Chapter 30

The Starbird was just floating in orbit of some sort of prison planet, everything that would show up on scanners was deactivated, including R2-T6. Nobody was making a sound, much less any movement. Everybody was tense as they watched the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer fly past them. Ezra, fortunately for everybody there, learned a while back how to hide his Force signature to hide from any Sith or Inquisitors he may come across. He knew that was Vader's ship moving past them, so they had to wait until it left.

Fortunately for the trio, they didn't have to wait long. The SSD jumped to hyperspace and Ezra couldn't sense the Sith lord anymore. He breathed a sigh of relief and started everything back up. Throughout the years on Lothal, Sabine kept herself busy with painting and even doing something with the Starbird, and lately Mira was known to be with her throughout all of that.

"Remind me," Ezra began, "What did you do to our ship?"

Sabine smiled, "I managed to install a cloaking device, but it takes so much power to use it can't be activated for very long. Otherwise we might blow a fuse and be dead in space."

"That's a happy thought," Ezra muttered as he activated the cloaking device and began the descent into the prison planet. None of them remembered the name of the planet, but they know it's been part of public star charts for centuries.

When they landed, the alarms were started to go off on Ezra's console, which meant they were overloading their power core. He deactivated the cloak and shut everything down before they even touched the ground, so they had a pretty hard landing.

"Did you have to shut everything down?" Delphine grumbled.

"To prevent us from being detected, yes," Ezra replied.

"You scratch the paint job you're going to owe me," Sabine warned.

Ezra gave her a grin, "Alright, if there's a scratch, we'll talk terms."

Sabine put her helmet on and Ezra did the same.

"Did I mention that Mandalorian armor really suits you, Ezra?" Delphine complimented.

"No you haven't and thanks for the compliment," Ezra said. "But we really need to make this quick if we're to avoid being caught."

Delphine nodded and Ezra unclipped her restraints.

"You may not have specialized in this kind of stuff, but you did set things up without anybody noticing," Sabine said, though there was a hint of bitterness in her tone.

"I was one of the best pilots in the Rebellion," Delphine said.

"The best in your squad though. I have to give you that," Ezra added.

"We should get going," Sabine said as she opened the boarding ramp from her console. "Your information better be good, Katz. Otherwise you'll be six feet under the dirt before you can say a word."

Delphine nodded, though she paled a bit at the threat.

"Sabine," Ezra said.

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, please," Delphine said.

"Alright, let's get moving," Ezra said.

…

About 20 minutes later, the trio made it into the prison without being detected. Sabine covered Ezra while he cut a hole into the outer wall of the prison complex and they all climbed into the surprisingly large ventilation shafts in the ceiling.

"We need to get to the command center," Sabine said. "There we'll find the list of everybody here. This place is pretty big so it might take a little while to find your son. What's his name again?"

"Tython, but everybody just called him Ty," Delphine said.

A/N: That was the suggested name of Delphine's son.

"Alright, so we're looking for Tython Katz," Sabine muttered. "Great."

"Wait a second, Sabine," Ezra said.

"What is it?"

"I'm sensing something from one of the prison levels... and I think these vents could lead us there, but I could be wrong," Ezra said.

"Lead the way," Sabine said.

Ezra began crawling through the vents with everybody behind him, though Delphine was between him and Sabine so Sabine could keep an eye on her. A few minutes of constant turning and twisting later, Ezra finally stopped.

"Is this it?"

"Delphine, do you think your son can wait for a moment?" Ezra asked.

"Actually, how many signatures are you sensing?"

"All of them, but this one is stronger than the rest," Ezra said.

"Then we've already found him," Delphine said, a smile spreading on her face.

"Wait, what?" Sabine asked.

"I forgot to mention, the reason the Empire took him isn't because of me, but because he's Force sensitive," Delphine said. "He's just not trained to use it."

"Ezra can't teach him because he's already about to start training Mira," Sabine said.

"I know, and I wasn't going to ask," Delphine said.

