The moment the Ghost entered Lothal's atmosphere, Ezra's back stood straight up; the sudden chill in the Force that ran up his spine was unlike any that he'd felt before. It wasn't because this new foe was strong with the dark side; no, this feeling went far beyond. It may have been nerve-racking, but Ezra knew the proper word to describe this dilemma: destiny. Something big was going on, and he was going to help stop it.

Ezra closed his eyes in a brief meditation and quietly called out to his old master, "Be with me, Kanan." And he looked upon Lothal's blackened skies with anxiety. The entire crew sucked in a breath, not well anticipating what awaited them on the surface.

"Under any other circumstance, I'd appreciate how easy it was to actually get to Lothal." Zeb said, breaking the dark silence. "Where are we landing?"

"The middle of nowhere." Hera answered nonchalantly.

The response surprised everyone. Several wanted to voice concerns over the reckless plan; but as the status quo would have it, their faith in their captain diminished any doubts about her plan in a split second, as they had been consistently successful just about every time they followed one of said plans.

"Well. . . we'll have to be careful still; the Empire knows we can't land anywhere near the capital, so they'll be looking way past the outskirts." Ezra added after deciding to agree to the plan.

Zeb figured, "They never found us on their own before."

"Things here are very different now." Ezra said, a hint of dread in his voice. "And there's something else; something, I sense, beyond the Empire. We can't take any chances."

"Well, Ezra, then I trust that you'll land us safely." Hera said out of nowhere, swerving in her chair to face Ezra.

"Wh- me?!" Ezra exclaimed.

"We have to land far away from any regular Imperial presence, but you need to lead us to the Jedi you said was on Lothal. Considering you're the one that sensed him, you'd be our best shot at finding him" Hera explained.

Ezra had almost forgotten about the Force-sensitive he'd detected moments earlier. He realized that his mind had more recently hit some snags, ever since that hellish Imperial broadcast. This enemy was definitely a cause for the dark, and Ezra was more determined to take him out. "Honestly, Hera, I don't know if I can find him. I feel like there's a reason he's managed to stay hidden this long."

"Well, get to trying. We'll be in danger if we don't get to safety." Hera said lightly.

Ezra plopped down in the copilot seat and reached out to the Force.

---

Ezra snapped awake. He noticed he was standing in Lothal's endless plains, but also noticed something was terribly wrong. Everything was gray. He looked around and down at the grass under his feet; he lifted a foot and noticed only a black sand-like substance where he stood. He moved to take a step forward; but saw whenever he made contact with the grass, it would choke up, turn black, and shrivel to dust.

"Is this a vision?" He tried speaking, but no noise emitted from his throat. It was then he took notice of the fact there was no sound either. 'No wind either.'

He looked around, actively trying to deduce the point of the vision. He kept turning around, only spying an endless bland void. He blinked once, then a figure appeared in the distance. He couldn't tell if it was humanoid yet; but as it approached quickly, he could then tell it was the form of a Loth-wolf. And as it approached, he could tell something was very wrong. This wolf had no face.

Ezra took a few fearful steps back. Suddenly, the ground shook, and it kept shaking. Ezra saw smoke building in the distance, as if an explosion activated, and the aftershock was speedily heading his way. He continued stepping back, but looked back up at the wolf again.

Where the wolf's snout was, Ezra could see the skin wrinkling up, as if the faceless wolf was snarling at him. The wolf stretched its jaw as if to bite, but it still had no mouth. Ezra braced himself; as the wolf moved on him, the smoke blew past him.

Once everything settled, Ezra looked up and around; there was no grass and no mountains. But there were bodies. A lot of bodies. Standing corpses, all gray, mangled and shrivelled. At the forefront of the crowd was the Ghost crew (those that had organic bodies, at least). Ezra was quickly overwhelmed with fear and pain. He took a closer step towards them and reached his hand out near Hera's face.

The head of every corpse suddenly cracked and turned to Ezra's direction. Ezra jumped back in surprise, then made a run for it as every corpse began chasing after him.

Then Ezra heard a sound. A voice. "You brought this upon Lothal."

Ezra tripped, but broke the fall with his arms. He expected to feel an onslaught by the dead, but nothing came. Instead, he felt a pleasant gust of wind. He looked up and around to face the direction the wind was coming from. He saw two humanoid-shaped, glowing silhouettes, and they were followed by a softer voice. "But there is hope. To restore balance, you must choose one."

Ezra found himself able to speak again. "One? One what?"

---

Ezra woke up with a shout. He was still seated in the copilot seat, but the Ghost was landed in Lothal's beautifully colorful fields.

"Ezra! Are you okay?" Hera asked, jolted by the sudden outburst. Zeb and Sabine were by his side to help make sure he was alright.

