Hey everyone! Specter7 here. I apologize for the sorta late update; school is vicious. Anyway, after this chapter we will have reached our climax— The Capture of Sundari. This has been an awesome ride, friends! Couldn't be happier for how everything's transpired. Don't forget to follow/fav & review if you haven't already! And remember,

May the manda be with you.

The New Mand'alor: Chapter 17: Calm Before the Storm

"Not all battle scars are on one's body."

-Mandalorian proverb

Sabine, Bo-Katan, Arc, Ezra, and Rau all stood atop the skyscraper, watching the rising sun inside the safety of Sundari's biodome.

"Everything is coming along nicely," Bo-Katan observed. "You have the support of some of the most powerful Houses on Mandalore."

"Right," Ezra jumped in and began to list names off on his fingers. "You have House Ordo, House Caladon, House Kryze, and most of House Vizsla."

Sabine nodded briefly and kept her eyes on the dark red sliver on the horizon.

"Hey," Ezra continued, "how come it's only most of House Vizsla? Can't you just… I dunno, message the leader and ask them to join you?"

Sabine cocked an eyebrow. Did he seriously think it was that easy?

It was Fenn Rau who answered the boy. "House Vizsla was disbanded when the Empire took over Mandalore. Through the Darksaber, we have been able to slowly reunite the House, although most of its members were killed during the wipe-out."

"Clan Kryze was as well," Bo-Katan added. "My direct relatives were exterminated by the take-over of Clan Kryze, but my family stretches far and wide. I've been tracking these people down since you came here, Mand'alor."

"What about Luc?" Ezra asked suddenly. "I thought his clan was part of House Kryze. And if it is, then you're the leader of House Kryze, so shouldn't you be able to order them to join you instead of Luc having to travel all the way to his homeworld?"

Bo-Katan pinched the bridge of her nose, her patience seeming thin. "Clan Teneau has slipped under my radar since I left the Death Watch," she muttered finally. "Luc is from Clan Teneau, so he's gone to convince them to join Mand'alor the Free."

Ezra nodded slowly. "Mandalorian stuff is complicated," he said eventually, as if putting a lot of thought into the statement.

"It sure is something," Arc spoke up for the first time in their conversation.

Sabine shot her a sideways look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Arc shook her head and glanced away. Sabine watched her rub her side, where the blaster wound had been. Arc had been acting… odd all week. Ever since she had arrived at the tunnels, Arc had been distanced. With all the preparation for the capture of Sundari, Sabine hadn't had the time to really talk it out with her.

Bo-Katan straightened. "We have other business to attend to."

"Right," Sabine nodded, accepting the change of subject. "Did House Skirata respond to my message?"

Rau answered. "No," he said briskly, his grip tightening on his dark blue helmet. "Nor mine. Besides, House Skirata was never much for aggression or fighting."

"They were too passive," Bo-Katan muttered. "Too much like my sister."

"Who's your sister?" Ezra piped up.

Sabine ignored the question. She would have to fill her best friend in on the Mando details later. "Still," Sabine said, "the extra troops would have been welcome."

"Speaking of extra troops," Arc said, her voice hollow, "has anyone heard from Clan Vizsla?"

They all looked at each other. Bo-Katan was the first to respond. "Ever since the wipe-out, Clan Vizsla has completely disbanded. I suspect there is someone leading a small cell of them, somewhere. But even if we were able to track them down, there's no guarantee that they would fight or even be on our side."

Fenn Rau stared at Arc. "You know this."

Arc bristled. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. But don't any of you think it's odd that the one of the most pure-blooded clans are nowhere to be found?"

"At this point we have bigger things to worry about," Sabine said cautiously. "We can't keep the element of surprise for long. We need to make sure all of our warriors are ready the second I give the order. When are the zealots from Concordia arriving?"

"Within the rotation," Rau said.

"And Torian Ordo?"

"Any day now."

Suddenly, the door behind them slid open and a Nite Owl warrior ran up to them. "Mand'alor," he said, kneeling before Sabine. "Commander Kor has returned from the Imperial raid and he strongly suggests you and your subjects get underground. The Empire is shortening the time in between patrols and a squadron of TIE fighters should be deploying soon."

Sabine nodded curtly. "Go on ahead," she said to the others. "I'll be down in a second."

Her companions followed the Nite Owl warrior inside but Ezra lingered at her side. "You want company?"

