In space, the Ghost was flying through space with the Sentinel-class Imperial shuttle that Hondo stole from Reklam Station flying nearby with it having been repainted brown, yellow and red with a symbol of the Ohnaka gang painted on its top fin and crates in the back that the Weequay pirate had named 'Last Chance' as it began to dock with the VCX-100 light freighter.
"Now everybody, just try to keep an open mind about this, OK?" Ezra said as he walked down the Ghost's airlock with his wife, Hera, Kanan and Zeb.
"Is there something you're not telling us about this job with Hondo?" Sabine asked her husband as Hera crossed her arms, while she placed her right hand over her hips.
"Come on, Sab'ika. When have I asked you to trust me and it hasn't worked out?" Ezra asked her.
"Like half the time on missions," Sabine answered as the airlock's door slid open, revealing Hondo standing in the doorway of the airlock as he exited his stolen Imperial shuttle that was docked with the Ghost.
"My friends, my friends!" Hondo said as he chuckled before removing his hat from his head with his right hand, "It is I, Hondo!" Everyone but Ezra then sighed as Hondo walked into the Ghost's airlock, "I can't tell you how much your welcome warms this old pirate's heart." He then placed his left hand over his chest as the airlock's door slid back shut before he placed his hat back over his head, "You are too gracious."
"I agree," Zeb told him, "Especially, since the last time we saw you, you abandoned us on that doomed Imperial station!"
"But it all worked out in the end, right?" Ezra asked the Lasat.
"Of course. It did, because Hondo always delivers," Hondo said, agreeing with the Mandalorian, "Just wait until you see what my new partner and I have cooked up."
"Wait. What new partner?" Kanan asked Hondo with confusion in his voice as he crossed his arms.
"Now remember, guys? OK? Open mind," Ezra reminded them as the airlock slid back open, revealing a very familiar Jabologain with red skin.
"Have you recruited these two-bit smugglers yet?" The Jabolgain asked Hondo as they entered the Ghost through the airlock, "We need to get moving!"
"Azmorigan?" Hera said with disbelief in her voice as she stared at the Jabolgain and lowered her arms, "What makes you think we'd even consider working with him?"
"Yes, I-I know that the two of you have had your past… conflagrations, but when Hondo profits, so do you," Hondo told the Twi'lek as he placed his left hand over his chest for a second, "And believe me, with what we have to offer, the profit for your rebellion will be great indeed." Azmorigan then nodded a response as he said that.
"I don't care what you have to offer," Hera stated as she crossed her arms again as she looked at Azmorigan with distaste in her eyes, "I'm not allowing that on my ship."
Oh, I remember now. The feisty one," Azmorigan said as he looked at Hera, "She hit me with a tray."
"Hera, take it easy," Ezra told the Twi'lek, not wanting her to start a fight with Azmorigan.
"Easy?" Hera repeated with disbelief in her voice as she lowered her arms again, "This sack of bantha fodder tried to buy me from that sleemo Calrissian, and make me his servant."
"I paid a fair price. Technically, I still own you," Azmorigan told her before chuckling a bit, causing her to stare at him with an expression that looked like she wanted to start a fight with him.
"Now, now, don't be blind to this amazing business opportun…" Hondo said, trying to stop the tension between Hera and Azmorigan as he placed his left hand over the Jabologain's face for a second before removing it from his face, "Oh, sorry, sorry."
"Actually, I'm interested in what you have to offer," the Jedi Knight told him.
"Oh, wise one," Hondo muttered, "I knew you would see things my way." He then opened both of his hands and aimed them at the Ghost crew, "Ooh, sorry, again."
"Well, I'm not moving my ship until I know exactly what you're 'offering,'" Hera told the Weequay pirate.
"Weapons," Hondo answered, "I am promising you all the weapons you can carry, unguarded and simply yours for the taking."
"Not good enough," Hera told him as she crossed her arms yet again.
"Even if they are proton bombs?" Hondo asked her, "According to our mutual friend Ezra here, you've been trying to acquire them for quite some time." As Hondo said that, Ezra smiled as everyone stared at him as he turned around towards them as he giggled nervously.
"Show us," Hera requested as she was now interested in what Hondo and Azmorigan had to offer.
A while later, Hondo's stolen Imperial shuttle had detached from the Ghost's airlock as both ships were flying towards a beige colored gas giant as Hondo and Azmorigan stood in the Ghost's cockpit behind Zeb and Sabine, who were both sitting on the seats behind Hera and Kanan as they were sitting on the pilot and co-pilot's seats, while Ezra stood behind Hondo as his wife had her arms crossed as she was sitting on the seat behind Hera as Zeb was sitting on the seat behind Kanan.
"The planet Wynkahthu," Hondo said, identifying the gas giant that they were heading towards as they all turned around towards the Weequay pirate as a hologram of the planet appeared before them from the ship's holoprojector, "As I happened to pass it on my travels, I detected an Imperial freighter adrift in the upper atmosphere. Escape pods jettisoned, completely abandoned."
"Huh. Must've flown too close," Sabine muttered as she stood up and extended her right hand towards the hologram, causing it to switch to the atmosphere of the planet, which looked like that the planet had an atmosphere with turbulent storms, "It's stuck in one of those atmospheric storms. It's slowly being pulled in."
