Yavin 4:
"We're coming up on Yavin 4." Sabine said after Anakin pulled the Gauntlet out of hyperspace. "I wonder what this rebel cell is like, and how big it is compared to Phoenix group." he said as she sat in the co-pilot chair.
"According to Hera, it's more well-equipped than we were. The remnants of Phoenix group are now a part of this cell." Kanan told him before Katie beeped and rolled out from behind his chair.
"Yes, girl. I promise you'll get an oil bath when we land." he oldest friend assured while giving her a smile. The white and pink droid beeped happily as he descended the ship towards the nearest temple before landing.
Once the ramp lowered the group walked down before being greeted by Zeb and Ezra. "Welcome to Yavin 4." the Lasat said, placing his hands on his hips as he and the Jedi smiled.
"Zeb!" the young woman cried happily before giving him a friendly punch on the arm. "Whoa, easy there." he joked as the two young men fist-bumped. "What, you haven't gotten weak since I've been gone, have you, big guy?" she teased before they kept walking.
"Where's Hera?" the Knight asked. "She's on a supply mission with Chopper." his Padawan answered. "Come on, We'll show you around." Zeb said as they headed towards some Y-wings.
"So many different ships and people." the ex-merc commented. "There are cells gathered here from every corner of the galaxy. And it's still not enough against the Empire." the Lasat informed them.
"As long as we can help Ryder and Lothal, I'll take what we can get." the younger Jedi added before Rex ran up to them. Anakin immediately hugged his godfather as alarms started going off.
"Anakin, you're back." the clone greeted with a smile after pulling away. "Rex! What's going on? Where's Hera?" the younger man asked. "Well, if you're looking for Hera, there she is, coming in hot with what's left of her squadron." he answered while pointing at the sky.
"Come on! Come on! Move it!" Rex yelled to the other rebel soldiers as they all ran across the courtyard. "Kanan?" his apprentice asked in worry. "Don't worry. She's got it." the older man replied.
Hera's Y-wing landed first before sliding across the ground for a few seconds then stopping as the other three did the same. Chopper exited the bomber as a rebel climbed onto it and opened the cockpit before helping the Twi'lek out.
"I've seen worst landings." Kanan remarked jokingly after Wedge and the other two pilots before she and turned to see her fellow Spectres approaching.
"Kanan? You're all here!" she gasped softly. "And Sabine, Anakin, you came back." she said with a smile before looking at the Mandalorian. "What about your family on Mandalore?" she asked as they all stopped in front of her.
"They'll be fine. Right now, our family here needs us more." she replied with a smile before her new husband wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave the older woman a smile as too.
"Well, I'm glad to have you, both of you. And there's plenty enough work to go around." Hera told them. "Well then, let's get started." the Anakin suggested. "A reunion. How nice." they heard Kallus' voice from behind before turning to see the man walking towards them wearing rebel clothing.
"But as Commander Revan suggests, it's time to get to work. Mon Mothma requests your presence." he informed them. The group then followed him towards the temple interior.
"Ally or not. I still have the urge to knee him in the crotch." the ex-merc said to his wife before smiling when he got a quiet snicker in return.
"Captain, I commend your bravery in protecting your fellow pilots." Mon said to Hera. "I just want to know what went wrong out there." the other woman reponded.
"As do I." Mothma agreed before turning to the hologram of Organa. "My sources in the Senate confirm that the Empire has established a new communications relay in the Jalindi system." he began before bringing up a hologram of a radio tower.
"It greatly expands their command and control throughout the surrounding sectors, and enabled them to respond much more quickly to your incursion." the senator continued before Jan sighed.
"I hate to admit it, but it appears Gerrera's rumors were true." he said. "Hmm, how does Saw's ragtag group have better intel than we do?" Rex asked with a frown.
"Because Gerrera has absolutely no qualms about how he acquires it." Kallus answered with his arms folded before placing them on the holoprojector. "Well, if he gets results." Anakin said coldly.
"We do not mistreat our prisoners." the Chandrilan reminded with a scolding frown before he rolled his eyes and scoffed. Sabine gave him a concerned look before Dodonna spoke.
"Now, the question is, what course of action do we take? We can't allow this relay to hamper our missions." he reminded. "Perhaps there is another way." the former ISB agent began as he walked over to stand between the two older women before pressing a button on the holotable.
