Mara POV...
"So what's our next move?" Zeb asks. The Spectres and I were all gathered around a holotable in the Ghost's main cabin, which is displaying a hologram of of Lothal's Imperial Complex in the Capitol City.
"Whatever the Empire's protecting is valuable, more than anything else we've stolen before," Kanan said. "And if Fulcrum's intel is correct, it's in the heart of the Complex. The Inquisitor will most likely be there."
"Haven't been wrong yet," I add in.
"The center of the Imperial Complex?!" Ezra asks incredulously. "How are we supposed to get into that?"
"We'd have to sneak past a lot of Stormtroopers to get to their storage vaults," Sabine says, eyeing the Complex with analytical eyes. "Which means dozens, probably hundreds of patrols, security cameras, doors, clearance codes. This is leagues above our usual stuff," she says in concern.
"I've got some codes to help get through several entry points. It won't work with the big stuff, but it'll be helpful," I inform them, holding up a key card. Sabine looks at me in surprise.
"How'd you manage to get that? It's almost impossible!" she says.
I smirk lightly to myself. "Fulcrum's good," is all I give as an answer.
"Well its a good thing we have those," Hera says in agreement.
"Just what exactly is it that's so important to keep out of the Empire's hands?" Ezra questions.
A worried look appears on my face, as well as an unsettled expression from Kanan and Hera. "When can't tell you just yet," Hera replies.
"Oh come on! Even the new kid knows!" Zeb complains, to which I raise an eyebrow at him. He coughs nervously. "No offense," he mumbles.
"The chance that someone could be captured during this mission is high, so the less you know the better. At least until we all get out of there," Hera explains, and while a bit reluctant, Sabine, Ezra and Zeb all give nods of understanding. The sound of metal suddenly banging from outside the room gets our attention, prompting Hera and I to both give out groans of annoyance. We rush out the door to find R5 and her droid Chopper smashing into each other, throwing out furious beeps and insults.
"Alright alright, knock it off you two!" Hera orders sternly.
"You better can it R5," I warn him with narrowed eyes.
They both separate, but Chopper points one of his arms accusingly at R5, complaining about something, which causes R5 to squeal back angrily, about to hit him again. I kick R5, causing him to stumble, off balance and he beeps irritatingly at me.
"I don't care what he said, it's not like you're any better!" I retort, hands on my hips.
"I can't believe we still have to put up with a garbage can. Now we have two," Zeb mutters in complaint. Ezra grins at him. "Well at least Chopper isn't mad at us," he reminds him. Zeb nods in agreement.
Unfortunately for them, Chopper and R5 both heard the two and rolled forwards, delivering an electric prod to both of them. They yelp in pain before Zeb growls, a fierce scowl on his and Ezra's faces.
"Why you little-!" he starts.
"Zeb!" Sabine exclaims.
"They zapped us!" Ezra complained.
"Be glad that's all he did," I muttered with a roll of my eyes. R5 turned to me, beeping threats. I returned the look with narrowed eyes. "Try it, I dare you," I warn him. R5 may be a punk, but he's learned not to mess with me.
"Now, if we can get a move on, we're a little busy Chopper-" Hera starts to say in annoyance, before Chopper beeps something to her, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
"You got a message from Fulcrum just now?" she asks.
R5 beeped, saying he was going to tell us, and I fathomed a guess that both were attempting to inform us, but fought each other over the right to do it. I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever. R5, display the message please," I said.
R5 beeped triumphantly while Chopper grumbled furiously. He then showed a hologram of a hooded figure, which is of course actually Mom, just with a voice scrambler and hidden visual.
"This is a message update from Fulcrum. Reports have come in stating that the cargo the Empire is holding on Lothal will be transported tomorrow at 0900 sharp," she said, the message ending right after.
I blinked in surprise, turning to look at the rest of the crew.
"Well that's not good," Zeb stated grimly.
Sabine however, lit up in joy. "No no, this is great! If they're transporting whatever it is they've got, then it won't be in the Complex!" she exclaimed.
