Barely a couple of weeks after Ezra's joined the crew, we're in a... situation. Again. Only this time, it's entirely Kanan's fault!
Hera and I are piloting The Ghost, Kanan is is the gun up top waiting for a TIE fighter to come into range, and the rest of the crew is in the cockpit with us. Oh, and we're also trying to escape theImperial Cruiserthat's chasing us!
"I don't have a shot!" Kanan says from the top gun.
"Jess, do you have the coordinates?" Hera asks.
"Give me... just a second... and hello, hyperspace!" I input the coordinates and pull the lever and we're away. Safe, for the time being at least.
"Told you we'd get away," Kanan says, walking into the cockpit.
"With the shipment," Sabine reminds him. "You said we'd get away with the shipment."
"Kanan, we're low on everything," Hera says.
"Food," that comes from Ezra.
"Explosives," Sabine chimes.
"Fuel," I remind him.
"We need to make some money,or we might as well put The Ghostin storage," Hera says.
"There's always Vizago's job."
"So we're arms dealers again?" Zeb asks grumpily.
"Mmm. More like arms re-distributors..." Kanan says. Like that makes it any better.
"Come on," Zeb argues. "We don't even know what kind of weapons we're talking about here."
"Hey, if it puts food on the tableand frees up some time for, I don't know, Jedi training,then I'm in."
"Seconded!" I pipe up, raising my hand to show my agreement with Ezra.
"You game?" Kanan asks Hera.
"Say I am. What then?"
"I already know the mission. Let's head to the spaceport."
I roll my eyes, but then Kanan starts explaining the plan. The fact that he already knew the mission, that makes me a little suspicious. Oh, who am I kidding! It makes me a lot suspicious. But, I have to say. It doesn't sound like a half bad plan. And if it frees up time for Jedi training, I'm in.
We make it to the spaceport without incident, and Ezra and I separate from the rest of the group with Chopper and everybody else starts getting into position. I've pulled my hair into a tight braid that way it stays out of my way for the duration of this mission.
"Now boarding Star-Commuter Shuttle ST-45...bound for Garel."
We all file into the shuttle. And when Chopper zooms in from behind us, nearly tripping me, it isn't hard to feign irritation. When we go to our seats, Ezra smacks Chopper over the top of his dome before we both slide into the seat. Him on the inside, me on the outside.
From our seats, it's not hard to see Minister Tua of Lothal enter the shuttle with her guest. They takes seats in the very front of the shuttle, right in front of Sabine and Zeb. Perfect.
She's quiet so I don't hear most of what she says, but I do hear when she asks where their translator is.
"Coming, Minister," that comes from a shiny, golden protocol droid. "Come along, R2." I assume R2 is the blue astromech that's following him.
"Final call for Star-Commuter Shuttle ST-45,bound for Garel."
As the door closes, Kanan bounds aboard the shuttle, sliding into the seat behind us. I resist the eye roll, if only for the sake of our cover. But I make sure he knows I wanted to. And I manage to do it while squabbling with Chopper too.
"Sentients," the droid at the front says, "please prepare for takeoff."
The shuttle rises into the air and soon we're in hyperspace, bound for the world of Garel. I sit hunched into a ball with Chopper poling my arm, but I manage to keep and ear turned toward Minister Tua and her conversation.
"Amda Wabo is most honoredyou are joining him on Garel, Minister Tua. And, if I might add a personal note…"
"Will you cut it out!" I shout at Chopper, standing up and pushing at him. "You have plenty of room! Stop crowding me." As I push him, he shocks me, knocking me back into Ezra.
"Kid," Kanan injects, also standing up, "how 'bout you two get that rust bucket under control?"
"Mind your own business!" Ezra says, climbing up on the seat to face Kanan, before Chopper gives him a warning shock.
Kanan stands back up and addresses the droid pilot. "Hey, pilot. Isn't there some rule against droids in the passenger area?"
The droid turns to Ezra and I and says, "I am sorry, sir, miss. Your astromech must proceed to the back of the craft."
"Hey, if my astromech's banished," I say,"then those two astromechs are banished too."
"Astromech? Me?" goldenrod asks. "I have never been so insulted. I'll have you know that I am a protocol droid,fluent in over six million forms…"
Minister Tua then interrupts. "Pilot, these two droids are with me, and I am on Imperial business."
"Sorry, ma'am, but these are Imperial regulations."
"But, Minister…" goldenrod starts.
"I can't risk an incident spoiling these negotiations," she says grumpily. "Go!"
"This is so humiliating," goldenrod says as he and his companion walk past us to the back area of the craft. "Trust an astromech to ruin everything. Secret mission. What secret mission?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wabo. I... I don't understand you."
Now comes the fun part. Sabine's part of the plan. She'll translate for Minister Tua, but give her the wrong location of whatever weapons that were… ah… re-distributing. While she gives Ezra and I the correct location since we have to crawl through the vents. Because we're the smallest.
During Minister Tua's difficulty with her Aqualish companion, Zeb interrupts. Saying,
"Hello. Excuse me. I couldn't help noticing your predicament. If it's of any help, my ward here is quite fluent." He gestures to Sabine.
"I would never presume. Though it would be good practicefor my level five exams at the Imperial Academy. No, no. But I couldn't."
"You're a level five Academy student?" Minister Tua asks, and now, it's my turn to smirk. The records for Imperial officials are open to the public. But finding out about whichever official we're duping is my job, leftover from my days of being banned from doing anything away from the ship. "I was too, once upon a time."
