"I can't believe it, it finally here," Ezra says out loud to his master, Tiplee, "I got a message from Ahsoka, she is leading the 501st to siege Mandalore." Tiplee rolls her eyes at her apprentice because of his childish antics. Tiplee, however, was really glad to see her padawan so happy since it helped her forget the pain of losing her sister not 2 months ago. Ezra, Ahsoka, and Dorn Pozz were in the same clan during their days at the Jedi Temple and have kept in contact as much as possible since it help the friendship of Dorn and Ezra that Dorn became Tiplar's padawan while Ezra became Tiplee's. This partnership, however, ended 2 months ago when during the attack on Ringo Vinda, where the sisters co-lead the assault alongside Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka. During the attack Tiplar was murdered by CT - 5385 nicknamed Tup, the death of her master caused Dorn to freeze up and take a blaster bolt to the stomach. Because of the loss of cohesion General Skywalker called a retreat. Now Ezra and his master Tiplee are on Mandalore after arriving with Obi-wan Kenobi on secret assignment to protect the dutchess and those that are fighting for the freedom of Mandalore.
It is now time for the liberation of Mandalore, Ahsoka just sent word to Ezra and Tiplee that she along with Captain Fives of the 501st are going to be there the next day. The Duchess turns the corner right at that moment.
"I see that Commander Bridger is excited about something." She says this with a giggle as Ezra jumps and falls on his but as Satine surprises him. Tiplee laughs at the plight of her apprentice.
"Yes, Ahsoka just contacted him and told him she and Fives are on their way with the 501st," Tiplee says as she turns towards the Dutchess, upon looking at the Duchess Tiplee gasps in surprise as instead of the dirt resistance fighter attire she would usually wear, she was dawned in Mandalorian battle armor with the symbol of Clan Kryze on it, as well it had the symbol of the Jedi Order on it in a ginger red color, "pardon my surprise Duchess but I am surprised to see you in battle armor."
"Please master Tiplee, we have been holed up together for 2 months, you may call me Satine. I may not be a very traditional Mandalorian but even I was trained in the art of fighting that my people are so proud of." She says this as she checks her WESTAR blaster pistols.
"Only if you call me Tiplee, I am going to call in all of our allies here. From there we can plan a coordinated attack on Maul and his Shadow Collective with Ahsoka," Tiplee told Satine as she reached for her communicator "This is Ruby, meet at Vultures Nest." Ezra looks up at her and grabs the armor that Satine and Bo-Katan had gifted to him during their time at Vultures Nest. It amazed Tiplee that the Kryze sisters adopted her apprentice like a little brother, normally attachments were not allowed, however, Tiplee was never a stickler for that rule as she herself had a deep attachment with her twin sister before she died.
"Master, I am going to get Captain Cable and Viper squad and have them prep for the mission," Ezra says as he finishes putting on his Mandalorian armor and ran down the hallway away from the room that he and his master shared and made his way over to Barracks B. Upon opening the door to the barracks he finds his squad better known as Viper squad, after the death of master Tiplar and the discovery made by Troopers Jesse and Kixs of the 501st about the control chips implanted in the heads of all clones, Viper squad made sure that they had their control chips removed. After Ezra joined master Tiplee at the start of the Clone Wars he fought next to her for a year and a half, after that gave him his own designated squad under his command, because of the faith that she has in Ezra she let him pick his own second in command which turned out to be one of the troopers that he became friends with called Cable. Now standing here in front of his men Ezra is proud of how far they have come. With help of Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls, they were able to take some of the Mandalorian shock trooper armor from the deathwatch that served Maul, after a little paint job they became a clone unit in Mandalorian armor.
"Alright boys, Blizzard is inbound, along with a good amount of the 501st," Ezra tells his squad as they start to dawn their armor "General Tiplee has called a meeting of all the resistance leaders here on Mandalore. Commander Tano will be there over the hologram. Cable you with me, the rest of you prep your arms and ammunition, we all know we're going to get the hard job."
The rest of Viper just laughed as Ezra and Captain Cable walk out of the barracks, "Sir, do you think that this will actually work, the assault on Maul and what is left of his Shadow Collective?" Cable asks Ezra as they walk towards the command center of Vultures Nest.
