At last my friends, we are here! Where are we Hondo you ask? Heheeh. Funny. Yes we are here Mira! We are here! Let us do a trumpet sound together? One! Two! Three! Eh… Okay we can work on your trumpet sound in a little bit. Uncle Hondo promises it will be marvelous! Now a recap of what has happened so far! Pfft! It is not really necessary. The beauty of updating weekly! And there are not many stories told out there by none other than the Honest Uncle Hondo? I know what's happened! You know what's happened! And Uncle Hondo has an appointment at the Treasury to keep! Interesting, no? A tale for another time (and don't you think that! Hondo knows what you are thinking!) My friends, Hondo the Honest will give you his word, as a Captain of Profit he will explain the Treasury details. But not this chapter! But Hondo does wish to extend his understanding to some fans of one "divergence" in this chapter. You will know why and when it happens, and Hondo is certain you will let him know in your comments. He does not apologize, but he does hope you understand and wishes to acknowledge here at the very start any concerns you may have. Now! Trumpet? Trumpet? What about a wave! Yes Mira, wave to our readers! "WUAVE!" Yes Mira, wave to our friends!
Fire Across the Galaxy
"I faced it all, and I stood tall! And did it my way…"
TK-626 had an odd childhood. When he was a boy on Lothal, his parents never showed him much attention. Not even when he stuffed a classmate in his locker at school and was suspended. Only thing they said was whatever, it's your life. Keep it up long enough you'll be behind bars.
Which made sense in the time of the Republic, he supposed. But times change. And right now he was proud to be serving here on the front lines of Lothal as TK-626, he had the perfect childhood for an Imperial Stormtrooper. The recruiters cited him specifically for his aggressiveness. And they were right. He was good. Real good.
As was evident of getting stationed here on Lothal! There were rebels here. Or insurgents as their Sarge was now telling them. What difference did a name make? Orders were clear. Capture if possible, otherwise shoot.
And if that meant patrolling this landing pad from dawn 'til dusk he'd do it.
"One hundred and eight," the trooper next to him bit out in frustration.
MB-223, a recent arrival. Though how he got stationed in a hot zone like Lothal 626 hadn't the slightest of ideas. "What's that your bellyaching about?"
"Just counting how many times we walk the same circle around this land pad."
"Listen here you, rookie. These rebels-"
"Insurgents-"
"You know why they haven't been caught yet? Well, unlike other insurgents, they strike where you're weak. They avoid where you're strong."
"Okay," MB-223 said. "And how does us doing a hundred circles of an airfield with state of the art fighters make us strong? They could set a watch to where we'll be!"
"Stop your griping," 626 said. "Let's go." As they began their 109th circuit TK-626's ear perked as he heard a shushing sound coming from one of the TIEs they were guarding.
"I don't hear-" MB-233 began to say then stopped and listened. "Wait. Yeah." More phishing noise. "What is that?"
"This way!" 626 said and broke into a run, leading the way to the opposite side of the field, containing a total of four TIE starfighters total. When they arrived at the one farthest, they stopped and lifted their E-11s, though they had trouble making sense of what they saw.
A girl in Mando gear spray painting something purple on a TIE?
"What are you doing?" 626 demanded.
"What does it look like?" the Mando girl said. "Art."
Then she continued on with her graffiti completely unbothered by their presence. And 626 didn't like that one bit.
He raised his blaster rifle at, pointing it at her. "Well, stand down."
"Or we shoot!" MB-223 said and lifted his own rifle.
The girl stopped her spraying and considered the pair for a moment. "Okay. Shoot."
626 spared a glance at 223 and saw his partner for that evening was just as ready as he was. But when he looked back, ready to fire, the Mando girl was nowhere in sight!
The banging away of an armored fist against a TIE's solar panel, directly behind them, told the pair where she'd gone. Instantly the two spun around and opened fire. Only she was fast - very fast.
Both stormtroopers paused and blinked in disbelief. "You call that shooting?" The Girl taunted, her voice coming from the opposite side of the field yet again. "I think you boys need a little more time on the practice range."
They aimed but like a phantom she was gone again. TK-626 lifted his hand to his helmet and keyed his comlink. "This is TK-626. There's an intruder on site."
"On our way." Came the Commander's crisp reply as security sirens began blaring across the field. Already 626 saw some stormtroopers were running, likely drawn by the sounds of their earlier blaster fire.
With his Commander notified, 626 joined 223 as he searched for the girl. "Where did she-"
"Over here, bucketheads!" her singsong voice called down.
"There!" 626 yelled and he and 223 opened fire at the sight of a shadow moving amongst the crates.
"You guys are too predictable," she said, though now her voice was coming not from the crates in front of them but from near - no! On top of a TIE fighter behind them!
"There!" 626 yelled and both troopers opened fire only for her to vanish yet again, their blaster bolts catching nothing but air. Was there more than one intruder? A decoy?
"Always by the book." She taunted and the two whirled around as her voice came from the opposite side of the field again. "I read your book!" She taunted. "It's a short one."
The pair opened fire but like a blur she was just there and then she wasn't.
Impossible.
"What do we got?" The Commander said as he and three more stormtroopers joined them.
"One intruder in Mando gear, still at large," MB-223 answered.
"Split up," the Commander ordered. "Capture her. I want her alive."
What use were stun rings against someone who moved that fast? But TK-626 kept silent, not knowing where to even begin explaining what he had seen. So he switched his weapon to stun as ordered and began searching his designated area.
But he shook it off and then realized he was back where he started, her purple graffiti. Maybe the girl would want to finish her piece? 626 decided to take a page out of the intruder's playbook. He hid and waited, it didn't take long.
"Something is missing," the girl said as she studied her art. She gave it one last applicator spray. "There. Perfect."
So busy with her final touches, she hadn't noticed 626's uncharacteristically stealthy approach until he was a bare meter away. "Hands up," 626 ordered. "You rebel scum."
Up until that point in his report, 626's Commander had been impressed by the stormtrooper's professionalism and ability to deduce where she would return as well as to get close enough to stun her. He was less impressed about the part where the girl - a teenage girl - whipped around with blinding speed leg swept 626 before he could get his stun shot off.
"Too slow," the girl called back as she made her exit.
Having heard the shot the other troopers converged on 626, the Commander unimpressed by 626's ability to squeeze a trigger and stun a girl a meter away. Which of course was when that imbecile MB-223 made the astute observation that this was where they started.
And that there was a detonator of some sort on the girl's purple graffiti! And that moron 223 was standing nose to nose with it!
Fortunately, or unfortunately if you were 626 and hoping the explosion would be destructive enough to rid the galaxy of fools like 223. It only damaged the one TIE's solar panel and landed 223 in medbay for a solid week. The only real damage was how she somehow rigged the explosive to set off paint all over the field! It took hours for the mechanics (with the assistance of stormtroopers like himself) to ensure all of the TIEs were clean and space worthy.
626 never did find out the reason behind her wanting to damage all those TIE fighters. It shut down flight operations for a day, and painted both him and his Commander and all the rest of the stormtroopers in a myriad of colors.
Nothing was spared. And it's what has been keeping TK-626 grounded here on this damned planet instead of being rotated out to a Stay Destroyer ever since!
Him and that lackbrain MB-223.
And it wasn't the last time the stormtroopers on Lothal would see her, or rather the Artist as the locals began to call her. And their reports did vindicate 626's version of events, her speed and agility. Explanations varied from drug stimulants to cybernetics of some sort. Nothing human could move that fast.
All 626 knew, that night at the airfield had stonewalled his career. And now he was stuck here! With the last person in the world he wanted to be with!
"And that's 108 times around the field," MB-223 said. "Should we call it in?"
"What's the point?" 626 grumbled. "Command could set a watch to know where we'd be," he said and led the way over to the new TIE facility's north wall in Sector Nine.
The airfield was still at the same place. Still the same low walls that the Artist had no problem clearing in a single bound. Only now the place has doubled in size. Instead of servicing four TIEs, it serviced eight, plus the Gozanti-class cruiser.
Doubled in size, but the same amount of stormtroopers guarding the place. TK-626 tried explaining the need for additional manpower to adequately patrol the area, but his new Commander just laughed at him. Uncaring about 626's input. Unless it was for more details about the night he and several others got painted. No one could tire of that story, it seemed.