I have to use the Force to boost my hearing to hear this next part, but Minister Tua allows Sabine to translate and says, "Now, please ask Mr. Wabowhere the shipment is being held."
"He said Bay 17."
Just then, the pilot droid says, "Sentients, we are approaching Garel. Please prepare for landing."
I experience the familiar jolt that comes with exiting hyperspace, and soon we are landing in the space port on Garel. Ezra and I are the first ones off of the shuttle, followed by Chopper, and then Kanan. Now, all we need is Sabine to tell us where the shipment's at. So Ezra and I walk slowly, acting like we're deep in conversation.
I watch Minister Tua talk to Sabine out of the corner of my eye, but I don't pay attention to what she actually says. Once Minister Tua is being shown to Bay 17 by stormtroopers, Sabine passes by us as we lean on crates, and whispers the real location.
"Bay 7."
Ezra and I both run over to a large stack of crates, and once we're both sure there are no eyes on us, up we go into the vents. Ezra lets me go first, and I can hear him as he jumps in the vent behind me. As we get started, I mutter back,
"You remember your job, right? You open the door, I secure the Bay."
"I remember. Now can I call Kanan or not?"
"Knock yourself out."
Ezra's comm beeps and he says, "Kanan, I thought you were gonna teach me Jedi stuff. So far, all I'm doing is thieving, and I already knew how to do that." As Ezra sees that, we start climbing up, instead of crawling.
"Just get to Bay 7, open the door, and we all get paid."
"So we steal to stay alive. See? Told you I already knew this."
We make it up to the roof where I pop the outside vent cover off and clim out before letting Ezra climb out while I survey the city for a moment. I watch as a shuttle rises up and leaves, before both Ezra and I turn and run in the opposite direction. Eventually, we come to a spot where there's a large gap in between where we are, and where we need to be.
I make the jump with no trouble, catching myself with the Force as easy as I breathe. And it should be, after all the times Kanan's made me practice. But Ezra takes a moment. Backing up, and taking a breath before jumping.
We run across the part of the building we jumped onto, before jumping again onto another part of the spaceport complex. It's a narrow part, so we don't get much room to run before springing onto the next part of the complex. I use the Force and make a leap onto the top, while Ezra jumps onto the side. I help him to the top before we continue on. Jumping over another gap an onto the part of the building that has access to the Bay 7 ventilation system. I open up the vent before sliding down into it, followed by Ezra.
We slide down the vertical part of the shaft before switching to crawling once it levels out. I pop the vent down once I reach the end of the shaft and once I comm Kanan and tell him that we've arrived in Bay 7, I drop down, grab the shaft cover, and make a, hopefully, graceful fall to the ground. Well, at least I land on my feet. Ezra falls flat on his backside.
Once Ezra's up, he goes over to the control panel whilst I check around the shipping crates in the middle of the hangar bay. Mostly just to check for bugs. Although, since this is a discreet job, I don't think there will be. But it never hurts to make sure.
When Ezra opens the door, Zeb, Sabine, and Kanan all walk through, with Zeb slow clapping. Honestly.
"Well, kids, you pulled it off."
"Was there ever any doubt?" Ezra asks.
"Yes," responds Sabine and Zeb at the same time. Prompting me to roll my eyes. Hard.
Regardless, I still follow Sabine and Zeb to the crates while Kanan opens the hangar divider so that we can get these crates to The Ghost. We all gather round as Zeb takes the lid off of one of the crates. But as soon as Zeb sees what's in the crates, he stumbles back like he's seen a headless corpse.
Sabine picks one up and says, " 're T-7 ion disruptors. These were banned by the Senate. You can short-circuit an entire ship with these."
Kanan takes the disruptor from Sabine and puts it back in the crate, closing it up as he says, "Get 'em aboard before company comes."
We get the disruptors loaded and Sabine and I take to pushing one cart, while Zeb and Ezra take the other. Kanan goes ahead to The Ghost to make sure we have room for them in the cargo bay. He slides out onto the boarding ramp and calls out,
"Hurry! We're running out of..."
"Time's up!" Ezra interrupts.
I can't hear what happens as Kanan joins Sabine and I by our cart, but I do see Zeb walk toward the stormtroopers.
After only a few moments, Kanan waves Sabine and I inside The Ghost. We both nod and start walking the cart up into the ship. Once we have the cart secured, Sabine runs halfway down the boarding ramp to watch as the boys exchange blaster fire with the stormtroopers while I run up to the cockpit to begin hyperspace calculations.
Kanan's voice comes over the comms and he says, "Spectre-1 toGhost.We're good to go."
"Going," Hera says.
I follow her up by saying, as we both take the controls for liftoff, "Let's take to the skies."
After we enter hyperspace, Hera and I keep to the cockpit. Although, I do leave for a moment to get my sketchpad and pencils. I'm working on a drawing of Hera and Chopper that I want to work on.
But since I stay in the cockpit, I hear when Zeb shoves Ezra out of their room with a loud, "And stay out!"
"You can't do that! It's my cabin too," Ezra yells, banging on the door.
"Ezra?" Hera calls. "Come in here."
Ezra stomps into the cockpit and I fold my sketchbook closed as Hera closes the doors. She turns her chair around, and I mimic her. I think I know what she's going to tell Ezra, and I want to make sure he understands just why Zeb's acting the way he is.
"Hera, Zeb's booted me from my own..."
"I know," she interrupts, "but maybe you could cut Zeb a little slack today."
"The way he cuts me slack?"
