A Left Turn at Albuquerque
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters that I am about to mangle around for my own amusement, sadly all Robotech and Star Wars characters remain the property of Harmony Gold, Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd respectively, I am merely borrowing them and make absolutely no profit whatsoever from their use. So please keep the legal attack dogs, also known as lawyers, firmly muzzled and on a leash as I have no money to give to anyone.
Authors Notes: The muse for this one doesn't want to let me go it seems. Think the plot bunny must be using a Jedi mind trick on me or something to keep me writing this fic.
On another note, it's been pointed out to me by a few people that I was mistaken about the exact nature of turbolaser bolts, as such they will no longer be plasma-laser hybrid weapons but a gas fuelled pulsed particle weapon. Blasters – be they cannons, rifles or pistols – however remain plasma weapons that use a laser pulse to ionize tibana gas into a plasma state which is then expelled towards the target as a powerful – but relatively cool as such things go – bolt of plasma that kills through a combination of intense heat and trauma.
Chapter Three
Rebel Alliance Headquarters
Yavin Four, A Few Moments Earlier
Sabine Wren had a slight pleased smile on her face as she left the meeting room where she'd been meeting with the Rebel Council. She'd travelled here at the behest of her mother and the leaders of the handful of other clans that had joined Clan Wren in their rebellion against the ruling, Imperial-backed Clan Saxon. The thousand or so systems that were within Mandalorian territory were becoming increasingly polarized, with the Imperial-backed crackdown by Clan Saxon following the death of Gar Saxon alienating more and more clans and sending them flocking towards Clan Wren's banner. Which had prompted more overt interference in Mandalorian affairs from the Empire, which was having the effect of making the civil war raging in Mandalorian space worse.
As such she'd been sent by Countess Ursa Wren to speak with the Rebel leadership to see if she could garner some support of them, both in the Imperial Senate – as a few of the rebellions leadership council still served there – and military support in the form of intelligence, her mother wasn't asking for weapons for the simple reason she understood the rebellion didn't exactly have any to spare right now plus their warrior nature meant that Mandalorians generally never lacked for such things anyway. The Rebel leadership had agreed to provide what support they could spare now, though in return they wanted Mandalorian military assistance against the Empire if Clan Wren won the civil war. Something that they wouldn't really have much trouble with given all the Empire had done to the proud Mandalorian people since they'd turned around and used the weapons that she'd designed against her own people.
Something that to this day she'd never forgiven herself for.
Turning a corner, she found her brother Tristen, Fenn Rau and – to her total lack of surprise – Ezra waiting for her. From the looks of things Tristen and Ezra had been talking, since they'd taken out that Interdictor cruiser together over Atollon Tristen had started to become friends with the young Jedi. And he obviously knew that she and Ezra had some feelings for one another, though neither had said anything openly, as he'd recently started teasing her remorselessly about it.
"So, how did it go?" Tristen asked.
"The Council have agreed to what we want," Sabine answered making her brother and Fenn both smile. "Though it wasn't easy there were quite a few objections to overcome. Some of the Senators seem to be under the impression that they can use the Senate to check the Emperors power. Unlike Senator Mothma and Senator Organa they don't seem to realise that the Senate hasn't had any real power in years."
"Well that's not surprising," Ezra answered, "now I don't know much about galactic politics but I know that most of the Senate would rather believe in its illusions than face the truth of the Emperor."
"Which is?" Tristen asked looking curiously at the young Jedi.
"Isn't it obvious? Emperor Palpatine is a Sith Lord."
"How do you figure that one out?" Fenn Rau asked frowning wondering just how the Jedi had come to that startling conclusion about the Emperor being a Dark Lord of the Sith.
"Think about it for a moment. Who is the chief enforcer of the Empire?"
