Idiot's Array
Everyone except for Zeb, Kanan and Chopper were hanging out in the cargo bay of the Ghost. Ezra was using the Force to levitate a helmet. Errol was messing around with a ball he made and both Hera and Sabine were checking on a speeder bike.
Suddenly, Chopper arrived and he was not in a good mood at all and Zeb, who was behind him looked like he was in deep trouble and was scared by how Errol and Hera would react.
"Hi. I can explain." He said in fear to Hera.
"Explain what?" She asked, confused as to what's going on.
"Hera, Errol, Sabine, Ezra. This is Lando Calrissian. He needs a fast ship to move some cargo past the Imperial blockade of Lothal." Kanan informed everyone, introducing said man, who bowed. Errol frowned upon seeing him as he has heard so many things about him that aren't good at all.
"Yes. For some reason, this planet has an unusually large Imperial presence." Lando pointed out, making Kanan scratch the back of his head, looking sheepishly at Hera. Lando took notice of her and immediately walked up to her.
"But are you sure you can get this vessel past the blockade, Captain… Hera, is it?" The smuggler asked.
"It is. And the Ghost can mask both its signal and signature. We'll get you past the blockade. What's the cargo?" Hera said, crossing her arms.
"I was told no questions asked." Lando said, looking at Kanan.
"Well, it just costs more." Errol added, standing next to her.
"Kanan and I already settled on a price. But I assume he requires your approval." Lando stated to Hera.
"He doesn't." She quickly answered.
"Excellent. When the job's done, you'll be paid handsomely, and, as agreed, I'll return your droid." Lando then said, shaking Kanan's hand. And upon hearing what happened to Chopper, Hera and Errol got furious.
"WHAT?!/Return our… droid?" They both said at the same time. Chopper then beeped furiously and hit his mechanical arm on Zeb's leg.
"Uh, yeah. Funny story. You see, Lando and I were playing Sabacc, and I kinda… bet Chopper." Zeb confessed. And while Hera was furious to hear what happened to her astromech, Errol looked like he was going to have steam come out of his ears.
"GARAZEB ORRELIOS! CHOPPER BELONGS TO HERA! And I can't believe you played against the one guy who is infamous for cheating in Sabacc!" Errol roared, shocking everyone at how angry he got, with Zeb curling up in fear.
"But Kanan said it was okay." He whined. Errol snapped his head to Kanan who stepped back in fear, while Hera decided to get angry this time.
"And you should have known better! Chopper is a member of this crew!" She spat right at Kanan's face who cringed at her fury.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We should go. I need to pick up my cargo, and I don't want to keep my supplier waiting. Besides, if all goes well, there won't be anything for you good people to argue about." Lando said, trying to calm them all down. Hera punched Kanan in the shoulder, hard and then Errol did the same.
"I thought you were respectful to her, Kanan. Looks like I was wrong." Errol said in disappointment as he and Hera walked to the cockpit.
They both piloted the Ghost into space with Lando and Kanan in the seats behind them and Chopper with them as well.
"Oh, you're quite the pilot. That's the smoothest takeoff I had in years." Lando complimented, using his smooth talking charms on Hera, which got on Errol's nerves. Hera noticed in the corner of her eye and decided to play along with Lando after what had happened with Aola some time ago.
"And you're quite the smooth talking smuggler." She said in a playful tone, which made Errol purse his lips to a thin line.
"Smuggler? Such a small word. I'm more of a… galactic entrepreneur." Lando said back to her.
"Well, then I apologize, Lando." Hera said with a smile. Even Kanan was confused as to what she's doing until he saw Errol gripping on the controls tighter. This is practically salt on the wound for him.
"Chopper, I need you to fix the signature modulator so we can get past the blockade." Kanan asked.
"Um, excuse me Kanan, but because of you and Zeb, he's no longer part of the crew." Errol spat at the older Jedi.
"Errol's right. He doesn't have to do what you tell him anymore." Hera backed him up, glaring daggers at him.
"I can see you have some things to work out. I wonder, my new friend, if you'd be kind enough to give me a tour of this fine ship." He did as asked and escorted the smuggler out of the cockpit. Errol decided to keep an eye on him.
"Jarrus, you take over." Errol ordered, glaring at Hera for attempting to flirt with Lando. They then entered Hyperspace.
Errol followed Lando to the common room where Chopper handed him a hot drink.
"Can't believe the little bolt bucket's actually waiting on that guy." Zeb said, flabbergasted at what he's seeing.
