"Evil isn't born, it's made. And evil doesn't always look evil. Sometimes it's staring right back at us and we don't even recognize it."
She married it.
I…think she realized over time though. She definitely knew when she talked to me about it.
"—We all love you…but that doesn't mean that he's right. Or I'm right. But all we can do is the best we can in the moment and be okay with that. Hindsight is 20/20, but you can't beat yourself up over past mistakes. You can look back at them, learn from them, but you have to let them go."
And forgive.
"You're a good person Ezra. I know you are. Just promise me that you'll always do that and try to do the right thing."
A soft chime tugs at the edge of my consciousness, and I gently begin easing myself out of my meditative state just before I feel the plane hit a spot of turbulence.
"Master Bridger?"
"Just Ezra…" I reply, eyes closed before slowly opening them to see the uniformed plane attendant lingering a few feet away. "What is it?"
"We are beginning our descent into Liuzhou now."
Good to know.
"Thank you for letting me know." I reply before adding a smile to the attendant.
An uncomfortable smile is returned to me before he pivots to return to the cockpit.
I'll look over the operational plan before we touch down.
Even though I'm really not involved with the majority of it.
The Chinese dictated most of the details of the operation. The Jedi and what they termed 'Western' forces consist of two platoons, plus Cayle will focus on capturing Rax, Gideon, and any other supporters they have who fight back.
The local police and PLA forces are supposed to be raiding the homes of dozens of suspected dissidents simultaneously in many of the residential districts surrounding the city.
I'm focusing on Elias. Who…
We've got a decent read on this part of his day.
Every single day at 8 AM local time, without fail he goes to Wuxing Street, Liuzhou's primary shopping district, and goes shopping.
What he gets depends on the day. On the weekend, farmers and merchants come in from across the Guangxi Autonomous Region to sell their wares.
If he sticks to what—
A chime echoes throughout the plane, and without looking I pull my phone to me.
Matt – 1 New iMessage
Probably another attempt to pump me up and support me.
(Flashback – Tuesday, The Day Before)
"Hey." Matt grabs part of my backpack and holds me up. "How tight are we on time?"
"Vacuum-sealed."
The car that's due to take me to LAX is outside right now, conspicuously parked.
Matt almost leaps to accompany me towards the back stairwell of the lab. "I won't waste time then."
Instead of answering, I probe using the Force and detect that most of the students are opting to take the main staircase or the elevators.
Fine.
"I just wanted to say that you've got this man. I've barely seen or heard any of it, but from what it sounds like you guys have been planning this trip for months. It's going to work."
You don't know that.
"Thanks." I turn and try to reassure him with a smile.
"I'm—EB I'm being serious dude." Matt's tone flips from supportive to frustrated in an instant.
"I know. I appreciate the support."
"You've done all you can, now as you like to say on gamedays, all you gotta go do is execute." Matt jabs my arm. "You've got this."
All everyone has to do is execute.
"I'm just going to control what I can control."
And trust in the Force.
Matt and I round a bend in the staircase before Matt replies. "And when you get back, with the beskar in hand, you can finally erase Frat Ryan from the picture and—"
"I can't be thinking about that right now." I cut Matt off.
Sabine left yesterday, Monday, with the rest of soccer for their apparently annual trip to Chicago to compete in Sabine's backyard tournament.
She's gone. I'm not seeing her until…
I don't know when.
"You're constricting yourself. It's okay for your mind to wander just before a game or mission. To where your heart really lies—"
MATT.
Rounding the last corner, the door outside hones into view before I take the remaining stairs two at a time, forcing Matt to pick up his pace. "—Hey hey hey."
WHAT.
Begrudgingly, I turn back and see Matt looking at me, concern written all over his face. "I know you're a superhero and everything. But your brother is too. So…be careful."
"I can't be careful, I'll get the job done. But thank you." I temper the statement with a smile before Matt skips the dap and comes straight for the hug.
"Take care of yourself bro. Love you. May the Force be with you."
I smile, then hug Matt back. "Never thought I'd hear you say that."
"I think I'm going to start saying it more. Since you know, it's real and all." Matt smiles.
(End Flashback)
'Off the practice field and into the film room. Good luck'. – Matt
I smile at my phone before tucking it into the seatback in front of me.
Won't need it. I'll have an earpiece in my ear along with my mask on to obscure my face as well as my sunglasses.
All I would be able to do is lose it.
Where was I…
—
Right. Elias' routine.
He's made this routine up all on his own and has been following it ever since we found him.
Walking the streets like an average resident of Liuzhou, supporting the economy and living life before returning to his apartment for the rest of the day.
He really doesn't come out much, or at least in a way we've been able to track.
For all of our watching, we haven't been able to put Gideon, Rax and Elias in the same place at the same time, together.
Gideon and Rax, yes. But that's Cayle and special forces and the PLA's problem.
I have to stay focused on Elias.
…
There was no way that this plan could be bulletproof, but as soon as he detects that Gideon and his legion of associates are being arrested?
He's going to rush back to his apartment. To safety.
And to me.
Getting there won't be too difficult, many of Liuzhou's rooftops are connected by boards and pillars that are used by the poorer portions of the population that can't afford mass transit to get around the entire city.
The locals call them street rats.
I can disguise myself as a street rat and get to his apartment with no problems.
It's the next part that—
A chime silences my inner monologue, and with a glance, I see that the fasten seatbelt sign has popped back on. The nose of the plane noticeably dips before the right wing tilts up.
We're here.
(Liuzhou Local Time: 7:43 AM)
With a bow of my head, I accept the drink I just paid for before shuffling out of the way of the flow of traffic and snagging a straw.
"Team One is almost fully assembled." I hear in my ear.
Team Two is—
"We've got an overturned cabbage cart on one of the main arterials. Team Two still assembling."
Just another day…
Plucking the plastic sanitary cover off the straw, I pitch it into the garbage and let my feet take me closer to the hustle and bustle of the street beside me.
The sun burns through the smog and morning dew, bringing my hand reflexively up to block it before I go to my sunglasses.
Natural movement, and it'll help me blend in. Perfect.
As I slip my sunglasses onto my face, I allow myself to smile before pretending to adjust the frame and tap it once.
Let's see what my display will tell me…
A rickety produce truck that looks like it's come a long way noisily makes its way through the street, clearly headed for the market.
"Glasses have been activated…how are we down there?" I hear Alexandre ask me in my earpiece.
