Star Wars Rebels: The Other Path Taken (Short Story) Part 3
Characters: Original Star Wars Characters may or may not be in Story. (Harem)
Ezra Bridger
Shei Ghavaria-O.C.
Nagna Klara-O.C.
Jen Tegga-O.C.
Sabine Wren
Hera Syndulla
Jacen Syndulla
Ashoka Tano
Justification:
The small Girl clung to Ezra as he tried to hand Jen over to the Social Services Representative at Port Authority. "No...No...I wanna stay with you! Papa." She cried and his heart went out to her. Not really enthused that she would call him PAPA. He did feel extremely conflicted about leaving her, especially after learning that the Sea Tiders had wiped out her entire Village. They had slaughtered all the Adults and the Children had been sold all over the place. He did take some solace in learning that about ninety percent of the twenty seven Children had been found and rescued. The Planetary Law Enforcers were quite effective. The problem was that none of the Sea Tiders had been caught. While discussing the matter and what had happened on the Cargo Ship. Which he downplayed his role. In fact he told the Investigators that he had just found Jen in the Cargo Hold. That the Captain and his Men were already dead when he arrived. Jen confirmed his accounting, well sort of. She told them she did not see what happened. Now as she continued to cling to him, he learned that she was actually older then him. Yes she was still a child. But Mermagains aged differently then Humans. For every six years they aged only one year. So in human terms Jen was actually 18. In her people though she was only 3 and was still mentally that age. When he finally was able to hand her over to the nice and kind Social Services lady. He regretfully left, hearing Jen cry for him as he walked away.
A block and a half away, Ezra was feeling in worse. It was he felt sorry for Jen. At most she would end up in an orphanage, since none of the other Mermagain People or Villages would take her in. None of the Children that had survived this atrocity would be taken in. It was not that her People saw her or the others as their people. No it was they had strong family ties and did not really see Orphaned or displaced Children as their own. Well that was how it was explained to him by the Lady that had come from Social Services. His musings were interrupted when he suddenly heard Blaster Fire coming from the Port Authority behind him. Turning he ran back and what he found made his blood boil. Entering the Building, he found the place in shambles. Two of the Investigators were dead. Two others were wounded, as was the three Port Authority Officers and the Lady from Social Services. "They took her...They took her." The Lady said gasping in pain as she clutched her left thigh, where he saw where she had been hit by a Blaster Bolt.
"Who took her?" Ezra asked though he already knew who it was.
"The Sea Tiders." The Woman said her voice taunt and filled with pain. Not over the wound so much, but over the fact that she had failed to take care of the Child.
"They will regret doing that." Ezra growled as he turned towards the door. The Sea Tiders had just made a fatal mistake. They had angered a Jedi Knight, not that he was slipping into the Dark Side. He knew he wasn't. No they had pissed off one enough that he would seek justice. For Jen and the other Mermagain Children. He stopped briefly at one of the Investigators. Suspecting that the Officer would know. "Where do I find them?" He asked the Man and the Wounded Officer looked up at him.
"I heard they like to hang out at the Barnacle...it is a seedy Bar near Dock 4." The Man said and then Ezra walked out. Stalking towards Dock 4. In route he stopped long enough to purchase a Robe. It was not exactly like those that the Jedi liked to wear, but it was close enough. Though it was not brown, it was Grey. But he figured it was close enough to hide what he looked like. When he entered the Bar, he let the Force flow through him. "EVERONE THAT IS NOT A SEA TIDER! GET OUT!" He stated loudly to the patrons within. He could easily tell who the Sea Tiders were. They were seated at two tables off the left. At first none of the others in the room moved. But the snap hiss of an activated Lightsabre motivated them to leave. One of the seven Sea Tiders began to laugh.
"You know whoever you are...There ain't no Jedi around anymore. So pretending to be one...might not be too healthy." The Man said and his buddies all began to laugh as well. Right up to when Ezra force flung the two tables they were sitting at across the room. It took Ezra only a few minutes to take down the Seven Criminals. The one that had originally spoke, lay on the floor. His right arm down from his elbow lay a meter away from him and he was clutching his stub.
