Author's Note: Hello readers! So sorry for the crazy delay, this chapter just took FOREVER to write. Fun fact, this is the longest chapter I've ever written so far out of all of my stories! It's also much like the previous one: full of a ton of things that I didn't want to leave out completely, but were better to skim through anyways. However, the events of this chapter will also heavily shape what is to come for the future of the Shaniverse...
Also, who enjoyed the second season of The Mandalorian? I certainly did! :D
Previously on Rebirth...
"The Empire gets much of their munitions and supplies from this factory," Cham Syndulla had explained. "If we can destroy it, we won't cut off their supply lines, but it'll mean it takes longer for them to replenish their resources."
"In order to get into the factory, undetected, we'll have to travel through the cover of the forest, and make our way to this side of the building," Numa stated.
"Do you have a map of the inside?" Cere Junda questioned.
"I'm afraid not. We haven't managed to get any spies inside," Cham said.
"I think Cal and I could help figuring out which way to go, once inside," Merrin suggested.
"How will you do that?" Gobi asked.
"These two can find their way around places quite well," Cere said in support of her crew.
oooo000oooo
"Inquisitor! I apologize for our lack of preparedness for your arrival," Captain Behvar greeted nervously. "I was not aware you would be visiting."
"That was intentional, Captain," Trilla Suduri responds dismissively, stopping in front of him.
"May I ask what it is that has brought you here?" the captain asked.
"A pair of Jedi seem to have joined forces with Syndulla's resistance," Trilla stated, much to his surprise. "The Emperor sent me here to eliminate them."
"What is it?" Sabine asked, noticing Ezra's pause.
"I- I thought I saw something," he admitted. "I think it's uh... loth-wolf, no one's seen 'em in a hundred years but I think I keep seeing one today."
"A loth-wolf?" she asked, confused. "Like from those old cave paintings?"
"Yeaa-aahhhhh..." he started to say, becoming greatly alarmed.
From around the boulder, the white loth-wolf steps suddenly appeared directly behind Sabine and looked down at them, snarling and baring its teeth.
oooo000oooo
The white loth-wolf carried Sabine and Ezra through the night, and by the time they reached our camp it was morning. The wolf sat down on the ground, and Ezra got off its back and helped Sabine down as well before he turned to face the wolf.
"I don't understand. why did you help us?" he asked.
The loth-wolf stood up and approached him with an intense gaze, opening its mouth.
"...DUME..."
oooo000oooo
"Kanan, there was a wolf," Ezra insisted. "And there's something more too it. What, I don't know."
"I believe you," Kanan reassured him. "All paths are coming together now."
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"There's something special about Lothal, Ezra. One way or another, we always find our way back here. And as you said earlier, we're here to stay," he told Ezra. "What are paths lead to, I don't know. We'll have to find out when we get there."
The master and apprentice then start walking back to the camp as well, unaware that they were being watched by the white loth-wolf.
A loud chirping sound from the outcrop gained Jarik's attention and he looked over in its direction, surprised to recognize the convor that was none other than Morai.
"...Morai?" he whispered in shock.
Morai chirped before taking off into the sky, and he rushed after her.
"Wait, come back!" he exclaimed, but she had vanished.
A low growling sound had him turning around, where he was faced by the large form of the black wolf standing a few feet in front of him, staring at him with an intense gaze.
"What do you want?" Jarik asked the black wolf.
The wolf looked down at his two kyber crystals, and then back up at him.
"My kyber crystals?" he asked in confusion. "What about them?"
He watched in bemusement as the wolf pushed Ahsoka's crystal closer to his own, causing a more whitish glow instead of their normal colors. Jarik was confused, but then realized the implication, reacting in astonishment.
"Are you trying to say something about Ahsoka?" he said. "About both of us?"
The wolf stared unblinkingly, confirming his thoughts.
"...why?" he asked.
The wolf stepped forward and then opened its jaws to speak a single word.
"...DUME..."
Temple Island, Ahch-To - Unknown Regions
Jarik POV...
~ TRACK ONE: Please ("KENOBI" OST) - Andrew Gerlicher (0:00 - 0:48) ~
I sat upon the meditation rock of the Jedi Temple, hands placed on my knees and my eyes closed in concentration as I delved into the Force.
From on this rocky outcrop of the temple, I felt as the wind brushed past me in a whistling breeze. I could sense the entire island if I focused hard enough: all of the life it held, the everlasting cycle of nature, the viciousness of it all, but also peace. But despite everything I could sense, there was still one thing missing that left me feeling incomplete.
'...Morai...'
I stretched out into the Force, desperate to find an answer to the elusive mystery that plagued me. I bowed my head, shutting my eyes even tighter with some frustration. I don't know how I know, but I just know that Ahsoka has to be alive. So why can't I feel anything?!
'...please...'
I grip the hem of my cloak in one hand, painstakingly looking deep inside myself for any sign of her presence. The part of my mind where I could always sense my bond with Ahsoka is completely empty, just as it always has been for the last two years. I haven't been able to feel anything, and yet I know I saw the convor!
I finally decide to forgo it and open my eyes, falling out of my meditation with a heavy sigh, unable to feel anything but helpless. I look out at the twin suns dropping below the horizon, the twilight hours of the day matching perfectly with my depressed mood.
'...why won't you answer?'
After two years of nothing Morai finally decided to show up with the black wolf, only to fly away just a few seconds later, ignoring my calls. Just... why?
Why won't she help me?
~ TRACK ONE ENDS ~
ONE WEEK LATER...
Outpost Island, Ahch-To - Unknown Regions
3rd person POV...
It was early in the morning at Dragon's Edge, the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon and light up the landscape. However, Astrid and Stormfly were already out and about around the island, enjoying the thrill of an intense flight and each other's company, though it was interrupted when the anxious cry of a dragon caught their attention. They took off in search of the disturbance, another roar heard direction their gaze over toward the beach.
"That way," Astrid tells Stormfly.
The Deadly Nadder swoops off in that direction and, upon circling around the corner of a few rock formations, Astrid widens her eyes in surprise at the sight of several ships lined up along the shore, multiple Vikings working to transport supplies to and from their boats. The pair quickly move out of sight and land at the top of the ridge amongst several boulders and trees, observing the scene in front of them with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
"I've never seen those colors before," Astrid says thoughtfully to herself, noticing a particular symbol on one ship's main sail. "But I have seen that insignia. It was on the Reaper."
Astrid gasps in realization.
"Those are Dragon Hunters!" she says in surprise. "Come on, Stormfly, let's get a better look."
They move off down the hill and swiftly take cover behind a few large rocks, peering through the space in between them. Scattered across the beach were a large number of familiar metal cages, each containing a single dragon. A caged Monstrous Nightmare growls and whines over his predicament, while a passing soldier bangs on the cage with his mace.
"Quiet down, ya useless lizard!" he snaps.
Astrid narrows her eyes at him with an angry glare, scoffing to herself. The soldier keeps banging on the cage with amused chuckles before he's suddenly slammed into the bars by a buff and intimidating man with a mustache and thin goatee, who irritably shoves the man's head against the cage.
"Just load'em up," he states coldly.
"Yes, Ryker. Sorry, Ryker," the soldier nervously apologizes.
Ryker doesn't release him yet, however, and keeps the man pinned against the cage with a small grin while the dragon inside growls dangerously.
"Look at him. Powerful. Perfect," Ryker tells the man. "Remember, they're smarter than you."
The Nightmare lunges forward with a roar, and Ryker yanks the man away just before his face was bitten off, smirking gleefully as the furious dragon bit down on the bars for a few seconds, snarling at him.
"But not me," he says, chuckling.
Just then Stormfly lets out a brief squawk, and Ryker pauses with a suspicious frown on his face. He looks around and takes a few sniffs, not unlike a canine predator would, and soon looks over in the direction Astrid and Stormfly were hiding. Astrid gasps in alarm and ducks back, but Ryker's senses rarely lied to him.
"And grab that Nadder!" he yells out to his men, pointing at where they were hiding.
The assembled Dragon Hunters grab their weapons and start running for the rock, only to step back in bewilderment when the Nadder shoots up into the air with a human girl sitting on its back, clearly an established rider due to the saddle strapped onto it. Ryker lifts a curious eyebrow, bemused but also curious.
"Get us outta here, Stormfly!" Astrid exclaims.
Stormfly swoops down with a fierce squawk, forcing the Dragon Hunters to duck in order to avoid being hit.
"Archers! Loose!" Ryker orders.
Several soldiers take out their bows and fire specially-tipped arrows at the pair, but Stormfly nimbly evades them with a few swift loops and turns in the air.
"Come on, Stormfly! We gotta get Hiccup!" Astrid urges.
A few more arrows shot out forces them to evade once more. Irritated, Ryker grabs an archer's bow and shoves him out of the way, nocking his arrow and taking aim. Stormfly whips out her tail in retaliation, releasing a few spikes that the hunters are forced to jump away from. Ryker, however, seizes the opportunity provided and releases an arrow from his bow which finds its mark. Stormfly roars in pain and begins falling erratically through the air, much to Astrid's surprise and alarm.
"Stormfly!" she cries out.
Ryker tosses the bow back to the archer, watching the flailing Nadder with a smirk.
"When a Nadder shoots its spines, it always leaves its belly exposed," he reminds his soldiers.
Stormfly continues to flap her wings, trying to gain altitude, but her senses were completely thrown off due to the arrow, making her panic even more.
"Whoa, Stormfly! Whoa!" Astrid exclaims.
She tries to help guide Stormfly, but within moments the Nadder had lost all sense of direction and plummeted from the air. Astrid was thrown off her back and plummeted into the ocean below while a heavy chain shot out from the lead Dragon Hunter ship, ensnaring the panicking Nadder and reeling her in. Ryker observes the successful catch in content, disregarding the sight of Astrid treading the water some distance away.
"Move out!" he orders.
"What about the rider?" one of his men questions.
"Never mind!" he responds dismissively. "We got the dragon."
Astrid tries to swim after the ship, gripping onto a log to remain afloat, but a rip current soon grabs hold of her and starts dragging her farther away from the beach. Desparate and panicking she exerts more effort into pursuing the ship, but only tires herself out even more, while the Dragon Hunter ships sail away.
"No. Stormfly!" Astrid shouts in despair. "I'll find you."
Dragon's Edge, Outpost Island - Ahch-To
It's been hours since he first began feeling concerned, and now that the day is almost over he's starting to panic a little bit. It didn't help that a giant wall of storm clouds was approaching from the ocean, the occasional flash of lightning illuminating the natural event every so often. Toothless whined pitifully while staring out at the ocean, only adding to Hiccup's fears even more: being a Force-sensitive dragon, Toothless could pick up on bad things even better than most other dragons, and Hiccup has come to trust the instinct of his Night Fury without question.
"Still no sign of 'em?" Fishlegs asks from behind them. "They're probably out exploring and lost track of time."
"She's never been gone all day like this," he replies in disagreement.
"Maybe they went to Temple Island," Fishlegs suggests.
"I'm not sure. If any of us ever have to go there, we've always discussed it as a group," Hiccup insist. "Astrid wouldn't go off like that without telling someone."
"You remember when she didn't show up for her own party 'cause she was setting up a defensive perimeter around Berk?" Fishlegs then starts to say.
"Yeah," he admits, turning around to look at him.
"Or the time, she decided to practice her late night axe-throwing and surprised silent Sven in the woods?" Fishlegs continues.
"Yes, Fishlegs," Hiccup sighs in response.
"No I don't think he recovered from that," he murmurs thoughtfully to himself. "And there was that time..."
"Thank you, Fishlegs for trying to make me feel better..." Hiccup quickly interrupts. "...but this is different, there is something wrong, I can feel it. And I think Toothless can too."
Toothless lets out another sad whine, staring at the approaching storm clouds. Hiccup looks back out at the ocean as well, silently bemoaning to himself over the sheer misfortune of yesterday being the day that Mara and Zenna flew back to Temple Island to spend a few days there; Mara would be able to confirm if Astrid was in danger or not, for sure. Fishlegs, getting a sense of how worried Hiccup was, moved up to stand beside him in support.
"You know if anyone is equipped to survive out there, it is Astrid," he says reassuringly.
"No you're right Fishlegs," Hiccup nods in agreement, glancing at him. "But we're gonna find her anyway."
Jedi village, Temple Island - Ahch-To
Jarik POV...
I sat back in my chair, arms crossed as I observed the small holographic image of Admiral Ar'alani on the desk in front of me. She stood in a very formal posture with her arms behind her back, her expression almost as unreadable as Thrawn's but less inquisitive and more serious.
"Before Mitth'raw'nuruodo's incursion with the enemy, which you assisted him in escaping from, the Ascendancy had never before heard of anything about this, 'Oryx,'" she was saying. "How did you come by the information you have?"
"Visions from the Force," I answer simply in reply.
Ar'alani only stares back in response, unamused, clearly expecting a more in-depth answer. I let out a small sigh of exasperation and address her again.
"If you'd like an answer more 'enlightening' than that then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. That's simply how I know," I tell her. "Don't your navigators receive visions as well?"
"No. Their abilities only assist with navigation, and fade entirely by the time they reach adulthood," she replies with a small frown.
I raise an eyebrow, a bit curious as to why that is.
"Huh. That's interesting," I remark thoughtfully.
"And also irrelevant to our discussion," Ar'alani states firmly, and I suppress another sigh. "Can you describe what kind of abilities this 'Oryx' possesses?"
"Well, the first and most important fact about Oryx: do not think any of you could fight him directly," I start off with absolute seriousness. "I don't know the full extent of his power―and I'm not sure I want to know―but I do know that he is the most powerful being imaginable, far greater than anyone else you could think of."
"Your warning is noted," she responds. "Continue."
I take a moment to think, and then begin my explanation.
"To put it bluntly, Oryx has to power to 'take' another being's soul and bend it to his will, hence his title as 'The Taken King,'" I inform her, and she lifts an eyebrow in response. "Not only that, but he can create some sort of 'avatar' of himself to remotely enact his will without ever leaving his Dreadnaught."
"By 'avatar' you mean it has physical form?" Ar'alani questions.
"Yes. When we rescued Thrawn, he used his avatar to pursue our ship. It can teleport at will, fire balls of energy from its hand, and wields a large sword. If Oryx's avatar is an accurate representation, I'd say he stands around 4 meters tall. So he's big," I explain.
"Was he present with his forces on the planet Atollon?" she asks.
I pause, developing a suspicious look at that.
"How did you know they were on Atollon?" I ask cautiously.
"Mitth'raw'nuruodo discovered evidence of their presence there following his victory over the Rebellion," she tells me, frowning. "The Yuuzhan Vong have never ventured so far into the galaxy before."
