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Local Infestation

Damian rested his face in his hand. "Please tell me you have more intel than that."

"Sorry," Ahsoka apologized. "His exact words were, and I quote, 'It'll be marginally useful, depending on how it's employed.'"

"Wow," Damian said. "Enlightening." He sighed again. "Alright. We'll see what we can see. Thank you."

"You know, I'm making the next supply drop," Ahsoka said. "Just in case you want to tag along. I can't bring Alina, obviously, but..."

"I'll be there," Damian promised. "After we deal with whatever we're being sent after."

Ahsoka nodded and disconnected, Damian walking up to the cockpit where Hera and Kanan were enjoying some peace and quiet.

"New job," Damian said. "There's an Imperial transport heading for Coruscant that we're supposed to intercept. On the down side, we were told next to nothing. Only that it's imperial, it's our target, and that it'll probably be helpful, depending on how we use it."

"Wow," Kanan said. "That's it?"

"That's it," Damian nodded.

"Alright," Hera sighed. "Did you get a specific place to intercept them?"

"A refueling station," Damian said, entering the coordinates. "All set on you."

Hera nodded and warned the others over the intercom that they had a job, what they were told, and that they were about to jump to Hyperspace.

Damian deflected several blaster bolts, killing the last of the stormtroopers in the group that had responded to the security alarms Chopper, Hera's C-series astromechs, had set off. He turned to the door just as Chopper finally got it open, everyone walking into the cargo bay. Kanan opened one of the containers, all of which were massive freight containers, and whistled. Damian stepped up beside him and his eyes widened.

"Oh, Jackpot," Damian grinned, staring at the dozens of PROXY droids filling the container. "Check the rest. If these are all this, we're going to need to blow the ship."

The others spread out, searching the other containers and finding they were, indeed, all filled with PROXY droids.

"What are these?" Kanan asked.

"They're droids that can use advanced holographic tech to turn into other people, even Jedi or Sith with working lightsabers and deadly lightsaber skills," Damian said. "I had to fight one, and if I hadn't been wearing my Juggernaut suit, I'd be dead now."

The others stared at him before beginning to quickly spread through the cargo bay, placing explosives. Damian did some quick mental math and used the Force to lift ten droids, turning to head back to the ship.

"What are you doing?" Kanan asked. "I thought you said we have to destroy them."

"Yeah, most of them," Damian said. "I'm going to reprogram these ones and send a few to protect my family, keep one to help me practice my lightsaber skills, and then sell the rest to a certain someone I know of that will find an excellent use for them."

Kanan sighed and nodded. Damian hurried the droids onto the Ghost, making sure they were all disabled, then put a restraining bolt on each before heading back into the cargo bay. However, just as they finished placing the explosives, Imperial star destroyers began to drop out of Hyperspace.

"Shit!" Damian swore. "Time to go!"

They all sprinted back to the Ghost and took off, beginning to avoid massive green lasers while trying to get a minimum safe distance from the shipping frigate. Then, Sabine detonated the bombs, obliterating the rest of the PROXY droids before Hera jumped to Hyperspace.

"You have my thanks," Organa said. "The droids just arrived. They'll be very useful, once we program them with a few powerful forms. I'll probably also make a couple of them spies."

Damian nodded. "I wish you luck. I need to get back to work. I still have five of my own to reprogram."

Organa nodded and disconnected, Damian setting to work on his computer, combing through the droids' code and capabilities thoroughly.

Damian sighed as Hera piloted the Phantom, the Ghost's detachable fighter, into its slot, she, Ezra, and Sabine climbing out of it.

"That's three in a row," Damian said. "First the droids, then that last one, now this. Fulcrum's intel is slipping."

Hera nodded. "It's getting harder to gather accurate intel on the Empire."

"True," Damian nodded. "Still, though."

"At least the droids were worth it," Hera said. "How're you coming on those, by the way?"

"I'm almost done the first one," Damian said.

"Jesus," Hera said. "Talk about time-consuming."

"No doubt," Damian nodded. "So, you're still okay with me coming to pick up the supplies from Fulcrum with you?"

"Of course," Hera snorted, then lowered her voice. "It's not like it's really my place to tell you no anyway."

Damian smiled. "Still, figured I should ask."

