A/N: Thank you all for your patience, and I hope this chapter makes up for my recent absence. Funny story though, during my trip I actually met a man named Alrich. Crazy, huh? Anyway, on with the story!
Chapter 31
Ezra POV
While Sabine pored over a datapad for the last half-hour, Ezra leaned back in the chair next to her with his feet propped up on the holotable in front of him as he used the Force to make his two lightsabers fight one another, dueling in the air above the table.
They went back and forth for a moment until one particular crackling of the dueling energies made Sabine say, "Ezra, would you please stop that? I'm trying to work here."
"And I'm trying to relieve my boredom while you work," Ezra responded, though the lightsabers did stop fighting one another.
"I didn't make you join me in here," Sabine said irritably, her fingers still swiping over the screen of her datapad.
"Well, something told me that you needed someone to join you. You shouldn't be alone right now," Ezra said as he spun in his chair to face her.
Huffing in annoyance, Sabine said, "The clan leaders are going to arrive in a few minutes, and I want to have some good news for them when they get here. Something to let them know that their people's deaths will be avenged."
"You still feel guilty about what your weapon did," Ezra observed.
Though she tried to hide it, Ezra noticed that she flinched at the mention of the Empire's newest siege weapon. Ezra sighed and said, "Bine, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have stopped it."
"Yes, I could've, Ezra," Sabine argued. "I could've stopped it by not being so arrogant when I was younger. I could've stopped it by never building that thing in the first place. All those deaths are on my hands, and you can't convince me otherwise."
Raising an eyebrow, Ezra said, "Challenge accepted." He held out one of his hands, and the Darksaber flew into it. He held it up for Sabine to see and said, "You remember this thing?"
Shaking her head, Sabine pleaded, "Not now, Ezra."
"I used to think that this thing was cursed," Ezra went on, not listening to her. "And it was you that helped me start thinking otherwise. You reminded me that the actions of a weapon are not its own, just a reflection of the one wielding it. That device you created, Sabine, you never intended for it to be used against our people, so I don't blame you for the fact that it was. Frankly, I'm impressed by what you did."
Finally facing him and turning away from her work, Sabine questioned, "'Impressed?'"
Ezra nodded. "Yeah. That machine you made is easily one of the strongest weapons I've ever seen, and as a Mandalorian, I know weaponry. And you made it before you were a teenager. And then the Empire turned it into something horrible, but you found the strength to destroy the miracle you had created. That's even more impressive than the actual designing of the weapon. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Sabine."
Sabine's spirits didn't seem to be very well lifted, as she looked down and shed a single tear as she said, "My past came back and killed more of our people, Ez. I just… thought I was done with that."
Ezra leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder as he said, "We'll destroy this thing, and then we can put all this behind us. Just, please, stop blaming yourself for what the Empire did. And I know that this might seem like bad timing, but Admiral Thrawn used to advise, 'Everyone can make an error. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.' There's still time to correct this, Sabine, but I need you to forgive yourself first."
More tears began to fall down Sabine's face, and she leaned against Ezra as she said, "I- I'm trying. But it's… so hard."
Wrapping his arm around his guilt-stricken girlfriend, Ezra said, "That's what I'm here for. To help when things get tough. Here for all your grieving or Imperial-walker related needs."
Sabine let out a small laugh, making Ezra smile down at her. Just then, the door to the security foyer opened, and Ezra quickly jumped up to his feet to greet the arriving clan leaders.
Summoning his other lightsaber to his free hand, he swung both blades in front of himself and greeted them dramatically, "Clan leaders, welcome to our planning meeting. Prepare to be amazed!"
He swept his lightsabers out to his sides as he sunk into a low bow. He knew that he must've looked ridiculous, but he accomplished his objective of distracting the new arrivals while Sabine composed herself behind him. They all looked at him oddly, but he just clipped his lightsabers back to his belt and sat down next to Sabine once again like everything was normal.
Slowly, the others moved to take their own seats, and Sabine, the tear-streaks all successfully cleaned off her face, leaned over to Ezra to whisper, "Please don't do that again. I know you were trying to help, but you nearly made me snort with laughter while you were trying to distract them."
