And now we're starting to get to the meaty bits of the story... good news for me, because no one likes writing a character who only has a one-track thought pattern, and good news for the story- things are progressing.
And I am so so sorry for scaring you guys! I didn't mean for the last chapter to seem like the ending for the whole story because I promise it isn't. When the story ends, you guys will know it ends. (I make such a big fuss about it it's kind of hard not to notice :3) But worry not, this romance is not over, and we still have a little ways to go. :)
Disclaimer: How on Earth do you guys expect me to claim ownership of this kind of stuff? I can barely remember if I gave my cat dinner or not, how in the world would I responsibly run such a franchise like Star Wars or Disney?!
Stop it. Stop it stop it stopitstopitstopit.
We match most of those requirements...
STOP IT!
Sabine growled in frustration as she yet again picked up her spray can. She was trying to make her vision from last night a reality on one of her experimental pads... and it wasn't working. She'd gotten in a few spritz's of paint, half-way prepping the material for the thick coats of black and blue to come, but that was about it.
Her discussion with Ezra last night was weighing heavily on her mind. She knew how important that moment had been between them, and she knew better than to underestimate it's value. But that made it hard to say them opening up to one another had nothing to do with her internal conflicts.
There was one part of her mind that was constantly asking that question. The main, predominant part was trying to ignore that questioning line. The smallest part, tucked waaaaay in the back and yet somehow still being heard in the entire commotion, was resolutely insisting that they matched one another, and she was just being stubborn about it. Honestly, Sabine hadn't been this conflicted in... a while. And it was seriously bothering her. She couldn't operate like this- she couldn't paint, couldn't sleep, wouldn't even try to make her explosives in the fear of blowing herself up, and she could barely think of something else for a few seconds before it was twisted someway to include Ezra.
Nearly nothing was getting him off her mind, despite how desperately she struggled to do just that. Which was why, as Zeb ducked into her cabin to tell her Hera'd gotten a transmission from Fulcrum, Sabine actually felt a little bit of dread. If she could barely focus on painting, how in the world would she be expected to concentrate on important battle information?
Small panic shot through her head for a second. What if I can't concentrate on the mission?! Will I screw up and get one of us killed!?
No- no I won't, because I'm a MANDALORIAN damn it, and no amount of mental issues are going to change that. Get yourself together.
"I'll be there in a minute- gotta clean up." Zeb raised an eyebrow at the obvious lack of paint in her experimental painting, but ducked out of her door and into the hallway. As it swished shut, Sabine sighed, looking at her hands and wondering desperately if she'd ever be able to get last night's sky captured in her art before abruptly shutting down. Because that had been happening a lot lately.
Come on- if Hera's gotten a call from Fulcrum, it means we've got our next target. And if we're gonna take it out, we're gonna need everyone at their best. Teenage excuses won't stop bucket-heads shooting us. Storing away her airbrush in it's proper place and simply capping the preparing gels she'd opened, Sabine cast a sad look at the blue paint mix Ezra'd gotten her. She wouldn't be able to make use of it if she couldn't pull herself together- but she would. She would get herself together, and they would take out whichever station they'd been given.
Sabine quickly moved out of her room, heading towards the commons to see Hera and Ezra on the bench, Zeb and Kanan standing up in front of the Dejarik board. Kanan's reboot must have done something, because the hologram of what appeared to be a ship-building center was coming in crystal clear. It was seemingly just the picture of the building, but Sabine knew Hera probably had other schematics tucked away somewhere.
It was standard Imperial design- dull and unimaginative. The main centerpiece was a tower, extending maybe seven stories off the ground. On each side of the tower were four huge production bays, with storage areas plastered on either one of their sides. It was dull, but it was large; a lot larger than the mining facility they'd taken out beforehand.
"There you are- I was considering sending Chopper as well to pry you away from those paints." The orange astromech 'bwa'd' her, raising two of his three arms at her threateningly. Long used to his terrorizing, Sabine ignored both the droid and Hera, instead focusing on Zeb as he snorted.
"There wasn't much painting going on from what I saw."
"I was prepping!" She grumbled. Ha. She'd been 'prepping' for a few hours now.
