... yes, that was 3 weeks. Sorry. Happy New Year and happy holidays to you guys, because I missed that. I'm being bombarded with work that I missed when I was sick, so that's my excuse. Thank you for waiting, and I was impressed with the response to last chapter!
EVERYONE MUST SEE STAR WARS THEORY'S VADER FAN FILM. It's the best fan film I've ever seen, and it just shows SWT's passion for Vader/Anakin and the franchise in general. So if you haven't seen that, watch it on Youtube. It's a quick 15 minute watch. Also, if you're into Marvel, you have to watch SPIDERMAN: INTO THE SPIDERVERSE. Miles Morales is now one of my favorite characters in Marvel, and the movie in general was amazing.
Lastly, before we start the chapter, I got a lot of Star Wars stuff for Christmas, so I will obviously be using that content in my stories. From now on, there may be spoilers from the canon sources From A Certain Point of View and Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith. No spoilers in this chapter, but just a warning.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of its books, comics, or video games.
(Published 1.8.18)
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Back to the Crew
3 BBY
Luke's world was spinning. Who was this woman? Why did she have a weird name like Seventh Sister? Most of all, how did she know that Anakin and Obi-Wan were Jedi?
"You're delusional," Anakin scoffed. "The Jedi are dead. They died out, what, twenty years ago?"
Seventh Sister replied, "Ignorance will get you nowhere. Perhaps I will let you live if you give me the location of your friends."
"We work for no one," said Obi-Wan, putting on an attitude he hadn't put on since the Clone Wars and the Rako Hardeen mission.
"I find that quite unbelievable. My Master will reward me greatly for your retrieval."
"You're an Inquisitor!" Anakin realized.
She chuckled, though it sounded more like a cackle. "You know of us. I'm flattered! I felt a disturbance in the Force that led me… here. Your mind-controlled trooper has done you no good, and you will never escape with your lives."
"We'll see about that," said Anakin, and looked at Obi-Wan, an unspoken conversation happening. Without precedent, the two thrust out their arms and all of the stormtroopers went flying backwards. Anakin aimed at one of the headlights, fired, and one section of the clearing went dark in the black of night. Padmé grinned and shot at the other two headlights, making the entire clearing go dark, turning the center into chaos.
"Let's go!" Anakin yelled, and pushed a few crates in front of him. The others seemed to get the idea and, carefully dodging blaster fire, pushed their own crates.
The Imperials seemed shaken by the quick move, but recovered quickly. Emergency flashlights turned on, stormtroopers aiming at the group of four. Luke fired back, breathing heavily while rushing to push his crates in front of him. He suddenly remembered something Master Qui-Gon had taught him, a method of somewhat seeing the future to defend himself.
Double vision: a bolt from the right skimming his ribcage, another one hitting his head -
Luke dodged to the left and ducked, not taking any chances. He returned the fire, hitting a trooper in the chest and letting him fall backwards.
Congratulations, you killed someone! his mind yelled at him, and he grimaced. Luke set the blaster for stun.
He breathed out and began to run once again, catching up to his parents.
Double vision: a red lightsaber spinning, piercing his neck, separating his head from his body -
"Ah!" he yelped, seeing the lightsaber whizzing past him.
"Padmé!" Anakin said in worry, pulling her backwards with the Force, before the lightsaber was retrieved by the Seventh Sister.
Luke bared his teeth. "Can you just leave us alone?" he said to her.
"Ooh, such determination!" said the Inquisitor eerily. "I like this. You are a Jedi, aren't you?"
Luke scoffed, panting. "No, I'm Jabba the Hutt." He shot twice at her, but she deflected both of them. "Get down!" he yelled, and Ben, Padmé, and Anakin saw the bolts coming at them.
"Get into the ship," said Anakin, and Luke realized that they had arrived at the landing site.
Padme looked on, worried. "What about - "
"Get the systems ready! We'll hold her off."
Padmé nodded and, however stubbornly, took her son's hand and ran into the ship. "Okay, we've got to prep the systems."
"I'm aware what to do, Mom, I know ships like the back of my hand," he replied snarkily, and Padmé stopped in her tracks.
"You - you called me Mom."
He cocked his head slightly, bringing the ship around. "Yes. You are my mother. I think I have the right to call you Mom."
She smiled and continued with the controls.
On the ground, Obi-Wan and Anakin's lightsabers were locked in combat with Seventh Sister's red blade.