Kanan caught on quickly. "Which means the cargo will be vulnerable," he added with a smile.
"Where we can rush in and nab it before the Empire knows we're there," Ezra finished.
"Alright. Well we know what tomorrow's mission is." Hera stated, and we all nodded in agreement.
The next day, we prepared ourselves for the heist late in the morning, which would be for us to secure the cargo the Empire has a tight hold of. The plan was to survey the transport, which was traveling down a large street towards the airfield, where a large Imperial shuttle would be waiting for takeoff. The cargo itself was protected by several large patrols, as well as six scout walkers, alongside several Occupier class assault tanks surrounding the cargo transport. Essentially, it was protected by a massive force, which we would be unable to beat in a firefight, even if it would be much easier than taking if from the Complex.
So, instead of taking them all head on, we would use the street as an ambush. With such an important cargo, the Empire would force civilians off that street, so there was no danger for our plans there. Sabine was coming up with an EMP bomb to short out the tanks and walkers, as well as disrupt the Stormtrooper's helmets. The vehicles would be down for only a few minutes, leaving us with the Stormtroopers to deal with. So for that, we had several more thermal detonators, as well as Kanan and Ezra.
Since nobody knew I was a Jedi yet, I would travel with Sabine and Zeb using my blaster, while Ezra and Kanan did their own thing. Hera and the droids would then swoop in on the Ghost to pick us up. We'd use magnetic pads to bring the cargo up to the shift swiftly, and then we'd be flying out of there. Tough mission, but if everything goes to plan, it should be just fine.
With all the details laid out, it was now the waiting game. We had hidden the Ghost just beyond view of the Imperials in Capitol City, and snuck into the busy streets, getting into position on the roofs alongside the transporting zone.
"Everyone in position?" Kanan's voice asked.
"Spectre 5 ready and waiting," Sabine said.
"Spectre 4 ready to kick some bucketheads," Zeb answered.
"Spectre 6 is good to go!" Ezra exclaimed.
"Agent in position," I answered into my comlink.
"Confirm once you have a visual," Kanan informed us.
We waited, scattered along the rooftops for the transports to arrive, and I could see the signs approaching of their arrival, with how the streets were quickly being cleared by Stormtroopers. Eventually, I could hear the stomping of the scout walkers, and looked over to see them approaching far down the street. I grinned eagerly to myself and slipped off my fur cloak, ready for some action.
3rd person POV...
The transport carrying the cargo hovered along in the middle of the street as it moved to its destination. Whatever was being transported was large, sealed shut inside of a metal box. Surrounding it on all sides were four assault tanks, along with lines consisting of dozens of stormtroopers. In front of the convoy were three scout walkers, and bringing up the rear were the second set of three scout walkers.
"Target's approaching," Mara spoke into her comlink.
"I see them. Just a little closer..." Sabine said, watching the convoy through the scope in her helmet, finger hovering over the detonator button. Once the convoy came forward and into position, the Mandalorian grinned. "Gotcha."
Sabine clicked the button, and a small grenade hidden in the middle of the exploded with a blue pulse of plasma energy, expanding across the entire convoy. The vehicles all stopped and sparked as the electrical systems shorted out, and the stormtroopers grabbed their helmets, groaning and crying out in pain.
"Everybody move in!" Kanan yelled over the comlink, and he jumped down from the roof in front of the convoy, pulling out his blaster. ezra followed behind him with his lightsaber blaster, Sabine and Zeb flanking both sides as they jumped down. Mara jumped down from behind, shooting her own blaster at the troopers, swiftly taking out several of them while they were still stunned by the EMP. She didn't hesitate to shoot the troopers, as Jarik and Ahsoka had both explained to her that while stormtroopers could be incapacitated by a blaster, it wouldn't kill them due to how the armor was designed. They would just be knocked unconscious and require medical treatment, so she didn't have to worry about killing anyone.
Once a quarter of the stormtroopers were taking down by the crew, the rest regained their senses, firing back at them. Zeb tossed a grenade, taking out a small group of troopers, and the rebels all took cover, firing at the Imperials. Mara leaped behind a few crates, peeking her head out and shooting down a couple of stormtroopers.
