Super Commando Sized Mistakes:
'You need Sabine Wren.'
Thrawn's condescending words to Tiber Saxon yesterday repeated over and over in Jett's mind as he flew towards the girl in question with his few remaining men on his heels.
He found it very amusing that Thrawn had unknowingly brought upon the downfall of the Governor of Mandalore. Or maybe he did it on purpose. Who knows what's going on in that blue head of his? Maybe he's secretly working against the Empire.
Nah.
Jett chuckled at his absurd thought. There was no way such a dedicated and decorated Grand Admiral would actually be working on his own agenda.
"Sir," a voice in Jett's helmet brought him back to the present. "I know you said you'd explain, but what are we doing? Why does it feel like we're deserting our post to join the enemy?"
Normally, Jett would have turned around to address his men, but the ticking timebomb of an ISD behind them inspired him to keep flying forwards. "We're not deserting, Rontil. We're joining our new Mand'alor, like all good, honourable Mandalorians should be doing. If any of you have a problem with that, feel free to fly back to the Revengar and make an attempt at rescuing Tiber Saxon from his own stupidity."
"Uhhhh, no, I'm good," Rontil said quickly.
"Yep, me too," Preyton added.
"And me," Adnar put in his two credits.
"Following the Mand'alor is definitely preferable," Shu-Atin said with clear relief in his voice that Jett hadn't lost his mind or honour.
"Agreed. Tiber was getting on my nerves," Brokar admitted last.
"That's an understatement," Jett muttered just as they caught up to the large group of flying warriors containing Mand'alor Kryze and Sabine Wren. Jett's eyes were inevitably drawn to the younger woman adorned in the most outrageously coloured armour he'd ever seen that somehow worked despite the plethora of colours and designs. Even so, he was glad the colours were muted in the dark; they were just a little too much for his taste.
"Who are the flyers without armour?" Rontil asked.
"They're Jedi," Brokar said before Jett could. "I saw them on Krownest. Seemed pretty friendly with the Wrens."
"I saw the boy on Concorde Dawn," Preyton piped in.
"I think the younger one is attached to the Wren girl," Brokar added, "based on how they protected each other."
Jett remembered those days with a wince. Yet more orders from a Saxon that he hadn't really agreed with. And Brokar was right; the young Jedi and Sabine Wren were clearly protective of each other. The way she'd fought so hard to hang on to him as they flew on her single jetpack. The way he'd thrown her his lightsabre so she could fight Gar Saxon. The way he'd reasoned with her only a few minutes ago. There was no doubt in his mind that they were very good friends at the very least.
His upbringing said he should be sickened by the connection, but the evidence of such loyalty was hard to dismiss as being wrong.
It was a pity, though, that such an prime catch of a female might already be taken. Not that Jett would seriously pursue her, she wasn't really his type. (Taller and darker and stunning purple eyes came to mind.) But the new Countess Wren would definitely be drawing the attention of every unattached male in the very near future. The Jedi boy would most likely have a fight on his hands to keep her.
Unless they were already married.
Jett had no idea if that was the case or not.
"I wonder what Tristan thinks of his sister being so close to a Jedi?" Adnar muttered. (Being only a year older than the mentioned boy, they had been pretty close. Adnar had been pretty bummed about losing his buddy because Gar Saxon had forced Tristan to choose between his family and his squad.)
What a stupid move. Of course Tristan was going to choose his family.
"We'll have to ask him the next time we see him," Jett said just as there was a massive explosion from behind him.
Whirling around, they watched The Revengar light up the dark in a truly spectacular fashion.
"Man, am I glad we weren't on that," Shu-Atin said in awe.
Seconded, Jett thought. Tiber Saxon is officially a goner after that. Thank the Manda.
"You think most of the Imps made it off?" Rontil asked.
Jett shrugged. "Does it matter? Any Imperial who survives this day is going to end up a prisoner anyhow. A fighting death is preferable to that."
"True."
A voice speaking externally from their inner helmet dialogue caught the Super Commandoes' attention.
"Who's up for round two?"
