Chapter 1: Why?
Me: *walks on stage* Welcome one and all to the sequel to Visions of Fear, Blasted!
Chopper: *grumbles*
Me: Sabine's been teaching me Chopper… Uh… You're asking where Zeb is, right?
Chopper: *spins around happily*
Me: Alright, awesome!
Chopper: *beeps*
Me: Well, he said he'd be here eventually, but that he's dealing with some bucket heads.
Chopper: Ohhh.
Disclaimer: Hi Chop, please don't shock me. Dragon doesn't own Chopper or anyone or anything else!
Sabine watched quietly as Hera and the medical droid situated the respirator mask over Ezra's nose and mouth. She could barely see the unsteady rise and fall of his chest. Soon, the slow, yet constant, beeping of the heart monitor filled the room. She glanced up at the screen, watching the glowing line arch. That and the sound of the respirator were the only signs of life in the fifteen-year-old.
'Karabast, Ezra, why did you have to do this?' she wondered.
*Flashback, in the Imperial Base on Naboo, 10 PM*
The group of rebels ran through the halls towards the hangar bay where they would steal a shuttle. The huge door was closed. Ezra used the Force on the lock and it slowly hissed open, revealing the seemingly empty room. As they rushed ahead, he sensed something. No, not something. Someone. He whirled to see a lone trooper aiming his blaster at Sabine.
"Sabine! Look out!" he yelled, Force-pushing her out of the way.
It happened in all of five seconds. The trooper took advantage of the boy's distractedness and fired three bolts at him. The first missed, hitting the wall on the far side of the room. The second, however, hit him in the shoulder, just below the collarbone. His cry of pain was cut short, for the third…
Hit him square in the chest, mere inches from his heart.
A/N
I bet you all thought I was gonna end there. Nope too short, otherwise I would.
He fell to the ground, unconscious. The others looked on in shock for a moment before Zeb shot a single bolt of his own at the trooper, hitting him in the face. To hell with their 'violence is bad' thing. His little brother could very well be dead. Kanan rushed to his fallen Padawan, grabbing him.
"Get to the shuttle, let's get outta here!" he shouted, running for the small craft. The others weren't far behind, blasters at the ready. They boarded the shuttle and took to the skies. Kanan knelt with Ezra, placing a finger on the teen's neck. A faint, fluttering pulse beat weakly beneath his gentle touch. He hovered a hand over his mouth. He was horrified when no warm air blew against his hand. He placed it on the child's chest. Ezra had stopped breathing!
Zeb and Sabine watched on in terror as Kanan began CPR, pinching his nose shut, and tilting his mouth open. Hera crouched next to him and began chest compressions, while he began to breathe for his young friend. They stood tensely for almost two minutes before the sound of choked coughing filled the eerily silent shuttle, causing Zeb to slouch in relief, and Sabine to let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Though only slightly, her boy was breathing again, and Hera collapsed onto her rear, sighing.
"Sometimes I think we should consider changing profession," she said tiredly, smiling.
Kanan nodded, swallowing and panting heavily. They entered hyperspace, emerging later in front of the fleet. The largest of the three Republic cruisers was the command ship as of now, and she reported in.
"Commander Sato, permission to dock," she requested.
"May I ask why, Captain?" he questioned.
"We have a wounded crew member in need of immediate medical attention," she replied.
There was a brief silent before he spoke.
"Granted,"
They boarded the cruiser. Sato ordered the shuttle inspected or destroyed. After the incident with Vader, no one was taking any chances. Hera carried Ezra to the med-bay, ignoring the soldiers who offered to help. This was her job, and no one was laying a hand on him besides her and her crew.
*Back to the present, on the Republic cruiser, command ship of the growing Rebellion, in the med-bay, 10:50 PM*
Sabine sighed. Hera hung up an IV bag on a pole next to Ezra's bed. She watched as she used an alcohol rub on his arm, carefully observing his face as she inserted the needle into his arm. He didn't even twitch.
"Hera?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah?" the Twi'lek returned, not looking up from her work.
"Is he gonna be…," she paused, searching for the right word, "okay?"
Hera pursed her lips. "I…I don't know. His chances were slim from the start, Sabine. And it was a fifty-fifty chance on that shuttle," she replied.
The Mandolorian girl bit her lip. "So, you're saying, even after all this, he could still die?" she questioned.
Hera sighed and bowed her head.
"Yes, Sabine. That's exactly what I'm saying."
A/N
Me: There's the cliffhanger we were waiting for.
Chopper: *beeps and grumbles*
Me: Is Ezra gonna be okay? Well Chop, you'll just have to wait and see.
Disclaimer: I hope so, for Dragon's sake. If blueberry dies, she'll never have a boyfriend! *snickers*
Me: *blushes* I do not…you…
Shut up Disclaimer.
-SWMCDC227