Hera nodded, turning to Zeb. "Zeb, I'll need the Phantom ready to pick up the supplies from Fulcrum. Adjust the steering and run a diagnostic. Chopper and Ezra will help you fix any problems you find."

"Really?" Zeb snorted. "Have you met them?" he jabbed a thumb at the pair in question.

"And I'm leaving soon so get to it!" Hera said as Zeb and Ezra began to get into a shoving competition.

Both sighed, starting up the ladder to the Phantom, Damian catching Ezra pause for half a second to cast a glance at Sabine before disappearing, almost making it seem like it didn't happen, and only Sado having noticed. He glanced at Sabine, but she was busy sulking at the table. He sat across from her, raising an eyebrow.

"Something on your mind?" Damian asked.

"What do you know about Fulcrum?" Sabine asked.

Damian was silent for a moment, inhaling deeply before letting it out slowly after a short pause. "Probably about as much as you. They give us intel for jobs and they give us supplies. Why?"

"I used to be in the Imperial Navy, but I left because I couldn't deal with following orders without being allowed to ask questions," Sabine said. "I joined Specter because I thought it would be different, but it's just more of the same. Everything's a need-to-know, and everyone keeps saying it's not my place to know, but who would know if I need to know or not when they won't even talk to each other about it?"

Damian was silent for a few moments. "So, you're saying you don't think they trust you, and you don't trust them?"

"I do trust them," Sabine said. "Or, at least, I'm trying to. but it just feels like I'm expected to fall in line and just do what I'm told. Again."

Damian nodded silently. "Have you spoken to Hera about this?"

"I've tried," Sabine said. "But she won't listen. The moment the word Fulcrum comes out of my mouth she cans up and starts acting like someone might die if she says more than two words."

"Okay," Damian nodded. "Let me talk to her. But you need to be honest with her Sabine. Her and Ezra both."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "That kid can't take a hint."

"So don't give him any hints," Damian said. "Just tell him straight up that you're not interested. Or tell him you are if that's the truth. Just don't seem aloof or indifferent. Eventually, it's going to cause him stress as he falls for you more and more. And then that will distract him during jobs and training."

"You're full of it," Sabine snorted. "Ezra has a crush on me, that's all."

"If you're sure," Damian said, standing. "I'm going to go talk to Hera. I'll be back in a little bit."

"I'll be in my room," Sabine replied, also walking away.

"Look, I'm not saying we tell her everything about what Fulcrum is and does," Damian said. "We should just introduce her to Ahsoka."

"I suppose that couldn't hurt," Hera sighed. "At least she might decide to trust us."

"She thinks you don't trust her," Damian said. "Try to remember that she was forced to blindly follow orders in the Imperial Academy, so not being allowed to know anything about Fulcrum is probably starting to feel a lot like that to her."

Hera sighed. "Fine. She can come."

Damian nodded, smiling, and left to tell Sabine the good news.

Damian stepped off the ship and looked around the dusty asteroid they had landed on, grimacing. Never anyplace nice. Like a beach, or a hotel. Somewhere he could enjoy some private time with his wife. He sighed internally, just as Ahsoka stepped out of the shadows ahead of them, wearing her cloak. Damian smiled, speeding up and scooping her up into his arms, spinning her around once, making her hood fall down, before kissing her.

"Wait a minute," Sabine said. "Your wife is Fulcrum!?"

"I suppose I should explain," Damian said. "Fulcrum is an organization. She and I are both members of it. I'm like the local Fulcrum contact. I get messages from Ahsoka, who gets them from either other members of Fulcrum or from the boss himself, dependent on the job, and sends all of the intel she gets to me. Then I pass it on to Hera and Kanan, who tell you they got it from Fulcrum."

Sabine glared at him but he simply chuckled, holding up a hand.

"Now, before you get mad, allow me to explain why we didn't share this information," Damian said. "Part of it was my choice. If anyone knew my wife was our Fulcrum contact, and they were captured by the Empire and tortured, that would put my entire family at risk. If anyone knew that I was Fulcrum, that would put all of you at risk. Fulcrum is a known anti-Imperial organization, so the less people who know anything about it, the safer everyone is. It's not a lack of trust, it's a safety precaution."

"You think I'd talk!?" Sabine demanded.

