Saving Grace

Chapter 1

     Before I begin this chapter, I would like to thank @Modernmoongoddess for making the cover!
     I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of Saving Grace!

 "Ezra! You need to focus more!"

"I know, Kanan! And I'm trying! But I can't focus if you keep barking at me." Ezra snapped back while turning his lightsaber off.

Noting Kanan's glare, Ezra sighed and looked away from his master. He hated making Kanan angry, but he had been unusually pushy lately, making it hard for either of them to focus. He knew that Hera would have their heads if they kept arguing the way they were, so Ezra took off his stolen trooper cadet helmet and sat down on a nearby rock. Taking note of this, Kanan followed suit and sat down just moments after Ezra.

"I'm sorry, Kanan. I had no right to snap like that. It's just so hard to focus when I can feel that something is bothering you."

Kanan smiled a little, "You've become very good at sensing emotions within others."

"I learned from the best. So...if you don't mind my asking, what's wrong?"

Sighing, Kanan looked at his concerned Padawan. He knew he couldn't hide his past forever, but he wasn't sure he wanted to share at that very moment. But, he knew that Ezra wouldn't stop until he knew the truth.

"Well..."

"Kanan, Ezra! Hera wants us all on the Ghost in five. She wouldn't say why, but my guess is something important." Sabine called from underneath the Ghost.

"Tell Hera we're coming!" Kanan called back before turning back to Ezra, "It's...it's complicated. But, I'll explain everything in time. And if I don't, then you can harass me."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

With that, Kanan picked his lightsaber up off the ground and ran back to the Ghost, leaving Ezra sitting. It wasn't hard for Ezra to come to the conclusion that he would never learn what was bothering his master. But, he couldn't compete with his master's steadfastness, which allowed him to withstand almost anything.

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Once everyone made it onto the bridge of the Ghost, Hera pulled the ship off of the planet's surface. During their ascent out of the atmosphere, Hera had to block out several questions from Ezra and Zeb, and little jabs from Chopper about her flying. But, when she finally made the jump to hyperspace, she turned and stood up.

"Commander Sato has requested our help with a mission. He's already exhausted every man under his command with constant missions, and he needs us to take this one while he attends to another one personally. All he would say about this mission is that he's lost a lot of men to the cause because of this one particular mission."

"I wonder what kind of mission it could be." Sabine commented, resting her chin between her thumb and index finger.

"Whatever it is, it sounds dangerous." Zeb added, unsure of what they were heading into.

After a few mutterings from Chopper, the entire Ghost crew glared at him, "No, Chop. We can't leave Commander Sato to deal with his own problems. Besides, we've probably taken on missions a lot harder than this one."

Moments later, they came out of hyperspace, and Hera retook control of the ship, navigating them towards the nearby rebel vessel. Once docked, they stepped onto Commander Sato's ship and made their way towards the bridge, where they had been told to meet. Though when they arrived, they discovered that Commander Sato was running late.

During this time, the entire Ghost crew began to get restless, knowing that this mission could be one of life or death. Kanan, however, was the most restless, as he began pacing only minutes after they arrived. But, his pacing was cut short when Commander Sato finally arrived.

"Hera, I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long. I was talking to the leader of the rebel cell that needs extracted."

"It's no problem, Commander. What can we do to help?"

"Have you ever heard of Sel A Dar?"

The entire crew looked around at each other, realizing that none of them had heard of the planet before. Kanan especially felt a little...ashamed of the fact that he couldn't recall a planet under that name, even after all his travels around the galaxy over the years. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when Commander Sato began speaking again.

"Allow me to show you," he said as he pulled up a map of the galaxy, "Lothal is here, while the planet Eadu is here. Sel A Dar is between the two, right here."

"So, what's the mission?" Hers asked, crossing her arms, concerned about what they would be doing.

"There is a weapons factory in the upper city. Sel A Dar is a city-planet, a lot like Coruscant. It's lower and under cities have become overrun by swoop gangs and crime lords as well as the poor and exiles of the upper city."

"Basically, avoid the lower and under city?" Sabine asked.

"Sadly, you will have to go to a Cantina in the lower city in order to gain the information you need. Workers go to one cantina in particular, and that is where you are most likely to find someone willing to give you a keycard."

"Sounds like a two part mission." Kanan said, feeling as if something was off.

"It is. One part recon, one part destruction. My men all made the mistake of skipping the recon, and they all ended up dead. The Rebellion needs a few of these weapons to discover their use. The rest, however, will need to be destroyed."

Suddenly, one of Sato's men called Commander Sato over, who then invited Hera to follow him.

"Commander, we're detecting several ships about to come out of hyperspace."

"What kind of ships?" Hera asked.

"We can't tell, but there are several, and they're big."

"Then get us out of here." Commander Sato ordered, "They might be Imperial."

"Where do we go, sir?"

"The Selite system. That's where you'll find Sel-A-Dar. We'll get you close, but we can't stay long. You have to get onto that planet and fast."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kanan tried to push back the pounding headache that had just begun forming. This earned worried looks from the rest of the crew, who told him to go back to the Ghost to rest. They would finish up with Commander Sato. Though he didn't like the idea, Kanan agreed and began to walk back to the Ghost.

So, what did you think? Let me know either in the comments or in PM! I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or suggestions! I was going to stretch it out, but I decided to just jump straight into the action. The only things I own are Sel A Dar and the Selite System. I got the initial idea for Sel A Dar from Taris and Coruscant, so a lot of things may sound similar due to the inspiration for it.