((Hello it's me from 8/28/2020! Meant to upload this at 3 but I got delayed with pin drops. Sorry about that!))
Haven't watched this episode in a long time, excited to write it with Ky.
I'm working on art for "season 1" of this story, so that should be out this weekend. I'll start doing art per chapter eventually
Enjoy
Hello it's me from halfway writing this. Just realized I screwed up the comm stuff.... Ezra would be Spectre 7 technically with Ky on the Ghost. Excuse my mistake, I'm gonna go back and fix a lot of it later today or tomorrow.
- - -
Lothal was once peaceful, once upon a time. But times change, and the Empire holds control over the planet. TIEs fly over the city, there's always something happening at the Imperial Complex. Today it was cadet training, as one of the Imperial officers brought a new squad of cadets to their inspection.
"And, halt!" He commanded, as the group stopped in sync. He stood in front of them, "Squad LRC-077 for your inspection sir."
Another officer stood above them, holding some sort of control, "Cadets. You entered this facility as children, and in a few short weeks you will leave as solders. By the time you complete your training, you will be prepared to serve your Emperor." He told them the same speech he had to tell every squad of cadets. He looked over each of them as he continued, "today we will test your strength and resolve. Are you ready to become stormtroopers?"
The group straightened up, yelling in unison, "Sir, yes sir!"
"At ease."
Some of the cadets muttered amongst themselves, others took off their helmets to get a better look around. In the front line, on the edge, a certain blue haired boy looked around at his fellow cadets.
- - -
Ezra Bridger looked down at his reflection in the helmet, a little shocked that he was here. Never once he believed he would join the academy.
"Dev..." someone was saying, "hey Dev. Dev." The cadet next to Ezra grabbed his shoulder to get his attention,
"What?" Ezra asked, looking over to the brown haired boy.
The boy smiled back, "Dev Morgan, you in there?"
Ezra chuckled, "Oh, yeah. Dev Morgan's in here alright," He looked back at his helmet, "that's me."
"Wow..." the boy continued, "you must really be feeling the pressure."
"Sorry Jai," Ezra smirked, "who's under pressure? Not the guy who's won every assessment."
"Yeah, but today I can taste victory." Jai replied, playfully pushing Ezra.
"You said that yesterday and went hungry." Era reminded him, as they pushed each other around. The floor beneath them dropped, as all the cadets watched in confusion as their officers became farther away.
"Cadets," the slim officer explained, "you are descending into the Well, and must climb out with all deliberate speed," The cadets looked at the officers from the bottom of the Well, "you will he giving the honor of serving as aides in Imperial Headquarters. Those who lost, will be serving Taskmaster Grint and wish they'd stayed at the bottom of that well."
"I'm taking that prize." Jai smirked, looking at his components. Another cadet with his helmet still on pushed Jai,
"Not today, Kell."
Ezra pushed the boy back, "Back off, Oleg."
"You too, Morgan." Oleg warned him, pointing at both Ezra and Jai, "you're both going down."
"Actually," Ezra pointed to the top of the Well, "we're going up."
The cadets began fighting each other, as Grint watched from above, "The assessment begins in four, three," the cadets stopped their fighting and put there helmets on, "two..."
"How exactly are we going up?" Jai asked the group.
"One!" Taskmaster Grint pressed some buttons on the controls, as parts of the wall came out above the cadets, creating moving platforms for them.
"There's your answer Jai." Ezra remarked, before running over to the lowest platform, jumping onto it without any issues. He quickly climbed up a few of them, while the other cadets watched in awe and confusion. Ezra jumped to the platform over them, "see ya at the top!"
"Yes you will!" Jai remarked, following Ezra, with a little bit more trouble, "from below!" Other cadets had also begun to climb up, including the one that was next to Jai when they arrived.
"Failure is not acceptable," the slim officer explained, preparing for the next part of the assessment, "this Empire had no use for weakness."
The platforms began to light up with electricity, shocking one cadet and knocking him down. This added challenge was no problem for Ezra, as he could sense them before they shocked him.
