Out of Darkness.
Some time had passed since the daring mission to the Empire academy. Ashley was currently cleaning her trusty blaster and calibrating it. She then heard her communicator go of and answered it.
"This is Specter 7, what is the news?" She asked.
"This is Specter 2. We are back from the mission" Came Hera's voice.
"Roger that. Was is successful?" Ashley asked.
"Nope. Turns out the Intel failed to mention how heavily guarded it was. Or maybe it did, but Specter 2 might not have deemed it necessary to tell us" Came a clearly annoyed voice of Sabine.
Ashley blinked "Ummm... if you say so. Well I we'll hold our position until you get back. Specter 7 out" She then called to Kanan "Hey, jedi boy. They are comming back, be ready to greet them".
"On my way" Kanan replied.
Soon enough, Hera, Sabine and Ezra returned. The moment that the Phantom was back on the Ghost, the 3 crew members climbed back in to the main ship. The rest of the crew was ready to greet them.
"Everyone okay?" Kanan asked.
"We're fine, but I scraped the Phantom's underbelly" Hera answered.
"You?" Kanan asked in mock surprise.
"It was somewhat unavoidable once your plan went South" Hera said with a smug smile.
"Ah, there we go. Knew there had to be a way this was my fault" Kanan said though he was clearly not offended by the comment.
"And you were right, dear" Hera said until she noticed Zeb and Ezra trying to sneak away, but her tone stopped them dead in their tracks "Zeb, I'll need the Phantom ready to pick up the supplies from Fulcrum. Adjust the steering and run a diagnostic. Chopper and Ezra will help you fix any problems you find".
"Really? Have you met them?" Zeb asked.
Ezra smacked him on the shoulder "Hey!".
"And I'm leaving soon, so get to it" Hera said calmly as she left the room.
Zeb and Ezra were clearly not happy about the situation but decided it was no use arguing about it. Ezra gave Zeb a push on the back who growls at him before climbing the later. Ashley was about to leave too until she noticed Sabine sitting by the table, an angry scowl on her face.
"You okay fire work?" Ashley asked.
"Oh yes, I'm just fine. No need to worry, Ash. Everything is just fine" Sabine said sarcastically.
"Don't have an attitude with me Sabine. Tell me what is wrong right now. You know I have a way of making you talk if you refuse" Ashley said in a stern tone.
"Alright alright! Geez you are a pain" Sabine said with a sigh "I am just frustrated. Hera knows more than she is telling us and refuses to answer any questions. All she says is that I am on a need to know basis. And guess what? I really need to know why I am risking my life like this".
"You know the answer to that Sabine. You knew it even before I joined the crew" Ashley said.
"Yes, you're right. I just wished I knew that it's not all for nothing" Sabine said as she stood up "I can't deal with all these secrets. I am going to make Hera answer my questions one way or the other".
Ashley grabbed her arm before she could leave "Sabine, don't do anything stupid".
"Calm down I am not going to hurt her. I am just going to make sure she knows I need answers" Sabine said as she freed her arm and climbed up to the cockpit.
Ashley sighed "Girls her age...".
Later Ashley was trying to get some rest... but naturally, the two man kids of the ship had to cause trouble that made it impossible to shut her eyes for a moment.
"Hold it. We're not done here. The diagnostic's still running" Zeb shouted.
"You can run a diagnostic on Chopper when I'm done with him" Ezra said.
Ashley growls in annoyance and gets out of her bed to put an end to this foolery.
"Come back here, you little monongs! Gotcha" Zeb snapped as he managed to get a hold of Ezra.
"Five minutes without the two of you trying to kill each other. Is that to much to ask!?" Ashley snapped in a tone that made both trouble makers freeze in fear.
Lucky for them Hera and Sabine walked out of the cockpit with he former asking "I take it you've finished the repairs?".
"Uh, you were right. The steering needed fixing, which I did" Ezra said while holding up his wrench.
Zeb put an arm around his shoulders "And life support filters needed purging, which we also did" But then Chopper bumped Ezra and shocked Zeb before rolling away "Chopper! I'm gonna dismantle that nut bucket!"
As Zeb chased after the annoying droid Ezra followed close behind "Leave a few bolts for me".
"That's it I can't take it anymore. Hera, I am joining you on your supply run. If I have to spend any more time on the same ship as those two, I will go insane" Ashley all but pleaded.
Hera just smiled "Let's go".
And with that they were flying the Phantom through an asteroid field. Ashley hoped she would get to enjoy a nice and calm mission... but as her luck would have it, things are never calm.
