Chapter 9

Zeltros, Blue Palm Resort and Hotel

Things had been going as smooth as could be for the Rebels. Their jobs had settled into them into an easy-going rhythm, they paid well, and the Empire was none-the-wiser. In fact they'd been able to actually enjoy their time on Zeltros, even though they were working on this pleasure planet and not actually on vacation themselves. But when you're a wanted fugitive used to being on the run and in harm's way this was as close as you could get to a real vacation.

This still didn't mean that they liked being here. If they were just hiding out and not doing any damage to the Empire then their cause was being set back. Needless to say that after more than two weeks of keeping low the Rebels were getting jumpy.

"Hera when're we gonna get back in the fight?" Zeb asked as he Sabine and Hera were sitting around an open fire pit outside their apartment.

"We'll give it until Fulcrum contacts us Zeb," Hera replied, "I just listened into the Imperial comms channel last night and the news isn't good."

"Oh no," Sabine sighed, not wanting to hear any bad news.

"I'm afraid Lothal's still way too hot with Imperials right now. They've stepped up their presence in the main cities and the smaller outlying towns are being ransacked for sympathizers and informants almost every day."

"You don't think they could find out about us do you?" Zeb asked with worry written on his face.

"No chance of that happening," Sabine responded, "We never told anyone about our going to ground except for Fulcrum."

"And our contacts on Lothal don't have access to Fulcrum and Fulcrum doesn't have access to them," Hera nodded, marveling at the intricacy of the Rebel network.

"That's good to know," Zeb sighed, relief etched in his voice, "I'd hate to get found now. We're as vulnerable now as ever before."

"I know," Hera responded, "I don't like not having the Ghost or the Phantom close-by."

"Good thing we've still got our weapons huh?" Sabine said, remembering that she had her WESTAR-35's under her pillow.

"What good will that do us if that base over there wakes up?" Zeb grumbled.

"Boy you're sure down today," Hera chuckled, "Rough day on the job?"

"Yeah, some punk kept getting under my skin."

"Was it the one I complained about?" Sabine asked.

"No, no this was a different one, older by several years. Oh by the way, I took care of that little runt for you. He shouldn't be bothering you anymore," Zeb piped up, a smug grin appearing on his voice.

"Thank you," Sabine replied, getting a questioning look from Hera, "I had a Pandoran teenager trying to get me to be his date to the party they've got in the club tonight."

"I got to scare the gold off his face," Zeb laughed, "I was sure he was going to faint, and why is it I'm always doing these things for you Sabine? Can't you handle a fourteen year old boy?"

"Not while I'm trying to do my job," Sabine snapped back.

"Hey I'm just asking," Zeb held his hands up in defense.

"Easy you two," Hera chuckled as she carefully put another small log onto the fire and looked back at the porch of their little condo and saw Kanan and Ezra busying themselves with some Jedi training.

The task that the two were going through with was one that had a long history as a training aid for the Jedi. It was incredibly simple, a bowl of water was placed in front of Ezra and his task was to lift the water out of the bowl and hold it in a perfect sphere. It was a measurement exercise, if the sphere was incomplete or held imperfections then the mind was not cleared, and focus was not yet fully devoted. This focus was necessary, and Kanan thankfully remembered doing this for hour after hour during his own training, so he was using it for Ezra.

"Clear your mind, think only of the water and what you wish it to be," Kanan said calmly to his apprentice.

"Alright," Ezra said with a long sigh and then rested both hands in his lap and then closed his eyes. He felt the Force start to flow, feeling the presence of the water in front of him. In fact, he sensed everything around him.

The smell of the smoke from the fire, the talking of his friends, the crashing of the waves on the white sandy beach, the music beetles playing their songs in the brush, and the sounds of music coming from a party just up the beach all reached him. But he tried forcing all of this away, instead he kept one singular focus upon his task. He could almost feel the cool feeling the Force gave him as he focused upon the bowl of water, almost seeing it in his mind.

