Chapter 12: Call to action
Over Capitol City flew a Star Destroyer. It wasn't a regular Star Destroyer, however. This was the Sovereign, the personal ISD of Gran Moff Tarkin himself.
A shuttle carrying the Moff and his escort flew out of the lower hangar, accompanied by two TIE fighters and headed to the hangar on the upper levels of the Imperial Dome, where platoons of troopers of every unit on Lothal was lined up to receive him.
Greeting the Moff and his escort were Minister Tua, the Inquisitor and Agent Kallus.
"Ah, Grand Moff Tarkin. I am honored by your visit to Lothal." Minister Tua greeted him in the most flattering manner.
"My visit is hardly an honor, Minister." Tarkin replied with sarcasm while walking past the three of them.
It was his way of speaking. It was the sarcasm and arrogance of a person who was indeed capable, but tended to consider everybody and everything beneath him, except for his Emperor of course.
"I admit I was surprised to learn you were coming." Tua replied, but was interrupted.
"And I, too, have been surprised, by what's been happening on your little backwater world."
Tua chuckled nervously. "If you are referring to the insurgents, I…"
"In the absence of Governor Pryce you have had a single, simple objective, Minister, to protect the Empire's industrial interests here. Interests which are vital to our expansion throughout the Outer Rim."
Tarkin now turned around and faced the three imperials with a stern face. "But instead of protecting those interest, you have allowed a small cell of insurgents to flourish right under your nose. Am I correct?"
"I...I-"
Tarkin didn't wait for a response as he moved to the next chastising. "And Agent Kallus, have you just stood idly by while this rabble have attacked our men, destroyed our property and disrupted our trade?"
"I exhausted every resource in my possession to find them, sir." Kallus calmly replied. "This group has proven to be quite elusive."
"They possess two incredibly skilled warriors." Tua said. "Furthermore, it's said that their leader is...a Jedi."
Tarkin rolled his eyes.
"Ah yes, let's not forget about the sudden appearance of a Jedi, as if leaping from the pages of ancient history." he threw a sarcastic glare at the Inquisitor. "A shame we don't have someone who specializes in dealing with them." the Inquisitor huffed in frustration. "Otherwise, our problem might be solved.
"Minister, have you ever met a Jedi?"
"Ehm...no."
"I did. Not from some children's tale or folklore, but as flesh and blood. And you know what happened to them?
"They died! Every last one of them. So, you see, this criminal cannot be the Jedi he claims to be, and I shall prove it. As for these 'skilled warriors', I'd like to inspect every material that we have on them, immediately."
Ezra, Kanan and Sabine had just come back from a successful raid near Jalat with crates of weapons and some food.
It had been almost a week since the incident with Trayvis, and as the three stepped into the common room, they found Zeb, Hera, Chopper and Jaral watching the HoloNet in disgust.
"Senator Trayvis," Alton Castle, the imperial speaker on Lothal was interviewing Trayvis. "Now that you recommitted yourself to the Empire, will your followers do the same?"
"Most will, Alton." Trayvis responded with a cordial smile that only exacerbated the hate of the Specters. "These were good people who simply wanted to make the Empire a better place, peacefully. But I'm afraid that these…"
The holograms of the Specters in combat asset was displayed. It was a montage, since their disposition was too perfect to fit the area of projection of the hologram.
"Insurgents have twisted my message into something violent and frightening. Of course I can't abide that. So I'm personally offering a reward for their cap-"
Jaral angrily pushed the power button, cutting the transmission.
"I can't believe that we even thought that Loth-rat was on our side." she hissed.
"Every time we win, feels like a loss." Ezra added in frustration.
"Well, I have a plan that might just even the score." Kanan said with determination. "If Trayvis can do it, we can do it, too."
"What, we're gonna send out some kind of inspirational type messages?" Zeb said jokingly.
"That's exactly what we're gonna do." Kanan confirmed confidently.
"Exactly." Hera supported.
Ezra, Sabine, Jaral and Zeb all looked at each other in confusion.
"I don't get it." Sabine said.
"Yeah, Kanan. We can't just send a signal, the Empire would track it in half a second." Ezra noted.
"Not if the signal comes from the Empire itself."
The realization dawned on Ezra and Jaral, who stared at each other with a surprised face.
"Ah, now I get it." Sabine said, snapping her fingers.
"You want to take…" Jaral said, gesticulating. "Control of an Imperial communication tower, which is pretty much impossible, and then use it to send a message to the people of Lothal?"
