Temple balcony
Ezra was stuck, he just leaned on the railing as he looked out to the horizon as the sun began to set. It's only been ten minutes since his little reunion with Mara, he didn't know why he thought it would end any other way. Because that's what Jade does, that's why she was the emperor's hand. Not because she was powerful, which she was. She was his hand because of how she acts in situations, she was used when Vader wouldn't work. True Vader was Sidious's only apprentice but sometimes the emperor required someone who could operate discreetly. Sure, if Vader wasn't in that suit then he could move around quietly but that wasn't the case.
Jade was used for the operations were an army wouldn't get the job done. Such as stealth, undercover and infiltration missions. What made her the best candidate for the role of the emperor's hand was that she reminded Sidious of himself. She was clever, resourceful, had her ego under control, she new her strengths and weakness and the most important, she knew how the minds of her enemy's worked. The best comparison Ezra could come up with was a slightly weaker version of Thrawn and Sidious combined. A very deadly combination.
The thing that Ezra feared the most about her was that she never failed a mission, she always did the assassination, always collected the intel, always lowered the defenses. Sure Ezra could beat her in a fight, in fact he did when they first met. But Mara new the ability 'force cloak' better then anyone Ezra had seen, if she wasn't in that specific cell he'd be very worried. She could sneak into any government, any agency, she could watch Jabba the hut sleep at night. In fact Ezra often wondered if Jade stayed up and watched him sleep after that had very hot sex. As much as Ezra wanted to disagree Mara was fantastic in bed, Ezra's had sex with three woman. Keep in mind he was only nineteen. Mara, Leia and Sabine. He kind of liked the idea of the only three woman he's been with where just stunning and all of them where into different things. Mara was Hardcore and was into anything, Leia was soft and gentle but was the most timid and Sabine was a balance of both, she had a soft and caring nature but her being a Mandalorian gave her a take charge attitude.
About a month before Ezra was knighted by Vader and sent to eliminated Ashoka Tano. He and Mara met up again during an assassination missions in secret, since they weren't supposed to know about each other let alone start a relationship. Whenever one of them where given a mission by there masters they where able to get messages to each other and meet up, it was easier to do then expected. Vader didn't tell Sidious about his missions because of the whole secret apprentice thing and Sidious didn't need to tell Vader about Mara's missions, so when Ezra was given his last assassination by Vader before his knighthood, he got a message to Mara and she asked Sidious if this target should be taken care of, he agreed and Mara went to meet up with him. Once they met up and dealt with the target, they made love in his bed while the bodies of him and his family lay scattered around the whole room. In peace's. It was there that she told him that she loved him, weather he believed her or not was still up for debate.
Despite how the interrogation went, something wasn't right, Ezra could feel it. Something was different about her "you ok?" He heard Sabine asked as she stood behind him.
Ezra sighed as he turned around and leaned back against the railing "not really, that was something I really didn't want to relive" he said looking to the ground.
"yeah... that was difficult to hear as well" Sabine said as she walked forward and stood on his right as he crossed his arms "is it true what she said?" She asked as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"yeah, every word she said was true" Ezra said sighing.
"I meant, when she said 'I wonder what else you're keeping from them'" she said looking up to him "are you keeping something from us?" She asked hoping that Mara was lying about that part.
"we all have are secrets Sabine" Ezra said turning around and face the horizon once again.
"No, I know that. We all have those things that we don't want anyone to know. It's the nature of your secrets that has me worried" Sabine said as she reached up and cupped his cheek "are... are they as bad as..." She started.
"Sabine" Ezra whispered as he quickly grabbed her sides and engulfed her in a passionate kiss. After a moment they separated and there heads rested against one another "the truth is, if you knew things that I've done. You wouldn't look at me the same way you do now" he finished barely louder then a whispered.
"how can you say that?" Sabine said with both sadness and anger in her voice.
"Sabine, I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. The one that Mara told everyone about, trust me. That was not even close to what I feel the most disgusted by" Ezra finished as he lifted his head up and kissed Sabine's forehead "I'm going to go for a walk" he said before leaving her alone on the balcony.
Sabine sighed as she turned round and ashamed the same position Ezra did when she arrived. Now she was really worried 'did he really mean that, surly he didn't. I love Ezra more then anyone, there couldn't be anything that would make me stop loving him. Right? Sabine thought to herself as she looked down to the court yard and she spotted Ezra leaving the temple and heading into the wilderness, she wanted to stop him but if he wanted to be alone she didn't want to stand in his way.
