Early days of Season 4. Ezra and Sabine are already together.
The mission had gone pear-shaped (big surprise), and the Ghost crew was struggling to escape from an Imperial recon station before Sabine's explosives went off.
"Agh!! Where the kark is Ezra?!", Zeb shouted as a blaster bolt nearly took one of his ears off.
"I don't know but he needs to get his carcass down here before the place blows!!", Sabine called back. On the inside, she was worried that her Jedi compatriot was in real danger.
Ezra was running through the halls of the station, slicing and blasting his way through Imp after Imp. He was almost to the hangar when he got surprised by a squad of Death Troopers. One of them clotheslined him as he ran, knocking him down. Winded, the Padawan stood up and assumed a defensive stance.
The elite Imperial soldiers surrounded him, and Ezra knew he wasn't making it out of this situation so easily.
"Sabine...", he spoke into his comm, "Tell Hera to get out of here."
"Ezra, where are you?! We're getting shot to hell and back out here!!"
"I'm held up. Not gonna her back to the Ghost in time."
The Mandalorian wasn't in the mood for self-sacrifice speeches. "Damnit, Ezra Bridger, you tell me where you are right now or I'll find you myself and skin you alive!!"
There was nothing else but static.
"Ezra?! Ezra?!?"
Hera winced as sparks flew in the Ghost's cockpit. "Sabine, you and Zeb get on board!! If Ezra's been captured, we'll find him, but we can't risk the entire crew right now!!"
Sabine looked back and forth between the Ghost's ramp and the hallway leading to the rest of the station. Between saving Ezra and saving herself.
Before she could run the other way, Zeb grabbed Sabine by the waist and yanked her on board, sealing the ramp behind them. Hera gunned the freighter in reverse and catapulted out of the station, making the jump back to Yavin as soon as they were clear. What none of the rebels saw was an Imperial shuttle escaping the station just before it blew.
When the Ghost landed back as the Massassi Temple, Sabine stormed down the ramp and threw her helmet at a stack of crates. AP-5 nearly short-circuited himself when he saw the mess she had created.
"Spectre 5, you really must be more careful!! It took me hours to get those crates organized!!"
"Go switch off, you stupid bucket of bolts. My best friend is probably captured or dead. I don't have time to deal with your uppity nonsense", the Mandalorian hissed.
The former Imperial droid scoffed. "Well I never... I should report you for... oh never mind. It's not like I have anything better to do than stack more crates." He shuffled away, fearful for his artificial life. Mandalorians definitely were a frightful bunch.
Hera stepped down the ramp and sat next to Sabine, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"You okay?"
"Hera, I honestly don't know. Ezra could be... you know. I don't wanna think about it."
"Look, we'll find him. You just have to have faith", the Twi'lek said in a motherly voice as she hugged her surrogate daughter, "Okay?"
"Okay."
Elsewhere in the galaxy, Ezra woke up to feel the cold metal of binders around his wrists. He was in an Imperial detention cell aboard a Star Destroyer. Memories of his first time meeting Kallus seeped in.
"Was it really that long ago?"
Suddenly, the cell door opened. Standing in the doorway was a Chiss clad in a white Imperial officer uniform with gold epaulets in the shoulders. His red eyes shot daggers into Ezra's soul.
Thrawn.
"Welcome, Mr. Bridger. I trust you find the accommodations suitable."
"About as suitable as the inside of a Sarlacc", the Padawan snarked.
Thrawn merely chuckled. "The look on your face tells me that you're having trouble removing your binders. First of all, that's the point. Secondly, those were specifically engineered for the purpose of containing Jedi and other Force users, such as rogue Inquisitors. The Emperor made them inescapable."
Ezra fruitlessly tried to remove his cuffs one last time before leaning back against the cell wall. "So what're you gonna do? Torture me? Try and get me to spill where my friends are? I've got news for ya, pal. Ain't happening."
"You misunderstand, young man. I'm not interested in your friends at the moment. I plan on using you for more... interesting purposes. If you'll just follow me."
The Padawan didn't have much choice. Thrawn walked out of the cell, and two stormtroopers dragged Ezra behind him. They walked through the halls of the Destroyer until they reached a large doorway. Thrawn activated the intercom beside the door and spoke. "Doctor, your new subject has arrived.
A screechy, bat-like voice responded. "Gooooood. Bring him in."
The door opened and Ezra could see a laboratory of sorts, a short man scurrying around a nearby table mixing various brightly-colored fluids together.
"I thought you said you weren't torturing me", he quipped as the troopers forced him inside.
"I'm not. You're merely going to be a test specimen for the Doctor's project."
