Chapter 2: Heroes of Mandalore
Even if he was wearing a helmet, Jordan had to look away from the light for a moment.
When he turned around, he noticed that all the Mandalorians who were not under a bubble shield had been turned to ashes, along with most of their armors.
Those poor devils didn't even have the time to scream. Whatever that energy arc was, it vaporized them almost instantly.
"Captain." one of the Batarians among his Marines recalled him.
Only now, Jordan noticed that the few Marines that were outside the bubble shields were not being damaged by the weapon. He didn't need to think twice.
"Countess, you and your men stay inside the bubbles." he strictly ordered. Ursa had little choice but to obey.
"Marines, form up!" he then ordered into the comlink as he rushed in the front.
Gutierrez, Michalina and Thabo were the first to form a line on his sides. The other marines followed immediately. The lightnings of the weapon, whatever they were, were not touching them.
The Marines formed an arrowhead, with Jordan at the point.
"Shoot and move, lads! Forward!" he ordered.
The soldiers started to walk forward while emptying their weapons' batteries against the remaining stormtroopers, who clearly were not expecting such a reaction.
Seeing the enemy making a counterattack had the modified AT-DP cease its attack, turn around and got immediately recovered by the Gozanti transport that brought it there.
The stormtroopers were decimated and the survivors ran for their lives. Jordan didn't want to go too far from their allies so he halted the advance once they routed the enemy.
Right at that moment, Sabine, Ezra and the others arrived either on jetpacks or aboard a speeder-bike in the case of Kanan and Alrich.
Sabine immediately ran to Ursa and Tristan, who were a bit shocked by what they just saw but were completely safe, thanks to the bubble shield.
Then, her gaze turned toward the piles of ashes and remains of mandalorian armors scattered around the battlefield and she got horrified.
She knelt down to grab a piece of armor that only crumbled when she took it, making her shed tears of desperation.
"What just happened?" Thabo asked. "That weapon was clearly targeting the mandalorians only."
"There were rumors that the Empire was working on a weapon to neutralize Mandalorian armor." Bo-Katan clarified. "That it had even been tested on our people. I-I didn't believe it."
"Not the Empire." Sabine said with rage boiling up. "Me. This is all my fault."
Ezra was confused for a moment, but then a revelation dawned on him.
"Wait...that is the weapon you told us about?"
"Yes." Sabine said as she stood up. "I created this, and now the Empire is going to turn my planet into a graveyard!" she screamed with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Because of me, Mandalorians will die!"
"Hey!" Ezra intervened, grabbing one of her shoulders with vigor. He dematerialized his helmet, revealing a stern face. "We're gonna solve this, like always." he declared. Sabine seemed to calm down.
Jordan put a finger to the side of his helmet and called his ship.
"Bridger to Constantinople, we need an evac, right now."
"We're two minutes away from your position, Captain." the voice of Raniza answered.
"Sir!" Gutierrez exclaimed, pointing toward south-east.
Jordan activated his binocular, as did all the others, and they spotted a group of 12 supercommandos coming their way.
"Looks like the Empire is coming to finish the job." Rau commented.
"Deploy mobile defenses." Jordan ordered. "We only need to hold on for two minutes. Legionnaires, let's fly."
He and his brethren in armor materialized their jetpacks and they got ready to intercept the supercommandos. Sabine, Ezra and the surviving Mandalorians did the same.
A short but ferocious skirmish ensued. Sabine, in particular, was enraged and unleashed her frustrations about the weapon on her people's traitors. The supercommandos were evidently in disadvantage. Their armors were standardized and were mad of plasteel like the one of the stormtroopers and with a very small amount of beskar, meaning that they weren't as strong as the armors of their foes, or the highly advanced alloys of the Milky Way. Still, in the chaos, Ursa was hit in the right forearm, where her armor didn't protect her, and she was put out of the fight.
The Imperials then called in a squad of three TIE fighters to launch strafing runs, but at the same time, the Constantinople made its entrance on the scene. Her GARDIAN lasers easily destroyed the TIEs and the few supercommandos left understood that there was no way to win, so they fell back. Sabine was about to chase them, and Jordan had to grab her and convince her to get on the ship.
