Jarik POV...
"Commander Sato sent us a message. We have to get back to the Phoenix Squadron," I told Ahsoka.
"Are they beginning to start their raids against the Empire?" she asked me, and I nodded my head in reply. "Then Bail must be beginning to gather the rebel cells into an Alliance. You're right, we will have to go," she says in agreement.
"I've already sent them the first known shipment of shield generators," I replied.
The Knight Hawk was parked on one of the hills off to the side of the village, and the three of us were packing things up while Stoick, Gobber, Hiccup and the gang watched.
"So, how long will you guys be gone?" Hiccup asks us.
"We don't know Hiccup. But everything is getting serious now, and we'll be busy for a while." Ahsoka tells him.
"It sounds awesome. I want to come!" Tuffnut exclaims, and everyone groans in irritation.
"You aren't going anywhere Tuffnut," Gobber says with a glare.
"Muttonheads," Snotlout muttered.
"Hey, what's wrong with blowing up an oppressive Empire?" he challenged.
"Blowing up the Empire would take centuries if you tried Zippleback gas," I said. "Besides, we're not blowing it up, it doesn't work that way."
"Says who?" Ruffnut demands.
"Says me," Stoick states, voice booming. "And none of you are going with them!"
Tuffnut and Ruffnut both groan in annoyance, and Ahsoka takes the last of her things onto the ship.
"Kick some buckets for me will ya?" Astrid asks, Mara, who grins back in reply.
"Oh you bet," she responds eagerly, and I frown slightly.
"How the heck did you pick up on the nicknames for Stormtroopers?" I asked in confusion.
"Oh... we've talked," Mara admitted sheepishly. I rolled my eyes in response.
"Only you Mara," I said with a small smile.
Fishlegs raises a hand. "Uh, what does 'buckets' mean?"
"Stormtrooper armor is crap, their training is crap, and is fun to make fun of them," Mara tells him.
"Yeah, that," I add, before turning to Stoick and Gobber. "Until next time Stoick?" I ask him.
He smiles back in return. "Until then," he agrees, and we grasp each others arms firmly for a moment before I turn away, entering the ship with Mara. Once inside, the ramp door closes and Ahsoka activates the engines, lifting us off of the ground and into the air. We then fly away from Berk as they all watch, still in awe of the sight of a ship, and exit the atmosphere. Once out of Ahch-To's atmosphere, the hyperdrive comes online and we blast off through lightspeed in order to rendezvous with the rebel fleet.
An hour and a half later, we emerged from hyperspace to the rendezvous point. The command ship was there, as well as two other corvette's, but the rest of the fleet, including the Ghost wasn't most likely they were in the middle of raiding that Imperial convoy for their shield generators. The command ship then hailed us, and an officer's voice came over the coms.
"This is Enterprise-D to unknown vessel. Identify yourself!" he said.
Ahsoka replied. "This Fulcrum of the Knight Hawk, coming in to dock. Sending clearance codes."
I send them the proper codes, and let them review it for the procedure. Then after a few moments, he responds. "Clearance codes check out. Welcome back Fulcrum," he says.
"Thank you Enterprise-D," Ahsoka says, ending the transmission.
"That part is always so boring," Mara comments.
"Boring, but necessary," I remind her.
She giggles in reply. "Yeah, and funny. The amount of times we've brushed by the Empire with stolen codes is hilarious. You'd think they would have a better system."
"To them it's all about protocol," Ahsoka remarks.
Just then, the door to the cockpit opens and R5 comes rolling in squealing: with an unexpected guest. We widened our eyes in bewilderment to see Zenna wildly grasping onto the droid, squawking and chattering with her wings flapping, while R5 struggled to get her off.
"ZENNA?!" we all exclaimed in alarm.
Mara immediately lunged forwards and snatched up the baby dragon into her arms, who immediately chirped happily before sending a growl down at R5. The droid retaliated with an angry series of beeps, full of not-to-kind words.
"R5, just shut up!" I interrupted, and he looked up at me incredulously before I turned to Mara with a stern look. "What is Zenna doing here?"
Mara widened her eyes nervously. "I- I don't know! I didn't know she was on the ship!" she defended herself.
"You didn't know?" Ahsoka asked rather disbelievingly.
"Honestly!" she said loudly.
"Well she obviously followed you," I stated, crossing my arms with a frustrated sigh. "This is bloody brilliant."
"Mara, I don't care whether you brought her here on purpose or not, but Zenna is not leaving the Knight Hawk. Alright?" Ahsoka said sternly.
Mara nodded her head quickly. "Absolutely!" she said quickly.
"After the rest of Pheonix Squad gets back, I'm gonna have to fly back to Ahch-To and drop her off. We can't support a dragon out here, especially a baby at that," I tell them.
