Chapter Text
Sabine PoV:
Weeks go by in a blur. A mission here. A rescue there. A supply run followed by a provision of aid to a much needed system.
And above all, Hera has me in charge of scanning the many many maps in search of a potential base for us. We have our random coordinates in the middle of nowhere, but they can be breached at any time.
We need to find something and fast. We're already living on borrowed security.
Most of the documents I have access to are old and outdated, so there's a lot of scouting said places for imperial presence, or cross checking with other information sources we have.
While thats all been happeneing, the jedi have been at a constant lately. Often on their own, duelling here, or taking off on small missions there. Sometimes I would return to the Ghost and find they'd already left. A rift seemed to be going up between kanan and Hera as well. All their time away, while the rest of us are here.
Zeb was often busy with heavy lifting or joint Phoenix Squadron on various missions. And then there was Hera, planning missions with Sato, commanding the x wings, and keeping our own crew functioning.
I don't know how she does it. We all have many roles on the Rebellion, but she always seems to be at it all.
Then there was Chopper. Who's Chopper. Not much more needed.
And then there was Sanna. She's still on a stable condition, and as far as the med droid knows, should be waking up anytime from now. Her body has "healed to its best ability" in the couple of months she's been in a bacta coma. Obviously, she's not they exact same as before, the acidic burns from the snow/water damaged some areas of her skin more than others. Noticeably her hands and fingertips, which the droid had noticed from the beginning, due to being most exposed to the cold and wet. We still don't know the true extent of the damage, aside from a missing finger, but the droid says he will do some tests once she's awake. Once. We have a definite answer now. She will be alright and she will wake soon.
That news definitely put a boost to all our efforts. Ever since she's been out of action, the dynamics of our crew has changed. There's been an empty gap where she should be. But now, now things are looking better. Eveyone is in a better mood, especially kanan and Hera. As well as Zeb, who I think has always felt it to be his fault.
When she's back all will be OK. I think the tension between Hera and Kanan would also diminish. I hope.
Last week we thought we had made a break through with a potential base. Ketsu and I were looking into the map the Zeb's lasat friends had provided some time ago. By cross checking it with Rex's old Republic map, we discovered the Yawst system, which, as far as we could tell, had no imperial activity. Perfect for all our needs.
Or so we thought.
We went on a fuel supplying mission, since it was quite a journey away from our current position. There was an Imperial fuel shipment that was to arrive at Horizon base, a small trading post. So our crew went to acquire it. In the process of doing so, stuff got heated, as usual, and it ended in a fire fight.
In the middle of that Chopper had gotten lost, snuck onto the imperial ship, and made a friend. An Imperial cataloguing droid. So naturally Chopper committed a string of arson, piracy, theft and probably a whole line of things Hera doesn't know about.
Anyway, by the end of that, we crossed paths again, and with the help from his new friend, we discovered that the Yawst system actually did have imperial presence, and we would have been walking into a trap.
Then we were provided with new coordinates, which we kinda followed blindly, which lead us to this strange and deserty planet. Which we named Chopper base, in acknowledgement to Chopper's actions.
I'll admit, I am a little salty about it after all the time I spent looking for places. But I'm just glad to have solid ground under our feet. As much as I love flying, I do love gravity.
It's been a few days since we've reached it, and we are yet to fully settle on the surface, but the mood of the fleet definitely shifted. It seems as though everyone else was in the same boat. Crews stopped picking fights over the smallest things. Mechanics completed repairs at a much quicker pace. Even droids seem to talk back less to us. Well, no change for Chopper, but he did assert an air of authority for a while.
Today the Ghost has been given the fantastic job of carting various loads of supplies town to the new planet's surface, in order to allow it to be habital for us all. Little steps but it shouldn't take too long.
Kanan and Ezra haven taken this opportunity to train in the hold of the ship, while we make our journeys. Back and forth, duelling each other in such quick motions that it almost seems like a dance, a blur of blue light twirling around as they go.
They've turned their sabers into low power, to avoid unnecessary injuries. To ship of course, that was the only reason why Hera let them do it. And also themselves, we kinda need them.
