Yavin, 9 ABY
The afternoon thunderheads swelled as currents of hot, humid air drifted upward from the steaming Yavin jungles, condensing into billowing plumes that soared into the sky. Han Solo smelled rain in the air as he stepped out of the Falcon, and he heard children laughing gleefully as they raced past him onto the thick grass before the Jedi Temple. Several Jedi, robed in brown, stood before the temple, ready to receive the children for their initiation into Jedi Training. Han spotted Luke Skywalker and Cal Kestis among them, as well as a bearded Jedi with a reptilian body and a dark-skinned, older woman. Chewie followed Han down the boarding ramp and watched as the children raced toward their uncle, joyful and exuberant at the long awaited day. A confusing cocktail of resentment and joy pulled at Han, taking him out of the moment. Leia should be here, he thought to himself, and his anger flared as he thought of her huddled together with Mon Mothma while her children took the first steps in their formal education.
Han stayed back, watching as Luke, kneeling on the ground to speak to both kids, introduced Ben to a dark-skinned woman Han did not know before introducing Kira to Cal Kestis. Both children turned to their prospective Masters, and Luke rose to his feet, looking to Han. Luke waved Han over, and he crossed the grass with Chewie trailing behind him. He heard Ben talking the dark skin woman's ear off, and Cal was kneeling on the ground, talking quietly with Kira as he sought to connect with the taciturn child. Luke left the crowd of Jedi and walked forward, meeting Han halfway on the lawn.
"Welcome, Han," Luke said, holding his arms out wide and embracing his friend. Luke broke apart and embraced Chewie as well. He looked past Chewie, and when Luke did not see Leia there, Han watched his expression shift from happiness and excitement to disappointment, although Luke recovered so quickly that Han wondered if he was imagining it.
"How ya doing, kid?" Han said, and Luke smirked at Han's refusal to use honorifics. "Are those two gonna be their Masters?"
"Yes," Luke affirmed, turning toward them. "Master Cal, you already know. Ben's Master will be Master Taila Zevala. She is one of our most seasoned and experienced Jedi Masters."
"I take it you can't be their Master?" Han asked, curious what role Luke might play.
"I am too close to both. Better not to blur the lines in the teaching relationship," Luke explained. "But I promise that I will be taking an active role in both of their trainings."
"Gotcha," Han said, watching as Master Zevala led Ben away toward the temple, while Master Kestis remained kneeling, talking quietly to Kira. Han watched Kira laugh as a BD-unit droid perched upon Cal's shoulder, tilting its head back and forth and twittering animatedly.
"We've prepared a place for you, if you'd like to stay nearby. You too, Chewie," Luke said, looking toward the Wookie.
Han frowned, turning away and gazing after Ben, who was now following Taila Zevala around the outside of the temple, no doubt peppering his new mentor with questions.
"You alright?" Luke asked.
"Yeah," Han said quietly.
"Leia told me you were out of the government," Luke said.
"I'll be fine," Han replied, dismissing the entreaty.
"I can see why you'd be frustrated," Luke soothed insightfully. "I'd be frustrated, too."
"I thought Jedi didn't get frustrated," Han chided.
"Only the Jedi who fool themselves into thinking they don't get frustrated," Luke smiled.
"Anyway," Han deflected. "You think those two will be alright? I'm thinking I'd like to get away for a bit; clear my head."
Luke frowned as his concern deepened. "I gotta be honest Han," Luke said. "My head never feels clearer than when I'm around friends. Why don't you stay?"
"Nah," Han dismissed. "I'll be back in a bit."
Han looked to Chewie, but Chewie had tilted his head, regarding Han with a curious expression.
"What?" Han asked, irritably.
Chewie continued to regard Han with curiosity, and - was it concern?
"Spit it out," Han cajoled.
Chewie rumbled a rolling explanation, and Han shot back, "Yeah? Well if you wanna hang around and climb some trees, be my guest."
Luke frowned toward Chewie as Chewie responded, then he looked back to Han, who said, "Yeah, I'm gonna be fine. Might drop by to see Lando or play a few rounds at Canto Bight. What's the problem?"
