Chapter 53
Months Later
Months ago, Obi-Wan and Leia had been welcomed into the Rebellion with much enthusiasm, largely due to Obi-Wan's reputation. While the Rebellion would've happily taken any Jedi to fight by their side, Obi-Wan Kenobi was an unexpected treat, but very welcome nonetheless. Now, it was time for them to repay the favor. Grand Moff Krennic had recently captured a Jedi and intended to bring him to the Devastator for interrogation by Emperor Vader, and Obi-Wan and Leia were tasked with getting him out. Meanwhile, Ahsoka would be leading a direct attack on the Star Destroyer and the ones surrounding it, aided by a large portion of the Rebel Fleet, which had expanded in size since the Rebellion went back to the abandoned station to grab the working GAR ship's that Leia had found. The Empire had set up a pitiful security effort to keep Rebels away, just a few probe droids. It kept the Rebels from using it as a base, but they had plenty of time to grab as many ships and weapons as they could carry before the Empire arrived.
They had stolen a Lambda Shuttle for this mission, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but wonder how the Rebellion got ahold of so many of these things. "Now, hail them." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes but saluted and said, "Yes, Captain Leia." Obi-Wan contacted the Star Destroyer looming in front of them and said, "Hello there, fellow Imperial. This is Admiral… Cody, requesting permission to land in the main hangar bay." A voice came back over the intercom almost immediately, saying impatiently, "Are you aware that you're trying to board Grand Moff Krennic's personal ship?" Obi-Wan looked back and winked at Leia before answering, "I'm afraid that we've run into some technical difficulties, and our ship is in danger of collapsing in space unless we make repairs quickly." He looked back at Leia's unsure face, and she asked him, "Are you sure this is going to work?" Obi-Wan waved off her question. "Of course. They wouldn't even imagine…" "Well, we're carrying a special prisoner, so we can't let any shuttles on board at this time. If you die, die like proud Imperials." Obi-Wan' expression sank while Leia looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.
"Well, I tried to warn…" Leia stopped talking to Obi-Wan as she spotted something that really caught her eye. The Imperial ships were entirely made of bland blacks and grays, so it really stood out when she saw a TIE Fighter flying towards Krennic's ship's portside hangar, painted top to bottom in all sorts of crazy designs. There were racing stripes and lots of yellows and oranges, and other, brighter designs that were sure to draw one's gaze. Leia had never imagined an Imperial ship looking like that, but she had to admit that it looked good. A few seconds after it entered the hangar, a pulse of electricity spread across the entire hull of the Star Destroyer, and all lights went out. Obi-Wan leaned forward on the console and exclaimed, "What the-" "I don't think we're the only ones attacking this ship, Master," Leia observed. "But move in. This may be our only chance to board." Obi-Wan still remained shocked. He started to drive the shuttle forward towards the ISD's hangar, but something told him to wait, so he instead turned off the engines. "What's wrong?" Leia asked. "This is our chance!" Obi-Wan shook his head. "Patience, apprentice. Something tells me that we'll soon have our chance."
Sure enough, they soon saw one of the other ISDs launching two more Lambda shuttles towards Krennic's Destroyer. Leia looked impressed. "Huh. Well, what do you know? It's perfect! We can blend right in!" Obi-Wan nodded and flew forward to join formation with the other ships. All three shuttles landed in the hangar and the ramps lowered. From the first two, heavily armed stormtroopers stepped off, and their captain immediately began giving orders. "Split up!" He ordered. "Spread out and cover every piece of this ship, starting with securing the bridge and detention cells. The Inquisitor has the engine room. Make sure that… Holy-!" The captain broke off as a small, lightsaber-wielding girl crashed into him. One of his subordinates raised his blaster at the same time, only to look down and realize that the front of his weapon had been cut off as the girl flew past him. Two more stormtroopers were sent flying by a Force-push from another Jedi before they even knew what was happening. They had come here well-organized and ready to ambush their enemies, but now the tables had turned on them. They hadn't expected to fall apart within the first 30 seconds after arriving here.
Most of the stormtroopers realized that They were losing quite quickly and took off deeper into the ship to escape the Jedi. Obi-Wan and Leia finished dealing with the remaining troops in the hangar before giving cause after the others. As they wandered the darkened hallways, they could see that the colorful TIE had done more than to shut down the Destroyer's systems. All stormtroopers in the ship's halls were unconscious, making a mission that should've been difficult become almost effortless. They wandered the halls, but unfortunately, neither of them had much experience with the layout of an Imperial Star Destroyer, and thus faced difficulty in locating the detention cells, though they did manage to find a few of the escaped stormtroopers, who were swiftly dispatched. Obi-Wan soon found that Imperial Star Destroyers were similar to the Republic's, but not identical. For one, the hangars were in a different place and the ship was built more angularly, resulting in a more dagger-like shape that forced several rooms to be moved. They spent a long time searching, and eventually Leia sensed the minds of the unconscious stormtroopers starting to stir. "Master, we need to hurry," Leia told Obi-Wan urgently. Obi-Wan nodded in understanding and stood frozen in place. He closed his eyes and sent out his senses, searching for the presence of another Force-wielder on board.