"Morgan how do you do it?" Jai asked, struggling to catch up with Ezra, "it's like you know the platforms are coming before they're here."
"What can I say?" Ezra asked, jumping on the platforms as they emerged from the wall, "it's a gift."
"Morgan is impressive," the officer noted, "perhaps too impressive. Make a note of that."
Ezra quickly jumped into a platform, helping Jai up to where he was, as both of them made it to the top together.
Oleg smirked underneath his helmet, "You lose Morgan."
"Jai look out!" Ezra yelled, as the two jumped onto the next platform before Oleg pushed them off. He fell down to one of the bottom platforms, as Ezra mocked him with a salute. Jai and Ezra quickly climbed to the top, completing their assessment.
"First again." Ezra smirked as Jai took off his helmet. Another cadet climbed on top, as Jai replied,
"Yeah, well, I'll get you tomorrow."
Ezra took off his helmet, "You said that yesterday too."
"Quite a finish cadets, The officer stated, looking at the three, clapping as he walked over, "it seems this trial was too easy. Morgan, Kell, you both set course records." He looked over to the third cadet, "and is it, Leonis?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Leonis replied, taking off his helmet.
"You there are today's winners," he continued, "but rest assured, your next trial will be a great challenge. Follow."
The three cadets did as told, as Oleg reached the top, annoyed that he lost.
As the cadets walked along the halls of the complex, a poorly painted astromech droid rolled past them, looking to Ezra, who used his hand to communicate through signals. Chopper beeped in response, as the last cadet looked at him suspiciously.
Outside the complex, Chopper rolled into a hiding spot, flashing his light into the alleyways.
Sabine watched the droid's signal, going back to Zeb once the droid rolled away. The lasat watched her as she commed Hera.
"Spectre 5 to Ghost," she muttered, "looks like he passed the first test. He's inside imperial HQ."
"Roger Spectre 5," the twi'lek replied from the cockpit of the Ghost, "Ghost standing by."
Kanan sighed, looking to her, "We've been standing by for weeks, I'm sick of this." Hera glanced over, smiling a little, as she could see right through him,
"You're worried about Ezra."
"I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about the op..." Kanan muttered, then paused, "what were we thinking putting him undercover?"
"What were we thinking? This was your idea."
"He's just not ready..." Kanan continued, "and if he gets caught-"
"He hasn't gotten caught so far."
"The minute he gets that decoder, Zeb yanks him out of there."
"That's the plan."
Kanan scoffed, "I should have done this myself."
"Oh yeah..." Hera rolled her eyes, "you'd make quite a cadet."
Back at Imperial HQ, the three winning cadets were left alone, supposed to hand out data pads to Imperials. Leonis watched Ezra as he went down the hallway, sill suspicious of the boy.
Agent Kallus walked out of his office, reading his old data pad, as Ezra nearly bumped into him,
"Excuse me, sir," he looked up to him, following him down the hall, "I have your new datapad. I can leave it on your desk.
Kallus didn't even look at him, "No, I'll take it now." He grabbed the datapad, looking at it.
Ezra watched as the agent continued down the hall, not suspecting a thing, then turned back and went to his office. He quickly hacked the controls to the door, going inside before anyone saw him.
On Kallus' desk, Ezra opened up the machine and quickly typed in some data Sabine had given him, as a small disk came out from the side. He picked it up,
"One decoder, as ordered."
Ezra his the decoder in his helmet, grabbing his data pads and going back to the door, only for it to open to Leonis. Ezra gasped, as the cadet looked at him,
"What do you think you're doing?"
A door opened down the hall, as Leonis pushed Ezra back into the office and closed the door behind them. Leonis grabbed the decoder from Ezra,
"Hey, get outta there..." Ezra whispered, as the cadet looked at the disk.
"Figured it'd be something like this."
"It's not what you think..." Ezra started, but was cut off,
"I think, this device has a built in sensor, which would trigger that." He pointed to the alarm near the door, "you try walking out with this thing, the whole facility goes on lockdown."
Ezra looked at the alarm, then to Leonis, "Wait... are you trying to help me?"
