"Okay so who of us will enter the Death Star with the TIE?" Exar asked.

"I actually have to." Ephraim said. "There is one last thing I have to do before my prediction abilities go dark."

"Okay, so, Ephraim and?"

"You need to accompany me." Ephraim told him.

"Well why didn't you say so?" Exar asked sarcastically.

"We need to make all necessary switches now. We don't want to linger around to get caught with that thing." Aang said.

"Good point. Let's go." Ephraim said.

They both got up, but Sabby caught Ephraim's arm. "You know what's waiting there for you."

"I do, and I'm going to go ahead and tell you that I do need to do this." Ephraim wrapped his arms around her. "I'll be alright. Of that I know." Sabby heard the sincerity in his tone, and knew that he knew what he was talking about.

She returned the hug and replied, "Don't get hurt before we get there."

"Tell Exar that. He's still no match for me."

"I heard that." Exar spoke up.

"You stay safe as well." Sabby said as they side-hugged.

"Don't worry about me. I'll have a big and strong man whom I am no match for watching over me." He said, playing with her.

"Don't embarass yourself." She replied, stifling a reaction.

"Don't worry about me. I know things he doesn't."

He stopped the conversation and he and Ephraim bid everyone else farewell.

They went down to the storage area, and opened up the tube in the floor, and jumped into the TIE.

"The shipment of TIEs should be arriving any second n- there they are." Ephraim said as he flew the ship over to the TIE squad. "Exar, I have a plan. They'll know this TIE was missing, and will inspect it."

"Right. What do you have in mind?"

---

The TIE landed with the others in the bay, and the liquid-like doors closed.

Exar and Ephraim noticed an inspection team coming towards them, and prepared themselves.

As they reached the ship, they ordered them to exit the shuttle. Ephraim exited the shuttle, using the force to dress himself in his sith regalia. "Officers. I have recovered the stolen TIE from the Republic. Many lives were taken from them in the midst."

"Uh, very good sir."

"You may report that. I will be off to my quarters. Summon me if anything goes wrong."

"Mysterious things have been going on recently. And as a precaution established by the Master, we will escort you."

Erk accepted, and he was soon out of Exar's sight.

"Be quick." Exar said, ducking in the TIE.

---

Calista answered a comlink call from Exar. "Yes?"

"Ephraim and I are in. I'm currently waiting for a signal to let you guys know when you can do your thing."

"Excellent. Stay low."

---

'What do you think I'm doing?' Exar asked in his head as the call ended.

---

Erk arrived at the door in his quarters, and the escort -an officer and a couple stormtroopers- was behind him. "Be off now." Erk ordered.

"If I may sir." The officer stated. Erk turned and faced him. "I distinctly recall the Master ordering you to remain here in the weapon for the time being. I don't think he'll be pleased if he finds out you weren't here the whole time."

        "Oh but I was." Erk said as he noticed the stormtroopers raised their blasters. He force-pulled their weapons from them, held on to one of the blasters, and smacked them hard across their faces with the blaster. They fell to the floor, unconscious. Erk dragged them into his quarters and stuffed them into his conveniently-sized closet. Then he saw the other Erk meditating on the floor.

---

        An officer was passing by the hallway, then he felt something fluidly squish under his boot. He looked down and saw a small strand of blood. He bent down and then saw a trail of blood leading into Erk's room. He stood, then stood in front of the door. He hesitated, then opened it. He recoiled and nearly screamed at what he saw.

---

Exar was waiting in the TIE for a few minutes, beginning to get nervous. Then from inside the TIE, he heard an alarm ringing outside. He saw every trooper in the bay rush out, following the instructions that were muffled to him.

---

"This is Exar. Come in."

Calista picked up the comlink. "What have you got?" She asked.

"Some ships may follow my trail and proceed to the docking bay. An alarm has raised and the room is almost entirely empty."

"That's odd."

"Oh that's not all. The security has just shut down here."

Calista rushed her Republic general. "Tell the first squad to get going!"

---

The X-Wings of orange squad, followed by Ezra's ship, followed Exar's trail and quickly flew to the weapon.

Some of the soldiers, as they beheld the weapon, began to question their objective.

"Orange leader, do we know exactly what we're doing?" A pilot asked.

"I wasn't told much either, but it's fairly clear now." Orange Leader replied.

The X-Wings entered the bay, and it was then that Exar knew one detail was forgotten. Imperials up in the control towers in the bay were still there, and they were reporting the invasion.

Exar hopped out of the TIE and whipped out his blaster and shot the Imperial who reported. Others were seen, and they saw, and they began shooting at Exar. Exar used the TIE wing as a barracade, and shot back.

As Orange Squad exited their fighters to assist, one of its members shot up the control tower. Then he jumped out and joined the others.

Ezra's ship landed and he and Sabine were soon with them.