"Just another day…" I muse before I sip the closest thing I could find to orange juice.
"Operations Team Two is behind schedule." Tarkin's voice interjects. "What's their status?"
"Still held up by that traffic jam."
"Have one of them begin investigating an alternate route." Tarkin orders.
I'll be next on his roll-call.
Casually, I drift away from the drink stand and toward the lesser-developed portion of the street.
Buildings look older, not nearly as tall. Not as uniform as the newer buildings.
Liuzhou's workforce and populace pay me no mind as they walk with me, and past me, disguising me in the crowd.
"Excellent Ezra, well done." I hear Kallus compliment me as I continue walking.
Here in about fifty feet, there's an alley I can turn into and get rooftop access.
Tarkin's voice pops into my ear again, saying something harsh that I block out while peering around before catching somebody climbing onto a rooftop.
Perfect…I won't be the first one up.
Taking a left, I probe out into the Force and am met with—
Nothing.
The city flows around me as—
A local turns to me, having just used the recycling bin and garbage as a step stool to climb onto the lowest roof before moving to help me do the same.
"Xièxiè." I bow to show my thanks once we're both on the rooftop. The stranger gives me a smile, then turns the opposite way and moves about with his day.
Probably going to work and can't chat. Or doesn't want to.
Didn't have to help me though, that was nice.
"Found my rooftop access." I report to everyone listening in.
"We can see that." Tarkin quips at me.
This guy—
"Team Two nearly assembled. Got a visual."
"Sorry about that, apparently people around here don't know that bigger vehicles take wider turns." Cayle's voice gets me to laugh to myself.
That's why semis have those stickers.
The comms continue in my ear as the sun continues to rise in front of me and I navigate the rooftops.
Some of these 'walkways' are just 2x4s or just wooden boards.
Putting one foot in front of the other, I navigate a walkway that's three boards wide but at an upward angle as the skyline begins to rise and the city unveils itself.
There's the market where Cayle's going.
Two main arterials on either side funnel into the market, separated by blocks of buildings.
The key for them will be to get into the market, separate and undetected as I bypass all of it and push for Elias' apartment.
Don't see that yet.
My next board does a little wobble before I stabilize it, and myself before letting out a heavy breath.
Jeez—
"Easy…." Kanan advises me through my earpiece.
I opt to not respond and keep pushing, this time on the far side of this building to put some space between the two teams and myself.
"T, can you throw up everyone's general locations?"
I'm pretty sure that this is the natural bottleneck that the plan referred to.
Twos displays a satellite image of the market on my left lens, with three sets of color-coded dots.
Yup…I'm right on top of Team One. Cayle's got Team Two.
I press on before adding "Thanks, T."
"Who is he talking to?" I hear Tarkin demand.
"We have a dedicated, trusted Padawan at the ready to give Ezra any information he asks for." Master Skywalker informs Tarkin.
"I'm on top of Team One right now…" I report as I keep trying to put horizontal distance between us. "Still advancing on my primary objective."
Probe.
…
More tension.
Could be anything really. Morning rush hour traffic, merchants trying to get around that cabbage mess Cayle mentioned…
"I've got more tension." I still report, then take my next risk and start crossing over to the next rooftop.
People with bad balance can't do this. You have to have decent feet in order to make this work.
As if it heard me, the board that constitutes the entire walkway I'm using sways before a gust of wind buffets me.
My stomach does a quick lurch before I leap off the board and find the secure rooftop with both feet before doing my best to make the move look natural.
"Team One has rendezvoused with our new friends in the PLA."
Excellent.
"Team Two has a visual on our friends," Cayle reports. "Can't get there yet though, they're not in the best spot…"
Help us out here guys.
"Try to have—" Rex's voice fills my ears just before a car horn pierces the air below me, causing me to subconsciously jump.
'PLA confirmed visual on you. All the links in the chain are meeting up.' – Tommy
"Copy." I mutter, then begin moving—
DUDE. ENOUGH WITH THE HORN!
The Force shifts notably with the anger and frustration of an unknown number of people below me, all focus on the object of their ire.
"You get that?" I hear Cayle ask over the comm.
He's talking to me.
"Yeah."
"Is that him?" I hear an unfamiliar voice ask.
"Yeah, it is. Stay focused." Cayle answers the unknown, male voice.
"Now might not be the time, but we may need him—" The male voice begins petitioning Cayle—
No.
"You're right. Not the time, Bor." Cayle swiftly extinguishes the conversation.
"Can those asshats please make our rendezvous easier? If we walk out in plain daylight we—" Another soldier's voice interjects.
They'll be seen and we'll lose the element of surprise.
"Hold your position, do not reveal yourselves—"
Probe.
— "Cayle."
"Yea—ohhh…"Cayle's tone oscillates. "I feel it too."
"Feel…?" I hear somebody comment.
"Anger, hatred." I answer.
The Dark Side is here with us.
"Alexandre, have your people activate Insight. I want to double-check that Lord Tyranus hasn't moved early." I hear Master Skywalker say.
Early.
I flick my eyes from the rooftop in front of me and focus instead on my sunglasses and HUD.
8:02.
"Flatten out Cayle. He's moving."
He's not much of an effort to hide, if that's even what he's doing.
"He's moving?" Somebody on the DC end presumably says.
"Yeah, I feel it. Everybody…be loose."
I have to keep my signature through the Force obscured. He can pull this whole thing apart like cotton candy if he finds a soldier whose mind is an open book.
And he'd recognize me through the Force in an instant.
Crossing over to the next rooftop, I peer back to Twos' map of—
"You're better dressed than a lot of the other street rats I usually find up here…"A cold, feminine voice calls out on my left. Seamlessly, I pivot to see a…
A woman in a pointy hat, freckles, and …
She looks sick.
"Just going to work." I reply before looking away from the woman and—
"NAH—UH—UH!" She calls out as I take a couple of steps. "I've got a couple of questions for you."
No.
"I'd love to chat, but I'm late for work."
I don't like that you just approached me, in English.
"Keep your cool, play it calm." Kanan advises me.
The woman with yellow skin makes a face before tilting her head. "…work. Where do you work?"
"Just past downtown." I point just to the right of the primary cluster of skyscrapers.
"You know there aren't as many passages by roof down there. They don't want folk like you."
I…don't care.
"Well, they hired me. Now, if you'll excuse me—" I turn back and comment, then turn and—
Another one.
