On the planet Garel, Ezra Bridger is doing blaster training with Captain Rex, using Chopper as a target while holding up a Stormtrooper's helmet. Zalo was watching from the Ghost's ramp.
"Aim, then fire." Rex said.
"You know what, Rex, I bet even you miss sometimes." Ezra said.
Zalo stepped up and approached Ezra.
"You have the aim of a Stromtrooper." Zalo joked as his Ezra glared at him.
"Speaking of, you're missing Jedi training." Kanan said. "Which is now. Remember?"
Ezra sighed and turned toward the three men.
"You know, I can't be in two places at once." Ezra said.
"As a solider, you'll need to learn how to prioritize." Rex said.
Kanan faced the clone.
"Well, he's not a solider." Kanan said to Rex. "He's a Jedi."
"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to be either." Ezra murmured.
Rex's eyes widened and turned to Kanan, who was just as shocked to hear this from Ezra. Ezra looked down and wished that didn't come out of his mouth.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kanan asked.
Then Sabine came from the Ghost to speak with the gentlemen outside.
"Hey, practice squad!" Sabine said. "Hera called a meeting. Attendance is mandatory."
Ezra handed the blaster to Rex and ran to the Ghost.
"What's bothering him?" Rex asked.
"I don't know. This is new." Kanan replied.
As the other rebels entered the Ghost, they saw a hologram of Darrel and Commander Sato.
"As we speak, the frozen planet Rinn is suffering a huge energy crisis." Darrel said as a hologram of a heat generators appeared. "When their supplies of fuel cells are gone, the people will not be able to power the heat generators the need to survive."
"They'll freeze to death." Sabine said
"I bet you the Empire cut off their fuel supplies." Zalo said
"Since we're already on Garel, we should check out the black market." Ezra suggested.
"There should be some fuel cells we could fine." Kanan agreed.
"See what you can find, without delay." Sato said.
Sato and Darrel's holograms faded.
"Gear up, everyone. Time to make friends with the locals." Hera said as the others walked out. "Except you, Spector 6 and 7. I told you both to clean the Phantom's Exhaust Port. Twice."
"But, I had Jedi training." Ezra said "And blaster practice."
"And I've been training for when Vader ever comes back" Hunter said
"Well, now you have scrubbing practice." Hera said. "And Zalo, if you want to be part of this crew. you're gonna have to pull your weight around here."
Chopper then laughed at the boys misfortune.
"What are you laughing at?" Hera asked. "You're going to be helping them." she said as she walked out while Chopper grumbled at the Padawans.
"We'll discuss this later." Kanan said to Ezra.
"Can't wait." Ezra said sarcastically.
Later, the Padawans and Chopper were cleaning the Ghost as the rest of the crew were heading out.
"It's clean the Ghost, lightsaber training, blaster training." Ezra complained. "I miss the old days, when everything was simple."
"I know how you feel Ezra." Zalo said scrubbing the cockpit's window. "My parents used to argue on how to train me."
"Really, how did you get them to stop?" Ezra asked.
"I didn't." Zalo chuclked "They eventually came to their senses and let me decide for myself."
Then Chopper approached the two.
"Distress signal + Two Jedi = Immediate attention" Chopper said.
"A distress signal from who?" Ezra asked.
Chopper played the message and Ezra recognized it immediately.
"That Vizago's ship." Ezra said.
"Who's Vizago?" Zalo asked.
"We used to do business with him before we joined the Rebellion" Ezra replied
"Ok well what does he want?" The hybrid asked.
"Well, he's obviously in distress," Ezra said "and if there's one thing I've learned from Kanan is that we help people in distress." Ezra said as he ran inside the Phantom.
"Ezra wait up!" Zalo called as he followed his freind inside.
Ezra had his helmet and sat in the piolt seat. "Lets see what Vizago got himself into."
"Shouldn't we contact the others?" Zalo asked
"I owe him a favor and this could square us" Ezra replied "Besides, I know how to fly."
Ezra detached the Phantom from the Ghost and the teens flew off into space. Certainly! Here's the corrected passage:
Later in space, the teens were flying to their destination.
"Do you think flying away from your problems is a bad idea?" Zalo asked.
"I'm not flying away from my problems," Ezra said. "I'm helping someone with their problems. There's a difference."
"Yeah, sure there is," Zalo said.
