Star Wars Rebels: The Other Path Taken (Short Story) Part 1
Characters: Original Star Wars Characters may or may not be in Story. (Harem)
Ezra Bridger
Shei Ghavaria-O.C.
Nagna Klars-O.C.
Jen Tegga-O.C.
Sabine Wren
Hera Syndulla
Jacen Syndulla
Ashoka Tano
Luke Skywalker
Leia Organo Solo
Han Solo
Chewbacca
Introduction:
Escaping off the Chimera by commandeering an Escape Pod, just before the Purgills once more took the Imperial Ship away. Ezra Bridger set the Pod down on what he believed at first a place he could find a way back to the Rim or Core Worlds. He came to this belief when the Escape Pod Sensors detected a Landing Beacon. But what he found was nothing. The entire Planet had no Sentient Life and barely any life at all. Most of the Vegetation was subpar and scarce. All in all the Planet was a barren wasteland. Though there was one saving grace. Right smack in the middle of where there once was a City. There was a Jedi Temple.
First Day:
Sitting on the Hatch of the Pod. Ezra took an account of his supplies and resources he had available. Thankfully the Pod was fully stocked with a Month supply of Food and Water for Eight Crewmembers. So his estimates he should have enough for almost a year. It also had three Portable Moisture Evaporators, so even when the Water ran out he did have that option. Once more he also had Eight Thermal Blankets, Five Blaster Pistols, Four Solar Rechargeable Glowrods, Five Vibroknives and to his delight. There was a Scanner that would tell him if any plants, animals or fish were safe to eat. Not that he sensed or seen any animals or any bodies of water that might contain fish. He did see a multitude of bugs scurrying about. He had no intention of it coming to that. If nothing else he would take the Escape Pod to another perhaps inhabited nearby Planet. The Sublight Engines should have enough fuel to make it to the next System. But right now, he wanted to explore the Jedi Temple. From what he could tell it was one of those that Kanan had told him about. One of the Ancient Temples that Jedi from the past searched for. At first glance, he worried that without a Master or another Jedi that he would not be able to get in. Thinking it might be like the one on Lothal. Then he noticed that the Main Entrance Door was completely gone. Cut away and he knew how. Someone had cut their way in with a Lightsabre. He grimaced slightly at that thought. He would have to soon build himself a new Lightsabre, since he had left his with Sabine. When he thought of her, he exhaled softly with a sigh. She he would miss. With two Canteens of Water, Rations and two Glowrods he headed towards the Temple. As he walked closer to the Temple Door, he verified the fact that the door had been cut away with a Lightsabre. The angle of the cut, the depth and the fact it was smooth to the touch confirmed it. Entering he made his deeper within.
Holding one of the Glowrods high, Ezra found other doors that had been cut away rather then someone using the Force to open them. Closing his eyes he let his feelings flow outwards and then gasped. He could feel darkness. A very small hint of Darkside Darkness. The one that had cut their way in was of the Darkside of the Force and not a Jedi. He was not concerned, for he knew for certain that whoever it was. That someone was no longer here or from the amount of dust all over the place. That someone was probably not even alive anymore. Traveling even more inside and downward, he exhaled sharply. Whoever had entered, cut their way through every door. That made it easy for him to follow where the Darksider went. About ten floors down, he found a workshop. A Lightsabre workshop. Collecting some of the necessary parts and equipment, he placed them in his satchel. "Well that will make it easy for me to build myself a Lightsabre, later." He mumbled as he continued on and further downward. Three hours and fourteen floors downward, he finally came to a door that was cut away and then replaced with another type of door. Closing his eyes, he stretched out with the Force and opened the Door. Air hissed in and Ezra placed his hand on the hilt of the Blaster Pistol at his side. Entering the room, he gasped loudly then stared in shock at what he saw within.
Lothal:
It took Sabine several days to come to the realization that someday soon she would have to go and find Ezra. For if he had not returned by now, then he could not or decided not to come back. If it was the latter, she decided to make him regret that decision. Right now though, she did not have the time to invest to search for him yet. They needed to boaster Lothal's defenses. That meant either buying or stealing Capital Ships, Fighters and Weapons. "A Imperial Frigate could retake Lothal." Zeb commented as he dropped his Data Pad onto the Table in Ryder Azadi's Office. Three others sat at the table, besides Sabine. Zeb Orrelios, Hera Syndulla, Ryder Azadi and of course off to one side was Chopper. Each had collected information and data to share in this briefing.
"How many Fighters do we have right now that can fly and fight if necessary?" Ryder asked and Hera shook her head, swinging her Lekku back and forth.
