AN: Okay, first thanks to everyone who reviewed, I truly appreciate it, we didn't hit ten, but it's the weekend so here's the next chapter.

Also, like the last Chapter I have the next chapter after this already written. I'll update this story if this chapter get's ten reviews, if not I will update it on Tuesday.

Also ,if you haven't noticed by now I'm trying a different approach with this story in terms of chapter length. In "Fly Now", I pretty much made the chapters as long I felt like, and In Underworld all my chapters hit a word count of around 5,000 words per chapter. With this one, excluding the prologue, I'm aiming for around 3,000 words per chapter.

Tell me what you think of this. With the smaller word count I am updating more regularly, but do you prefer the longer chapters or the shorter ones that come more frequently.

Well, onto the story.

Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Disney and LucasFilm.


Chapter 5

"Newly commissioned Captain of the Imperial Navy, Tyber Zann has been tasked with the hunt for and capture or otherwise eliminate 'The Shape'. Zann, who has in short order manage to severely reduce the crime rates in all systems he has been station in, has high hopes for the capture on 'The Shape'"

"How in the galaxy is he still alive?" Zeb said grinding his teeth.

They all looked at Ezra, who looked pale. "I didn't actually see it kill him...he was... he was cornered, and I could stop it... I ran." Ezra felt more shame than he thought he ever could. Not only was he admitting to cowardice, but it was lying about it to the people who mattered most to him. He was lying and telling them he was a coward, when in fact he had just let that thing kill him, or so he thought.

"Forget that for a minute, why in all the galaxy is he an Imperial Captain?" Sabine near shouted. She didn't want anyone to know, but at the news he was alive, she felt her heart soar, and her stomach sink. She was still clearly under his influence.

"What's more, how can he even be involved with the Empire at all? He's one of the most wanted men in galaxy, how can they publically make him a Captain?" Hera said rubbing her chin.

"The Empire can spin just about anything, they made the Jedi order out to be terrorists and traitors." Kanan said bitterly.

"It makes sense though, in a way." Zeb muttered "He did use to be Thrawn's top student before they kicked him out the Academy, and his time as a crime lord, he probably has all kinds of Intel on other criminal organization."

"Still though." Hera said wondering out loud "Why give him a commission? Or even enlist him at all?"

"Your guess is as good as anyone's Hera, but I think we have bigger problems than that. He knows we're here on Lothol, and he might be looking for revenge for what happened on Kamino." Kanan said. "We need to lie low until he moves on, we can't risk having him on our tails."

Ezra's stomach sank at this, other than himself, Zann was the only one who knew what happened between them on Kamino, he was going to be out for blood, he was certain of it.

"How did that thing not kill him." Ezra muttered more to himself than to anyone else. " I don't see that thing having anything in the way of mercy."


Dral stepped out of the refresher, clean and his face shaven except for a goatee he was attempting to grow in. It felt good to be clean, and frankly given his injury, he should of been cleaning it anyway.

Walking out into the main sitting room, he found the entire crew looking grim.

"You all look like you've seen a ghost." he said bluntly.

"Yeah you could say that." Zeb muttered, gesturing to the now mute Holonet.

"Tyber Zann, that's a nasty piece of work there, as bad as the Hutt's if you ask me." Dral said while looking at the image, something was off about. He stared for a few moments before realizing what it was he said "Why is he wearing an Imperial uniform?"

"Apparently they give out commissions to crime lords now." Zeb muttered "Next week, we will be hearing how Jabba of the Hutt became an Admiral."

Dral didn't get it. Zann was well known for a long standing hatred for the Empire, why would he ever join it? What's more why would they want him? He was one of the most wanted in the galaxy.

"Well we need to forget about Zann for now." Hera said standing up "We need to deal with that thing first. Zann knows what it is and knows it's real value to the Empire, what it's worth to them and he maybe one of the only people left in the galaxy who does as long as he kept his mouth shut."

