Rise of the Old Masters
A few days have gone by and at this moment, the Ghost was up in the sky among the clouds. And Ezra is being trained by Kanan and Errol (Who is now 15 years old) on the outside of the ship. Chopper and Zeb were hanging out with them, watching the lesson play out.
Ezra was standing on his hands with his eyes closed, and he's trying to focus.
"Focus. Focus on letting go." Kanan told the teen.
"Letting go? Rather hold on, if you don't mind." Ezra told him and Errol rolled his eyes.
"He didn't mean let go physically, he meant mentally, Ezra. You're more dense than I was when I started my training." Errol stated.
"Exactly. Now, focus." Kanan backed his fellow Jedi up. Ezra then tried to stand on just one hand but struggled as he groaned.
"I'm trying." He told the two.
"Do or do not. There is no trying." Kanan quoted possibly the greatest Jedi in all of existence, Grand Master Yoda. Errol felt a chill up his spine hearing that since his parents knew Yoda personally.
"What does that even mean? How can I do something if I don't try to do it?" Ezra pointed out, surprising the two as they never knew anyone to call out the confusion of Yoda's famous statement.
"Simple, you just do it. And if you don't succeed, just do it again and again until you're able to do whatever it is you're hoping for." Errol backed up the statement rather well, saving Kanan's back as he gave him a grateful smile.
"Thanks, Errol." He said, but then Zeb yawned in boredom.
"I really thought this Jedi stuff would be more interesting. No wonder the old religion died." Zeb said, which made the Jedi present, a bit annoyed as that wasn't why it died out. Chopper chattered, seemingly in agreement with the Lasat.
"Come on, kid. Do something. Amuse me. Use the Force!" Zeb said, walking up to the teen and moving the turret around as Ezra was on the glass windshield. He fell into a crate full of bottles and he looked back up at Zeb in frustration, and the Lasat laughed with Chopper.
Kanan and Errol tried to help him out but the teen pulled his arms out of their grips.
"Does he have to be here?" Ezra asked the two.
"Yes. Because there will always be something that can distract you. You have to learn to focus through them." Errol reasoned. He then looked at Kanan and he nodded, seeing that this isn't getting anywhere.
"Here. Let's try something else." He said, pulling out his lightsaber and handing it to Ezra, who looked a bit more excited.
"When do I get my own?" He asked the older Jedi.
"Having a laser sword doesn't make you a Jedi." Kanan sternly informed him.
"Gets me closer." The teen muttered and then he ignited the lightsaber, nearly hitting Kanan and Errol.
"Careful!/Watch it!" They both yelled. Kanan then stepped behind Ezra while Errol took some steps back.
"There's a control on the side that adjusts the length to your height." Kanan pointed out and Ezra tweaked the saber to make it more manageable for his height. As he did, Zeb laughed.
"I think it should be a little shorter." He teased, causing Chopper to laugh and the three to glare at the two. Kanan made Ezra go to the other end of the ship.
"Okay. Close your eyes." Kanan instructed and Ezra did as told, holding the lightsaber in front of him.
"Alright, let him have it, Chopper." Errol told the astromech and handed him one of the bottles. He then spun his head so fast that the bottle would become a projectile. He let it go and it flew towards Ezra who swung the saber to hit it but he missed and the bottle hit him in the face.
"Ow!" He whined. Zeb handed Chopper another bottle and he threw it but Ezra missed again.
"Be precise. Keep the blade… up." Kanan instructed right as Ezra missed another bottle. Kanan and Errol were fairly disappointed at Ezra failing this lesson, while Zeb can't help but find it all funny.
"That's it, kid. Use your body to slow down that trash." Zeb mocked, handing Chopper another bottle to throw. And he kept throwing with Ezra now not even trying to focus and strike the bottles.
"No. You're not focusing." Kanan tried to tell him but it didn't work and then Zeb dumped the whole crate of bottles for Chopper to rapid fire more bottles and while Ezra sliced a few, he kept getting hit to the point that he fell back and was at risk of falling off the ship.
"Kid!" Zeb yelled in worry.
