Ezra hummed to himself as he stepped out of the shower attached to his and Sabines room with a towel around his waist. Looking in the mirror he couldn't help but smile as the last vestiges of his face bruises left and he was back to his normal self. Stepping outside into his room he smiled at the sight of Sabine who was sat at the small desk in their room doing some maintenance on her blasters, he couldn't help but smirk slightly as he walked forward and quickly wrapped his arms around her body and held her close to his chest "hey" he said.
Sabine smiled and leaned back into him, not caring that he was still wet from the shower "please tell me you are not still in the mood" she said "how is that possible?" she asked.
Ezra didn't need to long before he felt himself harden against her back thinking about last night. After he told her about the mission, she was admittedly upset when she learnt what Sato did in order to keep him hidden but she did soften up when he explained everything and was even better when he told her about his promotion. That was when the reward happened, she felt that he disserved something special. Which is exactly what she gave him.
Ezra's hand couldn't help but wonder down her body as he thought about it "it's very simple" he said as he felt her breath hitch when his hands landed at the top of her pants "you're you, that's all it takes" acting quickly Ezra used his arm to lift her up off the chair she was sitting on and then used his leg to kick it away "besides, you did so well taking care of me last night. Only fair I return the favor" the towel fell from his waist he bent her over the desk, using his free hand he undid her pants and then the force to pull them down.
Before she could so much as say a word Ezra thrust forward and plunged into her. Sabine let out a breathless gasp as he did and hand no choice but use her hand to steady herself on the desk as he continued to thrust "you... you're relentless" she gasped.
Ezra smiled "I know"
"ok, how about we get rid of the storage unit and get a bed in that way?" Ezra asked as he stood behind the pilot's chair of the Tempest.
"hhmm, maybe" Sabine said as she copied his stance behind the co-pilots chair "though I think it would go along with everyone a lot better if we don't just use one bed" she added.
"what do you mean?" Ezra asked tilting his head trying to imagine taking out all the storage equipment, along with the couple of chairs spread out on each side.
Sabine just shrugged "well I know you can because of the sway you've got with the squadron but I think you'll lose some of that if you tell them you're ripping your new ship apart, the best one we have, just so you can have more privacy with your girlfriend" she explained.
Ezra opened his mouth to retort but was stopped before he could "huh" he said because that did make some sense "ok, ok" his eyes widened "ok, how about this" he said with small smile "we have four beds, two in the corners, two above them as well, attached to the wall. But we'll make it easy for the two on the bottom beds to be pushed together making a big one that we can use when alone"
Sabine didn't respond immediately but she did tilt her head to the side as she thought about it "hhhmm, could be used to carry a small team but most of the time, just you and me" she spoke, continuing his line of thinking "that could work"
Ezra nodded alongside her "though there is the chance that we will be getting are own missions as well. Think we're up for that?" he asked.
"yeah" she said back without hesitation, surprising Ezra slightly "I think you and me can take on a lot"
He couldn't help but smile back at her before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. She didn't resist, Sabine rested her head on his shoulder "you are gonna scream is loud when we test this in" he whispered to her.
She couldn't help but laugh at those words "nope" she added with a small pop on the 'P' "you're the one who's gonna be screaming" she added.
He opened his mouth to speak but before he could, there was an interruption "Ezra, you up there? We need to talk" Kanans voice said through the open hatch.
"saved by the master" he quickly said to Sabine before walking forward "yeah! I'm coming" he said dropping down the hatch, coming face to face with Kanan but to his surprise also Ashoka "oh hey Ashoka, it's good to see you again"
"you too Ezra" she smiled back "back to a hundred percent?" she asked.
"Ezra Kryze, fit and ready for duty" he added with a small mock salute.
"good because we've got a mission that involves the inquisitors" Kanan said "I'll tell you on the way" he added.
Ezra couldn't help but smile as he felt the engine of the Tempest hum as he piloted the ship through the atmosphere of Takobo. A place Ashoka had asked them to go in search of whatever it is the Inquisitors are looking for, he didn't know what to expect but Ezra couldn't but feel what seemed like excitement. After his last match with Vader, he's done nothing but train, apart from that mission he took with Sato. He likes to think he's improved quite a bit, a test like the inquisitors would be so good for him.
Ezra set the ship down in a small hanger and lowered the ramp, allowing him, Kanan, Zeb and Chopper to all disembark. But before Ezra could step off the ships ramp Kanan grabbed his shoulder "hold on" he said reaching behind his back and pulled out a flight helmet "here, can't have anyone recognizing you" he added.
