This chapter took one day to complete to be completely honest, not including the editing. I put it off for two weeks, then some more afterwards. Before, I made it my mission to complete it before the series finale started, but I think that mission is botched, but I'll try not to let that discourage myself from continuing to update. Just letting you know, haven't forgotten the story, or my loyal readers. Oh, and just so you know, I appreciate your reviews a lot, and I'm reading them when I can.

Kallus was still waiting near the gunner when he finally finished up with his diagnostic. He may have only talked to Riggeth for a minute or two, but it had nearly felt like an hour with all the pained silence between each sentence. He may had even spouted silver hairs from the experience. Years of imperial conditioning had kept him from revealing how uncomfortable he had been to be put in that situation, but that couldn't stop his heart from pounding.

He had always imagined that one day, he'd meet Riggeth again. He could never have thought that it'd be because he needed his help. Now here he was, feeling the chill of his blood throughout his body. It almost felt like he was there again, watching helplessly, as Riggeth destroyed his first unit, and came walking up towards him…

This trip felt like it couldn't be going any slower, even when Kallus knew Rex was going as fast as he could. He remembered missions like these as an imperial requiring all kinds of heavily calculated moves. Now as a Rebel, that calm and calculated feeling towards missions needing patience and heavy thought was crushed by the image of the small crew of the ghost parishing, as star destroyers on every side of them started to rain laser fire on them. As an imperial, loss was different. After his unit, he had never got as close to others, save for a few, and those people he ended up putting down himself. He knew what it felt like to be terrified for his life, but the life for his new friends made him react differently. The old Kallus wouldn't have thought about asking Riggeth for help, but the new Kallus would, because he found people that were important enough for him to make that call. That fear for the lives of people who became important to him was a new- no, it was an old feeling. A very old feeling from before. A wound that was ripped open once again, but this time, he could actually make a difference.

Kallus resigned himself in the chair behind Rex, and the man wasted no time in filling him on the conversation that he and Riggeth were having while Kallus was away. "There is not much we can do for distractions, so we are going to pass through the imperial bombardment in hyperspace." He informed, in the same tone he'd give in any kind of mission. Kallus' eyes shot up as he gripped his seat.

"What? That won't be safe at all! We'll all be killed!" He exclaimed in alarm. Hyperspace was no joke. Anything could go wrong, and in a second, a ship could be blown apart if one was not careful. There were rules and regulations kept to make sure the worst couldn't happen, and the Empire was very strict about it. Playing around in hyperspace was a sure way of getting oneself obliterated into tiny specs of dust.

"You think I made it this far by playing it safe?" Rex answered gruffly, in a more immediate, aggressive tone than Kallus was more accustomed to than not from the man.

Kallus meekly leaned back in his seat, a million and one thoughts racing through his head. They certainly wouldn't be much of any help to their friends if they crashed the Ghost on Lothal. He stopped himself before another quick outburst could escape from his mouth. He had to trust Rex with this. He had the plan, he knew what to do. Kallus just needed to follow it through for him, for their friends. For Zeb.

"We'll be able to pass them without them noticing right away. If I can manage to get away from their detection, I could land the Ghost in a safe place, and we can plan this out together with the transmitter box I have. I don't know how close or far we'll be to Kanan and the others, but if I'm detected, I need you two to get on the ground while I distract them, got it?" Rex's voice boomed in the cockpit, and he demanded nothing but a clear answer with no obligations. However, this is where Kallus and Rex clashed…

"Wouldn't it be better if I stayed with the ship?" Kallus asked, not looking forward to doing a duo mission with Riggeth. He had no idea how to work with him, or if he could work with him. There was just too many ways this could go wrong, that Kallus couldn't think clearly. The long stretch of silence after his suggestion was killing him. Riggeth's eyes stung him with an unreadable expression, not of disappointment, but something close to shame.

Before, Rex teased him about who was to command Hera's ship, but now, there was nothing to tease about. It was a different kind of mood, no room for opposition, so he shut up until Rex decided to talk again.

"I'll stay with the ship whenever necessary, but we need you, Kallus, to step it up. Use that head of yours for fighting this battle instead of giving out information. I know you can do it."

That was strangely encouraging for the ex-Agent to hear, but the feeling was overshadowed by the idea of what he'd be facing alone with Riggeth, if he were to be alone. There were too many possibilities to think about, with too many outcomes. He'd been pretty good at deciphering the kinds of acts he'd position himself into before, when he was an imperial. Now, it felt like going in without a clue. This was the very first time he'd lead a battle by himself for the Rebellion, without the disguise of being ISB to protect him. Rex's encouragement was all he had. He'd do everything he could to prove Rex right.

