Incoming transmission…
Hello again, ladies and gentle beings and welcome back to Radio Liberty. I'm your host Jevia Cross and I'm here to bring you more of the news the Empire doesn't want you to hear.
There's a disturbing new trend of dissident's homes being snapped up by Imperial aligned real-estate companies after their former occupants have been arrested. They are then sold to sufficiently loyal Imperials.
Though the number of companies participating in this scheme is small, the results are undeniable. Even if these people were to break out of prison, their homes are lost to them. A lot of the time, ISB operatives leak the addresses of dissidents that are soon to be arrested so these companies can get dibs on the houses even before the occupants are taken into custody.
But today's news isn't all bad. The Mandalorians have invaded the city planet of Vorzhyd V and are in the process of expelling the Imperial forces on-planet.
Here's hoping they can pull it off!
—
Facility Danic and Heinb groaned as they tugged the rusted doors off the speeder, almost falling over as they finally broke off from the rest of the vehicle. Heinb was stocky and tough like most of his fellow Sullustians but wrenching apart old speeders was still a tough job.
"Just gotta take this over to Collections" Danic told him. Heinb said nothing, simply nodded and taking in deep lungfuls of air before he started to drag the door along the dusty ground to where the rest of the speeder parts were laid out for smelting. The entire facility was built for the purpose of melting down old speeders brought in from junkyards all across the galaxy and melting them down into 'reconstituted' metal blocks for use by the Galactic Empire. Ever since he was sent to the facility for suggesting that the Death Star's destruction was justified, Danic's days were filled with grueling labor.
He had put on quite a bit of muscle tone over the course of his stay, but it was little comfort. Danic was on his way to a portable fresher* when he spotted one of the guards staring at him. The prison was guarded not by stormtroopers, but by the remaining Mandalorians of Clan Saxon that were loyal to the Empire. This one's name was Sarquiss. Sarquiss stood next to a garbage can, an empty Ardees bottle perched near the edge of it. Seeing Danic walk closer, he took out his shock baton and lightly tapped it against the bottle to knock it to the ground. The guard looked at the bottle for a moment then to Danic.
"Pick that up."
Danic strained to keep himself from bursting. It was a favorite tactic Sarquiss used when he saw that a prisoner seemed to be on the edge of keeling over. He'd perch the same bottle of Ardees Tea on a trash can, knock it down, then force the nearly exhausted prisoner to pick it off the ground and put it in the trash. He usually retrieved the bottle a few minutes later. Sarquiss did this for all of the five months Danic had been sent to the Charzola facility, hoping to not only humiliate the person assigned to the task but more so to push them to having a breakdown. The guard wanted the target of his attentions to blow up on him, to snap and refuse his order. That way, he could knock them around a bit for insubordination. The only thing he would derive more gratification from was if they'd get mad enough to attack him. If they laid so much as a finger on him, he'd have full authority to beat them to his hearts content before throwing them back into their cells. To Danic's memory, this only happened twice.
"You having hearing problems, you piece of Nerf shit? I told to you to pi-"
A com link on the guards belt buzzed, causing Sarquiss to mutter under his breath at the interruption. He growled out "what" as he put it to his mouth. A nervous voice came over the com link.
"We've detected six ships coming out of hyperspace and entering the atmosphere. We're going to yellow alert."
Sarquiss rolled his eyes under his helmet. "So we've got a prisoner transport making it a little early. Wouldn't be the first time."
Danic didn't stop to listen in. He didn't dare. The guards were merciless when they thought an inmate was savoring their misfortune. But he now had a sense that the guards were going to have a very unwelcome surprise. Whether or not it was a meteor or inbound ships, he'd no idea. Whatever it was, it was putting a very welcome dent in Sarquiss's bluster.
The voice coming from Sarquiss's com link responded. "We're trying to get into contact but we don't have another supply drop or prison intake for the next few weeks." "I'll keep my pistol in its holster. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of something important." He put away the com link and looked to Danic again. Had he not been wearing a helmet, Danic would see the guards eyes narrow.