I nod my head in reply, understanding her explanation and acknowledging her following statement.
"There is a reason they were there, but it's not relevant anymore," I respond. "But yes, an avatar of Oryx was there for a brief moment before and after we battled his forces."
"I see," Ar'alani says calmly.
It didn't take much longer before our discussion came to a close, Ar'alani satisfied with my report for now. Once her hologram vanished and the transmission ended I leaned back in my chair with a sigh, tired but also relieved that it was over for now. Of course, I have to do this again next week as well, and continue doing so for however many weeks it'll take before I have nothing left to share with them, after which I'm not entirely sure. All I can do really is continue to hope that the Chiss stay true to their word.
Sparing a glance at my desk, on which my holocron and two kyber crystals are sitting, I stand up and then exit my hut. Outside I see Mara seated by the circular fire-pit on the edge of the cliff, Zenna laying on the ground beside her. Alcida-Auka was also sitting with them, apparently in discussion about something. The Caretakers were currently present in the village going about their duties, which would explain Alcida's presence. Today is their scheduled time of the week dedicated to maintaining the structural integrity of the buildings: they'll move on to the Jedi Temple tomorrow.
I make my way down the stone steps over to the fire-pit, stepping aside to allow two Caretakers pushing a cart to move past, and then continue on. Mara takes notice when I get closer, looking over with a mixed look of exasperation, concern, and relief.
"Honestly, I thought that was going to last a bit longer," she tells me.
"Ar'alani is even more serious than Thrawn, so she's not about to 'waste valuable time by chatting,'" I reply with some sarcasm, coming to a stop.
"Huh," Mara hums in response, shrugging her shoulders.
"Things went well, I hope?" Alcida questions.
"Yes, they did. There weren't any problems," I reassure her.
"I'm glad," she replies. "I can't imagine the idea of our land receiving so many people."
"Nor can I imagine you slacking, missy!" another voice chimes in behind us.
Alcida stiffens in alarm and jumps to her feet, turning around with a nervous expression.
"O-oh, sorry mother!" she quickly apologizes.
The two exchange a few words in their native language, Alcida's mother berating her for a few moments while Mara and I share a small glance of some sheepish amusement. The Matron is quickly satisfied though and gives the two of us a respectful nod before heading off, Alcida giving us a sheepish wave before scurrying after her. Zenna raises her head to watch them but lays back down after a few seconds. I sit down opposite to Mara on the bench after the exchange, and she sets aside a datapad she had been holding.
"So, how'd it go?" she asks me.
"Well enough. Ar'alani mainly wanted to know about Oryx and what his capabilities are," I inform her.
"Good luck coming up with a strategy to beat that," she remarks about Ar'alani in sarcastic.
"Fortunately for them, Chiss admiral's aren't like Imperials," I add, and she rolls her eyes. "How's your week been?"
"It was alright," Mara replies with a shrug. "Last I heard, Astrid was training an auxiliary Dragon Rider team after Dagur attacked Berk."
"Hmph. Well, her teaching strategy will be either really effective, or really bad," I comment.
"I guess," she says. "Any rebel news?"
"From what I've heard the attack on Lothal should happen very soon," I recall, much to her surprise.
"Really? They've got a whole force together?" she asks.
"Unfortunately, the Alliance will probably spare no more than a squadron of fighters, far less than originally intended," I explain. "Still, their main objective is the Imperial factories in Lothal's capital city. Hera is going to be leading them so I'd imagine they can pull it off. She's just been promoted to General."
"Good for her," Mara nods in acceptance, before becoming worried. "But if they win... will the Chiss give us up to the Empire?"
"Ar'alani agreed that as long as we aren't involved, we can't be held responsible for what the Alliance does against Thrawn's project," I say in reassurance, though I also share some of her unease. "We just have to trust that they'll keep their word. And if they don't, then I'll make sure they're coming down with us too."
"Hopefully," she replies, letting out a sigh.
We both then sit in silence for a short while, lost in our thoughts while the Caretakers continue working around the structure. At some point, however, I notice Zenna lift her head and look over to the left, letting out a soft growl. I follow her gaze and quickly spot the source of Zenna's wariness: the black wolf. Through a thin layer of fog I could see the wolf standing at the top of a ridge stretching out from the main island: it stood completely still, staring directly at us―at me, most likely.
"You alright girl?" I hear Mara ask Zenna.
I glance at them to see Mara petting the dragon's snout, both curious and concerned. She also looks in the same direction Zenna was, narrowing her eyes, and I also look back to see the wolf still there... but it doesn't seem like Mara can see it.
I pick up on the sound of a distant howl, prompting another low growl from Zenna, before the wolf vanishes as the ridge it stood on is engulfed in a cloud of heavy fog.
Eastern Base, Ryloth - Outer Rim Territories
3rd person POV...
After several days of keen observation and careful planning, the rebels on Ryloth were just about ready to infiltrate the Imperial factory and destroy it. Cere, Cham, and Gobi were finalizing a few details of the mission while Greez was giving the Stinger Mantis a thorough maintenance check to ensure it was still in good condition. Meanwhile, with not much else to do before they were scheduled to head out, Cal, Merrin, Boil, and Numa decided to engage in a bit of casual conversation so as to loosen up a little. They were gathered close to the base's perimeter at the top of a small ridge overlooking the forest, the base's hangar directly behind them.
"You two ever been on missions like these before?" Numa asks Cal and Merrin.
"A few times. We've had our fair share of breaking into Imperial facilities," Cal answers.
"You'd think they would have come up with better security precautions by now," Boil scoffs.
"Well, in their defense it is rather difficult to anticipate a Nightsister," Merrin points out, expressing a small amount of satisfaction in her voice.
"What exactly can you do? All I've ever heard about Nightsisters is that you're a strange band of witches," Numa says curiously, glancing at her apologetically. "Sorry if I offended you."
"None taken," she reassures her. "We rather prefer being 'mysterious,' I suppose you could say. It's been rather helpful for me on many occasions."
"How so?" Boil asks.
"She means by scaring people," Cal chimes in with a grin.
Merrin turns her head to frown at him in annoyance but he simply smiles at her in response without any regret. She rolls her eyes but resumes her explanation.
"Cal is just teasing... but yes, that is true to some extent," Merrin says.
"Hmph. I wish I could get rid of people that bother me by scaring them," Boil comments in disappointment.
"Are you not scary already, nerra?" Numa asks teasingly. "Surely your trigger-happy ways work just fine."
"Maybe so, if it wasn't for my face!" he retorts, jabbing a finger at himself for emphasis.
Numa giggles in response while Merrin shakes her head with a smile of amusement.
"Honestly, Boil, I don't think any of the troopers in my battalion were ever as wild as you," Cal remarks.
"That's because there's only one of me... Figuratively!" he adds irritably when Numa goes to correct him. "Anyway, what battalion were you?"
"Thirteenth," he answers.
"Those copycats? Hah!" Boil scoffs in reply. "Just take our colors and nickname yourselves the 'Iron' battalion, why don't you! How original!"
"Copycats?" Cal questions with a raised eyebrow. "You know, being the first ones with yellow doesn't make you the best."
"Oh, that's how it is, huh?" the former ARC trooper replies.
"I think 'Iron' battalion was exceptional," the Jedi Knight states proudly.
"Exceptional at guarding a junkyard," Boil retorts.
"Which refitted the best ships in the galaxy," Cal shoots back.
"Okay boys, I think that's enough competition for today," Merrin interrupts in exasperation, but with a hint of mockery. "You both served two veerrryyy special teams in the army, and you should be proud!"
Cal and Boil both let out quiet sighs in response to her words but share an amused glance with each other: their contest was actually rather enjoyable, to be honest. Numa gives Boil a side hug and lays her head on his shoulder with a bright smile on her face.
"Don't worry nerra, I still think your battalion is the best," she reassures him.
Boil scoffs lightly in response but smiles back anyway. Cal was going to continue further conversation with them when he felt a strange shift in the Force, blowing past him as if it were a soft puff of wind in the air. He frowns at the strange feeling, which was nagging at him in the back of his mind and looks over to his right. In the distance he could see a large gray wolf standing on a ridge next to the tree line of the forest. Cal narrows his eyes at it, blinking in surprise and recognition.
It's the same wolf he saw earlier.
Realizing this he focuses on it more, getting the sense that it was the source of his strange Force disturbance. The wolf stood completely still, not moving from its position, and it seemed as though it were gazing directly at him, even from this distance. A faint howl carries through the wind to reach Cal's ears, and the wolf lifts its head slightly.
"―al? Universe to Cal!" Merrin exclaims.
Cal blinks his eyes in surprise, startled by Merrin's hand suddenly waving inches from his face. He looks away from the wolf to see the other three staring at him weirdly.
"Huh? What?" he asks her.
"Is everything fine, Cal? You've been acting a little weird lately," she tells him, slightly concerned.
"No, I'm fine," he shakes his head in response. "I was just looking at..."
Cal looks back in the direction of the gray wolf, only to trail off mid-sentence upon seeing it was nowhere to be found. The other three follow his gaze with even more confusion in their eyes.
"Looking at what?" Boil asks.
"It... it was just there a second ago," he mutters in disbelief.
"What was there?" Merrin questions.
"...Numa, does Ryloth have any wolves?" Cal then asks.
"Wolves?" she repeats in confusion, and he nods his head. "No. Ryloth does not have any wolves."
"Are you sure?" he asks skeptically.
"Yes, I'm sure. I live here," she repeats, raising an eyebrow.
"Cal, are you sure you're not just seeing things?" Merrin questions.
"I thought so at first, but now I'm not so sure," Cal answers uneasily. "I'm certain I just saw a wolf on that ridge over there."
"The one next to the forest?" Boil asks.
"Yeah, that's the one," he nods in confirmation. "It was definitely a wolf of some kind. Ever since we first got here I've been seeing it in the distance just watching me."
"Why? How?" Numa asks in bewilderment.
"I don't know. As soon as I look away from it for a second, it always vanishes without a trace," Cal replies.
Merrin furrows her brow in thought, confused by the whole thing.
"Do you think it's related to the Force, in some way?" she questions.
"I think so. I keep sensing it whenever it shows up," he tells her. "I don't know why though."
"Hmm..." Boil brings a hand to his chin. "Based on my experience, whenever something weird happened around Commander Shan, it's typically because of something mystical. I couldn't even begin to try and understand it though."
Cal nods his head in acknowledgement, still unsure about what to make of it. He looks back in the direction of the ridge, stretching out through the Force for any sign of the wolf's presence, only to come up empty.
Dragon's Edge, Outpost Island - Ahch-To
3rd person POV...
As Astrid started to emerge into wakefulness the rest of the gang looked on in concern, all surrounding her bed. She starts blinking her eyes, unsure of where she was at first until her memory became clearer, prompting her straight into full alert and panic mode.
"Stormfly!" she shouts with a panicked gasp, shooting up in bed.
"Hey! It's okay, it's okay!" Hiccup quickly replies, and she calms down only slightly after getting a sense of her surroundings. "Just try to relax Astrid, you had a tough night."
"No no no no, you don't understand, they were all in cages..." Astrid recalls, eyes wide in fear. "A-and they have Stormfly!"
"Whoa whoah whoah whoah, wait slow down," Hiccup interrupts. "...cages? What are you talking about? What happened out there?"
Astrid pauses, looking away from him to stare at her blankets in unease.
"Dragon Hunters," she reveals.
Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut let out a collective gasp of surprise while Fishlegs whimpers anxiously. Hiccup furrows his brow, surprised and confused, but also greatly alarmed.
"Dragon Hunters?" he asks just for confirmation.
"A whole fleet of them," she readily confirms.
"And they have Stormfly?" he asks in concern.
"Yeah, this big, ugly one, oh when I get my hands on him..." Astrid scowls furiously, balling her hands into fists.
"And welcome back," Fishlegs remarks dryly.
"Huh. Imagine that," Tuffnut comments offhandedly. "Once Mara's gone, all the crazy stuff starts to happen."
"I know, right? Why does she always have to be gone every time that her help would be exactly what we need?!" Snotlout complains, frustrated.
"Because 'the Force wills it so... ooooh!'" Ruffnut says, making exaggerated motions.
"Guys, now is not the time!" Hiccup snaps irritably.
Astrid throws the blanket off of her and jumps out of bed, making a run for the stairs.
"C'mon, let's mount up!" she says urgently. "Stormfly!"
Halfway down the stairs, however, she pauses after remembering that her urgency is specifically because she doesn't have Stormfly. Anxious and feeling a bit vulnerable, she looks back up at the rest of the group, unsure of what to do.
"You can ride with me!" Hiccup quickly reassures her.
She smiles at him in gratitude.
Imperial Factory, Ryloth - Outer Rim Territories
3rd person POV...
In order to avoid being detected by the Empire the infiltration team took the Mantis, which was not as recognizable in the Imperial database, and landed in the dense forest two miles away from the factory itself. Greez would stay behind with Faylin, one of Cham's trusted pilots, to keep the Mantis ready in case of an emergency while the rest of the team continued on to the factory. The team itself consisted of the Mantis crew―minus Greez―Boil, Cham, Numa, Gobi, and a few others. After disembarking the ship it took them a little under an hour to reach their destination.
The factory itself was situated on the side of a cliff next to the forest, towering up at least a hundred feet or more, with a large airfield beside it holding dozens of starfighters and vehicles. Cham gestures for the group to stop at the edge of the forest, and Gobi pulls out a pair of binoculars. After scanning the landscape for a moment he lowers the binoculars and points toward the bottom of the cliff.
"There's the entrance," he informs the group.
"Any guards?" Cham asks.
"At least four guarding the entrance," Gobi responds.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Boil says confidently.
"We have to be cautious if we don't want to set off the alarm," Cere says as a reminder.
"Indeed," Cham replies in agreement, looking towards Cal and Merrin. "Are you sure you two can lead us to the reactor room?"
"We've got it covered," Cal reassures him.
While the group made their way down towards the entrance, Gobi and another soldier stayed back where they had originally stopped with rifles in hand, trained on the guards around the door. Approaching the door was a bit tricky, as there wasn't much they could use for cover while traveling down the steep slope, but their snipers were ready to take out the guards prematurely if they were spotted. Once they were down at the bottom the group took cover around a few boulders and Cham brought out his comlink.
"We're in position," he states.
"Copy that," Gobi replies.
A few moments later a laser bolt passes through the air and strikes one stormtrooper, knocking him to the ground. The other three troopers only have a few seconds to act surprised before they're cut down as well. With the way clear Cham and his team swiftly move forward to the door, dragging the bodies up beside it as a precaution. Merrin then steps up to the door and places her hands on it, frowning in concentration. Closing her eyes, she vanishes in a puff of green mist. Cham, Numa, and the other twi'lek rebels, while already aware of how she planned to get inside the door, still couldn't help but feel surprised at seeing it firsthand. After a few seconds of waiting the door opens to reveal Merrin on the other side.
