The Watcher looked into the vastness of space while the Stellar Sentinel was making its way across space. Peter and Kate were just informing the others on the recent news that Darth Maul was alive and was even the leader of Crimson Dawn.
"Darth Maul is alive?" Amber asked in shock.
"I thought he died when that ship crashed," Kyle commented.
"Nope. He survived." Peter said with a sigh. "Should have figured when we never found a body."
"In our defense, the entire ship crashed and was flung from Hyperspace." Rex put that out there. "For all we knew, he was with half of the ship that was still in the atmosphere."
"Where can he be hiding?" Kyle asks.
"Just about anywhere in the galaxy," Kate said. "We'll have to narrow it down by a lot."
"We'll start off with..." Peter was saying when Cheep started to bleep. "What's up with him?"
"He said that we are receiving a recorded transmission," Amber answered.
"Patch it through," Rex said.
The projection revealed Hera. "Amber, it's Hera. You have to come back to Ryloth."
"Isn't she the kid from the weapons drop?" Kyle asks.
"Hera?" Peter asks.
"The Empire's taken my parents, and they're after me now too," Hera explained the situation. "I'm sending coordinates. Please hurry. I need your help."
Peter was lost as he turned to Kyle and Amber. "You gave her our comm channel?"
"What? It was for emergencies, and that sounded pretty urgent." Amber said in her defense. "We have to go help her."
"Perhaps the situation is not as dire as described," Rex said.
Peter nodded. "I don't know. She seemed desperate." He then decided that it would be best to check it out. "Set course for Ryloth."
"Alright, Commander," Rex said as he did just so.
The Stellar Sentinel flew downward and followed the signal Hera was leading them. It was difficult to navigate the canyons with their ship, but they managed with minimal damage. They flew in and landed where they all took an eerie caution when they saw there was nobody around.
Amber ignited her blade and looked around. "We think this is a trap?"
"Nah, I don't sense anything," Peter said.
Then they heard chatting and watched as another droid came out of hiding that they hadn't seen before. But they recognized it as an old Clone Wars droid. He rolled out from behind some crates and began to chirp sway at them.
"What's his problem?" Kyle wonders.
Cheep then walked over and bumped into the droid, earning a smack from the droid, and the two engaged in a small tussle that was stopped when Amber separated them with the Force. "Cheep. Seriously? You just met the guy. At least get to know him before you hurt them."
Hera then came out of hiding when she saw it was them. "Thank you for coming. I wasn't sure you would."
"You said you were in trouble," Amber said as she shut down her blade.
"Care to explain to us why the Empire is after you, kid?" Kate asks.
"Because my father is Cham Syndulla." Hera informed them.
"Cham Syndulla?" Peter asked in shock.
"The freedom fighter?" Kate recognized the name.
"Yes," Hera confirmed. "This was his old command outpost. It's where I've been hiding. The Empire's begun targeting anyone loyal to him."
"Okay, and what do you want us to do?" Kyle wonders.
"Free my parents from the Capitol," Hera explained why she contacted them. "That's where they're being held." She saw they weren't entirely convinced. "They can pay you if you get them out. Please. I don't have anyone else to ask."
Peter looked to the Protectors and saw that they seemed to be on board with helping the young girl. "Alright... Let's see what we're up against first."
Chopper and Cheep were on the cliffside overlooking the Capital to get a stronger signal to pick up whatever they could. There was an Imperial officer Rampart who was addressing the citizens regarding what happened. The rest of them were using binoculars to look closer.
"Citizens of Ryloth, the shocking attack on your beloved senator has left you shaken, but Orn Free Taa's condition continues to improve, and he will make a full recovery. But The perpetrators of this heinous assassination attempt have been captured."
"Assassination attempt?" Peter asked.
"Rest assured, Cham Syndulla and his insurgents will answer for their betrayal."
"That's not what happened." Hera defended.
Rex then recognized someone in the crowd. "Oh, no."
"What is it, Rex?" Kate wonders.
"It's Crosshair. He's here." Rex said, getting everyone to see into the crowd, and the one Trooper on guard was Crosshair.
"Great." Kyle sighed. "Guess you know him?"
"Used to be a member of the Bad Batch," Peter explained. "Remember? Their missing member?"
Kate sighed as they stood up. "Just what we need."
"The plasma bridge into the city's been deactivated," Rex commented.
"Why don't we just fly in on the Guardian or Defender?" Amber asks.