"You really want to discuss this here and now?" The cadet handed the decoder back to Ezra, who put it back in the device on Kallus' desk.
"Not so much," Ezra replied, walking back to him, as the two left the office quietly.
Sabine watched as the bay doors to the complex closed for the night, contacting Hera immediately,
"Spectre 5 to Ghost, something went wrong," she explained, "the kid didn't get the device and he didn't come out."
"Copy that Spectre 5, give him one more day."
Kanan sighed, "This decoder better be worth the risk."
"What's the alternative?" Hera looked to him, "do you want to stop that kyber shipment or not? You know what the Empire could do with that crystal."
"Nothing good..."
"So we give Ezra one more day."
Ezra and Leonis quickly and quietly snuck out of the cadet's cabin, heading into a supply closet to stop.
"What do you need that decoder for?" He asked.
"My friends need it to stop an imperial shipment," Ezra answered, "how'd you know about the sensors?"
"From my sister, Dhara," he frowned, "she was the star cadet at this place. She knew the entire Imperial complex backwards and forewords."
"What happened to her?" Ezra asked.
"Well, they time is she ran off," Leonis responded, "but I don't believe it. What were you doing breaking into Kallus' office? That's a great way to get shot."
"Long story, but I need that decoder," he replied, "and I could use a friend who knows his way around."
"What's in it for me?"
"Do you really need a reason to mess with the Empire?" Ezra smiled a little, reaching his hand out.
"No, I don't." The two boys shook on it, as Ezra continued,
"Good," he explained, "we have to finish in the top three tomorrow if we're gonna get back inside Imperial HQ."
"Then let's do it," Leonis stated, "I'm Zare, by the way, Zare Leonis. And your Dev right?"
"Yeah..." Ezra replied, "yeah that's me."
What should be the final day of cadet training, and the mission had begun. Grint and Aresko stood above the cadets as they descended into the Well once again.
"Today's assessment will be a little more challenging," Aresko began, as the cadets put their helmets on, "you will need to shoot the targets to activate the panels necessary to climb out." As he spoke, the targets lit up with a red light, showing the cadets where they needed to shoot.
"Three!" Grint started counting down, "two! One!"
Zare quickly shot the first platform, as it emerged from the wall, as he and another cadet raced to it. The other cadet pushed him off. Meanwhile, Ezra was once again having no trouble with the assessment, as he had already made it halfway.
Oleg shot at one of the platforms below him, causing another cadet to fall back to the start. Aresko nudged his companion,
"Oleg seems to have taken your correction to heart, Mr. Grint."
Oleg continued shooting at the target and the platforms, nearly knocking Jai back to the start as well, but the cadet jumped onto the same platform Ezra was on. Ezra helped his friend, looking back to Zare,
"I'm not gonna make it!" Zare yelled to him. Ezra frowned, looking to Jai.
"Sorry Jai..." he muttered, pushing his friend off the platform. Jai opened his visor once he landed on the bottom platform, confused and saddened by the betrayal. Ezra felt bad, but the mission had to get done, as he closed his own visor and climbed to the top. Oleg was unfortunately behind him, but luckily Zare made it in third.
"Cadets," Aresko began, "follow Morgan's example. There is no friendship in war. The only thing that matters is victory. Victory at any cost. Tomorrow's final trial will push all of you to your limits, the reward for success will be a training session aboard an imperial walker."
The rest of the cadets finally made it to the top, Jai immediately ran to Ezra,
"Dev! You sabotaged me!"
Ezra looked back over, "I did what I had to do." Jai frowned as his so-called friend walked away,
"Good to know..."
Minister Marketh Tua walked out of her office, going past the two cadets before turning down the hallway. As soon as she was gone, they raced inside and over to her desk, Ezra looking at the vents above it,
"How are you gonna reach anything from up there?" Zare asked.
"Don't worry, I've been training to be a Jedi..." Ezra replied.
"Yeah right," Zare took his response as a joke, "who isn't?"
