This chapter I am sure a lot of people have been waiting for. In this AU, little Ezra has grown from a scared lonely prisoner to a curious and loveable rebel. Ezra has been through a lot of crazy adventures; from escaping the Empire to crazy market runs, stealing from Vizago and kidnappings. Ezra can always rely on the crew to help him out of crazy situations. Now it's his turn in this one. A lot of this chapter is influenced/based on spark of the rebellion, first episode of the series as you all will see. Hope you all enjoy this.
It was late afternoon on Lothal's eastern region where the Ghost was camped for the last few days. The crew was sitting around the table to look over holoimages of imperial cruisers they could encounter on their upcoming mission.
Earlier in the day, Old Man Jho informed Kanan and Hera about his discussion with Vizago, (who was still avoiding the crew after their last transaction with him) about a slave trade going on within the Empire; a Wookie slave trade. Vizago had heard that a shipment of them was being flown over Lothal for a quick fuel stop before the hairy species would be taken to who-knows-where. The crew agreed that freeing the wookies from the Empire was a noble mission for them. After all, Hera and Zeb owed them for helping their people back when imperials took over their homes.
"It will be easy to latch on for loading," Sabine noted as she looked at the ship layout as she circled the table, "Plus with these smaller ships, the cells are closer to the exit. Easy to locate the wookies and get them out."
"Will make it easy to knock out the troopers we run into and get the wookies out before the captain knows what happened to them, "Kanan speculated with a sly grin.
"As long as nothing goes wrong," Zeb piped up sarcastically.
Her shook her head as she pointed out, "Nothing will go wrong as long as we get in and out and don't fool around." Hera said the last part as she eyed her crew; who looked away, knowing that they had a bad history of creating chaos on so missions.
Hera then smiled at Ezra, who smiled back. Sabine though saw that Ezra's eyes weren't as lite up as they normally were. Sabine knew why, and as she looked over the ship layout again and began to ponder, "Hmmm"
"What?" Hera questioned with concern at what error Sabine saw in the plan.
"Just that these types of ships have at the maximum a dozen cells. The wookies could be in one of them or all of them. It would be a lot quicker if we knew which one they were in."
Sabine then looked over at Ezra who was right next to Zeb as the youngling's eyes lite up.
Ezra knew where Sabine was going with this jumped up in excitement, "I could sneak into the vents and-,"
"NO!" Kanan and Hera spoke up in stern unison.
"But-," Ezra tried again as he held a finger up to try to make his point.
"NO!" Hera and Kanan repeated firmly, this time eyeing Ezra so he knew they were serious.
Ezra pouted a bit as he sat back in his seat.
"Guys...?" Sabine began to debate in a positive tone, only to be cut off like Ezra was.
"No missions for Ezra until he's more advanced in his training," Kanan stated like it was the law.
"But I'm ready for missions now," Ezra claimed as he cleared his voice to sound deeper and more serious, "I can help sense where the wookies are, if troopers are coming, I can also crawl in the vents to spy on the Imperials, and I know how to shoot," Ezra said this as he held his hands up in a gun formation.
"It's just too risky for you hun," Hera tried to reason with the kid, who once more looked disheartened.
Zeb saw how disappointed Ezra looked, so he decided to speak up for the kid and claimed, "It is supposed to be a quick rescue. Could be the perfect time for the kid to see what happens out on the field; like a warm-up mission."
Sabine nodded her head at Zeb's point, "It's not like we will be sending him off on his own or to a horde of troopers. We would be right by his side and look after him."
Hera and Kanan though shook their head in return as Kanan pointed out, "When he doesn't need anyone to look out for him is when Ezra can go on missions."
Ezra sighed, as he dramatically laid his head on the table.
"Ezra, you're still too young," Kanan argued as he got eye-level with his padawan, "Things can get intense and we never know what is going to happen. When you're a little bit older and more trained then we will talk about you going on missions."
Ezra leaned back in his seat crossed over his arms in defeat as he let out a huff.
"Hey, don't be like that," Hera asked in a nice tone, "I like the extra set of eyes in the cockpit when the others are away. That's always a big help."
"Yeah, I guess," Ezra admitted, though still in a bitter spirits
Hera knew Ezra was not completely pleased, but at least he wasn't arguing about it now.
Kanan cut into the awkward silence, "Let's get ready. You know what to do people."
As Kanan and Hera headed to the cockpit to map out the route, the rest of the crew headed to the loading dock to go over supplies
Ezra smiled up at Zeb and Sabine as they came down the ladder, "Thank for trying to help."
Zeb brushed it off as he helped Ezra down, "They'll come around kid."
Ezra made his way to the crates, "Yeah, when I'm older. Because they think I'm some 'dumb kid'," Ezra pointed out gloomily as he sat on a crate and kicked his legs absent-mindedly. Chopper tried to snuggle his dome with Ezra's knee, which Ezra appreciated.
"Trust me, kid, they don't think you're dumb. They are just a bit overprotective. Like we all are," Zeb assured the kid as he ruffled Ezra's hair.
Ezra chuckled at Zeb's gesture before his face fell once more in deep thought "I know they are just trying to protect me and I get it's because they care," Ezra admitted as he tried on one of the crew's extra imperial helmets, "But they have to let me go on missions if I'm part of the crew."
