Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars Rebels that goes to Disney, Lucasfilm and Dave Filoni.
A few days later, three Loth-cats ran up to Satele, Sabine, Janus, Ryder and Zeb as the three Mandalorians had their Beskar armors back over their jumpsuits and their helmets over their heads laid on their stomachs as they laid next to Ryder with Zeb laying next to the former Lothalie governor as he had replaced the clothes that he wore when Vizago had smuggled him and the rest of the Ghost crew onto Lothal with his armor as the three Mandalorians had their macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinders flipped down with Ryder and Zeb using electrobinoculars to scout out an Imperial testing facility out in Lothal's wilderness from a cliff.
"I see plenty of Interceptors, but that's nothing new," Sabine said as she saw multiple TIE Interceptors and TIE fighters stationed on the Imperial airfield's runway before flipping her helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder back up, "Are you sure this is the place, Ryder?"
"My spies said this is where the test flight for the new TIE Defender will be," Ryder assured her.
"And besides, Sabine, Fulcrum also said this is where the test flight will be as well," Janus said, agreeing with Ryder before flipping his helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder up as well.
"Well, we've been out here for hours, and all I've seen are these stinkin' Loth-cats," Zeb told them as one of the Loth-cats licked the back of his head.
"What can I say? They like me," Satele explained as she began petting the Loth-cat in front of her as it purred after she flipped her helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder back up.
"I'm glad someone besides me, Janus and our family likes you, Satele, but let's stay on mission," Sabine said as she looked at her twin sister.
"I don't just like you, Teal'ika, I love you," Janus told his girlfriend, causing her to blush under her helmet.
"Specter-2 to Specter-6," Hera suddenly said as she contacted Satele on her helmet's comlink, "What's your status?"
"No sign of the ship," Satele answered as she stopped petting the Loth-cat and flipped her helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder back down, "Yet. How's your recon going?"
"The Empire's been fortifying their anti-aircraft defenses, and there are some new fuel tanks near the factory," Hera replied as she stood on Satele's old comm tower with electrobinoculars over her eyes with Kanan, who had his arms behind his back and Chopper as she had replaced the clothes that she wore when Vizago smuggled them onto Lothal back to her pilot's undersuit as Kanan had also replaced his clothes back to his usual one with his mask over his eyes.
"They must be getting ready to start full-scale production," Kanan suggested.
"Maintain surveillance until nightfall, then return to base," Hera ordered Satele with her comlink.
"Copy that. Specter-6 out," Satele replied.
"My contacts tell me this new prototype is even tougher than the one you've already encountered," Ryder told Satele and the others, "More powerful engines. Upgraded targeting computer."
"I believe you, Ryder," Janus said as he looked at Ryder, "Fulcrum even said the same thing about the new TIE Defender."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Zeb told them.
"That's why we're here, Zeb," Satele reminded the Lasat when the Loth-cat on her back suddenly stood up and started growling before running forward, hissing as a TIE Defender flew past them, causing Satele, Sabine and Janus' helmets to fly off their heads before they grabbed their helmets and placed them back over their heads as they flipped their helmets' macrobinocular viewplates' rangefinders back down s the TIE Defender flew around the area as they saw that it had slimmers of red painted on the TIE Defender's wings before they flipped their helmets' macrobinocular viewplates' rangefinders back up.
"Do you see it now, Zeb?" Sabine asked the Lasat.
"Yeah, but I still don't believe it," Zeb answered as a Loth-cat ran up next to him as the new TIE Defender soon landed on a landing pad on the Imperial airfield's runway, "Do we have anything that can match that speed?"
"My Kom'rk-class fighter if I modify it," Satele answered.
"And it would definitely give the Ghost a run for its money," Sabine answered as she flipped her helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder back down and saw a pilot with light skin, blue eyes, brown hair and a mustache walk out of the TIE Defender with his helmet under his arm before flipping her helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder back up, "I know that pilot. Vult Skerris."
"We also know that pilot from when we were escorting Senator Mon Mothma to Dantooine, Sis, before she officially formed the Rebel Alliance," Satele told her.
"Well, we got a good look. If we had your recorder running, we should have enough intel for rebel command," Ryder informed Sabine.
"Mission accomplished," Zeb added as he got up.
"Hmm, we can do better," Sabine stated.
