Hello! I hope you like this chapter!
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Chapter 6 - Insurgents
Kanan and Ezra walked through the Lothal field back to the Ghost. Kanan walked in front with a bit more power and holding the data chips in his hands. He wanted nothing more than to get back to the ship and figure out what this man was after.
However, Ezra walked a bit behind, his arms folded. Thoughts were racing through his mind faster with each step he took towards the Ghost. The bounty hunter that had terrorized him for years was still alive, hunting for this data chip. And now, if Kanan and the crew read the information on the data chip, then they would all be in danger.
He was already responsible for his parent's death. It was his ability in the force that made them speak up, and his ability in the force that got them killed. He could not handle being responsible for the crew's pain, not after how nice they had been to him.
"Something on your mind?" Kanan asked, the question cutting through the silence.
"What, you're not probing my mind?" Ezra snapped. He was not in the mood to talk with Kanan about this. He was already mentally exhausted from everything, and now physically as well from the long journey.
"I told you Ezra, I can only sense strong emotions. You can sense the same with me."
"Yeah, I realized that when you were captured," Ezra answered sulkily.
"Yeah, Hera told me," Kanan responded. "And right now you're emitting despair and regret. So, what's on your mind?"
"Nothing." Ezra turned his head away, unable to look his teacher in the eye after the blatant lie. Silence refilled the air as they continued on. A few minutes later, Kanan spoke up.
"When you first joined us, I was proud to take you on as my padawan. But when I realized what that meant, I put off your training because I had no clue where to start. I saw a lot of myself in you, and since I hadn't even dealt with my own problems, I had no clue how to help you with yours." Kanan's words cleared Ezra's mind as he listened intently. "So… what I'm trying to say is, I… I'm sorry, that I didn't find you sooner, and that I'm not always the best Jedi master. Heck, I never even finished my training. But I promise I'm going to make sure that you finish yours."
Ezra was stunned. He took a moment to take in Kanan's words before answering.
"Kanan, it's not your fault that I was alone. And it's not your fault that this bounty hunter came after me. Yeah, I guess you could say I went through a lot. But…" Ezra sighed, coming to the realization as he spoke. "It doesn't really matter how we got here, just that we're here now, right?" Ezra looked up for reassurance, and found Kanan's soft smile. "And it doesn't matter to me that you never finished. You're… you're a good teacher."
Ezra took a deep breath, the calm replacing the despair that had overtaken him only a few moments ago. Kanan's arm wrapped around his shoulder and he pulled him in for a bit of an awkward side hug.
"And you're a good student. Even if you still fidget too much when meditating," Kanan teased.
"Hey, that's not my fault – the floor is really uncomfortable!" Ezra argued. Kanan only laughed.
They were still smiling when they walked up the grassy hill. But upon reaching the top, their laughter fell short. Below them was the Ghost, in the same position as before. But that was not the troublesome sight. On the extended ramp was Zeb, lying face down, arms spread above his head. Next to him lied Chopper, powered down.
Kanan and Ezra exchanged a worried glance before rushing forward.
Ezra dropped to his knees next to Zeb, staring down at his body in horror. He placed his hand on his neck, praying to the force that he would find one.
The steady, but slow, beat could be felt, and Ezra let out the breath he was holding. He looked up at Kanan, his glance saying it all.
"Stay here," he ordered, before rushing into the ship. Ezra, for once, had no intention of going against that order. Whoever had done this knew what they were doing.
Kanan raced through the hallways, his blaster drawn and his senses outstretched. He sensed Sabine in her cabin, but like Zeb's presence, it was dulled. She must be unconscious as well.
He then reached out for Hera, and could sense her fear. Expanding his horizons, he felt another presence with her in the cockpit. And it was the same presence that he felt at the Market.
Racing through the cockpit doors, he stopped dead in his tracks. There stood Hera, her arms stretched up and her eyes narrowed, despite the fear he saw in them. Across from her stood the bounty hunter, his black mask reflecting Hera's face.
"Where is it!" the man shouted, pointing his blaster even closer to Hera. She opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of the door opening turned his attention to Kanan.
"Stay away from her," he threatened, his lightsaber ignited. The man took only a brief moment to realize that he was outgunned. Turning, he shot at Kanan, whose blade deflected the shots back at the man. However, the bounty hunter was in motion, and the shots short circuited the co-pilots control panel. Having successfully distracted Kanan, the man jumped down the hatch that led to the ramp.