Ezra had never felt such an odd relief before; he looked around to take in his surroundings, feeling everything was alive and real, then took two deep breaths to compose himself.

"Another vision?" Hera asked.

"Where are we?" Ezra asked.

"I, believe you led us to our Jedi." Hera answered, turning and facing outside the Ghost. On the horizon, there was a small camp, and someone's outline.

Ezra squinted his eyes to try to see better. Something did seem familiar about him.

---

Crossing the distance, the team approached the new stranger, who stood with one pair of arms crossed and the other linked behind him.

"I've been waiting for you, Ghost crew. Captain Syndulla, it's an honor to meet you." Aang opened with.

That this mysterious person knew who they were settled unease into the crew; they figured the Empire would be the only ones expecting them. They readied themselves, keeping their weapons in range of their hands.

"That won't be necessary; we're all fighting the same fight now. I am Aang: Jedi." Aang introduced himself, revealing his hands that were behind his back to be weilding two lightsaber hilts. "Ezra Bridger, I'm sure you have felt the dark goings on within the Force recently?"

Ezra didn't respond, but the surprised look on his face let Aang know they were both now thinking the same thing. "Come." Aang said. "We'll talk around the campfire." Aang gestured back to his camp.

"Campfire in daytime?" Zeb asked curiously, his tone hiding that he was discreetly criticizing the idea jokingly.

"Yes. I'm sure you've noticed by now that Lothal appears to be colder than usual in this time of year." Aang pointed out; and it wasn't until the crew heard it that they felt it.

"Wow, he's right." Sabine said, rubbing her arms as everyone parked themselves in a circle around the designated campfire area.

When everyone was settled, Aang went right to business. "Now, we know these aren't your basic Imperial tactics that you guys are used to. There is a rift in the Force itself, so we can't combat this with simple old blasters. If there's something wrong with the Force-"

"Then we have to hit the temple." Ezra finished the sentence.

"Okay. And do what exactly?" Zeb asked.

Aang and Ezra realized there wasn't a direct plan; they looked at each other and back at the others. "The Force doesn't tend to be overly forward with things. I figure we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Aang suggested.

"I don't think so." Hera interrupted with a humored tone. "We go to a monitored Jedi temple without a plan, we're as good as dead."

"I've been winging it for years and I've been completely invisible on the Empire's radar. I don't even have an identification. I'm a ghost." Aang bragged.

"Yeah, well have you ever pulled a job of this scale against the Empire?" Ezra asked.

Seeing Ezra's point, Aang learned quickly that both sides would benefit greatly from learning each other's tactics. "I'm no stranger to strategy, but I wouldn't consider myself an expert. Which of you handles that? Or is it a group effort?" Aang asked.

"Usually a group effort; but for missions like this, Ezra takes the lead. Temples are more his field." Sabine informed.

"And for a mission like this, we'll need to scope out the area first." Ezra finished, standing up. "We can't take the Ghost; we'll be spotted. Do you have any speeders?" Ezra asked Aang.

Hera seemed to notice a tiny slip in Ezra's thinking. "We'll, fly it most of the way there, as we'd normally do. Ezra are you sure you're alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, you seem off your game a little." Zeb concurred.

The Ghost crew continued strategizing amongst themselves, but Aang seemed to sense Hera's worry. He looked between Hera and Ezra, only theorizing what might be going on. "Bridger?" Aang interrupted whatever conversation was commencing. When Ezra faced Aang, Aang put one hand up near Ezra's head and asked, "Would you mind if I checked something?"

Ezra didn't move, but raised his eyebrow in curiosity and nodded slowly. He felt awkward about this person he just met getting in his space, so he remained still.

Aang closed his eyes and began probing Ezra's mind for something, anything potentially unusual. It was only for a few moments before Aang slowly, subtly jerked back. "You're under attack." Aang said quietly.

---

TK-0946 was listening in on Imperial transmissions, scanners, and radio chatter. He'd been at it for hours, eagerly anticipating news about the Ghost crew. He turned and twisted that knob so consistently, he might as well have been a droid with unlimited energy; he didn't feel any wear or tire from moving his fingers so much.

TK-626 burst in. "Sir! A ship matching the model of the Ghost has landed on the planet!"

TK-0946 snapped his head up. "Did the scanners confirm the Ghost's signature?"

"Well, no-"

"Then that's definitely them. Do we have coordinates?"

"We have an estimate."

0946 leaned back in his seat, letting out a large sigh of relief. "We have a chance." He whispered. He swiftly stood up and told 626, "We'll take bikes."

---

"How am I under attack?" Ezra asked Aang, feeling rather perturbed.

"It's hard to explain. I sensed danger; but at the same time, it's like nothing I've ever felt before. It almost felt like a vision."

