The Dark Side Or The Light?
Ver. 2

Chapter 1

        The Ghost crew had narrowly escaped the Battle over Scarif after they had received word that an important shipment was going to be delivered to the Death Star; after the destruction on Scarif, the Ghost crew had immediately been assigned with a squad of rebels to intercept the cargo before it reached the battle station.

        But they had been so hasty that they didn't consider the amount of backup that would accompany the vital cargo. As the small cell rushed into action, they were shortly overwhelmed by the number of TIEs in the fleet.

"At this point, I'm grateful for anything less than Scarif." Ezra Bridger said.

"You and me both." Sabine Wren concurred.

Some of Phoenix Squadron helped out and diverted most of the TIEs from the Ghost. The view of the Ghost had been cleared; from straight forward, they could see the target.

"Zeb! The cargo is just ahead." Hera Syndulla shouted through the comm system.

"I copy Hera! I see it!" Garazeb Orrelios replied from the dorsal laser cannon turret.

"You have to make it, Zeb." Kanan Jarrus warned him. "Considering the stakes, this is something we can't miss."

        "Yeah no pressure." Zeb replied sarcastically before aiming at the cargo attached to the cargo ship, then he fired. After a few shots, he finally hit the cargo hold and the crates released from the ship. "I got it!" Zeb shouted.

"Nice work." Jedi Besalisk Aang complemented.

"Did I ever thank you for these gun upgrades?" Zeb asked.

"Um. . . Every mission, yes."

"They are very handy." Kanan said.

"That's been said every time as well." Aang added.

The Ghost quickly flew by and swiped up the crates. But right after that, Ezra and Kanan blacked out.

Kanan and Ezra found themselves in an alleyway between two old buildings. Ezra recognized the buildings, and the sky. Ezra figured it out, then asked himself, "What are we doing back here?"

        "Wait! Ezra, do you hear that?" Kanan asked. Ezra listened, and they both heard shouts in the streets. They sneaked up to the edge of the alley and they peeked out; they saw a crowd farther up the street, and a stage was ahead of them.

        Then they noticed a squad of Death Troopers pushing the crowd back. They saw six Death Troopers dragging civilians onto the stage, and another strange figure -also dragging a civilian who had a bag over his head- followed them; they stood in a line on the stage. The civilians were shoved onto their knees before the new Imperial attached a camera to a probe droid, and then it was being broadcast; then the Imperial spoke.

        "Rebellion of the galaxy! Mainly, Phoenix Squadron. I am Bando Roscoe! Years ago you took Lothal as your own; if you thought you could keep it, you're crazier than we thought." Bando introduced. "You have threatened the Empire long enough with your treachery, and it will be tolerated no more. If you don't surrender, there will be consequences." Once he finished, the Death Troopers exited the stage, and Bando kneeled behind the citizen on his far right.

Then Ezra witnessed as a red blade went through the innocent man from behind.

        Bando stood up and looked into the camera, and continued, "If you don't surrender, your people will suffer. Every day you don't surrender, the number of the slaughtered will increase sevenfold. If we receive no response within seven days, then Lothal will be gone."

        Bando stepped in a line and killed off the others, but left the one with a bag on his head for last. Ezra had to witness the first six deaths, then he almost went into mental shock when Bando pulled off the bag off the last victim's head.

"Ezra, what is it?" Kanan asked.

"This new sith is killing people. . ." Ezra stuttered.

"Ezra, what is it?" Kanan asked desperately, but slowly.

"It's Ryder." He told him, then Kanan was shocked. "We have to stop him!" Ezra then shouted as he tried running forward, but Kanan caught his shoulder.

"There's nothing we can do here, Ezra." He told him. "This might be the future. The force could be warning us."

Ezra then shouted, "No!" as he then witness a red blade decapitate Ryder.

Kanan heard it.

Before they woke from their vision, Ezra spotted two familiar Imperials standing off to the side. He recognized them as Cumberlayne Aresko and Miles Grint, but he thought they were dead.

Ezra awoke in the med-bay in a cold sweat. He tried getting up, but was called by Kanan. "Ezra, wait."

"Wait for what? For the Empire to kill all of Lothal?"

"No. I just-"

"Kanan, we have to go back. We can't let them do this."

"What's going on?"

"Agh!" Ezra felt too aggravated to contemplate the question.

"Other than the apparent murder of your people, which I know is really hard on you, I sense confusion. What is it?"

That, Ezra could answer, "I thought I saw two Imperial officers. Ones that, I thought were dead years ago."

"What do you mean? Who?"

"They were the ones who trained me as an undercover cadet."

"The ones that were announced dead? Killed by the Inquisitor?"

"Yeah. I saw them."

"How?"

"How should I know?"

        Kanan sighed and diverted from the topic, "The Empire is growing stronger, definitely; but to raise people from the dead is something else. If they have that kind of power, then we might not stand a chance. They'll kill innocent people, but will be able to raise their own back from the dead."