Sabine shook her head, not unkindly. "I need to be alone."

Ezra left her to her thoughts and Sabine sat with a sigh on the skyscraper's roof. She watched the glorious sunrise, even though the biodome's transparent glass did not allow for a full display of beauty.

Sabine crossed her legs in a meditative stance like she'd seen Kanan and Ezra do. As the bliss of solitude sunk in on Sabine, she felt her shoulders relax. The peace reminded her of the calm before the storm. With such a perfect sunrise, who would ever think that the horizon was about to be stained with smoke and ash?

A cold breeze ruffled Sabine's hair and she pulled her crimson cloak tight around her body, shivering. Despite the rising sun, the temperature felt only a few degrees over freezing point. Perhaps Sundari's synthetic weather-fabricator was malfunctioning. It wasn't supposed to get this cold until another four months to maintain the seasons.

Sabine's eyes widened. She had a brilliant idea.

As TIE fighters screamed in the distance, staining the perfect sunrise, Sabine scrambled to her feet and dashed through the door frame and into the skyscraper, eager to tell others of the plan slowly beginning to be concocted in Sabine's young genius mind.

"If we could get into this compartment," Sabine said, pointing to a red dot on the holographic map, "we can overload the power cells and manipulate where the power feed channels into."

"Resulting in a city-wide winter," Kor finished, nodding slowly. "Quite ingenious."

Most of Mandalore was a desert. Any life on the planet could only survive in biodomes; half-sphere cities erected in the middle of war-ravaged sands. The biodomes generated their own weather using a synthetic weather-fabricator. It was in charge of keeping the four seasons separate, but if there was a mishap, July could get a foot of snow or the temperature could hit 105 degrees mid-December.

So if Sabine were to perhaps... sabotage it, the weather fabricator could malfunction and send the Imperials into a frenzy. It would give them the distraction they needed to take over the heart of Sundari: the royal palace where the last ruler of Mandalore lived.

Ezra had his arms crossed next to Sabine as they examined her plan. "But won't all the snow just make it harder to hit the troopers?" he said. It wasn't like him to be cynical but he proposed an excellent point.

"I studied stormtrooper tactics when I was at the Academy," Sabine said. "One of the first things the instructors will tell you is to know when to rush into battle and when to retreat. When there's weather extremities, the troopers are ordered to pull back and call for reinforcements. They can't function in the cold."

"Plus," Bo-Katan added, "Clan Caladon has some of the best snipers in the galaxy. They'll make quick work of the troopers either way."

They all looked to Arc. She was leaning against the holotable, fists pressed against the sides. A shadow slipped across her expression and she frowned. "Sure. Luc can head preparations for that. He's the best sniper I know."

Luc had just returned from recruiting his clan an hour ago, flanked with two people that had looked shockingly similar to him. The man had Luc's sharp jawline and golden blonde hair, while the woman had Luc's slight build and his upturned nose. Sabine had figured they had been his parents, and now, they stood by Luc as he glanced over at Arc.

"I can do it," he said. "Just give me a map of the Royal Palace and I'll post the snipers."

Arc nodded wordlessly and walked to Bo-Katan, speaking quietly with the lady. Guess the meeting's over, Sabine thought. She watched Luc's sharp eyes track Arc and worry flashed across his features. Sabine tucked the thought away and observed the layout of the weather-fabricator again.

Sabine had worked on the making of an Imperial weather-control station before being transferred to weapons engineering, so she knew the basic ins and outs of a weather-fabricator. The only question is if I can reroute the power feed in time, Sabine thought to herself. I know I can do it… but we're in a time crunch here. If the Empire sees that someone sabotaged it, they'll probably send cold weather assault troops before the rest of the plan can be put into motion… and that won't be good.

So, overall, they had to be quick. Manipulating Sundari's weather would only be so good if they kept stormtroopers grounded.

So no reinforcements, either, Sabine thought to herself. They've already quadrupled the Imperial presence because of our raids… but I haven't seen many jumptroopers or death troopers. So long as they don't send more, we should be able to handle it.

Well, that meant jamming Sundari's comm towers. Not an easy task, but a necessary one. I can get some of Bo-Katan's mechanics on that one, Sabine thought. Maybe get them to engineer a data spike so a strike team can deliver it.

Sabine twisted her lips, thinking hard. This was by far the most intricate, detailed, and complicated plan she'd ever designed before. But, then again, Sabine had never had to design a plan to free an entire warrior race with over a thousand worlds in its ranks.

