Chapter 10

Sabine and Ezra were still being dragged through the factory's hallways by the Shadow Commandoes. Both finally regained conscientiousness, and looked around.

"Hey, they're coming to." Said one of the Commandoes.

"Stay down!" ordered another.

Ezra and Sabine were still groggy, but they realized what was going on. Sabine recovered a bit quicker than Ezra, so she knew what her next move is. She quickly sent her legs forward, giving her some footing. She then backflipped out of the Commandoes' grasp, and quickly knocked them out with a quick bashing of helmets. The leader noticed this, and ordered the two holding Ezra to restrain her. He then grabbed Ezra and began to run down. Sabine grabbed a blaster rifle from one of the unconscientious Commandoes, and quickly fired at the two that was coming for her. They went down easily, and grabbed her pistols from them. She aimed carefully at the leader, and shot him in the back.

"Hey, get up!" Sabine shouted when she walked up to Ezra.

Ezra shook his head, and opened his eyes.

"Oh…" He groaned. "I'm going to feel that in the morning…"

Sabine grabbed her helmet, and picked up Ezra.

"Well, we better find Felix." She suggested.

"Where do we start?" Ezra asked.

Just then, the intercoms went off with a green alarm going off.

"All personnel, be advised." The intercoms said. "The Vulture is airborne. Repeat, the Vulture is airborne."

"The Vulture?" Ezra asked.

"We should get outside." Sabine advised.

Then, the two ran outside.

'Let's hope Felix is okay…' Sabine thought to herself.

Meanwhile, back out in Landing Bay 12, the rebels were still at a shootout with the Empire. The heavy artillery has sort backed down because of the rebel's air support, but they were still wearing down the rebels.

"We can't keep this up forever!" Zeb called.

Kanan tried to make another comment, but he quickly had to make another shot at a Bastion. But that did squat, as the Bastion switch to its turret form, and immediately started to fire. Kanan had to pull out his lighsaber just to counter it. It took a while, but with some deflecting, the Bastion was defeated.

Hera was shooting as well, but she kept on looking at the sky.

"Hey, if you're worried for the fighters, go!" Kanan shouted.

Hera nodded as thanks, and quickly left to the Phantom. The Phantom detached, and quickly flew into the sky. As the Phantom took off, Zeb looked up and noticed something odd.

"Hey!" He shouted. "What's that?"

Kanan looked up and also saw what Zeb saw. There were two figures, not fighters, were shooting each other with several laser blasts, and a beam?

"What's going on up there?" He asked.

Felix had never been in this kind of fight. A dogfight with another someone with a pair of wings. He and Locus locked in with each other, often trading punches, and would only separate with kicks. Locus also had some kind of laser-emitter which he modified to shoot laser beams. Locus would barely miss just by inches.

"Well, you got some skills." Locus complimented.

He then quickly ducked. Felix also ducked. Then, right over their heads, a TIE Striker and an A-Wing flew over their heads.

"Whoa." Felix said to himself. "I have to look out for…"

But then, Locus charged in with his legs out. When his feet made contact with Felix's torso, three talons stuck out from his ankles and dug into Felix. He would then swing around and threw him. Felix recovered from the throw.

Hera, still flying the Phantom, saw what was going on. She looked to her side and saw Felix and giant flying thing.

"Is that…?" She thought.

She then flew over to the fight. Felix looked over just in time to see.

"Wait!" He shouted.

Locus looked over to the Phantom approaching them. He lifted his laser beam gun and fired a shot. Hera quickly swerved, and she retaliated. She fired several shots, only for Locus to dodge them easily. Then, the Phantom roared past the two flyers. Locus then thought of an idea. He revved his pack and flew after the Phantom. Felix noticed and also went after him.

Locus caught up to the Phantom, and immediately began to make his move. He first made it to the roof. He then readied the blades on his wings. He jabbed the blades into the side of the Phantom.

"Hey!" Hera shouted from the inside. "Get off my ship!"

Hera then began to spin around madly. Locus grabbed on tightly with his talons, but was eventually thrown off. But he was satisfied. He had damaged the ship enough.

Hera tried to reengage, but then a warning popped up. She noticed the hull was too damaged for continuous flight. She had to come down.

