I do not own Star Wars in any capacity.

So I'm actually getting very close to finishing the entirety of the story's draft. We'll probably clock in around 65 chapters in total. I'm also going to try and post more often (~1/week)

That being said, enjoy chapter 50!

This was the last time she let some other di'kut take lead on a mission she organized. Sabine kept one eye on the Spectres and another on the Imperials as the ramp lowered. If someone was going take the fall, it certainly wasn't going to be her.

Although at this point, the chances of any of them surviving this was slim. They were boxed in on a locked down ship. Sabine was confident in her ability to fight, but if it came to an open shoot out, the chances were not in their favor.

Then there was their leader. The Pau'an wasn't like the other Imperials. Besides the obvious fact that he wasn't human, he was dressed in sleek black armor and wielded a red blade. She had never seen anyone like him.

No… No that wasn't true. Back at the Academy, an alien dressed like this one had come once. She hadn't recognized the species, but of course everyone had noticed him. He didn't do much. He just observed them for a couple days before disappearing. All sorts of rumors flew around the Academy, most of which were absurd.

The Pau'an smiled, staring straight at Kanan. "Hello, Jedi."

Sabine frowned. A Jedi? She glanced over at Kanan, who hadn't even pulled out his blaster yet. No… There was no way...

But then she remembered how insistent Kanan had been when they were approaching the base. The sudden change in heart. As if he knew something was going to go wrong before it happened.

Then Kanan reached for his belt, yanking off two cylinders and twisting them together in a single fluid motion. Then he pressed a button on the side, a blue blade extending from the device.

A lightsaber.

Sabine's eyes widened. No way. This guy was a Jedi?! Weren't they all supposed to be dead?! She looked over at Zeb, who seemed unfazed by the new development. So… this was the big secret of the Ghost crew. The reason Kanan was considered to be an Aure Grade bounty.

Great. Just great. After everything she's lived through, that she's survived, she's going to be taken out because she just happens to be in proximity with a freaking Jedi without knowing it.

The Pau'an chuckled at Kanan's display. "You really think you can protect them?"

"One way to find out." Kanan leapt towards him with a yell.

The stormtroopers opened fire, and Sabine fell into a crouch to make herself a smaller target as she shot back. Most were shooting at Kanan, who was deflecting every bolt with a swing of his lightsaber. Some of those deflected bolts had even knocked a few troopers out. She suppose she shouldn't complain. Jedi were people of legend. Couldn't hurt to have one on their side.

Of course, they had that Inquisitor guy on their side, so maybe they were just on even odds. Frankly, Sabine was more concerned about herself at the moment. She pulled over the stack of crates for her and Zeb to use as cover while the remaining stormtroopers continued to shoot at them. Kanan had engaged the Inquisitor, the sound of their blades clashing together just barely audible over the sound of blaster fire.

"This is not good…" Zeb growled.

"Yeah, you think?!" Sabine snapped back, focusing on her shooting. Thankfully, they had the high ground and some decent cover. Being blocked in was actually working for their advantage as they couldn't be outflanked. One by one, the troopers were going down. Still, she really wished she had some explosives on her right now.

Things didn't seem to going as well for Kanan. Some invisible force threw Kanan back against the strut of the ramp. The Inquisitor chuckled, swinging his blade to the side. "Your meager training is nothing in the face of true power.

At last, Zeb took out the last stormtrooper, and Sabine stood fully to shoot at the Inquisitor. One last enemy they had to deal with before they got the haran out of here.

With impossible speed, the Inquisitor turned and blocked her bolts with his blade, one of which hit her chest and knocking her back.

This was why she wore her armor underneath these stupid Imperial uniforms.

Zeb let out war cry as he leapt over the crate towards the Inquisitor. But by the time Sabine got back to her feet, Zeb was thrown back into the ship, colliding with the crates.

Sabine gripped her pistols tightly as she watched Kanan launch himself back at the Inquisitor. But even an inexperienced fighter could see that Kanan was outmatched. This was bad. The stormtroopers were chums. Distractions. Whatever this Inquisitor was, he was a serious player with the ability to kill them all. Easily. Right now... He was toying with Kanan.

Unless the Ghost got here soon to serve as a decent distraction… they were all dead.

Well, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She raised her pistols again. Now that Kanan was distracting him, she actually had a chance to -

Without even turning, the Inquisitor thrust a clawed hand out at Sabine. She let out a garbled yelp as something suddenly yanked her forward. The Inquisitor wrapped an arm around her, hand at her throat as he held her against his chest: a shield.

