Hey guys! So I thought that I should get back to my usual Tuesday evening posting schedule, and you also waited two weeks for me, so you deserve another chapter three days after the last one.

This chapter basically screams STAR WARS REBELS, so beware of spoilers if you are applicable. Here I am, wearing my Clone Brothers shirt while posting a Rebels chapter. I should be wearing my Rebels shirt. (I am such a nerd.)

Thanks to all who reviewed, favorited, and followed! I will answer your reviews at the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars Rebels. I thought I created the Ghost crew's list of rules, but then I saw in another story someone had down that as well, so I don't own the idea of Hera's list of rules.

(published 7.31.18)

Chapter Seventeen: Interlude

5 BBY

Hera Syndulla had a complete set of rules that had been established for her crew. After Kanan had joined, she typed a few 'guidelines' onto a datapad, which she put in the cockpit.

1: No alcohol on this ship.

2: Chopper, don't zap Kanan.

3: Just don't bother Kanan!

For a while, it was just Kanan, her, and Chopper. It was pretty relaxed, just the three of them fighting the Empire. Then a Lasat named Garazeb Orrelios joined the crew. After an... incident, she wrote two more rules down.

4: Don't use bo-rifles inside of the ship.

5: Chopper, don't knock Zeb's food off the table.

After finding her bloody, hungry, and tired, the Mandalorian Sabine Wren joined the crew as well. Chopper didn't bother Sabine much, but Hera wrote down one new rule.

6: Only spray-paint your own room, Sabine.

It was effective, but only for a while. Sabine started to paint in the cockpit, the lounge, and the others' rooms.

And then the bright-eyed boy joined the crew. Ezra Bridger.

Eager to learn, Hera discovered that the boy from Lothal gave a new hope to Kanan - a hope that she hadn't seen in him for a long time.

Chopper didn't like any form of change, so naturally he didn't like Ezra. Then again, he hadn't liked any of the crew originally.

Zeb hadn't accepted the kid, and then suddenly after their quest for meilooruns, they were playfully punching each other, although the Lasat still liked making fun of him afterwards.

Sabine never said it out loud, but Hera could tell that there was a deep affection inside of her for Ezra, a sisterly feeling. She always called him 'kid' even though she was only about two years older than him.

And Hera? Hera loved Ezra. She could tell from the first time she laid her eyes on him that he needed a family. She had never felt motherly before, and she was quite surprised when the feeling came upon her. Hera Syndulla was a pilot, and this was war. She never thought about that motherly feeling, she never thought she would need it; she was never going to become a mother.

When Sabine and Ezra teased her about her 'mom-voice,' it never bothered her. She actually kind of liked it.

Ezra came aboard, and Hera wrote down another rule.

7: Don't use the Force on the plates or bowls.

"What did you want to show me, Senator?" Ahsoka asked calmly as she emerged from her ship. Some rebels came to refuel.

"Artoo, show her the clip," Bail said, and R2-D2 immediately plugged into a holocomputer. In the 'vid was an Imperial agent and some sort of alien, maybe a Lasat, fighting with bo-rifles. How an Imperial got a bo-rifle in the first place, she'd never know.

The Imperial was advancing and he forced the Lasat to the ground. Suddenly, a voice cried, "No!" and the Imperial went crashing against a mountain of rock.

Artoo's vision panned to a boy with blue-black hair, staring at his hands in horror. Artoo then rolled to get into the shuttle. He stopped playing the recording.

"Is there more?" Ahsoka asked eagerly.

"Yes, but no more of the boy using the Force," Bail explained. "The most interesting thing is that when the leader of the group returned Threepio and Artoo, I tested him by reciting a Jedi saying. He knew it."

"So, you think that the boy is being trained by a survivor?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes. That's why I need you to do some work. Give them a mission. Or a test, or something to prove our theory."

"I'm on it!" Ahsoka said, excited. There was a potential Jedi out there, and maybe a full-fledged Jedi as well.

