#that ezra's been unconsciously broadcasting towards sabine

[isagrimorie]

I know many people have a problem with Sabine's second major use of the Force. I already gave my thoughts in this post about Sabine's use of the Force in the season finale.

("For someone else, for someone she loves, Sabine can do the impossible." | "It's about belief and faith.")

It was about her belief and need to use the Force at the moment she needed it and the mental and emotional state she was in that she was ready to remove her block from the Force.

In an ideal scenario, I would love 16 episodes for this to play out, and maybe even up to season 2 before Sabine manifests more of her Force abilities, but truncated time and the Mandoverse's need to move story along took precedence.

But also, IMO, Sabine doesn't display anything that can be considered above the average for a standard Jedi.

In the animation, it doesn't really sell how grand and how far the distances are. The feats of Jedi crossing this distance in animation vs how it is in real life -- the scale of the Star Destroyer vs a humanoid being. The impossible distance.

Ezra is watching his only chance back home, and Sabine is watching the only chance she has in getting Ezra back home.

In fact, Sabine has stepped a few steps forward:

As if she couldn't bear the idea, she has failed Ezra. Ezra admits he can't make the jump, and Sabine's face has hardened into this:

Because she's made her decision.

She just got the hang of the Force but for this, for Ezra, she will get him across.

At this moment, Sabine's never more certain she understood the phrase: "Do or do not, there is no try."

If there is one thing that's been clear in this series, Sabine's singular focus, her mission above all else, was to find Ezra and bring him back home. Sabine would prefer they all made it home, but beggars can't be choosers.

Ezra propels himself forward in a Force-powered leap and even with the Force-powered jump, he's still far away from the Star Destroyer:

Just as Ezra's about to plummet to his death, Sabine summons all the Force she can summon at her level of skill and propels him the last few meters.

BTW, as a sound design thing, this loud rumble was also there when Sabine first attempted to Force-push Shin in episode 4, The Fallen Jedi. This means Sabine did access the Force a bit in that moment. Its just at that moment -- it was still pretty weak, it was weaker than a slap.

Sabine looks pretty terrified, mixed with hope that she's finally doing it but also terrified she might kill Ezra, but she's not letting that fear get her. She has a job to do.

And then, hilariously (to me), Sabine almost fails because her Force push can only reach so far, and Ezra falls short of the target.

And there's a brief horrified look on Sabine's face as she realizes she couldn't push Ezra that far. He wouldn't reach the Chimera.

It's a good thing Ezra himself has the Force, and he simply used the Force to pull himself nearer to the ship:

And he's just dangling there just a little off-screen before he jumps inside the Chimera and kills one of the Night Troopers.

Also if you look to the right, you can see Baylan and Shin's ship where Ezra might have stayed during the duration of the travel from Peridea to his home galaxy.

Mission accomplished.

I wonder if, at this point, Sabine had an inkling she wouldn't be joining Ezra on that trip home. Ezra might be able to do a Force-powered Jedi jump but that's clearly something Sabine hasn't practiced in.

(This is also possibly why, in this show, Sabine doesn't have her jetpack).

I hope this makes sense since I wrote this half asleep.

[rebelquilts512]

Through the Fire

So this is the SWR Fix-it Fic I’ve been working on pretty much since Jedi Night aired. It’s a Kanan Lives AU! It is also the beginning of what I call my Phoenix AU, where Kanan survives and a bunch of other stuff changes.

I hope you enjoy it. It’s over 8,700 words.

It’d seemed like everything was going fine. Ezra and Sabine had made to the fuel depot in the gunship just as Kanan and Hera were having a moment.

“Hey, enough of that,” Ezra told them, “Time to go,”

Sabine lowered the gunship so Hera and Kanan could board.

Ezra and Kanan were helping Hera get on when they heard a blast. Then one of the Imperial walkers hit the fuel pod they were standing on and the side exploded.

Before anyone could stop him, Kanan ran towards flames. He used the Force to hold back the explosion as Ezra and Hera watched.

Hera suddenly broke out of Ezra’s grip. “Kanan!” she screamed as she started to run towards him.

Kanan turned one arm away from the explosion and used it to hold Hera back. He suspended her in the air and turned his face towards them.

Ezra realized what he was trying to do, and he couldn’t let that happen.

“No!” Ezra screamed, reaching a hand out to pull Hera and Kanan back to the ship. When Hera had made it aboard, Ezra used his other hand to push the ship away from the explosion. He did this while still pulling Kanan towards them, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. Kanan’s side got caught in the blast before he landed in the ship.

“Go! Go!” Ezra hollered at Sabine before she took off, getting them out of the blast radius.

“Ezra get the medkit!” Hera ordered.

When he found it, Ezra went back to Hera, who had an unconscious Kanan’s head in her lap and was running her fingers through his short hair. Her kalikori lay on the floor next to her.

Ezra looked at Kanan, and his stomach dropped. Kanan’s entire right side was badly burned, and to make matters worse, his right arm was completely gone.

Hera took the medkit from him and began to cut away Kanan’s shirt and his right pant leg and boot. This revealed that most of Kanan’s right foot had been lost to the blast as well.

Ezra helped Hera use every ounce of bacta in the medkit to cover Kanan’s burns, but it wasn’t quite enough, Kanan really needed professional medical attention. Feeling Kanan’s Force signature through their bond was the only thing keeping Ezra sane at the moment and he saw that Hera was constantly checking his pulse too.

“We’re almost there!” Sabine called back them.

Ezra looked out to see that they were fast approaching Zeb and and Chopper, the former was happily waving at them.

When they landed, Sabine hurriedly jumped out of the cockpit, while Hera and Ezra tried to figure out how Kanan to move without hurting him further, and shouted, “Zeb, we need a medic!”

Zeb was confused, and concerned. “What? For Hera?”

“No,” Hera said as she and Ezra stepped out with Kanan. They’d settled on Hera supporting his, relatively uninjured, left side while Ezra used the Force to support his badly burned right side.

“Karabast,” Zeb gasped. “Come on, let’s get ‘m back to base,”

The Ghost crew hurried as fast as they could back to the Lothal Rebels’ base.

When they got there, Ryder and some other rebels were listening to an Imperial broadcast, but turned it off when they heard the crew’s shouts for a medic.

The Lothal Rebel’s medic, or the closest thing they had to qualify as one, was a short Rodian female named Balia Rudemo. She carefully examined Kanan while the rest of the crew waited anxiously behind her.

After a while she sighed, “There’s not much I can do for him here. He needs a bacta tank, and we don’t have the resources for that,”

“Karabast,” Zeb cursed, the others looked equally dejected.

“His best chance is if you get him back to your Rebel Alliance,” Balia continued, “They should have the medical equipment he needs,”

“We don’t have a ship to get him there,” Hera said sullenly.

Ezra looked at the ground in disappointment, then he got an idea and he immediately perked up. “But we have Vizago,” he said, as a plan was starting to form.

Everyone stared at him. It only took Zeb and Sabine a second before their eyes widen as they caught on.

Hera remained sceptical. “And what does Vizago have to do with anything?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She was still wearing her prison uniform, she’d been so worried about Kanan she hadn’t gone to change. Come to think of it, Ezra and Sabine hadn’t changed out of their Imperial pilot uniforms either, for the same reason.

Ezra explained, “We needed a long-range transmitter to contact you on Yavin 4, so we hijacked an ore crawler run by the Mining Guild to access one. We found Vizago working there as a slave. After we disposed of the captain and the guards and sent our transmission, Vizago volunteered to be the new captain of the crawler and the other slaves were happy to join the Rebellion. So if we contact Vizago and he let’s us use the transmitter again, we can contact Rebel command to see it they can send us a ship, and if they won’t do it, we can ask Rex and Kallus if they can send the Ghost over.”

“Yeah, but how are they gonna get past the blockade?” Zeb asked, “That still exists ya’know,”

Ezra shrugged. “Kallus used to work for the Empire, he might have an idea of how to get around the blockade?” he suggested.

Hera, Zeb, and Sabine were unimpressed. They were pretty sure they all knew that Kallus’s former status as an Imperial didn’t mean he could get through a blockade now.

“Or.... We could ask Hondo for help,” Ezra added, “He’s a smuggler, he ought to know how to get through these things,”

“Hondo,” Sabine deadpanned, “You want to trust Hondo with Kanan’s life?”

“He’s my friend,” Ezra defended, “And he’s not that bad,”

“Do I need to remind you of the last time we worked with him?”

“Enough,” Hera said, moving to Kanan’s side and squeezing his remaining hand. “Ezra’s right. Our best chance of saving Kanan is if we reach our off-world contacts, even the questionable ones,”

“Alright,” Ezra said, once everyone agreed, “Let’s go find Vizago,”

Vizago was all too happy to let them use the crawler’s long-range transmitter, although he did make Ezra clean out all the vents as payment.