Ezra jumped up to the vents, climbing inside, "You'll see." He closed it behind him, climbing to Kallus' office. Zare left Tua's, waiting for two stormtroopers to walk past him before heading there as well.
Ezra opened the vent, looking down at Kallus as he did whatever he was doing.
There was a beep at the door, "Come." Kallus stated.
Zare stood in the doorway, holding a datapad, "Sir, your pod racer parts have been delivered. If you'll just sign off here I'll bring them up."
Kallus walked over to the boy, confused, "Obviously there's been a mistake. What would I want with podracer parts?"
As Ezra reached his hand out, Zare continued with the distraction, "No mistake sir. It says right here, two crates of second hand podracer parts for Agent Kallus." Ezra quickly used the force to grab the decoder, as Zare glanced over in awe as it levitated all the way up to the vent where Ezra was. Kallus noticed the boy's pause, quickly turning back, to see that nothing was different. Ezra had got it just in time.
"So..." Zare continued, "were you gonna sign it?"
"Cadet, are you ignorant?" The agent didn't even look at him, "I said this is a mistake."
"Sir yes sir..." Zare straightened up, "sorry sir."
Ezra began climbing through the vents, pausing over another office to listen to the conversation below,
"As usual," it was Aresko speaking, "the assessments have proven quite illuminating," Ezra looked down, seeing the blue light of a hologram, "I believe we've identified two cadets, Morgan and Kell, that meet your special criteria, Inquisitor."
"Excellent Commandant," the Inquisitor replied, "tomorrow I will arrive on Lothal to test them myself. If the tests are conclusive I will take them into custody."
Ezra closed the vent again, gasping. Jai was in trouble.
Chopper rolled over to Sabine and Zeb, as they waited for the mission to be done,
"Did you get the decoder?" Zeb asked the droid, as Chopper handed it to Sabine. Zeb smiled, "good, where's Ezra?" Chopper replied, as Sabine stared at him,
"What? What do you mean he went back to the Academy?"
Chopper played the hologram Ezra recorded,
"Guys. I know you're expecting me, but I have to stay at the academy. There's this kid, Jai Kell. And he'll get scooped up by the Inquisitor if I don't help him."
"Wait..." Zeb looked to Sabine, "the Inquistor? Is Ezra out of his.."
"You probably think I've lost my mind, and you're probably right," Ezra replied, "but it's your fault, the old me never stuck his neck out for a stranger. Clearly I've spent way too long with you heroes." Sabine placed her hand on her hip, as the two continued listening to his message, "decode the hyperspace coordinates and get them to Spectre 1. Oh, and if you're not too busy, attack the academy tomorrow at noon. I could use the divers action y get out of her. Spectre 7 out."
Sabine commed Hera right after the transmission ended,
"Spectre 5 to Ghost. Sending coordinates for Imperial jump route. If you leave now you should be able to intercept."
Hera watched the controls, replying, "Coordinates received. We're heading out."
"Good work Spectre 5," Kanan commented as Hera got ready to enter hyperspace, "and you two Spectre 7."
Sabine sighed, "Uh... Spectre 7 isn't with us."
Hera put this Ghost into hyperspace, as Kanan continued, "What? Where is he?" There was no response, "Spectre 5 repeat. Where is Spectre 7?"
Hera looked over to him, "Kanan, we're out of range." She reminded him, "all we can do now is complete the mission and get back as soon as possible." Kanan nodded, as Hera commed Ky, "Spectre 6, need you in the turret."
"Already there."
Jai woke up to a hand over his mouth, and Ezra standing over him,
"Shh, come with me." Jai shook his head as Ezra continued, "Jai trust me. Please." Jai looked at him for a moment, then nodded, as the two ran out and into the supply room where Zare was waiting.
"And that's why you need to come with us and leave tomorrow..." Ezra finished explaining.
"No," Jai shook his head, " no way, this is just another dirty trick. You're trying to get me busted out of the academy."
"Uh, yeah, but not the way you think. The Inquisitor-"
"Please, I don't believe this Inquisitor exists. And even if he does, maybe it's a good thing." Jai continued, "the Inquisitor trains me, I get a top rank in the Empire-"
"Kell you got a family?" Zare cut in.
