Hey! This is my first Rebels fan-fic, so forgive me if things are a little off. The system isn't exactly what I thought it would be... but anyways. A lot of this story is pre-made, originally written before even 'Empire Day' was shown. Anything details from 'Empire Day' and beyond were not accounted into the storyline, so if a few facts don't match up, that's why. Otherwise, enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned Star Wars: Rebels... I'd probably just give it back to Disney. I'm too afraid I'd mess it up.

"Damn it Kanan, I thought you said this would be easy! Just a standard delivery!" Spectre 2's angry voice crackled through the Jedi's comm loud and clear as Hera voiced her displeasure at their current predicament. Kanan shot a discharge of energy out of his blaster before responding over the sounds of battle.

"That's what my contact said too! There shouldn't have been more than five bucket-heads here!" However, it was obvious there were way more than five guards at the Imperial base. Nestled on an asteroid, the only use it was to the Empire was as a refueling station, but with the planet of Lothal almost within visual range, it was hardly used. Why there were over two legions at the nearly abandoned base was anyone's guess.

A blast of red energy collided with the crate in front of him, and Kanan returned the favor to the soldier who'd shot it. He hadn't needed to, though, as a ball of yellow energy took out the stormtrooper before Kanan had even shot his weapon. He glanced over at his right, towards the origin of the ball: Ezra.

He'd been Kanan's apprentice for a year and a half now. They still had yet to get him a lightsaber. His own was still clipped to his belt, as their situation was not yet dire enough for him to pull it out. However, if things progressed in the way they were currently heading, the need for the energy blade may become more urgent. Ezra, however, was doing well. His navy hair was swinging to and fro, matching the teen's dashes that successfully took him out of the incoming bullet's range. He didn't have a blaster, as he wasn't a fighting-type member of their crew, and because a blaster would mostly interfere with his sneaky in-and-out roles to play in their missions. However, he was firing ball after ball of energy from his arm sling, distracting the troopers long enough to allow either him or Zeb to finish them off.

The Lasat, while not able to bash their enemies's heads in personally, was still firing shot after shot, a look of fierce, feral enjoyment etched onto his purple features. His rifle added a lower pitched tone to the battle, a steady rhythm that sounded injury to the other side with every blast.

A roar sounded as the Ghost streaked above them, firing down at the enemy while being pursued by six Ties. Kanan had to hand it to Hera, she was a mean pilot when needed. She neatly evaded the green shots her pursuers fired out, while Sabine fired out at them from the back. Kanan was very glad he'd allowed the Mandalorian to stay aboard the ship. Without Sabine adding constant fire to the Ties to keep them occupied, Kanan felt sure they'd come down and attack the three members of the Ghost crew stranded on the ground.

A cry sounded out from the bucket-heads in front of them, bringing Kanan's attention to the battle at hand. Hera and Sabine could take care of themselves, he would just have to trust in the Force that they could as well. Looking straight ahead at the battle, Kanan witnessed another trooper fall down, twitching slightly. Another victim to Ezra's sling.

With the aid of the Force, the boy had been able to increase his aim even more, to the point of him being able to shoot between the cracks on the bucket- heads armor, straight to the fleshy soldier underneath. Combined with the reflexes and aim he'd picked up fending for himself as a child, Ezra made for an excellent fighter.

This was one of the reasons Kanan had held back on giving his Padawan a lightsaber.

Kanan was scared. Scared that with the addition of a laser-blade, Ezra would become attached to fighting. Yes, they all wanted to take a bight out of the Empire. Ezra even more so, with the deaths of his parents and his forced life on the streets. But Kanan was scared that every time they fought a battle, the young teen might be driven closer to the Dark side. That because of his past, Ezra would give in to his anger and fear, let the Dark pull him into it's deadly embrace. He feared that with the addition of a better weapon, Ezra would become engrossed with the fights, and that the lure of evil would grow stronger on his apprentice. Kanan knew exactly how that felt.

When Order 66 had come, and the Clones betrayed their generals and burned down their temples, Kanan had been tantalizingly close to letting his hatred take control of him, to exact revenge on those who had betrayed him and his Order. But he had not. He had resisted the call of the Dark, had meditated and consoled with the Force. The only reason Kanan had been, was, able to continue his rebellion against the Empire without turning was because he was a Jedi. He'd grown up suppressing emotions, learning to tuck them away-no, to get rid of them. This was the Jedi way. But Ezra? He'd grown up on his anger and fear, using them to survive. Kanan wouldn't be surprised if he was using them even now.