Dral didn't know what possible use the "Shape" could be to the Empire, but he didn't much care. He was starting to want this whole ordeal over. After this job, he might retire, get some help. Things were getting worse for him and he was having a hard time hiding it. Sabine had found him twice, and that didn't bode well for him.

While the crew talked grimly about the news, Dral turned and left. He didn't really understand what they were talking about, but apparently that had a run in with the crime lord, or was it former crime lord?

On his ship he found his medication and took a pill. He didn't normally take it unless he felt and episode coming on, but he didn't want to chance it again. He's been lucky he hadn't killed Sabine during one of his fits, if he had, he friends would likely of murdered him in retaliation.

His minded drifted back to his youth, the time when it all happened. Hitting himself in the side of the head to stop himself from thinking about it, he went to work on his armor to distract himself.

Examining it, he noted the how cleanly the thing's blade had pierced it. His armor wasn't proper Mandalorian iron, and he really wished he could get some that was, but it was both rare and expensive, even if he found someone to make it for him, he probably wouldn't be able to afford it.

Grunting in annoyance, he started patching it as best he could.


He was screwed, he was so screwed. Zann was alive and now have Imperial backing. He'd come foe him sooner rather than later, and the other's were sure to find out what really happened.

He needed to come clean. But he couldn't at the same time. What would they say? What would they do?

Ezra put his head in his hands and started to rock back and forth in his seat.


Sabine just wished her life would go back to normal, or at least as close to normal as hers got. Zann was a complicated issue for her, because of what he had done to her, with the dammed experimentation.

For the first time in a couple days, she pulled out what she now knew was her father's helmet. She hadn't examined it in detail sense Dral had used it to track them. That was the one common thread in her life with all these things a happening. Her father, he had worked with Zann, was hunted by Dral, and had some connection to the facility where JV-FR13 was created.

Maybe it was the universe telling her it was time to try and find him. He was on Coruscant last anyone knew. Dral had mentioned it in passing and Tyber had mentioned it specifically.

But going there would be next to impossible right now. She needed more information if she was going to follow this to any end.

And there was only one person she knew right now who had been looking for him.


Dral cursed as he heard the tapping on the door "It's open!" he called.

He wasn't too surprised to find Sabine on his ship again. "What is it now?"

Sabine was a bit taken aback, she had been expecting some sort of comment, possibly some sort of flirt, but he was clearly still on edge.

"I wanted to talk to you about Atin Wren, my father."

"I don't have him on my ship, if I did I'd be gone."

"No I mean...where was he seen last?"

"Coruscant, that's his last known place of residence, but he's been off the grid for years, most people think he's dead."

Dral noticed the look on her face and stopped his work. "Look I ain't exactly the best with words, and I really don't know where your father is, there are rumors I've found floating around, but nothing concrete."

"Like what?" she said somewhat more eagerly than she meant to.

Dral sighed and said "I heard he took a job on Kamino for the Empire, never knew what it was supposed to be, probably to train their clone troopers, or what's left of what they still make. That is, of course if any of that is true"

Sabine felt her heart leap at this. Dral didn't know it, but that was a much more solid lead than he could ever know. It made sense, the helmet was in that facility, had her father lent or sold it to the empire for study? It raised more questions, but if her father was on Kamino training clone troopers, then he might still be there.

This thought made her stomach sink, if that was the case, they were on different sides of the war.

"Hey! You still their!" Dral's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Is that it?"

"Yes, Dral thanks." she turned to leave, but felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Normally." He said "I charge for any service I render."

Sabine felt her blood run cold "What do you want?"

"Let's just say you owe me a favor." he said taking his hand off her shoulder.

Feeling like she got off easy, Sabine left his ship as fast as she could without insulting him.


As the day went on, Sabine walked through the field of grass, avoiding, at Kanan and Hera's suggestion, any towns for the time being.

Her thoughts kept going back to Dral. He scared her, not in terms of him being and intimidating individual, even though he was. No it was what was wrong with him. He was a Mandalorian like her, and there was a time in her life when being a Mandalorian had made her feel immune to things, like she couldn't be affected by things like a normal solider could be. But these recent encounters with Zann and Dral had that idea fly out the window. Her father had apparently been broken and Dral was suffering from an extremely strong case of PTSD.