"There's still too many of these guys!" Ezra yelled, taking out a trooper with his blaster.
"On it!" Sabine shouted, rushing towards Zeb's spot and rolling across the ground, tossing another detonator. The group managed to take enough enough stormtroopers in order to push them back, giving them more access to the convoy.
"Sabine, you and Zeb get the magnets on that crate!" Kanan exclaims, ducking underneath a shot. He then put his blaster away and pulled out his lightsaber, deflecting the shots and drawing a lot of attention towards him, and he moved to the side. Sabine and Zeb took this opportunity to rush up to the crate, the former getting to work on cracking the lock. Ezra and Mara provided cover fire for them, taking out as many stormtroopers as possible. Kanan leaped behind a few crates, and then used the Force to send them flying, taking out four stormtroopers. He then continued his defensive, the rest picking off several troopers who were focused on him.
Mara took the opportunity to notice how Kanan fought, and from what Jarik taught her about lightsaber forms, she could easily see the Form III in his movements, and how much he favored it.
"This is going great!" Ezra exclaimed happily.
The moment he said that, the stormtroopers stopped attacking, keeping their weapons trained on them as an Imperial Dropship arrived. From there, a Pa'aun wearing black and gray armor leaped down from it, landing in front of the troopers with a smirk on his face, yellow eyes gleaming. Kanan readied himself for a fight while Zeb glared at Ezra.
"You just had to say it did you," he said furiously.
"Uhhh... ok," Ezra muttered nervously, but he moved forwards, standing to the side, slightly behind Kanan and switching his lightsaber on.
"This is certainly a familiar situation," Grand Inquisitor stated in amusement.
"Same situation, same ending. We've had this discussion before," Kanan warned him with a confident smirk.
Just then, Sabine managed to get the lock open on the crate, which opened with a satisfying beep. "Got it! Zeb, help me with this!" she said. The two worked together to push the heavy lid off of the crate, and when it clattered to the ground, they looked inside, only to widen their eyes in shock. Mara looked inside as well, stunned by how large it was.
"Oh Karabast..." Zeb muttered.
"What is it?" Ezra called back.
"It's a massive kyber crystal!" Sabine replied in disbelief.
"What?!" Kanan exclaimed with wide eyes, looking back. Sitting there in the crate was a massive crystal several feet long, tinted with a pulsing blue glow. Mara, Ezra and Kanan could all feel the Force streaming forth from it.
"Surrender now, and the Empire may be merciful. You won't be getting away with that crystal," Grand Inquisitor said firmly.
Kanan whirled around with wide eyes. "Where'd you get a crystal that big?!" he demanded.
"That is none of your concern Jedi," he replied with sinister chuckle, activating his saberstaff, the blade casting his face in a red glow. The stormtroopers behind him readied their blasters.
"Whatever. We are NOT letting you get away with it!" Kanan declared, pointing his lightsaber at the Inquisitor. "You can't get through all of us by yourself!"
To their surprise, the Grand Inquisitor laughed in amusement, a wide smirk covering his face. "Who said I was alone?"
The crew all looked at each other in confusion, before the sound of another lightsaber activating caused Sabine, Zeb and Mara to whirl around in surprise. A black, armor clad female came leaping out of the sky down at them with a fierce roar, a red lightsaber held in her hands. The three jumped away with startled yelps of fright just as she slammed her lightsaber into the ground, pulling it out and glaring at them behind her mask. Kanan and Ezra looked behind them in shock, which prompted the Grand Inquisitor to strike.
"Another one?!" Ezra yelled in shock and fear.
Kanan barely blocked the Grand Inquisitor's blade, getting pushed back slightly before countering. He slashed at him several times, with the Inquisitor easily blocked before retaliating with a jab. Kanan side stepped, but the Inquisitor kicked him in the stomach, then used the Force the throw Ezra against the crate. He hit the side with a pained cry, looking up to see the second Inquisitor's blade swiping straight at his face. He wouldn't be able to block in time.
