Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars Rebels that goes to Disney, Lucasfilm and Dave Filoni.
On the planet Ryloth, Hera's father, Cham Syndulla and Numa were riding two beasts that were two-legged, reptilian and non-sentient called Blurrgs through one of the planet's deserts with scout troopers riding speeder bikes and an Imperial troop transport chasing the two Twi'leks.
"How did they find us?" Numa asked Cham.
"The Empire is getting better at anticipating our moves," he told her.
"This will slow them down," Numa said before throwing a Thermal detonator backwards, colliding with the speeder behind the ones that were behind the Twi'leks and in front of the Imperial troop transport, destroying the speeder bike as the other two speeder bikes moved out of the way as one of the remnants of the destroyed speeder bike collided with the Imperial troop transport before the scout troopers moved back behind the Twi'leks and started firing their speeders' blaster cannons at them as Numa pulled out her DC-17 blaster pistol and began to fire it back at the scout troopers with it.
"Gobi, Howzer, Khan, where are the three of you?" Cham asked as he took out his comlink, "We need a pickup now!"
"We are not far from the Tarula Ravine," Numa informed him, "We can lose them in the maze."
"No good. Gobi and the clones said they mined the pass," Cham told her and within seconds of saying that, one of the lasers from the scout troopers' speeder bikes hit the Blurrg that Numa was riding before Cham strafed his Blurrg towards the speeder bike next to him as the scout trooper began firing their blaster pistol at Numa before Cham's Blurrg pushed the scout trooper and their speeder bike towards Numa and her Blurrg as her Blurrg tried biting the speeder bike's guns, only for the scout trooper to move their speeder bike away from the Blurrg for a second before the Blurrg ripped off the speeder's gun and threw the scout trooper and speeder bike backwards, causing the scout trooper to fall off their speeder bike as it landed backwards in the distance from the Twi'leks near the final scout trooper who moved out of the way of the other speeder bike as it flew towards them before they fired their speeder bike's blaster cannons at the Twi'leks again.
"Father, don't worry. We're closing in on your position," Cham suddenly heard his daughter say on his comlink.
"Hera, is that you?" He asked her, "Good timing. We are running out of room."
"We are coming in from the north," Hera told him as the Ghost appeared in the sky in the distance away from him and Numa.
"There's no time for you to land," he told her.
"We're not landing. Head south," Hera said from the Ghost as Kanan sat next to her in the co-pilot's seat, while Gobi sat behind him and Howzer sitting behind her with his helmet under his arm, while Khan was in the common room and Spinner was off-world helping the rebels on another planet.
"Hera, there is no time," Cham protested on the Ghost's comm system.
"Just turn around! We'll take care of the Empire," Hera reassured her father.
"Is she serious?" Numa asked Cham as both Twi'leks stopped their Blurrgs at the edge of a cliff.
"My daughter is always serious," Cham scoffed.
"Ha. Runs in the family," Numa said before Cham exclaimed as he whipped it forward as Numa did the same, heading back towards the Imperials.
Another scout trooper appeared from behind the Imperial troop transport on a speeder bike flew past the Imperial troop transport and skidded to a stop in front of the Imperial troop transport and pulled out his blaster pistol and aimed it at the Twi'leks as he saw that they were approaching them along with the Ghost, "Rebel transport incoming. Shoot it down!" With that both he and the Imperial troop transport began firing at them with their blaster pistol, forward laser guns and dorsal laser turrets at them with the Twi'leks on the Blurrgs firing back at them as Satele, who was in the Ghost's nose gun began shooting at the Imperials, destroying the Imperial troop transport before the blurrgs jumped on and ran over the destroyed transport, while the scout trooper began to follow them on his speeder bike.
"Hera, how did you plan on getting us onboard?" Cham asked his daughter, contacting her with his comlink as he and Numa rode their Blurrgs underneath the front of the Ghost.
"I'm lowering the front ramp," Hera explained, "Just jump on."
"With the Blurrgs?" He asked her on the Ghost's comm system.
"Yep. Blurrgs are welcome, too," she answered.
As she said that, the Ghost's ramp lowered behind Cham and Numa as they slowly backed into the ship with the Blurrgs as the scout trooper did the same and jumped off his speeder bike, aiming his blaster pistol at them as he saw the Twi'leks and Zeb standing on the floor of the cargo bay with Satele standing on the catwalk above them, "Ha!" Only for Zeb, Cham and Numa to aim their weapons at him.
"You didn't think that through did you?" Zeb asked him.
