Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars (obviously) or any of its characters.

"Hide! Hide!"

His mother pushed him into the hole in the floor. As he turned around, he saw her giving him a loving look.

His dad came up beside her. "Just stay quiet, okay? We'll get you out as soon as it's safe," he said.

"Yes, Dad," the boy answered.

His parents both smiled at him one last time, and then pushed the planks into place, making the small hole underneath the floor completely dark.

Through the wood, the boy could hear his parents walking around the house and moving furniture to cover his hiding place.

He also heard the bell ring in the distance, followed by his parents' footsteps disappearing. Moments later, there was shouting, followed by new, different footsteps. Furniture was being pushed, and he heard his parents' voices shouting as well.

Suddenly, the plank was lifted, and the boy had to squint his eyes against the bright light. As soon as he could see a bit, he didn't see his parents. Instead, it was a white-armoured soldier grabbing him out of his hiding hole.

"No!" he heard someone shout, and a moment later his dad had tackled the soldier. Other soldiers rushed towards him. Before they got to him, they were hit by a stick held by his mother.

"Run!" she called to the boy. "Go!"

The boy complied. As he rushed through the hallway, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the soldiers raising their weapons. As he exited his house, he heard blaster fire behind him.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he continued running, through the streets and alleyways, until he found a dark, hidden corner. In that corner, he quietly cried, alone and afraid.

"Ouch."

"Shh quiet."

The two cadets held still, listening to the sounds outside the ventilation shaft. After a few minutes, the first one spoke up again. "I think we're clear," and the two of them started crawling again.

They soon made it to the end of the shaft. They crawled out into a hangar and hid behind a couple of crates. The taller of the two tapped his friend on the shoulder and pointed toward a shuttle standing close by. "Look!"

The other looked as well and then turned back to him. "We're taking that one?"

"It's the easiest one to get to," the tall cadet answered.

The other looked again. "What about those?" He nodded towards the hangar doors.

"I'll handle those," the tall cadet said. "You get the shuttle ready." His friend nodded. "Three, two, one, go!"

The two cadets started sprinting. The tall one reached the control panel and began opening the doors. The other cadet reached the shuttle and started the engine. The tall cadet looked around the hangar. So far, everything seemed to be going well.

Right as he thought that, a siren started going off, shortly followed by the hissing of the doors and the boots of stormtroopers coming through. "Hands up!" one of them shouted to the cadet, as they slowly walked closer.

The cadet did as he was told. But just as he raised his hands, they heard a shot, and one of the stormtroopers fell. "Ronin, run!" shouted the other cadet from the shuttle ramp, holding a blaster. The tall cadet, Ronin, immediately made use of the momentary confusion among the stormtroopers and started running. Blaster bolts soon flew past him, with the stormtroopers shooting at him from one side, and his friend trying to cover him from the other.

One of the bolts got really close to him, but he was just able to jerk his head to the side to see it fly past him. Right as that happened, another bolt struck his friend straight in the chest.

Upon seeing his friend collapse, Ronin screamed. He reached the shuttle and knelt down, seeing nothing but the now lifeless body of the other cadet.

...

The sound of blaster bolts hitting the hull of the shuttle brought Ronin back to reality. The stormtroopers stopped firing after a few moments, no longer deeming him a threat, and were now slowly approaching the shuttle. The sound of their boots, and the sight of his friend's dead body, made rage bubble up inside him. They had killed him. And he'd make them pay!

In his rage, he instinctively raised his hand, and without knowing how he did it, sent the troopers flying through the hangar.

Ronin stared at his hand for a moment, confused, before seizing the opportunity and rushing into the shuttle. Once inside, he closed the ramp, and jumped into the pilot's seat. The engines had already warmed up, so within minutes, he had left the hangar behind him. The academy's blaster turrets opened fire, scoring a few hits on the shuttle, but unable to stop it. As soon as Ronin was out of the atmosphere, he jumped to hyperspace.

Once in hyperspace, Ronin turned and ran to the back of the shuttle, where his friend was still lying dead on the floor. He grasped his friend's hand, and stayed there for a while, silent.

"Goose…" he whispered. Goose was the name of his friend.

The scene played in his head over and over again. The stormtroopers shooting, Goose falling. Anger soared through him. The Empire had done this. Had taken everything from him again.

Ronin let out his anger in an agonizing yell. A sudden force pushed against the walls, equipment was thrown everywhere, and the ship dropped out of hyperspace.

"Coming out of hyperspace… now!"

Kanan leaned back in his chair as the Ghost entered realspace again.

"Alright Chop, start putting in those next coordinates", Hera called to the orange droid behind them. Chopper chirped an affirmative answer and got to work. Hera also leaned back and relaxed for a moment. "One more jump and we'll be back at the fleet", she said to Kanan.

"Yeah…" Kanan said absently, lost in his own thoughts.

"Is everything okay?" the Twi'lek asked, a concerned look on her face.

"Nothing to worry about Hera. Just thinking about some things," Kanan fell silent as he felt a ripple through the Force.

Hera may not have had the force herself, but she could still see there was something from his face. "What is it?" she asked.

Kanan closed his eyes and let the Force flow through him. "I'm not sure," he said. "The Force feels-"

Kanan was interrupted when the doors opened and Ezra stormed in. "Kanan, did you feel that?"

Kanan turned around to the kid. "Yes, I felt something too, but I can't tell what it is. What about you?"

"Rage, anger, grief. I think someone out here needs help!"

Kanan closed his eyes again and reached out through the Force. He now also felt what Ezra had described: grief, and also anger. Anger that felt borderline like the dark side. "I'm not so sure-" he began, but was interrupted by Chopper, who chirped that he was done with the calculations.