"Did I not give you an order, you gormless piece of Hutt bile?" He took a striding step closer to Danic. "Maybe there's something in that thick skull of yours I need to knock loose so you can hear me, you scum sucking son of a-"
Sarquiss's diatribes were interrupted by the sight of a rapidly growing red glare coming into view. Through the cream and beige sky he could see multiple pairs of crimson bolts streaking toward the comms array near the guard barracks. Time seemed to slow down as the crimson slights slammed into the array with ludicrous amounts of explosive force. The impact shattered the array into twisted and blackened metal, flinging parts of it in all directions.
"Incoming" one of the guards screamed. Danic followed Sarquiss's gaze and saw trident shaped shadows coming into view and forms streaming out of them. He saw that the forms were humanoid and carrying weapons. The figures seemed to be gliding towards the facility instead of simply falling to the ground. Some of the Saxon guards fired their blasters into the air, but the flying figures easily wove their way through the shots. The two prisoners looked at each other, having reached the same conclusion as to who the attackers were.
"Clan Wren" Heinb said quietly. The awe in his voice was almost palpable. Danic felt much of the same.
"Think we should take cover somewhere else" he asked the Sullustan.
"Maybe." Heinb turned over to a pile of scrap metal. Danic followed his gaze and saw a particularly formidable looking muffler on the pile.
"But if they're here for us, don't you think we should make their job a little easier?"
Danic grinned and took the muffler from the pile. Heinb got himself part of a twisted front bumper. Sarquiss seemed to have almost completely forgotten their presence, busily trying to fend off the Mandalorians who were now landing on some of the buildings and taking shots at other guards. The two ran up to him, with Sarquiss only having enough time to turn before the muffler collided with his knees with a crunch. Heinb's front bumper smacked into his head, cracking his helmet on impact. Sarquiss's pistol fell onto the dusty ground before Danic picked it up and put it in his belt. The two then grabbed Sarquiss by his arms and legs before moving toward the garbage can.
—
Sabine's blaster rifle sent out a volley that sprawled a Saxon guard onto the ground with several scorch marks on his torso. That was four she'd taken down so far. She'd fought Mandalorians from Clan Saxon before and their quality wasn't all that good compared to some of the other clans. But they were still dangerous, and had taken out several members of Clan Wren themselves. Still, there were far more dead from Clan Saxon than Clan Wren.
The prisoners were already rioting against their jailers, picking up weapons from fallen guards and shooting at stragglers. A number of them were also fighting alongside Clan Wren; a female Balosar was firing off a rifle at a trio of guards who were busy trying to shoot down Alrich in order to distract them, a Duro was next to Tristan giving him cover with a blaster pistol while Tristan readied a thermal detonator and she even saw a group of Wren warriors fighting alongside a crowd of inmates as they closed in on a group of guards.
Sadly, a few of the prisoners would not live to see the impending victory. Some of them were killed by the guards before they were able to pick up a weapon, or were attacked by multiple guards and overwhelmed. Her heart lurched when she saw this herself. They didn't deserve death when liberation was so close.
That was when something horrible happened.
A beam of red plasma slammed into her father's chest, burning his heart to a crisp. He crumpled to the ground.
"FATHER!" She shrieked.
At that moment, all fighting stopped. Everyone on both sides stopped shooting as her mother's squad, including Ezra, ran up to the site.
Ursa stared at Alrich's lifeless form on the ground for several seconds before walking up to him. She knelt down and took off his helmet, staring into his dead eyes, before taking him into her arms and making her way back to the Wren ship. It was a few miles away, but she didn't care. He was going home.
The Mandalorians that were standing in her way stepped aside. Even the members of Clan Saxon respectfully moved out of the way and took off their helmets, bowing their heads, and averting their gaze. Marriage was extremely important in Mandalorian society, and the death of a spouse was considered a tragedy that all Mandalorians, even those who hated one another, were honor-bound to respect.
