Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars Rebels that goes to Disney, Lucasfilm and Dave Filoni.
Satele sat in the Ghost's rear cannon as she was staring at the photo of herself at around 7 years old with Mira and Ephraim Bridger, "Mira? Ephraim? I'll free Lothal today, if it's the last thing I do, we've come a long way and I'll finish what you started, but I'm afraid, not for me, but for my twin sister, Sabine, my boyfriend, Janus and our friends." As Satele said that, Hera was walking through the corridor to the rear cannon and smiled as she heard the Mandalorian say that, "They've fought so hard and given so much and helped me better understand why you stood up against the Empire and why you guys and my parents were friends and made the sacrifices you did, while my parents, mainly my mother had no choice but to feign loyalty to Gar Saxon. I wish you could see my parents again and meet both of my siblings, my boyfriend and our friends. I guess, in some way, you will be with us today. I want you to know that everything I've done since I reunited with Sabine and will do, began with the two of you and my father."
"Satele?" She then heard Hera call her name and saw her below her at the ladder of the Ghost's rear cannon, "They're bringing her up."
"The three of you disgust me, traitors," Pryce told Kallus, Lyste and Crosshair as the three of them along with Ryder were escorting her to the Ghost, causing both Lyste and Crosshair to scoff.
"The day I betrayed your Empire, Governor, was the day I finally stopped betraying myself," Kallus countered.
"Same with me, Governor," Lyste said, agreeing with the former ISB/Fulcrum agent, "And as I said for the reason for my defection was when Thrawn killed that factory worker just to prove a point, and your role as governor is to serve the people of Lothal, not for your own gain."
"And as I stated yesterday, Governor, the main reason for my defection was because you ordered to have the fuel depot for the TIE Defenders to be destroyed when the rebels were rescuing Hera Syndulla," Crosshair told Pryce, reminding her of why he defected from the Empire the day before, causing her to look at them in shock for their reasons for defections from the Empire.
"The three of you have given up years of service, promising careers, prestige, for what? To join a band of failures who don't stand a chance," Pryce remarked.
"I think we do…" Satele told her as she walked down the Ghost's ramp with Hera, "Especially with your help."
"I will never help you," Pryce said, chuckling in disbelief at what she just heard the Mandalorian suggest.
"Uh, yes, you will. It will be your last act as Governor of Lothal," Satele told her, "You're finally gonna do the right thing for the people of Lothal and help free your home world."
"I will do no such thing," Pryce told her.
"Okay, if that's your choice," Satele remarked before whistling to the white Loth-Wolf, who stood behind Pryce as it began walking towards her and barked at her as it snapped its jaws as Pryce fell onto her back and backed away towards Satele gasping in shock as the Mandalorian stood above her.
"You're acting like Mical Saxon, Yelena Saxon and Elsa Kast," Pryce told the Mandalorian.
"Who?" Satele asked her.
"Mical is the current governor of Mandalore and the son of the late Governor Tiber Saxon of Mandalore and Yelena is his wife," Pryce answered, "And Elsa is the twin sister of the late Commander Rook Kast of the Imperial super commandos."
"Rook Kast had a twin sister?" Satele said with shock and surprise in her voice, "How did I not know about this?"
"She wasn't well known before taking her sister's place as countess of Clan Kast and commander of the Imperial super commandos after her sister perished on board of Governor Tiber Saxon's Star Destroyer," Pryce explained.
"And how do you know all this?" Satele asked her.
"I know all of this is because I'm an Imperial governor," Pryce answered, "We know more of what's happening on other planets besides the ones we're governors of than Imperial senators do. Like I know that your side in the Mandalorian Civil War is losing against the Imperial forces in Mandalore space."
"I don't believe you, Governor," Satele told her as she placed her right hand over her hip, "But like I said, you could refuse to help us or you could transmit the victory code, and then we could fly to the Capital as your prisoners. If the odds are against us as bad as you say, what do you have to lose?"
"Fine. I'll do it," Pryce said, giving in to Satele's suggestion as the white Loth-Wolf continued to snarl above her, "Just call off your dog."
"I don't know about this plan, Rex," Gregor told Rex as they stood in the troop bay of an Imperial patrol transport with Cody, Echo, Wrecker, Omega, Jesse, Appo, Ketsu, Hondo and Melch with Tech piloting the Imperial gunship as the clones and the Mandalorian bounty hunter holding onto the rail above them, while Echo wore stormtrooper armor with a stormtrooper's helmet under his arm and Omega wearing a gray colored Imperial officer's uniform and tunic with an Imperial lieutenant's rank plaque over the left side of the tunic and a cap over her head instead of their armors.
"In my experience, when it comes to Jedi and Mandalorians, the worse the plan, the better the result," Rex assured him as he and Cody wore stormtrooper armors with stormtrooper helmets under their arms.
"Thank you for removing my inhibitor chip, Rex," Jesse told Rex, "I still cannot believe that I called Ahsoka a traitor when Order 66 was executed and our inhibitor chips activated."
"Yeah, thanks for removing our inhibitor chips, Rex," Appo said, agreeing with Rex, "And I still cannot believe that we were acting like Dogma when we participated in the battle of Umbara when we were under General Krell's command after General Skywalker was ordered to return to Coruscant by the order of the then Chancellor and now Emperor Palpatine."
"Echo, Wrecker and Omega, thank you for giving me a second chance," Crosshair told his fellow genetic defective clone brothers and sister, "And thank you for accepting me back into your squad."
"I'm glad you defected and rejoined us, Crosshair," Omega said, happily as she looked at him.
