A/N: Everything belongs to Disney, except for any Original Content. Now, first, before anyone asks, Ezra does still have the Force in this story, but he very rarely uses it so as to not attract attention from the Empire. He is not from Lothal, but was raised in Kryze Castle on Kalevala. Also, fair warning, this story will be my first ever attempt at writing romance. I've studied it for a while prior to trying to do it myself, but don't be surprised if I butcher the romance aspect entirely. This story begins at the start of Rebels Season 3, the episode titled "Steps Into Shadow Part 1".
Chapter 1
Two stormtroopers walked back and forth on patrol, guarding a thin walkway that led to a small access point to an Imperial prison on Naraka. Neither of them noticed the two figures hanging on to the bottom of the walkway by their hands, one of a rather small stature and the other bigger than any human.
In a single synchronized movement, both figures swung themselves up to stand on the platform. Remaining quiet, they each grabbed one of the stormtroopers.
The big one, a large purple and hairy figure that was vaguely humanoid though with pointed ears, large green eyes, and lacking a protruding nose, grabbed his stormtrooper and lifted him completely off his feet before throwing him into the fog below before he could even scream.
The smaller figure, a human female wearing colorfully designed, masterfully crafted armor simply slammed a fist into her stormtrooper's helmet, dazing him, then punched him once more on the back of the helmet, knocking his head into the guardrail and knocking him unconscious.
The large purple man turned to the teenager and complimented, "Alright, Sabine, I'll admit that this was a pretty good plan."
The girl, Sabine, nodded and turned to look up the cliff wall next to them, acknowledging his comment by simply saying, "Let's hope so, Zeb."
Her eyes landed on a white astromech droid with an orange top, resting on the top of the cliff and looking down at the platform with hesitation.
Sabine spoke into her comm on her wrist, contacting the droid to tell him, "Alright Chop, you can jump now. But be sure to watch out for the spotlight."
The droid, Chopper, looked down and waited for the Imperial spotlight to pass by on the wall, then braced himself and rolled off the edge. He tried to remain silent as he fell, but he let out a quiet whir of terror until he fell safely into the big, strong arms of Zeb, who then set Chopper down gently.
The group of three then ran to the right and entered the prison through a doorway. They quietly moved down the halls, carefully avoiding any stormtrooper patrols.
Zeb finally came to a stop in front of one of the cells and pulled his AB-75 bo-rifle from his back before aiming it down the hallway defensively. "Here," he announced over his shoulder, "Cell 6611. Sabine, work your magic."
Sabine ran forward and began to unlock the cell door.
Zeb groaned and complained, "I can't believe we're here to rescue this guy."
Sabine shrugged as she finished up and agreed, "Neither can I, but he promised that he has information we can use. The Rebellion can use all the help we can get right now."
Sabine hit the final button, opening the door to reveal… a pig. Or rather, an Ugnaught, a species of small, rather pig-like humanoids. This particular Ugnaught had sideburns and a small beard of brown hair, and was wearing blue overalls over a white shirt.
However, this Ugnaught was not who they were here to free. "Who's the pig?" Zeb asked.
The Ugnaught was suddenly pushed aside, squealing with indignation, by another man, the Weequay that they had come here for, the pirate Hondo Ohnaka. "Purple guy! Mando girl!" Hondo exclaimed. "I knew you wouldn't leave me here to rot! Once again, Hondo's friends come through to save the day!"
Sabine stepped aside for him as he exited the cell, telling him, "Let's dispense with the pleasantries, Hondo. Now, do you have the intel you promised us?"
Hondo held up a finger and responded, "Yes, I do. Or rather, me and my associate Terba do." As he spoke of his associate, Hondo gestured back into his cell at the Ugnaught, who reeted angrily at them.
"Wait, your associate?" Zeb asked. "We came here to get one person out, not two!"
Sabine sighed and said, "Well, the more the merrier! Let's go!"
Just as they turned to leave, a group of four stormtroopers came around the corner behind them, one of them calling out, "Hey, you there!"
Sabine reacted quickly, drawing her two customized Westar-35 blaster pistols from their holsters at her hips, and fired at the troopers, hitting one in the chest. Their group then turned and began to run away in the opposite direction, Terba and Hondo joining them.
They climbed into an elevator and closed the doors behind them as they went towards the upper platform, the main way in and out of the prison. In the elevator, Sabine spun one of her pistols in her hands and offered it to Hondo, telling him, "Here, make yourself useful."
Hondo grabbed the pistol with enthusiasm and commented, "Ooh, Mandalorian! Very nice! I'm keeping this!"
Sabine quickly warned him, "You will be giving it back!"
The doors opened and they exited the elevator, immediately running into more stormtroopers.