Ezra tilted his head to the side. "In, what way, exactly?" He asked, the connection lost on him; he was no more or less confused than the rest of the crew.

"I'm unsure myself. It is rather bizarre." Aang said, stroking his chin. "The only thing that comes to my mind is that the most definitive thing about visions are their ties to the future."

Ezra's visions led to key events in his life that shook the foundation of everything he knew; certain people he met caused chain reactions that led to events that changed his life and solidified his destiny (although he wasn't too certain of that last part; he felt something was wrong somewhere); he met his Ghost family of course, childhood friend Mr. Sumar, family friends Tseebo and Ryder Azadi, even Hondo; and he couldn't deny even Maul and some select Imperials had big parts to play in his life. But the Force had directly led him to Aang; and under the current circumstances, Ezra didn't believe in coincidence. "Are you saying whatever's currently wrong with me has to do with the future?"

Aang served Ezra a serious stare. "The best way I can put it: Ezra, you are soon going to reach a crossroads that will determine more than your destiny; but the dark side. . . well, something dark out there knows this and is attempting to intervene." An awkward silence followed. "It seems far-fetched, but I do feel the temple is the only way to find out for certain what's going on."

This was all too weird for Ezra. This new guy just dumped a load into Ezra's head too quickly for him to process. 'How is he handling this so normally?' Ezra asked himself. 'Who is this guy?' He wondered, but ended up blurting out, "How old are you?"

Of all things, that caught Aang off guard. ". . . erm, twenty years old?"

"Sorry, it's just, you're a bit, different, from other Jedi I've met." Ezra explained, awkwardly spacing his words, "You were born a year before the Empire formed? Who taught you?"

Aang had no direct answer for that, for he had no single teacher. "Teachers take many forms. I am partially self-taught, as well." Aang focused back onto the subject. "Anyway, I think we should waste no more time and head to the Jedi temple." He suggested, standing up. "This'll make, what? Your fourth trip?" Aang's statement stood Ezra still; he quickly realized his accidental slip and froze himself.

"What more do you know of all of us?" Arose Hera from the Ghost crew's silence, her hand ready by her blaster. Ezra held his arm out, telling her to stand down. The strange thing was that Ezra only remembered two previous temple trips; but at the same time, 'three visits' sounded right. More than that, it felt right somehow.

Aang sighed hard. "Aaah I wanted to wait for the right moment. It'll only make sense later." He excused.

"What is it you've planned exactly? Something at the temple will make us understand how you've somehow masterfully studied us while remaining undetected?" Ezra asked.

Aang remained silent for a moment. Some of the other crew members held their hands near their weapons. "There are things I can't tell you right now, but I will eventually. You have to trust me. Simply put, if I told you now, you'd climb aboard your ship and leave, believing me to be some crazy hobo who's spent way too much time by himself in the sun." Aang turned again and faced Ezra. "The Force linked us." Aang said slowly, emphasizing each word. "You know it. And something tells me you don't believe in coincidence."

From the quiet audience of the Ghost crew, Zeb mumbled, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Chopper chirped lowly, hoping Aang wouldn't hear and understand what he said.

Aang abruptly turned his gaze to the droid. "If that was the case, droid, I would've definitely taken you all out already."

"How can we trust you?" Ezra asked inquisitively. He wanted to trust this Jedi; he desperately wanted another friend, and a Jedi one no less.

Aang thought for a moment. He reached inside his robe and pulled out his lightsabers, and presented them to Ezra. "I don't know much of the old Jedi way, but one of the most important things stressed to me was that these weapons, are my life." He practically pushed them into Ezra's chest. "Now she was someone you could trust."

Ezra didn't bother asking about the aforementioned person. When the cylinders of metal hit him, Ezra instinctively caught them with his hands, then Aang let go. Ezra understood what Aang was subtly communicating and held on to the hilts. Ezra sensed nothing but sincerity from him and lightly exhaled from his nose, relaxing himself; he didn't even notice he was tensed up.

"We can trust him." Ezra affirmed the others.

"Ezra-" Sabine called out cautiously.

"Trust me." Ezra interrupted.

Unexpectedly, the Mandalorian was the first to relax, taking her hands away from her weapons. The others followed suit shortly after.

"I'm sorry I can't explain what's been going on-" Aang started, but Hera noticed speeders on the horizon.

"Incoming on your six!" Hera shouted, pulling her blaster out again. The others acted accordingly, stancing themselves defensively.

The speeders stopped when the riders were in ear shot, but far enough away that it'd be tougher to shoot them. TK-0946 and TK-626 dismounted their speeders, their hands in the air. "We come in peace. We have no weapons." 0946 stated first thing.

"Who are you?" Ezra asked, his lightsaber at the ready.

"And, how did you find my camp in the middle of nowhere?" Aang asked curiously.

