Rebels on the Run

Chapter One

A silence followed these words, and you could only assume Hex and Steele had exchanged glances, a silent conversation playing between the two.

"Alright, Commander," Hex said, "but we're coming with you."

"Then I will be waiting to march on with you," Sans said before a brief silence followed by two blasters firing, and then both of those blasters firing again. And then endless silence on the comms.

You still feel guilt for not saying something, for not revealing that you had survived. But you couldn't, because you would have been hunted down and killed. As much as you wanted more than anything to save their lives, you knew, in the end, it would have only delayed the inevitable. And you perhaps might have condemned Sans to killing you as you faced him, which you'd much rather him not have to bear the weight of. The only consolation is knowing that Sans, Hex, Steele, Aid, Tie, and Bomber are now all together again.

A week had passed, and you'd returned to the imperial base. It had been busier, and you could only assume it was because of the defiant clone and the rogue clones. You had heard whispers in the cities that General Cham Syndulla and his wife Eleni, along with their daughter, had been rescued and taken off planet by the rogue clones. A bitter feeling flooded through you as you'd heard the news. Of course you weren't lucky enough to also be saved by them. It's what you get for remaining hidden in the shadows.

As you had watched, your mind kept drifting back to think about the defiant clone and the few followers he had raised. You wondered what the likelihood of him still being on planet is, and the likelihood of you being able to help-

No, you'd told yourself before you could finish the thought, you are not going to risk your life for a clone that will just end up killing you or betraying you.

And yet, a few weeks later, you weren't given much of a choice in the matter.

It's earlier than normal when you wake up today, and your body is rigid with tension. Something feels off, it's what had awoken you early, and you can't tell whether it's danger or just cautionary. You don't give yourself much time to debate it. You crawl out of your make-shift bed, which is in reality just a slab of stone, and put your bounty hunter mask on before grabbing your blaster and heading close to the entrance of your hiding spot. You keep hidden while you listen to their steps, trying to sense their location through the force. They seem to be curious about whether or not this area could provide shelter.

"Huh, I wonder how easy it would be to carve out a living space in this rock," the person says, and his voice sends a chill down your spine. "No doubt that it would be hard to find me out here." Your grip on your blaster tightens, sensing him continuing to look around, getting closer to you. "That's weird," he mutters, and you can tell from his force signature that he's found your secret path, the one that leads directly to your entrance. His footsteps echo down the short, hollowed out corridor, and you let out a steadying breath before you make your move.

In an instant, your blaster muzzle is pressing into the side of the clone trooper's head, and he's frozen in place, his hands up in surrender. A silence fills the room, and you fight every instinct that tells you to shoot him now, taking away his chance to shoot you.

"You've wandered a long way from your little imperial base," you say, "what led you all the way out here?"

"I'm wanted by the Empire. I'm trying to escape the planet and join the clones who are rebelling."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Look at me," he says, beginning to move his hand to gesture at himself. You grab his wrist, fearing him possibly reaching for his blaster. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. Besides, I have no reason to hide anything. If you just look at me, you'll see proof that the Empire was holding me in prison and was trying to torture information from me."