Chapter 6: Safe Harbor
Alisa slowly crawled to the edge of the cliff overlooking the canyon, silently cursing the helmet she had to wear for the jetpack to function. She had seen Kanan and Ezra comfortably land impossible falls, but she was nowhere near confident enough in her abilities to jump off a cliff unassisted. Sabine and two other Wren warriors were on this side of the canyon, with four others just across the narrow, fifty-meter gap.
"Heads up, convoy's rolling up!" Sabine announced into their shared comms network. Sure enough, Alisa could make out the cloud of dust being kicked up by the wheeled vehicles further down the canyon. The convoy consisted of four vehicles, two of which were the repulsorlift-driven Imperial K79 Troop Transport, with the two center vehicles being lightly-armed transport variants of the A6 Juggernaut. "Everyone ready?"
As the words of affirmation came flowing in, Sabine gave a silent signal to the two other Wren warriors on her side of the canyon's edge. A pair of jetpack-mounted rockets speared downwards towards the lead troop transport. The first warhead made good contact with the center of the vehicle's weakly-armored top, causing the repulsorlifts to give out as spalling tore through essential components and sending the vehicle skidding across the canyon floor. The second rocket went wide, striking the canyon wall and sending a landslide down onto the lead vehicle, burying it under several tons of granite.
Just as the lead Juggernaut slammed on the brakes, causing its companion vehicle to just barely avoid colliding with its rear, another pair of rockets speared out from the other side of the canyon, both striking the rear troop transport and reducing it to a smoking wreckage. By the time the light laser cannons on the dorsal side of the Juggernauts turned to scan the skies, they were too late. Four sets of feet landed on each of the transports, one a bit less graceful than the others.
Alisa, having landed on the front transport, quickly ignited her lightsaber and began carving a hole in the dorsal plating while the Wren warriors disabled the cannons. Alisa was the last to drop into the Juggernaut, finding a platoon of stormtroopers laying dead before Sabine and two seasoned Mandalorian warriors. With Sabine heading for the vehicle's cockpit and the two others making for the upper levels of the vehicle, Alisa began making her way through the narrow corridors of the Juggernaut in search of their prize.
As she searched the dimly-lit corridors, it seemed that the Juggernaut was running on minimal crew. Such a massive craft was clearly capable of holding hundreds of soldiers, but she could barely find any evidence of passengers beyond the few stormtroopers on the upper levels. The first cargo compartment she happened upon contained mostly field provisions and spare power packs for weapons and equipment, nothing especially noteworthy. Just as she prepared to step into the aft-most cargo compartment, something in the back of her mind screamed for her to jump back, and she did just that.
Alisa saw a quick wisp of red light spear into the wall to her left, right where her head had been a moment prior, followed closely by the familiar sound of encoded speech. "Problem on the lower level!" She shouted into her commlink, activating her lightsaber and deflecting a pair of blaster bolts that sailed down the access corridor. Just before rounding the corner and getting into cover, Alisa could see three tall figures approaching the corridor, weapons trained forward.
Alisa threw herself into cover as a fragmentation grenade rolled down the corridor, the detonation making her ears ring and sending shrapnel sparking off the metal interior of the Juggernaut. Still dazed, she didn't notice the small cylinder rolling into the storage room she had taken cover in, letting out a loud pop as it began billowing white smoke that quickly filled the room, completely obscuring her vision. Even her limited sight into the infrared spectrum couldn't help her here, she was practically flying blind.
As much as she tried to focus, her mind was still rattled by the grenade. She couldn't fully make sense of her situation before the three Death Troopers stormed the storage compartment, their own sensors evidently unimpeded by the smoke grenade as she felt a searing heat slam into her shoulder, sending her to the ground.
