I decided to do something fun with this one.
Lothal:
Anakin raised his head from looking at the lightsaber he was tinkering on as he sensed someone... 'I sense something... A presence I've not felt since...' the ex-merc's eyes widened upon realizing who it was. 'Leia!'
The ex-merc entered the cockpit in time to see Hera open fire on the group of stormtroopers surrounding their friends. After destroying the two transports, the Twi'lek landed the ship before the couple and Lasat made their way to the cargo hold and opened fire on the Imperials the second the ramp lowered.
"No, you can't come on board! You have to go get the Phantom. Get moving!" Sabine ordered the droid as he warbled before he used his rocket to fly over to the shuttle. After roughly 30 seconds of shooting the two older teens noticed Ezra make a gesture.
"We got two incoming." the Mandalorian girl said. "What about Ezra and Kanan?" Zeb asked as he narrowly avoided a bolt. "They're the troopers on the left." she replied before watching an older man push Kanan who then collided into Ezra, causing both to fall down.
The man then grabbed Leia by the wrist before running towards the ship. "Help! Help! Commander!" she pretended to cry for help as the two Jedi stood back up. "Hold your fire! She's my responsibility! I'll get her back!" Kanan yelled to the stormtroopers who were about to shoot the older man.
"Kanan's coming. He said to make it look good." the man said to the Lasat before he and Leia ran up the ramp. Zeb smirked just as Kanan reached them. "No, Zeb, wait! Easy!" the older Jedi protested as Zeb hit him in the head with the butt of his rifle twice, promptly knocking him out with ease.
"That's Kanan!" Ezra exclaimed before the Lasat knocked him down with swing of his rifle. "I know." Zeb chuckled as he holstered his weapon before grabbing both by the collar and dragging them up the ramp as the older teens provided suppressing fire.
A few seconds later Hera closed the ramp before the conscious members of the group in the cargo hold felt the ship taking off.
"We heard what happened. Sorry, kid." Zeb comforted the younger Jedi. "Hey, at least now you know." Sabine said gently as she placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Yeah. I guess I just need some time." he replied before turning around to head to the cockpit while the others minus Kanan and Anakin, followed Hera and Ryder to the common room.
"Is he alright?" Leia asked Kanan in concern while referring to Ezra. "He's okay. He just lost some people close to him." the Jedi replied. "It's a challenge being his age with so much responsibility." he said after a brief pause.
"I know that feeling." she replied. "Maybe he could use a friend." the older man suggested, placing a hand on her shoulder for a moment before turning to head to the common room.
Anakin opened and closed his mouth a few times as he struggled to say something to ex-girlfriend before sighing in defeat and turning around. "Anakin, wait." she stopped him before placing a hand on his shoulder.
The ex-merc released another sigh before turning around to face her while removing his helmet. As he opened his mouth to speak, the brunette held her hand up to stop him. "I'm not gonna suggest we get back together if that's what you're thinking, it was a mutual break up after all." she said with a small smile before he sighed in relief.
"Good. I mean if me and Sabine, the girl with the colorful hair, weren't currently together. I probably would've kissed you already." he teased with a smile.
"And I probably wouldn't be against that." she teased back before smiling. "Anyway, I wish you happiness." she said after short pause before turning around. Just as he was about to slip his helmet back on, Leia suddenly took him by surprise as she jumped into his arms before planting a kiss on the surprised ex-merc's lips.
The Alderaanian princess broke the kiss as quickly as she initiated it before leaving him with one last teasing as she made her way into the cockpit.
As the teen slowly licked his lips after snapping out his stupor, he only had one thought running through his head. 'Sabine's gonna kill me if she finds out about this.'
"We did a scan of the landing field, and looking at the Imperial security, I just don't see us living long enough to get near those ships." Sabine pointed out while the group looked at the hologram, Ezra and Leia entering the room a few seconds later.
"Two walkers are a big problem." Zeb said with a frown before Kanan released a frustrated sigh. "Even if we reach the ships, they're not going anywhere until we can disable those gravity locks." he said grimly, gesturing to the three ships before Leia walked up the table and leaned against it with her hands.
"Those defenses are formidable. Why? Because the Empire doesn't underestimate you. They know how good you are." she spoke up. "We might be able to get one out, but we'll never get all three. It's impossible." he replied dismissively before looking at Hera who shook her head agreement.
"I know you need those ships, so don't tell me why we can't get them. Tell me how we will." the princess told them as Anakin smiled. 'Still as passionate as ever.'
"Well, Kanan and I still have our disguises, so we can get onto the platform. But to get close to the ships, we'll need a distraction." the younger Jedi said as he stepped up beside Leia. " I can handle that." she said while crossing her arms.
"The Ghost can act as air support." the Twi'lek suggested. "And I can use detonators to blast off the gravity locks." the Mandalorian girl replied with a smile while holding one in her hand.
"Won't work. You can't forcibly remove the locks." Ryder spoke up. "You know this how?" Hera inquired. "n prison I put those locks together, so I know how to take 'em apart." he replied.
"Ryder Azadi, does that mean you're getting involved?" Kanan asked with a smirk and raised brow. "Just this once. It's clear I can't stay on Lothal, so I'll help you, if you get me outta here." he replied.
Lothal, later that night:
As Leia, and the two Jedi kept the Imperials distracted, Ryder, Chopper and the two older teens quietly made their way over to the first gravity lock. "We need to cut open that access panel, and bypass the primary power flux coupling." he explained, keeping his voice low before Chopper plugged into the droid port.
As he did that Sabine noticed her boyfriend had become distracted by the ship they were currently trying to free. "Hey. What is it?" she asked quietly, trying to get his attention.
"Hmm? Oh! It's just... There's something about this ship thats... familiar somehow I think..." he replied, sounding unsure before lowering his antenna and moving towards Ryder.
The teen looked up at the large writing on the ship and noticed it was Ancient Basic. "E-N-D-A-R S-P-I-R-E." he slowly spelled out. "Endar Spire..." he whispered before the gravity lock released the ship.
"He did it! You two take this one. We'll move onto the next one." Ryder said. "Anakin, we need to call in the air support." his girlfriend said, reminding him of the mission as Ryder and Chopper moved towards the second gravity lock.
"Oh, right! Sorry." he apologized before the two made their way into the ship. Once in the cockpit, the Mandalorian girl removed her helmet before starting the ship up.
A few seconds passed before the couple noticed the Imperials shooting at Ryder and Chopper. Quickly grabbing the co-pilot controls Anakin then used them to turn the ship's right-side turret towards the Imperials before opening fire near them.
The ex-merc only managed to get a few shots before the ship shook from taking cannon fire from one of the AT-ATs. Luckily a few seconds later they were saved by Hera who managed to severely damage the one shooting at the teens.
Once they were in the clear, the ex-merc's girlfriend piloted the ship towards the atmosphere as he let out a sigh of relief.
Space, Phoenix Squadron:
The couple, Zeb, Kanan and Hera all sat at the holo-table in the common room a few minutes before Ezra and Ryder joined them. "So, Governor, we need to find a safe place for you." the Twi'lek spoke as the latter two walked up to the table.
"I already know where I'm going, back home." he replied. "I knew you'd come around." Kanan said with a smirk.
"I couldn't see it before, but going to prison with the Bridgers started something. That something has grown bigger than I ever imagined. I owe it to them and I owe it to you to see it through to the end." he said before everyone sitting down stood and walked up to him.
"Welcome back to the fight, Governor." Ezra said with a smile.
Chapter 20 done.