chapter 32
Clan Bridger ships came out of hyperspace over the planet that the Havoc Outpost was. Ash and Emily walked into the cockpit and met Alex. "Nice of you two to join us." Alex said. "Yeah, is everyone ready?" Ash asked. "Yes." Alex answered. "Alright, lets enter the planet." Ash said. As he walked towards the hanger, Alex walked towards Emily. "Ready to get go to work?" Alex asked. "C'mon you know I'm always ready." Emily answered. Alex rolled his eyes. "Just don't be mad when I top you this time." Alex stated. Emily punched him on his arm and they both broke out into laughter. They joined Ash in the hanger. "You two ready?" Ash asked and they nodded. "Alright. All units prepare for battle." Ash ordered.
The ships flew into the planets orbit in battle formation. They flew down to the surface towards the Outpost. As they came closer, rebel starfighters flew out of the Outpost towards them. "Fighters, take care of those fighters while we go into the base." Ash ordered. "Yes sir!" They said. The hanger doors opened to the ships. They all jumped out of the ships and used their jetpacks to fly towards the Outpost. Behind them they saw their fighters engaged in combat against the rebels.
Once they entered the Outpost, they were met by multiple rebel soldiers. They engaged in battle. They took cover behind some crates and fired at the rebels. "Emily, Alex, initiate battle tactic 9Z." Ash said and they nodded. They flew out of cover and threw explosives around the rebels surrounding them. They threw a smoke grenades around them blinding the rebels. They flew back to cover with the other soldiers. "Alright, we need six of you to come with us while the rest of you finish things up here." Ash ordered. Six soldiers volunteered and they headed for the inner Outpost.
They ran down the halls of the Outpost taking out rebel soldiers along the way. They came across a big dark room. They walked around the dark room but saw nothing. "I don't like this." Alex said. "Me neither." Emily added. Then the sights turned on. They looked behind them and saw a rebel tank. "Well this ain't gonna be good." Emily stated. "Everyone focus fire!" Ash ordered. They flew in the air and started blasting the tank. The tank fired blast bolts at them from all directions. They flew around the tank trying get out of the tanks aim. Then the tank fired its main cannon and it barley missed them. "That was way too close for comfort!" Alex said. "Try and get around it! We'll try and get it from all sides!" Ash ordered. They flew from different sides of the tank but blaster fire cut them off. Emily threw a bomb and the tank but it got blasted in the air sending her back. She landed on the ground on one knee. She looked up and saw the tank right in front of her.
"Emily!" Alex shouted. He pushed Emily out of the way and he was blasted in the torso sending him into the wall. "Alex!!" Emily shouted. Ash flew his jetpack on top of the tank. He grabbed both his lightsabers and started to cut a hole in the tank. Once the hole was open, he a bomb inside and jumped off. The bomb went off and smoke came out of the tank. Ash then sliced the legs off. "Now!" He shouted and Ash and his soldiers fired rockets at the tank making it explode.
Ash ran over to Alex and Emily. Alex was in Emily's lap clutching his side while Emily held his hand. "How is he?" Ash asked. "Not good." Alex said. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay." Emily reassured holding his hand tight. "I need a ship down here now."ordered in his com. "On our way sir." A pilot answered. "You two. Take him back to the ship." Ash ordered his soldiers and they nodded. They gently picked Alex up off of Emily's back and walked him back. Emily was about to follow but Ash stopped her. "No. The mission comes first. We need to do this first." He said. Emily took her helmet off to show him her worried took as tears went down her face. "Ash please. I need to go make sure he's okay." Emily told him looking down. Ash took off his helmet and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Listen, I get it. Seeing someone you care about get hurt can be hard and you wanna make sure he's okay, but we still need you to hack the rebel system. Alex will be fine, trust me." Ash said. Emily raised her head and gave Ash a nod. They both put their helmets back on and they continued forward.
After running threw halls, they finally made it to the rebel command center. "Alright Emily, you're up." Ash said. "You got it boss." Emily said and plugged in the encryption key in the terminal. "Alright done." Emily said. "That was quick." Ash stated. "Well it wasn't hard. The rebels don't have that many encryption blocks like the Empire." Emily explained. "Sir, we just got word from the others. They said the rest of the rebels have surrendered and the fighters have retreated." A soldier said. "Alright good lets head back." Ash said.
They walked back to the hanger bay. They saw rebel soldiers on their knees against the wall and Clan Bridger soldiers with guns drawn at them. They walked up to them and the soldiers saluted. "Sir, we got a incoming transmission from Yavin 4." A soldier said. "Put it though." Ash ordered. They put a holo transmitter on the ground and Mon Mothma appeared. "Bridger. How dare you attack a rebel base. You have no right." She said. "I'm a Mandalorian. I don't care what rights I have, me and my clan do whatever we want, and here's proof." Ash said. "General. You have to help us." A rebel said. "Shut up!" A soldier said and hit him upside the head with his gun.
"Oh, she's not gonna help you. She's willing to send people to their deaths to fight. I know that all to well." Ash told him. "You will never compare to the rest of us. You will get what you deserve." The rebel said. "Is that so? Well you can blame your deaths on your boss here." Ash said. He lifted his hand in the air and his soldiers aimed their blasters at the rebels. "Don't you dare!" Mothma said. "It's already been done." Ash said. He swung his hand down and his soldiers shot the rebels dead.
"Don't tell me you actually cared about their lives? Well it doesn't matter now. We warned you, you attack us and we retaliated. See you soon." Ash said and ended the transmission. "Alright everyone! We're heading home!" Ash said and they entered their ships and took off.
After the mission, Clan Bridger headed back to Concordia with a big win against the rebellion. Alex was asleep for most of the way back and Emily never left his side. When they got back, they put Alex in the medic wing of the base and Emily followed behind after being granted permission by Ash. Ash gave the encryption key to a soldier to take to the command center while he oversaw the soldiers unload the supplies they gathered.
