The Rise of Starkiller
A New Addition III
Guten Tag! Happy New Year all! I'd like to apologize for the wait but I hope that this makes up for it.
100 reviews! YAY. DONKA! THANK YOU ALL!
Not much to say today except for the more reviews the merrier XD!
Disclaimer: Star Wars Rebels is property of Disney. What I do own though are my OCs. I can say that if I did own Star Wars, then Starkiller would feature as the Sith Supreme Leader instead of Snoke XD. The Superweapon is called Starkiller Base for Pete's sake, I can't be the only one who thinks that it should have been Starkiller himself in that film.
Back on Garel….
Vizago had what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face as the Skiff he was on sailed across the outlands. To add fuel to his fire of anger he had just received word that another Skiff was hijacked and its whereabouts are currently unknown.
"Those scum, they are humiliating me yet again!" Vizago slammed his fist against the Skiff's railing in anger.
He then turned his attention to the Skiff driver.
"No one rests or eats until those scum are found." Vizago snarled.
"But boss, we've been out here for three hours." A Nikto complained, "And none of the other search groups have found anything."
"One of my Skiffs just vanished, that is most certainly something!" Vizago's eye was twitching from frustration.
"Sir, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but something has come up, it isn't good." The Selkath known as Zaqoi remarked.
"What could it possibly be?" Vizago asked in exasperation.
"T-the base camp, it's gone, no signs of life, the whole thing is ruins." Zaqoi replied nervously.
This pushed Vizago over the edge as he went berserk and pulled out his blaster pistol and fired at the Selkath. Fortunately for the latter, he dodged and jumped off the Skiff to avoid being shot by the angry Devaronian.
"How could this have happened!? Why weren't we contacted!?" Vizago continued his tantrum.
2 hours earlier aboard the Savior…..
"Alright men, listen up!" Yitzhak barked as a squad of Rebel Troops and Quasar Company lined up.
"We got three Mandos in need of an evac on Garel, they are counting on you boys to get them out of there and deal with the pirate scum who gunned em down", Yitzhak continued as he walked past each of them like a sergeant inspecting his squad would during roll call, "Show them what we can do, Empire or not, no one attacks our family and gets off Scott free."
"Oorah!"
"Good, get your rears in gear and get our compatriots home!" Yitzhak ordered.
"Oorah!" the rebels yelled before marching to their battle shuttles.
"May the force be with you all." Yitzhak murmured.
Back with our Mandalorian rebels….
Ketsu piloted the stolen Skiff with skill while her newfound allies were double checking the weapons they also stole.
"So what are you going to do once we get out of this mess?" Maximus asked Ketsu.
"I thought I already answered that question, twice I believe." Ketsu replied.
"Yes, but not with a straightforward yes or no answer, just the 'I'll think about it', I can't stand suspense." Maximus said in a joking manner; he even took a satirical begging stance and tried to use puppy dog eyes, the latter of which was rather ineffective and frankly embarrassing.
"Well then I guess you'll have to deal with it." Ketsu laughed at the Mando's behavior.
Sabine and Leonidas were both watching the two with smiles on their faces. It was amazing that Maximus could still joke; with Ketsu Onyo of all people, in a situation such as this.
"They seem to be hitting it off rather well, it is almost unbelievable given the hostility between them earlier." Sabine noted.
"Maximus knows how make friends a lot better than I do, it's a talent he's had since he turned six." Leonidas explained, "As the rather old and questionable saying goes, laughter is the best medicine."
Sabine looked at him incredulously with a raised eyebrow.
"He was always the peacekeeper of his clan's children, always finding ways to defuse tension when it wasn't he who created it." Leonidas continued, "He always found ways to get a laugh out of people, be it a laugh of sincerity or of bemusement."
Sabine herself gave a laugh of amusement at the thought.
"On another bright note, this is our first mission without the Empire getting involved; that is of course if you don't count the patrol in the hangar." Sabine noticed.
"I do not envy the Stormtroopers who were on the receiving end of your blows." Leonidas almost felt sorry for the troopers; an angry Mando is a dangerous one, especially a female one!
"Oh come on Leo, I didn't get too carried away did I?" Sabine gave him a slug on the shoulder.
