After an hour or two of driving across the shallow tides, the adults found a hiding spot nearby an empty cave, hidden away from the rest of the base. Once they had carefully hidden the bikes, the five of them started to climb up a mountain to oversee the base.
A few rocks crumbled beneath their boots as they climbed, but thankfully not enough to cause an avalanche or set off possible auditory noises. Crawling on their stomachs, the five of them held on to a ledge of the mountain, now getting a full view of the entire outpost. Surrounded by a few palm trees, criss-crossed by shallow tidal creeks, and a tram system that went to various small beaches in the surrounding area. A tarmac large enough to hold several Mandalorian Gauntlet starfighters, a few TIEs of various classes, a shuttle, and at least three Gozanti-class carriers.
Using binocs, the group looked around on the base. Lyra's eyes spotted a series of generators, large enough that they could be used to deactivate the power. Applejack found the concentration camp, seeing a few hurt Rebels and civilians inside, trying to provide each other what little comfort they could in their enclosure. Rainbow Dash sighted a massive caged fuel foundry, enough to power several squadrons of this new ship. Sunset turned her attention to factory, seeing only a few sights available to the outside eye; workers pushing out forged parts and pieces for nearby assembly.
Bon Bon, last of all looked at the tarmac. She did see the usual Midnight troopers and officers as they unloaded some more prisoners, but then she saw something else that caught her eye. Emerging from the shuttle was a Mandalorian in light green and black paint. And another. And another. A group of Mandalorians with the exact same paintjob, and judging by the Imperial markings on their shoulders, she could tell right away these weren’t friendly.
“Oh no,” Bon Bon moaned. “Mandalorians.”
“That’s bad, isn’t it?” Rainbow asked.
“Not Mandalore. Death Watch,” Sunset corrected.
Bon Bon went quiet. Her helmet slowly moved to look at Sunset. “D… Death Watch?”
“Yeah. Terrorists, basically. Well, I don't think I'd need to say it, you're Mandalorian, you know this stuff already,” Sunset said, not paying attention to her as she looked below.
Bon Bon drew to a deafening silence. She laid there, not saying anything else but instead, just glaring at the Mandalorians below.
“So I guess they’re working for the Empire now too," Applejack grit her teeth. "Wait... what's goin' on down there?'
Just then, the doors to the inside of the factory opened up. The next sight they saw only made them shed a gasp; Yakyakiees and Wookiees yanked out in chains and forced to drag something out of the hangar; a three-winged TIE fighter, mounted on a stand, similar to the design they saw on the blueprints.
Bon Bon still showed no reaction, at least, nothing physical. She was still dangerously quiet underneath her helmet.
A real Mandalorian would never, ever force people to do such a thing.
And then they watched as one of the Yakyakiees tried to fight their chains, only to get shot in the forehead by one of the Mandos.
"Well this complicates things. I thought Midnight troopers would be bad enough. Now we have them to worry about as well... great," Sunset grimaced.
"Wait, we can still do this. So what if we've got them to deal with, they're no different. We just need to plan around them," Rainbow corrected.
Sunset smiled. "You know what? You're right. So what, we can plan around this--"
"--I need to take them out."
Everyone turned their attention to Bon Bon.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I need to take them out. Now," Bon Bon whispered, rather dangerously.
"Geez, no need to be so mad," Rainbow protested. "Seriously, what's going on with you?"
Lyra facepalmed when Rainbow asked. "You just had to go there..."
"How about we don't give away our position and instead focus on finding a way in?" Applejack proposed, ceasing Bon Bon's hostility for a brief moment of time. "Look, they've got armor, maybe we can wear their suits to blend in. We've already got disguises for Team Six and Flurry, maybe we should be stealthy as well."
"I agree. But you're not going to get me to wear their armor," Bon Bon sneered. "I'm not going to disgrace my family by wearing the armor of a terrorist unit."
"Okay seriously, what's got you so riled up?" Rainbow demanded.
"Rainbow."
Bon Bon sighed, rubbing her face underneath her helmet. But she looked to the veteran, still not removing her helmet to show her face.
