(A/N)- Posting this chapter a bit late but hey. (It was mostly done, I just had to tweak a few sentences and finish the last scene.) I actually had a lot of fun with this one. The talky bits were a bit of a struggle but once we were past that everything came smoothly. Anyway...
Picking up from where we left off last chapter, and continuing on with the trend of adjacent-to-the-actual-events-but-heavily-altered-because-AU modified Season Four episodes, here is part one of "In The Name Of The Rebellion". Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Boy sure would be nice to own Star Wars. Imagine living that dream.
Close To Home
Orange-tinted clouds drifted by the windows, but Hera didn't relax her grip on the controls until several long minutes had passed with nothing but the gentle sound of the Ghost's engines in her ear cones.
She let out a soft breath, tension unwinding. Hitting the auto-pilot, she sat back, her hands loosing from the handles.
The plan had worked. They had made it to Lothal's atmosphere intact, smuggled in the belly of another starship, an arrangement provided by, of all people, Cikatro Vizago. They had left the cargo hold of the other ship the moment they were far enough past the blockade not to be detected, but Hera had stayed on alert for any sign of Imperial TIEs as they broke from their escort.
But the sky was quiet. The proximity alarms went unsounded.
Looks like we made it, she thought with relief.
She heard steps behind her. Kanan felt his way into the cockpit, reaching out for the edge of her seat and using it to guide himself forward, standing behind her.
"Are you sure you should be piloting right now?" he asked. The hint of a grin played at his lips. "Given your condition?" he teased.
Hera's mouth quirked a smile. He knew full well the auto-pilot was on. "I'm fine," she told him. She turned in her seat a bit, to better face him. "I'm a little tired, and I have a monster craving for meilooruns, but otherwise, I'm okay." She tilted her head towards the door, her lekku swishing softly. "How's everyone back there doing?" she asked.
Kanan straightened a little bit, resting both hands on the backs of the pilot's and co-pilot's seats. "Kallus is complaining about the cramped quarters again."
"It's less cramped now without Mart and the others," Hera pointed out.
"I told him that," Kanan said. "And that just started him off on a rant again, about how they're so irresponsible and left their things all over the Ghost and won't stop comming him and leaving him messages," he recited.
Hera tried to hide a grin. "He misses them."
Kanan matched it. "I give it two days before he cracks and listens to all their messages," he joked.
Hera shifted in her seat, turning around so she was facing more towards the back of the ship. "And... how are Ezra and Sabine?" she asked, more seriously, folding hands together in her lap. "Did they sleep okay last night?"
She already knew they hadn't; Kanan had left her bed early in the morning and hadn't come back until well after the standard day had started, citing a need for caf and warm breakfasts.
Kanan shook his head in confirmation. "We were up the whole time talking. Nightmares."
"Both of them?"
He nodded. "Ezra's was about Maul again. Sabine..." He grimaced uncomfortably. "Well, she imagined her weapon disintegrating all of us."
Hera winced, a sympathetic twist of her features. She glanced back towards the doorway, her heart panging for her two young Spectres. Far too young to have faced the kind of horrors they had.
"She still blames herself for what happened on the Star Destroyer," Kanan was continuing. "Took both of us to convince her it wasn't her fault. We'll see if it takes."
A silence descended between them, heavy with thought and contemplation. The Ghost's engines hummed quietly and the clouds drifted softly by the port.
"You think we made the right choice? Coming back to Lothal?" Hera asked, breaking the tension.
Kanan stirred, folding his arms across his chest. "I think you were right; it's what Ezra wanted." He shook his head. "I don't think he felt safe on Yavin anymore."
"Given that Maul found his way there I don't blame him," Hera sighed. The Alliance had implemented much tighter security procedures since Ezra's revelation that the ex-Sith had found them on Yavin, had been on-planet for some weeks waiting for a chance to strike, but all the added protocols couldn't rid Hera of a niggling creepy unease every time she looked out at the jungle. Even knowing Maul was dead couldn't shake the horror of knowing he had been there. Imperial-occupied Lothal, ironically, felt safer to her now. And she wasn't alone she knew. "He's seemed... happier. Since we told him our plans to return," she commented.
Kanan nodded. "He was ready to come home. Ready to finish the mission and liberate his people. And," he added, small smile growing on his face, "I think he's starting to get a little excited about being a big brother."
