Tempest
The mood was quite tense as the crew of the Tempest made their way back to the squad. While still not happy with the news that he didn't get the info they went there for in the first place. Sabines' mood was tempered by three pieces of information, number one being that they were told to go to Malachor which in itself was a very historically important planet to their culture. Number two was that their least favourite pair of Inquisitor's where dead which was a major win for them, and further proof that the Empire's Jedi hunters weren't enough. And number three, with the inquisitor's lightsabres both her and Able were going to get a new weapon in the form of the Talons 'yes, they're called Talons now' Ezra thought to himself.
Which is what led to what each of them doing what they were doing. While Sabine was on the net looking into the data on Malachor, checking to make sure they could go there without having to sneak past a guarding fleet or a walk across an irradiated wasteland, not to far outside the realm of possibility considering how bloody the war on that planet was supposed to be.
Able was standing in-between the bunks at the back of the ship. On his wrist was one of Ezra's Talons, after he asked to see what it felt like, Ezra had no problem lending it to the clone who for the past half hour had been through jabs, punches and guards. Seeing how it felt to use in a fight and so far, it seemed that he was enjoying it quite a bit.
Ezra himself was on the ground behind the pilot's chair, slowly and surely taking apart the Inquisitors sabres. Getting rid of the components that he didn't need and placing everything he did into a small satchel, ready to be taken into one of the ships workshops. Where he could get to work, though he would need to think about the best way to integrate them into Sabines painted arm guards. They weren't true Mandalorian vambraces which he was thankful for because he didn't think he would be able to mess with Beskar like that. Which reminds him, he needs to ask if Sabine wants to paint them.
Once he was done and got what he needed. He stood and made his way back into the pilot's chair and sat down in it, placing the bag of components next to him "do you have anything?" he asked turning to Sabine.
After a moment of silence, she sighed and shook her head "I got nothing. There's nothing to indicate that Malachor is being watched in anyway, no rumours on fleets, no chatter about the planet itself. No news in any way to show that anything's happened on that planet since the last battle there" she turned in her chair to face him "even with the added data the protectors gave us" she shook her head again "nothing"
Crossing his arms, he leaned back in his seat "I don't know if that's a good thing or not" he mused.
"We could have just gotten lucky, and nobody cares about it" she reasoned "or, the empire doesn't want anyone to know anything because they're doing something secret" there was the bad part of all of this.
"And I'm willing to bet everything it's the latter" he nodded back at her, before the conversation could continue a red flashing caught his eye "we're here" he announced before turning back to the controls and turning on the com system "Phoenix home, this the Tempest. Transmitting docking codes now" he said.
Before he could even start the clearance code the, the sound of the squad commander filled the ship "Phoenix Home to Tempest! We are under attack!" he shouted.
"Able strap in" Ezra yelled as he and Sabine both started to quickly to type away on the console "Shield's up" he commented.
"Weapon systems enabled" Sabine did the same while strapping in her seat belt.
"Dropping out of hyperspace in three, two, one" Ezra spoke calmly as he pulled back the central lever and the Tempest suddenly appeared form above a battle ground.
The entire squad was in a tight formation facing off against a single Star Destroyer along with two light cruisers "marking targets!" Sabine yelled as the front window of the ship highlighted dozens and dozens of different enemy signatures, small red squares appeared around each one, tracking there movements "Commander Sato, why haven't you jumped out of there?" Sabine asked into the com as Ezra flew closer.
The second they were in range; he fired the weapons on his first target. Destroying the first Tie fighter they reached "we can't jump, we have no fuel. Wait... the Ghost has just entered the system. Captain Syndulla has the fuel we need. Tempest, protect the Ghost, it must reach the Home ship" he ordered.
"Copy that commander" Ezra said, turning the ship towards the Ghosts signature.
"Seems they already know about what the plan is" Sabine commented as the when the Tempest faced the Ghost who was on the other side of the battlefield. It wasn't hard to see all the highlighted enemy signatures making their way towards the Ghost "Tempest to Ghost. Hera, do you read me?" she said into the com.
