Ok guys, from now on the story is going to go get further and further away from the canon story that we all know, I'm not saying those things aren't going to happen. Just that Ezra isn't going to be a part it as much as before due to the argument he had with Kanan.


The ship was almost silent as it traversed through the hyperspace lane. The only sounds were coming from the hum of the engine and the small rattling from the off piece of metal that needed fixing into place. Ezra sat in the middle of the ship, though unlike before he wasn't meditating, he was training. Holding his hands in front of him, facing them against each other, curling his fingers to make it shape like he was holding an invisible ball.

He's been doing this for a good couple of hours now, ever since he entered hyperspace. He had to admit, it was nice to take a break from the squad. It's been a week since the Ghost got back after helping the refugees and to say things where tense would be an understatement, he didn't know who told who. If it was Hera letting the commander know or Chopper just running his circuits with the other droids but now the whole squad knew the truth.

Needless to say, that it wasn't only Ezra and Kanan themselves that wanted to stay away from each other, but everyone was helping them, doing everything they could to keep them apart. They ate at different times; they went to different briefings, and they haven't said a word to each other.

For that reason, when Sato sent him on this mission, he was quick to say yes. Sabine offered to go with him but when he found out that the Ghost also had a mission of their own, he told her that she should go with them. Let them know that even though she stood with him, she could still work with the Ghost crew.

Which is what led him to where he is now, on his way to a jungle planet called Lubang Minor. The mission was to assess the planet for a possible base that the squad could use. It should take him no more than several hours to arrive and then maybe a couple of days to assess the world and then report back. Being honest a couple of days on his own sounded amazing, not that he was happy that Sabine wasn't with him along with other members of the squad who backed him over Kanan.

It was just nice to have a moment away from everything, some time for himself to do what he wants. Not that he couldn't do it before but, you know. And right now, the isolation he was in was an advantage. As for the first time in a while he was training, not with a sabre but with the force itself. He was attempting to use lightening on command, something that proved to not be as easy as he once thought. He's used it before but so far, he's never been able to summon it on command just yet.

Which is why he sat where he was, trying to recreate his feelings and emotions from when he last used lightening. He could feel himself getting angry, he could feel the tingling around his arms that was so familiar to him but when it came to pushing it out of his body, it seemed to sizzle out and dissipate.

He would try this again and again only to have the same result, nothing seemed to work. He was starting to think that it's something that could only be used when actually in combat but that couldn't be right, the force didn't work like that. It was always there all the time; it wasn't something that only worked some of the time. He was missing something, and it must be something obvious 'come on, Ezra' he thought to himself 'you've done this before, you can do it again'

But once again, it didn't work. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he opened his eyes and fell backwards. Starring at the ceiling with a frown, unable to think of the reason as to why this wasn't working. The only thing he could think of was getting into a fight and trying to use it again there. Maybe if he consciously used it in a fight, while keeping an extra eye out what he was feeling and how his body was acting, maybe that would be what he needed in order to find the answer he was looking for.

It's not like he could talk to anyone else about this, his relationship to Kanan was just over at this point. While Ashoka hasn't been seen in a while and he didn't know if she was made aware of the situation just yet, but he had a very good feeling what side she would take in the argument. Sure, she said that she wasn't a Jedi many times but that doesn't mean she would side with him, his gut told him that while she wouldn't attack him, she would try and stop him.

But she wouldn't understand, just like Kanan she wouldn't be able to simply get the fact that the time of the Jedi was over. Peace wasn't an option anymore, the time for fighters was now, there would be no peace. Only war.

A small beeping from the console brought him out of his train of thought, quickly standing up and making his way towards the pilot's chair, he pulled the lever on his left back and the Tempest dropped out of hyperspace over the forest planet. At first glance Ezra could see that the place had a lot of forests, no immediate open areas, not that that would be a problem, but it spoke quite a few volumes on how much life would be there.

