Hey, everyone! I hope you liked the last chapter. Here is Chapter ten and I hope that you like who I had to be rescued along with Kota.
Aboard the Ghost orbiting Pantora.
Hera nodded to the two brothers and began maneuvering the Ghost stealthily through the blockade of seven star destroyers that orbited the planet. Everyone held their collective breaths as the watched the massive ships that dwarfed most rebel capital ships move quietly overhead. Once they made it past undetected, Hera immediately cranked up the throttle and dropped down into the atmosphere and headed off toward the northern pole of the planet. As they flew over the marshland of the moon world, they could see the capitol city was in a complete blackout. Probably due to General Kota's attack, using it as a way to keep bombers from hitting major Imperial targets.
"I wish I could go down and witness some of the museums on this planet." Sabine mused as she looked down in sadness, "I heard that they are some of the best in this sector."
"They are, I talked with Master Unduli's Padawan back before the empire. She said that they are amazing." Kanan commented as they looked on to the imperial compound that loomed in the distance.
"Five minutes 'till we hit the drop zone," Hera said, looking down at the nav computer. Fog from the marshes had started to roll in as thick as Mynock soup, making it nearly impossible to see the complex. Despite seeing it just a few minutes earlier.
"Wow, I can't even see the ground, Hera, how high up are we?" Galen asked, looking out the cockpit window.
"Roughly five hundred meters." came the reply from the Twi'lek captain. Swiveling in her chair, Hera looked at the Je'daii and said, "Okay, so we are over the drop point for you two. Be safe out there. As soon as you break the cloud cover, you will be sitting ducks out there."
"We'll be fine, trust us," Galen said with a smirk as he turned to leave with his brother. Unbeknownst to Ezra, Sabine followed him out of the cockpit. When they got to the cargo doors, Galen looked back and saw her standing there looking a little uncomfortable, smiling he turned to Ezra and said, "I need to use the fresher real quick, look's like you have someone who wants to talk to you." Pointing over Ezra's shoulder as he spoke. Whipping his head around Ezra saw Sabine standing there with a similar look that Juno would get whenever they would go off to perform raids. Her worry leaked out through the force, "Everything okay?" He stated as he walked forward and put his hands on her upper arms. Sabine just responded by pulling him up into a bone crushing hug and whispering in his ear, "Be safe,cyare." (beloved)
"I will be and don't you worry. Remember, we have a date." Ezra said with a laugh. Pulling her in tighter to his body, Ezra tried to soak in the warmth of her aura. Only for the moment to be ruined by Galen clearing his throat signaling it was time to go. Offering one last squeeze, Ezra turned with a smile then sprinted out towards the open cargo doors and jumped, soon followed by his brother.
As Ezra fell through the air, he spared a look back and saw the Ghost take off for the cliff that was on the western flank of the compound. As he looked back down, he noticed that the cloud cover was getting lighter and that the fog seemed to be clearing. As he peered through the waning fog, he saw the complex start to take shape. It was roughly one square kilometer in size and had a thirty-foot wall surrounding it. With a heavily armoured gate. As he came closer, he even started to see patrols on the wall walking around. Calling on the Force, he positioned himself so he would hit the wall and not land on the outside of it. Seeing what he was doing Galen positioned himself, so he was directly behind him and got ready to use a force push to soften the fall.
When they hit, the guards were completely surprised. One even fell off the wall due to him jumping back so hard in fright. These stormtroopers were not even in the same league as the Mandalorians, so it was a simple fight. And it was accomplishing the goal of causing mayhem. One even fired off a signal flare that warned the main garrison that there was an attack on the gates. Soon every stormtrooper from the compound, around two hundred, was firing at the two Je'daii.
Sabine, Zeb, and Kanan watched from the cliff overlooking the complex. They knew that as soon as the brothers drew their lightsabers, they would be targeted. But once the flare was fired up they took that as the signal to go ahead and begin their part of the plan. Once the two brothers had the garrison on full alert, it would be the job of Sabine to go forth and call out an all clear. Saying that the prisoners had escaped but were taken care of without much difficulty. Hopefully, that would keep the Admirals on the star destroyers from reinforcing the garrison. As they began the trek down to the outer limit of the wall things got a little tricky, they were faced with either two options, Kanan said that he didn't sense anyone on the other side of the wall. So he could use the force to propel them up over the wall and thus wouldn't need to use any of the explosives that Sabine had brought, this, of course, didn't sit well with the explosives artist. But after a little debate, they decided to go with it. And so Kanan took a step back and lifted Sabine over the wall.