Kanan froze, holding his lightsaber at a ready position. "Let her go," he growled.

The Inquisitor laughed. "This is why the Jedi Order fell. The short-sightedness, the inability to make sacrifices…"

Sabine tried to wrench herself free, but the Inquisitor was too strong. And the red blade was mere inches from her face. She could feel the heat of the plasma radiating from it. Still, she refused to go out like this. Her pistols. She was still holding them. Keeping her breathing even, she angled her wrists. If she could just shoot his foot or his leg…

The Inquisitor's grip suddenly tightened, choking her. "But it's never too late to learn." He threw her to the ground. Sabine turned over, trying to aim her pistols at him. But he was faster. His blade was descending down upon her. She wouldn't be able to get off a shot before the blade pierced her. She accepted this, counting on the fact that she could still shoot him, if after he's dealt a fatal blow.

Go out fighting. Like a real warrior.

But her dominant shooting hand was suddenly shoved to the side. For a brief moment, she was furious to be deprived of her last chance at a rebuttal in this fight. Then something pushed her across the ramp until she hit the strut. There was a cry of pain, but it wasn't hers.

Sabine's head snapped up, her eyes immediately focusing in on Kanan. He had rolled to the side away from the Inquisitor, quickly getting to his feet and pointing his blade at the Pau'an with his left hand. His right arm was hanging uselessly at his side.

He was hurt. He was hurt… He pushed her aside and got hurt… to save her?

The Inquisitor simply chuckled. "You'd sacrifice yourself for this child?" The Inquisitor looked straight at Sabine. "You protect those who did not deserve it."

Kanan let out a growl as his saber retracted and he shoved his hand forward. The Inquisitor crouched as he was pushed back only a couple meters. "Is that all? You're even more pathetic than - "

A turbo blast suddenly impacted the ground near the Inquisitor, sending him flying and sprawling onto the ground. The Ghost was hovering above the port, angling downward with its ramp lowered. The nosegun continued to fire at the Inquisitor, driving him back and giving the others an opening to escape.

Sabine was frozen, trying to get her brain to function. Her ears were ringing, the sounds of blasting muted. Her eyes were fixed on Kanan as he yelled something at Zeb. Then he ran over towards Sabine. She still didn't move, her gaze fixed on Kanan's shoulder, at the still smoking burn wound…

"Spectre Six!" Kanan yelled, shaking her hard. "Snap out of it and get on the Ghost!"

Sabine only managed to nod before Kanan grabbed her arm and yanked her toward the hovering freighter. He pushed her forward, propelling her. She kept running with the momentum toward the lowered ramp, holding her pistols with a durasteel grip. She jumped up and just barely managed to hook her arms on the ramp's edge. There was a pair of hands on her arms, trying to help her fully onto the ramp. Normally she would have balked at the help, but she was too desperate to get away from the awful mess.

Finally she climbed up fully onto the ramp. Her breathing harsh in her ears, she scrambled to her feet and ran into the ship, the loading dock. The door in the back opened as she approached and she kept running, around the ladder, through another door… and into the dark cargo back.

The door swished close behind her, plunging her into darkness, and that was when she collapsed to the ground. The ship shook as it pitched, but Sabine hardly noticed it over her nausea and the incessant shaking in her limbs. She sat back on her heels, holstering her pistols before gently pressing a hand to the ache on her side.

Even with the drop in her stomach, she didn't realize that they had escaped. Not even when the door opened up behind her, a band of light illuminating the floor with her silhouette cutting a space right through the middle.

There was a hand on her shoulder, and Sabine instinctively spun around to grab the offending hand only to grasp nothing but air.

"Whoa whoa whoa…!" Kanan stepped back, holding his hand up defensively. "The fight's over. We're neck deep in hyperspace."

Sabine closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "D-Did we get the supplies…?"

"Yeah. And now we should patch ourselves up."

Sabine opened her eyes again, her gaze immediately narrowing in on the wound in Kanan's shoulder. Her stomach flipped at the sight. "I'm fine," she growled, forcing herself to look away.

"No, you're not. Judging from the way you're holding yourself, you strained your injury."

"Have you even look at yourself?!" Sabine exclaimed. "You have a kriffing hole in your shoulder!"

"And we will deal with it." Kanan extended his good hand to her. "C'mon."

Rage rose up in her. "What is your problem?!"

"My problem is that I have a hole in my shoulder, and a member of my crew is injured yet stubbornly sitting in the cargo bay," Kanan said calmly, his hand still outstretched. "Now c'mon so we can get patched up."

