I do not own Star Wars in any capacity.

Hope you enjoy Chapter 55!

Sabine was biting her stylus thoughtfully as she stared at her datapad. She was still debating how detailed or simple to make this design. With a small sigh, she made a few changes to her current sketch. The pattern she had doodled into the main body was interesting, but it would be time consuming to actually paint. Not that she minded, it would just take some clever forethought before she got started.

Of course, she needed to pick up her 'canvass' first. That was even assuming the goods were authentic. Sabine had her doubts, but a quick scan with her helmet should clear that up quickly.

She checked the time. It was 1500. It was probably time to talk to Zeb and go over exactly how they were going to do this. The coordinates she gave the seller - who called himself The Peddler - were in the market place in Jalath city. Their meeting time would be peak hours for the market, so lots of people and lots of cover.

"Hey…!"

Sabine looked up to see Zeb walking over. Only this time, he had Ezra in tow. Sabine frowned. What was this about? She really didn't want to involve more people than she had to. Letting Zeb act as back-up was bad enough.

Turning her datapad off, she stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm helping," Ezra said simply, looking a little nervous but determined.

Sabine frowned. "Um, no you're not."

"Actually…" Zeb said, looking guilty with his ears low as he rubbed the back of his neck. "... I think Ezra should help with back up."

"Excuse me?" she questioned, hating the way her voice squeaked at the end.

"Look, I-I didn't tell Kanan or Hera," Ezra said, his hands out placatingly. "But I don't want to just sit by and wait for you guys to come back. And I can even help cover for you guys. Kanan and Hera are busy doing logistical stuff, but if I tell them I need some parts to enhance my slingshot..." Ezra held up the cuff with the plasma thrower in question. "They won't question the fact that we're all going out for a couple hours."

Sabine wrinkled her nose slightly, not liking how her secret project was starting to spiral out of control. "You know, I didn't need either of you in the first place."

"Well, too bad," Zeb said, drawing himself up and crossing his arms to mirror her. "We're here to help anyway."

"Besides, we're just back up!" Ezra said. "So we'll just be out of the way, and you'll never even see us."

"I don't know…" Sabine looked Ezra over skeptically. Even though Zeb was a large purple wall of muscle, she had faith he knew how to be inconspicuous in a crowd. With the variety of races Lothal, even a Lasat wouldn't stick out too much so long as he was acting casual. While Ezra was a tiny human, she had much less confidence in his ability to 'act casual'.

"I promise we'll keep our distance," Zeb said, putting a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "We'll just have our comms live, and you can give us a signal if you need help."

Sabine sighed in defeat. "Fine," she ground out. She supposed she didn't really have much choice now. Trying to convince them to just stay here would probably result in Hera and Kanan finding out. At least if they were with her, they wouldn't be blathering on about her 'secret meet-up'.

"Great!" Ezra said, pulling on the cuff and adjusting his slingshot.

"But you follow my lead, understood?" Sabine said sternly.

"Understood."

"Right."

Sabine drew herself up. "We need to leave soon, so let me tell you how this is going to work. I'm meeting a human man who goes by The Peddler in the marketplace in Jalath city at 1700 hours. The plan is to meet, and then find someplace discreet where I can inspect the goods."

"And what exactly are these 'goods'?" Zeb asked.

"None of your business," Sabine said easily. "You know the only reason I'm involving you two at all is because you stuck your nose where it doesn't belong."

"And you're sure you've got the credits this buyer wants?"

Sabine smirked. "Oh yeah."

Zeb's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but Ezra was nonplussed. "So what'll Zeb and I do?"

Sabine huffed. "I guess you'll pretend to be Zeb's ward and just hang out in the market, pretending like you're shopping for those parts for your slingshot."

"And how will we know if you need help?" Ezra asked.

That actually wasn't a terrible question. On the slim chance that she did need back up, they needed some sort of signal. Something subtle enough other people won't notice. The last thing they wanted was to attract attention to themselves, even if there was a scuffle.

The obvious solution was to have her comm link on with a one way transmission. That way they could just keep an ear on what was going on. It would be clear if anything went wrong. However, Sabine didn't want them to hear her actual plan play out. They would probably take it the wrong way and ruin the entire thing.

