Chapter 6: Trust issues
Over two months passed. After the infiltration at the Academy on Lothal, the Bridgers had earned unconditional trust from the rest of the crew. Ezra's ability to keep a low profile into the Academy, even risking his life to save a stranger, and Jaral's incredible performance with the Phantom had showed without an ounce of doubt that the siblings were worthy of trust and admiration.
From the experience at the Academy, Ezra had also earned a valuable informant in the figure of Zare, and he also kept his own cadet's helmet as a memento. However, the day after it disappeared from his cabin, and Sabine gave it back after another day, completely redecorated. She said it desperately needed a complete remake, though Ezra joked about the fact that she just wanted to vandalize Imperial property. Ezra actually didn't mind and, instead, complimented her. The helmet now was a combination of lines of magenta, light orange and there was a small Starbird that Sabine painted almost everywhere. It fit well with the orange attire Ezra kept under the armor and aboard the Ghost.
All in all, things were kinda becoming procedural. The Ghost had resumed operating its usual raids against imperial shipments, missions that were assigned by an anonymous source called 'Fulcrum', to which only Hera was allowed to communicate.
One day, Ezra was waiting in the common room for the Phantom to come back from another mission on Lothal. Hera had brought Jaral and Sabine in a task to attack and destroy some kind of cargo that was temporarily stationed at a flight field in the middle of nowhere. The strike team had reported success, but something went wrong and now seemed like they were being chased by TIE fighters down on the planet.
Ezra knew that Hera was piloting, so they shouldn't have any problems coming back in one piece, yet the bond with Jaral allowed him to have a generic idea of what was going on, based on the intensity of her emotions.
Even though Jaral always put up a stoic facade, it didn't mean that she didn't feel emotions as everybody else, if anything she was great at keeping them in check and let them out of their decision-making.
Ezra felt a sense of urgency coming from Jaral for a good 15 minutes, before that dissipated and what surely was a sense of relief came washing through their bond.
Under Kanan's guidance the siblings had started to examine the intensity of their bond since Ezra came back from the Academy. He was surprised to learn that Jaral was Force-touched, although, in retrospect, he should've suspected something since the day he learned that he was a sensitive.
So far, they learned that their bond allowed them to communicate in a unique way: through what they started to call 'emotion waves'. It was nothing like telepathy. They couldn't speak or read into each other's mind, since they didn't need the Force to do that anyway. It was like they were linked by an invisible thread, communicating at long distances what the other one was feeling in that moment, and based on the intensity of the emotion, it could very much influence the mood of the other one.
At least an hour after the sense of relief came, the Phantom docked on the Ghost. Ezra stood up from the couch and went near the ladder. Kanan, Zeb and Chopper entered the room a few seconds later.
Hera was the first to climb down, followed by Sabine and then Jaral.
"Everyone okay?" asked Kanan.
"We're fine, but I scraped the Phantom's underbelly." Hera said calmly, her hands on her hips in a confident pose."
"Wait, you?" Kanan said with an amused face.
"It was inevitable...once your plan went south." Hera answered with a smile, and pointing a finger at Kanan as to stress the responsibility.
"Ah-ah! I knew this had to be my fault somehow."
"And you were right, dear." Hera turned suddenly.
"Zeb, I'll need the Phantom ready to pick up the supplies from Fulcrum."
The Lasat was trying to sneak away from the room exactly to avoid that kind of work.
"Adjust the steering and run a diagnostic." she said pointing a finger, but then Jaral called her out.
"Wait, Hera. Let me and Ezra handle this. Give us Chopper and we'll be done in a minute."
"You sure?" Hera asked with a bit of surprise.
"I think this kid must learn a thing or two about mechanics." she said while rubbing her knuckles on Ezra's head. The boy faked an annoyed expression.
"Besides, we need to talk alone. So might as well do something productive in the meanwhile."
Hera shrugged her head with a smile. "Ok, then. Chopper will help you fix any other problem you find."
"Really? Have you met him?" Ezra joked, earning an angry grunting from Chopper.
"I'm gonna need it ready pretty fast." Hera pointed out. "I need to go get the supply from Fulcrum."