By the time the shock wore off and she finally came to her senses, all she could notice was a gauntleted hand grabbing her by the forearm. On reflex, she willed the lightsaber into her hand and ignited it, causing Sabine to stumble back to avoid the blade. Sabine heard Alisa shout something in her native language before realizing who was in front of her. The normally stoic Chiss' eyes began darting around as she slowly composed herself, letting the lightsaber's blade recede into the hilt before letting out a sigh. "I… I'm sorry." She half-whispered.
"You okay?" Sabine asked, standing upright again and noticing the gnarly wound in Alisa's shoulder.
"I'll be fine..." Alisa nodded, grabbing a small bacta container from her combat rig and applying the icy liquid to her shoulder. She saw the three Death Troopers that had nearly killed her, their armor riddled with blaster marks. The other Wren clansman was happily relieving them of their weapons and moving the bodies from the cramped walkway.
"This feels like a trap…" Sabine muttered, looking around. "C'mon." She nodded for the storage bay that the Death Troopers were guarding. "Get these things moving, we're not staying here." She ordered into the comms.
The storage bay was filled practically to the brim with hardened containers bearing either no markings or very simple ones. Choosing one at random, Alisa unlocked the container and flipped its lid open, finding a large collection of portable computer terminals, data chips, and various interface visors. She hummed to herself, picking another crate and repeating the process, finding a selection of heavy blaster rifles. "Not quite what we expected..." She announced.
"Think I got it, here." Sabine grunted, yanking a biometrically-locked crate down from an overhead rack. "Wanna do your thing?" She gestured to the locking mechanism.
Alisa nodded, stepping over and igniting her lightsaber, swiping it across the lock. She was surprised to find her blade stop dead as something inside the crate stopped it dead. "What the…?"
Sabine's eyes immediately widened, seeing the saber stop. "No way!" She quickly darted over, flipping the lid open to reveal a full crate of beskar ingots. "Alisa, give me a hand with this! This is coming with us."
By the time they had gotten the crate to the sandy ground outside and were preparing it to be loaded onto their incoming shuttle, one the Clan Wren's veteran warriors pointed to the skies ahead of the convoy. "Contact! Mandalorians!"
The quartet of Mandalorians outfitted in tan and black armor cut their jetpacks a few feet from Mandalore's surface. "I'll be damned, Clan Wren beat us to the punch? Thought your mother was all nice and cozied up to the Emperor." The leader practically spat.
"Things change, Skirata. The hell are you doing here?" Sabine asked.
"We were supposed to be retrieving supplies to relieve Keldabe. I take it that won't be a problem?"
"Actually, that's exactly what we were doing." Sabine nodded towards the neatly-assembled crates of arms, rations, and ammunition. "You're welcome to tag along, unless you'd rather waste time insulting us."
The Skirata clan member nodded in consideration. "Alright, glad to see someone in your family's willing to do this. Imp lines are thin around Keldabe, these Juggernauts should let us punch through."
XXXXX
"Mind the bump..." Sabine muttered, the massive wheels on the Juggernaut tank rolling clear over imperial barricades as the laser cannons on the roof spewed hate down towards the Stormtroopers on the ground. Clan Skirata's very few but very elite warriors were mopping up anything the Juggernaut missed, and they rolled into Keldabe practically unopposed.
When they finally disembarked, Alisa was greeted by the sight of a Mandalorian city that had been nearly completely reduced to rubble. Scant few buildings were still standing, those that were damn near collapsed. Alisa wheeled around at the sound of approaching vehicles, spotting a few Imperial light transports moving their way. Before she could even get a word out, a hail of blaster fire rained down on the Stormtroopers from various concealed positions across the boulevard. When a missile smashed into the lead transport, setting it alight, the remaining stormtroopers turned tail and ran.
"Your people?" Sabine asked, looking to the Skiratan Warrior.
"A few, but mostly locals." He nodded towards a small tunnel. "The food, ammunition, and weapons you recovered will go a long way for these people. Won't be the first time they've had to fight an invader."
