Yavin 4:
Once Hera landed the Ghost, the crew exited the ship before being greeted by a lone rebel. "Commander Bridger, Senator Mothma has requested your presence." he informed the younger Jedi before they headed towards the command center.
"We received this transmission two days ago." Mon told them after bringing up a hologram of Ryder. "The Empire is beginning trials on a new version of its TIE defender. Intel from our spies in the capital reveals the upgraded fighter is-" his message started explaining before suddenly cutting off.
"What happened?" Ezra asked. "Ryder Azadi's transmission from Lothal was cut off, and we haven't been able to contact him since." she explained.
"I have witnessed the threat of the TIE defender first-hand. If there's been a new development with these fighters, the Rebellion needs to know. I also know how important Lothal is to you, Commander Bridger. I'm looking for volunteers." the older human woman continued.
"When do I leave?" the younger Jedi immediately asked. "When do we leave?" Hera corrected, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder before turning her attention to the other woman.
"We're all going." she told her. "I understand, Captain. Your squad does work best together, but by all reports, the occupation of Lothal has become a complete lockdown. Even if you make it in, there's no guarantee the Rebellion can extract you if things go wrong." Mothma warned.
"I've had a long time to think about this. We'll get that intel, but I'm going home to help my people. Which means I'm there to stay." the Padawan told her with a determined look.
Anakin inwardly groaned as he massaged his right temple in an attempt to soothe the headache that didn't seem to want to go away before wincing in pain when he heard Kallus speak.
"This friend of yours, Cikatro Vizago, is a criminal. He can't be trusted." the ex-Imperial said as he entered the cockpit. "Yeah, we used to say that about you." Sabine commented dryly before getting up from her seat and making her way out of the cockpit with her husband trailing behind.
"Are you okay?" she asked in concern. "No. These headaches have been coming and going at random ever since that mission with Saw." he explained before going back to massaging his temples.
"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, eyes filled with concern. "No. But thanks for asking." he replied, managing to give her a small smile before they continued to the cargo hold in order to help the others move the puffer pigs onto Vizago's ship.
Lothal:
After Vizago's ship dropped out of hyperspace near Lothal the Ghost crew instantly noticed the polluted atmosphere of the planet. "Look at the sky." Ezra said with a look of horror on his face before turning to Kanan.
"Kanan, what've they done? Lothal looks like it's dying." he continued while looking back at the planet. "Your home isn't exactly the place you remember, kid. Better prepare yourself." the Devaronian warned while piloting the ship towards the blockade.
"Supply ship Broken Horn, we have a lock. Transmit clearance codes." an Imperial ordered over the ship's comm and before Vizago pressed of few buttons. "The things I do for money." the smuggler grumbled.
A few seconds passed before they heard the Imperial again. "Broken Horn, clearance is granted. You are approved for landing." the man informed them as the ship passed a light cruiser and entered the atmosphere.
Anakin's face darkened when he saw the planet's scorched surface. "They've burned it. They've burned it all away." the Padawan said softly in horror before hearing and then seeing two TIEs fly overhead.
"What are those TIE fighters doing? You said you had Imperial permits." Hera said with a confused frown. "The permits are good. It's standard procedure to have a TIE fighter escort. Sometimes." Vizago told her.
"How can it be standard procedure 'sometimes'?" Zeb asked, giving him a confused frown too. "How many times has this happened?" the ex-merc demanded. "Well, this is the first time." the Devaronian admitted before landing the ship outside Jhothal.
"Gravity locks and a search crew?" the Twi'lek asked with a frown as she and the others both saw a gravity lock being attached to the ship and a group of stormtroopers.
"Must have scanned us on the way in." she added. "Hey, if they don't find us, they got nothing." the youngest human said before the rest of the Ghost crew made their way to the exit.
"Stall 'em, Vizago." he told the smuggler before following the others.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sabine asked Ezra after they let the puffer pigs out their cages. "As much as I ever am." he replied before looking at Zeb. "Ready, Zeb?" he asked the Lasat.
"Yeah. Let me put on my useful face." he replied from behind the corner. The others then watched as the pigs walked out of the room before Zeb popped around the corner and growled at them.