"Sabine, we got what we came for," Ryder reminded Sabine and he, Satele and Janus went to leave.
"Hey, if we're gonna beat that thing, we need more than pretty pictures," Sabine explained as she removed her helmet.
"I don't like where this is headed," Zeb muttered.
"Give her a chance to explain, Zeb," Janus told the Lasat as he removed his helmet as well and placed it under his arm.
"We need to get the flight data recorder," Sabine explained.
"Wait, from inside the ship?" Satele asked her twin sister with surprise in her voice as she also removed her helmet and placed it under her arm.
"Yep, I was right. I don't like it," Zeb told them.
"The data would give rebel command a complete record of the ship's range, top speed, shield array, weapons payload, everything," Sabine went on, "We are not passing this up."
"How could we get Physical information like that to the Rebellion?" Ryder asked her with confusion, "We have no starships left."
"A transmission can easily be blocked. If we had hard evidence, finding a way to get it to rebel command is what I call a good problem," Sabine explained.
"She's right," Satele said, agreeing with her sister, "We can do it. Ryder, you and Zeb stay here and keep watch. Janus, you're coming with us." With that said, Satele, Sabine and Janus placed their helmets back over their heads as they hopped down onto a slope-like structure and slid down the slope with the Loth-cats following them as the three of them hid behind a rock-like structure near the facility and saw a probe droid fly past the gate of the facility before entering the facility as the three Mandalorians followed by the Loth-cats approached the gate and sneaked past the gate and hid behind an object near the gate and saw a stormtrooper walking past one of the anti-aircraft guns before they rushed from their hiding place to a hiding place to a hiding place behind the TIE fighters, which the stormtrooper sensed as he looked at where the three Mandalorians were running but shrugged it off as he didn't see them before Sabine, Satele and Janus behind the wing of one of the TIE fighters before they hid behind containers with the Empire's insignia on them as they saw two stormtroopers guarding the prototype TIE Defender.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay," Satele muttered to the Loth-cats as she petted one of them after they meowed for her attention, "Not now."
"This is no good," Sabine told them as she turned to her sister and Janus, "We need a distraction."
"Got any ideas?" Satele asked them.
"I think I have one," Janus told them.
"Well, what is it?" Sabine asked him.
"Remember what you told me what you did just before you reunited with Satele when you infiltrated that TIE depot four years ago?" Janus explained.
"Oh, that," Sabine muttered as she realized what his plan was, "Then I better give you one of my paint bombs."
"Good luck, Jan'ika," Satele told him as Sabine handed him one of her paint bombs.
"Yeah, wish me luck," Janus replied as he sneaked over to one of the other TIE fighters, which one of the two stormtroopers noticed.
"Did you see that?" The stormtrooper that noticed Janus sneaking around asked the other stormtrooper.
"Yeah," the other stormtrooper answered, "What is that?"
"Let's go check it out," the stormtrooper that noticed Janus first said as they left the TIE Defender and soon found the Mandalorian planting one of Sabine's paint bombs on one of the wings' of one of the TIE fighters as they aimed their E-11 blaster rifles, "Freeze, you rebel scum!" Janus then smirked under his helmet as he turned around and pulled both of his WESTAR-35s out and switched them from lethal to their stun setting and fires two stun blasts at them, knocking both stormtroopers out before he began to hide their bodies so the Empire wouldn't suspect a thing.
"Looks like Janus' plan worked," Satele whispered to Sabine as Janus rejoined them behind the containers after hiding the stormtroopers' bodies, "Sabine, let's go, Janus, you keep watch."
Sabine and Satele then headed for the TIE Defender and hopped into its pod and they both leaned down as Sabine activated her helmet's comlink, "Okay, we found it. Just give us a few minutes to remove it from the panel."
"Can't you both just copy the data?" Janus asked them from their helmet's comlinks as Satele got underneath the TIE Defender's dashboard panel.
"No, it'll be faster to take the whole thing, Janus," Satele answered.
"Heads up, you three. We got a ship inbound from the south," Zeb said on the comlinks of all three Mandalorians' helmets, causing Janus to look up as he saw an Imperial shuttle fly past him with its wings unfolded as the shuttle landed nearby as its wings folded upwards with Skerris walking towards the shuttle as its ramp lowered with two stormtroopers walking towards both sides of the ramp as they began guarding the shuttle.