"I can't believe you lost Chopper. Good thing I wasn't there. You'd have bet me." Ezra told him, somewhat serious.
"Mmm, nah. You wouldn't have covered the pot. Besides, I think Calrissian cheated." Zeb said. Errol sat with them.
"Oh, he more than likely did. I mean, I heard he cheated someone from taking his ship on a bet until a rematch when that person called him out. He's just a sore loser who doesn't play fair and square." Errol whispered to his ear.
"Oh come on. Lando seems nice enough." Ezra shot back. Sabine then entered and walked to Lando, who was examining her art.
"Sabine. I understand this is your work." Lando greeted the Mandalorian. Errol noticed Ezra's expression and it looks like he too has to deal with Lando flirting with his crush.
"Reminds me of Jaynor's protest paintings on Bith." He then told her.
"Jaynor of Bith is a major influence." Sabine said.
"Well, your work is even more stunning in its simplicity." Lando complimented her art, which got on Ezra's nerves and he stood up.
"Hey, I told you your stuff was good months ago." Ezra pointed out, but Sabine shrugged him off.
"Yeah, but you didn't know why." She told him.
"*clicks tongue* Oh, milady, that's hardly fair. He's just a child with no experience of the galaxy." Lando reminded her, which got Ezra mad and both Errol and Zeb held in their laughter, thinking that this was funny.
"I um… I don't suppose you'd like to see my more impressionistic pieces?" Sabine asked the smuggler.
"I happen to be an impressionistic connoisseur. That means-"
"I know what it means." Ezra stated. The two then walked off to her quarters.
"Hey, what does it mean?" Ezra asked the Lasat and teen.
"A lot less than he thinks." Zeb told him.
"I don't like that guy." Ezra frowned.
"Ditto." Errol agreed, deadpanned, walking out and to the cockpit and sitting behind Hera. They didn't say anything as Errol couldn't understand how someone like Hera can flirt with a slimeball like Lando.
Lando then came in and placed a hand on the seat Hera is sitting on.
"Are we near?" He asked.
"Yes, we should be there shortly." Hera told Lando.
"I gotta say, you are not only beautiful but also pretty good at your job." Lando complimented her.
"Why, thank you, sir." She replied in a light voice and Errol just grew more angry. Hera was just hoping he'd make a move but he hasn't yet.
Eventually, they reached their destination and there was a ship floating in space.
"Merchant-One, this is Calrissian. Requesting permission to dock." Lando said through the comms.
"You have the goods?" A male voice asked. Everyone looked at the smuggler.
"Always." He replied in confidence, confusing them.
"Ah, then permission granted." The voice told him and so the Ghost attached to the other ship. Then Lando took Kanan and Hera with him to go aboard the other ship.
Errol was concerned for Hera, hoping nothing bad would happen to her.
He decided to walk around the ship, seeing that sitting down isn't helping him be calm. As he did walk around, he accidentally bumped in Sabine.
"Oh, sorry." He apologized.
"Hey, are okay? You seem on edge." She noticed.
"I'm just worried for Hera." He told her. And while she'd tease him about his affection for Twi'lek, now wasn't that time since he seemed genuinely concerned.
"Hey, don't worry. She's capable of looking after herself." She assured him and it did manage to work because he sighed and looked more calm.
"Thanks." He told her before walking off to the common room.
He sat there until the ship detached from the ship and flew off. Taking a sigh of relief he went straight to the cockpit, only to find Kanan there and not Hera. Something happened to her.
"Kanan. Where's Hera?" He asked the older Jedi, who looked like his blood ran cold before turning around to face him.
"Uh… well…. Lando traded her with Azmorigan for some cargo." He revealed, nervous to how he'd react since Errol cares for her deeply. Errol just stood there with his left eye twitching and then stormed off to find Lando Calrissian.
He eventually found him in the cargo bay with Chopper, Zeb and Ezra around his cargo.
"Lando, Kanan's just told me you essentially sold Hera to Azmorigan. Is this true?" Errol asked in disgust, containing his anger. Ezra, Zeb and Chopper were shocked to hear this.
"I did. But I told her to get in an escape pod and escape. She'll be fine." Lando assured. Errol then walked up to the smuggler and kicked him hard in the nuts, causing the smuggler to fall onto his knees and groan in pain. Everyone there was shocked.
"Just be thankful she can look after herself because I would've done worse." Errol told him and walked off to wait by the airlock.
