Vision of Hope
A whole week after the whole situation with Lando and things have been a bit tense for two of the crewmembers.
Hera and Errol had an argument over what happened and it left them both emotionally low with each other. So much so that Errol would sleep in the common room, away from Hera.
Errol felt that Hera now hates him for what he said and did to her and that their friendship is ruined forever.
Hera was feeling guilty as this whole thing started because she thought flirting with Lando can make Errol make a move for her after what had happened with Aola. Of course, that backfired and she is struggling to apologize to Errol. She struggled because either he'd walk away whenever she'd say something to him or she wouldn't know what to say.
The only time where the tension dissipated was when they were doing a job and the Ghost shook as Hera and Errol walked past each other. Hera tripped and nearly fell if it weren't for Errol who grabbed her and pulled her up and absentmindedly placed his hands on her butt. The two then looked into each other's eyes, getting lost in them until Kanan called out for Hera, snapping them out of it and they went back to how they were.
The whole crew noticed what's going on with them but they didn't know what to do. Especially Kanan since it's clear to him that Hera loves Errol.
At this moment, Errol was outside with everyone else excluding Hera. Everyone was training Ezra (wearing his painted cadet helmet) with his lightsaber work to deflect blaster fire to a helmet. He just sat there watching them, feeling too depressed to help.
Ezra was deflecting the blaster fire but it was uncoordinated, with a beam nearly hitting Chopper.
"You've got the blocking down for the most part but you shouldn't just randomly deflect the energy any which way. You've yet to hit the target I gave you." Kanan told his Padawan, referring to a Stormtrooper helmet on a rock.
"'Yet'! Keyword is 'yet'." The teen argued smugly, which made Kanan groan and then waved to Zeb and Sabine to stop firing their weapons as he walked up to Ezra.
"You're distracted, impatient. What's the rush?" Kanan asked him.
"I don't want to miss Senator Trayvis' transmission." Ezra told him.
"You don't even know if he'll transmit today." Kanan pointed out.
"He's been on more frequencies lately, and I have a feeling. Today's the day." He replied.
"Yet I have a feeling you'll get stunned if you don't pay attention." Errol groaned to him.
"He's right, Ezra. You need to focus on this moment." Kanan said, which made Ezra groan, reigniting his lightsaber. Sabine, Zeb and even Chopper fired at him and while he deflected, he still didn't hit the helmet. But then Ezra heard voices. Of Hera, Errol and even Trayvis. And then he started seeing visions.
The first was him in an alley, surrounded by Stormtroopers.
The second was the crew and Trayvis walking up to a sewer grate, then of them all climbing down the ladder.
The third is of Stormtroopers running through the sewers.
And a fourth showing Trayvis, struggling but with a smirk on his face saying 'Your parents were very brave'.
After that, Ezra gasped and found himself lying on the ground. He sat up with help from Errol and Kanan.
"I got stunned, didn't I?" He asked, believing that's what happened. Everyone looked at him shocked, confused and whatever else.
"You actually deflected every blast at the target." Errol told him, pointing at the charred and smoking trooper helmet.
"I saw something." Ezra said.
"Saw? You had a vision?" Kanan asked.
"I saw Gall Trayvis. Kanan, he knew my parents!" Ezra revealed.
"It was so real." He then said as the other Jedi helped him up.
"You were there, and, and you were there sneaking around in the dark. Troopers were everywhere." Ezra explained, confusing Zeb and Sabine.
"Sounds like a pretty average day." Sabine pointed out.
"Except… Senator Trayvis was there fighting side by side with us. And he said he knew my parents!" Ezra added, walking to the ship.
"Right." Kanan said, not convinced. Same goes for Errol, and he knew since his dad and himself had visions.
"Ezra, just because you saw this vision, doesn't mean it'll happen. It's more than likely reacting to your thoughts." Errol cautioned him.
"But it might. Ow!" He replied as Zeb smacked him in the back of the head.
"What are you doing?" He asked the Lasat, who was walking past him to the ship, along with the others.
"*laughs* Helping you to hone your Jedi powers. Why didn't you see that coming?" Zeb remarked.
"Doesn't work that way." The teen glared and then Sabine punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow! Stop!" Ezra complained.
"Maybe if we keep trying. *chuckles*" Sabine chuckled.
"Ezra, hurry! He's on!" Hera called out from the ramp. Errol looked away, avoiding eye contact.
Ezra ran into the ship, while everyone else walked.
Everyone entered the common room, where Hera already sat and had a hologram on, showing Maketh.
