30 Chapter Thirty

"So... I just wave my hand and give instructions?"

I questioned, doubt filling my voice. This mind trick was weird.

"No, you need to use the force to connect with your target, and the instructions are more like suggestions that they have the urge to follow while tuning out everything."

I blinked at Kanan, raised an eyebrow, and turned to Zeb, who volunteered to be a test dummy. I waved my hand in front of his face and gave the most random thought that popped into my head.

"Shit yourself."

It did not work. But it did get me a mean glare.

"Ha ha."

I nodded in appreciation, at least he tried. Sighing I just rubbed the back of my head. Today wasn't a good day, I couldn't really focus on anything.

"What's wrong?"

Kanan asked curiosity lacing his voice as he crossed his arms.

"Nothing, just, not feeling it today, can we resume this tomorrow?"

He seemed confused but agreed nonetheless. I turned to the ghost and went up the ramp. I grabbed the handle of my blaster absently, getting some comfort from the familiarity of the feeling but it did nothing in the long run.

"Oh, Colt. Just in time, I need you for a mission."

I looked up at the railing, seeing Hera leaning over it. Resigned, I nodded, jumping and grabbing the edge of the floor and pulling myself up.

"Why not use the ladder... like a normal person?"

Peh, ladder, what was I? A peasant?

I raised an eyebrow and she just rolled her eyes, turning around and walking back inside. I followed her to the latch of the Phantom and followed her up into the shuttle.

The whole walk was silent, so I thought she would give me details inside the phantom. When I looked up from climbing into the small ship, I spotted Sabine, sitting with her arms crossed, much like her legs.

Coincidentally, I just remembered that I left my helmet inside the ghost.

[Over here, sir!]

I looked down the hatch, seeing Chopper with my helmet in his clutches... I was still working on some parts of his upgrades, so it made sense, no matter how freaky it was, that chopper was acting nice to me.

Two weeks of training, solo missions, and tiredness left me little time to tinker... Basically, I was milking this for all it was worth.

Levitating the helmet to my waiting arms, I sent a thumbs up at Chopper and watched him roll away, beeping a tune.

Sitting down and putting the helmet on I propped one arm on the backrest and crossed my leg over the other.

The phantom started up, unlatching from the ghost and lifting off, heading in an unknown direction, for me.

Hera pressed some buttons that must have been the autopilot since she walked back to where we were sitting.

"Kanan and I already worked out a plan, we need to destroy a cargo that is being delivered to the Empire today, it's a quick in and out, so it should not be a problem."

I quirked an eyebrow behind my visor, looking over at the Twilek with interest. A search and destroy must be a resupplying of the droids that I destroyed, along with a few crates of blasters... armor... basically, I blew up a large part of the storage unit.

"Sounds easy enough, how much?"

She looked over at me, her face conveyed confusion, causing me to frown.

"What do you mean?"

Why was she confused, we were going on a mission, and our supplies weren't unlimited, we should have been compensated for what we do, that's how most crews survive in space.

"How much is the pay?"

She unknowingly mimicked my frown, but before she could speak up, Sabine did, getting my attention.

"Can you stop thinking like a mercenary? We are doing this to stick it to the empire, what more reason do we need?"

I suppressed the urge to sigh, I was too old for this shit. I wasn't a teenager anymore, or at least, I didn't think like one.

"We kinda need credits to survive, fuel isn't cheap and food for five people with different appetites is hard to keep up with. I'm all for sticking it to the empire, but not if we waste supplies that could be used for something more... I don't know, important?"

She huffed and turned her head away. Seriously, I knew that she was a teenager, but I seriously, look at the bigger picture for a moment.

Hera took this moment to intervene, stopping an argument that would inevitably break out and bringing the conversation back on track.

"There is no pay, but we will be supplied with supplies that we may need after the mission. Now, let's get down to business."

She pushed down a chair, took out a holoprojector, much like my own, and put up a holographic display of an armored vehicle.

Okay, so it wasn't the supplies.

"The cargo will be in an armored vehicle, escorted by six to ten troopers on hoverbikes, we need its contents gone. The phantom is on the route to the road it will be taking, so it would be prudent to set up some explosives."

I nodded, so that was why she brought Sabine and I. But that still didn't explain why we needed that thing gone.

"What's inside?"

My question garnered the attention of the two. While Sabine turned to the other to wait for an answer, Hera just offered a shrug.

"I don't know."

I blinked, frowned, and turned my head to Sabine who turned to look at me as well. Something smelled fishy here.

"Then why do we need it gone?"

Instead of answering, Hera just turned off the holoprojector and leaned back in her seat, seemingly thinking how to answer.