Nearly enclosed helmet, only eyes visible.
Problem.
"If you even got that far, somebody would probably attack you for those glasses…" The new figure comments in a colder pitch and tone.
Probing out, I turn away from Ice Queen in front of me.
—
The Force around both Ice Queen and Yellow Lady is tightly controlled and constricted.
Unnaturally so.
"I've worn them every day, I don't know why today would be any different." I shrug at both of them while trying to slip over to the next horizontal rooftop.
"You don't…know why today would be any different?" Yellow Lady asks, the same sickening tone in her voice.
"No…?" I begin before the Force—
"SISTER!"
A dark figure leaps up, seemingly from nowhere before landing heavily.
—
"We have higher priorities today than harassing some street rat! Stop talking and—"
"Visual on Elias Bridger. Ezra, confirm if possible." Tommy pops into my ear.
I can't.
I can't believe he just…
Where the hell did he come from?
The argument between Elias and Yellow Lady continues before the fully cowled figure looks away from the argument and toward me.
Elias is thinner than me. His frame's bigger, just like the notes.
But I'm bigger, in better shape. His clothes look like they're well worn, which there's nothing wrong with that.
I've got my favorite—
The Force gives me a split-second warning just before, right in front of my eyes, Elias turns over his right hand and probes out into the Force.
Now.
Instead of obscuring myself, I instead straighten up and take a half-step further from Helmet Head—
"What?" Yellow Lady asks as Elias stills, just before—
Easy…easy easy easy…
"Hey, Chief." I smile and call back to one of my old mission nicknames for him. "I'm here to talk, you got a minute?"
Elias just stares at me, shock written all over his face— "YOU ARE NOT HERE TO TALK! Engage him!" Tarkin screams into my ear.
"Disregard." Master Skywalker coolly advises me.
"Confirm what they're telling me EB." Cayle's voice is the next to pop into my ear.
I can't do that right now!
"Chief?" Yellow Lady turns her focus on me before looking to Elias. "You know each other?"
Elias remains stock still for a moment before briskly taking three steps and peering over the edge of the rooftop.
"Lo—" Helmet Head speaks before Elias makes a motion with his hand and—
The Force unmistakably shakes with Elias' action before I take a half step, also toward the edge of the rooftop.
"NUH UH. You're under arrest." Yellow Lady barks out at me.
"You're not an officer of the law here." I dismiss her.
I only care about Elias. I'll tear all of you apart.
"We are—"
Helmet Head's screed is interrupted by a loud bang, followed by the sounds of a commotion below us.
"—shots fired! Shots fired!" I hear one of the Special Forces units report in.
Cayle.
Keeping my eyes on Elias, I slip my hand behind my thigh and probe out for Cayle.
C'mon—Good.
He's okay. Something's definitely going on down there. But he's okay.
"What'd you do?" I ask Elias, which pulls his eyes right back to me.
Elias sharply inhales. "What'd I do?! I'm provoked? I was going shopping. You're the aggressor here. Foreign invaders, traitors—" He turns his head. "Runaway Scrape."
The commotion and madness below us continue, getting louder before I peek over again and glimpse multiple people taking cover before red lasers ping around them.
That's new.
"They're evacuating everyone." Tarkin correctly diagnosis the situation. "All teams move in, now!"
"No!" I blurt out, which gets all three heads up here on the roof to snap to me.
Elias' expression somehow gets even angrier. "He's got help. You're communicating with someone you—"
Elias' insult gets audible shock in my ear, likely from DC before I coolly reply "Insults aren't going to help you here. I'm trying to help you!"
"Help?!" Helmet Head's tone is incredulous. "He—"
Elias' head turns to him before he starts to move for his lightsaber—
Don't—
"WHOA!" I hear multiple people yell in my ear.
SHUT THEM UP!
Elias holds his follow through and watches as the person that used to be Helmet Head remains in place for one final moment before the bisection becomes visible, and the two halves of the corpse split and fall. Yellow Lady stutter steps before DC begins going nuts in my ear.
"Shut them up." I bark at Twos.
They can't help me right now.
"Who are you talking to?!" Yellow Lady calls her own lightsaber into her hand.
Circular, with a horizontal section in the middle. Duel-bladed.
"Outside help." Elias correctly diagnoses the situation before turning to his ally. "Go. You have your orders."
Yellow Lady hesitates visually before I feel her indecision through the Force. "Leave us. This has nothing to do with you." I call out to her.
I don't want anybody else to get hurt.
Elias whirls back to face me. "Yeah, this is all your fault!"
"Slow down, can you please just listen—"
"NO!" Elias howls back at me before returning to his spot on the edge of the roof and making a casual motion before a terrified scream sounds out.
Somebody just got—
Oh.
Elias catches the Special Forces soldier by the scruff of his neck and just lets him dangle there. "Wha—Wha—What's happening—"
"Leave him out of this. I'm the one you're mad at." I keep trying to reason with him.
COME ON!
"You're right." Elias nods as the terrified soldier looks from Elias to me before his eyes manage to get even wider. "And—" He starts again before turning his full attention to the soldier.
He just read him.
"Eli—"
Elias snaps off a Force Push that I negate just as quickly. "So this was all part of some plan. Well…" Elias pauses only to lift the soldier higher.
"Let him go, he has nothing to do with this!" I bargain with him.
Elias' expression changes to a sneer. "No, he has everything to do with this. Now—"
The Force sends out a warning before Elias simply says "Him, or me. Choose."
He's gonna—
Elias drops the soldier right off the rooftop before moving to walk away from the edge. I don't catch more than that as I'm already diving off the rooftop and catch the soldier within fifteen feet before I grab onto the nearest fire escape and try to slow us down.
The building lets out a terrible metallic noise before I grab onto something else I don't see, anything before doing it again and colliding with the ground before doing a barrel roll to protect him before crashing into a large garbage collector.
OW!
"You okay?!" I ask while already moving to get to my feet. The soldier doesn't initially respond before I use the Force and instantly pop my head up.
"TAKE COVER!" I call out before activating my lightsaber and deflecting the first three shots before ducking back behind cover.
The sound of bullets whizzing past and ricocheting around consumes everything else before I peer to my left and see that a majority of Team 1 is indeed behind cover.
"Can you run?" I turn back to my new best friend, who is still beside me before turning to him. Shakily, he nods.
"Thank you. You're—"
"Don't mention it. When I step up, break for it." I cut him off before letting out a breath and—
GO!
