Hope you enjoy chapter 2!
A warm gust of wind blew dustily across the empty plains. Its breath moved past a certain figure, ruffling the blue hairs on the former Inquisitor's head. Ezra sat cross legged on the sandy ground, eyes sealed shut with his mind deep in meditation. His concentrated form meant that he was very acutely aware of everything in the surroundings. Every grain of sand, and every shift in the wind was accounted for in his mind. He was even aware of the presence of two figures steadily approaching him from outside his vision.
Without warning, one of the figures suddenly shifted her stance, quickly darting towards Ezra's position. Her Lekku swayed as she pushed against the wind, raising her saber high and preparing to bear it down upon him as she neared. Ezra didn't need to open his eyes to know of the incoming attack. He reacted just as swiftly, dodging to the right and bringing out his saber, activating it and defending himself in one single motion.
There was no time for the dust to even settle before Ezra shoved on forwards, clashing his green blade with the whites of his opponent. Electricity crackled at the edges as they parted, only remaining separated momentarily before colliding once more in a brilliant gleam of light.
The two of them traded blows feverishly, unwilling to even give each other an inch. Ezra knew his opponent well. They had been working together in the past year after all. His opponent was none other than Ahsoka Tano, former Jedi Knight and currently the only unbeaten lightsaber duelist amongst the trio of lightsaber users. But despite her undefeated status, Ezra wasn't going to let himself be simply pushed around.
Unfortunately for him, Ahsoka was trained by the best of the Jedi order. And she wasn't going to let some ex-Inquisitor shove her around.
With her second saber brought out, the battle turned in Ahsoka's favour. Her speed completely outclassed Ezra. Everytime he parried one of her sabers, the second would instantly come sailing at him, forcing him to back away and forget any ideas he had of a counter attack. If this was anyone else, they would probably be overwhelmed by such ferocity. But not Ezra. He was more than used to fighting in unwinnable scenarios.
Relying on his connection to the Force, Ezra was starting to get a better feel for each of Ahsoka's intentions. He could see each of them before they happened, and it allowed him to plan out his moves accordingly.
He dodged and parried where necessary, creating pockets of spaces in each of Ahsoka's attacks. And everytime she swung too hard or held back too much, Ezra crept in ever closer.
And eventually, the moment he was waiting for came.
Dodging one of Ahsoka's heavier attacks, Ezra took the opportunity to leap into the air and land behind her. The force she put into her earlier attack left her back undefended, and she was not able to turn around to react in time. Pushing his hands out, Ezra gathered the Force in his palms, using it to shove Ahsoka to the ground with all his might.
Rolling to the floor, Ahsoka used her motion to disperse the Force, regaining her balance in the process. But not a second longer after she stood back up did she sense Ezra rushing right back at her.
The tables had now turned. Instead of him defending himself against Ahsoka's attacks, Ezra now found himself on the other foot, rushing in to attack Ahsoka instead.
A slight frown made its way towards Ahsoka's lips. This was not what they had discussed. Ezra was supposed to focus more on the defensive styles of combat during this section of training. But he had now completely subverted that.
It was not the desired outcome for this situation. However, it was not completely unexpected.
Tilting her head slightly, Ahsoka signalled to her companion in the corner. And the third and final member of their group readied himself to jump in.
Blaster fire rained from behind Ezra before he managed to come within an inch of Ahsoka. His friend and Jedi Knight, Kanan Jarrus, held him back, sending endless waves of bolts along Ezra's way.
Once again, Ezra was forced to change his plans. Turning his attention away from Ashoka, he ignited his second blade, dealing with each of the incoming bolts with deadly accuracy.
With his sharp senses, mapping the trajectory of each bolt was quite easy. He knew where to position his blade for each of the shots, deflecting each of them with ease and moving out of the way for the rest of them.
In combat, it was obvious that a lightsaber would always counter a blaster. It was the rule of thumb. Kanan knew it, and so did Ezra. But the futility of Kanan's choice of weapon did not matter to him. His job in this session was not to attack Ezra. Rather, he was supposed to let Ezra do the attacking.
So it made sense when Ezra made the decision to ignore all the blaster bolts, and run right at him.
Thinking fast, Kanan quickly pulled out his saber, barely having any time to activate before being pulled into a clash with Ezra.
Another duel had begun, but this one was extremely different from the first.
With Ahsoka, Ezra was supposed to fight reactively. Making his decisions based on what Ahsoka was doing. He could choose when and where he wanted to attack, but he would not be able to choose how thanks to her ferocity.
Ezra's battle with Kanan on the other hand, allowed him to take a more commanding role in the duel. Kanan was more than happy to take up a passive role, keeping his distance from Ezra and using his blaster to push his opponent away. But this meant that Ezra had the option to simply let loose on him.
And let loose he did.
Speed and power were the name of the game for Ezra. Hitting fast, and hitting hard meant that Kanan always had to find ways to parry and block each of his attacks. But he couldn't put too much strength behind each of his defences, as it would only leave him open to the next round of attacks.