Sabine placed a supporting hand on his shoulder, "They will let you someday Ezra. I think Kanan and Hera just don't like to think of how capable you are."
"Why?" Ezra questioned, thinking of how ridiculous that sounded.
Sabine shrugged her shoulders, "I can't say for sure. That is something they will have to tell you when they are ready."
"I hope so," Ezra exaggerated as he tried to lay down on top of the crate, only to slide too far back and fall off,
"Dah!" Ezra cried out as he fell down.
Zeb and Sabine checked to make sure Ezra was alright, only to have him stand up immediately.
"I'm okay," Ezra said as he took off the helmet that protected his head from the fall.
The older two chuckled as Ezra blushed from his embarrassing slip. If the kid could survive the streets and his head getting hit so many times, then he would make a great rebel.
With the crew now in space, three of the specters were in the attachment pod of the ship while Hera and Ezra were in the cockpit. Chopper in the corner ready to play referee between twi'lek and human.
As Hera finished 'verifying' that they were dropping off another prisoner for the ship, Hera saw how Ezra looked disgruntled. Ezra had been unusually quiet since take off, and it made Hera worry. The kid spun his chair in countless circles as his form of entertainment. Hera knew he didn't want to talk because he was still mad about not being allowed to go on this mission.
Once the ships were latched to one another, she let the others continue with their mission before she turned to Ezra, "You're going to make yourself dizzy."
Despite not looking towards Hera, the boy did stop spinning.
Hera sighed as she began to speak up, "Ezra you do know why we don't want you going on missions yet, right?"
Ezra shrugged his shoulders, "I guess," Ezra said as he tried to clarify, "Like I know you guys think I'm too young, but I don't think I am."
Hera shook her head as she told him with a gentle smile, "Well you are too young for a lot of things in my eyes."
This caught Ezra off guard, "What do you mean?" The child asked in confusion at Hera's words
Hera sighed looking up as she knew she had to be honest with him, "Well…"
Just as Hera was going to try to explain, Ezra felt something; a heaving feeling in his heart, like a dark fog, came over his mind.
"Ezra!?" Hera asked as she saw the boy staring absently into the abyss
Ezra muttered in a dark voice, "Something is heading our way,".
"Something good, or something bad," Hera questioned, hoping for the first one.
Ezra looked up with worry on his face, "Very bad."
Hera then tried to contact Kanan, "Spectre one, can you read me?" but all that came through the commlink was static.
"The signal is jammed," Hera spoke as fear to what was going on came to light.
Just then out of nowhere, a humongous ship came right towards them, looming over the tiny Ghost in comparison; An Imperial Star Destroyer.
"It's a trap!" Hera cried out in a panic. As she unbuckled and got out of her seat.
"We have to go warn the crew!" Ezra hollered as he began to run towards the door.
"No!" Hera said as she took Ezra by the shoulders and had him look at her, "I need you to stay here and keep the Ghost guarded. You know all the alarms and defenses the ship has."
"But you need to fly us out," Ezra tried to argue as Hera got her blaster out and ready.
Hera smiled as she assured him, 'and I will, once I get to the crew and tell them what's going on. But no matter what, stay here."
But-," Ezra tried to cut in.
"That's an order!" Hera hollered as she ran out.
Before Ezra could even register what was happening, a cold sensation went up Ezra's spine. Ezra recognized someone on the ship. Someone who helped The Inquisitor hurt him on the base.
"Kallus," Ezra muttered to himself in panic for the crew, knowing they just got themselves into a lot of trouble; more so if they get caught.
As Sabine headed towards the ships control panels to aid them in their escape, Kanan and Zeb went to where the Wookies should be. Once there, the men noticed a lack of guards.
Zeb smiled as he made his way to one of the cell doors, "Looks like you were right, easy peasy mission for once."
Kanan though was not convinced, "Something is off," Kanan admitted, "Let's just figure out which cells the Wookies are in."
Zeb unlocked the first cell as he decided to point out, "Would be quicker if we had a member in the vents."
Kanan rolled his eyes, "Zeb!" Kanan whispered in a harsh tone, "Now is not the-,"
"Ahh!" Zeb roared as the door opened and a blue shock encased the Lasat as he was sent to the floor out cold.
Kanan stunned by what happened, stepped back as he saw several stormtroopers emerge from the cell. Kanan got his blaster out and aimed to fight when a dozen more swarmed from the remaining cells and surrounded him. Kanan was trapped, but his face wouldn't show it as he put on his warrior's face.
One trooper with an orange shoulder blade though knelt next to Zeb and aimed his blaster at the Lasat's head.
"Put down the blaster or next shot won't be on stun!" ordered the head trooper as he held a finger on the trigger.
Kanan was furious, he didn't want to give in to an imperial, but he couldn't let Zeb die because of him.
With anger in his eyes and the heavy weight of defeat in his heart, Kanan dropped his gun and placed his hands in the air as a sign of surrender.
Kanan only looked at the ground, unable to face his now captors when he felt a sudden shock over his body. The stunned man fell to the ground, unaware how bad things were for the crew.
The lead trooper stood over the unconscious Jedi as he ordered his men, "Restrain them and get these two to the cells under heavy guard."
Several troopers nodded as they grabbed the beings and dragged them to the Star Destroyer's prison cells.