Jett and his men faced the Kryze female. Before anyone else could say anything, he switched to external speakers and said firmly, "We are. What do you want us to do?"
Yavin IV...
Hera dashed into the Ghost, still subtly thrumming with adrenaline from the afternoon's activities, and a small grin of satisfaction curling her lips upwards.
The training exercises in the new X-Wing fighters had been very successful and she felt confident that her new Phoenix Squadron were gelling well. Having Wedge and Hobbie still with her and familiar with her commands helped a lot. She was extremely grateful the two young men had survived the battle over Atollon, having become quite fond of them and kind of mothered them the way she was wont to do with anyone she felt deserved her protection.
She'd loved flying the swift little fighter and was quite eager to test it out in a real battle situation. Not that she was revenge oriented, exactly, but she wouldn't mind hurting the Empire a bit after what they'd done to Chopper Base. All of the lost personnel and pilots were going to weigh on her for a long, long time.
With only a few minutes before she was expected to report to High Command about her afternoon and her opinions on the new fighter, she spent the bare minimum of time in the refresher, washing off the perspiration and grease from flying and tinkering with the X-Wings that didn't sound quite right to her before she let them leave the ground. She missed having Chopper around to expedite some of the adjustments, but working on ships (especially such beautiful fighters) never felt like a chore.
After dressing in a fresh flight suit, she grabbed a ration bar from the galley for her supper and then made her way back down the hallway to the cockpit. The Ghost was too quiet with everyone gone, and felt empty to her. Even Zeb was busy, having immediately been put to work scouting the jungle around the ancient Massassi Temple and training new recruits in jungle conditions. (It didn't take long for High Command to figure out that Zeb was an accomplished soldier and was comfortable in the suffocating jungle, since his homeworld was similar to Yavin IV.)
She had a hand and a foot on the ladder in the cockpit when a blinking light on the console caught her attention.
Changing her momentum from down to forwards, she walked over to the pilot chair, nibbling on the nearly tasteless bar of useful energy, and sat in her favourite spot after pushing the blinking button. Please let it be Kanan.
It was.
A recording of her mate popped up in holo form and she couldn't help but smile at it rather dopily. Force, I miss him. They'd only been apart for three days but it felt like forever.
His masked head was turned away from her, apparently looking away at something, and there was the smallest hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth. Something's amusing. And I bet it's the kids. That's definitely his 'the kids are being ridiculous again' smirk. There was a subtle lift to his ponytail that indicated he was outside and in a breeze. His arms were crossed over his chest in a fashion that emphasized the broad width of his shoulders and the strong muscles of his chest. Stars, he's so handsome. How did I get so lucky?
And then the holo recording started. Kanan turned his focus down, presumably to Chopper, and frowned in disappointment, sighing softly. "Leave her a message then. Tell her that we are going into battle in a few hours and that I will call her back as soon as we're safe."
She hit the button to freeze the image before it could disappear, her smile from before long gone and now replaced with a look of longing. Oh, Kanan. I'm sorry I wasn't here for your call. I wish I was there with you. X-Wings were fun and all, but she'd much rather be with her mate and kids than here on this overly green moon with the looming giant red planet above that occasionally gave her the creeps, like it was haunted or something.
She closed her eyes for a moment, slumping slightly, the ration bar in her hand forgotten. Glancing at the computer, she saw that the message was sent four and a half hours ago, which meant that he was probably in whatever battle he was talking about right at this moment. Please be okay. Please let the kids be okay.
She was very tempted to try and contact Chopper, just to soothe her fears, but thought better of it in case her droid was occupied with something else important. He said he'd call when they're done. I can wait till then.
Sighing, she turned off the holo comm and rose heavily from the pilot's chair of her beloved freighter, slowly trudging the few steps over to the ladder again, taking another nibble of the protein bar.
I sure hope everything works out on Mandalore.
Did they rescue Sabine's father?
Will the Imperials retaliate?
Is that what they're fighting over now?
Stars, I hope my family is all right.
Of course they are. They're highly skilled and strong in the Force Jedi and a very well trained Mando. Nothing to worry about.
Wish I could give them backup, anyway.
Wait.