But as of late, for TK-626, it was all coming to a head. They had numerous reports of sightings of not just her but reports of other rebels active in the city, making fools of just about everyone. Hell! If the scuttlebutt around the cantinas was accurate, they forced Grand Moff Tarkin to blow up the planet's main comm tower and now all communication was being done by droids.
"Hear that?" 223 said next to him.
"Hear what?" 626 asked, as his "partner's" voice dragged away from his melancholy.
"Miss me, bucketheads?" A mischievous voice called out from behind them.
A voice 626 would recognize anywhere! Both stormtroopers turned and sure enough, there she stood with nothing but a paint applicator in her hand. The picture of casualness.
"It's her!" 626 said, and both men immediately cocked their blaster rifles and aimed them right at her. No stun rounds this time, as triggers were squeezed and blaster bolts went flying right at her.
But then, just as before, the Girl practically ran up the wall of the one story building she had been standing next to. 626 cursed his aim as bolt after bolt scarred the build's roof but none found its target.
"Yup," the Artist said and raised her arms out wide. "You definitely missed me."
The shooting continued as she quickly moved from the roof of the building to a stack of crates a good jump from the building. And then in an instant she was gone again.
"Call it in," 626 said as he kept his blaster rifle up and searched their immediate surroundings for where she may be waiting in ambush.
"We have an intruder on the north side, Sector 9," 223 said into his helmet's comm. "The artist is back. Sound the alarm."
626 opened fire as he watched her dash to another stack of crates. With 223 and every other stormtrooper chasing her, none noticed Ezra in his bright orange jacket and his big purple friend Zeb run and hide their way toward the now unguarded Gozanti cruiser.
Though halfway to the cruiser, Ezra paused in his tracks and watched.
"Stand still!" one stormtrooper had shouted as more joined the firing line.
But with the ease of a master painter and her brush strokes, no stormtrooper hit his mark as Sabine dodged and weaved her way over and under and even side to side. The coup de grace was when she made a near impossible leap from the ground to the roof of yet another building, all the while under a hail of blaster fire.
"Kid!" Zeb hollered, though not loud enough for anyone to hear over the spectacle of blaster fire. Ezra turned to see his friend waiting for him on the elevator, well-lit and in plain view of any who glanced at their direction..
But the stormtroopers, an even dozen now, were all chasing after Sabine. And not a single one was even close to catching her, and none were paying Zeb or him any heed.
Stuffing all the questions he suddenly had into the back of his head, Ezra ran to Zeb. Together on the elevator they hit the button up and boarded it easily. Now it was his turn. He'd been working on his flying but nothing like this.
Still, Ezra thought, the layout was similar to plenty of other ships. And the switches he was flipping were in the right spot. His intuition paid off when in a few moments the lights flicked on and the repulsorlifts raised the cruiser from the ground.
He glanced back and saw Zeb looking at him with a mixture of pride on his face.
"Sabine!" both Spectres said.
With a frown Zeb hurried to the transparisteel windows of the cruiser's bridge as it continued to gain altitude. "Kid, slow down!"
There was some jostling as Ezra fought to keep the cruiser within jumping distance. But he had hardly ever flown the Ghost, let alone something this big.
"Kid, you're still too high!"
"Do you see her?" Ezra said and with all the ease he could, dropped some altitude and dipped the cruiser to its port side ever so slightly to give Zeb a view of the field.
"No," Zeb said. "Just bucketheads, a lot of bucketheads. Like an army of ants."
As soon as the words left Zeb's mouth, every stormtrooper below turned their attention to them and opened fire on the Gozanti-class cruiser.
A moment of panic fluttered Ezra's heart, and not in a good way. Because if they were no longer shooting at her?
Breathe. Come on, Kid, it's just breathing. Close your eyes and just reach out. Feel the Force around you.
"Shoot back! Shoot back!" Zeb shouted.
Trust in the Force.
Zeb was still shouting, and Skippy was saying something else too. But none of it mattered, as Ezra's eyes reopened and he immediately took control of the ship. His eyes were focused as he expertly maneuvered the cruiser closer to the ground.
"Not agreeing with your lightsaber, but you're making it an easier shot for those bucketheads!"
"You have put us in a compromising position." Skippy said. "If they get a TIE in the air or an E-Web setup-"
"We're not leaving her." Ezra said, his words heavy and unwavering.
"I repeat, the chances of her survival against that many-" Skippy tried to protest. But Ezra was in no mood.
"You shut up. And we don't have time to figure out this thing's guns. Get down there, Zeb."
Realizing what Ezra was getting at, Zeb was turning to the opened door, bo-rifle in hand, when he ran straight into the girl in question.
"Aww," Sabine said, though it was clear she was breathing hard. "You boys were worried about me? That's sweet."
She was amused, but it didn't last as her eyes focused on the control panel. Sabine's entrance succeeded not only in the dramatic flair she was going for, but also in stealing Ezra's focus on the ship. "Ezra," she said and pointed at the flight controls.
"Oh kriff!" Ezra said and returned his attention to the controls, just in tip to avoid smashing the cruiser into a TIE fighter.
"Say, why don't you be a good lad and let Sabine take control?" Zeb said.
"Pfft," Sabine said and waved her hand dismissively. "Ezra just got distracted. He had the ship right where I needed it when I made the jump aboard."
Still, to Zeb's relief, Sabine did take a seat in the co-pilot's chair. She then began instructing Ezra to gain altitude but angle the ship in such a way everyone in the bridge still had the full view of the airfield through the viewport.
"And what is it we're waiting for?" Zeb said as time crawled by.
"Only that." Sabine said.
First it was one TIE that exploded, and then a second, and a third and then it was just a chain reaction as all eight TIE fighters erupted into fireballs. Any stormtroopers not caught in the initial blast were scattering, like rats leaving a sinking ship as night became day with the enormity of Sabine's work.
The best part was the bluish cloud shaped in a Starbird that her explosion had created.
"Sabine," Zeb said with a smile. "That might be your best work yet."
"It's beautiful," Ezra said, but then looked out across the horizon of Lothal. He looked thoughtful. "Easily Top Five. But I wouldn't say it's her Masterpiece."
Zeb waited to see the girl give him a good old whack over the head, but it never came. Instead, her eyes drifted and focused on the same spot on the horizon that Ezra's were. Zeb had a feeling of suspicion growing now.
"Okay, Ezra," Sabine said. "You're going to want to use the left control stick there too - yeah, just like that. Give me a sec and I'll enter the rendezvous coordinates with Hera. But first the transponder beacon. Zeb, there should be a panel just over there."
With Ezra at the helm and Sabine in control of the situation, the cruiser's engines engaged and the large vessel easily swooped away from the airfield and left the Imperials and their wreckage behind.
Back on the airfield, TK-626 picked himself up and glanced around the ruins. The wreckage of so many TIE fighters. The loss of manpower from the explosion. And the theft of a Gozanti-class cruiser.
Nearly twenty, he thought. A full squad plus were all shooting at her, and not a single blaster had hit its mark. His mind couldn't make sense of it.
There was some groaning coming from behind him, drawing his attention.
"Did we win?" MB-223 asked.
"You survived," 626 said and shook his head and sighed. Of all the people to not perish?
"Yeah, but wow, yah know? And hey look up there! That's pretty!"
626 looked up and saw the signature cloud of the Starbird.
A tiny part of him begrudgingly admired her work. A larger part wanted to see her body lying dead with a score of blaster bolts charring it to pieces.
"It looks like the Commander didn't make it," 223 said. "Hey! I think that means you get to write the official report!"
"Hmph," 626 said and gave that some thought. If the Commander was dead and he was the one to explain what happened.
Yes. That could work. He just had to make certain the truth didn't get out. And absolutely no matter what, make certain that this time the blame didn't fall on him.
And just maybe he'd finally be off this rock.
He was trying to keep it in check, his anger. But they weren't making it easy.
"And you knew Sabine was where, how?" Hera asked as the team completed its quick debrief.
The quick debrief would already be over if it wasn't for that stickling question. But, like his purple roommate, Hera wanted to check every little box. Worse for Ezra was how Sabine was staring at him now.
"Instinct," Ezra said at last, in hopes it would get their eyes off him.
"Since when does a Jedi rely on instinct?" Zeb said.
Ezra turned at Zeb and narrowed his eyes, as he fought to keep from lashing out. "Either she was there or I hop back off the cruiser and use my lightsaber on every Imperial I can get my hands on until they tell me where to find her."