"I started recording before he came on." She told Ezra.
"Yes!" He exclaimed sitting on one of the seats.
"I'll play back the entire message." She told him and then she played the recording.
"The insurgents terrorizing our world will soon be brought to justice. I have assurances from-" Maketh said but was of course the transmission got interrupted with an image of Trayvis.
"Citizens, Senator in Exile Gall Trayvis here…."
"Right on time!" Ezra said.
"Shh!" Hera shushed him.
",,,,coming to you with a reminder that the Empire applies the term 'insurgent' to anyone who dares defy their tyranny such as some very courageous souls on Lothal." Trayvis said, making Ezra grin with pride.
"He's talking about us. He said Lothal." Ezra stated the obvious.
"I know that. Here it comes." Hera told him, annoyed with his interruptions.
"To those rebels, I have a message. The sun may have set on the Old Republic but a new freedom can be won if we are brave enough to fight for it today. See you soon, my friends." Trayvis said and then his image changed to an Imperial symbol.
"In other news, Lothal's mines are-" An announcer said but stopped when Hera shut the recording off.
"He's coming here to meet us." Hera said.
"Uh, how do you know that?" Zeb asked in confusion.
"My contact, Fulcrum, says the senator hides coded messages in his transmissions. When Trayvis mentions a world, it's always the next one he visits." She explained.
"How come the Empire hasn't caught him?" Kanan pointed out.
"Trayvis is too smart. You know, he pirates the Empire's own signal just like my folks used to." Ezra stated.
"And the clues he puts in his messages where to meet him are obvious to the locals but go right over the Empire's head. Watch." Hera then added and replayed part of the recording that mentioned the Old Republic.
"He said 'the Old Republic' and 'a new freedom'." She pointed out. Ezra was thinking what this meant.
"Well, everybody on Lothal knows the New Freedom mural. It's painted on the wall in…. Inside the Old Republic Senate building!" Ezra realised. Then Sabine put on a hologram showing said building.
"Hmm. Been abandoned since the Empire built the Imperial complex. Good place for a friendly get together." Sabine said and then shut the hologram off.
"But when is this meeting?" Errol spoke for the first time and his voice was monotone, because of Hera being there.
"Uh, he worked 'sunset' and 'today' into his message. Pretty obvious." Ezra replied.
"Yeah, too obvious. We should have some insurance in case the Empire is more clever than we think." Kanan said.
"You've got a friend inside the Imperial complex, right? So find out for sure." Hera asked Ezra.
"I'll meet you at my… at my parents' house at 1700." Ezra told everyone as he left with his cadet helmet.
"Ezra. About your vision. Don't be too quick-"
"To take it literally? Kanan, I know it's right. You're always telling me to trust my feelings. Well, I've never felt stronger about anything in my life." Ezra pushed back.
"Yeah, well, your feelings can be manipulated from these visions. And for all you know, you could be misinterpreting it." Errol warned him, surprising Kanan with his words.
"How would you know?" Ezra said to him.
"My dad and myself had visions and we didn't put much thought into them until they came true." Errol told him. Ezra didn't know what to say so he just left, so sure about his feelings.
"Vision?" Hera asked, hearing the conversation as everyone else walked away.
Errol walked out, leaving Kanan to explain, which made her a bit saddened but heard what Kanan explained.
The rest of the day went fast until it was time to leave and go to Ezra's family home. They all entered the bunker underneath the home and Sabine showed Hera the devices Ezra's parents used.
"It's pretty old. He said his parents used it to broadcast from." She explained.
"*sighs* I don't get it. They weren't soldiers, just citizens. So why'd they risk it all?" Zeb asked, not understanding why they'd do such a thing.
"They had hope. That they could do something to make the galaxy a better place for their son." Hera explained, not knowing that Ezra just climbed down the ladder. Sabine cleared her throat and Hera saw him.
"Cutting it a little close. I know you don't want to miss Trayvis' meeting." Sabine told him.
"Neither does the Empire. And you were right, Kanan. They know where the meeting is. Kallus has an operation planned probably to capture Trayvis… or worse." Ezra informed them all.
"The Imperials will have numbers." Zeb pointed out their advantage.
"We'll have surprise." Kanan added.
"What gives you that idea?" Sabine asked.
"I'm being optimistic." Kanan stated. Errol thought about it and while he knew that Kallus was smarter than most Imperials, he wouldn't be that smart, unless he was told by a certain someone. He just had to wait to find out when they started this plan.
The next day rolled around and the crew were staking out the Senate building behind a railing on a walkway. Sabine used her antennae on her helmet to get a closer look at a landing platform where a vehicle had just landed.