"Well that's obvious Darth Vader," Tristen answered fighting against the impulse to shiver at the name and the memories of the man. Having been forced to serve Gar Saxon as one of his Imperial Super-Commandoes he'd had the misfortune to see Darth Vader at least at a distance. And that alone had been enough to fill him with fear as the dark armoured cyborg radiated an aura of anger, menace and danger.
"Exactly and he's known to be a Dark Lord of the Sith. To keep control over Vader and keep him subservient then the Emperor would have to be a Sith Lord himself or more likely a Sith Master. Otherwise Vader would have long ago killed him and taken the Imperial throne for himself," Ezra replied causing the three Mandalorians to blink in both surprise and realisation. The logic was indisputable but somehow, they'd never really thought about it before now, like almost everyone in the rebellion they'd just believed Palpatine to be a crooked politician who through clever manipulation and the discrediting or blackmailing of opponents had manoeuvred himself into a position of absolute power. The fact that he had to really be a Sith Lord – and a very powerful one at that if he could keep control of the likes of Darth Vader – made an uncomfortable amount of sense.
"How can you be certain that Vader would have done that?" Tristen asked after a moment.
"Because that's the way of the dark side," Ezra replied with a subconscious shiver as he remembered his own brush with the dark side due to that damned Sith Holocron. Something that had left him warier of both the powers of the dark side and the darkness that he knew he had inside of him. Darkness created by eight years of living and surviving alone on the seats of the Lothalan capital, darkness that he had to keep under control less it turn him into something terrible. "The single overriding goal of any darksider is the pursuit and acquisition of power."
"It makes so much sense," Sabine admitted wondering why she'd never thought about it before now. She'd been around a pair of Jedi – in the form of Kanan and Ezra – for years now and in that time, she'd learned a fair few things about the Force and even more since they'd taught her how to wield the darksaber. "I wonder why I never figured it out before now. I mean with all the encounters with Vader and the Inquisitors that we've had over the last few years."
Ezra shrugged. "I don't think you were meant t…. oh," his voice trailed off and he stumbled slightly as he abruptly sensed a disturbance in the Force, the faint musical tones that he'd heard all his life – and learned to trust even when he hadn't known what the Force was – becoming momentarily distorted and scrambled. It was strange and disorientating and he couldn't help but stumble again and probably would have fallen if Tristen hadn't hurriedly caught him – the taller and bigger Mandalorian grunting slightly as he took Ezra's weight and realised that despite his quite lithe frame Ezra was solidly built.
"Are you alright?" he asked his friend – as odd as it was for he a proud Mandalorian warrior to consider a Jedi, even one who was still a padawan, a friend – in concern. Concern turned to alarm when he saw Ezra's eyes rolling in his head and he looked up to see Sabine looking in alarm, concern and sudden understanding as she twigged exactly what was happening or going to happen momentarily. "What's wrong with him?" he asked his sister hoping her greater experience with Jedi, and Ezra in particular, would enable her to provide an answer.
"He's about to have a vision," Sabine replied as she frowned worriedly as she knew from experience when Ezra reacted like this then the vision was likely to be an extremely powerful one. Ezra didn't hear her instead his eyes rolled fully back in his head and the world faded away as a vision burst across his awareness.
Standing on the landing grid outside the repurposed temple that served as the headquarters of the Rebel Alliance. As he watched squadrons of X-Wing fighters and Y-Wing fighter bombers rose into the air and began streaking towards space…
…Suddenly on the surface of a desert planet that he initially assumed to be Tatooine but after a second realised was too cold for Tatooine and the planet only had one sun. Ahead of him a city stood on the top of a mesa and nearby was the fallen statue of a Jedi Knight. Abruptly the light began to fade into the ominous darkness of an eclipse as something moved across the face of the sun…
…Suddenly standing in open space as a huge metal sphere appeared out of hyperspace and approached a planet he vaguely recognized as Alderaan. A green beam shooting forth and hitting the planet causing it to explode in a titanic fireball…
…Standing over an asteroid field somewhere. Nearby floated a large fleet of strange blocky ships that seemed to resonate with the Force in a way that he'd never encountered before. A single Imperial light cruiser was firing at the largest ship, a vessel even bigger than an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. And not having much luck. The ships themselves were oddly blurred and indistinct, almost like ghost images being seen through a rippling torrent of water…
A beam of some kind came from somewhere nearby that he couldn't see and struck the cruiser instantly destroying its shields and breaching the hull. Four missiles came from the same general location as the beam and impacted the cruiser causing it to be wracked with explosions and begin tumbling away as it lost all attitude control.