She herself was screwed by Zann's drug. She realized now she was starting to come to terms with her own mortality, that to be Mandalorian didn't make you invincible.

She found herself wanting to talk to Dral again, to find out what happened to him. But she seriously doubted he'd open up, whatever had happened to him had left a huge impact on him.

Her life was so screwed up right now and she was just waiting for the days to pass, then Dral could try and capture JV-FR13, take him and go. Then Zann would leave and her life might gain some semblance of normality.


On board the Imperial Star Destroy "Shadow of Intent"

Tyber scowled as he monitored the information feed from Lothol. He hated this, serving the Empire. He'd have his due soon enough but right now, he didn't have a choice.

Picking up a vile of liquid, he put it in a syringe and injected it into his arm. The damn miracle drug had him begging the Empire for life. When the patrol found him he was bleeding internally, and Thrawn, ever qucik on his feet, had them inject him with the experimental drug. Saving his life.

But he didn't serve out of a sense of loyalty, but the damn drug had destroyed his own immune system. If he stopped taking it regularly he's die a particularly unpleasant way. He hadn't needed the drug to fix him, standard medical procedures would of work. But Thrawn wanted to humiliate him and this was the best way to do it, making him help the one organization he wanted to destroy.

Now they had his mind and his understand of the criminal underworld. They were wiping out other organization one by one, and while he had so far spared the Zann Consortium, it was only matter of time before Thrawn force him to act against is own organization. He had managed to tell Urai to go underground with as much Consortium's wealth and resources as he could to survive the oncoming storm.

But he's find a way out, soon he's find a way out. And he may be able to find a way to turn this to his advantage, wipe out the competition,

But right now, here on Lothol, he's get his pay back on Ezra for leaving him for that thing. What the rebels didn't know, or the Empire for that matter, he had an agent on the planet. One who would do the dirty work for him and get him his revenge.

Smirking at this thought, Tyber continued to monitor the information feed.


This was it. He needed to tell Kanan, if he didn't, when it came out it would be even worse. What was more, he couldn't keep lying to him.

He had asked Kanan to meet him here, in the field beyond the Ghost's normal parking spot to talk to him about something, although he hadn't told him what it was about.

"Ezra, I'm here, you wanna tell me what this was about?" Kanan's voice came from behind him.

Taking a deep breath Ezra turned to face Kanan, and briefly thought of just making up a lie. But no, he'd resolved to do this, and he would do it.

"Kanan...I need to tell you." he began slowly "On Kamino, I told you what a happen with Tyber and JV-FR13?"

Kanan nodded, not saying a word. Ezra didn't know it, but Kanan was expecting something along these lines. He had sensed something was wrong with Ezra ever sense the mission was over.

"I've been lying about what happened. Kanan, Tyber was pinned under some wreckage, the place was falling apart and that thing was coming. Kanan I left him their for that thing, he asked for my help and I left him I didn't panic and run, it wasn't that I couldn't save him, Kanan it's that I wouldn't, I wanted that thing to finish him off after all he'd done." Now that he was going Ezra found himself having a hard time stopping, and probably would of continued on in this manner if Kanan hadn't silenced him.

"Ezra, this is serious." he said, his face grim. "You let your emotion get the better of you, and because of that, you left a man to be murdered."

Ezra's eye's fell to his feet. "I understand it Ezra, what he did, it was inexcusable, but when you behave like him, you aren't giving out justice, you are just filling the galaxy with more injustice."

Ezra didn't completely understand, but his own miserable mood didn't do much to help his attention span. Kanan picked up on this.

"Ezra, when you do what you did, you leave yourself open to the Darkside, letting darker emotions like revenge guide your actions. You have to be careful. You can't let hate and anger guide your actions."

Ezra was starting to get it, and he was surprised Kanan was telling him this and not shouting at him for leaving a man to be murdered.