"Your suggestion is a great idea; honestly, I think you girls should do it, you'll be safer that way. But I need to make this clear to you. If you need someone to blend in with them, I can't. What they did to me... you don't know what it's like. Nor have you lived to see the kind of horrors they inflicted. I still remember trying not to cry or scream into my papa's arms as he kept us hidden behind behind some rubble, and I watched as they put a blaster bolt into an innocent man's head. And you know what happened a few days after we tried to make our case to the Duchess? They attacked again. And this time... they killed my mom. They made it clear if we ever tried to bring up attention to their attacks again, he would force me to watch them kill my dad, and then put my brains into the kriffing ground. Since Mandalore was going to be of no help, my dad and I moved far away just so we wouldn't have to deal with that pain again. What they did to me is personal, Rainbow. They took enough from me. You have nothing to lose by wearing their armor. I do."
The cliff ledge was now quiet as the rest of the veterans took in Bon Bon's story. Sunset truthfully wasn't surprised, she had heard countless tales from innocents over the past decade and a half, of people who suffered under various forms of terrorism and horror that weren't the Empire. She knew how to be helpful, or semi-supportive most of the time. But right now, she had no idea how to ease Bon Bon. Heck, she was afraid to speak up, getting tired of being on the receiving ends of so many critiques and comments for how she lived.
"... Are you serious right now?" Sunset whisper-yelled.
That is until this very moment.
"Excuse me?"
"No no no, you don't get to do this right now," Sunset said, putting her foot down, metaphorically speaking. "Look, I've had to put up with your criticisms, your comments, and you know what, I'm going to say something. We need you right now, and I'm sorry that happened to you Bon Bon. But that happened nearly forty years ago. I know something like that isn't easy to move past, I know. There are a lot of things I'm still trying to find a way to move on from."
Bon Bon didn't give Sunset her attention, but just kept her eyes averted from her. She didn't like being yelled at, but she couldn't deny Sunset was right.
"And if you don't want to blend in like them, fine. But we're not just going to go executing them with a sniper-blaster with the chances of being caught. There are lives at stake, Bon Bon. We work to make sure everyone escapes alive; sure, we don't always succeed, and we end up losing friends and family along the way, but it's the rules. My rule especially. I'm not going to just immediately take risks, like the one you were just about to consider doing."
Sunset sighed for a moment, cupping her face as she tried to bring her thoughts together.
"I know it's a lot. But we can do this. If you keep yourself together, I promise you we'll make sure Death Watch is taken down for good. So no other man, woman, or child gets hurt like your family was. Especially for the sake of your current wife and daughter," Sunset emphasized.
The Mandalorian Rebel went silent once more. She was at a loss for words, and she couldn't argue. Sunset was right.
"Ahem," Lyra cleared her throat. "How about this. Per Applejack's idea, maybe you can sneak in as Death Watch members. Although I'd recommend taking an officer's uniform just in case, probably something of a high rank. While you guys infiltrate the inside, Bonnie and I can work outside and sneak on the tarmac. If they've pulled out some of those Defenders for testing, or preparation to be loaded for battle, maybe we can disarm and dismantle them so they don't have a chance to take off. Fair enough?"
Everyone looked at each other, giving the idea some thought.
"Seems solid to me," Sunset agreed.
"I'm in," Rainbow added.
"Better than nothin'," Applejack also agreed.
"What about you, hon?"
Bon Bon sighed underneath the helmet. "I don't like it... but their lives mean more than revenge. I'm in."
"Great! Now come on, we better get back to camp," Lyra suggested.
Carefully, one by one, they worked their way back down from the ledge to get back to the cave where their bikes were parked. Bon Bon however was the last of them to move, staying close behind to Sunset. She had a little bit of guilt washing over, and she couldn't stay silent anymore.
"Oh, um, Sunset?"
"Yeah?" Sunset asked, sliding down while keeping a steady hand on the mountain to grip the wall just in case.
"I'm sorry for all the snark."
"Bon Bon, I get it. I'm not happy, but I get it," Sunset reassured.
"No, not that. I mean about... well, everything else."
"What do you mean?" Sunset pressed, looking at her inquisitively.
"The remarks towards the Jedi, the Republic, every remark I said to you. I'm not sorry for what I think, but I am sorry for being rude and unnecessarily mean to you. You didn't deserve that, and I know you're trying to fix everything that was started. I'm sorry."
The general smiled softly, patting the Mandalorian ally's shoulder.
