The End Of The War

Chapter 12

Izuku was leaning on Ochako. Neither responded after Gran Torino had introduced himself. They still didn't know if they could trust him.

"Well? Aren't you going to introduce yourselves? If I had to guess," Gran Torino said, pointing to Izuku, "you're Toshinori's apprentice. No clue who the girl is."

"How did you know my master?" Izuku asked.

"Ah, Toshinori and I go way back. I believe I first met him when he was a Padawan, much like yourself. He and his master, I believe her name was Nana Shimura, came to my world to deal with a flair up of activity involving Black Sun."

Izuku remembered reading something about that in the Temple library. It put him slightly at ease. He briefly closed his eyes to feel his intentions in the Force. They were pure. He opened his eyes.

"Well... I'm Izuku Midoriya." He finally said.

"Just like that?" Ochako asked.

"I sense that he's being honest."

Ochako sighed.

"I'm Ochako Uraraka." She said to Gran Torino.

He motioned for them to follow him while he explained what caused him to reach out to them. About a week ago, Toshinori had contacted Gran Torino, saying he had a sense of dread for something that could be approaching within a week of when they first contacted each other. They made an arrangement where Toshinori would contact Gran through a signal pulse to assure him things were fine. And because Order 66 happened yesterday, he was unable to contact him. Gran had contacted his comm just in case he was just going through a place that couldn't send or receive transmissions easily yesterday.

As he told them the story, they walked through the ship. There were many other beings around them. Some were other Ugnaughts, some were humans, some Twi'leks, and a few weequay. And they all looked... surprisingly reputable. Iida asked Gran if he knew that Florrum was a pirate haunt.

"Yeah, that's why I chose it. We're not sticking around, though. If I had to guess, the Empire's coming here to put it under its thumb. And none of us should be here when it happens." He replied.

They felt the ship lurch as it jumped into hyperspace.

"But why would you guys need to run if... you're a Separatist, aren't you?" Izuku asked.

"All of us here were fighting against corruption in the Republic, often on the worlds of the Republic. We were still Republic citizens, but now that the Republic doesn't exist anymore, neither do the ideals we fight to uphold. Now we're trying to ready ourselves to fight this new Empire, who looks to be made of the worst of both sides." Gran Torino responded.

"And you reached out to us because..." Ochako asked.

"With a Jedi and a Mandalorian on our side, we're sure to win."

Izuku and Ochako exchanged a quick glance. Neither one liked the odds. One Y-wing and a frigate versus the might of the former Republic? Even with them, they knew what would happen the second they made themselves known. Gran looked at them and pretty much knew exactly what they were thinking.

"Yeah, I expected you to react as such. I even conferred with the other heads to make sure they were on board. The truth is, none of us really have the confidence to fight the Empire yet. And because the two of you look to be just about at your prime, we've reached an idea of a solution."

"And that is?" Izuku asked.

"It's not the greatest, but it'll at least take the Empire off of your tails. The idea," Gran Torino took a deep breath and sighed, "the idea is to freeze you in Carbonite until we're finally ready."