"So what's the deal? Is Fulcrum just another smuggler like Vizago? Why all the secrecy?" Sabine asked.
"Oh. It's no secret we're fighting against the Empire. We need as many allies as we can get" Hera answered.
"How do you find a way of answering questions without giving any answers?" Sabine asked.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Hera asked, and Sabine just nodded in fake eagerness.
Ashley sighed before a new voice was heard "Phantom, this is Fulcrum. Come in".
"This is Specter-2, Fulcrum" Hera answered.
Sabine leaned in "Why don't I talk to him?".
Hera showed her away "Don't you dare".
"Already at the rendezvous, Specter-2. Supplies are unloaded and ready. Should I wait?" Fulcrum asked.
Sabine pushed Hera aside "Yeah, stick around. Specter-2 and I would love to talk to you".
Hera pushed her back as Fulcrum spoke "Specter-2, what's the problem?".
"No problem, Fulcrum. Specter-5 and Specter-7 decided to help with the supply run" Hera answered, barely holding back her growing annoyance.
"Understood. Fulcrum out" Fulcrum said before ending the transmission.
"You know, an outburst like that is not appreciated" Hera said with a glare at Sabine.
"Neither is all this secrecy" Sabine shot back.
Ashley sighed 'I should have stayed in the Ghost'.
Soon they landed on what looked like an old base. As they walked out of the ship, Sabine had to ask "So, where's the mystery man?".
"I don't know. Maybe Fulcrum didn't like your attitude. I know I didn't" Hera answered as they walked up to some crates, Hera checked the green one "I'll take that one".
"Why? Is is special?" Ashley asked.
"Please tell me you aren't going to start too" Hera said.
Ashley held up her hands in mock surrender "Oh, I'm so sorry Hera. I did not mean to ask the forbidden question of the top secret crate".
Sabine snickered while Hera just rolled her eyes before they all grabbed a crate and began pushing them towards the ship. However Ashley got a bad feeling in her spine and looked inside the dark base. She could have sworn she saw something run inside. She narrowed her eyes before pushing her crate, not wanting to linger here.
"Look, Hera, I'm sorry for the attitude. It's just things seem to be getting more dangerous every day, and I need to know that you and Kanan can trust me" Sabine said, her tone sounding more sincere.
"We trust you, Sabine. We just can't tell you everything. It's for the safety of the whole crew. If captured, you can't reveal what you don't know" Hera said.
Sabine looked offended by that "You think I'd talk?".
"I think... we think the Imperials can make anyone talk. You've seen what they're capable of" Hera answered.
"Yeah, I have. That's why I need to know" Sabine insisted as she put her crate in Hera's path.
"You already know exactly what you need to know and no more. I need you to trust me now" Hera said calmly as she walked around Sabine.
"And that's supposed to make me feel better? Hera, you know what happened when I was a cadet at the Imperial Academy on Mandalore. I trusted the Empire, followed its orders blindly, and it was a nightmare" Sabine said in a strained tone from the painful memories as they pushed the crates inside the ship before going for the rest "I want to believe we're doing good, making a difference. But sometimes it seems like the harder we fight, the harder things get out there. I feel like we can't take down the Empire on our own. That's why I need to know this isn't all for nothing. I need to know that I am not walking into another nightmare here".
Hera finally turned around and grabbed Sabine's shoulders "What you need is faith. Faith that there is a long-term plan that's bigger than you or me, bigger than Lothal, bigger than the entire Outer Rim. Have faith in that and in us. We... Kanan... He knows what he's doing".
"Sabine, you have every right to feel uneasy about all this. I was in the Empire too. I saw first hand, the nightmare you described. But if there is one thing I have learned since joining this little family: If you can't trust Hera, then who can you trust?" Ashley finally spoke up, this whole argument was making her very uneasy.
Hera gave Ashley a warm, thankful smile "Thank you Ash. I needed that".
Ashley smiled back before looking back at Sabine "I have a feeling you will get the answers you seek in time. You just need to be patient".
Sabine thought about it, but before she could voice her thoughts she noticed something "Hera. Look".
Hera looked and saw marks in the metal plating "There were more crates, but someone's dragged them away".
"Maybe he's still here" Sabine suggested.
"Who?" Hera asked
"Fulcrum?" Sabine guessed.
"No" Hera said, knowing Fulcrum would not stick around.
"Well, who else knows about this place?" Sabine asked.
"Not sure. This base was abandoned years ago, after the Clone Wars. Besides, why drag them? Why not use the anti-grav?" Hera asked.
