As luck would have it, Captain Syndulla's ship was docked nearby. The old Corellian light freighter looked like it'd been through the wringer a good too many times with all the scorching that decorated the entirety of its hull and marred it's paintjob. Despite that, it was clear that it was holding up well enough, much to Sabine's surprise.
Though she was no ship nerd, she knew her stuff well enough; especially when it came to the typical mods seen on haulers and such—knowledge she'd hoped would be useful when she and Ketsu joined the Black Sun. What made this ship beyond impressive were the few illegal modifications that she spied through her visor. Even with all her knowledge from the Academy, she could hardly spot them as they were made to look like their completely legal counterparts. Captain Syndulla knew her stuff; high praise, coming from the mandalorian.
They were getting closer to the ship when a figure that had been working on the top of the ship's hull jumped down. Garazeb Orellios stood tall, brushing off some of the soot from the fur on his arms and hands, but missing the clear stain on his cheek. With a massive tool in hand that had to be almost as tall as Sabine, he approached Sabine and her comrades with clear suspicion showing if his furrowed brow was anything to go by. Still, despite his massive size—compared to the others present—and the possible weapon he carried, Sabine was getting no real threat coming from him.
"Kasmir and company," the lasat said in a friendly tone, a bit of a grin on his lips as he slowly closed the distance between them. "Didn't peg you for the 'early type'... Especially not a half-a-day-early and coming here to pick things up." He eyed the trio suspiciously before pointing the tool towards the kalleran, though again, it didn't feel all that threatening. "Not planning on backing out of our deal now, are ya?"
Normally Kasmir would've waved off the lasat's accusation with a laugh, followed by saying something along the lines of it being nonsense while feigning injury to his pride. But a look at the man told Sabine everything she needed to know… She didn't know Kasmir as well as she liked to believe. He was scowling openly towards Zeb, who didn't even flinch at the cold stare coming his way.
"Where is that idiot?" Kasmir asked, scowl still in play, to which Orellios only arched an eyebrow.
"The kid?" Orellios asked back, clearly confused by the question.
"Don't know anything about no kid. I'm talking about this 'Kanan'," (actual air quotes), "you and Syndulla talked about. I want to see him."
A second of silence followed by a low, throaty growl was the lasat's immediate response before showing them a full scowl. The millimetric movements from him no longer gave the friendly vibe he'd shown until then. No, this was more like the Orellios Sabine had spied on back at the medicenter. Her gut was telling her that there was danger coming now, and she didn't hesitate to lay her hands on her blasters once more, though not unhostering either of them quite just yet. Kasmir wouldn't want this to turn sour without getting some answers. A second later, Orellios held the tool in a too-tight-of-a-grip.
"No can do," Zeb said, clearly not liking where the conversation was going.
"We mean no harm to him," said Jondo, lifting his hands to show he was unarmed. A nice move, if Sabine didn't already have a weapon just a fraction of a second from being fired and preparing to shoot that wrench off the lasat's hand. She could even fire it from the holster if she really wanted to. It would totally ruin the holster, sure, but it would land the shot right where she wanted it. She didn't like that idea, especially the latter one. "If he is who we think he is, then we have some catching up to do. We're old friends, you see."
"Right. More like you found something you didn't like about him," was Zeb's response. "Or was it something you did like that you found, eh? Well, too bad! Not like you'll see him one way or another."
"Stand down, Zeb!" The voice— No— The command came from the captain of the ship. How much she'd seen of the exchange was beyond everyone except for Captain Syndulla herself, but by the calm demeanor she was showing, she knew more than her companion did. With her leku twitching as she walked down the ramp of her ship, Syndulla turned her attention towards Jondo, who relaxed if only a fraction. Her eyes then turned to Sabine, going down her hand until they reached the balster. For whatever reason, the younger woman felt embarrassed, like the time he'd been caught with a hand in the treat jar when she was younger, making her hand twitch. Immediately, Sabine crossed her arms hoping it would help de-escalate things.
Coming to stand next to the lasat, the captain placed a comforting hand on the massive purple shoulder before giving it a squeeze. Orellios grunted, letting his arms fall to his side after he'd handed the wrench over to the captain, eyes still set on Kasmir. The woman gripped the tool in a much more natural way much like a mechanic would, using it more as a way to support herself, all the while she kept looking at the other captain.
