AN: Look at that, lovelies! Two chapters in September. This one's a bit shorter, but that's because the next one is a MASSIVE mess. It could take a little bit to do, there's a lot going into it, so, you know. Be patient. I'll work as fast as I can, but you guys know how it is.
As always, I adore you all and I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think and where you think things are going!
Chapter 62: Iron Squadron
"Truly remarkable..." Qui-Gon muttered as he paced before Kanan, the Jedi kneeling upon the dusty red ground of the Atollon base, the electromagnetic line of sensor beacons buzzing softly behind them, protecting them from the predatory krykna that prowled the planet, three such creatures now pacing just outside the perimeter. Staring back at the skittering creatures from the safety of the protected perimeter, laying belly down upon the sun-warmed ground, was the rancor Yoda, each breath from his stubby nose causing the dust to be kicked up into the air, making the krykna scurry away before returning once again, only to be sent away again with the beast's next breath, almost as if it were a game for the languid rancor.
Laying upon the rancor's head between his horns, an opened Sith holocron floating above his chest, was Darth Lumis, intently watching Kanan and Qui-Gon as the Force spirit studied the Jedi. He was only vaguely aware of the Ancient Sith drifting through his mind, his original intention to appear disinterested in all that Jedi stuff vanishing the instant Kanan and the Force spirit began working to solve the Jedi's little problem. But he was interested, both in this new way to experience the Force, and in Kanan. So interested that concealing that interest became too much of a bother to even attempt.
"It's almost as if you're seeing the Force through the eyes of a spirit," Qui-Gon continued. "I've never seen anything like it, not from the living."
"Alright, we get it, Kanan's special..." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm sure it's all well and good to gawk at him like the exotic animal he is, but that's not why we're here. Can you help him?"
"Yes..." Qui-Gon muttered, the slightest smirk upon his lips as he turned his gaze up upon the Sith Lord. "And no." With a heavy, frustrated groan, Kenobi flopped upon the rancor's head, and slid down the beasts neck when Yoda moved a long, clawed arm to swat at the krykna.
"Trust a Jedi to speak in riddles!" Obi-Wan snarled as he slid off the rancor's back, the holocron closing and floating to his open palm as he crossed the short distance to the spirit's side. "This is why your Order's extinct, nobody could stand the way you turn the simplest things into the most abstract, complicated shit!"
"I'm fairly certain the extinction of the Jedi had less to do with that and more to do with the Sith," Qui-Gon said calmly, and Kenobi scoffed, kicking up some of the red dirt at the spirit, and he frowned when, predictably, the spray of dirt passed right through the apparition.
"Because we couldn't stand your holier than thou kriffing mysticism!" Kenobi snapped. "Well?!" he said sharply as he gestured to Kanan.
"It's as I said," Qui-Gon said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "The nature of what he's experiencing is not something I'm familiar with. I wouldn't even know where to begin with teaching him how to use this gift he's been given. However," he said swiftly when a deep frown crossed Kenobi's face, the certain precursor to an outraged objection, "I've walked the Force as a spirit for quite some time. My understanding of its flow is...unique, to the experience of mortals. If Kanan is experiencing the Force through the eyes of a spirit, as I suspect he may be, I can help him understand what he's seeing. As for the rest," he said with a broad gesture and a shrug, "he may have to look within for his answers."
"Within?" Kanan scoffed as he rose to his feet chuckling for a moment at what he believed was a joke until he realized that the spirit had been genuine. "You've got to be joking," Kanan muttered, shaking his head slowly as he stared at the resolute Force spirit. "Qui-Gon, I was just a Padawan when the Jedi were destroyed, and I was barely that."
"Do you believe the experiences of your life hold less value because they didn't occur under the watch of the Jedi?" Qui-Gon asked calmly, and Kanan's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the ghost.
"It isn't just that," Kanan growled darkly. "For years, I cut myself off from the Force. With the Jedi gone, with the Force a death sentence, it was so easy to abandon the code we lived by."
"...do you believe you're a bad man?" Obi-Wan asked slowly, quiet realization dawning on him as he looked at the Jedi and felt the raw emotions of grief, insecurity and uncertainty ripple and disrupt the warm glow around Kanan.
"No," Kanan said dismissively and much too quickly, Kenobi thought. "But I haven't exactly been upstanding. I've been a thief and a womanizer and a drunk. For years, there wasn't a night I didn't end up soused on the floor of a bar or in a brawl. I'm not-" Kanan began, choking back his words when his throat tightened with the sudden swell of emotions, his eyes shut tightly as the visions he experienced in the Lothal Temple flashed through his mind, the words of his former Master ringing in his ears, both her condemnation of his lost way and her belief of the path he treaded. "I'm out of step with the Jedi," Kanan finally muttered quietly. "What sort of great internal wisdom could I possibly have?"
"You remind me of Quinlan Vos," Obi-Wan said softly, the slightest quiver in his voice that didn't pass by Kanan or Qui-Gon. "You would have liked him..."
"I met him once," Kanan said quietly. "Before he fell to the Dark Side."
"Quinlan Vos was a great Jedi," Qui-Gon said solemnly. "Not because he was a model Jedi Master, but because he was wild and unconventional. He was a valuable asset to the Jedi Council, not because he was in line with them, but because his experiences and views were unique to the Jedi and gave us a new and different perspective on the challenges we faced."
Kenobi scoffed, a look of contempt crossing his face, looked as if he were going to say something, and suddenly stopped, a brief flash of pain in his eyes before he shook his head and brushed the thought away with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Wisdom doesn't come from lives free of hardship and adversity," Obi-Wan said quietly. "That's what the Sith believe."