"Alright. Orange Leader, you take some of the squad and secure the next hangar bay. Ezra, go with them." Exar ordered. Ezra and Orange Leader nodded, and they picked a group of soldiers to accompany them.

"What are we doing, sir?" One of the remaining asked.

"We're heading to the core and we're going to to detonate this heap of junk." Exar replied. Sabine intertwined her fingers and stretched her hands outward, cracking her knuckles. Exar noticed and inferred, "Explosives specialist?"

"Call me an expert." Sabine pushed.

"Alright, let's go. The Imperials might be back soon." Exar led.

---

The other half of Orange Squad sneaked into the control tower via elevator in the neighboring docking bay. Half of that team stole stormtrooper disguises and remained on the ground.

Once the door opened in the tower, they immediately raised their blasters and shot all Imperials in record time.

"Hack the security guns and disable all cameras." Orange Leader said.

The brains of the squad immediately began his work. In seconds, he had all guns in his control, and tapped into the security grid. The room was under the squad's control.

Orange Leader turned on the docking bay intercom and spoke. "This is Orange Leader of the Republic. My squad and I have taken over the control tower and have the weaponry under our control. Drop your weapons and surrender now or we will open fire on all of you."

The team noticed stormtroopers looking at them, and looking around seeming confused. Then the leader noticed a couple stormtroopers setting up a cannon.

"Ah, don't think so." He spoke into the intercom again before one of the guns shot the cannon and blew it up. "I repeat: surrender now or we will open fire on all of you. You know what?" Orange Leader shut off the intercom and told the gun controller, "Take out the TIEs."

---

'I wonder what Ephraim was doing.' Exar thought.

All of a sudden, Erk appeared beside them in a puff of smoke, transformed, and led the team with Exar. "The core is this way." He said.

"Who is this?" Calista asked.

"He's a friend of ours." Exar answered.

Calista looked at Viran for affirmation; he had been around the team recently. Viran nodded, and she was content. Though she was fairly suspicious; something about Exar's friend seemed familiar to her, but she knew now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

They turned corners, descended and ascended floors. Anytime they encountered a pack of Imperials, Erk shot them all with lightning; though they all knew the rest of the station would be alerted of their presence.

They stopped at a big door; Exar was about to open it, but Erk stopped him.

"Guys." He started. "I don't know if I'll make it out okay, but if it comes to our getting caught, I'm going to need to make it seem like I captured you."

"Right. Good idea. Let's not all not get caught."

"Yeah. When we open the door, there's going to ba another room of radiation suits that we're supposed to put on before we enter the reactor core." Erk explained.

"Funny, I didn't think stormtroopers needed that. Don't these new designs filter out radiation?"

"They do, but stormtroopers aren't the ones who go down here." Erk replied, opening the door.

They all went in and grabbed a suit of the many that hung on the wall. "This has been easier than expected." Sabine said.

Erk sensed people on the other side of the door. Many people. "It's a setup." Erk said. "There are troopers waiting for us on the other side."

"You were just coming around, Ephraim. Don't start getting dark on us now." Exar said. "Besides, I have a plan."

---

Stormtroopers surrounded the core, covering half the ground in the area. They waited for something interesting to happen, and they weren't disappointed. The door opened, and Erk was seen flying down, as if pushed by the force. He landed on the ground, and looked up at the group. "They're here."

The whole team jumped down, and they were face-to-face with them. Then the silver stormtrooper pushed to the front. "Erk. So good to have you back. Let's deal with these guys."

---

Ezra hung around the bay, clearing things out. Once there was enough room made, he gave a thumbs up to Orange Leader.

---

"Lieutenant Governor, this is Orange Leader. The second bay is open. We should receive word from the inside team about the core soon."

"Very good. Maintain the position until further notice." Calista said.

"Very good, Lieutenant Governor."

Calista opened another channel and spoke, "Rogue Squadron, now is your chance."

---

Sabby heard the message, and she and Jo piloted the ship towards the weapon as fast and as steadily as they could. They entered and landed in the bay without a disturbance.

"You'd think there'd be more security around. Not even a checkpoint outside the bay." Jo said.

"That's the kinda thing I'm worried about." Kaiyah replied.

"Alright guys, let's go." Aang told everyone else; as they met with the group of Orange Squad in the bay, he commed Exar. "Exar, come in. Is the reactor secure?"

"What do you think? There are others here. Get here now. I'm sending you our path." Exar replied.

---

"I'm afraid they won't reach you in time." Jayko told Exar as he ignited his lightsaber. As he did, the stormtroopers on the outside activated big shields to keep others from getting past. "Let's go."

Exar faked a yawn, then flamboyantly whipped his hand to his left, and most of the troopers in the front were tossed to the other side of the room. Jayko looked over at the troopers Exar pushed, then back at Exar as if he didn't care. "You know that isn't going to help." He then shouted to the troopers behind him, "Take them down!"

