Chapter 29
Wearing a long, dark robe and hood that concealed most of her form, Leia moved wordlessly through the crowded streets of Garel. Somewhere around here, she knew that Obi-Wan was also near, shrouded in a similar disguise and doing the same thing. Staying in close communication, he and Leia were searching for trouble, trying to find an opportunity to reveal themselves as Jedi, and the tension was running high. This was to be the day that their entire lives changed. If all went according to plan, they would soon be once again actively hunted by the Empire. Unfortunately, however, Garel didn't have the biggest of Imperial presences, and they had yet to see anything big happening. Finally, originating from a hangar near Leia, she could hear the familiar sound of blaster fire. She activated her homing beacon for Obi-Wan and quickly ran to get involved.
She arrived in the hangar to see what appeared to be a surprisingly large operation, over two dozen stormtroopers gathered around and firing towards a small crew, several of whom were loading up Imperial crates that they must've just stolen onto their ship. Due to her childhood pastime of watching starships fly by, Leia recognized the ship as a VCX-100 light freighter, complete with guns on the front, sides, top, and bottom, and fitted with a small, lightly armed shuttle nestled in the back. The ramp was lowered and the crew were trying to board, but one of them, of a large, purple, hairy species that Leia didn't recognize, was pinned down around a corner. Leia smiled. This was the perfect opportunity, and apparently Obi-Wan agreed, as she suddenly saw his shadow jump down from the hangar's roof to land in front of the stormtroopers.
Leia ran forward to stand next to her Master as the stormtroopers temporarily ceased fire due to the arrival of these new, unknown figures. Leia looked at Obi-Wan and he nodded. Leia took a deep breath. This moment would change their lives. She and her Master drew their lightsabers and ignited them in sync, raising them into a ready position, and Leia heard gasps from both the escaping crew and the stormtroopers. Looking around, she saw a Twi'lek in pilot's overalls grab the hand of the only man present in the crew, who wore a man-bun and holster with his blaster drawn, but his mouth was agape with amazement. As Leia took a close look at the crew, she was surprised to realize that only half of them appeared to be adults. If this was all there was, then this crew was made of the man and Twi'lek woman, two teenagers, an astromech droid, and the big hairy fellow. She frowned slightly. They were challenging the Empire with such a small crew? Her attention was soon drawn back to the Imperials in front of her, as a woman standing behind the stormtroopers screamed at the sight of their lightsabers and told the stormtroopers, "Don't just stand there! Get them!"
The troops opened fire, but Obi-Wan and Leia effortlessly dodged and deflected each shot, not a single one getting through their defense to hit near the crew who had clearly just stolen from the Empire. Any good bounty hunters would have run, seeing the opening that these Jedi from nowhere had given them, so Leia was surprised when the crew instead rushed to their aid and began to help them push back the Imperials. The Twi'lek pilot had a blaster pistol and the teenage girl of their group had two. Their teenage boy had some sort of unfamiliar electric slingshot he wore on his wrist. It wasn't very effective, but it seemed to at least throw the stormtroopers off their game long enough for someone else to take them down. Their big purple friend came out from behind his corner and began to fire at the troopers with a large blaster rifle. Even their droid fired small balls of electricity from his extended arm. But the real surprise was the tall man.
If Leia had been surprised to see the crew start to help them fight the Imperials rather than escaping while they had the chance, she was astonished to hear the unexpected but unmistakable sound of another lightsaber being ignited behind them, and before she could turn around, the man from the crew was by their side, swinging a lightsaber in his hands expertly, deflecting bolts back at the stormtroopers with precision. Leia's eyes widened. Another Jedi? They hadn't expected to find other Jedi survivors, certainly not so soon, but Leia knew what Obi-Wan would say, that it was the will of the Force, so she decided to focus on the battle. Speaking of Obi-Wan, he was amazed to see another Jedi fighting by their side. When he'd first heard the lightsaber behind them, he'd assumed that it was an Inquisitor and was busy cursing their luck when the Jedi had shown up to assist them.
