The following few days were intense. There was a lot of meditation, physical conditioning, sparring practice with training sabers, similar to what you see in SWTOR, and Force practice. Amongst other things, Ahsoka and I worked on the basic forms of Shii-cho, Form I, and figuring out which of the lightsaber Forms would be best for me. I found myself interested in Forms IV and VI, Ataru and Niman, but that's a problem for future Lance. I still need to master Form I with the training saber before I move on to something else. The training sabers were more due to my own nervousness when it came to using a lightsaber, and Ahsoka, thankfully, was quite understanding.
Also, for several hours a day, I'd try to lift things with the Force. Crates, clothing, my staff, Ahsoka's lightsabers, whatever we had available at the time. I've been able to get things to twitch or move a couple of centimetres, but actually lifting something was still out of my reach, let alone summoning something to my hands from afar. *cough, lightsaber, cough*
Physical conditioning was hellish, to say the least. I've been in shape for a good long while, but I was never Terry Crews or Dwayne Johnson. My physique was lithe and muscular, but with no real definition or size. I just worked out as much as I needed to to not put on weight. Plus, training with my Sensei in the dojo I attended was adjusted for each individual's body type and skill level. Here, Ahsoka was actually trying to improve my body as a whole, building muscle, increasing endurance, sharpening reflexes, etc. Apparently the Force gave me an edge with these kinds of things, though that didn't make it hurt any less.
I swear to God I've seen Ahsoka smirking at my misery every now and again. She's either a closet sadist, or a tease. Maybe she went through this as a Youngling and is enjoying seeing it passed on to someone else. Maybe the Jedi Masters found some amusement in doing this sometimes. Who knows?
Thankfully, the conditioning was minimal today. We were focussing on trying to lift things today, which we hadn't done in about two days.
Most of our lessons took place in a cargo bay on the Liberator, a Blockade Runner. There was often enough space, few people, and enough clutter for us to practice depending on the circumstances. Currently, I was trying to lift some of the clutter around us, crates, datapads, wrenches, etc… Whilst standing on my hands…
"You're not concentrating." Ahsoka said, sipping a mug of caf that she held as she leaned against the wall to my side.
"She said, enjoying some caf…" I mumbled in response. If she heard me, she didn't say anything. My eye twitched as another droid came in, an R3 model, bleeping about as it pushed a few crates in. This cargo bay has been rather busy today. So many people going in and out, grabbing and delivering shit. "The constant interruptions are making it harder…" I grumbled as the droid accidentally dinged another crate with the one it was pushing.
"There will always be distractions." She told me sagely. "You need to learn to focus in spite of them, now concentrate." She instructed. I gave a slight huff, but calmed my mind as best as I could, focussing all my attention on my surroundings. "That's it, feel the Force flow…" Ahsoka whispered softly, loud enough for me to hear, but soft enough that it wouldn't disrupt my concentration. "It's around you, it's inside you, feel it. Use the Force Lance…"
Sure enough, one of the empty crates near me lifted ever so slightly off the ground. It was only a few centimetres, but it was higher than anything I'd done before. After a moment , another joined it, but only barley. They weren't all that high, but they were stable in the air. That in of itself was a massive improvement. I heard the R3 droid yelp in shock as it too was lifted a few centimetres in the air. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but whatever.
"R3!" A Rebel officer called as he entered. "What's taking so-"
"Wah!" his entrance broke my concentration, and I flopped to the ground, landing on my back, the crates and droid falling with me.
"OH! Uuuh…" The officer babbled, not sure what to say. "Sorry Commander." He said, standing at attention with a salute as he saw Ahsoka.
"It's alright Lieutenant, continue." Ahsoka said with a sigh. The officer nodded and left, the R3 droid following after him. "And with that, I think we're done for today." She decided, putting her mug down.
"At least we know I do the Flop well enough." I said dryly as she helped me up.
"You've improved drastically since we first started." She told me. "You've done in a week what would take most people a month or two to accomplish, which makes sense since your connection to the Force is so strong, but I wouldn't give the credit to that alone." She said as she crossed her arms.
"Thanks." I said with a deep breath, wiping the sweat off of my head and face with a towel.
"And you've been practicing the Shii-cho Forms?" She asked, getting a nod from me. "Good. Don't slack on that. I have a feeling you're going to need them sooner rather than later." She warned me. "Maybe asked Kanan or Ezra to help you practice if they can." She suggested.
"Will do." I said, chugging some of the water from a cantine I had with me.
"And before you go, I have something for you." She told me as I put my shirt back on. Her words caught my attention. As I turned to face her again, she presented to me what looked like a rather thick belt. Attached to it were a few square pouches, like what Sabine had, a metal strip that I learned was magnetic, a comlink, a clip from which the lightsaber I stole from Vader hung, I still had trouble thinking of it as 'my' lightsaber, and finally a holster which contained a blaster. "You mentioned you were ill equipped for battle in this galaxy." She told me with a smile.
"Thank you Ahsoka, I really appreciate this." I told her sincerely. "I appreciate everything you've done for me these past two weeks." I added.
"It was no trouble Lance." She gave a smile. "I'm the one who brought you into the Rebellion, the least I could do is help with your equipment." She told me.
So, finally got my own blaster, thank God. With the belt on, the holster positioned itself on the outer side of my right thigh. There was a second strap at the end of it which went around my thigh, stopping the holster from flopping about as I ran or fought. That was going to take a bit of getting used to, but I managed. Attached to the belt itself, was the clip for the lightsaber. It was a little ways back of my right hand side, allowing for easy access for if and when I decided to wield the weapon. The pouches, three of them, were on my left, containing a few thermal detonators and ammo for my blaster. Speaking of which, Ahsoka mentioned that it was called A-180. It was a versatile and easy to use weapon. I had a few practice shots with it before returning to the Ghost, and it was a good gun. It could even be reconfigured into a sniper rifle or ion cannon, which I thought was amazing, but I wouldn't need for a good long while.