"I got the Zabrak. Take the Mandalorian." Erk said, approaching Exar with his black lightsaber.

Jayko launched towards Sabine with his red lightsaber, and she ducked his swings, then brought out her beskar-forged saber and held against him.

"The mighty Sabine Wren. I must say I'm surprised to see you here." Jayko said.

"Oh you know me?"

"I only know of one Mandalorian with such a color scheme as this on her armor." They broke away and thrusted and jabbed at each other. They locked blades together and Jayko continued, "You were of the Ghost crew of Lothal, many years ago. You've been stationed on Lothal with Ezra Bridger, Lothal's prince."

'Prince?' Sabine thought, quite shocked. Seeing Sabine slightly distracted, he took his chance and swung at her and grazed her shoulder.

"Gettin' slow?" Jayko asked.

"Being older has its benefits." Sabine told him. "First off, we're more familiar with strategy."

A paint bomb then exploded on Jayko's helmet, covering his eyes. Sabine then delivered a hard kick to his chest, knocking him to the ground. She then ran towards him and delved her sword down to stab him, but he grabbed the saber -not being able to see it- and force-pushed her off of him.

He got up and glared at her. "I don't need strategy to defeat you." He removed his helmet from his head and dropped it on the ground. He then pointed his lightsaber at her. "I have the force." He then outstretched his other hand and Sabine was shoved into the wall. With a grunt, she fell to the floor.

Sabine managed to recover in time to grab her saber and block the downward strike from Jayko. "Second off..." She grunted. "The element of surprise."

A blue blade pierced Jayko's chest from behind. He was lifted into the air, moved backwards, then dropped to the ground as the blade retracted. Exar stepped in front and kneeled in front of him. "Remember me?" He asked.

Jayko only grinned. "You won't-" He coughed up blood. "You won't win." He collapsed to the ground. "He's-" He said as almost a whisper, "He will always be-" He coughed again, "One, step, ahead." Then he closed his eyes for his eternal rest.

The stormtrooper generals stood shocked as they witnessed Jayko's death. "The captain is dead. Repeat: the captain is dead. We need backup immedia-" Exar shot him before he could finish, but he knew as well as everyone else that he was too late.

Exar turned to Sabine, "You got the detonator switch?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I got it." She replied, running through her waist bags. She pulled out the switch and showed it to him, then put it back as to not lose it.

"We're going to need to be quick. Backup is on its way."

"How are we going to get out in time before it blows? The only exit is the way we came in from?"

"We're going to set a timer, then we'll fuse shut both doors after we're out; that should buy us enough time."

Ezra and Orange Leader's squad and Rogue Squad arrived in the reactor, and shortly got rid of the rest of the stormtroopers. Exar approached Ezra and requested a report.

"After 'Rogue Squad' arrived, TIEs noticed and tried blowing us out. But the Republic fleet arrived in time. So yeah, there's a big battle going on outside." Ezra answered.

"Help us set up these detonators and bombs quickly so we can leave this mess." Exar said.

Everyone grouped around the reactor to place bombs around it. Ephraim stayed behind. He looked on as everyone continued working. As he sensed troopers approaching, he shouted, "We're too late!" Everyone acknowledged him. "They're a room away, so I need a victim."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Exar asked.

"Trust me on this." They heard footsteps approaching. "If they find me with you, they'll kill me too, and we'll... sorry." He force-pulled Ezra to him and ignited his lightsaber. "I mean no hostility towards any of you."

The door opened, and two of Jayko's heavily-armored troopers entered the room, followed by a company of stormtroopers.

"Put your weapons down or he dies!" Erk shouted at them, drawing his lightsaber towards Ezra's neck.

"Cutting it a little close." Ezra told him with a smirk.

"Quiet." Erk whispered to him. "Put them down!"

Knowing a plan was in motion, everyone complied and dropped their weapons.

"Very good work, sir." A heavy trooper complimented.

"Hold them hostage."

"We've been ordered to bring them to the Master."

"There's a space battle going on outside; is it a good idea to bring them to a room with a window? We could easily be sucked out into space."

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"He captured all of them."

The Republic squads were dumbfounded. This was definately a turning point for them. Even the force-sensitives could sense Ephraim's panic. All the troopers cuffed the groups, and led them out and away.

---

Bennar was on his way to meet some company; but all of a sudden, he felt heavily distressed. 'They didn't make it.' He assumed. "Calista." He called with worry, then sped up his ship.

---

They entered the control room, and there, they saw the other leadership of the fleet on their knees in the middle. Exar, Ephraim, and Ephraim's friends shared concerned gazes. As they walked by, Ephraim spotted the crystal ball lying on a control panel and became curious. The stormtroopers shoved the newcomers onto their knees and stood guard.

Then they saw the Master as he turned around and faced them. "I must admit it's a sheer pleasure to meet all of you. Although I can't speak for all of you."