Chapter 11

"Ezra NO!" Sabine called out, having watched the young Jedi dash out of the Ghost and towards the building. She knew what his plan was. She knew it wasn't going to work.

"I can do this, Sabine!"

"It's too late! I've already detonated the charges it's only a matter of time before the whole building goes!" she screamed after him. He didn't slow down.

An explosion shook the ground as the building blew up...

...

"EZRA!" Sabine screamed.

As soon as she sat up, she fell off the sofa and onto the floor, but her scream was more than enough to wake everybody in their apartment. Of course since Ezra was right there, he was the first to reorient his surroundings and get to Sabine's side.

"Sabine? What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked around, obviously trying to focus on Ezra's sapphire blue eyes.

"E-Ezra..." she croaked.

She turned and saw everybody standing at the doorway. She looked back up to Ezra, who held her hand and helped her back to the sofa.

"You want to talk about it?" Hera asked.

Sabine shook her head, "No... No I think I'm alright..."

"What was it?" Ezra asked.

She sighed with relief, "It was just a bad dream..."

"About me," Ezra added.

Sabine slowly nodded. "It's fine, Ezra."

"We should get back to sleep. You two can take some time to relax first," Hera said, leading everybody from the living room and back into their bedrooms.

Ezra had his arm around Sabine's shoulders, though he was very tense. Not because Sabine startled him, but because he was scared of what she would do about it.

"You can relax, Ezra. I won't break your arm," she said with a still slightly shaky breath.

Ezra slowly relaxed, allowing Sabine to curl up on his shoulder. Their feeling toward each other were perfectly clear, but they still failed to do or say anything. Ezra especially didn't know what to do; he didn't want to ruin what he already has and he doesn't even know what that is. It's all a complicated situation in his mind, but he is grateful for the training Kanan gave him to clear his mind.

Sabine's thoughts kept running through her nightmare, but she soon felt a calming sensation envelope her. Her nightmare seemed to fade from her thoughts and she sighed.

He didn't ask, but I don't care.

She looked up at Ezra, who still had his eyes closed, but he didn't seem to be meditating. If he was meditating, then he wouldn't be going limp. First his head drooped, next was his hand. He would have fallen to the floor had Sabine not caught him and laid him on the sofa. She took that time to take in all his features and recall all the good moments she's had with him. All the times when Kanan couldn't lead the group and left Ezra in charge for a time. Those times when Ezra showed his sensitive side whenever he was trying to comfort Sabine. Especially those small moments when they just talked about whatever they usually talk about; joking about Zeb and Chopper, making fun of the Empire, all that good stuff.

She started to admire the young Jedi as he slept before her. His face no longer looking childish, but now more grown up. More mature. Her thoughts drifted again, to those missions Ezra led. He looked like he was born to lead. He knew what to do and kept calm in combat... except that one time when they were rescuing Hondo from that Imperial prison. Those times he just outright scared or worried her. He wasn't himself after Kanan lost his sight, but he came back to them. He came back to her.

Soon Sabine found herself feeling tired again and she curled up next to Ezra as best she could, facing him. She wrapped one of her legs around his to keep from falling and laced her right arm around him. She took one last look at Ezra's face, and smiling, pulled herself closer to him for warmth. She felt safe around Ezra. A feeling she doesn't feel very often.

...

The next morning, Ezra slowly opened his eyes and saw the sun fading off to the horizon.

Dusk

He was about to get up, but halted when he felt extra weight on his chest and saw Sabine peacefully sleeping, using him as a pillow.

Ezra turned a bright red and about screamed when he saw Hera walk into the room.

"Ezra it's about time to get up so... Oh," she said when she saw the pair on the couch.

"Oh, um... H-Hi Hera," Ezra stammered, embarrassed about his current predicament.

Hera only smiled, "I knew something happened between you two."

"I think she's just like this because of her nightmare earlier," Ezra tried to explain, though he didn't even know why she was like this.