Hera paused halfway down the ladder, eyes opening wide as new thoughts jumped into her mind.
Backup.
I sent Ketsu to get backup parts for the shield generator on Chopper Base.
That was four days ago.
Oh, kriff.
She should be almost back to the base by now.
Which probably still has Imps crawling all over it. Or at least probe droids waiting for someone stupid to come back.
I don't think anyone remembered to comm her and tell her that we lost the base.
Poodoo.
The twi'lek Captain scrambled back up the ladder and rushed over to the console. She typed in Ketsu's encrypted comm channel as fast as the fingers of her free hand could fly.
And then she waited with baited breath for the younger woman to answer, drumming her fingers on the multi-buttoned surface impatiently. She was too tense to even bother to sit down.
It took about a minute for the call to travel across space and inspire a response from the Mandalorian ex bounty hunter. Hera barely breathed during that time, petrified that she'd be the cause of losing yet another of her people. And her poor protein bar became somewhat crushed in the death grip her hand had on it.
The blue overtoned, caf coloured face of the girl in question finally appeared in the holo emitter and Hera almost fell in relief. She did sink into her chair, but made herself sit up straight and tall. "Ketsu, thank the stars."
Many many lightyears away, Ketsu raised a curious brow at the bluish holo of her Captain that turned the twi'lek more teal than light green. "That's quite the greeting, Hera. Is something wrong?"
Hera nodded once. "Unfortunately. And in the chaos, I'm afraid I forgot about you."
"Now you have me worried," the purple eyed Mando said cautiously.
Hera took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'll explain in a second. But first, where are you?"
Ketsu glanced at the readout on her navi computer. "About ten hours from base. I had a few delays with the snarky smuggler you sent me to." Though he was quite good at satisfying me in other ways. But what was up with his obsession with his capes? "And I had to take a creative route home. I actually just passed Mandalore about an hour ago, believe it or not."
Hera raised a brow. "That is a creative route home. Imperial problems?"
Ketsu rolled her eyes. "What else?"
Hera smiled in commiseration. "Been there. But you got the parts from Lando, snarkiness and all?"
Ketsu laughed. "Yeah. I got them. What a character." And bloody sexy in a spoiled prince kind of way.
"He is that." And that's putting it lightly, the poodoo dealing nerfherder. (Hera didn't have many fond memories of Calrissian, but remembering how it felt to punch him in the family jewels would always bring a smile to her face.)
"So what's going on?" Ketsu asked, watching the little hologram twi'lek lose a little of her assured posture as she asked the question.
Hera took a moment to answer, but when she did, Ketsu's emotions dropped along with her jaw. "We lost Chopper Base. Thrawn found us, using Kallus as bait. The planned attack on Lothal with Dodonna's fleet has been indefinitely postponed based on the fact that both of our cells have lost over seventy-five percent of our forces, including Commander Sato. We've joined Base One to regroup."
"Shabla osik!"
"Precisely." (Hera had heard Sabine and Rex cursing often enough to know what that meant.)
Intelligent brain already working through the implications, Ketsu brought her ship to a sudden stop, pulling up from hyperspace as she talked. "I'm going the wrong way then, aren't I?"
"I'm afraid so. I'm just very relieved you encountered the delays you did or you'd have flown right into Imperial territory by now. And that would have been my fault. I can't believe I forgot about you. I'm very sorry."
Ketsu smiled at Hera reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. My Shadow Castor is very good at making quick exits from sticky situations. Besides, I'm sure you've had a million other things on your mind."
Hera laughed sadly. "That is, unfortunately, about the gist of it." She reached over to the console again. "I'm sending you the coordinates and the pass codes to Base One."
"Thanks. I'm guessing that your Jedi made it out okay, considering you're not a weepy mess?"
Hera raised a brow at the other woman who had a teasing light in her eyes, smiling slightly. "Captains aren't allowed the indulgence of turning into blubbering females, but yes, my Jedi are fine. They're on Mandalore, in fact, helping Sabine rescue her... Wait. Did you say you just passed Mandalore?"
Ketsu nodded, frowning, sensing where Hera was going with this. "Yes. But I'm not exactly welcome there."
