Kanan and Hera are both up above us in The Ghost, they're evading the Imps after Kanan's plan to raid an Imperial supply convoy went south. Go figure. Zeb is in the city, so Sabine and I are on our own. Not that we have a particularly hard job. We just have to give the Imps a little grief. Kanan and Hera say we're good at that.

I have no doubt it's very entertaining for Chopper being up in The Ghost. That or it's aggravating for him. And I know for a fact that it's aggravating for Kanan and Hera. They work well together, however, they have a tendency to argue in certain situations.

Sabine and I perch on top of a roof, and hear a stormtrooper say to a man who ran from him, "Move along, this is a restricted area."

I watch from my vantage point, and see the man run away from the stormtrooper. Once the trooper walks forward, Sabine and I jump off of the roof. Taking care to muffle the sound of our separate landings. Which is not that hard to do with the Force.

Once we're on the ground, Sabine and I take off and make our way to the wall across the yard from where we started. Once we get there, I take my comlink off of my belt and turn it on.

"Spectre-4 and Spectre-6 to Ghost."

Hera responds. "This is Ghost. We are in position and awaiting your diversion."

"Copy that," Sabine says.

Then we look at each other, and say together, "This is gonna be fun."

I turn off my comlink and replace it on my belt. Then Sabine and I stand up and jump up. Grabbing onto the top of the wall, and then climbing up on top of it. We both stand on the top of the wall and look out onto the yard filled with TIE fighters.

"Very fun," I mutter.

Sabine and I jump down from the wall, and sneak to behind a box. And once the pair of stormtroopers in front of us move, the two of us run as quietly as possible to our predetermined, as of two seconds ago, place behind a TIE fighter wing. Sabine then sticks her head out around the other side of the wing. I follow her lead, except on the opposite side.

Even while I keep watching, I grab the spray paint bottle from the back of my belt. I prefer drawing with pencils or charcoal and making it more detailed and less cartoonish, but when we're doing something like this, I'm fine with using the spray paint. Even if that is more up Sabine's alley than mine.

Both of us spin back behind the wing of the fighter, and while Sabine paints the symbol of a starbird, her personally adopted symbol, I paint something similar to it. It's the same curved bottom, but instead of being at an angle, the stem of it is straight up. And on the top, mine has a diamond on top, on a pedestal looking thing. Once that's done, I put two thick stripes on either side. (See chapter picture.) I came up with this after Kanan showed me a picture of the old symbol of the Jedi Order. It has some similar aspects, but is different too.. I use it when I do drawings or sketches as a way to sign them.

And just as both Sabine and I finish up painting our respective symbols, I hear two sets of footsteps behind us. Stormtroopers. I let a grin cross my face. Perfect.

"What do you think you're doing?" one of them asks us.

"What does it look like?" Sabine says in a bored tone. "Art."

"Well... well stand down," the same trooper commands.

Then the other trooper chimes in. "Or we'll shoot."

"Okay," I say slowly, turning to look at them. "Shoot."

Sabine and I both stand facing the two troopers, but when they look at each other, both of us bolt. Leaving only our painting as the evidence that we were there. But then Sabine bangs on the wing of the TIE fighter we ran over to.

Prompting the two troopers to turn and begin firing at us. But both of us run and dodge the blaster bolts. when we get over to yet another TIE, both Sabine and I take up positions between the wings and body.

I laugh, and say, "You call that shooting?" Then I look over at Sabine and say, "They call that shooting?"

Sabine picks up where I left off and says, "I think you boys need a little more time on the practice range."

Once Sabine finishes speaking both of us run away from the troopers. I have a feeling that one of them is calling for back up. After all, they always do. Every time. And just like every other time we've done this, the alarm starts blaring.

Sabine and I stay hidden until I head one of then ask where we are.

"Over here, buckethead," Sabine says as we run out from our hiding spot.

And, of course, both troopers start firing at us. But we evade it, and make it up onto the top of a TIE.

"You guys are too predictable!" I yell out, just before I jump off of the TIE.

They shoot at us again, and we split up. Sabine hide behind a wing across from me. But I can still hear her say,

"Always by the book. I read your book. It's a short one."

Both of us slip out into the open, and, once more, are shot at. But when the reinforcements arrive, Sabine and I take advantage of that. And we get onto a roof, which provides us an excellent vantage point.

"Two intruders. One in Mando gear and one in a brown leather jacket, white shirt, and black pants. Both female, and both are still at large."

"Split up," the highest ranking trooper orders. "Capture them. I want them alive."

Sabine and I look at each other and grin. Then we jump off the roof, and make our way back to the original TIE that we painted.

"Something's missing," she remarks, taking out her spray paint bottle and finishing up, as in putting a charge on her starbird. I follow her lead and put a charge on my painting and I make sure that I activate it.

"Perfect," we say together.

Just then, two troopers come up behind us and both say, "Hands up, you Rebel scum!"

I raise my hands, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Sabine do the same. Then, both of us flip backward, knocking both the troopers back. They start firing, but miss us, and eventually fall onto their backs.

"Ha!" I say as we start running. "Too slow!"

We keep running, and just as the charge blows, Sabine and I jump up and over the wall. Landing in a crouch as my comm beeps to life. Hera's voice comes over the comm saying,

"That was some diversion, Sabine, Jess. You did the job so well we can see the explosion from here."

