Chapter Three.
A mining trip.
Ezra's POV.
"So let me get this straight." Kanan says looking at Sabine and me. "You two want to take the supply ship and crash it into the surface of Lothal into an Imperial controlled mining facility?"
"Yes it takes care of the supply ship and the mining facility." I say smiling.
"And who do you think would be willing to take on such a crazy mission-you two want to do this don't you?" Kanan asks rubbing his temples.
"Well it was my plan." Sabine says smiling.
"Fine but we are talking to both Hera and Sato first." Kanan says walking off to the Ghost.
We follow quickly.
"Hey Hera you in the cockpit?" Kanan asks.
"Yeah what's up?" She says looking over various diagnostic systems.
"Well I just… I think I will let them explain it." Kanan says gesturing to us.
"Well I want to get rid of the supply ship by crashing into that impenetrable mine on Lothal." Sabine says smiling.
"And who would be helping you?" Hera asks seemingly not phased by it.
"Ezra." Sabine says.
"Well that is interesting but something new has come up. Part of that mining facility has intel we need." Hera says looking at us.
"How are you going to overcome that complication?"
"Well that certainly complicates things." I say speaking up.
"Well I guess Sabine and I will have to infiltrate the compound and retrieve the intel. Then Hera and Kanan can set the ship on a collision course while we escape." I say smiling at the unhappy look on Kanan's face.
"How are you going to get in?" Kanan asks frowning.
"That will be harder but I think that I have something that provided it doesn't run out of fuel this time, it will give us what we need." I say smiling.
"Hey I filled both of those packs." Sabine says frowning at me.
"I never said that you didn't. Now let's go fill those packs and get ready to jump." I say starting to walk away.
"Jump? From where?" Kanan asks frowning even more.
"From the Phantom hopefully." I say smirking at him.
"Not this again." Hera says groaning.
"It's the best way into the facility. Sabine let's go find a safe place to land in there." I say walking towards the common room.
Sabine follows me smiling.
"You enjoyed that." I say pulling up the compound on the holo projector.
"Yes I like seeing you take charge with a good plan." She says zooming in an empty space near the back of the compound.
"Here we could jump and land almost undetected." Sabine says pointing.
"Yeah I agree one problem though. There is a watch tower here that would spot us unless… I land on top and take it out." I say smiling.
"That jump is almost impossible to hit properly Ezra." Sabine says frowning.
"I'm a Jedi I can lift things with my mind we do things considered impossible all the time." I say leaning back in my seat.
"Still it's pretty risky I don't think that they go for it." She says leaning back as well.
"You know this is nice." She says closing her eyes relaxing.
"What is?" I ask curious.
"This planning an explosion to rock the planet while gathering intel to help the rest of the rebellion. And then just taking a moment to relax and not be constantly on the go." She says smiling.
"Haha you know I never really thought of it like that. I guess I'm just used to constantly looking for what was next. Where am I going to get my next meal, where am I going to sleep tonight or whether or not the Empire finally figured out who was messing with them." I say relaxing as well.
"You didn't have any friends or anyone to hang out with?" She asks sounding surprised.
"No not after. Well let's just say that Empire has taken everything I have ever had until I met you guys." I says smiling sadly.
"So who taught you to survive on your own?" She asks.
I sigh. "An old friend taught me how to live. But she died a long time ago." I says smiling sadly.
"Sorry I didn't know that." Sabine says looking over at me sadly.
"It's okay. You know she taught me a set of rules to live by and since joining you guys I have broken every single one of them. She would be so pissed at me." I say laughing a little.
"Really what set of rules do loth rats live by?" She asks smiling a little.
"Well first of all never get in over your head causing too much trouble stay small and under the radar. Always take what is offered to you but be ready to cut the strings it comes with at anytime. Steal, beg, and take when you need something. Honesty comes second to survival. And lastly your life is more important than anything else. In her words 'Nothing is more important than your life I don't care who you have to screw over in the end you always come back alive nothing is worth dieing over. Not a friend, not some credits, nothing and no one is more important than your life." I say with some conviction.
"Really nothing and no one?" She asks surprised.
"Yup that is until I met you guys." I say smiling at her.
"That is a surprisingly ruthless way of thinking." Sabine says smiling.
"Ruthless world." I say raising an eyebrow.
"I wasn't saying that was a bad thing but what happened?" She asks looking curious.
I look at her frowning.
"Sorry curiosity got the better of me." She says looking a bit guilty.
"It's okay I just don't like talking about it." I say smiling.
"Okay well we should go find those packs before someone else does." Sabine says getting up.
"Yeah I don't need to go and steal more of them from dark troopers." I say standing as well.
"Wait you stole those from dark troopers? You know that they are some of the most deadly troopers out there?" Sabine asks looking at me in both surprise and anger.
"Yes which is why it is so fun to steal from them." I say smiling.
"You are either incredibly arrogant or stupid. I don't know which." Sabine shaking her head.
"I like to think creative in ways to cause trouble with the most terrifying thing I had ever seen before meeting the inquisitor." I say walking out motioning her to follow.