"And it's cargo will soon be lost," Azmorigan added as Sabine sat back down on the seat behind Hera, "I have the manifest right here." He then pulled up a hologram of the freighter's manifest as it replaced the hologram of the planet's atmosphere, "Its hold is loaded with a cargo supply of proton bombs."
"Hmm. So what's in it for you two?" Hera asked Hondo and Azmorigan as the hologram of the manifest switched off as Sabine turned towards her.
"Well, there is also some cargo you would not be interested in," Hondo answered, "Uh, you know, there is, um, precious metals, rare artifacts, riches untold. That sort of thing."
"All probably stolen, huh, Hondo?" Ezra surmised as he had his arms crossed before he lowered his right arm, "From the worlds the Empire took over, like what they did with our Beskar, right, Sab'ika?"
"It seems like it, Ez'ika," Sabine said, agreeing with him.
"So, we'll split the treasure?" Zeb asked Hondo, causing the Weequay pirate to burst out laughing at what he suggested as Ezra crossed both of his arms again.
"Split the treasure," Hondo said, repeating what the Lasat said as he placed his right hand over Ezra's back and on his armor's right pauldron as he lowered his arms, "Oh, that's a classic. No, no, no, no, no, no, my big, purple friend. You get the bombs."
"And you get the treasure," Sabine stated, "So, what do you need us for? Why not use your own crew?"
"Now, trust me, that is a long, boring story," Hondo told her, "No, no, no, my friends, you are the guys for this job."
"If the Empire couldn't salvage the ship, what hope do we have?" Kanan asked him.
"A-ha! Because we have something in our favor that the Empire does not, for we are desperate!" Hondo explained to the Jedi Knight.
"Ugh! For once, he's right," Hera muttered as she looked at Kanan, "The Empire would abandon this ship without a second thought. But we can't afford to pass up an opportunity like this."
"Well said. Then we have a deal?" Hondo asked her as he went to leave the room with Azmorigan as the cockpit's entrance slid open, "I think we have a deal. We… We think we have a deal."
"There'll be no way to dock with that ship in the storm," Hera said as a hologram of the gas giant's turbulent storm reappeared from the ship's holoprojector as AP-5 entered the cockpit from the hallway that contained everyone's personal quarters with the doors sliding bach shut behind him, "We'll need another way to off-load the cargo." She then turned towards the protocol droid, "AP, you know the specs for this type of freighter?"
"Of course," AP-5 answered, "I was serving on a class four container transport when Chopper found me."
"Just get to work with Zeb on a plan for this salvage operation," Hera told him as she turned back around towards the ship's viewport.
"Whoa. Wait. You're putting Zeb in charge?" Ezra said with disbelief in his voice as the ship's holoprojector switched itself back off as Zeb and AP-5 began to leave the cockpit.
"Sorry, pal. I got this one," Zeb apologized to the Mandalorian as he placed his right hand over his armor's left pauldron for a second as he left the cockpit with AP-5 before the doors slid back shut behind him.
"No. I found this job. This should be my mission," Ezra protested as he looked at Hera, "I thought you trusted me."
"Oh, I do," Hera assured him as she turned back around towards him, "Just not when Hondo's around."
"Every time we work with him, we come out on top," Ezra reminded her.
"And that's why we're doing this, with Zeb in charge," Hera explained.
"Yeah, to keep an eye on me," Ezra scoffed as he walked towards the cockpit's entrance with the doors sliding back open as he left the room as well.
"I know what you're doing, but Ezra's got to learn for himself Hondo's not the friend he appears to be," Kanan told Hera as they looked at each other.
A while later, the Ghost entered the atmosphere of Wynkahthu and began to enter the storm that the Imperial cargo ship was trapped in with Hera piloting the ship.
"Engage the stabilizers," Hera said as she began to hover the Ghost over the Imperial cargo ship as AP-5 reentered the cockpit behind her and Kanan, "I'll hold her steady as I can."
"Estimating chance of mission success at 38.5%," AP-5 calculated.
"38.5%?" Kanan repeated with disbelief in his voice as he looked at him, "This is your plan!"
"I have factored that in," the protocol droid told him, "Without me, your chances are almost zero."
"All right, salvage team," Hera said as she spoke into the Ghost's intercom, "We're on the clock. That cargo ship is sitting above the storm's vortex for now, but it's sinking fast."
"Once it's pulled under, it'll be ripped apart," Hera went on from the ship's intercom in the cargo hold as Zeb stood in the room and held his bo-rifle in his hands with Sabine standing behind him with her arms crossed as Hondo stood next to her with his right hand over his hip as Chopper rolled towards them before Zeb aimed his bo-rifle in a close quarters stance as Ezra climbed down the ladder behind them with his helmet under his arm, "So make sure you're not on it."
"Don't worry. We'll be in and out," Zeb assured her before he looked at Ezra with the corner of his eye, "Ezra, you good to go?"
"Yes, sir, Captain Orrelios," Ezra answered as he saluted him with his right hand in a cheeky tone.