As they approached the tunnel, another Skiratan approached from the mouth of the tunnel, ducking under some stray rubble. "Fi, I take it you got the supplies?"
"With some help, yeah." Fi nodded back towards his new companions. "Beskar, blasters, thermal detonators, and rations."
"Alright, I'll get the men to distribute them." The Mandalorian nodded. "Glad to see Wren coming out to help."
"Looks like we might've kicked the nest on our way in." Fi turned back to Sabine and Alisa. "Care to help out?"
"Happily, but then we're leaving. And if you don't mind, try to take an officer alive." Sabine nodded.
XXXXX
Alisa stepped off the small shuttle, shoving the Imperial officer onto the snow of Krownest as she led him towards the Wren stronghold, which was starting to finally look the part in her eyes. Defenses had been assembled, and dozens of clan members patrolled the area.
The Imperial officer was quickly led into a holding cell by the Wren warriors, while Alisa and Sabine were led into a debriefing. Keldabe's resistance was emboldened by their new war materials, and they had even begun to strike out beyond the city limits. Clan Skirata were more than able to keep that region of the planet under relatively firm Mandalorian control now that the Empire was occupied with constant hit-and-fade attacks.
Just as the debriefing was winding down, Tristan stepped into the room, helmet in the crook of his arm. "Mother… our guest isn't being all that cooperative."
Ursa sighed, shaking her head. "What have you tried?"
"Everything short of… removing parts." Tristan explained.
"Alisa, if you wouldn't mind?" Ursa asked, looking to the Chiss. "A Jedi might just be the shock we need to get something of value out of this Imp rat."
Alisa nodded, making her way towards the holding cell. She stepped past the cell's lone guard, seeing the Imperial officer clad in only his jumpsuit. Tristan certainly wasn't kidding, the Imp had been questioned, roughed up, buttered up, everything that was actually feasible within roughly four hours. "Great... now they sic a detestable alien on me." The officer spat in Alisa's direction. "You'll get nothing from me, scum."
"Quite the greeting for the one person in this stronghold that might be able to keep you alive, Lieutenant." Alisa began, locking her hands together behind her back. She started pacing around the chair the officer was bound to. "Cooperate with me, and I'll see to it that you're dropped on Mandalore with just enough provisions to make it to Sundari. Should you choose to fuck with me… well, Clan Wren will have to clean you out of this cell with a hose."
"Please… an insignificant worm like you wouldn't dare-" Alisa cut him off, dropping the lightsaber from its harness and igniting it, bringing the blade right to the officer's neck, searing away some hairs on his chin.
"Choose your next words carefully, Lieutenant." Alisa practically growled. "I am your last, best hope of living through the night. I urge you to remember that. Allow me to ask you one simple question, grease your gears a bit… The commander of the Imperial forces on Mandalore… what's his name?"
"Governor Tiber Saxon..." The officer made out between clenched teeth. He was stiff as a board, doing everything in his power to remain completely still.
"And the location of Alrich Wren?" Alisa asked.
"Sundari… Under constant guard by Supercommandos and Death Troopers." The officer gritted out. "Recently moved to a prison complex in the center of the city after Tiber Saxon assumed the governorship."
"Good… now we're getting somewhere." Alisa deactivated the saber, attaching it to her belt. "Now… Sundari's garrison. I want numbers, orders of battle, reserves."
"The 103rd and 96th Stormtrooper Legions, and the Imperial Army's 392nd Infantry Division, all with standard vehicle compliments." The officer began. "There's some sort of prototype weapon on Saxon's Star Destroyer, if the rumors are to be believed. I haven't seen it in person, so I can only guess what it's capable of."
"And your next target?" Alisa asked.
"A strike against Clan Eldar territory on Mandalore. We believe them to be harboring Clan Skirata's forces. That's as much as I know!"
"Excellent." Alisa nodded, turning to leave.
"You'll get me out of here, right?" The officer asked, desperation plain in his voice. "You Jedi are honorable, so you must be true to your word!"
