The day they return to Lothal is like none before it, and yet, it is like every time before. In an effort to hide the sudden immigration of the Mandalorian clans to their new home they all split up and travel from different directions, taking an extreme effort to avoid the usual hyperspace lanes and the imperial surveillance targeted toward them.

Ezra and Sabine for their part take the Nightbrother which Sabine is insistent on both painting and renaming alongside the Ghost; both headed in together from above the north pole of the planet. They ultimately decide to drop out of hyperspace a fair distance from the planet since they aren't using the usual hyperspace lanes and it ends up taking them the better part of three hours before they hit the atmosphere. However, once they do hit atmosphere Ezra is filled by an overwhelming sense of home, as the planet, he was born and raised on stretched out before them. Even as they fly, he can't help but reach out and entwine his fingers with Sabine's shooting her a soft smile as they fly towards the equator.

An hour after they hit the atmosphere they arrive at the meetup site that had been specified alongside the Ghost and make their way down to where there is a steadily growing encampment. Once they reach they camp it doesn't take long before they are greeted by Ursa and Fenn Rau who walk up to them bickering about where to place their new stronghold.

"Now you listen here Rau; if you think I'm going to set up our stronghold in some Manda damned frozen wasteland again then you have another thing coming" Ursa declares pointing at the man

"Well it's not like there's anywhere else is there," Rau says waving his hands "all this planet is, is plains and hills, not a decent mountain range on it, at least not large enough to hide more than an outpost!"

"Uhh, guys," Ezra says interrupting them both and earning him a pair of glares as they quickly whirl on him until they seem to realise who has spoken at which point Ursa asks "yes Ezra?"

Ezra looks to Sabine seeing her nod of encouragement he tells them about what he has been considering ever since he was told they'd be relocating here "what about an underwater stronghold? You could build it off the coast with tunnels for vehicles leading to the cliffs and that way if The Empire ever does find it orbital bombardment will be useless because of the water."

Ursa and Fenn look at each other with a look of surprise before Fenn asks "why the hell didn't I think of that?"

"Maybe because you're not that bright" Sabine says deadpan causing both her and Ezra to chuckle slightly as Ursa's lip curls in amusement

"Hey!" Rau protests even as Ursa ignores him turning back to Ezra, saying "a fine idea, but this planet is volcanically stable, there's no way we could provide enough power without resorting to building a fission reactor which would give our position away."

Sabine hears this and sees the way Ezra seems to almost deflate slightly as she says "we could always just use the wave power combined with solar panelling, if we set up the systems away from the base itself and perhaps set up a hydroponics facility as a cover we could make it, so no one ever questioned why it was there, plus it would help us replace some of the income we lost when we had to abandon Krownest."

Ursa considers this a few moments before saying "not a bad idea, but I think we should consider some alternative, the imperials have been scooping up whatever agricultural resources they can, and the last thing we need is for them to find the stronghold by accident if they take it over."

By this point Fenn has recovered and says "what about a brewery, we all know that Mandalorians make the best booze in the galaxy, the empire wouldn't bother taking over a brewery, and it's a steady source of income."

"You want us to become booze peddlers?" Ursa asks, looking at him disgusted "why not drug dealers as well?"

Ezra looks between the two seeing how this could quickly devolve into a duel as he asks "why does it have to be just one thing?" Once they're looking back at him again he asks "The Empire will have no problems with taking over the facility unless we make it indispensable to them, we could grow food, make booze, hell even offer medical care, if we make this place big enough we make ourselves indispensable to them and they won't even think to look beyond the surface because they need what we provide."

The others look at him considering his words for a few moments before Ursa sighs rubbing her temples as she says "I get the feeling that this is not something we will solve today, so in the meanwhile I'll tell the engineers to start working on the designs and have the droids prepared to build the base. We can figure out what our cover will be later, but for now, for now, I feel exposed without the walls of our fortress over our head."

With Ursa's final proclamation both Sabine and Ezra make their way towards the section of the camp nearest where the Ghost rests, intent on finding the others and seeing what Hera has undoubtedly got planned for them.

After approximately an hours worth of wandering through the camp they eventually find Hera standing over Zeb and Chopper lecturing the pair about their fighting. However, as soon as she spots them, she turns around with a smile on her face taking in the way they walk towards her unconsciously brushing their shoulders together with fingers intertwined. Seeing the opportunity to Escape Zeb quickly gestures to Chopper and the pair make their way as far as they can as fast as they can while Hera is distracted.

Once Sabine and Ezra are within arms reach; however, Hera begins to talk, saying "I'm glad you two are here, I have a job that needs doing. I was going to send..." Hera trails off momentarily as she looks behind her finding Zeb and Chopper missing before continuing "well the point is that I need you two to head into the city and get some things."

"This isn't going to be another wild meiluroon hunt, is it Hera?" Ezra asks raising an eyebrow before smirking at Sabine "although, I'm sure Sabine wouldn't mind another tie to paint, maybe even a shuttle."

Sabine chuckles as he says the last part, before jokingly saying "Hey, don't even think of trying to distract me with another ship Riduur, you still owe me that black and red monstrosity we flew in on"

Hera smiles watching the pair, reminded of herself and Kanaan as Ezra holds up his hands in surrender before she breaks their bubble saying "nope, nothing like that, we had to abandon some things on Krownest in all the chaos of the evacuation, but mostly we need food. I was going to send Zeb and Chopper in the Phantom II, but I think that might be a little small now and it might be worth it to send you two in the Nightbrother instead."

Sabine looks over at Ezra who shrugs before saying "sure thing Hera, just send the list through to our datapads, and we can go pick it up."

Ezra smiles at Hera before releasing Sabine's hand and moving to wrap his arm around Sabine saying "Yeah, besides, I get the feeling my Riduur needs some new paints anyway if she wants to paint our ship."

It's clear that Ezra is still trying to learn the Mandoa that Sabine speaks so freely. However, his efforts still earn him a smile and a kiss from Sabine leaving Hera to smile fondly at how 'lovey' the pair have become, especially their normally stoic Mandalorian. Then seeing that the pair have once again become distracted by each other Hera clears her throat softly gaining their attention tapping at her comm saying "I've sent the list to your datapads, but you might want to get going if you're going to be back in time for the nightly meal"