Anyway, the last thing on the belt was that metal strip I mentioned. Apparently, it was magnetic. Ahsoka said it was perfect for me to attach my staff there, and she was right. It was getting tiring having to pocket it all the time and remove it and hold onto it whenever I wanted to sit down. Truly, this was a thoughtful gift from Ahsoka. I was grateful.
Anyway, with that end to my lesson for the day, I had the rest of the afternoon to do what I wanted. There weren't any missions, so my day was open. I was going to spend the rest of the afternoon in the cabin, either reading or meditating for a while before continuing with my blade practice. However, as soon as I opened my book, Chopper rolled in and shot an electric blast at me, laughing at the yelp I let out at the feeling of electrocution. He laughed even harder as I fell out of the bunk.
Growling, I looked up at the smug droid. It seems keeping out of his way would not save me from his antics.
"Was that really necessary?" I asked with a grunt as I got up. In response, he just bleeped at me and shot another of the electric blasts. This time, I was able to dodge, and Chopper immediately rolled out, probably expecting me to chase after him. I wanted to, I SO wanted to, but I didn't want to think about how Hera would go off at me if I dismantled her droid. So, I took a few calming breaths and headed on to the lounge with my book, which I was almost finished with.
Zeb and Rex were in the middle of a game of Dejarik, which was basically space Chess, and Sabine was sitting in a chair attached to a terminal in the corner. Chopper was next to her, his optics aimed at me. I swear, if he had a face, he'd be grinning at me like the smug asshole he is. With a sigh, I sat at the edge of the couch, rested one ankle on the other knee, and continued with White Fang. I kept an eye on Chopper though. I didn't think he'd try anything with so many people around, but I felt it best to be cautious.
After about half an hour, Kanan and Ezra entered the lounge of the Ghost, having completed their own lesson.
"Let's end today's lesson by levitating Chopper." Kanan suggested as they arrived.
"If I do, can I drop him?" Ezra asked excitedly. Chopper let out what sounded like a squeak as Kanan looked at him thoughtfully.
"Sure." He shrugged. I'm guessing he was just as fed up with the droid as everyone else. Chopper responded with a series of bleeps that sound suspiciously like 'you wouldn't dare!'
"I think he would." I told the droid with a smirk.
"You understood him?" Sabine asked, confused.
"It was an educated guess." I answered, getting a mad bleep from Chopper.
"Hah!" Rex laughed as one of his holographic monsters on the Dejarik table killed one of Zeb's. I don't really know how the game works, but I'm guessing that was the Dejarik equivalent of Checkmate. "Chalk another win up for the Clone." He crossed his arms with a grin. "Takes more than brawn to win this game, big guy." He told the Lasat cheekily.
"Heh, well maybe I let you win, old guy." Zeb responded, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.
"Sure." I said with a roll of my eyes, getting a sharp look from Zeb.
Anyway, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sabine whisper something to Chopper, who responded with a low bleep. In the blink of an eye, and I literally mean I would have missed it if I had blinked, I saw Chopper's legs lock up to his body. Or, more accurately, his body locked up to his legs. Hm, interesting.
"Come on Ezra, focus." Kanan said as his apprentice outstretched his hand, his eyes closed in concentration. "Use the Force, look through the Force, lift Chopper up. Picture it in your mind." he said softly. I could feel Ezra's abilities at work, and there's no doubt in my mind that he would have lifted Chopper if the droid's feet weren't magnetized.
"I can't!" Ezra gave up. "I can't do it." He sighed, depressed.
"Hey kid, while you're looking through the Force, don't forget to look with your eyes as well." Rex advised, catching the kid's attention. "The droid's got his feet locked down." He revealed.
Sabine and Chopper burst out laughing at Ezra's pissed off look, the latter even spinning his head around whilst waving his mechanical mini-arms about. Even I had to let out a slight chuckle. As amusing as it would have been to see Chopper get dropped, this was funny enough. Not as much, but enough.
"That's not fair!" Ezra complained, turning to his Master.
"Real battles usually aren't." Kanan responded, crossing his arms. Hm, not untrue.
"The Jedi General I served with combined the Force with his wits, and it made him a great warrior." Rex said, standing up and approaching the two.
"Ezra's got plenty of wits, what he needs is discipline." Kanan returned.
"Oh God, no." I groaned, closing my book.
Rex and Kanan were about to descend into one of their arguments. It had happened several times since Rex arrived, and it was getting harder and harder to tolerate as time went by. Never before have I seen two people so prone to argument and conflict. Fortunately, Hera walked in carrying a data pad. If things escalated too much, she'd sort them out.
"Well then, you better let a soldier handle that." Rex suggested smugly.
"Excuse me?" Kanan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sabine, I have a mission for you and Chop." Hera announced, getting the Mando's attention. "Thanks to Captain Rex, we found an old base where we might be able to salvage some much needed medical supplies." She showed the info on her datapad. "Zeb, you should go too." She told the Lasat as she handed the pad to Sabine.
"Can I go?" I asked. "I've been cooped up on the Ghost and the Liberator all week."
"That'll be fine." Hera nodded. I gave a silent whoop as I set my book down on the Dejarik table, and immediately shot up the ladder to the Phantom, and plonked my ass on one of the seats before anyone could say anything.
"Excited?" Sabine asked in amusement as she climbed up the ladder herself, Zeb following, and Chopper after.
