The modified Jedi starfighter shot out of the base of the tower like a cannon, pushing young Ezra back in his seat. He couldn't hear any rattling or shuddering. Instead he heard the whirring purr of the ship's engine as it climbed higher and higher into the sky, breaking through the clouds and the atmosphere.
As the vacuum of space enveloped him, Ezra starred out into the black and the stars, taking it all in. He only ever came this high once, long ago, so seeing the vastness of the galaxy made him feel free, like a part of him belonged out here, in the emptiness.
Snapping out of his trance, he boy quickly spotted the light freighter being pursued by several TIE Fighters and steered the starfighter in that direction.
As soon as he was in range, Ezra opened fire. The turret on his left rotated right and hit one of the Imperial ship's wings and made it crash into another nearby. The other three TIE's dodged the explosion and, having made his position known, they turned and began to fire on Ezra's starfighter.
"Ghost to Ezra, come in," said a familiar voice through the communications link of his helmet. Kanan must have known it was him in the Jedi starfighter.
"This is Ezra," the kid replied.
"We thought you didn't make it. I'm glad you got out of there alive." It was Hera.
She's a good pilot.
"I'm glad you were able to get out of there too," replied the kid.
The enemies firing sped past the cockpit of the Jedi starfighter, pulling him into focus.
"I'm bringing my ship to yours, get ready to fire," Ezra announced, pulling the joysticks to the right as he headed towards the freighter called the Ghost.
I must ask why it's called that when I get the chance, he thought. A cannon blast grazed the wing of his ship, causing it to convulse under the impact.
If I get the chance…
He came up alongside the Ghost and rotated the turret to face towards the enemies behind him. The boy closed his eyes and focused as two of the cannons on the freighter opened fire on the Imperial ships.
He waited.
And waited.
Then he fired.
The blast hit the Fighter's cockpit, and the ship exploded, taking out the last TIE.
"Yes!" Ezra cheered. His glee didn't last long, however. He sensed something big approaching, and as he reached for the commlink on his helmet a Star Destroyer came into view.
He cussed and headed for the Ghost.
"Am I able to attach my ship to yours, Ghost?" Ezra asked Hera.
"The underbelly has a hatch you can climb through if you're able to link there," the Twi'lek replied.
"On it." The boy swerved and spun his ship so it was riding underneath the freighter, then, as carefully but as quickly as he could, he connected his starfighter to theirs with ease.
"I'm attached," he said.
"Alright, get ready to enter hyperspace," Hera announced.
Black, stars, the abyss.
Then blue and white as those stars whirled and disappeared from sight.
Ezra stared at the whirling colours around him, his mouth slightly agape with amazement.
"Wow," he breathed.
He had never been in hyperspace before. It captured the Force and propelled it around, as if playing with it, before setting it free into the galaxy outside it. It was a continuous cycle, and for a moment the kid was caught up in it before he was startled by a voice from the commlink.
"You want to hop aboard?" It was Hera again.
"Yeah, I'll be on in a minute," Ezra replied. His hand reached to his belt, and he was relieved to feel his duo laser sword still attached. He took off his helmet and put it beside the pilot seat, then opened the hatch to enter the Ghost.
Ezra was met by Kanan's outstretched hand, and with a small smile he took it as he was hauled up into the cargo bay of the Ghost. The interior displayed different shades of grey along with basic yellow, orange and blue designs. She wasn't much to look at, and she was surely older than the crew that flew her, but she hummed like any other healthy ship.
"You have a nice ship," Ezra commented as his gaze travelled over Zeb and Sabine who were standing nearby.
"And you have a nice piece of garbage," said the Lasat without a second thought.
Purposely mishearing it to be a comment, the kid said, "Why thank you. I built it myself."
"From scratch?" asked Sabine.
"Well, no," Ezra stated, "but there are several modifications I made to it." He sounded prideful, but Zeb wasn't impressed, of course.
I wonder what his problem is...
An orange Astromech droid reeled into the spotlight, complaining about Kanan and Hera demanding him around the ship to fix something or fire at something all the time. He stopped suddenly and seemed to inspect the teen with curiosity, then said in his strange language, "Who is this?"
"Oh, my name's Ezra Bridger." The kid introduced himself before Sabine could translate for him. He knelt down as he asked, "Would you be the droid named Chopper?"
"C1-10P at your service!" The Astromech's cylinder head spun a full 360.
"A C1-10P droid," Ezra observed as he stood up again and looked at the others. "Weren't they around during the Clone Wars?"
