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. As a result, please keep the legal attack dogs, also known as lawyers, firmly muzzled and on a leash as I have no money to give anyone.

Authors Notes: Right before I begin this chapter I feel as though I need to remind everyone that the events of season four of Rebels have not actually taken place yet in the story timeline and indeed might not take place in the way shown in season four now. Some events might still occur as they've been shown while others will be very different to what was shown by Dave Filoni and the team at Lucasfilm. Most of the changes will be due to the very big butterflies being introduced with the arrival of the SDF-3 and her escorting battlegroup.

Finally, the events of this chapter begin a few days after the end of Chapter Six as I felt that a time jump was necessary as there was not much more that I could do set in the immediate aftermath of the battle and the arrival of the crippled Oath Sworn at Lothal. Certainly, there was not enough to really fill a decent length chapter. While I will periodically refer to unseen events they will be covered in flashback scenes. Now then without further ado lets get on with the story.

Chapter Seven

Imperial Star Destroyer Deceiver

Three Days Later

Standing before the bridge viewports of his current flagship Grand Moff Tarkin gazed with well hidden disbelief at the sad remains of Admiral Durril's task force. When Thrawn had contacted him to inform him of the battle that had taken place here, in a nameless system that he'd already seen quite enough of during the Clone Wars, he hadn't truly believed him. Still he trusted the Chiss enough to come and investigate himself. Now the Deceiver stood alongside Thrawn's flagship Chimera and two other star destroyers gazing upon the sight of a truly disastrous battle.

One that he was still having trouble wrapping his head around.

The 103rd had been a large task force, one powerful enough to pacify an entire sector of space without difficulty, the very idea that they could be so utterly defeated by someone in just five minutes of combat was ludicrous. Yet before him was all the evidence he needed that it had indeed happened. As floating high above the plane of the elliptic, and far outside the old debris field that Yularen's ISB had turned into one of its truly fiendish honey traps, was the few remains of the fleet. Most of the remains were little more the plumes of gas and debris – the largest such field belonging to what had been the Judicator which, according to survivors fished out of some of the life pods that had been floating in the area when they'd arrived, had not only broken in half from the damage she sustained but subsequently exploded when the solar ionization reactor ruptured – though a few were somewhat intact. Somewhat in the fact that all the ships were blackened and drifting in the entire silence and stillness of death, all seriously damaged.

And what that damage – like the damage to the Oath Sworn which was now orbiting Lothal as Governor Pryce personally oversaw the evacuation and care of the wounded surviving crew as well as the salvaging of data from the mortally wounded vessels computer core – revealed was terrifying. Whatever the unknown blue beam weapons were they'd either ripped right through the shields on their ships as if they didn't exist or depleted the shields so quickly that they might as well have not been there at all. Then they'd sliced through armoured hulls with ease, the best armour Imperial shipwrights could provide offering no protection at all. It all served to convince him that whoever the unknowns were, it was clear that they were a grave threat to the stability of the Empire – especially if they found there way into the arms of that coalition of criminals, malcontents and idealistic fools who now called themselves the Rebel Alliance. The immense firepower that they seemingly had – not to mention that three of there ships were clearly their version of star destroyers and thus certainly had sizeable armies and all the equipment they'd need aboard them – would turn the rebel scum from an annoying pest into a serious threat to the future stability of the Empire.

Mentally he swore he would do anything and everything to prevent that nightmare scenario from coming to pass. Which prompted him to make a mental note to set a new fire under Director Krennic to get Project: Stardust back on track as the trumped-up administrators excuses for the seemingly endless delays with the completion of the battle station were becoming extremely tiresome. Not to mention that they made time an ally of the rebellion and now whoever, or whatever, these mysterious new antagonists were.

The sound of footsteps behind him brought him out of his thoughts. He turned in place to see a lieutenant approaching. "Yes," he asked.

"Sir we've recovered the last of the escape pods and our salvage droids have been able to retrieve the combat data recorder from the wreckage of the Vengeance," the lieutenant reported. "We have also taken a number of debris samples for an in-depth analysis."