"The Sith say that?" Kanan asked, a wry smirk spreading across his face, the worry and self-doubt that had previously filled him clearing as he looked between the Sith Lord and the Force spirit. "Sounds like the sort of thing you'd hear from the Jedi."
"Regardless," Kenobi said with an irritated flick of his hand, "I wouldn't put too much stock in the wisdom of the Jedi. Qui-Gon here was a Master on the Council, and the only help he could give you was look within." The Sith scoffed. "Some Master he turned out to be..."
"I wonder..." Qui-Gon muttered, pointedly ignoring the petulant Sith. "This began when you encountered the vision of your former Master in the Lothal Temple, did it not?"
"Y-yeah..." Kanan stammered, his hand absently drifting to Depa Billaba's lightsaber that hung next to his own upon his belt. "I think it must have. We fought and she...she blinded me and..." He closed his eyes and shook his head, silent for a moment as he carefully considered what had transpired that day in the Lothal Temple. "I can't imagine they're unrelated," Kanan finally whispered, his voice resolute and certain, and Qui-Gon nodded, his ethereal body wavering when the rancor, having lost interest in the krykna, rolled over and exhaled a long breath in the spirit's direction.
"Then perhaps your answers will be found within Lothal's temple," Qui-Gon said thoughtfully, the sudden cold breath of the Force snapping the spirit's attention to the contemplative Sith Lord.
"Lothal..." Kenobi muttered under his breath, his eyes focused on the ground as his shaking hands wound in the fabric of his robes. "No matter the path we travel, it always leads back to Lothal..."
"Is it because Thrawn's there?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi quickly shook his head.
"No, it's deeper than that," Obi-Wan said. "This began long before Thrawn set up base there. Before I met you, even. At first, I had thought it was because the Force was leading me to you, but even after that, our roads always led us back there, one way or another. No..." Kenobi muttered, his gaze drifting to look out over the red wilderness of Atollon. "There's something on Lothal. Something that keeps drawing us back that we have yet to discover. Something that's drawing the Empire there as well, because it's weird for the Imperials to divert so much attention to a backwater Outer Rim world like Lothal, even with a resource like doonium to be exploited."
"And you think that something's in the temple?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi's eyes narrowed, the hint of molten red beginning to bleed into his usual glowing gold.
"I'm certain of it," the Sith Lord whispered. "Something's there, Kanan, and whatever it is, we need to find it. There's a reason we're being called back to Lothal. It would be unwise to ignore the call of the Force." Obi-Wan drew up, a wry smirk upon his lips as he looked at Kanan. "Our path is clear. We need to return to Lothal, and to do that, we must first deal with Thrawn."
"Well now you're just looking for reasons to show up on Thrawn's doorstep..." Kanan drawled, and Obi-Wan simply shrugged.
"What can I say, that insufferable tease keeps standing me up. We're never going to have that date unless I go get him."
"You know how Hera and Ahsoka feel about that, Kenobi..."
"I do," Obi-Wan agreed, a hard edge in his voice. "That doesn't change the fact that the longer we wait, the more likely it will be that Thrawn takes the fight to us, and we won't win if he does." The Sith Lord's featured hardened, the golden glow of his eyes beginning to be overtaken by molten red as he stepped toward the Jedi, the Force around him freezing with cold focus. "I have one chance, Kanan," Kenobi said in a chilling whisper. "One opportunity to strike at him while I still possess the vital element of surprise, and that window is rapidly closing."
"Kenobi, we can't-" Kanan began, and was quickly cut off when Obi-Wan's com began to chime. With a roll of his eyes, the com snapped off the Sith's belt and flew into his waiting hand, the man grinning as he read the transmission ID.
"You better have a good reason for bothering me, peasant," Obi-Wan snapped, the irritation in his voice undermined by laughter he couldn't quite suppress as a wide grin spread across his features.
"...Father," Leia's strained voice came across the com, and in addition to her vast annoyance, they could practically hear the teen roll her eyes. "You're needed in the command center. We have a mission."
"How exciting!" Kenobi said cheerfully, so eager that from him, it sounded entirely condescending, so much so that they could hear Leia groan. "We'll be right there." He cut the connection, fixed the com back on to his belt, and turned to Kanan, giving the man a wry smirk. "You heard the little lady," Kenobi said with a shrug. "Best not keep the boss waiting." Rolling his aching shoulders, he tucked his shaking hands back into his pockets and began to walk off before he spun around on his heel to face the Force spirit.
"...we'll be in touch?" Obi-Wan asked, and Qui-Gon nodded.
"We will. At the very least, Kanan and I will be."
"...thank you..." the Sith reluctantly muttered, and as the spirit shimmered and faded away with the slight breeze that drifted through the air, Obi-Wan turned again, grabbing hold of Kanan's arm when the Jedi staggered and shut teal eyes that rapidly began to glow silver, and with the rancor following behind them, they made their way across the base and to the command center.
They passed by rows and rows of deactivated battle droids on their way, in neat rows in front of the starfighters that lined the airfield, the mechanics and droids usually at work on maintaining their ships now turning their attention to repairing the old, neglected droids. Among them stood Luke, rapidly moving from droid to droid as he swiftly ran diagnostics and repaired what minor damage he could with the limited tools he had tucked into a belt around his waist, his face stained with oil and a bright smile. Trailing behind him was Sabine and Ezra, a much larger tool kit being carried by Zeb as the Mandalorian diligently worked to upgrade the droids' weapon systems if they had them, and adding them if they did not.