At the Garellian hangar…
The Stormtroopers that were on the receiving end of Sabine, Rosa, and Ketsu's wrath were getting up or crawling on the ground. All were groaning in pain and a little from embarrassment. Some were being scooped off of the concrete by the medics.
The Sergeant of the medical squad walked up to a Stormtrooper who was leaning against some crates before falling down again from dizziness.
"What happened?" the medical sergeant asked.
"I don't want to talk about it." The trooper sighed.
Back to the Mandos….
"Uh yeah, you weren't too rough." Leonidas said with an uneasy chuckle.
"Exactly." Sabine agreed cheerfully.
"I don't know if that just made her more attractive or dangerous in my eyes… I'm going with both." Leonidas thought to himself.
The Skiff powered down and settled into some tall grass that concealed it from sight.
"This is a good place to disengage, let's proceed on foot." Ketsu reported.
"Alright, the main camp shouldn't be more than a half hour walk away." Maximus concurred.
"Everyone have what they need to execute the plan?" Leonidas asked everyone.
"Same answer as the last three times you asked." Maximus replied with his usual wit.
Leonidas and Sabine ignored Maximus's quip with a roll of the eyes. His behavior; though childish, was enough to get a small smile from Ketsu. Sabine herself never pegged Ketsu as the type to find playful and sometimes childish behavior amusing, but then again, it was as Leo had said, Maximus possessed both a violent and magnetic personality.
"Alright then, Sabine and I will breach the eastern perimeter, Ketsu and you can handle the western side." Leonidas stated.
"So Ketsu and I are the distractions?" Maximus asked dryly.
"You already do a good of job of it every day, who better for the job?" Sabine asked with a somewhat sinister smirk that sent shivers up Maximus's spine, "Besides, you two are great with banter, just change your bickering and flirting to shots and grenades."
"We do not flirt!" Ketsu and Maximus exclaimed in unison.
But almost supernaturally, Sabine and Leonidas were both gone from sight.
"Alright, I have got to ask how they do that." Maximus stated before following Ketsu on the route to the western perimeter.
"They just slip away when your attention is absent, it's no surprise that they seem to pull it off with you." Ketsu scoffed.
"Oh is that right, then how come you didn't see them leave?" Maximus shot back with a sly grin.
Ketsu didn't answer, she merely murmured some insults about Maximus that the Mando couldn't quite decipher, not that he wished to.
An indeterminate amount of time later….
The Pirate base camp seemed to be anticipating intruders, an electric fence was active that surrounded the entire perimeter, powered by a poorly put together generate that seemed to barely be able to function. Vizago excelled at business, but he fell behind in terms of his equipment's quality. One thing that was notable was the homemade towers that held up AA batteries that operated on a motion sensor should an aircraft without the Broken Horn codes get too close.
"This is painfully predictable", Sabine said with a confident smirk, "Vizago, you are too pathetic with your battle plan."
"Almost seems too easy, I know I've said this before, but Vizago seemed to be very angry when we last met him and he seems like the kind of guy who believes in a head for an eye if you catch my drift." Leonidas mused.
"This fence has pretty big gaps, I could probably just maneuver through it." Sabine was obviously unconvinced with her boyfriend's reasoning.
A Nuna walked from the fields and up to the fence. The minute he came within ten feet of it, the fence sparked up and zapped the Nuna with a powerful shockwave, knocking the chicken-like creature back on its rear five feet from where it originally stood. The little animal scurried away as fast as its feat would allow.
Sabine saw the whole thing and grimaced at the result.
"I think Vizago is more cunning then we gave him credit for." Sabine said uneasily.
"I wager that shooting the power generator is out of the question." Leonidas stated somewhat dryly.
"Yes, we need to remain incognito", Sabine gave an affirmative nod before activating her wristcom, "Ketsu this Sabine, do you read me?"
"Yes, what is it that you need?" Ketsu's voice came through the comm.
"A long range electric fence is blocking off our entry point." Sabine reported.
"Long range electric fence? How does that work?" Ketsu asked skeptically.
"If only she knew how much like Maximus she was speaking." Leonidas said under his breath.
"It seems to detect movement and zap whatever is responsible for moving, a Nuna was the unlucky volunteer for the experiment, and it seemed eager to run when it recovered." Sabine continued.