The head trooper then headed to the control room where he found his fellow troopers surrounding an area.
"Have you found the others?" The head trooper questioned
The troopers stood to the side where they revealed the knocked-out Sabine and Hera on the ground.
"The Mandalorian put up a fight, but both were subdued and stunned sir," The trooper stated to his captain.
"Excellent, bring the females to their fellow rebel's cell, the can confront defeat together." The captain ordered.
With that two troopers flung the girls over their shoulders and brought them to where the males were at.
The captain turned to his fellow officer, "Anything on the boy?"
"Negative," The officer confirmed, "He must either still be on the rebel ship or hiding on one of ours."
"Search high and low then," the head ordered as he got as commlink out, "I'll let Agent Kallus know."
"That won't be necessary," Said the cold voice behind the captain, as the troopers turned they immediately stood up straight as a sign of respect for Agent Kallus.
"Agent Kallus, my apologies on the boy's elusive nature."
Kallus just smiled wickedly, "At ease captain. The capture of the more combative specters is already a feat not many could have handled. It already makes finding the boy much easier now. The street rat has no way of escaping our clutches, we shall have him soon enough. As for now, you and your men focus on to keep the shuttle secured, and if word of the boy's whereabouts is detected, let me be aware at once."
The Captain nodded as he went to order his men to follow Kallus's orders. Kallus returned to the Star Destroyers control panel, waiting for the boy's capture so that he may return him to the Grand Inquisitor.
Ezra did as he was taught by Hera and turned on every security measure to protect the ship.
Chopper rolled into the cockpit and informed Ezra that the cargo doors were secured and anyone who touches the ship without approval would be shocked,
Ezra though was still worried, "That will only keep the Imperials from entering the ship," Ezra then saw the two conjoined ships enter the loading dock of the Star Destroyer, "Now we're in the imperials territory."
Ezra saw the troopers surround the ship, it made his heart almost beat out of his chest.
Chopper assured him, "They touch the Ghost and they get a painful warning."
Just then several troopers hollered as they were shocked and send to the ground in a twitching fit. A few left, more likely to get someone to attempt to hack the ship.
"See," Chopper tried to calm his friend.
Just then Ezra got a horrible shock enter his body, sending him onto all fours. When he saw that he was fine, Ezra quickly realized that the shock he just experienced wasn't happening to him.
"Kanan!" Ezra screeched in horror, "They have him,"
Ezra got up as he thought in horror, "If Kanan is caught then so are the others. They can't get out on their own."
Chopper tried to reason, "Hera told you to stay here."
Ezra became rather furious at this point, "I know, I know!"
Ezra paced back and forth as he went over the whole matter, "Okay, if I stay in here then I am safe and that's what the crew wants. They could still find some way out. But what if they can't and I do nothing? Then they are still imprisoned and could be tortured or worse!"
Ezra then fell into silence, he did not even register the noise of the outside universe as he thought about that dark time in his life. How he was beaten by the Inquisitor so Ezra would listen to his training, and tortured if Ezra did not comply. Every day his body ached and was so sore from the whips, the punches, and knife cuts so much so that Ezra had to fight his damaged body to just breath sometimes. For the longest time, Ezra thought that his life would end at the hands of the Empire. That was until Kanan and the rest of the crew saved him.
Ezra clenched his fist and raced out of the common room to his own, grabbing his bag of supplies, his blaster, and even made a quick stop in Sabine's room for a little 'surprise'.
"Ezra-, "Chopper tried to warn before Ezra caught him off.
"I Know Hera told me to stay, but I can't let them go through what I did. Besides," Ezra began to say rather cockily with a wicked smile on his face, "I'm training to be a rebel, so I better start rebelling, dammit." Ezra chuckled at his swear of defiance
Choppers dome spun around in annoyance as he pointed out, "There are several imperials outside the ship, how are you going to get out without being caught."
Ezra smiled as he came up with an idea, "Remember the shocker rod Hera showed me was on the ship."
Chopper knew exactly what Ezra was talking about and spun around in excitement
Ezra went back to the cockpit and saw where the closest vent was before he told Chopper, "Use it on the troopers on the west side of the Ghost while I head east. Okay?"
Chopper was hesitant for a moment he grabbed the controls for the rods. Ezra smiled and headed for the vent that could easily lead him to one of the outer units of the ship. Despite his heart being rapidly at the stress of what he was doing, Ezra calmed himself by telling him it had to be done. As he crawled to the outer unit, he heard the panicked cries and screams of troopers being randomly shocked at from a distant.
Once Ezra crawled out from the vent and out of the Ghost, Ezra saw from under the hull that Chopper was making one trooper in particular dance as he evaded the electric shock. Ezra giggled at the scene as he went back to his mission. With everyone now focusing on the ship that was fighting back, Ezra jumped into the vent and crawled, not sure of how he was going to save his crew but was determined to.
A dull headache was what Kanan first registered when began to awake from his forced slumber. He then started hearing noises, grumbles from a Lasat he could recognize; that was when it all came back to him.
Kanan looked up in shock and horror at what he found; his crew all trapped in an imperial cell. Zeb was banging the door in a futile effort to liberate them. Sabine was arguing that Zeb's method was not helping. As Kanan looked at the corner of his eye, he saw Hera looking worried at them as she was keeping an eye on Kanan. Hera looked down and a weak smile fell onto her face.