Thankfully for Kanan, being on the defensive was something that he was no stranger to. He had spent his time as a Jedi mastering the defensive Form II after all, so he wasn't too outclassed by Ezra's aggressiveness. Just like Ezra was with Ahsoka, Kanan held his own.
Shifting his weight, Kanan slipped away at the last minute, catching Ezra by surprise as his attack missed. He growled in frustration, and quickly swung his saber right back around at Kanan.
The Force was getting darker and darker around Ezra, and Kanan knew why. More and more of his emotions were seeping out onto his intentions. And more and more of the Dark side was leaking into his actions. A dark shade crossed over Ezra's face, causing Kanan to try and hold back a shiver as he saw it. But despite the many rules Ezra now found himself breaking, and the obvious risk he was putting himself through, the battle was far from ending.
With another loud growl, Ezra let his anger push him. He swung harder and faster now, pushing Kanan further and further back. And with each strike, Kanan blocked even less efficiently than before.
But despite this, Ezra hadn't lost control of the situation. He was in a controlled rage, taking advantage of the power and strength he had by only very slightly tapping into the Dark Side. It was a new skill which he had been working on to add to his arsenal. A way to surprise his enemies, or more specifically, the Inquisitors, should he ever have to face them.
They had expected him to completely abandon the Dark Side after all, so what better way to surprise them than with a sudden burst of power?
Kanan and Ahsoka had agreed to let him dabble in such a concept. It was an interesting thought process. And all he had to do, was not go too far.
Ezra's fight with Kanan went on for a few more minutes, with Kanan doing his very best at keeping Ezra within arm's reach. Eventually, Kanan leapt away to create some distance, pushing his arms out and forcing Ezra back.
Impaling his saber into the ground, Ezra used it to stabilise his footing. He looked to continue his attacks on Kanan, but before he could even take a step towards him, Ahsoka leapt out from behind.
It was like a switch was flipped in Ezra's mind. The moment his opponent switched from Kanan to Ahsoka, the darkness surrounding him dissipated. Dodging to the side, Ezra narrowly avoided being stabbed by Ahsoka. She then followed up her attack by swinging overhead, aiming right at Ezra's head.
Quickly reacting, Ezra ignited the second half of his sabre, stopping Ahsoka's strike by the skin of his teeth. With a cheeky smirk traded between the two of them, the pair allowed each other to pull their blades out from the ground, before continuing to tirelessly slash their blades at each other.
And just like a flick of a switch, Ezra was back on the defensive again.
It was a rather unique practice that Ezra was putting himself through. With Kanan, Ezra was allowed to let go of himself. Choosing to use raw power instead of being smart about his attacks. But with Ahsoka, he had to be more efficient. Any wasted motion meant that he was open to attacks.
With each switch of opponent, Ezra had to change how he attacked. The training was meant to test how easy it would be for him to switch between the different sides of the Force. It was a stress test for his mental prowess from using the Dark Side. And if he was able to successfully defend against Ahsoka after using its power for so long, then he was another step closer to mastering its usage.
However, using the Dark Side had its price. It was different for everyone, but with Ezra, it came at the cost of his focus.
While Ahsoka was attacking Ezra the same way as she did before, Ezra was clearly not defending as well. Try as he might, Ezra couldn't push back against Ahsoka with the same amount of strength. He wasn't even reacting as quickly as he needed to. He was being pushed to his limits, and the cracks were starting to show.
As Ezra held his saber in a lock with Ahsoka, he felt his focus shatter as a wave of bolts flew past him. Pushing Ahsoka back, he quickly spun on his feet and tried to block the bolts in a panic. But his concentration was gone, and with it his ability to block efficiently.
A small group of bolts slipped past his defences, scorching Ezra in the shoulder. The blaster was slightly depowered, ensuring that any hits would not be fatal. But it still hurt nonetheless. Wincing slightly at the sharp pain, Ezra blindly spun his saber. Using them in an attempt to brute force his way through the barrage of bolts. But with his attention so focused on Kanan, Ezra wasn't able to sense the attack coming from Ahsoka.
A single slash was all it took. In one fell swoop, Ahsoka had slipped past Ezra's defences, and knocked his saber out from his hand.
The look of shock on Ezra's face was the sign that this training session was over. Kanan stopped his shooting, and Ahsoka depowered her sabers.
Sweat dripped from Ezra's brow, splattering on the ground right next to his lightsaber. The training was rather unorthodox, even for him. But at least it was some pretty good exercise.
Reaching to the ground, Ezra bent over to try and pick up his saber, but he flinched slightly as a numbing pain stung his shoulder.
"You alright?" Ahsoka asked.
Ezra massaged the area, flashing a slight pained expression.