The Constantinople opened her ramp and the allies all ran up. The security personnel even dismounted to help load up the wounded.
Jordan was the last to get in. After making sure that they were living no survivor behind, he ordered the ship to close the ramp and leave the area immediately.
When they were safe, the medics came down from the infirmary to take a look at the wounded. Aside from the victims of the weapon, however, the allied lost nobody else.
Mira rushed to check on Jordan.
"Are you ok? Are you wounded?" she asked, worried.
Jordan rubbed a hand on her arm to reassure her. "Not a scratch. But the Countess has been hit, go check on her."
His wife nodded and compelled with the request.
Jordan looked around. Some of the mandalorians were being helped into the elevator, so they could be brought into the infirmary. Luckily, Ursa Wren was deemed fine after Mira used a capsule of medi-gel on her wound, and she could finally, properly, reunite with her husband.
The mood, however, was kinda grim, especially among the youngsters, who were standing in the vehicle park, right next the Mako. Sabine was leaning her head against the hull of the vehicle, hiding her face into one arm; Ezra was trying to comfort her. Jordan got closer and could hear Tristan talking to Sabine.
"You told us you destroyed it."
"I did." Sabine replied, turning toward her brother. "The Empire must have rebuilt it…"
She was interrupted when, out of nowhere, Bo-Katan grabbed her shoulder and threw her against the armored car on the opposite side and pointed a blade at her throat.
"You're a Mandalorian!" the red-haired woman snarled. "Why would you build such an abomination?"
"Hey!" Jordan immediately intervened, pointing a finger. "No fights on my ship. Let her go!"
Two men of the security activated their omni-tool, preparing a taser to stun Bo if she didn't comply.
Realizing that it wasn't worth to cause a ruckus with her allies, the woman released the grip, restricting herself to simply look with a ferocious stare at Sabine, who, on her part, had her head lowered in shame.
"I was young." she said. "It was a challenge, and I was arrogant. But when I realized the Empire tested it and actually planned to use it, I sabotaged the prototype and destroyed the plans. I thought it was the end of it, I swear."
Bo simply gave her another harsh glare, then turned away.
"Okay," Ezra stepped in. "if this weapon only targets mandalorian armor then let the rest of us deal with it." he proposed, but only attracted ambiguous eyes.
"I know you're concerned, Ezra," Sabine replied in a conciliatory tone. "but we don't let others solve our problems for us. This weapon is my mistake, and it must be me to destroy it."
Ezra exhaled from the nose, understanding that there was no way he would convince her to do otherwise.
"We appreciate your help, young Bridger." Ursa said. "But my daughter is right, we can't ask you to do the heavy lifting, it's not our way."
"I understand, Countess, I won't propose it anymore." the young man replied.
"Good, now that we are all friends again, I need to report this to Jaral." Jordan concluded. "Lady Kryze, perhaps you will find Deck 3 more...relaxing." he said, clearly trying to let the Wrens alone for a while.
Bo accepted the invite and soon, the Wren family and Ezra were left alone in that corner of the hangar.
Sabine was still a bit dejected from what just happened, so Ezra tried to encourage her.
"Come on, stop blaming yourself."
"If I don't do that who will?" she retorted.
"The Empire should. But we know they never will." Ezra answered, surprising his partner.
"What?"
"You may have devised it, yes, but it's the Empire that built it and used it against your people. I know that you'll make things right, but not in this state, so straight yourself back, will ya?"
Somehow, the tone of challenge that Ezra used worked. Sabine took a deep breath and put her back upright again.
"You're becoming good at this." she complimented.
"It's all practice, my dear." he replied with one of his grins. "Now, I believe I should give you guys some well-deserved family time before we reach the camp, so…" he was about to leave, but Sabine grabbed his armored wrist.
"Not so fast, you sneaky Loth-rat." she said, pulling him over to her.
She then made him face her parents and put an arm around his waist.
"Father," she said with a smirk. "I would like for you to meet my partner and the man I love. Ezra Bridger."
Alrich made a face like a realization hit him.
"Oh, so that's what you were trying to tell me on the transport." he said, stroking his goatee.
