Chapter 4: The Pilot
14 BBY- 5 Years after the Rise of the Empire
Surprisingly, the mystery ship wasn't in as bad of a condition as Kanan thought it would be.
It was only half-on fire. And the hull seemed to be taking it well.
"Chopper! I said you need to get the fire coolants on, now! If you don't move your little wheels faster, the engine's gonna burst, and then where will we be?!"
Kanan grinded his speeder to a halt and turned towards the direction of the very panicked voice. Amidst the chaos, there was a small green Twi'lek lady, struggling frantically to lift a very heavy hose that was attached to the ship and aim it towards the engine assembly. Kanan guessed that had been what was hit by the TIE.
He assessed the situation and weighed the odds. If she could get the fire out, she could probably climb up there and fix the assembly in time to fly away before the Imperials got there. But by the fact that she could barely lift the hose by herself, and by the fact that it wasn't even running yet, it was highly unlikely.
Kanan looked back the way he came, back towards the city, then back at the girl. She hadn't noticed him yet. He could easily step on the gas and leave, pretend like none of it had happened, and go back to his life. He could leave.
But he'd come this far.
Kanan climbed off his speeder and jogged towards the mess of a ship. He bit his tongue. Hopefully, this wasn't the biggest mistake of his life.
"What?! I can't climb up there and fix it right now, Chop! You have to turn on the coolant first, you dumb bucket of bolts! How can I put out a fire without any sodium bicarbonate in the hose?!" the Twi'lek shouted angrily up the onramp of the ship. "Stupid droid," she muttered, grunting crossly as she tried again to haul the hose up over her shoulder.
Kanan walked up behind her. He hung back a second before coughing awkwardly.
The girl whirled around, one of her lekku whipping Kanan's cheek. As he yelped out, she fumbled to grab the blaster from the holster on her leg. "Stay back!" she demanded, holding up the blaster with both hands and pointing it directly at his chest. Sweat glistened on her forehead and collected over the goggles that were pulled over her face.
Kanan's hands flew into the air. "Woah now," he started, ignoring the urge to rub his smarting cheek, "don't shoot."
"Stay right where you are," she ordered, her body rigid. "What do you want?"
Kanan hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "To help you."
"Help me?" she repeated, quirking a brow, "and why should I believe you? How do I know you're not someone working for the Imperials? How do I know you don't have a…" she trailed off. Panic swept over her face. She took a menacing step forward and raised the blaster even higher. "How do I know you don't have a tracker attached to you right now, and you've followed me and led them straight to me?!"
"Wha—a tracker? No, no, I don't—"
Kanan was cut off as the dropped and forgotten hose behind the girl suddenly flared on, spouting a foamy green-ish substance that Kanan assumed was an extinguisher. The triumphant beeps of a droid echoed from inside the ship.
The Twi'lek tore her gaze from the hose back to Kanan, clearly conflicted in with what to do.
Kanan took the opportunity for his advantage. "Look," he started, "we can stand here with you pointing your blaster at me until the Imperials come, or, you can let me help you with the hose and we'll put out the fire, then you can be on your way. It's your choice, really."
She stared at him resentfully. After a moment's hesitation, she hastily dropped the blaster back into its holster and reached for the hose.
Kanan stood and watched her, surprised that she'd actually listened.
"Are you going to help me, or what?!" she spat, glaring at him over her shoulder.
Shaking his head, Kanan quickly bent to help her pick up the hose. With their strength combined, it was much easier to hold and aim towards the engine assembly. The hose spurted the extinguisher high in an arc where it landed directly onto the flames. Within minutes, the fire was out.
The girl dropped the hose and stared to climb up onto the hull of the ship, toolbox in hand. "Wind up the hose and get it back in the ship!" she shouted back at Kanan, "Chopper and I will take the rest from here!"
Doing as he was told, Kanan grabbed the hose, which was much heavier now that he was holding it by himself, and started to loop it over his shoulder. He dragged it up the onramp and back into the ship, trying to tuck it out of the way.
As soon as he stepped inside, a droid screeched in front of him, beeping and whirring very loudly and very angrily. A little mechanical taser and a utility popped out of his sides, causing Kanan to jump back a bit.