"Kanan! You're okay." Hera beamed as she helped Kanan sit up.
The mention of their leader's name brought silence to the cell.
"Ahh, what happened?" Kanan questioned as reached attempted rub his head; doing so revealed that his hands were cuffed together, with a cuff he was similar with.
"Force suppressant binders," Kanan groaned, "damn imperials are getting smarter."
Sabine got angry and bend down in front of Kanan, "How hard can it-,"
Sabien questioned as she began to make a grab for the cuffs to see if she could unlock it
"Sabine wait!" Kanan tried to call out, but it was too late, once Sabine's fingers made contact with the cuffs, it sent an intense shock to both humans. While only lasting a few seconds, it was enough to cause their hands to burn.
As Sabine stepped away in agony, Kanan bent down on his knees to try to comfort himself from the shock.
"Sabine!?" Hera asked in worry as she went to Kanan's side and saw Zeb tending to Sabine.
Sabine grabbed her hands as she muttered, "I'm okay," Sabine then looked up at Kanan, "I'm sorry Kanan.
"It's okay, I'm okay…", Kanan then thought of their situation, "As okay as can be."
Kanan looked to Hera to ask what happened when Hera already knew his question and explained, "Ezra and I saw the Star Destroyer descend on the Ghost. We tried to com you but the link was jammed. So I came to get you guys. I ran into Sabine first, but by the time I got to her and told her it was a trap, we got ambushed."
Kanan looked at her panicked when he saw someone missing. Once more Hera was already in his head, "Ezra and Chopper are on lockdown on the ship. They're safe."
Kanan sighed in relief that at least two of their specters is safe.
Sabine looked disgruntled as she ranted, "I can't believe I let them get the better of me!"
Kanan stood up as he stated, "No use crying over spilled blue milk. What we need to do is figure a way out."
"Not likely to happen soon mate," Zeb clarified as he continued, "took all weapons and com-links, even Sabines helmet."
"If I find a dent in it, I will…" Sabine raged, before calming herself down by taking a deep breath, "Focus," she told herself as she combed her fingers through her hair to ease herself
"Even if we tackled or way out with the door opened again, without any way to defend ourselves, we would be put back in here and back to square one," Hera pointed out as she looked around the walls.
The others knew that Hera was right. With Kanan's ability literally under lock and key, and the others have lost their equipment, they had to figure out another way to get out. They just needed to figure out how or just get lucky.
To most, the dark vents of a Star Destroyer would be like a maze; impossible to maneuver through. To Ezra however, it was like a game. One of the benefits of being forced to train to be an imperial was that one saw layouts of bases and ships the Empire used, which included Star Destroyers. The best part was that every imperial ship was built the exact same, so that made Ezra's task easy.
Ezra knew that if the Empire captured the crew they would be the furthest away from the loading dock, which made the trek back to the Ghost a problem if their weapons were confiscated.
Ezra looked down at the vent he was crawling over when he smiled with giddiness; Ezra was only two halls away from where the troopers kept not only their weapons but confiscated weapons as well. The best part was that it held no guards on the inside.
Ezra made his way to where he needed to be and opened the hatch, jumped on the shelves and down onto the floor. With the room dimly lit Ezra reached into his bag to grab his flashlight. As Ezra looked around the shelves, he saw a multitude of blades, blasters, and even what looked like a whip. The memory of that being used on him made him shudder, but only for a moment before he got back to looking for what he needed. After examining a couple of shelves, his eyes caught onto a glass container with a lock on it. Inside was the crew's weapons; from Zeb's bo-rifle to Kanan's lightsaber, even Sabines helmet was in there.
Ezra saw the lock that kept the weapons inside and smiled as he saw how easy he could unlock it. Once more the youngling reached into his bag and got his lock pick kit. Ezra smiled as he recalled how many times that toolset had to help him get by on the streets, and how it was helping him at the moment.
It took a little concentration but, after some wiggling of the knobs and levers, the lock fell to the ground.
"Yes!" Ezra cheered as quietly as he could before he quickly placed the crew's weapons in his backpack (and carry the too big bo-rifle).
As Ezra went to climb up the shelf and back to the vents, he spotted a cadet helmet.
"Yes, souvenir," Ezra said as he placed the helmet upon his head. Just as he placed the helmet on, he heard a buzzing noise in his ear before the radio in his helmet came to life with voices.
"The rebels are under heavy guard, as are the Wookie prisoners. We shall deliver the Wookies to the Kestle spice mines before bringing the rebels to the Capitol."
Ezra knew he was hearing communication between imperials, one of them having to be a captain of the ship when he heard the other unpleasant voice.
"Any luck accessing the rust bucket of the rebels?" Kallus asked calmly.
"Negative," the captain spoke begrudgingly, "The ships defenses are proving to be quite effective in keeping our men out."
"Well keep trying," Kallus spoke rather sharper then before, "We need to get the boy out and into custody. The Bridger child could both be a potential recruit when properly trained and could be used to get the older rebels to talk about the other cells. Once the boy is taken in alert me immediately."
"Yes, sir…" The captain and Kallus went on but Ezra was not fully paying attention. Ezra now knew that both the crew and Wookies were being held captive, and so far the empire had no idea that he was out in about.