And just like that, the anger drained out of her. She looked at his hand for a moment before taking it. Kanan slowly pulled her into a standing position before putting his hand on her shoulder. "Hera's getting the med supplies."

Sabine walked out with Kanan, blinking when she saw Ezra not three meters away, looking at the two of them anxiously.

"Are you okay…?" Ezra asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry. Just a flesh wound," Kanan assured. "Nothing to worry about."

Ezra didn't seem convinced, but he gave a small nod as Kanan and Sabine walked past him. Hera was pulling some of the med supplies out of the crate Sabine had already dug into before.

"Not sure your buyer will appreciate us taking some of the goods." Sabine said flatly.

"It's alright," Hera said. "They understand that we need some of the supplies as well. Besides, there's enough here to treat a small squadron." She laid out the supplies out and patted one of the empty crates. "Kanan, sit."

Kanan did as he was told, and Hera began to cut the fabric of his shirt away. Kanan cringed. "I liked this shirt…" he grumbled.

Hera rolled her eyes. "And you have three more just like it."

Ezra hesitantly stepped up to Sabine. "Are you okay?"

Sabine looked at him incredulously. "I'm fine, kid. You should worry more about your dad."

Ezra glanced at Kanan. "He's okay," Ezra said quietly.

Sabine raised an eyebrow. Despite the waver in Ezra's voice, he sounded oddly confident. "Well… I am too. I just pulled my side."

Ezra looked as though he wanted to say something, but to Sabine's relief, he thought better of it. He walked over to Kanan and Hera. "Can I help?" he asked.

"Maybe you can help by telling your father to stay still," Hera said, gingerly applying bacta.

Sabine pointedly looking away, trying desperately not to think about how Kanan got the wound and failing miserably. That along with a million other lines of thought running through her head. She opted to focus on one of those instead.

"So… you're a Jedi," she said flatly.

It was sort of funny how everyone in the loading bay stiffened simultaneously. Even though it was an obvious fact. Even if Kanan hadn't used the Force in front of her, the way he and the Inquisitor were speaking, the familiarity with which Kanan wielded the blade… it wasn't just posturing. Kanan hadn't stolen that saber. It was his.

"Yes," Kanan finally said.

"And that Inquisitor? Who was he?"

Kanan took a deep breath. "He is a Force user, a servant of the Dark. His goal is to wipe out what remains of the Jedi."

"And why exactly was he here?" Sabine demanded.

"I don't know…" Kanan said.

"Maybe it was just a coincidence," Hera offered as she started to pull Kanan's skin closer together.

"At least we got the supplies," Zeb growled as he stowed the crates away.

"So now all that's left is to get paid," Kanan said. He looked at Hera. "How long until we reach the rendezvous?"

"A couple hours," Hera said, applying another layer of bacta. "I've already alerted Fulcrum that we're on our way."

"No," Sabine said sternly, cutting through their casual conversation. "Are we really going to just stand here and pretend that nothing happened?! That we weren't just attacked by a dark Jedi - !"

"The Inquisitor is not a Jedi," Kanan growled.

Sabine ignored him. " - and that you guys are literally harboring a Jedi who the Empire is actively hunting?!"

Silence fell over the loading bay, filled only with Sabine's anger-fueled pants. Zeb was standing to the side, frowning deeply. Ezra's eyes were wide and he had pressed himself against the far wall. Kanan had his lips pressed together in a thin line.

And Hera's expression was infuriatingly blank. She turned back to Kanan, applying a bandage over his wound before turning back to Sabine. "Boys: can you give us a minute?"

Sabine stood her ground, glaring at Hera as Kanan herded Ezra out, Zeb following close behind. She held her tongue, recognizing Hera as the leader of this vessel. As captain, she had the power to toss Sabine right out of the airlock. While she was pretty sure she could take the Twi'lek, Sabine didn't like her chances if the Lasat or Jedi jumped in.

The door closed behind Zeb, and Hera let out a small sigh. "You're right," she said.

Sabine frowned. "Come again?"

"You're right to be angry," Hera said. "We hid pertinent information from you, and it put your life in danger. Unintentional as it was, it happened. And you're right to be angry about it."

Sabine gaped at her. This was the last thing she had expected from Hera.

"But as you say, the Empire is actively hunting the Jedi. And so in order to keep our own safe, we keep his past a secret. Just like you keep yours."

"My past is none of your business…!"

"You were a cadet, weren't you?"

Sabine stiffened. She immediately tried to relax, but she knew that small reaction had already given her up. "How did you know?" she asked.

"Mandalorians are talented, but the intel you have, your familiarity of Imperial protocol… For someone as young as you, it's obvious."