Within five minutes, Sabine, Chopper and a scared Lando walked up by him and they saw that Hera was in an escape pod and attached to the Ghost.
"Kanan, Hera's aboard." Sabine informed Kanan.
"We should probably make ourselves scarce." Lando added. Hera then entered the ship and Kanan entered into Hyperspace. The four walked up to the airlock door and Hera entered, looking rather mad at Lando.
"You played that perfectly. Thank you." Lando complimented Hera, in a charming manner. That just made Errol ticked off because of what he did.
"Oh, you're welcome." Hera said, placing a hand on his shoulder and then punched him hard in the nuts, making him cough. Errol laughed hard, thinking he deserved that.
"I deserved that. But can we get back to the job at hand, flying us past the Imperial blockade? Otherwise, I don't have to pay you or give your droid back. And I swear you and Errol are so much alike." Lando said. The last point piqued Hera's ear. She then looked at him and he shrugged.
"When I found out what happened to you, I kicked him in the nuts." He confessed, proudly.
"What was in that crate?" Hera asked Lando.
"Come on. I'll show you." He told her and led everyone until they saw a little creature snorting while being chased by Ezra and Zeb.
"What was that?" Errol asked.
"That's what was in that crate." Lando said as the creature bumped into Chopper.
"Grab that puffer pig, but don't scare her." Lando warned Ezra and Zeb right before the Lasat grabbed it and it was squirming and screeching in fear.
"Got it!" Zeb said.
"You're scaring her! I told you not to scare her." Lando scolded.
"I'm not scaring her!" Zeb argued but then to everyone's surprise the puffer pig expanded like a balloon, blocking the hallway.
"Karabast!" Zeb cursed.
"Whoa!" Sabine, Hera and Errol exclaimed in surprise.
"You see? You scared her." Lando stated.
"What is going on out here?" Kanan snapped at Zeb and Ezra.
"It's a, um, puffer-"
"I don't want to know." Kanan said before walking back to the pilot seat.
They then exited Hyperspace and approached the blockade on Lothal.
"We reached the blockade. I could really use Hera on this side of the pig right about now." Kanan said.
"Yeah, I don't see that happening." Zeb told him.
"Any idea what the Imperials are hoping to find with this blockade?" Hera asked Lando.
"Rebels?" Lando asked as a joke.
"Besides that." Errol firmly told him.
"Unauthorized mining equipment, perhaps." Lando suggested, not really answering the question.
"And why would they be looking for that?" Hera asked the smuggler, not really believing him.
"*sighs* Maybe because I tried smuggling some here a week ago." Lando said, walking up to her and putting on his charms which made Errol angry again.
"Don't worry. The Imperials are scanning for equipment, machinery. But our girl here is 100% organic." Lando reasoned, spanking the puffer pig, making it squeal.
"Their scanners won't detect her, so long as your ship can mask its signature." Lando then told her.
"You know it can't until you ask Chopper to fix it. So can you please ask him?" Hera reminded him, still playing her flirting game.
"*laughs* You're catching on, dear. Alright, my little friend. Would you like to be a hero and fix it for me?" Lando asked the astromech and he beeped before going to try and fix it. Errol was just silent, glaring at both Lando and Hera. Lando with hate, and Hera with frustration.
He managed to fix it back up and things should be smooth from this point on.
"Sabine, once we get back to Lothal, I'd love to purchase some of your art." Lando said to the young Mandalorian which got the attention of Ezra.
"Really? My work. You'd pay?" She asked as Ezra climbed up on the puffer pig.
"Oh, he'll pay." He said as he climbed more but managed to wake the pig up and it started squealing again.
"Kid, not a good-" Zeb was trying to warn but the pig expanded more, knocking back him, Errol, Sabine, Hera and Lando with force. And Zeb accidentally hit a button, causing an alarm and the ship's signature was revealed to the Imperials, making some TIEs to chase after them.
"Well done, Ezra. This is all your fault!" Errol hissed at the teen. Sabine got into the Phantom and fired at the TIEs, blowing one of them up.
"Cloud cover!" Hera told Kanan through the comms.
"What?" He asked in confusion.
"She said to find some, are you deaf?" Errol questioned the older Jedi.
"Oh. Right." He said and piloted the Ghost into the clouds in the night sky of Lothal. There was some turbulence caused by said clouds but Kanan turned the ship around and flew right at the TIEs and destroyed them.