"I will only ask this once. Where is she?" Ezra asked sternly and the man looked up at him with pain and panic in his eyes.
"Who are you talking about?" The Man asked, his voice etched in pain. Ezra knelt and grabbed the Man's tunic with his left hand. At the same time pointed the tip of his Lightsabre at the Man's Forehead.
"The Mermagain Girl that was at the Port Authority." Ezra stated and the Man did not know. But he did tell Ezra about where he believed she might be. Either at their Headquarters or the Storage Warehouse. Giving Ezra both addresses. With determination that he was going to save Jen. He made his way across the City. Word had spread about the Jedi that had just decimated a group of the Sea Tiders at the Barnacle. When he passed some of the other people they shied away from him. Though he noticed that some smiled broadly at him. Whispering encouragements as he made his way. He even saw two or three older people, crying with delight. He wondered if it was like this before the Empire. Nearing a cross street, he saw two familiar faces. Shei and Nagna. They had both heard about the unknown Jedi causing havoc at the Barnacle.
"Not very subtle Ezra." Shei said with her hands on her hips. He had told her about the Jedi Purge and the fact that generally a Jedi would not really openly let others know what he was.
"I need your help." Ezra said and both eagerly smiled. "I need you to go to this Warehouse and provide some much needed Justice. See if there are kidnapped Children there. Especially one called Jen."
"Can we use excessive force?" Nagna asked frowning heavily. Kidnappers to her were nothing more then Slavers and she despised Slavers with a passion. Ezra nodded.
"Do what you must. But be careful. I am going to their Headquarters." Ezra then gave them both addresses.
Retribution:
The Leader of the Sea Tides, sat on a huge Chair. He loved sitting on his Thrown like Chair, it made him feel like he was an actual Lord. Well in essence he was one. He ruled over the Sea Tiders with an iron fist. Now as he glared down at some of his subjects, he was not pleased. Word had come that a Jedi. An actual Jedi had taken out SYnic Tals and all those with him at the Barnacle. To keep order he had to discourage this rumor. Otherwise even a rumor and he knew it was just a fallacy not real fact. Otherwise it could result in him loosing control of his Men. "Get some backbones you bunch of idiots! Everyone knows the Jedi are extinct. They are all dead and gone. I am betting that SYnic and the others simply got drunk and got taken down by a rival." He stated forcefully. He then looked over at the Clear Plastic Water Tank and at the Mermagain Girl within. He waked the Tank with his Cane. "Stop crying you worthless Merm...otherwise I will give you something to cry about." He said to her and hen smirked. Looking back at his Men, he could hear them whispering. He would probably have to make an example out of a couple of them to get his Men to act properly. Not cowering cowards, but ruthless and powerful Sea Tiders.
"SIR...SIR...Someone has taken out those at the Warehouse! Freed the Merms there...all the Men there are dead or now are in Law Enforcers Custody!" A Man named Ghaser said as he ran into the room. His eyes were wide and he was sweating. "I was there...two Bitches...One Human and one Crossbreed Tog...they wiped us out!" Ghaser rushed towards the Leader and then dropped from a Blaster Bolt that the Leader had shot him with.
"I do not tolerate failure or incompetence! You see you idiots...it was not a Jedi. Just a couple of...fools that are soon going to die for what they have done." The Leader noticed that most of his Men were not really listening, they had their attention on their colleague Ghaser. Who had a smoking hole in his chest. "There is no Jedi here!"