Ezra couldn't help but sigh "right" he added before grabbing the helmet and putting it on.
"Did Ahsoka say exactly what we were looking for?" Zeb asked as the two as they stepped off the ship.
"No" Kanan said "she just said we have to get whatever it is before the Inquisitors do. Chopper, you have those coordinates?" he asked the droid.
The droid beeped before he projected a hologram of buildings "are they housing units?" Ezra asked "what would the inquisitors want with something like that?" he added.
Kanan shook his head "I doubt they're renting. Zeb, you take a look around the spaceports for the Inquisitors' ship. If they're already here, I'd like to know" he ordered.
"Don't worry" Zeb said back "If I find any sign of 'em, you'll hear about it"
"Bring Chopper. Stay in touch" he added the last minute just before Zeb and Chopper left their line of sight.
Ezra and Kanan had been walking towards the buildings for a good ten minutes "I don't like this" Ezra said as they turned another corner down a busy street "no sign, of panicked looks, no large number of troops" he listed "everything completely normal, no signs of trouble. It's throwing me off" he added.
"I know what you mean" Kanan agreed "if they are here, there should be more panic or at least an increase in troopers. But I haven't seen any" he added glancing over his shoulder.
"we're here" Ezra said as the two turned to enter one of the buildings.
"be on guard" Kanan warned but he didn't need to, the second Ezra stepped foot in the building he felt it.
It almost caused him to stop walking and do a double take but after the encounters he's had with Vader this was almost nothing in comparison "they're here" he said. Though it was more of a mutter but that didn't stop Kanan from hearing him.
"mind your surroundings" was all he said before he led to the two forward.
The two walked in sync with crouched stances down the hallways of the building, Kanan had his hand on his Saber while Ezra already had his out and ready though he didn't ignite it. Ezra stopped in front of a door that almost looked like it had been cut in half "shit. Someone must have gotten here before us" he said as the two stepped into the room and saw the state it was in, in short it was a mess.
"aaaarrrr" the sound came from the corner of the room. They both made their way over and saw a woman on the ground underneath some thrown over furniture.
"Over here" Kanan said as he kneeled down next to the woman "She's alive. What's your name?" he asked.
"Oora" she replied weakly as she struggled to pick herself up but quickly fell back down.
"Save your strength, Oora" he warned.
"Pipey" the woman said back.
"who's Pipey?" Ezra asked gently.
"Her child" Kanan said with wide eyes "She thinks they came for her child. Two red blades" he added that last part grimly.
The woman continued to talk while Kanan translated for him "They didn't get it. She managed to send her child away with a droid"
Ezra frowned not being able to help feeling so bad for this woman, looking at the corner of his eye he saw a small toy on the ground next to his feet. Bending down he picked it up and handed it to the woman "don't worry, I promise. We'll find Pipey" he said before turning to Kanan "you should tell Zeb to start looking" he added before Kanan nodded.
"You're telling me there's another baby out there?" Zeb's voice filtered through the com.
"And it's headed your way" Kanan said back as the two walked out of the building and started to walk down the street though they kept an eye out for any type of droid "When you find the droid, tell it that the mother, Oora, sent you"
"Understood. On my way" he confirmed.
"What could the inquisitors want with a baby?" Ezra asked his master.
He sighed back "I don't know but what I do know is that it cannot be anything good" he added grimly.
"yeah that goes without saying but what reason could they have?" Ezra asked to himself more than he did Kanan but before he could get an answer, a came out through the com.
"Kanan, I found the baby" Zeb said.
Ezra and Kanan both raised their eye-brows at each when he said that "Already? You're pretty good at this" Kanan said back into the com.
"Yeah. I know. I'm taking it back to the ship" he informed the two Jedi.
"Copy that. We'll meet you there" Kanan hung up the com and the two started to head back to the Phantom.
They didn't even make it a street corner before the com spoke again "Spectre-1, making it back to The Phantom is not going to happen" Zeb's voice spoke but they could both tell that he was in some type of trouble.
The two stopped walking "Copy that, Spectre-4. Where are you?" Kanan asked, raising the com to his mouth.
"On the move" Zeb said "Ran into your two friends. We'll be in the tower at the grid nine intersection. Hurry"
"Shit" Ezra cursed as they started to run towards the tower said had described "Kanan, we're ready for this? Right?" he asked his master.
