Book 3 of 3: Our Last Stand (Book 3 of "Family of Rebels")

Chapter 34: Let's Begin

Ezra's POV

Shots fired all around us. In the first five seconds of firing, I almost died twice. I stood up from behind the rock and blocked a few more shots before crouching back down again. I turned to Sarah. She seemed to be doing it so effortlessly, it was as if she wasn't trying. She stood out from her rock a lot longer than I did before hiding again.

I looked around some more. Many of the pilots were holding their own, while some were just trying to avoid shots.

I turned to Sarah. "I've got these guys. Protect some of the weaker pilots." She nodded and quickly left to help them.

After what felt like ten minutes, the stormtroopers stopped firing. Hesitantly, I peered over the top of the rock.

An Imperial ship landed behind the line of troopers. Everyone slowly lowered their weapons, confused as to why they would be landing in a battle zone.

The platform lowered, leading with a dozen more troopers shooting from the opening. Quickly, everyone started shooting back again.

I looked back at the platform. The troopers were lining up in their shooting positions, revealing another person.

His breath could be heard from a mile away. The air seemed to become extremely thin, and a cold wind blew into my body, spreading through my organs. Their was only one person who could have that effect.

Vader.

Sarah's POV

Everything became freezing cold, which was weird because Lothal never seemed to get lower than 75°. I turned to the source of the cold.

Darth Vader.

Now that I could see him, he was more ominous than ever. Sometimes, sight has its perks, but in cases like this, I liked it better when I couldn't tell what he looked like.

Out of my new peripheral vision, I saw Ezra coming out from behind the rock. I ran up next to him. "Were you seriously thinking about fighting him alone?"

He smiled at me, turned back to Vader, and turned on his lightsaber; I followed suit.

"The young Bridgers stand to fight another day, even with your master gone. Brave, yet a waste of time." Vader turned on his lightsaber, which illuminated his fixed mask.

I gripped my lightsaber a little tighter to calm my nerves. Ezra and I got into ready position. We looked at each other, nodded, then looked back at Vader. He didn't seem to move a muscle, as if he didn't care about this fight.

We attacked...

Sabine's POV

The stormtroopers continued to fire at us. The new Imperial troopers made things even more difficult for us. Shots were firing everywhere I looked, as if it were a haze of red all around us.

I tried to shoot at fast and accurate as I could, but I was trying not to get shot in the process.

Zeb crawled next to me. "You alright, kid?"

"Hanging in there." I replied, shooting off another round. "You?"

"Trying not to get shot." Zeb replied, firing a few more shots before ducking back behind the crate.

"We'll make it through."

"You sure, kid?"

"As sure as I can be."

Zeb smiled and continued shooting. When he came back down this time, his eyes were full of surprise and fear.  "What is it?" I asked him.

"Vader's here."

"What?!" I stood up and shot some more, looking around for Vader.

Sure enough, he was there...

And so were Ezra and Sarah.

Ezra's POV

We blocked most of the shots that the stormtroopers were firing at us with help from Sarah's shield. As we passed them, some continued to shoot, but they eventually all started shooting at the other rebels again.

As for us, we headed straight towards Vader.

I made the first swing, which he easily blocked. Sarah tried to hit him, but he blocked that, too.

"Foolish children," Vader breathed, "do you really think any of this will help your friends?"

He used the Force to push us away from him. He turned to the rest of the rebels and raised his hand.

All of the shooting stopped. Sarah and I turned around.

All of the rebels laid on the ground. Nobody was shooting back.

Nobody was moving.

I glanced at Sarah. Tears were building in her eyes. Even my eyes started to blur. I could see her knuckles glowing white with how tight of a grip she had on her lightsaber.

She glanced at me, too. Her newly colored eyes had a shade of red in them. I told her through my thoughts, Don't turn. If they aren't dead yet, they will be if we attack. When the color of her eyes didn't change, I pleaded, For goodness sakes, please don't turn.

Her eyes returned to blue. She sighed and nodded.

We both turned to Vader. Sarah asked, "What did you do to them?"

"Unconscious," he answered, which gave me a bit of relief until he said, "but at my fingertips." I turned my head to see all of the troopers encircling us, guns armed and ready. I sighed, put my lightsaber on the ground, and put my hands up. Slowly, but eventually, Sarah did the same.

"Smart," Vader said, "so you do care about your friends."

Vader signaled some of the troopers to come up to us. They pulled our arms behind our backs and put cuffs on them.

Suddenly, I felt something hit the back of my head. With that, I went out cold.

Some unknown amount of time later.............

My eyesight slowly came back to normal. Bright lights blinded me for a minute or two until I got adjusted to it. I tried to move, but I was cuffed at the ankles and wrists. I felt a whole lot weaker, which most likely meant that these cuffs blocked out the Force.

The door slid open, and Thrawn emerged from the opening. "Finally, we meet again, Ezra Bridger."

"Where is Sarah?" I asked angrily, still trying to get out of the cuffs.

"Your sister?" he asked.

"How... how do you--"

"Oh, please," he interrupted, "did you really think we wouldn't find your weaknesses?" I stayed silent. "Now that that is settled..." The door opened again, "...we will get started."

A droid flew into the room.

Here we go...

Sarah's POV

I struggled to get out of my restraints, but they were probably able to block the Force. Even though I was strong even without the Force, it was not enough to get out.

The door opened to bring out Vader. Instantly, I tried to get out even harder.

"You are only lowering the chances of your brother living." Vader said.

The fact that he knew about Ezra as my brother made me freeze in place.

"So," Vader ominously said, "let's begin."

Man, that took way too long to make...

I completely forgot about Wattpad, but I'm back and should be able to update much faster.

~MarvelRebel27