"You're a good woman, Bon Bon. You know that?"
"No. Because I'm not," Bon Bon said, rather unemotionally.
"Well, I think you are," Sunset said softly. "Come on, let's get back to camp, hopefully no one set off anything to lure them to where we are."
Back at the campsite, dinner was nearly ready. Flurry, with some help from Silverstream were nearly finished cooking over the small but humble fire that was set up at the site. While most of the food was made in the kitchen, they chose to finish the rest outside, mainly due to complaints from how the smell was making them go crazy. Mainly for how delicious it smelled.
Around the site were the rest of the Heartstrings family; the commando units, K2-B4, Bee the buzz droid, and various other units which were turned online for security. If one of them went down, the group would know about it before there was a chance for someone to get shot. The astromechs sat around the campfire, constantly swiveling their heads around to look as well.
Soon enough, the food was ready, and so Flurry began to pass around plates to everyone, as well as utensils. Food was passed around, and so everyone sat down on a piece of crate or a lawn chair, or whatever furniture was set out to use as a seat.
"This smells great you two," Sandbar complimented.
"Thanks!" Flurry acknowledged, taking a bite of her food. "Mmm... that's the stuff."
"I... sorta helped... she did most of the cooking, honestly I had a hard time finding everything. Mandalorians organize things weirdly," Silverstream's ears flopped.
"No different than anyone else," Flurry shrugged. "Is any of that too spicy for you guys?"
"Nah, it's good. I like the hot stuff," Smolder agreed, taking a big bite before hacking her lungs out. "Ack! Holy--what is that?"
"It's tiingilar, it's a Mandalorian dish. Meats, vegetables, spices. Figured I'd make something that'd give all of us a bit of the basic food groups," Flurry said.
"So not beans, bacon, whiskey, and lard then," Gallus asked, awkwardly.
"... Not exactly a combination I would go for, but yeah, not that," Flurry responded.
The fire continued to sizzle nice and hot in the pit in front of them, keeping the extra food hot if anyone wanted to grab more. All the while, some more idle chit-chat occurred as they ate.
“So,” Smolder asked, out of the blue, “What’s your story?”
Sandbar, realizing that she was addressing him and not one of the others, looked taken aback. “Me?” he asked blankly.
“Yeah, you,” the Draconoid answered; the word “idiot” unspoken but plainly felt. “What’s your reason for being part of this rebellion? What’d the Empire do to you?”
“…Oh,” the green-haired boy turned a downcast look to his plate; the young rebels having been taking lunch before Smolder had asked her question. “Right. Y-yeah, what the Empire did to me…”
Ocellus and Silverstream exchanged looks of concern. Smolder was more bemused, and a little exasperated. Yona, for her part, reached over and gave Sandbar a reassuring (if strong) pat on the back. Gallus rolled his eyes and spoke up.
“C’mon, don’t keep us in suspense here, Sandy,” the former street kid said. “If it’s too much to talk about, then just say so!”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Sandbar relented, setting his plate down on his lap, “I was just really surprised, that’s all. I don’t really like to think about some of it too much.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s all right,” Ocellus offered with a sympathetic, wistful smile. “Believe me, I get not wanting to talk about where you came from or what was in your past.”
Sandbar gave her a reassuring smile. “That’s okay,” he said. “We’re all in this together, right? I think you guys deserve to know.”
“Yes!” Yona clapped him on the back again. “Friends share things, yes? This is what Yona hear from Jedi, anyway!”
“Heh. Right,” Smolder shrugged, settling in for what she hoped was a good story. “Alright Sandbar, what’s your big story for us then?”
The young Rebels listened, with varying expressions of interest, as Sandbar cast his memory back, and began to talk.
“Well, I was born on Tion, in the Outer Rim. It’s a water planet, used to be part of the Storm Empire back in the Clone Wars. But I came after that, I was born a few years before Blueblood came to power… my birthday was right around Empire Day actually. “My family was a regular one. Mom, Dad, me, and later a baby sister. We had a house along the beach, and I practically grew up on the water. We weren’t poor, but we sure weren’t, like, rich either… we made ends meet by fishing, mostly, sometimes catching turtles too.”
Sandbar paused in his telling. He sighed, took a breath as though he were about to make a great plunge, and then continued.