"Maximus and I have a visual on the western perimeter, there isn't an electric fence on our end but they seem to have sentries and crates of what looks like parts for that long range fence of yours." Ketsu replied, "It looks like Vizago intends to be here for a while, it's possible that we stumbled upon a pirate establishment operation."
"Just our luck", Sabine facetiously remarked, "We are going to come to you then, that stupid fence has forced a change of plans."
"Very well, should we come to you, or will you come to us?" Ketsu asked with frustration; she didn't like it when a plan fell apart, no one did.
"We're coming to you, remain hidden, and remember that we only have a certain amount of time before Vizago and his goons return." Sabine decided.
"That's the spirit." Maximus's sarcastic voice came in the background.
"It's settled then, stay out of sight, we are on our way." Sabine finished and turned off her comlink.
Back with Ketsu and Maximus….
"Looks like we need to sit tight for a while, depending on Vizago's level of determination to collect the bounty on our heads, our time is uncertain." Ketsu sighed as she approached Maximus.
"To be fair our plan was formed with haste, I'm shocked that a long range electric fence is the only factor that has forced us to go to plan B…. no pun intended." Maximus quickly added the last part.
"For some reason I doubt that." Ketsu said with a small smile and a roll of the eyes.
"Normally with pirates, we can afford to make some quick decisions in favor of saving time, but I guess all that time since their last visit with Vizago he has been plotting to even the score." Maximus surmised.
"I figured you'd know that pirates such as this Vizago don't let credits go easily." Ketsu quipped.
"Of course I know that, I just knew that one would stalk someone for so long before striking." Maximus defended himself.
"If this is how everyone in your Alliance thinks than you'll need someone like me." Ketsu gestured to herself to emphasize the point.
"So are you going to accept my offer?" Maximus asked; his eyes gleaming with hope.
"I haven't decided yet." Ketsu shrugged.
"How have you not decided!?" Maximus asked incredulously, "How could it take you so long to think about it?"
"Clearly you don't know the first thing about patience, with that attitude you'll continue on the rest of your days alone." Ketsu said with a smug smirk.
"You mean I'll lead the life you lead?" Maximus asked with no malice or anger in his voice, only the tiniest amount of pity; this caught Ketsu off guard.
"In case you have forgotten, I already explained that I chose this life." Ketsu recovered and attempted to regain her footing in this conversation.
"At the cost of your friendship with Sabine?" Maximus asked, "You seem like a smart woman, so why would you make a dumb choice like that?"
Ketsu opened her mouth but no words came out; she didn't know the answer to that question.
"Why else do you think that Sabine didn't veto my proposition, she hopes to fight alongside you again." Maximus continued.
"Given the way she has treated me since our run-in at the spaceport you'll have to pardon my skepticism." Ketsu countered.
"I have met many people in my travels since my father was killed", Maximus proceeded with his story, "And you can tell a lot about someone just by looking into their eyes, when I looked into Sabine's eyes when you attacked us at the spaceport I saw what everyone saw: Malice, and a thirst for Vengeance, but there is something else in her as well, forgiveness."
"Spare me the lectures", Ketsu scoffed, "Why would Sabine want me to fight by her side after I left her for dead?"
"The fact that you are asking me that question all but proves that you seek forgiveness as well", Maximus responded, "Clearly her time working with you meant a great deal to her, you were like a sister to her, and she wants that Ketsu back, during our conversations a side of you that you try to hide shows itself, that side is a little more friendly, still very tough and independent, but not selfish and greedy."
Ketsu's eyes lowered slightly in shame, a trace of sorrow could be detected on her fair features.
"If we survive this, I'll ask Sabine if what you said about her is true, if it is then I'll join your cause." Ketsu gave her decision.
Maximus hugged Ketsu; which shocked her at first, but she hugged back after she recovered, it just felt right.
"I'll make darn sure that we make it out of this." Maximus murmured.
"I'll make sure that your sorry rear doesn't get stuck in the gutter." Ketsu murmured back; this made both of them chuckle.
"I hate to interrupt your little soap opera, but we have a camp to destroy." Leonidas's voice interrupted their moment.
"When we get out of this you two can get a room and sort things out." Sabine's voice added.
