Thank you to our new subscribers, and those who is already there. Here is chapter 3, normally update won't be so fast. Hope you will leave a review, it help us make a better story.

Kanan's heart sank to his stomach for a moment. Kanan knew he was going to die anyways, he just assumed it would be from the torture and not a sudden execution. Kanan though realized that his sudden end would be due to his pure willpower to remain silent and loyal to the Rebellion, and not from being a coward and giving in to the Inquisitors questioning; Kanan remained strong to the end. The irony was that by being killed, he would be saved from breaking down and telling the Empire anything. Kanan would be saved from seeing Bilaba being killed again, like his master, he would die protecting those he cared about. Kanan knew Ashoka would look after the crew now that he was no longer able to do so. Kanan would miss all of them. Kanan hoped they would not miss him too much, and that the empire would never capture them. So despite his rapid heartbeat racing and his throat becoming much drier than it had already been, he kept his poker face on, showing no emotion to the news.

Kanan let out a mocking chuckle, "Finally realized you won't get anything out of me, huh".

The Inquisitor's smile fell. The Pau'uns face contorted to a scowl as he smacked Kanan hard across the face. As Kanan spat up some more blood, imperial gates began to open, returning the Inquisitor's horrid grin.

"I decided you would be perfect for target practice for your executioner."

The Inquisitor walked towards the opening wall and Kanan recognized Kallus, but it took a moment for Kanan to register what Kallus had in his hand. A chain that was dragging something, someone. Kanan expected to see some huge criminal followed by guards, but as Kallus came out, Kanan saw the chain attached to cuffs, restraining small hands. That was when the being came out into the light, Kanan was appalled when he realized Kallus was dragging a resisting, small, and beaten child.

"A kid?" Kanan began to question as to why Kallus was dragging a chained child into the courtyard. Kanan had to question it for a few moments before what he saw told him the horrible truth; the child looked to be no older than 12, maybe even only 10, his clothes tattered, his dark blue hair a mess. The boy looked like he hadn't bathed for a long time, judging by the dirt that was everywhere. On the boy's face showed two features; his bright blue eyes, and the bruises that littered his face. Kanan noticed the child was far too skinny, the boy's bones were easily seen on his body, he looked starved. The child also seemed unstable on his feet, like every step was going to send him to the ground in exhaustion. The child was limping rather badly too. The child glanced at him, the kid eyes were almost piercing through his soul, full of curiosity as he gazed at Kanan. That was until he was brought to the Inquisitors side and the child's eyes became full with fear as he saw the Pau'un. What had they done to the child to spark such fear in his eyes?

Kanan's anger boiled as his heart ached for the abused child. Kanan knew the Empire were awful being's, but seeing this sort of treatment, confirmed they were monsters.

SWR

Ezra fought the pulling of the chains all the way down the hallway. He refused to make it easy for them, even though the cuffs cut into his hands. One would think he had gotten used to that kind of pain by now but it kept hurting.

"Stupid boy stop pulling, it is only yourself you harm" muttered Kallus and pulled so hard he nearly fell over. But he had tried this before and managed to regain balance by leaning down and use his center to balance so he did not fall. Even so, more pain sparked in his legs that were already bad because of his sprains, and it was hard to walk properly. Ezra raised back up. Ezra realised they were going to the courtyard where they sometimes "trained" and pulled some more. Ezra hated that type of training that was done there, it was usually him being hunted down by troopers as they used their blasters at him. Even though they were set on stun it still hurt. Sometimes one of the Inquisitor's was there giving him lightsaber lessons, those were even worse. Every time he trained there he ended up in immense pain, and he would not be going there if he could prevent it, so he pulled even more.

"STUPID BOY! STOP RESISTING" shouted Kallus and smacked him across the face despite his best effort to turn away.

"I won't go there, I won't train" Ezra snapped back.

That earned Ezra another slap and he heard Kallus mumble 'stupid boy' once again. Ezra felt slightly dizzy from all the movement; added to the fact he has had no food for so long. Ezra felt his face burning from the slaps, but was relieved that there was no blood, he did not need to bleed any more than he already had. They continued to the courtyard and he only pulled two more times not wanting to receive another beating. Ezra's face hurt along with all the other bruises that was already there. Out of instinct he tried to take his hand to his face but this time Kallus had enough. Kallus pulled so hard on the chain that Ezra fell hard to the floor.

"You pull one more time boy and I let you be dragged like this the rest of the way now get up street rat" he sneered.