“The thing you guys need to know is that, growing up, the Empire weren’t the bad guys to me. Mom and Dad didn’t talk about the Clone Wars, or what things had been like under the Storm Army, or how much better it was there than to live under the Republic… heck, Dad sometimes said that the Galactic Empire was better!” Guilt twisted across the young man’s face as he went on:
“I didn’t have a reason to want to fight the Empire growing up. I didn’t have my people nearly wiped out by their troopers. Or have to flee my home because of them.” He looked apologetically to Ocellus and Silverstream, both of whom had gone quiet at what he had just said. Even Gallus looked more serious now, less aloof as he listened to the green-haired boy’s story.
"So, what happened?” Flurry Heart asked, gently.
“Yeah,” Smolder added. “What made you join the Rebellion then?”
Sandbar didn’t answer her at first. He looked over to Yona, as if asking her permission. When the large fur-covered girl nodded, he looked back to the others and said quickly, as if telling it fast would make it go over better:
“I didn’t join the Rebellion until after I left the Empire!”
For a moment there was a stunned silence in the wake of this. Even Cheep and G-G slowly rotated their domes back around to gaze at Sandbar, while Spike and R2 just continued to look around, not shocked to hear this news. Finally, though, Gallus spoke up in disbelief.
"You, were an Imp?” the street boy exclaimed.
“A what?” Silverstream looked between him and Sandbar in mixed confusion and worry.
Smolder brusquely answered her, “An Imp, short for Imperial, Silver. He’s saying that Beach Boy here was an Imperial.” Sandbar winced, a nervous smile playing across his face at how everyone was reacting to this news.
“I never would have guessed…” Ocellus frowned. “You just don’t seem like the type of person to be a Midnight trooper.”
“Yeah, you’re way too short for one!” Smolder added sarcastically.
Sandbar flushed with embarrassment, looking down at his plate. Flurry felt a pang of empathy for the boy, and so did Yona clearly, as she put a reassuring arm around his shoulders.
“It’s okay,” the Yakyakiee declared, “Yona know that Sandbar not bad person. Sandbar good friend of Yona’s!”
“Thanks, Yona,” Sandbar said quietly, though a small, grateful smile could be seen playing at his lips. Another silence, this one more peaceful than the earlier one, fell over the table, as the various young rebels digested this big news about the boy they’d thought was the most, quote-unquote normal of them.
“Why’d you leave the Empire?” Flurry Heart spoke up, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.
“Yeah? And why’d you join them anyway?” Silverstream chimed in.
“Were you in the Imperial Army or Navy?” Ocellus piped up.
“You ever shoot anyone?”
“Or blow something up?”
Sandbar groaned and slumped back in his seat. “You’re gonna make me tell the whole story, aren’t you?” he asked with a deadpan look.
“Yes!!” Silverstream leapt up in excitement for the story she wanted to hear. “…Please?” she added a moment later, with a guilty giggle.
“Okay, okay…” Sandbar managed a little chuckle. “I’ll tell you guys how it all happened…” And, settling down, the green-haired boy began to tell the full story. “I was seventeen when I first enlisted. There was an Imperial Academy recruiting drive on Tion, and I thought it seemed like a good way to get out and see the rest of the galaxy. Well, I got accepted, and did a year at the Academy as a cadet.”
Sandbar cast his memory back, recalling that time in his life. Himself, a young boy just entering adolescence, in the simple white-and-gray uniform of an Imperial cadet… running drills with the other boys in the squad, having to traverse the academy’s mechanical obstacle course that the instructor dubbed “The Well”… hearing, again and again, the demand for absolute loyalty to the Empire and its cause of bringing order to the galaxy…
“I did well enough in that first year, that I got noticed,” Sandbar continued. “One of the officers offered me a chance to enlist in a special program with the Imperial Army. It was part of an order given by Blueblood himself, meant to expand the ranks of the Midnight Trooper Corps. If you made it through…” he gave an awkward smile, “Well, you would be part of the Empire’s elite fighting force.”
A hush had fallen over the table at these words. The color had left Ocellus’ face, her earlier words rushing back to her all at once. Even Smolder looked a bit taken off guard by the thought, “You mean you were… a kid Midnight trooper?”