The Imperials were in a panic. They continued to fire forward, but they had begun to slowly retreat. They weren't trained to handle a Jedi, much less three at once, and quite frankly weren't paid enough for such a thing. They had heard the stories of the Jedi, mostly from their young childhood, and knew that they were fierce warriors. The Empire ordered that Jedi were to be captured or killed on sight, but when they looked at the three quickly approaching blue blades, their thoughts weren't exactly on their orders. They still held the advantage of numbers, but it was quickly diminishing. They looked to their captain and he pointed to the woman behind them, an Imperial Minister who was here to pick up her shipment of dangerous weapons that had been stolen by this small crew of rebels. Getting the message, all of the troops as one, including the captain, turned tail and took off out of the hangar, two of them grabbing the Minister by her arms and dragging her with them, even as she yelled at them to go back and stand their ground.
As the last of the stormtroopers finally disappeared, all three Jedi deactivated their lightsabers as the rest of the crew also lowered their weapons. The tall man turned to them and said, "Thanks for the help, but uh… I didn't realize there were more of us out there." Obi-Wan walked up to him and lowered his hood. The tall man looked in shock at Obi-Wan's face as he said, "You should leave, and quickly. The Empire will send reinforcements." The teenage boy cleared his throat and said, "Well, why don't you come with us? I don't know about you, but I for one have a LOT of questions." Leia also felt that they had a lot to talk about, and Obi-Wan could sense the feeling from her. Sighing, Obi-Wan nodded his head and said, "Yes, I suppose we need to talk. On the ship, quickly. It's dangerous for us to be out here together."
Half an hour later, Obi-Wan and Leia were sitting comfortably on the ship's couch in the main room, as everyone else stood across the room from them, minus the pilot. She was busy flying the ship and listening in over the intercom. After a rather uncomfortable moment, the teenage boy broke the silence. "So, who talks first? Us or you?" Ignoring him and staring hard into the tall man's face, Obi-Wan finally said, "Padawan Dume, Master Depa Billaba's apprentice." Everyone else looked confused, including Leia, but the tall man simply looked shocked for a moment before smiling, saying, "I don't know if I should be worried or happy to be recognized, Master Kenobi." The boy, who Leia was already starting to find rather immature, said, "Actually, his name is Kanan. And when he says Master Kenobi, does he mean that you're…" Obi-Wan smiled at him. "Yes, I am Jedi Master, or perhaps you know me as General, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I'm afraid that your friend here is actually named Caleb Dume." At this, all of "Caleb's" friends turned to look at him, and he looked down. He sheepishly said, "That was another life for me." He looked up at Obi-Wan. "I go by Kanan Jarrus now. This is Ezra," he gestured to the teenage boy, who waved happily, "Sabine," the teenage girl took off her combat helmet, revealing shocking orange and purple dyed hair, "Chopper," arms popped out of the sides of the astromech's top as it spun around and beeped somewhat aggressively, very nearly hitting the others with a strange sort of spinning martial arts display, "Zeb," the large purple man cracked his knuckles, "and our pilot is Hera," the Jedi finished. Obi-Wan gestured to Leia and said, "My apprentice, Leia." Leia waved at them all, not at all shy.
Kanan walked forward and sat on the cushion across from Obi-Wan. "I must say, Master Kenobi, I hadn't expected to find any other surviving Jedi… well, ever. I don't even normally bring out my lightsaber, but today was obviously an exception, due to your unexpected arrival. However, if you don't mind my asking, why did you help us today? By the way that you and your… new apprentice were so well-organized today, I don't think you just stumbled in there." Knowing that this would take some time to explain, Obi-Wan waited for a moment before addressing Leia and the others. "If you could give the two of us some privacy, I think we need to have a discussion. Leia… feel free to explore and mingle, but don't break anything or kill anyone." On that happy note, Leia nodded, acquiescing to her Master's orders and walked off through the door, as the crew members cleared a path for her before reluctantly following her out of the room.