Republic Tank
To say everyone was on edge was an understatement, it went without saying that once they realized it was an imperial probe the group had decided to start moving. The walker has been moving all night, and everyone took different turns on watch to keep an eye out for any imperial ships or walkers in case any made it past Hera's eye. Naturally the Ghost wasn't fixed yet so it was all they could do.
Ezra sighed as his legs dangled off the side of the walker, it has been his shift after Kanan's which started very early in the morning or at least the morning on this planets cycle and he's been up there for around six hours now. Looking out over to the horizon he saw the sun making its way up, he was supposed to wake Sabine up an hour ago so she could start the shift but he just couldn't. He was going to, made his way into the Phantom to wake her up but when he saw her there, sleeping soundly he changed his mind deciding that it wasn't necessary he could stay up besides he didn't want to sleep anyway, didn't want to risk the nightmare again but he was really tired.
The sound of the Phantom doors opening drew his attention, not turning around using the force to tell that it was Sabine and from what he felt she wasn't happy at the moment "you were supposed to wake me up an hour ago Ezra" she said in an annoyed tone.
He turned his head and saw her standing in full armor with her helmet under her arm and a hand on her hip "yeah" he turned back to the horizon "but I thought you could do with some sleep" he said not even trying to hear her sigh.
"Ezra if anyone of us needs sleep it's you" she said sitting down next to him "I know you don't think I notice but I do" Ezra turned to look at her as she turned to look at him, he was memorized by the glowing of her face as it was hit by the rising sun.
"what do you mean?" he asked wondering what she meant.
Sabine lifted her hand and placed it on the back of his neck, waving her fingers through his hair "Ezra, I use you as a pillow. Did you really think I would notice you jolting up in the middle of night four times a week? What's going on?" she asked.
Ezra lifted his hand and coursed her cheek before leaning in and take her lips with his, it wasn't a long kiss but it was something he needed. He pulled back and looked into her eyes "I know that I haven't been the easiest boyfriend to live with lately but just you being there is making it better, just like you're here for me now and I will tell you what's happening with me but can it wait until we're back on the Ghost, in our room?" a smirk crept up on his face "preferably when we're both naked and tried from multiple orgasms" he and Sabine both laughed at his words.
"I think that sounds like a great idea" she smiled before leaning in and kissing him again.
Ezra, Kanan, Zeb and the clones where in the ship waiting for Rex to give them the coordinates for some base that they could use but right now Ezra was more focused on the conversation between Kanan and Sabine who was up top checking out the damage the drone do to the Phantom "The probe hit us pretty badly. Repairs are gonna take a little while longer" she informed over the com
"We don't have much time. There's no telling when the Empire will get here. We've got to get off the surface" Kanan said back in a gloom voice.
"Well, the Empire's not our only problem. There's a storm coming up behind us" she added and Ezra didn't even need to be there to see her shrugging her shoulders.
"If the Empire gets here before we take off, the storm will be the least of our problems" he said back before Ezra turned to see Rex coming towards him with a small data chip in hand.
"Here they are" he smiled "the coordinates of every Republic base, Separatist installation, pirate hideout and smuggler's den in the Outer Rim" Rex couldn't help but smirk as he gave the chip to Ezra, it felt good to stick it to the empire.
"Plus a few Mandalorian bases that even they've forgotten about" Wolffe smirked as he leaned in the whisper.
Ezra's eye brows rose at that news, he would definitely need to look into that, maybe bring Sabine with him. Make a date out of it "I will give them all a look personally. You sure you won't come with us?" he asked again, Ezra respected that they wanted to retire after the clone's wars but he could help but think about everything they could do for the republic.
"Yeah" Zeb laughed "you're not bad in a fight. I mean, for older gentlemen" he said earning an elbow from Gregor.
"Yeah. Like I said, our war's over, kid" Rex said with a sly smile "Don't much care to get mixed up in another. Oh, and say hello to Commander Tano for me" he smiled giving a mock salute.