Sabine who was in the forward facing turret saw Ezra up against the windshield and she was a bit shocked. Kanan and Errol got close and were about to try and pull him up but he fell and was screaming for his life.
"Dammit!" Errol snapped before they both closed their eyes and tuned into the Force to lift Ezra back up to the ship. Hera flicked some switches to lower the ramp where Zeb leaned out to grab hold of Ezra.
"Zeb, get ready!" Errol said as the two struggled until they couldn't hold him any longer and Zeb managed to grab the teen right when he was about to fall.
"Got him!" He told them and then pulled him up and they looked at each other. Ezra was grateful but Zeb looked a bit guilty feeling responsible for what just happened. Chopper however was there and laughed as he threw a bottle but missed Ezra who glared at the astromech.
Errol and Kanan entered into the Ghost as Hera flew it through the sky.
"You weren't focused." Kanan sternly scolded the teen.
"Tough to focus when I'm falling to my death." Ezra shot back.
"It's because you didn't focus, you were falling to your death." Errol pointed out as he and Kanan grabbed him by the arms.
"Errol is right, Ezra, you're undisciplined and full of self doubt." Kanan added as Zeb and Hera listened and watched their conversation. Ezra pulled his arms out of their grips.
"And whose fault is that, Master?" Ezra spat before turning his back to them, taking Kanan aback while Errol frowned in thought. He considered how Kanan taught him and how his own parents taught himself. They were very different styles and it's partly because Kanan was taught in the ways of the Jedi Order, which were more restrictive and Errol was taught freely and with care.
"It's difficult to teach." Kanan said, walking away. Zeb nudged Ezra to say something to him.
"He means it's difficult to teach you." He clarified, shoving the teen back before walking off. Errol turned around seeing Hera's expression and she had a motherly smile which had an effect on him and then she escorted Ezra so that he could talk to him with Errol next to her.
"Kanan-" Ezra was about to say but a hologram started playing, getting the whole crew's attention.
"Shh. You made the Holonet." Sabine quieted him down as they looked at the hologram showing a TIE Fighter.
"The stolen TIE Fighter was later used to attack a transport full of innocent workers." A male voice said, telling lies and misinformation.
"You liar! We set 'em free." Zeb snapped. But then the hologram changed to a photo of a man in regal clothing.
"Citizens, this is Senator in exile Gall Trayvis. I bring more news the Empire doesn't want you to hear." Another voice said. This is normal for the crew except for Ezra.
"What's a Gall Trayvis?" He asked everyone in confusion.
"The only member of the Imperial Senate with the courage to speak out publicly against the Empire." Hera explained to him.
"One of the Republic's greatest peacekeepers, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, is alive." Gall said, showing a hologram of her in a prisoner uniform escorted by Stormtroopers, shocking Kanan and Errol. They and Hera looked at each other and then paid real close attention to every word.
"She has been imprisoned unlawfully somewhere in the Stygon system. As citizens, we demand the Emperor produce Master Unduli, and grant her a fair trial before the entire Sen-" Gall continued until his broadcast was taken down.
"...marking another successful planetary liberation, utilizing the Base Delta Zero initiative." A broadcast finished and Sabine shut it off.
"This Luminara… you knew her?" Ezra asked the two Jedi.
"I met her. Once. She was a great Jedi Master. Brave, compassionate, disciplined." Kanan recollected.
"My parents knew her well. My mother especially." Errol said.
"In fact, she'd make an excellent teacher for you." Kanan told Ezra, who frowned, feeling as though he was being tossed aside.
"There've always been rumours she survived the Clone Wars, but they never came with a specific location before. We can't pass this up." He then said to Hera and Errol.
"Was hoping you'd say that. I'll set course for the Stygeon system" Hera said and walked to the cockpit.
"The rest of you, prep for an op." Kanan then told everyone and they all went off to get themselves ready with Zeb patting Ezra on the shoulder.
"You hear that? He's done with me. He's gonna pawn me off on some stranger." Ezra said to Chopper, depressed. Chopper, not feeling sorry or respectful, chuckled and wheeled away.
