Chapter 10: The Cadet
Sabine had seen Inquisitors before. Once. On the mission where they had gone to get supplies from the Republic medical station. She and Ezra had been held captive to try and draw in Ahsoka and Kanan, and only some quick thinking from Zeb had saved them. There had been two of them, the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister she found out later. Ezra had mentioned a third Inquisitor when he told her what happened on Malachor, but he had said that the Kanan had defeated the Terrelian Jango Jumper by damaging his lightsaber. The Inquisitor had jumped and tried to fly away, and ended up falling presumably to his death. Though, Maul suffered the same fate and didn't die. It made sense, though Sabine would have to ask Ezra's opinion on the matter later.
"Ah, you remember me. Good, good, though I could only have expected as much from someone that was able to defeat the Seventh Sister," The Inquisitor spoke to Ezra as he walked forward, dragging the tip of his lightsaber along the ground. He looked at Sabine as she changed her position to Form III, and seemed to notice the black-bladed weapon for the first time. "And a Mandalorian, wielding the Darksaber, no less."
"Glad you noticed," She said in a hard tone, not flinching slightly.
"Still confident in your lightsaber skills?" The Jedi next to him asked out of the corner of his mouth as the Inquisitor tensed, taking an unfamiliar pose. Then again, Sabine didn't have two blades.
"I said I was confident against most people! This guy isn't most people!" She replied, glancing at Ezra.
"Well, I suggest you change that fast!" He shouted as the Terrelian sprung, leaping into the air and whirling the twin red blades around before bringing them down in the place Sabine had been standing a moment before. She landed a short distance away, trying quickly to make an offensive stroke. When the blade met a red barrier, she quickly pulled away and blocked the counterstrike that came around by her neck. She held it for a moment before ducking under the stoke and attempting to strike the legs in a slide, though the Terrelian was fast. She found herself meeting only air as the Inquisitor jumped over her, and quickly brought her blade around to block the air slash. She quickly stood and twirled around with the blade to block the spinning blood-colored saber's counterstrike.
Then a weird instinct came over her, and her mind screamed for her to jump backward. Overwhelmed by the sudden impulse, she listened and jumped back, and an emerald cyclone whirled just over her head and landed where she had been a second before. Flashes of red and green echoed in front of her as the much more well versed Ezra went toe to toe with the Eighth Brother. For a brief moment, the blades stopped as Ezra held a lock over his head. The sound of the Gauntlet lifting off the ground roared through the ruins of the Star Destroyer. She saw Ezra quickly look over his shoulder and shout, "Get on the ship!" before he dodged to the side.
Sabine ran to the ramp of the ship as it lifted off the ground, jumping to mind the gap. Once she was inside the cargo bay, her eyes locked onto the jetpack sitting in the corner. Without a moment's hesitation, she had the device locked onto her back again. Just as she was about to jump back into the fight, Chopper wheeled in.
"Woop woo woop woo?!" He asked quickly.
"I don't know, cover us! Just keep the ship in the air!" She replied angrily. She took out her blasters and flew out the open cargo hatch, raining fire on the Inquisitor. Ezra ducked out from under the hail of blaster bolts, running to stand beneath her. She swayed back and forth as some of the bolts came back at her, attempting to keep up the barrage as long as possible. She managed to get a few more shots off before one of them nailed her in the shoulder, causing her to lose her aim and allowing the Inquisitor to escape her pin. Fortunately, beskar armor could take the damage. Though that mark will do a number on the paint job.
She stowed the now power depleted blasters, exchanging for the Mandalorian lightsaber and swooping low over the Inquisitor's head. She took a swipe while in the air, expecting to be blocked and not being disappointed. She dropped out of flight behind the Terrelian, making three quick strokes before jetpack boosing to the side to avoid a blow. Sabine made another overhead attack. The Inquisitor blocked, pushing her into the air in hopes of knocking her out against the wall. Instead, she fired her jetpack so she landed on her feet against the wall, pushing off and blasting her sonic repulsor overhead. The Eighth Brother shook his head in disorientation as Ezra came back for another barrage of attacks, which the Brother managed to block successfully.
