Chapter 12: The Protector of Concord Dawn
Indeed the first dinner with their parents after 9 years was a memory that Ezra and Jaral would have treasured for the rest of their lives. Perhaps the dishes served in the mess hall weren't that great, but it mattered little. They talked for almost three hours, telling crazy stories of what they had all witnessed in these last years, laughing at what would usually had been embarrassing or slightly painful memories. Right then and there, it seemed like nothing could have broken their spirit.
They even talked about Tseebo and how they found him on one of Ezra's birthday, which spurred another very good note in the boy's mind: now he had no reason to hate that day anymore. His parents were back, and while he would still hate the Empire and fight to see it removed from the galaxy, now Empire Day seemed to be special again for him. Ezra even showed them the family picture that Sabine had scavenged for him and that he had scrupulously guarded, even if he had given a copy to Jaral.
The Bridgers quickly settled into their new lives. As promised, Mira had started teaching a group of four young girls who had volunteered to become nurses and, in time, full-fledged doctors. Jordan had put his invaluable military experience as a Legionnaire not only to teach his own children many tricks about their omni-tools and their bodies that the siblings still ignored, but he also trained the first fleet-security platoons and he joined Rex in teaching everybody how to use a blaster.
Rex and Jordan had discovered an affinity pretty much as soon as they presented themselves. They were both soldiers to the bone, and genetically engineered for battle, though Rex was an artificial being while Jordan wasn't. Nevertheless, the two had become rapidly friends, and they exchanged war stories on a regular basis, some would even say that they were old comrades.
In fact, it was Rex who helped Jordan find some new equipment. As everyone convened that Jordan needed something similar to the armors that his children were wearing, the old captain pulled a few strings with his contacts and somehow got his hands on a Katarn-class armor, the exclusive armor wore only by the clone commandos during the Clone War.
The Specters thought that it might have been Gregor's, since he was a commando, but his armor had been long gone. So it might have probably come from some vendor of Clone War equipment, which weren't actually that rare in the Outer Rim, even if the Empire had made such commerce illegal.
Jordan might have found the new protection not as comfortable as his Legionnaire vest, but this was indeed a valuable asset. Jordan Bridger, super-soldier from the Milky Way, was ready to get back in action.
Almost three weeks had passed. Jaral was waiting a bit impatiently on the command bridge. With her around the table stood Hera Sabine, Sato, Darvos and Rex as well. The Ghost had gone on a supply raid with a crew composed of Kanan, Zeb, Jordan and Chopper. Ezra was accompanying them while flying the A-Wing that Jaral officially reassigned from her to him. The boy had made staggering progresses in using it and was already admired by many in the Fleet. Someone had started calling the siblings the Twin Stars, waiting for a chance to see them fight wing by wing against an Imperial squadron.
For now, this simple raid was to be Ezra's first official mission as a combat pilot. Which apparently went quite well, because suddenly the Ghost and his one-fighter-escort finally reached the fleet and docked at the Liberator without a scratch.
The members of the expedition finally stepped into the bridge. Ezra came first, holding his helmet under his right arm.
"That was a close one." he sighed.
"What happened?" Darvos asked.
Kanan entered and spoke.
"We got the supplies, but we were fortunate to get away. The Empire is making our travels around the Outer Rim tougher all the time."
"Yes." Sato agreed. "We need a new hyperspace route in and out of the Lothal sector."
"I may have a perfect shortcut." Sabine intervened with a serious face. She tapped something on the panel and the holotable showed a new map. "The system of Concord Dawn. It's a Mandalorian colony and not an Imperial territory yet."
"Why not?" Jordan asked, skeptically. "They have grabbed pretty much everything else."
Rex explained. "Concord Dawn is known for its elite warriors. They were brought in to train clones back in the war. Bet even the Empire thinks twice about a fight with them."
"The question is, who are they loyal to?" Sato asked.
"The Empire controls Mandalore, so Imperial influence could be a factor." Darvos added.
"Years before the Clone Wars broke out," Sabine explained. "the Mandalorians were already at war with each other. This group call themselves the Protectors. They like to make up their own rules."
"Sounds familiar." Hera murmured to Kanan.
"So we go in with strength," Sato said. "scout the system for defenses to see what we're up against."