"I can't stand being cooped up in the Ghost much longer." I said with a groan as she sat herself down at the pilot's seat.
"Well, you're gonna be cooped up a little longer." She told me as she prepped the shuttle. "This is gonna be an hour or two trip without hyperspace." She said, making me freeze.
"Fuck." I facepalmed, getting a chuckle from Zeb. "And I left my book on the ship." I sighed.
"Gotcha covered." A new voice spoke. Ezra climbed into the Phantom, handing me White Fang, which I was incredibly grateful for.
"Hey, you weren't assigned to this mission." Zeb frowned in the kid's direction.
"I assigned myself." Ezra returned, taking a seat. "I'd rather deal with the dangers out there, than listen to those two argue one more time." He sighed, massaging his temples.
"Agreed." I said, opening up White Fang.
"You say that now…" Sabine said wryly, the Phantom taking off.
I guess this wasn't so bad. I had my book, I had the others to converse with if the need arises, and I doubt that Hera would have sent us in the Phantom if the old base was really that far away. I considered trying to have a short nap, but decided against it. Chopper was on the shuttle, and I didn't trust the droid to not shock me in my sleep.
"Well, I'm all out of book." I said with a sigh, storing the novel in one of the compartments next to the pilot's seat.
"You seemed really into it." Sabine noted. With the Phantom on autopilot, she was sitting in the back with the rest of us.
"It's my favourite book." I said with a shrug, taking the pilot's seat and turning it to face the others. "It's all about a wolf cub being born in the wild, learning how to survive, finding himself living amongst a pre-industrial human tribe, and all of his development and hardships along the way." I explained.
"Really? Sounds boring." Zeb said bluntly, leaning back. Sabine and I shared an eyeroll.
"It actually sounds interesting." The Mando said.
"Really?" Ezra asked in confusion. "I mean, no offense Lance, but a book about a baby wolf hunting and living with humans doesn't sound like a good read." He said. Chopper bleeped in what I assumed was agreement.
"That's because you haven't read it." I said simply.
"I would like to." Sabine spoke up. "I mean, if it's not an issue." She added.
"It's there when you want it." I said, jabbing my thumb at the compartment I'd put it in. As I finished my sentence, a repetitive alert sounded from the panel, prompting Sabine to stand up. Knowing what that meant, I followed suit, and allowed her to retake the pilot's seat while I stood beside her.
"Coming up on our destination." She said. In response, the other two got up and looked outside of the cockpit window.
"Whoa, what is this place?" Ezra asked in awe.
"An old Republic medical station, abandoned after the Clone Wars." Sabine answered.
Sure enough, there it was. It had to be the destination, because there wasn't anything else in sight. And it was HUGE. Easily the biggest thing I'd seen in this galaxy thus far. It was long, round, and tapered off into a point from top to bottom, like some kind of concave cone shape. It was clearly old. There was a lot of visible damage, not to mention wear and tear from all these years.
As Sabine punched in and transmitted the key codes Rex provided, one of the hangar bay doors, at least, I'm assuming it was a hangar bay, opened up.
"What do you know, Rex's codes worked." She said, surprised.
"Are we gonna be able to breath in there?" I asked, concerned.
"Life Support should be fine, but in case it's not, we've some respirators." Sabine told me. Well, that was assuring. I think.
As the Mandalorian piloted the shuttle through the doors that she'd opened, they started to close. Seriously, it was dark in here. There was absolutely no light except for what was coming from the Phantom. No stars or moons in the area either, so we were completely blind except for the flashlights we held. As Sabine landed us, and we all stepped out. It was dark, cold, and empty. As we exhaled, we could see our breaths, except for Sabine who was wearing her helmet, and the air was stale. I was half expecting to see Slender Man or a Mass Effect Husk pop out of the shadows. Yeah, I didn't like it here.
My thoughts were interrupted by a low beep from Chopper.
"Oh, come on Chopper, it's not that creepy, it's just dark." Ezra told the droid. I disagreed, but I wasn't going to say it out loud.
"Wait, you actually understand that glorified beeping garbage can?" Zeb asked the young Jedi, baffled.
"Yeah." Ezra confirmed. "Well, I'm learning."
"I should probably invest some time in learning myself." I said, flicking the switch on my flashlight. "I already speak three languages, why not another?" I asked the air.
"Three?" Zeb asked.
"English, German, and Russian." I listed. "Four if you count sign language." I added. "Though I don't think any of them are going to be of much use in this galaxy." I said as we approached the corridor door, Sabine and Chopper in the lead.
Sabine tried opening the door, but it didn't respond. "Yep, I was afraid of this. No power." She reported, her hand on her hip.
"How delightfully cliche." I said with a roll of my eyes as Zeb stepped forward. He jammed his claws into the seams between the doors and pulled them open. Lasat, apparently, were incredibly strong. Strong enough to open automatic steel doors with their bare hands. We each gave Zeb a nod of thanks as we passed through into the corridor. Once we were all through, he let the door go, and hopped in through.
As we strolled through the halls, I noticed a lot of scattered crates, and various cables, debris and the like cluttering up the way. I briefly wondered what happened here. Was the station attacked by Separatists to the point where the Republic had to abandon the station? Or did they decide they had no use for it anymore? If that was the case, why leave all this stuff behind? Maybe the station was in use right up until Order 66, and the people who manned this station were Clones? Who knows?
As we walked, I'd noticed that Sabine had split off. She'd stayed behind to paint one of her tags of that Phoenix bird that apparently represents Phoenix Squadron. I had to shake my head. I remember tagging anything I could when I thought I could get away with it back in my teens. Mum was not happy to find a big eagle spray painted on the side of her work building. Man, she was pissed. I shook my head to stop thinking like that. It just made the fact that I was stuck here hurt more. With a deep breath, I approached the Mando, who was staring down the hall.
