Breaking Ranks
Within the Capital City of Lothal, there was a prominent building: the Imperial Academy.
In the assessment hall that directly led out, walking past a functioning AT-DP were eight young cadets wearing uniforms, including helmets that covered their heads (four of whose had coloured markings on them), all in two rows of four next to each other, being escorted by Taskmaster Myles Grint.
"And halt!" He barked, making the eight cadets stop and turn right, facing Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko on a plinth in front of them. "Squad LRC-077 for your inspection, sir!"
"Cadets, you entered this facility as children. And in a few short weeks, you will leave as soldiers." Aresko told the cadets. "By the time you complete your training, you will be prepared to serve your Emperor. Today, we will test your strength and resolve. Are you ready to become stormtroopers?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" All the cadets replied in unison.
"At ease." Aresko told them.
They all now stopped being in formation and stature.
The cadet with yellow markings on his helmet pulled it off, revealing a fifteen year old teen with dark skin, short brown hair and brown eyes.
The cadet with blue markings on his helmet pulled it off, as well, revealing a male teen with tanned skin, red-brown hair and brown eyes.
And the cadet with red markings on his helmet pulled it off, revealing him to be Ender, who looked down at his helmet thoughtfully.
"Dev. Hey, Dev. Dev." The teen with red-brown hair called for him, even nudging his shoulder, which snapped him out of it.
"What?" He muttered, turning to him.
"Dev Morgan, you in there?" The teen questioned.
"Yeah, I'm in here." Ender replied in a distant tone, looking back down at his helmet.
"Wow. You must really be feeling the pressure." The teen noted.
"Really, Jai? I'm the one who's won every assessment, in case you forgot." Ender grinned, nudging Jai in his side.
"Yeah, but today, I can taste victory." Jai retorted.
"You said that yesterday, remember? And you were left hungry." Ender remarked before the two laughed as they nudged each other again.
The floor the cadets all stood on then suddenly sank, surprising them.
"Cadets, you are descending into the Well and must climb out with all deliberate speed." Aresko explained as the cadets were now surrounded by walls and a floor that all looked like they could pop out in sections. "You will be given the honour of serving as aides in Imperial headquarters. Those who lose will be serving Taskmaster Grint and wish they'd stayed at the bottom of that well."
"I'm taking that prize." Jai bragged before he got shoved by the cadet with green markings on his helmet.
"Not today, Kell." The cadet hissed.
"Back off, Oleg." Ender warned him.
"You too, Morgan. You're both going down." Oleg guaranteed.
"Correction, you're going down." Ender snorted, making Oleg roar and attack Ender, who blocked his attacks.
Aresko glanced at Grint, who held a remote that controls for the Well.
"The assessment begins in four…" Grint said, earning the cadets' attention when watching Ender and Oleg fight, the former shoving the latter away as he, Jai and the dark skinned teen put their helmets back on. "...three, two…"
"How exactly are we going up?" Jai asked.
"...one!" Grint finished the countdown before pressing some buttons on the remote, making repulsorlift platforms to pop out of the walls and floor, moving across and up the Well.
"I think that's your answer right there, Jai." Ender said before he ran to a platform and jumped onto it to jump onto another before jumping to a third, grabbing a bar at the bottom of it to swing onto another platform.
"See ya from the top!" He then said before jumping over Jai and onto yet another platform.
"More like I will!" Jai retorted as he climbed onto a platform while Ender jumped onto a higher platform. Jai then jumped onto another that rose up right before Ender jumped onto another platform that moved to his left.
Jai then jumped onto a different platform while another cadet did the same on a platform that popped out of the wall, then onto another that popped out of the wall to his right.
Oleg jumped across three platforms while Ender jumped and grabbed onto a bar of a platform that rose up.
"Failure is not acceptable." Aresko told the cadets, one of whom on a platform rising to the top of the Well, looked up at him and Grint, who stood on the plinth that now hovered over the Well. "This Empire has no use for weakness."
He then pressed some buttons on the remote, which made the platform the cadet stood on to be electrified, shocking the cadet, who got thrown off.
Ender ran and jumped on platforms that popped out of a wall, avoiding being shocked as well, before jumping onto a platform that went across the Well.
