Chapter Text
There were a multitude of words to be said between the two of them. But for some reason, it was always moments like these in which neither of them could say a thing.
Sabine and Ezra found themselves in the common room of the Ghost. They had been sitting across from each other for only a few minutes now. But the air between them was as tense as could be. Neither of them knew exactly how to start mending the scars of their friendship.
Shuffling uncomfortably in her seat, Sabine found that her eyes would occasionally wander, searching his in the hopes that they would catch each other staring. But whenever his gaze passed hers, he would quickly glance away. And whenever Sabine tried to flash her friendliest smile, he would only respond with a forced grin.
Eventually, after taking in another deep breath for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Ezra finally worked up the courage to say something.
“Sabine…” He began, and she immediately sat at attention. His voice cracked as the reality of the situation set in on him once more. The feelings he was unearthing felt as raw as the first time he felt them. And it still hurts all the same.
Nevertheless, he pushed through them and found his words.
“I don’t really know where to start,” He admitted. The breath he had been holding turned into yet another frustrated sigh. “There’s just so much I need to say to you,”
Sabine focused her gaze on Ezra’s expression. The welcoming warmth he once had had morphed into one of pure conflict. An anger for her leaving him. But a desperate need to forgive her so she wouldn’t be chased away.
She tentatively reached a hand out to him, gently laying her palm on the back of his hand. “Just tell me everything,” She said genuinely. They had to start somewhere.
Looking up, Ezra felt a growing warmth in his heart. A feeling of openness flooded his emotions for the first time. And then, the words just started flowing.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Ezra stated firmly. Sabine didn’t need to hear him say that to know what he wanted. But she nodded nonetheless.
“I don’t care that you handed me over to Pryce back on Lothal. I understand why you did it, and I forgave you for it a long time ago,” He looked her dead in the eyes, tackling what was probably the biggest factor which was keeping Sabine from staying.
“But, I’m okay with you wanting to leave again,” Ezra continued. An expression of surprise flashed across Sabine’s face, but she kept silent. “I know what it feels like to have to make tough decisions. I’ve had my fair share of difficult decisions in the past. Some of them even about you,”
“I don’t want to put our friendship on the line just because I can’t wait for you to sort yourself out,”
Sabine let a soft smile form on her lips. “Thank you,” She said quietly, relief flooding her mind as she squeezed Ezra’s hands.
“I just need to know why,” Ezra added. “I don’t think I can wait for you for another year without knowing why you won’t come back,”
“I understand,” Sabine replied, giving Ezra’s hand another squeeze. She shuffled momentarily in her seat, trying to explain the emotions which had been plaguing her even at this moment.
“I can’t trust myself around you,” She replied, using all her effort just to maintain eye contact. “Believe me when I say this Ezra. No one wants what we had before more than I do. You weren’t just my only friend. You were the only thing that kept me going. Being isolated by my people and even my own family wasn’t exactly a good thing for me. You pulled me together right when I was about to fall apart,”
“But,” Sabine quickly continued, not wanting to plant any false hope in Ezra’s mind. “Even at my lowest, when you were the only thing in my life which mattered. I still let you down. I hurt you in the worst way imaginable, and it almost killed you in the process,”
“You’re not going to hurt me again,” Ezra blurted out, almost immediately wincing at his own words.
Sabine smiled. “You trust me more than I even trust myself,” She unconsciously let her thumb caress Ezra’s hand. “I just need time. I don’t want to come back to you until I’ve dealt with all the messed up things in my head,”
But she wasn’t messed up. Ezra knew that better than anyone. All she did was make a mistake. But knowing Sabine, he knew that she wasn’t going to budge on this.
“I get it,” He replied reluctantly. “Well, maybe I don’t, but still, I’m happy that you at least told me about this,” He smiled warmly at her.
“Well, you asked,” Sabine joked, earning her a chuckle from Ezra.
“Guess I did,” He said. “I just want to start fresh again between the two of us. It’s not the same without you. It’s hard to find someone else to watch my back. Especially after you,”
A sheepish smile crept its way up Sabine’s lips. “You’re exaggerating,”
“I’m not,” Ezra insisted. “I can’t tell you how many times I nearly died because I didn’t have a mighty mando covering for me,”
“Maybe instead of blaming everyone else in the Rebellion, you should work on being more aware of your surroundings,” Sabine teased, jabbing Ezra in the shoulder.
Ezra returned the laugh. Rubbing his shoulder as he flashed her a look of mock hurt.
“Did you… get to meet your parents?” Sabine asked carefully.
