'What is that?' This was all Jaden was thinking as the dark figure stopped a few feet away from the Jedi and looked at them closely. He then gave a nod to his soldiers to engage the rest. The stormtroopers walked past the Jedi and charged their blasters. Kanan, Ezra and Jaden ignited their lightsabers, with Jaden igniting both of his, and got ready to face the dark figure.
"HERA GO! We'll cover you." Kanan yelled.
"Kanan, look out!" Hera called out.
The masked man swung his saber down, heavily clashing with Kanan's. Ezra and Jaden stood back a bit, providing some distance, by still watching Kanan's back.
The two were in a saber lock until the assailant used the force to push them back. Ezra fell to the ground, Jaden was tossed back to, but used his sabers, trying to anchor himself to the ground. He did not fall over, but he ended up on his knees with saber burn marks on the floor. Kanan however landed on his feet. The masked man struck at Kanan again, but Kanan blocked his attack, then tried to counterattack. Before he could, the masked man grabbed Kanan's arm and threw him into nearby crates.
Jaden moved in to engage. Aiming for the dark figures head, he let his dual sabers down. They locked sabers. Jaden felt the powerful weight of the clash through the sabers. The masked man was looking directly at him, into his eyes. Jaden was terrified. The mask was devoid of emotion, but Jaden can feel the shier might of the darkness inside this man. It was something he never felt in his life, and he was afraid of it.
"Your fear betrays you." The masked man said in a deep, menacing voice. As he then proceeded to overpower the saber lock and push Jay back with the Force into the wall behind him.
Ezra then ran to strike him, but the masked man Force pinned him against the legs of a AT-ST.
"Your Master has deceived you into believing you can become a Jedi." he says coldly.
He then, using the Force, proceeded to move the blade of the saber closer and closer to Ezra's neck. He was going to decapitate him.
Fortunately, Kanan came too and stopped that from happening. He proceeded to clash with the masked man again, until he was side-stepped and tripped by him. With that, Ezra and Jaden moved into the fray. Ezra clashed with him but was swiped away. Jaden entered another saber lock with him. That did not last long as Jaden was pushed back by the pure strength of the masked man.
Kanan engaged him again only to get slashed across the right side of his arm.
But then, Sabine and Zeb threw grenades at a few AT-STs near the masked man. Once they exploded, The Jedi used the Force together, to push him just enough for the debris to land on him. The Jedi sighed in relief and turned around and walked towards the shuttle.
Before the Jedi got any closer to the shuttle, they heard something. They turned around to see the masked man using the Force raise the AT-ST wreckage away from him.
Jaden knew it. It was clear that they could not defeat him, they had to retreat.
"If that doesn't kill him, what will?" Ezra asked.
"Not us. Run!" Kanan replied.
The masked man dropped the wreckage behind him and ignited his lightsaber. The Jedi and the rebels ran to the shuttle and saw the assailant slowly approaching them. Sabine drew her blaster and fired two shots at the approaching masked man, but he deflected the shots back at her. The first shot hit her torso armor, and the second shot hit her helmet, causing her to fall back.
"SABINE!" Jaden yelled as they entered the ship and proceeded to take off, leaving the masked man at the Imperial Complex.
Chopper was manning the shuttle and keeping it in the air. As the rest of the rebels were in the next room, discussing their next move.
"Zeb, make sure they can't track us." Hera said.
"Consider it done." Zeb replied.
Jaden went to check on Sabine, taking her by the hand and helping her into a seat.
"Sabine, you alright?"
"Yeah, I'll live." Sabine replied as she took off her helmet and sighed. She then gave him a small smile.
Jaden returned it but lost it when he turned to Kanan and Ezra.
The three Jedi were tired and out of breath after their battle with the masked man.
"Kanan, what was that?" Ezra asked. "Another Inquisitor?"
"No, something worse." Kanan replied.
"What?" Ezra asked.
Kanan sighed and took a deep breath and looked Ezra in the eye.
"A Sith Lord. The ancient enemy of the Jedi." Kanan answered.
Jaden's eyes widened.
"Sith Lord?" He asked, Kanan nodded slowly.
"How do we fight him?" Ezra asked.