Ezra climbed as quickly as he could back into the vent. With the crew's supplies in his bag, all he had to do now was find and free them, and he knew of just how to do so.
Despite their dire situation, Hera and Kanan tried to keep calm and come up with some plan to get out. This though was hard when Sabine was pacing around and Zeb tapping his giant feet.
Sabine then looked up and saw the vent above them.
Hera saw the look in her eyes, a spark like there was a chance, but the light faded in frustration at the missing variable they needed, a little someone.
Sabine saw Hera looking at her before she pouted and crossed her arms, "I'm not saying anything."
"Say what?" Kanan wondered in confusion.
Zeb saw where Sabine was looking and told Kanan, "You really don't want to hear it."
Kanan looked up and his face turned bitter, "Your right, I don't."
Just like that, the cell was filled with awkward silence. Kanan couldn't take it, not with them all thinking the exact same thing. The man knew he made the right call, and he was going to make it clear why.
"If anything, us getting captured only confirms that I was right. If Ezra had come along, he would have been captured with the rest of us." Kanan stated.
"Or Ezra could have crawled into the vent, told us there were no Wookies and we could have gotten out of there before anything happened."
"Guys, what's done is done so-," Hera tried to reason with the two.
Kanan was frustrated and raised his voice, "Or Ezra could have gotten caught or captured, or worse, I don't know. What I do know is that Ezra's just too young and not ready to come on missions like this."
"Like he was too young and unready to lose his parents, to be on the streets, too young to be imprisoned and beaten by the Inquisitor," Zeb spoke up, knowing he was stepping on some toes but didn't care.
"That is completely different Zeb and you know that!" Hera argued, not liking to recall the youngest past.
"No, it isn't" Zeb retorted, "If Ezra can survive all that on his own then he can defiantly handle a mission with us!"
"He is just a kid!" Kanan barked at Zeb.
"Ezra isn't 'just some kid', and you know it!" Sabine hollered so loud that the others looked to her in utter shock.
Sabine took a deep breath and told them, "Ezra isn't normal Kanan, he is…like you. Ezra's smarter than most kids his age; he knows how to tell time by the sun and moon, can pick up new skills with ease. Heck, he can pick a lock in under ten seconds, I've seen. Maybe it's because of the force or the fact he had a lot happen to him at such a young age that he was forced to grow up, but whatever it is he is more capable then you give him credit for."
Kanan heard what Sabine said. What he hated most was that deep down, he knew she was right "I know…I know he is capable for someone his age,"." Kanan finally admitted.
Zeb and Sabine were confused, "Then why keep him away from the action?"
Hera spoke this time, "Because of those reasons that made him ready."
Hera saw how confused Sabine and Zeb were before and had every intention to explain it to them, that was until they heard a noise above them.
The clanking of metal above them as they stood up in attention.
"What the heck?" Sabine questioned as the nose seemed to be coming closer to them.
The noise came right above and over them when they heard the panel begin to open.
The all got into a defensive-stances, ready to strike whatever was above them.
Once the shaft fell open, the crew was thrown off guard when a backpack fell down, followed by Zeb's bo-rifle. Not just any one's backpack
They looked up and saw their youngest specter's outfit.
"Ez-," Hera tried to speak to him, only for him to crawl away and whisper,
"see you guys in a bit."
"Ezra!" Hera tried to whisper to the child
Only for the noise to get further away.
Zeb grabbed the bag and smiled at what was in it, "Smart kid."
Zeb then threw the blasters and lightsaber into their respective owner's directions. Sabine smiled as she saw her helmet was intact.
Hera took Kanan's lightsaber and was able to use it to cut Kanan's binders off.
With the force coursing through him once more, Kanan could sense Ezra's presence; along with the child's determination.
"We better get ready," Kanan spoke seriously as he got his saber from Hera.
The others nodded as they got their weapons out and ready for anything, All hoping that Ezra was okay with what he was about to do.
As Ezra crawled towards the prison cells halls, he couldn't help but smile at how the others looked up at him, in pure utter shock. The kid had to take a moment to shake off his smile to keep going.
It only took a minute to get to the vent opening overlooking the hall of the prison cells, and when he did he got a perfect angle of the troopers that patrolled the halls. It was only two of them. One was walking by the cell the crew was in. Ezra was getting ready to stun those troopers when he heard the banging from the other end of the cell.
"Quiet, walking hair-balls!" yelled the trooper in anger as he slammed a fist into the cell door. The troopers walked away as the troopers met right in the middle of the hall.
"Wookies howling again?" the troopers ally spoke.
"I can't tell if their howling or talking."
During the two banter, Ezra tapped onto is the helmet for good luck and removed the vent opening to take aim at the troopers. The first one fell instantly and before the other one could register what was going on, Ezra stunned the other one too. Ezra only had a little bit to pump his fist in the air at his success before climbing down the vent and found the key on one of their belts. Ezra smiled and ran to the crew's cell door.
Once he unlocked the door, it slide open fast. Ezra was prepared to race inside the cell to greet his crew, only to be tackled by a quick purple blob that could only be Zeb.
Zeb was growling as he pinned down the 'cadet' down on the floor.
"Tell-!" Zeb began to roar, only for him to quickly realize who he just tackled.