As soon as her form disappeared from view, they went back to killing each other.
Ezra growled in rage and jumped up towards the nearest Super Commando, taking the woman out with a body check in the sky and forcing her to the ground. He sliced the blaster she pointed at him in half and then cut off her head, all his sympathy for the life of another being completely gone at the moment, letting his rage translate to power. In the four years since Mandalore joined the war, Ezra's philosophy regarding the Force had drastically changed. Revan was right. Only a fool uses only the Light, or the Dark.
In his head, he repeated Revan's creed…
Flowing through all, there is balance
There is no peace without a passion to create
There is no passion without peace to guide
Knowledge fades without the strength to act
Power blinds without the serenity to see
There is freedom in life
There is purpose in death
The Force is all things and I am the Force
With one Super Commando taken care of, and resolution in his heart, Ezra looked for another target. Spotting one creeping up on Sabine as she protected her brother, a dozen bolts of lightning sprang from Ezra's hand, arcing across the battlefield to incinerate his enemy. The lightning engulfed the commando, the intense heat consuming him instantly, leaving only a pile of charred ash.
And then he moved on, his sole focus the annihilation of every single traitor to the Mandalorian people.
—
Sabine was trying to get Tristan out of the kill zone, the man having already taken a shot to the gut, non-lethal, but still bad enough to put him out of action. She was determined that her family was not going to lose another member. Not on my watch.
They'd almost made it to the speeder bike when three from Clan Saxon joined the fray and one of them fired a rocket at the bike, exploding it right in her face.
Sabine dragged herself up off the ground and looked for Tristan. He was just sitting up only a meter away and looking a little dazed, but otherwise unhurt. Apart from the gutshot. Sabine was really really happy she'd taken the time to put her helmet back on before going on the defensive, because she'd be in bad shape right now without it. As is, she felt a few places on her body that throbbed from being struck by shrapnel but at least she didn't appear to be bleeding anywhere. This was a good time to be covered in armor.
Pushing aside the pain to the back of her mind, she helped Tristan to his feet. "Are you okay?"
Her younger brother nodded slowly. He was tough. "You?"
Before she could reply, she heard Ezra's voice in her head through their Force bond. Sabine, look out!
Sabine stuck out her arm, using her vambrace's shield projector to block the shot that would have taken Tristan out and deflecting it right back to the shooter. The Imperial Mando fell with a scream and a burnt hole in his chest armor. She took pleasure in his death. Turning her helmeted head to her brother, she calmly said, "Right. I guess we're not going to get you out of here so let's try for some cover by that transport over there."
Tristan nodded, holding his wound.
"Stay right behind me," Sabine instructed as she started moving, taking in the situation as she went.
Ezra was still on the warpath, his dark brown tunic and red mask easy to spot.
Sabine winced as his lightsaber removed another man's head from his shoulders. While she wanted to see these traitors die as much as anyone, it still unnerved her to see Ezra be this brutal.
Other Clan Wren warriors were fighting on the ground in hand to hand combat with their own opponents, and prisoners had picked up a fallen blaster and were taking pot shots at anything that moved in white armor.
They were winning the ground battle easily, but the Imperial Mandos with jetpacks were a concern as they circled overhead and blasted at them from above. And there's no fucking cover left out here. The rockets had already blown up the remaining transports to bits every time Sabine and Tristan came near one. Sabine concentrated on tracking their shots and continued to protect Tristan, eyes everywhere and her senses wide open in search of danger. She literally spun circles around the man, deflecting laser blasts left and right, ignoring the heavy weight of the jetpack on her shoulders.
Sabine was taking her rage out on the Mandalorian traitors wearing Imperial markings and exalting in it. Her actions were automatic as she went after each with the fury that coursed through her like molten lava.
