Please pardon the terriblness of the chapter. It was written at night, and Salminion is not sure if her brain writes better or worse like that XD.

ENJOY!!!.

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When the Ghost crew heard about their deadline, they set right to work in their search of a lead.

However, things weren't going so great, and though determination was evident in everyone, failure after failure was affecting their confidence in their abilities greatly.

After two hours of fruitless searching, Sabine decided it was time for a break. Indigo suggested they have a look at the transmission she received a while back, so they did.

And just like that, their mission ended, because the transmission was the one of Hera's death.

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"Hello rebels," the holographic image of Agent Kallus smirked, "I have been informed of the capture of one of your crew members, and I come with good news. The one called Hera Syndulla is dead."

"She can't be!" Sabine exclaimed, "I bet he's lying, trying to make us give up. Chopper cut th-"

"No!" Nico interrupted, "Keep going, there's something else."

Kallus motioned towards a green heap that lay on the floor, unmoving, "As you can see, we eventually grew tired of her *uncooperativeness and decided she might not be worth the effort. If you do not believe me, the Empire has personally recorded her last moments of life."

The hologram shifted and the Ghost crew watched as Hera was sitting in an isolation cell, the Inquisititor stalking around her. For a moment, it was just talk, before the pau'an pulled down a lever and Hera's scream could be heard, the electricity high.

Nico winced while Zeb, Sabine, and Tahara growled. After a moment or so, she went limp, smoke trailing up to the ceiling. Stormtroopers came and picked her up, before throwing her in a bag, then a box. A coffin.

"May this serve you as a reminder that rebellion against the Empire is not acceptable, and will not be dealt with lightly. There is no use fighting for a lost cause."

The transmission was cut off abruptly, everyone staring at where the I.S.B. Agent used to be for a pregnant pause. Everyone reacted at once, Sabine running towards her cabin, Zeb smashing the holotable, Indigo walking away briskly and Nico scream of "NO!"

Hera was gone. It had all been for nothing.

They had officially lost a second crewmate, a second piece of their family.

;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;

"Hey kid?"

Ezra looked up at Kanan, who was fiddling with his device in his hand even though it was already complete. The carved word 'Cowboy' printed on the side was barely visible, and he seemed to trace the letters with the tip of his finger.

Everyone had gone to sleep, but days of working on the devices had affected their sleep schedule. Ruby and Ally were now the first to doze off, Zare and Jai following closely after. Cowboy, however, seemed to be used to sleeping late, for Ezra always slept before him even though he was the one who was up the most. It made him curiously about what happened when he was still with his crew, and made him wonder what would've happened if he hadn't agreed to go on that mission that fateful day, although the possibility of that happening were very slim to none at all.

"Yeah?" The room wasn't all too big, so when Ezra stretched his leg he was a hair away from Kanan's one. He only had to glance a bit to the right and meet his eyes.

"About the plan, you sure it'll work?"

"Positive," Came the swift reply, "And if something is to go wrong, we have backups remember? We end up getting sent back here we'll make a new one even if the others decide to-"

"Yeah Yeah, I get that part. What I don't get," He leaned foward, making Ezra fidget a bit, uncomfortable, "is the bits that you're hiding."

"What? Me? Hide anything from you guys? I've met most of them for years, you, granted, a couple months but I trust you. I'm not hiding anything."

Kanan studied him for a bit before sighing, "Listen, I don't know where you learned to be so convincing, but I could always look at the others. They don't hide stuff as well as you do kid, you all know something that I don't. I don't know if it's personal or anything-"

"It's not," The boy looked away, "It's not because you're new either. It's-" he ran a hand through his messy, raven hair, "Complicated."

"Try me."

Ezra's lips drew in a thin line, "No thanks."

"Hey," Kanan's voice was gentler than usual, "You okay?"

Biting his lip, the teen abruptly laid down where he was, facing the wall. Curled in on himself, he could hear Cowboy sigh and shift his position.

Ezra took deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart, trying to force those memories back. He closed his eyes and found himself reliving what he was trying to avoid. He saw the Ghost crew, the Inquisititor, and his parent's death. He remembered watching with horror as the saber pierced them, not being able to do anything but...

"Run!"

A woman's voice rang our from the midst of his nightmare, one he didn't recognize.

He saw a boy, about 14 years old, fighting next to a women. Shots whizzed past their heads, their robes trailing behind them.