"I can do this," Sabine muttered to herself. She just had to think. It would take three days of the weather-fabricator making its own cold front for everything to be totally iced over. So, three days before the main attack, Sabine would have to sabotage it.

And we're still waiting for our requests to join us to be answered, Sabine thought to herself. Torian Ordo still has to show up with his warriors, and even though he should be here any day now, we can't start the attack until he's here. And until our requests are sent back.

But they couldn't wait a whole nother week. Sabine could tell her warriors were getting antsy being holed up in these tunnels and the Imperial presence was only getting heavier.

So… she'd just have to take a chance. Sabotage the weather fabricator today or tomorrow and wait three days until everything had frozen over. And while the Imperials were scrambling to figure out the problem, they would strike.

"I hate waiting," Sabine muttered to herself. She felt helpless, relying on other people to respond to her call to action.

Arc passed by her and Sabine watched her out of the corner of her eye. She could almost see the stormcloud hovering over her head. Manda, what's her issue?

She looked around and her gaze rested on Luc. His parents had gone to talked to Kor, and Luc was glued to his datapad screen.

"Luc," Sabine said.

He glanced at her and then back down at his screen. "Oh, hey, Mand'alor."

She stepped closer until she was directly in front of him, patiently waiting for him to notice her. Luc looked up and pressed his lips together.

"Can I help you with something?"

Sabine had never stood this close to him before. He smelled of pressed leather and gun oil, the latter a scent she was familiar with. It was a lubricant to clean blasters.

"Yeah," Sabine drawled. She scuffed her boot against the floor. "Ah, look, it's a tie between you and Kor for who knows Arc the best. She's been acting weird lately. Do you know anything?"

He twisted his lips. "I know a lot of things. You gotta be more specific."

"Do you know what's bothering her."

Luc hesitated. "I don't think it's my place to—"

"Luc."

It was a long time before he responded. "There's a lot of memories in these walls. She's probably reminiscing."

"Arc never struck me as nostalgic."

He snorted a laugh. "No, she's not. She never told me much about it, but she hid something here. Something from her past. If I had to bet, she probably talked to Bo-Katan to see where it was located."

Something from her past. Sabine tucked the detail away and vowed to investigate. Right after she asked Luc a few questions. When she looked back at him, she noticed a gold earring hung from his left ear. Had that always been there?

"Luc… Can you…" Sabine searched for the right words. She hoped this wouldn't seem too out-of-the-blue. "Do you know anything about what had happened with Arc? Before she reassembled the Death Watch? You were there, weren't you?"

He rubbed his narrow chin. "I was there for some of it. I've known her for about four years now. Before I knew her, she had spent a few months traveling with… well, with two people. They traveled the galaxy. She got close with one of them."

The thought of Arc falling in love with a Jedi came to Sabine's mind again. "How… close?"

Luc gave her a wary glance. "Why?"

"It might explain why she's acting like this." Sabine tucked her arms close to her side. "She's heartsick."

Sabine watched Luc grit his teeth. He suddenly seemed defensive. "That was a long time ago, Sabine. If she hasn't moved past her dead boyfriend by now, then-" His mouth suddenly snapped shut, like he'd said too much.

"So you do know something. Spill."

He looked away and rolled his tongue inside his mouth, making his cheek bulge. "I'm not really supposed to talk about this-"

"She fell for a Jedi. One of the people she was traveling with was a Jedi and she fell for him."

Luc seemed shocked for a brief moment, like he hadn't expected her to know that. He held up two fingers. "There were two. Two Jedi; a master and an apprentice. They had traveled with Arc to the Caladon Sector several months after the execution of House Vizsla. That's where I met them."

While they were talking, Luc was rubbing a pale, triangular scar on his jaw, like he was recounting a bad memory. Sabine hadn't paid much attention to it before now. Most Mandalorians had some sort of gruesome scar; trophies of past battles. Luc was no exception—except he didn't seem too thrilled to bear it.

"Arc saved my life," he said. "That's another story, though. She killed the master Jedi. He gave her—" he dragged a gloved finger across the corner of his eye where Arc's scar was "—That. And she kept the apprentice's Padawan braid. Clipped it to her own head."

Sabine swallowed hard. "Who killed the apprentice?"

"Now that is definitely another story. Look, no more questions. I've been sworn to secrecy and Arc would kill me if she found out how much I've already told you. Just talk to her."

