Chapter Text
He led her through crowds of creatures that walked and even ran around the hangar. But as soon as General Syndulla and Senior Lieutenant Commander MittEz'raBri'dger appeared in their eyes, they immediately parted. Fascinated and respectful or scared and disgusted.
Hera was still unusual to follow a broad-shouldered figure. In terms of the fact that ten years ago she did not have any problems finding his high crown in the crowd, but now... Now everything is different. Well, almost.
"We are in place" - Ezra turned around, his pigtail, starting from the very top of the head, swung from a sharp turn. His face broke into a smile, and deep blue eyes burned with anticipation.
Hera reluctantly took her eyes off the man, as if afraid that he would certainly disappear if you did not look at him, and looked behind Ezra.
There was a fighter. Well, if you can call it that. Invention of Chiss shipyards.
"Well.. it's..weird?" she said with skepticism, arms crossed. Although somewhere in the depths of her soul, the little girl pilot with interest wanted to try this new ship.
Ezra was scattered by the very laughter that Hera remembered. He was literally sealed in her head. And she hoped that in the future he would not go anywhere from there. Like memories of Sabine's bright hair colors, Zeb's soft singing, Chop's grunts, Jacen's big smile. As she remembers the glow of love in Kanan's eyes.
Hera answered Ezra with a light smile and walked a little closer to the Chiss fighter. It was wedge-shaped, with folding hind parts, forming something like two bent spikes. There were two rows of them if you look at the stern. Four engines, a cockpit for two pilots, and an extensive viewing window. The fighter was practically painted in tactical dark gray, reflecting the bright highlights of a huge hangar and a dark durastalite floor.
The woman touched the surface and felt a smooth metallic cold under her fingers. The tired jade that looked at her in reflection were glass from the second frustration. Something in this board caused anxiety in her. Almost the same as she felt when intersecting with the warlike chisses that were now everywhere.
"Are you alright?" Ezra asked, placing his fake hand on her shoulder. She twitched big at the touch. It was too familiar and painful. She never seems to get used to it.
Hera turned to the man in whom she was trying to see her younger crew member. Her little Ezra. But all she saw was a tall, tired, adult warrior. A detached leader who looked at her with such experience and excitement, and who leaned in to be at her level.
Oh, she misses Kanan so much.
Hera nodded, exhaling. Perhaps she needs a vacation. She must get to know this Ezra. She might even like him.
*****
The fighter began to warm up, and Hera felt the seat under her begin to vibrate finely. She checked all the seat belts again and froze a little. She was not the first to turn out to be a passenger and not a pilot, but it was still too boring. She would like to have control over the board, to feel how the car lives under your control. How it gains freedom from one touch to the steering wheel. Now, unfortunately, this was not her power.
To entertain herself a little, she began to inspect the cockpit of the fighter. Ezra's personal fighter.
Nothing that stands out much except the odd notes on the left screen, in a language Hera didn't know. Otherwise, everything was in the style of Ezra. A faded and somewhere torn pilot seat cover and a family photo on the dashboard, on which the man tapped his fingers, pressing buttons unknown to Hera. Photo of his family, which Hera did not know about. Her stomach twisted with a strange regret.
But her stream of thoughts brought out a methodical voice in the Cheunh language, which asked something. Hera's lekku twitched with tension, and her lips closed in a line.
Ezra slightly squinted at her with regret, as if apologizing for his ten years of betrayal.
The man turned his head to the dashboard and pressed one of the buttons. A strange dialect, a different language, began to emanate from his mouth. The methodical and intricate words that he uttered in a lower voice did not carry any semantic load for Hera.
The dispatcher answered something to Ezra and the Jedi suddenly grinned. He pressed the connection button again and uttered a phrase in a mocking tone. Hera smiled involuntarily. Some habits remain. Chiss on that side grumpily answered him and severed the connection. Ezra laughed and took the wheel with both hands.
Hera leaned forward to look into Ezra's face. He frowned lightly. His eyes glowed with happiness.
"What did you tell him?" Hera asked, smiling lightly. She felt the undocking of the ship from the air mounts and returned the body back so as not to be injured. Hera Syndulla, although she was a reckless pilot, never neglected safety precautions. Well.. almost never.
Ezra turned his head over his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the hangar exit in front. He turned the glare of his shining blue eyes upon her, and without ceasing to smile, he spoke.
"I promised that once again I would not break protocol 108," Ezra said, turning his head back.
Hera raised her eyebrows as she held onto her seatbelts.
