Chapter 3
Yavin 4 had become the headquarters of the continuously growing Alliance to Restore the Republic. The Rebellion had only recently unified under the leadership of Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila, all in order to overthrow the tyrannical Galactic Empire and restore the democratic Republic back to its glory.
...Or at least that is one of their primary objectives. Recently, one of their cells, the Phoenix Squadron was attacked by the Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn during the preparation of attacking the Imperial-occupied planet of Lothal. They lost nearly all of their personnel, including their leader, Jun Sato. But they were saved thanks to the assistance of the Mandalorian Clan Wren, along with the help of Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren. Once the evacuation was complete, Bridger and Wren were attacked by TIE Fighters just before making the jump to hyperspace...and didn't arrive at Yavin with the rest of the survivors.
That was well over two days ago, and the two have yet to return or resurface on the Rebellion's radar. Now the Alliance was spending its time running ops on Imperial supply lines, intelligence, and other missions to sabotage the Empire.
Mon Mothma walked down the halls of the ancient Massassi Temples on Yavin 4, flanked by Admiral Raddus of the Rebel Fleet, and Antoc Merrick of Blue Squadron.
"Admiral, relay these orders to our scouts on Naboo." she ordered Raddus while handing him a datapad, "General, prep Blue Squadron for your raid on Jakku."
"Understood senator." Merrick replied before turning back to the hangar with Raddus. Mothma continued her way until arriving at the Alliance command center. Before entering she heard voices arguing on the other side of the door.
"I've already wasted nearly every resource within Rebel Intelligence." an authoritative male voice stated, a hint of annoyance in his tone
"Well search again!" a harsh female voice shouted, "My daughter is missing! We will not stop until she is found!"
Mon Mothma then entered the room, where she noticed several individuals surrounding a holotable. The first was a man with brown hair tied into a ponytail with a beard, he wore green attire with a dark green mask that covered his eyes. Second was a green-skinned humanoid female with head tails, and bright green eyes, she wore a pilot's flight suit. Next was a large purple creature with purple fur and big green eyes. Standing at the center of the room was a human male with light brown hair with side burns and hazel eyes, and wore a Rebel uniform. Next to him was an older man with a white beard and brown eyes, he wore old clone trooper armor with blue accents that only covered his chest, back, shoulders, and arms. On the other side of the holo table were two Mandalorians. The first was a young human male with hazel eyes and short, dark brown hair. His companion was a middle-aged woman with similar traits. Both their armor sported the same colors: grey with yellow accents, and the symbol of the Nite Owls on their helmets. The boy also had a purple shoulder plate with the picture of a loth-cat on it.
Their small argument was put to a halt one Mothma made her presence clear.
"Senator Mothma." the green humanoid greeted
"General Syndulla." Mothma replied, "Hera...I apologize for intruding."
"You weren't intruding at Senator." said Hera, "We're just caught up in our situation."
"Indeed, a situation that has spread throughout the Rebellion." Mothma added before turning to the elder Mandalorian, "Countess Wren, it is an honor to finally meet you."
"The honor is mine." Ursa Wren replied kindly, "Though I wish it was under better circumstances."
Mothma turned to the Rebel officer, "Kallus, I assume your work in finding Commanders Bridger and Wren have been...unsuccessful?"
"The only information I have acquired is that the Gauntlet's trajectory was headed in the direction of the Unknown Regions." Kallus explained, "A place we have no knowledge."
"So my sister is missing in what is perhaps the most dangerous area in the galaxy aside from the Empire." Tristan Wren announced
"She's not alone." Captain Rex added, "Sabine's got Ezra with her kid, Chopper too."
"Jedi and a Mandalorian…" Tristan muttered, "Now there's a partnership unheard of."
"Sabine has spoken highly of Bridger's abilities, and with that I trust they will survive until we find them." Ursa added
Hera then looked at the blind man next to her, "Kanan, can you sense them?"
Kanan hummed softly, reaching out through the Force. He tried focusing on Ezra, hoping that he could sense something. In almost a faint blurry mirage, Kanan felt Ezra's presence, his feelings, and his connection to the Force. Soon enough, he felt a second presence; that of Sabine
"I can sense them both." Kanan replied, which calmed down everyone as a wave of relief swept over them.
"Are they alright?" Zeb asked
"They're ok." he continued, "They seem worried, but ok at the same time. Wherever they are, I think they'll be ok. I need to meditate on it more."
"With all do respect Master Jedi, we need more than just the Force on this." Tristan said to him respectfully, "We need more support."
"As a rebel and friend to Ezra and Sabine, I would search the edges of the galaxy for them..." Mothma announced, "...But as the leader of this Alliance, one that I have worked so long to build, I can only give a portion of my support."