Frowning at her, Ezra said, "You know, a simple 'Thank you' would work too."
Rolling her eyes, Sabine said, "Fine. Thank you, my handsome hero."
Ezra smiled and leaned in to give her a quick kiss before saying, "You're very welcome, cyar'ika."
Lady Kryze was the last one to take her seat, and she said, "Alright, we're all here. Sabine Wren, it's your mission. You have the floor."
Clearing her throat, Sabine stood and pressed a button on the holotable, projecting an image of Sundari, the domed capital city of Mandalore, surrounded by three Star Destroyers. Just like their own fleet, these three Destroyers included two Imperial-II Class ISDs on the sides and one Imperial-I Class Destroyer in the center.
"Saxon has worked hard to keep the weapon a secret, so it's most likely aboard his Imperial Star Destroyer, the Beskad, outside of Sundari," Sabine said, pointing to the Imperial-I ISD.
"Needless to say, it will be heavily guarded," Fenn Rau added.
"Once we get inside, we'll need two teams," Sabine said. "One to find and destroy the weapon, and one to wipe every shred of data on it from the Imperial computer systems."
Rau stroked his chin and asked, "This weapon… is there any chance it could be turned against the Empire?"
Frowning, Sabine held up her datapad and said, "I've actually been thinking about that myself. I've studied stormtrooper armor, and I think I could make some quick alterations if I get close enough, but… that's not our mission. No, we have to destroy it."
"I will lead the attack team," Sabine's mother volunteered, but Ezra noticed the way that she winced as she stood up, so he quickly shot her down.
"All due respect, Countess, you can barely hold a blaster," he protested.
"I'm just as good with my other hand," Ursa defended herself.
Ezra shook his head and said, "No. You got more wounded than most of our people by the weapon. I'm placing you on pilot duty for the time being, and your two children will lead the mission in your place."
Ursa frowned, but she retook her seat and said, "So be it." Though she hid it well, Ezra could sense some relief coming from the Countess. She knew that she was too wounded to lead this mission. Her volunteering to lead this mission had only been an act of pride, but he had saved her from death or worse (embarrassment) by ordering her to remain behind.
Ezra turned back to the hologram and said, "You know, we could double our ISD fleet if we take these three ships. With over a thousand Mandalorians here, I think we could manage it easily enough."
"Not Saxon's flagship," Sabine warned. "Once the energy core of the weapon is compromised, it will explode powerfully enough to take the entire ship with it."
"Then what if we just don't destroy the core?" Ezra asked. "You said it yourself, this thing could be turned against the Empire. Much as I hate the idea of something that can target beskar, I wouldn't mind having one of these things around under our control, especially if Sabine can improve it and maybe just remove the 'beskar targeting' option. We could defeat whole armies of stormtroopers with the push of a button. And the Empire has even bigger guys in armor as well… such as a certain asthmatic in black."
There was a short silence, and then Kanan said, "You don't mean… You can't be serious. Him?"
"Just think about it," Ezra said, "The unstoppable Mandalorian army, so Palpatine sends his equally unstoppable attack dog, and we just push a button and melt the guy. Sounds like the sort of thing that would help both us and your Rebellion, Kanan."
"It doesn't matter!" Bo said, slamming a hand down on the table. "This machine is the weapon of a coward, and it has the potential to destroy all Mandalorians. We're not taking it, we're destroying it!"
She had said it so fiercely that everyone that had stood, including Ezra, quickly fell back into their seats. Yet Ezra couldn't help but imagine them getting this thing on their side. Sabine's machine had a potential that none of them were seeing, the potential to cripple the Empire! Almost everyone in the Empire wore some kind of armor, from stormtroopers to Inquisitors. If they got close enough, they could take down pretty much everyone in the Empire except Palpatine and his senators, and from there it would be easy!
Sabine POV
Sabine felt nervous as she looked at Ezra's face. His eyes had a sort of hungry gleam in them, and she knew that he was still thinking about getting her machine for themselves.