When they caught sight of Kanan and Obi-Wan, the teenagers and the Lasat excitedly waved to them before returning to their work, talking and laughing as they worked. With a low, keening growl, the rancor's large claws scraped at the hard, dusty ground, and the beast loped off toward Luke, and the group of teenagers burst into laughter when the rancor tumbled on to the ground before them.
"Kind of weird that they're not in the meeting, isn't it..." Kanan muttered, and Kenobi slowly nodded, his eyes lingering on Luke for a few minutes before he turned back to face the command center before them.
"They have other things to do, that droid army isn't going to repair itself," Kenobi said dismissively, though the frown on his face showed that he didn't believe that. "It's more likely that Ahsoka doesn't want them there," Obi-Wan said quietly.
"Why-"
"You know why, Kanan," Kenobi drawled as he turned a weary gaze on the Jedi, and Kanan felt his chest tighten as he understood. They were rash and emotional, allowing what's right to dictate their actions instead of what's smart. With Thrawn looming over them, it was entirely likely that this mission was a difficult one, tactically tricky, and the smart decision wouldn't be one that sat well with the other members of the crew.
The walked the rest of the way in silence, contemplative and uncomfortable, lost in their thoughts as they each reached out to the Force to feel at its currents and flow, a tricky and elusive thing that spoke of nothing other than the superficial bustle of technicians hard at work and rebel soldiers training for inevitable combat. As they climbed the stairs of the command center, they found the hallways mostly empty, and the silence within them felt still and ominous to Kanan, the Jedi unable to shake the building sense of dread he felt as the colors of the Force began to once again bubble around him, fiery and explosive reds spreading across his vision for a brief moment before they vanished, leaving him to gaze at lonely blues that sat unnervingly still within the usually swirling pallet before him.
The door of the conference chamber slid open with a casual wave of Obi-Wan's hand, and they stepped into the dim room lit only by the projection of a planet over the holotable. Around the table, already discussing the specifics of the mission, was Ahsoka, Hera, Leia, and the unexpected Commander Sato, and as soon as Kanan and Kenobi entered the room, they fell silent, Sato rising to his feet in respect and waiting for the Sith and the Jedi to take their seats before he sat back down.
"This is Mykapo," Ahsoka said as soon as they were all seated, gesturing to the planet in the holofield, and Obi-Wan scoffed as he leaned back in his seat.
"What, no foreplay?" Kenobi drawled, and Ahsoka shot him a sharp, impatient glare.
"We don't have time for that," Ahsoka said swiftly, a few taps upon her datapad bringing up an information crawl in the holofield. "Mykapo has been resisting the Empire for a while, and the rebels down there have recently staged an uprising. The fighting there hasn't gone in their favor and it won't be long before the Imperials arrive in force to destroy their resistance completely. The rebel sympathizers there are eager to evacuate."
"We lost a lot of people to Thrawn's attacks," Hera said. "Each person we rescue from Mykapo is an ally we can use in our fight against the Empire. We need them."
"Where did we get this information?" Obi-Wan asked as he leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he read the datacrawl. "Did this come from our Fulcrum agent in the Imperial ranks?"
"No, Commander Sato has contacts on Mykapo," Ahsoka said, her voice becoming tight as she looked over at the silent Commander. "It's his homeworld."
"This is time sensitive, yes?" Kenobi asked, his gaze darting over to Sato before he looked back at Ahsoka. "So why are you still here and not evacuating our allies on Mykapo?" Ahsoka and Hera shared a brief, tense look before their gazes returned to the Sith Lord.
"We have reason to believe Thrawn's watching," Hera said quietly. "This entire situation feels just like Ryloth did."
"So we aren't in a rush at all, are we?" Kenobi said tersely, leaning forward as he laid a trembling hand upon the table. "This isn't an Imperial invasion, it's a trap." The Sith's eyes darted quickly to Sato, and under his piercing gaze, the silent, subdued Commander sat upright, his jaw clenched and his muscles tight. "Your homeworld?' Kenobi asked, and Sato stiffly nodded. "Are you still connected to Mykapo?"
"I-" Sato began, but quickly choked on his words, his gaze averted as he collected his thoughts and swallowed the emotions that bunched tightly in his throat. "It is my homeworld," he finally said. "I will always be connected to it."
"Maybe that's enough..." Kenobi mused, his glowing eyes flicking up to gaze at the Commander from where he had been contemplatively staring at the table. "But I think not. There's more, and I need to know everything."
"Do you have family on Mykapo?" Kanan asked gently, glaring at Kenobi and jabbing his elbow into the Sith Lord's ribs. For a moment, Sato was silent, the man looking down at his tightly clenched hands in his lap.
"I did," Sato finally managed to choke. "A brother and a nephew. My brother was the leader of the rebel cell on Mykapo. They called themselves the Iron Squadron." He stopped, averting his gaze once again. "He was killed last week in the uprising."
"Then, a few days ago, the Iron Squadron returned," Ahsoka said, a tap on her datapad bringing up the image of a YT-2400 light freighter. "They attacked and damaged an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser with dropped cargo, of all things, and forced the ship to retreat."
"Bold..." Kanan said quietly. "Sounds like a stunt Ezra would pull."
"It does. That's why I think it's my nephew, Mart, that's piloting the ship," Sato said tightly. "After my brother was killed, I tried to contact him, but he never responded to any of my transmissions. I thought he might be dead as well."
"It would seem like that isn't the case..." Kenobi mused. "So, what do you want, Ahsoka? You want me to go in, evacuate the rebels and save the kid?"
