"You see what I did there?" Kanan says from the small hanger bay he and Ezra use for training. He deactivates his lightsaber; so does Ezra.

Ezra replies, "Yeah, a lot of fast and fancy moves."

"And I got you."

"What's new?" Ezra says with sarcasm.

"I was young and inexperienced in technique and offense as well, but I learned."

"You're moving too fast!"

"In real life, Ezra, you can't ask your opponent to please slow down. Watch again," he aims his lightsaber up and activates it. Ezra looks at Kanan as the beam of the lightsaber shoots upward.

Kanan circles Ezra; he raises his hand up to his chin, holding his lightsaber horizontally across the arm, protecting in. He quickly pivots the elbow, flicks his wrist and spins the saber upward and toward Ezra. Ezra deflects. Kanan twists his wrist left just as fast and quickly slashes across Ezra's chest. Ezra jumps back just in time and slams his lightsaber onto Kanan's, forcing it downward.

Kanan uses Ezra's beam to circle his beam on the pivot point. He let's go and grabs Ezra's arm and grasps his lightsaber with the other hand, slamming it down less than an inch from Ezra's right shoulder.

"You're moving too fast. How do I defend against that?" Ezra deactivates his lightsaber.

Kanan says, walking with Ezra up the ladder, "No, I'm not. The problem isn't my speed, it's your focus. You keep watching my blade when you should be watching my hand. Grips tighten and loosen, fingers move to reposition, the wrist twists and pivots. All these tell you what your opponent might do with his lightsaber. The movement of the blade can be deceptive."

"But how else will I get to scowl at him menacingly?" Ezra jokes.

"Don't scowl; scowling is a sign of an amateur and your opponent will change tactics accordingly."

They pass by Zeb's quarters.

"You little buggers! Get off my head!" Zeb can be heard yelling.

Ezra speaks, "I don't know what it is about his head they're so taken by, but I'm glad it's him and not me."

The door whisks open to Zeb's quarters and he lumbers out as half a dozen tiny feathered bird-like creatures buzz around his head like humming birds.

"They don't leave me alone!" says Zeb, trailing Ezra and Kanan.

Kanan comments, "It's your fault for leaving the bay door open last mission. You can 't rely on Chopper to always get it."

"Isn't there something we can do about them?" Zeb asks, swatting at the birds.

"Maybe if you tried bathing…" Ezra suggests.

"I'm not in the mood, Jedi wannabe."

They enter the Bridge compartment.

"Hera, any luck?" Kanan asks.

"Negative. Had to cross Fennerton off the list – it's under Empire control now."

"We got to get more food supplies and trade off these cooking oil drums. I don't care if it's three days worth of food – take it if you can find it; every little bit counts."

"Why don't we just recycle the oil? They do it all the time in cargo ships," Ezra suggests.

Kanan responds, "It takes more energy to recycle it than get a new supply, plus we can trade with it. But it had to be soon."

"Why?" asks Ezra.

"The extra weight burns more fuel when we're in a planetary atmosphere. It may not be much, but you run as often as we do, it adds up."

"Hold on, I'm picking up a distress beacon," says Hera, punching some buttons.

"Where?" asks Kanan.

"A quarter of a parsec off course. Navigational records don't indicate it's charted. Wait – this spectral pattern looks familiar."

Kanan leans in for a look, "It is. That's a Jedi distress beacon pattern."

"I thought all the Jedi were dead after the Clone Wars, save a few stragglers," says Zeb.

"They are," Kanan replies.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go get him!" Ezra says excitedly.

"Not so fast. Considering our frequent encounters with Inquisitors, I wouldn't put it above them to lay in a trap like this," says Kanan.

"Yeah, but what if it isn't? If that were you or I on that planet, we'd be hoping our call would be answered."

"Hera, you take the ship and go on ahead. Ezra and I will take the skiff to investigate. If it in Inquisitors, we have to minimalize the loses to the Rebel fleet."

Hera turns her head to face his, "You speak as if you're an expendable part of this crew."

Kanan puts his right hand on her left shoulder, "It's us they seek. You can handle the Empire alone, but not them."

"Hey, not that I'm all soft and mushy – 'cause I'm not – if you change your mind, I'll gladly be expendable with you," Zeb offers.

"Maybe next time," Kana replies and he then presses down a button, "Sabine, Hera's patching in coordinates to the skiff. Cut those adjustments short and put her back together. Ezra and I have business to attend to."

"Here – why don't you take these little buggers with you for good luck?" Zeb offers the birds flying around his head.

Ezra taunts Zeb, "And deprive them of your head? I wouldn't think of it."

"We'll meet back at these coordinates in two days," Kanan says to Hera.

.

The skiff separates from the ship, veers off at an angle and them the engines flare up brightly and the ship vanishes into the blackness of space.

.

After a somewhat short passage of time, the skiff drops out of hyperspace; the streaking stars shorten to dots and a planet pops up in front of them.

"He's here? It looks like a dust bowl," says Ezra.