"Do you know what a T-7 disruptor is, what it does to an organic being?" I asks him, leaning forward slightly.
"No," Ezra says, taking a seat in Sabine's chair.
"Well, Zeb knows," Hera says. "Because it's what the Imperials used on his peoplewhen they cleared his homeworld. Very few Lasats survived."
"And none remain on Lasan," I tell him.
I remember the day I found out about what happened to the Lasats. I had trouble sleeping that night, and so did Zeb. It was my birthday, several years ago, and I had nightmares of the fire. I didn't want to wake Kanan, so I went to the kitchen. Zeb was up too and made me a cup of tea since my hands were shaking so badly. After I told him about the fire, and why it was keeping me up, he told me about what happened on Lasan.Allof what happened on Lasan.
"I... I guess I could cut him a little slack."
"Good man," she tells him.
"So, how's the Jedi training going with Kanan?" Hera asks, diverting the conversation.
"Jedi training? Never heard of it," Ezra tells her.
I give him a small smile and as Hera mutters to herself, I tell him, "Don't worry, Ezra. He'll come around. It took him a while to start teaching me too. He's just worried. I'll talk to him though."
"Thanks, Jess."
Just then, we come out of hyperspace, Hera and I swiveling our chairs back around to see out of the cockpit window. From behind me, I can hear Ezra say,
"Home, sweet home."
We land The Ghost just outside of where we meet up with Vizago, and I go ahead and leave the cockpit, both so Hera can talk to Kanan and so that I can make sure my blaster's are charged and I have everything I need. And that the medpack is set out. Because you never know with this crew.
Once I've joined the rest of the crew in the cargo bay, it's time to go. From the look on Kanan's face, he and Hera just finished having at least a small conversation about him training Ezra. But Sabine, thankfully, interrupts the awkward silence by saying,
"Oh. Right. This R2 says its real missionwas to make sure the T-7s never reached the Empire,and that his master will pay handsomely for their return."
"I'll think about it," Kanan says, lifting his hand to his chin.
"So, we're not selling the droids, but we're selling the T-7s?" Zeb growls. "We don't even know who Vizago's buyer is."
"We know it's not the Empire,and I already made a deal with Vizago. So let's get these crates off the boat."
I take a cart and start pulling it down the boarding ramp. Vizago is many things, trustworthy, eh... maybe not. But interesting, oh definitely.
Once we get the crates off of the ship, we take them over to Vizago, who lifts the lid off of one of the crates while Kanan, Hera, Ezra, Chopper, and I stand close. As he picks one of the disruptors up and looks at it, he says,
"I can make some beautiful music with these."
"They're not that kind of instruments!" Zeb yells.
"Ah. You just have to know how to play them. And how to play those who want to buy them."
"You have to buy them from us first," Ezra reminds him.
"Finally. Someone else on your crew who understands business. Since you don't always let the little lady come."
I smirk at Vizago, and he smirks back at me before Kanan says,
"Let's just get this over with."
Barely a second later, I hear the sound of a ship rapidly approaching our position. And apparently, Vizago hears it too because he turns around to look at the incoming ship. Which, of course, is an Imperial ship. Wonderful.
"What is this? You were followed!"
"That's not possible," Hera tells him.
"Tell it to the Empire! Leave the rest. We're gone!"
"You haven't paid us!" I yell after him.
"Cikatro Vizago doesn't pay for half a shipment," he says, climbing onto his speeder. "And he doesn't pay for trouble with Imperials. My friends, I hope you live to bargain another day. And if you don't... he!"
Vizago and his droids then zoom away. Leaving us to deal with the Imperials.
"Shouldn't we be going too?" Sabine asks.
"We can't let these disruptors fall into Imperial hands," Kanan says. "Sabine, destroy the guns."
"Now you're speaking my language. I'll go get my gear."
We run over to the crates with Sabine and the two Imperial droids. Kanan then starts giving us the rest of his orders.
"Hera, help Sabine open the crates. Zeb, Ezra, line 'em up. Meanwhile, Jess and I'll deal with the walkers."
I nod and grab a disruptor like Kanan and run toward an opening in the rock circle, while the three walkers are shooting at us. Kanan and I both take aim at one walker each, and then we pull the triggers. Both hit walkers stable forward a few steps, but they soon fall. Now for the last one, both Kanan and I take aim at it. And although we both shoot, it moves out of the way. Shooting at the ground in front of us.
Which causes Kanan and I to be blown in the air, and once I hit the ground, everything goes dark.
I wake up to Kanan touching his hand to my forehead. And while my head still throbs, I am awake. I call on the Force to help with the throbbing pain in my head so that I can stand, and soon, Kanan is pulling me to my feet and we're running behind one of the large rocks. Meanwhile, goldenrod is walkingtowards the Imperial troops, saying,
"Thank you. Thank you. I knew some form of rescue would arrive. I told R2, but he thinks so ill of stormtroopers. Wait! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" he says as they start to fire. "You're here to rescue me!" he cries, walking back inside the circle of pointed stones.
"Chopper, Spectre-4, ready the ship for takeoff!"
I run over to Chopper, dodging the blaster bolts, and we both run up to the ship. Choppercanprime the ship by himself, but if I go, this way we can shave off a whole minute of time that we're on the ground. Which when you're being shot at, a minute is a lot of time.
So once Chop and I get up to the cockpit, we start priming the engine. And getting The Ghost ready to fly. Once everyone else is on board, we'll be ready to fly.
