Chapter 6


The rebels appeared from hyperspace in the Yavin system, and everybody began to relax as they landed back on the surface. Sabine was trying to talk to Ezra in the common room on the Ghost, but he was distracted, and Sabine knew why.

"Ezra," she said calmly, but let a slightly annoyed tone slip.

"Sorry... I..." he began, but Sabine didn't need to hear what he had to say. She already knew.

"Don't even start, I know what you're going to say," she said. "You have to stop thinking about the UNSC, Ezra. We have a war against the Empire, remember?"

"I know, but... I just..." he stammered. He then sighed, "I think I want to join the ODST."

Sabine's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a bit in surprise. "Ezra... You... You can't be serious!"

"I don't know, Sabine. The rebellion wanted me to sit back while you were being tortured by the Covenant. The UNSC explained it was my choice to either fight or stay, and I chose to fight. To me, it sounded like the Rebellion was abandoning you, Sabine. I don't see that with the UNSC," he explained.

Anger grew inside Sabine, but was mostly covered with fear. "Ezra, you have to stay here with us. We need you with us. I..." she caught herself before she could finish, but decided to just finish her sentence. "I need you here... with me."

Ezra looked down at his feet. "You're just saying that to get me to stay. You don't really mean it."

Sabine looked hurt, "You're wrong. I'm not just saying it to get you to stay. I'm saying it because... because I mean it."

Ezra looked up, surprised.

"Please, Ezra..." she murmured as she pressed her forehead to his chest.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Sabine. But I want to do this," he said. "I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't want you to get hurt."

Sabine choked up, "Ezra... please. If you leave... I-I don't..." Her anger flared slightly as she lifted her head off his chest to look back at him. "I don't want to lose you!"

"Sabine, you won't lose me," Ezra tried to explain, but Sabine interrupted him.

"If you leave then I would lose you! Think for a moment, Bridger! When we came home from Hoth, the Rebel fleet was prepping for lightspeed to assist in my rescue!" she exclaimed.

Ezra just stared at her silently, and she took that silence as a chance to continue.

"Hera realized her error in the end, didn't she? It hurt her to stay off the mission as much as it hurt you!" Her voice was about to break, but she managed to keep it stable for the moment.

That got through to Ezra. Sabine had a point; Hera was going to help in the end along with the rest of the Rebel looked to the holo table, which was showing the HoloNet on recent news of Covenant attacks and UNSC Spartan and ODST sightings, though everybody that saw it, did not know who they were exactly, but instead were told they were just more rebels. He looked back at Sabine, who had a small trace of tears in her eyes. She never cried for anything before. He had an expression on his face that showed his thoughts were at war between leaving the Rebels to join the UNSC for the time they were in this galaxy, or staying with the Rebels the entire time.

He knew Sabine took note of his expression, and her bottom lip was trembling slightly, as were her hands. He could sense her fear of losing him.

"Kriff, I don't know," he sighed. "I don't want to hurt you, but..."

"Ezra..." she said, her voice so quiet it was almost inaudible. "Please..." She took his hand and laid her head back on his chest, letting a couple tears fall onto his shirt.

Ezra's heart just about shattered at the sight. Sabine never really cried; Tearing up was one thing, but actually letting tears fall was something Mandalorians never did. Though it was enough for Ezra to make up his mind.

"Alright... I'll stay," he said, gently squeezing her hand.

She looked up at him. "Really?" she asked, excitement building in her voice. Ezra could see the light flash in her eyes.

"If you really want me to, then yes."

Sabine threw her arms around Ezra's neck and pulled herself up to him for a kiss, which really took him by surprise. They've never confessed their feelings to each other, but from all that's happened it was clear to them that they felt the same thing for each other.


*Meanwhile on the UNSC Infinity*

"Captain on deck," the first officer said, bringing all the bridge staff to attention.

"At ease," Lasky said. All the bridge staff returned to their duties. "Roland, status report."

The orange, World War 2 pilot AI appeared on the table. "Same old stuff right now. Imperial propaganda, all sorts of clips of Covenant sightings and... apparently civilians interested in our Spartans and ODSTs."

Lasky groaned, "We don't want to attract attention. We know the Empire is keeping us a secret from their people as best as they can, but there's always going to be rumors. There's bound to be people searching for answers to prove those rumors right or wrong."

