Chapter 2

Responses:

Guest(July 9th) & Spectre6: Thank you for your input. I think this one might be more to your liking, and I've reshuffled the prologue and ch1 stuff to fit better and not be like a page long as well.

Monsterjamvadim: I appreciate the enthusiasm!

(A/N Lucasfilm/Disney owns Rebels, and also the sequel that might be coming out in Autumn, which will be miles better than anything that I could ever produce. I couldn't find much about Fest's geography, only images from Squadrons and I figure it's not going to be that snowy all the time, right? So, I'm playing it by ear, with a lot of artistic license. Also, wow, six reviews in four hundred views? By far the best ratio I've ever gotten. Thanks my guys & girls!)

Descending into the atmosphere, Sabine could catch glimpses of snowy mountains, craggy plateaus, and wide plains. Ahsoka began piloting the ship down onto one of the flatter plateaus, where a landing pad, holding a few other, smaller ships could be seen next to a small compound. Ahsoka touched the ship down, and opened the boarding ramp. Gathering up her own items, she made an ominous comment to Sabine.

"Take everything you need. Bandits here might try raiding the ship, and as a result, destroy it." Offset by the remark, Sabine made sure all her survival supplies, datapad, explosives and Ezra's lightsaber were safely packed away in her satchel, before sticking her Beskar helm under her arm and following the Togruta outside, where two figures could be seen in the doorway of the compound. One was clearly shorter than the other, and was holding something in their arms. The other wasn't extremely tall, but was evidently wielding a blaster rifle, and was training the scopes on them. Ahsoka, clearly not bothered by this, raised a hand and called out a greeting.

"Fulcrum, may the Force be with you." The taller figure lowered the rifle and started walking forward, motioning the other alongside him. As they got closer Sabine began to make out more details, the taller was male, wore a scruffy-ish beard and hair that seemed to continually flop into his eyes, and the shorter was female, had chocolatey brown hair tied into a bun and the bundle they were carrying was squirming too much to just be supplies. It became clear that it was in fact a baby, a fairly new one indicated by the dark circles under the eyes of the two adults, signs Sabine had learned from Hera and Jacen that evidenced parents that had not gotten used to a disrupted sleep schedule. For a few seconds, no-one spoke, until the man and Ahsoka crossed to each other and embraced heartily.

"Cassian Andor, looks like you haven't died yet then, have you?"

"Couldn't say the same for you, we all heard you were dead on Malachor!" Sabine noticed that, while perfectly intelligible, Cassian's speech had a heavy accent. "Is this the Mandalorian?" Cassian released Ahsoka and moved round to Sabine. His eyes, while not cold, weren't exactly friendly either. Seeming to sense this, the woman (who Sabine assumed to be Jyn, moved forward and whispered into his ear. He relaxed, and stuck his hand out to Sabine.

"Cassian Jeron Erso-Andor, pleased to meet you, Sabine Wren?" Her surprise, however she tried to hide it, must have been obvious to the Erso-Andors, as Jyn laughed and moved forward as well.

"Don't know why you're surprised, everyone in the Rebellion has heard about the Mandalorian in Massassi Cell. 'Course, I got the news second hand, I was in Wobani at the time." Of course even people way out in the Outer Rim know me. Well, at least it's better than being known for creating a weapon of mass destruction. Matching Jyn grin for grin, Sabine moved on from the uncomfortable subject.

"Well, who hasn't heard of the rebels who risked their lives to get the plans to the Death Star?" Both of them laughed at that, though the grin faded quickly from Cassian's face.

"Not as many as you would think. All the big names are 'Skywalker' or 'Solo' or 'Organa' or 'Calrissian'. No-one talks about 'Erso' or 'Andor', and we're fine with it. Flying under the radar is more our speed." Sabine nodded, what she wouldn't give to have that amount of anonymity. A short cry erupted from the baby being held by Jyn, and she immediately looked at everyone with an apologetic eye and walked back to the compound, kissing the baby on the forehead, and murmuring sweet nothings. Cassian watched them go with fondness, and Ahsoka watched him with a gentle but interested look.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, she said softly, "You deserve this, Cassian. The chance to settle down and live." He nodded, absentmindedly, before hurriedly blinking out of his daze and turning to Sabine and Ahsoka.

"So, what would you guys like? I know you've got news, but we can discuss it just as easily over a meal as anywhere else." Sabine looked at Ahsoka, who shrugged, and then turned back to Cassian.

"We'd love to."

(Alright, this might be a bit confusing seeing this as the second chapter, so let me explain. It was most plainly brought to my attention by Spectre6 and Guest(july 9th) but the first two entries here were less than stellar. So, I've made changes and now it looks like a cohesive story, and not a collage of paragraphs vaguely related to each other. This past week, and as long as hopefully possible, I've been having a stream of creativity, and that has definitely benefited QfE, now I'm waiting for it to strike Bridger, and marching on stolidly until it does. I'm getting an ever-clearer picture of the full extent, which isn't that long, but it'll be (probably) exciting.)

Vaya con Queso, DamaSENDhimafriend