"Yes there is and right now...I am extremely annoyed!" Ezra said as he stalked into the large room. He had his Lightsabre in his hand and it was ignited. Lighting up the entire room with a Green Glow. "Anyone that does not want to face me...get out and leave Tsilatta! For if I see any of you again...you will face my Justice!" He glared at the twenty or so Men within the room. Including their Leader. A good half did not have to be told twice, they bolted from the room. The others drew their Blasters and within minutes the entire room was bathed in not only the Green Lightsabre light. But also streaks of Red Blaster Bolts. The Leader watched in utter horror as his Loyal Men that had not deserted him, fall. Clutching were repelled Blaster Bolts took them down one by one. In moments all of his Men were down and what he never thought possible would come for him. There before him was an actual Jedi. Throwing down his own Blaster and Cane. He surrendered to the Menace that was slowly walking towards him. Dropping to his knees to plead to the Jedi not to kill him.
With Jen once more held in his arms, Ezra walked out of what was once the Sea Tiders Headquarters. Their Leader was tied upside down from the Ceiling by his Ankles. He also had a sign pinned to his chest identifying him as the Leader of the Criminals. "So who is that?" Shei asked smiling as she and Nagna walked towards Ezra.
"Her name is Jen. She is a Mermagain that has no one. She is an orphan." Ezra told her and Shei smiled warmly at the little girl. As did Nagna.
"Oh really. Hello there Jen." Shei said to her and Jen smiled back at her.
"You really pretty." Jen said and then clung more tightly to Ezra.
"So what are we going to do with her?" Shei asked. Before he could respond.
"I wanna stay with Papa." Jen declared and both Shei and Nagna chuckled.
"Papa?" They both said at the same time and Ezra sighed loudly. He then introduced Jen to Shei and Nagna. Unsure how he ended up being Jen's Papa. Ditching the Robe and concealing his Lightsabre. They headed back to the Inn. The next morning, they sort of permanently borrowed with the Permission of the Port Authority. The Cargo Ship that once belonged to the Captain that Ezra had worked on. Since no one knew who exactly owned it. Due to that the Registration Numbers and Identification was sliced. So Ezra renamed it the HARDLUCK and within an hour the Ship was off World. Heading elsewhere, but not back to the Core Worlds or the Rim Worlds yet.
Making a Go of It:
While in route to another System, Ezra took the time to make sure that the rest of the Ship was not as bad as the Hyperdrive Coolant Filters were when he cleaned them. Thankfully the rest of the Major Systems on the HARDLUCK seemed to be in good working order. It was no Ghost. But it also seemed that the departed Captain had made sure that the Ship's Weapons, shields and propulsion were well beyond standard. As he stood from inspecting the Power Regulators, he smiled over at Shei. "This was Smuggler's Ship." He informed her and she smiled back at him.
"So what do we do now Ezra. From what Nagna told me when she checked the Cargo Bays...there is some actual legitimate Cargo on board. Power Cores and about three or four Power Generators." Shei said as she followed Ezra to the one of the Smaller Cargo bays. He wanted to check on Jen, who at the moment was in a Doctored Cargo Container. They had cut the top of the Plastic 12 foot across by 8 foot deep container and filled it with Sea Water. Ezra then added an oxygenator, so that Jen could spend the five hours every twenty nine hours she needed to be in Sea Water to keep her Gills from drying out. One that was done, the two headed towards the Front Port of the Ship.
"The HARDLUCK is a Cargo Ship. I think for the time being, we become Cargo Haulers. Spend a couple of months doing that before we go anywhere near the Rim or Core Worlds. It would be safer for one. Well for me that is." Ezra had found out that the previous Captain of the Ship had a Holonet Media transmitter on board. It was Imperial. But it was also hacked and sliced to function. So after checking he found out that the Bounty on him offered by the Empire had tripled. He was not really concerned about that the Empire had a bounty on him. Not here in the Unknown Regions. For one not many would have access to the Holonet, since it was extremely expensive to receive information this far from the Core Worlds. Since the one there was hacked and sliced, along with the fact that from the browser history. Ezra discovered that the Man that Captained the HARDLUCK, only used it to view and watch Adult content. Which he erased the history, not wanting Jen to accidentally click on any of those Holo Videos.