Personally, Sabine wasn't sure what to think. Her machine did need to be destroyed, but… What if it didn't? If Ezra was right, if this thing could defeat Vader, then maybe it would be better to keep it around. Just in case. Given the threat that Ezra (and by extension, all Mandalorians) posed to the Empire, she wouldn't be surprised if they eventually did send Vader to deal with them, and he would go after Ezra with a vengeance. As strong as Ezra was, Sabine didn't know if he could defeat Vader in a fight. The Sith had ragdolled Kanan when they had fought, and Ezra could still only sometimes defeat Kanan in a fight. But still, Sabine knew that if Ezra fought the dark lord, she would fight beside him, and she would bring the biggest gun she could get ahold of.
No, she had no issues with the idea of using her machine against Vader, but Ezra seemed to want to use it against even the armies of stormtroopers. He had told her that she needed to develop a certain lack of empathy for their enemies. Was this what he meant? She needed to learn how to take countless lives in order to save their own people? She didn't know if she would be able to make such a call.
Then again, had Saxon even hesitated to order the deaths of dozens of their own people? No. In fact, he probably wanted to kill far more of them than he got, including Sabine's mother and brother. Tiber Saxon was somehow even worse than his brother. He was an Imperial fanatic that betrayed his own culture in preference of appearing more Imperial. If the rumors were true, he didn't even wear beskar armor, instead wearing stormtrooper plastoid. For that, Sabine would make sure that he suffered along with every one of his men.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Sabine said, "Alright, we have our mission. We'll use jetpacks to sneak aboard the ISDs. Kanan and Ezra, you will lead the incursion mission to purge the Imperial computers. Tristan and Rau will lead the hangar assault on Tiber Saxon's Destroyer, and Lady Kryze and I will go after the weapon. The rest of you will attack the other two ISDs, the Atin and the Beviin, with a few astromechs and attempt to take them intact. Any questions?"
No one spoke, and Sabine nodded in satisfaction before saying, "Alright then. Everyone, move out!"
They all began to move into action at her order, and soon they arrived inside the hangar. By the dozens, Mandalorian troops were jumping out of the open hangar door and falling towards the ground before activating their jetpacks and flying towards the capital city. With any luck, today would be the day that they finally retook their home planet.
As Sabine prepared to jump out, Ezra came up next to her and lightly bumped her shoulder before saying, "I couldn't help but notice that you didn't want me on your team. Am I in trouble?"
Sabine donned her helmet before turning to him and saying, "Not yet, but if you die out there without me, you will be. Good luck!" And with that, Sabine jumped out of the hangar and joined the crowd of Mandalorians approaching Sundari.
No one drew their weapons as they finally arrived next to the Star Destroyers just outside the city, just simply flew inside the open hangars while trying to avoid making a sound.
Once Sabine landed inside the Beskad, she scanned around the lines of AT-DPs and quickly noticed one that was shaped differently than the others, with a bay on the front that would be perfect for holding the energy core. However, she noticed the small issue of the fact that the core was clearly not currently inside the walker.
Ezra, Tristan, Kanan, Rau, and Lady Kryze landed next to her, with Rau carrying Kanan and releasing him once they reached the ground. Rau then followed Sabine's gaze and said, "I can't help but notice that the weapon's core isn't here."
"Thank you, Fenn Rau, that's very helpful," Sabine told him sarcastically. She looked above the weapon's transport at the walled-off science room directly above it and said, "Best guess, they're working on the Duchess up there."
Shocked, Bo turned to her and asked, "'The Duchess?' You named your weapon after my sister? Ezra's mother?"
Sabine winced beneath her helmet at the slip of her tongue. She hadn't meant to call it by the name she had given it long ago, especially not in front of her present company. "It was a series of bad decisions, okay?" Sabine desperately tried to defend herself.
Ezra shook his head and said, "That's just… Yikes, that's in bad taste."
Kanan looked over at Bo and said, "Wait, I thought you were Ezra's mother."
"Seriously?" Ezra questioned. "We didn't explain that whole thing to you? Whatever, I'll tell you later. We'll go get the servers erased. Tristan and Rau, cause a distraction. A loud one. Mother, you and Sabine go after the… Duchess."