"If at all possible," Ahsoka said, and Kenobi stared at her for a long, silent moment before he began to laugh.
"Impossible..." the Sith finally drawled between laughter he barely attempted to suppress. "You think Thrawn's watching, and I think you're right. This whole thing has his hands all over it. Ryloth was a trap for you, Hera, and the situation on Mykapo is a trap for Sato, and he's using the kid as bait." Obi-Wan turned his attention to the crestfallen Commander. "Thrawn has your nephew, Sato. It's over. He's dead."
"He isn't yet!" Sato said, his voice cracking and pleading. "Please, we don't need to leave him to die! If we-"
"Learn the lesson from Ryloth," Kenobi said, calm and smooth and without even the slightest hint of emotion in his voice. "These personal missions are getting people killed, and Thrawn's using that against us. This is purposeful and deliberate, it's no mistake that a teenage boy in a rundown freighter is successfully driving the Imperials away. Thrawn's emboldening him, he's making waves to get our attention. Thrawn's testing the leaders of the Phoenix Squadron, Sato, first Hera, and now you. He's looking to see what it takes to drag you out into the open, and we can't give him what he wants."
"So you won't go?" Ahsoka asked, and Obi-Wan scoffed as he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, I'm going, Fulcrum dear..." Kenobi said sweetly. "But not for a rescue. I'm going to observe. I need to see Thrawn in action."
"You're just going to watch as Thrawn subdues an entire resistance movement?" Sato asked indignantly, a thing that didn't seem to phase the Sith Lord.
"Yes, I am."
"There are children fighting!" Sato snapped, the swell of emotions finally breaking through his previously subdued calm. "My nephew is just a child!"
"You can't get them out, Obi-Wan?" Ahsoka asked, her fingers steepled thoughtfully before her. "There aren't many traps that can't be turned against their creators."
"That's true," Kenobi said quietly. "I could rescue them. But I won't." A wave of outrage swept through the Force, and the Sith Lord quickly held up a hand to silence the onslaught of condemnation. "I have one shot at Thrawn," he hissed, his voice lo and dangerous. "I do anything at all, and Thrawn will know I'm back in the game, and I need to use that chance carefully." He paused, his eyes closed as he took a deep breath, the nagging claw of the Dark Side pushed away as he centered himself. "I need to get inside that facility of his on Lothal, that's what I need to use this chance for. I won't waste it rescuing the members of a failed uprising and a teenager who will all die anyway once Thrawn finds us."
"We need more people, Kenobi," Sato tried again, calmer this time, his anger and desperation under control, though his voice still trembled.
"I know," the Sith said swiftly. "Thrawn knows it too, that's why he laid out this trap the way he did. The lure of increasing our numbers worked at Skystrike and he's thinking it'll work here too." Kenobi sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked at the Commander. "I'm sorry, Sato, but your nephew's already dead." He turned sharp, golden eyes on Ahsoka. "But you already knew that, Fulcrum. Didn't you? The other Spectres would have been here if you thought there could have been a happy ending to this story." Ahsoka's silence was telling, a heavy and oppressive thing that seemed to drain the energy from the room, leaving the people around the table to slump hopelessly in their seats.
"Father's right," Leia said quietly, her voice sounding muck louder than it was as she broke the deafening silence among them. "We need to choose our battles carefully, and we can't choose this one." She sat up straighter in her seat and turned her attention to the Sith Lord. "It'll be pointless to observe Mykapo if Thrawn doesn't come out to play. You have a plan to trip that trap of his, I take it?"
"I do," Obi-Wan said as he rose from his seat. "But I need Hera and the Ghost to make it work."
"What do you need me to do?" Hera asked, and Obi-Wan just shrugged, a wry smirk crossing his lips.
"Just what you do best, dear," the Sith Lord drawled. "This is an evacuation, isn't it? Being mindful that this is a trap, let's see what we can do. When Thrawn shows up, we cut and run."
For a long moment, Hera was silent, her eyes darting between the holoprojection and the faces of the people sitting around the table. Checking her own datapad for a moment, her lekku beginning to twist in agitation, she pushed the datapad away, firm resolve n her face as she looked at the Sith Lord.
"I can't do this if I don't at least try to get that kid out," Hera finally said as she casually gestured toward Sato. "I owe the Commander that much."
"He won't run," Kenobi said grimly. "Thrawn ensured that by allowing him minor victories over the Empire."
"Then he'll be left behind," Hera said firmly as she rose from her seat and turned sympathetic eyes on Sato. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I can't do more than that. Kenobi's right. The situation's too dangerous to try and rescue someone that doesn't want to be saved."
"I...understand," Sato choked out through his tightening throat. "I thank you for trying."
"Come on, Kanan," Hera said, her hand brushing lightly along his shoulder. "I'm leaving the kids behind, so I'll need help with the ship."
"Just like old times, huh? Kanan drawled as he stood, lazily pointing toward the Sith Lord as he followed Hera. "Except for the evil tagalong..."
"We all make exceptions for family, Kanan..." Kenobi said lazily as he leaned back in his seat. "I tolerate that nasty Jedi disease you caught from having all that unprotected sex with Force ghosts."
Scoffing as he rolled his eyes and shook his head, a wry smirk upon his lips, Kanan followed Hera out of the room, leaving the rest of the group in a heavy, awkward silence. With a heavy sigh, Ahsoka swiped her fingers over her datapad and the holotable powered down, the hologram flickering off and the low, electronic whine of the projection falling silent, leaving them in the dark for a moment before the overhead lights slowly powered on.