It violently exploded moments later…
…Somewhere in space surrounded by unfamiliar stars. Ahead of him a fleet of ships identical to some of the others, also having that ghost image/rippling water effect, behind them was a large blocky space station which while more solid than the ships still had the odd rippling water effect. Approaching them was a fleet of red and grey cylindrical vessel, approaching aggressively on what was clearly an attack vector…
…The first group of the odd ships again, again surrounded by unfamiliar stars, ahead of them was a lifeless planet with a large vaguely pyramidal object in near orbit, it reeked of danger. Abruptly it exploded…
…The fleet again but the planet had gone. In its place was now the swirling gravitational maelstrom of a black hole. Strange spheres of energy appeared around the ships and contracted down into tiny specks that seemed to try to shoot into the distance only to become caught in the black hole's gravitational pull. They orbited it for what seemed like an age, each pass exponentially increasing their speed until they shot free…
…The red and grey cylindrical ships approaching a combined fleet of Imperial and Rebel ships. Behind them a planet that seemed entirely city. The red and grey ships opened fire with strange red beams that simply seemed to ignore shields, cutting ships apart like paper…
…Standing on the green grassy surface of a planet watching as a great bird of energy rose into the sky…
…Suddenly on the surface of Tatooine looking at Master Kenobi. Only he was now sitting in a cantina with a blond haired, blue eyed young man in simple white farmers fair but who resonated powerfully in the Force. They were talking to a large Wookiee and a Corellian man in the kind of functional clothing favoured by career spacers…
…The blond man now in grey clothing and looking worn and beaten as he clung to the edge of a platform over a great shaft. Darth Vader standing over him holding out a hand as if he was pleading with the other man to grab his hand…
…Suddenly on the surface of Lothal but something was wrong. The endless prairie lands, broken only by the odd conical granite outcrops ubiquitous to his homeworld, had been turned into a scorched, blackened desert. Ahead he could see the capital wreathed in flames and explosions, the odd red and grey ships floating in the sky above it, firing red beams that triggered massive explosions…
…The blond man again, slightly older and dressed in black lying flat of the floor of a metal room. Arcs of dark blue lightning – that literally reeked of the dark side – tearing all over him making him writhe and scream in agony. Nearby an old figure in black robes stood at the base of steps sending out waves of the lightning from his hands.
Abruptly the lightning stopped as the old man jerked, a microsecond before a glowing red lightsabre blade abruptly protruded from his chest. The old man looked over his shoulder, glowing yellow eyes wide in pain and disbelief, to see Vader behind him. "You will not have him Sidious, not like you had me," Vader said before withdrawing his blade a microsecond before the old man exploded into a blaze of wailing dark side energy…
…Suddenly seeing an older, worn version of himself fighting alongside Kanan, the blond man, Masters Kenobi and Yoda and, most surprisingly, Darth Vader in the company of men in odd metal armour with wheels on their backs as well as stormtroopers and rebel troopers. Facing them were huge red and black machines of death that were mowing down everything in their path…
A female voice, one ancient, powerful and wise beyond his understanding, spoke. "Your fate and the fate of the galaxy you know is now tied to the fate of the Children of Earth," she said. "But be warned, the Children of the Shadow will soon follow them and bring with them the evils of a twisted legacy."
"Children of Earth? Children of the Shadow? Who are they?" he asked. "And who are you?"