"I don't appreciate you starting things with my crew, Captain Kasmir," Hera informed them. "Pretty bold of you to come to my ship armed," her eyes could bore a hole through Sabine's helmet. It was enough to cause the girl to swallow. Thankfully, her armor and helmet hid her movements away from everyone. "Had you been anyone else, I would've let Zeb do his thing. But Kanan trusts you, so I'll turn a blind eye and trust you in turn... This time. Now, what exactly do you want with a member of my crew?"
Sabine got the feeling that maybe Kanan Jarrus was more to everyone standing there than they let on except for herself. A touchy subject for sure. It only made her more curious about the man, which was saying much given that he was supposed to be a Jedi.
Kasmir walked up to the shorter captain, standing straight as if to make himself even taller still, leaving his crew behind. Sabine looked towards Jondo, who shook his head at her. He didn't seem to have any problem with the other's actions. Sabine, though, felt nervous. Or was that also her gut? No. She was just nervous. The colors around her went back to their dull everyday normality.
Kasmir's answer came in the form of the box. Again, that mysterious box of his. He opened it, facing the contents towards Captain Syndulla. It took a few seconds before the woman looked inside it, and the look she gave the contents only left Sabine with many, many more questions than answers. But it was enough for any and all hostility coming from the twi'lek to vanish, her shoulders even sagging with her jaw dropping momentarily before she could regain her composure, using the tool she'd been given to not lose her footing.
When Syndulla turned to look back at Kasmir, he said, "he's an old friend. Clone Wars old. Though mostly from after... Taught him everything he knows now after Order 66." Sabine took note of that. "And how did he repay me? Bastard stole my backup ship! Wanted to steal my name too, if this new name of his is anything to go by." There was humor to Kasmir's voice. "Can't say I blame him. For either of those."
"And this," Syndulla pointed towards the box.
"His," Kasmir said, closing the box, looking almost nostalgic as he brushed its top with all the care in the world. "Or at least he has a better claim to it than anyone else. Found it a few years back. Sheer luck, really. I was… Well, you know how it goes. Someone I worked for kept it as a relic from the war. Kept it hidden in a vault; something to show close friends or connections and what not. Would've been arrested if someone with a direct connection to the Empire saw it. I did her a favor by taking it off of her hands, really."
Captain Syndulla shook her head as she chuckled. "I'm sure. But why go through all the trouble?"
Kasmir went quiet for a while, but eventually he shrugged. "Call me sentimental. Didn't feel right for someone like that to have it."
The two stood there for a while, in silence, almost as if the two complete strangers shared a memory from a time long past. After some time, Captain Syndulla looked over her shoulder to her muscle. "Zeb, go get Ezra. We're going to see Kanan."
Again, there was a pause as the Captain and the lasat shared a look, some unspoken words passing between them. Though Sabine couldn't see the twi'lek's face, she could clearly see the range of emotions leaking out of Orellios. It spoke volumes of the relationship they had, or maybe of how much respect there was between them that he didn't even let out a sigh in front of strangers before he turned to walk back up the ramp.
The walk to the medicenter felt quite a bit longer this time around. Jondo, Kasmir, Syndulla, and Orelios were all walking a few paces in front of her, while she was stuck with the kid—Ezra Bridger, as he'd been called and made sure to introduce himself at least twice—and the astromech that kept complaining the whole time. Why was she being grouped up with these two? This was the first time since she joined Kasmir that she felt like she was being relegated to do something meaningless despite her skills. Had she not proven herself already? Without her knowledge in explosives, they wouldn't have been able to finish at least a couple of missions in the last month!Maybe it was just all those glances Ezra was throwing her way that was irritating her.
The kid could talk, that she could confirm after only a few minutes walking side by side with him. It was as if he was shooting every question he could think about her way. Sabine was no fool, though. She wouldn't give away anything to some stranger she herself still wasn't so sure they should be trusting so easily. She was thankful once again for her helmet. It kept her irritation hidden. The downside was that the kid couldn't catch a hint of her trying to stop any sort of conversation from happening even if it hit him right in the face, which was tempting if the hint could be her fist. She was actually considering it being her fist.
With a quiet sigh, Sabine decided it was best to at least get something out of all this. She turned to look at Bridger for probably the first time since they started walking. Just that was enough for him to stop whatever it was that he was talking about.
"How long have you been traveling with Captain Syndulla and her crew?" she asked.