"Not just Lothal. One of those bigger towers can reach a few systems."
"This plan is just completely insane." Ezra commented with a certain degree of enthusiasm.
"That's why you like it so much."
"You're damn right I do."
Tarkin had taken residence in one of the offices at the upper levels, in the same wing as Kallus'.
As per his orders, two field officers had been summoned.
"Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint, reporting as ordered." Aresko stated with military discipline.
On the other side of the room was Tarkin, sitting at his desk. Behind on his left stood Kallus, on his right Tua, in the right corner stood the Inquisitor.
"Gentlemen, sit." Tarkin said with apparent courtesy, pointing at two chairs in front of the desk.
The two officers complied.
"I understand you two have had multiple encounters with these insurgents?" Tarkin asked.
"Yes, sir." Aresko responded.
The Inquisitor silently moved behind the two of them.
"And your efforts have been less than successful?"
Aresko stammered. "Well, I...I wouldn't say…"
"Commandant, if your efforts had been successful, we would not be having this little chat."
Tarkin tapped a button on his desk and the hologram of Ezra and Jaral showed up.
"I want you to talk me about these two. The Bridgers. I understand the boy was recently featured in an operation report?"
This time, Grint, responded. "Uh, yesterday evening, sir. We responded personally to a rebel incursion in one of the outlying towns. Among the rebels was that boy." he indicated Ezra's picture and the model of his armor.
"And what was the outcome of this incursion?" Tarkin asked with his usual control.
"Oh, nothing of note." Aresko said. "The rebels stole a few crates and...well...the boy single-handedly took out three speeder bikes. However, there were no casualties."
"Ah, but you see, there is something of note in that report: no casualties." Tarkin noted. "Your rebel cell is more principled than others."
"Others, sir?" Grint timidly asked. "You mean there are other cells?"
"Cells, factions, tribes...call them what you will." Tarkin replied dismissively, then stood up. "They lack the one thing that would make them a credible threat to the Empire. Unity."
Tarkin started pacing around his desk.
"So in all these months, you left two criminals, two children at that,run around with unknown technology. I don't think I need to explain to you what the implications could be. Not only their technology seems superior to that of our troopers, making them a threat in the field, but with their string of victories, they might encourage other subversives to take action. String of victories that you, with your repeated failures, allowed." He leaned a bit forward to look the officers right in the eyes.
Aresko and Grint silently gulped.
"Now, it looks like this cell is uninterested in violence, but aside from the two...children…" he said that word with disgust. How could the Empire lose to two teenagers? "there is another threat in its ranks. The Jedi."
"We have encountered him, sir, and he lives up to their reputation." Aresko was trying to justify at this point.
"Oh, I doubt that very much. But I am not concerned with his skills as a warrior. I am concerned with what he represents. Or perhaps I should say, I am concerned by what you allow him to represent by failing to stop him. Hope."
"The boys are soldiers. They represent defiance and stubbornness, but they can hardly become a symbol for a larger rebellion. The Jedi, on the other hand, is a whole other story. There are whispers of this alleged Jedi in the streets. In time, such whispers may spark belief in something other than the strength and security of the Empire. And that, gentlemen, is something I cannot have."
Tarkin turned back toward Tua and Kallus, thus giving the Inquisitor the signal.
The dark-sider put the lightsaber behind the necks of the two officers and ignited the blade. Before Aresko and Grint realized that, their heads were severed with a swift motion of the dual-blade.
Kallus was taken by surprise by the move. Tua was straight out horrified.
"Make no mistake." Tarkin talked again, not batting an eye. "From now on, failure will have consequences. Agent Kallus, you will dispatch probe droids to every known location of insurgent activity on Lothal. We will discover the whereabouts of these criminals, and we'll make examples of them!"
The Imperial communication tower on Lothal. It sat at the end of a highway the Empire had specifically built for the massive structure, which sat in the middle of the prairie outside the capital.
The highway was sometime crossed by gangplanks, that allowed people to go from one side to the other without crossing the two roads that were part of the highway.
On the nearest bridge, Sabine, Ezra and Kanan had taken position to observe the tower. Jaral and Zeb had gone back to the Bridgers' household to recover the old radio in the basement.
"There it is." Kanan commented while keeping a low voice. "The Empire's main communications tower on Lothal. It routes comm from every Imperial operation on the planet, including the Empire's HoloNet broadcasts."
