Space, Phoenix Home:
The Ghost crew made their way to an upper docking tube of the Liberator in order to meet with Cham Syndulla. "How do I look?" Kanan asked his apprentice while trying to fix up his shirt. "Hmm, same as always. Why?" he asked before they all stopped a few feet away from the door.
"Straighten up a little bit. You're making me look bad." he replied, nudging the teen with his shoulder before literally standing straight. "What's the matter with you?" the kid asked with a raised brow.
"Nothing. Just calm down." the older Jedi said quickly and nervously. "You calm down." the youngest teen replied before the door opened and three Twi'leks walked up to them. "It's been a long time, Father." Hera greeted the orange one formally.
"Ah. You must be the Jedi I've heard about." he said after turning his attention to Kanan. "Jarrus. Kanan Jarrus. I've... Heard a lot about you too, sir." he replied briefly clearing his throat mid sentence.
"This is the rest of our crew. Ezra, Sabine, Anakin and Zeb." he continued while gesturing to the other. Unfortunately his nervousness had not only led to him forgetting about Chopper but also gesturing to the wrong person as he introduced them.
The ex-merc felt a bit annoyed at being mistaken for the kid, though the amusement he got from the seeing the Jedi squirm definitely made up for it. "A fine group of fighters. Cham Syndulla at your service." the orange Twi'lek introduced with a small bow and smile.
"The Liberator of Ryloth. I studied your Clone War tactics at the Academy." Sabine said with a smile as he chuckled. "Yes. The Empire is still trying to figure out how to beat me. These are two of my finest warriors. Numa and Gobi." he replied before introducing the female Twi'lek first than the male.
"Well, we should get to the briefing. There's a lot to do." Hera said before turning around and making her way to the door she and the others had come through earlier.
"The Empire has a light carrier in orbit over Ryloth they use to bomb the Twi'lek rebels. The ship's well defended, but we can get aboard using the stolen bomber while the squadron is away. One team secures the hangar, the other storms the bridge. Then we jump out before they figure out what hit them." Hera explained as she and the others stood around the holotable that first projected a hologram of Ryloth before she changed it to one of the carrier and an Imperial light cruiser.
"No. This monstrosity has rained destruction and death on the citizens of Ryloth. It is not enough that it simply disappears. My people need to see it fall from the sky in flames, as a symbol of our strength. So I recommend a change in plans. Using my bomber, schematics and timetables, we can destroy the carrier when it's most vulnerable." Cham argued before his daughter leaned on the holotable with her hands.
"If you could have destroyed it, you would have done so already. You need us, and we need the carrier." she replied, not budging with her plan. After that little exchange it was clear things between father and daughter were tense.
"We need each other. Cham's intel, Hera's plan. This works, we all win." the older Jedi spoke up, noticing the tension and hoping to diffuse it. Cham exchanged looks with both his followers before crossing his arms.
"Very well. With Jedi on our side, how can we fail?" he replied. Anakin wasn't stupid, he knew those three were probably going try something stupid. 'I'm curious to see how this plays out.' he thought while crossing his arms.
Hyperspace, en route to Ryloth:
As Hera flew the TIE bomber with the old Republic attack shuttle attached, the others were currently sitting in the ordinance bay of the bomber. "Master Windu spoke highly of your heroics at the Battle of Lessu." Kanan said to Cham.
"Ah. Mace Windu, hmm. Outnumbered 100 to one, we charged across Lessu's energy bridge to certain doom. We would not be stopped. They named that attack in songs, 'The Hammer of Ryloth.'" he replied with a smile.
"General Syndulla, I could listen to your stories all day." the older Jedi said before making his opening the door to the cockpit of the bomber and entering. "And I could tell them all day." the Twi'lek replied with a chuckle before Hera abruptly closed the door.
Space, near Ryloth:
As soon as they dropped out of hyperspace, Hera detached from the shuttle before flying towards the carrier. Anakin watched out of the corner of his eye as Cham stood up and made his way to the cockpit before Gobi came out and took the spot his leader had just been sitting in.
A few minutes passed before they heard their friend call out loud enough for them hear. "Hang on!" she warned as the bomber shook. "I hate it when she says that." Zeb griped before the TIE suddenly hit the ground, sending Sabine to the floor.
Once the bomber finally came to a complete stop, Anakin rubbed his sore neck before getting up and making his way past the other to help his girlfriend up. "Explosives?" she asked, sounding a bit surprised. Before she could say anything else, the two Twi'leks walked around them before aiming their blaster pistols at the Ghost crew.
"Sorry, my friends." Ruma apologized as Anakin stood protectively in front of his friends. "Traitors!" his girlfriend accused with a glare before two shot stun blasts at them. Much to their surprise however, the ex-merc needed to be hit seven more times before he too finally went down.
"Cheeskar nok..." he groaned weakly before passing out.