"Morgan, how do you do it?" Jai questioned in disbelief before he jumped and grabbed the bar of a platform and swung onto another platform. "It's like you know the platforms are coming before they're there."
"It's a gut feeling." Ender replied as he ran up the wall and got onto another platform, nearing the top of the Well, and getting the attention of Aresko and Grint.
"Morgan is impressive. Perhaps too impressive. Make a note of that." Aresko told Grint.
Jai made his way across some more platforms before he joined Ender, who helped him onto his platform.
Nearby, Oleg laughed as he jumped onto a platform that was moving towards the pair.
"You lose, Morgan." He sneered, which Ender heard.
"Move!" Ender told Jai, making them jump onto a nearby platform as Oleg jumped at them, causing him to tumble down on his back onto another platform below.
Ender pressed a button on his helmet to reveal his face, grinning down at Oleg before he and Jai reached the wall and climbed up out of the Well, the latter getting up by Ender.
"First yet again." Ender said as the dark skinned teen climbed out of the Well.
"Yeah, well, I'll get you tomorrow." Jai promised after taking off his helmet.
"You said that yesterday, as well." Ender reminded him as he took his helmet off.
"Quite a finish, cadets." Aresko addressed them as he walked up to them, clapping his hands. "It seems this trial was too easy. Morgan, Kell, you both set course records." He then noticed the dark skinned teen, who Jai helped up on his feet. "And, um, is it Leonis?"
The teen removed his helmet.
"Sir, yes, sir." Leonis replied.
"You three are today's winners. But rest assured, your next trial will be a great challenge." Aresko told them before leading them away. "Follow."
The three followed after him, leaving Oleg, who just climbed to the top of the Well, slamming his fist in anger.
Aresko led the three through the corridors of Imperial headquarters, all with their helmets carried in their arms.
A black astromech rolled past them, who Ender gave hand signals with, which acknowledged with beeps and warbles, though this was noticed by Leonis, who looked back at the droid as it went down the corridor, before joining up with the others.
At night, the astromech rolled out of the assessment hall and into the garage right outside, stopping between two parked ITTs, where it flashed a light to Serah, who spotted him through her targeting viewfinder on her helmet.
Once done, the astromech, who was Chopper, rolled back to the assessment hall, and Serah lifted the viewfinder up before walking to Zeb, both hiding behind a building.
"Spectre-5 to Ghost." She said through her comlink in her helmet. "Got confirmation that Ender passed the first test and is now in Imperial HQ."
"Roger, Spectre-5. Ghost standing by." Hera replied.
High up in Lothal's orbit was the Ghost, with both Kanan and Hera in the cockpit.
"We've been standing by for weeks. I'm sick of this." Kanan complained.
"You're worried about Ender." Hera pointed out.
"I'm not worried about the kid, I'm worried about the op." Kanan retorted before being silent for a moment and sighing. "What were we thinking, putting him undercover?"
"What were we thinking? This was your idea." Hera reminded him.
"He's just not ready. And if he gets caught…." Kanan said.
"He hasn't gotten caught so far." Hera said optimistically.
"The minute he gets that decoder, Zeb yanks him out of there." Kanan insisted.
"Uh, that's the plan." Hera said, baffled that Kanan insisted, when it was going to happen regardless.
"I should've done this myself." Kanan frowned.
"Oh, yeah. You'd make quite a cadet." Hera retorted.
Back at the Imperial Academy, Ender, Jai and Leonis exited a turbolift with datapads.
Jai and Ender put their helmets on and exited, Jai walking down the corridor to the right, while Ender walked to the left, which Leonis found odd.
Combining that with the signals he gave to Chopper, Leonis put his helmet on and followed him as he turned a corner.
Nearby, Kallus exited his office, looking at a datapad in his hands, Ender standing by the door.
"Sir, I have your new datapad." He told Kallus as he followed him, holding out a datapad. "Should I leave it on your desk?"
"No, I'll take it now." Kallus replied.
With that, Ender handed him the datapad and stopped, letting Kallus continue on down the corridor.
Once he was gone, Ender went back to Kallus' office and entered after entering the code on the panel, taking his helmet off
He looked at his office, seeing three windows that showed a good view of the city.