Sabine takes her helmet off and brushes her bangs away from her face as she and I turn around to face the explosion. She says,

"Forget the explosion. Look at the color!"

She replaces her helmet and we start walking off, people from the facility start bowing to us to show their thanks. I don't know why they do that, but... hey, it's a Lothal thing. We just keep walking and eventually make it to rendezvous.

Which is a short lived break, since a TIE found us again, and it starts chasing us across the Lothalian sky. I end up being the one to blast it though! That makes 10 for me this month, 3 for Kanan, 7 for Zeb, and 10 for Sabine, Hera doesn't compete. I really hope I win this month, Sabine won last month and got new paint as a reward from Kanan and Hera. I need new holsters and the parts to modify them, and that stuff isn't exactly cheap.

Once we lose the tail, we go to get Zeb. I get to go with Kanan into the marketplace and I look around while Kanan talks to Zeb. Who's late. He sounds exasperated, it's kind of funny. Actually, no, it's really very funny. Especially when he asks Zeb if he's embarrassing the Imperials again.

To which Zeb responds with, "Honestly, Kanan, it's hard not to."

Not a few moments later, I see an explosion and smoke and lean over to hear what my brother says.

"Zeb, I see smoke. Was that... was that a TIE fighter exploding?"

From Zeb's tone, I immediately know it was. Even though he denies it at first.

"No. Okay, yes."

"Nice!" Kanan and I both say into the comlink.

I hear, "I thought so," over the comm before Zeb turns his off.

Oh this was so funny, and I'm totally telling Hera about this. Although, she'll probably do her annoyed and disappointed captain's look before going off into the cockpit to laugh. That or she'll fuss at Zeb andthengo off to the cockpit and laugh. Maybe both, I can never tell. In any case, it's going to be funny after I tell her.

I walk off once the conversation with Zeb is finished though. I find a fruit stall that's within watching distance of both Zeb, who just got here, and Sabine. But while I'm standing here, I feel something. A disturbance in the Force! And a powerful one at that.

I shake myself and watch as Kanan gives both Sabine and Zeb the signal. Then he walks past the stall I'm looking at. He taps his leg four times, and I move into position. Leaving the fruit stall and walking over to where a group of stormtroopers are standing. Their bikes sitting nearby, crates attached to the back.

Once I see an explosion, Sabine's diversion, I start moving. Kanan will keep the troopers from escaping with the crates, and I'll help get the four bikes that have crates attached. Blaster fire erupts from that alley, so Zeb and I sneak up behind the troopers. Dispatching them more easily than it would be from in front of them.

I use both of my blasters and pick off the troopers while Kanan distracts them, and Zeb takes out his share. Then they stand up, and I holster my blasters. All three of us have happy smirks on our faces. But before we can commence the next step of the plan... something goes wrong. As always.

A kid, a boy about my age, with dark hair, jumps down from the roof onto one of the speeder bikes. He gives Kanan a two fingered salute and says,

"Thanks for doing the heavy lifting."

He then back ups, dodges Zeb's punch, making me jump to the side, and just keeps sighs and asks,

"What now?"

"After that kid!" Kanan tells us.

All three of us hop onto the other bikes and back them up. Avoiding the Empire's officers as we do. And as we keep going, the three of us pass by Sabine. She's got a crate, and I think it's one with food in it. We keep going though, she knows where to go and what to do in the event that an op goes does haywire.

We turn a corner and there's a blockade of stormtroopers. Lovely. So, Kanan and I both take our blaster out of our holsters and take aim. I get two, and so does Kanan. Allowing all of us to pass by the troopers unscathed.

Then we get to the market place, Kanan, Zeb, and I do all manage to pull off clean turns though. Hera's piloting lessons haven't gone to waste, she is the finest pilot in the galaxy. Or, at least, so says my brother. But he's also in love with her... so I'm not exactly sure how valid his opinion is when it comes to Hera.

"Who is that kid?" I just hear Kanan ask as we leave Capitol City.

But, leaving Capitol City means that we pass the gate. Which means that we also just picked up more stormtroopers. Sure enough, I hear blaster shots fired at us. I swerve around the crates attached to Kanan's bike so that I'm to his side. This way, he won't accidentally shoot me instead of one of the stormtroopers. But once I'm beside him, Kanan grabs his blaster, aims back at the troopers, and starts firing.
It doesn't really work though. Because they just shoot the kid's bike, and he ends up getting into the opposite lane to us. The one going toward the city. This is just great! Kanan nudges me through our bond in the Force and tells me to go on the other lane, see if I can cut the kid off while he and Zeb take care of the troopers. I nod to him, dump my crates, and accelerate.

I make the jump over the divider, and jerk the controls so that I land straight. Once I'm down and the speeder bike is levitating again, I start going fast. That kid has no idea what he's getting into. I think he sees me though, because he speeds up. I keep chasing him though, and pretty soon, Kanan makes his jump over to our lane. Except he landsin frontof the kid.