"You got a problem with me in charge, talk to Hera when we get back," Zeb told him.
"Ezra, be safe," Sabine whispered to her husband as she reached for his right cheek with her left hand and gave him a quick, affectionate kiss.
"I will, Sab'ika," Ezra replied as she lowered her left hand.
"Stop! Wait for me, huh?" They suddenly heard Azmorigan say as he fell through the ladder's hole from the ship's cockpit, whispering before he landed on the floor on his back as Zeb placed his bo-rifle over his back.
"Ugh. You have got to be kidding," Sabine muttered as she lowered her right arm and walked away from them.
"Azmorigan, this is dangerous work, my frail friend," Hondo told the Jabolgain as Azmorian turned around from his back and laid on his stomach, "Perhaps you, with your lovely singing voice, should stay here."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Azmorigan said, laughing as he looked up at the Weequay pirate, "Me stuck here while you claim the best treasure." He then stood back up from the floor, "Hey, hey, hey, forget it! This job is half mine, and I've got the manifest. I go with you, or we don't go at all. Hear?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll keep an eye on him," Ezra told Zeb.
"You better," Zeb warned him before looking at the female Mandalorian, "Sabine, let's do this."
"All right, boys. Good luck!" Sabine said as the ramp lowered before Ezra placed his helmet over his head, "I'll be here waiting for the cargo."
With that said, Zeb, Ezra, Hondo, Azmorigan and Chopper jumped off of the ramp before landing on top of the Imperial cargo ship's hull and near a manhole, which slid open as Zeb and Ezra approached it before Zeb jumped through the manhole as took out a flashlight with his left hand and activated it as he went to scout the area before he saw nothing dangerous in the area.
"All clear. Come on!" Zeb told them before Ezra jumped through the manhole behind the Lasat and pulled out his flashlight with his left hand as well with Chopper using his rocket booster to descend down the manhole and landed behind them before Hondo jumped down through the manhole as well, "We're going to need to restore power to the cargo hold. CHopper, get to the bridge and see what you can do."
Azmorigan then groaned as he jumped through the manhole and landed on his butt after being stuck within the manhole for a second before Chopper grunted a response as the Jabologain stood back up.
"Are you sure splitting up is a good idea?" Ezra asked Zeb as he turned around towards him.
"It's a good order," Zeb explained, "Here's another one." He then turned back around, "This way. Come on." Chopper then grunted a response as they began to follow him through the corridor as unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from a corner and softly snorted as they saw Zeb, Ezra, Chopper, Hondo and Azmorigan.
"What was that?" Azmorigan asked as he suddenly heard a loud clanging sound in the distance, which spooked him as he stopped walking and turned towards the direction of where the clanging sound came from.
"It's nothing. Some loose cargo," Zeb assured him as he looked at him with the corner of his eye.
"I saw something move!" Azmorigan told him as he looked through the doorway that they just came from as Ezra shone his flashlight through a doorway to their side before they saw a small humanoid figure run across the corridor on their side, "There!"
"Wait a second," Zeb muttered as he shone his flashlight through the doorway as well before the small humanoid creature began running towards them as they breathed heavily.
"Look out!" Azmorigan cried as the creature squealed like a pig before they jumped onto Hondo as they began punching him with their fists.
"Aah! I am attacked!" Hondo yelled as the creature continued to punch him in the face as Ezra shone his flashlight at the creature that was attacking Hondo and saw that it was a male Ugnaught with a tattoo over the left side of his face, brown hair over the back of their head and wearing a red colored hard hat over his head that had the symbol of the Ohnaka gang painted white on it, "What is that?"
"I got him. I got him," Ezra said as he grabbed the Ugnaught, who tried to continue attacking the Weequay pirate as he held him in his arms before he looked at the Ugnaught's face and realized that it was Melch from when they infiltrated Reklam Station with his parents before he placed him on the floor, "Wait a minute. Isn't this one of the guys from your crew?"
"Hello, Melch," Hondo sighed as he greeted the Ugnaught as Ezra placed his left hand over Melch's left shoulder as he snorted at him, "Well, like I said, it's a long, boring story. We should get moving."
"Hold it," Zeb said, stopping Hondo, who began walking forward as he placed his right hand over the Weequay's left shoulder, "I think we have time to hear this." Melch then spoke to him in Ugnese.
"Azmorigan came to me with a flight plan he'd acquired, an Imperial freighter with a fat cargo and no escort," Hondo began to explain as Zeb crossed his arms, "So, it sounded like an easy score."
"You attacked an Imperial ship?" Zeb said with disbelief in his voice.
"We do it all the time," Ezra reminded him.
"Exact…" Hondo began to say before realizing what the Mandalorian just said, "Really? Anyway, you should be giving us a medal. Oh, if you'd only seen it. It was glorious."
"Yeah, Yeah, OK, just skip to the part where it all went wrong," Zeb requested as he placed his left hand over his head for a second as he lowered his arms.
