Ezra and Sabine charged along the walkway, a canvas of destruction raging on beneath them. Ezra's plan to blow the hangar had certainly worked, it had prevented any more droid fighters from launching and sent a clear message to Thrawn, the rebels were on their way. Now all they had to do was fight their way up to him.
"We have to find a turbolift" Sabine stated as they continued to run along. By now, the Munificent would almost be within range of the New Republic fleet, they had to disable its weapons systems and soon.
"I know, I think I can see one over there" Ezra responded, gesturing to a white object in the distance. Sabine followed his gaze and nodded her head, they both increased their speed. It would be a tragedy to come this far, to make this many sacrifices, only to fail at this point. The metal walkway creaked with every step that they took, its supports had no doubt been damaged in the explosion, it was a miracle that it was still holding steady. They were close now. The turbolift was only a few metres away, and with it, their route to murdering Thrawn, once and for all. But, of course, those last few steps towards the elevator would be the most difficult. As they neared their objective, a smaller explosion echoed beneath them, marking the end of the supports. The walkway behind them began to crumble and fall into the flames, and Sabine felt herself trip over some debris, collapsing down. Ezra stopped and skidded around to help her, a look of panic on his face as he saw the walkway begin to fall. He slid along the ground, now lying flat down, and grabbed her hand just as the path beneath her gave way. She was left hanging, with only his hand preventing her from falling into a fiery death.
"I got you...I got you" he repeated, as if consoling himself as well as her. But after his initial second of relief, fear began to set in as the walkway beneath him also started creaking dangerously. With a burst of energy, he attempted to pull Sabine up, but this only caused the ground beneath him to grow even more unsteady. Both of their lives were now hanging in the balance, their odds of survival decreasing exponentially with every second.
"Ezra...just go...kill Thrawn...end this" The Mandalorian said quietly. It hardly her ideal solution, but she would be honoured to die for the New Republic, especially if it put that kriffing admiral one step closer to his grave. But her friend was reluctant.
"I...I can't..." he stuttered. He knew what she was trying to do, he knew what she was suggesting was the right thing to do, he would survive to save many more lives, and she would die heroically. But he couldn't do it, not her.
"Ezra please...if you don't, then we'll both die...go!" she shouted to him, her helmet had thrown aside, stood on the ground next to him, and he could see the tears rolling down her face now. But he refused, he wasn't about to lose her, anyone but her.
"I can't...you're...you're everything..." he said, he knew it sounded corny, but it was the truth. He felt like a hollow shell without her, and he wasn't about to lose her. She looked up at him with an indescribable look, as if she was amazed, scared and happy at the same time, an influx of emotions. With all of the strength his arms could muster, Ezra dragged Sabine onto the walkway, causing it to creak and lower dramatically. The ground they stood on was now hanging on by a thread. Sabine wanted to embrace him, there and then, with the flames all around them. Hell, it would make for a dramatic moment, but there was no time. She grabbed her helmet off the ground, sliding it onto her head, and nodded at Ezra.
"On the count of three" Bridger said "one...two...three!" With that, they both simultaneously leapt for the nearby turbolift, hand in hand as the walkway collapsed beneath them. The time they spent flying through the air felt like an eternity, flames beneath them and uncertainty filling their minds. If they were to die, then at least they would die together. And then, in a second, they landed.

Meanwhile, in the space above Jakku, a desperate battle was taking place. Losses were heavy on both sides, and just above the atmosphere of the planet, Phantom Leader was flying around in his X-Wing shooting down all manner of tie fighters. The ace pilot was one of the Rebellion's finest, having been recruited after a tense mission had saved him from the imperial Skystrike Academy. Ever since that day, he'd fought the Empire in the most significant conflicts such as the Battle of Yavin, the Battle of Hoth and even the Battle of Endor. His record was remarkable, and he'd have a few more kills to add to the list by the time this day was done.
"Phantom Leader, you've got a bug on your back. Lemme swat him for you" the pilot's friend, Temmin, said over the comms. At that moment, a second X-Wing flew across his screen and blasted through a tie that had been a persistent pain in the ass for the last few minutes.
"Nice one kid" Phantom Leader commented down the comms, before flying upwards himself and taking a few shots at the life support systems of the closest star destroyer. This battle had been going on for days now, and every few hours the pilot would be forced to return to a friendly cruiser to refuel and repair his ship. Those were the boring moments, he adored the cockpit, and as he shot down another two tie fighters in a daring move he thought to himself that he could die happily now, in space, knowing that he was fighting for a greater cause. It seemed as though this wish would come sooner than he thought, however, as a trio of tie interceptors suddenly rushed in out of nowhere and tailed him. Their shots came thick and fast, and the pilot's droid had to work overtime, deploying no end of countermeasures and boosts to the fighter's shields just to keep it in the air. No matter what the pilot did, he just couldn't shake these bogies.