"I forgive you for that time you shot at me while we were escaping Kamino shortly after we were arrested by Tarkin," Wrecker told Crosshair.
"I agree with Omega, Crosshair, I'm glad that you're back on our side and not the Empire's," Echo said, agreeing with the female clone.
"Again, thanks for giving me a second chance," Crosshair told them as he smiled at them.
"We also know that it wasn't your fault that you fully went with the Empire after we were imprisoned in the holding cells on Kamino, Crosshair," Tech said from the pilot's seat of the Imperial patrol transport, "Sometime after the fall of Kamino, we found out that the main reason why you fully went with the Empire was because Tarkin ordered Nala Se to enhance the strength of your inhibitor chip."
"How do you know about that, Tech?" Crosshair asked him with surprise in his voice.
"We found out from a high ranking Imperial officer, who knew what Tarkin ordered what the Kaminoan did to you while we were imprisoned," Tech answered.
Meanwhile on the other Imperial patrol transport across from the one that Rex, most of the Bad Batch were on, Satele was was standing next to her sister with both of them wearing scout trooper uniforms as Janus stood next to her as he also wore a scout trooper uniform with their scout trooper helmets' visors flipped upwards, while Kallus stood behind them, wearing a black colored Imperial officer's uniform with Lyste standing next to him as they held onto the rail above them with Pryce and Ryder standing nearby as Hera was piloting the Imperial gunship.
"Hey, you okay, Sis?" Sabine asked Satele as she turned to her as noticed her uneasiness.
"Yeah, are you alright, Satele?" Janus asked his girlfriend as he turned to her and noticed her uneasiness as well.
"It's just something that Pryce said while we were interrogating her with the white Loth-Wolf," Satele told them, "She told me that our side in the Mandalorian civil war was losing and that Mical Saxon, Tiber Saxon's son became governor after his father was killed on board his Star Destroyer with Rook Kast when we along with Bo-Katan infiltrated the Star Destroyer to destroy your weapon that disintegrates Beskar, Sabine. And his wife, Yelena joined him in ruling Mandalore by his side along with Rook Kast's twin sister, Elsa Kast, who wasn't well known before her death taking her sister's place as commander of the Imperial super commandos."
"It's just probably just a trap, Teal'ika," Janus assured her.
"I know, Jan'ika, but what if she's right and our side in the Mandalorian Civil War is on the verge of losing the war?" Satele asked him.
"How about we help out and rejoin our people in the Mandalorian Civil War if we hear about anything or have a Force Vision that indicates trouble for them, Satele?" Sabine suggested.
"You would go back to Mandalore space and help our people if something bad is going to happen to them, Sis?" Satele asked her sister with a shocked expression.
"I would," Sabine confirmed, "It's the right thing to do, Sat, and it's honorable instead of just letting them die."
"Anyways, it's a good idea, Bine," Satele told her sister.
"We're coming up on the capital. Better get ready," they suddenly heard Hera say on Sabine's comlink as she held it in her left hand.
"Copy. Head for platform zero delta," Sabine told Hera with her comlink.
"The command center? You're going to attempt to launch the dome," Pryce realized, "Your plan is worse than I thought."
"Mmm, bolder," Satele said, correcting Pryce, "You mean more bolder than you thought."
"More creative than you thought," Sabine stated, agreeing with her sister.
"And more honorable than you thought," Janus added, agreeing with both his girlfriend and her sister.
"Now about these landing codes…" Kallus told Pryce as he handed her his comlink.
"And remember, both me and Kallus will know if they're correct," Lyste stated as he placed his hands over his hips.
"Gladly," she said as she took the comlink from Kallus, "The sooner we land, the sooner you will be my prisoners." The two Imperial patrol transports soon neared one of the Imperial Complex's landing platforms as she spoke into the comlink, "Executive code 6-2-7-3-1-1."
"Code's authorized, Governor. You're cleared to land," an Imperial navy officer said from inside the Imperial Complex's command center, "Security will take the prisoners on the platform."
With that said, the two Imperial patrol transports landed on the landing platform with Rex, Cody and Echo as they had the stormtrooper helmets that they had over their heads, while Appo, Crosshair and Jesse followed them with their helmets over their heads along with Omega as they walked down the ramp of the Imperial patrol transport that they were on, pretending to be Imperials with Wrecker, Melch, Hondo, Gregor and Ketsu as their 'prisoners,' while Sabine, Satele and Janus, who had their scout trooper helmets flipped down walked down the ramp of their Imperial patrol transport with Kallus, Lyste, Zeb, Ryder and Pryce with the three Mandalorians, Kallus and Lyste pretending to be Imperials as well with Zeb and Ryder as their 'prisoners' as well, while three stormtroopers with one of them having an orange pauldron, wielding E-11 blaster rifles walking out of the Imperial Complex and onto the landing platform as they went to greet them.
"Nice and easy, Governor," Kallus told Pryce as he aimed a blaster pistol at her back as they approached the two stormtroopers and the one with the orange pauldron as Echo hid his cybernetic right socket-arm behind his back.
"Lieutenants, Commander," the stormtrooper with an orange pauldron said, greeting Lyste, Omega and Crosshair, surprising Omega as she realized that the rank plaque was that of an Imperial lieutenant, which neither of the stormtroopers noticed, "We'll take it from here."
"They're all yours," Satele told them.
"But make sure to keep the abnormal clone contained," Janus added as Zeb growled.