"Who I am is not important young Jedi," the female voice said. "But know this the Children of the Shadow are the creations of the fallen Celestial, they are committed to destroying both protoculture and the psionic domain you know as the Force and all who use both. They will draw no distinction between those who follow the paths of Bogan or Ashla or even those who dwell in the middle."
"And the Children of Earth?"
"They are the origin, the future and the past," the voice answered cryptically.
"I don't understand."
"You will in time young Jedi. Now go the fate of your galaxy lies with you and those who can be your allies."
Bright light flashed and he felt himself drift away.
Ezra awoke with a gasp and found himself laid out flat on the cold stone floor of the corridor. Sabine, Tristen and Fenn Rau, all three-looking concerned, while a young Miralian woman wearing a doctor's uniform ran a scanner over him. A doctor who immediately realised that he was awake.
"Please remain still commander," she said as she continued to scan him. "I'm just trying to determine why you suddenly collapsed."
"I'm fine," Ezra replied.
"People who are fine don't just collapse sir," the young woman replied as she finished her scan and frowned at the result. "Well apparently, you are fine there is nothing her to indicate a reason for your collapse. You should come to the infirmary with me so I can check you in more detail."
"You won't find anything as there's nothing wrong with me," Ezra answered. "Well aside from a slight headache but that's normal when your senses get suddenly hijacked by the Force."
"You should still…" the doctor started to say only to be cut off by a new voice.
"He's fine doctor," Hera said as she appeared on the scene. "It is good that you responded so quickly but Ezra's fine. You can go back to the base infirmary."
"As you wish general."
With an obvious reluctance, the Miralian doctor packed up her equipment and left the corridor. As she left Ezra carefully got back to his feet. "Thanks for that, Hera," he said.
"Your welcome. Though I better do something before you decided to do something drastic, like Jedi mind tricking her into leaving you alone."
"Would I do that?" Ezra asked innocently, a little too innocently as he'd honestly been starting to entertain the idea of doing just that.
"Yes," Hera and Sabine said in unison drawing a laugh out of Tristen and making Fenn Rau smile slightly showing the Mandalorian Protectors own amusement.
"You know me too well," Ezra muttered. "How'd that doctor know I'd collapsed?"
"That would be my fault," Tristen admitted blushing slightly embarrassed. "I ugh called her when you collapsed on us."
"I told you it wouldn't be necessary," Sabine said to her brother with a slight smirk amused at seeing the normally quite confident and composed Tristen floundering about.
"Yeah well you've got more experience with Jedi than me."
"Okay you two enough," Hera asked breaking up the bickering session between the Wren siblings before it escalate any further then turning her full attention back to Ezra. "Ezra Chopper comm'd me from the Ghost to tell me that Kanan nearly fell down the ladder to the cargo bay, would have if Rex hadn't caught him. That's when I came to find you. Do you know what happened?"
"A great disturbance in the Force," Ezra answered while massaging the back of his neck in the gesture that to those who knew him well indicated that the young Jedi was both confused and concerned by what he'd sensed. "I don't know if Kanan did but…"
"…it caused you to have a vision," Hera finished guessing what he was going to say, a nod was all the confirmation she needed that that is exactly what had happened. "What did you see?"
Ezra grimaced. "I can't be sure yet. The vision was fragmentary, just flashes of different things and out of order. I really need to meditate on it for a while but if I'm right, then something is coming, something so terrible that the Empire and the Sith will be the very least of the galaxies problems," he said. Hera exchanged a surprised look with Sabine as Ezra voluntarily said that he needed to go and meditate. Normally Kanan had to really get on his headstrong padawans case about meditating, the fact that he was voluntarily saying about meditating meant he was seriously disturbed by what the Force had shown him.
"Alright go on then," Hera said.
"Thanks Hera. I'll see you later Sabine, Tristen," Ezra answered then slowly walked away.