The aforementioned Doctor (who doesn't have a name and never will) grabbed a step stool and watched as Ezra was bound to the table. He peered down and used a pair of tweezers to pull on the Padawan's face. "Hmm. Very tough flesh."
He then pulled out an electro-prod and gave Ezra a little zap, causing the young man's muscles to contract due to his bindings.
"Ow!!"
"Perfect reflexes. And... a fine set of teeth. Perfect specimen."
The Doctor grabbed a syringe and filled it with a glowing purple liquid, waving Thrawn away.
"Go, Admiral. I must perform the procedure in solitude. Shoo!! Shoo!!"
Thrawn nodded and left the lab, his trooper escorts closing the door just as Ezra screamed.
Sabine spent the next several days spying on the Yavin Command Center, listening in for any news on Ezra's whereabouts. She had almost given up hope when...
"General Syndulla, I think you'll want to see this", a technician called out from his terminal.
Hera walked over and leaned in. "What is it?"
"Intercepted an encoded Imperial transmission. It says 'Bridger subject transferred to facility on Xandin.'."
Before Hera could think, the doors flew open and Sabine burst in. "We have to go after him!!" Needless to say, Hera was not pleased by the Mandalorian's lack of military formality. "Sabine!!"
"Ezra's alive and we need to go after him!!"
"Not without a plan, first. Sabine, for all we know, this could be a trap. Stop for a moment and be rational."
The young woman was having none of that. She merely let out a cry of exasperation and stormed out, leaving Hera to offer her apologies to the base crew.
That night, Sabine gathered a supply bag and snuck out of the Ghost, but not before she jammed Chopper's sensors so he couldn't wake up the others. She went to the airfield and climbed into a prototype A-Wing with a cloaking device, activating it and leaving Yavin.
"I'm coming, Ezra."
On an Imperial shuttle, Thrawn calmly stretched his fingers while the Doctor examined something in a cage. "I take it the procedure was successful? I have yet to see the results."
The Doctor nodded frantically. "Oh yes, yes. An astounding success. The formula created the perfect super soldier. Isn't that right, Mr. Bridger?"
There was a hissing sound and the snapping of jaws from inside the cage, making Thrawn question the validity of the Doctor's statements.
Xandin was a somewhat normal world, it's primarily-forested landscape only occasionally blemished by snow-capped mountains or an ocean. It looked beautiful from space, possibly the inspiration for many scenery paintings in different corners of the galaxy.
When Sabine's ship exited lightspeed, she saw a surprisingly small Imperial blockade: One ISD, two Acclamators, and two Arquitens. The Mandalorian activated her ship's cloaking device and snuck past the blockade, landing in a heavily forested area. She scanned within a 100 kilometer radius and detected a large unnatural obstruction a mere 5 kliks away.
That had to be the Imperial facility.
Where Ezra was being held.
Sabine trudged all the way to the edge of the forest and saw a large building towering over the flat grasslands. She examined the terrain through a pair of macrobinoculars and was confused by what she saw.
The facility had no exterior guards.
Hera was right. This could very well have been a trap.
"Damnit."
It was too late to retreat now, and Hera would probably kill her if she called in for reinforcements, so Sabine decided to just follow through. She walked across the plain right up to the facility's main gate. Much to her surprise, it seemed to open on its own. She walked in to find a large courtyard, overlooked by the facility's main command tower. On the far end was a large cage, it's interior too dark for Sabine to see what was inside.
All of a sudden, an amplified voice echoed across the courtyard via an intercom system.
"Greetings, Miss Wren. I presume you're here for your Jedi friend. He's in the cage in front of you. You're free to take him and leave."
Thrawn.
"I'm unable to hear you from up here, so don't bother trying to respond", the Chiss quickly added.
Sabine slowly drew one of her blasters and walked up to the cage. "Ezra? You in there?"
The only response she heard was a soft hiss, followed by a pair of glowing blue eyes opening. Sabine took a step back.
It wasn't Ezra.
It was some kind of animal. The beast moved forward and revealed itself to be a giant serpent with orange and white scales. What surprised Sabine was that it had two humanoid arms on its underbelly.
"What the...?"
The snake didn't attack, merely positioning itself upright and waiting.
"Your disbelief is understandable, Miss Wren", Thrawn sneered, "But that is young Mr. Bridger. He is the first in a new breed of living Imperial weaponry. All I have to do is give the command signal."
The intercom suddenly rang with a high-pitched sound. The snake's pupils dilated and suddenly wrapped Sabine in its coils before she could fire a single shot.
The Mandalorian was gasping for air as the monster started constricting. It stared at her blankly, blue eyes unblinking.
The eyes.
Sabine knew them. Even though they were thin and reptilian, she recognized them.
It couldn't be.