"I understand all of it. I'm not mad, don't worry about it," Hera said.

Ezra breathed a sigh of relief, but felt pressure on his chest as he realized that Sabine tightened her grip on him, still sleeping.

"I'll let you wake her up," Hera said as she left the room.

"Great," Ezra squeaked. He rubbed Sabine's back. "Sabine," he whispered. "You need to wake up. We're getting ready to go."

The only response he got was a very quiet, sleepy groan from the Mandalorian.

"Sabine..." He was shaking her shoulder softly now.

Still no response.

"Alright Ezra," he said, thinking out loud, "How does one wake a Mandalorian, without getting killed."

Without really thinking, Ezra kissed her neck and she instantly woke up.

Smack!

"OW!" Ezra cried.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"It's fine. I guess I deserved that," Ezra said.

"No it isn't," she protested.

Before they could continue their minor argument, Hera entered the room again with everybody else.

"Since last night was a complete bust, we have no choice but to go in loud if we have to," she explained.

"Their security will be heavier now," Sabine agreed.

"We'll start off quiet and if we are spotted, then we'll drop the stealth," Hera said, staring at a holographic image of the Imperial complex.

"Sabine and I could attack from the North side," Ezra suggested.

Sabine hummed with approval, "That area does look weakest of them all, but it also feels like a trap."

"We escaped through the East gate," she added, "So of course that one would be strongest. Maybe swinging around to the West?"

"We'll need a distraction..." Hera said, thinking. "I can provide one in the Ghost on the West side."

"And while their defenses shift to the West gate, Ezra and I could break in through the East again!" Sabine concluded.

"To make things go by quicker, you two will have to drop from the Ghost as we get closer. As soon as you're both clear of the Ghost we'll change course to avoid their sensors and swing to the West gate," Hera said, as a holographic simulation of their plan provides a clear understanding to the rest of the crew.

"Use jetpacks to slow your fall. We'll slow down enough that a small, controlled burst from your packs will slow your fall enough to make a safe landing," she added.

"I've got mine," Sabine grinned.

"I don't have one," Ezra pointed out matter of factly.

"What happened to yours from Atollon?" Sabine asked.

"I don't know, I can't find it."

"Don't tell us you left it on Yavin," Zeb groaned.

"Don't worry about it, I have an idea," Ezra said.

"What do you mean?" Kanan asked.

"Remember those simulations we've done before?" Ezra asked.

"You been those old battle sims to help develop leadership skills?" Sabine asked.

"Yeah those. Anyway, I did one from the second battle of Geonosis and I noticed two Jedi, I'm guessing Ahsoka and her master, jumped from a tall wall and... seemed to use the Force to slow their descent."

"I saw that in the live feed back at the Temple," Kanan recalled. "Impressive trick, I admit, but are you sure you're up to it?"

"I am," Ezra said confidently.

"Alright, then I guess we are ready to go," Hera said as she activated a comlink. "Chop, prep the Ghost... Yes we're ready... See you soon."

Ezra couldn't help but smile. He with everyone else knew how much Chopper meant to her. Sabine grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her.

"Are you sure you don't need a jetpack? I think I have an extra in my room," she offered.

"I'm sure," Ezra said. He still saw the worry in her eyes. "It's going to be alright. Trust me."

Sabine stared a few moments longer, but soon smiled and nodded, "Alright."

...

Ezra pulled on his orange scout helmet, which was repainted for this mission to avoid visual detection, as the bay doors of the Ghost opened and looked down, guessing they were about 25 to 30 meters off the ground. He could sense some faint Force signatures from what he guess was desert wildlife hiding under the sand and rocks. Sabine walked up next to him after recalibrating her WESTAR-35 blasters and packing a bag of fresh explosives.

The entire bay turned red, signaling they were close to the drop zone. Ezra felt a hand grip his own, plus another hand on his arm.