"See something?" I asked her, making her jump.
"Lance!" She snapped in my direction.
"Crikey, cool your jets girl!" I shot back as she pushed past me. She just grunted in annoyance and moved on. I rolled my eyes and followed after.
"Well, this is the Command Centre, or what's left of it." Sabine said as we entered a room. It wasn't dissimilar to the Command Centre on the Blockade Runner. It had the work stations, the circular holotable, and the terminals. It was just a bit smaller, which made no sense given the size of this station.
"This might make a good base for us." Ezra suggested.
"Ugh, no thanks." Sabine said as she took off her helmet and set on top of a terminal. "This place looks like it's about to fall apart." She said. "Chopper, power it up." She instructed the droid, who inserted his scomp link, which I'd learned it was called from Hera. Within a matter of seconds, the entire station lit up. "I didn't mean the whole station, just this control panel." She said to the droid in mild annoyance.
"Let's hope nobody saw that." I remarked as I leaned against the wall.
"You really think the Imps are going to investigate an abandoned station that lit up for a few minutes?" Zeb asked doubtfully.
"I don't know." I admitted. It's entirely possible, likely even, that they'd ignore. "I just feel like something's not right." I said, feeling a chill go up my spine. "I can sense… something." I said with a shake of my head.
"Chop, power down everything, except this terminal." Sabine ordered the astromech, who complied. "Hmm, we've got the inventory files, but most of them are corrupted, unreadable." She reported as she turned and leaned against the terminal. "Can't even tell where the med supplies are, or if they even exist." She told us.
"So this might have been a wasted trip then, fantastic." I said with a sigh. Chopper bleeped at me in response. "I don't care what he said." I spoke before Ezra could translate.
"Guess all we can do is look for the supplies while Chopper repairs the files." He said, activating his lightsaber for light.
"Well, worth a try I guess." Sabine agreed as she put her helmet back on. With that, we carried on with our search. I think I heard Chopper whimper a little bit as we left him alone, and I couldn't help the grin that made its way onto my face. Yes, I enjoyed the little shit's fear. Sue me.
"I notice you don't use your lightsaber for light." Ezra said to me, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm still a bit nervous about using it…" I said honestly, fingering the weapon.
"Really? I was excited." He said to me with a wide grin.
"You built yours with your own two hands, I stole this one from a Sith Lord." I reminded him. "How many innocents do you think died to this blade?" I asked.
"Well, when you put it that way…" He said sheepishly.
"Why don't you two put those Jedi powers of yours to use and find us those medical supplies, so we can get out of here, eh?" Zeb asked us, clearly tired of the situation already.
"It doesn't work that way Zeb, but I don't need my Jedi powers to find them before you do." Ezra smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zeb demanded with a soft growl.
"Well, generally it means I'm more perceptive, I can think on my feet, and I'm faster." Ezra said smugly as he sheathed his lightsaber.
"Does it really matter?" I asked incredulously at this ridiculous display.
"Lance is right." Sabine chimed in. "I don't care who finds them first, just that someone finds them." She said sternly.
"I'll find them first." Ezra declared, running off.
"Cocky kid, you're gonna run right past them!" Zeb growled, chasing after the boy.
"Are they being serious?" I asked of the Mando.
"Unfortunately." She sighed. I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion hit me. This was going to be a long mission, wasn't it? Still better than being cooped up in the Ghost, listening to Kanan and Rex.
As we ran after the two idiots, we turned a corner just in time to see Ezra push some crates over. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but they fell right on top of the Lasat, prompting a laugh out of Ezra.
"So not fair!" Zeb snarled in Ezra's direction.
"Hey, fights rarely are." The kid returned with a smug grin. "Next time, keep your head down and you won't get hit." He advised, turning to continue on, only to hit his own head on a collapsed beam. There was loud metallic clang as he fell to the ground. Yeah, he had that coming.
"You were saying?" Sabine commented dryly, shining her light over Ezra's face, checking to see nothing was wrong. Zeb chuckled in the back as the kid grunted, covering his eyes from the light. Seemed all he got was a bruise.
"Irony, thy name is Bridger." I smirked at the downed teen. Maybe that will teach him some humility.
It was about half an hour to an hour later that I started to get the sense that maybe the med supplies weren't here. We checked room after room, and we found little, if anything, of any use or value, which made sense in hindsight. This place was abandoned, so anything valuable was probably taken with, and even if that weren't the case, there would be scavengers and the like to take into consideration. It's very possible that this entire mission was a complete waste of time, aside from getting away from Kanan and Rex for a bit.
As we walked, our attention was caught by an electric beeping sound, which transitioned into Chopper's familiar beeping and whomping. It was coming from Ezra's comm, though it sounded different.
"It's Chopper." He said, answering the comm. "Chopper, say that again, you need help?" He asked, struggling to translate the droid's words. It may be due to his inexperience with Binary, but something about Chopper sounded off.
"What's going on?" Sabine asked.
"I don't know, but it sounded like Chopper said he needed help." Ezra reported.
"Well, we better get back to the Command Centre then." Sabine decided, beginning the trek back the way we came.
"How about a shortcut?" Ezra asked with a sly grin, looking up. Sure enough, there was an air vent big enough for us to fit through.
"Hold on." I said, putting my hand on the kid's shoulder as he was about to jump. "I don't think Zeb's gonna fit in there, Mate." I said dryly, nudging my head in the Lasat's direction.
"No chance." Zeb agreed. "Why not just go back the way we came?" He asked.
"That'll take too long, and Chopper's in trouble." Ezra reasoned.
