A Call for Help

~Part Five~

Ezra’s stomach dropped. Emperor Palpatine? Alive? How? Luke had assured them that he was dead. Killed in front of his own eyes. He gritted his teeth. Why did the Sith have to be so resilient?

“From your lack of response I assume you’re shocked to the core and are coming with us.” Lando said grimly. “We have a few more systems to stop at before we regroup. We’re gonna need every able fighter we can find. Is there anyone else on the surface with a ship who might be willing to join us?”

Sabine was the first one to recover from the news. “Yes,” she said, “There are a few new republic soldiers who’ll come along, and if we put out a message I’m sure there’ll be others too.”

“Alright,” Lando replied, “Make it quick.”

Sooner than expected, 4 ships emerged from the planets surface, and they all jumped away. Jacen had added a few more systems to Lando’s list, and their first stop was Ryloth. He hoped Numa and her rebels were still alive and putting up a fight.

As they jumped from system to system, Lando explained everything to them, and they explained why they couldn’t make it to Crait, and how terribly sorry they were about it. The situation was far worse than they’d feared and they finally understood Lando’s urgency.

By the time they were ready to jump to Exegol they had acquired pretty much the biggest fleet ever. It wasn’t a Navy, it wasn’t even a coordinated group of fighters. It was just…people. All of them fed up tyranny and oppression. All of them ready to die to be free.

They’d had no word from Exegol for far too long and knew the situation must have been dire. Lando signalled to all the ships to set their navi-computers, prime their hyperdrives, and make the jump on his mark.

3…2…1…

And just like that they were hovering over the most devastating battleground they had ever seen. Jacen’s eyes were wide. Ezra swore. Over the comm they heard Poe say, “I’m sorry…I thought we had a shot. There’s just too many of them…”

He sounded so dejected it broke Jacen’s heart. He wanted to scream “We’re here!” But Lando beat him to it.

“But there are more of us Poe,” He said. “There are more of us.”

That’s when Poe spotted them. The Falcon, and the Ghost right beside them, leading their new-found forces into the fray.

“Hey! Spectre 8!”Jacen shouted over the comm. Giddy with glee. “You miss me?”

Poe’s face lit up like a summers day, and then he just started to laugh. “Let’s show these guys how real rebels fly,” he replied. “Hit those underbelly cannons,” he announced to the whole fleet. “Every one we knock out is a world saved.”

And that was all it took. Soon, Star destroyers were going down in flames all around them. They heard cheers as well as painful cries over the comm, but the battle raged on.

On and on and on. Until they won.

~The End~

A Call for Help

~Part Four~

Life on Lothal had started to become the way it had been in the early days of the Empire. Checkpoints, curfews, patrols, the whole deal. They had started out by deploying storm troopers, then the tanks had arrived, and soon the military encampments.

Sabine, Ezra, and Jacen had debated for hours with the Governor about what do do about the First Order’s little occupation. They had no way to drive them out alone and no way to call for help. And besides, the First Order wasn’t in control…yet.

They hadn’t attempted to capture the Old Republic building, which meant they weren’t trying to be legitimate. They just wanted to spread fear. But the crew of the Ghost had had their fill of fear, and they weren’t interested in feeling like that ever again.

They encouraged the citizens to follow the First Order’s rules and assured them that they were working to drive them out, and ensured that everyone was comfortable and safe. They excelled at stealing and undermining oppressive rule. They gave the First Order the illusion of control, while continuing to execute little acts of rebellion without leaving a trace.

It reminded them of the old days. A mixture of sadness and joy. They had been more carefree then, but the darkest years of their lives had just been beginning.

Ezra hated seeing his home this way, everyone could tell that the memories haunted him. It was almost worse than before. He had promised to protect this place, these people, but he’d failed. He felt helpless. Every time they won, they lost. And if they didn’t find a way to help the Resistance soon, this fight would have been for nothing.

They worked everyday on getting their communications back up and when all modifications to their long range transmitter failed, they suspected that the First Order’s powerful jamming signal was coming from their lead cruiser which they’d only be able to bypass by boarding the ship and disabling it. They plotted and planned, preparing to sneak aboard, but all the odds were against them. They even tried to relocate the Jedi temple, but it had closed itself off beneath the surface years ago, it’s secrets lost forever.

As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the crew of the Ghost had almost begun to lose hope.