The two teens spotted a ship not far from where they were.
"That's Vizago's ship, alright. I wonder what happened," Ezra said as he contacted the ship, but there was no answer.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Zalo said, and Chopper agreed.
"Well, we'll have to board the ship and find him," Ezra said as he landed on the ship's side.
Ezra then put his helmet on as he, Zalo, and Chopper entered the ship.
"Vizago must be in trouble," Ezra said. "Why else wouldn't he answer his call?"
"Maybe this is a trap set by the Empire," Zalo suggested as he and Ezra entered the cockpit. But the door closed behind them, locking Chopper out.
The teens entered and saw someone lying on the floor.
"Vizago, is that you?" Ezra asked as the person stood up and revealed themselves to be an old Weequay.
"Not exactly," the Weequay said. Hunter's eyes widened as he saw who it was.
"Greetings, I am Hondo Ohnaka," the pirate said, "proud owner of this fine but currently inoperative vessel."
"Where's Vizago?" Ezra asked. "This is his ship."
"Oh, so you know Vizago?" Hondo asked. "Well then, we have a mutual friend. It was his, but we were enjoying a friendly game of sabacc, and now it's my ship."
"Vizago betted his ship?" Ezra asked.
"Right after his droids, which are also mine," Hondo said.
"I guess," Ezra said.
"You know about me, but I don't know who you are," the old pirate said.
"I'm Lando Calrissian," Ezra replied.
"And I'm Tobias Beckett," Zalo said.
"Lando Calrissian and Tobias Beckett," Hondo said, putting his arms around the teens. "So, at last, I get to meet the semi-famous duo. A tad younger than I imagined, but being so young and coming to my rescue proves that you two must be the real deal."
"Yeah, I mean, we are pretty good," Ezra said.
"Pretty good," Hondo chuckled. "Are you looking for a crew? Hondo is hiring."
"Uh, we already have a crew," Hunter said.
"Speaking of which, where'd our droid go?" Ezra asked, looking around for Chopper.
"You lost your droid? I lost my whole crew thanks to the Empire," Hondo said. "I was once the captain, oh, the stories I could tell. So many of them true."
Then a beeping noise came from the ship as Hondo looked at the screen, and an Imperial ship started coming towards them.
"Um, yeah, you wanna tell a story? Tell one to the Empire while I get this bucket of bolts working again," Hunter said as he started working on repairing the ship.
Then Hondo pushed a button on the controls. "Hello, how can we help you?"
"Attention, spacecraft. You have reached an Imperial checkpoint."
"Hyperspace would be good," Hondo said to Hunter. Then the shuttle started shooting at them. Zalo finished working on the hyperdrive.
"Got it," Hunter said as Chopper entered the room and piloted the ship.
"Well Lando and Tobias, looks like we are off on an adventure!" Hondo said excitedly as the ship went into hyperspace.
Later in Hyperspace, the teens, droids, and pirate were flying to who knows where.
"It is as if we were in each other's heads," Hondo said. "We only just met, and the three of us make a pretty good team. I could use you two for a job. I am an old man, and I just need help pushing a few crates."
"Crates of what?" Ezra asked.
Then Chopper pulled up a hologram of Hondo's cargo, revealing the power generators they needed.
"Power generators?" Zalo asked.
"That's what you're smuggling?" Ezra followed up. "These are pretty hard to get, old man, expensive too."
"You're right," Hondo said. "Which is why we will sell them at a fair price, 500%."
"Okay, we help you, and you give us our cut in power generators," Ezra said. "Three crates."
"Make it two crates, and you have a deal," Hondo said.
"Okay, two, and we split the profit at the third," Zalo said.
"Deal," Hondo said, shaking Ezra's hand, then Zalo's. "The way you two bargain reminds me of, well, me. Now let's go get the supplies."
The old pirate walked out of the room, leaving the two teens alone.
"Ezra, me and my parents actually had interactions with Hondo before. He can be slippery, but he's a good man." Zalo said.
"Good to know. And just in case he does double cross us..." Ezra said, as he held up the controller to Hondo's droids.
"You sneaky Lothrat," Zalo said, patting Ezra on the back. "Nice work."
Ezra then gave the controller to Chopper for safekeeping as they met up with Hondo. Later, the teens and Hondo landed on a base on a blue moon and pushed two crates while Chopper stayed behind.