"Sounds alright to me Ezra." Shei said and then looked at the two Rooms that were the Crew Quarters. One was the Captains Room. She smiled and went inside that one. He watched her for a second and she smiled from within. "This is our room Ezra." She told him and then pointed across the Corridor. "Nanga and Jen can have that one." He had no idea what to say, he was about to protest. Before he could she grabbed the collar of his Tunic and pulled him within the room. "I am done with waiting for you to do something." She then kissed him forcefully. She reached past him and closed the door. Maneuvering him over to the Bed. His mind wanted to object or to say something in the regards that they should not be doing this. But his body and heart would not let him. He had completely fallen for Shei. Parting slightly, she smiled coyly at him. Pushing him down onto the bed. She then pulled her Tunic over her head and joined him.
In the Corridor Nagna wrinkled her brow at the Closed and Locked door. She could plainly hear what they were doing within and she felt a stirring of jealousy within her. At that moment she decided that she would not give up on being with Ezra. After all, legally he was her Master and a Slave's duty was to serve her Master in all ways. Including that way. With a renewed smile of determination, she went back to help Jen get out of the Tank.
Year Four:
Landing on Dystorsnagit, A Chiss operated Colony. Ezra and his now family, stepped down the boarding Ramp of the HARDLUCK. He had Jen on his shoulders as they headed for the Colonies Receiving Annex. In his hand was the Manifest of the Cargo that they had hauled here for the Colony. "Papa...I am hungry." Jen said as she leaned slightly down from his Shoulders to look at him. He smiled at her.
"Be patient. After I give this to the Man inside...we will all go get something to eat." Ezra said and Jen cooed with delight.
"You make such a good and loving father, Darling." Shei said with a smile. "Perhaps soon we might have one of our own?" She suggested continuing to smile.
"Well if you two have a baby...I want one too." Nagna stated firmly and Shei looked over at her.
"Sorry Nagna...he is still mine. Perhaps it is time you give up." Shei said and Nagna shook her head.
"Never. Eventually I will win our contest and Ezra will be mine." Nagna stated as they entered the Building. The Chiss behind the desk looked at them blankly and took the Manifest from Ezra.
"You will have to wait to be unloaded. There are four others ahead of you." The Blue Skinned Chiss said and Ezra could not help but feel a little uncomfortable when the Chiss looked at him. The Chiss looked too much like Thrawn. Not that the Man actually could be a relative of Thrawn or even closely resembled the Grand Admiral. Not at all. It was that the entire Race gave Ezra the Willies.
"That will be fine. We all could do with a decent meal instead of what we have on board." Ezra said controlling his discomfort. The Chiss nodded and then gestured for them to leave. As they passed another Man who was waiting for his own Ship to be unloaded.
"Hey there...have you guys heard. The Empire is on the edge of being defeated. I heard that they just lost another of those Planet Killers and the Emperor is reported to be one of the Casualties." The much older Man said and Ezra almost stumbled.
"Has...Has that been confirmed?" Ezra asked and the Man nodded.
"Yep got it right from a reliable source. I run Cargo to and from Ord Mantell and one of my Clients is an Imperial Commander. Right before he deserted he told me." The Man said and Ezra sighed slightly with relief. After thanking the Man for telling them and once outside.
"Ezra...with it safe for you now. Do you want to go back?" Shei asked him and Ezra closed his eyes to think about it. Then smiled.
"Lets discuss that while we eat." Ezra said and then proceeded towards the Space Port Diner. He wondered if he could. He had been away for almost five years and he really did not want to give up the life he had made with Shei, Nagna and Jen. To go back meant a lot of changes that he was unsure if he wanted anymore. Though one good thing was he would be able to see Sabine, Hera and Zeb again. They too were like family. Unfortunately he found he no longer could completely remember what Sabine looked like. For his infatuation of her basically no longer existed so much as when he was there.
The Search Cancelled:
About to leave the mural of the Ghost Crew, Sabine held her Helmet. She finally could go with Ashoka Tano to search for Ezra and bring him home. She missed him drastically and wanted to see him so badly again. Mainly she wanted to finally confess her true feelings for him. So as she neared Ashoka's Red Ship, she was not prepared to hear from the Togruta that they did not have to actually go anywhere. That she had just learned that Ezra was about to land. Sabine smiled broadly as she peered upwards to see a YT 1760 Cargo Ship on final approach, escorted by two X-Wing Fighters. The same ones that had escorted Ashoka.