Space, Imperial light carrier:
A few minutes later Ahsoka's son was awoken by his girlfriend shaking him. "Where did those sleemos go?" he asked groggily before standing up as she put her helmet on. "I don't know, but before we look we should check on the others." Sabine replied before she, her boyfriend, Ezra and Zeb made their way to the cockpit.
"Um, Hera, uh, our 'friends' have bags full of detonators." the younger Jedi informed her, his voice still a bit groggy. "Enough to blow up this carrier. We're scrubbing the mission, right?" the Mandalorian girl asked the older woman.
"No, we're finishing it. We'll stop my father, then we'll steal this ship." she replied. "Good. 'Cause I'm hoping for a chance to kick all three of their asses." the ex-merc said before she opened the top hatch and climbed out.
"We'll take the bridge. Sabine, you and Anakin check the munitions rack for those detonators." Kanan ordered before climbing out after her, Ezra right behind. "They blow those up, and this whole ship will go too. Everyone on Ryloth will be able to see that fireball." Anakin's girlfriend said before she started to climb out of the hatch.
"Pretty sure that's the idea, babe." he replied before climbing out after her.
The couple made their way over to the munitions before crouching down nearby once they saw Numa. "There's Numa. Get down!" she said. "I could try stunning her from here." he said, grabbing his DC-17m and taking aim after switching it to stun.
The ex-merc didn't even get a chance before she forced his blaster down. "You hit one proton bomb, and you'll touch off the whole magazine." she snapped. "All right! There's no need to get snappish. Jeez..." he trailed off, getting irritated by her before they were both taken off guard by a blaster bolt that hit their cover.
"You should've let me!" he snapped. "You'll get your chance." she shot back as Gobi joined Ruma in opening fire on them. Just as they were about to return fire, the lights in the hanger turned red as large blast door opened and a squadron of stormtroopers entered before opening fire on all of them.
"See? There's something you can shoot." she said before he started shooting at the troopers. "Whatever." he replied dismissively before dodging a bolt from one of them. After a few seconds of returning blaster fire, Sabine took aim at the door control before shooting and watching as the blast door started to close.
Right before the door shut, the ex-merc managed to kill both the one trooper that was about to get stuck on their side and one other trooper on the other side.
Since his girlfriend insisted they didn't hurt the Twi'leks, the teen had since holstered his blaster and started using his purple saber before the two had taken cover behind a crate.
"We don't have time for a standoff. Got any ideas?" he asked his girlfriend while keeping his attention on the crates. "Yeah. Catch me that droid." she replied while pointing to the small mouse droid rolling around to their left.
Keeping his focus on the crates, Anakin removed his left hand from his saber before holding it out towards the droid. The mouse droid was lifted off the ground almost immediately before floating over to the Mandalorian girl's waiting hands.
"Oh, man... Using the Force on something you can't sense or currently see is difficult." he commented before blinking a few times when his eyes started to hurt.
"The fire in hangar bay three is out of control. Abandon ship. Get to the escape pods. I really mean it. This is the captain. Get to the escape pods. Abandon ship. The fire is out of control." the captain's voice came over the carrier's comm before Anakin released a frustrated groan.
"Idiot. You don't get specific when it comes to Mind Tricking someone who going to relaying orders to other people! That just makes it suspicious." the ex-merc complained as his girlfriend continued working on the droid.
"It is Ezra you're taking about after all." she replied as he released another frustrated groan. "Tell me about." he said before his comm started beeping. "Yes?" he asked snarkily, clearly fed up with the day's events.
"The bridge is secure. What's your status?" the older man asked. "What do you think it is? But Captain Mando has a plan. Sort of." he replied somewhat testily. "Yeah. Sort of a plan." she said before looking at him. "Captain Mando?" she asked, sounding annoyed before he let out a weary sigh.
"Yeah, sorry. It's been a long day." he apologized tiredly. "I'm sorry too." she replied softly before focusing back on the droid as she put it down. The Mandalorian girl then started pressing a few buttons on her right wrist computer before the droid took off.
The couple watched as the two Twi'leks attempted to shoot it while Sabine drove the little droid passed them and into one of the proton bombs before pressing a button and seeing it release an electrical that rendered both Twi'leks temporarily unconscious.
"Nice." the ex-merc complimented before they jogged over to the two. "Don't even think about it." he warned the female while pointing the tip of his saber at her face. "Sabine's plan worked." the teen informed Kanan over his comm. "Was there any doubt?" she asked after confiscating Gobi's blaster and placing her hands on her hips.
Anakin could practically see the smirk on her face as she asked that. "Maybe, maybe not. You'll never know." he teased before she strutted up to him and wrapped her arm around his waist from behind.