As expected the pigs squealed in fear before running down the corridor opposite of the one Zeb was standing in. Anakin smirked when he saw them puff up before he and the others quickly made their way down the same corridor and pass the one Vizago, the Imperials and pigs were in.
"Vizago went back for the pigs, didn't he?" Ezra asked with a frown as he and the others walked into the town. "Yeah, but if anyone can weasel his way out of trouble, it's him." Kanan replied.
"I figure we can start at Old Jho's. He'll know how to reach Ryder." his Padawan stated. "If he's still there." Anakin added before Hera turned her attention to the Padawan.
"We split up. You, Sabine, Anakin and Chopper head for Jho's. Make contact with Ryder. Kanan, Zeb, and I will get us a transport." she told them before the two groups went in different directions.
As they walked down the street Anakin looked at his wife before nudging her to get her attention then offering his arm. Sabine smiled at him and looped her arm through his before resting her head on his shoulder.
Walking through the street with the woman he loved on his arm made the ex-merc realize something that caused his expression to turn into a frown. 'Sabine and I have never actually gone on a date the whole time we've been together...'
"What's wrong?" he heard the Mandalorian ask softly before turning his head to see her giving him a concerned look. "I just realized we've never been on a date before." he replied.
The young woman's concerned expression morphed into a soft smile before she gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. "You know... We could consider this a date, despite the current situation, if you wanted..." she trailed off teasingly.
"Heh... Sure, why not? We're already dressed for it anyway." he replied while tugging at the collar of his civilian disguise. Before she could say anything more, the couple were broken out of their moment by the sound of Ezra's voice.
"Hey, why are they using the younger image of me? I don't even look like that anymore." he said as they stopped beside a wall with wanted posters of them from a few years ago.
"That's a good thing, Ezra." the Mandalorian told him before pushing him with her free hand to keep him moving.
"Serve your purpose. Serve the Empire. Protect Lothal and yourself, report rebel activity. Loyalty is obedience." they heard an Imperial say on a large view screen, spouting propaganda above before the screen changed to a picture of Sabine from around the time she and the others had met Anakin.
The four rebels attention was taken away from the screen when they heard a trooper's voice from across the street. "You're out past curfew." the stormtrooper said as they turned their heads to see the lead trooper and one other interrogating two civilians.
"Let's see some identification." he ordered before the rebels continued towards Old Jho's Pit Stop. "The Empire wouldn't do anything to Old Jho. The people wouldn't stand for it." the Padawan told them before they stopped at the entrance.
"You sure about this?" Sabine asked, worry in her tone. "It was the one place on all of Lothal where you actually felt the Empire wasn't welcome." he reminded her before the three humans walked down the steps.
Once they reached the bottom, the three were instantly greeted by both the sound of the Imperial Anthem being played and the sight of Imperial officers and stormtroopers.
"Guess they feel pretty welcome now." Anakin remarked both quietly and sarcastically. "Just back out. Casually." the Jedi told them quietly before they turned to leave.
The three only made it up a few steps before seeing the lead trooper from earlier questioning Chopper. "I thought I saw three citizens walk this way. You see anything?" he asked the droid before getting a negative warble in return.
"Any other ideas?" the young woman asked with a frown. "Let's get a drink." Ezra suggested before they turned back around and headed towards the bartender.
"I meant good ideas." she stated before they passed a trooper and officer. "Are you trying to get us caught?" her husband asked the younger man quietly through gritted teeth after they sat down.
"Look, if we walked in and walked out, it would have been suspicious." he explained to the ex-merc. "It's not like anyone's gonna recognize us." he added before the young woman spoke.
"Um, he might." she corrected before the other two followed her gaze to see a hologram of a familiar pilot. "Baron Valen Rudor." the Padawan said before a voice got their attention.
"Correct, your eyes do not deceive you, young man." said pilot spoke before walking over to them and sliding drinks towards the three. "It is true. I am the vaunted Imperial Ace, Baron Valen Rudor." he introduced with a tone of arrogance in his voice.
"Oh... Wow." the younger man said, pretending to be awed. "Gosh, what's an amazing pilot like you doing here?" the Mandalorian woman asked, pretending to be in awe too.