As soon as she was over, she got a view of the courtyard that the two brothers were in. They moved with such fluidity that it was hard to keep up with. Then suddenly it looked like the two were getting swarmed. Only for Galen to take a step back and launch Ezra into the sea of stormtroopers. Sabine gasped thinking that he would surely be killed only for the area around where he was to darken as he jumped into the air. Then suddenly he let out a massive force wave that ripped through the stormtroopers, incinerating any that were close to him, and throwing those a little ways away like they were made of feathers. This so engrossed her that she didn't notice Zeb and Kanan standing beside her watching. Kanan seemed to have a grim look on his face, and Zeb wasn't too happy about it but appeared to let it slide. Her reverie was broken by Kanan saying, "Come on, there is bound to be more inside." Nodding she moved towards the entrance to the base, as the two brothers were doing the cleanup.
The three of them each had a different area to check for the General and the survivors. Sabine would check the old prisoner cells, Kanan got the barracks, and Zeb had the mess hall. The plan was that as soon as they could, Galen and Ezra would go in and help the survivors out of the compound while Sabine gave a stand down order to the star destroyers. As she ran through the complex, it became increasingly frustrating, walls where they shouldn't be, hallways with different numbers. It was evident that the empire did some renovating to the whole base. She heard over the comm link Galen say, "Okay that's the last of them, where are you guys?"
Sabine called out first, "Could use some help here looking for the prison cells, can't seem to locate them. This map is way outdated."
"I can come help. What junction are you at?" Ezra called out.
"Umm, J-34C and M-56R," Sabine said before she stumbled onto two guards trying to get out to the courtyard. Dealing with them she swiped a comm link to get a read on imperial chatter, and it wasn't good. There were twelve troop transports en route to try and provide support. "Sorry Ezra, but I need you to get to the communication center asap, It sounds like we have twelve troop transports on their way, and we need them called off."
"Got it, be safe back there, the force is acting a little strange," Ezra said after a moment's hesitation.
Sabine continued to wander through the maze of the complex before she found an officer walking around with a data pad. Using her superior hand-to-hand tactics, Sabine caught the officer by surprise and slit his throat with a Vibro-blade. Grabbing the datapad, she started to look for a possible layout of the complex. After a few minutes of hacking into the datapad, she was able to figure out where the General was being kept.
Ezra changed his course from where Sabine was to the comm center. This place had been built on the ruins of the village he massacred, and it was starting to affect him. He could see the little girl running around almost as if she was beckoning to him. He needed to focus, because of this apparition he nearly got himself killed twice. Thankfully the force warned him in time. Turning left and following his instinct he found himself outside of the comm center. "Sometimes it pays off to memorize imperial floor plans." Ezra thought to himself as he stepped into the deserted comm center. Going for the holo receiver he dialed up the star destroyers and did something that just came naturally to the former Loth-rat, he bluffed. "This is Pantora home calling to star destroyer escort, do you copy?"
"Star destroyer escort here. We received a call from you guys saying that a Jedi was attacking, is this right?" The operator on the other side responded.
"Well yes and no, see the rebel leader we have stationed here got loose and caused quite a ruckus. But it turns out the 'magic' that their kind used was only just a few parlor tricks. We got him subdued pretty quickly. No need for any reinforcements. Other than a few minor scrapes and bruises we are fine here." Ezra prattled off, hoping that they would buy it.
"Alright, we want to perform a periphery check though. Just to be sure." The operator stated. Ezra gazed over to a radar display showing the incoming transports, all except two veered back the way they came.
"Okay, sounds good. Have a good rest of your shift." Ezra said as he signed off. "Scheisse!" (Shit!) Ezra thought as he commed up the others.
"Be prepared people; I was able to get ten of them to break off. But the other two wish to perform a periphery check," He stated frustration winding its way into his voice as he checked the radar again. "They will be here in five minutes."
"That's okay brother; we will deal with them," Galen said over the comm.