Getting closer he started his scans, checking the atmosphere for how breathable it was. Nodding his head in confirmation, he brought the ship in and looked for a spot to land.


Once the ramp lowered and Ezra stepped out onto the small grass clearing that was just big enough for the Tempest to lower itself into. When he stepped onto the grass he released a type of probe with the force, nothing massive or to advanced. Just enough for him to get an idea on the place, he didn't receive any warnings or feels of dread.

Taking the good sign, he started to walk forwards got a lay of the land. The reason he chose this spot was because there was a large clearing about fifty miles north of him that was large enough for a base to be set up. Why didn't he just land there? Because he wouldn't be a very good scout if he just landed there, looked around and said 'yep, this is big enough'

He need to see the land around it better, there could be anything in these jungles, or underground, or in the sky. He figured that if he could make it ten miles without any trouble from the wildlife that would be a success and he could report back as such.

From what he could tell it seemed to be mid-day when he started though based on his scans of the planet the days here lasted a good thirty-two hours. Needless to say, he has plenty of time to get there. Though he would like to make it back to his ship and see from a safe place what night brought. He knew all too well what time of animals came out at night, doesn't matter what planet you're on.

A couple of hours into his hike, he was sitting down by a small creak. Opening the small satchel, he carried he calmly pulled out a device and dipped it into the water, seeing that it was perfectly drinkable. He started to slowly scoop some of it into his hand and then his mouth, reaching into his bag again, he pulled out a small plastic sheet that held his meal. Peeling it open he took the small block like substances. Grabbing one and placing it on his hand, he once again reached into the creak put this time with just one finger, just enough for a couple of drops.

Letting the drops fall on the small block, after a single moment it began to inflate like a balloon and soon enough, it grew into a full lough of bread. Plenty for him to be comfortable for the next few hours, at a casual pace he began to eat his meal.

So far, he hasn't had any trouble, no crazy dangerous animals, no toxic killer planets and no primitive intelligent species. So far, he had nothing to complain about, if anything this place seemed rather nice. Though it didn't seem like it would last, just as Ezra was about to continue on his journey when he felt it

It wasn't a warning in the force, it was more like a lead. Like it was trying to tell him something, turning to the right, he decided to head in that direction. Doing what he always did and trusted in the force. As he moved, over the course of the hours that he walked, the feeling in the force got stronger and stronger. What got Ezra confused was that he was never given the warning that he was so used too, his lightsabre was on his belt, of course he was ready for anything. Well, he liked to think so.

But of course, he was proven wrong, he pushed some shrubs out of his way and the sight before him caused him to stop in surprise. In front of him, surrounded by trees and bushes, were nine piles of rocks, shaped in a very specific way. At the front of each pile was a stick jammed into the ground, on top of each one was a helmet.

Graves.

Stepping closer, a lot more carful of his surroundings. Ready to jump into action at a moment's notice, he did his best to ignore the fact that he wasn't alone on this planet. At least that was what he could tell, someone had to burry these people. Stepping closer to one, he kneeled down by the helmet and took a closer look, it was really dusty and covered in mud and force only knows what else. Gently picking it up, he held it in-between his hands. It looked familiar but it wasn't until he started to clean it that his eyes widened in shock.

It was a clone helmet, an old one. He didn't mean that in the sense that it was years old, he meant it another way. If he's remembering his history correctly, this was a first-gen helmet. The armour that was worn by the first legions of clones in the war against the separatists 'what the hell where they doing here?' he thought to himself.

Placing the helmet back on the monument that was placed in the grave he stood up and started to look around, he didn't see anything at first but when he did a small jump. Something caught his eyes, moving quickly. He ran over there and soon his jaw just dropped. Seeming to have crashed into the side of a tree, a long time ago too based on the amount of foliage that has grown around it. It was a Low Altitude Assault Transport or a LAAT. This was one of the most popular ships used by clone troopers.