"ZEB, ZEB, it's me!" cried Ezra as he used his free hand to wave in the Lasats face.
Zeb froze and immediately got off the kid to help him up, feeling horrible that he just tackled the kid, and as only relieved that he was wearing the helmet that protected his head
As Ezra took off his cadet helmet, then saw the rest of the crew come out of the cell. Hera quickly hugged him for a solid ten seconds before grabbing his shoulders and scolded him,
"I told you to stay on the ship!"
"I know but I had to do something," Ezra stated as Kanan looked the kid over for any injuries, after finding that the kid was fine he sighed in relief.
"We'll talk about it on the ship, let's go," Kanan ordered to the others, only to be halted by Ezra taking his hand.
"Wait, what about the Wookies?" Ezra questioned, worried the crew's stress made them forget about the mission in the first place.
Sabine told him what she thought was obvious, "Ezra there are no Wookies, it was all a set up to get us here."
"No, it wasn't," Ezra said as he took Kanan's hand and dragged him as the crew followed them to the cell Ezra saw being banged on earlier. Ezra quickly unlocked the door and revealed to the crew the overly crammed cell full of Wookies.
As the Wookies saw the door opened and the beings that greeted them, they began growling and howling so much so that it began to get rather loud before Sabine interjected,
"Woah, woah! Calm down."
The Wookies, understanding what they could cause, immediatley quitted down, except for some whimpering from the younglings.
Sabine spoke to them, "We are here to get you guys out and somewhere safe, okay?"
The tallest of the wookies growled at her in their language.
"He says 'lead the way'," Sabine said with a smile that the Wookies understood her.
"Alright," Kanan confirmed as the crew got their weapons ready, "We just need to get back to the Ghost. The question though is how?" Kanan began to ponder.
Ezra raised his hand up so Kanan could see. As he saw Ezra's hand shot up, he knew what Ezra would say and sighed in defeat.
"Okay Ezra, you lead us to the Ghost, rest of you remain calm, quiet, and follow us."
As the Wookies followed, Kanan picked Ezra up and took the lead with Ezra's directions/.
As everyone made their way to the loading dock, Kanan spoke to Ezra, "If things get messy, stick by me no matter what, okay?"
Ezra nodded quietly as the crew and crowd of Wookies made their escape.
As Kallus stood in the control center of the ship, Kallus was on the comlink with the head in the loading dock.
"Still no breakthrough on the ship." The head trooper informed Kallus, "this defensive meassure has taken down ever trooper that approaches it."
"Keep attacking the ship, if nothing else it has to run out of juice eventually." Kallus reasoned.
Kallus then switched to the troopers on guard duty, "Troopers 89 and 42 reports."
Kallus waited for several moments and got nothing.
Kallus barked back when he commed them again, "Troopers 89 and 42 reports!"
Kallus was ready to go down and smack the two when he got another report.
"Sir this is troopers 13, I have found 89 and 42 stunned and unconscious. All cells are empty sir!"
Kallus clenched his fist in complete anger, he was going to lose it on the trooper when another trooper reported in.
"Sir, this is trooper 55, I was examining the supplies room and found the prisoner's weapons and a cadet helmet missing! One of the vents was opened."
Kallus knew what the vent meant. Just how the kid tried to escape at the base.
"Oh boy, you just made my job to get you easier." Kallus seethed at himself. The man then pushed the alarm button with full force that caused the whole ship to beam red lights everywhere. Kallus then called on the commlink to alert the whole ship.
"Troopers converge on the loading dock, NOW!"
The Agent was about to grab his helmet and head down when he got a com from another trooper.
"This is trooper 6, the armory is being taken down by rebels! Requesting immediate backup!"
Kallus thought this over, the rebels had weapons, perhaps they were for the Wookies on board.
Kallus spoke into the com "Troopers 1-15, report the armory, the rest of you to the loading dock!"
Kallus got his bo-rifle ready, "They will not get away again." He spoke bitterly to himself.
Despite the anxiety in his chest with having to speak to Agent Kallus, Ezra giggled in glee once he heard that his attempt to get the troopers away kind of worked.
"Ezra?" Kanan questioned angerly as he heard Ezra finish his "imperial talk" (not saying anything to avoid getting them caught).
"It helped…a little," Ezra spoke up as he opened up the visor.
Kanan rolled his eyes, but Ezra saw that there was a tiny prideful smile on the man. Ezra was sure he would have burst in joy if not for the situation at hand. As the kid looked behind him, he saw the rest of the crew armed and ready as the dozens of Wookies followed them. Hera saw Ezra looking at them and smiled at him with reassurance. Ezra smiled back at her, confident that they would be okay.
Just as they were about to get to the cargo bay, Ezra heard trooper boots coming their way.
Holding Ezra with one arm, Kanan used his free arm to use his lightsaber as he blocked the bolts that were coming at them and redirected them to hit the shooters.
"Yeah!" Ezra cheered on Kanan as the troopers fell down.
"Less cheering, more focus," Kanan stated as they got to the loading dock door.
Kanan turned to the others, who got their weapons up and ready.
"They will be waiting for us!" Kanan warned the silent party
With that Kanan opened the door, to be greeted by an ambush of blaster shots. Zeb, Hera, and Kanan took charge of shooting at the dozens of troopers as Sabine lead the Wookies behind some crates to hide.
