AN: Okay, I would like to say I am really sorry for the long wait in the updates. I was hit by a car and while I wasn't hurt, I put me in a funk where I really didn't want to do anything, but I'm back on track now, so here we go.

Also, I know people have OC's that I promised to involve in the story. I haven't forgotten about you, and if you won and want to change something go ahead and PM me.

Also, with Recent Episodes in Star Wars Rebels, it's pretty clear that this story is a slight AU, especially in Sabine's family regard. That was always my intent because I knew something like this was likely to happen.

Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned b Disney and LucasFilm.


Chapter 14


"Is he dead?" Tyber asked the medical officers as he looked at Fifth Brother's body floating in a bacta tank

"No, not yet at least, his species has some bizarre biological traits, the one that saved him is a secondary brain at the base of his spine, kept him alive long enough to get him into the bacta tanks." The medical officer said as he tweaked some of the conditions in the tanks. "Still, he won't survive out of it for long unless he does some heavy cybernetic replacements and modification to him."

Tyber looked at the Fifth Brother, he never liked these second rate Sith, granted he didn't think too highly of the real thing either, but at least they tended to have an air of authority that most Inquisitors, with a few exceptions, failed to have.

However, as commanding officer, it was up to Tyber to approve any sort of medical procedure of the cost that level, or if it was more cost effective to just let them die.

Normally, Tyber would just let this fellow slide off to whatever hell would have him, but this presented and opportunity for him to finally get event's going the way he wanted. The medical staff on this ship were lucky, personally under his control.

"Go ahead and schedule the surgery, I want it done before we reach our destination, I'll send up a list of the cybernetics' you'll be using."

The medical officer looked at him, understanding in his eyes, he knew he was about to be part of a medical procedure that was not likely to be legal.


The Seventh Sister arrived in the medical bay, frankly indifferent to the state of her "partner", he'd gotten careless because e thought he had won, forgetting you never win until your opponent is dead. She was fairly impressed his that having most of his head crushed like a grape didn't kill him, but that was more a fact of biology than skill.

As she approached the door to the medical bay, she was cut off by Tyber Zann, the Imperial Captain in charge of the operation at hand.

She didn't trust him, and not in the general way she didn't trust imperial officers. That feeling stemmed for how she believed they were in large incompetent in anything outside of typical warfare operations, but incapable of dealing with insurgency.

She didn't get that with Zann, he was cunning in way's most officer weren't, which made sense, given his background. But she could sense something else about him, that told her if she underestimated him, she would regret it.

Despite this, she greeted him with as much respect as would be expected of her. "Hello Captain, how's the patient?" she asked while not really caring for the answer.

"He'll live, with surgery, he'll be receiving it later today." He said looking at the wall, then, as if struck by a thought, he turned to her. "In relation to this…event…. What can you tell be about the….. Fellow who did this? I've heard the stories and read the files, but to beat an inquisitor means he must be more than the common solider."

She a bit surprised by the request, given a man like him usually knew things someone even three ranks higher than himself wouldn't be privy to, but decided there was no harm in telling him what she knew, which was really just rumors at the end of the day.

"Probably not much I can tell you that you don't already know, he's the first in a new line of Imperial Solider…" she was cut off by his hand waving her off, as if she he didn't care what she had to say. Clenching her teeth and balling her fist's at the dismissive gesture, she was ready to lash out at him before he cut her off.

"I know all that, I want to hear more about the rumors of Sith Sorcery and Alchemy, that this thing is more than a triumph of science."

Again he surprised her, in her experience most non-force users didn't make any real distinction between the Sith or Jedi and the Light or Dark, and those that did had only the most academic idea of what the force, describing the force to a non-force user was to her like trying to describe color to a person who was blind from birth. He had just dropped the names of two Sith Art's that even some force users she'd meet didn't know about.

But she'd heard the same rumors, but only among other inquisitor's, she hadn't heard them outside that circle of force users. But he knew them, or at least heard of them, that put her on guard, but she really couldn't tell him more than he apparently already knew.

"Well, I believe you already know the rumors, that some sort of Sith magic was used in his "creation", but I couldn't tell you what was done or even if it's true."

"No, but shouldn't you be able to sense if there is something done to him? You are a force user yourself after all."

On that note, he was right, she SHOULD, be able to sense if there was some sort of Sith power in "The Mountain", but she didn't. Normally that would be end of this line of thought, but it wasn't that simple.

She could feel something about him, but couldn't pin down what it was. She wasn't sure if the force was just warning her about the giant or if he had some sort of latent force presences in him.

But she wasn't about to tell Zann that she unsure of something, he'd view it as a weakness. It was better to just make it seem like the rumors were just rumors with no bases in fact.

"I sense nothing in "The Mountain" to indicate those rumors are true, by all accounts he is just the latest in a line of Imperial attempts to make a more affective killing machine."