While Ezra held his attention, Sabine fired one of her paralyzing darts into the Terrelian's back, and then shouted down to Ezra, "Go! Now!"
The Inquisitor glanced up at her as the Jedi made for the ship, and she pressed a button on her wrist interface. A current of electricity appeared on their dark armored foe, and he yelled in what sounded more like frustration than pain. She flew for the ship as it ducked out of the hangar, looking back as the ramp closed in time to see the Inquisitor shake off the dart and glare at them menacingly.
The familiar sound of hyperspace relieved both of them as they sat down on the floor, exhausted. "Next time... I tell you... to run... you run... and let me deal with it... okay?" The Padawan panted.
She had to smile at that. "Next time... you tell me... to run... I'm hauling your ass back to this ship with me," She replied, still out of breath.
Ezra chuckled at that as he caught his breath. "I knew that going in there was a bad idea, and we did it anyway. I'm sorry."
"No, no. It's on me. I was the one who said we should investigate. I pressured you into it. I'm the one who should be sorry," She said, and surprised expression came over Ezra's face. She tilted her head slightly. "What?"
"It's just… that's the first time I think you've apologized for something, well, ever," He remarked. Sabine smirked, and lightly punched him in the shoulder.
"Don't get too used to it, Captain Bravado."
"Trust me, I'm pretty sure that was a one-time thing."
"Good."
"Woop woop? Woop woop woo woop," the heard as Chopper rolled into the room. They both looked at him.
"'We've got problems'?" She repeated. "What do you mean?"
"Woop woop woo," The droid replied.
"'Out of gas'?" Ezra asked. He and Sabine glanced at each other before quickly standing up and running to the bridge. Sure enough, the low fuel alarm was going off. Sabine looked at the indicator, which hovered dangerously above zero.
"Aaaand we're out of gas. Fantastic," Sabine remarked, frustrated. She kicked the underside of the console. "We can't catch a break right now!"
The Jedi thought for a moment. "Alright Chop, we've got the bad news. What're our options?"
A holomap of all the reachable systems appeared, nothing within feasible distance to have a strong Rebel presence. Sabine looked at the map with an annoyed expression, as if trying to stare it into yielding a result. "Nothing. Our options are nothing," She said in a bitter tone of voice.
"Ahhhh… Not exactly," Ezra said, closely examining the Lothal sector. His eyes rested on a smaller system just on the outside of their limited range. It took her a brief moment, but she soon recognized it.
"Ezra, no," She replied.
"Yes, Sabine."
Sabine pinched the bridge of her nose. She closed her eyes in frustration, desperately trying to think of an alternative. She heard Ezra have an intake of breath to say something but cut him off. "Don't even say it!" She snapped, before dropping her hand and opening her eyes. She spoke again, "Look, I'm sorry. We've made a couple of bad decisions today, and I've now had to duel an Inquisitor, which is not something I had ever wanted to do. Much less without Force abilities," She paused for a breath and turned to Chopper. "Could we make it there?"
"Wup woo...woo… woop woop woop woo," The droid calculated.
"Well, then I guess we're headed there," She responded. As her thoughts returned to the duel with the Eighth Brother, she caught Ezra before he walked back to his room. "By the way, was that you earlier?"
"Was that me earlier what?" He asked, clearly confused.
"When you jumped in between me and the Inquisitor, I had this overpowering urge to jump back. Was that you?"
"Oh. Uh… yeah. I figured that because Jedi could sense emotion, I could do the inverse, and give you the temporary instinct to move away. I'm sorry if it was disorienting."
"Thanks, but you don't need to apologize. You were trying to protect me, and frankly, I'm grateful. I'm not sure if I could hold my own against one of the Inquisitors for very long."
"Anytime," Ezra said, exiting the room. Sabine sighed and looked back at the map. She hadn't thought she'd be back in the Lothal sector any time soon, much less now. But here they were, making a desperate beeline for Garel. We'd better hope Zare's welcoming guests. She thought.