Emily stood next to Alex as he was put under a x-ray scanner. "You sure he's gonna be okay? Pretending to need him really brings the team together." Emily asked the medic smirking at Alex as he rolled his eyes. "Well the blast gave him a scar. No internal bleeding or no sign of internal organs damaged." The medic said. "Well that's good." Alex stated. "However, I'd advise you to take it easy. You'll still be bruised a bit and if you push yourself you can get hurt." As the medic said that, Ash walked in. "Oh he's flatlining. Called it. Time!" Ash joked making Emily chuckle. "No no no, I'm gonna live forever. I'ma be made of Mandalorian material." Alex said chuckling. "You'll be fine as long as you don't strain yourself." The medic stated. "Hear that? So don't make me catch you doing too much work." Emily said. "Awww you do care." Alex joked. Emily smiled at him. "I'm just glad you're okay." She said and kissed his cheek making him blush. Ash gave a small laugh. "Well I'll leave you too be. Emily tomorrow, we'll go over our next plans, but for now rest." Ash said. "You got it." Emily said and Ash walked out.
7
Out of the medic wing, Ash met with lana . "Hey how's Alex?" lana asked. "Unfortunately he's still Alex." Ash said being sarcastic. "That's terrible." lana stated also being sarcastic and they both laughed. They walked into the throne room where Harper and Sarah was playing. When Harper and Sarah saw Ash, she smiled and ran over to hug him. Ash picked her up and hugged her close.
"Daddy I'm glad you're back." Harper and Sarah said. "I'm glad I'm back too. I missed being around you." Ash said. Then a soldier came in the room. "Sir, ma'am, we have visitors." He said. "Who?" lana asked. "It's your parents." The soldier said. Ash and lana 's eyes widened in shock. "Didn't know they were visiting." Ash said. "Neither did I. Lets go see them." lana said and they walked out of the room.
They walked out to the landing field and saw their ship landing. When the ramp opened, Ursa, Amari, Tristan and some other Clan Wren soldiers stepped out. Harper and Sarah ran over to them. "Grandma! Grandpa! Uncle!" She said and hugged Ursa. Ursa picked her up and hugged her. "It's good to see you Harper and Sarah." Ursa said smiling. Ash and lana walked up to them. "Mother, father, is something wrong?" lana asked. "No nothing. What we can't just come and visit our daughter, son in law and granddaughter without something being wrong." Amari said. "Your visits are always welcomed. How long do you plan on staying?" Ash asked. "Just for three days. We just wanted to stop by and see how things have been with you two." Ursa said. "Well come on in." lana said and they walked inside the base.
They were all in the throne room. Harper and Sarah wanted Tristan to play a game with her, lana and Ursa was talking by the thrones and Ash and Amari were talking by a window. "So I take it you've been busy with all this." Amari said. "Yeah. It's been great. Leading my Clan is tough sometimes but nothing I can't handle." Ash said as he looked over to lana then Harper and Sarah. "So is everything okay? lana says you've been doing a lot." Amari asked. "It's...complicated." Ash said. Amari put an arm around him. "Walk with me, son." He said and they walked outside.
They both stood on the balcony leaning over looking out to the surrounding area. "So what's been going on here?" Amari asked. "*sighs* It's the Rebellion. We had a run in with them." Ash told him. "When did this happen?" Amari asked. "A week ago. During a supply mission the rebels came into our sector. Demanded us to give them the cargo." Ash said. "Well did you?" Amari asked. "Of course not. We sent them running with their tails between their legs. And we continued to do that." Ash stated. "So what's got you so worked up?" Amari asked.
"I'm worried. The first time the rebellion came to our planet and attacked us. Obviously we won and they retreated but. I'm just worried that one day while I'm gone, they come back in full force and numbers or worse and actually destroy our home and take my family from me. I can't imagine being in a world knowing that I might let them down and they got hurt or worse." Ash explained clenching his fist. Amari put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Try not to stress over it. You've made it this far without worrying too much over it, why start now." Amari said. "But didn't you feel the same way with lana and Ursa?" Ash asked. "Oh yeah. When I found out Ursa was pregnant with lana , I never wanted to leave her side, but I knew that things had to be done around my base, and I knew that my wife was extremely capable of handling herself in a situation. And when lana was around Harper and Sarah's age, I was always being over protective with both of them and I never wanted to let anything happen to them. But you have to have faith that if anything happens, you know your family can handle themselves and you will have their back no matter what." Amari explained. Ash felt like a weight was lifted off of him and he smiled. "Thanks. I needed to hear that." He said. "I'm always here to talk." Amari stated.
"What are you two talking about?" A voice asked from behind. They looked back and saw lana and Ursa walking to them. "Just giving out some fatherly advice." Amari said putting an arm around Ash. "Well I hope it's good advice." lana said. "Hey when have my advice been bad?" Amari asked. "Do you really want me to narrow down the list." lana stated. "Ursa help me out here." Amari asked his wife. She chuckled. "Sorry. You're on your own on that one." Ursa said. "Oh ha ha you're so funny. C'mere you." Amari said pulling Ursa by the waist and started to slowly kiss her. "Amari. Not in front of the kids." Ursa said but was enjoying it. "Let them look." Amari said still kissing her. "How long until they realise they're too old for that." Ash whispered to lana . Amari and Ursa stopped and Amari stared at Ash. "Boy." He said. lana laughed. "He's just joking father. His sense of humor is one of many things why I love him." lana said and kissed Ash. "Alright come on. Lets head back inside." Ursa said and they all walked back inside.
