Space, Ghost:
"Now, everybody, just try to keep an open mind about this, okay?" Ezra asked as he, the couple, Kanan, Zeb and Hera walked through the ship's docking tube before stopping halfway.
"Is there something you're not telling us about this job with Hondo?" Sabine asked, frowning as both her fiancé and the Twi'lek folded their arms. "Come on. When have I asked you to trust me and it hasn't worked out?" he asked with a small grin.
"Was that a serious question?" Anakin asked with a humourless chuckle and smile. Before he could retort, the door ahead opened to reveal Hondo.
"My friends, my friends!" the pirate greeted, chuckling as he took off his hat. "It is I, Hondo!" he added as he walked towards them. "I can't tell you how much your welcome warms this old pirate's heart. You are too gracious." he finished while putting his hat back on.
"I agree. Especially since the last time we saw you, you abandoned us on that doomed Imperial station!" the Lasat snapped with a glare. "But it all worked out in the end, right?" the Padawan asked with a grin.
"Of course it did, because Hondo always delivers. Just wait until you see what my new partner and I have cooked up." Ohnaka said excitedly while giving Ezra a friendly nudge.
"Wait. What new partner?" Kanan asked while folding his arms. "Now, remember, guys? Okay? Open mind." his apprentice said with a nervous grin before the airlock opened again.
"Have you recruited these two-bit smugglers yet? We need to get moving!" the Jablogian Azmorigan complained as Hondo and Ezra moved out of the way for the rest to see him.
"Azmorigan? What makes you think we'd even consider working with him?" the older woman demanded with a glare.
"Yes, I-I know that the two of you have had your past conflagrations, but when Hondo profits, so do you. And believe me, with what we have to offer, the profit for your rebellion will be great indeed." the Weequay assured with a grin while Azmorigan nodded in agreement.
"I don't care what you have to offer. I'm not allowing that on my ship." Hera replied, referring to the Jablogian. "Oh, I remember now. The feisty one. She hit me with a tray." he spat with glare.
"Hera, take it easy." the teen tried to placate, not wanting her to start a fight. "Easy? This sack of bantha fodder tried to buy me from that sleemo Calrissian and make me his servant." she snapped.
"I paid a fair price. Technically, I still own you." the Jablogian said with a small chuckle. "Anakin." she said, keeping her glare on Azmorigan while the ex-merc activated his saber and pointed it the Jablogian's neck.
"Now, now, don't be blind to this amazing business opportun..." the pirate began, getting between the the two before covering Azmorigan's face with one hand. "Oh, sorry, sorry." he apologized to the Knight.
"Actually, I'm interested in what you have to offer." the other man told him while folding his arms. "Oh, wise one. I knew that you would see things my way. Ooh, sorry again." he apologized once more.
"Well, I'm not moving my ship, or asking my friend to sheathe his blade, until I know exactly what you're 'offering'." the Twi'lek replied. "Weapons. I am promising you all the weapons you can carry, unguarded and simply yours for the taking." Ohnaka answered.
"Not good enough. Anakin?" she replied. The younger man then pinned Azmorigan against the airlock with the Force before pointing the tip of blade between the man's eyes. "Strike two. Hit strike three and I'll be gutting him like a Rokarian dirt-fish." he warned the Weequay.
"Even if they are proton bombs? According to our mutual friend Ezra here, you've been trying to acquire them for quite some time." Hondo said while clearly unnerved by the ex-merc's actions.
"Show us." the older woman said before gesturing for Anakin to let Azmorigan go.
Ghost, near Wynkahthu:
"The planet Wynkahthu." Hondo announced after bringing up a hologram of said planet. "As I happened to pass it on my travels, I detected an Imperial freighter adrift in the upper atmosphere. Escape pods jettisoned, completely abandoned." he explained before Sabine stood up from her chair.
"Huh. Must've flown too close. It's stuck in one of those atmospheric storms. It's slowly being pulled in." she said after changing the hologram to one of the storm.
"And its cargo will soon be lost. I have the manifest right here. Its hold is loaded with a large supply of proton bombs." Azmorigan explained, changing the hologram to one of the freighter's manifest.
"Hmm. So what's in it for you two?" Hera asked as the Jablogian turned the hologram off. "Uh, you know, there is, um, precious metals, rare artifacts, riches untold. That sort of thing." Ohnaka answered.
"All probably stolen, huh, Hondo? From the worlds the Empire took over." Ezra surmised. "So, we'll split the treasure?" Zeb asked, causing the Weequay to burst out laughing.
"'Split the treasure.' Oh, that's a classic. No, no, no, no, no, no, my big, purple friend. You get the bombs." he replied while wrapping an arm around the teen's shoulders.
