Chapter 30: Hints
As they left Kalevala behind them, the siblings easily evaded the imperial fleet over the planet by having Raze and Jinx hide their signal and by taking a long route to avoid even entering in contact by accidents with TIE patrols.
Thus they reached the mandalorian fleet. While it was still lacking numbers, it sported some heavily armed and armored ships, like their battlecruisers, some frigates whose design was inspired by the ancient Neo-crusaders' and even some ships of the Clone Wars refitted to meet their new purpose.
The Keldabe, however, was really impressive. It certainly matched the Star Destroyers' dimensions, had an impressive mass accelerator placed at the head and dozens of turrets of various size and type.
That wasn't the only heavy ship built by the Mandalorians, though, as they had also managed to build a couple of Kandosii-class dreadnoughts, with their slim shape but noticeable firepower, which they were now going to use to destroy the imperial invaders.
The flagship only had a small hangar for small shuttles. The mandalorians decided that either their ships would serve as carriers with only a light armament, or they were going to put a shitload of weapons on them, which shouldn't surprise any external observer. Still, the siblings found a place where to park the Silver Bullet, and they were then escorted into the ship's bridge.
There they found Bo-Katan standing in front of the viewport, using her range-finder to take a look at the imperial fleet in front of them together with the captain of the Keldabe.
"Quite the impressive toy you built." Jaral commented as they approached the Duchess.
The Captain stepped aside and let them get on the sides of Kryze.
"We don't do things in half when it comes to weapons, Marshall." Bo quipped back.
"Tell me about it." Ezra commented, knowing that statement very well.
Then the siblings materialized their armors and watched outside as well.
"Jinx, give me a scan." Jaral ordered.
The AI had to use only the visors of the siblings, since he still hadn't been granted access to the ship's sensors, but that was something they were going to rectify soon. Meanwhile, that was enough to let him scan the biggest ships.
"I detect three Class-1 Imperial Star Destroyers, three Procursator-class Star Destroyers and the flagship seems to be a Class-2 Imperial Star Destroyer. There is an 86% possibility that the Imperial commander will be aboard the latter." he reported.
"Thanks, buddy." the Grand Marshall said. "Lady Kryze, do we have a scan of the smaller ships?"
"Let's check it out." Bo replied as she turned around and invited them to follow her around the holotable.
Using that, they found out the minor vessels of the imperial fleet, but the only one who concerned Jaral were a small trio of long and thin-shaped ships.
"There. Lancer frigates. Our fighters won't get any close to the Destroyers unless we take them out, first."
"I can try and draw them out." Ezra casually suggested.
Jaral actually considered it.
"It would be possible...but you and Jinx are not enough to maneuver the Silver Bullet against those things."
"If it's a crew you need I got the people for you." Bo reassured. Then she turned around and motioned two warriors with the armor of the Nite Owls to step forward.
The man and the woman obeyed and stood at attention next to their Lady. The first looked around 40 years old, the second was only slightly younger, but they both had their share of scars and their expressions stressed a strict discipline.
"These are Axe Woves and Koska Reeves. They are some of my most loyal warriors and know the Gauntlets inside and out, they'll serve you well for whatever madness you're planning."
Ezra nodded to the two warriors, who returned the gesture.
"So, once we draw them out, we attack them with out frigates?" Bo asked, returning to the planning at hand.
"That would be the idea. The Lancers are anti-fighter platforms, they are weak against any anti-ship armament. If you prepare your Crusader cruisers and your Jehavi frigates, and dispose them for a flanking maneuver, we should have a small time interval to destroy them before the imperials send bigger ships to reinforce." the Grand Marshall explained.
"How do you intend to use the dreadnoughts?" Bo asked. "You know, we can hardly afford to build another, so I would be grateful if you can manage to not get them scrapped."
"Don't worry, I considered that." Jaral replied as she looked at the holotable as if it was a chessboard, while stroking her chin.