"As I said, we'll be done in a minute." Jaral replied confidently.
The girl powered down her armor, which dissolved in its usual bright light, revealing the bluish attire hiding underneath the nano-suit.
The Bridgers climbed up the ladder without wasting a minute, followed by Chopper, who flew up with his reactor.
Kanan headed to the kitchen, Hera went to the cockpit and Sabine stood at the table, sulking in a corner.
As Hera reached the cockpit, she sat at the commands and turned on the hyperdrive that Chopper had already set up, launching the ship into the glowing tunnel of hyperspace.
Kanan followed a few seconds later with a two cups of caf.
"What happened down there?" he asked as he approached her.
"Well, we took out the target…" Hera stated while grabbing the cup offered to her.
"Yeah, I got that part." Kanan sat down on the co-pilot's seat.
"Fulcrum was right about the timing and route but...underestimated the Imperial defenses."
Kanan sighed. "It's getting harder to anticipate the Empire's moves. That's for sure.
The door hissed behind them and let Sabine in. The girl cleared her throat.
"Yeah, about that…" she started, leaning against the doorstep and folding her arms in front of her. "I'd like to know why we're relying on intel from this Fulcrum, whoever he is.
Kanan turned the seat to face her, then rose up as he explained. "It's Hera's job to find missions that create problems for the Empire and profit for us." he now stood in front of Sabine, the girl looking up to meet his gaze with a frown.
"If she trusts the contact, I trust the contact. No questions asked."
"When I was at the Imperial Academy, they didn't want to ask questions either. That didn't work for me...that's why I ended up here."
"And we're glad to have you." Kanan said with a lighthearted tone.
Sabine clenched her fists in front of her. "You're so...frustrating."
"Yeah, I've heard that before." Kanan said exiting the cockpit.
Sabine now snapped and walked forcibly into the middle of the room.
"You know what? I'm done asking questions! I'm joining you in the next run to meet Fulcrum!"
Hera took a sip from her cup, now flinching a bit. She barely turned the head, just enough to see the girl.
"You know, you can be pretty irritating too."
"Learned from the best."
"Ugh...this diagnostic is taking forever. Ezra, how's it down there?"
"Steering is completely out of whack. What the hell happened?"
As Jaral stood at the furthest back of the Phantom, keeping an eye on the diagnostic screen, Ezra had removed the central panel of the hallway and reached the compartment where the steering and the life support filters were.
"Hera had to fly into a very narrow ravine to make a TIE crash. It was a pretty close call for us as well, but, you know, Hera could pull it off."
"You say that, but I could feel you getting pretty antsy back then." Ezra joked.
Jaral chuckled.
"All right. Seems like the life support filters need cleansing." she turned to Chopper, who was awaiting instructions in the cabin.
"Chopper, as soon as Ezra is done, purge them."
The droid turned on his struts and reached the access panel for droids.
After a few seconds, Ezra climbed out of the compartment.
"All set." he declared.
As he dragged his leg out of the hole, Chopper activated the cleansing. A small cloud of steam and dust raised from down there, making Ezra cough as the burst caught him unprepared.
"Chopper!" he screamed.
The droid made a laughing sound that Ezra actually never heard of. That only made him even more irritated. He hit Chopper with the wrench he was holding, swinging a blow up to down on Chopper's dome.
The droid felt it and warbled in protest.
"Not funny." Ezra commented. The cloud disappeared so he crossed the ship to reach Jaral, who was snickering at the scene.
"Come on." she said jokingly. "It's only a bit of dust."
"Doesn't make it less disgusting...so, what did you want to talk about?"
Jaral gave a quick look at the diagnostic process, saw that it wasn't over yet and decided that she would answer that question.
"It's about our bond. You know, it's great that I have a way to know immediately if you ever make something stupid…" she stated, making Ezra roll his eyes. "However, it made me think...what happens when one of us is feeling bad emotions? Like, really feeling trash?"
"Why are you asking now?"
Jaral bit her lips. "Have you...checked the calendar? You know what happens next week?"
Puzzled, Ezra activated his omni-tool and looked at the date. Then his eyes revealed that he made a sad realization. He turned off the device.
