Star Wars Rebels: Hera & Kanan

Chapter Nine

Four months after A New Dawn

Hera watched from the cargo bay hatch as the Phantom disappeared into the Lothal twilight. The brightest stars were already twinkling in the sky above the grassy plain far outside the town of Jhothal, where she had landed the Ghost. It was an area that was difficult to access without a ship and rarely used by the locals. She could see Loth-cats leaping and pouncing in the ochre grass, and she watched them with a smile, musing that she really did like Lothal quite a bit.

Kanan had only shrugged when she asked him to take the Phantom into Jhothal so that she could meet a contact here. A shrug was a vast improvement on the fifty questions he would once have asked about her contacts; she had gotten tired of explaining to him that he would just have to deal with not knowing something. Kanan clearly didn't like not knowing things, but he had gradually let up on the questions once he realized that he was never going to get anywhere by asking them.

A small, fast ship appeared on the horizon; seconds later, the landing lights came on, the ship dropped gently to the ground. As usual, Hera was impressed. Fulcrum was one hell of a pilot.

The ramp lowered and a cloaked figure emerged, heading towards the Ghost through the long grass. Hera watched Fulcrum's approach with trepidation, rather than her usual level of excitement. Meetings with Fulcrum often signified that a real mission was in the works. And perhaps that was true this time, as well- but there was something else on Hera's mind. She had been internally debating about this moment over the weeks since Kanan confirmed that he was indeed a Jedi. Would she tell Fulcrum? Should she? The discovery of a Jedi, even one who hadn't completed his training, would be a very big deal for the group she and Fulcrum worked for. Of course, Kanan's abilities made him a valuable asset; more importantly, though, a Jedi was a symbol of hope. A sign that some good survived in the galaxy despite the Empire's best efforts to snuff it out. Fulcrum would undoubtedly request that Hera try to recruit him. But telling Fulcrum about Kanan meant betraying his trust.

Fulcrum made her way towards Hera, and as always, Hera watched her with fascination. There was something enigmatic about the Torgruta woman. She had, at an earlier meeting on Garel, noticed something when Fulcrum's cloak was blown open by the wind- something that looked an awful lot like two lightsabers hanging from her belt- but Hera really couldn't be sure just based off that quick glimpse. She'd seen holos of Jedi, and she thought she had a pretty good idea of what a lightsaber generally looked like. But she had never seen one up close; she suspected that Kanan still had his, but he still had not shown it to her. If Fulcrum was indeed a Jedi and a survivor of the purge, she had yet another secret to keep from Kanan.

"Hello, Hera," Fulcrum said pleasantly, smiling, as they moved into the cargo bay to talk. She lifted her hood off her montrals once she was beyond being visible from the rear hatch. "It's nice to see you again. You've been doing excellent work, from what I hear."

Hera smiled back. "Thank you. Your intel is spot-on, so that helps."

"I do my best," Fulcrum said. "Speaking of best, you've been better than usual, Hera- not that you weren't excellent before. I've heard some reports that you have been working with someone for a few months now. Does he know anything?"

She shook her head. "No. When you recruited me, I promised you that I would never share the true purpose of these missions, or who's directing them. Nothing other than the need-to-know details of the op. I keep my promises."

Fulcrum laughed. "I wasn't suggesting that you don't! Honestly, Hera, you remind me of me, when I was your age. Very earnest."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she said.