The crew looks at each other, Ezra sensing as panic seeps into the room. "Okay, well, we'll just have to get them out before they reach the planet."
Hera smiles at his enthusiasm, "That's easier said than done. There's no way the Ghost can get into the system without being seen."
Sabine looks at the Twi'lek, "I might have a plan for that."
*Later*
The Mandalorian snuck aboard an Imperial ship, successfully stealing a transport, with her normal flare.
The crew gather's in the cockpit, surrounding a hologram of the Grand Moff's ship.
"The transport you stole will get us close to the fleet over Mustafar. We know they have Kanan and Keen on Tarkin's Star Destroyer," Hera states.
Zeb rolls his eyes, grumbling, "And it's surrounded by a bunch of other Star Destroyers."
"Uh, lots more. We'll need a distraction to cover our entry," the Twi'lek turns her chair to face the girl, "Sabine?"
"Engine room's here–" she points at a place on the hologram. All the power for the ship. If we could get inside the docking bay, I could rig something, black 'em out. But our transport ship's not gonna fit in there."
"We need something small enough to get into that hangar bay," Hera sighs. "Too bad we blew up all the TIEs at that base."
"Well...uh," Ezra pipes up, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, "there is one left. But it's not at the base."
Zeb's ears press flat against his head, glancing nervously at Hera, "Uh-uh. Uh-uh."
"Look, this is serious, Zeb. For Kanan and Keen."
The Lasat sighs deeply, "Fine."
"What's going on?" Hera demands, looking between the Padawan, Lasat and Mandalorian.
"The TIE we stole a while back, we, uh–we didn't exactly crash it."
The Twi'lek glares at him, "And by 'didn't exactly', you mean–"
"We didn't crash it," Ezra responds quickly, "We kept it."
"You all knew about this?" she demands. The other three rebels look down guiltily, not meeting her eyes. Hera sighs, "I should be angry. I should yell at you for disobeying a direct order. But right now, I'm just grateful we got it."
"Uh, there's a slight problem with it."
"What kind of problem?"
"Yeah, what kind of problem?" Zeb growls.
Ezra and Sabine lead the other two to the TIE fighter. It sits in the middle of a field, hidden behind a few peaks. The ship is covered from top to bottom in a rainbow of colours, all coming together to form a beautiful array of colour and design.
"Okay. Well, this is awful," the Lasat grumbles.
"What? It's some of my best work," Sabine shrugs.
"It'll have to do," Hera states, inspecting the paint job.
"I thought you were supposed to be the sane one. This whole plan is as crazy as those colours."
"Maybe you're right," the Twi'lek responds to the ranting Lasat. "Maybe this mission doesn't make military sense. But Kanan is family. Keen is family. And we've all lost enough family to the Empire. So rescuing them makes sense to me. I-I'm not ordering you-- any of you-- to come along. But you need to decide now. In or out?"
"I'm in," Ezra and Sabine chorus. Chopper agrees as well. The four turn to look at the Lasat.
"Karabast. I'm in. But what about that?" he nods to the TIE.
"Eh, no time to fix it. Besides, the Imperials will only scan it. By the time the Imperials see it–"
"It'll be too late," Sabine finishes for the captain.
*Tarkin's Cruiser*
Kanan presses back against the table. Electricity streams through his body, screams erupting from his throat. It cuts off abruptly, knocking him forward.
"Still protecting your precious crew," Darth Vader sneers, tired of torturing Keen, and since she passed out, he figured he might as well interrogate Kanan, "Quite admirable. But what I want to know is about the other rebels, code name, Fulcrum."
The Knight sighs, "I know nothing of a larger rebellion. And if I did, I'd rather give my life than tell you."
"So heroic. Just like your master. Tell me, Jedi, how did you survive Order 66, hmm? It was your Master Billaba who laid down her life for yours. Do you remember her last word to you, her last and final breath before she died? You do, don't you? You see it in your sleep. You hear her voice when you wake. Tell me, Jedi, what was her last word to you?"
Throughout the Sith Lord's spiel, the Knight had looked more and more distraught, "Run," he states, although it barely comes out as a whisper.
"And does your loyal and precious crew...know you ran as your Master fell, abandoned her and the Jedi Order...when they needed you most? What do you think your rebels would do...if they know their leader was a coward? You're even afraid of your own power. You don't have the courage to wear your full saber out in the open. Let me tell you something, Jedi. You're right to be afraid. You couldn't save your Master then, and you can't save your followers now."
"Keen knows. She knows it all. Just as I know what happened to her. What did you do to her?" he demands, his voice raising in volume.
"She was asked the questions I asked you. She refused to give straight answers. I did what had to be done. We didn't really need two Jedi to interrogate anyway. Why would we, when we have you."
The Knights head drops back down, against his metal restraint, the questioning continuing.
*Ghost Crew*
"I'll send in our transporter code as soon as we know they are there. Ezra?" Hera says, turning to face the kid.
"Well, here goes nothin'," he gulps. He shuts his eyes, delving into the Force, searching for the two recognizable Force signatures.
"So anything?" Zeb asks a few seconds later. The boy scrunches brow, doing his best to tune out the conversation happening over his head.
Hera's voice snaps through his concentration, "Ezra, are they there?"
The Padawan snaps his eyes open, gasping, "They're there. Kanan, Keen, they're alive!"
Smiles cross each Ghost members face. "Sending codes."
It's a tense few minutes of silence, until cutting through the comm's comes, "Transport Ship 63378 cleared for docking."
"They bought it," the Twi'lek declares, turning to the astromech "Chop, send in Sabine's present."
Chopper babbles at her, saluting. He quickly releases the TIE, remotely flying it to the Transport.
Hera smiles at the other crewmembers, whilst docking the ship. She once again turns to Chopper, "This shouldn't take long. Keep the engine running."
The droid responds in his grumbles, not sounding happy.
The rebels infiltrate the Cruiser a little too easily, finding the docking bay crowded with unconscious Stormtroopers.
"These guys will wake up soon," Sabine supplies.
"How soon?" Ezra questions.
"Too soon, I reckon," comes the Lasat's haughty response.
Ezra stops at an intersection in a corridor, turning both ways, his hand outstretched, and eyes clamped shut. He points to the right with surety, "Come on. This way," he calls. The commlink sparks to life and Chopper warns of Imperial reinforcements.
"Don't worry," Sabine brushes it off, "On a ship this big, it'll take 'em a while to find us."
The group rounds a corner, to meet three Stormtrooper's, blasters raised at them. "Drop your weapons! Hands up!"
"They found us," Ezra groans. He slices at them with his lightsaber, leading the crew through the nearby blast doors. He uses the Force to slam them shut, freezing the controls by stabbing his blade through them.
"Pretty clever, kid," the Mandalorian compliments, "So what's next?"
"Kanan and Keen are down that hall," the Padawan indicates to the blast doors, "I just cut off only way to get to them."
Hera glances around the corridor, spotting a vent, "Might be our only way, but it's not yours." The boy smiles up at her, racing for the vent, jumping down inside. "Let's go. Let's go," she encourages the other two rebels, leading them down the corridor.