"Look, I'll be there for you and support you, but I can't do that if I get washed out by your…" she was interrupted by a sudden alarm on the diagnostic.
The siblings turned. Jaral got closer and a 'Karabast' came out of her mouth.
"What? What's happening?" Ezra asked, alarmed.
"Ezra, Jaral, come down here, please." the voice of Hera interrupted them.
"Well, we're gonna need her help anyway..." Jaral mumbled, then reached the ladder and let her slide down it. Ezra followed suit.
They found the rest of the crew in the common room.
"I just talked to Fulcrum." Hera said, her own expression seemed a bit surprised. "And...he asked you two to go get the new supplies."
The siblings looked at each other, raising eyebrows, then turned back to face Hera.
"Why us?" Ezra asked.
Hera shrugged, her hands still on her hips. "Beats me. Anyway, I hope you finished with the Phantom, 'cause we need to leave soon."
"Yeah, about that..."Jaral started, but the sharp tone of Sabine interjected.
"Oh, so the last to arrive get to know the identity of Fulcrum, but not the rest of us?" she stepped in, closing on Hera and the siblings.
"Sabine, now it's not the time." Hera replied with a severe gaze.
"Yes, it is! Why they get special treatment? If they can meet Fulcrum why shouldn't I, or Kanan, or Zeb?!"
"I don't know what plan might Fulcrum have, but you have to trust me."
"Well, it's becoming harder and harder every day!"
"Ok, enough!" Jaral interjected.
The two ladies looked in her direction. Ezra couldn't help but smirk at how his sister was able to impose herself even on Hera.
"We're not going anywhere anyway since the fuel line of the Phantom happens to have a pretty big hole in it."
Hera made a worried face. She straightened herself up and pondered on the problem.
"That's not good. We would need to be at least on a planet to make the repairs, and we don't have time to go back to Lothal."
"Maybe not…" Jaral put a finger on her chin. "Me and Ezra have been practicing a bit to walk out in space, remember last week? I should be able to make some emergency repairs when we get out of hyperspace."
"I appreciate the idea, Jaral." Hera said. "But this is not a job you can do alone, and none of us has your armors."
"Then I'll help." Ezra said eagerly.
"You? Repairing the fuel line?" Jaral said narrowing her eyes and looking at her brother with a grin.
Ezra bit his lips and realized that he knew nothing about repairing that part of the ship yet.
"I'll help." Sabine intervened. "If you allow me to come along."
"Sabine, even though your armor can keep you alive out there, we don't have a jetpack or something alike to let you move around." Hera explained grumpily.
There was a bit of a silence, until Ezra intervened.
"Well, just because I can't repair the line, that doesn't mean I can't use my armor to carry whomever will repair it."
"What are you suggesting?" Kanan asked.
"The magnetic boots on our armors. Jaral can move on his own, while I can use my own to act as a...vessel, for the person who will go out and help the repairs."
"That sounds like a plan." Hera nodded. "Very well, Sabine. You will help with the repairs since I have to make the Phantom move out from its post to allow you guys to repair it."
Sabine sounded a bit skeptical. She looked at Ezra. "You sure you can do this?"
"I do. But the rest depends on you. Do you trust me?" he asked with a serious face.
Sabine took a deep breath with her nose. "Apparently yes." she said finally with a smile, albeit her eyes seemed a bit worried.
"Great. Then go gear up." Hera said, and while she went back to the cockpit, Sabine got to the cargo bay and took one of the suits.
The Ghost came out of hyperspace at the prearranged coordinates. Chopper was stationed in the cockpit, while the repair crew gathered in the docking bridge. That was the only way to get out of the ship while they were in space, then they would need to climb to the back of it and reach the Phantom.
Sabine had switched to a heavier version of her armor. Usually, she wore only the breastplate, knee-pads, elbow-pads, the protections on the shoulders and of course the helmet. Her arms were usually half-bare, her hands covered by long-sleeved gloves full of color stains.
Now she put up a full undersuit, that covered all the previously naked spots, including her neck. Her cargo trousers had been replaced by reinforced ankles and shin guards. The undersuit would prevent her from freezing, and the plates were the only thing that allowed her to move in relative comfort.