Sabine waited until she was sure he was out of earshot before speaking. "Okay now I'm worried," she said frowning, "whatever Ezra saw must have really thrown him for him to voluntarily want to meditate on it."
"I'll say," Hera agreed looking in the direction the younger of the two Jedi on her crew had disappeared with a concerned frown on her face.
"Why do you say that?" Tristen asked curious.
"Ezra's not one to meditate if he doesn't have to," Sabine explained, "usually Kanan has to really push him to get him to agree to meditate as if was up to Ezra he'd either practice his lightsabre forms all day, practice with his other Force powers or go to gunnery practice with Rex. The fact that he's voluntarily going off to meditate means that whatever he saw it's really worried and confused him."
Tristen frowned. "I don't like the sound of that," he commented.
"Neither do I," Hera answered frowning as she gazed worriedly after the retreating padawan. "Neither do I."
It didn't take Ezra long to make his way to the chamber in the old temple that he and Kanan had claimed as their favourite meditation spot. It was a small room whose only furniture consisted of only two small circular platforms about a foot tall on which sat comfortable foam cushions. He immediately made his way over to the right-hand platform and assumed the Jedi meditation position on top of it.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, using the motion to clear his mind and thoughts to relax into the Force. Instantly the familiar warmth and musical tones – at least to him as according to Kanan everyone's minds perceived the quasi-mystical energy field slightly differently – of the Force filled him. For a moment, he just let himself relax and luxuriate in just the feeling of being connected to the Force and its enduringly beautiful symphony of life before, somewhat reluctantly, focusing on what had brought him here to meditate. The strange distortion in the Force and the rapid fire and fragmentary stream of visions it had seemingly triggered.
After a few moments, he felt the environment around him change. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a familiar starry void, a place he had been in twice before both times while visiting the ancient Jedi Temple on Lothal. This place had been where he'd been put through two important tests the first time had been when he'd gotten the kyber crystal for his first lightsabre and the second time when Master Yoda had told him to go to Malachor.
"A long time it has been since spoke last, we did padawan," Master Yoda's voice said a moment before the ancient Jedi Master and the last Grand Master of the Jedi appeared. As before he was dressed in simple grey robes and was sitting on a log. Though he noticed that the old master seemed more worn than the last time. "Learned much you have since then."
"Yes Master," Ezra replied.
"Know why you are here now I do. A question you have hmm?"
"Yes, Master do you know what caused the distortion in the Force?" he asked.
"Know exactly I do not," Yoda answered and from the frown on his face he could tell that the ancient Jedi Master was just as confused by the cause of the distortion in the Force as he was. "Know however that a time of great change has come upon us I do. New factors at play there are. In even greater flux now the future is."
"Huh guess that explains why the vision I had after the distortion struck was even more fragmentary and incomplete than normal."
"Yes, tides of fate changing are," Yoda explained. "Great opportunities and great dangers the galaxy now faces. Far worse than the Sith this danger could be. Time to return I sense."
"Master?"
"Come to Dagobah you and Kanan must," Yoda told him. "Awaiting you I will be. Return with you to Yavin I will."
"I understand, Master. We will come as soon as possible."
Yoda didn't reply instead he merely smiled and nodded before vanishing leaving him alone in the starry void. Somehow knowing he would not get anything more out of the Force Ezra closed his eyes and started to bring himself out of the meditative trance that he knew he'd descended into. He felt the starry void disappear and suddenly he was back in the small meditation room in the repurposed temple. Slowly he opened his eyes even as slight cramps in his legs and back communicated, quite painfully, that he'd been meditating for a lot longer than he would have thought.
"Did your meditations reveal anything Ezra," a voice that was as familiar as his own asked from beside him. He glanced over to see Kanan sitting beside him, in the usual meditation posture, glazed teal eyes locked onto him giving the impression that Kanan was considering his soul even though he knew those eyes were blind. Something he still, at least partially, blamed himself for as if he hadn't been so willing to trust Maul on Malachor then maybe his master would still have the use of his eyes.