"Good call, Hera. I think we're in the clear. You know, your job's a lot harder than it looks." Kanan said, now respecting what Hera does as the pilot of the crew.
"Nice. He finally appreciates you." Lando told Hera. Errol was now boiling in anger, it's surprising that he hasn't used the Force on the smuggler.
"Look, as much as I enjoy chatting with you, I don't appreciate the divide and conquer routine. You may think that setting us against each other, will have us off balance for you to get what you want. But what you want, will depend on my crew working in sync. Understood, dear?" Hera said, stroking Lando's arm. That had Errol's fists curl up tighter.
"As crystal, Captain." Lando said in agreement. Ezra then struggled to crawl as he's pressed up against the ceiling.
"A little help?" Ezra grunted.
Once they helped him out and got the puffer pig to deflate, they reached the farm that Lando told them to go to.
Errol and Sabine put on their helmets and then everyone walked out of the Ghost.
"This time, try to keep it calm. We don't want you inflating it again." Ezra told Zeb.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault." He argued.
"It's your face's fault." Ezra argued back.
"This is your land?" Hera asked, noticing the farm.
"Bought it off a charming fellow named Vizago." Lando revealed.
"Lovely. Now why did you need the pig here?" Errol asked him, budging in between him and Hera with hostility. Hera was now getting worried because he's hardly interacted with her since they've met Lando and he's been angry the whole time.
"Because a puffer pig has a nose for precious minerals. It can do the job of a dozen mining scanners." Lando explained as the pig started sniffing.
"And the Empire doesn't want private landholders mining Lothal." Hera recollected.
"We're done here. Pay us, and we'll be on our way." Kanan butted in but before they could discuss more, a rather unwelcome interruption came.
"He has other debts to pay." A voice called out and everyone turned to see the disgusting form of Azmorigan come out behind some crates, pointing a blaster at them. And then his cronies popped out from other crates and even a speeder.
"Azmorigan?" Lando asked in surprise and confusion.
"You forget I introduced you to Vizago, huh? I knew where you were headed." The Jablogian spat, with drool coming down his chin.
"But your ship… you couldn't have hidden it anywhere close. Did you… walk here? You don't walk anywhere." Lando was flabbergasted.
"Well, I do what's necessary to claim my property, Calrissian." The gangster stated.
"What do you want?" Hera asked him.
"My demands are simple. I want my pig back… and you. Plus this ship and this crew as compensation for my sore feet. But first… first, I want to bury Calrissian." Azmorigan demanded. Errol was now enraged. Seeing this disgusting mass and that he wants Hera.
"Go right ahead." He casually said, much to Hera's shock.
"No." She said, pushing Lando back.
"Now wait, let's consider that last demand for a sec." Kanan argued.
"Yeah, but you won't get your slimy hands on us, the Ghost or Hera." Errol backed up, practically hissing those words, teetering on the Dark Side.
"I've run out of patience! Get them!" Azmorigan roared at his cronies and a blaster fight started with everyone running into cover.
Zeb and Sabine. Kanan, Ezra and Errol. Hera and Lando.
Chopper wheeled over to something that looked like a canister.
"Chopper, don't hide there! It's a fuel canister!" Sabine warned him and hearing what it is gave the astromech an idea.
Azmorigan fired at the Jedi trio but missed. Errol solely focused on firing at him. Ezra pulled out his lightsaber hilt and was about to use it but Kanan stopped him.
"No lightsabers, not unless we're-"
"You worry too much." Ezra cut him off and showed that he can use it as a blaster as he fired at a henchman on top of the building. That left Errol impressed, and surprised that he didn't think of that for his lightsaber.
"Hey, mine doesn't do that." Kanan said, jealous.
"Nope. I might not be able to sword fight yet, but I can shoot." Ezra told him.
"Kid, you continue to impress." Kanan said.
Lando took out his blaster and took down a henchman.
"Nice shot, Lando!" Sabine complimented. Errol just can't understand how or why he should get one.
"Yeah, just not as much as Lando." Ezra added. Errol understood the meaning. That he has a crush on her.
Chopper, unnoticed by everyone, started to push the fuel canister to the Ghost.
The puffer pig got out of Lando's grip and started running around, squealing.
"Zeb. The pig! Scare it!" Hera requested the Lasat.
"What? How?" He asked, not knowing what to do.
"Just be you." She told him. Now he understood. He saw the pig run towards him and so he got on all fours and faced it.