Ezra felt a tug at his robe, looking down he saw the girl again. She seemed pretty insistent that he follow her, opening a private comm to Galen he let him know, "Bruder, die Kraft wünscht mir, tiefer in die Anlage zu gehen. Ich glaube nicht, dass ich dir helfen kann." (Brother, the force wishes for me to go deeper into the facility. I don't think I will be able to help you.)
"Okay, kann die Kraft mit dir Bruder sein." (Okay, may the force be with you brother.) Galen spoke with caution as Ezra moved to follow the girl. He hoped that this wasn't just another terrible vision or nightmare. He hated those.
As he followed the girl through the corridors of the complex he listened to the Ghost crew members, it seemed that Sabine had found General Kota, while Zeb and Kanan found the remainder of his team. They hadn't had much in the way of interrogation and were able to scrounge some weapons of dead Imperials. Kanan was even able to locate the Generals lightsaber in the armoury.
The little girl moved toward an empty corridor only to stop at the entrance to a room without a number marking it. Ezra probed out to feel what was in the room only to feel nothing as if the force itself didn't exist within the chamber. Either that or the more likely whoever, or whatever was in there was shielding the room. He looked down at the girl who merely pointed at the door, making it obvious that she wanted him to go in. Sighing Ezra gave the door controls a try only for the door to seize up after moving a few inches, reaching out and calling on the force Ezra was able to wrench the door open after a few moments of effort.
Stepping silently into the darkness of the unlit room, he tried to feel out again, before turning and seeing the little girl close the door. Now thoroughly enshrined in darkness Ezra sought to pace around the room and get a feel for it. After a few moments, he was startled by the comm system crackling, with what sounded like Sabine before it was cut off by white noise. Removing his mask, Ezra knelt on the ground and began meditating. After a few moments, he started to hear what sounded like breathing. Only, mechanized. Not quite as distinct as Vader's, but still, sounded like an iron lung.
Out of nowhere, the force warned Ezra just in time for him to bring his saber's up and block a vicious downward strike. He couldn't see who it was that attacked but he knew that the breathing was coming from them.
"You are weak! You couldn't even detect me inside this small of room! Your brother would be so disappointed." The figure claimed.
"Who are you?" Ezra asked as he withdrew from the saber lock and began circling the being. Their scarlet sabers the only thing he could discern in the darkness.
"I am something you have never faced. I am your worst nightmare." The figure called out as it began a barrage of attacks against him, forcing Ezra to slip into a form three defense. He was stunned by the figures speed and stamina. There were several times that the figure was mere milliseconds away from driving home a killing blow, only for Ezra to parry or block the attack.
Using a force push to try and gain some distance and work out a strategy, he was shocked when the being didn't seem affected by it at all. Instead of gaining some breathing room the figure closed the gap and resumed hammering at Ezra's defenses. Thinking on the fly, Ezra lashed out with a counter and let out a small smirk when he connected with what he thought was the figure's arm. Seeing one of the lightsabers was now extinguished Ezra pressed the advantage. Firing out bolts of force lightning that lit up the room for the briefest of moments. What Ezra saw he could only describe as terrifying. The figure had on a long sleeved synth armour, which flowed down mid-thigh and on his hands were what looked like claws, and he wore a helmet that shielded his face from view. On his belt were several other lightsabers, he recognized all but one, two were the ones he was using at the moment, one was his brothers, one was Kota's, and the last one he recognized was Kanan's. But the last one didn't register with him, it looked like a sword hilt, and instead of being round like a lightsaber, was instead flat. The handguard was simple and merely moved up at a slight angle, meaning that the light came out in a triangular shape instead of a circular one. Startled but undeterred Ezra moved into a saber lock then leveraged with one arm while twirling around and striking at his opponent's head. Only instead of splitting his skull open like a jogan fruit, the figure leaned back, and his saber only grazed the helmet. But the force of the impact sent the helmet flying. Now with the figure unmasked and beaten. Ezra set his blade on the throat of the figure. Only for the lights to turn on. Ezra was shocked, because before him was, himself. He had had sickly pale skin, and his hair hung in greasy unkempt strands that flowed down his skull. But the eyes are what got him, they were bloodshot so bad that it made him look like he had a set of chiss eyes, and his pupils were a sickly orange, that seemed to glow.