"Sorry about that Ezra," Kanan apologised, running over to him as he rubbed the back of his head. "Hope I didn't hurt you too badly,"
"I'll live," Ezra said, flashing the same smile he always did. "When you told me that you would shoot like a Stormtrooper, I wasn't expecting so many accurate shots,"
"Well, you seemed distracted," Kanan said, chuckling. "Thought I would take the chance,"
"You're not focusing as much today," Ahsoka pointed out. "Usually you would be able to last a little bit longer. Is something wrong?"
"Not really," Ezra replied. Although even he sounded as if he did not believe himself. "I think I'm just having a little bit of an off day, nothing too serious,"
"You're getting a better control of your emotions lately," Ahsoka praised, eyeing his reactions carefully. "Ever since you decided to use your lightsaber again, you have grown to surpass yourself when you were an Inquisitor. That is amazing progress in my books,"
"Thanks," Ezra said as he massaged his shoulder.
"But there's still something that's been bothering you, especially today,"
Ezra froze at Ahsoka's statement, but he quickly returned his face back to normal.
"I don't feel any different," He replied, looking at himself as nonchalantly as possible.
He could sense Ahsoka's eyes on him, as if she was formulating her next question. Thankfully for him, Ahsoka wasn't able to pry any further.
"Captain Bridger!" A young ensign called out to Ezra as he skidded to a halt in front of them. He saluted them briefly before turning to Ezra to give his message. "Commander Sato has called for your presence,"
Ezra turned his head, nodding at the man. "Tell him I'll be there in a moment," He refocused his attention towards Kanan and Ahsoka. "Well, guess I better get going then. Thanks for training with me. It feels good to get out and move again. It's going to really help on the coming missions,"
He turned to leave, but Ahsoka called out to him before he got too far. "Ezra, whatever it is you're struggling with, I hope you know that we're there for you,"
"Thanks," Ezra said without turning around. Truth be told, Ezra didn't even know what it was that was bothering him. Every day before this was fine, heck, every day after this was supposed to be fine too. But there was just something different today. Something that told him that things were starting to change.
There was an uncomfortable feeling in his gut when Ezra woke up in the morning. It wasn't an infection, nor was it some kind of sickness. Ezra had felt that feeling before, he felt it just before the Inquisitors first came for him, and when Sabine gave him that look before she left.
It was the Force, and the Force was trying to tell him something.
And Ezra knew that it wasn't going to be good.
"Commander Sato," Ezra greeted, standing behind Sato as he approached him. "You called for me?"
The older man turned away from the table, a light smile forming on his face as he caught sight of the former Inquisitor. "Captain Bridger, thanks for coming to meet me on such short notice," His eyes casually wandered towards Ezra's shoulders, narrowing in concern as he caught sight of the burn mark. "You look hurt," Sato noted, furrowing his brows. "Would it be better for you if we delayed this meeting until you get yourself checked up at the infirmary?"
Ezra shook his head. "It's nothing too urgent Commander. Besides, I prefer to hear about what you have called me here for. I have a feeling that it is something which cannot wait,"
"If you say so," Sato nodded to himself as he fiddled with the controls on the holotable. "So, let's get straight to it then," He declared. "The reason I've called you here Captain, is because I need your help in solving a little bit of a supply issue we are facing currently," Stepping back from the holo, Sato waited until the image shifted into a vast array of graphs and charts. "How familiar are you with how our supply chain works on the base?"
"About as familiar as anyone," Ezra replied. "I worked with the supplies team for a few months when I first arrived. Our stock shifts from time to time, but we usually have enough of everything to last us the next few rotations or so,"
"We have people on the base whose sole job is to ensure that this is the case," Sato continued. "And most of the time, we end up with a surplus of certain supplies, which we would then use to trade for other supplies that we would be lacking,"
"That doesn't surprise me. The Rebellion doesn't have a steady supply line. Most of what we get comes from donations, while the rest come from the occasional supply run," Ezra turned to face Sato. "So what is it you need me to help you get?"
"Munitions," Sato replied bluntly. "As much as you can get for us,"
A look of confusion crossed Ezra's face. "Munitions?" He repeated. "I thought that we were swimming in munitions ever since my parents and Ahsoka joined up?"
"A few months ago, we were," Sato explained. "But certain factors outside our control have caused the amounts we have to dwindle rapidly. We have even been forced to rely on the munitions meant specifically for defending our base just to keep operations running,"
"I don't understand how that can happen," Ezra rubbed his chin. "I heard from our recent estimates that we had enough to last us several full cycles. What happened?"
"We ran out of food," Was Sato's reply.
The statement was not at all helpful for Ezra, who only stared more questioningly at Commander Sato.
"A few months ago during a routine inspection, the supply team found out that a larger amount of their food stock had gone bad than they had initially expected," Sato continued. "An investigation into their storage found that there was an infestation of fungus in the area. The infestation spread too fast for us to contain, and before we knew it, most of our food stocks were contaminated. By the time we had dealt with it, we had lost over half of what we had,"
"We barely had enough left to keep everyone sustained," Sato added. "And when we ran out of credits to trade, we had no choice but to resort to using our munitions as an alternative form of currency,"
A glum look of despair crossed Ezra's face. "How much do we have left?"