"There's a dignitary shuttle and two protocol droids on the platform. Trayvis must already be inside. I'm not seeing any Imperial forces." Sabine informed them.
"They're probably hiding, waiting for us to make a move." Errol considered.
"Eitherway, they gotta be around." Kanan said and then grabbed some binoculars to look. He looked down at the streets and found some Stormtroopers patrolling the area.
"Yeah. I found them. Looks like they have the whole area locked down." Kanan said.
"We've gotta get Trayvis outta there before the Empire moves in." Ezra reminded everyone.
"Wait. Why haven't they moved in?" Hera asked in confusion.
"Because as Errol suggested, they're waiting for us to make a move. A trap." Kanan pointed out, backing up Errol's point. Sabine then took her helmet off.
"So maybe we don't walk into it for once. We don't even know for sure your precious senator is in there." Zeb said.
"Yes, we do. I saw it." Ezra blindly insisted.
"If we can get up there without being seen maybe we can fly him out on his own ship." Kanan said.
"I know a way in. No one will see us." Ezra told everyone. Sabine raised an eyebrow, skeptical.
"Hey, I survived alone against the Empire for eight years. Come on." Ezra shrugged, gesturing them all to follow him.
They reached street level and Chopper fried an R-Series droid and then opened a sewer grate, which he pushed the droid into. Zeb sniffed and he gagged.
"Ugh. That's a sewer pipe." Zeb stated the obvious.
"Yes, it is. And I can pretty much guarantee we're not gonna run into any Stormtroopers down there." Ezra bragged before climbing down the ladder without hesitation. Then Hera, Zeb, Errol and Sabine.
"Terrific." She muttered as she climbed and then Kanan climbed.
"Okay, Chop, stay here, just in case we need a backup strat-" He was telling the astromech but he closed the grate, making the Jedi go into the sewer and Chopper mocked him.
"Used to be too much water to walk down here but since the Empire started rationing, pretty dry." Ezra told them all, leading them through the sewers.
"Wel, it hasn't helped the smell." Zeb whined.
"Well, it does smell like you." Errol joked.
"Hmm?" Zeb questioned with a gaze.
"I was talking to Ezra, big guy." Errol clarified his joke. Hera smiled at his joke. But also glad to see him slowly get back to his normal self. She is now planning to apologize after this is all done.
"Wait. You know what I smell like?" Ezra asked him.
"Can we focus, please?" Kanan requested, not in the mood.
They reached a ladder and they all climbed up and reached somewhere at the Senate building. They also saw they were closer to the landing platform.
"What do you think?" Ezra asked his Master.
"*groans* Better safe than sorry." He said and then put his hand out to use the Force to make a sound to distract the protocol droids. It worked as the two droids walked towards the ship to investigate the sound.
Everyone then climbed out and silently ran until they stopped.
"Hold on. You two, up top." Kanan quietly ordered Zeb and Sabine. Errol looked towards Hera, slightly awkward but definitely less than the last week.
"Want a lift?" The Lasat asked the Mandalorian. She nodded and lifted them up with ease. And then he himself jumped up and climbed with her.
The quartet wielded their blasters as they went ahead and entered the building where they saw Trayvis with two other protocol droids standing either side of him. The four kept their eyes and ears open, ready for anything as they walked up to Trayvis.
"Hello. Who's there?" He called out since he couldn't see them properly.
"Senator Trayvis. We're friends." Ezra replied.
"Welcome! I was beginning to think no one on Lothal got my message." The senator said with a grin. Errol sensed something off with him. He didn't need the Force to sense that.
"Senator, you're in terrible danger. The Empire knows you're here." Hera informed him.
"That's impossible." Trayvis said, shocked. Errol sensed something so without looking, he pushed Kanan out of the way of a blaster beam which hit one of the protocol droids. And then another. They all turned to see Kallus with his troops entering and surrounding them.
The Jedi trio pulled out and ignited their lightsabers while Hera went to protect the senator.
"Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight. Errol Flynn, Jedi Knight. Padawan Jabba. And what have we here? A Twi'lek I've yet to meet." Kallus said as Maketh entered the building. Kallus was eyeing up Hera which made Errol stand in front her, protective.
"From your regalia, I suspect you must be our talented pilot." He then said.
"Where is the Lasat and the Mandalorian girl?" Maketh asked.
"If you won't talk, then my troopers will become a firing squad." Kallus threatened.
"You'd better do as he says." Trayvis said. This just adds to Errol's suspicions.