"Initial scans and the information the Empire and the Rebel Alliance passed to us states this galaxy is, for the most part, human. Granted there's billions of other species here, but primary governments for the past millennia have been controlled by humans," Roland said.

"Okay at least we're finally taking time to actually study and research this galaxy instead of mucking around and getting in fights... speaking of which, have any of our away teams encountered the CAS-class carrier yet?" Lasky asked.

"So far negative. Still deciding if that's fortunate, or unfortunate," Roland said.

"Alright. Keep long range scanners active and keep our comms open. We need to find any leads to that ship before they decide to glass a city," Lasky said, though he knew it was very unlikely these Covenant would even think of glassing a random city.

"Do you know how Bridger and Wren are doing, sir?" a marine asked. This was the same guy that first brought them to Lasky and he grew fond of the two teens.

"Last I heard there's been tension within the Rebellion. Beyond that, I don't really know how they're doing, but it seems Hera Syndulla wasn't like the stern commander she is now. Our presence really has impacted this galaxy," Lasky replied.

The marine nodded, "Alright. I'm sure they can take good care of themselves. If you'll excuse me, Captain, my security shift is starting."

"You're excused, sergeant."

The marine sergeant left the bridge to check into the hangars for his guard shift. Lasky turned back to the map of the galaxy, keeping tabs on friendly deployments, and also Rebel and Imperial movements. So far they knew where the famous 7th Fleet is, and they already knew where the entire Rebellion are so it's almost pointless to keep tabs. However it did help keep track of any outgoing rebel ships. They wouldn't interfere with any encounters they get with the Empire, but they would monitor comms and see if there's any mention of the Covenant ship. By the Empire's laws, and even their own back home, what they are doing is highly illegal.

Things have been seriously quiet during the weeks after their first military operation in this unknown galaxy, and despite all the data and information they've received, they still know next to nothing about the inhabitants. On the other hand, they don't want to be known by the civilians here, especially considering that there's many powerful gangs, pirates, and other dangerous criminals loose in the galaxy. The more notorious the Infinity becomes, the more danger everybody could be in. It's best to stay as anonymous as possible to avoid any unnecessary confrontations or incidents.

Lasky silently thanked the Covenant for those active camos they "gave" them all those years ago, but right now only the Spartan units could use them. ODSTs could potentially use them if they wanted to, or more accurately needed to. Since they're just marines with better training, they know they're way around without the camoflauge. In a way it was ironic; Thanking an alien government for almost wiping humanity out of existence, but in the process gave them access to all their technology and eventually became close allies.

He turned to a monitor and watched a first person view of the most respected soldier in human history: Master Chief John-117. It looked like he was prone on a sand dune, watching some sort of exchange take place between a human and some sort of other creature. Lasky pressed a button to get in contact with Cortana.

"Cortana, this is Lasky. I see you are watching some sort of exchange?"

"Something like that. Everything was going well until we found these guys. They've been here for hours. I can patch you in to Chief's comms," she replied.

"Go right ahead."

"Lasky, whoever these guys are, they don't look friendly," John said.

"How can you tell?" Lasky asked.

"Bio Scans read multiple wounds and scars, and there's more armed beings inside the ships. I'm guessing smugglers or pirates, also a potential gang," Cortana said.


John didn't like that Lasky could see everything he was doing, and everybody in Blue team knew it. Linda-058 knew that pretty well, as did Kelly-087. They both turned to each other when the Chief began speaking randomly, but they soon realized Lasky must have been in contact with him.

Fred turned to Kelly, "What's he talking about?"

"Lasky must be in contact with him. Must be a scrambled transmission for better security," she replied.

"I don't think they can find our frequency," Fred said.

"You never know. There have been rumors of our presence here and it's only a matter of time before the civs find out the truth," Linda said. "Now, can we get back to the mission?"

"Right. Just going to do the same thing we've been doing since we got here," Fred complained.

"Knock it off," Chief said. "We're waiting until these guys leave. Until then, we sit and wait."

"Sounds kind of redundant," Fred muttered under his breath.