Pressing a button on the console, the holo shifted, showing a graph with a single line dropping, nearly touching the bottom of the screen. "Aside from the personal munitions given to each squad, we barely have enough to defend ourselves should the Empire attack us,"
Looks like it was dire straits for the Rebels.
"So what's the plan?" Ezra asked, eager to help in any way he could.
"The plan, Ezra, is to have you meet with a smuggler from Nar Shaddaa. Command has managed to make contact with one of them, and she has expressed her keen interest in helping us out with our problem. All she asks is that we help her out with a little problem of her own,"
"So we do a job for her, and she solves our problem for us," Ezra summarised. "Any idea about what it is?"
"Unfortunately not," Sato replied. "She has been extremely secretive about what it is she actually wants from us. From what I heard, it seems she doesn't trust us enough to give us any of the details before meeting us,"
Ezra narrowed his eyes. "But command still wants me to go on this mission?" He asked. "For all they know, she could turn me in the moment we meet each other. Hasn't command gotten tired of sending me on missions like these?"
"Believe me, I feel the same way you do," Sato replied. "But we really need your help this time. We don't have any other choice,"
"Yea, funny how all the missions I get sent on always have life and death tied to it," Ezra bit back bitterly. "It's even funnier how even though they're all supposedly really important missions, they almost always come with so much incomplete information. I wouldn't be surprised if one day I woke up to find that they had just turned me into the Empire. And all this just because I was a former Inquisitor,"
Smiling sympathetically, Sato placed a warm hand on Ezra's shoulder. "I'm really sorry about that Ezra," Sato comforted. "It's not fair for you to be treated this way. You've worked with us for quite some time, there should be no reason for them to suspect that you'd betray us,"
"Wait, command thinks I would betray them?" Ezra snapped his head. "Why in the Force would they think that? I thought they just disliked the idea that I was an Inquisitor! I mean, my parents are here! why would I do something that would get them killed?"
"Well…" Sato began. "Certain things have happened in the past weeks which have led to some suspicion being sent your way,"
"Like what?"
Going quiet for a moment, Sato carefully glanced around him, eyeing his surroundings warily before leaning in towards Ezra. "What I'm about to share with you should not leave this conversation. This knowledge is only known amongst the highest members of Command, and if they found out that you know about it, it may only cause them to suspect you even more,"
Fat chance of that. Ezra wanted to say, but chose to quietly nod instead.
"About a month ago, our sensors managed to pick up a strange transmission coming from the outskirts of our base. Initially, we thought that it was a random Imperial transmission, maybe a stray signal which somehow came our way, but was actually meant for someone else. But then we kept catching it on our sensors, and it was coming too frequently and consistently for it to be a coincidence,"
"So Command quietly ordered for this transmission to be investigated," Sato continued. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to find out who was sending these transmissions, or what they were about. All we know is that someone on this base has been sending unauthorised transmissions to someone else in the Outer Rim,"
"The outer rim?" Ezra asked. "Not to Coruscant? Or any of the known Imperial facilities?"
"No,"
"So whoever is sending these transmissions might not be working for the Empire?"
"That is one possibility,"
"And they think it's me?"
Sato nodded regretfully.
Letting out a groan, Ezra rubbed his forehead in frustration, trying not to let his emotions seep out into his words.
"After all I've done for them, and they still treat me like this," Ezra sighed tiredly. "They better learn to trust me after this mission, otherwise I'll just take all the munitions I have and run back to the Empire with it,"
Sato nodded in agreement. "It isn't reasonable for them to treat you this way. And I promise you that I will do what I can to convince them,"
"Thanks," Ezra smiled. "So, this mission, who can I take?"
"I have approved for you to take the Ghost, and if you need them, Ahsoka and Captain Rex. Would that be enough for you?"
"That should be enough, I don't think we can do with more, Nar Shaddaa might not be Imperial territory, but taking too many people might just draw too much attention,"
"I agree. As this is a big mission, I have given you until tomorrow to make the necessary preparations. I hope that it is enough,"
"It is," Ezra said as he pushed away from the holo. "We'll do what we can to help you with this problem,"
"Thank you," Sato replied, handing over a small data chip to Ezra. "The details of your mission are in this file. It should tell you everything you need to know about this new smuggler we're dealing with,"
"Thanks," Ezra said as he took the chip.
"And one more thing," Sato called out, causing Ezra to turn back. "Do not talk about the spy to anyone, not Hera, not your parents, not even Kanan or Ahsoka. We don't know who it could be, and we don't want them to know that we're catching on,"
"I understand," Ezra nodded before turning to leave the room.
Despite Sato's wishes, thoughts of the spy lingered in Ezra's mind as he left the Command room. The topic of who it was wasn't what concerned Ezra. Instead, he was more concerned with the topic of what their intentions were, and whether or not it was beneficial to the Rebellion.