"Or, why not try diplomacy?" was Kanan's counter-suggestion. "Ask permission to use their system as a shortcut."
"Diplomacy?" Sato rolled his eyes, not believing in that option one bit. "Warriors like these only understand strength."
"He's got a point." Sabine nodded.
"But we shouldn't make an enemy if we don't need to." Hera suggested. "If we get permission to fly through their space, the next step could be recruitment."
Sato turned to his two adjutants. "What is your opinion, officers?" he asked.
"I agree that we should avoid a fight if possible..." Jaral said pensively. "Sabine, they're your people, do you think they might adhere to conventional diplomacy?"
The mandalorian girl sighed. "If they follow mandalorian rules, they should at least hear us out, but if they're already in cahoots with the Empire…" she stopped talking, preferring not to think about that possibility.
"It's a risk that we have to take." Darvos stated. "However, we should send out a small squadron with skilled pilots. I'd suggest Hera, Ezra and either you or Sabine." he said looking at Jaral.
"Why me?" Ezra asked, shrugging. "I'm not that skilled yet."
Jaral hummed before talking. "Maybe not on par with Hera or me, Ezra, but you have the Force to warn you if the Protectors are about to shoot you and if that isn't enough, you still have Jinx to mess with their targeting."
That was a good point. Still, it was difficult to think that Ezra could already go up against a group of pilots whose only occupation was warfare.
"You don't have to come if you don't feel like, Ezra." Hera reassured him.
Ezra looked at her with uncertainty, but in the end he sported a confident face. "No, she's right, Hera. I have to be there as well. You handle the negotiations, but if I tell you to dodge, please dodge."
Jaral smiled proudly at him, before turning her head. "Sabine?"
The other girl smirked. "Do you even have to ask?"
The choice was made.
"Then Captain Syndulla, the mission is yours." Sato sentenced.
"Thanks, Commander." Hera said before turning around and get out of the bridge, followed by the two teens.
"Ezra!" Jaral called out, making Ezra stop and the others look with curiosity.
The girl walked near her brother, lightened her omni-tool and took all the three processors in it, giving them to him.
Ezra simply nodded at her and took the processors, reuniting them all for the first time since they started using those armors.
"Jinx, take care of them all." Jaral commented wittily.
"Affirmative. Baby-sitting protocols engaged." the AI said sarcastically.
Everybody who heard it chuckled. Ezra just rolled his eyes playfully and headed out of the bridge with Hera and Sabine.
"Looks like diplomacy won the day for once." Zeb commented.
"There was a time when it always won the day." Kanan said with a bit of resignation.
The three Specters took off aboard three A-Wings. Hera and Sabine's ones had been lent to them, while Ezra sported his own. Since now the ship was his, he had removed the drawing of the Blue Nova (to his great sorrow, since it was Sabine's artwork) and wanted to change the colors as soon as he had the chance, since he felt a bit like stealing from his sister.
Anyway, the three fighters came out after a couple minutes of hyperspace in a triangle formation. Hera was at the front, Sabine on the right and Ezra on the left.
In front of them stood the planet of Concord Dawn, which had an entire hemisphere reduced to asteroids.
Ezra made a whistle of astonishment. "I bet this place has seen better days."
Sabine chuckled and answered through the comlink. "This place has endured more than a hundred wars. My people don't need a reason to pick a fight."
"Sounds familiar." Ezra said, well aware of the reaction he was about to get.
"What are you implying, Bridger?" she replied, clearly getting into the joke.
"Just talking for experience, cyar'ika." he hoped that the endearment would soften her.
"I would suggest you stop before it's too late, Ezra," Hera commented with an amused tone. "but I'm enjoying this too much."
They all chuckled, then Ezra received an alert on his HUD.
"Fun time's over. We got three fighters coming our way." he announced, suddenly turning serious.
"Stay sharp kids, and don't make sudden movements." Hera instructed as they kept flying in formation.
Those were three Fang-class fighters, mandalorian design and way more maneuverable than the A-Wings. Ezra seriously hoped that they would be reasonable, but just in case he whispered to Jinx to stand ready and gave him permission to act if he detected that the mandalorians were charging their weapons. The mandalorians formed a larger triangle around the rebels.
