"So they did tag us," Sabine says, looking at the hologram Chopper has up before the rebels.
"Yes. But the good news is the tracer's actually on the hull of the Phantom," Hera informs from the captain's chair.
"How is that good news exactly?"
The Jedi Knight leans back in the copilot chair, "It'll allow us to detach the Phantom and lure the Imperials away from the Ghost and Tseebo."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You want to detach while in hyperspace? Do you know how incredibly dangerous that is?"
"Not nearly as dangerous as what Kanan and I plan to do with the ship," Keen says, leaning against the closed door of the cockpit.
"Can't wait to hear this," the Lasat murmurs.
"I checked our current trajectory. If you can modify the hyperspace coordinates…" the Knight trails off, looking at Hera, eyebrows raised in question
"I could."
"Then we can pass by the asteroid field near Fort Anaxes," Master Quinara finishes.
"You mean the base with the nasties who live in the shadows?" Both of the Jedi nod to the question.
"Wait, what? Why would we want to go down there?" Ezra questions.
"He's right, you two. Why not just drop the Phantom into our trail and let the Imperials chase after their tracker?"
Keen sighs, looking up at the team, "There is more than just that tracker in play here. That Sith Lord is still on our trail, and he won't stop until we're either dead, in prison, or, we've succumbed to the Dark Side."
"As long as Ezra, Keen, and I are on board the Ghost, we're jeopardizing Tseebo's escape."
"So I gotta leave the Ghost and go to this nasty-filled asteroid as a favor to Tseebo?" Ezra grumbles.
"As a favor to all of us. And don't worry. We'll be right beside you," the Knight informs his Padawan.
"Are we sure this plan's gonna work?" Kanan asks the Jedi Master, as they walk through a hall of the Ghost.
"As sure as we can be, which isn't that sure."
"Guess we can't hope for more."
"We can hope, it just probably won't amount to much." The Jedi reach the door to the common area of the Ghost, to hear Sabine and Ezra arguing. Kanan leans toward the door, seemingly listening to the argument intensely.
"Okay, so try harder! Once Hera takes him away, you may never see Tseebo again," she hears the Mandalorian shout.
"Maybe that's for the best."
"Y'know, Kanan, eavesdropping is considered rude in many circles," Keen tells the other Jedi. The Knight turns and shushes her quickly.
"Sabine," Ezra starts, before letting out a sigh, "I've been on my own since I was seven, okay? If I'd let myself believe my folks were alive, if I let myself believe they'd come back and save me, I'd never have learned how to survive." The Padawan turns to open the door, although Keen hits the button, the door opening with a whoosh.
"You ready?" the Knight immediately asks his Padawan. The Mandalorian stares at Ezra, looking as if she's ready to say something to him. The Padawan turns to face his Master nodding. Sabine looks ready to protest, but Kanan gives her a look, and she shuts her mouth.
"Alrighty, let's go then."
The three Force-sensitives walk through the Ghost, making their way to the Phantom. "So," Ezra begins, "just how dangerous would you say this Sith Lord guy is? I mean, I could tell he was really dangerous just by sensing him...but like, how dangerous."
"Have you heard of the Jedi Purge?" Keen asks the Padawan, as they enter the Phantom.
"Um...yes. Kanan told me a little bit about it. All the Jedi were murdered, and the Temple on Coruscant caught fire."
"There's a little more to it than that, but we'll go by what you know. Darth Vader, that Sith Lord, went to the Temple and killed everyone. Not just the Jedi Masters, but the Knights, Padawans, and Younglings too. Now, if that weren't enough, Vader then went and tracked down as many of the surviving Jedi as he could, killing them as well."
"So really dangerous then," Ezra says, actually looking scared.
"Just don't underestimate him, Ez, seriously."
"Strap in," Kanan calls from the pilot's seat. "Prepping for separation. Once we're out of hyperspace, we'll head towards the asteroid base and lead the Empire there."
"You sure about this?" Hera asks over the comm, "You won't be any more welcome there than the Imperials."
"That's what I'm counting on," the Knight smiles.