Jai looked over, "It's just me and my mother..."
"And how would she feel if she never saw you again?" He walked over, "my sister disappeared from this place. And I'm betting it was the Inquisitor who took her away. So unless you're ready to say bye to mom forever..."
Jai stared at him with wide eyes, his choice made.
"Okay..." he muttered, "what's the plan?"
"Simple," Ezra stated, "the three of us have to win tomorrow's challenge."
"Not so simple." Zare remarked, looking at them, as Jai rose a brow,
"How's that gonna get us out of here?"
"Because it gets us inside that walker."
Three imperial transports were right next to an asteroid field, as Hera brought the Ghost out of hyperspace.
"Kanan, there are three ships. And we'll only get one shot at this."
"The kyber crystal resonated with the Force," the Jedi explained, closing his eyes, feeling for the crystal, "it's in the middle ship."
"You sure?" Ky questioned, preparing the turrets.
"I'm sure." Kanan replied, breaking off from the Ghost. He brought the Phantom closer, causing the TIEs to follow him.
"Come on, keep up!" Ezra yelled, gesturing for Jai and Zare to jump to the platform he was on. Oleg watched, grabbing his blaster and aiming for Jai, as Ezra quickly jumped in front of him, getting stunned and falling to another platform.
"Dev!" Jai yelled.
"Keep going!" Ezra told him, quickly trying to catch up.
He was only a second late, as Jai, Zare, and Oleg beat him. Jai helped him up, as Aresko looked at the four cadets.
"Well, well," he took a look at each of them, "Cadets Kell, Leonis, and Oleg, win the day and the prize." He gestured to the walker nearby.
"You were supposed to be on the walker with us. Now what?" Jai whispered to Ezra.
"Stick to the plan. I'll find a way to get on board."
Kanan shot at the TIEs as they flew towards him, blowing one of them up and dodging the others.
"Come on boys, take the bait." He muttered to himself, flying past the other transport, watching as the remaining TIES chased after him.
"Ghost, you're good to go!"
"Copy that." Hera replied, getting the Ghost in closer, "Ky, be ready!"
"Just keep us flying, I got this!"
Chopper threw a detonator onto one of the Imperial walkers, chuckling to himself as he rolled away.
In the walker with the cadets, Jai closed the door, as Zare began talking to the pilot,
"So, these control movement and this fires the cannons?" He asked, "but what are these?"
"Gyroscopics," the pilot answered, "here, I'll show you." While he was distracted, Zare grabbed his blaster and handed it to Jai. Chopper flashed his light at Ezra, who nodded, as the detonator went off and the walker came crashing down.
"We're under attack!" Grint yelled.
"What was that?" The pilot looked out the window.
"My signal." Jai stated, stunning the trooper and knocking him out.
"What are you doing?!" Oleg yelled, trying to grab the blaster from Jai- who stunned him too. Zare sat in the pilots seat, as Jai looked over,
"Guess there's no turning back now?"
"No..."
While Kanan had the TIE fighters away from the Ghost, the three transports began to shoot at the ship, as Hera brought it closer to the middle one. She groaned, pulling the ship up quickly to avoid fire.
The officer inside looked to his pilots, "Calculate the jump to hyperspace. Have every remaining ship buy us the time we need." The ship began to turn, as Kanan flew past with TIEs close behind him.
"We are under attack!" Aresko stated, "repeat, under attack. Lower the blast doors!"
Jai watched as the doors began to close, "Look! Do something!"
Zare shot are the doors, and hit one of the other walkers in front of them.
"Commandant! Whoever's controlling that walker is part of the attack!"
Aresko grabbed his comm, "This is LRC-01. A rogue walker is loose in the Academy. Advance and destroy." A transport from outside fired at the walker, as Jai yelled,
"Fire back!"
"I'm trying!" Zare responded.
"That transports gonna be gone any second and the cargo along with it!" Kanan yelled, "take your shot!"
Ky moved the turret to face the transport, waiting until they were close enough to do damage to it. Hera leaned towards her controls, making sure this worked.