With that, Ezra quietly moved away, closely followed by Kanan, and Sabine looked down in regret, mentally groaning to herself in annoyance. Of course she just happened to name her weapon after her future boyfriend's deceased mother.
She was broken from her thoughts by Bo shaking her shoulder and saying, "Come on, Wren. You can think about your bad life choices later. For now, we need to get that energy core."
Sabine nodded in understanding and quietly moved around a set of crates, watching as Rau and Tristan moved stealthily around the room and stuck sets of detonators on the bottoms of several TIE Fighters.
After most of the Fighters had been tagged, Tristan gave Rau a thumbs up, and Rau raised his comlink to his mouth to say, "Standby teams, you are clear to engage the other Destroyers."
Seconds later, there were numerous explosions from outside, and the Beskad's alarms all began to go off. TIE pilots ran into the room, all of them quickly pulling on their helmets, and jumped into their Fighters to fly outside.
As soon as they were all inside their vehicles, Tristan hit a button on his vambrace, and most of the TIE Fighters that were attempting to take off exploded before they could even get out of the hangar.
The explosions inside the ship prompted Imperial fire crews to run out, not knowing what had happened but still doing their jobs of stopping the flames. That was when Rau and Tristan popped out from behind their hiding places and began to fire at all of the Imperials in the room, both the fire crews and the stormtrooper guards, prompting the Imperial soldiers to fire back in defense. AT-DP pilots ran along the raised platforms above and began to climb into their walkers, escalating the battle within the ship.
Rau gestured to Sabine and Bo and yelled, "You have your distraction! Now hurry!"
Both Mandalorian women ran forward through the chaos of the battle and crossed the hangar to the elevator leading up to the lab, and Bo pressed the button to go up. After the lift arrived at its destination, both Sabine and Bo stepped off of it and into the lab with their weapons drawn.
To their surprise, there was no one else inside the room, no scientists, mechanics, guards, anything. Yet the weapon's core was here, and Sabine holstered her dual blasters as she went over to the core and kneeled down to examine it. It definitely wasn't in great operating condition, but the Empire had done an admittedly impressive job of restoring her design.
"It doesn't seem so dangerous like this," Bo noted, clearly unimpressed with the machine, but Sabine knew that its function was superior to its fashion.
Suddenly, the rings around the core began to glow as the weapon hummed, and Bo questioned, "What's that sound?"
Looking down at it in horror, Sabine said, "Oh, no. It's been activated!"
Bolts of electricity shot out towards both Sabine and Bo, and time seemed to slow down as Sabine wondered if she was about to be killed by her own weapon.
The electricity struck their armor, and Sabine felt the most agonizing pain she had ever known rip through her entire body, and she fell to the ground. However, the pain lasted only a second before it faded away, though both Sabine and Bo were left breathless and unable to move on the ground.
Suddenly, the other door to the lab opened, and Tiber Saxon walked in, escorted by an Imperial Super Commando whose only distinctive feature was large amounts of red on his vambraces.
Though the Commando wore Mandalorian beskar, Tiber Saxon did not. Instead, he wore a suit of unique stormtrooper armor as well as a helmet, but he removed his helmet as he entered the room to reveal a thin face, small amounts of blond hair combed over the back of his head, and blue eyes that Sabine couldn't help but think were nothing like Ezra's.
As they walked in, Saxon put out a hand behind himself to stop his escort and warned, "Stay back, Captain. The weapon is still warm."
Tiber then walked over and kneeled next to Sabine before saying, "Sabine Wren. You truly are brilliant. Except for thinking that you could infiltrate my ship without my notice."
Sabine attempted to retort at him snappily, but she still felt too tired to even form a response in her mind. She had never felt the effects of her weapon firsthand, but even this small taste of its power had been enough to effectively silence her.
Frowning at her, Saxon continued, "Sadly, as much as I would love to end your life, I need you alive. You are going to upgrade your little experiment for me and deliver a weapon that operates at its full potential."
Despite the pain, Sabine managed to pull herself to her arms and knees and say, "Never!"
Glaring, Saxon stood up straight and pulled up his left wrist, hovering one of his fingers over a button on his vambrace, presumably to activate the Duchess again, and said, "Let's see if I can persuade you."