He then walked up to the desk, placed the pile of datapads and his helmet on it, and opened up Kallus' network terminal, which had the decoder he was looking for. He typed in the keys and pressed a large button, which ejected the decoder.
Ender grabbed it and closed the terminal. Then he put it in his helmet and grabbed the datapads before walking up to the door.
But when he opened it, he was shocked to find Leonis on the other side, though he made sure to not show it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Leonis questioned him.
Before Ender could reply, they heard a door opening nearby and, much to his surprise, Leonis pushed him back into Kallus' office, the door closing behind them.
Leonis took his helmet off and turned to Ender, glancing at his helmet, seeing the decoder inside, which he snatched.
"Oi!" Ender snapped.
"Figured it would be something like this." Leonis deduced.
"It ain't what you think." Ender tried to hide his true intentions.
"I think this device has a built-in sensor, which would trigger that." Leonis replied, pointing up at a sensor above the door. "You try walking out with this thing, the whole facility goes on lockdown."
"Why are you trying to help me?" Ender asked with narrowed eyes.
"You really want to discuss this here and now?" Leonis asked, holding the decoder to him.
"Not really." Ender replied, taking the decoder and inserted it back into the terminal.
They put their helmets back on and exited the office, walking down the corridor.
Outside, Serah watched the large door to the assessment hall close up as an AT-DP patrolled the area, making her activate her comlink.
"Spectre-5 to Ghost. There's a complication. Ender hasn't shown up with the decoder." She informed Hera.
"Copy that, Spectre-5. Give him one more day." Hera replied.
"This decoder better be worth the risk." Kanan sighed.
"What's the alternative? Do you want to stop that kyber shipment or not?" Hera question him seriously. "You know what the Empire could do with that crystal."
"Nothing good." Kanan replied.
"So we give Ender one more day." Hera stated.
In the Imperial Academy, as all the other cadets were asleep in their bunks, both Ender and Leonis got up and quietly left their quarters and entered an armory for privacy.
"What do you need that decoder for?" Leonis instantly asked Ender.
"To give my friends info to stop an Imperial shipment of a kyber crystal." Ender replied. "How come you knew about the sensors?"
"My sister, Dhara. She was the star cadet in this place. She knew the entire Imperial complex backwards and forwards." Leonis explained.
"Whatever happened to her?" Ender asked, noting he was using the past tense when talking about his sister.
"Well, they told us she ran off. But I don't believe it." Leonis replied. "What were you doing breaking into Kallus' office? That's a great way to get shot."
"It's a long story, but it's important I get that decoder." Ender replied back. "And I'm starting to realise that I'll need help, and since you know your way around this place…."
"What's in it for me?" Leonis questioned.
"Does there need to be a reason to mess with the Empire?" Ender argued as he held his hand out.
"Not really." Leonis smirked before shaking hands with him.
"Alright. It's important we're in the top three tomorrow if we're to get back in Imperial HQ." Ender pointed out.
"Then let's do it. I'm Zare, by the way. Zare Leonis." Zare properly introduced himself. "And you're Dev, right?"
"That's just an alias. I'm actually Ender Brand." Ender told him. "Just make sure you only call me Dev while we're here."
The following day, the cadets were back in the Well, now armed with E-11 blasters.
"Today's assessment will be a bit more challenging." Aresko told the cadets, Ender, Zare and Jai closing their helmets up as he did so. A red light then turned on on one of the panels for the platforms. "You will need to shoot the targets to activate the panels necessary to climb out."
All the other panels that had targets on them had the red light on and they all lit up.
"Three, two, one!" Grint counted down.
Zare fired a shot at one of the targets, making a platform come out.
The other cadets started firing at the targets and started climbing on the platforms when they came out, though one cadet knocked another off the platform they're standing on.
Ender, being one of the ones to get the highest so far, jumped up onto another platform and fired a target on another, activating it and jumping onto it when it was close enough, firing another shot at another target.
Oleg then fired a shot on another platform that had a cadet on it, knocking it over, causing the cadet to fall off.
"Oleg seems to have taken your corrections to heart, Mr. Grint." Aresko noted.