The sensors were giving her an approximate position of both the mandalorian and the imperial fleet, though after she had received permission to connect Jinx to the ship, the projection became much more accurate, displaying even the strength of the deflector shields and hull integrity of the allied ships.
"If we manage to take out the Lancers, then it will all come down on whoever can eliminate the enemy's fighters first. So it's imperative that we manage to keep the initiative on that front. Ezra, if the first part of the plan succeeds, I want you to protect the Crusaders from possible imperial incursion, while they give fire support to our fighters." the elder Bridger explained.
"You got it." Ezra replied firmly.
"When we break through, we send in the battlecruisers to probe them, and once their first Star Destroyers start to lose their shields, we'll press the attack with the dreadnoughts. If we're lucky and they try to fall back, they will also fall into the range of our land batteries." she concluded.
"Leaving them with no escape." Bo finished. "Sounds like a plan."
"Glad you agree." Jaral replied, before turning her head toward her brother. "Ezra, go get ready."
Ezra nodded and walked out of the room, followed by Koska and Axe.
As they swoop through the corridors, passing through groups of mandalorian crewmen only wearing a lighter version of their armors, Axe spoke up.
"Looks like you made your way up since helping us on Mandalore, Jedi." he commented.
"Uh...do I know you?" Ezra asked, a bit embarrassed.
"We have already met, but we never introduced ourselves." Koska answered. "We were accompanying Lady Kryze when she came to help taking the prison tower."
Ezra quickly recalled the episode and indeed, he remembered that there were a male and a female warriors accompanying Bo-Katan at the time.
"I see...well, it's good to finally meet you." he quipped.
That said, they quickly reached the Silver Bullet, which was being prepared to fly by Raze and a couple of engineers.
"Everything in order, buddy?" Ezra asked when he got near the astromech.
The droid beeped a positive answer, and asked where his owner was.
"Sorry, Raze, she'll be staying here." Ezra said while patting the droid's dome.
Raze emitted a slightly annoyed chirp and then rolled up on the access ramp.
The engineers approached him.
"Your tank is full again and all your systems are working regularly, General." one of them reassured.
"Thank you, gentlemen." Ezra replied to dismiss them. Then he stepped into the ship, followed by the Mandalorians.
"I'll take the weapons, if you don't mind." Axe asked politely.
"Be my guest." Ezra replied cordially as he took the pilot's seat, while Koska went at the sensors and Raze plugged into the socket for droids.
Since he had to be heard by more than just his sister to be allowed to leave, Ezra called the bridge.
"Specter-7 to Blue Nova, the Silver Bullet is primed and ready, waiting for your signal."
"Copy that, Specter-7, you're clear to go."
The Constantinople hummed softly as she left hyperspace into the Gromas system.
The Galaxy Map zoomed into the system so Jordan could give a better look and set the course for the destination: the fourth planet of the system.
"Salazar, warn me when we reach the orbit." he asked to his assistant on his right.
"Yes, Captain." the soldier dutifully replied as he kept his work of going through the flow of information on his terminal.
Captain Bridger then headed toward the strategic room to meet with Colonel Undir. To reach it he had to pass in front of the conference room, which was now empty. Raniza and the diplomats now resided at Camp Garibaldi on Lothal, where a new embassy had been officially established, just like one had been opened on Mon Cala to allow bilateral talks with the Rebellion.
The Joint Fleet was still building up for the offensive toward Felucia, but the Constantinople had received a new order from MI6 (thus, Undir had received) to meet up with an agent of the Rebel Intelligence who had been following a trail that very much interested the Federation as well.
"Colonel, mind if I take another look at our ally's dossier?" he asked politely around the holotable.
"Of course." the Salarian replied and transmitted the data of his omni-tool on the projector.
The face of a man with short black hair and a beard appeared. According to the data, he wasn't even 30 years old, but his wrinkles and his face in general almost made him look way over his 40s. That was the face of a man who had known nothing but war his entire life, and who knew what he had been forced to do in order to survive.