While listening to what was being said, Ezra piloted his ship like he was doing it all his life. Preforming flips and spins to avoid fire while at the same time, the spinning wings firing at all others who got in range "we're here Tempest" Hera's voice filtered through the ship "we have the fuel but we're being swarmed!" she yelled in a distressed and angry tone.
"we're on our way" she spoke as the Ghost got bigger and bigger and the many different Tie fighters behind it became visible "marking specific targets" she typed onto the console as the highlighted targets behind the Ghost changed from red to gold.
From an outside perspective, it would look like the ships were about to crash into each other. But when they were close enough, Ezra pulled up, flipped the ship and the Tempest spinning wings only just missed the Ghosts top turret. Though the second it was clear of the Ghost, Ezra opened fire and started to clean house, wiping out half of the enemy ships in the first volley. Turning around as soon as he was able, it was now the Ghost in the lead, the Tie's behind it and then the Tempest at the back of the line.
With a clear line of sight, he didn't waste any time in cleaning house. Within the minute the remaining Ties on Hera's tail had been dealt with "that was the last of them. Ghost, you're clear"
"Copy that Tempest, thanks for the assist" Hera said as both she and Ezra could see the Ghost practically crash into the Home ships hanger.
"ok" Ezra said as he span around and started to make his way into the middle between the two groups "let's buy them some time" he smiled to Sabine, who couldn't help but smirk back.
Over the next couple of minutes, the Tempest started to widdle down all the enemy fighters. As much as Ezra wanted to say it was because it was a great pilot, but it was mainly due to this ship just outclassing the enemy Tie fighters in just about every way "Phoenix Home to all ships, we are transmitting coordinates to are next destination. Everyone is to jump immediately!"
Looking over to Sabine while dodging incoming fire, she soon started to type on the console "coordinates received. We'll be right behind you" she said as Ezra looked at one of the small screens and he could see the general direction in which they needed to go. Turning in that direction he could see that the rest of the ships where already jumping and soon enough Ezra reached forward and pulled the central lever backwards and the Tempest entered hyperspace, leaving the imperials behind them.
There was no hiding the smile on everyone's face as the dropped out of hyperspace and the large orange planet came into few "I have no idea how they found this place, but I am not complaining" Ezra said as he leaned back in his seat.
"I know" Sabine smiled back "I don't know how Chopper managed it"
"Seems we won't be the only ones who have a report" Able said stepped in-between the two, though he quickly turned to face Ezra "how long do you think we'll wait until we make a move on Malachor?" he asked.
Ezra frowned in thought as the Tempest started to make its way into the atmosphere "we have an objective but we're not in a real rush. I want to make sure this planet can be used as a base first before we go off on another mission" he added wisely before the ship started to move at a steady pace, looking out the window one could see the entire squad flying towards a specific location.
"Are we going to tell the others?" Sabine asked with a small voice.
Turning to look at her, Ezra gave his lover a shrug "I'll have to inform Sato of the mission. Whether or not he approves is..."
"Not him" Sabine interrupted "are you going to tell Kanan?" she asked.
He clenched his jaw and turned to face out the window "no, at least I'm not. If Sato does that's his call"
Sabine didn't say anything else, just nodded and turned forwards as well. He was glad she didn't continue and there really wasn't a point, he knew exactly why he should tell Kanan. This was a job from Yoda and being honest he doesn't even know what he was looking for on Malachor, he didn't even ask Yoda for something, just made the case that he needed to fight. There could be anything on the planet and other force users would make him feel better.
But at the same time, he wasn't sure he could trust Kanan to stand with him and he just knew that he would start some shit over the Talons, no matter how useful they are.
Stepping down the ramp of the ship, the Tempest crew looked around the small, shaded area that was about to become their new base "not bad" Sabine said as they started to make their way towards a gathering of the squad heads, which was mainly Sato, Hera, Kanan and Rex.
