a/N For a request by an anon on tumblr- For a prompt, Zeb and Kallus on mission for the Rebellion with Luke Skywalker. They can't quite refrain from comparing him to Ezra. Hope this is what you wanted! Xxxxxx

Zeb trudged through the mud that smothered the planet's surface. He wished he'd listened now to when Kallus told him to put on some shoes for once. He glanced at his partner beside him, who was wearing full protective gear. His smirk said the man was refraining from telling him I told you so.

"Eww! This stuff stinks!"

Zeb turned around to glare at the young boy behind them. The Skywalker kid tried to shake the muck off his shoe only to get it covered again anytime they took a step.

"Shhhh." Zeb growled at him. Luke sheepishly smiled an apology. Zeb quickly turned back around. Unable to look at that smile he had seen on someone else. He silently cursed Draven for paring them up with the kid. Citing that as one of the few beings in the rebellion who has worked alongside Jedi the kid was best suited to work with them. He felt Kallus brush his arm against him, no doubt knowing where his thoughts had gone. Zeb was still not convinced the man wasn't part force sensitive. Whilst his bo-rifle remained ready in his hands, his breath relaxed, grateful for his partner's silent comfort.

Eventually the mud led them to the base of a waterfall. A river, whose spans was larger than a star destroyer, tumbled over the edge of a cliff that was nearly a thousand feet in height. The perfect place to hide a secret scientific research lab.

"Woah…" Luke breathed next to him. Zeb turned his head to tell the kid to shut up again when he saw look on his face. His mouth was slack, and his blue eyes dazzled like a blackhole, trying to absorb the sight in front of him. Zeb had seen that look before. Especially in those first few months aboard the Ghost when they visited new planets. As someone who had been travelling through the stars for years, he forgot that there were those who has never left their own village let alone their planet.

"Come on." Zeb said, his voice soft as he nudged the kid towards the waterfall. Once they got near, they started to crawl despite the kid's protests, hoping the thick mud should detect them from any sensors. It must have as they made it there without any trouble. A first for one of their missions.

They made their way under the crashing waves, eventually coming to a cave big enough to home a Dreadnought. Zeb peaked around the entrance. Stormtroopers piled creates upon creates in every corner of the hole. Kallus used his scanner but couldn't tell from his readings what was in them.

"Now Draven's instructions were very clear." Kallus whispered. "This is a simple recon mission. We do not want to start a fight."

Zeb failed to hide his scoff. Kallus faced him with a resounding glare. Zeb half shrugged an apology as they kept inside. They hid behind one of the piles of creates. Luke tinkered with the controls until the top one opened.

Zeb clutched his hand to his mouth as Kallus face blanched.

"What? What are they?" Luke asked.

Inside were hundreds of blood-stained data chips, identical to the ones Zeb had seen when Rex removed them from his brothers' head.

Before Zeb could answer, an alarm started blaring overhead. He looked around to see stormtroopers pointing their blasters at them.

"Time to go!" Kallus ordered, taking a handful of the chips. Zeb fired his bo-rife as they sped towards cave's mouth. For the first time in over a year, he heard the ignition of a lightsabre besides him. Luke deflected the blasters with his sabre whilst Zeb shot back. He fell quickly into the old rhythm, as they made it to the entrance. Waiting for them was stormtroopers on either side and a AT-AT behind them.

Zeb looked over the edge. From here it couldn't be more than thirty feet down, survivable. He didn't think anymore beyond that, instead grabbing his comrades before jumping. He vaguely heard the kids screams and Kallus' pronouncing his soon to be murder, until the waves bellow stole everything away.

Water invaded every sense of his being as he was thrashed around. He had no idea which way was up and which was down. All he was aware of was water. Miraculously, he managed to keep a tight hold of the others despite the river's attempt to tear them apart.

Zeb had no idea how much time had passed before he felt the claw of his foot snagged on mud. Soon he could feel the soggy surface start to become more consistent beneath him. As the blur around them slowed he was able to make out the bog that made up their soundings. Once his claws could get a stable grip on the riverbed, he dragged himself with the others still under his arms to the shore. He put them down as gently as he could before collapsing onto the muddy riverbank. He was aware of Kallus crawling towards him when the man's water trodden mutton chops leaned into his line of vision.

"Garazeb Orrelios, if you manhandle me one more time-"

"If by manhandle you mean saving your life then yeah I will." Zeb sighed, reaching up to brush his fingers through their dripping blonde locks. Kallus breathed into his touch, pressing a kiss against his palm. That was when they realised that they hadn't heard the kid yet.

"Kid?" Zeb said, spotting the boy nearby, his head face down in the mud.

"Karabast!"

They rushed over to him, turning him over.

"Luke! Are you ok?"

Blue eyes flittered open as a wide grin spread across his caked face.

"We did it."

The lasat let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah we did. Wouldn't have been able to do it without you though. You handled yourself well out there Luke."

That grin grew even bigger. Zeb felt his own lips turn into a smile. He glanced back at the waterfall that was now just a dot on the horizon as he helped the young Jedi to his feet.

"I'll signal Hera for a pickup. I'm calling dibs on the first shower."