So with another breath he reached out, willing the Force to lift the water from the bowl. It started to happen slowly at first, like a solid bump rising from the middle with ripples flowing across its surface. Ezra had to focus as he felt the complexity of the task before him hit. He had to continue making the water rise, yet he also continued to will it to form into the sphere he wanted from the liquid.

He could now hear the water rippling, unsettled as it continued to waver, gravity wanting the substance to come splashing down. Tiny droplets started forming off of it, dripping back into the bowl with audible drips that Ezra tried to preventing at the same time as he continued to will the main globe of water to remain in place. But then a shining light distracted Ezra for a split second and then he lost all control. The water completely broke up in the air and came splashing back into the bowl. Most of it went up and out after hitting the bowl and got onto both Ezra and Kanan who just sighed.

There was one other thing that happened. Chopper couldn't help but grumble in satisfaction as he held up a clawed hand with a spoon in it that he had been using to reflect the light from within the apartment into Ezra's face.

"Chopper! Do you mind?!" Ezra roared as Chopper twirled the utensil in hand and rolled away laughing all the way.

"You can't blame him. You were already losing control of the water, that means you weren't focused," Kanan said, pouring a bottle into the half-full bowl to have him try again, "Once more."

"Fine," Ezra said as he settled back into his seated position and then right as he was starting he heard an unmistakable sound come to his ears. The screaming of TIE Fighters was coming right towards them.

"That's as good a reason to stop as any," Kanan snapped, standing to his feet as he scanned the night sky, looking for the fighters to show themselves.

"There!" Hera called out, pointing to the sky above.

Indeed they were there. But what they were seeing were not any ordinary TIE Fighters, the two solar panels were bent inward and were longer with the main hull being far larger. Hera recognized them immediately as TIE Advanced x1, the best the Empire had, and there were two of them. What they were escorting in between them was an easier craft to recognize, a normal run-of-the-mill Imperial Shuttle.

"Must be someone pretty important for a pair of advanced TIE's to be escorting him," Kanan said calmly, observing the trio of craft.

The three ships went across their line of sight and headed towards the main tower. They could see that the large landing pad they were headed for was all lit up for them, ready to receive the guest of honor.

"Wonder who it is…" Zeb asked, wanting to know who their Imperial guest was.

"Someone important," Sabine said back, "Those fighters are rare."

That was exactly right. And their suspicions were confirmed right after. A blinking and chirping started coming from their comm inside as someone called them up. Kanan and Ezra were the first to walk inside, and keyed the button. As the others ran inside to see for themselves a familiar image rose from the holoprojector. It was their boss, or at least their boss for their jobs.

"My friends…something has come up," he started.

"Mr. Iro," Hera responded, "We saw the Imperial shuttle. Must be important."

"He is, his name is Captain Andru Tarkin," came the reply, "He's here on a vacation paid for by his family. Apparently it's in congratulations for his recent promotion and command of the Imperial Star Destroyer hanging in orbit over the planet."

"A Tarkin?!" Zeb roared, the very name getting his blood boiling.

"Yes," Iro replied honestly, "He just arrived and we had no warning. I'm giving you all the warning I can of what to expect. Now I've got to go greet this little brat."

The man ended the message right then and the group began their discussion.

"He's only a Captain though, it's not like he's a high ranking politician," Sabine mused, pointing out the man's actual rank.

"But he's a Tarkin, that family tends to get its way and I'll bet that security around him is going to be impossible to get through," Kanan responded.

"You're talking like we're going to be doing something," Hera said back.

"Well we can't do nothing," Ezra replied.

"I agree with the kid for once," Zeb growled.

"We have to," Hera countermanded them, "If we try leaving now while the Imperials are on a higher alert and get spotted everything we've accomplished here to get below the radar will have been for nothing."

"She's right," Kanan responded, "We've done a good job thus far of staying out of trouble. Let's just keep at it."

"We've never had a run-in with a Tarkin before so let's keep it that way," Hera called out.

"And what if he recognizes one of us?" Ezra asked, "I'm pretty sure he'll have access to some wanted posters."