"Hey, pig!" He snarled and it got scared enough to expand and bounce like a ball. This left Zeb, truly flabbergasted as the pig bounced on a couple of the henchmen, knocking them out.
Sabine then jumped on the speeder to get up on the roof for a high ground advantage. Zeb shot another that started firing at Chopper.
"You're welcome!" He called out to the astromech, not noticing that Azmorigan had a plan for him.
Sabine fired warning shots at the henchmen, making them surrender. But then Azmorigan went up behind Zeb and held him at gunpoint, making Zeb drop his bo-rifle and place his arms up.
"New terms, I get Calrissian, and this one lives." Azmorigan demanded.
"I get Calrissian, and you all can-" He then said but then started choking. Initially, everyone was confused as to why until he started floating in the air.
Everyone looked to see Errol with his hand out, Force Choking the gangster and then pulled him towards him and slammed his arm against his neck, knocking him to the ground. Errol then stepped on him and placed one of his blasters up against the gangster's forehead, making him shake in fear. Errol cannot let him touch or hurt Hera, ever.
Everyone was shocked by this because they've never seen Errol this dark before. And Hera was terrified for him.
"New terms. You leave us all alone, I won't cut your limbs off and throw you into a Sarlacc Pit. Got it?" Errol growled, with his eyes changing slightly to a light yellow. Azmorigan nodded fast, getting the message across.
"Now start walking." He told him, taking his foot off and holstering his blaster. Azmorigan got up and then Errol kicked him in the back, making him walk and then Sabine fired at the remaining henchmen, making them walk.
"I like everything that just happened except that you let Azmorigan live. That'll be a problem for me later." Lando told the teen.
"Why should I care?" Errol said, bitterly.
"I think you have a problem now. You don't have the credits you owe us, do you? In fact you never did." Hera said to the smuggler. She is going to talk with Errol later about his actions.
"But I will once my baby's worked her magic." Lando replied, stroking a now deflated puffer pig.
"You mean, if she finds what you're looking for. And you've mined and smuggled it off world?" Hera questioned.
"I can give you back your droid." Lando reminded and Chopper beeped in a mood.
"That won't satisfy your debt to me. Not after what you pulled." Hera said, pointing a finger at him.
"Then how about we settle that debt with a little game of Sabacc?" Lando asked her.
"Oh, no! You are not going to cheat Hera of her money or her other valuables." Errol said before storming off to the Ghost. Everyone was taken aback but they followed him into the ship and he himself went into his and Hera's quarters.
When everyone entered the ship, they were surprised to see that Chopper stole Lando's fuel, which they can use to get credits.
They all landed somewhere else on Lothal and Errol was still in his and Hera's quarters without his helmet on. His eyes changed back to their original colour.
He was about to go to sleep when Hera entered and looked at him sternly.
"What was that?" She asked him.
"What?" He asked, knowing what she meant but didn't really want to talk about it.
"You know fully well what! Why did you threaten Azmorigan that way? And why did you want to hand Lando over to him?" She pushed back. Errol stood up, frowning at her.
"No one threatens the people I care for, which especially includes you and handing Lando over would've taken that disgusting pig off our backs after all that smuggler did to us." Errol told his reasoning.
"If we handed Lando over, we wouldn't be any different to the Empire. And he'd be in our debt later." Hera disagreed, which got Errol angry.
"Lando is a smuggler! There is no way he'd pay off his debt. He'd just sell us off the first chance he has." He fired back.
"Errol…. This isn't like you. What is your problem?!" She then asked and that caused Errol to shove Hera up against a wall.
"MY PROBLEM?! I'm not the one who blindly trusted and protected the one who sold you to a slimy gangster! And I'm not the one who flirts with him every chance I get! At least I wasn't an idiot!" Errol spat in her face and then she slapped him hard across the face, making him stumble away from her.
That slap snapped him out of it and he realised what he just said and did. Now scared for the first time, he looked back at her and she looked hurt and furious.
"Hera, I-"
"Get out." She coldly ordered him and he looked so devastated. He grabbed his helmet and walked out with his head drooped.
Hera stood there and her façade broke down and she cried.
"What have I done?" She asked herself in guilt, sliding down the wall, onto the floor.
Thanks to PsychicTitan for this chapter as I talked back and forth with him about how to write this chapter. It was great to get some advice for Errol to have a flaw, in this case, letting his emotions and anger get the better of him whenever those he loves and cares for are hurt or threatened, or in Hera's case, whenever someone hits on or flirts with her.