"Uh…" the scout trooper said, not sure how to respond to the Lasat.
"Hey, Satele, what do you think we should do with him?" Zeb asked Satele.
"I think we should throw him out after we get away from the Imperials," the Mandalorian answered.
"We're gonna throw you out after we escape from being chased by your comrades and Empire," Zeb said, approaching the scout trooper and placed his bo-rifle on his back before punching him in the helmet, knocking him out, "Sorry."
Zeb, Cham, Chopper, Howzer, Khan, Satele and Sabine, who had dyed her hair back to being light pinkish violet with dark purple at the tips, while Gobi and Numa sat around the holotable after they disposed of the scout trooper after escaping the Empire as Kanan and Hera entered the room as both Hera and Cham hugged each other.
"You arrived just in time," Cham told his daughter as they stopped hugging and placed his hands on both of her shoulders, "Thank you for making this supply run."
"It wasn't easy getting past that Imperial blockade," Hera told him as he removed his hands from his daughter's shoulders.
"Then I wish I had better news. The Imperials now occupy the entire Tann province," Cham informed his daughter, causing Hera to gasp in shock, while Chopper grunted as well.
"What's the Tann province?" Satele asked them.
"It's where Hera grew up," Kanan answered.
"And it's where me and my entire squad was assigned to when the Republic freed Ryloth from Separatist control," Howzer added.
"It was there, where me, Howzer, Spinner and most of our squad rebelled against the Imperials and their occupation of Ryloth," Khan told her.
"What happened, Father?" Hera asked her father.
"I underestimated the commander, Captain Slavin. His previous attacks were climsly, but this one was swift, precise, unlike him. He's made our home his headquarters," Cham explained to his daughter as he sat down on the couch around the holotable, "I'm afraid I couldn't save anything when I escaped."
"Not even the Kalikori?" She asked as she bent down in front of him.
"What's a Kalikori?" Satele asked them.
"A totem passed down the line of a Twi'lek family. It honors all who have come before," Numa explained to the Mandalorian.
"Each parent adds to the artwork to include themselves in the legacy," Gobi added.
"Hmm. Family history as living art," Sabine mused.
"Yeah, you're right, Sabine, that's a good concept that Twi'leks do," Satele said, agreeing with her sister before turning back to the others, "Besides our people hand our armor to our descendents after we pass away and reforge them to our liking. My armor is about 300 years old and was passed down to me after our grandmother, Satine passed away, while Sabine's is about 500 years old and was passed down to her after our great-grandmother, who she was named after, passed away."
"Hera would have inherited our family's Kalikori," Cham added.
"And I still will," Hera told him, "That heirloom was important to my mother. And I'm not ready to give it up yet."
"Howzer, Khan, Gobi, Numa and I are coming with you," Cham told his daughter as Gobi and Numa stood back up.
"We'll help, too," Sabine told her.
"This wasn't meant to be a personal mission," Hera said as she stood back up, "I can't let you take this risk with me."
"You'd do it for us," Kanan reminded her.
"Because we owe you," Zeb added as Chopper grunted a response in agreement as Sabine placed both of her hands over her hips.
"Come daughter," Cham said, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulder again, "I'll brief you on Captain Slavin's defenses."
"All right, Chop, you'll sneak in with me here," Hera told Chopper as he projected an image of the Tann province and and her childhood home with his holoprojector as Cham and Sabine stood next to them with her arms crossed, while he had his hands over his hips as they stood inside a storage room within the Ghost, "The rest of you will work on a diversion to draw the troops away."
"Done. But there are few of our people left in the Tann province," Cham said, agreeing with his daughter's plan as Chopper switched off his holoprojector as Hera placed one of her hands over her hip, "Getting you in unnoticed won't be easy."
"They might notice her, but they won't notice me," Satele suddenly said as she walked through the door to the storage room and they saw her wearing her scout trooper armor instead of her Mandalorian one with its helmet's visor flipped up as well as her hair being dyed from purple and yellow to black before flipping the helmet's visor down over her face.
Later at the Tulara Ravine, an Imperial troop transport and an AT-DP were patrolling the area with three stormtroopers leading them with AT-DP having a searchlight on as Zeb, Kanan, Howzer and Khan were hiding behind a boulder with both clones having their helmets over their heads as well as their dual DC-17s in their hands as Zeb held his bo-rifle in his arms nearby as Hera and Satele were sitting on an Imperial speeder bike behind them while Cham and Gobi sat on Blurrgs from a distance away with more Blurrgs behind them as Sabine and Numa were standing on a cliff above them with Sabine having her helmet over her head.