"Surprised are we?" The doppelganger said, "This is what we become, all you have to do is give in, and you will be as powerful as me."
"No, it can't be," Ezra said as he fell on his back in shock, scooting away as he did.
Laughing the figure rose up and started to pace around the now fully lit room. As he looked around he noticed that they were in some surgery theatre, only the people watching weren't doctors, it was all the victims of his years with Vader.
"You are so weak, that person you call a brother holds you back! You could rival the great sith lords of old. But no, you are instead focused on some bullshit goal of joining an order that is even more extinct than the Jedi." He said as he strode over and called Ezra's sabers to himself.
"This, can't be the only path. I won't do it. I would kill myself before becoming you!" Ezra shot back as he rose to his feet and ripped the sabers from the being before him.
"You can't because you are weak." The being chuckled. "You will always be weak while you foolishly follow the ways of the Je'daii. They died out because they couldn't accept the idea that the dark side offered more power than their stupid idea of balance."
"You don't know that it was more than likely corrupt beings like you that caused the destruction of the order!" Ezra fired back his anger getting the better of him
"Don't you mean corrupt beings like us?" The being said with a grin, thoroughly enjoying the banter.
"No, the future is always in motion. I will never be like you." Ezra said as he took a minute to recompose himself. Letting his frustrations out into the force. "The force! This must be a trial." Ezra thought to himself as he steeled a glare towards the now fuming clone.
"You are merely an apparition, and you represent my past. I am no longer that person." Ezra said in a commanding tone, causing the previously upset clone to fly off the handle. Grabbing his lightsabers, he went to deliver a forceful slash only to be met with a block by one of Ezra's sabers. He then spun the other one around and thrust it into the midsection of the doppelganger. He let out a surprised gasp as he glanced down at the blue saber going into his midsection, before smiling and grabbing Ezra by the scruff of his neck and whispering, "When I return, the Mandalorian bitch is going to get it first." Before fading into a black mist.
As this happened the light diminished, to only a soft glow as the people from before merely smiled then disappeared one by one until only the girl remained. She came up to Ezra and said the first words to him the entire time he had been there, "You won, now the fight has only begun. You are no longer a slave to the darkness. But that doesn't mean it won't be back. Keep constant vigilance." She said as she started to turn and walk away into the darkness.
"Wait!" Ezra called out, "Please, I know what I did was terrible, but is it still possible for me to become what I saw?"
The little girl only smiled and said, "Yes, but you also have the possibility to become so much more. Now go, there is someone else here you need to rescue, she is my aunt. Go down the hall, and you will find her in another unmarked room."
"How will I know which one?" Ezra said as she started to disappear,
"Trust the force," was all she said before she completely disappeared. Next thing he knew he heard someone calling his name, and shaking him. Gasping, he woke up to see the helmeted face of Sabine staring down at him. Realizing he was laying on his back, he rose to a sitting position and rubbed his head. He was in the room where the little girl had taken him, but it was dark again, and the only light was that of the hallway pouring in from the wrenched open door.
"Ugh, what happened?" Ezra muttered out,
"I don't know, Galen only said that you had some force thing and that you wouldn't be able to help us with the two transports. After we didn't hear from you for a while we got worried, so I came to find you while the others held the Imperials off. But we need to get going; more reinforcements are coming soon." Sabine said before helping him to his feet. Gazing off into the blackness of the room he remembered what the little girl had told him to do.
Taking several shaky steps forward he was able to start toward the door as he probed outward with force, he felt his brother along with Kanan and Zeb fighting about a twenty or so stormtroopers with the help of Kota and his men. Hera was circling the complex providing air support. Pushing out farther he felt a weak force signature down the hall roughly thirty meters away, but it was fading fast. Turning to Sabine, he said, "There is still someone here, I need to go find them."
"What! There are no other prisoners here; the records say that only Kota and his men were being kept here before they would be transferred to another prison." Sabine exclaimed as she reached out to steady him, interlocking her arm with his and allowing him to lean on her.
"No, I know there is, I can feel her. I was asked to retrieve her." Ezra said as he tried to walk forward. Only stumbling a few times before walking semi-normally.
"Okay, let's say there is someone here, where are they?" Sabine questioned walking beside the Je'daii, trying to make sure he didn't fall.