"Attention, unregistered ships." the leader of the mandalorians spoke. "This is Fenn Rau, Protector of Concord Dawn. You are trespassing. Identify yourselves."
"We come in peace, Protector." Hera answered.
"Peace? Huh, that's not a word I hear often. State your mission."
"We request safe passage through your system."
"Well, that depends. Who is asking?"
"Those who would stand with Concord Dawn...against the Empire."
"So you're the rebels I've heard about…"
There was something in the Protector's tone that made Ezra's instincts scream danger.
"How unfortunate for you."
That last phrase hinted Ezra definitely.
"You haven't heard what we have to say." Hera continued.
"I don't need to. Out here, I act in the name of the Empire." the Protector closed the discussion.
Rau's fighter suddenly decelerated to bring itself behind the rebel fighters.
"SCATTER!" Ezra screamed the moment he felt Rau's killing instinct activating.
The boy abruptly decelerated as well, letting the fighter on his left side pass over him, then firing a warning shot against Rau's fighter, who was about to shoot Hera. Rau was surprised by the reflexes of the rebel and had to break the lock on Hera's fighter.
Sabine and Hera followed Ezra's command and initiated the evasive maneuvers. Jinx enacted his electronic countermeasures, jamming the mandalorians' communications and targeting systems. This took three of his processors, while the remaining three were used to improve the WES of Ezra's fighter.
The boy engaged an acrobatic flight that quickly got the attention of the mandalorians and gave an opening to Sabine and Hera.
"Sabine, make the jump." the Twi'lek ordered.
"Not without all of you." Sabine protested.
"Just follow orders, Sabine! I'll bring Ezra back."
The mandalorian grunted, but obeyed and made the jump a few seconds later.
Hera veered and went to help Ezra, who was still trying to shake off the three mandalorian fighters, but these guys were definitely living up to their reputation as skilled warriors and were not allowing him to get away.
The Twi'lek captain found an opportunity and fired at one of the mandalorians, destroying one fighter and forcing the other to break the chase and regroup.
"Ezra, you have a chance. Make the jump!" Hera issued the order to him too.
"Affirmative, but you better be right behind me." he stated.
"I will. Now go!"
Jinx quickly brought the A-Wing in the right position and Ezra was catapulted into hyperspace.
After the two brief minutes necessary to reach back the fleet, he found Sabine still patrolling around the hyperspace lane.
"Ezra, are you okay?" the girl asked with a bit of anxiety in her voice.
"I'm undamaged." he sternly replied. "Where is Hera?" he asked, looking around himself through the large glass of the cockpit.
"I thought she was with you."
"She said she would be right behind me." he said, fear mounting inside of him.
Another minute passed. Jaral contacted them from the bridge but there was no sign of Hera.
Then, Jinx caught a signal coming from hyperspace, Ezra turned the ship around to have a better look. What came out of it shocked him to the core.
The A-Wing that came out was barely holding itself together. The cockpit shattered the moment it came out of hyperspace. How did it manage to stay in one piece during the jump was a mystery that Ezra had no time to unravel. The fighter had been hit repeatedly and Hera was unconscious on her seat. The destruction of the cockpit meant that she was most likely not receiving oxygen, so the boy acted immediately.
"Jinx, take the commands and bring me closer!" he ordered.
In the back of his mind, Ezra registered that Sabine was urgently requesting assistance from the fleet, but that would take minutes that Hera most likely didn't have.
Ezra opened his cockpit after depressurizing it. Right now he couldn't have been more grateful to have his armor that was capable of sustaining him in the void of space. As Jinx got near the wreckage, Ezra jumped right over Hera and started to unfasten her seat belt, then he quickly carried her with his arms into his fighter.
Keeping his unconscious second mother in his arms, Ezra struggled a bit to fit both of them into the cockpit of his fighter, but he did and managed to close the transparisteel. At the very least, Hera could receive some oxygen.
"Bring us on the command ship, now!" he ordered to Jinx and the AI piloted the ship to destination.