"Hey, you two, look out!" The stormtrooper with an orange pauldron warned them as they aimed and cocked their E-11 blaster rifles at Zeb and Wrecker as they saw that Zeb was about to attack Satele, while Wrecker was about to attack Janus, "Move!" Zeb then pushed Satele towards the stormtroopers before jumping over them and began running towards the entrance of the Imperial Complex as Wrecker pushed Janus aside before swiping the stormtroopers across the landing platform before he grabbed his DC-17m Repeating Blaster Rifle and began firing blaster bolts at the stormtroopers with it.
"Stop them!" Satele ordered the stormtroopers as they began firing their E-11 blaster rifles at Zeb and Wrecker before Satele and Sabine grabbed their lightsabers and ignited their blades and slashed them against the stormtroopers' E-11 blaster rifles before they extended their arms out as they used the Force to push them away, causing one of the stormtroopers in the distance near box-shaped containers on the landing platform to aim and fire their E-11 blaster rifle at Satele and Sabine.
"Ensign, there are rebels on the landing platform," the stormtrooper commander said, contacting the Imperial officer in the Imperial Complex's command center, "Two of which are the Mandalorian Jedi, Sabine and Satele Wren."
"Are you certain, Commander?" The ensign asked the stormtrooper commander before seeing Sabine and Satele on the landing platform through the command center's window and realized that the stormtrooper commander was correct and turned to the other Imperial officers inside the Imperial Complex's command center, "Alert security! Seal the blast doors!"
As the Einsign said that, Zeb rushed over to the blast doors and held it open with his arms and legs as Sabine, Echo and Ketsu rushed into the Imperial Complex after Sabine deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it onto the belt of her scout trooper disguise as his strength began to strain as the door continued to close before he gave up and entered the Imperial Complex as well.
"Echo, get that door open!" Sabine ordered Echo as stormtroopers appeared and began firing at them with their E-11 blaster rifles, "And try to jam their comm systems!" Sabine then grabbed her lightsaber from her scout trooper disguise and reignited its blade again to deflect the stormtroopers' blaster bolts back at them, while Ketsu fired her blaster at them as Echo began to unlock the blast door with the panel on the side of the door.
Satele began to use both of her lightsabers to deflect the stormtroopers' blaster bolts as she rushed over behind a group of box-shaped containers with Kallus as he pushed Pryce behind the box-shaped containers with them as Kallus fired upon the stormtroopers with his Imperial disguise's blaster pistol with Lyste doing the same with his blaster pistol as Omega did the same with the blaster of her Imperial disguise, while Hondo, Melch, Wrecker, Crosshair, Jesse, Appo, Gregor and Appo hid behind another group of box-shaped containers as Janus fired upon the stormtroopers with his scout trooper blaster pistol alongside Kallus as the stormtroopers began to rush towards them, only for two of them to be shot in their chests by Hera and Tech with their blaster pistols after they left the Imperial patrol transports that they were piloting with Chopper following Hera before they began firing their blaster pistol at the other stormtroopers in their chests as well, knocking them to the ground.
"Go, go, go!" Hera ordered the others as she and Tech ran past them as they all got out of hiding and followed them as Wrecker picked up the Imperial patrol transport with his super-strength and threw it at the remaining stormtroopers on the landing platform before following the others.
"How's that door coming?" Sabine asked Ketsu as she deflected one of the stormtroopers' blaster bolts back at them with her lightsaber, while Ketsu fired blaster bolts at the other stormtrooper as they knocked both stormtroopers to the floor.
"Got it!" Echo announced as the panel next to the blast door beeped and chirped as it slid open with the others running towards the blast door from the landing platform.
"Nice work," Zeb complimented the clone.
"What about the comm systems?" Ketsu asked Echo as Sabine deactivated her lightsaber's blade.
"They're all locked down," Echo answered, "Now, we should get everyone inside."
"I know my way to the command center," Lyste told everyone as he ran down the corridor as he ran down the corridor, heading towards the command center.
"Hey, purple guy!" Hondo called out to Zeb, "Get in position!"
"Good luck," Ketsu told the Lasat as she, Sabine and Echo followed Lyste down the corridor, while he rushed out of the Imperial Complex as Hondo made a square with his fingers.
"Okay, okay, getting there. RIght there, and stop!" Hondo said as Zeb stopped walking towards him and stood right in front of him before he turned to Melch, who was approaching them, "Melch, back further, a little more. Go, bah-bah-bah."
"Can you get us in?" Hera asked Sabine as they, Echo, Lyste, Ketsu, Janus, Rex, Cody, Gregor, Jesse, Appo, Tech, Wrecker, Omega and Crosshair reached the door that leads to the command center as Sabine began trying to unlock the sealed door with the panel next to it.
"Give me a minute," Sabine answered.
"Where is the security detail?" The Ensign asked an Imperial technician that was standing around a diagnostic and control console as an Imperial officer and another Imperial technician aimed their blaster pistols at the door.
"Communications have been cut off," the Imperial technician reported.
"Satele, we are in position," Hondo said, contacting Satele as he held a comlink in his hand as Melch had his hands on the floor of the landing platform.
"Sabine?" Satele said, turning to her sister as she had her finger on the side of her scout trooper disguise's helmet as she was using its built-in comlink.
"Okay," Sabine replied as she turned around towards her.
"Hondo, go," Satele told the Weequay pirate.
"Now!" Hondo ordered Melch, who ran towards Zeb, who had his hands extended outwards with his palms upwards before throwing Melch into the air towards the command center after Melch ran onto Zeb's hands, "They can fly."
As this happened, Melch landed on the outside ceiling of the command center, causing the Ensign and the other Imperials to fire their blaster pistols at him, only for the blaster bolts to not hit him and just hit the ceiling and ricochet off of it instead.