"The intel was provided by Fulcrum-"

I raised my hand, interrupting her.

"Sorry, but who the fuck is Fulcrum?"

she frowned at my language but answered nonetheless.

"They are an informant that provides us missions to complete and valuable information that might help us against the empire."

Yeah, I kind of got that from "Informant" but the redundancy of the sentence wasn't my main concern right now. She sounded like she didn't know who this "Fulcrum" was, which was concerning.

Informants were like a double-sided blade that was more likely to shove itself in your throat, they sold the information to anyone that would pay the price.

"And who is this Fulcrum?"

She stood up and turned to the cockpit leaving behind a half-hearted answer.

"That's confidential information."

I paused at that. What did she mean by confidential information? That was not confidential, that was vital, this whole thing smelled fishy, and I didn't really like fish.

Sighing, I took out my blaster and went over it, checking if there were any malfunctions. So far, it served me well, but occasional check was required since I wanted to make sure that no problems would come up unexpectedly when I made another one.

It was in good condition and I still had two spare Kyber crystals since I realized that the shield was a waste since I could replicate most of its effects with the Force.

While I couldn't disintegrate someone while tackling them, it didn't obstruct my view, and the systems were overheating too frequently in the tests I performed with Kanan.

I would use one for the blaster and I would have another one left over which I could use for anything. I would most likely make something to support me in combat actively, but that was still a work in progress.

Placing the blaster back into its holster, I crossed my arms and waited to reach the destination, I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

The silence lingered as we flew, none of us seeing it fit to say something to disturb it.

Sabine avoided looking at me, due to her still being displeased, and I had no interest in indulging her.

We were still civil with each other on missions but outside of that, she avoided me like the plague.

In the end, the silence reigned over the Phantom for the next half an hour.

When I felt the shuttle beginning to descend, I got up from the chair and walked over to the hatch, walking out as soon as it opened.

In front of me was an empty road, since I couldn't feel anyone and could not hear any moving vehicles.

"Alright, let's get to work, and install explosives on the sides of the road."

I frowned again and looked back at Hera and Sabine.

"Why are we placing them on the side of the road? Wouldn't it be better if we placed it inside it?"

She looked over at me with a raised eyebrow.

"And how are we going to-"

I took off the lightsaber that I hadn't gotten to remodeling yet and she stopped talking, thought about it, and nodded.

Rolling my eyes, I walked up to the side of the elevated road and used the Force to jump to it and bring the other two with me when I landed.

Digging into my pouch, I took out six remote-activated explosives and handed them to the Twilek while I activated my lightsaber and began digging holes into the pavement.

Using a lightsaber like this might seem weird, but not as weird as when Kanan found me making toast with it.

"How long do we have until they arrive?"

I question while burning a small hole into the pavement, not wanting to take this forever.

"It should be here sometime today."

... Seriously?

She was informed that something important for the empire would be coming through here, but not when. That was normal, but nonetheless annoying.

We had to spend what was turning out to be hours here, just waiting for a transport to pass by and I had something to do

___

I looked outside the window, looking over the outer rim planet named Lothal with disdain. One man, one man from this planet managed to humiliate me.

He appeared out of nowhere, starting off as a pesky thief, stealing some weaponry whenever he got the chance, then, slowly but surely, the troops stationed on the planet realized that he was a threat, and that was made clear to everyone when he killed an inquisitor, then another one and then another one.

They fell like bugs.

He could use the force and the Jedi hunters of the empire were dead. The Ghost was skilled, powerful in the Force and most of all, resourceful.

"Master."

I didn't react to the voice, his arrival was expected, I called him here. The silence in the room was only disturbed by the sound of my breathing before I finally decided to speak up.

"I need you to search for any force users that aren't Jedi, bring them to the side of the Empire, and if they refuse, deal with them accordingly."

I turned around, spotting a boy no older than fourteen, with blue hair and similar blue eyes, be was wearing a black uniform that fit his body, similar to the inquisitors.

I remember when I found the child, in a prison, born and raised for six years until he showed potential in using the force. He was the cause of disturbance in the force that happened a few years earlier and was proving to be a prodigy, soaking up everything the dark side had to offer.

"Understood, master."

He nodded and turned around, leaving to complete his task.

He was born to two protesters that the Empire arrested, turns out, the woman was already pregnant. The parents cared for him, and protected him, only for the family to be ripped apart six years later.

My apprentice was talented, but nothing compared to Ghost. When he was captured, the child would be replaced.

The Ghost would replace Ezra Bridger.

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I have quizzes coming soon, So I won't be able to update for a few days but I will have new chapters ready when I'm done with them.