"Wait until Kanan and Hera hear about this." She says.
I stop in my tracks and turn around facing her.
"Don't tell them anything about what I have told you Sabine. I have trusted you with more about my past then anyone please don't make me regret that decision." I say looking at her seriously.
"I won't tell anyone unless you say that I can." Sabine says looking at me just as seriously.
"Ni ruusaanyc gar." (I trust you.) I say smiling at her.
"Wait what?" Sabine asks looking shocked.
"Yes I can speak some Mando'a." I say smirking and walking to the exit of the Ghost.
"Since when?" Sabine asks racing after me.
"About three months after meeting you. I was planning on using it to ask you out on a date. But I never got the chance."
We walk to the escape pod we hide the packs in.
"And we are here." I say looking at the pod.
"Well let's get them and move to the fuel canisters." Sabine says motioning to the lock.
"Not locked didn't have time." I say opening it.
"So you did chose the one I painted for you." I say picking up the multi colored one and handing it to her.
"You painted that one? When?" She asks strapping it to her back.
"A little while after I met you I painted them for all of us." I say strapping on my own.
"That's surprisingly generous of you why didn't you tell us about them before?" She asks as we head for the hanger bay.
"No need to before now and we have a reason to use them. For the Rebellion." I say sternly.
"Well that's as good of reason as any." Sabine says smiling.
"I think so. So what do you want to do with those bombers?" I ask as we enter the hanger.
"I think I am going to paint them like the TIE fighter." Sabine says moving over to the fuel canisters.
"I think that will look awesome when they are destroying Imperial ships." I say smiling.
"That, you are right about my friend." Sabine says opening a fuel canister.
"Now let's get these things fueled up for our next drop." I say fuelling up my own pack.
"You sound way to excited for this." Sabine says taking off her pack.
"Well to be fair I love causing this much trouble for the Empire." I say grinning.
"So what do you think that we will find for intel?" Sabine asks filling her pack.
"Probably leads on manufacturing plants and other refineries." I say putting my pack on.
"So I guess we need to go and talk to Sato for final approval for this mission?" Sabine asks putting her pack on.
"Yeah let's get Hera and Kanan first." I say heading for the Ghost.
"You think that they will go along with it?" She asks following.
"I hope so it's the best way to kill two problems at once." I say shrugging.
"Hey Ezra you and Sabine need to come the bridge of the Kanera to discuss this insane plan of yours." Kanan says sounding irritated.
I tap on my comm unit. "You got it Kanan headed there now."
"Well that solves one problem." Sabine says turning around.
"Yeah now let's go solve another."
On the bridge.
"So what is your plan?" Sato asks standing beside Ahsoka and Kanan looking at the large holo projector displaying the facility.
"Sabine and I will jump from the Phantom while it is cloaked and land here." I say pulling up the back corner of the compound.
"And what about the tower?" Ahsoka asks pointing it out.
"I will land on top and take it out as Sabine lands and takes care of any patrols."
"Okay how will you be getting to the data banks?" Sato asks pointing out that they all the way across the compound.
"Sabine and I will make our way through the compound's open grounds in the shadows until we reach this building here." I point out a building beside the data storage.
The compound is large with about a dozen buildings not including the watch towers that are scattered about. The landing zone is on the far north west corner of the square fenced off area. To the south is several large warehouses and large mining trucks. To the east is the barracks and command centers with a view over the mine. In the southeast corner is the data storage and the arsenal.
"So you want to break into the weapons storage area in order to gain access to the data banks?" Kanan asks.
"No. We only need to get into the vent systems. They are sealed off to well in data storage building for good reason. But the two buildings are connected here." I say pointing to a small ventilation shaft running over top of the small gap and back into the other building.
"There will probably be sensor's in that shaft Ezra how will you get past them?" Hera asks speaking up from behind us.
"No problem there dismantle and disarm. Had to do it a few times in the supply ship." I say smiling.
"Really but we never stopped for long?" Sabine asks looking at me confused.
"They were simple sensors easy to disarm." I say pulling a tool out of my sleeve.
"Where does all that keep coming from?" Sabine asks exasperated.
"What are you talking about Sabine?" Ahsoka asks looking amused.
"In the last four hours he has pulled out five different tools, a small data pad, nutria bar, and a data spike. How much does that suit weigh?" Sabine says looking at me with disbelief.
"Really that much stuff is hidden in there?" Ahsoka asks surprised.
"That and so much more I like to take what I need to survive with me and since most of the time I am crawling through vents I can't have a pack on so I keep everything hidden in my suit. And to answer your question Sabine about thirteen and half kilos."
"Well that is interesting but back to your plan here. Where do you two plan to exit the facility?" Kanan asks looking at Sabine and I.
"That is the tricky part the facility will be on alert once Hera and Kanan start to bring in the supply ship. So we were planning on having Zeb waiting just outside the gate with two speeders ready to go." I say pointing to a concealed area.
"It's risky but I don't see another way around it. I will go with Zeb to ensure that you have enough backup incase something goes wrong with your exit." Ahsoka says.
"Wait where will Kanan be?" Sato asks.