“I did,” Ezra replied. “It’s funny. When I first saw them, I thought it would be hard to go back to being a family again. A lot of things had changed since I last saw them after all. In the end, I guess it turned out to be even better than I expected,”
Sabine had a forlorn expression on her face as she listened to Ezra’s stories about his parents. She was happy for him, she really was. But of course, there was a little bit of unhappy jealousy to it as well.
“Where are they now?” Sabine asked without thinking.
“Well, they should be here right now,” Ezra replied, touching his chin as he tried to recall their schedules. “Why? Do you want to meet them?”
A slideshow of midnight holodramas flashed through Sabine’s mind. “Oh, uhh, I don’t really…” She stuttered, wondering if it would be more rude of her to accept or reject his proposal.
“I didn’t get to tell them much about you, but I’m sure they would be dying to meet you,”
Ezra’s positive attitude was having an effect on Sabine’s decision making.
“Are you sure they wouldn’t hate me for… you know,”
“I’m sure they’d love to meet you,” Ezra replied enthusiastically, before tapping his chin to think about it more. “Almost completely sure,”
“Ezra..” Sabine started.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. If you managed to befriend an angsty inquisitor, I don’t think you will have much trouble with my parents,” Ezra suggested hopefully.
Despite her apprehensions, Sabine did want to meet Ezra’s parents. And it was definitely not because she had some ulterior motives.
“I guess we can give it a try,” Sabine replied, and Ezra cheered. “But if the conversation gets too awkward, don’t expect me to do anything about it alright?”
“Don’t worry. I have a room on their Star Destroyer that we can use if we need some time away from them,”
“Great,” Sabine said. Her mind slowly processed what Ezra said, before her eyes widened in bewildered realisation. “Did you say Star Destroyer?”
Calling his parent’s ship a Star Destroyer was probably a bit of a stretch. Sabine was very quick to point out to Ezra that any Imperial worth their salt former or otherwise knew that the difference between a Destroyer and a Cruiser was several magnitudes in size. But as Ezra also pointed out so many times, an Imperial Star Destroyer did sound a lot cooler than an Imperial Light Cruiser.
“You need to stop calling this Light Cruiser a Star Destroyer,” Sabine pleaded with a deadpan look..
“Everyone calls it a Star Destroyer though,” Ezra noted rather smugly. “Besides, isn’t it even more amazing to imagine a single Star Destroyer taking on the entire Empire?”
Sabine shook her head. Obviously a Light Cruiser taking on the entire Empire would sound a lot more amazing, but she didn’t bother to voice her opinions.
“How did your parents steal the ship anyway?” Sabine asked.
“Well, technically, they didn’t steal it,” Ezra replied. “Since it was theirs to begin with,”
“Huh?” Sabine nearly shouted.
Chuckling to himself, Ezra explained. “I told you before right that my parents were pretty hardcore Imperials back in the day?”
“You did. But I was expecting them to be more like high ranking government officials,”
“Well in some ways they were. They were one of the first Lothalians to accept Imperial rule. It wasn’t all that hard to convince them though if I were being honest,” Ezra admitted. “Lothal was practically ignored during the Clone Wars. And not in a good way. So when the Empire came around with their promise to develop our home, most of us agreed right off the bat,”
“Long story short, once they felt that the planet was developed enough, my parents eventually enlisted in the navy. And after a few long years of hard work, they were eventually given their own light cruiser,”
“But still,” Sabine pestered. “Being the official owners of a Light Cruiser doesn’t make it any easier to take. Especially if you had to do it from right under the noses of the Empire,”
“Normally, you’d be right about that,” Ezra replied. “But since the ship was more meant for planetary defence, most of its crew were Lothal natives. And once I was kidnapped, it didn’t take too much for my parents to convince the rest of the crew about how evil the Empire really was,”
The pair were now at the entrance of the definitely a Star Destroyer and not a Light Cruiser. Ezra greeted the guards with a warm smile, and they stepped aside under the pretext that he was bringing in a friend.
It was only when Sabine was inside the ship did the reality of her situation finally set in. She was going to meet Ezra’s parents. How the hell did she find herself in this situation again?
“My parents should be at the bridge,” Ezra said absent mindedly. He could very easily feel Sabine’s trepidation through the Force. But he knew that bringing it up wouldn’t help her in the slightest.
Sabine on the other hand was trying to ignore the many doubts which were plaguing her mind. She was sure she had already bungled her first impression for them. Especially given what she had done in the past.
