Kanan, Sabine, and Ezra walked into the common room of the Ghost after another successful supply run. Ezra was doing better than ever. He was more confident, stronger, and was finding his niche with the group. He was still undisciplined and rough around the edges, still a street rat if you will, but he was embracing it and using. It was a welcome development.

"Senator Trayvis," a reporter asked from the HoloNet projector that Zeb, Hera, and Chopper were watching. "Now that you've recommitted yourself to the Empire, will your followers do the same?"

"Most will, Alton," the senator replied, much to the annoyance of the rebels. No one seemed as happy as they did a few days ago when they last heard him broadcast. "These were good people who simply wanted to make the Empire a better place, peacefully. But I'm afraid these insurgents have twisted my message into something violent and frightening."

The broadcast switched to an image of the five rebels (Chopper wasn't included). They were pissed off about what was being said, but they had to admit they looked kinda cool posing like that.

"Of course, I can't abide that," Trayvis went on. "So I'm personally offering a reward for their capture.

Waving his arms through the image of the credits, Zeb groaned. "Karabast. Shut it off," he told Hera.

She, of course, obliged. "Still makes me sick to think that Trayvis is working for the Empire." After all, she was the one who had dedicatedly listened to him for so long.

"Every time we win, we lose," Ezra realized, downcast.

"Well, I have a plan that might just even the score," Kanan announced gesturing to Hera. "If Trayvis can do it, we can do it too."

"What, we're going to send out some kind of inspirational type messages?" Zeb suggested jokingly. He should have known that was the plan, though.

Kanan nodded eagerly. "Exactly."

Zeb looked to Hera, not quite believing it, but she was on the same page. "Exactly," she agreed, smiling wide.

No one else seemed to be on board, though. "Um, I don't get it," Sabine said, looking to Kanan.

"Yeah, Kanan, what are you thinking? We can't just send a signal. The Empire would track it in half a second," Ezra reminded him. Yet another sign of how much he had learned over the past few months.

"Not if the signal comes from one of its own towers," Kanan corrected, smiling. It was the same logic that had been employed by the Republic during the Jedi Purge. They had sent a signal from the temple telling all Jedi to come back to Coruscant. No one had doubted it, Kanan least of all, because they didn't think to ignore something coming from their own headquarters. He was really excited to finally use that trick for something good.

Sabine snapped. "Ah. Now I get it," she smiled, but Ezra still wasn't convinced.

Staring down both of them, he repeated, "You want to take control of an Imperial communications tower, which is pretty much impossible, and then you want to use it to send a message to the people of Lothal?"

"Not just Lothal. One of those big towers can reach a few systems."

"That's a crazy plan," Ezra noted, and Kanan didn't blame him.

He knew his apprentice, though. "That's why you like it," he guessed, grinning.

Ezra walked a few steps before asking, "And what would we say in this message?"

"Something the Empire never says: the truth," Kanan answered confidently. "We have to let people know what it's really like out here. Now, are you in?"

He hesitated, but Ezra looked at his master. "Count me in."

~

Much later, after scouting out their target, Hera and Ezra were helping Sabine with the equipment they would need. "If it works," Ezra decided, "we should be able to use this to transmit directly through the tower."

Kanan walked in on the work group. "How we doing?"

"Well, Chopper has the spike," Sabine updated him, handing the device to the droid. "We can get him into the tower and he can upload it right into the computer core from any terminal." Chopper chirped in annoyance, spinning his orange head.

"Stop complaining, bolt-brain. You have the easy job," Zeb groaned.

Ignoring them, Kanan went on. "What's the range of this spike?" he asked, referring to how close the Ghost needed to be to broadcast through the tower.

"As long as the tower is transmitting, we're good to go," she answered. "Everyone will hear what we say. Well, anyone who's listening."

"Once the spike is uploaded, we'll signal."

"And I'll spirit you away in the Phantom," Hera added.

Kanan crossed his arms. "That's the plan."

"And things always go according to plan, right?" Sabine reminded them, the subtext of her statement quite clear. They all still remembered the disasters that had happened before with these crazy plans.

Ezra seemed to be on the same page. "She's right about that."

Kanan looked down at him. Ever since they the incident with the probe droid, he had been solemn and quiet. Too quiet. "What's with you?"