"Scan it, I'll keep circling the planet."

"Got it – the tracking beacon is originating from over there," Ezra points at the panel screen.

"I'm taking her down," Kanan says as he veers into the dusty clouds of air; they scatter and swirl when the ship breaks in.

"I'm detecting a small patch of forest a few hundred yards from the beacon," Ezra says.

"I'm setting us down betwixt the two. He'll likely have gone to the forest for make shelter."

.

The back gate to the skiff opens and Kanan and Ezra depart, looking about.

"Where's the light coming from? I thought it would be blocked out more," Ezra comments, looking at the sky.

"The particles in the air are being illuminated by the nearby star. The sand is probably casting light back up. The beacon is there – just over that small sand dune," Kanan starts toward it.

Ezra catches up, "Are you sure this air is okay to breath?"

"The parts per million is tolerable. I wouldn't want to breath it for a prolonged period."

"It's a little cool out here," says Ezra.

Kanan stops and turns to look at Ezra, "Are you going to whine the whole time?"

Ezra stops as Kanan continues on ahead, "Only as much as absolutely necessary," he replies with sarcasm.

Kanan stops, "The scanner says we're nearly atop it."

"No problem, we'll dig for it," Ezra whips out his lightsaber and activates it. He gets on his knees and swipes at the sand back and forth.

"Ezra."

"I got it."

"No."

"Then hop in," Ezra continues swishing side-to-side.

"Stop."

"What?" Ezra deactivates his lightsaber.

"You're heating up the sand and crystallizing it – you're creating a glass barrier. Lightsabers aren't the answer to all life's problems; sometimes you just got to get dirty," Kanan bends down.

"I hate digging," Ezra moans.

"Pretend it's whining. Ready? One… two… three!"

And in unison they both pick up an unwieldy slab of black glass and toss it aside. They both swish sand side-to-side for a minute until Ezra stops.

"I see some kind of symbol."

Kanan resituates himself to get a look, "That's a Jedi insignia," he stands up and backs off.

Ezra sees him do so and follows his lead, moving to Kanan's side, "Lift it? I think the largest thing I've ever lifted was Zeb.

"When I was your age I was lifting large boulders. I'll help you," he closes his eyes and puts a hand out, aimed at the uncovered piece.

Ezra quickly joins in and the sand vibrates and starts spilling down forming slopes as a vessel emerges. The sand rains down off the small craft and pours out holes and gears.

Ezra opens his eyes to look, "Whoa!"

Ezra loses concentration, suddenly dumping the full load unexpectedly on Kanan, who struggles and drops the ship.

"Warn me next time!" Kanan shouts.

"What is it? It looks like a fighter of some sort."

Kanan frowns and breaths in and out deeply, "That's a Eta-2 interceptor, Actis-class – a common ship used by the Jedi during the Clone Wars. He probably strayed off course for some reason, was ambushed and had to make a rough landing, based on these damages."

"Oh, man, I'd love to fly something like this one day – pick off those TIE's like little flies."

"It's too badly damaged to salvage," Kanan says, then he reaches threw a broken cockpit window and disables the beacon.

.

Kanan and Ezra near the patch of forest. Towering above it is a large rock formation, much like a mountain, but halved down the center and forming a loose eclipse around the forest.

"Buh ba boh."

"Chopper?" Ezra says confused. He takes out his communicator bead, "Choppers, where are you?"

"Ooohhh boo bah."

"He's on the ship," Ezra says to Kanan.

"Interesting how when he does something he knows is wrong he finds all these little hiding spaces."

"Bah ba-dah bah doo."

"Yeah, we know the beacon stopped. You're only off by more than three minutes," Ezra says.

Kanan pulls his communicator bead out and as well, "Stay put and keep an eye out for other ships or the next emergency beacon detected off this planet will be yours."

They enter the patch of forest.

"How does a place like this survive on a planet like this?" Ezra asks aloud.

"I don't know, but if he's in here, even if we split up it'll take about twenty minutes to search."

"Look!" Ezra points, then walks over toward a bush. He pulls back on the growth to reveal the skeletal remains of an aliens species. "Is that him?"

"Is there a lightsaber by him?" Kanan asks.

Ezra searches, "I don't see one."

"Keep looking. That was probably an attacker."

They look around some more. Ezra notices skeletal remains fragments over the ground around bushes.

"This is like a graveyard. Kanan!" Ezra shouts loudly, instinctively whipping out his lightsaber and activating it in a mere split second.

"What?" Kanan runs over quickly, lightsaber already drawn.

"An Inquisitor!" he points.

Kanan looks down and see the familiar black armor and white shoulder insignia on an arm sticking out of some light grassy growth.

Kanan quickly brings the communicator bead to his mouth and barks orders, "Chopper! Scan the area for other life forms and ships!"

They ease in cautiously and slowly. Once Kanan sees the dried skin and rigamortis, he deactivates his and lowers his lightsaber, as does Ezra after using his to cut the grass down.

