Bring Him Home

Chapter 12

When the ship exited hyperspace over Csilla, Lux nearly had a heart attack when he saw a blockade comprised of three Star Destroyers and several smaller cruisers.

"The Empire's here, too?!?", he exclaimed as he prepared to make evasive maneuvers. Ahsoka put her hand on top of his to calm him down.

"Easy, Lux. Look, they're not attacking."

"Yeah", Sabine piped up, "If they were Imperial, they would have opened up on us by now. Besides, I'm pretty sure the Emperor wouldn't like his ships being painted solid blue."

Suddenly, a voice came over the comlink.

"Incoming ship, identify yourself", a male voice said in Basic before repeating in a variety of different alien languages.

"This is the Voice of Onderon. My companions and I are looking for someone and we'd like permission to land."

"And who, might I ask, are you looking for?"

Sabine jumped in and answered. "We're looking for Ezra Bridger."

"Oh... it's you. Permission granted. You can land at Platform 4."

The transmission cut off and Lux flew past the blockade down to Csilla's snowy surface.

"Something doesn't feel right", Ahsoka said absentmindedly as Lux set the ship down, "That man's voice seemed... distant... unsettled. We should remain cautious."

Sabine nodded before standing up and walking to the landing ramp. She grabbed one of the spare parkas that Lux had hanging from a rack on the wall and slipped it on. Her body glove might have been insulated, but she had a feeling she'd need more protection from this particular planet's frigid weather. Ahsoka followed shortly behind, her white cloak draped over her montrals.

As the two women stepped down the ramp, Sabine could see what looked like an average-height human male standing between two Chiss guards armed with DLT-19X sniper rifles. Her heart jumped, thinking it was Ezra, but that happiness was quickly shattered when she got a clearer look at them.

The young man was blonde, pale-skinned, and clad in a dark grey naval uniform of some kind, possibly appropriated Imperial-issue. She bit down on her anxiety and walked forward, the man doing the same.

"Greetings, Madame. I'm Eli Vanto. And you are?"

"Sabine Wren", she said as they shook hands.

"Ah, I've heard a lot about you."

"Where's Ezra?", she asked bluntly.

Eli's face drooped slightly. "You'll want to talk to the Admiral. He has all of your answers. Please, follow me."

Ahsoka and Sabine followed Eli to a landspeeder parked just inside the hangar, which they all climbed into. Eli uttered a few words to the driver in Cheunh, the Chiss language, and she took off. One silent and tense drive later, they were outside of the Chiss governmental building. Eli stepped out first and offered Sabine his hand in assistance, a gesture she politely refused, stepping out on her own with Ahsoka close behind.

Eli led them inside and up to the top floor, down the hall to one of the many offices. He slid a code cylinder into the access panel and was granted entry.

"Admiral, you have visitors."

"Thank you, Eli", the man standing in front of the large window replied, "That will be all."

The human stepped back out of the door, letting Ahsoka and Sabine enter.

"So... after five long years, you've finally found us", Thrawn began, "I shouldn't be surprised."

"Where. Is. Ezra?", Sabine growled.

The former Imperial Grand Admiral turned around. "Ah, yes, I knew that would be your first question. I regret to inform you, Miss Wren, he isn't here."

The Mandalorian clenched her first so hard that her knuckles cracked. "What?"

"I think you'll want to sit down for this", he said as he gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk.

"After your friend... outsmarted me on Lothal, I conceded defeat and admitted that I actually had no love for the Empire. In fact, I only joined them because I hoped the Emperor would grant me the resources necessary to defend my homeworld from the Grysk."

"The Grysk?"

"An alien species from outside our galaxy. I discovered them when I was on an exploratory expedition many years ago. I first tried to alert the Republic, but they were too busy fighting the Separatists to do anything. I decided to join the Republic Navy, hoping to learn the skills I would need to return to Csilla and lead my people against the Grysk. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you know, the Empire arose. The Emperor knew about my skills and conscripted me for continued service. I worked my way up to Grand Admiral... and you know the story from there."

        Sabine was getting impatient. "Get to the point."

      "Indeed, I digress. Anyway, after I told this same story to your friend, he promised to help me gather the forces necessary to defend my world, and possibly the galaxy. As I'm sure you saw upon entry to the system, we have captured a substantial amount of Imperial ships. He's also been training our young Force-Sensitive children to use their powers to navigate the Unknown Regions. He was on one of these training expeditions two weeks ago, with our most powerful child."

    "And?"

     "And I'm afraid they may have been captured by the Grysk."