Wars Amongst the Stars: Rebellion: Vol. 2

Chapter Nineteen

Keen gazes out from the ramp of the Ghost, watching Ezra and Rex doing some blaster training.

A Stormtrooper helmet is balanced haphazardly on Chopper's dome, who is quickly racing around behind some crates. Ezra shoots toward the helmet, missing each shot completely.

"Aim, then fire."

The boy fires off a few more shots in the general direction of his target, commenting, "Rex, I bet sometimes even you miss."

"Eh, I don't know about that Ez. Not sure I've seen him miss a target, at least not when it counts."

Rex nods in thanks at the General,  a smile on his face.

"Speaking of missing," Kanan drawls, as he strolls up behind the Padawan, "you're missing Jedi training. Which is now. Remember?"

"You know, I can't be in two places at once."

The Clone crosses his arms, "As a soldier, you're gonna have to learn to prioritize."

"Well, he's not a soldier. He's a Jedi," the Knight rebuts.

Keen rolls her eyes, as she walks over to her arguing friends. She gets near just in time to hear Ezra mumble, "What if I don't want to be either?"

"Ezzie? Buddy? Are you okay?" she asks, wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders.

He doesn't get the chance to answer, because Sabine sticks her head just out of the ramp of the Ghost. "Hey, practice squad, Hera called a meeting. Attendance is mandatory."

Ezra shrugs the Jedi Master's arms off his shoulders, marching onto the ship.

"So, what's bothering him?" Rex asks Kanan.

"No idea. This is new."

"He's almost a teenager, they have phases. Don't worry he'll get over it. It happens with everyone. It's even worse when your teenage years last a century," she mumbles the last sentence almost to herself.

Apparently they both hear her, judging by the strange looks she receives. Shrugging, she walks aboard the ship, walking straight to the common area. A tiny hologram of Commander Sato hovers over the table. As Kanan and Rex walk in behind her, the man says, "As we speak, the frozen planet of Rinn is facing an energy crisis. When their supply of fuel cells is gone, the settlements will not be able to power the heaters they need to survive."

"They'll freeze down there," Sabine comments.

"Since we're on Garel," Ezra starts, "we should check out the black market."

"They're bound to have something, maybe some generators we can get our hands on," Keen adds.

"See what you can find, without delay."

"Gear up, everyone. Time to make friends with the locals," Hera states. The rebel crew all move to the exit, Rex and Leia leaving as well. "Except you, Spectre-6," the Twi'lek orders. Keen and Leia stop, both walking backwards slightly up the ramp. "I asked you to clean the ion scoring off the Phantom's exhaust ports, twice."

"But I had Jedi practice. And blaster practice," he whines.

"Well, now you have scrubbing practice."

Chopper wheels away, laughing at the boy. Hera adjusts her glare to face the astro mech, "What are you laughing at? Uh-uh. You're gonna help him." The droid grumbles, rolling off the ramp.

Keen looks over at her Padawan, a single raised eyebrow. Leia sighs, meeting her Master's eyes.

"Ezra," she calls, waving over at him.

"What?"

"I think I'll stay and give you a hand. I'd like to hear more about your Jedi practice."

"What? Really?"

The Knight, Master, and Twi'lek exit the ship. Kanan glances over at Keen, "I'm assuming you had something to do with that?"

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"Right."

The group make their way to the city, in search of some generators. Keen and Rex go off in one direction, the other team members splitting off in separate directions. As they maneuver down an alleyway, the Jedi Master suddenly has a strong feeling hit her. She leans against the wall, taking a deep breath.

"General?" Rex asks, stepping in front of her, "Are you okay?"

"I sense a disturbance in the Force. Something's not right."

The Clone sighs, "Where are we headed, Sir?"

"Back to the Ghost," she says, taking off in the direction of the port. "And make sure you contact the others, tell them to keep searching. If anything's wrong, we'll tell them."

The Clone nods, grabbing his comm, while following the Jedi. It doesn't take the two long to get back to the ship, finding no kids, no Chopper, and no Phantom.

"Shab!" she swears.

"Do you think someone grabbed them?" Rex asks her.

Keen sighs, "No. Chopper would've killed them, and they're both capable of fending off anyone. They left of their own volition, probably to go and do something reckless. They should be fine."

"You don't sound too sure."

"Jedi don't deal in absolutes."

Beginning of Brothers of a Broken Horn