Ezra's timely intervention probably saved Hera not only from a most likely death but from getting hypoxia as well. When his fighter docked and the hatch to the Liberator opened, he rushed toward the infirmary, still holding Hera in his arms. Mira and her apprentices went to work immediately as Ezra got out of the med bay to wait outside. Sabine reached him a few seconds later, finding him scratching his head hysterically and grunting in frustration. She immediately went to hold him, trying to alleviate the stress while Kanan, Zeb, Jaral and Jordan all came to him.
Kanan had actually complimented his Padawan for the rescue, but Ezra kept his head low and didn't feel like answering. Sabine just stood near him, holding his hand and gently putting an arm around his head, and while he certainly appreciated the effort, he seemed unable to remove the expression of anxiety plaguing his face.
Finally, two hours later, the operation was done and the group was allowed to visit the Twi'lek.
Ezra rushed into the room, followed by Sabine. "How is she?" he asked.
Mira looked at him calmly. "We managed to stabilize her. Luckily there was no major wound and she's a tough one."
Then she looked at her son. "You did great at bringing her aboard immediately, or she might have suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Now she only needs to rest." after she concluded, she headed to another section of the infirmary.
Ezra nodded, but stared at the wounded body of Hera with remorse and a strong sense of guilt.
Jaral felt that and she immediately stepped forward with a stern face.
"Ezra, what happened it's not your fault." she said talking to his back.
"Yes it is!" Ezra snapped. "I should've stayed with her! Cover her retreat! Maybe I would…" he didn't know what to say anymore.
"If you had stayed behind then you'd probably be in her situation, and you couldn't have had helped her when she needed you the most." Kanan told wisely.
Ezra sighed under his teeth and seemed to calm down a bit.
Jaral put a hand on his shoulder from behind him. "Come on, we need you to make a full report on this."
Sabine spoke for him. "We'll be right there, just give us a minute."
Jaral nodded and brought everybody out and back to the bridge.
Ezra seemed unable to divert his sorry gaze from Hera. He couldn't shake the thought that he could've prevented her from being almost killed.
"Ezra, we must go." Sabine told him after a few seconds.
The boy sighed. "I know."
"Hey," she said with determination and a light frown. "they're gonna answer for this. Trust me."
Ezra nodded with determination and revenge burning in his eyes. He gave Hera a farewell gaze and then turned around to go to the bridge with Sabine.
As soon as the two teens stepped in, Sabine immediately spoke up.
"Fenn Rau, the Protector of Concord Dawn. That's who did this, that's who we're up against." she said with a rage barely contained.
Kanan turned to Rex. "Rex, does that name sounds familiar?"
"It sure does." Rex replied while pushing a button and a hologram of Fenn Rau with his Protector's armor showed on the holotable. "He was a pilot instructor for the Grand Army of the Republic. He also fought…"
"At the Battle of Mygeeto!" Kanan realized. "I know. I was there."
"That was a long time ago." Sato said.
"So I guess negotiating has been taken off the table?"
"You want to negotiate?" Ezra snapped to Kanan. "Fine, let's negotiate by grounding them!"
Sabine approved with a nod. "I tracked them from the third moon of Concord Dawn. They must have a base there."
"If they scan our fleet approaching," Sato noted. "their fighters will cut us to pieces."
"I think we can kill two birds with one stone…" Jaral intervened, looking intensely at the map of the moon and keeping a closed hand on her chin.
Everybody looked at her with curiosity.
"One of your crazy ideas?" Ezra asked, almost amused.
"One of my crazy ideas." Jaral confirmed without avoiding her gaze from the map.
Then she lowered her hand and leaned against the holotable. "One that will get us that free passage without killing anybody if everything goes as planned."
Everybody except Ezra looked at each other in confusion.
"Ok, shoot." Ezra encouraged her, prompting everybody else to listen carefully.
Aboard the Phantom, Kanan was upset.
"This is never gonna work." he murmured while still piloting the ship.
In the backseats stood the siblings and Sabine.
"Hey, I'm giving you a chance at diplomacy." Jaral said wittily. "If that won't work, this time we'll add some blasters."
"I think it's an overall good plan." Sabine said soberly. "Mandalorians hardly budge if they think they have strength on their side."
"And if we get to give Rau a bloody nose, it'll be worth it." Ezra added.
"Ezra, it's not safe for you to have wishes of revenge." Kanan reprimanded him.