Given how Ezra had handled those stormtroopers when they picked up two-six-four, no one doubted Ezra's words. Twenty were a lot of bucketheads, but with his growing powers and skill in Form III that Skippy had said he had nearly perfected, according to the data transferred to him from Kanan's Holocron.
"Well, good job, everyone," Hera said, at last breaking the chilling silence as well as to get the briefing underway for the bigger mission ahead.
Kanan.
With Chopper flying the Ghost and Aresix keeping an eye on the stolen Gozanti, Hera finally brought up a holoprojection of the planet of Mustafar above the dejarik board and sets of eyes focused on their mission. The planet meant nothing, it was the fleet orbiting it that held their attention.
"The transport you stole will get us close to the fleet over Mustafar. We know they have Kanan on Tarkin's Star Destroyer." Hera said as the projection flipped through the dozen Star Destroyers surrounding it.
"And it's surrounded by a bunch of other Star Destroyers." Zeb said.
"Uh, lots more." Hera said, and Ezra detected a slight waver in her voice. "We'll need a distraction to cover our entry. Sabine?"
"Gotta love Imperial starship construction," Sabine said as she enlarged one of the Star Destroyers. "They design them all the same. Engine room's here, all the power for the ship. If we could get inside the docking bay, I could rig something, black 'em out. But our transport ship's not gonna fit in there."
"We need something small enough to get into that hangar bay," Hera said in conclusion. She sighed. "Too bad we blew up all the TIEs at that base."
Ezra had remained quiet since his comment about using his lightsaber on a bunch of Imperials - something that made the others uncomfortable. But now Hera wished they had a TIE and…
"Well, uh," Ezra said. "There is one left. But it's not at the base."
"Uh-uh. Uh-uh." Zeb said and tried to signal him to cut it with his hand, none of which escaped Hera's notice.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ezra saw Sabine showing signs of nervousness as well. He'd just have to deal with that when the time came. And so Ezra focused on Zeb.
"Look, this is serious, Zeb. For Kanan."
He felt Sabine plop down next to him. Ready to take her share of the blame, but leaving it up to Ezra to do the explaining.
"Fine," Zeb said with a sigh.
"What's going on?" Hera said, already feeling annoyed because her crew had kept her out of the loop on something big.
"The TIE we stole a while back, we, uh… We didn't exactly crash it," Ezra said and as he rubbed the back of his head with his gloved hand.
"And by "didn't exactly," you mean…" Hera said.
"We didn't crash it." Ezra said, deciding to just get it over with. "We kept it. Hidden."
Hera's eyes darted around the room, briefly landing on Sabine but the young girl showed no surprise on her face. In fact she was doing her best to look anywhere but at Hera. Which meant at some point she must've been let in on the secret.
"You all knew about this?" Hera said before letting out a sigh. Half-reluctance, but also half-relief. "I should be angry. I should yell at you for disobeying a direct order."
Ezra winced.
"But," Hera said. "Right now, I'm just grateful we got it."
Sabine looked at him then, and nudged him with her elbow. He knew she loved their work on the TIE and loved the opportunity to fly around in one. Their not-a-relationship had made a big jump forward that day, and he knew she cherished the memory.
It was also the first time someone had ever told him it was okay not to be a traditional Jedi. Not that he couldn't be a Jedi, Sabine fully believed he had it in him. But he didn't have to be like the Jedi of old. That he could develop his own code. Just like she had as a non-traditional Mandalorian.
"Ezra?" Hera said, her voice chipping at the happy memories.
Sabine smiled and took the reins. "Uh," Sabine began. "There\s a slight problem with it."
"What kind of problem?" Hera asked.
"Yeah," Zeb said as he realized then that Ezra had let Sabine in on the secret. "What kind of problem?"
The two teens shrugged and tried to both look innocent. Innocent? Hah. They barely managed not-guilty.
"Well this is awful," Zeb complained as the Spectres plus Chopper and Aresix reached the latest place Ezra and Sabine had hid the colorful TIE fighter. Until they found a permanent place where her Masterpiece could be safe, they'd move it to a new hidey spot whenever they could.
"What?" Sabine gawked at him. "It's some of my best work." Sabine said, passionately defending her Masterpiece.
"It'll have to do." Hera said and crossed her arms.
"What? I thought you were supposed to be the sane one." Zeb complained. "This whole plan is as crazy as those colors."
Hera sighed and her hands dropped to her sides. "Maybe you're right," she said and then stepped toward the TIE fighter. "Maybe this mission doesn't make military sense. But Kanan is family. And we've all lost enough family to the Empire."
Hera paused in order to let that sink in.
"So," Hera said after giving them a moment. "Rescuing him makes sense to me. I'm not ordering you, and of you, to come along. But you need to decide now. In or out?"
"I'm in." Ezra said.
"I'm in." Sabine said in quick succession. Neither teen showed any hesitation.
But Zeb sighed, and for a moment he was transported back a year ago. Back then on that first day with the vote on whether or not to rescue Ezra. Sure, Sabine sided with him, but that was only because of the plan. A plan crazier than this one admittedly. And they'd still done it.
And Zeb knew that if it was him on that ship instead of Kanan. Nothing would keep the Ghost and its crew from charging to his rescue, no matter the odds.
Could a Captain of the Lasan Honor Guard do any less? Truly?
"Karabast." Zeb said and slumped his massive shoulders. "I'm in. But what about that?"
"It's my Masterpiece," Sabine said in defense of the painted TIE fighter.
"Eh," Hera said and folded her arms, her lekku twitching in thought. "No time to fix it. Besides, the Imperials will only scan it. By the time the Imperials see it…"
"It'll be too late," Sabine said, her mind working at the same speed as Hera's.
"I calculate that with the progress Padawan Bridger has made, and the rate of which your crew prevails against the impossible. This plan has a 68% chance of success."
Both Chopper and Aresix didn't have anything nice to say about that, and Skippy - well…
"Sixty eight! Which is better than no chance at all! But this crew has prevailed time and time again against impossible odds. The probability of it doing so remains fairly high for a plan like this to be accounted for!"
As the others enjoyed the two bickering between the three and calculation the others looked on in amusement with one exception.
Ezra had said very little since his outburst back on the ship. He thought of jumping in defense of Sabine's art, but knew she could defend her work well enough. She might even be insulted by him trying to protect her. So instead, his mind dwelled on Hera's question: in or out?
There was never any doubt he would be in. But unlike the others, there was no way Hera could determine which ship without his guidance. And that had Ezra wondering. He knew of Force bonds between Masters and Apprentices, and that's what told him that Kanan was alive. And what would lead them to where he was being held.
Only something had changed. He could still feel Kanan and knew he was entire parsecs away. But it also felt like he was here. Standing right next to him. But that didn't make a single lick of sense.
Something for another time, Ezra decided. But as hard as he tried he couldn't quite push the feeling of Kanan's closeness and yet not not-closeness.
Ezra shook his head. He needed to get a handle on this. Kanan was depending on them.
"Still protecting your precious crew? Hmph. Quite admirable." The Grand Inquisitor said after another tortuous round of electricity. It had been steady, around the clock, and if he weren't strapped to this table it was unlikely Kanan would be upright at all. But rather face down on the deck.
But the Inquisitor knew exactly how far to push and still get answers.
"But what I want to know is about the other rebels, code name Fulcrum."
Kanan knew how the crew felt about Hera's seeming paranoia over operational security and why only she knew how to reach Fulcrum. But right now? Strapped to this table and having his life shocked out of him. Kanan couldn't have been more grateful.
"I know nothing of a larger rebellion," Kanan said after taking his time to get a few mouthfuls of air. "And if I did, I'd rather give my life than tell you."
He would die before telling the Empire that the only crew member who did know was Hera. He welcomed the torture if it meant keeping her safe.
"So heroic. Just like your master." The Inquisitor said and then walked closer to Kanan. The darkness inside of him feeding off Kanan's suffering and fear.
"Tell me, Jedi, how did you survive Order 66, hmm? It was your Master Billaba who laid down her life for yours. Do you remember her last word to you, her last final breath before she died?"
Kanan winced.
"You do, don't you? You see it in your sleep. You hear her voice when you wake."
And in that moment of pain and fear for his family, Kanan felt his Master again. Through the Living Force he felt her here, even in the darkness of such a place. And what he felt? Was faith. Faith in him and faith in the decision he made to protect his family.
And pride in the strength he had to make such a decision.
"Tell me, Jedi," the Inquisitor whispered in his ear. "What was her last word to you?"