The helmet was now completely sealed and connected to a small tube leading to the oxygen reserve in the back of her armor.
Ezra and Jaral stood ready at the door, waiting for the signal.
Hera had already reached the Phantom and was waiting for the rest of them to arrive.
"Everyone ready?" Jaral asked from behind her helmet, especially referring to Sabine.
The other teens nodded, though Sabine's body language couldn't hide a bit of worry. After all, she would be completely powerless until they reached the Phantom. She was trusting her capacity to move around in the void on someone else. Sure, she trusted the siblings, she considered them dear friends, she just wasn't sure she trusted them for this task, especially the sometime goofy Ezra.
The boy noticed that and put a firm hand on her shoulder. "Hey."
Sabine looked him in the eye. Ezra nodded.
"I'm not letting you go afloat, ok?" he said trying to ease the tension. Even though his expression was hidden by his visor, she was sure he was trying to look as reassuring as possible.
Sabine nodded, a more confident expression now sculpted on her face, then she finally put on her helmet.
"Good. Now, do you want me to carry you, or you want to just hold on?" he asked calmly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I can grab you by the arm and drag you along the walk, or you can hang on to any indentation on my armor that you find fit enough for you."
Sabine understood.
"Just focus on walking, I'll hang on."
Ezra simply nodded, turned his back on her and pointed his thumb back, signaling her to choose where to grab.
Sabine decided to grab the plate on the back of the boy's armor, using just her fingers to hold.
Jaral noticed it, turned to face the door and put a finger on the left side of her helmet.
"Chopper, initiate depressurization."
A warble came through the comlinks. It was followed by the hatch's door releasing the magnetic seals and a heavy hissing filled the bridge. The door to the hallway behind them was sealed in turn.
The hissing kept going for a couple of seconds, then the teens started to feel their weight being almost nullified. They didn't move yet to avoid floating too soon.
Finally, the heavy door opened up, leaving Jaral to stare into the infinity of space.
With caution, she grabbed the right side of the doorstep and used it as a linchpin to climb outside. Once she dragged her upper body out, she bent a leg as forward as she could, finally finding a plate of the hull and activating that magnetic boot. Then she managed to attach the second one, and suddenly she was walking on the starboard side of the Ghost. She took a moment to adjust her senses to the odd sensation, the complete absence of sound except her breathing, then looked back.
Ezra was peeking his head out to check on his sister. His four limbs were spread inside the bridge in an 'X' to hold himself into the room until Jaral was done. Once his sister had motioned him to come out, he copied her movements.
Things however almost immediately turned dangerous. Sabine had underestimated how difficult it was to move in a zero gravity. Or maybe, it was so simple that it was dangerous. As soon as Ezra finished climbing out, the inertia made Sabine roll over his head, her fingers easily slipped from the indentations in Ezra's armor and a brief scream escaped her mouth as she lost grip and started floating away.
Ezra acted almost on instinct, sprawling his arms forward and grabbing Sabine's wrists firmly. Luckily, his magnetic boots kept him anchored on the hull.
With a slow movement, he brought her back down.
"Thanks." she said through the comm.
"Don't mention it." he answered.
This time, as Sabine climbed down using Ezra, she decided to switch pose and wrapped her arms around his torso. One going over his shoulder, the other under his armpit, and clasping them in the front. She pushed a little to bring her upper body nearer Ezra, so she could use all of her muscles to keep the balance.
"Hey, easy back there." Ezra said while adjusting his own weight.
"What, getting flustered?" Sabine answered with a chuckle, to ease the tension.
Ezra returned the snickering. "A bit...but mostly you're making me lose balance." he said that with no intention to reprimand her.
Sabine finally found a suitable position. Keeping her legs bent so they wouldn't bump on the hull and making her move needlessly. She decided to trust Ezra, and she would make sure not to get in his way.
As she finally stopped moving, Ezra found his center and signaled Jaral to start walking.
They needed to move very cautiously, moving one step at a time and making sure that it would land on the hull and the boots activated correctly.
It was a slow process, and took them at least 5 minutes to finally reach the Phantom.
"Ok, Hera. We're ready." Jaral signaled.