"What a mess..." Ahsoka muttered as she ran her hand over her face, the togruta's previous fire and command replaced by a somber weariness. "Things don't need to be nearly so difficult as this kriffing Imperial's making it..."
"Yes, competence really is bothersome, isn't it?" Kenobi said flippantly, and despite the glare she attempted to give the Sith Lord, Ahsoka couldn't keep the reluctant smile from her lips.
"It is when it's working against us," Ahsoka agreed.
"We'll see if I can't do something about that, then," Kenobi muttered, a twitch of his fingers sending Ahsoka's datapad sliding across the table, coming to rest before the Sith Lord. A few swift taps and swipes and the holotable powered on once again, this time a projection of Lothal appearing in the holofield, Thrawn's Seventh Fleet surrounding the planet. "Any luck on getting us past that blockade?" Kenobi asked, and with a sigh, Ahsoka reached over and took her datapad back.
"Not yet," Ahsoka said, "but I've been talking to my contacts down on Lothal, and if we can manage to get down there, I think we have a way to get you inside Thrawn's factory."
"Oh, Ahsoka Tano, I think I might be falling in love with you."
"You're going to have to get in line, Kenobi," Ahsoka said absently, her eyes flicking over the data on the screen before her, and with a frown, she looked up at Obi-Wan as he stood from his seat. "You sure you want to go through with this?"
"I'm sure," Obi-Wan said without hesitation. "We don't have a choice. We need to know what Thrawn's got cooking."
"Are you going to engage him?" Ahsoka asked cautiously, and for a long moment, Obi-Wan was silent, his golden eyes staring intently at the projection of the Chimaera, large and ominous at the head of the fleet.
"No..." Kenobi said slowly, his eyes never leaving the projection. "Not this time. He has too much power on Lothal. When I do finally engage him, it will be under my terms and conditions, when I have all the information I need, and I don't yet have my winning hand."
"You think it's wise to infiltrate his facility, then?" Ahsoka asked flatly, the disapproval in her voice almost palpable. "As you said, you only have one shot at him before he knows you're back in the game. Shouldn't you be using that shot to kill him?"
"I don't want to kill him, dear..." Kenobi said sweetly, a slight, flirtatious smirk upon his lips as he leaned in toward the Togruta. "I want to seduce him. He's far, far to valuable to waste. If we had him on our side, think of all the things we could accomplish."
"Do you really think that's possible?" Leia asked tentatively, and Obi-Wan flashed her a confident smile.
"I believe so," the Sith Lord said as his gaze drifted back to the projection. "I don't have all the information I need, not yet. But I will."
"You don't want to wait until you do before you move forward with this insane plan?" Ahsoka asked with a resigned sigh.
"Time is limited, Ahsoka," Kenobi muttered. "I could do nothing but sit on my hands, and something would tip him off to the possibility that I'm back. The way we conduct our missions, the way our pilots are flying, the tactics we're employing, I don't know. Something would shift, and once that happens, he'll be looking for the reason why, and the chance that I've returned to Phoenix Squadron is back on the table. I need to act soon, Ahsoka, or not at all, and I can think of no better way to say hello to the good Admiral than by stealing his secrets right out from under his nose."
"You think what he's got going on down there is important?" Leia asked, and both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka turned certain, unwavering eyes on her.
"The people working in the factories don't even know what it is," Ahsoka said quietly. "My Fulcrum agent is a high level Imperial, and he doesn't even have access to the information. Whatever it is, all information about it is behind the highest level of Imperial security."
"It isn't important, Leia, it's vital," Obi-Wan whispered. "If we don't know what it is, when we face Thrawn, and we will face him, we'll be destroyed. I can promise you that."
"I'll find a way to get you past that blockade, Kenobi," Ahsoka muttered, picking up her datapad and swiftly tapping through her wealth of information. "I'll see if I can't have it for you when you return from Mykapo." She looked up at the Sith Lord as he rose to his feet and nodded in gratitude, his hands folding into the sleeves of his cloak. "What information do you need to make Thrawn defect?"
"Get me Saw Gerrera, dear, and I'll hand you the keys to the Empire's destruction," Obi-Wan drawled, and without another word, he turned and left the room.
"We don't need your help," the surly voice came from the com, and Hera shook her head with a heavy, irritated sigh, her hands tightening on the Ghost's yoke. Finding the Iron Squadron had been almost comically easy, the little freighter spotted engaging with a Gozanti-class Imperial transport the moment the Ghost came out of hyperspace, and the young pilot of the ship had been just as stubborn as Hera had feared. The attempt to contact the ship and offer assistance had ended in the swift and curt refusal, which was almost enough for Hera to abandon the stubborn pilot to his fate.
Almost.
"Chopper, run a scan on that freighter, I want to know exactly what we're dealing with," Hera commanded, and with a few short, irritated warbles, Chopper plugged his utility arm into the console and began doing as commanded. In the copilot seat beside her, Kanan groaned as he rose and walked out of the cockpit to take his place in the gunner's seat in the dorsal turret. In the passenger seat behind her, Hera could almost feel Obi-Wan's disdain for the reckless Iron Squadron.
"Don't you dare say a word," Hera snapped as she reeled on the Sith Lord, and with an almost smug smirk spreading across his face, Obi-Wan rose his hands in surrender and said not a word, which irritated Hera even more. The smug and silent Kenobi was often worse to deal with than the one that argued against directives. The sensor on the console chimed, and Hera looked down to see that the Hammerhead corvette she had brought for the evacuation had arrived.
