Saga of the Bridgers-Year 7

Chapter 28: Stowaway

August 22, 2227.

Ezra and Jaral couldn't get rid of the feeling that their father was in grave danger, but there was no way to confirm it.

Right now, they had to worry about another fight: defending the Jedi volunteers that were rushing through the hail of blaster bolts to rescue the screaming wounded of both sides.

As Ezra spotted two Abednedo in their orange suit rushing among the field of bodies, he also noticed that two groups of rebels and imperials were firing at each other right where the paramedics were heading.

Ezra dashed there and stood over the wounded, an imperial and a republican, and quickly deflected away a few bolts that risked hitting the rescuers. Seeing him towering over that area, clearly intent on stopping both sides from taking more lives, the foes redirected their shots. Ezra, on the other hand, ducked so he could help drag the victims in a safer position.

"We got them, Master. Thanks." one of the aliens said gratefully.

Ezra nodded and rushed back to the battle. He found Jaral still parrying blows at the forefront of the republican line, while the imperials were falling back after taking too many casualties.

"Cease fire!" a Republic officer ordered once all of the imperial survivors had already turned around: no need to waste more tibanna or to continue the massacre.

At that point, Ezra sent an all-clear message to Dhara, who showed up minutes later with a whole crew of medics and rescuers, beginning their grim and extremely admirable work while the Jedi took a breather.

Although, taking a breather in that room was quite just a metaphor: in reality, the stench of blaster-burned bodies was suffocating. Among the many things that made fighting such a large battle aboard a space station, the smell had to be one of the worst consequences. With so many people inside a single section, the ventilation system struggled to clean and recycle the air. To that, it had to be added the stink of explosives and charred durasteel all around, a mixture that, despite several days spent there, the Jedi were still not used to.

They sat at a corner of the republican line and both sighed exhausted as they dematerialized their armors. They stayed silent, for a brief moment. They both felt in need of expressing their thoughts loudly, so after searching for the right words, Jaral spoke first.

"What are we doing here?"

Just a few days before, Ezra wouldn't have hesitated to reply. Now, he did.

"We're helping."

"To do what? The Republic has already evacuated the shipyards. It's their Command that decided to keep this soldiers here to die." she replied coldly.

"Because they have a plan. You should know that better than me."

"I get it. And I'm sure Ackbar and the other thought this through, it's just...I don't know...they just decided that the best way to divert the imperials, was to lure them into this slaughterhouse."

Ezra didn't reply. Deep down, he detested the strategy of the Republic, too. And with the ever-growing feeling that their father might be in some grave danger, was this plan even working? He couldn't even reach Luke through telepathy, since his Padawan seemed to have willingly blocked his mind. A sign that he might need to hide, as well.

And the news from Ahsoka, Kota and the other major Jedi were not encouraging: their continued investigation clearly revealed that the half of the Empire still under Palpatine's control was putting all its gears toward the construction of the Death Star II, as the Order had nicknamed it.

For sure, they had considerably less resources than when they built the first one, but they had the knowledge and the core of the galactic economy to support it. In order to stop it, staying on Ringo Vinda seemed beneath them.