"Here comes the patrol," Zeb said as he moved towards Kanan, Howzer, Khan, Hera and Satele.
"You two wait here until we draw them away," Kanan told Hera and Satele before the Mandalorian flipped her scout trooper helmet's visor back down, "Then you can slip by."
With that said, Zeb gave Cham and Gobi a thumbs up before Cham nodded before holding up two of his fingers up, sending Numa and Sabine a signal before Numa flashed a signal back at them.
"Okay, first time trying this," Sabine said as she sighed and waved her hand out towards the Imperials, "You are patrolling the wrong area."
"We are patrolling the wrong area," one of the stormtroopers said, repeating what the Mandalorian said as her Jedi Mind Trick worked on the stormtrooper.
"You should get to where you're supposed to be patrolling," Sabine said, using another Jedi Mind Trick on the stormtrooper.
"We should get to where we're supposed to be patrolling," the stormtrooper said, repeating what she said.
"Go to where you're supposed to be patrolling," she said, finishing her Jedi Mind Trick on them.
"Let's get to where we're supposed to be patrolling," the stormtrooper said as he, the other stormtroopers, AT-DP and the Imperial troop transport began to head back the other way as Cham and Gobi fired their blasters at the Imperials as they rode their Blurrgs and the ones behind the ones they were riding forward with one of the blaster bolts hitting one of the retreating stormtroopers in the helmet, killing them instantly. The stormtroopers, Imperial troop transports and the AT-DP drivers suddenly broke free from Sabine's Jedi Mind Trick as they turned back around and hegan firing back at them as Sabine pulled out a detonator activator and clicked the button, causing the detonators that were placed on the boulders around the ravine began to beep before activating as paint colored smoke appeared out from the detonators.
Kanan ignited his lightsaber as he, Zeb, Howzer and Khan ran out of hiding with Zeb firing his bo-rifle and the clones firing their DC-17s at the stormtroopers with Cham and Gobi doing the same as Numa and Sabine jumped down from the cliff above them with the Mandalorian grabbing her lightsaber from her armor's belt and igniting it as she began to deflect the stormtrooper's blaster bolts with her master as they along with Zeb and the clones hopped onto the other Blurrgs before fleeing from the Imperials on the Blurrgs before Sabine deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it back onto her armor's belt as Satele flew the speeder bike past the Imperials, heading towards Hera's childhood home.
"Well, we got their attention," Kanan said as they continued to flee from the stormtroopers, deflecting their blaster bolts with his lightsaber as he sat on the Blurrg behind Sabine.
"That's your home?" Satele asked Hera as she stopped the speeder on a cliff and flipped up her scout trooper helmet's visor back up and saw a city with the Tann province below them before looking back at the Twi'lek, "It's beautiful."
"Yes," Hera said, agreeing with the Mandalorian, "Even more so before the Empire showed up." Satele then flipped her scout trooper helmet's visor back down before speeding down the cliff towards the city and stopped to a halt in front of a stormtrooper, who was guarding a gate that led to Hera's childhood home after Satele swapped places with Hera on the speeder in order to have Hera act as her prisoner.
"Hold it there," the stormtrooper said, approaching them, "Where did you find her?"
"I caught this rebel on patrol," Satele answered, putting on an Imperial accent after clearing her throat.
"Let me go, you Blurrg dropping!" Hera ordered as she spoke to them in her native Rylothian accent.
"Take the prisoner inside for processing. The transport will come pick her up later," the stormtrooper said, walking up to the side of the gate as Satele sped into the city with Hera acting as her prisoner on the speeder and soon stopped in front of her childhood home.
"The Empire's certainly made themselves at home," Hera muttered, bitterly as she switched her accent back to the one she's been using since she left Ryloth as they got up from the speeder before seeing Chopper in front of a nearly scavenged Y-wing with his paint scheme being colored with an Imperial color scheme as what Satele did before they went on with their plan, "Oh, there's Chopper." Chopper then grunted sadly at the Y-wing as he remembered the Y-wing and being shot down from inside of it during the battle of Ryloth during the Clone Wars, "Chopper. Chop!"
"What's with him?" Satele asked her, confused as to why he was sad.
"That Y-wing crashed here back in the Clone War, and my father left it as a memorial. It also happens to be the ship I pulled Chopper out of, so he still has issues with it. He'll be along," Hera explained to her before they entered the Syndulla residence with Satele having her scout trooper's blaster pistol aimed at Hera's back as they pretended that she was Satele's prisoner, "This way."