The blaring sounds of a warning began to echo through the ship as they got closer to Lothal. Rex adjusted their movement, to avoid hitting any enemy ships as they zipped past them in light speed. Kallus held his breath as Rex, with a strange level of calmness, ignored the many different warnings that Kallus found hard to ignore, as they got their way past the blockade. For a second, things seemed to freeze in time. Riggeth barely made a move, and Kallus' teeth were grounded down so tightly, it felt like his jaw could snap from the pressure. Rex was the only one who was in control now. A single moment too late and they'd be dead.

Rex pushed them out of hyperspace in a matter of a millisecond, their bodies jerked violently forward as the Ghost managed to stop just in time before it collided into Lothal's sandy grasslands. Rex's movements were lightning quick, as he reeled the ship back before it could ground it's features into the dirt. They may have made it through hyperspace, but they weren't in the clear yet.

Without a breath or moment wasted, Rex guided the Ghost to the closest form of cover possible. His eyes were on the tall, rounded rocks that speckled across the earth. A small sweat gland slid down his forehead as he let his tense muscles relax it's grip from the steering wheel. Even he had his doubts, but he was around the right people long enough to know some risks were worth taking. It was about the most insane idea he ever executed, and had had enough excitement for one day to never try it again.

"I...can't believe you…" Kallus felt nearly at a loss of words. There was nothing he'd ever read or heard of, of someone taking that risk and SURVIVING it. Rex was about the first one to ever pull something like that off. He was right next to Hera's idea of blasting through an imperial construction module, and making it out without a scratch. If after this moment, Kallus' life was forever in Rex's hands, he wouldn't feel as worried anymore. Riggeth smiled widely in complete and utter joy. Saw had pulled some crazy stunts in his life, but he never landed that close to a planet through hyperspace before. He didn't even feel like barfing! It was at this moment that Riggeth decided that taking this mission was the best decision in his life.

"Rex, you're a legend!" Riggeth barked with laughter, slamming his hand down on Rex's still very tense shoulder.

Just when they thought they were in the clear, a tie-fighter and two ground storm troopers, far from their patrol route, saw the whole thing. The tie immediately began to follow them, guns at the ready and firing rapidly.

Rex silently cursed as he tried to out maneuver the tie, but with little cover on land to shield themselves, it was almost impossible. "Looks like it's Plan B. Riggeth, get your things, Kallus, take the transmitter box! You'll need it to contact the others! Now get ready!"

It was the part Kallus had been dreading. He was just starting to be able to enjoy a scenario of Rex joining them on the ground, but those hopes fell apart in a matter of seconds. He grabbed the makeshift box from Rex's side and joined Riggeth down near the landing platform. Riggeth steered his crate in front of him, and was ready to spring out the doors when they opened, until his ears perked at a new idea.

"At this pace, I don't think Rex will be able to shake him." He grabbed Kallus' attention. He was almost hesitant to answer.

"Doesn't seem like it will be a smooth drop-off." Kallus replied.

Riggeth took a step away from the crate and motioned Kallus forward. The man simply stared at him, not budging.

"Come on, get on the crate, we'll be able to glide out without hurting ourselves." Riggeth explained, waving his arm out.

Kallus blinked at him. He wasn't expecting the Lasat to give him such a suggestion. It was actually a pretty good idea. Riggeth could have kept that thought to himself and let Kallus tumble out of a moving starship, risking a broken bone in the process. Maybe that conversation from before was just him making something out of nothing. Riggeth was not some monster he made him out to be in his head. Maybe they'd work great together after all.

Kallus moved to the front of the crate and got on top of it. It was enough room for two to sit, perfect for Riggeth's plan. After a few more swerves and quick turns, the ship began to move smoothly as Rex's voice shouted from the intercom.

"I'm opening the lift! You only have a few seconds!"

Rex had slowed down, too slow for the Tie-fighter to have stopped itself. It zoomed passed him, prepared to turn around, but by then, he'd drop his friends to the ground without it noticing. As the lift opened, cutting through the grass below, Riggeth had a running start before pushing them out of the ship and leaping onto the crate. The anti-gravity claps were so strong, that even with the combined weight of the two ontop, it didn't hit the ground. Instead, it bounced with enough force to jump forward. Kallus' iron grip saved him from flying forward onto the ground, and having the crate run him over. However, the same could not be said for the transmitter box, which crashed into pieces as it fell from Kallus' arms. The man watched it happen in slow motion, grimacing as he saw several pieces spring up and across the grasslands. The crate had such momentum, that Riggeth couldn't stop it until it began to slow down. He hadn't said a word about the broken communications box to Kallus, which he was thankful for. He was calling himself every curse word under the sun in his head, as it were.