The kid tries to swerve and avoid Kanan, but I keep him going straight until Kanan turns, and slams his brakes. Leaving him sideways across the road. Once the kid slows down and turns the same way Kanan is, I do the same. Now he isn't going anywhere.
"Who are you people?"
"I'm the guy who was stealing that crate," Kanan answers, pointing to himself.
"Hey, look, I stole this stuff, wha... whatever it is, fair and square."
"And you made it pretty far," I tell him, standing up over my bike. "But we've got plans for that crate, so today is not your day."
"Day's not over," the kid retorts, swerving quickly around Kana.'s bike.
"Oh, wonderful," Kanan and I mutter as the scream of a TIE fighter gets louder, and then as we move away as it blows up our bikes.
"Have a good one!" the kid yells from the other side of the wreckage.

Kanan gets a fond smirk on his face, and I put my hands on my hips. Both of us shake our heads and Kanan gets out his comlink. We're going to need a lift, and sure enough, that's what he says.
"This is Spectre-1. Spectre-4 and I need a lift."

Both Kanan and I walk over to the edge of the lane and wait for Hera. Once she and The Ghost arrive, Kanan and I jump onto the lowered boarding ramp. Then we ride The Ghost across Lothal until we see the kid. With another TIE on his tail. Go figure.

The TIE gets a shot in, and the kid's bike gets blown up. Sending him tumbling from his bike into the grasses of the plains of Lothal. When the TIE starts flying back toward the kid, Hera manages to get a shot in and blows it up, so Kanan walks down the still lowered boarding ramp and asks,
"You want a ride?" When the kid looks hesitant, he says, "Kid, you have a better option? Come on!" When he sees more TIE fighters, I know that cause I can hear them, the kid starts running, grabbing the crate. In an exasperated tone, Kanan yells, "Leave the crate, you'll never make it!"

But, surprisingly, the kid keeps hold of the crate, and he makes the jump even while being fired at by TIEs. My eyebrows raise in surprise, the only person, other than Kanan and I, that I know that could have made that jumpwiththe crate, would be Zeb. But for a human to be able to make that jumpwiththe crate in tow... they wouldhaveto have the Force. I don't know of any other way someone could make that jump.

He uses the crate though, to crawl up onto the boarding ramp. Once he's up, and the he, Kanan, and the crate are inside, I press the button bringing the boarding ramp up, which allows Hera to get us all out of here. Alive, at least. And that is always preferred to the other option. Because the other option is dead after having been burnt to a crisp. That may be the way I like my bacon, but it's not the way I'd like to go. Just saying.

Then Zeb takes the lid off of the crate that the kid stole, which prompts him to walk forward and over to to where we are. When he looks down into the crate, he says, in and awe filled voice, and while picking up a blaster from inside the crate,
"Oh! Do you have any idea what these are worth on the black market?"
"I do, actually," Kanan says gruffly.

"Don't get any ideas," Zeb tells the kid, leaning across the crate in order to get in his face. I roll my eyes while I watch from my position against the wall.
"They're mine," the kid says,

Zeb snatches the blaster away from the kid, puts it back in the crate, and says, "If you hadn't gotten in our way..."
"Too bad. I got to them first."
Kanan walks forward towards the ladder that leads up to the cockpit and our quarters, and separates the kid and Zeb, who look like they are just minutes away from an all out fist fight to the death. I move from my position against the wall to stand right behind Zeb. And I speak up for the first time since the kid boarded The Ghost.

"It's not whose first. It's whose last."
As Kanan climbs the ladder he calls back, "Keep an eye on our friend here."

Then the kid hops up onto the crate and says, "Look, I was just doing the same thing you were. Stealing to survive."
"You have no idea what we were doing. You don't know us," Zeb says, punching him lightly in the stomach.

"And I don't want to," the kid says, hopping down from the crate. "I just want off this burner."
"Please. Nothing would thrill me more than tossing you out while in flight."

The two are glaring at each other when a TIE gets a shot in at The Ghost, making the ship shudder. And that makes Zeb and the kid both fall down. Zeb on top of the kid, and it's honestly kind of funny, considering I've had that happen to me before. It's much nicer when it's somebody else pinned beneath the big Lasat.

The kid pounds on the floor a little, a pained expression on his face. "Get off. I can't breathe," he strains to say.

Zeb lifts his head up and says, "I'm not that heavy in this gravity."

"Not the weight," the kid says as Zeb gets up, allowing his to stand again. "The smell."

Oh boy. You know what, I'm going up to the cockpit. I'm not going to be held responsible for the kid being murdered by an angry Lasat. That's Sabine's territory. So without saying another word, I edge over to the ladder and scale the rungs before making it to the cockpit and taking a seat just behind Hera. Which isn't where I usually sit, but Kanan's occupying the co-pilot's seat currently.

Just as I sit down, Hera says, "Kid sounds impressive."

Ah, Kanan must have told her about our little escapade in the city.

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking," my brother says, turning to look at his wife.

I lean forward now and say, "Kanan, if she wasn't, she wouldn't have said what she said."

I get a nod from Hera as she makes Kanan move and I reclaim my spot as co-pilot. While Hera and I are flying, she says, "He held onto a crate of blaster with a pack of troopers on his tail."

"Because Jess and I were there to save him! He's a street rat. Wild, reckless, dangerous, and..." When Kanan trails off, Hera and I both look behind us and where my brother is looking. At the monitor for the cargo bay. "Gone?"

Kanan stands in between Hera and I and turns on the PA system. "Zeb, Sabine. Where's the kid?"
"Calm down, chief," Zeb says. He goes to open the door to a small room that I have no idea what it's actually for. "He's in... Here."
"Zeb, where is he?" Kanan asks, just as I hear banging around in the ship. I can't stop my smirk.
"Well, he is still in the ship," Zeb says.
"Oh, he's in the ship all right," I remark. "Try inside the vents."
"Very creative," Hera remarks. "Sounds like someone I used to know, and someone I do know."