Satele and Hera soon exited a turbolift in the middle of a hallway with the Mandalorian aiming her scout trooper's blaster pistol to her side as a stormtrooper walked past them before Hera approached the panel to a door and unlocked the door with it before she entered the room with her signaling her to enter the room before she followed Hera into the room with the door closing behind her.
"This is it. My father's office," Hera said as she began searching the room for her Kalikori on a shelf as Satele flipped her helmet's visor back up after she placed her scout trooper's blaster pistol back in its holster as she walked around the room, "He said the Kalikori would be in here somewhere."
"Is that your mother?" Satele asked Hera as she saw a portrait of Cham, a younger Hera and a female Twi'lek with green eyes and skin in the back of the room.
"Yes, it is," Hera confirmed, "She was killed sometime after me, Chopper, a female clone named Omega and a batch of rogue clones with genetic mutations rescued her, my father and Gobi from an Imperial prison here after my mother and father rescued me from that senator, vice admiral and Imperial clone trooper I told you about after you and the others met my father and it was during rescuing them as to when Howzer and his squad got themselves arrested for standing up against the Empire's oppression to the people of Ryloth. Anyway, I'll give you one guess who the little girl beside her is." She then gasped as she saw her Kalikori near the bottom of the shelves she was searching, "Here it is!" She then grabbed it and touched one side of the Kalikori.
"Hmm. Well, that was easy," Satele told her.
"Ah, we're not out of this yet. Come on. Let's go," Hera said as she left the room with Satele following her after she flipped her scout trooper helmet's visor back down.
As Hera and Satele left the office, they reentered the entrance and hid behind one of the side walls as a pale skinned human male Imperial officer with blue eyes and black hair, who Satele and Hera knew was Slavin entered the Syndulla residence with Thrawn, who had his arms behind his back and a stormtrooper.
"Stand down. No one in or out," Slavin ordered the stormtrooper before turning to the Chiss as both Satele and Hera began to run back through the door they came from as Thrawn turned towards him, "Well, I have increased security per your orders, Grand Admiral, but I don't understand why. The rebel activity is far from here."
"It's closer than you think, Captain," Thrawn told Slavin, looking at the door to the turbolift as both Satele and Hera entered the turbolift with its door closing behind them.
"What's a Chiss doing here?" Satele asked herself, "I thought they were all extinct."
"May I ask, what's a Chiss?" Hera asked her.
"They're a blue skinned warrior species from the Unknown Regions," Satele explained, "They're all but a myth nowadays as the last reported sightings of them was about a few hundred years ago."
"Well, then it seems that the myth about them is true," Hera told her.
"It seems so," Satele said, knowing that she was correct, "Well, how are we gonna get out of here?"
"There's a secret exit on the lower level," Hera answered.
"Do you think they know about it?" Satele asked her.
"I doubt it. There was never a reason to come down here except to sneak a meiloorun from time to time,' Hera answered as the turbolift stopped and they both immediately ran out of the turbolift and opened the door across from the turbolift and gasped as she opened it as she saw that the room had been converted into a command center with an Imperial officer and stormtroopers inside the room before she immediately hid on the wall next to the door, "I've never seen so many gutkurrs down here before."
"I don't think they're down here for meilooruns," Satele told her before leaving the corridor and soon walked through a doorway to another corridor with Satele flipping her scout trooper helmet's visor back up as Chopper grunted as he waved at them with one of his metal arms from around the corner.
"Chopper!" Hera said, excitedly and bent down onto her knees as he approached her with her placing one of her hands on his dome as Satele bent down on her knees as well, "Am I glad to see you. We could use some help getting out of here." Chopper then grunted a response.
"Did we lose 'em?" Zeb asked Cham as they and the others were still riding on the Blurrgs with Cham sitting on the Blurrg next to him, "I think we finally lost 'em."
"Nobody knows this land as well as we do," Cham told the Lasat when suddenly spotlights flashed over them from behind and looked behind and saw an AT-DP flashing its spotlight at them with an Imperial troop transport and two stormtroopers, who began to open fire upon them.
"Looks like they're learning fast," Zeb muttered before whipping the Blurrg to make it go faster and soon the AT-DP fired upon the Blurrg that both Sabine and Kanan were riding, causing them to fall off the Blurrg before standing up as he reignited his lightsaber, while she grabbed her lightsaber from her armor's belt and reignited it as well as they began to deflect the stormtroopers' blaster bolts with them as Cham, Gobi, Numa, Howzer and Khan stopped the Blurrgs they were riding and turned them around.