"Don't bother with it now, we need cover!" Riggeth shouted, more concerned with getting the crate out of range of any enemy blasters. It was their one ticket out of Lothal when things were to get more difficult. It would certainly be enough for Rex to get them out of there when they needed to, but then again, they'd need to get their communications back online. A second later, as they were running towards two, huge rock formations, the sound of a tie-fighter crashing down echoed close by. Rex had managed to shoot the pesky thing down.

The victory was short lived as the tie-fighter, and presumably, the two ground troopers, called for more reinforcements, and they had arrived. Riggeth and Kallus watched helplessly as Rex was swarmed by more tie-fighters, and forced to leave them with no chance of coming back anytime soon. Riggeth pushed the crate out of harm's way, and hoped that the empire wouldn't try to pull a large sweep of the grasslands and discover them.

"That box was the only thing we had to contact the others, and now it's broken! Rex gave me one simple task, and I couldn't even do that! He shouldn't have put that much faith in me." Kallus growled in anguish. He didn't mean for that last sentence to come out, but it did, and Riggeth heard it loud and clear.

"It could be worse. You could switch sides right now and give away our position." Riggeth shrugged as he pushed the crate between both rock formations, in perfect cover over the casting shadows and long grass. He even piled up some dirt over it to conceal it better. Kallus' arms slacked to either side of him, unamused by Riggeth's sarcasm.

"This is serious, I need to get it back with all the pieces." Kallus said, looking back to where they left it.

"Not worth risking the mission for." Riggeth said, simply.

"It's the only thing that will help us find the others!" Kallus argued, but Riggeth paid him no mind.

"We'll need to keep moving. Rex landed us quite a bit a ways from what i'm guessing is a city. We already caught the attention of a few imperials, so we can't be too far off. Maybe some occupation held somewhere close by? Either way, we can go there tonight, and we can use their communication system to our own advantage, okay?" Riggeth said. There were barely a few minutes on land, and it seemed like Riggeth was in complete control of the mission now.

Still, Kallus found it hard to believe that breaking into an imperial occupied area was somehow easier than repairing a broken transmitter box just a few paces away. He wasn't about to argue again. He was sure whatever solution he came up with, Riggeth would shrug it off, and he'd have to do it on his own. Besides, he hadn't the tools to repair it, and he wasn't much of a mechanic. So, he'd go with Riggeth's plan for now.

Despite this being the one situation Kallus dreaded the entire trip, being alone with Riggeth in a secluded area, he was surprised that Riggeth didn't even attempt to strike conversation as they waited for the excitement of the fire fight to die down. Kallus stood in the middle of the clearing, the center of the rock cluster, while Riggeth leaned against one of the rocks, twitching an ear whenever the faintest noise could be heard. Kallus thought back to Rex, hoping he made it out, maybe even got rid of the tie-fighters that were chasing him. He didn't want to disappoint the man by wasting their one chance at victory because he hadn't held on tight enough. He thought he ruined that chance back with the transmitter box, if not with the help of Riggeth's quick observational skills. In a time like this, it was hard to tell if Kallus would have made that same assessment, but he had been so far off his game, he couldn't even decide that for himself, though he liked to think he would have.

He noticed Riggeth's ears perk and turn his head. Who knew the smallest motion could make him feel so much unease? The Lasat moved like a feral animal, moving slowly as if he was hunting. Kallus didn't feel like moving and disrupting his motion, so he stayed still, wondering what had caught the hunter's eye.

The two ground troopers from before were exploring the area that the Ghost mysteriously had slowed down around. They had a suspicion as to why the infamous ship would come here, after Hera Syndulla had been captured. Riggeth noticed them rifling through the remains of the transmitter box. He tensed when he saw one of the troopers motion a hand to the commlink on their arm, and acted quickly. He pulled the blaster rifle from behind his shoulder and shot the trooper through the head in one clean shot. The other trooper watched in shock as the body of his comrade fell over motionless. His following movements were clumsy, acting like a sitting duck, giving Riggeth enough time to shoot him through the chest. A few seconds of life left, and he was gone. Neither had been able to act quick enough, or even ask for help.

Riggeth lowered his weapon with a smile, but it quickly faded as he realized they would catch more attention if the bodies were to lay there. He went back to Kallus and tilted his head. The silent gesture was clear enough for Kallus, as he followed him through the rock forms' clearing, in view of the freshly killed bodies of two stormtroopers. The image brought back a memory he had tried suppressing for many years. There was a hint of irony, helping the Lasat he sought revenge after, help kill more stormtroopers. He forced himself not to think too much about the fact.

Riggeth and Kallus pulled the bodies away, and hid them inside their hideout, along with the broken bits of the transmitter box, providing Kallus with enough proof that it was broken beyond his control. Even the buttons and knobs were ruined. He'd have to pay Rex back with a better one later.