"We understand." Ursa acknowledged, she understood Mothma's statement quite well. Being the leader of Clan Wren, and an ever growing Mandalorian movement against the Empire, she knew she couldn't focus on one objective, while leaving others with no support. However this was her daughter they were talking about, and that was worth fighting for.
"Until then, I must return to Krownest." Ursa added, "My people need me in our own fight against the Empire. But shall leave my son, Fenn Rau, and several warriors who're willing to stay to assist as a token of my gratitude."
Mothma nodded at her in respect, "Thank you, Countess."
Ezra sat within his quarters on the Gauntlet meditating. It had been a day since their trip to Vale, he hadn't done such a thing in a long time, and felt that it was the right thing to do at this point. After helping the village, the research on Remnant, and the second attack on the White Fang, he needed to clear his mind.
Concentrating, he felt the presence of an old friend.
"Kanan..." he muttered as he opened his eyes. He then got up and made his way to the cockpit, but as he reached the door, he heard the sound of something spraying. He slowly approached the door, but as he reached it opened, and he got blasted with orange spray paint.
"GAH! Sabine!" he shouted stumbled back in his stance
"Kriff!" he heard Sabine shout, "Sorry Ezra!"
As Ezra stood up, he saw her face changed to that small grin. Sabine held her hands on her mouth to suppress a snicker, but was obviously failing.
"How bad is it?" he groaned
"E-Ezra…" she laughed, "L-Look a-at y-yo-ur f-face…"
Ezra went over to the refresher and looked in the mirror. His entire face was covered in orange paint.
"Sabine!" he shouted once more, which resulted in Sabine bursting into full on laughter. Sighing to himself, he grabbed a towel and cleaned his face off before going back to the cockpit. Sabine was slowly recovering from her laughing session.
"I thought I said no painting my ship." he said to her as he turned to see the orange and blue starbird symbol on the door to the cockpit.
"No, you said I can't paint the entire ship." Sabine argued, "This is just some art to make it more colorful. After all, this used to be owned by Maul."
"Well, you could've locked the door so it wouldn't open." Ezra retorted
"I did." Sabine replied, "But I think I know who unlocked it."
Both of them turned to Chopper, who was managing the Gauntlet's controls.
"Chopper…" Ezra muttered to which the old droid let out a mechanical laugh, "I'm throwing in the oil bath when I have the chance.
Chopper then let out a grumpy response.
"Well, Hera isn't here." Ezra retorted, "And this is my ship, so you do as I say."
Ezra then sat down in his chair and looked out into the forest outside. They weren't in the air at all, instead they found a large clearing just outside Vale. Far away, and hidden by a series of mountains.
"Hey, I have something you might need." Sabine said to him before grabbing what appeared to be some holographic tablet.
"What's this?" he asked as he took the device from her
"It's called a Scroll, Remnant's main form of a communication device." Sabine explained, "I managed to steal several from the White Fang last night. I reprogrammed two for us to use ourselves."
"Nice, thanks." Ezra muttered in astonishment
"So, what have you been doing?" Sabine asked him
Ezra turned in his seat to face her, "Meditating, I felt Kanan's presence. They're looking for us, but I can feel the conflict as well."
"It is probably the Alliance being political as always." Sabine suggested, "I highly doubt they'll pull all their resources into looking for us. Though I'm sure Kanan and Hera will get Mon Mothma's support."
"Eh, not just her." Ezra added, "Your family is helping as well. I can feel it."
Sabine looked at him, "Really?"
"Yeah." Ezra nodded, "I can sense it, I don't know who exactly is helping. But still."
Sabine frowned a bit before nodding, "Yeah…"
"Hey are you ok?" Ezra asked, seeing her expression changed to one of depression
"It's nothing." Sabine quickly answered, "Right now, we need to make some money, and I have a few ideas."
"Like?"
"The day we fought the White Fang." Sabine began, "In the village, we left quite a few weapons that belonged to the White Fang. If we could get our hands on those weapons, we could sell them."
"Arms dealers?" Ezra questioned, "That's a bit too far."
"Look, I know it is." Sabine agreed with him, "But it will be good money. I'll even have Chopper find us a guy who'll sell the weapons off for good use."
Ezra sighed, "Alright, setting a course for the village."
The trip all in all was rather quick to say the least. Little over 10 minutes, the Gauntlet landed in a familiar red forest just outside the large village. Several of the villagers approached the ship with interest until the ramp lowered and both Ezra and Sabine stepped out, the latter had her helmet on.
"You've returned." a man said as he approached them
"Is everyone alright?" Ezra asked
"We're fine." the man replied, "After you left, all remaining White Fang fled, including that Adam fellow and Torchwick. Huntsmen then showed up later on and assisted in the cleanup...Oh, where are my manners. Call me Doc, I'm the marshall."