But Kanan kept his silence.
"Abandoned her and the Jedi Order when they need you most? What do you think your rebels would do if they knew their leader was a coward?"
The Inquisitor was good, he knew exactly which buttons of his to press. But the feeling his Master's essence instilled in him back on the Jedi Temple of Lothal? The memory of it gave the strength he needed now.
He did exactly what she needed him to do. What he needed to do now. To hold on.
"You're even afraid of your own power." The Inquisitor said and ignited Kanan's lightsaber and began to test it with a few swings. "You don't have the courage to wear your saber out in the open. Let me tell you something, Jedi. You're right to be afraid. You couldn't save your master then, and you can't save your followers now."
"She told me." Kanan said and turned to look the Grand Inquisitor directly in the eyes and tried to ignore the foul stench breath. "She told me. For you to take that fancy lightsaber of yours, and shove it up your own ass."
Kanan's rebuke was the last thing the Inquisitor had expected. He held up his hand and Kanan felt the same pressure now as he did before as the Inquisitor tested his limits. Was it all a show or was it nothing more than bravado?
At last the pressure fell away.
"Hmph," the Inquisitor said and extinguished Kanan's lightsaber, attaching it to his waist. "Mustafar awaits, Jedi. And if you won't break here? I promise. Once you get a taste of what is waiting for you, you will wish you had."
"I repeat." Kanan said and glared. "Up your own ass."
The Inquisitor scowled as Kanan's defiance won out.
"Perhaps some more lightning then?"
The Inquisitor flipped a switch and again Kanan felt the shock of electricity coursing through his entire body.
But in a small spot in his mind, he knew he wasn't alone. His Master was with him. And so were Hera and the rest of his family.
Small as that spot might, from that well he drew his strength to hold on.
"So you've traded the nose cannon for this one?" Sabine said, tracking down her quarry at last.
Ezra looked down the ladder leading to the dorsal cannon and smiled at her. He should've figured. She always found him eventually, and he doubted it was because of the tracker built into his wrist brace.
"More stars." Ezra said. "And I know the nose gun is your spot. It's where you like to escape to doodle."
"Doodle?" Sabine said. "That's what you call me art?"
Ezra's eyes widened at his mistake. He immediately opened his mouth to apologize but Sabine bursted into laughter. It took him a second, but then he realized she'd gotten him again.
"Nice one," Ezra said.
"The look on your face!"
Ezra smirked, accepting defeat. Then an idea popped in his head. "You know there's room for more than just little me up here?"
Sabine rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Hard pass, Jedi Boy."
They both smiled and then Sabine asked. "So what are you doing up there? Hera wants us all going over Star Destroyer floor plans."
"You've seen one Star Destroyer, you've seen them all. And if Tarkin had anything special made for his I doubt we'll find it in regular Destroyer schematics. Besides," Ezra said. "I need to prepare myself."
"Prepare yourself?"
Ezra sighed. "Sabine? If I can't point out which ship Kanan is on, or if they already moved him to this Mustafa planet-"
"Mustafar."
"Then all our plans are for nothing, and we'll never find him." Ezra snorted. "In fact, I think I may have already."
"Jedi stuff?" Sabine asked and Ezra nodded. "Ugh. Where was that I'll hack up twenty stormtroopers attitude that I saw before?"
"Heck if I know," Ezra said. "But I never had this problem before. You see, after a while people can connect through the Force. It happens a lot between masters and apprentices. Distance makes it harder, but I can still feel Kanan. Feel that he's alive."
"Better not tell Hera any of that," Sabine said. "Something like that, it sounds really-?"
"Intense?"
"Intimate, I was going to say." Sabine said. "Like you two can connect in a way she'd never be able to."
"Only now it feels all muddled," Ezra said. "Like someone wrapped my head in a blanket and I can hear people talking, but nothing is clear. Like I can't tell who is who."
"And you never had this problem before?" Sabine said.
"No," and Ezra shook his head, but then tilted his head in consideration. Was this the first time? "Well. Maybe sometimes. I don't know, but it's just gotten worse. I was going to talk to Kanan about it but then all this happened. And right when we need that bond the most?"
"Easy there, Diasa'yr o'r chaavla."
"You know I figured out that Diasa'yr means Diamond. But never the rest."
Sabine smiled at him.
"It means diamond in the rough. It's a common phrase from where I come from. And given how we first met and your willingness to help others in need, strangers even. It felt appropriate."
Ezra blinked. He never imagined her giving him a nickname like that. It beat the hell out of Paint Bomb.
Sabine smiled. "And you got this, Diamond. The things I've seen you do?"
"Not all of them are exactly Jedi-approved," Ezra said and ducked his head.
"So then find your own way and, hey? If you ever need a miracle?"
With perfect accuracy, Sabine tossed the small detonator up the ladder and practically into Ezra's lap. "I'm gonna go make a bunch more of these."
"For your weapon?" Ezra asked as he pocketed the detonator to keep it out of sight.
"For us. In case it doesn't work or if we just run into reinforcements. Explosives settle things a lot quicker than a blaster fight. And we'll need speed to pull this off. See ya soon, Jedi Boy."
Ezra smirked and for a moment, just allowed his mind to wander. Not stretch out and feel like Kanan would say. But just wander. The funny thing? It was in this state of mind did he finally feel Kanan clearly through the Force.
He was like a light in the darkness, because wherever he was it was dark. And Ezra felt the darkness growing as they neared their exit from hyperspace. It wasn't their final destination, not yet but it was close. Probably just a minute or so away from this Mustafar planet, Ezra figured.
But then there was something else. He could feel Kanan clearly, except it wasn't the only thing he was detecting.
Ezra shook his head and tried to reach that clarity mindset again - and he did! But while his mind said it was impossible, the Force told him otherwise. Or more likely, it was his imagination.
'Trust in the Force.'
Yup, definitely his imagination.
"Okay. Everyone except Chop and Aresix over to the Gozanti."
Ezra slid down the ladder and on his way to the airlock nearly bumped into Sabine who was exiting her cabin with a bandolier of explosives of every type and model slung over her shoulder and wrapped around chest.
"Oops, my bad," Sabine said.
Ezra blinked and studied her close for a moment, then eyed the detonators and grenades and who knew what else.
"If a stormtrooper hits you, won't one of those go off?"
Sabine tilted her head and gave it some thought. "Technically no. But then they'd have to hit me first. Bucketheads couldn't hit the broadside of a cruiser after all."
"When was the last time you did get hit?" Ezra said, his eyes becoming much more intense.
Sabine just shrugged, thinking nothing of Ezra's behavior. "I'd have to think about that. Now, go grab your kit. We have your master to save!"
As Sabine squeaked past, Ezra watched her go and for once it wasn't because of how much he loved the sway of her hips.
No. Can't be.
Ezra shook his head and hurried to his room to grab the rest of the things he'd hurried to the bridge of the cruiser.
"Aresix, I'm leaving the Ghost in your hands. Treat her good."
Aresix gave a celebratory farewell over the comm and then the two ships exited hyperspace. It was only then did they decouple. Only once Hera was certain that both ships were secured and ready did Hera once more make the jump to hyperspace, this time with Mustafar as their final destination.
It was a short hop and Chopper gave a long, and very explicit chortle, as the cruiser left hyperspace and the glowing red planet of Mustafar rose before them.
"Yup," Hera said as she looked through the cruiser's viewports. "A lot of ships."
"Too many to count," Zeb said.
"Six Destroyers," Sabine said as her eyes darted from viewport to viewport. "Still working on all the cruisers and support ships. Not as big as a sector fleet, but big enough."
"Well you don't get much higher on the ladder than Grand Moff," Hera said and then glanced at Ezra who appeared to have almost entered a meditative state.
"Ezra?" Hera said.
"Cold," was the first thing he said. "And the darkness."
"Looks nice and toasty from what I see," Zeb said. "Too toasty. Hey Kid, what do you got?"
Sabine elbowed Zeb. "Give him a minute."
"We really don't have a minute!" Zeb exclaimed.
"The Dark Side." Ezra said. "It's the same way I felt back on that asteroid. I remember what happened there now! What I did."
"Ezra, focus," Hera said and he felt her hand lay gently on his shoulder. "We don't have long. Which ship?"
"The center," Ezra said and opened his eyes. Hera's simple act of playing her hand on his shoulder was what he needed.
Chopper gave an excited warble.