That made Hera smile in turn. "You think?"
"Won't stop asking questions about the baby," Kanan told her. "Wants to know everything. If we've picked out a name yet, how the genetics work with half-human hybrids..."
Hera chuckled. "That sounds like Ezra all right."
Kanan took a hesitant step forward, unfolding his arms, extending a palm out. "May I?" he asked, tilting his head, expression open, seeking permission.
Hera sat back in the chair, allowing him access, gently guiding his elbow. Kanan knelt down in front of her, placing both hands reverently on her still-flat stomach. Hera tingled at his touch, something inside her... responding to Kanan reaching out through the Force, his mental touch brushing up against her belly.
Kanan exhaled softly in wonder.
"He's like a warm little ember," he said.
A giddy feeling passed through her, an emotion like glowing daylight. Hera felt everything else fade away for a moment—the Rebellion, the Empire, the mission—leaving just the two of them, and the little spark Kanan could feel inside her.
The Ghost's comm pinged, shattering the blissful moment. Kanan withdrew, and Hera swiveled her chair around with an irritated sigh.
Tapping a few buttons and checking the incoming frequency, she frowned.
"What does he want?" she muttered.
Kanan was about to ask who she was talking about, but he received his answer in the next moment; Hera opened the channel and Saw Gerrera's visage shimmered into existence from the holoprojector.
"Captain Syndulla," he greeted, entirely too brightly; her suspicions raised almost immediately. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Hera's mouth and brows flattened and she sat back a little in her seat. "Not yet," she said, crossing her arms. "What do you want?"
"I heard you broke from the Alliance."
"We're rejoining Ryder and the resistance on Lothal," Hera corrected. "We haven't severed ties with the Alliance."
"Are you afraid of open conflict, Syndulla?" he asked. He chuckled low in his throat. "Your actions on Mandalore say otherwise. The Partisans could use boldness like that."
"Hard pass," Kanan said behind her. He stood with crossed arms and guarded posture, stoic and unreadable. "Look, we're grateful for your help in finding Ezra, but we're not interested in joining the Partisans, Saw."
"Just hear me out, Master Jedi," Saw said. "I have a mission that's right up your alley." His eyes shifted back to Hera, piercing. "And if you still want to help the Alliance, you'll want to listen."
Hera considered cautiously, then said, "Go on."
Saw flicked a switch on his end, and an additional holo sprang up. A large circular dish appeared, antenna pointed skywards.
"This," Saw explained, "is an Imperial communications relay. It's located in the Jalindi system. It expands the Empire's ability to quickly pass along messages between its forces, allowing them to mobilize faster, and respond quicker to threats."
Hera frowned. All right, that was worrisome.
"It's lightly guarded. A couple squads at most. If you approach from high altitude," he was continuing, "you shouldn't be detected."
"And you're suggesting... what? We blow it up?" Hera asked.
"Well I'm sure Sabine wouldn't mind that."
Kanan's lips were pressing together in concern. "How did you get this intel?"
Saw's eyes hardened. "That's not important," he snapped. "Are you in, or not?"
"I hope you have some way to get us to Jalindi," Hera said tersely, voice annoyed. "We just made it past Lothal's blockade," she pointed out. "It's not going to be easy getting back out."
"Don't worry, I already thought of that."
The holoprojector switched images, now showing a cloistered cluster of familiar-looking Lothali stone mounds, and an Imperial shuttle tucked within.
"One of my operatives left this for you on the far side of Jhothal," Saw was explaining. "It's already installed with a decoy transponder, and I've got Imperial access codes for you to give to those raptors hanging in the sky."
Hera studied the image, a wrinkle between her brows and her mouth pulled down flat. She thought for a long moment.
She stirred a bit.
"May I see the codes?" she asked.
Saw transmitted them.
Hera stared down at the string of binary, intensely scrutinizing them. It wasn't like she thought Saw would betray them, or intentionally give them bad codes... but she wondered how accurate the codes could be given that she couldn't be sure where—or how—Saw had gotten them.
She reached over on the dashboard, flipping the ship's internal comms.
"Kallus, can you come up to the cockpit for a moment?" she requested.
There was an immediate darkening behind Saw's eyes, and his face tightened defensively. Hera wasn't Force Sensitive, but she could still feel the radiating hostility in the man's glare.