Hera made sure that her breather was in hand's reach, then started to push the Phantom out via the pressure thrusters, making it sliding out of its port gently.
Thanks to Jinx, which was sending data to her visor, Jaral quickly found the hole in the fuel line and communicated it to Hera, who adjusted the ship accordingly, trying to stay as close to the hull as possible.
Jaral bent a little and made a small jump. In space, it's not a problem of how far you'll go, since the absence of gravity will prevent you from stopping unless you find an opposite force. For Jaral, it was a problem of how fast she would move. With the gentlest push, she started fluctuating toward the Phantom. Once she separated from the Ghost, she made a 90° flip so her feet would face the Phantom once she passed near it, and it worked. In just a second, Jaral was now stuck on the Phantom's hull, squatting her legs to bring her upper body near the hole in the fuel line.
Jinx analyzed it and Jaral was surprised that they even managed to get back to the Ghost: the hole was 12 cm wide and she could visibly see the fuel hanging into the fuel, with a small trace now trailing off because of the sudden movement of the fighter.
Using her omni-tool, Jaral created a couple of energy fields, which then pushed the fuel in separate directions, making sure it wouldn't come back through the hole once they started patching it and prevent the accidental spark of a fire.
Once everything was in order, she motioned for Ezra to come forward.
The boy reached the point right beneath the damage and patted Sabine on her forearm to signal that she could move. He stood perfectly still while she slowly climbed up on his shoulders and stood tall to reach the fuel line. Ezra grabbed her ankles gently to make sure she wouldn't spring away, and moving her up or down at her request.
The reparations took around 12 minutes. Sabine and Jaral managed to patch up the fuel line. It wouldn't hold indefinitely, but to make the supply run, it would be enough.
Jaral gave the signal to Hera, who put on her breather mask and started to depressurize the Phantom. The door on the back of the fighter went up, waiting for the teens to go back. As previously decided, Jaral went first since she was easier for her to move and was already attached to the hull. She effortlessly walked into the small ship and put her feet on the intended floor.
Sabine was next. Moving herself by sliding with her hands while Ezra made sure her lower body followed suit. As soon as she could, Jaral grabbed her hand and drew her into the Phantom, then made the same when Ezra made a quick jump up. When the entire team was accounted for, Hera closed the door, allowing oxygen to be delivered by the Phantom.
Everyone took out their helmets, the kids in particular sighed a huge sigh of relief. It hadn't been an easy job, but they did it, and the three of them smiled and laughed to relieve the tension while Hera watched them proudly.
After refueling the Phantom to its maximum capacity, Hera set course for the meeting point with Fulcrum. In the end, Sabine was allowed to come as promised, but she was visibly irritated when Hera informed them that she had already contacted Fulcrum and told him that they would be late because of the repairs.
The Phantom entered hyperspace and came out of it a few minutes later in the orbit of the asteroid belt that was the former planet of Anaxes. It had been a theater of war in the last months of the Clone Wars, but the cataclysmic event that destroyed it occurred a few years later and what was left was massive asteroid field, some of them big as continents, where people could still find ruins of the structures that lied on the surface. One of this structures was the former Republic base on the asteroid PM-1203, where Fulcrum had the meeting set.
The old base had an airstrip and a few hangars in the open, though most of it was actually carved into the mountain at the end of the airfield. Hera landed the Phantom in the middle of the strip and the group went out. They spotted a group of crates not far from the main door of the base, which ran for several meters at the base of the mountain and used to host a small command center.
The four Specters walked up to them, but Hera reserved to herself the right to inspect the crates and decided to took the green one, the one that had a strange mark on them.
The three teens noticed that there were four red crates full of supplies left. They decided to bring one at a time and someone would come back for the last.
As the group walked back to the Phantom, Sabine moved closer to Hera with a contrived face.
"Look, Hera." she said. "I'm sorry for the attitude. It's just...things seem to be getting more dangerous every day and I need to know that you and Kanan can trust me."
Hera assumed a calm and gentle tone. "We trust you, Sabine. We just can't tell you everything. It's for the safety of the whole crew: if captured, you can't reveal what you don't know."
Sabine scowled and rushed forward to block Hera on her tracks.