After setting course, they entered Hyperspace and everyone was in the cockpit.
Chopper then activated a hologram showing the structure where Luminara is apparently held.
"Welcome to the Spire on Stygeon Prime, the only Imperial detainment facility in the Stygeon system. And it's impregnable." Sabine stated the facts.
"That's never stopped us before." Kanan said, making her chuckle.
"Trust me, we have never faced anything like this. It's a real work of art. Blast proof, ray shielded, protected by anti-ship weapons, TIE Fighters and short and long range scanners." Sabine listed off how impregnable the facility is.
"We can fool the scanners." Hera said.
"Uh, maybe. But that just leaves an army of trooper and guard posts on all the walls. Look, even if we get into this beauty, the hard part's getting out. 'Cause, you know, it's a prison." Sabine said.
"Well, what about going in low and sneaking onto this landing platform?" Ezra suggested.
"Mmm-mmm. Platform has a heavy trooper presence and reinforced blast doors. Impossible to get in or out that way." Sabine shot the idea down. Errol paid attention to the hologram and spotted somewhere they can use to get in.
"Here. There's only enough room there for a couple of guards." He pointed out on the hologram.
"Not bad, Errol. We can take them down, make our way to the upper level isolation cells, free Luminara and come back out the way we came in." Kanan planned out. Chopper cut the hologram off and chattered.
"Yeah. You'd have to be crazy to try that lousy plan." Sabine said.
"Let's hope the Empire thinks so, too." He smirked before they exited Hyperspace.
They flew in the atmosphere of Stygeon Prime and everyone got into the Phantom, which is a transport attached to the main ship and used for missions like this. Chopper though, had to stay on the Ghost to fly it and that made him chatter through the comlink, complaining.
"Oh shut up, Chop. We need someone to pilot the Ghost while we fly down to the facility." Errol said to the astromech as they detached from the ship and sped through the clouds right to the facility. Everyone was ready, while Ezra was on edge. Errol will only stay with Hera as backup in case something goes wrong.
"Thirty seconds. Good luck." Hera told everyone as they all stood up, excluding Errol.
"Luck? We're gonna need a miracle." Zeb muttered.
"Here are three." Sabine said underneath her helmet, showing three thermal detonators, which Zeb and Ezra grabbed one.
"Try to stay focused." Kanan told the teen.
"Thought there was no 'try'." Ezra replied, making Kanan frown and keep his eyes forward.
Hera flew the pod to where they needed to go, where there were indeed, a couple of Stormtroopers. Errol opened the back of the pod and then Kanan leaped out, landing in front of the troopers, surprising them and disarmed them with ease while knocking one of them out.
Ezra wanted in on the action and prepped to jump. Zeb saw what he was doing and got worried.
"Kid, wait! What are you doing?!" He shouted but Ezra didn't listen as he jumped.
Kanan was able to knock out the remaining trooper.
"Nice and quiet like." He said to himself until he heard yelling and saw Ezra jump down and awkwardly roll up to the door, which looked like it hurt. Worried that he made too much noise, Ezra stepped back but when no one came, they relaxed, but Kanan was mad at him.
"What just happened? You were supposed to exit with Zeb. You're lucky every Stormtrooper in the prison doesn't know we're here." Kanan scolded the teen so much until the door opened and a whole bunch of troopers showed up.
But there was no worry as Kanan closed the door with the Force and used it to grab the blasters and throw them away while Sabine and Zeb jumped down and helped the Jedi take them all down.
"Stunts like that put us all in jeopardy. That is exactly why you need Master Luminara to teach you discipline." Kanan sternly said to a deflated Ezra.
"I was just following your example." Ezra argued.
"Yeah? Well, try to stay focused and follow the plan instead." Kanan replied.
Sabine tried to unlock the door but it didn't budge.
"I hate to interrupt, but we need the kid to unlock the door." Sabine said, making Ezra come up to her and pull out his lock pick.
"I got it." He said, doing his magic. There were some searchlights that narrowly missed them as Zeb moved the bodies into a pile.
"Ezra." Kanan pestered.