"There's two in the middle," Sabine said. "Which-"
"The one in the back!" Ezra all but shouted. "I felt Kanan. He's alive!"
Hera's smile nearly went from ear to ear. "Sending transponder codes."
It took a few moments, but they all collectively breathed a sigh of relief when they heard an Imperial on the comm. "Transport Ship 63378 cleared for docking."
Hera smiled. "They bought it. And I'm picking up a swarm of TIEs, perfect. Chop, send in Sabine's present."
The Spectres smiled as they watched the colorful TIE detach from the cruiser and make its way over to the swarm. As expected, no one noticed the difference. All they saw was a normal TIE on their scopes and that was good enough for them.
A few long moments passed and Hera made certain to keep the swarm in visual range as they headed into the hangar. "It's in. Sabine?"
"The good thing about explosives. No one can beat you." Sabine said and pressed the designated detonate button on her wrist brace.
Only this wasn't an explosive, but a TIE fighter filled with as many EMP grenades as she could fit. The result was immediate as an enormous wave of energy washed over the Star Destroyer. Those closest to the hangar were hit and knocked unconscious by the pulse detonation, meanwhile systems across the entirety of the Star Destroyer were offline.
For those looking at the ship from their own cruiser's viewports, it was like someone had just turned the power off and all the lights went out. Which left the question, what else was on?
"Looks like someone forgot to pay their power bill," Ezra quipped.
Sabine took out a special scanning device and pointed it at the Star Destroyer - or Sovereign as it was called. "Main power across the ship is out, that's good. Life support is still on but already they've engaged auxiliary power."
"Well it will still take them a while to get a ship that size back up and running," Hera said as she charged her pistol and then placed it down in her boot holster. "Okay everyone hang on."
Just as planned the Gozanti did a manual dock against the unpowered Sovereign's hull. With no airlocks, anything else would've been impossible. Next came Ezra and Skippy as they cut a good sized hole into the outer hull of the Sovereign but at a section that fed into a main corridor.
One by one they piled out and drew their blasters. "Out cold," Zeb said as he inspected one of the stormtroopers. This way Sabine said and held both WESTARs ready in her hands.
"They won't be for long. Good news is that pulse should've knocked out their personal comlinks as well as ship wide comms. Even if we run into - osik!"
"I gotcha!" Zeb said and pulled her back into cover right before she walked into a wall of blaster bolts.
"There they are, blast 'em!" a stormtrooper shouted.
"You were saying?" Zeb teased.
Volley after volley of blaster fire rang through the corridor. The troopers may not have comms, but they had ears. And a firefight here was sure to draw more reinforcements.
"Don't count me out just yet," Sabine said and peeked behind Zeb's massive frame.
"They've got us pinned," Zeb said. "At least a dozen!"
The snap hiss of a lightsaber being turned on announced what was about to happen. And memories of Ezra's words about killing twenty stormtroopers in saber to hand combat went through their heads.
But before Ezra could act, Sabine primed a grenade and with a fastball pitch that'd make any graviball player envious. It wasn't something like smoke or an explosion, but an electric stun grenade that had them zapped unconscious in less than a second.
Zeb whistled at her handiwork and Ezra extinguished her blade.
"Hmm. I believe Sabine's solution was quickest. Though I am curious what she used."
"Are they dead?" Hera asked.
"I set the grenade for 1 amp, so if they weren't wearing armor, yes. But since they were that offered some resistance. But if they don't get to a medic soon, they're hearts will be in danger of stopping."
The sounds of clomping boots on the deck closing in on their position told them it was time to go.
"Not our problem," Hera said. But hopefully some of those stormtroopers would have a heart to help out their wounded comrades when they ran across the scene. Once more the Spectres were in the wind as they cautiously made their way to the cell block.
It wasn't hard, all Imperial ships were the same. Even ones for Grand Moffs.
Still Hera needed assurance. "We're still headed the right way?"
Ezra shook his head, the anger from earlier had yet to be unleashed. And things were muddled again. Kanan was close, he was on the ship. But it was difficult to discern more, because there was another person he'd bonded to standing in close proximity. Then there was the prevailing darkness of Mustafar nearby and Ezra's Force sense was just going haywire. And they didn't have the luxury of time to sit and talk it out or let him wade through his feelings.
The timing of it all couldn't have been worse.
And that's when Ezra knew what he had to do. Only how? And then just like that the Force must've heard his plight because a full platoon of stormtroopers came at them from both sides. With no choice the Spectres took cover behind some blast doors and Ezra used the Force to shut it. And then with his blade he stabbed it through the locking mechanism.
"No one would be following us that way." Ezra said. "Only now I just cut off our only route to the detention center."
"Are you sure that's where they're holding him?" Hera asked.
"Yes," Ezra lied. He looked up at the ceiling, and the everpresent friendly neighborhood air duct. "I'll get Kanan. But the rest of you should start heading back."
"Ezra," Hera said and reached for his arm but he pulled away.
There was no time for heartfelt promises of seeing each other again. Not with her or Zeb, or even Sabine. They had a job to do and a friend to save.
"I'll see you soon," he said and with a flick of the Force opened the entrance and jumped up into the duct.
"We must hurry. The chances of this plan resulting in success are declining rapidly." Skippy said.
Helpful as always.
"Yeah, well, at least I can think straight finally." Ezra grumbled.
"How so?"
"Pretty certain I've formed a bond with someone else other than Kanan. And I'm having trouble sorting between the two."
"I see. Then yes, distance by proximity would help. But why not tell the others?"
"No time," Ezra said as he turned down a duct. "Although it does feel like Kanan is in the detention area."
"That's good news. We need to expedite the mission, crawling through vents or hacking off Imperial heads would slow us."
"He's close," Ezra said as he climbed up a floor and then frowned. "But weak. Let me ask you something, Skippy. In all our training together, have you been truthful in saying I was close to mastering Form III?"
"From what I've gathered the Inquisitor is a master of Makashi, Form II. A form designed specifically to face and defeat other lightsaber wielders. An example. You and Sabine are playing rock, paper, scissors. While Form III Soresu is the scissor that deflects blaster bolt after blaster bolt, and then I get to cut down an Imperial. Form II is the rock that crushes Form III."
"You make it almost sound like a law of physics," Ezra grumbled as he crawled on.
"Your only other solution is Form I, which I'm sad to say is lacking. You have devoted your off hours training not to fight the Inquisitor but stormtroopers. And neither you nor Master Kanan are likely to defeat the Inquisitor in saber combat."
"Very inspiring," Ezra said.
There was some hesitation, almost as if Skippy was calculating what best to say.
"I am sorry. But if you rely solely on Form III or Form I, as the Inquisitor will no doubt suspect, you will die."
"Bah," Ezra said and waved his hand and then neared one floor ventilation entrance in particular. "'Don't do that, Ezra. You'll get in trouble. You'll hurt yourself. You might die.' Story of my life, Skippy. Now, are you ready?"
"No. Because I doubt very much that Hera would like to hear that defeatist attitude from the person who promised to save the man she loves."
That gave Ezra pause and then looked at the lightsaber thoughtfully. With a genius like Sabine on board, a Master like Kanan, and the rest all willing to help him create any kind of lightsaber in the galaxy they were surprised with what he decided on.
And having a lightsaber that was both a blaster and a gun and could be worn in plain sight was tempting. It wasn't enough. Tools and weapons he had. What he needed were options and someone with him to warn him when he was about to make a mistake.
"Fine." Ezra said. "You have your tactical disc inserted. Plot us a unique way off this thing and back to the cruiser."
"The Inquisitor has by now spent enough time around Kanan to recognize and follow his Force signature. No matter how unique."
"I know that," Ezra said. "Now shut up and listen."
It didn't take too long to explain Ezra's idea, and with no legs to stand on at all Skippy complied albeit with the hope that Ezra somehow had a backup plan ready. Skippy did take solace in the fact that he had managed to convince Ezra to send a private message to Chopper, to then relay to Aresix. If they were going to have any hopes of survival they would need Aresix, and the Ghost.
Face to face with Kanan's door, Ezra was about to unlock it when another thought occurred.
"I need you to keep quiet about all of this around Kanan," Ezra said. "That's an order. Understood?"
"Of course."
"Also keep quiet about everything I said about Sabine."
"As your Master, Kanan is mandated to know that his Padawan formed a Force Bond with another."
"Yeah but Sabine's a very private person who lived a hard life and - hey! I never said it was Sabine!"
