dealer decided to take things too far. Of course, that depended on whether or not Caden brought Amira with him again.

"No one is going to hurt him," warned Hera. "If we find out you did, all three of you will be running the diagnostics for a month."

"Really?" Sabine was in disbelief. "You're talking about that now?"

The pilot faced the group, ignoring Kanan's worried expression. They had no time to mess around when they had Caden waiting for them at the rendezvous point. He didn't exactly say if Amira would be coming with him, but it was implied from the way he spoke over the transmission they received early this morning. It scared Hera that a random stranger managed to find the Ghost's signature so quickly.

"I thought the Ghost was completely repaired," said Kanan.

"It is," she nodded.

The jedi sighed as Chopper projected an image of a control tower. It looked no different from the one on Lothal, but the Empire's calling card was uniformity. He guessed the real thing was going to be far more dangerous on the inside than being outside those doors.

"Alright, here's the plan," he began slowly, leaning forward. "After infiltrating the tower, I will make sure the coast is clear before Hera drops you off on the roof. Wait for my signal."

"And that would be?" Hera prompted.

Kanan unclipped his comm link and held up it. "When you get my signal, it means that everything is all clear. That's where you and Chopper come in, Sabine."

"You do realize the Imperials can use that to track us, right?"

The mandalorian watched Chopper shut down the hologram. He commented that he would not shock their guest as long he would not sell him on the black market for scrap parts. That point aside, the droid understood what would happen if the Empire trapped them there while downloading the file. Even with bombs, back up would not give them enough time to avoid running into a unit of storm troopers.

"That's why we have to time it perfectly," the jedi nodded.

"I'm sure Caden won't mind jumping six feet from a crowded ship," Sabine added cheerfully.

Zeb leaned against the wall, eyes narrowed. "We haven't even started and this mission already sounds crazy."

"That's why we're the distraction," Kanan told him. "The Imperials will be too busy focusing on us they won't suspect we're there for their holodisk."

The jedi placed the small device on his hip again. This was not the first time they pulled off crazy plans but sometimes it was necessary to make sure the Empire was short one less victory. Usually, he preferred they carry out missions on their own terms. The less likely the Imperials knew of their whereabouts, the higher the chances were they could get away unscathed. Well, in theory anyway. But this mission was far from covert in its own right.

Zeb knew when Kanan was this confident about any plan; there was no point in disagreeing once everyone else decided to go along with it.

"This better work," the warrior grumbled.

Kanan looked around the small room. "So everyone agrees?"

Hera spun around in the captain's chair, smiling. All three of them looked just as eager as she was to start the mission, even if it could end badly. It was about time their family was whole again. Fulcrum may have told them to stop searching, but that did not mean Ezra did not cross their minds.

"We're all with you," she said. "After we pick up Caden, there should be enough time to go on a short op mission."

Sabine lifted a brow at that last sentence. "Where are we going to meet him?"

"Outside of Anchorhead," the twi'lek told them. "He made it clear earlier this morning that he couldn't fly out to meet us here. It turns out his steering needs repairs."

Wiping the sweat rolling down her forehead, Sabine huffed, "I thought all pilots were supposed to keep up with their ship."

"He probably has a good reason."

She did not know what to do about that girl sometimes. Her sharp sarcasm was almost as bad her own, but the difference between them was that she did not have a drawer full of explosives in her cabin. Hera mentally cringed at the image of the Ghost's engines smoking. The whole crew knew to never touch her ship without her permission first unless they wanted to spend the night sleeping on the ground. But she did not want to get Sabine's bad side.

"We barely know him!" Sabine continued. "How do you know that?"

Hera turned to the control panel and started the engines. "Because I am a pilot. It wasn't too hard to figure out talking to him."

"How do you know that?" Kanan asked, slightly defensive.

Hera turned her glared on the jedi. "I just do."

"That's not an answer," Sabine snapped.