"That's our cue," Satele said as they all rushed into the command center as both she and Sabine reignited their lightsabers as Satele used the Force to leap over towards the Ensign on the deck at the edge of the room and used one of her sabers to swipe his blaster pistol away and aimed her saber at his neck as everyone else but Sabine aimed their blaster riles and blaster pistols at the other Imperial officers with Sabine aiming her saber at one of the Imperial officers' necks as the Ensign noticed Lyste standing with them, while the other Imperial officers folded their legs and got on the floor as Melch slid down the ceiling.
"Traitors!" The Ensign yelled at Lyste and Crosshair in anger and disbelief in his voice, "Why would you lower yourself to side with the terrorists, Lyste?! And Commander Crosshair, I thought I knew you better than to side with the rebels."
Satele flipped her scout trooper helmet's visor up, while Sabine removed her scout trooper's helmet from her head after deactivating her lightsaber and clipping her lightsaber back onto the belt of her scout trooper disguise as she began to hack into one of the computer consoles as Satele motioned the Ensign towards the other Imperial officers as he folded his legs and placed his hands over his head like the others with her scout trooper's blaster pistol after deactivating and clipping her lightsabers onto the belt of her scout trooper disguise as Kallus entered the command center and walked over to the computer console next to Sabine as Rex, Cody and Echo removed their stormtrooper helmets from their heads and placed them under their arms.
"Rex, Cody, Janus, Omega, Tech, Echo, Wrecker and Crosshair, lock them in the storage bin," Satele ordered her boyfriend and the clones as she looked at them.
"Yes, ma'am, Commander," Rex replied as he, Janus and the Bad Batch began to escort the Ensign and the other Imperial officers towards the storage bin as Janus and the Bad Batch aimed their blasters at them.
"Into the storage bin," Omega ordered the Ensign and the Imperial officers as they walked into the storage bin, while Pryce, who was escorted into the command center by Ryder as he aimed an E-11 blaster rifle at her back as Zeb followed him into the command center.
"It's only a matter of time before you're discovered. You can't hope to defeat my forces," Pryce told them as Ryder forced her onto the floor.
"Defeat them?" Sabine repeated, "Hmm, not planning to. But we do want them all in the dome."
"We'll utilize protocol 13," Kallus stated.
"The Empire's new order, for the immediate recall of all personnel to the base for a full evacuation," Hera explained to Pryce.
"Once they're inside, we'll launch, and it'll be goodbye to the Empire," Ryder added as Satele walked up next to him.
"How do you know about protocol 13?" Pryce asked them with shock in her voice.
"They learned about protocol 13 from our Fulcrum agent," Lyste explained.
"And who is this Fulcrum agent of yours?" Pryce asked them.
"You don't need to know," Echo told her as Hera walked up next to Satele and Ryder.
"Specter-2 to base," Hera said, contacting their base with her comlink as she held it in her hand.
"We're in, and we've taken the dome. Wait for me to signal pickup," Hera said on Wolffe's comlink as he walked off of the Ghost's ramp with Hunter walking down the Marauder's ramp as Vizago, Jai and Mart approached them with Vizago and Mart carrying a container in their hands as Jai walked with them, while Howzer and his Lieutenants were guarding Arrow, Shield, Taser and Stark, who had their helmets removed, stripped of their weapons and stuncuffs over their wrists.
"Acknowledged, Specter-2. Nice work. We're standing by," Wolffe responded as he spoke into his comlink.
"I forgot to tell you guys, Satele gave me a special mission," Mart told Wolffe, Hunter, Howzer, Khan, Spinner and Vizago.
"She also gave me the same mission," Jai stated when Rukh, who was watching in the distance, hid with Starkiller, who had his helmet back over his head before they rushed towards the rebels.
"What are you both talking about?" Vizago asked Mart and Jai with confusion in his voice.
"Yeah, what did she tell you both before she and the others went to the dome?" Hunter said, agreeing with the Devaronian.
"Me, Khan and Spinner want to know as well," Howzer told Mart and Jai, agreeing with Vizago and Hunter before they saw Rukh and Starkiller rushing towards them, causing everyone to widen their eyes as they saw Starkiller.
"Watch out!" Vizago warned everybody as Rukh leaped onto him, knocking him to the ground as the Noghri landed a few feet away from him as Starkiller extended his hand out towards Wolffe and used the Force to push him backwards and knocked him towards a box-shaped container nearby, causing him to fall unconscious before Rukh kicked Hunter to the ground as Mart went to fire his blaster pistol at the Noghri, only for Rukh to knock it out of his hand and kicked him towards the container that he was carrying with Vizago before Rukh and Starkiller appeared.
Jai then began rushing towards Starkiller, only for the Inquisitor to extend his hand towards him and used the Force to lift him up before using the Force to knock him backwards towards a box-shaped container, knocking him out as well before Howzer and his lieutenants rushed towards him as well before he lifted them up with the Force as well and threw them towards the same box-shaped container that he threw Wolffe and Jai towards as they were also knocked unconscious.
As this happened, Hunter ran up to Rukh and grabbed him from behind before Rukh headbutted him with the top of his head before throwing Hunter towards the side of the container as he also fell unconscious like Mart, Jai, Wolffe, Hunter, Howzer, Khan, Spinner and Vizago.
Starkiller grabbed his lightsaber from his hip, which had been reconnected together as he approached Arrow, Shield, Taser and Stark and ignited one of its blades and slashed the lightsaber blade that was ignited against their stuncuffs, freeing the four Purge Troopers.