"Everything's clear for now," she informs them.
Cham nods in acknowledgement and then enter the facility, dragging the stormtroopers inside so they wouldn't be seen by security cameras. Numa takes note of how there were two other stormtroopers lying in the hallway, clearly having taken a beating by something, and glances up at Boil.
"I'm glad she's on our side," she remarks, and Boil nods in agreement.
"Okay. Cal, Merrin, we're up," Cere says.
Cal nods in reply and the two stand on either side of Merrin, placing a hand on her shoulders, as she takes one of her talisman's into her hands. Merrin starts softly chanting a spell in her native language, her eyes glowing a dim green, while the two Jedi use the Force to give her more energy, also sensing their surroundings. As they were doing so the rest of the infiltration team kept a watchful eye of the corridor, making sure that there were no security cameras or troopers in the vicinity. After about twenty long seconds Cal and Cere drop their hands and Merrin finishes her chant, though her eyes and the talisman in her hands kept glowing the same green color.
"Okay. I can't see the entire base, but I see the way to the reactor room," Merrin informs them.
"That's good enough," Cere states in approval.
"Lead the way then," Cham adds.
Merrin nods and starts moving down the hallway, keeping the talisman held in her hands, while the others followed alongside her.
"How does Merrin know which way to go?" Boil asks Cal.
"She and I came up with the idea, actually. Cere and I used the Force to get a sense of what's around us, and Merrin crafted a spell which could let her see it in the real world," Cal explains, though looking a bit apologetic. "It's kind of hard to explain, but think if it as a magick radar."
"Huh. That sounds bloody useful," Boil scoffs, clearly impressed.
"Useful, but it also takes a lot of energy and concentration for her to maintain it," Cere adds in warning. "Unless she breaks the spell, she won't be able to use her magick for anything else."
"Fortunately, our job will be quite easy now that we have direction set," Cham replies confidently.
The group continues on their way through the base, turning down multiple corridors and ducking behind walls to avoid being spotted by Imperial personnel, which they had to do frequently. There was a close call when Merrin turned around a corner and nearly ran into a squad of stormtroopers following an officer, but fortunately they weren't looking her way, and Cal yanked her back just in time when the officer looked back in their direction. They waited for the Imperial to keep going and afterwards resumed their pace. Unfortunately, after traveling for about ten minutes the alarms suddenly began blaring throughout the factory.
"Attention all personnel! We have intruders in the facility: all troopers are ordered to be on high alert!" a voice over the intercom calls out.
"Well, that's not good!" Numa says worriedly.
"We knew the entrance wouldn't go unnoticed for too long," Cham reminds her grimly.
"The reactor room isn't far," Merrin tells them.
"Over there! Blast them!" a voice shouts.
The rebels whirl around to see several stormtroopers rounding the corner, the sergeant pointing them out to his comrades. Cham immediately fires a shot from his blaster that takes out the lead stormtrooper, and he falls with a pained cry. The stormtroopers quickly retaliate by firing their blasters, to which the rebels respond with their own fire.
"Let's move!" Cere exclaims, shooting a trooper with her own blaster pistol.
"I'll cover you!" Cal adds.
He whips out his lightsaber and starts deflecting blaster fire while the group of rebels led by Merrin start running down the hallway. Cal follows from the back, blocking the occasional bolt with his lightsaber and taking out a few more stormtroopers, though one of them manages a call for reinforcements. However, they come to a stop before a closed door, halting their progress.
"Get this door open," Cham orders his soldiers.
The two twi'leks rush to the door while Merrin and the rest of the group take up positions on either side of the hallway, while Cal stands in the middle, deflecting shots with his lightsaber. At the moment there still weren't that many stormtroopers, only five left from the original squad that first spotted them, and they're soon taken out. The group waits in silence, anticipating more Imperials to arrive while the door was being worked on. However, much to their bewilderment the door slides open. The two twi'leks barely have a moment to look up in surprise before their suddenly cut down by a spinning red lightsaber.
Everyone turns around in surprise when the two twi'leks scream in pain, dead before their bodies hit the floor, and the assailant makes herself known with a fierce grin on her lightning-scarred face, igniting the second blade of her saberstaff.
"What a lovely surprise to see!" Trilla Suduri greets sinisterly.
Trilla then lunges forward in an attempt to cut down Merrin but is stopped in the nick of time when Cal jumps to her defense, blocking Trilla's lightsaber with his own.
"Not today, Trilla," he declares fiercely.
"Fallen for a witch, have you?" she sneers in reply.
Trilla pulls back from their blade-lock and thrusts her arms out to blow Cal, Merrin, and everyone else down with a Force push. She then dashes for the next closest target, Boil, who just barely manages to save himself by rolling out of the way. He brings his blaster around to aim at her but is kicked down before he could fire off a shot. Trilla then cries out in surprise and frustration when she's blown farther down the hallway herself by a Force push, and Cere rushes forward with her lightsaber out.
"Merrin, keep leading the other three to the reactor room! Cal and I will hold her off!" Cere says firmly.
Merrin acknowledges her with a nod and gets back to her feet, and she, Cham, Numa, and Boil resume running in the direction of the reactor room. Trilla notices their escape with a scowl and speedily dashes forward, but is suddenly brought to a near halt and moves in slow motion. She growls angrily upon recognizing Cal as the source of her being placed in 'Force stasis,' as he had a hand held out to her with an intense grimace of concentration. After a few seconds of struggling Trilla yells out in fury and Cal's grip is broken, causing him to stumble back as a result.
Trilla tries to take advantage of the opportunity but is intercepted by Cere, who engages in fierce combat with her. The two exchange a few slashes and parries with their blades until Cere separates to take a step back beside Cal. The two Jedi take a moment to recuperate and get into battle-ready stances while Trilla bounces on her feet with anticipation, glaring at them with absolute fury and hatred.
"How touching. The three of us together again," Trilla says mockingly.
"We don't have to be enemies, Trilla!" Cere pleads. "I was ready to give up everything to have you back!"
"And do you know what your hopes gave me?" she snarls in response. "This... this was your doing!"
Trilla angrily gestures to the ugly scars covering her face. Cal and Cere look on in sympathy and regret, the latter especially pained by it.
"Trilla, you can't say that. If Vader hadn't shown up―" Cal tries to say.
"But he did," she interrupts. "And I paid for your sympathy."
She twirls her lightsaber around with a look of utter loathing, lacking any of the warmth that the two remember from their last true encounter years ago.
"I am beyond saving now," Trilla coldly promises.
With that being said the Second Sister lunges forward with a fierce and vicious cry, swinging her lightsaber down while Cal and Cere raise their own lightsabers to defend against her attack.
Ahch-To - Unknown Regions
3rd person POV...
Inside of a cave, Snotlout made his anxiety and frustration very clear to the rest of the gang. He groaned and complained, unwilling and unable to sit still for more than a few seconds as he constantly tried to keep the changewing acid from spilling on him.
"Would you just hold still, Snotlout?" Hiccup says in exasperation.
"Easy for you to say!" he retorts, angrily jabbing a finger at his helmet. "You don't have Changewing acid burning through your skull!"
"If we take off the helmet, we'll spill the acid. Now hold still," Astrid states irritably.
"That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard in my life!" he scowls at her.
He nevertheless crosses his arms and tries to keep as still as possible while Hiccup holds the Dragon Eye in front of the glowing green acid covering his helmet, allowing it to project a map onto the darkened cave wall. Fishlegs walks forward and analyzes the map, immediately disappointed.
"This doesn't help. We've seen this map before," he informs the group.
"Wait, but what about that?" Astrid asks, pointing out a part of the image. "I don't recall seeing that before."
Hiccup narrows his eyes at what she referred too, managing to make out a few words underneath the basic drawing.
"Huh... what's a star compass?" Hiccup questions curiously.
"I don't know, but another lens mentioned it," Fishlegs replies, shaking his head. "Regardless, it doesn't matter. It's not part of the map which, like I said, we've seen it before."
"Hmm... it must be a hunter port. And it's the closest to the beach where Stormfly was captured," Hiccup speculates with a frown. "Odds are, that's where they're headed. After that, who knows where?"
"Then we have to hurry!" Astrid insists.
"Yes, please. Let's hurry!" Snotlout shouts, throwing his helmet off.
"Uh, but how are we going to avoid getting shot with those dragon root arrows?" Fishlegs points out.
"Funny you should ask, Fishlegs," Hiccup replies, grinning at him. "For my plan to work, someone's gonna have to get shot."
Fishlegs widens his eyes and takes a few steps back with a nervous whimper, already knowing exactly what that meant. Tuffnut and Ruffnut, however, looked at each other with an excited grin on their faces, giving each other a high five.
"Yeah! Looks like we're up!" Tuffnut shouts.
"Cool!" Ruffnut laughs eagerly.
Lothal - Outer Rim Territories
3rd person POV...
The blockade of Lothal remained impenetrable, consisting of several light-cruisers at least a dozen Imperial Star Destroyers from the Seventh Fleet, under the command of Grand Admiral Thrawn. On board one of the ships, a bridge officer turned towards the captain upon detecting something on the scopes.
"Sir, we're detecting several craft coming out of hyperspace," he reports.
The captain steps up with narrowed eyes to look out the window, seeing a flash of blue light in the distance as a few dozen x-wing starfighters and y-wing bombers emerge from hyperspace. Leading the squadron was Hera Syndulla in an x-wing of her own, with Chopper in the starfighter's astromech port.
"Alright, let's make this count. Lothal's depending on us," she states over the comms. "Remember, the Imperial fueling depot is our primary target."
"Presuming we get past this blockade," Matt Martin replies, a bit anxious.
"They might have numbers but we've got skill," Cleat declares confidently.
"That last part goes double for me," he says back with a grin.
Chopper adds in his own comment, prompting some exasperation from Hera.
"Yes, Chopper, triple for you," she sighs, shaking her head. "Lock s-foils in attack position."
The x-wing pilots all carry out the order, their ships' wings switching to attack position.
"Fighter group, stay with your wingmen and punch a hole in their defenses. We have to get the y-wings through," Hera tells them.
Onboard the Chimaera, Thrawn enters the bridge with Commander Skerris and Commander Woldar on either side of him, a satisfied smile on his face.
"So the rebels have come. At last," he remarks.
"Twenty four ships, Grand Admiral. Mixed group of fighters and bombers," Woldar informs him.
"Their target will be the factory and our fuel depot in the capital," Thrawn states with a small frown. "Alert all commands, deploy the fleet in defensive formation and launch fighters."
Commander Woldar nods in acknowledgement and heads off to carry out his orders while Thrawn turns toward Skerris with a stern gaze.
"Commander, the rebels must not leave the planet's surface," he says firmly.
"I'll make sure of it, sir," Skerris nods in reply.
As soon as the orders are received by the other fleet commanders, swarms of TIE Fighters are launched from their vessels and move to intercept the attacking rebel ships. Hera notices the change and narrows her eyes determinedly.
"Here we go. Attack speed!" she calls out to her squadron.
LATER...
The Spectres and other Lothal resistance fighters parked their speeder bikes on the edge of a small hill just beyond the main highway that led to the capital city. Stepping off their bikes they looked up to the skies, eagerly awaiting a glimpse of the aerial firefight.
"We should be seeing them any minute now!" Ezra remarks.
"There, look, here they come!" Sabine shouts.
The group all turn to look in the direction that Sabine was pointing to see the tiny forms of ships moving through the sky above the city, their descent accompanied by the distant sound of explosions which they could make out as small burst of light. A few of them, including Ezra, take out binoculars to get a better look, though their excitement soon turns to confusion and unease.
"What are those?" Zeb asks with a frown, lacking his own binoculars.
Ezra zooms in for an up close visual of the rebel ships, shock filling him at seeing each ship descending uncontrollably in a plume of smoke. He lowers his binoculars with a rising sense of horror and despair, now able to see the destroyed ships with the naked eye. Sabine pulls off her helmet, also shocked.
"Is that...?" Ezra asks fearfully.
"The entire attack force," Sabine confirms with a shaky voice.
The rebels watch helplessly as the ships tumble through the sky, literally unable to do a single thing.
Thrawn turned around at the sound of his office door opening to see Commander Woldar walking inside to deliver his report.
"Grand Admiral, the entire rebel strike force was destroyed," he informs him. "However, reports indicate that a few ships managed to crash land in or near capital city, including the one flown by the flight leader."
Thrawn takes this in for a moment, content with the victory in battle but still not satisfied, as he still had not heard everything he wanted to hear.
"And the Imperial factory?" he questions with a frown.
"Undamaged, sir," Woldar reports proudly.
Hearing this, Thrawn now smiles in genuine satisfaction at the knowledge that his project is no longer in jeopardy from rebel attack, and then approaches his desk. Following the Battle of Atollon the rebels were left in disarray and forced to postpone their attempted strike against Lothal until now, though with far more limited resources than originally intended. Now, however, Thrawn's triumph on Lothal has all but been assured, as the rebels would not dare make anymore attempts following this loss. His factory for the TIE Defender program can now continue its production without anymore concern of rebel attack.
Still, in order to be absolutely certain if this, he needs to eliminate any loose ends, as even a single rebel, however unlikely, could still potentially manage to sabotage his plans, especially one with Hera Syndulla's reputation. Knowing this, he opens up a transmission with his agent, Rukh, to solve this problem. The Nogri assassin appears over the holoprojector, and Thrawn begins to address him.
"Rukh, rebel pilots may have survived the attack," he informs him. "Capture them alive if possible, Captain Syndulla in particular."
"It will be done, Grand Admiral," Rukh promises with a savage grin, his hologram disappearing.
Ahch-To - Unknown Regions
3rd person POV...
In the midst of their attack on the five Dragon Hunter ships, Astrid was accidentally thrown off of Toothless when a catapult boulder was precariously close to hitting them, and subsequently caught by the Hunter's chains. Fishlegs was already in the ship with Meatlug, having been shot down by the dragon-root arrows as planned, but Astrid being captured was not planned. However, the Dragon Hunters were having a difficult time attempting to restrain her as they hauled her on board.
"Hey! Come on! Let me go! Let go of me!" she demands furiously, wrestling with her captors.
"Oh, feisty one, aren't you?" Ryker observes with an amused grin.
Glaring at him, Astrid manages to throw the two Hunters aside and makes a run for him, swinging her axe overhead with a battlecry. In response, Ryker blocks the strike with his armored gauntlet and then swings his arm, smacking the axe from her hands and causing her to stumble, where she's grabbed by the two Hunters.
"I like her spirit," Ryker remarks. "Throw her in a cell."