"I am not sure Cable, however, I know that Fives and Ahsoka are going to make it one hell of a party," Ezra told his Captain with a devious grin on his face, as they finish their discussion they reach the doors. As they opened in front of them was master Tiplee, Commander Doom, Satine Kryze, Bo-Katan, and as a hologram Ahsoka Tano, and Captain Fives of Blizzard Company. Everyone turned to face the door when it opened, Ezra and Cable stepped in,
"Ezra, it has been a while." Ahsoka looked at her old clan mate with a smile.
"I did not leave the order Ahsoka but still that was cold of the Jedi," Ezra responds as he and Cable took up their spots at the holo-transmitter.
"Alright now that everyone is here we can begin, Maul is holed up in his main place along with about 10 Death Watch shock troopers, that is the end game however first we need an assault plan to get Commander Tano and Blizzard Company into the city. Ezra, you are to take Viper and secure the main gate," Tiplee instructs a while pointing things out on the holo map, "Bo-Katan, I need you to see if you can one of the other clans to gives us a better hold the city, Satine you are going to stay close to me, we will be running interference where needed, once we have most of the forces distracted by the docking pad, then Ahsoka we will need you to help take down Maul."
"I will be there, I will bring Fives and Domino Squad with me when we confront Maul for extra security," Ahsoka replies with a nod to Tiplee.
"Alright when I give the signal Silver Phantom, all the commanders except for Bo-Katan will move in to take care of Maul," Tiplee looks around to see if there are any questions. Seeing none she continues, "okay people this is it time to take back Mandalore. Ahsoka we await your arrival."
"We will be there soon Master Tiplee," Ahsoka replies, Everyone turns to leave but as Ezra is leaving Ahsoka stops him, "Ezra, it will be good to see you again, how is Dorn doing."
"Dorn is not doing well, she is recovering from you leaving but the death of Master Tiplar still haunts her," Ezra tells her while Cable stands next to him, "after this battle we will have to go see her, together."
"We will definitely need to do that, however, I am getting a strange feeling from the force, a sense of foreboding and a warning," Ahsoka says with some hesitation "I am not sure if Dorn is going to be safe even at the Jedi Temple."
"Commander if you want I get Captain Hook and his squad to check on her," Cable inserts his offer.
"If you could Captain it would be appreciated," Ahsoka replies just then a naval officer comes into the image and whispers something into her ear, she looks at Ezra and Cable "sorry boys, Skyguy and Obi-Wan are waiting on my report, see you in a day. Good luck." With that, the image of Ahsoka and Fives fades from existence and only Ezra and Cable are left in the room.
"Commander Pozz will be alright sir I am sure that Commander Tano is just being cautious," Cable tells Ezra after seeing the frown on his face, "however, sir we need to go prep the squad, they are going to love this just another suicide mission."
"Your right captain I am sure that Ahsoka is just being cautious," Ezra replies at what his Captain says about his troops, "those boys are going to be the death of me with their love of suicide missions."
"You love these missions to sir, it is why we were assigned to you." Cable points out.
"I know, you don't have to point it out," Ezra turns and starts walking to the door very suddenly, "you coming Cable or do I need to tell the boys myself."
No sire! I am on my way," Cable says turning and following Ezra out the door.
The Next Day
All that was heard was the beeping of Ezra's comlink, the time had come for them to free Mandalore for Maul and his Shadow Collective. Viper Squad was set up under the main entrance to the city ready to take out the Death Watch Guards when Ahsoka signaled. That signal just came in.
"You ready boys, Commander Tano just left the Sharkbite. We got 5 minutes to secure the area for her troops," Ezra tells his squad. "Intel says there are two dozen troopers on the dock. You ready to have some fun."
"Sir, yes, sir!" came the course of the 10 clones in Viper squad.
"Let's make this one count," Ezra replies as he uses his jetpack to fly up to the entrance and fly to the docks with his men right behind him. As they reached the main door they found it closed.
"Craft, get this door open, four minutes thirty seconds left," Ezra calls out as the Craft the tech specialist of Viper plugs into the door with his wrist computer. Thirty Seconds later the door starts to open. As the door opens Ezra's troops ready their DC15 Carbines and point them at the door. One Mandalorian shock trooper was standing by the door and as he turned to talk to whoever was coming out of the tunnel the last thing he saw was Ezra's green bladed lightsaber.