"Fourteen TIE Fighters, Five X-Wings, Three Y-Wings, The Ghost and one or two other Ships that might be able to. Beyond that the rest is slag or not worth the effort to repair." Hera said reading from her Data Pad.
"That is barely enough to stop Pirates from attacking Lothal. No where near enough to defend Lothal against the Empire." Zeb grumbled, stating the obvious.
"No Capital Ships at all. There were four Corvette Cruisers...but the Captains took off right after I went to talk to them." Sabine could not blame the Captains of the Ships. Two were Civilian Transport Ships, One was a Cargo Hauler and one was privately owned. The Captain was not willing to risk being fired or worse if his Wealthy Employer learned that his Ship was going to be used to fight the Empire. In truth she suspected that none of the Captains wanted to risk their Ships fighting the Empire.
"So in essence...we are ripe for being retaken by the Empire." Ryder leaned back and frowned heavily. "Could we ask the Rebel Alliance for help?" He asked and the three others shook their heads negatively.
"I doubt that they would want to send us a Shuttle right now. They are actually calling for anyone that can muster to them. According to...well I cannot say for he rather not be reprimanded by the Alliance Leadership for divulging classified information to me. They are expecting to conduct a major operation sooner or later." Hera told Ryder and Zeb grumbled.
"That is not what I have heard. Right now the Alliance is basically running from the Empire and hoping not to get wiped out." Zeb stated, he had heard from Rex that there was a group that had set up a base in the Hoth System trying to hide from the Empire. "Though that might give us the time we need. The Empire is more interested in finding the Rebel Alliance then retaking Lothal." He added then smirked. "I think we can thank Ezra for that. If Thrawn was still out and about. That piece of filth would probably already have attacked us to restore the Emperors Faith in him." They all smiled, though Hera noticed that the mention of Ezra's name. Sabine bit her bottom lip and tried not to look saddened. She failed miserably. Before anyone could ask her about her loss of composer.
"Either way. We can expect no help or aid from them and before any of you ask...My People can't lend aid either. I already asked the Countess and she wished she could, but they are basically no better then us here." Sabine said and after a bit they tossed around ideas on how to get what they needed to defend Lothal from the Empire.
Discovery:
Entering the Midsized Room, Ezra could not stop starring at what he saw. In the middle of the Room was a Stasis Chamber. An old one. At least two or three hundred years old. That was not what shocked him. What shocked him was there was someone inside the thing and from what he could tell. That someone was alive. Stepping closer, using his right hand he wiped the dust away and he looked at the person within. He swore as he peered at the young Girl within. She had long Reddish Blonde hair, greenish blue eyes and in all appearances a very attractive girl. (Want visual look up Yukana Yama from MY FIRST GIRLFRIEND IS A GAL and that is what Shei looks almost like,) Easily as beautiful as Sabine. Feeling a bit guilty that he thought that this girl might be prettier then Sabine. What drew his attention was that this girl was way more endowed then Sabine. At least two or three sizes bigger in that area. The girl appeared to be not much older then he was. Though if the Girl had been in Stasis for a long period of time then she might be considerably older then him chronologically. When the girl blinked, he jumped several feet backwards in alarm. The Girl smiled. "Please help me." The Girl said softly and Ezra gasped audibly.
"I...I might...though if someone put you in there...it must be for a good reason." Ezra said and She shrugged.
"The reason I was placed in here was so my Uncle could take my Throne from me." The Girl said no longer smiling. "My name is Shei Ghavaria and I was once the Princess of Emeraria." Ezra looked at her oddly. He had never heard of such a Planet or place before. Though that did not say much. The Galaxy was vast and endless. So there were a lot of places and Planets that were unheard of. "Can I ask who you are?" He stepped once more closer.
"I am Ezra Bridger. Uhm...how is it that you can...you know see and talk to me?" I heard when a person is in Stasis...they usually are... asleep." Ezra asked and Shei smiled again.
"One of my...friends arranged this for me. She had to support my Uncle when he took over and imprisoned me here. But she had programmed the Chamber to let me awaken if someone touched the Chamber. That was about all she could do without my Uncle finding out." Shei told him and then she looked directly into Ezra's eyes. "Please. I am begging you to let me out. Please do not just leave me here...for once you leave...the Chamber will put me back asleep." She pleaded and he decided to set her free. When he opened the Chamber, he then realized a startling fact that he was unprepared for. Shei was completely naked and after the she was freed from the Chamber. She fell right into his arms. Unable to walk or move yet. So when he caught her, he suddenly became fully aware to the fact that she was indeed naked. "Thank you Ezra Bridger." She whispered right before she passed out.
