A few weeks had passed since the Ghost crew had recruited Rex to play with Zeb, while Kanan and Ezra entered the hangar with Andros in civilian clothes.
"Let's finish today's training session by levitating Chopper." Kanan said to his apprentice.
"If that's the case, can I drop him?" Joked Ezra, making Andros laugh and Chopper grumble in annoyance at what Ezra was saying.
"Of course." Kanan said with a slight smile.
"Lock up." Sabine whispered to Chopper as the astro-mechano magnetized to the ground.
But Andros knew what his Mandalorian girlfriend had told Chopper. Ezra tried to lift Chopper but couldn't as he groaned in frustration.
"I can't do it!" Ezra said in defeat.
"A word of advice, while you're looking through the force, make sure you're looking with your eyes. He had his feet magnetized to the ground." Said Rex.
Sabine and Chopper both laughed, proud of their dirty trick.
"That was cruel, Sabine." Said Andros.
"Yeah, I know." replied Sabine, still laughing. "Do you like it?"
Andros replied with a devilish grin on his face.
"I love it."
Then Hera entered the room with a mission.
"Sorry to break up the party, but I've got a mission for Andros, Sabine and Chopper." Hera declared. "Thanks to Captain Rex, I've found an old base where we can get some much-needed medical supplies, Zeb. You should go too." She said.
"We'd better find the medical supplies quickly." Kanan declared. "Captain Wits will need them soon."
"Ha Ha Ha." Rex laughed sarcastically. "So that's where the boy's lack of discipline comes from."
"I lack discipline, me?" Kanan asked.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Rex replied.
"Not yet, I'm off." Said Andros as he followed Sabine and Zeb into the Ghost and into the Phantom while Ezra followed him.
"Hey, you weren't assigned to this mission." Said Zeb.
"I assigned myself." Ezra replied.
"If you're coming with us just to get away from Kanan and Rex, I don't blame you." Said Andros before putting on his helmet.
"I'd rather face the dangers that come my way than stay in the crossfire here." Ezra declared.
"You say that now." Said Sabine as she detached the Phantom from the Ghost and took off into hyperspace.
Later, the group emerged from hyperspace and found the base they were looking for.
"What is this place?" Ezra asked.
"It's an old Republic medical post, abandoned after the Clone Wars." Said Sabine.
"It's a good place to get a lot of medical supplies." Andros observed.
Sabine flew the Phantom to the station's entrance when she entered a code that opened it.
« Wow. Les codes de Rex fonctionnent. » Dit Sabine.
"Don't look so surprised Sabine, he's a veteran of the republic." Says Andros.
"Good point." Said Sabine as she disembarked from the Phantom.
The crew and Chopper stepped out of the Phantom as they looked around. Chopper began to worry.
"Oh come on Chopper, it's not that scary. There's nothing to worry about." Ezra said.
Then Andros sneaked up behind Ezra and...
"BOO!" He shouted, making Ezra scream in terror as he turned to see Andros laughing with Sabine and Zeb.
"It's not funny Andros!" Says Ezra.
"You're right, it's hilarious!" Says Andros.
The other crew members laughed, Zeb placed his arm around Andros's shoulder.
"I'm starting to like you, kid." Said Zeb as Sabine pressed a door button but it didn't open.
"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. No power." Sabine said.
"Got it." Said Zeb before using his strength to force the door open and saw a dark, scary corridor ahead of them as they entered the hallway as the door closed behind them.
Sabine knelt in front of a wall and painted with the Phoenix Squadron symbol on it.
"I see you haven't lost your artistic talent." Andros said, smiling under his helmet.
Sabine blushed under her helmet as her heart began to race again.
"Not again!" Sabine thought as she heard a noise. "Huh?"
She pointing her flashlight at the spot where the noise was coming from.
"What is it?" Andros asked.
"Did you hear that?" Sabine asked.
"I didn't hear anything." Said Andros.
"I thought I heard something. Said Sabine.
