explosive_artist. Recent Entries

It all ended on Lothal.

They had been building a reputation for themselves, she and Ketsu, and the credits were adding up. Soon, they'd likely be able to get a better ship than the pile of junk they were currently flying. There had been a few bits of friction between them. Instances when Sabine felt a helping hand didn't cost them anything. Small things. Like the time she'd tripped a thief who'd stolen a weary mother's credit purse, or another time when she'd "accidentally" deactivated the shock collars on a trio of slaves. Little things that felt right.

Little things that pissed off her partner, despite Ketsu turning each into some small profit. "Never do anything for free!" She'd always say to Sabine. "Credits are power. Credits give you control."

They always worked things out though. Sworn sisters, together against the galaxy and damn the Empire, they were going to end up on top.

Then they'd taken the job.

A simple snatch and grab. Fly in at night, break into a storage facility, reclaim the client's cargo, and fly off scott-free.

But the storage facility had been too well staffed, by both guards and droids. None of which was in the intel the client had given them. Things turned pear shaped quickly, and not in the entertaining way. With no warning everything was lights and alarms. They were running, escape just two shipping crates away, now through the window, a leap and...she'd felt the burn of a blaster and her legs went numb. She was falling and her last sight of Ketsu was her running along the roof and shaking her head.

Her sworn sister running and leaving her behind.

She woke some time later. She wasn't sure how long. Some feeling had returned to her legs and she picked herself up. She could hear a several search parties coming her way but she could barely stand, let alone run. Gritting her teeth, she strapped herself to a nearby support column. If this was going to be her end, she'd face it standing and fighting, like a Mandalorian. Her vision went double as she secured the strap and she had to blink a few times. And shake her head. It was getting hard to focus. Damn it, nerflings, get here already, she thought, before I pass out again.

"You look like you've seen better days," a male voice said, interrupting her thoughts. Panicked, she aimed her blaster at...well, the middle one is likely to be the actual guy. He was tall and lanky; long hair and scruffy clothes in earth tones. He also held a blaster but was aiming it away from her. "I can patch you up. I've some medical supplies. Mostly field stuff but if you can fire those blasters and help me get to my ship, I can promise a bacta treatment and a safe berth to heal."

"Don't have many credits," she admits through her helmet's intercom.

"Hey, just get me to my ship and we'll call it square. I'm pinned here just like you and I'd rather live than go out in a blaze of glory."

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oom: bounty days are over

polychromaticInsurgent began trolling

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HEX=993366

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ooc: notes,
t-minus

Expressing herself with words has never been an easy thing for Sabine; at least not when she's feeling vulnerable. Anger, mistrust? Sure. Fear for a friend or worry for a friendship? Not so much.

So instead of telling Kanan she was there and worried about him, she started experimenting with her art. Multimedia pieces that he could feel and explore. Working beyond colors was difficult at first, but she rose to the challenge and she liked to think Kanan got the message.

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Sabine ran through the forest after the mythosaur but quickly lost it. How such a large creature, whose head she had seen above the tree line, could disappear so quickly was frustrating and mystifying. She paused in her run, switching her helmet's display to heat signature, but still saw no sign of the creature. She did see a large heat source of to the south though and so headed that way. Maybe the mythosaur was crouching down or settling for a nap?

Soon enough Sabine was near the large heat source and so she slowed to approach cautiously. Switching to the heat sign signature to the minor view, she reactivated the visual light and continued, doing her best not to make any noise. She could now see flickering light up ahead, likely form a fire. Movement as well.

Turning the targeting arm of her helmet forward, her view magnified and she could see two women near the fire; one seemingly dressed in the height of Mandalorian fashion and the other dressed in beskar'gam, the armor for infamous through out the galaxy. Pulling the targeting arm back up, she approached more carefully until she was within earshot.

"Violence cannot be the way forward!" The high fashion woman was saying. Closer now, Sabine could see she wore a head piece suggestive of the mythosaur and was dressed in the royal tones of Mandalore, purples, greens, and blues. Someone important than.

"And who will be left to defend your precious noble cities?" The other woman replied hotly. Sabine could see her armor was painted grey and blue. Deathwatch? "Who will keep the Republic or the Separatist from claiming Mandalore? They will not simply ask if they decide Mandalore is to be theirs and no pretty speech is going to stop them."