From the get go, it was already clear that the spy wasn't working with the Empire. If the Empire had somehow managed to plant a spy on the base, it wouldn't make sense for them to not launch an attack on it immediately. The location of Atollon and its purpose as the current Rebel base was something which was highly sought after by the Empire, and they would jump at any hint of its location.
But if the Empire wasn't spying on the Rebellion, who was? Was there a third party involved somewhere in the galaxy? And if there was, what would their intentions be?
Shaking his head, Ezra pulled himself out of his train of thought. Thinking about this brought him nowhere, and it wasn't exactly something he wanted to devote his time to. This topic was better left to the more experienced, and the ones who were actually assigned to think about it.
Feeling the pain in his shoulder worsen, Ezra decided to turn towards the infirmary. But not two steps later did he suddenly find himself running head first into someone else.
"Woah, careful there Ezra. You don't want to hurt me more than the Empire has already," A familiar voice joked.
"Dev!" Ezra greeted with a friendly smile. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be away on assignment for a few more rotations?"
"Yea, that was originally the plan," Dev replied, scratching his head. "But Command called us back, something about us having no choice but to cut the mission short. I was just going to give my report to General Draven,"
Ezra hummed in understanding. Looks like the impact of what Sato told him was already starting to be felt by the other squads.
"Find anything interesting out there? Heard they sent you out to look for old Separatist equipment,"
"Nahh, nothing that exciting," Dev said with a dismissive wave. "Command wanted us to check on some old Imperial outposts. They were hoping that some of their older frequencies could be used to spy into the more recent ones. Tseebo was even asked to come tag along with us, but I think that the medics were a little bit too effective in removing all of the Imperial implants from his brain,"
"That's a good thing," Ezra reminded.
Dev nodded. "Yea, I guess so. We may not be able to use his implants to tap into Imperial networks, but at least he isn't their mindless slave anymore," He said wistfully. "So, what about you? Anything fun happened yet?"
"Just got a new assignment. They're sending me to the Outer Rim to meet a smuggler,"
"A munitions run?" Dev asked.
Ezra nodded.
"It's about time," Dev said with a drawn out sigh. "We've been running low on munitions for the past rotation and a half, any longer and we're going to have to find large sticks to beat the Empire with,"
Ezra let out a light chuckle at the joke, although silently he worried that it might not stay as a joke for much longer.
"So, when are they making you leave?"
"Tomorrow," Ezra replied with a shrug. "We need some time to prepare, and it's apparently quite the big mission. I'm getting the Ghost and Captain Rex's squad as support,"
"Sounds important. Think you'll be able to handle it?"
"Better than you would be able to," Ezra said, lightly punching Dev's shoulder.
"Well, I better get going now," Dev said, shrugging off Ezra's punch. "Draven wouldn't like it if I'm too late, I wouldn't be a very disciplined soldier if I couldn't get to places on time,"
"You're a disciplined soldier?" Ezra quirked an eyebrow, to which Dev responded with a light punch of his own.
"Oh, by the way, your parents asked for you," Dev said, lingering at the entrance of the Command Room. "You should go see them," He continued. "They haven't seen you in a while, I think they were hoping you would drop by sometime,"
Ezra smiled. "You should worry more about Draven first. You know how he hates it when you're late to his meetings,"
Dev's face dropped into one of exasperation. "Ugh, honestly, that guy's too stuck up for his own good,"
Deciding to take Dev's advice to mind, Ezra skipped out on visiting the infirmary altogether. He took a detour, making his way towards the opposite side of the base and heading towards a large landing strip.
His parent's ship wasn't too hard to find for Ezra, mainly because it was the largest one there. It was a former Imperial Star Cruiser after all, the one which the Empire commissioned to them when they were Imperials, and the one they stole after they decided to leave.
Security on one of the Rebel's largest ships was nothing to scoff at. Two burly men stood at the main entrance of the ship, blocking anyone from even nearing it with a sharp look. But the sternness on their faces quickly faded away as they caught sight of Ezra approaching. They stepped aside, greeting him with a nod as they let him enter.
The maze of paths which made up the hallways of the ship posed no challenge to Ezra. He had navigated his way through this ship countless times, both through his childhood and his reunion. And after getting lost more than once, he forced himself to commit the layout to his memory.
Walking through the familiar path, Ezra eventually found himself at the bridge. A smile slowly curled up his face as he saw the familiar backs of his parents. They occupied themselves with the mundane tasks of looking through reports. But Ezra always found joy in seeing them work.
"Our munitions count isn't looking good," Ezra heard his mother say, once again reminding him of the current dilemma. "Did you talk to Sato about this at our last debriefing? At the rate this is going, we're not going to have enough for another mission,"
"He told us he's working on it," His father replied. "But I don't think we're going to get any more than what we've already got. I can try to talk to him again, but I think we might just have to do our own supply run,"
Despite the obviously dour conversation, Ezra tried not to let it sour his mood.