"Enemy contacts, kill the Jedi." One of the Mandalorian troopers called as he started firing.
At once all chaos broke loose as Viper squad started taking down deathwatch troopers. In the first couple seconds, Captain Cable blasted 2 deathwatch troopers with his DC17 blaster pistols. Bolts went flying, however, the teamwork of Viper squad seemed to catch the deathwatch off guard because they were being decimated. Ezra just cuts through the enemy troopers like a hot knife through butter. As Captain Cable fires the last shot into the head of the commanding officer that was on the dock, the distinct sound of gunship engines filled the air and as Viper looks up to the sky they see about 50 gunships of the 501st descend down onto the docks. Out of the lead, gunship jumped Ahsoka followed by Fives and Domino Squad, Echo, Heavy, Cutup, Droidbait, she sprints right for Ezra and tackles him into a big hug.
"It really has been too long Ezra," Ahsoka tells him as she lets go and looks at what he is wearing, "wherein the galaxy did you get that armor, is that the Kryze crest."
"It truly has been too long since we last saw each other," Ezra responds, "as for the armor, it seems that the Kryze sisters have adopted me as their little brother. Don't ask me why." He and Ahsoka both chuckle a little bit at this.
"Wait until Dorn hears this she is already like a sister to you," Ahsoka tells him as Fives walks up to her. Switching to Commander Tano mode, as Ezra calls it she gives Fives his orders "Fives send most of the platoon under Lieutenant Cross to distract Maul and take the inner city. I want you, Domino squad, and Viper Squad to come with me and Commander Bridger-Kryze," she turns around at the groan that Ezra gives and sticks out her tongue at him.
"Yes Commander, we headed to Maul's palace?" Fives replies while Heavy starts to spin up his Z6 rotary cannon.
"That is the plan Fives, load up the gunship," turning to Ezra and Viper squad, "you want a ride or you gonna fly."
"Sorry Ahsoka, but we like to fly high. We will escort you to the palace," Ezra tells Ahsoka turning to his men "Alright boys up in the air, Sergeant Clocks, Edge, Brave, Sinch rendezvous with the duchess and master Tiplee protect them and meet us at the palace."
"Does she not have Commander Doom with her and the Duchess," Ahsoka asks, confused.
"Doom is leading his men on an assault at the front steps of the palace so that we have a clear shot at landing," Ezra explains to Ahsoka, at this point they load up Ahsoka's gunship and Ahsoka and Domino Squad follow Ezra towards the palace. Just as they took off they could see Cross shouting orders and hear the first sounds of gunfire, from within the city. As they flew through Sundrie it was very obvious that fighting has broken out throughout the entire city. About halfway through the trip to the palace, they ran into their first hiccup. A group of 10 deathwatch troopers came upon their six. Ezra motioned for his troops to take out the enemy combatants, Captain Cable pulls out his two blaster pistols and pops two of the troopers in the heads and watches as they fall into the city below. Craft manages to get a second one with his blaster carbine. The other 4 members of Viper squad got one each and watched as Ezra turned off his jetpack and the deathwatch troopers flew right past him as he cut them down.
"All clear, head for the landing zone," Ezra replies through his helmet comms, "we will keep them off you if more show up."
Luckily no more did show up and they managed to meet up with Commander Doom outside the palace, about 10 minutes later Tiplee and the Duchess showed up with Sergeant Clocks and the three other members of Viper Squad. Commander Doom went over to Master Tiplee and reported on his side of the battle. After a brief discussion which Ezra could not hear Tiplee made her way over to him.
"Well done clear the docks Ezra," Tiplee looked up at the palace as she finished speaking "now for the biggest challenge, to deal with Maul, be ready for anything Ezra, I have a bad feeling about all of this."
"I feel it, master, Ahsoka also said that she felt a warning in the force," Ezra replied now getting worried about what was going on with the force.
"Tiplee, brother, Commander Tano, are we ready to take back my planet," Satine asked as she walked up to them concerned that they were so quiet.
"Yes, Satine we are ready," Tiplee looks over to Commander Doom, "Keep this area secure until Cross and the rest of Blizzard company arrives, then come find me inside."
"Yes, ma'am," Commander Doom salutes her and then watches as Tiplee, Ezra, Ahsoka, Satine, Fives, Domino and Viper squad head into the palace.
