Chapter 2: Droids in distress
One week had passed. Ezra and Jaral couldn't help but feel incredibly well aboard the Ghost. The crew was friendly and helped them feel right at home.
Ezra was placed in the same cabin as Zeb, who even allowed Ezra to take the top bunk bed as a gesture of apology for not saving him during the boarding of the transport that led to the boy's capture.
Jaral was instead put with Sabine. The older Bridger was astonished when she walked into the room as it was filled from top to bottom with graffiti. On the roof there was a rather cartoonish representation of the Ghost crew, and Sabine announced the first day that she would add the siblings once she'd get inspiration on how to make them.
The siblings quickly learned a lot of the necessary chores to do on the ship. From cleaning the engines to know how to repair blaster damage on the hull.
They were also introduced to the Phantom, the small shuttle anchored on the rear side of the Ghost.
Jaral was actually pretty enthusiastic about the Phantom, to the point where she asked Hera to give her some flying lessons, to which the Twi'lek happily obliged.
And that's what frustrated Ezra. While his sister simply asked out of nowhere to learn, she was immediately satisfied, yet he was convinced to join the crew on the condition that Kanan would teach him the ways of the Force, but so far Kanan had barely talked to him after the test with the holocron.
And Ezra wasn't one to be philosophical about broken promises,
On a side note, Sabine had managed to convince the siblings to let her paint their armor. She actually asked them both the first day they officially joined the crew. The two siblings reasoned that, in their white armor, they resembled stormtroopers too much for their own pleasure, so they accepted on the condition that Sabine would only use the colors they dictated.
Ezra asked for an orange base, with the arm, shoulder and leg protections painted in yellow. The helmet too became orange, with three stripes of yellow.
Jaral opted for a dark-gray base, asking for two slim stripes of blue. One on her right biceps and one on the right thigh. The helmet was to be monochromatic.
One thing the siblings noticed about the Ghost was that it was always running out of was supplies. They usually raided imperial shipment to procure themselves, but one of those raids eventually ended not greatly.
Chased by a squadron of TIEs and a Star Destroyer, the Ghost was making daring maneuvers to avoid the imperial lasers. Ezra and Jaral were at the dorsal and aft gun respectively, showing that they had quickly learned to make damage with them. Still, the Star Destroyer seemed to spew TIEs without end.
"We can't hold them back forever." lamented Ezra, taking down another fighter.
"I know. Just a little more." responded Hera. In the cockpit sat the rest of the crew. Chopper was calculating an optimal trajectory to jump into hyperspace.
Jaral shot another burst with the Phantom's cannons, but then the alarm sounded.
"I'm out of ammo." she declared over the comlink. The battery of the laser was empty.
"Wooorp woo wooorp." Chopper singed.
"What did he say?" asked Zeb.
"He said 'Hello hyperspace'" Hera joked as the ship finally jumped to safety.
As the ship sailed the vast expanse of space inside the tunnel of blue light, Kanan tied to soften the tense mood.
"See? I told you we would get away."
"Whit the shipment." intervened Sabine. "You said we would get away with the shipment."
Ezra and Jaral stepped in.
"The Phantom's weapons are completely down." said Jaral. "Another problem to add to the list."
"They're right, Kanan." Hera supported them. "We're low on almost everything."
"Food." said Ezra.
"Explosives." Added Sabine.
"We need to get some money and fast, or we might as well put the Ghost in storage." Hera said with a hint of dejection in her voice.
Everybody started to think. Silence fell in the cockpit. Eventually it was Kanan to break the ice.
"Well, there is always Vizago's work."
"So we're arms dealers again?" said Zeb, not exactly happy at the perspective.
"Hey, if it puts food on our table and fuel in the tank, I'd say we consider it." Ezra made this observation calmly, but then his tone switched.
"Besides, it might leave some time for...I don't know...Jedi training?" he didn't even look at someone. He stated it with sarcasm, and a hint of resentment.
That gained the attention of everyone, except Kanan, who refused to look at him.
Jaral gripped one of her brother's arms and dragged him out of the cockpit.
"What's wrong with you, now?" she spoke in a hushed but very annoyed tone.
"Why don't you ask our Jedi in there?" Ezra replied trying to look away, his face expressing irritation.
"Don't you dare talking to me that way!"Jaral shook him a bit and forced him to reestablish eye contact. "Now, tell me what's the problem."