Kallus avoided looking at the piled bodies shoved clumsily away from view. He wandered how long until they were discovered? If it was anything like with what his time after Bahryn was like, they'd likely be left alone for days, maybe weeks. It was a depressing thought, but he couldn't let that risk his friends' survival. He tensed at the screaming of a lone tie fighter going past them, but it didn't seem to notice their position. Riggeth shared a look with him. It had given the Lasat enough leeway into setting up their next conversation, even when Kallus quickly averted his eyes.

"What is the Ghost crew like?" He asked, stepping closer to him and leaning beside him. Kallus tried his best not to look like he minded how close he was, but even years of training could not keep him from keeping his eyes focused anywhere else besides Riggeth's intense yellow gaze.

"Everything you'd want a rebellion to be...minus some immaturity…" Kallus spoke honestly, speaking mostly of Ezra. Despite the flaws, they worked really well as a team, in a dynamic he was very unfamiliar with. He had often wondered before how any of them could possibly win a battle, but it was the heart of the "family" that kept them going. The Empire was cold, but the Rebellion was warm. If they had a chance against this war, why shouldn't they win? He had wished he had tried better for them, understood them, before they left.

"Immaturity huh? By who? Wait, let me guess….little blue-haired brat right?" Riggeth asked.

Kallus didn't think it'd take more than just Ezra's photo to prove he was a bit of child nuisance. At Least, that's what he believed when he first met the boy. Some of him was still there now, but now he had shown some development overtime, if not a little.

"You'd be right...he still has a lot to learn." Kallus sighed, thinking about a few of Ezra's naive statements when some of the Rebellion's most important figures were gathered to discuss battle tactics and rescue missions. He hoped now that he'd get to hear more of Ezra's "naive" talk very soon. He'd never make fun of the crew again if they made it out alive, that's for sure.

Riggeth chuckled.

"He sounds like a good character. What about that colorful mando girl, or that pony-tail guy?" Riggeth asked, hoping to get more out of Kallus. He felt very ill-equipped to tell him about the others. He didn't know them well enough. They didn't really see him as a close friend either. Rex was closer, and could tell more stories about them. He tried his best anyway, to give them justice.

"She's Sabine Wren, one of the most threatening mandalorians you'd ever meet, and then there is Kanan Jarrus. He's Ezra's teacher. They're both Jedi." Kallus expected a bigger reaction out of Riggeth, but it seemed like he heard a couple stories, perhaps even about the Ghost crew. He simply nodded his head with a knowing smile.

"I knew that. Saw told me all about the little get-together he had with them. Quite the group I must say."

Kallus eyed him strangely. Why had Riggeth acted like he didn't know any of them, when he had known enough from Saw that Ezra and Kanan were Jedi? He was sure Saw wouldn't skip over those kinds of details to Riggeth, but again, he didn't know either of them that well to assume anything.

"Anyway, I was trying to set you up to talking about Zeb. Tell me about him, what's he like?" Riggeth asked, ears perked forward with visible interest. His looming figure was overwhelming to Kallus, and he had to take a step back, as if he couldn't think clearly being that close to him.

"He's brave, uh, strong. He's always ready for a fight, rarely second-guessing." Kallus began listing anything that came to mind about Zeb. It was all true of course. He was a powerful ally and opponent. He was sure he'd have thought of those attributes before when he was an imperial. Riggeth nodded slowly, then looked up to the sky, then back at Kallus.

"Did he tell ya where he's from? Where he came to be at all?"

It was a strange question, but Kallus answered anyway.

"It was Lasan...he was a guardsman there I believe."

Riggeth took a step back from Kallus and nodded, as if he was confirming to himself an internal question he had.

"That's cool." He placed his hands on his hips and turned his back on Kallus, working towards hiding the crate again, adding more dirt and making it invisible to passerbys.

Kallus, in an unexpected moment of courage, decided to ask Riggeth his own personal question.

"Did you come from Lasan?"

His question was met with silence, and Riggeth had paused before turning to Kallus with a amusing look on his face. Kallus read him as intrigued by the question, and maybe at him even asking a question at all. He didn't know if the next words to come out of his mouth were to be the lie, or the truth.

Riggeth spared him his teasing, and answered him clearly. "Yes I was. Then I moved off world by some trader's ship, and began selling my skills to anyone that would pay for me to use them." He emphasized his last sentence by pulling his gun from behind his back and gripping it in front of Kallus with a show of force.

Kallus swallowed. He only continued to ask another question when he was completely sure Riggeth wouldn't outright shoot him where he was standing..

"Who were you on Lasan?"

This question, Riggeth found a bit more difficult to answer.