"We'll have to just do what we always do," Kanan responded.

"Without making a mess of everything please," Hera said, patting Kanan on the shoulder.

"What? Me?" Kanan gasped, right as there was a beeping from the chrono on Sabine's wrist, a new purchase thanks to her new job and tips.

"Oh, looks like our meteor shower has arrived," she said, a smile enveloping her face.

This was what they had been waiting for tonight. Zeltros had a monthly meteor shower as different parts of the planet were exposed to the glancing blow of the ring of rocks and ice. The views of these showers were galaxy-renowned, and they wanted to see it. So Sabine had set a timer, and now it was coming.

The group walked out onto the porch and then onto the sand and looked up. It started slowly at first, but the streams of blue streaks across the night sky were beautiful. Dozens caught their eyes, some were just barely visible, others went by slowly, even glowing orange as they actually plummeted into the atmosphere and burnt up. Thankfully the hotel had shut off all lights to allow for everyone to get a good view of the perfectly clear night sky.

"Whoa, looks like a few are coming down a bit closer than we were told," Zeb said, pointing to a group of three orange dots that were coming down towards their little island chain.

"They say it's rare for meteorites to touch down, but it is does happen every so often," Hera noted, relaxing as the objects got closer and were angled well away from them.

"But three at the same time?" Ezra asked, "That's a little odd isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Kanan mumbled, "Very odd."

The three meteorites impacted in the shallow bay, smashing into the water at high speed. Their impacts were way off in the distance, barely visible in the dark of the night. Three columns of water erupted into the air as several parties of guests clapped and ooh'ed and ah'ed at the sight. The others of the Ghost crew were somewhat relaxed and felt a similar way and began discussing their close encounter.

"Wow, that was cool," Sabine chirped, looking back towards the sky as the light show in the heavens continued.

"Must've been one big asteroid that just broke up into three pieces upon entry," Hera noted.

"That happened all the time back on Lasan," Zeb shrugged, "Not a big deal."

"It is for me," Ezra responded, "That's the closest I've ever been to a meteorite impact."

But Kanan wasn't buying it. His mind was turning as he searched his memory for something just like this that he remembered happening back during the Clone Wars. But for the life of him he couldn't pin it down, until Chopper rolled out next to them.

"Those aren't meteors," Kanan said affirmatively, "Everyone inside, now."

"What're you talking about Kanan?" Ezra demanded, refusing to obey as the others hesitated, unsure of what Kanan was talking about.

"I've seen this once before," he said, "Back during the Clone Wars. It was a favorite Separatist infiltration tactic. They disguised their boarding craft as part of a meteor shower and then made landfall. From there they deployed droid commandoes and they would attack strategically important targets."

As soon as he said that three more glowing balls of flame smashed into the water, this time to the left of the original impacts way off in the distance. He felt a pinch of fear and anticipation, well aware of what these types of raids had done to Republic outposts in the past.

"What do we do?" Sabine asked, a dead serious expression upon her face, "It's pretty obvious that they're either here for that Tarkin or that base across the lagoon."

"I wouldn't feel too bad for those bucket heads if they had to tangle with some old clankers," Zeb chuckled, "I say we just sit back and enjoy the show."

"We can't just sit back if those droids attack the hotel," Hera piped up as they all gathered in the common area, "Battle droids have no value for life. Anyone that gets in their way they kill. You know as well as I do that we can't let innocent lives be lost."

"So it's either fight the droids, and risk the Imperials finding us out, or it's letting the Imperials fight it out themselves and risk civilian losses," Sabine grumbled, none too happy with the situation.

"Wait a minute, the droid armies are all deactivated, how are you so sure these are what you think they are?" Zeb asked after figuring something out.

"It matches perfectly Zeb, these might not be CIS controlled droids but whoever is controlling them knows how to deploy them and is attacking the Empire with this tactic."

"What if it's other Rebels?" Ezra asked, "You know, like us? Could that change things?"