"If we could somehow tap into this relay, we could use it to monitor Imperial fleet movements and adjust our own operations to avoid them." he explained as the hologram zoomed in.
"Can it be done?" Mon asked the Twi'lek. "My crew and I have done plenty of jobs just like it." she answered. "Are you confident your ship can get in and out undetected?" Jan asked her.
"We don't call it the Ghost for nothing." she confirmed. "You are authorized to proceed." Mothma said before ending the transmission with Bail and turning the hologram of the relay off.
"Wait. That's it?" Ezra asked in disbelief as everyone but him and Mothma began to leave the room. "But what about Lothal?" he asked with a frown. "Ezra, now's not the time." Hera told him as she, Zeb and the couple stopped behind him.
"If not now, when? Huh? We promised my people support. Our attack failed, but they're still waiting. Ryder's counting on us." he reminded. "Lieutenant Commander Bridger, let's you and I talk for a moment." the Chandrilan told him before the other left.
"The Imperial relay is situated in a field of stone towers on Jalindi. The Ghost will approach at a high altitude and Anakin, Sabine, and Chopper will rocket-jump down onto the dish to install the repeater spike." Hera explained as they looked at a hologram of the outpost.
"When you're done, we'll swoop back in below the outpost's sensors to extract you." Kanan added. "Any questions?" she asked. "Two. First can we bring Katie instead? She doesn't get out much." he said.
"Alright. You can bring Katie instead." she replied. "What's your other question?" she asked. "Spiking it won't do anything to hurt the Empire. It'll just make it a little easier for us to sneak around them." he stated.
"That's really more a comment than a question, hon, but you do have a point." Sabine agreed.
"You're not seeing the bigger picture. If we destroy the relay, the Empire will just build another one. This way, we can use it to stay one step ahead of them." the Twi'lek said, turning the hologram before heading towards the door leading to the cockpit.
"Yeah, but-" he began to argue before she cut him off. "It's not up for discussion, and we have our orders." she interrupted before leaving the room. The ex-merc just frowned in frustration
Jalindi:
"Don't worry, girl, I don't need a jetpack." Anakin assured the white and pink droid who had given him a worried beep. "Just don't slow your descent too early or their sensors will pick us up." his wife warned.
"And if we slow down too late?" he asked. "Hey, I like abstract art. I just don't want to become it." she answered before jumping out before him. The ex-merc then followed before the droid whistled as she fell after them.
Anakin spun through the air just for fun before hearing his wife contact the ship. "Passing 2,000 meters!" she informed them. "1,800." she added a few seconds later.
"1,200 meters coming up on us real fast!" she warned. "500 meters." she said as they saw the dish. "Four. Get ready... Now!" she yelled before activating her jetpack while her husband used the Force and Katie used her thrusters.
"We're still too fast!" he warned as their speed barely decreased. "Brace for impact!" he yelled a few seconds before they landed on the dish and started to slide down.
"Grab onto something!" she told him as they passed a row of smaller antennas before he managed to grab one. "Got ya!" he said after catching her hand as she slid by.
"That could've been worse." he sighed in relief before noticing that Katie was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd that droid go?" he asked before hearing a panicked beep and seeing her sliding down the dish on her legs.
The couple jumped out of the way as she reached them before continuing until she hit part of the dish and was sent front first into the tower. "Katie!" he cried in worry before the couple ran towards her.
"You okay, girl?" he asked in concern while the Mandalorian helped him lift her back onto her legs. The white and pink droid gave him a reassuring beep before her oldest friend's wife contacted Hera on her helmet comm.
"Spectre-5 to Ghost. We made it onto the dish in one piece." she informed the other woman. "Copy that. Now get to work on that spike. We're on the clock here." the Twi'lek responded.
"Guys, you've got an Imperial ship headed in your direction." the older woman warned a few seconds later before the three looked up to see a light cruiser high above.
"What was that you said about how this could be worse?" his wife reminded dryly before the three quickly moved around to hide on the other side of the antenna.
"If they see you, this mission's blown." Kanan told them. "It doesn't look they saw us. I think we're okay." the ex-merc replied over his wrist comm before turning back to the other two.
"Let's just do this fast and get out of here." the young woman said before opening a panel and addressing the droid. "Katie, give me a hand." Sabine told the droid before she plugged into the droid port.
"Okay, isolate the secondary comm circuit. Yep. There, there. Hold it right there." she told the white and pink droid before Katie stopped turning her scomp link.
