General James Ironwood was a man of structure. He was someone that knew that planning and coordination was essential for every important decision made as one of Atlas's leaders. His movements, his speech, his mind had all mastered the art of prioritizing focus and calm over anything else. Structure was essential for him, just as it was essential for Atlas's society itself.

And something had just disrupted that structure.

"Commander Ironwood, I must highly discourage against investigating this yourself. It could possibly be dangerous-"

"And that's exactly why I need to see it for myself. With all due respect, I disagree with your sentiments lieutenant." Ironwood interrupted, keeping his face as stern as possible. No signs of his distress even dared to show externally. It was another practice that he had mastered since long ago.

"If you say so, commander. I would still advise you to treat cautiously. We don't have proper intel on any of this yet." said the lieutenant. Ironwood nodded and thanked his officer, marching forwards regardless. A feeling boiling in his gut made him both fear and anticipate what was about to come next. What he was about to experience and see.

He only hoped that it would work out towards his advantage in the long run.

Ironwood marched through the numerous corridors of his headquarters before finally arriving at the docks. Without hesitation, he quickly made his way over to the nearest dropship and sat down in the passenger's seat, closing the door behind him. Numerous soldiers were already there, and Ironwood nodded as the men saluted him.

"Coming with us to the wreckage, sir?" asked one of the braver soldiers. Ironwood smiled slightly before nodding in response.

As the bullhead lurched upwards, the pilot waved a hand towards the group of passengers. Ironwood put on the seatbelt as the dropship floated further upwards, immediately gaining acceleration as it started to move forward towards the open sky of Atlas. Ironwood retreated into his mind, contemplating what would happen next.

After all, it wasn't every day a spaceship crashed into Atlas's city square.

Ironwood stared into the dark corridor, inhaling heavily as he turned to one of his commanding officers. Thankfully the area had been automatically sealed off by the military after the accident, and the general public had cleared any street and corner in a hundred meter radius from the crash site.

The spaceship itself was a huge vessel that had destroyed at least a million lien worth of property- a humongous mass of metal that had soared through the sky, engulfed by fire. It was way past saving, due to its extensive and heavy damages, but it the structure itself was preserved. Or at least, what was left of it. The vessel looked like it was only half of a completed whole, with it looking like it was torn in half.

The dark corridor Ironwood found himself staring at was the only discovered entrance. It radiated an enigmatic, strange aura that Ironwood didn't like at all. Lights flickered on and off like a cheap horror flick, and Ironwood smelt what he assumed was dried blood.

"This is the only known entrance to the vessel?" Ironwood asked, as the man nodded quickly in response.

"We were going to send in a few men to scout out the area, but the lieutenant told us that you were coming soon, so we held off the operation. This seems to be like the only entrance we have. All the others are either hidden or sealed off, general." said the officer. Ironwood nodded, scowling. The entire situation was much more shrouded in mystery than he would have liked, but it was something that he had expected prior to his arrival.

"I'm going to go into the vessel personally. Prepare a squadron of troopers to accompany me." Ironwood commanded.

"Yes sir! That will be done immediately." saluted the officer as the man ran backwards, presumably to order a squadron of soldiers. Ironwood gritted his teeth, the tension in the air feeling more noticeable than ever. It was obvious that everyone on the ship was going to be dead, but hopefully they would be able to salvage some technology. That would be useful in the fight against her.

He inhaled heavily, preparing his mind for what would come next as the squadron of troopers ran towards him.

"Sir, we have a problem! This is a dead end!" yelled one of the troopers. Ironwood scowled in response, quickly running over to where he had heard the trooper's voice. To his indignation, there was indeed a pile of wreckage that blocked any further passage into the spaceship. Ironwood frowned.

"I think it's better for us to wait for now. Call for heavy duty troopers to try and move this wreckage. Then we'll traverse further into the ship." he said.

The spaceship had been, to be completely fair, disappointing. No one was alive, with the crews' bodies having been mostly destroyed, and any type of technology was damaged beyond repair, mostly due to complete combustion. Even the lights were barely working. All in all, it most likely wasn't even worth the property damage and casualties that it had caused from its landing.