Linda and Kelly crawled down the steep sand dune and set up camp at the base of the dune. Fred and John maintained surveillance until the camp was finished. Kelly waved over to Fred, who slapped John's shoulder, signalling the camp was done. Before sliding down the sand dune, the Master Chief ordered the Strident-class heavy frigate that brought them to this planet to keep monitoring the unknown contacts.


Hera was walking around the base on Yavin, looking for Ezra and Sabine. She hasn't seen them all day and is growing worried. She managed to find Wedge, who knew Ezra almost better than anybody.

"Wedge, do you know where Ezra and Sabine are?" she asked.

"No, but I think they're in the Ghost quarters," he said.

Hera looked over to the Ghost, "That's the one place I haven't checked. Thanks Wedge."

She walked away before he could respond. She boarded the Ghost and began calling for the teens.

"Ezra? Sabine? Are any of you in here?" she called out.

She climbed the ladder to the living quarters and knocked on Ezra's door. No response. She turned around and knocked on Sabine's door and heard a quiet yelp.

"Sabine? You in there?" Hera asked.

She heard some stumbling and some things falling from a shelf or a desk. Sabine's voice came over the intercom.

"Hey Hera... I uh... Wha-what do you need?" she asked.

Hera began to grow a little suspicious. "I was just looking for you and Ezra. I haven't seen you two all day. Is he in there with you?"

"I uh... Yeah, about that..." Sabine said.

"Sabine, what were you two doing?" Hera asked.

"Not what you're thinking... but uh..." There was a small pause. "One moment."

About a minute later, the door opened, revealing two very red teens.

Hera glared at them and crossed her arms. "What were you two doing?"

"We didn't go as far as you think, but we can explain," Ezra said.

Hera raised an eyebrow as both Ezra and Sabine took turns explaining everything from the beginning; Their conversation earlier that morning, Ezra's idea to leave the Alliance and join the UNSC, Sabine's confession, everything. By the time they were finished, Hera didn't seem so angry anymore.

"I understand why you wanted to leave us and join the UNSC, Ezra," Hera began, but Sabine interrupted.

"I explained to him that you saw the error in your orders..." she said.

Instead of getting mad, Hera only nodded in agreement. "That I did. We really were about to jump to lightspeed after we heard reports of some sort of battle above Hoth."

"So um... are you mad about our... uh... relationship?" Sabine asked Hera, placing a hand over Ezra's and looking at him.

Hera sighed, "No, if anything I'm really happy for you two. But you have to be careful with this. Don't go too far too fast."

Both Sabine and Ezra blushed, "I... We weren't..."

"I know you weren't. Also, as an apology," Hera continued, "I'll allow you to work with the UNSC whenever they need you."

"Really?" Ezra asked, excited.

Hera nodded. Ezra felt Sabine squeeze his hand and he turned to her. He saw a worried expression on her face.

"What about Sabine?" he asked then.

Hera sighed, "If she wants to, she can join you as well."

Sabine's eyes lit up and she had an excited grin on her face. Hera left as the two teens thanked her, and before Ezra could say anything to Sabine, she tackled him back onto the bed.


The Chimaera appeared at the edge of Mandalorian space, waiting for a monthly rendezvous from Governor Saxon. Thrawn was in his quarters, studying the art from the Rebels, and comparing it to the UNSC ship designs. He's been trying to predict the UNSCs movements since their last encounter with them. So far, with the very little information about the UNSC, he was actually struggling to come up with anything. As for the Covenant ship, that's another story; The Empire has data all about the enemy ship and the kind of crew on board, so he could easily catch a glimpse of their sort of artwork and figure out their strategy.

There was a voice heard through the comms from Thrawn's desk and he pressed his index finger to a button to hear the message.

"Grand Admiral, there's a ship approaching from Mandalore. I'm guessing our friend has arrived," Constantine said.

"Excellent. As soon as he is on board send him to my quarters," Thrawn said, his voice cold as ice.

Moments later, there was a chime at his door.

"You may enter," Thrawn said and the door opened, revealing the newest governor of Mandalore. He was from Clan Saxon, which has still survived after its two leaders were killed by the Rebels. "I assume you are the newest, and third Saxon governor?"

The Mandalorian nodded, "Yes sir."

"It's a shame to hear that both Gar Saxon and his brother were defeated by the same Mandalorian," Thrawn said.