The next day, Ash woke in his bed by the sun starting to rise in his window. He was about to get up when he felt a weight on his chest. He looked and saw lana was on top of him sleeping on his bare chest. He smiled and kissed her on top of her head. He began gently stroking her cheek waking her up. "*yawns* morning Ash." lana said. "Morning. Sleep well?" Ash asked. "Yeah. What can I say, you're more comfortable than a pillow." lana answered and they started slowly kissing each other. They were making out with each other for five minutes until Ash stopped. "We gotta go over the intel we got from the rebel outpost." He said. "Right." lana said. They both got up and started to put on there clothes and armor. They left their room and went to Harper and Sarah's room. Once they got their they saw Harper and Sarah was still sleep. They smiled and closed the door.1
They went to the throne room and saw Ursa, Amari and Tristan there waiting for them. "Hey what are you guys doing in here?" lana asked. "We were waiting on you. What are you two going to do today?" Tristan said. "Well yesterday, we raid a rebel outpost and stole all their data. We're about to go to the command center to go over it." Ash said. "Sounds interesting. Mind if we join in the meeting?" Amari asked. "Why not. Come on, I'm about to call it in." Ash answered and they all walked to the command center.1
Elsewhere
Emily was still in the medical center with Alex. They were talking for a little bit until Emily's com beeped. "That's probably Ash calling for the briefing." She said. "Alright lets go." Alex said. He tried to get up but Emily pushed him back down. "Uh-Uh. You're still healing. You need rest." Emily told him. "Ah c'mon, the docs already cleared me to leave." Alex said. "But they also said that you need take it easy." Emily said. "But I-" Alex was about to say but Emily cut him off. "Don't make me put you to sleep so you can rest." She said and Alex slouched back down. "Fine. Make sure you don't get hurt on any mission without me. Don't wanna see you get hurt." Alex told her. Emily smiled and kissed him on the lips. "There's your reassurance." Emily said and walked out.1
After a few minutes, Emily ran into the command center next to Ash and lana . "Sorry I'm late boss." She said. It's fine lets began." Ash said and turned on the holo table they were around. "Okay so the data we got from the outpost was rock solid. They are a few rebel bases we can hit on a few planets that we can attack without heavy resistance." Emily explained as a few planets and star charts appeared. Ash looked at one and pointed it out. "What's this one?" He asked. "It's called Paucris Major. This planet is unfamiliar to me." Emily said.
"But not to me I suppose." Amari said and everyone turned to him. "That planet houses a lot of decommissioned battle ships over the years." Amari said. "How do you know father?" lana asked. "It's writing down in Mandalorian history: during the Mandalorian, Sith and Jedi wars, Mandalore had a mass number of warships in hand. The warships was the most powerful ships in the galaxy and were the fiercest too. It fleet was under the command of Tarre Vizsla of House Vizsla. He lead the warships in many battles and was victorious in all. But sadly after the that war ended the warships were put out of commission for many years." Amari explained.
Ash thought about this intel and got an idea. "What if we go to this planet and take the Mandalorian warships? Think about it; we have theses at our disposal, not even the Empire can defeat us and certainly not the Rebellion." He said. "That's a good thought." Ursa stated. "I agree lets do this." lana added. "Okay. But before we do go, we'll need a lot more power cells than what we got lying around." Ash said.
"Oh we can use the Kyber Crystal we stole from the Empire to power up the ships. And I've been going over Imperial logs and it from what I read, they found at least five more huge Kyber Crystals and I know where and when they'll be shipped to." Emily explained. "Alright then that's our plan. In a few hours we'll head out to theses Kyber Crystals and take them for ourselves." Ash said. "You're not going alone." Amari said. "Yeah I'll go too." Tristan added. "You sure you want to go Amari?" Ursa asked. "Ah we'll be alright. Besides this will be a good chance to have some fun with my two sons." Amari said wrapping his arms around both Ash and Tristan's shoulders. "Good. Emily make sure our men our ready and waiting." Ash ordered. "You got it boss." Emily said and they all walked out of the command center.
Everyone was ready and prepared to head out. Ash, Emily, Tristan and Amari were set to leave in a few moments. lana , Ursa, Harper and Sarah and Alex walked towards them.
"So how long do you think you all will be gone?" lana asked. "Giving the places Emily said we had to go, a while probably." Ash answered. lana had a sad look on her face. "Hey don't worry. We'll be okay." Ash reassured her. lana smiled and hugged him.
"I still wish I could come with you." Alex told Emily. "But you still have to heal." Emily said. "But like I said I feel fine." Alex said. "Oh yeah." Emily said and punched him in the torso where he got shot at. Alex grunted by the pain. "Well do ya? Huh?" She punched him again in the same spot. "Okay!" Alex said grabbing both her arms. "Come on. This is me you're trying to lie to. Just focus on getting better so you can be at your game." Emily told him. "*signs* fine. Just promise me you'll be okay." Alex said. "Don't I will. You know I will." Emily said and kissed him.
"You sure you don't need me to come with you on this?" Ursa asked. "Nah, lana 's gonna need you here while we're gone you here to help in case of an attack." Amari said. "Well then, I wish you both luck. Tristan be nice to your brother in law on this mission." Ursa said. "Yeah, I know mother. Well be okay." Tristan said. Ursa smiled and kissed Tristan on the forehead and placed her hands on both their shoulders. "I love you both." She said and hugged them and kissed Amari. "We love you too." They both said.
3
"Daddy are gonna be gone for long?" Harper and Sarah asked. "Yes. I have to be gone for awhile." Ash told her. "But I don't want you to leave for long." Harper and Sarah said sadly. Ash kneeled down to her and placed hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. You know I could never be away from you for too long. You can always give me a call anytime you want and I'll always answer. And if you ever need me, I'll always be there." Ash reassured her. Harper and Sarah smiled and hugged her father tight and he kissed the top of her head. Ash got up and kissed lana on the lips. "See you soon. Love you." Ash said. "Love you too." lana said.
Ash, Emily, Tristan and Amari got on their ship and waved goodbye to the others. All the Clan Bridger ships took off from the planet. "Alright Emily, what's our first objective?" Ash asked. Emily pulled up a planet on a holo projector. "Our first planet is located in the outer rim system. It's called Teth. The Empire shipped the First Kyber Crystal to this planet on its remote research base. It will take us at least 10 hours to get there." Emily explained. "Alright, all ships prepare to jump." Ash ordered in his com and all the ships jumped into hyperspace.
It had been almost ten hours since they left for the planet Teth. Mostly everyone was sleeping trying to rest themselves before they got their. All except Ash. He stayed awake most of the way. He laid in bed looking at the ceiling of his room. His thoughts were too preoccupied by his family. It had only been a few hours and he missed seeing their faces. The way lana always smiled at him. The way Harper and Sarah always knew how to bright up the room just by her presence. He loved everything about them. He sat up from his bed and grabbed something off his belt. It was a holo projector. He turned it on and it was a picture of his family on Harper and Sarah's 5th birthday.