However, his Commando Captain stepped up beside him and stopped his hand, saying, "Governor, stop! This is too much. I understand using the weapon against rebels, but if she makes it more powerful, how will we prevent the Empire from using it against all Mandalorians?"
Sabine was surprised by the Captain's bravery. To stand up to his clan leader, the governor of Mandalore, was no small feat.
Saxon yanked his hand from the Captain's grip and said, "I am the Empire! Palpatine has shown me the path to true power!"
And with that, he pressed the button on his wrist, sending arcs of electricity to strike both Sabine and Bo, but also the Captain now that he was within range, forcing him to fall to the ground next to the two women. When Sabine had designed this weapon, she had named it the Duchess because of its ability to make anyone bow before it, but now she could barely endure the pain it caused in forcing her to fall before it. How could she have ever designed something so horrible?
After a second, Saxon deactivated the weapon and said, "This isn't enough power to kill you. Just to teach you a lesson that in the end, all of Mandalore will bow to me!"
He let the weapon continue striking the three beskar-wearing warriors for another few seconds, then turned it off and asked Sabine, "Are you impressed by how well your weapon works? I believe you can do better." He then pulled a pistol out to direct it at Lady Kryze and said, "Help me increase the range of the weapon, or she dies."
Having an idea, Sabine pretended to give in and said, "Stop! I'll do what you want!"
"Sabine, don't!" Bo protested, but Sabine just moved closer to the weapon and began to press buttons on the side, making adjustments.
"You're doing the right thing, Sabine," Saxon said. This weapon can unite the houses. It can bring peace."
Sabine scoffed as she inlaid new instructions to the Duchess with her vambrace and said, "The houses have already united, Saxon. They've united against you, following the strongest Mandalorian since the ancients. Even your own clan won't follow you after you've harmed your own Captain."
"They will adapt to survive, as I have, or they will die," Saxon argued.
Standing back from the weapon, Sabine said, "At least we'd die free, as true Mandalorians." She gestured at the core and said, "It's done. The weapon's at full power now, but I'm begging you, don't use it."
"I'll take that into consideration," Saxon said with a smirk, then holstered his pistol and immediately pressed the button on his vambrace once again, activating the core, which immediately spat out arcs of energy.
Ezra POV
As he and Kanan were defending the server room, Kanan using his lightsaber and Ezra using his pistols, while numerous stormtroopers closed in around them, Ezra felt a surge of pain from Sabine in the Force.
Looking over at his Jedi companion, Ezra questioned, "Kanan?"
"I feel it," Kanan responded. "Sabine's hurt. You get to her, I'll defend the data spike."
Not hesitating, Ezra holstered one blaster and drew the Darksaber instead before rushing down the side hallway, slashing the blade across the chests of the two stormtroopers that tried to get in his way as he went.
He arrived in the hangar, where he saw the awe-inspiring sight of just a few Mandalorians fighting at least half a dozen stormtroopers and two AT-DPs while huge fires from downed Imperial vehicles raged around them.
He didn't spend long admiring the sight, however. Sabine needed him.
Drawing his second lightsaber as well, Ezra ran towards one of the AT-DPs and flew between its legs, stretching his arms out to either side to cut both legs off at once. He then raised one hand and latched onto the severed lower halves of both legs with the Force, then pulled them out from under the walker and launched them to impale into the pod of the second walker, going right through the eye holes.
As both walkers began to fall, Ezra ran up the side of one of them as it fell backwards and used it as a ramp to get up into the lab where he suspected Sabine was. While running up it, Ezra summoned the bodies of two stormtroopers from the ground and threw them against the lab's window with a scream from both of them.
Their bodies crashed into the glass and slightly damaged it upon impact, but didn't break it. Ezra jumped right between them and impaled them both through the stomachs as he approached the glass, destroying the window and pushing their bodies through the hole in the same move.
He then stood up and held his two lightsabers in a defensive stance in front of him, glaring around for the threat to Sabine, but lowered them as he saw his girlfriend and mother standing over Tiber Saxon's twitching form. He was being hit by a continuous beam of electricity from the Duchess' core and was clearly in unbearable agony.