Mon Mothma said the Alliance wasn’t going to send anymore ships to Lothal, despite their need for urgent medical aid. Fortunately, Rex and Kallus were willing to bring the Ghost to Lothal so Hera could fly Kanan back to Yavin-4, and they were going to involve Hondo after all. Apparently, Kallus did not know how to get through Thrawn’s blockade, so they were forced to resort to piracy.

It would take at least a day for Kallus and Rex to arrive with the Ghost, so the crew had to find ways to occupy their time until then. Zeb and Sabine went off to cause more Imperial mayhem; they wanted to get their energy and frustrations out. Hera stayed and helped Balia go through the Lothal Rebels’ meager medical supplies to keep Kanan stable, with Chopper following her everywhere. And Ezra...well, Ezra just wandered around, like he was lost. He walked around the perimeter of their base, then stopped to help Hera with Kanan.

“Wait,” Ezra said as he re-bandaged the leftover stump of Kanan’s right arm. “Where’s Kanan’s lightsaber?” He’d been too worried earlier to care, but he’d just noticed the Kanan’s lightsaber wasn’t on his belt.

“He lost it fighting Rukh during our escape from the Imperial Complex,” Hera answered, not looking up from what she was doing, “The Empire probably has it by now,”

Ezra made a decision then and there that he would find a way to get Kanan’s lightsaber back.

Soon after, Sabine and Zeb returned with triumphant smiles on their faces.

“What’d you do?” Ezra asked, a hint of tease in his voice, “Blow up a paint bomb in Governor Pryce’s face?”

Zeb shook his head, “No, but she looks just as ridiculous,”

“What do you mean?” Hera asked, gaining interest in the conversation.

“The entire fuel depot was destroyed,” Sabine explained. “and the factories have been completely shut down. Governor Pryce is throwing a parade as a cover-up,”

Hera blinked in surprise while the corners of her mouth quirked up in the beginnings of a smile.

“Really?” Ezra asked.

“Yeah, we saw it ourselves,” Zeb said.

Before anyone could say anything else, the familiar sound of a ship passing overhead made them all look up.

“It’s the Ghost!” Ezra shouted, and they all ran off to see where it landed.

They reached the Ghost as the ramp lowered and a concerned Kallus and Rex rushed out.

“How’s Kanan?” Rex asked worriedly.

“See for yourself,” Hera said, turning and motioning them to follow her. They were about to when another voice made them look back at the ship.

“Ezra Bridger!” Hondo greeted dramatically as he exited the ship, “My friend, Hondo got your call. Now, surely you wouldn't contact me if there wasn't going to be profit involved?” he asked, rubbing his fingers together.

“We’ll get to that later Hondo,” Hera retorted, then to Rex and Kallus she told more gently, “I’ll take you to Kanan,”

Everyone but Hondo and Ezra followed Hera to where Kanan still lay unconscious.

Just as they left, they heard Ezra ask, “So Hondo, how’d you feel about raiding a governor’s office?”

When they saw Kanan, Rex and Kallus both gasped. From what the crew had sent in their transmission, they had expected something bad, but not this bad.

Kallus briefly assessed his injuries before moving to see what they had done with what medical supplies they had.

Rex, meanwhile, slowly took in all of the injuries before his eyes landed on Kanan’s hair and he had to smirk a bit. “So what happened to Kanan’s hair?” he asked, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Sabine snorted despite herself. “Trust me, that’s the least of our problems,”

Hera, Ezra, Zeb, Sabine, Kallus, and Rex carefully moved Kanan into the Ghost’s medbay. Now they had to decide who was going and who was staying on Lothal.

“Chopper is definitely coming with me,” Hera was saying. “Everyone else can make their own choice,”

“I’m staying here,” Ezra said, surprising everyone. They’d all seen how worried he’d been over his master.

Zeb was the first to respond by putting an arm around his shoulders and saying, “Better stay an’ make sure the kid doesn’t get into too much trouble,”

“Are you sure you won’t just cause even more trouble together?” Sabine asked, unable to stop her smirk.

“Then why don’t you stay to help us get out of all the trouble we start?” Ezra suggested with a joking grin.

Sabine raised an eyebrow and seemed to consider it. “‘Alright, if you boys need me that much,”

Rex chuckled. “I’ll stay here and supervise these troublemakers,” he told Hera, jerking his thumb to where Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb had gathered.

“Thank you, Rex,” Hera said gratefully. Then she turned to Kallus and told him, “If you’ve decided to stay, fine. If not, get on the ship, we got to go,”

“Yes, General,” Kallus said, following her into the ship.

Everyone else waved good-bye as Hera, Chopper, and Kallus flew off in the Ghost with Kanan.

“Well, now what?” Zeb asked after the ship disappeared from view.

_________________________________________________

Hera was nervous about getting through the blockade, but with Hondo’s tip and her own piloting skills, it ended up being easier than she’d thought.

That didn’t do much to ease her worry though, which was mostly about Kanan. The Ghost’s medical equipment was much better than what the rebels of Lothal had, but it was nowhere near what Kanan needed.

After they jumped to hyperspace, Kallus volunteered to inform the Alliance’s medbays of their arrival and Kanan’s condition, leaving Hera to hover over Kanan. Chopper remained in the cockpit, just in case something went wrong.

Fortunately, the jump was uneventful and they reached Yavin 4 before anything worse could happen. Hera ignored Mon Mothma and any other rebels who tried to get her attention while she, Chopper, and Kallus got Kanan into the nearest medbay.

Once he was examined by the med-droid, Kanan was immediately put in a bacta tank. Kallus went off to do some intelligence work and Hera was called into a meeting with Rebel Command. Apparently, they wanted to know what had happened on Lothal despite their refusal to send them any more help.

“Our original attack on the Tie-Defender factory was a failure,” Hera was saying, “Grand Admiral Thrawn was ready for our attack and we were all shot down. Those who survived, including myself, had to find hiding places in Capitol City to avoid being captured,”

Gasps of horror and dismay erupted all across the group.

“Chopper woke me up after my crash and I found Mart Mattin trapped by some stormtroopers,” Hera continued, receiving a few raised eyebrows at the mention of Commander Sato’s young nephew, “The three of us tried to find a way out of the city, and it was locked down tight. I managed to help him escape with Chopper, but I was captured by Rukh, one of Thrawn’s agents. Chopper and Mart regrouped with the rest of my crew and started planning a rescue mission.”

“And how did you fare in Imperial custody?” General Draven asked accusingly.

Hera raised a tattooed eyebrow. Was he really implying that she had given in to her torture? Then again, Draven did have a rather direct way of getting down to business that Hera didn’t always approve of. “I was tortured by Governor Pryce and Grand Admiral Thrawn for few days before my crew could mount their rescue. I gave away nothing,” she said adamantly, taking a moment to look directly at him.

“My crew managed to get me out,” Hera said after she refocused, “They used handmade gliders to slip passed Imperial security,”

“Who came up with that idea?” Someone else asked, Hera wasn’t familiar with their name.

“Ezra,” Hera answered, feeling proud of the young Jedi padawan. Which reminded her that there was more she needed to tell. “Kanan went to get me while Sabine and Ezra stole a gunship. We met at the fuel depot to escape. Governor Pryce was so desperate to stop us that she fired at the fuel pods we were standing on, causing then to explode. Kanan...”

Hera had to pause and take a deep breath; this was the part that scared her the most. Beside her, Chopper reached up a manipulator, which she took in her hand under the table. “Kanan used the Force to hold the explosion back so we could escape, without him. Ezra had other ideas. He pushed us away from the explosion and pulled Kanan towards us with the Force.” Hera swallowed, before continuing on, “Kanan was still badly burned, and is currently in one of the bacta tanks in the medbay,”

Hera got a few sympathetic looks from around the room, General Draven was not one of them, before they signaled for her to continue.

“In the end though, we found out that the entire fuel depot had blown up, destroying all the fuel for the factories. Our mission ended in success.” Hera finished.

“Thank you, General Syndulla,” Mon Mothma said.

The meeting moved on to other topics before concluding after about an hour of discussion.

***

Hera found herself walking back to the medbay to check on Kanan. He was officially in a coma. Floating in the bacta tank in just his underwear, his lack of clothing made it that much more apparent how bad his condition was. First there was his arm, now just a burnt stump. Burns reached nearly halfway across his torso and traveled up the side of his neck to brush his jawline. They also practically covered his leg, all the way down to his heel, which was pretty much all that was left of his foot.

She still hated his hair. She didn’t know what he used to cut it, but it looked awful, at least in her opinion. The sides were cut close to his scalp and the top was a mess of uneven strands that were barely long enough for her to run her fingers through. Not to mention whatever was going on with the longer tufts at the back of his head.