The young woman did not understand why Hera still gave them vague answers. They were about to break into a tower overrun with storm troopers, and she could not be open with them just this once! Sure, it was meant to protect them but there had to be a limit.

Sighing, Kanan looked to the rest of the crew. "Can we focus on the mission?"

The lasat rolled his eyes. "We're listening."

The jedi massaged his forehead before speaking. He has been getting migraines ever since he contacted Ezra through the Force. They were gradually becoming more painful by the hour, which couldn't be good. His Padawan's sudden anger and fear nearly gave him a panic attack waking up this morning. Even now, Kanan could not ignore how quickly they hit him.

"When we land outside of the city, I want one of you to meet Caden on the ramp."

Hera placed a hand on his shoulder. She may not have discovered him having the panic attack, but the twi'lek knew when he did not get enough sleep. If Kanan was not in his room, then he was in the common room at the table trying to distract himself.

"Maybe you should sit this one out," she suggested worriedly.

"I can't do that, Hera."

Zeb looked between the jedi and pilot. "Are you alright?"

Kanan took a deep breath as another wave of emotions lashed out at him. Instead of anger and fear, there was now grief and caution. It was obvious Ezra was planning something through the barrier he set up around his mind. There was no question he had to go with them.

"Yes, but I don't know about Ezra," he shakily nodded. "We still need someone inside that tower."

"You can barely focus as it is. Don't tell me your migraines aren't getting worse?" the pilot said, looking to Sabine. "Do you think you can take Kanan's place?"

"The kid's already starting to give you a headache, is he?" joked Zeb.

Sabine punched the lasat's shoulder. She did not know what Kanan was sensing but it couldn't be good if Ezra was giving him headaches somehow. Whatever the Empire was doing to him had to be painful.

"It's not funny, Zeb," she snapped. "For all we know, they could be torturing Ezra!"

The lasat grimaced as the young woman yelled in his ear. He was not heartless. That thought crossed his minded last night, but it was something he did not wish on his bunkmate. The boy desevred more than that.

"I didn't mean it that way!" he defended. "At least we know the kid is alive."

"His name is not 'kid.'" Kanan jumped in, "It's Ezra."

"Not you too," grumbled Zeb. "Hera, when can we leave?"

"We're leaving now," she quietly told them.

Zeb threw both of his human crewmates narrow eyed looks. "If it keeps them from starting a mutiny, then maybe we'll survive this mission. Come on, Chopper."

Hera turned to the dashboard as the three of them left the cockpit. Kanan often developed migraines but they did not get this bad. He pushed himself to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis yet there was never one moment when something like this would force him to stay behind.

Once they were in the air, the pilot looked at him. "Kanan, it's not worth getting captured if your head is hurting this much. Why not let Sabine go undercover?"

"It's too risky letting her go in by herself," he said. "We're spread thin as it is and you have the Phantom to pilot. If we have any chance of getting that information, we need a distraction."

"But that does not mean you can just run yourself into the ground," the twi'lek says. "She can take care of herself."

Kanan straightened in his seat and glanced over at her. He knew that Hera meant well but staying behind to watch the Ghost was not an option. If the Empire didn't kill him first, then it would most likely be stress or some other health related issue.

"I'll be fine," he stubbornly insisted.

Hera refocused on the pale morning sky in front of them. The shades of peach, pink, reds and soft yellows reminded her the sunrises on Lothal and Tatoonie were different. It is hard to believe that Ezra has been living on this planet the past five years. He has always been one of the crew's toughest members but this was last place in the galaxy where she would think to look.

The pilot sighed. "Just be careful in there."

"I will," Kanan promised, standing up. "I'll be in my room preparing."

"Don't take too long," Hera says. "At the speed we're flying, we'll be outside of Anchorhead in no time."

He started walking down the hallway towards his room lost in thought. The emotions he picked up did nothing to ease his worries for his Padawan. They were too dark to belong to a jedi but Kanan could not be sure if Ezra was reacting to what was going on around him. The second worst-case scenario was his true nightmare. If that possibility was there from his first brush with the Dark Side, then who was to say it would not happen after being separated this long?