"The Capitol scanners would detect our ships." Rex was sorry to say. "They would blow us out of the sky before we could do anything."
"I don't like the look of this," Kate said as she showed them what they were up against. "The troop presence here is almost similar to a military occupation."
"Ryloth's not a Separatist planet," Peter commented. He then sensed something as a probe-droid was scanning the area. "Wait here."
Peter snuck off while the probe droid got a look at the team just before Peter shot two webs and slammed the droid into the ground.
"Oh, god." Kate sighed. "A probe droid. Hate these things."
"Easy guess that the Empire will know we're here," Rex commented.
"And so will Crosshair." Peter nodded. "Come on. Back to the Stellar."
The crew returned to the Stellar while Crosshairs indeed got footage of their arrival.
"All my father wanted was peace on Ryloth," Hera said in sorrow. "Why is this happening?"
"He's a voice the people stand behind." Rex took an obvious guess. "That makes him a threat to the Empire."
"I don't care about any of that," Hera stated. "I just want my parents back."
Chopper began chattering as he exited the Stellar while Cheep chased him out.
"He's saying we're all over the Imperial comm channels," Peter said with a sigh. "They've increased patrols within the city."
"Crosshair will expect us to attack now." Rex guessed.
"Well, we lost the element of surprise." Kate sighed.
"I don't think there is anything we can do here, sir," Rex warned Peter.
Peter sighed as he knew Crosshairs was familiar with how they operated. Separately and as a group. They didn't get put together often in the Clone Wars, but the Protectors have already made themselves the number one enemy of the Empire. He wanted to help, but he also needed to think about his crew.
"You're right," Peter was sorry to say.
"Wait, you can't leave," Hera tells them.
"I'm sorry, Hera, trust me, I really am. I fought for Ryloth during the Wars." Peter tells her. "But we can't fight the Empire with someone who knows us. We'll get you off the world and take you someplace safe."
The crew started to head back to the ship. "Stop!" Hera pleaded. "I'll pay you double."
Peter sighed. "All the money in the galaxy won't matter, kid." He tells her. "What you're asking us to do, it's not worth the risk of all of my men."
"Not to you," Hera said.
Peter had flashbacks to all the terrors he had survived. In this world and his home. "You think I don't know what it is like?" He asked Hera. "I know what it is like!" He started to get a little loud. "I fought and died to save my home, and it wasn't enough, we still lost. And when we came here, we fought for the galaxy... and our friends shot us in the back! I know about heartbreak. I know about loss. But this is something that we might not walk away from." He then headed towards the ship. "And this small scrap of the galaxy is all we have left."
Kate watched Peter enter the ship and towards Hera who teared up and walked away. Hera sat down a small distance away from the Stellar as Chopper chatters.
"I don't need a lecture, Chop," Hera said.
Chopper chatters.
"I didn't give up," Hera stated. He did."
"Yeah. Sorry about him," Kate said as she approached her. "Peter means well. But he is going through a lot. We're only a new group. Put together by scotch tape and bad decisions made throughout the galaxy." She looked down at her prosthetic arm. "I know you're scared, but don't give up. But he'll come around. I know."
"Why do you trust him so much?" Hera wonders.
"We've been through a lot together." Kate shrugged. "Pete and I have fought to save a galaxy that wasn't even our own. The one thing I learned about Peter is that he says he gives up, but he starts to think of some sort of clever idea."
Chopper chatters.
"So, you all travel together?" Hera wonders.
"Ever since the end of the Wars," Kate confirmed.
"You're lucky," Hera said.
"Look, if you want our help, all we need to do is think of a plan and that'll easily convince Peter," Kate explained to her.
"Why would he listen to me?" Hera wonders.
"Ryloth is your home," Kate answered. "We fought for it but you know it better than us."
Hera seemed inspired by her words. "Yes, I do."
Chopper chatters in annoyance and it seems he doesn't want to do this.
"Attack the Capitol?" Kyle questioned what Kate and Hera had come up with. "That's a suicide mission."
"Not the Capitol, the Imperial refinery on the outskirts," Kate said as Chopper showed a hologram.
"I've been spying on their activity," Hera tells them. "I know their routine. If we attack there, reinforcements will be diverted from the Capitol."
"We can use that distraction to rescue Hera's parents." Peter saw it as a simple but plausible idea.
"Any heavy defenses at the refinery?" Rex asks.
