I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.
STAR WARS REBELS
The New Spectres
A New Admiral
SPACE
"Who are these guys?" Darius asked over the comm as laser blasts rocked the Ghost. A group of Z-95 Headhunters had appeared out of nowhere and attacked the Ghost.
"I think they're with Black Sun." Noah replied.
"What a fine time for Jacen to get sick. I had to take half a day for the Vican Run and then Felth told me to take your four and your droids." Sabine said.
"I'm going to guess that one of the Generals told Mr. Dobbs about this and he finds covering Art easier then covering History." Darius chimed in.
"How did Jacen even get sick?" Lucy asked.
"He ate some Chinese Food from a few days ago yesterday and you really shouldn't do that as Sylvia has warned people numerous times. She said Morty ended up in the ICU once for doing that." Josh replied.
"Would you two Padawans try and hit one of these guys." Sabine told the two Jedi.
"They're too organized for a criminal gang. I'm starting to think that this is the First Order trying to divert blame for something their people did." Darius said as he managed to hit a Z-95.
"Also way too aggressive for Black Sun. They never went after the Pride like this when Tevin landed it in front of their convoy on Nar Shaadda." Josh added as he took out a second Z-95 followed by Darius taking out a third.
"Not bad. Ezra said you guys have done this before." Sabine said as the fourth Z-95 attempted an attack run.
"C'mon fool. Make your move." Darius muttered as he used The Force to read the pilot's mind. Finding that the pilot intended to fire proton torpedoes, he fired first taking out the Z-95 before its pilot had a chance to fire.
"That's the last of them." Noah said.
"R9, check the engines. BB-8, check the rest of the systems and then find out where they came from." Sabine told the two droids as Darius entered the cockpit.
"How far are we from a certain reportedly stalled construction project that a certain Major tortured information about out of a certain former schoolmate and bully of mine and then ours when said Major isn't throwing fits about me being the same place he is?" He asked.
"Good question. BB-8, scan for any signs of a base or capital ship in the area." Lucy replied.
"Ezra, I am going to hit you when I see you." Sabine muttered to herself.
"You're going to hit Ezra for what?" Josh asked as he joined them.
"Not telling me about stuff going on that might be of interest to me." Sabine replied as BB-8 made a series of beeps.
"He found out where they came from and set a course to that place." Noah said as R9 returned.
"Good, let's find out who they are." Sabine said and made the jump to lightspeed.
Standing on the bridge of the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Steadfast was First Order Admiral Frantis Griss. An officer approached him.
"Admiral, we've lost contact with our Headhunters. The last report stated that they had encountered a Corellian VCX Freighter."
"What was it carrying?" Griss asked.
"Unknown, but we matched its markings to that of a ship from the Debacle at Lothal. It's called the Ghost, Sir."
"The Ghost. I'm guessing that there are Jedi on it."
"I believe so, Sir."
"I will tell General Pryde and Admiral Versio of this when we have something to report. Lord Sidious wants the Earth left alone for now. Of course, if they stray into our sector. Then we can deal with them."
"Yes, Sir." The officer said as Griss looked out the windows and thought he saw something of interest,but dismissed it as nothing worth investigating. On the Ghost, Sabine dropped out of lightspeed far enough away that only a keem eye could make them out. Darius pulled out his phone and used the zoom on his camera to do a visual scan for anything of interest. He took a couple of pictures and showed them to Sabine.
"Star Destroyers and they don't look like Remnant ones either." She said as Josh looked over the pictures.
"These look like the same ones the First Order used at Lothal or at least the same model." He told everyone.
"Dad said that the call between Steven Abernathy and Brendol Hux indicated that they were going to leave the Earth alone because they were putting everything towards that Death Star project." Lucy added.
"Going on,going back, or staying?" Noah asked.
"Darius, Lucy, R9. Take the Phantom and go buzz their scanners." Sabine replied.
"C'mon. R9 can handle the piloting." Darius said.
