Wars Amongst the Stars: Rebellion: Vol: 1

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A tall needle-like tower fills the open landscape. A small blinking light on top of the communications array, "There it is. The Empire's main communications tower on Lothal. It routes comm from every Imperial operation on the planet, including the Empire's Holonet broadcasts," Kanan states.

Kanan, as well as Sabine, Ezra and Keen are laying on their stomachs on an arch not far from the tower. They are looking for weak points, in security, and in general.

Sabine pushes her HUD down, "I got bucketheads on the perimeter and at least three anti-ship batteries around the base. Not an easy trip to the front door."

"Now, now, Sabine. Don't underestimate yourself."

"Sabine, let's be optimistic. Say we get to the front door. What then?" Ezra asks.

The Mandalorian seems to consider for a few moments, "I-I could upload a data spike into the central computer and have that transmitter operational in I don't know, five minutes?"

"I said be optimistic."

"Five minutes is optimistic," the Mandalorian grumbles, waving her hands.

"Three is better," Kanan responds.

'Hey. You can have it good or you can have it fast."

"All right. Scan us a holomap and let's get out of here."

An Imperial transport ferries underneath the team, who all press their bodies down as far as they can into the arch. A droid floats out of the transport, just into view of Kanan's macrobinoculars. "I don't like the look of that thing," Kanan nods to the floating droid.

"An Imperial Probe Droid," Keen grumbles.

"Does it see us?" Ezra questions, squinting at the machine.

"Not yet," Sabine responds, not looking up from her scans.

"How can you tell?"

Keen places a hand on the boys shoulder, winking at him, "Cause we aren't dead."

They once again press themselves against the arch, as the droid passes by them. The droid floats forward under the arch, it's head swivelling back and forth, scanning the area all around it. It's chattering, probably relaying information straight to the Empire.

"We need to move," Kanan orders, standing to his feet.

"Um, hate to mention this," Ezra mumbles, "but where are the bikes?"

"Next to the road," Kanan responds.

"Tal Gnosh, right where that things gonna see them."

The probe moves closer and closer to the bike, scanning the area all around it. The closer it gets to the speeders, the higher the anxiety spikes in the Force.

"Hope somebody's got an idea, or this whole plan is shot," Sabine comments.

Ezra clamps his eyes shut. He lifts one hand, drawing the Force in around him. Keen smiles as she watches him bond with the Force. A hissing sound erupts from the tall grass, a Loth-cat leaping at the droid. It claws the droid, dropping it to the ground, sparking.

"I could have blasted it and gotten that result."

"Yeah, but then the Empire would suspect something was up."

"Good thinking, Padawan," Kanan compliments, Keen ruffling his hair.

"Okay. It's touching when you two bond, but I'm betting that probe has friends, so let's move it."

***

"Hey, Kanan?" Keen asks. The rest of the crew is in the common room, working on the transmitter device.

"Hmm?"

"You think this is the best plan?"

Kanan crosses his arms, "I think it's the best one we've got."

"I agree, but, I sense something bad is going to happen," she says, pursing her lips.

He places a hand on her shoulder, "I guess we've just got to hope. But, if it comes down to it, any one of us is ready to sacrifice our lives for this cause," he states, opening the door for the common room.

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about."

"How we doing?" The Knight asks, entering the room.

"Well, Chopper has the spike. We get him into the tower and he can upload it right into the computer core from any terminal," Sabine informs him.

Chopper grumbles at all the rebels surrounding him.

"Stop complaining, bolt-brain. You have the easy job," Zeb growls at him.

Keen, leans against the doorpost, "What's the range of this spike, then?"

"As long as the tower is transmitting, we're good to go. Everyone will hear what we say. Well, anyone who's listening."

"Once the spike is uploaded, we'll signal," Kanan points a finger at the Mandalorian.

"And I spirit you away in the Phantom."

"That's the plan, more or less."

"And things always go according to plan, right?" Sabine half-jokes.

Ezra crosses his arms from his place on the bench, sulking, "She's right about that."

"What's with you?"

"Nothing."

"Let's take a walk," Kanan leads his Padawan outside onto the ramp of the Ghost, Keen following them both. "What's on your mind?"

Ezra looks down, scuffing his shoe on the metal, "I'm not sure we should go through with this."

"Ezra, you are up to this. I know you are."

"We both know," Ar'iabel says, coming to stand beside the boy.

"I know that's what you want to think. But look. As much as I wish I was like my parents, I'm not."

"There's something else," Kanan says, placing his hands on the boys shoulders, making him look at him.

The Padawan sighs, "My parents spoke out and I lost them, and I don't– he stops to grunt, his eyes on the verge of tears, "I-I don't want to lose you guys, okay? Not over this."

"Oh, Ez," the Jedi Master wraps the boy in a hug, "We're not going anywhere. You're gonna be sick and tired of us. Begging us to leave. And, if anything goes wrong, which is highly doubtful, we'll join the Force. We'll never be far away."

"All of us have lost things. And we will take more losses before this is over. But we can't let that stop us from taking risks. We have to move forward. And when the time comes, we have to be ready to sacrifice for something bigger," Kanan adds.

"That sounds good, but it's not so easy."

"Nothing important ever is."

The Knight sighs, "It's not easy for me either. My master tried to show me, but I don't think I ever understood it until now trying to teach it to you."

"It doesn't get any easier. I'm nearing 300 years, and loss is still one of the hardest concepts to grasp, but death is inevitable. One day, we all become one with the Force, whether we want to or not."

Kanan listens to Keen, remembering their discussion from a few days before, "I guess we're all learning these things together."