"But the Empire's coming here, you won't be able to get away from them with an old tank" Ezra protested.
"Oh, we can take care of ourselves" Rex smirked.
"Spectre-1 to Spectre-2. Gonna be down here a while longer" Kanan said lifting up the com to talk to Hera "Give me some good news. Has the Empire showed up yet?" he asked.
"I'm a little busy finishing repairs on the Ghost, but Chopper's been scanning. So far, nothing..." Hera said before stopping mid-sentence, which made everyone raise an eye brow "Just had to say that. Star Destroyer just came out of hyperspace. Gonna power down so they can't scan me. Once I finish my repairs, I'll come get you. Good luck down there" she finished before hanging up the com.
"If they follow procedure, they'll fly search patterns based on our last confirmed position" Rex informed everyone.
"Or they'll call. Incoming Imperial transmission. It's for you, Wolffe" Gregor said as the monitor began to ring with a call.
"They called back? They, they never call back" Wolffe said flabbergasted by the ringing.
"This is why I don't trust clones" Kanan scoffed crossing his arms.
"Just make something up, Wolffe" Ezra added.
"Yeah, it was my mistake. And I'll fix it" he said with a look of sudden determination. The blood in Ezra's body began to boil, he knew that voice 'Kallus! That son of a bitch!' He shouted inside his head, if it wasn't for Kanan who placed a hand on his shoulder he would've grabbed his saber and just started to slash at the wall.
"CC-3636. Commander Wolffe, is it?" Kallus asked.
"Yep, that's me" Wolffe said shyly scratching the back of his head "What can I do for you, sir?" He said composing himself.
"Please transmit your coordinates so I can investigate the Jedi sightings you reported"
Wolffe's eyes widened in surprise at his words "What? Uh, Je Jedi? Uh, no, no. No, th... there's no Jedi. Here. My, my old, uh, cybernetic eye must be acting up again" he said shyly.
"Sorry for wasting your time" Rex said stepping forward and putting a hand around Wolffe in a friendly manner.
"This image was taken by one of our probe droids" Kallus said as the screen changed from an image of the walker with the phantom on top of it "It clearly shows you harboring known rebels. Now surrender them or be destroyed" Kallus snarled.
Rex frowned as he banged his fists together "If it's a fight you want, I hope you brought a better class of soldier than those... stormtroopers" he said with mocked voice.
"They serve the Empire well, and I have a great many of them" he couldn't help but smirk.
"You're gonna need all of 'em" Rex smirked back before hanging up the com.
Zeb laughed at his words "I like these guys" he said and Ezra couldn't help but agree with him, he was starting the like the clones more and more. Though he already knew that they were better than clones by a long shot.
Before anyone could even suggested an idea of what they should do the whole tank rocked and a loud explosion could be heard really close to them "They found us" Sabine said as they burst through the door.
"Well, it was only a matter of time before that search pattern paid off" Ezra sighed before the tank rocked again.
"Battle stations" Rex said with a voice full of authority, the crew didn't waste any time in getting outside in order to try and shoot down whatever was shooting at them.
As soon as they made it outside that saw the attacker, Ezra was relieved that it was only a single Tie fighter. But it was still a ship with a blaster that was currently firing at them "we're sitting mynocks on this thing"
"Think so?" Rex smirked as he stepped out holding an old service to air missile launcher "Wolffe, evasive maneuvers" he said into his wrist com.
"Copy that" he said back over the com before the tank began to quickly move back and forth.
"Hurry! He's coming around for another pass" Sabine said as she and Zeb ran to the front of the tank, as soon as they reached it they began to fire their weapons at it.
Ezra and Kanan both activated their sabers, it didn't take long for Ezra to move forward to try and take it down "Ezra, protect the Phantom" Kanan said stopping him.
"Kanan, if the walker goes down. We all do" he exclaimed back at him.
"It can take a hit, I think" he said uncertainly.