"Or I can do it." Lucy told him causing Josh to laugh.
"This from the girl who's dad flies into asteroid fields on purpose." He said earning a look from Lucy as she followed Darius and R9.
"He's not the only one who's done that. I'm sure one of the Solos can explain how it worked out for their dad." Noah told Josh as the Phantom III detached from the Ghost and flew towards the Star Destroyers. Darius had taken the pilot's seat on the Phantom III since he figured that the small ship was no harder to handle then a car.
"Practicing for your road test?" Lucy asked him.
"Yeah." He replied as R9 beeped something to them.
"We're in their scanning range." On the Steadfast, an officer called out to Admiral Griss.
"Ship detected, it appears to either be a small shuttle or starfighter of some kind."
"Send a couple of fighters to check it out." Griss told the officer. Within minutes, a pair of TIE Fighters were launched from the Steadfast followed by a pair of Z-95s. R9 beeped an alarm at Darius and Lucy as he detected the fighters.
"Power up the weapons. Spectre 13 to Ghost, we've got two TIEs and two Z-95s coming. Looks like we found where those other Z-95s came from." Darius reported to Sabine.
"Copy that, moving in." Sabine replied. On the Ghost, Josh took the top turret while Sabine flew the Ghost into position.
"Let's see who's in charge of this fleet." Noah said.
"And what their level of intelligence is." Josh added. Griss' sensor officer picked up the Ghost as it entered their scanner range.
"Admiral, second ship. It's the Ghost." He said.
"Put me through to them." Griss told the comm officer.
"Channel opened."
"This is Admiral Griss of the First Order. Commanding Officer of the Steadfast. Surrender and prepare to be boarded or face destruction." Griss crossed his arms and waited for a response. The two TIEs decided to go after the Phantom III while the Z-95s went after the Ghost. Darius flew the Phantom III between the two TIEs causing the pilots to have to turn around and avoid crashing into each other.
"Are you sure you aren't already taking flying lessons?" Lucy asked him.
"Things I've picked up over the past year from people."
"I don't remember seeing that move used in Independence Day."
"I got that one from Landon and he got it from Mr. B. That's their command ship." Darius explained as he flew towards the Steadfast.
"What are you doing?" Lucy asked.
"Baiting them. Thrawn said Hera did this to one of his pilots once." Griss watched the three ships fly towards the bridge of the Steadfast.
"What are they doing?" He asked not expecting a response. Darius fired off a series of shots at the sensor array on top of the Steadfast's bridge. This not only created a huge cloud of smoke, but also caused Griss and his crew to lose the ability to track ships. He then used the smoke to spin the Phantom III around and point it at the two TIE Fighters which had to fly around the smoke cloud which caused their pilots to lose sight of their prey. Darius fired and struck one of the TIEs destroying it. The second TIE tried to evade further shots only for the pilot to find that he had lost the ability to control his ship which was then somehow thrown into the rear of the Steadfast's bridge.
"Stop showing off. You're turning into Josh." Lucy said to Darius.
"I didn't notice. Let's go catch up to the Ghost." He told her and flew off. Griss watched them leave and then turned to his crew.
"Damage report."
"Sensors, scanners, and anything else that was up there is offline. We also lost two TIE Fighters and took an unknown amount of damage to the back of the bridge." An officer reported from one of the crew pits. Meanwhile, the two Z-95s were keeping Josh and Sabine on their toes.
"What are they doing?" Noah asked.
"Trying to make us dizzy." Josh replied.
"Darius can't dock with them doing that." Sabine told Josh.
"But, Darius can take them out." Darius called over the comm as he flew the Phantom III in front of one Z-95 causing the pilot to become disoriented. Josh took the moment to fire at the fighter and destroyed it. The second Z-95 pilot scrambled once he realized that Darius was now pursuing him. Sabine took the moment to fly the Ghost behind the two smaller ships and eventually overtook the Phantom III. The Z-95 pilot attempted to evade the larger ship, but found that he was unable to lose them. He then tried to reach the Steadfast only to find that the communications were not getting through.
