Previously on Broken Hearts:
Kanan nodded his head, "That's what I like to hear," he announced, "Now go inside and rest up, we're leaving first thing in the morning to Stygeon System."
"Why?" Ezra asked.
"There's a Jedi Master there that will make a great teacher for you," Kanan insisted despite Hera shaking her head at him.
Ezra frowned, "I see." he said softly.
Chapter six:
"So what's going on?" Ezra asked as he slipped onto the couch in the common area the next morning.
"We learned yesterday that a Jedi Master known as Luminara Unduli is alive," Sabine explained calling up a holo, "She's being held in a prison on Stygeon Prime."
"Another Jedi?" Ezra asked, glancing at Kanan in disbelief, "Can you believe that?"
"I know," Kanan said, "She'll make an excellent teacher for you. She's brave, compassionate, disciplined, everything you need to be to be a Jedi Master."
Ezra sighed as Kanan and the others left, living him alone with Chopper, "You hear that," he asked, "He's done with me," he let out a sigh, "He's going to pawn me off on some stranger, again, I shouldn't have been surprised, nothing good ever lasts."
…
Ezra couldn't believe that he was actually a part of the operation, after all, they were going to get rid of him anyways. He absentmindedly took a miracle, what Sabine called her bombs, from her. He understood that they needed to free Luminara but did Kanan really have to dump him on her as well?
"Try to stay focus," Kanan insisted.
"I thought there was no try," Ezra said smirking.
Kanan rolled his eyes, the sooner they got Luminara the better, he just wasn't cut out to be a mentor to some smart-aleck teenage boy.
Ezra watched as Kanan jumped off the Phantom landing on the small platform below and started to take out the guards. He could help him, if he showed Kanan that he could be useful then he wouldn't want to get rid of him. With that thought, he jumped down out of the Phantom.
It went better in his head, he realized as he tumbled forward out of control, whacking his head hard against the closed door. He quickly stood up and backed up until he was pressed up against Kanan. So much for showing him how useful he was.
"What just happened?" Kanan demanded, "You were supposed to exit with Zeb! You're lucky every stormtrooper in the prison doesn't know we're here." Just then the door opened and four more troopers arrived with their weapons out.
It took only a couple of minutes to take care of the extra troopers but Kanan still glared at Ezra, "It's stunts like that that puts us all in jeopardy," Kanan jabbed him with a finger, "That's exactly why you need Master Luminara to teach you discipline."
Ezra bowed his head, great, just great, his big plan to prove to Kanan he was worth keeping around had backfired big time, now he was more determined than ever to get rid of him.
"I was just following your example," Ezra insisted, there was no way that this could be pinned on him, right?
"Yeah?" Kanan asked, "Well try to stay focus, and follow the plan instead."
Ezra folded his arms, this was bad, he really was running on borrowed time now.
"I hate to interrupt," Sabine called out by the door, "But we need the kid to unlock the door."
Ezra glanced back at Kanan, wishing that he could point out that he was the only one who knew how to open a locked door, "I got it."
"Ezra," Kanan called out in a panic.
"Quiet," Ezra insisted, a little smugly, as he worked on picking the lock, "I'm focusing."
…
Ezra followed Kanan down to the cell that Luminara was in, watching as he took out stormtroopers with ease, "Wow, you really aren't messing around today." he confessed.
"There's a lot more at stake than you realize," Kanan insisted, leading the way down the hall to the cell. He rounded the corner, waving his hand up in the air, "Shouldn't you be guarding the Jedi cell, it's on the next level."
"It's on the next level," one of the guards repeated as the other one turned to look at him.
"You better get going," Kanan insisted as the other guard repeated him before rushing off down the hall.
"When will I learn that?" Ezra asked, impressed, honestly, he had seen Alma do something similar once, but they hadn't been able to figure out how she had done it.
"Luminara will teach you," Kanan insisted, opening the door, "Much better than I could."
Ezra followed Kanan into the room, staring in awe at the woman sitting in front of them, "Is it really her?" he asked, secretly wishing a little bit that the information was wrong or that this was some sort of prank. It could be a trap.
"Yes," Kanan said, reaching out with the force, "but," something was wrong, Luminara didn't feel right, "Something's wrong."
Something's wrong? Ezra thought, wrong how, wrong like this is a trap wrong, or wrong how else could this be wrong.
Luminara stood up and walked past them, not even acknowledging them. Ezra since a blast of cold coming from her, the hair on the back of his neck prickling.
"Master?" Kanan called out, but Luminara didn't even seem to hear him, as she turned around to walk to a different part of the cell, where a sarcophagus was standing in the corner. She didn't even open it, she just faded into it, before her face, which could be seen through a window transformed into a skull.
Kanan gasped, she was dead, long dead, he really was the only Jedi left to train Ezra.
"What happened to her?" Ezra spoke up, "I don't understand?"
"No," a sharp new voice asked, causing them to whirl around, a pua'an stood in the doorway to the cell, "It doesn't seem complicated," he insisted, his yellow eyes gleaming, "I am the Inquisitor," he announced, igniting a red lightsaber, before giving them a smile that sent a chill down Ezra's back, "Welcome."
Kanan quickly ignited his lightsaber as well holding it in a defensive position.
"Yes," The Inquisitor insisted, "I'm afraid Master Luminara died with the Republic, but her bones continue to serve the Empire, luring the last Jedi to their ends."
Ezra couldn't believe it, this whole thing was a trap, but why was he a little relieved that Kanan couldn't pawn him off on someone else. He clicked his comlink on, "Specter three, come in, it's a trap."
Nothing but static, the Inquisitor grinned, "there will be no reinforcements."
That was when Kanan attacked, swinging his lightsaber around, grunting at the effort.