They were sitting in the command centre of the Old Republic building, feeling dejected after a long night, when their proximity alarm went off. There were ships emerging from hyperspace. They boarded the Ghost immediately, fearing the worst, to see who else had come to ravage their home.

But what they saw was nothing short of a miracle. When they arrived in the plant’s orbit, they were greeted by a small fleet of Resistance ships, led by none other than the Millenium Falcon. They nearly screamed with delight. How had they known to come?

It didn’t matter. They were attacking the lead destroyer and the Ghost sprung into action beside them.

Their comm crackled to life. “Hello there Rebels! How’s Lothal?”

“Lando!?” Sabine and Ezra said in unison.

“Is that the galaxy’s greatest artist and her Jedi friend I hear?” he replied.

They just laughed.

They brought the First Order’s ship down in a fiery blaze that all of Lothal must have been able to see. There were still fighters and light cruisers on their tail but they seemed to be pulling back.

“Sending coordinates for rendezvous with the rest of the fleet ” Lando said.

“What!?”, Jacen replied. “We can’t just leave! I thought you were here to help us!”

“I’m sorry, I came here because the Resistance needs you to help us. The First Order’s ships are leaving Lothal. They’re regrouping. Emperor Palpatine has returned and he’s launched a massive attack on the planet Exegol. We need all the help we can get. If we lose that fight it won’t matter what happens here. We need to get moving.”

To be continued…

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A Call for Help

~Part Three~

The shield was up in seconds and they all let out a small breath of relief, even though they still had too many TIE’s and an impossible number of storm troopers to deal with. Hopefully the First Order hadn’t brought tanks.

Chopper scanned through the city’s security feed to find the areas where the fighting was most concentrated and Ezra, Jacen, and Sabine grabbed speeders and headed there immediately. The New Republic Soldiers were fighting well but they were vastly outnumbered. Thankfully, 2 Jedi and a Mandalorian were enough to even the score. The three of them fought seamlessly, making their way through the ranks of Storm Troopers. They had significantly thinned out the herd when they heard an explosion right above them. It appeared chopper had commandeered the Phantom and had decided to act as air support. Jacen rolled his eyes and continued fighting.

Soon enough, the First Order’s forces had been routed. Most were either passed out or dead and the rest were fleeing. It didn’t seem like their re-enforcements were arriving anytime soon. Ezra sighed and made his way back to the command centre. He wanted to know what was going on.

The Governor informed them that all communications had been jammed and that their distress signal didn’t make it out. He also said that the First Order cruisers were maintaining position over the capital but had not yet fired. It seemed like they were setting up a blockade and just didn’t want anybody leaving. This was absurd, but maybe the message they’d received from the Resistance had something to do with it.

“Jacen,” Sabine said, “Play that message you got from the Rebel base.”

Jacen obliged, and a holo of General Organa bloomed to life.

“Rebels,” she started. “If this message has reached you, we need your help. Our fleet is lost, and the First Order is upon us. We have fought till our last breath and are hanging by a thread. We are hiding in an old Rebel base on the mineral planet Crait, but we won’t be able to hold out for much longer. If this resistance falls today, all our years of struggle will have been for nothing. All we’ve fought for, all our parents fought for, will be in vain. Remember why we fight. Remember all you’ve lost, and join us now so that we do not lose any more. This is our most desperate hour, you’re our only hope.”

It felt as though time had slowed down. None of them could believe what they were hearing. The First Oder must have known that the Resistance would call for help and sent their fleet to every system they knew they had allies to stop them from getting it. To make them feel abandoned…

Jacen was distraught. “We have to go,” he said desperately, “We have to go right now. We would take them by surprise. It could be just what they need to escape!”

“Is there any way we can get passed those cruisers?” Ezra asked.

“They’re blocking the hyperspace lanes,” Sabine said, “I don’t know.”

“We have to find another way.” Jacen insisted, “let’s work on getting our communications back up.”

Sabine nodded and without a word they got to work. They would find their way home.

To be continued…

Photo Credits: Star Wars The Last Jedi

A Call For Help

~Part Two~

Sure enough Ezra said, “Something’s coming,” right before a First Order fleet dropped out of Hyperspace right above them.

They all jumped up. “Chopper! Come on!”, Jacen yelled. The stupid droid wasn’t even paying attention. He was so old sometimes Jacen thought his circuits might be fried for good.