Mara sighs, a little bit sad but understanding completely. "I know," she says, before looking down at Zenna with an irritated expression. "I like you too, but why do you follow me around so much?"
Zenna merely squawks back up at her curiously, and Ahsoka guides the ship in too dock with the Enterprise-D. Mara and I exit the cockpit with Zenna, and R5 beeps after the dragon on our way out. Zenna hisses in response, and I roll my eyes at the knowledge that we now have not one, but two childish beings on board the ship. After turning a few corners, we reach Mara's room, and she opens the door, letting Zenna out inside.
"Zenna, you have to stay here," she says firmly.
Zenna only looks up at her in confusion.
"Zenna. You, stay in here," I tell her, using hand gestures to emphasize my point. She just squawks again, and I give another sigh of exasperation. "This is ridiculous."
Mara kneels down at her level, and when Zenna rushes forwards excitedly, she pushes her back, much to the baby dragon's confusion.
"No, stay." Mara says, pushing her back into the room. The baby dragon chirps in protest, but when Mara pushes her back again, she manages to get the point and lowers her head sadly in her own form of a pout. Mara sighs and stands back up before closing the door.
"Why is that so hard to do?" she complains.
"Because you don't want to make her upset," I reply simply. "Believe me, you were a handful when you were younger."
"Dad!" she exclaims irritably, and I merely chuckle in response.
Ahsoka then rounds the corner on her way to the docking tube, stopping to speak with us. "We're all clear," she says.
"Alright then," I reply. The three of us head to the docking tube and I press the button, opening the door. Once inside, I close it behind us and then we enter the command ship, walking into the brightly lit white halls common for CR90 corvettes. We make our way towards the bridge, a few rebels or technicians stopping to let us pass, some of them watching us in awe. Mara grins at some of them, much to our amusement. Once we reach the bridge, we look around for Commander Sato, but don't find him anywhere. Seeing this, I head over to one of the bridge officers and get his attention.
"Excuse me, but where's Commander Sato?" I ask him.
"He left a little while ago sir, along with half the fleet. They're currently raiding another convoy for shield generators, according to your intelligence report," he informs me. I nod my head in understanding. "Thank you."
With that said, I head back over to Ahsoka and Mara, standing around the holo-table. "Sato and the rest of Phoenix Squad are battling an Imperial convoy for the shield generators we told them about. I'm not sure when they'll get back," I told them.
"Well, hopefully it'll be soon," Mara comments.
"If our report was accurate anyways. The Empire is getting better at cracking down on those," she reminded us.
I nodded my head, knowing that could happen despite my efforts. "Yeah, they sure are."
Imperial Complex, Capital City, Lothal
3rd person POV...
Minister Maketh Tua was becoming frustrated, stressed, and fearful as Kallus continued to pace in front of her desk. These past incursions by the rebels have continued to further damage the Empire, yet no matter what she does it is impossible for her to get anything on them.
"Agent Kallus, I've exhausted every resource to find information about the rebels, but there is nothing to be found! What does Governor Tarkin expect?!" she demands angrily.
"He expects Lothal to be punished, Minister Tua," he replies, turning to her quickly. "His own Star Destroyer was demolished by these rebels. He takes that somewhat, personally," he emphasizes with a hard glare.
"I've doubled patrols, set up checkpoints, established curfews, I honestly don't know what else to do!" she exclaims helplessly.
"Perhaps that is the problem," a deep, mechanical voice interjects. Minister Tua's eyes go wide in fear as she glances up to see none other than Darth Vader, right hand to the Emperor himself standing in the doorway to her office. His mechanical breathing echoes around the room, sending chills down her spine. "You lack imagination Minister, when it comes to producing results," he states coldly, striding forwards.
"Lord Vader, with all due respect, you and Governor Tarkin are asking for miracles!" she says nervously, terror filling her at his presence. "If the rebels have left Lothal already, then-"
"If the rebels have fled, then we must draw them back," he interrupts. "And if they are here, we must draw them out. We will squeeze Lothal until someone reveals the whereabouts of these traitors. And, the location of Jarik Shan," he says firmly.
"I am sorry, my lord. I am merely a public official. I have no such experiences with such brutal tactics. Dealing with criminals the likes of Jarik Shan are beyond me," she protests nervously.
"You can explain that to Governor Tarkin, when you visit him." Vader says.
Minister Tua gulps nervously, remembering what happened to the last Imperial officers who were called to visit him. "Visit, him?" she says, voice at a higher pitch.
Vader turns away, leaving the office. "He expects you tomorrow, to account for your failure. Jarik Shan must be found, to bring an end to these rebels," he says, leaving no room for argument.
"But I- I'm needed here! I- I couldn't possibly get away!" she sputters, terrified at the thought of meeting with Tarkin during such a time like this.
