Wars Amongst the Stars: Rebellion: Vol: 1

Chapter Two

    Choosing Lothal as her place of hiding seemed smart at the beginning, but, as the years progressed, even it succumbed to the power of the Empire (for this is what Palpatine named his tyrannical federation.) Like every populated planet in the Galaxy, Lothal was party to groups of rebels against the Empire, Keen one of them. Throughout the years of living on the planet, the sun had darkened her skin, and her robes have many more patches than before.

One day, while in the marketplace Master Quinara watched as a Lasat stole an Imperial TIE Fighter, smiling to herself. That is, until she realized he didn't know how to pilot it. It wasn't difficult to keep track of the ship. The Lasat, and a boy saved the lives of a farmer named Mr. Sumat, and his wife, and the Jedi sensed a strong Force signature from the boy.

She trailed them to their ship, a VCX-100 cargo freighter, probably modified if she had to hazard a guess. She'd heard of these Rebels, and the damage they had caused to the Empire, while not much, still was a loss for the Imperials.

She extracts her macrobinoculars from the messenger bag that hangs over her shoulder, and crouches behind a outcropping of rocks. She can clearly see the boy and the Lasat approach the freighter, and makes out what seems a Mandalorian in very colourful armour. Beside her is a Twi'lek, who is giving off a look of full exasperation. It's the other figure of the group that gives her pause, she can sense him from where she sits. Memories strike her, of Master Depa Billaba, and her young Padawan, Caleb Dume.

The distraction of seeing the now grown Padawan caused her to let down her guard, so she's not expecting it when she hears angry droid babble. Whipping her head quickly, her eyes land on an orange and grey astromech droid.

"Why, hello there."

The droid doesn't let the angry babble up, rather instead, shocking her with its prod. "Ow, okay, okay, I surrender." She once again gets shocked by the droid. "Oi, this is me surrendering, so stop."

The astromech herds her over to the VCX-100, her hands up in a semi-placating gesture.

"Chopper?" The Twi'lek questions.

The droid doesn't get a chance to speak, for recognition dawns in Caleb Dume's eyes. "Master Quinara," he says quickly, falling back into the protocol of the Jedi Temple, and bowing slightly.

"Padawan Dume," she responds, bowing in return.

When the name was spoken, the Twi'lek let down her guard, and help out one gloves hand, "Hera Syndulla, it's nice to meet you."

"And you as well," the Jedi responds, eyes drifting over the rest of the crew.

"What are you doing here? How are you alive? Why didn't you let anyone know?"

"Patience, Caleb, one question at a time."

"Who's Caleb?" the boy mutters, before any question can be uttered.

"It's a long story," the Knight informs Padawan, eyes never leaving the other Jedi. Even as her eyes drift to the boy. "How are you alive, Master, we–I was certain you died."

Her eyes close, a gesture of great suffering, "I did things I'm not proud of in order to survive, as, I'm sure, did you."

The man nods, "Well, why didn't you let the Galaxy know, give them a reason to fight. If anyone could have united them, it's you."

"Actually, I'd like to ask a question myself. Who is this?" she nods to the boy.

"Oh, right, of course, um, this is my Padawan, Ezra Bridger."

A genuine smile fills the Jedi's face, as she bows slightly to Ezra, "A pleasure to meet a Padawan, especially now, more than ever." Her eyes meet Caleb's, "We have much to discuss, let me buy you a drink, and I will do my best to answer your questions."

He glances at Hera for a brief moment, nodding at the Jedi, "Yes, Master."

"Keen," she corrects, "It's safer if the Imperials don't hear you refer to me as Master."

"Of course," At this point they are a good ten meters from his crew, "And, it's Kanan now, my name I mean."

"Alright, Kanan it is." The rest of the trek into Capitol City is mostly silent, few words exchanged between the two.

Arriving at a Cantina, Kanan gets them both a drink, and sits down opposite Ar'iabel, handing her a cup of Caf. "Okay, I have so many questions. How many of the Jedi survived? Do you know?"

"Not for certain, in fact, since the Purge, you're the first Jedi I've seen. I've heard rumours of others, but, unfortunately no confirmation."

"Did these rumours say where these supposed Jedi are?"

"I don't know, I've never seen a location," she says, taking a sip of her drink. She feels bad for lying to him, but, it's imperative that no one knows, not even Kanan.

"You don't know?"

"They don't provide locations, it's safer that way, so that if–"

"If the Empire catches you, you can't give them up. What happened, to the Temple after the," he swallows hard, "after the Troopers turned on their Jedi?"

Keen sighs, scrubbing a hand over her eyes. She takes a deep breath, summoning courage from the Force, "It, it was a massacre. One of the Jedi turned to the Dark Side, and not one youngling survived, nor any Jedi unfortunate enough to be at the Temple. A complete slaughter."

A look of horror crosses Kanan's face, "And only you, as far as you're aware, survived."

"There may be more. I hope to the Force there are more. What happened to you, Kanan?"

"After Master Billaba sent me away, I ran, and didn't stop running, until I met Hera."

"Yes, she seems special. I sense something between you two." She addresses the Knight with a pointed look.

"I know it's against the code, but, is there even a code anymore? The Order is dead!"

"I know, just be careful, okay?"

Kanan nods, and the conversation continues with what happened in the past years. He shares stories of his crew on the ship, and she tells him of her actions here on Lothal.

Ar'iabel walks with Kanan back to the Ghost, they reach the ramp, and the Knight turns to face her. "Why don't you come with us?"

"No, you're a crew, you know how to operate, you don't need another crewmember."

"Please, I insist, Hera won't oppose."

"Fine, we'll see how it goes."

(Takes place after the events of Fighter Flight)