This trip to Garel all hinged on an old buddy of Ezra's from back when they were running their ops out of Lothal. Ezra had had to infiltrate the Imperial academy in the Capital City in order to get a decoder for Kanan and Hera to stop an Imperial Kyber Crystal shipment. During that time, he'd saved another cadet from the Inquisitor, Jai Kell; and also became acquainted with Zare Leonis, whose sister had disappeared years before. After Ezra and Kell had escaped, Zare chose to remain behind and continue to search for his sister while providing them with Imperial intel. His recent promotion and high esteem among Imperial officers earned him access to such secrets. It had saved them from getting caught and killed when Gal Travis had set them up.
Zare had told Ezra that he was headed to the academy on Arkanis, where he hoped they had taken his sister. Until then, Ezra had been under the alias of Dev Morgan. He attempted to tell Zare his real name but was cut off by Imperial troops. It wasn't until much later that Zare's girlfriend, Merei Spanjaf, had contacted them to get Zare out. Just prior to going to Arkanis to rescue him, they had deposited his parents on Garel. During the rescue was the second and last time Zare and Sabine had spoken, in which she had quickly explained their plan. Ezra held the roof while she, Zeb, and Merei's mother Jessa went to the main computer to lock out the Imperials. Zare then retrieved his sister from the holding cells, and he, his sister, and the rescue team escaped. The Ghost team had dropped Zare, his sister, and Merei's family off in Garel port. Before they had parted, Sabine recalled that Ezra had told Zare his real name. That last time they had seen him. There was no telling if he was even still alive at this point.
And now were betting our lives and this entire mission on it. Her thought train finished. She had been on a roll lately with bad ideas. She had been hoping that Ezra would have talked some sense into her by now. Though it seemed to her like all he had been doing was going along with her plans regardless of how idiotic they sounded. It was strange, though Ezra had his fair share of idiotic moments.
The ship rumbled as it dropped out of hyperspace a few minutes later, accompanied closely by a much louder low fuel alarm, almost like it had gone from, "Hey, I'd like some fuel," to "YOU IDIOTS I'M RUNNING OUT OF FUEL!". Nevertheless, she shut off the alarm and called Ezra up over the Intercomm. He appeared a few moments later, staring out at the purple-shaded world. "Never thought I'd be back here this soon," He commented, watching some of the clouds swirl over the surface.
"You and I both," She replied, checking an alert on their interface. "Well, we just got clearance to land. Let's hope your old buddy doesn't mind the unexpected drop-in." She took them in low over the surface, skimming over the currently snow-covered rooftops and slowing before they descended into their assigned port. The Gauntlet set down with a slight bump, and they both sighed and looked at each other.
"Here goes nothing," Ezra muttered as they both stood and walked towards the exiting ramp. Sabine avoided her previous mistake, grabbing her helmet and her now repaired jetpack from the hangar. As they stepped off the ramp, no one immediately shot at them, making her think that they might actually manage to get fuel somewhere here after all. Ezra took the lead, walking calmly and inconspicuously out of the port and through the main market. They rounded a few corners, and then came to an alley with a single door outside it. Ezra knocked on the door twice, and the door slid open to reveal a man standing there.
"Codephrase?"
"Ezra, you didn't say anything about a code phrase. You wouldn't happen to know it?"
"Ah… no. I don't," He replied to Sabine. The man stepped back and reached to close the door.
"Wait! Just-," She started, but was cut off by someone else from inside the building.
"They're fine, father. If it weren't for these two, Dhara and I might still be prisoners on Arkanis," The voice spoke, and a face that the three of them recognized came to the door. "I was wondering if you guys would show up again someday. Come on in, and make yourself comfortable. I assume you're not here just to chat," Zare said, gesturing behind him. Sabine walked in, closely followed by the Jedi and his old friend.
"It's good to see you again, Zare," She heard behind her.
"You too, 'Dev Morgan'," Zare replied to Bridger, elbowing him lightly. Sabine had to smile at this reunion. It was a good reminder that even in bleak times, there was still happiness to be found.