Temple command center
Everyone stood around the holo-table in the same room that they used to plan there heist of the destroyer. It was difficult for someone to start the conversation, considering what they where all just told. After they let Rex and Zeb know what happened there was just silence. There where three small groups in the room, the Ghost crew, the high council and the Jedi including Luke and Leia "ok, I'm going to ask this just to ask it" Leia started crossing she arms "can we believe what she was saying"
"she was telling the truth" Kanan said as he stood beside Hera "she has no reason to lie and even if she did, Ezra would deny if it wasn't true" he said sadly.
"like we would trust him regardless of what he said" Garm said to no-one's surprise. Everyone looked over to him with sad, disappointed or angry faces "what? We can't just move on like this is something we can forget" he said plainly.
"we all knew that Ezra did a lot of things he's not proud of Garm" Luke spat back at Garm showing a real backbone, normally Luke just sits on the side lines and avoids conflict.
"Luke, you are correct but this is something else" Bail said calmly back to Luke "and as much as want to disagree, we can't ignore this"
"We can easily do that senator, you just don't want to" Hera said scowling back at Bail.
Mon Mothmer sighed and looked to the ground before responding "if this was an assassination or a supply rade, we could let this go... but two point eight million people died in that attack. And if what the Sith said was right and Ezra killed a child and ordered the deaths of civilians, we can't let this pass"
"Ezra did not kill that child" Kenobi said stepping forward "you need to understand that Ezra Bridger and Lord Starkiller are two very different people" he finished starring Mon right in the eye both being peaceful and incredibly intimidating.
Before anyone could respond the command center door opened and a sad looking Sabine walked in still holding Ezra's sabers on her belt "hey Sabine" Hera said as she walked over and stood by the Ghost crew "how's he doing?" She asked putting a hand on her shoulder.
"he... needs some time alone" she simply said as she gave her a sad smile before turning to the rest of the room and saw everyone's faces "what's going on?"
"there thinking on kicking Ezra off The New Republic council" Marris said plainly as she stood next to her master.
"excuse me?" Sabine asked as she turned her head looking right at the other council members.
"kick him off the council? I vote we kick him out of The New Republic" Garm said crossing his arms.
Everyone's eye brows widened in shock at that announcement "you don't have the authority to do that Garm" Kanan said stepping forward with his fists clenched "and even if you did, we wouldn't allow it" He finished.
"you would not have a choice in the matter Jedi, none of you would. Only the three of us can do this, and we should weather you like it or not" Garm spat back at Kanan.
"This is bullshit" Leia spat with her arms crossed "Ezra is the only reason The New Republic existence! It doesn't matter what he's done in the past because that is where it is, in the past"
"don't let your emotional attachment cloud your judgment Princess" Garm spat back at Leia.
"Don't you dare undermine my sister like that you arrogant Jackass" Luke hissed at Garm as the whole room began to drop in temperature.
Kenobi and Shaak Ti looked at each other with fear in their eyes, they could feel it through the force. Luke and Leia where getting angry and they were drifting into the darkness, if they don't do something the Skywalker's are going to feel the dark side for the first time.
"even if you kick him off the council" Rex started stepping forward and placing a hand on Luke' shoulder stepping past him "you can't kick him out of The New Republic, he is still the Grand Master of the Jedi and I don't even need to mention what everyone else's reaction would be. No one will stand for it"
"he's right" Zeb said standing beside Rex "I think it's safe to say that myself and Captain Rex spend more time around the soldiers at the different bases more than anyone. These soldiers practically worship Ezra, every time word of one of his mission's spread, the moral of the troops increases dramatically. When he's on the ground taking fire, standing beside his soldiers. It does something only a Jedi could, it gives them hope. Makes ten men feel like a hundred" he finished.
Before anyone said anything else Sabine turned and started to head for the exit "where are you going" Leia asked.
"downstairs, I need to talk to that Sith" Sabine stated.
"Sabine, I wouldn't recommend that" Hera started.
"Yeah, Sabine. Maybe we should wait until Ezra comes back before we try and talk to her again" Kanan said.
"I'll be fine" Sabine said as she walked out the door before anyone could try to stop her.
Tython Wilderness
Ezra had been walking for nearly an hour now, not really heading for a certain direction, just trying to clear his head. As Ezra entered a clearing in the tree's and saw that he was on top of a cliff face that had a great view of the temple, deciding that this was as good a place as any. He grabbed some pieces of wood and placed it on the ground in front of a large bolder. Ezra sat down and rest against the bolder, with a wave of his hand the wood caught fire. Another Sith ability that Ezra has learnt, Pyromancy. Ezra figured it would come in handy some he took some time and learnt the basics of it.
Now just resting for a minute, letting the cool breeze wash over him. He wasn't meditating, he was just trying to relax. Clear his head. Mara was right the darkness was still inside of him, being a Gary Jedi that was something he needed to do. Having the dark side in him wasn't the problem, the problem was that it was taking over the light, he was no longer in balance. That needed to change and it needed to change quickly, otherwise if he goes on a mission he might not be able to control himself and fall to the dark side altogether allowing Lord Starkiller to once again emerge and take over.