Kallus's booted footsteps sounded down the hall and then he appeared in the doorway behind Kanan, tensing and freezing up a moment when he saw who was calling.
Hera beckoned him closer. "Can you take a look at these Imperial access codes for me?"
Kallus pushed past his unease, leaning in and taking a glance over Hera's shoulder, finger on the console. Saw's eyes stayed fixated on them the whole time, as if he thought Kallus would try to tamper with the codes if he wasn't watched like a hawk.
After a moment or two Kallus nodded and straightened back up.
"The codes are good," he confirmed. "Recent, and region-accurate." He sidled a glance towards Hera, the same unspoken question she had about their origin in his eyes that he didn't speak aloud, choosing rather to fade back behind her against the wall.
Saw fluffed up with pride. "I told you, I've taken care of everything. All you have to do is show up and do the job."
"What's in this for you, Saw?" Kanan asked, a note of suspicion in his voice. "I didn't think you'd be so keen on helping the Alliance."
He chuckled, a hollow, humorless sound with little mirth. "Oh I've already warned them about this, trust me." He leaned back, crossing arms over his broad chest. "Let's just say that communications relay is making my operations in the Outer Rim... difficult."
"I'm certain," Kallus muttered under his breath.
"And... why not blow it up yourself?" Kanan asked further, with a brief silencing glance back at Kallus. "Why do you need us?"
"I happen to like working with—" He shot an unfriendly look towards Kallus. "—most of you." His chuckle was a bit more genuine this time as he continued, scratching idly at his arm. "We made a good team on Geonosis." He gave a casual shrug. "Besides, while you're in the area I was actually hoping I could borrow your kids for another mission that—"
"No," Hera interrupted him, ice in her voice.
Surprised, he began to protest. "Captain Syndulla—"
"Ezra has been through enough," she cut him off again. She sat straight back in her chair, arms folded. "I'm not even keen on bringing him along on this mission," she told him.
"We'll—" Kanan interjected, extending a placating hand towards Hera, "—let him decide that," he finished.
Her features stayed hard and flat, but she didn't argue against Kanan, merely staring him down quietly.
Saw took the concession almost gleefully. "Excellent. Then I'll expect to see you within the next standard galactic day or so." He tapped a few buttons unseen on his side. "Oh, and, one condition before you decide to take the mission," he said. Looking up he cast a cold look on Kallus, full of curdled dislike and anger. "Leave the Imp behind."
Hera's hackles went up again. "Kallus is a member of this crew. Where we go, he goes," she argued.
Saw twitched forward, practically snarling. "You're never going to get close enough to that relay in that decoy without my help. And I'm not working with him."
"Well you're going to have to get over—"
A hand on her shoulder interrupted her. "Hera," Kallus pleaded, eyes wrinkled. "It's fine. I'll just rendezvous with Ryder and the others."
Hera's hot temper swelled a moment, then simmered down. She settled for the compromise. Looking up, she told Saw, "I'll put the mission before my team and ping you with what we decide."
He stared back impassively, arms crossed.
"Don't keep me waiting. Time is of the essence."
His image flickered out, snapping away without further fanfare. The cockpit was left quiet and still once more.
"Jerk," Hera muttered.
Kanan sighed. "Well, I'll get everyone together for a conference," he said, sounding tired.
He felt out for the doorframe, Kallus helpfully stepping aside and out of the way, and proceeded to make his way back down the hall.
-SWR-
Hera was already regretting even considering taking the mission when she saw everyone's faces, Ezra's and Sabine's turned up towards her eagerly, Zeb's hiding his excitement. Too bright. Too happy and unburdened. A sour taste curdled at the back of Hera's throat.
Nevertheless, she pushed past her discomfort and unease and focused on things at hand.
"I have a mission for us."
A stirring went around the room.
"'bout time," Zeb grunted. He punched a fist into his palm. "So what's the target? We hitting the factories first?" He couldn't suppress a grin.
Hera's lekku bounced softly as she shook her head. "It's not here on Lothal."
Another stirring. An offended blort from Chopper. Confusion and slight distress in Ezra's eyes.
"But we just got here!" Zeb whined.
"I know, and I'm sorry," she apologized, gaze heavy on Ezra in particular. She sent a look around the room at her gathered crew and then took a deep breath. "There's an Imperial communications relay that's been letting the Empire respond quicker to reported Rebel presence," she explained. "It's allowed them to lay traps, meet ships with heavy counterattacks, and generally impede our movement."