She was going to find them.

"Hey Artoo, do you know Fort Anaxes?" Ahsoka asked.

The droid beeped indignantly. It went something like this: Yeah, the place with the creepy caves?

"That place," she laughed. "Well, we've got some old fuel cells there, and the Empire doesn't know about it…"

The droid warbled in confusion.

"It's a test for the group. I'm not actually going to be there, but I'll try to record most of it," she explained.

Artoo beeped sarcastically.

"No. I want to see if there really is a Jedi on the crew. And maybe we'll find out just how creative this cell is." She began to walk away.

Where are you going?

Ahsoka smiled. "To become Fulcrum."

"No!" Ezra cried, slamming his fist on the dejarik board. The characters flickered off and on again; the ship was quite old. Zeb laughed in joy.

"That was the most obvious move, kid! I can't believe you fell for it!" he chuckled.

"Hey, I lived on the streets for seven years. You can't expect me to have played dejarik daily or something," he replied dryly.

"Do you have to remind us again of your life on the streets?" Zeb sighed.

Sabine strode into the room. "Hey, idiots," she stated calmly, putting one leg up on the seat and unhooking her Westars. Ezra stumbled back in his seat, surprised. "Don't worry, Ezra, I'm just polishing them."

He breathed out. "Hi, Sabine. Zeb's beating me at dejarik."

"I could tell from the agonizing screams," she said sarcastically. She held up a mug. "Hera makes the best caf."

"Caf?" Ezra said in disgust. "That stuff is disgusting."

Zeb and Sabine ogled at him. "You can't really mean that, Ezra," said Zeb, shaking his head. "How could anyone not like caf?"

"It's the most glorious substance in the galaxy!" the Mandalorian deadpanned.

He shrugged. "I guess I never had time to start liking it."

Sabine shook her head before saying, "Anyway, Hera wanted me to tell you that me, you, and her are going on a supply run."

"Where?" Ezra asked. "How'd we get the information?"

Sabine sighed. "Hera won't let me know," she said.

"So, we're leaning on some info from a mystery source," Zeb said.

"Pretty much."

"Wonder who it is," Ezra pondered.

A few months later

4 BBY

"Fulcrum! We're getting an incoming message from Spectre Two!" yelled a rebel at the command desk.

Ahsoka nodded. "I'm on it." She ran to her room, pulling on her hood and activating the voice modulator.

In the few months working with Spectre Two, the Twi'lek had conferred with Ahsoka, made decisions with her, and ever vented to her. They hardly knew each other, didn't even know their names, but it was like they had known each other for a long time.

The hologram flickered on, revealing a figure that was certainly not Spectre Two. It seemed to be an old C1 model from back in the Clone Wars. It beeped hesitantly.

Her voice cracked through the modulator. "This is Fulcrum. Who is this?"

The droid warbled again.

The Inquisitor's TIE fighter raced from the other ships, shooting precisely when needed.

Ezra cringed. "I just wanted to say, it was really nice to know all of you!" They dodged more TIEs.

Suddenly, over the crew's comlinks, they heard the most glorious sound they had ever heard: Chopper chortling in victory.

"Chopper!" Zeb exclaimed. "He came back!"

Multiple ships emerged from hyperspace, one of them being the Ghost.

"Who is that?" Ezra asked.

Kanan smiled. "I don't know, but I think they're on our side."

"Kanan, Ezra, dock with Chopper's transport so we can make the jump to hyperspace!" Hera said seriously. The fighters obeyed and all of the newly allied shuttle made the jump.

The crew brushed itself off and emerged from the TIEs.

"I owe you all a great debt of gratitude," Kanan said, then faced them. "Even if what you did was rash and reckless!"

"You're welcome, dear," Hera replied gently, and the two hugged.

Ezra suddenly realized - "Hey, if Chopper was in this transport ship, then who was flying the Ghost?" They all walked into a hallway, where men who looked suspiciously like soldiers were saluting as Chopper strode in. The cocky little droid seemed to enjoy it! A hologram was waiting for them.