Yeah, yeah. I do climb in vents, not as often as I used to, but sometimes it can be useful. But Kanan just makes a noise before he stalks out of the cockpit, leaving Hera and I to actually fly the ship.
"Shields are holding for now," Hera reports to the rest of the crew, "but you need to buy me and Jess some time to calculate the jump to light speed."
"Buying time now!" my brother calls out as I get to work calculating our jump to light speed.
It doesn't take me very long to get it, since I have been doing this for six years. Once I've finished calculations, I input them into the system, and use the PA to say, "Calculations complete, but we need an opening."

"Found one," Sabine tells us, she gets TIE out of the way, and before I know it, Hera is saying,
"Entering hyperspace!"

The now familiar blue and white streaks appear, and soon we're out and away from Lothal. We'll do a short hyperspace jump before returning to Lothal. To visit Tarkin Town, get paid by Vizago, and to drop the kid off at home. It's actually my turn to go with Kanan and Hera to see Vizago, I'm the only one who gets to go sometimes, so I really hope they won't make me babysit Zeb and the kid.

It isn't even a few minutes actually since we entered hyperspace that Zeb's hauling the kid into the cockpit. I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. Here we go again.
"Let go! You can't keep me here! Take me back to Lothal!"
"Calm down," Hera says, calling back to the kid. "That's exactly what we're doing."
"Wait, right now?" he asks. "With Imperials chasing us?"
"We lost the TIEs when we jumped," I explain, "and the Ghost can scramble its signature so they won't recognize us when we go back to Lothal."
"Oh, that's pretty cool! So just drop me and my blasters outside Capital City and-"
The doors to the rest of the ship open up and as she walks in, Sabine says, "They're not your blasters."
"And we're not going back to Capital City. The job's not done," my brother informs him.

As we make our approach toward Lothal, in order not to make a scene, I use the bond I've built with Kanan over the years to beg him to let me go with them. But, he says no. So I don't get my wish. I have to go and babysit and make sure that the kid and Zeb don't actually kill each other. Lucky me.

So when The Ghost lands and we disembark, I grab a crate with food in it, along with Sabine and Zeb, and we head down to join Ezra on the hill that overlooks Tarkin Town. As Hera and Kanan walk in another direction, on their way to meet up with Vizago, Ezra turns back and looks at us, asking,
"Hey, where are they going?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." I can't help the eye roll I give, Zeb doesn't even know where they're going. "Oh. And I might just kill you anyway."
Sabine and I walk side by side as she says, "Grab a crate, pull your weight."

Then we start the walk down to Tarkin Town. We enter the town and pass through the street facing The Ghost to make our way to the town square.
"Lived on Lothal my whole life," Ezra says. "Never been here."
"The Imperials don't advertise it," Sabine informs him.
"The locals call it Tarkin Town. Named for Grand Moff Tarkin, Governor of the Outer Rim. He kicked these people off of their farms when the Empire wanted their land. Anybody who tried to fight back got arrested for treason," I tell him. Going to Tarkin Town is always a test for my shields, so many people. So many emotions.

When we get to the town square and open the boxes, Zeb yells out,

"Who wants free grub?"

The citizens of Tarkin Town come up to us and begin taking the food from the shipment, as we hand it out. As they receive the stolen food, I close my eyes and let the hope that the people have fill the Force that surrounds me. It's soothing, a balm to the shadow that crouches over so much of the Force.

When I open my eyes again, Ezra has left, and neither Sabine or Zeb know where he went, so I reach out in the Force to find him. Brushing my senses against the ball of absolute light that is Ezra, and his Force Signature is... rapidly approaching the faint presence that is of Kanan's lightsaber.

"He went back to The Ghost," I say as I open my eyes. "Kanan and Hera are headed back there, so he'll be fine.

Zeb just grumbles and Sabine rolls her eyes. I can't help but smile at their antics, at the very least, they keep my life interesting. Of course, so does the Empire... though Zeb's and Sabine's interesting is far more fun that when the Empire makes our lives interesting.

Eventually, all of the food we stole is given away and I just have a couple of errands to run for the locals. Tarkin Town doesn't have anything even resembling a medic, so whenever we come with a food shipment, there are always a few citizens who let me know if someone needs help. Thankfully, there's only one person who needs my help today.

An older woman whose grandson was taken by the Empire after they kicked the two of them off their daughter moved away with her son and Mrs. Ketra's husband died years ago. When I get to her quarter, I forgo knocking and head straight inside.

"Mrs. Ketra, it's Jessie. Talli told me you fell yesterday," I say as I make my way back into the kitchen after she tells me where she is.

Mrs. Ketra turns around when I enter the kitchen. She smiles, and says, "Talli worries too much. I'm not old and frail enough I can't take care of myself, lass."

"If it's all the same, it would make me feel better to make sure you're all right. Talli said it wasn't a bad fall, but I still don't want any injuries getting worse."

She sighs, but obliges me and sits down in a chair in the kitchen. I feel her legs and her hips, making sure that there really is nothing wrong. And once I'm done, I come to the conclusion that there is nothing actually wrong. So I give Mrs. Ketra a grin and say my goodbyes.