"Kanan will be with Hera making sure that they get off that supply ship safely." Sabine says.
"Yeah that will be fun." Hera says smiling.
"This explosion will be magnificent." Sabine says happily.
"I know this is going to be awesome." I say grinning.
"Okay if everyone is on board with this then we will go forward with it immediately. Yes or no?" Sato asks looking around.
"Yes." Ahsoka says.
"Yes." Hera says.
"Hhhhh. This is a ridiculous plan but yes." Kanan says shaking his head.
"Alright then Sabine, Ezra go prep for the mission." Sato says nodding at us.
"Yes sir!" I say racing off.
"Hey wait for me!" Sabine says racing after me.
Back in the control room.
"They seem happy." Ahsoka says.
"Yeah they enjoy causing trouble for the Empire together." Hera says smiling happily.
"They work well together." Sato says thinking.
"What are you thinking Commander?" Kanan asks.
"Well perhaps they should be on a more permanent team. Also do they know how to pilot fighters?" Sato says.
"I agree." Ahsoka says.
"No they don't Sabine can pilot the Phantom but they haven't needed training for that yet." Hera says.
"Well I think that after this mission that you should start training them in piloting fighters Hera." Sato says looking at Hera.
"Okay. Let's go get the Phantom ready Kanan." Hera says walking off.
Flip to Ezra and Sabine in Ezra's room.
I am taking apart and cleaning my lightsabre. I take out the Kyber crystal.
"Hey can you hold this please?" I ask holding the priceless crystal out to her.
"Are you sure?" Sabine asks hesitantly.
"Yeah I am certain that you will take care of it." I say smiling.
"Okay if you think so." She says taking it and inspecting it.
"That is incredible. So much power from such a tiny crystal." Sabine says smiling.
"Yeah it was worth it to go through the trial." I say cleaning various parts before putting them back.
"What was involved in your trial?" Sabine asks.
I tense up.
"What's wrong?" She asks noticing me tense up.
"It was bad. I had to watch you all die, killed by the grand inquisitor." I say clenching my fist.
"You did?" Sabine asks a horrified look on her face.
"Yes. The temple we went to gave me visions of what I fear. I fear letting Kanan down. You guys dieing. But I also learned that I don't fear death when it's for the right reason. I mean I don't want to die but it taught that me dieing wouldn't be so bad if was for the right reasons." I say thinking aloud.
"Wow that trial really changed you." Sabine says handing me the Kyber crystal back.
"Thanks and yeah. It gave reason to do what I do. I mean I did what I did before that to survive and to help others but after that I had a real reason to fight. To fight for what was right and for my friends and for… well you get the idea." I say confident at first and sheepishly at the end.
"What was the last thing you were going to say?" Sabine asks smirking at me.
"Well what else do we need to prep for the mission?" I ask turning my head and blushing.
"I don't think that there is anything else. Weapons are clean. Packs are fueled. I cleaned my armor and Hera is getting the Phantom ready. What do we do now?"
"Well we could-."
"Ezra. Sabine. Phantom's ready for launch. We got to go now if you guys want to jump in darkness." Hera's voice interrupts me.
"Well I guess we know what we are going to do." Sabine says smirking.
"Yeah let's go before Hera gets impatient." I say putting my cleaning tools away.
"C'mon let's cause some trouble for the Empire." Sabine says tossing me my lightsabre having grabbed it from the floor.
I catch it.
"Thanks." We walk out into the hall and up to the Phantom.
"Alright. You two ready for this?" Kanan asks looking at us seriously in the back of the Phantom.
"Yes. Believe it or not we came up with this plan and we're the ones doing it Kanan. So yes we are ready." Sabine says checking the charge level on her pistols again.
"Yeah besides which our last plan worked." I say checking the fuel level on my pack again.
"All good back here Hera let's go." Sabine says looking pleased.
"Well I can't argue that." Kanan says smiling.
"Yeah except for your pack running out of fuel early and you crushing a turret with the force, the counter hacker and almost getting sucked out the airlock. It went off without a hitch." Sabine says smirking at me.
"You what!?" Kanan shouts looking exasperated.
"Yeah well I may be good but that counter hacker was almost better. Managed to make it so that when I vented the ship they thought that we would be vented as well. Almost worked too. But we worked our way around it pretty well I think." I say looking at Sabine happily.
"Yeah but flying into and then past a control panel sucked." Sabine says grimacing.
"Sorry but I was going to loose my grip on the door anyway and it was the best idea I had." I say smiling weakly.
"No it was the best way just when you let go I was so pissed at you." Sabine says smiling at me.
"Then you caught me with the force and I was no longer pissed. Just happy to be not floating in space." Sabine says looking at Kanan who was smirking.
"What are you smirking about?" She asks.
"Well it's just that you two remind me of Hera and I when we first met." Kanan says leaning back in his seat smiling.
"Hey it'll be three hours before we reach Lothal try to get some sleep." Hera says happily.
"You got it Hera. We haven't had any sleep since we started." Kanan says yawning.
"Yeah I guess we haven't stopped since we started." Sabine says looking a tad tired.