Those can't be Ezra's emotions! Kanan thought, horrified. The kid can't turn to the Dark Side!

Walking into his cabin, the jedi took calming breathes as he sat cross-legged on his bench. That day on the asteroid still haunted him. It was a reminder of why he needed to protect his crew and teach Ezra everything he knew.

The Force immediately found Ezra's clouded signature. It was hard to tell where it was coming from but he knew that it was on Tatoonie or somewhere around the planet. The barrier he ran into last night was blocking only half of his thoughts. Mentally sighing, Kanan noted to discipline him more when they started training again.

Come on, Kid, he nudged. I know you can hear me.

The cautious silence on the other end was driving the jedi insane. It took all his concentration to not break the link. Whatever he was thinking about, it was something important. The silence stretched out for seven minutes before Ezra decided to answer.

It's really you?

Yes, Kanan smiled. The crew and I have been looking for you a long time. Where are you?

Ezra sighed.

Ezra, we're not leaving you behind!

Kanan did not understand what was going on. He could sense his Padawan's jumbled emotions were starting to get the best of him. If Ezra did not get a hold of himself soon, it would not take long for the Empire to turn the boy against them. As he waited for Ezra to reply, Hera's voice came over intercom.

"We just landed outside of the city," she reported.

"I'll be right there," he said.

Kanan couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. Underneath all those chaotic emotions, he picked up hints of worry and protection. So who is he trying to protect?

Zeb and Caden were holding a staring contest when he climbed down the ladder. Neither of the men blinked, daring the other to move one toe as their wills clashed. It surprised him they didn't hear his footsteps, let alone break eye contact with each other.

"Something going on here?" he asked.

"This Womprat was getting smart, that's all," Zeb growled.

Caden was calmly staring up at the lasat knowingly. If this giant thought he could pin him down, then he had another thing coming. He may be human but his height has worked to his advantage before. "You do know farmers use those creatures as target practice, right?"

Zeb cracked his knuckles. "Would you like to see what the inside of our holding cell looks like?"

"I'll handle this, Zeb," Kanan said.

Caden watched the lasat climb up the ladder before giving the jedi a questioning look. Unlike the giant, he was surprised their leader did not try to provoke him in any manner. It was refreshing to know some people were civil enough to not resort to fist fighting.

"Sorry, Kanan." the dealer apologized, "The big guy must have hit his head rolling out of out his bunk when your pilot landed."

"Maybe but that doesn't explain why he was ready to give you a black eye."

"I had to drop Amira off at a friend's house this morning," explained Caden. "The woman is a neighbor of mine and former contact of ours."

Kanan steadied himself on the ladder as the ramp closed behind them. He knew this person could not be a black market dealer, but the possibility of him being a rebel sounded strange to him. There were people who tricked cells into thinking they were forced to go into hiding by the Empire. If this were true, it would be the first time he heard of any rebel cell calling Tatoonie home.

Once he got to the top, the jedi waited for Caden to gain his footing. "There is a rebel cell here?"

"Yes," He nodded.

"Why haven't we heard of you before?"

Caden stared straight ahead, shrugging. "You might have at one point."

The jedi dropped the subject. It would only give him one more headache to worry about later. However, it made him wonder why the rest of his crew was not there to support him unless they sent him here by himself on a simple op mission. The other alternative was that they had a disagreement if he asked Hera to pick him up.

"Why isn't the rest of your crew here?" he asked, breaking the silence.

For the first time since he boarded, Caden looked at him. His dull grey eyes told him the second theory was more likely.

"They wanted to stay behind," he quietly says.

After that, the 'rebel' clammed up as if an Imperial agent was interrogating him. They found Zeb and Sabine reviewing the Intel in the common room. She looked confused; the lasat appeared ready to fight some bucket heads.

"You okay, Sabine?" Kanan asked.