"You're not?"
The Mandalorian shook her head. "There was a small incident that resulted in blowing up a good chunk of the Imperial Academy some years ago. I'm kind of considered a persona non grata, to put it in terms you would understand."
"Oh. Right. Sabine mentioned her status issues when she told me about why she hates the Empire so much."
Ketsu was somewhat shocked. "Sabine told you about that?"
Hera nodded. "She did. We had a long conversation a few years ago. She really needed to let some of her nightmares free; they were eating her from the inside out."
"Hunh. I guess Sabine trusts you even more than I realized."
"She does." Hera smiled, her eyes soft. "She's like a daughter to me."
Ketsu snorted. "I'm sure you're a better mother than her real one. Countess Wren isn't exactly the most affectionate of people. Did you say something about them rescuing somebody?"
"Yes. Sabine's father."
"Right. Sabie told me about that. The Saxon bastards have him locked up to keep her clan in line. I'm glad they're finally doing something about getting him back. Alrich Wren is a good man. He was always nice to me when I was a kid. He taught me how to paint, in fact." Ketsu smiled at the memories of better days than she'd ever spent in her own home.
"Sure you don't want to go help out? Kanan sent me a message about a battle. It's probably still in progress."
Ketsu frowned harder, thinking. Is it worth the risk? It HAS been forever since I got to fight any sort of real battle, and that would be fun. I can probably get in and out again before anyone figures out who I am. She focused on Hera again. "All right. I'll go. I could use the exercise anyway. I've been on this ship for days."
Hera beamed. "That's the spirit. I'll send you the comm frequencies for Chopper and Ezra's ship, in case you can't get a hold of Sabine."
"Thanks. I'll see you in another day or so, depending on how things go on Mandalore."
"That's fine. Good luck."
Ketsu nodded in acknowledgement and then disconnected the comm. She sat back into her chair as memories from her past came rushing back, inspired by the mention of the Academy.
A pair of beautiful durasteel grey eyes came to mind immediately, reminding her of her biggest regret from her quick flight from the Imperial school. I wonder what Jett's doing now? Is he an Imp? Or did he foreswear his clan and go his own way? Does he miss me? Does he even remember me? We only went on a couple of dates before I had to flee with Sabine; he's probably forgotten me entirely and gotten married by now. But he sure was good at kissing. Whoever he settled with is a very lucky girl.
Ketsu sighed and pushed the thought of the handsome boy from her thoughts. Too many years had passed, she wasn't the same person as that naive girl who'd doodled little hearts with JH all over her datapad, and she'd more than moved on to a different chapter of her life to dwell on something that had happened so long ago.
Focusing on the controls of her ship, she turned it around and sent it back towards the planet that had exiled her. I hope I don't regret this.
On the Ghost, Hera smiled to herself as she climbed down from the cockpit once more, now late for her meeting but not caring too much. She'd just sent her family a little more backup, and it helped to settle her mind. Ketsu Onyo was a fierce fighter and smart enough to not get caught up in something she couldn't handle.
And Sabine was sure to be happy to see her friend. As far as Hera knew, the girls hadn't done anything but talk over the comm for months. You're welcome, Sabine.
Mandalore...
Fenn froze at the words from the Commando Captain.
How dare he act as though we weren't enemies five minutes ago!
How dare he even show up here!
Maybe he's playing us and we're all fools!
The temporary restraint that Fenn had been practicing in regards to his sworn enemies, the Mandalorian traitors who had massacred his Protectors, went flying out the airlock and he lunged through the sky towards the white armoured Captain that had spoken. "Why should we trust you, you Mando killing shabuir?!"
Fenn had his hands wrapped around Hark's neck and was squeezing the life out of him before he'd even spit out the word 'why'.
The rest of the group was in shock for a few precious seconds.
Bo was astonished that Fenn had snapped.
Jett's men instantly drew their blasters, every one pointed at Fenn, prompting Bo's people to retaliate.
Ezra glanced at Kanan. "Uhhhhhh. should we stop them?"
Kanan frowned. "Not yet. I think they need to work this out on their own, if possible. But be ready to do some serious disarming."