Sabine and Zeb took the lead, charging ahead and clearing their path. Hondo shot one of the stormtroopers with Sabine's pistol and insisted, "Oh, I'm keeping it!"
Sabine ignored the old pirate and continued to rush ahead, not giving the Imperials a chance to form up a defense, and then they reached the doorway leading to the main platform.
Sabine pulled her wrist comm to her mouth again and contacted their air support. "Spectre-2, we're going to need a 44 scoop on the main platform."
Terba suddenly grunted something to Hondo, who argued, "No, you can't have a double share of the reward, you greedy little pig!"
Terba scowled in response, then increased his running speed to easily pass the rest of them, squealing back to them, causing Hondo to repeat back his statement with disbelief, "The deal is off?"
Sabine tried to yell out a warning to Terba, knowing that the platform was well-guarded, but she was too late. Terba ran out the doorway, cheering for his freedom, but his celebration was cut short as an Imperial AT-DP walker fired and exploded the ground underneath the Ugnaught, instantly killing him. The rest of the group exited the doorway and quickly moved to take cover behind a pile of crates.
Sabine called back to Chopper, "Go close the door behind us!"
Chopper extended a small metal arm from one side of his head and saluted Sabine with a grunted, "Yes, sir!" and rolled away to connect to the door, locking it to prevent the pursuing stormtroopers from getting to them.
However, already on the platform were four stormtroopers and the AT-DP armored walker, all of which were firing at the rebels.
After a few moments of waiting behind cover, Sabine yelled, "We don't have time for this! I got us into this, I'll get us out!" She then pulled a small detonator from her belt and primed it.
Nodding towards Zeb, he nodded back before they both moved around either side of the pile of crates.
As she came out from behind her cover, Sabine threw her explosive charge at one of the Imperial walker's legs, and it detonated on impact, causing it to rock dangerously.
Sabine then laid down covering fire with her pistol, forcing the stormtroopers to retreat for cover of their own and hitting one of them. This opening allowed Zeb to rush in. He knocked one of the stormtroopers off the platform with his rifle, then clipped it onto his back and ran towards the walker, jumping up high to slam his body into the side of it.
If anyone had attempted this, they would've accomplished nothing except for dislocating their shoulder against the metal, but Zeb's great size and strength combined with the walker being off balance allowed him to push it the small distance remaining to cause it to tumble off the edge of the platform.
Just then, their ship, the Ghost, flew by underneath the bridge.
Sabine quickly herded their group off of the platform, Zeb following behind them, and they all landed on top of the ship as it flew below them, the distant shots of remaining stormtroopers doing nothing to the hull of the ship.
As they made their escape, the rebels didn't notice a figure in smooth white armor, of a completely different design when compared to any stormtrooper armor, watching them from on top of the prison's balcony, his arms crossed as he watched them fly away, his helmet visor hiding eyes full of determination.
Line Break
Arihnda Pryce, the Imperial Governor of Lothal, smoothed down her uniform before she stepped into the office of Grand Moff Tarkin, Imperial Governor of the Outer Rim.
Tarkin was seated at his desk, and his eyes flicked up towards her as she entered, and he greeted, "Governor Pryce. I hadn't expected you to visit."
Pryce stepped forward and handed Tarkin an intelligence disk. Tarkin took it wordlessly and plugged it into a slot in his desk, causing a small hologram to appear above it. The hologram seemed to outline a recent breakout from an Imperial prison.
Pryce told him, "This intel is regarding a rebel incursion earlier today. A prisoner was freed from one of our prisons on Naraka. The perpetrators of the escape have been identified as rebels that once operated solely on Lothal. However, all attempts to capture these particular rebels have resulted in failure so far, so I am here to request specialized assistance."
Tarkin nodded and asked, "What particular assistance did you have in mind?"
"I want the Seventh Fleet," Pryce requested. The master of the Seventh Fleet, Admiral Thrawn, was one of the most valuable assets in the Empire, having never failed to accomplish his objective to date. He was also an old friend of Pryce's, having personally helped her to achieve her current position and depose her old enemy, Ryder Azadi.
Tarkin looked at the information from the prison break and commented, "I see. And what of Admiral Konstantine and his fleet?"
Pryce looked down, her gaze showing her frustration with the Admiral's failures, and answered, "Admiral Konstantine is more politician than soldier. I need someone who sees a bigger picture."
Tarkin nodded, holding his chin with one hand, and returned his gaze to a specific part of the hologram, narrowing his eyes.
"Is… something wrong, Moff Tarkin?" Pryce asked, beginning to deflate as she mistook his silence for a negative response.
Tarkin pointed at the image of a specific stormtrooper's report from the prison before responding, "This report indicates that the attack was led by a specific member of the rebels, the Mandalorian artist Sabine Wren."
