Dedicated to Simp4CaptainRex

     As Commander Kyra Kryze-Kenobi flew the Phantom II through the atmosphere of Krownest, she heard Sabine Wren – who sat in the co-pilot's seat – sigh and half-heartedly welcome the others to the snow-covered planet she had once called home.

     From the back of the ship, where he sat with Fenn Rau and Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger asked, "You really think it's gonna be that bad."

     "I haven't been back to Krownest since before my time at the Imperial Academy, Ezra," Sabine reminded him. "And I didn't exactly leave on good terms."

     "Well, maybe things have changed," Ezra said hopefully. "They might be happy to see you."

     Sabine laughed humorlessly, "You don't know my family."

     "Well, I do," Kyra replied. "I fought side-by-side with your mother during the Clone Wars. She is the leader of Clan Wren, Sabine. She may be with the Empire now, but I believe her true loyalty lies with Mandalore."

     "Even if that were true, she thinks I'm a traitor," Sabine countered.

     "If you can convince your mother to help the rebels, all of Mandalore might follow you and the Darksaber," Rau insisted.

     Sabine glanced at the ancient weapon that hung on her belt before changing the subject, "You should let them know we're coming so they don't shoot us down."

     Before Kyra could do so, Chopper beeped frantically, and Kanan said, "Incoming. Sounds like your family just sent out the welcoming committee."

     As four Mandalorians wearing silver and yellow armor flew towards the Phantom II, they each fired the rocket that was built into their jetpacks. Kyra maneuvered around three of the rockets, piloting the Phantom II into a barrel roll to avoid the last projectile. Realizing the shuttle had not been hit, the members of Clan Wren drew their blasters and opened fire, Chopper informing the rebels that one Mandalorian had landed on top of the ship.

     When the Phantom II shuddered, Kyra reported, "We've lost the main thrusters. Brace for impact!"

     Kyra managed to avoid the nearby forest and frozen lake, pulling the joysticks back as she steered the shuttle into a snowbank, softening their crash as well as she could.

     As the rebels disembarked, Rau admitted, "Looks like recruiting the Wrens will be harder than I thought."

     "You weren't easy to recruit, either," Kyra reminded the Protector as she and Sabine put their helmets on. "So we switch to our backup plan. Rau, stay out of sight. I have a feeling we're going to need you later."

     Fenn nodded and closed the shuttle doors as the same four members of Clan Wren landed in front of the rebels, this time joined by an Imperial Supercommando.

     "Now, remember, I could be related to these guys," Sabine said, but Ezra was already igniting his green-bladed lightsaber, which he had built after Darth Vader destroyed his first saber on Malachor.

     The Mandalorians, upon seeing Ezra's lightsaber, drew their blasters and opened fire. The three Jedi deflected the blaster shots with their blades while Sabine did the same with her energy shield, one of the redirected bolts hitting the Supercommando in the shoulder and knocking him off his feet.

     When Sabine reprimanded Ezra, he shrugged, "What? They shot first!"

     Upon hearing Sabine's voice, the Supercommando ordered his forces to hold their fire and holstered his blaster before taking off his helmet.

     "Tristan?" Sabine asked as she took off her helmet and holstered her pistols, Kyra and the Jedi doing the same.

     "You changed your hair again," Tristan Wren noticed. "Who are the Jedi?"

     "They're my friends," Sabine replied. "I'll explain everything, I promise."

     "I'll take you to the stronghold, but I can't vouch for how you'll be greeted," Tristan warned her.

     As the Mandalorians and rebels trekked through the snow-laden woods, Sabine asked, "How can you wear that armor, Tristan? How could you join them?"

     Instead of answering, Tristan replied in an icy voice, "You shouldn't have come back, Sabine."

     They arrived at the stronghold – which overlooked the frozen lake – shortly after, the compound made of steel and glass, its appearance as cold as the welcome they had received from the members of Clan Wren. They stopped at the base of an exterior staircase, and Countess Ursa Wren emerged a moment later, observing the newcomers.

     "So it's true, then," she said coldly as she looked at her daughter. "Put her in a cell. She'll be held for trial."

     "Mother, we need to talk," Sabine insisted as she ignited the Darksaber, Ursa's eyes widening. "Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, this is my mother, the Countess Ursa Wren."

     Sabine began to introduce Kyra, but the countess held up her hand and said, "Lady Kyra of Clan Kryze. The last time I saw you, you were but a child. Now, you have become a respected warrior in your own right."

     Kyra bowed her head in way of greeting before Ursa turned back to her daughter, "What did you expect would happen here, Sabine? That you'd be welcomed with open arms? You're wanted by the Empire!"