"Installing the spike." she said while pressing a few more buttons on the panel. "Got it! We're patched in." she said after the droid turned her scomp to the left.
"Jalindi outpost, this is Marauder requesting clearance to dock. What's going on?" a man suddenly asked over the relay's main comm channel. "What happened?" her husband asked.
"We must have patched into the main comm circuit by mistake. We're intercepting all incoming transmissions." she answered before pressing a few more buttons.
"Jalindi outpost, your signal is garbled. Please repeat." the man ordered. "Katie, run a bypass, connect that ship to the outpost commander now!" the young woman ordered.
"Katie, give me comm control. I've got an idea." Anakin told her before she replied with a questioning beep. "We don't have time. If someone doesn't respond to them, they're gonna know something's wrong." his wife reminded.
The ex-merc cleared his throat before speaking. "Uh, Marauder, this is Jalindi outpost. You weren't scheduled to arrive until the next rotation. You're creating a lot of difficulties for us. Maybe come back tomorrow?" he suggested while using an Imperial accent.
"What difficulties? Who is this?" the man asked. 'Who was that guy Ezra mentioned? Oh yeah.' "This is Commander Brom Titus." the young man replied with the accent.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" the other man demanded.
"I am Commander Brom Titus, and I demand an explanation immediately." Titus snapped. "Ugh, this is so typical of our luck." Anakin muttered before the dish started to tilt.
"The Empire's realigning the dish!" Sabine stated, trying to hold onto the panel door before losing her grip. "Katie, switch it back!" he ordered before losing his grip on her after having grabbed the droid to not fall.
A few seconds passed before they eventually stopped at the edge of the dish before seeing the cruiser ahead of them. The young man then waved awkwardly at the ship before his wife grabbed his hand and lowered it.
"Right. Sorry." he apologized with a sheepish grin.
"Ghost, we've been spotted! We're gonna need a pickup, fast!" Sabine said over her helmet comm as they stood back up. "Copy that. On our way." Hera replied on their comms before the younger woman threw three detonators at him.
"Here." she said as he looked at them then back at her. "Detonators? I take it we're changing the plan?" he asked with a smirk. "Wanna try salvageing something from this mission?" she asked, mirroring the smirk from behind her helmet.
"Let's blow this thing." he agreed before they took off alongside the edge of the dish. "Way to go, Brom Titus." she teased after a few stormtroopers appeared out of some hatches near the antenna.
"Laugh it up, babe." he shot back.
"Hera, we've got stormtroopers over here. We need that pickup now!" Sabine exclaimed through her helmet comm. "Hold on! We're almost there!" Hera responded.
"Plant the detonators! I'll hold them off!" Anakin told his wife while deflecting blaster fire. "That's holding them off?" she asked a few seconds later in disbelief after he deflected a shot back at one of the troopers.
"Katie, level out the dish!" he told the droid over his comm. Katie beeped before the dish started to tilt and they were sent sliding back towards the antenna.
"Come on, hon!" Sabine urged, standing before grabbing his wrist to help him up so they could run. A few seconds passed before they saw the Ghost and heard Hera over their comms.
"Spectre-5 and 7, I gotta break off. Hold tight. Be right back." she reassured before they saw two TIE defenders chase the ship. The couple quickly refocused on the troopers as blaster fire came at them.
"Katie, tilt the dish!" Anakin ordered before she beeped and the dish started tilting again. The couple once again started to slide before his wife managed to grab the neck of a smaller dish and grab him as he nearly went over the side.
The ex-merc sighed in relief before giving her a smiling at her as she helped him up. The two then watched as the three remaining stormtroopers slid off the side.
A few minutes later the couple watched a U-wing suddenly appeared before opening fire on the cruiser. "Who is that?" Sabine asked in surprise. "I don't know, but they're my new favorites." Anakin replied.
The couple watched the ship fire on a few stormtroopers a few seconds later before it moved alongside the edge of the dish. "You rebels need a ride?" Saw Gerrera offered after the side door opened to reveal him.
"Saw?" the couple asked in surprise before he pushed out two bundles of proton bombs. "Heads up." he warned before they moved out of the way and watch the bombs rolled down the dish.
"I wouldn't think too long. Those charges are on a real short fuse." he chuckled before tossing another. The couple just shared a shrug before the Mandalorian used her jetpack to enter the ship.