"Then it's a damn shame I'm no Jedi, isn't it?" Alisa shrugged, stepping back into the stronghold. "I'll let the Countess decide your fate. For your sake, I certainly hope you were truthful."
XXXXX
"Looks like our diversion worked." Fi Skirata nodded, gesturing to the tactical display on the holotable. Several regiments of stormtroopers had been deployed to a completely unoccupied town on Mandalore, drawn there by several diversionary strikes on their supply lines. Alisa was rather surprised to find that Fi was a clone, much like Rex. He simply lacked the beard, keeping himself clean-cut.
Clan Skirata had quickly become an integral part of the Mandalorian resistance, their elite soldiers proving to be well beyond the Empire's ability to contend with. Several of the clans were in open rebellion by this point, but only Eldar and Skirata had actually rallied behind Clan Wren and the darksaber so far.
"Countess, incoming communication from the Ghost!" One of the Wren members barked out from behind a comms terminal.
"Bring it up." Ursa nodded, allowing the tactical display to be replaced by a holocomm from Ezra, Rex, and Kallest.
"Sabine, Alisa!" Ezra began, clothes visibly burned and tattered. "The Empire found Atollon! We were mid-evacuation, and a whole fleet dropped out of hyperspace. Kallest and I have a plan, but we need your help."
"You've come at an… inopportune time, to say the least." Ursa sighed. "Our forces are spread thin on Mandalore, and we're having trouble holding what we have."
"Look, if the answer's no, we'll head back. I'm not abandoning them."
"And neither am I." Sabine nodded. "Mother, let me take a few ships and some volunteers."
"Might be a one way trip, Kid." Kallest began. "Tarkin brought one of their Interdictors."
"Wait… didn't you say you knew how Interdictors worked?" Sabine asked, looking to Alisa.
"I do..." Alisa nodded. "Gravity well projectors, meant to imitate a planet to a hyperdrive's sensors, yank them back out of hyperspace or prevent them from jumping altogether. But, by their very nature, they are fragile and weakly-armored."
"Weak enough for small arms and rockets?" Sabine asked, earning a nod from the Chiss.
"Then I've got a plan..."
Ursa glanced down to her hands for a moment before relenting. "Alright… a few ships and some volunteers… but I expect you back."
XXXXX
Alisa throttled down the Mandalorian Fang fighter she had requisitioned for their little strike at the Imperial fleet over Atollon. As the blue lines of hyperspace gave way to Atollon's star system, Alisa finally got to see the Tarkin Doctrine in full effect. A dozen Imperial Star Destroyers were arrayed around Atollon, their bows focused towards the planet. A pair of Victory-II Star Destroyers guarded the single Immobilizer-418 Cruiser at the rear of the blockade, the gravity well projectors giving off the distinct blue glow.
"We're heading down, keep them off us." Sabine's voice filled Alisa's ears as she watched their craft break formation and head for the interdictor.
"Wing, form on me." Alisa barked out, seeing a squadron of TIEs approaching them. The surprisingly nimble Mandalorian fighter wasn't nearly as agile as the TIE, but it had endurance over them, and the squadron took full advantage of that.
Rather than the normal adrenaline that usually overtook Alisa when she was behind the controls, a surprising calm washed over her as the chaos of the orbital battle was tuned out, replaced by a sort of hyper-focus that she had never experienced… not to this degree. It was like she knew precisely what she had to do, and all of the pieces simply fell into place.
"On your six, lead." A voice came in Alisa's ear, and she acknowledged it by cutting her engines, rotating the s-foils a full 180 degrees, and reigniting them. Her fighter simply blazed past a pursuing pair of TIE Interceptors, and she hammered down on the trigger, swatting them both from the sky with the missiles mounted to the concealed weapons hardpoint before rotating the foils back to their standard position. "Damn right!" Her comrade cheered over the comms.