After a short, but explosive battle, in which Ezra harnesses the Force to Force Push the ISB agent away, Hera's voice comes over my personal comm.
"Jessie, get us out of here."
I start liftoff procedure and grasp the controls before lifting us steadily off the ground. Once we're off the ground, I start turning us around before zooming off into the skies. As I do, I mutter, "Let's take to the skies."
I get us through the atmosphere of Lothal before I input the hyperspace coordinates, and we make the jump.
After a short jump through hyperspace, Kanan gets the coordinates of the ship that the goldenrod's and R2's owner is on. Hera lets me pilot all the way there! And Kanan lets me go with him to meet the droids owner!
We board the cruiser together with the droids and meet with a tall, tan skinned, dark haired man dressed in well fitting clothes. And he pays Kanan a really, really generous amount of credits for just giving him back his droids.
"That's very generous, sir," Kanan says, voicing my thoughts.
"Well, I'm very fond of these droids."
"Then I'm glad we could return them," Kanan says, patting the R2 unit on the dome.
"The simplest gesture of kindness can fill a galaxy with hope."
I pause in surprise for a moment before I ask, "Isn't that a Jedi saying?"
But the stranger doesn't answer me, instead, he rests a hand on Kanan's shoulder for a moment before he shakes my hand and says, "Safe travels, my friends."
"Safe travels," both Kanan and I return, as we both turn and walk back down the hallway in order to return to The Ghost.
After a day of pure and utter chaos, that I had no part in since it was caused by the boys and I didn't have to babysit, in which they stole a TIE fighter and a meiloorun and lied to Kanan about destroying said TIE fighter, Kanan's finally gotten around to actually teaching Ezra about being a Jedi. And since I have to be a 'good role model of what a Jedi Learner should be' I have to come and at least pretend to meditate.
So while Ezra has to do a handstand on the dome of the fighter well on the top of The Ghost and Zeb gets to watch, I get to sit behind Zeb on my knees and meditate. Using my Cyber crystals as a focal point of my meditation. Already having taken them out of their hilts. And even though I have my eyes closed, I can still hear everything that Kanan, Ezra, and Zeb are saying.
"Focus. Focus on letting go."
"Letting go?" Ezra asks. "Rather hold on, if you don't mind."
"Enough jokes. Focus."
"I'm trying."
"Do or do not. There is no try."
I have to work to stay in my meditation instead of laughing, but after a couple of deep breaths, I'm back in the trance that meditation puts me into. And I'm focusing, mostly, only on my crystals.
"What does that even mean? How can I do something if I don't try to do it?"
"Well, see... Actually, that one always confused me too. But Master Yoda sure used to say it a lot."
Zeb yawns and says, "I really thought this Jedi stuff would be more interesting," Zeb remarks. "No wonder the old religion died. Come on, kid. Do something. Amuse the Force!"
From the banging and Ezra's noises of surprise, I can assume that Zeb's gone and knocked him off. Which I can sense has already made Ezra very irritated. And Zeb's laughter probably doesn't help any. I know it didn't when I was first learning. Still doesn't help, actually.
"Does he have to be here? Jessie's at least being quiet and doing... whatever it is she's doing."
This time, I don't quite succeed in keeping my reaction at bay, and I roll my eyes.
"He's annoying, but there will always be distractions. You and Jessie both need to learn to focus through them. Hence why she's meditating, the crystals just help her focus. But, here. Let's try something else.
From Ezra's, "When do I get my own?" I assume Kanan has handed him his lightsaber. Because the first time I got to use Kanan's lightsaber, that was the first question out of my mouth too.
"Having a laser sword doesn't make you a Jedi."
"Gets me closer."
I hear it as Kanan's lightsaber activates, the crystal's hum its own distinctive sound within the Force. But from Kanan's shout of careful, I think Ezra may have accidentally activated it aimed at Kanan.
"There's a control on the side that adjusts the length to your height."
I hear thewhooshof the lightsaber adjusting before I hear Zeb say, "I think it should be a little shorter."
"Okay. Close your eyes," Kanan says. I know where this is going. "Let him have it, Chopper." After a moment, Kanan continues. "Be precise. Keep the blade... up."
"That's it, kid," Zeb says laughing. "Use your body to slow down that trash."
I can both hear and feel Kanan's frustration as he says, "No. You're not focusing. Ugh."
I feel Ezra's terror even before I hear the shouts. And thanks to Kanan's training, my eyes have flown open and I'm on my feet before Zeb's shout even passes his lips. Stuffing my crystals into my pocket, I run to the far end of the ship and use the Force to grab onto Ezra. Lightening Kanan's load. It has been a while since he had to do this.
I can feel the swell of the Force as I reach out with it, helping keep Ezra from falling to his death. And I can feel The Ghost moving underneath my feet. Hera's way of helping us. And Zeb's grabbed Ezra, taking the load off of Kanan and I.
I hear from below, Zeb's, "Got him!"
Kanan and I both sigh as we release our hold on the Force surrounding Ezra. We both sigh and look at each other. Then we start climbing down from the top of The Ghost. At the bottom of the ladder, we end up meeting Ezra. And then Kanan proceeds to scold Ezra.
"You weren't focused."
"Tough to focus when I'm falling to my death."
"You wouldn't have been falling to your death if you were focused. You're undisciplined and full of self-doubt."
"And whose fault is that, Master?"
"It's difficult to teach," Kanan says, throwing his hands up in the air. I shake my head before taking my lightsaber hilts and walking toward my bunk. I have the top bunk so I climb up and set myself to re-assembling my lightsabers. It doesn't take long, I just prefer the quiet.