As Jai jumped onto a platform, Oleg shot it, knocking it over, but Jai jumped onto the platform Ender's on in time.
Ender opened up his helmet and looked down at Zare, who also opened up his helmet.
"I'm not gonna make it!" He told Ender.
Ender thought of ways to ensure that Zare could be in the top three, but whatever he thought of wouldn't work. That was when an idea formed, one that he didn't want to do, but he had to if Kanan and Hera were to take down that Imperial shipment.
"Sorry, Jai." He apologised before he shoved him off the platform and fell onto one of the lower ones. He opened up his helmet and looked up at Ender, who looked broken before he closed his helmet up.
Ender soon climbed out of the Well, being the first to do so, followed by Oleg, then finally Zare.
"Cadet's, follow Morgan's example. There is no friendship in war. The only thing that matters is victory. Victory at any cost." Aresko told the three on the hovering plinth. "Tomorrow's final trial will push all of you to your limits. The reward for success will be a training session aboard an Imperial walker."
Once he finished his speech, the other cadets climbed out of the Well.
Ender and Zare took their helmets off as everyone walked off while Jai rounded on the former.
"Dev, you sabotaged me!" He hissed angrily.
"I did what I had to do." Ender coolly replied before he turned and walked away.
"Good to know." Jai replied with the same cold tone.
Elsewhere, in Imperial headquarters, Minister Tua exited her office with Ender and Zare waiting for her to leave.
Once she was out of earshot, Ender unlocked the door to her office.
Upon entering, Ender looked up and spotted a vent grate up on the ceiling, which he'll use to get to Kallus' office and get the decoder out.
"How are you gonna reach anything from up there?" Zare questioned as Ender got onto the desk.
"I've actually been training to be a Jedi." Ender replied.
"Yeah, right. Who isn't?" Zare said sarcastically, not believing him as Ender jumped up and climbed into the vent.
"Just wait and see." Ender promised before he closed the grate and crawled through the vent to Kallus' office.
Meanwhile, Zare exited Tua's office and stood in the corridor as a couple of stormtroopers walked past him.
He opened up his helmet and walked over to the door to Kallus' office, where Ender opened the vent grate inside very quietly, looking down at Kallus, who sat behind his desk.
The door then chimed.
"Come." Kallus called out. The door then opened, revealing Zare standing there.
"Sir, your podracer parts have been delivered." He informed Kallus. "If you'll just sign off here, I'll bring them up."
Baffled, Kallus got up and walked up to Zare.
"Obviously, there's been a mistake. What would I want with podracer parts?" He questioned the teen.
"No mistake, sir. It says right here two crates of second hand podracer parts for Agent Kallus." Zare explained.
Meanwhile, Ender reached his hand towards the network terminal, ejecting the decoder out of it. He then closed his eyes and made it levitate and move up towards him.
I enjoy a good podrace myself, sir." Zare told Kallus, who was starting to suspect something was off, especially when Zare glanced away from him for the barest of moments.
The two stared each other down as the decoder moved closer and closer to Ender.
Eventually, Kallus decided to turn and look, finding nothing strange, Ender having already gotten the decoder and closed the grate.
"So were you gonna sign it?" Zare asked Kallus.
"Cadet, are you ignorant? I said this is a mistake." Kallus frowned.
"Sir, yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" Zare replied, standing straight as Kallus walked back to his desk, grinning that Ender got the decoder.
Speaking of Ender, he pocketed the decoder and started crawling back to Tua's office, where he heard Aresko's voice through the grate.
"As usual, the assessments have proven quite illuminating." He said as Ender opened the grate slightly, seeing him talk to a hologram. "I believe we've identified two cadets, Morgan and Kell, that meet your special criteria, Inquisitor."
Hearing this made Ender's eyes widen with horror.
"Excellent, Commandant. Tomorrow, I will arrive on Lothal to test them myself. If the tests are conclusive, I will take them into custody." The Inquisitor replied.
Ender closed the grate and realised that he can't leave with the decoder. He had to save Jai from the Inquisitor.
Later, Serah and Zeb were waiting when they saw Chopper arrive.
"Did you get the decoder?" Zeb asked him.