"Right," Sabine drawled. "Because talking boys with my cousin is exactly what I like to do in my freetime."

Luc gave her the closest thing to a smile—not a smirk—that she'd ever seen from him. Sabine realized he wasn't as annoying when he was actually pleasant to look at. But there was a kind of sadness in his eyes that surprised her. Like he'd been present for something he wished he could forget.

Luc tucked his datapad under his arm. "I'll see you later, Mand'alor."

Sabine watched him walk off, more unanswered questions on her tongue. Luc had answered her queries with bigger, more pressing questions. Like: who were these Jedi? How had they survived Order 66? How had the apprentice died? Why did Arc kill the master?

Only one way to find out, Sabine thought to herself. She marched off in Bo-Katan's direction. Luc said Bo-Katan hid something from Arc's past in the tunnels.

She found the Nite Owl leader with Fenn Rau near the weapons barrack, both talking military strategy. When Sabine asked about Arc, Bo-Katan's gaze hardened.

"I can tell you where she is; but I warn you, Sabine Wren. You might not want to pull on this thread." Bo-Katan had put a hand on her arm as they talked and Sabine shrugged it off.

"She's my cousin," Sabine said. "I need to know where she is."

"Four years ago, she gave me a case for safekeeping. I put it in a secret compartment in one of the spare rooms. It happened to be the same room you picked out for your sleeping quarters."

"So she's in my room?"

Bo-Katan hesitated. "Yes. But-"

Sabine was already turned around and on her way down the tunnel. Every step felt like she was sinking further into her own grave. She came to a stop outside of her room, each breath shallow and rapid in her chest.

Here goes nothing, Sabine thought. She stepped inside and the door slid shut behind her with a click. She found Arc sitting on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at a wall. She didn't acknowledge Sabine.

Sabine herself almost didn't recognize her. For starters, her hair was actually down. Dark locks spilled over her bare shoulders in waves. In the time Sabine had had the conversation with Luc, Arc had ditched her Mandalorian armor for a tanktop and tactical pants rolled at the hem, the armor nowhere to be found.

"You look cheery," Sabine said and could have kicked herself. Her voice sounded awkward to her own ears.

Arc's green eyes were glazed over and she didn't so much as twitch. "What do you want?"

"Um, nothing much. I mean, you are in my room."

"I needed to get something." Arc still hadn't even looked at her. She showed her the object in her hand and Sabine's heart skipped a beat. It was rusted over and the metal had dulled, but there could be no mistake.

It was a lightsaber.

For a heart-stopping moment, Sabine thought it was Ezra's. But this lightsaber handle was longer and the grips were horizontal instead of vertical.

"Where'd you get that?" Sabine said. Her mouth was suddenly very dry.

"I asked Bo-Katan to keep it for me a while back. I didn't want to be tempted."

A metal case lay opened on the floor, where Sabine assumed the lightsaber had come from. There were a few more objects in its velvet depths and Sabine slowly walked over, crouching next to the case.

There was a handful of pocket change, thin silver and gold coins with various insignias inscripted on each of them. One read DXUN, with a withered face emblazoned on the front. In fine print below it were the words TORIAN ORDO in Mando'a and the slogan HONOR & JUSTICE FOR THE DUCHESS MASSACRE.

Sabine knit her brows. "The Duchess Massacre?" she thought. What…? For a moment she thought the coin was talking about Duchess Satine Kryze of the Clone Wars-but her assassination had never been referred to as a "massacre." Sabine's eyes rounded. The coin burned in her fingers.

"The Duchess Massacre," she whispered. The coin was referring to the weapon Sabine designed during her time with the Imperial Academy. Sabine had named it the Duchess; a snarky reference to Bo-Katan's dead sister, the former leader of Mandalore. The Empire had turned the Duchess against the Mandalorians, killing many. So many, in fact, one might even call it a massacre.

Sabine dropped the coin in disgust. She looked over her shoulder at Arc, whose gaze was still fixated on the lightsaber in her hand. Sabine turned back to the case and ran her hand along the other objects. They looked like sentimental trinkets. A few holodisks, a small glass container of sand, a square piece of what looked like an animal's scaley hide, and a golden ring. The ring was unremarkable; just a plain band; shiny-like it had never been worn. And when the ring fit perfectly on her third finger, she knew it was a woman's ring. Almost like a marital ring.