Walking forward they could start to hear Rex speaking to the others "the site doesn't look like much, I'll admit. The good news is our scouts have already found a fresh water source, deep underground"
"That is good news" Ezra commented as the two groups met, Ezra ignored Kanan's stare and instead turned to Hera "so how did you find this place?" he asked.
"I didn't" she answered looking over his shoulder, following her line of site. He could see Chopper with another droid he didn't recognize "that's AP5, seems Chop found himself a turn coat who gave us the location for this place"
"Huh, who would have thought" he added with a mutter though it was loud enough for the others to hear as well.
"Not me" Sato said placing his hands behind his back "but I am not complaining, in fact I believe his knowledge of imperial code will greatly improve our chances of decoding the encryption of the black box. But that can wait for later. We have a good number of personal placing senor markers around the perimeter" turning his head he looked at Sabine "lieutenant Wren, I would like you to oversee this"
Straightening her back she nodded "I'll get started immediately sir" she said before turning around and heading off, to what Ezra assumed was a type of control area based on the large holo table.
"Kryze" Sato said next turning his attention to his second "I will want to speak to you as well. Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.
Before Ezra could answer, the angry sound of Zebs voice interrupted the group "Hey, get off of that!" he yelled, turning to face him. They could see he was snarling at a little critter with that looked kinda cute with his extended eyes and large shell "I hate those little Bogens"
Smiling at his antics, Ezra turned back to the commander "I found something and I do have good news but..." his eyes landed on Kanan before quickly turning back to Sato "it would be best to speak in private"
He didn't know what their faces said because he wasn't looking at them but based on the what he could see in the corner of his eyes. Both Kanan and Hera seemed to be annoyed and saddened by his words. After a moment Sato nodded "the rest of you have your orders, get to it" he said.
Looking over his shoulder, Ezra turned to see Able "why don't you help Rex with what he needs doing" he suggested.
Getting the hint, the clone nodded and made his way to follow his brother. Ezra followed Sato and two soon found themselves in his office on the now landed command ship "what has happened?" he asked when they both sat down.
Ezra filled him in on what happened, both what Yoda told him and how they dealt with the inquisitors as well. To say Sato was surprised was an understatement though there was no denying that he was pleased with the news, when he was told about what the plan was. He was less then pleased.
Ezra couldn't blame him, not to toot his own horn or anything but he knew that he was important to this squad and having him going off on another mission with the best ship they had. Yeah, it was understandable that he would not be happy. And while the argument could be made that the Ghost was a better ship thanks to the many different functions the ship could do and how adaptable it was, the Tempest on the other hand was a fighter, it would be hard pressed to act as a transporter or a cargo ship but god damn it was a good fighter.
He no doubt also didn't like the idea of losing his second in command, which only added to his own workload "do you believe it would be worth the risk?" he asked stroking his chin "we have no way of knowing what to expect from that planet"
Crossing his arms, Ezra leaned back in his chair "I think it could be" he answered honestly "if no-ones been there since that last battle, I mean the amount of pure Basker alone..." he trailed off for a moment as he thought about it "But I think there's more to it, there has to be"
"hhhmm, I cannot deny the potential of what could come from such a mission" he spoke "but the added danger of not knowing is something that I do not like"
"I can agree with you on that" he nodded back to the commander "but at the same time, who knows what could be there. The largest and bloodiest battle of the Mandalorian wars? Weapons, armour, ships and force knows what else" he listed, and he really did believe it himself, god knows what he could find down there. Especially if what he said was true and the planet was left on its own for all these years, even if that was incredibly unlikely.
