Chapter 45
-Sabine's POV 3rd Person-
I don't believe it, Sabine thinks to herself. In front of her, the largest armada the Rebellion has ever formed appeared out of hyperspace. Most of the ships are familiar to her, but there are a few that aren't. Surrounded by hundreds of Rebel warships and countless starfighters is the largest warship the Rebellion has ever fielded.
"This is Hera Syndulla to the Nightfury, do you read?"
"Hera!" Sabine exclaims. "It is so good to hear your voice!"
"Looks like we made it just in time," she says. Her face appears on the comm panel in front of Sabine.
"Your timing was perfect, Hera," Sabine replies. "Our cloak is disabled and we can't jump into hyperspace. We have Ezra on board, but he needs medical attention."
"Understood. Can you get to the center of our formation?"
"We'll try, but we need cover."
"We're on it. I'm sending you the approach vectors to the Citadel. There's a docking pad just off the starboard side next to the flight deck."
"I see it," the helmsman reports as he pushes the engines as hard as he can.
"We're moving," Sabine tells Hera. "Um.. Hera, what is that ship?"
The Twi'lek smiles. "I'll explain once you're on board. For now, you should focus on getting here alive."
"Understood."
The call ends and Sabine looks around at the battle going on around her. There's squadrons of T-70 X-wings and a new model of A-wings swarming around them. They're still outnumbered by the Imperial TIE fighters, but the rebel pilots and fighters are clearly superior to whatever the Empire can throw at them. As Sabine's ship gets closer to the large vessel in the heart of the formation, she can see even more fighters being launched from the front of the ship.
"It looks like a carrier," the sergeant says in awe.
"We've needed a dedicated carrier for a long time," Sabine agrees. "Looks like this is it."
The helmsman reports they're about to dock on an external landing pad just next to the hangar. Sabine sees a complex web of point defense guns going off all around them, covering their docking process.
"Get Ezra ready for transport!" Sabine orders. "Captain, the ship is yours. I'm going with them."
"Understood, Commander."
...
She's running alongside the medical crews as they rush to get Ezra to their medical facilities. As soon as the airlocks opened, Ezra was placed into a medical pod and taken aboard the carrier. The medics protested Sabine's presence there, but she made it perfectly clear that she isn't leaving Ezra's side.
"Commander, you have to give us room to operate on him," the head medic demands. "For his sake, you must go!"
Sabine clenches her fist and really wants to argue, but then she feels a hand on her shoulder and she turns to see a familiar green Twi'lek staring at her.
"Hera..."
"It's okay, Sabine," she assures her. "Ezra will be safe here. For now, I need you to come with me."
Sabine blinks fresh tears away and nods. It wasn't until Hera turns around to lead her elsewhere when Sabine noticed the armor clad guards standing behind her.
"I want guards posted around this medical bay. Nobody gets in or out without authorization," Hera tells the guards.
They stand at attention as one of the guards, with gold stripes on his armor, turns around and starts barking out orders to a select few.
Hera starts to explain everything to Sabine as they walk.
"Welcome aboard the Citadel, Sabine," she says simply. "It's the super carrier that Tenith told Ezra about before. He wasn't authorized to give out any details so you and Ezra wouldn't have known much about it."
"It's impressive, to say the least," Sabine says. She knows Hera is trying to distract her from Ezra, and though it's not really working, she is grateful that she's trying to give her something else to talk about.
"The Terrans were very helpful in its construction, especially since they have facilities meant for constructing super capital warships," Hera says then. "None of them are currently present, but I'm sure you've noticed that the Mon Calamari are here as well."
"I don't recognize some of their ships," Sabine says.
"The largest ship they have is the Viscount -class," Hera explains. "It is designed to challenge the Executor super star destroyers. It is also the largest vessel of this fleet, but after this operation is over, they will move on to their own operations, leaving the Citadel as the largest."
"They're not staying with us?" Sabine asks, surprised. "I thought they were returning to the rebellion!"
"And they are. But they aren't a part of our Epsilon fleets. They still have new homeworld to protect, but also they're starting to rekindle their side of the war against the Empire," Hera explains. "They are a part of this rebellion, and their ships will cooperate with our own fleets."
"Like they are now?"
"Exactly. The Viscount star defenders I mentioned will only operate in areas where Imperial supers are present. Any joint operation with those ships will be involved with newly established Citadel fleets."