"Well that answers a lot," Ezra said as he pulled out his lightsaber again and cut a hole through the ceiling into the prison cell. Before it could just drop, Ezra used the Force to lift it into the shaft and set it aside. He then jumped down and found a young boy, not too much older than Mira, cowering in the corner.

"It's alright," Ezra said as he stepped towards the boy. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"W-Who are you?" the boy asked.

Ezra pulled off his helmet and stared directly at the youngling. "My name is Ezra Bridger, and I'm here to get you out of here."

"How can I trust you?"

Ezra's shoulders dropped a bit and looked up into the hole he cut out. "What do you teach this kid?"

"I taught him to be careful," Delphine said.

Delphine dropped down into the cell and the boy looked as if he was about to scream, but Delphine told him to stay quiet.

"Remember those stories of a blue haired Jedi and a colorful Mandalorian?" Delphine asked her son. "This is him."

"Where's the colorful Mandalorian?" Tython asked.

Sabine poked her head through the hole.

"Right here," she said. "Now we should get going before the Empire checks up on little Tython."

"She's right, let's go," Ezra said.

"He can't be a Jedi. He's wearing Mandalorian armor," Tython said.

Ezra grinned, "This was just given to me from Sabine's family." He unclipped his lightsaber and showed it to Tython, whose eyes grew wide at the sight of the lightsaber. "Your mother said you were strong with the Force, just not trained. Unfortunately I can't train you since I have my own daughter to train."

Tython gripped something in his hand.

"What is that?" Ezra asked.

Tython opened his hand to reveal a crystal clipped to a thin chain.

"No way," Ezra said in awe.

"We were also hoping if you knew for sure what this was," Delphine said.

"That's a Kyber crystal. Whenever he's old enough he can construct his own lightsaber, but how did he get it?" Ezra asked.

"Ezra, come on!" Sabine hissed.

"One second!" Ezra said back.

"His father gave it to him before he died," Delphine said. "It's all we have of him."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Tython. Now, you ready to get out of here?"

Tython nodded eagerly and Ezra used the Force to lift the boy into the vents. After he was secured, Ezra put his helmet back on and watched Delphine jump up into the shaft. He was about to jump up as well when the cell block doors opened and a squad of guards stormed in, though Ezra could sense they didn't know they were there.

"What's this?" they asked.

"You're in the wrong cell block," Ezra said.

"That can't be right..."

"That's because he's trying to use a Jedi mind trick on you fools," a man said.

Ezra frowned and stood at the ready. The man that emerged from behind the stormtroopers wore the uniform of the Inquisitorus.

"You have got to be kidding me," Ezra sighed.

"You seem annoyed rather than frightened," the Inquisitor said.

"Because I am annoyed right now," Ezra said. He looked up into the vent shaft. "Go! Get out of here!" he shouted.

"I'm not leaving you alone!" Sabine shouted.

"That's an order!" Ezra said as he used the Force to jam a crate into the opening so nobody could get them.

Sabine pounded on the crate, trying to remove it, but it was stuck in place. "Ezra!"

"We have to get out of here," Delphine said. "He can take care of himself."

Sabine reluctantly followed Delphine down the ventilation shafts before they were forced into the hallways when security doors inside the vents were shut.

"We have to go get Ezra," Sabine said.

"Sabine, the prison is going on lockdown, we don't have time!" Delphine said.

"You probably contacted those guards to check the cell block," Sabine said.

"How and why would I do that? You were watching me the whole time!" Delphine shouted.

Tython got between them and pushed them apart, but since he didn't know how to control his abilities he accidentally used the Force to push them farther than intended.

"Uh oh... I'm sorry," he apologized innocently.

Sabine shook her head and stood up, Delphine doing the same from the other end of the hallway.

Before anybody could do anything else, Sabine drew her blaster and aimed it at Delphine.

"Sabine, we need to go!" Delphine said. "Remember what I said on the way here."

Sabine hesitated a bit. She didn't trust Delphine, still, but she did say she had a son captured by the Empire and put into a prison cell. So far that's exactly what she saw so she had no right to blame Delphine.

No matter how much she resented Delphine, she couldn't saw she was wrong about all this. Sabine lowered her blaster, but didn't holster it. After all, they had an entire prison looking for them now, especially since the alarms finally went off.