"You know that you have my trust so I will approve of this mission" Sato spoke calmly "but at the same time we cannot ignore the reputation you are rightfully earning" when Ezra tilted in confusion he continued on "I have recently been contacted by senator Organa, it seems the bounty on your head has been doubled, all Imperial worlds have been given explicit orders to look out for you. I don't know for certain, but you have just become the most wanted man in the galaxy"
Ezra hummed as he cupped his hands under his chin "it always was possible that this could happen" he reasoned "and it changes nothing, we're all wanted. I'll just need to be more careful than most"
The commander nodded "no doubt, but I do worry that your profile is getting too big for the squad to handle. We may need to change our methods" he mused.
He found himself nodding back, as much as he would want to deny it. The Phoenix squad has only lasted this long because even though they are being hunted by the Empire, they are still only seen as a minor inconvenience. Sure Ezra's done a lot of good work as a single person but the squad weren't taking control of planets back, they weren't ambushing patrol fleets and taking down Star Destroyers left and right.
They were always on the run, and the Empire only gave a half-hearted chases. Sure, there were some people like Kalus who really gunned for them but those like him where few and far between. In the grand scheme of things those like him were less than nothing. But if all that changed, if the Empire really did go after them with everything they had... they wouldn't stand a chance. It wouldn't even be a fight "maybe it would be best if I try a distant myself from the squad"
"No!" Sato quickly shouted getting Ezra to jerk slightly "we do not abandon our own. We will simply need to take care when it comes to your face"
It really is hard not to respect him, Ezra suddenly found himself thinking "alright then and don't worry about Malachor" he said "we're not on any timetable about it, we'll have time to settle everything in place before we make a move" once that was said it was only a matter of discussing everything else that came with the squad and what the new situation was.
A few hours later Ezra was walking outside the ship, he was greeted by nods from many different members of the squad, from pilots to guards to technicians etc. The place was being set up nicely give it a few weeks and this could really be a place to call home. Looking out to the distance, Ezra squinted his eyes and he caught the sight of Zeb setting something up.
Shrugging as he realized that he hasn't spoken to his old roommate in a while, he decided to move forward. After a few minutes, the sound of music started to hit his ears, that was when he realized just what Zeb had built for himself. A nice little man-made shack just for himself. It was made up of a bunch of what he hoped would be left over crates, a couple of rags to give shade from the hot sun and if he had to guess, he would say there was a small fridge in there somewhere "well, don't you look comfortable" he mused.
Zeb who was leaning back in a chair with his arms folded behind his head and had his eyes closed, he only opened one eye to see who it was before he closed them again and let out a deep exhale "oh, hey Ezra. I'm just getting a little fresh air and privacy. Pull up a crate, watch the sunset" he offered.
Shrugging, Ezra walked around him and jumped up onto one of the crates "been a while since we've had a chance to talk" he said.
"Not that surprising" he replied taking a sip of his drink before turning around and offering it to Ezra who took it without complaint "too busy hunting down those damn red blades eh" he chuckled.
He smiled back before taking a sip of the drink. Though the second he did, he recoiled and started coughing "HAHAHAHA" Zeb bellowed as he took the cup back "what! You Mando's can't handle a real Lasat drink?" he asked still laughing.
"Cough cough... fuck you Zeb... cough" he said after some effort though he was soon able to gather himself "and besides, it's not like I'm hunting the inquisitors. They just have an annoying habit of finding me. Not my fault they can't handle the fight they start"
The Lasat warrior laughed at the insult "Hey, bet you I could handle one of them now"
He smiled and nodded "you probably could. Maybe you should join us on the next mission" he offered without even really meaning to.
Zeb turned to face him "you have a new mission? Already?" he asked surprised.
Knowing that he couldn't take it back now, Ezra starred back at the sun which was halfway down the horizon "yes, and I have no idea what I'll be leading the others into. It could be the easiest and most boring mission we have, or it could be the deadliest any of us have done"
Zeb turned back forward "not really common to go into a mission with so little information" he added.
He nodded back "I know, God I might just be leading my entire team to their deaths" he admitted out loud.