"Got it."
Choking on the air that couldn't make it either in or out of his lungs, Hark drew his own blaster and shoved it into Fenn's stomach.
Feeling it, Fenn growled and squeezed harder.
Sensing that this was going to turn ugly really quickly, Bo drew the Darksabre and ignited it. She flew forwards and stuck the crackling blade between the men, catching Fenn's attention in a hurry. "That's enough, Fenn! Let him go!"
Fenn instantly regretted his rash reaction. Not the neck squeezing part, because that had felt really satisfying, but the fact that he'd lost his temper in front of his lady. He let go of the Captain and backed off with his hands in the air. "I'm sorry, Bo. It's just... He's one of THEM."
Bo kept the Darksabre trained on the Captain until he'd holstered his blaster, as well as the rest of his men. Then she turned her focus on Fenn, but kept the Darksabre in her hand as a reminder to the volatile people present that she was in charge here. "I understand, Fenn. But we have to give them a chance. You worked for the Empire as well, a couple years ago, so you have no right to blame these men for their allegiance. The important thing is that they're here now."
The Protector's fists were clenched in continued anger, but he forced them to relax at her words. He couldn't bear to disappoint her and lose his chance at winning Bo, no matter what he had to live with. "I suppose you're right, but I don't know if I can work with people who murdered my men in cold blood."
Jett hadn't known why he'd been attacked, but he was starting to get an idea. "Are you talking about the Protectors of Concord Dawn?" he interjected.
Fenn nodded stiffly. "Yes. You slaughtered my men!"
Jett shook his helmeted head emphatically. "No! We didn't! Gar Saxon did that on his own with Imperial droids. Our Captain at the time refused to do his dirty work for him. Saxon shot him. I've only been Captain for the last couple of months. The Saxon brothers had a shared habit of killing off any of us that protested their commands. And we were nearly all Clan Saxon, so we had to follow orders. We had to go to the Academy. We had to become his Imperial puppets. We literally had no choice. It was obey or be killed. Going dar'manda wasn't even an option because we were then forced to hunt down anyone who tried to run. These men with me, we're literally all that's left of Clan Saxon that aren't old, non-warriors, or under the age of sixteen."
"Osik," Bo breathed, copied by many others.
Shabla, that might even be worse than my story, Sabine thought in sympathy.
"Kriff, that sucks," Ezra said aloud.
Fenn stared at the man in shock. Everything I thought was wrong. All of that hate for the Commandoes, for nothing. "I'm sorry I tried to strangle you. I was mistaken."
Jett inclined his head in acknowledgement of the apology. "Don't worry about it. I've had much worse."
I can imagine, with Gar Saxon as their leader for most of their lives. I doubt a more brutal and unforgiving soldier has ever lived. "Now I regret targeting your men so zealously in the hangar a few minutes ago. I wish I'd known," Fenn said with deep regret in his tone.
"And out in the desert yesterday," Bo added with a wince.
"That, unfortunately, was inevitable," Jett said with a mournful heart that he kept out of his tone out of too much practice. "If my men weren't quick enough to keep themselves alive, then there's not more I can do to change that. Fortunately, I only lost two more since yesterday. My second, Rontil, said the battle was fair enough, so they passed on honourably."
Fenn nodded once, surprised at the wisdom and acceptance of the other man.
Bo was happy that they had worked things out, but everyone seemed to be forgetting that they still had more battles to win this day. "This is all well and good, gentlemen, but there are more ISDs to take care of, and they're not just going to sit over there by the dome for long. The time to strike is now while we still have some vague element of surprise. Unfortunately, all of our fighters are otherwise occupied at the moment and by the time they get here, we could be surrounded by TIEs."
"I have a few ideas about that," Sabine said with a confident grin inside her helmet.
Bo nodded at the girl who'd proved to be well versed in battle tactics and creative in tight situations. "I'm listening."
Mando'a translations:
Shu-Atin – A play on words that would essentially mean unbreakable.
Brokar – to beat or victor.
Adnar - roughly translates to my child. A nickname that would mean the baby of the family.