"Hello, my friend," said the man, a familiar face. "It's good to see you again."

Kanan narrowed his eyes. "I don't get it. I met you once for a few moments. I don't even know your name."

"His name is Senator Bail Organa," Hera informed them, and they all looked on with newfound interest.

"And the crews of the blockade runners?" the Jedi asked.

"Members of other rebel cells," Organa said.

Sabine's eyes widened. "There are other cells!" she smiled.

"We're a cell?" Ezra said, perplexed. He leaned over to Zeb. "Wait, did you know we were a cell?"

"Uh, no."

"We weren't supposed to meet. That way, if captured, we couldn't reveal the other rebels to the Empire. That was the protocol," Hera said.

A slender figure climbed down into the cargo bay and interrupted. "The protocol has changed," she said.

"Fulcrum," Hera recognized.

"Ahsoka," she corrected. "My name is Ahsoka Tano."

Suddenly, Kanan gasped. "Ahsoka?" The Togruta cocked her head, studying him, searching for how he could possibly know her…

"Caleb?" she asked in amazement. The two former Padawans ran and embraced each other.

While the rest of the Ghost crew stared, Hera felt an odd sensation… jealousy? No, it wasn't jealousy. She and Kanan weren't like that, they were simply very good friends, who -

It wasn't jealousy.

"I thought you were dead!" Ahsoka cried, grasping his shoulders.

"Huh, I wonder why?" Kanan said sarcastically.

"Hey," Sabine was tapping her foot. "Maybe an explanation?"

Kanan nodded. "Guys, this is Ahsoka. We were Padawans together. Ahsoka, this is Hera, Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra."

"Hello," she smiled. "Kanan, because of you and your apprentice, many in this system and beyond have heard your message. You gave them hope in their darkest times. We didn't want that hope to die."

She was correct. Hope - real, legitimate hope - was hard to come by these days, yet a fifteen-year old boy had instilled it into people. Ahsoka had seen first-hand what the Empire had done to people; farmers kicked off their farms, workers being displaced, and civilians being bombed, their homes becoming charred bits of material. Even she had seen Ezra's message. That moment, she knew she had to meet Hera and the rest of them. They were heroes.

"C'mon, let's catch up," Kanan said. "It's been, what, fifteen years since we last talked?"

"She's another Jedi!" Ezra whispered excitedly to Sabine.

"Yeah, I could tell," she said.

Hera breathed out. It was just a friendship between the two Jedi. For some reason, she was relieved. Why?!

"Hey, why did she call Kanan, 'Caleb'?" Zeb asked in confusion.

"She was never going to become a mother." Oh, yeah, Jacen will arrive. Just you wait. I ship Kanera so much, so this was fun for me to write.

Anyway, my take on the untold Fulcrum POV of Droids in Distress and Out of Darkness. Hope you enjoyed the Rebels stuff! I had fun with Zeb and Sabine's love for 'caf.' I think that's how you spell it. Coffee in Star Wars, for anyone who doesn't know. I don't even like coffee myself, so I could side with Ezra there.

If any of you recall, back in Chapter Three, Rhea introduced Ahsoka to Caleb. Assuming that they had a few more talks after that, they became pretty good friends. And Hera's misleading jealousy... oh, that was great.

CloneWarsNerd: Thanks! I love Rex. The fact that I have his CT number on my shirt right now testifies to that fact.

Darklordofthedarkside: Hi there! I'd be happy to read your story, but if you're not going to read my story, then I don't think that you should review at all. This has happened to me on previous stories and I don't think that you should review if you're not even going to comment on the story itself.

This goes to EVERY SINGLE PERSON. I got a reviewer asking me to read their story. Please, if you're going to ask me to read your story, at least read my story first. Thanks y'all!

May the Force be with you and God bless!

-HH