"Janus, what's happening?" Satele asked her boyfriend as she contacted him with her helmet's comlink as Janus flipped down his helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder, causing his eyes to widen in shock under his helmet's visor as he recognized Thrawn and Pryce from the descriptions that the Ghost told him about standing on top of the shuttle's ramp with two Death Troopers wielding E-11D blaster carbines accompanying them as Thrawn had his arms behind his back.
"Something terrible from the stories you've both told me," Janus answered as he turned around and flipped his helmet's macrobinocular viewplate's rangefinder back up.
"Good afternoon, Commander," Thrawn said, greeting Skerris as he, Pryce and the Death Troopers walked down the shuttle's ramp, "I'm eager to hear your opinion on the improvements made to the TIE Defender program."
"Allow me to present the Defender Elite for your inspection, Grand Admiral, and then I will provide you with a test demonstration," Skerris told the Chiss Grand Admiral before he began to lead them to the TIE Defender Elite prototype.
"They're headed for the fighter," Ryder observed from the cliff with Zeb as they had electrobinoculars over their eyes before Ryder removed his pair of electrobinoculars from his eyes, "Sabine and Satele are still in there."
"Get ready," Zeb told him as he removed his electrobinoculars from his eyes, "Things are about to get interesting." They then placed their electrobinoculars back over their eyes.
"Sabine, Satele, we have to go. Now," Janus said, contacting his girlfriend and her sister with his helmet's comlink as he hid from the Imperials.
"We've almost got it," Satele told Janus, answering her boyfriend with her helmet's comlink as she and Sabine looked out the TIE Defender Elite's main viewport and saw Thrawn and the other Imperials approaching them, "Just stall them."
"Do what my sister says, Janus, we're almost done," Sabine said, agreeing with Satele as they both got underneath the TIE Defender Elite's dashboard panel.
"How will I be able to stall them?" Janus asked them with confusion, "It's Thrawn! You've both told me how extremely clever he is and how much of a tactical genius he is."
"We're confident you'll think of something, Jan'ika," Satele replied on the comlink of Janus' helmet when he suddenly looked at a wolf with white hair and yellow eyes standing on a hill-like structure and gasped as he realized what it was from Satele, a Loth-wolf and it howled before he heard a TIE pilot aim and cock their E-11 blaster rifle at him and fired it at him with the blaster bolt hitting him in his Beskar plates around his chest, knocking him to the ground as he pulled both of his WESTAR-35s back out from their holsters before looking up and saw that the Loth-wolf had vanished before he got back up as he began to fire his WESTAR-35s at the TIE pilot as Skerris and the others saw this with one of the Death Troopers cocking their blaster carbine as they got ready to shoot the Mandalorian.
"What's a Mandalorian doing here?" Skerris asked with confusion and disbelief in his voice.
"Do you know what clan he's from, Grand Admiral?" Pryce asked Thrawn.
"Indeed I do, Governor," Thrawn answered, "He's from the Mandalorian Clan Wren. I suspect he's Satele Wren's boyfriend, Janus Wren."
"Capture him!" Pryce ordered before the stormtroopers began to rush towards the Mandalorian.
"Secure the prototype," Thrawn ordered the Death Troopers before they rushed towards the TIE Defender Elite to secure it from the rebels.
"Hey, Sis, look at this," Sabine muttered to her sister as Satele looked at what Sabine was looking at, "This thing has a navicomputer and you know what that means."
"It means that this thing has a Hyperdrive and we can take it to rebel command on Yavin," Satele stated before getting up from underneath the TIE Defender Elite's dashboard panel and looked out the main viewport and saw Janus battling the Imperials with his WESTAR-35s as she contacted him with her helmet's comlink, "Well, Janus, you certainly got their attention."
"I'm glad this is working for you and your sister, Teal'ika!" Janus exclaimed, sarcastically as he continued to fire his WESTAR-35s at the stormtroopers.
"Janus, Satele, Sabine, head for the end of the runway," Zeb said as he activated his comlink as he and Ryder removed their electrobinoculars from their eyes, "We'll blast our way down to get to you."
"No, take the information you have, and report back to base," Janus protested, "We'll find our own way back."