"I saw Master Yoda," Ezra answered. "He communed with me through the Force."
"And," Kanan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He told me two things one that a time of great change has come upon the galaxy one that can be a great opportunity and a great threat at the same time. And you're not going to believe the other thing that he told me."
"Well don't keep me in suspense what did Master Yoda say?"
"He wants us to take a ship to Dagobah, where he will be waiting to come back here to Yavin with us," Ezra replied and almost laughed when Kanan's sightless eyes widened, through their bond he could sense his master's emotions as surprise gave way to amazement that the Grand Master had apparently decided to end his nearly nineteen-year exile. Surprise and amazement that in seconds gave way to concern as Kanan began to grasp the true potential seriousness of the situation facing them and what that distortion in the Force – and the visions it had subjected his apprentice to – could mean both for them personally, for the growing rebellion against the Empire and the whole of the galaxy in general.
"We need to speak to Mon Mothma," Kanan said even as he retrieved and slipped on his mask before standing up. "Then arrange for a suitable ship as Dagobah is halfway across the galaxy from here. Though knowing Hera she'll insist on taking us aboard the Ghost."
"No doubt," Ezra agreed as he too stood up, releasing the pain of the ongoing muscle cramps into the Force in the way Kanan had taught him to. While she maybe increasingly acting like a general, specifically the general in charge of the rebellions growing star fighter corps, when it came to the members of the Ghost crew she was the same protective matronly person that she'd always been.
"Mon Mothma should be in the command room now," Kanan commented as he led the way out of the room. "I believe she was going to be meeting with Hera, General Draven and Admiral Raddus. We should try there first."
"Yes Master."
Starboard Hanger Bay 4
SDF-3 Pioneer
That Same Time
Clad in a protective suit of CVR-4 body armour Colonel Angelo Dante led a similarly clad squad of security personnel into hanger bay four just as a lift brought the solo escape pod from the ship that had attacked them down into the bay from the landing deck above. Two veritech fighters in battloid mode stood on either side of it, their EP-13 80mm pulsed particle gunpods and head lasers trained on it though there was now no means for the pod to escape.
"You and you keep us covered," he ordered to two of his men, "the rest of you come with me."
Without waiting for a response, he jogged forward keeping his pistol mode Gallant at the ready. Just in case though the occupants of the pod, whoever they were, would have been beyond foolish to try anything under the guns of two battloids. The sound of armoured boots on the deck let him know that the squad he'd assembled, in his capacity as the recently appointed chief of security for the SDF-3 replacing Nova Satori who'd been promoted to security chief on Space Station Liberty just weeks earlier, were following him.
In seconds, they'd surrounded the pod. "Alright we've got you surrounded come on out of there," he ordered to whoever was inside. He wasn't surprised when there was no response from whoever was in their as whoever they were they might not understand English. Though it was possible that whoever was in the pod was hurt and unable to respond even if they did understand what he was saying, which was a very real possibility he knew given the explosive death of their ship.
He looked up at the towering form of one of the battloids. "Open it up," he ordered knowing the pilot inside the armoured cowling of the battloids chest would hear him due to the battloids external audio pickups. The giant techno-knight nodded in response, slung up the gunpod like it was a giant rifle – which it kind of was in both guardian and battloid configuration – before squatting down. Then with a both a fluidness and gentleness, that to someone not familiar with robotechnology would have seemed impossible, the hidden pilot reached out an enormous mechanical hand and pulled off the glass-like material that made up the front of the pod.
As soon as the battloid stood back up Angelo gestured for one of his men to follow him, then he started towards the pod cautiously. It was just as well as he was just about to look in when a bolt of some red energy came shooting out from inside the pod. It missed him by miles and hit the deck causing a momentary puff of smoke to erupt but beyond that did no harm. More bolts of the red energy followed, seemingly coming from two separate sources within the pod.