"This establishment belongs to me now. Well, the Empire, of course." Rudor answered with a small chuckle. "I've been entrusted to run it. We don't get many civilians in here anymore." he added before looking at the Jedi.
"You. You look familiar." he said with a suspicious look on his face. "I used to come in here when it was called Old Jho's." the younger man answered. "I guess you haven't heard then, a few days ago there was a raid on a suspected rebel cell. The ISB caught Old Jho trying to help them escape." the pilot explained.
"He's been captured?" Anakin asked after taking a sip of his drink. "Captured and executed." the other man confirmed with a dark grin, earning surprised look from Ezra.
"A shame about Old Jho. I understand he was loved by the community, but, well, a traitor is a traitor, and they must be dealt with." Rudor told them before them.
"Uh, we should go." Sabine told Rudor after noticing Ezra grip the counter. "Thanks for the drink, Baron." she added after she and the other two stood. "Hey, will you get a hold of yourself?" the Mandalorian scolded the younger man queitly once they were out of earshot.
"Okay, okay." he replied calmly before the pilot spoke again. "Hey, troopers, stop them!" he ordered the two troopers standing guard at the entrance. "Hold it right there, citizens." the trooper on the left ordered the three as he held up a hand.
"What's the problem?" the Padawan asked, trying to sound innocent before they heard a new voice. "Oleg, old buddy, I been looking all over for you!" a man with brownish hair said with a grin before walking over to them.
"Did you forget to pay for your drinks?" he asked after wrapping an arm around the other man's shoulders. "Oh! I... I thought they were on the house." the Jedi asked as he and the other two rebels realized this guy was trying to help them.
"Oleg, why not just pay the man?" the other man asked. "With what?" Ezra asked with a nervous chuckle. "You don't have any credits?" the other man asked him.
"I thought you had credits." the Padawan said to the young woman. "I don't have any credits. I thought you had credits." she responded with a frown while her husband pulled out his pant pockets.
"And I'm broke." he added. "I got it. It's on me." the other man assured before walking over to Rudor and placing two gold credit ingots on the counter. "This should cover my friends' drinks. Keep the change." he told the pilot before walking back to the others.
"Well, that's very generous of you, and I didn't get your name." the Imperial replied, pocketing the credits and giving him a questioning look. "That's okay." he said before addressing the Jedi.
"Come on, Oleg. Everyone's waiting to see you. Let's not keep them waiting." he told him before they followed him out of he bar.
Once they were outside the man turned to face them. "Ezra Bridger, welcome home." he told Ezra. "Who are you?" the Padawan asked in confusion. "You don't remember me?" the other man asked before the Jedi's eyes widened in realization.
"Jai Kell. Yeah, it's been a while since our Academy days, hasn't it?" he asked with a grin. "Yeah." Jai confirmed. "You got me out of there. Saved my life. This is my chance to return the favor." he continued before taking out a small transmitter from his pocket.
"Ryder kept sending me here in hopes that you'd show up. I'll try to contact someone for a pickup." he told them while pressing a few buttons.
"Don't worry. We got it covered." the Jedi assured before they heard an explosion and turned their attention to see smoke rising up from around the corner at the end of the street.
Before anything else could happen, a speeder car with Kanan, Zeb and piloted by Hera came out from an alley between them and the explosion's location before she flew over.
"Get in! Now!" she called out to them before the humans and droid quickly made their way to the speeder. Unfortunately two TX-225s appeared and blocked off the road ahead just as they reached the speeder.
"We've been cut off." Sabine warned after Chopper warbled in worry. Seeing the tanks suddenly take aim at the vehicle, the three older adults quickly jumped out before they and the younger humans dove for the ground as one of the tanks destroyed the speeder.
"We need an exit, people. Fast!" the Twi'lek yelled as they saw the tanks and four stormtroopers heading right for them. "This way!" Jai said, pointing to the bar before they took off towards it.
The group managed to make it halfway down the steps before seeing a Death trooper, two stormtroopers and Rudor heading up the steps leading into the bar.
Fortunately the Imperials seemed to think they were only civilians and not the rebels they were after. "Uh, there's some rebels outside. They just blew up a Speeder." Ezra lied, pointing to the exit as the Death trooper shoved him aside.