Chopper replied, ejecting the decoder, which Serah grabbed.
"Good. Where's Ender?" Zeb then asked, making Chopper reply with a response that shocked him and Serah.
"Why would he go back to the Academy?" Serah questioned Ender's sanity.
Chopper activated his holoprojector, showing a message that Ender left for her and Zeb.
"I know you guys are expecting me, but I need to stay in the Academy for a little longer. There's this kid named Jai Kell, and if I don't help him escape tomorrow, he'll be taken away by the Inquisitor, believing he may be Force-sensitive." The message explained.
"Wait, the Inquisitor?" Zeb frowned. "Is Ender out of his -"
"I know you'll think I lost my mind, but you guys are to thank for that. You made me realise I need to help people more than I did before I met you. Regardless, just decode the hyperspace coordinates and get them to Spectre-1 and 2. And if you two aren't busy, I need you to attack the Academy by noon tomorrow. A diversion would be helpful. Anyway, Spectre-6 out." The message finished, leaving Zeb and Serah grinning at the idea of creating a distraction.
With Hera and Kanan, they flew away from Lothal.
"Spectre-5 to Ghost. Sending coordinates for Imperial jump route." Serah said through the comlink. "You should be able to intercept if you leave right now."
"Coordinates received." Hera replied, pressing a few buttons, seeing the coordinates displayed on her console. "We're heading out."
"Good work, Spectre-5. And you, too, Spectre-6." Kanan said.
"Um, Spectre-6 isn't actually here with us." Serah revealed to him.
"What? Where is he?" Kanan asked, now concerned.
But as he asked that, Hera entered the Ghost into hyperspace.
"Spectre-5, repeat! Where's Spectre-6?" He demanded.
"Kanan, we're out of range." Hera pointed out. "All we can do now is complete the mission and get back as soon as possible."
As much as he hated it, she was right. They had no choice, so they must get going with the mission.
Back with Ender, he placed a hand over Jai's mouth as he slept in their quarters, which woke him up.
"Shh. I need you to come with me." Ender whispered, though Jai shook his head 'no'. "Jai, you must trust me. Please."
Begrudgingly, Jai nodded back, and Ender led him out to the armoury, where they met up with Zare. Jai was then told about what Ender learned earlier.
"So you need to come with us and leave tomorrow." Ender finished the explanation.
"No. No way. This is just another dirty trick. You're trying to get me busted out of the Academy." Jai told him, not believing him.
"Yeah, because the Inquisitor wants to -"
"Please! I don't believe this Inquisitor exists." Jai cut Ender off. "And even if he does, then maybe it's a good thing. The Inquisitor trains me, I get a top rank in the Empire."
"Kell, you got a family?" Zare asked Jai, having been silent the whole time.
"Uh, it's just me and my mother." Jai revealed.
"And how would she feel if she never saw you again?" Zare then asked, walking right up to him. "My sister disappeared from this place. And I'm betting it was the Inquisitor who took her away. So unless you're ready to say bye to mom forever…."
Jai was taken aback, realising that Ender wasn't trying to mess with him, that he really is trying to save him. Because of this, he had no choice.
"Okay. What's the plan?" He asked the pair.
"Simple: all three of us have to win tomorrow's challenge." Ender replied.
"Not so simple." Zare reminded him.
"How's that gonna get us outta here?" Jai questioned.
"Because it'll get us inside the walker, remember?" Ender reminded them.
Elsewhere, near an asteroid belt was a convoy of three Imperial Gozanti class cruisers with TIE fighters attached to them.
In front of them, the Ghost appeared out of hyperspace.
"Kanan, there are three ships." Hera informed Kanan, who was in the Phantom, flicking some switches and buttons. "And we'll only get one shot at this."
"The kyber crystal resonates with the Force." Kanan replied as he closed his eyes and held his hand out, focusing and tuning to find the kyber crystal, which he soon found was in the middle cruiser, making him open his eyes. "It's in the middle ship."
"You sure?" Hera asked, trying to make sure.
"I'm sure." Kanan said confidently.
He then detached the Phantom from the Ghost and flew right at the convoy, which had four of the TIE fighters detach and fly right at Kanan.