It required about two hours before Shei awoke again. Though she could not move too much. Her legs were basically asleep from not being used for so long. Ezra was thankful that he had remembered to bring a thermal blanket, which he had placed upon her. Otherwise he would not have anything to cover her with. Not unless he wanted to give her his bodysuit and move about himself only in his underwear. So until she could move, she ate and drank. Replenishing herself. She also talked. Telling him all about what happened to her. Her Uncle. A Darkside Mage, had married her Aunt. Her Mothers Sister. Then after her Mother and Father passed to the great unknown. Her Uncle arranged an accident to befall her Aunt. Then to make matters even worse, he then planned to Marry her. Willing or unwilling. When she decline, he then imprisoned her within the Stasis Chamber. Wanting to cement his dictatorship over Emeraria. Fully planning afterwards to force her to Marry him. What shocked Ezra was the fact that this Planet was Emeraria. After he learned that, he told her and she guessed what had happened. The People rose up and after a bloody destructive War that obliterated the Planet. She had been forgotten or there was no one left to free her. They both suspected the latter, for the Planet was now a Wasteland. While Shei was reeling from that, she then discovered that she had been in that Stasis Chamber for almost three hundred years.
Helping Shei walk, Ezra guided her outside. It took them almost five hours to reach the Surface and by that time she regained a lot of her strength. They talked as they walked and as they left the Temple. She stopped to mourn her Home World. "That...That was the Capital. Idoria. My...My home was right there." She gestured towards the rubble that once was a City. Where thousands upon thousands of her People once lived. To her it was only perhaps yesterday. But in reality it was about three hundred years ago.
"Sorry Shei." Ezra said taking her hand and holding it. Shei leaned against him and started to cry. "Could...Maybe some of your People were able to leave or escape this?" He suggested hoping to make her feel better. She shook her head.
"What Space Ships we had at the time were nothing more then Sublight Transports and they were not designed for Inner Steller Travel. Others from other Worlds came here to trade with us. No. All my...people and friends probably died here." Shei said sadly and closed her eyes. Ezra suspected she was thinking about the What ifs. What if she had done something different. It was a curse for those that wished that something could have been different and if they could have changed what had happened. "The only consolation I can have is that my Uncle did not succeed and I have the hope that he had died in great pain." With that Ezra took her to the Escape Pod. After searching through the supplies, he found a one size fit all Flight Suit that she could wear other then a Blanket. Laying out the Parts and Tools. He started to construct a Lightsabre. She watched him with interest and then realized what he was making. "Are...Are you...by the Lords of Light...like my Uncle? He killed so many of my loyal followers with one of those!" She growled and made a grab for one of the Blasters. He made no move to stop her.
"I am a Jedi and not like what your Uncle was. He used the Darkside of the Force. Jedi use the Light Side and we use the Force for knowledge and defense." Ezra told her as Shei pointed the Blaster she had grabbed at him. It shook as she kept her finger on the trigger. After a moment she set the Blaster back down and he sighed with relief.
"Sorry about that. I know you are nothing like what my Uncle was. Otherwise you would have left me in that Chamber." Shei suspected that Ezra had to be one or the other. Since her Uncle had told her right before he placed in Stasis that only he or someone with the Force could open the door. Though she also suspected that Ezra was not like her Uncle in that regard. It just caught her off guard when she saw him making a Lightsabre. "I wish a Jedi would have come to help us back then. But no one knew of our plight."
"Can I ask...you never said what his name was." Ezra said and Shei closed her eyes.
"He called himself Tobar Torska. But I have a feeling that was not his real name." Shei exhaled softly. "He came from...up there about two Months before..." She trailed off, not having to tell him what had happened for she already had. "At first he claimed he was here to help keep order and justice. Though I heard several rumors that he was in fact hiding. That he kept telling some of his supporters that he knew that there were those after him."
"Probably Jedi. If he used the Darkside of the Force...then he probably was running from the Jedi and when he realized that no one from the Jedi knew about this World. He decided to conquer your World and rule it." Ezra suggested and Shei nodded.
"So us being secluded and unknown to others was our downfall." Shei admitted and then continued to watch as Ezra constructed his Lightsabre. "Do you think I could...I was trained in the use of Starbatons...Would it be alright if I built two of them?" She asked and he shrugged.
"Go ahead. If you want tomorrow we can...there is a well stocked Workshop inside the Temple. I bet you could find what you need there." Ezra told her, though he wondered what Starbatons were. He had never heard of them before. Returning briefly to the Workshop the next day and then back to the Pod. He worked on his Lightsabre while she constructed what she was making. By the day after they were both done and he got his first look at what a Starbaton was. The half meter long sticks, with protruding eight to nine inch handles. At the tip of the Baton was a Star Shaped five to six inch jagged blade made out of some type of white Crystal. Taking both by the smaller handles, she walked over to a nearby five foot boulder. She began to spin the Batons around and after a few moments, he swore the Crystals began to glow brightly. She then struck the Boulder and it exploded.