They took off immediately. “What the hell does the First Oder want with Lothal? They haven’t been back here in decades!” Ezra yelled over the comms.

“That is really irrelevant right now!” Sabine shouted back from the rear gun, “Help me get these ties off our tail first!”

“Both of you shush,” Jacen grumbled. “I’m not seeing any dreadnoughts so we’ve got something going for us.”

“Thank the Force,” Ezra muttered as he blasted a couple TIEs into oblivion.

“We’re receiving a transmission from…the Rebellion?” Jacen said suddenly.

“What!?” Sabine and Ezra replied in unison.

“Yeah. It’s probably from the Resistance. They must be at an old base,” Jacen said before nearly getting shot out of the sky. “It must be important. Should I- ah karabast!” They’d been hit.

Shields at 61%, chopper informed helpfully.

“Should I put it through?” Jacen asked.

“Not now!” Ezra shouted back. “We’re in the middle of an invasion!”

“And it could be a trap”, Sabine added. “The First Order has access to Imperial Intelligence records.”

Jacen ignored them both. His thinking had tunnelled. The only thing on his mind was Poe. He could sense that the resistance was in trouble. Big trouble. Something Terrible had happened.

“Ezra,” he pleaded, “We have to go. Somethings wrong. I can sense it.”

“Jacen, how? We have to deal with this first. We don’t even know what the Alliance, I mean Resistance wants.”

“We can’t leave now,” Sabine added sadly, “look around.”

They took Jacen’s silence as approval and continued fighting.

“Do you think we should get on the ground?” Ezra asked after a minute of silence. “The civilians down there won’t be able to protect themselves for long. Maybe we can get to the old republic building and raise the planetary shields.”

“Let’s head there,” Sabine agreed. “Then at least we’ll be safe from the cruisers”

Without another word they were on their way.

“We really need to get some more crew,” Jacen grumbled as he stretched all the way to the copilot’s side to boost the engines, remembering only after he settled back down that he could have used the force.

They landed their ship on a platform inside the old republic building, ran past Sabine’s lovely family portrait, and got to the command centre. The new governor of Lothal was there, looking frazzled as ever. He stepped aside immediately when he saw Sabine and let her do her thing. The shield was up in seconds and they all let out a small breath of relief, even though they still had too many TIE’s and an impossible number of storm troopers to deal with. They just had to hope that the First Order hadn’t brought tanks…

To be continued…

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A Call For Help

~Part One ~

Soon after the destruction of the Republic in the Hosnian System, reports of First Oder fleets occupying worlds in the outer rim had come flooding in. The crew of The Ghost were the first to see them in action. They had been on Ryloth, scouting an old rebel base for supplies, and giving Jacen a chance to visit his family home, when an enormous star destroyer dropped out of hyperspace right above them.

“Woah”, Ezra said as he saw it in full view from his perch in the turret gun. “What is that thing?”

“It’s huge,” Jacen muttered.

“We have to get out of here,” finished Sabine.

“Did we get everything we need?”, Ezra inquired.

“Doesn’t matter”

“Of course it does!”

“Not if we don’t make it off the planet!”

“Will you two knock it of!” Jacen interjected.

Chopper grumbled in agreement.

“Honestly Chop, how did you deal with them for so many years?”

“Please,” Ezra scoffed, “Your parents were way worse. Let’s get going.”

“Chop, Scramble the Ghosts signature” Sabine ordered as they pulled away. And just in time too. Moments after they’d cleared the surface, that monstrosity of a ship had opened fire on the planet and destroyed the entire city that they had just left behind.

“No!” Jacen yelled, “We have to help them! I’m turning the ship around.”

“We help them by surviving Jacen” Sabine said kindly. “If we go back now we’ll die for nothing.”

Jacen looked close to tears. He’d grown up on space stations and rebel bases but Ryloth was his home. He couldn’t stand to see it helpless like this. His family had fought too hard for their freedom to lose it all over again.

“Let’s head back to Lothal” Ezra suggested. “We can lay low for a little while and figure out what we’re up against. Then we’ll be back. I promise.”

When they arrived in Capital City on Lothal, they headed for Ezra’s house(well, it was all of theirs now but it used to belong to his parents). Lothal was one of the few safe planets that hadn’t fallen under oppressive rule in decades. It was the only place they had left where no one was trying to kill them…most of the time.