After taking out her latest opponent with a vicious slash of her knife across the neck, Sabine triggered the comm unit in her helmet. "Lady Kryze. Lady Kryze are you there?"
"I'm here. What do you need?" her ever faithful ruler responded.
"We need reinforcements, and fast." she huffed as she shot a traitor trying to flee the scene.
"I'm on my way. ETA three minutes."
"Thank you, my Lady."
"No worries. What's going on over there, anyway?"
Sabine grit her teeth to hold back the painful emotions that wanted to flood her and distract her from her vengeance. "Nothing good. I'll explain in detail later, but the short version is that we've lost someone very important."
Bo-Katan sounded like Sabine felt when she said, "Who?"
"My father." Her heart was like a lump of coal in her chest at having to confirm it.
"Alrich is dead?"
"Yes." It was all she could say.
"By the Manda," she breathed out in a pained gasp.
"Yes."
"Thirty seconds. They will pay."
Sabine smiled brutally at the venom in Bo-Katan's voice and at the Mandalorian Imp she'd just shot to death.
By the time most of the flying Mandos wearing Imperial white were either dead or moaning on the ground, a Gauntlet ship in Kryze colors came screaming through the sky, guns blazing, taking out a flying Mando, before landing close to Sabine and lowering the ramp. She couldn't have been happier to see it.
Their reinforcements took out the remaining Imperials, ending the battle.
"This is Sabine to Clan Wren forces, all objectives complete. Bring out the inmates and get started moving the crates for pickup." The response was a series of affirmatives coming through.
—
A week passed before Sabine saw Tristan again. It was odd seeing him without his armor. His torso was bandaged up underneath the robe that he wore.
They had both seen their mother since the battle. She had gone into professional mode almost immediately, giving orders and overseeing new battle plans. She wasn't allowing herself to grieve. Alrich Wren had been buried in a ceremony attended by the entire clan. Tears had been shed by all, apart from Ursa. She seemed more angry than anything else. Determined to make the Empire suffer.
When Sabine entered her brother's room, she found him with a bottle in his hand, several more being scattered on the floor.
"Tristan…?"
He looked up at her, startled. "Sabine! What're you doing here?"
She smiled wearly at him. "We need to talk to Mother."
The two Wrens made the short walk to the training room in the Wren Compound. As they walked closer, they heard the sound of fists against wood, followed by grunts.
They finally saw their mother. Ursa was rapidly punching the wooden beam used by Mandalorians for training, only she was punching it so hard that the beam was splintered, and her knuckles were bloody, likely broken. Each time her fists connected with the beam, it made a wet squishing sound, and she let out a rage-filled yell.
Sabine quietly spoke. "Mother…"
Ursa kept punching.
Sabine spoke louder. "Mother."
Ursa kept punching.
"Mother, stop."
Nothing.
"Mother, stop! Stop!"
That seemed to do it. Ursa stopped punching and turned around to face them, breathing heavily. Her helmeted head revealing no emotion.
Sabine took her mother by the hands. "Stop. Just for today, don't be the Countess. Don't be the mask."
She removed her mother's helmet and comfortingly cupped her cheeks with her hands. Ursa had an expression of complete and utter anquish on her face, her eyes filled with tears which immediatly fell down her face, only to be wiped away by Sabine's thumbs. Ursa closed her eyes and shakily sucked in air through her teeth in an attempt to control her breathing.
Although she too had loved her father and had mourned him, Sabine couldn't begin to imagine what her mother was going through. If it had been Ezra that had died, she most likely would have killed herself, and that wasn't an exaggeration.
"It's ok. Let it out. Just for tonight, let yourself fall apart."
Her mother took her bloody hands and placed them over Sabine's. Eyes still shut tight and teeth clenched, she groaned before falling to her knees. Her quiet whimpering quickly evolved into sobbing.
Her two children knelt down beside her and embraced her tightly.
"We promise to hold you together."