He smiled at the picture feeling happy that he has a family like this.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. He used the force to open it and Emily stood at the doorway. "Hey Emily what is it?" Ash asked. "We're about to drop out of hyperspace over Teth in three minutes." Emily said. "Alright lets head to the cockpit." Ash said, he got up and left to the cockpit with Emily.
They entered the cockpit and saw Amari and Tristan already there waiting. "Just in time. We're coming out of hyperspace." Amari stated and the ships came out of hyperspace over Teth. When they saw the planet it had no blockade. "Why doesn't this planet have an imperial blockade?" Amari asked. "On the planet is a small research base. There is barely a military occupation on this planet. Just a science and research station." Emily explained. "Then this should be easy." Tristan stated. "Not likely. Here let me show you." Emily said and pulled up a holo projector of the research base. "Though the base is small, but it has a number of guards, vehicles and turrets. Their base is located at the top of this mountain. It looks like they build it over a ancient ruin. All we need is a plan to get in." Emily explained.5
"I've got an idea." Ash said and made the holo projector zoom out to the surrounding forest. "We land our forces a couple kilos away from the base. We walked threw the forest so not to alert them with our jetpacks and take out any patrols along the way. Once we get to the bottom of the mountain side, we'll ascend up using our jetpacks, catching them off guard. We clear out the court yard and make our way though the base killing every imperial on sight. We figure out where the Kyber Crystal is and once the base is clear, we call in the transports for pick up." Ash explained. "That's a good plan." Amari said. "Yeah let's do this!" Emily added pounding her fist together. "Always the hyped one aren't ya Em." Ash chuckled. "It's how I am." Emily stated. "All ships land at these coordinates." Ash ordered in his com.
All ships landed in the on the outskirts in the forest. Ash, Emily, Tristan and Amari walked out of their ship and other Clan Bridger members walked out of their ships. "Pilots, stay here and wait for my signal." Ash ordered. "Yes sir." They all said in the coms. Ash gestured everyone to move out into the forest.
They all ran quickly and quietly though the forest. It was dark so they switched to night vision to see better. As they were ran Ash lifted his hand in the air and everyone stopped. He tapped on the side of his helmet gesturing them to listen. They all heard distant chatter not far from them. Most of the soldiers got out their blasters and got into a ready stance. Ash put his hand behind them telling them to hold their positions. He then gestured Emily to come next to him. When Emily got next to him, he pointed up to the trees and Emily nodded.
They both jumped jumped into the trees. They jumped across branch from branch until they looked down to see five stormtroopers on the ground. Once they were right over them. Ash jumped down ignited both his lightsabers and cutting the heads off of two troopers, he quickly deactivated his lightsabers and disappeared in the dark. The stormtroopers were looking around asking each other questions. Emily came up behind one and stabbed him in the helmet with her knife and disappeared. Ash ignited his lightsabers from behind the last two stormtroopers and cut their blasters in half. Emily came from behind one and stabbed him right in the back, Ash used his lightsabers and stabbed the last stormtrooper deep in the chest. "All clear. Lets move." Ash whispered in his com and they all kept moving.
After a few more minutes, they were at the mountain side. "Okay. If we head straight up is where the base is." Emily said. "Alright Clan Bridger. Ascend the mountain via jetpacks quietly. Once at the top, we engage." Ash said and they all nodded. They used their jetpacks to ascend to the top of the mountain slowly and carefully. The Imperials had spot lights and ties going around the mountain sides so they had to stop their ascend and hang onto the vines hanging on the side. Another tie patrol came around and Ash gestured everyone to stop and grab on to the vines. Thanks to the dark night, the imperials couldn't see them on the mountain. Once the ties left they continued their ascent.
They were finally underneath the cliff of the base. "Everyone ready?" Ash asked and they all nodded. "On three. One.....Two.....Three!" Ash said and the attack began. They all flew in the air above the cliff and fired their rockets at the troopers. The alarms went off all around the base and stormtroopers flooded the landing pad. All Clan Bridger soldiers fired at all the Imperial troops as they came forward. Most of Clan Bridger threw bombs knocking the troopers off the landing pad and others charged forward for hand to hand combat. Ash and his forces pushed though to the court yard where AT-STs were. They walkers fired at them but missed. Amari and Tristan led some forces in the air and firing at the walkers. Ash and Emily stayed on the ground with the others and delt with the remaining stormtroopers. After they destroyed the AT-STs, they heard huge stomping.
They looked to see a AT-AT walker heading for them. It fired its cannons at them and barely missed. Ash jumped out of his cover and ran towards the giant walker igniting both his lightsabers. Once he got close, Ash threw his lightsabers in the air and they sliced the legs of the walker. Ash force jumped in the air catching both his lightsabers and landing on top of the walker. He cut a circle into the walker and jumped inside. Once he jumped inside he was met by some stormtroopers. Ash swung his lightsabers cutting and slicing all the stormtroopers. Once he was done he began cutting the engines with his lightsabers. He ran to the front and killed both pilots of the walker. He sliced the controls and threw a bomb inside neck. Ash cut a hole into the roof of the walker and jumped out. When he jumped out, the back of the walker started to explode and the walker was falling forward. Ash jumped off landing on the ground as the walker landed right behind him.
Okay that was pretty cool." Tristan said. "Cool? It was awesome! Ash always like doing things in style." Emily corrected him. "Alright lets clear out the rest of the base." Ash ordered. "Yes sir!" His soldiers shouted.
Sunrise
It was an all nighter, but it was worth it. They destroyed the remaining imperials and searched the base for the Kyber Crystal. Ash, Amari and Tristan were outside in the court yard when they got a transmission from Emily. "Go ahead." Ash said. "Boss, we found it." Emily said and Ash, Amari and Tristan walked inside the base. They made it to Emily's location and found her and other solders surrounding a large glowing crate. Ash walked up to it and saw it. "Yep. That's a Kyber Crystal." Ash said. "How can you tell?" Tristan asked. "My connection to the force lets me tell if this is an actually Kyber Crystal or not. And this is definitely real." Ash explained. "Nice work everyone. Lets load this up on the ship." Ash ordered.