Chewie shrugged, and Luke did not mistake the concern in Chewie's response. However, Chewie did not press the subject, and he leaned down to embrace Han. Luke followed up with an embrace of his own, and he added, "You're welcome here any time, Han. We've got that place set up for you, and you can come and go as you please. I'm sure the kids will be glad to have you around."
"Thanks, kid," Han said, slapping his hand to Luke's shoulder. He looked to Chewie, who continued to regard him concernedly. "Take it easy, pal. I'm gonna be fine."
Chewie growled something quiet to himself, and he turned away, bounding toward the jungle. Luke smiled, then turned away, pulling his hood over his head as he glided toward the temple. Han watched them walk away, his resentment and frustration simmering as they left. Luke had a point, but Han was not in any mood to yield to reason. He turned toward the Falcon and boarded the ramp, switching on the ship's pre-flight system.
He settled into the cockpit and entered a command into the holoprojector. He watched Ben bouncing around excitedly with Kira, as Cal Kestis and Taila Zevala stood together, conversing while they watched the kids. His mind flashed toward the footage of the burnt out Imperial wreckage scattered through the square in Nevarro that had kicked off his concerns. Knowing that the Republic would do nothing, and that it was now up to him to keep exposing the Empire, he punched the call button, knowing there was no turning back now.
Moments later, the holoprojector activated, and Sabine Wren's face appeared. Han smiled, then said, "Alright, alright. What do you got?"
Sabine glanced at Solo with a frown, asking, "You alright, Solo?"
"I'm fine," Han said. "Little bit of marriage trouble. That's all."
Sabine raised her eyebrows, but did not press the question. Instead, she adopted a business-like tone and said, "I shared your intel with some friends of mine. We did a pass, and our sensors read a massive amount of beskar stored in a warehouse on Thakwaa. I've got a dozen Mandalorians ready to go."
"Sounds good," Han said enthusiastically.
She glanced at him a moment longer, apparently uncertain about something. She overcame the uncertainty and said, "What we could use is some air support for logistics, and maybe back-up in case anything gets out of hand. Can the Republic spare anything?"
"I doubt it," Han said, "But I'm not with the Republic anymore." Sabine tilted her head in concern, and Han waved it off, saying, "Long story. Anyway, when do we begin?"
Sabine asked, "Is your wife gonna be okay with this?"
"I'm a private citizen," Han said. "I just want to pay you back for the jam you got us out of on Ord Mantell all those years ago."
"Okay, Solo," Sabine said skeptically. "Meet us above Thakwaa in 12 hours, and we're a go."
Thakwaa, 9 ABY
"That's quite the haul," Sabine Wren said appreciatively as she watched a dozen Mandalorians organizing heavy weaponry, including E-web blasters, detonators, and rocket launchers within the hold of the Gozanti-class cruiser.
"Not to mention the cruiser," a male Mandalorian called back as he clipped several detonators to his belt. "We barely got it off Trask."
Sabine picked up a rifle, a newer, upgraded model with sleeker features and smoother action than the older Imperial model. "The Imps have been busy, haven't they?"
"I keep trying to tell the Republic, but nobody's returning calls these days," a female Mandalorian said, striding toward Sabine. The woman removed her helmet, revealing short, red hair held back by a beskar headband.
She glanced at Sabine, neither smiling nor frowning, and Sabine turned back to her, "You should've gone to Solo," Sabine said.
"Is he coming?" Bo-Katan Kryze asked.
"Should be here any minute," Sabine affirmed.
"Good," Bo-Katan said. "We're almost to the drop point. I want him nearby, ready to provide air support and ops."
"He's good to go," Sabine said.
"You sure?" Bo-Katan asked, raising her eyebrows. "Our readings suggest there's a lot of beskar. Nobody leaves that much beskar out in the open without watching it."
"Yeah, I'm sure," Sabine affirmed, her voice firm with the merest trace of warning.
Bo-Katan nodded, then slid her helmet back over her head. Sabine placed her own helmet over her head, her black, purple, and orange armor standing out among the more neutral color schemes of the other Mandalorians. They gathered around Bo-Katan in a semi-circle, and Sabine joined the semi-circle, listening as Bo-Katan launched into the plan.