"He's right, and none of us should be alone right now. I've got a bad feeling about this." Sabine agreed. Wait, did she seriously just say that?! "Lance, you'll come with me through the vents. Zeb, Ezra, go back the way we came." Sabine ordered, jumping up and grabbing the edge of the vent entrance. I assisted her by pushing her feet up, and she disappeared into the vent.
"It was my idea, shouldn't I take the short route?" Ezra asked with a childish huff. Easy to forget the kid's still, well, a kid.
"Apparently not." I remarked, jumping up and grabbing the edge myself. Zeb helped push me through as Ezra sulked. "Lead on." I told the Mando crawling in front of me, who did just that.
I may have been exasperated about it just now, but that didn't mean I didn't agree with her.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
After about 15 minutes of crawling and climbing through the air vents, Sabine opened a hatch and we came out into a different corridor. Admittedly, it was quicker than going back the way we came. That being said, it was unpleasant being in there. It was cramped, and dark, and I hit my head more than once. Sabine found that amusing, I could sense it even if she didn't let it show, but I decided not to say anything considering I spent the entire trip staring at her backside.
Don't judge; I'm a hot blooded male, and Sabine has a nice butt.
Anyway, as we exited the vents, we pulled our flashlights out and headed on towards the Command Centre, only to have our attention grabbed by the sound Choppers beeping as we turned a corner.
"Chopper?" Sabine asked as we took a few steps down the corridor. There, floating in the middle of the corridor, was a small droid. It was vaguely octopus-shaped, with a disk-like head, a large red light that apparently served as an 'eye,' and several limbs hanging from the bottom, not to mention two 'arms' that were similar to Chopper's.
"Is that a probe droid?" I asked, dread filling me.
"I… think so?" Sabine responded, unsure.
As she said that, the droid floated backwards, revealing a humanoid female form. She wore a set of black armour, with a curved, triangular helmet, and blank mask covering her face. I would have been wondering how she saw through that thing, but I was a bit too focussed on how this woman reeked of the Dark Side. Not nearly as powerful as Vader did, but it was there, for sure.
"My pet told you were here." She said as the droid set itself on her shoulder. "I've been searching for you for some time." She had a sinister edge in her voice as she spoke.
"Bounty Hunter?" Sabine asked under her breath.
"No, definitely not…" I whispered.
"Clever boy~" The woman gave a sinister chuckle, activating a red lightsaber, one with a rather long hilt and cutlass-like half circle ring attached.
"An Inquisitor." Sabine realised, grabbing her blasters. I did the same.
"Oh, good. I won't have to explain it to you." The Inquisitor quipped. "So, you know what comes next?" She asked redundantly as two more of those floating octopus droids showed up behind her.
"Run!" Sabine exclaimed, shooting at the droids. There was no need to tell me twice. So, we sprinted off away from the Inquisitor, both her and her droids on our tail. Sabine and I did our best to blast those pesky things, and she managed to hit one, but they were surprisingly agile. As the Inquisitor turned a corner after us, I fired a couple of shots at her, only for her to deflect them away. At that point, the half circle ring clipped open along its whole length, turning into a full circle, and a second blade extended from the other end of her saber.
"Fantastic." I spat as I tried to blast one of the droids again. Then, to rub salt in the wound, the two blades started spinning along the circle at rapid speeds. "Now that's just cheating." I said with a sigh as Sabine and I tried to speed up our pace. I quickly dodged a swing from the spinning lightsaber, and got a Force push to the face, which had me falling right next to where Sabine was in cover, trying to shoot the woman.
"We need to find the others." She told me as I got up, joining her in her fire.
"Agreed." I said as we both stood up and ran. As we turned a corner, we stopped as we were greeted to the sight of a tall, muscular man. His skin was grey, and he wore an outfit similar to the woman, but without the mask. His teeth were sharper than that of a human, and his eyes were white. He grinned evilly at us as he too activated a red lightsaber, one just like the woman's, but his wasn't spinning and dual bladed. Yet. "Wrong way!" I exclaimed as Sabine and I turned and ran.
At the intersection we came to, there was the woman approaching on the left, and the man behind us, so the only direction we could go was right.
"You know, if there was ever a time to use a lightsaber, it would be now!" Sabine told me as we ran.
"Well I'm sorry you brought me instead of Ezra!" I shot back as we came up to a closed door. Immediately Sabine got to opening it, which only took a few seconds, but it was time that the Inquisitors could use to catch up, which they did.
"Go, go!" Sabine yelled as the door opened. Immediately, we ran through. Unfortunately, I felt an invisible grip stop me from moving. The Force. As I looked back, the woman had her hand outstretched, trying to pull me towards her with the Force. I was resisting, but only barely. It got worse when she sent her last two little droids at me. They grabbed my ankles and pulled me to the ground, dragging me towards her.
I tried to break free, but these little buggers were annoyingly strong. I couldn't shake them off, and I'd dropped my gun when they pulled me.
"Lance!" Sabine saw that I'd gotten grabbed and turned to save me. That wasn't going to happen, not by herself. She was a great warrior, even for a Mandalorian, but there was no way in hell she was going to be able to take on two Inquisitors by herself, not without help. So, with that in mind, I threw away every bit of fear I had concerning the weapon, and grabbed the lightsaber hanging off of my belt. With a grunt of effort, I was able to stand up, in spite of the droids gripping my legs, and ignited the weapon. The bright crimson blade hummed for a second before I stabbed the door's controls with it, shutting the door. Without a closed circuit, the door wouldn't be able to open after it closed. At least not easily.
As it happened, I felt the Force push against me again, and I found myself pressed up against the closed door, with both the Force, and more of those droids latching onto me.