"Are they still at it?" Hera asks, climbing down the ladder.
I straighten from where I had been leaning on the railing.
"Pretty much non-stop."
She let's our a small sigh, turning to look at the boys. Her eyes fixed. She's been acting a little different lately. We all know that kanan and Ezra are building up to something, to taking down those Inquisitors. I think theyre gonna set off alone. Its what I would do in their place. Separate myself from others to shrink the target and damages. Then without any distractions, hunt them down. Theres been a bit of tension between her and Kanan since. I think there might be more going on, but the rest of us are having a hard time dodging their little arguments.
I think Hera thought that finally establishing a solid base would change things. But I guess not. We're all living in the moment these days. You never know what's gonna happen tomorrow.
Back to the fight. Kanan does an over hand swipe at Ezra and he barely deflects it.
"Keep your blade up." Kanan says. "It's easier to drop it
than it is to raise it."
Ezra rolls his eyes, cutting back at him. Kanan ducks and holds out a hand, force pushing Ezra into the wall. Ezra recovers quickly, having had that move done several times already today. He rolls to the side, deactivating his blade and firing several bolts of the blue electodes of his saber.
Kanan deflects, sighing. "You know, that's my move."
"I steal from the best."
He ducks to the side, and using the wall for a boost jumps over Kanan, twisting as he lands to place his blade againt Kanan's neck.
"Gotcha!"
Kanan sighs. "And I got you." He nods his head to his own blade, bent backwards and mere centimetres from Ezra's chest.
Ezra rolls his eyes, turning away. "Tied again?"
Kanan crosses his arms. "There's no such thing as a "tie". You lose, you die."
"Yeah, and you win by killing an Inquisitor."
"No. You win by surviving."
He's right. That's currently how we're winning this war. Besides me, Hera's shoulders slump a little. I decide it's time to interject.
"You two are getting pretty good." I say.
"Getting? Are you saying we weren't good before?" Ezra says accusingly.
"I think she just meant you're even better now." Hera cuts in.
"I'll take it."
Kanan, behind him, shakes his head. Then all of a sudden he reactivates his saber and slashes towards Ezra.
Ezra barely manages to get his blade up in time. "Hey!" he complains.
"You never turn your back on an enemy." Says Kanan.
"Okay. But since when are you my enemy?"
Kanan rolls his eyes.
"Let's go again."
They get back into ready position, and begin the same way they have been for the past several duels.
I glance at Hera again. Her jaw is fixed but her eyes show somehting else. Sadness, annoyance, worry? Who knows. Probably all of it. She sighs and walks out.
In the next 20 minutes we land on the surface, ready to help unstack supplies and sort out facilities.
Ezra and Zeb start to unload. Hera and I walk out of the ship together when Kanan catches up to us, stretching slightly. Probably a little tired from Ezra and his constant duelling.
Its awkward silence for a while as we walk over to the other. Hera breaks it.
"I thought you'd be more excited about our new base. We finally have a place to call home."
I linger back a little and let them talk without me. Tension is definitely strong again.
Kanan turns to Hera. "Trust me, Hera, I'm excited." he holds up both hands as if celebrating and puts on a very fake smile. "This is my excited face."
Hera rolls her eyes. "Yeah, very nice."
Kanan stops in his tracks, staring as she walks off.
We meet With Chopper and AP-5, who are both looking impatient. If droids can look that.
"Here's that crate of power generators, AP-5."
"This shipment was due hours ago." AP replies in his dull voice.
Chopper chimes in.
"So I can expect them to be late all the time then?"
Rex comes over to join us. He has been on the surface, helping get things set up and ready. There was a few makeshift buildings set up, some for storage or amo. And others for meetings or other purposes.
"The site doesn't look like much, I'll admit." Ezra says, looking around, as AP and Chop deal with our shipment.
Rex nods. "The good news is our scouts found a fresh water source deep underground."
Excellent, that is kind of important.
"We're placing sensor markers around the perimeter."
I nod. "Excellent. We'll know if anyone drops by unannounced."
Hera nods, thinking.