"Phoenix Transport, head down to the planet and begin evacuation," Hera commanded, her attention once again drifting to the freighter engaging the Imperial transport. "Remember, at my signal, regardless of your status, you're to depart immediately. Keep the hyperdrive primed, when we leave, it'll be in a hurry."
"Copy that, Phoenix Leader," the com crackled, and the corvette peeled off toward Mykapo, keeping well out of range of the Imperial ship. With the evacuation officially under way, Hera turned her full attention toward the Iron Squadron and the Imperial ship, pushing the Ghost to full sublight speed as she brought her ship to attack readiness.
It didn't take long to intercept the fight, the Ghost cutting almost effortlessly between the two ships and flipping around to fly directly toward the Imperial ship, Kanan at the turret firing rapidly as they drew closer to their target. For just a moment, the Imperial ship almost seemed to reflexively jerk in surprise at the arrival of the second ship, their firing briefly pausing before they resumed with the Ghost as their new target, Peeling away from the ship, Hera continued to draw their fire away from the Iron Squadron freighter, and Hera quietly cursed when she saw that the battered ship wasn't taking the opportunity to escape, but was redoubling it's efforts against the Imperial ship as it charged right at it.
"You're clear, make your jump, get out of here!" Hera snapped into the com when Chopper had once again opened up a transmission to the freighter.
"Negative," was the nearly immediate terse response. "Whoever you are, the Iron Squadron doesn't run."
"Sounds like the Iron Squadron are a bunch of idiots," Kenobi said with a roll of his eyes as he leaned to look over Hera's shoulder, and when the woman batted him away with an irritated hiss, he slid into the copilot's seat, his eyes running over the results of Chopper's scan of the freighter. "That ship is a piece of junk," Obi-Wan scoffed, leaning back in his seat and casually looking out the viewport. "The weapon systems are damaged, the hyperdrive is non-functional. Even if they wanted to escape, they couldn't."
"I think they've made it pretty clear that escape isn't their intention," Hera growled between tightly clenched teeth, pulling up hard on the yoke to flip the ship around to once again face the Imperial transport, and just as she began to take them in for another attack run, the Imperial ship shuttered, and in a flash, was gone, disappearing into hyperspace.
"Looks like someone went to tell Daddy that a big bad Ghost scared them away..." Kenobi said in a soft, amused voice, a delighted smirk upon his lips.
"Chopper, send the signal to our transport with the additional instructions to enter the atmosphere on the dark side of the planet," Hera said quietly, her fingers moving swiftly over the control board as she primed the hyperdrive and entered the coordinates for their rendevous point so the navcomputer could begin calculating the jump. "And quickly, Chop, I want them in hyperspace in five minutes."
"Hera, I think we set off the trap," Kanan said as he walked back into the cockpit, a frown on his face when he saw Kenobi in the copilot's seat, and the Sith Lord swiftly rose, bowing mockingly to the Jedi as he offered him his seat back. "How long do you think it'll be before Thrawn's breathing down our neck?"
"He already is, love..." Hera muttered, sighing heavily as she activated the com. "Let's see if we can get that kid to see reason before the Chimaera arrives." Just as she opened the communications between the two ships, a soft, smug laugh came from over the com.
"I told you we didn't need any help," the young, confident voice said. "We've been fighting the Empire for a long time. We know what we're doing."
"Are you Mart Mattin?" Hera asked, ignoring the boasting with a roll of her eyes, and for a long moment, the com was silent, the feel of bold confidence giving way to skeptical uncertainty.
"Who's asking?" the voice finally said, and Hera breathed a sigh of relief. If the boy was willing to ask questions, he might be willing to listen.
"We're with Phoenix Squadron," Hera said firmly, "a rebel group fighting against the Empire. Commander Jun Sato is one of our leaders. He sent us to help anti-Imperial dissidents such as yourselves evacuate from Mykapo."
"What does evacuate mean?" Mart scoffed disdainfully, and beside the frowning Hera, Kanan rolled his eyes. "We aren't cowards. In case you didn't notice, we fight and make the Empire evacuate. We aren't going anywhere."
"You can't stay and fight the Empire alone," Hera said calmly, though her voice was growing tight with rapidly building irritation. "They'll be back, and in greater numbers."
"We have everything under control," Mart said flippantly, and Hera shook her head at the foolishness of the teenager's carefree attitude. "Didn't you see how we chased off that Star Destroyer?"
"That wasn't a Star Destroyer, that was just a transport," Hera said with a tired sigh, her eyes squeezed shut as she pinched the bridge of her nose and tried not to allow the teenager's commitment to ignorance bother her. Once, she reminded herself, Ezra was not unlike this other boy. "You're very brave," she said in a measured, even voice, "but very soon, the Empire will arrive in full force, and once they do, it won't matter how brave you are."
"This is our world!" Mart snapped. "We aren't just going to leave so some Imperial goons can just take it. We aren't going to run. Not now, not ever!"
Groaning in irritation, Hera muted the com and turned weary eyes on Kanan, the Jedi giving her a small, sympathetic smile as he took her hand. "You can't save them all, Hera," Kanan said quietly. "You did all you could."
"I know..." Hera muttered. "I just-"
Behind them, the resolutely silent Kenobi gasped, his eyes flying open and his body going tense and rigid, and Kanan's vision suddenly erupted into colors, wild splashes of reds and blues filling the cockpit as the Sith Lord emerged from deep within the waters of the Force.