Once they got the Crystal on board one of the ships. They took off from the base. "Hey Ash. Check this out." Emily said. She lifted her wrist and pressed a button and the base exploded. "Ha! You've spent way too much time with lana ." Ash stated. "Yeah only my daughter can make an explosion like that." Amari added. "I like making things go 'boom'. What can I say." Emily said and they all chuckled.
Once out of Teth's orbit, everyone was waiting on the next set of coordinates. "Alright Emily. Where to now?" Ash asked. "The next planet we go to is called Sullest. The information said that their is one Kyber Crystal in an Imperial supply factory. It should take us at least 48 hours to get their." Emily explained. "Alright that's our next objective. All ships make the jump." Ash ordered and all the Clan Bridger ships entered hyperspace.
It had been 47 hours since they left for the planet Sullest. It was a boring ride but it was necessary. Some went over weapons and gear, some slept and others stayed awake not knowing how to settle with their boredom. Emily and Tristan were arm wrestling each other and Amari and Ash was playing holochess.
"Alright, that's checkmate." Ash said as his chess piece destroyed Amari's last chess piece. "Well, the student beats the master." Amari said scratching the back of his neck. "But you got lucky." He added. Ash rolled his eyes. They took their gaze off each other to Emily and Tristan. Emily used all his strength to slam Tristan's hand to the table. "Boom! I win!" Emily shouted proudly. Tristan rubbed his hand in pain. "Holy cow Ash. You know how to pick your people." Tristan said. "She's the best there is at what she does." Ash said. Then Ash's com started to beep. "That's my cue. I gotta take this." Ash said and grabbed his helmet and left.
Ash went into his cabin and closed the door behind him. He set his helmet on the ground and pressed a button on the side. Then a holo image appeared of lana . "Hey Ash." She said. "Hey lana . How are things back at base?" Ash asked. "It's fine. Things are slow around here. The rest of the Clan misses your. And so do I." lana told him. "I know. But don't worry, we're almost done. We just gotta go to the planet Sullest for the next Kyber Crystal. Then one more planet and we'll be ready for our mission." Ash explained. "That's good. It's just you've been taking so much responsibilities over the time and that makes me worry." lana said. "lana there's no need to be worried about me." Ash told her. "Ash you're my husband. I'm supposed to be worried about you. If something's bothering you, you can tell me anything." lana said. "*sighs* all this rebellion stuff just reminds me of them." Ash said sadly. lana didn't need to ask who he was talking about and looked down. "I know. I miss them too." She said. "You know there still with us right?" lana asked. "Yeah I know. They would love how we turned out. Us getting married, starting our own clan and having a daughter." Ash said and lana smiled. "Speaking of which, where's Harper and Sarah?" Ash asked. "She's sleep right now. She didn't want to go to sleep because she wanted to see you but she was too tired to stay awake." lana told him. "I bet. She's just like me." Ash stated and lana gave a small laugh.
Then Ash's com beeped. "Go ahead." Ash said. "Ash we're almost at Sullest. Five more minutes." Emily said. "Alright thanks Em." Ash said and turned his attention back to lana . "Guess you have to go huh?" lana asked. "Yeah sorry." Ash apologized. "It's fine. Go do what you do best." lana said. They smiled at one another. They both reached their hand out to one another to touch one another. "I love you." Ash said. "I love you too." lana said back. They both ended the transmission and Ash grabbed his helmet and left the room.
As Ash walked into the cockpit, all the ships came out of Hyperspace over the planet Sullest. The planet was being guarded by one star destroyer. "Why does the planet look like that?" Tristan asked. "It's a lava planet. The report said that the Empire uses this planet to fuel their, well, almost everything in the Empires arsenal." Emily explained. "Pilots. Take us down at theses coordinates." Ash ordered. "Yes sir." They said. They flew passed the star destroyer undetected and into orbit.
As they were flying through the clouds, Emily pulled up a holo map of the Imperial base where the next Kyber Crystal was. "Ok, so we know the Kyber Crystal is being held in the lower levels of the base. In the power room. We can enter the base in two ways. One: we go in through the hanger bay of the base and blast every last stormtrooper we see. Or two: we can go in threw the back of the base where the landing pad is and we can sneak in the base." Emily explained. "Both are good plans but from what I can see, this base is heavily guarded by stormtroopers and it will be a hard job to do." Amari said. "Well how else are we gonna do this?" Tristan asked.
"I may have an idea." Ash said. "What kind of idea?" Amari asked. "We divide and conquer. Tristan and Amari can lead a team to attack to hanger bay, while me and Emily enter in the back and get the Kyber Crystal and call in the transport to come pick it up." Ash explained. "It'll be a risky operation." Tristan said. "Ain't nothing we hadn't done before. Our guys can handle it." Emily said. "Is everyone good on the plan?" Ash asked and everyone nodded. "Alright. Lets go." Ash said.
All the ships were closing on the base. Ash and Emily jumped out of their ship and flew using their jetpacks out of sight. "Okay everyone. Once we are close enough to the base, we'll jump out and engage the ground forces and before they can react, we'll destroy their fighters before they can launch. Remember, Ash and Emily need a clear path inside the base to get the Cyber Crystal so we'll be the distraction. Is that clear?" Amari explained. "Yes sir." The soldiers said. "Good. Prepare for battle."
As they were in range of the base, the fighters fired rockets at the base's hanger bay. They ramps opened and Clan Bridger forces flew out with jetpacks and began their attack. Some flew in the air and some landed on the rocky lava ground. They fired their rickets at all the tie fighters destroying them all. Imperial walkers mobilized and attacked. The firefight sounded the alarms on the base and more stormtroopers flooded the hanger bay. "Ash, Emily. It looks like the distraction is working." Amari said in his com.