"Stay behind me and stay close. Don't try anything stupid, either of you," Sabine growled as she took the lead down the hallway.

…

The Inquisitor didn't make a move towards Ezra, though the troopers were no longer there. They've been sent to search for Sabine, Delphine, and Tython.

Please don't find them, or the ship. Ezra thought, forming a mental barrier so the Inquisitor couldn't read his mind.

"So you want to free the boy, is that correct?" the Inquisitor finally asked.

"You don't seem to miss much. How did you know we were here?" Ezra asked.

"Actually we really didn't know," the Inquisitor said. "It's very impressive that you were able to hide your presence for being as young as you are."

"I'm more skilled than you may think," Ezra said. He was holding his lightsaber, but didn't activate it. The Inquisitor didn't even make a move for his weapon, either.

"So tell me," the Inquisitor began, "why are you rescuing the boy? Do you know of his abilities and wish to train him?"

"I know of his abilities, but I'm not going to train him," Ezra said.

"Ah that's right. You must still be a Padawan. You're much too young to be a survivor, after all."

"Are you only here to talk?" Ezra asked, though he was careful not to get too annoyed.

"Well just because we're on two separate sides in this war doesn't mean we can't be civilized," the Inquisitor said.

"Since when were Jedi hunters and Sith 'civilized'?" Ezra asked.

"Generally we're not supposed to be, especially to Jedi, but I have my reasons."

Ezra relaxed, but didn't let his guard down. "As much as I generally don't like the boy's mother, I'm not going to let you have him."

"Well we can train him properly," the Inquisitor said.

"I know somebody who could train him the right way," Ezra said.

"And who might that be?"

"Why would I tell you?" Ezra asked.

"Alright, suit yourself," the Inquisitor said.

"Are you just going to let me leave or something? All your pals weren't this chatty before," Ezra said.

"Well I never said I was going to let you go, but I'd rather not kill you. Vader would be glad to finally meet you in person. It's a shame he just left for Coruscant a little while ago."

"I'd rather not, thank you," Ezra said. "Now if you'll excuse me."

Ezra then Force pushed the Inquisitor out of the way and he ran out of the cell and into the corridor. When he looked behind him, the Inquisitor was running after him, this time the dreaded double bladed, spinning lightsaber was in his hands, though it wasn't activated yet.

…

Sabine shot down two more stormtroopers before waving at Delphine and Tython to follow her. They were getting close to the exit, but Sabine wanted to find Ezra above everything else.

"The exit's just right down this corridor," Sabine said. "Get to the ship but don't do anything."

"Where are you going?" Delphine asked.

"I'm going to find Ezra," Sabine said before running back down the halls.

Delphine turned to her son and knelt to his height. "Listen to me and listen carefully, there's a ship to the northwest of here waiting. I want you to board it and hide in one of the rooms. There's an R2 unit there as well, it can keep an eye on you."

"What about you, mom?" Tython asked.

"I'm not going to let Sabine do this by herself. Go, run as fast as you can," Delphine said before kissing her little boy goodbye. She then ran after Sabine as Tython ran outside the prison and headed northwest.

Sabine only ran down two long corridors before hearing the sounds of lightsabers clashing and whirring. She came across an intersection in the corridors, but the sounds of the lightsabers seemed to be coming from everywhere.

"Ezra," Sabine whined, "where are you?"

She was about to run down the hallway in front of her when she saw Ezra running full sprint from the right.

"RUN!" he shouted as he grabbed her arm, pulling her after him.

"Woah! Ezra, slow down!" Sabine said.

"You need to get out of here, while you still can!" Ezra said.

"Ezra?"

Behind them, the Inquisitor laughed. "Running away? I thought you were skilled like you said you were!"

"You need to get out of here," Ezra repeated.

"No, we need to get out of here," Sabine said.

"If I don't keep this guy off your trail he'll find the ship," Ezra whispered.

The Inquisitor wasn't in view anymore.

"Ezra, something's happened to you," Sabine realized. "What did he do to you?"