"Such a noble act." The woman drawled as she approached, bringing my lightsaber to her hand. "Lord Vader will be pleased when I return this to him." She said thoughtfully. I could feel the smirk on her face at the thought.
"Don't hold your breath." I told her with a bit of strain. "I'll be getting that back."
"I highly doubt that." she responded as the big guy sprinted towards me, his blade held high and ready to swipe. I closed my eyes as he did, only to hear the blade be stopped by another.
"The kill is mine!" He growled at the woman as he pulled back, his lips twisted into an inhuman snarl.
"You are shortsighted." The woman said dryly, looking up at him. "Not to mention deaf. We need him alive." She reminded him. "We will use this one as bait to draw the others out." She told him. "Now find the girl."
"Bitch" I spat at her as the big guy grunted and walked off, two of the droids following after him.
"You and I are going to have a talk." She said as she got close to me. "And if you behave, maybe some of your friends will survive." She turned my cheek to make me look at her.
The woman placed some cuffs on my hands and dragged me back to the Command Centre, where she set me on the ground, up against the holoterminal in the centre of the room. We kept silent for a few moments, I'm guessing she was trying to think about how to squeeze some information out of me, or she just wanted me to sweat a little bit. The way she walked around may have been some kind of attempt at intimidation. If anything, I was intimidated by that weapon of hers, not her.
"So, you're the boy that held his own against Lord Vader on Lothal, hm?" She asked standing in front of me.
"I could be." I responded simply. "Name's Lance." I introduced myself with mock politeness.
"You may call me Seventh Sister." She responded. "Well, Lance, you certainly impressed Lord Vader with your talent with the staff." She said, holding my staff. My blaster and lightsaber were attached to her belt. "I can only imagine what you might be capable of with one of these." She said, holding out her own weapon. It was a good question, I had to admit.
"Well, why don't you take these off and we can find out?" I suggested, gesturing to the cuffs. She responded with a chuckle, squatting before me. Her mask retracted, showing her green skin, with red tattoos. Her eyes were a bright yellow, an effect of the Dark Side no doubt, and her sclerae were black. I think she was the same species as that one Jedi from The Clone Wars… Luminara was it?
"You have great potential." She told me, standing up. "Do you have any idea the kind of power you could have if you served the Empire?" She asked, sitting on a chair with one leg crossed over the other.
"Thanks, but no thanks." I returned with a sarcastic smile. "I don't make a habit of working for evil dictatorships." I quipped.
"Such a harsh term." She said with an amused shake of her head. "Just think about everything the Empire could teach you. Does that not tickle your fancy at all?" She asked.
"I already have a teacher, one far more suited to the role than anyone in your Empire." I responded coolly.
"Yes, we know about Ahsoka Tano." She said with a small smirk. I wasn't surprised. The apprentice lives, remember? I figured they'd know. That being said…
"Who with the what now?" I asked, an eyebrow raised in false confusion. I don't think she bought it...
"You won't bluff your way out of this one Handsome." She said, not losing her smirk.
"You're not so bad yourself, for such a twisted woman." I returned. Her smirk got darker as she held out her hand. Suddenly, I felt a slight pain in my head, which intensified with each passing second.
"You will tell me what I want to know." Seventh Sister said, her tone sinister and dark as the pain got worse. "It's only a matter of time." She chuckled.
This went on for a good long while. Not sure how long, but it was a while. The Seventh Sister was persistent, I had to give her that. Still, no matter how many times she gave me what was basically a Force lobotomy, I held my tongue. Well, not really. I threw in a couple of jabs, quips, and burns at her expense, but she didn't seem to care. Clearly, she wasn't all that temperamental, especially for a Darksider. Also, she was patient, something else not too common with wielders of Dark Side.
"Why can you not just cooperate?" She asked with a sigh as I held in another scream, her hand lazily outstretched. "Why do you force me to inflict pain?" She asked.
"Please… feel free to stop anytime…" I breathed out as she stopped. Yeah, that definitely doesn't feel good. It starts out like a headache, then evolves into bad pins and needles, and if she pushes it, it eventually feels like hot knives sliding across the scalp.
"You know I can't do that." She says, almost sensually as she knelt beside me, caressing my cheek. "You know we'll find the others eventually, so why not just tell me where they are?" She asked rhetorically. Still, I had an answer for her.
"I'm a big fan of pretending to agree with women and giving them what they want so they'll stop talking, I've used it countless times." I told her a cocky smirk. "My mother, my sisters, girlfriends, and teachers, none of them were safe from it. Unfortunately, it won't do me much good here." I said wittily.
"Shh…" She placed a finger on my lips gently before standing up. "You hide your fear well. Poor child, if only you had the power to protect your friends." She said with a shake of her head, shrouded in fake sympathy.
"I'm not a child, and what do I have to fear from a fake Sith?" I asked her. At that, her eyes turned sharp. Apparently, that was a sore point for her. With a growl, she activated her lightsaber and aimed the blade right at my neck.
"Pretty as you are…" She snarled at me. "I only need you alive, not in one piece. Lord Vader would still be satisfied if I brought you to him barring a limb or two." She growled.
"You're cute when angry." I pressed my luck.
"Tell me where Ahsoka Tano is, now!" She snarled. I looked her right in the eye, my defiance clear. It seemed like she was just on the edge of deciding to shut me up before one of the doors opened to the side, and in walked the big guy from earlier, carrying an unconscious Ezra over his shoulder, and pushing Sabine, who was cuffed. He dropped Ezra to the ground, who released a groan. He seemed to be gaining his consciousness, if only barely.
"What has the boy revealed?" Fish-face asked, pushing Sabine down. She landed on her knees beside me.