"Almost got him." Sabine said and then pressed the button to fire the forward guns destroying the Z-95. She then told Darius to dock so they could leave making the jump to lightspeed as soon as she heard Lucy's voice coming from the rear of the Ghost.
"He's turning into you with the Jedi tricks." Lucy said to Josh who simply shrugged. Darius came over to him next.
"That was fun."
"Did you really manage to use The Force to throw a TIE Fighter into the back of a Star Destroyer's bridge?" Josh asked him.
"I was told that size didn't matter." Darius replied.
"It matters when you're in the bedroom." Josh shot back.
"I heard that." Sabine called from the cockpit.
NEW YORK
It was almost dawn when Sabine brought the Ghost back. Tevin was waiting for them when they landed.
"What happened?" He asked.
"We were attacked by a group of Headhunters. Traced them back to where they came from and they belonged to a First Order fleet. Their Commander is an Admiral named Griss. I don't believe he followed us for two reasons. One, someone higher then him gave orders to leave this planet alone and two, Darius Carpenter destroyed their sensor equipment using the Phantom after he charged at their command ship. Which would have brought me to thing three, but knowing what I already know about him. He probably picked up piloting real quick from Ezra and or Hera. Lucy and R9 were with him. I was under the impression they had agreed that R9 would handle the piloting." She explained to Tevin as Darius, Lucy, and R9 appeared behind her.
"What was that about us?" He asked.
"Piloting without a license is illegal as is charging an enemy ship in a ship with my daughter on board." Tevin replied.
"What's the penalty for all of that? The same fine as jaywalking or not paying $2.75 for a ride on the subway?" Darius asked as Josh, Noah, and BB-8 joined them.
"This from a man who flew into an asteroid field once on purpose. Joke's on you Tevin. You can't have the Death Troopers throw me out because we're already outside and I don't see any Death Troopers around." Josh said earning a glare from Tevin.
"How would you like to be Moscow's resident Jedi Knight?" Tevin snapped back.
"He means he's gonna have Master Kenobi send you to the Russian Front when you're Knighted if you keep it up with the smart mouth." Noah explained.
"I guess you four can miss a day of class and I already called Reggie Dobbs. He said to take the day off. I guess outside of Ezra's classes, sleeping in class is a huge problem." Tevin said.
"Chopper likes to pinch noses when you fall asleep in class." Darius added causing Tevin to turn his attention from Sabine to him.
"You know what the penalty for what you did will be. You will take Lucy out for dinner and a movie both of her choosing and at your expense after she drags you around while she goes shopping." Tevin told Darius and then laughed.
"Get ready for the Husband's Chair." Josh said.
"Get ready for your Russian Safari." Darius shot back.
"It's not really illegal and I know that's not really a punishment. I just wanted to see the look on your face. Guys, in the truck without the smart mouths." Tevin told the four teens.
"Any word on Jacen?" Lucy asked as they got into Tevin's truck.
"I haven't spoken to Hera yet. Last I knew, he had no appetite. Another reason I'm letting you four take the day off today. I have no one to pick you guys up later."
"Starguy's not available?" Noah asked using the nickname that had been given to Galen Marek.
"Galen is taking Sylvia to some doctor's appointment somewhere. Finding someone else to get you guys is compounded by Darius working later which would add a second trip to their schedule."
"We probably should change our clothes anyway." Darius said.
"Along with eating something decent." Eventually, they arrived at the Felth's house. Josh, Noah, and BB-8 made their way to the Myers House while Tevin, Darius, Lucy, and R9 went inside the Felth House.
"Your grandfather dropped off some clothes fpr you after I told him what was going on with Jacen. He said something about calling your boss, but I don't know if he did." Tevin said to Darius as he began making some breakfast. Josh and Noah returned a few minutes later.