"We disabled the ship with ion mines, but it drifted into this maelstrom," Hondo went on before looking at Melch, "Ah! But, of course, my brave little Ugnaughts… Look at him. He insisted on trying to board it anyway, but tragically…" Melch then began to shout at him in Ugnese, "Left you to die?" He then placed his right hand over his chest, "I would never abandon any of my crew. You are like family! Short…" He then sniffed as he removed his right hand from his chest, "fragrant family. All right, instead of the 1% you were promised, I will give you two." Melch then placed both of his hands over his hips before he exclaimed in Ugnese and shook his left hand with his right hand, accepting his offer, "You're welcome."
"So you brought us in only after you'd lost your entire crew trying it yourself," Zeb said as he placed both of his hands over his hips, "You lied to us. What a surprise."
"Well, he didn't exactly lie," Ezra told him, defending Hondo's actions, "He just didn't tell us the whole truth."
"Well said!" Hondo said, agreeing with her as he stood back up, "And some of the truth is better than none of the truth, which is what you used to get." He then crossed his arms, "So, don't tell me that I have not grown."
"Oh, I don't have any time for this," Zeb muttered before aiming his flashlight at Hondo's face for a second before he turned back around a door in front of them, "Cargo hold, now! I can pull your limbs off later."
"He's always kidding," Hondo said, laughing as he looked at Ezra as Zeb, Melch and Azmorigan began walking down the corridor again, "He's kidding, right?"
"The winds are picking up down here," Sabine reported to Kanan, Hera and AP-5 from the Ghost's communications system from the Ghost's cargo hold, "The longer this takes, the worse it's gonna get."
"Thank you, Sabine," Hera muttered, sarcastically as she answered the female Mandalorian, "Your concern is noted." She then switched the Ghost's communications system to Zeb's comlink, "Zeb, status update."
"We're at the hangar door now," Zeb reported from the Ghost's communications system.
"And it's not gonna budge," Zeb went on after he grunted as he tried to open the door to the cargo ship's cargo hold with his hands as he, Ezra, Hondo, Azmorigan and Melch stood in front of it, only for the door to barely move before he placed his left arm near his mouth as his wrist communicator beeped, "Chopper, we need power on the cargo deck."
"I got this," Ezra said as he grabbed his lightsaber from his armor's belt and ignited one of its blades.
Chopper then grunted a response from the ship's bridge as he stood on its deck.
"No. Wait!" Zeb said, trying to stop Ezra as the Mandalorian stabbed one of his saber's blades into the side of the door as he began to cut a hole through the door.
Back inside the cargo ship's bridge, Chopper plugged his scomp link into the astromech port next to him and rotated it around before placing it back inside his body and grunted as the ship's power switched back on with the lights all over the ship switching back on as well.
As Ezra finished cutting an oval-shaped hole through the door, the part of the door that he cut with his lightsaber fell to the floor as the door slid open before he deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it back onto his armor's belt.
"Hey!" Zeb yelled at Hondo and Azmorigan as they ran past them into
"Azmorigan, my friend," Hondo said as he and Azmorigan stared at the treasure within the cargo hold, "Pinch me."
"Look! Proton bombs," Ezra said as he noticed that there were three stacks of proton bombs in the distance within the cargo hold as he pointed at them with his left hand's index finger.
"Oh, my treasure is over there," Azmorigan stated as he, Hondo and Melch ran into the cargo hold towards the treasure.
"All right. Let's get started," Zeb told Ezra as the Mandalorian placed his right hand over his hip, "We don't have much time."
"Looks like Hondo came through, huh?" Ezra stated as he looked at him.
"I'll believe it when we're all safely back on the Ghost," Zeb told him as he walked forward before Ezra followed him as they entered the cargo hold.
"Come on. We made it aboard, found the loot," Ezra reminded him, "What's gonna go wrong now?"
"Stop kissing my treasure!" Hondo shouted as he stared at one of the cargo hold's treasures.
Meanwhile in another part of the cargo ship, a DT-series sentry droid, a droid that resembled a bit of a B2 battle droid with it being 2 meters tall, sensors being red, black and gray plating and had built-in E-11 blaster rifles began to reactivate as it twitched its fingers.
"It's mine because I saw it first!" Hondo said, arguing with Azmorigan over a crate that they were holding as Zeb walked past them as he was transporting a group of proton bombs.
"No! I saw the ship first, so I get first claim on anything in it!" Azmorigan told him.
"First claim? First claim?" Hondo repeated with disbelief in his voice, "What is that? What kind of criminal are you?"
"Both of you shut up!" Zeb yelled at them from a distance away, causing the Weequay pirate and Jabologain to drop the crate.
"I'm not arguing with this washed-up chuba! I saw better stuff in the back anyway," Azmorigan said, chuckling as he walked away from Hondo.
"Don't hurry back!" Hondo told him.
"OK, Chopper, you good to go?" Zeb asked Chopper as he contacted him with his wrist communicator, who grunted a response, "Hold on. It's about to get windy." As he said that, the cargo hold's sealed door began sliding open with Hondo placing his left hand over his hat before they saw the Ghost as the sealed door finished sliding open.
"Well, it's about time!" Sabine said, contacting them with her wrist communicator as the Ghost's ramp lowered as she was still standing on it, "Crosswinds are too strong to use the magnetic hoist."