At the back of the base, Ash and Emily killed a stormtrooper patrol and opened the door to the base. "Good. Me and Emily are in. Hold out as long as you can." Ash told Amari in his com. "Don't worry. It doesn't look like the Empire is winning this one." Tristan stated. "Keep it up and wait for my signal." Ash said and ended the transmission. "Okay. I got a read on the Crystal. It's this way." Emily told him. "Okay lets go." Ash said and they ran threw the base.
They ran threw the hallways of the base either going pass or killing stormtroopers. While running Emily was tossing bombs on walls on every corner. After a few minutes of running, they finally found the power room and the Kyber Crystal. "It that the one?" Emily asked. Ash walked up to the Crystal. He placed a hand on it and closed his eyes under his helmet. "This is the right one." He said. Emily walked up to it and activated the cart it was one. "Nice work Emily. One last one and were done." Ash said placing a hand on her shoulder.
Then Ash felt something through the force, something dark. "Boss what's wrong?" Emily asked. "Someone's here." He said.
"Indeed there is!" A voice said. Ash and Emily looked behind them. They saw someone in what looked like Mandalorian armor with a hood. "Who are you?" Ash asked. "My name is Seth. I've been looking forward to meeting you, Ash Bridger." Seth said. "A bounty hunter?" Emily asked.
"Guess again." Seth said and ignited his lightsaber.
Ash and Emily stood before the so called Mandalorian know as Seth has he pulled out a red lightsaber. Emily pulled out her blasters and started shooting at Seth. Seth blocked all her blast with ease and shot one back at her as Emily stumbled back. Ash caught her before she fell down. "Are you an Inquisitor?" Ash asked. "No. More like a Sith Assassin. Trained by Darth Vader himself." Seth said.
"So you're here for me?" Ash asked. "Yes. I've been tasked to bring you to Lord Vader alive. So I suggest that you come with me willingly or there will be pain involved if I have to take you by force." Seth told him. "That sounds like a threat." Ash stated. "See it as you want but I came here for you and I don't care how I make you come." Seth said.
Ash grabbed both his lightsabers and ignited them. "Emily get the Kyber Crystal out of here. I'll hold him off." Ash said. "No way. I wanna help you fight him. We can take him together." Emily protested. "I can handle him. Just focus on the mission." Ash said. Although Emily didn't want to leave him, she had to get the Crystal out of here. She grabbed the cart and pushed it to the door. "Good luck. And be careful." She said to Ash, he nodded and Emily left.
Ash turned his attention back to Seth. "Ah. A fight it will be then. Lets see if what they say about you being a powerful jedi are true." Seth said. "Lets hope you're ready." Ash said. They ran towards each other and clashed their lightsabers.
Emily ran through the halls of the base with the Kyber Crystal on tow in a cart. She pulled out her comm and talked into it. "This is Emily. I want a ship at the back landing pad of the base ASAP." She said. "Yes ma'am. We're on our way." A pilot said. She then got another call on her comm. "Emily, it's Amari. Where's Ash? He's not picking up his comm." Amari asked. "We ran into some trouble in the power room. I got the Kyber Crystal with me and heading to the exfil." Emily explained. "Wait what kind of trouble?" Amari asked. "It was some kind of Mandalorian Sith Assassin there with us. Ash is dealing with him at the moment. When the Kyber Crystal is safe in our possession, I'll meet up with you and we can meet up with Ash." Emily said. "Alright. We're almost done with the Imperials here. We'll be waiting." Amari said. "Copy that. Good luck." Emily said. She put her comm away and continued to run.
Ash and Seth clashed their lightsabers back and forward against each other. Ash swung his lightsabers up and down as Seth swung his and went for a kick. Ash backflipped away from the kick and rushed him for another attack. As they clashed again, they both used the force to push each other back. They both got up and stared at each other through their helmets. "I'm impressed. You got some good skills." Ash complemented. "Yes Lord Vader's training pays tribute to my skills." Seth stated. "I bet. By the way, like the armor. Where did you get it?" Ash asked. "If you're wondering if I stole this and claimed it as my own, then no. I forged this armor with my Clan a long time ago. My Clan was the mightiest clan in the Old Republic. And it had great tides to the Sith." Seth explained.
"So what Clan are you from?" Ash asked. "You'll find out soon enough." Seth said and went for the attack. Ash blocked his attacks and went for attacks of his own. He jumped in the air and threw his lightsabers at Seth. Seth blocked the lightsabers and they flew back into Ash's hands. Ash landed behind Seth. Seth tried the attack Ash from behind but Ash swung his lightsabers behind his head and blocked his attack. Ash rolled over and kicked Seth in the chest and got back up. Ash then used the force to pick Seth up and throw him into a terminal. Seth got back up and cracked his neck.
"Impressive. Using Mandalorian and Jedi moves against me. I like that." Seth said. "Well, I'm just that good at what I what I do." Ash said. "Good. Then I guess I should stop holding back then." Seth said. He used the force to grabbed Ash. Ash was lifted in the air and felt like he was being crushed by a giant hand. Then Seth threw him into the wall and Ash went through it and made a hole.
Seth used his jetpack to fly in front of the hole in the wall. "Hmm. Guess I should have held back some. Oh well I guess this fight is over and now, you're coming with me." Seth said. Before he could react, a cable shot out and grabbed Seth by the arm. Ash emerged from out of nowhere. "You were saying." He said and pulled Seth into the hole. Seth got up and brushed himself off. "Guess I underestimate your armor." Seth said. "This armor's tougher than it looks." Ash said tapping his armor plate with his fist. "And I guess I need to stop underestimating you as well." He added. "Well round two shall we." Seth said. Ash and Seth clashed again.
Emily made it to the back landing pad. She saw the ship landing on the landing pad in front of her. Two Mandalorians walked out and helped her get the Kyber Crystal on board. "Are you ready to go?" The soldier asked. "No. I'm gonna go check on the other team. Get that Crystal outta here and back to the rest of the squadron." Emily ordered. "Yes ma'am." They said and got on the ship and it lifted off. Emily activated her jetpack and flew off to the front.
Emily flew to the front and saw blaster fire going in all directions. She saw destroyed walkers, smoke from destroyed turrets and Clan Bridger in the center of it all. "I love our clan." Emily said to herself.