The crew absorbed that in sober silence, which she took as a positive sign.
"Saw's requested we go in and help him blow it up," she finished.
"What, you mean Saw Gerrera?" asked Zeb, for clarification.
"That's the man." She leaned back on one leg, crossing her arms, mimicking Kanan's position against the wall behind her. "Any questions?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah?" Sabine piped up at once, sounding heavily annoyed. "Why are we running Saw's errands?"
"I haven't accepted it yet," Hera corrected tersely. "I'm still thinking about it. I wanted to put it before all of you first."
Undeterred by Hera's attempt at a diplomatic answer, Sabine challenged, "Okay, then, why are we thinking about running Saw's errands?"
Hera flung her arms out in exasperation, face flustered. "I guess we're returning a favor!" she snapped.
"And how are we going to get past the blockade again?" Sabine demanded, pushing out of her seat in order to stand up.
"Saw's made arrangements," Kanan spoke up calmly.
Sabine's eyes narrowed with simmering irritation. "Of course he has," she said flatly. "You know, this is suspiciously convenient timing," she pointed out.
Hera couldn't argue there.
Sabine was cooling off a bit, but still had her arms crossed, looking suspiciously back at Hera. "Where is this relay anyway?"
She was already internally flinching as she said it. "The Jalindi system."
"But that's almost halfway back to Yavin!" It was Ezra who protested this time, his expression openly distressed and stinging with dismay.
Hera immediately crossed the room and took a knee in front of his seat, grabbing up his hand and squeezing it reassuringly.
"Ezra, you don't have to go on this one if you don't want to," she promised him softly, voice gentle. "I'm sure we can manage—"
"No," he interrupted her. His blue eyes were cold steel, angry and determined. "I'll do it," he said. "In."
Concerned, Hera pressed, "Ezra—"
"I'm in, Hera. I'm going," he insisted, a slight waver in his voice now. He couldn't stop his hands from creeping up into his hair, scratching against his scalp. His face was pinched for a long moment before he dropped his hands, exhaling breathlessly. "I want to do it," he told her.
"You're sure?" she checked.
"Yes," he hissed, her question only seeming to further agitate him.
Hera studied him for a long moment, searching the lines on his face, seeing the fight in his eyes. She read his conviction, his stubbornness, his self-sufficient survivor's nature.
She backed down.
"All right," she said, getting back up to her feet. She paced back towards the center of the room, all business now as she addressed the rest of them. "Any other objections?"
Kallus raised a tentative hand.
"Captain Syndulla? Would it not benefit the Alliance more to install a spike in the relay?" he suggested. "That way the fleet could listen in on the Empire's broadcasts and move their ships around the Empire's accordingly."
"I hadn't considered that," Hera admitted. She put a hand to her chin, thinking it over. She could certainly see the merit of it. She raised her head, glancing around at everyone. "Well? What do you all think?"
Kanan was the first to answer, voice as calm and even as ever. "It's not a bad idea. We'd be turning the relay into an asset instead of a hindrance. If we blow it up the Empire will just build another one," he reasoned.
"But it'll also waste their time and resources, buy the Alliance breathing room," Ezra spoke up to argue. He squared a look at Hera. "I saw we blow it," he said.
"Yeah, I'm with him," Sabine agreed, tilting her head at him.
"WUB!" Chopper added in support.
Hera's eyes flicked back towards Kallus.
Kallus grimaced. "I'm not sure I should have a vote, given that I'm apparently not allowed on the mission," he said.
Hera turned to Kanan.
He didn't stir from the wall. "I'll go with whatever the rest of you decide," he said.
"It's decided then," Zeb announced. He rose from his chair, cracking his knuckles sharply, the grin back on his face. "Let's go blow that relay," he crowed.
Hera nodded slowly, taking in her crew one last time.
She hoped she wasn't going to regret this.
-SWR-
Things were pulling off amazingly smoothly, all things considered.
They'd found the shuttle right where Saw had said it'd be, slipped through the blockade with nary an issue, and made it to Jalindi in relatively good time. Saw had complained about her approach to the mission, calling it overly-cautious and timid.
"We're treating this like a stealth mission, Captain?" he'd asked condescendingly over the comms.