"Yes sir!" The man replied as he reached into his pack and pulled out a walkie talkie. However, as soon as the man pushed the button to talk, an igniting noise went off somewhere behind the wreckage. Both the man and Ironwood jumped back in shock. Is someone alive in there?

As soon as the thought formed in his head, a glowing azure blade of fire poked out from the wreckage. Ironwood's eyes widened as the blade, glowing with a brilliant light, started to carve an ellipse through the large pieces of metal. Slowly drawing his hand, Ironwood gestured for his trooper to drop the walkie talkie.

Cautiously, the man obeyed as the two both took careful steps backwards.

As the circle was completed, the blade retracted, and the inner circle of metal pushed forward at a breakneck speed. Ironwood's eyes widened as he immediately sidestepped and barely dodged the piece of wreckage that flew towards his head. Instantly afterwards, his pistol was drawn and raised in front of him, his finger on the trigger.

Then, both to Ironwood's expectations and surprise, a figure emerged from the hole. Clad in orange rags, the young man looked no older than 17 or 18, with dark hair and royal blue eyes. Ironwood took a sharp breath inwards as the man turned directly towards him, his eyes almost glowing as he stared into Ironwood's darker ones.

After a tense moment of brief hesitation, the man said...

"Aw man, I'm so kriffing screwed."

Then, he promptly fainted, finding a rather comfortable bed in the cold hard floor.

When Ezra woke up in a prison cell in handcuffs, he knew he was screwed.

The last thing he properly remembered was the battle of Lothal. He vaguely remembered the details, the only highlight being the end of his confrontation with Thrawn. He breifly wondered if the strategist was still alive. No, that isn't possible. That landing should have taken out every person on that ship. I barely survived by using the force, but Thrawn shouldn't have that advantage.

But then again, the man was a genius. Ezra personally wouldn't have been surprised if the man had somehow found a miraculous way to survive and escape. But at the moment, Ezra didn't have half the required energy to deal with such a situation. Connecting with other creatures through the force was taxing, and the experience had drained him of his energy.

God, he needed a break.

Suddenly, the door to his cell opened and a guard stepped inside. Thankfully, he didn't look anything like one of the empire's guards, instead having a much more human appearance. Ezra's mind sighed in relief. He knew that he was far away from the empire just from the hyperspace travel, but the small confirmation was still nice. A small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

"You'll be coming with me now." said the guard in a stern voice. Ezra nodded willingly, standing up and letting the guard escort him out. With luck, his new captors wouldn't be like the Galactic Empire and his arrest would simply be a security measure. At the moment, Ezra was an unknown after all.

If the other case happened where his captors were dictators who would want to exploit him or hunt him down... Well I'll get to that part when it actually happens, Ezra decided. He had never really been one for plans anyway. But with his luck, his captors would most likely be corrupt, incompetent, or just generally bad.

Such was the luck of Ezra Bridger.

"So... where am I going again?" Ezra asked sheepishly to the guard, taking a small risk. Thankfully, the guard cooperated, even giving him a slight smile as he responded back.

"You'll be going to see General James Ironwood. He's going to ask you a few questions, and if you aren't too dangerous, you'll be fine." said the guard. Ezra's breath hitched at the mention of the word 'dangerous.' Am I dangerous? He was a jedi who was able to use the force, but what classified someone as 'dangerous?'

Ezra could only hope that things went well. Otherwise, he would have to impromptu a prison breakout. He wasn't a fan of captivity after all.

But before that, he would need to get back his lightsaber. It was his greatest advantage, and he would need it in the future. He had noticed the absence of its familiar weight the moment he had awoken from his sleep, and Ezra had to fight to push down the distress that came with not having his greatest weapon.

I've become attached to that thing...

Lost in thought, Ezra found himself following the guard through a multitude of complex corridors with designs that mirrored the metallic, slick walls of the empire. I really kriffing hope that this place is nothing like it. The similarities in design and color were seriously starting to become uncanny.

Soon, the guard led Ezra through a large door that opened into what looked like a large office, with an extremely large, intimidating looking man sitting beside a desk at the center of it. Ezra gave a sheepish expression as he entered the room, hoping to defuse the tension.

It didn't work.