"Are you four alright?" Starkiller asked them before they all nodded a response and after he deactivated his lightsaber's blade and clipped it back onto his armor's belt, "I'll go get your weapons from the rebels' ship." He then ran into the Ghost and grabbed the Purge Troopers' weapons and handed them back to Arrow, Shield, Taser and Stark as Rukh walked forwards towards the rebels and grabbed Mart's blaster pistol and aimed it at him before they all heard a Loth-Wolf growling and snarling before they all saw the White Loth-Wolf running towards them and grabbed the blaster pistol with its mouth before tossing it aside, "Arrow, Shield, Taser and Stark, get in the gunship!"
The four Purge Troopers entered one of the Imperial patrol transports' troop bays with its canopy raised upwards as Rukh jumped upwards and threw a thermal detonator at the White Loth-Wolf as he activated it with it exploding as the White Loth-Wolf jumped away from the detonator as both Rukh and Starkiller entered the Imperial patrol transport's cockpit as the White Loth-Wolf stood back up and rushed towards the Imperial patrol transport as Rukh powered up the Imperial patrol transport as the canopy lowered over the cockpit before the White Loth-Wolf bashed its head against the window of the Imperial patrol transport's canopy as it took off and began to fly away from the rebel base with the White Loth-Wolf attempting to chase them before stopping as the Imperial patrol transport flew out of range as the White Loth-Wolf growled at them.
"What have you to report, Rukh?" A hologram of Thrawn asked Rukh as a hologram of the Chiss Grand Admiral appeared in front of him and Starkiller in the Imperial patrol transport's cockpit after Starkiller removed his helmet from his head and switched on the ship's holocommunicator before turning to Starkiller as he noticed him, "I see that Lord Vader has dispatched you to Lothal, Inquisitor."
"He did, Grand Admiral," Starkiller said, confirming the Chiss' suspicions, "He also allowed me to bring my Purge Troopers, Commander Stark, Sergeant Taser, Corporal Shield and Lieutenant Arrow."
"So what do you both have to report?" Thrawn asked them.
"The rebels have captured Pryce," Rukh answered, "I have no doubts they've used her codes to infiltrate the Imperial headquarters. To what purpose, I do not know."
"I expected Governor Pryce to fail, but not so completely," Thrawn told him, "Do you or your Purge Troopers have any idea, Thirteenth Brother?"
"We think we have an idea," Arrow said as he walked behind the cockpit, "We suspect that the rebels are going to use her codes to launch the dome."
"What do you want me, Arrow, Taser and Shield to do, Grand Admiral?" Stark asked the Chiss as he appeared next to Arrow.
"Commander Stark, Sergeant Taser, Corporal Shield, Lieutenant Arrow and Rukh, you five must get inside and deactivate the shield generator before the Rebels lock down the Imperial Dome," Thrawn told them from the holotable on the Chimaera's bridge.
"Yes, sir!" All four Purge Troopers said at the same time.
"And then?" Rukh asked Thrawn.
"Then, wait. I'm already en route," Thrawn answered, "And Thirteenth Brother, I want you to come meet me on my Star Destroyer once I return to Lothal."
"As you wish, Grand Admiral," Starkiller told him as the holotable's holoprojector turned off as Thrawn began walking across his Star Destroyer's bridge towards the viewport with his arms behind his back as the Chimaera was traveling through Hyperspace.
Satele, Sabine and Janus were out of their scout trooper armors and had their Beskar plates back over their undersuits as Cody, Echo and Omega did the same with their stormtrooper and Imperial disguises and were now wearing their armors again as Lyste was out of his Imperial lieutenant's uniform and was now wearing a standard earth colored rebel officer's uniform as Crosshair was out of his Elite Clone Trooper's armor and was now wearing his armor from before the Republic became the Empire.
"Sis, we're ready," Sabine informed Satele as she looked at her sister.
"Kallus, you're up," Satele told Kallus as she walked up to the former ISB/Fulcrum agent.
"Attention, all personnel. Protocol 13 is now in effect," Kallus said, speaking into the communications system of the command center with his voice going to the halls and hangar bay of the Imperial Complex as well as in Capital City, while the Imperial patrol transport that Rukh and Starkiller were piloting landed inside the hangar in front of two Death Troopers wielding E-11D blaster carbines as Rukh and the Purge Troopers, who had their helmets over their heads and their weapons over their backs exited the gunship as the two Death Troopers approached them, "Report to your action stations immediately. Repeat. Protocol 13 is in effect."
"Hangar 2-7 to Command," an Imperial officer said from a station within a hangar within one of the Imperial Complex's hangars into his communications system, "Please confirm lockdown order."
"Command to all units. The order is confirmed," Kallus confirmed with the communications system.
"This is highly irregular," the Imperial officer said with confusion from the communications system, "Please repeat sector authorization."
"Lyste, get ready to contact him," Satele whispered to Lyste.
"Repeat. The order is confirmed," Kallus told the Imperial officer as Lyste walked over to one of the communication systems to contact Yularen.
"We're ready, Colonel," Lyste whispered to Yularen through the communications system.
"This is ISB Colonel Yularen, I am executing override code Base Gamma Zero," Yularen informed the Imperial officer from one of the other communication systems in the command center, surprising Pryce as she widened her eyes as she realized that he was a rebel spy.
"Imperial security? I was unaware ISB was involved," the Imperial officer said with confusion from the communications system.
"That is the point of this exercise," Yularen explained.
"Then this is a drill?" The Imperial officer asked Yularen from Hangar 2-7.
