(AU takes place just before Vision of Hope.)

Most mornings for Ezra Bridger were pretty routine. He would wake up, do some warm up exercises followed by Jedi training sessions, take a lunch break, mess around in the ship the rest of the day, drive Zeb crazy, go to bed, repeat. But every now and then a mission comes up and Ezra couldn't be happier. Any chance he could take part in the resistance was worthwhile to him, regardless of the mission.

A few months ago, Ezra considered the idea of challenging the Empire insane. All he cared about then was just surviving one day after the next. Life was a lot simpler than before being in the rebellion or the whole Force powers thing. Then one day Ezra came across a group of bandits stealing an Imperial convoy. Sensing opportunity, he grabbed one of the speeder bikes carrying supplies and took off. The bandits chased after him as did the Empire. Ezra almost got killed but the bandits saved him and gave him passage aboard their ship. At first, he thought they were nothing more than your typical pirates until they gave supplies to a re-settlement town which was filled with starving people. That's when Ezra realized they were more than just brigands.

Ezra stuck with them, getting into one form of trouble or another. Yet they managed to always get out of it and do some good in the process. The group was led by Hera Syndulla, a Twi'lek who was quite possibly the best pilot in the galaxy. She was tough as nails in combat and yet outside of it, she was probably the kindest person you'd ever met. Kanan Jarrus was a former Jedi Padawan who escaped the purges during the early days of the Empire. Thankfully he wasn't some old man preaching platitudes otherwise Ezra would have never agreed to let Kanan train him to become a Jedi.

Garazeb Orrelios, or "Zeb" as everyone called him, was kinda like the grumpy uncle of the group. He was a Lasat, formally a Captain in the Lasan Honor Guard until the Empire invaded his world and slaughtered his people. Now he was a part of the rebellion and while Ezra and Zeb fought constantly, the truth was Ezra couldn't imagine being in this fight without him. Sabine Wren was only sixteen years old and yet had an incredible resume. The Mandalorian was a former Imperial cadet who became a bounty hunter then joined the team and was now the demolitions expert. Whenever she wasn't painting graffiti on something, she was blowing up Imperials with her handmade grenades and explosives. Plus she was drop-dead gorgeous. And last though certainly least in Ezra's mind was Chopper. A C1-10P Astromech droid that never ceased to drive Ezra crazy. That bucket of bolts was a vindictive trickster who enjoyed certain hobbies like rigging Ezra's bunk to collapse. He wasn't the only one that little rust bucket enjoyed tormenting. Zeb swore he'd make a trash pile out of him one of these days. Still whenever somebody's life was in danger, that little astromech somehow always pull through to pitch in.

They weren't exactly the text book definition of what a resistance movement should be and they often drove each other crazy but Ezra considered them not just his comrades but family as well. And now his family was on another assignment. Hera was always the one coming up with the missions, having contacts with other people resisting the Empire who informed her about priority targets. Ezra only knew about one of them and wasn't even sure if it was a man or woman but the name is Fulcrum. Who this Fulcrum was, Ezra couldn't say but his or her information always seemed to be legit.

The group met in the commons area of the ship, assembling around the holochess board. The Ghost wasn't a very large ship so the crew had to make do with what they had. The board served as both something for Ezra to beat Zeb constantly at chess and also used for mission briefings. Hera put up a holographic image of an Imperial Cargo Freighter. Ezra's seen a whole bunch of them coming and going through Lothal's spaceports but the crew never went after one before. Guess it was time to break that habit.

"Chopper hacked into the Lothal City Spaceport and verified Fulcrum's tip. A large shipment of military grade durasteel ore arrives today on an Imperial transport in the Lothal City Spaceport," explained Hera.

"Vizago's willing to pay top credits for it," added Kanan.

"How much credits?" Ezra asked.

"Why? You got a girlfriend we don't know about?" chuckled Zeb. Ezra elbowed him in the gut for that and Zeb elbowed him back even harder. Ezra held his side, making a mental note not to do that again.

"More than enough to keep the lights on around here," Kanan answered Ezra's question.

"That's not the only reason we're doing this. This is the largest shipment that's arrived on Lothal in months. If we can steal this, it'll force the Empire to take extra precautions. Specifically they'll reduce the shipment sizes to not make them targets for pirates or rather us in the future. It'll diminish their durasteel supply and slow down their military productions on the planet," Hera stated.

"Meaning the next time we scrap a Tie Fighter, they won't be able to replace it so fast," commented Sabine.