"Fight him? Ezra, we were lucky to survive." Kanan replied.
"Then that settles it. I'm going to make for orbit so we can jump away." Hera suggested.
She and Sabine were heading to the cockpit, but Kanan stopped them.
"Hera, no. He will have a blockade of Destroyers waiting for us." Kanan said.
"And this shuttle is slow, with barely any weapons or shields." Sabine said. "We're gonna have to smuggle ourselves off Lothal for a change."
"Mmm, that's not a bad idea." Hera said.
"What are you thinkin'?" Kanan asked.
"I'm thinking we know the right man to smuggle us off-world." Hera replied as she walked to the cockpit.
Kanan and Ezra looked at each with a confused expression for a moment, then they soon knew whom Hera was talking about!
"Not him!" Kanan and Ezra said.
Jaden looked over to Kanan and Ezra in confusion.
"Who?" He asked.
"His name is Lando..." Ezra said.
Later…
After establishing contact with Lando, The Spectres arrived at his operation base. As they left the shuttle, they were greeted by Lando's droid.
"You must be Lando's droid." Hera said with a slight smile.
"Yes, ma'am. Welcome." He replied. "I have prepared everything according to Calrissian's instructions. Is one of you a mechanic?"
"Oh, that must be me." Sabine answered.
Chopper groaned at Sabine, she smirked under her helmet and looked at him.
"Definitely not you." Sabine said.
The droid escorted the rebels to discuss their deal with Lando. Kanan, Zeb, Ezra and Jaden came outside the shuttle, catching up with their fellow rebels. Ezra stopped walking, they sensed something sinister.
He turned to their right to see smoke on the far side. He knew something was wrong.
He saw a few speeders to their right and ran to one. Ezra activated a speeder and proceeded to leave. As Zeb saw this, he already knew something was wrong.
"Hey, kid!" Zeb said as he was about to approach them, but he was halted by Kanan's arm.
"Just let them go, Zeb." Kanan said.
He watched as his apprentice left the area, soon, he got on speeders and went after him.
"Come on Jay!" He called out. Jay got on to Ezra's speeder and followed him. After a few minutes, they caught up to him.
"There's no one." Ezra said softly. "They're all gone."
"They're prisoners of the Empire now." Kanan said.
"All I sense is evil." Ezra said. "Why would they burn Tarkintown?"
Jaden remembered Ezra talking about the homeless community Tarkintown. He felt the dark side lingering over the burning ruins.
"To spread fear, make us afraid." Kanan replied. "The people that lived here just got caught in the middle."
"This happened because of us?" Ezra asked.
Kanan sighed and got off the speeder and he and Jaden approached his apprentice and started to explain.
"There's a cost for any action we take now, Ezra." Kanan said. "Things are getting worse just as they did back when I was your age. But back then, there were 10,000 Jedi Knights protecting the galaxy."
"Now, there's just us." Ezra said.
"Against an Empire." Jaden said.
"We can fight! We have allies." Ezra said.
Kanan put his hand on Ezra's shoulder and looked at him. "Do you understand what you're saying?" He asked. "You saw what we're up against!"
Ezra shook off Kanan's hand and looked at the ruins of Tarkintown.
"I'm not afraid." Ezra replied.
"That's what worries me." Kanan said as he turns to Jay.
"How about you?" He asked.
Jaden still looking at the burning town spoke. "Our only option is to fight."
Later…
The Jedi returned to Lando's operation base on the speeders. Hera approached them, she noticed something went wrong, she saw it in Kanan's eyes.
"What happened out there?" Hera asked.
"The Empire burned Tarkintown." Kanan replied.
Sabine and Zeb approached Kanan, and the young Jedi to ask more about the incident.
"Did anyone survive?" Sabine asked.
"The population's been taken captive." Ezra replied.
Zeb cracked his knuckles and growled. "Let's go bust 'em out. Where's my rifle?" He said.
Kanan approached Zeb and placed his hand on his shoulder, as a sign to tell him to remain calm.
"No. He'd be waiting." Kanan warned as he turned around to face Hera. "You were right. We have no choice. We have to leave."
"For the good of Lothal." Hera replied.
"So what's the plan for gettin' out of here?" Ezra asked.
