Chapter 7: Battle Above Balmorra
Ezra's P.O.V
The next morning came. I was the first one to wake up, yawning and rubbing my eyes. I looked over to my left and saw that Sabine was getting up as well, yawning. "Morning." she said.
"Morning." I replied. "So, today's the day, huh?"
"Duh." she said with an eye roll, putting her seat upright. I did the same thing with mine. Sabine started the ship up, systems coming online. Without a word, she hit a few buttons and then pulled up to lift off. We were off the ground and then Sabine took us towards the atmosphere. However, the question hit me.
"Wait." I said. "Where would we go though?"
"Well, we're both gonna be practically on the run from both sides. Even if we try to go to your republic, the first thing they'll do is draw their weapons on me, and then if we go to Mandalorian territory or imperial territory, the same thing's gonna happen with you. So, I'm out of ideas." Sabine replied.
"You do trust me though. I trust you as well." I said.
"Like that's gonna get us anywhere. In fact, it may make us look like fugitives to both sides." We got up into space at that moment, everything looking calm, for now at least. Suddenly, an imperial fleet dropped out of hyperspace with a Republic fleet following. "Kriff." Sabine said. "Guess I got the 'both sides' part right." Shots began being exchanged between both sides, and fighter squadrons were deployed. Explosions and ships from both sides firing from one another lit up the dark space above Balmorra. Suddenly, shots were being fired at us, by the Republic! "Hope you have some ideas, Ezra, because I ain't gonna risk us getting killed by your Republic!" Sabine barrel rolled and increased the thrust on the engines, the fighter coming in hot behind us.
I had to do something, even if it meant risking both of us. I had to contact the Republic fleet.
Reacting quickly, I reached for the hologram panel on the navi computer and set it to a Republic frequency. "What are you doing?" Sabine asked as she kept on dodging the fire coming from the Republic fighter. In a flash, alarms blared throughout our ship.
"We have missiles incoming!" I told her.
"Hang on!" Sabine sped up more and then shot us straight up, and then we were in a nose dive, a Republic frigate down below us.
"Sabine, ya better pull up!" I yelled, hanging on for dear life. She pulled up hard and then the alarm went off, followed by a boom from the frigate. The missile went into it, blowing it up. My new friend just killed dozens of Republic lives with that maneuver, and as much as I wanted to go off for killing those from my own side, I remembered that I couldn't just break the trust between us.
Going back to the hologram, the Republic frequency set, I tried to contact the nearest ship. "Don't be mad, but hopefully this works." I said, praying this plan works. The hologram of a Republic admiral came online.
"Commander Bridger?" he said in shock. "We thought you were dead." Luckily, he didn't seem to have Sabine in view.
"Look, no time to explain!" I shot back quickly. "Listen, do not shoot the Sith fighter! I am in a stolen Sith fighter and I require assistance. Repeat, do not engage the Sith fighter, admiral!"
"Which fighter? There are dozens of them for crying out loud!" the admiral responded.
"Ezra, what the kriff are you doing?!" Sabine asked angrily, not wanting to get caught with me.
"Trust me on this." I sternly told her. She was silent for a bit.
"Commander Bridger, which fighter are you in? Please respond." the admiral ordered, bringing me back to reality.
"Admiral, I'm trying to send a signal." I responded, trying to send a signal to the admiral's ship. The signal got transmitted, and now all we had to do was just wait for a response.
"Commander Bridger, you are on our radars. Bring your ship in to dock." A part of me was gonna regret that last part. Sabine looked at me, her eyes alone telling me to not do this. I sighed.
"Sabine, we have to." I simply said, a huge explosion bringing our attention to the view of the battle again. An imperial capital ship got taken down, tilting down towards the atmosphere. Another Republic vessel soon met the same fate, along with dozens of fighters getting blown up, one after another.
"Commander Bridger, respond if you can hear me. Bring your ship in to dock. How copy?" the admiral asked. Just as I was about to respond, the ship shook when a blast hit it.
"Acknowledged but I'm being shot at! Requesting aid!" I responded quickly.
"Ezra, get on the top gun! I can't take this guys on alone." Sabine ordered.
"Get to the Republic and avoid us being clipped by those imperials." I responded. Sabine nodded and I headed out of the cockpit, climbed my way to the top gun and booted the turret up. I immediately got to work, taking down any incoming fighters. Hopefully the Republic fleet is aware of us in the fighter.
Sabine's P.O.V
The aprehension was intense. The Republic ship was dead ahead and already we had tons of fighters on us. However, by the looks of things, the Republic fighters weren't attacking us, so that was good, for now. Another blast shook the ship, the systems display flashing. Damage was at 58%. "Ezra, keep them off us! We're almost there!" Another missile warning blared, myself barrel rolling the ship. I dodged the missile.
"Sabine, how much longer?" Ezra called out.
"Almost there! Just a little bit longer!" I replied. Suddenly, two blasts hit our ship, and not only were they from the Republic, but our ship's systems were critical. But then something else happened.
Ezra wasn't firing.
"Ezra, keep firing back!" I ordered. No shots were fired, and Ezra wasn't responding. "Ezra?" I called out. No response. I called his names numerous times. Something definitely wasn't right. He'd probably run back in if anything, but he didn't. I had to check on him, even if it meant risking our ship. Putting the ship on autopilot, I dashed over to the top gun. I climbed the ladder up, only to see Ezra slumped over, as well as hearing several electrical sounds. That only meant one thing.
One of the blasts hit the top gun, with Ezra being caught up in it. I panicked in fear. I had to do something. "What the kriff am I supposed to do?!" I ranted to myself, reacting without thinking. There was only one solution, and it meant going into the Republic ship, even if it meant compromising the both of us; a Jedi working with his own enemy and a Mandalorian for working with her own.
"I don't leave my friends behind." I said to no one in particular, feeling my stomach tighten when I put a strong emphasis on "friends." I headed back to the cockpit, trying to give this hunk of junk everything it got with the entrance into the hangar approaching.
"Commander Bridger, are you there?" a voice came through, the same one that responded to Ezra. I turned over towards the hologram, my presence known. I can't believe that I'm communicating with Republic personnel, all for the greater good of someone else. "Who are you and where is Commander Bridger?" the man demanded.
"Commander Bridger is unconscious but I think his condition could be worse. I need medical personnel to..." A violent blast shook the ship, and then the heat started building up. I put on my helmet to prevent the inhalation of smoke, and then next thing I knew, we were coming in hot, crashing down into the hangar. Everything went black upon impact.
Third Person P.O.V
Republic medics and fire personnel rushed towards the burning ship that crashed into the hangar. Fire crews put out the flames quickly, prying the entrance open and trying to look for anyone on board. It didn't take them long to discover the bodies of an alliance unaware to them.