"He's here..." Kenobi whispered, his golden eyes becoming molten red as he stared out the viewport at dark, empty space spread out before them. Looking out at the muted colors through the viewport, Kanan squinted as he watched the subtle flickers of orange and green and yellow ripple across the sluggishly swirling black and navy and deep purple. Then, without warning, tranquil space was sliced open by a spear of ice blue that effortlessly cut through the harmonious spectrum. Around him, the colors paled as they seemed to freeze, the would around him cracking and breaking until the frozen world shattered, the colors falling away to reveal reality once again.
Swallowing hard, Kanan slowly leaned forward to stare at the Chimaera now looming in space before them. Without taking his eyes from the massive ship's engraved hull, Kanan reached over and cut the com.
"Hello, sweetie..." Kenobi said breathlessly, bracing himself on the back of Kanan and Hera's seats as he leaned forward, his glowing red eyes sharp and predatory as he stared at the massive ship, the Iron Squadron's tiny freighter ignored completely as it twisted and jerked erratically beneath the shadow of the Chimaera.
"That's a Star Destroyer, Mart..." Hera muttered to herself, her hands tightening around the yoke as her eyes raked over the monitors and displays before her, looking at the readouts from the Imperial ship and waiting on the confirmation from Phoenix Transport that they were clear from Mykapo. Hissing a curse under her breath, Hera wrenched the yoke sideways sending the Ghost spinning as she accelerated, so quickly that the occupants of the cockpit were pushed hard into their seats. Suddenly, the Ghost shuddered, Kanan and Kenobi thrown forward as the ship rapidly decelerated, the Chimaera slowly growing closer in the viewport.
"Oh, that's not good!" Kanan snapped as he swiftly strapped himself into his seat and took control of the forward cannons.
"It's not bad yet," Hera said calmly, her eyes narrowing as she watched the Star Destroyer's hull to determine how fast they were drifting. "Even tractor beams have to obey the laws of physics." A moment later, and Hera threw back the acceleration, the Ghost's engines whining as they engaged, and after drifting for a moment more, the ship took off, rapidly shooting to full speed as their previous sideways motion allowed them to drift free of the tractor beam.
"You do this often?" Kenobi asked as Hera raced toward the back of the Star Destroyer, putting as much distance between her ship and the tractor beams as she could.
"Not often, but it has been known to happen," Hera said between clenched teeth as she pulled hard on the yoke to dart out of the way of the green lines of ion fire that the Chimaera shot at her, the highly maneuverable Ghost easily evading the salvo. "Most ships that big don't bother trying to tractor in ships this small that haven't been disabled. They're too hard of a target."
"Must be a hell of a tractor operator," Kanan said, and Hera scoffed and rolled her eyes, shooting the Jedi a swift, hard look as she flew her ship up to fly just beneath the Chimaera's hull, too close for the Star Destroyer to shoot at.
"It's Thrawn, what did you expect?!" Hera snapped, her eyes swiftly moving to her scanners and sensors, a frown on her face when the displays only showed the Iron Squadron's freighter and the Chimaera, no launched squadron of TIEs like she had been expecting. A quick look at Kanan showed the Jedi just as apprehensive as she was, the Imperial's lack of action more alarming than an all out attack could have been.
"What is he waiting for?" Kanan mumbled, and Hera slowly shook her head.
"This was a trap for Sato, maybe he's waiting for him to show up," Hera said as she spun the Ghost around, keeping close to the Star Destroyer's hull as she looked out beneath the massive ship as the small, frantic freighter darted close, fired a few shots, and swiftly pulled away, a pointless, futile attack so insignificant against the Imperial warship that Hera doubted would even register as a nuisance to the commander on the bridge.
"Hey!" the crackled voice came over the com with a burst of static from the hapless Iron Squadron. "We need your help! This ship's bigger than anything we've-" The transmission cut with a burst of static, followed by smooth silence as their transmission was overridden by a much stronger tight beam transmission, and Hera held her breath as she read the encryption on the display, a coded message possessing the highest level of Imperial security that she had ever seen.
"Ghost," came the smooth, monotone voice over the com, and Hera spit a curse under her breath, the fresh memory of her father's violent death making her hands tighten around the yoke. "This is Grand Admiral Thrawn of the ISD Chimaera."
"Yeah, we know who you are!" Hera snapped, her eyes darting to her readouts when the console chimed, their own hyperdrive ready to jump, but no word yet from Phoenix Transport, and she was not leaving without them, lest the Imperials turn their sights to the planet and destroy them along with the rest. "You're a long way from Lothal, Admiral. What are you doing out here?"
"You know very well what, Captain Syndulla," came the cold, hard reply, "or you would not be here in Commander Sato's place."
"The Commander can't be bothered with the likes of you," Hera said in a biting tone, her eyes fixed on Mart's ship. "So sorry to disappoint you, Admiral."
"I am hardly disappointed," Thrawn said, as calm and collected as ever, the unshakable confidence making Hera's teeth grind together. "I have found this exercise to be...quite illuminating."
"Yeah, I bet you did," Hera bit out between clenched teeth, her eyes darting nervously to her monitors as she waited for the long delayed word from Phoenix Transport. Wordlessly, she signaled Chopper to contact them again, the little droid giving a few curt warbles before he set about to his task. "Never the less, he isn't here."
"No," Thrawn muttered, a certain edge in his voice that made the skin on the back of Hera's neck prickle and her lekku begin to squirm with apprehension. "His absence is more telling than his presence would have been, as is your presence here, Captain. I am a patient man. There will be other opportunities to engage Commander Sato."