"E-Ezra...", she rasped, "P-please..."
The snake moved its head back in surprise, something changing in its mind.
"Sssssabine."
Its grip loosened, but Sabine passed out anyway.
Thrawn watched this and slammed his fist on the command console. "Doctor, it appears your experiment has failed. The Jedi has retained some of his cognitive abilities."
"What?! That's impossible!!"
"All troopers to the courtyard. Your target is the large serpent. Shoot to kill. Repeat, shoot to kill."
Stormtroopers flooded into the courtyard and opened fire on their target.
The snake- Ezra -quickly held Sabine's unconscious form close to his underbelly and slithered at top speed out of the facility, making his way across the flatlands into the thickest part of the forest. It began to rain, so he found a cave and went inside, setting Sabine down gently. He coiled loosely around her so she would stay warm and rested his large head.
"Sssssabine."
The next morning, Sabine awoke to find herself contained in Ezra's coils. She remained calm, looking at his sleeping reptilian head. He looked peaceful, for a mutated monstrosity.
"Cyar'ika... what did they do to you?"
Her soft rubbing on his scales woke Ezra up. He stared at her for a moment before nuzzling her cheek and hissing her name. Suddenly, his body began to change. The snake form shifted, shrinking down until Ezra mostly looked like his old self, minus extremely pale skin and small fangs poking over his bottom lip. Much to Sabine's surprise, he was still wearing his normal clothes.
"E-Ezra?"
"Sssssabine, you have to leave. I'm ssssstaying. I'm too dangerousssss."
The Mandalorian quickly captured her mutated boyfriend in a hug and buried her head in his shoulder. "No, Ezra. You're coming home with me. We'll find a way to fix you. I promise."
They broke their embrace and Sabine laid her forehead on Ezra's.
"I... I thought you were dead."
"I'm sssssorry. I should have gotten out of the station fassssster."
"Not your fault, Ezra. I'm just glad you're okay."
"I... I almossssst killed you."
"They messes with your body and mind, cyar'ika. It's not your fault, and I'm not mad at you. I'm promise. For now, let's focus on finding a way to fix you."
There was a crash of thunder, lightning illuminating the darkness outside.
"In the morning", they both said in unison.
Sabine shivered from the cold and reached for the blanket in her supply bag, but saw that the bag was gone.
"Kriff. Must've dropped it in the chaos."
Ezra was quick to find a solution, shifting back into his snake form and coiling gently around his girlfriend. She relaxed in his embrace and gently rubbed his scales body.
"Thanks. Ya know, this mutation might not be so bad if you get to me my blanket every night."
"I love you, Sssssabine."
"Love you, too, Ez'ika."
Back on Yavin, Hera was furiously tapping her foot as she waited for Mon Mothma to approve a strike on Xandin. When the Ghost crew found out that Sabine had snuck offworld, they went straight to command.
The door to the command center opened and Mon Mothma appeared, Generals Draven and Merrick with her.
"Your strike has been approved, Captain Syndulla. Draven will provide you with ground units and Merrick will provide air support."
The Twi'lek smiled and shook her hand. "Thank you, Senator."
The strike team got together and took off, plotting course for Xandin.
Sabine woke up to find that Ezra was no longer coiled around her. She looked around the cave until she found him. He had shifted back to his normal form and was standing at the mouth of the cave, rainwater dripping from overhead.
"Ezra?"
"Morning, sleepyhead. I woke up earlier and made sure nobody was looking for us."
"Good. Hey, you're not hissing anymore."
Ezra chuckled. "I guess I got it under control. So what's the plan?"
"Well, we have to get into the facility, then find that Doctor. And if he refuses to make an antidote... I'll let you handle that."
"Alright. Oh by the way, I found this outside. Must've fallen off on our way in."
He handed Sabine her helmet, which had small spatterings of mud on the paint. She wiped it off and smiled. "Thanks, Ez."
They made their way back to the edge of the woods and Sabine looked through her binos to see a shuttle leaving the facility with a TIE escort.
"Looks like Thrawn's turning tail. Probably upset that his little idea didn't pan out."
Ezra took the binos and looked as well. "Hmm. Security's been increased. I count ten guards at the gate. What's the plan?" Sabine bit her lip under her helmet as she pieced together an idea.
At the gate, one of the stormtrooper guards was kicking a rock around as he paced back and forth. "Kriff me. I didn't join this stupid army to just stand around and watch a big hunk of metal. I wanna go out and track down the Rebels."
"TK-248, shut your karking mouth or I'll shut it for you. We do as we're ordered", the commanding officer scolded.
Suddenly, one of the guards saw something over the horizon coming fast.
It was Snake Ezra.
