Chapter 3: The Mysterious Warrior Revealed
Sabine's P.O.V
I lay asleep in the chair in the med bay with Ezra. I heard moving, so I woke up and hoped that he was waking up. And he was. He looked around for a minute, until he turned to me. "Ezra. You're awake."
"What happened?" he asked, groaning as he sat up.
"You were knocked out unconscious by that warrior back on Tatooine." I answered. His eyes shot open as I said that.
"The vision!" he exclaimed.
"What vision, Ezra?" I asked.
"While the mysterious warrior was choking me, he showed me a vision."
"You should probably save it for the others. Just rest up for now. Can I get you anything?"
"Water would be good for now. Oh, and some space waffles if we have any." I nodded and left the med bay. When I entered the kitchen, everybody else was up.
"Morning, Sabine." Kanan said.
"Morning, guys." I replied.
"Is he up?" Alex asked.
"He is. Oh, and Ezra said that the mysterious warrior that we encountered last night showed him a vision." I explained.
"A vision of what?" Kanan inquired.
"I just told him to rest up for now and he'll tell you later." I replied.
"Fair enough. Besides, he probably hasn't ate in a while since yesterday."
"I'm getting him stuff right now to eat." Once I got a glass of water and a plate of space waffles, I headed back to the med bay, where Ezra was still in bed. "Here you go."
"Thanks, Sabine." He took a bite out of a waffle and sipped water. "I feel like I can get up now."
"You sure? How do you feel even?"
"Better I guess, now that I got some food in me."
"Ezra, are you sure?"
"Sabine, I am sure."
We went back to the others in the kitchen.
"Hey, kid." Zeb said.
"Morning." Ezra replied.
"Ezra, that vision that you had, what did you see in it?" Kanan inquired.
"I saw...some kind of aquatic planet." he answered.
"Go on."
"It was raining heavily, its tides were high..."
"Stop! You said heavy rain, high tides?"
"I did, Kanan."
"That planet sounds kind of familiar. What else did you see?" I asked Ezra.
"It also had buildings that were flat shaped above the tides."
"So, aquatic planet with heavy rain, high tides, and flat shaped buildings above the tides?" Kanan asked.
"Yes, that's what I said."
We sat thinking for a while in silence. "Guys, does the description of that planet sound familiar to any of you?" Kanan asked.
"Sort of, but I just can't get my tongue on it." Alex answered.
"I think I know what Ezra is talking about." Hera replied.
"Same thing. It sounds familiar, like it goes back somewhere." I replied.
"Ezra, I think I know what planet you're talking about." Kanan said.
"What?" he asked.
"The description of the planet sounds like Kamino." Kanan responded.
"What's Kamino?" Ezra asked.
"During the Clone Wars, Kamino served as the main planet that produced clones for the Republic during the war. It has lots of cloning facilities, and a good amount of them were used for when they cloned clone troopers primarily." Kanan explained.
"Hold up. Cloning facilities?" Ezra asked.
"That's exactly what was said." I answered.
"But why would he show me that planet in that vision?"
"I don't know, Ezra, but something tells me..." Kanan was cut off when he his commlink went off. "Go ahead, Rex."
"We just received word that one of our pilots has crashed just now. He crashed on some ice planet after getting shot down by imperials." we heard Rex say.
"Let us guess, Rex. You need us to go and get him?" Kanan inquired.
"Correct. Get going when you're able to. And hurry as well. He may be in danger. Coordinates have been sent. Out."
"Let's go get him then. I'll prep the ship." Hera said, walking out of the kitchen.
"Guys, I think the mysterious warrior may be involved here." Ezra said.
"Possibly. We'd better be on the lookout for him." Kanan replied.
Later, we took off from the base to get our guy.
Two hours later
"Okay, this is as close as I'll be able to get you three here. If we continue any further, the wind conditions may tamper with the Phantom. If anything, you all know what to do." Zeb said. Me, Ezra, and Alex were going down there to get our pilot, getting as close as we possibly could to the location of our pilot in the Phantom.