"Come now, Jedi!" she said, growling. "It's quite easy. The rebels will be defeated, the Empire will dominate, and the Jedi will be wiped out once and for all." With a cry of fury, she pushed them back, leaving them stumbling.
You know who she reminds me of? Anakin asked with a smirk through their bond.
Who?
Asajj Ventress, said Anakin, blocking one of the Inquisitor's reckless strikes.
Obi-Wan frowned. You know that in the end, she was redeemed.
I'm talking about at the beginning of the war.
The fight continued, as well as Seventh Sister's unruly taunts. "Who are you, and how did you survive the Purge? Must be quite skilled Jedi, hmm?"
"Skilled enough to defeat you," smiled Anakin pleasantly.
Suddenly stopping her attacks, she said gauntly, "You certainly remind me of another Jedi, young Ezra Bridger. You must be familiar with the Jedi of the Phoenix Squadron, yes?" Seeing Obi-Wan and Anakin's expressions, she smiled. "Of course you do. Now, tell me where I can find them and perhaps you'll all be reunited wherever you go after destruction. I'm afraid that you two will be the last Jedi."
Suddenly, fury burned Anakin's eyes, a fierce protection for the Rebellion, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and his family. "No. We will not allow the Empire's rule to go any further. And… we will not be the last Jedi."
Giving a knowing glance to Obi-Wan, he nodded.
We'll take her together this time, Obi-Wan said.
I was about to say that.
They launched themselves simultaneously at Seventh Sister, throwing her off balance and taking the upper hand.
"Hey!" came a voice from overhead. Padmé was reaching out her hand from the ship, meaning that Luke was flying. Anakin smiled, proud of his son; it probably came naturally to him.
"It's time for us to go," said Obi-Wan and, turning to Seventh Sister, knocked her out. She collapsed, her lightsaber deactivating.
"I like that trick," said Anakin, grinning as they ran for the ship.
"Yes, well, hopefully when she wakes up she won't have anything to report to the Emperor except the fact that she fought two Jedi. Other than that, this encounter will be shrouded in her mind."
"Good."
They leaped onto the ship, Padmé taking Anakin's hand.
"Let's go," she said. "Your son's flying the ship, and doing a decent job at it."
"It comes from me," said Anakin, and Padmé rolled her eyes.
Obi-Wan caught his breath. "Well, we can't have two Anakins. That would be chaos."
"Hey!" he replied with a grunt, and they emerged into the cockpit.
"I think we've got company," Luke said quietly as a TIE fighter squadron surrounded them.
"Sithspit, that's never good!" Anakin cursed. "I'll get the nose gun, Obi-Wan, you're in the back. Luke, just fly. When we get out of the atmosphere, find a hyperspace lane and we'll jump. Got it?" The young Skywalker smiled back and nodded.
"What should I do?" Padmé asked eagerly and Anakin winced.
"Uh… you'll give us motivation."
The ex-senator frowned while the others went to their stations. A TIE shot at the ship, but Luke skillfully evaded. "Hey, can you shoot them down or something?"
"Only if you can get us in position," said Obi-Wan.
He nodded, breathing slowly. "Okay. Got it." He turned the ship around, leaving one TIE in a blind spot and Anakin shot. There was a momentary silence before the shot hit its target and Luke cheered. "Great job!"
After a few more shots by Ben and Anakin, they had disposed of a a few more TIEs; Luke tried not to think about the fact that there had been people in those fighters. They had exited Felucia's atmosphere by now, leaving the colorful plants and lucious jungles behind.
"Let's come here on vacation sometime when it's not infested with Imperials," Anakin said dryly.
Padmé smiled, bracing the side of the ship as an explosion rocked it. "Sounds like a plan."
Luke gritted his teeth, swerving the ship around. "I found a lane like you told me to, Dad, but do we have the coordinates?"
"I've got that one!" said Padmé. She ducked under the co-pilot seat, where the navi-computer was. Racking her brain for the coordinates of the fleet, she typed them in.
"Ready yet, Padmé?" asked Obi-Wan in his neutral tone.
"Almost… okay, got it! Make the jump." And with a pull of the stick, the sky dissolved into blue waves and the TIE fighters were left behind.
"Woah," breathed Luke as he leaned forward in his seat.
"I forgot this was the first time you've seen hyperspace up close," said Padmé, wiping the sweat from her brow as she settled into the co-pilot's seat. "I'm glad we got out of that."
"And we finished the mission, and then some," Obi-Wan reminded them. "From a certain point of view, this was successful."