Sabine clenched her fists. "Well, I'm not anymore. They lied to me. Manipulated me. So I left."

Hera nodded slowly. Her expression suddenly softened as she looked away with a sigh. Then she looked back at Sabine, her eyes surprisingly soft and filled with understanding. "And your family didn't approve… did they?"

A sharp claw suddenly wrapped around Sabine's chest, squeezing her painfully. "H-How…?"

"I know what it's like when people you love don't believe in you. When they let you walk away."

Sabine's breathing shuddered and her eyes burned as her mother's voice echoed in her head. The public declaration of denouncement, the anger and disappointment in her mother's voice. It had torn Sabine apart. "They think I'm a traitor…" she whispered. "I tried to warn them, to save them, but… they didn't stand with me. I was run out." She wiped her eyes with a growl in frustration. "Then that stupid guy, a stranger, someone who barely knows me, literally throws himself in danger to save me?! What the hell is his problem?!"

"Ketsu…"

Hera tried to put her hands on Sabine's shoulders, but Sabine wrenched herself away. "Don't call me that," she said, her voice cracking as she held back tears. She turned away from Hera, trying to compose herself. She took the small spark of anger and held onto it tightly. "Stop pretending like you care."

"I'm not pretending," Hera said. "None of us are. We might have not known you for very long, but that doesn't mean we want to see someone suffering when they don't have to."

Sabine let out a shaky sigh, rolling her eyes. "That's a great sentiment. Really. It's noble."

"Kanan jumped in to save you because that's who he is," Hera went on. "He doesn't stand by and watch other people being hurt. Even when he was a bitter loner, he would step up when others needed it."

This was insane. They were all insane. "You don't even know me! You don't even know my real name!"

"And that's supposed to mean we shouldn't care if you're hurt?"

Warm droplets dropped down down on her cheeks, and Sabine quickly wiped them away. She couldn't believe she was kriffing crying. She hadn't cried since she found out what the Empire had done with her designs. But the idea that someone cared, not just because of the bottom line for a job, but actually cared… it was too much.

There was a warm hand on her shoulder. "No one deserves to be alone. And I'm telling you right now… that you're not."

And that was it. Sabine couldn't hold back anymore. She was suddenly overcome with sobs, something inside of her snapping at Hera's words. Even though a part of her was calling her foolish for taking those words so seriously, but she couldn't help but cling to them. Just the prospect that there was someone here for her, someone who actually cared and helped her… it was overwhelming.

Hera wrapped her arms around Sabine, and Sabine found herself leaning into the embrace. She couldn't even remember the last time anyone had held her. She felt a little bad about crying into Hera's flight suit, but Hera was warm and smelled of sweet oil. She hadn't realized how much she needed this.

Her crying eventually reduced to sniffles, and she became aware of the hot ache in her side. With a small sigh, she pulled back from Hera and pressed a hand against the injury.

Hera gave a small smile and gently led Sabine over to sit her on the crate. "Let me look at it."

Sabine just nodded numbly, letting Hera gently push her down to sit on the crate and look over her wound. While it was mostly healed, she had obviously strained it.

"I'm just going to put some perigen on to help with the pain," Hera said. "Just don't push yourself too much for the next couple of days."

Sabine just nodded again when she suddenly realized: what was she going to do after the next couple days? She had originally intended to take her share and leave, but… The thought honestly left her sick to her stomach.

Hera had a hand on Sabine's back as she led the teenager back to her - temporary - quarters. "I'll come get you when the job is done."

That had Sabine shaking her head. "No, I want to be there when you make the exchange."

"Not an option," Hera said firmly. "The agents we work for need to preserve anonymity. I'm the only one who meets with them. Period." She put a hand on Sabine's shoulder. "I promise you'll get your pay."

Sabine just sagged with a sigh. She knew there was no point in arguing. Hera was the captain. Besides, Sabine felt as though she could sleep for a month. "Alright."

Hera nodded. "Now get some rest, Ketsu."

Sabine stiffened, and before she could second guess herself, she said, "Sabine."

Hera frowned slightly. "Sorry?"

Sabine swallowed. "My name's not Ketsu. It's… Sabine. Sabine Wren."

With a small smile, Hera gave her shoulder a small squeeze. "Then get some rest, Sabine. You need it."

Sabine nodded, and Hera walked away towards the cockpit. Feeling wrung out, Sabine walked into the cabin, letting the door close behind her. Practically stumbling to the bed, she forced her mind to remain blank as she collapsed on it. Without her bidding, she quickly fell asleep.

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