The three entered a chamber and saw a Jablogian with two droids next to him.
"Alright, where is Vizago?" he asked.
"Azmorigan," Ezra whispered as he covered up his face with his visor while Hondo talked to him.
"Let me guess, he's bad news," Zalo whispered.
"Really bad," Ezra replied.
"Is this a joke?" Azmorigan asked. "I don't deal with washed-up old relics."
"Come now, let's leave your wife out of this," Hondo said. "There is no need for impertinence between thieves. I'm certain we can reach an agreement."
"I'm certain we can," Azmorigan said as his droids aimed their blasters at Hondo and the teens. Then they were surrounded.
"Nice going, partner," Ezra said as he and Zalo were forced to their knees, and their removed Ezra's helmet.
"Hey, I know you from somewhere," Azmorigan said to Ezra. "Calrissan's farm on Lothal!"
Certainly! Here's the corrected passage with the requested character name change:
"Well, of course," Hondo said. "This is Lando Calrissian and his partner, Tobias Beckett."
"What?" Azmorigan asked. "No, they are not Calrissian or Beckett!"
"You lied to me?" Hondo looked at the teens. "I knew I liked you both!"
Azmorigan looked and saw there were four crates instead of five. "Wait, there are only 4 crates here. Where's the fifth?!"
"Well, the droid had the fifth crate," Hondo said.
Just then, Chopper came ramming and crashed into Azmorigan and his droids.
Then the teens and Hondo hid while Azmorigan tried to blast them.
"So, what's the plan?" Hondo asked the teens.
"I don't know, ask the droid," Ezra said.
Then one of Azmorigan's droids tried to shoot Ezra, but the teen backflipped, and the bolt broke his cuffs.
"Chopper, get my blaster!" Ezra said as Chopper zapped the taller droid and threw Ezra his lightsaber, then broke Zalo and Hondo out of their cuffs.
Then Zalo and Ezra fought off Azmorigan and his goons while Hondo was almost ejected into space until the teens used the Force to pull him back in, which surprised the old pirate.
Unfortunately, Azmorigan managed to escape, but the teens didn't worry about him as Hondo approached them.
"Well, my friends, you may not be Calrissian or Beckett, but I know what you are," Hondo said, chuckling. "You two are Jedi! Why didn't you tell me you both were Jedi? Did I ever mentioned that I was a Jedi sympathizer? One of my best friends was a Jedi? At least, I think we were friends."
"Well, we're not really Jedi yet," Ezra said.
"Well, then become Pirate Jedi," Hondo suggested. "We would make an excellent team. But first, tell me your real names."
"Ezra Bridger," Ezra replied.
"And I'm Zalo Tano," Zalo said.
Tano. Hondo was surprised to hear that name. Then it hit him. Zalo Tano, the son of Ahsoka and Darrel.
"Z? Is is really you?" Hondo asked?
Zalo nodded and hugged Hondo. He hugged the hybrid back.
"Zalo, so great to see you after all these years! How grown up you are now!" Hondo said with a huge smile.
"Surprised you didn't recognize me before, man." Zalo replied.
"Eh, it's been a long time. You never keep in touch with your uncle, do you?" He chuckled.
"Thank you, Ezra Bridger and Zalo Tano," Hondo said.
Later, the teens, Chopper, and Hondo were back on his ship, flying home.
"Well, you two must have many responsibilities, yes?" Hondo asked.
"Yeah, too many," Ezra said.
"Well, then join my crew and split it right down the middle, 50-40," Hondo said.
"Thanks, Hondo, but Ezra and I have family back home, and we just want the generators," Zalo said.
"Very well, you have a deal, partners," Hondo said, hugging the teens, making Ezra uncomfortable. "This makes me happy! Droid, bring me the most expensive drink you can find and something for the boys."
"Uh, I think we'll go with him," Ezra said as the teens and Chopper walked away.
"What happened? Did we just join his crew?" Ezra asked.
"Maybe you did. I sure as hell didn't," Zalo said.
"I don't want to leave the Ghost crew," Ezra added.
"I don't either, Ezra," Zalo said. "Besides, if my parents found out I joined a pirate gang, I'd never hear the end of it."
Just then, the teens heard a noise close by. "Did you hear that?" Ezra asked.
