Star Wars Rebels Stories

Focus On The Force

"Focus. Let the Force guide you."

Ezra closed his eyes and held out his hand. Keeping Kanan's words in his mind, he focused on lifting the Stormtrooper helmet off the ground.

The warm sun lit up Lothal's prairies, casting a warm glow on the Jedi and his Padawan. It was pretty quiet aside from a few birds and the odd loth-cat. The Ghost crew were enjoying a day off, which was quite a rare event ever since they started fighting the Empire.

The fields were peaceful, the long grass swaying in the gentle breeze. There wasn't much noise, wasn't much happening - a perfect day for Jedi training.

Well, it would've been if Zeb and Chopper had stopped moving the helmet every time Ezra wasn't looking.

"I can't do it," Ezra opened his eyes and sighed in defeat. He looked at the helmet - or, at least, where it used to be.

"Hey, where did it go?" he said, turning his head to look at Kanan. Kanan shrugged, a grin plastered on his face.

"Hey, Mr Jedi."

Wack. Zeb threw the helmet at the back of Ezra's head, the impact nearly knocking the Padawan off his feet.

"Hey!" Ezra shouted and glared at the laughing Laset. Chopper beeped  mockingly and span around in triumph. "Kanan, this is not fair," Ezra  groaned.

"Life is rarely fair. This is actually good for you," Kanan smiled.  "Life will throw some pretty rough things at you. You've got to learn how to deal with it. It can be tricky, but you can let the Force guide you."

"Or you don't have to use the Force and you can just look with your eyes," Zeb said, high-fiving Chopper. "I get along just fine without it."

"Well, are you as powerful as a Jedi?" Ezra challenged. "Because I don't think so. Jedi are the most powerful people in the universe because they use the Force. Right, Kanan?" He looked up at his master.

"We use the Force to help people, Ezra, not to win competitions over who's more powerful," Kanan explained cautiously.

"Right, right, of course," Ezra nodded, turning back to the Laset. "But still, I bet I could take you down." He put his hands on his hips  proudly and smirked at Zeb.

"Don't push it, kid," Zeb said, his yellow eyes glowing with warning.  "I'm more powerful than you think. I can beat an over-confident kid any  day."

"I seriously doubt it," Ezra teased.

"Ezra," Kanan warned, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine!" Zeb said, walking up to him and putting a finger to his chest. "Let's see who is really more powerful. No lightsabers, no bo-rifles, just your Force against my strength."

"Oh, it's on."

•  •  •

"Welcome, ladies and gents, to a little obstacle course that I whipped up myself," Sabine announced proudly to Hera and Kanan, moving her hands dramatically as she did so. "Two stubborn boys will go head-to-head in a battle of strength and skill."

"This ought to be good," Hera chuckled to a grinning Kanan.

Ezra looked ahead at the obstacle course Sabine had built on the  fields near their ship. When he and Zeb asked her to come up with something for their dual, she had been really excited and got to work straight away. She'd really outdone herself this time.

It was a three-part obstacle course that challenged both Ezra and Zeb. They had nothing but blasters and their wit to get through it.

The course was quite incredible - scattered with Stormtroopers painted on crates, life-size dummies of Imperial officials, bombs...