As soon as I pop back up, red blaster bolts fly right at me and I send them harmlessly away as my new best friend runs for his life, then slides for the safety of cover with his brothers.
"EZRA!" I hear Cayle yell in my ear.
I have to get back up there to Elias.
"You have droideka's incoming. Watch out." Aubrey's voice pops into my ear.
Aubrey.
"What the hell's a droideka?!" I reply, then look across the way.
The word clearly means something to them, because the word sends them into action. "Rollies! Incoming!"
Rollies?
"A roll—" I start before I pick up a robotic sound up near where Gideon's forces have been inundating us with fire.
Uhhh…what are those?
Three armadillo-looking droids just roll right up before coming to a uniform stop before—
Shields.
I reactivate my lightsaber and quickly block the first volley of shots before the second, and the third come flying in. All I can manage is to block everything that I can before ducking around a shot and returning to my cover.
That's too much firepower for me alone.
"I can't block them all!" I report in. "Cayle! Where are you?!"
Cayle answers my question by drawing all of the rollies' fire less than fifteen feet away by activating his own lightsabers as around him, three soldiers have broken off.
Taking advantage of the distraction, I abandon my cover and join Team 1. "Thanks! Appreciate that!" I call out before popping to my feet beside him and taking some of the burden of the blaster onslaught.
All of Gideon's men are gone.
"They're evacuating. We have to move!" I point out.
"Already on it!" A Special Forces member replies.
Okay—
"You gotta get back up there." Cayle points out, face obscured with his own photostatic mask.
Yeah, but—
"GO!" He yells at me, then points at the building I leapt off of. "Get to that apartment!"
I—
Don't hesitate!
Breaking out into a run, I cross the street and double back before leaping and using the Force to propel me up about ten feet to a rooftop.
Apartment.
"Ezra!" My name pops into my ear, followed by a barrage of information on my sunglasses.
"Working on it!" I reply while moving to leap across the rooftop.
"We're having Cayle break off and assist you with Elias' associates. Have you ever seen them before?" Windu asks me.
"No! and I got—" A figure appears from nowhere, behind a transformer and takes a blaster shot, only for me to deflect it right back at him and drop him.
Idiot.
"I've got this! They need him more down there!"
Those special forces guys aren't prepared for this fight.
"Did we know that they've weaponized blaster tech?!" I ask dead air.
As far as I knew it was an idea Dad had that the Order took and put into probes and drones for the Temples.
"Yeah, the droids that marched on that little town!" Master Skywalker answers me.
That's right…
"T, show me where I'm going." I say while blindly leaping across a rooftop in what I think is the right direction.
"Palpatine and his associates want to get back in your ear Ezra." Master Kenobi reveals.
No.
"That's on y'all—I—" Another gunman appears, only for me to fell him with his own shot. "I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment!"
Twos throws up a helpful arrow at the edge of my vision to point the way before I hear DC's end reconnect.
"—Ezra, do you copy?"
"Ask again." Tarkin pesters Tommy.
This time two figures bust through a door loudly to my right, which only draws them to my attention before I push them back inside and slam the door. "—do your best not to distract—" Palpatine asks his people.
A collective groan goes throughout their room before I pipe up. "All due respect sir, you're only a distraction."
"I can respect that." Tarkin comments.
"I'm doing my best to get back to my objective. And for the record, I didn't start this. This wasn't me!"
Grand Admiral Thrawn's voice reaches me for the first time before I hear "We see everything you're seeing. We know."
"Thank you—" I blurt out before Tarkin comes back.
"Perhaps worry less about your future and more at the task at hand."
Red haze fills the edges of my vision before I snap "Shut them off again! Gah—"
Don't swear at him Ezra!
The next of Gideon's forces appear, two at a time through another door before I neutralize them both, cross another rooftop and probe out.
Another one.
Dark skinned, hair tightly confined to a braid, and in an all-black outfit comes to a halt in front of me before pulling out a similar-looking lightsaber to the fool who Elias killed earlier.
Without breaking stride, I pull my own lightsaber into my hand before she activates her own and falls into a defensive stance.
That won't help you.
As soon as I'm within reach, I start her off with a heavy chop to her right, come back left with a slice that's blocked before she tries pushing her blade off me only for me to keep closing the gap.
Too little. You can't push me around.
"That won't work." I inform her before bringing my hands up over my head and—
Lady Chick lunges out and jabs at me, but I sidestep it and drop my blade heavily to knock hers down—
Billboard.
Taking advantage of her vulnerable position, both hands on her lightsaber, I pop my left hand up off mine and Push my opponent so hard she goes airborne and collides with the billboard before she lets out a scream and disappears from view.
"Well done!" Kanan compliments me.
"Light work." I channel Trey while crossing to the next rooftop.
I'm still way too far away from Elias' apartment…
Cayle laughs in my ear. "Light work…"
"Stay focused, both of you. Cayle, what's it looking like down there?" Master Windu asks him.
Don't you have eyes on him like you do me?
"Bor, Meal, and Mac took out those rollies, we're advancing on Gideon!"
Master Skywalker compliments Cayle on his progress as I move to the next rooftop and survey the scene.
People are running everywhere down there, away from the madness that's ensuing. It's gonna be tough finding them in all that.
"Do you have a visual on him?" I ask. "It looks like a mosh pit down there."
"No, but he's pretty distinctive. Team 2 already captured Gallius Rax, it sounds like his own men turned on him."
Best help money can buy…
"Tell Cayle that might be a ruse. Don't let your guard down." Aubrey advises me.
"That might be a fake, don't let your guard down." I parrot her then tell Twos. "Iso her."
"On it." Twos reports as I hustle across a wide beam and—
Four.
Bringing my lightsaber back up, I deflect every shot I can before redirecting one, two before the remaining two realize what they're doing and stop firing.
Smart!
Utilizing their surrender, I pull one to my and knock him out with a punch before moving to do the same with the— "NUH UH UH!" I call out before reeling in the other one and taking him out.
"Two! Rooftop! Mark it!"
For my PLA friends.
"Ezra? Can you hear me?"
My head pops up to search the skyline for Aubrey. "Yeah, where are you?"
"Apartments under construction, good sightlines. When you get closer I'll fall back to Elias' place. I think we might have traitors in the midst."
"Traitors?!"
"The PLA defection rate isn't public, but they can be bought. Things turned so fast I bet Gideon bought some of them."
