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Mandalorian Problem
"We've lost communications with the Mandalorian base on Concord Dawn," Hera said as everyone present at the meeting watched the hologram of the planet.
"The rebel leaders are concerned you're setting a trap for us," Sato said, watching Fenn Rau.
Damian glanced at their Mandalorian prisoner, then turned back to the hologram. It wasn't Rau. Ahsoka slipped her hand into his and gave it a light squeeze, letting him know she knew what he was thinking, and would support him. He smiled. She always did support his stupid ideas.
"Impossible," Rau said. "My men are loyal to my command. Your safe passage through that system is secure."
"Not if your men no longer control that system," Damian spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
"I'll go check it out," Sabine said.
"I should go with you," Rau said. "They're my men, and I can talk to them."
"Wait, isn't he our prisoner?" Zeb asked.
"More like a cranky guest," Kanan said.
"He can go but he stays in binders," Hera said. "Take Ezra and Chopper, do a recon sweep of their base, and come right back. You are not to land or engage. And try not to wreck the Phantom Two. We just got that thing."
"Understood," Sabine said, turning and walking toward the door, Ezra following with Rau.
Once they were out of the room, all eyes turned to Damian.
"I'm going to follow in the Wraith," Damian said. "I don't trust Rau yet, and I don't trust that it's entirely Rau's trap, and not a trap set for Rau."
"We'll bring Jek, Shaeeah, and R3 with us," Ahsoka said. "Barriss, look after the rest of the family for us, won't you?"
"Of course," Barriss smiled. "Be careful."
Damian nodded, but before he could leave, Kanan cleared his throat.
"There's one other matter," Kanan said. "What do we do if whoever sent those droids decides to sent something else? Your Juggernaut armor was ruined during that fight, right?"
"Yeah," Damian said. "We're just hoping it won't happen for now. But if it does...We'll figure something out."
The others nodded and they left the briefing room. They stopped by Jek's room first and found him cleaning his blasters. As soon as he saw them, he quickly reassembled it and grabbed his electrostaff, heading to the Wraith. Damian reached Shaeeah's room first and knocked. For a moment, there was no answer, but then the door hissed open and Sapphire leaned against the doorframe, stark naked, inner thighs and everything between them soaked from what she'd obviously been interrupted while doing, and hair a mess. She smiled pleasantly at Damian and Ahsoka.
"Hey," Sapphire smiled. "How've you been? We don't get to see each other often."
"That's true," Damian said. "However, right now's not a good time to chat. For several reasons, it seems. Shaeeah, we have a mission."
"Of course we do," Shaeeah sighed. "Fine. I'll meet you two in the Wraith."
"Sorry for interrupting," Damian said, Sapphire just smiling and waving as the two Jedi walked away before closing her door.
"I feel bad now," Ahsoka said.
"Same," Damian sighed. "Then again, Shaeeah's stubborn, so they're probably going to finish first."
"Probably," Ahsoka snorted. "She probably gets that from you."
"Don't look at me," Damian snorted. "Barriss is the one always taking every opportunity to have sex with anyone she can get into her bed."
Ahsoka laughed. "Yes, you're right. She's the only one in the family who brings random people into her bed for one night stands."
Damian chuckled as they turned the corner to the Wraith's docking port and found Zera and Shia waiting to wish them luck, Alina held in Shia's left arm. "You know, you two don't have to act like we'll never see you again every time we go on a mission."
"No, but if we ever don't and you don't come home, we'll regret not," Shia smiled, stepping forward and wrapping and arm around Damian, giving him a quick kiss, as she always did. "Be safe."
"We will," Damian nodded, giving Alina a kiss on the head. "Be a pain in the neck my beautiful little angel."
"That's rude," Shia said, kissing Ahsoka as well. "Take care of him."
"Of course," Ahsoka smiled, also kissing Alina on the head. "Take care of our daughter."
"Of course," Shia smiled.
"Please be careful," Zera said. "I have a bad feeling about this mission."