"Is it? And do you always question the orders of a superior officer?" Yularen asked the Imperial officer from the other communications system in the command center.
"Proceeding with protocol 13 immediately," the Imperial officer relented after a few seconds of hesitation and clearing his throat.
"Thanks, Colonel," Satele told Yularen.
"Yeah, thanks for helping convince them to proceed with protocol 13, Colonel Yularen," Janus said, agreeing with Satele.
"No problem, always happy to help the Rebellion," Yularen told them as he ended communications with them.
Meanwhile down in Capital City below, scout troopers riding speeder bikes, Imperial troop transports and AT-DPs began heading back to the Imperial Complex as TIE fighters did the same and flew into the hangars of the Imperial Complex, while Starkiller piloted the Imperial patrol transport that he, Rukh and the Purge Troopers entered one of the Imperial Complex's hangar bays on back out of the Imperial Complex as the doors of the hangar bays and the troop entrances began closing themselves shut.
"All personnel, report to your stations. Protocol 13 is in effect," a feminine voice said from the Imperial Complex's intercom, which the populous of Capital City could hear.
"All units have returned to their duty stations, and the dome is now secure," Kallus reported to Satele.
"Hera, Omega, start the launch cycle," Satele ordered Hera before turning to her sister and Tech, "Sabine, Tech, set the self-destruct."
"We do have a way off this thing before it explodes… Right?" Hondo asked everyone.
"Yeah, well, do we?" Wrecker said, agreeing with the Weequay pirate.
"That's where both the Ghost and Marauder come in and pick us up," Hera answered as she and Omega began to start the Imperial Complex's launch cycle.
"All right, let's get airborne," Zeb said as he stood behind Hera, Omega and Hondo with Ketsu, who had her arms crossed.
"These thrusters haven't been fired in years. Gonna take time to prime them," Hera told him as Satele crossed her arms.
"It could take from ten minutes up to an hour," Omega added.
"And let's hope that the self-destruct still works, considering how long the dome has been here on Lothal," Tech said as he and Sabine were setting the self-destruct sequence.
"I'm sure it still works, Tech," Sabine assured the clone.
"You're too late," Pryce said with a sinister smirk on her face as she saw the Chimaera hover above the Imperial Complex and Capital City.
"Is that who I think it is?" Echo asked everyone.
"You're right, Echo," Lyste said, confirming Echo's suspicions.
"It's Thrawn," Kallus stated.
"Shutting down the launch cycle," Hera announced as she began to shut down the Imperial Complex's launch cycle.
"On it!" Omega said as she began to help Hera shut down the Imperial Complex's launch cycle.
"No. We can't just sit here," Ketsu protested.
"Thrawn is holding position directly overhead. If we launch the dome, we'll crash into his ship and destroy the entire city," Hera explained to the Mandalorian bounty hunter.
"She's got a point, Ketsu," Janus said, agreeing with Hera, "It's either we stop the launch and spare the citizens of Capital City from being a casualty of war or we launch the dome into Thrawn's Star Destroyer, destroying the city and killing everyone within it."
"You both make compelling arguments," Ketsu stated.
"Karabast. We're trapped," Zeb cursed to himself.
"From what I heard from reputation, Thrawn will most likely try to decimate Capital City," Crosshair stated, "You better contact him before he does so, Satele."
"Chopper, you better do as he says and put me through," Satele ordered Chopper, who grunted a response as he plugged his scomp link into the astromech port at the computer console in front of them before holograms of Thrawn and Starkiller appeared before them with Starkiller standing behind Thrawn with his arms behind his back.
"Starkiller," Sabine muttered as she saw the Inquisitor standing behind Thrawn.
"Governor Pryce is our prisoner, we've removed Commander Appo and ARC Commander Jesse's inhibitor chips from their brains, and we have complete control of the Imperial dome, with every trooper, pilot and officer trapped inside," Satele said as she approached the hologram of the Chiss Grand Admiral, "You failed, Thrawn. Leave Lothal, and we might let your troops out before we blow the dome to pieces."
"Are you quite finished?" Thrawn asked her, "If you truly wish to save Lothal, Commander Wren, the only term I'll accept is you and your twin sister, Captain Sabine Wren's immediate and unconditional surrender."
"Why would me and my sister both surrender when we hold your army prisoner?" Satele asked him with disbelief.
"You and your sister were both successful in getting all Imperial forces into the dome, the both of you also made them all safe from attack and given me a clear shot at Lothal's capital, now you both will surrender or I will bombard Lothal until it is nothing but a molten rock," Thrawn corrected her, causing both Satele and Sabine to widen their eyes in horror.
"Rex, Cody, raise the planetary shields!" Sabine ordered Rex and Cody as they were standing around two of the diagnostic and control consoles.
"We can't!" Cody told her.
"He's right. The generators just went offline!" Rex reported, agreeing with his fellow clone brother.
"Shield generator powered down," an Imperial technician reported to Rukh, Arrow, Shield, Taser and Stark from one of the power generator rooms with Rukh and the Purge Troopers standing on a ledge above him as the generators in the room powered down.
"It looks like someone's engaged the manual override at the power terminals!" Janus stated as he stared at a diagram of the Imperial Complex with the rooms that had power generators within them blinking red.
"Satele, Sabine, please do as the Grand Admiral says,"Starkiller urged both Mandalorian Jedi Knights, "I don't want the people of Lothal to suffer or their planet to be destroyed like what happened to some planets in history."