Sabine and Ezra activated the scopes on their helmets.
"I count at least six stormtroopers on the perimeter." Ezra noted.
"And there are three anti-ship batteries." Sabine added. "Ezra, it won't be an easy trip to the front door." she said with a bit of concern.
"Come on Sabine. I can take a few hits. Besides, I'll have you to watch my back, so don't underestimate yourself." he said encouragingly. Then he turned toward his forearm.
"Jinx." the small figure of the AI with his butler dress and disciplined bearing appeared in front of Ezra. "Say that we get to the front door. What next?"
"You'll need to install the spike in the main computer. Then put one of my processors in as well. I'm confident I can give you a signal in two minutes at most."
"Two minutes?! That's great." Kanan couldn't believe it.
"I would normally be skeptical…" Sabine commented. "But I guess that Jinx is indeed made of numbers, so…"
"Good. It's great that you organics recognize my superiority." Jinx said with his robotic voice.
"Don't start it, Jinx…" Ezra said with a chuckle. "Come on, boy. Make a holomap of the place and let's get out of here."
As Jinx worked, the three organics attention went behind them, as an ITT was coming back to the tower from the highway.
The Specters flattened themselves on the bridge, trying not to be seen.
Then they noticed that the ITT had left something on its track.
"Imperial probe droid." Ezra said after seeing it with its binocular. His tone said that this was a problem.
"Does it see us?" asked Kanan.
"Not yet." Sabine calmly replied.
"How can you tell?" Ezra asked.
"Because we are not dead…"
The droid passed right beneath them, scanning the area around it, never stopping speaking in binary.
When the probe went past the bridge, the Specters slowly crawled on the other side of the gangplank to keep an eye on it.
"Damn it." whispered Ezra. "It's going straight for the bikes."
The three had left the speeder bikes hidden right over the guardrail. It was impossible to see it when faring on the highway, but the hovering probe would no doubt see them.
"I hope someone has an idea, or this plan is shot." Sabine urged them.
Kanan was about to get down and shoot it, but he felt the Force being used next to him. Ezra was stretching his arm toward the prairie.
When the probe approached the guardrail, a furious Loth-cat jumped on the barrier, hissing at the probe, before jumping on the machine's dome and scratching angrily at its optical visor.
Ezra then used the Force to make the probe circle around and then smash it on the guardrail.
The probe stopped moving and smoke was coming from all over the chassis and the Loth-cat ran away.
"I could've blast it and got the same result." Sabine commented.
Ezra didn't answer and just slid down the bridge, going into the grass and then getting near enough to the probe to overload its energetic systems with the omni-tool.
"Now, the Empire won't suspect a thing."
"Good thinking, Padawan." Kanan smiled at him.
"Ok, it's touching when you two bond," Sabine interjected. "but I'm betting that probe has friends, so let's move it."
The three all jumped on the bikes and drove away from the tower.
Kallus stepped into Tarkin's office.
"Sir, I think we might have a lead on the rebels." he reported, standing at the door.
Tarkin motioned him to get near. Kallus complied, then gave him the holodisc he was holding. Tarkin put it into his computer, showing a hologram with the last recordings of a probe droid attacked by a Loth-cat.
"What is that thing?" Tarkin asked, annoyed by the fact that he couldn't see rebels anywhere.
"The only probe droid we lost today. It was attacked by a Loth-cat."
"Why are you showing me this?"
"Because it's also the first time since we are are on Lothal, that the local fauna attacks one of our droids. The Loth-cat is a tame species, even today one of the probe we dispatched happened to cross a nest full of those animals and it was left completely undisturbed."
He invited Tarkin to show the next slide on the disc, which showed the communication tower.
"And it just occurs, that the attack happened right outside our communication tower." Kallus added calmly.
Tarkin reasoned for a second. "It would be a perfect target for these criminals. My apologies, Agent Kallus. It seems like you have a valid hint."
"Sir, we cannot lose the tower. We should reinforce security…"
"No." Tarkin stopped him. "Let them believe they still possess the element of surprise. Lure them in, and we shall be waiting."
"As you wish…" Kallus seemed a little baffled by the decision, but complied and left the room.
"Inquisitor." said Tarkin to the dark-sider behind him, only looking at him with the corner of the eye. "I'm giving you the opportunity to redeem yourself. Do not disappoint me. And remember: I want this Jedi alive."