Ezra rolled his eyes before giving up and joining Kanan at the back of the Phantom and began to deflect the shots coming in from the Tie "Try shortening your leads. You're wasting ammo" Rex said as he and Gregor made their way to the top and if Ezra didn't know any better. He would say they were enjoying themselves.
"You're welcome to help" Zeb growled as he continued to shoot.
"Eh, why spoil the fun? We haven't been shot at in years" Gregor said with a chuckle as he climbed up behind Rex.
Sabine gave a loud and sarcastic laugh "Yeah? Well, it happens to us every day"
"hey Rex!" Ezra shouted as he deflected another bolt "any reason why we can't use the main cannon?" he asked gesturing the big gun in front of them.
Rex shock his head "That's no good in this situation"
"Oh" Kanan said dramatically as he jumped on top of the Phantom in order to get a better chance on protecting it "Kinda like you guys"
"You want the shot?" Rex smirked as he tossed the launcher to Gregor.
"Love to" he smiled confidently before placing the launcher over his shoulder and surprisingly he shot the Tie down like he wasn't even trying.
Everyone took a deep breath as they and started to relax "Gregor, you've still got it" Rex smiled.
"It's in my blood" he boasted proudly as he banged his fist to his chest.
"huh, Jedi and clones working well together" Ezra smirked as he looked over to Kanan "who knew?" he asked with a shrug.
Kanan crossed his arms as he but his saber back on his belt "Yeah, it starts out like that. Then is stops working out so well" he a finished with a grim voice "Now if that storm gets any closer, it'll ground us. Sabine, we need the Phantom to fly"
"I'm on it" she said before running back into the ship.
It's been twenty minutes since the tie was shot down. Sabine was still in the phantom, Kanan was standing at the back of tank with a holo scope looking for any sign of trouble. Ezra sat in the seat of the main cannon, Rex was in front of him and he didn't know where the others are. The fact that there weren't massive blaster bolts coming down from orbit meant that they were preparing for a ground assault and they needed to be ready for that. Looking up he saw Rex staring at him and was wondering what he was doing, until he realized where he was "oh, sorry" he said "guess, I'm in your seat" he started to get up when Rex stopped him.
"The traverse controls are over here on the left, and the elevations on the right" he informed pointing to the controls.
"Really?" he asked and Rex nodded, Ezra would be lying if he said he never wanted to try one of these things. Doing as instructed he turned the main cannon in different directions "So, I've seen and heard a lot of stuff about The Clone War, but what was it really like?" he couldn't help but ask.
"I don't think the fighting ever got to Lothal" he started, Ezra didn't know why he said that but he assumed he did that to make him feel better which he appreciated £I tell ya, war was never dull. The general I fought with was among the greatest of the Jedi. I trusted him with my life more times than I can count. And I tried my best to keep that trust" he finished.
"All right" Sabine said sticking her head out of the Phantom "With any luck, we can get outta here soon" she smiled behind her helmet.
"great, so Rex, Wolffe and Gregor should pack some things" Ezra started as the others just stared at him "I mean we can't just leave them here"
Rex slowly shook his head "Well, the Empire is here because of us. We'll deal with the consequences" he said.
Ezra opened his mouth but Zeb beat him to it "Wait. Listen" everyone followed he word and a familiar sound hit the Ghost crews' ears "You hear that?" he asked.
"Enemy contact point 2.4" Woffe said as everyone turned to face the direction he pointed and saw three much bigger walkers.
Ezra walked forward in front of the others as they looked closer at the tanks through the holo scope "AT-ATs" he said narrowing his eyes at them.
"How many legs they got?" Rex asked with great interest.
"Looks like four" Gregor said.
"Four?" Wolffe asked shocked "Well, how are they not falling over?" he asked.
"Will you look at the size of those things" Gregor laughed.
"Huh" Rex looked closely at the tanks "Reinforced armor plating, heavy cannons and antipersonnel blasters. Mmm" he smiled.