Ezra suddenly stiffened and exhaled nervously. "Oh goodness, no." he mumbled.
Sabine looked at the both of them with eyes that were sensing something funny to uncover. "Why, what happened?"
"The worst first impression of the history of the galaxy. Even worse than yours with my parents." Ezra quipped.
"What?" she feigned a taken offense. "They loved me right away."
"Your parents? Is the captain of this ship your father, by chance?" Alrich asked.
"I guess the hair really gives that away, uh? But yes, he is. My mother is one of the doctors you saw and my sister has masterminded your rescue. You will meet her at the base camp." the boy eagerly explained.
Alrich chuckled. "I look forward to that."
Tristan and Ursa looked at the scene with a smile, enjoying that small moment of happiness.
"And, now that you are here, I believe Ezra's intentions can be satisfied." the Countess commented.
Ezra rubbed the back of his neck. "We should discuss this after we destroy the doomsday's weapon, though. Then, hopefully, this will be over."
"Indeed." Sabine said. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure." replied Ezra.
She led him behind another corner, far from any other's eyes, and then she kissed him on the lips all of a sudden, though, somehow, Ezra expected that this time around.
"What was this for?" he asked smugly.
She smirked. "Well, you finally fulfilled your promise of giving me back all of my family. This is just an anticipation, though." she said while putting her arms over his shoulders.
"Oh, so I can expect more?" he asked back with a knowing smile.
"We'll probably end up married in a few days, so...yeah. You can expect more for our entire lifetime."
"You truly are, the most generous goddess in the universe." he concluded before kissing her in return.
"Come on." he then encouraged her. "Go spend some time with them, until you can."
Sabine smiled at him and followed the passionate suggestion, leaving Ezra to take the elevator and reach Deck 2 and the strategic room, where Jordan, Kanan and the officers in the room were conversing with a hologram of Jaral.
"So we got the numerical disadvantage and now we also have a weapon that nullifies one of our few strengths." the young woman noted.
"I'm afraid so. I saw the effects, Jari, this isn't good." Jordan replied.
"I know. And it seems like the other Mandos in the camp really aren't fond of what happened. Expect some hostility toward Sabine when you arrive."
"Acknowledged. We're bringing Alrich Wren into the camp. He has been to the capital for a while, so he might have an idea where they're hiding the weapon."
"Very well. We will plan a counter-attack as soon as we get the intel." then the Marshall noticed that her brother had come into the picture and smirked at him. "Ezra. Made your first impression with your very-soon-father-in-law?"
Ezra shrugged with a lopsided grin on his face. "I think we're cool."
Jaral chuckled. "You saved his life. Would be kinda of a dick move if he didn't like you." then she refocused on the biggest matter at hand. "As I said, be careful when you approach. The last thing we need is that our allies start killing each other over a grudge."
"I'm sure Sabine will manage to calm them down." Kanan intervened.
"I sure hope so. See you later, gentlemen." and then her hologram disappeared.
As expected, as soon as the Mandalorians in the camp saw Sabine, they pointed their weapons and called her a traitor to Mandalore. Clan Wren and Ezra immediately took up their own arms, but then Sabine, showing a great sense of responsibility that impressed everybody, stepped forward and took the full blame for what happened, also mentioning that the weapon rebuilt by the Empire was working at only a fraction of its power, and that they needed to act quickly if they wanted to prevent it from becoming powerful enough to wipe out entire armies.
It was only through the intercession of Bo-Katan, however, that the warriors finally put away their weapons and agreed that now it wasn't the time to fight each other, but to fight the invader.
The group of officers and mandalorian leaders reached the tent where Jaral had put on a command structure. After Alrich had told everything he knew about the Empire's defenses around Sundari, so that Jinx could create a holomap, the briefing started.
"Saxon has worked hard to keep the weapon a secret." the Count said while Chopper projected the map created by Jinx. "So he likely has it aboard his Imperial Star Destroyer outside of Sundari. Needless to say, it will be very well guarded."
"Once we get inside the ship we'll need two teams." Sabine said. "One to find and destroy the weapon, and one to wipe out every shred of data on it from the Imperial database."
