Merry Christmas to all

Chapter 18 – The mother

D125/10 ABY

"A xenomorph nest! Interesting.", Tarre said. Infront of him stood Hera and Kanan, who had been recounting their tale. They were all currently on the Ghost crew's summer house. Mace and Talia were on Asgard, with the mural liberated from the nest.

"Hey. When did you guys get here?", Sabine asked appearing from within the house along with Zeb.

"One hour ago.", Hera said.

"Good. I just received word from the home office, Ezra and group have been captured while Fenrir is MIA.", Sabine said. "We need to mount a rescue mission."

"We will. But first, we wait for Ahsoka to return. She has some interesting developments to share.", Tarre spoke.

"There isn't enough time.", Sabine said.

"Sabine, remember… we talked about patience being an important part.", Tarre said.

"Satine and Chopper can keep an eye on the kids.", Hera said.

Over on the horizon, Ahsoka appeared accompanied by the little ones – Jacen (8), Mira (7), Gabriel (6), Erin (5) and lastly a new addition to the family – Skyla Viszla (daughter of Tarre and Ahsoka, 4 years old), who looked just like her mother did at that age. Gabriel was walking along with his mother, his hand in her left while Skyla was comfortably nestled in Ahsoka's right arm.

Reaching the group of adults, Ahsoka quickly hugged Tarre. "Great, now that Ahsoka is here, we can go.", Sabine said urgently.

"You're going!", Mira exclaimed. Sabine then crouched in front of her daughter, while Tarre quickly filled Ahsoka in. "Mira, your father is in a little trouble. We are going to help him.", Sabine said.

"What?", Mira asked concerned.

"What… about… pa…pa?", Erin asked slowly.

"They are both fine. They just need our help to lift some heavy objects.", Hera answered.

With that the adults quickly assured the children and told them to go inside. Sabine informed Satine and told her that Chopper will be staying back. "Bring them back.", Satine whispered.

As they entered the ship, Ahsoka turned to Kanan and said, "Grogu is alive."

"What!?", Kanan asked surprised.


In an unknown location, Ezra found himself suspended in a circular table. His arms and legs were restrained at different edges of the table. Taking stock of his surroundings with his eyes, Ezra discerned that he was held in a lab of some kind. Focusing, he sensed Ava's panicked force signature, who was being held in a similar manner just out of his sight. He tried to use the force to set himself free, to no avail.

"Ava", he whispered. Receiving no reply but hearing her breathing Ezra continued, "Ava, I need you to calm yourself. We will find a way out, but you need to be calm."

"I'm trying.", she whispered.

But then the two of them sensed a foreign presence, very powerful and dark. The door of the lab opened and entered the red skull man, flanked by Skoll and Hati. Skoll's head was bandaged, and as he looked at Ezra and Ave, he showed no signs of recognizing them. As Ezra was going to ask the red skull man who he was, they heard a woman laughing. Worst of all, it sounded like the laughter was coming from inside them. A beautiful blond woman then materialized, wearing a green one-piece, hugging her curves and a very short skirt. She had a green jeweled headdress, with black leggings having yellow circular patterns on them. She then approached Ezra and started stroking his face like a lover would, but Ezra recoiled at her very touch.

"Amora, are you ready for the next step?", the red skull man asked.

"My dear Johann, I have been ready for a long time. You know what you should do is enjoy… Midgard has never been so interesting. Even with the defeat of their so-called emperor, these mortals are still so… weak."

"Witch, I do not care for the matters of Midgard or any enjoyment you receive out of it. I only care about our bargain. I now leave these two in your care.", the red skull – Johann departed with Skoll and Hati behind him.

Amora then turned back to Ezra and Ava, "Such delicious faces." She then looked at both of them as if deciding who to approach first, her eyes settling on Ava. "This one has no fight left in her. Poor child, you have such potential, but no one to guide you."

"Leave her alone.", Ezra said. He tried to use the force to free himself again, but was still unsuccessful. Amora then approached him, giving a devious smile, "You have a stronger will. Yet I have broken beings stronger than you."

She then took out a knife, and made gentle cuts on his abdomen, cutting away at his shirt. "My… my… what a specimen."

"Hands off witch, I don't go for crazy.", Ezra snarled.

"Crazy.", Amora's eyes glowed a deep yellow.

Ezra then felt a heavy presence forcing itself inside his mind, trying to tear away his psyche. But in the midst of it, he heard a gentle and reassuring voice, "True strength comes from within. You are a source of light, drive the darkness away." Ezra recognised it as Fenrir's voice and with his guidance forced the presence outside.

"Oh my.", came Amora's voice. "You and the girl are well protected by my son's spells. It seems he has some talent after all. Even in his own prison, he still has some life left in him."

"Your… son?", Ava asked weakly.

"Oh. Did he not introduce his mother?", Amora said in mock disappointment. "I am Fenrir's mother – Amora the Enchantress."

"He may have made you immune to this particular spell, but not the magic I am about to perform.", Amora said, not even allowing Ezra and Ava to absorb the shock of Amora's revelation.


D130/10 ABY

It had taken the Ghost crew five days to retrace the steps of Fenrir and group. They had tried to get Heimdall's help, but received very little of it. The reason behind this was due to Heimdall keeping a close eye on Thor, as the Allfather of Asgard had gone on a secret mission, to Buri knows where. With difficulties along the way, they reached their destination, a forest planet in the unknown regions of Midgard. Along the way, they had found reinforcements in the form of 5 elite female hunters. These hunters had been dispatched by Queen Ygritte for a different but related mission.

"We're picking up a massive energy reading.", Sabine said as she gave Hera the exact location. Ensuring that the Ghost was properly cloaked, Hera landed the ship nearby the location provided by Sabine. It was decided that Zeb, Sabine and Hera would remain behind and keep the ship ready, while the rest would scout ahead and see what could be found.

"I'm not staying behind.", Sabine protested as Tarre walked off, after giving the order.

"Sabine, I need your help here. Something is wrong with the hyper drive.", Hera said causing Sabine to hesitate.

"Sabine, we can get Ezra and the others back. You need to stay here and work on patience.", Tarre said.

"What do you sense out there?", Kanan asked.

"I sense Ezra and Ava, close by along with something… dark and powerful. But I can't sense Fenrir.", Tarre replied.

As they exited the ship, the three came face to face with a monstrous being. It was tall and menacing, shrouded in fire, darkness and shadow. In its arms were a fiery whip and a longsword.

"A Balrog.", one of the hunters said.

They then saw the army behind the Balrog – werewolves and the fiery monsters that were first seen on Jesse's home world of Wyoming.

Tarre threw Mjolnir at the Balrog's chest, shattering its skin in the process, and the group discovered two individuals within – Ezra and Ava.