I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.
STAR WARS REBELS
The New Spectres
Caleb's New Teacher
NEW YORK - 2030
A steady stream of customers flowed in and out of the soup stand each waiting for their turn to order a cup of soup from Noah Rodgers and his sister Tori. Among the customers in line were Jacen Syndulla and AP-5. A large woman was in front of them. Soon, it was the woman's turn to order as she came to the counter and looked over the selections being offered.
"What's that?" She asked Noah.
"Beef Barley." He replied causing the woman to make a disgusted sound and give Noah a look.
"That?"
"Clam Chowder."
"That looks good." She said.
"What size do you want?" Noah asked her as he ladled out the regular soup orders for Jacen and Josh and gave the cups to Tori. He had lost interest in dealing with this woman after she had made fun of the Beef Barley and was resisting the urge to eject her from the store but decided that making fun of her weight in a subtle way was just as good.
"The largest you have."
"That would be the swimming pool size. Would you like a spoon or do you intend to bathe in it?" The woman stepped back offended and bumped into AP-5 who nearly fell into Jacen.
"How dare you? This whole block is fatophobic between you and that clown at the shoe store. Someone should put you both out of business." She said.
"You know something. NO SOUP FOR YOU! Next!" Noah shouted as the woman stormed out. AP-5 came up to the counter and was directed to Tori followed by Jacen who was also directed to Tori. The next customer came up to order as Tori dealt with AP-5 and then Jacen.
"One large Jambalaya please." The customer said and moved towards Tori as AP-5 and Jacen got their soups and left. Noah ladled out the requested soup and gave it to Tori who took the customer's money and gave the man the soup.
"Thank you." The man said and left. Once outside, he sniffed his bag and let out a content sigh.
"Jambalaya." He said and ran off. At the shoe store, Josh Myers and BB-8 were tending to a male customer who was looking for a pair of shoes that matched a new suit.
"My wife wanted some soup before she came here. Like she needs soup, she just ate four Big Macs. Too bad I can't divorce her for being fat." He said.
"Maybe my brother chased or threw her out." Josh told him as AP-5 walked in with the soup.
"A fat woman stormed out of the soup stand after holding up the line. Also, Captain Syndulla says hello." The droid said.
"That sounds like my wife." The customer said as the woman walked in with a bag from McDonald's.
"That Soup Clown made fun of my weight and threw me out." She told her husband.
"I told you not to give him a hard time. Besides, he's this guy's brother." Her husband said.
"In name only. He and his sister came to live with me and my parents 11 years ago after we found out their parents were killed by the First Order. The guy who owned that place was a friend of their father and gave them the stand when he and his wife retired around the time I got this place." Josh explained.
"Those shoes are too big." The wife said between bites of another Big Mac.
"No they're not. They're the same size as my sneakers." The husband said.
"Do me a favor, either eat your 50 Big Macs outside or stop eating them in my store." Josh told her.
"I did not buy 50 Big Macs."
"No, you bought 100 Big Macs and ate half of them on the way here." AP-5 said.
"We should go someplace where they treat us with respect."
"They've treated me with respect. Probably because I don't look like a penguin. These feel fine. How much?"
"$50." Josh replied.
"Sold, then I can get her out of here before the Bronx Zoo comes looking for her." The husband said and gave Josh some money who gave it to AP-5 who put it in the cash register before he shooed his wife out of the store.
"BB-8, you can come out from under the chair now. The Human Big Mac Disposal is gone." Josh said to the astromech who rolled out from under a chair while Josh responded to Tori's "Fat Alert" text message.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - 2030
Caleb Carpenter bounced into his classroom followed by his parents. A black woman who Darius assumed to be Caleb's new teacher came over to greet Darius and Lucy.
"Mr. and Major Carpenter I presume. I'm Mrs. Archer, I'll be replacing Ms. Donovan while she's away which will be for the remainder of the school year."
"I was told she was sent to the Rubber Room pending other action." Darius said.
"Our principal was also reassigned recently. I think the new one is waiting for you two."
"We just wanted to meet you, the new Principal, and make sure that there were going to be no further misunderstandings." Lucy explained.
"My mom knows all about your album, the movie, and your other adventures. She was hoping for another one. I heard one of the three pilots from the movie lives in the city. Miss Palmer, can you watch the class while I introduce Caleb's parents to the Principal." Mrs. Archer said and stepped out of the room with Darisu and Lucy.
"General Marlion. I actually work with him. The three of them still keep in touch with each other."