"Sit down please." the large man said. Ezra straightened his expression before complying, plopping himself down in front of the man. "My name is General James Ironwood of Atlas," the man introduced, "and your vessel crashed into the center of Atlas's commercial area exactly 12 hours ago. What's your name?"

"Ezra Bridger." Ezra said quickly, cursing his voice for how nervous it sounded. I need to be in control right now.

"You had a different uniform than the rest of the people on board the ship. Care to explain why?" asked the man. Oh, this I can answer easily.

Ezra found himself slightly smiling. "I'm a fugitive." he stated plainly, rousing up a few reactions inside the room. The man peered at him, his eyes narrowing. Ezra stared back, a surge of confidence suddenly entering his mind.

"A fugitive?" the man asked once again. Ezra nodded.

"That ship was controlled by a corrupt Empire that routinely abused its citizens. I was a rebel, so I was a fugitive." Ezra said. In response, Ironwood looked at him with a curious expression. There was no hostility in it for sure, but Ezra couldn't quite gather any emotion. He has a mean poker face for sure.

Finally, Ironwood sighed, leaning forwards towards Ezra. "Look here. If you want us to release you, you need to cooperate with us. Right now, as far as we're concerned, you could be a security threat. So try and be a bit more straightforward, kid. This isn't some sort of game." he said with a snarl.

Ezra leaned backwards, raising his cuffed hands in defense. "I'm not a security threat at all. I promise. I'm not going to do anything unless you guys are some kinda evil empire that kills people." he stated. "Are you?"

"Atlas is nothing close to an... evil empire. But we aren't the ones who need to prove ourselves to you, kid. We're in control here. So one more time, what guarantee can you make? I don't like this any more than you do, and we have plenty of incentive to work with you, but we need better than just your word."

Ezra scowled. "Well, what in the world do you want me to do? It isn't like I can just... share my memories with you or something. And besides, what would I even have against you?" he argued.

Once again, Ironwood sighed. "Fine. We'll let you go free..." he said, "BUT. We're going to stick you with a monitor and a guard until you've proven that you can be trusted. In that period, you will be provided basic food and shelter, but you will not be able to purchase any luxuries."

"And how long will that take?" Ezra pointedly asked.

"That depends on your cooperation, boy." Ironwood responded. Ezra huffed in resignation.

"Fine. But could I at least have my lightsaber back?" he asked. "You guys do have it, right?"

In response, Ironwood brought the device onto the table, dropping it down. "This?" he asked, pulling it out of the way as Ezra reached his hands out to grab it. "This will also be returned to you when you prove your trust." he said. Ezra grumbled. I could always use the force to grab it away from him...

But he decided against it. He needed to work with Ironwood for now.

"Fine." he said with a huff. "But don't you dare do anything to it. You won't be able to make another one anyway." he said.

Ironwood gave the slightest hint of a smile. "That request is granted." he said. Then, the man stood up, rising to his full height, and with the press of a button, Ezra's two handcuffs unlinked, instead turning into dual bracelets. I have to admit, that's kind of ingenious.

"Your guard will now escort you to the docks, where you will proceed onwards." Ironwood said. "Don't betray the trust we've given you, kid."

Ezra could only nod in response, grumbling at his luck.

Notes

Well, here we are. Since I've settled into a regular monthly upload schedule with my other fic, and I completed all my major exams, I can finally start on this! And damn, Ironwood is hard to write for me. xD

In these notes, I'll be providing mini Q and A's that are going to explain and justify a few of my writing decisions in the chapter, and answer some questions. But since this is the first chapter, I'm going to answer a few key questions that people might have.

1. Canon divergence. This WILL be a canon divergent story, and will alter plot points and decisions from what happened in canon.

2. Pairing. Look, this is the first and last time I'm going to talk about pairings in this story. But unlike my previous ones where I let the readers decide, it's going to be pre-decided and kept a secret.

3. Atlas. I chose Atlas because Volume 7 left me with a heavy disappointment on exploring the city more. It had both pros and cons for me, but I want to delve deeper into the type of place Atlas really is. And Ezra is a rebel, and his rebellious nature contrasts the nature of the city. So, it makes for good chemistry.

That's all I have so far, thanks for reading and please leave a review with your thoughts! It means a lot to me. :)