Chapter Two: Bad Piloting
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"What are we waiting for?" Ezra asked. He'd slipped his pack over his shoulders and waited eagerly at the edge of their camp. "Let's go!"
Thrawn leaned against the tree behind him casually. "We know nothing about the ship."
"If we go over there— then we'll know!"
Thrawn pressed his lips together in a thin line. For a Jedi, Ezra was rather impatient. "Why don't you meditate and use the Force to determine how many life-forces have entered our planet?" There were quite a few land animals and even more sea animals. Ezra's ability with the Force had been utilized to learn about the fragile ecosystem they'd disrupted with their presence. They'd strive to leave as small a carbon footprint as possible.
"Fiiiine!" Ezra dropped his bag to the ground and sunk to sit Lotus-style with his hands braced upon his knees. "Did Skywalker used to do this? When you two worked together?"
Thrawn sat across from Ezra, taking up an identical pose. He wasn't Force-sensitive, but he still appreciated the quiet of meditation. "Anakin was an impatient man. Extremely talented. He spoke highly of Senator Palpatine — which is what led me to seek an audience with the Emperor when I first joined the Empire."
"Yeah, it's all about balance — gotta work the Light and the Dark," Ezra muttered. They'd had many discussions about his experiences in both Jedi and Sith temples. It had been absolutely fascinating conversational topics. "Okay, there are three….four…five!"
"Which is it? Three, four, or five?" Thrawn felt his lip curl in amusement.
"Five. Two are Force-sensitive," Ezra answered, opening his eyes.
"And how far would you say?" Thrawn asked.
"We can get to the site within three hours." Ezra slipped his pack back on and stood. He offered his hand to Thrawn.
For a moment, the Chiss warrior stared at the human's hand, then he accepted it — though it was merely a courtesy and unnecessary. "As a general rule Sith tend to be more powerful physically, coming in pairs of Master and Apprentice. However, their emotional outbursts are a nuisance. Let us discover if the two Force-sensitive are friendly or foe."
Thrawn strode to the shelter he and Ezra shared. It was a sturdy little cabin they'd created of stones and wood in their first few months on the planet. He gathered their first aid kit— another project they'd worked on those first few months. Judging by the trajectory of the ship as it shot through the sky — it appeared a crash landing or at least a very rough landing.
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Warm blood trickled down from Hera's forehead. She raised her palm to the cut and groaned. She should have insisted on being the pilot. Sure, Bo-Katan Kryze may have been the presumptive leader of the Mandalor people with Din Djarin and his adopted son being the heart of the people— both were talented flyers. But, they had crashed.
Hera was confident if she'd been the one flying, they'd have at least experienced a smoother landing. "Sabine?"
"Yeah. We made it," Sabine Wren confirmed. "We're officially outside of known space." She looked to Grogu who sat in her lap. The two Force-users exchanged glances. "Ezra is here." Sabine breathed out a sigh of relief.
"What's the damage?" Hera asked, gesturing towards the ship and half the internal lights having gone dark. "Is anybody injured?"
Bo-Katan took off her helmet, turned towards Hera and grimaced at the sight of her laceration. "You need a sturdy helmet." She gestured towards her three fellow Mandalorians and their hardy helmets— even Grogu had a helmet.
"I think there's some gauze somewhere," Bo-Katan said, apologetically.
Din Djarin unbuckled his safety belt and reached into the compartment between the cockpit and the central part of the passenger section. He pulled out the first aid kit and sat beside Hera. He dipped disinfectant on gauze and applied it to the wound.
Hera hissed at the application, but the stoic Mandalorian bountyhunter continued. He slathered an ointment over a square shaped piece of gauze and then used medicinal tape to secure it in place. "It will need changed in a few hours," Djarin said. He leaned forward and dropped his voice to barely above a whisper. "Next time, you should insist on flying when Bo gets behind the stick."
In spite of the situation, Hera chuckled. Grogu babbled a few nonsensical words and Djarin -seeming to understand - nodded. Their familial interaction made Hera long for her son, Jacen. She knew he was in good hands with Ahsoka, learning the way of the Force.
The end of the Jedi order wasn't a bad thing, in Hera's opinion. The strict upbringing both Kanan and Ahsoka and even Grogu went through was something Hera was grateful to have avoided. Her mother died when she was young, but she had fond memories of both her parents in her childhood — the traditions of her people were valued amongst her most treasured memories. The Jedi younglings were supposed to bury the memories of their homelands and ancestors. And if Kanan had followed the strict rules of the Jedi Order, then Jacen Syndulla wouldn't exist.
Sabine inspected the circuitry of the ship and ran a diagnostics. Their two droids had lost power as the ship began its ungraceful descent. They had at least confirmed that the atmosphere was non-toxic and they'd be able to breath without any Oxygen tanks. Hera had left Chopper with Jacen and was regretting her decision— her droid was too stubborn to be knocked out of commission.
Hera climbed out of the ship and began to explore their immediate surroundings. They'd crashed right through a section of the forest. Not for the first time, Hera longed for Kanan's presence. He would have seen this as a grand adventure. Hera worried about what she was missing on the front lines. Her promotion to General came with more limitations that she'd expected.
The Senators of the New Republic, pampered would-be nobility, constantly thwarted any brilliant military strategies Hera might suggest. They thought the war was over, that the Empire was gone forever, and their newly won power was the end all be all. It was inefficient and a bunch of selfish infighting. The people all around the galaxy still suffered—especially those in the Outer Rim.
It was only because of heroic adventurers like Din Djarin and Din Grogu that the outermost parts of the galaxy weren't completely ravaged by pirates and other war profiteers.
And when Hera told Senator Hamato Xiono exactly where to stuff it — she'd ended up on forced Leave. So, she finally asked Ahsoka about training Jacen and agreed to try once more to help Sabine find Ezra. It was only by happenstance that she'd run into the Mandalorian leaders. She wasn't quite sure what to make of Bo-Katan and Djarin's relationship— he was obviously devoted to her. And Grogu seemed to recognize them as his guardians. Were they a family? She could only speculate. It was so hard to gage anything with Djarin never taking off his helmet.
The planet's gravity was stronger than she'd anticipated — which probably had to do with their crash landing. A small snake slithered near her foot and she quickly leapt out of the way, only to twist her ankle painfully.