She continued to keep the fighters off of Sabine's strike team on the interdictor's hull for nearly five minutes before breaking off, seeing a lull in incoming fighters. She passed directly over the gravity well projector that they were targeting, letting loose a barrage of laser cannon fire on the notably cracked and fluctuating projector. When it finally collapsed in on itself, she saw the entire interdictor go up in a blinding display of multicolored gas and fire, finally freeing her hyperdrive.
"Strike team, status?" Alisa asked, moving to assist her squadron.
"We're alright, one didn't make it off the hull in time." Sabine's voice came back, slightly obscured by interference from the recent detonation. "Fleet's running the blockade now, move to cover them."
Alisa did what she could for the surviving rebel vessels that were blitzing through the blockade. Less than half of their A-wings had managed to make it off world, and a further half of that were destroyed while running the blockade. Only two of their transports made it through, alongside the single blockade runner.
When they finally finished their random jump, arriving in a nearby system, Alisa quickly moved to dock with the CR-90, climbing out of the fighter to find the halls filled with wounded. When she arrived on the bridge, she found General Dodonna, Hera, Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine all surrounding the holotable. "How many made it out?" She asked.
"Less than half of Phoenix Squadron..." Hera sighed, shaking her head. "We were in the middle of evacuating when Tarkin's fleet showed up."
"And Commander Sato?"
"If it weren't for him, there'd be two interdictors." Heras head hung solemnly. "Still… you all got here right in the nick of time… I'm glad to have everyone back together again."
"I can't stick around, Hera… we're still in the middle of a civil war on Mandalore." Sabine offered, giving Hera an apologetic look.
"Well, I need to get our survivors to rebel command to start rebuilding." Hera returned.
"I'm going with Sabine and Alisa!" Ezra declared. "I saw firsthand what the Mandalorians are up against, they need our help. They barely had the equipment to help us, so I at least owe them that much."
"That's fine, Ezra. When you're done on Mandalore, get to Yavin IV." Hera nodded.
"Aww hell, I'm going too." Kallest smirked. "Can't let Ali have all the fun."
Alisa shot Kallest a look that could cut steel, only causing the smuggler's smile to widen.
XXXXX
Alisa sighed, falling back on the bunk she had spent countless sleepless nights in. The inside of Kallest's freighter was slightly cleaner than she remembered, there were only a few loose floor panels now, mostly centered around the captain's quarters. For whatever reason, Kallest adamantly refused to fix them. They were still a few hours away from Concord Dawn, and Sabine and Ezra had decided to hitch a ride on the Fortune's Folly.
Right when Alisa was feeling her eyes grow heavy, she was interrupted by the soft chiming of her Holocomm. Groaning, she reached over to the small alcove in the wall she kept it on and activated the device. She was surprised to see Matthias' holographic form shimmer into view in her hand, broad smile still worn on his face. "Alisa, my dear! Pardon me, but you look like hell."
"Feel like it too." Alisa nodded. "Did you need something?"
"I couldn't help but hear through the vine that a certain blue alien has been taking part in the Mandalorian Civil War. My, you're certainly getting around." Matthias smirked, leaning up against a wall that the holocomm didn't pick up. "I'd imagine they're in need of some fine armaments and intelligence, no?"
Alisa decided to hold her tongue about just how much they needed the supplies, lest the price suddenly spike. "I can certainly run the offer by the Countess."
"As always, you're a treasure." Matthias smirked. "Simply send me a ping, and I'll get your Mandalorians the finest blasters money can buy. We can work out a price when the war's won." There was the predatory smile. "Oh, and before you go!" Matthias interjected, seeing Alisa preparing to deactivate the comm. "When you get the chance, do come by. I might have found another little artifact for you." Before she could respond, Matthias cut the line, the blue glow of the holocomm fading away.