Inside the Palace
As the infiltration team enters the throne room they are met with a sinister laugh. They're sitting on the Duchess's throne was the Zabark formerly known as Darth Maul. All he is doing is sitting on the throne.
"Well, well, the fine Dutchess and the Jedi have finally come out of hiding," He says laughing as he does, "however did you think that it was going to be that easy, Clan Wren now is the time to finish these traitors." As he says this around 20 - 30 deathwatch shock troopers come down from the ceiling all wearing the markings of Clan Wren. Everyone pulls their weapons on each other. As the shooting is about to start Bo-Katan steps out from the middle of the deathwatch shock troopers.
"Countess Wren, I say we tell Maul what we think of his ruling," at these words all the weapons in the room end up pointing at Maul, "now it is time for you to surrender, Maul." Bo-Katan finishes as the rest of the Mandalorians look about ready to fire.
"Hold your fire Bo-Katan, I will take care of this," Tiplee says as she steps forward and ignites her cobalt blue lightsaber. Readying her saber in the ever comfortable Form V stance, she looks up at Maul, "well you going to sit there and surrender, do I need to fight you, Maul."
"Be Careful master," Ezra says his own hand on his saber.
"Well if it is not Jedi Master Tiplee, how is your sister my dear," Maul taunts Tiplee as he pulls the dark saber from his belt along with his own red lightsaber, "oh wait now I remember, she was murdered by one of your precious clone troopers." With that, he lunged forward at super speed. The red and black blades were met with the cobalt blue blade that master Tiplee used. Everyone in the room can only watch as the two powerful force users clash, at some point Commander Doom and Lieutenant Cross have entered with 20 men each. Tiplee was about to disarm Maul when pain streamed through the force as Jedi started to die all across the galaxy.
Commander Doom picked up his commlink as it went off and instead of the voice of one of his men like everyone was expecting, Chancellor Palpatine's voice came over the comm, "Commander Doom, execute Order 66." As the image disappeared Doom looked at his men and nodded. Ezra watches closely as Commander Doom pulls out his blaster pistol and without any warning shots his master in the back. Tiplee looks at Doom and his troops who all have their weapons pointed at the Jedi in the room.
"Commander, what are you doing," Tiplee shouted as Maul tries to sneak up behind her to give the killing blow to master Tiplee but Ezra force pushes him out the throne room window.
"Good soldiers, follow orders," Ahsoka, Tiplee, and Ezra's eyes go wide, those were the same words that clone trooper Tup used after he killed Tiplar at Ringo Vinda. For one horrifying second, all three froze. Ezra felt a voice in his head.
"Run Ezra, I will always find me in the force." Tiplee's voice echoed through his head. He was broken out of his thoughts when the sound of another blaster pistol shot was heard and he felt the life leave his master.
"NO! You will pay for that Doom," Ezra shouted in rage and ignited his lightsaber. At the same time that Ezra ignited his lightsaber, the entire throne room turned into a shooting gallery. All the Mandalorians turned their weapons on the 42 new clones inside the throne room and started firing. Ezra started cutting through clones as quickly as possible to reach his master's body as he goes there he knelt down next to the body of Tiplee, as he did out of the corner of his eye sees Doom sneaking up behind Ahsoka, reacting on instinct he grabs Tiplee's lightsaber and activates it doing a saber throw with remarkable saber throw hitting 10 enemy clones along the way he watches as it takes off Doom's head, "your not taking anyone else from me today."
After the skirmish in the throne room, the only clone troopers left standing were Domino Squad and Viper Squad. Ezra calls his master's lightsaber back to him as the tears start to fall, leaning over his master's body he feels the death of almost every Jedi in the galaxy. He is so deep in his emotions that he does not even notice as Ahsoka, and Satine comes over to him.
"Come on Ezra, it is time to go," Satine says as she places a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from Tiplee's body, after Ezra is out of the way Ahsoka kneels down and picks up Tiplee's body, handing Ezra Tiplee's lightsaber. Satine holds Ezra tight to her in a big hug as an older sister would, she then turns to everyone in the room, "There is a backway to Vultures Nest, it is how we escaped during Maul's first take over."
With that and Bo-Katan leading them the two surviving on Mandalore make their way through the hidden escape tunnels towards Vultures Nest along with the clones that stayed loyal to them and two Mandalorian Clans.