"Well, it's an old station, Sabine. There must be a bug." Says Andros.
« Oui, tu as probablement raison. Allons-y. » Dit Sabine.
The two teenagers joined Ezra and Zeb, who had gone a little ahead, as they entered the command center.
"Well, this must be the command center, or what's left of it." Said Sabine, looking around.
"This could be a good base for us." Says Ezra.
"I don't know, it looks a bit cramped for a whole fleet. Plus it's fragile from lack of maintenance for over a decade." Says Andros, looking around.
"I'm with Andros on this one. This place looks like it's falling apart. Chopper, turn it on." Sabine said, taking off her helmet.
Chopper then hacked into the generator and turned on all the lights in the station.
"I didn't mean the whole station, I meant this control panel." Said Sabine.
"Who cares, it's a lot less creepy with the lights on." Says Andros.
"What, are you afraid some kind of bogeyman is going to attack you?" Sabine scoffed.
"I didn't kill his dog, so I'm not risking anything." Andros retorted.
Sabine didn't understand what his friend was talking about, but she rolled her eyes when she remembered that he had often made comments that seemed to be references to things nobody understood.
Later, Sabine ordered Chopper to turn off the lights and search the computer.
"I have the inventory, but it's corrupted. It's illegible. Impossible to tell where the medical supplies are or if they even exist." Says Sabine.
"Looks like we'll have to find them the old-fashioned way." Said Andros, igniting his lightsaber.
"I agree with Andros." Said Ezra, lighting his. "Chopper stays here and fixes the files while we all look for medical supplies."
"Well, it's worth a try." Said Sabine as she put her helmet back on and walked with the others out of the terminal room.
As the team walked down the corridor, Zeb began to grow impatient.
"Why don't you use your Jedi powers to find the medical supplies so we can get out of here." He said.
"That's not how the Force works." Said Andros.
"Besides, we don't need to use them to find them before you do." Said Ezra with a smug tone.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zeb asked.
"Well, it means I'll find the reserves before you do." Said Ezra.
Zeb growled at the teenager as Sabine stepped between them.
"We don't care who finds them as long as we find them." Said Sabine.
"I'll find them!" Erza said and started running while the others followed.
Halfway there, Ezra pushed some crates over Zeb.
"That's cheating!" Zeb exclaimed.
"Fights are rarely fair." Said Ezra.
"Your overconfidence will be your downfall, Ezra." Andros warned.
"Yeah, right." Said Ezra as he hit his head on an obstacle and fell on his back as Sabine and Andros approached their friend.
"Told you." Andros laughed as he looked down at his helper to help him up.
Later, the group continued walking down the corridor until Chopper contacted Ezra on his communicator.
"What do you need help with, Chopper?" Ezra said.
"What's going on?" Sabine asked.
"It sounded like Chopper needed help." Erza replied.
"We'd better get back to the command center." Said Andros.
"Why not take a shortcut?" Said Ezra, jumping into the air duct above him.
"Can't we just turn back?" Zeb asked.
"It'll take a long time, it'll be boring." Said Ezra.
"He's got a point." Declared Andros as he jumped into the vent and Zeb lifted Sabine.
The three teenagers crawled into the vent and then found a way out.
"Chopper?!" Called Ezra but no answer as he, Andros and Sabine climbed out of the vent and searched for their astro-mechano friend. "Chopper, where are you?!"
Then the teens saw a little red eye coming from another droid and there was someone or something behind it.
"What is it?" Ezra asked.
"It looks like a probe droid." Sabine replied.
"My pet told me you were here." Declared the person in a slightly distorted voice. She was obviously wearing black armor with imperial symbols on the shoulder plates. She also wore a helmet and a visor covering her face. "I've been looking for you for some time."
"A bounty hunter?" Ezra asked.
"I don't think so, Ezra." Said Andros sternly, knowing who stood before them.
"Look again." Says the woman, activating a lightsaber with a red blade.
"She's an Inquisitor!" Andros declared, lighting his saber as Ezra lit his.