Sandbar nodded glumly. “Trooper designate SBR-32418,” he rattled off, “That was my old, label, I guess, when I signed up. They’re not really big on individual names in the Corps.”
“Jeez…” Gallus made a face. “You actually signed up for that?”
“I’m not proud of it,” the other boy snapped at first, before calming down somewhat. “It was just… something that felt expected of me, I guess. I could have gone onto the normal Army track, I could have even gone back home, but I didn’t…” he scratched the back of his head, abashed as he added, “I was just scared to back out, I guess.”
Silverstream gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay,” she said softly, “I think we all know what it’s like to be scared…” she gave a bit of a warning look to Gallus and Smolder, both of whom reluctantly nodded along with her. Sandbar, heartened a little by the support, continued his tale:
“Anyway, I joined with the other trooper candidates, and we were packed up and shipped out to begin training in earnest. I was able to keep up with them, but as training went on, I... I dunno. They just told me to shoot anything that was a considered a threat, and said to never ask questions. My friend, she... she did ask why I hesitated, but she never reported me for it. I tried to keep up, but I just didn't have it in me to follow through on everything. And then everything changed on one night... the night I met Yona..."
Sandbar stood where he was ordered to stand, and awaited further instructions. The Imperial officer eventually came by, a tall regal woman who looked almost unhuman from how pale and skinny she was. Her eyebrows looked permanently furled as if she always looked mad.
“Trooper SBR-32418,” the commanding officer spoke. “… Stand straight.”
Sandbar straightened his posture.
“I have been reading your progress reports, and frankly I am very disappointed in you,” the officer said.
Sandbar shrunk. “Why?”
“Because you cannot follow a simple order. I know these orders may seem harsh, but they exist for a reason,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “We are effective at what we do if you work with your fellow soldiers and do what you are told. Good soldiers follow orders.”
Sandbar wanted to snark back at her, but knowing the last time someone did, he wasn’t about to repeat that mistake. He kept his eyes averted as the officer towered over him.
“I know you are a good soldier, SBR-32418. You along with VZ-86, HD-86, and HK-84 are some of the finest soldiers I have taught at this academy. But you are slugging behind, and we don’t want that to happen, do we?”
Sandbar sighed. “N-No, ma’am.”
“Exactly,” she said, keeping a rather calm, albeit somewhat pleasant demeanor. “Which is why I am proposing one small test. If you can go through with orders, I will put in good word to the other officers that you are not as, well, defective as they think you are. We certainly don’t want to go through any reconditioning, do we?”
Sandbar did not want that at all. He remembered the screams of agony from the early hours of the night, being told it was the ‘reconditioning’. He never saw what happened during those sessions, but he did not want to be submitted to that.
“No ma’am,” Sandbar meekly said.
“Good. Now, let us begin this test.”
Sandbar’s eyes bulged. “I’m sorry, what!? But ma’am, I don’t know what to do, I haven’t practiced or anything.”
“Calm yourself, trooper. This test is a simple one, it does not require you to use any of those braincells. Not that you should be using them,” the commanding officer said, rather condescendingly. She hit her com device. “This is LRC-43. Bring up the test.”
“Copy that LRC-43.”
Sandbar and the commanding officer waited, and eventually, something happened. The ground underneath them started to rattle and shake, and a hatch on the metallic grounding opened up. Something was being lifted from underneath the ground, and brought up to the surface. First sight they saw was a pair of horns, and some fur. When the lift finally was all the way up, they got a better look.
Chained to the lift with no chance of escaping, was a brown, furry, Yakyakiee. She looked mortified when she saw what was ahead of her, and she knew what this was for. She tried to break free from her bonds, but she couldn’t. They were too strong, made to hold down particular muscle-bound prisoners.
“I… w… who is she?” Sandbar asked, flabbergasted.
The commanding officer pulled out a datapad. “Prisoner 56-832. Arrested for a charge of treason and assault.”
“On what grounds?” Sandbar pressed further. “Why was she arrested for treason?”
“That information is of need to know, and frankly, you aren’t of need to know, SBR-32418,” the officer sneered.
“But wh—”
“—I don’t want to hear another word about it. Arm your blaster, and execute this terrorist,” she ordered.
“What did she do!?” Sandbar barked.