Hera eventually landed the Phantom back onto the Ghost's back port, and tried to get out, but Locus landed on the windshield of the ship. She raised her pistols, but Locus smashed the window out and proceeded to rip her out of it.

"Well, hello there." Locus smiled.

He then threw her towards the rebels. Luckily, Kanan caught her.

"Made a new friend?" He asked.

"Real funny!" Hera replied.

Locus then landed on the ground. He aimed the laser emitter at them. But he raised his wings to deflect some laser shots. Sabine and Ezra quickly ran towards the fight. They quickly joined the crew.

"What did we miss?" Ezra shouted.

"Not much!" Kanan shouted back.

Then Locus tried to shoot again, but Felix swooped in and kicked him from the back. Locus got back up and began to fire the laser emitter again. The Ghost crew and the Rebel soldiers continued to fire. Felix begin to swoop in, but Locus fired the laser emitter at his wings, knocking him into the ground. Then, Locus begin to fly towards the downed Felix, but he was pushed back by the constant stream of lasers from the rebels.

"This is Hammer!" Locus shouted into his comms. "Bomb Landing Bay 12 immediately!"

"But sir!" shouted the person on the other end. "We still have troops there!"

"I don't care!" Locus screamed.

From afar, TIEs then began to dive down towards the Landing Bay 12. The roaring ion engines got closer and louder.

"We got incoming!" Rex called.

Everyone looked up and saw the TIEs diving towards them.

"Everybody run!" Kanan screamed.

All soldiers began to run. Felix also tried to run, but he had to limp most of the way, because the fall had taken out his leg. Sabine tried to go back, but Ezra stopped her.

The bombings began. Explosions began to consume the Landing Bay, and all of the occupants of that said area were consumed by the explosions. Stormtroopers, Bastions, and even some of the heavy artillery. Locus grunted as he was taken into the fire and brim. Felix only took the physical damage, only being blown into the hull of the Iced Shell.

When the bombings were done, the Rebels got out of their cover to see what happened. Miraculously, both the Iced Shell and the Ghost were untouched. Sabine began to look around for Felix.

"Felix!" She called. "Where are you?!"

Ezra began to look for Felix as well.

"There!" He shouted.

Ezra pointed to a stack of crates with some fires nearby. There was Felix, still conscientious, groaning from the pain. Sabine quickly ran over to him and began to help him out. She then slouched him over her shoulder and began to drag him back.

"Thanks…" Felix groaned.

"Don't mention it." Sabine smiled.

The two slowly walked towards the rebels.

"Guys!" Ezra suddenly shouted. "Behind you!"

Before they could realize it, the two Mandalorians were launched forward and landed on their stomachs. They both shook their heads and looked up. Standing in front of them, was Locus, with his pack sparking and making whirring noises.

"Hey there, pipsqueak." He said with a mix of smile and anger in his voice.

He launched himself forward again. Sabine raised her pistols, but Felix shoved her out of the way. Locus kicked Felix back, sending him into another set of debris.

"We have to help him!" Ezra called.

One rebel soldier raised his blaster, but was immediately shot through his chest. The rebels looked behind them and saw four droids. They had a three-barreled chain blaster for a right arm, and they were four-legged.

"Cease your resistance." Said one of the droids.

Then, all of the droids began to fire rapidly. Most of the rebel soldiers began to go down in single shots. All of the rebels managed to get to cover, but the constant stream of laser blasts was wearing down all of their cover. Ezra and Kanan ignited their lightsabers just to give the rebels some cover.

Meanwhile, Felix was still getting tossed around like a rag doll by Locus. As his wings are damaged, Felix can't get into the air. Locus tossed him around, and then he would pick him up by his talons again, and then threw him up into the air. And when Felix detached the talons from him, Felix would just free fall to the ground. But as he fell, Felix fired several laser bolts from his pistols, but Locus had a different plan he just slammed Felix into the ground. He would pick him up by his talons, and then slam him back down, and then do the same thing again. After he was done with that, he would give Felix a moment to flip himself around to catch his breath.

Locus chuckled, and then he moved his arms around. Using the blades on the wings, he picked him up by his inner jump suit. And as he picked him up, Felix's helmet fell off. Locus made whirring noises that resembled an actual vulture's caw, and prepared to make his strike. He also noticed that Felix's Arc Reactor was beginning to make some funny noises as well.