"No!" Kanan cried out in horror.
Ezra closed his eyes, holding his arms up, but the atack never came. Instead, he heard the sound of a lightsaber blocking the Inquisitor, and opened his eyes. To his, and everyone else's shock, Mara had blocked the second Inquisitor with her own violet colored lightsaber, inches away from Ezra. He looked at Mara in disbelief, but the red haired girl paid no notice, shoving the Inquisitor back.
Grand Inquisitor narrowed his eyes furiously. "So, there is now a third Jedi..." he stated calmly, but with a hidden anger.
"Well aren't you smart!" Mara retorted sarcastically, and the Grand Inquisitor leaped forwards, only to be met with Kanan's blade, starting a lightsaber duel between the two rivals.
"Get that crystal out of here now!" he yelled to Sabine and Zeb, who jumped out of their shock, pulling out the magnets. This prompted the stormtroopers into action, who began firing at the two, so Zeb provided cover for Sabine, while she placed the magnets.
Mara helped Ezra to stand up, and he looked at her with wide eyes. "You're a Jedi...? How?" he asked.
"Talk later please?" she replied, shifting uncomfortably. The Second Sister then activated her second lightsaber blade, and stared down the two behind her mask, suddenly speaking with a quiet intensity.
"You... Mara Jade..." she seethed furiously.
Mara looked at her in surprise. "You know me?" she demanded.
"I should've just killed your worthless hide as a child!" Second Sister roared, activating the spinning feature on her lightsaber viciously. Mara widened her eyes in a panic, suddenly recognizing the figure from her nightmares, buried memories coming to her mind. She stared at the Second Sister, frozen in fear from the echoing screams of her parents resonating through her mind.
"Mara!" Ezra yelled.
She snapped out of her stupor, Ezra pulling her to the side as the Inquisitor leaped forwards, slashing the ground. He attacked her with a few quick strikes, but they were clumsy, since he had barely started his training. She easily kicked him away and went after Mara, who rolled to the side, deactivating and then reactivating her lightsaber. Mara swung her blade quickly, aiming for the Sister's head and legs consecutively, using the forms Jarik had taught her. Second sister weaved out of the way, blocking her attacks before slashing upwards with her saberstaff, a hidden foot coming along with it. Mara blocked the lightsaber, although stumbled slightly from it, allowing Sister's foot to catch her full in the face, sending her into the air, landing painfully on the ground.
Mara cried out in pain, and then the Second Sister stood above her, lightsaber poised to stab. "This time I won't take you, rather I will kill you!" she shrieked.
Luckily, Ezra had recovered and began shooting at the Second Sister with his blaster, forcing her away from Mara in order to deflect the shots, growling furiously. Mara laid on the ground, memories of that night and the sight of her father's headless and armless corpse lying on the ground, a smoking hole in her mother's stomach.
"Mara!" Ezra yelled.
She looked over to see the Second Sister, rushing for Ezra, and he just barely dodged, although she managed to backhand his face, sending him to the ground. Getting up quickly, Mara reactivated her lightsaber and leaped for the Inquisitor, who growled in annoyance after being prevented a kill once again. Mara shoved her away and quickly swung her lightsaber in a reverse handgrip, similar to how Ahsoka wields it, missing a few times, causing the Sister to laugh mockingly. The laugh was replaced with a cry of pain and rage as Mara managed to slash open her mask. she backed away, holding a hand to her face while Mara and Ezra stood in front of her, lightsabers held at the ready.
Second Sister pulled her hand away, slowly looking up at them. Underneath the broken mask was a gleaming yellow eye seething with fury, the skin around it apparently scarred with burns of some kind. With a shriek of fury, Sister lunged forwards with her spinning lightsaber, landing in between the two teenagers, who stepped out of the way. She spun around, catching both ends of her red blades on a blue and purple one, then shoved them back. She slashed her lightsaber at Ezra, who managed to block it and the next, then turned to Mara with a heavy downwards strike. Mara sidestepped the attack, twirling around and quickly slicing at Sister, who blocked the attack with ease. Ezra raised his lightsaber and swung at the Sister, but she weaved out of the way and brought the other end upwards, forcing Ezra to back up.