Meaning they got tipped off.
"Makes a ton of sense…I'll let them know."
"Not yet!" Aubrey yelps.
I snap back "I gotta tell Cayle! He's down there with them."
"I know, I've got eyes on—him."
She just shot.
"Did you just shoot?"
"Maybe. Idiot poked his head too high up." Aubrey's indifference is audible.
"Don't get caught out." I order her before—
Another one.
A larger individual, with an odd-looking hat and white eyes is standing on the next rooftop, waiting for me. "Jedi."
He looks a bit like a shark that's been through a few battles. Jagged, poorly healed scars on his face and everything.
He's food.
"What are you supposed to be? A shark?"
Engage me. C'mon.
The fool falls for my use of Dun Möch and actives his lightsaber. "I'm the Fifth Brother, and—"
"Fifth?!" I blurt out, then slice down at him and force him backward. "There's four more of you?!"
One got cut up, the lady I threw at the billboard—
Fifth Brother snarls, revealing sharp and pointy teeth before he continues "Our numbers far exceed yours here, Jed—UHH!"
Shutting him up with a chop, I alter it into a riposte with my left hand before grabbing him by the head and slamming it into a telecom pole.
You're not a shark. You're chum.
You're Shark Bait.
Reflexively, the memory of a kids movie that Jacen has watched a ton pops into my head and I laugh.
"What are you laughing about?" Cayle asks in my ear.
"I'm laughing at some idiot. Looked like a fish, turns out he's food."
"FOCUS!" Kanan sounds mildly irritated before I probe out and—
You again?
I leap across to the next rooftop and put some space between me and the chick that I kicked into the billboard. "I don't suppose you have a name too?!" I call back.
The woman takes a Force-assisted leap before landing nimbly. "I'm Reva. You can't win! He's always going to come looking for you now!"
Stop yelling!
Reva straightens up once again, opening herself up to the exact same trick as before as behind her, reinforcements meet their boss as I push Reva right into them and keep moving.
"How many of them are there?!" I ask before landing.
"No idea." Master Skywalker replies.
"Well can somebody tell Cayle that there's at least four of them?!"
"We heard." Ahsoka's voice pops up. "Already told him."
Boy am I glad to hear you.
"Tell him not to do anything stupid." I say before detecting the next gunman before I move roofs and make the point moot. "I don't know how good they are."
None of them are tall enough or strong enough.
Yet.
"That part's always implied." Ahsoka quips back at me before—
Something heavy strikes me in the head and knocks my earpiece out as I tumble to the—
MOVE!
Rolling as quickly as I can, the space I was lying on gets filled with a red lightsaber being plunged right where my chest used to be before I spring to my feet and see—
Elias.
Before I can do anything about it, Elias takes a step and crushes my earbud underneath his boot. "If you put that lightsaber down, you can punch me again!" I extend the olive branch. "I need to talk to—."
"SHUT UP!" Elias roars before reactivating his lightsaber and swinging down at me.
Oh boy.
Raising my own, I meet his lightsaber with mine over my head and block the lethal blow before Elias, in a flash changes it to a slice towards my left. Dancing around it, I clear the airspace around me by twirling my lightsaber in my palm.
Maul trained him. So he's going to be better in—
Elias silences the thought by gritting his teeth and charging right at me. Telegraphing his first slice I deflect it before turning the next into a riposte and a cut in the direction of his head.
Purposefully missing, I retreat and open my mouth—
"I don't care what you have to say! You betrayed us. ALL OF US!"
"You don't understand Eli—aahh!" I grunt out as Elias swings heavily at me, forcing me to block and push him off.
Elias pursues again, this time with another vertical swing of his blood-red lightsaber which I neutralize and push his blade off of mine.
"Don't understand?!" Elias rages. "YOU don't understand! What I had to do to SURVIVE!" Unleashing a chop, I redirect and reset the encounter only for Elias to keep going.
"Days and weeks! Running! Terrified!"
Engaging me in a blade lock, Elias bares his teeth at me and scowls while trying to push me backward, but failing to do so.
"I'm sorry!" I break off the blade lock and put two steps worth of space between us with a simple open turn. "I couldn't tell you, Dad—"
"YOU BETRAYED HIM!" Elias screams at me before his expression turns savage and he swings wildly at me. I sidestep the swing and reset, rotating my blade again.
Elias' next swing leaves me no choice but to lock his blade up as he digs in and tries pushing me off my spot, only for me not to budge and break the encounter by kicking out at his ankle before our elbows bump into each other, causing both of our blades to wobble.
Eas—
Elias raises his hand and locks up my right arm, pinning it to my midsection with the Force before he charges and engages me as I take a half-step back, falling into Makashi principles.
He knows I'm a righty. He's trying to invent an advantage since he can't push me around.
A formulaic combination follows, left, right, left, right before he caps it off with a slice at my head that I duck under before ceding more ground and stepping onto a board for the next rooftop.
Still headed in the right direction.
Frustration flashes on his face before he grits his teeth and snaps "OH COME ON!"
Abandoning his strategy of pinning my arm, Elias goes back to Form VII principles and goes straight for the jugular with a bevy of slices and chops, all of which I deter with footwork and Sorensu techniques, keeping his blade as far away as possible with my own lightsaber and my feet.
Leaping off the board, Elias jumps to meet me and uses his verticality to give him more power, only for me to neutralize it by timing my blade to meet his on the way down and use the momentum to defuse the strike, sending it into the edge of the building before he lets out another scream of frustration.
"WHY ARE THEY TRAINING YOU?!"
"Because, I want to be trained."
"You don't deserve to hold that lightsaber!" Elias declares before engaging me once more.
A slice to the left gets blocked, and Elias turns that into a slice. Turning that momentum into a riposte, I turn the tables and cut out at my brother only for his defenses to turtle up and his footwork to fail him, causing him to stumble slightly and force him to regain his balance.
"Where's your little girlfriend?!" I hear somebody else call out.
EXCUSE ME?!
I take a decisive step back onto another, flimsy board connecting two rooftops just as Yellow Lady from earlier finally reappears. "Yeah! I didn't see her, just one other stupid Jedi."
"He better be dead!" Elias roars before he continues pursuing me.
Board.
I backflip just as Elias lands, and the board completely gives way, sending Elias plummeting out of sight and getting a gasp out of Yellow Lady as the air gets filled with a scream of frustration from Elias.