As one of the stormtroopers fired at Janus, he hopped on a loading dolly with two containers on it as it rolled forward as he fired his WESTAR-35s at the stormtrooper before jumping off of the loading dolly as it reached two other containers and landed behind the containers and ran through an alleyway-like structure and hid in a corner at the edge of the alleyway-like structure as a stormtrooper fired their blaster rifle at him.
"Janus, we have the data recorder," Satele said, contacting her boyfriend with her helmet's comlink as they finished removing the data recorder from the TIE Defender Elite's dashboard panel as Sabine held it in her hands before they turned around to see that he was nowhere to be seen from the TIE Defender Elite's main viewport, "Jan'ika? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But I think Sabine has a better one."
"I sure do, Sis. Take this, while I take control of the ship," Sabine told her as she handed her the data recorder as she took control of the TIE Defender Elite's controls.
Stormtroopers appeared in front of Janus as he fired his WESTAR-35s at them before ran out from behind the alleyway-like structure before he was soon knocked to his side as he fell in front a couple of containers from a stormtroopers' blaster bolt as one hit him in one of his Beskar plates around his chest with Thrawn, Pryce and Skerris noticing from a distance.
"Hey!" He called out to them.
"Fascinating," Thrawn muttered as the Death Troopers rushed towards the TIE Defender Elite, which began to take off as they reached the TIE Defender Elite as Sabine sat in the pilot's seat as Satele stood next to her with the data recorder in her hands as the ship began to fly away.
Janus fired one of his WESTAR-35s at a TIE pilot in the chest, killing the TIE pilot instantly as he slid across a box-shaped container as two stormtroopers aimed their E-11 blaster rifles and began firing them at him as he fired his WESTAR-35s back at them before leaping across a box-shaped container as he hid behind the box-shaped container.
"Sabine, Satele, now's your chance," Janus said into his wrist communicator, "Get out of here!"
"Just stay down!" Sabine said on Janus' wrist communicator as the TIE Defender Elite that she was piloting flew above the back of the container that he was hiding behind as the stormtroopers aimed their E-11 blaster rifles at Janus before turning around as they heard the engines of the TIE Defender Elite, which began to fire upon them with its laser cannons, killing the stormtroopers instantly.
"Sabine! Satele! Are you both crazy?!" Janus called out to the twins with disbelief.
"Don't just stand there! Jump!" Sabine urged her sister's boyfriend as she hovered the TIE Defender Elite above Janus and with that Janus jumped onto one of the containers before Satele extended one of her arms out towards her boyfriend as she used the Force to levitate him onto one of the TIE Defender Elite's wings as Sabine opened the TIE Defender Elite's hatch before he jumped into the TIE Defender Elite's pod before the hatch sealed back shut as he entered the TIE Defender Elite's pod and sat in a seat behind Sabine and next to his girlfriend as Sabine used the TIE Defender Elite to destroy one of the TIE fighters along with a few TIE Interceptors stationed at the Imperial airfield before swooping back around and began to fire upon Thrawn, Pryce and Skerris as Thrawn began to fire back at the TIE Defender Elite with his RK-3 blaster pistol as he pulled it out from his tunic's holster.
"Grand Admiral, take cover!" Skerris warned the Chiss, ducking down as the TIE Defender Elite flew over them, destroying the Imperial shuttle in the process as Sabine handed Janus a detonator before he activated the detonator, causing the paint bomb that he planted on a TIE fighter earlier to detonate as it exploded with the colors yellow, hot pink and navy blue appearing from one of the wings and began spreading onto the TIE fighter's pod as Sabine flew the TIE Defender Elite over the Imperial airfield's control tower.
"Was this part of the demonstration?" Thrawn asked Skerris as he placed his RK-3 blaster pistol back in his tunic's holster and placed both of his arms behind his back.
"They won't get far, sir," Skerris assured him, "It's Hyperdrive is offline."
"I will activate the ship's kill switch," Pryce offered as he moved his right hand out from behind his back for a second.
"Not yet, Governor," Thrawn dismissed, "This is a perfect opportunity for a combat test. Skerris, send your pilots to intercept."
"Right away," Skerris replied before leaving as three TIE pilots climbed into three of the remaining TIE Interceptors with their ladders and took off from the Imperial airfield's runway.
"I told you it'd get interesting," Zeb told Ryder as they removed their electrobinoculars from their eyes again.