"We will be," Damian said, just before Zera kissed him, holding it for several long seconds. "See you soon, Zera."
Zera nodded and turned to Ahsoka, giving her an equally intimate kiss, Ahsoka also reciprocating, as Damian had. Damian and Ahsoka walked onto the Wraith and walked to the cockpit, sitting down and getting the ship ready to fly. After a few minutes, Shaeeah boarded and they took off, quickly piloting toward Concord Dawn, jumping to Hyperspace as soon as they could. After a short flight, they dropped out of hyperspace as the Phantom Two flew down to land. Damian sighed.
"There they go," Shaeeah said. "Didn't take them long to disobey, did it?"
"They're not disobeying," Damian said. "If they were, they'd have waited another ten minutes first. Rau got loose and took the ship."
"Most likely," Ahsoka nodded.
"Should we follow?" Shaeeah asked.
"Yeah, that'd be for the best," Damian nodded. "Take the controls, keep it quiet."
"Oh please," Shaeeah said. "You say that like the Wraith is anything but quiet."
Damian chuckled. "Better to remind you needlessly than forget and something go wrong." He paused. "Man, our family is just throwing up all the warning flags today aren't we?"
"Yup," Ahsoka nodded, holding up his helmet. "You'll probably end up needing this."
He smiled, kissing her. "I'll be back soon."
She nodded, smiling, and he pulled his helmet on as he walked to the cargo bay. A few minutes later, the hatch opened and he saw the Phantom Two about fifty feet below him. He dropped, landing silently at the base of a small rock formation, Rau standing at the top of it with Ezra and Sabine standing to his side. He jumped up and landed in a line with them, surveying the destroyed camp the Protectors had been staying at.
"Well, I suppose that's why we lost contact, then," Damian said.
"You guys didn't trust us?" Ezra asked.
"Who got knocked out by their prisoner?" Damian asked, both Ezra and Sabine grimacing. "We should leave before the Empire, or whoever did this, finds out we're here."
"Not yet," Rau said. "This wasn't the Empire. It was other Mandalorians. We need to figure out which."
Damian nodded. "Okay. Let's go."
They headed down into the camp, heading for Rau's tent.
"Precision detonations, laser strikes from above," Rau said, picking up a Mandalorian helmet on the ground. "Definitely a surprise attack by another clan."
"I don't get it," Ezra said. "Why would Mandalorians attack Mandalorians?"
"It's complicated," Sabine said.
"That's how Mandalorians are," Damian said.
"This is all your fault!" Rau snarled. "If I'd been here, instead of locked away in your vault, I could have prevented this!"
"No," Damian said. "You'd have been killed along with your men. Which is, of course, what all old-fashioned Mandalorians want, I suppose."
"We didn't mean for this to happen!" Sabine said. "They were my people too!"
"Don't talk to me about your people!" Rau spat, pointing his finger in her face. "What do you know about loyalty!?"
"I am not your enemy, Rau!" Sabine snapped, pulling her helmet off. "None of this makes any sense! Which of the clans has the power to do this? Who would want to? The Protectors are loyal to the throne, and they recruit the best warriors from within all the clans."
Just then, Chopper began to shout at them from off to the side.
"Chopper's picking up a signal from over there," Ezra said, just as an Imperial drone rose into the air from the wreckage off to the side.
"It's Imperial!" Ezra shouted.
It began to fire at them, but Damian extended a hand and made a fist, the drone being crushed into a ball instantly.
"Nice!" Ezra said, then hesitated. "Think it got a signal out?"
"Well, we're either fine, or a few Star Destroyers are on their way," Sabine said. "You wanna wait and see?"
"Good point," Ezra said. "We're leaving."
He and Chopper turned to leave as Sabine turned to Rau. Ezra stopped and turned back to them as he realized they weren't leaving.
"We have to go," Sabine said.
"I have no intention of leaving, and certainly not with you," Rau said.
"The Empire could be on their way right now," Sabine said.
