Galactic date: 3 February, 1 BBY

Location: Garel

Ezra was running after Cody. After a long search, one of the patrols finally had eyes on the evasive commander. Now, he has to capture him before he could send a distress signal to the whole imperial armada. He pulled out his twin pistols and started firing at him, followed by his partner Ordo. The commander was agile, though, and managed to avoid every bolt flying towards him.

"He's headed for the spaceport! We have to stop him now!" Shouted Ezra. "Too late! They're here!" Ordo pointed at the stormtroopers on the top of the buildings. Soon, dozens of red blaster bolts hurtled towards the two, what made things worse was the radio chatter that came seconds later. "This is Delta 1! We've got Bucketheads surrounding our cruiser! Where the hell are you?"

"Just hang in there! Reinforcements are on their way!" Ezra then ordered a quarter of the clones to head back to the ship and buy them time to lift off. "We're still in pursuit! If you don't think you can hold them off, leave us here!" He yelled as he wall-rided around the corner and got a clean shot at Cody, startling the civilians around. He ducked behind a crate and returned fire, but was caught off guard when Ezra ignited his lightsaber and deflected every last bolt.

Ordo, who was behind Ezra, managed to score a lucky hit on Cody's arm. He grunted and got back on his feet. Ezra ran out of the alley and into open ground, only to find himself surrounded by hundreds of stormtroopers. Moments later, Ezra was caught in a rain of blaster fire, forcing him to abort his mission and retreat into the alley. "All units, this is Spectre 6, mission abort. Get back to the Nexus Claw ASAP." Ordered Ezra.

After multiple skirmishes with the stormtroopers, the two finally managed to make their way back to the ship, or unfortunately, what's left of it. The rest of the clones were pinned just below the wreckage, with several clones lying behind them. Ezra quickly dashed to the nearest stormtrooper and cut him in half, along with several other stormtroopers with him. He hopped from one spot to another, making it very difficult for the Imps to gun him down.

Ordo managed to sneak by the crowd while Ezra was unleashing his killing spree not far away. He legged it back to the circle and started picking off stormtroopers from all directions. Walkers and transports were joining the fight and was tearing the clones apart. "We can't hold them off forever! We have to break through!" Shouted Rex. "I don't think that's necessary anymore, captain!" A trooper pointed at a Corellian VCX overhead. Its turrets rotated and unloaded a cluster of cannon rounds and rockets into the walkers and the stormtroopers below.

The ramp of the Ghost lowered, and a hooded figure with a darksabre leaped out and cut down the remaining stormtroopers. Ezra and the clones watched in awe as the stormtroopers fell one by one. After the last of the imperials was dead, the figure extinguished the darksabre and walked towards Ezra. To his surprise, the figure threw his arms around him, or more like, her arms. Both of them were lost for words, and it stayed that way for a long time, until Ezra finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry." He whispered. The figure pushed him back slightly and removed her T-shaped helmet. "Don't be." Their lips slowly made contact, giving them a pleasure they haven't had for a long, long time.

A while later...

The Kanera hovered above the space of Garel, waiting for the return of the Ghost. Kanan, Zeb, and several clones and officers stood in the hangar, waiting anxiously for good news from the surface. Eventually, the Ghost emerged ahead of the ship, and sped towards its hangar for a landing. The ramp of the shuttle was lowered, and everyone walked out with a rather exhausted face. Ezra held his helmet in his arms, and approached the hulking Lasat. "Never thought I'd do this for anything." Zeb gave Ezra a squeezing hug that almost crushed his bones. "Good to see you too. Big guy."

"Master." He continued as he walked towards Kanan. "It's good to see you." Kanan placed his prosthetic arm on his shoulder. "I never liked clones in my life. But I'm glad you saved those men. For that, I'm proud of you." He gave his apprentice a nod and everyone headed back to their quarters for some much needed rest.

A month later...

Ezra was having a meeting in the bridge of the Kanera. He and the other commanders of Phoenix squadron were gathered around a hologram. With the imperial commandos in custody on Alderaan, the crew can now focus their efforts on their new task: to return to Lothal. "So far, we've been hitting the Empire's extremities on Lothal. It cripples them, but it never lasts." Kanan pointed out.

"From my experience, the best way to take a planet is to rally the support of its people. My young friend here proved it on Mandalore." Said Kal. Ezra ran a finger down his chin and chimed in. "Kanan, you still remember the reason we had to leave Lothal?" Kanan stared at him, believing that his apprentice is working on an idea. "The Empire framed us for the murder of minister Tua, am I wrong?"

"Exactly." Replied Ezra. "She has quite a lot of fans, right? I'm thinking, if we can prove the Empire was behind her assassination, the people would turn against them." He continued. "That's easier said than done general, we don't even know if they have ANY paperwork about it." Sato argued, but he had to agree when Ahsoka displayed an image of a bounty hunter on the hologram. "Trayvis. He's the key. He knows about every imperial operation on Lothal, or at least he knows where to get it."

"How did you know this?" Kanan asked in confusion. "Starkiller. He told me when he was meditating." Replied Ahsoka. The crew looked at each other in agreement, knowing this is probably the only way. "So how do we even get close to him?" Asked Ezra. "That's where you and your friend will come in. Trayvis has plenty of hired guns, including Boba Fett. Hunter, playboy, that kind of thing."

"Right, then I got something we could use." Sato finished Kal's sentence and switched the image on the hologram to a building. "This Boba Fett is holding a dance party on Naboo. If you can get inside and finesse Trayvis' location out of him, it would make our job a hell of a lot easier."

"I'll be coming with you, just in case. It's 18 hours from now, so get some rest and be ready. May the force be with you." Said Kanan.