But that did not mean that all hope was lost. Like Ezra said. It was just a silly mistake. As long as she could convince them of that, what could go wrong?
The pair eventually found themselves at the bridge of the Light Cruiser. An odd sense of familiarity washed over Sabine as she took in the sights. The bridge looked no different to that of any Imperial ship, but it definitely did not feel like one. There was a little bit of a Rebel’s touch to the interior designing. Something which made it break apart from the usual monotonous grey of Imperial Starships.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately enough for Sabine, Ezra’s parents were nowhere to be found.
“They should still be here,” Ezra remarked quizzically as he rubbed his chin.
Before Sabine could give her comment, a door in the back slid open, revealing a man which would take no less than three guesses for Sabine to figure out who it was.
“Ezra? I thought you were supposed to be on Sato’s assignment?” Ephraim asked as he noticed the younger boy.
“There was some trouble,” Ezra replied. “I had to come back early. Where’s mom?”
“She went to do some inventory check,” Ephraim pointed his thumb behind him. “Should be here any time soon,” His gaze was then drawn towards Sabine. “Who’s she?” He asked, flashing her a small smile.
“It’s Sabine, she’s an old friend,”
Ephraim rubbed his chin. “I don’t remember anyone called Sabine visiting you for playdates before,”
Ezra waved his hands dismissively. “Not that old. She’s the one I told you about. When I was still an Inquisitor,”
Ephraim’s eyes widened. “You mean… she’s the Imperial? From Lothal?”
“Ex-Imperial,” Ezra corrected, raising his brow at the odd feeling he was getting from his father.
Trying to push past the awkward tension between the three of them, Sabine swiftly extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Sabine. It’s nice to finally meet you,” She introduced herself with her most genuine smile.
But instead of reciprocating her warm greetings, Ephraim only returned her friendliness with cold doubtfulness.
“Ezra…” Ephraim began. “I… I don’t think that she should be here,”
Sabine felt her heart stop as she heard that. But before she or Ezra could say anything else, someone else stepped in from behind.
“I’m going to need your help to check the rest of the inventory dear,” Mira said nonchalantly as she walked in. “Those damn droids put them on the highest counter again, completely out of my reach. And you know I don’t know how to operate those lifts,” Her attention eventually shifted towards Ezra.
“Ezra, what are you doing here?” She asked. “And who’s this?”
“They came back early,” Ephraim said, rushing through the explanation. “And Ezra brought an old friend,”
“Oh, from back in the days?” Mira smiled, still blissfully unaware.
“Not playdate old,” Ephraim explained. “Inquisitor old,”
Once again, the warm feelings disappeared as both mother and father came to the realisation of who this was. Mira’s smile turned into an upset frown, before morphing further into a harsh scowl.
“Get out, now!” Mira immediately demanded.
“Mom!”
“I’ll deal with you later young man, but I want this Imperial off my ship,”
“She’s not an Imperial!”
“She might as well be,” Mira snapped. “Especially after what she’s done to you,”
“It was a small mistake. One which she had already apologised for,” Ezra replied, trying to keep himself calm. It was the first time he was seeing his mother like this.
“Even if the Emperor himself comes to apologise for taking my only son away from me, I wouldn't forgive him,” Mira said harshly. “And it was not a small mistake,” She pointed out. “She hurt you, and I don’t want her here, or anywhere near you. She’s not getting another chance to do what she did again,”
“Listen to your mother Ezra,” Ephraim placed a hand on his son’s shoulder.
Sabine carefully stepped closer to Ezra. Her heart breaking at the sight of another family being torn up because of her. “Maybe… maybe I should go,” She was about to say. But the look on his face froze her blood cold.
“She’s not going to hurt me!” Ezra shouted. Electricity tingled in the air around him, wildly flying off the walls and causing his parents to flinch away.
There was an unrestrained danger emanating through the Force. The look on his face seemed to have frozen even the air in front of him.
“E-Ezra,” Mira tried to say, but Ezra quickly cut her off.
“She’s my friend. My best friend. And I will not let you treat her like someone who’s not welcomed to be around me,” Ezra’s eyes were glowing a bright yellow. A sight which was more than enough to scare his own parents.
“Ezra,” Sabine finally said, pulling him out of his angered stupor.
He turned to face her, and realized the look which he must be wearing on his face. Shaking his head, he took a moment to settle himself before grabbing Sabine’s arm.
“She’s staying,” He declared firmly before dragging Sabine away.
Sabine caught a glimpse of Ezra’s parents as she was pulled away from them. She was hoping to say a quick apology, but the sight of Mira’s sharp glare stopped any words from leaving her lips.