How much Ezra hated him, he got up and stopped pulling, Ezra knew it was not an empty threat. When they entered the field, he had expected the Inquisitor to be there, but he did not recognise the other man, another prisoner by the looks of it.

"Is the man part of a training session somehow?" he wondered.

The man who was kneeling with his hands tied behind his back and troopers surrounding him. The man did not look good; with cuts and wounds all over his bare torso, some of them still bleeding. The man had bruises in all kind of colors and sizes, he could even see a few lightsaber burn both on his torso and his legs showed similar marks. In fact, the man's pants were so ripped that one could see his legs littered with cuts and burns showing through the torn fabric. Like him, it looked like he wasn't being feed enough and the man's bones was standing out from the skin.

If he did not know better he would think that a Gundark had tried to run over this man - twice. But it was his eyes that had dark bags under them from lack of sleep, that made Ezra stare. They were turquoise and filled with pain and sadness … and sympathy? Wait what? No the last had to be a mistake. Who would ever have sympathy for him a dirty street rat? When he looked again it diminished, but quickly replaced with rage as the man glared at the Inquisitor.

Ezra was brought to the Inquisitor's side, which sent chills up his spine.

"Attention boy" the Inquisitor spoke as he turned to him instead.

Ezra remembered from his previous experience to look up at the Pau'an, the last time he had not given the Inquisitor his attention, he had ended up with lightsaber burns all over his body. Kallus gave the Inquisitor the chain and he gulped, it was never a good thing when the Inquisitor held that. It often meant that the Inquisitor wanted to train Ezra personally and that always ended up with pain and him being angry.

"To say that you have been a disappointment is an understatement. You have not completed a single task, I have given you. You are a pathetic street rat. Nothing more than a parasite that needs to be annihilated. Your death sentence on Mustafar will occur tonight. But I am willing to spare you if you do a task for me. You see that man there?" the Inquisitor asked and pointed to the man.

Ezra nodded and looked at the man again, his eyes bugged out with anger, why though puzzled Ezra. When the Inquisitor started speaking again he looked back up again.

"This man has committed crimes against the empire and this is how you end up when you do that. Take a good look, do you wish to end up like this?" the Inquisitor asked.

The Inquisitor nodded to a trooper who yanked the man up by the hair so his chest was shot forward making the injuries much easier to spot for Ezra, as he looked for the third time at the unfortunate man. Ezra moved closer, although he was careful not to pull on the chain as the Inquisitor would punish much harder than Kallus. The man yelped in pain while Ezra once again looked at the man, it did not take a genius to see that he was in a lot of pain; how could he not be with all those wounds, cuts, burns and bruises; possibly freezing since the guy had no shirt. As Ezra looked closer, he could also see traces of prick marks that showed signs of needle injections into him repeatedly by the looks of it. The man's lips were dried like he had not been given water for a long time. The man's stomach started to rumble, revealing the stranger's hunger. There was traces of blood running from his mouth, telling Ezra that the man must have received blows to the face, just like he did. There was also burn marks next to the lightsaber burns. The man slumped to the ground when the trooper released him; it took a moment before the man had the energy to get back up, which could not be easy when his hands was tied behind his back. Ezra saw the man look at him, once again his eyes was filled with sadness and sympathy, Ezra actually felt sad for the man which surprised him.

Ezra felt a pull in the chain and he hurried back to the Inquisitor to look at him.

"So if you do not wish to receive the ultimate sentence," the Inquisitor smiled coldly to him,

"Then you have to execute him" the Inquisitor said.

Ezra's heart stopped, almost frozen at the thought of taking another one's life.

SWR

There was completely silence in the courtyard as the child seemed to freeze completely. The Inquisitor had lost it; he had just asked a child to be executioner. Kanan was completely enraged that the Empire would commit such a sinful act. The Jedi soon found his voice.

"YOU ARE MAD, YOU TWISTED MONSTER! THIS IS A CHILD NOT AN EXECUTIONER!" he roared in rage.

The Inquisitor walked over to him full anger before he turned to one of stormtroopers.

"Whip" he snapped.

The trooper left shortly and another one brutally forced him to the ground. While he lay there and waited he looked at the scared child which was being brought over to watch, the child was pulling at the chain to avoid the upcoming event, only for the trooper to smack the child upside the head. Seeing the mistreating of the child with his own eyes made him angry, but he could not do anything to stop it, as much as he wished he could. Kanan would endure the whipping for the sake of this child, he would have been disappointed with himself had he not spoken up against it. A child should never be asked to become an executioner, it was cruel. The trooper came back and handed the Inquisitor an electro whip. Kanan knew it was going to burn deep into his skin, but he couldn't help but to say.