"Your shield generator is under my control," Thrawn told Satele and Sabine, "Do as what the Thirteenth Brother said and just so you understand that my intentions are genuine, I shall demonstrate my power while you think of the planet that you were raised on for 11 years after your father gave you to the Bridgers, Satele." He then turned to an Imperial officer standing inside one of the Chimaera's crew pits, "Open fire."
With that said, the turbolasers of the Chimaera and two other Star Destroyers began firing upon the city below after the Imperial officer that was standing inside one of the Chimaera's crew pits gestured the gunnery officers to open fire with civilians running for their lives as everyone watched in horror as Chimaera and the two other Star Destroyers devastating the city with a holoprojector in front of them with buildings getting damaged, and civilians getting wounded, while others were killed by the turbolasers.
"Enough! We surrender!" Satele and Sabine both told Thrawn at the same time, not wanting Lothal to be destroyed and with that, the turbolasers of the Chimaera and the other two Star Destroyers stopped firing upon Lothal.
"I await the arrival of the two of you. And make no mistake, come with each other and bring no one else with the two of you. If either of you attempt any heroics, I will resume the bombardment and destroy the planet and then both your boyfriend, Satele as well as your friends," Thrawn said as the hologram of him and Starkiller switched off.
"Satele, Sabine…" Hera called out to Satele and Sabine as she handed her lightsaber with the green blade to Janus before she handed her lightsaber with the green blade to Chopper with Sabine doing the same with her lightsaber as well along with their WESTAR-35s before they both went to walk out of the room, "I understand that you both think you both need to do this, but…"
"We have to do this or if we don't more people will die," Satele told her.
"And Thrawn will destroy this planet," Sabine added.
"I don't want to lose either of you the way I lost Kanan," Hera told both Mandalorian Jedi Knights.
"Hera, let them go," Janus pleaded with her as he approached her, "They need to do this overwise Thrawn will destroy Lothal."
"How can you be so willing to let them go and meet Thrawn, Janus?" Hera asked him with confusion in her voice, "Satele's your girlfriend and Sabine could one day be your sister-in-law."
"Because it's honorable for them to meet him on his Star Destroyer, Hera," Janus answered, "And self sacrifice is part of both the Mandalorian code of honor and the Jedi Code."
"I guess you make a good point, Janus," Hera stated before turning to the twins, "You two can go."
"Thanks, Hera," Sabine told her, thanking her for letting her and Satele go and meet Thrawn on the Chimaera.
"Yeah, thank you, Hera," Satele said, agreeing with her twin sister as they began to leave the command center.
"Satele, can I tell you something before you go?" Janus asked his girlfriend.
"Sure," Satele answered as she approached her boyfriend, "What is it?"
"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Teal'ika," Janus told her in Mando'a, causing her to smile.
"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, too, Jan'ika," Satele replied in Mando'a before he gave her a quick kiss, "See you when this is all over."
"Yeah, you too," Janus said as Satele continued following her sister out of the room.
"Let's see what else we can do while Satele and Sabine are with Thrawn," Hera told everyone as the twins left the room.
"Charge up the dome's cannon. We'll blow him out of the sky," Zeb said as a hologram of the Imperial Complex and the Chimaera appeared around one of the diagnostic and control consoles as Rex and Cody left the ones that they were standing within, while unbeknownst to everyone, Echo snuck out of the command center and went in the opposite direction that both Satele and Sabine were running in.
"Yeah, that's a good plan, Zeb," Wrecker told Zeb, agreeing with him.
"I agree, Captain Orrelios, I believe that is our only way of defeating Thrawn," Crosshair stated, agreeing with both the Lasat and Wrecker.
"Easy. Our turbolasers are no match for that Star Destroyer," Rex told them, arguing against Zeb's suggestion.
I agree with you, Rex," Cody said, agreeing with him, "The dome's turbolasers are not equipped to take on a Star Destroyer."
"Even if we do blow him out of the sky, we don't want him to crash down onto the city," Kallus added.
"The only way is to find a way to get the shield up," Hera stated.
"Hera, over here," Tech called out to Hera as he walked towards the Imperial Complex's schematics and began to point at it, "We should use the primary schematic if we're going to find a way to raise the shield. We need to get down here and take control of the power terminals."
"How do we get past all the Imperials we've locked in here with us?" Zeb asked as he, Lyste and Kallus approached the schematics as well.
"We can bypass the upper barracks levels using the executive turbo lifts," Kallus explained.
"That's a great plan, Kallus," Jesse told the former ISB/Fulcrum agent.
"I agree, that is a great plan," Appo said, agreeing with Jesse.
"So, we got a plan to get the shield up. The trick is to pull it off before Thrawn starts firing anyways," Hera stated as they finished planning on getting the planetary shields back up, "I hope Satele and Sabine can both stall Thrawn long enough for our plan to succeed."
"Let's hope they do all right," Rex said as they saw the only remaining Imperial patrol transport fly up into the air, heading towards the Chimaera with Satele piloting it and Sabine co-piloting the Imperial gunship.
"I'm sure they will," Janus assured them, "Satele's my girlfriend and they're both Mandalorians like me after all and Force-Sensitives one at that."
"I agree with him," Omega said, agreeing with the Mandalorian, "And besides, the best way we can help is to get that shield up, so when Satele and Sabine make their move, we're ready. We have to assume the generator room will be well-guarded, so we'll need two teams to hit it from different sides if we're gonna capture both power terminals. That is, if you agree, Hera."
"It's a good plan. The best chance we've got," Hera told her, agreeing with the female clone, "How were you able to come up with a good plan, Omega?"
