Chapter 43
A/N: This story is planned to be updated every Thursday or Friday so long as there are completed chapters. I would also like to remind everyone that there is an Archive on Wattpad for Rebel ships in this story. It is in progress and a few ships have already been posted. You can find it using the same name as I have here on FanFiction.
-Sabine POV-
"We're going to dock magnetically next to the trash chute," Sabine says. She's going over the overall plan for infiltration and exfil. "There will only be a small window for this so we'll have to be quick. We'll position ourselves in the airlock so as soon as the garbage doors open we will use the vacuum from our airlock to throw us into the garbage hold."
Not one of the soldiers there look happy about this plan and rightfully so. Nobody wants to be wading through trash but this is their best option to get in. If they use one of the dreadnought's airlocks, the troopers inside may be alerted to their presence. The main or secondary hangars are also not an option for infiltration since it's swarming with Stormtroopers.
Luke looks uneasy as well, but he remains silent and listens intently.
"I know it's not the best infiltration point," Sabine adds, "but they wouldn't expect this. As soon as we're all inside and accounted for, we'll stack up by the door and hack it open."
"What's our rules of engagement, Commander?" one of the soldiers ask.
"Stealth only. If you have to use your blaster, make it quick and clean."
"Understood."
"Commander, we're approaching the infiltration zone."
"If we're docked next to the chute, then how do we go in? We'd just fly past it," an officer says.
"We'll be attached to cables. As we shoot out of the airlock, the cables will allow us to maneuver through the doors. There's only a few seconds to do this. Gravity will be disabled and the cables will be hooked onto the airlock floor so when we deploy, we should be swinging towards the garbage chute."
She has to admit this is a very risky plan, so that is why she's gathered the best of the best with her.
"Jetpacks would also be of significant use here so make use of those if you need to," she adds. "Do you understand?"
"Understood, Commander!"
The ship shudders and Sabine leads her team to the airlock. As soon as the inner doors close, the squad leader orders for helmets to be put on. Sabine pulls on her Mandalorian helmet, which has been painted in black and a dark red with the rebel insignia on one shoulder and her people's emblem on the other. Her troops have a similar color scheme to their own armor and their helmets conceal their faces completely. Life support systems are built into their armor and helmets and with a push of a button, the helmets are sealed to the rest of the armor, enabling combat in full vacuum for a limited time.
Sabine orders everybody to get hooked up to the floor as a light flashes red and the captain's voice is heard from the speakers that cloak is deactivated and they're running on low power. The gravity shuts off and Sabine alongside her team start floating. She then orders everyone to stay by the inner door by the ceiling so their cables could do their part in swinging everyone into the garbage cute.
There's another shudder and outside the airlock, Sabine spots bits of trash floating out into space. A voice cuts into their comms.
"Deployment in 3... 2... 1..."
The airlock outer doors open and everyone lets go of whatever they were holding onto. The cables do their part and quickly tighten, the angle they're anchored at plus the momentum of every soldier attached to them swing Sabine and her team into the rapidly closing doors of the trash hold. As the doors shut, the cables snap, leaving everybody to fall to the now empty floors of the trash hold.
Sabine bangs her head on the floor and she sees spots all over. The landing could've been worse but also should've been better. She manages to sit up and look around, shaking her head and placing her hand to her helmet.
"Report!" she calls out, at first coming out as a soft groan. She calls out again, forcing her voice to cooperate.
"Few bumps and a couple sprained ankles and wrists, but otherwise we're all okay," the squad leader reports.
Once he gets everyone to their feet, after letting the squad medic treat another soldier's ankle with bacta, he orders everyone to stand ready.
"We need to get these doors open before a pile of scrap crushes us," Sabine says. "Luke?"
"There's nobody in the other side. If hacking it doesn't work we could always try cutting it open," he says.
"Maybe... Let's give it a shot."
She turns to the door and connects her wrist computer to the panel next to it. She struggles to break through the firewall and almost accidentally sets of an alarm. She smacks her wrist com in frustration and it beeps at her with a positive tone. The door opens and she peeks through the door.
"Move in," she says quietly. "From here on out I want hand signals only."
Everybody nods and they step out of the trash hold and into the hallway. So far there's no Stormtroopers and no sign of cameras.
Sabine draws her blaster pistols and leads the way, stopping at every corner to check if the coast is clear. She silently asks Luke if he can sense where exactly Ezra is, but he shakes his head.
"We'll have to check the prisoner registry in the detention level," the squad leader says quietly to Sabine.
The officer tells her where, recalling every detail he can think of from his time studying the ship's schematics. Sabine leads her team to the detention level, narrowly avoiding Stormtroopers wherever they can. More often than Sabine would've liked, they've had to shoot the imperial soldiers just so they can't raise the alarm. Luke suggested wearing the Stormtrooper's armor, but they don't have anywhere to store their own armor and she won't risk somebody finding them if they hid them.