"Gobi! Rocket launcher!" Cham ordered as he pulled out his modified DL-44 blaster pistol before riding his Blurrg forward towards the Imperials as he began firing his blaster back at the stormtroopers as Gobi rode his Bluurg next to him and hopped off his Blurrg as he grabbed a rocket launcher from his back and fired a rocket from it at the cliff above the AT-DP and the ravine, creating obstacles for the Imperials as one of the rocks from the cliff fell on top of one of the stormtroopers.
"That won't hold them off for long," Sabine said as she sighed.
"I suspect that you're right, Sabine," Howzer told the Mandalorian.
"Me too," Khan said, agreeing with Sabine and his superior officer.
"Cham, any word from Hera?" Kanan asked his girlfriend's father.
"No," Cham answered, "Something must have gone wrong." The Imperials then suddenly broke through the rocks within seconds of Cham saying that.
"We got to help her and Satele," Sabine told him as she deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it back onto her armor's belt.
"We will," Kanan reassured his Padawan as he deactivated his lightsaber as they began to flee from the Imperials as she hopped on Zeb's Blurrg with Zeb lifting her up, while Kanan hopped onto Numa's Blurrg as she did the same with Kanan, "Come on!"
"Chop was right. There are less guards here," Hera said as she saw two stormtroopers guarding the room with one of them standing in the center of the room and another next to a doorway at the other side of the room as she and Satele stood by the wall of the doorway they were standing at as Satele had her scout trooper helmet's visor flipped up with Chopper standing in the middle of the doorway.
"Well, I guess they're not expecting prisoners to just walk out the front door," Satele stated, "We need a diversion." Chopper then grunted a response as he pulled out one of his metal arms for a second before rolling towards the stormtroopers and pulled both of his metal arms out as he began grunting at the stormtroopers as Hera and Satele quietly sneaked behind one of the rooms walls as the stormtroopers began to approach the astromech.
"Is that thing talking to us?" One of the stormtroopers asked.
"Looks like it's malfunctioning," the other stormtrooper added.
"You go first. I'll keep you covered," Satele told Hera as they reached the other end of the wall that they were hiding behind, "I'll keep you covered." Hera began to sneak towards the door with Satele pulling out her scout trooper's blaster pistol and aimed it at the stormtroopers as Chopper continued to grunt at them with both of his metal arms out with Hera staring at the stormtroopers from behind for a second before turning towards the doorway and began to walk towards it as it slid open, she saw Thrawn and Slavin standing at the doorway.
"Out of the way, servant!" Slavin ordered Hera as if she were a slave.
"Uh-oh," Chopper grunted as he rolled away as Satele backed away behind the wall that she was standing behind as she placed her scout trooper's blaster pistol back in its holster.
"You are not permitted on these floors," Slavin scolded her, "I have told you people, restrict your movements to the kitchen."
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," Hera apologized in her native Rylothian accent, pretending to be a slave.
"Just a moment," Thrawn interjected, noticing Hera's Kalikori as she began to walk away from them, "Guards, bring her here." As the Chiss said that, Satele flipped her scout trooper helmet's visor back down and began to approach Hera as she began to pose as a scout trooper and pushed her towards him as the stormtroopers began to approach the Twi'lek as well, "May I see that?" She then handed him her Kalikori, "I'm a visitor to your world. It occurs to me it might be beneficial to hear what you have to say about our Imperial occupation."
"I don't think I could be of any help to you," Hera said, still using her native Rylothian accent.
"Oh, I disagree," Thrawn stated as he walked past them, "Bring her to your office for questioning."
"Please! I am a poor refugee," Hera lied, pleading with Thrawn and Slavin as she was thrown onto a chair in what used to be her father's office and was now Slavin's office in front of the portrait of her parents and her from when she was a child with Thrawn and Slavin standing in front of her, while Satele continued to pose as a scout trooper as she stood nearby in front of a wall near Hera.
"Captain, do you recognize this?" Thrawn asked Slavin as he handed him the Kalikori.
"Yes, it, it was here, in my office," Slavin answered as he grabbed the Kalikori from the Grand Admiral as he turned to Hera.
"I thought I could sell it for food," Hera lied, "My family is starving."
"No excuse," Slavin snarled, "You shall make a valuable example to others of your kind who think to steal from the Empire."
"She's far more valuable than you realize," Thrawn stated as Slavin handed the Kalikori back to him before the Chiss began to walk forward.