     "I know, but I'm part of the Rebellion now. Please hear what I have to say," Sabine urged.

     "I will tolerate the Jedi presence in our ancestral home if they surrender their weapons," the countess replied before disappearing inside the stronghold.

     Sabine sighed, "Well, that went better than I expected."

     "That was better?" Ezra asked incredulously. "I hope you're not really expecting us to hand over our lightsabers, are you?"

     "We need to do whatever it takes to make this work," Kyra said. "They'll be safe, Ezra."

     The three Jedi gave their lightsabers to Sabine, who handed them to Tristan, Wren stopping Kyra when she began to remove her twin pistols.

     "Those blasters are your birthright. You can keep them," Sabine clarified.

     Inside, the rebels stood before the countess, who sat on her throne with Tristan at her side.

     "Your rebel friends are going to bring the Empire down on all of us," Ursa claimed. "You believe the Darksaber will protect you? It won't. It's only a symbol."

     "Yeah, a symbol that's united all Mandalorians in the past," Sabine reminded her. "Look, if we stand together now—"

     Ursa interrupted her daughter, "Stand together? Sabine, it's everything I can do to keep the other clans from destroying us because of what you did."

     "I didn't know the Empire would use the weapon I designed against our people," Sabine confessed. "But you don't believe me, do you?"

     "Even if I did, it wouldn't change all the other ruling houses from seeing you as a traitor," Ursa replied before gesturing to Tristan. "Your own brother now serves Gar Saxon to prove our loyalty and regain some small amount of status."

     When Sabine accused Saxon of being a murderer, Tristan countered, "He's the Emperor's Hand, the acting ruler and Governor of Mandalore."

     "And his men wiped out the Protectors," Sabine stated.

     "The Protectors were executed for treason," the countess argued, "just as Fenn Rau will be when he is found."

     "They were loyal to Mandalore and Saxon betrayed them!" Sabine retorted.

     "Enough!" Ursa yelled as she stood. "Fenn Rau's people are dead and mine are not. And I intend to keep them that way. All of them."

     "Except for me," Sabine quietly replied, causing her brother and mother to fall silent.

     "Walk with me," Ursa finally said, mother and daughter heading outside and leaving the Jedi in the throne room.

     Once they had left, Ezra turned to Tristan and asked, "So you're Sabine's brother? I didn't even know she had a brother. I mean, it's not that she didn't want to talk about you, but she just, I don't know, she never really talked about you before."

     When Kyra placed a hand on Ezra's shoulder to stop the boy's rambling, he asked, "What? I thought we were here to make friends?"

     "Less is more. Let Kanan and I handle the negotiating," she replied.

     After several minutes, Sabine and her mother came back inside, only for the countess to head deeper into the stronghold with their lightsabers and Wren to disappear with her brother.

     When Kyra requested to speak with the countess, Ursa returned to her throne and asked, "You believe you know my daughter better than me?"

     "You don't know what it's taken for her just to be here," Kyra said. "You should listen to her."

     When Ursa reminded Kyra that Sabine was only a child, Kryze replied, "I believe you're underestimating the woman she's become."

     "Why would Clan Wren ever side with the Empire anyway?" Ezra asked before Kyra could stop him. "Sabine said that your family were true Mandalorians, loyal only to—"

     "You have no idea what you're talking about, boy," Ursa sneered.

     Ezra opened his mouth to say more, but Kyra stopped him and continued, "Sabine was telling the truth about the Protectors before. I was the one who told her about the massacre. Ezra and I fought Gar Saxon on Concord Dawn. He was proud to have wiped them all out."

     Ursa's eyes widened, "You fought Governor Saxon?"

     When Kyra nodded, the countess sighed and sat up straighter, "Then I'm afraid what I have to do is unfortunate."

     The four Mandalorians that stood in each corner of the throne room drew their blasters and aimed them at the Jedi.

     An engine rumbled overhead as Sabine ran into the throne room, "You can't do this!"

     "Yes, she can," Gar Saxon replied as he strolled into the cavernous room, followed by four Imperial Supercommandos. "Because she is loyal. Just not to you. I believe you have something else for me, Countess."

     Ursa hesitated briefly before tossing the Darksaber to the Imperial Viceroy, "I've upheld my end of the bargain, Saxon. You have the Darksaber. Take the Jedi and let my daughter go."

     Saxon turned to Sabine and smirked, "Your mother betrayed everything you believe in to save you. It's admirable...except she consorted with known traitors to do it."