Then he saw nothing, the last thing he saw was the boy run away, after a quick command.

"Caleb, run!"

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Ezra gasped and shot foward, blinking a few times before he realized where he was.

"You had another nightmare..."

Jai's hesitant voice rang through the room, and the boy turned to face him, giving a sheepish smile.

"A bad one too, and you haven't had one of those in a while," Zare crossed his arms and stared at him, "Is there something we need to know?"

Ezra shook his head, "Can't a guy have nightmares without everyone thinking something's wrong? I'm sick too remember? Probably just that."

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Well, when we're talking about you, no. You only have nightmares when something bad happened or you're remembering something. You've been sick before and had nightmares, but they're different from this one. So which one is it?"

"Yeah, and who's Caleb?" Ally added.

The teen shrugged, "Don't know. Your guess is as good as mine," Trying to change the subject, he questioned, "Any of you know a Caleb?"

Everyone shook their heads, Cowboy more hesitantly, and Ezra couldn't help but think there was something he was hiding as well.

"Now-"

"Who do you think he is?"

"You're avoiding the question," Zare pointed out.

"Am not!"

"Answer it then."

"I wanna know who Caleb is first."

Scowling, Ghost Z said, "Could be no one. Wouldn't be the first time."

"But-"

"Let's get to sleep," Ally complained, "I'm tired."

"Right."

Laying back down, Ezra faced the wall once more, trying to force the memories away, trying to shake off the feeling that something would go wrong. It was a long while until he slept.

Only to have another nightmare.

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The next morning was not an easy one for Ezra.

He was tired, having had a fitful sleep. His head hurt, and his brain felt a bit fuzzy. But he forced himself to wake up and get ready for the plan, forced himself to act natural.

Apparently, he was doing a terrible job.

"You feeling okay?" Ally questioned.

Ezra forced a smile and nodded, starting to say something before having a coughing fit.

Then throwing up.

He made a mess, which he wasn't proud of, but wasn't about to back out now. They had a plan to go through with.

Ruby grimaced, "Spectre E, you sure about this? We could always-"

"I'm fine."

"Doesn't seem like it," Kanan smirked, "I don't think the plan would work if you vomit on Sumar."

"Oh ha, ha," Ezra rolled his eyes sarcastically, "I won't, I prom-"

Once again, he started to cough. Jai watched uneasily, "You don't think Baldy poisoned you or something right? I don't think you should go. You can't even form a complete sentence without coughing."

"Guys, Baldy's coming..." Ruby trailed off.

Begrudgingly, everyone, including Ezra, got into position as the door opened.

"Hello Mas- [cough, cough] -ter. Ready and [cough, cough, cough, cough] reporting for duty."

The Inquisititor glanced at the boy coldly before walking foward and forcing his chin up to look at him, "Number 11254, I'd like to hear that again."

"Rea-"

The coughing fit broke out once more, the teen's eyes watering as he heard the Inquisititor scoff, "It seems that we're too sick to have our little walk hmm?"

"No! I mean-"

"If you can't say the appropriate greeting boy, there is no reason to reward you all."

"Please Master," Ezra croaked, "I'm..sorry."

The force user seemed to consider something, before swiftly answering, "Alright. You shall all get the reward as long as Number 11254 here agrees to these terms. From now on you will have an extra 15 minutes just like jedi here, however you will have some personal time with me as well. You will also do exactly as I tell you or else get punished. Do you understand?"

"Yes Master."

"Good. Come along, all of you."

Ezra slowly followed, ignoring the worried glances sent his way. What had he gotten himself into?

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Welp, this was long. XD 1,544 words not counting the notes XD.

ANYWAYS...

Hera has presumably died at the hands of the Empire, her last moments sent to the Ghost crew. What will happen now?

I bet some of you think she isn't right? Welp, who know. Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Like Ahsoka. XD.

Ezra is haunted by his past, and has a feeling something will go wrong. Is this feeling true? And how will this affect Kanan?

I think you can all guess.

The Inquisititor struck up a deal with Ezra in order to let them get the rewards the worked so hard for. How will this affect their future, as well as the plan itself?

Anyways, half of this chapter was written in the middle of the might, so once again, if the beginning sucks, now you know XD.

Yeah, next chapter, let's just say, The Start and The Pain. That's the title. XD.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!!!