The mutant Jedi lunges forward and slapped two troopers aside with his tail, head-smacking another. He then turned towards the rest and revealed something in his arms.
Sabine Wren, blasters at the ready. Her fingers moved like lightning, gunning down the other seven troopers one by one. Once that was taken care of, Ezra let her down and shifted back to his normal form.
"So how're we gonna get in?", he asked as they looked at the gate.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking."
Out of nowhere, Ezra heard the sound of star fighter engines. He looked to the skies and saw a squadron of X-Wings flying in, along with a familiar VCX-100 freighter.
"Sabine, do you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you, Ezra. What's wrong?"
He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and said, "Get ready to grab onto the top of the wall. I'll meet you inside."
Before Sabine could question him, he shifted back into his snake form and threw her into the air. The Mandalorian quickly regained her bearings and grabbed the wall, pulling herself up. She ran along the top and made it to a doorway just as the Rebel fighters blew a hole in the gate.
Ezra dodged the debris and slithered inside, tearing his way through any Imperial soldiers that tried to stop him. One poor trooper tried to open the door to flee into the facility, but Ezra whiplashed him aside before he could.
Hera landed the Ghost and opened the ramp, letting the strike team flood out. "Alright, people, let's go!!"
Zeb and Kanan led the charge, Rebel forces mopping up what was left behind by Ezra.
"Good Force, what happened here?", one of the commandos wondered aloud.
"Don't know, but it looks ugly", Zeb responded.
Inside the facility, Ezra and Sabine met back up and found the Doctor's lab.
"Freeze", the Mandalorian said sternly as she raised her blaster. The Doctor panicked and ignited Ezra's lightsaber, shaking it frantically. The mutant Jedi put an end to that by Force-pulling the weapon to his own hand and holding it to the short man's throat.
"You're gonna make an antidote and fix me...now", he hissed (hehe)."
"I don't take orders from you, Rebel scum!! You lost me all of my funding!! You ruined my work!!"
Sabine fired a warning shot, the bolt pinging harmlessly off the wall next to the Doctor's head. "Enough excuses. Get to work."
"Y-y-yes m-m-ma'am."
While the Doctor mixed the antidote, Ezra listened to the sounds of the battle as the rebel strike team made their way inside. He sensed that Kanan was with them, and he opened the door when they got close.
"Kanan!! Zeb!! In here!!"
The Jedi and the Lasat ran in and Zeb looked confused when he saw Ezra. "Kid... why so pale?"
"No time to explain big guy. It'll all be fixed soon, anyway."
"Aaaand... there", the Doctor said when he was done, "This should reverse the mutation... or kill you."
"WHAT?!?", everyone shouted at the same time. Sabine threw off her helmet and grabbed the short man by the collar of his lab coat. "I swear if that stuff kills my friend, you're gonna regret ever being born."
Ezra pulled her off of him. "Sabine, it's okay. Whatever happens, just know that I'm thankful for the ride we've had together. Kanan, Zeb, thank you."
He pulled the cork from the vial and said, "Bottoms up", downing the green liquid in one gulp. Nothing happened for approximately ten seconds, but Ezra suddenly collapsed to the floor and began convulsing violently. Sabine rushed to his side to help, so she wasn't able to see the Doctor reach for a hidden blaster.
"Die, Rebel sc-ACK!!!"
Zeb was much quicker on the draw, putting a blast from his bo-rifle right into the scientist's chest. He flew against the wall and smashed into all of his different formulas, the liquids covering his body and some of the more acidic ones starting to melt him.
Ezra had fallen onto his back and was crying out in agony, Sabine trying her best to comfort him. "It's okay, Ezra!! I'm here!!"
She watched in abject awe as his small fangs disappeared, and his skin's normal tan hue returned. Finally, when the twitching was done, Ezra laid still, his eyes closed.
"No... no... Ezra, I swear... wake up. Ezra!!", the Mandalorian exclaimed, "You idiot!! You karking idiot!! You can't do this!! Don't leave me like this!! Not now!!"
She tried her best to shake him awake, but he didn't budge. She listened for his heartbeat, and heard...
Thump thump... thump thump.
He wasn't dead.
Sabine's face when from horrified to furious.
He was faking.
"You son of a..."
Ezra opened his eyes and smirked up at her. "Had you going there, didn't I?"
She responded by giving him a firm slap across the face.
"Ow!!"
"You nearly gave me a karking heart attack!!"
"I'm sorry, okay?! Jeez, you try and play a joke every now and..."
He was cut off by Sabine grabbing his collar and kissing him. Zeb and Kanan both chuckled and turned their heads away, even though Kanan couldn't see.
"Don't ever do this to me again, Bridger", Sabine sighed when they separated.
"You have my word."