Kanan flew the Phantom into the landing field, armed with a new plan and backed up by O-Mer, Granger, and Ezra. It was risky, but then again, when did their plans ever feel safe?

Once they were on the ground, O-Mer and Granger took the lead, walking in front of their 'stormtrooper' escort to speak with the lieutenant.

Granger eyed the real stormtroopers that were pointing blasters at them disapprovingly. "I'd expect a slightly warmer welcome at our safe return, Lieutenant."

"Of... course, sirs. Very pleased!" he assured them, shoving the barrel of the nearest blaster away. "Just, um, surprised."

O-Mer watched Ryder, Sabine, and Chopper sneak up to the gravity locks out of the corner of his eye. He let Granger do the talking. He was better at the passive-aggressive stuff anyway.

As if he was reading O-Mer's mind, Granger pointed a thumb back at Kanan. "This brave trooper saved us all from those rebels," he explained. "I don't suppose you have any medals on hand you can give out? I have a recommendation."

The other rebels got the gravity locks off of the first ship. Ryder and Chopper moved to take the next one while Sabine climbed aboard. Air support would be incoming any minute now. O-Mer smiled. So far, so good.

Following Granger's lead, all of them walked around, and luckily, the lieutenant had his back turned right as the first ship was taking off. "As you can see, your ships are safe and sound right where you left them."

"I am so impressed," Granger groaned sarcastically, moving closer so he was in the officer's personal bubble. "Very impressed. I've never been more impressed in my life. Lieutenant, you are without a doubt the densest man I have ever met."

"What do you mean?"

"You still haven't figured it out?"

He finally turned around and saw the ship in the air. "I didn't authorize this! Who's piloting that ship?"

The corporal from before spotted the gravity lock crew. "Sir! Rebels!"

"Blast them!" he ordered, and the two troopers standing nearby began firing at Ryder and Chopper.

Neither of the Jedi wanted to give up their disguises just yet, but Sabine saved them from having to. She activated the ship's weapons system and fired close to the stormtroopers, knocking the real stormtroopers down.

Unfortunately, the AT-AT walkers were ready. One of them began firing at Sabine, and who knows? They might have succeeded at knocking the ship down if the Ghost hadn't arrived just then. It took a run at the walker, firing rockets at the side and forcing it down. Sabine was in the clear and began to pull away.

Lieutenant List and the stormtroopers aimed Ryder again, but it was a little late for that. Kanan knocked out two, and Ezra took the third one. Well, Ezra tackled and hung onto him like a bucking bull, but it worked.

"Sabine's away," Kanan announced, watching the ship for a moment before returning to attention. "Let's get outta here."

"I'm not sure we're going anywhere," Ezar pointed out. The walker apparently wasn't as down as they had thought it was because it had risen and was about to shoot again. Not to mention the other walker had caught on and was shooting at the Ghost.

Kanan turned to Ezra. "Secure the third ship. I'll handle the walker."

He ran off, much to Granger's disbelief. "Handle the walker? Are you insane?"

"Yes! Yes, he is," O-Mer assured him. "Don't worry, he'll be fine!"

"Just trust us!" Ezra agreed. "Go!"

While they ran behind the Padawan, both delegates kept an eye on Kanan. He ran past Ryder, pulling his lightsaber out and heading straight for the walker's legs. In his gut, Granger felt an old, familiar feeling. For years, he had described it as if he was hearing a generator turn on, except he was feeling it and the generator was Kanan. Even though he wasn't a mechanic anymore, he still thought of it that way. Long ago, he had figured out how he could tell what was going on. Kanan was about to use the Force. Not in a huge way, but enough that Granger could anticipate it.

Indeed, he was. With a large jump that usually wasn't humanly possible, he sliced at the walker's legs, weakening the joints and throwing it off balance. The AT-AT fell to the side, disappearing behind a cloud of smoke. That was one down, one to go.

Granger shook his head. "Jedi."

"That's Caleb, all right," O-Mer grinned, almost wishing he had his lightsaber to join in on the fun.

The other walker took notice of Kanan and started firing at him. He ran for cover, drawing the walker's attention to keep it distracted.

"He's not the only one," bragged Ezra, who saw two stormtroopers corner Ryder and Chopper. "Watch this!"

Granger's senses kicked in a second time. Ezra's 'generator' wasn't nearly as strong as Kanan's, but it was a lot closer, so he could feel it easier. Ezra stretched out his hands toward the troopers and pulled, sending their blasters flying toward him. To his credit, he caught the first one, but the second one accidentally hit him in the head.

Seeing that the troopers were coming for Ezra, O-Mer quickly grabbed both blasters. He tossed one to Granger and aimed the second. "Get down!"

Ezra barely ducked in time, and the delegates shot one trooper each. Granger chuckled, looking at Ezra. "A for effort, kid."

Not far off, Ryder had gotten the gravity lock off the second ship. He and Chopper had run off, but Kanan had his helmet off and ran up the ramp to the ship. He should have already been on by now, but he was looking at O-Mer. They weren't going to get a chance to say a real goodbye.

O-Mer closed his eyes, but he knew they didn't have time. He stared at his friend, his last friend from the Jedi temple, and nodded. Kanan ran up the ramp, and that was it. Who knew when they would see each other again, but O-Mer wasn't worried for some reason. They knew the other was alive now. Maybe that would be enough.