"You were never one to lose hope." Ezra said quietly.

"Lothal will not suffer, and we will not surrender." Hera proclaimed proudly as she entered the med-bay, but a clearly saddened expression was hinted on her face.

"What?" Ezra asked almost hopelessly.

"I saw it on the holonet." Hera clarified.

Ezra's gaze went from concerned to horrified. "It wasn't a future vision."

"Ryder Azadi is dead." Kanan mumbled, covering his mouth with his hand.

"How are we going to fight this?" Ezra asked.

"Sometimes it's not fighting we need to focus on." Aang said, entering the med-bay.

"Does everyone else know?" Ezra asked.

"They do." Hera answered.

"What will we do now?" Kanan asked.

Aresko and Grint had been invited to Bando's office. They arrived when they were expected, and sat down in front of Bando's desk.

Bando was facing the window in his chair, then he swerved around in it and faced them

"Do you know why you're here?" Bando asked them. Aresko and Grint looked at each other curiously.

        Bando sighed, then told them, "After we sent our message to the rebellion, I sensed a thread of doubt within your minds. As if you though," He leaned forward on his desk, "You think what we're doing is wrong."

The two officers became nervous.

"Of the few years you served the Empire, you had never experienced brutal dealings with the rebels. This kind of matter dealing is nothing of your mindset. And you don't agree with it."

"Well, um-"

        Bando stood and stopped any of them from speaking. "I'll have you know that this is something I will not take lightly. You will remember your place, and you will especially remember the reason you're still alive. I brought you back for a reason; stick by that, and your patience will be rewarded. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." Aresko said quietly.

"You may be excused."

The two officers got up and left slowly. Shortly afterwards, a commander entered the room. "You summoned me?"

"I did. It's time for phase two."

        A day had passed, yet Bando had received no reply from Phoenix Squadron. He peered out his window, hoping to catch a shift in the force. Maybe a tip ahead of time. Only a moment, later, an Imperial officer entered the room with a datapad.

"Excuse me sir, but we've received a message to be seen by your eyes only. It's, from the Emperor."

        Bando didn't turn, but he used the force to pull the datapad to him; he read the message then repeated it to himself. 'Lord Vader is after the insurgents who stole Death Star plans, and the Emperor wants me to guard it while he's out. I suppose I shall finish the other job while I'm at it'

He handed the pad back to the officer, then told him, "Prepare my ship."

"Yes, sir."

Bando went down to the docking bay; and right in front of his shuttle, Death Troopers were lined up on either side of the walkway into his shuttle. As Bando passed the troopers, they followed him onto his ship.

Bando sat down in his chair in the bridge, and commanded the pilots, "Set a course for the weapon."

"Sir, we don't have those coordinates." One replied.

With a wave of his hand, Bando had the coordinates downloaded into the computer.

"Never mind, sir. We got them."

The ship lifted off shortly afterwards, and once they entered space, they entered hyperspace.

        Once safely on their path to the Death Star, Bando had a stormtrooper with a camera follow him into the brick where he kept seven times more victims than he had previously killed. As soon as he entered, the forty-nine prisoners chained to the walls riled up and started shouting at him.

        Rolling his eyes under his helmet, Bando shouted over them, "Would you all like to die sooner?" Then the room was dead silent. "Good. We can get this over with quicker. Now, what do you all know about Phoenix Squadron?" He asked them. No one answered.

        He stepped around, observing the Lothalians. He looked for signs of weakness, so he could easily break and get answers. He found what he was looking for in an old man who was hanging his head. He kneeled down in front of him and asked, "What do you know about Phoenix Squadron?"

The villager didn't answer, so Bando lifted his chin and looked into the civilian's eyes with his glowing red visor. "Tell me what you know, and you will be let go sooner." Still, the prisoner said nothing.

        Bando let go of him and stood up, then said to him while also subtly talking to everyone else, "You think I brought forty-nine random street rats to interrogate? I know that with every attack, the peoples' intelligence of the rebellion grows." Then he leaned down to the same man, "And. . . I know the rebel sympathizers. So you better start talking; you know the punishment of uncooperation, so do yourself a favor and choose your fate wisely."

"You didn't think all forty-nine of us would know the knowledge you seek, did you?"

Bando placed his hand on his lightsaber and clicked his tongue. "One more try."

"I don't personally know about Phoenix Squadron; I just received news about a shipment to be sent to a secret weapon of yours, and I had them informed."

Bando's gaze averted to the side, then looked back at him. "What shipment?"

"Uh. . . crystals."

        Bando bowed his head, then started laughing. He then stood up and said, "Thank you for your cooperation." Then, everyone's arms were free, but there were still chains around their neck. Bando then drew his lightsaber and stabbed through his neck. He swung sideways and the man was decapitated.

        The prisoners began shouting again; but before it could get too far, Bando raised his fists, then everyone else was choking. "I didn't say no one would die, now did I? Did no one see my performance yesterday? You're all here to die." Then he let his chokehold go.

