Chapter 20: A Plan that will End in Fire Arms

Ezri sighed, going below to fix it but she was just a girl, training to become a Jedi, not a mechanic. What could she possibly know about computers? But likely going to excel at being one.

"Could really use that nav-computer!" Hera shouted. Ezri snapped. She wasn't no Chopper.

"Rewiring fast as I-" Ezri began, trying to connect the ship. Before she went any further, Tseebo burst into the cockpit, causing Ezri to stand up.

"For fast travel over interstellar distances, hyperspace is optimal," Tseebo said, taking Ezri's spot on the ship.

"What is he doing?" Hera asked but Ezri shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly, done mechanisms made strange sounds. " I don't believe it. Hang on!"

Ezri quickly strapped herself into the copilot seat and soon, the ship shot out of the Lothal sky and away from Imperial ships in hyper space. After they escaped, Ezri left the seat, as did Hera. She had realizedthat her mother figure hadn't been introduced to the Rodian yet so she cleared her throat.

"Uh, Hera. This is Tseebo," Ezri said.

"And did Tseebo just signal hyperspace coordinates directly to my ship?" Hera asked.

"That would be my guess," Ezri said.

"Well, then thank you, Tseebo," Hera said. "I think you saved our lives."

Ezri's face fell, with the painful memories of her parents' fate.

"Yeah, I guess there's a first time for everything," Ezri said, walking away, save leaving Hera to wonder what had gotten into her.

After an hour now that the crew was not near the imperials fleet, they had a chance to take control of their calmness. While Ezri sat at the table, she and Sabine shared a look but quickly, the younger girl looked away. She didn't want to talk about anything about her parents, just wanted to think to herself. Meanwhile Zeb was cleaning his weapon and Hera was trying to fix Chopper with Sabine. She looked at Tseebo, who was staring blankly into the open air.

"So? Now what do we do with him?" Ezri asked. Kanan came to hey opposite side.

"We have a few ideas," Kanan told his Apprentice. He looked at her seriously in the eye. "But you're the one who has history with Tseebo. What do you think we should do?"

Ezri glared before taking her cadet helmet and putting it over her.

"Don't know. Don't much care," she snapped.

"Ezri, you'll never advance as a Jedi if you can't be honest with yourself, at least," Kanan said in a calm voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ezri snapped. She got up to walk away when Kanan gently took hold of her should.

"It means Tseebo matters to you," Kanan said, releasing her shoulder and gently taking her helmet off, giving her a fatherly gaze. "You do care what happens to him."

"Why should I? He did nothing to save my parents!" Ezri snapped, glaring at the alien.

"What could he have done against the entire Empire?" Kanan asked his Padawan but she remained silent

"And besides, look at what he's done since," Sabine said, looking at the device around Tseebo's head. "The imperials encourage these implants, but they're not mandatory. Not yet. He must have volunteered. And then he uploaded their secrets and ran." Sabine looked sympathetically at her best friend, noticing Ezri's deadly glare and burning blue eyes were slowly transforming into their usually calm blue eyes. Her best friend was staring to see reason. "Maybe he's trying to make up for letting you down. Why else would he take on the Empire alone?"

"Empire," Tseebo began speaking in Huttese. Sabine looked alarmed.

"He said the Empire can track the Ghost," Sabine said.

"Oh, please. The imperials can't follow us through hyperspace," Zeb shrugged it off.

"Imperial XX-23 S-thread tracker was developed by Sienar systems to trace ships through hyperspace to destination," Tseebo said as he displayed a holographic image from his database. 0

"Hera, could they have tagged us with that thing?" Kanan asked, looking at their captain in alarm as she finished fixing up Chopper.

"Guess we better find out," Hera said, making one more adjustment to Chopper, who immediately woke from his short nap. The Droid jumped up in alarm, raising his mechanical arms and looking around. Hera put a comforting hand on his dome.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, chop. You were just off-line for a few minutes. We need you to scan the Ghost for that." She pointed at the image floating above. However Ezri heard the complaint in Chopper's voice, saying "But I just woke up!"

"Stop grumbling and find that tracker, you rust bucket!"

Chopper complained but did as he was hour later, Chopper had done a full scan of the ship and had indeed found a tracker on the hull of the Phantom. Ezri just couldn't believe that the Empire actually did something smart for a change.

"So they did tag us," Sabine said.

"Yes," Hera agreed. "But the good news is the tracer's actually on the hull of the Phantom."

"How is that good news exactly?" Zeb asked.