"You think I'd talk?"
"I think...We think the Imperials can make anyone talk."
Looking at the two of them arguing, Ezra and Jaral simply decided to walk past them and get over with the job.
"You've seen what they're capable of." Hera finished.
"Yeah, I have. That's why I need to know." Sabine insisted.
"You already know exactly what you need to know and no more." she pushed the crate on the side and walked past Sabine.
"I need you to trust me now."
The two resumed to push the crates, and briefly noticed that the siblings had done their part and now Ezra was walking back to go get the last crate.
Sabine scoffed to Hera. "And that's supposed to make me feel better? Hera, you know what happened when I was a cadet at the Imperial Academy on Mandalore. I followed the Empire's orders blindly...and it was a nightmare." her angry tone abated on the last sentence, leaving a sad expression on the girl's face.
The two reached the Phantom and Jaral offered to push the crates on top of the two already placed inside, so Sabine and Hera could continue their dialogue.
"I want to believe we're doing good." Sabine resumed. "Making a difference. But sometimes it seems like the harder we fight, the harder things get out there. I feel like we can't take the Empire on our own, that's why I need to know that it's worth it! That I'm not walking into another nightmare!"
Hera grabbed her shoulders firmly and looked at Sabine with her caring face.
"What you need now is faith! Faith that here is a long-term plan that's bigger than you or me."
Her words seemed to impress Sabine, and even Jaral, who had finished loading the crates and now was listening while leaning against the Phantom.
"Bigger than Lothal. Bigger than the entire Outer Rim."
Jaral was interrupted by the voice of Ezra coming through the comlink.
"Jaral, you didn't take two crates, by chance?".
"No, why?" she asked while Hera and Sabine were closing up their discussion for the moment.
"Because the last one is gone."
Jaral turned her head suddenly toward Ezra's position and activated the binocular into her visor.
"Any trace of it?"
"Yeah, and I don't like them. You better come here and check this out."
"Hera." Jaral called out the Twi'lek with an urgent tone, gaining the other women's attention. "We have a problem."
Jaral started running toward Ezra and the others followed suit.
They quickly reached Ezra, who was squatting down and inspecting something on the floor.
Jaral noticed that he was inspecting some scratches coming from the position where they left the crate, as if it had been dragged away violently, without even activating the anti-gravity lifter like the Specters just did.
"What happened here?" Hera asked.
"I have my suspicions." Ezra said with a worried tone. "But better check out." he took out his repeater. "You stay here and cover me."
They were distracted for a second by the fact that the sun was suddenly eclipsed. They all looked up, noticing that an asteroid was responsible, but it was a small one and light quickly returned on the airstrip.
"Whoa. Sunrise comes along fast in these parts." Sabine joked.
"Let's see what else comes along." Ezra quipped as he advanced.
As the girls drew out their more precise blasters, the boy with the small machine gun went forward.
It was a few steps from the door. Ezra pointed his weapon and braved into it. The base was absolutely dark, even more so because of the contrast with the sun shining outside.
Ezra switched his visor into the night mode and everything inside was showed to him with the green filter.
He almost immediately found the missing crate, opened and devoid of anything, but there were signs of furious scratched on the surface.
"What the actual…" Ezra was about to curse, but kept control and continued to inspect his surroundings.
Ezra was startled by the sudden hissing coming from his right. He inspected the pile of junk laying around him, keeping his weapon pointed.
"I detect movement. I don't think we're alone." said Jinx.
"You don't say?" Ezra gagged. He already could see movement signaled on the small radar on the lower left of his HUD, so Jinx's comment seemed pretty obvious.
Now the hissing intensified. To the point that even the women outside heard it.
"Ezra, what was that?" Hera asked with a bit of urgency in her voice.
Ezra didn't answer since we wanted to try and figure where the sound came from. He was on edge like he never was. He didn't need the Force to warn him that something was lying in waiting, so he started to pull back.
As he did that, he felt a growl coming right from his left. He turned and was confronted by a creature as big as him, with a flat face, angry glowing eyes and two lines of sharp teeth that immediately leaped for his face.