"Oh, well, then I don't have to explain." Said the Inquisitor as she slowly approached some teenagers. "You know what comes next, don't you?"
"Run!" Said Sabine as she began firing at the Inquisitor's droids.
"I'll take care of her, you take care of the droids!" Said Andros, attacking the Inquisitor while Ezra and Sabine took care of the droids.
Andros and the Inquisitor exchanged blows until they entered a saber lock.
"Hmm, you're strong." Said the Inquisitor in a seductive voice.
"I'm full of surprises. Ask your boss." Said Andros, separating their sabers.
"Oh, so you're the one Lord Vader sent me for. He wants to fight you again." Said the Inquisitor.
"I'm flattered." Said Andros, moving into fighting position.
The two fighters began exchanging blows until they came into contact again.
"If your boss wants me to fight him, tell him to come and get me himself." Said Andros.
The Inquisitor pushed the Dark Mandalorian back and activated her second blade, then her blades began to spin.
"I really need to think about making my own or getting my hands on a second sword." Said Andros before the two of them once again engaged in battle.
"Do we need to find Zeb and Chopper?" Sabine said to Ezra.
"And Andros?" Ezra asked.
"He can look after himself!" Said Sabine before she and Ezra ran off, leaving their friend to fight the Inquisitor...
But then they came running back.
"Andros, there's another one!" Ezra shouted.
"Are you kidding me?!" Andros asked, looking at his friend.
While he was distracted, the Inquisitor kicked Andros, causing him to fall further, and Ezra and Sabine helped him to his feet as the other Inquisitor came into view.
"Run!" Sabine said as the three teenagers ran away from the two Inquisitors.
They were caught in a dead end until Sabine managed to open a door through which she and Ezra emerged, but Andros wasn't so lucky, the Inquisitor used the force to pull him back towards her while her droids helped.
"No!" Sabine shouted, turning to help her friend.
"Run!" Said Andros, stabbing the control panel, closing the door.
He heard Sabine shout his name through the door as he turned to the Inquisitors.
"Such a noble deed." Declared the Inquisitor as she pinned the Dark Mandalorian to the door with the force "Worthy of a Jedi."
"It's one of the few values I appreciate in their order." Declared Andros as the Inquisitor picked up her lightsaber and asked her droids to hold it back.
"Interesting." Says the Inquisitor, recognizing the sword.
Then the other Inquisitor lunges at Andros, but the woman blocks his attack.
"I was surprised to see you here." She says to her colleague.
"The assassination is mine!" Says the other Inquisitor.
"You don't think, we'll use it to draw out the rest. Find the girl." Said the woman.
"I forbid you to touch her!" Said Andros.
The Inquisitor left as the woman's droids released him while she tackled him against the door.
"You and I are going to talk, cutie. And if you're good, maybe your friends will survive." She said as she removed Andros's helmet and slid her hand over his left cheek, making him a little uncomfortable.
"All right, let's talk. My name's Andros. What's your name and what's your colleague's name?" Andros asked, pretending very badly to be flirting.
"They call me the Seventh Sister. And the pile of muscle is the Fifth Brother. Now that we know what we're called, let's go somewhere a little better." Replied the Inquisitor.
Later, Andros and the Seventh Sister were in the command center, while Andros was handcuffed to the floor.
"You wield the lightsaber well." Said the Seventh Sister.
"Hey, if you wanted a lesson, all you had to do was ask." Said Andros with a smirk.
The Seventh Sister retracted the visor of her helmet, revealing herself to be a black-eyed Mirialan with yellow pupils.
"You have great potential. But I can make you stronger in the ways of the dark side." She says in a normal voice, but it sounds slightly deep.
"No, thanks. I've learned a few things and that's more than enough for me." Andros flatly refused.
"You're well trained." Said the Seventh Sister as she sat on a chair. "If I had to guess, I'd say your Master is or was a Jedi."
"If I had to guess, you're more thoughtful than your colleague." Said Andros as the Seventh Sister snickered at his last remark.