Realizing that they were still embracing one another, Ketsu and Maximus let go and awkwardly backed away with embarrassed expressions present on their faces.
"It seems like you two make a dramatic scene the minute you two are left alone together." Leonidas stated.
"Let's just focus on the mission first and teasing Maximus and Ketsu second." Sabine saved the two mentioned Mandos from further embarrassment.
"Very well, I have just received word that our reinforcements will be here in ten minutes." Leonidas announced, "But they won't be able to land if those anti-aircraft batteries remain intact."
"Way to state the obvious." His three compatriots said in unison.
"Obviously a full frontal assault is out of the question, and the other infiltration points of opportunity are electrified", Leonidas ignored the remark, "We need a plan B."
"I think I have one." Maximus spoke up.
All eyes were on Leonidas's blood brother.
"The answer is right in front of us, or all around us in this particular situation", Maximus continued, "We have grenade launchers and this foliage is excellent to mask our positions, back at the crash those thugs couldn't see us or shoot us as a result."
"Yes but there is one small problem, this foliage also messes with our aim, we risk running out of ammo." Sabine cut in.
"Not if we lob the grenades over the foliage and at the base, there blast radius should compensate for our lack of visual. The risk of running out of ammo is still present so we will have to make our shots count." Maximus explained further.
"The plan is basic but it's the best one we have given the circumstances", Ketsu concurred, "Your reinforcements will be killed before they even touch the ground if we don't deal with those guns."
"I agree with Ketsu on this one." Sabine gave her two cents.
"If you think it's the right call, then I'm in." Leonidas gave a nod.
"Leonidas and I will bombard them with the grenade launchers, you two need to keep them off our backs and provide us with targets of opportunity." Maximus ordered.
"Just like old times." Sabine murmured.
The two males of the group relocated to a good grenadier position while the two females double checked their equipment to make sure everything was operational.
"You sure got yourself a committed boyfriend, Sabine." Ketsu told the artistic Mandalorian.
"It's a matter of trust really", Sabine replied as she clipped some flashbangs and thermal detonators to her belt, "It's a mutual bond we share, we do sometimes disagree on each other's plans but we are learning to trust each other's decisions."
"And you met him because of a crash on Tatooine?" Ketsu asked with a smirk before strapping on her helmet.
"I call it a 'happy accident'", Sabine replied before putting on her own helmet, "If I ever met the TIE pilot who gunned down the Ghost I would thank him."
"Now you are messing with me." Ketsu laughed before asking the question.
"Did our time working together truly mean a lot to you?" Ketsu asked.
"It did, Ketsu", Sabine nodded, "You were like a sister, I hope to get those days back after we get out of this mess."
Cut to the pirate base camp….
A thug droid was pacing back and forth searching for intruders or attackers. Its sensors detected a fast thermal substance coming its way. It looked up to see a grenade launcher shell barreling towards it. The shell hit its mark and the thug droid was blown to bits. The pirates in the vicinity obviously heard the projectile's impact and scrambled to get their weapons as more grenades came rocketing at the camp, destroying some machinery and killing some droids and thugs.
"Let's show these dimwits some girl power." Sabine exclaimed as she drew her pistols.
"Girl power? Really?" Ketsu asked.
"When you come up with another name for it, please tell me!" Sabine shouted as she shot at the incoming pirates.
"I intend to!" Ketsu shouted back before impaling a Weequay that made the mistake of trying to fight her hand to hand.
Sabine darted from cover to cover, using the tall grass, pirate corpses, and rock formations alike. A Nikto in one of the poorly built sentry towers shot at Sabine with his sniper rifle, but the female Mando easily rolled out of the way and chucked a thermal detonator at the tower's legs.
"Fierfek!" The Nikto exclaimed before the detonator went off and sent the tower falling to the ground, killing the Nikto as a result.
Ketsu used the impaled corpse of the Weequay as a shield against the blaster fire and slowly advanced towards some entrenched soldiers. A grenade shell came from above and nailed one of the AA batteries; the gun's remains fell on a Gammorean who stood too close.
"Excellent shooting boys, keep it up!" Sabine shouted into her wristcom after catching a Devaronian's punch and snapping his arm back.