"Five perimeter cannons, but they are unmanned," Hera answered.
"Auto cannons are extremely vulnerable." Peter nodded to Rex. "Where is the control console?"
Hera gestured to a part of the hologram. "Right inside the main gate. It is heavily guarded, but Chopper and your droid can slip inside with the other droids and disable the cannons."
Peter looked over the idea and nodded, seeing it was plausible enough to work and could lead to less risk to his crew. "All right." He agreed to the plan. "Hera and Amber, you go with Chopper and Cheep as backup, but at a distance."
"Really?" Hera asked in surprise.
"Really?" Kyle questioned.
Chopper chatters while Cheep smacks him.
"By themselves?" Rex wonders.
"Amber can handle herself if they get into a mess," Peter defended. "And we are going to need Kyle and Kate to scale the Capitol wall and free Hera's parents. Me and Rex will wait until those cannons are down and move in."
Everyone shrugged and saw the plan was plausible.
"I guess we'll follow your lead, kid," Peter tells Hera.
Hera was surprised but grew proud and nodded.
Chopper chatters on comms while he and Cheep are sneaking their way inside. Hera and Amber were watching from a distance of the base.
"We are in position," Hera reported.
A bunch of droids were exiting one of the vessels and were being led by the Clones. "Have your chain codes out and ready for inspection."
The droids beep as they travel down the route. Cheep and Chopper were among them, and when everyone else left, they stopped and Cheep shoved him off to the side.
Chopper chatters as Cheep bleeps and shoves him. "They're approaching the checkpoint," Amber said as she watched them. She watched how much the two droids were shoving one another. "At least, I hope..."
"Get ready, Chop," Hera said.
A clone stopped a few droids to check their identification while Cheep and Chopper went around through the ships and used the shadows. They snuck into the lineup without anyone noticing and acted like any other droid in the lineup.
As they were nearing their placement, they snuck off again and found what they were looking for. Approaching the turret controls, Cheep spotted a droid was there and was quick to get to work.
Chopper shoved Cheep aside and plugged into the console. As he tried to get inside, he came across a problem and informed them he couldn't disable the cannons.
"What do you mean it won't work?" Hera asks. "You said you could disable the cannons."
Chopper chatters while Cheep bleeps and bumps into him in anger. Chopper seemed to have enough as he pushed Cheep back and the two began to tussle. Their fight seemed to gain the attention of the patrol troops as they ran over and spotted the two fighting.
"Hey! You two don't belong here!" The trooper said.
Chopper chatters in worry as he raises his hands. Cheep froze and stopped when he suddenly had the final smack as he stopped. The two troops began to escort the droids to their command.
"We have to help Cheep and Chopper," Hera said in worry.
Amber wondered how they were going to do that when she spotted something. "We will, but first, we need to take the console offline."
"Uh, how are we going to do that?" Hera wonders.
"Well, we could try one of those," Aber said, showing Hera their troop transports with weapons.
"You said you wanted to be a pilot, right?" Amber asks.
"Yeah," Hera said, seeing what she was planning.
"Well, come on," Amber said as she grabbed her lightsaber. "We've got this... probably."
Kate and Kyle were crawling their way up the side of the capital using their grapples. Kyle had his Mandalorian grappling hook and Kate used her grapple arrow. But as they were reaching the top of the capital, a few troops crossed the bridge. They waited a moment, trying not to make any noise. But Kate's metallic arm whirred and gave her away. The trooper looked over the ledge and saw her.
"Would you give a girl a hand?" Kate asked flirtatiously.
"Hey," Kyle whispered, getting the trooper to face Kyle who managed to get up undetected. He then punched the troop with his Mandalorian Beskar armor and knocked him out. "Wow, that is just sad."
Kate then got herself up with ease. "Well, they weren't meant to be fighting Mandalorians."
"Good thing, too." Kyle scoffed as Kate walked off. "We would have won the Clone Wars."
"Don't go giving yourself too much credit," Kate warned him.
Amber and Hera were hiding underneath the ship as they watched a troop patrol walk past. "My parents would never approve of this plan," Hera whispered.
"I won't tell your folks if you don't tell mine," Amber said as she drew her lightsaber. "I got Chop and Cheep. Your job is the cannons."
"You sure about this plan?" Hera wonders.
"Nope," Amber admitted as she walked into the open. "But if there is one thing I learned amongst the Protectors... sometimes, a bad plan is better than no plan."