"This is an ancient art of combat among my...my People. In the past...well further in the past for me. Warriors would use these in battle. That skill and training has been honed and refined for Centuries. Even when Slug Throwers and Energy Weapons were created." Shei told him as she reexamined her Batons. "Thankfully I was able to find some Flotasium in the Workshop...otherwise I would have to use a less durable Crystal." Ezra had no idea what that was and before he could ask. "Flotasium is believed to come from the Stars and it is nearly indestructible. Though I bet a Lightsabre can destroy them." She said answering his unasked question. By the end of the day, Ezra finished his Lightsabre.
The Fifth Day:
Even after exploring more of the Temple, Ezra suspected that there was not much more to find or use. That most of anything of value had been looted by Shei's Uncle and had run out of time. Otherwise there would not be anything in the Workshop for him to build his Lightsabre and Shei would not be able to construct her dual Swords. "I think we should leave here and take the Escape Pod to the nearest Inhabited Planet. Perhaps trade it for a Ship or Passage to somewhere else." Ezra suggested and Shei inhaled sharply. Even though her World was a Wasteland and none of her People were here or alive. It was her World. Her home and he suspected she was reluctant to leave.
"You are right. We cannot stay here...there is nothing for either of us here." Shei said sadly, standing to take another look at her World. There was nothing. Small shrubs of vegetation, dirt and rubble of what once was a City. Nothing else. "Can this...Escape Pod take us to another System?" She asked and he went in to check the Pod's Systems.
"We might need assistance in landing...though if we have to...we can use the Emergency Parachute. That would be a rough ride going down...but it should be alright." Ezra rechecked the Fuel and then smiled. There was enough to take off, once in Space he could set the course and after using full thrust let inertia take them to the next System. Then there would be just enough to navigate towards one of the Worlds there and reduce speed. That would be it.
"Then we should leave. Maybe someday in the future Emeraria will return to be the Paradise that it once was." Shei said taking another long look at her Home World. Inwardly remembering every detail of what once was her World. The Green Grasses on the Rolling Plains. The vast Forests of Trees. The Flowing Rivers, cystal clear Lakes and the Oceans. The Cities, Towns and the People. Her People. All of it was gone and nothing of her World remained. Just rubble and a Jedi Temple. That was all that remained. She was the last of her people.
Before they actually departed, there was one thing that Ezra had to do. Due to that he had been eating Imperial Rations for the past couple of days. It was imperative that he do this. Unlike Rebel Rations. Imperial Rations were bland and had no taste at all. They also had a distinctive major flaw to them. In truth it was two different similar flaws. When doing a number TWO. It could be like trying to push out a brick or it would flow out and it was hard to stop. To his dismay he had both problems. The first part came out like a solid brick and then after that it flowed out of him for about half an hour. By the time he returned, Shei had picked up the Water Evaporators and stored most of the Equipment and Supplies back inside the Pod. "Feel better?" She asked him with a huge smile. Feeling herself better. When he had mentioned leaving it upset her. But she knew that there was no real point in remaining.
"Much." Ezra glanced once more at the Jedi Temple. "I would have liked to explore that Temple some more. I have a feeling that there has to be more to it." Shei shook her head.
"What you saw was about it. Since my People arrived here over six hundred years ago...I think that there had been Jedi in the Temple on and off over the years. A few dozen would come and then after about a week they would leave." Shei told him and Ezra was a bit confused. "Some of our Historians learned that the Jedi used that Temple as a...well as a jump off point to explore the Unknown Regions or return from exploring." That made sense to him. From what he could tell there was not much inside the Temple. There was not even a Master's Meeting Chamber. Mostly Supply Rooms and Living Quarters. Along with a Workshop. Still he decided to come back one day to do a thorough search of the Temple. The two finished packing the Pod and then removed all but two of the seats since they were not really needed and it would give them more room within the Pod to move about. In the Morning they would leave, both wanted one more night where they would not be confined in the Pod for almost thirty seven hours. That was how long the Nav-Computer estimated it would take to reach the next System.
Rising the Escape Pod upwards with the Repulsers, it soon reached orbit and once there. Ezra set course for the Neighboring System. Apply full thrust for ten minutes until the timer chimed. He then looked over to see Shei tensely grip the armrest of her seat. He then remembered she had never been in Space. He reached over and took the back of her right hand, gently squeezing it reassuringly. She turned to look at him and smiled warmly and sighed with relief. When she did, he came to the realization that since meeting Shei he had not once thought about Sabine and that worried him. Though for some reason not as much as he thought it would.
To be continued