"Your faith will be rewarded." the Inquisitor replied dryly.
Back on the Ghost, Jaral and Zeb had already returned with the radio, which Hera and Jaral were already working on.
Ezra joined them in the effort, while Sabine was programming the spike that Chopper would have to insert into
"If it works, we should be able to use this to transmit directly through the tower." Ezra said, finishing the last adjustments to the radio.
Kanan walked into the common room. "How we doing?"
Sabine replied with a confident smile. "Well, Chopper has the spike. We get him into the tower and he can upload it right into the computer core from any terminal." she said while letting Chopper taking the spike.
"Once that is done, Jinx will start the takeover of the communication system." Jaral added.
Jinx decided to show up. "That's right, Chopper. It's up to us to show these organics how it's done."
Chopper chirped enthusiastically, causing a chuckle from everyone.
"You know." commented Zeb. "I'm kinda worried to see what these two can do when they cooperate…"
"Yeah." Hera said with a smile. "Let's make sure to keep them separated on the Ghost."
"What's the range of this spike?" Kanan asked.
"As long as the tower is transmitting, we're good to go. Everyone will hear what we say. Well, anyone who's listening." The last sentence sounded a bit discouraged.
"Once you are done, I spirit you away with the Phantom." said Hera.
"And we come back here to send the message." Jaral concluded.
"That's the plan." said Kanan.
"And things always go according to plan…" Ezra mumbled.
"What's with you?"
"Nothing important." Ezra dismissed, going back to work on the radio.
"Let's take a walk." Kanan said politely.
Ezra sighed, but stood up anyway, tilting his head to Jaral, who joined them.
The three walked all the way to the cargo bay's ramp. There, Ezra stopped, crossing his arms and looking into the distance.
"All right, what's happening now?" Jaral asked gently.
"It's just…" Ezra shrugged "I'm having another hunch. Something feels off about this plan."
"Come on, Ezra, I know you are up to this." Jaral said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I am. I really am." Ezra insisted.
"Yet, something is making you hesitate." Kanan said.
Ezra sighed. "Mum and Dad spoke up, and they were taken away. And I…"
He stopped. His face now showed frustration. He grunted angrily. "I can't lose another family. Not over this!"
"Ezra!" Jaral interjected firmly. "Everybody on this ship has lost things, not just us." she said.
Her brother just lowered his gaze, so she moved the hand from his shoulder and gently put her entire arm around both shoulders.
"She's right, Ezra." Kanan intervened, making a step forward. "And we will take more losses before this is over. But we can't allow that to stop us from doing the right thing. We have to move forward. And, when the time comes, we have to be ready to sacrifice for something bigger."
Ezra seemed moved by the argument. With Jaral still at his side, he answered. "That sounds good, but it's not easy."
Kanan sighed. "It's not easy for me either. My master tried to show me that, but I don't think I ever actually understood it until now, trying to teach it to you. I guess you and I are learning these things together."
Ezra smiled a bit. "Don't worry. I'm still in. I guess I'm just afraid. For the first time in years, I feel like I have a lot more to lose." he looked at his sister, who gave him a comprehensive smile.
"Mum and Dad had a lot to lose too." she said. "But they took the risks for us anyway. And remember: it's up to us to uphold the dream they had for us."
Ezra put a hand around his sister's back. "You're right. Let's do this."
Kanan smiled at the scene as the three of them took a last gaze into the sunset.
Deep at night. It was a bit cloudy, but the twin moons of Lothal still shone brightly.
The stormtroopers watching the tower were patrolling, not actually expecting anything to happen. After all, command didn't report anything suspicious.
Yet, one of them suddenly pointed toward the highway, where there was a speeder bike coming toward them at high speed.
Sabine was driving, while Ezra was crouched on the rear packaging case of the bike, holding to Sabine with a hand and showing his repeater with the other. The bike was also towing a barrel of rhydonium.
The stormtroopers fired in their direction and Sabine zigzagged while Ezra returned fire with his weapon, forcing the troopers to scatter and giving Sabine a few precious second to push pedal on the metal and shorten the distance quickly.
As the bike entered the perimeter of the tower's platform, Sabine suddenly drifted. Ezra had already folded his repeater and jumped out, igniting his lightsaber.
While Ezra landed with a roll and immediately slashed the rifle of a trooper, Sabine sent the bike, and his explosive cargo, to crash into one of the AS batteries, obliterating it and the gunner.