So, Locus ripped off his chest armor, and threw him back down onto the ground. Felix groaned from the pain, but he couldn't take what came next. Locus flew up and then dove down to his torso. Locus then used his talons to slowly crush his chest, making Felix scream in pain.

"Don't worry…" Locus whispered. "This will hurt for a short bit."

Then, he felt a laser shot to his shoulder. He looked up and saw Sabine. She had one pistol out, and she was pointing it at Locus. Locus scoffed, and then he just kicked Felix to the side.

"Well…" He chuckled. "You're either undeniably brave, or just incredibly foolish."

Locus then darted forward with that same vulture caw he did a few minutes ago. Sabine kept on firing. But she was taken up into the air.

Meanwhile, the OR-14s are continuing their string of fire on the rebel forces. In the midst of the panic, more Stormtroopers and Bastions have made it to support the monstrous droids.

"We're pinned down!" Rex shouted.

All the rebels popped out of their cover and fired, but since the OR-14s have put out small, but formidable shield barriers, the lasers were just absorbed. Kanan peeked out of his cover, and observed the OR-14s movements.

"Ezra!" He called. "Can you stun the droids?"

"I can try!" Ezra replied.

He quickly ran towards the OR-14s and fired several stun shots. But the droids were planned for that. Suddenly, the droid that he was aiming at clenched a fist with its hand. Then, the droid emitted a special shielding around itself. The stun shot dispersed on the droid's head. The droid turned to Ezra and began to fire on him. Ezra quickly ducked out of the way.

"Well, I tried!" He called.

Zeb had had enough. He couldn't take being pinned down any longer. But he had to think of something. He can't just rush in blindly.

"Hey, Rex!" He whispered loudly. "You got any explosives?"

Rex reached into his pack, and pulled out one grenade. He tossed it over to Zeb.

"It's my last one though." He mentioned. "I hope you know what you're doing!"

"Yeah…" Zeb agreed. "I hope so too…"

He peeked out from his cover. He noticed that one of the shields that one of the droids have finally given out, shutting off. He used that opening to throw his grenade over. The grenade rolled right below one of the OR-14s, and exploded. The smoke covered the droid completely. When the smoke cleared, the droid wasn't moving. Instead, they felt on all four of their knees, and then the torso heavily, with impact, fell on the ground.

"That's it!" Zeb cheered.

Rex also saw this, so he decided to spread the word. So, he turned on his commlink and began to talk into how to take out the OR-14s. And one by one, the rebels began to take down the OR-14s and their supports.

While all that was going on, Sabine and Felix were still fighting Locus. At this point, Locus had thrown Sabine into a pile of crates. Then, as she began to recover, Locus threw Felix right into Sabine's stomach. Locus chuckled as his jetpack and wings continued to spark and fizz. He then flew up and used his talons to grab a large metallic pipe. Felix saw this incoming, and quickly grabbed Sabine. Locus then threw the pipe, but Felix was able to get both himself and Sabine out of the way as the pipe demolished the pile of crates.

"You are really resilient, aren't you?" Locus chuckled.

Felix scoffed, and gently placed Sabine on some debris. As soon as Felix began to move back, Locus dived forward. Felix, with some effort, finally got his wings out, and attached it to his arms. Locus tore past the left wing, making a giant gash on it. Felix pressed some buttons, and detached the wing. He then threw the wing at Locus, who was sent back due to the impact. Felix began to run towards where Locus had landed, but Locus shot forward, pinning Felix. Locus nailed Felix into a pillar. The pain was too much Felix to handle. As such, he lost his focus and slowly, his conscience. He became groggy. Locus threw Felix to his back. He then used his talons to pin Felix down. The wings then ripped apart the last bit of Felix's chest apart, revealing his Arc Reactor. Locus carefully then placed his hand on the Arc Reactor. He began to slowly twist it, disengaging the locks. Felix suddenly felt a sharp pain, as if his heart was being torn out, which technically, is not far off.

"Don't worry." Locus smiled evilly. "I'll make sure to put it to good use."