"Bonds are formed between Master and Padawan, because of the time spent together. Given the potential options, Sabine was the most likely candidate. It was not my intent to offend."
"Just keep what we talked about between us," Ezra said and then pressed the button that unlocked and opened the cell door.
Sure enough, there was Kanan. And he wasn't looking so good. He was standing and strapped to an upright torture table with electrical shock arms on either side. Suddenly Ezra was very thankful that Hera was not around to see this. It was hard enough to keep his own desire to tear this starship apart until he had Tarkin under his blade and sliced his head off.
"Turns out you taught me pretty well." Ezra said as he entered the cell, pushing the anger down and masking it with charm.
"You shouldn't have come here, but I'm glad you did." Kanan said, and though he tried to hide it Ezra could hear the pain masked behind his voice.
"You would've done the same for me," Ezra said and loosened the strap holding Kanan upright. "In fact you have." Ezra was in exactly the right position to catch Kanan when he fell.
Ezra glanced around the cell, searching for bacta. But instead his eyes fell on a couple of hypodermic needles kept next to where they had Kanan strapped. They were filled with a fluid of sorts, but not bacta. But something else he recognized from all that time spent studying those chemistry texts.
"Is that what I think it is?" Ezra said.
A short purple scan emitted from Ezra's lightsaber and Skippy analyzed the results.
"Yes," was Skippy's short reply.
"What's what?" Kanan asked and tried to turn his head to get a look.
"Nothing," Ezra said and quickly pocketed the needles.
Leaning on Ezra for support and listening to Skippy for directions, they began the long trek back to the cruiser.
"Reactor?" Kanan said when he saw the door they were headed toward.
"It's a shortcut," was Ezra's quick response.
"I don't know if-"
But the door opened and there on the catwalk stood the Inquisitor. Like how a cat would play with a mouse, it was clear he was simply waiting for them and looking forward to the moment.
"Let me borrow that," Kanan said and took Skippy from Ezra's belt without protest. He ignited it and the purple flare of the crystal drew everyone's attention.
"Purple?" The Inquisitor said and looked past Kanan to get a look at Ezra. "Your Apprentice's kyber was purple. Very interesting."
"Be ready," Kanan said to Ezra and then charged forward across the perilously narrow walkway.
But Kanan charged forward regardless of the treacherous path and the Inquisitor stood waiting with his own blade extended to match Kanan's. But what he wasn't expecting was Kanan's high jump into the air nor the three round blaster bolt burst fire from Ezra's blaster.
Caught off guard the best the Inquisitor could do against the rapid fire was deflect the first two but the third caught him in his side. But the Inquisitor's armor protected him from what would have otherwise been a lethal shot.
In anger the Inquisitor struck back and after a few exchanges over the walkway the Inquisitor regained the upperhand. He might've been surprised by that blaster shot, but that won't happen again. And already he had Kanan on the defensive.
But then Kanan surprised him. While Kanan was playing checkers the Inquisitor was playing chess and was four strikes away from cutting the hands off the Jedi and throwing him back in that cell when unexpectedly a few more bolts came from a nearby platform, forcing the Inquisitor to deflect one more and giving Kanan the chance to leap over the Inquisitor and force him to face Kanan, meanwhile Ezra had a clean shot of the Inquisitor's back.
"Interesting," the Inquisitor said.
But then with a wave of Force energy he pushed the injured Jedi backward and nearly off the walkway.
"Kanan!" Ezra cried out, and without thinking leapt back to the catwalk they were on and used the Force to summon Kanan's lightsaber off the Inquisitor's belt and into his hand.
As Kanan pulled himself back up his eyes widened as Ezra adopted a strange single handed defensive form while on the other hand he was using his blaster to land shot after shot on the Inquisitor, causing him to focus on deflections. It was especially difficult since the same person shooting at him had a lightsaber and could re-deflect bolts right back at him! And then the bolts went every which way.
"Now's our chance!" Skippy urged and from the lightsaber's urging the dazed Kanan got to his feet and reached out, using the Force to give him the strength he would need.
"Interesting technique, Padawan," the Inquisitor stated. "But I wonder what will happen when-"
An empty click was suddenly heard by all.
"Ah," the Inquisitor chided. "There it is."
Nothing was more deafening in any gunfight than the click of a weapon when it has run out of ammo. And Ezra's was all out.
"Regardless, it is a very clever technique. If poorly executed."
And then an alarm sounded, several actually, and all around them pipes began to burst and consoles exploded into sparks.
"Was it?" Ezra asked and holstered his now empty blaster, freeing up both hands to hold his saber. "See what I think? I think we just ruptured your ship's main reactor. And with the power systems still down, emergency power to kick in and save the day won't be coming!"
Another explosion from somewhere in the chamber confirmed Ezra's story.
"That's what happens when you play with guns in the reactor room."
"It's over," Kanan said as he took a stance behind the Inquisitor. "You lose."
The Inquisitor closed his eyes seemingly to weigh his options, but when they opened they were solely on Ezra.
"I think not," the Inquisitor said as he rushed forward and blitzed Ezra so quickly he hardly had time to get his defense up in time. And having been so long since he used Kanan's lightsaber his grip was all wrong.
And then there was pain, white hot pain as the Inquisitor's saber breached Ezra's defense and scarred his cheek. Ezra lost his grip on Kanan's saber, lost his footing and fell. He heard Kanan's shout but then he just fell, he fell for such a long time.
He was also so very close to just drifting away when an annoying ringing kept coming from his wrist comlink. "Wha-?" Ezra said as he pulled himself into a sitting position.
"Get up! Your Jedi Master thinks his Padawan just died, declared he has nothing left to fear, and now he's wielding two lightsabers like he's some sort of master in Jar'Kai, when clearly he's just as likely to cut his own head off!"
"Skippy?" Ezra asked and blinked. Jeez, his head hurt. And also - Ezra lifted a finger to his cheek and winced in pain. Yup. That's gonna leave a mark.
"How many other talking lightsabers do you know of!"
"Have you tried telling him that?" Ezra said. "The I'm not dead part."
"As if the ignorant pomp would listen! The last thing he needs is a distraction from me!"
"He thinks I'm dead though," Ezra said. "And creepy yellow eyes does too?"
"And the core has nearly reached meltdown status!"
"Alright," Ezra said and managed to get to his feet. "See you soon, Skippy."
"Hurry!"
"Ezra? Can you read?" A new voice said over his comlink.
"Hera?" Ezra asked.
"Do you have Kanan? Is he okay?"
Ezra winced at the question. Hera's voice was desperate. "We're working on it," Ezra replied, and quickly swapped in a fresh power cell for his blaster. "I gotta help, Kanan. Love you."
Ezra ended the transmission and then Force jumped back up to the catwalk and - because he was feeling just a bit dizzy - slowly inched his way closer to the fighting pair.
But Kanan's words stopped him in his tracks.
"You were right." Kanan said and tossed Skippy aside, realizing the futility of trying to dual wield with no training before in his life.
"Your lack of skill in Jar'Kai is rather obvious," the Inquisitor said and then pressed his attack. "I'd determined your decision to attempt was a result of head trauma."
"You were right, I was a coward," Kanan said and with a clever lightsaber cut managed to catch the Inquisitor off guard and take several steps forward and the Inquisitor several steps back. "But now I know there's something stronger than fear, far stronger. The Force."
Kanan dropped his saber and with both hands outstretched he gave it all he had. Only the Inquisitor saw it coming and had more than enough time to brace his body for the powerful Force throw. But Kanan kept it up, pouring everything he had into it. But it was a losing fight, and the Inquisitor maintained his bulwark stance and withstood everything Kanan had.
Until Kanan had nothing left.
"My turn," the Inquisitor chimed and reached out his arm and held his hand out and opened it. Kanan immediately reached for his throat as the fingers began to close.
"So predictable," the Inquisitor said as he stepped nearer and used the Force to lift Kanan off the ground completely.
It was only at the last second did he manage to activate his lightsaber in time to avoid the three blaster bolts aimed at his back. But as Kanan fell and his entire focus on Ezra, he couldn't have predicted what would happen next.
"Skippy! Now!" Ezra shouted.
"It has been an honour, Sir!" Ezra's lightsaber lying on the ground chirped out. And then it began to sing a song?
"I faced it all, and I stood tall! And did it my way…"
Completely baffled, the Inquisitor never saw Ezra's underhand toss of Sabine's miracle until it was too late. The electrical pulse destroyed not only Skippy, but the Inquisitor's saber also, and plopped him on the ground.