"I can put a pre-programmed signal into my comm," Sabine said. "All I'll have to do is press a button for you to get the signal. It should track my location so you'll be able to find me quickly. Here…" She stepped up to Zeb and put out her hand. "Gimme your comm."

Zeb reached back and pulled his comm off his belt to hand it to her. Sitting back on the rock, she opened it up alongside her own. "This should only take a minute…" She had done this kind of thing with Ketsu a few times.

Ezra walked up beside her, looking over to watch what she was doing. At this point, Sabine was used to Ezra quietly observing her whenever she did anything with electronics he wasn't familiar with. He was a curious kid. This time, he didn't ask any questions, which meant he more or less understood everything she was doing.

"Alright, done." She closed the comms back up and handed Zeb his back. "If I get into trouble, you'll get a signal with my location."

Zeb looked down at his comm. "Alright… we'll try not to wander too far."

"It's Jalath," Sabine drawled. "The marketplace isn't that big. Besides, if this black market sleazebag is like other ones I've met, he's gonna be paranoid. So don't keep a too close eye on me…"

"Alright alright…" Zeb said placatingly. "We'll be discreet, I promise."

Ezra went to go talk to Kanan and Hera to give them their 'cover story'. Sabine was actually surprised that they seemed to buy it, Ezra running back down and declaring that they were ready to leave.

They took scooters, Ezra riding with Zeb. It was about a fifteen minute ride to Jalath followed by an additional fifteen to secure their scooters and head over to the marketplace. Zeb and Ezra went first to look for the 'parts' Ezra needed for his slingshot. Then Sabine waited a good ten minutes before going into the market from another direction with nearly fifteen minutes to spare before her scheduled rendezvous. Sabine took up position in one corner, leaning back against a building as she scanned over the market and waited.

Time passed. Tapping her fingers gently against her holster, she began to pace the area around the rendezvous. This was getting ridiculous. The Peddler was nearly half an hour late. If she had to wait much longer and she was going to walk away from this entirely. She glanced over at where Zeb and Ezra had settled down, eating a snack at a small stand.

It had been before she met the crew of the Ghost - even before Ketsu had turned on her - that she saw this Deep Net seller offering up this armor, claiming it to be authentic Mandalorian beskar. She had scoffed at first, thinking there was no way it could be genuine. Others must have thought so as well, because no one was taking the bid. After all, it was dangerous to possess beskar if you weren't a Mandalorian yourself. It put a target on your back. It was deeply embedded in Sabine's culture, and only those who were given express permission were allowed to wear it. And even then, only a true Mandalorian could don a full set of armor.

"Well, you're certain easy to spot."

Sabine turned to see a pale human man, wearing typical desert robes often seen in the Outer Rim. He was grinning, and there was no mistake this was the same Peddler she had shared holos with. "I have to be," she replied. "In a crowd like this."

"I suppose that's true." He looked Sabine up and down. "A collector, I see. So you will be able to truly appreciate the quality of my wares~"

Sabine bristled. He thought she had stolen this armor. He certainly wouldn't be the first. Right now, she was going to lean into it. Chances were he would be more amicable to a regular smuggler than an actual Mandalorian seeking to reclaim stolen armor. Thankfully she had her helmet on so he couldn't see her expression. "You have to show me your wares first."

"Oh yes, of course. Let's find somewhere more private for you to inspect the goods," the man said smoothly, gesturing toward a nearby door.

"You first," she said sweetly. No way was she going to expose her back to him.

He smiled back with a polite nod before walking towards the door. Out of the corner of her vision, she caught a glance at Zeb, who was pointedly looking away. But his shoulders were stiff and he was sitting straighter, a hand on his bo-rifle. He knew she was with the seller.

Stepping up to the doorway the Peddler had indicated, she realized that it was a hostel. He must have gotten this room ahead of time. Or it was the reason he was over half an hour late. It suited Sabine just fine. It would actually make it much easier for her to pull of her plan.

He stuck a key card into the lock control, and the door opened. He glanced back at her with a smile. "After you."

"Oh no," Sabine said. "After you."

He shrugged with that same smarmy smile. "Suit yourself." He walked inside, disappearing into the dark room.

Taking a deep breath, Sabine followed him inside. The door closed behind her, the noises of the market being muffled and the light being cut off. Not that it made a difference to her. Her helmet could more than made up for the lack of light if need be. She almost immediately spotted a large bag sitting on the bunk. "I take it that's it?"