Even though they were keeping their conversation as quiet as possible, the crew in the cockpit was listening via the security camera outside the door.
Ezra sighed. "The reason I came aboard this ship was because I was promised knowledge. I thought that I would finally learn how to use my abilities and be stronger...to protect you better." he finished in a lower tone.
Jaral softened her expression. Then she gently put a hand on her brother's head, caressing his hair.
"You don't need the Force to protect me, champ. And I told you a million times that you don't have to take all the burdens on yourself. I am the older sibling here, I should be the one protecting you."
The boy looked his sister in the face, and relented after a couple of seconds.
"Fine. I'll drop the matter. But still, I don't like people who don't hold their part of a bargain."
"Look, I know for experience that teaching something is difficult...and teaching to you is even harder." she smirked in the second part, nudging her brother's side gently. The boy chuckled.
"Maybe he just needs some time to understand how to teach you the best way he can." she explained calmly.
"Maybe…" said Ezra, still not entirely satisfied. "But if that's the case he could at least tell me that much." then he left and headed for his cabin. "Let me know when it's time for the job." said before disappearing.
Jaral got back in the cockpit, to hear what the next task would be. However she noticed sympathetic gazes from Hera, Zeb and Sabine, who then shifted to Kanan and became somewhat reprimanding.
"You guys were listening?!" Jaral said in disbelief.
"Uhm...we were just worried for the kid." Zeb tried to justify them, but Jaral just interrupted him with a gesture of the hand.
"Never mind, what's done it's done."
"Kanan, care to explain what we just heard?" Hera said.
The man was still leaning toward the viewport, as if trying to eclipse himself, which of course didn't work. Then he decided he was acting improperly, so he straightened himself up and took a breath.
"All right, but set the course for Lothal in the meantime." he said calmly to Hera.
While the Twi'lek obliged, Kanan rotated his seat in order to face everybody in the room.
"The truth is…" he started. "That Ezra has a far greater potential than what I thought."
"What do you mean?" asked Hera.
"Not only he's already able to use the Force to jump and push, but he opened the holocron in a matter of seconds. It took me almost a month the first time I got it." now he sounded way more concerned.
"That's because he's smarter than he looks." said Jaral. "But it's not like he can learn to use the Force without your help."
"Jaral, I don't even know what am I supposed to do. My own training was limited!" now he really sounded discouraged. "He will most likely grow faster than I can teach him, and if that happens…" he didn't want to finish the phrase. He eventually swallowed and finished the sentence.
"If that happens, his own power might end up consuming him." he finished with a worried face.
Hera reached his arm and tried to comfort him. A general sense of discouragement washed into the room.
Jaral took a deep breath with her nose and then talked.
"You heard what he told me outside, right?"
Everybody looked at her walking between the seats as if making some inspiring speech.
"He said he wants to learn in order to protect me...but I'm sure that he meant all of you." she turned her upper body in order to look a bit of everyone.
"We've been here for just a week, and yet we feel something within this crew that we never felt before with anybody else in our lives."
All the gazes now seemed impressed.
"I know that, because I too feel grateful that you guys welcomed us...that you gave us a seat in your family…"
The others began smiling in emotion.
"And that's part of the problem…" she took a moment to recollect her thoughts. "Ever since our parents were taken away by the Empire...Ezra has grown up with the feeling that it was his duty to protect me, and everybody else he might consider important to him."
"Your parents were…" Hera stepped up. "Jaral, we didn't…"
Jaral stopped her with a wave of a hand. Her gaze indicating that she appreciated the empathy, but it wasn't what she wanted right now. Still, the revelation was a bit of a shock for the rest of the crew.
"The point is…" she now turned to Kanan without doubt. "Ezra doesn't want you to merely teach him how to use his powers, or some kind of philosophy. He wants someone who would explain things to him. To understand his gift, so he can use it in the best way he can.
"And believe me, Kanan. My brother will make mistakes. It may look like he might do things wrong sometimes. But in the end, no matter how much he may be tempted to do otherwise, he'll always come back and do the right thing, so long as he is given the right example now."
The determination and the security in her eyes struck deeply into Kanan, who now felt guilty about the whole thing.
"Still…" Jaral continued in a conciliatory tone. "If you want some time to plan your teaching, that's totally fine. But you should really talk to him."
Kanan nodded, but he didn't have time to act on those words, because the navicomputer signaled they were about to exit hyperspace, and that's what happened a few seconds later, showing them the blue and green profile of Lothal.