Jordan read his data in his mind.
Captain Cassian Andor. Member of the Rebel Alliance's Intelligence Gathering. Born on the planet Fest, which had been always opposed to the Empire. Andor had been fighting the Empire since its inception, at which time he was only 6 years old.
His track record clearly implied that he knew his job as a spy. Between sabotages, assassinations and other covert operations, he had an impressive list of reasons as to why the ISB would really like to put its hands on him.
"Are we sure that Captain Andor has found a trail for the Imperial super-weapon?" Jordan asked.
"MI6 and the Rebel Intelligence have cooperated in the last months, and Captain Andor's sole mission has been to investigate the rumors." Undir replied, before changing the hologram to that of their current objective. "He has reported in about suspicious imperial activity in this structure. Officially, this is a fertilizer factory, but the Captain has spotted several stormtroopers inside the perimeter."
"If they put stormtroopers to guard such a remote place, there is indeed something important for the Empire." Jordan commented. "You want to keep us company, sir?" he then asked with a quip.
"I would like to confirm myself, yes." Undir simply replied.
"Then let's gear up. It shouldn't take long before we reach Gromas 4."
The two left the room and reached the armory in the hangar, allowing Undir to put on his own armor and choose his weapons while Jordan gathered his Legionnaires and a small support team of snipers, an engineer and even ordered the Elcor, Mau'kur, to get his heavy weapons just in case.
Once Salazar announced that they were in orbit, the dropship was prepared, the squad hopped on and the shuttle headed down to the surface after engaging the cloaking device.
Only at that point Jordan and Undir briefed the squad on the objective and that they were to meet Andor in some nearby woods.
"Oh, another detail," Undir remembered at the end. "Captain Andor usually works in cooperation with a reprogrammed imperial droid called 'K2-SO'.
"Good to know." Gutierrez commented. "Remember not to shoot at one of those things right away."
"If we play our cards well, it might help us infiltrate the factory without fighting." Thabo noted.
"Precisely." Undir said.
"Does your cloaking device works, Colonel?" Jordan asked.
"It does, Captain, don't worry." the Salarian reassured.
"One minute to touchdown." a pilot announced.
The squad made one last check on the gear and then the shuttle landed in an isolated area not too far from the factory. It had been marked by Captain Andor, and the shuttle had been able to use a small hill to visually hide its approach.
"Stay sharp, lads." Jordan warned before opening the door and get down from the shuttle, holding a marksman's rifle on his part.
Followed by the three Legionnaires, who took a defensive formation around Undir, and the support team, Jordan had Jinx activate a tracker of Andor's signal on the corner of his own visor and followed it. They followed the trail for around 200 m before Thabo warned that he was perceiving a presence.
Jordan used the heartbeat detector and quickly found a single signal a few meters in front of him.
"The suns are setting." Jordan exclaimed.
A couple of seconds later, one of the bushes rustled, but the federals were not alarmed. From behind it came out a Human male with a green camo poncho and an A-280 CFE in rifle mode.
"You must be my support." Andor said.
"Captain Jordan Bridger of the Systems Alliance. This is Colonel Undir of the MI6."
Andor stepped out of the bush and in front of the Legionnaires. "Cassian Andor. Good to see you, you arrived just in time."
"For what?" Michalina asked.
"My droid, K, has reported in a few minutes ago. The imperials are sending a transport to take some kind of cargo from the factory." Cassian said quite urgently.
Jordan and Undir exchanged a glance, even through their helmets, and didn't need to speak to decide that there was no time to lose.
"Lead the way, Captain Andor." the Colonel simply said.
Cassian quickly removed and threw away his worn-out poncho. His real outfit might have probably been easier to spot, but in those woods it still granted a decent amount of camouflage. Then he started leading the group around the woods.
It didn't take long for them to enter in view of the factory, placed right in the middle of a prairie, with no cover to speak of.