"Alright – our initial scans indicated several billion credits-worth of beskar stored in a warehouse within this compound," Bo-Katan gestured to a holographic schematic depicting a sprawling compound that was both ranch, pleasure garden, and fortress. "You have all memorized your drop routes, and you all have a schematic of the compound. We don't know everything that might be waiting for us, but we know at the very least that there are a number of stormtroopers, likely with some heavy weaponry. We can't rule out the presence of assault weaponry or heavier defenses, so stick together and be ready for anything."
Bo-Katan turned to Sabine, and Sabine recognized her turn to add to the plan. "The cruiser is going to orbit the planet, and it will complete the circuit by the time we are in and out. The cruiser is too clumsy a ship to provide effective air support. Instead, we'll have Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon on standby, prepared to support if needed." Sabine spoke into her wrist device, "Han, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear, Sabine," Han Solo's voice spoke through a small speaker embedded in the device.
"Green light – we are a go in T-minus 1 minute," Sabine reported.
"Copy," Han affirmed.
Bo-Katan glanced at each of the Mandalorians, pausing at each one, and after making eye contact with each, she said, "This is the way."
The group broke apart, with each Mandalorian moving into position near the rear of the cruiser. The loading ramp lowered, and a strong, cold wind blew into the cargo hold. The Mandalorians gazed out of the opening down to the clouds obscuring the Thakwaan landscape. Sabine listened to the countdown timer ticking down in her helmet, her right hand gripping a canvas loop as she waited for the moment to jump.
5. . . 4. . . 3. . . 2. . . 1. . .
Bo-Katan Kryze rushed forward leaping from the back of the cruiser. The other 20 Mandalorians followed suit, and Sabine, tasked with taking up the rear raced after them, leaping into the air. She straightened her body, diving headfirst into the clouds and picking up speed as she closed in on the Mandalorian formation. The clouds rushed up toward her, enveloping her in a cold gray mist, leaving her to wonder how Han was going to see anything through the soup. She switched on the tactical display in her helmet, and it displayed the infrared signature of the compound rushing up toward them.
They punched through the bottom of the cloud deck at 250 meters, and Bo-Katan's voice cut through the rush of wind enveloping her. "Hit the jets at 50 meters. We want to come in hot and fast."
The last 200 meters rushed past her, and Sabine turned a half-somersault and kicked on her jet pack. Her downward momentum slowed, and the jetpack kicked into full power ten meters above a sprawling courtyard in the heart of the compound. She hit the ground, killing her pack and withdrawing her blasters. The other Mandalorians dropped around her, each removing their weapons. After a moment of confused silence, blaster fire from the walls encircling the courtyard erupted as the stormtroopers patrolling the compound recognized the intruders. The Mandalorians broke apart, their own blaster fire erupting as they picked their targets.
A blaster bolt pinged off of Sabine's armor, and she pivoted, targeting a stormtrooper firing on her from above. Several of Sabine's shots tore through his chest plate, and he tumbled over the side, screaming as he fell to his death.
Han Solo circled the Falcon around on a gentle arc 1000 meters above the compound. He heard the chatter and the blaster fire over the audio feed, but the thick cloud deck obscured his view. The Falcon's computer spit out a weather report, indicating that the cloud deck was not going anywhere. Knowing that his ship would be easily identified, he stayed in the clouds, although the lack of visual left him uncertain that he could respond to threats. He switched the Falcon to autopilot, wishing to himself that Chewie had been there to provide more responsive piloting. He grabbed a remote piloting device, plugging in a headset as he rose from his chair. He raced out of the galley and down the ladder to the ventral cannon, which he fired up.
"L-7, give me a course that keeps me as close to the bottom of the cloud deck while still giving me visibility," Han ordered.
"What the hell is that?" a female voice called in his ear from the feed in the battle below. Han felt the ship drop, and he picked up visual scanning hoping to spot whatever the Mandalorians were now facing.
A vicious green turbolaser blast cut through the darkness of the large hangar set into the far side of the courtyard, slamming into the spot where a trio of Mandalorians had stood only moments before kicking on their jetpacks. Sabine turned toward the source of the blast, and through the darkness of the hangar came a thunderous clanking.
