Rebel Resolve
In the town of Kothal, as the citizens were going with their usual day, an AT-DP walker and a squad of stormtroopers marched through the streets.
"Pair off, I want a full sweep." The trooper in charge, evident by his orange shoulder pad, ordered the others. "Those rebels must be found."
On a rooftop to their, both Serah and Zeb watched them before the former signalled Ender on the rooftop opposite them, who was accompanied by Chopper.
Ender nodded back before he prepared himself for their plan.
Serah and Zeb looked at each other, nodding, before the latter ran and jumped onto the walker, followed by Ender.
Of course, this drew the attention of the two Imperial combat drivers, hearing their thumps from their landings.
"What was that?" The pilot in front questioned.
The one in the back got up and walked to the hatch so that he could take a look, but was surprised when it opened and got pulled out by Zeb, screaming as he did so.
"What the -?" The driver gasped, looking over his left shoulder. He then heard someone clear their throat to his left, making him turn to see Ender.
"Hello, there." Ender greeted him before shooting him with his lightsaber hilt, knocking him out.
However, this caused the driver's legs to knock against the controls, making the walker not only get out of control, but also making it fire blaster shots.
"Whoa!" Zeb grunted as he struggled to keep balance.
Of course, all this made the citizens scream and run to avoid getting hurt or worse as the walker made a right turn.
"WHOA!" Zeb yelled.
All this commotion drew the attention of the commanding stormtrooper and the two that accompanied him.
Before they could fire at Zeb, though, they were fired upon by Serah, who remained up on the rooftops. This made the commanding trooper fire back at her while the other two fired up at Zeb.
Nearby, Chopper took off with his rocket booster to the walker, which walked around a square and back towards the streets, where Zeb was firing down at the troopers.
The Lasat signalled Chopper to get inside the walker, which he did, lowering himself in and beeping at Ender, who was moving the driver out of the seat.
"Plug in, Chop. We need the prisoner logs of all the Imperial detention facilities." Ender told the astromech, who acknowledged and inserted his computer probe into a slot to find the information they're looking for.
As Ender pulled the driver out of the seat, their feet knocked on the controls, making the walker increase in speed as it continued walking.
"Hey! Keep it steady in there!" Zeb told Ender, who strained as he held up the driver's arm through the hatch.
"Here, dispose of this guy, will ya?" Ender requested, drawing Zeb's attention, who grinned eagerly.
He then threw the driver down at the commanding trooper, both crashing on the ground.
In the walker, Ender sat in the pilot's seat and took control, making it leave the square.
As it did, Serah ran on the rooftops alongside it and jumped onto it while Zeb fired back at the stormtroopers that followed them, using the hatch door for cover, managing to shoot one of them down.
"Command, we have a rogue walker. Repeat, rogue walker in grid four." The commanding trooper informed through comms.
Inside the walker, just as Serah jumped in, Chopper beeped some grave news.
"No connection? Well, that's just great." Serah groaned. "The whole system must be down."
"Well, they did blow their own comm tower." Zeb reminded her.
"Then they must've taken down the whole data network." Ender added, having gotten an understanding of how such things work by Serah. "So how do we find Kanan now?"
"Walker six-nine-three, stand down. Repeat, stand down." A stormtrooper said through comms.
"Screw you, buckethead!" Ender snapped back.
Zeb's eyes widened with worry as a couple of walkers now started chasing after them, one of which split up from the other, which started firing at them, knocking them slightly.
"Whoa! Spectre-2, we need a pickup, right now!" Serah informed Hera through comms.
"I read you, Spectre-5." Hera replied. "Rendezvous at the town's western border."
"Whoa!" Serah yelped as another shot from the walker chasing them hit the walker they're in.
"I don't like being a pessimist, Ender, but how do we even know -?"
"He's alive, Serah. The Empire would want information out of him, and they can't do that if he's dead, can they?" Ender cut her off.
Up top, Zeb fired at the walker chasing them and using the hatch for cover before glancing to his right, seeing the other walker on the other side of some buildings, trying to cut them off.