"I've dealt with them before and I can deal with them again," Rau said. "But now, of course, I have the location of your rebel base as a bargaining chip."
Damian yanked him over, slamming him to the ground and extending his lightsaber blade, holding it to his throat. "Give me one good reason not to take your head off right now."
"Your rebel s wouldn't like that," Rau said.
"But my family would understand," Damian said. "The one you're threatening. There is nothing I would not do for them. And taking off your head then getting my ass chewed is a pretty small price to pay for their safety."
"Damian," Ahsoka's voice said from his helmet's communicator suddenly. "You're about to have trouble. Might want to give Rau a blaster."
"What is it?" Damian asked, turning away from Rau and looking around.
"Mandalorians with Imperial paint jobs," Shaeeah said.
"Oh, that's not good," Damian said. "Take cover! We've got Mandalorian traitors incoming."
They all turned, scrambling for somewhere to hide and Damian held his hand out to Ezra, who sighed and handed over his blaster, which Damian passed to Rau.
"You're very trusting, all of a sudden," Rau said.
"That's because the moment you shoot us in the back, my family will level this entire area with the Wraith," Damian said. "on the other hand, we could probably use the extra help."
"Spread out," the lead Imperial Mandalorian ordered, his armor mostly red, where as the others were mostly white.
The Imperials began to spread through the camp, Damian and the others staying out of their way and waiting for the right time to begin picking them off. After a couple of minutes, the Imperials began to close in on Sabine and Rau, but Ezra stepped out of cover, taking several shots at the lead Imperial with his lightsaber blaster, only for the shots to be harmless against the Imperials Beskar armor. He turned and fled as the Imperials fired at him several times before chasing him.
"Come on!" Sabine said quietly, moving to follow, only for Rau to catch her shoulder.
"No," Rau said. "His sacrifice saved us, don't waste it."
Sabine hesitated, looking to Damian, who nodded and motioned for her to go with Rau. She hesitated before nodding, following. Damian waited until it was clear before following.
"We have to help him!" Sabine was saying to Rau as he caught up.
"Your only advantage is that they don't know about you yet," Rau said.
"But if we don't save him, they could kill him!" Sabine said, voice growing hysterical quickly.
"Sabine," Damian said. "They won't kill him. The leader's Mandalorian, not an Imperial. He's not stupid enough to kill him before he's gotten all the information he can out of him. And since he'll be finding Ezra's lightsaber, he'll assume Ezra knows a lot. We have time, but we have to be careful about rescuing him. But I promise you, we will rescue him."
Sabine hesitated before sighing. "Okay."
"Come on," Rau said. "I know a place we can watch."
They followed him away from the camp quickly, heading back to the cliff. As they knelt down, Sabine lowered her helmet's scope, seeing one of the Imperials heading for the Phantom Two.
"We're going back," Sabine said.
"What, for Bridger?" Rau asked. "Pawns are meant to be sacrificed."
Sabine spun, drilling a fist into his jaw and knocking him to the ground. "Ezra is not a pawn!" She took a deep breath. "And to answer your question, no. Ezra...Ezra can take care of himself for now. But the Phantom has our base's coordinates, and we can not allow the Empire to get their hands on that."
"That was a good punch," Rau said. "You're allowing your emotions to cloud you judgement. Do you think I actually care about him or your rebels?" he scoffed, then growled. "To think the Protectors actually fell to these traitors."
"The leader, he looked familiar," Sabine said.
"He should," Rau said. "He's clan Visla, like you. His name is Gar Saxon. He wanted to be our ruler, but he had no honor."
"That's why the Empire put him in charge," Sabine said.
"You think you're any better than him?" Rau asked. "Everything that's happened here is because of you rebels."
"Okay, look!" Sabine said. "You may not like it, but right now you need us if you're going to live. Help us get our ship, get Ezra, and then we'll all get out of here together. Deal?
"Why don't we simply have the Wraith take us and destroy the shuttle on the way?" Rau asked.