"Are you going to tell the other's?"

Kanan still scowling gritted his teeth "No, if you want to tell them you can, but it has to be up to you."

"I thought." Ezra said suddenly "I thought it would cure Sabine if he was gone, he wouldn't be able to influence here anymore." as he said it Ezra noticed this sounded like a desperate attempt to excuse his actions.

Kanan was clearly having conflicting emotions about the news Ezra has given him. He had suspected something, but nothing quite this dark. Part of the problem he was having was he agreed on some level with what Ezra had done. When he found out Zann had used Sabine like a guinea pig, he had seriously considered killing him. But he was the teacher and he needed to guide Ezra down the correct path, and revenge was not it.

"Ezra." Kanan began his voice softer than before "I understand why you did it, I really do, but you have to understand why it's not the way we do things that way. We can't go down to that level, otherwise, the whole reason for fighting the Empire, fighting against what they do loses meaning. We can't go to their level, we can't seek revenge. Do you understand?" he finished putting his hand on Ezra's shoulder.

Ezra looked up at Kanan and nodded "Yes Kanan, I understand."


Dral wanted to sleep, but he was scared to. His medication wasn't working properly anymore, the tremors where coming back and the memories were leaking into his thoughts, even when he was taking his medicine. This was bad, he's never had this happened before in his life, he didn't even know it could happen.

He was so tired, but he didn't dare try to sleep now, even with his medicine he was close to an episode while awake, if he dreamed, it would come back in full force. He didn't want to relive it, he couldn't, he wouldn't, no matter what if he could help it.

Pacing on the ship, he walked down the ramp and started pacing the area between the Ghost and his own ship. It was dark and everyone on the Ghost had fallen asleep.

"Dral, what are you doing?" a voice said behind him.

Spinning on his heels, hand on his knife, Dral saw Sabine, looking like she just woke up, then he remembered she probably just had.

"Trying not to sleep." he muttered.

"Why?"

He looked at her for a moment, remembering she already knew to some degree what his problem was. "I can't fall asleep, if I do I'll dream, if I dream...well you already know, well sort of."

Sabine couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. His crass nature aside, he was clearly suffering so severe trauma to affect him so badly.

"You want to talk about it?"

Dral looked her up and down, considering her proposition. Normally he would never talk about, but right now he was at his wit's end. He didn't need to tell her everything, just enough to satisfy her apparent curiosity, then he might be able to get some sleep and she would stop wondering what it was. This thought came to him and left in an instant. No, he couldn't let anyone know anything, not even the smallest part.

"No, but if you could..." he had an idea that might keep him from going into a total flashback, and he looked highly embarrassed about it "come with me to my ship."

He looked her in the eye, and she looked incredibly hesitant before reluctantly say "Alright."


Dral lead her to his bunk, the bed was larger than the one's on the Ghost, although sense this was a single passenger ship, it made sense in a way.

"Dral, I don't know what you think I'm gonna do, but I'll tell you." She started before he cut her off.

"Just...just sit here while I fall asleep, near, it helps if I have someone I think I can trust next to me when I fall asleep, it helps keep the memories from coming."

This took her aback a little bit "You think you can trust me?"

"Your little rebel crew are probably the most trust worthy people on the planet." he said "So will you do it?"

She was about to say no, but a look at his desperate and haggard face pulled at her heart strings. "Fine, I'll stay until you fall asleep."

He grunted something that might of been 'thanks', as he climbed into his bunk, Sabine sitting at the head of the bunk where his head was.

It didn't take long for Dral to drift off to sleep, he was clearly run ragged. Sabine watched him for a little while and noted that he looked much more peaceful than the last two time's she had seen him, sleep, much more like when he had first drifted off after his first with JV-FR13, which she remembered had been with her and Ezra around.

Before she was even aware of doing so, she had drifted off to sleep herself, slumped against the wall of the bunk.


AN: Okay please leave a review. Remember, at ten reviews I will update it that day. If not, I'll still see you on Tuesday.