"Yeah. From a certain point of view," Anakin said gruffly. "We just expertly got the Palpatine's attention. Who knows how much harder it'll be now?"
"Ani. It'll be okay. That's not something we need to worry about at the moment." Padmé put her hand in Anakin's and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Let's go see Bail."
(takes place right before The Call, after Legends of the Lasat)
"I like this ship," said Anakin as they docked near Senator Organa's Tantive IV. "I should call it the Twilight II. Or something like that."
"Twilight?" asked Luke.
"Anakin's ship during the Clone Wars. Nothing but a bucket of bolts," Obi-Wan teased playfully.
Anakin gave a 'how-dare-you' look. "Excuse me? The Twilight got me and Ahsoka out of plenty of desperate situations."
"The Jedi Code forbid attachment, but Anakin loved both me and the Twilight," said Padmé, joining in.
Bail Organa was waiting for them in the hallway. "Your mission was successful, then?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, so to speak."
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that."
"Your intel was correct. We got the supplies. But there were also medical supplies - bacta patches, medecine. It was more than we could have expected."
"But there was an Inquisitor waiting for us," said Anakin and Bail's eyes widened. "Lucky for us, she was pretty easily overpowered and we escaped."
"And I'm glad you did, my friends." He looked at Anakin expectantly. "Do you have something else to say?"
"Can I keep that ship?" he blurted out. Luke face-palmed and both Padmé and Obi-Wan shook their heads.
Bail chuckled. "Of course. Just don't lose it."
"I'll try my best."
"Oh, by the way, I have something that I believe belongs to you, Master Skywalker," said the senator cheerfully. A little droid shyly rolled in from a doorway.
"Artoo!" yelled Anakin. He rushed over to the blue and white droid, who let out a series of beeps and whistles in excitement. "I'm so glad you're here, buddy…"
Luke watched in confusion as even Uncle Ben stared at the droid in clear admiration. "Is that Dad's old droid?" he asked.
"Yes," smiled Ben. "R2-D2. He ultimately was wherever Anakin was. On missions, at the Temple. That little droid and him are best friends."
Anakin was beaming, stroking Artoo as if he were a pet, except everyone knew that the droid was even more than that. Anakin would do anything to save Artoo, and Artoo would ultimately say the same for his master.
"Commander Tano is waiting for you," said Senator Organa. "She is on the Ghost, Hera Syndulla's ship."
"Hera?" Luke's eyes lit up. "The crew must be here!"
"It will be interesting to finally meet the crew of this ship," said Obi-Wan, nodding serenely. "I hear there are two Jedi."
Bail smiled. "Oh yes, it's true. Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. But I do have to see, from what I've seen, their comrades are equally as amazing."
"They are. On Lothal, what they did was amazing. Kanan jumped and sliced through a walker's legs, and - "
Anakin rolled his eyes. If only his son could see what he could really do. "I'd like to meet them, as well."
As they began to walk forward, Luke heard the senator whisper into his mother's ear, "Leia told me that she's open to speaking with you. Just say when."
She sucked in a breath. "Of course. I'll get back to you with an appointment as soon as possible. I know that Leia is busy."
Bail smiled grimly. "Yes, both with the Senate and our little cause. Goodbye, my friends." He slightly bowed his head and walked off to take a transport back to Alderaan.
The door connecting the Ghost to the transport was relatively narrow, but still wide enough that all four of them could fit through. It was just as Luke remembered it from a few weeks ago. The seats patched up in the common room, a faint drilling sound coming from the cockpit.
"Yes, Senator Organa, I'll be waiting for them…" A green Twi'lek's voice trailed off as she she saw the four of them in the room. "They're here, Senator." She clicked off her comlink. "Uh, good morning. I'm Hera Syndulla, captain of this ship." She smiled to Luke. "And how have you been, Luke?"
"Good, Captain Syndulla," he said.
"I told you, it's just Hera. I hear you've joined us?" she said excitedly.
"Yes. This is my mom, Padmé Amidala, and my dad, Anakin Skywalker, and Ben Kenobi. Or - Obi-Wan Kenobi. Whatever."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," said the Twi'lek. "I guess I'll go get the others." She walked calmly back into the main hallway and yelled, "Guys, we've got visitors!" She looked to Anakin and said shyly: "So, I hear you're a pilot."
Anakin was interrupted from saying anything as two figures came into the common room, one a droid and the other, a boy.
"Luke!" said Ezra. "How are you?"
"Good. Well, I took up on your offer," said Luke slyly.