"Dad was still home, he's going to ask Piett about who this new Admiral is." Josh said.
"I thought he was at the office. What was that guy's name again?"
"Griss. I wonder if one of the droids still has his greeting saved." Lucy said.
"Worth a look." Noah told her.
"Frantis Griss. I heard you were making breakfast." Michael Myers said as he and BB-8 joined them.
"I assume you spoke to Firmus already."
"I did. The man was a low level officer at the Battle of Gratha and didn't have many promotions since then. Very uptight and prone to shooting people for the smallest mistake. He sent the man's file to BB-8." Michael explained to Tevin as Josh put BB-8 on the Felth's table where the ball-shaped droid showed everyone the details on Admiral Griss.
"Man's up for desertion." Darius said.
"Now he's up for treason. Get the droid off my dining room table." Tevin told him as Michael moved BB-8 to a chair as the phone rang and was answered by C-3PO.
"Excuse me, Sir. Mistress Kelly is on the phone." The protocol droid said as he joined them.
"Tell her that I'm dealing with something more important then paperwork." Tevin said as BB-8 beeped something at C-3PO that no one bothered to translate.
"How dare you call me that!"
"Joshua, did you teach BB-8 how to be rude to others?" Michael asked Josh as Tevin began putting food on plates.
"It must have been that rusted old C1 unit or R2 who taught him that." The protocol droid said.
"When was BB-8 around Chopper?" Tevin asked.
"When Ezra was at the office for that Jedi meeting about me and Darius. He must have picked up a few of Chopper's insults there. Or from the Ghost's computer. We all know how eager Chopper was to teach R9 a few dirty tricks and sayings." Josh replied.
"I should have that bucket of bolts dismantled." Tevin muttered to himself as everyone took a plate of food back to the table.
That afternoon, the teens met on Darius' dinner break for pizza near his job as Tevin and Michael both had a series of meetings to attend including one with President Houston regarding the encounter with Admiral Griss.
"Did anybody hear anything about Jacen?" Darius asked.
"Dad said he called Hera when he had his lunch. She said that Jacen still has no desire to eat and that she was taking him to the ER. He also said that there's a chance that we might be getting Monday off too. It all depends on if he can find someone to pick us up in the afternoon." Lucy replied.
"He should be better by then we hope." Noah said.
"Master Kenobi should have an idea of where the city's Jedi are supposed to be and when. If he can't get Galen to pick us up, he might see if Jeremy can do it. He tries not to go down there all the time." Josh added.
"He did send Thrawn for us that one time."
"Only because Jacen was mad at Josh for that prank he pulled on the Megaship." Lucy said.
"It was DECA's idea." Josh told her.
"And you went along with it I heard." Darius said.
"Where is Thrawn anyway?" Noah asked.
"He's at the meeting about that Admiral we ran into." Lucy replied.
"It seemed fun at the time." Josh told Darius. The four continued chatting and eating until Darius had to go back to work. Outside, the Force ghosts of Kanan, Bryan Khayman, and Mace Windu looked on.
"The shroud of the Dark Side is about to fall again." Mace said.
"Except he is a Master without an Apprentice." Kanan told them.
"Who will not be able to find one any time soon." Bryan added.
"We can only hope." Kanan said.
"He's not getting my kids. I know that much."
"He will not get Darius either." Mace added.
"I still don't think he even knows about Darius yet. He's probably thinking it was someone else that he felt when we found out about Darius." Bryan explained.
"At least these two are listening to what The Force tells them."
"At least Darius is and using his powers properly. If Sidious does decide to go after Darius, I'll be there to help Darius fight him off and I think Darius knows it too." Mace told them as the three ghosts disappeared. Kanan reappeared a moment later to watch Josh use The Force to help himself to some free pizza only for Lucy to hand the counterman some money for the pizza Josh took while Noah took a slice of it for himself.
"Yeah, someone still has to explain proper use to Josh." He said hoping Bryan and Mace heard him.