"Then we have done all that we can here," Tarkin said. "As soon as all the salvage droids are back aboard have all ships set course back to Lothal. I wish to interview the captains of the two Interdictor cruisers that escaped the battle with the Oath Sworn."

"Yes sir."

"But before we leave have all ships target and destroy the remains of our ships," Tarkin ordered as he didn't want to leave anything here that the Rebels could possibly recover that could be either used directly against the Empire – like fighter and capital grade proton torpedoes, tibana gas cartridges or concussion missiles – or could lead them to learning more about the powerful, seemingly extremely hostile to the Empire, newcomers than they almost certainly already knew. He was already aware that the rebellion had spies and informants everywhere, sometimes in the most unlikely of places like the ISB – which he knew was still reeling from the defection of Alexandr Kallus, previously one of their best agents, to the rebellion.

"Yes sir," the lieutenant acknowledged. Satisfied that the younger officer would follow his commands Tarkin turned back to the viewports to watch.

For several more minutes nothing happened, beyond the salvage droids returning to the docking bays being visible against the starscape as moving points of light. Then with surprising suddenness the emerald green javelins of heavy turbolaser bolts and blue balls of proton torpedoes lanced out towards the wrecks that had just three days earlier been top of the line ships in service to the Emperor. For minute after minute the bolts and torpedoes shot forth from the four star destroyers pounding the wrecks first into chunks, then semi-molten shrapnel and finally into plumes of incandescent plasma and dust. Seconds later the torrents of destruction pouring out of the star destroyers ceased as they simply had nothing left to destroy.

Tarkin allowed himself a small smile as he beheld the spreading plasma clouds. The rebels if they came here would now have no chance of learning anything from the remains of the 103rd task force. He watched for a few more moments as the assembled star destroyers changed formation into standard transit formation with the Deceiver and Chimera at their head. Then the viewport filled with star lines as the fleet launched itself away from the scene of Imperial defeat at hyper speed.

The Ghost

Dagobah System

That Same Time

"What a mudhole."

Zeb's words hung pregnant in the air of the Ghost's cockpit as, after three days of continuous hyperspace travel, the heavily modified VCX-100 light freighter settled into orbit over Dagobah. Sitting in her familiar pilot's chair Hera Syndulla couldn't help but nod in agreement as her instruments probed the planet below, a planet that even from here did not look that inviting being swathed in thick clouds with what little surface was visible being a very unappealing shade of dark-green.

The readout from the sensors was not much better.

According to their scans the entire surface of the planet was basically one giant swamp. There were no oceans or other large bodies of open water only some small lakes and wide rivers some of which circumnavigated the entire planet. While the planet had an oxy-nitrogen atmosphere compatible with most lifeforms it was hot and thick with dangerously high levels of water vapour. Not to mention heavily charged with electromagnetic energy from the monstrously huge thunderstorms, the interference being so great that she had no doubt that the Ghost's sensors would be effectively blind should they enter the atmosphere. All in all, it looked like a very unpleasant planet, which was probably what made it the most suitable location for the hiding place of the last Jedi Grand Master.

"I agree it doesn't look at all pleasant," Hera said aloud even as she heard the doors to the cockpit open. "But I suppose that, along with its relative isolation, is what made this place such a good hiding place for Master Yoda."

"That was certainly part of it but there is more to it than that Hera," Kanan replied making her jump slightly and look over to see her crews two resident Jedi coming into the cockpit with Rex following along a few paces behind them. "This planet is extremely strong in the Force, unusually so actually."

"Why would that matter," Zeb asked not for the first time not really understanding the whole Force thing that Kanan and Ezra could use. Oh, he believed in it, the mission that had saw them rediscover Lyra-San the ancient original homeworld of his people had really made sure of that, but that did not mean he truly understood it. But then he doubted there was anyone who wasn't a Force sensitive who had even the vaguest understanding of the Force.

"Because it would effectively mask Master Yoda's force signature from detection by the likes of Vader and his Inquisitors," Kanan replied. "Unless they were literally right on top of him, which would not be a good place for any darksider to be," behind him he heard Rex snigger slightly at the comment as the old clone knew how true that was as any darksider encounter with Master Yoda was likely to be short and for the darksider very terminal, "they would not know he was there."