She obviously jumped out before that happened, and rolled on the side, extracting her blasters and putting down two troopers while Ezra was putting down in a melee the fourth and last of those watching the door.
On the other side, Zeb had sneaked near the other cannon and, when the kids attacked, he knocked out the gunner and took control of the weapon, immediately pointing it at the last battery. This was on the opposite side of the door, so it wouldn't be an issue for the rebels, but better safe than sorry, and Zeb blew it.
At short distance arrived Jaral, carrying Chopper on her bike, and Kanan on another bike.
The two parked in front of the door and Jaral released Chopper from its binders.
"Let's make this quick." said Kanan.
Ezra and Sabine were already at the door. When the boy hacked the controls, he made an exaggerated bow.
"Ladies first." he said to Sabine, jokingly.
"Thank you, milord." she replied in kind while walking into the doorway.
Sabine quickly gunned down the two stormtroopers at the main computer as the alarm blared incessantly.
"Jinx, get ready to work your gears." said Ezra, leaping over the table of the main computer and disabling the alarms.
"Chopper, install the spike." said Sabine to the astromech, who headed to the terminal and put in the spike.
Ezra took one of Jinx's processors and put into the driver of the computer.
"I'm in. Beginning violation." Jinx announced, but he added something. "But you might want to take care of the imperial reinforcements incoming."
"What? They're already here?" Ezra exclaimed.
Sabine walked up to him, her helmet hiding her worried expression.
"It seems like you hunch was correct once again, Ezra. This is a trap." Jinx stated.
"Cold comfort, Jinx. Now I don't think we have two minutes." Ezra spat back.
"I can do this faster, if you and Sabine help me."
"Just tell us what to do." Sabine said calmly.
Outside, Kanan and Jaral were guarding the door, and could already see the searching lights of the gunships and the ITTs rolling up the highway.
"Seems like Ezra was right." Jaral sighed.
Kanan took the comlink. "Ezra, Sabine, we're short of time."
"Already on it." Ezra replied with a busy tone.
On their right, Zeb pointed the gun at the gunships. After a few missed shots, he managed to shoot one of them down. Jaral, however, noticed that the ITTs were almost in range to shoot him, and Zeb's weapon would not be able to shoot back.
"I'll go get Zeb." Jaral announced and Kanan nodded. She jumped on the nearest speeder bike and headed toward the Lasat, still firing on the cannon.
"Zeb, we need to move, now." she said loudly.
"But I like this gun!" Zeb said amused.
"We'll get you another one. Move!"
A blast from an ITT flying right over his ear convinced Zeb to not discuss and jump on the bike. The two got away just in time to avoid the explosion of the cannon.
Inside the tower, Jinx had just finished the violation in record time, and Chopper was allowed to get the spike back.
"Specter-7 to Specter-1" said Ezra on the comlink. "We got a signal. We are coming out."
"Negative. Take the lift and get on top of the tower." Kanan replied.
Ezra, Sabine and Chopper complied.
Kanan ordered Jaral and Zeb to get inside as well.
"What about you?" asked Jaral.
"I'll take the next one." Kanan said calmly.
Even if reluctantly, Jaral stepped in, as did Zeb.
"Jaral." Kanan called the girl as he ignited his lightsaber. "Take care of the others." he said with a tone that left very little to interpretation.
Jaral gulped but nodded firmly before reaching the turbolift and get on top with the rest of the squad. It was a bit cramped, but the lift worked anyway.
As they reached the top, Ezra rushed to the handrail and looked downward.
"Where's Kanan?" he asked worried.
Kanan was still in front of the door, that he had already closed, when the ITTs parked in front of him and Agent Kallus dismounted, along with a total of 14 stormtroopers, all aiming guns at him.
"Now this looks familiar." Kallus commented. He was the only one keeping the weapon on his back.
"Same situation. Same outcome." Kanan said, pointing the saber at him. "You lose."
"Oh, I don't think so." the agent replied, then looked upward.
A gunship was hovering over them, and from the loading area the Inquisitor nimbly jumped down.
In response, Kanan used the saber to slash the controls of the door, effectively trapping himself but giving his friends all the time necessary to escape.
Then the gunship that dropped the Inquisitor started to ascend moving to intercept the rest of the Specters.
The stormtroopers left in the loading area prepared to fire, but the Bridgers decided that it was time to use a function of their repeaters that so long have never used: the secondary fire.