"Ender, I can't get a shot if we're running from them!" Serah told Ender as she took the seat behind him.
"Excuse me for not wanting us to die in a ball of fire!" Ender snapped back, as he didn't want to go out via an exploding walker.
The walker chasing them hit the hatch door twice, knocking Zeb back and making him cling onto the front of the walker, blocking Ender's view through a porthole.
"Hey, I can't see a thing!" Ender snapped at him as Serah looked at her computer linked gauntlet, which displayed a map.
"Just keep this thing walking in a straight line." She told Ender. "Here's also incoming, so everyone up top!" She then got out of the seat and started climbing out. "You too, Chop!"
Chopper, however, shook his head and grumbled.
Zeb climbed onto the top of the walker as Serah and Ender climbed out.
The walker chasing them fired more shots that hit their walker, making it shake, which had the three help and stumble to maintain balance.
The walker was then fired upon by Hera, who was piloting the Phantom, soon moving ahead of everyone and opening the rear as the other walker had managed to cut them off and stop in front of them.
Serah then jumped onboard the Phantom, followed by Zeb and Ender.
"Wait! Chopper!" Ender gasped, realising that they left him behind.
"That stubborn astromech is still looking for Kanan!" Serah groaned. "Zeb, get him!"
Zeb jumped back onto the walker and approached the hatch, where he looked down at a grumbling Chopper.
"Move, you junk pile! You're gonna get me fried!" Zeb groaned, pulling Chopper out of the walker and then jumped back into the Phantom just as the walker sustained too much blaster fire that it exploded.
The rear closed back up and Hera flew off.
The walker that cut them off turned to continue firing at the Phantom, but the still moving legs of the destroyed walker hit it and made it crash onto the ground.
As Serah and Zeb checked on Chopper, Ender was up at the front with Hera with a grim look on his face.
"How'd it go?" She asked him.
"Not good." Ender replied, dampening Hera's hopes.
After they all made it back to the Ghost, Hera broke off from everyone else in her room and spoke with Fulcrum via a hologram, which showed a figure wearing a hood that hid their face in shadow.
"Kanan knew the risks, accepted them." Fulcrum told Hera, their voice sounded modified and warbled, clearly to hide what they sound like for security reasons. "I'm sorry, but you must focus on your next objective."
"But, Fulcrum, Kanan is our objective. We can still find him." Hera insisted before she stepped back and had her hands on her hips.
"At what cost? You? Your unit? The overall mission?" Fulcrum said before sighing. "There's something else, Hera. The transmission that Ender was able to beam out has attracted attention…" This drew Hera's attention. "...not just from civilians, but from the highest levels of the Empire."
"It was Kanan's plan. I guess it worked." Hera replied, turning away from Fulcrum.
"Your mission was to be unseen, unnoticed, and now -"
"Kanan wanted to inspire people. He wanted to give them hope." Hera cut them off.
"Well, he was successful. But if you are caught, if Ender is caught, that hope will die. To protect your unit, to protect Ender, you must stop your search for Kanan and go into hiding." Fulcrum insisted, and Hera ultimately had to agree with them, as much as she didn't want to.
The hologram then cut off and Hera sat on the bench behind her, the weight of the decision weighing down on her.
In the common room, everyone gathered around a hologram of Lothal and the Star Destroyers that orbited the planet as a couple of blockades.
"They more than likely have him at the Imperial Complex." Serah sighed.
"If they do, we all know he's as good as gone." Zeb pointed out.
"I've told you, they'll most likely want information out of him, so he can't be gone." Ender insisted. "Therefore, he can't be in the Imperial Complex."
"But how can you be so sure? We can't exactly make a plan based on a feeling." Serah argued as she shut the hologram off.
"We can! We've done it before!" Ender snapped at her just as Hera showed up.
"Not this time." She told everyone, making Ender turn to her and stand up.
"What?" He questioned, shocked to hear her say such a thing.
"We can't go after Kanan. The Empire will be waiting with a trap." Hera explained.