"Hey, if we were in the Ghost it'd be another matter," she'd sniped back. "But I'm not taking unnecessary risks in this burner you left us. This thing doesn't even have functional shields!"
That seemed to shut down the argument. Saw left them to scout for enemy fighter patrols, and Hera used the cloud clover to fly in close above the relay before sending Erza, Sabine, and Chopper out to land on the dish. The three of them made it down okay, and were probably now discussing where best to plant Sabine's detonators.
So why did her ear cones seem to be buzzing with agitation?
Hera's fingers tapped on her arm, restlessly. Her knee bounced as she watched the three blips on the sensor display that indicated where Ezra and Sabine and Chopper were. They had clustered near the base of the dish's antenna, comm-silent so as not to blow their cover and expose their presence.
Kanan's hand landed on her shoulder.
"They're doing fine," he told her gently.
"I'm not worried," she blurted.
His face twisted skeptically.
Hera sighed. "All right, I am worried. I can't help it. Any time Ezra's anywhere near Stormtroopers now I just—"
She broke off, forcing herself to take a deep breath and calm down.
"I should have made him stay behind," she muttered.
Kanan shook his head. "Come on, you know he never would have done that," he reminded Hera a bit sternly. "He would never have obeyed that order. He can't stand waiting behind while the rest of us go into danger. Would have found some way to sneak himself along."
Hera stopped tapping her arm, raising that hand up to cover her face with a weary groan. "Ugh, that boy is such a martyr." She peeked up behind her palm at Kanan. "Gets it from you, you know," she snarked.
He smiled and gave a nonchalant shrug. "It's a Jedi thing."
-SWR-
Sabine finished attaching a detonator to the base of the dish's main antenna prong.
"Okay, that's the last of them," she announced, stepping back and observing her placement.
Ezra pushed up his helmet, leaning back with a frown.
"No offense Sabine but..." His eyes traced back towards the edge of the dish, then up at the tip of the antenna high above. "...I'm not sure your detonators have enough firepower to really damage this thing."
Sabine shrugged helplessly. "Well I didn't really get a chance to restock before we left Yavin. These are all I could make on short notice." She lifted her wrist gauntlet, tapping a couple buttons. "I've timed them so that they should feed into each other when they blow, hopefully creating a big enough explosion and shockwave that it'll snap that antenna in two."
"WUB. WUB WUB WUB WEB."
"Oh did you have a better idea for how to maximize our limited resources?" Sabine snapped at Chopper.
The C1 ducked his dome almost shame-faced. "WRRR..."
"Hang on," Ezra said, alerting to something. He straightened up from his crouch, peering off into the vivid blue sky. A low hum was sounding on the edge of his hearing, a distant buzz like engines. "Do you hear that?"
Sabine paused, pursing her lips and frowning under her helmet. She could hear it too, a tinny sound growing louder and closer. She turned and squinted into the distance, spying a silver blip diving, moving fast.
"Is that... a ship?"
Tiny red bursts streaked out from it and then the next second the dish rocked beneath their feet as the laser bolts pierced through the relay's stem, tearing through durasteel and machinery, punching fire though the holes they made.
Sabine and Ezra flailed as the blast wobbled the dish, Chopper screeching indignantly. Sabine jerked herself upright, appalled as she spotted the U-wing streaking overhead.
"What the kriff?!"
-SWR-
"What is he doing?!" Hera yelled, lunging forward for the comms button furiously. She mashed it, barking sharply. "Saw! Break off right now! You are jeopardizing my crew!"
The man had the gall to reply, "Relax Syndulla. I won't hit your kids."
Hera sputtered, so angry she couldn't form words. In the co-pilot's chair Zeb felt his hackles raising, and Kanan's body tightened, worry spiking inside him. Hera grabbed up the controls and sent the shuttle swerving into a sharp nosedive.
Down, down they dropped, all caution forgotten, all that was left a frantic need to retrieve her team.
-SWR-
The teens uncovered their heads, Ezra dropping his faceplate back down protectively as a door on the side of the antenna base slid open and Stormtroopers poured out, firing at both them and the U-wing as it made another pass.
"I thought this was a stealth mission!" he complained, snapping on his lightsaber and deflecting shots.
"Well, it just went hot! Come on!" Sabine yelled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along.
They ran towards the edge of the dish, Sabine leading him, dodging shots as they popped after their feet.