"Temmin! I've got a trio on my tail! I need help over here!" he shouted down the comms as one blast shook his cockpit violently.
"I'm sorry boss, I'm cut off, I can't get to you" his friend responded over the comms. This could be it. Phantom Leader closed his eyes as the shots began to penetrate his fighter's armour, preparing for the worst. But suddenly, another ship cut across his axis, blowing the interceptors to hell in one fell swoop. It was no X-Wing. The pilot opened his eyes and saw a familiar shape pass his cockpit. He smiled in disbelief as he recognised his saviour, the Ghost, a freighter piloted by a very old friend of his.
"General Syndulla. Thanks for the assist...I thought you were off duty, ma'am" the pilot said down the comms, patching into the Ghost's frequency.
"That's a negative Wedge, if General Skywalker's assumptions are right...then I've got a duty to be here. An old friend of ours might just have come back" Hera responded in an almost excited tone.
"Copy that ma'am, looks like the space here is getting kind of crowded. I'm going to take my squadron down into the atmosphere, start probing the imperials' air to space defences. Good luck. Temmin, follow my lead" Wedge stated, flying straight down towards the planet. In the cockpit of the Ghost, Hera smiled with anticipation, she truly hoped that Skywalker was right. Having Ezra back would be like having the family back together, she just wondered if he was still in one piece.

Ezra and Sabine landed down in the elevator with a crash, moments before the remainder of the walkway collapsed into the fire. The turbolift doors hissed shut as another explosion filled the hangar, and the pair breathed a sigh of relief, lying on the ground of the elevator. They needed this moment of peace to recover from what had just happened. But Ezra was uneasy, he was just now starting to realise what he'd said to Sabine, and it made him cringe inwardly. He felt like a small boy again, looking up at that beautiful Mandalorian when they'd first met, and he could tell that she'd just brush him off again as she did back then.
"Listen...Sabine...about what I said back there" he started, he had no idea how he was going to word this, but as it turned out, he didn't have to.
"Let's not do this now...we've got a job to do, Thrawn's still alive and there's still the mission. If we get out of this alive...then we'll talk" the Mandalorian answered. That gave Ezra some small hope, if she wanted to talk then perhaps her desires had changed. Now he had something else to fight for, that made him even more determined to put an end to Thrawn here and now. Together, the pair of them stood up and brushed themselves down, preparing their weapons for the final push. The turbolift began to slow down, and both of them knew that this was it, the very last battle. Thrawn was on the other side of those doors, and they would not leave that command deck with him alive. They both took a deep breath as the doors slowly opened once again with a hiss, revealing the command bridge. It looked exactly the same as the last time Sabine had seen it; the imperial livery hanging down the walls, the raised platform with Thrawn's throne and this time there were even more guards. The admiral seemed ready to greet them, stood on his platform with a smile on his face. No less than twenty guards were stood beneath him, ready to attack the pair on a moment's notice, so for now, they decided to entertain the possibility of conversation.
"Ezra Bridger...it's been many years since we last saw one another...I must congratulate you on surviving that planet...quite a feat indeed" Thrawn said, always one to praise an opponent's talents.
"Hm...I see you still don't know when you've lost admiral, if you remember, we defeated you. You lost, a crushing defeat, and yet still you return. One would think that somebody with your...integrity...would know when he's beaten" Ezra replied, causing Sabine to snigger. She knew what he was doing, he was trying to make the admiral angry to throw him off balance. The admiral frowned for a second, but soon regained his composure, he was never one to give in to emotion.
"Someone with my integrity does not give up on a cause...I said once that I wanted you to see defeat falling down upon you, and know that it was I who delivered it. Well here we are...my weapons are now in range of the New Republic fleet, and I have begun firing at the engines of their Mon-Calamari cruisers. Very soon, the Empire will have an advantage, and your rebellion will be at an end. Then we shall see who has lost, young Bridger" he answered in a lecturing tone, patronising the boy.
"Not this time...this isn't Atollon...this time we'll kill you, and leave you in the embrace of your own defeat" Sabine said, speaking up against her bitter enemy. This Chiss stood for everything she hated in this galaxy, and now it was time to end him.