"You're gonna be sorry!" Astrid growls at him as she's led away. "You're messing with the wrong Vikings!"
"Well, so are you, Berkian," he retorts calmly.
Astrid pauses in bewilderment, partially surprised at how he knew what tribe she was from. She brushes the thought aside when the door leading below deck is smashed open by Stormfly, who is followed immediately by Fishlegs and Meatlug.
"Stormfly!" she shouts joyfully.
Astrid breaks herself free and runs over to Stormfly, hopping into the saddle, while the Deadly Nadder tosses both Hunters aside with her head, screeching defiantly. Ryker narrows his eyes at them but remains calm, whereas Hiccup and the other dragon riders swoop in to take advantage of the opportunity.
"Now!" Hiccup calls out.
Smirking to himself, Ryker looks past the escaping dragon riders and holds his hand up into the air, making a closed fist. The non-verbal signal reaches the other Dragon Hunters positioned intentionally around the ship, who immediately set Ryker's plan into motion. From the doors that were just busted open, two bolas are launched out and score direct hits, tying up both Stormfly and Meatlug. At the same time, two nets are dropped down from the mast and cover both dragons and their riders, which several Dragon Hunters then rush forward to secure. Hiccup brings Toothless to a stop, alarmed at the plan suddenly backfiring.
"It didn't work..." he murmurs, looking at the others. "Evasive action, now!"
He, Snotlout, and the twins pull back from the ships in an attempt to avoid the hail of dragon root arrows being shot out, but one manages to strike Barf and Belch and sends them plummeting into the water.
"Not good!" Tuffnut exclaims.
"Getting worse!" Ruffnut shouts.
"We're going down!" they both yell in clear panic while their dragon spirals out of the sky and into the water.
Snotlout can only watch them go down in surprise before another arrow hits Hookfang near his shoulder, and the Monstrous Nightmare roars in surprise and pain, spiraling out of the air as well.
"We're hit! Whoa! Hookfang!" Snotlout exclaims. "Help!"
Hiccup and Toothless swoop down after the pair and Toothless catches Hookfang's tail just before they hit the water, growling from the strain of lifting the much larger dragon. Snotlout reaches out with a fierce scowl and grabs the arrow in Hookfang's shoulder, immediately yanking it out. Meanwhile, Ryker storms up to his attempted-escapees with a smug grin on his face.
"Your pathetic tricks won't work on me. I'm a Dragon Hunter! I know that Gronckles are immune to dragon root," he says mockingly, and Astrid scowls at him in frustration. "And now, thanks to you, I now have two more dragons and four dragon riders."
Up in the air, Hiccup and Toothless hovered above the ships as the former tried desperately to think of any ideas, but Snotlout wasn't having any of it.
"Hiccup! We need to leave!" he snaps urgently.
Another hail of dragon root arrows is shot after them, and Hiccup yelps when one just barely skims past him. He scowls in frustration, begrudgingly reaching the conclusion that Snotlout was right: there simply wasn't much he and Toothless could do while carrying Hookfang, and Toothless was already starting to struggle a bit from doing so, flapping his wings furiously just to stay in the air.
"Hiccup!" Snotlout calls out again.
"Get us outta here, bud," Hiccup tells Toothless.
They start to make their escape from the Dragon Hunter's fleet, and Hiccup looks back helplessly to see the twins and Barf and Belch hauled onto the main ship in a large net, everyone else also being restrained by the Dragon Hunters.
"Is now the time to consider asking about help from Mara?!" Snotlout asks pointedly.
"Yes, Snotlout, I think you're right," Hiccup replies with a sigh. "We do need her help."
The four dragon riders were taken down to the prison deck, escorted by several armed guards to prevent any escape attempts, just before they were locked into their cell, Astrid spun around in a fit of anger to glare at Ryker, who stood without a care in the world.
"Where are our dragons? What did you do to them?" she demands.
"Oh, if I were you, I'd worry about yourself," he retorts, narrowing his eyes.
Astrid glowers at him hatefully, but movement just behind him then gets her attention and she widens her eyes in bewilderment. Following one of the soldiers down the deck was none other than Heather.
"Heather?" she asks in shock.
Heather pauses and turns to look at her, widening her eyes in surprise also at seeing them, while Fishlegs and the twins both gape in astonishment
"No way," Tuffnut says.
"Run!" Astrid urges.
However, Dagur the Deranged suddenly jumps into the room and gives them an even bigger shock. The Berserker chief has a maniacal grin on his face, staring at the four with wild and crazy glee. Heather's surprised look then turns into a small smirk upon Dagur's entry.
"Surprise! Did ya miss me? Of course you did!" Dagur says, cackling madly. "Oh! Do you know my sister? Wait a minute, sure you do! You guys were little pals and buddy buddies."
He trails off into a fit of giggling while Heather crosses her arms with a casual, indifferent expression.
"Hey, family is family," she comments.
"I can't believe this, Heather," Astrid says quietly, stung at the betrayal.
"I know it's not Dragon's Edge, but it'll have to do," Heather shrugs, and the cell door is lowered to shut them in. "Enjoy your new home, Astrid. You're gonna be here a while."
She and Dagur then walk off after Ryker, with Dagur looking back to throw a devious grin at them. The twins are caught in a rare moment of silence and unease, and Fishlegs was deeply saddened and fearful of the new revelation. Astrid was gazing out of the cage with a dark look on her face, trembling in a mixture of rage and confusion.
Lothal - Outer Rim Territories
3rd person POV...
A while ago he would've been surprised and very uneasy about the idea of his emotions driving his actions. He especially couldn't understand why Jarik and Ahsoka decided to express love for each other and be married as husband and wife, as it went against everything the Jedi taught them. Now, however, he was a changed man who has learned to see things much differently: he can form strong attachments and bonds with others, all the while still remaining true to his core beliefs in doing the right thing.
As he continued driving down the highway with the others, his mind kept falling back on what might've happened to Hera. He hasn't felt this panicked about something since the night his master died. And he couldn't stand the thought of losing the one he loved the most. Reaching a decision, Kanan brought his bike to a stop and turned his focus toward the capital city, prompting the others to stop as well after taking notice of his pause.
"I'm going back," Kanan declares, much to their surprise. "I have to do this."
While everyone was skeptical and uneasy about Kanan's attitude, Ezra sensed his master's distress and understood a bit of what he was going through, as he himself had felt similar when trying to find his parents years ago.
"I understand," Ezra responds, much to the group's surprise. "We'll see you back at base."
Kanan nods in gratitude and takes off down the road, while the others look on in uncertainty.
"Ezra, we should–" Sabine starts to protest.
"If anyone can save Hera he can," Ezra interrupts firmly. "Let's go."
Still skeptical, the group nevertheless continues down the highway in the direction of their camp, hopeful that Kanan will be successful.
Kanan drove along the highway towards capital city at top speed, his thoughts completely focused on rescuing Hera from the Empire.
Filled with anxiety and fear over the safety of his lover Kanan presses on, determined the reach the city as fast as he could. However, something begins pricking at his senses, distracting him. He attempts to shake it off and remain focused on saving Hera, but the feeling only continues to grow. Suddenly, as if from out of nowhere he senses something directly in front of him: he can see the stare of the loth-wolf in his mind.
Panicking, Kanan swerves his speeder bike to avoid colliding with the wolf, but ends up losing control and flying off. He hits the ground hard, rolling along the road with a few grunts of pain. Baffled, Kanan stretches out his senses to find the loth-wolf, but is unable to sense any living presence around him. He can, however, hear the sound of the highway lamps flickering out, though the one above him seems to stay on. His confusion now becoming annoyance instead, Kanan gets back up and walks over to his speeder bike.
"Where are you?!" he calls out, becoming a bit angry. "I don't have time for this! If you want to help, fine! Otherwise, stay out of my way!"
Just as he was getting back on the bike the loth-wolf was right there once again, growling mere inches from his face. He steps back in surprise, startled and extremely cautious around the mysterious creature that clearly wasn't letting him go farther.
"What do you want?" he asks in defeat.
"...DUME..."
Kanan then pauses, his mind for once no longer as focused on rescuing Hera as the Force seems to speak directly to him, reaching into the core of his being. Two more loth-wolves come up from behind him, remaining in the shadows beyond the light, while the white wolf remains still in front of him.
Now he understands what was being asked of him. What the wolves were warning him about. The fate of his friends, family, and Lothal itself now rests on what he does next, and he cannot afford to fail. Kanan takes his mask off, turning his blind gaze up to the white wolf in acknowledgement of its warning.
"I understand. What must I do?" he asks softly.
Temple Island, Ahch-To - Unknown Regions
Jarik POV...
As of recently, things have been relatively quiet with no major news or events being reported around the galaxy, aside from the occasional mission or rebel uprising, typically in the Outer Rim. Even the Partisans haven't been much of a hot topic either, which is a little bit surprising and also relieving, and I've barely heard anything about Mandalore, which is also surprising. I would've thought that there would be a lot more focus on Mandalore after Mara and I left, considering the chaos that had occurred, but it has been oddly quiet. It's a bit confusing, but I haven't dwelt too deeply on it as if something important happens I most certainly would know.
The biggest topic right now in the Alliance, at least for the Massassi Group, are the missions being undertaken by the Spectres and the Mantis crew. I'm still waiting for an update on the status of Hera's attack as well as Boil's mission on Ryloth, in which they're also attempting to destroy an Imperial factory there. Until I receive news, however, I'm currently devoting some time to provide background assistance for a scheduled mission to infiltrate the planet Iakar, which will be undertaken by a special forces team led by a young but talented Alderaanian soldier named Cara; they're goal is to steal medical supplies from the Imperial presence there. My job is to supply them with necessary data and codes to make sure they succeed, not that they're even aware of exactly who I am of course.
While in the middle of doing so, however, I'm distracted by a random noise just outside of the hut, as if something banged against the wall. I look up from the computer terminal for a moment but shrug it off. A few seconds later the sound happens again and I look up once more, frowning suspiciously.
"Mara?" I ask.
Receiving no response, I stretch my senses out to figure out if she's there. I don't sense Mara's presence anywhere nearby, but there is a strange shift in the Force. Remembering what I've been experiencing lately I quickly stand up and head outside of the hut to determine the source. The darkening sky is colored with a mixture of purple, pink, and orange as the twin suns sink below the horizon, and a cool ocean breeze blew past the village. I walk around the courtyard, searching for any sign of the wolf that I'm certain must be watching me or, even better, Morai.
"Where are you?" I call out. "Please, just help me to understand!"
I don't hear a response, nor do I see any sign of the black wolf or Morai. In the back of my mind though I can feel a slight tingle in the Force, so they must be here!
"What do you know about Ahsoka? Is she still alive?" I ask a bit anxiously
I cast my gaze everywhere I could think to look, behind huts or somewhere nearby on the mountainside, but still nothing.
"Why won't you come out?" I exclaim in frustration. "Just tell me! I don't know what it is you want me to do!"
All of a sudden I hear a loud and vicious growl coming from right behind me and feel something breathing on my neck. I turn around to see the black wolf mere inches away, advancing on me slowly for a few brief steps, and not looking entirely pleased. I stumble back in surprise and warily raise my hands instinctively to protect myself, but the wolf quickly calms down and sits on its haunches. It gazes at me in silence with those annoyingly familiar blue eyes that I just can't place, so I force myself to relax as well and try opening myself a bit more to the Force so as to better determine what it is thinking.
"...who are you?" I ask softly.
The wolf blinks at me once and releases a small snort in response, but otherwise gives no other reaction.
A blue lightsaber clashes against a pair of red lightsabers.
I blink my eyes when the image suddenly flashes into my mind, catching me off guard. I look up at the wolf in confusion but it only stares back at me in silence., its tail flicking through the air for a moment.
'We've been friends for years!'
Hearing the sound of my own voice―of when I was still a teenager―in my head while not coming from my own thoughts startles me a bit more. I cautiously narrow my eyes at the black wolf, sensing a small glimpse of its thoughts... her thoughts.
'You never meant to hurt anyone.'
I stand quietly for a few seconds to ponder over what I'm sensing from the wolf, grasping what it is trying to communicate with me through the Force. Once I do, I allow my feelings of caution and unease to fade away and let it be replaced with comfort in the knowledge of the being I am in the presence of.
"I understand," I murmur with a soft smile.
The wolf responds with a barely noticeable inclination of her head.
"Do you know where Ahsoka is?" I ask hopefully.
She continues to sit quietly and gives no response. After about ten seconds with nothing happening I let out a quiet sigh of exasperation.
"Is there anything you can tell me?" I question her.
That seems to garner a response, as the wolf stands back up and takes a single step closer to me, opening her mouth.
"...DUME..."
She spoke with a deep growl yet again, strange it the way that you'd expect it to be a male because of how deep it was yet at the same time wasn't, though now I know that the wolf is in fact female. And just like last time she spoke the same exact word, which I've also heard in my visions being spoken by what may be another―unmistakably male―wolf.
"What do you mean by that? Some sort of impeding doom about us?" I say worriedly, pondering over the true meaning of the phrase. "...or do you mean Caleb Dume?"
I anxiously await a response as the black wolf stares at me with those blue eyes, but I'm taken by surprise when she suddenly turns and starts running off.
"Wait―!" I exclaim in protest, moving to give chase.
"Dad?" Mara calls out.
I turn around in surprise to see Mara walking down the stone path and into the village, looking at me with some confusion.
"Um... were you talking with someone?" she asks with a weird expression.
I glance back to see that the black wolf has already vanished and so do my best to hide the disappointment and slightly frustration I was feeling.
"Did you hear voices or something?" I ask her.
She lifts an eyebrow and crosses her arms expectantly.
"I don't know, you tell me," she says.
I let out another sigh, this time with some minor annoyance, and shake my head.
"It was nothing, Mara. Just thinking aloud," I reassure her, thinking of the lie on the spot. "Is there something you need?"
Mara looks at me for another few moments, as she's decent at picking up on my true feelings similarly to how I knew when she was hiding her worries, but she soon shrugs it off in full acceptance of my answer. From what I can tell she has a lot on her mind that has her a bit concerned.
"Well, Hiccup and Snotlout just showed up," she tells me. "I think the other guys are in trouble."
Imperial Factory, Ryloth - Outer Rim Territories
3rd person POV...
The door to the reactor room was blasted open in a shower of sparks, surprising the Imperial personnel inside. Cham, Boil, and Numa storm into the room and unleash a hail of blaster fire at everyone they could see, while Merrin enters behind them. The technicians scramble for their blasters and attempt to fire back, but many of them are taken out before they had a chance. The last few Imperials finally start to shoot their weapons, forcing the rebels to take cover, but within a few moments their shot down as well.
"Looks like we're clear," Numa observes, walking around the area.