"That hasn't stopped us before!" Ender reminded her.
"We can't risk it." Hera told him, making Serah and Zeb sigh.
"I think you're confusing can't with won't. No doubt because of Fulcrum." Ender frowned knowingly.
"Ender, there's a bigger mission you're not seeing. It can't be jeopardised for… one soldier." Hera pointed out, making him give her a scathing look.
"Is that what Kanan has been to you the whole time? A mere soldier?" He snapped at her with a snarl. "I can't just forget about him, especially since he's my master! And he'd do whatever to protect us!"
"He already did when he sacrificed himself." Hera argued before placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ender, he'd want us to honour the choice he made."
Ender shoved her hand off his shoulder and turned to leave the common room.
"I'm not gonna forget him just because some informant said so." He spat before he left, leaving Hera to watch on with sadness.
Elsewhere, Chopper entered Kanan's room, sighing sadly at losing a crewmember.
"Hey." He heard Ender's voice behind him, making the astromech turn to see him by the doorframe.
When Ender entered, Chopper spoke in distress, pressing against Ender's body.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, it's alright. I miss him, too." Ender told him softly, kneeling next to him, making Chopper groan. "But I happen to have a plan to find him. You wanna help?"
Chopper beeped in agreement without any hesitation.
The following day, Hera, Serah and Zeb were in the cockpit, getting ready for the next mission, though the collective mood was dour.
"Why prepare to fight if we're not even going after Kanan?" Zeb sighed, breaking the silence, just as Chopper entered the cockpit.
"You think he'll talk, tell what he knows about us?" Serah questioned.
"He doesn't know anything." Hera sadly replied, surprising Serah and Zeb.
The comms then chimed in.
"Hey, Serah? Do you know where the power cells are? I need some for my lightsaber." Ender said.
"Have you checked the overheads?" Serah asked in a groan.
"First place I checked, nothing." Ender replied instantly.
"Hold on, then. I think I know where to find some." Serah replied as she stood before turning to Chopper. "Chop, take over for me, will ya?"
Chopper beeped and saluted before rolling up to the slot he inserts his computer spike into.
"You can help us look, too, Zeb." Serah told the Lasat.
"Really?" Zeb scoffed. "Why do I need to -?"
He was cut off when Serah punched his arm and cleared her throat for him to follow her. Begrudgingly, he did so, the two leaving the cockpit.
Chopper then asked Hera something, making her sigh.
"Just recalibrate the targeting computer, will ya?" She told him, making Chopper groan and complain before inserting into the computer slot.
In the Phantom, Ender was in the middle of getting the shuttle ready when Serah and Zeb entered.
"Is Chopper in position?" Ender asked as he got out of the seat for Serah to take over.
"Yep." Serah replied, sitting down and finishing what Ender started.
At this moment, Zeb realised what they're doing.
"Wait, you're going to find Kanan." He said. "You're disobeying Hera's orders."
"They weren't orders, they were an opinion forced onto her by Fulcrum." Serah argued.
"Besides, we don't have a choice if we want to save him." Ender added. "So, you with us?"
"Yeah, I'm with you." Zeb replied, joining their side.
"Good, since the plan's now in motion. We just need to wait for the signal." Ender revealed.
Back in the cockpit, thanks to Chopper, there was nothing but loud electronic warbling, which made Hera cover her ears up.
"Chopper, I said the targeting computer." She reminded the astromech before realising what was going on with some of the ship's systems. "You're overloading the internal comm!"
Chopper then beeped and turned up the warbling, which annoyed Hera further.
"No! Don't turn it up!" She yelled, getting up and running to Chopper, unaware that one of the buttons on the control panel was flashing red, which was the signal.
"Alright, where are we going, exactly?" Serah asked Ender.
"Our last resort." Ender replied with a stern expression.
And so, Serah detached the Phantom from the Ghost and flew off.
Back with Chopper, he turned his head over at the control panel as Hera reached him.