So once I'm finished, I place my lightsabers back into their holsters and grab my sketchbook and pencils and head out to the couches. I've finished my drawing of Hera and Chopper, so now I'm working on a drawing of Kanan, Ezra, and I.
But it seems as though the galaxy is against me getting this drawing done because by the time I head out, Zeb, Hera, Ezra, Kanan, and Sabine are all gathered around the holotable. And Sabine says,
"You made the Holonet."
"The stolen TIE fighter was later usedto attack a transport full of innocent workers," and Imperial says, showing a picture of the TIE that Zeb and Ezra stole.
"You liar! We set 'em free," Zeb says.
Then, the broadcast is interrupted. The picture of the TIE is replaced by the image of former Imperial Senator Gall Trayvis.
"Citizens, this is Senator-in-Exile Gall Trayvis. I bring more news the Empire doesn't want you to hear."
"What's a Gall Trayvis?" Ezra asks.
"The only member of the Imperial Senatewith the courage to speak out publicly against the Empire," I explain, before the broadcast continues.
"One of the Republic's greatest peacekeepers," a holo of two stormtroopers escorting a Mirialan female plays, "Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, is alive." I can both see and fell Kanan's and Hera's surprise. "She has been imprisoned unlawfully somewhere in the Stygeon system. As citizens, we demand the Emperor produce Master Unduliand grant her a fair trial before the entire Sen-"
"-marking another successful planetary liberation,utilizing the Base Delta Zero initiative."
Sabine turns the holoprojector off and Ezra turns to Kanan. "This Luminara, you knew her?"
"I met her. Once. She was a great Jedi Master, brave, compassionate, disciplined. In fact, she'd make an excellent teacher for you." Then he switches to talking to Hera. "There've always been rumors she survived the Clone Wars,but they never came with a specific location before. We can't pass this up."
"Was hoping you'd say that," she says, placing a hand on Kanan's shoulder. "I'll set course for the Stygeon system. Jessie, you stay here. I'll fly this mission."
I nod to her as Kanan says, "The rest of you, prep for an op." Then my brother turns around and follows after Hera.
Although Sabine and Zeb rush off to prep their gear, I stay behind for a moment. Listening to Ezra talk to Chopper.
"You hear that? He's done with me. He's gonna pawn me off on some stranger."
My heart breaks a little for Ezra. I can sense his sadness, and even if I couldn't, his tone is full of such sadness it's impossible to ignore. So, I make my presence known. It scares him, a little bit. But without waiting for him to acknowledge me, I say,
"It won't be like this forever, Ezra. Kanan..." I sigh. "I think he doubts himself, a lot, he was only about our age when the Republic fell. He only started training me because he didn't have a choice. It was either train me or potentially let the Empire have me. Give him a little time, he'll come around."
I give Ezra a squeeze on the shoulder before I walk off to my cabin to put my sketchbook up and make sure I have everything I need. Blasters, check. Lightsabers, check. Extra charges just in case, also check. After I've double checked that I have everything, I head out and get prepped for the mission briefing.
Once everybody gets situated in the cockpit, Sabine starts telling us about this prison that we'll be breaking into.
"Welcome to the Spire on Stygeon Prime,the only Imperial detainment facility in the Stygeon system. And it's impregnable."
"That's never stopped us before," Kanan says.
"Trust me, we have never faced anything like this. It's a real work of art. Blast proof, ray shielded, protected by anti-ship weapons,TIE fighters and short and long range scanners."
"We can fool the scanners," I say, looking over at Hera, who nods.
"Maybe. But that just leaves an army of troopers and guard posts on all the walls. Look, even if we get into this beauty, the hard part's getting out. 'Cause, you know, it's a prison."
"What about going in low and sneaking onto this landing platform?" Ezra asks, pointing to a platform low on the building.
"Mm-mm. Platform has a heavy trooper presence and reinforced blast doors," Sabine says. "Impossible to get in or out that way."
Kanan scans the hologram and soon points to a small platform. Then says, "Here. There's only room for a couple guards. We take them down, make our way to the upper level isolation cells,free Luminara and come back out the way we came in."
"Yeah. You'd have to be crazy to try that lousy plan," I snark.
"Let's hope the Empire thinks so too," Kanan quips back.
We soon drop out of hyperspace in the Stygeon system, and as I prepare to sit tight with Chopper, Kanan taps my on the shoulder.
"Come on."
"I get to go?"
He sighs. "You were right. It's not fair of me to let Ezra come when you've been training for this for years. And, as Hera reminded me, you won't be a kid forever. Eventually, you'll be the one making your own lousy plans and getting into scrapes. So I better let you get some practice in while you can."
I grin and stand up, running after Kanan and jamming myself into The Phantom with the rest of the crew. Zeb speaks into the comm as Hera prepares to separate from The Ghost.
"I'm sorry, Chop. We just don't need your damaged logic circuits on this one."
We separate and fly down through the clouds at a steep dive. Hera turns her head to look at us and says,
"Thirty seconds. Good luck."
"Luck?" Zeb asks. "We're gonna need a miracle."
"Here are three," Sabine tells him, holding up three charges. Zeb and Ezra each take one, Sabine keeping the other.
"Try to stay focused," Kanan says, drawing my attention to him.
"Thought there was no 'try'," Ezra snarks.
Kanan frowns, but looks straight ahead. The door opens and Kanan looks down for a moment. I follow his gaze in order to calculate my own jump. Barely a couple of moments after his jump, I make mine. Flipping a couple of times in midair.