"Alright, lets get started. We don't know how long the others can hold off that Inquisitor before more troops arrive," Cham informs the group.
"Understood," Boil nods in reply.
Merrin's eyes and the talisman she was holding lose their green glow, and she leans against the wall with a heavy sigh.
"You good, Merrin?" Numa asks in concern.
"I'm fine. Certain spells just take a lot of energy," Merrin explains, waving it off.
Numa nods her head in understanding and gets to work on some of the terminals along with Cham and Boil. At one point a pair of stormtroopers charged into the room, but Boil was ready to put them down with two well-placed shots. After about a minute their efforts are met with success as the terminals start to flash red, an alarm sounding throughout the base while the reactors themselves start to hum a bit more loudly.
"Okay, we've got around ten minutes before it blows!" Cham states. "Let's get the others and get up to the landing platform so Faylin and Greez can pick us up!"
"Just to make sure they don't fix it..." Boil starts to say.
He fires several shots into the terminals to destroy any chance of reversing the effect they gave, and Cham nods in approval.
"That is so like you, nerra," Numa rolls her eyes.
At the other end of the chamber a door opens, allowing an entire squadron of stormtroopers inside. They immediately open fire on the saboteurs, and the rebels waste no time in running back through the door they came from, firing a few shots back on their way out.
"Gobi, phase two is complete!" Cham says into his comlink.
"Copy that, Cham, we'll meet you at the rendezvous point!" Gobi responds.
Cal grunts in pain as he slid across the floor, swiftly jumping to his feet to avoid being stabbed by Trilla. He swings his lightsaber around in a wide arc that is blocked by Trilla's blade, and kicks out with his foot. She twists her body out of the way, however, before retaliating with a fast kick of her own that knocks him away. She then lifts her saber in order to block an overhead strike from Cere, gritting her teeth in a snarl as she's shoved backward by her former master. Trilla shoves her saber away with a shout and delivers two swift jabs that are blocked before re-entering a blade-lock, pushing Cere against a wall.
"Its been years now, Cere. Yet you're still using my saber?" Trilla asks with contempt.
"Because I haven't forgotten you, Trilla," Cere says firmly.
Trilla narrows her eyes in response, both baffled and infuriated by Cere's answer.
"That girl you remember is dead!" she roars.
Cere slips out from underneath their lightsabers and backpedals to gain some distance. Trilla attempts to charge at her but is stopped by Cal, who jumps in with an upwards swing of his lightsaber. He then disconnects his weapon into two separate sabers, briefly catching the Inquisitor off guard, and starts advancing on her with fast strikes. Cere joins him in helping to push Trilla back and she's forced onto the defensive with an uneasy grimace, struggling to fend off both Cal and Cere at the same time; despite being put through intense, and agonizing, training by Vader himself over the past few years her two opponents have undoubtedly improved their skills as well.
Trilla is finally caught off balance after a strike from Cal causes her to stumble backward, and the two Jedi deactivate their lightsabers before thrusting their hands forwards. She widens her eyes in alarm before a powerful Force push slams her against the wall. Trilla cries out in pain as she collapses to the floor and loses her grip on her lightsaber, looking up to be faced by Cal's lightsabers pointed at her in a clear warning.
"Do it then," Trilla hisses angrily. "Finish it."
"No. You still have a choice, Trilla," Cal responds firmly.
"I know my actions have caused you so much pain," Cere tries to reason with her. "But I will never stop trying to make it up to you. Please, come with us!"
Trilla responds with a mocking laugh and gazes up at them, her eyes glowing an sickly yellow, in amusement and disdain.
"You just don't get it, do you?" she sneers. "No matter how much you think you can help me... you can't. I serve the Emperor now, and he has made certain that you can never influence me again."
Cal glances uneasily at Cere, who was gazing down at her fallen apprentice in sadness, tears threatening to well up in her eyes. Just then the sound of blaster fire farther down the corridor draws their attention away from Trilla to see the rest of the group running towards them, shooting down a few stormtroopers attempting to give chase.
"Cal, Cere, it's time to go!" Merrin calls out.
"Factory is ready to blow!" Boil adds for emphasis.
Before either of them could respond, Trilla jumps to her feet while pulling her lightsaber back into her hand, swinging her blade at Cal with a roar. He stumbles back with pained grunt as the very edge of her saber slightly grazes his hand. Cere brings up her lightsaber in response, but Trilla suddenly thrusts her hands forward and sends them both flying down the hall with a Force push, and they come to a stop right in front of their companions. The other four skid to a halt in surprise and Boil fires a few shots from his blaster, but Trilla deflects them with her lightsaber and tosses him away with another Force push.
"You may have succeeded in your mission, but you'll never make it out of this place alive!" Trilla taunts.
With a gleeful smirk on her face she swings her lightsaber through a control panel on the wall, causing the blast doors to slam shut. The rebels widen their eyes in alarm and rush toward the door, Cham pounding it once with his face.
"No!" he exclaims in frustration.
After shutting the blast doors on them Trilla wasted no time in sprinting through the facility, headed for the hangar. The alarms were blaring in response to the deadly problem, red lights flashing in every hallway. She raises her arm up to her head and starts to speak into her comlink.
"Captain Behvar, shut all of the blast doors on level 14!" she orders.
"Shut the doors? But Inquisitor, that would only hamper our efforts to―" Behvar responds incredulously.
"NOW! Or else I will have your head!" she threatens with a snarl.
"I- Y-yes, Inquisitor. At once!" he fearfully acknowledges.
Satisfied, Trilla ends the call and continues on her way, soon reaching the hangar. While officers, troopers, and other Imperial personnel were scrambling around in response to the clear problem going on, many trying to reach their stations so as to fix it before the base exploded, Trilla instead made her way up the ramp and into her shuttle. The pilot didn't bother asking questions, aware of the dangers that could bring to his personal wellbeing, and simply powers up the ship before lifting it up into the air, flying out of the hangar and into the sky.
After the door slammed shut, Cal and Cere stabbed their lightsabers through the steel and began to cut an outline as fast as possible. However, they soon realized things had become much worse when a new alarm rang out for a short second, followed by a series of doors all the way down the other end of the hallway closing up as well.
"No... no no!" Boil exclaims in alarm.
There was little they could do though before the doors had sealed shut. Cere and Cal pause in cutting through the door, warily pulling their lightsabers out at the new development.
"Are they trying to trap us in?" Numa asks worriedly.
"Those kriffers are trying to take us with 'em," Boil scowls.
"But you can just cut through the doors, problem solved," Numa says hopefully.
"No, that would take to long," he shakes his head in response. "They've shut down all of the blast doors on this level."
The others react with panicked expressions, and Cere looks over at Cham.
"How much time do we have?" she asks anxiously.
"Less than ten minutes, maximum," he replies.
"Dank ferrik," she scowls in bitter acknowledgement. "Boil's right. We can't cut through all the doors in time."
"Merrin, can you teleport us out?" Cham asks.
The Nightsister shakes in her in reply.
"I could, but I haven't regained enough energy yet to take another, much less five," she says defeatedly.
"Then how're we gonna get out of here?" Boil asks in frustration.
"Cal?" Cere asks, noticing he didn't seem focused.
As a matter of fact, Cal's attention throughout the entire conversation was diverted elsewhere. Once again he could feel a strange sensation through the Force, hearing that now-familiar howl echoing in his mind. Looking down towards the other end of the hallway, where it branches off into two smaller corridors on either side, Cal observes in silent surprise as a large creature with gray fur steps out into the open. It was the gray wolf again, but this time it wasn't just watching from a distance: somehow, he could sense that it was urging them to follow.
"There... that's our way out," Cal says, pointing at the wolf.
The other five members of the group look in the direction he was pointing and widen their eyes in astonishment, baffled by what they could clearly see.
"A wolf?!" Boil asks in surprise.
"How in the..." Cham murmurs, he and Numa in total bewilderment.
"Is that the―" Merrin cautiously asks Cal.
"―wolf I've been seeing?" he finishes her question. "I think so. I think we should follow it."
"Questions of where it came from aside... why would we do that?!" Cham skeptically demands.
"Just a feeling," Cal shrugs.
"Wh- are you serious?" he asks in disbelief.
The entire structure then starts to rattle a bit, a loud humming sound reverberating through the walls from the nearby reactor room, and sparks start spraying out from the walls while the lights flicker on and off. The wolf raises its head slightly, gazing intently at Cal, and then starts walking down the corridor to the right.
"Come on!" Cal urges, taking off at a run down the hallway.
"Well this is something," Boil remarks.
"This is insanity!" Cham argues.
"We don't have any better options," Cere points out.
Cham glances at her with narrowed eyes but sighs in begrudging agreement of her statement.
"Gobi, this is Cham. We won't be able to make it to the rendezvous in time," he says into his comlink.
"How will you make it out then?" Gobi asks anxiously.
"I'm not entirely sure, but we have an idea," Cham responds. "Don't wait for us."
After Cham finished his call with Gobi, the rest of the group swiftly follow Cal down the hallway, heading towards the intersection where they had first seen the wolf. Upon turning down the smaller corridor they come to a stop at seeing the metal wall of the Imperial base ending, where it's replaced with a small rocky tunnel. The wolf had stopped at the mouth of the cave, looking backward as if waiting for them to catch up. Once it saw them it lifted its large tail out to Cal, who looks at the wolf with a bit of confusion. The wolf continues gazing insistently at him though, and Cal quickly understands what it was implying.
"Okay... everyone, join hands," Cal says.
"And you thought Dathomir was strange?" Merrin asks him.
She nevertheless grabs Cal's hand and then takes Numa's hand next, who is followed by Boil, then Cham, and finally Cere at the end. Cal then grabs hold of the furry tail in front of him, and the wolf starts walking deeper into the cave.
"Are you sure about this, Cal?" Cere asks cautiously.
"No," he admits. "But I do trust the Force to lead us out."
A deep rumbling all around them causes the cavern to shake, dust falling from the ceiling while cracks spread out across the stone as the reactors reach their breaking point. But just as it seemed the base was going to explode and take them with it... they were no longer there.
A glowing blue tunnel appears in front of them, endless and swirling with mystical energy. Cal stared at the tunnel with wide eyes, seemingly entranced by the strangeness of it all, feeling as if he were soaring through the cosmos. The stars twinkled below him, each step seemingly taking him across galaxies.
He wasn't sure when he passed out.
Lothal - Outer Rim Territories
3rd person POV...
Matt Martin starts to climb a ladder leading towards a potential exit to the sewer system, Chopper right behind him. Being the only one from his squadron to escape the Empire he couldn't help but feel defeated and hopeless, especially after watching Hera get captured. His only chance of safety now is finding the rest of the Spectres and other resistance members. The only problem, however, is that he and Chopper had no clue of where their base was or how to find them. While reaching for the hatch above him, he tried to ignore the possible idea that they'll never be found.
"I hope this hatch isn't locked," he tells Chopper, reaching for the switch.
To his surprise the hatch suddenly opens, and Matt almost drops back down the ladder in alarm until Kanan appears at the edge, much to his relief.
"Come on, let's get you out of here," Kanan says.
"Kanan!" Matt replies joyfully.
Kanan helps Matt out of the tunnel while Chopper flies up with his jet thruster, glumly beeping to Kanan about what happened to Hera.
"I know she did, Chop. I know," Kanan says with a sigh.
"Kanan, I'm so sorry," Matt apologizes helplessly.
"It's alright Martin. There's nothing you could've done," he reassures him in response. "But there is something I can do."
They all hope onto Kanan's speeder bike and then take off down the highway, leaving the city behind. Unbeknownst to them they were being watched by the white loth-wolf, who stood silently in the middle of the road with an intense, otherworldly gaze, its focus entirely on Dume.
Temple Island, Ahch-To - Unknown Regions
Jarik POV...
After Mara came and told me that Hiccup and Snotlout were here I was surprised and confused, wondering what they could possibly be doing here at this hour. We then brought them down to the village and sat around the fire pit, which was currently lit to provide us with light, while Zenna, Toothless, and Hookfang lounged around the courtyard with a few fish to eat.
I listened in silence as Hiccup explained their current problem, with everyone else having been captured by Dragon Hunters during an attempt to rescue Stormfly. Once he was done explaining things he then asked Mara and I for help and I lift my chin up on my hands with a slight frown.
"I'm not so sure I can help you with this," I admit.
They all look at me in surprise and disappointment, Snotlout quickly growing frustrated by my response. Zenna and Toothless both pause in their eating to glance at us, sensing the fluttering emotions and feeling a bit concerned themselves.
"Are you kidding me?!" Snotlout exclaims.
"Why not?" Hiccup asks.
"Believe me, I would be happy to help you guys but I have to think about the repercussions for it," I explain apologetically. "It's bad enough that Dagur knows the location to this island, and I don't want to add the Dragon Hunters to that list. Besides, I do still have responsibilities to the Rebellion."
"You really think Dagur would come back after you beat the living yak dung out of him?" Snotlout demands.
"Well to be fair, we've done that too but he still keeps at it," Hiccup points out.
"Couldn't I go then?" Mara asks.
"Like I said, I'm worried that the Dragon Hunters might find this place too," I shake my head in response.
"Well, we wouldn't want that would we?" Snotlout scoffs sarcastically.
I throw an irritated look at him and he raises his hands placatingly.
"Hey, I'm just saying, I don't really see the problem since Dagur already knows," he says defensively.
"Yeah, Dad, he's probably already spread the word to someone, or he won't come back," Mara reasons. "But it's not like the Dragon Hunters know about us, and they can't exactly track our location either."
I look at the fire for a few moments and exhale deeply, still worried about it. I'm also seriously anxious to figure out the mystery of the wolf as soon as possible, which is a bit of a more selfish desire for myself.
"Look, I know you're worried about this island's safety, and I completely understand why," Hiccup starts to say. "But unless you have a special dragon species around here I doubt they would have any interest in this place."
I glance at him in acknowledgement of his argument before giving Mara a pointed stare.
"Unless they connect it to you," I tell her.
"Well, they don't have to know about that, do they?" she asks rhetorically.
I look down at the fire and ponder their arguments before sighing in resignation.
"Alright. You can go, Mara," I say, accepting her point.
"Thanks Dad!" she happily responds.
I nod my head in acknowledgement and get to my feet, glancing at the sky to see barely any light left at all.
"Well, it is late. I'd recommend you all get some rest before heading out on your rescue mission," I tell the three teenagers. "Won't do you any favors if you're exhausted in the middle of it."
THE NEXT DAY...
Ryker's ship - Ahch-To
3rd person POV...
It's been almost a day now since the dragon riders were captured, and since nothing exciting has happened. All they've been able to do is sit around in their cell to pace in anxiety, which Astrid did frequently while trying to come up with an escape plan. But nothing so far has come to mind.
