Spark of Rebellion
5 BBY
The Galaxy is in dark times. The Empire rules over with an iron fist out of the bones of the Republic.
But while the oppression is unbearable, there's hope as pockets of rebellion are spread to try and weaken the Empire's control. On the planet of Lothal, such rebellion can be found in one young man, whose life will change forever.
On the railing of a large communication tower outside of the Capital City was a seventeen year old young man looking at the city with sadness. A feeling that consumed Ender Brand for years.
He has a slim yet muscular build, which is present under his clothes, short and spiky grey hair and purple eyes. He wore black trousers, a grey long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pulled up the elbows, black fingerless gloves and a black vest with a symbol in white on the back, indicating a well known creature on the planet of Lothal called a Loth-wolf. He also wore a necklace of a tooth from the very same creature, one that he has a special bond with, though the necklace was something that his mother wore previously. And resting by his feet was his backpack. He also had a slingshot on his left wrist, attached to his glove.
He clenched his left fist when he thought about the Empire and as he did, he heard a rumbling as a large shadow came over him, making Ender look up and see that a Star Destroyer had just appeared, heading to the Capital City.
He left the tower and got on a speeder-bike, heading for the city himself, wanting nothing more than to mess with the Empire, his favourite pastime.
In the middle of the city, with a couple of TIE Fighters flying overhead with their roar, two Imperial Officers, Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint, who were accompanied by four stormtroopers, were in the middle of harassing a local merchant named Yoffar, a white haired and orange eyed Gotal.
"Your identification. Now." Grint demanded. He was a large man that looked like he could easily pummelled someone if he wanted with a mean and aggressive face.
"I'm just trying to sell a couple of jogans here." Yoffar said, gesturing to his basket full of purple coloured fruit.
"All trade must be registered with the Empire." Aresko reminded him coldly. He was a more slim and conniving looking man with a sharp face.
"I remember what it was like before your ships showed up, before you Imperials ruined Lothal like the rest of the galaxy." Yoffar replied to that with words that made some of the locals watching grow concerned. Such words were considered taboo to say directly to anyone in the Empire.
This made Aresko pull out his communicator and spoke through the comlink. "This is LRC-01. I'm bringing in a citizen under a charge of treason."
"Copy that, LRC-01. Dispatch to Cellblock AA-33." A trooper said through the comlink.
With this order, the stormtroopers then grabbed Yoffar by the arms as Grint grabbed the basket of jogans.
"Take him away." Aresko said to the troopers as started to escort Yoffar and Grint took a jogan for himself.
"You can't do this!" Yoffar cried as Grint took a bite.
"Oh, yeah? Well, who's gonna stop us?" Grint questioned as he chomped through the fruit, looking at all the other locals, including a woman and a green Rodian. "You? You?"
As he laughed, he and Aresko didn't notice Ender coming up behind them.
"Excuse me, sir, you couldn't spare a jogan, could you?" He asked, keeping his head low so that they couldn't see his face.
"Move along, Loth-rat!" Grint snarled at him.
"Sorry, I'm not looking for trouble." Ender replied, being able to snatch Aresko's communicator without anyone noticing before walking away, being watched by the two Imperials, Grint taking another bite of his jogan.
"But it does have a way of finding me." Ender grinned as he walked some distance away before using it.
"All officers to the main square! This is a code red emergency." He said through the comlink with a deeper and more posh voice, hiding the fact that it was himself.
Grint threw his jogan down on the ground and Aresko looked down at Yoffar with a sneer.
"It's your lucky day, Lothal scum. You two, come with us!" He then ordered the stormtroopers that held Yoffar by the arms. They shoved him to the ground as Grint threw the basket down as well, splattering the fruit all over as they followed Aresko.
Ender walked up to the Gotal, who noticed him.
"Stay on alert! Repeat, this is a code red." He said as he knelt down.
"Thank you." Yoffar said gratefully, handing Ender a jogan, who took it and put it in his backpack.
"Don't mention it, I happen to like messing with the Empire and helping people is a really big bonus." Ender told him with a wink. He then left by climbing up on top of a stand and all the way up to a rooftop, which Yoffar watched with interest.
"Who is that kid?" He asked himself curiously.
Ender carefully walked over to the edge of the roof that overlooked the main square, where a wall of Imperial propaganda graffiti was situated and where Aresko and Grint met up with another Imperial Officer, some other stormtroopers and Imperial Combat Drivers with speeder-bikes that have crates of cargo.
"Copy that. We have reached the location and we are standing by." A trooper said over the comlink.
"What's the emergency?" Aresko asked the officer, whose name was Lieutenant Yogar Lyste.
"Emergency?" Lyste asked in confusion.
"You called in a code red." Grint explained.
"I… I'm not sure what you mean. My orders are to get these crates to the Imperial Portal." Lyste explained in response as Ender watched one of the Combat Drivers load a crate to one of the speeder-bikes, which piqued his interest.
"Well, get them loaded then!" Aresko ordered him angrily, clearly displeased that they haven't done as requested yet.
Ender chuckled at this.
"If they weren't Imperials, I'd feel bad for them." He muttered to himself.
But he felt and heard something that confused him. It was like a distant humming and pull, like he was sensing something nearby.
"What the….?" He said as he looked over to the right, down a street where he felt this pull as the humming continued.
He instantly laid eyes on a man whose back faced him. The humming still continued as he watched the man, who wore a greenish yellow top with dark green armour covering his right arm, fingerless gloves, grey trousers, boots and had a DL-18 blaster pistol holstered on his right leg. He also had long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail.
When the man turned his head, like he sensed he was being watched, Ender ducked out of sight as the man turned to reveal his face, which had a beard on the chin and he had teal blue eyes as well.
He looked for a few seconds before shrugging it off and walked towards the square.
Ender peeked to take a look and watched the man stop by a door frame where a tall alien stood. It was a male and he had purple fur and skin of varying shades and patterns. He also had a very prominent beard as well. He also wore a yellow jumpsuit with armour on his shoulders, forearms and legs.
The man tapped his left leg twice with his hand, making the alien open his green eyes and walk out and stood, like he was in position for something as the man continued on and stopped by a figure fully clad in what Ender knew to be Mandalorian armour.
Based on the figure's build and form, it was a female Mandalorian and her armour (which revealed her tan skin tone) was in a striking colour scheme of blue and green.
The man tapped his DL-18 twice and the Mandalorian tapped one of her WESTAR-35 blaster pistols three times and they walked away.
"Huh." Ender said curiously.
He watched the Mandalorian walk right by a speeder-bike and its rider and planted a magnetic thermal detonator on it as she turned a corner.
Its beeping caught the attention of the Combat Driver, who noticed her walk away. He was about to call for her, but the beeping intensified, making him wonder what was causing it.
That answer came in the form of the detonator exploding, destroying the speeder-bike and killing him.
Ender was shocked as it was clear that the Mandalorian and her partners were clearly performing a scheme they made up.
"Get those crates out of here! Keep them secure at all costs!" Lyste ordered the remaining Combat Drivers, who sped off on their bikes.
"'At all costs', eh? We'll see about that." Ender snorted before he ran off to follow the speeder-bikes.
They sped down a street until the man cut them off with a landspeeder, forcing them to stop.
"How's it going?" He asked before he jumped out and kicked the closest Combat Driver in the face. He then pulled out his blaster and shot the second and then had to duck for cover as the third was shooting his blaster at him, starting a shootout, which caught the attention of three stormtroopers, who ran to join in.
Ender, who caught up, watched it all go down and saw the alien pop out and run after the troopers.
As they got into cover, the Combat Driver noticed him and before he could react, the alien grabbed him and launched him right at the trooper that used a door frame as cover, knocking them both out.
His human ally still kept up with blaster fire with the two remaining stormtroopers until the alien grabbed one and threw him at the other, knocking them out as well.