Kanan lands in front of the two stormtroopers while I land beside one. While he takes care of the one on the right, I take the one on the left. I knock the blaster out of my troopers hand, before using his arm as leverage to lift my leg up and kick him across the face. Just like Sabine taught me.
Kanan finishes up his stormtrooper by a solid punch to the face, just in time for Ezra to come falling down toward us. Screaming. He lands on the platform and rolls up against the door. Making Kanan's face scrunch up in a frown.
Ezra at least backs up away from the door and towards us. So at least I know he still has somewhat of a brain left in his head.
When the door doesn't open, Kanan starts whisper yelling at him. Poor kid. Kanan's whisper yelling hurts.
"What just happened? You were supposed to exit with Zeb. You're lucky every stormtrooper in the prison doesn't know we're here."
And then, the doors open. And, of course, there are more stormtroopers. For more, to be precise. Kanan and I summon their blasters as Sabine and Zeb jump down, taking on the two that are flanking the center two. Kanan takes care of the center two easily though, by just Force pushing them to the sides and off of the platform.
Kanan then resumes his whisper yelling. "Stunts like that put us all in jeopardy. That is exactly why you need Master Luminara to teach you discipline."
"I was just following your example. Jessie did it."
"Yeah? Well, try to stay focused and follow the plan instead. And Jessie jumped down with me because she has the discipline to be able to slow her fall and be soundless."
Sabine tries to open the door from out here, but fails and says, "I hate to interrupt, but we need the kid to unlock the door."
Ezra practically leaps forward, using his droid scomp to unlock the door. And not fast enough because a patrol light sweeps by, almost catching Kanan in the light.
"Ezra..." my brother says softly.
"Quiet. I'm focusing."
Just after Zeb manages to prop up an unconscious stormtrooper to look like he's keeping watch, Ezra gets the door open. We all run inside and the door closes behind us. Once we've gotten inside, we slow to a walk and Kanan shoves past Ezra. Who sarcastically says,
"You're welcome."
Zeb hits him on the back of the head and says, "You did your job. You want a medal?"
I roll my eyes at the two boys and walk a little faster so that I'm beside Kanan. I feel... something in the Force. It feels sort of like a Jedi's Force presence, but, it also... doesn't? It's clouded, almost like a fog has settled over it.
Kanan stops, closing his eyes. I know he's seeking out her presence. After a moment, he voices my thoughts. "Luminara's here. I sense her presence, but it's clouded."
We follow Sabine to a computer terminal where she starts tapping away. I stand behind her and ask,
"Where's Master Unduli?"
"Detention block CC-01. Isolation cell 0169."
"They have isolation cells on the lower levels?" Kanan asks. "We planned off outdated schematics." He hits the terminal with his fist.
"What does that mean?" Ezra asks.
"It means the plan changes," Kanan explains.
"You got a backup plan?" Zeb asks him.
"Figuring one out right now. Zeb, Sabine, you're coming along," Kanan says, walking into a turbolift.
"Weren't we supposed to hold our escape route here?" Zeb asks as I run onto the lift.
"Now the turbolift is our escape route. Let's go."
Zeb and Ezra both run onto the turbolift and then the door closes. As we ride the turbolift down toward Master Unduli's isolation cell, Sabine says,
"His plan gets worse all the time."
"Just hope he doesn't change it again," Zeb quips back.
"Yeah, like making me do the hula," I say with a smirk.
"I'm standing right here," my brother says, pointing down to his feet.
"We know," all three of us say together. Now Kanan's grumpy.
When the lift stops and the doors open marginally, Kanan grabs the two stormtrooper guards, pulling them into the turbolift, where we knock them out with barely a scuffle. They really need to train their stormtroopers better if they don't want us breaking into places like this.
"Maintain comm silence. And whatever you do, hold. This. Lift," Kanan instructs Sabine and Zeb.
We're barely a few steps from the lift when a stormtrooper patrol turns the corner, the lead trooper says, "Hey, you! Stop!"
Kanan pulls them both forward with the Force before holding his arms out and knocking out the troopers with his fists. Impressive.
"Wow," Ezra says. "You're really not messing around tonight."
"There's a lot more at stake than you realize," Kanan says. And I think he's talking to both of us here.
Ezra hesitates before following us, but he does eventually follow Kanan and I.
It takes a few minutes, but it isn't long before we make it to the lower level isolation cells. Only a couple of minutes after that, we manage to find Master Unduli's cell. And... it's being guarded by more stormtroopers. Although, there are only two of them. So they should be pretty easy to handle.
"Ever seen this Jedi Master?" the one on the left asks as I just barely poke my head around the edge of the wall.
"Don't have the clearance," the one on the right says.
Kanan walks out from behind the wall and stands in front of them. He lifts his hand and waves it as he says,
"Shouldn't you be guarding the Jedi's cell? It's on the next level."
"It's on the next level," one of the troopers repeats.
"You better get moving."
"We better get moving."
As they turn and run in the opposite direction, Ezra and I run toward Kanan. Stopping once we're beside him. Ezra then gestures to the running stormtroopers and asks,
"When do I learn that?"
"I've been asking that question for years," I tell him before Kanan says, as he opens the door,
"Luminara will teach both of you...much better than I could."
My shoulders drop as I walk inside of the cell, and so do Ezra's. I know that Kanan's only taught me what I know because there was no one else to teach me. And if I didn't learn, then if the Empire ever found out what I am, they'd take me and I'd have no way to defend myself. Mentally or physically.