"Hey, hey" Zeb reached out and shook his hand in Ezra's face "bad luck to talk like that. You'll be fine" then he punched his arm "course we'll probably have toppled the Empire by then" he added with a chuckle and Ezra couldn't help but laugh back "we'll swap some war stories"
Feeling better by his attitude, he leaned back against his crate, placed on hand on his leg and the two friends watched the sun go down "it's a deal big guy"
It was only a few minutes later that the peaceful atmosphere that the two had was broken "TALON 2 TO BASE! I REPEAT TALON 2 TO BASE!" the loud and distressed sound of Sabine interrupted the two.
Ezra quickly stood up along with Zeb "This is Talon 1" he said into his com "what is it Sabine?" he asked in a calm voice, but it was easy to tell he was worried.
"we're under attack" both Ezra and Zeb where both running right back to the main base "Phoenix 5's been taken... Rex behind you. We're about to get over run" the two reached the main hanger just in the time to hear the Ghosts engine start up.
"Activate your locator beacon" the human and Lasat both jumped on the Ghosts front ramp just as it took off.
"Activated... ABLE!" she shouted in a distressed voice.
"I have your location" the sound of Hera's voice sounded filtered in through the system "I hang on guys, we'll be in a few minutes"
'They might not have a few minutes' a voice in the back of Ezra's head sounded as the Ghost flew over the sand dunes. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. Yes, he was worried but that wouldn't help, Sabine is strong. She can handle herself for a few minutes 'and what rage would follow, if something happened to her, I wonder hhmm?' Yoda's voice came into his head.
He shook his head again 'it won't come to that' he thought. Taking a step forward, only just standing on the edge of the Ghosts still open ramp. He grabbed one of the ramps exposed hydraulics that allowed the ramp to work and leaned out of the ship even more, keeping a keen eye out encase he saw her before anyone else. He didn't even notice Zeb and Kanan standing behind him.
Soon though the sight of red flashes caught his attention, the direction in which the Ghost was now flying. In a few more moments, the sight of the pointed-up wings of the Tempest came into view. When he saw Sabine kneeling down next to Rex as they shot at... 'Are those fucking spiders?' he thought to himself when he saw the creatures that were getting closer to the two "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" Sabine shouted as the spiders seemed to stop advancing on the two "COME ON!" she added practically telling them to eat her.
"Fuck, she's so hot" Ezra muttered as he took a step back, when the Ghost got close enough. He jumped, Lightsabre in hand. Landing right in front of the spider closet spider, twisting his body around the blue blade cut through one of the beast's legs and it fell to the ground though before it could screech in pain, he jammed his sabre right in between its multiple eyes and into what he assumed as its head.
That combined with the blaster fire from the Ghost, the spiders seemed to retreat down into holes in the ground that Ezra guessed led to burrows. With his sabre in hand he walked in the middle of Sabine and Rex who stood either side of him. The Ghost flew overhead and landed not that far off from them "I hate multi leggers" Zeb whined as he, Kanan Chopper and Hera all stepped down the ramp.
When the group was gathered, he turned to face Sabine "where's Able?" he asked.
"Those creatures took him down the holes" she informed taking a couple of steps forward and pointed to one of the holes "I think they got Deiser too"
"Chopper" he pointed to the droid "Zone in on Ables position" he ordered.
The droid made a couple of chirping noises as he moved around the group and stood still, the central antenna on the top of his head rose and started to spin around. After a moment he buzzed at them which roughly translates to 'this way'
Nodding at him, Ezra walked forward "alright. Hera, stay with the Ghost and be ready to take off immediately. Zeb, you stay with her, make sure the ships protected" the two quickly nodded and he was grateful that even if things where tense between them, they still knew who the one in charge was "the rest of you with me. We'll get Able back and use the Ghost to get out of here. Lead the way" he nodded towards Chopper who chirped back and started to move in towards the holes.
"What about the Tempest?" Sabine asked as she walked behind him, both her hands raised. A blaster in each, ready to fire in an instant. The same as Rex who looked very eager to get his brother back, even Kanan walked with a guarded stance his sabre not yet activated.