As the troopers fell, the rest of the crew took cover.
Hera saw the troopers that were being attacked by the Ghost. The Twi'lek turned to her young child with a stern voice, "I thought we agreed those were for emergencies."
"It was an emergency, I had to have a distraction to get to you guys."
Hera was silent, with only blaster shots overhead being heard, "I'll be proud of you later. Now we need to get to the Ghost."
"What we need is a distraction," Sabine pointed out.
Ezra got his backpack off and showed Sabine her spray paint, one she had been working on.
"We haven't tested it yet." Sabine pointed out.
"Best time then." Ezra pointed out.
Sabine smiled as she took her paint out, "Take cover, and I will need some."
Ezra smiled as he unholstered his blaster,
"Ezra!" Kanan and Hera barked.
"What, I came prepared!" Ezra defended as he began to shoot the troopers down.
Zeb couldn't help but to smile at Ezra's perfect aim; he taught the child well.
Kanan just shook his head as he kept shooting and signaled for both Hera and Zeb to cover Sabine as she worked.
As Sabine made her way to the doorway they entered, she sprayed the rebel phoenix she created onto the doorway. It only took Sabine a minute to finish her 'masterpiece', before she urged everyone to run.
"Move!" Sabine stated as they all made their way to the Ghost. Just as the crew was almost to the ship, Sabine's work light up; literally in a fiery explosion that filed the cargo bay with smoke, and sending several troopers to the ground hard, and some of them, on fire.
Hera spoke into the commlink, "Chopper, we're here, let us on board."
As they avoided the senseless shooting from the troopers left standing, they finally made it to the ship. As the Wookies boarded, the crew shot on. During it, all Kanan put Ezra down and told him, "Get on the ship." Kanan ordered to the kid loudly.
Ezra was about to do as he was told when he sensed him again; Kallus, and he was coming in fast. Ezra then saw what was happening, the crew was so focused on the troopers they ignored who came from the enflamed entrance armed and anger painted on his face. Kallus was running up to the ship with his bo-rifle in the air, ready to take any rebel he could find down.
Ezra knew he had to do something, NOW!
So he raced past the others, who were still shooting, and aimed right as Kallus, with his blaster on shock mode. just as he was about to attack Zeb on the end, Kallus was hit with an electric bolt. The man began to twitch before he fell to the ground, convulsing on the floor; Kallus even began to drool in his unconscious state.
Sabine saw out of the corner of her eye what Ezra did, as the girl smiled, "Nice shot kid!" she praised.
Zeb who heard, turned and saw his would-be attacker on the ground out cold, and his little pal blaster freshly used, Zeb smiled in gratitude at him.
Ezra beamed at the compliment when he saw Kanan's disapproving glare.
"They are all on board," Kanan then saw Ezra armed and Kallus down, once more as he looked exasperated as the kid once more ignored his orders.
Ezra then felt Zeb lift him up with one big arm, "I got him," The Lasat made clear as he took Ezra onto the ship
Soon the rest of the crew loaded onto the ship and Kanan hollered to Hera as she raced to the cockpit, "We're loaded, let's go.
Once Hera got to the cockpit, she got the ship up and ready to go. While the Destroyer's ship loading shields were closed, she smiled at her droid, who was still controlling the rods, "You know where to aim,"
With that Chopper took the rods and aimed right at the Destroyer's cargo controls. With it demolished the shields opened. The Ghost shot right out of the Star Destroyer.
Hera could see several TIE Fighters following them, Fortunately Chopper had everything ready to get them ready for Hyperspace, so all Hera had to do was push the button.
"Everyone. brace yourself!" She hollered over the commlink, and like that they entered a world of fast-moving blue lights.
Hera sighed in relief as she put the ship into auto-pilot and went to see how everyone was doing.
In the loading dock, Kanan and Zeb were casually on the side while Sabine talked to who she thought was the head Wookie.
Hera approached her. Sabine told her, "They said they appreciate the rescue."
Hera smiled, "Tell them that we have a contact that will take them to a safe haven, Meanwhile," she turned her attention to Kanan who was looking down at the beaming child as he sat on the cargo and witnessing what he helped with as he held his new helmet.
Kanan approached Ezra, and told him calmly, "Ezra, common room, now."
Ezra's smile fell as he made his way to the common room. As Hera and Kanan followed him, Zeb and Sabine stopped them for a moment to begin to protest.
"Are you guy's serious?" Zeb questioned in annoyance that Hera and Kanan appeared ready to scold Ezra for doing good.
"We need to have a talk with him while you guys watch the Wookies, make sure they aren't nervous." Hera pointed out.
"But-," Sabine began.
"It won't be long." Kanan pointed out as Hera and himself left the loading dock.
Zeb and Sabine looked at each other and had the same determined glance.
Ezra kicked his feet back and forth in nervousness as Hera and Kanan entered the common room. Ezra hugged the helmet he held for some comfort as to what was going on. As they stood in front of him, he dared not look up into their eyes to see disappointment they had lingering. Just the thought of them being mad at him made his heart beat so loud he was sure the two could hear it against his chest.
But, surely they can't be too mad at him; he did save them…right?
"Ezra Lee Bridger," Kanan began calmly as stood before the boy.