"Woah there, little buddy," he stammered, trying to be gentle. The droid bleeped even louder and started rolling towards him with sinister intent.
"He's fine, Chop! Get back to the ship!" called the girls' voice from outside, coming to his rescue.
Begrudgingly—if a droid could look begrudging—he tucked away his weapons. He wheeled backwards into the ship and growled like he was telling Kanan "I've got my eye on you," which was absurd, because droids didn't even have eyes, Kanan thought, they just have sensors and scanners.
With the mechanical hazard gone, Kanan finished shoving the firehose back into the compartment in the wall. He shut it and raced back outside to see how the girl was doing with the engine.
Back out in the night air, which still reeked of smoke and ship exhaust, Kanan looked up to see the girl straddling the engine as she worked furiously to fix it. Grease was smudged against her cheek and she was arm-deep in the engine, twisting things and turning them to make it right. "What can I do?" he called up at her.
"Get up here and hand me my tools when I need them!"
Kanan nodded and started to climb. He spotted her toolbox a foot behind her and he pulled himself up next to it.
She didn't even hazard a look back at him before sticking out a hand. "Socket wrench!"
Kanan dug around in the box, finding it and handing it to her. She took it, stuck her arm back in the engine, yanked it twice, and gave it back.
"Slip joint pliers!"
He stuck the wrench back in the box and gave her the next tool.
"What's your name?" Kanan asked as they went on like this, looking over her shoulder.
"What's yours?" she shot back.
"Would it kill you to trust me just a little?" he huffed. "It's Kanan."
"Axle spanner!"
Kanan rolled his eyes. Names would have to wait, he supposed. He opened his mouth to try again, but a different, more familiar sound resonated in the distance. He squinted and peered out into crevices of the canyon that led back to the town. Something metallic glinted in the moonlight and the revving of engines grew louder.
"Hey, uh," he stuttered eyes glued to the white helmets coming out of the canyon. There were at least fifteen.
"Cap wrench!"
He handed her the tool. "Listen, I think—"
"Bolt cutters!"
He took back the wrench and gave her the cutters. "Hey! You seriously—"
The girl sat up with an irritated grunt. She whipped her head around to glare at him. "Are you here to talk, or help…" her voice faded as she heard the reverberations of the speeders. Her jaw dropped as she spotted the stormtroopers. "Oh, mother of— quick! Give me back the pliers!"
Kanan obeyed. He kept his eyes trained on the incoming speeders. They were closing in. "Hurry…"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" she snapped. She stuck her head back inside the engine. "Socket wrench again!"
The roaring of the speeders bounced off of the canyon walls. Some of the stormtroopers reached for their blaster rifles. "Hurry!"
"I'm hurrying! Stop pressuring me!" she shouted irately. She locked the wrench into place and gripped it with both hands. She struggled to pull it to the right.
Blaster fire began to fly through the air around them. A laser whizzed dangerously close to Kanan's ear. "We need to go, now!" he yelled, ducking under another laser.
"Shut—and I cannot express this enough—the hell up!" she seethed. She groaned with effort as she strained to twist the wrench. Kanan quickly sensed the problem and wrapped his arms around her, grabbing the wrench with her and pulling. A metal clang sounded amongst the blaster fire as it locked into place.
The girl's shoulders sagged in relief. "Phew," she breathed. "It's fixed."
Another laser hurtled over Kanan's head. "That's great, but it's time to go," he said quickly. He took the wrench from her hand and dropped it back into the tool box before tossing the whole thing to the ground. "You're next," he grunted, putting his hands around her waist and lifting her up off the engine.
"Hey!" she protested, but just as quickly as he'd picked her up, he released her half-gently, letting her slide down the hull. She landed clumsily on the ground, but quickly bent to pick up her toolbox and made a dash for the onramp.
Kanan jumped off the engine, landing nimbly on two feet and a spread hand. He snapped his head up to look at the oncoming onslaught of storm troopers.
For a moment, he saw the clones: a band of brothers in white painted red, blasters raised and aimed for his heart.
"Come on!" the girl's voice jolted him. "Or please, by all means, stand there and die! But I'm leaving!"
Kanan ducked away and sprinted up onto the ship, blaster fire raging behind him. He'd half-expected the girl to fly away without him. Her invitation to board was surprising.