"Nothing," he said, but no one bought it.

So Kanan decided to find the truth. "Let's take a walk," he suggested, and reluctantly, Ezra stood up and made for the ramp of the Ghost. After exchanging a glance with Hera, Kanan followed him out.

The longer Ezra was around, the more and more pep talks Kanan found himself giving. Hera was the glue and leader of the team, but when it came to Ezra, he was taking on the job too. Then again, I've received my fair share of pep talks from my master too. Not enough, but still.

Once outside, he asked again. "What's on your mind?"

Finally, Ezra didn't hide his true thoughts. "I'm not sure we should go through with this."

"Ezra, you are up to this. I know you are," he told him, hoping to encourage him.

"I know that's what you want to think," he said, nearly quoting Kanan from a few weeks ago, "but look. As much as I wish I was like my parents, I'm not."

It was true, Kanan was asking Ezra to carry on the Bridger transmissions...technically. Not exactly, but sort of. "There's something else," he guessed, having sensed more unease.

Looking out over Lothal, Ezra sighed before explaining further. "My parents spoke out and I lost them, and I don't...I don't want to lose you guys, okay? Not over this!"

"Hey, all of us have lost things. And we will take more losses before this is over, but we can't let that stop us from taking risks. We have to move forward," he told him, walking closer. "And when the time comes, we have to be ready to sacrifice for something bigger."

"That sounds good, but it's not so easy," Ezra said.

"It's not easy for me either," he confessed, looking away. He could still hear Depa's last screams. He still felt guilty for what happened to her, but for some reason it didn't weigh on him right now as much as it normally did, as much as it used to. "My master tried to show me, but I don't think I ever understood it until now, trying to teach it to you. I guess you and I are learning these things together."

It was a subtle reminder that Kanan never finished his training. Technically, both he and Ezra were Padawans. He still felt like one, even if Ezra didn't see him that way.

He was so focused on that that he didn't think to ask why Ezra felt so afraid.

~

He figured it out, though. Too late, of course, but some kind of resignation welled up inside him when he saw Imperial forces on their way. While Ezra went to get Zeb off the turret gun, he held the door until Sabine and Chopper finished the spike.

There was something in the Force. Just like it had warned Kanan it would going to push him to grow when he met Ezra, it was telling him something now. There was a new lesson to learn today. He had given the lecture and now it was time to put it into practice.

Behind him, Sabine had come out, but he stopped her at the door. "Not this way. Back inside."

"Are you crazy?" she asked, and internally he replied yes, I am. You haven't noticed?

"Take the lift," he ordered. "Hera will meet you at the top."

He made no motion to follow them, and Ezra noticed. "Wait, what about you?"

Looking him dead in the eye, he answered, "I'll take the next one."

"Let's go," Zeb told him, not giving him a chance to object. He pushed Ezra in the door and Kanan ignited his lightsaber, but he couldn't just let him go.

"Ezra."

He turned just long enough to see his apprentice again. One more time. "I'll be right behind you."

He was lying, and Ezra knew he was lying, just Kanan had known Depa was when she said the same thing to him. Maybe he had always known and that's why he was so cautious to take on this mission. Kanan wasn't afraid though, and for the first time he thought maybe Depa hadn't been either. Maybe she knew what the consequence would be for protecting Kanan and she did it anyway for the same reason he was.

One of the transports came to a stop and Agent Kallus got out. "Now this is a familiar situation."

More than you know, Kanan thought, eyeing the soldiers in white. "Same situation, same ending," he taunted. "You lose."

"I don't think so," Kallus replied lowly, and Kanan looked up to see what he was talking about. He felt something familiar, something Dark. The Inquisitor was here. The Imperial agent jumped down from the gunship and faced the Jedi, looking as intimidating as ever.

Kanan didn't falter, though. Spinning his lightsaber half a rotation, he used the reverse grip and speared the controls to the door. No matter what happened, no one was getting inside. Not that way, at least. He was better with his usual grip though, so he returned the blade to its proper orientation.

"What did you hope to gain by coming here?" The Inquisitor asked, but Kanan wasn't about to answer.

"You're clever," he retorted, moving to attack. As he and the Inquisitor locked sabers, he added, "Figure it out."