"That is what the Protectors are for."

"Ah, so violence is okay as long as someone else is doing it. Can't get your hands dirty now can you?"

Noting the resemblance between the two, despite the vast differences in their dress, Sabine guessed they were the sisters Satine and Bo-Katan Kryze, the last two rulers of Mandalore. Before the Empire and before the brief civil war that brought the Empire.

"We cannot lost ourselves to war again. It would destroy Mandalore. Why can't you see that? Art, Philosophy, Diplomacy, these are what will save our culture!"

"And our warrior's heart and honor will protect those things! Without the will to fight for them, how can they have any meaning?!?"

Sabine stood and looked over her work, adding a spray of ocre to the whole. She and Ketsu had escaped the Academy months ago, living hand to mouth for a while until they'd stumbled into bounty hunting. Unsurprisingly, they both took to the trade with ease, quickly becoming not only competent, but gaining a rep as well; they were Mandalorian after all. Now things were much more comfortable and they even had their own ship to prove it.

Stepping back a pace to look at the whole of her work, Sabine shook her head and stepped forward again, covering a curve with her finger while she added a few quick bursts of magenta over the gear-like symbol of the Empire.

"Anytime now," Keysu said impatiently from her spot at the corner keeping an eye out for Impies. "You do remember we're on a schedule here?"

"Just about....there!" Sabine replied and stood back to look at the star devouring the Imperial black.

"Finally. Why you always do this, I don't know. Impies are just going to paint over it."

Sabine could explain it's just her way of telling the Empire they didn't silence her and that she was free, but Ketsu didn't get it the first time she tried, so why bother?

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oom: bounty days

[OOC: Not official canon.]

As Sabine stood on the warehouse roof, three hours past curfew, and stared across the street, she was reminded of the words of Danis Fett: "There are risks and costs to action; often planned but just as often unexpected or over-looked." *

The blasted and still smoking ruins of the storeroom the cadets had been using to practice their martial arts—pieced together from fragmented datafiles (all they could find of their planet's legacy)—were still crawling with 'troopers and officers. She couldn't see any cadets but that meant little. Frozen, she just stared as part of her processed the chemical signatures of the explosives and the scorch marks from the E-11 blaster rifles.

She knew the how.

She was the how. Her report had caused this, but why?

A sudden jerk on her arm derailed her thoughts and pulled her to the roof, prone and out of sight. "Are you trying to get yourself shot?" Hissed a voice. Sabine blinked and took a moment to recognize her friend, Ketsu Onyo. Relief flooded Sabine and she dared hope. If Ketsu hadn't been caught, maybe others had escaped as well!

"Who else is free?" She asked, hopeful and desperate.

Ketsu studied Sabine before answering. "I don't know. I only saw three of us get captured, but this is not the only way they struck. I think I heard more arrests on the south side of the block."

Sabine sat up and pulled her knees into her chest at this news, shaking her head. "No. No. No."

Ketsu looked from Sabine to the skies and back. "What?" She asked, picking up that something was very wrong.

Sabine swallowed the lie that waited on her tongue. Lying amongst the Mandalorian cadets, her family, was wrong and she owed Ketsu the truth. "This is my fault. I filled a report. I...."

Ketsu exhaled and shook her head in dismay. "Later," she commanded, interrupting. They had to get off the roof and back to the barracks before it was too late, if it wasn't already.

They made it back to their dorm and seemingly without being spotted or caught. Ketsu shushed Sabine yet again when she started to talk and indicated they needed to look for listening devices or cams. Finding three, Ketsu jerked her head towards the showers and pulled Sabine with her.

"Explain yourself," Ketsu demanded once she had the water running to create a layer of white noise. "Why would you do this?"

Sabine took a deep breath to settle herself before answering. "I thought the Empire would see the value of what we were doing, that learning the old ways would make us more effective as cadets. I had to report, the ISB is already watching me, but I was hoping to do some good."

"Little sister, that was foolish. How many names do they have?"

"I don't know." Sabine admitted, looking away from Ketsu's accusation. "I swear. I gave none. I didn't even tell them where we met or how many came. They must have been watching me ever since I filed the report."