"What the hell is that?" a female bounty hunter – Koska Reeves by the sound of it – shouted through her headset. A second flash illuminated the sloping face of an AT-ST walker shuffling out of the hangar. Its twin forward blasters erupted, targeting a pair of Mandalorians trading volleys of laser fire with a quintet of stormtroopers setting up an E-Web blaster. One of the Mandalorians was able to clear the blast, but the explosion hurled the second aside, slamming him into a wall. The Mandalorian screamed in Sabine's headset, injured by the blast.
Sabine turned away from the stormtroopers she had targeted, and fired her jetpack to scream over to the injured Mandalorian. The AT-ST stopped in front of the hangar and pivoted toward her, its blocky head tracking her movement. It fired a pair of blasts and Sabine triggered a pulse of jet power halfway to the injured Mandalorian. She lifted off the ground as the ground exploded beneath her. The blast threw her off-kilter, sending her careening out of control toward the catwalk encircling the courtyard. The stormtroopers setting up the E-web had nearly finished, and Sabine nudged her right jet, sending her hurtling toward them, partially out of control. The five stormtroopers recognized her hurtling toward them belatedly, and she slammed into two of the stormtroopers, knocking them over the edge of the railing into the gardens beyond the courtyard. They both screamed as they fell, the sickening crunch of their bodies hitting the ground muted by blaster fire.
Sabine hit the wall hard, and as she slumped to the ground, she fired her blasters into the two stormtroopers belatedly reaching for their rifles. Both took blasts to the chest and fell back, tumbling over the railing. The final stormtrooper, unarmed, held his hands up in surrender, but Sabine shot him cleanly through the face mask, dropping him to the ground.
Pushing through the pain in her hip and back, Sabine limped over to the E-web blaster and trained it on the AT-ST, which had now turned back toward the Mandalorians below her. The uninjured Mandalorian was attempting to lead the injured one away, but they were moving too slowly to avoid incoming. Sabine swiveled the E-web blaster and trained it on the AT-ST's cockpit. She pulled the trigger, and the blaster erupted in a hail of fire that slammed off of the armored cockpit. The blasts did minimal damage, but it was enough to get the attention of the AT-ST. The lumbering walker pivoted its cockpit toward her, taking aim at her position. She looked down at the blaster power generator, which she knew to be highly explosive.
"Any time now, Solo," Sabine shouted into the feed.
The AT-ST locked into firing position, and Sabine knew she had moments before it opened fire. She kicked on her jetpack, but before it activated, a pair of blasts tore through the air, slamming into the walker's cockpit. The cockpit erupted in flames, sending a small mushroom cloud into the foggy sky. The heavy rumble of a sublight engine passed overhead, and Sabine saw the circular oblong shape of the Millennium Falcon drift overhead through the fog, a smattering of small arms fire trailing after it.
"You're welcome," Han laughed through the audio feed.
Sabine was about to retort, but Bo-Katan's voice cut her off, saying, "Sabine, where are you? We pushed ahead into the compound. We're nearly there."
"I got pinned down," Sabine said.
"Head through the hangar and cut to the right," Bo-Katan ordered.
"On my way," Sabine said, kicking on her jetpack as she bounded over the railing along the edge of the catwalk. She landed in the dust of the courtyard, looking to her left at the spot where the injured Mandalorian had been. Both of them were now gone, likely evacuated into the sky.
"Solo, do you see any Mandalorians flying toward you?" Sabine asked.
"Already on it," Solo replied. "They're on board, and they're tending to the injuries."
"Thanks, Solo," Sabine called. "I'm about to. . ."
A hail of blaster fire slammed into Sabine, pinging off of her armor and knocking her onto her back. She pulled her torso upward and opened fire on the stormtroopers filing out of a pair of double doors set into the walls containing the courtyard. The stormtroopers in the front of the squadron storming her dropped to the ground, and the trailing stormtroopers fanned out, providing cover for a quartet of humans in a different sort of armor, each struggling to pull something out of what she now recognized as a barn. Something roared in the shadows, and one of the armored beings was pulled into the barn. A horrible scream rattled the courtyard, as whatever lurked in the barn tore the human apart.