Hera gestured to the transponders that were behind Sabine.
"Lando had these old transponders lying around. Sabine's gonna tune their signature codes to match this shuttle's." Hera replied.
"Sounds like a lousy Lando plan." Kanan said as he rolled his eyes.
"No, it's Lando's gear. It was my plan. With these transponders beaming out the same signal as the shuttle, we should be able to slip by unnoticed." Sabine replied.
"Ooh, sounds like a lousy Sabine plan." Zeb chuckled.
"Better than Lando's." Kanan smirked.
"It'll work." Jaden said, giving Sabine a thumb's up and a smile. She smiled back at him.
They boarded the shuttle with the transponders, the shuttle immediately took off! As they were entering the atmosphere, the landing ramp opened. Sabine and Zeb came down the ramp slowly, with the transponders. They push them into the air, and they return inside the ship, and the landing ramp closed.
After a few minutes, the shuttle was still clear. Jaden was tracking the fighters.
"The Empire's takin' the bait." Kanan said.
"Their fighters are splittin' up." Jaden said.
"All right. Let's make our run." Hera said.
They finally entered orbit and flew past the blockade and prepared for lightspeed. While at the same time noticing that the decoy signals were disappearing. The TIE's were destroying the transponders.
"Looks like they figured it out." Kanan said.
"It's too late, boys." Hera replied with a smirk as she flipped a switch to jump into hyperspace. Then all three of them collectively blew out a gust of air and proceeded to exit the cockpit.
"Never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Lando Calrissian." Hera said in relief.
"So, if we can't go back to Lothal, where are we going?" Kanan said.
"What are you talking about? We're part of the rebellion now." Hera replied.
Kanan scoffed and looked at his friends.
"Are we? Are we all sure about that?" Kanan asked.
"Maybe we could just grab the Ghost and lay low for a while." Sabine suggested.
"I like fighting with Phoenix Squadron. Reminds me of the Honor Guard." Zeb said. "Besides, they're counting on us. Wouldn't be right to abandon them now."
Hera nodded and looked at Ezra.
"Ezra, what do you think?" Hera asked.
"We can't help Lothal now, but I think the rebels can help us get stronger, so we can go back and change things. I think we should stay with the rebel fleet." Ezra replied.
Hera then turned to Jaden, who was sitting next to Sabine.
"Jaden?" She asked. All eyes were on him.
Jaden thought for a second and then spoke.
"I think we should stay. Like you said Kanan, there were once 10,000 Jedi protecting the galaxy. Now it is just us. My dad used to tell me stories about the Sith. Scares the living hell out of me. We have to fight him and his Empire, we are Jedi. We have to protect the galaxy."
Ezra nodded at him. Jaden nodded back, then turned to Sabine and shared a smile.
Later…
The Imperial Shuttle came out of hyperspace and flew towards a small rebel fleet. As it flew towards the lead ship, two A-Wings escorted the shuttle to its destination. Hera patched into communications to give the rebels the clearance codes so they can board the ship.
"Phoenix Home, this is Ghost away team. Clearance code 1-2-1-8-1-5." Hera said.
Kanan looked over at Hera and shrugged.
"Your clearance code checks out. Welcome home, Ghost team." A rebel pilot said.
The shuttle flew to the left side of the command ship, then the shuttle attached to the command ship. As the rebels left the shuttle and boarded the command ship, Chopper came up behind them with troubling news. This caused Jay and Sabine's eyes to widen.
"Chopper said a transmitter activated on our shuttle moments ago!" Sabine cried.
"What does that mean?" Ezra asked.
"It means the Empire tracked us back to the fleet." Kanan replied.
"We need to get out of here!" Jaden said intensely.
They rushed to the command bridge to warn Sato about the situation. Once the arrived, Ahsoka and Sato looked at us.
"Commander Sato! We need the fleet to jump out of here. Our shuttle was tracked." Hera warned.
Before Sato or Ahsoka could say anything, a rebel staff member interrupted.
"Commander, I'm scanning a ship entering our sector." He said.
The Rebel staff member came to the holographic projector to see what they are up against! He clicked a button to show a holomap to see one target in their sector.
"We're tracking one target. No other ships have entered the system." He said.