"As I'm sure you know, Alexis Donovan is pending termination. She left her disgusting sheet and hood in the closet. I turned them over to the District. Bertha Bellamy was fired outright. The District didn't care for the grievance filed against her by another employee of the District."
"That would be Greg Washington from my school. She called him daily because we didn't feel comfortable leaving Caleb here with either one of them. He said she was annoying him and he told her to stop or he was going to report her." Darius said as the three walked into the school's office and then into a second office where a black man say behind the Principal's desk.
"Darius Carpenter. You two still talk to the other two in New York?" He said as he stood up.
"Album or Movie?" Lucy asked.
"My brother was his High School Principal for three years. How small a Galaxy it is, my wife got to know the six of you quite well, especially after one of them called her mother a giant seal. Ed Dobbs."
"Josh owns that shoe store now. He added a line of Men's Shoes. Noah inherited the soup stand around the corner." Darius explained.
"I guess she's on a list somewhere at my office. I'll have to look at it. I might have overlooked her name or saw the last name and didnt make the connection." Lucy said.
"What happened before will not happen again. My brother doesn't tolerate it, my wife didn't tolerate it, and I certainly do not tolerate it. I assume your office knows about Ms. Donovan's disgusting costume." Ed said to them.
"Major Hochster added it to the information he has on her." Lucy said.
"I guess Caleb's safe here?" Darius asked Lucy.
"I'm satisfied." She replied.
"I'm sure Reggie and Rae will be happy to hear that I ran into you two." Ed said. Darius and Lucy left followed by Mrs. Archer.
"I'm going to guess that there will be no problem with Caleb getting caught up on everything he missed."
"He'll get caught up real fast. If only some of my students had his enthusiasm. I have three in my Third Period English class who are on track for one of General Marlion's Jail Programs. I wonder how they're going to enjoy class with a sub there."
"I subbed in your High School a number of times. I might even know the three you're talking about. They walked in, took one look at me, and walked right out of the room. Ten minutes later, Mr. Washington brought them back and gave them ten days of in-school for that, leaving the building, and buying loosies from the guy outside."
"That sounds like them except I convinced the guy selling loosies to leave the area and Greg probably assigned himself as the sub since it was only for a half day if that. I guess walk in, see a sub, and walk out is SOP for them. I'll be back later to pick him up." Darius said and left to catch up to Lucy.
"What did your little side chat reveal?" She asked.
"As a parent or as a fellow teacher?"
"Both."
"She's alright. Caleb's going to like her unlike my Three Stooges and the Jail Program they get assigned to. Speaking of those three, I gotta get to work." He said.
"I have to go look at a personnel roster anyway. I wanna see if she's actually been assigned down here." Lucy told him as she got into her car where R9 was waiting. The droid beeped a question at Lucy.
"Caleb's going to be fine. The whale and the witch are gone." Lucy replied.
Darius walked into his school and found his Three Stooges sitting in the school office.
"We had this conversation already. By the way, Mrs. Archer still remembers you three from last year. Now, why are you three here?" He said to them as he clocked in and checked his mailbox while a bell rang in the background followed by an announcement for Third Period.
"They were thrown out of Biology for having an X-Rated conversation." Greg Washington told Darius as he walked into the office.
"Bitch can't take a joke." One of the students said.
"That's another day of In-School."
"That's a big break. My old Principal gave three days for saying that about a teacher or other school staff. Military Academy made kids spend the night in jail for that kind of behavior."
"You three have class. I am hoping that there will be no further incidents today. Otherwise, General Marlion might hear about them." Greg told the students and sent them to their next class which happened to be with Darius who made sure that the three got to class.
"Give me a couple of minutes. Someone hand out the books." He said as he logged into the computer. The three students snickered at something in the back of the room.
"Let me remind you three of a certain movie that my wife and I were involved in the making of. I happen to know General Marlion personally, my wife works with him. You might see her on the Jail Tour. Now, stop screwing around back there and open your books to page 32." The rest of the day went without incident. After school, Darius went to pick up Caleb from school. Mrs. Archer was waiting with Caleb.
"How was he?" Darius asked.
"No problems. How were the Three Stooges?"
"In trouble as usual. They were in the office when I got there and ended up on In-School."
"What are the Three Stooges?" Caleb asked.
"You'll find out eventually. Provided one of your uncles doesn't tell you first." Darius replied.
"I put some stuff in his backpack. Some of the work he missed and some other stiff."
"That will keep him busy this afternoon. His mom will be doing the morning drop-offs and I pick him up in the afternoon unless I get stuck with Detention Duty."
"Been there. You know which three."
"See you tomorrow." Darius said and led Caleb away.