"Down the hall, about thirty meters," Ezra answered, as the came upon a cave in, most likely due to neglect rather than any attack, cutting off the hallway from their destination.
"Well this way is blocked, we have to find a way around," Sabine muttered as she called up the floorplans of the complex.
"No time, stand back," Ezra said as he stepped toward the blockage, focusing as much force energy into his palms as he could he let out a powerful force push that shattered the cave in and gave them a simple way through the wreckage.
"Or we could just do that. Kanan wasn't kidding when he said you two were powerful," Sabine noted, before her tone turned darker, "Was that similar to the repulse thing you did earlier in the courtyard? When you disintegrated those stormtroopers?"
"Yes and no. Why do you ask?" Ezra said as he pushed past the broken support beams, probing outwards trying to locate the still diminishing force signature, It was evident that they needed to hurry up or else they would be too late.
Taking off in a near sprint, he felt outward as he felt the presence get closer before he came to an unmarked door. Trying the door controls, he was surprised to find that they worked. Cautiously stepping inside he felt the wall for a light switch, and when he found it, he was greeted by a grotesque sight.
A nude woman lay on an operating table, apparently abandoned, but still alive. Blood was spattered all over the table and floor, almost as if someone painted the floor with red. She looked frail, her arms were more like bones, and her lips were chapped and her light purple hair matted with blood and sweat. Her blue skin looking almost white, looking down he saw the little girl again who only walked up to the terrible sight before turning and saying, "Please save her, she is all the family I have left."
"I will do my best, I promise," Ezra whispered to her before he was drawn out by a gasp by Sabine who was just now entering the room.
"By the gods, what happened here?" Sabine said as she pulled a small medkit from a pouch on her hip before starting to apply some bacta bandages to the major lacerations and deeper cuts.
"I don't think she will make it if we don't get her to medical attention soon," Sabine said, her previous inquiries put off for now.
Carefully stepping beside her he put an arm around the woman's neck and one under her knees as he lifted her up from the table, she was so light, almost as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Ezra couldn't help but think that she was here because of him. As he went to move, he saw her eyes flutter open for a few moments before she said, "Miryo, I must find what happened to my niece," before they shut again as she lost consciousness.
Sabine grabbed a threadbare blanket to cover her up and give her some protection from the elements. Before they moved back out into the hallway. Immediately the comm came to life.
"Where the hell are you two, we have a star destroyer bearing down on us. We need to leave now!" Kanan said frantically as they heard blaster fire in the background.
"On our way, tell Hera to prep the med-station in the Ghost, we have another prisoner. And she is severely wounded." Sabine responded as they picked up their pace making it to the main entrance out to the courtyard, "Hera, we are by the courtyard entrance, could use a lift." She finished off.
The entrance opened at that moment to reveal a scene of absolute chaos; around twenty stormtroopers were laying dead with the rest getting cover behind the two destroyed transports at the far end of the courtyard. And in the sky looming overhead was a star destroyer that was using its cannons to fire at the Ghost and make it damn near impossible for Hera to land.
Turning to Sabine, he set the Pantoran in her arms and merely said, "Keep her safe, Please." Before igniting his lightsabers and charging into the midst of the battle.
For the most part due to Kanan, Galen, and Kota, the rebels were holding off the numerically superior Imperials. However, Ezra could see they were starting to make progress as the star destroyer was covering transports that were providing fresh troops faster than they could be taken out. Ezra looked up and saw that there was no way they could leave unless they got that star destroyer out of the picture. Calling to his brother, and the Jedi over he told them his plan.
"Galen remember when you told me about ripping that star destroyer out of the sky?" Ezra said hoping his brother would go along.
"Well I didn't rip it out, I just redirected it. And it was already falling, why?" Galen said before it dawned on him what his brother wanted him to do, "No, there is no way, as soon as I yank at it, they will engage their thrusters to counteract it."
"Yeah, but this time you won't be alone." Kota said, getting the finer details worked out, before calling over to his captain "Give us some cover fire!"
"Yes, sir." The leader responded before relaying the order to his men who began a relentless barrage of the imperial cover.