So, Kanan had waited. He wanted to train with Ezra even further, to make sure his apprentice would never fall to the lies of the Dark.

"Nice one, kid!" Zeb yelled out over the sounds of battle, firing more bolts. Ezra turned to grin at the Lasat, also continuing to fire. Kanan once again turned his attention to the troopers.

As much as the rebels jibed the stormtroopers, they were still deadly efficient in combat. Looking closely at the battle-field, Kanan realized they had dragged the boxes into strategic positions, allowing the soldiers to advance slowly towards the three Spectres. With grim realization, Kanan saw they'd eventually be pushed into a street.

The old base was designed with ship's landing and taking off in mind, so there were two ports on the base. They were currently at the lower port, which had two storage buildings behind it, connected by an overhang. This left a street sized gap between them. Farther down that path and to the left was the second landing pad, with the rest of the buildings either above or to the right of the road.

With a huge explosion, two Ties crashed above their heads, showering both sides of the battle with debris. Hera's flying skills had once again proved themselves.

A surge of hope crashing through him, Kanan formed a plan in his head.

"Ezra!" He shouted out to the teen, still focusing on the battle at hand. An affirmative shout showed he was listening, so Kanan continued. "Give me some cover! I've got a plan!" Ezra nodded his assent, and Kanan heard his Padawan yell out to Zeb. Immediately after, Kanan saw the yellow energy balls flying towards the soldiers in front of him. Trusting in his apprentice to keep him safe, Kanan sank down below his crate, resting his back on it, and closed his eyes.

Almost as soon as his eyes had closed, the noises of battle faded. A sense of peace stole over the man, as Kanan connected to the Force around him. Stretching out with tendrils, Kanan searched for the Ties and the pilots within them. With them moving around as fast as they were, this was no easy task. Preparing for almost complete detachment from the real world, Kanan submerged himself deeper into the Force.

He could feel himself, a small ebb in the ever flowing currents of the Force. He could feel Ezra, the Padawan concentrating hard to not only defend himself, but Kanan as well. He could feel Zeb's enjoyment at felling soldier after soldier. He could feel Hera's determination to successfully fly away from their foes. He could feel Sabine relying on Spectre 2 to fly her within firing range of the Ties. And... and he could feel the pilots. Kanan would have felt relief upon locating the Ties so quickly, but as deeply buried in the Force as he was, he only felt serenity.

Giving the pilot's concentration a nudge with the Force, Kanan was rewarded with the dim noise of a crash, as though from underwater, as the pilot he'd been focusing on crashed into the side of the asteroid. Kanan felt his team's unbalance, but felt nothing himself. Either because he was disturbed by his friend's crash or Sabine had shot him,another pilot's Tie swiveled out of control. Kanan began searching for the other two pilots, aided by the Ghost. Hera, knowing a limited amount of the Force, knew enough to provide Kanan with a constant anchor. Attached to her life-signature, Kanan was able to slowly expand from her moving position to find the Ties that darted around her ship. Within another minute, only one Tie remained.

However, before Kanan could hunt down the remaining enemy ship, a jolt of fear and pain from his Padawan brought Kanan out of his trance. Opening his eyes, the sounds of battle once again engulfed the Jedi. Turning slightly to his left, Kanan didn't have to look hard to find what had caused Ezra distress. One of the stormtroopers had found his mark. The teen was clutching his upper left arm, a singed patch of cloth showing where the soldiers' blaster had finally connected.

Worry colored Kanan's thoughts. Ezra's wound was not life-threatening, far from it. However, the pain it would be causing him would cloud Ezra's connection with the Force, causing his aim to deteriorate. They had to resolve this fight, and quickly too.

"Spectre 1 to Ghost, can you shake off that last Tie?" Kanan asked into his comm link, resuming his barrage of blaster bolts at the stormtroopers in front of them. The sound of an exploding ship above them answered his question. "I need you to sweep the enemy with a few lasers, Ezra's injured." As expected, Hera cried out, her voice laced with worry.

"How bad is it?!" Kanan already had his answer prepared as he shot another trooper down. "It's okay, just an arm shot. But we need to get out of here fast." However, Hera's response was not expected.

