Atollon, Chopper Base:
"Even though we still have some preparation to do before we strike the Empire's factory on Lothal, Male Voice: Ezra. I want to do a thorough recon trip to update our intel. There's no need for the full squadron. A small unit should be able to handle this." Hera explained.
Anakin frowned as he noticed the teen was distracted by something. "I'm assigning you the mission, Ezra." she told him before frowning when he didn't reply.
"Ezra?" she called to him, causing the Padawan gasp as he snapped out of it. "Care to join the briefing?" she asked with a frown. "Sorry. Yeah. No, it's just I... I thought I saw something." he replied while giving her his attention.
"This is your mission, Ezra. I need your full attention." she reminded him. "Yeah, you've got it. Sorry." he apologized before looking at the hologram of Lothal.
"All right. So first, you'll slip into the system and study the Empire's orbital defenses. We'll keep our distance, but gather all the data we can. I want Destroyer positions, TIE patrol routes, transport schedules..." the Twi'lek trailed off when she noticed that he was distracted again.
"Something wrong?" Kanan asked him as he placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping his apprentice out of it after approaching him. "No, I... I just... I thought I saw something, or someone." he replied.
"The recon team leaves as soon as we're loaded up. Questions?" the older woman asked. "Is Admiral Thrawn there?" Sabine asked. "We have reports of an increase in capital ships, but no confirmation as to whether he's there or not." she replied while placing her hands on her hips.
"Ezra, what is it?" the older Jedi asked when he suddenly backed up and bumped into the older man. Just as it looked like he was going to point behind Rex, the teen moved and backed into Zeb.
The Lasat grabbed his shoulder and turned him before giving the teen a concerned frown. "Hey, kid. You feeling all right?" he asked before the Padawan pointed to the communications center.
"There! Look!" he shouted before everyone followed the direction he pointing and saw nothing but the console. "What am I looking at?" Zeb asked after turning his attention back to his friend.
"You don't look very good." Hera said with concerned look before he looked at Kanan. "Ezra, what do you see?" he master asked before he turned around around.
The teen gasped in surprise before losing consciousness and falling back onto the holotable. "Ezra!" the Knight exclaimed in concern. "Kanan, what's going on?" the Twi'lek asked in concern.
"I don't know. I don't know!" he answered, tone sounding just as concerned. "Ezra, can you hear me? Ezra!" the Lasat called out to him as he and the others moved to check on him.
Atollon, Ghost:
"Wake up." Kanan said as Ezra gasped while waking up. "Whoa, Ezra. It's okay. You're safe." he reassured while putting a hand on the Padawan's shoulder. "You want to tell us what's going on?" Hera asked softly before the teen got up and sat on the edge of his bed.
"It was Maul." he answered. "You mean, at the briefing?" Sabine asked him. "I saw him. He said my name. He was right behind me. I mean, he was right there." he went on. "That's impossible. If he was there, I would've sensed him." Anakin said while folding his arms.
"Kid, I was standing next to you. There was nobody else there." Zeb agreed. "Maybe it was some kind of, uh, Force vision." Hera surmised while looking at the older Jedi.
"Mmm, maybe." he agreed. "Ah. If you ask me, the kid's just been working too hard." the Lasat said before leaving the room as Chopper warbled at the teen. "Chopper, stop it." the Twi'lek scolded the droid as he warbled again before leaving.
"No, Chop's right. Nap time's over. I should get back to work." the young Jedi agreed with the astromech. "You sure you're all right?" she asked, still concerned for him.
"Hera, I feel fine. I just had a bad something." he assured before standing up. "No reason to stop the rebellion, right? Come on, guys. We gotta get ready for our mission." he replied before addressing the couple and leaving the room with them.
Atollon, Chopper Base:
Sabine and Anakin pushed another crate of torpedoes towards the Ghost before being stopped by AP-5. "Stop. We have all the proton torpedoes we need for this mission." he said.
"Well, not according to the weapons expert, which is me. I want two more cases of 'em loaded up." she replied while placing her hands on her hips. Before he could protest, the ex-merc put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't bother arguing with her, AP. You won't win, believe me." he said before letting go of the droid. "Why am I the last one to know about supply changes? I cannot work under these conditions." the droid complained before pushing the crate up the ramp and into the Ghost.
"Ugh, it's like AP-5 and Chopper were made on the same assembly line." the Mandalorian commented while folding her arms. Chopper warbled before she turned her attention to him.
"Oh, I'm the one who needs an attitude adjustment?" she asked testily before her fiancé slowly backed away. "It's him. I... It's Maul." Ezra announced before taking off.
"Ezra? Hey, Ezra! Ezra?" she called out, trying get his attention before looking at Chopper. "Chop, go get Kanan." she ordered before she and Anakin took off after the Padawan.
"I told that stupid kid, I didn't sense Maul around here." the ex-merc growled in frustration as the couple noticed the Jedi stop and look around. "Ezra, stop!" Sabine called out before he ran off towards the A-wings.