Amber ignited her saber, the brilliant blue glow casting an eerie light across the platform. The T'wileks, being forced to work, and the clones, were startled as they turned to see the radiant blade raised high in the air. With a determined expression, Amber commanded the attention of the area, diverting focus from Hera to herself. Though the Jedi may have been nearly wiped out, Amber stood as a testament to their enduring presence, a defiant display for the galaxy to witness.
"Looking for me?!" Amber called out. She then lowered the blade and began to run off. "Come and get me, bucket-heads!"
Hera watched as Amber ran off and even deflected some blaster shots while making her way around to find their droids. Hera then climbed out from underneath the shuttle and began to climb her way forward to the cockpit.
"Amber, has Chopper and Cheep deactivated the perimeter cannons?" Peter asked while Amber was dodging Blasterfire.
"No, but Hera and I are working on it!" Amber cried as she focused on the blasters. "Just don't blow us out of the sky!"
"What?" Peter asks.
"Here we go," Hera said, getting the ship into the air, only to then tilt too far and end up slamming into the second ship aside hers. "Sorry!"
"We've got a security breach!" A trooper cried, watching as Amber began to fight some of the Troops, quickly slicing one of their blasters. Then they took notice of the ship that was flying around. "Unauthorized launch from shuttle two!"
Then the trooper was struck down by Amber as she used Force on the second trooper guarding the droids. "Let's get out of here, you two!"
Cheep then rolled over and smacked Chopper over the head, still blaming him for their capture. They then made their way towards the shuttle and used their thrusters to
"Amber, we are registering multiple explosions near the refinery. Is that you?" Peter wonders.
"Yep. That was us." Amber confirmed, running over and watching Hera shoot the cannons, causing a huge explosion. That allowed her the force to fly and slam into the ship. She used her saber to slow down her descent as she landed in the troop transport area of the ship. "Cannons are down. You guys are up."
"We're coming in!" Rex said as he and Peter flew in, using the Defender and Protector, not wanting to risk the Stellar on this mission.
Peter and Rex flew around, shooting down the refinery to hopefully cause them to start calling in reinforcements if their training was anything like it was during the Republic.
And that is exactly what happened. The troop transport was limited due to the sudden attack, causing everyone to rush to the refinery. Kate and Kyle had an easier time making their way to the prison sector of the base. Shooting the few troops there were with blasters and arrows, they approached the cell containing Hera's family.
"What are you doing here?" Gobi wonders.
"Breaking you out," Kate answered, using an arrow to hack the systems and let them out.
"You know them?" Cham wonders.
"They are mercenaries," Gobi answered. "But I didn't hire them for this."
"Hera did," Kyle explained, keeping an eye out for more troops.
Eleni pushed ahead. "Hera? Where is she? Is she safe?"
"Uh..." Kate didn't know how to answer that.
Hera was still flying around as she was shooting the refinery, getting as many reinforcements as possible. Their flying around was somehow managing to survive the few ships that went after them that Peter and Rex shot down using the Protector and Defender.
"We're getting the hang of this," Hera stated.
"Yes, your maneuvering is as confusing to them as it is to us," Rex commented a hit of sarcasm in his voice.
Crosshairs was one of the few left at the prison while running out. But he stopped as he was trying to figure out what was going on. He fought among the likes of the Protectors back when they were solo acts for the Republic. They wouldn't do all of this just to strike at a refinery.
"Stop," Crosshairs tells his troops.
"The admiral said to protect the refinery."
"That's not their target." Crosshairs chose not to believe that.
"Then why are they attacking it?"
Crosshairs turned to the doors and figured it out.
Kate and Kyle lead the Syndulla family down the halls and head towards the doorway. They weren't aware of the entire squadrant of Clones that were lining up to shoot them down. But as they were heading out, they were stopped by Howzer.
"Commander, wait!" Howzer called out to the crew, recognizing Bishop.
"Howzer?" Kate asks.
"You're walking into a trap." That got them to freeze and eye the doors. "There's a squad out there waiting.
"Why should we trust you?" Kate asks, drawing an arrow.
"Because I'm on your side," Howzer promises. That surprised them as they weren't aware that the Clones had their own minds anymore after Order 66. "What the Empire is doing is wrong. You have to get out of here. They have the exits blocked."
"We can use Senator Taa's shuttle in his private tower hangar." Eleni offered.