"I think that I've met one Force-user who was able to read minds, even those of other Force-users who were actively blocking their thoughts," Damian said. "I think that there are seven different torturers in the Empire who go by the title of Interrogation Specialist, each of whom have never failed to break someone, no matter who, and who have had hundreds of people in their torture chambers, up to, and including, rebel leaders. The Empire has ways of making anyone talk. Even you."

Sabine was silent for a long while. "So why tell me now?"

"We wanted to show you that you can trust us," Hera said. "We're sorry for making it seem like we didn't. But we had to follow the rules the leader of Fulcrum put in place, that way we couldn't endanger you or them any more than necessary."

"So who's the boss?" Sabine asked.

"A very wealthy and powerful benefactor who would be executed immediately and without a trial if they were ever implicated as a member of Fulcrum, let alone the leader," Ahsoka said. "You'll have to understand, we can't tell you who it is. But if he is executed, Fulcrum is finished, and then your rebellion is finished."

"We could still rebel without Fulcrum," Sabine said.

"Take our word for it," Damian said. "You need Fulcrum. Fulcrum needs everyone to stay silent about it."

Sabine sighed and nodded. "Alright. What about Ezra and Zeb?"

"They don't know," Damian said. "Only you, Hera, and Kanan."

Sabine nodded. "And the bad intel we've been getting recently?"

"Some of our contacts got caught," Damian said. "No one that knew Fulcrum existed, but still ones in perfect places to give us intel. We're working on replacing them."

Sabine nodded. "Okay. I'll try to trust you all more. And thank you for telling me as much as you could."

Damian nodded. "Now, I believe we're here for supplies."

The others nodded and they all walked over to the crates, Damian and Ahsoka both grabbing the two crates marked with the Fulcrum insignia. After those two were loaded, Hera and Sabine both said they could get the rest, allowing Damian and Ahsoka to head away from the ship to spend some time together in relative privacy.

"How's Alina?" Damian asked.

"She misses you," Ahsoka said. "She's been fussy since you left, and she's always looking around when anyone besides me is holding her, and sometimes even if it is me."

"I'm sorry," Damian said.

"Don't be," Ahsoka smiled, kissing him. "We agreed this was the best decision. Besides, it's not permanent. You'll be home soon enough."

Damian smiled and nodded, wrapping his arms around Ahsoka, Ahsoka resting her head on his shoulder as he rested his head on hers.

"Hey guys!" Hera called out suddenly.

"And time's up," Damian sighed. "What's up?"

"Some of the crates are missing, and there are scratches on the ground!" Hera shouted.

Damian blinked, he and Ahsoka exchanging a confused look before standing and jogging over, inspecting the scratches. "They didn't activate the anti-grav system. I'm actually amazed we didn't hear it."

"Same," Ahsoka agreed. "It's probably an animal of some kind. If we were going to be stolen from, they'd activate the anti-grav to make it easy for themselves, and also would have taken more."

"Unless they're smart enough not to," Damian said. "We haven't seen Bane in a while."

Ahsoka groaned. "Please don't talk about him. The last time we talked about the people you used to work with, Dulheif Ghaar and the Toonee Clan happened."

"Fair enough," Damian said, drawing his blaster, looking to a cave nearby. "This way."

They walked into the cave and he activated his blaster's flashlight as he slowly swept the beam around the cave. There were destroyed ships and debris from the Clone Wars, since it was an abandoned base, and not much else. Finally, the light found a crate, smashed open.

"Someone was pretty anxious to get into that crate," Sabine said as Damian focused on a republic gunship, which was covered in scratches.

"Not someone," Damian said. "You were right, babe. It's an animal."

"Good," Ahsoka said, pulling Shaeeah's rifle from under her robe. "Then we don't have to worry about being gentle."

"Whoa!" Sabine breathed. "What kind of gun is that?"

"We have no idea," Damian said. "It's a custom one that one of my old...acquaintances used to use before we killed him for...various reasons. Now it belongs to our adoptive daughter."

Sabine nodded. "It's beautiful."

"Just wait until you see it fire," Damian chuckled just as something moved behind the gunship. "Be ready."

