Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Searching for Answers

Eventually, three old men donning chest plates and blaster holsters walked out the door and gazed at us. "Pfft. It's just a bunch of old geezers," Zeb said, mocking the men whose walker they called home. "Well-armed old geezers," I pointed out. "What do you want?" One of the men asked us. "We're looking for someone," Kanan answered. "Well that's too bad, 'cause there's nobody out here," he countered. "Hey, does the number 7567 mean anything to you?" Ezra said, remembering the number the metal head transmitted. "What did you just say?" The frontmost man replied accusingly, with his two counterparts raising their weapons. "Uh, I said 7567," Ezra repeated, unfazed. That definitely sparked something in them. "I haven't heard those digits in...well that's my birth number," he said. "Birth number?" I asked. "They're clones!" Kanan shouted, igniting his lightsaber and getting into an attacking stance. "Kanan, wait, stop!" Ezra pleaded. This did little, however, as one of the clones started firing his rifle at us. "Jedi, they've come for revenge!" He said. Not even two minutes in and there's bad blood. Zeb, Sabine, and I raised our blasters in defense of our crewmate. "Drop the blaster old man," Zeb threatened. "Don't try it boyo, I'll gun you down!" another clone retaliated. Seeing the unnecessary squabble unfold, the clone that didn't fire back quelled the situation. "Stand down, trooper, now! That's an order," he urged. "But he's a Jedi. A Jedi!" one of the clones stressed, keeping his weapon trained on us. "I know, I know, but those weren't the ones that betrayed us. Remember, Wolffe, remember," he said, finally breaking through to his crewmate. "Kanan, Ahsoka said to trust them," Ezra said, getting Kanan to retract his lightsaber. "Sorry about the weapons malfunction there," the frontmost clone joked. "My friend here is just a little defensive. We haven't seen a Jedi since, well it's been a while." "Well, my name's Ezra," Ezra replied. "This is Kanan, Sabine, Zeb, and Y/N. Nice to meet you, 7567." "Actually my name is Rex, Captain. 501st Clone Battalion. Meet Commanders Gregor and Wolffe," Rex greeted. "We were sent by Ahsoka Tano," I said, drawing the connection between the two old friends. "Ahsoka Tano. I fought by her side from the Battle of Christophsis to the Siege of Mandalore. A friend of hers is a friend of mine," he said reassuringly. Ezra and I smiled back, hopeful that our new ally would help the rebellion with his expertise.

We followed Rex inside his walker and got down to business. "How is Commander Tano?" he asked. "Well, in need of help. We all are. Look, we're trying to fight the Empire, but we're outnumbered, overmatched, and taking a beating. We could use your help," Ezra explained. Rex said that he and his men have retired from fighting, brushing us off. Kanan motioned for us to leave, but Ezra kept pushing. "There might be something you can help us with. We need a base. Ahsoka said you knew about all sorts of secret locations in the Outer Rim," he reminded us of the mission she tasked us with. "Well, my memory isn't what it once was, but there are a few spots I never bothered to report to the Empire. Look, why don't you wait outside, and I'll put together a list of coordinates," Rex offered. Okay, this was definitely a wasted trip. Let's go back, repair the Ghost - again - and return to the fleet. We can get coordinates elsewhere. Gregor soon joined us outside. "You know, I was thinking, since we're providing you with a list of bases, there's something you can do to help us." "No thanks," Kanan scoffed. "Sure, what can we do?" Ezra asked. It's admirable how much he wants this. Maybe I need to be more optimistic. Gregor looks in the distance and says his favor. "Out there, deep below, roams the joopa. Elusive, big game. When we're lucky enough to sling one in, it'll feed us for the whole year." "Okay, what do you need?" I ask, curious as to how we catch this beast. "Him," Gregor pointed at Zeb, who stared back in confusion.

While we traversed the desolate landscape, I chose to zone out for a little bit. I do that a lot with my downtime. There were no distractions during wartime, so I had to find some way to keep busy. This is the first planet I've traveled to, and I had a gut feeling that the galaxy was gonna be bigger than I anticipated. "If we're lucky, we'll catch big bongo today!" Gregor called out to Zeb, who was hooked up to an electrical line. Zeb muttered something I couldn't hear because of all the machinery moving around me. "Keep going! Just a little more, we're coming up on a hot spot!" Gregor exclaimed. "Your hot spot looks like everything else on this desolate rock," Zeb said. Then, a loud bang could be heard in the distance. "Out there!" Sabine pointed out. "Alright, full stop," Rex told Wolfe, who stopped the walker. Gregor told Zeb to keep going a little more before turning back to us. "You know, we really appreciate this. I mean, we should do well today with your friend here," he said. "Yeah, well Zeb packs quite a punch," Ezra joked. Gregor laughed. That laugh sounds maniacal. What exactly does he have planned with Zeb? "I'm sure, I'm sure. But really, I mean joopa supposedly love Lasats," he said. My expression became suspect towards him. "They love them, what do you mean?" Sabine asked the clone. "Well, they say they love the smell, or I guess they love the taste as well. And maybe it's about the texture, you know," "Wait. Zeb's not the hunter. He's the bait," I deduced. "Hunter, bait, it's all the same," Gregor said, attempting to console us. "No, it's not," Kanan snapped. The rumblings in the ground got louder and louder. All of us pleaded for Zeb to come back to the walker or he would get eaten. Unfortunately, the Lasat was frozen in place and got caught by the joopa, who then slithered away. "This could be it! Our big bongo!" Gregor shouted in excitement, running inside for a moment. Wolffe pushed a lever forward, starting up the walker and moving it toward the joopa.