"Dagur is here and Heather is with him?" Fishlegs was saying, still in a state of shock. "I don't believe it."
"Trusting her turned out to be a big mistake," Astrid replies bitterly, glaring out the bars of the cage.
"Yeah, who puts loyalty to their brother ahead of loyalty to their friends?" Ruffnut scoffs in disgust. "Right?"
"I heard that, sister!" Tuffnut retorts, rolling his eyes.
"The bigger question is who are these Dragon Hunters and what do they want with us?" Astrid says rhetorically.
"You're about to find out," Heather interrupts.
The group turn around to see Heather standing outside of their cage, battle-axe in hand, as a pair of guards unlocked the cell door. Heather marches in and approaches Astrid with a smirk on her face, shoving her out of the cell.
"Ryker wants to have a little chat with you," she says.
The two guards hold out their weapons to the other three to keep them back before closing the cage again, while Heather marches Astrid down the deck.
"You're lucky these guards are here or I'd take your head off," Astrid says angrily.
"You'd try," Heather scoffs.
"After everything we did for you, took you in, taught you to ride, saved your life more than once," she continues to say, glowering at her.
"And I thank you for all of that but I have to follow my destiny," Heather declares coldly.
"Betraying your friends and joining these Dragon Hunter scum?" Astrid asks incredulously.
"Hey. You don't know what it's like to be truly alone, Astrid," she scowls at her. "Dagur is my brother. I trust him with my life."
"You'll regret that," Astrid replies, smirking lightly. "Believe me."
"Says the Viking that puts her trust in witches," Heather sarcastically responds.
"This again?" she groans, rolling her eyes in frustration. "Mara is not a witch: she's a friend!"
"How can you say that?" Heather demands, a disgusted look on her face. "Those powers she uses, they aren't right! It's unnatural! You don't even understand what people like that are capable of!"
Astrid falters momentarily in her walk, glancing back at Heather with an intense gaze. She briefly recalls a few memories of her more 'remarkable' and 'first-hand' encounters with Force users and what she's witnessed: particularly the terrifying form of the Galactic Emperor, the demonic sight of him wielding blue fire still giving her the occasional nightmare.
"Trust me, I understand that more than you could ever imagine," Astrid murmurs, before her anger rises up again. "If Mara and her family ever meant us harm, they would've done so years ago!"
Heather shakes her head dismissively in response, moving past her to approach the door in front of them.
"Well, your loyalty to those freaks is admirable―misguided as it is―but if I were you, I'd be more worried about myself at the moment," she tells her, knocking on the door.
"Come," Ryker calls from inside.
"Ryker wants information and he can be very persuasive," Heather states.
She points her axe at Astrid to emphasize her point and then pushes the door open, gesturing for her to walk inside.
Resistance camp, Lothal - Outer Rim Territories
3rd person POV...
Kanan sat at the very edge of the tall-grass field in deep meditation, opening himself to the Force. It flowed strongly around him, filling him in both body and spirit. A part of him longed for nothing more than to grab his lightsaber, jump on a speeder bike, and go racing off to rescue Hera from the Empire. But he feel the Force telling him otherwise, helping him to understand that he cannot do what his heart desires, or else he would only end up losing everything.
'Wanna ride?'
'The Jedi Temple is in danger.'
'Kanan, you haven't gotten me a present since we first met.'
'You can learn what it truly means to be a Jedi.'
'You didn't prepare me for this.'
'Good luck out there.'
'Same to you, Kanan.'
Kanan opens his eyes, though it makes little difference in his ability to actually see. But once again the Force was there to help guide him, enabling him to see the world around him from a different perspective. He could see the loth-wolf hidden amongst the grass in front of him, see its yellow-eyed gaze peering directly into his soul, and even hear the faint echo of a howl. He thinks back on what Jarik taught him just before their departure, feeling in some way that his lesson will soon be more relevant than anything else ever before.
'–there is something the both of you should know.'
'And what would that be?'
'One of Master Yoda's final teachings.'
'There's something I need to tell you.'
'I know I can always count on you.'
He keeps silent, dwelling on his past and what he's learned in these last few years, and what may yet come to pass. What happens next will alter the fate of Lothal, that much is clear to him. He senses the loth-wolf start to move away, its presence soon vanishing entirely, while Ezra quietly walks up behind him.
"I need you to do something for me," Kanan says, turning his head slightly.
"Anything," Ezra replies.
"Take the lead on getting Hera back," he tells him.
Ezra pauses, a bit uneasy and caught off guard by the request.
"Shouldn't you be the one to do that?" he asks skeptically.
"I would, but I can't think clearly because of the way I feel about her," Kanan admits. "I might make a mistake. One that could cost us."
"We can do this together," Ezra insists.
"No," Kanan shakes his head in disagreement, standing up and turning to face him. "I'll be with you, but this has to be your plan. You lead."
"If that's what you want," Ezra tells him.
"It's what we need if we're going to save Hera... and everyone else," he replies softly.
Kanan turns back toward the grass field, his senses stretching out in the direction of the capital city where Hera is currently being held prisoner.
Imperial Complex, Capital City, Lothal - Outer Rim Territories
Thrawn POV...
Overall, I am quite pleased with how things have transpired lately. Shan's abilities have been secured as an ally for the coming war, the rebel presence on Lothal has all but been vanquished, the safety of the TIE Defender project has been assured, and Hera Syndulla is now a valuable captive. As such, it is only a matter of time before the prototype's are successfully completely, following which the Defender can be mass produced and distributed to the entire Imperial Navy, bringing about a swift and decisive victory for the Empire, and the end of the Rebellion.
In fairly high spirits, I make my way into Governor Pryce's 'office,' though I use that term rather loosely, as she has essentially transformed it into a torture chamber to use on prisoners, Syndulla being its current occupant. I glance over at the interrogation chair to see Syndulla receive along long burst of electrical shocks, causing her to scream in pain, all the while Pryce kept her finger on the button with a gleeful smirk on her face.
"Has she revealed the location of the rebel fleet?" I ask her.
"Oh, I haven't begun asking questions yet," Pryce responds offhandedly, administering another shock.
Well, at least most things are going well. I withhold myself from expressing my disappointment and annoyance with her ruthlessness and sadism, especially when she isn't even using those traits productively. I find it a bit of a waste, but it's only a minor inconvenience.
"Then allow me," I say, a nonverbal message for Pryce to hold off on the torture.
Syndulla pants heavily, each breath short and slightly pained, her skin still smoking slightly from the high voltage, but she still managed to send a fierce glare my way.
"I'll die before I tell you anything," she declares.
Defiant, of course, and clearly willing to endure the pain. As I would expect from someone of her character. So an alternative method of inflicting pain would be in order.
"I imagine you will, General. Like so many of your friends in the failed attack, and so much of your family back on Ryloth," I comment with a smile, holding up Syndulla's kalikori in one hand. "I wanted to ask you about your Kalikori. I like to know the deeper meanings of the pieces I collect. To me, they are not merely trophies, but symbols that truly represent some of my greatest adversaries."
"You don't need to know what it means, since I'll be taking it back!" she exclaims furiously.
"From my own analysis, I have determined that these shapes represent individuals important to you at some time in your life," I continue to say, dismissing her claims.
Syndulla falters at hearing my statement before quickly resuming her glare, though I spot her hesitation with a smile and begin approaching her.
"This design I found most interesting, for it seems to refer to a brother, one who died while he was still quite young," I tell her up close, watching as she turned away with a pained look in her eyes. "I imagine it is a bittersweet memory for you."
"You aren't worthy of holding that, let alone understanding it!" she weakly retorts, her fury partially subdued by grief.
"Of course. I do apologize," I reply with a smirk, further unbalancing her. "But I do feel compelled to add that while some, such as the Shan's for instance, seem able to endure through anything history sends their way, the legacy of your kalikori, I'm afraid, likely ends with you. A clear reminder that in spite of your 'will to be free,' you simply do not possess the capacity to endure."
Admittedly, I'm taking some amusement out of using Syndulla's own words―from our first encounter―against her, which she clearly recognizes but can do little more than glare in helpless anger and frustration as she knew I was right.
"You should take heart, General Syndulla, in knowing that this work of art is at least appreciated by its new owner," I state in finality, turning away from her. "Governor Pryce, I'll leave you to complete her interrogation."
With that being said I make my way out of Pryce's office, leaving her to continue with her 'interrogation.' Normally I would disapprove of such pointless torture, but without much of a threat left to the TIE Defender, and knowing that Syndulla would never give under the threat of physical pain, there's plenty of time for more effective questioning at a later date.
ISD Chimaera, Lothal - Outer Rim Territories
Upon my return to the Chimaera I was contacted by Grand Moff Tarkin, which was concerning. Tarkin rarely reached out himself unless it was something he considered to be of utmost importance, so I wasn't too keen on the conversation. However, upon the start of my communication with him it immediately became clear that my own work is now under threat in spite of what I originally believed, though this danger was unique in that it came from within the Empire's ranks, not outside of it. I listened intently with a small frown as Tarkin spoke, not pleased with what I was hearing.
"Your TIE Defender program is at risk," Tarkin was saying. "Orson Krennic has been quite persuasive about diverting the funding to his own project: Stardust."
"The Emperor has assured me that he supports my project," I protest, unable to withhold some of my frustration.
"In my view Director Krennic's project has been nothing but expenses and excuses for years on end," he responds, rolling his eyes in disgust. "If construction of the Defender is to continue, you must make your case directly to the Emperor himself. I have already arranged the meeting."
I let out a deep sigh of frustration, but acknowledge the Grand Moff with a nod.
"I'll leave immediately, Moff Tarkin," I inform him.
He nods as well before ending the transmission. I then stand from my chair and press a button on my desk to open communications with the bridge.
"Commodore Faro, inform Governor Pryce I'm departing for Coruscant. As soon as you have your course, make the jump into hyperspace," I tell her.
"Of course, sir," she replies dutifully.
I end the call and cross my arms behind my back, staring at nothing in particular with a tense gaze, my eyes narrowed in frustration. Things were going so well for me as of late... but of course I should never expect anything to be so easy.
Despite the Emperor's assurance that he supports my project, I'm almost certain that his doubt of me as of late has led him to resume his pursuit of 'Stardust,' which he craves greatly. And while I can see the value in such a weapon, particularly against opposing vessels such as the Dreadnaught, it is still not foolproof, as it lacks the maneuverability and tactical advantage provided by the TIE Defender. If my plans are to succeed then I have to submit a successful case to the Emperor, though I do not trust Governor Pryce with safeguarding the factories here: not after her failure over Atollon.
With this in mind, I open another comm channel to one of my agents, all the while feeling a slight tremble around the room as an indicator that the Chimaera was moving forward in preparation for hyperspace. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for my message request to be received, and the holographic image of a woman with tan skin and brown hair, garbed in a red and black cloak, appears in front of me.
"Yes, Grand Admiral?" she says.
"I find myself in need of your assistance, Morgan," I respond, getting straight to the point.
"Your wish is my command, sir," she replies dutifully.
"I am, at the moment, currently on route to Coruscant on an order of business with the Emperor," I inform her. "During my absence, I would greatly appreciate it if you would be willing to continue overseeing my TIE Defender project."
"I understand, sir. I will depart for Lothal immediately," Morgan assures me.
"You have my thanks, Morgan," I tell her, inclining my head.
She nods back to me in acknowledgement before her holograms vanishes, leaving me just a little more assured in the security of the Defender. Elsbeth has been a great asset in providing the resources needed for me to begin the TIE Defender project, as well as formulate a base design of the starfighter, of which I have since improved upon.
Ryker's ship, Ahch-To - Unknown Regions
3rd person POV...
After being taken to an empty room in the ship, the dragon riders looked on in cold anger as Ryker stepped inside. Dagur and Heather flanked him on either side, all three of them staring at the riders with varying forms of amusement or satisfaction.
"I am Ryker. This is my ship. You are my prisoners. And your dragons are now my dragons," Ryker declares fiercely.
"And how they get treated is entirely up to you!" Dagur mocks them with glee.
The three of them then turn around and start walking down the hallway while the dragon riders share partially confused glances. They're shoved after them by the guards and reluctantly begin walking. In the cell deck they first saw Meatlug chained inside of a cage where she was being forcefully fed an assortment of rocks and minerals.
"Meatlug!" Fishlegs cries out.
Meatlug looks over at the sound of his voice, but the Hunter yanks on her chain to bring her head back towards the metal pot, which was being filled with molten rock.
"This Gronckle is being very helpful," Ryker states.
"Her name is Meatlug," Fishlegs growls furiously.
"I don't care," he dismissively responds. "All I care is that it makes me metal, all day and all night."
The Hunter shoved another shovelful of rock into Meatlug's mouth, which she chews up in clear exhaustion before spitting out more magma into the pot. Fishlegs watches helplessly, but they're soon shoved forward to the next cage. Inside, a pair of Hunters intentionally keep antagonizing Stormfly, who was chained to the wall, by swinging an axe at her. Stormfly snarls and fires several spikes from her tail, which the other hunter collects by blocking them with a shield.
"Hm, perfect. Razor sharp tips for our spears and ballistas," Ryker remarks, casually catching a spike that was flung at him.
"You can't do that to her!" Astrid protests angrily.
Ryker whirls around and threateningly jabs the Nadder spike at her, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, I can. And I will," he states coldly.
He then walks off, leaving Astrid to growl in frustration. They're shoved onward to the next cage, and Tuffnut ducks with a startled yelp as a Nadder spike flies over his head.
"Poor Barf and Belch. What torture are they enduring?" Ruffnut asks nervously.
Dagur and Heather bypass the twins, the former giving them a devious grin.
"I can't look. Because my hands are over my eyes," Tuffnut exclaims.
He then peeks out from under his hands and grins in pleasant surprise. Barf and Belch looked as if they were in dragon heaven; a pair of Hunters were feeding them large amounts of fish while also rubbing fish oil across their hide, giving their scales a glimmering shine.
"Well, this is more like it!" Tuffnut says in approval. "Someone recognizes quality."
"He likes the fish," one of the Hunters murmurs quietly, a bit annoyed with his job.
"Hey, rub me down with some of that grease. I'm feeling dry," Ruffnut says eagerly.
The Hunter glances at her in bewilderment, even more annoyed, and Astrid angrily pulls Ruffnut away from the cage.
"This hide'll fetch top prices in the Northern Markets," Ryker states.
Tuffnut holds a hand to his chin thoughtfully, nodding in agreement.
"Sure. It's soft and supple, the color... Oh, the col―" Tuffnut falters mid sentence, realizing the implication of the statement. "Wait. What?"
Dagur walks up behind the two with a wide smirk of glee on his face.