"Exactly," nodded Hera.

"How do we know the Empire won't just give the convoys escorts from now on instead of reducing their loads?" asked Ezra

"The Empire's cheap," chuckled Kanan. "Adding escorts takes up men and resources and they're stretched in the Outer Rim as is."

"Please tell me we're blasting our way in and not sneaking. I haven't busted up a single bucket head in a week," said Zeb.

"Sorry Zeb. The shipment arrives during a shift change so the spaceport will be flooded with security. Fortunately, things will be a little chaotic which should allow one Stormtrooper and a cadet to sneak in unnoticed," answered Kanan.

"Ezra you're with Kanan. The two of you will steal some uniforms and take the ship once it's landed. Sabine you'll provide a distraction with a few explosives near the South Wing. That should draw away the extra guards," said Hera.

"I love my job," Sabine chuckled.

"Figures I'm on the sidelines," grumbled Zeb.

"You'll be with me on the Phantom. If something goes wrong, we'll need you manning the turrets," Hera spoke.

"Look on the bright side Zeb. Something always goes wrong so you won't be sitting this one out," chuckled Ezra. The Lasat threw him a look but shrugged in agreement.

"Get your gear ready. We move out in one hour," Hera said.

As the team dispersed, Ezra headed back to his room to grab his things. He unpacked his lightsaber and communicator when he suddenly felt cold. It was a sudden chill that had no reason to it. The temperature in the room hadn't decreased but it was less of a physical reaction as it was a feeling inside. A sensation to a dark presence within the Force. Ezra only felt it whenever he was near the Inquisitor.

Whenever the propaganda vids for Imperial recruitment showed the lavished and exotic lifestyle for an Imperial officer, one should have known better than to believe it. Imperials were shown liberating cities from the yoke of tyrants, subduing violent alien species, and promoting order throughout the galaxy. They showed battles with Stormtroopers charging through battlefields with Star Destroyers and Tie Fighters overhead. Any moron without a brain cell would think that enlisted would somehow turn you into some kind of action hero you see on the holovids.

Reality however was quite different. Lieutenant Kemmel had barely got out of the Imperial Academy when he got his first assignment commanding a cargo transport from the Core Worlds to several different planets in the Outer Rim. At first he thought it would simply be transitioning assignment, one that would end in a few months. That was three years ago and he was still running cargo across the galaxy like a common freighter captain. Sure his superiors would tell him the same speech about how important the job was with Grand Moff Tarkin's expansion plan. But Kemmel knew he was getting the shaft. He may not have graduated among the top within the academy but he deserved better than this.

His latest assignment was delivering a large shipment of durasteel to manufacturing plants on the planet Lothal. It was a backwater planet at best but for reason, some high ranking official decided its factories were strategically important for one reason or another. Probably a Moff who owned a stake in them and was using his or her command to generate business for themselves. Such corruption wasn't unheard of but in the end it didn't matter. Kemmel would finish his assignment and once he got back to the Core Worlds, he would try once again to request a transfer. He'd take a staff officer position at this point.

Lothal's circular yellow sphere came into view as the ship dropped out of hyperspace. This was all a simple cargo drop. The ship would be refuel and be on its way back to the Core Worlds within a few hours. No doubt Sergeant Darus and his men will want to hit the local bar once they finish unloading the cargo but Kemmel didn't have that luxury. He needed to be aboard to supervise the refueling. Maybe Kemmel could make Darus and his men remain onboard for 'security' reasons. At least then he wouldn't be the only one suffering through this. Speaking of suffering, where was AP-79? That useless droid should have gotten back from the cargo hold with his inventory check.

Kemmel activated his comlink. "AP-79 are you done with the inventory count yet?"

The Lieutenant's irritation grew from the com silence. "AP-79 respond," he demanded. Still no answer, normally he'd be ecstatic to not have that rust bucket constantly spouting Imperial regulations right and left. But he needed that droid's inventory check before he could offload his cargo and leave this worthless planet. While he piloted the ship into Lothal's atmosphere, he sent out another transmission.

"Sergeant Darus find the inventory droid," Kemmel ordered.

"Yes sir," Darus replied. In his mind, the Sergeant imagined strangling the man. The Lieutenant was a miserable officer and the entire eight man crew onboard knew it. Sergeant Darus had been on the ship for two years and more than once considered 'accidently' blowing Kemmel out of the airlock. The rest of his unit of Stormtroopers would probably just look the other way.