The two exchanged amused and impressed looks as the alien wiped his hands.
Ender already knew that these guys were capable of doing much more damage to the Empire than he ever did. And because of that, he decided he wanted to have a part in this.
So he made himself known by jumping down to a metal cable that connected two buildings together and threw himself onto one of the speeder-bikes, surprising the two.
"I hope you don't mind me helping out." He told them before he backed up to the square.
"Now what?" The alien growled to his partner.
"Follow that kid!" The man told him.
Ender backed up into three Stormtroopers and then sped off to the left, dodging Lyste, who attempted to hit him.
Then both the man and alien backed into the square, hitting a Stormtrooper in the process and followed after Ender.
Elsewhere, the Mandalorian was on a rooftop and saw Ender speeding down the street. This piqued her interest and she jumped down to him.
He noticed her in time to see her be able to land on the crates. He turned to face her.
"You're gutsy, I'll give you that." She complimented him before pulling out one of her blasters, making Ender think she's about to shoot him.
"Fair warning, if the big guy catches you, he just might end you." She then said, shooting the link between the crates so that the one she's on can skid to a halt. "Good luck!"
Ender raised an eyebrow with a smirk as he continued on.
The Mandalorian came to a halt just as her partners sped past her and she pushed the crate to a side street.
When Ender turned a corner to the left, he gasped upon seeing four Stormtroopers in front of him, but he just kept going. The man pulled out his blaster and shot all four of them quickly before the three all sped to a corner on the left again.
"Who the hell are these guys?" Ender asked himself, very impressed, looking back at them. When he turned to face forward, he gasped as a large number of citizens were in his way.
They all screamed as he turned left again and managed to avoid hitting them, still followed by the man and the alien.
"Who is that kid?" The man asked himself.
Eventually, they made it out of the city, where two AT-DPs stood guard and two other Combat Drivers on speeder-bikes, who chased after them, firing their vehicles' blasters, the man firing back with his blaster pistol.
A stray shot from one of the Drivers hit Ender's speeder-bike and caused it to malfunction and swerve wildly.
"Bloody Imperials." He spat as he ended up being launched onto the other side of the roadway and had to manoeuvre past the incoming vehicles, impressing the man as Ender's speeder-bike got back to normal function.
The alien grabbed an object that was on his back, which extended into what resembled a staff with purple electrified tips. He slowed down and slammed his weapon into one of the Drivers, launching him off his speeder-bike, which spun and crashed.
The remaining Driver, meanwhile, caught up with the man.
"Okay, you caught me! I give up!" The man said, seemingly surrendering himself with his hands together to be cuffed.
"What the….?" The Driver asked in confusion.
"Just kidding." The man then said, throwing a thermal detonator at him, which he revealed was in his hands. He detonated it and threw it at the driver, who caught it and before he could do anything, it exploded, taking him and the speeder-bike with it.
Both the man and the alien continued speeding after Ender until the man made hand gestures, saying that his partner was to take the crates the man was carrying. Begrudgingly, the alien gave a thumbs up.
The alien backed up and the man unhooked the crates as he continued on.
The alien then came to a halt with the other crates.
"If Kanan catches that kid, I'm gonna end him." He said to himself.
The man was able to launch himself to the other side of the roadway in front of Ender, causing sparks to form and get in Ender's sight. Once he was able to see properly, he slid to a halt as the man did and they looked at each other.
"Who are you?" He asked the man.
"I'm the guy who was stealing that crate." He replied.
"Hey, I just wanted to help. Anyone who messes with the Empire is good in my book." Ender defended himself.
"Well, you made it pretty far." The man said, unaware of the TIE Fighter that was heading right for them, though Ender noticed it. "I've got plans for that crate, and any help would be appreciated."
"Well, you just might need it right now." Ender said, speeding off.
The man realised what was going on and groaned. "Oh, wonderful."
The TIE started shooting and as the man got off and ran a few feet, it hit the speeder-bike and it exploded.
The man got up in time to see Ender appear and continue off.
"You'd better have back up!" He called out with a wave.
The man looked back with a grin before he pulled out his communicator. "This is Spectre-1. I need a lift."
Ender sped off beyond the roadway and into the countryside of Lothal with the TIE chasing after him.
"Whatever's in these crates must be worth it for them to keep going after me!" He said before he ducked in time to avoid blaster bolts from hitting him.
But then it fired a couple more shots, which hit the speeder-bike and Ender was launched off, hitting the ground and rolled among the grass.
As he groaned and got himself up on his feet, he saw the TIE coming round and fly directly at him but before it could shoot at him, turret fire was heard and it was shot at, exploding in mid air.
Ender turned around and saw that a VCX-100 appeared with the man on the ramp.
"You want a ride?" He asked with a grin.
Ender would've replied if he didn't notice that four TIEs were approaching. It was now or never.
"Come on!" The man said, though Ender decided he wasn't letting the crate go to waste for nothing, so he ran to it and pressed a button on it to make it easier to carry.
"Leave the crate, you'll never make it!" The man yelled, but Ender didn't listen as he pushed the crate, avoiding the blaster bolts from the TIEs.
Eventually, he decided to grab the crate by its sides and actually jumped high enough for the crate to land on the ramp and hook him to it.
"Whoa." The man said in surprise and shock as Ender pulled himself up. The two then pushed the crate into the ship, which flew up into the sky as it was being chased by the TIEs.
With the ramp closed, Ender looked and saw the man, alien and Mandalorian looking down at him with the other crates in the cargo hold.
The alien opened the crate and Ender saw that it was full of E-11 blasters, which are standard issue Stormtrooper blasters.
"Dang, these things would sell well on the black market." He said as he pulled one out to examine it.
"I see you know your stuff." The man said.
"Don't get any ideas." The alien warned Ender.
"I don't have any." Ender replied, putting the blaster back. "And I'd appreciate it if you don't treat me like some vermin."
"Alright, you two, no need to butt heads." The Mandalorian said, trying to soothe the situation.
"You two, keep our friend some company." The man said before he climbed up the ladder that led up to the cockpit, where the pilot and her astromech were located.
The pilot is a female Twi'lek with green skin and eyes. She is wearing a pilot's outfit.
Her astromech is a C1-series astromech droid with an orange head.
"You said this was a routine op. What happened down there?" She asked the man.
Her astromech spoke in Binary and wasn't exactly pleased as he talked to the man, who groaned.
"Chopper, please. It's been a difficult morning." He said, his arms up for peace as he walked up to the pilot.
"He's got a point, love. We've got four TIE Fighters closing in." The pilot said before she flew the ship up into the clouds.
"Hera, how about a little less attitude and a little more altitude?" The man requested, making Hera form a smirk before she did a barrel roll, making the man land on the co-pilot seat.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you did that on purpose." The man scoffed.
"If you knew better, we wouldn't be in this situation. Seriously, Kanan, what happened?"
The man, now known as Kanan, looked at her before he turned to a console that had some screens showing that there were cameras throughout the ship and one of the monitors showed the cargo hold where Ender, the alien and the Mandalorian were.
"He did." He said.
Back in the cargo hold, Ender sat on the crate that was shut again.
"Look, I try to make problems for the Empire, and seeing you guys doing the same thing made me want to help." Ender told the two.
"You have no idea what we were doing. You don't know us." The alien said.
"What is your problem?" Ender snapped back at him, standing on his feet and got right up to his face. "You sound like you want to throw me off this ship."
"Please. Nothing would thrill me more than tossing you out while in flight." The alien got right up to Ender's face with a snarl.
Back up in the cockpit, both Hera and Kanan looked at the monitor, the former being very intrigued.
"A kid tripped you up? Must be some kid. Spill it." She said as she continued flying the ship.
"Aren't you a little busy at the moment?" Kanan reminded her, not exactly wanting to talk about it.