"Out of the way." he ordered before addresing the other Imperials "Come on!" the trooper ordered them as they reached the exit. With them gone, the rebels continued down the second set of steps and entered the bar before the Lasat closed the door and smashed the control panel for it.
The group then jogged through the bar before exiting out the back door and making their way over to a sewer entrance. "Old Jho ran smuggler tunnels throughout the town. Ryder told me about them once." Jai explained after opening the entrance.
"Chopper, scan the system and find us an exit." Hera ordered the droid before he let out an annoyed warble and used his rocket booster to descend into the sewer.
'Fuck, that is rank.' Anakin thought, scrunching his nose in disgust as he and the others started climbing down one at a time.
"Place is like a maze." Sabine observed after the group stopped in one of the tunnels. "Which way?" she asked the droid. Chopper warbled a reply before Anakin folded his arms and glared at the droid.
"Great, you got us lost." he remarked sarcastically. "I seem to remember these tunnels lead to a junction beneath the main road out of town." Jai told them.
"Well, that's a start. You should activate your beacon so Ryder can come get us once we're in the clear." the Mandalorian told him. "Well, so much for disguises." Ezra remarked before handing everyone their weapons from the crate the droid was carrying on a rig.
"Something's coming." Zeb suddenly warned before they all looked back towards the direction they had come. "What is it?" Kanan asked before two blaster bolts hit the both sides of the sewer tunnel.
"Probe droid! Blast it!" the ex-merc exclaimed, igniting his blade as said droid came into view. The probe continued shooting as the Padawan activated his saber and the others returned fire.
"Watch out! There's another one!" he warned, pulling Jai to the floor just as another probe appeared from the corner behind them. After hearing the younger man's warning, Anakin quickly turned around and started deflecting bolts from it before Sabine managed to get a few shots in.
'Oh no you don't! Anakin thought angrily as he saw the droid attempting to retreat. With that thought he held his mechanical arm up before grabbing the droid with the Force then crushing it.
"It's transmitting our position. We need to split up. Go!" the Knight announced, before he Hera, Chopper and Jai ran down down the tunnel away from the remaing probe.
"This way." his apprentice said before leading the Lasat and couple down the tunnel with the crushed droid.
"We've got trouble!" Sabine warned as she and the others ran down the tunnel before suddenly being followed and shot at by another probe. "Zeb!" Ezra called out before Zeb turned and fired at the droid twice.
"I hate these things." he growled, missing both before finally hitting its eye. As it started to fall, he grabbed it and dragged it along the tunnel before stopping at an intersection to smash it on the ground.
The three humans stopped when they heard the droid being smashed before turning and heading back over in time to see another probe appear behind their friend.
Moving quickly, the Padawan ignited his blade and moved around before first deflecting two bolts then slashing the droid. "Please tell me you know how to get out of here. Didn't you grow up in a sewer?" the Lasat asked the youngest human after watching the droid crash beside the one he smashed.
"I'm from the city. I've never been here." he shot back with an annoyed look. "The difference being?" Anakin asked impatiently. "Everything's different. It's all changed, and this? This is my fault!" Ezra snapped, clearly blaming himself for Lothal's fate.
"I'm the one who pushed for us to come back. I never thought it'd be this bad." he continued bitterly. "Ezra..." the Mandalorian started, trying to reassure him before he continued.
"Saw said it. I didn't wanna believe him. Lothal's gone. We already lost." he said sadly, shoulders slumped as he walked past the couple. "Hey, we haven't lost." the young woman argued as she grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
"Forget Saw. You said as long as we're together, we've got a chance." she continued. "At least we'll go down fighting." Zeb added before Sabine's husband noticed a symbol on the wall across from the wall.
"Sabine, isn't this your symbol?" he asked after walking up to it then turning his head to look at her. "Yeah, it is." she replied in surprise after turning her flashlight on and pointing it at the wall to reveal an orange Starbird.
"Ryder knows that. Maybe he left a trail for us to follow." the Padawan said after walking up to the symbol and ex-merc. "It's pointing this way." the latter said before heading down the tunnel the Starbird was pointing to.
"Let's hope you're right." the Lasat said to the youngest human as he and the other two followed the ex-merc.