Hera was making a mental note to ask someone to fix Kanan’s hair once he was out of the bacta tank when the door to the medbay suddenly opened.

“Apologies, General Syndulla,” Kallus said as he entered the room, “I didn’t mean to startle you,”

Hera shook her head. “No, you’re fine, I was just...” she trailed off, taking another glance at Kanan, “Nevermind. What are you doing here?”

“Your droid said I’d find you here,” Kallus answered, “I came to tell you that you’ve been assigned a mission due to depart in a few hours and you need to report to the briefing,”

“Already?” Hera asked. “I thought Command would wait a little longer before they sent me on my next mission, to make sure I’m safe to put out in the field and everything else they have to go over,”

Kallus shrugged. “I guess they trust you, or they are incredibly desperate,”

Hera nodded, “Alright, tell Command I’ll be there in a minute,”

“Yes, General,” Kallus replied as he headed for the door.

Once the door closed, Hera turned back to Kanan’s bacta tank and pressed her forehead against the transparisteel. “I’ll be back soon, love,” she promised, before leaving the room and heading to her briefing.

***

Hera spent the next few weeks trying to keep herself occupied with Rebellion missions and other tasks, like working on the Ghost. It hadn’t been long after Hera, Kanan, Kallus, and Chopper arrived on Yavin 4 that they had set up communication with Ezra and the others on Lothal, so she talked with them occasionally.

When she wasn’t busy, she sat in the medbay watching Kanan float in the bacta. The medics told Hera that Kanan had to be in the bacta tank for at least a month before it was safe to take him out. Although the fact that he showed no signs of waking up yet made them think it was going to be longer than that.

***

“How’s Kanan?” Ezra asked over the holocom, before Hera could comment on his singed appearance or the bruise forming on the left side of his face.

“He’s still in the bacta tank,” Hera answered, “The medics plan to take him out in a few days,”

“Has he woken up yet?” Ezra asked hopefully.

Hera shook her head, “Not yet,” At his disappointed look she added, “He’ll wake up soon, Ezra. I know it,”

Someone said something out of Ezra’s holocam range - it sounded like Rex - and he turned his head towards them. “I gotta go, Hera,” Ezra said, leaning over to disconnect the call, “See you soon,”

“See you soon,” Hera repeated as Ezra’s hologram disappeared.

***

Kanan was finally out of the bacta tank, not quite awake yet, but healed enough to safely remove from the bacta tank. Now he lay on a medical bed with a bunch of machines hooked up to him. Hera claimed a chair at his bedside that she occupied when she visited.

Hera had also started working on getting Kanan prosthetics. She wasn’t going to let him live the rest of his life with only one arm if she could help it. Fortunately, Senator Bail Organa had heard about what happened and was willing to send the parts when they needed them.

***

Hera was sitting in her chair by Kanan’s bed holding his left hand while reading a report on her datapad. Chopper was keeping her company, otherwise he would be roped into helping pilots fix their fighters, which he didn’t want to do. The only sounds in the room were the beeping of Kanan’s heart monitor, Chopper’s grumbles of boredom, and Hera’s occasional hum as she read.

Suddenly, Hera felt movement under her hand. She looked up in time to see Kanan groan and shift in the bed. “Kanan?” she asked, setting her datapad down and moving so she was closer to him.

“Hera?” he asked groggily.

“I’m right here, love,” Hera said, placing a hand on his cheek, her fingers brushing his new beard growth. He turned his head towards her and leaned into her touch. “I’m here,” She leaned forward and kissed him.

Chopper left the room, claiming to go fetch the med-droid.

Kanan’s left arm wrapped around her as they kissed. Hera felt him try to wrap his right arm around her too, but froze when he found that he couldn’t. Hera tilted her head back slightly and saw that Kanan’s sightless eyes were wide. “Kanan?”

“My-”

“I know, love, I know,” Hera soothed, running her fingers through his hair.

Kanan sighed and laid his head back down on his pillow. “Guess I shouldn’t be that surprised. I was in an explosion,”

“Yes you were,” Hera agreed, then she whacked him, on his good shoulder, “And what the hell were you thinking?! You scared us all to death!”

Kanan actually looked sheepish and avoided her eyes. “I...I just wanted to save you. I didn’t really think about what would happen after. I trusted the Force to take care of it,”

Hera shook her head, “You’re lucky Ezra knew what he was doing,”

“Yeah,” Kanan nodded. “Speaking of Ezra, where is he? And on that note, where am I?”

“You are in a medbay on Yavin-4,” Hera answered, “And Ezra is still on Lothal with Sabine, Zeb, and Rex,”

Before Kanan could reply, Chopper returned with the med-droid, who insisted upon checking Kanan over. His heartbeat and breathing were considered stable and his burns were healing nicely, although they would no doubt leave plenty of scarring. Kanan flinched when the med-droid prodded at the stump of his right arm, but otherwise remained calm and held still as he was examined.

That is, until the droid ran their cold mechanical fingers over the burns where the the front part of his right foot should have been, at which point he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Heh, I lost that too, didn’t I?” Kanan asked lightly, clearly trying to hide his panic and alarm. He also ran his hand through his hair, which had grown enough to brush the tops of his ears and partially cover his forehead. A clear sign of his distress to those who knew him well.

Hera kissed his cheek and took his hand in hers in an attempt to comfort him.

When the med-droid was done, he gave Kanan a dose of painkillers and a mild sedative, leaving Hera to watch Kanan fall back asleep.

***

Once he was officially awake, they made great progress on Kanan’s recovery. Senator Organa sent the prosthetics a few days after Kanan woke up, and once the med-droid approved, they attached them and got them working properly.

Hera was honestly impressed at what the senator was willing to give them. Kanan’s new arm was fairly high tech and covered in synthskin from the hand to just below the elbow, if he wore a long-sleeved shirt you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The foot didn’t have any synthskin, which didn’t matter as much, but still worked perfectly.

***

Kanan was released from the medbay a few days later and Hera took him back to the Ghost as soon as she could. She’d also made sure his hair was a bit more presentable.

When Hera had to go on missions and attend Rebel Command meetings, Kanan spent most of his time meditating and getting used to having his prosthetics. But when Hera was on the ship, he spent all his time with her, not that she minded. It was nice to have him back. They’d been talking with Ezra and the rest of their crew every once in a while and were planning to go back to Lothal as soon as the Rebellion could spare Hera for a few days.

They’d also been sharing a bed every night, but they hadn’t done anything but cuddle, yet.

Hera had noticed that, while he wore both short-sleeved and long-sleeved shirts during the day, only Kanan wore his long-sleeved sleep shirt at night, and never took it off when they were in bed together, and he always wore socks. It confused her at first. Kanan usually took his shirt off when they slept together, so he could feel her more easily against his chest, and he rarely wore socks to bed. Soon Hera realised Kanan just didn’t want her to have to see or feel the cold metal of his prosthetics while they were in bed together. Which was ridiculous, Hera didn’t care; she was just glad to have him back.

She was also ready to do something, other than cuddle, in bed.

Tonight, things were going to be different.

***

That night, Kanan and Hera got ready for bed like they usually did. Hera had put on her easiest to take-off sleepwear when Kanan appeared at her door, socks and all. She let him in with a kiss and turned off the lights. Kanan lifted the covers and they both crawled into bed.

Hera waited a few moments before she started kissing him, each one getting more hungry and intense. One of her hands buried itself in his hair and the other started playing with the waistband of his sleep pants.

“Ohhh,” Kanan chuckled knowingly. “Looks like someone has plans for tonight,”

Hera grinned and moved his hands to her hips. Together they pulled off her night shirt and tossed it on the floor.

Next Hera attacked his socks, entangling their legs together and using her feet to pull them off. Kanan moved his right foot back as soon as she took the sock off. She would deal with that later.

Then came the task of getting Kanan’s shirt off. Hera grabbed the bottom hem and started pulling. Kanan raised an eyebrow at her, but didn’t resist, but he didn’t really help her either. She pulled it up to his armpits and smiled when he actually pulled his left arm out of the sleeve without prompting. Kanan got his head out of the collar and rubbed his nose against hers before she could pull off the other sleeve. Hera sighed and gave him the kiss he wanted. He seemed to think, or hope, they could do whatever they wanted to tonight without him having to remove his right sleeve.

Hera thought otherwise. She pulled off the sleeve, despite Kanan’s attempts to distract her, revealing his prosthetic. When she tossed his shirt on the floor to join hers, Kanan shifted his body so his right arm was out of her line of sight and avoided meeting her gaze like he did in his special way.

Hera shook her head lightly. She grabbed his right arm, wrapped it around her waist so his hand lay on her back, and pressed her body against his. She placed her hand on his shoulder where prosthetic met skin and entanged their legs again so she could grab his right foot with her own feet and pull it forward to match his other foot.