"Will you just unplug?" She demanded before the button stopped flashing and the warbling stopped, as well.
Chopper then unplugged and told Hera how it was all her fault.
"How is that my fault? You plugged into the wrong system!" Hera replied in offense. "Why don't you just go help Ender find his power cells?"
Chopper replied back and turned to face the slots again, though his behaviour raised red flags for Hera.
"What are you up to?" She asked him.
Back with the others, they soon reached Vizago's camp, where they spotted a green C-ROC Gozanti-class light cruiser, which was Vizago's own ship, called the Broken Horn.
Upon landing and exiting the Phantom, they walked to talk with Vizago, where they saw that his droids were moving crates.
"Well, this is unexpected." Vizago greeted the trio, turning his head to them. "Looking for work? Or something else?"
"You probably already know why we're here." Ender replied.
"I don't know where your friend is. I'm sorry." Vizago replied back.
"You had to have heard something." Ender insisted, making him turn fully to face him.
"Even if I did know something, it would be of no use to you. The Empire is locking everything down. That's bad for you and bad for business." Vizago explained.
"But if you helped us, that might change." Ender argued, folding his arms.
"I doubt that." Vizago scoffed before sighing and storming up to him. "In fact, I think your activities got the Empire's attention, and have made things more difficult for me." He then turned to walk away. "Get out of here. You're bad luck."
"Haven't you ever wondered why the Empire was so interested in Kanan, why they sent an Inquisitor on Lothal?" Ender questioned him, making Zeb and Serah share a confused glance with each other, also making Vizago stop, as he did in fact wonder why.
"Ender…." Serah said concerningly.
"Please tell." Vizago requested, turning back to face Ender.
"It's because Kanan's a Jedi." Ender revealed to him.
This revelation made one of Vizago's droids stop and turn to him while everyone was silent.
But then Vizago chuckled before it turned into laughter.
"Kanan? A Jedi? You're funny, kid. That scoundrel couldn't be a Jedi any more than you could." Vizago then shrugged off, making Ender close his eyes and hold his hand out, knowing he'd need to give him concrete proof of what he's saying.
He used the Force to lift a crate behind Vizago off the ground, which drew Vizago's attention and made him stop laughing, especially when Ender made the crate hover directly over him.
Ender opened his eyes, seeing the shocked expression on his face before he stopped hovering the crate, making it drop and for Vizago to jump out of the way.
"You? You are a Jedi?" He asked Ender.
"As is Kanan." Ender replied.
"So what does this mean for Vizago?" He then asked.
"Simple. If you help me, you'll have a Jedi that owes you a favour." Ender reasoned. He may not be thrilled with whatever favour it'll be, but all that matters right now is saving Kanan.
"Hmm. Whatever I ask?" Vizago pondered, liking this idea already.
"Ultimately, yes." Ender sighed begrudgingly.
"Alright. Come with me, boy. Alone." Vizago then said with a grin.
Ender sighed before he followed Vizago towards his ship, leaving behind Zeb and Serah, who were naturally concerned for Ender, given the kind of person Vizago is.
They stepped onto a lift that took them inside the ship itself with one of Vizago's droids and a crate.
They then entered a room where the droid placed the crate with some others that were already stored there and waited for the droid to leave before they talked.
"Now what?" Ender asked.
"First, the deal." Vizago replied before he bowed.
Realising that this must be how it's done to settle things, Ender bowed back before they lifted their heads up.
"Now, ever since you blew up the Empire's comm tower -"
"Actually, the Empire did that themselves." Ender corrected him.
"Well, you probably know they have no long range communications, so they started using these." Vizago explained, showing a hologram of an R4 astromech in the Imperial colour scheme via his remote. "Droid couriers. They take data from the city up to their communications ship in orbit."
"What kind of data, exactly?" Ender asked him.
"Everything. You name it." Vizago replied, turning the hologram off. "Personnel, weapons, deployments, prisoners."
"Including Kanan?" Ender asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Possibly, but I can't guarantee that." Vizago pointed out.
"How typical of you." Ender rolled his eyes.