Ashley inspected the marks "Hmm..." She looked up a little a noticed claw marks "These marks. Where have I seen them before?".
"You have an idea what could have done this?" Sabine asked.
"Maybe. My mother loved studying different species. I did not understand all she was saying, but enough to know when a animal has been around" Ashley answered before the sun was temporarily blocked by an asteroid.
"Whoa. Sunrise comes along fast in these parts" Sabine said.
Hera takes out her blaster "Let's see what else comes along".
"You sure you want to find out?" Ashley asked, while pulling out her rifle.
"We need to know what did this or they might attack us while our backs are turned" Hera answered as she lit her flashlight, and they headed inside the old base. As they got in they found the missing crate... torn open and empty.
"Whoever did this must have been pretty eager to get what was inside" Sabine commented.
"Too eager to just flip the latch and open them? Who would-" Hera stopped when they heard a sound "We're not dealing with a who. More like a what".
Ashley looked around "I have a bad feeling about this".
"That's comforting. You don't happen to know why this base was abandoned?" Sabine asked before the sounds became louder.
"I'm starting to have my suspicions" Hera said as all 3 girls stood ready to fire at anything that might show up.
They moved in a small triangle as they looked around in the dark base. The sounds were getting closer, so whatever was inside could jump out at any moment. As they were getting closer to a destroyed drop ship, a creature was creeping up behind them, Ashley was closest so it focused on her... or more specifically at Ashley's butt.
It's eyes were locked on the flesh and opened it's mouth to take a bite. Ashley felt something was behind her, she glanced behind her and gasped before jumping away, just before the creature's teeth could sink in to her back side.
"YIKES!" Ashley screamed as she turned to shoot the creature. Hera and Sabine did the same, but more and more of them showed up.
One tackled Ashley down and tried to bite her, forcing her to use her rifle to hold it back... but during the struggle, one of the creature's claws left a nasty wound on her left leg, making her cry out in pain.
"ASH!" Sabine shouted before shooting the creature of her friend before Hera ran up and helped her up.
"Sabine, run!" Hera shouted as she helped Ashley out of the base, while Sabine provided covering fire. When they got outside the creatures stopped at the entrance as the sun burnt them. An asteroid blocked the sun for a few moments, making the creatures come after them again, but the moment the sun came back, they ran back inside Hera looked at Ashley's leg "That is a nasty cut, we'll have to treat it when we get back".
"Just a flesh wound" Ashley said through gritted teeth, it hurt like hell "One of them almost bit me in the butt. Now that would have been bad. You know how hard it was to get a my booty like this?".
Hera rolled her eyes "I don't think I need to know. Whatever those creatures are, they can't take the sun".
"Good, but do you see the size of that asteroid?" Sabine asked while pointing at a large asteroid in the sky "That's going to block out the sun for a long time".
"How long?" Hera asked.
"I don't know. Long enough for us to become lunch" Sabine said, clearly wanting to get out of here.
"Luckily we weren't planning on staying. All right. Let's get to work" Hera said as she helped Ashley up and helped her walk back to the ship while Sabine loaded the rest of the supplies.
"Last one" Sabine said.
"Good. Let's go" Hera said as she tried to start the ship... but nothing happened "No, no, no, no, no! We had nearly a full tank when we landed. Now we're out of fuel?".
"Didn't Zeb and Ezra fix it?" Ashley pointed out.
"Only one way to find out" Hera said as she contacted them "Specter-2 to Specter-4. Come in. Specter-2 to Specter-4. Come in!"
"Go ahead, Specter-2" Zeb answered.
"You did run a full diagnostic on the Phantom, correct?" Hera asked.
"Of course" Zeb answered.
"And you checked the results?" Hera asked.
Zeb was silent for a few moments "Um, Specter-2, there might be a small problem with the fuel line".
"Small problem? Uh, guys, we have a situation" Hera snapped.
Ashley sighed. Now she really regretted coming along on this trip. She would take Ezra and Zeb's fighting over being eaten, any day.
A little while later, Kanan spoke "We're on our way. Ghost out".
"No way they get here before that asteroid blocks the sun and-" Sabine stopped when the creatures began making noises inside the base "I guess we could hole up in the Phantom?".
"Judging by the torn-up shuttle in there, locking ourselves in the Phantom won't protect us. Could get grim" Hera said.
"Well, I'll take grim right now" Sabine said as she walked up to the red canisters "Thought I recognized these markings" She turned one on "Allow me to introduce you to one of my oldest and most explosive friends: rhydonium".
"It's good to have friends. So what's your plan?" Hera asked.