He didn't respond immediately but Ezra could tell he was thinking about it "As long as we all work together, we should be fine. Just remember your training" he instructed, and all Ezra could do is nod "This is grid nine. Tower should be just ahead"
Ezra was trying to see the many different neon signs that were hanging from the different walls, trying to find the right one. When his eyes caught sight of a familiar droid "Kanan, stop!" Ezra shouted as he pointed and Kanan saw the droid, though neither of them stopped running. Ezra lifted his hand and the small droid flew through the air right towards him, as soon as it got close enough Ezra grabbed it and used the force to increase his strength which he used to crush the little probe in his hand "they've got to be in here" he added as he and Kanan stopped in front of the door.
Without a word the two grabbed their lightsabers though they weren't activated just yet. They couldn't draw attention to themselves unless they had too. Though they ran in, both knew that they couldn't just rush through the whole building, it would be too loud and draw too much attention. So once they reached the first floor the two began to slowly stalk through the corridors of the building.
The two reached a crossroads within the corridors and Ezra was crossing the cap. He turned his head to the right and was just able to see the black clad foot of an inquisitor before he felt Kanan grab his shoulders and pull him back behind cover. Though he didn't see much, Ezra could tell that the inquisitor was the same one he's seen before. The woman who was on the medical station, the one he fought in order to buy Sabine and Zeb to get the ship ready for take-off.
That was when his instincts kicked in, he was a Mando. He doesn't hide from a fight, least of all to someone who is a threat of someone so close to them. He made to step out of cover and face his enemy, but a hand remained keeping him in place. Turning around Ezra frowned as he saw the same look mirrored back at him from Kanan "what are you doing?" the master said with a small scowl.
"what are you doing?" he whispered back with his own scowl "why are we hiding? She's all alone in a narrow corrido, she's outnumbered and out gunned. We can take her now" he said.
But to his surprise Kanan didn't even seem to consider it "no, the child is the priority. If we get bogged down fighting her then we lose are chance to get them out safely"
Ezra was quite for a moment before shaking his head "No Kanan, it's not our way" he added and without another word he turned the corner and started walking towards the inquisitor who had their back turned to him "go find the kid" he said out loud, which was enough for the inquisitor to turn around and see him standing there.
Ezra thought that he heard Kanan's footsteps going in another direction. As he starred at his enemy, all of his Mando instincts started to come out "well now, isn't this a surprise" she said with a filtered voice through her helmet "I had heard Lord Vader dealt with you but you managed to escape. He will be most pleased with you defeat"
Ezra didn't say anything back, he could guess how she knew who he was even if she couldn't see his face. Now knowing there wasn't much point considering what he was about to do. Slowly reaching up he grabbed the base of the helmet and pulled it off revealing his face before dropping it to the ground. With a calm face he slowly started to walk towards her and with a hiss. The blue glow of his lightsaber illuminated the corridor "he's going to be disappointed"
The face plate opened up to the relieve the woman's orange skin, she let out a chuckle "we shall see" with a flick of her own wrist the red blade made its self-known but unlike Ezra's this one was double ended. She gave it a spin and the tips of the blades skimmed the walls creating scorch marks of hot metal that fell to the ground.
With one more calmly breath, Ezra assumed his form VII stance and as his fighting style permitted. He charged forward with a flurry of strikes that she annoyingly was able to block. The wall of the corridor sparked as the two blades clashed against each other. He swung his cross-guard sabre both left and right which she blocked with both ends of her own sabre, but with each block her body faulted slightly which allowed Ezra with a final swing to her to stumble slightly to the right which allowed Ezra to back hand her across the face with a powerful swing.
However instead of giving Ezra and opening that he could use, she immediately used the momentum that he gave her to turn her whole body and preform a round house kick directly to his face which probably hurt more than his hit did. But that only served to make him stronger, that was where the real strength in Ezra's fighting style came into effect. Unlike the others Ezra's form was built with the idea of using one's emotions in order to gain an advantage.
Letting his anger into himself and using it to give him an edge he started to attack more ferociously, every strike and prod was given more strength, more anger and the inquisitor felt herself being pushed back because of it. When they landed in another crossroads of hallways, the inquisitor preformed a sideways block but unlike the other times however, Ezra grabbed the midsection of the blade and used his superior strength to raise it in the air slightly leaving her midsection open without the bottom blade to protect it.