Ezra sees the face, eyes gone, mouth stretched open, "Ew."

"I'd swear he'd only been here a month but the body is so well intact," says Kanan.

"Yeah. What's that mark on his head?" pointing to a scabbed over and discolored mark on the Inquisitor's head, shaped like a circle with an outer ring.

"Looks like some sort of single-fire pulse weapon at close range, perhaps," Kanan speculates.

Chopper's voice cuts in, "Wah bah bu-bu bah. Wah-wooh."

"He didn't find anything," Kanan says to Ezra, then speaks to Chopper, "Keep an eye out, Chopper. Kanan out," he lowers the communicator bead.

"If Chopper isn't detecting anything, then this Jedi must have gone underground. Unless something in the rocks is interfering with the scanners."

"Or he's already dead," Kanan says.

"In a time of uncertain potential peril, you're quite comforting," Ezra fires back.

"This patch extends back almost a full mile; if we split up we can probably cover it in fifteen or twenty minutes."

"Wait – what if I get lost?" Ezra asks.

"It's a patch. Walk until you're out of it and circle around until you find the point we entered."

"Oh," Ezra says, scratching the top of his head, feeling silly."We're near where we entered, so this is out starting point. We'll split left and right, go until we reach the edges, turn toward the mountain, walk until we reach that end, turn to the middle, go ten feet, head away from the mountain and repeat it until we meet in the middle on this side of the other."

"You're awfully methodical today."

"Something here doesn't feel right," says Kanan.

"I feel it, too," Ezra comments aloud.

"I don't want to be here any longer than needed. And Ezra."

"Yes?" Ezra says, stopping steps away from Kanan.

"Be cautious."

.

Kanan walks at a steady pace, looking side-to-side. Several minutes have passed.

"Kanan," Ezra's voice sounds from the communicator bead. He lifts the bead a couple of inches from his mouth and responds, "Any luck?"

Ezra responds, "A couple old skeletal remains."

"Me, too," Kanan says, spotting a blackened-skin skeleton with a circular pattern in the forehead, in the brush.

"But I found something else."

"What?" Kanan asks.

"Food. I see what looks like red-dish/orange berries growing on bushes around me. They look tasty and they smell delicious."

"Don't eat anything until we've brought it back for testing."

"Yeah, yeah, I wo – WHOA!"

"Ezra," Kanan shouts as he abruptly stops in his tracks.

"Kanan, I found another dead Inquisitor. This one's maybe two or three weeks old. Looks like he was shot in the head, too."

"I'm getting a bad feeling…" Kanan comments aloud.

"Kanan, who could be so powerful and kill two Inquisitors and not show up on the scans?" Ezra asks.

"Choppers! I want a deep long-range scan of the area now! Ezra, don't move – stay put until Chopper is done."

"Right."

Kanan eyes the area around himself carefully, his dueling hand open and hovering over his lightsaber like a marksman, for what seems to be the longest scan time ever.

Ezra looks around nervously. He jolts his head to his left after a faint rustling sound emanates from the brush. His lightsaber drawn just as quickly, he looks on as a small orange bug like a cross between a beetle and a cockroach, with a black head, scurries out the brush and passed Ezra's feet.

"Whew…" he deactivates his lightsaber and re-holsters it. "I know some people back home who'd love to eat you."

Kanan's communicator bead beeps. He raises it up to his head to hear.

"Ah whabba bah bah bahda bwoo."

"Just two more ships, crashed on the surface? Nothing else? All right, but keep watching – something's not right here, Chopper," says Kanan.

Ezra keeps looking when Kanan's voice sounds from his communicator bead; Ezra grabs it, "Anything?"

"Negative. Chopper found both of the Inquisitor's ships on the surface though. With nobody to helm them for so long, their orbits just decayed until they crashed into this planet. Let's proceed with the search, but try to go faster – I want to stay here even less than before."

"Got'cha," Ezra deactivates and re-holsters his lightsaber.

As he starts to move he hears something from behind him and looks; some leaves and tall grass on low-hanging braches shake, having been brushed.

"Kanan – someone's out here," he then spins upon hearing another noise, "Maybe two of them."

"Ezra, get out of there!"

"Don't have to tell me a second time," Ezra starts running but trips and falls down, his communicator bead rolling off into some brush.

A fast flurry of leaves and grass being tossed about by movement alerts Ezra and he rolls over and screams.

"NO—"

Kanan hears Ezra's cry across the forest start and then stop abruptly.

"Ezra. Ezra!" he yells into his communicator bead.

Kanan immediately springs into a defensive posture, lightsaber drawn just as quickly, after the rustle of leaves from behind him sets him off.

Another sound gets his attention to his right. Then his left. Then behind him. Then behind him again, spinning to face each fast. He's hit in the head.

"Agh!"

He struggles, but then falls to his knees. His grip loosens and the lightsaber falls to the ground, deactivating. His arms drop to his sides and shake. His fingers tremble uncontrollably.