"I know, Kanan. Calm down, I don't want to kill him. I just want to make sure that Hera's wounds weren't for nothing." he said sadly under his helmet.
"We'll make sure of that, Ezra." Jaral said with a determined tone. "Trust me."
Ezra made a quick, amused huff. "You know I trust you more than myself, sis." he said wittily.
He couldn't see Jaral's expression, but the warmth coming through their bond was very much eloquent. Jaral had a soft spot for compliments coming from her beloved brother.
From his post on the roof of the vessel, Chopper warbled something about that sentence being extremely embarrassing.
"Hush, Chop!" Sabine intimated with a small amount of amusement. "Don't ruin their moment."
Silence fell as they neared the moon Concordia, where the Protectors' base had been detected. Chopper took commands, let the strike team drop near the location and brought the Phantom away so it wouldn't stay too long and risk to be spotted.
The group climbed up a small rocky formation that was gonna give them a good visual of the nearby landscape. As it turned out, the base was right beneath the observation point they had elected.
The camp had a total of five prefabs bordering two landing pads and there were two AA turrets guarding the entrance. The camp was hidden inside a small basin.
Sabine and the siblings took a look with the scopes of their helmets.
"Well, what are we up against?" Kanan whispered.
"Including the two starfighters on patrol? Eight ships total." Sabine described.
"All right," Jaral said. "This might be a stupid question but, Sabine, do you have enough explosive?"
Sabine took a quick look at her pouch filled with detonators. "I think I should be able to cover the bill."
The sound of engines whooshing over them prompted them to lay down on the ground and observe.
In front of them an imperial shuttle was lowering itself on the free landing pad. Sabine and the siblings reactivated their integrated scopes and also activated the precision microphones, that allowed them to hear Rau talking to an Imperial officer who handed the mandalorian a small crate of credits. A trooper was also unloading a crate full of materials, probably more credits for everybody else.
"Here is the payment for the next rotation." the officer said.
"This arrangement is working to your benefit." Rau said witch confidence. "I encountered a squadron of rebels."
"The rebel fleet?" the officer stumbled.
"Not an entire fleet. A couple of fighters. But my men and I took care of them."
"If they return, be sure to contact us."
Rau made a salute with two fingers with the hand that wasn't holding the crate and walked away. Shortly after, the Imperials left.
"Sounds like your negotiations are gonna go great." Sabine said sarcastically to Kanan.
"That's why we came up with the backup plan." Jaral said wittily. "Ezra, Sabine. Escort Kanan near the tent of Rau then go plant the explosives."
"Speaking of which…" Kanan whispered. "Wouldn't it be better if you and Ezra plant the explosives? You are the ones who can turn invisible."
"Come on, Kanan." Sabine intervened. "There's no way I'm missing an opportunity to blow stuff up."
"I have a plan, Kanan." Jaral reassured him. "Now go. I'll keep an eye on the camp from here."
Kanan didn't feel that reassured by that. Still, he didn't want to resort to violence, so he set his mind into talking some sense into Fenn Rau's head. As ordered, Ezra and Sabine escorted Kanan near the tent where Rau just entered, avoiding the other mandalorians and staying in the dark. As they left Kanan go sneaking into the prefab, the teens turned to look at each other while staying concealed.
"Ok, the easy part is done." Sabine whispered from under her helmet.
"Uh-uh." Ezra murmured, thinking.
"Something wrong?" the girl asked.
"Just wondering what Jaral is hoping to achieve. I mean, Kanan was right about the fact that only we can become invisible."
"She also said that the last part of the plan will work if we don't know it." Sabine remembered.
"Right...guess I'll have to be a nice little brother and trust her." he joked. "Let's focus on the job now."
Sabine nodded before Ezra disappeared in front of her eyes.
'Come to think of it, that device would be considered quite dishonorable by mandalorians.' the girl thought. 'Don't let them get you, Ez'ika.'
Kanan easily entered the tent, which turned out to be the mess hall. Rau was sitting at a round counter, as the service droid behind it was pouring him some hot soup in a bowl that the man quietly sipped. His helmet was place on the counter, on his left side.
"Pretty bold to sneak onto my base." Rau said without lifting his eyes from the bowl.