"Copy that. Powering the winch," Zeb replied as he walked over to a winch next to him and powered it on, causing them to tilt upwards and aim at the Ghost.
"Stand by to receive cables," Zeb went on from the Ghost's intercom.
"Now!" Zeb added as he activated the winches as their cables flew towards both sides of the Ghost and between the ship's ramp.
"Cables secured," Sabine told Zeb with her wrist communicator, "Good shot!"
Ezra then rolled one batch of the proton bombs towards one of the cables' magnetic clamps as Zeb pulled a level on the cables' controls down with his right hand, causing the batch of the proton bombs to be magnetically attached to the magnetic clamp.
"All right, Sabine, first load of proton bombs coming out. Better watch yourself, 'cause if they get knocked about too much…" Zeb told the female Mandalorian with his wrist communicator as he activated the cable's magnetic clamp with his right hand as it began to move towards the Ghost.
"I'll be careful," Sabine assured him from his wrist communicator as the batch of proton bombs slid across the magnetic cable and towards the Ghost.
As the batch of proton bombs approached the Ghost's ramp, Sabine held a magnetic clamp in her right hand with it being attracted to it before it magnetically attached itself to the magnetic clamp as she rolled it up and into the ship's cargo hold with her magnetic clamp.
"I got it! One down," Sabine reported to Zeb with her wrist communicator.
"Ezra, hook me up another one," Zeb ordered the Mandalorian before he noticed that he wasn't hooking up another batch of the proton bombs, "Ezra?" He then turned around and saw him hooking a gold and silver colored crate to the magnetic clamp of the other cable with Hondo, "Ezra! What are you doing?"
"I'm helping Hondo," Ezra answered as he looked at him.
"Unattach that treasure and start sending bombs!" Zeb ordered the Mandalorian, causing Hondo to look at him as Ezra dropped the crate.
"Whoa-whoa. Now wait a minute," Hondo protested.
"Our ship, my operation," Zeb explained, "Bombs first."
"Hey, we're supposed to be a team," Ezra reminded them as he placed another batch of proton bombs onto the magnetic clamp before he did the same to another batch of proton bombs to the magnetic clamp of the other cable before realizing that he hasn't seen or heard from Azmorigan in a while, "Wait. Speaking of our team, where's Azmorigan? He's been gone a while."
"Not our problem," Zeb told him before contacting Sabine with his wrist communicator as he pulled the lever at the winch's controls, causing the batch of proton bombs to begin sliding across the cable and towards the Ghost, "Sabine, another one coming out!"
"Azmorigan, where are you?" Ezra asked, trying to contact the Jablogain with his wrist communicator.
"Oh, he's fine. Don't worry," Hondo said, innocently as he and Melch moved the crate that he and Azmorigan were arguing over earlier towards one of the cables' magnetic clamps.
"All right. Now I'm worried," Zeb stated as he activated and tried contacting the Jablogain with his wrist communicator, "Azmorigan, this is Zeb. Come in."
"I got this. I'll find him," Ezra offered as he approached him.
"No, you get on that winch," Zeb said, refusing his offer, "Keep the cargo going out."
"And you just remember we're on the clock here, Captain," Ezra reminded him as he pointed at his wrist communicator with his left hand's index finger for a second, "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we're out of here."
"Azmorigan?" Zeb said, calling out to the Joblogain crime lord as he walked through one of the corridors of the cargo ship as he was searching for him before he placed both of his hands on both sides of his mouth, "Azmorigan!" He then lowered both of his arms as he heard a noise in the distance and turned towards a doorway that was next to him, "Azmorigan?"
The DT-series sentry droid then suddenly came up behind him, causing Zeb to turn and towards it and gasped as he saw the sentry droid before screaming as the sentry droid attacked him before knocking him out.
"That's four! Keep 'em comin'!" Sabine told her husband with her wrist communicator as she pulled the fourth batch of proton bombs into the Ghost's cargo hold with her magnetic clamp.
Meanwhile on the cargo ship's bridge, Chopper was standing in front of the ship's console when a lightning strike suddenly collided with the bridge, causing the console's controls to short-circuit as the Imperial cargo ship began to fly down towards the maelstrom's vortex below.
Chopper grunted from Ezra's wrist communicator as the Mandalorian nearly fell to the floor of the ship's cargo hold due to the ship beginning to fall into the maelstrom's vortex.
"Whoa!" Ezra exclaimed as he replied to the astromech droid with his wrist communicator, "Copy, Come back to the hold." He then switched his wrist communicator's frequency from Chopper to the Ghost's communication's system as he went to contact Hera with it as he clicked on it with his right hand's index finger, "Hera, Chop's lost the stabilizers. This ship's gonna go down fast now."
"And it'll take you with it!" Hera added from the Ghost's cockpit, "Get everyone off that tug now!"
"Uh, there's a little problem with that," Ezra told her from the Ghost's communications system.
"We lost Azmorigan. Zeb went looking for him, but they haven't come back," Ezra went on as behind him, Hondo and Melch were tugging on a crate.
"Well, find them!" Hera ordered the Mandalorian, "We're running out of time here."