"This weapon…" Rau asked. "is there any way it could be turned against the Empire?"
"I've studied stormtrooper armor and, while the thought has crossed my mind...that-that isn't our mission." the girl replied. "No, this weapon must be destroyed."
"I will lead the attack team." Ursa declared.
"With respect, Countess, you can barely lift that arm." Rau noted.
"I'm sure it's a matter of minutes, thanks to our friends' medicine." she replied sternly, but Jordan intervened to stop her.
"The medi-gel simply disinfects wounds and favors the healing process, but the damage to your muscles won't pass before a couple of days, Countess."
Ursa sighed with a bit of frustration and backed down.
"I will take Micha and Thabo and lead the rest of the strike team so we can keep the hangar under control until the two teams are ready to come back." concluded the Legionnaire.
"Good." said Jaral. "Since the Countess will keep an eye on the holotable, me Ezra and Kanan will take Chopper to the central database and make sure everything is erased."
"I'll take care of the weapon." Sabine concluded. "I can make sure it's destroyed once and for all."
"I'll get you there." Bo-Katan proclaimed, surprising everybody. Sabine acknowledged and nodded.
"All right," Jaral continued. "let's study our infiltration path."
Ezra pondered for a moment. "Well, it's gonna be night soon over Sundari. Since we're going to be a limited strike team, one of the Kodiaks could bring us as near as possible to the Star Destroyer. With its cloaking device and the low visibility we can then proceed with the jetpacks."
"Sounds good. Though at this point, I must suggest that me and Ezra go first and use our invisibility devices to take a peek into the hangar."
"I'm sorry, the what?" one of the Mandalorians asked.
The siblings simply thought it together. They materialized their helmets so they could activate the devices and they vanished into thin air in a moment, earning amazed gasps from all of those who didn't know about this feature.
They quickly reappeared and shown their faces again.
"I actually forgot you can do that." Rau commented. "But I guess that settles it. They take a look around, they signal us to come in at the right time, we'll be in position to strike before they know it."
"Great. Let's gear up." Sabine declared.
The assembly dissolved and the plan sprang into motion.
After assembling the strike team for a total 15 people, who could all fit into the ample spaces of the Kodiak, the shuttle headed for Sundari, arriving when the sun was completely setting beyond the horizon. The armored bio-dome that protected the city was illuminated on the outside, revealing two Star Destroyers, though Jinx could easily read which one of those was Saxon's.
Ezra and Jaral checked their jetpacks again and then took off. The shuttle had managed to hide right beneath the Star Destroyer, meaning that the siblings only had to fly for around 100 m before they reached the edge of the hangar. As they deactivated the jetpacks and hanged on, they also activated the cloaking devices and climbed into the bay.
Surprisingly, there weren't many guards there, maybe because they didn't expect any invader to sneak right into the hanger. There were many TIEs and transports, plus a few walkers, but for now, they focused on finding the right moment to call in the reinforcements, which eventually arrived.
When everybody was finally on board, Ezra, Sabine and Bo went hiding behind a TIE and its entire anchoring implant. They quickly spotted the strange walker that had been seen during the previous battle.
"There's the walker, but where's the core?" Ezra whispered.
Sabine hummed and took a look around with her rangefinder until she pointed the command bridge right above the walker.
"Best bet, they're walking on the Duchess up there."
Bo made a squirm that clearly stated she was left speechless.
"The Duchess?" she asked, not exactly in a pleased way. "You named your weapon after my peace-loving sister?"
"It was a series of bad decisions, ok?" Sabine justified herself, but there was no time to comment.
Behind the three of them, a pilot came out of his TIE fighter, climbing down the mobile ladder, when he happened to face Jaral, who was hiding right beneath said ladder, through the holes between the steps.
Ezra quickly drew out his silenced pistol and shot a bolt into the man's head and he fell dead, then slipping down from the ladder.
"Hold it right there!" a stormtrooper, who saw the murder happen, spotted them and pointed his blaster, and it took a fraction of a second for a gunfight to break out.
"Dad!" Ezra said to Jordan.
The three Legionnaires jumped in the middle of the hangar with the clear purpose of drawing the attention of the stormtroopers, which easily happened when Thabo used his powers to send a group of 5 imperials in the air first and against a bunch of crates the next moment.