They continue to push forward until they finally reach the detention level. As soon as the doors open, the imperials inside look over at them, then after a few moments of awkward staring, they seem to realize that they're under attack. By then it's too late. Sabine and her team make quick work of them, also taking out the cameras lining the corners of the room.
A comms panel starts beeping and one of the rebel troopers runs up, pulling off his helmet.
"I'll take care of this," he says as he activates the comm.
While he spouts imperial codes and protocol to the imperial on the other end, Sabine and Luke look through the list of prisoners. She searches Ezra's name and he pops up on the registry. Sabine breathes a sigh of relief when she's sees he's still on the ship and he's close.
"Detection block F-7!" Luke says to her, being mindful of the rebel still occupying the comms panel. "Go get him, Sabine."
A blaster shot rings out and the rebel on the comms looks up at Sabine.
"Please tell me you found him, because we're about to have company," he says. The panel next to him is smoking, destroyed.
"I'll get him. Just keep that door blocked," Sabine says as she runs down the corridor of the detention level.
"F-7... F-7... Come on, where are you, Ezra..."
Her heart beats faster and she grows more anxious by each passing second. It feels like an eternity had passed before she finally finds cell block F-7. She smashes the button and the door slides open in a rush...
...
He's lying on an interrogation table... No, bound to it, like in Sabine's dream. His face is scratched and looked like it had been bleeding. His skin is ghostly pale and everything about him looks completely broken.
Sabine surges forward and reaches out to touch his right arm...
And through the fabric feels a cold metal table.
"Ezra... What did they do to you...?" She chokes.
He doesn't respond and his eyes remain closed.
Sabine tries to find vital signs and nearly cries when she feels a heartbeat.
He's still alive.
She lowers the table and uses a vibroknife to cut off his restraints, carefully laying him on the floor after he crumples into her arms.
"Don't worry, Ezra," she says, her voice cracking. "We're getting you out of here."
The sound of a door exploding quickly replaced by blaster fire down the hall catches her attention and she calls to the squad medic to meet her.
When he arrives, he nearly passes out from the sight of Ezra.
"Is he...?"
"He's alive, but I need your help. He needs your help," she interrupts.
"Understood Commander. You should get out there, Stormtroopers are pushing into the detention level."
She doesn't want to leave Ezra, but she knows her men need help. Fortunately or unfortunately for her, she doesn't get to choose what to do. Her team was pushed back just in front of F-7 and they do everything they can to prevent the enemy troopers from advancing further.
"Commander! They've cut off our only way out! What are your orders?" the squad leader shouts.
"Is there another garbage chute?"
The squad leader looks at Ezra, then at Sabine like she's insane. "With the general in that condition?"
"I can stabilize him enough and use the jetpack to slow our descent," the medic says.
"It's the only other way out, sergeant," Sabine adds.
A desperate plan, but these are desperate times.
The squad leader nods and rushes back into the fight. Sabine looks back to Ezra, who still hasn't woken up. His pale face is cleaner now since the medic started working on him. His left arm is clearly broken, but it also looks as if it's been healed, then broken again. The medic had torn off his already tattered shirt and Sabine chokes back a sob. His chest and abdomen are covered in deep cuts and nasty bruises, which have taken on nauseating shades of black, yellow, red, and purple.
"This is very bad," the medic says grimly. "If we don't give him proper medical treatment soon..."
He doesn't have to say more.
"Commander! We've cleared an escape route but we can't hold it for long!" the squad leader shouts.
Sabine blinks a few times and pulls herself together. "Corporal!"
"Commander!"
"You and our medic go down first with Ezra! Everybody else follows you down. Once everyone's clear, the sergeant and I will join you. Now go! He doesn't have much time!"
"Right away!" the corporal nods and he and the medic break the interrogation table and use it as a makeshift stretcher to transport Ezra. They secure him to the table and the sergeant calls for suppressing fire.
Sabine jumps out of the cell block first and joins the firefight, making sure no stormtrooper can get a shot off. She hears the sergeant report that they've cleared the fight and are awaiting everyone on the other side so she orders everyone to head down the garbage chute one by one.
"This is just like the Death Star all over again," Luke mutters.
Sabine recalls that day when Luke and Han rescued Princess Leia from the Death Star, right before Yavin. They had said they used a garbage chute to escape the cell block they were trapped in. That's where her idea came from; if it wasn't for Luke telling that story, she never would've thought of it.
"Just get down there, Skywalker. I'll cover you," Sabine orders just as a blaster bolt flies passed them and hits the wall.
She pokes out from her cover and blasts the trooper that sent the bolt, sending him toppling into another trooper. Luke slides down the chute and now it's just Sabine and the squad leader. She orders him down and he doesn't second guess her. He heads down no more than a second later. Sabine is just about to go down when she hears the mechanical breathing approaching. Her blood freezes and she looks down the corridor to see the Sith lord himself standing right behind his troopers.