"Hey get some sleep Sabine. I'll wake you before we get there." I say. "I had a few cups of caff planning the details for this plan and I ain't tired."
"Okay see you in a few." She says putting her helmet on.
I stand and walk to the front of the ship.
"Hey Hera." I say sitting behind the pilot's seat.
"What's up Ezra?" She asks leaning back in the seat.
"Not tired." I say leaning back on the wall.
"You and Sabine seem to be working well together."
"Yeah she's smart and tough. Not like any other women I have ever met." I smile.
"She's a Mandalorian Ezra. She is smart, savvy and strong. Not a lot of that out there."
"Yeah throw in the fact that she's gorgeous and I have no chance." I frown.
"You know that she's Mandalorian right?"
"Yeah so?"
"Well that means that she respects strength, honor, cunning, intelligence, and respect."
"And the fact that she calls me kid all of the time. I hate that. I have no chance."
"Ezra you are training to be a Jedi. You are strong, smart, honorable, and respectful. Don't sell yourself short."
I smile.
"So what should I do then? Believe it or not I have no experience with how to win over a girl." I say sarcastically.
"You don't win over a girl like she's some prize. You should focus on your training and maybe try to get to know her." Hera says.
"That's a good idea I guess." I say standing back up.
"Thanks Hera." I go back to the back of the ship and sit on the floor and meditate.
A few hours later.
"Hey Ezra better wake Kanan and Sabine. We come out of hyperspace in five minutes." Hera says.
The sounds of various switches being flipped reaching my ears.
I open my eyes and look over at her.
She looks peaceful.
I stand up and gently shake her shoulder.
CRAP!
Sabine's hand brings her blaster up to my head as she jerks awake. I bat the blaster away and grab her other hand as it reaches for her other blaster.
"Sabine!" She stops.
"Sorry natural reaction." She says relaxing.
Well that was interesting.
"You can let go now." She says snapping me out of thought.
"Sorry." I say letting go and sitting down again.
"It's alright." She says smiling.
"But don't get any idea's kid." She says smirking.
"I wasn't." I say unhappily putting my helmet on.
"Kanan. Wake up." I say kicking his feet.
"Hey stop kicking me." He says grumpily.
We come out of hyperspace.
"Alright we have four minutes until you need to jump so get ready." Hera says turning on the cloaking and jammers.
"Got it Hera. Weapon and pack checks." I say checking over my lightsabre and pack.
"Good and good." Sabine says looking over hers.
"Good. Now let's get this started." I say standing.
"Alright two minutes until we are above the jump zone." Hera says.
"Alright we get in, we get out, and no matter what that ship crashes into that mining facility." I say looking at Kanan.
"You had better be out of there when it does." Kanan says seriously.
"We will be and with the intel." Sabine says opening the hatch.
"Thirty seconds." Hera says over the wind.
"See you on the other side Kanan." I say turning to the door.
"Alright remember fire your pack only once we are about 100 meters up otherwise they will see it and things will get a lot more interesting." Sabine says standing as well.
"I know what to do." I say coldly.
"Alright five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One. Go!" Hera says.
We both jump out of the Phantom and start to plummet.
I look over to see Sabine pointed like an arrow headed straight down fast. I copy her and speed up as well.
1000 Meters.
I look around and see the lights of the watchtower I need to land on and start drifting over towards it.
500 Meters.
I am right in line with tower and Sabine is looking like she going to land near some parked transports.
300 Meters.
Almost time.
100 Meters.
I flip and hit my pack. I slow down landing on the roof silently. Moving quickly I slide to the edge and flip into the watch tower.
"Hey" I say waving at three surprised troopers. I pull out my lightsabre and stun them all quickly. I look down to see Sabine and four unconscious troopers behind a transport.
Well she looks like she had fun.
I make my way down to her.
"Good job." I say.
"You too." She says looking around.
"We have approximately five minutes to make it to the storage space." I say.
"Then let's move." Sabine says taking the lead.
We move quickly and silently across the compound avoiding troopers and droids alike.
"One minute thirty seconds." Sabine says as we reach the weapons cache.
"I only need thirty seconds." I say kneeling at the lock and pulling out my pick.
I work around the various mechanisms and unlock the door. I hit the door button and it slides open.
"Nice job k-Spectre Six." Sabine says.
We slide in and close the door.
"Spectre Five look at these." I say holding a small explosive packet.
"Wait this is a high grade military explosives." She says grabbing the explosives from my hand.
"I take it you want to grab as much of it as we can on our way out?" I ask smiling.
"Yes." She says putting the packet on her waist.
"Now let's get the data." I say walking to the back ventilation hatch.
I open it and crawl in. Sabine follows and we make our way up to the roof.
I look around the vent for traps or alarms and spot a pressure plate, laser sensor and a trigger ready thermal detonator.
"Well this is just ridiculous." I say starting with the thermal detonator.
"What is?" Sabine asks trying to see around me.
"Pressure plate, laser sensor, and a thermal detonator." I say tossing the disarmed detonator back to her.
"Well this might come in handy later." She says putting it on her waist beside the packet.