"All right, back to work." Hera sighed. "Where do we go, Kanan?"
"The spaceport." Kanan said.
Before long the crew found himself aboard a Star-Commuter Shuttle at the spaceport, heading for Garel.
They went in as separate groups. Zeb and Sabine, Chopper and Ezra, then Kanan posing as a latecomer.
Zeb and Sabine made sure to have the second row of seats on the right side of the shuttle, while the others were on the left. It was necessary as in the front row were about to sit Minister Tua of Lothal and an Aqualish merchant. Following them were a gilded protocol droid called C-3PO and a white and blue astromech, named R2-D2.
The Specters were interested in what the minister and the merchant, Mr. Wabo, had to discuss.
Chopper immediately attracted attention as he was poking Ezra repeatedly and making pretty rude statements with his warbles.
As the final call for the shuttle came and went, the droid piloting the shuttle announced the departure. The ship lifted itself from the ground and headed for the orbit, where it jumped to hyperspace.
Chopper continued to annoy Ezra with his manipulator, a task for which he was a natural. Ezra, on the other hand, was already pretty annoyed because of the incident aboard the Ghost and would play the part perfectly. Of course, Ezra was not wearing his armor at this moment.
On the front row, the Aqualish said something in his language, which resembled a person talking while having its mouth full of water.
"Amda Wabo is most honored you are joining him on Garel, Minister Tua." the golden droid translated.
It was at that point that Ezra started the play.
"Will you stop?!" he snapped at Chopper. "There's plenty of room, leave me alone!"
Chopper answered by drawing out his spark-emitter and buzzing Ezra, making him fall down the chair.
"Kid. Keep your rust bucket in check!" Kanan said from the seat behind him. Chopper sparkled something in his way.
"Mind your own business!" the boy replied after standing back up.
In response, Chopper literally went crazy with its emitter.
"Hey, pilot." protested Kanan. "Isn't there a rule against droids in the passenger area?"
The droid pilot sighed, then talked to Ezra.
"I'm sorry sir. Your astromech has to proceed to the back of the craft."
Ezra then jumped on his feet and pointed at the other droids in the front row.
"Well if astromechs are banned, what about those two?"
"Astromech?!" C-3PO replied with a tone as offended as his vocalizer allowed him to have.
"I've never been so insulted. I'll have you know that I am a protocol droid, fluent in over six million forms…"
Tua interrupted, frustrated. "Pilot, these two droids are with me, and I am on imperial business."
"Sorry ma'am, but these are Imperial regulations." the droid replied simply.
C-3PO tried to protest, but Minister Tua decided it wasn't worthy the pain of risking a diplomatic incident with her guest and sent the droids in the back. C-3PO complained along the entire walk.
Wabo said something to the Minister, who tried to excuse herself.
"I'm sorry Mr. Wabo, I-I don't understand you."
It was at this point that Zeb peeked out.
"Hello. Excuse me. I couldn't help noticing your predicament. If it's of any help, my ward here is quite fluent."
"Oh, I would never presume." Sabine said feinting humility as a professional actress. Then she mumbled, but made sure the Minister could hear. "Though it would be good practice for my level five exams at the Imperial Academy..."
"You're a level five academy student?" Tua asked surprised. "I was also one, once upon a time." she said chuckling.
Zeb and Sabine looked triumphantly at each other. As expected, Minister Tua asked the girl to translate.
"Now, will you please ask Mr. Wabo where the shipment is?" the woman asked nicely.
Sabine reported the question. Ezra was listening, allowing Jinx to catch the dialogue in real time.
"He said Bay 17." Sabine said with a smile after Wabo responded. But in reality it was Bay 7. Ezra marked the words and then quickly looked at the map of Garel's spaceport, studying how he could quickly get behind the closed doors and open them.
The trip went on for another 20 minutes. As the shuttle was about to finish the landing procedure, Ezra made sure he was at the forefront of the queue. As the door opened, he stepped out, taking a moment to look around.
While Sabine was getting complimented by Minister Tua, the boy found the nearest air shaft of the bay and went straight for it.
While he crawled along the vent, he couldn't help but getting lost in his thoughts. While he did enjoy the life among the Ghost, and also Jaral seemed to be happier than ever before, he still resented the fact that, so far, all he had been doing was steal to survive, and no mention about Jedi training.
Jaral hadn't said anything to him about the conversation she had with the rest of the crew, as she didn't want to distract him even more.