However Sister raised a hand and unleashed a heavy Force attack on Ezra, which sent him flying across the yard and slamming into Zeb, who fell over with a yell of surprise.
Across the street, Kanan battled the Grand Inquisitor, blocking his attacks and then leaping over one of his swings, landing with his lightsaber held in front of him. Grand Inquisitor turned to face him with his blade at the ready.
"So where did you pick up your new friend Jarrus? She's younger than even your apprentice," he remarked.
"What makes you think I'd care to answer that?" Kanan retorted fiercely.
"I didn't expect you to," he responded, stepping forwards intimidatingly. "Now... where, is the Jedi Jarik Shan?" he demanded.
Kanan eyed him in confusion. "What?! What are you talking about?"
"Your new friend Mara Jade was rescued by Jarik Shan ten years ago, and its obvious that he has trained her to become a Jedi." Inquisitor stated. "Now where is he?!"
Kanan glanced over to see Mara standing before the second Inquisitor with her purple lightsaber, bewildered and confused. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I've never known Jarik Shan," he replied.
Grand Inquisitor frowned. "We'll see about that. Because if she's here, then he definitely knows you," he said darkly. Kanan didn't have much time to process that, because Grand Inquisitor lunged forwards, entering another bout with Kanan again, the two blocking and slashing at each other.
With Ezra gone for the moment, Second Sister turned all of her focus over to Mara, who back up with fear in her eyes. She laughed mockingly. "Even with a lightsaber you're just that same pathetical rat who watched her mommy and daddy be slaughtered!"
"S-stop it!" Mara exclaimed, rushing forwards, however Second Sister sidestepped and slammed her lightsaber hilt into the back of Mara's head, sending her sprawling to the ground.
"I expected better," Sister sneered as Mara got up, looking furiously up at her. "After you're dead, I'll deliver your corpse to Shan and cut his head off like I did your father!"
Mara yelled in rage, jumping at Sister and slashing heavy strikes against her red blade, a vicious scowl on her face. Sister blocked her attacks easily, reaching out with her hand and grabbing Mara's wrist holding the lightsaber, throwing her to the ground. Mara leaped back up and attempted to kick Second Sister with her foot, but her attack was clumsy, and Sister used the Force to send her skidding across the ground.
"i'm going to enjoy this," she chuckled darkly, dragging her lightsaber along the street. Mara struggled to get up, and just then, the assault tanks and walkers started to come back to life. The rebels all glanced up at them in dread, not having any other defense against all of them. Just as the tanks took aim at them, and it seemed all hope was lost, a hail of laser fire came from the sky, impacting against several walkers, causing them to collapse onto a few assault tanks.
"Yeah!" Sabine cheered.
Approaching from the sky were the Ghost and the Knight Hawk, with both ships firing their laser cannons at the Imperials. Grinning to herself, Mara looked back up at Second Sister, who was growling fiercely, raising her saberstaff. Before she could attack, Mara acted first, flipping to her feat and swing her lightsaber to catch the Inquisitor by surprise. Second Sister blocked the attack, activating her lightsabers spinning mechanism and swinging at Mara. However she backpedaled, suddenly jumping over the Inquisitor with a flip, striking out with her lightsaber in the process, knocking the red lightsaber to the side. Upon landing, Mara also thrust out her hand, sending Second Sister flying back several feet from a blast of the Force.
Nearby, Kanan parried a few blows before kicking the Grand Inquisitor in the stomach, sending him skidding back a few feet. Before he could recover, Kanan added to his momentum with the Force, sending him crashing against the side of a destroyed walker with a pained grunt. Sabine had just finished putting the magnets in place, Zeb and Ezra taking out the last of the stormtroopers.
"We've got it Hera!" Sabine yelled into the comlink.