Suddenly, Damian sensed one of the creatures behind them and spun, firing and placing a shot between its eyes, killing it. Instantly, multiple roars rang out as glowing green eyes began to appear all around the cave, everyone opening fire. Sabine, again, commented about how awesome Shaeeah's rifle was as she watched it blast one of the massive creatures wide open. They all turned, fleeing from the cave as they fired, getting outside only for the creatures to stop just shy of the sunlight. The creatures formed a line at the mouth of the cave, but everyone held fire. Then, an asteroid passed between theirs and the sun, casting a shadow over them. The creatures roared and charged, dropping rapidly. Then, at the last second, the shadow left Damian and the others and the creatures skidded to a stop, fleeing back into the cave.

"Whatever these creature's are, they can't take the sun," Hera said.

"Good, but do you see the size of that asteroid?" She pointed to one that was creeping its way toward the sun. "That's going to block out the sun for a long time."

"How long?" Hera asked.

"I don't know!" Sabine snapped. "Long enough for us to become lunch!"

"I could probably change its course with the Force," Damian suggested.

"Don't bother," Hera said. "It's safer for us to just load up the last of the crates and leave."

"Fair enough," Damian nodded. "You didn't park the Wraith in there, did you?"

"Luckily no," Ahsoka said. "R3 is a few asteroids away waiting for me to signal."

Damian nodded. "Let's get everything loaded, then."

They all walked the crates onto the phantom, but as Hera tried to start it up, it failed to start, an alert popping up saying they were out of fuel. Damian groaned.

"I knew we shouldn't have left those three in charge of repairs," Damian said. "I'll go check it out."

He walked outside, the others joining him after a few minutes and reporting the Ghost was on its way. Damian spotted a dried puddle under the back of the ship and lay down, worming his way under it as Hera and Sabine walked away to check several red barrels.

"Shit," Damian said, seeing a chunk of fuel line missing, sliding himself back out. "It's going to take too long to fix here. We'll have to take the Wraith off the asteroid."

"What about the Phantom?" Hera asked as she and Sabine rejoined him and Ahsoka. "We can't leave the crates here for those creatures to steal."

"We could use the Wraith's guns to kill them all," Damian suggested.

"They'd do too much damage," Sabine said. "Those red canisters are rhydonium."

Damian stared at the two dozen odd canisters, grinning. "Jackpot. Have R3 come pickup a few."

"We need it," Sabine said. "We're going to use it to blow up the creatures."

Damian hummed thoughtfully for a few moments before nodding, quickly using the Force to group the canisters together in sets of two or three, keeping the groups spaced enough to not set off a chain reaction when one blew. Just as he finished, the asteroid began to pass in front of the sun, everyone drawing their blasters again and moving closer to the cave where they could shoot more accurately.

"Everyone be careful," Damian said. "One wrong shot and the creatures getting the crates will be the least of our worries."

"Is that cannon really such a good idea this time?" Sabine asked.

"It'll be fine," Damian smiled. "She's almost as good a shot as me."

"Remember, don't blow a canister until there's a group around them," Ahsoka said.

Just then, a single creature charged out past a canister, only for Damian to drop it with a shot between the eyes, the bolt flashing into the cave behind the creature.

"What the hell kind of blaster pistol is that?" Sabine asked.

"The kind with a kyber crystal for a power source," Damian smirked.

"That's genius!" Sabine said. "I'm totally asking Ezra to steal that for me."

Damian chuckled. "Good luck. I'm particular about my kyber crystals. Two are a family heirloom and one will only function for me."

"How does that work?" Hera asked.

"Ask me again when we're not about to be eaten," Damian said as the asteroid's shadow swallowed them all.

Creatures swarmed out of the caves instantly, everyone opening fire and working their way back away from the caves. After a few moments, Damian shot the first canister, the explosion blasting half a dozen creatures. A few moments later, Sabine and Hera blew up a dozen more. Then Ahsoka shot through one set of canisters into another, blowing up two groups. However, the creatures were still coming. They worked their way back to the Phantom before beginning to expend canisters more quickly. Finally, they ran out as the creatures began to circle around to come in from the sides. Damian leapt to the top of the Phantom with Ahsoka, both opening fire to opposite sides as Hera and Sabine climbed up onto the ship as well, beginning to help. And yet, still the creatures continued to swarm out of the cave. They began to scramble up the sides of the Phantom only to be blasted, Damian being tempted to draw his lightsaber as well, but refraining for now. Together, the four of them held the creatures back, albeit barely.