"Where is the next symbol? I don't see it." Sabine sighed in annoyance after her and the other three entered a larger tunnel. "I don't see it either." Zeb said. "Maybe it's down the next pipe." Ezra suggested before the group started jogging over to the other end.
The four had to abruptly stop however when three stormtroopers suddenly appeared in the smaller tunnel entrance and open fire on them.
"Wrong way!" Anakin said as he and the Padawan ignited their blades and deflected bolts while the other two returned fire. "Come on, we need another way out." the Jedi told them after the Lasat managed to kill the middle trooper and as they backed away from the remaining two.
"Turn around, Ezra. Go, go, go! They're right behind us." Hera warned after she and the others appeared from the pipe the couple, Ezra and Zeb had come from minutes ago. "But they're already here." the Padawan warned as his master ignited his blade to deflect bolts as well.
"We were following these symbols, but we don't know where they went." te younger Jedi explained as the others joined them. "We were following them too." the Twi'lek told him.
"Looks like we followed them into a trap." Zeb said before the group heard Chopper warble. Sabine took her flashlight out with her free hand and pointed it at the direction the droid was looking.
"Chopper found it!" she announced while aiming her flashlight at the ladder leading to the hatch above them. "Somebody get up there!" Hera ordered.
"I'm on it." the ex-merc said before Force-jumping onto the ladder above then climing up with his free hand and slashing the control panel below the hatch to lower the retracted bottom half of the ladder.
"Hold on, how do we know there aren't stormtroopers up there?" his wife questioned after he dropped back down and started deflecting bolts again. "Doesn't matter because we know they're down here." Kanan answered, deflecting two more bolts before she started to climb up the ladder.
The Twi'lek went next and managed to kill one of the troopers mid-climb while Jai was right behind her before the Lasat picked up the droid with one arm and followed them.
Once the others reached the hatch, the two Jedi jumped up to the ladder's middle before moving to the sides so Anakin could jump up and hang on the ladder between them before slashing the part of the ladder beneath them as the troopers caught up.
"I can't open the hatch." the Mandalorian said after trying to open it. "Figure something out!" Hera told her. "It won't budge. Anakin slashed the controls." the younger woman replied.
"We're in the middle of a fucking firefight! What did you expect me to do?" said man asked in exasperation, deflecting another bolt before hearing the hatch open.
"Good job, Sabine!" Kanan complimented. "I didn't do anything." she corrected before the ex-merc looked up to see a familiar face come into view. "Welcome home. Now get moving." Ryder Azadi said as dropped to one knee in front of the hatch.
"Ryder." the Padawan said with a smile on his face before the older man chuckled. "Let's go." the man said before helping Sabine out of the sewer opening first then the Twi'lek and Jai.
Once those three were out, Chopper activated his rocket booster and flew out right before Zeb exited it as well. As for the three Force-wielders, they simply jumped out, deflected one last bolt each then landed before Anakin waved his mechanical hand and used the Force to shut the hatch.
"Thanks for coming, Ryder." Ezra told him after the group boarded the man's U-wing and his friend piloted the ship away from the city. "Least I could do. You came back here for us. Wasn't sure my message to the Rebellion even got through." he replied while sitting down in the co-pilot chair.
"It did." the younger Jedi confirmed. "Mon Mothma sent us to help, and get intel on the TIE defender." he added. "I'll brief you at my camp. We need to plan an attack on the TIE defender factory as soon as the rest of your forces arrive." the other man replied.
"Uh, Ryder, there won't be anyone else coming. It's just us." the Padawan informed him before Ryder turned his head to look at him. "Wait, I don't understand." he said in confusion.
"Just you?" he added questioningly. "The Empire has Lothal locked down tight." the ex-merc explained as he folded his arms. "How are we gonna do this?" the Lasat questioned.
"This is how a rebellion starts. Small. With a few people standing together." the younger Jedi explained, turning his head to look at his friends for a moment before looking back at the older man.
"We've done it before. We can do it again." he assured. "Well, we'll get a look at the new fighter tomorrow. Then we'll see if you still feel the same about our chances." Ryder told him before taking the controls.
Chapter 41 finished.