"Stand down now," Angelo yelled into the pod as the bolts of energy continued to spew from the pod. "This is your only warning stand down now or we will return fire." No response came aside from another salvo of the red blasts, this time one of his men was hit in the torso. There was a brilliant flash and a surprised grunt as the man was thrown onto his back.
"You okay," Angelo asked as the man awkwardly got back to his feet. A deep blackened scar on his chest showed where the blast had pieced the outermost band of the layered carbon nanotube/titanium nanofiber/plasticised ceramic materials used in the creation of CVR armour. The other man put up a thump to indicate he was okay, though a wince on his face told Angelo that the other man had at very least a very nasty bruise from the sheer kinetic force of the blast. Which had to be immense considering it had knocked a hundred and eighty-pound man on his ass.
Before he could smile in relief more of the red energy blasts came from inside the pod.
"Alright that does it," Angelo growled under his breath as he took a shock grenade – the modern descendant of pre-robotech stun grenades – from his belt, armed it and tossed it with impeccable aim into the pod. A microsecond later their came a brilliant flash of light and high-frequency sound from inside the pod.
No more weapons fire came from within the pod.
Angelo made a hand gestured and with two men behind him, Gallants out and ready, all three of them went inside the pod. To see two white armoured individuals sprawled out on the floor unconscious, the light and high frequency sound having overloaded their nervous systems causing temporary unconsciousness exactly as it was meant to do. Two rifle like weapons lay on the floor where they'd been dropped when the grenade detonated.
"Take them straight to the brig," he ordered. "And make sure you strip them of their armour first."
"Yes sir," the two security marines behind him acknowledged.
Leaving his two subordinates to their task Angelo turned and walked out of the pod. He immediately went over to the marine who'd been hit. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.
"Aside from feeling like a full-sized Zentraedi used me as a football I'm fine sir," the marine answered. "Whatever those guns are they pack quite a wallop."
"Still better not take any chances get over to the closest sickbay and let the medics check you out."
The marine started to open his mouth to protest but one look at Angelo's face convinced him otherwise. "Yes sir," he acknowledged reluctantly before turning and walking away. Angelo watched him go for a few moments, making sure he left the hanger bay. He made a mental note to check up on the younger man later, just to be certain he wasn't hurt.
Then he took out his communicator to inform the bridge of their prisoners.
Author Notes: Well another chapter bites the dust. I hope everyone likes my little butterfly of the distortion in the Force caused by the appearance of the REF ships, or rather the protoculture aboard them, in the Corusca galaxy and what it could mean for the future causing Yoda to decide to come out of his self-imposed exile on Dagobah. I did consider using Obi-Wan instead of Yoda but it occurred to me that Obi-Wan would not want to leave Luke on Tatooine – not unless he could bring everyone's favourite blue-eyed, blond hair farm boy with him at least – for any real length of time, especially as the dialogue between Obi-Wan and Maul as the latter lay dying in the Jedi Masters arms at the end of Twin Suns indicates that he now believes that it is Luke and not Anakin is the Chosen One. Plus, aside from their brief encounter in Twin Suns Ezra has no real connection with Obi-Wan while he does with Yoda having first heard him then actually seen – and in both cases interacted with him – him in the temple on Lothal.
I also hoped you all liked the little foreshadowing of where things could go later in the fic, especially when the Haydonites show up as they will eventually.
Finally, I should say that I was originally going to have Captain Tyrus be the one in the escape pod and not a pair of stormtroopers. However, the more I thought about it the less likely to me it seemed that anyone who wasn't near the escape pods at the time the Vigilance was destroyed would have escaped. Certainly, the bridge crew wouldn't have had time between the detonation of the main tibana gas magazine and the loss of hypermatter containment in the main reactor to leave the bridge, reach the pods and escape. However, a pair of stormtroopers who were patrolling near the escape pods as part of their regular battle stations drill certainly would be able to escape.