"Because our friend asked us to bring the shuttle back in one piece," Damian said. "Also, these are Mandalorians. If anyone is going to figure out how to counter, or worse replicate, the Wraith's stealth tech, it's them. And we do not need an Imperial Wraith. No one does."
"Agreed," Sabine said. "They'd conquer everything. Even Mandalore."
Rau was silent for a moment before nodding. "On that point we can agree." He sighed. "You want to get yourself killed trying to rescue your friend, be my guest. All I care about is making Saxon and his traitors pay. But now is not the time for that."
"Well, I'm not after revenge," Sabine said. "Just my friends."
"Rau," Damian said. "You have an extremely powerful Jedi, two skilled Mandalorians, and a moderately skilled, very resourceful Jedi Padawan, against five Mandalorian traitors. Do you really think there's no good reason to go fight them now?"
Rau stared at him for a moment before smirking. "You make an excellent point. Fine. I'll help."
"Good," Damian said. "Shall we?"
They headed down to the camp again, sneaking as close to the tent as they could get before stopping, Damian drawing his blaster in his left hand and his lightsaber in his right. He carefully peaked out, his helmet's systems picking up and enhancing the conversation inside the tent.
"You have to believe me," Ezra said.
"I believe you've run out of lies," Saxon said.
"Set frequency to three-three-seven," Rau said quietly so Sabine could listen in on their conversation as well.
Damian resisted, since he wanted to be able to talk to Ahsoka and the others.
"Blast the droid!" Saxon ordered. "Perhaps its memory circuits hold the secrets I want."
"Okay!" Ezra said. "I was sent here by the Protector, Fenn Rau."
"You know where he is, then?" Saxon asked, holding up a hand to stop the other Mandalorian.
"I don't," Ezra said. "But I sure whish I did."
"You know I planned to attack this base and destroy the Protectors for some time," Saxon said. "Missing Fenn Rau was disappointing. But, his absence did make the destruction of his men...easier. I've been waiting for Rau to return. I only allowed rebel ships to travel through Concord Dawn to lure him back, but now, I have you. And I thin you know exactly where Rau is!" He lifted Ezra by the shirt. "And you will take me to him!"
"He was going to kill us anyway," Rau said.
"Rau...I'm sorry," Sabine said.
"Had you and your Jedi not captured me, I'd be dead alongside my men," Rau said. "Executed by the Empire. A truce, then. For now." He held out Ezra's second lightsaber and blaster. "You get your friend, I'll secure your ship."
"Thank you," Sabine said, taking the weapons. "First, let's thin them out and get you a weapon."
"Rau," Damian said, holding out his blaster. "Shoot me with this, and I kill you. Lose it, and I torture you until you die of old age."
"This is a Mandalorian blaster," Rau said, taking it before his eyes widened. "Is that...Beskar?"
"Yes," Damian said. "And its bolts are powered by a kyber crystal, so you're basically holding a gun that fires lightsaber blades. That gun was a gift before I modified it. So whatever you do, do not lose it."
"A lightsaber blade moving at the speed of a blaster bolt...I might be able to shoot through Mandalorian armor with this," Rau said. "And here I was thinking Mandalorians were good at designing weapons."
"I had good motivation," Damian said. "Shall we?"
"See if you can get one of their rifles still functioning," Rau said. "I'll show you why after."
Damian nodded and stood from cover, clearing his throat loudly as he stepped out. Saxon spun instantly, dropping Ezra as Damian extended his lightsaber.
"Another Jedi?" Saxon asked.
"Another?" Damian asked then groaned. "Oh come on, kid. I told you not to lose my lightsaber."
"Sorry," Ezra shrugged. "Wasn't really my choice."
Damian shook his head as Saxon and the other Imperial in the tent with him stepped out, just as Damian's helmets picked up a surprised shout as Sabine and Rau took down one of the other four. "So, Imperial Mandalorians. That's a new one. Of course, Mandalorians don't have too good a track record against Force Wielders, so I'm not too worried."
"Well, I'm not afraid of you just because you have a lightsaber," Saxon said.