"Take your best shot."

SWR

Ezra was not sure his heart would ever take another beat it felt like it had stopped.

"YOU ARE MAD, YOU TWISTED MONSTER! THIS IS A CHILD NOT AN EXECUTIONER" the man shouted.

Ezra was lost for words the man was about to be executed maybe even by him and he spoke up in his defense. Ezra gulped, no one got away with speaking that way to the Inquisitor that looked furious.

"Whip" the Inquisitor snapped.

The man was forced to lay on the ground by one trooper while another brought an electro whip over and gave it to the Inquisitor. A stormtrooper grabbed Ezra's chain and dragged him closer to the two men, so he had a full close up view. Ezra could not prevent himself from pulling on the chain, desperate to avoid it. The smack across the face was instantly and it burned even more than Kallus slap. Ezra managed to not cry out, he hated when the Inquisitor taunted him about how weak he was, it made him mad and refused to give the Inquisitor that satisfaction. Ezra could not feel any blood but he feared would not take much after so many slaps and he could not afford to lose more blood. Ezra was afraid that he had lost too much already and with the lack of food and water that could be fatal. Ezra did not want to see this, he did not want to see the Inquisitor whip the poor man, but he knew that he would not be permitted to look away, or Ezra would receive the same punishment as the unfortunate man was about to endure.

"Take your best shot." the man said.

'How could the man say that in a situation like this?' Ezra was chocked by this. The Inquisitor would certainly do so, and how could the man be so defiant when he was about to be wiped, wiped because of speaking up for him. The man must be in considerable pain already; he defied the Grand Inquisitor and now he was about to receive a new beating, how could he manage such a thing?

The Inquisitor raised his arm and slammed the whip into the man's back. The power of the blow was clearly strong, he could hear the swip in the whip very loudly and see the long, large bleeding wound that had opened at the blow. The man screamed in pain, Ezra winched at the sound, his stomach twisted, he wanted to look away. Another lash and the man screamed again. At the third lash and scream, it took all of Ezra's willpower not to turn away, close his eyes and hold his hands over his ears; not like he could do any of those things with his hands bound and attached to a chain. The man's back was quickly becoming painted in his own blood as it ran down his back, and every whiplash opened a new wound. The pool of blood became bigger and bigger. Tears ran down the man's chin because of the pain. It was making Ezra feeling sick to his stomach, that bile began to build in his throat.

"Stop, he can't take it any more!" he shouted to the Inquisitor, but the Pau'un just kept going.

The man's scream become more and more desperate, like he would die if it didn't stop. The screams pierced Ezra's eardrums so much that he was sure they would bleed soon. The poor man was in so much pain, how could anyone survive such pain? The man tried in desperation to use his legs to push himself out of reach of the whip, but a trooper grabbed him and was about to push him back when the Inquisitor ceased for a short moment.

"Turn him around" The Inquisitor said.

The troopers forced the man around so he had his head upside, but the man tried to struggle against that. While the troopers turned the man around the Inquisitor turned to him. Ezra could not stop a shiver when the Inquisitor smiled coldly to him.

"Are you watching street rat? I don't want you to miss this" the Inquisitor pointed out in almost a demonic voice.

The inquisitor turned back to the man and they both saw the man glared at the Inquisitor with both anger and fear before he closed them. The man tried to turn his head away, probably in an effort to protect his eyes, but a trooper pushed it back. The Inquisitor raised his arm and the next whiplash felt over the man's chest, where his heart is located. The man screamed louder than ever before. There was such desperation and pain in the scream, the man was even starting to shake from the pain. The Inquisitor raised his arm high for another lash.

Ezra finally had enough,"STOP IT, HE CAN'T EVEN DEFEND HIMSELF YOU MONSTER!" Ezra screamed at the top of his lungs.

This seemed to have caught the Inquisitor's attention, as the Inquisitor finally stopped.

The poor man on the ground catching his breath as he inhaled sharp gasp of air that showed how much pain he is in. The man just laid there, too weak to get back up, his eyes were shut together hard as if that would make all the stinging pain go away. The tears ran down on the man's cheeks, he was shaking from the pain and he barely seemed to hold on to consciousness.

With the now bloody whip in his hand, the Inquisitor approached Ezra, who was shaking in fear. Ezra looked fearful at the whip, scared he now would end up with the same whip to his back. After all he had just insulted the Inquisitor.