"Hondo, come on," Ezra said, calling out to Hondo as he turned around towards him, "I need your help."
"Kind of busy right now, Ezra," Hondo told him as he looked at the Mandalorian.
"But isn't Azmorigan your friend?" Ezra asked him.
"Az… Oh," Hondo began to say as he turned around and accidentally dropped the crate on top of Melch, causing the Ugnaught to groan, "My partner. Th-that means occasional business acquaintance."
"It also means more treasure for you if he doesn;t make it back, right?" Ezra asked him as she turned around from him.
"Well, I never thought of it that way, but, uh you never disappoint me, Ezra," Hondo told him.
"Yeah, wish I could say the same," Ezra muttered, bitterly as he realized that he cared more about the treasure than Azmorigan as he left the cargo hold as he went to search for Zeb and Azmorigan.
"Where am I?" Zeb asked after he groaned and regained consciousness as he sat up as he saw that he was locked inside of a prison cell on the cargo ship.
"We're in jail, you idiot!" Azmorigan answered from a cell across from him.
"What happened?" Zeb asked as he placed his right hand over his forehead, "I remember some kind of droid." He then activated his wrist communicator with his right hand's index finger, "Ezra, you there?"
"Zeb!" Ezra said with relief in his voice from the Lasat's wrist communicator, "Where are you? I'm patching in Hera."
"Looks like we're in the brig," Zeb answered as he stood back up, "Azmorigan's here, too. We got knocked out by some kind of droid."
"I thought this ship was abandoned," Ezra said with confusion in his voice as he walked down one of the ship's corridors.
"Oh, I'm afraid I may have overlooked that in my planning," AP-5 told them from his helmet's built-in comlink.
"Overlooked what?" Zeb asked the protocol droid from his cell in the cargo ship's brig.
"The sentry droids the Empire utilizes on its cargo ships," AP-5 answered from the Ghost's cockpit, "It must have reactivated when power was restored.
"I advise you not to engage the droid," AP-5 warned them from Zeb's wrist communicator from the Lasat's cell in the cargo ship's brig, "The consequences could be problematic."
"Could've told us before," Zeb told the protocol droid with his wrist communicator.
"I need you all back now!" Hera told Zeb and Ezra with the Ghost's communications system from the ship's cockpit.
"The Ghost can't take much more of this!" Hera added from Ezra's wrist communicator.
"Copy that. I'll find 'em and bring 'em out. Hold tight, Hera," Ezra assured the Twi'lek with his wrist communicator, "OK, so where's the brig?"
He then turned around and gasped as he heard a noise and as if on instinct, he grabbed his lightsaber from his armor's belt with his right hand and ignited one of its blades before seeing that it was just Chopper, who grunted as he pulled both of his metal arms out.
"Chopper!" Ezra said, happily as he deactivated his saber's blade and clipped it back onto his armor's belt, "Hey, we have to find the brig. Zeb and Azmorigan are-"
Before Ezra could finish his sentence, Chopper started grunting as he rolled past him, causing the Mandalorian to follow him as he began to lead him to the ship's brig.
As soon as Ezra and Chopper approached the door to the ship's brig, the door slid open before they entered the room with Zeb's bo-rifle being next to the Lasat's cell and was standing against the wall before the Mandalorian saw him standing in his cell.
"Well, well, well, Hmm," Ezra said, teasingly as he grabbed Zeb's bo-rifle with his right hand as Chopper plugged his scomp link into the astromech port in front of Azmorigan's cell to unlock it, "This might be the last job Hera puts you in charge of for a while, big guy."
"Save it, kid. Now's not the time," Zeb told him as Azmorigan left his cell before he turned towards the astromech droid, "Chopper!" The astromech droid then used his spark projector to disable his cell's lock before Zeb left his cell as well and took his bo-rifle from Ezra with his right hand, "Right. Let's get off this ship. And be careful. That sentry droid's still around somewhere."
And with that, Ezra, Zeb, Azmorigan and Chopper left the brig before Zeb gasped as he heard the sound of robotic footsteps walking through the corridor that they were walking through before he held his left hand up as he hid behind one of the walls with everyone else doing the same as he grabbed his bo-rifle from his back.
"Let it go by," Zeb said as the sentry droid appeared across from them and in the middle of the corridor that was in front of them and began walking walkwards the doorway that they were hiding behind.
"Uh…" Azmorigan began to whimper and panic as he stared at Ezra's right WESTAR-35 from inside its holster, "Uh… Oh, oh, oh. Here we go!" He then grabbed Ezra's right WESTAR-35 from its holster and went out of cover and shouted as he rushed towards the sentry droid as he began firing the blaster at it rapidly, "Take that!" He then began screaming as he continued to fire the WESTAR-35 at the sentry droid before the sentry droid fell to the floor from the damage it took from Ezra's WESTAR-35.
"I told you to let it pass!" Zeb reminded Azmorigan with anger in his voice.
"It looked right at me, and I blasted it!" Azmorigan stated with excitement in his voice, "Me! Did you see me? I'm a hero!"
"Salvage team, what happened?" Hera asked from both Zeb and Ezra's wrist communicators.