After I leave her house, I head back to The Ghost. And apparently, more than a couple of things have happened since I was last aboard. Kanan pulls me aside after I board The Ghost again and tells me his suspicions of Ezra being Force Sensitive, suspicions that I also have. And since Kanan is about as empathic as a rock compared to me, he trusts what I have to say.

But, in true Kanan fashion, he has devised a test for him. See if Ezra can open the holocron.

Soon enough though, it's time for a crew meeting. Where Kanan and Hera practically drop a bomb shell into our laps. During their meeting with Vizago, he gave them the information on the Wookiee prisoners that we've been after. Hopefully, we'll be able to find them and bring them back to Kashyyk, where they belong.

"We have a new mission," Kanan says, starting the briefing. "Vizago acquired the flight plan for an Imperial transport ship full of Wookiee prisoners."

"Most of these Wookiees were soldiers for the Old Republic," Hera injects.

"I owe those hairy beasts, "Zeb says. "They saved some of my people."

"Mine too," Hera adds.

"If we're going to save them, we've got a tight window," Kanan says, starting to tell us about his plan. Not that we won't have to change it later. But it's always good to have a baseline. "They've been taken to an unknown slave labor camp. If we don't intercept this ship, we'll never find them. Now, I have a plan, but-"

Kanan gets cut off by a loud thud. He walks over to the storage compartment Zeb forces Ezra into earlier. When the door slides open, sure enough, there's the kid.

Ezra falls out of the compartment, but as soon as he realizes where he is, he's back on his feet. He runs back into the compartment and tries to climb into the air vent, I assume that's how he got in there to begin with, but Zeb runs forward and grabs him around his waist. Keeping him from escaping back up the vents. Zeb pulls him out of the compartment and practically throws him into the middle of the floor.

"I ordered Chopper to keep watch!"

Right as Zeb finishes speaking, Chopper rolls in, beeping and carrying on. Kanan and I both turn to look at him and give him, what Hera has dubbed, our 'Jarrus Stare'. After Cooper finally stops beeping, Zeb hisses loudly and growls,

"Can we please get rid of him?"

Zeb stalks forward, punching his hand, and Kanan and Sabine put their arms out in front of him.

"No. We can't. The kid knows to much," Sabine says, a slight smile in her voice.

"We don't have time to take him home anyway," Hera deadpans as she pulls Ezra up off of the floor. "We need to move now. I'll keep and eye on him," she says, guiding him towards the ladder that leads up to the cockpit. Normally, being co-pilot would be my job, but since this is a high risk job, I've got ground crew today.

The Ghost soon docks with the Imperial transport and we all get into position round the door frame of the airlock. Zeb's not exactly all that happy with playing a Wookiee prisoner though.

When the door opens, the two stormtroopers are taken aback.

"That thing's not a Wookiee," one of them says.

"Haven't you ever seen a rare, hairless Wookiee before?" Kanan asks, his face and voice both completely serious.

Zeb them growls like a Wookiee all of one time, and then we wait for a moment. But, of course, Zeb then breaks character and says,

"Aww... Forget it."

He then proceeds to punch both of them. Knocking them both out at the same time with a single punch. I blow my breath quietly as Zeb says, "Told you they wouldn't buy it."

"To be fair," I say as Sabine and I slip through the door, "you didn't exactly give them a chance to buy it."

Zeb chuckles and rubs the back of his neck as he says, "There's just something about the feel of their helmets on my fists."

I roll my eyes as Kanan stars giving orders. "Okay, you know the plan. Move out." Sabine and Chopper run off and I stick close to Kanan. In between him and Zeb.

As we run down the hallway, Kanan gives our report so far to Hera. "No troopers. Security's soft."

We make the run down to the brig, and as we're running, a pit starts to form in my stomach. I've got a really bad feeling about this. And said feeling only amplifies when we make it down to the brig. Zeb and I hide behind the wall fully as Kanan pokes his head around the edge and reports that there aren't any guards on the door. Oh, wonderful.

The three of us run up to the door and Zeb says, "Just set the detonator so we can get the Wookiees out of here."

I roll my eyes and turn around to place the detonator on the door panel. While I prime it, Kanan and Zeb keep a look out. And then, then Zeb decides to make things infinitely harder for all of us. And while I don't believe in luck, good or bad, I do believe in the ability to jinx missions.

"At least things seem to be going smoother than our last op," Zeb remarks.

And then, just proving me right, I hear Ezra's voice coming from down the hallway. I leave the detonator and all three of us jump out to be in his path. Ezra is waving his arms and yelling.

"It's a trap! We gotta get out of here. It's a trap!"

As Ezra reaches us, Zeb growls out, "Karabast! The kid's blowing another op!"

With his hands on his knees and panting, Ezra says, "It's not an op. It's a trap! Hera sent me to warn you."

And then... the door slides open. And there are stormtroopers. A lot of stormtrooper. Because of course there are.

"Run!" Kanan yells.

We all start running down the hallway. Ezra manages to pull off a shot to a stormtrooper with his energy slingshot, buying us a bit of a head start. As the four of us run through the hallways, Ezra says,

"We need to warn Sabine and Chopper, but they've jammed the comm."

"They'll follow the plan," I tell him. "It'll be fine."

"Yeah, 'cause the plan's gone just great so far," he quips back.