"Katie, we're leaving. Let's go." he told the droid before Force-jumping into the ship. "We're out. Go! Go! Go!" Saw ordered his pilot after Katie entered the ship.
Sabine took off her helmet before the three humans watched the cruiser and outpost go up in a giant explosion. "Now that's how you deal with the Empire." Saw told them with a smirk that they returned.
"I could definitely get used to this." Anakin replied as the older man put a hand on his shoulder. A few seconds later Hera contacted the couple. "Ezra! Sabine! Are you there? Talk to me." she ordered.
"We're okay, Hera." the ex-merc reassured. "Relax, Captain Syndulla. I've got them." Gerrera told her. "Gerrera." she said with disdain a moment later as he climbed into the co-pilot seat.
"Hold your position. I'm coming alongside to get my people." she informed him before his Tognath co-pilot said something in his native language.
"Sorry, Captain. No time. Don't worry. Your kids will be fine with me. Besides, they might enjoy fighting with a real army for a change." he replied as the ship entered space.
"Gerrera, return them to me at once." the Twi'lek demanded. "Unless you two have any objections, we're going to leave." Saw said while turning his head a bit to face them before the younger man scoffed.
"You kidding? Sign us up." he replied before Saw smirked then addressed his friend. "Get us out of here." he told him before the Tognath activated the hyperdrive.
Saw climbed down from the seat before checking a console on the wall behind the seat. "The words you're looking for are 'thank you.'" he told them, "We appreciate the save, Saw." Anakin replied before the older man turned to face them.
"We turned the worst-case scenario into the best." he told them with smirk and fist pump. "Yeah, I wish Hera would see it that way." the younger man scoffed. "Technically, we just disobeyed orders by blowing up that relay." he added contemptuously.
"Following orders will only get you so far. Then you have to take control of your destiny." Gerrera told them. "Yeah, like when we hit the Empire hard on Mandalore." Sabine agreed with a smirk.
"I heard about that. It's exactly why I need your help." Saw told them. "You need our help?" th ex-merc in surprise before the older man brought up a hologram of a space station.
"This is Faos Station. I recently acquired intel on a secret Imperial cargo being loaded aboard a civilian freighter there." he explained. "What cargo?" the younger man's wife asked.
"Remember Geonosis? The Empire wiped out a whole population because they were building something. Something they've hidden away. I never stopped looking for it." he answered.
"What have you found?" Anakin asked after folding his arms. "Just rumors. Whispers. But they all led me to that cargo ship." the other man answered. "So what do you want from us?" the Mandalorian asked him with a confused frown.
"You two and your droid are good at infiltrating Imperial bases. And I just saved your lives." he told them. "So what you're saying is that we owe you one." the younger man surmised.
"Your choice. You can go back to rebel command and run Mon Mothma's errands, or you can help me do something that might actually matter." Saw stated. The couple shared a smirk before looking back at him.
"We're in." the ex-merc replied before Katie let out a hesitant beep. "It'll be okay, girl. Trust me." he assured the droid while giving her dome a gentle pat. "We might make them into real rebels yet." Gerrera told his friend who replied then laughed.
Faos Station:
Erido pulled the U-wing out of hyperspace before heading towards the station. "Are you sure we're at the right place? This looks like a civilian cargo facility. I don't see any signs of the Empire at all." Sabine said with a confused frown as she and Anakin looked out the left viewport.
"That's what they want everyone to think. Hiding it in plain sight." Saw told them before addressing his friend. "Take us in. Merchant platform." he told the other man who replied before piloting the ship towards the platform.
"Lot of droids down there." the Mandalorian observed before turning and addressing the Katie. "Hey, Katie, come here. You're gonna need a new paint job." she said to her while taking out her airbrush.
The droid beeped negatively while backing away. "What's wrong?" the young woman asked her husband.
"To make a long story short. Her maker died not long after building her and to honor her memory, my dad always made sure to keep her paintjob the same while occasionally fixing any chipped paint. I've been doing the same thing since he died." he explained before turning to the droid.
"I know you don't like it, girl, but I promise it'll only be temporary. Sabine and I will repaint you after we're done, I'll even throw in an oil bath." he offered with a smile before she beeped and rolled forward.
The ex-merc patted her gently on the dome before letting his wife do her job.