"Oh, really? Is there no way I can convince you...?" she whispered after resting her chin on his left shoulder and moving her hands down a bit. Before her boyfriend could continue their flirtatious banter, the older Jedi's annoyed voice came over his comm. "Find Cham and hurry." he ordered them before cutting off.
"I guess playtime's over." the ex-merc sighed, a bit disappointed before Sabine embraced him from the front this time. "Oh, it's not over yet... I have every intention of finishing what you started, mister..." she whispered sensually.
"Gods, woman. You're such a tease, you know that?" he growled playfully while wrapping his free arm around her waist and pulling her flush against him.
"Go on." Anakin ordered, gesturing to the female with his saber after Cham tried to contact her and Gobi. "Apologies, General Syndulla. We have been captured." she replied. A few minutes later Sabine opened a channel with the other so the two Twi'leks could hear.
"I want freedom from the Empire as badly as you, but this battle can't be won on Ryloth alone. During the Clone War, you didn't just fight for a village, you rallied everyone to liberate the entire planet. You inspired me. The Rebellion is no different. But either you couldn't see that or you didn't believe in me. And that's why I left." Hera said to her father.
"She's right. We have the ship. We just have to buy her enough time to get us out of here." Ezra said to him. Gobi and Numa exchanged a look he stood up. "I am with you, Hera." he said before Numa stood up too. "I am also with you." she said before Anakin waved his hand, freeing both from their binders.
"Well, Father?" their friend asked. A brief moment of silence passed before they heard his reply. "I guess you have your chance to prove me wrong." he said before his daughter addressed them.
"Everyone, get to the turrets." she ordered. "We're on our way, Hera." the ex-merc's girlfriend replied before the four split up.
Anakin dropped into the turret's seat just as his friend's voice came over his open comm. "Focus all fire on that shuttle. We can't let them retake the ship." she said a shuttle and four TIEs neared the carrier.
"This is where the fun begins." Anakin said with a smirk before Kanan opened fire first, managing to destroy one. "Four targets inbound!" he warned. "I'm on them!" Sabine replied, opening fire on the fighters. "They got past me!" Numa warned after Gobi managed to destroy one.
"I see 'em!" Ezra replied as the ex-merc destroyed one that tried landing. "Kanan, the shuttle!" their Twi'lek friend warned as the shuttle neared the hanger. "Fry you sons-a-bitches..." Anakin growled before shooting the cockpit and watching as the shuttle exploded.
"We're not in the clear yet." Hera warned as the four bombers returned before each launched a torpedo at the carrier. "Incoming torpedos!" the older Jedi warned. "Taking evasive action." Hera said.
"Two targets at 3.9!" Sabine warned as she opened fire on two of the torpedos before managing to destroy one. "Missed one!" she warned as the second flew past her. "I got it." her boyfriend replied before opening fire and destroying it.
"Lousy Imps!" Zeb growled after a few torpedos hit the top of the carrier. Unfortunately a few seconds later, the carrier suddenly started to turn on it's left. "Lost our stabilizer!" Hera warned.
"Come on!" she grunted in effort as last two bombers were finally destroyed before managing to right the ship's position. Unfortunately their victory was short-lived as the Imperial light cruiser nearby started heading straight towards them. Roughly a minute passed before Ezra contacted the two other teens. "Sabine, Anakin, meet me in the hanger." he said.
After meeting him and Cham in the second-right hanger, the kid explained his plan before the Twi'lek and couple made their onto the catwalk above one of the unused bombers. "I've armed the explosives" Sabine said after they planted the detonators in the fighter.
"You actually think this ridiculous plan will work?" the Twi'lek asked, sounding skeptical. "Yeah. Kinda fun, isn't it?" she asked, smirking behind her helmet before she and the other two climbed out of the bomber.
Once they were out, the Mandalorian girl released it from the clamps before they watched as it floated down and started hovering above the ground near the young Jedi. "I set the anti-grav. Just give it a push." she said to him before he gave a thumbs up and turned his attention to the TIE.
"You wanted to blow something up. Here's your chance." she said to Cham after Ezra Force-pushed the bomber out of the hanger. The Twi'lek then made his way to one of the nearby turrets so he could shoot the bomber at the right moment.
Once Cham informed them of the cruiser's destruction, his daughter then activated repaired hyperdrive before making the jump.
Light carrier, Phoenix Home:
As a few A-wings flew into the carrier, the Ghost crew and Cham were currently standing outside his Republic attack shuttle "I'm getting reports from all over Ryloth. Our people are rallying against the Empire. Every hour, more join our ranks." he said.
"Glad to hear it, sir." Kanan replied before the Twi'lek turned to his daughter. "Daughter, may we speak?" he asked, getting a nod in return before the two walked away from the others.
"I believe we have something to finish." Sabine whispered to her boyfriend after the two Twi'leks left. The ex-merc smiled at her before she bit her lip and pulled him towards the Ghost.
Chapter 24 done.