"Uh… How do you mean?" Slavin asked the Chiss Grand Admiral.
"To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art," Thrawn began to explain as he walked around ahera before staring at the portrait of her as a child as well as her parents before looking back at Slavin, "So, I will ask you again, Captain, do you know what this is?"
"Some primitive native trinket," Slavin answered, not thinking much of the Kalikori that Thrawn was holding.
"It's a Kalikori," Thrawn explained to him, causing Hera to widen her eyes, "A revered Twi'lek heirloom passed from parent to child through generations. Worthless to outsiders, priceless to family."
"Yes. Well, she stole it," Slavin reminded the Chiss.
"Yes, but why?" Thrawn asked as he turned back towards Hera, "War. It's all you ever known, isn't it? You were so young when you survived the Clone War. No wonder you're as equipped in spirit to fight as well as you do." The Chiss then walked past her, "War is in your blood. I study the art of war, work to perfect it." He then leaned down a bit behind Hera, "But you… You were forged by it."
"Sir, she's just a peasant," Slavin said with confusion.
"It doesn't matter where we come from, Admiral. Our will to be free is what's going to beat you," Hera remarked, bitterly as she switched her accent back to the one she's been using since she left Ryloth.
"You… You dare…" Slavin started to spat out at her in outrage.
"Slavin, please. You embarrass me in front of our host," Thrawn scolded him.
"Host? What?" Slavin repeated with confusion in his voice.
"May I introduce Hera Syndulla, rebel pilot, freedom fighter and military leader," Thrawn explained, gesturing to the portrait behind them, "Daughter of your nemesis, Cham Syndulla." Satele then went to grab her scout trooper's blaster pistol, only for Thrawn to fire a stun blast at her with a blaster of his own as she groaned and slumped to the floor on her stomach, causing Hera to gasp.
"How did you know?" Slavin asked Thrawn, confused on how he knew the scout trooper was a rebel, who was posing as an Imperial trooper as Thrawn placed his hand on the back of the chair Hera was sitting on after he placed his blaster back in his tunic's holster.
"Because rebels have friends always rushing to the rescue," Thrawn explained.
A while later, a stormtrooper pushed Hera into a cell, knocking her to the cell's floor as she dragged Satele with her, who had her scout trooper helmet taken off.
"An unexpected pleasure to meet you, Captain Hera Syndulla," Thrawn told Hera as he stood in the cell's doorway with Slavin.
"Wish I could say the same, Admiral," Hera retorted, bitterly towards the Chiss as she sighed.
"It is a pity our first encounter might well be our last," Thrawn told her as he moved one of his hands from his back as he was still holding her Kalikori in his hands, "I will keep your Kalikori in a place of honor."
"If I knew you'd take it, I would've smashed it when I had the chance," Hera spat at him.
"You surprise me. Is your history worth so little to you?" Thrawn asked her as the stormtrooper next to him grabbed the Kalikori and placed it inside a container he was carrying before walking away.
"My family legacy belongs to us alone," Hera explained as she stood up, "It's not for some collector's curiosity."
"What did you say?!" Slavin asked her with anger in his voice.
"Forgive him. I thank you for your hospitality," Thrawn said before leaving the cell's door as it closed shut as he walked with Slavin, "Have the Kalikori transported to my ship."
"We should just destroy that piece of Twi'lek trash," Slavin suggested, causing Thrawn to lose his temper and grab him by the collar as he widened his eyes in fear.
"My apologies, Captain Slavin," Thrawn apologized, brushing the shoulder of Slavin's tunic off with his hand, "I forgot not everyone is able to appreciate art as I do. Now, if you excuse me, I'm conducting an experiment that requires my attention. I leave it to your command to finish the job."
"And so I shall," Slavin assured him as Thrawn left him.
"Mmm. Ah, what'd I miss?" Satele asked Hera as she placed her hand to the side of her head for a second as she regained consciousness from the stun blast that Thrawn stunned her with as Hera banged on the door before stopping as she turned around towards the Mandalorian.
Back at the Tulara Ravine, the AT-DP, Imperial troop transport and the stormtroopers continued to approach Cham, Numa, Gobi, Howzer, Khan, Zeb, Sabine and Kanan as the Twi'leks, clones and Lasat fired their blasters back at the stormtroopers, while Sabine and Kanan had their lightsabers in their hands and had them ignited as they used them to deflect the stormtroopers' blaster bolts before they all hid behind a group of boulders that they all stood around.