"Getting lost in the background noise of the planet," Hera commented.

"Something like that," Kanan replied.

"So now what do we do Kanan," Hera asked. "Given how much electromagnetic interference there will be in the atmosphere I don't really want to risk taking the Ghost down into the atmosphere."

"We take the Phantom II down," Kanan replied.

Zeb frowned. "But wouldn't the Phantom's sensors be blinded as well," he asked.

"They would be, but they won't be needed, not if Ezra pilots it," Kanan answered with a nod to his apprentice. Unsaid was the fact that the Force would be all the blue-haired padawan would need to land the shuttle close to Master Yoda's location.

Hera scowled slightly as she clearly heard and understood the unspoken message from her lover, her pilots pride a little stung by the implication that if she attempted to take their auxiliary craft down herself they wouldn't find Master Yoda but would be in for one of her rare crashes or as she preferred to think of them very exciting landings. After a moment she stuffed the offended pilot back into her mental box as she knew Kanan had not been deliberately offensive he had just been stating a fact. Since Kanan couldn't really fly a powered craft these days, though she was sure if the Jedi Knight really put his mind to it he would be able to, Ezra being the only other trained Force user on the crew was the logical choice to pilot the Phantom II down to the planet.

"Alright," she said coming to a decision. "Ezra you and Kanan will take the Phantom down to the planet. The rest of us will remain here in orbit."

"Alright Hera," Ezra agreed fighting down his nerves at the thought of flying the Phantom first to the surface and then back. While he had become quite a good pilot in the last few years, Hera with her combination of firmness and patience was an excellent flight instructor, he was still a little unsure about flying the Phantom II nervous in away that he wasn't flying the Gauntlet or any of the rebellions star fighters. He knew that it had everything to do with the fact that the original Phantom had been lost while on a mission that had been under his command.

"How long is this going to take," Zeb asked as the Spectre's resident master-padawan pair started to leave the cockpit. He really didn't like being here and couldn't wait to get back to Yavin IV where he would be able to stretch his legs as the confines of the Ghost could get claustrophobic after awhile especially to a species like his that had evolved on the vast open grasslands of Lyra-San.

"It will take as long as it needs to," Kanan replied before the doors closed behind his and Ezra's backs.

"Ugh I hate it when he gives an answer like that," Zeb moaned giving an irritated glare at the door and the Jedi who'd just disappeared through it. "It's just so… so…"

"Jedi," Rex offered with a smile understanding exactly where the former Lasat honour guard was coming from. He and his brothers had been there many times during the Clone Wars, especially during the first months of the war when they'd still been learning how exactly to work with the Jedi. Though that hadn't stopped it being a sometimes very maddening experience.

"Exactly."

"You get used to it."

Ezra felt like there were lothcats doing a mating dance in his stomach as he carefully guided the Phantom II out of its berth on the back of the Ghost and brought it around to face the planet. He knew why he was nervous, it was both the fact that he was piloting this ship – as he was aware of what a certain matronly Twi'lek would likely do to him if the worst happened and he lost another Phantom prompting an inward shudder as he would rather fight Darth Vader all by himself than face a ticked off Hera Syndulla – and the fact that he would soon be meeting Master Yoda in the flesh instead of as a Force vision. Gazing out the windscreen he saw the great grey curve of Dagobah's storm wracked atmosphere below them.

"Relax," Kanan said from behind him easily sensing his students nerves through their bond. "Clear your thoughts and let the Force guide you."

Though he knew Kanan wouldn't see it Ezra nodded. Closing his eyes for a moment he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, releasing his feelings of nervousness into the Force as he'd been taught before letting it embrace him and show him the path. Opening his eyes, he saw a faint ribbon of light – which he knew wasn't there as it was simply a visual representation of what the Force was showing him and one that only he would be able to see – detailing the course he would have to reach the surface of the planet safely. Without hesitation he brought the engines out of idle and began following the course.

