Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

A Sign of Things to Come

We returned to base and found AP-5 and Chopper arguing yet again. This is gonna be a long night if they keep it up. "Hey, Inventory!" Zeb quipped. This stopped their squabble as they turned their attention to us. I threw the rogue droid down on a couple crates, waiting for them to analyze it. "Excuse me, this is a supply area, not a trash compactor," AP-5 ranted. "We found this out in the wastelands. Do you know what this is?" I asked the inventory droid. "Looks like an older model of a protocol droid. I should be able to give it enough power for a system restart," AP-5 analyzed. He pulled a cord from a power generator and plugged it into the back of the droid. Its eyes turned on and they sat up, scanning the surrounding area as AP-5 took out the cord. "Hello? Where do you come from?" I questioned. "Designation: Unknown," it answered. "It's memory systems are damaged," AP-5 said. "Armory and munitions area. Proton torpedoes: 42. Blaster recharges: 928. Thermal detonators: 65," it blurted out. "Did it just take an entire inventory? He's better at this job than you are," Zeb chuckled. "I seriously doubt that. However, he appears to be a logistics droid and could prove useful as my assistant," AP-5 suggested. "Not a bad idea. I don't mind taking on another stray," I said. "Captain Orrelios to the command center. Priority message," a soldier announced over the intercom. "Keep an eye on our friend here," Zeb ordered. I followed him to the command center, where we saw the captain waiting for us at the main holoprojector.

"We have a message from Fulcrum," he said. "Let's hear it. Put him through," Zeb responded. The captain pressed a button, playing back the recording. "The Empire has begun deploying infiltrator droids. They sweep the Outer Rim worlds for rebel bases," Fulcrum began. The projector displayed a file of a humanoid war machine with many weapons and gadgets designed to swiftly deal with anything it deems as its enemy. "Look at that thing. It's armed to the teeth," Zeb noted. "They are extremely dangerous, but can appear harmless while in protocol mode," Fulcrum continued while the display changed to show the droid in its other mode. "Is that what I think it is?" I muttered. "Be advised: One recently failed to report in. If the droid remains out of contact, the Empire will come after it. Fulcrum out," Fulcrum said, then the transmission ended. Oh shit, that's the one. "Come on!" I shouted, breaking into a full sprint toward the munitions section of the storage area. After making a few turns, I found Chopper and AP-5 flanking the disguised Imperial droid. "Get away from that! It's an Imperial infiltrator droid!" Zeb called out. "Rebel base identified," the droid said. "AP-5, what's it doing?" I questioned, feeling myself panic a little. "Designation: Imperial infiltrator droid EXD-9," it said. Then it began to change forms. Limb by limb, it showcased its arsenal, morphing into the war machine we feared would activate. "It's remembering," AP-5 answered. "Let me shoot it down!" I begged, hoping AP-5 would move, but he stood still, stunned at the sight of the Imperial towering over him. "Designation: Atollon. Target: Rebels," the droid said before knocking AP-5 down. I drew my pistol and landed a shot at his head, but it did absolutely nothing. The Imperial jumped on top of a catwalk, dodging me and Zeb's return fire, then it tackled Zeb, hitting him repeatedly. I took some more shots at the droid, but their thick exoskeleton seemed impenetrable. It hopped off of Zeb and onto a stack of crates, drawing its forearm-mounted gunners and shooting at us. "Get down!" Zeb shouted. I leaped out of the way to avoid getting hit. Chopper saw this as his opportunity to strike back and shock the Imperial, but it did no damage either. The droid batted Chopper against the wall and ran to deliver the killing blow. We couldn't let that happen. Zeb and I released a flurry of blaster bolts at the Imperial, eventually finding a weak spot on its forearm. It flew off and the droid began leaking oil, who ran away.

"We can't let that thing report what it saw back to the Empire," I said, stating the obvious. "We must alert Captain Syndulla," AP-5 recommended. "No time. Hera put me in charge because she trusts me. I'm not letting her down. Follow that trail," Zeb said. We followed the oil puddles the droid left and came along a dismantled astromech. "Holy crap, that thing is completely destroyed," I said. "More precisely, its power core has been depleted and several key components have been removed," AP-5 analyzed. "That thing's repairing itself. Even worse, the trail ends here," Zeb deduced. "Chopper, you think you can track it?" Chopper warbled for a bit. "Chopper said its power supply is not registering on his scanners. The power it siphoned from the droid likely was not enough for its needs. It will look for more," AP-5 translated. "I have a plan," Zeb said. "Really? You have those?" AP-5 clapped back. I snickered, unable to hold myself together. "Chopper, get that droid's attention. Lure it to me and I'll blast it," Zeb explained. "May I remind you that we are in an area housing high-explosive munitions? Perhaps not the best place to be firing blasters," AP-5 said. "He makes a good point. We were lucky enough the first time," I replied. "Alright, well I'll just grab it then. Get that thing to the ground and shut it down," Zeb improvised. "Just grab it? That's your plan?" AP-5 questioned. "He's right, AP. The Empire will come after the droid if it doesn't report in. We can't destroy it or we risk exposing the base," I reminded. "Point taken. Chopper, go get it," Zeb ordered. We trailed behind him but stopped in a spacious area. Zeb climbed the crates and got onto a catwalk. We waited until we heard Chopper scream and beep in panic. He rolled into the open as the Imperial got closer, its eyes still on the ground. Zeb ignited his bo-rifle and jumped onto the droid's back, but it shook him loose and stalked towards Chopper and AP-5. I landed a high kick at the droid's back, causing it to refocus on me.