"I'm good at strategy," Omega explained before noticing that Echo had been silent the entire time while they were coming up with a plan as she and everyone but Kallus looked around for him, only to find that he was missing, "Where's Echo?"
"He's on a special mission for Fulcrum," Kallus answered before Chopper grunted from the astromech port with his scomp link still plugged into it.
"Stormtroopers," Tech said, translating what Chopper just said as a stormtrooper with an orange pauldron was leading a squad of stormtroopers as they rushed over to the entrance of the command center on the other side as everyone in the room but Pryce got into battle position as everyone grabbed their blasters and Zygerrian energy bow from their holsters and backs.
"It appears my troops have decided that your drill is over," Pryce stated with a smirk.
As soon as Satele landed the Imperial patrol transport inside one of the Chimaera's hangar bays, the Star Destroyer's alarms went off as she and Sabine both left the gunship's cockpit as a woman with light skin, brown eyes and dark brown hair that was cut short wearing the uniform of an Imperial officer with a cap over her hair along with a rank insignia over her right chest indicating that she was a commodore with a stylized expression of a Chimera painted on both of her uniform's shoulders, showing that she was a member of the Seventh Fleet along with a squad of stormtroopers with orange pauldrons rushing into the hangar bay with her.
"Do you both surrender?" The commodore asked the twins.
"Why else would we be here?" Satele answered.
"Satele's right," Sabine said, agreeing with her sister, "We wouldn't be here if we weren't surrendering to Thrawn."
The commodore then gestured the stormtroopers with orange pauldrons to place stuncuffs on both Mandalorian Jedi Knights, "If you both must know, I am Commodore Karyn Faro of the Seventh Fleet," the commodore said, introducing herself to both Mandalorians as the stormtroopers with orange pauldrons place stuncuffs over their wrists, "Now, let's take you both to the Grand Admiral, he's expecting you both."
"Admiral, I bring to you, Sabine and Satele Wren," Faro informed Thrawn as she along with a few of the stormtroopers with orange pauldrons brought both Mandalorians to Thrawn in his office as he sat at his desk with Starkiller standing behind him.
"Very good, you may leave us, Commodore," Thrawn told Faro.
"As you wish, Grand Admiral," Faro replied as she left Thrawn's office.
"It was wise for you both to surrender," Thrawn told both Mandalorian Jedi Knights.
"We didn't have much choice," Satele responded as the stormtroopers with orange pauldrons followed Faro out of Thrawn's office with the door sliding shut as they left both Mandalorians, Chiss and Inquisitor.
"Satele's right, Admiral, it was either this or let you destroy Lothal," Sabine said, agreeing with Satele as she had a tone of distaste in her voice, "But I never thought I would meet you in person like this."
"Oh, nonsense. You both could have chosen to let the people of Lothal to die and let it be destroyed until nothing but a molten rock remained. However, you both chose to be Jedi and Mandalorian ones at that which is unfortunate," Thrawn told them as he stood up, "You both follow a long history written by the Jedi, where they choose what they believe to be morally correct, instead of strategically sound, but with the both of you, you've added some Mandalorian qualities to it like some parts of the Mandalorian code of honor.
"And yet, the Jedi and Mandalorians have both survived," Satele countered.
"She is right, both our people and the Jedi have survived countless purges against them," Sabine said, agreeing with her sister.
"Hmm, the Jedi once numbered in the thousands. What's left are a scattered, frightened lot, mostly beaten and are in hiding, or poorly trained children or young adults like yourselves," Thrawn told them as he picked up the Jedi temple guard mask that was on his desk, "I must admit, the mysteries of the Force are an enigma to me. But for all those abilities, all the power, the Jedi lacked the vision for how to wield it."
"The Force isn't a weapon, but you'll never understand that," Satele retorted.
"She's right, the Force is not a weapon and is more of an ally," Sabine added, agreeing with her sister.
"Oh, I don't have to," Thrawn told them as he placed the mask of a Jedi temple guard back on his desk, "It was never my intention to utterly destroy Lothal, but that is inevitable now," he then walked over to one of the twins' paintings, "These are a few of the artifacts I've gathered from Lothal. I saved what I could. I have taken some of your work. You're both quite talented."
"You think you can take whatever you want, things you didn't make, didn't earn, things you don't even understand!" Satele spat at him with anger, "You don't deserve to have our art or Lothal."
"Who deserves what is irrelevant. What matters is who has power. But that is something the Jedi won't teach either of you. So I'll take you both to someone who will," Thrawn told them as they left his office, leaving Starkiller alone in the Chiss' office as his face looked somewhat conflicted before he took out a holorecorder.
Moments later, Thrawn led Satele and Sabine to a room within a special chamber with the surroundings in the room looking like parts of what was the Jedi temple on Lothal with his right hand over Satele's armor's left pauldron and his left hand over Sabine's armr's right pauldron, while they saw a hologram of a figure wearing a white colored robe with golden colored on some parts of its surroundings their shoulders and under their neck colored gold standing in the distance at the base of the temple.
"My Emperor. I have brought you Sabine and Satele Wren," Thrawn told the hologram of Palpatine.
"My dear girls, I've wanted to meet the two of you and here you both are at last," Palpatine said as he turned around, revealing that he had assumed his un-scarred visage with light skin, white hair and blue eyes prior to his duel with Mace Windu during the last days of the Clone Wars and the Republic, 19 years ago and right after the end of the Siege of Mandalore.
To be continued
Please favorite and review. Would you like me to continue adding the Imperial scenes or not?
Also who else have seen the last two episodes of Andor and the final trailer for the second season of the Bad Batch. And in case I don't upload another episode/chapter this month, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.