"Give me that!" Ezra told Azmorigan as he took his WESTAR-35 back from him with his right hand and placed it back inside its holster before clicking his armor's wrist communicator with his right hand's index finger, "It's OK. We encountered the sentry, but Azmorigan took it out."
"Oh. I advised you not to engage," AP-5 reminded them, causing their facial expressions to turn into ones of fear, "If one sentry comes under attack, the others will be activated."
"Others?" Zeb repeated with confusion in his voice, "What others?"
As Zeb said that, four other DT-series sentry droids were reactivated and came out of where they were hibernating from before they aimed their built-in E-11 blaster rifles at them as they grunted in their Imperial droid language.
"OK, that's problematic," Ezra said as he and the others stared at the sentry droids.
"Zeb, Ezra, I am not kidding! I need you off that ship in a big hurry!" Hera yelled at both Zeb and Ezra with the Ghost's communications system from the ship's cockpit.
"Trust me. We're in a big hurry!" Zeb assured Hera as he, Ezra, Azmorigan and Chopper ran back into the cargo ship's cargo hold as the sentry droids were chasing them with him firing his bo-rifle at the sentry droids with Ezra doing the same with his WESTAR-35s as they fired their built-in E-11 blaster rifles back at them as he and Ezra hid on opposite sides of the doorway, "Seal the door!" Ezra then sealed the door with his right elbow before they looked through the hold that he created earlier with one of his lightsaber's blades as they saw that the sentry droids were continuing to fire upon them with their blaster bolts going straight through the hole, "Ezra!"
"Well, I didn't know," Ezra said, defending himself for what he did with his lightsaber and the door earlier as they ran from the door before he saw that Hondo was still loading treasure onto the cables' magnetic clamps, "Hondo, come on! We've gotta go now!"
"Not without my treasure," Hondo protested as Melch jumped in front of him from the top of the crate that Hondo was touching.
The sentry droids soon blasted the door open with their built-in E-11 blaster rifle and began to open fire on them as Ezra and Zeb took cover behind crates as they began to fire their blasters back at the sentry droids again.
"This is mine! I looted it!" Hondo told Azmorigan as they were tugging over a crate and began to argue over it before they dropped it and ran for cover as the sentry droids began firing their built-in E-11 blaster rifles at them as Ezra continued to fire his WESTAR-35s at them as Chopper activated the magnetic clamp that had one of the final batch of proton bombs attached to it with his left metal arm before placing it back inside his dome as he grunted at them.
"This will be our ride," Zeb said as he backed away from the crate that he was hiding behind as he continued to fire his bo-rifle at the sentry droids, "Cover me!" One of the sentry droids soon fell to the floor on their chest from the damage that it received from the blaster bolts of Zeb's bo-rifle.
"Hondo? Ezra called out to the Weequay pirate, "You have to get out!"
"Where is my treasure?" Hondo asked himself as he stood next to Azmorigan as he was searching for one of the crates, "Where is my trea…" He then placed both of his hands over his hat for a second as Azmorigan ran from him, "Do not tell me that I lost…" He then saw that the crate that he had a moment ago was next to him on the floor, "A-ha!"
"Wait, where's Melch?" Ezra asked as he realized that the Ugnaught had somehow disappeared as he hid for cover behind a crate again.
"Oh, no! He must have fallen to his doom," Hondo muttered, sarcastically as he hooked the crate that he was carrying onto the magnetic clamp of the other crate, "Well, I shall spend his share wisely, in his honor." He then removed his hat with his left hand and placed his right hand over his chest for a second before he placed his hat back over his head and hopped on top of the crate, "Let's go!" The crate then began to accelerate towards the Ghost, while Azmorigan sat on the batch of proton bombs across from him, "I will get there first!"
"That means nothing," Azmorigan scoffed as the batch of proton bombs that he was sitting on accelerated towards the Ghost as well, "This is not a race."
Hondo then hopped off the crate and onto the ramp of the Ghost as he and Azmorigan reached the VCX-100 light freighter.
Chopper then grunted in fear behind cover as he watched the three remaining sentry droids continue to approach them.
"What do you mean, 'Every man for themselves?' You're a droid!" Ezra shouted at Chopper with confusion in his voice as the astromech droid rolled towards the edge of the cargo hold before he activated his rocket booster.
"I hope you run out of fuel!" Zeb told Chopper as the astromech droid began flying towards the Ghost with his rocket booster.
As the sentry droids continued to fire at Ezra, he kicked a container out of his way with his right leg before he rushed towards the winches' controls.
"Zeb, I'm sending it!" The Mandalorian told him as he activated the cable that was holding the final batch of proton bombs with his right hand.
"Come on, Ezra!" Zeb said, calling out to him as he sat on the final batch of proton bombs as they began heading towards the Ghost as he aimed his bo-rifle at the sentry droids.
"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up," Ezra assured him as he placed his WESTAR-35s back inside his armor's holsters before he ran across a few of the containers and used the Force to jump towards Zeb and the final batch of proton bombs.
