Sabine slipped between the angry forms, cursing herself internally for allowing herself to be talked into this assignment. Nothing good ever happened in crowds, especially on a backwater planet like Lothal. A foreign arm dragged across her shoulder as she willed herself to be thinner than she already was. A pickpocket worth half their salt could easily make off with a wallet or wrist-chrono without a trace. Sabine subconsciously brushed the inside of her thumbs across the retaining strap of her holsters, ensuring the blasters inside were securely nestled inside. The stench of body odor pricked at her nostrils, a putrid side-effect of the mass of bodies gathered together in the late-afternoon heat. She forced away the thoughts of unguarded coughs and unclean hands that carried unknown pathogens and sickness.
More than anything, crowds were a target, and a protest movement in Imperial Plaza was even more so.
A familiar shock of raven hair flashed by her.
"What's the matter, Sabine?" Ezra teased over the din of the crowd. "Can't find your way around a protest?"
Behind her helmet, Sabine clicked her teeth in annoyance. She had told Hera that she was better off on the mission solo than to have to babysit the kid in addition to finding their informant. It had been less than a month since he had joined the crew, and for as much as he had learned from the streets of Lothal, he was still a novice as an operator. He was rash. Impulsive.
A liability.
"Just trying not to rush into things," she quipped back. "I'm enjoying the art." The last statement was true; despite all the chaos, the radical colors of the protest signs inspired Sabine. The deep blues of the words "Go Home" scrawled on off-white paper, the cartoon representations of Governor Pryce and Minister Tua juxtaposed against red X's, all of it tempted her to find a scrap piece of cardstock to add her brilliant Starbird to the mix. "Besides, go too fast, and you'll miss something."
Ezra maintained a neutral expression, but Sabine's last quip landed heavily on his mind. For the past few weeks, he had tried to prove his worth to Sabine, Kanan, and the rest of the Ghost's crew. He volunteered for assignments as they came up, tried his best to learn Kanan's cryptic Jedi lessons, but still felt like he was just another burden for the team to carry. Effort only got one so far, and Ezra couldn't completely shove down his fear that one day Kanan and the rest would decide to end the "Ezra experiment" just as quickly as it had started. He had jumped at the chance to shadow Sabine on the intelligence handoff, and Hera had even commented that the two teenagers would be less conspicuous in the crowd together. The unstated "good idea" had caused his heart to jump, but now it was sinking again as he replayed Sabine's words in his mind.
No. Not this time. This time, I'm going to make an impact. Ezra stopped beside a large, angry Aqualish man and surveyed the crowd. "Are you sure we have the right description? I don't see this guy anywhere" Ezra said, brows furrowing in frustration. Sabine appeared by his side, equally frustrated.
"White male human, green overcoat, at the center of the plaza by the fountain…" Sabine glanced at her wrist-chrono. "1750 hours. We're in the right place, right time."
"But nothing," Ezra muttered. "Maybe he's late?"
A flutter of motion in Sabine's periphery caused her to turn. Between the crowd and the street leading to the Imperial Center, a line of Stormtroopers held their rifles at the low ready, blocking the crowd from moving closer to the seat of Imperial power on Lothal. A set of transports had arrived, and a helmeted man in dark fatigues stepped out behind the line. He turned towards the crowd, as if he was searching the faces. His eyes locked onto her helmet, and a devilish grin spread across his face. Sabine's stomach twisted into a knot.
Agent Kallus had seen her.
"We're leaving," Sabine hissed at Ezra, her eyes still watching the Imperial.
"But we haven't seen…" Ezra began, trailing off as he found the object of Sabine's fixation. She grabbed his arm and ducked low into the crowd, pushing between bodies to put as much distance between them and the agent. The last glimpse she stole of Kallus, he was talking into a comlink. Suddenly, the cacophony of angry voices around them was punctuated by fearful shouts. "Sabine!" Ezra shouted, fear rising in his voice.
Sabine looked back to Ezra, catching a glimpse of a small metallic cylinder tumbling through the air and landing beside him. Before she could react, brilliant light filled her visor, then complete darkness. The ground rose up to meet her, and she laid in the darkness of her helmet, unknown weights slamming into her body.
Is this death? The clicking of her helmet's speaker and the small, white script that ran along her field of vision answered her question. The visor's protective mode finished its reset, and the light of day appeared before her eyes again. A moment later, the audio filters came online, filling her ears with the sounds of screams and panic. A protester lay on her right arm, clutching their ears and writhing in agony. She pulled her arm free and pushed herself up to her knees, still woozy from the concussive blast. Ezra. "Kid!" she shouted, panic rising in her chest as she realized he was no longer clutching her arm. "Ezra!"