Ezra rolled his eyes "I'm glad you guys are so excited, but this isn't the time to admire the enemy walkers, we need to do something" he yelled.
"Wolffe, set vector two-niner-zero" Rex ordered, not even a second later the tank began to turn around.
"Wait, you're just gonna turn and run?" Kanan asked bewildered "Just like that?"
"Well, if you've got a better idea, sir, now's the time" Rex asked.
As much as Ezra saw the logic he hated running away, it wasn't really the Mandalorian way "I thought you clones loved to fight" he said.
"I do love a battle, but on my terms. Gregor, drop the joopa. We gotta get moving. Wolffe, turn 180" Rex said back.
"Copy that" he heard Wolffe say from the cockpit as the Joopa was dropped from the side of the tank and the speed began to pick up.
And of course, the AT-ATs started to open fire on them. "Kanan!" Sabine shouted making her way out of the Phantom "I'm not sure how far we'll get, but I think she'll fly"
"Good enough for me. Zeb, Ezra, we're going now" Kanan said as he started to run to the Phantom.
"Too late. The walkers are already on top of us" Rex shouted over the sound of the blaster fire.
"He's right, Kanan" Ezra said "They'll shoot us down before we even make it off the ground"
"How will going into that storm be any better?" He asked.
"Well, the storm will scramble the scanners. We'll all be blind" Sabine pointed out and everyone couldn't help but agree.
"But a Jedi won't" Rex added.
"All right, everybody inside" Kanan said as everyone made their way to the inside of the ship.
"Sir, yes, sir" Rex said following them.
Upon entering Ezra made a move to stand by Sabine who was shaking her hair of the sand that found its way there 'yeah we're gonna need a shower when he get back' he thought to himself "this storm won't keep us covered forever, we need to do something" he said.
"Those things are practically impervious to blasters, but they have one weak point in their armor, the neck" Sabine pointed out.
"One well-placed shot from the main gun should destroy it" Gregor said in an excited voice.
"That's all we might get, one shot" Rex added with a slightly grim voice.
Zeb was tapping the scanner screen but it was no good, it was glitching out like crazy "I don't know how we're supposed to shoot something we can't see. I don't even know where the enemy is" he said turning to face the others.
"You don't always have to see something to know where it is" Kanan said deep in thought stroking his chin "If you're willing to trust me, I can get us that shot" he added looking at Rex.
"I always trust my general" Rex said back with a voice of confidence.
Kanan closed his eyes and lifted his hand, Ezra could feel him using the force to see where they were "Prepare to stop. Now!" he said as the walker came to a halt, Ezra the sound a large foot hitting ground and by the sound of it, it was just outside "Commander Wolffe, circle left, double time" Wolffe did as instructed and the walker began to move again, Ezra counted ten steps before... "Full stop. If what I'm sensing is right, we're surrounded" he finished.
"Crap" was all Ezra could say at the moment.
"You put us right in the middle of 'em to get us a shot" Rex said "It's crazy, but it's probably our best chance" he finished.
"Once we fire, we'll reveal our location. If we miss, it's all over" Sabine spoke.
"I'll take the shot" Gregor said standing up.
"No" Kanan said "Ezra should take the shot" he said looking over to his apprentice.
Ezra's eye brows rose at his words "are you sure?" he asked, he was surprised that Kanan had that much faith in him. Sure, he knew he'd prove himself plenty of times but he thought Kanan would want to do it himself.
"Kanan's right" Rex stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder "We need one Jedi up there manning the cannon. And another Jedi down here to lead us out of this mess. You are the only ones who can see in this storm" Ezra nodded back at him and turned to leave "Sabine, spot him" Rex added as Sabine smiled and nodded before putting her helmet on "Hey, kid" he added, Ezra turned around in time to catch a flying clone helmet "You might need that" Ezra looked down and saw that it was Rex's own helmet.