"I sense our pleasant conversation has now reached its climax...very well...guards, kill them" Thrawn ordered effortlessly, sitting down in his raised throne. The large group of guards that the admiral referred to was made up of a mix of magna-guards with electrostaffs and commando droids with vibroblades. Both were trained to kill with lethal efficiency, and all of them now had their targets set on Ezra and Sabine. Ezra ignited his lightsaber, and the fight began. Sabine immediately moved to the side of the room, trying to avoid getting surrounded. She only had her blasters, and would struggle here in hand to hand combat, but she would fight nonetheless. Without hesitation, she began blasting away into a trio of magna-guards that approached her, shouting in her native tongue as she did so. The guards span their electrostaffs at great speeds, blocking any attacks she made and causing her to frown with annoyance. In seconds, they were looming over her, causing her to tap a button on her arm and activating a pair of small circular shields that extended out of each wrist. She raised her hand, blocking the first attack, before using her other shield to whack the guard's leg and topple him over. This gave her enough breathing room to leap up, striking a devastating kick at the next magna-guards and resulting in him joining his friend on the ground. With her blaster, she swiftly put a bolt in both of their heads while they were vulnerable, leaving only one opponent left for her. This magna-guard seemed more aggressive than the others, spinning its electrostaff and striking a blow against her chest. She screamed in pain and was sent flying backwards, crashing against a nearby wall. Her shields deactivated due to the trauma, and it took a second for her to fully regain consciousness, by which time the guard had advanced on her and was preparing to hit the killing blow. At the last possible second, Sabine rolled to the side, before grabbing the hilt of the magna-guards electrostaff, preventing it from striking her again. The pair of them struggled for dominance over the weapon for several seconds, until Sabine raised one of her hands and activated a wrist mounted flamethrower, burning the guard's head to a crisp. She really needed to use that thing more often, she always forgot she had it. With a look of satisfaction, she claimed the guard's electrostaff and activated it, taking a defensive stance as several commando droids approached her. Ezra, meanwhile, had spent this time expertly dismantling Thrawn's highly trained legions. It had been years since he had used a lightsaber so intensely, but in a flash all of his old training returned, he performed the moves that Kanan had taught him so many years ago like a fluid dance, dodging attacks and delivering lethal blows in a whirlwind of death. He leapt up, jumping down right into the middle of a group of magna-guards and slamming his lightsaber into the ground. The small explosion caused by this wiped out the guards around him, and he turned to see Sabine being swarmed by six commando droids, the last of Thrawn's guards. With a look of concentration, Ezra pushed his hands forwards, using the force the send the droids slamming against a wall. Sabine gave a grateful nod, and the two reunited in the centre of the room with exhausted breaths.
"It's times like this that I miss the darksaber" Sabine commented, causing Ezra to chuckle.
"Well that was all very dramatic, what is your plan now?" Thrawn asked curiously, not even bothering to stand up from his throne. But this time, it was Ezra who was smiling confidently. With a flick of his wrist, the Jedi sent his lightsaber flying around the room, slicing through all of the consoles and effectively disabling the weapons systems.
"Oh very impressive...of course, you do realise that there are backup systems in place. Within another minute, my weapons systems will return to full power, and there will be no holding back my attack. The only way to permanently disable the core systems is with the controls up here" the admiral explained calmly. Sabine instantly raised her blaster, and silently fired six shots up at Thrawn, all of which dissipated when they hit the shield barrier that protected his raised platform.
"Did you forget so soon Miss Wren?" Thrawn asked.
"No...just letting out some anger" the Mandalorian replied casually.
"Okay, then we'll just signal our friend, we have detonators planted on your reactor. If we can't win this thing then neither will you" Ezra stated, reaching for his comlink. But once again, Thrawn simply smiled.
"The reactor that powers this vessel is a hundred times more powerful than any standard one, detonating it here will not only destroy this ship, it will also let out an explosion that will destroy the majority of the New Republic fleet...allowing the imperial remnants to gain the advantage and find victory. Face it young Bridger, there is no way you can outsmart me...I have thought of every possibility, every outcome, and now once again we have reached a point where no matter what you do, you will be defeated" the admiral stated, standing up and bathing in his victory. Sabine hated this, that damn Chiss always had a plan. Was this it? Had they gone through all of these hardships just to be beaten at the final turn? The Mandalorian glanced over towards Ezra, and found herself surprised to see a confident grin on the boy's face.
"There's one outcome you never planned for Thrawn...it was the cause of your defeat last time...and it will be this time. The power of the force" he said, suddenly raising both of his hands dramatically. The entire command deck started shaking violently, and Thrawn glanced from side to side with a concerned look. The blue shield barrier in front of him began to flicker as the entire room rocked, and Sabine grinned at the look on the Chiss' face. With one final push of his arms, a wave of energy from the force blasted forwards and the shield exploded, knocking Thrawn back into his throne.