Zare led them through the underground abode, which housed both his own family, Merei's, and a few others that had chosen to start to fight back. Ezra was impressed. This was more than the Ghost crew had ever started with. More people. More equipment. More espionage stuff, which was different than Hera's approach to fighting the Empire. And, on top of that, several niceties, like a well-furnished couch and table. The former Imperial cadet led them over to the table and sat down at the head of it, pouring himself a drink from a pitcher on the table. Ezra followed suit, taking a sip shortly after. The cool fluid tasted of Meilooruns, with a small twang that indicated that someone had spiked it with a sweet wine. Ezra chose to watch himself with the drink, sipping it gingerly.
"As much as I'd like to know how you guys have been, you probably aren't here for small talk. So, let's get to it. What's the issue?" His old friend asked, with his feet propped up on the table.
"The issue is simple, actually. We need fuel, and we don't have enough to burn all the way back to command. Garel was our only option in this part of the Outer Rim, and we figured because you had a presence here, we might be more welcome than, say…" He trailed off and Zare finished for him.
"...Lothal. Of course. Well, you guys are welcome to stay here, however, I can't say that we have the fuel you need readily on-hand," Zare explained. "We barely have enough to keep our overland transport running. However, Dhara, Merei, and I have found a stockpile of it at the Imperial outpost 5 klicks northeast. We don't have the skills or capacity to make off with a decent amount, but if you guys got here on a ship, we could use the fuel we have to get it there, fuel you up, and get some for our crew as well."
"So we help you, you help us?" Sabine asked. Ezra nodded at this and looked back at his old friend.
"Precisely," The dark-colored teen replied. "So, are you in?"
"Of course we're in," Ezra stated, and the artist next to him nodded in response. Chopper beeped that he was in too. Zare smiled at this.
"Fantastic," Zare said, then he looked at Sabine. "Er… you're Sabine right? The Explosives Artist?"
"Correct, and correct," She responded flatly.
"While we have the raw materials to build munitions, we don't know how to assemble them to get the maximum desired effect."
"So you're asking me to put together some explosives for you? I can do that." Ezra could sense her relief at the notion of doing something simple and predictable, like making munitions. He could understand where she was coming from. He'd want to do something that he found routine and predictable too. He watched her exit the room, with Chopper wheeling behind her. After they had left, Zare stood up.
"Care to go up top?" He suggested, gesturing to the stairs leading up in the corner. Ezra considered for a moment.
"Sure. I could use some air," He said, and the two of them walked up the stairs to a fenced rooftop. The sun over the planet dipped below the horizon, casting a shadow along the streets of Garel. The yellow streetlights lit up the night in the city, providing a strange glow in the air from below. The two of them leaned against the rail, watching the sun descend slowly. The two of them stood in contrast to each other. Ezra had his usual orange jacket and gear on, a lightsaber at one side, and his DL-44 at his other. They had both grown taller, and the effect of stress from all the rebellious actions and injuries they had taken showed on both of them.
Zare's appearance had changed a lot. He had exchanged his stark white Imperial Cadet's uniform for a dark green camouflage jacket and repurposed Stormtrooper armor on both arms. A belt with an A180 multi config blaster pistol hung at his right side, and the different parts he had collected for the configurations around his belt as well as spare energy cells. A silver commlink was on his other hip, as well as a first aid kit and lockpicking set. A sherpa lining was on the collar around his neck, protecting him from the chills of the winter season on Garel. His voice was slightly deeper, and he wore padded half-gloves up to the first joint on his finger.
"So, 'Dev Morgan', what're you and Sabine up to this time?" He asked, looking out at the sunset as a breeze picked up. A few snowflakes began to fall, making the faint coloration of the sun have an eerie light to it.
"We're on a mission to track down an Imperial weapon. A planet killer, most likely. Codenamed Project Stardust. Ever heard of it when you were a cadet?"
"Not that I can recall, no."
"Ah. Well, Sabine and I have been following a trail of data to try and find the weapon, but we've drawn a blank so far. We have a lot of data, but most of it is redacted."
"Dhara or Merei could take a crack at it. They're both good with computers."