"Hold your fire," he barks and immediately his troopers cease firing. They glance up at their commander, probably a little confused, but they don't question him. Instead, they just hold their positions and keep their weapons trained on Sabine.
He starts walking over to Sabine, his cape flowing behind him as he walks. A glint catches Sabine's eye and she recognizes Ezra's lightsaber on his belt, opposite of his own. For a moment, she thinks about Ezra's broken body, his heartbeat weak, barely clinging on to life. He was almost unrecognizable when she saw him, and the man responsible for all of his suffering is standing in front of her. Just a quick blaster shot to the head or chest...
No, he'd expect that. He always does. The most Sabine can do against him is annoy him.
"I was expecting you much sooner, Mandalorian," Vader says, his voice is like a blade scraping along her spine.
"Sorry to disappoint," she replies. She's not interested in talking. She wants to fight, but she also knows she would only get herself killed. At the very least, she wants to get Ezra's lightsaber back.
"You want the boy's lightsaber?" He makes it sound more like a statement than a question and that irritates her even more.
She hates it when Force users read her thoughts. She remains silent and keeps her weapons trained on the Sith lord.
"I suppose you would be happy to hear that he was very tough to crack," he continues, stepping ever closer to Sabine with each passing moment. He's taking his time, trying to get a reaction out of Sabine. He wants her to attack him and she knows this. "He was only suffering because of you."
What?
"You abandoned him on the battlefield. You left him behind. And because of your failure, he will die."
"No!"
She can almost hear the amusement in his voice as he speaks.
"Ah, but you know this to be true. You have no hope of escape, Commander Wren."
A chill crawls down her spine. Of course he'd know her name and rank, but the way he said it didn't sound good. She looks around at the stormtroopers, advancing behind Vader. She eyes Ezra's lightsaber and then looks at the open garbage chute.
"I disagree," she says. She uses the grappling line on her vambraces to snatch Ezra's lightsaber off Vader's belt, but before she could grab it, it floats in midair. Vader has his hand stretched out, trying to take back the lightsaber. Sabine shoots her blaster at Vader and forces him to defend, breaking his concentration on the lightsaber. She snatches it out of the air and dives head first into the garbage chute, throwing thermal detonators at the entrance to cut off any followers.
...
"Commander!"
"How's Ezra?"
"He's still stable, but we don't know for how long," the sergeant reports. "Do we have an exfil strategy?"
"Vader had been expecting us. He wanted us to find Ezra," she says, feeling miserable. She had played into his hands again.
"We should expect a lot of fighting then," Luke says.
"Indeed. Prioritize Ezra's safety. Protect him. The hangars would be heavily guarded so we could try to go for an airlock. Escape pods will likely be guarded as well," Sabine says. "We can't put Ezra in a space suit in his condition so we have to dock our ship to an airlock."
"That's too risky," the sergeant says. "They'll have TIEs on our ship before we can even get on board."
"Do we have reinforcements nearby we can call up to cover us?" Sabine asks.
"I'm not sure. Last I heard, the Chancellor was going to gather a fleet. If we can signal them somehow, maybe they can assist us," the sergeant says.
"They'll jam long range transmissions," Luke says. "Perhaps I could reach out to Kanan through the Force?"
"It's worth a shot," Sabine says. "There's no other way to reach out to them. But wouldn't this also make yourself known to Vader?"
Luke nods. "Yes, it would, but what's the point in hiding? He already knows we're here."
"Do it, Luke," Sabine says. "If any troopers come, we'll cover you."
He nods and kneels next to Ezra and closes his eyes.
"Form a defensive line at that doorway!" Sabine orders, pointing just down the corridor. "That's the only way in here, and it's narrow. Numbers wouldn't mean anything if we can just hold them back!"
"Understood commander!" the sergeant shouts. He turns to his squad. "Move it! You heard the commander, get into position!"
"Sergeant, I need you and the medic to stay by Ezra. Keep back anyone else you may need to protect them from here," Sabine says. "I'll hold the front with the others."
"Yes, commander," he says with a nod. He calls up the corporal that helped Ezra earlier and they head back to where Ezra lies.
Sabine's gaze lingers on Ezra for a few moments.
Hang in there, Ezra... Just a little longer...
She turns away and puts her helmet back on before running up to the doorway.
"Commander," one of the troopers calls out. "There's another door just ahead of us. It should buy us a little more time if we jam it."
"We'll move up to that position," Sabine says. "That will be our first line of defense. If we have to fall back, we'll jam the door and reform right here. Everybody understand?"
"Yes, commander!"
"You, and you," Sabine points at two troopers. "Stay right here and provide cover if we fall back. Everyone else, with me."
She rushes up to the next set of doors and gets her troopers posted behind cover. She peers around the corner, watching for any stormtroopers that may be coming. This is their ship, so they'd know where every trash chute leads to. It's only a matter of time before they catch up to them.