"Calculations complete!"
"Commence hyperspace jump!"
Hera quickly flew the ship above them, as Ky fired the cannons at the last second, causing the ship to explode, and the cargo along with it.
Kyber never reacted well to cannons, as the explosion destroyed the transports and the TIES. Kanan flew the Phantom close to it, trying to get back to the Ghost.
"Hera!"
"I see it!" The twi'lek replied, "come on!"
Kanan leaned forwards, as a TIE crumbled apart from the explosion, and he connected to the Ghost just in time for them to enter hyperspace.
Ezra sprinted to the ladder, trying to get onto the walker with his friends. He jumped on toy the leg of the walker, barely holding on. He took a second to steady himself before jumping onto the top of the vehicle.
"Let me in!" He yelled, struggling to hold on.
"Look!" Aresko watched with Grint and the other cadets, "Morgan's attending to fight off the insurgents single handed."
The transport shot down the legs of the walker, causing it to collapse on the ground, with Ezra still on top.
"Hold on!" Zare exclaimed.
Ezra looked up, seeing a stormtrooper pointing his blaster at his head, to be instantly shot down. The rest of them turned around, looking for the source of the blaster fire. They did not expect a Mandalorian to jump of their transport and knock them out. Once they were all taken care off, she ran over to Ezra and helped him up,
"Thanks..."
"Don't mention it." She replied, holstering her weapons. Another trooper came out from the transport, to be instantly electrocuted by one of Chopper's energy bolts. Ezra chuckled at the droid's actions, as someone banged on the door to the walker.
"Help me, we gotta get them out!" Ezra stated, as he and Sabine ran over to the hatch and opened it, helping Jai and Zare out.
"You guys okay?" Ezra asked.
"Yeah," Jai replied, "let's just get out of here."
"Wait," Zare likes to him, "give me that blaster."
"Uh, sure," Jai handed the weapon over, "why?"
"Because I'm staying."
"What?" Ezra asked.
"It's the only way I'll ever find my sister."
Sabine noticed the troopers and officers heading towards them, "We got bucket heads in bound!"
Ezra looked to Zare one last time, "I'll keep in touch." Zare nodded, as he purposely missed the Rebels with each shot while the lasat drove them away in a speeder.
"This is a black mark, Commandant," the Inquisitor looked at the data pad, "I do not know this boy. But this one, I know." He pulled up a hologram of Ezra, "this is the padawan I encountered in Stygeon Prime."
"That is Morgan," Aresko commented, "the other is Kell." He looked over to Zare, "Cadet Zare Leonis came very close to stopping the escape." The Inquisitor stared at the boy as the officer continued, "he was part of the traitors squad, and knew them well, or... thought so."
"How admirable," the Inquisitor walked over to them, "well, Leonis. Let's take a walk, shall we? I want to know everything about your former friends."
Hera placed her hand on Jai's shoulder, as the crew of the Ghost, and the former cadet, stood in the fields of Lothal,
"Jai, we'll take you back to your mother, but you'll both have to go into hiding." She explained.
"Yeah... from the Empire. No problem."
"We'll help with that too.." Hera reassured him, as they walked onto the ship.
"So, how was it?" Kanan asked his padawan once they were alone.
"Forgot what it was like to be on my own," Ezra replied, smiling at him.
"You miss it?"
"No grumpy robots, no smelly lasats," he chuckled, "it's good to be back."
Kanan smiled, "At ease, cadet." Ezra playfully saluted his master,
"Sir, yes sir."
- - -
Again, Ky didn't have a big part in this episode, but it was still fun to write. I'm very excited for "Out of Darkness"- which was my favorite until "The Honorable Ones" premiered.
I wrote this the day after "Fighter Flight" and "Rise of the Old Masters". I'm ahead in my writing for once! Yay! Gonna do a schedule similar to show premieres, and I'm actually gonna stick to it.
I'm thinking Friday's? And I'll take a break between mid seasons and regular seasons. But they won't be that long.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed. And May the force be with you!