"Nothing I wish to share." Seventh Sister snapped at him, before turning to face me again. "Contact your Rebel friends and bring them here, that's all we ask." She told me.
"Hm, lemme think." I said dully. "Yeah, that's a no."
"Contact. Your. Friends." She said dangerously, bringing the saber to my neck again.
"Are you deaf?" I asked with raised eyebrows before turning to face Sabine. "Where are Zeb and Chop?" I asked her.
"We never got to Chopper. We tried to fight them, but Zeb never stood a chance." She said, her head down. I could feel her fear and sorrow, worried that Zeb might be dead. Ezra was still slowly regaining consciousness.
"You don't really think…" I trailed off.
"Your friend is dead." The Seventh Sister smirked down at me. I glared in response. No way in hell do I believe that.
"I'll believe that when I see it." I shot back. Before she could say anything, my comlink bleeped, and a voice that filled me with relief spoke.
"Hello there, Spectre 7, come in. Do you read? This is Commander Meiloorun." Zeb said over the comm. Meiloorun? Dafuq? Sabine and I shared a look.
"Answer him." Fish-face said sinisterly. Most reluctantly, I complied, grabbing the comlink that was still on my belt for some reason.
"Hello, Commander, this Spectre 7. I read you." I said into the comm.
"You missed your check in. Am I correct in assuming that technical difficulties have your craft stranded again, and you're in need of repairs?" He asked. What is he thinking?
As I was about to answer, Fish-face grabbed Sabine by her head, and rested his saber just shy of decapitating her. I glared at him, getting the message.
"Yes, Commander. We'd appreciate the help." I said slowly. With a defeated sigh, I added. "Probably best if Ahsoka came as well." I said, getting a satisfied smirk from both Inquisitors.
"Uuugh…" Ezra groaned as he sat up, trying to rub his head, but finding his wrists bound. "Wha…?" he mumbled.
"Copy that Spectre Seven. We'll meet you at Bay 6." Zeb responded. "And don't worry, we'll fix everything. Just keep your chin up and everything will be fine." He said mysteriously. The fuck is he talking about? Sabine and I were equally confused.
XXX
ra up and about, and remembering our situation, the Inquisitors pulled us all to our feet and led us on towards the hangar bay. I spent half the trip wondering how we were going to get out of this, and what Zeb's plan was. He said 'chin up,' which I could decipher easily enough, but what exactly does he plan to do? Just start shooting at them? These two are far more experienced with the Force and lightsabers than either myself or Ezra. Let's just hope Zeb either has something a little better planned, or that the element of surprise will be enough.
Honestly, I'm good with either.
"Once we have the others, we'll dispose of these two, very slowly…" Seventh Sister gave Sabine and Ezra a sadistic look before turning to me. "And hand this one over to Lord Vader." She said as we all approached the hangar boy. With a smirk, she opened the door and led us through, opening the hangar bay doors for a ship to come through.
"Chin up…" I thought to myself, ever so slightly looking up. Sure enough, the Phantom was sticking to the roof of the bay, probably with magnets or something. Zeb was waving at us and giving us two thumbs up. Gently, I nudged Sabine, which neither of our captors noticed thankfully. When I had her attention, I looked at her through the corner of my eye, and then looked up with just my eyes. She got the message and copied my movements, figuring out the plan, before passing the message on to Ezra.
Unfortunately, that was when our luck ended. Seventh Sister's pet, which still rested on her shoulder, noticed our movements, and looked up with a few curious bleeps. It saw the Phantom and bleeped in alarm to it's mistress. She and Fish-face both looked up and saw the Phantom, ever so slightly too late. As they looked up, Zeb unhooked the Phantom from the roof and brought it down, turning it over and firing at the Inquisitors, but not before Ezra, Sabine and I dashed to the left hand side of the room, away from the fire.
As Zeb kept them busy, Ezra and I reached out to our respective lightsabers. I don't even know why I did it. At the time, I didn't even believe I could do it. It was just instinct really. Maybe that means I'm becoming more in tune with the Force as Ahsoka and I train. Or maybe it's a psychology thing. Human beings have often been able to do things they didn't think they were capable of when the absolute necessity of it shows. It doesn't really matter. The point is, I was able to summon my lightsaber to my hand without any trouble in that instance.
As Ezra and I activated our blades, ready to defend ourselves as best we could, we quickly severed each other's cuffs, and took our stances. As we got ready for a fight, Zeb suddenly banked the Phantom in our direction, twisting it until it was between the Inquisitors and us. As he kept firing, the door to the Phantom opened, and we all hopped in. Immediately, Zeb headed straight for the exit, and it looked like we might actually get out of this, but the Phantom came to a sudden halt, mid-air.
"Fucking really?" I asked as I sheathed my saber, just in time to not hurt myself as I fell to the side, catching myself on the Phantom's wall. Back on the ground, the Inquisitors were keeping us from leaving by grabbing onto the ship with the Force. It even looked like they'd been able to start closing the hangar bay doors, which would stop us from leaving. Thinking quickly, I reached out and summoned my blaster and staff from the Seventh Sister's belt to my hands, and fired upon them. Fish-face immediately let go and started deflecting the shots. Sabine got my thinking and started firing as well. Apparently Zeb had her blasters from when she fell unconscious.
"I can't hold them alone!" Seventh Sister screamed in Fish-face's direction. It was too late though. Zeb put all of the Phantom's power into acceleration, and it was enough to release us from the Inquisitor's grip. As we zoomed through the last bit of space that would allow the Phantom through the hangar bay doors, the Phantom's door closed, and we were off.