As this happened, it was the following day at the Imperial Academy, and the remaining cadets (Ender, Zare, Jai and Oleg) were all making their way up the Well on the various platforms, with Jai, Zare and Oleg wielding blasters.
"Come on, keep up!" Ender told Jai and Zare, who all hurried up the platforms.
However, Oleg decided to take Jai out and aimed his blaster at him, which Ender noticed.
"Look out!" He cried out, jumping down and landed in front of Jai, taking the shot, which had him fall down on a lower platform.
"Dev!" Jai cried out.
"Just go!" Ender told him.
As he got up, the four cadets all continued climbing up the Well.
Ultimately, Oleg, Zare and Jai were the top three, with Ender being fourth and was helped up by Jai.
"Well, well." Aresko said as the plinth he and Grint stood on landed on the floor. "Cadets Kell, Leonis and Oleg win the day and the prize." He then pointed at the AT-DP walker to his right.
"You were supposed to be on the walker with us. Now what?" Jai asked Ender quietly and with concern.
"Just stick to the plan. I'll find my own way to get onboard." Ender calmly told him.
Back with Kanan and Hera, the former fired some shots at the TIEs, destroying one of them and flying past the other three.
"Come on, boys, take the bait." Kanan said hopefully.
He flew past the cruisers, where the rest of the TIE fighters detached and chased after him.
"Hera, you're good to go!" Kanan informed Hera.
"Copy that." She acknowledged.
She flew right for the cruisers, which fired shots at her, most missing, though a few stray shots managed to hit the Ghost, making it shake, which had Hera groan as she kept going.
Back at the Imperial Academy, Chopper rolled past a parked AT-DP and attached a bomb onto one of its legs.
Meanwhile, Zare, Jai and Oleg got inside the other walker, which was inside the assessment hall, all with a combat driver, who explained how the vehicle works.
"So these control movement and this fires the cannons." Zare said to the driver about the controls. "But what are these?"
"Gyroscopics. Here, I'll show you." The driver replied, unaware that Zare grabbed his blaster, which he handed to Jai.
In the assessment hall, Ender spotted Chopper right outside, flashing his light at him. Ender nodded, and Chopper rolled away in time as the bomb he planted exploded, knocking the walker down.
"We're under attack!" Grint gasped.
"What was that?" The driver of the walker questioned.
"My signal." Jai replied, firing a stun blast at the driver, knocking him out.
"What are you doing?" Oleg questioned. He then tried taking Jai down, but Jai turned and shot him, knocking him out as well.
Zare then took over the driver seat and activated the walker.
"Guess there's no turning back now." Jai told him.
"No." Zare replied.
Back with Hera and Kanan, the former kept flying right at the cruisers that were firing at her, and missing still, excluding a few hits, focusing and glaring at the cruisers, even using the dorsal turret to fire back.
At some point, Hera yelled as she pulled the Ghost up and circled around, getting chased by a couple of TIEs while Kanan kept being chased by the rest, distracting them.
As this happened, the middle cruiser started turning around.
Back at the Imperial Academy, the alarm was now blaring, with cadets and other Imperials running.
"We are under attack. Repeat, under attack." Aresko spoke through the speakers. "Lower the blast doors!"
The blast doors started lowering, which concerned Zare and Jai, as they've yet to get the walker moving.
"Look! Do something!" Jai told Zare.
Zare then had the walker move as he fired some shots, most hitting the blast doors, but a few hit a walker right underneath, taking it down, making it fall onto the ground.
"Commandant! Whoever's controlling that walker is part of the attack!" Grint told Aresko.
"This is LRC-01. A rogue walker is loose in the Academy. Advance and destroy!" Aresko ordered.
An ITT right outside turned its turrets at the walker Zare and Jai are in, firing at it, making it stumble and spark.
"Fire back!" Jai told Zare.
"I'm trying!" Zare snapped back.
Back with Kanan and Hera, the former flew past the middle cruiser, realising it's trying to escape.
"Hera, that transport's gonna be gone any second and the cargo along with it. Take your shot!" He informed.
Hera, high above the cruisers, flew down towards them, avoiding their shots at her, focusing to get the best shot at the middle cruiser.