But once they reached the rim they had to stop. There was nowhere to go.
Chopper called out across the way, warning them he was taking action.
"WUB WUBWUB WUB WUUUB!"
Sabine spied his manipulator clicking in the port and felt a sudden shift in her footing.
"Oh boy," Ezra said, vocalizing her thoughts.
Her hand snapped out for one of the rods along the array. "Grab on!" she told him.
He pulled himself up, pressing tight to Sabine and clinging to the same rod as the dish tilted, slowly rotating backwards, spilling the troopers down a suddenly sharpening incline. They yelped and flailed as they went falling past Ezra and Sabine, dropping into the empty space and clouds below.
A loud grinding and then the dish began tilting the other way, just enough so that Ezra and Sabine could find their footing again.
The two scrambled back onto their feet, a loud engine whine sounding through their helmets. They turned as one to see the U-wing pulling to a stop, angling around and parking in midair.
The side door slid open to reveal Saw, standing proudly next to a cluster of proton bombs.
Sabine glared at him through her visor. "You know, you could have warned us that you were changing the plan," she griped, crossing her arms tightly.
He tilted his head in a shrug. "You didn't have enough explosive anyway." One hand reached behind the first cluster of bombs. "Heads up!" he called.
He sent them rolling out of the cargo hold, the clusters bouncing heavily as they clattered down the dish.
Ezra watched them drop and settle in the bottom of the dish. "Yeah, that will probably do it," he said.
Saw gestured for them, motion hurried. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."
Ezra froze. He didn't know why he felt a sudden cloud of danger or why his anxiety was suddenly spiking, but he felt very clearly that getting onto Saw's ship now was a bad idea.
Sabine seemed to have the same sense, shifting from foot to foot fretfully. Both of them hesitated, looking towards each other.
Irritation crept into Saw's expression. "Unless you'd like to stay and get blown up," he said, "I suggest you come on board. Those charges are on a real short fuse."
Dismayed and reluctant, but realizing they had no other choice—Hera was still too far away in the Imperial shuttle and the timers on the charges were pitching shriller—the two teens turned forward and engaged their respective jetpacks. Ezra paused a moment to comm Chopper.
"Come on Chopper, we're going."
The droid quickly withdrew from the port, firing up his boosters and joining the two as they landed in Saw's cargo hold.
The side door slid shut and locked.
-SWR-
Hera watched the U-wing pull away and yanked back on the throttle, leveling out her dive and climbing now, straining the small shuttle for all it was worth to avoid the bright explosion that engulfed the relay, splintering apart metal and wiring.
The craft jostled from the shockwave, rattling uncomfortably a moment before it stabilized.
She chased the U-wing into the upper atmosphere, cursing the Imperial shuttle for its slower speed.
She hailed the Rebel vessel, both hands clenching tight around the yoke.
"Gererra! Pull alongside this instant and give me my kids back!" she yelled.
"Sorry Syndulla. I need them more right now. Besides," he chuckled, "the relay did its job one last time, sensors picking up a Destroyer exiting hyperspace. We won't have time to dock, I'm afraid."
Zeb growled and ducked over the speaker, ears twitching furiously. "You planned this, didn't you?!" he accused with a snarl.
"Things just fell into place, Garazeb," Saw dismissed lightly. "Call it the will of the Force or something."
Now Kanan was gnashing his teeth, leaning in angrily over the dashboard. "That's not how the Force—"
"I'll return your kids to you safe and sound," Saw promised. "After I'm done with them," he emphasized. "Who knows? They might enjoy fighting with a real army for a change."
Hera was still straining to keep up but with a click from the comm and a long gray streak, the U-wing disappeared into the backdrop of space and stars.
She screeched.
"That slimy son of a—!"
-SWR-
Hyperspace passed softly around them. There was a quiet sort of tension in the air, and Sabine fidgeted as she leaned against the wall.
Ezra carefully removed the jetpack from his shoulders, setting it off to the side and looking up towards the cockpit where Saw and an alien pilot were both seated.
The silence was thick, uncomfortable. Ezra swallowed down the strange unease inside him, clearing his throat.
"Look," he said, "we appreciate the save—"
"We don't, actually," Sabine interrupted. Her brown eyes glared, her hands tightening on her elbows. "We wouldn't have been in danger in the first place if you hadn't barged in lasers blasting," she complained.