Under the sudden interrigation, the former troopers' anxiety spiked, and Ezra and Aang sensed it. 'I didn't think of a way to answer that question.' 0946 thought in a panic. He was panicked, but he weighed the risks. His initial fear of this crew -and how they might react to their identities- was outweighed by his fear of Bando Roscoe. 'This is by far the better option.' He thought. "I am. . . I used to be," he hoped the past tense emphasis would have some better leverage, "known as Tee Kay Oh Nine Four Six."

"A stormtrooper!" Hera shouted.

"Former!" Aang reminded Hera. "He said he used to be." He turned his attention to 0946. "So what are you two doing here?"

"I'm assuming the same thing they're here for." 0946 replied to Aang, nodding his head in the Ghost crew's direction. "To get rid of, him."

"Cut the dramatic poodoo. His name is Bando Roscoe." 626 got straight to it. "He's the Empire's latest pet project."

"You're here because of his, 'message,' right?" 0946 asked.

"Everyone saw it, 0946." 626 stated bluntly.

"What?! Everyone saw it?" Hera asked in disbelief.

"Everyone in the kriffing Outer Rim." 626 clarified.

"Wh- Footage like that is enough to incriminate the Empire as a whole." Hera stated.

0946 sighed. "I wish it was so. For one thing, a majority of the Senate is composed of bought-off puppets, wrapped around the Emperor's finger."

626 continued. "And on top of that, in typical Imperial fashion -that felt weird of me to say- the sleemo currently in charge of Lothal came up with a way to frame practically the entire capital city of conspiracy and treason, as an excuse to have Bando slaughter them in broad daylight. And the Empire's rich enough to pay anyone important to turn a blind eye and believe their story."

"And no one thought his method was -I don't know- a little inhumane?!" Ezra nearly freaked out.

0946 sighed regretfully before answering, "As far as the Empire is concerned, this guy in charge is an outcast, who moved in with his team after Thrawn vanished. The Empire has made sure to clarify to the Senate that they only associate with him in the absolute loosest of terms. . . And now, not even this planet. And considering the news of Scarif, we fear what may be next for this planet."

"Wait, what do you mean 'lot?' There's more of you?" Zeb asked, feeling skeptical to say the least.

"Defects." Hera pieced together.

"Some of us managed to escape the mess undetected. We built our own base in the mountains; we took some equipment with us, too." 626 said. "We may have been Imperial, but, we have souls, too."

Ezra felt conflicted. Ever since Bando was involved, he'd begun to feel less merciful; something was going to snap soon, whether he knew it or not. He just stared at the two former troopers. Even though he sensed their honesty, some part of him didn't want to believe them or team with them.

Something was warning Aang, and his senses were keen. He subtly looked over at Ezra and observed him. "They are telling the truth, Ezra. I know you can sense it. You and I both can sense their fear, too. If we're to do something about this guy, we'll need all the help we can get."

Regardless, Ezra did want to help his home. "I'll do what you all believe to be right, but I can't speak in your favor if it comes to a choice to save you or Lothal." Ezra said coldly.

"We were trained to give our lives for a cause we believe in. Saving the planet is our top priority." 0946 agreed with Ezra. "Lothal is my home too. I would give my life for it."

"Awfully big talk for someone who's only been defected for a day or two." Sabine noted.

626 looked at Sabine and raised his eyebrows. "If you saw what we saw in person, you'd be awfully radicalized, too. We were there. We saw it, oh and we smelled it."

"Don't even get us started on the cleaning." 0946 said with a shudder.

"Back on track!" Hera insisted, beginning to feel naucious at the thoughts being pushed through her head.

"Sorry." 0946 said. "Would you allow us to lead you to our base?"

Before Ezra or anyone else could protest, Hera agreed, "We'll loosely follow you in our ship."

"Fair enough." 0946 said, backing up to his speeder; 626 following suit.

As the Ghost crew got out of earshot, Ezra quietly called out, "Hera!"

Hera swiftly turned around and interrupted Ezra. "I can tell how you're feeling right now, Ezra, but this is our best course of action at the moment." in a moment, she suddenly switched to a demanding, authoritave tone, "so we're taking it, and I want no complaints." Hera told him, jutting a finger into his chest.

Hera had that sort of 'I mean serious business' glare, the kind of scary look that mothers have that also scream 'protective.' Ezra had no memory of seeing that look on his mother, so this first-time experience was intimidating to him as. He didn't say anything, nor did he move for a brief moment.

Aang almost walked by him as the others boarded the Ghost, but Ezra still had his lightsabers. He stopped Aang by holding his arms out to his side, giving him his blades back. Aang caught his lightsabers as they were pushed into him, just as it happened to Ezra. 'Déjà vu.' Aang thought.