So this time, it's me who growls at him. Though we never stop running. Running head first into a squadron of stormtroopers.

"Don't stop!" Kanan tells us.

"I wasn't really planning on it anyways!" I retort.

"Push off now!" Kanan says, choosing to ignore my comment. And just as we push off of the ground, the gravity turns off. Woohoo! Go Sabine!

Kanan takes a shot at one of the stormtroopers, and then it becomes almost an all out firefight once Zeb, Ezra, and I start following Kanan as he moves forward. I help Kanan once I draw one of my blasters, shooting at some of the stormtroopers. We knock over some of the troopers as we go, giving us a bit of lead on the troopers. We swing into another hallway and Kanan asks,

"You doing okay, kid?"

"You kidding?"

After a few more moments of anti-gravity, Kanan yells out, "Now!" and then the gravity turns back on. Kanan and I both land in a crouch, used to more sudden falls from our training together, but Zeb and Ezra both fall to the ground. Kanan and I run through the hallway ahead of the boys and meet up with Sabine and Chopper in front of the docking port where we'll re-enter The Ghost.

"Where are the Wookiees?" Sabine asks when we stop.

"There are no Wookiees," I tell her before Kanan starts giving his orders.

"Sabine, man the nose gun! Jess, tell Hera to take off."

"Right!" Sabine answers.

"Got it!"

Sabine and I take off running, Chopper at my heels as I enter The Ghost and race up to the cockpit. When I get up there, I slide into my seat and turn to Hera and tell her,

"Kanan says let's go."

She nods to me and we both turn to look at the monitors. "There!" she says as the airlock closes. "Airlock shut! We're out of here!"

I separate the ship from the Imperial shuttle as Hera tells Chopper to jam the tractor beam, we sink down out of the Imperial cruiser and we start to glide underneath it. As we fly, on our way to escaping, a voice comes over the comms.

"Attention, rebel ship. Surrender or be destroyed. This is your first and last warning."

I roll my eyes as Hera mutters, "Blow it out your exhaust vent. Literally."

I take that as my cue and use the internal comms to get Sabine's attention. And all she needs to hear is her name. As we leave the cover of the cruiser, the shuttle explodes. Over the comm system, I hear Sabine say, "Gah! I can't see it from here. How'd it look?"

"Gorgeous, Sabine," Kanan tells her. "As always."

Hera gives me a look, and, with a grin, I reach forward and pull the lever that sends us into hyperspace. And now we're away. Hera and I both lean back into our chairs for a moment as the doors open and Kanan and Sabine walk into the cockpit. Pormpting us to sit up while they take their seats. Kanan behind Hera and Sabine behind me.

"The whole thing was a setup," Kanan says, irritation tinging his voice.

"You think Vizago was in on it?" I ask him, turning to look at my brother."

"He'd sell his mother to Jawas for a couple credits. But we're a source of income for him. Even odds he didn't know," Hera says as Zeb walks in, sitting down in one of the chairs attached to the wall. "The kid did all right," she says, continuing after a moment of silence.

"He did okay. Where is he." Kanan asks.

"I... uh... I thought he was with you," Zeb says after a slight moment of hesitation.

"Zeb, what did you do to him?" Sabine asks as we all look at him.

"I didn't do anything to him. But... that ISB agent grabbed him," he mutters.

"What!" all four of us yell out.

"The kid got grabbed, okay?"

"Garazeb Orrelios!" Hera says, a threat in her tone.

"Come on! We were dumping him after the mission anyway! This saves us fuel. They'll go easy on him. He's just a kid."

Once Zeb finishes talking, Kanan and Hera look at each other. And the looks they give each other make me sigh. I've seen that look far too many times in sticky situations and it always means more chaos. Once Kanan and Hera reveal their plan, Zeb stands up to protest.

"No! No, no! No way! You cannot be serious!"

"It's our fault he was there!" Hera counters.

"Come on, Hera! We just met this kid!" Zeb argues. "We're not going back for him!"

"They'll be waiting for us, Sabine says dejectedly. "We can't save him."

And then, Chopper beeps. Bringing a smile to Hera's face. Kanan and I still have yet to vote.

"What? What did he say?" Zeb asks angrily.
"He voted with me. That's two against two. Kanan, Jesse, you two have the deciding vote."

That she counts us almost as one shows how well Hera knows my brother and I. We nearly always vote the same way. So, we look at each other. And then we nod. Four against two, we're going to rescue Ezra.

We take The Ghost out of hyperspace close to the Imperial cruiser that Ezra's on with that ISB agent. Hera and I land the ship in one of the landing bays and as soon as we're down, Hera and I are both out of our seats and I'm running down the ramp with the rest of the crew, Hera's staying behind to guard The Ghost.
"Find Ezra. I'll be ready," she tells us.

On the way out of the hangar, Sabine sprays her mark on the floor. Then she rejoins us as we run out of the hangar. Though Kanan turns to Zeb and says,
"Hold this bay till we get back."
"And this time, try not to leave until everyone's back aboard," Sabine says dryly.
"That was not my fault!"

Then, a figure a little shorter than me, and wearing a stormtrooper helmet, drops down from the air duct and says, "Well, that's debatable."

Zeb immediately punches him, hard, sending him flying back towards Sabine, Kanan, and I. Even though it's just Ezra. He lands at Kanan's feet before he stands back up and takes the helmet off. Then says,

First you ditch me, then you hit me?"