"Don't worry, Senator. Our friends will be along." Ezra assured with a wink.
Above them in the rafters were Sabine and Zeb and triggered smoke bombs that they then dropped and smoke consumed the whole area. Everyone then used their weapons on the troopers.
"Stay close, Senator." Hera told Trayvis.
"We gotta get Trayvis out of here!" Kanan reminded everyone.
"Follow us." Ezra said and they all headed to the exit with Sabine throwing a thermal detonator. Zeb laughed until they all saw that the shuttle was gone.
"Was really hoping that shuttle would still be here." Hera said and then an Imperial craft ascended.
"And that's not the ride we're hoping for." Errol said, a bit worried. Hera then took a few shots before they ran to the sewer grate with Sabine opening it.
"You want me to go in there?" Trayvis asked, hesitant
"It's not so bad once you get used to the smell." Ezra assured him.
"*grunts* You never get used to the smell." Zeb argued but then the troopers caught up and fired at them. Ezra and Kanan ignited their lightsabers to cover the others.
"Go!" Kanan told them and everyone else climbed down the ladder. Eventually the two Jedi joined them in the sewer and Sabine closed the grate.
They all then ran through the sewers but both Errol and Hera noticed that Trayvis was struggling and leaned against the pipe.
"Yes, I'm… I'm coming." He told them, seemingly out of breath, yet Errol through the Force realised that he was acting it up. He frowned underneath his helmet.
"Ezra, wait up." Hera told the teen, causing him and everyone else to stop.
"Sorry, Senator. We just wanna get out of here as fast as we can." Ezra told him.
"*panting* I am the one who should apologize, my young friend. I've been pursued, but never in such a place as this." Trayvis confessed. Now Hera is also suspicious about this man.
"Figured you'd be used to running from the Empire." Kanan said to him.
"Well, I… uh… I've never come this close to capture before." He said and as he finished, Stormtroopers appeared and fired at them. They all then ran, separating. Kanan, Zeb and Sabine. Errol, Ezra, Hera and Trayvis.
"We'll draw them away! Get Spectre-2 and Trayvis to the hatch." Kanan ordered the younger Jedi as he made cover fire.
"But how will you find us?" Errol asked them.
"I can smell Ezra, remember?" Sabine reminded them.
"Think of something clever to say later. Move!" Hera said and then they ran until they were distanced enough that they could just walk.
"You're so well organized. To evade the Empire as you have, you must have quite a support system. Good funding, powerful allies." Trayvis said.
"No, this is it. We're all there is." Ezra corrected him.
"You can't be serious." Trayvis replied in disbelief. Errol was silent the whole time, thinking. Remembering when Trayvis mentioned Luminara and how she ended up dead, despite telling she was alive. That planted the seed that just maybe Trayvis is working for the Empire and has been all along.
"I hoped we can learn from you, Senator. Your transmissions have already helped keep us going." Ezra told him.
"Just to know someone else is out there has meant a lot." Hera added as they reached a turbine.
"Come on!" Ezra told them and they jumped down, though Trayvis seemed to struggle as he fell. Errol placed his hand on one of his blasters, just in case as Hera and Ezra helped him up.
"How are we getting past this thing?" Hera questioned.
"We could try to cut its power." Ezra suggested and so he and Hera walked up. Errol was still on edge, standing behind Trayvis.
"Help Errol watch our backs, will ya?" Hera suddenly asked Trayvis, handing him her blaster.
Then Trayvis lifted the blaster and aimed it at the two, but Errol instantly placed his blaster on the back of his head.
"I don't think so, Trayvis." Errol growled. The senator's eyes widened and both Hera and Ezra turned to see that Trayvis was indeed working with the Empire.
"Now, drop it." He then ordered Trayvis and did as told. And to ensure he didn't do anything, Errol did something that he discovered. He used the Force to freeze Trayvis in place, which shocked everyone.
"Errol, what are you doing?" Ezra asked in shock.
"He's been working for the Empire, Ezra." Errol told him.
"But all your transmissions, those planets you visited. How did word not get out about you?" Hera asked in confusion.
"Because no one ever knew… not even my own droids. Insurgents are not arrested. They're identified and watched. The troublesome ones have… accidents after I'm gone." The man explained, struggling against the Force Freeze.
"But you're not a traitor. You're a voice of freedom, a-a light in the darkness like my parents." Ezra told him, devastated by this revelation.
"Parents? No one has spoken against the Empire on Lothal since… the Bridger transmissions. I remember them. The original voices of freedom. You're their son." Trayvis said in realisation.