A few moments later the Phantom II began travelling down through the atmosphere of Dagobah, the outermost bands of the atmosphere being calm and quiet as such things usually tended to be. Though as they descended lower the small shuttle began to be violently buffeted by first the high-altitude winds common to practically every terrestrial planet in the galaxy and then by the winds swirling around the numberless storms rampaging through Dagobah's lower atmosphere. Chop warnings immediately went off and all the console sensors instantly clouded with electrical and electromagnetic interference.

Ezra ignored them as, guided by the Force, his hands remained rocksteady on the controls.

Within seconds the Phantom broke through the cloud layer and Ezra levelled the descent so the former Separatist shuttle glided over the tops of the trees. Treetops that were swaying rapidly in all directions from the strength of the wind and the torrential rain that was currently drowning this part of the planet. Ezra did his best to keep the shuttle steady as he continued following the course the Force was giving him to follow to Master Yoda.

Seconds later they entered what had to be the eye of the storm as the wind and rain vanished abruptly. The course from the Force moved down and he reduced speed to follow until he was hovering over a spit of moss and creeper covered land that projected out into a swamp. A flick of a switch extended the landing struts and after a moment green lights flashed on to confirm they were down and locked. A final flick of the switches turned off the engines and repulsor lifts.

No sooner than he finished securing the ship than Ezra abruptly felt a presence approaching. It was an immense presence, one that radiated power, wisdom, kindness, age and the very essence of the light side of the Force. "Is that…" he started to say as he had no idea what Master Yoda's force signature felt like as he couldn't feel it whenever they were in that strange starry void place.

"It is," Kanan confirmed standing up, having spent the first fourteen years of his life ensconced within the confines of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant he was intimately familiar with what Master Yoda presence felt like as like all the younglings of that now gone era he'd been taught by the ancient Jedi in the past. Even after all this time he still remembered what he felt like, just like he still remembered what his own late master felt like. "We should go out and meet him."

"Yes master," Ezra agreed standing up from the pilot's seat – but not before hitting the controls to unseal and open the doors at the back of the shuttle. With a hiss of hydraulics, the doors opened letting the hot and muggy atmosphere of Dagobah spill into interior of the Phantom bringing with it a cornucopia of smells none of which were entirely pleasant. Sheesh and I thought Lothal's monsoon season could be bad, he thought as the cloying wave of heat and humidity washed over him immediately making him feel sticky and uncomfortable. With a small amount of effort, he released his instant discomfort into the Force allowing him to keep a clear head.

Without talking, they did not need to, both Kanan and Ezra stepped out of the Phantom and set foot on the damp surface of Dagobah to wait. They did not have to wait long as emerging from the steaming swampy forest opposite them came a tiny robed figure using a glimmer stick as a walking aide. A small bag floated along behind him held up by the ancient Jedi Masters formidable telekinetic talents.

Ezra focused on his bond with his master. "Kanan has Master Yoda always walked like that," he asked telepathically.

"He has at least for as long as I can remember," Kanan replied, "back in the temple he was also known to use a small repulsor chair to get around. According to the teachers back then Master Yoda has difficulty using his legs due to an overreliance on using form four in combat during his centuries as a Knight."

Ezra nodded in understanding. Being a practitioner of form four, or Ataru, himself he understood it was an extremely acrobatic and fast paced form of lightsabre combat. Even with the natural enhancement the Force gave the body of anyone who could channel it he frequently felt his muscles burning with fatigue, not to mention the mental exhaustion from the employment of his other Force abilities especially telekinesis that were part and parcel of the form, at the end of a prolonged battle. He could only imagine the strain centuries of using Ataru would put on the body of one of its practitioners.

He was brought out of his reflection when Master Yoda reached them, despite his age and awkward, pained gate the Grand Master could still move fast when he wanted to. "Greetings I bid you," he said in his somewhat high voice. "Pleased you came so soon am I. Moving fast now events are, little time do we have. Growing the disturbance in the Force is."

"We've felt it too Master," Kanan replied exchanging a look with Ezra. It was kind of impossible to notice that the disturbance in the Force was growing in intensity, that the paths of destiny and fate had been completely ripped apart by whatever was causing it. It was obvious every time that they meditated that the Force was in greater flux than Kanan personally could ever recall it being, not even in the Clone Wars had the Force been in such turmoil. Not to mention he knew that fragmentary variations of the vision he'd told them about earlier had been flashing through Ezra's dreams every night for the last three nights.