After Sabine put her helmet back on, she and the other two humans exited the ship before Katie joined them. The four then headed to the other side of the hanger before entering the rest of the station and making their way to the hanger the Imperials were supposedly in.
The door to the hanger opened before the group stepped in and stopped when they saw a freighter land on the platform. "That's freighter 2-7-1-6." Saw said as they looked at it before he ran over to a dull red container.
"And here's our way on board." he added. The other three made their way over before he climbed up and the younger man used the Force while the young woman used her jetpack to get on top.
"Sneaking on board in a cargo container? We're familiar with this strategy." Anakin said as he hopped into the the small opening before the other two followed. Once inside, the older man closed the hatch as Katie pulled the repulsorlift dolly towards the freighter.
Sabine opened the hatch and exited first with her jetpack before Anakin Force-jumped out with Saw not far behind. "The tracker is activated. Keep this channel open. I'll transmit coordinates when we're ready for pickup." the older man told his friend over his handheld comlink.
After the freighter jumped to hyperdrive, Erido replied while the Mandalorian looked around. "Well, normal cargo hold. Nothing looks out of the ordinary." she observed.
"I hear... singing." her husband trailed off as he heard ethereal humming. "I don't hear anything." his wife replied after taking her helmet off. 'I feel like I've heard this kind of humming before...'
"These containers are filled with high-quality construction compounds." the older man said after grabbing a datapad from atop one of the containers. "Materials used to build the Imperial Navy." he continued while jogging over to a larger container near the couple.
"These materials could have come from Corellia or any other planet with shipyards." the Mandalorian stated. "Yeah, it's not exactly a secret cargo." the ex-merc agreed.
"There are more holds to search." Gerrera said before she put her helmet as they ran towards the exit. "Get back!" he warned quietly while stopping them as they entered the corridor.
"Imperial troops aboard a civilian freighter? You might be on to something after all." she admitted after seeing two stormtroopers walk away in the opposite direction on the left corridor.
"They're guarding something." the older man said before they took off down the middle corridor. The group stopped a few seconds later before he spoke again. "Your droid should check the cargo manifest." he suggested before the younger man addressed the yellow droid.
"You heard him, girl." he told her before she beeped and plugged into the nearby astromech port. "There's an Imperial military shuttle in hold 12. Look like there is more to this ship than it seems." he said before Saw addressed her.
"Find out where we're going." he told the droid before she rotated her scomp. "Tonnis sector?" the ex-merc's wife translated in disbelief and confusion. "That's just empty space out there. No settlements or stations." she added before the older man chuckled and turned around.
"The perfect hiding place." he said. "Could also be a rendevous point." Anakin surmised before Katie pulled her scomp out and beeped. "Uh, guys, Katie says cargo bay 17 is a restricted area." his wife informed them.
"So that's where we go next." Gerrera announced before they started to sneak through the corridors. The group soon came upon a four way junction before waiting for two troopers to leave then headed down the right corridor.
"Here it is. Cargo bay 17." Saw said after stopping in front of a locked door and unholstering his blaster rifle. "Careful, or you'll alert the whole ship." the younger man warned before Gerrera turned to look at him.
"You got a plan?" he asked before the ex-merc looked at the yellow droid. "You're up, girl." he told her before she beeped.
The others hid in the against the ceiling as Katie knocked on the door before backing up and waiting for the door to open. Once she shocked one of the stormtroopers, the droid quickly took off down the right corridor before the three jumped down and each knocked out one of the troopers.
With them taken care of, Katie returned just as the three were moving the unconscious troopers into the cargo bay before she was addressed by her oldest friend.
"Good work, Katie. Now keep watch for us." he complimented, getting a beep in return before the door closed behind them. "I think it's this one." Sabine said, grunting as she kept dragging one of the troopers towards a large container before letting go and working on unlocking it.
"Find out what they're hiding." Saw ordered after dropping the trooper he was carrying near other one. The young woman pressed a few buttons before it opened.
"Oh, no." she muttered after peeking he head around to look inside. "Prisoners." her husband said, disgust in his tone as he thought of what the Empire might've done with them.
"Who are you?" the Aqualish asked in Basic. "It's okay. We're here to help." the Mandalorian reassured him after removing her helmet. "Your intel came through. We can free these people." her husband told the older man after the people inside exited the container.