'What the hell happened here?' he thought as he moved in closer, though he stopped when he saw that the side door of the ship, the place the troops would have gotten out from, it seemed to have a type of leaf, vine, branch door 'so someone survived the crash then'

He stepped forward and raised a hand to open it when he froze "Don't move!" a voice said from behind him.

After thinking about quickly turning around with his sabre, he stopped when he remembered that the force didn't warn him. So, whoever was behind him wasn't completely without reason. Rising his hands slowly, he turned around and came face to face with a white plated trooper aiming a large blaster rifle at his face 'holy shit' he thought as he starred at the dirty but still white Armor of a clone.

"Easy there trooper" Ezra said calmly as he took a step closer towards the man "I'm not you're enemy"

The trooper didn't even lower his weapon "that remains to be seen" he said back.

Trying to think of the best way to defuse the situation "my name is Ezra Kryze. What's your birth number?" he asked, he's learnt quite a bit from Rex over the course of time since first meeting him and he's learnt that the birth number comes first, the nick names come later.

Now that caused a reaction, though he wasn't calm just yet. He did see the blaster lower just an inch. The clone was quite, no doubt trying to figure him out, trying to see if he was genuine. Eventually though Ezra got his answer "one, seven, zero, seven" he answered.

"I take it they were your squad?" he asked point in the direction of the graves "how long have you been here trooper?" he asked calmly.

After a moment the blaster was lowered but he could tell that he was still very weary of him and ready to raise it and shoot at a moment's notice "I can't be sure how long I've been here" he said honestly "we crashed here less than a year after the war began. Droid fighters. They were on top of us before we could react. Most of my unit was killed. The rest of us managed to take out the droids, but at a heavy price. My best guess is that I've been here for at least twenty years"

Ezra tried his best to not look too sad at hearing this, he didn't want to give him pity. Not after all of this "twenty-two" he quickly corrected "if you have been here before the first year of the war then yes, twenty-two years. Trooper, you've missed a lot" he couldn't keep the sadness out of his voice.

"No doubt about that" the trooper nodded "I need to get back in touch with Republic command"

"I'm afraid you're not going too" he said back, the trooper's weapon was once again raised, taking what he said as a threat instead of the information he was giving it as "like I said, I'm not you're enemy" he reached down and grabbed his sabre.

When the force gave him a warning, he quickly activated his weapon and deflected the incoming bolt, though he didn't send it back at the clone. He didn't want to injure him of course. Thankfully, as he thought, no further bolts where shot. When he saw the sabre, the rifle almost fell to the floor.

Ezra didn't move from his stance, he just stood there with his sabre drawn. Letting the glow illuminate the area and he could see it shine off the white armour of the clone "Sir!" the trooper shouted before pulling his rifle back and standing up straight "General! clone trooper Able one seven zero seven, reporting for duty sir!" he shouted standing in a perfect salute.

Ezra deactivated his sabre and placed it back on his belt "at ease Able" he said calmly, already knowing that the Jedi held high ranks in the Republic army "I have a lot of things I need to fill you in on, but I can do that on the way. Grab everything you need to grab, let's get you out of here" he said walking forward.

"Everything I have is right here sir" he nodded eagerly when Ezra stepped towards him.

"Good man, ok. Let's head out" he walked past him and in the direction of his ship.

Though after a couple of steps he was able to sense that he wasn't being followed, turning around he could see Able looking off to the right "sir, would I be allowed a moment?" he asked.

Ezra looked in the direction the clone was looking and gave a nod, Able quickly moved out of view and towards the graves. He didn't try to overhear or look at what was happening. Allowing the solider to spend a final moment with his brothers in arms. A few moments later he came back and the two set off.


As the two set off, they started in a comfortable silence, but it was only after a few minutes that Ezra started to speak "I'm sorry to tell you this Able, but the Republic lost the war" he admitted and while Able didn't react outwardly, he could tell even without the force that he was very un-happy about it.