"Hey!" Zeb shouts. I turn and see a small shelled creature sitting on one of the crates. "Get away from that!"
It scampers away.
" I hate those little bogens." Zeb complains. "They're everywhere."
Rex chuckles. "This planet may be hot, dry, and unpleasant. But at least there's nothing trying to kill us."
Yeah. That's kinda important. Hopefully it stays that way.
Spoiler alert. It didn't.
A couple of hours go by, and I'm helping Hera set up some things here and there. Kanan wanders over to talk to Hera.
She glances at him. "I can't believe it's all
finally coming together." She looks around, kanan following her eyes. "Ships, pilots, a base."
He nods. "Everything you need."
"Except you and Ezra." Hera says bitterly.
I pause what I was doing, eavesdropping on them. But also trying to slink away. The tension is back and it's strong. Something tells me this conversation they're having is one of many.
Hera sighs and looks up at Kanan. "So, when do you leave?"
Leave? So it's true then.
"As soon as Ahsoka gets back." He doesn't meet her gaze. "We can't run from the Inquisitors forever."
"I figured it was something like that, with all that training."
She looks away.
Kanan sighs and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Hera, what you've accomplished here is important. I understand that now, the need for us to be a part of a larger rebellion. I'm behind you..." he pauses. "But none of it will matter if
we don't do what we need to do."
Hera crosses her arms, looking away.
There's a patch of awkward silence, and I go to sneak away. When a member of the scouting party comes up to us.
"All sensors on the Eastern face are in place." He says.
Hera takes this as an escape. "Good. Have all the pilots checked in?"
"Lieutenant Deiser hasn't come back yet."
Hera and I exchange glances. Kanan nods towards the command room and we all head there. Rex is tinkering, and stands when he sees us enter.
We explain the situation. He activates the comm system on the holo table.
"Phoenix-6, report." Static. "Deiser, do you copy?"
Nothing.
"She was on the North face." I say, remembering the sensor positions. "We'd better go check on her."
Hera nods. "Take The Phantom."
Rex and I race to the Phantom and get it in the air. It doesn't take us long to get to the last known location of Deiser. When we get put and have a look around, there's no sign. Of anyone or anyhting.
I pull out my comm. "Spectre-5 to Phoenix-6, where are you?" Nothing. "Deiser, come in."
There's a small buzz of static. Rex and I exchange looks. We spread out looking around. Then, behind a rock we find a familiar looking pilot helmet. Only metres from the sensor she must have placed.
Rex picks up the helmet. "Looks like whatever happened, happened right after she placed that sensor."
I nod. Mustn't have been that long after, otherwise she would have confirmed her finishing of the project. What if we're not alone, and she was ambushed.
"Someone else is here." I say.
Rex nods slowly.
Then as if activated by my voice, a rumbling starts to echo, the ground shifting a little.
"Or something else. Behind you!" Rex yells.
I whip around and see this mound of rock rising from the ground. No, not rock. Some sort of creature. Several big eyes appear under the body, with some nasty looking pincers. On either side several, long and strong legs. It reminds me of a type of spider we get back home. Only the size of a small ship.
Rex and I ready our pistols.
"Do you think it's aggressive?" He asks.
"I'm not waiting to find out!"
It starts towards us so we start to fire. The bolts aren't strong enough to penetrait its shell, and it doesn't do any anything. I manage to hit it in one of its eyes, and it shudders, passes for a moment.
I take that moment to look around, one, two more inbound.
"More incoming!"
Rex curses. "Get to the ship!"
I turn and run to the Phantom, when one climbs up on top of it. I fire and it squeals at me. I curse and keep firing. Another one appears behind me, so I split my aim, shooting at them both. But the bullets aren't doing anyhting.
Quickly I activate my comm.
"This is Spectre-5. We're under attack! We need backup-"
I start to shoot at the closest one again, and all of a sudden it rushes forwards, shoving me to the side. I hit a large rock and eveyhting goes black.
I'm not out for long, and blinking hard against the pulsing pain in my head, I just manage to see the creatures cling onto Rex, and disappear over the hill, into a set of tunnels
"Rex!"