Ezra pulled off his helmet to look at Sabine directly, but Sabine saw the frightened look on his face.

"Ezra..."

"He... broke my barrier," Ezra said. "Ignited my worst fears..."

Sabine pulled Ezra into a hug to calm him down. "Ezra, we're still here. They're just fears, and they can be broken."

Ezra nodded. "Y-Yeah..."

"Come on, let's get out of here," Sabine said.

Suddenly, the sound of a lightsaber flying through the air snapped them out of their few moments of relative peace. Ezra tried to deflect the blade, with some success, but one end of it cut through the back of Sabine's armor and she cried out in pain. She crumpled to the ground, her back smoking and her armor glowing where the lightsaber struck.

Time froze for Ezra as he stared at a motionless Sabine. He dropped to his knees next to her and lifted her up in his arms.

"Sabine! No, no no no!"

He gently slapped Sabine's cheek in a desperate attempt to get a response. "Don't do this to me!"

Sabine was completely still and tears began to slide down Ezra's face. He rested his forehead onto hers and after a few moments, he suddenly felt strangely calm. His fears, and worries, were just... gone. At the sound of the Inquisitor laughing again, Ezra gently laid Sabine back down and slowly stood up.

"Now look what you did," the Inquisitor taunted. "She died trying to save you, how pathetic!"

The hallway went dark except for the Inquisitor's red lightsaber; however, the crimson walls were soon filled with emerald as Ezra activated his blade again.

"That... was a mistake," he muttered.

It was the same words Kanan said to the Grand Inquisitor after he knocked Ezra onto a lower platform.

"Oh please, all you've done was run away from me. I'm not afraid of you."

Ezra stared at the Inquisitor, not even blinking once. "You should be."

They stood in place for a few moments before Ezra continued to speak.

"Have I ever mentioned what I did the last time somebody threatened my family?"

"Why would I care?"

"It didn't end well for him," Ezra said before he lunged at the Inquisitor.

He didn't see it coming and just barely managed to deflect the blow, taking a few steps back. However, Ezra would not slow down. Where ever the Inquisitor slashed, Ezra wasn't there; he dodged every attack effortlessly.

His new strategy was to let the Inquisitor wear himself out, allowing Ezra to overpower him. Within a few minutes, that's exactly what happened. When Ezra drop kicked the Inquisitor, the air left his lungs briefly, allowing Ezra to finally go on the offensive.

The Inquisitor threw his lightsaber at Ezra again, but Ezra slid under the spinning blades, grabbed the lightsaber out of the air, and threw it right back at the Inquisitor. Without a weapon to defend himself, he couldn't deflect the incoming blade. The corridor they were now in, prevented him from attempting to dodge. The spinning crimson blades cut right through the Inquisitor, from the left shoulder, to the right hip.

"Who... Who are you?" the Inquisitor coughed.

Ezra approached the dying Jedi hunter.

"That doesn't matter to you," Ezra said. "What does matter, is that you didn't do your job very well."

The Inquisitor glared, his eyes burning.

Ezra grabbed the Inquisitor's head and swiftly brought his knee to meet it, finishing off the last of the Inquisitorus.

After he knew that the Inquisitor was really dead, he ran back to the hallway where Sabine was and his heart broke when he saw she was still there.

He dropped to her said once again and took her hand.

"I'm so sorry..." he muttered. "I couldn't protect you..."

Suddenly, Sabine began coughing and gasping for air, taking Ezra completely by surprise.

"Sabine!" he shouted as he held her in his arms.

"Ezra..." she coughed, "W-What ha-happened?"

Ezra teared up and smiled, "I'll explain later. Right now we need to get you out."

Sabine nodded and Ezra picked her up and carried her outside of the prison.

Much to his surprise, the Starbird was hovering outside and Delphine was standing on the open boarding ramp. firing at any and all incoming stormtroopers.

When she spotted Ezra and Sabine, she shouted for them to hurry up.

Ezra used the Force to jump up to the Kom'rk fighter and the ramp closed. Before Delphine could say anything, however, Ezra immediately ran into the medical bay of his ship and set Sabine on the bed.