"Hey, a deal is a deal." Vizago pointed out.
"I guess so." Ender shrugged. "So what do you need from me?"
"Hmm. Today, nothing. Tomorrow, who knows? I'll let you know when I want to collect." Vizago replied, leaving Ender on edge slightly.
With everything sorted out, Ender left the ship and made his way back to Serah and Zeb, who had their backs facing him, like they were… talking with someone. And Ender had a good idea who it was.
"I have a lead." He said aloud to get their attention.
They turned to face him, revealing Hera by their side, and to say she didn't look pleased would be an understatement.
"For what you just bargained, you better have something more than just a lead." Hera coolly replied before she led everyone back to the Ghost.
"Hera, I get that you're furious -"
"Oh, you have no idea, young man." Hera spat, turning to face him. "You just put all our lives in jeopardy. I give you a direct order, and you disobeyed me."
"Well, it paid off! We now have a way to find out where Kanan is!" Ender argued as Chopper showed up on the ramp as everyone walked up to the Ghost. "Fact is, none of us are giving up on Kanan."
This made Hera stop on the ramp and give Ender a look that would make even the bravest of men cower.
"And you think I am?" She hissed, holding back her fury.
"I don't. Why else would I take such a risk?" Ender replied.
This made Hera look at him, realising that he truly isn't gonna stop until Kanan is saved. She then looked at Serah and Zeb, seeing that they too won't stop.
And so, since pretty much everyone else decided they'd rather save Kanan instead of continuing on with what Fulcrum said, she's gonna help them.
"Okay. What did you learn?" She asked Ender after sighing.
"Well, I have a plan, one that involves Chopper." Ender replied.
Later that night, after explaining what Vizago told him, Ender and the others made it to Capital City, where they were on a rooftop, watching a Sentinel-class shuttle land behind some buildings.
"That must be the shuttle the Empire's using to get the courier droid to their comm ship." Serah noted. "We need to intercept that droid before it boards the shuttle."
"Then the only way to make sure we do that is by grabbing that droid and having Chopper take its place." Ender replied, surprising Chopper, who beeped angrily at him and waved his mechanical arms around.
"Easy, Chop. I'm just giving ya a paint job. The Empire won't know the difference." Serah told him, making the astromech groan.
"Remember, Chop, this is for Kanan." Ender reminded him, which made Chopper begrudgingly go along, knowing it'll help them find Kanan.
The courier droid was being escorted by four stormtroopers through the streets when Serah popped out from behind and shot the two in the rear, taking them out and drawing the attention of the two in the front.
"Behind you." She warned them in a cute sing-song voice.
"Ha! I'm not gonna fall for -" One of the troopers said, only getting cut off when Zeb came up behind the two and knocked their heads together, knocking them out.
The courier droid shook with fright before looking up at Zeb, so scared by his height and appearance that it blacked out and fell onto its back.
Zeb groaned as he got back up while Ender showed up with Chopper, now in an Imperial paint job.
"You can do this, Chop." Ender encouraged Chopper, who beeped back before heading off on his own to the shuttle.
The trio then took the courier droid back to the Ghost, which Hera piloted right away, flying through the night sky, following Chopper's beacon.
The three then entered the cockpit, Zeb carrying the droid, which chittered, before placing it down, Serah trying to calm it down.
"Hey, easy, bud, we won't hurt you." She promised.
"Do you have a lock on Chopper's beacon?" Ender asked Hera as he sat on the co-pilot's seat while Hera exited Lothal's atmosphere.
"Looks like he's aboard the cruiser." Hera replied as a Gozanti-class cruiser was ahead of them.
After a while, one of the buttons on the control panel flashed.
"There's the signal." Hera informed everyone, flicking a few switches.
"Which means he found something." Ender said before he got up.
"Positions, everyone! We're going in." Hera informed everyone.
Serah slid down the ladder in the cockpit to use the nose gun while Ender ran to use the dorsal turret.
"What about this guy?" Zeb asked Hera about the courier droid.