As this was an ice planet that we were going to, we also got changed into winter gear. I wore a white thick winter coat with a furred hood and black snow pants, along with my helmet, black winter gloves, white winter boots, and a heating pack. Ezra's winter gear consisted of a thick dark orange winter coat with a furred hood and brown snow pants, black winter boots, gloves in the same color, and black ski mask with ski goggles. Alex had a black thick winter coat with a furred hood and black snow pants, black winter boots and gloves in the same color, and like Ezra, he wore a black ski mask with ski goggles.
The Phantom landed, the three of us getting out. "Contact us when you got him." Zeb told us.
"We will. Come on, let's get moving." Ezra told us.
We walked out of the Phantom, stepping outside into the cold, arctic atmosphere. It's a good thing we had this gear on, that's all I could say. Before we move out, Alex pulled out his mini holo projector out of his coat pocket. "According to the coordinates, he's just 5 miles east of here. The sooner we get moving, the sooner we could get off this world." he said.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go." I said. And we got a move on.
Fifteen minutes into the walk
Ezra's P.O.V
Dang it's cold out here. We've walked for only fifteen minutes through the arctic environment, and already have the winds picked up, to the point where Sabine, Alex and I are battling it. It's a good thing we all had something that kept us warm on.
"How are you two holding up!" I yelled over the winds as we kept moving.
"It's cold!" Alex answered. "But I'm holding up fine!"
"Same!" Sabine replied.
Suddenly, I detected a force signature. Oh no, it was him! It had to be! Ever since the first two encounters, I've gotten more of a familiarity with that particular force signature. "Guys, I think he might be here! I could sense him!" I informed my friends.
"Then we'd better keep our eyes and ears open!" Alex replied.
"Roger that, Specter 7!" Sabine replied.
I felt the signature fade just now, then it came back, then it faded, then came back again, and it continued to be that way as we kept moving through the snow. I felt nervous. Just as it faded again, we saw what looked liked a crashed A-wing. "Sabine, Alex, I think that's our guy!" I said under my ski mask. Without either of them responding, we sprinted in our heavy snow gear towards the crashed A-wing, only to discover that the pilot's body was not there.
"What happened to him?" Alex wondered.
"It could have been that warrior." I answered, feeling that same force signature again. Just as I said that, we saw a figure ahead of us, who was visible just enough for us to see him through the conditions. We drew our blasters at him. "Guys, it's him." I told Sabine and Alex.
"We have to get out of here." Sabine said, pulling out her commlink. "Specter 5 to Ghost, we need a pickup pronto! There is no sign of the pilot and the mysterious warrior is here!" There was only static. I tried mine, but got nothing. Alex tried his, but he too got nothing on his end. This was bad. "Specter 5 to Ghost, do you copy!? Come in! We need an immediate pickup ASAP! Can you read me!?"
Just as we all kept on trying to contact the others, with all of us getting nothing but either static, or just nothing. I tried to contact Kanan through our force bond, but he didn't seem to be picking it up. This was even worse. I tried again and again, and since Kanan couldn't detect me, I just hope that he will detect us through the force and come for us! All of a sudden, our commlinks flew out of our hands, landing into the hands of the mysterious warrior, who was dead close.
"You three won't be needing these." he said.
"You! You set us up again, didn't you!?" Sabine inquired.
"Let's just say that I needed to use whatever methods necessary in order to grab Lord Vader's prize." the mysterious warrior answered.
"You did!" I exclaimed.
"It looks like someone is right for once. In fact, I was the one who shot down that pilot, and I killed him and got rid of his body, all just to lure Ezra to me. Stand aside, Sabine Wren and Alex Shepard."
"How do you even know our names!?" Alex questioned.
"I keep track of various names that come up. Now, stand aside and I'll let you two live while I take Ezra!"
"You won't!" I retorted.