"They've stopped firing," Numa observed as the Imperials stopped firing their blasters, laser cannons as well as the Imperial troop transport's forward laser guns and dorsal laser turrets.
"Cham Syndulla, I would like a word with you," a holographic projection of Slavin said as he was projected by the AT-DP, "It concerns your daughter."
"Where is she?" Cham demanded with anger.
"I have your precious Hera. And the Mandalorian girl, Satele Wren. They'll face my blaster squad unless you surrender yourself to me," Slavin answered, causing Cham to walk out from hiding behind the boulders.
"They have my sister, they'll pay for capturing her!" Sabine said with anger as she went to charge towards the stormtroopers.
"Sabine, calm down," Kanan said, placing his hand on one of his Padawan's armor's pauldrons, "Anger will lead you nowhere. We'll rescue her together. Just take a deep breath."
"Okay, Master," Sabine said, deactivating her lightsaber and clipping it back onto her armor's belt as she took a deep breath.
"You can't," Gobi protested as he held his hand out towards him, "You're too important."
"And my daughter is not important?" Cham asked him with disbelief.
"You and Hera are both equally important," Howzer answered.
"I concur with Captain Howzer, General," Khan said, agreeing with his commanding officer.
"I will trade my life for hers she will lead in my place," Cham told Gobi and the clones before turning to Slavin, "Captain Slavin, I will surrender to you, but what assurance will you give me that my daughter and the Mandalorian girl will be released?"
"Only that if you do not arrive for the exchange by sundown, they will both be terminated," Slavin answered before he turned around as the holoprojector that he was being projected from switched off.
"Could the trap be more obvious?" Sabine remarked, sarcastically as she placed one of her hands on one of her hips as Kanan crossed his arms after he deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.
"We know," Kanan told her.
"And I am counting on all of you to use my sacrifice to save Hera and Satele," Cham said as he placed his hand over his chest as he turned his hand into a fist.
"I'm sorry, Satele," Hera apologized to the Mandalorian as they sat on the floor of their cell within the Syndulla residence, "It was selfish of me to go after my Kalikori. I put you, your sister and everyone else in danger for a personal mission."
"But we wanted to help because it was important to you," Satele reminded her.
"But we weren't ready for that admiral. I should have known better," Hera explained when they suddenly heard a droid grunting from outside their cell as Satele placed her ear near the cell's door as the grunting continued as she heard the droid plugging their scomp link into the astromech port next to the cell with the droid rotating their scomp link within the astromech port before the door opened, revealing the door to be Chopper as he bumped into Satele, nocking her to the floor on her back.
"Chopper!" Satele said as he rolled his dome around before grunting.
"My father's actually surrendering?" Hera repeated in disbelief.
"To free us," Satele explained, "Well, they can't make a prisoner exchange without prisoners." She then stood up, "Let's go."
"Not yet," Hera protested, "We won't make it out. There are too many guards. We're going to go through with this exchange, but on my terms. Chopper, I want you to raid the Imperial armory and get as many explosives as you can." Chopper then grunted a response as he pulled out both of his metal arms.
"You're… You're gonna blow up your house?" Satele said with disbelief in her voice.
"My home is my crew and family," Hera explained to her as she stood up and placed her hand on Satele's left shoulder as Chopper saluted Hera and grunted before rolling back out and entered the command center, which was next to Hera and Satele's cell as they crouched.
"I want heavy cannons positioned here and here," Slavin told a stormtrooper as he pointed at a wall that was for their strategic planning operations, "Launchers below, with two additional squads held back in reserve."
Chopper then rolled into the armory in the room next to the command center as Slavin was distracted as he planned the trap he was planning for the rebels and grunted excitedly as he opened a container that contained thermal detonators as well as an activator for them.
"Time to say good-bye to your father," Slavin told Hera as he entered her and Satele's cell before aiming a blaster pistol at her as two stormtroopers approached him on both of his sides.
Hours later, Thrawn stood on the Bridge of an Imperial Light Cruiser as he held Her's Kalikori in his hand as he stared out the viewport of the Imperial Light Cruiser's bridge as the Imperial Light Cruiser was overlooking the Syndulla residence and the Tann Province, "All right, Captain Syndulla, let's see how you respond."