"And as for that lightsaber." Said the Seventh Sister, activating it. "If I had to guess, I'd say that's the Mace Windu lightsaber."
"Yeah. That's cool, nah. It fell into my dad's car shortly before the transition from Republic to Empire. Then I got it back." Andros asked.
"Do you know that many Inquisitors are looking for you?" Asked the Seventh Sister. "To kill you."
"That's no change from your usual job. But if you wanted to kill me, you'd have done it already." Said Andros.
"Kill you?" Asked the Seventh Sister. "I don't intend to kill you, though..."
"Then what do you intend to do?" Andros asked.
The Seventh Sister reached out as she tried to get inside Andros's head for answers, but he resisted.
"Why must you resist." Asked the Seventh Sister as Andros groaned in pain but continued to resist "Why endure such pain?" she asked.
The Mirialan moved closer to Andros, increasing the power of her technique.
"You know we'll find them, so tell me now." Said the Seventh Sister.
"If you want information... then I'll give you one that will be very useful..." Andros growled as the Seventh Sister continued and felt she had finally accessed something inside the Mandalorian's head.
Then she saw her surroundings darken and felt herself suffocated by the force, then she felt herself lifted into the air.
Now, the roles were reversed: Andros leaned forward while the Seventh Sister struggled, but not to push him away, to resist the suffocating sensation. The Seventh Sister then had a disturbing vision of a red double-bladed lightsaber whirling towards her. And just as the saber was about to decapitate her, the vision stopped, as did the strangling sensation. It had all been an illusion brought about by her intrusion into her prisoner's mind.
The Seventh Sister withdrew from her mind as she tried to catch her breath, looking at Andros who was smirking.
"What you've seen is a warning. What will happen to you if you persist in this." Andros merely said as he saw in the Seventh Sister's gaze that she was desperately seeking an answer to what she had just experienced.
"ENOUGH!" Screamed the Seventh Sister as she pointed the blade in Andros's face and growled.
"Do I think I've hit a sore spot? Well, not a bigger one than if I'd compared you to Ahsoka." Said Andros.
"If you know who she is, then she must be your master. So tell me, where is she?!" Asked the Seventh Sister.
"As if I'd tell you," said Andros.
Just then, the Fifth Brother entered with Sabine as he pushed her back to the ground.
"What did the boy say?" Fifth Brother asked.
"Nothing I want to share." Replied the Seventh Sister before addressing the hostages. "Contact your rebel friends and bring them here, that's all I ask."
"Let me think about it... nope." Said Andros.
"Contact your friends!" Says the woman, pointing her blade at Andros's face.
"Fuck you." Andros replied sternly. "Sabine, where are Ezra and Zeb?" He asked as his eyes and voice returned to normal.
"We tried to fight, but Zeb and Ezra didn't stand a chance. Sabine declared, in an acting performance that would win her an Oscar, but Andros had spotted a little glint in her eye. The same gleam he'd seen at the academy when they were turning a detective on his head.
"What are you saying?!" Andros asked.
"Your friends are dead." Said the Seventh Sister.
"You're lying!" Said Andros, playing pure anger to perfection.
Just then, Andros's communicator activated.
"Spectre 5, this is Commander Mayluma. Do you copy?" Said the voice in the communicator.
The two teenagers immediately recognized Zeb's voice.
"Uh, Commander Mayluma. Yes, we read you." Said Sabine.
"You haven't reported to us yet, do you need help?" Zeb asked.
"Say yes!" Said the Seventh Sister.
"No Commander, we're fine." Said Sabine at that very moment.
The Seventh Sister then grabbed the young woman's head and put the sword to her throat.
"Commander, we've changed our minds, sent Kanan and Ahsoka." Said Andros as the Seventh Sister released Sabine.
"Are you all right, Sabine?" Andros asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sabine replied.
"All right, meet me in Bay 6. Keep your head up." Zeb said before cutting the transmission.