Once he was on board, the ramp raised and the ship's engines hummed to life. He didn't hear any abnormal rumbling, so it was safe to assume the girl had fixed the engine well. Speaking of the girl—
"Chop! Get the hyperdrive back online, now!" her voice echoed from somewhere within the ship. Kanan followed the voice deeper into the ship, past a series of doors and up a ladder to the bridge. He struggled to keep his balance as the ship veered back and forth.
"If we don't jump as soon as we're clear, then we're as good as dead," the girl shouted from her seat in the cockpit. The droid worked madly next to her, it's universal interface arm twisting and turning in the maintenance slot of the ship.
"So glad you could join us," the girl grunted, keeping her eyes on the skies ahead, "now make yourself useful and go man the gun!"
Kanan nodded swiftly and made for the ladderwell she gestured to but stopped short. "I never got your name!"
The girl tossed him a glare over her shoulder. "If we make it out of this alive, I'll tell you!" She turned her focus back to their escape.
Kanan couldn't help but smirk as he turned back to head to the turret. Once in the chair, he took a hold of the controls and started to aim for the nearest TIE. He waited until the ship swung around again to fire, and as soon as his fingers clenched around the trigger, the right wing of the ship burst into flames. It sailed downwards, a river of smoke behind it.
"Nice one!" he heard a shout from below. Kanan bit back an arrogant reply and focused on the next one.
He took the TIE fighters out, one by one, until there was only a single ship following them up and into the planet's atmosphere. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and excitement sparked at the ends of his nerves. Now this was what he called fun.
They were almost far enough out of the atmosphere that they could make the jump, but there were still a few asteroids to clear. The ship swung low and high, narrowly avoiding the floating rocks and churning Kanan's stomach with it as they went. He swallowed, hard. Clearly, he hadn't been flying in a while.
While he tried to stop himself from upchucking his dinner, the TIE following them pulled a sharp right, slamming itself in front of the ship and the path that would lead them out of the asteroids. Clearly, the TIE was hoping they would try to pull away to avoid hitting it and ram into an asteroid instead. It was a stupid, risky move that would get both of them killed. No clone with half a brain would have even tried it.
"Shoot that one down!" the girl screeched from the cockpit. The ship juddered and creaked as she pulled on the brakes. Kanan barely had time to pull his hand away from his mouth in time to grab the controls and swing it towards the TIE. He fired, blowing it to oblivion in one shot and barely clearing their path in time.
He let himself exhale in relief as the ship flew through the debris and into the empty space beyond. A low hum resounded throughout the ship morphing into a high-pitched whine. Around him, the stars blurred into white streaks, and they were soaring through hyperspace.
Once he was sure he wasn't about to hurl, Kanan left the turret station and made his way back down to the bridge. "Hey, so—"
As soon as he rounded the corner, a blaster was pointed as his chest. The droid whirred and held its taser in his direction.
"Stay where you are!" the girl ordered, gloved hands tight around the blaster. She'd pulled up her goggles, revealing startlingly-pretty green eyes.
"Woah, I thought we were over this!" he objected, raising his hands in a flash. He had a feeling she wouldn't shoot, but it wouldn't be smart to be too sure.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she said mistrustfully.
Kanan fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Because I risked my life to help you?"
She scrunched up her nose in suspicion. "And why would you do that?"
Kanan pondered for a moment how to explain to the pilot—who was seemingly new to the whole 'rebellion' thing—what the Force was and how he felt it in his bones when it told him to search out her fallen ship. How a metaphysical, spiritual, omniscient power that surrounded them at all times and penetrated every living thing, entwined in the fibers of the galaxy and bound it together, told him to leave his dingy shed and dull job and everything he'd built to say hidden to go find her crash site. To dig out his lightsaber and his padawan braid and fling himself into the throes of battle and danger. To risk his life at the mere possibility of doing something good again. To be himself again. To be a Jedi again.
"I felt like it, I guess," he shrugged.
The girl wasn't convinced.
"Can I at least get your name?" he implored.
The girl vacillated for a moment, looking him up and down. He knew that as far she could tell, he wasn't armed. He just had two useless metal rods clipped onto his belt.