Ezra was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of a large roar, Ezra shot up to his feet where he saw a fully grown male Varactyl (N:A the creature Obi-Wan rides in the revenge of the Sith) Ezra took a defensive stance and went to grab his sabers only to realize that he never got them back from Sabine. The Varactyl charged at Ezra with incredible speed, he only had a split second to jump out of the way and roll a good few feet before standing up and the same time the Varactyl did the same. Ezra couldn't help but wonder why it was attacking him, the Varactyl don't eat meat, they're herbivores. It growled before charging towards him again, this time Ezra stood his ground and let out a small blast of force lightning towards the Varactyl in the hopes that it would scare it off, which didn't work.
Though it took the direct attack of the lightning and was shot on it's back, it just got back up and charged again 'what is this things problem' Ezra thought in his head as he dodged another attack. Then it clicked in his head, Ezra did have a way to find out what was wrong with the Varactyl. Ezra took a deep breath, reached out with his arm and tried to make a connection with the Varactyl. It slowed down as it charged at Ezra, it's head stopping only a few inch's away from Ezra's hand "easy" Ezra whispered as he stepped forward placing his hand gently on the Varactyl's beak and started to move upwards to the top of it's feathered head.
The Varactyl stepped backwards and made a small sound but Ezra could tell it was a call, not even a minute later two small cubs came out of the nearby shrubbery and walked over to their father "Right" Ezra said to himself "you were just trying to protect your young from what you thought was a threat" he said looking at the adult "go on" the finished nodding his head opposite direction that Varactyl came from. It made another call before heading in that direction and disappearing out of sight with it's young right behind him. As it left Ezra felt at peace, he didn't kill it and it felt nice to have a connection with a simple creature.
"at balance, your spirt has returned too hhhmmmm" a voice said from behind Ezra, he quickly turned around and saw someone he didn't expect.
"Master Yoda?" Ezra said as he saw force ghost of Yoda standing by his quickly made fire, walking stick in hand looking up at him.
"taken to your position well you have, Young Bridger" Yoda said as Ezra walked towards him and sat down in front of him.
"I'm sure some people disagree with you there, Master" Ezra said with disappointment in his voice as he looked to the ground in front of Yoda who stood between him and the fire.
"among the ones who disagree, you are?" Yoda asked as he sat down himself in front of Ezra.
Ezra looked up to Yoda and saw the fire flicker on the other side his body "sometimes" Ezra admitted "sometimes I feel that I can't be the master you want me to be because... Mara was right, I'm never going to be able to escape lord Starkiller" Ezra said closing his eyes in disappointment.
Yoda stroked his chin "done terrible things you have. But make up for them, you can. Destroy the Sith, you must" Yoda said pointing his stick at Ezra and tapping his chest with it.
"when we first met, face to face. You warned me about the danger that came with my abilities advancing. Did you know? that I was supposedly Anakin's replacement as the chosen one" Ezra asked looking up at Yoda.
"hhhhmmmmm" Yoda started "work in strange ways the force does. Had suppositions of another chosen one I did, but assumed that it would be one of the Skywalker's children I did"
"yeah, well maybe it should be" Ezra admitted "they don't have to deal with a dark past like I do, and they are stronger" he finished.
Yoda sighed at Ezra's words "true, a stronger connection to the force they have. But all that matters, that is not. Inspired the galaxy you did, defeated Vader you did, Showed Sidious invincible he is not, only reason The New Republic is standing you are. Destroy the Sith YOU CAN" Yoda said standing up and turning around and walking to the cliff to look at the temple "Alone you cannot, but alone you have never been" Yoda stated as Ezra got up and stood beside him. Looking down at the temple they could easily see over a hundred men and women all working, all of them putting aside their hatreds and predacious of one another to fight a common enemy.
Yoda was right, Ezra was never really alone. Before he met the ghost crew, he had his friends on the street. When he was with Vader, he had Proxy and he guessed Mara and now all of the people down there are just waiting for him to give the call and ask for their service "we don't know how long that will last" Ezra said looking down to Yoda who stood on his right "what Mara told everyone, it's putting doubts in their minds. I know Sabine and the Ghost crew will stand by my side once they learn about most of the things I've done... but if they learn the truth about Sabine's father. I can't predict what everyone else will think but Sabine... I will lose her" Ezra said clasping to his knees next to Yoda "I don't know if I can do this without her" he finished.