Sabine went to research about the new murder ship with chopper and Ezra went to take a nap, or maybe he was meditating. Jacen didn’t know or care. He stayed on the ship and pulled up a bunch of old holos of his parents. He had collected a small stash of them over the years. There were pictures of them together from long before he was born, recordings his father had made for Ezra’s Jedi training, a few that his mother had made when she was training Phoenix Squadron. He’d even found a birthday message from his second or third birthday with the whole crew that he’d watch over and over again. His grandfather had been in that one too. As he skimmed through the holos he thought about his mother. How she’d spent her whole life trying to make the galaxy a better place for him to live in. Seeing her home planet get destroyed, he felt like he’d failed her, and everyone who’d come before her. His whole family had spent their lives fighting, Hera had only hoped that Jacen wouldn’t have to. He would never forget the look on her face when they new war began. She was more heartbroken than anyone.

Jacen slept on the ship that night. It was the last piece of his family he had left. Whenever he was on The Ghost he felt like he was surrounded by his mother and father’s warm embrace. He felt like a child, safe in his mothers arms, and he loved it.

The next morning they gathered in the house so Sabine could brief them about the First Order’s new ships. They were Dreadnaught class, but far more dangerous than the old separatist frigates that shared the same name. These ships were equipped with what was essentially miniaturised death star tech. They couldn’t blow up a planet, but a city, a few ships, definitely. This was bad. They had no real way to combat these things without fighters or bombers. They were alone, their best plan right now was just to avoid them.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating their new adversary, when Ezra’s head suddenly jerked up. Jacen hated when he did that, he always knew something was about to happen.

Sure enough Ezra said, “Something’s coming,” right before a First Order fleet dropped out of Hyperspace right above them.

To be continued…

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Photo Credits: Star Wars Rebels

View from the Moon

For as long as Rey could remember, she’d wondered what her dusty old planet looked like from its moon. Was it as bright as the moon looked like from Jakku? It must be bigger, she thought…it’s definitely bigger…but by how much? Did Jakku have phases like the moon or can you always see all of it? Did it just look like an orangish orb?

She longed to fly away, just to see it and come right back…but would she come back? When she’d learned how to fly a ship, all she could think about was flying away from that desolate place, but then she’d realised that the day she left could be the exact day that her parents returned. And so she trapped herself. Buried herself in her work. She learned to scavenge, and to fix things, and she made herself useful with her feet on the ground.

And every day as she worked, as she roamed the sandy wastelands of her home world, she looked up at the moon and the stars and wondered what her life would be like if she’d made a different choice.

*****

Years later she met a man who claimed to have travelled the stars and lived all her wildest dreams, and before she knew it she was flying away with him. And even though she was escaping certain death, she couldn’t help stealing a glance at Jakku, to finally see what it looked like from the moon.

And as she hurtled through the stars, feeling freer than she ever thought she would, she still feared that she might never find her family. Except she had found her family, just not in the way she’d expected. She had found her family on that ship, and she was never going back.

Happy Star Wars Day!!!! May the 4th be with you 🙂

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Starkiller Base

Ahsoka gasped, and clapped her hands over her mouth, and almost turned off the hologram. She was staring wide eyed at the coordinates of the new First Order space station…She’d gotten word from General Organa that they had taken out the entire Hosnian system only hours ago and that their next target was the Resistance base.

She’d called Ahsoka to fill her in and for some help, and since Ahsoka was always ready to help, there she was: On a ship, on route to the Illenium System, and who knew what else…She was really getting too old for this…but she was a Jedi at heart. Which is why she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw that the coordinates for Star Killer Base were at…at Illum.

She knew that the Empire had stripped that planet decades ago, and it had broken her heart to see it, but she never thought they’d dare go this far. It seemed as though they’d managed to build a massive hyperspace vehicle into the planet itself. It appeared to operate like the Empires death stars but more vile and powerful than she could ever have imagined. She could barely wrap her head around the technology too…

She leaned back in her seat and stared out the viewport at the wondrously blue spirals of hyperspace. It always helped clear her head. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, slowly. She had to remind herself that this wasn’t the Empire, this was far worse…an organised and heavily armed intergalactic mercenary group, out for nothing but death and destruction. She held back a sob. Strangely enough, of all the people she could have wished to have beside her right then, she just wanted R2. That droid had seen more action than even she had…

She stared through the viewport again, pondering the next adventure that lay ahead.

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