"Spill." Hera insisted.
She kept avoiding blaster fire from the TIEs, one of them managed to hit the ship, which caused it to shake uncontrollably.
This made the three in the cargo hold lose balance, with the alien, in particular, falling on top of Ender and finding it difficult to breathe for more than one reason.
"Get off! I can't breathe!" He said in a strained voice.
"I'm not that heavy in this gravity." The alien said, slightly offended as he pulled himself off and onto his feet.
"It's not just the weight." Ender groaned as he moved himself to sit down. "It's the body odour." He groaned, waving his hand in front of his nose.
This made the alien sniff and look truly offended.
"You don't like the air quality in here, eh? Fine. I'll give you your own room." He said, grabbing one of Ender's legs.
"Oi, get off!" Ender said as he was being dragged all the way to the lounge area and to a small storage area.
"Let go!" Ender snapped at him before he got thrown in and the alien shut him in.
Back in the cockpit, Kanan had just finished explaining what Ender did and Hera liked what she was told.
"Kid sounds impressive." She said with a grin, implying something that Kanan knew and wasn't thrilled.
"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking." He said.
"He held onto a crate of blasters with a pack of troopers on his tail." Hera replied, still smirking and pressing and flicking various switches and buttons.
"Because I was there to save him." Kanan pointed out. "He's a street rat. Wild, reckless, dangerous and -" He then listed off, but cut himself off when he saw that Ender wasn't on the monitor. " - gone?"
Back in the lounge area, both the alien and the Mandalorian hung out there.
"Zeb, Serah. Where's the kid?" Kanan said over the PA as the ship was hit again, making it shake once more.
"Calm down, chief. He's in…." Zeb said, opening the storage area, surprised to see that Ender is gone. "Uh… here."
Serah, the Mandalorian, then noticed that the vent was opened up, meaning that Ender is now crawling through said vents
"Zeb, where is he?" Kanan asked, not getting an answer.
Meanwhile, Ender now crawled up a vent that was over the lounge area.
"Well, he is still in the ship." Zeb replied before he and Serah heard him clattering.
"Literally in the ship." Serah added.
In the cockpit, it was clear that they've flown beyond Lothal's atmosphere as Hera kept flying with the TIEs on their tail.
"Very creative. Sounds like someone I used to know." Hera said as she and Kanan pressed some buttons, making Kanan groan before he walked out of the cockpit and to the turret on top and in the middle of the ship.
As the ship started shaking again now that they're in orbit of the planet, Ender ended up falling out of the vents and landed on the floor where the nose turret station is, his backpack falling on top of his head.
He then sat on the seat and closed his eyes to take a breather before he opened his and was shocked to see nothing blackness and many white dots, meaning something he had never seen before.
"I'm in space." He said to himself in shock and awe before two TIEs showed up in the front and shot at the ship again. "Oh, Dank Farrik!"
"Shields are holding for now, but you need to buy me to calculate the jump to lightspeed." Hera said to her crew.
"Buying time… now!" Kanan said as he started shooting the dorsal turret and managed to destroy one of the TIEs.
Ender, meanwhile, was still tense that they're in the middle of a dogfight until he felt a hand grip his shoulder and pulled him out of the seat.
He turned to see it was Serah, who took her helmet off to reveal her tanned skin face with short and spiky blue and green hair. She opened her eyes to reveal that they're dark brown.
For the first time in his life, Ender was truly speechless. He had never seen anything or anyone so beautiful before in his life.
His moment of awe was cut short when the ship shook again.
Serah put her helmet on the seat and sat in it to start firing the turret.
"You know, I've never met a Mandalorian before." Ender said, thinking of a way to start a conversation.
"Well, there's a first time for everything." Serah replied before Zeb came up behind Ender and grabbed him, turning him to face him.
"Why can't you stay still, you Loth-rat?" He questioned.
"Calculations complete, but we need an opening." Hera said over the PA.
"Ask and you shall receive." Serah replied, firing the turret and taking down a TIE.
"Entering hyperspace!" Hera then announced and Ender looked out the glass to see the stars all becoming long streaks right before they all entered a tunnel of light and clouds, purely in awe, having not been in hyperspace before.
Sometime after, they exited hyperspace as Ender was led into the cockpit by Zeb.
"Let me go, you big oaf!" He snapped at him as they entered and pulled his arm out of Zeb's grip. "Take me back to Lothal!"
"Calm down. That's exactly what we're doing." Hera told him.
"Seriously?" Ender questioned. "But wouldn't the Imperials shoot at us instantly upon arriving back?"
"We lost the TIEs when we jumped, and the Ghost can scramble its signature so they won't recognise us when we return." Hera explained.
"Huh, that's actually pretty impressive." Ender admitted. "So… what are you going to do now?"
The sliding door behind him opened up to reveal both Serah and Kanan standing there.
"Finishing the job, which happens to be outside of Capital City." Kanan explained.
They flew back to Lothal during the early morning hours at night.
Hera landed the Ghost up on a hill in the middle of nowhere and when Ender walked out on the ramp, he saw that they were overlooking what looked like a shanty town.
He then noticed that both Kanan and Hera were walking off somewhere with the crate full of blasters while Zeb and Serah were pushing the other crates towards the town.
"Where are they going?" He asked Zeb and Serah.
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Oh, and I might just kill you anyway." Zeb replied, making Ender roll his eyes.
"Enough, Zeb. If you want to pull your weight, go grab a crate." Serah said.
Ender did as he was told and grabbed a crate, pushing it alongside the other two into the town, which was full of people who looked tired, hungry and hopeless. Ender just couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"I lived on Lothal my entire life. I never knew this place existed." He confessed.
"That's because the Imperials don't advertise it." Serah revealed.
"Locals call it Tarkintown." Zeb added.
"Of course, named after Grand Moff Tarkin, the Governor of the Outer Rim. He actually kicked these people off their farms when the Empire wanted their land." Serah then explained further, revealing how these people looked so downtrodden and poor.
"Anybody tried to fight back got arrested for treason." Zeb pointed out, which hit a nerve for Ender.
As the sun was rising from the horizon, they stopped in the middle of the town square where everyone walked up to them.
"Who wants free grub?" Zeb called out to them all and both he and Serah opened their crates to reveal that they carried food.
Ender was a bit shocked as he opened his crate and watched as the people all looked like their spirits were lifted and Ender was shocked to see actual hope and happiness in their eyes as they took some food for themselves.
One of them, a Rodian, picked a fruit from Ender's crate and looked at him with gratitude as he placed a hand on his shoulder and said to him "Thank you. Thank you so much."
These words actually made Ender feel ashamed of himself. He was always so focused on messing with the Empire that he never considered the fact that he'd focus more on helping people just as much as well.
"I… I didn't even do anything." He muttered as the Rodian walked off.
In fact, as he watches the people getting food for themselves, he walks away to be by himself, which doesn't go unnoticed by Serah.
He sat on the ramp to the Ghost and looked down at Tarkintown, berating himself mentally at how narrow minded he's been.
Right after he sighed and shook his head, he heard that distant humming again and that pull he felt when first seeing Kanan, and it came from within the ship.
He narrowed his eyes in confusion and curiosity before he walked further inside the ship.
He followed the pull and the humming up the ladder into the cockpit and then into the hallway that had four rooms down it, two on each side. He stopped right in front of the door to his instant left as the humming was more clearer and the pull was at its strongest. Seeing that it was locked, he decided to pull out a particular piece of equipment he always carries with him in his backpack: an R-series manipulator, which will pick the electronic look to the door.
However, he was totally unaware that Chopper was still on the ship and noticed what he was doing and headed off just as Ender finally felt like he was being watched and looked to see nothing there.
Just then, he picked the lock and the door slid open and he entered.
The room had two bunk beds with a ladder leading up to the top bunk and on both walls were a table and a seat, yet there were no decorations or personal belongings.