"And you get the treasure. So what do you need us for? Why not use your own crew?" the Mandalorian asked as he removed his arm. "Now trust me, that is a long, boring story. No, no, no, my friends, you are the guys for this job." Hondo answered with a grin.
"If the Empire couldn't salvage the ship, what hope do we have?" Kanan asked. "A-ha! Because we have something in our favor that the Empire does not, for we are desperate!" Ohnaka explained, grin still on his face as he wrapped his arm back around the younger Jedi's shoulders.
"Ugh! For once, he's right." the Twi'lek admitted while turning her chair to look at the Knight. "The Empire would abandon this ship without a second thought. But we can't afford to pass up an opportunity like this." she added with a frown on her face.
"Well said. Then we have a deal? I think we have a deal. We... We have a deal!" the Weequay said excitedly before he and the Jablogian left the cockpit. Once they were gone, the older woman brought the hologram of the storm back up.
"There'll be no way to dock with that ship in the storm. We'll need another way to off-load the cargo." she said before turning her attention to AP-5 as he entered the room.
"AP, you know the specs for this type of freighter?" she asked as the door closed behind him. "Of course. I was serving on a class four container transport when Chopper found me." he replied.
"Just get to work with Zeb on a plan for this salvage operation." she told him before turning her attention back the viewport. "Whoa. Wait. You're putting Zeb in charge?" the teen asked in disbelief.
"Sorry, pal. I got this one." the Lasat replied with a smirk and shoulder pat before he, the droid and couple left the room.
Once the Ghost was above the freighter, Ezra descended the ladder to join the couple, Zeb, Hondo and Chopper in the cargo bay before Hera's voice was heard over the ship's comm.
"All right, salvage team. We're on the clock. That cargo ship is sitting above the storm's vortex for now, but it's sinking fast. Once it's pulled under, it'll be ripped apart. So make sure you're not on it." she told them.
"Don't worry. We'll be in and out." the Lasat reassured, checking his rifle before addressing the teen. "Yes, sir, Captain Orrelios." he replied, giving a mocking salute.
"You got a problem with me in charge, talk to Hera when we get back." he growled before they heard Azmorigan's voice from the top of the ladder. "Stop! Wait for me, huh?" he said as he fell down the hole whimpering before hitting the floor.
"Ugh. You have got to be kidding." Sabine muttered in disgust as she and her fiancé walked away from him. "Azmorigan, this is dangerous work, my frail friend. Perhaps you, with your lovely singing voice, should stay here." Ohnaka suggested before the Jablogian laughed humourlessly and stood back up.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Me stuck here while you claim the best treasure. Hey, hey, hey, forget it! This job is half mine, and I've got the manifest. I go with you, or we don't go at all. Hear?" Azmorigan said with a glare aimed at the Weequay.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll keep an eye on him." the Jedi told Zeb. "You better." he replied with a frown before relaxing his expression as he addressed the couple.
"Let's do this, you two." he said before the ex-merc lowered the front ramp. "All right, boys. Good luck! We'll be here waiting for the cargo." his fiancée said before the others jumped out and onto the freighter.
"Finally! Now we have some alone time." her fiancé said after closing the ramp and before gently pressing her against the wall. Sabine pulled him into a passionate kiss as he turned the cargo bay's comm off with Force.
The ex-merc pulled away from her lips before quickly pressing his to her neck and smirking against her skin as she grabbed his shoulders and moaned.
A few minutes passed before the couple's intimate moment was suddenly broken by the ship shaking. Anakin groaned in annoyance before moving over to the wall comm and checking the scanner.
"Wind's picking up. Better warn Hera." he informed Sabine before she walked over and turned the comm back on while he kept an eye on the scanner. "The winds are picking up down here. The longer this takes, the worse it's gonna get." she warned.
"Thank you, Sabine. Your concern is noted." Hera muttered sarcastically before cutting off.
Roughly an hour passed before Hera alerted them that freighter's cargo door was open before Anakin lowered the front ramp again as she moved closer to the other ship.
"Well, it's about damn time!" he yelled over his wrist comm as he and Sabine walked to the bottom of the ramp. "Crosswinds are too strong to use the magnetic hoist." she warned over her's.
"Copy that. Powering the winch." Zeb replied before they watched him walk over to the control panel and aim the winches towards them. "Stand by to receive cables. Now!" he informed them before both cabled attached themselves to the sides of the cargo bay door.
"Cables are secured." the ex-merc announced before they watched Ezra push over a set of proton bombs that the Lasat attached to the winch with its magnetics. "All right, you two, first load of proton bombs coming out." the latter informed them before the bombs started moving towards them.
"Better watch yourself, 'cause if they get knocked about too much..." he started to warn before Sabine cut him off. "We'll be careful." she assured as the bombs kept moving.
Just as it stopped a foot or two away from the couple, Anakin used the Force to detach it and pull it towards him before he and the Mandalorian carried it inside.