"What did you just say?" I ask, then look around me.
We've fought all the way through an apartment complex, and now are in an industrial area by the looks of it.
"Your girlfriend! The Mandalorian with the hair. She's not here, is she?"
NO!
Leaping back across the rooftop, Yellow Lady activates her own lightsaber as I land, in time for me to catch a metallic sound before the blade seems to engage and for her to lash out with a move that I easily dodge.
"NO…" I dismiss the move out of hand before moving to attack her.
"That's okay, we'll find her…and you know what'll happen next."
"She's not my girlfriend!" I snarl, then catch her blade vertically with a slice that she instantly breaks.
'STOP TALKING.'
The words appear on my glasses as Yellow Lady does some twirly thing, accompanied by that stupid metal noise.
"I can't hear you!" I inform everyone watching through my glasses. "He crushed my earpiece!"
"So you were talking to somebody. Care to tell me—"
'WE KNOW. KEEP GOING.'
Roger roger.
Yellow Lady's next words get caught up in my Force Push, sending her flying before she hits a brick wall.
Turning back, my arrow indicating where I need to go reappears, and I leap away from Yellow Lady to the next rooftop, which—
The air in my lungs goes ice-cold as red and blue collide two or three roofs away before Cayle kicks out and forces Elias' blade down.
CAYLE!
Cayle seizes upon his blade being down and sends dueling slices at Elias, only for them to get blocked before Elias swings wildly at Cayle. Ducking underneath the blow, Cayle ends the sequence with a two-handed Force Push, putting ten feet or so of space between them.
Running as fast as I can, I leap across one roof before taking two or three more steps and—
Tyranus' chops meet Cayle's left lightsaber, and he directs the momentum away before catching him flush with a kick that gives him enough time to whirl around and get some momentum behind a swing of his right lightsaber that forces Elias to properly defend it by bringing his own lightsaber down before Elias uses his own considerable strength to push Cayle off him.
Leaping once again, I land heavily on their rooftop and throw my lightsaber like a frisbee at Elias. The sound of it causes him to take a panicked step back and block it, ending their engagement.
"You're crazy!" I bark at Cayle as I call my lightsaber back to my own hand.
"I thought I was holding up pretty well." Cayle quips back before Elias makes another blind chop that Cayle ducks under—
NO!
I snap my wrist and catch Elias on the follow-through, sending him skidding a few feet away. "I got him."
"What about the other chick?!"
"Pushed her into a wall. He crushed my earbud, I can't hear anyone." I catch Cayle up.
Cayle makes an irritated face at Elias. "I told you, he just wants to talk to you! He's defying every single—"
"SHUT UP!" Elias roars before swinging as hard as he can at me, separating Cayle and I but allowing his blow to meet the rooftop between us.
Before I can act further, Elias sends Cayle flying with a kick to the ribs—"No!" I call out.
"You care about him, don't you?" Elias deduces before spinning and swinging down at me, despite his height disadvantage. I thwart his blow before he continues. "Sounds like you love him, like a brother!"
I—
Elias lets out a feral yell and steps right into a violent combination of chops, slices, and heavy swings that I fall into Sorensu principles to defuse and deter before Elias gets close enough that I can grab him by the shoulder and bodily break off his velocity.
"Can you just hang on?!"
"NO!"
The air gets filled with red on blue as Elias challenges me again, starting with a slice that I block, following right up with another slice that I deter then pivot to keep a good angle on Elias. Behind him, rows and rows of windows with the blinds rolled down, hiding them from the outside world—
Noticing the blade in my left hand, Elias then turns his attention to my right hand "Seventh Sister was right though, no girlfriend."
Seventh Sister?!
"How many of them are there?!" I ask him before Elias forces another blade lock upon me.
"She's—with family, right?!" Elias grits his teeth and pushes on me, only for me to not back down. "Her, your newfound family…those kids!?"
This time I'm the one to break the blade lock and fire off a shiim at Elias, which misses. "How do you know that?!"
"Social media!" Elias barks back at me. "She's taken you off though, because of Maul beating you!"
No—
He wants me to keep talking.
Shut up!
I refocus by rotating my blade before starting my own velocity, starting with a chop to his right before immediately once it's blocked, slipping it and poking at Elias' shoulder. Elias mirrors my own movement and rotates his lightsaber, catching the edge of my blade with his own.
He's beyond talking.
I can't reason with him.
"What about the fact that I beat him?" I goad Elias as he keeps retreating.
We're actually getting close now.
Elias steps onto a new, two-board-wide passage to the next roof. "He never should have chased you into your own territory. He walked right into your trap."
He's very well informed for somebody—
Elias forces me to silence my thoughts as, as soon as I'm off the board, he moves to capitalize and tries closing off my airspace. Taking advantage of that, I sidestep him and tiptoe along the edge of the roof before stepping back off onto firmer ground before our blades meet again.
His chop meets my slice, and the plane flips from above our heads to around our feet in an instant as Elias pushes the action.
Trying to brute force his way to victory.
Meeting him blow for blow, we keep marching along this latest rooftop as Elias continues his assault on my defenses.
—
MOVE!
I break away from Elias' latest chop and barrel roll just in time to hear a lightsaber find the ground I was just standing on before—
"Cheap!" Cayle roars at the Seventh Sister. "You can't beat him, so you—"
Elias ends Cayle's sentence by swinging down at him, only for Cayle to block it with his main blade before clearing space using his shoto and backing up towards me.
"I got him." I tell Cayle.
Elias shakes his head at my words. "No, he's got me. He ended Savage's ass by himself, he can handle me fine!"
He knows about Turkey too?!
I'd never considered that—
Seventh Sister comes flying in, and Cayle summarily sends her flying back before leaping to engage her, leaving Elias and I once again. "How do you know all this?!"
There's been nothing, no indication that Elias knew anything about anything!
The conclusion Tommy, Alyssa, and the others were coming to was that Elias was hiding out here.
Just wanting to be left alone.
"You know why! Gideon's information network is as good as ever! I—"
Elias suddenly stops, having just probed out just like I do before his face changes, and his eye level moves to look above me.
What's above?
Turning around as well, I spot row after row of identical windows before—
OH SH—
The blinds and curtains on every single window vanish, probably by Elias' doing, revealing that every single window is filled with people, phones out.
Filming—
"Haar'chak!" I swear, before turning back and—
He's gone!