Confused, he sat on the bottom bunk, which was when he heard the humming again, which meant that he was right on top of whatever seemed to be calling out to him.
"Interesting." He said to himself before he knelt on the ground and saw outlines for what looked like cabinets and he pressed one, which opened up and pulled out what looked like a metal cube with some kind of crystal within it. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had to take it so he put it in his backpack.
Seeing that there was more to this cabinet, Ender pulled it out further and saw what looked like a hilt. He pulled it out and examined it for a bit.
Having an idea of what it was, he held it with both hands and found a switch that he turned and out came a blue blade of light.
Ender gasped in shock and stood back up as as carefully moved it around, seeing that it was indeed a lightsaber, the weapon of a Jedi, who were once peacekeepers of the galaxy before they were wiped out by the Empire, apparently because they betrayed everyone, though Ender didn't believe their lies.
Just then, the door opened and he looked to see that it was Kanan, who didn't look pleased.
"Careful. You'll cut your arm off." He warned him as both Hera and Chopper appeared, the latter beeped amusingly, Ender knowing now that he was the one who watched him earlier.
"Look, you may think I'm crazy but I'm sure that I felt this calling to me." Ender tried to explain, pointing at the lightsaber in his hand.
"You're right, I do think you're crazy. Now hand me the lightsaber." Kanan demanded and Ender obliged, turning it off and handing it to Kanan before he walked out of the room wordlessly. Kanan dismantled his lightsaber hilt into two and hooked them onto his belt and then crossed his arms.
"Now we'll see." He told Hera, who looked back at Ender.
Ender made his way to the galley where Serah was leaning against the counter with a drink.
"Not the best when it comes to following directions, are you?" She asked.
"I'm a bit new to it. You?" Ender asked back, making her chuckle slightly.
"Never been my specialty."
"I gotta ask, who are you guys? Because you don't exactly come across as thieves." Ender then asked.
"Well, that's because we're not exactly anything. We're a crew, a team, a family even." Serah replied.
That last part about them being a family made Ender look away with pain in his eyes, which Serah noticed and was concerned about why he felt that way.
"Whatever happened to your real family?" He asked her.
"The Empire happened." She scowled. "What happened to yours?"
Before he could reply, the door opened and both Chopper and Zeb appeared with the former entering the galley.
"Kanan wants us in the common room." Zeb told Serah before he tapped Chopper to get his attention. "If he tries anything, sound the alarm or shoot him."
Ender could've growled at how he's been nothing but bullied by him non stop as Chopper snapped back at Zeb.
"Shush. Just watch him." Zeb insisted as Serah grabbed her helmet and the two walked out but Serah stopped at the doorway, looking back at Ender and smiled back at him, making him smile as well before she walked out and the door shut.
Ender looked down at Chopper, who was beeping disapprovingly, and then gazed up, seeing something that made him raise an eyebrow and smirk.
In the lounge area, both Zeb and Serah sat around the holographic table where they could play Dejarik, both looking up at Kanan and Hera, who stood over them.
"We have a new mission. Vizago acquired the flight plan for an Imperial transport ship full of Wookiee prisoners." Kanan informed them.
"Most of these Wookiees were soldiers for the Old Republic." Hera further explained more about the Wookiees.
"I owe those hairy beasts. They saved some of my people." Zeb said, very much all for this mission.
"Mine, too." Hera replied.
"If we're going to save them, we've got a tight window. They've been taken to an unknown slave labour camp. If we don't intercept this ship, we'll never find them. Now, I have a plan, but…." Kanan said, trailing off when a thud was heard from the storage area.
He opened it to reveal that it was Ender, who crawled through the vents to get there. He just sat there, shrugging his shoulders.
"If you thought I could be locked up in a galley, you clearly don't know me." He told everyone as he got out and stood in front of everyone.
"I ordered Chopper to keep watch!" Zeb shouted, said astromech coming out of the galley and beeped annoyingly with his mechanical arms waving. Zeb then made an animalistic growl at Ender, who glared at him.
"Can we please get rid of him?" He then asked, punching a fist into his palm and both Serah and Kanan had to hold him back.
"No, we can't. We don't do that kind of stuff, Zeb. Plus, he knows too much." Serah told him.
"We don't have time to take him home anyway. We need to move now." Hera then said as he escorted Ender towards the cockpit. "I'll keep an eye on him."
They have entered hyperspace and are currently heading to where the Imperial transport ship is located. Ender sat in the co-pilot seat while Hera was piloting her ship.
"Have you considered that this mission is all just a set up? I mean, if you guys have been doing this regularly, the Empire's bound to set a trap." Ender said.
"Maybe, but we don't know until we proceed." Hera replied before they exited hyperspace.
They found themselves looking at an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser that had four TIE fighters docked onto it.
"Imperial Transport 651, this is Starbird, coming inbound." Hera spoke over the comms to the Imperial ship.
"State your business." The transport captain replied back.
"Bounty. We captured an additional Wookiee prisoner and have transfer orders to place him with you." Hera replied, Ender starting to get a bit worried that this wouldn't work.
"We have no such orders." The transport captain said and Ender watched with fear as two of the TIEs detached from the Gozanti cruiser and flew right towards them.
"That's fine. We already got paid by Governor Tarkin. If you don't want the oversized monong, I'll jettison here. Let you explain to your superiors why the Empire has one less slave." Hera responded, sounding both calm and professional.
There was a tense silence for several moments until….
"Permission to dock. Bay 1." The transport captain said and Hera smirked at Ender, who still looked tense.
Hera flew the Ghost and connected with the Gozanti cruiser by their airlocks.
Two stormtroopers walked up to the airlock to greet their visitors and when the door opened, they were greeted by the sight of Kanan and Serah standing on either side of Zeb, who looked like he was cuffed. Behind them was Chopper.
"That thing's not a Wookiee." One of the troopers said.
"Haven't you ever seen a rare hairless Wookiee before?" Kanan asked before Zeb did his best impression of a Wookiee.
The two stormtroopers looked at each other, unsure, before they looked back at Zeb.
"Oh, forget it." He groaned with impatience before he punched them both at once, knocking them out instantly.
"Told you they wouldn't buy it." He told Kanan and Serah.
"Yeah, well, you didn't even give 'em the chance to buy it." Serah pointed out as she dual wielded her blaster pistols. And Kanan stepped forward with his blaster out.
"Ah, there's just something about the feel of their helmets on my fists." Zeb chuckled.
"Okay, you know the plan. Move out." Kanan said to them all before they split up to fulfil their roles.
Back in the cockpit of the Ghost, both Hera and Ender listened in on the comms.
"No troopers. Security's soft -" Kanan's voice was being cut off and they both just heard static.
"Spectre-1, come in. Spectre-4? Spectre-5?" Hera tried getting through to the others but it was pointless and she groaned. "Comm's down."
But then a thought hit her.
"No, not down. Jammed."
Ender knew immediately what it was.
"It's a trap." He muttered.
And his fear was confirmed as a Star Destroyer appeared from hyperspace.
"That's an Imperial Star Destroyer!" Hera stated the obvious.
"I warned you this was a setup!" Ender reminded her.
"It's beginning to look that way." She replied as the Star Destroyer drew nearer and nearer.
"You need to board the transport and warn them." Hera told Ender.
He understood that she couldn't go warn the others because she's the pilot and they'd have to get on a quick getaway. And also because Kanan risked his life for Ender's, and felt like he had to return the favour.
"Wish me luck, then." He said as he ran off to warn the others as they were being pulled into the docking bay of the Star Destroyer.
With Kanan and Zeb, they made their way through the transport ship and found the brig, a bit surprised to see that there were no stormtroopers there.
"No guards on the door." Kanan said right before they went right up to it.