"We got it! One down." the ex-merc informed Zeb before the couple headed back down the ramp and saw two sets headed towards them. "Guys, two more coming out." the Lasat said.
Anakin held a hand out towards each before stacking one on top the other then carrying them inside with Force. "Okay. Carrying two of those at the same time with the Force is a bit tiring." he admitted to his fiancée and while rubbing his brow with the back of his hand.
Sabine gave him a smile and comforting peck on the cheek before they headed back down the ramp again.
'Where the hell did Zeb go?' Anakin frowned when he noticed that Ezra was now controlling the winch. The ex-merc pulled then pulled the fourth bomb free before setting it on the ramp.
"That's four! Keep 'em coming!" Sabine said to the teen before she and her fiancé pushed the bomb up the ramp. The ex-merc frowned for the second time in half a minute when he noticed the bow of the freighter slowly going down.
"What the hell did they do now?" he muttered in annoyance.
About ten minutes later the two noticed the others join Hondo in the cargo bay before seeing a group of droids firing on them as they took cover. "Fuck! Those are DT-series sentry droids!" Anakin exclaimed in surprise.
After Chopper sent another bomb, the two criminals were next with their treasure. 'Wait until he finds out what's really in that crate.' the ex-merc thought with a smirk as he helped Hondo detach it from the winch.
"I hope you run out of fuel!" they heard Zeb yell in contempt as Chopper used his rocket to retreat to the ship.
After watching Zeb and Ezra avoid the sentry droids, the couple then watched as they jumped on the last proton bomb before it started heading towards the Ghost.
Unfortunately the two only made it halfway before the droids opened fire on the winch's cable. "No!" Sabine cried in horror as the cable snapped and the two were sent plummeting towards the storm.
Acting quickly, Anakin reached out with the Force to grab them before pulling the two towards the cable. Once they were close enough, Zeb grabbed on before the ex-merc let go.
"Whew! Lifting a guy that big ain't easy." he commented. "What's happening?" Hera asked in concern over their comms. "It's okay! Zeb's got him!" the Mandalorian answered with a relieved smile.
The couple then watched as the Padawan managed to flip onto the Lasat's back before igniting his blade and provide cover as their friend started climbing up. A few seconds passed before the ship shook again and the ex-merc quickly managed to keep his fiancée from tumbling over the side of the ramp.
"Are they on board?" the Twi'lek asked. "Not yet!" Sabine answered. "Well, get them on board!" the older woman yelled.
"Sheesh. I know we're in danger and everything, but she doesn't have to yell." the younger woman's fiancé griped while patting one of his ears to make sure he wasn't deaf.
"Okay! We got 'em!" Sabine told Hera after Anakin grabbed Zeb's hand and helped him and Ezra up onto the ramp. "Cut the line." she said to her fiancé. The man nodded before igniting his blade and cutting the cable that wasn't broken.
"Punch it, Hera!" he said after closing the ramp and before feeling ship ship shift as it flew towards space.
"Pretty nice haul." Sabine complimented the pirates with a smile after they moved the bombs and Hondo's treasure to upper part of the cargo hold. "Good job, you two." Hera told Zeb and Ezra from the catwalk above.
"Way to go, Zeb." the young Jedi said with a small smile and genuine salute. "Oh, no, you don't, Ohnaka. Half of what's in there is mine." they heard Azmorigan argue before turning their attention to the two pirates.
"Oh, but you forfeited this crate when you went off to look for your own loot. What is in here is... Is all... What is... It's all mine." the Weequay argued while sniffing a bit and opening the crate.
Ohnaka screamed from being startled as they heard familiar squealing from inside the crate. "Melch?" Zeb said as everyone watched Melch get out of the crate.
"Ha! Guess he didn't trust Hondo not to leave him behind again." Anakin commented, grinning at the pirate's misfortune. "Sorry it didn't work out, Hondo." the Twi'lek apologized. Of course the smile on her face as she said that left it up debate on whether or not she was being genuine.
"Work out? Oh, no. This is better, yes, because, uh... Friendship is the greatest treasure." he said while dropping to one knee and wrapping an arm around the Ugnaught's shoulders.
"You really mean that?" the teen asked in disbelief. "Mostly." he admitted before Melch elbowed him in the gut. The Weequay wheezed a bit as the Ugnaught laughed and folded his arms.
"See? He's always laughing. Always having a good time, this Melch." he added with a grin. "I look forward to you gentlemen continuing this conversation on your own ship." the older woman said before leaving the room with the couple.
"Well that was intresting." the ex-merc commented. "Isn't it always?" his fiancée asked with a smirk. "Touché." he replied, mirroring her smirk before she kissed him on the cheek and dragged him towards their room.
Chapter 33 finished.