As quickly as I can, I run away from the banks of cameras in the windows, towards the arrow that's remained on my glasses.
No no no no NOOO!
Sprinting as fast as I can, my heart starts trying to escape my chest.
This is a nightmare. Those cameras caught God knows how much of that, and—
'Rendezvous with A/C at the apartment. Tyranus is fleeing.'
Yeah because if I can't be seen, he sure as hell can't be seen.
He's the one that's been hiding here!
Obeying the instructions on my glasses, I leap from rooftop to rooftop before finally reaching the woodworking business and slip inside via the top floor and a maintenance entrance.
I think.
Taking these stairs two at a time, I—
'Miss Morris is already inside—coast is clear.'
That's not good.
That means there's just as much chance that they're baiting her, and me and Cayle than that we've caught them flat-footed.
Here.
I come to a halt in front of a door that looks well worn, with scratches and age visible just before I—
The door opens, revealing Aubrey with a gun pointed at me before relief flashes on her face. "Oh thank goodness…what the hell happened out there?!"
"I fear your theory is worse than we thought. I think we got made way sooner than expected." I throw out there as I step inside—
Whoa.
This is…Way smaller than I was expecting.
"Yeah…This isn't your apartment." Aubrey quips, then extends something to me. "Here, they want to talk to you. Apparently you lost yours?"
This isn't half of the size of the…front of my apartment.
Starting at the door, you can drop in my kitchen, and maybe all of the dining area extending to my desk and Sabine's art station. But there's not enough room for my recliner, or couch and TV or…
This space is tiny…
"Ezra." Aubrey brings me out of my reverie. "They want to talk to you."
I've got it a lot better than he has…
"Right…" I eye Elias' meager apartment, spotting a TV before Aubrey tips something into my hand.
Another earbud.
Slipping it into my ear "—Ezra?"
"I copy you. Masters, I'm so sorry—"
"You have nothing to apologize for." Palpatine instantly tells me.
"It's clear that we have been betrayed on the inside by some of our Chinese allies." Tarkin follows up.
"I—I don't know about jumping to that conclusion so fast, to be honest." I admit, before starting to move around the apartment.
The kitchen is miniscule, there's a card table substituting for a kitchen table and a mat in front of the TV with a Playstation underneath it…
That's where he's spending most of his time.
Games on games on games are stacked in neat little towers beside the entertainment center, with the small TV nestled in the middle.
That's 32" max.
"I don't think there's a lot of intel here." Aubrey says to me. "I've looked in here, I'm going to glance back at his bedroom."
His bedroom.
He does live here…
"By the way, when were you going to tell us that you found Miss Morris?" Tarkin needles me.
"She found us, I wasn't going to betray her trust." I return fire.
I don't give a DAMN what you have to say Tarkin.
"Ezra, her parents have been searching for her for years. They deserve—" Palpatine begins.
"Sir, I'm sorry. I was there when my father kicked her out. Her parents chose him over their own daughter, something that she cannot forgive. And I'm not about to try and make her."
"They regret that very, very much." Kallus' voice interjects.
"Young man, they've worked so hard to find her and fix it that the President has personally seen them about the matter. All they want to know is that she's alive, that she's okay." Tarkin argues with me.
I roll my eyes and turn around in Elias' apartment. "She is, and she's thriving. All on her own. No thanks to them."
They made their bed. They have to lie in it now.
"It sounds to me like you hold a grudge over the decision yourself." Tarkin surmises.
"They made their decision to ally themselves with Lord Sidious. Anybody who does that is squarely against me and my interests. Now can we please focus on what's in front of us…?"
There's practically nothing here.
Nothing on the walls, no magic board with strings attached with a grand plan.
It's a kitchen and a table and a spot for Elias to play video games and…
That's honestly it.
Has he not done anything else over the last six years? It's like he recreated the game room from back on Lothal as best he can and just stopped.
"That's just it, there doesn't appear to be anything in front of you." Tarkin comments.
"What do you think?" Kanan's voice interjects.
I…
I don't think he's really playing along with Gideon.
I think he wants to be left alone, to be honest. That's all he wanted when he played his games for hours and hours on end.
I don't know how many fights we had because he'd been playing all day and I'd been training or researching or doing something for Dad and he just refused to get off the sticks.
And when I pressed, he tried to beat me up.
"Hello? Do you copy?"
"I'm here, I'm here. Sorry…" I apologize as I turn back around.
There's nothing we can use here. Nothing on the holocron or Maul or…
"Talk to us Ezra, we're sharing everything." Master Skywalker informs me.
I really thought there'd be more here…
"There's nothing here." I state the obvious. "I was sure there'd be some kind of intel or something—"
"Ezra." I hear behind me.
Turning back around, I see Aubrey in the cramped hallway. "Back here."
"Okay. Where the hell is Cayle?"
"He told me that he's coming. He and that other chick got into it again."
A chill runs through me before Aubrey adds "He says it wasn't bad. You know him, how dismissive he is."
"That young man deserves an award for what he's done today." Kallus proclaims.
"None of them deserve that. This entire operation is a complete and total failure—"
I pull the earbud out of my ear using the Force and pass it back to Aubrey before starting back to a closed-door that's mostly a white, opaque sort of what looks like paper before I push it open—
…
…
Turning left, then back right the entire space is visible with most of it being taken up by the little cot in the center of the room with a beaten up, plastic bedside table—
BESKAR.
My breath catches in my throat as the unmistakable gleam of the Mandalorian metal shines in the sunlight coming in through the small window beside the cot.
Shakily, I take a couple of steps and then crouch down before I sniffle involuntarily.
A taped-up picture beside the table is the only decoration, of me, Elias with Mom and Dad.
Mom set it all up, much to Dad's chagrin.
I've got the same picture, put it in my wallet before I left Lothal.
I think it's at Kanan and Hera's somewhere.
Elias…
Several coins are scattered on the bedside table, along with the beskar and a book.
'Book of Shadows' the title reads on the cover.
Picking up the book only to set it back down where I found it, I scoop up the beskar and squeeze it.
Nothing. No give at all. It's legit.
The unmistakable rings of the beskar shine out at me before I nibble the edge of it, only to be met with the familiar copper-like taste before I hear Cayle laughing behind me.
"I thought you ate before we got here…"
"Just double-checking that it's real." I explain to him before rising to my feet.
"By biting it?"
"You wouldn't understand…" I shake my head dismissively. "Are you okay?"