"How could that be?" the clone asked "one clone was worth a hundred Clankers"

He nodded back, knowing full well what the clones used to call droids "it didn't matter, the Separatists lost too"

"I... I don't understand?" Able said and Ezra couldn't really blame him, he was not the best person to explain this.

"The clone wars lasted for three years" he started, deciding to give Able an overview of the whole thing "and it was bloody, it was rare for a system to not be involved in one way or another. The war came to a climax when the Separatists launched a surprise assault on Coruscant, due to the surprise they were able to kidnap the Chancellor. He was rescued by the Jedi and during this, Count Dooku was killed. Shortly after the entire command structure of the Separatists began to crumble and it completely fell apart a week later when general Grievous was killed"

"I don't understand sir" Able interrupted "from what you're saying it seems like everything was going very well for us. How could we have lost after that?" he asked.

Ezra let out a sigh "because we were betrayed" he added ominously "We don't know who it was, but an order was given and the clones betrayed us, the Jedi and the Republic" he said honestly knowing that he needed to tell him the truth, he's earned that "it's been called the purge, where an entire clone legion marched on the Jedi temple and turned it into a ruin"

"What!" Able yelled as he reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Forcing him to turn around and face the clone "Never! we were loyal to the republic, we would never betray them" he could feel that anger coming off the clone, though he knew that it wasn't directed at him.

"You wouldn't have had a choice" he countered with a calm face as he started to walk forward again, with Able soon following him "every single trooper in the grand army of the Republic was grown with a control chip in their heads. You included" he turned to face Able and even though the helmet was being worn, he could feel the horror coming off of him "I won't say what the order was because I don't want to fight you but when it was given, every single Clone Trooper turned on the Jedi and killed them on sight. From what we could work out, ninety-five percent of the Jedi were wiped out and the entire senate was taken over"

"Soon after that, Chancellor Palpatine consolidated his power and took over completely. He reformed the Republic and now he rules as emperor. The republic ended and the empire took its place"

When he finished speaking, he noticed that Able stopped following him. Turning around he could see that he was looking at him intently, both hands on his weapons "sir" he said with a stern voice "I don't want to speak out of turn but from what you're saying, it was a simple matter of governmental reform. How... how do I know that you aren't a traitor to this empire which based on what you said, is just what replaced the Republic" he asked.

It was a fair thing to ask to be fair, because when it comes to history that is what's going to be remembered. The Republic was simply transformed into a completely different government structure. But that was what the public would believe, to those in the know, they would know the truth "you can trust that I'm not a traitor because of what happens to the clones after" he paused to allow what was said to sink in "I hate to tell you this Able, but the entire clone army was decommissioned, recalled, replaced. We don't know why exactly but the leading theory is that the control chips wouldn't last forever, due to that the empire didn't trust them to serve loyally once the clones regained their free will so they scrapped them" he said remembering what Rex told him when he asked.

He gave the clone a look of sympathy "I'm sorry Able but you might one of the last clone troopers left, I only know three others. Force only knows what happened to the rest after they were relieved of service"

After a moment, the clone lowered his weapon and walked towards him. It seemed that the exclamation was enough to get him back on his side. Once they started walking again, Able decided to speak up again "so if the Jedi fell and the Republic was taken over, who are you with?" he asked.

"It's called Phoenix squadron" he started with a small smile "not everyone was happy with the empire, or their treatment of people. A lot of people have started to fight back. We don't have a full force but there's no doubt that it's only a matter of time. What you might be most interested in is that we have other clones as part of the squad, two are on missions but one is still there. Captain Rex of the 501st legion. I'm sure he'll be happy to have you with us. Assuming you want to join us that is" he wanted to make it clear that he didn't have to be apart of this, he was going to get him off this planet regardless.


Able didn't say anything for a long while, no doubt just trying to rap his head around everything he was being told. Not that Ezra could blame him, twenty years is a long time and a lot can happen in that time. Which it has, he had a feeling that Able wouldn't make a decision until he spoke to Rex.