Ezra watched in amazement as the Inquisitor blocked a move, "Interesting," he said, leaning towards Kanan, "It seems you trained with Jedi master Depa Billaba."
Kanan gasped, "How? Who are you?"
There was a pause in the conversation as they fought, the only sound being their lightsabers hitting each other.
"The temple records are quite complete," the Inquisitor insisted, "Close quarter fighting, Billaba empathize was always on form three, which you favor to a ridiculous degree."
At that point, Ezra struck sending a bolt of energy from his slingshot, only for it to be deflected easily by the lightsaber, but at least it bought enough time for Kanan to strike as well, only for the Inquisitor to sidestep that attack as well sending Kanan sprawling at Ezra's feet.
Ezra reached down to help him down as the Inquisitor taunted them, "Kanan you really are a poor student."
Ezra shot him multiple times in the chest but it didn't do any damage, "Is that all you got my boy?" he asked tauntingly.
"Well," Ezra said, pointing to the locked cell door, "I got that," he announced proudly as the bomb he had placed next to it exploded.
…
Ezra watched as the Inquisitor activated a second blade on his lightsaber, "Are you paying attention boy?" he asked tauntingly, "The Jedi are dead, but there is another path," he paused for a second, before finishing, "The Dark Side."
"Never heard of it," Ezra shouted as he sent an energy ball towards him. He gasped as he was force thrown down the hall. He looked up to where Kanan was fighting the Inquisitor, he had to do something to help but what, he hardly knew anything about being a Jedi.
Suddenly Kanan flew over his head, crashing farther down the hall.
"Your Master can not save you, boy," the Inquisitor insisted, walking towards Ezra with his lightsaber out, "He's unfocused and undisciplined."
"Then we're perfect for each other," Ezra announced, pulling on his slingshot again.
The Inquisitor blocked the shots and headed towards him, but Ezra jumped onto the wall to get behind him. The Inquisitor smiled, "I do admire your persistence." he twirled his lightsaber around, "Ready to die?" he asked.
Ezra glanced down at his gauntlet as it beeped, alerting him to a rise in heartbeat until he heard a loud shout that sounded like Kanan, he looked up, the Inquisitor was right in front of him, then suddenly he was slammed into the ceiling.
Kanan was still kneeling where he had fallen earlier, but he had his hand up, holding the Inquisitor in place, "Run," he called out.
Ezra ran over to Kanan and helped him up, "Come on let's go," Kanan growled, pushing Ezra forward.
"Come on, Let's go," Sabine called out, in the intersection, waving her arm, "This way."
Ezra followed behind Kanan as quickly as he possibly could despite the fact that his gauntlet was going haywire with his increased heart rate. He ignored it, he ran around like this all the time, sure it drained his battery faster but he should be fine. Around them, the others talked about the trap and their plan to escape. Behind them the Inquisitor followed slowly behind them, his double-blade lightsaber spinning as he walked, "Full lockdown," he ordered.
"Well, that's not helpful," Ezra muttered.
…
Ezra could feel his heartbeat as he ran, jumping through fast-closing doors, it was getting hard to breathe but he wasn't about to admit that to Kanan and the others. Kanan wanted to get rid of him anyways, he wasn't going to give him another excuse not to want him around.
"I'm locked out of the system," Sabine called out, "Ezra."
Ezra rubbed his chest to try to ease the pain a little before walking over to where Sabine was, pulling out his lock pick. A hundred volts of electricity running through his body was painful and sent his gauntlet into overdrive with hundreds of warnings.
"Come on Ezra," Kanan said, lifting him up and leading him to the door, "Picture the locking mechanism in your mind," he instructed.
Despite Zeb's protests it worked, somehow he and Kanan had been able to override the lockdown order and open the door, to a whole lot of troopers.
Everything was pretty much a blur after that, a constant sound of blasters, heart-pounding, and the beeps and alarms coming from his gauntlet. Sometime during the fray, there had been a bomb, and Hera had shown up, but Ezra couldn't really remember when or how he ended up back on board the Phantom.
…
Sabine frowned noticing that Ezra was slumped forward, his head in his hands, he wasn't at all chatty, "Hey, Kid," she called out, nudging the younger boy, "Are you alright?"
There was no response.
"Ezra, are you hurt?" she continued, glancing at Hera and Kanan. Hera was too busy flying the ship to help, and Kanan was talking quietly to her. Ezra still didn't answer.
"Hey Kid," Zeb called out louder, nudging the boy hard in the shoulder, jolting him, "You still there?"
Ezra looked up startled, "Um… Yeah..." he said looking around in confusion, keeping a hand on his pounding heart. He tried to focus on Zeb, but Zeb just would not stay still, and there was a twinge of darkness in the corner of his eyes that seemed to be growing, "I'm fine," he insisted as the darkness took complete control over his sight.
…
Zeb gasped as Ezra slumped forward, "What just happened?" he asked turning to look at Sabine.
"He's blacked out," she announced, shifting the younger boy so he would be in a more comfortable position, before lifting his arm up so that she could look at the gauntlet. She groaned reading through the data on it, "Hera," she called out, "We have a problem."
"What is it Sabine," Hera asked, "Kind of busy at the moment,"
"It's Ezra's Heart Implant, it hasn't been updated since he was five."
"So," Kanan asked.
"Well," Sabine said, breathlessly, "You see, a normal heart rate for a five-year-old is very different for a fifteen-year-old, especially when physically active."
"And that means?" Zeb asked.
"His Implant's trying to get the heart to pump faster than it actually needs to, raising his risk of a heart attack twenty percent."
"We have got to get him to a doctor and get that updated," Hera said, "Next thing on the list."