Sabine wasn’t feeling much of anything after her encounter with Ezra’s parents. Their reactions were expected to a certain degree, but she didn’t expect that their harsh attitudes would shut her out of any opportunity to ask for forgiveness.
“Sorry about mom,” Ezra said. He pulled Sabine to a stop right in the middle of some random hallway. Guess he didn’t have it in him to make it to his room. “She’s been a bit overprotective lately, just give it some time. She’ll warm up to you,”
“Ezra…” Sabine began in a tone which made Ezra frown.
“Don’t… don’t say it Sabine,” Ezra said softly. “You belong here, same as everyone. She’s wrong. They’re both wrong. They don’t get to chase you out just because you messed up a few times in your life,”
“Ezra.. they’re not completely wrong,” Sabine touched a hand to his shoulder.
But immediately Ezra pulled away. “I’m not going through this again Sabine,” Ezra replied. “You don’t have to cut yourself out of my life just because my parents don’t want you around,”
“I’m not,” Sabine replied calmly. “I didn’t come back here just to leave my best friend forever. Being without my closest friend for a year was a horrible experience. And I can’t imagine going through that again without any hope of coming back,”
“But they were right when they said that I might hurt you again,” Sabine continued. “I’m a messed up person, Ezra. And I’m not just talking about what I did to you,”
“You’ve told me about the duch*ess,” Ezra replied. “And I’m sorry to say this, but so what?”
Sabine flashed an incredulous look at Ezra. “What do you mean so what? I basically enslaved my entire people! Because of me, the Mandalorians are nothing but a rumour. Our most devoted members are nowhere to be found! And their only trace of them lies with me, and whichever lucky bastard managed to join the Empire before they took over,”
“So what?” Ezra only repeated.
Sabine was at a loss for words at Ezra’s nonchalance about her tragic backstory.
“Just because you made one mistake, that doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life punishing yourself for it,” Ezra continued. “And it definitely doesn’t mean that you’re going to make that mistake again,”
“It wasn’t just one mistake, Ezra,” Sabine seethed. “It was a big mistake which cost the lives of all my people,”
“Big mistake, small mistake, they’re all the same. The only thing that matters is that you do something about it,”
“That’s the thing, I haven’t done a damn thing about it,” Sabine retorted.
Ezra let out an exasperated sigh. “Maybe not yet, but that doesn’t mean you’re ignoring the issue,” He clasped his hands around hers. “You’re just trying to fix yourself first, before you can try to fix what you’ve done,”
“That doesn’t excuse me for what I did,” Sabine replied. “I’m still a bad person,”
“No you’re not,” Ezra held Sabine’s hand. “You’re just normal, like the rest of us. You’ve made mistakes, and you learn from them. You’re not a bad person Sabine,”
Lowering her head, Sabine found herself leaning into Ezra’s comforting voice. It watered down any fight she had left in her about the topic. Maybe he was right. Maybe she didn’t need to treat herself like this anymore.
“You’re not a bad person,” Ezra repeated. “You just need some time to become good at least in your own eyes,”
A small smile crept its way up to Sabine’s lips. She liked that he was stubborn about things like this. If he wasn’t, their friendship might have been over before it had even begun.
“Ok,” Sabine relented. “Maybe your parents aren’t entirely right about that point,” She brought her head to meet his gaze.
“I told you,” Ezra said smugly.
“But that doesn’t mean you can leave how things are with them now. I want you to apologise and to fix things with them Ezra,”
“I’m not apologising until they learn to accept you,” Ezra replied. “I’m not going to choose them over you,”
“But I don’t want you to choose me over them either,” Sabine argued. “We can still talk anytime we want like we have been doing. We just don’t have to do it in the same room as them,”
“Sabine…” Ezra tried to argue, but she didn’t let him.
“I’m not going to budge on this Ezra. I won’t be the reason why you and your parents aren’t talking to each other anymore,”
“Fine,” Ezra said with a sigh. “I’ll apologise to them later. But I’m not going to listen if they ban me from talking to you again,”
Sabine smiled.
“Now come on. I wanted to bring you to my room because it was the only private place I could think of,” Ezra began. “But after everything, I think we just need to do something to take our mind off of all this,” He gestured around himself.
“Want to go see how Ketsu’s doing with her plan?” Sabine proposed.
“Sure. Honestly, dealing with the Crimson Dawn feels like a much easier task than talking to my parents,”
Sabine lightly punched Ezra’s shoulder. “You will talk to them,” She reminded again. Earning herself a playful groan.