"You should be," Damian said, just as two Imperials stepped out from behind tents on either side of him, all four opening fire.
Damian smirked, spinning and beginning to deflect all of the blaster bolts back at them. After several minutes, one of the Imperials shouted in pain and dropped, the left side of his neck having been hit between his helmet and his chest plate. A moment later, a blaster bolt grazed Saxon's cheek. Then, Damian deflected four in a row into the Imperial to his left, all four hitting his helmet and sending him stumbling back several steps. Damian launched himself forward instantly and swept the Imperial's legs out from under him, the Imperial's helmet bouncing away before Damian stabbed down into his head. Then, he spun, deflecting more blaster bolts as he picked up the Imperial's fallen blaster. After a moment, Ezra, who had managed to get his lightsaber back, pressed the barrel to the back of the other Imperial's neck and fired a stun bolt, dropping him. Just then, he heard a ship's engine start up and turned to look just as the Phantom Two took off, Sabine running over, only to also stop as Rau took off.
"What happened?" Ezra asked.
"We should have seen that coming," Sabine said.
"Probably," Damian said, then used the Force to pull Ezra to them, Saxon's shot missing him.
Ezra extended his Lightsaber's blade as he took his second from Sabine, clipping it to his belt, Sabine holding onto his blaster for the moment.
"That mother fucker still has my blaster," Damian growled. "Oh, I'm going to wring his god damned neck!"
"That was kind of a stupid thing to give him," Sabine said.
Saxon walked out of the tent, wearing his helmet now and with the Imperial Ezra had stunned beside him. "Sabine Wren."
"I don't know you," Sabine said.
"We'll I know you and all about how you've joined the Phoenix Squadron," Saxon said. "I also know that your mother is looking for you."
"Don't believe him," Sabine said.
"Sabine never told you about her family?" Saxon asked. "Well. She lies as well as you, boy. Her own mother stands with me and the Empire now."
"I doubt you gave her much choice, traitor," Sabine said.
"She came round herself after you abandoned the Imperial Academy," Saxon said. "Your cowardice shamed your family's name and standing. Had you honored your commitment, you could be wearing this armor now."
"Sorry Saxon, I like a little more color," Sabine said.
"You think yourself a loyalist?" Saxon asked. "The Empire will make Mandalore stronger than ever before."
"The only one who's gotten stronger under the Empire is you," Sabine accused.
"Out of respect for your family, I'll give you a choice," Saxon said. "Give me Fenn Rau and swear allegiance, or you, and your friends, die."
"He's talking some mad shit for being outnumbered and outclassed," Damian said, holding a hand out to his left, the dead Mandalorian there rolling over and his jetpack flying over to Ezra, who caught it and glanced at Damian, as he also retrieved the jetpack from the Mandalorian on their right.
"Those won't do you any good," Saxon said. "None of you three are getting out of here alive."
"You're way to confident," Damian said. "I could crush you with your own armor. Maybe. I'd probably have to work for it, considering how hard Beskar is."
"This is your last chance, Sabine," Rau said. "Surrender or die."
"Yeah, I think I'll just..." he trailed off as he sensed the same presence as had sent the droids that ruined his Juggernaut armor focus on him. "Yup. Time to go!"
He shoved his hands forward, sending Saxon and the other Imperial both flying backward into the tent. Instantly, Sabine grabbed Ezra, holding him against her as she activated her jetpack, taking off. Damian smirked, holding his jetpack behind him and used the Force to keep it there as he activated it, streaking into the air after them. He caught up before looking back.
"Oh look, they're chasing us!" Damian laughed. "How cute."
"Yeah, real cute," Sabine said. "Would you mind dealing with them?"
"Gladly," Damian said, then swiped a hand downward just as they shot over a rock formation.
Saxon avoided the attempt at sending him crashing into the ground. The other Imperial did not, and a moment later his jetpack exploded against the rock formation. Damian smirked, imagining the glare Saxon was giving him as he continued to chase them.
