Chapter 24

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Grand Moff Tarken spoke. "You may fire when ready." There was a feminine scream.

People were running. Pandemonium ensued in the streets. There was a flash of green light, and the planet exploded.

I opened my eyes and rubbed my head. There was definitely going to be a bruise. That vision had scared me. But I could worry about that later. The room was clearing up from the smoke.

The green figure had walked in, and I recognized him to be Boba Fett. He and Sabine were circling each other silently. The others were still waking up.

"Spector 2, tell Spector 3 to pick us up!" I shouted to Hera. I didn't get a response, but she made the call. "The rest of you, leave with Spector 3!" I then addressed Sabine. "You too, Sabine. I'll take it from here."

I'd expected her to let me deal with Boba, but her response shocked me. "No. I'm Clan Wren, House Visla. I seek justice through single-combat." She removed her helmet, and Boba did the same. They charged at each other and fought.

I tried to get the others to get out of the way. They just kind of stood there, mouths hanging open, at the scene playing in front of them. Sabine was actually doing pretty well. She didn't have near as many gadgets as Boba, but she was crafty.

After a few more minutes of intense combat and destruction of the apartment, Boba pushed Sabine out the window, lost his balance, and fell out, too. The others gasped and panicked.

"Stay here!" I commanded as I jumped out after them. Chopper had piloted the Phantom down and extended the ramp. Doing a couple flips in the air, I landed in a perfect kneeling position on the ramp.

I then used the force to concentrate on saving Boba and Sabine. There was no possible way either one of them could survive a fall from a building of this height. Using the force, I slowed down their movement so that they each touched the ground less hard than otherwise.

I looked up. Chopper had piloted the ship up a bit so that the others could jump on. Knowing that Lux would never forgive me if I left his apartment looking the way it did, I leaped into the building back through the window.

Quickly, I put the table back in place and closed all the doors we'd opened. Random bits of debris from the bomb were scattered about. Vases were in pieces on the floor. Well, at least now it looks the part, I thought to myself.

I pushed all the pieces together in a pile with my foot and turned on the security shields to accomodate for the broken window. It'll have to work for now. The others were in danger, so I didn't have time to do anything more.

I gave the place one last pitied glance, and I ran back into the hall and locked the door. There weren't any stormtroopers there to meet me, which meant that Boba wasn't sent by Vader himself. That was a good sign.

Since the apartment was only a few floors down from the top of the building, I made my way up to the roof through the back stairwell. Once there, I could look down and see the brawl taking place below me. Sabine was beginning to struggle. Boba, being older and having more resources, had the avantage. Even though Mandalorians value honor and pride, I had to step in or else Sabine would undoubtably be killed.

I calculated my next move. The drop was too big for me to just jump, but as my bird self I could control the fall a little better. Seeing no other options, I transformed and jumped off the edge.

I landed in the middle of Boba and Sabine. Sabine had been shot, and time was running out. I signaled to Kanan using the force, the ship lowered, and he jumped out. While he was fighting Boba, I transformed back and directed by full attention to Sabine. She was coughing and struggling to breathe.

"Sabine, you are going to be fine," I said. "You just need to stay as still as possible for this so work."

Was I out of my mind? Probably. I decided to use a trick I'd picked up a while back to heal blaster wounds. I placed my hand over the wound and concentrated on using the power of the Daughter to stitch it up. It was a really odd sensation, but an effective one.

I could see little beams of light weaving then skin around the wound together. Once it was completely closed up, Sabine stopped coughing and was silent. I could sense her heartbeat becoming more steady. It worked.

We needed to get back to the ship, and fast. I transformed back into by griffin-like form and picked Sabine up by her arm. I then picked up Kanan, who freaked out. I didn't blame him; getting picked up by a glowing animal was definitely not something that happens every day.

I dropped them both above the ramp, and Kanan dragged Sabine on board. I morphed back into my normal state and followed them, closing the ramp behind me.

Using the internal comm, I sent a message to the cockpit. "Chopper and whoever else is in there, get us out of here as fast as possible!"

My request was met with a bunch of beeps. "I know, I know! Go to the other side of the planet or something and I'll deal with it there!" Chopper made some more beeping noises. "True, we could do that. Just do something!l

Boba placed a tracking beacon on the ship. That's a typical move for him, but he failed to account for the fact that the Ghost is really two ships. Once we land, the rest of the crew can deal with the tracking beacon while I take Sabine to the medical facilities in the Jedi Temple.

The ship trust forward, and I almost lost my balance. Ezra and Kanan were helping Sabine up. Where they were taking her, I didn't know.

"Take Sabine to the Phantom," I said.

"But why?" Ezra asked. "We have to go and-"

"Nevermind that. New circumstances, new plan. You are all going to stay here and remove the tracking beacon on our ship."

"How do you know we're being tracked? "

"Use the force, think. He's hunting someone in particular. Boba is after me and me alone. There weren't any stormtroopers there, so it's unlikely that he was hired. And I'm the only one Vader knows for sure is involved with the rebellion. Why else would he come here?"

"Fair point," Ezra responded. "So what do we do?"

"I'm taking Sabine to the Jedi Temple. They have the best medical equipment in the area. My healing isn't enough."

"The Temple? Are you sure that's a wise idea?" Kanan questioned.

"I am. The rest of you will stay here and remove the tracking device. Once you have done that, meet me in the medical wing of the temple. Understand?"

"Yeah," Kanan said without much enthusiasm.

"Good," I replied. "May the force be with you."

I secured Sabine in the Phantom, took the pilot's seat, and flew the ship towards the temple.

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