"Oh yes~" The Peddler walked up and unzipped the bag, pulling down the sides to reveal what appeared to be several pieces of armor. "Take a look."

Sabine adjusted the settings are her helmet so she could scan the material. On the surface, it looked to be in decent shape. A bit beat up and the paint job was atrocious, but those were just aesthetics and could easily be fixed.

What was more important was what it was made out of. Was it a cheap synthetic that was so common for Mandalorian wannabes… or was it genuine beskar?

Her helmet scanned the material and a spectroscopy chart was displayed on her helmet. She stood straight as she went over the results. She recognized the types of paint that were used, but she was more interested in the distinctive pattern of the largest spikes.

It was genuine.

Sabine gave a small unamused huff. "I see you're a man of your word."

"Of course," the Peddler said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I take it that means you're satisfied?"

Sabine smirked beneath her helmet. "It does."

With a practiced motion, Sabine drew her blaster pistols and pointed them at the Peddler, who immediately raised his hands. He still had that stupid smile on his face, although now he was eyeing her pistols warily. "I take it you don't have the money?" he said evenly.

"Whether I have the money or not is irrelevant," Sabine practically growled. "You shouldn't even have this armor. No Mandalorian would give away beskar to the likes of you!"

The Peddler chuckled. "And what makes you so certain of that?"

Saine's grip on her pistols tightened. "A Mandalorian would only gift beskar to those who are worthy. Not someone who pawns it off on the Deep Net like it's a souvenir. So tell me… who did you steal this from?"

His smile suddenly widened, his eyes narrowing. "Just another blaster happy mando who got cocky… like you."

There was only a quiet ping before energy suddenly shot through her body, making her muscles seize so she couldn't even cry out. Her body jerked a couple times before she crumbled to the ground with a gasp. What in tarr's name…?

"Well, that worked like a charm," another person's voice said.

Kriff. There was another person? She internal swore at herself. She forgot to scan the whole room when she came in. It should have been the first thing she did. She was just so focused on getting the armor and double crossing him, she didn't think he might actually be smart enough to double cross her.

"Always does~" the Peddler cooed as he straightened his robes. "You Mandalorians are so predictable."

Sabine grit her teeth. She had to get up. She could take these jokers! She just had to…!

Sabine let out a strained grunt as the energy coursed through her again, her body stiffening painfully. It wasn't a plasma stunner. This was electrical. It died down almost as fast as it started, but it was more than enough to keep her down.

"Strip her," the Peddler said. "Just imagine what kind of price we'll get for a full set of armor~"

No! She couldn't them get away with this. Kryat spit, why couldn't she just get up and move?!

She couldn't deal with these two on her own. Not in her current state. Her muscles were twitching and slow to move, but all she had to do was press a button. One button, and Zeb would come charging in here with his muscle and bo-rifle. Biting back a pained moan, she dragged her arm to the side and reached into her pocket…

"Oh no, what's this~?" The Peddler grabbed her wrist and yanked it upward. Then she felt him rifling through her pocket, grabbing her comm and pulling it out. "Going to call for help?" She could only watch as he dropped the comm to the ground and smash it to bits with his boot.

Someone yanked her helmet off, letting her head fall to the ground with a dull thud. Sabine's vision swam as the too-loud thuds of bootsteps got closer. Blinking rapidly, she managed to turn her head and see the Peddler looking down at her with that damn smirk.

"Maybe you'll be smart enough to stay down and not get yourself killed like the last one."

Zeb had his comm in his hand, which was in his lap under the table. Not that it would have been terribly suspicious to have a comm out in the middle of a busy marketplace like this. Zeb and Ezra probably looked liked they were waiting for someone anyway.

They were sitting at a small table by a cafe, enjoying jogan creme filled pastries. Sabine had disappeared with the seller only a minute earlier. He had been counting. Despite her capabilities and their back-up plan, he couldn't help but be on edge about all of this. He was beginning to wonder when was an acceptable time to burst in there regardless of Sabine's feelings.

Of course, that could put the kid in even more danger depending on what was going on. Given her penchant for explosives, Zeb really didn't want to accidentally trigger something.

No. It was best just to follow the plan. They've handled much worse than this. She would be fine.

"What's taking them so long?" Ezra asked, poking at his tart.

