Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Search and Rescue

Kanan's POV:

Ezra, Rex, Chopper, and I stole an Imperial shuttle and are about to approach the Imperial ship that Sato and his crew were captured on. I wasn't able to pick my team, though. I'd rather have taken Zeb or Sabine over Rex because of his similarities to the stormtroopers. They bring back awful memories of the clones wiping out Jedi like myself, but I have to set my mistrust aside to rescue our friends. "Once we board this thing, Chopper will plug in, find out where they have our people, and we get them out of there," I said, rehashing the plan. "We have to disable this weapon, whatever it is. If the Empire is able to intercept our ships in hyperspace, this rebel movement won't last long," Rex added. "I hear what you're saying, but remember, this is a rescue mission first and foremost," I replied, highlighting the importance of getting our crew back. We wouldn't have a fighting chance if we didn't have the manpower to attack the Empire head-on. "We're coming up on Sato's last known position. Brace yourselves," I alerted. We dropped out of hyperspace and were immediately contacted by an officer on board the monstrosity that lay before us. "Shuttle S257, this is a restricted area," he said, implying that we should turn back. "Copy that sir, boy are we glad to see you. We have a 157, repeat a 157," Rex responded, already having a plan in place. "You are not cleared. This is a 675 test zone and off-limits to you, S257." "Well if we don't get some help soon, we're gonna have a 3376 on our hands. I don't think you're gonna want to have a 3376 off your starboard side, now would you sir?" "Shuttle S257, requesting your emergency access code." As Rex started transferring his series of numbers to the officer, I leaned down to Chopper. "This is the stuff I can't stand, protocol nonsense." Not only did I not understand it, but it also stalled our rescue efforts. This operation needs to be quick, and waiting for clearance slows everything down. "Copy, Shuttle S257. You are clear to proceed on heading 1599 to hangar 11," the officer answered. We made our way into the hangar, prepping for entry into the ship. I sensed Ezra feeling a little scared, and I couldn't blame him. "I'm worried about Y/N too, Ezra. But we have to stay calm if we're going to succeed," I said comfortingly as we donned our stormtrooper armor.

Opening the ramp, we walked to a door guarded by two troopers. "Command deck says you need to make your repairs and depart," one of them told us. I prepared my mind trick and waved my hand in his face. "We need to get to maintenance," I said. "You need to get to maintenance," he repeated. "We can go on our way." "You can go on your way." The doors leading inside opened up and we found a terminal to plug into. Chopper did a quick scan until we realized that Y/N was split from the rest of the crew. "Transferred to a secure cell? That means they know who he is. Let's go," I said with urgency. Picking up the pace, we rushed into a turbolift and quickly closed the door before plotting our next move. "We should split up. One team disarms the weapon, the other finds our crew," Rex suggested, his mind still on the secondary mission. "Absolutely not. We get our men and get out of here, and that's final," Kanan disagreed. "Rex is right, we can't let the Empire keep testing this thing," Ezra said, siding with the clone. Chopper grunted in their approval, sealing the decision. "I guess I'm outvoted then," I said. Ezra quickly devised a plan in response. "Chopper and I will find Y/N and sabotage the reactor. Kanan, you and Rex will break out Sato and his crew." I frowned at him, knowing that he put me with Rex on purpose. He really doesn't know how deep this wound is. The turbolift stopped and we departed in our respective directions. Regardless, completing the mission is what matters. We have people to save.

Ezra's POV:

"Chop, scan a holomap of the cell block, and find Y/N's location," I said to my droid. After plugging into another terminal nearby, he beeped out the numbers 4265. "Good job, now let's hurry. Force knows how many troopers could be on guard there." Trying to walk quickly without being noticed by the patrols around us was difficult, but we managed to get to Y/N's cell. My heart sank as I saw three stormtroopers surrounding the door. One of them saw us and walked over. "What are you doing here? You weren't assigned to this cell block," he questioned. "I've been ordered to transfer from level two to here," I answered, hoping he'd take the bait. "This is highly irregular. What's your operating number?" the trooper probed. Struggling to come up with an answer, I pulled out my lightsaber and shot at him, knocking him unconscious from my stun bolt. The other two troopers started firing back at me, so I ignited my lightsaber, skillfully deflecting their blaster bolts away. Running towards them at a quick speed, I chopped their weapons in half and they surrendered. I threw them in an empty cell nearby and locked the door, officially clearing out the enemies in my way. No more distractions, now it's time to free Y/N. Turning around, I opened the cell door, only for Y/N to get up and charge at me, knocking me down and removing my helmet all at once. "Ezra?" He said, surprised that I was the one under the armor. "At least warn me you're gonna do that," I replied. "Let's get out of here," he said, helping me up. "Not so fast. There's a gravity well on this ship and we need to destroy the reactor. Follow us and be on guard," I explained. We snuck around the ship but heard the alarms go off midway through our route. "A prisoner has escaped and is running loose in the ship. Do not attempt capture and eliminate the target. Secure all detention blocks and lock all levels down. Once again, if you find the prisoner, eliminate him," an officer announced over the ship's comms. "Shit, what do we do?" Y/N asked, very concerned that they knew he was free. "Keep going, we're almost at the reactor," I said. After a few more turns, we made it to our destination. Chopper warbled something that I hesitated at. "You have a plan?" I asked him. He made a few sounds, describing his plan. "I'm the bait," I replied, my expression turning a little sour. Chopper complained, and I realized I wouldn't get my way. "Okay, okay. I'll draw them away. Most of the time they ignore droids anyway. Y/N, you provide cover fire." "How can I? They took my blaster," he explained. "Find a place to hide, we'll get you another one," I replied. I crawled around the control panels, slowly making my way towards the central station. "Hold it!" A worker noticed my presence and started firing at me. "We've got an intruder!" he shouted to his crewmates. "Come and get me!" I taunted, igniting my lightsaber and leaping down to the bridge below me.