The group stopped in front of one of the large holes in the ground which seemed to go down quite a bit "stay sharp, these things could come from anywhere" he advised as they all started to make their way down.
"They have tough Armor. Aim for the eyes" Sabine informed. Though that was mainly for her and Rex. As he and Kanan had lightsabres the latter now turning his on to provide better light for them.
After a few moments of walking in an eerily quiet tunnel. They came upon a crossroads, two different paths that could be taken "which way Chop?" he asked the droid at the front of the group. With a grunt, the small astromech wheeled down the right path.
"I don't like this" Kanan said from the back of the group "it's too quiet"
"What are the chances we got them all up top?" Rex asked.
Ezra shrugged "non-existent" he commented.
Before anyone else could speak, the sound of the com beeping interrupted him "Spectre 2 to Talon 1" the voice of Hera spoke up sounding distressed.
"Go ahead Spectre 2" he said rising his wrist to his mouth but still keeping an eye out for threats.
"we're going to need some help out here, these spiders are webbing us down and the ships weapons have no effect" she added.
Turning around he nodded at Kanan, who for the first time in a while didn't frown or look angry at him. He just turned and ran, making his way out and back to the Ghost "Spectre 1 is on his way" he informed before turning to look at Sabine and Rex "let's pick up the pace"
The two nodded and the three followed Chopper down the dark corridor and soon they found themselves in a still dark but slightly larger area which seemed to have weird looking rocks sticking up from the ground. A small tapping sound caught their attention and they each turned to look at Sabine who kneeled down to look at what seemed to be discarded shells from the little Bogens that where all over this base "guess we found the bottom half of the food chain" she mused.
"We got trouble" Rex said looking forward, Ezra following his gaze and they could see a pile of what looked like at first glance to be some type of fleshy balls.
"uugh" Sabine gagged "are those eggs?" she asked no-one in particular.
"Sir!" a startled voice spoke. At the sound of the voice, all three of them turned to face the sound. Ezra let out a worried breath when they saw Able trapped in what looked like a type of cocoon hanging from the ceiling, it even went so far as to look like a type of cage.
"Able! Are you alright?" Ezra asked as they all started to move towards him but still equally looking around making sure that they wouldn't be hit from behind.
"I'm ok sir" he said calmly and based on the way he looked, he wasn't lying.
"How are you still ok?" Ezra asked as he nodded to Sabine and Rex who both nodded, placing their weapons back in their holsters and worked on removing the large white sticks that acted like bars keeping him in place. Not that he wasn't grateful he was ok but who takes the meal down to the burrow and not eat it immediately.
"I don't know sir" he answered "I got knocked out by hitting my head on a rock on the way in, but I just woke up here a minute or two ago"
Slowly but surely the bars began to give way and when they finally did, Able dropped to the ground without much trouble, turning at him. Ezra turned around and brought his wrist up to his mouth "Talon 1 to Ghost, we have Able and are on our way back now" double checking, Rex dusted Able off and handed him one of his blasters.
"Understood Talon 1" Hera's voice came through, still not sounding great "please hurry up, we're getting overrun here"
"Time to go guys" he said turning around and leading the group back out the way they came in.
"Yep! That's a good idea!" Sabine shouted from behind everyone.
Quickly turning around when he noticed the tone of her voice, Ezra saw that the 'Cage' they just pulled Able from started to hiss and an ugly looking head popped out of the centre of the hole Able was hanging from "Shit, Sabine take the front" he ordered as the others moved back the way they came while he waited for a few moments as they passed him and didn't move with them until he was at the back.
He had to walk backwards in order to swing properly at the spiders, though when they got to the halfway point. He looked to his left and could see that the large weird looking boulders that stuck out of the ground started to rise up and stood on large skinny legs "Fuck!" he shouted as he slashed at a spider's leg and jammed the sabre into the eye and it dropped to the ground "Sabine, do you have a grenade?" he shouted.