"Uugh…" Ezra looked a bit taken aback, most likely just from having her actually show some sort of interest in what he had to say since they started walking. After the surprise washed away from him, he looked up at the night sky, a hand to his chin. "Well, it hasn't been that long. The days kinda meld together after a while. You know how it—"
Though still curious about the answer, something began to change around them. Things seemed to slow down. A vibrant color was coming from behind them. They were being followed. And not just by anyone. There had to be at least half a dozen Stormtroopers. Either they'd been reported by someone when Jarrus was dragged, bleeding, to the medical center or one of the medical droids had reported the incident to the authorities. The latter was much more likely, though in these parts it was common for medical professionals to look the other way if they were given a few credits; the power of money. Either way, this didn't bode well for them. The files she'd collected on her datapad flashed in her mind, specifically Jarrus'.
Good thing Bridger hadn't stopped talking. It made them seem a bit more inconspicuous for the time being. Without turning away from the boy, she activated her comms. "We got Troopers following behind us."
"How many?" came the voice of Jondo. Looking over at the four of them, it looked like he'd let the others know what she was saying.
"Half a dozen, probably more." One of the rules the Stormtroopers liked to follow the most was to always engage an enemy when the numbers were in their favor. If there really were only six Troopers, then there wouldn't be any problem at all. However, the fact that they hadn't been approached yet told her everything she needed to know. They were either waiting for reinforcements, or they'd set up an ambush somewhere and were waiting to start an ambush.
Before she knew it, everything around them was lighting up. They'd unwillingly entered the kill box. She cursed to herself for not noticing sooner (having so many people to think about wasn't helping at all.)
"Take cover!" Sabine shouted, sliding behind an old crate that was nearby before the others even had a chance to react. The first shot came from the Stormtroopers who'd just turned the corner.
"They're here!" Orrelios yelled, hitting the nearest buckethead with his staff, sending them flying against a wall.
Blasters were unholstered by everyone, and the shootout began.
"How did you—?!" Bridger and the astromech hid with her behind the crate, his question cut short by the sound of blaster fire coming hitting their cover. She was too busy shooting to see his face, but his tone was clearly accusatory. "They hadn't turned the corner and you just jumped behind cover!"
If someone told her that it was 'just a hunch', she would be suspicious too. She had to use logic or else she could very well be shot in the back and end up just like Jarrus, or worse. Thinking back on the events at the medicenter the day before, she formulated a viable alternative to her hunch. Logic. "You came to a medicenter with an injured man. Doesn't take a genius to know that knife and blaster wounds get reported to the Empire! These guys were probably waiting for you to come back!"
Two shots fired, two shots landed. She would be happy with the result if more reinforcements weren't showing up. She ducked behind cover again just as Bridger finished shooting his… sling? Really? She would've been more judgmental over his choice of weapon had he not landed a couple of shots himself. Stunning the enemy would have to do for the time being. Not like that sling could actually do much more damage than that. As a mandalorian, Sabine could only shake her head.
At least the boy looked convinced with her explanation and she was ready to take another shot when he suddenly turned to her once again, this time the scowl in clear view, and demanded, "how do you know about that?!"
A stupid mistake, which made her bite the inside of her cheek. Not once had anyone really mentioned anything about Jarrus being stabbed… Through gritted teeth, she simply said, "less yapping and more shooting!"
Her comms flared up with Kasmir's voice, "Cover fire in five, Sabine!"
"Got it."
Cover fire wasn't really her style; too wasteful. However, she would do as it needed to be done, firing both of her blasters off at any Trooper that dared show their face until Kasmir jumped over her cover and hid behind it.
"Damn 'Troopers are out for blood," Kasmir said. He looked way too agitated. A strange sight to see. Without so much as a choice, the kalleran pushed his precious box into her hands and then pushed Sabine herself towards a nearby alley. "Take that and get outta here, girly. Can't let the Empire get a hold of that."
"Are you crazy?" Sabine shot back, barely having the chance to stop the box from falling to the ground with her blasters still in hand. "We just need a few well-placed shots and—"
"Can't risk it," Kasmir interrupted. "It's bad enough if they capture Jondo and I. But if they catch us with that, we're all as good as dead! Now, go! That's an order!"
Ezra's comms flared up. "You go with Sabine, Ezra," Syndulla's voice came through. The twi'lek could be seen further ahead, taking cover behind some street stall that wouldn't open for business after this ordeal was done. "There are too many of them. We'll draw their fire away from the medicenter."