"Bye, Caleb." She called after them cheerfully.
Lucy came home with R9 to find Caleb doing his make-up assignments and Darius making dinner as usual. She plopped onto the couch and opened the bottle she had bought. Darius looked at her in confusion as she took a drink.
"How was your day?" He asked her.
"Some moron landed in the middle of Route 23 out near Lancaster and left their ship there."
"How did they pull that off? I don't think Route 23 is big enough for landing a ship. I know a ship the size of the Ghost or the Pride couldn't land like that."
"Whatever work they were doing on building the expressway has to be put on hold until it's removed. A squad was left out there to watch it. Someone's supposed to take it to McGuire tonight or tomorrow." She told him.
"I guess the pilot is running around somewhere."
"We're trying to find out. Meanwhile, until that ship is removed. Our only concern is goats getting into it and chewing on the wiring or anything else they think could be food."
"Oh, it landed on that part of Route 23."
"What part of 23 were you thinking of?"
"I would have thought that section of it outside of Norristown would have been good for landing a ship. A semi-paved surface sounds better for landing a ship then a goat path."
"Ty's thinking the pilot had a mechanical problem coming in and landed in the first clear spot that could be found. I think the part of 23 you're talking about has equipment stored on it or something. What's he doing?"
"Some of his make-up work was sent home along with some other stuff. It's kept him quiet though. I think R9 checked on dinner." Darius said as the droid beeped from the kitchen.
"What did you make?"
"Chicken. I gotta go make everything else." The three were joined by Justin Felth for dinner.
"How was his first day back?" Justin asked.
"A lot better. The new Principal is my old Principal's brother." Darius replied.
"Who married our old teacher. She's here under the name Dobbs. She runs our Academy for Gifted and Troubled Teens." Lucy added.
"I'll tell the Three Stooges that if I have to yell at them again. They're on ISS for the rest of the week for something that happened outside of my classroom and one of them has a day next week for referring a teacher by the term used for a female dog."
"I heard about a ship landing in the middle of a goat path. Chris told me about it, so I assumed it was another one of his bad jokes. You know he's been banned from Noah's. He went in there, ordered no soup, and flirted with Tori until Noah threatened to call Dad. I won't repeat the term he used to describe Noah because I don't Caleb to think of Noah that way." Justin said.
"It's legit. I got sent out there to check it out. Typher thinks the pilot had a mechanical problem because the Goat Path isn't exactly the best place for a landing. Unless the goats rip the wiring out first, it's supposed to be moved out of there tonight or tomorrow. I'm surprised that Dad even tolerates Chris at this point. I wouldn't." Lucy explained as the ketchup bottle was moved across the table until being grabbed by Darius.
"Caleb, stop using The Force to get attention."
"He does that all the time. I once got a free donut from him doing that."
"This behavior has Josh written all over it. Josh once used The Force to take a whole pizza pie. I ended up paying the $8 for it, but still." Lucy said. After dinner and desert, Darius gave Caleb a bath while the two Felth siblings watched TV together.
"What exactly is Chris doing besides trying to get back into Tori's pants?" Lucy asked Justin.
"Trying to create the next Girls Gone Wild or Jerry Springer. Dad says all he's doing is wasting his life. His big project is to put Noah out of business. Junior said if Chris does manage to put Noah out of business and Noah can prove it, Noah can sue Chris for damages and will likely win because Chris did it out of spite which the courts frown on." Justin explained.
"I guess Dad has no problem with you not working right now."
"I went to College, Chris didn't among other things. Junior's trying to find me place on the crew for his dad's show." He said as Darius joined them.
"Chris did what now?"
"He's trying to close Noah down because Noah got between him and Tori's pants. Which is what siblings tend to do, especially when they become all they have. Well, they do have Josh too." Lucy explained to Darius. Before going to bed, Lucy checked on Caleb unaware of the three Force-Ghosts in her son's room. Kanan, Bryan, and Mace hovered around Caleb's bed.
"Sleep tight, Youngling." Was all Mace could say as the three disappeared. Caleb stirred as if sensing the three before going back to sleep.
HISTORICAL NOTE
The Pennsylvania Route 23 "Goat Path" and the section of it outside of Norristown, PA mentioned in this chapter are parts of expressways that were started but never finished which would have carried the PA-23 designation. The "Goat Path" is in Lancaster County and had construction halted while the road was being built. It was left in a condition where it could be planted over and leased to local farmers. The section outside of Norristown was as noted much further along in construction before work was halted. It is likely for the context of this story, that the Remnant has somehow gotten involved with construction on both of these projects.