"Fine," she decided, uncocking her blaster and sticking it back into its holster. She gave him one more look-over before returning to the pilot's seat. "I'm Hera, and this is Chopper." She gestured to the droid.
Hesitantly, Kanan made his way over to the co-pilot's chair, stepping around the still-growling droid. The droid grumbled and turned back to what it was doing, muttering its beeps of discontent.
"I'm Kanan," he said steadily, taking a seat.
"You said as much."
He sighed. "Are you this rude to all of the people you first meet?"
"Only the ones I don't trust yet," she shot back.
"Why were you getting chased by TIEs, anyway?" Kanan asked, changing the subject. "It's not often we get to see a fire fight on Lothal."
"I stole some stuff from them," she said dodgily. Kanan waited for her to continue.
She huffed, tapping her foot. "I stole some crates of illegal weapons and some food," she admitted eventually, her shoulders drooping. "And things were going just fine, until I tried to get through the Imperial blockade and found out someone," she glared daggers at Chopper, "forgot to turn on the sensor scramblers, telling the TIEs exactly who and where we were," she finished.
"Sensor scrambler?" Kanan repeated, "how'd you even get that nowadays? They're super illegal!"
Hera smiled and pride twinkled in her eyes. "The Ghost doesn't actually have a cloaking device," she beamed, patting the wall of the ship like a proud mother. "Instead, she's got eighty-seven upgrades that let it imitate cosmic radiation or solar fluctuations on different sensors, which lets us get past the Imperial blockade anytime we want, however many times we want. That is," she added, glancing again at Chopper, "if they're turned on."
The astromech bleeped angrily.
"Huh," Kanan accepted, ignoring the slightly scary droid. "What's your plan for the crates?"
"I've got a guy back on the other side of Lothal who's waiting for them," she answered casually, "and then I've got someone else who'll tell me—" she broke off, sitting up straight.
"What?"
"I shouldn't be telling you all of this. I still don't know if I can trust you," Hera grunted, then added more quietly, "we're still getting used to this whole secret-rebellion-thing."
"Oh, c'mon," he nagged, turning to face her. He looked up at her earnestly. "I don't really look that bad, do I?"
Hera looked back at him, lips pursed in staunch doubt, but her face softened and her eyes widened slightly as she stared at him. She clamped her mouth shut a moment later and whipped her head around back towards the stars. "Kind of," she grumbled, color tinting her cheeks.
Kanan chuckled, leaning back in his seat. He stared out at the moon and the stars ahead of them, relishing in their cold brilliance. Space stretched endlessly beyond them. It was refreshing.
"We'll hang around this moon for a while until this have calmed down on Lothal, then we'll head back through a different entry point and go to the drop off point," Hera described, shutting off the engines and kicking her feet up on the dash. The ship floated effortlessly in space. "I'll take first watch. There are beds in the back if you need to catch some shut-eye. But no promises that Chop won't come and tase you in your sleep," she huffed.
Kanan glanced warily at the droid who only stared back and extended his taser again for extra emphasis. "That's alright," he declined lightly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'll stay."
His dark brown hair was disheveled and falling out in places around his face from the earlier events. He let it down and ran his hand through it once before retying it. He turned towards Hera, who was already looking at him. She hastily tore her gaze away from him and looked back at the moon ahead of them. "Fine," she frowned, crossing her arms behind her head and leaning back. She closed her eyes. "But get comfy. We'll be here a while."
Kanan decided he was fine with waiting. He felt like he could stare at the stars for hours.
Exhaustion tugged at the back of his eyelids. But the excitement of a new adventure sparking under his skin kept him wide awake.
Maybe this hadn't been the worst mistake of his life, after all. In the last hour, he'd only almost died twice. And both times, it had been a little thrilling, if he were to be overly honest.
Kanan resolved to stay and help the pilot, at least for a little while. He'd stick around and see what he could do, see if he had a place, or either die in the process of finding out or let it be and go back to his little life on Lothal.
But he wanted to stay. And he hoped to the galaxy and back that he did have a place. He liked rebellion. He liked insurrection. He liked the fight.
Next to him, the girl named Hera shifted slightly, dozing off into sleep.
Kanan smirked. And maybe he was starting to like this pilot, too.