The Ghost then lowered closely to the ground, and Sabine activated the magnets, which brought the kyber crystal out of the crate and attached to the ships hull. The Ghost's ramp also opened, beckoning everyone inside.
"Everybody to the ship!" Kanan yelled. Sabine, Zeb and Ezra helped each other jump up to the ramp, Mara not far behind.
"NO!" Second Sister shrieked in fury, dashing forwards with her lightsaber raised. Kanan turned around and rolled to the side just as Sister made a slash, barely missing his face. He activated his lightsaber and attempted to defend himself, but Second Sister quickly overpowered him through her rage, batting his blade to the side. Before she could make a killing blow, Mara leaped in and slammed her purple blade into her red one, shoving Sister away. Grand Inquisitor was approaching as well, so Kanan and Mara both tag teamed the Second Sister, the former finishing their quick bout with a Force push.
"Come on guys! Get in!" Ezra yelled from the ramp, where everyone else was waiting.
Grand Inquisitor dashed for them, prompting the two Jedi to run as fast as they could for the Ghost. R5 was already having the Knight Hawk rising into the sky, so Mara made a leap for the ramp into the Ghost. The Grans Inquisitor threw his saberstaff at them as a final attempt to at least kill or injure them, which would have sliced through Kanan as he was mid jump. Luckily, Mara noticed and took out her own, slashing at his saber and batting it out of the sky just as Kanan landed on the ramp. With a wave and salute, the Ghost Crew left behind the furious Inquisitors, having made it off with the kyber crystal successfully.
Mara POV...
With the mission completed, we were heading back to the rendezvous point to transfer the crystal to the Knight Hawk, which I would then take to Mom and Dad, who'd do who know what with it. Right now I was sitting in one of the seats in the Ghost's common room, and all six of them were standing in the room, looking at me expectantly. Oh this was gonna be a hard one... how would Dad want me to explain this? Especially with Sabine being Mandalorian...
"So you're also a Jedi?" Ezra asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah... well more of a Jedi in training," I corrected.
"Why didn't you tell us that?" Zeb demanded with a frown.
"Because Fulcrum felt it would be better to keep that as secret as possible. Three Jedi being in one spot basically means you're screwed," I explained.
"Yeah we noticed. Since when did the Empire get another Inquisitor?" Hera asked, directing the question at Kanan.
He frowned thoughtfully, shaking his head. "I don't know where she came from."
"She seemed to know you though," Ezra pointed out, looking at me. I flinched, the painful memories coming back.
"Yeah... she did..." I muttered, crossing my arms and drawing myself inwards. going on my first solo mission wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be.
"How does she know you though? Clearly you two have fought before, as crazy as it seems." Sabine says questioningly.
"I don't want to talk about it." I replied stiffly, looking away.
Zeb frowned. "Come on kid, just tell us-"
"Drop it!" I snapped, glaring furiously at him. He promptly shut up, and Kanan gave me a look of sympathy, as well as a small amount of understanding from what I was sensing.
"I don't know what that second Inquisitor did, just a guess, but I'm sorry," he said sincerely, and I nodded my head in return. He then asked something else that made my blood freeze. "So, is it true that Jarik Shan saved you? Is he alive?" he asked hopefully.
I looked up at him in surprise, bewildered at where he learned that from. "Huh?!"
"Whose... Jarik Shan?" Ezra asked.
The sound of a helmet clattering against the floor got our attention, and we all looked over, surprised to see Sabine staring at me and Kanan with wide eyes, a hidden look of fury in her expression, and her hands curled into fists.
"WHAT?!" she demanded in outrage.
Ohhhhh man. Sabine Wren. the Mandalorian. Is. FURIOUS! Gosh darn you Kanan why would you say that? xD
Yeah, so the Empire was transporting a large kyber crystal, which the rebels thankfully managed to steal. I'm sure we can all fathom a guess as to what such a crystal would really be for... Palpatine won't be too pleased when he hears this.
Mara Jade's first real battle and a showdow against someone who still gives her panic attacks for killing her parents... not pretty. I hope I handled this entire action sequence correctly! :D