"We know your game, Thrawn!" Hera snapped, her worry becoming irritation and anger as she threw back the accelerator, piloting the Ghost along the Star Destroyer's hull as she sped closer toward the Iron Squadron. The Chimaera hadn't launched its TIE Fighters yet, and while she knew there was no way she could help Mart and his crew evacuate the system, she might be able to provide cover for them to escape back down to Mykapo. "Sato is too smart to be lured into one of your traps. You've already used this trick. It won't work twice."
"You are here, are you not?" came the eerie, monotonous reply. "And I said nothing about attempting to lure your Commander out into the open. After today, such actions will be unnecessary. You have lost here, Captain."
"You're sorely mistaken if you think you have us," Hera said tightly, quiet triumph in her voice as she looked at her monitors, her hyperdrive primed and her jump calculated, the flashing signal from Phoenix Transport indicating that they had made their escape.
"No..." Thrawn said quietly. "You will escape today, Captain. But your Iron Squadron will not. The rebellion on Mykapo ends today, and with it, I have defeated Commander Sato as well."
Warning signals flashed all over Hera's console, two dozen small craft appearing on her sensors as the TIEs she had been expecting finally launched, pouring out from three separate hangars beneath the Star Destroyer and flying at attack speeds toward the Iron Squadron. Hissing a curse between her teeth, Hera pulled the Ghost away from the Chimaera's belly after the last TIE shot past, falling in behind them as Kanan activated the weapon systems and began taking shots at the swerving, erratic fighters before them.
Beside them, Chopper gave a few irritated chirps, his utility arms banging on the console to get Hera's attention, and when the irritated pilot tore her eyes from the viewport to look at the monitors, she felt the air sucked from her lungs like she had been punched. Two dozen more TIEs had just launched, these ones falling in behind the Ghost, and beside that, the flashing message from Phoenix Home telling her that the mission had failed entirely. The Imperial presence on Mykapo had kept them from even landing.
"Goodbye, Captain Syndulla," Thrawn's calm voice came over the com as two TIE Fighters from behind the Ghost shot past them toward the Iron Squadron. "I am certain we shall be seeing each other again very, very soon."
"Chopper!" Hera snapped as she slammed her hand on the console to cut the transmission with the Chimaera and brought the Ghost to full speed in an attempt to beat the TIE Fighters to the little freighter. "Open up a tight beam transmission to the Iron Squadron."
"You're not thinking of actually trying to fight, are you?" Kenobi said from the back seat, and Hera's teeth ground together, her shoulders tightening as she cut non-essential systems to give the ship more speed, the cockpit lights flickering off as she jet past a single TIE. "Hera, they've released nearly their entire compliment of TIE Fighters!" Obi-Wan said tightly when the pilot didn't respond. "We can't fight against that!"
"More ships means more targets," Hera said stiffly, swerving between the erratically flying TIEs and quietly cursing when half of the starfighters sped past the Iron Squadron's freighter, ignoring the ship entirely as they made their way toward Mykapo. A few short whirs from Chopper, and the com was active, the sound of static and panicked shouting coming from the other end. "Mart!" Hera said loud enough to be heard over the chaos of the other cockpit, her voice calm and commanding. "We're gong to try and cover you while you escape back to Mykapo. Don't bother shooting at these bastards, just focus on escape!"
"Y-yeah," Mart said over the crackling com, his voice high and tight with fear. "Yeah, got it..."
Without another word, Hera pushed the Ghost into the swarm of TIE Fighters that was racing toward the freighter, her flying as erratic and reckless as she could make it in order to cause as much chaos as possible among the Imperial starfighters. With Kanan firing at a rapid rate at everything in front of them, the TIEs were quick to take evasive maneuvers, scattering quickly only to form into smaller groups in defensive formations. For as much the Ghost was causing the smaller TIE Fighters to scatter before it, it was making it difficult to both lock on to the erratically flying targets and to see through the agitated swarm of starfighters, and despite Kanan constantly firing, the TIE Fighters predominantly ignored the Ghost, focusing instead on the little freighter that was swerving a winding path toward Mykapo.
"Hera, that kid is already dead!" Kenobi said between clenched teeth, his hand tightening on the back of the pilot's seat as he looked at the rapidly moving specks on the radar, too many moving too quickly to make sense of the reading. "We need to get out of here. Now. Before Thrawn decides that we're stupid enough to catch."
"We need to give them a chance to get away!" Hera snapped.
"They already had their chance!" Obi-Wan shouted, his temper flaring as he stood from his seat and jabbed his finger at the monitor. "All those TIEs that headed down toward Mykapo just turned around! In a moment, your Iron Squadron's going to be completely surrounded, and when they're destroyed, it's us against the Chimaera and nearly fifty TIE Fighters that have no distractions! We need to go! We offered help to the kid when we arrived and he refused!"
"W-we've been hit!" Mart's panicked voice came over the crackling com, the TIE Squadrons before them suddenly breaking off and flying away to regroup, giving them a clear view of the dark and smoking freighter. "Our engines are down, we can't-"
"Cut the com, Chop..." Hera muttered quietly, her shoulders slumping as she pulled back on the yoke, the Ghost rapidly slowing as it fell back away from the doomed freighter. "I don't want to hear those kids die."
"We can't do anything else for them, Hera," Kanan said quietly as he laid his hand upon her shoulder, Chopper giving a soft groan as the frequency of the transmission fell silent. "Kenobi's right. We need to go."
"I know," Hera whispered, a hard, cold edge in her voice as she looked through the viewport up at the Chimaera and the intimidating engraving of the ship's namesake upon it's hull. When she saw the flash of the explosion from the Iron Squadron's ship as it was destroyed, Hera swiped her fingers over the console, the Ghost shuddering just before it made the jump to hyperspace.