Kanan had caught up by the time they reached the ships before noticing Ezra standing over a scared trooper with his lightsaber ready. "Ezra!" the Mandalorian called out before she and the two men ran over and restrained him.
"Damnit, kid! Stop!" Anakin ordered. "Let me go!" he demanded before shoving them away and igniting his blade. Before the teen could strike the trooper down, the two other males restrained his arms with the Force.
"What are you guys doing!?" he demanded. "Ezra! It's not Maul! Look at him!" his master snapped. "You're out of your mind, kid!" the pilot exclaimed in fear before the Padawan turned his saber off.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he tried to apologize as the trooper scrambled to his feet and ran away. "What's happening to me?" the younger Jedi asked, clearly distressed.
Anakin and Sabine walked up to Kanan while watching the Ghost take off. "I'm surprised she got on the ship." the woman told him. "I told her I had a plan." he explained.
"Really? And she left anyway? Now my whole galaxy makes no sense." Anakin replied sarcastically, earning a snicker from his fiancée. "Very funny." he muttered before gesturing for the to follow.
"Come on." he said before leading them to the Phantom II. Kanan walked in for a few seconds before coming back out and holding his apprentice's comlink in his hand.
"Ezra's wrist comm?" the Mandalorian asked in confusion. "I need you to put a tracker on it without him knowing." he replied, tossing it to her as she and the ex-merc gave him a curious look.
The couple turned their attention away from working on the shuttle when they heard Kanan's speeder bike nearby. "We're tracking Ezra's signal. They just made the jump to hyperspace." Sabine informed him after she and Anakin jumped down from atop the shuttle.
"Let's get going. I don't wanna lose 'em." he replied before they quickly entered the shuttle and the Mandalorian piloted the shuttle towards the atmosphere.
Space, near Dathomir:
Once they were near Ezra's signal, Sabine pulled the shuttle out of hyperspace before flying towards the nearby planet. "Why is Ezra so willing to trust Maul again and again?" he asked Kanan. "I don't think he is, but I do know he's taking a big risk for all of us." he replied.
Dathomir, Nightsister lair:
After landing the outside the cave, the three immediately ran outside as Sabine's wrist comm beeped. "They should be this way. Come on." she said before they ran towards the entrance.
"Ezra!" Kanan called out after finding him and Maul surrounded by green ghosts. Anakin rose a brow when he saw them. 'Huh. I guess it's like dad once said: Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.'
"Pay our due." one of the ghosts said as they and the Padawan turned their attention to the other three. "Guys! Stay back!" he warned as his master and the Mandalorian attempted to shoot the ghosts.
Anakin activated his blade and attempted to slash the one nearing his fiancée before watching in horror as it started to merge with her. "Sabine!" he cried in horror while trying to grab it with the Force next. When that didn't work he dropped his saber before attempting to grab with his bare hands.
"Sabine!" the younger man cried in worry as he and the Knight managed to keep her unconscious body from hitting the ground. The ex-merc quickly backed away as another ghost possessed Kanan before watching as the two suddenly stood and walked up to the alter.
The two then dropped to their knees for a moment before standing back up. "Ezra! Stay back." the former Sith warned him as he and Anakin approached them slowly. "Sabine? Can you hear me?" he asked while gently grabbing her shoulders.
"Kanan?" the teen asked worriedly before his master suddenly removed his mask.
The older Jedi then opened his eyes to reveal them glowing green before grabbing his saber and attacking the Zabrak. Sabine's eyes opened next to reveal the same glowing green before she opened fire on her fiancé and the Padawan.
The two younger Force-wielders quickly activated their blades before deflecting the blaster shots. "Sabine, snap out of it! It's Anakin and Ezra." the ex-merc called out before the two were driven back towards Maul and Kanan.
"You better not hurt him!" the younger Jedi warned the former. "We cannot defeat the spirits of the Nightsisters! Follow me. I will show you how to save your friends." the former Sith told them before they made a break for the entrance.
"Faster! We must reach the cave entrance." he urged as the two possessed rebels continued to pursue them. As soon as they reached the entrance, the Zabrak and Anakin managed to make it out first before Ezra was forced to defend himself from a possessed Kanan.
The ex-merc quickly used the Force to pull his friend outside and into the light before noticing their possessed friends weren't following. "Wait. Why aren't they coming after us?" the Padawan asked the Zabrak in surprise and confusion.
"The altar is the source of their power. They cannot venture beyond the cave. It is unfortunate about your friends, Ezra. But this... This is your opportunity to embrace your destiny, as my apprentice. Both of you." the older man explained to the two while placing a hand on opposite shoulders.
Both roughly shoved his hands off them. "I told you, that is never going to happen!" the Jedi snapped. "You already tried tricking my parents about Skywalker destiny. You won't trick me!" the ex-merc snarled.