I depressurize the pressure plate and dismantle the laser sensor without tripping it.
"There now let's go." I say putting the dismantled parts away in a spare pocket. I crawl the rest of the way keeping an eye out for more traps. We reach the data storage center without incident.
I pop off the vent cover and jump down.
"Alright let's get the data and get out of here." I say pulling out my data chip and handing it to Sabine.
"I'll get data. You find out if there is anything else of interest here." Sabine says plugging into the main console.
I nod before walking over to a secondary console and start sifting through regular files.
"Well there is nothing really of interest here, nobody or anything around here of interest only thing their mining here is low grade iron ore." I say shutting it off and walking back to Sabine.
"Alright well I got the data and we should probably get out of here before Spectre Two drops a ship on us." Sabine says walking back to the vent.
"Yeah let's go grab the explosives." I say walking around to the vent.
We move silently. Sabine and I grab as much of the packets that we carry on ourselves and move to the door.
"Yes sir we will do a full inventory check." I hear from outside of the door.
"Karabast hide!" I say moving back behind a supply self.
"This sucks. Stuck on inventory again." A trooper says to another trooper as they enter the weapons cache.
"Yeah well beats working with Seventh sister." He says back.
"Hey guys." I say waving at them.
"What? Who are you?" They say surprised.
"You might want to turn around." I say grinning.
"We are not falling for-" Sabine shoots them.
"Well things just got a tad more interesting. Who's Seventh sister?" Sabine asks.
"I have no idea but judging by what they said, it is someone that we do not want to meet." I say dragging them behind the shelf.
"Yeah let's get out of here." Sabine says looking out the door.
We quickly head for the front gate.
A lone figure steps out of the shadows in front of us.
"Well, well now this is lucky. For me." The apparently female figure says.
"Who are you?" I ask readying my lightsabre.
"I am Seventh Sister." She says igniting a red bladed lightsabre.
"You're an inquisitor." I say activating my lightsabre.
"Yes and you are the Padawan that killed the grand Inquisitor are you not?" She asks walking towards us dragging the blade on the ground.
"Yes and since you know how the last one ended up you should probably let us go." I say holding my blade out trying to be confident.
"Oh I don't think that I will be doing that anytime soon." She says raising the blade.
She leaps swinging at me.
I raise my blade and block the strike.
I shift around her strike and kick her in the stomach.
She jumps back and stands there.
"Well done boy you clearly you should be learning the Makashi style. But I would recommend that you get a curved handled lightsabre. Makes it far easier to control your blade." She says looking at my odd lightsabre.
"Why are you trying to help me?" I ask circling around her.
"Because you are impressive. You would make a wonderful Inquisitor. Join us and I will let your friend live as servant to you." She says pointing the blade at Sabine who has just been watching carefully from behind me.
"Not a chance. She prefers to answer to herself, besides which I think she would actually kill me if I did that." I say glancing back at her.
"Spectre Five do me a favour and keep the bucketheads attempting to flank us at bay." I say focusing on the Inquisitor in front of me.
She jumps and slices down at me.
I block and slide to the side kicking my foot out.
I miss and block a sideways slice.
I look and see Sabine shooting at troopers dodging shoots at herself.
"Focus!" Seventh sister says as her lightsabre thrusts out at me. I dodge to the side and see a trooper moving behind Sabine.
I grab him and then throw him at the inquisitor. She jumps to the side and then at me.
I block and slice at her. She blocks and throws a crate at me.
"Spectre Six we have a bit of a problem." Sabine says pointing one of her blasters up.
I dodge the crate and look up.
Oh Karabast.
Behind!
I jump and a red blade flies underneath me.
I flip back to Sabine.
"Get your pack ready to get over that fence she's toying with me." I say glaring at the inquisitor.
"Oh so you are smarter then you look." She says looking slightly surprised and amused.
"I noticed you pull your strikes and you could have killed me twice." I say frowning.
"Well aren't you perceptive."
"Ready." Sabine says shooting at a trooper.
"Then go!" I shout jumping at Seventh sister.
I slice down.
She sidesteps left.
I swing left, she blocks.
Two blaster shots fly by me and hit Seventh sister in the arm.
"Spectre Four I said go. Now go before she decides to get serious!" I say looking at Sabine seriously.
"Alright just don't die or get captured I don't want to have to back after you." She says before shooting two more troopers and hitting her pack.
"Why are you sending her away? It would be so much fun to torture you with her." Seventh Sister say pouting.
"Too bad. Bye." I say waving with one hand and hitting my pack with the other.
I fly over the fence and land quickly.
Sabine runs over and hugs me.
"Don't you ever do that again!" She yells letting go and punching me in the shoulder.
"Hey what was that for?" I ask unhappily.
"For scaring me. Don't do it again." She says grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the cover.
"Sorry but I couldn't risk her useing you." I say following.
"For what?" She asks unhappily.
I don't answer instead head over to Ahsoka and Zeb quickly.
"We need to go now!" I say seriously pointing up.
"I agree." Ahsoka says getting onto a speeder with Zeb.
"Sabine let's go." I say walking over to the other speeder.