"Just set the detonator so we can get the Wookiees out of here." Zeb told him and Kanan started setting the detonator up on the panel by the door, both completely unaware that on the other side of the door was a whole bunch of stormtroopers.
"At least things seem to be going smoother than our last op." Zeb then said.
"It's a trap! We need to get out of here, it's a trap!" They heard and saw Ender yelling, running up to them.
"Karabast! The kid's blowing another op!" Zeb groaned in annoyance.
"It's not an op! It's all a trap! Hera sent me to warn you!" Ender corrected him.
The door behind them opened up, revealing the stormtroopers.
"RUN!" Ender shouted and they ran off, but Ender shot an energy projectile from his slingshot at the detonator, making it explode and take down the stormtroopers.
"The comm's down and we need to warn Serah and Chopper." Ender pointed out as they continued running through the ship.
"They'll follow the plan. It'll be fine." Kanan replied.
"Sure, as if the plan's gone great so far." Ender snapped back.
With Serah and Chopper, they were working on the ship's systems and the latter was grumbling.
"Oh, shut up and work that gravity generator, will you?" Serah groaned. "Honestly, how does Hera tolerate you?"
Back with Ender, Kanan and Zeb, they continued running as they saw a group of stormtroopers being led by a man with a helmet, who Ender suspected was from some special bureau within the Empire.
"Don't stop!" Kanan told him and the two groups just ran at each other.
"I've got the backup ready." Serah said.
"Push off now!" Kanan told Zeb and Ender.
"Now!" Serah said, pushing a button that caused the artificial gravity to shut off, which was indicated by the lights all turning yellow.
Of course, Ender, Kanan and Zeb pushed off in time to keep moving forwards while the stormtroopers and the bureau agent hovered on the spot.
"What the -?" One of them said, completely baffled.
Kanan fired his blaster at one of them as they aimed their E-11 blaster.
"Artificial gravity is down for two minutes." Sereh said.
The agent moved a stormtrooper aside and took a shot that missed.
Zeb ended up pushing off of Ender to keep moving, which annoyed him to the point that he grabbed Zeb's legs and climbed onto his back, the two struggling against each other as Kanan took another shot.
Once they reached the stormtroopers, Kanan moved one's blaster away from him as he kicked another in the chest and fired another shot at yet another.
Zeb pushed one into the agent, knocking them to the floor.
With Serah, she planted a couple of magnetic thermal detonators on the console, after planting more on the floor, before she held onto Chopper, who used his propulsion to get them both away from there and join back up with the others.
The agent, being the remaining Imperial that didn't get shot or knocked out, made his way after Ender, Kanan and Zeb, who turned a corner.
"You doing okay, kid?" Kanan asked as he continued pushing off the corridor, while Zeb pushed Ender off of him, following after Kanan.
"Not really!" Ender replied, as he never experienced zero gravity, while pushing off from the corridor to keep moving after Kanan and Zeb.
Serah and Chopper made their way until they stopped and hovered at an intersection with a couple of knocked out stormtroopers.
"Five, four - get ready - two, one…." Serah said, the lights now back to white and the artificial gravity got turned back on, making her, Chopper and the two troopers land on the floor.
Nearby, Ender, Kanan and Zeb hovered.
"Now!" Kanan yelled as the lights around them turned white and the gravity turned back on.
They landed and got back to their feet instantly, running their way back to Serah and Chopper.
"Where's the Wookiees?" Serah asked as Kanan joined up with her and Chopper.
"No Wookiees! Serah, man the nose gun. Chop, tell Hera to take off." Kanan ordered.
"Sure." Serah said before she, Kanan and Chopper ran for the Ghost.
Ender and Zeb followed after them, but the former got shoved back by the latter.
Ender snarled and was about to follow, but got grabbed by the agent, who had caught up, drawing Zeb's attention, who turned and aimed his weapon at the agent.
"Let go, you scumbag!" Ender snapped, struggling against the agent who held him, while a couple of stormtroopers appeared and aimed their blasters at Zeb, firing at him, though they missed him.
"Kid, get out of the way!" Zeb yelled as he ducked behind cover by the doorway to the airlock that connected the Gozanti ship and the Ghost.
Ender tried to get out of the way for Zeb to take the shot, but the agent was stronger than him and held him in place with ease.
With the non-stop barrage from the stormtroopers, though, Zeb couldn't even risk taking a shot if he tried, and a look of guilt came over his face.
"Sorry, kid! You did good." Zeb said with regret and he shut the door to the airlock, leaving Ender behind, who now looked broken and betrayed.
In the cockpit of the Ghost, Chopper chirped while Hera saw that the airlock was closed.
"There, airlock shut!" She said, pressing a button that disconnected her ship from the Gozanti cruiser. "We're out of here!"
As she informed everyone onboard, Zeb's guilt of leaving Ender behind was eating him up even more, to the point that he fell onto his butt and leaned against the airlock door.
"Chop, jam their tractor beam!" Hera ordered Chopper, who chirped and turned to work on her order.
She lowered the Ghost out of the docking bay and flew from the Star Destroyer.
"Attention, rebel ship, surrender or be destroyed." An Imperial officer ordered. "This is your first and last warning."
"Blow it out your exhaust vent." Hera retorted, making Chopper chuckle. "Literally."
"Serah." She then said through the P.A., making the Mandalorian grin from the nose gun, holding a device in her right hand. She pressed it, which set off all the detonators in the Gozanti cruiser, making the whole ship explode.
"I can't see my handiwork, how does it look?" Serah asked Kanan, who was up on the dorsal turret.
"Gorgeous, Serah, as always." He replied with a grin.
With a grin as well, Hera entered the Ghost into hyperspace, where she let out a sigh of relief, now that they managed to escape.
Meanwhile, Kanan and Serah, who held her helmet in her hand, entered the cockpit.
"The whole thing was a setup." Kanan frowned as he walked up to the co-pilot seat.
"You think Vizago was in on it?" Serah asked as she sat down on the seat behind him, as he sat down as well.
"He'd sell his mother to Jawas for a couple credits." Hera pointed out. "But we're a source of income for him." Zeb then entered the cockpit. "Even odds he didn't know." Zeb then sat down in the seat behind Hera. "The kid did alright."
"He did okay." Kanan replied, then he realised he hasn't seen Ender since boarding the Ghost, so he turned to Zeb. "Where is he?"
"I, uh, thought he was with you." Zeb replied, though his behaviour was odd to everyone else, so they stared him down.
"What did you do, Zeb?" Serah glared.
"I didn't do anything to him. But that ISB agent grabbed him." Zeb replied.
"WHAT?" Everyone gasped.
"The kid got grabbed, okay?" Zeb told them.
"Garazeb Orrelios!" Hera snapped, like a mother would when upset at their child.
"Oh, come on!" Zeb groaned. "We were dumping him after the mission, anyway! This saves us fuel. They'll go easy on him. He's just a kid."
This made Hera and Kanan look at each other, both considering an idea that they knew Zeb would be totally against.
Back with Ender, he got thrown into a cell onboard the Star Destroyer, where he sat, starting to regret even getting involved with that crew.
The door then opened, and the agent that grabbed him entered.
"I am Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau. And you are?" He said as he walked up to Ender.
"Jabba." Ender replied with a glare. "And if you're gonna question me about those guys, don't waste your time. I only just met them and they left me behind. I'm not with them, so they won't come back for me."
This made Kallus inhale deeply, leaning forward so that he and Ender were eye to eye, staring each other down. Kallus then brushed some dust off his shoulder before walking back out of the cell, stopping by the doorway, where two stormtroopers stood guard.
"Search him. Then secure him here." He told them before he walked away.
The two troopers entered the cell, making Ender grab his backpack protectively just before one of them grabbed it.
"Let go!" He snapped before the trooper ripped the bag out of his hands, making its contents fall out on the floor, showing a few bits of tech and a wrench.