"Quiet. I'm focusing." He shot at the older man and then the door opened and they all went in to rescue the Jedi Master.
The Phantom was parked underneath the entrance. Hera was shivering against the cold while Errol, who was in his Mandalorian armour, including his helmet, wasn't shivering. He noticed though and got up to her.
"Are you okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, just a bit cold." She tried to act fine but it didn't work as she was shaking. Errol knew he had to do something, so he pulled her out of the pilot seat, sat in it and placed her on top of him while wrapped his arms around her, stroking her to make her warm. He even used a Force ability he discovered of heating up for warmth.
Hera was silent as he did this. She started to feel warm and couldn't help but sigh in pure relief as not only did she get warm but was practically melting from his strokes.
"Thank you." She said with her eyes closed and with a smile.
"No problem." He said. He was thankful he was wearing his helmet because he was blushing and smiling, just happy to help.
They both stayed silent for a while, with Hera curled up as Errol kept his arms wrapped around her.
"Do you think the plan will change?" Errol asked, wanting to start a conversation.
"Knowing Kanan, it just might." Hera said.
"It just might get worse, as it always does." Errol joked and that made her laugh.
"True." Hera replied. Errol decided to caress her arm, even though it would be at risk of him revealing his feelings, considering her and Kanan but he just wanted to share a nice moment with her.
He was about to say something when the radar picked up something that was heading right to them. Errol got out of the seat so that Hera can fully operate as the pilot.
"Uh-oh. Company." She said.
"But what type?" Errol asked.
"I don't know." She said.
They then looked out through the windshield to see if they could see what it is and then they both saw something fly past them. But they didn't get a good glimpse as it was a blur.
"What the hell?" Errol frowned. And then another form flew past them. They looked out through the side and there was a rather odd creature looking back at them.
"Whoa!" They both exclaimed in shock but calmed down realising that it wasn't something Imperial.
"Okay, what are they?" Errol asked.
"I don't know." Hera said in all honesty. It then rubbed up against the Phantom.
"Hey! Watch it, buddy." Hera told the creature as the pod shook. They then noticed on their controls that a signal was in sync when screeched and then rubbed up against the pod again as more showed up.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Hera said in concern.
"Can you believe that? Sabine's jammer is on the same frequency as these creatures. Of all the things to happen to us." Errol commented.
"Yeah, it's sending out a…." Hera then said but stopped when they saw snuggling against the pod and chittering.
"...mating call." She finished.
"Seriously?" Errol questioned, finding all of this absurd.
"We need to get out of here." He then said.
"You're right. These lovebirds are attracting too much attention. Hope we're not needed anytime soon." Hera replied as she took off and piloted the Phantom out of there, away from the prison with the creatures following them.
As they were flying, Errol sensed something through the Force so he tuned in to see what it was and gasped when he felt a presence that was dark and malicious. It was familiar in two ways. One, that was tied to the Jedi, and two, it was an Inquisitor.
"Hera, something's wrong. We have to go back." He informed the pilot. As he did, he used a Force ability that he was taught by his dad: Hiding his presence from the Force.
"What is it?" She asked, unsure.
"It's a trap. It's always been a trap. Set by an Inquisitor." He told her and that immediately made her turn back to the prison.
"Got it." She replied.
"Spectre-5 to Phantom. We're on the landing deck, ready for pickup." They then heard Sabine through the comms, and also heard blaster fire in the background.
"On our way, Spectre-5." Hera said.
"We're bringing in a fleet, by the way." Errol said, since they have the creatures with them.
They finally reached the landing deck and floated with the creatures, who became hostile towards the Stormtroopers and Hera fired the blasters attached to the pod at the TIEs to ensure they didn't get used. Turrets were used by some troopers against the creatures but they got destroyed by Zeb as he and the others ran up the deck to the Phantom.
Errol opened up the back.
"Come on!" He shouted to them, noticing the Inquisitor behind them as he threw his red, double bladed lightsaber at them, and it was spinning. Errol however put his hand out and used the Force to stop it in mid air, shocking the Inquisitor and even Kanan and Ezra as they got into the Phantom.