"Okay," Ketsu said, rolling on her heels. "Okay, here's what we have to do. We keep quiet. Act like nothing has happened. At least until we can figure out how to get out of here. I'm done with the Empire, how about you?"

Sabine paused, honor warring with loyalty to the dreams the Empire promised. But she was Mandalorian, honor would always win in such contests. "I'm with you, but they'll be watching us closely. How can we plan anything, let alone act on it with the ISB watching us?"

Ketsu laughed. "We're Mandalorians and you are a prodigy. We'll do it because we have to."

[OOC: *This is actually a JFK quote, tweaked slightly.]

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oom: imperial days

It's been a few weeks now and Sabine has been reporting incidents and rumors from other students as had been requested. At first she didn't see anything of use with what she reported but as students mysteriously were given demerits or other disciplines, she quickly figured out what was happening.

Truth be told, she was enjoying the power, especially when students who were mean to her ended up on the disciplinary list. Funny how that worked.

The glow of this power quickly faded though and so she started trying to report praise worthy actions at least as much as the negative. Somehow those whose good deeds she reported didn't end up with promotions or extra privileges as much as the demerits and disciplinary actions were happening.

Finally, she decided to push the good behavior. Enough time had passed that a natural progression towards model behavior could be expected and so she didn't think anything of it. Besides, this report was nothing but a pure morale boost.

To: ISB Agent 49876
From: MC2323

At 3:00, I was invited to participate in an extra curricular activity, a sort of fight club specializing in the Mandalorian style of close quarters combat. Several other cadets and myself were invited in secret to a warehouse near the water ways. Since that first night, the location has changed each time. While the protocols of these activities are obviously not quite standard, I feel they can only add value to the cadets and the Empire. The boost in moral aside, the added skills to the Empire's curriculum can only increase the effectiveness of our fighting prowess.

Please advise for further actions.

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oom: imperial days

[OCC: This is not canon, but head canon based on hints given in Star Wars Rebels and Sabine's Rebel Sketchbook.]

The smell of chemicals has always been a comforting scent to Sabine. Today they were scents of solvents and paints but they could just as easily be that of explosives as far as she was concerned. She couldn't help humming lightly as she cleaned the paint sprayers and other components, even if she was being kept after class as a punishment.

She stopped humming immediately when she heard the room's door woosh open and turned, ready to offer a salute; which was good as it was her Imperial guardian and not a student. She executed her salute perfectly and held it, as regulations demanded.

"At ease, cadet," he said as he removed his hat and took a seat.

Not a good sign. Sabine thought as she relaxed to a loose attention.

He waited just long enough to build tension before continuing. "Your visual language instructor had a complaint against your behavior. Would you care to explain yourself?"

Was that all this was? Sabine wondered before placing the empty sprayer on the table beside her. "I was working on the propaganda assignment as ordered. I complied with all instructions, with one exception. I felt the addition of a magenta hue would offset the Imperial red well. My instructor informed me I did not have that liberty. I tried to argue my case but he would not listen. He wouldn't even look at the completed poster."

"And so he explained to me," her guardian replied as he straightened the crease in his pants. "Did you think your skills greater than the propaganda team hand picked by the Emperor himself? You, a mere cadet?"

"No, Sir," Sabine relied humbly, though it galled her. Anyone with the minutest sense of color would see she was right.

"Then you will comply with the color palette, and other requirements, as they are given to you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good," he said with a nod. The matter clearly done with. "I have other news. I took the liberty of presenting your file to the Imperial Security Bureau. They seem most interested in your potential. Tread carefully these next few weeks or months, Sabine. They will be watching you. You have a lot to offer the Empire, and I firmly believe you would be best utilized in the ISB. Do not disappoint me."

"Yes, Sir," she replied, a little shocked at this turn of events.

He smiled tightly at her then, as he stood to leave. Pausing at the door, he turned to look over his shoulder and meet her eye, "And keep an ear out for any rumors your fellow cadets might be sharing. The ISB finds much of use in them."

"Yes, Sir," Sabine replied with another crisp salute, though she wasn't sure about spying on the other cadets. Did he even mean her friends? What intel could possibly come from rumors?

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