"I don't get how we're going to break into this place without setting off their alarms," she said. "Whatever weak points they once had are now covered."

"So we'll just knock a few heads together," Zeb shrugged.

He noticed Caden sat down beside the mandalorian to study the projection. It looked similar to the tower they hijacked on Lothal except for the extra guns surrounding the place. Where there were two, the Imperials now had four installed. The jedi imagined the Empire made the same upgrades on every tower like it throughout the galaxy.

"You can create a distraction by placing bombs on each nose gun."

"And disable their defense systems for the Phantom to pick us up!" Sabine excitedly finished. "Not a bad idea! But we can't be in two places at once, so how will we plant them from the tower?"

She's smart, but isn't thinking outside the box, he admitted.

Caden was too focused to notice the young woman look over at him. When he zoned out, his crew sometimes resorted to popping him on the back of the head. He did not know why they would do that instead of yell in his ear like every other normal person.

"So you expect us to go around planting bombs?!" Zeb nearly roared. "You have a death wish!"

"It could work if someone on the ground did," Kanan added, slightly surprised. "That was the plan from the beginning."

"It will."

The more this man opened his mouth, the more confused he became. Caden's calm face showed as much excitement as Vader's mask yet somehow he already was proving to be a great contact. It still left the question of how he knew Ezra, though.

If he does at all, the jedi mentally added.

"Didn't you just get on the ship?" the lasat asked.

Caden pulled his attention from the small model and looked up at him. "Don't even think of throwing me off!"

"Why would I do that?" Zeb prodded. "Wouldn't want to lose the brains of this operation."

The jedi massaged his pounding temples. At least he shows emotion.

Kanan prepared to step in to keep the lasat from sending their guest to the med bay. None of them needed broken ribs at this point since most of it depended on Caden's information. It would just set them up for failure and recreate the same situation they were in five years ago, only this time it would be worse.

"Is there anything else we should know about?" he asked.

The dealer shrugged. "Nothing you don't know about. Once we get inside, we'll find more."

Sabine lifted a brow. "Did you mess with the information on that data chip?"

"I just decoded it," Caden glared at the young woman. "I would know if the Empire just threw together random bits of information."

He stood up as the projection shut down. There was no point in starting an argument over tampered information minutes away from a suicide mission. Looking to Kanan, he guessed the jedi was thinking the same thing.

"You alright there?" Caden asked.

"I'm fine," he said. "How did the Empire capture your partner?"

The dealer's eyes grew dull again. "I wasn't there to pull him out."

It took everything the jedi had to not punch Caden. Why was he not there when storm troopers surrounded Ezra? If they had each other's backs, why did he leave his Padawan to become the Empire's prisoner?

"And you never went back for him?!" Sabine yelled. "You did tell Kanan that he had a little girl, right?! What about her?!"

"If you want to hear the story, get it from my partner!" Caden ground out before turning to leave the room.

Kanan held out a hand to keep Zeb from yanking his shirt collar back. It made the jedi wonder just how loyal this man's crew was if they left behind one of their own. After we complete this mission, I am going to have a talk with him.

Hera's voice came over the intercom system. "Everyone meet up in the Phantom."

"Got it!" Zeb replied.

As the four of them made their way to the airlock, the one thing that kept nagging Kanan was how they abandoned his apprentice. They were just as bad as the Empire if most of them refused to take responsibility for what pain they caused.

We are coming, Ezra. Just hold on a little longer.


So, what do you think of Caden so far?

I would like to thank my unofficial beta RUHLSAR000 as well as those who have been reviewing so far. Also, how is it the Jedi Order did not encourage personal relationships when they clearly imply this concept between an apprentice and master?

: I will try to update regularly.

Midnight Luna: Blueberry? In addition, please refrain from cussing.

Gracie: The crew has a two percent of chance of a mission going smoothly. Ninety-eight percent of the time, they just flop if one of them happens to go off script or if the Imperials are just starting to learn from one mistake.