Star Wars Rebels Stories

Focus On The Force

"Wait, BOMBS?" Ezra exclaimed.

"What's the matter, kid? You want to back out?" Zeb teased.

"No, I'm just questioning the safety of this course, that's all,"  Ezra said and looked out over the course worriedly. "But Hera and Kanan seem alright with it, so I'm sure it's fine."

"Wasn't Kanan the one who made you do a handstand upside down on the Ghost while it was in flight?" Zeb asked.

"Karabast," Ezra whispered.

"On your marks, get set," Sabine said, "GO!"

Ezra pushed the floor away from his feet and  broke into a sprint. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and only one thought played in his head: "I have to beat Zeb".

He made his way to the first obstacle:  shooting the Stormtroopers. His fingers tightened around the trigger of  his blaster as the crates came into sight. He had just held it up to shoot right at their spray-painted faces when a laser came flying past his head.

"What the--"

He saw Chopper perched on top of a crate, buzzing mockingly while firing at him.

"Chopper!" Ezra shouted as he dodged a bullet. "Seriously?! That was nearly my ear!"

A flash of purple zoomed past him. "See you later, Jedi," Zeb laughed.

"Chopper, why aren't you shooting at him?" Ezra pointed at the Lasat who was already nearly on to the next obstacle. Chopper just beeped and continued shooting. Ezra huffed and pulled the gun out of  Chopper's hand using the Force, leaving the droid confused and annoyed. Chopper threw up his metal arms in frustration. "Sorry Chop, but you were getting really annoying," Ezra rolled his eyes and shot at the rest of the crates.

Once he'd shot them all, Ezra followed closely behind Zeb as he ran up onto the roof of the Ghost - the second obstacle. Sabine was waiting for them on top of the ship. A mischievous smile made its way across her face as she waved a remote in her hand.

"Good luck, boys!" she grinned.

"Wait, what--"

Ezra didn't get to finish his sentence. Sabine pushed the button on the remote and boom. "Smoke bomb," Ezra coughed, looking around at the thick dark blue smoke that surrounded him.

Although he couldn't see him, Ezra could hear Zeb's blaster firing just in front of him. What is he firing at? he thought. Right on cue, two tall figures emerged from the smoke. Oh, that's what.

The Inquistor and Agent Kallus -- or, rather, their life-sized dummies -- rushed towards him. Sabine had painted them well and found a way to make them move on rails, but they had no weapons. This'll be easy, Ezra thought.

Nope. It was not easy.

The dummies came at him at full speed. He tried to shoot at them with  both his and Chopper's blasters but they would not stop. They crashed  into him, making him fall backwards.

Right off the Ghost.

Ezra felt his stomach drop as he no longer felt the ground beneath his feet. The Ghost was quite tall, and to fall from her roof would most certainly mean an injury.

A yelp escaped his mouth. Through the heavy smoke he could just see the edge of the ship's roof. He used all his strength to throw his arms up ... and grab onto it just in time. He breathed a sigh of relief.  "Deadly dummies," he muttered to himself. "Sabine, I will get you back for this."

Pulling himself up onto the roof again, he looked around for the figures. They were nowhere in sight.

For a second he thought this fight might be over, until he heard the  sound of something running on rails. His head turned quickly to see the  figures rushing towards him again, this time from opposite sides. He couldn't shoot them. That wouldn't work.