"Bo-Katan and I will get to the weapon." Sabine said to Ezra, who motioned to Kanan, Chopper and Jaral in response.
"Just so you know, I'm coming back to help you as soon as we're done with our job." he said to her.
"I know, that's why I love you." she quipped.
They both chuckled briefly then sprinted to their assignments.
The siblings and Kanan, followed by Chopper, followed the map of the Star Destroyer (it wasn't exactly for that Star Destroyer, but since the Empire was all about uniformity and standardization, it didn't matter) and made their way toward the central data room while the battle in the hangar raged on.
After putting down a couple of patrols, the group reached the room. With a flash-bang thrown inside beforehand, they had an easy time taking out the officer and the guards.
"Chopper, Jinx, plug in." Jaral ordered firmly and the astromech complied, also connecting the AI to the socket.
"I found the data." said Jinx not even 10 seconds later. "Starting cancellation."
"Good." said Kanan, right before a door opened and two stormtroopers came out of it, their weapons ready to fire at them.
The first one was taken out when he shot Ezra and they boy deflected the bolt back. Jaral shot the second one.
"How's it going?" asked Ezra.
"We estimate that we managed to erase around 80% of the data."
"Good." he then opened the comlink from the omni-tool. "Sabine, we're almost done here. What's your status?"
No answer, and he started to get worried.
"Sabine, do you copy?" only statics followed. "I don't like this."
"Go to her, we can handle this." Jaral reassured him and Ezra sprinted away.
After coming back to the hangar, Ezra noticed that the situation was more than chaotic: the two imperial walkers had started walking around, trying to shoot or crush the allies under their foots, and since the mandalorians lacked heavy weapons, that was a big problem.
Ezra managed to jump in between the crates and join up with Rau and Tristan, who were shooting at the stormtroopers on the other side of the hangar.
"Bridger?" asked Tristan.
"We finished our mission, I thought you might need some more firepower."
"Unless you have a rocket launcher, I don't know how much of a difference you'll make." Rau commented.
"Where is Sabine? I can't get a hold of her."
Tristan pointed at the bridge. "Still up there, for what I know."
Ezra looked in that direction and noticed a very bad thing: a pretty strong light was flashing repeatedly.
"Oh, no." he murmured.
Though, he then remembered that, back in the day, Gar Saxon wanted Sabine alive so she could produce weapons for the Empire again. And, since she said that the Duchess was working at only a fraction of its intended power, perhaps Tiber Saxon was just using the weapon to coerce her, but not kill her, or Bo-Katan for that matter.
Ezra quickly analyzed the situation in the hangar. The only path to the bridge was an open elevator, that would leave him completely vulnerable during the ascent. He needed to reduce the Empire's firepower.
Thus, he holstered his repeater and reignited the lightsaber. Then he lifted from the ground with the jetpack and charged the nearest walker. With a swift and clean passage, he cut one of the legs of the machine, which fell quickly to the ground and deactivated.
"We could've used that, before." Jordan told him with a joking tone. He and his two brethren had taken cover behind another line of crates.
"Dad, I need to get to the elevator and reach Sabine." he said into the helmet.
"Whatever you need, champ. Leave it to us." then he gestured to Michalina and Thabo.
While the former and Thabo jumped away with their jetpacks again, Thabo stood up and, again, that weird flow of purple energy started to whirl around him. The Legionnaire gathered another bit of strength and then extended the arms forward, as if he was trying to grab something.
Ezra saw the threads of purple energy dashing toward the second walker, which then stopped in its tracks. Though Ezra felt that Thabo wasn't stopping the machine, but he was blocking the driver with a stasis field.
But now, since the walker was halted, it was a piece of cake for Michalina to fly on the top of the pod, open the hatch and throw a grenade in, while Jordan was attacking the stormtroopers below with a furious melee that definitely distracted them.
Ezra used the opportunity to rush on the elevator and activate it and soon reached the observation deck, where he saw a sinister show.