The TL-50 had the ability to accumulate energy very rapidly and release a powerful concussion blast. This almost immediately overheated the battery, but it was as powerful as a thermal detonator.
Jaral aimed at the cabin, Ezra to the turbine facing them. The vehicle went down in a ball of fire before it could even react.
As he watched the gunship going down, the Inquisitor talked to Kanan.
"What did you hope to gain by coming here?"
"You're clever." Kanan charged with the lightsaber, forcing the Inquisitor to activate his own. "Figure it out."
The two exchanged blows. Kanan by now ha improved significantly and was able to push back the Inquisitor with a kick.
"You've been practicing." the Inquisitor noted with respect.
"Nice of you to notice."
"There's someone who wants to meet you. If you surrender now, he might let your friends live."
"Oh, I don't think my friends need my help for that." Kanan smirked.
Another blast coming from above attracted everyone's attention. The last gunship of the imperials had tried to approach the balcony, but as Jaral and Ezra used their powers to shield their comrades, Sabine had thrown a plastic detonator on the small aircraft, taking it down as well.
And a few seconds later, Hera finally showed up with the Phantom. Positioning it so the squad could jump on it."
Kanan and the Inquisitor exchanged a few other blows, but this time the Inquisitor managed to use the Force to push and block Kanan against the door of the tower.
The Jedi managed to grab his comlink with his right hand and scream into it.
"Specter-2. Get out of here, now!"
"Not an option, Kanan." Hera said sternly.
Then the ITTs, under Kallus' order, started to shoot in AA mode.
Hera had to get away from the balcony to evade the shots, but the fire intensified.
"No time, go!" Kanan said through the comm.
"We can't!" Ezra pleaded.
Jaral, however, stepped up.
"Hera...we need to go." she said with a sorrowful, yet determined voice.
The Twi'lek felt only pain as she understood that Jaral was right, and spirited the Phantom away.
Kanan watched with a sense of relief as he fell to his knees. When the Inquisitor pointed his crimson blade at his neck, Kanan defiantly replied.
"Looks like I have time to meet your friend after all."
One hour later, at dawn, another gunship arrived. As it touched down, Tarkin came out with the helmet and a body protection of the army, his rank plaque still on his left side of the chest.
The Inquisitor presented him with Kanan's lightsaber and the Jedi in binders on his knees.
"Excellent work, Inquisitor." he said with his stern face, but the tone was sincerely admired. "These are the results I expect."
Tarkin inspected the lightsaber for a couple of seconds, before clasping his hands behind his back.
"So, you are the Jedi in question?"
"Whatever you want from me, you won't get it." Kanan said.
Kallus approached the group and spoke to Tarkin.
"Sir, we have a problem."
"Explain."
"It appears the insurgents have gained control of the tower's transmitter."
Kallus showed his comlink and the voice of Ezra came out of it.
"We have been called criminals, but we are not."
Then it was Jaral's turn.
"We are rebels, fighting for the people, fighting for you."
"We are not that old, but We still remember a time when things were better on Lothal."
"Maybe not great, but never like this".
They were indeed transmitting on every communication media on Lothal, and probably beyond. What stunned many listeners was how incredibly coordinated the two were. The speech was so fluent, and both of them completed each other with absolute confidence in one another.
"Look around you. Can you see what the Empire has done to your lives?"
"To your families and your freedom?"
Kanan was being loaded onto the gunship, together with Tarkin, the Inquisitor and Kallus.
"It's only gonna get worse."
"Unless we stand up and fight back.
It won't be easy. There will be loss and sacrifice."
"But we can't back down just because we're afraid.
That's when we need to stand the tallest."
Kanan was now staring Tarkin in the eyes as the gunship lifted.
"That's what our parents taught us."
"And that's what our new family helped us remember."
Two new gunships showed up and fired a total of four HE missiles, which slowly moved toward the tower. Kanan watched bewildered while Tarkin never stopped staring at him.
"Stand up together. Because that's when we're strongest."
A brief silence.
"AS ONE."
The missiles finally hit the target. The tower collapsed.
On the Ghost, the radio started to transmit only statics as radio frequencies died down one after the other. The speech was over.
Ezra and Jaral looked at each other.
"You think anybody heard?" Ezra asked.
"I have a feeling they did." Jaral replied confidently.
"But this isn't over."
"No. It-isn't." Hera said severely.
Silence fell as the statics kept going for a while before dying down completely.