Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Within Reach

"That was a close one," Ezra said over comms. "Too close. Thankfully we had Chopper watching the Ghost so we could escape," I replied. I was sure I'd hear a few annoying beeps from the astromech, but the cockpit was awfully silent. It's never this quiet. "Wait. Where is he?" "That little rust bucket went shopping! I warned him not to get distracted by that leg," Hera chastised. "You don't even know if that's what happened!" Ezra said, trying to find some sense to the droid's decision. "Oh, I know it is. He's always trying to think of himself and neglect everything else. Well right now, we have to think of the fleet. We are this close to finding a base and I am not letting him screw it up by going back for him," Hera explained. I climbed up to the cockpit upon hearing her words and got a little irate at her. "You were the one who rescued Chopper from a burning ship. You took him in and kept him as your companion for God knows how long. Don't you care at least a little bit about him?" I pressed, taking Ezra's side. Hera stared me down, very unhappy with my logic. "Y/N, you know nothing about my droid," she said coldly. "I literally pulled a guy I didn't know at the time out of a burning ship, Hera! Have some-" I began before I was interrupted by an incoming transmission. "Phoenix Home to Ghost, come in!" Sato announced. Phew. That could've been bad. "We read you, Commander Sato. We're inbound with the fuel," Kanan answered. "You must hurry, we are under attack," he alerted. Conveniently, we arrived at the fleet's location just in time to help, but we saw a sizable Imperial force attacking our ships. "Battle stations, everyone!" Hera said, snapping into the action, completely dropping the argument that just occurred. As always, I stayed in the cockpit to repair whatever was needed while Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb manned their guns. The Empire was ready for our arrival, however, and sent a squadron of TIE Fighters in response to break off our run to the carrier. "Looks like we're getting special attention," Kanan said. The barrage of laser fire mostly hit the turret, shutting out Sabine's ability to fight back. "My guns are offline! My guns are offline!" Sabine cried out. "Rerouting power to the turrets," I said, getting to the controls and pressing some buttons as fast as I could. Thankfully, Ketsu flew in and destroyed half the TIEs, providing us cover. "Shadowcaster to Ghost, I'm on your wing," she said over our comms. "Copy that, Ketsu. Thanks," Hera responded. We ascended towards the carrier but there were too many fighters for us to handle. "Zeb, two incoming at .7!" Hera alerted as six more TIEs flew above us and hit the hull. "There's more fighters than I can shoot!" he shouted back. "Then there's no excuse for missing," Ezra quipped. "Ghost to Shadowcaster, we need to land and refuel the carrier," Hera said. "I'll clear a path," she replied, taking out a fighter and giving us more space. "Thanks for the assist Ketsu," Sabine thanked. "You owe me one," Ketsu said. "Turret back online," I announced. Sabine took a shot at the last fighter, clearing our lane. Hera pressed some buttons on the dashboard, increasing our communications range to every ship in our fleet. "Everyone get ready. We're coming in hot!" Hera shouted. She pulled the steering back and activated the landing gear. We eventually skidded to a stop, thankfully taking no serious damage.

"Y/N, the fuel," Hera told me. I climbed down to the cargo bay and opened the ramp to push the canisters out. It was significantly heavier because I was pushing a crate of canisters instead of just one, but I got the job done. Two rebel soldiers brought out the lines and connected them to the canisters. Refueling the carrier didn't take long at all, only a couple minutes. "Thanks, guys," I said. "Hera, refueling is finished. Let's get out of here," I reported after powering on my comlink. "Hold that thought. Chopper, are you sure it's a trap?" Hera said. Chopper beeped back, I think confirming her question. "Then we need new coordinates to a safe system, now," she said. "We could cross-reference your data with the Imperial network," another droid jumped in, quickly devising a solution. I ran back into the cockpit as my task was complete, getting ready for the journey to another destination. "So what was that about being a trap?" I asked. "Yost is under Imperial control. We need another place to go," Kanan recapped. That's bad. We didn't plan for this. "Captain Syndulla, the fleet must jump. Are you ready?" Sato questioned. "Commander Sato, I have received new intel. Yost is now controlled by the Empire. But we have new escape coordinates incoming," Hera explained. "New coordinates? To where?" Sato wondered. "Somewhere better than here. Chopper, hurry!" Hera ordered. The carrier was taking a beating and I wasn't sure how long such a beefy ship would last under this torrent of laser fire. We waited a little bit but got no data, gradually reducing our chances of escaping in one piece. "What's taking so long?" I commed. "Sorry. Chopper is, uh, unavailable at the moment," the droid answered. "Who is this?" Hera asked. "I am Chopper's friend," the droid said. "Chopper doesn't have friends," Hera countered, flaunting her experience with her astromech. "He most certainly does. Just as when he was rescued from that Y-Wing fighter, I am rescuing him now. Chopper helped me, and-" the droid said before being interrupted. "Just send the coordinates!" Hera said impatiently. "I believe we have isolated a safe system for your rebel fleet. Transmitting coordinates now," the droid said. I could now feel the carrier shaking violently, but I heard some beeping sounds from the screen behind me and ran up to it. "Coordinates coming through. Send it, Hera," I announced. "Sato, I have the new coordinates," Hera said. "Jump!" Sato ordered. "The entire rebel fleet is betting on Chopper," Hera said, a little flustered at how we got roped into this situation. "Yeah, try not to think about it," Kanan replied. We got out of the Empire's clutches quickly and proceeded to travel towards our new location.

After about an hour, we emerged upon a light-brown colored planet with no Imperial presence. "The planet checks out. Chopper really came through this time," Hera said, relieved that her rust bucket did something useful for once. "So did his new friend," Kanan said, referencing the droid that I learned got shot by an Imperial captain. "How's he doing?" Hera asked. "I'll go see. Sabine's been working on him," Kanan answered before leaving for the lounge. "I can't believe that out of all the people in the galaxy, they hijacked an entire freighter," I spoke up. "You're easy to impress," Hera joked. "Maybe we should call it Chopper Base," I quipped back. "You know, that's actually not a bad idea, Y/N," Hera said. I was taken aback by that response. "Wait. You're actually considering this?" I wondered. "Yeah, it's only fitting we name it after the droid who found this planet," Hera replied. "Okay. If this is a joke, it isn't funny," I said, still in shock. The two droids entered the cockpit whilst in the middle of some argument. Two droids, twice the annoyance. Great. Hunger and thirst got the better of me, so I decided to go to the galley. Well, mainly to get away from whatever this is. "I'll go let the crew know we're here. Let us know when we touch down on the surface," I said to Hera before leaving for the lounge. I saw the rest of the crew inside and nodded at them before entering the galley. I made myself a cup of blue milk and heated some space waffles to satisfy myself. Everyone heard my cooking and joined me. "Don't start without us next time," Ezra teased. "Alright, alright. I'll make you all a plate. Save some for Hera, though," I said. I emptied the box and cooked them all to a nice and hot temperature. Moving them onto a big plate, we dug in and conversed for a little. Zeb boasted about his dejarik win streak, Sabine talked about her plans for her next big spray painting, and Kanan and Ezra announced that they were going after the Inquisitors soon. "We're here, everyone. Welcome to Chopper Base," Hera announced. "Chopper Base?" Zeb asked, confused. "It may or may not have been my idea," I said, smiling. Nobody knew what to make of it, though. I guess they'll just go with it. I practically ran down the ramp to step foot on Atollon. A lot of work needed to be done to build the base, but none of that mattered right now. I beamed widely at the rising sun, proud of this new beginning. After months of evading the Empire, it finally happened. We did it. We have a home.