They reach the bridge of the Citadel carrier and the crew quickly acknowledge Hera's return without turning away from their duties. Outside the large viewscreen at the front of the bridge, there's the sight of a massive battle. Sabine takes in the sight of all the ships around them, facing the might and pride of the Imperial Navy. There are Avenger star destroyers, Valiants, and Legacys, all flanked by their respective escorts of Arquitens cruisers and Corellian corvettes. Among the mix of their Republic-esque warships are several Mon Calamari warships, their cruisers flanking what Sabine assumes is the Viscount.
She also spots a couple new ships of obvious Kuat-Epsilon origin.
"What ships are those?"
"Come here and I'll show you," Hera says, guiding Sabine to the holotable at the rear of the bridge. She activates the holotable and opens a few files concerning the new ships.
"To start, we have a new variation of the Arquitens cruiser called the Arquitens II light cruiser. Better armaments, armor, shields, engines, etc. Alongside that is a brand new medium cruiser called the Renegade -class medium cruiser..."
The ship shudders a bit and there's some battle chatter from the bridge crew.
"Um, should we pay attention to the battle?" Sabine asks cautiously.
Hera smiles softly, clearly unconcerned. "They know what to do. They don't need our direct orders from here."
Sabine realizes that this is what that one medic tried to tell Ezra a while ago when they assaulted an Imperial listening post. Hera is trusting her commanders to make the right calls and not micromanaging everything. Thinking about that makes her sad now, considering Ezra's current state.
"Your command style and mine are different," Hera says. "I know Ezra liked to be in control of everything, but my officers already have their orders from me. And seeing as this isn't your ship, you don't have to worry about giving orders. We have time to talk unless something needs to come to our immediate attention."
"Understood," Sabine says. "So... as you were saying?"
"Where was I? Oh yes! The Renegade-class cruiser. The only cruisers we had in operation were the Arquitens and they could only do so much as a light cruiser. Tenith proposed the idea of a medium sized cruiser to better escort our capital ships. The Renegades, alongside the new Arquitens IIs will be implemented in the standard Epsilon and Citadel fleets."
She pulls up schematics for the Arquitens II in detail and Sabine studies every detail. It's got more guns than the first variants, better shielding, etc, just as Hera had explained earlier. When she sees the schematics for the Renegade class, she was even more intrigued. She counts six quad turbolaser cannons, eight point defense laser cannons, and four medium turbolaser cannons along the port and starboard sides of the vessel.
"Those are ion cannons, Sabine," Hera points out. "Not medium turbolasers. There are also missile launchers mounted on turrets on the dorsal and ventral hull for added offensive and defensive capability."
"It's got full 360 degree coverage," Sabine says, now completely distracted by the ships. "The only other ship in our fleet with rear turrets are the Artemis destroyers."
"Three quad turbolasers on top, the other three on bottom," Hera says in agreement. "Those point defense laser cannons are the same. As for the Arquitens II, there's four quad turbolasers on the top side of the hull. The ventral side has eight dual turbolasers. Much like the first variant, this one is meant solely for anti ship warfare. It doesn't have much to offer in terms of point defense."
Sabine smiles faintly, but her mind drifts back to Ezra and this time Hera notices.
"What's wrong?"
Sabine's throat threatens to close up but she manages to speak. "Do you think Ezra will make it?"
Hera's expression changes to a more serious look and she looks at Sabine directly. "He's a fighter. I'm sure he'll pull through."
"How can you be sure? You didn't see him..."
Hera is silent for a moment before she looks out towards the bridge. "Admiral, the ship is yours."
"Understood, Chancellor!"
"Let's go to my quarters," Hera says softly to Sabine. "We'll talk in there so we don't distract our men."
Sabine nods and follows her, the sound of chatter and battle growing faint when the doors close behind her.
"Now," Hera begins. "How was he when you found him?"
Sabine leans against the wall and crosses her arms. "He looked so broken," she says, her voice shaky as she recalls the moment she saw him. "I reached out to touch him, to see if he was conscious, but his arm... it wasn't there, Hera. They cut off his right arm!"
Hera listens intently, leaning forward on her desk and resting her arms on top.
"He's covered in horrible bruises and he's all cut up... It wasn't a lightsaber, it was an actual blade. They were trying to get him to tell them the location of Epsilon and... I don't know if it worked. We encountered Vader, but he only said he was... that he was 'tough to crack'. I don't know if they got what they wanted..."