Sabine and Bo-Katan, along with one supercommando, were on the ground, their armors fuming, while Tiber Saxon, with his personalized stormtrooper armor, and two stormtroopers were standing over the group. Saxon was aiming his gun at Bo-Katan, clearly threatening her to gain leverage on Sabine.
The imperials noticed him and where surprised, for a second, but when Ezra took out his pistol, Saxon spoke up.
"Don't try anything funny, Jedi. Or they both die." he threatened, while the stormtroopers aimed at him.
Even with his helmet on, Ezra managed to send a quick gaze to Sabine, who nodded to him while the imperials were distracted, and the young man immediately understood what he had to do.
"Very well." he said a bit sarcastically. Then he raised one hand and put down the pistol with the other.
While the stormtroopers kept their eyes on him, Saxon now turned to Sabine, who had begun working on the weapon.
"You're doing the right thing, Sabine. This weapon of yours, it could unite the houses. It can bring peace." Saxon said.
"As long as our people are on their knees before you and your Emperor." Sabine replied acidly while still working on the weapon.
"Mandalore must adapt to survive." declared Saxon. "Would you rather we destroy ourselves in a fight that cannot be won?"
"At least we would die free, as true Mandalorians." Sabine concluded as the arc pulse generator started whirring and activating.
Saxon looked at it with a smug face.
"It's done." Sabine declared. "The weapon is at full power now, but I'm begging you, don't use it."
"I'll take that into consideration." Saxon said in a tone that didn't sound sincere in the slightest, and indeed, he pushed the button on his wrist-pad that activated the weapon.
Ezra missed a beat or two as he waited to see if Sabine's ruse had worked. And his answer arrived when the lightnings caused by the generator didn't attack her and the other two wearers of beskar, but instead headed for a confused Saxon and his troopers, who were thrown on the ground, writhing in pain.
The supercommando, a certain captain Hark, used this opportunity to run away, while Sabine watched Saxon with scorn.
The generator increased its power and, most importantly, its range, which was the reason why Saxon wanted to capture Sabine. The lightnings spread out into the hangar and pretty much the entire ship, taking down every single wearer of stormtrooper armor, while leaving the allied forces unscathed.
"This isn't enough power to kill you," Sabine yelled at the imperial Governor. "just to make you suffer. How does it feel?"
Ezra was about to intervene to stop her, but Bo-Katan spoke first. She rose from the ground and recalled Sabine with a pleading tone.
"Sabine, stop!"
"Mandalore must be free!" the young woman retorted.
"At what cost?" Lady Kryze asked.
"To beat the Empire this is the only way."
"This isn't our way. It's their way." Bo insisted as she managed to step closer to her. "You came here to make things right. Will the future of Mandalore be one of honor or cowardice?" she said that last word by looking at Saxon. "Hope or fear? The choice is yours."
Sabine took a breather and cleared up her mind. She also looked in Ezra's direction, but he decided he couldn't interfere. While the nod of his head meant that he would support her, no matter what, this was her people, her planet, and she had to make the call.
Sabine turned around and ignited the Darksaber and positioned it in front of her, pointing at the generator.
"For Mandalore." Sabine said.
"For Mandalore." echoed Kryze.
The girl rose up the sword and finally slashed the generator. It didn't take long before it started to overheat, though, and Ezra immediately contacted Kanan and Jaral.
"Sis, the weapon is destroyed, where are you guys?"
"We already wiped out the data and are heading to the hangar, but the stormtroopers are recovering."
"Don't worry about them because this entire place is about the blow." Sabine intervened with her own comlink.
"We should probably go, then!" Kanan intervened.
Ezra picked up the ladies' helmets and passed to them, urging them to get on the elevator quickly. The three descended while the generator started to overload critically, spilling molten metal that was very much similar to lava. Luckily, Kanan and Jaral were as close as they said and so the entire strike team was ready to hightail out of there while the stormtroopers were starting to stand up again.
As the Star Destroyer was engulfed in flames, the strike team headed toward the ground, ready to meet with the shuttle that finally shipped them away.
After returning to the camp, the group was greeted by pretty much every clan leader, who had decided to throw their support behind Bo-Katan. After some insistence on Sabine's side, the red-haired woman eventually decided to accept the Darksaber that was being offered to her.