She saw Amari and Tristan and flew down to them. She landed next to them in cover. "So, you guys been busy." Emily stated. "Yeah well, their was a lot of them before." Tristan said. "Well I say we finish them." Emily said. "Indeed." Amari added.
Five minutes later
After the last of the stormtroopers were defeated, Emily, Amari, Tristan and Clan Bridger stood inside the hanger bay waiting on the ships to arrive and Ash. "So a Mandalorian Sith Assassin named Seth is in a fight with Ash right now?" Amari asked. "From what he said yeah. We need to go find him so we can leave." Emily said. Before anyone could reply, they saw a wall be slammed in and Ash flew out of it landing on one knee.
"Ash. Are you okay?" Emily asked. Ash got up and brushed dust off his shoulder plates. "Yeah, nothing broken." He said. Then out of the hole in the wall Seth emerged with red lightsaber in hand. He looked around and saw the other members of Clan Bridger. "Ah the infamous Clan Bridger. The strongest clan in the Mandalore sector. I have to say, you all are good. All theses troopers defeated by you all and not one causality. Most impressive." Seth said. "Well we aim to please. Now where were we." Ash said pointing one of his lightsabers at Seth.
They ran to each other and clashed another time. They swung their lightsabers at each other with power and speed. Ash jumped over Seth and strike him with his lightsabers but Seth dodged. While all this happening, Clan Bridger stood and watched on the sidelines. They knew that Mandalorian law and code says that no one can interfere with a fight, so they stood in amazement at their leader in action.
Then the ships came and landed. "The ships are here, everyone on!" Amari ordered and they all got on the ships. "Boss lets go!" Emily shouted. Ash pushed Seth back with the force and Seth hit the wall. "Well looks like this is the end of our little battle." Ash said. "Don't think this is the end Bridger. We will meet again." Seth said. Ash dropped two smoke bombs and as the smoke appeared, Ash disappeared and onto a ship.
Seth saw the ships take off into orbit. He let out a chuckle and said, "I'm gonna have fun with you Bridger. Next time we meet, it will be a battle to live for." And he left to his ship.
Clan Bridger ships exited the planets orbit and waited for the last set of coordinates. "Alright Emily. One more planet. Is that right?" Ash asked. "Yep. What's different about this planet is that it's deep in Empire territory. It's housing two Kyber Crystals on the planet. Also it will take us 1 week to get their." Emily explained. "Okay what's the name of the planet?" Ash asked. "It's called...Ilum." Emily said. "Okay. All ships lock on to theses coordinates and prepare to jump." Ash ordered. "Yes sir!" The pilots said together.
"So boss do you think we'll see Seth again?" Emily asked. "Probably so. But we'll be ready for him. Count on that." Ash said. All Clan Bridger ships entered hyperspace on their way to Ilum.
Three days have passed and Clan Bridger is still in hyperspace on their way to Ilum where the next two Kyber Crystals. The passed three days felt like an eternity for everyone on the ships. They couldn't wait to have so type of action.
Emily was staring off at the hyperspace lanes in one of the pilot chairs. She was deep in thought staring off into space. Then Ash walked in the cockpit. "Hey boss." Emily said. "Hey Em. What're you doing still up?" Ash asked. "Just staring off. Doing nothing." Emily answered. Ash sat down in a pilot seat next to her. "You bored?" Ash asked. "Crazy bored. Never imagined getting Kyber Crystals can been this long and so much traveling. I want some action to happen." Emily said and Ash chuckled. "I know how you feel." Ash stated.
3
Ash then noticed that Emily was a bit off and was looking down. "What's wrong?" He asked. "I don't know. I just feel like that since Alex is not here, I don't feel complete." Emily said. "Do you miss him?" Ash asked. "Well yeah, in a best friend type of way." Emily said. "Best friend? That's not the way I saw it before we left and when Alex got injured." Ash said and Emily's face turned a bit red. "Yeah. We like each other a lot. Once we admitted how we felt about each other back home, it felt like a weight was lifted off my chest and everything made sense." Emily explained. "So, you love him?" Ash asked. It took awhile for her to answer but then she spoke up. "Yes. I do love him. And I just miss him so much." Emily said.
"Hey it's okay to feel theses things. It goes to show how much you care for someone. Go give a call." Ash said. "You think I should?" Emily asked. "Yeah. You don't need my permission. Go call him and go get some rest, you're gonna need it." Ash said placing a had on her shoulder. Emily smiled. "Thanks Ash." She said and walked out of the cockpit.
After a half of hour of silence in the cockpit the door opened. Ash turned around and saw Amari walk in. "What have you been up to?" Ash asked. "Mostly sleeping. Gotta keep my energy up for the last mission. What about you?" Amari said. "I've been sitting her just doing nothing." Ash said. Amari sat down in the pilot seat next to him. "So that Seth guy back on Sullest, you really think he's a Mandalorian?" Ash asked. "From the looks of his armor, yeah I say so. But what clan is he from." Amari said. "He didn't say. All he said was that he was a Mandalorian Sith Assassin. He wants to be mysterious, to throw us off our game." Ash said. "Yeah but one things for sure, he's got skills. If he can rival you in a fight, then he is trouble. I don't think I've ever seen you fight like that before." Amari told him.
"Yeah, it's been awhile. But I always keep my training up whenever I train Harper and Sarah in the force." Ash explained. "Hey speaking of which, isn't about time you called them." Amari said. "Right I'll go do that. Thanks for the reminder." Ash said and left.
Ash went into his room and shut the door. He placed his helmet on the ground and pressed the side button. After a short moment, lana appeared. "Hey Ash how goes the mission?" She asked. "It's been good. Ran into some trouble on Sullest but nothing we couldn't handle." Ash told her. "What kind of trouble?" lana asked getting concerned. "This guy named Seth. He's a Mandalorian Sith Assassin that works with Vader." Ash said. "Are you okay? Was anyone hurt?" lana asked. "No, no. Everyone's fine. I handle him but I doubt it'll be the last I see of him. But enough about me, how are things going?" Ash asked. "Good. Alex is back up and running again and has done a few supply missions for us. Mother is helping me around the base. Everything here is going smoothly." lana told him. Ash smiled.