He had to focus, though. They had more trouble incoming. A ground transport with a stormtrooper squadron had arrived. "We'll take care of this," Granger told Ezra, and he and O-Mer moved to intercept the squadron before they got any ideas. "About time you showed up! Rebels are commandeering our ships!"

The second walker had decided to fire at the transport Kanan was trying to get away with. The shields were holding, but the leader didn't like that. "AT-AT 36, you have new orders, shoot to kill. Repeat, shoot to kill."

"No!" O-Mer objected, glancing up at the ship. "You can't do that!"

"I'm sorry, sir," the trooper insisted. "We can't let your ships fall into rebel hands."

Granger didn't see how they could argue any further without consequences, but that was before he felt O-Mer fire up. He stared at his partner, shocked. O-Mer hadn't used the Force in years; in fact, he had sworn against it. Nevertheless, he made eye contact with the trooper through the lenses of the helmet. He waved his hand in front of the trooper's face and spoke with an even voice. "We cannot risk damaging Alderaan's ships. AT-AT 36 must stand down."

It took a moment, but the stormtrooper relaxed. "We cannot risk damaging Alderaan's ships." He activated his communicator. "AT-AT 36, you must stand down. We cannot risk damaging Alderaan's ships."

The walker ceased fire just in time for the Ghost to take another run at it. It hit the side, drawing attention away from Kanan's ship. O-Mer looked up at the cockpit, where Kanan was up there somewhere. May the Force be with you, he thought, wishing he could say it in person.

Ryder and Chopper had freed the last ship. Ryder, who was at the controls, turned it around so the engines were facing the walker. He turned them on as high as he could without actually moving the ship, creating such a strong wind that it knocked the walker over. The door opened long enough for Ezra to hop on board, and the delegates followed him.

"Time for me to go," he called to them, turning around.

"Better make this look good, then," Granger suggested, glancing over his shoulder. Yelling a little louder than necessary, he tried to get the stormtrooper's attention. "They're getting away!"

O-Mer nodded at Ezra. "Go ahead. Make it quick."

He shot them both in the chest, on stun, of course. They fell to the ground, and Ezra got inside, signaling to Ryder that he was ready. They took off, and Chopper was right behind them in the Phantom. All three ships were now in the Rebellion's possession, and the Empire was none the wiser.

They certainly were in a pickle, though. The Lieutenant and the remaining troopers pulled the delegates to their feet, and Granger started doing what he did best: complaining. "Am I the only one aware of the fact that YOU'VE LOST OUR SHIPS?!?"

"No. No, sir, I'm afraid not," the lieutenant admitted, his voice having lost the bravado from before.

Granger yanked his arm away. "This ought to be good. I'm sure Senator Organa and the Senate will be very interested to know how a ragtag team of rebel terrorists is outsmarting the Imperial presence on Lothal!"

That got him talking. "No, no, no! That won't be necessary. I assure you, Alderaan will be fully compensated for your lost ships."

He crossed his arms and growled lowly, but O-Mer stepped in as the good cop and completed the act. "Perhaps we can let it slide this one time, but I assure you, we will not be this merciful again," he conceded, making sure to look sternly at the officer. "Provided that we can use your shuttle to fly ourselves home."

"My shuttle. Right," he stammered, looking around. "Uh, where is it?"

"And you've lost your ship too. Wonderful," muttered Granger, just loud enough that the lieutenant could surely hear it as well.

"I'll summon you another right away," he assured them, walking off quickly before Granger made any more threats.

~

Granger and O-Mer didn't say anything to each other until after they were in the shuttle on their way back to Alderaan. Both of them were glad to get rid of Lieutenant Lyste and his subordinates, though they were smart enough not to say as much.

It wasn't until the shuttle had jumped to hyperspace that Granger looked sideways at O-Mer. "So. You did something today."

He didn't make eye contact. "I told you, I can be very persuasive-"

"O-Mer, we've been over this. I can tell when someone uses the Force. That wasn't Kanan or Ezra. That was you."

Looking down at the controls, he sat back in his seat. "What about it?"

"What happened to not using it again?"

"What happened? They were shooting at Kanan, that's what happened!" he objected, raising his voice. "Was I supposed to just let that happen?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I'm just trying to understand. I thought it was too dangerous to use the Force out in the open like that. That's what you told me, word for word."

He shook his head, staring out the front windshield. "They'll never figure it out, and I'll be fine. As long as the Inquisitors don't come after me, I've got nothing to worry about."

Oh, so we're back on the Inquisitor discussion? Granger realized, leaning back in his seat. It had taken multiple years of building trust, but he had heard O-Mer's story about how he had gotten separated from Jedi children before he came to Alderaan. The thing was, O-Mer had never been very concerned about the Imperial Force-wielding agents. It was about the kids. It was always about the kids.

"They're gonna be fine," Granger told him, figuring that's what he needed to hear. "Fulcrum's got an eye on them, and he's not going to let anything happen to 'em. They can get out of trouble if they have to."

"Yeah, Fulcrum," he murmured, his eyes going out of focus. O-Mer shook his head, then finally whispered, "I didn't think he could have survived. I'm not going to be the reason he dies."