Kanan was still avoiding her eyes. Hera used her free hand to lift his chin and kissed him, before snuggling closer. “Metal doesn’t scare me, love,” she whispered, giving him another kiss. Kanan smiled in relief and seemed to relax. Then he wrapped both arms around her, pulling her close. Hera smiled in triumph and snuggled into his hold.

Soon, they had their pants and underwear off and proceeded to have an evening of fun.

_____________________________________________

Kanan was sitting in his cabin.

Hera and Chopper were in the cockpit, and Kallus was in the hold arguing with Jonner Jin and Gooti Terez of Iron Squadron.

Hera was finally free to go back to Lothal. They’d been talking with Ezra for days. He had a plan to free the planet from the Empire’s grasp, and since the Rebellion was finished with Lothal, they had to gather up all their personal allies and friends. Hondo and Rex were already on Lothal, but Rex had them contact Gregor and Wolffe, saying he didn’t want to leave his brothers out of this fight. Sabine had surprised everyone by suggesting they ask Ketsu Onyo to join them. Jonner and Gooti wanted come too, since Mart had gone on the last mission to Lothal and was still there. “Iron Squadron sticks together!” so they said, which was why they were arguing with Kallus.

Kanan fingered the comm in his hand. When Ezra had told them to call on all their friends to help, one person immediately came to his mind. The problem was, Kanan hadn’t spoken to him in years, and they didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. Kanan had left him because he was afraid of losing anyone else, after all that had happened after Order 66. It was a decision he looked back on and regretted, especially in recent years.

Kanan still knew his comm number. He had planned to contact him at some point to let him know he was okay, but never got around to it. Now with Ezra’s mission, he was finally reaching out. Kanan hoped he wouldn’t be too upset, especially given the circumstances of the call.

Outside Kanan’s cabin, Kallus had finally gotten Gooti and Jonner to stay behind and shut the ramp so Hera could leave when she was ready. Kanan felt the Ghost take off about a minute later. They were planning to rondevu with Gregor, Wolffe, and Ketsu on Seelos where the clones were living so they could all go in on the Ghost together.

Kanan decided there was no use delaying this any longer. He plugged in the number and activated the comm.

“Hello?” a familiar gruff voice answered.

Kanan swallowed and ran a hand through his hair. “Is this Janus Kasmir?”

“That depends,” Kasmir replied, “Who’s asking?”

Kanan ran his hand through his hair again and took a deep breath. “Do you happen to remember taking in a jedi padawan named Caleb Dume after the fall of the Republic and teaching him how to survive in the real galaxy maybe 17 or 18 years ago?”

There was a pause. “How would you...” Kasmir started, “...Kid?”

Kanan chuckled, “Okay, one, don’t call me that, I have a name now. And two, I’m not a kid anymore,”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Kasmir said. “So, mind telling me your name?”

Kanan smiled, “It’s Kanan, Kanan Jarrus,”

“Kanan huh? Not bad,” Kasmir mused.

“Thanks,” Kanan said, starting to run a hand through his hair before he caught himself and put his hand down.

“Now, why are you calling? You can't just be calling to say ‘Hi’, can you?” Kasmir asked.

“Alright, you got me,” Kanan said, throwing his hands up in the air despite the fact that Kasmir couldn't see him. “I do have another reason for calling after all this time,” Kasmir snorted and Kanan let out another sigh. “Okay, so for the past ten years or so, I've been living on a ship, called the Ghost, that's involved with the Rebellion,” At that, Kasmir started stuttering in shock and Kanan had to wait for him to gain control of himself before speaking again. “Have you ever heard of Lothal?”

“What's that got to do with anything?” Kasmir asked.

“Well,” Kanan answered, “The whole crew, including myself, have a connection with the planet and the Empire has been stripping it bare. And my friends and I want to stop them, but we can't do it on our own,”

“Didn't you just say you're with the Rebellion now?” Kasmir interrupted. “Why can't they help you?”

“That's the thing,” Kanan explained, “The rest of the Rebellion’s given up on Lothal, after what happened the last time they sent ships to help, but we're not giving up. So we're trying to get our other friends to help us instead. And I thought you would want to have a little fun at the Empire's expense,” Kanan finished lightheartedly.

Kasmir didn't respond.

Kanan sighed, “Look, I'm sorry about how things ended between us. You were right, I was afraid of losing another person I cared about. But I've learned that running isn't the answer. You have to fight to protect the people love. Which is what I'm doing now, and I can't think of a better friend to do it with,” Kanan said sincerely. “Will you please help me?”

There was a beat before Kasmir spoke again. “Figured you'd wait for something like this to call me again,” he grumbled. “Alright, where are you?”

“Really?” Kanan asked, surprised.

“Sure,” Kasmir answered, “I'm not gonna let you do something this crazy without me,”

“You don't even know the plan yet!” Kanan protested lightly.

“Knowing you, it will be,” Kasmir countered.

“It's not even my plan!” Kanan defended. Then he sighed, he was getting off topic. “Are you still working with Kleeve?”

“Yeeeess,” Kasmir answered. “Why? Do you need him for something?”

“Well, I wanted to know if he would be joining us or not,” Kanan replied.

“I'll ask him, although knowing him, he’ll probably say yes anyway,” Kasmir said.

“Great,” Kanan said. “I'll transmit you the coordinates to the rondevu,”

“When do we need to be there?” Kasmir asked.

Kanan told him to arrive about twenty minutes after the Ghost would, so Kanan would have time to explain the situation to everyone before the Kasmiri swooped in unexpectedly. Then he sent the coordinates. “Hope you can make it in time,”

“Got it, See you there,” Kasmir said before signing off.

Kanan chuckled. “Yeah, hope it doesn't freak you out to much,” he said, knowing full well that Kasmir couldn't hear him anymore.

Kanan stood up and sighed, unable to stop the smile creeping up on his face. That conversation went better than he ever thought it would. He left his cabin and went to find Hera.

Hera was still in the cockpit, unsurprisingly. Kanan, still grinning, walked over and kissed her cheek before settling down in the copilot’s chair.

Hera immediately noticed his mood and he could sense her raising an eyebrow at him. “What's gotten you in such a good mood?”

“Oh,” Kanan replied casually. “I just got us two new recruits for Ezra's mission,”

“Really?” Hera turned to face him, giving him a disbelieving look, “Who?” She asked suspiciously.

“Just some old friends,” Kanan answered.

“Really, cuz I can't think of any friends of yours that would be particularly helpful,” Hera shot back.

Kanan shook his head. “Not these guys,” he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “They knew me from before,”

Hera’s eyes widened as she radiated surprise. “They...” she started. “they knew you…”

“Before I was Kanan Jarrus,” Kanan finished.

“Alright, who are these people? Spill,” Hera said, poking her finger at him.

Kanan sighed. “Okay, so around the time…” and he proceeded to explain how he meet Janus Kasmir and Kleeve and how everything turned out with them.

____________________________________________

They got to Seelos just when Hera said they would. Wolffe and Gregor had a landing platform on top of their new repurposed AT-AT walker, where Wolffe was standing, waving at them. Hera landed the Ghost and she, Kanan, and Kallus went out to greet him. Wolffe lead them down into the walker’s belly to meet Gregor and Ketsu.

“Great jiggling juppa!” Gregor shouted as they came down. “Kanan, what happened to you?!”

“A lot,” Kanan replied. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so everyone could see the metal of his right arm, not to mention his haircut, and neither Gregor or Wolffe had seen Kanan since Malachor. So Kanan's whole appearance was a pretty big shock to the clones. Wolffe was just better at hiding it.

Before Gregor finished opening his mouth again, Kanan held up his hand. “And yes, I will explain what happened, but I know the people I invited will want to know what happened to me too and I don't want to have to tell the stories twice, so please be patient,”

“Wait,” Wolffe said, “What do you mean, the people you invited?”

Kallus looked slightly surprised, but he didn't say anything.

Ketsu, who had been lounging in a nearby seat up until this point, sat up and looked at Kanan suspiciously. “Yeah, who did you tell about this?”

“Lucky for you,” Kanan said, grinning and taking a seat, “I do have to explain this, because if I don't, I know Wolffe is going to start shooting at them the minute they show up,”

“Know from experience don't you?” Wolffe quipped.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kanan said, waving a hand in Wolffe’s general direction. Then he told them all what he had already told Hera on the way here.

When Kanan had finished his story, Ketsu still didn't look satisfied, but Gregor and Wolffe looked impressed, and Kallus was nodding in understanding.

“So when are your friends gonna get here?” Gregor asked.

Kanan was about to answer when the proximity alarm signaled that another ship was approaching. Kanan smiled, “Heh, right on time,” He moved to go outside, but paused in the doorway when he noticed that everyone else had frozen and were staring at him. “Are you guys coming or not?” he asked.