"Ezra... what happened to Sabine?" Delphine asked.

"I'll explain later," he replied as he grabbed some medical supplies out of their storage compartments. He injected some sort of pain killer into Sabine's arm and told Delphine to help him get her out of her armor.

She nodded and began to help, but gasped when she saw the lightsaber cut on the back of her armor.

"Sabine..."

"I'll explain later!" Ezra repeated.

"Alright, fine," Delphine said as she began pulling off pieces of her armor.

As soon as Sabine's back was bare, Ezra finally had a chance to see the damage. He sighed when he noticed it didn't go deep at all. Nevertheless, it was still prone to infection so he grabbed a bacta canister and sprayed some of it onto her back. Immediately, Sabine cried out since the Bacta fought off anything that could cause harm and began its healing process; though Ezra wasn't finished yet. He grabbed some sterile medical bandages, traced with more bacta, and carefully applied it to her back, wrapping the soft, smooth material around her torso.

By now, Delphine left to check on her son while Ezra worked. When he was finished, he heard Sabine breathe a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" Ezra asked.

Sabine smiled, "That feels pretty good now. The pain's gone already."

Ezra smiled and about tackled Sabine in a hug. "I thought I lost you."

Sabine chuckled, "Yeah... What happened again?"

Ezra explained the entire event from when the Inquisitor threw his lightsaber to when he defeated him. Sabine was silent through the whole thing, carefully listening to every word her husband said.

When he finished explaining, Sabine sighed again.

"Great, now I'll have a scar on my back," she muttered.

"Well..." Ezra said. "I'm sure you can figure out how to make it look good."

Sabine smiled, "And why do you say that?"

"Well for one, you're Sabine Wren, the greatest artist in the galaxy. You make even the worst pieces of junk into masterpieces," Ezra replied, making Sabine smile.

"So... that was interesting," Delphine said as she entered the medical bay. "I'm sorry this happened, Sabine."

Sabine shook her head, "Trust me, this won't be the last time this sort of thing will happen."

"Actually," Ezra began, "he was the very last Inquisitor."

Sabine stared at Ezra in shock. "Wait... he was?"

Ezra nodded, "He was."

Sabine suddenly felt a bit dizzy and she pressed her hand to her temples.

"Sabine?" Ezra asked, worriedly.

"I'm alright. I think I just need to get some sleep," she said.

"Do you think you can make it to the room?" Ezra asked.

Sabine nodded, "Yeah, though I'll need your help."

"Here... let me," Delphine said. She helped Sabine stand up and she slowly took her to the bedroom.

…

"Starbird, you are cleared for landing. Welcome home."

Lothal's flight tower directed Ezra to his usual landing zone not far from his house. When they landed, Ezra gave Delphine the information about a local agent that could help her move in to a house on Lothal. On their way back to Lothal they really got to talk and Sabine finally dropped her grudge against her. The Delphine they knew in the past was finally back and they were happy about it, but the Rebellion still had her on a watch list, which fortunately didn't bother Delphine in the slightest.

Ezra had to explain what happened to Sabine after they got home, and soon afterwards, began talking about giving the house to Hera, officially.

"I take it you're moving back into your tower, still?" Hera asked.

Sabine nodded, "Well, he spent a good bit of his life in it, after all. Plus it's surrounded by nothing except fields so it's perfect for Mira to train."

Hera smiled, "Well alright then."

"Any rent?" Kanan asked.

"Well... maybe," Ezra replied.

Mira was told what happened to Sabine as well, though the details were, of course, more child friendly. They'll have to explain it when she's older. Then when she was told they were moving into the old radio tower, her eyes lit up.

"Really? We're still moving there?" she asked excitedly.

Ezra laughed, "Of course, ad'ika."

"Yay!"

While Mira celebrated, Ezra and Sabine agreed they would move as soon as she's well again. Ezra had taken her to the doctors office the next day and the doctor agreed that she would have to just rest and relax for about a week. Bacta healed things fast, but the after effects of a lightsaber wound to the back could still linger for a while longer.