Ezra pulled the trigger with a speed he didn't know he had, unleashing a burst of laser that pushed back the creatures, which lied dead at the end. Ezra had shot him for three seconds straight and the body was left a mess.
"What the hell is that?!" he asked with a loud panting.
Jinx made a quick research in his data bank. "Apparently it's called Fyrnock. It's asilicon-based predator native of Anaxes. Oh, and they don't like other beings infringing on their territory."
"Yeah, I can tell!" Ezra responded.
The moment he finished, he saw dozens of eyes pointing at him from every direction and the creatures growls turning into snarls.
Without even thinking, Ezra twitched toward the door and started running.
"We got company!" he screamed in the comlink.
The creatures immediately gave chase to him. The women outside fired upon them, taking down a few, but the creatures stopped before coming out in the light, retreating back into the darkness.
Jaral noticed and asked Jinx for clarifications.
"The skin of the fyrnocks is photophobic. They used to live in the deep jungles of Anaxes where the direct light of the sun wouldn't have reached them. Now it seems like they adapted to live in deep caves like on this asteroid."
"And we had to land in the one packed with them, right?! Ezra said, still a bit freaked out.
Sabine looked up for a second and her eyes widened in horror.
"Guys!" she pointed up, and everybody looked.
A giant asteroid was about to block the sun to illuminate the base, and it seemed like it would be there for a while.
"Oh, come on! Really?!" Ezra screamed.
"Run!" Jaral said.
Everybody sprinted back to the Phantom. It took 20 seconds for the asteroid to plunge the entire base into darkness. By now, the Specters had reached the Phantom. Hera rushed in and started to warm up the engines while the teens crouched outside of the door and prepared to hold back the incoming wave.
The furious snarls alerted the squad way before the four-legged creatures launched themselves against the sentients.
Ezra, Jaral and Sabine opened fire in unison, and gunned down 8 fyrnocks immediately. Luckily, Hera was starting to lift the Phantom from the ground.
"Sabine, you first!" Jaral ordered.
Sabine didn't question it and jumped into the Phantom, then turning around to aim one of her WESTARs and continue to gun down the incoming horde.
Jaral took a few steps back then jumped on as well.
"Ezra, come on!" she shouted.
The boy stood up and shoot another burst while walking backward.
But as he turned around and aimed for the Phantom, a creature that he didn't see coming from his side leaped on him and threw him down. Ezra managed to keep the creature's mouth away from his face, but he wouldn't last long.
Sabine didn't waste a second and shot on the creature's back. It screamed and contorted in pain, allowing Ezra to throw it off him, letting it be finished by a few other shots from Sabine.
Ezra quickly grabbed back his rifle and jumped aboard.
"Go! Go! Go!" he said.
Hera pushed the Phantom forward and started to close the door. Once the latter was done, she finally pulled the ship up, gaining altitude and finally getting to safety.
Ezra took out his helmet and started panting. Sweat was covering his entire face and even got to his hairs.
He sat down on one of the chairs. The girls did the same. Jaral next to him, Sabine right in front of him.
"Let's never do that again, please." he commented once he got his breathing a bit more under control.
"I agree." Sabine said with a relieved tone.
"Hey." Ezra called Sabine, who looked at him. "Thanks for the save." he said bluntly.
Sabine gave a cheerful smile. "Guess we're even for today." she joked.
The adrenaline rush over, the three of them started to laugh away the tension left. Even Hera couldn't help but chuckle from the pilot's seat.
The Phantom finally got back safely to the Ghost.
Seeing their exhausted looks, Zeb and Kanan offered themselves to unload the crates and let them go rest.
Ezra headed straight for the restroom to take a shower, Jaral got in the kitchen to drink something, while Sabine went back to her room.
As she was entering in there, Hera called her from behind.
"Sabine, I know you have questions. Questions that I can't answer right now. But I want you to know that I trust you, as I just trusted you with my life and that of the other guys down there."
"I know. I know you do." Sabine hugged herself, not being able to hide an ounce of doubt still lingering, but she was indeed honest in her words.
"Good." said Hera. "We are making a difference, Sabine. And I promise: we won't always be fighting this battle alone. You think you can trust me?" she ended with a smile.
"I think I can try." Sabine answered returning the smile.