"That's...impossible..." the admiral whispered in disbelief. But there was no cocky remark from Ezra this time, no confident bragging, this time he just did what he'd wanted to for a very long time. He leapt up onto the raised platform, standing above Thrawn and holding the hilt of his lightsaber against the admiral's chest.
"This is for Kanan" he said with determination, igniting the ice white blade. Thrawn gasped, and in a moment, he closed his eyes and fell into an eternal sleep. It was such a quick and simple death, Ezra could hardly believe that it had happened, Thrawn was gone. Sabine clambered up onto the platform, and wrapped her arms around her friend tightly.
"We did it" she said.
"We did it" he confirmed. But the battle was not quite over yet, there was still one final task to complete, one final mission. As they separated, Sabine ran over to the nearby controls and flicked a series of levers, disabling the core systems one by one. Shields and weapons deactivated with a satisfying beep, and the pair shared a smile. Their happiness was, however, short-lived as the entire frigate immediately began to shake violently.
"Damn it, the New Republic fleet, we're not patched into their comms, and even if we were I doubt they'd listen. They're firing on this ship while they have the chance, we need to get the hell out of here!" Ezra stated, leaping into the turbolift with Sabine in tow. Miniature explosions bounced off every wall as the entire frigate began to fall apart, the pair could only hope that the turbolift moved fast enough.

Meanwhile, in a ventilation shaft in the depths of the ship, Ahsoka was sat in the pilot's seat of the Gauntlet with an unconscious Skorn sat next to her. The clone was injured, but stable, he would make it. With every hit the frigate took, the togruta became increasingly concerned, witnessing explosions nearby and hoping that none would affect their ability to escape. The seconds passed, and there was still no sign of Ezra or Sabine, Ahsoka knew she couldn't wait any longer, no matter how much she wanted to.
"Ezra? Come in! Listen to me, the ship's falling apart, if the Gauntlet is going to make it out of here in a condition where it can fly then I have to leave now!" she shouted down the comms.
"Go! Just go! We'll try and find something in the hangar that's still flyable!" Bridger answered several seconds later.
"Copy that, may the force be with you both" Ahsoka said, deactivating the comms and preparing to take-off. The Gauntlet was now heavily damaged thanks to so many crashes, she only hoped that it could survive space long enough to get somewhere safe. There was only one way to find out.

In the turbolift, Ezra and Sabine stood anxiously, hearing no end of explosions around them as the frigate began to crumble. Neither of them could bring themselves to speak, they were now just silently hoping that they would make it out of here. It now occurred to them that blowing up the hangar was not the best idea. Hindsight was a wonderful thing. The minutes passed, and became a blur as the pair finally reached the hangar, running out into the flames and glancing around in panic. There had to be something here, a vulture droid, a tri-fighter, anything! But, there wasn't, there was no ship there that they could escape on. They were trapped, in the centre of an exploding ship, with only minutes to live. Sabine removed her helmet, wanting to look into Ezra's eyes in the end. If this was it...she sighed at all of the words she'd never gotten to say, there wasn't any time now.
"Ezra..." she couldn't say anything else, she'd never been the best with emotions, even now, right at the end, she had no idea how to word her feelings.
"We got the job done...that's what matters, right? We did it..." Ezra responded, he was sensitive as well to the subject of feelings. Since neither of them could find the words, they resorted to a tight embrace, not wanting to let go of one another at the end. At least they would die together. As the eternal final moments passed, a new noise filled their ears, the sound of an engine. They turned, and gasped in shock as they saw a ship enter the flaming hangar. The Ghost. Zeb was stood on the lowered docking ramp as they hovered in the air, gesturing for them to climb aboard.
"Come on!" the Lasat shouted, glancing around in worry. With one final burst of energy, Ezra and Sabine charged towards the ship and leapt up into it. Zeb helped them up, and with a whack, punched the button to close the docking ramp.
"Hera! They're on board, punch it!" he shouted upwards as the three of them sat in the cargo bay, utterly exhausted. The ship suddenly rocked into life, turning out of the hangar and tearing away from the frigate in a burst of speed. Ezra and Sabine climbed up the maintenance ladder, entering the cockpit just in time to see Thrawn's massive frigate explode in a ball of flames. The sound of the explosion filled the ears of everybody in the system, one final symbol that the Empire was a thing of the past. Thrawn was dead, the New Republic had survived and the Empire was no more. In other words, the battle was won.