"You can't rule Mandalorians. You just make sensible suggestions they want to follow."
—Boba Fett
Bo Katan pinned Sabine to the wall of her gunship. Her face showed the intense fury of a leader seeing a threat that could end her people... Korkie pointed a blaster pistol at her, aiming it at her head.
"You're a Mandalorian! Why would you create such an abomination! That is the weapon of a coward!"
Sabine did nothing to resist. She truly believed that she deserved retribution for her involvement in such a heinous weapon...
"I was young! Arrogant! Looking for a challenge!" She had to think of her words carefully..."But when I realized the Empire actually intended to use it, I destroyed the prototype and the plans. I swear to you that I did! I thought that was the end of it!"
Kryze reluctantly released her... "Very well... I hope you can redeem yourself, just as you had to your own family... Now you must do so to all of Mandalore..."
Ezra stepped into a cantina deep in the lower levels of Sundari. Even during Satine's rule, the place was ripe with scum and villainy... Twi'lek and human dancers were at some tables, trying to entertain the guests in their own way... Mandalorian men and women were everywhere drinking at their heart's (and wallet's) desire. It was like a milder version of every Underworld bar in Coruscant...
All he needed to do was wait for Fett to show, as they agreed. But waiting in a place like this was difficult. Especially with the drunks and more illicit types plaguing the entire building...
To be perfectly honest, Ezra was surprised by the fact that criminals had a haven in an Imperial stronghold like this... However, Mandalore always had a history with corruption. Gar Saxon tried his best to suppress it, but so far Tiber has done nothing to resolve the problem. That has become a major point of concern for Tarkin, Vader, Thrawn, Krennic, and just about anyone with some level of political power. This level of corruption must be stopped at its source, which most believe to be Tiber himself.
The two interconnecting plates on his helmet folded up as he removed his hood, revealing his face... If he was going to wait, he had to blend in...
"Abrax..." He bluntly said to the bartender, placing several credits on the counter. His green eyes scanned for Boba in case he was sitting in some hidden table. Nothing... but at least he has a drink now. But what he did sight was an old duros man in a massive hat, with an ugly droid...
Bridger simply minded his own business, sipping from the brandy from time to time. He didn't want to dull his senses with the cognac. But of course, in such a bad neighborhood he would run into trouble...
"What's a pretty boy like you doing in a place like this?" Trouble... in the form of a creepy Zeltron woman. She looked quite nice in most standards, but he didn't tolerate how much she disregarded personal space...
"Get lost..." He didn't even look at her. She irritated him in every aspect, and he wanted her gone because of it...
"Hey I'm talking to you!" After that, Ezra had enough. He stealthily took one of his lightsabers from his hip and ignited it. The blood red blade went through her chest, killing her instantly...
The music stopped for a second, and people looked at Ezra with brief shock... Including the duros, who took notice on the red lightsaber, watching it as it retracted back into the hilt...
"I'm not much of a talker..." Ezra said, going back to his drinking... They laughed and acted like nothing happened... Getting killed for acting like an idiot is commonplace.
The ID-9 seeker droid on his shoulder tapped his head, telling him to go to the duros who was gesturing for him to come...
"I don't usually see Inquisitors in places like this..." The man pulled the brim of his hat up, giving a better view to his aquamarine skin and deep red eyes... It could only be Cad Bane...
"I'm looking for a specific person, Bane..." He stared into the hunter's deep red eyes... Trying to get information... "Why are you here?"
"I'm here to collect on a bounty on Sabine Wren... And my biggest rival is doing the same apparently..." Since his raid on the Senate, the aging bounty hunter always had a reputation for extreme professionalism. He showed little emotion on and off work, and was said to be as ruthless as Lord Vader... While his place as 'most dangerous bounty hunter' may have been taken by Boba Fett, he was still the go-to mercenary for sheer effectiveness...
"Maybe we can make an arrangement..." Ezra decided that the job may be done quickest with both of them working together. The most efficient and most dangerous bounty hunters would make a good team...
"I'm listening..." Bane didn't care about the circumstances of his work, as long as he gets paid well enough...
"Tiber Saxon has billions of credits at his disposal. If you're willing to work with Fett on this mission, I'll get him to increase your pay to a million credits for each member of the team..." Knowing Tiber, he probably had far more money than he let on... So he wouldn't care how much he had to pay, as long as he avoids death by Vader's force choke.
"Fair enough... Let's hear what the other two have to say about it..." Two new faces stormed into the cantina... Heading straight for Cad Bane and the Imperial agent sitting across from him...
"I must say I'm not surprised to find you here, Bane..." Boba Fett... And with him was the trandoshan, Bossk... It was obvious that they were after the same target...
"My client here has come to me with some new terms you might want to hear..." The duros and Todo-360 paid no attention to the blaster rifles in their hands...
"If you three work together, I'll make sure each of you get exactly double the pay listed on her bounty..." Ezra made an effort to say the words as clearly as possible, to give them a reason not to compete.
Fett lowered his blaster... "Sounds good to me..."
Bossk growled harshly and did the same... "It's a deal..."
Ezra smiled... "Fantastic... I have the exact location for the Clan Kryze camp she's being taken to. After this they'll probably move, but Saxon will get exactly what he wants. We can take my gunship to that cliff-face there, and sneak up on them in the dark of night..."
In the dark of night, the gauntlet fighter landed at the renegade camp... Its wings folding up to act as landing gear. A whole crowd of mandalorian warriors gathered around it, giving Sabine extreme discomfort. She knew why they were all gathered in one place.
"Sabine Wren! We know what you did!" The warriors pointed their blasters at her, ready to kill her on the spot.
"You betrayed us all! You're a traitor to Mandalore!" Another yelled.
"Lower your weapons!" Bo Katan stepped forward. "Sabine did everything she could to stop the weapon's completion. You must believe us."
"Any attack on my daughter is an attack on Clan Wren!" Ursa was finally awake, limping into view from the interior of the kom'rk-class fighter. Tristan also came forward to confront them, having slightly less of a limp.
Sabine closed her eyes, deciding that she will take a risk. "No..."
"Sabine! What are you doing?" Ursa said to her daughter. She didn't want to see her daughter step towards a possible death. Not after all the suffering they've been through.
What Sabine said next only confirmed Ursa's fears... "I'm prepared to take responsibility for my actions..."
"It's true..." The warriors kept their aim true, but listened to what she had to say... "I designed the weapon as a loyal Imperial. The Empire is using my prototype, but it is only at a fraction of its power... At full power, it will level armies; vaporize droids; destroy vehicles... Nothing will be safe if we don't destroy it now."
"So you've got a choice to make..." They lowered their weapons... "We can fight each other; or we can cooperate to destroy the weapon once and for all... Before they create more."
"I understand your anger..." Bo Katan marched down the ramp without her helmet, speaking to the people in a more direct fashion... "In many ways I feel the same... But now is not the time to be divisive. Sabine is right... And we need her..."
The warriors dispersed, returning to their transports, so they may return to their Clans' respective bases. All that was left was Clan Kryze, the one that controls this base...
Kanan, Rex, and the others soon followed Bo Katan into the main building. There they will discuss a strategy to destroy the arc generating weapon.
But Tristan saw Sabine walk away from the others, towards the edge of the base... "Where are you going?"
"I just need some time alone... I need to figure out a strategy to destroy that damned thing..." She jumped onto a speeder and zoomed into the rocky outcrops, before her brother could object... She didn't know about the extremely massive bounty on her head, not until it was too late.
Like a hawk, Ezra silently watched his former friend approach from afar... His seeker droid perched on his shoulder, he began to silently follow her. The others are already in position.
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