Jordan sighed at the prospect. Still, he and the Legionnaires had a cloaking device that could last five entire minutes, so at least they should have been okay.
But before he could start explaining the plan he had in mind, a rumble came from the skies and the group looked up, seeing a Lambda-class shuttle.
"Damn it, we're too late." Michalina commented.
"Not yet." Cassian replied with determination, then he took his comlink. "K? K, are you there?"
Two seconds later, a droid's voice replied. "Cassian. The Empire is moving the cargo toward the landing platform."
"I know, a shuttle just arrived. Keep an eye on them, we're coming." Cassian replied before closing the communication.
"Wait a moment." one of the two snipers, a Turian, intervened. He was checking the shuttle with his sniper rifle. "Sir, you might want to look at that." he invited.
Jordan and the other Legionnaires activated their integrated binoculars and, indeed, Jordan saw a group of people leaving the shuttle that were quite unusual: two royal guards, armed with old but still very dangerous DL-15A rifles, and they were escorting a young woman with bright red hairs and green eyes, whose body was enveloped in a red cape.
"Ok, there's definitely something big going on, here." Gutierrez commented. "We need to act now."
"Wait…" Thabo intervened, gaining everyone's attention.
Jordan noticed that, even behind the helmet, he seemed to be in deep concentration.
"That woman. She is a Force-wielder." he declared, leaving the others a bit surprised.
"Are you sure?" Jordan asked.
"She gives the same vibes as your children, boss. Kinda hard not to notice the similarity."
The Captain sighed. "Ok, we do this: me, Micha, Thabo and Gutierrez will go straight in with our cloaking devices. Captain Andor, you and Bravo team stay here and get ready to light the place up if you start hearing alarms."
"Copy that." Cassian replied as he charged his rifle and stepped to reach the other snipers.
"Everyone set?" Jordan asked, receiving a positive nod from his Legionnaires. "Then go."
The moment later, they disappeared and started to run toward the nearest fence.
Leaving the imperial fleet without supplies had turned out to be a good strategy for the battle. Forced to save ammo and fuel, the Star Destroyers were pretty much sitting ducks, and some disastrous decisions by the Imperial Moff leading the fleet led to most of the smaller and more maneuverable vessels to be destroyed in prepared ambushes.
After that, with a calculated use of bombers and the dreadnoughts, the Mandalorian fleet easily penetrated the imperial formation, separating their capital ships and destroying them. Bo-Katan, though, asked for the imperial flagship not to be destroyed, as she wanted to board it and capture the Moff.
Such was the reason why Ezra was now escorting a squadron of Skipray-class bombers to attack the engines of the ISD, identified with the name of 'Persecutor', and leave it vulnerable to a boarding party.
Maneuvering the Silver Bullet, he allowed Axe to shot down a couple of TIE Fighters.
"Bomber squadron, you're clear." he announced after that.
"Understood, Bridger." the commander replied.
Ezra pulled away and let the squadron behind him free to fire. Proton torpedoes flared up and flew toward the central engine of the ISD, causing a massive blast while also short-circuiting the entire system and making the power source of the ship unstable. The rest of the job was finished by the Keldabe and the Kandosii dreadnoughts with their ion cannons overloading the ship's system and thus disabling it.
The Silver Bullet started to fly around the ship, waiting for the next orders, which didn't take too long to arrive.
"Specter-7, this is Blue Nova, do you copy?" the voice of Jaral broke in on the comlink.
"We read you, Nova." Ezra answered on the comlink, understanding that she wanted to say something that Koska and Axe had to be aware as well.
"The Duchess is preparing a boarding party to hit the lower hangar, but Jinx has been listening to imperial comms and it looks like Moff Tulad is heading to his shuttle in the starboard hangar. Get in there and secure that hangar immediately!"
"We're on our way." Ezra replied, then turned to his gunner. "Axe, prepare the cannons."
"Oh-oh. I like where this is going." the mandalorian replied rather ominously but excited.