"Yes, they were," Kanan said, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"I found him when I was only a child," said Hera as she climbed down the ladder the probably led to the cockpit. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his metal head. "He's been by my side since."
"Even though he's annoying as hell most of the time," Zeb commented. Chopper swiveled his head and attempted to barge into the Lasat with irritation. No one seemed to defend the droid against that statement.
"Thanks again for saving us back there," said the Twi'lek. "We owe you."
"Not anymore," said Ezra, sitting on a nearby crate. "I'm off that planet now."
"Why did you want to leave so badly?" asked Sabine as she leaned back against the wall near the ladder Hera had come down from.
"I've lived on Lothal my whole life," the boy explained. "Too much was going on and I had to leave." He didn't want to mention what had happened to his parents or what his original plans were. "When I saw you guys, I knew it was a chance to go." Ezra took his lightsaber into his hands and looked sheepishly at it. "I… apologize for the trouble I caused back there."
Another eye roll was felt from the Lasat, but Hera said, "We forgive you."
"I mean, we got the crates in the end, didn't we?" the Mandalorian mentioned.
It wasn't until now that they noticed Kanan had gone quiet. Ezra looked up and found him staring at the laser sword in his hands.
"Is that…" he started.
"Uh… yeah, I forgot to mention that earlier." The kid lifted the grip up in front of him and pressed the ignition button. Green and blue burst from the ends, revealing two long blazing laser swords. Everyone backed up a little, stunned.
"I knew you were Force sensitive," said Kanan, admiring the swords with bafflement, "but I didn't know you were a Jedi."
"I'm not a Jedi, well I don't see myself as one anyway," said Ezra. He pointed to the green line of light. "This belonged to my grandfather, who was a Jedi during his time."
"And the blue one?" asked Hera.
"That's mine," the boy clarified, extinguishing the blades and lowing his arm. "I found it in a Jedi Temple back on Lothal."
"But… how?" Kanan began to ask, but they were interrupted by the beeping of a communications link on Hera's wrist.
"It's Fulcrum," she announced.
"He's contacting us now?" asked Kanan as the crew proceeded to follow Hera up the ladder. Ezra watched them until the man gestured for him to come along.
"How did he know weren't still in prison?" Zeb asked, then added, "If he actually knew we were in prison of course."
"He has his resources," Ezra heard Hera say as he emerged into a small corridor. There were two doors on either side, probably the rooms they slept in. As the crew piled into a little lounging area they surrounded a small table where a hooded figure was displayed in a hologram.
"Who's Fulcrum?" the kid whispered to Kanan as they stood near the door they had come through.
"A very reliable source of information," the man answered. "He gives us locations of possible goods we can get our hands on to keep the ship running."
"As well as possible shipments we can steal from the Empire to use against them," said Sabine quietly.
Ezra stared at the figure in the hologram.
'He' seemed very peculiar. Even from here the boy could feel something distinctive, and for a time he wondered if Kanan ever felt the same when they spoke to this Fulcrum person.
"I heard you were successful in your last mission," the figure said. His voice was overlayed with static, so it was slightly hard to hear him clearly.
"Yes," Hera responded. "We were captured but we had some help getting out of Capital City." She glanced at Ezra with a thankful smile before returning her gaze to Fulcrum.
"I am glad to hear you are all fine. I have another mission for you, however." No one objected as they all leaned in to listen. "There is an abandoned base orbiting around the planet Harus in the Kaalis System."
"But that's on the brink of the Outer Rim," Sabine pointed out. "It's very dangerous out there."
"The base there was used during the Clone Wars and contains information that may be of use to our rebellion."
That clarifies that, Ezra thought.
"Why haven't you been there to retrieve that information already?" Kanan cautiously prodded.
"It was only recently that this was brought up," Fulcrum replied, unfazed by the question. There was a short pause before he said, "I will send you the coordinates to the base. Good luck."
The hologram disappeared, and everyone stared at the table for a few moments.
"Interesting mission," Zeb commented as he turned to head to the kitchen.
"We've done more 'interesting' missions before," Sabine replied as she made her way to her room.
Ezra stared after the Lasat and the Mandalorian, thinking.
"Would you like me to drop you off somewhere?" Hera asked him as Chopper, who had also been listening to Fulcrum as well, disappeared into the cockpit.
The kid opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again. He was beginning to rethink his plans now. He felt a connection between himself and the Jedi, Kanan, and felt almost... at home.
"We'll let you think about it," said the man who gave no attempt to contain a smile. "In the meantime, get some rest. It's been a long day."