"Well Doc, I'm Ezra and that's Sabine. We came to see if everyone was doing ok." Ezra replied, "But you don't suppose the White Fang left any weapons behind?"
"They did." Doc answered, "The huntsmen allowed us to keep them for protection. Why do you ask?"
"We were hoping on selling them to a noble buyer for good use." Saine answered, "But I guess they're already found a good purpose."
"Actually, we have more weapons than people willing to wield them." Doc chuckled, "I can make a deal: you can have several crates of them, for free."
"Sounds good." Ezra replied, "Thanks Doc."
"No, thank you." said Doc, "Come, I'll show you to the crates."
Doc then led the two young rebels into the village so they could obtain their weapons. Unknown to them, one of the villagers watched them from the shadows. He then took out his scroll and dialed a number.
"Oz, they're here."
"These are all of them." a militia member said as he opened the doors to one of the town's warehouses, "We have seven crates for you to have. Three containing rifles, three with snipers, one with pistols."
"That sounds good." Sabine replied, "I'll have our droid bring them to the ship."
"If I may ask, where did your friend go?" Doc then asked, noticing that Ezra was no longer with them
"Ezra?" Sabine muttered as she looked around until she noticed the young Jedi playing with several of the town's children. Using the force to lift several in the air respectively.
Sabine couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement, "There he is."
"It's nice to see that he's entertaining the children." said Doc, "Some of them don't have a place to call home."
"This close to Vale?" Sabine questioned
"We take in all outsiders." Doc explained, "Orphans too. We make our family."
Family...
"Sabine?" Doc muttered, "Are you ok?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry I blanked out there." she said, "I'll have to prepare our ship for the crates."
As she headed back towards the Gauntlet, Ezra felt her presence through the Force. It was similar to when she trained to wield the Darksaber, though not as much. He couldn't help but watch her leave with a small frown on his face.
Sabine sat on the ramp of the ship, her helmet was off to the side, as she stared at the sunset.
"Hey."
She turned to see Ezra standing nearby, his arms folding on his chest.
"Staring out towards the sunset I see." he added, "How dramatic."
"What is it Ezra?" she asked
"I felt your trouble through the Force." he replied, "I got worried."
"I don't need a lecture from a Jedi." Sabine sighed, not wanting any comfort
"Oh yeah?" he asked, "Then how about help from a friend."
Sabine couldn't help but smile slightly as Ezra sat down next to her.
"What's going on?" he asked her, too which she sighed
"I just miss them all." she said solemnly, "Kanan, Hera, Zeb, all of them. I just got my other family back, after years of being overshadowed by Gar Saxon. But now...I'm not good at talking about these things."
"...I'm sorry…"
"What?" Sabine questioned as she looked at Ezra
"I'm sorry I went to you for help." he said, "I should've known-"
"No." she cut him off, "It's not your fault. You came to me for help because you knew I would say yes. I would've done the same if I was in your shoes."
Ezra smiled as she did the same, "We're both in this...together."
"Together." he repeated, "Come on, we should get moving."
"You found a buyer for the weapons?" she asked
"I did." Ezra replied, "A man by the name of Junior Xiong. He has a legitimate business in Vale. He's a criminal, but not as wicked as some."
"Well its worth a shot." Sabine replied, "Lead the way, Captain Bridger."
"Captain?" Ezra chuckled, "I like the sound of that."
As the two boarded the Gauntlet, Ezra made his way to the cockpit to power the engines while Sabine went to inspect the crates. While her actions appeared to be of her inspecting the workings of a primitive slugthrower, her mind was on a different course.
'We're in this...together.'
'Together.'
When Ezra said that to her, she felt a warmth within her. Not the warmth of a star, but that of herself. It was a first, but why did it feel familiar? Did she feel it before?
When she accidentally blasted him with paint? No.
Attollon? No.
Krownest? No.
The mission to Wynkahthu? No.
"Get it together Mando!' she said to herself, 'What am I thinking? A Jedi and a Mandalorian...that's a partnership not even the Empire can imagine.'
She shoved the thoughts aside as she put the crates in storage, and left the cockpit.
The Gauntlet then took off and departed for Vale once more. The same figure from the shadows watched as it left the village.
"Oz, they just left." he said into his scroll
"Where are they going?"
"I'm not sure." he replied, "They took some of the weapons from the White Fang. Other than that, nothing else. Though I did get names from the townsfolk."
"And?"
"Ezra...and Sabine." he said
"Hmm, interesting. Well done Qrow. I'm sure they'll pop up sooner or later."
"You got it Oz."