Hera was the first to follow him. Everyone else stood there until Hera motioned for them to come along.

By the time everyone had made it up to the landing platform, a ship could be seen approaching their location. It appeared to be a KST-100 freighter, with red wings and engines, that Hera assumed was the Kasmiri.

Kanan, who was probably using the Force to tell which direction the ship was coming from, waved nonchalantly until it landed a few yards away from the walker.

Instead of using the ladder to get down like any normal person, Kanan opted to just jump off the edge of the platform, before Hera could stop him, and executed a few flips before landing on the ground in a crouch.

Hera rolled her eyes. Jedi, she thought. Then she started climbing down the ladder, followed by Kallus, Ketsu, and the clones.

The ramp of the Kasmiri had lowered by the time Hera reached Kanan. She decided to stand a few feet away so he could have his reunion. A tall Kalleran and a red-skinned Devaronian with a cybernetic eye came out of the ship. The Kalleran was smiling as he came down, but his jaw dropped when his eyes landed on Kanan.

“Three moons! You've been through a lot since I last saw ya! What the hell ‘ve you been doing to get...like that?” he asked, waving his hand at Kanan’s appearance.

Kanan chuckled. “Kasmir, you have no idea,”

There was a beat, then Kasmir laughed and threw his arms around Kanan. Kanan returned the hug with equal fervor.

Hera smiled at the interaction. She looked around to see how everyone was reacting. The Devaronian beside Kasmir, who, if Hera remembered right, was Kleeve, looked to be surprised, uninterested, and in a state of disbelief at the same time. Behind her, Kallus was looking on with mild interest; Gregor looked excited while Wolffe was staring suspiciously at Kleeve. Which made sense, Kleeve had been a Separatists general in the Clone Wars.

“I thought I'd never see you again,” Kasmir said, a twinge of emotion in his voice. “Kid,”

There was a light thump, as if Kanan had whacked him on the back. “Yeah,” Kanan replied, “I knew years ago that I would never see you again, but it is good to hear your voice,”

“W-what?” Kasmir sputtered, pulling Kanan back while grasping his upper arms. He studied Kanan's face and looked right into his eyes. “Holy kriff, you're blind!”

Kanan just nodded, and Hera was sure he was smirking a bit.

Kasmir’s grip on his arms tightened and his face darkened. “Who did this? Your arm too. Cuz’ I got…”

“Don't worry about it,” Kanan interrupted, trying to loosen Kasmir’s grip on his arms. “The guy who blinded me is already dead, and I don't think you want to scour the deserts of Tatooine for his dead body.” Kanan said with a smirk. “And the mission I called you about already involves going after the woman involved with the explosion that caused this,” he said, gesturing his prosthetic arm. “So you don't need to go out of your way to avenge me,”

“That doesn't mean I don't want to,” Kasmir said defensively. He gave Kanan another once-over. “And did you forget what I told you about your hair?”

“Well…” Kanan trailed off, running a hand through said hair; Kasmir gave him a pointed look. “I had my reasons,” he finished.

Kasmir made a ‘hmph' noise, expecting to hear those reasons.

“Anyway, this,” Kanan said, reaching over to where Hera was standing, and pulled her over to him, wrapping an arm around her, “is my captain, Hera Syndulla. She owns and flies the Ghost”

Hera smiled and stuck her hand out. “Pleased to meet you,”

Kasmir took her hand. He looked back and forth between her and Kanan with a knowing smile on his face. It was likely he had a guess of how far their relationship extended. “Nice to meet you too,” he said as he shook her hand.

Kanan extended his free arm to the group behind them. “These are friends, and friends of friends who are also helping with the mission. You'll meet the Ghost crew and the rest of the team when we get to Lothal, but for now you get to meet these guys,”

Kasmir nodded. “Okay,” he said.

There was minute of awkward silence. Gregor, Wolffe, Kallus, and Ketsu seemed unsure of what to do.

Kanan turned to face them. “If you guys aren't going to introduce yourselves, then get over here so I can introduce you correctly myself,”

They all walked up until they're standing in a line a step away from Kanan. Kallus happened to be the closest, so Kanan put a hand on his shoulder first.

“This is Alexsandr Kallus, a friend of the crew and former ISB agent. He switched sides about a year ago,” Kanan introduced.

“Hello,” Kallus greeted, seeming unsure if he should stick his hand out to shake or to just give a verbal greeting. In the end, he decided to keep his hands to himself.

Kasmir simply returned his greeting with a nod.

Kanan moved on to place a hand on Ketsu’s shoulder, which stiffened upon contact. “This is Ketsu Onyo, a friend of Sabine, one of the other members of the Ghost crew. She used to be a bounty hunter,”

Ketsu chose to just nod and give a little hand wave as her greeting, which Kasmir returned with his own nod.

“Are you giving him our qualifications or something?” Kallus asked before Kanan could start the next introduction. “There’s no need to give that much information!”

Kanan shrugged and moved to stand between the clones. “This is Gregor,” he said, placing a hand on his shoulder, “and this is Wolffe,” He followed with placing a hand on the other clone’s shoulder. “They're friends of a close friend of the crew,”

Kasmir glanced at them with a look of recognition. “They’re clones,” he stated, an unasked question suspended in the air.

“I know,” Kanan replied. “I’ve learned to live with them,”

“Is that all you have to say about us?!” Wolffe exclaimed in mock outrage.

“Says the one who fired at me when we first met,” Kanan shot back.

Everyone except Hera and Gregor looked at them in shock and confusion.

“What!!” Kasmir shouted.

Hera’s com went off before anyone could say anything else. It was Chopper; he was getting bored and reminded them that they still needed to get to Lothal some time this cycle.

“Alright everyone,” Hera said. “We need to get going. Everybody grab your things and get aboard the Ghost,” She started for the ladder.

“The Ghost?” Kleeve asked, speaking for the first time, “We’re going into this planetary liberation with one ship?”

“It's the only way to get through the blockade,” Hera answered from the base of the ladder. “We'd never be able to get the firepower to break the blockade, so we have to sneak in, and the Ghost is our best bet,”

“Then what are we going to do about the blockade when we free Lothal?” Wolffe asked, as Hera started climbing up the ladder.

Kanan replied for her. “We’re not sure. You can ask Ezra when we get there,”

“Who’s Ezra?” Kasmir asked, as Kanan put a hand on the ladder.

“My padawan,” Kanan answered cheekily, following Hera up the ladder.

“Since when do you have a padawan?!” Kasmir yelled up after him, gripping the sides of the ladder.

“I’ll tell ya when we get on the ship!” Kanan hollered down at him.

Kasmir scurried up after him. The rest of the group exchanged glances before climbing up themselves.

By the time everyone made it to the Ghost, Chopper was at the top of the ramp complaining about how they were taking too long.

“Kasmir, meet Chopper, Hera’s crazy droid,” Kanan said, extending a hand in Chopper’s direction.

“That’s your captain’s droid?” Kasmir asked, as Chopper cursed and brandished his shock prod, making him step back.

“Yep,” Kanan answered. “I’d keep an eye on him if I were you,”

Everyone entered the ship; Kasmir was giving Chopper a wide berth. Hera started climbing the ladder up to the cockpit, calling to Chopper over her shoulder.

“Alright,” Kanan announced. “Those of you who requested explanations, follow me to the common room. We have caf. And no, Kasmir, there won't be anything stronger,”

Kasmir made a disappointed sound, but followed him with the rest of group nonetheless.

Hera made it to the cockpit and prepared them for takeoff.

***

Hera leaned back in the pilot’s seat. They had just made the jump to hyperspace and were officially on their way to Lothal. She could hear Kanan telling Kasmir, Kleeve, Wolffe, and Gregor about all they had missed. Someone must have left a door open, because she wouldn't be able to hear their voices otherwise; she just couldn't here what they were saying.

At some point they took a break, and Kanan brought Hera her own cup of caf.

“Here you are, my lady,” he said as he handed it to her.

Hera smiled back up at him. “Thank you, dear,”

Kanan kissed her forehead when she took her first sip.

There was a chuckle behind them. Hera whirled around in time to see a green blur disappear out of sight.

“Why did Kasmir follow me here?” Kanan asked aloud.

“Maybe he wanted to see if he could confirm his suspicions about us,” Hera suggested.

“I doubt he'd need confirmation. He probably just wanted to catch us in the act,” Kanan replied.

“He didn't get that much did he?” Hera asked teasingly.

“Let's hope,” There was beat, then Kanan said, “I should probably get back and finish my stories,”

Hera nodded. “Yeah, we don't want them getting any ideas,”

“Yeah,” Kanan agreed. He risked another kiss to her temple before heading back to the common room.