Sabine rolled to her side, dodging the fire from the stormtroopers. As she rolled, her jetpack became dislodged, and it clanked against her back as she rose to her feet. Pain lanced through her right leg from the earlier injury when she had slammed into the wall, and she limped backward, unable to adjust her jetpack. She fired with both blasters cutting down a pair of stormtroopers, while dodging fire from the other eight.
Just as the stormtroopers settled into position, allowing them to take more careful aim, another roar filled the air within the smoky courtyard, and the other three armored humans that were pulling at whatever was within the barn flew out of the shadows, slamming into the stormtroopers. As the stormtroopers fell into disarray, Sabine opened fire again, cutting them down as they struggled to their feet. Several collapsed into the dust under her barrage, but the sight of the beast that rushed out of the barn stopped her heart.
A red, bearded beast, three meters tall, rushed into the chaos and smoke erupting within the collapsed stormtrooper formation. The beast's long, clawed arms picked up a stormtrooper, lifted him off the ground and threw him across the courtyard. The stormtrooper slammed into the wall 10 meters away from her and collapsed into the dirt, dead. A Death Star-sized weight settled into Sabine's stomach as she thought to herself: Gundark.
The creature roared again as a blaster bolt slammed into its shoulder, and the beast rushed forward with blinding speed toward the stormtrooper who had fired on it. The beast picked the stormtrooper up and pulled at its torso and legs, ripping him in half and spilling a cascade of blood and viscera onto the dirt.
Sabine leveled her blasters and opened fire. She scored two hits to the gundark's chest, and it roared as it turned toward her. It snarled ferociously, then lowered its head to bound across the courtyard, directly toward her. She reached back to her jetpack, only to find it was still dislodged. If she launched now, it might go shooting off of her, only to explode into the catwalk above her, bringing the building down on her.
With a split-second to react, Sabine leapt to the left, which sent a searing pain through her knee. She felt the blunt force of the gundark's claw slam into her. A sharp, stabbing sensation ripped through an exposed spot on her leg, sending a searing pain through her calf. The force of the blow sent her tumbling, dislodging her jetpack completely and sending one of her blasters skittering away into the dust.
The gundark reared on its hind legs, preparing to leap. Sabine fired with her remaining blaster, scoring several hits on the creature's thick hide. The creature screamed in rage and pain, and Sabine realized all she had done was make it angrier.
"Sabine, where are you?" Bo-Katan's voice called.
"I'm a little busy," Sabine called back desperately as the gundark leapt forward. It loomed above her, its open jaws revealing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. The gundark lunged for her head, chomping down hard on her helmet. The beskar withstood the blow, but her display went black. The gundark grunted in pain as the beskar broke several of its teeth, and it pulled the helmet up and off of her head with its jaws. She watched it spit the helmet out, bloody saliva spraying from its wounded mouth.
The gundark wiped the blood from its mouth and roared in her face, spattering Sabine with blood. She raised her blaster, but the gundark slapped it away. It screamed again, lifting her up with its clawed hands as it pulled her face toward its mouth.
A brilliant flash of white erupted before her eyes, and the gundark's eyes went wide. Its jaw slammed shut as its head tilted precariously. As the gundark's knees buckled, its head toppled off of its shoulders into the dust. The creature's arms went slack, and Sabine collapsed into the dirt, sending another wave of agony through her injured leg. The gundark collapsed to the ground, falling into a heap.
Behind the spot where the gundark stood, a Togrutan woman stood holding a pair of lightsabers, their white blades humming resonantly in the sudden silence of the courtyard.
"Ahsoka?" Sabine said.
Ahsoka killed her lightsabers and stepped over the gundark's body. She knelt to the ground, looking over Sabine's injuries. "You ok?" she asked.
"I am now," Sabine said, relieved. As her adrenaline subsided, the pain emerged, and she winced at the searing sensations in her knee and calf. She began to unwrap the armor around her lower leg to check the injury, when she heard several bootsteps approaching. She turned to the left to see Bo-Katan and several other Mandalorians jogging past the wreckage of the walker toward her.
Sabine turned back to Ahsoka, wincing at the persistent throb in her calf.
"He's back," Ahsoka said.
"Who?" Sabine asked, confused, the pain momentarily forgotten.
"Grand Admiral Thrawn."