"Hold that thought," Hera called to him.

"I'm not so sure if we should do anything," Kanan began again. "Something feels dark here as well."

"But Kanan, we don't know for sure. Maybe it's just someone who needs help," Ezra protested.

Hera cut in before Kanan could answer. "Let's go take a look. We'll be ready to jump away if necessary," she suggested.

Kanan sighed. "Fine," he said. "But be careful."

Hera nodded and then turned to Ezra. "Go tell Sabine and Zeb to get to their battle stations. We have to be ready just in case."

"On it," Ezra answered, before leaving the cockpit.

Hera turned to Kanan. "Can you feel where it is?" she asked.

Kanan concentrated and reached out again. Soon he could feel the feelings again. They felt pretty strong, coming from a specific direction. "I can," he confirmed.

"Alright, lead the way."

Kanan steered the Ghost in the direction of where he felt these feelings were coming from. They flew for a while, seeing nothing. Eventually, they spotted a white dot in the distance, slowly getting larger. As they got closer, they spotted the shape of an Imperial shuttle. Soon, they could see the damaged wings and the burn marks across the hull. The top fin was completely missing.

"Chop, be ready on the hyperdrive, just in case," Hera ordered, before turning her attention to the shuttle as well.

"This doesn't look good," Zeb's voice muttered over the intercom. Kanan had to agree. Whatever had happened to this ship, it wasn't good. But he could still feel the different feelings coming from the ship in waves. They were much stronger than those of most people. Perhaps there was a Force-sensitive on the ship?"

"Alright, let's get on board," he finally said.

Hera gave him a worried look. "Do you think it's safe?" She asked.

Kanan shook his head. "I'm not sure if it is," he said. "But Ezra is right. Someone in there needs help."

"Alright", Hera answered, as she moved the ship to dock with the shuttle. Kanan got up and walked to the airlock. There he found the rest of the crew already gathered.

"Ezra, you're with me. You two," he nodded to Sabine and Zeb, "you stay here and guard the airlock, just in case."

"You got it," Zeb answered, before getting into position.

Whatever they had expected when stepping into the ship, this was not it. Imperial equipment was scattered everywhere. The walls of the ship were cracked to the point where it surprised Ezra that the shuttle hadn't fallen completely apart. The source of the emotions they had felt earlier was clear however. In the middle of the cargo bay of the ship, they found a teenager in an imperial cadet uniform. He was sitting on the floor, holding the body of another cadet in his arms. The emotions they'd felt earlier were still radiating from him through the Force.

"Stay back", Kanan warned, as he cautiously stepped forward. The cadet did not look up, did not even seem to notice him. "Hey", Kanan softly called to him. The cadet still did not react. Ezra now also stepped forward, also cautious, as he could feel the raw emotions still coming from the cadet. He observed the boy as he got closer. If he had to guess, the cadet wasn't much older than him, perhaps a few years at most. He waved his hand in front of the cadet's eyes, but there was still no response.

"Zeb, Sabine, I need you in here," Kanan said into his comlink. "We're gonna need some help."

While Kanan was making the call, Ezra closed his eyes and concentrated. He could feel the Force flowing through the boy in front of him. It felt dark, but it did not seem threatening. If anything, he mostly felt grief, no doubt for his dead friend. "Don't worry," he whispered through the Force, trying to comfort the cadet. "We'll help you." He couldn't tell if the cadet heard him.

"Alright, Sabine and Ezra, grab him and bring him on board," Ezra heard Kanan's voice as he opened his eyes again.

"What about the body?" Zeb asked.

Kan sighed. "We're gonna have to leave that here; we don't have the space for it," he finally said.

Ezra grabbed the arm of the still unresponsive cadet, and together with Sabine, lifted him off the ground. "Kanan? Where do we put him?" he asked.

Kanan contemplated for a moment. "Put him in my cabin," he finally said. Ezra nodded, and together with Sabine, they dragged the boy back to the Ghost.

The fourteenth sister looked at the security recording. "Show it again," she said. The officer standing with her pressed the replay button. The inquisitor narrowed her eyes as she watched once again the two cadets jump out of the vents and crawl behind the crates. "Not the entire recording, you idiot," she hissed. "Only the last part." The officer obeyed and sped up the recording until the part where the tallest cadet's hand shot up, and the stormtroopers flew backwards. "Interesting," she murmured to herself before pausing the recording and turning to the officer. "Commander, what can you tell me about this cadet?"

The commander pulled up a file on his datapad. "Cadet RT-3019," he began. "Recruited a few months ago from the recruitment center on Baltiskar. Appears to have been a street rat before joining the empire. Has never mentioned anything about a family of any kind."

"What is his original name?"

"He called himself 'Ronin'. He never mentioned a last name," the commander handed the datapad over to the inquisitor.

She looked it over and then asked, "Is there anything that stood out about this cadet?"

The commander scratched his head. "He was the best of his class, far above the rest. I was actually planning on contacting the Inquisitorious about him soon."

The fourteenth sister put down the datapad. "Thank you, Commander. Dismissed."

As soon as the officer left, the inquisitor pulled up an image of the cadet of interest on the holotable. For anyone else, he would've just looked like an average person. But as the recording and his training results showed, there was clearly more to him. She smirked. It was time to hunt again.

Author's note: The OC in this story (Ronin) was a character which I originally created as an antagonist for a different star wars fanfic, which I started publishing during the summer, and then removed because I wasn't happy with it. I kinda became obsessed with his character, coming up with many different stories about him. And this story is the culmination of all of that.

Thanks for reading!