The trooper then grabbed Ender's left arm, pulling off his slingshot, then ripped off his necklace.
"LET GO!" He roared, pulling his arm out of the trooper's grip as the other trooper put the contents back in the backpack.
The pair then left the cell with his belongings, the door closing behind them.
"I can't believe I trusted them!" Ender snarled to himself as he got up on his feet and pulled out the object he snatched from Kanan's room. "And all I have now is this piece of junk."
He looked at it, which made his blood boil, and threw it across the cell, hitting a wall and landing on the floor.
Wanting a moment to himself, Ender closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as he leaned his head against his hands, which he clasped together.
However, by doing this, as he started calming down, he unknowingly made the corners on the object turn before it hovered in mid air with the corners disconnected.
Then a hologram activated, showing a man in robes with auburn hair, a beard and moustache and blue eyes.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi." The hologram said, drawing Ender's attention, who looked at it with wide eyes. "I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: trust in the Force."
Back with the Ghost crew, they were still in hyperspace when Hera told everyone what they're about to do: rescue Ender.
Of course, as she expected, Zeb wasn't thrilled with the idea.
"No, no, no, no way! You cannot be serious!" He barked as he stood.
"It's our fault he was there!" Hera argued.
"Come on, Hera! We just met this kid! We're not going back for him!" Zeb barked back.
"We are, Zeb! We can't just leave him to the Empire, especially because they won't go easy on him because of his age!" Serah argued against him.
Chopper then beeped and chirped, making Hera grin.
"What? What did he say?" Zeb snapped, as he didn't understand him.
"He voted with me and Serah. That's three against one." Hera replied, leaving Zeb speechless. "What do you think, Kanan?"
"Let's go save that kid." He replied determinedly.
Back on the Star Destroyer, Ender hatched an idea that just might work, considering how incompetent stormtroopers can be.
"You bucketheads will be sorry when my uncle, who just so happens to be the Emperor, learns you're keeping me here against my will." He told the two stormtroopers through the door. "He'll make a -" He then seemed to start coughing. " - personal example."
He then started coughing vehemently, making one of the troopers press a button on a panel, which opened the door.
They entered, finding that Ender was nowhere to be seen.
This was because he hid by the stairs to avoid being seen, and exited the cell as the troopers turned to him.
"See ya." He saluted before he shut the cell door.
Now on the loose, Ender stealthily made his way through the Star Destroyer until he entered into what he guessed was the armoury, since there were blasters placed in racks and helmets resting on top of some lockers.
He looked around until he spotted his backpack, necklace and slingshot, which he grabbed right away.
Then Ender spotted a row of cadet helmets as he put his backpack and necklace on. Considering he had a knack of collecting Imperial helmets, he took one of them and put it on, hearing a static buzz, though he adjusted the helmet so that he could hear what was on the comlink.
"The delay was insignificant. The transport ship Agent Kallus diverted will dock on Kessel within two hours. The Wookiees will be offloaded to work Spice Mine K-76." An officer said, drawing Ender's attention right away. If only the Ghost crew were here to hear this information.
"This is Stormtrooper LS-005, reporting to Agent Kallus." The comlink then played another voice.
"Kallus, here." Kallus replied.
"Sir, the prisoner's gone." The stormtrooper replied.
"What? I knew the boy would act as bait, but I never dreamed the rebels would be foolish enough to attack a Destroyer! How did they get aboard?" Kallus questioned in outrage.
"Sir, the rebels didn't free him. He, uh…." The stormtrooper replied.
"Agent Kallus! There's a security breach in the lower hangar." Another officer said.
Deciding that he needed to move, Ender looked and spotted a vent up on the ceiling in the corner, which he climbed up to and entered, now crawling through some vents.
"I don't know how, but the rebel ship approached without alerting our sensors." The officer continued, making Ender stop crawling in shock.
"They're coming back to save me." He said in disbelief.
"Order all stormtroopers to converge on the lower hangar. I'll meet them there." Kallus then said through the comlink.
Knowing he had to make sure the others don't get ambushed upon landing, Ender cleared his throat and activated his helmet's comlink.
"This is Stormtrooper LS-125, reporting intruders in the upper hangar. The lower hangar may be a diversion." He said in a deep voice.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Squads five through eight, divert to upper hangar. The rest, converge as ordered." Kallus replied.
"At least I tried." Ender muttered to himself as he shut the transmitter off and continued crawling through the vents.
In the lower hangar, Hera docked the Ghost and the front ramp lowered open.
Kanan, Zeb and Serah ran out into the hangar while Hera stood on the ramp with her Blurrg-1120 holdout blaster pistol in her hands.
"Find Ender, I'll be ready." She informed the three as they ran.
Serah stopped for a moment to spray paint a symbol on the floor of the hangar before she joined back up with Kanan and Zeb, now running down a corridor.
"Hold this bay till we get back." Kanan told Zeb.
"And actually make sure everyone's aboard before we leave." Serah added, making Zeb stop in disbelief.
"That was not my fault!" He argued.
"It technically was." Ender's voice replied from above, making Kanan and Serah stop and look as Ender jumped down and landed between them and Zeb.
Upon seeing the helmet he was wearing, Zeb punched Ender, who fell onto his back before standing back up, taking the helmet off and revealing his angry face.
"You punched me after ditching me? What's next, kicking me in the crotch?" He snapped, making Serah snort.
"How was I supposed to know it was you? You were wearing a bucket!" Zeb argued.
"Do stormtroopers wear these clothes, you blind oaf?" Ender pointed out.
Zeb would've retorted, but everyone heard and saw Kallus and some stormtroopers turn a corner and run towards them.
This made all four run to the hangar, though Ender threw the helmet at Kallus, who knocked it away with his rifle.
"Spectre-1 to Ghost, we're leaving!" Kanan informed Hera through his communicator as Kallus and his troopers fired at them.
He and Serah fired their blasters back, managing to take down a couple of troopers as the rest and Kallus ran for cover.
Hera fired a few shots before running back into the Ghost with everyone else.
"Ghost, raise the ramp!" Kanan told Hera as he was the last to get aboard.
Kallus and a trooper ducked behind some crates for cover and fired back, though the trooper got shot, and another couple of troopers joined Kallus as they fired back at the Ghost, which now lifted off and the nose turret fired back.
"Aim for shield generator and engines. Do not let them -" Kallus ordered, but stopped when spotting the symbol Serah spray painted earlier. He rubbed some on his glove and sniffed it, his eyes widening upon realising it was explosive paint.
"TAKE COVER!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
In the Ghost's cargo hold, Kanan and Serah looked at each other, the former ginning as he nodded, making Serah's grin grow wider as she pressed a button on her device, which set off the explosive paint, making a large hole that sucked anything in the hangar into space that wasn't bolted down, excluding Kallus and some troopers that held onto something.
"TURN ON THE SHIELD!" Kallus yelled to a trooper that hung onto a nearby doorway that led to a corridor, who then pressed a button on a panel, which activated the shield to keep everyone remaining from being sucked into space.
Kallus climbed up and watched as the Ghost flew out of the hangar.
Upon making some distance from the Star Destroyer, Hera entered the Ghost into hyperspace, allowing her to take a breather.
Just then, Ender entered the cockpit, leaning against the doorway.
"Welcome aboard, again." She greeted him.
"Thank you. I - I actually thought you guys were just gonna leave me behind." Ender replied.
"I'll get you home now. I'm sure your parents must be worried sick." Hera then said, making Ender sigh in sadness.
"I don't have any parents." He revealed to her, leaving the green Twi'lek shocked and saddened to hear this. "Plus, you guys have elsewhere to be."
Kanan, Serah, with her helmet off, and Chopper entered the cockpit, the former two taking seats.
"You should know, they're taking the Wookiees to Kessel." Ender revealed, leaving everyone taken aback by this news.