He approached the trooper cameraman and told him, "It's time."

        The trooper activated the camera, and now Bando was being broadcast live. "I have not yet received word from Phoenix Squadron, so you know what comes next don't you? I have no choice but to take more lives from Lothal."

        Bando drew out his lightsaber and stepped to the side. He pointed the lightsaber to the wall and slowly walked forward. As he walked by one person, his head was removed. He did it very slowly to each side. Then it was all done.

Once Bando finished, he looked straight into the camera and audibly mumbled, "Tick, tock. And enjoy my little present." Then the camera stopped rolling.

Bando stepepd out to make his way to the bridge, but the trooper asked, "Shouldn't we try going after them since they have the, uh, crystals?"

Bando stopped to answer. "No. They don't have the crystals."

        Ezra awoke in his room, and got up slowly; he looked and saw no one around. He suddenly remembered the situations, then rushed out to the hallway to head to the common room; in the hallway, he was stopped in his tracks by Kanan.

"We haven't sent the Empire any messages, and it's been a day. Did anything happen?"

Kanan didn't look happy, and Ezra could sense he wasn't happy either. Ezra's expression darkened, then Hera met them in the hallway.

"He broadcast again." She said quietly. Kanan and Ezra looked at each other, then followed Hera into the common room; the rest of the crew was there, looking at a paused image of Bando.

Once they were settled, Sabine played the recording.

"I have not yet received word from Phoenix Squadron, so you know what comes next don't you? I have no choice but to take more lives from Lothal."

Then they watched as Bando slowly, obviously smugly killed off the forty-nine (as far as they saw) Lothalians.

Ezra paid close attention when Bando said, "Tick, tock. And enjoy my little present." Then the recording stopped.

"Hera." He called. "What exactly were in the crates we got?"

"There was nothing." Hera replied.

"Aang sensed something with them, and is figuring it out now." Kanan added.

"Why would there be nothing in the crates if they were putting up such an effort to guard it?" Zeb asked.

"Well obviously they wanted to make it seem real. The whole thing was a diversion." Sabine answered.

"We were informed of a shipment of crystals; they must have sent that pack as a diversion to keep us from them." Hera said.

        "You're absolutely right." Aang said as he entered the room with one of the crates. He dropped it on the ground and showed them a cut hole in the side. "All the crates were set to explode and decimate us."

"Wow! What would we do without you?" Sabine asked.

"I don't think you'd be doing anything. Remember your guys' first mission with me?" Aang inquired.

"So we need to report this?" Ezra then asked.

"Without a doubt." Hera replied.

"They almost came close to destroying us. We're entering hard times." General Dodonna said, resting his arms on the holotable and drooping his head.

"For the record, we've always been in hard times. In the meantime, we need to get more productive if we are to survive Bando's reign in the Empire." Kanan said.

"We're already a step ahead into that." Ezra said. "Thanks to Aang, we foiled their plan to blow us up."

Beep Beep Beep

"Sir, we're detecting multiple ships entering our sector from hyperspace."

"Or we just enabled them to track us." Hera mumbled, obviously annoyed. She rushed up to the window and saw Imperial ships racing towards them.

"Everyone head to the Ghost!" Hera ordered; everyone was off in a rush.

'I better take a closer look at one of the crates.' Aang thought to himself.

        The Ghost was locked and loaded and ready to fight. Hera took off, and the crew started blasting TIEs. But the number of TIEs was not small; the Empire wasn't underestimating them. The rebellion was shortly overwhelmed.

"We may need to make a quick exit." Aang told Hera from the co-pilot's seat.

"In this situation, I actually agree." Hera said. She activated the comm and told General Dodonna, "Sir, for once, I don't think we can all survive this. We have to leave."

"We have only just begun to fight. We will not retreat." Dodonna argued.

"If we die here, the galaxy will fall under the Empire's control. You know the stakes." Hera shot back.

"Ugh. I do not like retreating, but this is going to have to be an exception for the galaxy's sake."

"Thank you sir!" Hera thanked gladly before she entered hyperspace; the other rebel ships were barely able to follow.

Hera swiveled around and faced Aagn. "Did you find anything?"

        "I... did." Aang said. He held up the bit of the crate and showed her the deactivated bomb, and a smaller object inside it. "The Empire had this bomb here to kill us in case we didn't discover it; but on the chance that we might discover and deactivate it, they programmed the deactivation to act as a trigger for the tracking device.

"Then how did they get to us so quickly?"

        "That, I don't know. But at least we got away." Aang said, then the rest entered the cockpit. Aang showed them the same thing. "There was a tracker just in case we deactivated the bomb. The Empire had two plans to kill us at the same time."

"As long as we survived both plans, we can still stand against them, but we can't do anything now." Kanan said.

"So what do we do?" Ezra asked.

"What we did on Garel."

"Hide?"

"For now."

I'm already more satisfied with this than the original. I fit three chapters into -what I call- a normal length chapter.