"Since we don't know how many of those creatures are in there, we can set up groups of canisters and create explosions that take them out a wave at a time" Sabine explained.
"How will you get the creatures close enough to the rhydonium to be effective?" Hera asked.
Sabine rubs her chin "We're gonna need bait".
"Where do we get that?" Hera asked.
"We don't get it. We are it. I mean they already have a taste for Ash's butt, so we got all we need" Sabine said with a smile.
"Sabine! Leave my butt out of this or you will be the bait!" Ashley warned, earning chuckles from her friends.
Here and Sabine got the canisters in to place. Now all they would have to do was wait for the creatures to come out. Ashley could not help due to her injured leg. So she had to wait on top of the Phantom, but still kept her rifle in hand in case they got to close. The moment the sun was blocked, the creatures rushed out of the base, ready to rip flesh.
Hera and Sabine did their best and managed to deal with 4 waves... but after that, they were out of canisters, and the creatures showed no signs of stopping.
"What about wave five?" Sabine asked.
"We didn't have a plan for wave five" Hera answered.
"Afraid of that. The Phantom?" Sabine asked.
"Not inside. Go up top" Hera said as she gave Sabine a boost on top of the Phantom before climbing up herself.
"Karabast! They're everywhere!" Ashley said as she shot as many as she could, but no matter how many she killed, more kept coming.
"They just keep coming!" Sabine shouted as she shot the creatures that were trying to climb up to them.
"Tell me something I don't know" Hera said as she shot one in the head.
"We're going to die" Sabine said.
"That's no secret" Hera said before a blinding light appeared. They looked to see that the Ghost had arrived and Kanan was using the lights to drive the creatures back.
However the creatures quickly figured out that the light was not dangerous and resumed the attack.
"The light's not hurting them" Sabine said.
"Then we better move" Hera ordered before helping Ashley up "Zeb!".
"I got her!" Zeb said as she pulled Ashley on to the ship
"Sabine! I got your back" Ezra said as he jumped down and used his slingshot to force some of the creatures back before stopping and smirked at Sabine "These guys aren't so tough" Sabine shot one that was about to jump him, but another one tackled him down "Whoa! Whoa! Oh! Karabast!".
Sabine aimed carefully and shot it "Kid, come on!".
Zeb helped him on "Nice moves out there, champ" He punched a creature that tried to attack him "Chopper! Close her up!".
Chopper did as ordered, but one of the creatures tried to force it's way it.
"No hitchhikers!" Zeb snapped as he used his bow rifle to shock it "Kanan, we're all aboard".
"Something's wrong. She's not responding" Kana said.
Hera quickly took over "Rerouting auxiliary power to the hull".
Kanan watched as some electricity forced the creatures of the ship "Didn't know the Ghost could do that".
Hera smiled at him "There's a lot you don't know about my ship. Chopper, reroute coolant to the engine".
Ezra helped Ashley sit down before looking at Sabine "Thanks for saving me back there".
"Don't read too much into it, kid" Sabine said before climbing up the later.
Ezra slumed his shoulders and Ashley patted his back "One day, little bro. One day".
They finally managed to get away after retrieving the Phantom and unloading the supplies.
"Look, Hera, I'm sorry about not checking the diagnostic" Zeb said, clearly feeling bad about the mess he and Ezra put them in.
"We're all sorry. Right, Chopper?" Ezra asked but the droid did not seem to sorry "Anyway, we'll fix the Phantom".
"Don't even worry about it" Zeb said.
"Now, why would I worry?" Hera asked.
"Mmm. Maybe because the last time they 'fixed' it, we nearly wound up as lunch?" Sabine guessed
"Oh, right. That's why" Hera said before she and Sabine climbed up the later "Oh and make sure you check on Ash's wound. Then you can fix the Phantom".
Ezra sighed before walking up to Ashley "You okay sis?".
"Nothing a few band aids can't fix" Ashley assured.
"Sis... I really am sorry. Had me and Zeb not been fighting all the time you wouldn't need to go with Sabine and Hera... and had we done our job, you wouldn't have been in such danger" Ezra said in true shame.
Ashley smiled and put a hand on Ezra's shoulder "We all make mistakes, little brother. All we can do is learn from them and make sure we don't repeat them. But if you really want to make things up to me. You will help me clean up. My leg will make that a little tricky".
Ezra groans while Zeb just laughed.
Ashley smiled. Almost dying had made her appreciate her new family a lot more. And she knew a new adventure was waiting around every corner.
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Man, writing this story is a lot trickier than I thought it would be and I have not been able to update it as often as I would have liked.
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Tell me what you think.