"Whatever you do, Ezra," Sabine began, "Don't... don't hit the ground too fast."

Ezra gave her a smirk, though he knew she couldn't see it through his helmet.

"Don't worry, I've practiced off a tall tree multiple times back on Yavin 4," he said.

"That was a tree, Ezra. We're on a moving target moving quickly over a rocky surface," Sabine reminded him.

"I know," he replied simply. Sabine gave him one last look before pulling her own helmet to her head.

About a minute later, the light turned green and Sabine's voice echoed through the comms...

"Green light!"

Both she and Ezra jumped out of the Ghost, falling rapidly towards the ground. Immediately after they cleared the Ghost's cargo bay, it turned off to another course to get around to the West gate. Seconds later, Sabine activated her jetpack and a good five second burst of thrust slowed her down enough to land without injury. Of course she had to roll as soon as her feet hit the ground, but that was only natural. Meanwhile Ezra pointed the palms of his hands towards the ground and focused, quickly slowing his descent through the Force. Sabine watched in awe as he landed, though nowhere near as hard as Sabine's landing.

"Perks of that trick," he began, "No possible way of detection."

Sabine pulled off her helmet and raised an eyebrow at him, "Really now?"

"Just stating the facts. Come on, we should keep moving."

The pair ran towards the Imperial complex and only stopped to get to cover as they approached the facility's walls. Sabine lowered her ocular device on her helmet and magnified on the Imperial position.

"Yup, just as I thought. Heavy security on the East wall," she said, then nodded to Ezra, who tapped his comlink.

"Spectre 2, this is Spectre 6. We're in position."

"Copy Spectre 6. Beginning distraction..."

Moments later, a few explosions were seen and heard from the West gate as the Ghost flew over, her gun turrets pounding the ground.

"Sabine how does this wall look?" Ezra asked.

Sabine, who was still looking at the East gate, looked up at him, "Their security is shifting. If we're going to get in it has to be now."

"This is Spectre 6, we're moving in," Ezra said through his comlink. He tapped Sabine's shoulder and she stood up, ready to make a run for the wall.

They broke into a sprint, Ezra using his Force abilities to speed up without realizing it. He made it to the wall first and turned to see a spotlight heading towards Sabine, who was running as fast as she physically could. Ezra focused on her signature and pulled her towards the wall quickly. When she was cleared of the searchlight's path, he slowed her momentum and let her run the last 5 yards.

"Thanks for that," she said sternly.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was running that fast..."

"Don't apologize. If you hadn't done that we would have been caught," she explained. She seemed to put everything together quicker than usual. That or she thought it through.

She saw his expression and smiled, "At first I was mad, but then I thought about it as you were pulling me towards you."

"Oh... Alright then," Ezra simply said.

"We should get inside while we have a chance," Sabine stated.

Ezra nodded and they both made their way inside the walls and ran straight into the building. There was little resistance as the entirety of the base garrison was focusing on the West gate, all thanks to Hera's distraction. Couple guards here and there, but nothing they couldn't handle without raising alarm.

"Ezra..." Sabine whispered. She pointed to a door leading to the inside of the building. Their previous entrance had been blocked off by a ray shield.

Ezra nodded and probed to see if there was anybody on the other side, which fortunately for them, there wasn't a soul. He gave Sabine a thumbs up and she began hacking into the system, trying to open the door. This was all happening fast... and easy.

"Sabine wait..." Ezra began.

"What is it?" she asked, cautiously.

"Once you get that door unlocked, do not open it... something's not right," he explained.

Sabine thought for a moment and looked around. She looked up, then smiled. "I could climb up there to hide."

Ezra grinned, "I'll give you a boost. Now hurry up and unlock that door..."

"Yes sir," Sabine chuckled.

As soon as the lock broke, Sabine gave Ezra the thumbs up and he lifted her up, using the Force, to the small ledge above the door. He jumped up after her, and without saying anything, used the Force to open the door. As soon as it opened, a bunch of security droids rushed out, ready to blast anything that did not belong to their base.