Landing the HARDLUCK on the side Landing Pad, Ezra peered out the front Cockpit and saw Sabine and Ashoka standing and waiting for him. He nervously exhaled. Having no idea how it was going to go in the next ten or so minutes. Sure he wanted to see them again, but he had no idea how to explain why he did not come home immediately or a lot sooner then he was now. Shutting down the Systems, he made his way to the Boarding Ramp where Shei, Nagna and Jen were all waiting for him. "You look as nervous as a Bothan caught paying a Check." Shei commented with a small smile. He did not reply as he descended the Ramp and without real warning, Sabine collided into him. Hugging him fiercely. He immediately felt through the Force, Shei's and Nagna's irritation. Along with a huge dose of jealousy.
"WHERE THE BLAZES HAVE YOU BEEN?" Sabine asked angrily as she hugged Ezra tightly to her. She moved back at arms length and scowled at him.
"That might take awhile to explain." Ezra said to her and Sabine looked over his shoulder easily noticing the glares she was receiving by his Companions. Especially from the Human Girl with Blonde hair. "Oh before that...Sabine this is..."
"I am Shei Ghavaria. Do you mind letting go of my Lover!" Shei declared sternly, stepping closer and pulling Ezra away from Sabine.
"LOVER?" Sabine looked from Ezra back to the Shei.
"Yes his Lover and one day hopefully soon his wife!" Shei stated with a small smile. She had heard about Sabine, for Ezra had told her about the Mandalorian Girl. How they were good friends and that was about all they were. But she suspected that Sabine wanted more then that and to her that was not going to happen. Ezra was hers now and she did not share.
"Uhm...okay." Ezra said even more nervously as he caught Sabine's expression about Shei. "This here is Nagna..."
"And Ezra is my Master." Nagna said before Ezra could say anything else. Again Sabine glared at him and he knew that he would have to really explain about Nagna. Though not as much as when Jen spoke up.
"Papa...Is this the friend you told me about?" Jen asked stepping closer to look up at Sabine.
"PAPA? Okay Ezra Bridger...Start talking! I want to know exactly what the Feir'fek is going on!" Sabine grabbed Ezra's Collar with both hands and sternly growled. "If this is your Daughter...then who is the Mother? Is it her or her or is it someone else?" She demanded and Ezra swallowed heavily. It took him several minutes to explain and he blundered and babbled through the explanation. While he went through the tale, he had to admit it did sound ridiculous and farfetched. But he kept reassuring her that it was all true. Especially about the fact that Shei was indeed his Lover and that he did love her. Sabine listened as did Ashoka. Who Ezra noticed was silently chuckling at the predicament he had gotten himself into. An hour later, they all knew Ezra had to leave. Otherwise the New Republic would learn that he had come back and he was not ready to deal with them yet. So as he, Shei, Nagna and Jen climbed up the Boarding Ramp. "Hold up there. I am coming with you. I am not about to lose you again and then there is the matter of the fact that...Ezra I...I want...I know at one time you were in love with me...well I...I am not about to lose you to her." She said gesturing over at Shei. He looked from one to the other.
"I do not think that would be..." Before Ezra could say more, Shei once more interrupted him.
"No let her come. I want her to see that her pursuit of you is pointless. That way she will know for a fact that she should have done something when she had the chance." Shei said with a huge smile, taking Ezra's right hand possessively.
"Like I said I am not giving up on him and we Mandalorians always get who we are after." Sabine declared, then followed the others up the Ramp. Waving briefly farewell to Ashoka who continued to chuckle.
"Kalabast...Wish I could be there to see how it works out. It would be thoroughly entertaining." Ashoka whispered as she watched the HARDLUCK rise and fly off.
The End