"Whatever is causing it I wish it'd stop," Ezra said plaintively. "Then maybe I could have a quiet night for once."

"Causing you to have visions in dreams is the distortion padawan," Yoda asked gently. At Ezra's nod of affirmation, he blinked slightly in surprise as he had not anticipated that Ezra would have such dreams. "Happened before has this?"

"Sometimes master," Ezra replied not feeling anything about admitting he sometimes, quite frequently, had dreams that sometimes turned out to be visions. Kanan was aware of the fact and had done his best to help him figure out what dream was just a dream and what was a vision. "But I cannot always tell if what I dream is a vision or just that a dream."

"Hmm strong your foresight abilities are," Yoda mused aloud. "but not properly trained in the skill are you or know which you would. Hmm work with you to master this talent I will if object your master does not."

"Not at all master," Kanan replied as he was well aware that when it came to visions his own training in that area was mostly academic as while he did sometimes get visions himself – all Jedi did at some point – they were very infrequent – as was the case with most Jedi – and as such Master Billaba had seen no reason to really train him in the skills to interpret them in other than a basic fashion. In fact, he remembered well that if a padawan did show predisposition to the strong and detailed visions that Ezra got on a somewhat regular basis then Master Yoda would give them special classes in the skill in between missions.

"Now return to your ship let us," Yoda said after a pleased smile teased his old face both at Kanan's acceptance of his offer of assistance in training his padawan and at the thought of passing on his knowledge to the first of a new generation of Jedi.

"This way Master," Kanan replied before turning and heading back into the shuttle. Ezra followed immediately and without being bid went straight back into the pilot's seat and started to prepare for the flight back to the Ghost. He both heard and felt Master Yoda hobble his way aboard and use the Force to lift himself into one of the seats. Sensing that Kanan was aboard and settled as well he remotely closed the hatch and brought the engines out of standby.

Moments later they were airborne.

Rebel Command

Rebel Alliance Headquarters

Yavin Four, That Same Time

Senator Mon Mothma frowned slightly as she listened to the hologram of the current leader of the rebel cell on Lothal, former Republic governor Ryder Azati. Ryder was currently detailing what some of his contacts in the capital city were reporting, something that she had to admit would be of great interest to the rebellion. Three days earlier the star destroyer Oath Sworn, which according to their intelligence was part of the 103rd task force under Admiral Durril, had arrived in orbit of Lothal badly damaged and in the company of two Interdictor cruisers that had also been assigned to Durril's force.

"It has taken us this long to learn anything but from what our contacts in the main Imperial medical centre report that they've overheard debriefings of the less wounded survivors by Pryce," Ryder was saying, "apparently the 103rd task force was deployed to system M-77677 in response to an Imperial beacon signal of some kind."

"System M-77677 there is an ISB honey trap in that system," former ISB agent Alexandr Kallus commented from the other side of the holotable. Mon Mothma nodded as the rebellion was aware of the little honey traps that the Imperial Security Bureau had turned several the old Clone Wars battlefields into, hoping to entice smugglers and rebels into their clutches with promises of looting weapons and valuable components from the wreckage of numerous Republic and CIS vessels.

"From what my operatives have gathered the Imperials encountered a fleet of unknown warships there. A battle resulted in which the entire 103rd task force was defeated in just five minutes of combat with no notable damage being inflicted upon the alien ships," Ryder reported.

"Five minutes," exclaimed everyone around the table shocked. With those who were fully aware of the capabilities of Imperial warships like Kallus, General Draven and Admiral Raddus all exchanging looks of shock, awe and concern.

"Is this confirmed," Admiral Raddus asked.

"It is as far as I know," Ryder replied, "we have been able to get some visual scans of the Oath Sworn and it is shocking."

"Can you show us," Raddus asked. Ryder nodded and pressed a control on his side causing his hologram to vanish and be replaced by a holographic image of the Oath Sworn. Like everyone else Mon Mothma couldn't help but gasp in shock at the sight that they beheld. The star destroyer really looked like it had been through a war with numerous deep wounds sliced into her hull, armour and hull metal having been completely vaporised by something of indescribable power. They could even see right through the ship in some places.

