Star Wars Rebels Stories

Enough Is Enough

Note: this chapter contains A New Dawn references, with very minor spoilers. Still, you may not want to read it if you haven't read A New Dawn yet and plan to. :)

•   •   •

Thick smoke circled the village, smothering everything caught in its suffocating trap. Ash fell from the rooftops of houses, coating the ground and filling the air with an unpleasant smell. Small fires from the explosion were yet to be put out, silently eating away at the litter and debris that had survived the assault. If only everyone else had been that lucky.

Hera coughed the smog out of her lungs. She struggled to see as the hot air stung her eyes. She buried her mouth and nose into her elbow in an attempt to keep out the hot sparks on the wind.

But being nearly blinded by flying ash wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the smell. The smell of burning flesh.

The young Twi'lek felt queasy. She tried to avoid looking at the countless bodies buried under debris, their souls long fled from the disaster. She had to take a deep breath to steady herself as she nearly tripped over a child's motionless corpse.

Looking around at what she could see through the smoke, she shook her head in bewilderment. "Everything's gone," she whispered.

Sighing gravely, Kanan put an arm around her shoulders. She'd seen so much hurt and suffering for someone her age. He sometimes wished he could do something about it, take away the painful memories. But he knew that Hera was more than capable of taking care of herself. Still...

The Empire did this. They were getting more violent and chaotic everyday. Blowing up small towns to spike fear into people's hearts, forcing them to blindly follow the Emperor's ways ... it wasn't right.

But Kanan and Hera ... they were just two people in a massive galaxy ... how could they make a difference? Kanan had often wondered that when he first joined Hera's crew. Sure, there were people like Zaluna and Skelly to help them a year and a bit ago (well, at least Skelly tried to help), but now they were on their own. All they had was a ship, an old astromech, and their passion for a better galaxy.

And today, that all seemed to mean nothing.

They had been staying on a small Outer Rim world for a few days. They'd needed fuel and food and a break from space. Just the day before, they had walked these peaceful streets, shopping at stalls and making trades with the locals.

And then it happened. Just before dawn, they'd heard an earth-shattering boom. It shook the ground beneath their feet and made their stomachs jump up into their throats. Peering over the field they'd parked the Ghost on, they saw flames rise high into the sky in the near distance. They'd heard screams: terrible, hair-raising screams.

When they saw Imperial transports flee the scene, they knew what had happened. The Empire had done this. Because of their cause.

The town was full of rebel-sympathisers - that was partly why they'd gone there and not to just any city. All the citizens needed was a push and they would be willing to stand up to the Empire. Hera and Kanan were actually considering recruiting some people to join their crew until that morning.

The sun reached its arms over the mangled buildings and the duo watched in grief as the smoke rose up in the air, swallowing the once happy village.

Kanan hung his head. Hera knew what he was thinking about. The last two explosions they'd seen were on Gorse and the Forager. She remembered it like it was yesterday. Looking up at the moon Cynda, the only light for a dark planet, and watching it burst into flames; peering out the back window of the life pod, filled with triumph and devastation...