I get to my feet and stagger after him, when 4 more of the Spider creatures appear. I curse. Firing, I try to aim for their faces. I hit one twice in its eye and it drops.
Ok. Ok that seems to be the trick. I've just got to do it another three times without dying. Backing up, I keep firing at them, focusing on the centre one. Bam bam. It drops.
Ok . I can do this.
One lashes at me, and i manage to duck to the side. I glance behind me, half expecting to see more of them. But instead my eyes latch onto the sensor. There's a start. Maybe I can do somehting with that.
I race towards it, pressing my back to it's sides. The spiders continue to follow, however, stop just short of me, screeching. They start to back up, staring at me as they do. What is up with them?
"What are you waiting for? Come on!" I shout, firing more shots at them.
There's a familiar hum in the air, and moments later the Ghost appears, shooting at the creature. Excellent. They start to flee, heading back to wherever Rex had disappeared to. Into the 3 massive holes on a small hill. That must be their home.
The Ghost lands and everyone races out.
"I hate multi-leggers." Zeb says, staring at where they disappeared to.
I nod, then wince as the pain flairs in my head. I rub it and it comes back red with blood. Oh. Fun.
Hera places a hand on my shoulder. "You ok?"
i nod. I can deal with a concussion later.
"Where's Rex?" Ezra asks.
"Those creatures took him. I think they got Deiser too."
Hera turns to Chopper. "Chopper, locate Rex's position!"
Chop grumbles but starts a scan. It doesn't take long, before he points.
"He says this way." I race off towards that direction, where the middle of the holes are.
I stop by the entrance and wait for the others to catch up. It's dark.
I find my torch, and kanan activates his lightsaber.
"Stay sharp and stick together." Kanan says, taking the lead in the dark tunnel.
"They have tough armor. Aim for the eyes." I tell the others.
With any luck, we'll find Rex and get out of here.We walk for about 5 minutes before reaching a V, with two tunnels.
Kanan groans. "We need to split up. Ezra, go with Hera."
Ezra steps forwards and Hera places a hand on his shoulder.
"No. Ezra, stay with Kanan. Sabine, Zeb, with me."
She looks at Kanan, jaw set. He looks at her.
After a few moments he sighs. "Ok. Let's go."
They disappeare to the right, and we take the left passage.
After a few minutes in the dark, Zeb speaks up. "Shouldn't we have a Jedi on each team?"
Hera sighs. "We've gotta get used to not having them around."
I watch her as she walks ahead. There's a lot of conflicting emotion the in air. The tension that's been brewing for some time now. The anger, worry, and pain of not knowing what's gonna happen.
But she's right. They're leaving soon. And who knows if or when they'll be back. We've gotta get used to relying on ourselves.
I catch up to her.
It's not long until we find another couple of tunnels, branching off.
"I don't like the looks of this." Zeb says.
He takes a step and there's a crunch. We all jump, and turn our torches to the ground. It was a shell from one of those small crab creatures, that we often see everywhere.
"Those big crawlers must eat them." Hera mutters.
"Ugh. Even I wouldn't wish that fate on these little bogens."
We take a couple more steps, swinging our lights around. There's another shell. And another. And- wait. They're not the crab shells, these are rounder, and whole.
"Are those eggs?"
I go to respond when a voice echoes in the darkness.
"I could really use a hand over here."
I look up, spreading my light around. It takes me a moment, but I spot Rex, in the middle of the ceiling, trapped in a weird cage of sorts.
"Rex!"
He grins at us, wincing a little. "I met the neighbors. I don't care for 'em."
"Neither do we." I pull out my comm. "Kanan! Ezra! We found Rex."
"Good work! We're coming to ya!" Kanan replies.
Zeb yanks Rex out of the cage he was in. Wait, not cage. Those were the legs of a spider. Oh great.
All of a sudden the ground starts to shake, and a small clicking noise starts. Oh even better.
"Actually, I think it's time to go."
"This way!" Hera shouts and she starts to run.
We follow, Zeb pushing Rex in front so he could gain his bearings.