"It's a TIE fighter!" Jaden said.
"Move Phoenix Squadron to intercept." Sato ordered.
As Phoenix Squadron took control of their A-Wings, they took off out of the hanger! As they approached the target, they opened fire!
But the TIE evaded the incoming fire, but then he quickly retaliated and opened fire. He shot down two rebel fighters at the same time, he then proceeded towards the rebel cruisers!
"He's coming in too fast!" Sato cried.
"Fleet, raise deflector shields." Hera ordered.
"We've lost Phoenix 1 and 2." A pilot said.
Then the enemy fighter was headed toward Sato's command ship!
"He's heading right for us!" Ezra cried as he pointed the fighter on the holomap.
"Enemy fighter's making for the command ship." A Rebel Officer said.
Then the enemy ship damaged the command ship and flew right past the command bridge.
"How can one fighter best our entire squadron?" Sato asked.
"Your pilots are outmatched, Commander." Hera replied as she started to leave.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Kanan asked Hera.
Hera turned back to look at Kanan.
"Getting involved." Hera replied as she left the bridge.
"Not without me, you're not." Kanan said as he followed Hera to the Ghost.
Sabine went with Kanan, Ezra and Jaden were about to follow, but Ahsoka caught their attention.
"All right if I tag along?" Ahsoka asked.
"The more, the merrier." Ezra replied with a smile.
"Let's go." Jaden said smiling as well.
Ezra, Jaden and Ahsoka rushed to the Ghost and got ready to engage the Imperial pilot. Hera, Kanan, Ahsoka, and Jaden went inside the cockpit. Hera took the pilot seat, Ahsoka took the co-pilot seat, Kanan sat behind Ahsoka, Jaden sat behind Hera.
Hera clicked the PA button to get roll call for their crew before taking off.
"Everyone, check in." Hera said.
"Tail gun, check!" Zeb said.
"Turret, check!" Sabine said.
"Nose gun, check!" Ezra said.
"All right, kids, do Mom and Dad proud." Hera said.
Kanan saw the enemy closing in on them and the command ship!
"Here he comes." Kanan said as he pointed to the starfighter.
"Ghost moving to engage." Hera said as she detached the Ghost from the command ship and chased after the Imperial pilot.
Sabine saw the enemy fighter in her view, she clicked the trigger on her turret and opened fire.
"I'm on him!" Sabine said as she continued firing. The starfighter evaded each shot Sabine fired by spinning his ship around.
"Who is this guy?" She asked.
The Ghost still chased after the Imperial pilot as he soared past the rebel command ship again, and opened fire on it again, damaging the hyperdrive core.
Sato, who was still in the ship, along with a few officers, contacted the Ghost to inform them of their ship's damage report.
"Phoenix Home to Ghost, that TIE Fighter hit the hyperdrive core. We can't withstand another attack from that fighter." Sato cried.
"Copy that." Hera replied. "Phoenix Squadron, form up and focus fire."
The Ghost continued to chase after the Imperial fighter, with the aid of what was left of Phoenix Squadron. During the chase, Ahsoka felt the Force within the Imperial fighter, and it was strong.
"The Force is strong with him. Kanan, Jaden, let's find out how strong." Ahsoka said.
"How can I help?" Kanan asked.
"Just remember your training. Jaden, follow his lead." Ahsoka replied.
Kanan took a deep breath and put his hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. He used his free hand to focus on the Imperial fighter. Ahsoka did the same, so did Jaden. As the three of them concentrated with the Force, Ezra started to feel a familiar presence, they started to feel cold.
"There's something familiar, I feel cold." Ezra said. "I think I know who it is."
"Back on Lothal I felt something. Kanan, and Jay did too." Ezra said.
"The fear. The anger. The hate." Jaden said softly.
Ahsoka started to tremble while she was trying to concentrate on the pilot's identity, she sensed something familiar. A presence that she has not felt in years, but this was something else...
"It's the Sith Lord we faced." Ezra said.
Jaden then felt the presence right beside him. It was coming from Ahsoka. It was fear. Intense fear. It was swelling inside of her, expanding inside of her. And then it happened without warning…
"NO!" Ahsoka yelled, then she fainted. Jaden managed to catch her in his arms when she fell.