"We won't give up. We will finish what we have started," Saxon said.

"I admire your willingness to fight against your people. I require assistance with finding this ship," Thrawn said as he showed the Mando a holographic image of the Covenant warship. "Not only that, but I believe the Rebels have been working with the people of this vessel." He pushed another button and the UNSC warship appeared. "They are human, but they are not of this galaxy."

"Not of this galaxy? Do they have the technology to travel to other galaxies?" Saxon asked, his eyes growing wide.

"No, I don't believe they do. It seems they have found a spatial anomaly back in their galaxy that sent them here. The only objective I am aware of is searching our galaxy for the same spatial anomaly to return home," Thrawn said.

"What does the Emperor want us to do with them?" Saxon asked.

"Their captain is obviously operating his ship free from the chain of command, which means they don't have communications back to their home. If they do, then it wouldn't be reliable. For now, the Emperor wants us to monitor them, see what they're up to. Eventually, however, we won't let them return to their home," Thrawn said with a cold grin.

"And what do you want me to do?"

Thrawn looked over to the Mandalorian, "I want you to take your men and find this UNSC starship. Track it for us if you will."

"I don't believe my ships can watch them without being detected," the Mandalorian said.

"Don't you worry, I have a special ship for you and your men to use. I believe you will find it very useful in this situation."


*Days later*

"Captain Lasky, I just picked up a hyperspace signature just on the other side of the system!" the nav officer exclaimed.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"I..." There was a confused pause. "I don't know... it vanished."

"Vanished? Are you sure whoever they were didn't just jump to lightspeed again?" Lasky asked.

"There's no outbound HP signature," the officer said. They dubbed Hyperspace as HP to make it easier to communicate.

Lasky pondered the report for a moment. "Keep all system-wide scanners active, but don't activate primary armaments."

"And our shields?"

"Charge the shields at 20% efficiency. For all we know it could be nothing out there," Lasky said, but he had a bad feeling about something. "Primary engines half speed. Keep our frigates docked; We might have to jump at some point."

After a few moments of silence, Lasky turned back to the weapons officer. "On second thought, keep our weapons warm enough to fire at a short range. Keep all defensive armaments hot."

"Yes sir!"

Hours passed and nothing happened. Lasky was about to call for all stations to stand down, but an ODST stopped him.

"Sir," the ODST said.

"What is it?" Lasky asked.

There was silence as the ODST stared out into space. Suddenly, he snapped his head around. "We need to leave."

"What?" Lasky asked, surprised.

"We're being watched."

"How do you know?"

"Something's out there..." the elite soldier said as he began tapping into the scanners.

"What are you doing, soldier?" Lasky asked.

"I'm recalibrating the frequency of our scanners... If the data is correct..."

"What are you talking about?"

"There!" the soldier pointed to a monitor where there was indeed a ship, following them at a distance of an estimated 10 kilometers, their speed matching theirs.

"Roland, what is that?" Lasky asked as the orange AI appeared.

"I don't know exactly, sir. But what everybody can guess, is that's a stealth craft."

"Can you disable their cloaking device without triggering alarm?"

"I don't think so, but I can try. I just need to hack into their system..." A few moments passed. "Alright, their cloak should be down."

There was a bunch of sparks for a minute, but Roland soon contained it. "Uh... nevermind, that wasn't it. Sorry, sir, I don't think there's anything I can do."

"That's alright, you tried your best," Lasky said.

Suddenly, the nav console was going crazy. Beeps and alarms going off indicating multiple HP signatures heading their way. The nav officer looked to Lasky, "Sir, multiple HP signatures inbound bearing 2-3-0!"

Lasky turned to the viewscreen just as multiple Star Destroyers entered the system. "Engines full stop!"

There was a loud thoom heard as a massive Star Destroyer exited hyperspace, between the SD formation. The sheer size of the ship eclipsed the Infinity and made it look like a mere toy.

"SHIT WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Lasky cried out.

"I believe that's a super star destroyer, Captain... It's the Empire, and they don't look happy."


Hey readers,

Sorry for the slow updates for this story, but I've been on a roll with Unknown and LITR and almost forgot about this story. Thanks to ODST Ezra B for reminding me and I appreciate your support. I'm glad to be of service to you all.