"It'll allow us to detach the Phantom and lure the imperials away from the Ghost and Tseebo," Kanan said getting where his lover was going.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You want to detach while in hyperspace? Do you know how incredibly dangerous that is?" Sabine snapped.

"Not as dangerous as what I plan to do with the ship," Kanan said. Ezri feared that Kanan would say something like this. She hated ALL of her master's plans because they always ended up changing or end in fire arms being shot.

"Can't wait to hear this," Zeb says with a smirk. Ezri shook her head.

"Boys," she muttered.

"I checked our current trajectory. If you can modify the hyperspace coordinates…" Kanan looked to Hera.

"I could," Hera confirmed.

"Then we can pass by the asteroid field where the old clone base is," Kanan said.

"You mean the base with the nasties who live in the shadows?" Sabine said in alarm. Ezri glared at him.

"Wait, what?" Ezri said. She hated that place. It was where she and Hera were stranded in because of Zeb's and Cooper's stupid rivalry. "Why would we want to go down there?"

"She's right, Kanan," Hera said. "Why not just drop the Phantom into our trail and let the imperials chase after their tracker?"

"Because there's more than a tracker at work here," Kanan answered." Back on Lothal, I sensed it. The Inquisitor is on our trail, and as long as Ezri and I are on board the Ghost, we're jeopardizing Tseebo's escape.

"So I gotta leave the Ghost and go to this nasty-filled asteroid as a favor to Tseebo?" Ezri asked.

"As a favor to all of us," Kanan answered. He gave Ezri a fatherly look. "And don't worry. I'll be right beside you."

Ezri relaxed a little bit but she was still afraid. A couple of hours later, she gave realized she was already in the kitchen. And she wasn't alone. Sabine was in the room with her. They had been best friends for six months and now, Sabine could read her almost better than anyone. Something was bothering her.

"So your parents do you really believe they're dead?" Sabine asked.

"Yes. No I-I don't know. Does it matter?" Ezri snapped.

"Yeah, of course it matters. You have to talk to Tseebo before we go."

"Tried that already."

"Okay, so try harder! Once Hera takes him away, you may never see Tseebo again."

"Maybe that's for the best."

"Wha? How can you say that?

"Sabine, I've been on my own since I was seven, okay?" Ezri revealed. "If I'd let myself believe my parents were alive, if I let myself believe they'd come back and save me, I'd never have learned how to survive."

Little did the girls know, Kanan was listening to their entire conversation, and he could understand Ezri a little better. If she did well by surviving, then he knew she'd survive this. He activated the door, causing Ezri to jump.

"You ready?" Kanan asked. Ezri looked at Sabine, who was giving her best friend a look of reconsideration. She looked away from Sabine and nodded.

"Okay," Kanan said, both he and Ezri going to the Phantom. They sat down, Kanan in the pilot seat and Ezri on the passengers' seat.

"Strap in," Kanan told her and Ezri nodded "Prepping for separation. Once we're out of hyperspace, we'll head towards the asteroid base and lead the Empire there."

"You sure about this?" Hera asked. "You won't be any more welcome there than the imperials."

"That's what I'm counting on."

"Just be safe. And Ezri? Look out for Kanan.

Ezri smiled. "Well one of us girls have to look after the guys," (and she could sense Hera was amused by Ezri's joke. "Ready for separation.

"Copy that, Ghost," Kanan asked.

"Five, four three, two one. Detach!" Ezri closed her eyes as the Phantom detached from the ship. She could feel the intensity of the trajectory and the flash of colors of the detachment. Through the colorful lights. Kanan tried and with all his might, the Phantom was no longer in the hyperspace trail and instead, in the middle of space.

"Okay, that was the easy part," Kanan said.

She then realized that Kanan never told her what the plan was.

"Should we go over the plan again?" Ezri snapped.

"I never told you what the plan was," Kanan says with a smile.

"Exactly," Ezri said.

"You remember the nasty creatures you and Hera found here?"

"Yeah. Oh, I'd rather forget them, but yes."

"Well, I'm gonna need you to connect with them like I was trying to teach you before if we're gonna survive this."

Oh, I knew this one was going to end in fire arms! Ezri snapped. This plan was going to be a disaster.

"Is now really the best time for a lesson?"

"No, but I figure it's learning like you do best by surviving."

Ezri realized that her Master had heard her conversation with Sabine.

"Kanan, I can't. I'm afraid."

"I got news for you, kid. Everyone's afraid, but admitting it as you just did makes you braver than most, and it's a step forward."

"Yeah, into the jaws of a nightmare," Ezri said as they made their way into the bridge of Fort Anaxes and the nightmare that laid before them.