"We need to get back to base," Ryder said as they stood up.
"What happened?" One of the stormtroopers that Janus stunned with his WESTAR-35s earlier asked as he and the other woke up in the wilderness.
"All I remember is that Mando that we found sneaking around our base was planting a detonator on one of our TIEs and stunned us with their blaster," the other stormtrooper answered.
"Let's head back to base," the stormtrooper who asked what happened said as they stood up as they began to head back to the Imperial airfield, only to be forced to the ground by the wind as the TIE Defender Elite flew past them.
"I thought we were just gonna steal the data decoder," Janus recalled as Sabine piloted the TIE Defender Elite as it flew across Lothal's wilderness.
"We are, but we're also learning all kinds of things, Janus. Like, this TIE fighter has a navicomputer, which means it has a Hyperdrive, so obviously, we had to take it," Sabine confirmed.
"Why?" Janus asked them.
"Because… Without this Hyperdrive, Jan'ika, we have no way to get the data back to rebel command on Yavin, but with it we can fly there right now," Satele explained.
"Exactly, Sis!" Sabine said, agreeing with her sister.
"This idea has gone from good to great," Janus told them.
"Janus, take control of the TIE Defender and keep heading east as me and Sabine disable the transponder," Satele said as she removed her helmet from her head and got up from the seat that she was sitting in.
"We don't need the Empire following us back to rebel command," Sabine added as she removed her helmet from her head and got up from the pilot's seat as well as she began to help her sister on disabling the TIE Defender Elite's transponder as Janus sat down in the pilot's seat as he began to pilot the ship.
"Too late," Janus told them as he saw fighters on the TIE Defender Elite's radar, "Enemy fighters, .68." The TIE Interceptors then began firing upon them with their laser cannons, only for the TIE Defender Elite's shield to absorb the laser cannons, "Hang on!"
He then swooped the TIE Defender Elite up into the atmosphere before swooping back down towards the TIE Interceptors and fired the TIE Defender Elite's laser cannons back at them, destroying one of the TIE Interceptors in the process.
"Janus, keep it steady!" Satele ordered her boyfriend as she along with her sister went back to working on disabling the ship's transponder.
"I'm trying not to get shot down," Janus reminded her as he continued to pilot the TIE Defender Elite back down and flew across the plains near a Lothalian mound-like structure as he soon stopped the TIE Defender Elite to a halt, causing both Sabine and Satele to gasp as the TIE Interceptors flew past them as he locked the TIE Defender Elite's targeting system onto one of the TIE Interceptors and fired a laser cannon at the TIE Interceptor that he locked the TIE Defender Elite's targeting system onto, destroying another Imperial fighter.
"I wonder who else is in that stolen fighter. I know it is more than two people as I saw someone using the Force to levitate Janus Wren which I suspect was Satele Wren's doing," Thrawn said as he had his right hand over his chin and his other arm crossed and the fist of the arm under the elbow of the arm as he, Pryce and Skerris stood in front of a holotable that displayed symbols of the TIE Interceptors that were in combat outside the Imperial airfield as one of the symbols representing a TIE Interceptor disappeared with the two Death Troopers standing behind the Grand Admiral on both sides as both the Governor of Lothal and the Imperial pilot stood across from him on the other side of the holotable.
"They destroyed two of our Interceptors. It must be Hera Syndulla," Skerris suggested.
"Oh, I think not," Thrawn said, dismissing what Skerris suggested, "If Captain Syndulla were piloting the ship, our fighters would not have survived this long."
"You know, if you get the whole ship blown up, we won't have to deactivate the transponder!" Satele snapped at her boyfriend as he flew the TIE Defender Elite through a range of Lothalian mound-like structures.
"Don't worry, Teal'ika, I'll get him," Janus assured his girlfriend as Sabine and Satele went back to work on disabling the TIE Defender Elite's transponder as he fired the TIE Defender Elite's laser cannons with the TIE Interceptor evading the lasers as both the TIE Defender Elite and TIE Interceptor flew in separate directions around one of the Lothalian mound-like structure and soon flew towards the TIE Interceptor again as both Sabine and Satele grunted from Janus spinning the ship around before he launched the TIE Defender Elite's missiles as they flew towards and collided with the TIE Interceptor before the Imperial fighter crashed to the ground before exploding as Janus flew the TIE Defender Elite away from the destroyed TIE Interceptor.