Kanan had already sensed that the mandalorian noticed his presence, so he wasn't surprised when Rau's blaster magically came into his right hand.
"I'm gonna assume you're one of those rebels I dealt with earlier."
"That's a pretty good guess, but it's not the entire truth." Kanan stepped in with a confidence and control that probably impressed Rau. The Jedi approached the counter, where the droid was automatically serving another bowl of soup.
"I don't recognize you, so before I gun you down, why don't you tell me what you want?"
Kanan didn't say anything. He just took the bowl served to him and drank a bit together with Rau.
"We never met," Kanan said finally. "but I do know you. In fact I came to thank you."
Rau raised an eyebrow, curious.
"In the Clone Wars, you fought in the Third Battle of Mygeeto." The Jedi said before taking out his lightsaber, assembling it and putting it on the counter. "I was there."
Rau comprehended. "You're a survivor." he said before putting away his pistol. "That explains how you got past my men."
And while Kanan kept negotiating, outside, Sabine and Ezra were planting bombs. Well, Ezra was already pretty much done. He waited until the two patrol fighters came back to base to plant a bomb on them too at the first occasion. He noticed that at the furthest side of the field was the fighter of Fenn Rau, at least it seemed to have the same colors as the one he fought earlier that day.
He got out of range from the guards and called up his sister.
"Specter-6, I've got Rau's fighter on my sight. Can you see if I'm clear to go?" he was asking her to check out the way with her binocular.
"Negative, Specter-6. I need you to leave that fighter intact." Jaral replied.
"O...k…" he mumbled. He seriously couldn't see where she was trying to go.
"Besides, you might want to check on your girlfriend."
Ezra turned his head around and looked toward the first landing pad. He noticed that Sabine was surrounded by three Protectors who were pointing their pistols at her. The girl was moving around and even stepped on a fighter as the three armored warriors kept keeping her in their scopes.
The young Jedi quickly ran as stealthy as he could near the scene, in time to hear one of the Protectors questioning Sabine.
"What's your House?"
Sabine stood tall on the hull of the fighter. "I'm Clan Wren, House Vizsla."
The Protectors jumped back.
"House Vizsla?"
"She's Death Watch."
"Traitor!"
"My mother was," Sabine said calmly. "but I'm not. I came here to settle a score, and I invoke the Code to seek justice through single combat."
As the mandalorians kept bickering, Ezra contacted his sister again.
"Jaral, this is bad." Ezra whispered. "What do we do?"
"Don't worry, lil bro, your cyar'ika is acting exactly as I wanted her to."
"WHAT?!" Ezra almost choked trying not to scream that word.
"Just stay out of the blast radius. When the fireworks start, make sure to attract the Protectors' attention on you and let Rau escape. Oh, and try not to kill anyone."
"You're confusing me more, but ok." he said with frustrated resignation. Ezra deactivated the cloaking device since it had been already five minutes and it seemed like the Protectors were not checking the outer perimeter where he was.
Not long after, one of the Protectors went into the mess hall and came out of it with Fenn Rau and Kanan.
"Sabine, I thought we had an agreement." Kanan said with a hint of frustration and worry.
"They started it." Sabine defended herself.
"Your House is an enemy to the Protectors." Rau declared. "Call out your opponent for combat to death."
Ezra saw Sabine removing her helmet and putting on her angry face.
"I thought you'd never ask. I call out you, Fenn Rau. You're gonna pay for what you did to Hera."
There was a moment of silence before Rau smirked confidently and loudly stated. "Just like I said. You rebels fight battles you can't win."
Rau stepped on the platform, getting a few meters in front of Sabine.
"I assume Hera is the pilot I shot to pieces earlier. I guess she didn't make it." there seemed to be a hint of sorrow in his last statement. Ezra could tell that the mandalorian indeed felt sorry. Probably because Hera impressed him with her skills as a pilot.
"She's alive." Sabine retorted. "Barely." and then he showed her grinding teeth.
'Force, how comes that she's so cute even when she's angry?' some part in the back of Ezra's mind made itself known.
"I got to admit this is an interesting development." Rau kept saying. "One of you came here to befriend me, the other came to kill me."