And just before it could enter hyperspace, Hera fired some well aimed shots with the nose turret at the cruiser's engines, which exploded.
She then flew the Ghost away, with Kanan following her, still being chased by the three remaining TIE fighters.
With the added power of the kyber crystal, the cruiser exploded with so much force, it sent out a huge shockwave that consumed everything it made contact with, first starting with the other two cruisers.
"HERA!" Kanan yelled, noticing the green shockwave through the Phantom's windshield.
"I see it! Come on!" Hera urged.
The shockwave ate away all the TIE fighters as it was getting closer to Hera and Kanan, who aligned the Phantom to reattach to the Ghost.
The moment he reattached, Hera made the jump to hyperspace right before the shockwave dissipated and the explosion was extinguished.
Back at the Imperial Academy, Ender ran alongside the walker Zare and Jai were in, heading for a ladder that would be used to enter a starfighter, which he climbed up and jumped off of, grabbing onto the leg joint of the walker, which he then climbed to the top of.
"Let me in!" Ender shouted to Zare and Jai.
"Look! Morgan's attempting to fight off the insurgents single handed!" Aresko said in disbelief and amazement.
"Oh, crud!" Ender gulped as he struggled holding on to the walker as it made its way to the blast doors and being fired upon still by the ITT.
It then fired at the walker's legs, destroying them and making it topple over, Ender being thrown off.
"Hold on!" Zare warned Jai right before the walker fully crashed onto the ground and Ender rolled before crashing on his back.
The blast doors were then blocked by the walker, as it was directly underneath it.
Ender groaned as he saw a stormtrooper point their blaster at him, being accompanied by three others.
But he was then shot down by Zeb, who lay on the roof of a small building, aiming his bo-rifle, shooting down a second trooper.
The other two fired at him, but Serah leapt out from behind the ITT to their right, kicking one in the head and shooting the other point blank.
"Thanks for the help." Ender said as he was helped to his feet by Serah.
"No problem." Serah replied.
A stormtrooper then appeared from behind the ITT and aimed at Ender, but got electrocuted and knocked out by Chopper, who rolled up to the pair, saying something that made Ender chuckle.
Then they heard banging from the walker.
"We gotta get 'em out!" Ender told Serah before they ran up to it and opened the hatch, helping Zare and Jai out.
"You alright?" Ender asked Jai.
"Yeah. Let's just get outta here." Jai replied, about to leave with Ender, Serah and Chopper.
"Wait. Give me that blaster." Zare insisted.
"Uh, sure. Why?" Jai asked as he handed it to him.
"Because I'm staying." Zare replied.
"Why?" Ender questioned his sanity.
"It's the only way I'll ever find my sister." Zare argued.
"We have bucketheads inbound!" Serah pointed, making everyone see Aresko, Grint and four stormtroopers run right towards them.
"I'll try to keep in touch." Ender promised Zare before he and everyone else ran away.
Zeb then showed up in a landspeeder.
"Get in!" He told everyone, who climbed onto the vehicle. Once they were all on, Zeb sped off, with Zare firing at them, to keep up an act that he's on the side of the Imperials, as they just joined his side.
When they were too far away, Zare stopped firing the blaster.
They made it out of the city and went out to the grasslands, where they met up with Hera and Kanan, who just got back from the mission.
Ender also told Hera about Jai's predicament.
"Jai, we'll take you to your mother, but you'll both have to go into hiding." Hera told the teen.
"Yeah, from the Empire. No problem." Jai replied before he entered the Ghost.
"We'll help with that, too." Hera reassured him as she, Serah and Chopper followed him, leaving Ender and Kanan outside.
"So, how was it, kid?" Kanan asked.
"Reminded me of what it was like on my own." Ender confessed.
"You miss it?" Kanan asked again.
"Not really, it just reinforced the idea that I'd rather be part of something instead of being on my own." Ender shook his head with a relieved grin, which had Kanan chuckle.
"At ease, cadet." He told Ender as he walked back into the Ghost.
"Sir, yes, sir." Ender grinned with a salute before he followed him inside, glad to be back with the ship he started calling home after being in the Imperial Academy for weeks.