"Spectre 1, I'm sorry, but Chopper's picked up the signatures of two more incoming Ties and one larger vessel. Head to the second landing pad, we'll try to do a fast pick up before they arrive." Hera's voice was calm, but there was a certain tightness to it that told Kanan she was tense and worried. "Copy Spectre 2. See you soon." He tried to make his own voice light and casual, but the Twi'lek had known Kanan for a long time. He was sure she heard the underlying worry that spiked his words, and as the comm grew silent once more, Kanan unsuccessfully tried to lay his thoughts to rest.

The sensors on the Ghost had a long range. However, in their last run, a scuffle with the Empire had cut their range down to a fourth of what it once was. If they had just now noticed the ship's coming in, they would only have seconds-maybe a minute- for the Ghost to land, pick up it's passengers, and fly away before they arrived.

Shooting out a spike of thought towards his apprentice to get his attention, Kanan motioned with his hands for them to start heading backwards and into the buildings. Ezra nodded, hair bobbing up and down as he did, and he relayed the message to Zeb.

Quickly, the three darted from crate to crate, steadily moving towards the second launching pads. Realizing their intentions, the stormtroopers followed suit, and they all progressed towards the top of the base. However, they hadn't moved quick enough.

They were only half of the way there when Kanan saw them. Two Ties flying on the sides of a larger transport vessel. Inside the bigger ship was most probably re-enforcements, which did not bode well for them.

How had this happened? The mission was a simple one: fly down, kill the (supposedly) sparse guards, load the fuel, food and weapons they found, and deliver them to Alderaan, the secret center of the rebellion. The weapons and equipment were a major necessity to the rebellion, which was why this mission had to go well. But instead, this had happened. Could it have been a trap? No, the contact was a trusted one. Had someone else betrayed them? Was there someone on Alderaan who knew of it's importance, and sided with the Empire? Kanan's worries spiraled through his head, until he was jolted out of his musings by a large 'thud'. The enemy ship had landed. The two Ties escorting it flew in, heading in to battle with the Ghost.

Worry once again knotted itself in Kanan's stomach. He soon found out it had a rightful place there, as no less than ten troopers marched out of the transport. They were joined by Commander Kallus. As one, the unit dove into the fray, giving more fighting power to the Imperials. Kanan heard Zeb's growl of anger as he saw Kallus waving his staff high in the air threateningly, twirling it in a mocking fashion. Over the sounds of battle, Kanan heard the officer taunt Zeb: "Is something the matter, monkey boy?" Before Zeb could leap forward, Ezra stopped him with his uninjured arm. "Zeb no! We have to get back to the ship before-"

But the rest of the teen's sentence was cut off as he felt a wave of power shoot through them. Kanan felt it as well, and turned to look at his apprentice. Mingled worry and fear shone in Ezra's electric blue eyes, which Kanan was sure reflected in his own. As one, they turned to face the transport ship, aware now of what exactly who else was on board it.

Slowly, the Inquisitor stepped down the ramp, yellow eyes glinting in the blaster-fire. His pointed teeth were bared, and his crimson lightsaber was ablaze, rotating quickly. Kanan straightened from his crouched position, ignoring the hail of blaster fire around him. There was no need for contemplation. Kanan would definitely need to un-sheath his lightsaber for this battle.

"Master, we don't have time!" Ezra's shout reached Kanan, and he quickly glanced over to the boy, giving him a brief, tight smile.

"I'm not as thick headed as you are, I'm only going to be holding him off until Hera and Sabine finish with those Ties." It was a mark on how grave their situation was that Ezra did not complain about Kanan's comment, only nodded. He released Zeb, and the pair resumed their backwards retreat, still firing at the oncoming soldiers. Kanan took a deep breath as he assembled his lightsaber. Deflecting the few bolts that passed his way, Kanan advanced slowly towards the Inquisitor, even as the Pau'an was doing the same. With the two buildings on either side of him, Kanan knew this was definitely not the ideal place to fight a lightsaber battle. However, this was the only way for Kanan to ensure the Inquisitor would't go after Ezra, as he had done in the past, or focus his attention on the Ghost and her crew.

Besides, knowing both Hera and Sabine, it would only take a few more minutes for the duo to despise of the Ties.