"AHSOKA!" Jaden yelled, trying to shake her awake. But she was completely out.
Hera still pursued the TIE, hoping to successfully defeat him. Then, she contacted Sato and his crew, hoping that they don't plan to stay on the command ship.
"Commander, you need to get the fleet out of here now!" Kanan said.
"I will not abandon our command ship." Sato argued.
"You don't have a choice, sir. Without a hyperdrive, you must abandon ship." Hera said.
Jaden then saw a proximity alert on the scanners, Imperial reinforcements were coming.
"Hera, we have Star Destroyers in Sector 5." Jaden said.
Kanan pleaded Sato one more time to abandon ship...
"It's now or never, Commander." Kanan said.
"I regretfully agree. All hands abandon ship. You'll have to keep that fighter occupied." Sato said.
"Don't worry, sir. We seem to have his attention." Hera replied.
On the back of the ship, The Sith Lord was in Zeb's view, he fired at his Tie Fighter, but he missed every shot.
"Suddenly, there's a lot to do back here." Zeb said.
"Sorry to spoil your fun, Zeb, but I'm ordering Chopper to divert all power to the hyperdrive, including cannons." Hera replied.
With that, Chopper diverted the power to the hyperdrive as Hera ordered, cutting power to the turrets.
"Hera, what are you doing?" Sabine asked.
"I think I know." Ezra replied.
Hera directed her course between two Star Destroyers and flew towards them. In orbit, a few escape pods emerged from the damned command ship, heading towards the rebel blockade runners.
"Ghost crew, the escape pods are secure." Sato reported. "Fleet, commence hyperspace jump."
"Copy that, Commander. We'll meet you at safe-haven." Hera replied.
The escape pods got connected to the blockade runners, then they proceeded to go into hyperspace.
"The fleet is away. Get us out of here!" Sabine said.
"Everyone, hang on!" Hera said.
Hera started to fly towards the Star Destroyers, she was in complete focus.
"Chopper, angle all deflectors astern." Hera ordered.
Chopper replied with a worried tone.
"The Star Destroyers aren't the ones firing at us! Now, do it fast!" Hera yelled.
She was getting dangerously close between the two Star Destroyers, Kanan started to get worried. Jaden watched as he held Ahsoka while she was still unconscious.
"Hera!" Kanan said.
"Wait. Wait!" Hera said softly.
Hera then saw an opening between the two destroyers, then quickly jumped into hyperspace.
"Gotcha!" She said as she smirked. They were home free.
Later, the Rebel fleet regrouped in a hidden space sector. In the Ghost cockpit, Jaden was waiting for Ahsoka to wake up. He managed to place her into a chair. She then mumbles as she wakes up and was met by Jaden's smiling face.
"Hey." He spoke.
"Hey." She replied to him. "How long was I out?"
"A couple of hours. You ok?" Jaden asked her.
Ahsoka nodded. "I need to speak to Kanan and Ezra." She told him.
Jaden then called Kanan and Ezra and told them that she needed them. They then walked in.
"Ahsoka, Jaden said you wanted to speak with us." Ezra said.
"Please, come in." Ahsoka replied with a smile.
Kanan and Ezra sat down across from Ahsoka and Jaden.
"Are you okay?" Ezra asked.
"I am, thank you." Ahsoka answered. "We wanted to ask about the Sith Lord you encountered on Lothal."
"You know we encountered an Inquisitor before, but this was nothing like that." Kanan said. "The fear, the anger, the hate. You both felt it. I haven't sensed a presence like that since..."
"The Clone Wars." Ahsoka said.
"Yeah." Kanan replied.
"Ahsoka, do you know who or what he is?" Ezra asked.
"No, we don't. But we do know that he will be coming." Ahsoka replied. "They'll all be coming now."
"Then we've got to be ready to fight." Ezra said as he cracked his knuckles.
"We must find the strength to fight, but the greater courage is knowing when not to fight." Kanan pointed out.
"And we'll be beside you either way." Hera said as she entered the cockpit. Zeb, Sabine and Chopper, were behind her.
Ahsoka has a worried look on her face and looked out into space. But unnoticed to her, Jaden was watch her. He was worried about her.