When they got closer to the ship, Ezra started to ask about the planet, how liveable it was and could they get a base here "it shouldn't be too hard" the clone answered "the only problems I've had are the night-time predators but once you know how to handle them you won't have trouble" he explained.

Ezra nodded back at that, it was a good thing that he could report back to Sato with the most detailed explanation he could have possibly gotten. When they were a couple of miles away from the Tempest, Ezra stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide and alert. Able stopped besides him "Sir? What is it?" he raised his weapon and began to scan the surrounding area, looking for threats.

The second he finished speaking, Ezra quickly hopped to the left. Just as he did a red sabre was stabbed into the ground. Acting on complete instinct he grabbed his own sabre and made a slashing motion aimed directly at the person's head. Only for a second blade to come out of the other end of the sabre and blocked it, when the blades locked Ezra got a good look at the person and he recognized the armour of an Inquisitor "WHERE THE HELL DO YOU COME FROM!?" he yelled before he moved on the attack without waiting for the replay.

He led the assault with a flurry of jabs, slashes and lounges "drop your weapon!?" Able yelled as he aimed his rifle at the inquisitor. Though before he could carry out the threat with his weapon a different figure came out of the trees, he was a large man that wore the amour of an inquisitor, but Ezra nearly stopped his attack when he saw that the new guys wasn't using a lightsabre but instead, he wielded... an electro staff?

He could just make out Able's rifle being knocked out of his hand by the surprise attack before he had to turn his attention back to his own fight and brought up his sabre to block an attack aimed at his head. Though it was a weak swing, and he was easily able to push his opponent back. With a couple more of his own swings, the inquisitor whoever he was because he was different from the last two he's met, turned his whole body for an attack but Ezra instead of blocking just ducked under and when the body was turned, he pushed his hand forwards and gave a power push with the force.

His opponent flew headfirst into a nearby tree, instead of going on the offensive he turned around and could see that Able was barely ahead of his own opponent just only avoiding the large staff's electrical ends. Seeing this Ezra raised his hand again and reached out with the force, very quickly Ezra pulled his hand towards himself, and the staff flew out of the larger man's hands and zoomed towards. There was a moment of pause as the soldier looked at his empty hands, pause that Able was able to take advantage of and quickly lunged forward wrapped both his hands around the man waist and tackled him to the ground.

Sensing danger behind him, Ezra stepped to the side just in time to avoid the red sabre that would have went through his head. Though when the inquisitors body moved past him and readied himself for another attack, Ezra couldn't help but let out a small smirk, before the inquisitor could even wonder why he was smiling. The question was answered by the searing pain in the back of his head as the electostaff, which was moving towards him this entire time found its target. He stumbled forwards, his mind dazed. He couldn't even feel Ezra's blade jam itself into his chest.

Ezra pushed the still alive but dazed body backwards, when it started to fall Ezra raised his sabre up leaving a nice long opening halfway up his body. It split apart like a flower before it hit the ground "Eighth Brother!" a voice yelled.

He quickly turned around and brought his sabre up just in time to block an attack from another one of these strangely dressed soldiers, though instead of using an electrostaff like the other, this one wielded two small almost dagger like weapons that held the same purple electrical current as the large staff did. He had to admit one thing, these guys where well trained. He barely blocked the attack before he had to take a step back and block a well-managed flurry of different attacks.

Though it didn't make too much of a difference, as when he backed up to the dead body of the inquisitor, they locked weapons again, but this time Ezra pushed back, then without warning his flicked his left foot up, flicking the inquisitors sabre up into the air. When it was high enough, his hand reached out and grabbed it, without moving it in anyway, he turned it on, and the red blade went right through his opponent's head.