While pondering, the boy reached the roof of the spaceport and started to run and jump until he reached Bay 7, jumping down and finally opening the door.
He found Zeb and Sabine waiting, while Kanan was on the opposite side of the hallway, opening the bay where Hera and Jaral would use to land the Ghost.
"You pulled it off, kid. Congrats." said Zeb, applauding sarcastically.
Ezra was not in the mood to react. As he activated his armor, he just ignored him and went to inspect the crates stocked onto a gravitational cart.
"Do we know what kind of weapons we're dealing with this time?" Hera asked through the comlink.
At that right moment, Ezra had uncovered one of the crates.
"Are these rocket launchers?" he asked, lifting one of the long, heavy weapons.
"Karabast!" Zeb exclaimed trembling.
Sabine stretched her arms, and Ezra passed the weapon to her.
"Whoa." she exclaimed. "These are T-7 Ion Disruptors. These were banned by the Senate. You can short-circuit an entire ship with these."
"That's not why they were banned…" Zeb added, disgusted.
Ezra didn't need the Force to understand that the Lasat had a past with those weapons.
"Well, we should get moving before company comes." he suggested.
"Good idea, Ezra." he picked the T-7 in Sabine's hands and closed the crate.
On the opposite side of the hallway, the Ghost was already waiting. Jaral was sprinting towards them to help carrying the carts, as there were five of them. One each.
Meanwhile, Minister Tua had already found out that Bay 17 was empty.
"Where are my disruptors?" she asked.
Wabo came to her, babbling something.
"Mr. Wabo is asking what are we doing here, as we were supposed to be in Bay Seven." C-3PO translated.
"The girl said Bay 17!"
"In Aqualish, 7 and 17 are very similar. It's pretty easy for non-native speakers to confuse them." the droid explained.
"Well, then let's move." she ordered her police escort.
Chopper relaid the information to Hera, who therefore ordered him to stall them. The astromech then feinted an accident with R2-D2, as the two had already had an altercation aboard the shuttle.
However, Minister Tua noticed.
"Wait a minute, this is the droid that caused our translator...to Bay Seven, double time!"
The guards sprinted towards Bay Seven just as Ezra was pushing the last crate away.
"Freeze" the team leader ordered him.
"It's not that cold…" Ezra tried to keep his focus through a cheap joke. Then he shot a smoke grenade from his Omni-tool.
The police opened fire, but the wall became dense and tall very quickly, and Ezra pushed the crate from the side, so that it would cover him while on the move.
He reached the rest of the crew, who helped him load the last crate. It was only then that Ezra noticed that the R2 had followed them through the clad of smoke, followed by C-3PO trying to stop his counterpart.
"Oh, look. Chopper made friends." Sabine commented.
"Excuse me. I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart R2-D2. I was translating…"
"For the love of...We know who you are, now please shut it!" Ezra snapped.
The protocol droid decided it was better to comply, only groaning in disappointment.
Zeb went on the gangplank overlooking the cargo bay.
"Great, now we have two imperial droids too." Kanan said with sincere satisfaction. "Specter-5, let's put a couple of restraining bolts on these two."
"On it." said Sabine, moving up the ladder to go take what she was asked.
"Kanan...a word?" said Zeb.
"Can't it wait, Zeb?"
"It's just...maybe let's not sell these weapons, this time. We don't even know who Vizago's buyer is." The Lasat protested.
"We know it's not the Empire. And we really need the money to keep this bird flying." Kanan explained.
It wasn't enough for Zeb, who shut himself into the cabin.
When Ezra came knocking, the Lasat harshly told him to stay away, so the boy went into the cockpit, where Hera was waiting for him.
"Problems with Zeb?" she asked rhetorically.
"That's an understatement." he sat in the co-pilot. "What's with him and those disruptors?"
Hera left the commands, as they were in hyperspace anyway, and turned to face Ezra.
"Do you know what a T-7 does to an organic being?" she asked.
"Not quite."
"Well, Zeb does. Because those weapons wiped out his people on Lasan." she said sadly.
Ezra sighed. "Guess I'll cut him some slack for today."
"Good man." Hera said thankfully.
Then Ezra exited the cockpit, going into the common room, where Jaral and Sabine were talking.
"Sis." he said. "Would you like to do some practice, later?"
"Oh, we can go right now." she said confidently. "Sabine, would you like to be our referee?"
The girl was taken aback. "Wait are you guys going to spar?"
