Partners in Crime | STAR WARS Rebels

11 | dangerous alliances

Weeks later, I sat on my bed in my quarters, spinning the paintbrush around my fingers.  I had yet to use it, but we could barely afford fuel right now.  There was no way I'd be seeing regular paint anytime soon.  So for now it was just a souvenir from the Festival.

 Nothing felt how it was supposed to.  Left and right things were going wrong with the Rebellion and the Empire was rising everywhere.  The past few missions had either failed or done more harm than good, with our crew barely escaping with our lives.

Many planets in the outer rim that used to be free were now forced into slave labor.  Factories were popping up and hurting the native population.  It made me sick to think about it.  And if something didn't change soon, I wasn't sure it ever would.

We needed a new ally, or a new angle to work with.  Personally, I felt stuck, like I had failed.  Ezra and I couldn't even go out and buy food for the crew without some trouble.  We were trapped in a hopeless lull.  Also Ezra had become distant ever since our 'moment' at his house.  He only spoke to me when he had to, and he rarely made eye contact.  I don't what I did and this was only making things even more frustrating. 

A flicker of light caught my attention from across the room.  On my metal shelf was my hologram transmitter, and it was buzzing.  I walked over and clicked the button, revealing a pale blue hologram with- Castriel? 

"Sabine, good.  I needed to see you again."  

His voice was natural but worried.  He was talking to me in secret, and he was acting like his old self.  Castriel's brown hair had been messed up a bit and his uniform wasn't perfectly crisp like it should be.  I was pleased and intrigued that he contacted me.  However, I needed to be on my guard.  Anytime I felt I could trust him, things could drastically change.   

I often thought of our times together at the Imperial Academy and the fun we had.  His pale blue eyes kept cropping up in my mind's eye.

I found my voice.  "I thought I was your enemy."

"That is what I need to talk to you about.  Just because we are no longer on the same side doesn't mean we can't see each other.  The Empire can't put a barrier between our friendship."

I raised my eyebrows.  Was he serious? 

Castriel looked down for a second and then looked me straight in the eye.  "I miss you."

I took a step back from the hologram as if it was a dangerous object.  My cheeks turned warm. This couldn't be happening.  The boy I looked up to and admired for so long was now saying he missed me.  But he was an Imperial officer.  I shouldn't even be talking to him right now.

"And..?" I continued, trying to speed this conversation up.

"And I have been thinking about you a lot. I can help you, you and your rebel friends."

"Why would you do that?" I laughed. 

He looked around to make sure there was no one listening and whispered.  "The Empire is planning to take over Aria Prime."

I gasped.  Aria Prime was a small planet in the outer rim.  I had never been there, only heard legends.  Aria was a peaceful planet, the people there thrived off culture and arts.  They enjoyed life instead of worrying what would come next.  The Empire hadn't reached it yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

Castriel grew up there, and his family was there.  His father was the one who inspired him to work with explosives, not just for destruction, but also for art.  Why was the Empire suddenly interested in Aria Prime?

"Why?" I asked.  "It's a small, peaceful planet, what could the Empire possibly gain there?"

Castriel's face was ashen and scared.  He didn't want his home to be destroyed.  "They think it would be a good spot for an Imperial outpost, and they want to start a factory there." 

I hated the Empire.  They couldn't get enough.  They had to keep taking and taking until there was nothing left.  We had to do something.

"They'll ruin it! They will take slaves for the factory, and pollute the endangered forests, people will immigrate to other planets and the arts will be neglected."  Castriel stood, lonely and heartbroken.  "My parents are still there..."

I sympathized with him.  I remember what it was like when the Empire showed up on Mandalore.  They turned the clans against each other and changed my life forever.  But what made me even more mad was that this was happening everywhere.  Castriel was on their side, helping them take away more planets.  And now suddenly because it was his home planet, he wanted to stop them.  

"If you and you're rebel crew can help ward off the Empire, I can pay you guys.  Food, credits, supplies, whatever you need, it's yours," Castriel finished.  

I sighed.  I wanted to trust him, he was my friend.  Only the sickening feeling of betrayal kept reminding me of the choice he made.  His gray uniform put him with the Empire.  Castriel was one of them.

But he had helped me escape.  Twice now.  I owed him.  And if he risked his life and status to help save me, that had to count for something, right?

Plus, the crew was getting desperate.  If this mission was successful, we could turn things around.

"Okay," I said finally.  "What's the plan?" 

Castriel smiled.  "Meet me in the wastelands of Lothal in three days.  I'll send you the exact coordinates."  The numbers popped up on the screen.  I grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil nearby and scribbled down the coordinates.  "Oh, and Sabine?"

"Yeah?" I looked up.

"Come alone."

Before I could argue, he disappeared and my transmitter powered off.  I didn't feel safe going alone.  Was all this really worth it?

I decided to talk to the rest of the crew before I took any action.  After all, I was not the one in charge.  

---

I walked into the common room, unsure of how to present this to the crew.  This could be exactly what we need. I crossed my fingers, hoping they would see it that way. 

Ezra sat playing some sort of game with Zeb; they muttered back and forth, throwing cheap insults at each other.  Zeb grunted and shoved Ezra to the ground.  Kanan, who was standing over them, told Ezra to get up and work on some Jedi training.  They began to walk toward the door until I stopped them.  

"Wait!" Kanan gave me a look like, how dare you stand in the way of Ezra's training.  I felt small, but held my ground. "I think I might have a new mission for us."

Hera walked in from the cockpit and rubbed some engine grease off her hands.  Chopper rolled in behind her and beeped excitedly.  Ahh yes, this was good, I had them interested.  

"I've received intel that the Empire is planning to take over the planet, Aria Prime."  I watched their faces anxiously.  Unfortunately they weren't convinced, but I kept talking.  "They want to build a factory and an outpost there.  The Imperials will take the native people as slaves and it won't be a peaceful planet anymore."

Kanan sighed.  "Aria Prime is beautiful place, I would hate to see it fall into the hands of the Empire.  However this has been going on with many other Outer Rim planets, and I am afraid that by ourselves it would be hopeless to try to save it."

Before I could tell them about Castriel, Hera spoke up.

"Where did you get this information, Sabine?"  Her tone was condescending and my heart sank.

"My friend from the Imperial Academy," I told them.  "He helped me and Ezra escape before, we can trust him."

Ezra shook his head and I glared at him.  Kanan looked doubtful.  "Are you sure? How are you in contact with him?"

"He could be tracking us right now!" Ezra exclaimed.  

"No!" I wanted to convince them, but glancing around the room I knew I was outnumbered.  And it was hopeless.