Sitting on the bench is the same Mirialian we saw on the broadcast earlier. But, seeing her in person, something feels... off. She opens her eyes and looks up at us as Ezra asks,
"Is it really her?"
"Yes, but... something's wrong." She stands and walks toward us. "Master?" Kanan asks.
She turns without a word and walks into a tall, almost coffin shaped box that stands against the wall. Once she's inside, her eyes close, and he face becomes sunken and gaunt with her mouth open, teeth bared. My eyes go wide and I stumble back into Kanan, but he manages to catch me before I fall.
"What happened to her?" Ezra asks as I get back on my feet. "I don't understand."
"No?" a new voice asks. All three of us turn to see a male...something. He has too pale skin with red markings over his eyes. His face has stripes in it and he's dressed in black and gray. He reminds me of the two Imperials Sabine and I faced the day we met... the day I got my crystals.
The man says, "It doesn't seem complicated. I am the Inquisitor." He ignites his lightsaber as he walks down the steps toward us, bathing the cel is red. "Welcome."
Kanan ignites his lightsaber, and I go to ignite mine. But Kanan tells me not too. So I don't, instead, I focus on my crystals. Their song is a balm to my fear, helping me to calm my mind. Which is especially needed when the Inquisitor closes the cell door.
"Yes, I'm afraid Master Luminara died with the Republic. But her bones continue to serve the Empire,luring the last Jedi to their ends."
Ezra lifts his comm up to his mouth and says, "Spectre-3, come in. It's a trap!"
The only thing coming over the comm is static. They've jammed us.
"There will be no reinforcements," the Inquisitor says.
Kanan then attacks the Inquisitor. Their blades cross and clash, the sound harsh and unlike thesofter, lightersounds that come from mine and Kanan's blades clashing during spars.
The Inquisitor pushes Kanan back, pushing him almost to the ground as he says, "Interesting. It seems you trained with Jedi Master Depa Billaba."
My eyes go wide and so do Kanan's. There are very few people who know who Kanan's old master was before the fall of the Republic. I only know because Hera told me.
"How... Who are you?"
Ezra and I both sneak up to the steps, both serving as a way for us to get out of here, and to stay out of Kanan's and the Inquisitor's way.
"The temple records are quite complete. In close quarter fighting,Billaba's emphasis was always on form three,which you favor to a ridiculous degree." Ezra fires one of his energy blasts at the Inquisitor and I use one of my blasters to fire a stun blast. Unfortunately, the Inquisitor blocks both. But it distracts him. Giving Kanan the upper hand for at least a moment.
When the Inquisitor jumps though, he kicks Kanan in the face. Sending my brother sprawling onto the floor. I jump down off the steps and place my hand on his shoulder.
"Clearly, you were a poor student." Ezra fires more energy blaster at him, while I put my blaster up. "Is that really all you've got, my boy?"
"Well, I've got that," Ezra says, gesturing to the explosive he placed against the wall earlier as its beeping increases, and it explodes.
Filling the hall with smoke as Kanan, Ezra, and I run through it. Racing to get back to Sabine and Zeb.
But before we can get very far down the hallway, the Inquisitor catches up, ignites both of his lightsaber's blades. As he and Kanan begin their duel again, he speaks to Ezra and I.
"Are you paying attention, boy? Girl? The Jedi are dead, but there is another path... The dark side."
"Never heard of it," Ezra snarks, firing an energy blast.
Which gets him Force Pushed for his trouble. I manage to duck out of the way though. Which is perfect, since I'd like to give the Inquisitor a taste of his own medicine.
"Have you taught them nothing?" the Inquisitor asks Kanan.
"He taught me this!" I yell, lifting my hands and shoving them out in front of me. Shoving the Inquisitor back, head over heels.
It doesn't do too much to him, because he gets up after just a moment, but at least it gave Kanan time to catch his breath before their duel begins again. I leave them to duel and go to help Ezra up since he seems to be okay. Despite having been thrown into a wall.
"Do you really think you can save the boy and the girl? For their sake, surrender."
"I'm not making deals with you."
"Hmm. Then we'll let the two of them make one, shall we?" He Force Pushes Kanan through the air and past us. "Your master cannot save you, children. He is unfocused and undisciplined. Reckless and scared."
"Then we're perfect for each other!" both Ezra and I shout. He fires energy blasts at the Inquisitor while I take a deep breath before reaching for my lightsabers. I know Kanan said not to, but now...
The Inquisitor runs toward us, making both of us jump up and push off of the walls to avoid his blades. Once we've landed though, I ignite my own lightsabers.
"I do so admire your persistence," the Inquisitor says, spinning his lightsaber slowly. "Ready to die?"
He comes toward Ezra and I, and I bring my lightsabers up, but before the red blades of the Inquisitor can even make contact with my own pale gold blades, the Inquisitor is frozen. I can see Kanan's outstretched hand as he lifts the Inquisitor up and shoves him into the ceiling with a yell towards both Ezra and I.
"Run!"
I extinguish my lightsabers and holster them as Ezra and I both run towards Kanan. When we reach him, Ezra and I both grab one of his arms as he drops the Inquisitor. We help Kanan up as the Inquisitor falls, landing on his feet in a crouch. He stands and turns, re-igniting his lightsaber.
But this time, a circle of metal surrounds the hilt, and the two blades begin spinning. Oh, Karabast. The lady I beat and took my Cyber crystals from... she was an Inquisitor!