They never showed anything like this to the crew, yet. But they indeed grew up training themselves with this method.
Jaral nodded affirmatively and Sabine accepted quite eagerly.
The siblings walked down to the cargo bay, where Chopper was keeping an eye on the two droids. There was enough room for the two groups to do their activities without interfering. Sabine remained on top of the gangplank, leaning on the handrail with her elbows.
The two sparred for the rest of the trip. The difference in height forced them to fight diametrically opposite. Ezra was focusing in flanking and going around the opponent to land a blow, while Jaral was trying to anticipate the moves of her faster opponent to land a single, usually crushing, blow.
In the end, they both scored the same number of victories, causing themselves some minor bruises.
"You guys really don't cut any slack, uh?" Sabine commented once she reached the two of them.
"I don't know if it makes sens." Jaral said. "But this helps act more in harmony during real fights."
"Really?" Sabine asked chuckling.
"Knowing how your partner fights, helps you understand better how he behaves in combat. And if you know how your partner moves, you can support him accordingly. At least that's how it works for us." Ezra explained with a clarity of intent that actually impressed the mandalorian.
"Then maybe I should try sparring with you guys too, one day." she said with confidence.
"Why not?" said Jaral with a faint smile. "We'll have to control ourselves in order to not break your bones accidentally...but if you wish so…"
Sabine didn't seem to falter despite the fact that the risk prospected by Jaral was very much real. The three talked for a while until Hera announced that they were landing.
They were near the usual meeting point with Vizago, inside a hidden camp between a rocky formation.
As the crew met in the cargo bay, R2-D2 rolled forward and chirped something.
"This R2 says their original mission was to make sure the disruptors wouldn't fall in the Empire's hands and that their master will compensate their retrieval abundantly." said Jinx.
Kanan brought two fingers on his chin. "I'll consider it."
"So we are not selling the droids but we are selling the T-7s?" Zeb asked furiously.
"Hey, I already made a deal with Vizago. No time for second thoughts." said Kanan as he walked toward one of the carts.
On the bridge of a Star Destroyer above Garel stood agent Kallus, responding to the emergency call from Minister Tua, who had told him about the band of rebels, that he immediately recognized because of the two humans in armor and the Lasat.
While he was pondering where that band could have gone next, an officer called his attention.
"Sir, a distress call to Governor Pryce has been rerouted to your attention."
Kallus walked toward the communication panel, where two crewman were tuning in said transmission.
"This is C-3PO, human-cyborg relations." said the voice of a droid over the comm.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Ghost crew was entirely out of the ship, 3PO had sneaked into the cockpit and contacted the Empire.
"My counterpart and I were abducted from the spaceport on Garel by criminal." then he shrilled. "Thieves! Outlaws!"
Kallus kept composure and answered.
"Remain calm, my friend. All I need is you coordinates." a smirk thanking his luck ran across Kallus' face.
"Sending coordinates now." 3PO answered.
"Have no fear. Help is on the way." the agent responded, as the captain of the ship ordered to set a course for Lothal.
In Vizago's camp, the Specters had just finished to unload the crates with the disruptors. The Devaronian was actually surprised to see the two Bridgers on par with the Ghost, but the siblings immediately shut him up from going on with his usual rambling.
As Vizago inspected one of the disruptors, he caressed it with satisfaction.
"I can make some beautiful music with these."
"They're not that kind of instruments." Zeb snarled.
"And they're still not yours." Jaral intervened.
Ezra walked up to him. "Come on, Vizago." he tended a hand. "Pay us!"
Vizago laughed while we was taking a small bunch of credits out of his pocket.
"Finally you got someone on your crew who understands business, Jarrus!" he said loudly while he gave Ezra the credits for the first crate, which the boy immediately secured into one of the pockets hanging from his belt.
However, a few seconds later, Vizago heard the sound of engines and turned around to see a Gozanti transport, with two AT-DP walkers hanging from it.
"You were followed!" the Devaronian accused.
"That's not possible!" replied Hera.
"Tell it to the Empire!" then he turned to his droids. "Leave the rest, we're leaving."
Kanan grabbed him by a shoulder as Vizago was about to mount on his speeder.
"You still haven't paid us." he recused.
"Cikatro Vizago doesn't pay for half a shipment. And he doesn't pay for troubles with the Empire."
the crime lord proclaimed as he climbed the back of his yellow speeder and sat facing the rear.