"We can't let you attack our fleet," Kanan said as diplomatically as he could. "but we would rather leave here as friends."
"He's already the enemy." Sabine spat back.
"Sabine you know this isn't what Hera wanted." Kanan said.
Ezra wondered if this was part of the plan as well. Or at least if this was what Jaral apparently foresaw. Kanan tried more and more times to convince the two to desist their duel, but that seemed impossible. Sabine and Rau kept their hands near the respective blasters, waiting for the opponent to extract the weapons(s) first.
In the end, they extracted at the same time, but Sabine shot first. Except that she hit Rau in the hand holding his pistol, making it jump off and him groan in pain.
"There are alternatives to killing." Sabine said while nimbly picking her helmet up from ground with a light kick. Then she put it on her head and then clicked her wrist-pad.
The explosives that she and Ezra had placed on the fighters went off, causing a big shock-wave that even made Sabine flew on the ground. As a dust bank covered the entire camp, mayhem ensued, and Ezra took the opportunity.
"Hey!" he screamed, shooting a burst of his TL-50 in the air and that indeed attracted the attention of the mandalorians.
"It's one of those rebels, the Bridgers!" a mandalorian recognized him.
Meanwhile, Kanan ignited his lightsaber and went to grab Sabine. The two ran into the mess hall while the mandalorians started focusing on Ezra, who was shooting bursts just a few inches away from the mandalorians' heads.
"Capture them alive." Rau ordered. "I want them to watch their fleet burn." and then he sprinted toward his fighter, while still holding his aching right hand bent in front of his chest.
Using Force push and mixture of his omni-tool's powers, Ezra pushed back or knocked out the Protectors until he took control of the door to the mess hall.
Soon, the mandalorians were reorganizing to assault the tent, so Ezra activated the small kinetic barrier that covered him only up to the lower end of his torso, but covered him completely when he crouched.
Kanan and Sabine reached him at the sides of the door.
"Hey, you got Rau's fighter as well, right?" Sabine asked.
Ezra shot a burst outside and crouched down again.
"Jaral told me not to mine it."
"What?!" Sabine exclaimed.
"If you want answers, ask her." Ezra declared.
Then Jaral contacted them on the comlink.
"Guys, I have Rau. You better get your booties here."
The three Specters looked at each other in astonishment.
"Well, you heard the boss." Ezra quickly commented.
His left hand slid down into one of his pocket, from which he pulled out a smoke grenade. He triggered it and tossed it backwards from his position.
As the area outside the tent was engulfed in a clad of white smoke, Ezra used his omni-tool to create a holographic decoy that ran into the smoke and attracted the fire from the mandalorians, confusing them.
Then the three sprinted out of the tent. Sabine and Ezra shoot in every direction with enough precision to convince the Protectors to take cover and not harass them much.
Using the flaming wrecks as cover, the Specters finally reached the end of the airfield, which was on the precipice of a canyon. Jaral had her E-11 blaster rifle pointed behind them and Rau was unconscious at her feet.
A few moments later, Chopper showed up with the Phantom, offering them the entrance to the backseats. Jaral loaded up Rau over her left shoulder and stepped into the vessel as Sabine and Ezra gave some cover fire against the Protectors who were reaching them. In the end, the squad managed to get away.
As they spirited away from Concordia, Jaral and Ezra were keeping an eye on Rau, still unconscious. Sabine was sitting at the controls,
"So what do you intend to do with him?" Kanan asked.
"For now, just wait until he wakes up."
Her wish was quickly granted as Rau groaned and started to wake up, massaging his lower jaw.
"Wake up, sleepyhead." Jaral teased him. Her armor on except for her helmet. "How do you feel?"
Rau groaned. "As if a Reek just ran over me."
"That's my sister's fist, alright." Ezra said chuckling.
Rau's comlink began to beep.
"Better get that." the girl said with a smirk.
"Are you crazy?" Sabine asked worried from the controls. "You can't let a prisoner receive outside communications."
Jaral looked at her, but ignored her.
"Just answer it."
Rau hesitated for a moment, trying to understand what that girl wanted from him. Then he realized that it was impossible to read her calm face. So he obeyed.
"Sir, are you all right?" one of the mandalorians said. "We're marshaling our reserve starfighters for pursuit."