"Haggling over prices I reckon," Zeb said. "I'm not an expert myself, but I hear if you're paying the up front price, you're being played for a fool."

"Right…" Ezra mumbled, taking another bite. He sighed and picked at the edge of the table. "I didn't expect this to be so boring."

Zeb chuckled. "Take it as a blessing, kit. If things are boring, that means they're actually going playing out without a hitch for a change."

"I know, but…" Ezra huffed, slumping back in his chair. "I'm just bored."

Zeb looked down at his comm, as if keeping an eye on it would make it easier to hear. "Well hopefully Sabine will be back out soon with whatever it is she's looking to get her hands on."

"I wonder what it is," Ezra said idly. "Must be something dangerous if she's trying to keep it from Kanan and Hera."

"Technically she tried to keep it from us too," Zeb pointed out. "I doubt it's any more dangerous than those bombs she makes regularly."

Ezra sighed. "I guess. Still, I just wish - " He suddenly sat up straight, his eyes widening as his head snapped in the direction Sabine was.

Zeb sat up as well, concern growing in the pit of his stomach. "Kid…?"

"Sabine's in trouble." He practically launched from his chair, running into the crowd.

"Kid, wait!" But Ezra disappeared into the crowd. "Karabast!" Zeb grabbed his bo-rifle and ran after him. He must have sensed something with that Jedi thngy of his. Some people were yelling at Zeb indignantly as he shoved them aside, but he had to grab Ezra before he did something supremely stupid. If Sabine really was in trouble, that meant she was incapacitated enough that she couldn't even send them a signal. They couldn't just run in blind and half-cocked into a situation like that.

Thankfully, Ezra hadn't gone too far. Some common sense must have kicked in, because Zeb found the kid waiting for him at the corner across from the hostel. He looked at Zeb anxiously. "Something's wrong!" he said in a loud whisper.

"Kid, talk normally," Zeb said slowly. If Ezra started acting too suspicious, it would attract unwanted attention. "What's going on?" he asked calmly.

Ezra visibly swallowed, taking a deep breath. "I don't know," he said, speaking very deliberately and mirroring Zeb's volume and tone. "I just know something is wrong."

That wasn't much to go on. Zeb couldn't just comm Sabine either because if she was compromised, it could make everything worse. But they weren't even sure where she was…

"There," Ezra said, pointing to a door the next street over. It was inset the wall of the building as per usual Lothalian architecture, and it was in a row of other identical doors. Zeb recognized it as the local hostel. Chances were the Peddler had locked the door to keep anyone from interrupting.

"Alright," Zeb said, kneeling down to look Ezra in the eye. "How fast do you think you can unlock that door?"

"Probably a few seconds?"

"How many exactly?"

"Um, I don't know…"

"If Sabine really is in trouble, every second is going to count. We don't want to give the Peddler any warning we're on to him."

Ezra took a deep breath, but looked determined as he squinted and tried to get a better look at the lock. "... maybe three or four seconds?"

Zeb nodded. The Peddler probably wasn't expecting Sabine to have back-up. He just would think that someone was trying to get into the wrong room. At least, for the first few seconds. "Alright, here's the plan," Zeb said. "You're going to go and unlock the door. As soon as it's open, I'm going to run in and bash the first non-rainbow head I see."

"Then what do I do?" Ezra asked.

"Then you stay back and let me deal with this Peddler. If he makes a run for it, just let him go. We don't want to make a scene."

Ezra frowned slightly, making a noise of discontent. Zeb knew Ezra wanted to contribute more, but it was more important to make sure Sabine was okay. Ezra knew the urgency of the situation, and so he simply nodded.

Zeb put a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Alright. Let's go." They walked towards the door, Zeb making sure Ezra didn't try to walk 'sneakily' in an attempt to look inconspicuous. When they got to the door, Ezra pulled out his manipulator and crouched down in front of the control panel. Clearing his throat, Zeb leaned casually against the wall of the mini entryway, blocking anyone's view of Ezra but keeping his bo-rifle at the ready with one hand. A simple swing and it was ready for use.

He heard the gentle clicking of Ezra starting to work the lock. Even over the din of the marketplace, Zeb could a voice inside of the room. "What was that?"

Zeb tightened his grip on his bo-rifle. If he was speaking aloud, that meant the Peddler wasn't alone.