While his droids took away the second speeder for a total of 5 crates, Vizago turned to the entire crew.
"My friends, I hope you live to bargain another day. And if you don't...eh." he said loudly while the speeder started to roll out.
"Shouldn't we go too?" asked Zeb.
"We can't let this crates fall back in the Empire's hands." said Kanan urgently. "Sabine, get ready to blow this things up."
"Now you're speaking my language." the girl made a bow jokingly. "I'm gonna get my gear."
While everyone scrambled to take cover and prepare for the fight, the three droids on the Ghost showed themselves, with R2 rolling toward the crates, chirping.
"R2. What are you doing?" asked 3PO trying to keep up with him, but since protocol droids are unable to run because of their structure, he was struggling. Chopper followed him on the side.
R2 made some noises.
"Joining the crew? What are you talking about?"
R2 extended his handler and grabbed one of the disruptors, while rambling something. Sabine, interested, got near him and listened.
"Of course. Overload their reactor and boom." she said enthusiastically. "Good call, little one. You can join my crew anytime." as she smiled she patted R2 on his dome.
"Fantastic." intervened Jaral with a calm voice. "But let's keep a couple of them for those walkers." she concluded as her and Ezra took a disruptor each.
"I'll take the one on the left." said Ezra to his sister.
"Good. I'll wait for your signal."
Then they separated in order to find a nice shooting position to take out the walkers.
"You heard them." Kanan continued. "Hera, help Sabine open the crates, than get back to the Ghost. Zeb, with me."
Meanwhile, the Gozanti had already dropped the walkers, which began their advance toward the rebels, firing at will. The group's position, luckily, was well-protected by the high, oval rocks, which would have forced the imperials to try and push their way through a handful of narrow passages.
While R2 and Sabine were tampering with the disruptors' energy core, Jaral and Ezra had already taken position, unseen by the Imperials.
"I always wanted to blow up one of those things." Ezra commented on their communication line while waiting for the walker to get closer.
"These are ion disruptors, Ezra." Jinx commented, "You'll cause a nice light-show, not fireworks."
"What? Come on!" the boy answered with disappointment as he adjusted the weapon on his shoulder and prepared to fire.
The walkers approached. A bit more than a 100 m now.
"Are you done?" Jaral sounded annoyed.
"Relax, sis. Just defusing the situation a bit...I got one in range, you?" he switched from playful to incredibly serious in the blink of an eye.
"Almost...got it…"
Ezra decided to wait a bit longer, while the walkers kept raining fire on the rocky covers.
They were now 70 m away.
"Okay, on my mark." Ezra said. Jaral connected his helmet to Jinx's ballistic assistance.
"3...2...1...Now!"
The siblings pulled the trigger pretty much in unison. Two fluorescent bolts of light, first red, then green, were shot at a ludicrous speed to the walkers, hitting them in the hatch.
The walkers started to wobble, like a drunken man failing to keep balance, then they collapsed on the ground, their electronics, vital to their functioning, completely gone.
"Bullseye!" Ezra couldn't help but express excitement for a second.
"Yeah." responded Jaral with a bit more of moderation, though it was clear that she was proud of the result they pulled off. "Let's get back to the others."
They left their position in time to avoid a retaliatory barrage from the platoon of stormtroopers that were following the walkers.
Said stormtroopers were around 10 in number, leaded by good old Kallus. The squad advanced opening fire to pin down Kanan and Zeb, who were trying to return fire, forcing a stalemate.
3PO had actually tried to greet them, thinking they were there to save him, but he was greeted with warning shots which prompted him to turn on his heels, protesting.
Kallus walked in front of the formation of troopers with no care in the world and pointed a finger to Zeb.
"You. Lasat!"
Zeb peeked out defiantly, and noticed Kallus taking out a weapon from his back. The rifle extended itself, revealing it could become a combat staff with two electric heads.
"Face me!" the ISB agent screamed.
Zeb recognized the weapon in the hands of his enemy. It was a Bo-rifle, like his own. And he was not having it.
The Lasat sprinted forward, unfolding his own rifle into its staff mode, roaring in anger. Kanan tried to stop him but the Lasat wouldn't listen. Right at that moment, Ezra and Jaral reached the camp and noticed Zeb going into a frenzy.
The two foes started dueling. Zeb managed to make Kallus stumble to the ground for a second.
"Only the Honor Guard of Lasan may carry a Bo-rifle!" he proclaimed.