That got a low laugh out of Saw. "I never do anything quietly, Sabine."
Ezra flashed a glance back at Sabine before picking his thoughts back up. "Anyway, we'd really like to just go back to Lothal now so—"
"You can't," Saw bit sharply.
Ezra's body tensed, some kind of flickering panic, or memory of panic, threatening on the edge of his nerves.
Softening, Saw corrected himself. "At least, not yet," he said. "I need your help with something."
That made Sabine's eyes narrow.
"You need our help?" she asked skeptically.
"You two and your droid are good at infiltrating Imperial bases."
Sabine flinched, darting a glance at Ezra, who had flickers of discomfort pulling at his face.
"Yeah I'm not..." Ezra trailed, fidgeting, shuffling in place, rubbing a hand down his neck and looking away. "...I'm not really... comfortable doing that kind of thing anymore."
"That's the mission. This is war, Ezra, there's no time for comfort. There's too much at stake." Saw's voice was feverish now, pitched with passion. "The Empire's building something, I know it, something they don't want anyone to find out about. They wiped out a whole population to keep it secret."
"Geonosis?" Sabine queried.
Saw nodded vigorously. "Exactly! If it's something they have to murder a whole planet to cover up, it's something the galaxy needs to know about!" He settled back down into his seat and gave a grim chuckle. "Besides," he called back to Ezra over his shoulder. "You owe me. It was my hyperspace coordinates and intel that let your friends get into the Mid Rim to rescue you." He turned forward again, concentrating on the tunnel of hyperspace, hands steady on the yoke. "The way I figure it, you're just paying back your debt."
Ezra's mouth was twisted and strained, tension across his shoulders and his hands gripped into fists by his side.
He wanted to argue. He should argue. Every single bit of this situation his brain hated and his reluctance was almost a physical liquid inside his belly, heavy and solid, pulling down his feet.
But there was also a sense of weighted obligation, of needing to do this, an onus of constrained responsibility.
He wrestled against the competing instincts for a long moment, feeling Sabine's concern hovering on his Force senses.
Finally, his aversion crumpled. He let out a breath, giving in.
"All right," he agreed. "We'll help." Not that they had much choice, he thought grimly. "What do you need us to do?" he asked.
Saw nodded towards his companion. "Show them, Edrio."
The Tognath rose from his seat and descended a couple steps down from the cockpit into the hold, tapping a couple buttons on the wall.
The holoprojector activated. The image of what looked like a floating spacedock appeared. Edrio grunted something in approval, standing back from the image.
"That's Faos station," explained Saw. "I recently acquired intel on a secret Imperial cargo being loaded aboard a civilian freighter there."
Curious, the two teens came closer, peering at the projection and listening in.
(A/N)- Wheeeeeee we're getting into the good stuff now! This was one of the plot bunnies I was getting, close to the end of "Shatterpoint", that convinced me I needed to do this fic as a collection rather than a single oneshot. Anyway, here are your usual chapter notes.
1. We almost make it back to Lothal lol. I'm sure you're all just as frustrated as Ezra. The bait-and-switch was kind of deliberate, I wanted the crew to be close to finally being home and then pull the rug out from under them at the last minute. (Just like these past three months have been for me yaaaaaay.) So I did have to contrive a little bit the method they use to make it through the blockade and how they get right back out again. But I think it makes enough sense to be passable and believable.
2. Iron Squadron has had to stay behind on Yavin for now, but don't worry, they will play into things again later.
3. Callback to Ezra's "Out or In" shorthand with Hera from "Shatterpoint". Also, the last time Ezra stayed behind while everyone else went on the mission... *gestures to all of "Shatterpoint"*... that, so yeah, there was pretty much no way he was not going to come, in spite of how uncomfortable he was. (And he's going to continue to be uncomfortable, as we'll see next chapter. Sorry Ezra.)
4. Saw's like the crazy conspiracy-theory anarchist uncle of the Ghost crew family, you know he's probably right but you're still all like, "Hnnnn stop being a bad influence on my kids!"
5. Speaking of, Hera is definitely SUPER pissed at Saw even-more-explicitly basically kidnapping them this chapter. More Mama Bear fury to look forward to on that end next time.
A slight cliffhanger ending to leave you on, and I do hope you join me again for resolution next time!