"Got it." She says powering it up.
She hops on and pats the back seat.
I get on as Zeb drives off.
Behind!
I jump off pulling Sabine with me as an inquisitor's red bladed dual lightsabre slices through the speeder.
I stand and ignite my own blade.
I look around expecting to see Seventh Sister but I see a large humanoid male holding the lightsabre.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"I am Fifth Brother. And now you will die." He says calmly before jumping at me.
I dodge his downward strike and slice at his arm. He brings his blade back at an angle blocking my strike.
He grins evilly and pushes me off balance.
I stumble back and bring up my sabre just in time to stave off a glancing blow.
"Spectre Five get out of here." I say calmly.
"Not a chance." She says stubbornly.
"I said go." I say quietly and firmly.
Fifth Brother watches seemingly entertained.
"K-Ezra I am not leaving you with this thing." She says gesturing to the Inquisitor.
"You don't have a choice. Now go before I make you go." I say looking at her pleadingly.
"No." She says sternly.
"Fine then." I say calling on the force. I use the force to activate her pack.
"What the?" She asks turning around.
She lifts off away from us.
"You sent her away wise."
"I do what I must to take care of those around me whether or not they like it." I say looking at him seriously.
"Very well if you wish to surrender now is the time boy." He says deactivating his lightsabre's red blades.
"No I won't surrender. I will would rather die than to betray my master." I firmly.
He wordlessly activates a single blade walking towards me.
I hold out my blade and stand my ground waiting for him to strike.
He slices left, I block.
I swipe up for his head. He blocks and pushes me back.
I focus in the force and throw everything into it.
I force push him and he flies back slamming into a tree and falling unconscious.
I lean over huffing.
"Well that was impressive." I hear from behind me.
"Karabast." I turn around to see Seventh Sister standing there smirking.
"I will enjoy telling lord Vader of his failure later for now you must either surrender or die. Surrender it will make things so much more interesting later on." She says smiling.
"I am sure that you think so." I say smirking at her.
"You fought him why?" She asks curious.
"Because he threatened her." I say slightly confused.
"I threatened her yet I am still standing unharmed. Why?" she asks moving closer.
"Because she left and I can not defeat you yet." I say stepping back cautiously.
"So the girl is the key to your power." She says smiling.
"You know nothing!" I shout swinging at her.
She blocks effortlessly.
"You will become one of us." She says kicking me in the side. I slide back but stay standing.
"I will never become one of you!" I shout jumping and slicing downward.
She lifts her blade blocking me.
I slide underneath her blade and elbow her in the face.
She stumbles back clutching her face.
She pulls her hand away and sees a small amount of blood.
"Now you will pay for that brat." She snarls.
Oh Karabast.
I raise my blade as she strikes down fiercely.
She swipes sideways I scramble blocking.
She spins striking at my left side. I barely block it.
She pushes and I feel the blade cut and subsequently cauterize the wound.
I fall back clutching my side.
"Damn." I say wincing.
Ahsoka appears in front of me.
"Sabine get him out of here." She says igniting her two white blades.
"Got it." Sabine says running up to me.
"I'm fine." I say deactivating my blade and holstering it.
She pulls me along to the waiting Phantom.
"When did this get here?" I ask confused.
"Hera came when we missed the rendezvous." Sabine says.
I look back and see Ahsoka and Seventh Sister dualing.
"C'mon you are not going back into that fight." Sabine says noticing my gaze.
"I wasn't thinking about that." I say walking on to the Phantom.
"Good now sit we need to get out of here before that supply ship hits." Sabine says pointing to a seat and looking out of the shuttle.
"Sabine are we good to go?" Hera asks starting the Phantom.
"No Ahsoka is still down there." Sabine yells.
"Well tell her to get in now we have to go!" Hera yells.
"Ahsoka we have to go now!" Sabine yells out the back of the Phantom.
"Hera take off and get ready to seal the back." I says walking up to the front of the ship.
"Are you sure Ezra?" Hera asks looking unsure.
"Yes. It's what I would do." I say grimacing at pain radiating from my side.
"Sabine get him strapped in now!" Hera says glancing back at me while taking off.
"I am going." I say moving back to my seat.
Sabine and I strap in waiting for Ahsoka to jump in.
After a moment she hops in and shouts. "I'm in go!"
"You don't have to tell me twice." Hera says pushing the throttles to full power.
We fly through the upper atmosphere and out into space.
"Hera get us back to the fleet." Ahsoka says tiredly.
"Where's Kanan and Zeb?" I ask noticing them missing.
"They are delivering the intel to a source on Lothal and will meet us back at the fleet soon enough." Hera explains.
"Okay. Ahsoka they were Inquisitor's. Did you know that there were more of them?" I ask worriedly.
"I had my suspicions but no I had no proof that there were more until now." She says frowning.
"The female one, Seventh Sister, She toyed with me like it was fun for her." I say frowning.
"Yes. I saw the end of that fight. You surprised her by throwing that elbow at her. Good thinking." She says smiling.
"You saw how it pissed her off too." I say frowning.