"I know!" answered Kallus cackling. "I took it off a guardsman myself." he turned with a quick movement, swinging his baton to Zeb, who parried it but was forced to make a step back, allowing Kallus to roll on the side and use the momentum to get back on his feet.
While the ISB agent and the Lasat kept fighting in a furious melee, the rest of the crew was busy trying to hold back the stormtroopers. The destruction of the walkers had definitely favored the defenders, who could easily cause damage on an enemy formation left with only infantry which was almost entirely without cover. Still, the rebels didn't dare to go on the offensive, reasoning that they only had to hold their position until Sabine was done with her job. Not even Ezra or Jaral wanted to risk their luck, as these stormtroopers had already proven to have a pretty good aim, and try to charge them in the open wouldn't end well.
The duel was not going well for Zeb. His rage made his movements imprecise and predictable, and Kallus was proving to be a pretty capable fighter with that weapon. He had already landed two hits with the electric heads.
Finally, Sabine declared that they were ready.
Jaral and Ezra reached the carts and prepared to push. The rest of the group fell back, letting the stormtroopers advance until they were exactly where the siblings wanted them to be. They pushed the carts vigorously, sending them to slide right in the middle of the two squads of troopers.
A buzzing sound started to come out of the crates, which then exploded with a force so violent it shook the ground and made almost everyone stumble.
In this chaos, Kallus managed to land another hit right in the chest of the Lasat, who fell on his knees, exhausted.
As the ISB agent raised the staff, already tasting victory, Ezra turned just in time to see the scene.
"NO!" he screamed. Instinctively, his eyes closed and his right arm stretched out.
Before he could realize it, Kallus had been sent flying for various meters, rolling on the floor until his back crashed on one of the rocky walls.
Ezra stood there, dumbfounded for a second and looking at his hand. Most of the group had seen the scene and was impressed, until Jaral made everyone snap out of it.
"Ezra, come back to us!" she said to her brother, shaking his shoulder energetically.
The boy shook his head and regained focus. Kanan and Jaral grabbed Zeb under his arms and dragged him back to the Ghost, as everybody else was doing.
The imperials had already been wiped out, though a squadron of TIE fighters was coming down on them quickly.
Hera and Chopper managed to get the ship flying in time to avoid the reinforcements. Kallus had come back to his senses, but couldn't do nothing but watch in frustration.
In the cargo bay, the crew rallied around Zeb.
"Will he be okay?" Sabine asked.
Jaral was running a diagnostic on the Lasat using her Omni-tool, passing the results to Jinx.
"There is some minor burn where he was hit, but nothing permanent." the AI proclaimed. "And no damage to vital organs. Just let him the time for a nap and he'll be back on top."
Zeb had managed to get a hold of himself, and with the support of Kanan he managed to sit up.
"Thanks for the save, man." he said to the Jedi.
"Actually, it was Ezra." Kanan corrected him, nodding with an approving smile at the boy. Everyone in the room gave him a gaze of congratulations.
"And Ezra…" Kanan continued. "Your formal Jedi training starts tomorrow."
Ezra almost couldn't believe it, but when the words sank in, a resolute smile stamped out on his face. Hera put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a proud expression, while everyone in the room gave another round of congratulations.
Later that day, the Ghost met in the middle of space with a corellian CR90 corvette. Kanan went aboard with the two droids they were hosting and was greeted by what seemed to be the owner of the ship.
He was a human male. He didn't give his name and Kanan wasn't interested in knowing it. His manners were polite and refined, almost like a politician. His facial hairs were short but well-groomed. He wore a blue shirt, more or less elaborate, but still practical; a pair of white trousers and two military boots that covered the leg up to his knee.
"So these are your droids?" Kanan asked as politely as he could.
"Indeed, they are." the man responded. "Please accept these as my token of gratitude" he put a hand in his pocket, only to take out three gold bars of credits for a total of 30.000, gently letting them fall into Kanan's hand.
"That's very generous, sir." the Jedi said, incredulous.
"Well, I'm very fond of this droids." the man chuckled, patting R2 on the dome.
"Then I'm glad we could return them." Kanan replied.
"The simplest gesture of kindness, could fill a galaxy with hope." the man added with solemnity.
"Isn't that...a Jedi saying?" the Jedi gave a puzzling face, but the man only touched him on the shoulder in response.
"Safe travels, my friend."
"Safe travels." said Kanan after a moment of pondering, realizing it was time to go.