Ezra used the force to augment his leg and with effect Ezra slammed his kneecap into her stomach. Her body lurched and she dropped her sabre before falling on all fours, without waiting for her to recover Ezra raised with weapon and plunged it down to his opponent, however just before the blade could strike. A flash of red found its ways to the corner of Ezra's eyes, and it clashed against Ezra's blue blade forcing it to miss his target.
His entire body lurched to the side and before he could recover the inquisitor much have used the force herself in order to suddenly jump up into the air and kick Ezra with enough force to cause him to fly down the entire corridor. Though he landed hard on his back, he wasted no time in getting back to his feet. Though when he did, his frown intensified.
Standing by the inquisitor he was about to kill was the second inquisitor he's seen the large bulky man that nearly killed Sabine and Zeb on the medical station while he was dealing with the other one.
"Nearly killed by a child" he said in a deep voice "I should have expected such weakness, Seventh Sister" he added standing over his colleague who Ezra final had a name for 'Seventh Sister'
"We've been ordered not to kill him, Fifth Brother" Seventh Sister gritted through her teeth as she stood back up from a crouching position, no doubt a stance she got after landing from the kick she gave him "But I'm starting to think an acceptation should be made" she snarled.
"no" Fifth brother said back "the will of Lord Vader will not be denied" he added, turning his own sabre standing in front of the sister who only just picked herself up.
As he starred at the fifth brother, he was slowly walking towards him, something only just occurred to him that couldn't help but make him chuckle 'I just beat that bitch on my own' he thought.
One fifth Brother was a couple of feet away, Ezra re-took his fighting stance and got ready for a fight but before they could clash a blaster bolt flew through Ezra's shoulder followed by the sound of breaking glass "Ezra! Come on!" the voice of Kanan said.
Without any hesitation Ezra turned and jumped out of a newly devoid of glass window and fell a couple of feet before he landed on a hovering speeder "GO! GO! GO!" he heard Zeb shout to someone.
Ezra had to crouch down and grab a part of the seats in order to stop himself from flying off due to the G-force "got you" Kanan said as Ezra felt a hand grab his chest, before he could even say thanks. Kanan yanked him forward and fell headfirst in the foot well.
"thanks" his muffled voice was echoed through the speeder as his feet kicked randomly in the air.
"Zeb, we need to get out of here. Quickly!" Kanan shouted just as Ezra was able to pick himself up and he could see that they were speeding through the streets. Kanan was sitting in the back with him, Zeb was in the front with a crying baby on his lap and some random guy was driving.
"You heard him!" Zeb yelled to the driver.
"incoming" Kanan said before Ezra could even catch his breath. Turning around he saw both of the inquisitors on their own speeder chasing them closely. Without waiting for them to get a chance Kanan pulled out his blaster and started to fire on them.
Taking a deep breath Ezra took as good a stance as he could get considering he was sitting down, being reminded that he had one. Ezra reached for his waist and pulled his blaster free and began to fire at the chasing speeder, though it was proving to be difficult due to the Fifth Brother who was standing on top it as with his lightsabre, blocking each bolt that gets close enough "I feel like that's cheating!" he shouted as another bolt was blocked. Ezra fired again but his arm swayed due to the speeder dropping quickly then moving from side to side, he was about to ask what was happening but stopped when he saw other speeder flying around them 'oh right, we're in the middle of traffic'
"It is" Kanan agreed "but since when do the bad guys care about that" he added "aim for the left engine" he ordered and without arguing Ezra took aim and fired.
Thankfully there was not a lot the inquisitor could do due to them not aiming for him, when he realized what was happening. It was too late. Their speeder let out a small explosion as the engine was hit by both his and Kanans blasters. He could see the fifth brother try to keep himself steady as the speeder began to fall to the ground but when it did the brother had a snarl on his face and his sabre began to spin quickly and he threw it.
Ezra was so surprised by the move that all he could do was watch as the blade reached their own speeder and sliced through their speeder. All Ezra could hear was the sound of the alien screaming in horror as the reached the ground, though to be fair he handled it well.
Ezra and Kanan thrashed around as the speeder bounced on the ground before coming to a stop. It took a moment for them to pick themselves up and climb out of the ruined vehicle ignoring both the baby crying in Zebs arms and the unknown alien that had been driving "incoming" Kanan's voice hit his ears.
Turning around Ezra let out a sigh as he saw the two inquisitors heading towards them with speed "time to go" Ezra said as they all started to run towards the hanger. He knew that he should stay and fight like he did last time but now that the baby was right there, he needed to make sure it was safe before he could get busy with a fight.