"Almost… There!" Sabine said as she and Satele finally disabled the TIE Defender Elite's transponder before it started beeping, "Oh, no." She then got up as she cried out in horror, "No, no, no! Oh, no!"
"'Oh, no' What?" Janus asked Sabine with confusion, "I thought you and Satele got it."
"Yeah, what's the problem, Sis?" Satele asked her, agreeing with Janus as she stood up as well.
"Ah, its transponder has been disabled in record time," Thrawn stated as the symbol representing the TIE Defender Elite disappeared from the holotable and turned around as he realized who was in the TIE Defender Elite with Satele and Janus, "It's Satele Wren's twin sister, Sabine Wren."
"Janus, land the ship. Now!" Sabine ordered her sister's boyfriend.
"What's wrong?" Janus asked Sabine with confusion.
"Is there something wrong with the ship, Sis?" Satele asked her sister at the same time.
"There is, Sis. This ship has a kill switch," Sabine explained, "They used it at Skystrike, remember, when we recruited Wedge, Biggs and Hobbie? They can disable the ship from a distance."
"Haar'chak!" Janus cursed to himself in Mando'a as he began to fly the TIE Defender Elite downwards towards the planet's surface.
"If someone of Janus Wren's modest skill can best three trained pilots, our new fighter will give us an overwhelming advantage against the rebels," Thrawn stated as he turned back around towards the holotable, Pryce and Skerris, "Governor, you may proceed."
"Activating theft countermeasure now," Pryce announced as she turned to the anti-air gun personnel as Thrawn turned back around from them and the holotable, "Scramble gunships. Once they have fallen from the sky, locate and secure the crash site." She then began to press buttons on a panel next to her as she activated the kill switch to the TIE Defender Elite.
"Satele! Sabine!" Janus said, calling out to his girlfriend and her sister as one of the TIE Defender Elite's wings were ripped off of the pod as the TIE Defender Elite began to close in on a landing site out in Lothal's wilderness.
"Got it!" Sabine grunted as she and Satele stood back up as the wing on the other side of the TIE Defender Elite's pod was suddenly ripped off as well.
"Got what? Janus asked her as the final wing of the TIE Defender Elite began to slowly get ripped off of the TIE Defender Elite, "I've only got one wing left!"
"Better than no wing, Jan'ika!" Satele remarked as the TIE Defender Elite crash landed on the ground with the only wing that was still attached to the ship on the ground and skidded across the ground before stopping at a Lothalian mound-like structure after the three Mandalorians fell down towards the Imperial fighter's hatch.
The twins along with Janus soon fell out of the TIE Defender Elite's pod with their helmets falling off of their heads as they landed on their stomachs on the ground with Janus holding the data recorder as they sat up.
"You okay, Sis?" Satele asked her sister before coughing a bit as she turned to her boyfriend, "How about you, Janus?"
"I'm fine, Satele," Janus answered.
"Nice landing, Janus," Sabine grunted, sarcastically as she stood up.
"I guess we can scratch stealing the TIE Defender," Janus stated as he stood up as well and placed the data recorder under his left arm.
"I agree, Jan'ika," Satele said, agreeing with her boyfriend as she stood up as well after grabbing her helmet and placing it under her arm, "The TIE Defender is useless now."
"Yeah," Sabine agreed as she picked up her helmet as well as Janus' hand handed him his helmet as they placed their helmets under their arms as well, "But we're still taking the Hyperdrive."
"What?" Janus said with confusion in his voice.
"The drive on Ryder's U-wing is shot, but we can use this one to replace it," Sabine explained as she and Satele stared at the Hyperdrive of the busted TIE Defender Elite.
"Yep, and that's the only way now any one of us could get back to Yavin now after we outrun the Imperial blockade," Satele added, agreeing with her sister.
"How are we going to carry it?" Janus asked them.
"Any way we can," Sabine answered as she and Satele approached the busted TIE Defender Elite.
"All right, hurry," Janus said as he followed the twins up towards the busted TIE Defender Elite.
"I should have expected them to do something crazy like that. The three of them are Mandalorian after all," Zeb said as he carried a speeder bike with Ryder onto Ryder's U-wing, where Kanan, Hera and Chopper were at as the U-wing was parked next to a Lothalian mound-like structure as Chopper grunted a response.