"Ooh, Zippleback boots. I always wanted a pair," he jeers at him.
Tuffnut steps back with an angry scowl on his face, matching the rest of the dragon rider's expressions as they glared at their captors.
"This is what faces all your dragons," Ryker says, grabbing the cup of oil and holding it out to them with a mocking smile. "Of course, they could get better treatment."
"Don't just leave me hanging. How?" Ruffnut whines anxiously.
Ryker's smile immediately changes into an intense scowl and he throws the cup on the floor with a grunt, startling even Dagur and Heather. The Dragon Hunter storms up to the dragon riders with barely contained fury and glares at them.
"Start giving me some real answers! Tell me what you know about the Dragon Eye!" he demands furiously. "Exactly how many riders guard your base? A dozen? A hundred, maybe?"
He pauses for a moment, raising an eyebrow at them.
"...or perhaps, the Jedi?" he says knowingly.
The dragon riders all widen their eyes in shock and take a wary step backward, stunned by what he said. Heather also glances at Ryker, expressing a faint look of surprise before immediately shrugging it off and resumes glaring at the group. Ryker takes notice of the dragon riders reaction and chuckles at them with a knowing smile.
"Yes, I know about the Jedi," he tells them smugly. "A man, a girl, and an alien... or, perhaps, they no longer have the alien?"
He gives them a look of mock sympathy, prompting an immediate response. The dragon riders all glare at Ryker with newfound hatred, and Astrid takes a step forward with her hands balled up into fists, trembling slightly with anger.
"You just keep talking, Ryker," she growls. "You'll be very sorry when it bites you in the back."
"Oh I'm sure I will. But I've known about the Jedi for quite a long time now," Ryker dismisses her threat and looks back at the Hunters with Barf and Belch. "Keep fattening this one up. More to sell."
Ruffnut then lunges forward and desperately clings onto one of the guards. He glances down at her in surprise and bewilderment, unsure of what to do.
"Please! Please, don't hurt our dragon. I'll do anything!" Ruffnut pleads desperately.
"Then tell me what I want to know!" Ryker demands.
"Come on!" she whimpers, slowly sliding down to the floor.
"Ruff. Stop. Thorstons don't beg!" Tuffnut states firmly, though he then pauses in uncertainty. "Except for food, or money, or housing. Or any other thing that we need. Hmm, you know what? This isn't a good argument."
While he was rambling on Ruffnut kept sliding lower and lower to the ground, all while the Hunter gaped at her incredulously. Unbeknownst to him, however, she managed to pluck something from his belt.
"You want to save your dragon? Then give me some information," Ryker tells Ruffnut.
Ruffnut then gets to her feet with a scowl, her pleading expression completely wiped from her face as if it was never there, and marches back to the rest of the group.
"No, never!" she tells Ryker, rejoining the other riders. "Sorry. Lost my head there for a second."
"Interesting. Something you and your dragon may soon have in common," Ryker comments. "Get them out of my sight!"
Mara POV...
After departing from Temple Island, Hiccup began to lead us in a specific direction across the ocean. He hasn't yet explained his plan to us, so I'm not sure what he's looking for, but he's assured us that it's a good one. Since he more often than not has a good judgement in that regard I don't ask for now, but I am really curious as to what he's thinking. We've been traveling for some time now, looking for a specific island.
"Is that the island we're going to?" Snotlout asks.
A large gathering of several small rocky islands starts passing below us, some bigger than others, all of them together stretching across a distance of several miles. Hiccup continues to stare straight ahead throughout Snotlout's questioning, growing visibly annoyed by it.
"No," he states.
"How about that one?" Snotlout asks, pointing to another.
"Also no," he says again.
I roll my eyes in exasperation, having since now come to recognize how they always bicker with each other every time they're faced with a scenario that requires them to both work together.
"That one?" Snotlout asks again, a bit more hesitant.
"For the last time―" Hiccup starts to shout before suddenly pausing. "Oh, yeah, that's exactly the one. My bad."
As we start moving down towards the island I take a second to amuse myself, directing Zenna to pull up beside Hiccup and Toothless.
"You get so used to falling into that rhythm, huh?" I ask with a grin.
"Are you sympathizing with me, or being critical?" he questions, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"A little bit of both," I admit.
He sighs in exasperation, looking forward again while I continue smiling in amusement. I catch sight of Snotlout staring at me with clear annoyance, and I wave a hand at him dismissively. Our dragons touch down on the island's beach and I take a moment to look around, a bit confused about what makes this island special in the first place. Hiccup dismounts Toothless and takes a few steps forward as Snotlout makes note of something that I didn't recognize.
"Hiccup, I recognize these holes. Why didn't you tell me we were going to an island of Whispering Death's?" he questions warily.
"Because I knew you would react exactly like this," Hiccup replies.
"Whispering Deaths?" I ask, a bit surprised. "What do you need them for?"
"Good question, Mara!" he says more enthusiastically. "You see, it's not the Whispering Death's that we're here for. Somebody else lives here, too."
Snotlout and I share a momentarily confused look with each other―an extremely rare moment―before I realize with some trepidation of what Hiccup was referring to. Before I could say anything, however, Zenna and Toothless seem to perk up and turn their heads to look in the same direction, both releasing a few soft growls and twitching anxiously. I reach down to pat Zenna's neck soothingly, concerned about what's got her attention.
"Zenna? You alright, girl?" I ask her.
Likewise, Hiccup also notices his dragon's behavior and approaches him, holding his head gently.
"What's the matter, bud?" he asks.
"Are your dragons afraid of something?" Snotlout asks, looking at us weirdly.
"Why don't you ask Hookfang what's wrong?" I point out.
"What're you talking about? Hookfang isn't bothered," he states with a frown.
I'm about to offer another retort before realizing he was right: Hookfang wasn't acting the same way as Toothless and Zenna were, so it must be because of something... oh, wait, maybe it's the Force? Realizing this I start to focus more on my senses and follow the two dragons gaze, also noticing a strange pull from the Force now that I'm paying attention: looking over at the far end of the beach, probably somewhere around a hundred meters away from us, stood a large black wolf. I raise an eyebrow in surprise, having never before seen a wolf on Ahch-To, and another low growl from Zenna and Toothless confirms that they saw it too.
"Guys, look," I say, pointing it out to the others.
Hiccup and Snotlout look the direction I was pointing and do a double take, spotting the wolf too. Hookfang also finally spots the wolf and releases a short and uneasy growl, narrowing his eyes at it.
"What the...?" Hiccup murmurs, baffled.
"A wolf?" Snotlout asks incredulously, bewildered and also slightly uneasy. "Since when were wolves in the archipelago? And is it just me, or is that wolf really big?"
"I... don't know," Hiccup replies.
"Don't know? I thought you said we came here for something other than a Whispering Death," he says irritably. "That's something!"
"But not what I meant!" he groans in exasperation. "Mara, do you know anything about this?"
To be honest, I wasn't even listening very much to their conversation, mostly transfixed by the wolf which, oddly enough, seemed to be staring directly at me with purposeful intent. It's blue eyes were fixed on me in piercing gaze, as if it was trying to convey something to me.
"...Mara?" Hiccup's voice cuts through my thoughts.
I spare a brief glance down at him, seeing he had taken a step closer to Zenna to look up at me, a bit confused and worried. I don't answer him though and return to staring at the wolf, frowning deeply to try and understand it. Zenna and Toothless were still completely tense, growling softly in their throats: they aren't exactly hostile, but they didn't trust the wolf's presence either, so I'm not sure what to think.
The wolf suddenly lifts its head up slightly, seemingly distracted by something else. At that moment, the ground begins to shake violently, as if due to an earthquake, and a massive pure-white variant of a Whispering Death explodes out of the ground and flies into the air, its huge bulk blocking out the sun. I almost jump off the saddle in surprise, Zenna not faring much better from how she squawked in alarm, flapping her wings a couple of times before roaring at the large dragon, which releases a furious scream in return.
"Oh, the Screaming Death?!" Snotlout exclaims, both angry and nervous. "Why don't we wave him over and have him kill us?"
"Would you just relax?" Hiccup scolds him. "When he gets closer, he'll recognize us and calm down... I hope."
"That's reassuring," I say skeptically. "Hiccup, I'm gonna have to go with Snotlout on this one."
Snotlout nods his head enthusiastically, pointing his finger at me in furious agreement.
"Yes! Exactly! Even Mara agrees with me!" he yells at Hiccup. "Why not just have the― wait, where'd the wolf go?"
Surprised, I glance back down at where the wolf was standing only to see that it was no longer there: somehow, it just vanished without any of us realizing.
"It probably ran off," Hiccup replies dismissively.
"Hmm, I wonder why? Not like there's a Screaming Death about to kill us or anything!" Snotlout sarcastically retorts. "Oh my Thor, Hiccup! This guy hates us. Let's get out of here!"
"Have you forgotten? We reunited him with his mother," he argues.
"I don't remember us actually interacting with him, Hiccup!" I recall uneasily.
The Screaming Death releases an ear-shattering roar and then charges forward, and I widen my eyes in alarm. Like I expect, I can't sense anything but furious bloodlust from the dragon, which is most definitely determined to kill us.
"Yep, he doesn't remember!" I call out. "Scram!"
Taking my word for it, Hiccup panics and jumps onto Toothless, and we all take off into the air just as the Screaming Death reached our position, chomping down on the spot we had stood just moments before. I glance backward to see it twist upward and give chase, roaring angrily.
"Come on, bud. Faster!" Hiccup tells Toothless.
"Or maybe he does remember what we did and he just has a lousy relationship with his mom!" Snotlout shouts.
"No, he just doesn't remember!" I tell him.
"That was rhetorical!" he screams angrily.
"Head for those clouds," Hiccup calls out, pointing ahead of us. "As soon as we enter, bank right."
Our dragons put on a burst of speed to avoid another attempted bite of the Screaming Death and we direct them over to the clouds, swiftly disappearing through them. We immediately turn right after going through and stop to hover in place, watching as the Screaming Death bursts through the cloud layer nearby. It looks around for a moment, angry and confused, before taking off in a different direction with a roar, much to my relief.
"That was intense," I sigh, and Zenna chirps in agreement.
"The plan is, wait till he tires himself out then head home, right?" Snotlout asks Hiccup hopefully.
"Nope. We're going back down there," he responds, and I raise an eyebrow at him. "There's something in those tunnels we need."
He and Toothless then make their way back down to the island, and Snotlout groans in disbelief.
"Why can't you ever say yes?" he complains.
"He's Hiccup, what do you expect?" I remind him.
With that being said I spur Zenna on to follow after them, sensing as Snotlout and Hookfang begrudgingly do the same. We all fly down into the tunnel that the Screaming Death had burst out of and start zooming through the massive tunnels. Zenna burns a low amount of fire in her mouth while Hookfang sets his body ablaze to provide us with light in the darkness. I'm not sure what Hiccup was looking for yet, but I'm sure it'll be something good.
"Did the Screaming Death look even bigger to you?" Snotlout asks us.
"That's what I was counting on," Hiccup replies.
"Oh, really? Thanks for letting me know," he retorts irritably.
"Why are you excited about it being bigger?" I ask in confusion.
"Because if he grew that means he had to molt," he explains. "And if he shed his skin, there should be old scales around here somewhere. Like those!"
Hiccup directs Toothless down for a landing on the cave floor, and the rest of us do the same. Dismounting our dragons we approach a pile of white dragon scales, and I raise an eyebrow at the sight of them.
"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I think your thinking is the worst plan ever," Snotlout states.
"Well, I disagree," Hiccup replies, picking up a large scale.
"Screaming Death armor?" I say in realization.
"You read my mind," he confirms with a nod.
"You know what, Hiccup, I stand corrected," Snotlout continues. "There was that whole 'let Meatlug get captured' idea. That was genius. Really brilliant. A work of art."
"Well how was I supposed to know they knew Gronckles are immune?" Hiccup demands.
"I don't know, how about the fact that they're dragon hunters?!" he shouts back.
"Are you guys going to keep bickering like this every time you're stuck in a predicament with each other?" I interrupt them with a sigh of exasperation. "How are you two even cousins?"
"That's the question I ask every day!" Snotlout scoffs.
Hiccup rolls his eyes and shoves the scale he was holding into Snotlout's arms.
"Come on. Let's get to work," he states firmly. "We probably have an hour or two before the Screaming Death―"
A loud roar from the Screaming Death suddenly echoes through the tunnel, cutting him off mid-sentence. We look up uneasily while the dragons tense up and growl with anxious anticipation.
"Hiccup, stop acting like you're friends!" Snotlout exclaims. "You don't know this dragon and he clearly doesn't know you."
"Toothless and I will draw his fire," he replies, tossing more scales to him. "You and Mara try to make it outta here with as many scales as you can carry."
He takes off running for Toothless but only makes it a few steps before the Screaming Death comes slithering through the tunnel, almost completely filling its diameter. The three of us step back in surprise and the dragons whirls around to face it, snarling defiantly at it. The Screaming Death roars at us and I reach for my lightsaber, hovering a hand over it in anticipation.
"I think you seriously overestimated our chances, Hiccup," I say dryly.
"No kidding!" Snotlout readily agrees.
Hiccup sighs irritably, and the Screaming Death pulls back with another fierce roar, its mouth starting to glow orange. Snotlout laughs fearfully and covers his head with a scale.
"We're gonna die," he says.
I pull out my lightsaber and ignite the glowing blue blade, also readying myself to use the Force as well, though I don't like my chances of actually blocking this dragon's fire. Just as it was about to shoot, however, a regular Whispering Death appeared from a tunnel beside us and screeched at the Screaming Death, halting it in its tracks. The Screaming Death pauses, almost confused, and growls back in frustration. The Whispering Death just roars even more fiercely, and to my surprise it backs down and starts moving off, soon disappearing down the tunnel.
"What just happened? Did we die?" Snotlout asks nervously, lowering the scale.
"The Screaming Death didn't remember us, but it looks like his mother did," Hiccup says with relief.
The Whispering Death looks over at us and lowers her head to meet Hiccup, who walked forward and held out a hand to it. I let out an exasperated, but also hugely relieved sigh and turn off my lightsaber.
"We are so lucky," I state in dry amusement. "Every single time."
"Oh really?" Snotlout replies sarcastically.
"Okay, we're good," Hiccup says, his hand placed on the dragon's snout. "Now get those scales together, fast!"
3rd person POV...
Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut were shoved none-to-gently up on the main deck by several hunters. They glared defiantly up at the quarterdeck where Ryker and Dagur both stood, the two gazing right back down with deep frowns on their faces.
"Did I, or did I not warn you about them? They never quit. Annoying!" Dagur tells Ryker, clenching his teeth in frustration.