There was a beep and a whoosh, and Zeb quickly turned and jumped inside, swinging his deactivated rifle at the closest sentient. There was a strangled grunt before the thud of a falling body. Zeb quickly turned around to take care of whoever else was in this room…

He froze, his eyes widening when he saw the human man pointing a blaster at Sabine's head. She was prone on the ground, her body trembling with half of her armor having been peeled off of her. The Peddler, a young human man, had a nervous grin on his face as he looked up at Zeb. "So… the girl wasn't as foolish as we thought. No matter. Just put down your weapon and back out of here slowly. I'll get what I came for, and I'll let the girl live."

Zeb bared his teeth, the grip on his bo-rifle tightening. "And why should I believe you?"

He pressed the pistol's barrel tighter against Sabine's temple. "Do you really want to test me?"

Zeb couldn't help the small growl as his lip curled in a deeper snarl. The horrible part was that the Peddler was right. With the blaster pistol right at Sabine's head, there was nothing Zeb could do that wouldn't risk her life. Even if the blaster was on stun, a shot like that would kill her in an instant.

Trapped and seeing no other solution, he slowly began to kneel to put his bo-rifle down.

A staticky discharge suddenly shot past him from behind, hitting the Peddler in the shoulder and pushing him back. Zeb didn't even question it as he launched forward and flicked his bo-rifle up. The end of it hit the Peddler square in the face and knocking him out cold, blood streaking out of his now-broken nose.

There was a moment of stillness with only the sound of labored breathing and the chatter of the market. Then Zeb turned to see Ezra kneeling in the doorway, his left arm outstretched with his right hand hovering over his left shoulder. It took a moment for Zeb to realize that Ezra had used his slingshot.

Then Zeb realized what this would look like to an outside observer. He quickly grabbed Ezra by the shoulder and pulled him inside, letting the door close them in.

There was a groan, and he saw Sabine slowly getting an arm under her as she tried to get up. He knelt beside her and gently helped her up to a sitting position. Sabine was gritting her teeth with a wince. "Kriff…"

"So I take it negotiations didn't go as planned?"

Sabine shot him a soft glare. "I think they have something on me…"

Zeb frowned. "They know you? And they've got dirt on you?"

Sabine rolled her eyes. "No, dummy, I mean physically. I think they put something on me to paralyze me…"

"Oh." Zeb started to look over her body, but Ezra was suddenly there, plucking two metal tines out from Sabine's leg. They each had thin wires attached to them, which led back to a device held by the Rodian Zeb had knocked out initially.

Sabine relaxed a bit when they were off. She rolled her shoulders and slowly started to move her limbs. "They got me a few times… Just gimme a minute and I'll be good to go."

"I can help get your armor…!" Ezra said, getting up and grabbing the colorful armor piece that the Peddler had been holding. Then he frowned and looked around. "Where's the rest of it?"

Sabine gave a little grunt of effort as she raised her arm and pointed to a bag on the bed. "In there. Along with the goods I came for…"

Ezra trotted over and looked into the bag, pulling out the rest of Sabine's armor. Then he frowned, slowly pulling out another piece of armor. With the dull brown color, it was obviously not Sabine's. "What's this?"

Sabine took a deep breath, clearly not happy for Ezra to be asking. But at this point, she was hardly in a position to complain. He had basically just saved her life after all. "That is part of what I came for."

Zeb watched as Ezra pulled out more pieces of armor. "You came for… more armor?" Ezra asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Sabine ground out. "Our armor isn't just your everyday cheap durasteel. Beskar contains our honor, our history, our blood The only outsiders who have any right to it are those who are truly worthy and gifted it by a Mandalorian." She sighed, looking away from them. "I had to see if it was real. And once I knew it was, I couldn't let this sleemo just keep it."

Zeb gazed at her with a pang in his chest. He thought of the number of times he saw objects from Lasan sold on the holonet. Traditional Lasat weapons, robes used their everyday lives, Ashla blessed tools used for their sacred rituals… He's had to watch his culture torn apart and sold as 'aesthetic pieces' to rich humans in the Core.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Alright," he said. "Let's get all of this packed up. Then once you're fighting fit, we can go."

Sabine gazed at Zeb for a moment before she gave a small smile. "Thanks... Really."

Zeb smiled back. "No problem, kit."

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