Ezra began to open his mouth (to say that Lee was not his last name), only for Kanan to put his hand up at Ezra so he would be silent. Ezra immediately closed his mouth.
"What you did was reckless and dangerous," Kanan spoke coldly
"I know," Ezra admitted.
"You could have gotten hurt, captured, or worse." Hera pointed out, her voice full with concern at what could have happened to the youngling.
"I know," Ezra repeated again. His stomach sinking at how he let Kanan and Hera down.
"We are not happy with this. That is why you are grounded for two weeks." Kanan stated.
"I know," Ezra said again, he felt too miserable to come up with anything else to say.
"So no lothcat hunts, no holo-vids, and no missions during that time," Hera clarified.
"I-," Ezra was about to repeat himself when he recalled what Hera said. The kid finally looked up at the two and saw that their faces were mad but eyes calm, "wait, does that mean I can do "all' that stuff when I'm done being grounded.
Hera sighed as she asked the youngling, "Ezra, do you know why we didn't want you on missions?
"Cause of my age?" Ezra speculated, seeing how Kanan and Hera looked almost sad at what he guessed.
The adults sat down as Kanan took a deep breath and explained, "It was mostly because you are still a kid."
Ezra was a little confused, wasn't that what he just said.
Kanan continued, "We know that the year before you met us wasn't the best environment for a child."
Ezra began to recall that time and began to slowly understand.
"Ezra, remember when I said, 'you are still too young for me'?"
Ezra nodded at Hera's earlier statement.
"Well, that's because I look at you and I think of what you have done and been through and I think, 'Ezra is too young to go through all that, it's not fair! 'The streets are no place for a kid to be a kid. Let alone an imperial base." Hera stated as she sat down, "and we know that just to survive, you had to learn some lessons the hard way."
Ezra now fully understood; it wasn't that they didn't think he was ready, it was because he was ready; perhaps even a bit too ready given in spite of his age.
"I guess we just wanted you to be a kid a little longer, and that you, going on missions might make that harder for you to be a kid still."
Ezra thought about it for a moment before he asked, "Why can't I be a kid and go on missions like you guys?"
Kanan nodded in defeat as he told Ezra, "I think we can try that out. After all, you did sense Kallus attacking before I could, and that is pretty impressive. So, you going on missions doesn't sound too unreasonable"
Ezra wooted and cheered as he pumped his fist in the air in success.
"But," Hera pointed, "We pick missions you can go on if it's too risky, you can't go and won't. Understood?"
Ezra nodded in enthusiasm as Kanan took over.
"You will also have a buddy with you on missions. Like if I'm your buddy, you don't leave my side and you do as I say. Go against buddy orders and you are grounded. Okay?"
Ezra again nodded as replied, "Okay!"
Ezra then sat his helmet to the side and got up to hug Hera and Kanan, "Thank you!"
Hera smiled as she ran a hand through Ezra's hair, "Well I think we should be thanking you. Despite disobeying orders, you did a great job assessing the situation and saving us all from the Empire."
Kanan got up and smiled, "I think Zeb and Sabine also found what you did very impressive too," he said as he approached the doorway, "Isn't that right?"
With that Kanan opened the closed door and Zeb stumbled a bit before regaining his balance as Sabine stood up straight with a smile on her face in an attempt to feign innocence.
Ezra giggled at this scene; he knew Kanan sensed the two eavesdroppers on what Ezra was being lectured about.
"Sooo…uh…Wookies are fine, but I guess they are wondering when they will be somewhere safe." Sabine spoke up.
Hera stood up as she took a deep breath, "Soon. We are now going to meet Fulcrum's guy to load them onto a new ship that will take them to a place the Empire can't find them."
Kanan took control, "So while Hera flies us to the rendezvous, Sabine you fill in that we will be there within the hour. Zeb, go over the diagnostics to see if the ship sustained any damage.
Zeb and Sabine nodded as they began to head out. Ezra looked down, as he had nothing to do. That was until Kanan spoke up.
"Ezra, why don't we go over the holo-map, to keep a lookout for any possible imperial ships that could be following us."
Ezra beamed, "Okay!" as Ezra jumped up and approached Kanan, who lead Ezra to the cockpit to look at the maps.
As Zeb and Sabine made their way to do their assignments, they smiled at each other,
"looks like Ezra got his reason." Sabine pointed out at what they overheard.
"Now he's officially a rebel," Zeb stated, rather ecstatic his shooting student was now ready for fieldwork.
"I can't tell if this will mean more steady missions more chaotic ones," Sabine questioned.
The two only thought about it for a moment before Ezra hollered.
"Star Destroyers are coming in!" Ezra cried in a panic.
Before there was time to panic, Kanan corrected him, "It is just a meteor."
It was silent before Ezra hollered again in a sheepish tone, "Never mind!"
Zeb and Sabine chuckled a bit.
"Either way, with Ezra on missions, it is bound to be interesting." Sabine was able to conclude
"Agreed" Zeb stated as the crew went on to their assignments to get the Wookies a new home.
A/N: So, this story I had been so excited about for so long, but with so much I wanted to add to it, I became rather overwhelmed. Luckily Mistress Malica helped me out by spitballing some ideas that helped me realize what this story needed to get it going. So say 'thank you Mistress Malica' (she really is super awesome)!. Also, I put some cameo's and references in this chapter, who can find them?