"Incoming!" she shouted instead of just saying yes. When he saw the small projectile fly over his shoulder, he turned around fully and ran forwards just in time to see both Rex and Able firing at two spiders that were closing in from the front.
Using the force, Ezra managed to jump only just avoiding the ceiling of the cave and land in front of the two clones. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Ezra used one hand to slash the... head? Of the spider completely off its body while he reached out with his other hand. The spider was lifted off the ground with the force and it was pushed back down the cave tunnels. Not enough force to kill it but it would be dazed when it hit the wall "RUN!" he shouted turning around and waving the others down the cave entrance they came from "GO! GO! GO!" he yelled and when Sabine went past him, he followed.
Giving another blind slash to where the Force told him the danger was coming for him. Turning around he quickly sprinted outside, the sounds of blaster fire did not stop when he reached the surface which was now bathed in the dark blue light of the worlds moon "AIM FOR THE EYES!" Sabine shouted as the two groups came together and Ezra could see that Zeb and Kanan where back-to-back, while Kanan's sabre did could work. The dam spiders just shrugged off all blaster fire unless you hit the eye.
"Everyone! Get on the Ghost" Ezra ordered and everyone started to slowly move towards the ramp of the ship. The spider still following after them, Ezra was the last one to get onto the ships ramp and he stood at the front with everyone behind him firing over his shoulders.
"Hera! Get us out of here!" Zeb yelled up the cargo ladder that led to the cockpit.
When the sound of the engine starting up made Ezra feel a lot better and when the familiar feeling of a ship tilting up ready for a take-off made it even better.
But suddenly the entire ship lurched, and he nearly lost his footing and fell out right into one of the spider's mouths "what was that?!" he shouted back up the ladder.
"It's no good!" Hera's voice sounded through the sound of blaster fire "those webs are keeping us down"
"Damit" he yelled in frustration as he threw his hand out and Force pushed two of the spiders away from him "how are we just seeing these things now, they should have overrun the base when first got here" he said to himself just as much as anyone else.
"Wait... that's right" Able said taking a step closer until he stood by Ezra's side, a single blaster in his right hand "we're missing something" he added.
"There!" Sabine's hand suddenly shot by Ezra's head pointing off in the distance. Ezra followed her finger and he squinted his eyes until they landed on an object in the distance but what really caught his attention was when the two spiders got close to it, they reared back on their hind legs and backed away. It reminded him of animals that get scared and back away from fire "senor makers, that's why they didn't attack the base. It's surrounded by them"
"Son of a bitch" he cursed "cover me" he ordered deactivated sabre and reached out with the force. Normally he wouldn't like the idea of turning off his sabre when dealing with these things but when he was in such a narrow space with five blasters firing out, he felt better. Twisting his fingers in the air, the sensor started to rise out of the sand and start to fly towards them, he couldn't help but smile when he saw that all the spiders started to shriek and move away from it.
"it's working" Sabine said from behind him and soon enough, the sensor was in front of the ramp and every spider stopped trying to get in.
"I love you Sabine" Ezra shouted as he walked down the ramp. When he stepped out onto the sand, he looked at the underside of the Ghost and could see dozens of spiders all walking around looking at him intently but he could also see webs holding the Ghost down.
'How the fuck was that even working?' he thought to himself 'it's webbed onto sand'
"Able, stay here and make sure nothing gets on" looking back he could see that it was just Sabine, him and the clones. Zeb, Chopper and Kanan must be on the ship's guns "Rex, watch her back" the clone nodded "Sabine" he said bending down and picking up the sensor, which surprisingly wasn't too heavy "take this, you and I are gonna go around and cut the webs" handing the sensor to his lover and then activated his sabre.
The two left the front of the main entrance ramp and slowly started to walk around the Ghost. Sabine was in the front of the two and was pointing the sensor like it was an oversized blaster which to be fair was doing a very good job and keeping the bugs away and when they did get to close, he slashed with his sabre which seemed to be enough instinctive to keep them back. It was slower than he would like due to it being a slow walk in the sand, but thankfully the webs didn't hold any better than their bodies did.