Tyber looked her up and down, and she could tell, not just in the force but in has face, that he was deciding whether he believed her or not.

"Very, well" he finally said. "Go on you way."

With that he went off down the hall until he turned a corner and went out of site.

This was not a man to be underestimated, he was suspicious of her answer and now he'd probably look more deeply into the matter himself. She didn't care if he did or didn't to be frank, but she could sense something about him that told her he needed to be watched, like he was an old bomb that hadn't been disarmed, something that appeared to be harmless, only for it to suddenly blow up in your face if you got to careless around it.


Dathomir

Hera had explained the situation to the Witches, and Ezra just stood there watching as the Witches present discussed the situation among themselves.

"What do think their talking about?" Ezra heard Zeb ask Kanan.

"Probably whether or not to help, I doubt they are exactly trusting of outsiders after the CIS did here during the war."

Ezra was intent to keep listening, hoping he might learn some more of what happened here during the war, but Kanan and Zeb's conversation was stopped by the approach of one of the witches.

"Which of you three require the aid of the cure?"

Kanan shoved Ezra forward, while Dral and Sabine stepped forward on their own, and it crossed Ezra's mind to say something to Kanan, but thought better of it.

"You three follow me." with that, the Witch was off.

Ezra, Sabine and Dral looked at each other, then to the rest of the group, but Urai spoke before anyone else.

"Go, these witches will not harm you, you are guests here who have shown no ill intent, and you will be safe enough."

Ezra did not exactly find this the voice of reason and comfort but followed the witch no the less.

The village was extremely primitive to his eyes, but Ezra knew looks could be deceiving.

They followed in silence for what felt like to Ezra for hours, but knew it couldn't of been more than a few minutes, but Dral and Sabine weren't speaking and he wasn't feeling extremely talkative himself.

Without warning the witch spoke. "You are outsiders, so you will deal with Kira, she isn't wasn't born in the Clan either."

"Hold on." Ezra finally spoke up "I thought you we're gonna help us, not bring us to…."

"Did we say that?" the witch cut him off. She didn't wait for him to respond "No, we didn't, you will have to earn our help, and while Kira is an outsider, she'd been with the clan for years, and know the workings of the outside galaxy better than we do. She will decide if you will receive our aid and what you must do". With that the witch stopped in front of a hut and gestured inside.

Ezra didn't like that explanation, sounded like they would have a test, but didn't say anything as they entered the hut.


Sabine was a bit taken aback by Kira's appearance. This witch didn't look like her comrades in almost every regard, indeed if it weren't for the markings on her face that all the witches had, she could have passed for a modern citizen of the galaxy. Her clothing looked like a modern, if humble, fashion in the Core worlds. Her hair was not the dark black of the other witches, but a bright fiery red, no attempt to conform to the local's appearance.

She just looked like almost any other woman you would see on a core world. Yet at the same time, something about her sent chills down Sabine's spine, she wasn't force sensitive but she was sure that's what it was, something in the force. She knew the witches of Dathomir were some of the most potent force users in the galaxy.

"Hello Kira" Sabine began "My name is Sabine Wren, this is…"

Before she could finish Kira interrupted her "I know who you all are, and why you've come, you've come for help." She said in a whisper, her voice having a raspy quality to it the reminded Sabine of someone who hadn't spoken for a very long and there voice became gravely with dis-use. "But, as you must know, something cannot be given for nothing, a price must be paid."

Sabine cut her eye's to Ezra and Dral, and noticed both looking at her, if this woman wanted money, they were going to have a hard time filling that request, but Sabine had a feeling that wasn't what was being asked.

"So what exactly…" Sabine began, but was silenced when Kira raised her hand.

"There are ingredients you must gather, or of not you a family member. The ingredients are not easily found or obtained, as is the trial for this cure you seek."

"Wait." Ezra started "We never told you.." he too was silence with a raised hand.

"I know things, the Force reveals much to me child, and one day it will to you as well, if you ever master it."

Ezra didn't continue and let her speak.

"I myself am an outsider here, and I came at a time when this tribe was more welcoming to outsiders." Her eye's landed on Sabine for a moment before she continued "I too sought there cure and managed to pass the trials of gathering the ingredients. I choose to stay and now I here I am." Her eye's scanned the three of them before she continued "I cannot, on my own, allow you to do these trials, but I can give you a chance to attempt them."

"Hold on, I thought you were gonna "handle us", what do means you can't do it?" Dral barked out. Sabine hoped he keep his temper in check.

"Only in the examination process, I'm an outsider, and I choose whether or not outsiders are even given the chance to try. We all can sense the feeling of you and your crew, but I have a more intimate knowledge of what the outside galaxy is like and pick up of nuances in the force some of my sisters may not notice or recognize for what they are."