"Whatever the case, Fulcrum sent us our next target." Hera drew their focus back to the hologram- though Sabine had to force herself to look at it when she caught the amused smirk on Ezra's face. Careful there stomach- looping around like that surely isn't good health practice. Sabine scowled slightly, annoyed that the simplest of gestures from him could make her lose focus like this.
Well, maybe if you took time to consider the issue instead of just locking it away, that might not happen!
Mission. Concentrate on the mission.
"We'll need to attack it in the middle of the night two days from now if we want to attack it at the same time as the others attack their targets. That gives us the advantage of stealth, and a lot of time to prepare beforehand. Based on these proportions-" She gestured to the hologram, then zoomed outwards a little bit, showing off that it was nearly five times as large as the mining facility, "we won't be able to take it all out, even with Sabine's new explosives."
Guilt twinged in her gut. Because of her 'inner troubles,' Sabine hadn't been able to make any more of the high-grade bombs. If they needed them for the plan, she would have to make more between now and then... if she could even focus enough to make them at all.
"So, we're going to target specific areas. Here, here, here, and here." She pointed to four different areas; the lower middle levels of the main tower and three of the production areas. Sabine frowned.
"I don't think we're going to have enough firepower to take out three full bays, Hera. Those are really big."
The Twi'lek nodded, zooming in on a single bay. "I realize that- which is why you'll only be planting explosives on the machinery and equipment inside the bays. The blasts will be contained to those areas and won't do much damage outside of production lines, but it'll take out their ability to make more equipment."
"Then why aren't we targeting all four of the production bays? You've only got three listed as our targets." Ezra pointed out, and Sabine took a moment to look at him before abruptly switching focus back to the hologram.
"Because," Hera said, zooming out the picture and pointing towards the lower levels of the tower. "if we place explosives thoroughly enough, we should be able to make the tower fall- and if we place more on one side than the other, we should be able to make it fall right down onto the fourth production bay."
Zeb smirked, while Kanan and Ezra looked at one another before grinning at Hera. Sabine, however, frowned and narrowed her eyes at the hologram. Would she be able to make enough explosives for the job? She knew Hera had placed an order for more of the materials she normally used for the miracles when they were in the market, so it wasn't a matter of ingredients... more a matter of time. And, of course, if she could focus.
Of course I'll be able to focus- the mission comes before the... indulgences of feelings. It always has and it always will.
"Sabine, I know this is a tall order." She looked Hera in the eyes, raising an eyebrow. She knew it was. "Even with all the extra time to prepare, we're still going to have to make explosives in the dozens- which is why I'm going to be helping you make them, Chopper as well. They won't be as powerful as your home-cooked ones, but they'll be strong enough to lighten your load."
She let out her breath through her nose, relaxing just slightly. With two people, the work would move quite a bit faster than just her alone, and with the two day time-limit, they should be alright. "That's a relief to hear- though are you sure you want Chop near high explosives?"
Said astromech grumbled and whirred his arms, indignant, and Hera smiled lightly at her. Zeb and Ezra, however, both looked at Chopper with narrowed eyes, seemingly evaluating how much of a threat he might pose. With her explosives, a big one.
"Chopper wouldn't do anything with grenades, except lob them at the Imperials." Hera defended her droid, though Kanan scratched his beard thoughtfully.
"I dunno... sometimes I get the feeling he's internally plotting all our demises."
"I'll second that..." Both Kanan and Ezra nodded, agreeing to Zeb's statement, while Hera shook her head and Chopper fumed rather vocally with two arms waving around. Sabine smirked, although she was slightly disturbed that Chopper didn't seem to be denying the fact.
"Chop knows better than to set of an explosive while in my ship. Now let me finish laying out the plan, and then you can go mutter about my droid." The guys all frowned slightly, Zeb still eyeing Chopper dubiously, but they switched their attention back to the hologram.
"First and foremost- sorry to put you into this position again, Ezra, but seeing as the tower is literally in the center of all the action..." Ezra groaned, planting his head on the Dejarik board. Sabine smirked slightly, but wrenched her mind away from distracting thoughts before they took her completely out of the briefing.
"I'm gonna be planting bombs in the vents again, aren't I?"