"Yes but to be fair you have only began to learn lightsabre forms. For your skill level you did very well." Ahsoka says still smiling.
"I managed to knock out the male one. I think he said his name was Fifth Brother." I say smiling weakly.
Ahsoka and Sabine look shocked.
"How did you do that?" Sabine asks surprised.
"We fought for a little while after you left. He pushed me and I pushed back with the force. he flew into a tree and was subsequently knocked out. That's when she appeared again." I say leaning back.
"Well that is interesting. He should have been able to withstand a force push." Ahsoka says thinking aloud.
"I don't think that he was expecting it. I did it very suddenly." I say closing my eyes.
"Sabine how did the explosion look?" I ask smiling.
I feel Sabine brighten up through the force.
"It was spectacular and hopefully took care of those Inquisitors." She says frowning at the end.
"I wouldn't count on it but I hope so too." I say sleepily.
I fall asleep as we enter hyperspace.
"Ezra. Wake up." I hear Sabine say while shaking my shoulder.
"Are we back at the fleet?" I ask sleepily.
"Yes now we have to go report what we saw." Sabine says.
"Got it." I say standing.
I cry out and grab my side.
I stumble as Sabine catches me.
"Ezra what's wrong?" She asks worriedly.
"She managed to graze my side I guess I forgot about that." I say grabbing my left side.
"Let me see." She says setting me down on the seat.
Before I can do anything she unzips my suit and pulls it down.
"Sabine!" I say embarrassed.
She'll see my scars.
"Hold still so I can look at it." She says pausing for a second.
"Sabine?" I ask realizing that she's staring.
"Sorry. Let me see that wound." She says blushing a bit for some reason.
"Ezra this isn't a small graze. There's an twenty centimeter gash here." She says sounding concerned.
"Well that explains the pain." I say smirking.
She helps me up and we start heading over to the medical room.
"I am going to message Kanan to meet us there." She says tapping her comm unit. "Kanan can you meet Ezra and I in the medical room?"
"Sure what's up?" Kanan says relaxed.
"You'll see when you get there." I say.
"Well I will be there in a few minutes." He says closing the line of communication.
We walk into the medical room and Sabine sets me down on a medical bed.
"Hey medical droid we need some help here." Sabine says pointing to me.
"I'm not that bad." I grumble.
The door opens and Kanan walks in.
Sabine is standing beside me helmet off and I have my flight suit around my waist.
"Alright I'll bite what happened?" Kanan asks smirking.
"Kanan we need to talk." I say seriously.
Kanan expression hardens. "About what?"
"About the two inquisitor's we just encountered." I say watching his face for any kind of expression.
"What?" He says calmly.
"I barely got out of there Kanan. The one just toyed with me until I elbowed her in the face. And the other I was no match for in lightsabre combat and I only got in a lucky force push that knocked him out." I say looking at the ground.
"Wait you managed to take one out?" Kanan asks shocked.
"Yeah it was after Sabine… Well left. He pushed me and I just pushed back." I say shrugging.
"Yeah we need to talk about that later. But for now I will leave you to talk to Kanan and get your side treated." Sabine says looking at me unhappily before walking out helmet in hand.
"What was that about?" Kanan asks looking confused.
I sigh.
"When I was fighting the first inquisitor they tried to use her against me so I told her get to Ahsoka and Zeb while I covered her. That worked and when I got out as well a few minutes later she made it clear that it would not be happening again. But then a different one showed up and would have killed her. So I told her to get to Ahsoka who left already and get help. She refused and after a little while I used the force to turn her away and activate her pack. Then after I knocked the male one out, the female one showed up again. And after I took advantage of an opening and elbowed her in the face. That pissed her off and then this happened." I say gesturing to my side.
The medical droid finally shows up and begins to treat my side.
Kanan looks over the wound.
"She press the side attack into a blade lock?" Kanan asks as the droid applies a cooling salve.
"Yeah I blocked but she saw me off balance and pressed my mistake." I say wincing as he bandages the wound.
"You are going to be fine maybe some minor scarring." The droid says.
"Thanks. Now I have to get a report into commander Sato." I say standing and favoring my side.
"Ezra the report can wait you need to rest." Kanan says standing in front of the door.
"Tell you what. I will go file my report and then go and get some rest on the Ghost." I say smiling.
"Fine but if you don't get there soon I will send Hera after you. Or better yet Sabine." Kanan says smirking.
"I won't trust me." I say putting on an innocent face.
"Why is that you look so innocent and yet you cause so much trouble?"
"It's the best troublemakers that look the most innocent." I say walking past him still favoring my side.
I walk into the bridge and start working on my report.
Hhhhh. Paper work.
I quickly go through what happened and remember the recovered explosives.
"I should see if Sabine has had a chance to inventory exactly what we got." I say moving for my comm unit.
"Hey Ezra do you still have those explosives we stole from there?" I hear from behind me.
"Hey Sabine and yeah here." I say detaching the packets and setting them on the desk.
"Thanks I will tell you what we got as soon as I count them." She says gathering them and walking off.
"Thanks." I say turning back to my report.
