Star Wars: Skywalker's Rebellion

Chapter Four: All Aboard

Cade hooked his lightsaber to his belt and looked over his room, making sure he had grabbed everything he needed. It was sunrise the next morning and Cade was more than ready to explore another planet. Cade headed out of his room and discovered that, as always, his father was already gone to some High Council meeting. Cade took a deep breath, ran a hand through his shaggy, dirty-blond hair, and headed out toward the location where he knew their ship would be waiting. The Celador Sash was a large freighter ship that was generations old. It had been updated with modern technology, but it still looked as old as the Millennium Falcon.

Several minutes later, aboard the Sash, Wolf Sazen was ready to go.

"Ready?" Sazen asked, a rhetorical question. If Cade had not been ready, it would not have made much of a difference.

Cade nodded, absently tracing his lightsaber from under his shirt. A Twi'lek boy around the same age as Cade came around from out of the cockpit. The Twi'lek species had always been very strong with the force, and Cade doubted this strong blue-skinned, reptile-looking boy was any different.

"The ship is ready to fly," the blue-skinned boy said.

"Thank you, Shado," Wolf said. "Cade, this is Shado Vao, my new apprentice. Shado, this is Cade Skywalker."

"Cade Skywalker?" Shado's eyes widened. "As in—"

"He is Kol's son, if that is what you are asking."

Cade was used to the surprise of people meeting a Skywalker, but usually it was Cade's great grandfather or great, great grandfather that the people were fascinated about.

"You know my father?" Cade asked Shado.

Shado shifted his feet. "Yes. He, um, trained me."

"He trained you?" Cade had never heard of his father training any Padawans himself other than Wolf, but perhaps Kol had just never mentioned this boy.

"Very briefly, yes, a couple of months ago. Master Sazen has graciously allowed me to accompany you on this mission."

Cade turned on Sazen. "I don't need help on this mission, Master."

"Oh," Shado stepped in, sounding surprised, "no that is not what this is about. I'm sure I can speak for Master Sazen when I say that no one doubts your abilities. If anything, it is I that will be needed help."

Cade ignored him, and spoke to Wolf himself. "I thought missions were supposed to be one-on-one with a master."

Sazen shrugged. "No necessarily, although that is commonly how it is done. Shado here will be coming with us, my apprentice, and that is that."

Cade looked between his master and Shado and realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere by arguing. "Alright, so what's the mission? We go to Wayland, and then what?"

Sazen opened his mouth to answer, but Shado interrupted. "Wayland?" he asked, looking stunned. "But that planet was destroyed years ago!"

Shado was right. Cade hadn't remembered at first, but Wayland had been destroyed. Wolf Sazen smiled a little, but then was serious again. "Wayland is subject to something called the Ossus project," he explained. "It's led by your father, Cade, and it's purpose is to revive lost planets and ultimately bring the end of all warfare. Wayland was not destroyed but it was as good as gone, infected with the worst of diseases. That problem is fixed. All we must do is oversee the process and make sure nothing goes wrong."

Shado nodded. "That's easy enough," he said.

Cade didn't say anything. Why hadn't his father told him about the Ossus Project? Why keep it from him?

"Can I pilot?" Cade asked, wanting to get away from Wolf and Shado.

"No, not on this one," Wolf replied. "We've already got a pilot. Say hi, Rex."

"Rex?" Shado repeated, his already pale face turning even paler. "As in RX-24?"

As if on cue, a high-pitched voice traveled through the ship from the cockpit.

"Welcome aboard! My name is RX-24, but you can call me Rex! Hang on to your seat, because it's going to be a bumpy ride!"

Shado buried his large head in his hands. "That is RX-24. Why does it have to be RX-24?"

Cade didn't exactly feel reassured by the droid's speech, but he didn't quite understand. "What's wrong with RX-24?"

"He's an RX-series pilot droid that's been with the Republic for a long, long time," Wolf explained. "He's even been on missions with R2-D2."

Cade had heard all about R2-D2, a legendary astromech droid that had served his family literally forever. "Okay," Cade said, pointing at Shado, "so what's wrong with him?"

Sazen cleared his throat. "Well, Rex isn't exactly know for being the best pilot in the galaxy."

Shado lifted his head. "I've heard stories about him. He's an awful pilot!"

Sazen just shrugged. "Alright, Rex," he called to the droid. "You know the destination. Get us there."

"Will do!" said the droid from the cockpit, and the Celador Sash rose shakily into the air.

"Prepare yourselves, my padawans," Sazen said. "Your mission awaits."