Never before had he ever felt his heartbeat so wildly out of control.
But his Master seemed to have survived, or rather missed the blast. The boy must have had to readjust its settings for a lower radius and lower yield - in the event he actually did hit Kanan Jarrus by accident. But alas, no, his throw was accurate.
And destructive. Even at low yield the Inquisitor's heart nearly stopped, and everything around him that was remotely electronic in nature bursted into sparks. Including both his lightsaber and the one that had dared to sing at him?
In his haste the boy had paused at him only briefly and then turned his back entirely in order to check on his Master. The alarms were whistling and the temperature was rising. He would only have moments to reach his TIE-prototype in time.
And so with both hands he reached out. No grabbing or pulling of them. No choking or neck snapping. How he was done with these two. Not when the fires of oblivion were spreading far below.
The Inquisitor summoned up all his fears. All his anger. And all his might. Going so far back as his frustrations while with the Jedi. He focused it all and then, when he knew he had as much power as he could manage, he unleashed it.
"For the last time, I'm fine," Kanan said, and then blinked as his eyes wandered over to the Grand Inquisitor. "What's up with him?"
Ezra smiled grimly and in one hand held his blaster, and in the other were two empty syringes taken from Kanan's cell.
"Just giving him a taste of his own medicine." Ezra said and handed Kanan one of the empty syringes.
"Wait," Kanan said and frowned. "What is this?"
"Some drug with a chemical compound I forget the name of. But one night doing chem homework with Sabine, I thought about what you taught me about the Force with midi-chlorians. This one specific chemical compound could suppress them, rendering a Force wielder powerless. In a highly concentrated dose it would be a useful tool to keep a dangerous prisoner in a weakened state, to keep him from regaining his strength while in captivity."
It was then that the Inquisitor felt the needle marks in his neck. And recalled how the boy had paused beside him ever so briefly.
The boy had planned it all, even the location of their battle! Somehow he knew I would confront them here! And the damage to the ship their fight would cause.
"What have you done to me!" The Grand Inquisitor demanded.
"Nothing that you haven't already done to my Master."
The Inquisitor didn't need the Force to hear the animosity in the boy's voice. The anger. The desire for revenge. And having seen firsthand the raw power and affinity he had to the Dark Side. And with Mustafar sitting just right here!
"So what now, Padawan Ezra Bridger of the fallen Jedi Order? Noble son of Mira and Ephraim Bridger, fallen Rebel heroes." The Grand Inquisitor said. "Completely at your mercy. Am I to be your prisoner? Paraded around for all your pathetic Rebel Cause to see?"
The Grand Inquisitor looked over at the fiery pit below. But no. The boy was near full strength. He was puddy in Ezra Bridger's hands.
"What now?" Ezra said and gave the pitiful Inquisitor a hard look before saying one word. "Recoil."
The last thing the Grand Inquisitor heard was the rapport of Ezra's blaster as three blaster bolts hit him in the gut. Shock washed over him when he realized that the boy had actually done it. Even still those fools didn't know. How could they? They didn't know who waited for them once word of what happened here spread.
In cold blood the Grand Inquisitor died with a twisted smile on his lips, his last thought being of just how badly he underestimated the boy and his willingness to his cause. There was only ever one Jedi here. One Jedi, and a Rebel.
"Okay I think I got all the pieces," Ezra said as he looked at the gathered remnants of his lightsaber.
In most cases a Jedi loses their lightsaber and they ask, do I still have the crystal? If so, great. If not, well one would come in time. Will of the Force.
But nope. Not Ezra Bridger. And while a ship was going down in flames all around them!
And most disturbing, the still warm body of the now dead Inquisitor.
It was all too much for Kanan to handle!
"You killed him!" Kanan yelled.
Ezra paused and looked down at the pile of burnt up lightsaber parts in his hands. "No. It won't be the same but I'm pretty certain I'll get most of Skippy back together. He'll be fine."
The ship shuttered and the flames roaring from the nuclear fire below shot up around them. Kanan still looked like he had a lot to say but for the moment the danger they were in clicked inside his mind.
Wordlessly the two broke into a run, headed toward the nearest still functioning exit. At this point it was anyone's guess how much time they had left.
"Get the others on comm," Kanan ordered.
"Spectre-Six, copy all Spectres," Ezra said into his comlink as they exited the reactor and began to search for the right way out.
The response was immediate.
"Ezra, we're in the TIE. Where are you?" Hera said across the comlink.
"On my way," Ezra said, then ducked his head to avoid an exploding pipe. The ship was going down and the others were in a TIE just sitting in the hangar. "It's okay, go!"
"We are not leaving without you and Kanan." Hera said.
"Ugh!" Kanan grabbed Ezra's arm and spoke into his wrist comm. "Will you just listen to the Kid? Don't worry. I've got him."
Ezra yanked back his arm, the comm still keyed so the others could hear. "You mean, I've got you."
"You take care of Zeb and Sabine," Kanan said, needing to shout to be heard over the explosions. "I'll get him out of here. Trust me."
The pair keyed off the comm and Kanan narrowed his eyes.
"Do we have a plan to get out?"
"To the hangar!" Ezra said and ran off like a shot, eager to be off this exploding Star Destroyer.
Kanan couldn't fault him for it. Especially since he was right on Ezra's heels. He did find it a little morbid when the one TIE fighter left for them to take was the Inquisitor's. On the other hand, having been held prisoner primarily by him these past however many days did leave Kanan feeling a bit vindictive.
"I got this," Ezra said and slid into the TIE's pilot's chair.
"I can fly," Kanan said but then let out a loud groan.
The adrenaline that had kept him going for so long had finally begun the lengthy process of wearing off. Kanan needed several days off his feet and probably several bacta treatments.
"I got this," Ezra said again. "I already see the TIEs chasing after the Ghost and Sabine is over on our starboard side and I think Chopper finally figured out how to use the weapon systems on that cruiser we stole."
"You've missed a lot," Ezra said off the surprised look on Kanan's face.
"So I'm gathering."
Despite the pain Kanan stood up on his feet and placed a hand on Ezra's chair, but immediately had problems keeping his balance.
"Kriff." Kanan said as he realized their situation. "They have us outnumbered."
"Understatement," Ezra said and then entered the swarm of TIE's chasing after Hera, Sabine, and Zeb.
"As soon as you shoot they'll know," Kanan said, wary of the other TIEs. The two shared a glance, smiled and nodded, and then Ezra popped off the safeties and opened up on the TIE fighters chasing the others.
It bought them some time, but now Ezra and Kanan were being chased as well. And while they linked up with Aresix and the Ghost and Chopper and the cruiser. They were still in a bad way, and Ezra was thinking of any last words he'd like to tell them all.
So far all he had was: it was really nice knowing you all.
So when a wave of three CR90 corvettes dropped out of hyperspace and began opening fire and driving away the Imperial TIE fighters, speechless was a bit of an understatement not just for Ezra. But for all the Spectres.
They had no idea who these guys were, but they could shoot! One TIE after another was getting swatted, like Loth-flies on Lothal.
"Kanan, Ezra, dock with Chopper's transport so we can make the jump to hyperspace." Hera commanded.
Only too happy to comply, Ezra docked the TIE-prototype at the same time Hera docked Sabine's Masterpiece.
It wasn't until Ezra saw the welcoming blues of hyperspace did he allow himself to relax.
Agent Kallus did his best to keep the smugness off his face and voice, and he supposed he must've succeeded because Tarkin didn't call him out on it.
Agent Kallus never wanted Tarkin to fail. Shown up in some minor way? Perhaps. But for the Empire to lose an entire Star Destroyer and the Jedi escape and the loss of the Grand Inquisitor? It was madness.
'They are insurgents! Not rebels!'
As the saying goes. Pride cometh before the fall, Kallus thought. And Tarkin was looking very unhappy standing there next to him in that empty hangar. No illustrious ceremony to greet the almighty Grand Moff this time.
"There are whispers from Mustafar," Kallus prompted. "Some people see the Empire as weak, vulnerable."
"Not to worry, Agent Kallus," Tarkin said. "The Emperor has sent an alternative solution."
And then Agent Kallus's mirth came to a screeching halt. For also off the shuttle came a figure he had heard whispers of but never quite believed. A figure in black with some type of breathing apparatus.
"Lord Vader, this is Agent Kallus. Despite his failure to capture these… rebels. He has been the one to prove most competent in the Empire's encounters with them and the one most vocal for their defeat."