"My intel wasn't about prisoners. The Empire has prisoners all over the galaxy." Gerrera told him before Anakin and the young woman lowered to the ground. "We can still help 'em, Saw." he added before he and his wife picked one of the troopers to put them in the container.
"Everyone here is a reactor mechanic or power specialist of some kind." the Ishi Tib explained after the couple walked up beside Saw. "Mm, doesn't make sense. The Empire wouldn't have all this security just to guard a few techs." Sabine stated.
"I agree. There's something else here. There must be." the older man told them while turning and taking a few steps away before the ex-merc walked up behind him.
"I believe you, Saw, but we've got to get these prisoners out of here." he told Gerrera. "Use that shuttle your droid found." the other man suggested. "No, it'll be guarded. We can't put the civilians in the line of fire." the young man protested.
"Okay, how about the escape pods? We can sabotage the hyperdrive, and as soon as the freighter drops from hyperspace, they can fly away." his wife suggested before the yellow droid rolled into the room beeping.
"It's a patrol." Saw stated while the prisoners started moving back into the container. "Pretend you're still prisoners." Anakin told them. "We are still prisoners!" the Aqualish argued before the rebels moved around to hide behind the container.
"Who let you out? Where are the guards who were stationed here?" they heard a stormtrooper ask the prisoners. "Surprise!" the ex-merc said after coming out of hiding with his saber ready.
"It's the rebels!" the lead stormtrooper realized. "Stop!" the Mandalorian told them after coming out from behind the opposite side. "Got that right." the older man said from atop the container before stun blasting both troopers.
Gerrera then dropped down before heading towards the door. "Saw, wait!" the young woman yelled as rushed out of the room. "Katie, get them to the escape pods. We'll take out the hyperdrive." the young man told her before he and his wife made for the door.
Once they were back in the corridor, they noticed Saw down the right corridor before taking off towards him. As the couple got close, the older man noticed them before gesturing for them to follow.
After a few seconds of running, Gerrera suddenly stopped them at a three way junction before the three pressed up against the wall to hide from two stormtroopers.
With them gone the three moved out from hiding before Sabine took off down the right corridor along with Saw. Her husband however suddenly stopped and looked at the door ahead when he heard that humming again.
"Wait." he said, getting their attention before they stopped. "Anakin. Engine room is this way." his wife told him. "That song is back. It's coming from in there." he replied before the other two jogged up to him.
"Can you get us in?" the older man asked the Mandalorian as she ran up to the door panel. "That's why I'm here, right?" she answered before pressing a few buttons.
As soon as the door opened, the group was greeted by the sight of five Death troopers. The one near the door with their back towards them said something through their scrambled voice modulator while turning around before Gerrera managed to kill them.
Unfortunately the other four were alerted by this before the young woman tossed two smoke bombs at them. "Look out!" the unscrambled male voice of another exclaimed before the bombs went off and they were engulfed in smoke.
Anakin activated his blade before he and the other two rushed into the room.
Saw grabbed one before knocking them out. "Where'd they go?" the female leader asked after Anakin ran past her. The ex-merc ran near them again before the trooper fired off a few shots into smoke.
"Fall back! Take cover!" the leader ordered after the older man took down another trooper. "What? 3-6, I said take cover!" she ordered the unconscious trooper Gerrera was holding up before he opened fire with his free hand.
Saw dropped the trooper before firing off another shot that hit the cargo they were guarding. "The blocks have been compromised." the remaining male trooper warned his leader.
"Cease fire! Fall back!" she ordered before Sabine shot her remaining soldier in the head. "One of them got away!" she announced after the leader managed to escape the room.
"Forget him. We've found it." Gerrera said before they watched the carbonite block unthawing. Anakin covered his eyes from the bright light as the cargo finished unthawing before they widened in surprise.
"Is that? It can't be..." he trailed off in disbelief upon seeing what the Imperials were guarding. "Yeah. It's a kyber crystal." his wife confirmed as the. "That's what I heard singing, like the one in my lightsaber did when I found it amongst my dad's collection." he realized.
"These crystals store and amplify energy, so one this big is probably unstable. Put your blasters away." she explained to the older man before holstering her blasters.
"They're trying to harness the power of this thing. That's why they have the techs, to weaponize it!" Saw stated as he stared at the crystal. "We gotta stop this ship and get the prisoners out of here." Anakin reminded him.
"No!" the older man argued as turned around to face him. "We need this cargo to reach its destination. We need to find out what the Empire's building." he continued.