Y/N's POV:

I dove under the nearest control panel as the battle ensued. Not having a weapon in hand severely limited my ability to help, so all I could do was wait until I found one I could steal. I saw Chopper roll over to the middle of the room and plug into the reactor, but I unexpectedly began to float as the artificial gravity turned off. I grabbed onto the panel to support myself and looked over to Ezra, who was dealing with the Imperials shooting at him. Chopper grunted a little more as Ezra floated right by him. "Don't you dare, don't you do it! Not yet!" He cried out, knowing that the droid was almost done. Of course, he shut the gravity off and everyone fell. I landed a little roughly and was slow to get up from the impact. I ran over to Chopper and Ezra as we made our escape. "You sabotaged it, right?" I asked the astromech, who grunted back at me. "What do you mean you think you did?" Ezra translated, not thrilled at his dry humor. We ran out of the reactor room and I saw Ezra pick up his comlink, signaling Kanan that we completed our part of the mission. "Kanan, we're on our way back. Where are you?" "We're headed for Sato's ship," Kanan answered. "Roger that," Ezra responded as I followed his route. I felt around my pocket, and to my surprise, my comlink was still there. Thank God they didn't find it while they searched me. We ran into a couple stormtroopers which Ezra easily dealt with. I stopped to pick up a blaster to arm myself with, and I caught up with Ezra. Eventually, we met up with Kanan, Sato, and the crew, who were caught in the crossfire between too many troopers. "We sabotaged the reactor, let's get out of here," I said. "Get Sato and his crew to the blockade runner," Kanan ordered. "Wait, where are you going?" Ezra asked. Kanan sighed. "I gotta get my friend." "Wait, friend?" Ezra wondered aloud, but the Jedi Knight ran off. "We can't get through, where is Kanan going?" Sato questioned. "Don't worry, I've got this," Ezra said, his confidence through the roof. He leaped into the line of fire and deflected every bolt fired in his direction, taking out the stormtroopers one at a time. "Hey!" he shouted, motioning for us to follow him. "Come on, he's got this!" Sato called out to our crew, the path to our command ship now wide open.

After boarding our ship, the pilots announced they got us free from the docking clamps. "Where are the others?" Sato asked. "Kanan ordered us to go. He said they have another way out," Ezra replied. "Pilot, disengage," the commander ordered. We made it away from the Empire's ship and the door to the cockpit opened soon after, revealing Kanan and Rex. "You sabotaged that thing, right?" Kanan asked, waiting for our confirmation that we actually took out the reactor. "Of course we did, right Chop?" Ezra said, with Chopper beeping shortly after. "Make the jump," Sato said. The pilots pressed some buttons before jumping to hyperspace, but we got pulled out again, back to the dreaded Empire's abomination of a weapon. "We got caught again!" I shouted, angry at our predicament. "Chopper! You said you sabotaged it!" Ezra yelled at the droid, who grunted something at the Padawan. "What do you mean wait for it? Wait for what?" Ezra asked, aggravated at Chopper's riddling manner. I looked out the window and what I saw next left me stunned. Two Light Cruisers were getting pulled towards the ship, and I quickly connected the dots. "Chopper rigged their own weapon against them. It's pulling everything in," I announced. "Including us," Kanan added, fearful that we might crash into the ship right in front of us. A cruiser crashed into the bridge of the Empire's ship, creating an explosion that we turned away from. "Commander, we're free!" a pilot said. Turning our ship away, we watched as the Empire's weapon collapsed on itself and exploded in a blue supernova. We all cheered as our victory was now official, and we jumped to hyperspace with nothing holding us back. Sato turned around and addressed our strike force. "Gentlemen, my crew and I owe you our gratitude. All four of you," he complimented. "Thanks, Commander," I replied, returning the kindness. "You know, when you two aren't each other, you fight really well together. Jedi and clones, now I get it," Ezra pointed out. Even though their history resulted in a bitter end, there was a lot of good beforehand. Especially in the rebellion, we have to put our differences aside to free the galaxy and make it a better place for everyone. I gazed out into the hypnotic blue tunnel of hyperspace, feeling elated that many more wins would come soon.