Kallus fought back the urge to gulp as Vader came to a stop in front of him, peering down at him.
As always, Kallus held his ground and after a long moment the figure in black armor turned and wordlessly continued on his way.
And judging by the look Tarkin was giving him, Kallus had better keep up.
And right when Kallus thought that maybe he had seen the last of a psychopath like Tarkin. And while he'd never worked with the Lord Vader before he had heard the stories.
Now he would find out just how true those stories were.
After exiting the TIE things got crazy pretty quickly. Well, they were heartfelt at first. Seeing Kanan and Hera's reunion was a bit of light in the dark for Ezra. Happy to see them together again but also that just maybe someday Sabine could someday come to see him in the same light.
Then there was the question of if they are all here on this cruiser being flown by Chopper, who are these other people and where did they come from.
Which was when Ezra was hit with a series of truth-bombs after truth-bombs.
A wider rebellion with several cells? Check.
A kriffin' Senator from Alderaan, and who knows how many more? Double check.
And Fulcrum, none other than the long thought dead Jedi Ahsoka Tano!
'Why did you come here?' Kanan had asked as Chopper rolled over to greet the Jedi, who greeted the little guy back just as fondly.
'Because of you and your apprentice.' Ahsoka answered. 'Many in this system and beyond have heard your message. You gave them hope in their darkest times. We didn't want that hope to die.'
Flattered by the attention, Ezra felt compelled to speak. 'So what happens now?'
'I don't know,' Ahsoka said and stood to meet Ezra's gaze with her own. 'One chapter has closed for you, Ezra Bridger. This is a new day. A new beginning.'
Ezra sighed as he lay in his bunk, safely back on the Ghost.
It had been a trying day for all of them. He knew Kanan wanted to talk about the Inquisitor but Ezra didn't see the point. He wasn't a stormtrooper or some other Imperial idiot. He was a real threat and it took everything they had and then some to take him down. How else did Kanan think it would end?
Which then left Ezra's thoughts on Sabine.
He had to tell her. But he was drawing a complete blank on how, which was about usual for them. Cracking jokes. Watching a holo-flick. Hell even breaking rules and getting into a good scrap. He could do that all day by her side. But this?
This was going to take some delicacy. Which was great. Because that's something he so excelled at. And what did Ahsoka mean by not wanting that hope to die?
He didn't think of it earlier but, would they be restricting the missions he would go on?
"Can't sleep?" Zeb said from the bunk below.
"That obvious? There's just a lot on my mind."
"Imagine so. The Great Ezra Bridger after all."
Ezra rolled his eyes and smirked.
"Zeb?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't ever change."
"Heheheh. Now why would I ever do something like that?"
In the deepest darkest of prisons the Empire had, they kept its most dangerous political prisoners. And that's where "TK-232" was told when his orders were chopped and he boarded the Lambda shuttle that would take him to that prison planet. It looked like the Old Man's contact had come through.
But a prison planet? The thought of such a place made the hair on the back of 232's neck raise, but if that was where he was needed. Then that was where he would go. It wouldn't be the first time he found himself in such a place.
'Should I bring a recording of the transmission? It'd make things go smoother.'
And solidify his loyalties. His time as a prisoner taught him much, one was to keep your guard up.
'Too dangerous. A place like that they'll search any new faces. Your mission is to wait, and then act when the time is right. But until then? Embrace your part!'
'You mean a mindless buckethead with nothing interesting about him at all.'
'Precisely! Until the moment comes, you are stormtrooper TK-232 who cares only for himself! It is your stage and you are its sole performer!'
TK-232 held back a sigh as the stormtrooper prison guards (his temporary "co-workers") searched from head to toe. The Old Man was right, not that he ever really doubted him. Though how would anyone receive the Ezra boy's transmission in a place like this, 232 could not begin to imagine.
'Will there be any others?' He asked.
'You mean Fulcrum?' The Old Man shook his head. 'Too dangerous. And they'd never be able to slip an operative this far into Imperial space.'
'Then how do you plan for me to explain myself when the time comes?'
The Old Man leaned back in his chair and cocked an eyebrow.
'I think they'll be too busy embracing their son to notice you slipping away.'
"All clear, he's your weapon back," the prison's admittance officer said to TK-232. "Stun shots only. No one dies here without the Warden's say-so. You and the other new transfers are scheduled to meet the Captain at 0900 tomorrow for orientation."
"0900," TK-232 said with a nod and entered the secured the other transfers began making their way to the barracks, 232 took this moment of spare time to begin mapping out the place in his head.
The prison wasn't anything like the one he had been sent to. For one the guns on Narkina that were available were kept under lock and key, even for the guards. Yet here in this prison they trusted demented TK stormtroopers to walk around with E-11s and not feel the desire to shoot a prisoner?
Another difference was that there were no magnetized floors either that he could see. He wasn't sure what to make of that yet. So instead of thinking like a guard, he thought like a prisoner. Specifically the Bridgers dossier the Old Man had supplied to him.
They were like him. Not the old him but the one he liked to think of himself now. And they had been here a long time, which meant the Bridgers would know where to eat and sleep and where to work. Any knowledge gleaned would be precious but scant. Eventually they will learn of their son and when they do they will be the ones to come up with the plan of escape. While the desire to assist them now was overwhelming, trying to assist them will only risk discovery. His and theirs.
But a prisoner with very few resources and little knowledge of the place other than their own cell block. 232 smirked at the irony of his situation as he continued to pretend to patrol the catwalks above the cells and began to cultivate a map of the place in his head. And the more prisoners he observed, the higher the hair in the back of his neck rose as he recalled the last words the Old Man had said to him.
'I know what you are thinking. About your friend. But you can't save them all, just like you couldn't have saved him. So please. The Bridgers are the key. Everyone else, expendable.'
TK-232 saluted a passing stormtrooper sergeant who stopped and looked at him curiously. "You're with the new arrivals?"
"Yes, Sir," 232 dutifully said.
"Beginning tomorrow your life will be long shift after long shift. Why aren't you eating or catching some rack time with the others?"
'Until the moment comes, you are stormtrooper TK-232 who cares only for himself! It is your stage and you are its sole performer!'
"Well, look at them." TK-232 said and gestured to the prisoners below. "Can't you see?"
"I see that filth everyday," the Sergeant said.
"Exactly. We are the Empire's best. Lothal. Ferrix. There are rebels to kill. The real war is out there and here we are doing this."
"Stun rounds only," the Sergeant said. "And your ass better be at orientation tomorrow. Clear?"
"Yes, Sergeant," 232 and shot to attention as he said it.
The Sergeant let him be after that and 232 sighed and shook his head. Still he continued his walk. Better for everyone to see him as a loner who wanted off this place. Eventually they'd stop wondering and just let him be.
And when the time was right, he'd be there when the Bridgers needed him. A guardian angel to watch their backs, even if they didn't know it quite yet.
If right now you are saying, Hondo, you've made my head explode. Hondo understands. This story is having that effect. Where would you even begin? I know! Ahem! Yes, Kanan is mad with Ezra for what happened to the Inquisitor. That will not be swept under the rug. The fight between the Inquisitor and our two boys was hard. Because for one I was very much tempted - don't touch it! Just leave it as is! We love this scene! I love this scene! But, this is the honest telling and so Hondo's hands are tied. And Hondo knows he will never eclipse the actual fight that Rebels showed. But Hondo does hope he gets a conciliatory nod? If not, then what about when the Inquisitor tried to get under Kanan's skin about his Master? Because wow! That was a comeback Hondo did not see coming! Also! Skippy is not dead. Just in some very small pieces at the moment! Also the song he sang? It is the Frank Sinatra's 'My Way.' Such a beautiful rendition!
For all you Sabezra fans out there, what is happening and what does this mean for Sabine and Ezra? And really! She dodges more blaster bolts than Hondo ever has! Which leaves us with our ubiquitous ending, yes? What does this mean Hondo? Remember, you must be honest! Well… Hondo is honest but he is also profitable! And Hondo has an interview at the Treasury he needs to get to! The Next chapter will be an interlude, which makes sense as we are transitioning between seasons. But any questions with details you would like to know? Please my friends! Ask them! Hondo cannot promise he will answer them all, but he will do the best he can. Now wave Bye-Bye to our readers Mira. Don't worry little one, we will see them again soon enough. As always my friends, thank you for reading.