Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Fading Fast - Part 1

For minutes I endured several beatings. I could taste the blood coming from my lips, and both of my eyes were black and swollen. My shoulders and arms were very sore from being suspended on a bar above, where my hands were bound together. The blood was rushing lower in my body. I could swear I was growing more numb. Thrawn just stood there, letting his henchmen hit me as hard as they wanted to. After what felt like an eternity, he held his hand up, stopping his Death Troopers from attacking me further. He could have let them kill me. Why didn't he? Thrawn turned on the transmitter and pressed a few buttons. A holographic map of the galaxy appeared in place of my Fulcrum symbol. "You may have transmitted your warning, Agent, but in doing so, you've given me the last piece of the puzzle," Thrawn began. Two red lines going in different directions appeared, converging at one point on the star chart. "This is the trajectory of General Dodonna's fleet, and this is the trajectory of your Fulcrum transmission. Taken separately, they mean nothing, but together..." "Nothing. There's no planet there. The rebels are smarter than you give them credit for," I interrupted. I deleted the planet and added a fake on the star map directly in his office. Thrawn smirked at this, however. This was very bad. "A pity you do not study art, Agent Kallus. There is much it can show you. That is, if you know where to look," Thrawn replied, pulling out a decoder and inserting it into the transmitter, displaying a new map that I've never seen before. "Such as a system that does not appear on Imperial charts, but is represented in the art of the ancient people of this sector. I believe they call this Atollon, now the home of your rebel base." My heart sank. I failed catastrophically. And I know what happens next. Thrawn turned on his comlink. "Admiral Konstantine, deploy the fleet to these coordinates. We will join you shortly." I looked down on the ground, defeated and deflated. All this work I put into the Rebellion? Worthless. Just like that. I really kriffed up.

Y/N's POV:

The attack on Lothal is finally happening. General Dodonna's fleet just arrived to assist us, and they are much bigger and much more equipped than we are. With our combined forces, we have a real chance of putting the Empire on the defensive, proving that they are more vulnerable than the galaxy perceives them to be. The last few days have been hectic, to say the least. Final checks on munitions, making sure all ships are fully refueled, reviewing the plan over and over. Everyone, myself included, has been working overdrive. I've been fighting fatigue, tiredness, and soreness just trying to make sure everything is in order. Thankfully, my tasks for today were lighter than normal. I just had to relog both our ground inventory and the munitions marked for transport. I had some help too, but the process was more tedious than it needed to be because of a certain inventory droid. "No, Lieutenant, we're only taking 60 thermal detonators. Not 70," AP-5 argued. "AP, we just added more. Did you not read the manifest that General Dodonna sent us yesterday?" I pressed. "I read it multiple times, in fact. Am I the only competent worker on this base?" AP-5 shouted. "I think you need to get your scanners reprogrammed, buddy," I insulted. "I think you need to get your eyes checked, friend," AP-5 clapped back. "Enough! We just received a new transmission from Fulcrum," Hera said, defusing the argument. I approached the main holoprojector as Hera played back the recording. Hopefully, we get some new information relating to our attack. "This is Fulcrum with an urgent message. Thrawn knows about-" The transmission just cut off. This is very unlike him to give us incomplete information. "Thrawn knows? Knows about what?" Kanan questioned. "About the attack on Lothal?" Ezra speculated. "Something's happened. Most of the Imperial fleet left the system. What does it mean?" Ryder asked through an encrypted data link. "Thrawn knows we're here," Hera said gravely.

"All ships, battle stations!" Hera ordered as a soldier sent out the warning to all ships in orbit. "How can you be certain?" Dodonna wondered. "The Empire ambushed us on Garel a while back. They've done this before," I answered, remembering their previous attack. "Commander Sato! I'm detecting several Star Destroyers dropping out of hyperspace!" a pilot on the carrier reported. "Phoenix Fleet, set defense formation Aurek-one! Alert Rebel command!" Sato ordered. Ryder's hologram suddenly disappeared. "What happened? Where did Ryder go?" Ezra asked. "They're jamming long-range transmissions!" Hera realized. "We have to scrub the mission," Dodonna said. My heart sank. All this work we put in might end up going to waste. We won't even be able to attack now. Instead, we were forced to face Thrawn in our own backyard. "Evacuate all ground staff! We're getting out of here!" Hera commanded. "All personnel, code K-1-0. Evacuate immediately," a soldier announced over the base's intercom. "All craft, jump to hyperspace. Regroup at rally point Nova," Dodonna said. "I still have people on the surface," Sato disputed. We had to get as many people off-world as we could. We couldn't afford to lose this many soldiers. "If we don't they'll cut us to pieces, Commander," Dodonna reasoned. "Go, we will cover you," Sato accepted. "Signal the other frigates to jump," Dodonna ordered. We waited a few seconds, hoping his fleet would get away easily. "Something...just pulled them out of hyperspace," he said, stunned at what he saw. I instantly recognized the weapon the Empire used. They have Interdictors. You've got to be shitting me. "If that is true, then there will be no escape for us," Sato said solemnly. I could hear explosions from behind their holograms. The Empire just destroyed one of our ships. Then our comms got hacked, displaying the face of a man I'd never hope to see again. Blue skin and deep red eyes. And he's smirking. This isn't good. This is really not good. A mixture of shock and anger plastered across my face as he stared right back at us, preparing yet another one of his grand speeches.