Sabine looked over to Ezra, "How did you know?"

"Something just felt off about this. I can't sense droids through the Force, this was just a gut feeling," he explained.

"Well you keep that up we'll just have to trust your instincts as well," Sabine joked.

The droids turned the corner and the duo jumped down from their ledge and snuck into the base. Sabine noticed this base had some cameras installed so she expertly hacked into them to give them false feed.

"Alright, first we need to get to the power core," Sabine said.

"Placing the explosives?" Ezra asked.

"Yup. Remember, if we can't get the information, then we can't let the Empire have it either."

Ezra nodded and followed her to the reactor room. As she placed the explosives on the consoles, Ezra kept an eye on the door.

Moments later, Sabine grabbed Ezra's shoulder. Alright, let's get to the intelligence center," she whispered.

After a few minutes of running down the halls, every once in a while knocking out Stormtroopers or disabling security droids, they finally made it to their primary objective. They opened the door, and sure enough there wasn't anybody or anything inside.

Ezra and Sabine looked at each other and nodded.

"I'll cover the door. You get that information spike in the console," Ezra ordered.

"Gotcha," Sabine replied, running to the console and inserting the information spike into the primary database console. A few taps on her wrist computer and she takes off her helmet to see better.

"This should take about 10 minutes," she said looking back at Ezra, who walked over to her side.

"Any chance this could go quicker?" he asked. "We don't exactly have much time. Hera just said she can't hold a distraction much longer. Too much incoming fire."

"I don't think so. I've already set it as fast as I can without corrupting the data. I'm already risking just that at its current rate."

Ezra sighed, "Then I suppose 10 minutes will have to do..."

"Can you reroute the camera feed to just outside this door?" he asked then.

"I can do that. I see what you're getting at," Sabine replied with a smile. She began to hack back into the camera feed and soon had live feed from the cameras in their hallway. Anytime any movement is detected, she'll get a notification.

"Any troopers that are out there you can sense... I'm guessing these cameras are for the droids?" she assumed.

"Yup. Doesn't hurt to be prepared for anything, right?"

Sabine nodded in agreement when the data spike clicked, sliding deeper into the slot.

8 more minutes...

Silence filled the room. They really needed to be as quiet as they good, though every once in a while one of them would make some sort of noise at the back of their throats, or just the sound of fighting a yawn. This mission was more boring than they had anticipated.

Wait a minute... Ezra thought to himself. These missions are usually never this boring!

Click

6 minutes...

"It's way too quiet..." Ezra stated.

"Another gut feeling?" Sabine asked.

"Something's not right... It's never this quiet in an Imperial base."

A few seconds of silence.

"You're right!" Sabine said.

Just then, her wrist computer beeped. She checked the camera feed and saw a unit of stormtroopers and security droids rushing down their hallway.

CLICK

"How long?" Ezra asked.

"5 more minutes... but we have bucketheads inbound! This mission is going to get from boring to exciting real quick!"

"We can't let them know we're in here, and we can't just leave the room. The dataspike will be compromised!" Ezra said, thinking of a plan.

"You're suggesting we hide, then?" she asked.

"They can search this room easy. Not much here to hide behind..."

Sabine and Ezra looked around the room, hearing pounding on the door. Sabine looked up and grinned.

"Well we could always go up," she said gesturing to the ventilation panel on the ceiling.

"That's just going to have to work," Ezra said, using the Force to open the hatch. He jumped up first and after he was turned around, he helped Sabine get up.

He held out his hand and used the Force to lift her a few feet, then she grabbed his hand and he pulled her into the ventilation shaft, shutting the panel after she cleared the gap.

Suddenly, Sabine gasped, drawing Ezra's attention.

"What?"

"I forgot my helmet!" she exclaimed quietly.

Really? You forgot your helmet?"

"Not now Ezra," she growled. "Just get it!"