"Chopper already tried decrypting it, and no luck. We went to the last pair of coordinates, not far from here, but it was a trap. We were nearly captured by an inquisitor."
"Wait a minute, the Inquisitor?"
"No. Kanan defeated him over Mustafar. The inquisitor you were familiar with was one of many, though we've never gotten an exact number. This one was… is called the Eighth Brother."
"You lead a crazy life, Ezra."
"Tell me about it. After we escaped the Eighth Brother, because we weren't smart people, we were nearly out of fuel from all the jumps we've made. So, I figured we might be able to slip in and refuel here."
"I'm glad you're willing to help us out in the process."
"Anytime," Ezra finished. There was a pause for a moment.
"You remember that the Inquisitor took Dhara because she was Force-sensitive, right?"
"I thought that might've been the reason."
"Yes, well, she doesn't really know how to use her abilities well. She can do it, but she doesn't know how to as well as you do. Maybe you could…?"
"Teach her? I'm incredibly underqualified. I can show her a few ways she can use the Force, and what not to do while using it, but I can't teach her everything while I'm here. She'll have to learn how to do it on her own."
"I see. Nevertheless, I am grateful. If she can control her powers better, it will be better for her and help us out in the process."
"You're welcome," Ezra said, and thought for a second. "How's Merei?"
"Better, now that we aren't pulling some massive undercover Imperial investigation. She prefers a head-on fight where she can be there to protect me instead of fighting from the sidelines. Though she does tend to get a little…"
"Overprotective?"
"Yeah. That."
"Makes sense."
"I suppose. How's Sabine?"
"Ohoho, no. She's not... We aren't…-"
"Really?" He asked, switching his position so his side was leaning against the railing. "That's not what it seems like."
"Are you kidding me, Zare?"
"I don't have to be a Jedi, much less a Force-sensitive to see what's going on there. You guys have good chemistry. It would work."
"Zare, trust me. I've tried my hand at it before, and come up empty."
"Merei and I didn't get together for a while after I had asked her the first time. Things can change, you know."
"Are you telling me to go try and flirt with a Mandalorian who kills pretty much anything that violates her comfort zone?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you to do."
Ezra stood for a moment, unsure how to reply. "You're sending me on a suicide mission."
"A suicide mission where if you don't die, you'll get something much better than you would if you didn't."
"A suicide mission is one you don't walk out of still breathing. Hence the name, suicide mission!"
They both laughed at this, with a much lighter mood than Ezra had been expecting when he showed up here. Zare studied Ezra's face for a moment, and then backed off, smiling in a good-hearted teasing manner. "You like her."
"I do not."
"Yes, you do. I can go get Dhara and she can read right through you. You like her."
"I do not have a crush on Sabine Wren, Zare. You'd best leave it there."
"All right. I'm just saying…"
"Are you now?"
"No, I'm not. I'm telling you."
"I disagree."
"I don't."
They both laughed again, and turned to walk back inside as the snow began falling harder on the now darkness-covered town. While he had stubbornly refused Zare's advice vocally, he found his inner monologue on the subject saying something slightly different than when he arrived.
No. I can't I won't.
Or can I?
Hello, everyone! I'm sorry for the delay on the chapter's release, but because of schoolwork and other unforeseen delays, I had to push the time back aways. But it's here now. And, while I know some of you are probably wondering, I did not create that narrative about what Zare has been up to. I pulled it straight from canon. You can look up Zare Leonis on Wookiepedia and fact check it, every last bit of it is true.
I've wanted to bring Zare into the fray for a while, and I figured this was a good time to do it. Zare was one of Ezra's closest friends outside the Ghost crew, and as such, I think you can understand the importance of it to Ezra's character. As always, let me know what your thoughts are by leaving a review. It'd be welcome of you to follow and favorite the story(So you can read more when more is posted :), and if you would like to, spread the story among people you think would enjoy it! Thanks for reading, and I'll have more up soon.
*EDIT* I actually thought it was Wednesday today(for future reference it's, Tuesday at the time I'm writing this). My bad. Enjoy the early chapter!(This is a one-time occurrence unless I forget which day of the week it is again.