“So, you’re sure that this place has what we need?” Commander Draven narrowed his eyes at the defiant looking woman in front of him.
“Confident,” Ketsu replied coolly. Trying her best to make it seem as if she had better places to be.
“You still haven’t told us why,” Draven grunted.
“I have, but you’re just not listening,” Ketsu replied, feigning annoyance. “I’m not telling the whole story again just for you to not believe me. If you have a better lead, go for it. I can’t promise that the munitions you are looking for will be there forever,” There was a slight tremor in her voice as she let out her last word.
Thankfully, the other commanders didn’t seem to notice. They glanced at each other unsurely, before turning to the one familiar person standing beside her.
“Do you trust this source, Kanan?” Draven asked.
“Ezra trusts the source,” Kanan replied after a moment. The name led to a few groans across the room. His popularity clearly not shared throughout Rebel high command.
“Bridger is a liability,” Draven spat. “I find it difficult to trust the words of a former Inquisitor, let alone his friend,”
“Bridger has proven himself more times than we can even count, Commander Draven,” Sato pointed out from the side. “You’d do well to remember that,”
Draven didn’t even bother to hide his rolling of the eyes.
“Perhaps we should take a step back, and question the loyalty of the young Bridger at another time,” A calm voice suggested through the holo.
“Mon Mothma is right,” Sato quickly replied. “Whether or not Commander Bridger can be trusted should not influence our decision on this matter. The main deciding factor is if we are willing to take the risk to explore this suggestion from Ketsu,”
“I still think it is a trap,” Draven pointed out without hesitation. “But I don’t think we have much of a choice,” He said with a hesitant sigh.
“Unfortunately, I think Commander Draven is right. We do not have much time, especially with our depleting resources. Any gap in our operations will lead to the public losing faith in us. And once we lose that, we lose the war,” Mon Mothma replied.
“So we take this chance then,” Sato concluded.
“No,” Draven replied. “The Spectres brought this information. They will take the chance,” He turned to face Kanan. “Since you trust this source, I don’t think you’ll object?”
Kanan narrowed his eyes. “Not at all sir. We’ll be ready as soon as we can,”
Ketsu’s heart was beating in her chest. She had done it. She had convinced the top leaders of Rebel Command to go with her pathetic excuse of a plan.
They must have been pretty desperate. A miracle by Ketsu’s standards. Taking a breath, Ketsu took a quiet peek outside of her room. She was alone, as far as she could tell. Kanan had gone to help Hera. And Sabine and that Inquisitor were still out there frolicking. There was nothing stopping her from moving to the next part of her plan.
“Mera,” Ketsu whispered into the device she pulled out.
“Ketsu, what a surprise to hear from you,” Mera’s voice came through. “Any good news for me I hope?”
“We found him,” Ketsu replied. “The Inquisitor kid. We have him,”
A mild exclamation of shock could be heard through the line. “Then what are you doing calling me? You have your prize, deliver him to Qi’ra with your heads held high,”
“We have him, but we need some help transporting him,” Ketsu explained.
Mera sighed loudly through the transmitter. “And you think that is good news? Qi’ra’s not going to help you out any more than she already has. Figure something out on your end, or you might as well not come back,”
“Just help me out a little here Mera,” Ketsu pleaded. “I have a plan. I just need a little bit more support,”
The transmitter went silent for a moment as Mera thought.
“Fine. But only because Qi’ra will kill me if she realised I let the prize slip away,” Mera eventually replied. “What’s your plan?”
“Just wait for me at these coordinates. We’re at the Rebellion’s base right now, but we’re heading there to find some supplies. Once we’re there, I’ll separate the Inquisitor from the rest of them. Then when I give the signal, we grab him and get out before anyone’s the wiser,”
Mera let out another sigh. “When the plan blows up in your face, I’m letting you take all the blame,” Mera replied before cutting the connection.
It was done. Ketsu let out a sigh of relief. She took one last peek outside the door, making doubly sure that no one had heard her.
“No turning back now,”
It had taken some time, but eventually the fiery blazes which kept the remains of Imperial Outpost 37 alight died down. Billows of ashy smoke floated upwards into the sky as a young Imperial Trooper stared on lifelessly.
Imperial Trooper Gren was the newly promoted Commander of this outpost. He wasn’t promoted because of his achievements, nothing as glorious as that. He was promoted because he was the only one who could be.