Agent Kallus stands at the doorway and looks back at her, hand on the button. "Not to worry, Minister. Lord Vader and I will manage in your absence," he says in an attempt to be reassuring, and then closes the door.
Tua collapses into her seat with her hands on her head, terrified and feeling so alone, afraid of what will happen to her.
Jarik POV...
Eventually, the rest of Phoenix Squad had managed to return to the fleet, all of their ships docking. The Ghost crew entered the command ship after Commander Sato, where we waited to greet them.
"Commander Sato," Ahsoka greeted, and he nodded his head in return.
"Fulcrum. Welcome back," he states professionally.
"How was the convoy attack?" I asked him.
"The raid was a success, and we acquired valuable resources and fuel, thanks to the efforts of the Ghost crew," he informed us.
"They sure are good," I say in agreement.
"Mara?" Ezra's voice asked. We look over to see Ezra, Kanan, and the rest of the crew entering the bridge, taking notice of us with surprise. They all head in our direction, although I can still see the slight distain on Sabine's face when we make eye contact.
"Hey Ezra," she replied with a small grin.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asks pleasantly.
"To help you guys kick some buckets, what else?" Mara told him, making Zeb chuckle.
"Heh heh, I like this kid," he says.
Kanan and Hera move up to greet me and Ahsoka. "It's good to see the two of you again," Kanan greeted.
"You as well Caleb," I replied politely, and he stared at me before I realized what I said. "Oh, right. You changed your name, sorry about that," I apologized.
He waved a hand. "It's not that big of a deal. I'm more surprised that you remember that," he admits.
"Well, when a youngling crashes into you while dropping his books, you tend to remember those things," I recall with a small smile.
He rubs his neck nervously while Hera and Ahsoka both smile in amusement. "I guess..." he says, before looking at me in concern. "Are you ok? The last time we saw you it was... worrying," he said.
I realized what he was talking about, because that's when I had the vision about the dark being out in the universe from out of nowhere. "Yeah, I'm much better now, thanks for asking," I reassured him.
"So, how is it going for you guys?" Ahsoka asked.
"Doing work for Phoenix Squadron is... different, I'll admit," she says. "But it sure makes things easier."
"Always nice to have a team you can count on," I say in agreement.
"Yeah..." Kanan grimaces and glances away, which I take notice of. Most likely he's reliving bad memories of Order 66, which are still hard to get rid of.
"What about you two...?" Hera asks before trailing off, staring at Ahsoka's left hand with wide eyes. Kanan follows her gaze and widens his eyes as well. "Is that..." she asks.
"It is," Ahsoka tells them softly, so that others don't hear. "We're married now."
"But... how... what about...?" Kanan tries to say, looking between us in bewilderment, obviously conflicted by what we learned from the Jedi. I laid a hand on his shoulder gently.
"I know that the Jedi Order believes attachment is wrong, and to an extent it is," I tell him with understanding. "Believe me, I know. But to cut yourself off from emotion and love completely, doesn't help. Try to consider this," I say.
He looks back at me, obviously conflicted before sighing. "I'm not sure..." he says slowly.
"We don't expect you to agree or understand immediately Kanan, but try and see it from our point of view first before you decide," Ahsoka tells him, and he finally nods.
"Phoenix Leader," Commander Sato says, getting everyone's attention. "It's time for the meeting."
Hera nods in understanding. "Of course Commander. Let's go everyone," she says.
The rest of the Ghost crew all gather around the holo-table, and Mara stands between Ezra and Sabine, while Ahsoka and I stand back a little further. Kanan however is lounging off to the side of the meeting, and I can tell that the idea of working for a rebellion in a war doesn't suit him right now. Probably because of the Clone Wars.
"You and your crew have proven quite invaluable to our fleet, Captain Syndulla. The fuel acquired in your convoy attacks has helped keep us one step ahead of any Imperial patrols." Commander Sato says sincerely.
"Thank you, Commander Sato. I'm just sorry that our intel about the shield generators being on that shipment was wrong," she replies regretfully.
"Perhaps with your next attack, Hera," Ahsoka encourages, her arms crossed.
Just then, the door to the bridge opens and Chopper comes rolling through, beeping urgently with his arms flailing around. Commander Sato glares at the droid. "What is the meaning of this?" he demands.
"An incoming transmission. Who from, Chop? Ah, why don't you just play it?" Kanan says casually, and I raise an eyebrow, sharing a small grin with Ahsoka.
"Good one," I tell him, and he grins in response.
Hera clears her throat, obviously annoyed with him. Kanan just stares back with a smirk.
"Uh, Chop, cloak us with a one-way transmission," Hera says in annoyance.
Chopper complies and brings up a hologram showing a male Ithorian. He looks around in confusion, probably since he can't see us. Luckily, Ezra recognized him for us.