"Slaves on Kessel only last a few months at worst, a year at best." Serah told Ender.
"And for Wookiees, born in the forest, it's a death sentence." Hera added, further selling just how harsh Kessel is.
"Then we should save 'em as soon as possible." Ender told them, surprising the four as he suggested he was joining them.
"You said 'we'." Serah said.
"If those Wookiees won't last on Kessel, we shouldn't waste time dropping me off on Lothal." Ender explained his reasoning, now deciding to truly help those that need said help.
"Setting course for Kessel." Hera said, turning forward and flicking switches and buttons to change course.
Ender and Kanan shared a glance with each other before Kana faced forward through the windshield.
On Kessel, the newly transferred Wookiee prisoners, all in handcuffs, walked along a docking bay.
One of them, a young child, looked scared and cried for his father, the one with an armband on his right arm, who turned and grumbled in response, stroking his son's head.
"Keep moving!" A stormtrooper barked at them as he and another trooper stood nearby.
The two Wookiees grumbled to each other.
Then everyone present had to cover their eyes from a blinding light shining down from the sky.
The light came from the Ghost, which flew in through the clouds.
Hera fired the nose guns and blasted several stormtroopers down, shocking the Wookiees, who watched the Ghost fly around in the sky before flying down for the docking bay.
In the cargo hold, Kanan, Zeb and Serah readied themselves with their blasters, while Ender took deep breaths, priming himself ready for his role in the coming fight, which Zeb noticed, as they stood next to each other in front of the ramp.
"Try not to get dead." He told the seventeen year old. "Don't want to carry your body out."
"Gee, thanks." Ender grumbled as Kanan and Serah joined their side.
The ramp soon opened up and all four jumped out onto the docking bay, dodging some poor shots from several stormtroopers.
They ran for cover behind some crates, where Kanan turned to Ender, giving him a nod.
Ender nodded back and he moved out from cover, getting unnoticed by the stormtroopers, who focused on the others, firing their blasters non-stop.
Serah popped out and fired a few shots, hitting one of the troopers, as Ender reached some more crates to the troopers' right, still going unnoticed, as Kanan and Zeb ran to some other crates to their right, firing some shots.
Ender kept moving, using more crates for cover, until he reached the Wookiees, who all whimpered at the gunfight going on.
Ender walked up to them, soon getting their attention, with the child's father roaring at him, thinking he was working for the stormtroopers.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help!" He reassured him and the other Wookiees, showing a lockpick he had on him.
He then used the lockpick on the father's handcuffs, which came off instantly, giving him and the other Wookiees some hope.
Ender then started getting the other Wookiees out of their handcuffs.
Soon, Kanan, Zeb and Serah watched as the Wookiees approached the stormtroopers from behind, knocking them down, with the father lifting one of them over his head and throwing him down on the ground.
The three walked up to the Wookiees, who let Ender step forward, having a proud grin on his face.
But the good mood was cut short when everyone heard the distinct sound of TIE fighters whooshing.
They looked to see three of them appear from the chasm behind the Ghost, firing at said ship.
"We're hit! Chopper, after gun!" Hera told the astromech, who turned and made his way through the ship.
He reached the shuttle, which was called the Phantom, and fired its guns at the TIE fighters, taking one down, which fell down the chasm.
But then a Gozanti cruiser lifted up out of the chasm with two TIEs hovering on either side of it.
A turret on top of the cruiser fired shots, making the four jump aside, hitting the ground and blasting the Wookiees off their feet.
Everyone looked up to see the Ghost fly off and be chased by the two TIEs while the cruiser lowered and landed on the docking bay. A platform then lowered, showing Kallus and a squad of stormtroopers.
"TAKE THEM DOWN!" He yelled, pointing forwards, letting the troopers charge forward and fire at the four and the Wookiees.
The Wookiees ran for cover as Kanan, Zeb and Serah fired back at the stormtroopers, running for cover as well.
The father roared for his son, soon spotting him climbing over some crates to use for cover.
He started running towards him, but a couple of stormtroopers got in his way and fired shots at him, knocking him down, but not killing him.
The young Wookiee saw this as he peeked out, which one of the troopers saw, making the Wookiee run as the trooper chased after him.
"He'll be okay." Zeb told Ender as they were by the father's side. "I've got him."
Zeb lifted the father up and carried him to everyone else, while Ender noticed the son being chased by the stormtrooper.
While he felt the need to help the young Wookiee, he had to get to cover first, which he did.
With Hera, she was now pursued by three TIE fighters among the clouds, though Chopper shot one of them down with the Phantom's turret.
"I can't maintain position!" She informed Kanan through comms.
Back with everyone else, Ender jumped over the crates, joining everyone behind cover as the stormtroopers continued firing their blasters endlessly.
"Go! Lead the TIEs away and give yourself manoeuvring room!" Kanan replied through his communicator.
"I am not leaving you behind!" Hera replied with a frantic tone to her voice.
Kanan then spotted a shipping container, giving him an idea.
"No, you're not. We're running a twenty two pickup." He informed Hera.
"Are you kidding me?" Serah questioned, knowing what this was, as did Zeb, while Ender didn't, leaving him clueless.
"You have a better option?" Kanan asked her, already knowing the answer.
"Jump into the pit and get it over with?" Zeb suggested.
"Alright, I'll be back. Make sure you're ready." Hera informed everyone.
"Do you mind letting me in on the secret, please?" Ender asked Kanan, who glanced out at the stormtroopers and Kallus.
"Kid, I'm about to let everyone in on the secret." Kanan replied.
Confused, Ender watched Kanan step out from the crates and walk up to Kallus and the stormtroopers, dodging stray shots with ease after he holstered his blaster.
Kallus signalled the troopers to stop firing as Kanan pulled out the parts for his lightsaber hilt, putting them together and igniting it before holding it by his head.
Ender was wide eyed in awe, realising just that moment that Kanan was actually a Jedi. Even Kallus, the stormtroopers and the Wookiees were wide eyed in shock at this revelation.
"All troopers, focus your fire on… on the Jedi." Kallus ordered.
All the stormtroopers fired at Kanan, who deflected their shots, though some of them fired at the Wookies, who fired back with blasters they managed to get their hands on, one on each side being shot down.
"Time to go!" Kanan shouted to Zeb.
"Right." Zeb nodded before turning to the Wookiees. "Everyone, into the container!"
They all made their way to said container, though the father was roaring in protest, reaching out, worried for his son.
Ender noticed this before he glanced over at Kanan.
He took a deep breath, knowing he may get captured again, but all that mattered was helping the young Wookiee.
Ender bolted out from cover, running in the direction the Wookiee and trooper ran to, which didn't go unnoticed by both Kallus and Zeb.
"Kid, stop!" Zeb called out to Ender, who was too far to even hear him. "Karabast! I swear, if he's left behind again, it's not my fault!"
Back with Hera, another TIE fighter joined in chasing after her and Chopper, the number now back to three.
Chopper, back in the cockpit, worked on the controls for the dorsal turret, firing some shots that took down one of the three TIEs.
Back with everyone else, Zeb led the Wookiees into the container while Serah let out covering fire and Kanan deflected more shots with his lightsaber.
"Zeb, Hera's incoming!" Kanan informed Zeb.
"Get in, you furballs! Now!" Zeb told the last of the Wookiees, one of whom grumbled back before running into the container.
Zeb joined Serah in letting out covering fire with his blaster.
"Kanan, I think you inspired the kid into, well, doing something like you would do!" He then told Kanan, making him realise what Ender was doing.
Speaking of Ender, he chased after the stormtrooper that was chasing the young Wookiee down a narrow pathway with railings on either side, which was high up in the complex.
The young Wookiee grumbled as he kept running towards the end of the pathway.
"OI!" Ender yelled.