Sabine looked over at the sound of the window breaking and greeted, "Ezra. Nice entrance."
Confused, Ezra deactivated his lightsabers and said uncertainly, "Thanks…"
Behind Sabine and Bo, an Imperial Super Commando got to his feet and darted towards the door. Ezra distractedly thrust out one hand and pushed the Commando into the door face-first with the Force, knocking him unconscious and causing him to fall back to the ground.
Ezra looked down at the Duchess, unsure of why it wasn't hitting them, and suddenly realized that it was instead being attracted to Saxon's stormtrooper armor. Sabine had made her changes to the machine! Looking back out the broken window, Ezra saw the Duchess' arcs of electricity flowing out to the rest of the facility, searching for more stormtroopers to incapacitate.
Sabine stepped over Saxon's body and said angrily, "This isn't enough power to kill you! Just to make you suffer! How does it feel?!"
Bo then stepped in front of the younger woman and said, "Sabine, stop!"
"Mandalore must be free!" Sabine stated with determination.
"At what cost?" Bo asked.
"What are you talking about?" Ezra asked his mother. "To beat the Empire, this is the only way."
Bo looked back at him and said, "It's not our way. It's their way." She turned back to Sabine and pleaded, "Sabine, please. You came here to make things right. Will the future of Mandalore be one of honor or cowardice? Hope or fear?"
"We need to teach them why they should be afraid of us!" Sabine argued.
Ezra recognized the reference to his own words, but as he looked at Saxon's agonized face, he realized that this was torture, something that he had never imagined Sabine was capable of doing. This was indeed the way of the Empire, not of Mandalore.
Turning back to Sabine, Ezra sighed and said, "I know I told you that before, Sabine, but this is too much. Let's end this."
Sabine gave him a look, and her intense expression softened slightly before she stepped over to Saxon and pulled a device off his wrist, pressing a button, and the Duchess' core slowly spun to a halt. Saxon gasped as the electricity stopped hitting him and panted hard in a kneeling position on the ground, facing them.
\Sabine stepped over to the core and pressed a few buttons on the control panel, then turned back to Bo and said, "I'm keeping the core, just in case, but I've removed its ability to target beskar. Even I would have to build it again from scratch and reprogram it to add that feature back now."
Bo looked uncertain, but she nodded to Sabine, acquiescing to her statement.
Just then, Saxon's hand shot to his hip and drew his pistol before directing it at Bo, but Ezra drew the Darksaber just as fast and cut his hand off at the wrist. Saxon let out a scream and fell onto his back, clutching at the stump where his hand used to be, and Ezra said, "You know, I seem to recall doing that same thing to your brother."
His eyes widening, Saxon looked up at Ezra and asked, "You… are the one who killed my brother? I'll kill you!"
"Yeah, have fun with that," Ezra responded, unimpressed. "I took down your brother at full strength, and you were much less impressive than him before you were missing a hand."
"And besides, this thing is still configured to target your armor," Sabine added, patting the Duchess' core and attaching Saxon's controller to her own vambrace. "You try any more funny business, I can always turn it back on."
Saxon looked at his former siege weapon with fear and gulped before saying, "I… will order my forces to surrender to you."
Ezra smirked as he pulled the disgraced governor to his feet and told him, "Good answer."
Saxon tugged his arm from Ezra's grip and scowled as he brought his vambrace to his mouth and said, "All Imperial forces, surrender to the Mandalorian traitors. They have taken control of the weapon and have the capability to punish continued resistance with mass death, including my own. For now, we are beaten."
After he'd given his order, Saxon turned back to his captors and said, "And I do mean, 'For now.' Once the Empire sees what you've done here, they will turn the planet to ash to wipe you out. You've doomed our entire people."
"Our people have been doomed many times before," Sabine said. "We know they'll come for us. We'll be waiting for them."
Ezra raised his own comm to his mouth and ordered, "Mandalorians, we have Governor Saxon in custody and the Empire should now be surrendering the planet to us. Take control of their weapons and vehicles, including the three Destroyers, and kill any resisting stormtroopers. Imprison the Commandos and officers and confiscate all of their weapons. And congratulations. We have retaken our world."