Chapter 2: Getting Set Up
Ezra's P.O.V
A few days have passed since the encounter with the mysterious warrior. So far, we never saw him following that, but I knew to not jinx myself. I was on a delivery run to Tatooine with Sabine, delivering payment for a rebel sympathizer who helped us out on our last mission two nights ago. He contacted us and said that he knew where we could get a good amount of weapons that the Empire had. We stormed an imperial weapons depot on Lothal, and took those weapons. We thanked the sympathizer and said that we'd pay him in return, since he did want to get paid for that. He is one greedy sympathizer alright.
Sabine just landed the Phantom on Tatooine. "Well, let's get going." she said. She put her helmet on and a desert cloak around her neck. I also brought a cloak with me, putting it on. I nodded at her and we both left. "Stay here, Chop. We'll call you if anything." Sabine told Chopper. Chopper understood and we both began our long walk to the settlement where the sympathizer wanted us to meet him.
"It's hot out here." I said, both of us walking in the middle of nowhere on this desert planet.
"You're telling me. This is practically hotter than the surface of Mandalore." she replied.
"Mandalore's this hot?"
"Only above the surface."
"Above the surface?"
Sabine sighed. "It's a long story. We've been fighting for many years until my home world became baron."
"So how did your people survive up to present day?"
"We built bio domes and cubes on the surface. We practically live in them now."
"In domes and cubes?"
"Exactly. There it is. It's just over that ridge."
"Then let's keep going. I'm already hot for crying out loud."
We kept walking further and further, the heat baring down on us. Finally, after a total of a long hour and a half, we finally made it to the town. We strolled through it, until I sensed something. "Hold up." I informed Sabine.
"What is it?" she asked. I sensed like we were being watched, and I turned towards a rooftop of a house, but nobody was there. Strange.
"Seems clear but keep your eyes peeled." I told her. She nodded and we walked through the settlement for a few minutes until we came up on the cantina where the sympathizer wanted to meet us. "This is it, Sabine. Mos Eisely Cantina."
"Let's go in and get the job done. I want to get off this planet." We entered the bar and looked around for the contact, until I sensed something again. I looked around the cantina, and when I looked on the left side of the bar, I felt the signature get stronger. But then I looked at a cloaked figure who was sitting at the bar, and there was something odd about him, something about the mysterious warrior from Felucia. He was here!
"Sabine, I think he's here."
"Who?"
"That warrior from Felucia."
"Him? Kriff. We'd better find this contact right now and get the heck out of here."
We scanned the bar, looking around for a guy who matched the description of the sympathizer, but he wasn't here. Then the cloaked figure turned to us. "Sabine, we should probably leave now." He got up and started walking towards us, Sabine and I bolting out of the bar. He was chasing us through the settlement. We ran past people and ran through alleyways as this warrior was still on our trail. He was pretty fast.
Sabine and I continued sprinting through the settlement, until I saw her get force pushed to the ground, then I got force pushed as well. The figure approached us, then pulled out a red lightsaber. "So, it seems that you two came here to deliver some payment for a contact. Tough luck. There was no sympathizer." the figure said. I force pushed him back and he fell on his back. Sabine got up and we continued running.
We ran for a long while, taking our chase to the rooftops, and it seemed like we lost him. "Is he gone?" she asked.
Before answering I looked around, but still sensed that he was nearby. Then the force signature faded. "He's gone." I said.
"Think again."
We turned around and saw the mysterious warrior. He caught up to us! He pulled out his lightsaber and sent Sabine flying into a wall. I pulled out my lightsaber and prepared to face him. He charged at me, me blocking his attack, then I parried him. He brought up his saber and we locked blades. "At least it's just you two here. You two will be coming with me, I hope you know that."
"Word of advice. How about less talking and more fighting." I kicked him and brought my saber down to the ground where he was, but he brought up his and blocked me.
"So, it seems like Caleb taught you well."
"How do you know his real name?"
"Oh, so now who's talking more and fighting less?" He used the force and sent me flying into the same wall that Sabine went into, me on the ground. I tried to get up but he used the force and pinned both of us to the wall. I struggled against his hold as I tried to fight him off with the force, grunting. With a good amount of effort, I finally broke free and sent him flying with the force, and he fell off the building. It looked like he was dead.
"Come on, let's get out of here." I said, helping Sabine up.
"Is he dead?" she asked as we got down and continued moving through the settlement.