"Gotcha!" Zeb said as he caught him by his right hand with his left hand as the final batch of proton bombs continued to head towards the Ghost before of the sentry droids fired their built-in E-11 blaster rifles at the cable's winch device as Zeb pulled him back up and sat next to him on the final batch of proton bombs as Zeb placed his bo-rifle over his back again before the other two sentry droids began firing at the cable's winch device as well.
"No!" Sabine cried in horror as the cable was flown out from the cable's winch device as she watched as her husband and Zeb began falling down towards the atmosphere of Wynkahthu below with the final batch of proton bombs as they screamed before Zeb grabbed Ezra's right foot with his own right foot as he grabbed onto the cable with his left hand as it was still attached to the Ghost as it began to swing from side to side.
"What's happening?" Hera suddenly asked through her wrist communicator.
"Ah! It's OK," Sabine assured her, "Zeb's got him!"
Zeb then began straining before Ezra grabbed his lightsaber from his armor's belt and used the Force to jump onto the Lasat's back and ignited one of its blades as he began to use it to deflect the sentry droids' blaster bolts as Zeb began to climb up the cable as the Imperial cargo ship reached the maelstrom's vortex, causing an explosion within the ship, destroying the sentry droids as they were flown out of the cargo hold with one of them flying past them.
"Are they on board?" Hera asked Sabine with the Ghost's communications system from the ship's cockpit.
"Not yet!" Sabine answered from the ship's communications system.
"Well, get them on board!" Hera yelled as Kanan quickly ran out of the cockpit as she pulled the Ghost's control stick towards her.
As the Ghost began to go down with the Imperial cargo ship, Kanan entered the Ghost's cargo hold and stood next to Sabine as Zeb grabbed onto the edge of the ship's ramp with his left hand and began to climb up the ramp with Ezra on his back as he grunted before Kanan extended his right hand out towards them and helped them up as Zeb grabbed his hand and pulled them up.
"OK! We got 'em! Cut the line!" Sabine said into her wrist communicator as Kanan grabbed his lightsaber from his belt with his right hand and ignited its blade before he slashed it against the cable that was attached to the right side of the ship's ramp from the Imperial cargo ship's winch device, allowing the VCX-100 light freighter to finally break free from the cargo ship before he clipped it back onto his belt as they reentered the ship's cargo hold before the ramp slid back shut.
"Punch it, Hera!" Kanan told Hera before the Twi'lek piloted the ship out of the atmosphere of Wynkahthu.
After the Ghost left the Gas Giant's atmosphere, the ship began to regroup with Hondo's stolen Imperial shuttle as Hondo and Azmorigan carried the crate that they stole from the Imperial cargo ship around in the ship's cargo hold with the proton bombs that the rebels had acquired from the cargo ship standing in the room against each other as both Mandalorians and Zeb were watching with Ezra now having his helmet removed and his helmet under his arm, while Hera was watching from the catwalk above them.
"Pretty nice hull," Sabine said, complimenting Hondo and Azmorigan on getting their treasure from the Imperial cargo ship.
"Good job, you two," Hera complimented Ezra and Zeb, causing them to turn around towards her.
"Way to go, Zeb," Ezra said as he turned towards the Lasat and saluted him with his right hand.
"Oh, no, you don't, Ohnaka," they suddenly heard Azmorigan argue with Hondo as Zeb and both Mandalorians turned around to look at them as they stood across from each other in front of the crate that the Weequay stole from the cargo ship, "Half of what's in there is mine."
"Oh, but you forfeited this crate when you went off to look for your own loot," Hondo reminded him, "What is in here is…" He then sniffed as he removed the lid from the crate with both of his hands, "Is all…" He then sniffed again, "What is… It's all mine." He then dropped the lid as he heard a familiar squeal as he saw Melch laying inside the crate as he excitedly looked at the Weequay, causing Hondo to scream from being startled by Melch being inside of the crate.
"Melch?" Zeb said with shock in his voice as he saw the Ugnaught slowly get out of the crate as he crossed his arms.
"Ha!" Ezra laughed as he elbowed Zeb with his right elbow "Guess he didn't trust Hondo not to leave him behind again."
"Sorry it didn't work out, Hondo," Hera apologized to the Weequay pirate in a mocking tone.
"Work out?" Hondo repeated as he looked up at her, "Oh, no." Melch then completely got out of the crate, "This is better, yes, because, uh…" He then kneeled on his left leg as he hugged Melch with his left arm as he pulled Melch next to him, "Friendship is the greatest treasure."
"Do you really mean that?" Ezra asked him with disbelief in his voice.
"Mostly," Hondon answered before Melch punched him in the stomach with his left fist, causing the Weequay to wheeze as Melch crossed his arms as he began to laugh, "See? He's always laughing, always having a good time, this Melch."
"I look forward to you gentlemen continuing this conversation on your own ship," Hera said as Melch walked behind Hondo as he lowered his arms before she left the cargo hold as she began to head back towards the Ghost's cockpit.
"We had a deal, Ohnaka!" Azmorigan reminded the Weequay as Melch now stood in between them as Hondo stood back up, "I get 50% of him."
"What?" Hondo said with disbelief in his voice.
"I kinda feel bad for Melch," Zeb told Ezra.
"Nah, he'll be fine," Ezra said, telling him not to worry about Melch.