This got both the Wookiee and trooper's attention, making them stop and turn to him.
Ender stared the trooper down as he readied himself.
When the trooper fired a shot, Ender ended up somersaulting high over the trooper, landing in front of the Wookiee and firing his slingshot at the trooper several times, making him fall over the railing, screaming as he fell down to the chasm.
Ender grinned as he turned to sort out the handcuffs the young Wookiee still had on him, currently oblivious to Kallus approaching towards them.
After dealing with the TIEs chasing her and Chopper, Hera arrived back at the docking bay as Zeb shut the container he, Kanan, Serah and the Wookiees entered.
Hera lowered the Ghost directly over the container.
"Magnetic seal locked." She informed everyone through the communicators before the container got attached to the Ghost via the magnetic seal.
"I hate this part." Zeb groaned.
The stormtroopers kept their barrage of blaster fire up on the Ghost, but they had no effect on the ship as it flew off.
Back with Ender, he finally got the young Wookiee out of his handcuffs, who grumbled, making Ender notice Kallus with an E-11 in his hand, aimed at the pair, making him stand in front of the Wookiee protectively.
"It's over for you, Jedi!" He told Ender. "A master and an apprentice. Such a rare find these days."
"You clearly knocked your head too many times, moron. I work alone." Ender coolly replied.
"Not this time." Kanan told him, making him, the Wookiee, and Kallus turn to see Kanan on top of the Ghost, over its airlock, which hovered by the pathway.
Kallus fired shots at Kanan, who dodged the first two shots and deflected the third right back at Kallus, who got knocked over the railing.
"Jump, kid!" Kanan told Ender.
He and the Wookiee jumped over the railing as the Ghost lowered, entering the ship via the airlock with Kanan as the ship left the planet's atmosphere.
Soon, once they were far from Kessel, everyone gathered in the cargo hold, where Ender, Kanan and the young Wookiee entered from above.
The father grinned upon seeing his son, who growled excitedly before sliding down the ladder and the two embraced each other.
This sight made the crew and Ender smile, glad to have helped a family reunite and be safe.
Kanan placed a hand on Ender's shoulder, wordlessly telling him that he did real good, who was glad to have helped a father reunite with his son.
Later, the Ghost connected with a shuttle via the airlock, which the Wookiees were using to find themselves a place to be free and away from the Empire's grasp.
Zeb joined up with Ender, Kanan and Serah, who were with the father and his son, the former growling something that Serah understood.
"He said that if we need any help, the Wookiees will be there." She translated.
The father then ruffled Ender's hair, who chuckled.
"Good luck, Kitwarr, make sure you stay out of trouble, you hear?" He then told the young Wookiee, who grunted back before he and his father entered the airlock and joined up with their fellow Wookiees.
"Ha, look who's talking." Zeb snorted, making Ender remember that since the mission's over, he'll have to go back to Lothal, which he now didn't want.
"I guess you'll have to drop me off next." He said, his disappointment being noticed by Kanan, as Zeb shut the airlock door.
"Uh, yeah." Zeb said as he turned to him, clearing his throat. "Finally, right?"
Ender shrugged as he turned and walked away, the other three following him, though Kanan stopped for a moment to contemplate something.
He then continued walking while Ender leaned against the ladder to the dorsal turret.
As he neared him, the Wookiee's shuttle disconnected from the Ghost, making the ship shake slightly, causing the two to bump into each other.
"Sorry." Ender apologised to Kanan, who nodded back before he continued making his way through the ship.
Later on, they made it back to Lothal, Hera landing the Ghost within walking distance from the communication tower outside of the Capital City.
Ender climbed down the ladder into the cargo hold, landing next to Serah, who was working Chopper's system, while Zeb was rummaging through a crate nearby.
Chopper waved one of his mechanical arms at Ender, who only grinned back before he walked over to Zeb, making Chopper moan sadly and Serah to watch on.
"See you around, I guess." Ender told Zeb, who leaned against the crate.
"Not if we see you first." Zeb replied, playfully punching Ender's shoulder, laughing as he did so.
"You won't." Ender replied distantly as he walked to the ramp, leaving Zeb with a look on his face that read 'what did I do wrong?'.
Ender walked down the ramp, seeing Kanan and Hera at the bottom, standing on the ground.
"I think you have something that belongs to me." Kanan told Ender, who pulled out the object he snatched earlier, which had its corners turned, and threw it to Kanan, who caught it, noticing the change.
"Good luck out there, trying to save the galaxy." Ender told him before he walked his way to the communication tower.
As he did, Kanan glanced down at the object in his hand.
"He opened it. He passed the test." Hera pointed out, making him look up at Ender, who was now running to the tower.
Upon reaching the top, Ender opened a door to a large circular room, which he made to be his home.
He entered, looking around at the helmets and trinkets he had from his past.
Soon, Ender felt a presence behind him, knowing it was Kanan, as he felt that pull he felt when first meeting him.
"What is the Force?" He asked without turning to him.
"The Force is everywhere." Kanan replied as Ender now turned to him. "It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together. And it's strong with you, Ender. Otherwise, you'd never have been able to open the holocron."
"So, what is it you want?" Ender asked curiously.
"To offer you a choice. You can stay here, helping people until the Empire on Lothal imprisons you once you're out of luck, or you can come with us, with me, and be trained in the ways of the Force." Kanan suggested. "You can learn what it truly means to be a Jedi."
"But didn't the Empire wipe the Jedi out when it formed?" Ender questioned.
"Not all of us." Kanan replied.
Ender looked away, considering Kanan's offer, but when he turned back to him to say something, he was gone, like he wasn't even there in the first place.
Regardless of this, Ender knew his choice right away.
Back on the Ghost, Kanan sat on the bench under his bunk with the holocron in his hand.
He then closed his eyes and made it hover in the middle of the room, making it open up and activate the hologram of Obi-Wan.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place." The hologram said. "This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: trust in the Force."
Elsewhere on the Ghost, Chopper inserted one of his mechanical limbs into a socket in the cockpit
"Do not return to the temple."
Zeb moved one of the crates in the cargo hold before he leaned an arm against it.
"That time has passed."
Serah sat by herself at the table in the common room with her helmet on said table.
"And our future is uncertain."
Hera sat in the pilot's seat in the cockpit, ready to fly the Ghost elsewhere.
"We will each be challenged. Our trust, our faith, our friendships."
She then looked up at the communication tower, wondering what Ender's choice was."
"But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you… always."
The hologram then shut off, the door opening a moment later.
Kanan opened his eyes, seeing Ender standing there with his arms folded.
"If training to be a Jedi means helping others out there in the galaxy, I'm in." He told Kanan as he entered his room, standing in front of a now standing Kanan.
"You won't regret it." Kanan reassured him as he put a hand on his shoulder.
Elsewhere, Kallus managed to survive what happened on Kessel and was now onboard a Star Destroyer, which was heading away from the planet.
He was currently on the bridge, talking to a figure with pale skin, red markings on his face and dressed in black projected via a hologram, his eyes closed as well.
"Excuse the intrusion, Inquisitor. But in the course of my duties, I have encountered a rebel cell. The leader of that cell made good use of a lightsaber." Kallus informed the figure.
"Ah, Agent Kallus. You did well to call." The Inquisitor replied, opening his eyes, revealing they were yellow, a trait among Sith and users of the Dark Side of the Force.
I hope you don't mind the fact that I have OCs replacing Ezra and Sabine. Because with what I'm planning, it just makes me feel more comfortable retelling the show if they were replaced with OCs.
Ender's clothes is inspired by what Han wore in the opening section of Solo: A Star Wars Story, for those that are curious.
For his and Serah's voices, think Josh Keaton, mainly the voice he had for Shiro in Voltron: Legendary Defender, and Lucy Liu, because her voice as Viper in Kung Fu Panda was what I was thinking when writing Serah.