"I'm sorry, General," Howzer said as he approached Syndulla. "I should've stopped this sooner."
"Our fight for Ryloth is not over," Cham promises. "We will return."
"You can't stay here," Eleni warned him. "They'll know you helped us."
"I will not abandon my squad," Howzer promised. "They're good men. I have to try to get through to them." He then nodded as he headed to the doors. "Go, while there's still time."
"Guys, we needed to reach an alternate transport," Kate warned them. "Meet at the rendezvous."
"Gladly," Peter stated that he saw several vehicles heading their way. "Because there are multiple Imperial vessels inbound. We better get out of here before they get lucky and shoot us down."
"What about Amber and Hera?" Rex asks.
"We're gonna have to make a mid-air transport," Peter said as he flew over toward their ship.
"And Cheep and Chopper." Amber reminded them.
Peter froze when he heard that. "Right. Them, too."
Amber rolled her eyes as she then walked over towards Hera and got ready to jump. Peter opened the back of the Defender and allowed the wind to shake the platform as he was waiting for them to make the jump. Cheep and Chopper rolled on over while Amber drew her blade.
"You sure you know what you are doing?" Hera asked.
"Nope!" Amber cried, quickly cutting a hole using her saber in the glass. She then leaped out of the shuttle, while the droids used their thrusters to fly off. The ship fell and began to crash while Amber landed on the platform and managed to get them all to safety. Amber let out a sigh of relief as the doors closed. "Could you believe that Master Halsey said I lacked focus for that?"
"What?" Hera asks in fear.
"Commander, should we move in?"
Crosshair denied them as he focused on the door. "Stay in position. This is their way out."
That was when Howzer opened the doors and walked outside. "Brothers. What are we doing? We came here to free Ryloth from Separatist control, and we succeeded. But look around you. We're now being ordered to target the very people we swore to protect. And I will not be a part of it any longer." He then threw his blaster on the ground. "Who will stand with me?"
Several troops seemed to agree with him as they dropped their weapons, but others stood tall with their decision. "Arrest those traitors."
Crosshairs watched as the shuttle took off and quickly shot the shuttle. But they were too far away that they were able to escape. Howzer watched them take off with a sigh of relief.
The team met back up and brought Hera back to her family safely. "Here's the payment Hera promised," Eleni said, holding the money to Peter.
Peter denied it. "Keep it. You'll need it. These occupations are happening on other planets besides Ryloth."
"I hoped to have fought my last war, but our people need us now more than ever," Cham stated. "We must organize."
"Well, that's not something we can help with, General," Peter stated, looking to his crew as they said their goodbyes to Hera. "I have my own people to look out for."
"If a war is coming, it will be their fight as much as ours," Cham said.
"Come along, Hera," Eleni said as they walked onto the shuttle.
"Kyle showed me how to scramble a ship's signature," Hera said as she approached her parents.
"We will soon see how well it works," Eleni said as they walked onto the shuttle. "It is time for us to go."
"Well, copilot, we didn't do too bad," Hera said to Amber.
"Thanks," Amber said. "For believing in me. The Jedi never truly did..."
"You are a good Jedi, and I hope this isn't the last we see of each other," Hera said.
"You never know," Amber said, seeing that Cheep and Chopper had made amends. "Wow, Cheep actually made a friend."
Hera laughed as Cheep rolled off towards the Stellar and Chopper rolled into the shuttle. "Hey, Amber!" She called out, seeing Amber stop and turn back. "May the Force be with you."
As Amber solemnly nodded, she became acutely aware of the comforting weight of the saber hanging from her hip. A profound sense of duty and responsibility coursed through her being. In that pivotal moment, she fully grasped the immense obligation she bore to safeguard and uphold the legacy of the Jedi Order. While the traditional customs of the Jedi may have faded, she was determined to ensure that their essence endured. She embraced her role as a guardian of the galaxy, committed to preserving the noble ideals and principles of the Jedi.
Even though she was no longer affiliated with the Jedi Order because of Order 66, their teachings and principles would endure within her ranks of the Protectors of the Nebula as they embarked on their interstellar voyages. The Jedi's noble quest was far from finished, and the responsibility to rescue the galaxy rested squarely on her shoulders.
The Watcher looked as they flew off in different directions. "Friendships forge the victories yet to come. This is not the last we will see of Hera Syndulla. In this universe or the next..."