"I think so. Tell Chopper to bring the Phantom over here." I told her.
"Chop, bring the Phantom towards us. I'm activating my beacon."
Chopper said he was on the way with the Phantom. We ran into a spaceport, where the Phantom just arrived, landing. Sabine and I were just about to board it until we heard the sounds of two lightsabers being activated. He was alive! He used the force and pulled me towards, where he grabbed me by the throat hard. "Ezra!" I heard Sabine say.
With effort, I was able to say, "It's okay, Sabine. I'll be fine." The mysterious warrior grabbed me tighter. "Who are you?" I questioned him with effort.
"I am nobody. Now hold still." he told me.
He dug his fingers of his other hand into my head, his icy fingers getting into me deeper. My mind was racing, and I thought he was going to play a vision of something. And he did.
He showed me a vision. In it, I saw some planet that looked like it was pouring rain, and where its tides were high. It was some kind of aquatic world that had some flat shaped buildings rising above the tides. What was this planet, and why was he showing me this planet in particular? Then he let go, and everything went black.
Sabine's P.O.V
I saw the mysterious warrior drop Ezra, and I pulled out my pistol on him. He deflected them, and the deflected shots missed me luckily. Then he was gone.
I ran up to Ezra, my heart and mind racing, worried for my friend. I looked at his body on the ground, and luckily there was some breathing, so he was alive definitely. I dragged his body by his arms back into the Phantom, where I took off. This mission was bad, and we got set up by that mysterious warrior. What the heck was I going to tell everybody when we got back?
Later on Atollon
I landed the Phantom, parking it in its usual slot on the Ghost. I got out while dragging Ezra's unconscious body. Kanan ran up to me just as I was dragging him. "What happened? Is he okay?" he asked.
"Ezra's alive still, but he's unconscious. Help me get him to the med bay." I said.
Kanan nodded and we both got Ezra into the med bay, where we laid him on his back and let him rest. "Sabine, Sato needs a report!" Hera called from outside the med bay.
"Coming, Hera." I called back, looking at Ezra's body.
I leaned in and said, "You're still with us, Ezra. Rest up for now." I left the med bay and headed outside, where Sato, Rex, and the others were waiting for a report.
"Mission report? And why is Bridger not with you?" Sato asked.
I sighed. "The mission was a set up. It turns out that there was never a sympathizer. We got set up."
"By who?" Rex asked.
"By that mysterious warrior from Felucia. He was present on Tatooine, and he set us up. He almost killed Ezra just when we were about to escape from that planet."
"And what happened to him following that?" Hera asked.
"The mysterious warrior choked Ezra and then dropped him. He's still alive, but he's unconscious and now resting in the med bay back on the Ghost."
"This mysterious warrior, who is he?" Rex asked.
"We don't know, that's the thing." I answered. "All we really do know, and we said this a few days ago after our encounter with him on Felucia, is that he knows Kanan's real name."
"Thank you for the mission report, Sabine. You are all dismissed for now. And be careful about that mysterious warrior. Dismissed." Sato said. We nodded and went back into the Ghost.
Just when I was about to go to sleep later, I decided to go in and keep an eye on Ezra. Just when I was coming out of the bathroom after brushing up, I headed towards the med bay, where I saw Hera about to enter her room. "Where are you going?" the twi'lek asked.
I sighed. "I'm going to keep an eye on Ezra. I'm worried, and I don't think I might be able to sleep tonight. Please, Hera." I said.
She thought about it for a moment. "Fine by me. It's nice of you to do that, Sabine. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Hera." I walked towards the med bay, and sat down in a chair beside a still unconscious Ezra. After about an hour of watching him, I dozed off in the med bay.
Meanwhile
Onboard a star destroyer in the Outer Rim
The mysterious warrior's P.O.V
"Report!" Lord Vader demanded when I called him after entering my private quarters.
"I showed him what I wanted to show him as a part of my plan to catch him, Lord Vader." I answered.
"And?"
"I let him go...for now that is. He won't be so lucky next time."
"Keep doing what you are doing. Make sure to catch that padawan, and take out his friends in the process! And make sure that Caleb Dume is killed along with them."
"Yes, my lord."
I bowed my head before I ended my call, Vader's hologram fading, then I crossed my legs as I sat on some soft pads in my quarters. I began meditating, predicting the next actions the padawan and his friends will take. And now that I showed him my vision, he will be in store for a bit of a...surprise.