The four force users stood and reached out with the force, each calling for the star destroyer to fall. And slowly but steadily the massive ship began to tilt, then rock violently. Before fires started to pop up, as the ship was ripped in half by the force before plummeting to the ground below. Crushing the three transports below it unloading troops. As soon as she saw this, Hera swooped down and landed allowing Sabine and the mysterious Pantoran to load up and get to the medical station on the Ghost. Soon the other rebels began a swift retreat to the ramp. Followed by Kota, Kanan, Galen and lastly Ezra who jumped on just as the ramp was closing.
As the Ghost was exiting the atmosphere, they came in contact with a contingent of fighters that were trying to scramble and corral the Ghost toward one of the star destroyers. Thankfully, though they managed to get to hyperspace before any significant damage was suffered.
Ezra walked into the med station where the Pantoran was; she looked a little better now, she was wearing a medical gown, along with getting cleaned up by Kota's medic who said that he wasn't able to do much more other than give her a bag of blood, and change the bandages. Stating that was all he could do with the supplies they had on hand and that she would need a full battery of tests to determine if there were more problems or not before he moved on to the other men in his care. Sitting down beside the bed he tried to think of who she was. It was at this moment he started to talk to the woman, despite her being unconscious.
"You don't know me, and I don't know you. But I, I, I am the one who killed your niece." Ezra said in a hoarse whisper, "I am the reason you got captured, I know you can't hear me, but all I can ask is that you forgive me. I-I was a terrible person, who did terrible things, but her death haunts me the most." At this he reached out carefully and grasped the woman's hand, "I wish I could switch with her but I can't, I hope the next time I tell you this you're awake." He finished as a few tears slid down his face
"Ezra? Are you busy? Kota wants to be debriefed and asked for you to be there." Sabine said carefully entering after he finished speaking, she saw that the woman had some form of adverse effect on him. And had to fight down a little bit of jealousy, but after Ezra nodded and turned towards her, she saw the tears and knew there was more to the story than what she saw. She didn't hear what he had said but figured it was something that he would share when he was ready. Reaching out Ezra grasped her hand in his and walked toward the common room. Sabine couldn't help but smile; it was the first time he had initiated any contact outside of helping her to her feet. Intertwining her fingers in his, they strode into the room hand in hand to find out what Kota was there for.
"Okay Kota, we're all here. What were you doing? And don't try to pass off some bantha shit about trying to liberate Pantora, you didn't have near the forces to do so. So why were you there?" Galen probed.
"Don't use that tone with me boy, just because you beat me in one duel doesn't give you the right to talk down to me," Kota said in a serious tone, before him and Galen broke into a bit of laughter. After a bit, they looked up to see the Ghost crew with confused expressions on their faces. Ezra turned to them and explained, "Don't worry, this is how they always greet each other. Trust me; it wasn't funny the first time."
"Oh, haltet euch das Arschloch," (Oh, shut up you asshole,) Galen fired at his brother.
The blind general turned to Galen and asked, "Do they know?"
"The Jedi does, but the others don't," Galen responded after a moment's hesitation, he didn't want to get on this topic with Kota, who constantly hounded him to be open, and how it would draw more Imperials to their cause. Galen just thought that the imperial propaganda machine would go and twist it around and make the alliance look like the bad guys.
"What don't we know?" Hera piped up as she looked at Kanan with a quirked eyebrow.
"It's nothing that concerns us; I gave my word not to talk about it," Kanan admitted after some hesitation, he hated keeping things from Hera, but she seemed to accept it. However he knew that as soon as they went to bed she would ask again.
"So back to my question, what were you doing there? You couldn't have had that big of a force going in, and I only count about twelve guys with you." Galen pressed Kota,
"You're right, we went in to retrieve this," Kota's captain said as he produced a data-spike, "We downloaded all the intel from that base to here, along with talking to the local rebel cell."
"I can decrypt it if you want. I know a lot about that sort of thing and wouldn't be too big of a bother." Sabine offered,
The officer hesitated, before looking to Kota for confirmation, who merely nodded letting him know it was okay, handing over the data-spike Sabine turned and went to her room to begin decrypting it. While Ezra and Kanan went back to the cargo hold to meditate. Hera resumed flying, and Zeb begrudgingly started to make some meal for the people on board, muttering something in his native tongue akin to, "Damn people would starve without me," before starting to grab simple bread and meats to make sandwiches.
So there is chapter ten. What do you guys think? And who do you think the Pantoran is? Have a good rest of your day and see you next chapter!
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