While the second body fell to the ground Ezra turned around and saw Able leaning over the body of the larger man, what stood out the most was the knife Able was holding, jammed into the opponent's neck. He was taking deep breaths trying to regain himself after what was probably a very instance moment. Placing both sabres onto his belt he ran over "ABLE!" he shouted when he got close enough, not even wanting to give them a chance to be ambushed again. He quickly grabbed the discarded rifle and grabbed the clone before hauling him to his feet "we need to leave!" he yelled handing the clone back his weapon.

He only just grabbed the knife before Ezra pulled him away again. The two ran quickly, not stopping for a single moment "who were they?" Able asked as they ran.

"I don't know about the soldiers" Ezra replied honestly "but the one with the red Light-sabre is an inquisitor, a type of Jedi hunter"

"Not a very good one" Able said back quickly "what did that take you? Like a minute?" he guessed.

Ezra had to admit, he nearly started to laugh. Either he was a lot better than he thought or that guy was just bad. He quickly decided to play it safe and just assume the inquisitor was bad, no need to get too cocky. Soon enough the Tempest came into view and Ezra scowled when he saw a type of transport ship he's never seen before. It had that standard imperial look to it and was only slightly smaller than the Tempest, but he was thankful that there was no-one else present "which one is yours sir?" Able asked.

"The one on the left" he answered as the two ran forwards, but Ezra went away from the Tempest and towards the imperial one.

"what's the plan sir?" he asked, and Ezra had to admit, he liked how he didn't start to question him but instead just asked him what role he needed to play.

"This was the ship of an inquisitor, it has to have something we can use" he said as the two made their way inside. Thankfully the whole thing was empty, it seemed they killed everyone who was in this ship.

"Do you know how to hack the controls?" Able asked as Ezra opened one of the panels underneath the controls.

"No" he quickly answered before getting back out and crawling to another panel.

"So how are you going to get anything?" Able asked kneeling down to get a better look at what he was searching for.

"I can't get anything" he stressed getting up off the ground before looking at the ground underneath where Able was standing on, moving forward he quickly shooed him from that spot and reached down before pulling open a small hatch "but that doesn't mean I can't take the data to someone who can hack into it" he looked up and smiled before taking his sabre and jamming it into the ground, burning a square into the metal floor.

Though before Able could even ask what he was doing Ezra stood up again and placed his sabre on his belt. Standing up straight Ezra raised his hand and with a small pull of the force a small box shot out of the ground and into his hand "a black box" he guessed.

Ezra smiled as he walked out of the ship "exactly, thing about the imperial ships is that these little guys don't just carry flight data but they hold back ups of everything onboard, we need to know who these guys are. This might just be the keep to that" he explained as the two made their way onto the Tempest but when Ezra reached the top, he turned and could see Able halting just before walking inside, he turned around and was looking at the forest line.

He decided to give him a moment, walking onto the ship he sat behind the controls and just waited for Able to join him. Within a couple of minutes, the door opened, and the clone trooper walked inside and sat down next to him.

As Ezra raised the ship into the sky, he told himself that he would need to tell Sato that they would need to be ready to move at a moments notice, for all he knew they could have placed a tracker on the ship and even though he has a new crew member, the mission seems to be a failure. If the Empire knows about this planet then a base here was out of the question. Either way, that didn't matter now. He needed to head back, punching in the coordinates Ezra pulled the lever back and the Tempest went into Hyperspace.


Ok guys, the proper Star Wars fans may recognize this from the stand alone comic where instead of Ezra it was actually Luke Skywalker who met Able along with the Rebels. I kinda needed something to fill in the gap between last chapter and the next two or so until we can head towards the end of season 2 of rebels where we can move back to the main story line.

In case any of you were wondering the Inquisitor was the Eighth brother, he's the one who's in the end of season 2, you know. The one who never shows is face and just falls of the edge of the temple and dies. I figured no would care if I kill him here and if you guys have played Jedi Fallen order, you'll recognize the Purge Troopers.

Anyway, let me know what you think, how would you like to see Able handled next chapter, if you know any other stand-alone stories that you could see Ezra doing, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

I'll see ya in the next chapter.