To his surprise, he almost immediately located not one but three individual Force signatures besides himself and Leia. All three were in the engine room, and he recalled something being said by the stormtrooper captain about an Inquisitor on board. He ran off towards the source of the signal. As confusing as the halls sometimes were in here, at least the oversized engines that powered this ship were still located in the usual place. They found the engine room with little trouble, and entered onto the thin walkway (without safety rails, for some reason) to find an unknown Utapaun Inquisitor fighting a familiar Jedi holding two blue lightsabers. "Kanan?" Leia questioned Obi-Wan. "I didn't know we were here for him. Should we help him?" Obi-Wan watched as Kanan nearly decapitated his enemy with a swing of both lightsabers and narrowed his eyes. "He seems alright for now. In the meantime, Leia, would you be a dear and search for another Force-wielder here? I know I felt three." Leia nodded and looked around before spotting a small form sprawled on another bridge beneath them. "Found 'em," Leia said, and she ran forward to hurl herself down to the lower bridge.
Leia walked up to the smaller figure and grabbed his shoulder. He groaned as he sat up and looked at Leia. Leia was surprised by his identity but did an admirable job hiding it. "Oh hey, Ezra, right? We heard your speech! It was very good." Ezra looked at her like he wasn't quite sure he was seeing clearly. "Master Kenobi's apprentice? Leia?" Leia grinned at him. "That's my name. Don't wear it out." Leia ran her fingers along a scar on Ezra's face. They looked lightsaber inflicted and she guessed that he just barely got them from the Inquisitor. She pulled Ezra to his feet and told him, "Very brave of you to come here, Ez, but doctor's advice: stay away from Inquisitors. They're bad for your health." Ezra winced and looked up at Kanan fighting the Utapaun. "Yeah. I noticed. Aren't you going to help Kanan?" Leia said nothing, just pointed up at Obi-Wan, who was just standing idly by and watching the fight. "Oh," Ezra said. "Yeah, I guess he doesn't seem to need a hand at the moment." Suddenly, a thought occurred to Leia, and she looked at Ezra in confusion. "Hey Ezra, my Master sensed another Force-wielder in here besides Kanan and the red-blade. Do you know who that was?" Just then, they heard the slice of a lightsaber above them and looked up to see the Inquisitor hanging off the edge of the bridge by his hands, two halves of his lightsaber falling down beneath him as Kanan stood above him, victorious. Kanan was distracted watching the Inquisitor and didn't see the sparking Inquisitor's lightsaber about to fall into a flammable engine. Leia's eyes went wide and she reached out her hand to stop the pieces, but they had already frozen. She looked around in shock and saw Ezra with his hand outstretched, grabbing the lightsaber fragments with the Force. Leia stared at him in shock and Ezra smiled, saying, "Yeah, I think he went that way," as he gestured over his shoulder. Leia smirked at his joke and looked up at Obi-Wan, and though he was watching Ezra as well, he didn't seem at all surprised that Ezra was a Force-wielder. Of course he knew, Leia thought with amusement.
The Inquisitor had seen that he had lost and looked up at Kanan. "There are things far worse than death," he said, and let go of the edge. He was surprised when he didn't even fall, then looked over to his side and would've paled if he could. Obi-Wan Kenobi was holding him up in the air with the Force and smiling with mirth. "You're not the first person I've had to catch from a long drop," Obi-Wan said seriously. "but you really ought to be careful. You could've been hurt." The Inquisitor was practically foaming at the mouth with rage as he was pulled back up to the bridge and knocked unconscious by Obi-Wan. Kanan stared at Master Kenobi and stuttered out, "Master Kenobi, you're here! And you, uh…" "Yes, I saved your opponent, but worry not, you can still consider yourself the worthy victor of this match." Kanan blushed. "No, I just meant… wait, you were watching that?" Obi-Wan waved his hand dismissively, "Of course, but to jump in would've allowed me to take partial credit for your win, wouldn't it? I was confident that you would win on your own. Though you may want to vary your technique." Kanan blushed again. "I might do so more often if my teacher had time to teach me to do so," Kanan said defensively, "and if you don't mind my asking, why did you save the Inquisitor?" Obi-Wan looked down at the Utapaun and responded, "He's a victim of the Dark Side. I'd say we've both lost too many people to the Dark Side, wouldn't you? And besides, I have some friends that I believe can find some better use for him. Now, I assume your friends are here and Grand Moff Krennic has already left, so our only option for escape is obvious. Come along, my friend, we still have to hijack this Star Destroyer before the day is out."