Then, he felt a blaster shot to his arm, which made him let go of the Arc Reactor. Felix was able to use this chance to lock the Arc Reactor back in place. Locus growled at Sabine, which made her shoot at him more. She shot him in the shoulder, the leg, then the head. Locus had turned around to take the pain. This gave an opening for Sabine. She aimed carefully, and then pulled the trigger. The laser bolt landed right on the center of the jetpack. The jetpack began to make more fizzing and sparking. And it even malfunctioned, such as the turbines often whirring and spinning, the wing blades even open and close, and the wings articulating all over the place. This went on for some time, and Locus even stepped away from Felix. He even flew up into the air. But eventually, the pack exploded, consuming Locus along with it. The smoke and fire landed in a pile of ash and fire a bit away from Felix.

Sabine quickly ran over to Felix. She quickly helped him up.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah…" Felix replied, breathlessly.

He looked out to the burning ashes of something, which he realized soon that it was Locus.

"He's gone." Sabine assured.

Felix panted slowly. He's nightmare had finally cease to exist. Sabine then slouched Felix over her shoulder and began to move her towards the docking bays, where both the Ghost and the Iced Shell are parked.

"I'm sorry…" Felix whispered.

"Huh?" Sabine muttered.

"For almost getting you killed for my own personal issues…" Felix admitted. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be like that." Sabine replied. "We were just here to help."

Felix scoffed, but Sabine just smiled.

"Besides." She added. "Remember how I owed you one?"

Felix looked at Sabine. He then remembered. Back at the Academy, when he stood up for her to a crew of bullies.

"Well, take this for the owe." She smirked.

Felix let out a soft chuckle. Sabine smiled. But that small form of humor was cut short when a laser bolt tore through the air and right through Felix's chest. And not just through his chest, right through his Arc Reactor. All of Felix's functions stopped working, he fell unconscientious, and plopped to the ground on his front.

From Kanan and the others side, they heard a loud scream of "NO!".

"That sounded like Sabine!" Ezra pointed out.

"Kanan." Rex called. "I'll get everyone out of here. You get over there."

"Got it." Kanan replied.

And with that said, Kanan, Zeb, Hera, and Ezra ran towards the direction of where the scream came from. Rex, on the other hand, began to hail for the U-Wings to get everyone out.

Kanan and company reached Sabine trying to rehabilitate Felix.

"Hey, what happened?" Kanan asked.

Zeb then pointed at something. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing at. Locus, panting like a wild animal. He had a rifle out with smoke coming out of the barrel. He then smiled madly. Zeb quickly put him back down with another clear shot to the head.

"Felix…" Sabine spluttered, trying to hide her shock. "Is he… can we…?"

"Hey, hey. Get it together!" Hera assured, grabbing hold of her. "Just get him to medical! We're getting out of here!"

Hera then carefully escorted Sabine, still holding her. Kanan and Zeb both slouched Felix over their shoulders, and Ezra covered their backs. They all made their way to the two parked ships.

"Hera!" Ezra called. "We'll take the Iced Shell! You guys cover us on the Ghost!"

"Copy that." Hera responded.

Then, carefully transferring, Kanan switched places with Ezra. Then, Sabine, along with Zeb, Ezra, and an almost-dead Felix, boarded the Iced Shell. Bee and R8 were waiting anxiously for them.

"My goodness!" Bee exclaimed. "What happened?"

"No time!" Ezra cut off. "Is there a medical bay here?"

"Yes!" Bee replied. "R8 will show you!"

"Good, because we are leaving!" Zeb added.

R8 then guided Zeb and Ezra over to the medical bay, where they began to set up the equipment for Felix. Bee, with Sabine, made it to the cockpit and began to make preparations to depart.

Hera and Kanan boarded the Ghost, and Rex was waiting to greet them.

"Is everyone else on that other ship?" He asked.

"Yep!" Hera replied hastily.

She quickly got to the cockpit. With Kanan and Rex on the guns, she then got the Ghost up in the air, slowly followed by the Iced Shell. The two ships were followed by three U-Wings that brought the extra rebel troopers. They were then joined by the remaining A-Wings that survived the battle. As they exited the planet's surface and eventually got into space, they were pursued by Imperial Navy. And while they did lose some A-Wings, they were able to get away with only a few scratches. And all the while, Sabine silently prayed that Felix be able to make it.