The Silver Bullet darted at full speed toward the starboard hangar. Since the power was down, so was the shield that usually protected it, so, as soon as Ezra aligned the ship, Axe opened fire inside the hangar. Almost immediately, the remaining TIEs were blown up, along with energy cells, fuel barrels, the Lambda shuttle and various soldiers and pilots that were inside. Only a handful of the personnel managed to flee back into the corridors of the ship.
The Jedi parked the Gauntlet into one of the few spaces left without too many debris and motioned the two mandalorians to go at the ramp.
"Raze, stay here and keep the engine running." he ordered before leaving himself. Raze beeped an affirmative.
The young man materialized his TL-50 and reached the ramp on the back of the fighter, putting himself in front of Koska and Axe, then pushed the button to open it. As smoke and cinder entered into the ship, the three were unaffected, thanks to their helmets.
Ezra jumped down first, waited for the mandalorians and then they sprinted toward the door that led to the access corridor.
"Specter-7 to Blue Nova." he said into the comlink. "We are aboard the Destroyer, but there isn't a single ship left for the imperials, in the hangar."
"Understood. Then move up and deactivate the self-destruction device of the ship, before they can turn the energy on again." Jaral replied.
"Copy that. Come on, guys." the young man replied to his escort.
The three thus entered the hallways, but didn't meet any resistance until they turned a couple times, since most of the security personnel was heading to try and stop Bo-Katan's forces tearing their way up from the lower hangar.
Quickly taking out the few stormtroopers and Navy troopers they found, the trio reached the device for self-destruction, which was in a room near the reactor.
"Jinx, you're on it." said Ezra as he used the omni-tool to link the AI to the device.
After just a minute, during which the three had to repel another squad of stormtroopers, Jinx spoke up.
"Device deactivated and sabotaged. Unless the Moff decides to crash the ship on the surface of the planet, we're safe."
"Good to know." Ezra replied before putting a finger on the side of his helmet. "Duchess, this is Bridger, the device is out of commission, do you need backup?"
"We're chasing Moff Tulad but he's heavily protected. If you could somehow cut his way it would be a huge favor."
"Copy, we'll be there in a minute. Jinx, find the Moff and calculate a route for us to surround him."
"Route found." Jinx announced after a mere second, highlighting it on Ezra's visor.
The young Jedi thus put away his repeater and decided to proceed with his lightsaber, with Koska and Axe following him.
Soon they reached a point where they could hear the intense sound of blasters and found the two sides fighting: Bo-Katan's and Moff Tulad's forces. Rather conveniently, the three infiltrators were in a position where they could take the imperials from the rear, and they did.
Caught in the crossfire, the Death troopers protecting Tulad were overran and they soon laid dead on the floor, along with the few stormtroopers left.
The old Moff backed into a tight hallway, part of his body leaning on the floor, as if he was wounded.
Bo-Katan ignited the Darksaber and pointed it at the Moff's throat.
"Surrender now, and maybe I'll just turn you to the Rebels."
In response, the man chuckled in an ominous way.
"You think you have won?" he asked with that malicious grin on his face. "This is just the beginning. Soon, you will see the true power of the Empire." he declared before his hand came out from under his leaning side and something clipped.
His hunch immediately set in, and Ezra screamed "Watch out!"
He grabbed Bo-Katan from her shoulders and pushed her on the ground behind him a moment before the thermal detonator exploded with all of the violence that it could release in such a tight space.
Ezra's shields absorbed most of the blast, luckily, without him suffering any injury. For a couple of seconds, he kept shielding the Duchess with his body, and only when his shields recharged after a few seconds he let her go.
"You ok?" he asked.
Bo-Katan briefly shook her heads with a groan, to try and regain focus. "Thanks to you." she replied with gratitude before allowing Ezra to help her stand up.
The other mandalorians retook their senses quickly, as well.
"Well, we don't have much else to do." Bo concluded. "You coming back with us?"