Alisa tossed the holocomm back into its alcove, trying to find the tired again. Despite her best efforts, it just wouldn't return… she was wide awake. After nearly an hour of lying awake, she sighed and reached into her pack, pulling out the small Chiss personal communicator. It was much like a holocomm in many ways, but she couldn't find a single damn thing to charge it. She had done her best to preserve the battery, but it was starting to fade. When she powered it up, she was greeted by the familiar warning of low power. By her best guess, it had a collective twenty minutes of life left in it.
She flicked the display over to the first image it had ever captured. The skyline of Csilla from the surface, a frigate just beginning to break the atmosphere off in the distance silhouetted against the setting sun. The first time she had ever set foot on the surface of Csilla. She flipped it over to the next, showing the vast ocean of Rentor from the edge of the massive iceberg that her home city rested atop. She was so lost in her memories that she didn't notice the door to her quarters slide open until Sabine's voice caused her to jump. "You okay?"
"Yes… why do you ask?" Alisa asked, setting the communicator down beside her, still displaying the image of her homeworld.
"Looks like you were crying..." Sabine began, stepping inside. Alisa reached up to her cheek and sure enough, a small stream of moisture was running to her chin. Searching for a way to change the subject as fast as possible, Sabine's eyes settled on the soft glow of the alien device resting beside her friend. "What's that?" She asked, sitting beside Alisa.
"O-oh… just some memories." Alisa began, picking the device up again. "This is my homeworld, Rentor. The cities are built on top of massive icebergs that float across the water."
"Wow..." Sabine smiled, looking at the image. "It's beautiful... " She watched as Alisa cycled to the next image, depicting a quartet of Chiss sitting in a grassy field. The older woman in the picture had slightly brighter skin than the other three and a head of strikingly silver hair. The older man was wearing a military uniform of sorts, but Sabine couldn't hope to understand the meaning of the various medals, patches, and accolades. If Sabine had to guess, he looked like what the average Chiss would look like, hard to pick out of a crowd without his surprisingly tall stature.
The two younger Chiss were both girls, one notably older than the other. Both had void-black hair, and the older was wearing a broad smile on her face as she embraced the younger, who looked to be no older than a toddler. "My family..." Alisa began, Sabine noting a slightly… mournful smile on Alisa's face. "We were on Avidich, just a year after Iaanha was born. My parents flew all the way out to my station to let me know that Iaanha had the Sight." She let out a soft chuckle. "My father thought a message would be enough, but… well, Mother set him straight."
Sabine found herself enraptured by her friend's stories and pictures. She saw Alisa's home, her old friends, planets she visited, and even caught sight of a few Chiss ships and fighters. They looked distinctly alien, unlike anything in the wider galaxy. At the final image, Sabine saw Alisa sitting at what looked like a mess table with a few other Chiss in uniform, all of them wearing broad smiles. "My old squadron..." Alisa explained, the story she had told Sabine in the cell flooding back to her. "Right before we were due to depart for our… my last patrol."
Not a moment later did the battery on the device finally give out, the image flickering out and fading. "Ah… damn..." Alisa sighed.
"Oh, forget to charge it?" Sabine asked. She was happy to see Alisa actually smiling for once. It was strange at first, seeing the usually serious woman happily recount her memories.
"I can't… nothing I've found works for it." Alisa shrugged, grip unconsciously tightening on the now-depleted device.
The realization of what this probably meant for Alisa hit Sabine like a train. Not knowing exactly what to do next, she simply wrapped Alisa in a hug, surprising her blue friend. That was the last real connection Alisa had to her home, her old life… and she had decided to use the last of the battery to share those memories with her. "You didn't have to do that..."
"Do what?" Alisa asked, unsure what to do with herself.
"Go through all that with me… but I'm glad you did."
Alisa let out a shaky breath, returning the hug after a moment of thought. "Thank you for listening."
"No problem, Ali… anytime." Sabine responded, pulling away with a smile on her face. Much to her surprise, she didn't see the scowl that Alisa had given Kallest. She saw a small smile.