"How was I supposed to know it was you?" Zeb asks. "You were wearing a bucket!"

Then, then stormtroopers and the ISB agent come running round the corner. Because nothing can be easy for us. Ever. Although Ezra does through the bucket he was wearing at them and that's mildly funny. Or it would be if the situation wasn't quite so tense.
Kanan raises Hera on the comms and says, "Spectre-1 to Ghost, we're leaving."

We all engage in the firefight, at least for a few seconds. Though I am the first up the boarding ramp since I'm the co-pilot. Since I'm faster, I make the run to the cockpit, sliding into Hera's usual seat. I get the ship prepped for take off and then, once the ramp is closed, I lift her up and mutter,
"Let's take to the skies."

Then, I rocket us away.

Not long after we've entered hyperspace, Hera and Ezra both come up to the cockpit. I stand up, giving Hera her seat back. And as she passes me, she ruffles the hair on the top of my head that's come undone from my braid.

"Welcome aboard. Again," I say to him as I take my seat in the co-pilot's chair.

"Thanks," Ezra says, rubbing the back of his head. "Thank you. I really didn't think you'd come back for me."

"We'll get you home now," Hera tells him. "I'm sure your parents must be worried sick."

"I don't have parents." There's a heavy pause before Ezra continues. "And you've got somewhere else to be," he says as Kanan, Sabine, and Chopper walk into the cockpit. "I know where
they're really taking the Wookiees. Have you heard of the Spice Mines of Kessel?"

It's silent in the cockpit as we all look at each other, before Sabine decides to explain things to Ezra. "Slaves sent there last a few months, maybe a year."

Then Hera takes up the explanation. "And for Wookiees born in the forest, it's a death sentence."
"Then I guess we'd better go save 'em."

Kanan and I turn to look at Ezra at the same time as I ask, "'We'?"
"I've come this far. Might as well finish the job."

Hera and I look at each other and grin as she says, "Setting course for Kessel."

I input the coordinates and we're on our way to Kessel.

We quickly approach the horrid looking planet of Kessel, and as we do, I jump out of my seat and run to the cargo bay. As I drop down from the ladder, I hear Zeb say,

"Try not to get dead. Don't want to carry your body out."

Then, the boarding ramp lowers and we run out into a firefight. I already have my blasters drawn so returning fire is as easy as breathing. We all take cover behind a few crates, Ezra and I on either side of Kanan and Sabine and Zeb take cover together.

Kanan nods to Ezra, who runs off, I think to go and free the Wookiees. While Kanan, Sabine, Zeb, and I lay down cover fire for him. And if we happen to take down a couple of stormtroopers for...well that's just a perk.
After a couple minutes of us exchanging fire with the Imperials, the Wookiees come in. Effectively and efficiently taking the stormtroopers down.

But, of course, nothing can be that easy. Because three TIE fighters rise up out of one of the mines with their signature scream. They start firing at The Ghost's engines. But either Chop or Hera manages to get one of them. But that's before an Imperial Shuttle flies down toward us. Hera gets The Ghost out of the way, but in doing so leaves us without a ride at the moment.

lAnd since the shuttle fired at us, Kanan, the rest of the crew, the Wookiees, and I are all on the ground.
The ISB agent stands in the center of the stormtrooper squadron. And he orders them to take us down. How lovely.

The new stormtroopers run out of the transport and start shooting at us. So for course, we fire back at them.

As we reach cover behind a stack of crates, Hera's voice comes over the comm.
"I can't maintain position!"
"Go!" Kanan tells her. "Lead the TIEs away and give yourself maneuvering room!"
"I am not leaving you behind!"

I follow Kanan's eyes as they drift to a large cargo container and I can't help but give him a look as he says,
"No, you're not. We're running a 22-Pickup."

"Seriously?" Sabine asks.

"Are you out of your mind?" I yell.

"You have a better option?" he asks.
"Jump into the pit and get it over with?" Zeb and I say together.

Kanan gives us both a look and Hera says, "AII right, I'll be back. Make sure you're ready."
"Twenty-two-Pickup?" Ezra asks. "Care to let me in on the secret?"
"Kid, Jess and I are about to let everyone in on the secret."

"Really?" I ask him, surprise filling my chest.

He nods and we stand up. We step over the crates and into the firing line of the trooper squad. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kanan dodge the blaster bolts effortlessly. I have to put some effort into it still. So watching him do it without any effort, it's incredible!

Then, the ISB agent holds his fist up. In the gesture I've learned means to stop firing. Kanan reaches around his waist and grabs the pieces to his lightsaber. He puts them together as I reach down and grab my own. Once Kanan ignites his own blue lightsaber, I ignite both of mine.

Kanan points his lightsaber at the Imperials before drawing into one of the starting stances for Form III. I draw my lightsabers into a starting stance for form three as well, but instead of drawing to the stance with my lightsaber held close to my hip, I draw my left blade as a guard in front of me and place my right blade above my shoulder, pointed towards the Imperials.

I can sense the shock of everyone surrounding us. Sabine, Zeb, Ezra, the Wookiees, and the Imperials.

From here, I can hear the ISB agent as he says, after a moment of stunned silence, "All troopers, focus your fire on... On the Jedi."