"Oh thank fuck." I said, letting the fatigue take me. I fell to the ground, my back against the wall, and my breathing heavy. "I have no idea how you guys can handle this sort of crap all the time…" I said, the aching in my exhausted muscles making itself known.
"You get used to it." Sabine quipped, setting herself down on one of the seats. Ezra did the same. "Oh, and by the way…" She trailed off, looking at me. She delivered a hard punch to my shoulder.
"Hey!" I snapped, rubbing my sore shoulder.
"Don't ever be a hero like that again." She told me sternly.
"Alright, alright." I said with a sigh.
"The important thing is that we made it." Ezra spoke up. "Good plan Zeb." He complimented the Lasat.
"Ah, no need to get all emotional. It wasn't a big deal." The big guy said with a shrug and a smirk. False humility, joy. "But I did save both of you and got some medical supplies, by myself." he said proudly. Yep, there it is. In response to his words, Chopper started beeping and squeaking indignantly. "Yeah, you helped a little Chopper." He gave the little astromech, who bleeped happily at the recognition.
"By the way, I saw you using the Force quite well out there Lance. You've been practising?" Ezra asked of me.
"I've been trying, but I haven't been able to do that until just now." I said, my eyes drifting towards the saber on my belt. "I've been able to levitate a crate or two, but not much. Back there, I just needed to do it, and I did. Does that make sense?" I asked.
"Believe me, more than you think." Ezra said with a light laugh. Yeah, I guess he would get it.
I'd managed to take a small nap before we arrived back at the Ghost, and Chopper, thankfully, didn't shock me whilst I slept. Maybe that was because everyone else was also equally exhausted. The trip back was uneventful, thankfully. I'm not sure I could handle it if the Inquisitors followed us. They may have even done just that. Who knows how long it took them to get to whatever ship they got to the station on, and were we even out of sight before they tried to follow us?
As we docked back onto the ghost and climbed down the ladder, we were greeted to the sight of Kanan, Hera, and Rex. Kanan was about to say something, but I cut him off.
"Before you chew Ezra out Kanan, can someone tell me if Ahsoka is still on the Liberator?" I asked.
"She should be." Hera answered me.
"Good. I need to talk to her, and tell her about what happened at the station." I said with a little stretch of my muscles.
"You look exhausted, are you alright?" The Twi'lek asked as she approached and looked me over. I had a few bruises and scrapes, but nothing too serious.
"I'm fine Hera, I promise." I assured her, removing her hands from me. "Now, I'm headed to see Ahsoka." I told everyone, who nodded.
I got a few looks as I walked through the halls of the Blockade Runner, but I didn't pay them any mind. I was too tired to care about what they were thinking right now. Not to say I didn't understand. I was sweaty, had bags under my eyes, a few visible bruises, and my hair was a mess. Yeah, I get it. As I entered the Command Centre, where both Ahsoka and Commander Sato were speaking, I caught their attention, and I think my current state of appearance set them off.
"Lance, what's going on?" Ahsoka asked, straight to the point. "Are you alright?" She asked me.
"I'm fine. I'm just exhausted, and I have a couple of bruises." I told her. "Don't worry, I'll be headed to my bunk on the Ghost as soon as we're done here." I assured her. "I needed to tell you about what happened at the station."
"This could have waited, Lance." She said, approaching me.
"I'm not always that patient." I quipped in return, getting a slight smile from her. "Firstly, we got the medical supplies. Not a crap ton, but enough to help the Fleet." I reported. She gave an approving nod. "However, we weren't alone. There were Inquisitors waiting for us there, two of them." I went on.
"Two Inquisitors?" She asked, surprised. I gave a nod of confirmation. "That does not bode well. One was hard enough for the Ghost crew to deal with. If more are coming, that may spell trouble." She said thoughtfully.
"I take it you've encountered them before?" I asked.
"Only once." She said honestly. "A long time ago."
"That may explain how they knew about you." I said, getting a surprised look from her. "From your reaction, I'm guessing that this Inquisitor you faced would not be able to report back about you?" I guessed.
"That would be a valid guess." She confirmed. "This is troubling." She said, a concerned and thoughtful expression on her face.
"It gets worse; Vader ordered them to take me alive." I said. That got a reaction out of her, for sure. She was shocked, concerned, and absolutely befuddled. Much like mine, her mind was all over the place thinking about what this might mean. I, however, have had the time to come down from that.
"It seems… your fight with Vader left a bigger impression than we initially thought…" She said, maintaining a calm exterior, but I feel her emotions and thoughts. She didn't like this, not one bit. Neither did I, if that wasn't obvious.
"I highly doubt he just wants revenge for me taking advantage of his underestimation and stealing this." I noted, pointing at the saber on my belt.
"Agreed." Ahsoka nodded, putting her hand on her chin in thought. "It's likely he sensed you were powerful in the Force, but I don't see how he could have gauged just how powerful. Your Midichlorian count was still increasing when you fought him." She pointed out.
"Does the how or why really matter?" I asked.
"Not really." She conceded. "We know he wants you for something, that's enough for now. We know we need to be a little more cautious with our movements." She concluded. I nodded in agreement.
"One other thing." I told her, grabbing the saber. With a deep breath, I ignited the blade, the crimson red glow drawing in my gaze. Ahsoka too, found her eyes drawn to the blade, before looking me in the eyes once more. With a sigh, I deactivated the weapon. "I'm ready." I told her, placing my lightsaber back on my belt, getting a small smile from her.
Yeah, that's right. It's mine now.
And we're done. I admit, I was a little stumped in what direction I wanted to take this chapter, but I got it done eventually. It took a little longer than the others to get this one done, but hey, I did it. Maybe I'll do another one as well.
See ya then. Maybe.