Soon enough they were back at the front of the ramp from the other side and the sensor did a great job at pushing two more spiders away from the ramp "let's get out of here" Sabine said.
"Not yet" Ezra was quick to say and turned around to look at her confused face "we need to get the Tempest" he added and her face twisted into understanding. Turning around he could just about see the tops of the parked wings over the top of one of the dunes, seeing his point Sabine quickly raised her hand to her mouth "Ghost, you're clear. Get out of here, myself and Talon 1 are going to retrieve the Tempest"
"Roger that Talon 2" Hera's voice said spoke out and soon enough, the ramp closed, and the Ghost took off from the ground. Leaving only the two of them and a small army of these spiders.
Without wasting any time, the two started to walk over the sand. Sabine keeping the spiders back while Ezra poked and prodded with his sabre "when did we start calling ourselves Talons?" Ezra asked.
"I don't know" Sabine answered honestly "when I was asking for help it just came out, I mean we do need a callsign"
"We do" he agreed as the two reached the top of the dune and got a clear line of sight on the ship, thankfully it seemed to be web free so taking off shouldn't be a problem "so we're the Talons yeah?" he asked.
"I like it" she said back "assuming you make those sabre gauntlets of yours" she added with a teasing smile.
He smirked back "definitely" he agreed, in truth he had everything he needed, now it was just a matter of putting them together. Though the smile faded when he saw one of the spiders jump on the Tempest and started to spray of webs "oh no you don't" he snarled as he raised his hand grabbed the spider with the Force, thankfully the bug didn't seem to have any defence against it. Picking the spider up he threw it towards himself but instead of pinning it with his sabre he just moved to the side, and it hit another of its kind.
When the two reached the bottom of the ramp, Ezra spoke up "here, start up the ship" he took the sensor from Sabine's hand and waited at the bottom of the ramp, making sure no spiders snuck on board. When he heard the engine start-up, he took a step back onto the ramp and didn't move until they were off the ground.
Stepping backwards as the ramp closed completely, he took a sigh of relief and placed the sensor down on the floor. He moved through the closed door behind him and entered the main room of the ship which held the pilot seats and the beds. Sabine was sitting calmly at the controls and soon joined her "that was such bullshit" he mused.
"Yep" she simply said back.
"we're gonna need to place a wall of those sensors around the base" he spoke calmly as the Tempest flew through the air.
"Yep" she said again.
They flew in silence for a few minutes before a thought suddenly hit his ears "this is the first time we've had the ship to ourselves in a while"
"Huh, yeah, I guess it is" Sabine said calmly as she started to slow the ship down.
"we're having less and less time to ourselves lately. That's probably not going to change anytime soon" he added started the ships landing sequence even though they were still a good few minutes away. Of course, they arrived very quickly when they knew Sabine was in trouble but that was a top speed instead of the leisurely flight they were at now.
Sabine nodded as she stood up "I figured that was going to be the case" she turned around and walked to the bed area behind them while Ezra took control of the landing "which means we're going to have to make the most of the time we have now"
When the familiar jolt of the landing gear hitting ground reached them. Ezra quickly took up and turned around just in time to catch Sabine and jumped into his arms and locked her lips with his. The two just enjoying the time they had before someone would get suspicious as to why they haven't returned to base yet.
Ok guys we'll call it here and don't worry I'll be sure to start the next chapter with a small lemon to make up for this one not really being one, I'm kinda in a rush today. Anyway, we're in the endgame of season 2 now and I cannot wait to show you all what I have planned. Let me know what you all thought in the reviews and I'll see you all in the next chapter.
P.S: Since you guys liked me adding in Able, I was wondering if there where any other character such as him you would like me to add in, I don't know that many being perfectly honest. So do you guys have any suggestions? Like I was thinking of Celeste Morne for example. Any ideas?