We don't get far when the spider catches up to us. I curse, pulling out my blasters. I start to aim at its face but it keeps moving out of the way, the bolts doing nothing against its tough shell. It's Hera who manages to hit it in the eye, and it drops dead.
Only for another one to appear behind it, climbing over the body of its friend. Do they have friends? You know what, not important now. Pulling out one of my few grenades, I activate the timer and throw it just in front of the Spider. It explodes, killing the spider and bringing down some of the tunnel.
Great thinking Sabine. Let's get ourselves trapped in here instead of being eaten.
We race off towards the now only direction, when another spider appears around the corner in front of us. Wonderful.
"Aim for the eyes!" I remind the others.
Rex starts to fire, missing as he goes. Zeb curses and rushes forwards, punching the beast in the face. "Get back, ya stinkin' crawlers!" He finishes it off with a close range shot to the face.
Ok. Ok we got this
Theres a russling from behind and Hera gives a shout of warning. Another. Great. How did it even get there, we brought down part of the tunnel? I can worry about that later, for now, we have trouble.
Another two spiders appear from around the corner.
"They're boxing us in." I shout.
We draw close together, back to back, firing at the spiders as they clamber towards us. I manage to take one down. Suddenly two blue blades of light pierce the darkness, slicing one of the beasts in half. Then the two jedi drop to the ground.
"Huh. Glad you could drop in." Hera says.
Ezra shrugs. "I wouldn't stand there if I were you. Come on, we'll clear a path!"
They race off. Hera looks at the three of us. "Well, nows our chance."
Rex and I bring up the rear, shooting backwards as we go to slow the chase. Up ahead a small patch of blue at the end of the tunnel, the exit. Excellent.
We race out the tunnel and towards the Ghost, the spiders still in pursuit. It's getting dark now, the glow of the sun leaving the horizon. How long were we down there for?
"Chopper, open up!" Hera calls. No response. "Chopper!"
A couple of moments go past before the ramp deploys and we race aboard. We quickly try to shut the ramp before they can get in. Hera races to the cockpit and we all follow. There's a shudder on the ship, and one of the creatures walks over the cockpit. Oh great. They're now on top of the ship.
"This whole place is infested." Zeb mutters.
"Maybe this base isn't so "perfect" after all." Kanan says.
Hera grits her teeth. " well, I'm not giving up without a fight. Hang on!" The pulls up and the controls and the ship lifts off a little, but barely.
"Hera, get us outta here!"
She tries again, and nothing.
" Ah, it's no good! I'm at full power. They must have webbed us down."
Ezra looks up at the disappearing spider out the window. "Well, we're safe in here, right?"
Hera grimaces. "Sure."
Not for long I suspect.
"Stations?" I ask
Hera nods. "Zeb, Ezra and Kanan, take the guns."
She points to the control panel. "Help me here."
I nod.
"Route auxiliary power to the hull."
I change the controls, re-routing any energy we have to the hull. I nod at Hera and she hits the switch.
A pulse of energetic emits, and should be enough to zap any of these creatures off out ship. But nothing changes.
"It's not working. Hit 'em again!" Kanan shouts.
Hera shakes her head. "No. If we drain too much power we won't be able to lift off."
"I hate to break it to you, but we're not goin' anywhere then."
Ezra pops his head up from the lower canons. "We have to go outside and cut the ship free."
"Yeah, fat chance surviving that." Says Zeb.
"Oh, that's great, Zeb. I'm gonna get eaten, the last Jedi in the galaxy, chomped up by some crawlers because you were too afraid to go outside."
At that point Kanan enters. "We're missing something. Why didn't these things attack us before?"
Hera nods, looking back outside. "You're right. They could've overrun the base, they didn't come near it."
I look outside, searching for anyhting that could be a reason for it. Oh.
"Sensor marker... that's it!" I mutter. I turn back. "Kanan! I think I know why they didn't attack the base. Look! See that marker?" I point to the marker, sitting where it was placed on the top of the cliff. "When I was looking for Deiser out there, the creatures wouldn't come anywhere close."
