The Youngling

Missing Voices

Kanan hadn't been on the Ghost long. Hera and him had just finished their third mission together. Hera's droid Chopper always watched the ship while the two were out. Right now they were between missions. Hera was talking to one of her contacts about another mission.

Kanan decided to mediate in his room while he was waiting. He never stopped mediating, but it had been a while since he had pulled out his Holocron while doing it. Kanan didn't know why he was doing it now. He just had a feeling that something on it was going to be useful on the next mission. He didn't know what it was or why it was important.

"Victorious on Kaller you were. Another assignment we have for you." Master Yoda had said. Kanan's master had sent this to my com just after young Caleb had fallen asleep on their final assignment together. "A youngling on Lothal, about to be born they are. Strong with the force I sense. Nearest are you and your Padawan to check on the youngling."

"You want me and Caleb to find the youngling and test them? Should we report to the temple before hand?" master Billaba had asked.

"No, send the clones back, but go as soon as your Padawan wakes up. Find the child in Capital City you will. In six months come back to the temple with the child." Yoda had instructed.

The message was seven years old. Although Kanan had discovered it the next morning and loaded it onto the Holocron he had gotten the day before, he had never went to follow up on the assignment. Sure he had thought about going to Lothal several times, but never went through with it.

Kanan looked up when he heard a knock on his door. He closed the Holocron and put it back up. What did that assignment have to do with the upcoming mission. Surly the kid had been found by the empire already. The odds of child still being there was slim at best.

"It's open." Kanan called.

"I'm not disturbing anything am I?" Hera asked.

"No, I was just meditating while I waited. We got an assignment?" The human responded.

"Two actually. A delivery on Kaller and an investigation on Lothal." The Twi'lik says.

"I'd prefer Lothal. I'd rather avoid Kaller if possible." The Jedi said.

"Lothal it is then. What's wrong with Kaller?" Hera asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it. Someone I was close to died there. Let's just leave it at that."

"Ok, I won't push, I'm all ears if you ever want to talk about it."

"So what's up on Lothal?"

"Come on I'll show you." Hera said before turning and walking out of the room. Kanan followed her down to the common room. The Twi'lik put a disk into the holo table. An image of a bird appeared as a recorded broadcast played.

"People all over the Galaxy. Today the empire is forcing us to celebrate it's founding." A male voice said.

"How could we celebrate the founding of a government that has taken away so much from us and our children?" A woman asked.

"They expect us to celebrate the loss of our freedom, the killing of thousands of Jedi who were falsely accused, and the suffering of all who are forced to unwillingly live under their control." The male says.

"We refuse to celebrate the losses of the people of this galaxy this empire has caused for the past seven years." The woman continues.

"Instead we ask you to celebrate because there is still light in this galaxy to give us hope." The man added.

"To stand up for those who have been mistreated by the empire. To hope for a better life for future generations. Celebrate the the hope for tomorrow." The woman finished off with.

"Just as our family does every year. We invite you no matter where you are in the Galaxy to join us in celebrating the hope for tomorrow. May it spread and free the Galaxy for generations to come." The male ended the broadcast with.

"The Voices of Freedom? I've heard a few broadcast of theirs." Kanan says.

"Well this was their final broadcast. They haven't made one since Empire day." Hera said.

"Wasn't it a daily broadcast? What happened? It's been two months since Empire Day." Kanan responded.

"It was they just stopped after this one. My informant said that no one has seen the Bridgers since it aired. They were the married couple who where behind the broadcast. They just went missing that night after that broadcast." Hera replied. "We are going to find out why someone just disappears in the middle of Capital City."

"Capital City? They were from Capital City?" Kanan asked.

"Yeah, why?" Hera asked.

"It's just my master and I were supposed to go there on our next assignment. We were supposed to protect a force sensitive youngling there, we never made it." Kanan said.

"You think the younglings still there?" Hera asked.

"I don't know. There's a slim chance they are. Something tells me that I should probably check it out while we're there." Kanan says.

"Then that will be our side mission." Hera says.

Hera set the hyperspace for the jump to Lothal. She landed a few clicks outside of Capital City.

"Chopper watch the Ghost." Hera commanded the droid as her and Kanan left the Ghost.

"So, where do we start?" Kanan asked.

"Find their house. Check for evidence. Then ask the locals. Surely someone saw what happened to them." Hera answers.

"Wait until just before dark. The people living on the street will be active then. One of them probably knows what happened to them. They will probably be the most reliable witnesses." Kanan suggested. "None of them are with the empire, so they might talk to us."

"True, but I'd like to check out the house and see what information we can find out on our own before we start asking questions." Hera says.