"Marick meet me at the cargo hold," Darus said into his comlink. His subordinate met up with him just outside the entrance to the ship's massive cargo hold. The two stepped inside where hundreds of large containers were side by side and on top of one another. Still this kind of a load was typical ever since Governor Tarkin began his expansion program.

"Rust bucket where are you?" Marick called out. He got nothing but silence as an answer. "That useless bucket of bolts is on the fritz again," he grumbled.

"Take the left side, I'll check the right," sighed Darus. As he began searching in-between the cargo stacks, he couldn't believe this is how his life turned out. Join the Empire and get relegated to transport duty and searching for faulty droids.

"Sound off you useless clanker," Darus called out. Of course he got no response. He was approaching the end of the stacks when he noticed something. Two elongated metallic objects lying on the floor. Darus reached down and picked them up, realizing they were fingers from a droid. What's more, the fingers had scorch marks on them as if they were blasted or cut off. He had a feeling they had an intruder.

"This is Sergeant Darus to all units. Move into the cargo hold, lock it down, and sweep the room. We've got a stowaway onboard. Marick head back towards the entrance," Darus said into his com unit. He made his way back to the entrance where the other five members of his unit were assembling. One of them entered a lockdown code on the door, preventing their intruder from escaping.

"Where's Marick?" asked Darus.

"He never showed up sir," one of the newer recruits said. Crap, this was a worse situation then Darus thought. Marick's either been knocked out, killed, or taken prisoner. Either way they had to find whoever attacked him and AP-79.

Darus split the unit up into two teams of three. He led the search of the area where Marick was supposed to be but so far there wasn't a sign of him. Something was very wrong. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he muttered to himself.

"Contact!" Darus could hear echoing in the room along with blaster fire. He quickly rushed towards the source of the sound along with his two squad mates close behind. They rounded a corner only to find dismembered body parts in Stormtrooper armor scattered along the floor.

"What the…" Darus could hear his men gasping behind him.

"Everyone back to the entrance now," ordered Darus. He turned and to his shock, one of his squad mates was gone.

The remaining trooper turned and realized the same thing. "What? Where'd he go? What's going on here?" he said, panicking.

"Keep it together and fall back to the gggggggggg…" Darus ordered him before he suddenly felt his throat constricting. He gasped for air, ripping off his helmet as he grasped at his neck only he couldn't feel anything choking him. Nothing was touching his neck and yet the pressure increased.

A blur fell from above and landed behind the final trooper. Darus tried to warn him but he couldn't speak so he pointed. The trooper turned just as a crimson blade of energy formed and swung up to severe his head. The head rolled along the floor while the body slumped to the ground. Darus's vision began to blur from the lack of oxygen but he knew the figure was moving towards him. The last thing he saw was the blade swinging at his head.

"What's going on down there? Sergeant Darus respond!" Kemmel shouted into the comlink. He got no response. Kemmel didn't need to be told what was going on. There was one or more intruders onboard and Darus and his unit were most likely dead which left the Lieutenant the only surviving member of the crew. Well Kemmel was certainly not going to confront whatever was responsible and make the same mistake as Darus. He smiled as he activated the emergency cargo release. He knew the cargo hold was on lockdown based on the readings he was receiving and it was standard procedure to lockdown a room you suspect an intruder was in. With a touch of a few buttons, the cargo hold detached from the rest of the ship. Now the stowaway was trapped and could easily be dealt with once Kemmel contacts reinforcements. More importantly, he didn't have to fear for his life anymore.

Kemmel activated the communications relay and said, "Lothal Control this is Imperial Cargo Transport 193. We have been boarded by unknown assailants and I was forced to jettison the cargo hold with the intruders and most of my crew onboard."

"Copy Transport 193. We'll send a cruiser to secure it. Continue onto your original course," a voice replied on the com.

Kemmel breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, he thought he was real trouble but maybe this whole incident will turn out for the best. Maybe he can spin his report to reflect that he knew that releasing the cargo hold was the only way to save the ship. He might get a commendation for this and finally a transfer.

The sound of the bridge door opened behind him. He turned and instantly gasped as an invisible force closed around his neck and lifted him into the air. An armored feminine figure stepped onto the bridge, holding a strange looking device in her hand. She ignited the weapon, creating a crimson beam out of the emitter. A lightsaber? But only the Inquisitors used those. The revelation of Kemmel's attacker dawned on him as he was suddenly thrusted forward, heading right towards the energy beam.