"I accept this sword. For my sister, for my clan, and for all of Mandalore." were her words when she ignited the blade over her head and everybody in front of her knelt down.
Ezra and Jaral were watching from the side, Sabine looked at them and they both gave her a supporting smile.
After Bo deactivated the saber and attached it to her belt, Jaral and Raya approached the new ruler of Mandalore.
"Allow us to congratulate, Lady Kryze." were Raya's first words as the two women shook their hands.
"Thank you, Emissary. But I really have to thank the Grand Marshall and your soldiers. Your help has been really appreciated." she said with gratitude.
"You don't owe us anything, My Lady." Jaral replied. "Against the Empire, none of us can win alone."
"That is true, unfortunately. Still, you've helped us regaining our freedom, Marshall. That is a debt that we can only extinguish by joining your Rebellion."
"I'm glad to hear that. But right now, I think you should get on the Constantinople, so you may speak with the Empress and see if the Federation can supply you with any sort of defense against an Imperial retaliation."
Bo-Katan nodded. "Yes. Being under the boot of the Empire means that we don't have the means to defend against their fleet. They could simply come back here and bomb the planet until the earth shatters."
"Then I suggest we move quickly, Your Ladyship." concluded Raya, motioning her to reach the frigate.
Ezra and Jaral looked satisfied at each other. This victory was refreshing for him, too, especially after Atollon. If the Mandalorians were going to be supplied by the Federation, it could become a serious threat to the Empire, and it would be another step toward the liberation of Lothal.
"You see it, sis? You're definitely cut out for this work." he said encouragingly. After all, she had planned the rescue of Alrich Wren and much of the plan to destroy the Duchess along with Sabine. True, Saxon was pretty harmless on a strategic level, since he was nowhere near Thrawn's ability, but this short campaign had showed that Jaral had the talent to have even the proud Mandalorians follow her lead.
"I had a lot of help." she replied with a smirk. Then patted him on the arm and backed off. "Now, I think you have a business to attend."
Behind him, Sabine was waiting eagerly for him, her parents and brother waiting at a respectful distance.
"Hey." said Ezra. "You all right?"
"I couldn't feel better." she replied with a smile and then took his hands. "Ezra, if you're ok with that...I would like to take the Vows."
Ezra had seen this coming, but the spontaneity of his cyar'ika took him a bit unprepared.
"Here and now?" he asked a bit nervous.
"I don't care for the 'where'. And now, we're alone with only our big, crazy family to watch."
She took a look around, and Ezra, too, noticed that Jordan and Mira had rushed to see the scene and that, somehow, Kanan had made Chopper contact Zeb, Darvos and Hera, whose holograms were now watching at them with an encouraging smile.
"That is...if you're okay." she said timidly.
Ezra gulped down and then looked at her with a determination that left no room for uncertainty. "Of course I am. Let's do this." he proclaimed.
Since he wanted to save appearances, he still had to ask for the formal permission of the Counts, so he left Sabine's hands for a moment and went to stand respectfully in front of them.
"Count Wren, Countess Wren, I humbly ask for your permission to allow the marriage of me and your daughter."
The two smiled and Ursa spoke up. "Ezra Bridger, you've proven us to be a strong and righteous man, worthy of our daughter's loyalty. It will be an honor for us to allow this union to happen."
Ezra made a bow. "Thank you, My Lady."
He went back to face Sabine, whose smile was trying to hide the deep breaths that she was taking.
This was it. Ezra had tried to figure this moment for the last two years, yet now it was coming in so fast that his head was spinning a little, though he could sense that his partner was no less excited.
They took each other hands, locked their eyes together, and spoke.
"M'hi solus tome
M'hi solus dar'tome
M'hi me'dinui an
Mhhi ba'juri verde."
(we are one together, we are one apart, we share all, we will raise warriors.)
Then they kissed with a speed and an energy that the others didn't even noticed the movement.
Jaral was the first to start a heartfelt applause while her face was probably more carved from the emotion than the two newly-weds, and the rest of the spectators followed suit. Even Chopper took the effort to lightly bang one of his handlers on his dome.