"Might as well." Ezra replied before contacting his droid companion. "Raze, bring the Bullet back on the Keldabe, we're going on the ship with the Duchess."
Raze replied positively, so Ezra and the Mandalorians ran toward the lower hangar and boarded the transport shuttles they had come with, leaving the Star Destroyer to its doom as the dreadnoughts gave it the finishing blow as soon as the boarding party was out.
Aboard the Keldabe, Jaral stood at the viewport, watching the ISD break and go down in flames. While she liked see the triangular ship, one of the most notorious symbols of the Empire, burn down, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad for the thousands of lives that were going down with it, which she could clearly feel through the Force.
But that was the face of the war: suffering and death. She knew it would be impossible to avoid those feelings, so she would rather take them all on whenever she could.
Once she decided she had had enough, she walked away and went back to the holotable, waiting until Bo and Ezra came back.
"You guys ok? I thought I felt a big sense of danger around you, Ezra." she asked.
"Moff Tulad used a thermal detonator to blow himself up and tried to bring the two of us with him, but he failed." Ezra replied as if was nothing.
Jaral just shrugged. "Business as usual, then." she quipped.
Ezra chuckled as he and the Duchess stepped around the table as well.
Bo removed her helmet, putting it underarm, then spoke. "Still, I'm not sure I would've survived without your prompt intervention, Bridger. Now I owe you one." she said seriously.
"It's not a big deal, Lady Kryze. We're allies, we must help each other if we want to win." Ezra calmly replied.
"Indeed. I think today I understood this better than ever." the Duchess replied before turning toward Jaral. "And I think it's time that even we Mandalorians start changing our mindset. Grand Marshall, would you accept me and my people to join your alliance, the UACT?"
"I would be glad to welcome you and your people, Lady Kryze." Jaral answered cordially.
Then Bo extended her hand, and Jaral shook it firmly.
"It's gonna need a bit of paperwork, though, before everything it's official." she specified. "And be aware, the Federation really cares about sentient rights and their treaties about war prisoners, so you'll have to keep the clans in line."
"Leave it to me, my friend. One way or the other, they will understand that we can't win this war on our own."
"Great. So, if you don't need us anymore, I will gather my crew and return to our base. I will leave the regiment here to provide support, though." the Grand Marshall explained.
"Of course. Thank you again, Bridgers, I hope to see you again." the Duchess concluded with a bow of her head.
The siblings returned the gesture and then took their way to the small hangar, got on the Silver Bullet and headed toward the surface to recover the Specters, and inform the commanding officer of the rebel regiment that they would stay there to help the Mandalorians to build up their defenses in case the Empire tried another invasion, though that seemed unlikely after this catastrophic defeat.
As the Gauntlet passed near the debris of both imperial and mandalorian ships destroyed during the battle, Jaral's omni-tool suddenly flared up. An urgent transmission was trying to reach her.
"It's Dad." she exclaimed. She pushed the button to answer as Ezra watched with curiosity.
The body of Jordan appeared hovering over her omni-tool on a small scale.
"Hey, Dad." she greeted with a smile. "How's it going?"
"Much better now that I see your faces, kids, because otherwise, it's not that great. Our mission has been only a partial success."
"Why, what happened?" she asked worried.
"There was this imperial agent, a Force-wielder, who managed to take the cargo away and pretty much ran circles around us. We still blew up the factory and stole their flight registers, but it seemed like the destination of the cargo wasn't registered in the first place."
"So you don't know if it had something to do with the super-weapon?"
"On the contrary. Since they didn't register, it's safe to assume that we're on the right trail. Especially if the Emperor sent a Force-wielder to make sure everything went smoothly."
"Speaking of whom, was that an Inquisitor?" Ezra asked.
"No. It was a woman, actually around your age, Jari, and she didn't even have a lightsaber. She was accompanied by two Royal Guards and most of the time she simply used the Force to throw things around.
"Anyway, we're taking Captain Andor and his droid back to Yavin for a full report. I will give you the recording of my helmet-cam so you can see her by yourself."