"Let's check it out," Zalo said as they walked towards the source of the sound.
The teens entered the cell and saw none other than Vizago.
"Vizago?" Ezra asked.
"What are you doing here?" Vizago asked.
"Hando told me you lost your ship in a bet," Ezra said.
"And you believed that swindler?" Vizago asked.
"Hey, we're not the ones who lock themselves in their own brig," Zalo said.
"He shoved me in the back with his stuff, then deactivated my droids somehow," Vizago said.
"Probably with this," Ezra said, taking the controller from Chopper.
"You must help me reclaim the Broken Horn," Vizago begged.
"Sorry, but we have other things to worry about," Ezra said.
"You owe me, remember? I gave you information and saved your Jedi friend. I'm calling in that favor now," Vizago said.
"Okay, I'll help you get your ship, and then we're even," Ezra said as Chopper opened the door.
"Chopper, get the generators on the Phantom," Zalo said.
"My generators!?" Vizago asked.
"No, our generators," Zalo replied. "Now come along and behave."
Back in the cockpit, Hando was counting credits as the teens and Vizago entered.
"I believe you two know each other," Ezra said, scaring Hando as he turned around.
"Partners, how could you let this horrible criminal out of the brig?" Hando asked.
"Save it, partner," Ezra said.
"Okay, now let's all relax," Zalo said. "Ezra and I will take the generators while you two split Azmorigan's credits. Everyone wins."
"That is a fair deal," Hando said, "and it disgusts me."
"For once, I agree," Vizago said, holding up the controller. "Care to hear my counter offer?"
The droid then turned on and approached the teens and Hando while Vizago exited the cockpit. The two teens ignited their sabers and attacked the droids. Little did they know they were above Garrel.
"Nice work, partners. I'll invest your share wisely," Hando said as he escaped.
Ezra then used the Force to pull the controller from Vizago's belt and deactivated the droids.
"Phew, that was close," Ezra said.
"Too close if you ask me," Zalo said. "Now let's get out of here."
Then they realized Hando took the Phantom, and an angry Vizago put them into an escape pod and ejected them back to Garrel.
"Not sure how we're gonna explain all of this," Ezra said.
"What do you mean 'we'? I was an innocent bystander while you did all the dirty work," Zalo said.
Chopper informed the teens that he'll know where Hondo will be.
Later, the teens and Chopper made it back to the Ghost and saw Hando talking to the Ghost crew.
"Well, wait. I'm not done. Then he let Vizago out! The villain was upon us, I'm telling you! But young Ezra and Zalo, they stood tall in front of me and withstood a massive atta..." Hondo said until he turned around to see the two teens. "My friends! I was just talking about you. How we rescued the generators from the evil Vizago."
Hondo puts his arm other Ezra, he shrugged it off.
"That's not happened. You stole the generators and my ship." Ezra said.
Hondo gasps.
"What an accusation! You wound me!" Hondo said as he sighed.
"The droid had the ship on autopilot, Uncle." Zalo smirked.
"Well, that's another version of the story, I suppose." Hondo said as he turned around. "I'll tell you what. You can keep my generators. They are my gift to you. Goodbye!"
Hondo disembarked from the Ghost. Ezra followed him. Ezra says that in the past he would have joined Ohnaka's crew. Ohnaka laughs and says that he is truly a Jedi. Ohnaka departs and Ezra returns with the Rebels.
Following Hondo's departure, Hera issues orders that her crew contact Commander Sato and inform him that Ezra and Zalo found the generators. Kanan also speaks with Ezra, asking his Padawan if he went for a little spin. He says that he wanted to figure things out.
He says he used to be like Hondo, out for himself and alone. Ezra realizes that he is not the same person. Kanan surmises that Ezra is on a different path. Ezra says that he has the Spectres for his family.
Zalo enters the Ghost cockpit and contacted his father. A blue hologram of Darrel appeared.
"Dad, you're not going to believe who I ran into." Zalo said with a smile on his face.
Darrel rolled his eyes and smirked.
"It wouldn't happen to be certain Weequay, would it?" He asked.
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Somehow, Darrel returned. But with a valid explanation! I've been very busy with life and college for the last year or so, I haven't got the chance to update the story. But now, I do have more free time than before you should expect a great many new chapters going forward.
Even new books as well! Stay tuned and May the Force serve you well!
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