Star Wars Rebels: When Hope Is Lost

Chapter 23: Escape Attempt

Ezra was getting sick of his cell.

It was the same shade of grey everywhere. Grey, grey, grey. He hated it. It made him feel like besides everything else the Imperials had done, they just had to go and suck the colour out of the world too. Just because they could.

He wanted to see a little colour again.

He knew Kanan would be there as soon as he could, but he couldn't take it any longer. It was time to get a little air.

Besides, if he could make it off the Executor and to his crew on his own, then he could give them valuable information about rescuing Dev and aid the rescue better than he could from his cell. He could try to contact Kanan with the Force; but them again, he had no clue how to do that. Although, if Kanan could teach him, once they were out of this mess, that would be a handy skill to have in battle. They wouldn't even need comms to talk to each other.

But first, he had to get out of this mess first.

"Hey, stormtrooper guards, is there a chance you can get me something to eat? They haven't fed me in hours," Ezra called, complaining. He was not graced with a response.

"Look, I'm serious. I'm starved! I'm not sure how much longer I can last without something. I haven't got any water either. Have a little mercy, would ya? I'm just a kid."

"You're a rebel and a Jedi apprentice," one of the guards replied, voice mechanically altared like all stormtroopers. "You've killed thousands of my people. Why should I have mercy on you?"

"Aw, come on. Just a nutrient bar and a cup of water. Please?" Ezra begged, doing his best to sound pitiful. "I'll be quiet after, I promise. I'm just trying to stay alive a little longer. Darth Vader wants me alive too, remember? He wouldn't be happy if I died, especially from a silly thing like hunger."

Silence, then he heard the two stormtroopers whispering to each other frantically. Finally, one spoke. "Fine. We'll get you a nutrient bar and some water. Okay kid? Then you'll be quiet, right?"

"Definitely." Ezra smirked as a pair of footsteps walked away from his cell. Not only was he actually hungry, he was being given a chance to escape, as well. He was killing two birds with one stone.

A few minutes later, the door slid open. One trooper was standing there, holding the promised items in his hands. His blaster was in his holster. He obviously thought Ezra was too weak from hunger to pose an actual threat. And the way Ezra had made sure that he was sitting, slouched, holding his stomach, he definitely wouldn't seem like a rebel that was going to escape.

"Here you go, kid," he said, holding out the items to Ezra.

Ezra hopped up from where he was sitting on the bed. But instead of reaching for the food and water grasped in the buckethead's hands, he stretched out his hand and used the Force to pull the trooper still outside the cell inside–and then thrust him into the delivery trooper. Both fell to the ground in a pile as Ezra shut the door and caught the flying edible items with the Force, setting them down behind him to deal with later. He also snatched both of the comlinks the bucketheads had and smashed them to pieces with the Force.

By this point, the Imperials had recovered from their original shock and were reaching for their weapons. Ezra fixed that problem too. He lunged forward and pulled both blasters out of the surprised troopers hands. Now they were both weaponless. Ezra pointed the guns at them. They raised both their hands in surrender.

"You're going to tell me where the closet TIE Fighter is," Ezra waved his hand, manipulating the bucketheads with the Force. Within seconds, they were under his control. Stormtroopers are very weak-minded, Kanan's voice flashed through his head. Making them susceptible to Jedi 'mind tricks' as you call them.

"Here," one trooper droned. He pulled out a holographic map of the Star Destroyer from a holoplayer on his utility belt and traced a path with his finger from Ezra's cell to another spot on the ship that didn't appear to be too far away.

"There are five TIEs in this bay. All are relatively unguarded," he continued in a monotone.

"Thanks," Ezra said. "Mind if I take that, and your code cylinder? Also, I need both of your handcuffs."

A few minutes later, Ezra had secured both stormtroopers together on the floor and had 'convinced' them to take a LONG nap. Now, as both bucketheads slept peacefully back-to-back, Ezra pocketed the holoplayer and and devoured the nutrient bar. He washed it down with the water and prepped himself for his escape attempt. He had the stormtrooper's code cylinder, which would give him easy access to the docking bay without having to break in. He had one blaster in his hand and the other had been mangled with the Force until it was no longer recognizable as a blaster, then dropped beside the sleeping troopers. He had also donned one of the bucketheads' helmets so he could monitor Imperial comm chatter, plus he had the holoplayer to guide him. He grinned.

See ya, Imperial cell. Thanks for nothing.

He waved his code cylinder in front of the cell door interior access panel and it slid open. Still grinning, he cautiously stepped outside. No one was in sight. He put the code cylinder away and pulled out the holoplayer. The stormtrooper had also shown Ezra a route to the docking bay through the ventilation system. Ezra hopped into the vent right above him, as he had been promised it was there, and began to creep through the Imperial Star Destroyer. It was odd though; he hardly saw any Imperials. He had seen maybe three so far.

Just makes my life easier, he thought, continuing on.

About fifteen minutes later, Ezra reached his destination. The vent opening closest to the docking bay was around the corner from the actual bay entrance. He placed the holoplayer back in his front pants pocket and checked the comm chatter in the stormtrooper's helmet that he was currently wearing. So far, as far as he could tell, no one knew that he had escaped his cell. Well, he wasn't going to stick around long enough for the Imperials to figure it out. He checked that the coast was clear and then jumped out of the vent. Staying close to the wall, Ezra moved to the corner wall and gripped his blaster with two hands. He peeked around the corner cautiously.

Darth Vader was standing there waiting for him, in front of the docking bay entrance at the end of the hall, lightsaber hilt in hand.