"Does yours do that?" Zeb asked Kanan as the door closed and Hera flew them out of there, into space, back to the Ghost.
"What about Luminara?" Errol asked the older Jedi.
"Gone. We'll have to find a way to spread the word." He said, gravely. Hera and Errol were shocked to hear this.
"My parents will be devastated." He told them.
"How's Ezra taking it?" Hera asked Kanan.
"Not as bad as I am. I guess he's stuck with me and Errol. For now." He replied.
When they made it back to the Ghost. They all headed back to Lothal and landed out in the plains.
Errol was in his and Hera's quarters with a communication device and activated it, showing a hologram of his parents. One of them was a 32 year old human that looked like an older and more adult version of Errol, just without the mark on his forehead and wearing an orange and blue Mandalorian armour. The other is a 31 year old female Togruta with orange skin and white montrals and lekku that have blue markings. She also had blue eyes. These are his parents Dash Flynn and Ahsoka Tano, former Jedi.
"Errol, what's wrong, sweetie?" Ahsoka asked in concern, noticing his grim expression.
"Me and the others have confirmed that Master Luminara is dead." He told them both and they gasped.
"How?" Ahsoka asked.
"I don't know. All we know was that the Empire used her as some kind of trap to capture more Jedi. By an Inquisitor." He explained.
"Are you sure?" His dad asked in a serious tone.
"Yes. But there was something off. I think he was once a Jedi." He revealed.
"Why?" They asked.
"I sensed him through the Force and there was some form of familiarity there." Errol said.
"Alright. Thank you for telling us, Errol. At least there's some closure." Dash said, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist in comfort.
"No problem. I'll call you later. I love you." Errol said.
"Love you, too, son. May the Force be with you." Ahsoka said and the call ended with the hologram shut off.
Errol sighed and put the communicator away and walked out of the room to find Ezra and Kanan and saw them both outside on the ramp.
"Look, don't bother saying it. I'm letting you off the hook." Ezra told Kanan, both not knowing Errol was there.
"What are you talking about?" Kanan asked.
"I know you wanted to dump me on Luminara. Just 'cause she's gone, doesn't mean you're stuck with me." The teen explained, making Kanan now understand him more. Even Errol, who from the beginning knew that he was upset about something.
"I don't want to dump you. *sigh*" Kanan said before sitting next to Ezra.
"Look, I just wanted you to have the best teacher." Kanan corrected Ezra's assumption, which got on his nerves.
"Well, I don't want the best teacher. I want you and Errol." Ezra confessed, shocking the Jedi.
"Uh, not that you're not the best. I-" Ezra then tried to argue.
"Ezra. I'm not gonna try to teach you anymore." Kanan cut him off. Ezra believed that he was telling him he won't teach him anymore but Errol knew he was going to say more.
"If all I do is try, that means I don't truly believe I can succeed. So from now on, I will teach you. I may fail. You may fail. But there is no try." Kanan then continued. Errol smiled, seeing that Kanan has learned.
"I understand… Master." Ezra replied.
"Let's see if you do." Kanan said, handing him his lightsaber. They then started training with Kanan throwing some rocks at Ezra who managed to slice them in half. Errol smiled seeing that things may go smoother between them.
Later at night, the whole crew are sleeping. In Hera and Errol's quarters, Errol was sleeping on the top bunk and he was tossing and turning in his sleep. His head was starting to hurt and then in his mind, he saw images.
The first was of a city high among the clouds and TIE Fighters were flying around it.
The second was a run down city and a young woman saved a little girl.
And the third was a different young woman who stood in front of a downed Star Destroyer.
But then just like the snap of a finger, it stopped and Errol's eyes opened and he looked around, frantic with sweat dripping down his face.
"Visions. Visions, just like my dad." He whispered, realising what was going on.
But he had to think about it at a later date as he went back to sleep, hopeful he won't go through that again.
With the help of PsychicTitan, I had Errol and Hera have a nice moment together. And I wanted there to be a few Force abilities that Errol can do as taught by his dad. And of course, there are some hints and teases for when I eventually tackle the Clone Wars.