"Understood." replied Jaral. "We've just finished destroying the imperial fleet over Kalevala. As soon as we get our team, we are going back to Yavin as well."
Jordan huffed in amusement. "Of course you did. I'll see you at the base, then."
"Can't wait for that. Bye, Dad, we love you." the daughter concluded with a smile.
"Love you too, champs." the father answered with the same tone before closing the transmission.
The hologram disappeared and Jaral slung back on the seatback with her arms crossed on her chest, mumbling in thought, while the ship was crossing the atmosphere of Kalevala.
Clearly understanding that she was already thinking about what to do with this disturbing news, Ezra knew that simple words of encouragement would have been useless, so all he did was send her some positive thoughts while draining her anxieties, allowing her to think clearly, without fear or stress clouding her judgment, something for which she gave him a light smile to thank him.
Still, she put aside those thoughts once they landed into the main camp of the Mandalorians on the planet, where the rest of the gang was waiting for them.
"We saw the fireworks coming down." Rex commented. "Nice work up there."
"Thanks, Rex." replied Ezra.
"Mandalore is safe, for now, so we're going back to Yavin." Jaral declared. "I'm leaving the regiment here, but you guys pack up and hop on, the war is far from over."
"Yes ma'am." Zeb replied only half-seriously before he, Rex and Darvos headed out. The latter only to inform the rebel colonel that he and his unit would be stationed on Mandalore.
Ursa was there, along with other mandalorian clan leaders, so she stopped to talk with Sabine and Ezra.
"You two have really become incredible warriors. You have helped to save Mandalore not once, but twice." she said with respect and a smirk.
"That was natural on my part, Mother. I couldn't let my family die." Sabine replied.
"I know, and I'm glad you still value your clan. Which is why I'm a bit sorry, but I have to ask you two for more help."
"Anything." Ezra said calmly.
"Since Krownest is still under imperial occupation, and it has proven to be too vulnerable, anyway, I want to send the elderly and the children of our warriors away." Ursa explained, leaving the teens surprised.
"You want us to find a new home?" Sabine asked.
"A refuge, at least until our space won't be safe. And, if we won't be able to repel the next invasion, at least we will have a colony where our people can recover."
"Did you have some place in mind?" Ezra asked.
"Yes. Your planet, Lothal." the Countess said.
Ezra absorbed that request for a second. "Oh…" he finally mumbled. "Well, there is a lot of free space left on the planet. I'm sure Ryder will welcome you. And if you have some warriors with them, the local militia might use some more instructors." he added.
"That's a relief, Ezra, thank you." Ursa replied. "I will arrange their transportation. And, Sabine…" she turned toward her daughter, who probably guessed in her mind what she was about to ask. "I would like for you to be the colony's head."
Sabine groaned a bit. "Is that really the best idea? I have my duties to the Rebellion."
"After these last days, I have decided. I want you to be my potential successor, so you have to start making some practice, my daughter."
Sabine pondered for a moment. She wasn't sure if she could do both things, if she would have to transfer on Lothal for a while.
Then Ezra put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we will make this work." he simply said with an encouraging tone.
Sabine smiled at him and accepted his words. After all, her clan was still very important to her, and she couldn't let them down.
"I will, Mother." she replied dutifully.
Ursa smiled. "Good. And in the meantime, keep grooming your husband." she concluded before walking away, making Sabine roll her eyes and Ezra chuckle.
"That might take a very long while." Ezra joked to his wife.
"We'll figure that out as well." Sabine said with a smile.
After that, it was time to go. Jaral and the others boarded the Gauntlet and so did Ezra and Sabine. The Legionnaires were preparing to go back with their fleet, as well, since the offensive of the Joint Fleet was imminent. The shuttle with Rhino Squad took off as well and it attached with the Silver Bullet so they could make the trip together.
After leaving the gravitational field of the system, the two ships finally set out to return to Yavin.