Rau looked with a frown at Jaral, who didn't seem to budge.
"Stand down. There's no need." Rau ordered calmly.
"But, sir, if the Empire finds out about your capture…"
"You're not gonna let that happen." Rau quickly stopped him.
"And the rebels?"
"Until I give the word, there is to be no mention of the rebels. And their ships are to be granted safe passage through our system."
"As you wish."
Rau looked over to the girl who punched him out of his sense only to see a triumphant smirk on her face.
The rest of the trip was quiet. The Phantom docked first with the Liberator to allow the Specters to bring in their new 'guest'.
Two armed guards came to welcome them.
"Welcome to the Rebellion." Jaral said while Ezra and Kanan led Rau in front of him, his hands already tied behind his back.
"Right now we are only friends because we have to be." Rau sentenced before he was taken away.
The Specters looked at him being take away. Jaral looked like a cat who just caught a big mouse.
"So this was your plan all along?" Ezra couldn't hold back the need to ask, and neither could the others.
"Yeah," Sabine added with a raised eyebrow. "did you really saw everything unwrap like this?"
Jaral shrugged. "Mostly. It was intuition based on the fact that I know how my friends tend to act. And you all played your part perfectly." she complimented.
The three companions just looked at each other and finally made a resigned smirk. They all knew that Jaral had an impressive talent for strategy and tactics, but this was outright impressive...and frightening.
Jaral just smiled to them. "Come on, let's go see if Hera woke up." she encouraged them and they happily followed her.
When they entered the med bay, they luckily found Hera alive and awoken. Mira was concluding a few tests to verify her cognitive abilities and see if her muscles still responded to her commands. The smile the doctor gave them was reassurance that Hera didn't suffer any major damage to the brain and would be up and running in a short time.
Mira stepped aside to let the others talk to her.
"How do you feel?" Sabine asked with a relieved expression.
"Not bad, actually. Doctor Bridger here definitely knows how to do her job." she said turning her head toward Mira, who simply closed her eyes briefly in acknowledgment.
"Thank you, Doctor." Kanan said with a small bow.
Mira just waved a hand. "No way I was gonna let the second mother of my children die like this." she said wittily, surprising everybody at how she had acknowledged the fact that her children had indeed a second family aboard the Ghost. The others laughed briefly.
"I heard we're taking prisoners now, by the way." the Twi'lek commented, turning back to the others.
"I like to think of him more as a reluctant recruit." Kanan said with a witty smile.
"It was better than the alternative." Sabine said. "Though I don't think we could have ever pulled that off without bloodshed if it wasn't for our lieutenant over there." she turned to Jaral, prompting everyone to look at her proudly.
Jaral appreciated, though she wanted them to stop as soon as possible. Luckily, a voice in the PA came to save the day.
"Lieutenant Bridger on the command deck. Lieutenant Bridger on the command deck." the neutral voice of the operator spoke.
"I better go before we get too chummy here." Jaral joked.
"Oh, I'm coming with." Ezra said, following her out of the med bay.
They quickly reached the deck, where Sato, Darvos, Jordan, Rex and Zeb waited around the holotable.
"Lieutenant Bridger reporting in." Jaral said with discipline.
"Please, Lieutenant, step forward." Sato said gently.
Jaral walked with her back straight up.
"Lieutenant, what you achieved today was just another proof of your talent as a leader, if we ever needed more." the commander said, making Jaral smile slightly. "In the light of recent events, I want to offer you the promotion to Captain of the Phoenix Cell."
Jaral was caught a bit by surprise. She wasn't expecting a promotion just for this last task. She looked around a bit and the gaze of everybody were much eloquent about them being completely on board with the idea.
Jaral took a moment to collect her thoughts, then straightened up, her chin standing high.
"It would be my honor, Sir."
"Then congratulations...Captain Bridger." Sato saluted her with a small smile on his face and everybody, even the soldiers on the deck, imitated him.
Jaral saluted as well, then her gaze was slightly drawn to her right, the direction where her father was standing. He was looking at her with a face that had 'I'm proud of you' written all over. Her chest swelled with pride like it had never had and she had to call all of her willpower to maintain composure and not let the tears flow.