"Wait! But—" Bridger began to protest, but was immediately cut off by Syndulla.
"That's an order, Ezra! We can't let them get to Kanan. He hasn't been in the bacta for long,, but I need you two to get him out of there and back to the ship! Chopper will head back to the Ghost and get it ready for launch."
"What about you and Zeb?!"
Kasmir took a few shots from cover, allowing Orrelios, Syndula, and Jondo to move to a more defensible position. Crouching down once more, he looked at the kid. "We'll lead them away and take the Kasmiri once you launch. Tell 'Kanan' that Kasmir wants to meet up where he stole my damn ship!" The kid gave the kalleran a confused look. "He'll know where that is! Now, go! Cover fire in five…"
Getting to the medicenter from their last position shouldn't have taken them as long as it did. If they'd taken a more direct path, they would've made it there in five minutes at the most. She'd given the kid more credit than she should've. Sabine was surprised at first when he started guiding them through the alleys. She assumed that he was having them weaving in and out through the entire place so the Troopers chasing after them would lose their trail. It was only after they'd made the same turn for a third time that she knew. "You don't know where you're going, do you?"
Sabine immediately took over as guide, not even bothering to hear the boy's response. She even went as far as taking them directly to the duct she'd used to spy on them earlier. "We can go in through here."
"Couldn't we just go in through the front door?" Ezra asked, eyeing the duct.
"No."
"Okay, okay! Geez!" Rubbing his hands together, the kid expertly climbed into the duct. He had to have some experience with that kind of thing, considering he didn't even complain about it. Then again, with his crew composition, it made sense. He was by far the smallest, making him perfect for this kinda thing.
Once they dropped down into the room, they were faced with their next problem: getting Jarrus out of the bacta tank. Without the protocols from the droids, they couldn't get the machinery necessary to lift the man to start up. That meant that they would need to do so manually. The two smallest people of two crews had to get it done… We should've brought Orrelios with us.
"How are we supposed to get him out?" Sabine wondered out loud, more to herself than to actually get an answer back. Didn't the Jedi have something like a melting ability? She wouldn't be surprised if they did. But that wouldn't help them at the moment, considering that the supposed Jedi was the one trapped inside the tank, unconscious. Placing the box on a nearby table, she started her search for anything that could help them. But while she got to work right away, she noticed doubt flare from Bridger, his eyes moving from her, to Jarrus again and again. "If you have an idea, now would be the time to share, Bridger."
The kid let out a sigh, turning fully towards the tank. Sabine's eyebrow shot up as she saw him lift an arm in the direction of the tank. She didn't know what to expect, really. All she knew was that her hopes were nowhere near high enough to stop searching for her own way to get Jarrus out. Unfortunately for them, she could feel something approaching the door.
This time, Sabine didn't get a chance to warn the kid before the lights to the room were shut off; this time, not even the bacta tank illuminated the room. As if things weren't bad enough already, she heard the door open, followed by the sound of a metal object hitting the ground. It sounded too hollow when it hit the ground to be a thermal detonator, at least. The sound of rapidly releasing gas followed. Once more, Sabine was glad she had her helmet on. With just a couple of button clicks, her helmet became air thigh and the rebreather would come online. Except, the rebreather didn't come online… "Damn it!"
With visibility rapidly decreasing as her eyes tried to adjust to the new lighting, the sound of Bridger coughing to her left, and her limited oxygen, Sabine had to think quickly. The Troopers were abou to open blind fire on the two of them, of that she was sure. She grabbed the kid by the arm and all but dragged him behind the tank just as the blaster fire began.
"The tank will hold for a bit, but we need to do something," Sabine told Bridger. "Otherwise there won't be enough bacta to help your friend!"
"Don't worry," Bridger said, coughing uncontrollably. Though she could barely see his figure, she noticed him taking some sort of cylinder off of his belt and holding it with both hands. "I… Got this! That's what all that training was for!"
Sabine took a few wild shots in the general direction of the door, hoping her suppressing fire would give Bridger the time he needed to— Well, she wasn't sure what he was trying to do. She only regretted not being able to land a hit on the Troopers. She could've turned the light on her helmet on, but that would've painted a big target on her.