Stepping out of the smaller walker and was immediately hit with a powerful blast of wind making them slow down, even with the helmets they both felt they needed to lift their hands in order to better protect themselves from the sand "Don't miss" Sabine said as they made their way to the cannon.
Ezra couldn't help but smirk behind the helmet "Hey, if I don't miss. I get to shower first when we get back" he said but also challenge.
"if you don't miss" Sabine said taking a step over to him and but her helmet right in front of him "we can repeat what happened before we left the Ghost" she finished.
Before Ezra could come back with a witty remark, Kanan stopped him "Ezra, there's a walker somewhere around point 5" he said over the com.
"Somewhere around .5?" he rolled his eyes "very helpful" he said turning to cannon in that direction "I can't see it" he said back.
"It doesn't matter. You're not going to see it with your eyes. The walker is there. Trust yourself" he instructed.
Ezra closed his eyes and began to reach out through the force he could feel Sabine standing next to him, he could feel Kanan, Zeb, the clones all underneath him. He could feel the fear, the anxiety, the pressure. He reached further, past the billions and billions of tiny grains of sand, he could feel it, the metal, the wiring, the people, he used the force to create the shape of it and he could see it the neck. Without really thinking about it, he fired. The blue blaster bolt sored through the air and landed on its target "Got 'em" Sabine shouted as Ezra took off his helmet just in time to see the AT-AT fell to ground with a large fire around its neck.
Ezra jumped off the cannon as the walker began to pick up speed as it walked while the two remaining AT-ATs began to fire at where the walker was. Ezra held the helmet under his arm as the storm began to work its way past them "Great shot, kid" Rex said as he, Kanan and Zeb made their way to the top "Now get yourself moving. This is your only chance" he said as he ushered the Ghost crew to the Phantom.
"What?" Ezra asked as he stopped moving and turned to face Rex while the others made their way inside "we're not just gonna leave you here to die" he argued.
Kanan stepped next to him and turned him around to face him "We have to get the information they gave us back to the rebellion" he spoke.
Ezra face adopted a look of complete shock and anger, he couldn't believe Kanan would be so ok with this "The other part of that mission was to bring a 'Great Commander'" he said quoting Ashoka's words "back with us, we're not abandoning them" he argued.
"You're not abandoning anyone" Rex said placing both hands on his shoulders "We're covering your escape. Now, move" he pushed Ezra back into the ship "We're soldiers, Ezra. This is what we were born to do" he said before the door closed and Kanan lifted the ship of the tank and began to fly away.
Ezra turned to face Kanan who had his head turned out the window, he could see Sabine and Zeb looking at him with a hint of worry "Turn the ship around" he spoke with a firm voice. Kanan didn't say anything back to him. He took a step forward "tell me something and be honest, is leaving three good men to die simply because you don't like them, or don't like the idea of them the Jedi way?" he asked.
He didn't even need to see his face to see that he was rolling his eyes "I hate it when he's right" he said to himself before standing up and turning around "I've got my problems with clones, but I don't want those men to die" he said and Ezra couldn't help but put a smile of his face.
He didn't say anything else but sat back down and turned the ship around "Sabine, take control" he said stepping back from the control's and made his way to the exit "Ezra said with me" he spoke as he stood in the middle with Ezra on the right and Zeb on the left.
"get ready guys" Sabine said as the sound of the Phantom firing hit their ears "and... NOW!" she shouted as the back opened just as the ship made a ninety degree turn upwards. The three fell out of the ship and as they fell, Kanan and Ezra activated their saber as they cut into the walker's head.
Opening the new hatch, the three jumped in "What was that?" one of the two pilots said before Zeb grabbed both their heads and slammed them downwards knocking them out.
"Hmm. Roomy" he smiled as he and Kanan took the controls and began to fire on the last remaining walker. Ezra smiled as he saw Rex on the main gun of the smaller walker and deliver the final blow into the AT-ATs neck. Not even a minute later he could see Rex, Wolffe and Gergor all stand on the top of their now completely destroyed walker.