***

They exited hyperspace above Lothal a few hours later. Everyone gathered in the cockpit for reentry.

Wolffe whistled when he saw the blockade. “How are we getting through that?!”

“You’ll see,” Hera replied, as she maneuvered the Ghost into position right by another hyperspace lane. Then she started shutting down the ship’s systems.

“What are you doing?” Kasmir asked.

Before she could answer, a cargo ship came out of hyperspace right next to them. Hera latched on to the side of the cargo ship and they passed through the blockade with no trouble.

“Wow,” Kasmir said, impressed, “Where'd you learn to do that?”

“Hondo Ohnaka,” Hera said flatly, as if she would rather not talk about it.

Kasmir, Kleeve, and Ketsu’s eyes all narrowed. “Hondo?” Kasmir growled. “What are you doing associating with him?”

“In a crazy turn of events, Ezra managed to befriend him,” Kanan replied.

Kasmir gave him a look, then glanced outside the viewport. “I can't wait to meet this kid,”

“You will soon,” Hera said as she detached the Ghost from the cargo ship and started towards the planet's surface.

They broke the atmosphere and Hera turned in the direction of the Lothal rebel base.

“Gregor, Wolffe, get on the guns,” Hera ordered. “I don't want to be unprepared if any ties catch us,”

The clones went to do as ordered.

Thankfully, they only encountered a few ties that were shot down before the pilots could do anything.

The base appeared a couple minutes later. Hera chose a safe spot to land and they all prepared to disboard.

“Here we go,” Kanan said, taking a deep breath.

Hera glanced at him. He'd put on a jacket over his short-sleeved shirt; Lothal tended to get cooler than Seelos or Yavin-4. “It'll be fine,” Hera reassured, standing up to put a hand on his shoulder.

Kanan looked down at her. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Let's go see the kids,”

Everyone else was waiting for them in the cargo hold.

“You guys can open the hatch without us you know,” Hera said, walking over to open the hatch herself.

“We thought everyone would want to see you first,” Wolffe offered as an explanation.

Hera rolled her eyes, but allowed the rest of the group to follow her, Kanan, and Chopper off the ship, where people were starting to gather.

“Kanan!”

Hera looked up to see Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb barreling towards them.

Ezra got there first. He threw his arms around Kanan's torso and pressed the side of his head against his collar bone. Sabine followed. Kanan, of course, happily hugged them both. Zeb came last and wrapped his arms around the three of them. He lifted them into the air and they all laughed as he spun them around.

“You're here,” Ezra sighed, once Zeb put them down.

“Hey, I’ll always come back,” Kanan reminded him.

“That doesn't mean you don't make us freak the hell out when you do something crazy,” Sabine shot back.

“Language,” Kanan scolded.

Ezra was laughing when they all pulled apart, then he suddenly froze. “Oh I almost forgot,” he said as he reached for something on his belt, “This is yours,” He handed the object to Kanan.

“My lightsaber?” Kanan asked, running his hands over it. “Ezra, how'd you get this?”

Ezra rubbed the back of his neck. “We...may have broken into Governor Pryce’s office,”

Kasmir suddenly laughed. “So this is Ezra,” he said as everyone turned to look at him.

Sabine's hands went to her blasters, Zeb growled, and Ezra reached for his lightsaber. “Who are you?” Sabine asked.

“Guys, it's alright,” Kanan said, placing his hands on Sabine and Ezra’s shoulders. “This is my friend, Janus Kasmir. Kasmir, this is the rest of the Ghost crew: my padawan - Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, and Garazeb Orrelios, but we mostly call him Zeb,” He had to reach back to place a hand on Zeb’s shoulder while he made his introduction.

Sabine and Zeb gave Kasmir a quick once-over and offered a small greeting.

Ezra, on the other hand, took a minute to study him more closely. “Heeey,” he said, raising one hand to point a finger at him. “Aren't you the guy who helped me with those bucketheads on Lahn?”

“What?” Kasmir was clearly taken back, then he got a closer look at Ezra's face. “Well whaddya know. I told you he reminded me of someone!” He told Kleeve.

Kanan turned his head in both of their directions. “Well, that's a coincidence,” he said. “Now Ezra, can you please tell me how you got this?” He held up his lightsaber.

Ezra nodded. “Yeah, there's a lot we need to tell you,” He turned to Hera, “You too, Hera,” He then motioned to the whole group. “Come on, I think we need to swap a few stories before we get this mission started,”

Everyone followed him to find a place to sit so they could all talk.

I will be making more content for this. I’m getting ready to start the sequel.

[tarisilmarwen]

Cracks In The Mirror: Caught

(I have had this idea for a terrible “Through Imperial Eyes” AU running around in my head for like three weeks and now I must inflict it on the rest of you, because the hiatus is already stinging.

The basic premise: Kallus gets held up on the way to Ezra’s cell, so Thrawn gets there first.

Also on FFnet here.

Enjoy.)

—

He had to hurry.

Lyste's stolen data cylinder burning a hole in his front pocket, Kallus beelined for the secure cell where they had taken Ezra.  The quicker the boy was out of his hair and restored to his crew, the better.  Kallus had no intention of leaving with the young rebel--and if the plan he'd set in motion panned out, he wouldn't have to.  But it required careful speed and precision.

He was almost to the right corridor.  If that junior officer hadn't waylaid him in the hall earlier he could have been here ten minutes ago.  Every second counted in operations like this, and he sped to make up the lost time.

Kallus was in such a rush he breezed right past Chopper and AP-5, hovering just shy of the corner.

AP-5 raised a hand.  "I wouldn't--" he tried to warn the agent.

Kallus rounded the corner and then immediately had to lunge back behind it, biting down an internal scream of frustration.

Thrawn and Pryce and three Stormtroopers were right outside Ezra's cell.

No no no! Kallus groaned.  Why is he here now?!

If Thrawn made Ezra--and there was no way he wouldn't--it was all over.  He'd be exposed.  Unless he managed some very clever deflection, came up with some kind of explanation or excuse for why he hadn't recognized and reported Bridger's presence.

They were already opening up the cell.  He had no time to think up a plan for distracting them.  What he wouldn't give for one of Sabine Wren's explosive devices!

"What the--" the foremost trooper exclaimed.

Kallus peered closer, morbidly interested.  Had the boy already escaped?

But Pryce had her blaster out now and was leaning into the doorway, checking the corners.  Kallus saw her jerk it up and fire a stun bolt.

He heard a yelp from Ezra and then a loud, painful-sounding CRUNCH! as the boy dropped, presumably from the ceiling.  Kallus grimaced at the impact, which shook the walls even where he stood.

Two of the troopers moved into the cell, as Thrawn gave an approving nod to Pryce.

"Excellent instincts, Governor, " he complimented.  "A paltry trick like that might have fooled a lesser officer."

"Thank you, Grand Admiral," said Pryce, beaming at his praise.  Her voice and expression took on its usual ice as she turned.  "Now, let's see about our shuttle thief."

He couldn't watch this.  He wanted to run, to flee the scene.  But his feet wouldn't obey.  They stayed rooted, the rest of him transfixed in mute horror.  Kallus could do nothing but watch as the two troopers dragged Ezra up the stairs to present him to Thrawn.  He hung limp in their hands, unconscious from the stun blast.

Thrawn stirred in interest, reaching down to grab Ezra's chin and turn his cheek, studying the distinctive twin scars intently.

"Well, well..." he said, red eyes lighting up.  "This is a turn of events..."

"The Bridger child!" Pryce hissed, her hands clenching.  "What is he doing here?!"

Kallus moaned softly, palming his face in his hands.  No no no no.  This was exactly why he hadn't wanted them to extract him!

"This will require my personal attention," he heard Thrawn saying.  Kallus looked up from his hands to see the Grand Admiral calmly gesturing to his troopers.  "Bring him," he ordered.

They followed after the admiral as he turned to go, carrying Ezra between them.  Kallus watched them disappear down the opposite end.  He waited until they were out of earshot, before whipping around and slamming his fist into the wall with a primal scream.

The heretofore quiet Chopper let loose with a string of harsh beeps.

"It is not my fault, I was thinking of how to get the clearance codes!" AP-5 protested hotly.  "We would never have been able to get off the ship even if we had freed Bridger first!"

"That won't do us any good now!" Kallus snapped.  "They know who he is, they'll be expecting a rescue!"  He stopped, forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down.  Getting agitated wouldn't help Bridger.  He needed to think.

He rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

"Who was on the retrieval team?  Who was coming to get us?" he asked.

Chopper responded promptly with a series of warbles.

"Contact them.  Tell Jarrus and Commander Rex to divert course, they are not to retrieve us," Kallus emphasized.  "They are not to exit hyperspace until I've come up with a plan."