Plus tard, les Inquisiteurs ont emmené Andros, à qui ils avaient remit son casque pour ne pas attiré les suspicion des prétendu renforts qui arriverai, et Sabine à la baie 6.
« Une fois que nous aurons les autres, nous nous débarrasserons d'eux deux, très lentement. » Dit la Septième Sœur en ouvrant la porte du hangar.
Un rayon bouclier apparut pour les empêcher d'être aspiré dans l'espace.
Andros leva les yeux et vit Zeb et Ezra suspendus dans le Phantom.
Il grogna pour attiré l'attention de Sabine et inclina la tête vers le haut. Indécise, elle leva les yeux et vit aussi le Phantom.
Puis le Phantom se détacha du plafond et commença à tirer sur les Inquisiteurs.
« Cours ! » Dit Sabine alors qu'elle et Andros s'éloignait.
Puis Andros utilisa la force pour amener son sabre laser, puis s'en servit pour se couper leurs menottes alors que Sabine et lui entraient dans le Phantom.
Les Inquisiteurs essayèrent alors de de retenir le Phantom et fermé la porte en même temps.
"Zeb, activate the hyberdrive!" Said Andros.
"Are you crazy?!" Zeb shouted.
"Do it!" Andros shouted back.
Zeb obeyed and activated the hyperdrive, forcing the Inquisitors to release them, and they were soon out of range. Andros and Sabine could see that, as well as having saved them, Zeb and Ezra had recovered the supplies they'd been looking for from the base.
Later, the rebels returned to the Ghost and met the other rebels while Andros met his mother at the command center.
"Mom." Andros shouted to his mother, who then turned to him.
"Andros. How was the mission?" Ahsoka asked.
"Everything was fine with the medical supplies." He replied, but Ahsoka noticed something was wrong.
"What else happened?" She asked her son.
"We need to talk privately." Said Andros as he led his mother into his room, then removed his helmet.
"What's going on Andros?"
"The Empire has sent two inquisitors to hunt us all down." Andros declared.
"Oh, no." Ahsoka murmured.
"One of them is a woman, and she's after you." Said Andros.
"Why?" Ahsoka asked.
"I don't know. Even... before that. The reason was unknown." Andros replied. "But I think it's to bring you to Vader and be in his good graces. But what intrigues me most... is that he's after me too."
This revelation made Andros widen Ahsoka's eyes in fear.
"We must remain on our guard." Said Ahsoka in fear.
"Maybe I need more training. He's anything but to underestimate." Said Andros with a yawn. "But for now, I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted."
"Okay, honey." Said Ahsoka, kissing her son on the cheek.
Andros gave his mother a quick hug before leaving the room, leaving Ahsoka alone with her thoughts. Or so he thought.
A few seconds after the door closed, she squeezed the point in anger. She then took out a Holoprojector like those from the Republic era and made a call with it, which was immediately answered by the hologram of a man.
"Ahsoka, what's going on?"
"It's Andros, the Inquisitors are after him... Vader is after our baby..." Said Ahsoka in a trembling voice, mixing sobbing and anger.
"Honey, calm down." Said the person she was talking to in a soothing tone. "I'll take care of it, all right."
Ahsoka took a few seconds before calming down and taking a deep breath.
"I'll do it. But keep a low profile, because if you or Andros get captured and interrogated, who knows what could happen." She said in a calmer voice.
"I know, don't worry." Smiles the man. "Just be careful, okay."
"If anything, I should be telling you that." Smiled Ahsoka's hologram. "See you soon."
"See you soon." Smiled the man before the communication stopped.
The man then emerged from a building revealing a village populated by different species, as well as former clone soldiers leading a peaceful life since their dismissal by the Empire. All greeted the man politely as he made his way to the village's spaceport, where a light cargo ship, seemingly built from an Imperial Shuttle, stood.
After conversing for a moment with the spaceport staff, he climbed into the ship and removed a trunk from a compartment, which he opened and looked at thoughtfully.