"It's okay, Zeb," Kanan assured the Lasat as he climbed up the ladder to the cockpit, where Hera was sitting in the pilot's seat of the ship, "This is on them."
"According to Imperial chatter, they crashed," Hera informed them.
"The Empire's gonna pour everything they have into the search, but we can't contact them without risking a signal trace," Ryder stated.
"It doesn't matter. We have to find them," Hera told him before powering up the U-wing's engines and flew away from the area.
Both Satele and Sabine grunted as they were carrying the Hyperdrive that they along with Janus took from the TIE Defender Elite as Janus followed them as he continued to hold both his helmet and the data recorder under his arms as the twins were stilling holding their helmets under their arms before both Satele and Sabine set the Hyperdrive down as they panted as Sabine collapsed to her knees as Satele looked up and saw a white loth-cat up on a cliff in the distance and both purred and meowed before it ran up the cliff.
"Sabine, Janus, this way," Satele said as they followed the white loth-cat to a hollow wall, "Look. We can hide the Hyperdrive in there and come back for it later. We'll make better time without it."
"How did you know that was here, Sis?" Sabine asked Satele.
"I'm wondering the same thing, Teal'ika," Janus said, agreeing with Sabine, "How did you know this was here?"
"I followed the white loth-cat," Satele answered.
"You mean the same type of loth-cat that you encountered and chased when we were in the Bridgers' house after the Empire burnt it to the ground before we found out that both Mira and Ephraim Bridger died in a prison break?" Sabine asked her.
"Yeah, the same type of loth-cat, Sis," Satele answered.
"Are you sure you both weren't imagining things when you both found out they died?" Janus asked them.
"We're pretty sure we weren't, Jan'ika," Satele answered, "And can you both help me get it in there?" Sabine and Janus then began to help Satele move the Hyperdrive into the hollow wall as Janus placed the data recorder on the ground before she moved a boulder in front of the wall, hiding the Hyperdrive from sight.
"Hey, Teal'ika, Sabine, you both coming?" Janus asked Satele and Sabine after picking the data recorder back up and placing it under his arms as Satele and Sabine heard a howl in the distance before they followed him as they walked away from the hollow wall where they hid the Hyderdrive at.
Soon a few Imperial patrol transports were flying over the area of the TIE Defender Elite's crash site with an Imperial probe droid flying next to the TIE Defender Elite's pod with Pryce on board one of the Imperial patrol transports as a hologram of Thrawn with his arms behind his back appearing before the Governor of Lothal before she turned to him, "We've located the crash, Admiral, but there's no sign of the rebels. I'm initiating a search. They won't escape."
"Very good, Governor. Secure the site. Ground units are en route," Thrawn informed her.
"I'm picking up a lot of Imperial patrols on the scanner," Ryder said from the U-wing's communications system as he stood in the ship's cargo hold.
"It's okay. Satele, Sabine and Janus all have each other, Sabine and Satele are both twins and Janus being Satele's boyfriend after all," Kanan assured Hera as she piloted Ryder's U-wing as he placed his left hand over her right shoulder for a second, "They'll find their way home."
"I'll monitor the Empire's chatter and keep the engines warm, just in case," Hera told him.
Satele, Sabine and Janus hid from the seachlights of Imperial patrol transports as they swept the area that the three Mandalorians were as they were hiding behind a boulder.
"Did they see us?" Sabine asked Satele and Janus.
"No, I don't think so," Satele answered.
"We got to keep moving," Janus said when Satele and Sabine suddenly heard the howl again and turned and saw the same loth-wolf that Janus saw earlier in the distance, "Sabine, Teal'ika! Hey, I said we need to keep moving, guys! What is it?"
"I… I thought I saw something," Satele answered as she, Sabine and Janus removed their helmets from their heads, "I think it's a loth-wolf. No one's seen them in 100 years, like I told you after we began dating last year."
"I saw it too, Sis," Sabine said, agreeing with her sister.
"I think I saw one too when you both were stealing the data recorder," Janus told them, "Aren't there old cave paintings of them?"
"Yeah…" Satele confirmed before trailing off as she and Sabine saw the loth-wolf walking up behind Janus as it snarled, "Janus!"
"Sleep…" the loth-wolf told Janus, who then fell unconscious.