"What plan would that be?" asked AP-5 with withering cynicism.

"I don't know!" Kallus said, throwing up his hands as he headed back the way he'd come.  "I'll improvise!"

"No wonder you defected to the Rebellion," AP-5 snarked at his receding back.  "You fit right in.  They never have a concrete plan either."

Kallus ignored the remark.  If he encountered that junior offer that had held him up he was just going to strangle him.

It was time to make himself very scarce.

***

Ezra's head was still throbbing from the stun blast, but he was clear-minded enough to think, This is not good.

His breath had hitched when the cell door opened to reveal not a Stormtrooper guard, not even Kallus, but the Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn himself, with Governor Pryce beside him.  Ezra had held his breath, clinging to the ceiling, not daring to move a muscle.  But Pryce had spotted him and shot him off the ceiling--which was probably why the whole back of his skull and spine felt bruised.

And now he was under armed guard being escorted to Thrawn's office.

Not good, not good!

They passed through the doors into a narrow antechamber.  It and the room  beyond was set up like an art gallery, and Ezra spotted something familiar, displayed prominently on a pedestal to the right.

Hera's kalikori!  He paused a little too long looking at it; the troopers gave a hard shove to his shoulder to push him forward.  Ezra was sat down in a chair opposite the Grand Admiral's imposing-looking desk.

The doors hissed shut and latched behind them.

"Ezra Bridger."

Ezra gave an involuntary shiver.  He hated the way his name sounded dropping from the man's lips.  Like a cold, clinical slither.  Thrawn came around, not to stand behind his desk but next to it, uncomfortably casual.  The faint hint of an amused smile ghosted his mouth.

"We didn't get a chance to be formally introduced back on Ryloth.  I am--"

"I know who you are," Ezra interrupted, glaring at the Chiss.

"Then we are on the same page," Thrawn replied without missing a beat or showing any sign of irritation at him.  "Your reputation precedes you, Ezra."  Once again, Ezra shuddered at how Thrawn said it.  The Grand Admiral angled towards him, hands folded calmly behind his back.  "Disguising yourself as a mercenary to infiltrate an Imperial starship was your idea, wasn't it?"

"Maybe it wasn't," Ezra shot back.

"Unlikely," Thrawn dismissed.  "Your over-fondness for orange hues suggest you picked out the armor yourself."

He's guessing, thought Ezra, even as his pulse pricked up.  He can't really know that. 

"You don't know anything about me," he said, brows dark and narrow over his eyes.

Thrawn said nothing, regarding him with an expressionless mask.  Wordlessly, he stepped around his desk and pressed a series of keys on the console.

Dozens of holographic images sprang up, filling the air above the desk as Thrawn projected what looked like an entirely library of information for him to see.

Ezra's eyes widened and he inhaled sharply.  It was... everything.  Transcripts of some of his parents' broadcasts.  His forged cadet profile from the Imperial Academy.  Incident reports from local garrisons on Lothal.  Arrest records, from his time on the streets.  Grainy still frames from security cameras showing some of the Ghost's past missions.  Schematics for his tower.  Even pictures of some of the graffiti he'd tagged on walls with Sabine.  His whole life, exposed and laid bare for Imperial eyes.

There was a gleam of triumph in Thrawn's eerie red eyes.  "I know everything about you, my dear boy," he said calmly.  He began to stalk back around the desk, slowly, like a circling predator.  "Where you come from, who your parents were, where and how they died."  Ezra flinched at that, biting down the swell of guilt that coursed through him.  Thrawn seemed to take a perverse enjoyment in that, in how his words were affecting the young rebel.  "How you grew up on the streets, scrounging to survive.  How you fell in with a crew that became like a second family to you, even," he continued, "about your special connection to the energy field you call 'The Force'."

Thrawn closed in, coming to stand in front of Ezra.

"In fact, the only thing I'm curious to know..." he said.  He leaned in, looming over Ezra as he placed a hand on the corner of the chair, looking the boy right in the face.  "...is just how long it will take--"  His red eyes narrowed.  "--to break you."

Ezra swallowed nervously, pinned under Thrawn's probing stare and looking up at him in fear.

***

Ezra was hyperventilating, his breaths quick and shallow, watching wide-eyed as Pryce and another Imperial worked the restraints holding him to the interrogation table.

"Can't these restraints pull any tighter?" Pryce complained, yanking on the metal band in aggravation.

"Sorry Governor," the Stormtrooper apologized.  "We're doing our best.  He's just a little too small for them."

"Well find a way to make do!" Pryce snapped, stepping back from the table.  She turned an icily sweet smile on Ezra.  "We don't want our guest leaving prematurely," she crooned.

If Ezra could have burned her with his glare, he would have.  He was rapidly beginning to despise the woman, who'd seemed to take an almost gleeful satisfaction in hitting and slapping him when he'd refused to answer Thrawn's questions.  His cheek still stung from one of her blows.

She assumed a calm, professional stance, smirking at the brief look he darted at the Stormtroopers pinning him down.  "There's still time for you to avoid this," she told him.  Her voice was deceptively soothing.  "Tell us the location of the rebel base, and you'll be treated well," she offered.

Yeah right.

Ezra's glare remained firmly in place.  "I'd rather kiss an inventory droid," he snarked.

"Suit yourself."  Pryce reached back to take the datapad an aide handed her.  She scrolled through the information, her eyes keening at something.  "Ah, allergic to symoxin are we?"  When she glanced back up at him her expression held an unsettling gleam of excitement.  "That will be interesting to play with."

Ezra held back a scream.  How?!  He hadn't even told the medics at Chopper Base yet, he just tried to avoid getting hurt enough to have to see them!  He hadn't had a reaction since--

Thrawn must have gotten hold of his childhood medical records.  Ezra squirmed uncomfortably.  Was nothing of his private anymore?  The thought of Thrawn's extensive file on him, of the Grand Admiral scrutinizing his intimate details, studying him, like he was some kind of lab specimen...

Ezra felt sick.  The technicians and guards buzzed around the room and his pulse started racing watching them.  His lungs felt like they were tightening.  Fear rippled through him.

Kanan had taught him how to resist mind probes, how to use the Force to block out pain, but this? he thought, as he took in the tray-fulls of needles and syringes, the electro prods and sharp metal instruments.  This was on a whole different level.

They couldn't break him.  He couldn't let them.  For everyone's sake--for the base, for Phoenix Squadron, for Kallus--he had to keep his mouth shut.

Kallus, Ezra thought nervously, looking up towards the observation window, where Thrawn overlooked the room, reminding Ezra of a large, patient spider.  If you're really on our side, now would be a great time to prove it.

But he was beginning to think even Kallus couldn't get him out of this one.

***

Thrawn watched through the window as Pryce directed preparations.

The boy had held up under the initial round of questioning... remarkably well.  He had feigned ignorance at first, tried to pretend he didn't know anything.  When that had inevitably failed, he had assumed a defiant silence.  All of Thrawn's probing questions--and a few nasty hits from Pryce--had yielded only the occasional smart remark.

He was actually a bit impressed that a teenager--normally so volatile and easy to read--had been able to hide his emotions so well.  Thrawn had even shown him the map, to gauge his reaction, pick up from his expression some final clue to narrow down the location of the Rebel base, and Ezra had kept the stoic mask up, his face betraying nothing.  The Jedi rogue must have taught him a few tricks.

No matter.  He'd have the planet's coordinates soon enough.  Extracting them from the boy might prove difficult, given his stubborn nature, and the rebels would undoubtedly attempt some sort of rescue for him.  But Thrawn had ideas on how to deal with that as well.  Assuming, of course, the boy survived more... extensive interrogation.

Either way, Thrawn would have what he wanted.  One way or another, Ezra Bridger would be of use to him.

There was another matter he needed to see to presently.  Thrawn addressed one of the troopers in the room with him.

"SL-7514, if you would... please send for Agent Kallus."

***

He had been ducking patrols and avoiding people in the hallway for at least an hour.  The only person he'd spoken to had been Lieutenant Lyste, who had been all too eager to come find him after tailing Pryce to Bridger's cell to brag about "his" catch.  It was only by pure luck that Kallus and Lyste hadn't run into each other when they had all converged on that brig hallway--though Lyste was probably trusting enough that he wouldn't think anything unusual about Kallus skulking around and hiding.  Kallus congratulated the man, certain chagrin was showing through the cracks in his expression, but had hung on to Lyste's data cylinder.  It might still help him.  If he could only shake its owner off.

"He looks so different now, it's amazing we didn't recognize him sooner!" Lyste was babbling excitedly.

"Indeed," Kallus said flatly, awkwardly looking for an escape.  Chopper had updated him a few minutes ago, rolling by and warbling out the news, unnoticed by Lyste.  Kanan and Rex were holding steady in a remote system, close enough to hop onto the hyperspace lane and reach Lothal in minutes, but far enough that the Empire wouldn't be looking for them there.