The commanding officer held back a growl, but didn’t change her posture. “Fine. But after I give you my answer, you’re going to finish her,” she said, clearing her throat. “She was arrested under a charge of treason and assault after the Empire came down to visit one of their villages. They didn’t even bother to speak to us, they just opened fire and assaulted us. We only wanted to protect them, and these… these… savages, just… killed innocent men,” she said, almost choking.
Sandbar honestly wasn’t buying this woman’s faux sadness, he never saw her express anything aside from pride and anger. And indeed, she was clearly lying through her teeth about being sad when she corrected her emotions without issue.
“She doesn’t understand,” she said, looking forward. The Yakyakiee sneered at her as the officer’s saddened face turned slowly into a pompous smirk. “She and her savage kind claimed they wanted freedom, nothing to do with us. You see SBR-32418, everyone says they want freedom and free will… but what they really want is order. They may not entirely on board with some of our tactics now, but they’ll learn to open us with welcome arms soon enough. We only care about protecting their interests.”
Sandbar could not believe what he was hearing. This commanding officer’s words sounded true, but her tone, her fake expressions and the looks of fear on that poor ‘savage’ in front of him spoke otherwise. He was starting to have second thoughts about what he was doing; was he about to execute a terrorist as his commanding officer described, or was he about to kill an innocent girl who didn’t do anything to warrant this?
“Now. Execute her.”
Sandbar heard her command. And in the Empire, good soldiers followed orders, as he heard beaten into his head time and time again. Cocking his blaster, he held it tight and focused on the Yakyakiee. He was set to blast, but his hands were shaking. He couldn’t think straight, and he almost didn’t want to shoot. The innocent eyes of that poor Yakyakiee that pleaded for mercy without speaking (and she wasn’t even muzzled), combined with that pompous officer…
“I said, execute her.”
Sandbar still didn’t do it. He couldn’t. He couldn’t do it. This was wrong! With a heavy sigh, he lowered his arms and let the blaster pointer face the ground. The commanding officer let out a derisive sigh.
“What a shame. And I thought you had potential. But I suppose seventy-two hours in reconditioning will help you clear your head,” she said, pulling out her own blaster and aiming at the prisoner. “As for you, savage. There won’t be a next time when we come across your people. They may have defeated us once before, but they won’t next time,” she grit her teeth. Her dastardly sneer turned into a sinister grin. “And as a show of our good faith, I will personally throw your skull—”
BAM!
The Yakyakiee’s eyes closed shut, waiting for death’s cold embrace to take her. But she didn’t feel anything. She didn’t feel any shots to her heart or anywhere else on her body. Slowly she opened her eyes, noticing no visible blaster marks on her fur. And when she looked forward, she heard the commanding officer gasping for air as she clutched her chest. No more words exchanged as the officer fell and dropped dead. And turning her head, she saw the source; the trooper who hesitated to fire, holding a blaster that was now steaming at the barrel. He didn’t look so scared to shoot this time, instead, he looked rather determined as he held that blaster, staring down at his former commanding officer.
Then he looked at the prisoner. She looked completely stunned, seeing him just turn on the officer and not shoot her. He risked saving her. But why?
Sandbar put his blaster back by his side, and slowly approached the prisoner. She didn’t know what he was going to do, and even slided her hooves around in a defensive position, at least, as defensive as she could. Sandbar kept his hands up to show he was unarmed, and not going to hurt her. He reached for one of the chains, getting a bit of a growl from the prisoner.
“It’s okay,” Sandbar reassured, keeping a hand up. “I’m going to help you, I promise. I just need you to hold still, I’m going to try and get these chains off.”
Sandbar pulled out his blaster and fired several blaster bolts into the main panel that kept the prisoner chained. Once it was shot, the metallic locks unlocked themselves, allowing the Yakyakiee’s limbs free. Seeing that she could move again, she slowly stepped off the lift. When she stood up, Sandbar felt like she was going to break him right there and then. She didn’t look so big from the distance, but now? She wasn’t as big as the officer, but she was relatively beefy.
“Look, I don’t know if we can get you back to your village, but I can get us out of here,” Sandbar said, carefully moving forward and looking her in the eyes. “I can take you away from her. Would you like that?”
“Imperial… help me,” the Yakyakiee finally spoke, still stunned. “You.. help Yona?”