"Take him with you." Ender replied before he climbed up to the turret.
"Why me?" Zeb questioned.
"Your intimidating nature." Ender casually replied.
"Can't argue with that." Zeb chuckled, looking down at the droid, which he growled at, making it jump in fright. "Come on, you."
He then led it to the Phantom, so that he could use its guns.
Once they were close enough, Ender and Serah fired at the cruiser as Hera flew around it, taking care of the ship's guns.
"Gonna make another pass. Chopper better hurry." Hera told everyone.
Serah fired some shots at the cruiser as Hera flew past it.
But as she flew away, one of the ship's hit the Ghost and the Phantom, making the former violently shake.
"Zeb, I need some help!" Hera called out, unaware that the Phantom was on fire.
"Keep their cannons busy!" Hera ordered him as he became aware of the fire.
"Karabast!" He cursed before trying to put it out. "I'm the one who needs some help!"
That's when the courier droid rolled up and used some foam to extinguish the fire, proving to be rather helpful.
"Hey, I'm starting to like you much better than our regular droid." Zeb grinned, patting the droid's head as it chittered.
As Hera flew back around towards the cruiser, she spotted Chopper out in space, having used an airlock to exit the ship, having also jettisoned some stormtroopers, as well.
"I see him. Give me cover, Ender." She requested before activating comms to talk to Chopper. "Okay, Chopper, hit it!"
Chopper replied back before activating his rocket booster to fly towards the Ghost.
Of course, Ender laid out covering fire as Hera flew the Ghost towards Chopper.
Soon enough, both Chopper and the Ghost reached each other and flew away from the cruiser.
Chopper whooped as the Ghost aligned itself with him, Hera opening the bomb bay doors for him to enter, which he then let out his mechanical arms and grabbed hold of the ladder, which was when Hera made a sharp dive down to Lothal, entering the atmosphere and then flew among the clouds.
Now that the fighting was over, Ender, Zeb, Serah and the courier droid entered the cargo bay and greeted Chopper.
"Nicely done, Chop." Ender praised, making Chopper chitter proudly, flexing his mechanical arms.
"Not bad, not bad." Zeb admitted.
Chopper continued flexing his arms as he now spun his head before the courier droid rolled up to him and beeped, making Chopper stop and beep back in annoyance.
"He was actually a big help around here while you were off spying." Zeb told Chopper, placing a hand on the courier droid's head.
"Exactly. In fact, I always wanted to have an astromech of my own." Ender admitted, nodding for Zeb to move the droid away from the open bomb bay doors. "And you can't knock him out of the ship, Chopper, that's just rude."
Chopper beeped in further annoyance while the courier droid beeped at Ender gratefully as Zeb moved him away from the bomb bay doors, which Serah closed by pressing a button on her gauntlet.
"Since you're now my droid, I'm gonna have to give you a name. How does Rocket sound?" Ender asked the courier droid, who beeped and shook eagerly, liking the name. "Okay, then. From now on, you'll be called Rocket."
Shortly after, everyone gathered in the cockpit, with Serah looking through the information that Chopper managed to copy, and both Hera and Ender sat in the pilot and co-pilot seats, the former holding the latter's hands as she looked at him with pride.
"I'm proud of you. You stepped up and took the lead." She told him. "Kanan has taught you well."
"And so have you." Ender pointed out just before the console Serah was using beeped.
"Found something." Serah informed everyone, turning to face them, Chopper displaying a hologram displaying information on Kanan. "Turns out Kanan is on Tarkin's Star Destroyer, which is called the Sovereign. It's still in orbit of Lothal, but will leave soon."
"Where to?" Hera asked.
"The Mustafar System." Serah replied, which made Hera sigh gravely.
"Do you know of it?" Ender asked.
"I've only heard that name once. From Kanan. He said Mustafar is where Jedi go to die." She explained.
This was not good. If they want to save Kanan, they'll have to do it as soon as possible.
I felt like Ender had to have his own astromech, especially when certain battles and events happen in future stories.