Kanan puts his hands on Ezra's and my back and turns us around as Ezra asks, "Does yours do that?"
"Come on! Let's go!"
He shoves us both forward, scooping up his lightsaber, following us at a run. As we run down the hallway, we meet up with Sabine and Zeb. She yells,
"Guys! This way!"
"You figured out it was a trap?" I ask her as we all run down the hallway that Kanan, Ezra, and I turned in to.
"Yeah. Luminara?"
"Long gone," Kanan tells her. "Our new exit?"
"Landing platform."
"I thought it was impossible to get out that way," I say.
"Well, let's hope the Empire thinks so too," Sabine quips back.
From behind us, the Inquisitor speaks into his wrist comm, saying, "Secure the facility. Full lockdown."
"Well, that's not helpful," Ezra snarks.
Then, the doors start closing. We all have to jump through them, as the openings get smaller and smaller. Sabine aims a couple of shots back at the Inquisitor, not that they do much, but it might have slowed him down a little.
Eventually, we get to a door where Zeb has to jump inside the closing panel to hold it open, Sabine and I are the first ones though. Flipping through the gaps Zeb leaves. From behind us, I head him say,
"Can't do this all day! Go!"
He jumps backwards through the door, escaping the Inquisitor. We all run into a larger open room, and when we get there, Zeb shoot the control panel, closing the door and buying us just a little bit more time.
Sabine runs over to the control panel that is connected to the door leading to the outside and she says, "I've got it. I... Ugh! I'm locked out of the ?"
Ezra grabs the droid scomp and sticks it into the control panel. Which electrocutes him, making him fall.
"Sorry," he says.
Kanan picks him up and says, walking with us to the center of the door, "Ezra. Jessie. Together."
"Seriously?" I ask. I've only ever unlocked small things, like the door to our room after Sabine accidentally locked it.
"Yes. Picture the locking mechanism in your mind. Jess, it's no different than your room, it's just bigger."
"That's kinda my problem with it," I mutter, but I close my eyes, raise my hand, and picture the locking mechanism.
"Excuse me," I hear Zeb say, "but can we train Ezra and Jessie later?"
I take a deep breath and move my hand down, with my palm facing up. I picture the locking mechanism in my head. It's no different than my room. It's no different than my room. It's no different than my room.
Slowly, I raise my arm up, I can feel the weight of the door almost. My arm shakes, but I hear the door unseal, and begin to open. As it opens, my eyes fly open and I see the stormtroopers that are waiting for us.
They fire at us and I ignite both of my lightsabers again. Following are Kanan as the rest of the crew returns their fire.
"One last miracle here," Zeb mutters, throwing a charge into the middle of the pack of stormtroopers. It beeps rapidly before exploding.
We run outside, Kanan and I deflecting the blaster bolts before we all take cover behind a stack of crates. I extinguish my lightsabers and start to use my blasters.
"Spectre-6 toPhantom.We're on the landing deck, ready for pickup."
"On my way, Spectre-6. And I'm bringing the fleet," Hera says.
"We have a fleet?" Zeb asks, exchanging fire with stormtroopers.
As we fire at the stormtroopers, The Phantom rises up from below, followed by at least five winged creatures. The stormtroopers turn their fire from us to the creatures and The Phantom. Hera takes out one of the TIE fighters before Kanan gives us the signal to make a run for it. As we run underneath the TIEs, Zeb takes out one of the anti-ship cannons that's firing at Hera.
When we're almost aboard, the Inquisitor throws his lightsaber at us. It spins both with its blades and through the air. Kanan raises his lightsaber and bats it away, sending it arcing through the air.
We make the final bit of the run onto The Phantom, where Zeb asks Kanan,
"Does yours do that?"
All Kanan does is extinguish his lightsaber and turn to walk into The Phantom. Hera closes the door behind him and we all walk forward, allowing Kanan to get up front with Hera. I take a seat with Ezra and watch Kanan and Hera. They're speaking just loud enough for Ezra and I to hear them, so I can hear when Hera asks,
"Master Luminara?"
"Gone. We'll have to find a way to spread the word."
"How's Ezra taking it? And Jess?"
"Not as bad as I am. I guess they're both stuck with me. For now."
It's barely an hour or so later when we land on Lothal. Almost as soon as Hera's sat the ship down, Ezra and I both to sit on the boarding ramp of The Ghost. I hear the footsteps behind us, and register them as belonging to Kanan.
"Look, don't bother saying it," Ezra starts. "I'm letting you off the hook."
"What are you talking about?" Kanan asks.
"I know you wanted to dump me on Luminara. Just 'cause she's gone doesn't mean you're stuck with me."
"I don't want to dump you. Either of you." Kanan sighs and puts his hand over his eye for a moment before sitting down in between Ezra and I. "Look, I just wanted you to have the best teacher."
"Well, I don't want the best teacher. I want you. Not that you're not the best. I..."
"I just want to learn! And I want you to teach me," I say at the say time as Ezra.
"Ezra. Jessie. I'm not gonna try to teach you anymore." I look at Ezra and see my expression mirrored by his. "If all I do is try, that means I don't truly believe I can succeed. So from now on, I will teach you." I look up at Kanan. "Look, I may fail. You two may fail. But there is no try."
"I understand,Master," both Ezra and I say.
"Let's see if you do."
Kanan hands Ezra his lightsaber, and we all three stand up. I ignite mine, and the real Jedi training has begun.
"Take it step by step, and you'll get where you want to be." -Neil Gaiman