"It would explain the tactic," Hera said, "No losses to friendlies, but kept under tight control these droids could easily capture or kill this Captain Tarkin."

"We'll just have to wait and see here," Kanan grumbled, "Be ready to go and defend the hotel at a moment's notice gang. If they start attacking the civilians all cards are on the table."

"What if we're working?" Zeb asked, "It's not like we're armed while on the clock you know."

"Especially me," Sabine piped up, "I can't necessarily hide a blaster wearing a bikini and I'm right in the first line of approach off of the beach."

"We can't just call in sick," Hera responded, "Especially me."

"You're one of two pilots they've got I know. And your salary is far more than any of us."

"Karabast," Zeb growled, "This is going to get complicated. First we've got to avoid increased Imperial presence, now we've got to watch our backs for an impending droid invasion."

"Well," Kanan shrugged, "Just another day as a Rebel. Get some sleep, or at least try to. As far off as those things landed I don't think anything will happen until morning."

"Are you sure?" Zeb responded, "Maybe one of us should be on watch."

"Not a bad idea," Kanan said, "You're off tomorrow Zeb, mind taking the oh-three hundred watch with me and Ezra taking the first one? Hera, Sabine, either of you two want to take the middle watch?"

"I've got an early shift tomorrow," Sabine said calmly, hoping to avoid a long stint on watch.

"Yes Sabine you don't have to stand watch tonight," Hera responded with a chuckle.

"Thank you so much Hera, I owe you," Sabine responded, turning to get some sleep.

They were all going to need it. As a few condos down a group of diverse individuals were preparing to put their own plan into action. The first phase had been accomplished without issue, but that was mere child's play. Their leader knew it. As he looked out over the bay where he knew his specially programmed BX-Series Droid Commandoes were waiting for the signal to deploy his team was preparing their weapons.

He himself was human, being one of two humans on this little team. The other was female, an equally young individual who was testing her electostaff, annoying everyone with the crackling noise it made every time she activated the weapon. He himself had a stolen E-11 that he'd modified with a vertical grip on the barrel and had the folding stock all set to go.

The third and fourth members were twin male Kage Warriors wearing all-black with a hood and a balaclava over their faces with one having red trim and the other having blue on their native clothing. They had their electrified blades in their scabbards and their wrist blasters secured on their right wrists, and both were meditating on the floor awaiting battle. Their striking white hair was tied in a braid that ended in between their shoulder blades with their striking golden eyes closed, deeply set in their calm state.

The fifth member of their team a female Dathomiri who was on watch, looking through some binoculars at the hotel they were set to assault. She had a red hooded shirt and black gloves with her hair cut short, with a small ponytail just poking from the back of her head. Her weapon of choice was what her kind, the Nightsisters, had been known for, an energy bow. She held this weapon in hand ready to use it at the drop of a hat.

Lastly there was the sixth member of their group, a black furred Wookie with a brown leather vest with two bandoliers of ammo for his Kashyyyk Long-Gun. He was huge, being nearly seven and a half feet tall, and was easily the strongest and loudest of all of them.

"Looks like Brains did his job," the human man said calmly, getting a signal from his comm-link from the old tactical droid running the operation from their ship.

"So when do we take him out?" the Dathomiri asked with a hiss.

"Tomorrow morning, right as every single one of those spoiled punks and brats is just getting to their nice expensive vacations," the girl responded with a bit of glee.

The Wookie let out a growl and every one of them, except for the two Kage twins, looked back at him.

"Yes Ishgraz, the droids will draw the Imperials off. I'd rather not face a ton of Storm Commandoes," the man responded.

"I almost feel sorry for those beach goers," the Dathomiri smirked.

"Almost."

There we go, another one done and this time action, of the hard-core variety, is sure to follow. Hope you guys enjoyed as always, let me know your thoughts, good or bad I like hearing it all. And I'm going to be politically incorrect here and if you don't like that take your politically correct and shove it.

May you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Next Chapter Preview: The shadows of Clone Wars re-emerge with blasters blazing and the Rebels are caught up right in the middle of it.