They exchanged strokes for a few seconds, but Kanan was ready. Ezra wasn't the only one who had been training recently. The Inquisitor didn't land so much as a hit on him, thanks to a few parries and dodges. Kanan aimed a kick at his midsection, finding his mark and sending the Inquisitor back a meter or so. "You've been practicing," he noted.

"Nice of you to notice," Kanan quipped, moving his lightsaber in front of his body.

"There's someone who wants to meet you," the Inquisitor went on. "If you surrender now, he might let your friends live."

Kanan didn't buy it for a second. There was no 'might' about it, surrender meant defeat. This wasn't a surrender, though, this was a sacrifice. He shut off his weapon, lowering it and crossing his arms.

It threw the Inquisitor off, at least. "Unexpected," he commented.

"We're full of surprises," Kanan explained, keeping his voice even. He knew what would happen even without a plan.

Right on time, his comlink started beeping. Hera was here for the pickup. The Phantom took aim at one of the gunships in the air and shot it out of the sky, moving into position to help the rest of the team. Kanan couldn't let anything stop her, so he kept the Inquisitor's focus on him.

He drew his lightsaber again and attacked, but the Inquisitor was enraged. He pushed Kanan back, and Kanan's feet slid against the concrete as he was overpowered. In a moment, the Inquisitor had him up against the wall.

Ducking out of the saber lock, he barely avoided getting stabbed in the head and got around the Dark warrior. He tried to attack him again, but the Inquisitor was done playing games. He used the Force to pin Kanan against the wall, and he dropped his lightsaber.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the turrets firing at the Phantom. If they stayed much longer, they were going to get shot down. Kanan struggled to reach his comlink and brought it to his face. "Spectre-2, get out of here!"

"Not an option, Kanan," came Hera's loyal reply, but he insisted.

"No time! Go!" He knew she would hesitate, so he added one last plea. "Hera!"

It was almost too late, but the Phantom finally stopped hovering and sped off, disappearing into the clouds.

The Inquisitor dropped Kanan on the ground and held him at bladepoint. It didn't matter, though. The spike was in and the rest of the crew got away. As long as the tower stayed upright, it was going to transmit.

"Looks like I have time to meet your friend after all," he decided, much to the annoyance of his captors.

~

It was the next morning before he got the chance to, though. The sun had already risen when another gunship appeared in the sky. Kanan was escorted to the landing spot and forced to his knees. They had already handcuffed him and the Inquisitor had his lightsaber.

As it turned out, the person who wanted to meet him so badly was Grand Moff Tarkin. The only reason Kanan recognized him was because this was the same Tarkin that had been involved in Ahsoka's trial. Having researched the records for the script and whatnot, he could already tell this wasn't going to be fun.

"Well done, Inquisitor," he praised as he drew closer. Accepting Kanan's lightsaber from him, he added, "These are the results I expect. So, you are the Jedi in question?"

Not for much longer if you're involved, Kanan thought. At least there's no Order to get expelled from this time. "Whatever you want from me, you won't get it," he promised.

"Sir, we have a problem," announced Kallus.

"Explain," Tarkin demanded.

"It seems the insurgents have gained control of the tower's transmitter," he reported, piquing Kanan's interest. They had done it! Kallus held up a communicator and tuned in to the correct frequency.

"We have been called criminals, but we are not. We are rebels, fighting for the people, fighting for you. I'm not that old, but I remember a time when things were better on Lothal. Maybe not great, but never like this. See what the Empire has done to your lives, your families, and your freedom? It's only gonna get worse...unless we stand up and fight back. It won't be easy. There will be loss and sacrifice. But we can't back down just because we're afraid. That's when we need to stand the tallest. That's what my parents taught me. That's what my new family helped me remember. Stand up together. Because that's when we're strongest—as one."

The gunships opened fire on the tower, and the blasts hit right as Ezra finished speaking. It didn't matter, though, the message was out. Kanan had heard it, Lothal had heard it, and hopefully thousands more had too.

"You do not know what it takes to win a war," Tarkin told him, when they were standing in the gunship with the Inquisitor and Kallus. "But I do."

Kanan didn't speak, but stood quietly as the gunship sped off back towards the capital. Maybe he didn't, but he did have hope and he believed in that hope. His team, his family was okay. For him, that's what this was about. As for the war, that wasn't his responsibilty right now. They were.