With a heavy sigh, Gren shook his head. Death was around him always, but the recent attack had only made it all the more prevalent. He lost friends, mentors, and important figures of his Imperial life. Revenge was a thought which graced his mind for a moment. But even he knew that it would mostly amount to nothing.
Sighing once more to himself, he pulled the edges of his newly awarded cap, taking a moment to honour the dead. Before slowly striding off to greet his newest superiors landing nearby.
Gren eyed the silhouette of the all too common Lambda class shuttle land just a few steps in front of him. He let his thoughts drift, wondering to himself which Admiral, Commodore or Moff he was going to meet today.
“Just the facts, nothing else, and you will be fine, Gren,” He whispered to himself. He took the last few seconds he had before straightening his clothes and bringing his hand to his forehead in a salute.
“Welcome to Nar Shaddaa sir!” Gren greeted. A look of confidence flashed across his face, proud in his decision to not assume the rank of the Imperial coming to meet him. Of course the confidence in his face dashed away almost a moment later.
Heavy foot falls eventually emerged from the ship’s entrance. It was followed by a pure visage of black. Gren realised that he was about to be graced by the Emperor’s fist himself. An honour he had hoped to never be granted.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, Commander,” Darth Vader spoke icily. His every word felt sharp, as if it was cutting through Gren’s mind. “Not only have you allowed the Rebel presence to accumulate into an uncontrollable mass, but you have also left yourself vulnerable to an attack which you should have discovered beforehand,”
Even through his mask, Gren could feel the forbidding eyes of Lord Vader piercing into his skull.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Commander?”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Gren sputtered out. No longer bothering to maintain his pride. “I was just a normal Stormtrooper yesterday! I didn’t even have comman-” He felt his throat tighten, any words he had to say being squeezed into dust.
“I did not ask for your pathetic excuses, Commander,” Vader spat, slowly closing his fist. “The only information I need from you, is the identity of the culprits,” He relaxed his hand suddenly, dropping the poor Commander to the ground.
“They were Jedi, my lord,” Gren coughed, grovelling at Vader’s feet. “At least two of them,”
Vader’s anger slowly turned into curiosity, before turning into anger once again. “How do you know this?”
“We have the footage!” Gren continued. He rifled through his pockets, fumbling around a small device before tossing it to the ground.
Static footage immediately displayed itself in a blue hologram. Vader stared intently at the figures, his hand twitching at the sight of the familiar Togruta, before constricting harshly into a swollen fist at the younger male figure.
Without another word, he returned to his shuttle. Using the Force to pull the small device to him, and leaving Gren to sob quietly on the ground.
“Milord,” A Mirialan clad in black bowed in respect as Vader returned from his trip. “You asked for me?”
Vader’s eyes scanned the Seventh Sister. “Where is the Fifth Brother,” He demanded.
“Fifth is… running a bit late,” Seventh replied, trying to hide a small smirk. But her intentions were as clear as day to her master.
Lashing out in anger, Vader gripped his hand around Seventh’s throat. His fingers slowly closing in around the Mirialan, anger flaring from his eyes at her display of insubordination.
“Milord,” Seventh croaked, begging for her life.
Finally, Vader relented. He dropped the Inquisitor to the floor, staring down at her pitiful state.
“Your ambition to replace the Grand Inquisitor has made you blind to your true purpose, Seventh Sister,” Vader seethed. “The only desires you are allowed to have are for the Emperor. Nothing more, and nothing less,”
“Yes… my lord,” Seventh choked, before pushing herself up.
Vader tossed the device over to the inquisitor, using the Force to activate it as it landed in her palm.
“You are to locate the Jedi responsible for the attack of Imperial Outpost 37. Use whatever means necessary to locate this threat. Failure to do so means death,”
“Absolutely, my lord,” Seventh replied, unable to control the smile on her face as she glimpsed a familiar face in the recording.
“Seventh Sister,” Vader said in a low voice, reminding her of what he said about her desires.
Seventh immediately darted her head upwards, returning her face to a more serious one.
“What should we do when we find them?” She asked.
“Bring the Togruta to me, alive,” Vader turned to the bridge. “Do what you wish with Thirteenth Brother,”
With Vader gone, there was nothing to hold Seventh’s smile back. She had found him. At last. Years since she had last laid her eyes on the Thirteenth Brother. Years since she had last heard him scream in pain. She was almost excited for their inevitable reunion.
“Fifth,” Seventh called through her comms. “Stop what you’re doing, and get us a ship. We have an Inquisitor to catch,” Her smile only growing wider at the thought of all the things she was going to put Thirteenth through.