Kallus was still working on ideas for how to extract Ezra.  Each plan he came up with sounded flimsier than the last.  He was beginning to feel desperate.  Short of requesting an all-out attack on Thrawn's Star Destroyer by Phoenix Squadron, he had no clue how to get Imperial attention off the boy long enough to snatch him.  And he couldn't ask the Rebels to do that, not for him, not even for Ezra, though he knew they wouldn't hesitate to risk it for them.

He couldn't lead them into that kind of danger.

Stealing a shuttle was looking more and more like the best option for escaping the Chimera.  Once again though, how to get Ezra out with it.

"Agent Kallus!  Sir!"

Kallus almost jumped out of his skin.  "What?" he blurted a little too quickly, turning to face the speaker.

"The Grand Admiral wants to see you on Level 6, sir," the Stormtrooper reported.

Oh hell.

Dread pooled in his stomach and it took all of his ingrained self-control not to let it show.

His voice was still a little more strained than normal as he replied, "Ah... yes.  Yes of course, I--Right away.  Thank you, trooper."

He avoided Lyste's eyes--avoided looking at anyone really--as he reluctantly began to head down.

Nothing for it but to go straight into the rancor's den.  Running now was futile.  Refusing the Grand Admiral's summons would only confirm Thrawn's suspicions.  If he had any chance of scraping through this undiscovered he had to just go in, learn the extent of what Thrawn actually knew, and then bluff his ass off and hope it would be enough.

This stress was going to murder him.

With effort, he managed to compose himself by the time he reached the interrogation room.

Thrawn was standing at the window, observing with a pensive hand to his chin.  Red eyes flicked to him briefly.

"Agent Kallus," said Thrawn.  "I thought you'd be interested to know the shuttle thief Lieutenant Lyste apprehended turned out to be a much bigger catch.  One you're quite familiar with."

The man was unreadable.  Heart thumping, Kallus cautiously stepped into the room and came over to stand next to him.  Thrawn turned his head toward the window, to indicate.

"The young Lothal rebel Ezra Bridger."

Kallus bit his tongue, forcing his features to remain still, as he looked down into the chamber, where they had Ezra awkwardly secured to an interrogation table and were finishing up final preparations.  The boy looked terrified, nervously watching the IT-O droid floating from side to side.

"He's... taller than I remember from the last time I encountered him," Kallus commented awkwardly.

"And cropped his hair, likely why he felt confident enough to return," Thrawn added in a clinical monotone.  "He assumed he wouldn't be recognized."

Was there a hint of accusation in there?  Kallus couldn't tell.  He was straining for signs from Thrawn, for a look, for an inflection in his voice, something.  The Grand Admiral was as impassive as a droid--worse than a droid, Kallus corrected, remembering Chopper and AP-5 and their respective colorful personalities--and it was killing him.

Stay calm, he told himself.  Getting nervous will tip him off.

To distract himself, he studied the tray of bottles and syringes Pryce had set up next to her.

He stiffened, recognizing several of the drugs and the particular cocktail they mixed.  They can't be... The Brisney-Favvin Method?

"Is there something wrong, Agent?"  Thrawn asked, with a eerie stare.

His heart was having trouble keeping up with his anxiety.  Kallus phrased his words very carefully as he met the man's eyes, feeling his extremities prickling.

"With... all due respect, Grand Admiral," he pointed out, "that table and that procedure are usually used on adults, surely--"

"Ezra Bridger is an enemy of the Empire," Thrawn interrupted emotionlessly.  His eyes turned down towards the chamber.  "His age is irrelevant."

"Of... of course, Grand Admiral..." Kallus replied meekly, hidden nausea churning through his guts.

He had witnessed dozens of interrogations.  Overseen a few himself.  But he would have never stood for something like this, even if he hadn't already defected.  The Brisney-Favvin could break a full-grown Tradoshan.  And they were using it on a teenager.  Even Colonol Yularen would find it distasteful.

Which was probably why he wasn't there, thought Kallus ruefully.  Thrawn hadn't invited him.  He didn't want anyone's conscience pricked enough to pose objections.

It was the kind of thing Kallus couldn't help notice now that his eyes were open.

He hated how blind he'd been before.

Pryce was holding up the first syringe.  Skirtopanol--a common truth serum, Kallus identified--and a concentrated dose.  With a gesture from her, the IT-O droid bobbed forward, robot pincer coming out and clamping on Ezra's chin harshly, pulling down, forcing his jaw open.  Pryce stepped forward, also pinching his face with her free hand as she shoved the tube of truth serum directly into his mouth, probably the most uncomfortable place she could inject it.

"Aah..." Ezra whimpered, feeling a sharp pinprick of pain as the needle pierced his gums at the base of his molars.

Kallus winced in sympathy.  Pryce stepped back, waiting a few moments for the drug to begin taking effect.  Then she called up to the window.

"We're ready to begin, Grand Admiral," came her voice through the speakers.

Thrawn leaned forward, pressing the call button.  "Proceed," he told them.  "Set voltage to eight milliamperes and duration for ten seconds."

The technicians complied, and Kallus felt his fists tightening, his nails digging into his palms.  Wanting very much to be anywhere but there.

Hold on, Ezra, he prayed.

The head tech threw the switch.

The electrodes on either side of the table sparked to life, arcing across metal and flesh.  Ezra convulsed, curling into himself, his face squeezing tight... but his mouth firmly, valiantly, remained shut.  All they got out of him were a few pained grunts.

When the ten seconds were up and the electricity ceased, Ezra gasped as if coming up for air--he'd held his breath, Kallus observed--and panted hard, recovering from the shock.

Both figurative and literal in his case.

"Interesting," Thrawn commented, leaning on the call button again.  "Increase voltage to thirty milliamperes and set duration to fifteen seconds."

Kallus looked at him in alarm.  Down in the chamber the technicians complied and Ezra had only a few seconds to close his eyes, his face growing serene, focusing--no doubt--on the Force to brace--

The electricity arced again and this time a scream tore from him, shrill and high-pitched.  Kallus felt it like a slap to his ears, and it twisted a knife in his gut.

Ezra shrieked until the switch was thrown and the current turned off.  He slackened in his restraints, head hanging, eyes on the floor, breathing hard.

"S... Sithspit..." Kallus heard him breathe weakly.

Thrawn gave a cold smile of satisfaction.  "I believe you have your sweet spot, Governor," he told Pryce.  "Continue with the interrogation."

Pryce's smirk almost cracked her face as she motioned for the techs to shock Ezra again.  The boy's head and back jerked up, slammed against the metal table as his body thrashed involuntarily.

Kallus's face was ashen.  The nausea was churning full throttle in his stomach now.  Once again his feet had taken root, refusing to budge no matter how much his insides clawed for action.

He was petrified, a prisoner in his own body, helpless to stop Ezra's torment.

The boy looked up through the window right at him, blue eyes desperate, pleading.  Telegraphing a terrified, Help me!

Kallus's eyes pinched, his features twisting hopelessly.  I can't.

He was suddenly aware of Thrawn's eyes on him, and swallowed, trying to rearrange his expression.  His neutral facade felt flat, unconvincing.

He knew immediately that Thrawn could see right through him.

"It's fascinating, really," the Grand Admiral was commenting lightly.  "Just how far these Rebels will go for their mission.  What risks they will take for their friends."

Kallus felt his heartrate spike and sputter.

"The boy did not return to Lothal to steal a shuttle.  He came to retrieve something.  Or rather... someone."

Dread congealed in his gullet and Kallus closed his eyes.

He knows.

Thrawn regarded him with an icy look of disdain, frowning, brows low over his eyes.  "A pity that he met with failure."  He straightened, rigid and imposing.  "Troopers, take Agent Kallus into custody," he ordered.

As the troopers came forward, Kallus numbly accepted defeat.  Ezra's screaming continued down in the chamber, his agony beating on Kallus's eardrums like a merciless sledgehammer.

I'm sorry, Ezra, thought Kallus, as the binders clicked around his wrists.  I'm sorry.

That was all he could think as the troopers led him away.  Just those two words, over and over.

I'm sorry.

---

Chapter notes!

1. Symoxin, according to Legends canon, is a common painkiller.  According to Wookiepedia concentrated doses can be used as a knockout substance.  So basically Ezra is allergic to the equivalent of aspirin or penicillin.

2. Commander Brisney and Barrisk Favvin are both New Canon members of ISB.

3. In addition to being a truth serum, skirtopanol also increases sensitivity to pain.

4. The average human body can withstand electric currents up to 60 mA (depending on fat and muscle structure and not without some damage if the shock is prolonged) before serious chances of death start.

Planning at least two more chapters.  Stay tuned.