"Hey, it's Old Jho!" he says eagerly.
Having heard Exra's voice, Jho turns around in his direction with relief. "I can't see you, but I can hear you my friends. Time is short, and there's someone here desperate to speak with you. I told her I couldn't find you, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She says she needs your help," he tells us.
"We're always ready to help someone in need," Kanan says instantly, standing up.
However, Jho rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, well, this one's different."
Old Jho moves out of the frame, and to our surprise, Minister Maketh Tua of Lothal steps into the hologram. "Minister Tua?" Hera says in shock.
"How in the world?" Mara asks in bewilderment.
"Aw, we can't trust her! She's an Imperial!" Zeb exclaims.
"Please, I beg you. Listen to my request!" she pleads, and I note the terror in her eyes.
"End transmission right now, Chop," Kanan says, but I raise a hand.
"Wait a minute," I tell him.
Hera nods her head in agreement. "Minister, what exactly do you want?" she demands.
"My life is in danger. I need you to give me safe passage off Lothal!" she says desperately.
"You're not really gonna be considering this?" Zeb protests.
"Quiet!" Hera snaps at him.
"I assure you, my intentions are quite sincere! And To prove it, I will trade, secret, Imperial information," she says quickly.
"You're defecting from the Empire?" Sabine asks doubtfully. I raise a hand to my chin thoughtfully.
"Yes, I am," Minister Tua sighs.
"She's telling the truth. I can sense her fear." Ezra comments.
"So can I," Mara says in agreement.
"Yeah, but of what?" Kanan asks rhetorically.
Ahsoka glances between them with narrowed eyes before looking at me, and I frown thoughtfully, worried about the possibility of what made her so afraid.
"So, what have you got to be trade?" Hera asks.
"A list! Of rebel sympathizers on Lothal... And other systems nearby," she reveals.
Commander Sato frowns. "How come these rebel sympathizers have not been arrested yet?" he asks suspiciously.
"Some have powerful friends in the Senate. Imperial command watches over them, but they can do nothing. I know you all need allies. Get me off Lothal, and I will give you the list!" she begs.
"Well isn't that convenient," Mara comments. Hera frowns thoughtfully and looks at us, shrugging at the possibility. It is a tempting proposal.
"We shouldn't even be considering this." Kanan says in frustration.
"It's obviously a trap." Sabine adds doubtfully.
"There's something else!" Tua adds quickly, afraid we'll close out of the deal. "I've discovered the true reason the Empire came to Lothal."
"We know that one. The Empire has a factory, and they're stripping the planet's resources to fuel it." Hera states sarcastically.
However, Minister Tua shakes her head. "No. There is another reason, known only to a few and ordered by the Emperor himself.
Everyone widens their eyes in surprise, and I narrow my gaze, sharing a worried look with Ahsoka.
"Also... he's hunting Jarik Shan!" she adds nervously.
Everyone turns to look at me in surprise, while I continue to watch Tua's hologram with a narrowed gaze. That statement basically confirms what I was fearing.
"Why would they be hunting you specifically?" Ezra asks me.
I step closer toward the Minister's hologram. "Minister Tua..." I start to say, and her eyes go wide. "The one who is hunting me, is the reason you're terrified... isn't it," I say, more of a statement than a question.
She nods her head quickly. "Y-yes! Please, you must help me!" she begs.
Everyone starts getting into heavy discussion, while Ahsoka shares a serious look with me.
"You believe it is Vader," she guesses.
"It had to be. My stunt on Mustafar got his attention, and he's out for blood. The Emperor wants me gone as well," I tell her.
"Then this makes it difficult. Do you believe it's worth the risk?" she asks me.
I don't answer for a little bit, unsure. If Vader is on Lothal right now, then he will be expecting something to happen soon. He wants to draw us out, and this provides him the perfect opportunity to do so. However, Minister Tua's intentions are also genuine...
"I'm afraid so," I tell her in reply. She nods grimly in understanding.
Ezra then moves forwards, and we watch him go. Sensing the resolve in his mind, Ahsoka gives him a small smile and a nod.
"We have to do this!" he says firmly.
"I agree." Ahsoka adds.
"So do I." Kanan says.
"I'm in all the way," Mara says eagerly.
"All right, if Commander Sato approves the mission," Hera says.
Commander Sato thinks it over for a moment before giving us a nod. "I believe it could be worth the risk."
"Minister, we'll get you out. Send us your co-ordinates." Ezra says confidently.
Relief visibly passes over Minister Tua. "Thank you!" she says gratefully.
The transmission then ends, and we all watch Ezra move past us. "Well, I guess that means we're on our way back to Lothal," Hera states.
"I guess we are." Kanan says, and we watch him go, sensing some tension between him and Hera.
And so the Siege of Lothal begins... Darth Vader is making his move.