"Hey mom, hey dad," He said in as cheery a voice as possible.
The aforementioned couple quickly turned to face him, and the worried looks on their faces melted away.
"Ezra!" They both said in unison, pulling him into a tight warm hug.
"How have you been son? I hope that you're not working yourself too hard," Ephraim said.
"I'm doing fine," Ezra replied as Mira kissed his forehead."Just keeping myself busy with Ahsoka's and Kanan's training,"
"I heard you got a new assignment from Sato," Mira asked.
Ezra nodded. "Yea, Sato's sending me to Nar Shaddaa. He wants me to go and make contact with some arms smuggler there in the hopes that she can help us with our munitions problem,"
"It's about time," Mira said with a sigh. She released Ezra from the hug, placing her hands on her hips. "We've been using our munitions faster than we can replenish it. I've been hearing the same thing from the other squads as well. If this goes on, we won't have anything left to use for our assignments,"
"That's something we definitely do not want happening," Ezra said as he shook his head. "But I have a good feeling about this one. Sato does too. Maybe this will be what solves our problems," Ezra said with a shrug of his shoulder. But the movement put a strain on his muscles, causing him to wince unconsciously.
Of course, parents being parents, both Mira and Ephraim caught on to Ezra's slight flinching quite quickly. And while his father reacted rather calmly to his reaction, his mother was a little bit more dramatic about what she saw.
"Ezra, what happened?" She basically shouted. Mira ran her fingers carefully around the scorch mark at Ezra's shoulder, frantically pouring her eyes over it.
"I'm fine mom! It's just a bruise I got from training,"
"Looks more like a blaster wound than a simple bruise," Ephraim chimed in.
Ezra flashed a quick glare to his father, who only shrugged.
"A blaster wound!" Mira exclaimed. "Ezra Bridger, what are you doing letting people take shots at you?"
"It's for training!"
"To get shot at?"
"No! To avoid it!"
"Well then why didn't you avoid it?"
"I… I got distracted," Ezra replied sheepishly.
With a frustrated groan, Mira dragged Ezra over to a nearby table. "Come on, I'm not going to let you walk around with a wound like that while you're on my ship,"
"Our, ship," Ephraim corrected, but Mira simply ignored him.
"Mommm, it's not that bad, really," Ezra insisted.
"I'll be the judge of that mister, now sit," MIra ordered, and Ezra obediently complied.
Ezra watched as his mother rifled through some drawers to look for a medkit. His father settled beside him, slightly amused at his wife's antics.
"Aside from the wound, are you doing well?"
Craning his head, Ezra gave his father his best grin. "About as best as can be dad,"
Ephraim smiled at his reply, but he could somewhat sense a little bit of hesitation in Ezra's voice.
"Been sleeping well?" He asked this time, clearly taking notice of the eyebags under Ezra's eyes. "You look a bit tired,"
Ezra stayed silent for a moment. The mention of sleep only reminded him why he hadn't been getting much of it. Too many dreams, too much dreaming of her.
"Could be doing better," Ezra replied honestly. "I'm pretty sure everyone on the base isn't sleeping enough. It's not easy to sleep well when you have an Empire to topple,"
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Ephraim looked Ezra in the eye. "If you ever need to just kick back and relax, just say so. I'm sure Sato would allow that given how hard you've been working,"
Before Ezra could give his reply, his mother shouted triumphantly in the distance as she finally managed to find the medkit.
"Give me your shoulder," Mira ordered, sitting across from Ezra as she opened the medkit.
Ezra leaned closer towards his mother, removing his arm from his jacket as she ripped open a bacta patch. Spraying some antiseptic at the wound, Mira carefully placed the bacta patch on Ezra's shoulder, firmly pressing it onto his wound .
A cold wave of relief flooded through Ezra's senses as the healing effects worked its magic. "Thanks mom," He said, smiling at her.
"You can thank me by not putting yourself in danger again," Mira replied with a huff as she packed up the bacta. "I know you do good work with the Spectres, but I would feel much better if you were working with us instead. That way I can always keep my eye on you,"
Chuckling slightly, Ezra watched as his mother tidied up the medkit. It wasn't the first time she had started on this conversation, and it probably wasn't going to be the last.
"They need my help mom. Besides, you got a Star Destroyer and a small army to run it. I don't think I can help much here," Ezra said.
"You need to stop being so quick to put yourself down," Mira said with a shake of her head. "Honestly, that's the one trait I wished you didn't get from your father,"
"What can I say? It runs in the family," Ephraim chuckled.
"Besides, I'm pretty sure you can do a lot of good here. Didn't you help save one of my lieutenants a few weeks ago?" Mira pointed out.
Ezra seemed to flinch at his mother's statement. But he wasn't flinching out of fear. Rather, he was bracing himself for the awkward conversation that he knew was coming.
"Kiara right? Oh she's such a sweet girl, and you're such a brave young man for risking your life just to rescue her," Mira said with a sly smirk.