"What offer?"
"The one that you gave right before you stunned me."
"He stunned you?" asked Padme in horror.
Luke shrugged. "It was nothing."
"All for the sake of acting," laughed Ezra. "I'm Ezra. This is Chopper." He shoved the droid. "He can be nice, when he's not bossing you around or playing a nasty prank."
The orange droid reared back, taking offense, then made the droid equivalent of a raspberry towards Ezra.
"I'm sure that he and Artoo would get along well," laughed Obi-Wan.
"R2-D2?" Ezra said in surprise. "No, actually, they're not the best of friends. They fight a lot."
Suddenly, Kanan walked in, an irritated look on his face. "I swear, Hera, if - " He looked up. "Oh, Force."
"You're Kanan Jarrus?" asked Anakin.
"Uh, yes, sir. Master. Wow, it's an honor," Kanan stuttered. "I'm Kanan. Kanan Jarrus. I - "
Obi-Wan cocked his head. "Caleb Dume? Master Billaba's Padawan, at the end of the war?"
"Yes, Master Kenobi. I changed my name. Wow, I can't believe you remembered."
At this point, Zeb walked in, utterly confused at why Kanan was stuttering. Ezra whispered, "Kanan's freaking out because there are two Jedi masters in the room right now."
Zeb snickered.
"So, you said that former senator Padmé Amidala is your mom?" Sabine said, interrupting Kanan's rant while casually leaning against the dejarik table. The Jedi sucked in a breath, a long-forgotten portion of the code resurfacing in his brain.
"Yes," said Luke. "I mean, I only found out after Lothal, but they're my parents."
Ezra's brow furrowed. "I thought that Jedi couldn't fall in love, or something stupid like that."
"Yes, well, Anakin has never been one to follow the rules, and Padmé hasn't exactly helped," Obi-Wan muttered dryly as Anakin slipped his arm around Padmé. Luke looked at Ezra and made choking noise, receiving a small grin from the other boy. Anakin tightened his jaw, but said nothing.
Kanan looked over to Hera, thinking hard. This was Anakin Skywalker, hero of the Clone Wars and famed Jedi Knight, breaking every rule that Caleb had come to know and obey. And of course, there was Hera. Hera - strong, defiant, beautiful - and although Kanan had made his feelings for her clear the very first time they had met on Gorse, it had developed over their years together. He could never really tell what she had felt about him, and no matter how much he had changed, Kanan kept the Jedi's teaching close.
He was jolted out of thought as Obi-Wan began to speak. "We were just on Felucia and met a new friend. She called herself Seventh Sister."
Sabine grimaced and even Chopper shuddered, if a droid could do that. "Mirialan, red lightsaber, and nasty?" asked the Mandalorian.
"Yes, yes, and yes," said Luke.
"Annoying little probe droids?" asked Zeb.
"Uh, no, I don't think so," said Luke. "But you described the rest right."
"You're lucky you didn't encounter those droids. They're just as bad as her," Ezra warned.
Anakin began to speak, but Padmé cut him off. "Senator Organa sent us here, and we were hoping that you could tell us more about these Inquisitors."
Zeb chuckled. "Well then, Jedi, you've come to the right place."
I hope you guys like how I wrote the Ghost crew. Rebels comes pretty easily to write for me. Some Kanera stuff, for you shippers out there! If you want a timeline, this chapter takes place AFTER The Call but BEFORE Legends of the Lasat. Also, I added in a small callbacks to A New Dawn, Dark Disciple, AotC, and RotS. And, if you looked very closely, a line from Anakin that refers to being the last Jedi (whatever people may think, that movie wasn't terrible).
Hope you enjoyed the action sequences. I've been working on them. Also, some Skywalker family bonding time.
Fun fact: Double vision is a concept from Timothy Zahn's canon novel Thrawn: Alliances. It basically has to do with seeing something through the Force before it's coming, further explaining the Jedi's quick reflexes. It's something that Qui-Gon taught Luke in the year or two they were master and apprentice.
sodorland: Yeah, Luke is pretty naive right now, but he gets better.
Just a Crazy-Man: Hopefully Seventh Sister got what she deserved! And yes, Anakin is a lot more reserved and calm now, but he also has a lot of mental baggage. Happy (late) Holidays to you too!
CloneWarsNerd: Thank you! But as we all know, the Inquisitors won't be around for too much longer...
Please remember to review, follow, and favorite, guys. May the Force be with you and God bless!
-HH