A few minutes later I hand in the completed report. Apparently we got enough explosives for Sabine to use for almost an entire cycle. And she uses a lot of explosives.
"Hey kid how was the fight?" Zeb asks as I walk into the kitchen on the Ghost.
"Not too bad gonna leave another scar though." I say gesturing to my side.
"They shoot you?" Zeb asks scowling.
I tense up.
"No I got grazed by a lightsabre Zeb." I say opening a drawer and grabbing a nutria bar.
"What?" He asks leaping up from his seat in shock.
"Yeah right before Ahsoka showed up wasn't expecting a block to turn into a blade lock and she got me." I say showing the burned edges of my jumpsuit.
"Danm gonna have to patch it." I say scowling at the fabric.
"Well you lasted pretty long against them two good job kid." Zeb says settling back down.
"The one was toying with me seeing if I was smart enough to realize it and I got very lucky with the other one." I say biting into the bar.
"Sick bastards." Zeb says.
I finish the bar in silence.
"Ezra you in here?" I hear Hera ask from the hall to our rooms.
"No Hera I'm in the kitchen with Zeb." I say realizing that I'm thirsty.
Hera walks in as I grab a cup wincing from the effort to reach up to the top shelf.
"Ezra what happened?" Hera asks immediately going into to mothering mode after seeing me wince.
"Don't worry I got grazed by the inquisitor's blade when I messed up for a third time." I say frowning.
"You what!" Hera shouts and starts fussing over my side.
"Hera." I say calmly.
"What?" She asks pausing.
"I am alive and mostly intact which is what matters. Now I have to go get some rest before Kanan sends Sabine after me." I say smiling.
"Alright then but no heavy lifting for a few days until the wound closes over." She says firmly.
"Trust me I won't be." I say favoring my side as I head for my room.
I walk into my room and see Sabine sitting there waiting for me.
"Ezra we need to talk." She says seriously.
"Yeah I suppose we do." I say sitting on Zeb's bed.
"Why did you force me to leave both times?" She asks softly.
"Sabine I lost my parents and anybody else that was important to me because of them. I won't risk losing you to the Inquisitors or worse. If it was just regular bucketheads and ISB agents I wouldn't have said a thing." I say looking away.
"They could have killed you Ezra!" Sabine yells.
"I know. But they would have done worse to you." I say grimacing.
"So we fight together that's how we do this Ezra. We don't leave someone to almost certain death!" She yells looking angry.
"I'm sorry Sabine but I could tell that she was toying with me and that meant that she was getting ready to capture us both so I am sorry that I made you leave but I can't relive that nightmare again." I say feeling tears starting to form.
"You won't relive that Ezra. I wouldn't do that to you." Sabine says quieting down.
"I understand why you did that I just wish that you trusted me to be able to fight with you against them." She says standing to leave.
"What are you talking about?" I ask confused.
"Well you wanted me to leave so that you could fight them alone because you thought that I couldn't fight them." She says turning around.
"It's not like that Sabine." I say looking at the floor.
"Well what is it like then?" She asks confused.
"They are powerful. More powerful than anything we have faced before." I say closing my eyes and focusing in the force.
"So we fight together no matter what." She says firmly.
I focus further in the force and start to lift things into the air.
A chair, the dresser, and finally Sabine.
"They can throw you without a second thought. How I held Hondo they can do with ease. That is why I told you to get out of there while you could." I say setting the objects down and floating Sabine around the room.
"I see." She says nervously.
I set her down gently and stand.
"But still Ezra when you are fighting them I won't leave you to fight alone. Even if I have stay back and shoot from there I will not leave." Sabine says stubbornly.
"Alright then mighty Mando." I say smiling.
"Mighty Mando eh?" She asks smiling and raising eyebrow.
"Yeah I think it fits. You are mighty and a Mandalorian." I say attempting to climb up to my bunk.
I reach for the second rung with my left arm.
"AAAhhh." I yell falling off the ladder.
"Ezra!" Sabine yells trying to catch me.
I hit the floor clutching my side.
"Well that wasn't my smartest move." I grumble.
"No not really." Sabine says.
"Any chance that you could help me up there?" I ask.
"No but come with me." She says holding a hand out.
I take it and she pulls me up. She leaves and I follow.
We go to her room and she opens the door and standing aside.
"In." She says.
I walk in and look at the art.
"Your art is incredible Sabine." I say admiring a particular piece.
"You like that one?" She asks standing beside me.
"Yeah." I say looking at the painting of a star destroyer crashing into the surface of a red planet.
"I painted that after we rescued Kanan." She says walking to her closet of painting supply.
"Now you get some rest I am going to paint." She says pointing at her bed.
"But that's your bed." I say hesitating.
"Yes and I will be just over here painting now sleep." She says spraying a white line on an empty space.
"But where will you sleep?"
"I am not going to sleep for a while Ezra and when I do I'll let you know." She says rolling her eyes.
"Fine." I say tiredly.
I lay down and quickly fall asleep to the calming sounds of a paint sprayer.
A/N Ezra's injured but also in Sabine's bed. I think that's a fair trade don't you? What will happen next? Who knows. Tell me what you think will happen next.