"Interesting," The Inquisitor noticed inquisitively, "An orphaned boy who was had no compassion shown to him by others, still shows empathy for a man he doesn't even know; and never will."

The Inquisitor then placed his own blaster in Ezra's hands. The boy looked at the instrument, the horrible item that could cause so much destruction. The Inquisitor got to his level behind him and spoke into his ear "Now shot him if you know what is best for yourself, if you don't both he and you will be sent to Mustafar. Do it and I will let you see your parents again"

Ezra looked over to the bloody man, as he was forced to his knees again and held up by his shoulders by two troopers, as he could not keep himself upright. Blood was running down his shoulders and chest from where the whip had hit him. The wound over the chest was large, bleeding heavily and must cause the man a lot of pain. Ezra could hear the man's panted breathing from where he stood, and saw the pain on the man's face, that had become very pale and sweat was howling down from it. The trooper let go on the chain so he could walk without restrictions.

Ezra walked over to the man while holding the blaster unsure of what to do. A part of him was scared; scared he would end up like that if he did not do as he was told and killed the man. Perhaps it would be better to let him escape this place by killing him? A small voice told him that the world was cold an cruel and one had to look after oneself before anyone else. That was why he had to shoot him, to avoid this kind of torment. There was no other way. Another part of him wanted to do it for the slim chance that he could see his parents, he missed them so much.

Tears began to fall down Ezra's face as he was met with such a terrible ultimatum; kill the man and live despite losing all sense of good left in him, or refuse and both the man and himself will be sent to mustafar.

"It's...okay". Spoke the broken voice from the man. Ezra stared at him, he heard the man, but how could he say it was okay to be killed, to die.

The man nodded as he smiled and closed his eyes.

That smile, his defiance, it was so familiar. Just like his parents resistance, just like his father's smile. His hand shook around the weapon which made it very unsteady and lowered it.

"What are you waiting for street rat this is not something you have all day for" he heard the Inquisitor snap.

He raised the shooter again and aimed straight for the heart, his finger on the firing mechanism. Ezra could do it, he had to do it, the man had said it was okay to do it. So he should just get it over with. But then looked at the man as his blood fell to the floor. The man was bleeding because he voiced his anger at what they were making Ezra do. The man stood up for him. In all his time alone, this man was the first to show any signs of empathy towards him

"What am I thinking?" Ezra questioned himself in disgust. This was a person, a living being. Ezra had no right to take his life. Agent Kallus life perhaps, but not this man's.

This man was in this situation for the same reason his parent's were taken away; because they spoke their minds. Ezra had to do the same now, even if it cost him his life. The Inquisitor would never keep his word, even if his parents was alive.

For a short second he was tempted to turn around and shoot Kallus before he no doubt would be punished for that. Shouting the Inquisitor would not work, but Kallus did not have the force or a lightsaber. Ezra could rid the world and himself of this plague. How much suffering had that man not coursed? Kallus deserved it, Ezra certainly wanted to do so. Ezra could feel the hatred build inside him, every time he felt that it was becoming more difficult to ignore it. Yet if he did so the Inquisitor would win. Ezra couldn't let that happen, he wouldn't! Ezra resisted his antics for too long just to end up like him.

"NO!" he shouted as he chucked the blaster as hard as he could. Even with his bound hands Ezra was able to throw the blaster into the wall, shattering the weapon.

Ezra got a glimpse of the man again; a look of shock and puzzlement was evident in his eyes. 'I did it in honor of you mom and dad, wherever you are. I hope you are proud for I will die for this, like you might have' Ezra thought. But quickly the chains that bound him were tugged, as Kallus yanked him close enough to kick him in the gut, causing Ezra to cough up some blood before collapsing onto his knees. Another slap hit him hard across the face and nose, resulting in his nose bleeding all over himself. Ezra started to wonder if he had been wrong in not shooting Kallus.

"You insolent little-," Kallus began to berate before he was interrupted.

"That's enough!" The Inquisitor ordered calmly, "We gave the boy a choice, and he has chosen his fate; both their fate."

Ezra knew what the Inquisitor meant; that he was going to die. While Ezra shuttered at the thought, he caught a glimpse of the bloodied man, who was giving the Inquisitor the death stare.

"Load them onto the Starship. Mustafar will be their new home soon.

As both boy and man were dragged away, they got one more glimpse of the other, both asking themselves the very same thing, "Why?".