Pryce looked at the report and tilted her head in confusion. "Er, yes. So it does. But I require the Seventh Fleet to deal with the larger rebel threat, not just any one insurgent."
Tarkin nodded and responded, "Yes, I'm sure. However, if your issue regards Sabine Wren, then I'm afraid that a third party has jurisdiction as well. This is not necessarily an issue for you, it merely means that you will be getting more assistance than you requested. You shall have the Seventh Fleet, Governor Pryce, but you shall also be getting assistance from someone to target Miss Wren specifically."
Pryce didn't even consider the last part to be a downside. She was content enough to be getting Thrawn's help, so she simply bowed and said, "Thank you, Moff Tarkin," and then she left the room.
Line Break
Later in the day, Grand Moff Tarkin, ISB Agent Alexsandr Kallus, and Admiral Kassius Konstantine stood around a holotable on a Star Destroyer, awaiting the arrival of the Admiral of the Seventh Fleet.
Soon, the door into the room opened, revealing the blue-skinned and red-eyed Chiss, Admiral Thrawn. He was wearing a spotless white uniform with bars of gold on the shoulders, along with knee-high black boots, and his arms were folded behind him.
To his one side stood Governor Pryce, looking incredibly satisfied to have acquired Thrawn's services. To his other side stood a young man in unfamiliar white armor. His armor had lines of dark blue drawn across it in certain places, and he had the symbol of the Empire on one shoulder and an unfamiliar blue and gray symbol with a sort of "V" shape in the middle on his other shoulder. He wore two blaster pistols at his hips and had a jetpack on his back.
Despite Thrawn's striking appearance, the gazes of both Kallus and Konstantine quickly fell upon the armored man due to his unfamiliarity to them.
Tarkin spoke first. "Grand Admiral Thrawn," he acknowledged.
Konstantine raised an eyebrow and asked, "Grand Admiral?"
"The Emperor recently promoted me after my victory at Batonn," Thrawn explained, his calm voice soothing and somehow also holding a clear air of danger.
Kallus drew his gaze away from the young man to add with clear distaste, "Civilian casualties outnumbered the insurgents at that time."
"Acceptable margins, Agent Kallus, for there are no longer rebels in that sector," Pryce quickly defended Thrawn's actions.
Kallus then gestured to Ezra and asked Thrawn, "I assume that this… character must be your bodyguard."
The armored man stepped forward and held out a hand to Kallus. "No, I'm not his bodyguard. The name is Captain Ezra Kryze, of the Mandalorian Super Commandos. Governor Gar Saxon of Mandalore sent me. As of now, I'm part of this hunt as well. My objective is to apprehend the Mandalorian rebel Sabine Wren."
Tarkin then said, "Captain Kryze and Grand Admiral Thrawn are being put in charge of this division. If they are to capture the rebels as this group has failed to do, I expect that you all will extend your full cooperation." He then turned to Thrawn and waved his hand, signaling him to proceed.
Thrawn stepped forward and pressed a button on the holotable, bringing up the information from the Naraka Prison attack. "This is the prisoner that the rebels freed from Naraka, the pirate Hondo Ohnaka," Thrawn began. "Within the last hour, the rebel Phoenix Squadron destroyed Mining Guild ships while using the Sereeda Hyperspace lane. Taken separately, these two events may seem unrelated, but Ohnaka's cellmate was a laborer at an Imperial starfighter reclamation plant in the Yarma system, only one jump point away from the Sereeda attack."
Quickly putting the information together, Captain Kryze deduced, "So, the rebels likely intend to attack the plant and steal the starfighters for themselves."
Thrawn smiled at him and said, "My thoughts precisely. Doubtless, they intend to steal the Clone Wars-era fighters being dismantled at the plant to increase the size of their fleet."
Ezra then stood up tall and said, "Well, we have a location. We can start there." Walking out onto the bridge of the Destroyer, the Mandalorian captain ordered the technicians, "Set a course for Yarma!" His voice carried such authority, the Imperials instantly jumped to follow his orders.
Back at the table, Thrawn noted, "Captain Kryze is quite impetuous."
Tarkin turned to him and said, "I understand that it's a bit of a shared trait among Mandalorians. However, Governor Saxon assured me that Kryze is the best soldier he has to offer. I'm sure you will find a way to work with him, but what is your plan for handling the rebels?"
Thrawn leaned back and smirked at the holographic images on the table. "I will start my operations here and pull the rebels apart piece by piece," he said. "They will be the architects of their own destruction." It didn't matter what he was up against. Thrawn was certain that he would be successful, one way or another.
A/N: I know that this will seem like an odd organization, but this was merely an introduction chapter, and starting the next chapter, most of the story will follow Ezra or Sabine's perspective.