"Odd damage," Raddus commented as he pressed some controls to zoom in on what he'd spotted. The hologram immediately zoomed in on one side of the star destroyer where normally rows of heavy quad turbolaser turrets would be located. But now however they were gone instead where the turrets had been there was now nothing but a deep perfectly straight breach in the hull, the edges of the breach having a very odd smooth look with none of the ripped and burned look of turbolaser inflicted damage.

"That looks almost like the damage from a lightsabre," Kallus commented as lightsabre inflicted damage was something he'd become very familiar with during his last few years in the ISB and been put up against the Ghost crew. Both Kanan and Ezra had displayed a very nasty habit of slicing their way through doors and bulkheads with their sabres, not to mention their habit of slicing blaster rifles in half usually before they telekinetically slammed some poor stormtrooper hard into the nearest wall or bulkhead.

"Similar but look at it there is no evidence of molten metal being left behind in the way a lightsabre does when it cuts through things as it is after all primarily a plasma blade," Draven added. "Instead it looks like the metal was just disintegrated by whatever it was that hit the ship. I have no idea what kind of weapon could do that."

"Nor do I," Raddus agreed.

"I wonder," Kallus mused, "could these newcomers have something to do with the distortion in the Force that not only knocked our Jedi nearly senseless but has prompted Master Yoda himself to come out of hiding and join us."

"Master Yoda is still alive," Ryder exclaimed as his hologram reappeared then he shook his head. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Kanan survived Order 66 after all. What do you wish me to do now?"

"Keep monitoring the situation with the Oath Sworn as much as you can Ryder," Mon ordered. "Keep us as up to date as possible."

"Of course, Senator," Ryder replied before fading out of existence as he closed the channel from his end.

"This is an interesting development," she commented. "Opinions?"

"One thing is clear," Admiral Raddus replied, "it is that whoever the newcomers are, they are obviously both extremely powerful and likely technologically superior to both ourselves and the Empire. It would certainly explain how they could defeat an Imperial fleet as powerful as the hundred and third task force in just five minutes of open combat but seemingly take no damage themselves. We need to know more about them, they could potentially be a great ally for us or a greater threat than the Empire."

"We need to know either way," Draven agreed.

"I agree," Mon added after a moment as she weighed the options open to her and made a decision. "Summon the other members of the Council here to Yavin to discuss this event. In the meantime, General Draven, I want you to alert your operatives and have them begin finding anything and everything they can about these newcomers. I also want our analysts to go over that hologram with a fine-tooth comb see what, if any, other details about the newcomers that the wreck of the Oath Sworn can reveal. Also advise General Syndulla of this development – they should have reached Dagobah by now – maybe Master Yoda will have some thoughts on it. Dismissed."

As her gathered subordinates moved away to attend to their given tasks and duties Mon mused on this intriguing new development. While she remained hopeful that the conflict with the Empire could be resolved diplomatically she was also realistic enough to know that wasn't very likely especially given that Palpatine was really Darth Sidious Dark Master of the Sith – Bail had told her that years ago – and thus would be very unwilling to give up the near-absolute power he now had. Which meant that, as distasteful as the prospect was, another galaxy wide war was likely going to be needed to depose the tyranny of the human-centric Empire and return the galaxy to the peace, equality and justice of the Republic. The newcomers, whoever or whatever they were, could possibly be – if they could convince them to back their just cause – a key component in winning that war sooner rather than later and thus limiting the price in blood and pain that the galaxy was likely to face in the war to come.

After a moment more thinking about it Mon sighed softly to herself. She didn't know what the future held, that was the Jedi's thing, but she knew one thing because of the conversation and the revelation of the newcomers.

Everything could be about to change.

Authors Note: Well another chapter bites the dust. I know not a lot happened in this chapter, nor did the REF appear, but that could not be avoided as this chapter was always going to be more about reactions to what happened to the 103rd task force and to beginning setting up events for later in the story. As for Rick and co they'll be appearing in the next chapter I promise. Hopefully it won't take me so long to do the next update but as always I cannot promise anything.