Hera smiled kindly at him, but that did nothing in the way of comfort. "Yeah- though it's gonna be a little different this time. You won't be able to carry as many grenades as you'll need in one trip, so you're going to be infiltrating- with Chop." Ezra's head snapped right up, staring first at Hera and then at Chopper. Zeb laughed, and Kanan raised an eyebrow while Hera continued. "Chop, disguised as one of the Empire's, will take two storage crates into the complex- one for Ezra, one for the bombs. They'll tuck themselves away in an unused and unwatched room, maybe an outfitting one, where Ezra will be able to make as many hidden refill trips as he needs to plant them thickly enough to de-stabalize the tower."
Ezra narrowed his eyes at Chopper, and Sabine took a moment to scold herself for noticing just about everything he did.
"So when Ezra's mostly done with the tower, the rest of you will filter in- you'll each be planting bombs in one bay, and then Zeb and Sabine will rendezvous with Kanan outside the norther production line, where I'll pick you up."
Ezra looked away from Chopper to give a concerned look to them. "Even if you guys give me a head start before going in to plant the bombs, I'll still take a while. That tower is big, and crawling through vents isn't exactly the fastest mode of travel. Especially if I'm going back and forth to re-supply."
Kanan nodded, frowning. "Yeah... if we're waiting for Ezra at the rendezvous and we're seen, we won't be able to escape before he can get to us. That could be problematic."
"That's why I got Sabine to buy some of the better-end slicing tools. While Ezra's up in the vents, Chopper can go to each of the production bays, plug in, and enter a virus into the camera system. It'll basically loop the camera footage over and over, so that it appears as though production is normal while you three are in there planting explosives. Those bays are just about completely machine operated, with little to no guards in there. You should be able to take them out stealthily, and then as long as you aren't super loud or obvious, you'll be fine until Ezra comes out."
Sabine smiled slightly, content with the plan. Kanan shrugged, knowing it wasn't perfect but knowing it was probably the best they could get. Zeb grunted. "You really think the bucket-head's'll keep falling for the same trick over'n over again? We've crippled nearly a dozen stations by sending the kid in the vents; they'll be looking for him."
"But they won't find him." Sabine was only aware of the words after she'd spoken them, but when both Zeb and Ezra raised an eyebrow at her, she kept going with a shrug. "What? He's good at hiding in the vents- even I know that." Hey, it was training. Definitely not hide and seek. "He's skilled enough not to get caught." Ezra grinned at her thankfully, while Zeb shrugged.
'...you trust and respect each other's abilities...'
Sabine's knee jerked up and hit the underside of the Dejarik table; an unconscious reaction that thankfully made little noise. And suddenly, she wasn't exactly sure of where the conversation was going, because she was busy fighting her own mind.
Another one! We're compatible!
The stupid signs don't even mean anything! We're good friends and that's it!
But we match them, and we do have a rather deep friendship...
Because we're deep friends, not romantic partners!
STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS AND FOCUS ON THE BRIEFING.
"...so Chopper'll visit the northern bay last to loop the cameras, and he'll wait there with Kanan for the rest of you guys to rendezvous. Sound like a plan?" Heads nodded around the holo, and Sabine berated herself for missing the first part of Hera's sentence. Honestly, this was getting out of hand.
"Those bucket-heads won't know what hit them!" Ezra exclaimed, and Sabine couldn't help but smirk at him.
"Um, yeah they will. Explosives- they're kind of hard to not recognize." Ezra snorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Not just any explosives! You of all people should know that yours are ten times better than anything those Imps have- not to mention prettier. They're one of a kind- unique miracles from the uniquely mighty Mando."
Alarm bells were screaming in her head as soon as he said that, but Sabine was already talking before she recognized them for what they were: "Well, thank you. I guess you're pretty unique yourself- I don't think there are too many telepathic Loth-cats out there, so that makes you kind of rare."
"It's not just telepathy!" Both he and Kanan rebuked, but Sabine barely even registered them.
'there's no one else like them...'
No no no no no no-
Too late.
I can't just ignore this anymore- much as I'd like to admit romance doesn't have anything to do with my life, with the way it's affecting how I operate, I can't say that anymore. I have to actively come to a conclusion about this issue or I'll never be able to carry on normally.
"Yes yes, the Force is mystical and powerful, but both me and Sabine need to get working on those bombs. The rest of you prepare as best you can- we're going to need everything in top condition." As Hera broke up the little group, Sabine couldn't help staring at Ezra as he left the room, grumbling.
Do I love you?