"In that case, we'll have to keep Epsilon on alert once we get back," Hera says.
The ship shudders again and the lights flicker. Hera gets up and walks to the door to the bridge.
"Our talk should wait for now. I suppose I should turn my attention to the battle," she says.
"What are my orders?" Sabine asks.
"Your orders are to relax. Leave the rest up to us," Hera says.
"I can't relax right now, Hera..."
"I mean you should remain out of combat. You look like you've been through hell."
In a sense, she is right. Sabine and her squad had gone through two garbage holds, navigated countless corridors and fought just as many stormtroopers, even encountered Vader himself for the first time in years. A shock seems to travel through her body and she reaches for her belt, her hand hitting a familiar, cylindrical object. She pulls it off and looks at it - her fingers brushing over the activation switch. She'd forgotten that she got it back for him. She knows she needs to return it, but she'd rather he's awake to do it.
"I need to do something, Hera... I have to join this fight," she says then, her eyes giving an imploring look as she stares into Hera's.
Hera sighs and stands up in front of Sabine, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Alright. What do you need?"
...
"Commander on deck!"
The sound of armored boots stamping the ground fills the hangar as rebel pilots stand at attention upon Sabine's arrival. She inspects them and notes the difference between their current flight suits compared to the old ones. They're armored similarly to the standard rebel trooper, but it's not made from the same materials. It's thinner and doesn't have as much protection as the troopers, and the helmets look almost the same except right on the bottom of the faceplate are two hardpoints to attach life support tubes. The helmet has full face coverage with a translucent, orange screen.
"Your fighter is ready and waiting, Commander," one of the pilots say.
"Good. Are your men ready?"
"Can't be any more ready, ma'am! We're eager to fight!"
"Good. Get to your fighters. As soon as we launch, form up on me and await further orders," Sabine says.
All her pilots get to their fighters while Sabine climbs up into hers. It's not her personal X-wing since that's still on board the Resolute, but it's hers now nonetheless. She's been given command of a reserve squadron, Echo Squadron.
As she starts up her fighter, she calls for a comm check and everyone replies.
"Echo-2, loud and clear."
"Echo-5, I read you."
Sabine closes her canopy and looks towards the hangar crew. They motion for her to start lining her X-wing up on the lift that will take her to the launch bay. She powers up her engines and starts hovering in place. Putting just a little more power to her thrusters, she moves her fighter to her designated pad and gets it lined up. She looks to her left and sees the rest of her squadron doing the same. The X-wing shudders as a mechanical arm latches to the landing gear on her fighter for steady transport on the lift. As soon as everyone is in position, the lift starts rising, taking them to the launch hangar.
Another minute goes by and Sabine completes her pre-flight checklist, checking any flaps, her weapons, engines, scanners, everything. Once that's all done, she nods to an operator and the mechanical arms detach from her landing gear. She flips a switch, raising the gear, and her fighter shudders once again, this time caught in the tractor beam carrying her and the rest of her squadron to the actual launch rails.
"Check intervals..."
"Intervals look good. Landing gear is up, weapons charged and armed. Shields charged, everything's green," she says.
"Understood, Echo-lead. Stand by."
She checks and double checks her systems before the operator starts talking again.
"All fighters, the board is green. Flight lead, check on your pilots for a go and give the signal."
"Copy that. Echo squadron, report."
"Echo-2, ready."
"Echo-3, ready."
"Echo-4, let's go."
"Echo-5, let's do it."
"Echo-6, standing by."
Sabine looks over to the operator sitting in his station and gives him a thumbs up. He returns the gesture, awaiting the launch order. Sabine gives the order and she and her squadron is launched out into space.
"Echo squadron, form up on me. Accelerate to attack speeds and lock S-foils to attack position," she says into her comms.
"Copy, Echo-lead."
"Citadel actual to Echo flight, we need fighter reinforcement bearing fleet 210. Imperial bombers with fighter escort, take them out."
"Reinforcement, fleet bearing 210, copy. Echo squadron, let's get to work!"
She leads her squadron to their designated AO and find what they're looking for. The bombers are trying to pick off the smaller support ships providing point defense to the cruisers. An A-wing squadron is trying to keep the TIE fighters at bay, leaving nobody but warship point defense to take out the bombers.
"Rebel vessel, check your fire, we're coming in to assist," Sabine tells the captain of the targeted vessel.
"Perfect timing. We thought we were in trouble."