"They just keep coming!" Sabine shouted over the blaster fire.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Hera shouted back.

"We're going to die!" Sabine said.

"Not today," Damian said, swiping a hand and hurling the creatures away from the ship.

The creatures rose to their feet again but hesitated to attack, wary of Damian now.

"Probably should have started with that," Hera said.

"Yeah, probably," Damian said as the creatures began to charge again. "Then again, maybe not." He blasted them again, but more simply swarmed past them, forcing everyone to resume firing.

Suddenly, a spotlight hit the four of them, Ahsoka pulling her cloak's hood up instantly, as the Ghost flew down toward them. The creatures fled from the light, only to realize the light didn't hurt them like the sunlight did. They began to charge again as the Ghost's ramp lowered, Zeb and Ezra on it, Zeb opening fire, allowing them to jump onto the Ghost one at a time. However, as they were getting on, Ezra got off, telling Sabine he had her back, armed only with an energy slingshot. Damian moved to retrieve him, only for a creature to tackle him, struggling to take a bite. Sabine jumped off the ship, moving to the creature's side where she could safely shoot it, and killed it. She helped Ezra up and shoved him toward the ramp, Ezra scrambling onto it instantly. Then, as the Ghost began to pull away, Damian sent one final Force Push out, scattering the creatures that had been about to board the ship. Chopper quickly closed the ramp and Damian sighed.

"Remind me to never come here again," Damian said.

"Agreed," Sabine said. "Hey, where'd Fulcrum go?"

"She's up front with Kanan," Hera said.

"I suppose that makes sense," Sabine nodded.

"You alright kid?" Damian asked, resting a hand on Ezra's shoulder as the others walked away.

"Don't call me kid!" Ezra said. "My name is-"

"Ezra Bridger," Damian said. "Yes, I know. But I'm going to continue calling you kid until you stop acting like one."

"I was just-"

"I know what you were doing," Damian said. "You were trying to impress Sabine and show her that you can be depended upon, and that you can take care of her. Unfortunately, you don't have the right weapon to prove that. You fight with a toy that doesn't even generate enough power to knock someone out, only to sting a bit."

Ezra stared at his collapsed energy slingshot. "I guess."

"Don't worry," Damian smiled. "I've got something you'll like. You use the slingshot because it's easy to conceal, right? Well, I've got something only slightly more difficult."

He led Ezra to his room and opened the concealed hatch he had placed there, revealing his weapons stash. He pulled out a DC-17 Blaster Pistol, one that still fired blue blaster bolts that he had found buried in the armory in the house on Alderaan. Ezra accepted the blaster and stared at it in awe.

"This is a Clone blaster!" Ezra gaped. "Where'd you get it?"

"I dunno," Damian shrugged. "Probably stole it at one point or another."

"And yours?" Ezra asked.

"Originally, it was given to me as a replacement by my adoptive son," Damian said. "It wasn't anything special. I was going on a job and needed a gun. But before I could give it back...some things happened and I left for several years. The blaster was the last thing I had to remember them by, so I kept it, and kept it functional. Then after I was finally able to get back to them, I just sort of kept it because it had become one of the most important things I have. Then eventually I stuck a kyber crystal in it."

Ezra's eyebrows rose before he shook his head, smirking. "Impressive."

"What's really impressive is that it shoots through lightsaber blades," Damian smirked. "Always have an ace-in-the-hole."

Ezra grinned and nodded. "I'm going to head to bed."

"See you," Damian said. "Oh, and Ezra, if you'd stop trying to show off and acted more mature, you'd have better luck. Or maybe you could try to make her jealous."

"Huh," Ezra said. "I didn't think of that. Probably wouldn't work since she has no interest in me, but it couldn't be any worse than trying to impress her has been working. Anyway, goodnight."

"Night," Damian said, Ezra leaving.

Damian secured his weapons again, locking it this time, then headed up to the cockpit, sitting in a vacant seat, only for Ahsoka to sit in his lap after a moment.

"We're coming up on your ship," Kanan said, Damian sighing and resting his head on Ahsoka's shoulder.

"Thank you," Ahsoka said, giving Damian a quick kiss. "I'd better see you soon."

"You will," Damian promised.

Ahsoka smiled and nodded, then left the ship, heading back into the Wraith and taking off.

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