She wheeled around. Five meters in every direction, protesters lay in various states of consciousness. The line of Stormtroopers was advancing through the plaza, and hundreds of gatherers were turning heel and fleeing as a stampede. Sabine finally caught a glimpse of the orange of Ezra's distinct flightsuit a meter behind her, and crawled to him. While her helmet's protective features had spared her from the worst of the stun grenade, Ezra had taken the full brunt of the blast. He was barely responsive, a trickle of blood running from his ear canal. Without thinking, Sabine gathered both of his wrists in one hand, and hoisted the boy with adrenaline-fueled strength across her shoulders. She ran, stepping around fallen bodies, but the crowd was threatening to overwhelm her. A small sidestreet jutted away from the plaza, and she let the riot channel her down it, away from the plaza. Ahead more Imperial transports were arriving, disgorging troopers into the street to block the crowd. The troopers began firing stun bolts into the wave of people advancing towards them.
Sabine wheeled down an alley, dodging trash bins and bags of refuse. The sounds of the crowd were fading, but more and more sirens were competing with the sound of the pounding heartbeat in her ears. Her lungs and legs burned with exertion, and Ezra's form seemed to increase in weight, pressing her shoulders painfully downwards. She kept running, head beginning to cow from exhaustion, rounding the narrow corner of the alley.
She saw the troopers too late, and felt a bolt explode against her chest. Sabine cried out as she was knocked backwards, as if a Wookie had slammed its fist against her collarbone. She splayed backwards, kicking up a small cloud of dust as she collapsed onto the ground. Trying to move her arm only intensified the fiery pain in her chest. She peered ahead at the troopers. One had his blaster firmly trained on her, clearly watching her hands for any intention of trying for her weapons. The other had his hand pressed to his earpiece.
"Inform Agent Kallus, we have two suspects in custody that fit the description of his fugitives. Yes sir… acknowledged…" Sabine's heart sank. The burning pain in her collarbone began to be eclipsed by her fear and wounded pride. Her mind rushed with images of torture, isolation, and darkness.
She almost didn't feel the slight tugging at her belt.
Two shots erupted from her right, passing between her side and her arm. The first bolt slammed into the trooper on the left, impacting in the opening between the breastplate and the helmet, propelling him backwards into the wall. The second landed almost precisely where the other trooper held his hand to the side of his helmet, launching him sideways down the alley. Sabine jerked her torso around, ignoring the stab of pain from her shoulder.
Ezra lay on his side, slightly bending where she lay on his torso. Extended outwards was her yellow WESTAR-35 blaster, a trail of ozone gently wafting upwards, shaking slightly in his hand, finger still taut on the trigger. His face was blank, almost expressionless. Sabine gently put her hand over the top of the blaster, and his hand fell away from the handle, relinquishing control to her. Without a word, she eased herself up, extending a hand to the boy. He rose from the ground, and the two limped further down the alley
The door to the common room of the Ghost slid open, and Sabine strode in. Ezra looked up from where he was seated at the Dejarik table, earning him a chiding from Hera who was trying to apply the final round of bacta spray to his ears.
"Hold still, you don't want another punctured eardrum, do you?" Hera said, matronly as ever. Ezra grunted in compliance, allowing the small nozzle to enter his ear canal. Kanan and Zeb stood on the other end of the room, watching the Twi'lek apply the medication. Sabine allowed a slight grin to grow on her face as she watched them, contrasting Kanan's open concern for the boy with Zeb's obvious efforts to mask his own worries. The Lasat rubbed his hand on the back of his head, his characteristic "tell" for when he was genuinely worried.
"Ya' think he'll be able to hear again?" Zeb asked.
"Dunno, not that he listens anyways," Kanan joked with a slight smile.
"I can hear you two," Erza grumbled. Sabine could see that he was trying to look frustrated, but a glow was brightening his features. She slid onto the bench beside him, careful not to jostle the sling that was holding her arm securely against her body.
"Well, that should do it," Hera announced. "Now if the two of you can avoid creating any more riots, you should be back in the fight in no time."
"It wasn't our fault," Ezra protested.
"He's right," Sabine added. "Agent Kallus was waiting for us. I don't even think there was an informant there. It was probably all a ruse, to get us caught in the dragnet around the city."
"More than likely," Kanan agreed. "The two of you are lucky to be here." Sabine looked to Ezra and gave him an approving smile.
"It was a good thing I had backup," she said. "The kid's green, but makes up for it in spirit." The glow on Ezra's face brightened to a stronger look of pride. He looked from Sabine, to Kanan, to Hera, to Zeb, delighted by their looks of approval.
"Also," Zeb chimed in, "the kid seems to be a pretty good shot. Caught both of the bucketheads in the weak points of the armor." Sabine watched as the look of pride morphed into a more sheepish grin.
"Well, kinda…" he began. Sabine's inquisitive eyebrow made him shift a little in his seat. "I might have been aiming a little low…" Now Kanan's eyebrows had raised.
"How low?"
Ezra sighed. "Okay, I was aiming at their crotch."
The halls of the Ghost vibrated with the sound of the crew's riotous laughter.
Author's note: Thank you so much for reading! These shorts are a bit of a passion project for me, but I would greatly appreciate any criticism or suggestions you have for the story or my style. I'm looking forward to continuing to develop Sabine and Ezra, as well as their relationships with the rest of the crew.
All the best,
JA