The warrior chuckled evilly. "Well then, Ezra Bridger, if that's how it's going to be, then I guess I'll get to you and Alex later." The warrior force pushed me and Alex to the cold snowy ground, pinning us there. I saw him make his way towards Sabine from the corner of my eye as I watched him get closer and closer to her.
Sabine's P.O.V
"You get back!" I yelled, pulling out my pistols and unloading on him. He pulled out his two red lightsabers and deflected all of my blasts. I continued firing, backing up as he deflected more of my blasts, then he force pushed me onto the ground, pinning me there as I lay on my back. I grunted as I tried to get myself free, him approaching me with his blades in his hands. Then, he took a knee beside me, looking into my helmet visor. "Who are you?" I grunted. He got closer into my face, taking off my helmet and placing it next to me, my face filling with the coldness of this world.
"You think there's only one of your friends out there in the known galaxy, Sabine Wren?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You think that there can only be one person and oneself only?"
"What are you talking about?"
He grabbed my throat. "Let her go!" I heard Alex yell, pulling out his pistol and trying to kill the warrior, but he deflected his shots with one of his sabers before picking up Alex and throwing him behind me, where he disappeared from view. I knew that he was still alive because I heard him grunting as I lay there, in the cold.
"Let me go!" I said, trying to break his hold.
"You think that since there can be only one that no one else exists?"
"What...are you...talking about!?" He grabbed my throat harder.
While choking me, the warrior used his free hand to remove his hood, revealing his true identity. His true self sent shivers down my spine like there was no tomorrow practically. His skin was pale, his eyes were yellow with red rings around them, his hair was long and jet black, and he had almost all of the physical characteristics of the kid we met years ago during an op to steal weapons crates from the Empire on his home world. But this was not the kid who we met years ago.
This was the complete opposite.
I felt so much tension build up within me, then I blacked out.
Ezra's P.O.V
It can't be! There's simply no way that the warrior is actually me! My other self stared down at Sabine's body, bringing up his blade, about to strike her down. Just as he was about to deliver the killing blow, we heard a ship overhead. It was the Ghost!
The Ghost began firing at me, the other me deflecting the blasts then he was gone. The Ghost landed and I helped get an unconscious Sabine on board, while the others went for Sabine's helmet and a still conscious Alex. As we got on board, my brain lurched, unable to accept that the mysterious warrior who has been after me for a while was actually me. I didn't say anything when we got into space and headed straight to my room, locking the door.
A few hours later
Kanan's P.O.V
"How long has he been in there for?" Hera asked.
"I don't know. He's been in there ever since we left that ice planet. How is Sabine holding up?" I asked.
"She's resting in the med bay right now. She's been unconscious for a while, but the medical droid at the base says that she's not in a coma, which is good."
"Tell me about it, Hera."
"What's been up with Ezra? Why has he been locked up in his room for god knows how many hours?"
"That's what I've been trying to find out for myself. I tried to get him to open the door up so I could just speak to him, but he's refused every time. It's almost like he's been traumatized by something."
"The mysterious warrior?"
"That could be something, but I'm going to find out for myself. I'm going to talk to him now, Hera."
I knocked on the door again, and finally, after hours of trying, Ezra answered it. "What do you want, Kanan?"
"I just want to talk to you, Ezra. Something has been up with you ever since we left that planet."
"Come in. I don't want anybody else to here this."
"Ezra, is it that bad?"
"Yes, Kanan!"
"Fine." I came in his room and closed the door when I walked in. "What has been going on with you?"
Ezra let out a long sigh. "I saw him, the true face of the mysterious warrior."
"You saw his face?" Ezra nodded. "What did he look like?"
"Kanan, that's the thing."
"What about him?"
"Kanan, you aren't going to like this."
"Ezra, tell me the truth. What did you see?"
"I saw his face."
"And what did he look like?"
Ezra took a deep breath.
"I think he might be a clone of me."