"Steady. On my command," Slavin ordered his stormtroopers as he stood outside the Syndulla residence with Hera as he held her arm with his hand as she had stuncuffs around her wrists with Satele standing next to her and in front of a stormtrooper as she had stuncuffs around her wrists as well as the Ghost, which was being piloted by Sabine who had her helmet removed as the stormtrooper that was behind her sister aimed their E-11 blaster rifle at the ship as it landed across from the Syndulla residence before the ramp lowered as Cham, Howzer and Kanan walked down the ramp with Kanan guiding himself down the ramp with his hand on the wall as Slavin removed his hand from Hera's arm and placed both of his hands behind his back, "Syndulla. At last we meet face-to-face. Step forward, alone, and turn yourself over as promised."
"Not until you release them," Cham argued, causing the stormtroopers on the ledges of his former residence to cock and aim their E-11 blaster rifles at them before Slavin made a gesture to them, telling them to hold their fire.
"We'll make a simultaneous exchange," Slavin told Cham before he and the stormtrooper behind Satele aimed their blasters at Hera and Satele, "Start walking." Both Hera and Satele then began to slowly walk towards Cham, Howzer and Kanan as Cham began to walk forward in return.
Meanwhile inside the Syndulla residence, Chopper grunted in a laughing tone as he rolled around the residence, planting thermal detonators around the house before finishing as he rolled out the front door, grunting as he rolled over to Hera and Satele.
"Droid! What are you doing?" Slavin asked Chopper as he mistook him for an Imperial droid.
"I am sorry, Father," Hera apologized to her father as she reached him as Satele reached Kanan and Howzer.
"It's all right, Hera. Even I have been captured before," Cham reminded her as he placed his hand over her left shoulder.
"Nah, I'm sorry about the house," she corrected him before turning around towards her astromech, "Chopper!" Chopper then pressed the button of the thermal detonator's activator as he held it with his scomp link, causing the house to be destroyed from the inside, killing the stormtroopers on the ledges above them as well as knocking some of the stormtroopers out as they landed on their stomachs as Thrawn watched what was happening from his Imperial Light Cruiser, outside of the Tann Province.
"Your memory and legacy will live on, Eleni," Howzer said, saluting the house as he began to burn to the ground.
"What… You were serious!" Cham realized, placing his hand over his head before Chopper grunted as Satele helped him up with Hera after they were knocked to the ground from the explosion before they rushed back inside the Ghost.
"Stop them! Stop them!" Slavin ordered the stormtroopers, who were still conscious and the driver of an AT-DP as the AT-DP and a stormtrooper began to fire upon them with Kanan deflecting the blaster bolts with his lightsaber after he grabbed it from his belt and reignited it's blade as Hower pulled both of his DC-17s back out and began to fire them at the stormtroopers before seeing the stormtrooper pulling a rocket launcher out and fired a rocket at them as he ran with the others up the ramp as he placed both of his DC-17s back in their holsters as Kanan deflected the rocket back at the AT-DP, causing it to topple to the ground as Kanan, despite being blind saluted goodbye to Slavin as the Ghost's ramp closed as the Ghost lifted off from the round and bean to fly away from the Tann Province.
"They are in range, sir," an Imperial gunnery officer sitting on one of the seats in front of Thrawn on the Bridge of the Imperial Light Cruiser reported to the Chiss.
"Hold you fire," Thrawn told him, "They've earned their victory today."
"Admiral, the rebels are getting away!" Slavin reported to Thrawn from the Bridge's holoprojector as a hologram of him appeared in front of him, limping as he was wounded after the Ghost flew past the side of the Imperial Light Cruiser.
"Oh, not to worry, Captain," Thrawn reassured him, "I've found this whole experience to be very enlightening."
"I have learned not to underestimate you," Cham told his daughter as he sat across from her and Kanan at a table in the Ghost's kitchen with a cup of caff in his hands with Kanan and Hera having cups with caff in front of them as well as the Ghost was stationed on a cliff within the plains of Ryloth, "Fortunately, the Empire has not."
"At least, not yet," Hera said, agreeing with her father.
"I'm sorry about the Kalikori, Hera," Kanan told his girlfriend as he turned to her.
"I thought I needed it to keep my mother's memory alive, but I have you, I have my father and I'm surrounded by my family every day," Hera said as Zeb rabbed Satele, who had dyed her hair back to it being mostly purple with its tips being yellow and was back in her Mandalorian armor as he gave her a noogie, laughing from the common room with Howzer, Khan and Gobi standing next to him, while Numa and Sabine sat next to each other on the couch around the holotable with Chopper standing in front of them before Zeb let go of Satele before Hera, Kanan and Cham cheered their cups of caff together, "As long as we hold on to that, she'll live on."
Please favorite and review. Would you like me to continue adding the Imperial scenes or not?