Sabine quickly slid it off her finger before Arc saw her and tucked it into the velvet cloth. There were other objects. A sewing kit, a thin box that made a snare sound when Sabine tapped it—like a mini percussion instrument—and an old-fashioned envelope stamped with a red seal. Still unopened.

Definitely not touching THAT, Sabine reflected. She happened to like her head attached to her shoulders. She was still balancing on the balls of her feet, and she twisted to face Arc. "What are all these?"

Arc glanced at her and her eyes turned flinty. "Stuff I want to forget." She moved to Sabine and grabbed the case, snapping the latches shut.

"Then why did you come here?" Sabine said. Arc whirled around and Sabine took a half-step back. She held her hands up. "Just asking. You're in my room. With a lightsaber. Gotta ask questions."

Arc sat back on the bedside. She suddenly seemed exhausted. "I shouldn't have come here."

Sabine sat next to her, gaze lowering to the lightsaber still clasped in her hands. Her knuckles were turning white. "Um… Why don't you just… put down the sword."

Arc didn't answer and Sabine cautiously slipped the cylinder from her hand, easing her fingers off the grips. When Sabine held the lightsaber in her own hands and Arc hadn't killed her, Sabine sighed with relief.

Arc looked at her. Her eyes were tortured, facial features contrasting sharply in the dim light. "You think I'm being stupid, don't you?"

"No, I don't-"

"I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea." She went to leave but Sabine pulled her back down.

"Hey, c'mon. Calm down. Explain. What's wrong?"

Her laugh was emotionless. "Where do I even start? The Death Watch camp was destroyed by Imperials-" she was listing the things off on her fingers "-My aunt came here and threatened you while I was unconscious, we're about to mount the biggest attack against Sundari in Mandalore history, and my head is still stuck in the crinking past!" Arc ran her hands through her thick hair. Sabine still wasn't used to it being down.

"You mean this," Sabine said, looking down at the saber in her hands. It felt heavier than Ezra's and the Darksaber.

"Yeah. Yeah, that." She said it in the same way that Sabine would say 'Gar Saxon' or Ezra would say Luc's name.

Sabine hesitated. A load of questions burned on her tongue but she treaded forward carefully. "Arc," she said instead, "tell me a story. A real story. Tell me how you got this." She shook the lightsaber's handle. "And how you got that." She pointed with the butt of the lightsaber to her own face, where Arc's scar would be.

The muscles around the scar twitched. "Why?"

For some reason, the inquiry sent a pang of hurt through Sabine. "Because. We… We're cousins. We're friends." Right? The word hung in the air between them.

It was a long time before Arc moved. When she did, she held her hand open and Sabine placed the lightsaber inside it. Arc ignited the blade and a beam of golden-yellow shot out.

The hum was deeper than that of the Darksaber's; not high-pitched at all. It reverberated like someone was hitting a chord on a bass guitar.

Sabine watched Arc's eyes search the pulsing blade, as if she were looking for something. "I killed a man for this, Sabine." Her voice was colder than it should have been. "I vowed to do the same for any of his kind."

"Jedi," Sabine said.

Arc nodded.

Sabine bit her lip. Maybe she wouldn't be so on edge if there wasn't a Jedi hiding right under Arc's nose and he just so happened to be Sabine's best friend.

"Why?" Sabine said. Arc stared hard at her and she backpedaled. "I mean, why would you want to kill them?"

"Why wouldn't you? They're Jedi. Isn't that explanation enough?"

"Not really. They're people first."

Arc squinted at her like she was a book written in a foreign language that Arc was trying to decipher. "They're enemies. Our sworn rivals. They have been for generations."

"Manda, not you too!"

"What?"

"People have been saying that for years. It's a weak excuse to keep our two cultures separated. You're telling me, you hate Jedi just because someone before you did? They've done nothing to you and you-"

Arc shot up from the bed and before Sabine could react, she had shoved her up against the wall. "I watched a Jedi kill the boy that I loved," she hissed. Her eyes were wild. "I watched him betray me. So the next time you think you know all the facts…"

Sabine swallowed hard and shoved Arc off of her.

"...Think again."

Sabine knit her brows, hands balling into fists. The familiar rush of adrenaline at the prospect of a fight pumped through her veins, but it was a solid five seconds before Sabine realized the threat had passed and she wasn't in danger.