Kanan turned to Hera, who had thrown herself to the ground for protection.
"I'm alright. Go!" She shouted. With a nod, Kanan whipped around and jumped down after the bounty hunter. Landing on the ground, he stood up with his weapon drawn, expecting a fight. But instead, he saw Zeb and Chopper, still unconscious on the open ramp.
"Ezra!" Kanan yelled, realizing that the teenager was nowhere in sight. A brief moment of pure terror passed before he heard a small groan.
"Here," he responded, climbing up from under the ramp.
"Ezra," Kanan repeated, rushing towards him. "Are you alright? What happened?" He helped Ezra to stand and gently lead him up the ramp, sliding him down next to Zeb, who moaned a bit as he was coming to.
"I dodged his blaster shot and fell off the ramp. Then I rolled under it so he couldn't shoot me again," Ezra explained, rubbing his head. "I may have also hit my head on a rock, but I can't really remember."
"Ugh… wha' happened?" Zeb's gruff voice asked, as he rubbed his own head and sat up.
"The bounty hunter found us." Zeb's eyes snapped to attention.
"What? Why, when I get my hands on 'im…" Zeb threatened. Ezra bit his lip, surprised that Zeb's anger was at the man and not at him.
"Is everyone okay?" Hera asked, stepping off of the last bar of the ladder.
"Yeah, I think so," Kanan answered. The door above the small hanger opened and out stepped Sabine, looking just about as angry as Zeb.
"How did he find us?" She questioned. "There's no way he can be that good." Silence filled the air as each crew member pondered the question.
"If there's one thing I learned over the years," Ezra said, his voice at a whisper yet audible to everyone, "It's that he's capable of anything."
The crew sat in stunned silence once more as it finally sank in how dangerous this man truly was. Ezra fidgeted on the ground, picking up flecks of dirt and placing them in a small pile.
"Well," Kanan said, taking a deep breath. "I think it's time to see what's on these data chips."
While Hera was rebooting Chopper and Zeb eating waffles, Ezra, Kanan, and Sabine sat on the red couch. The Jedi and Jedi-in-training watched as she fiddled with the wiring of the holo-table. Kanan held the three data chips in his hands, studying them as if they would give him the answers they needed. Ezra, however, picked at a loose thread of his new shirt, which had already begun to tear.
"That should do it!" Sabine said, pulling herself up from underneath the table. "Shove the first one in."
Kanan obliged, and before them appeared a screen that showed an image of an Imperial cruiser.
"Woah, this details the stations of the bucket heads inside. That could be useful," Kanan said. Sabine shook her head.
"Yeah, it would have been… five years ago. The Empire changes their protocols every Galactic year. Put the next one in."
Kanan did so, and the next image that appeared before them was far more interesting.
"Woah, that's the thing Tseebo had," Ezra noticed.
"Yeah, it looks like it. But I doubt the Empire would send a bounty hunter after this."
"Third times a charm," Kanan said, placing the last data chip into the port. The image appeared before them. They stared at it for a few moments in silence, before Sabine spoke.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah, it is," Kanan said solemnly.
"I had no clue that the Empire had that!" Sabine shouted, her voice a mix of shock and anger.
"Had what?" Ezra asked, and two pairs of eyes turned to him. Looking between them both, he shrugged his shoulders. "How am I supposed to know what it says?" Sabine's face grew sad, while Kanan's grew surprised. However, he shook it off, and explained.
"This data chip holds the location of a detention center that seems to still be in operation."
"You mean a prison?" Ezra questioned. Kanan nodded his head. "Who gets sent there?"
"Insurgents of the Empire." Upon seeing Ezra's confused look, he clarified. "People like us. Rebels."
"So basically what you're saying is… there's a whole base of people who stood up to the Empire, who'd be more than willing to join our cause?"
"Yep," Kanan answered.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ezra asked. "Let's go save them!"
"Normally, I would be all on board. But there's only one major problem with that," Sabine remarked. "This building has four cruisers stationed around the moon's planet, and two cruisers stationed on the planet. I hate to be negative, but there is no way that the six of us can even make it to the prison, much less rescue the insurgents."
A moment of silence passed over them.
"Well," Kanan said, the deviousness back in his voice. "It's a good thing that there aren't just five of us."
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R & R
~ Kavella ~