"Just be safe. And Ezra?" The Padawan in question looks up at the ceiling, "Look out for Kanan."
"Somebody has to."
"And, Keen, watch out for them both."
"Don't worry, Captain, you have my word, they'll both come back in one piece."
"Ready for separation."
"Copy that, Ghost." The Knight begins to flick switches, wrapping his hands fully around
"Five, four three, two one Detach!" The Twi'lek calls through the comm's.
As the Phantom detaches from the Ghost, the ship begins to shake violently, and if not for the belt around her waist, Keen is sure she would've hit the ceiling. She can sense the Jedi Knight struggling, trying to right the ship.
The Jedi Master dips into the Force, using it to help steady the ship. The Phantom bursts free from hyperspace, hovering in open space, and Kanan lets out a slightly relieved chuckle. "Okay. Okay. That was the easy part."
Ezra walks up to stand behind Kanan's seat, Keen joining him a few moments later. "Should we go over the plan again?" he asks.
"We never told you what the plan was," Keen reminds the boy.
"Exactly!"
"You remember the nasty creatures Hera and Sabine found here?" Kanan asks him.
"Yeah. Oh, I'd rather forget them, but yes."
"Well, I'm gonna need you to connect with them like I was trying to teach you before if we're gonna survive this," the Knight says, flying down toward the fort.
"Is now really the best time for a lesson?"
"No, but I figure it's learning like you do best. By surviving."
"Guys, I can't. I'm afraid," Ezra confesses. Ar'iabel places a hand on his shoulder, wrapping her arm completely around his shoulders comfortingly.
"I got news for you, kid. Everyone's afraid, but admitting it as you just did makes you braver than most, and it's a step forward," Kanan tells Ezra, as the Phantom swoops in to land on Fort Anaxes.
"Yeah, into the jaws of a nightmare," he starts, still giving off nervous energy, "Okay. Okay," he quivers.
The Knight lands the ship softly, the ramp opening slowly. Keen turns to look at him. "I'll get the tracking device off the ship, go help your Padawn, he's going to need your guidance. Now, more than most."
Kanan nods, following Ezra a little ways away from the Phantom. Master Quinara jumps up onto the hull of the ship, tugging at the tracker. It comes off rather easily, and the Jedi chucks it over into a pile of useless parts from old equipment.
As she leaps off the ship, she can hear Ezra's incessant chanting of how he is one with the force. The Jedi Master makes her way over to Master and Padawan, discovering them both completely surrounded by the frynocks. Although she could easily step in and bond with the creatures, it's better to let the Master and Apprentice bond, with the creatures as well as each other.
"You're blocked! Let go," Kanan tells his Padawan.
"I can't!"
"Don't be afraid."
Keen slowly walks away from the ship, using the Force to bond with some of the frynocks.
"I'm not afraid of them," Ezra shouts.
"Then what?" Kanan asks. Both Master and Padawan have their arms held in front of them, trying to keep the creatures calm.
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do! Ezra! What are you afraid of?" Keen slowly works closer and closer to the two.
"I'm afraid of–I'm afraid of knowing. I'm afraid of the truth! I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I forgive you, Tseebo!" The Jedi Master smiles, placing a hand on the boys shoulder as he merges fully with the Force, calming the frynocks down.
"Good, job, Ez."
The three move to the center of base, falling to their knees, meditating, moving, being one with the Force.
"Keep them contained. I want them alive," Vader says, his voice reverberating through the cave.
Keen senses the Trooper nod, the beasts behind the Master, Knight, and Padawan growing antsy. A sly smile crosses her face, as in synch with Kanan and Ezra, they all point forward. The beasts leap over the Jedi, launching at the Imperials.
Blasters fire overhead, as the three rise to their feet. Keen focuses into the conversation to hear a dark chuckle come from Darth Vader.
"This was your master plan? To lure us here and allow these creatures to do your work for you?"
"How do you think it's going?" Kanan asks. Keen, still focussed on keeping the beasts occupied, hopes Kanan doesn't do anything stupid.