Fishlegs glances back in disappointment to see Astrid being marched over to them by Heather, who held her axe up on one shoulder in clear satisfaction. Astrid was holding her elbow, slightly out of pain but more so from immense disappointment and embarrassment at having been beaten in the fight. Heather continues on her way to join the other two on the quarterdeck, and Dagur starts vying for Ryker's attention, the latter of whom is staring down at the dragon riders with an irritated scowl.
"Ryker, Rykey, Ryker-man. Can we please just work together on this?" Dagur asks with barely contained patience. "You know dragons. I know Dragon Riders."
"And?" Ryker questions.
"Send a message. Throw one over the side," he states, falling into a fit of wild giggling. "It'll be so fun. Ooh!"
"An excellent idea," Heather adds in. "Unless, of course, you think Viggo might want to question them personally about both the Dragon Eye, and the Jedi?"
Astrid glances down at the wooden deck upon hearing the name, pondering what she was just recently told and the mystery behind this 'Viggo.' She briefly meets Fishlegs' gaze, the latter of which being a bit confused and surprised at the idea of another man in charge. Dagur on the other hand leans around Ryker to give Heather a baffled and extremely irritated glare.
Upon hearing Heather's statement, Ryker's small grin vanished and was replaced by a frown. He glances at Heather with narrowed eyes, suddenly suspicious.
"I have a better idea. Why not put them to work?" Heather continues to say.
"I'd prefer to go overboard," Tuffnut raises a hand in protest.
"Uh-huh," Ruffnut nods in agreement.
"Split them up so they can't plot any more escapes," Heather suggests, and Ryker holds a hand to his chin in thought. "And make them serve you, as their dragons do."
"You know? I like that idea," Ryker says with a smile. "Put 'em to work! But the next one who tries to escape goes over the side!"
The four dragon riders were quickly ushered off by the guards, and Ryker turns to Dagur with a grin on his face.
"Well, it's obvious who got the brains in your family, eh?" he remarks, smacking his shoulder.
He heads into his cabin, chuckling in amusement, and Dagur offers a weak laugh in return before dropping the act and glaring at Heather once he was gone.
"What was that all about, sis?" he demands angrily.
"I was protecting you, brother," she responds. "From what you told me about him, I doubt Viggo takes kindly to losing valuable property. If anything happens to the riders, let Ryker be on the hook for it, not you."
Dagur stares at her for a moment before grinning.
"You are my sister, aren't you?" he remarks, giving her a hug.
LATER...
While sweeping the deck with her broom, Astrid tries to think more about what she's recently learned about the Dragon Hunters, particularly this 'Viggo' person and how they could've known about Mara, Jarik, and Ahsoka: Dagur never knew about Ahsoka, so they couldn't have learned it from him. However, she was constantly distracted by Tuffnut who, standing casually with his arm leaning on his broom, kept pestering her about how she could've lost to Heather. Feeling his judgmental gaze on her she grits her teeth with barely contained irritation and turns to glare at him.
"How do you not get that having an axe is a huge advantage in a fight?" she demands.
"It isn't if you have a lightsaber," Tuffnut replies dismissively.
"I didn't have a lightsaber!" Astrid seethes in aggravation, smacking her broom against the deck. "Or a sword, or a crossbow!"
"Oh so now we're getting hypothetical? I bet you didn't have eyes that could shoot fire either," he scoffs, chuckling at himself. "I mean, you could always ask that Sabine chick for a flamethrower."
Astrid growls and prepares to hit him over the head with the broom when the Dragon Hunters start calling out a warning. Three dragons could be seen approaching from the sky, along with the people riding them.
"Dragons sighted off the starboard bow! With riders!" a Hunter calls out.
"It's Hiccup and Snot-hat," Dagur says with recognition, smirking at the sight of the third dragon. "And they've brought little-miss Jade!"
"One of the Jedi?" Ryker questions.
"Yes. She travels with the Riders often," Heather confirms.
Ryker grunts in acknowledgement and looks at his men.
"Stand by catapults. Archers at the ready," he calls out, ordering them into their positions. "Wait till they're in range."
Mara POV...
From our vantage point in the air I could see five ships, the lead vessel being the largest and most prominent one. I could sense that they're also now alerted to our presence and were scrambling to their defenses. Zenna squawks with a bit of urgency, worried about her mother, and I pat her neck reassuringly.
"I know Zenna, we'll get Stormfly out of there," I tell her gently.
"And everybody else," Hiccup adds confidently.
"Hiccup, as far as worst plans go, this has to be, by far, your best worst plan ever," Snotlout states dryly.
"Uh, I'll take that as a compliment," he replies in exasperation.
With that being said we start moving in with a diving run, gaining speed and momentum with each second. Toothless releases his signature high-pitched shriek as we swoop past the ship and the Hunters start to fire a volley of arrows at us. I observe their trajectory as a precaution, satisfied upon sensing that our dragon's Screaming Death armor was strong enough to repel any of their arrows, which is proven true moments later when they bounce off the white scales.
"Yeah, as long as it doesn't fall off we're good!" I inform the others.
"Finally, some good news," Snotlout exclaims joyfully. "Time to do some damage!"
He and Hookfang turn around and make a run for the main ship, so we also turn and follow him in a charge. We deliver a fierce strike of fire blasts to take out a pair of miniature ballista. We swing around for another run, Hiccup and Snotlout both firing at what looks to be the guy in charge though someone manages to push him out of the way. Zenna whips out her tail and releases a few spikes which zip around to cut through the bows of several archers, leaving them stunned. Meanwhile, Hookfang fires a blast to take out a pair of Hunters that were attempting to blinside Astrid and Tuffnut while Toothless shoots and plasma blast against the side of the ship, shaking it slightly.
After a few passes over several of the ships we pull back to recuperate for our next bombing run, soaring out of the archer's range. Snotlout glances over at Hiccup and Toothless, however, groaning when he spots a few pieces of armor on Toothless' foreleg hanging loose.
"Your armor's loose! I knew I should have used a lock stitch, not a cross stitch. Stupid, Snotlout, stupid!" he berates himself, smacking his head with a groan. "Oh, mom's gonna be so disappointed in me."
"Let's hope it holds," Hiccup replies. "Now, take out those two support ships."
"I'll get the archers," I add.
We swoop back down to begin our next attack and I have Zenna fire a few shots at the archers on top of the main deck, knocking them down with the small bursts. A couple of arrows bounce off of Zenna's side, and I glance back to see one of the arrow turrets as being the cause. I direct Zenna around for a rush at him and she flings out a few more spikes, all of them striking the turret dead center and breaking it apart in a shower of splinters while the Hunter falls back on the ground.
"Men! Concentrate all fire on the Night Fury!" I hear someone shout.
I look over to see Hiccup and Toothless ducking and weaving around a nonstop barrage of arrows, the cause being that some of their armor had fallen off. I get Zenna to turn around and head over in their direction, vaguely noticing Snotlout doing the same. Zenna swoops around the front of the ship and toward where they were hovering, and I get up in a crouch on her saddle, balancing myself with a determined gaze. Timing it correctly I then leap off of Zenna and flip through the air, hitting several arrows headed for Toothless out of the sky with a subtle use of the Force and land on the balcony above the big guy with a goatee. He whirls around in bewilderment, startled by my sudden appearance, and I throw him a grin.
"How's it going?" I say casually.
I jump down to kick him in the face before rushing to jump off the ship and back to Zenna: at least that is what I had planned. I'm caught off guard when the man reacts a lot faster and more skillfully than I had expected by sidestepping my kick and then throwing his foot out to kick me in the side. I stumble away from him with a slightly pained grunt, more surprised than anything, and look up to see him whip out a large sword and glare at me.
"You must be the one called Jade," he states fiercely. "I've heard much about you, Jedi."
I blink a few times in surprise before leveling him with a glare, a lot more suspicious and wary of him now than I was seconds ago.
"Well I have heard nothing about you," I retort.
"You'll learn soon enough," he coolly responds.
He charges at me with a roar, but I thrust out my hands to throw him back with a Force push and then jump high into the air, grabbing the straps of Zenna's saddle as she swoops by. I pull myself up into the saddle and look back to see the man glaring angrily at me. Just then the hatch to the lower deck bursts open, allowing Stormfly and Astrid to fly out and into the sky.
"I told you, you were messing with the wrong Viking!" Astrid shouts at the man.
Zenna squawks joyfully at seeing Stormfly, a feeling which was readily returned by the older Nadder. I smile in relief at seeing them freed, and the other captured dragons and dragon riders soon follow; Fishlegs and Meatlug ram into a pair of Hunters on their way out while Barf and Belch and the Twins joyfully blast their way out with a cloud of explosive Zippleback gas, leaving a good portion of the ship in flames. With everyone now free and accounted for, Hiccup, Snotlout and I turn away from our attacks against the Dragon Hunters and regroup with the others to start heading back to Dragon's Edge.
"Did I see Dagur on that ship?" Hiccup asks Astrid. "Is he with the Dragon Hunters?"
"Wait, seriously?" I say in surprise. "Since when was Dagur paired up with those guys?"
"Dagur's not the only one with them!" Ruffnut shouts, she and Tuffnut grinning.
"Hiccup, Mara, we have a lot to talk about," Astrid sighs anxiously.
I could sense that she's particularly disturbed by something. I furrow my brow with a suspicious frown, contemplating what it could possibly be. It's probably the fact that the Hunters know about me, and the fact that I'm a Jedi, though with Dagur being there that explains why.
"Apparently that guy back there knew I was a Jedi. Is that it?" I ask her.
"It's not just that," Astrid shakes her head in response, looking at me worriedly. "Mara... he knows about your mother."
My heart nearly stops just then and I freeze to gape at her in shock. I try to say something but fumble with my words and only remain speechless instead. I swallow down a lump of emotion that formed in my throat, feeling my heart pounding furiously in my chest at the statement and memories start flooding back into my mind.
The Dragon Hunters... know about my Mom? They know about Ahsoka? H-how?!
Temple Island - Ahch-To
Jarik POV...
Within the Jedi temple I sat down before the mosaic in a meditative position. I bring out the hilt of my lightsaber and the remains of Ahsoka's lightsaber, setting the pieces down in front of me. I then take out my two kyber crystals, which emit a soft blue and green glow, and set them beside the broken sabers. resting my hands on my knees and taking a deep breath I close my eyes and open myself to the Force.
I start manipulating the pieces of Ahsoka's lightsaber and try to bring them together, frowning deeply at sensing so much to be off with it. No matter which way I tried there just didn't seem to be any way of reconnecting the hilt through my knowledge alone, not without new pieces: there's just far too much damage done from when Megatron destroyed it with his cannon. The green kyber crystal also feels a bit weak still, has been ever since the saber was destroyed, and isn't acknowledging what I'm trying to accomplish. With a frustrated sigh in defeat I open my eyes and release my influence with the Force, letting the pieces fall back to the floor.
The green and blue kyber crystals emit only a very faint glow, much dimmer than the normal amount they have in the past. My lightsaber sat beside the blue crystal, the gash along the handle giving way to a cold and empty chamber inside, while the shattered remains of Ahsoka's lightsaber littered the area around the green crystal as if they were discarded trash, which wasn't very far off at this point.
I stare down at the items in front of me with a gloomy expression. A thought coming to mind, I take both kyber crystals and move them closer together, in between the two sabers. Their glow gets a bit brighter and more white in color, and I take some comfort in the soothing feeling it gives me. However, just then the strangest and most unnerving things of all happens: both kyber crystals go dark. I blink in surprise at seeing them suddenly stop emitting any light, and the comforting presence of the crystals that has been a constant feeling for the last twenty-five years just just vanishes.
"What...?" I murmur in surprise.
I quickly stretch out towards the crystals with my mind and begin probing them with the Force but they're just entirely empty of any form of Force energy whatsoever, as if they nothing more than any common pebble you'd find on the ground.
"Don't... don't do this to me..." I growl angrily.
Frustrated and starting to panic I pick up the crystals into my hand and try to direct a bit of Force energy to them. It doesn't work though as there's nothing for me to sense. The crystals are just... dead.
"...DUME..."
I lift my head up at the sound of the wolf's voice and jump to my feet in surprise at suddenly finding myself in a completely different place: it looks like I'm standing on top of a giant pod of fuel in an Imperial factory. The sky is dark and obscured by pollution and lights from the city. I then hear the sound of an AT-AT walker firing its blaster cannons nearby, and whirl around just in time to see a pair of red laser bolts strike the pod.
'I know what to say now.'
An explosion of bright orange fire illuminates the night. I almost leap into the air out of surprise when a man jumps right past me and rushes toward the wave of fire blasting over the edge of the fuel pod. There was no hesitation in the man as he places himself in its path with his arms out.
'Must be the truth serum talking.'
He stood defiantly against the flames, his hands shaking with exertion as the blaze sought to expand outward with angry intent, unrelenting in its effort.
'No. It's me.'
He held one arm out in the other direction, and I somehow know it's to keep someone from approaching him, and turns his head around. I let out a surprised gasp at recognizing Kanan to be the man before me, much of his hair having been cut off and his beard completely shaved. For just a brief moment it seems as though Kanan makes eye contact with me despite being blind, and in a way I can't explain we acknowledge one another's presence.
The Force is with him...
'All me.'
I look behind me to see that Kanan was preventing Hera from coming any closer, even though she was clearly distraught and is desperately trying to reach him. She's then thrown back to an Imperial gunship behind her and is caught by Ezra, who is dressed up in a TIE pilot outfit. I slowly return my gaze to Kanan, watching him use the Force to hold the explosion at bay, though he's no longer focused on me―if he was at all, I'm not entirely sure―and a single tear starts rolling down my face in growing realization.
Then... Kanan's vision is clear.
Stunned into silence I look on in shock as his eyes are healed: for the first time in years he could see again, and I can tell that the first thing he's seeking out is the face of the woman he loved with all of his heart. Kanan's sole focus was on saving his friends and his greatest love. Nothing else matters to him.
The Force is with him...
'I love you.'
Kanan closes his eyes, picturing her in his mind before blowing them all away to safety, smiling in content as he let the flames consume him. The roaring blaze of fury surges forward without mercy and then overtakes me as well, filling my vision with blinding orange-white light to the point that it hurts. I start to drift off, unaware of what I'm feeling around me, only that it's a sea of nothingness... no, not completely nothing. A wisp of light seems to rise up from the darkness below and into the bright heavens above.
The Force is with him...
'KANAN!'
...and he is one with the Force.
Author's Note: So... it finally happened. All that needs to be said is that Kanan Jarrus was a fantastic character, and a wonderful addition to the Star Wars universe.
Now we're entering the next phase of this story. The moment that everyone has been anticipating for the last two years. In the words of Maul: "...the moment may be upon us."