"Man, you Mandalorians are something else," Damian said. "This guy just will not give up."
"Yeah, well, it's one of our many charms," Sabine said. "And why are you so happy?"
"I'm just imagining all the ways I'm going to make Rau suffer for stealing my blaster," Damian said, swiping a hand and ripping a chunk of the ground free, sending it streaking through the air at Saxon, who narrowly avoided it. It's not the top of my to-do list."
"You're scary," Ezra said.
"That's because you know I don't make empty threats," Damian said.
Sabine flew low into a ravine and Damian followed, only for Saxon to fly above it, firing down at them. Damian smirked, deflecting the shots with his lightsaber.
"Smart man," Damian said.
"Hey, I have an idea," Sabine said. "Why not try using that blaster you're carrying around?"
"Where's the fun in that?" Damian said, though her raised the blaster, holding it steady with the Force and fired, the shot skipping off Saxon's helmet, sending him tumbling for a moment before he flipped, righting himself as Damian shot toward him. He swore, firing several times before forming an energy shield and deflecting Damian's lightsaber. Damian flipped, deflecting several more shots before firing two more of hit own, one hitting his helmet and the other his blaster. Saxon tossed it aside instantly, beginning to use a pair of wrist devices to fire at him, only for Damian to deflect them rapidly before swiping a hand, sending Saxon spinning and flipping into the ravine. Then, Damian held his hand out, focusing for a moment before closing his fist, the walls of the ravine above and around Saxon exploding. He flew over to the Ravine just as Saxon shout out of the debris, beginning to fire at Sabine. A shot skipped off her shoulder and Ezra shouted in fear as he fell, Sabine managing to hold one of his hands.
Damian shook his head. Saxon was actually pretty good. He continued to fire at Sabine and Ezra and Ezra deflected the blaster bolts quickly. Then, as Damian slashed at Saxon, Saxon flipped out of the way, firing at Damian, only for him to deflect the shots again, quickly catching up with Sabine and Ezra.
"This guy's starting to get on my nerves," Damian said, deflecting several more shots.
"Chopper says Saxon's ship is just up ahead," Sabine said. "Since we're here, we might as well appropriate it."
"Agreed," Damian nodded.
Just then, the Phantom Two suddenly flew around a bend in the ravine ahead. Damian and Sabine both swerved around the ship and it fired at Saxon several times, moving to ram him and making him veer off. Damian shook his head, flying back to the Phantom's back hatch and landing on it, stepping inside just before Sabine and Ezra followed. Then, as Saxon moved to chase them, Damian swiped a hand downward, collapsing the walls of the ravine again, giving them a chance to pull away from him.
"Shaeeah, go ahead and scrap that Mandalorian ship," Damian said.
"Will do," Shaeeah said, about ten seconds before an explosion went off to their right.
As they left orbit and were no longer in danger of crashing back to the ground, Damian moved to grab Rau, only for him to hold Damian's blaster over his shoulder, handle toward Damian.
"Thank you for letting me borrow this," Rau said. "I was right about shooting through Mandalorian armor with it. It's an amazing weapon. However, it was a gift, and rightfully belongs to you."
"Thank you," Damian said, then smashed the grip into Rau's head. "That's for almost stealing it."
"That's fair," Rau said, rubbing his head. "When we get back, I'll show you why I told you to get one of their rifles."
Damian nodded and sat down, inspecting the jetpack he'd stolen and waiting to get back.
"I really thought you'd left," Sabine said.
"I considered it," Rau admitted. "Then I realized you are willing to die for your people, even though they are not Mandalorian. You haven't forgotten our ways. That has earned my respect."
"Don't take this the wrong way, you guys, but...uh...Mandalorians are crazy," Ezra said.
Rau chuckled. "Crazy enough to join you."
"Honestly?" Sabine asked.
"If you'll have me," Rau said.
"I'd rather have you with us than against us," Ezra said.
"Welcome to the family," Sabine said.
Rau smiled and nodded, setting a course for Phoenix Squadron.
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