Then, the troopers start firing. And all the lessons Kanan ever taught me on lightsaber use, they're all coming into play. How to center yourself, both physically and in the Force. How to direct the blaster bolts back to where they came from.

The Wookiees help us out by returning some fire to the stormtroopers, but soon enough Kanan turns around and yells at Zeb, saying,

"Time to go!"

" , into the container!"

I hear a Wookiee howling, but Kanan and I are both a little preoccupied. Kanan yells over at me and says,

"Spectre-4, let's go!"

"On it!"

I do a backhand spring before vaulting up into the air, doing a backflip over the crates and landing on my feet in front of Zeb, Sabine, and the fleeing Wookies. Kanan just backflips over the crates.
"Zeb! Hera's incoming!" I yell back to him.
"Get in, you furballs! Now! Kanan, Jess, I think you inspired the kid into, well, doing something like you would do!"

Well, how wonderful. Sort of... not really.

Once the Wookiees are all inside of the cargo container, Zeb, Sabine, Kanan and I run into the container too. Over the comms, Hera's voice sounds as she says, "Magnetic seal locked."

Then Zeb grumbles, "I hate this part."

Once we've connected to The Ghost, Kanan and I scramble up the ladder while Zeb and Sabine help the Wookiees. My brother and I run through the ship, eventually reaching the top, where we walk out onto the wing. As we rise through the air to pick Ezra and the small Wookiee up, we can hear the ISB agent and Ezra talking.

"It's over for you, Jedi! A master and two apprentices. Such a rare find these days."
"I don't know where you get your delusions, buckethead! I work alone."
"Not this time," I call out as The Ghost becomes level with the walkway their standing on.

The ISB agent starts to fire on Kanan and I, and we dodge the blaster bolts. Although, I deflect one back at him, which sends him headfirst over the railing. As The Ghost sinks back down, Kanan calls out,
"Jump, kid!"

Both Ezra and the young Wookiee jump over the railing, and they safely make it on top of The Ghost. Then, we all head back inside and when the young Wookiee's father sees him, they call out to each other before the Wookiee that Ezra saved goes down the ladder to hug his father. Which leaves Kanan, Ezra, and I up on the balcony by ourselves.

Kanan sets a hand on Ezra's shoulder, and then on mine. For a moment, we stay like that. And then, Kanan turns to go down into the cargo hold, and I follow him.

For a while we fly through space before we meet up with a Wookiee transport. I leave Hera and Chopper in the cockpit to go and say goodbye to the Wookiees. I'm arriving just as Sabine starts translating for Kitwarr's, the young Wookiee's, father.
"Um. He says if we ever need help, the Wookiees will be there."

The large Wookiee sets a hand on top of Ezra's head before Ezra says,
"Good luck, Kitwarr. Try to stay out of trouble."

The Wookiees wave goodbye, and as they leave, Zeb walks around in front of Ezra and says,
"Look who's talking."
"So I guess you drop me off next?" Ezra asks as Zeb closes the airlock.
"Uh. Yeah. Finally, right?" he asks half-heartedly.

Ezra looks down and says, so quietly I can barely hear, "Right."

Then he turns and the four of us are left standing there. I can't help but frown. It was kinda nice to have a kid my age on the mission. Not that I don't love Sabine, I do. She's like my sister. But she's still older than me. And the crew... they're overprotective.

Sabine and Zeb walk ahead of us, but Kanan and I walk side by side. By the time we get up by the ladder, where Ezra is, the Wookiee's ship detaches, making The Ghost jolt. Resulting in the three of us bumping into each other.

"Sorry," Ezra says.

Once we make it back to Lothal, Ezra gathers his stuff while Kanan, Hera, and I go to stand outside and wait for him. Kanan's already told us how Ezra stole his lightsaber, not that I couldn't see it with my own eyes. I was a street rat after all. But Kanan won't tell either Hera or I about the rest of his plan. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Once Ezra gets down the boarding ramp and is standing in front of us, Kanan says, "I think you have something that belongs to me."

Ezra reaches and gets out the holocron before tossing it to me, and I catch it pretty easily. Of course, after having drink cartons pelted at you to dodge, catching the holocron isn't very hard. I look down at it, and I can't help the small smile.

He opened it.
"Good luck saving the galaxy," Ezra says, looking towards the group for a moment before taking off.

Then, I show Kanan and Hera the opened holocron. Hera looks at Kanan and says,
"He opened it. He passed the test."

Kanan and I both turn back to watch as Ezra runs for a tower in the slight distance. I give Kanan a slight smile before I turn around and walk back inside The Ghost. I use the Force to close the holocron before putting it back in the drawer below Kanan's bunk.

When Kanan comes back from talking with Ezra, both of us go into his room. I sit cross-legged on Kanan's bunk as he uses the Force to open the holocron.

Once it's opened, a blue light bathes the room as the holographic figure of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi appears. His message from the rise of the Empire washes over me as I close my eyes and let the Force entire my mind.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning
and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust, our faith, our friendships.
But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always."

When the message fades out, the door to Kanan's room opens, and I open my eyes. There's Ezra. He walks forward and both Kanan and I stand up. We meet in the middle, where, silently, Ezra hands Kanan back his lightsaber. Then, Kanan puts his hands on Ezra's shoulder and on mine. Ezra's here to stay.

"Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." -Ruth Bader Ginsburg