Arc hesitated and bounced the lightsaber handle in her hand before tossing it to Sabine. "Keep it," Arc said. "Or trash it. I don't really care."

She went to leave and Sabine spoke. "If you were to find another Jedi. What… would you do?"

"If he or she's anything like the last one, well, you could guess. Hardly matters now though; the Empire's hunted down any surviving Jedi. Makes my job easy, huh?"

She left Sabine alone in the room, heart pounding furiously in her ears. She had only one thought.

Ezra.

"I'm telling you, Ez! She's hell-bent on this thing. After we capture Sundari, I want you on the first ship back to the Rebellion. She can't know that you're a Jedi."

Ezra grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Sabine."

She gradually met his gaze. His heavy brows were knit and his lip puckered the way he did when he was worried. They were alone in Sabine's room, and they spoke in hushed tones. Arc had gone to her own quarters hours ago and it was only until Sabine was sure she was dead-asleep that Sabine pulled Ezra into her room to have the conversation.

Sabine grabbed his forearms, hoping she conveyed the desperation she felt. "Ezra, please. You've seen her. You know what she can do-"

"I don't care," he said. "And you can tell her I said that."

Sabine grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him down so they were eyelevel. "Ezra," she hissed. She waited until he locked eyes with her. "You're not listening. If she finds out you're a Jedi…" she let the silence hang between them.

"No, you're not listening." His eyes searched her face and Sabine's breath caught in her throat. "I'm not leaving you. Alright? We've gone through this before. So just stop."

Sabine didn't say anything. Her emotions warred with each other; she didn't know if she wanted to shake Ezra or hug him.

She let her hands fall from the folds of his jacket to rest on his chest. Sabine laid her forehead against him, heartbeat roaring in her ears and her blood galloping through her veins. She wasn't sure if it was fury at Ezra's stubbornness that made her adrenaline race or something… more. Something Sabine couldn't put into words at the moment. No—something Sabine refused to put into words.

Ezra's strong arms wrapped around her protectively and Sabine sunk into his hold. She didn't hug him back; just cradled her arms close to her body and let herself be held.

There were no more words left to say. Sabine's terror could hardly be voiced, but she had tried anyway. Ezra wouldn't leave her; even if it meant risking his own life in the process. Sabine mutely wondered why she still got surprised.

"You know this is the end," she said. Her voice was hoarse. "After we take the fight to Gar Saxon in a week. Everything's going to change after this."

She wasn't sure how she knew. Something in her gut told her that there would be things that they couldn't recover from. Ever.

"I know," Ezra said. He squeezed her tighter.

"Manda," Sabine whispered into Ezra's jacket. She moved her head sideways to speak. "I hope this works."

"It will."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we'll all die trying. I watched my world be enslaved, Sabine. I won't let your's stay that way."

Sabine didn't respond, just listened to the slow and heavy beating of her best friend's heart. I hope you're right, Ezra. I really, really hope you're right.

Ursa Wren had watched the holoprojector on her dresser for the past week for what seemed interminably. Every day, she had waited for the beeping of an incoming call to hail her. Yet every day, she was disappointed.

Ursa eventually admitted defeat and allowed herself a quiet moment of silence. She swallowed back cold anger. I should have know Sabine wouldn't answer, she thought. She's as stubborn as I feared.

As much as she wanted to deny it, Sabine wasn't coming back to Krownest.

Plan B, Ursa thought. She punched a button on the holoprojector and an image solidified in front of her.

"I regret to inform you of grave news," Ursa Wren said. "But I've just discovered the whereabouts of my daughter and the fools that follow her. They're in league with Bo-Katan and have taken shelter in some sort of underground tunnel system beneath Sundari."

Gar Saxon leaned forward in the hologram, hand cupping his broad chin. "Tunnel system, you say?"

"Yes. They have cloaking devices to hide the tunnels from scanners, but I can show you the hidden entrance."

Gar Saxon's lips contorted in a smirk in the gritty blueness of the hologram. "Thank you, Countess. We will launch a preemptive strike immediately. Meet me in Sundari as soon as you can."

Ursa Wren bowed her head. "As you wish, Viceroy."

The hologram fizzled out, leaving Ursa Wren to stare at the place where it had been. Dread made her stomach twist in knots. Don't worry, she thought to Sabine. We'll bring you home soon enough. One way or another.

Ursa primed the pistol on her hip and snapped it into its holster. One way or another.