"Sounds like they're having fun." Maximus stated before firing off a few more grenades from his launcher.
"Makes me happy that they are on our side!" Leonidas laughed before firing from his own launcher.
The Weequay corpse shield was a lot more durable than anyone would have thought. Once she was close enough, Ketsu tossed a flashbang into the trench, and when it went off she went on the offensive and time seemed to slow as if it were in slow motion.
Ketsu jumped into the shallow trench and roundhouse kicked the neck of a Gran and snapping the neck of a Selkath. One of the pirates regained his senses from the flashbang and pulled out his DL-44 heavy blaster pistol, aiming it at the Black Sun member. Ketsu dodged the pistol's fire and swept him off his feet with low sweep before stomping his neck in. She quickly retrieved the dead pirate's weapon and shot the two remaining pirates.
Sabine chucked an EMP at three incoming Thug Droids, disabling them instantly. A Trandoshan came at her with a massive Vibrosword and swung for her head; once again time seemed to slow down. Sabine bent back and the blade passed harmlessly over her. She gave the Trandoshan a powerful kick to the knee, causing him to buckle, allowing her to knee kick him in the chin and knocking the reptile on his back. Sabine finished him off with a blaster round between the eyes.
Two final grenade rounds came and nailed two AA batteries that were placed erroneously close to one another. Sabine took out the final one with a well-placed grenade. And with that, all was quite. Leonidas and Maximus came running out of the foliage towards their female companions. Leonidas embraced Sabine with a shout of pride and triumph. Maximus and Ketsu fist bumped in a unique pattern that was mostly improvised, needless to say they won't be doing it again anytime soon.
"We did it!" Ketsu exclaimed victoriously.
The celebration was cut off by a heavy cannon shot that hit one of the tents that was close to their position. They looked to the source to see four speeder tanks approaching them; their gunner's had confident smirks on their faces.
"Looks like we spoke too soon." Maximus said as he drew his sword.
"How are we doing on ammo?" Sabine asked.
"The grenade launchers are tapped out, I have two more cartridges for my pistol, and Maximus has one flashbang, how about you?" Leonidas reported.
"All I have is one more cartridge for my pistols, both are almost empty." Sabine stated.
"I got three more for my pistol, all out of tactical equipment though." Ketsu reported.
"Nothing that could scratch that tank." Sabine sighed, "I guess this is the end."
But Sabine spoke too soon. Heavy fire came from the sky and destroyed the tanks within seconds. The rebels looked up to see rebel fighters coming in along with a transport shuttle.
"Impeccable timing." Maximus laughed.
The shuttle landed itself at the center of the pirate camp's remains. The side ramp opened and rebel soldier came out with blasters at the ready and took up a crouched position scanning for hostiles.
(A/N: If you have played Modern Warfare you will know exactly what I'm talking about XD)
Rosa stepped out as well and ran to embrace her older sister.
"Glad to see you are in one piece." Rosa said with relief.
"It takes more than a few rockets to keep a good Mando down." Sabine stated with a smile, "How did you get past the Imperial Star Destroyers?"
"They are rather lax, slipping past them wasn't that difficult." Rosa replied.
"Has the courier been secured?" Leonidas asked.
Rosa nodded, "He was safely transported to Havok outpost, and they wanted me to inform you of their gratitude."
Rosa then took note of Ketsu.
"What is she doing here?" Rosa asked with a bit of hostility.
"Relax Rosa, she helped us take out those AA batteries." Sabine calmed her sister down.
"Which reminds me, you said you'd think about joining our cause", Maximus addressed Ketsu, "So, have you made your decision yet?"
Ketsu looked to him and removed her helmet.
"It took me a long time to decide, but after seeing your combat prowess, commitment, and conviction, I now see that your rebellion is far from a lost cause." Ketsu answered.
"So you'll join us?" Maximus asked hopefully.
Ketsu gave a small smile and nodded.
Annnnd that's a wrap! Read and Review!
Sorry for the wait but I hope that this chapter compensates for it :). I hope to get a decent amount of reviews, they really help me work and write ;). Thank you all!
Time for an easy and friendly competition, you just need to be serious and participate. When you review, tell me what you think might happen next and if possible, why.
Glory to Mandalore!