“Yona… is that your name?” Sandbar asked, wanting confirmation.
“Yes. Imperial help Yona? Why?”
Sandbar gave her one determined look that said it all. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”
"After that... we ran. We ran as fast as we could, and I did not dare look back. I decided from that day on, I didn't want to do more of the Empire's dirty work if this was their methods of 'protecting'," Sandbar seethed, still feeling a bit guilty from the memory.
"Sandbar no beat up," Yona said, patting shoulder. "Sandbar not Imperial scuzz anymore. Sandbar now friend!"
"If the Yakyakiee that you were forced to execute is telling you to stop beating yourself up..."
"Then I should stop. I know," Sandbar said, setting his clean bowl down.
Soon enough, the engines of speeder bikes rumbled in the forests as they pulled up to the lowered lift system that was set on the Sweetie Drop. Once the bikes were parked, the five adults got off and walked towards the little campfire where the others were sitting.
"Good news and bad news folks," Sunset announced. "Good news is, nothing has changed in the base that would hinder our plans. The bad news is... they have Mandalorians."
Everyone pulled up in the chairs and seats with the rest of the team to join them for dinner. Luckily there was still more tiingular for everyone to enjoy, which the adults soon got.
"Ooof," some of the Rebels hissed.
"They're not Mandalorian. Real Mandalorians don't do what they did. Death Watch are imposters," Bon Bon seethed, taking her helmet off and happily accepting the bowl of food from her daughter.
"Whatever they are, they can't stop us," Smolder beamed with pride.
"Don't underestimate them. They do not screw around, they mean business," Lyra pointed.
"Sooo... on a scale of one to ten, how bad are they compared to the Empire?"
"Does it matter? They're Imperial aligned, they're still bad," Rainbow shrugged. "Either way,, we've got this."
"Don't jinx us, Rainbow. You say we've got this, and then by morning, something bad will have happened to make the plan fall apart," Bon Bon pointed.
"Enough," Sunset said, breaking up the unnecessary debate. "Look, we're back, let's just get our dinner and do one more security check for the night. We start the mission in the morning, I want us all to get plenty of rest if we're going to do this right."
"As long as no important staff member is here, I'm sure we'll be fine," Smolder shrugged. "... Thrawn's not here, is he?"
"No, not that we saw. If he is, that might put a little more difficulty, but if he's not, then we just keep going."
"Sunset, we did stuff like this in the Clone Wars. The Empire's no different than those infernal battle droids or Stormtroopers. How difficult could it really be?" Applejack smirked, pridefully.
Sunset wanted to snark back and be brutally honest with her, but held herself back. Truthfully, she hoped it really would just be another adventure, and pray nothing would go sideways once the plan would start...
The end of the night shift was coming for some of the Death Watch and Imperial staff, just in time for the night-watchmen to come and take over. One of the Imperial officers was almost ready to clock out for the night, but she decided to take a stop towards one of the main offices. Inside, the woman in charge was sitting at her desk, scrolling through various documents on a tablet device. Still adorned in her Mandalorian armor, she paid no mind to the officer who walked in.
"Commander."
"Officer," the commanding Death Watch leader addressed, still not looking. "How may I help?"
"I'm filing a report for Grand Admiral Sloane to let her know about our progress, she wants to deliver it to the ISB so they can hear our progress," the officer said.
"I see... well, you can tell Sloane we're not having any problems. Any prisoners that try to escape their sentence or make things more difficult for us are punished either through death, or more intense labor," the commander smirked under her helmet.
"Understood," she said, typing it down on her datapad. "Only one prisoner escaped so far--"
"--I think you can omit that detail," the commander snarled. "We'll find her and she'll be terminated, just like any others."
"... Very well," the officer brushed aside, ignoring the snide from their boss. "Should I let her know that our operation is just continuing as scheduled then?"
The commander lifted her helmet up, letting it sit on the desk with a soft thud. Her golden eyes flashed as she stared back at the officer, small but masochistic grin present.
"Yes."
"Very well, Lightning Dust. May you have a good rest of your night then," the officer waved, taking her absence.
With the commander alone, she looked outside her window to see the quiet sight of the prisoner's camp. No one was running out again for once. It was completely vacant of anyone on the outside, just the way Lightning liked it. And with no one knowing where they were, who was going to stop them now?