"What else is protocol 108?" she asked, although she almost suspected it.
Ezra shrugged: "Protocol, which says that senior navigator Ez'raBri'dger should not leave his reconnaissance trajectory of the route to follow the cosmic creature," he said, as if proud of it.
*****
Hera Syndulla had to admit that she liked this board and that Ezra Bridger was a good pilot. Although in the second twilekk did not doubt. It was she who was engaged in his initial training.
They moved smoothly through the long fields of the planet Jinterra, and the ship under the feet of Hera grumbled grumpily, as if wanting to accelerate or engage in battle.
"Well, let's speed up a little?" Ezra asked, as if hoping that Hera would answer positively. Hera rolled her eyes.
«Yes, please. This ship is asking for a little acceleration." "She said mockingly -" Especially since I'm starting to fall asleep, Ezra. "
Ezra laughed fervently. He intercepted the helm with one hand to click on the toggle switch.
"As the general says," Ezra said with a wide smile and tilted the helm forward.
Here Hera felt a familiar awe before she heard the accelerating engine, which began to sound like a growling animal. She was somewhat mistaken about these ships. They were frisky. And Hera had to admit fast enough.
Then she decided to draw a random card and smiled recklessly.
«Is that all? All they are capable of?" - Hera said, feeling how she smiles. She also felt Ezra's anticipatory smile.
"Ohoho, noooo" - Ezra stretched out, pressing the helm harder.
Here twilekk felt heaviness in the chest from the load. Her heart stabbed harder. Excitement urged her to ask Ezra to squeeze everything out of this nervous fighter when the man pulled the helm, and the ship, obeying the pilot's command, started up.
Hera sighed sharply, smiling. She wanted so much to try to fly it. That would be wonderful. The ship was gaining the speed that she could squeeze on the Phantom. She began to like this fighter a little. But Ghost was still faster and better.
"Now we can be arbitrary!" Ezra shouted, interrupting the impatient howl of the engine. Hera looked forward to it with all her heart.
The ship turned, leaning into the side, and then turning over again on the other side. Not bad for the first trick. But then suddenly Ezra made the ship fly even faster, turning it over in the air for a full turn. Hera cried out in surprise, but immediately realized what the Jedi meant by "arbitrary". He will clearly not warn about all the tricks that will be included in today's program.
Ezra giggled fervently as he steered the ship higher toward the clouds.
Oooh, she clearly understood what he was going to do. Hera tried to calm the trembling in her chest. Twilekk still subconsciously acted as an outstanding pilot. Even when at the helm was someone whom she essentially trusts her life, she could not stop calculating speed, angles of movement, inclinations of the side. And she clearly knew what Ezra was going to do. She was breathtaking.
The fighter was whistling higher and higher. The faded grass moved further and further away from them at high speed. The sky seemed as close as if it could be touched with your fingertips.
And then they did it. The sharp bow of the ship broke through the clouds, leaving behind a white haze, where a torn celestial wound formed.
Hera briefly glanced at the two shining white stars that gave light and warmth to the planet Jinterra. She was able to look at their dazzling glow until Ezra abruptly pulled the helm on himself.
The ship began to roll over, rising a little higher only for a short moment, and then the side began to describe the arc directly upside down, heading for the stern.
Hera's heart missed a couple of beats when the load pressed on her skull, and the lekka twitched in tension. Suddenly something in her stomach fell and immediately rose in pure ecstasy. The ship made a dead loop and fell down the stone. The Ginterra suns disappeared from view, and they were replaced by fluffy clouds, and then the free expanse of the sky.
Hera's soul fluttered restlessly and joyfully, and her heart threatened to break her ribs. She was breathing fast and deep.
The feeling of free fall was the worst, and the best in the entire career of pilots. You can do nothing, feeling completely helpless, putting your life in the hands of a car, and not vice versa, as is usually the case.
This makes the flight more pleasant. When you can rely on a ship, just like it relies on you.
They both shook so badly when the fighter began to regain its power, and the engines screamed again. And to Hera's surprise, Ezra got the ship on their original trajectory quite professionally and gently.
They flew at a slightly slower speed than before, clearly hinting at autopilot.
The dark-haired man squeezed his fingers on the steering wheel, and Hera noticed that she also grabbed the saddle with her fingers. Ezra ran his hand across his face, removing his hair from his hairstyle. They were both still trying to catch their breath. That was…
"Better than sex.." Hera noticed, smiling blissfully.
Ezra leaned over to look at her in surprise, and then burst into infectious laughter. Almost hysterical. Hera also allowed herself to laugh.