"Consider it done," Ezra said, reopening the hatch and using the Force to pull the Mandalorian helmet into his hand. He closed the vent again and handed Sabine her helmet, who eagerly put it back on.

"You know if they find that spike we'll have to reveal ourselves, right?" he asked.

"That's the idea. I can't detonate my bombs, though. They're set on a major source that can blow the entire base to pieces and us with it if we're caught inside," Sabine said.

Suddenly, the door was blown open by detonators and Stormtroopers streamed in through the doorway.

CLICK

"2 minutes, Ezra."

"Sir! I heard something over here!" a trooper called out.

"What did you find?" another asked, likely his commanding officer.

"I think it's a... dataspike sir!"

"Get it out now!" the second trooper ordered.

Ezra and Sabine gave each other the that's our cue look, and Ezra opened the vent to let Sabine drop a smoke grenade into the room.

As soon as the grenade popped, the troopers scrambled for cover, though instead they ended up running into things. Ezra and Sabine both dropped from the vent and began throwing the troopers into an unconscious state, but as for the droids, Ezra used his lightsaber to destroy them, leaving them in heaping piles of sparking scrap metal.

CLICK

"One minute, Ezra!" Sabine called out.

"I think we're clear," Ezra said. But then his eyes widened as he saw a trooper take aim at Sabine. "Sabine look out!"

She didn't even react before the trooper shot her in the back, forcing her to fall to the floor, moderate pain pinpointed into the left side of her back.

Ezra didn't hesitate to blast the trooper with his own blaster and he knelt next to Sabine.

"Sabine!" he cried.

"I'm fine, Ezra," she groaned. "Nothing beats Mandalorian armor, though it still knocks the wind out of me."

Ezra chuckled, "That's better than dying."

The last click was heard from the spike and Ezra was about to retrieve it when a force of Imperials stormed the room, forcing Ezra and Sabine to retreat from the room.

"Spectre 6 to Ghost. Change of plans!"

"Last minute change? I thought the spike should have been finished by now!"

"It is finished, but we were driven from the room before we could retrieve it!" Sabine said.

"Alright! We'll meet you on the platform. Ghost out," Hera said and the comms were cut off.

Ezra and Sabine found the platform to see the Ghost already waiting for them. As they ran, the Stormtroopers chased them out, firing non stop.

Sabine made it to the Ghost's ramp first, because Ezra was busy deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber, Kanan next to him. Zeb was doing his best sniping the troopers closest to the two Jedi. Kanan jumped back on the ramp, and coaxed Ezra to follow suit.

"Sabine! Detonate the charges!" Hera ordered.

Sabine pressed the button and the whole building and platform shook, the charges detonating instantly.

"I'll be right back!" Ezra shouted over the noise, chunks of the building falling onto the platform and to the ground below.

"Wait... EZRA!" Sabine shouted.

"I can to this Sabine! We need that data!"

Sabine grabbed his arm, "Don't do it! I already detonated the charges, this place will blow within seconds! You'll never make it!"

"I have to do this!" Ezra protested. "I'll be right here with you in no time! I'm just running there and back here!"

"Please Ezra, you can't-" Sabine said, but Ezra wrestled out of her grip and sprinted towards the collapsing building, throwing Imperial soldiers over the edge of the platform with the Force.

Sabine was trying to run after him, but she was being held back by Zeb, who was struggling to keep her in his grip. The entire time, Sabine was shouting at Ezra to stop, but it was too late. Ezra made it to the doorway, but as soon as the door opened, he was met with a violent explosion that threw him halfway back to the Ghost. Shrapnel piercing his arms, legs, and chest. Not to mention a large chunk of the doorframe smacking his head plus the head-first collision with the platform.

Sabine's heart dropped to her stomach, all the color draining from her face, her senses going numb. She felt nothing but pain at the sight.

Her worst nightmare...

... had come true right in front of her eyes.