"one of the reasons why we forbid attachments, this was" Yoda started and he turned to face Ezra "love each other, you do. No doubt if that, there is. But learn the truth eventually, she will. Come from you best it dose. Forgive you, know I do not but unity you will need, moving the enemy is, preparing their ships they are. About to begin the next chapter of this war is"
Ezra looked up to his right and saw that Yoda was gone. Ezra couldn't help but roll his eyes at his sudden disappearance "if I ever become a Force Ghost, I am doing that everyone. Just to piss them off"
Interrogation Cell X
Sabine stood on the opposite side of the second cell door entrance after she told the workers to prepare the defenses in the cell, since Sabine didn't have what Ezra called a 'force wall' she didn't pay much attention to what he said but he said it was something that protected him from other force user's abilities, since Sabine didn't have the force she didn't have any force wall at all. So she asked the get ready in case Mara try's anything, if she does the room will be filled with knock out gas. They both go down, they come in and drag Sabine out.
Sabine opened the door and stepped inside, doing her best to hide her hatred of the Sith. Mara's eyes turned to the door and a smile came on her face as she saw who entered, Mara was sitting back with her arms behind her head still in cuffs and her legs stretched out resting on the table "huh, a Mandalorian. To what do I owe the pleasure" Mara started as Sabine sat down across from her.
"well I just realized that when Ezra spoke to you, you didn't actually give us any worthwhile information. I'd like to change that" Sabine said leaning in towards Mara who still looked quite relaxed.
"oh" Mara said taking her feet down off the table and leaning in towards "you looking to know more about Starkiller's missions, I'll be happy to tell you about the one's I know of. My favorite mission of his was his assassination of an imperial senator..." Mara started.
"no, that's not what I meant" Sabine interrupted "I meant secrets, what's the emperor planning? What happened the Vader? What's the empire going to do about Mandalore and Lothal?" Sabine finished as she looked at Mara.
"Hahahahahahaha" Mara laughed at Sabine "oh sweaty, if you really think that Darth Sidious, the true master of the Sith is going to tell me his plans then you've got another thing coming" Mara said as she felt such joy looking at the anger in Sabine's eyes "but if you want secrets, I know Ezra's biggest one. I know the one thing that he is ashamed of most, the one thing he will never tell anyone else" Mara said looking into Sabine's eyes and saw mostly anger but there was a hint of jealousy.
"I know Ezra's secrets, he trust me more than anyone. He loves me and I will never doubt that love" Sabine started as the smile on Mara's face grew bigger and bigger with each word "What?" Sabine hissed.
"I admit, when I first saw Starkiller, I wasn't that impressed. Sure when he beat me in combat I became slightly interested" Mara said.
"what made you want to sleep with him?" Sabine asked crossing her arms at Mara.
"well apart from the physical attraction, I realized what his situation was. Unlike me, he was a true Sith apprentice. I had no idea it was just a big façade to find the people willing to rebel, I thought Vader was going to use him to over through Sidious and follow the Sith tradition. So once I realized they were powerful enough to actually do it, I knew I needed to make an impression. So I showed Lord Starkiller just how useful I could be. Both as a Sith and as a lover" Mara finshed looking right into Sabine's eyes.
"there's one thing that keeps bugging me" Sabine said frowning at Mara's story "what makes you think 'Lord Starkiller' is even still alive?" She asked leaning in towards her.
"Because it makes sense. After the first time we made love and he gave me an amazing fuck surrounded by those dead bodies. I did my research on him, found out who he was, listened to everything he remembered about his old life. It didn't take long to find the connection to the Ghost crew. A Loth-rat who was lost, a Mando who was broken, an honor guard survivor, a mechanical war veteran, the outdated clone, the Twi'lek who abandoned her home and the fallen knight. While I can't guarantee if this is Ezra biggest secret or not. Once I learned who you where, Sabine Wren. Things got much more interesting. I didn't think much of Starkiller's first mission, it was just a standard assassination, nothing special. When I learned your name I understood, it was Vader making sure Ezra was wiped from memory and I can see why he would want to keep it a secret, especially from you. But... Hahahahaha, but allowing you to fall in love with him. Even to me that's cruel. And proof, that Lord Starkiller still lives. Because only a Sith could be so evil" Mara finished looking at Sabine's face seeing the confusion and fear in her eyes.
"what are you talking about?" Sabine asked.
"the star destroyer you stole, it will have a lot of imperial files in the onboard database. Imperial file D38176, If you want what I've told you to make sense. Then go and see what happened on Starkiller's first mission, I suspect it might also give some... closure" Mara finished as she saw Sabine stand up and leave with really high levels of fear upon hearing the word closure. That word is only used in a handful of circumstances.
Hey Guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well as all the others, just a heads up a might be updating another story before I do this one but that's not important.
So Sabine's about to learn the truth, what would you like to see happen. Please give me some feedback I Love seeing you reviews and if I decide to do what one of you suggested I will give you a shout out.
Until then I will see you in the next chapter. ;)