Ephraim eventually caught on to his wife's antics, realising what it was she was insinuating. "Ah, the Mirialan right? She's kind of cute, and around your age too Ezra. It's stuff like this that makes me wonder what a human Mirialan child would look like,"
The embarrassment Ezra was feeling made him want to crawl into a hole. "Mom, dad, I love you, but please don't be gross," He begged.
But his mother ignored him. "She's been asking about you, you know? I never knew you were such a ladies man, Ezra," Mira playfully gushed at him. "It's the one thing I know your father didn't pass down to you,"
Ephraim cast a bewildered look towards Mira, who simply shrugged him off.
"So, will you be staying for the night?"
"Not tonight mom," Ezra replied, thankful that they had finally left that topic of conversation. "I need to talk to Hera about the mission tomorrow. We need to prepare what we need. Sato seems to be quite worried this time, I don't think there's room for error,"
"No rest for the weary huh?" Ephraim said. "Well, if that's the case, I think you better get going. Don't let us keep you Ezra, we've got a galaxy to save, remember?"
"We'll catch up, Ezra," Mira said, hugging Ezra one more time. "Maybe next time, I'll ask Kiara to come along, that way you can get to know each other better,"
"Momm," Ezra groaned, returning the hug before letting go and waving them goodbye.
With his wound dealt with and the pain in his shoulder no more, Ezra decided that it was time to get to work. He made his way towards the Ghost, walking the distance which separated the big ships from the smaller ones.
When he eventually arrived, Ezra noticed that tools and ageing ship parts were scattered around the ship. Figuring that Hera was probably doing her usual maintenance work, he stepped onto the ship's ramp and headed towards the bridge. Calling out for Hera as he did so.
"Hera! You in here?" Ezra asked, peeking his head through the entrance.
Hera was definitely in there. She pulled herself out from under the ship's controls, flashing a tired smile to Ezra as she wiped the brow of her forehead.
"Ezra! I thought I heard somebody walking about on my ship," She said as she stood up. "What are you doing here? I thought I heard Sato call you in for a new assignment?"
"He did," Ezra replied. "I just came from there, he already briefed me on what we need to do this time,"
"Ahh," Hera hummed in understanding, taking a moment to take a swig out of the nearby bottle. "Anything interesting? Or is it just the usual,"
"Well, usual wouldn't be the word I would use for this mission," Ezra replied as Hera dusted herself off. "This assignment might be a little more serious than the ones we're used to. A little bit more… do or die,"
"Well that doesn't sound too good," Hera said with a sigh. "But it's not too different from what we're used to," Pulling up a chair in front of her controls, she quietly cheered to herself as the console booted up as it was intended to. Looks like she had finally fixed whatever problem was bothering her. "So, what has command saddled us up with this time,"
Ezra fished out the drive he received from Sato, passing it to Hera who plugged it into the holo.
"We're going on a supply run for ammunition," Ezra explained as Hera read through the information. "Long story short, we've run out of munitions. Command has been desperately giving away our surplus in order to keep our food stock up. But I guess they weren't being careful enough with how much we actually had,"
"Well that's not good," Hera said, echoing Ezra's sentiments. "So what's the plan?"
Ezra leaned forwards fiddling with the controls until the holo shifted. "Sato managed to get a hold of some smuggler in Nar Shaddaa. He told us that she has the supplies and munitions we need, and she's willing to give them to us if we do a job for her,"
"Sounds easy enough. Nothing we've never been through before,"
"Yea, but here's the catch. We won't know what the mission is or who it will involve until we meet with her,"
"Ok, now that just sounds like a trap," Hera responded with a frown. "Sato was okay with passing this mission to you?"
"Not exactly, but he did say that he was desperate. Command forced this job onto him, and I guess we were the only one he trusted enough to get it done,"
"Well that's always inspiring to know. Whenever Sato needs something done, he tends to rely on us a little bit too much, not that I mind," Hera went silent as she read through the details. "Were any other squads or extra supplies authorised to us? Doesn't seem like a mission that we could do on our own,"
"Sato said he has already arranged for Captain Rex's squad to come with. I guess that means he's also okay with Ahsoka joining,"
"Sounds about right. Between the Spectres, Ahsoka and Rex, I think we pack enough firepower to deal with anything that could happen there. So when do we leave?"
"Early next morning. We need some time to prepare, and I guess about half a day should do it,"
"Well if that's the case, I want you to get some rest," Hera looked Ezra up and down, shaking her head in disapproval. "You look like you just went ten rounds with a rancor, did you get enough sleep?"
Did he really look that tired? "Must be from the training," Ezra suggested. "Kanan did get in some good shots,"
"Doesn't feel like it's just your training, I can see the bags under your eyes, Ezra. Your mom and dad are worried too you know, have you talked to them?"