They all turned to face Kanan and him as they now stood on the larger walker themselves and gave them a salute. Ezra smiled even brighter as a sound hit his ears, they all turned around just in time to see the Ghost gently hover in the air behind them.
Phoenix HQ Blockade Runner
The whole crew walked down the white hallway of Phoenix Squadrons HQ, they turned one corner and saw Ashoka waiting for them. They all smiled as they parted making room for Rex to step past them and stop in front of her. He placed both hands behind his back in a professional manner "Commander" he smiled, Ashoka didn't say anything but took another step forward "You got old" he commented.
Ashoka chuckled at that one "Had to happen sometime, Rex" she said before wrapping both her hands around his neck in a tight hug.
"I'm glad you're still alive" he said as she let go of him.
"You too" she smiled.
"Well, I wouldn't be if it weren't for these guys" he said turning back to look at the crew.
"Thank you for trusting my friend" Ashoka said taking a step to the crew.
"It wasn't easy" Kanan smiled shaking his head "It's still not" he glanced at Rex.
"Nothing worth doing ever is" Ashoka said before grabbing Rex's arm and taking him to the bridge.
The Ghost – Sabine and Ezra's quarters
Ezra happily sat back on their bed under the covers as Sabine's naked body pressed against his, not going into too much detail she kept her word about the last time they were in the shower. It was a long day and that helped both of them relax "so are we doing it?" she asked suddenly.
Ezra frowned as he looked down at her "doing what?" he asked.
"looking at those Mandalorian bases Wolffe said was on that data chip" she calefied.
"oh" he said before nodding "yeah of course, I don't really like the idea of anyone else doing that"
"me neither" she said as her hand found its way to the necklace around his neck "so, we're back. Time to tell me what's going on with you" she spoke.
Ezra couldn't help but sigh internally but he did say he'd tell her "I've been thinking about... him, a lot lately" he said.
"who, Kallus?" she asked.
"no, the one on Lothal, the one in black. The Sith Lord" he explained "I've seen him before" he confessed.
Sabine's head lifted off his chest and rested on her elbow "what? When?" she asked with a gently voice but Ezra could tell by how she looked that she was interest and scarred at the same time.
"back when we just started dating, when Kanan took me to the temple on Lothal. When I was inside, I had a vison and..." he closed his eyes and began to compose himself "I saw him, kill my mother" he spoke. Sabine quickly lifted her hand and placed it on his chest "and I keep seeing it. Again, and again" he turned to look at her "I need to go to Mandalore, I don't know if what I see is real but I know it means something. I need to make sure she's safe" he said sounding a little more desperate then he planned.
Sabine was silent for longer than expected and he had no idea what she was thinking. She simply slowly nodded at him "ok" she quietly said before lowering her head into the crook of his neck and holding him tight, a lot tighter then she usually did. Something Ezra didn't fail to notice "you'll... you'll come back, right?" she asked.
Ezra's eyes shot open at that question "what?" he asked as he turned on his side and looked at her closer, he didn't what it was that made her this way but Ezra could see that she looked more scarred then he's ever seen her "hey" he said wrapping both arms around her and held her just as tight "I'll come back. Always" he said sternly looking right into her eyes. She nodded at him before closing her eyes and pushed herself against him, he did the same but he didn't sleep. All he could do was think about why she acted that way, did have something to do with the Sith Lord or was it something to do with Mandalore? He would need to ask her about that, but he guessed it could wait until the morning.
Ok, so sorry for the long wait but as I said I went to Florida for a while and when I got back, I found myself with a complete lack of motivation to continue. It wasn't because I don't like the story but it was because of the weather, if you don't know the U.K has had its worst heatwave in about two decades. And it's very hard to be motived when dying of the heat. But I will try to get things out faster.
Until then I will see you in the next chapter and May the Force be with you.