"Yes! That's for sure!" - The man agreed, reclining in his chair.
"Ezra?" Hera called. Jedi only drank inquiringly.
She leaned forward, peering into the reflection of Ezra's face in the porthole, as endless fields swept past them. Very reminiscent of Lothal.
"Where did you learn to do aerobatics?" - Twilekk asked interestingly, grinning. She was a little proud of her boy's success. And she was sure he could do so much more.
"Oh!" - Ezra froze on the seat, straightening his back like a soldier. The man in reflection flashed the blue excitement of his eyes. "That's what Che'ri taught me. She's a good pilot. I'll have to introduce you" - His eyes squinted affectionately - "I'm sure you'll like her! The craziest defensive fleet pilot I've met!"
Ezra laughed, switching the toggle switches and pressing some buttons. Suddenly, the ship reduced its howl to a quiet rumble.
"I'm crazier, though" Ezra said cheerfully, alluding to something unkind.
Hera raised one eyebrow skeptically.
«Really? Well, in this case, know that I had no doubt" - said Hera smiling. She almost relaxed in cozy silence, until Ezra spoke again.
"Do you want me to show, a trick that no one taught me?" - He suggested, smiling excitedly. He tapped his finger on the wheel, clearly worried.
"Of course Ezra. The ship is yours. Show what you can do, honey!" Hera shook her head, trying to cheer the man up. For the first time in ten years, she again called him affectionately. And at the same time, hope began to warm in her soul again. She will clearly love this Ezra. Or perhaps she always loved and waited for this Ezra. Her Ezra
From his reaction, she realized that her attempt worked ambiguously. The man shuddered big, and his hands dug into the steering wheel to white knuckles.
But this visual tension did not last long. She was replaced by tactful calm when Ezra exhaled and closed his eyes. Familiar action. He's trying to find the center. So she did something wrong. She shouldn't have been in such a hurry. Despite her anguish, she should have been more careful in her words and expressions.
"Ezra.." "She tried to get through to the Jedi, but Ezra interrupted her.
He opened his eyes, dark, full of deep concentration. His face reflected universal calm. There was not a trace of recent dismay.
He gently pushed the helm forward, turning his eyes to the twilight field ahead. Although it seemed to her that the Jedi was looking at something else.
The ship howled again, accelerating. Accelerating very quickly. Much faster than the speed it took to make a dead loop.
And then Hera almost fell out of the seat, if not for her seat belts. She was willing to swear by her entire career as a pilot that there was no hyperdrive on that ship. But she almost flew out when the ship jerked, and bright lines of hyperspace slipped past them in an instant. Although there were absolutely no stars.
And just as suddenly as they jumped into hyperspace, so they came out of it and were much ahead. According to the maps, they made a short-term jump and covered more than a thousand kilometers of distance.
Hera looked at the map of the location with wide eyes and could not believe it. Behind them stretched a trail of burnt grass, at the ends of which blue sparks still flashed. And only for a moment they flew in silence.
"Ezra.. is this.." She said, her voice trembling. Deep in her bones, there was still tension from a sudden jump. She gawked fascinatedly at the map display - "Is this even possible?"
Ezra turned his head to her, releasing the helm from tense hands. He looked like he had aged a few years. Jedi only smiled wearily at her, which could only mean one thing. "I'll explain it later." And she hoped he would.
They sat in silence for a good fifteen minutes. Hera was in a daze, sorting out her thoughts in her head and focusing on one faded memory.
About the Loth-wolves that could pass the planet through. About the feeling of the wind on the skin, when powerful animals carried them through the fields. The memory of the blurred outlines of a thousand bridges and passages.
And Ezra seemed to be somewhere between meditation and light drag. He leaned back and covered his eyes lazily. Whatever he does, it's clearly an exhausting Jedi.
They flinched at the same time as the panel made a loud beeping sound. Ezra, uttering a light quiet "k'pah..," reached for the panel and pressed the button.
There was a loud, exasperated Chiss talk. The man was clearly scolded. But Ezra only gave out a few important phrases (Hera hoped that Ezra would not joke with her superiors), and turned off the communicator.
They both had to straighten up in their seats to prepare for a further flight.
"Well, Hera?" - He called her with that charming quiet talk. - "It's time to go home"
And although the ship was already prudently flying towards the local outpost, Hera understood what he meant. But despite this, and the increasing awe of the acceleration of the fighter, she knew for sure. Ezra is here, and that means she's already home.