"Why? Why?!" Ezra begged for an answer.
"I joined the Empire… like your parents should have… for their lives, for you. Your parents were very brave… and very foolish. Where are they now? I'll tell you, my boy. They're gone!" Trayvis then exploded on Ezra, shocking the teen to his core.
"Oh, no, Trayvis. They're not gone." Errol spat at him.
"Exactly. As long as we fight, all that they spoke out for lives on." Hera continued, walking up to the Imperial, punching him square in the face, knocking him out.
"And besides, a true rebel would know if they're holding a charged blaster." Hera said, grabbing her blaster and charging it.
"You both knew?" Ezra asked, blown away.
"I suspected when we first met him." Errol told him.
"He tried to get us to surrender. And he wasn't tired when he stopped. He was waiting for Kallus to catch up. And he wanted our secrets." Hera then listed off all the clues.
"Look, Ezra, we didn't want to believe it." Errol then said as the two ignored their tension and helped comfort the teen.
They then heard footsteps and saw Sabine, Kanan and Zeb The three then jumped down and were confused to see Trayvis knocked out.
"What happened to the senator?" Zeb asked.
"He was working for the Empire all along." Errol told them all.
"Is there anybody on our side?" Sabine groaned.
"So guess he stays here. What's our plan?" Kanan asked.
"We were gonna stop the fan to get through." Hera said.
"OK, but what will keep our friends from following?" Sabine asked, referring to the Stormtroopers.
"We only stop it long enough for us to get past it. Cover me." Kanan said and Hera, Sabine and Zeb covered him as Errol and Ezra were standing with him. Ezra and Errol ignited their lightsabers while Kanan to slow the turbine down and then the Stormtroopers arrived
"Incoming!" Ezra proclaimed. And then the troopers fired on everyone as they fired back. Errol deflected blasts back at them with ease while Ezra just deflected.
"Move it, rebels!" Hera ordered everyone.
"Blast the Jedi!" Kallus ordered his troops.
Everyone got to the other side, except for Ezra and Kanan.
"Ezra, let's go!" Kanan told the teen and then they got through just as Trayvis woke up.
They all then got out of the grate they entered through while Chopper beeped angrily.
It took them all day to make it back to the Ghost as it was nightfall. Ezra was still shaken up by Trayvis and that he misinterpreted the vision, just like Errol told him.
"You were right, Errol. I didn't see it. I was so wrong." He said, deflated.
"We all thought he was a good person." Hera tried to comfort him.
"You always say I should trust the Force. I thought that's what I was doing." Ezra told Kanan.
"Your emotions clouded the vision. It takes-"
"Training and discipline?" Ezra said, knowing what he would've said.
"To see things clearly, yes. Visions are difficult, almost impossible to interpret." Kanan told him.
"What was the last vision you both had?" Ezra asked both Errol and Kanan.
"Well, it was recent. Of people and places I don't know." Errol explained.
"*sighs* I saw this bratty kid that constantly caused me trouble." Kanan told him as he walked to the ladder.
"*chuckles* I guess you read that one wrong." Ezra said.
"Yeah, I guess so." Kanan then climbed up the ladder, leaving Errol, Hera and Ezra.
"You know, I wanted to believe in Trayvis as much as you did." Hera said to Ezra and then sat on the ramp.
"Yeah. What's wrong with us?" Ezra asked, joining her. Errol stood, seeing that this is a moment for the two.
"We have hope… hope that things can get better. And they will." She told him and they both looked out among the stars with optimistic smiles. Errol too smiled underneath his helmet.
Ezra then went into the ship and Errol now felt that he should at least talk to Hera, so he took his helmet off and sat next to her.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. I was just scared that I'd lose you. You mean more to me than you realise, Hera. You did not deserve to be treated the way I did to you." He apologized to her. Initially, she was surprised he'd apologize to her but when hearing his side of the story, she understood much better.
She then wrapped her hand around his and squeezed it lightly.
"I'm sorry too. I was just a bit jealous at Aola for kissing you that I thought by flirting with Lando that you'd make a move. I never considered how you'd look at my actions." She apologized, looking away slightly. Errol was a bit surprised as to why she did it but couldn't help but be amused a bit. He then decided to kiss her on the cheek, shocking the Twi'lek and blushed a bit.
"I forgive you. How about we just forget what happened and just pretend it never happened. Deal?" He suggested, placing his hand out and Hera instantly took it and shook hands.
"Deal." She repeated and then they both entered the ship, ready for a good night's sleep.