     Ursa's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

     "Why, Countess, you are harboring rebels here," Saxon said as he gestured to the Jedi. "Clan Wren is clearly a threat to the Empire and must be made an example of."

     As the Imperials and Clan Wren aimed their blasters at one another, Tristan raised his hands, "Governor, wait! It doesn't have to be this way. We are all Mandalorians."

     "I've been fair to you, Tristan, and you've served me well," Saxon acknowledged. "I'll give you a choice. Stand with me or die with your family."

     Tristan Wren considered Saxon's offer for a moment, then drew his blaster and aimed it at the governor, "I choose family."

     Saxon sighed disappointedly, "Then Clan Wren...ends here."

     As he activated the Darksaber, Rau came flying through the window, throwing the three confiscated lightsabers to their Jedi counterparts. Two of the Supercommandos quickly fell as blasterfire echoed through the throne, Clan Wren and the Jedi fighting the Imperial Mandalorians. When Kyra noticed Saxon stealthily approaching Ursa from behind, she tossed her lightsaber to Sabine, who charged at the governor and blocked the attack. Saxon ignited his jetpack and grabbed Sabine, the pair flying through the glass wall and tumbling across the frozen lake. Once the Imperials had been taken care of, the rebels and Clan Wren ran outside to watch the duel.

     When Ezra tried to intervene, Ursa stopped him, "By Mandalorian custom and law, no one can interfere."

     "Are your customs more important than the life of your daughter?" Kanan asked.

     As Sabine and Saxon continued to fight fast and fierce, the ice that covered the lake began to crack. Sabine managed to cut Saxon's arm with Kyra's lightsaber, and as the Governor of Mandalore fell, he dropped the Darksaber. Sabine caught the ancient weapon and ignited the blade, crossing the Darksaber and Kyra's lightsaber in front of Saxon's neck as the others gathered at the edge of the lake. When Saxon refused to surrender and demanded that Sabine kill him, Wren deactivated both of the sabers.

     "That might be the Mandalorian way, but it's not my way," the young Mandalorian said. "Not anymore."

     Sabine turned to Kyra and nodded, but as Kenobi moved to handcuff Saxon, the governor shot her in the shoulder and aimed his blaster at Wren's back. Another shot rang through the still afternoon, and this time, it was Saxon who fell, the hole in his chest-plate smoldering from where Ursa had shot him.

     "No one threatens our family," the countess declared as she hugged her daughter.

     As Ursa and Sabine helped Kyra to her feet, Fenn Rau said, "Gar Saxon was guilty of treason against the throne, collaboration with our enemy, and the execution of my fellow Protectors. But when the rest of Mandalore finds out about his death, there will be chaos."

     "Perhaps Mandalore needs chaos if it is to become strong again," Ursa proposed. "And so that we may find a leader worthy of our people."

     As Chopper set the Phantom II down near the lake, Kyra said, "The Empire will come for you once they find out what's happened here. The Rebellion can help."

     Ursa Wren arched an eyebrow, "The same Rebellion that sent you for my help? No. Mandalore must rise by itself. We protect our own."

     When Sabine agreed and announced that she would not be joining the rebels, Kanan and Ezra expressed their surprise, though Kyra had already sensed the girl's resolution.

     "I'm done running away. My father's on Mandalore," Sabine explained. "We'll find a way to get him back. And then...then maybe we can join the fight against the Empire. But right now, I can do more good here."

     Chopper grunted sadly and Kyra opened her mouth to speak, but Sabine cut her off, "Do not say you're proud of me."

     "Me? Never," Kyra replied with a smirk as Sabine hugged her. "But I am going to miss you."

     "We all will," Ezra Bridger added as he and Kanan Jarrus joined the hug.

     The master and apprentice boarded the Phantom II, but Kyra hesitated and turned towards Sabine, "You did well today. All of Clan Wren saw who you've become. You could lead Mandalore."

     Sabine shook her head, "No. This was about my family. I'm not Mandalore's leader. But I'll find the person who is."

     As Kyra nodded, Sabine added, "You know, if you wanted to help me search for someone worthy of ruling Mandalore, you'd be welcome to stay with Clan Wren."

     Kyra sighed, "I know. But, unlike you, I have yet to face my family. When the time is right, I will join the fight for Mandalore, but for now, my place is with the Rebellion. The Organas took me in when my aunt cast me out, and I owe it to them to continue what they started."

     Sabine Wren smiled sadly and hugged Kyra Kryze-Kenobi one last time before the Mandalorian Jedi boarded the Phantom II and flew out of Krownest's atmosphere, back to Atollon and the family she had built for herself.