"Pathetically," the Sith Lord responds, igniting his lightsaber, red blade held aloft, fending off the alien creatures.
And thus, Kanan does something stupid. "Guess if you want something done right," he shouts, launching himself at Vader.
Ar'iabel's eyes snap open, watching as Kanan is thrown back by the Sith Lord, landing with a grunt on the hard, stone ground.
"Kanan!" his Padawan shouts, running for him.
"Your meager training is nothing in the face of true power."
"You're not going near him!" the boy shouts. He uses the Force to grab Kanan's lightsaber, standing protectively over him.
Keen slips her hand into her bag, her fingers wrapping around her lightsabers. She pulls them out, igniting them both, as Vader approaches the Padawan, drawing Kanan's lightsaber to his free hand, "I believe I am. In fact, it's time to end both the Jedi and Padawan for good." The Sith Lord drags both his saber, and the Knights along the ground. He walks closer and closer to the boy, finally flinging him onto the outside of a crevice. "Your devotion to your master is admirable, but it will not save you! Nothing can!"
From behind Vader, the Jedi Master approaches, her lightsabers held aloft. The Sith pays her no need, focussing on the Jedi trainee.
"Get back!" the boy shouts, and Keen can sense the dark power radiating from the Force.
"Go on. Unleash your anger. I will train you in ways your master could not."
Keen's blades slam against the two Vader is holding. "Heya, Vades, long time no duel. Where ya been?"
"Quinara!" the Sith Lord snarls, pushing back forcefully against the Jedi's.
"The one and only. Always a pleasure to fight you. Y'know, pretty sure that blade belongs to a friend of mine," and with those words, the Master wraps her blades around the left wrist gauntlet of Vader, sending the saber sprawling, right next to Kanan's shoulder. "So, you still doing your burning man routine? Or is that only in the lava of Mustafar?"
The Sith Lord strikes once again against her, more vigorous strikes. "I shall take the boy, he needs to be taught by a proper teacher."
"You don't have anything to teach me," Ezra shouts, standing by the crevice opening.
The Sith Lord summons the Force, shoving Ar'iabel to the ground, hard, her head banging against the solid rock. Her vision swims, dark splotches dotting it. She once again senses a burst of dark energy, made up of anger, and fear, mostly fear, arise from Ezra. When her hearing finally returns, she hears Vader taunting the boy.
"Your Master will die."
"No!"
"Your friends will die. And everything you've hoped for will be lost. Your story will end, the way it began. The Empire will still rule, and your little uprising will have done nothing to stop us."
"No!"
The Padawan, fear and anger clouding his judgement, summons the biggest of the creatures on the base, launching it directly at the Sith Lord.
"Ezra? No! Ezra," Kanan shouts.
"Ezra," Keen rasps, rising to her feet. The world spins around her, so, she closes her eyes, searching for Darth Vader. She stumbles over to him, just as she feels the creature's life force waver, and disappear.
"Are you happy, Anakin? Do you even see what you have done?"
Vader turns to her, a smugness about him. "Look at how the mighty have fallen. You travel on a cargo freighter, with a bunch of feeble outcasts, attempting to thwart that which you don't understand."
The Jedi opens her eyes, watching as Kanan carries his Padawan, setting him gently in the back of the Phantom. "Maybe I don't understand your murder cult, but I used to know you. In fact, before you turned to the Dark Side, I had a gift I had planned to give to you." She disignites one of her sabers, sliding her hand into her bag once more, this time wrapping her fingers around a small fabric parcel.
She slips the piece of string off the top, grabbing the small ball dimly in her fist. Pulling it out, she flings the contents of the ball at the Sith Lord, the sand flying through the air. "Happy Life Day, Skywalker."
He lunges at her with his saber, her orange clashing against his red. With her free hand, Keen signals for Kanan to leave. As soon as the ship hovers off the ground, she pulls back, her blade returning to the Crystal. The Jedi Master holds her hands up in surrender.
Darth Vader grabs Keen's wrist forcefully, dragging her to the Imperial shuttle. The Jedi watches as Kanan and Ezra fly away, safe.