Star Wars Rebels - Lost

Chapter Five: The Fleet Departs

Ahsoka awoke from her deep meditation to the sound of blaring alarms. With a turn, she saw that Sabine was no longer beside her, and must have woken up earlier. The togruta herself had been searching for guidance in the force, seeking any clue that she could latch onto beside Skywalker's vague advice. Her search had been fruitless. She sat up from her cross-legged position and hoisted herself off of the bed, glancing to and fro to see if she could see Sabine anywhere. Where had that Mandalorian got to now? And what were those alarms? She grabbed her two lightsabers from a nearby nightstand and clipped them onto her belt, taking a quick look across the room to make sure she had everything. Once she was satisfied, she made her way to the door and stepped out into a scene of chaos.

In the corridor, rebel soldiers ran frantically in both directions, barging past one another in a medley of shouting. The alarm continued to blare, over and over, a deep booming toll of the surrounding disorder. Ahsoka remained stationary, stood just outside the door of the dormitory, curiously looking from side to side with a small frown on her face. As she began to wonder what was going on, an Alliance announcer spoke over the intercom.
"All second stage pilots report to the hangar for briefing, this is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!" he said in a clear and loud voice that did nothing to answer Ahsoka's questions.

A moment passed, and the togruta decided to act, grabbing the shoulder of a rebel soldier who was running past her and effortlessly dragging him aside.
"Wha?" the soldier mumbled in his disorientation, Ahsoka rolled her eyes.
"Trooper, what is going on? What are these alarms?" she asked, turning his face to look at her own.
"Sorry ma'am, haven't you heard? Today's the day, we're preparing to head for Jakku!" he explained in an excitable voice, the naivety of youth.

Ahsoka thought deeply for a moment, before realising that her hands were still firmly holding the soldier's shoulders in place, preventing him from leaving. She smiled at him and nodded gratefully, letting him get on his way before returning to her thoughts. In a trance of sorts, Ahsoka began walking calmly down the corridor, taking several steps until she reached a window on her left. The glass allowed her to look over The Redemption's main briefing room. A Mon-Calamari admiral was speaking to the assembled group of troopers via hologram, and while Ahsoka could only make out a few words, she could tell that he was warning the men that they will be entering heavy fire and that they don't want to fall into any traps. If this truly was the beginning of the Battle of Jakku, Ahsoka reckoned it was high time to leave. She raised her arm and spoke into the comlink on her wrist.
"Sabine..." she began, but was swiftly cut off.
"I know, I'm already on the Gauntlet, firing up the engines. I think they're about to make the jump to light speed so hurry up" the Mandalorian interrupted, sporting a seemingly panicked voice.

Ahsoka nodded to herself, before breaking into a jog. She soon joined the rest of the soldiers in the corridor, running in a hurry like a headless porg. Nebulon-B frigates were not the largest ships in the rebel fleet, and as a result the Gauntlet had been forced to dock beneath the main hull, connected to the ship via a docking tube. Ahsoka rushed down a white staircase, looking downwards to avoid tripping over, before sliding around a corner. A pair of rebel soldiers guarded the docking tube, and each saluted the togruta as she rushed forwards.
"You're just in time ma'am, I think we have less than two minutes before we head out" one of them commented, causing Ahsoka to stop and smile grimly.
"Good luck out there...may the force be with you all" she stated in a quiet voice, before continuing on her way through the docking tube.

Ahsoka burst into the cockpit of the Gauntlet, almost causing Sabine to jump out of her skin in shock. She had certainly caught the Mandalorian girl off guard, despite all of the current chaos. Sabine swiftly slid out of the pilot's seat, where she had been priming the engines, and into the co-pilot position. Ahsoka nodded with gratitude and took her place, flicking a multitude of switches above her head and activating different sub-systems. In the rear, engines spluttered to life and Ahsoka pulled a lever to her right with force, causing the Gauntlet to detach from The Redemption and its docking tube. They floated idly for several seconds, and turned the ship to face the fleet as it slowly began moving past them. A multitude of Nebulon-B frigates, MC80 cruisers and blockade runners rattled past them, making the Gauntlet seem tiny and insignificant in comparison. Escorting the larger frigates were entire squadrons of rebel fighter craft; X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings and B-Wings. This was the entire Alliance fleet, all rebel cells gathered together, as it was on Endor. And just like on Endor, they were determined to find victory, and put an end to the Empire once and for all.

Sabine and Ahsoka watched in silent awe as this huge armada of spacecraft moved past them, heading off to war. Hopefully it would be the last war either of them would ever live to see, hopefully, but somehow they doubted. Over the intercom, they heard an all too familiar voice as some of the smaller ships began to tear off into hyperspace.
"Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren, good luck in your search. And remember, the force will be with you, always" General Skywalker said warmly, cutting out as The Redemption disappeared into the distance.

Seconds passed by, and the final ship to disappear into the distance was the hulking shape of Home One, flagship of the fleet and a modified MC80 under the command of Admiral Ackbar. The Mon-Calamari cruiser soon followed the rest of the fleet, and the Gauntlet was left on its own, floating in the vast shadow of space. An eerie silence ensued, a stark contrast of the previous chaos, and the pair of rebel veterans turned to each other with strange looks. Sabine looked almost regretful, and understandably, she'd fought for the Alliance for much of her life, and now she seemed to be missing out on the key fight. She couldn't help herself, and blurted out her thoughts.
"Do you think we should have gone with them?" she asked quietly, causing Ahsoka to sigh, she had clearly been wondering the same thing.
"As much as I want to see the end of the Empire, our path lies clearly before us. We must travel to Pillio, and hopefully there we will find something that will give us more certainty in our journey" the togruta responded, calming Sabine's emotions somewhat.

There were a few moment of silence before Sabine nodded in confirmation. She longed to help the Alliance fight, but she also longed to have Ezra in her life again. Their brief meeting with General Skywalker had made her forget her priorities, she had to find her friend. Once Ahsoka was sure that Sabine was on side, she pulled a nearby lever with conviction. The glass window in front of them seemed to stretch as the blue visage of hyperspace filled their vision. And with that, they were gone.