"We can't take the chance the Empire will get this crystal back." Sabine argued back. "You're right about that too." he told her before the ex-merc addressed him.
"You stay here and guard this thing. We'll head to the engine room and stop the ship." he told the older man before he and the Mandalorian took off towards the exit.
"We'd better hurry, or the Empire's gonna figure out what we're up to." Sabine commented as she and her husband ran through the corridors before stopping at the door to to the engine room.
As she worked on opening the door, Anakin ignited his blade before rushing the two troopers that were revealed when the door finally opened. The Imperials didn't even have a chance to react before the ex-merc swiftly decapitated them.
Sabine gave him a concerned look before focusing back on their objective. "Okay, there's the hyperdrive override." she said, removing her helmet as they ran over to the console.
"Prepping to drop the ship out of hyperspace." she added while pressing a few buttons. "Three. Two." she started before her husband was suddenly hit by a stun blast.
The young man groaned as he fell to his hands and knees. "Saw, no!" he heard Sabine plead before weakly turning his head in time to see her get rendered unconscious by another stun blast.
The ex-merc turned his head and glared at the older man before getting hit by three more stuns blasts. "Son of a bitch..." the younger man groaned before finally losing consciousness.
"Anakin, wake up!" the young man heard his wife call out before groaning as he fully regained consciousness and sat up. "You sleemo! You shot me!" he growled at the older man while pulling at the cuffs around his wrists. 'Where the Hell did he get Force-inhibiting cuffs from anyway?'
"Let's be more precise. I stunned you." he corrected. "You betrayed us!" the younger man spat as he glared at the other man.
"Geonosis was only the beginning. The materials, the power technician, the crystal, it all adds up to what the Empire's building. We have to ride this ship to the end, to those empty coordinates in the Tonnis sector. I know that's where we'll find this... This super weapon!" Saw explained.
"If it even exists. But I guarantee you the Empire will have reinforcements waiting." the Mandalorian told him as she and her husband managed to stand. "I thought we were on the same side." the young man spat.
"The difference between us, Anakin, is this. I will do whatever is required to be the victor." Saw told him. Even though he was still angry, Anakin decided that their current predicament was more important.
"Why did you bring the crystal in here, Saw?" he asked, glancing at said crystal. "It's like you said. We can't allow it to remain in the Empire's hands." Gerrera explained, walking up to the guard rail around the crystal before the alarm suddenly went off.
"Coming out of hyperspace." he said before rushing over to the console. "This is it. We're here." he added as the couple joined him. "I hope this was worth it." the ex-merc muttered with a frown as they watched the screen and saw the ship exit hyperspace.
A few seconds passed before they saw a Star Destroyer drop out of hyperspace in front of them. "It's only a Star Destroyer. The Empire's big secret isn't here." his wife told the older man.
"It has to be here. It has to be." Saw said in disbelief.
Roughly a minute passed before Saw's comm beeped. "My ride's here. Are you coming?" he asked the couple. "And leave the prisoners?" Anakin asked in disbelief and with a frown on his face.
"This is war, Anakin." the older man stated before turning around and making his way to the door. "What about doing what's right? Isn't that what this war is about?" the ex-merc asked before the older man stopped and turned a bit to look at him.
"What is right? Let me ask you this. If you had a world, what would you do to save it? he countered. "It's too late for me. My world is gone. I lost everything. And once you do, you can see things clearly, and you understand what's at stake." he added.
"But we do still have something, Saw. The people on this ship. I just want to help them. They need us!" the younger man argued. "That's your choice, Anakin. But I suggest you hurry. Because this is what I am willing to do." Gerrera said before igniting the ex-merc's blade.
"What are you doing?" Sabine asked in surprise before he stabbed the engine. "You said these crystals can become unstable." he replied as smoke erupted from the engine and the rail around the crystal started to spark with electricity.
The three rebels watched as the crystal quickly became unstable and bolts of green electricity started shooting out of it. The couple narrowly managed to duck underneath one before moving over to older man.
"You're turning it into a bomb?" Anakin realized with frown. "I won't let the Empire use it, so you better get off this ship." he explained before the Death trooper and four normal stormtroopers appeared at the entrance of the door across from the one Gerrera was going to exit through earlier.
"Hands up." one trooper ordered as he and another entered the room and pointed their blasters at the trio before they were both suddenly killed by the crystal's electricity.