"They don't like the markers.And the base is surrounded by them!" Says Hera.
"If we can get it, we can use it to hold them off while we clear the ship."
"Only problem is, how do we get to it?"
Rex runs into the room. "We got a breach! They're coming in the airlock!"
Theres a loud screeching noise, and Rex turns around. "I'll hold 'em here. Get out and cut the ship loose!" He disappears.
"We need a plan to get to the sensor." I say to the others.
"Well, I think I have an idea." Says Ezra.
"Figure it out on the way!"
We race to the hull, and open the ramp. Several of crawlers turn and start towards us. Well, no surprise.
"Okay, kid, quick! What's the plan?" Zeb shouts.
Ezra takes a breath. "All right. Zeb, you and Hera, out front laying cover fire. Sabine, you're on the ramp. Kanan, you're with me."
I frown. "What am I doing on the ramp?"
"Kanan and I are gonna throw you over to the sensor."
Oh wonderful. That sounds like fun.
"Times like these, I really wish I had a jet-pack." I mutter.
"Ready?" Shouts kanan.
"Yeah."
"One...two...three!"
I take a running start, and as soon as I reach the end of the ramp I feel an invisible force pulling me forwards, up into the air. Over the jedi, over the crawlers, and over the- oh no. I see the marker underneath me and over shoot it, tumbling towards the cliff edge.
I just manage to catch a hold of a clump of grass. And start to pull myself up to the level ground. There's a screech and I look below me to see a spider climbing up the cliff to me. Uh oh. With haste, I manage to scramble to the top and pull the sensor from the ground. The spider advances towards me, and I turn the sensor towards it.
It stops in its tracks. Another advances towards me in the direction of the Ghost, so I turn. It gives me a wide berth. Slowly, I treck my way through the horde of spiders towards the Ghost. I finally get to the ramp.
Kanan places a hand on my shoulder. "Good job. Hera, get us ready to fly."
He turns to Ezra and I. "Let's get to work."
We walk around to the back of the Ghost, where sure enough, the exterior is surrounded by large sticky webs, securing us to the ground. While I hold the signal, the boys get to work slashing and cutting, until the final Web gives way.
"That's it! We're clear! Get us outta here!"
We race back to the ramp and hop on as Hera takes off. The spiders don't pursue us.
"Guess we should inform Commander Sato our site... might not work out." Rex says once we're safely away.
Hera scoffs. "No. It took everything we had just to find this place. I'm not ready to give it up."
Kanan places a hand on her shoulder. "We're not going to. The Rebellion needs this base and we're gonna do whatever
it takes to keep it."
She shrugs his hand off. "Don't worry. I'll handle it."
And here's the tension again. The peace was nice while it lasted.
When we get back to base Hera informs Sato of the troubles. On our way back I studied the sensor and determined it was the frequency that kept the crawlers away. So, our plan was to create a tighter wall of them around our base, to keep it secure. Hopefully.
When we get back, Phoenix Squadron and I got to work, setting it all up. Well, after Hera makes me get my head checked out. It's minor, no longer bleeding, I only need some pain meds to reduce the thumping headache. The res till sleep off.
At some point during my work, kanan walks up, and inspects the new fence of sensors.
"I think your fence is gonna hold." He says.
Why is he here. Why is he so...him.
"You'd better go talk to Hera." I reply flatly.
He frowns. "Why? What's wrong?"
I groan. "Kanan, wake up! She might agree with your mission, but you're still walking out... and taking Ezra with you."
He frowns and blinks. Then runs off towards the Ghost. I really hope he isn't too late. Whatever situationship Hera and Kanan have, it's been on the edge lately. He means so much to Hera, even if he doesn't realise it. Wherever they go, I really hope they return safely.
I watch from a distance as he disappears into the ship, only to have Hera leave it moments later, him following. She storms over to the edge of the fence staring out. Kanan gingerly approaches. There's a lot of hand movements, but I can't hear what they're saying. Probably for the best. After a few minutes Hera turns towards kanan and he slowly wraps his arms around her, pulling her close.
Good. I'm glad they're alright.
They stay that way for a while.