Sabine calls for her squadron to break formation and engage the enemy, immediately banking hard to the right to pull around a TIE bomber. Her targeting computer gets a lock and she shoots it down easily. The combat chatter from her squad keeps her informed on other kills or calls for help.
After her area is cleared of Imperial starfighters, Sabine takes a moment to look at the battle around her. She takes in every rebel star destroyer brawling with the Imperial ones, occasionally seeing a beam blast from an Avenger that shears off entire sections of an Imperial II. In search of a new target, she flies through the fleet and spots the new Arquitens II ships completely shredding the older Imperial variant, including a couple Imperial frigates, and not far from that, the new Renegade -class medium cruisers are engaged in close quarters, broadside brawling with an Interdictor cruiser, and winning.
A bright flash of light catches Sabine's eye and her gaze snaps to its origin. Another one of the Interdictors was being ripped apart by explosions caused by a nearby Legacy star destroyer.
"Echo-2 to Echo-lead. Blue squadron is requesting assistance."
Sabine's screen lights up with the coordinates. "Let's give them a hand, then."
Just as they arrive to assist Blue squadron, every Imperial fighter turns tail and starts flying towards the remains of the Imperial fleet, of which is moving to flank the Executor super star destroyer.
"All fighters this is Citadel Actual," a man's voice cuts into the comms. "BAC fire will commence in 30 seconds. Disengage and move behind the Avenger line."
"Copy that, Citadel Actual. Echo flight en route," Sabine says.
"BAC fire? Think they're going full power?" Echo 4 says.
"Doesn't matter. Either way, we don't want to get caught in the blast." Echo 2 replies.
"Cut the chatter. All wings, on me!"
"Yes, Commander!"
They get behind the firing line and Sabine watches as every Avenger class star destroyer moves to the front of the fleet, lining up side by side, above and below, in a staggered line. They are flanked by their escort of Arquitens and the new Arquitens II light cruisers and Artemis destroyers. A voice through comms counts down until they fire and once the count reaches zero, there's no blue glow from the Avengers. Instead, their BACs just fire a deadly wall of blue energy towards the Imperial fleet. The shots leave a noticeable trail, but it isn't like the solid beam like it usually is.
"Did they fire at full power?" Sabine asks.
"I'm not sure, Commander..." Echo 2 replies.
"Maybe they didn't need to?" Echo 5 suggests.
Sabine watches the Imperial fleet just as the shots impact them. Many of the remaining star destroyers are torn apart, their escorts completely destroyed, and the Executor showing signs of critical damage.
"All ships, focus fire on the dreadnought! Fighter squadrons, clean up what remaining TIEs are still about and take out the smaller vessels with extreme prejudice."
Calls of confirmation ring through the channel and every ship goes back to work. Within several minutes, the few surviving ships in the Imperial fleet retreat into hyperspace except for one. The Executor star dreadnought breaks apart, several chunks of the severed pieces suddenly exploding as turbolaser magazines detonate. A cheer explodes throughout the fleet and through it all, every fighter and bomber are ordered to return to their motherships while fresh squadrons maintain CAP.
...
After the battle, Sabine finishes writing a report and dismisses her squadron to their own operations before exploring the Citadel carrier. The ship interior is impressive, to say the least. Its hallways are vast and brightly lit, the walls not Imperial grey, and not pure white like the Correllian vessels, but more in between. It's a more silver hint which reflects the light just right. Large bulkheads by the blast doors ensure that fires and hull breaches can be contained in a small area without having to cut off large sections of the ship. The rebel troopers standing at their posts are wearing matching colored armor for the most part, aside from the colored stripes indicating what their role and rank is, as well as the battalion they're a part of. In this case, they have gold stripes running down their arms and legs and across their chestplates indicating Hera's personal guard. Aside from special forces, usually indicated with black markings or black armor entirely, Hera's newly formed Chancellor's Guard are among the best the Rebel army can offer. They are trained to do whatever is required of them in any scenario. They have pilots, marines for boarding operations, medics, everything a battalion would require.
Sabine learns all of this as she makes her way to the medical bay. They are a fresh battalion and have standing orders to guard and protect every member of Central Command, so it's no surprise to Sabine when she sees a squad of them standing outside the medical bay - particularly the room Ezra is in.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," one of the guards says as Sabine approaches. "Nobody can see General Bridger at this time."
"What? Why not?"
"Orders from the doctors," he replies calmly. "He's being treated currently and they must not be disturbed."