"Saw! Let us out of here!" the young woman said urgently before turning so he could remove the cuffs. "Last chance, Anakin." Saw offered as the ex-merc rubbed his left wrist.
"You fight your war. We'll fight ours." he answered. "Farewell, friend." Gerrera told him with a smirk before handing the young man his lightsaber. "I hope we meet again." he added before leaving the room.
"Abandon ship immediately!" the Death trooper ordered her remaining troopers before they retreated. "Can you stop this?" Anakin asked his wife while gesturing to the crystal.
"No! It'll just keep absorbing power until it discharges. And trust me, we don't want to be anywhere close when that happens, which won't be long." she answered before he was suddenly hit by the crystal's energy.
"Anakin!" she screamed in horror before quickly dropping to her knees. "I'm alright..." he groaned while trying to push himself up. Sabine helped him stand before the couple made their way out of the room and down the corridor as fast as they could.
"Katie, are you there? Katie! Do you read?" Anakin asked over his comm as he and Sabine continued running through the corridors. The droid's beeps came over his comm a few seconds later before interrupted her.
"Everything's fine, girl. Just call Hera and tell her we're in the Tonnis sector." he told before she gave an affirmate beep. "Then jam all communications and get the prisoners to that shuttle." he continued before getting a worried beep in return.
"Don't worry about the guards, you're a resourceful droid. I'm sure you'll think of something. Just meet us there." he replied before cutting off.
A few minutes passed before they caught up to the three troopers and started following them to the hanger unseen. The couple only managed to follow for a bit before one of the stormtroopers finally noticed them and opened fire.
The two quickly took cover as the other trooper and Death trooper turned and opened fire while jogging backwards. A few seconds passed before the bolts stopped and the couple moved out from their cover to see that the troopers were gone.
"Dammit." Anakin cursed before he and Sabine continued down the corridor and towards the door at the end.
The ex-merc sighed in relief upon seeing the top of an Imperial shuttle peeking out from behind a large stack of containers. The young man focused back on his surrounding when he saw bolts fly past the corner of the stack his wife was hiding behind.
Thinking quickly he Force-jumped onto the top of the stack before igniting his blade and easily deflecting bolts when the two stormtroopers noticed him and opened fire.
With a flick of his wrist the blade deflected the next two bolts back at the blasters before executing both troopers with a Force Choke. Anakin smirked darkly when he sensed that the Death trooper was slightly unnerved by his actions.
The ex-merc jumped towards her and deflected a bolt mid air before landing and cutting her blaster in two. The woman didn't even get a chance to react before he impaled her with the blade.
The young man shoved the wounded woman off the ramp before heading into the shuttle after his wife.
"Scans are picking up a massive energy reading." Anakin said, looking at the scanner in front of the co-pilot seat as Sabine piloted the shuttle away from the freighter.
"Hang on!" she warned before turning the shuttle around. "What are you doing?" he asked in surprise. "No time for hyperspace. I'm putting that Star Destroyer between us and that crystal." she explained while flying the shuttle over the bridge of the Destroyer.
A few seconds passed before they could see a green light appearing from behind. "Full power to the shields! Hang on!" she warned before the shuttle lurched into a brief spin.
Luckily when the shuttle stopped spinning a moment later it wasn't upside down. "Great. The engines are fried. We're not going anywhere anytime soon." the Mandalorian remarked sarcastically.
Her husband sighed while slumping back into his seat before seeing the Ghost suddenly drop out of hyperspace ahead of them. "Or maybe we are." he corrected with a smile.
Ghost:
Anakin closed his eyes and drowned out the sound of Hera talking to the former prisoners as his head started hurting.
Are you going to kill me?
I would certainly like to.
I know you would. I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger.
The ex-merc grit his teeth and massaged his left temple to try soothing the pain. "I don't like the sound of this kyber crystal. It's the second one we prevented the Empire from getting their hands on." Kanan told the couple as they stood on the catwalk above.
"Saw seemed convinced that they're trying to weaponize it somehow. Is that even possible?" Sabine asked. "Hmm... At that scale? I don't know." he answered before Anakin looked at him while trying to ignore his headache.
"What if Saw's right? And the Empire is already on the verge of winning a war most of the Rebel Alliance doesn't believe has already begun?" he asked. No one answered the question and began to wonder if he was probably correct.
40th chapter done.