"Forget the past! Forget your memories! Forget your attachments. Our futures converge on a planet with two suns. We can walk that path together as friends, as brothers." he offered while holding his hand out.
Anakin smacked the offered hand away before punching the former Sith in the face and making him stumble back a few feet.
"Listen up, you horn-headed piece of shit! We're not friends, nor are we brothers! What you are however, is half a man and failure of a Sith. You're so damn pitiful that I don't even want to hurt you for kidnapping Sabine anymore." he said with contempt and before spitting at Maul's feet.
The former Sith glared hatefully at him as the two stared each other down. "You have Skywalker's arrogance, boy. And I find myself disappointed by both of you." he growled before turning and walking back to his ship.
As soon as they watched the Gauntlet fighter disappear Anakin turned his attention to Ezra. "Now. Let's go pull their asses out of the fire, shall we?" he suggested before they entered the cave.
"Okay. The altar is where their power comes from. So, they can't leave the cave, which means I just have to get Kanan and Sabine outside. How hard can that be?" the Padawan wondered.
"Was that rhetorical or do you actually want an answer?" the ex-merc dryly asked him before something dropped behind his friend. Anakin quickly moved to stand beside as that 'something' turned out to be a possessed Sabine with a rectangular lightsaber hilt.
"The hell?" Anakin muttered with a confused frown on his face. "You're unwise to reenter our sanctum." she said in a sinister ethereal voice and smirk. The ghost possessing his fiancée pressed the button on the hilt before a black saber with a curved end came out.
"Whoa! That is a cool lightsaber!" he said in awe and with a smile on his face. "If it weren't being used for evil." he added with a nervous smile after seeing Ezra's scolding frown.
Both of them quickly put their attention back on the ghost as she started swinging at them before igniting their blades and blocking her next strike. "Pretty sure that doesn't belong to you." the ex-merc said before addressing the Jedi.
"Go get Kanan and destroy the altar, I'll take care of her." he assured before pushing his possessed fiancée back a few feet. His friend nodded before taking off further into the cave.
Anakin blocked another strike before noticing that the entrance of the cave wasn't too far away. The young man then broke the saber lock before picking her up with the Force and tossing her towards the entrance.
Of course before she could hit the ground, the ex-merc sprinted and dropped to his knees before sliding along the ground and catching her. Anakin was thankful they had managed to slide into the light because now his legs were hurting from sliding across the rocky ground.
"Sabine, you okay?" he asked after watching the ghost leave her and retreat back into the cave. "Anakin? Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." she assured after coughing a bit. "I hope whatever Ezra got out of Maul, was worth it." she commented before he stood up first then helped her up.
"Oh! One other thing." he replied before turning around and summoning the rectangular saber from inside the cave. "Pretty cool, huh? The ghost possessing you was wielding it." he explained after seeing her shocked expression.
"I was going to add it to my dad's collection, but considering the conflict I'm currently sensing from you, I'd say you recognize this saber." he commented before holding it out to her.
"I can't take it..." she trailed off looking down. "Sabine, a very wise Jedi once said, 'Nothing happens by accident.' The fact that you found this, possessed or not, is no coincidence." he replied softly. Her fiancé gently took her hand in his free one before placing the hilt in it then closing her fingers over the hilt.
Sabine smiled softly at him before closing her eyes and leaning in for a kiss. The ex-merc followed suite and just as their lips were about to meet, his comm suddenly beeped.
Anakin gritted his teeth in frustration before answering. "Anakin, it's Ezra. Kanan is back to himself and the alter is destroyed, you two okay?" the teen asked. "We're fine, kid. See you in a bit." he replied before cutting off.
His fiancée smiled and pressed a brief kiss to his lips before they headed back into the cave. "This is the last time we're working with Maul." Kanan stated after the couple reached him and his apprentice.
"I sure hope so." the Mandalorian stated as she and the ex-merc walked up to them. "Well, was it worth it? Did you find out what you wanted to know?" the Knight asked, placing his mask back on before the Padawan helped him stand.
"Yes. The answer to my question of how to destroy the Sith is Obi-Wan Kenobi." he answered before Anakin's eyes widened. "Wait. You think he's still alive?" he asked.
"He must be." the teen replied before looking back at his master. "But, Kanan, Maul's also looking for him." he added. "So he knows where he is now?" the older Jedi inquired.
"The holocron didn't tell us that. It just told us a planet with two suns." Ezra added. "Well, that hardly narrows it down." the young woman remarked. "Well, we're gonna have to figure it out, because if we don't find Master Kenobi before Maul..." the Knight started.
"There won't be any way to stop the Sith." the Padawan finished. Even as they spoke, the three didn't notice the ex-merc in deep thought.
'Twin suns? I couldn't be... Could it...? For some reason I was always drawn back to that planet after a job...' Anakin frowned. 'Tatooine...'
Chapter 34 is done.