The two kissed for good 20 seconds, but the applause lasted for an entire minute before a round of congratulations by the everyone watching arrived.
Jaral put an arm around the both of them.
"Finally, you did it." she quipped.
Sabine and Ezra chuckled. "You know, if it wasn't for you, tormenting us, we probably wouldn't be here at this point, right now." said Sabine, remembering the time when the two were starting to develop feelings and their 'older sister' really much enjoyed poking at them constantly.
"I got to become your sister-in-law." replied Jaral with a lopsided grin. "So it was worth it." she added by rubbing a hand into Sabine's hand quite vigorously.
"But I suppose you're not done poking us, right?" Ezra asked with a knowing smirk.
"Oh, you know me too much, brother. As long as the three of us are still breathing, I will never stop."
"Oh, Manda…" said Sabine, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, right." said Jaral, letting them go and turning toward the holograms. "General Syndulla, I'm coming back to the base...finally. Make sure everything is in order, because I'm not wasting a single moment when I get there."
"Everything will be perfectly fit for your needs...ma'am." Hera replied jokingly and then making the salute, that Darvos and Zeb copied for joke.
Then the holograms disappeared.
"With that out of the way, we're going to leave on the Constantinople as soon as Lady Kryze is done talking with the Empress, so Ezra, Sabine, go get theGauntlet ready, maybe you can start turn it into your love nest." she said deliberately.
The newly-weds just shook their heads: like she said, she was never going to stop poking at them, but they wouldn't change her for anything.
Sabine went in front of her, finally, reunited family.
"Mother, Father, Tristan. Having you back has been great, but the Rebellion, and my husband, need me elsewhere."
Ursa and Alrich put a hand on her shoulders each.
"If you didn't ask, we were going to tell you to go anyway." said Ursa. "We're proud of you, Sabine."
Those words breached immediately into Sabine's heart and she stepped forward to hug them both, something that they returned fondly.
Then the young woman went to say goodbye to her brother. "Keep the bucket-heads out of our home, alright Tristan?" she said with a smirk as they clasped their hands around the respective forearm.
"I will. You make sure to win this war." he replied, then he turned toward Ezra. "Now she's all yours, Ezra. If anything happens to her, know that I'm not gonna have any mercy for you." he said with a joking tone.
"That won't happen, I promise." he replied with a grin.
The Wren siblings then exchanged a quick hug and a pat on their backs before separating. As Sabine went back next to Ezra, the two pairs of parents walked in front of each other and shook hands.
"Safe travels, Bridgers." said Alrich. "I hope that, one day, we can see each other and just talk about peaceful things. Parents to parents."
"We will do our best to make that happen, Count." Mira said. "Good luck to you, too."
And as they exchanged the last pleasantries, Jaral waved the back of her hand to her two siblings as to say 'what are you still doing here, just go.' and this time, they finally walked away, hand in hand, toward the Gauntlet.
Hi there,
I hope the marriage part wasn't a let-down for those who waited for it. Honestly, I wanted it to happen more down the timeline, actually, but then I realized that a simple, quick ceremony would fit better, and since in the previous back there was a marriage happening on the basis that there is 'no time to waste because we could day the next day', I decided it was better to do it now, when the civil war on Mandalore is over and Sabine's family is finally in one piece again, as Ezra had promised her two years before.
Now it will be quite the journey until the Liberation of Lothal. I already planned an entire second half for this book that will follow the real end of Rebels, so, as you might expect, Ezra will not disappear.
While the Purrgil will play a role in the final confrontation against Thrawn, they will not be the main reason for the victory. If you followed this Saga until now, I think you probably have an idea of what are my plans for that part.
Finally, there is Kanan's fate to decide. While Canon is heart-breaking for me, it is a pivotal point for Ezra's character grow and, in this case it would also be for Jaral, since the Bridger siblings are his apprentices. On the other hand, this is a Fan-Fiction, so I am really tempted to change that, since there was already an occurrence where the future predicted by a Force-vision had been changed by the siblings' stubbornness and planning.
If you want to swing the vote in one way or the other, feel free to write it in the reviews, or in private, if you don't want potential future readers to risk spoilers.
See you in the next chapter and May the Force be With You.