A blaster shot went right past her, completely missing her. Bridger wasn't so lucky. She heard the sound of whatever Bridger had been holding hit the ground, and she internally cursed their luck. Literally millions of Stormtroopers throughout the galaxy, and we get the one that can aim! Desperation and panic began to pool in her. Was this really how her life would end? Getting hit by a lucky shot in the dark? What would the other Mandalorian think about that one?
…They probably would be glad once they found out what she'd designed for the Empire, even if it was incomplete. At least now I don't have to see Mother's look of disappointment…
She shook her head. There was no way she was going down without a fight! She would make sure to shoot her blasters to the point they would overheat before those damned Imperials got their hands on her! She wouldn't have much of a choice either. She could hear the tank begin to crack behind her.
Taking what would be the last big breath she could, she waited….
The sound of the transparisteel cracking boomed inside the room.
She was ready to go blasters blazing, but when she turned, she felt more than saw something flying towards the door. It was shocking enough to freeze her in place, especially when she heard some Trooper get hit by whatever flew by. Sabine was so surprised that she didn't notice the bacta that had covered her boots. There was complete silence then, except for Bridger's coughing.
Then, a single light. A blade… A lightsaber!
The blue glow of the lightsaber, now the only lightsource in the room, washed over her as it did the man before her. Once more, what she'd seen on her datapad flashed in her mind. Kanan Jarrus, suspected Jedi.
And as if to make it even more clear, she heard one of the Stormtroopers yell. "That's him! Focus fire on the Jedi!"
What happened next, she could barely describe. She saw the blaster fire go towards Jarrus, but he deflected it all with his lightsaber! In what felt like an instant, the battle was over…
"Kanan!" Bridger was on his feet and hugging the man, who'd had to lift his blade in the air so as to not injure the boy. Jarrus lifted the oxygen mask that he was wearing and placed it on Bridger, who took a nice, big breath of fresh air. "Just in the nick of time! I wasn't sure how we were getting out of that one."
Jarrus chuckled, but Sabine could see something flaring up in him. "Easy, Ezra. I can still fight, but my injury isn't exactly healed yet."
"Oh, r-right," Bridger took a step back, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry."
For the first time, Jarrus turned his attention towards the Mandalorian, taking a second to gage whether she was an enemy or foe. Sabine slowly holstered her blasters. She was a good shot, but with the distance between them and the lightsaber in his hand, the odds were not in her favor, even if beskar was supposed to be resistant to a lightsaber attack. "And this is…?"
"I'm a… I'm with Kasmir." She really wasn't sure why she was drawing a blank. "I'm Sabine."
She could see the Jedi's eyes widen, likely recognizing the first name. "So Kasmir is still around these parts, huh?"
"We've been working from here ever since I joined Kasmir and Jondo, so I guess so." There was something else, right? Oh, that's right! The box! She turned her attention towards where she remembered having set the box down. It wasn't there anymore. Most of the table wasn't there anymore. At some point during the firefight, it'd fallen to the ground, its contents spilling. She froze once again. Now everything made sense.
Jarrus must've followed her line of sight, because the cylinder flew just like the chunk of bacta tank had before. Except this time, it flew to Jarrus' free hand. A lightsaber. Another lightsaber.
Jarrus' eyes went wide, much like hers, though while in her case it'd been out of surprise, his were out of recognition. The man's jaw slowly dropped.
"Wait, what was Kasmir doing with a lightsaber?" Bridger asked. For a second, she forgot that he'd been missing from the conversation they'd had with Syndulla and Orellios earlier. Sabine could've easily answered that. She was about to, in fact, but Jarrus cut in before she could.
"This isn't just any lightsaber…" His grip on the item increased. "This was Depa Billaba's— my Master's lightsaber…"
In the far distance, an explosion went off. The soundwave shook the building. Sabine was certain that Jondo must've gotten into her supply of explosives before they left the Kasmiri. They needed to get out of there. Now.
"We can talk once we get the kriff out of here," she said, walking over to the door and peaking out into the main area. Most of the Troopers that'd been hit by their own blaster fire looked like they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, if the groaning she was hearing was any indication.
"Where are Hera and Zeb, Ezra?" Jarrus asked as he moved around the room. By the sound of fabric moving, Sabine assumed he was getting dressed.
"They are distracting the bucketheads with Jondo and Kasmir," Bridger said. "They'll all fly out on Kasmir's ship. We're supposed to take the Ghost to… Something about the place you stole Kasmir's ship from?"
Wherever that place was, it must've brought some memory to Jarrus, as the man laughed out loud for a good minute.