Any anger and frustration Sabine felt in that moment fades significantly. For a moment, she thought they would state unauthorization, but it makes sense that nobody could go see him in the condition he was in. After all, she had been told earlier that they needed room to operate.
"Do you know how he's doing?" she asks the guard. Her gaze flicks over his rank - a Lieutenant. No doubt the commander of his company. "Lieutenant?"
"I'm afraid not, Commander," he replies, his voice even and calm. "Medical personnel wouldn't tell me anything right now, but they have instructions to report to me when they are able to."
"Alright. I'll be hanging around here so if you hear anything, I want you to report to me," Sabine says.
The lieutenant gives her a crisp, polite nod. "Yes, Commander."
Sabine paces around the medical bay, occasionally checking up on other wounded soldiers and crew. They tell her their story and she listens intently, wanting to distract herself to pass time. With brief words of encouragement after their conversations, she moves on throughout the medical bay, stopping to talk to other injured crew if they are awake.
It felt like years went by, but only a few hours after she spoke with the guard, a soldier clad in gold-striped armor approaches her.
"My commander wishes to give you a report, ma'am," he tells her. She stands up straight and follows the guard to where Ezra's room is. He catches the attention of his commanding officer and gestures to Sabine. With a dismissing nod, the soldier returns to his post while the lieutenant turns to her.
...
The doors open and the doctor finally steps out. It's been several minutes later, roughly twenty to thirty more minutes later just like the lieutenant had told her in his report, and Sabine stands up and faces the doctor.
"How is he, Doc?" she asks him, eager for some good news. However, she also knows she should be ready to hear the worst case. He'd been in need for medical attention for so long... so much blood loss, his missing arm, the cuts and bruises on his body... technically, he shouldn't even be alive.
The doctor breathes a long sigh and nods at her. "He's going to be okay. We've treated all his wounds and dunked him in the bacta tank a couple times, so he should be just fine. But, he hasn't woken up just yet."
"Can I see him?" she asks, the urgency evident in her voice.
The doctor seems to study her for a moment. "I don't think it matters what answer I give you, does it?"
She smiles softly. "Probably not..."
"I don't want him crowded, understand? Two people at most just for the time being."
Sabine nods and enters the room while the doctor takes a well deserved break. The lieutenant is about to follow her in but Sabine waves him off.
"I'd like to have a moment alone," she tells him.
"Yes, Commander."
The door closes and Sabine turns around to see Ezra. He's lying flat on a comfortable medical bed, his head propped up by pillows and much of his body covered with a white medical sheet. A heart monitor is beeping next to his bed, the screen showing stable vitals. Another screen on the other side of his bed is showing his medical status in greater detail.
Sabine stands next to the bed and stares at Ezra. His skin is still pale, but it does look better than it had on the dreadnought. His arms are resting over the sheet and Sabine notices there's almost no scarring on the skin, except in the obvious areas where stitching was done. She carefully moves the sheet a little bit and notices that his chest doesn't look bad, either - also containing the stitched up areas. It's clear to her now that they must have given him artificial skin so everything underneath can continue to heal in safety. She pulls the sheet back up towards his shoulders and gently brushes her fingers against the scar on his cheek, and eventually rests her palm on that cheek.
"Ezra..." she whispers softly. "I'm not entirely sure you can hear me... but you're safe now. We're bringing you home."
She smiles at him softly before she hears a soft whirring noise coming from his right side. Her eyes snap to the source and her heart sinks a bit. It's a new prosthetic arm attached right below his elbow. It's a sleek design, with gray and black paneling along the forearm. His palm and fingers are gray while his knuckles are lined with more black joint panels.
Tears form in Sabine's eyes as the realization hits her: she will never feel the warmth of that hand on her face anymore. She understands that he still has his left hand, but he favored his right more often. Whenever he reached out to her and comforted her, he always used his right hand. As she thinks about this and tries to come to terms with reality, she subconsciously lays her hand over his new one and wraps her fingers around it. She finally allows her tears to fall and she kneels next to Ezra, still holding onto his new arm.
...
A/N: Ezra's Mechno-arm is similar in design as Anakin Skywalker's arm from ROTS but instead of the gold color mixed with the black it's silver and black. Also, I would like to remind everyone about the Archive file on my Wattpad page. New ships listed in this chapter will be added. Please keep in mind the Archive is a work in progress so many details and information about some ships may be missing.