Haha, so many shocked responses last chapter! XD That plot twist caught me by surprise while I was writing. I was going to have an awesome "Kanan is rescued and Ezra gets all his confidence" rally, but Darth Vader started threatening me for making him an old grandpa... so yeah. Awesome Sith Lords win the day for now. ;)
AzulaBlue92 - The story you're looking for is "Visions". Chapter 1 is the basis of Ezra's actions right now, but Kanan's vision is going to be important later on.
"Rickety bucket of bolts," Hera grumbled, rapping her fist against the dented durasteel plating. "For this I lost my ship?"
She had landed the pathetic excuse for a cruiser on an asteroid shy of Kessel's atmosphere. Maketh Tua was advising Zeb's plan of attack, while Sabine updated the supply stores.
"So… we have three blasters between us, no lightsabers, no bo-rifles." The Mandalorian shook her head, her voice tinny inside the mask. "We can use the ship's cannons, but we're crippled banthas if there's a ground assault."
"Where is Ezra?" Hera cursed fluently in her tongue, and Sabine whistled.
"O-okay, that was the weirdest thing I heard since Zeb started shouting about Sith spawn."
"When was that?" Hera raised one eyebrow in dull amusement.
"Right after the Ghost zapped Kanan." Sabine snorted, a sound too close to a sob. "I … I guess I miss the Phantom. Even after we get everyone back…."
Not if. When.
"We'll find another cruiser," Hera assured, remembering her smooth controls and seamless hyperdrive. "Who knows; maybe the holochess table survived the scrap heap."
Again Sabine snorted, adjusting her blaster from stun to void to full charge. "It'll be kinda fun to hear them arguing again…."
Kanan and Ezra. Mustafar had twisted them. Called upon a darkness that even Zeb couldn't understand.
What is happening to them now? What are we losing? How can they possibly heal again and again and again? Until what? The end of the Rebellion? The Empire? What more can we give?
Too often Hera had waited helplessly for her boys to return. Enough was enough.
Lekku swinging, the Twi'lek whipped around and snicked her blaster into its holster. "Chopper, take us into Kessel's atmosphere. This trash heap doesn't need much to pilot."
"Hera, what are you doing?" Zeb called, his ears perked in alarm.
Joining them at the table, Hera peered intently at the spice mine layout. "You're not leaving me behind."
It had been too long since she'd jumped into a firefight.
One Jedi had done the same for her long ago.
I'm on my way, Kanan.
What are you doing?
Shakily Ezra swallowed, lips dry and tongue thick. In his hand rattled two kyber crystals.
Blue. He knew Darth Vader had kept it. It was his saber's original crystal, given to him in the Lothal Temple, lost on Mustafar.
Crimson. Sabine must have incinerated the synthetic crystal Darth Vader had inserted in Ezra's lightsaber before, because this one felt different.
Deliberately locking it into his saber made the darkness seem cruder.
Biting down until his jaw ached, Ezra thrust the blue crystal into his pocket. This wasn't permanent. He had a choice.
"Prove your loyalty to the Emperor." Opposing crystals had clinked in Darth Vader's palm as he regulated Ezra's first mission. "Your rebel friends are waiting for you."
"They're not my friends." The flash of sincerity had fisted in Ezra's chest and he had almost lost his nerve.
"No. They are your targets."
"Understood." How hard it had been to force calm with those three insignificant syllables. Darth Vader had sensed his turmoil; left him to his own decision; silently promised that he would succeed Ezra's mission and slay them all if he failed.
Darth Casus.
Slipping into the persona of his vision, after a year of fighting his own darkness, was excruciatingly easy.
The son takes after the father.
Anakin Skywalker had fallen.
Ezra was not far behind.
More now than ever, he accepted the truth.
He was his father's son.
"You mean he came to you?" Aghast, Kallus set his cup down as tea sloshed over his glove.
"I warned you about interference," Darth Vader said sternly. "By removing his master from Lothal, you impeded my plans."
"But the boy came to you," Kallus repeated. "Of his own accord?"
Darth Vader stilled. "He was … unwilling."
Unwilling, indeed. Darth Vader had sensed his despair, and his son had reacted in the same manner as Anakin had sixteen years before.
Panic.
Instability.
Desperation.
He had thrown himself into the dark side, believing there was another way out.
Foolish child. Once a Jedi started down the dark path, forever it would dominate his destiny.
The Emperor would soon see the birth of Darth Vader's apprentice, and Darth Sidious would fall.
'Do not imagine that your inner convictions will save you,' Darth Vader intercepted his son's thoughts. 'If you fail, the Emperor will finish off your rebel friends. He is not as forgiving as I am.'
Fear shuddered the boy's signature. Ezra understood. This was no game of 'play Sith until my crewmates are safe'. He would succeed or he would crawl over their tortured remains. Merciful death or slow agony; their fate lay in his hands.
Ezra Bridger would ultimately fail.
For the true son of Skywalker to be born, Darth Casus must rise.
Kessel. Planet of honor and depravity; of enrichment and poverty. The civilian realm gleamed in the noonday sun, but in the shadows on the opposite side of the planet, the mine pits were sullied with death.
Kanan is here? Sabine thought with a shiver. She clutched her helmet, breathing in the fumes of acidic spices, blasted carbon, and sun-tortured rock. No frudal flowers here. Not even a blade of grass in this wasteland.
"How will we find him?" Sabine whispered past her parched throat.
Grimly Hera stepped forward. "We encrypt the systems. We interrogate the guards. Maketh Tua can inquire of the hierarchies." Turning back to Sabine, she said gravely, "You're our only backup."
Sabine nodded. She had donned the cadet armor from the Lothal Academy mission. Hera and Zeb could infiltrate the mines under slave disguises, but Sabine was the only one who could track down Ezra within Imperial lines. Numbly she clipped on her helmet, remembering the last time she had worn the uniform and how easy the mission seemed compared to now.
I could fail. We could all fail.
Zeb or Hera could be killed, or worse – trapped forever in hopeless slavery. Kanan could already be dead.
Ezra could….
Don't think about it! Don't you dare!
Sabine had watched the sturdy path of Kanan's mentoring slide into a rock-strewn, perilous slope. Ezra's fits of temper; his doubt; the inclination that there was no other choice but violence….
What if Darth Vader had found Ezra first?
Don't give in to him, Ezra. Please!
Shaking her head briskly, Sabine chastised herself. She was behaving irrationally. Imagining failure before they had even set out – what kind of morale was she inspiring? Hera couldn't bolster them all. Kanan needed their help, and Zeb wouldn't be accountable for his rage if things went wrong. They needed someone to remain calm.
Guess it's up to me, then. Blowing out slowly, Sabine forced herself to relax. She would find Ezra. Reason with him if she had to. Bring him home.
You're only imagining things, she reminded herself severely. Ezra would never give in. He was a Jedi, and a true friend.
Unease gripped Sabine and she glanced at the sharp crags behind them. Intuition was sometimes more forceful than instinct.
"Chopper, you need to check the perimeter," Sabine warned into the com. Palms clammy, she searched that inner sense that her mother had proven time and again when her children were in danger. "Hera, something's off. We should – "
A shriek of alarm, and a hundred pounds of astromech droid smashed into Sabine from behind. Hera was shouting and Zeb's blaster was raised in defense –
Durasteel exploded.
Flames.
Ringing in her head.
Mist fogging her vision.
Mouth dry. Hurting hands. Back spasms.
A warm hand rested on the back of her neck. Wincing in the sunlight, Sabine raised her head to meet golden eyes.