"Mommy! Is that daddy!" A little voice said. "Yes come say hi." lana said. Harper and Sarah appeared in view and had a big smile. "Hi daddy! Are you still on the big mission?" She asked. "Hi Harper and Sarah. Yes I am but don't worry I'll be home soon so I can see you and mommy." Ash said. "I can't wait. I miss you." Harper and Sarah said. Ash kneeled down to her. "Daddy misses you too. Don't worry I'll be back to see you soon." Ash said and Harper and Sarah smiled.
Harper and Sarah then yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Aww someone's getting sleepy." lana said and picked Harper and Sarah up. "Mommy I'm not *yawns* tired." Harper and Sarah said resting her head on lana 's chest. Then Ash yawned. "Now I'm tired." He stated and lana chuckled. "Well I better go put her to bed and let you rest. Say bye to daddy Harper and Sarah." lana said. "*yawns* Bye Daddy." Harper and Sarah said. "Bye Harper and Sarah. Talk to you later lana . Love you." Ash said. "Love you more Ash." lana said and blew him a kiss. Ash smiled and reached his hand out to them as the transmission ended. Ash laid down in his staring at the ceiling as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
It was almost time for Clan Bridger to jump out of hyperspace over the planet Ilum. Everyone was excited and ready to get this done. Ash, Emily, Tristan and Amari were in the cockpit going over their battle plan.
"Alright Emily where are the Kyber Crystals being held at?" Ash asked. "They are being held inside a large Imperial compound in the western hemisphere of the planet. The planet is being guarded by one star destroyer and it has only a few turrets protecting it." Emily explained. "That much? What could they possibly be doing on that planet?" Amari asked. "That's unclear. Scans picked up a lot of massive energy on the planet besides to Crystals." Emily told them. "Lets not worry about that now. Is there anything else about the planet?" Ash asked. "Only that the data logs say that there was something big inside this mountain that they was investigating." Emily explained and pulled up the mountain.
"That's not a mountain. It's a Jedi Temple." Ash said. "How do you know?" Tristan asked. Ash grabbed something out of his back belt pouch and placed it on the table.
"Is that a Jedi Holocron?" Amari asked. "Yeah. It belonged to my master. It tells me all the locations of every Jedi Temple in the galaxy. Every since the Jedi fell, the Empire has been hunting down all the temples and either destroying them or building bases on them." Ash explained. "So that's why the Empire is on this planet." Emily said. "That's not all. It was told that the this temple holds a mass amount of Kyber Crystals deep in the caverns of the temple. I believe this is how the Empire keeps on collecting Kyber Crystals." Ash said.
"Right. That explains it. But why? What could they be building that they need the power of the Kyber Crystals?" Tristan asked. "I don't know but whatever it is, it's obviously nothing good." Ash said. "Sir we're coming out of hyperspace over Ilum." A pilot informed. They all looked out the window and saw as the hyperspace lains disappeared and the large white planet appeared.
"What did the Empire do to this planet?" Amari asked. "They mined the planet for the Kyber Crystals. They digged so deep and so wide that it was seen from orbit. People call it, The Imperial Trench." Emily said. "Man if this is what the Empire does for power, I'm glad we're not apart of it." Tristan stated.
The Clan Bridger ships flew into the planets orbit. It was a small snow storm blowing through the air as the ships flew in the sky. "Pilots, can the ships handle this snow storm?" Ash asked. "Yes sir. We can land down wherever you want." The pilot said. "Good. Land us on top of the mountain where the Jedi Temple is." Ash ordered. "Yes sir." They said.
The ships landed on top of the mountain over the Jedi Temple. Ash, Emily, Amari, Tristan and Clan Bridger soldiers walked out of their ships. "Alright everyone. Gather around." Ash said and everyone walked up to him. "Alright the Imperial base is over that far cliff side. Once we get the the cliff, scout a plan of attack. Is everyone clear?" Ash explained. "Yes sir!" The soldiers said. "Good, now let's move. Keep a low profile. The Empire will likely have probes in the area, we don't want to alert them of our presence yet." Ash added and they all started to walked.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached the cliff side. Ash gestured everyone to get low and they did. Ash, Emily, Amari and Tristan approached the edge and looked down at the Imperial base.
"Well it's big that's for sure." Tristan stated. Emily looked threw her binoculars and saw the base layout. "Yeah. I see stormtroopers patrolling and guard, Imperial scout walkers and heavy turrets." Emily explained. "I can tell this mission is gonna be harder than the last ones." Amari said. "Yeah but we'll get through it. Emily switch to x-ray and find out where the Crystals are." Ash said. "Already on it boss." Emily said. Emily scanned every inch of the base until she found it. "Got it. They're in the east wing of the base." She said.
"So what's the plan? Divide and concur like last time?" Tristan asked. "No. Too many troopers to have our forces to split up like that. We need a different approach." Ash said. "Hey boss I think I see our different approach." Emily said. "Where?" Ash asked. "Over in the outskirts. Look." Emily said. Ash looked where she was looking and saw a patrol of walkers approaching the base.
"See. If we can hijack two of them, we can infiltrate the base with their own vehicles." Emily explained. "Nice call Emily. That will be a great advantage for us. Lets go prep the men." Ash said and they walked over to the others to discuss the plan.
The plan was simple; sneak around the Imperial Walkers while it's still far out their base. Ash and Emily take one team to hijack one walker while Amari and Tristan take another team to hijack another. They place bombs on the other two and enter the base undetected. Once they got inside the bases gates, they trigger the bombs on the first two walkers and create chaos with the ones they hijacked. Once that happens, Ash and Emily exit from their walker and enter the base, find the Kyber Crystals and get out.
Clan Bridger was waiting not far on a snow hill for the large walkers to march pass. Once the first two passed they used their jetpacks to fly towards the two behind them. Emily took a team to place the bombs on the first two while Ash, Amari and Tristan hijack the other two walkers.