Ezra nodded. "I did, just a while ago. Visited them before I came here,"
"Good. You should do that more often. But for now, I think you should get some shut eye. Try to sleep before the mission, I'll call you when everything's ready,"
Sleep was the one thing Ezra didn't need, but he knew there was no arguing with Hera. "I'll try. Just wake me up in case there's anything important alright?"
"If there's anything really important, I'm sure you will wake up by yourself," Hera shooed Ezra out of the cockpit. "Oh and while you're at it, take a bath too. No offence, but you smell,"
Ezra let out a light chuckle before walking off to the refresher.
Turns out, a shower was exactly what Ezra needed. It didn't just help to clean out the dirt and grime covering his body, but also made him forget about the stress of the day.
With a dry towel wrapped around his body, Ezra stepped out of the refresher and made his way towards his room. He glanced around it in the darkness, hands searching the wall for the switch. As the room lit up, he found his eyes being drawn towards the brightly coloured piece of armour hanging in the corner.
He tried not to frown at the sight of it, and did his best to remain as nonchalant about it as possible, despite how easily the memories of it came rushing to his mind.
The armour belonged to Sabine of course. She was the only one he knew so far who dared to match the cold ruthless look of Beskar with that of bright vivid colours. The armour was left behind during Ezra's rescue, Sabine opting for a more stealthy set of clothing instead. Obviously, she never came back for it. So here it sat, hanging unused and gathering dust in the corner of Ezra's room.
Being the dutiful friend he was, Ezra did try his best to keep it as clean as possible. Doing what he could to repaint it when the colour started to fade, and wiping off the dust on it every once in a while. A small part of him wondered if there was any meaning to what he was doing. What was the point of keeping it in such a state if she was never coming back?
Nevertheless, the action did bring some peace to his mind. It had become a sort of coping mechanism for Ezra, something to give him comfort.
Walking towards the armour, Ezra reached for a nearby cloth and began absentmindedly wiping at its surface, cleaning off the dust which stuck to it.
But unlike before, the action did not help to give him solace. Instead, it only made him feel worse.
There was a feeling of unease as Ezra placed the cloth back on the table. He knew the Force was trying to tell him something, it had been screaming at him since he woke up, and all throughout training as well. But try as he might, he couldn't figure out what it was.
Drying himself off, Ezra tossed the dirty rag away and hung the towel behind his door. He collapsed in his bed, closing his eyes in an attempt to quiet the sounds in his mind. But his vain attempts at ignoring the sounds only made it grow louder.
Feeling fed up already at this, Ezra pushed himself up and sat against the wall. He settled into a meditative stance, choosing to focus on the voices instead of ignoring it. But when he tried to meditate on it, the voices disappeared from his mind, bringing the unsettling feelings with it.
Was this some kind of Force prank? Ezra wondered. Groaning in frustration, he fell back to the bed once more, covering his head in the hopes that he could sleep. But just when he was a moment away from drifting off to sleep, only then did the Force give him the answer he was looking for.
A sharp stinging pain burned at his palm, causing Ezra to jolt awake. He shot up from his bed, clutching his arm painfully as he tried to scream. His lips parted, but no sound came out. Opening his eyes in a panic, Ezra found himself standing in an unknown room. He tried to look around, but found his head being held down by some unknown force.
Let this serve as a reminder of your failure, Ria. Ezra heard a voice say before feeling himself being shoved away.
He felt his eyes being pulled up, and he caught sight of an unknown woman staring down at him. Fear filled his mind, fearful of the one who just inflicted pain to him. But the fear was not his. The fear came from someone else. It was coming from the person whose eyes Ezra was looking through.
Now leave, I won't be so merciful next time, Ria Talla.
And then the vision faded. Ezra fell to the ground as if he was kicked out. Clutching his arm, Ezra frantically spun it around, inspecting it for any signs of a wound. Strangely, it seemed that there was no physical damage to Ezra, although he wasn't so sure he could say the same about the person in his vision.
Ria Talla, Ezra repeated again in his mind. He had never heard that name before, but somehow he knew who it belonged to. Somehow, he could feel that it was Sabine. Everything about what he saw and felt just screamed her. She was alive, but living under a new name.
Was what he saw just now a glimpse of the future? Or a vision from the past? Ezra couldn't tell. All he knew was that something had happened to Sabine. Something bad. Picking himself up, Ezra tried not to let his worries overwhelm him. Sabine had been hurt, and there was nothing he could do about it now. But at least she was alive.
Crossing his legs, Ezra settled into a meditative position on his bed. Looks like sleep would have to wait.
She's alive, Ezra repeated in his mind. She's alive.
And this time he was going to make sure she came back with him.
Thanks so much for reading! I Hope I made all this waiting worth it with the 2 chapters.
Now, for a bit of bad news. While I do have the entire story actually written out, I won't actually be posting it yet.
I need to go through my usual round of editing, and its going to take quite a while, so don't expect the updates to be as frequent as they were before.
But fret not, this story will finish eventually. I just need to find the time for it.
Anyways, thanks for reading again! Hope to post again soon!