"So…Do we pass?" Ezra asked, the faintest note of anxiety in his voice.

Kira looked them over, rubbing her hand over her mouth, "Yes…I think you all will get your chance, tomorrow you will get the opportunity to prove you are worthy of the trials."

"Thank, we are…" Sabine began

"Save your gratitude girl, I didn't do anything other than given you a chance at a chance." Kira said then gestured at Dral and Ezra. "You two leave, head back to you friends, I wish to speak to the firl alone."

Dral and Ezra looked back and forth between each other and Sabine.

"Go ahead, I'll be fine."


Dral and Ezra

"I don't like leaving her alone in there with that witch, she gives me the creeps." Ezra said to Dral. The fact he was talking so openly with Dral showed how concerned he was.

"She's a big girl, she can look after herself just fine." Dral said with looking at Ezra. "If they wanted to kill us they'd of done it by now, way too many of them for us to do anything about."

His matter of fact manner didn't do anything to put Ezra at ease. He didn't need to be a Jedi to tell that Dral was prone to pretty drastic swings in emotions, ranging for fairly laid back, to suicidality angry to cataclysmically depressed .He clearly had issues, and Ezra didn't put it past him to not care if he lived or died. Which was sad, but Ezra sympathy to Dral didn't extended to the point where he'd tolerate him putting anyone in danger.

But calling him out on his issue didn't seem like a good idea, in such delicate situation as this. IT would be better to let Dral be unless he started to act erratically.


Sabine and Kira

"Sit." Kira instructed to Sabine as she gestured to a chair.

Taking it, Sabine thought to ask what she wanted to talk about, but decided against it. Given what they had seen of her so far, she'd just silence her and tell her what she wanted to hear any way.

"I know what hunt's you Sabine Wren." Kira said in her raspy whisper.

"I don't…"

"The Empire's creation, I know it's hunting you and your friends, but it is looking for you."

"How can you know that?" That last part was news to her.

"I know things…. I can sense him and even see through his eyes at times."

That was scary to Sabine, the ability to spy through someone's eye's across the galaxy was something she knew many people would kill to be able to do.

"Listen to me Sabine Wren, that man, I don't know what you know of his past, but he's coming here after you, he's driven to seek you out, but he can't control the desire to kill the Empire has programmed into him, he will kill you if he can't be stopped."

"He's clear across the galaxy right now, and I don't think he can properly operate a ship."

"There are other ways Sabine Wren, and he'll find you." She paused for a moment "But this brings me to the real the reason why I approved you for you attempt at the trials."

"Wait." Sabine held up a hand "You mean you wouldn't have normally?"

"No, all three of you are full on internal conflict, especially Dral Rahm, but I need you for something."

"What?" she asked hesitantly, not really liking this line of conversation.

"The man seeking you, when he arrives, I need to too capture him for me?"

This caused Sabine heart rate to spike, not only was that an incredibly dangerous request, but she now knew that JV-Fr13 was in fact her little brother, or rather half-brother, the idea of capturing him and turning him over to any one caused her blood to boil.

"Do you even know who he is ! Who he was? He's not just some mindless lab project for you to capture and experiment on!" She didn't quite shout but she did raise her voice.

Kira didn't react at first, just staring at her "You misunderstand me Sabine Wren, I don't wish to experiment on or enslave him. I've told you I can sense him and see through his eye, and I can tell he's dying."

"What?" Sabine was not only alarmed but confused, Jaden had seemed pretty much indestructible every time they encountered him. How could he be dying?

"You can't inflict all those augmentations onto a living being without some side effects Sabine Wren, it can't been seen yet, but his body is starting to break down, his regenerating abilities keep it at bay for now, but soon it will over power him and he'll start to decomposed alive."

That sounded horrible to Sabine, rotting alive, but Kira was incredibly well informed on Jaden's condition "How can you know all this?"

"When I'm seeing thing through him, I can feel what's happening in his body, sense the damage. Capture him, and the witches can heal him, or we believe we can."

Now that confused Sabine, they came seeking help, and she would consider them good people in general. Jaden, despite being an innocent bystander, was extremely dangerous and would surly have inner conflict.

"Why heal him? I mean, wouldn't he have to do trails or prove himself?"

"For outsiders yes, but family of clan is afforded rite's without trials if they are in a condition that would make the trials impossible to do, such as this case."

"Family!?" Jaden was related to someone in the clan? She knew she and Jaden shared different mothers, but this was a bizarre coincidence that not only would they come to the planet Jaden's mother was from but contact the exact clan.

"Yes, it how I can sense him and how he can follow you."

"Wait….."

"Yes, Jaden is my son, my little boy, betrayed by his father and mutilated by the Empire. My son, my little boy, your little brother, you and your companions will help me save him."


AN: Okay tell me what you think.