Cayle waves away my concern. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"I…"
No, not really.
"I'm not sure this was a good idea." I confess.
Cayle's eyebrows snap down but he doesn't move. "Go on…"
"I always thought that there was some grand plan…seeing how easily he just vanished after we captured Dad. But now, after listening to him and seeing this…"
"Not so much…" Cayle nods, biting his lip. "I see what you mean. This is it huh?"
Both of our eyes find the cot, with a lone pillow and thin-looking blanket set next to a window overlooking the city of Liuzhou.
He can never come back here. We burned it. It's no longer safe for him here…
He's on the run now. He—
The Force ripples around me before both Cayle and I straighten up. "You feel that?" Cayle asks me.
Elias.
He's here.
Cayle lets out a shaky breath before peering around. "Don't go for that window…where is he?"
"I don't know, go check on Aubrey."
"Right…" Cayle nods, then ducks out of the room.
He's close…
Coming here endangered the whole mission…and for what?
I shouldn't have come.
I should have stayed in LA or gone to Chicago to protect Sabine or—
No no no don't think about her right now…
Keep your guard up Ezra. Mental shields have to be strong right now.
I let out an unsteady breath and double-check that I've got the beskar on me before taking one last look at Elias' bedroom and ducking out of the room.
There's nothing else in there. Just his clothes hung up in the little closet.
"—where's the bathroom?" Aubrey asks Cayle.
"Don't know, but…what?" Cayle turns back as Aubrey spots me behind him, causing him to turn.
"Got the beskar." I report. "Is there any paper or anything around here?"
I've caught Elias so flat-footed that he's going to have to return here before fleeing.
Cayle fiddles with a flip phone but doesn't open it before—
That's it.
If I write him a note maybe…
Then how is he going to contact me?
Twos.
"T. I need to buy a phone number that Elias can contact me at. All hours of the day."
"What?" Aubrey blurts out as Cayle gives me a look.
"Elias is somewhere close, we have to move. But I'm not going to just give up on him. I'm going to write him a note, saying that I just want to talk to him and leave him a phone number so that he can contact me."
Cayle quickly looks irritated before he says "Ezra, I know you keep on wanting to fight for him—"
"Well do you have a better idea?! You want to go back out there and fight him?" I snap at him. "Tarkin and Palpatine already think this whole thing's a mess and I'm trying to not make it worse."
They're all going to kill me. If I even get that far—
No, that's not going to help me right now.
"Found it." Aubrey proclaims. "Found some paper. Let me find you a pen…"
Three Hours Later - Chicago, Illinois
(Sabine Wren POV)
"You played good today Wren. We'll get you tomorrow off." Weber dismisses me with a gentle shoulder tap and a smile.
Great.
Now where'd Mom and Dad go?
They were both on the sidelines, in the stands. Then...
I don't know, that second half was weird.
People wouldn't look up from their phones.
Exiting the Benet locker room, I see Jaicey pop up from against the wall. "What'd he say?"
"Played well, tomorrow's an off day." I relay the message and simultaneously begin leading the way out towards the carpool lane.
That's probably where everyone is.
"Same. By the way, found out why everyone started staring at their phones." Jaicey says casually while scrolling on her phone.
"Why?" I ask just before Jaicey shoves her phone under my nose.
What's—
Two lightsabers connect, spark then break apart. The figure with the blue lightsaber sweeps his leg to get fully to his feet before the other one—
"Is that Vader?"
What the hell is this?!
"Officially we don't know. But social media and reporting says that's—" Jaicey taps the Twitter video, that's mostly played through while framed on the guy with the red lightsaber. "Vader's brother. Tyranus."
"Ahh great, the other one." I roll my eyes dryly. "Then who is the other guy?"
"Apparently that's Vader. But that's—SHIT!" Jaicey suddenly lights up, then exclaims.
"What?"
"Hang on lemme find it." Jaicey comes to a dead halt to type on her phone. "There's like a thousand videos online of this thing. Apparently, a fire escape got torn off a building, then shots, then...that."
A WHAT?!
Diving for my phone, I tap as quickly as I can to the blue bird icon, then flip over to the top topics.
'Vader
Tyranus
Liuzhou
Sith
Jedi
Moff Gideon
'joint operation'
PLA'
LIUZHOU.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOO!
That was the city mentioned in that file Mom sent me about the beskar.
If the Jedi were involved in an operation in Liuzhou, there's no way Ezra...
...
"Forget it, I can't find it. There are too damn many of them. And they're getting taken down almost as fast as they get up." Jaicey's frustration seeps into her voice.
"Taken down?!"
"Server side. From China's end probably, if we're being honest." Jaicey makes a face at me.
Yeah...
"Anyway, one of the videos shows, and I saw it, another one. Not Vader, not his brother or who we think it is. A third one."
"A third one?!" I repeat after Jaicey.
Jaice nods. "I wish I had the video, I'll keep looking. But hey. Listen. The guy used two lightsabers, not one. Two."
I know somebody that uses two lightsabers.
"Twitter, socials, they don't know who it is. The face means nothing to anybody. But somebody..." Jaicey shoots me a look. "dug deeper and might have an answer."
JJ. Truths of the Holonet and—
"The combat markers all match up to Anakin Skywalker's apprentice."
A complete numbing sensation envelops me as Jaicey keeps talking.
He's there.
Ezra's there.
He went there, adding himself onto the most dangerous show on earth WITH DARTH VADER to try and get my beskar back...
"Are there any casualties from all this?" I blurt out while going to my phone.
He's fine. He's okay.
Jaicey makes a sudden face. "Yeah...a couple. People really aren't happy about that. But they all are coming from Tyranus. He chopped a dude's head off in the middle of the street apparently."
HE WHAT?!
Yeah, I—what?" Jaicey asks. "Wha...Sabine?"
I ignore Jaicey while going as fast as I can to my text conversation with Ezra, contact—
CALL.
Pick—
"Hey—" Ezra IMMEDIATELY picks up the phone.
Relief flows throughout my body at the sound of his voice. before I blurt out "Ezra! It's m—"
"—I'm sorry but I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave your number with a quick message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks!"
...
...
He's there.
Did I just—
"That's weird." Jaicey takes my phone out of my hand. "Let's try this again..."
Jaicey hits the call button, speaker phone and—
"Hey, this is Ezra! I'm sorry but I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave your number with a quick message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks!"
He's—
...
Ezra?