Zeb reached the hanger door first and started to bang on it with his heavy fist "Chopper, open the door. Quickly" Zeb shouted into the com "Kanan! The door is locked!" he said.
"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment!" Kanan said as they neared Zeb.
Ezra's eyes widened for a moment as the force sent out a warning to him, quickly acting. He grabbed his sabre and made a blind block which no doubt saved his life.
Knowing that he was out of time, Ezra turned around and faced his opponent. Unfortunately, it wasn't Seventh Sister who he now knew he could beat but she was busy with Kanan. No, now he had to deal with this asshole while Zeb tried to get the door open. Moving his sabre back and forth, he both blocked and attacked in order to bring down his opponent but this one was proving to be sterner than the sister, the guy didn't even flinch when Ezra slashed at him with powerful strikes.
Now knowing that Ezra didn't have the strength advantage here. He would need to be more versatile than that. With that in mind Ezra tucked and twisted his body in a crouching form, he brought his sabre into a side slash, and he took no small amount of pleasure from the cry of pain coming from his enemy. Though his moment of triumph was short lived as he felt a hand grab him by the back of his neck and before he could move his sabre to slice the hand off, he was thrown backwards towards the door.
When his back hit the ground, he was able to add his own momentum to the action and roll backwards until his was able stand up on his feet. Just in time to see Kanan fly through the air and land flat on his back "well that ended well" Zeb said as he balanced the baby in one hand while he grabbed his Bo-Staff from his back.
"it's not over yet" Ezra said as he readied himself in his stance with a frown on his face as the two inquisitors started walking towards them.
That was when Ezra felt a comfortable feeling all around him, like a warm hand was on the back of his neck. It seemed he wasn't the only one to feel something as both of the inquisitors stopped advancing forward and simply looked past them. A mechanical sound reached his ears and Ezra turned to see the hanger door open, he couldn't help but let out a sigh in relief at the sight of Ashoka slowly walking forward until she stood in the middle of Ezra and Zeb 'where's that light coming from?' he couldn't help but think as the light coming behind her almost caused him to look away.
"Ezra, Zeb" she said as she grabbed both her Sabres and activated the white blades within "get the youngling to the ship" she ordered and Ezra was in no position to say no.
"Kanan!" Ezra yelled as he jogged over to the down Jedi as he started to pick himself up but thankfully he didn't need to explain much.
"What about Ahsoka?" Kanan asked as the two turned to see her... well, 'bitch slapping' may be the best description he thought as he saw her slam the Fifth Brothers head into a concreate Pillar.
"She's doing fine" he argued back before making his way to the Tempest, without even checking if Kanan was behind him, he sat in the pilot's chair and started to start the ship up.
"What are you doing?" Kanan said from behind him "We gotta go back for her"
"no shit" he said back as the Tempest lifted off the ground "keep the hatch open, she'll come to us" he added, he didn't know if Kanan agreed with what he said but when he didn't say anything back and he heard the loading hatch open, he figured out what the answer would be.
Being careful not to go to fast, Ezra flew the ship slowly over where he last saw Ashoka, that was also when he saw what looked like three different squads of troopers moving down a road towards them. He turned to his left and flipped a couple of switches turning the weapons online but before he could fire, Kanan beat him too it "Ezra! Let's go!" he shouted from the back of ship.
It took a couple of minutes for them to get out of planet's atmosphere but once they did. Ezra immediately went to hyperspace heading in the direction of the Phoenix Squadron "They're Force sensitive" he heard Ashoka say behind him to Kanan "I've seen this before. A Sith Lord attempted the same thing back in the Clone Wars, but the Jedi Order stopped him" she explained.
"And now there's no Jedi Order to protect them" he added back with a grim voice.
"so we can add child abduction to the empires list of crimes" Ezra added as he turned in his chair to see everyone behind him, Ashoka and Kanan were looking at him while Zeb, Chopper and Pipey's mother were focusing on the kids "I'm gonna need nap after all this shit" he added.
"that will have to wait" Kanan said and Ezra could see his brows meeting in a frown "we need to talk" he added and Ezra had a feeling it was going to be a long conversation.
Ok guys, let me know what you all thought in the reviews and I'll see you all the next chapter.
P.S Sorry for the gramma mistakes, I was in a rush to upload this so I didn't do a full proof read.
