The battle for Lothal begins. Kanan hates being away from his kid. Hondo is Hondo.

"Is our fallback point set?"

"Yes. Everyone's been briefed on where it is."

"They know not to retreat there until my order right?"

"Yup. Although how you've managed to work it out in the first place I'll never understand."

"Let's just hope we don't need it. It's a last resort after all. The last thing the Loth-Wolves need is the Empire deciding they're a nuisance."

Ryder nodded grimly. "I guess it's my turn now?"

Zeb shuffled restlessly. "Not to be the pessimist but are you sure this will work?"

"She hasn't changed much in all these years. I know just how to get to her."

Ezra squared his shoulders, drawing the others' attention. "We should get in position. Good luck Governor."

"Godspeed Rebels."

"You're pacing again."

"I can't help it. They're under attack right now, and we're sitting frozen up here."

"Fear not my Jedi friend, Hondo Ohnaka always arrives at exactly the right time to save the day!"

A disgruntled snort came from their Ugnaught companion.

"That was one time Melch. Why must you always try to bring me down?"

The proxy alarm signaled an approaching ship and they all quickly found their seats.

"Now I am as anxious to see our dear boy as any of you but you must be careful. This maneuver requires very delicate timing. I don't need to inform you what will happen if we are caught."

"No you don't," Kallus interrupted. "So shut your mouth and let the two of them handle this."

"But-"

"Hush."

Minutes - although it felt like hours - later they were detaching from the cargo vessel and racing above Lothal's plains at top speed. Kanan sent a mental message to Ezra, informing him of their arrival, and trying to judge the situation based on his Padawan's state of mind.

Ezra's reply of 'Good. Still alive. Leave me alone.' was concerning to say the least, although Kanan tried to comfort himself with the thought that the kid was probably just occupied with the fight. Their previous battlefield communication had been rather dependent upon being in the same place.

That didn't stop his heart from leaping into his throat as he caught a glimpse of his family kneeling at gunpoint before the sadistic imperial governor.

The sound of the cargo ramp lowering had him practically leaping from his seat. Hera latched onto his arm before he took two steps.

"Stay! The others can handle it. Stick to the plan!"

"Hera, that's our children down there!"

"I know! I don't want to be away from them any longer than you do Love but the longer you stay unnoticed the better. I need you here," she pleaded. "Help me out, take the nose gun."

"Hondo has that under control," the weequay's voice called up to them followed by the sound of rapid pulsing fire. "Melch if you don't start contributing I'm taking your share of our payment."

Kanan looked as though he didn't know whether to laugh or cry but he sat back down which was enough for Hera. With a tremble in her heart she pulled them up and away, trusting the crew to lay down cover fire as she gained altitude and led some of the enemy ships away.

Loathe as she was to give Hondo credit for anything, the chase may not have ended the same way without him. Before long there were only two imperial fighters left. A few shots went wide but finally their gunners were able to nail one point blank. Ignoring the self congratulations bantering about, she forced all her concentration on their last remaining pursuer.

"Hera, this guy knows what he's doing!" Kanan warned - unnecessarily as they were hit by their third volley.

"I know, I know! Hang on!"

"I really hate it when you say that - ooph!."

Hera yanked the steering yoke 45 degrees sending the Ghost into a spin. Their hull collided with that of the opposing ship, launching it straight into one of the nearby peaks. The resulting fireball was as much relieving as it was satisfying.

Kanan let out an exhilarated chuckle. "I take it back. I absolutely love it when you say that."

She spared him a smile before turning them back toward base. Her partner suddenly lurched forward in his seat.

"Kanan?"

"Something's happened."

"Bad?"

"I can't be sure. There's a surge in the Force. Like nothing I've ever felt before. We need to get back!"

"Transferring auxiliary power to thrusters. ETA two minutes."

Hang on Ezra, we're coming

The plan was going swimmingly until Thrawn's pet showed up. And along with him two more airships full of troopers.

Hera's intervention had come just in time (not that Ezra would admit he was worried) but it still left them with more enemies than he'd been hoping for. And, with the crawler destroyed, a much smaller space to fight them in.

The gray creature - Rukh, Ezra thought his name was - engaged him immediately, showing his nasty array of skills off as never before. Before long their fight had led them away from the main battle, something Ezra most definitely did not want.

Summoning the reserves of his energy he disengaged their weapon lock, feinted left, then threw the strongest force push he could at his opponent.

The Noghri hit the wall with enough force to break a human but soon recovered, getting to his feet slowly but confidently.

"How are you not dead?"

"You rely too much on your Jedi tricks." He growled. "Your master did too. It was his last failure."

Ezra smiled grimly. "Was it?"

It is time. The Loth-Wolf's voice entered his mind. Let us do our part.

Letting his eyes sweep the battlefield as he ran, Ezra shouted instructions to his family, calling on the Force to make himself heard over the ruckus around them. "Fall back to the cave!

One by one they followed him, taking shelter in the pocket the Force wrapped around them, strong and warm, like all the best hugs he'd ever received rolled into one and quadrupled. The temptation to lose himself in the feeling tugged at the young Jedi, only the slightest sound of a growl and shuffling footsteps keeping it at bay. This moment wasn't about him.

"Where's your army now Jedi?," a guttural voice sneered.

After you.

In his lightsaber's limited glow he felt more than saw the terror strike the creature's eyes as the Loth-Wolves poured out of the cave, catching and disposing of everything in their path.

Later the crew would laugh about how little they contributed after that, stormtroopers and officers flying about in every direction as they slowly worked toward where Price was cowering under the wing of her airship.

"Don't let it eat me!" She fairly groveled as a very pleased with itself looking wolf deposited her at Ezra and Ryder's feet.

The younger man paid her little mind after she and her remaining troops had been cuffed and set aside under both human and canine guard. Instead he hurriedly set about securing what remained of their hideout and headed out to where the Ghost - and his increasingly anxious parents - had set down.

Their embrace was almost as satisfying as the wolves'.

"You did it Ezra!" Hera fairly beamed.

"Well now, he had help." Hondo declared, marching into the group's space. "Now my boy, we need to have a talk about the monetary contributions this little scheme of yours will provide. Now I don't require much myself but-mupf!" He choked off, whether due to the fist Melch implanted in his knee or the rather fierce lupine glare Kanan leveled at him, Ezra didn't know.

"We can talk about it later." The Weequay dashed away, leaving the other three shaking their heads.

"Nice to know some things never change."

"Nice is one word for it," Kanan grumbled, tugging his child closer. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," Ezra smiled faintly. "But I'm glad you're back."

"We're not going anywhere again sweetheart. You've set up our best chance. Whatever the outcome, we'll face it together."

Mustering up a smile, Ezra hugged them both again before turning back to base. One battle down, one to go.

I'm really not thrilled about this one - I'm clearly better at characters than action. But hopefully it's passable. Real life suckiness has killed my writing energy lately but I'll try to not take so long with the next chapter.