Saga of the Bridgers-Year 3

Chapter 13: Ghosts of Geonosis

Luckily for Chopper Base, Maul's beacon had turned out to be a bluff that the former Sith was just able to disguise, since lying and deceiving was part of his nature.

After Ezra explained briefly what little Sabine had told him about the Darksaber, Jaral agreed to give it to Kanan, so he would keep it safe until the time came when Sabine would find the will to discuss the matter in more depth. Perhaps they might enlist the help of Fenn Rau, too.

A few days passed, though, and Sabine seemed adamant in avoiding that matter. Ezra tried once to have her repeat the legend of the Darksaber making it look like he only wanted to discuss Mandalorian culture, and, out of options, Sabine just kissed him roughly and it quickly ended in sex, to which Ezra was still too weak to resist.

"Wait, seriously?" Jaral asked while struggling to keep a laugh in.

It was the morning after the episode described and the siblings were discussing it while finishing breakfast.

Ezra grinned a bit embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"What can I say. She knows how to...handle me."

Now Jaral cackled openly, trying to keep the voice as low as possible and even giving a light punch on the table.

Ezra wanted to protest the fact that she was laughing about him, but in all honesty, he couldn't blame her, so he let her do, still retaining the lopsided grin on his face.

Jaral quickly regained the necessary focus. After taking a deep breath to expel whatever she still found funny about the situation, she spoke again.

"So, I guess we set aside the matter, for now."

"Yes, but we can't keep it unresolved for long." Ezra insisted. "This is extremely important to Sabine, even though she doesn't want to face it."

"How so?"

"Don't you get it? If that is really the Darksaber, it means that Sabine might use it to get her family back, heck, she might use it to rally an army of Mandalorians under the banner of the rebellion!"

Jaral was a bit shocked by that. Thinking about it, it made sense. "Now I really think we should ask Rau, but right now we're a bit overwhelmed with the preparations for the attack on Lothal."

"I understand. But still, if she manages to recruit her people for the attack..." Ezra commented.

"That is definitely a valid point...but I think you care more about her feelings, right?" Jaral asked, sensing that the thought of her brother lingered on Sabine's well-being.

Ezra sighed. "Yes. She deserves to have her family back. I don't know if you noticed, but whenever she sees us with mum and dad...I just know she longs to have something like that." he said calmly.

Jaral watched the determination on Ezra's face, then chuckled. "You know. In moments like this, I'm really proud of being your sister."

Ezra was thinking that, because he sincerely thought that it would make Sabine happier than she herself would ever like to admit.

The boy was caught a bit off-guard by that sentence. Yet, after a moment of staring at his sister in surprise, he chuckled and lowered his head. "There, you made me blush, are you happy?"

Jaral gave him a radiant smile. "Yup. You're just too adorable when you do that." she said while extending an arm to rub his head.

Aside from that, the preparations for the strike were indeed in full swing. The Task Force Magellan, except for the Constantinople, had been recalled behind the wormhole to be equipped with the new hyperdrives of the Federation, since the other frigates were still relying on their FTL technology and needed an upgrade to help the rebels better. The naval exercises kept going. By now, Jaral had, once again, surprised everyone (except for Ezra) by mastering various formations and for the incredible quickness of her decisions. It still had to be tested on the field, but she had managed nonetheless to increase the overall efficiency of the fleet.