"Janus!" Satele cried as she caught her boyfriend as he fell into her arms as she and Sabine looked up at the loth-wolf.
"What did you do to him?!" Sabine asked the loth-wolf as it started growling and sat down, causing Sabine to move her hand towards her lightsaber as Satele did the same with one of hers as well till they saw the white loth-cat appear on the top of the loth-wolf's head, reassuring them that the loth-wolf was on their side.
"I don't believe it. I thought Janus was just imagining things earlier," Satele told the loth-wolf as it turned its head towards the Imperial patrol transports that were flying in the distance and started growling at the transports as the loth-cat started snarling at the transports as well, "I'm glad you don't like the Empire either."
"Me too," Sabine said, agreeing with her sister, "They're looking for us." The loth-wolf then walked up to Janus and picked him up by its mouth as Satele kept him up.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Satele asked the loth-wolf as it walked up next to them before it bent down and moaned, gently as she placed he boyfriend on the loth-wolf's back as the loth-cat hopped off of the loth-wolf's head as Satele placed Janus' helmet on top of the data recorder as she placed it in front of Janus before she and Sabine climbed up onto the loth-wolf's back, which then took off as it began to evade the Imperial patrol transports' searchlights as it ran past them as Satele and Sabine both placed their helmets back over their heads as Satele held Janus tight so he couldn't fell off the loth-wolf's back, "Thank you."
"Yeah, I agree with my sister. Thank you," Sabine told the loth-wolf, agreeing with her twin sister.
The loth-wolf bent back down as they reached Ryder's camp the next morning as Satele and Sabine hopped off the loth-wolf's back and pulled her boyfriend off the loth-wolf's back along with his helmet and the data recorder and placed them on the ground next to him as she and Sabine turned to the loth-wolf.
"I don't understand. Why did you help us?" Satele asked the wolf as she removed her helmet and placed it under her arm.
"Yeah, I want to know, too," Sabine said, agreeing with her sister as she removed her helmet and placed it under her arm as well.
"Dume…" the loth-wolf answered.
"Kanan?" Satele said with confusion in her voice.
"What's wrong, Sis?" Sabine asked her.
"That's the last name that Kanan was born with," Satele explained.
"What do you mean?" Sabine asked her with confusion.
"On the first Empire Day after we reunited, Kanan told me that he was born with the name 'Caleb Dume,'" Satele explained, "He told me that he changed his name so the Empire wouldn't find out about his true identity."
"Satele! Sabine!" The twins suddenly heard Hera calling their names as she, Kanan, Zeb, Chopper, Ryder and Jai began running towards them with relief as the loth-wolf walked away, "Janus!" Hera and the others soon approached the three Mandalorians and sighed as she reached them as Janus slowly began to regain consciousness, "Thank goodness you're safe."
"How did you two get back here so fast?" Zeb asked Satele and Sabine with confusion.
"Didn't you see the… Loth-wolf?" Satele asked them as she and Sabine turned around, only to see that the loth-wolf had vanished before they turned back around as Janus slowly began get up as he looked at her, "Jan'ika?"
"I remember, Teal'ika," Janus told her as he groaned, "I remember that loth-wolf."
"Is that the…" Hera began to say as she noticed that data recorder on the ground.
"Flight data recorder from the TIE Defender Elite," Satele finished for her as Janus grabbed his helmet and placed it under his arm as Hera helped him stand back up, "All Sabine's idea."
"We also got the Hyperdrive as well," Janus added as Zeb picked up the data recorder, "We stashed it in the rocks near the crash. Satele and Sabine both think it'll work in our U-wing."
"Then we can come and go off this rock," Zeb stated before he and the others except Kanan walked away, "Well done, you three."
"Kanan, there's something more to that wolf than we know," Satele told her and Sabine's master, "What? I don't know."
"I agree with you, Sis," Sabine said, agreeing with her.
"I believe you two," Kanan told them as he placed his right hand over the left pauldron of Satele's armor, "All paths are coming together now."
"What does that mean?" Satele and Sabine both asked him at the same time.
"I don't know, girls," he admitted as he began to walk forward towards the others, "We'll have to find out when we get there." They then began to follow Kanan and the others as unbeknownst to them, the loth-wolf was watching them.
Please favorite and review. Would you like me to continue adding the Imperial scenes or not?