After

Chapter 10

Ezra's POV

The stars surrounding the Phantom blurred as we made the jump into hyperspace. Coruscant disappeared from view. 

I sat in the pilot's chair, switching spots with the Seventh Sister.  The Seventh Sister sat in the back part of the Phantom, programming her droids so we could call the Ghost without being tracked.

"I masked the signal," the Seventh Sister reported.

I stood and walked back to her. "Connect with the crew," I said.

"I need a frequency," the Seventh Sister said bluntly.

"Why?" I questioned.

"Well, do you want to talk to the Jedi who probably will not believe anything we say?" The Seventh Sister said, heavy with a sarcastic tone tone.

"I see your point."

I told the Seventh Sister the frequency Sabine had her wristpad set to.  I knew the frequency because Sabine had told me once on a mission a year ago.  I couldn't believed actually remembered it.

"Let's hope this works," the Seventh Sister muttered.

"Hey, Sabine is trustworthy!" I exclaimed.

"And what makes you so certain of that? She is the one who found the fake evidence I planted and automatically believed you were working for the Empire, isn't she?"

"That was different! Besides, she still believed in me!  She let me get away so I could prove my innocence!"

"That doesn't mean she trusted you."

"It means she gave me a chance and I know she wouldn't have meant for this to happen."

"Just send the transmission." The Seventh Sister rolled her eyes as if she was already done with this conversation. I sighed as I sent the transmission.

After a few seconds, a blue hue of Sabine lit up, making the inside of the ship blue.

"Ezra!" Sabine automatically exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

I glanced at the Seventh Sister before answering.  "We need to talk."

《~》

"I don't see how anyone could have known!" I exclaimed.  We had finished talking with Sabine, and she had given us all the information she could.  Turns out, she told no one except the crew of the Ghost, and they had told nobody else.

"They how did the Empire know?  This was not just a coincidence, Ezra.  This was set-up. But how?" The Seventh Sister wondered.

"Well, if no one outside the Ghost crew knew, then the only way for someone to know is if they somehow knew about the dreams," I said.

"No one could have known about the dreams. The Force sent them, wanting us to figure something out," the Seventh Sister said with frustration.

"Yes, the Force does want us to realize something. But what if someone else had a dream?" I questioned as an idea came to my head.

"Are you saying the red blade from your dream knew about us coming through a dream. That is actually not entirely crazy.  The Force does work in mysterious ways," the Seventh Sister pointed out.

"The only thing we do not know is who the red blade is.  It is obviously not the Eighth Sister or Ninth Brother. They had no clue we were going to be there.  It must be someone higher up in the ranks.  Someone with the power to pull stormtroopers from the Jedi Temple and set up an elaborate plan without the other inquisitors knowing," I said.

"But the only one with the power to do that is Vader himself. But I doubt it is him.  He would have revealed himself earlier instead of leave a tracker for us to find.  There must be someone else neither of us know about," the Seventh Sister said.

"I have no clue who it could possibly be.  And the only place that could have possibly had the answers was the temple, which is probably on high alert by now.  Especially since we heard the Eighth Sister's and Ninth Brother's plan."

"There might be another place," the Seventh Sister's eyes lit up as an idea came to her head. She quickly typed a few commands on her wristpad.  One of her droids then produced a star-map.

"What are you thinking?" I asked the Seventh Sister as she moved the map around, zooming in and zooming out on certain places.

"Where is it?" She muttered.

"What are you looking for?" I questioned.

"I found it!" The Seventh Sister suddenly burst out after a few moments of silence.

"You want to go there?" I asked with disbelief, seeing the planet she had pinpointed.

"Yes.  It has some records hidden there on a secluded base.  There might be answers there," she explained.

"But that planet is probably blocked off by now," I said.

"It is our only chance," the Seventh Sister sighed.

"Fine. If it is all we have for a lead.  I'll set the coordinates."

"Wonderful!  Off to Ilum we go!" The Seventh Sister said.

"Yeah," I said, very unenthusiasticlly.