"This… is him?" the Mandalorian asked, glancing at Kanan. Her helmet wasn't on, revealing a beautiful young woman with blue orange-tipped hair that covered one eye. Ezra couldn't help but dreamily gaze at her for a few moments.
"Yep," the man replied.
"I didn't think we'd see this kid again," said the Lasat, obviously annoyed.
"Well, be grateful," said Kanan. "He's here to free us."
"Yes, I am," said Ezra, slightly agitated by the responses and judgemental looks he was given.
"Thank you," came a gentle voice as a Twi-lek woman approached the door. She gave him a kind smile as her green eyes studied his face. "You've got guts coming into a place like this."
"Yeah, well," the kid tried to explain why he wanted to free them without being rude, "I just, I know it's worth it. I mean, we both hate the Empire and we both want to get out of here." They seemed to know what he was talking about, so that suggested Kanan had explained everything to them.
"That was pretty impressive what you did with those TIE Fighters," Kanan commented. "I haven't seen that kind of stunt in a long time."
"They were in the way," Ezra replied with a shrug. "Besides, I hate those things."
"Don't we all?" the Mandalorian concluded.
"Let's get moving before Storm Troopers show up," said Kanan, getting up and walking past the Twi'lek, closely followed by the others.
"Um," said the young woman, looking down at the fallen Imperial soldiers, "did you do that?" She glanced at Ezra.
"Yeah, it was easy," the boy responded breezily. He could see the Lasat rolling his eyes.
"How do we get out of here?" Kanan asked.
"This way," the kid replied, gesturing for them to follow him back the way he had come through the air duct.
They weren't all going to fit in such a tight space, so he had to revise a plan to get out without causing too much attention.
As they ran down the halls, Kanan introduced Ezra to the Lasat, Garazeb Orrelios (who was preferred to be called Zeb), the beautiful Mandalorian Sabine Wren, and the Twi'lek, Hera Syndulla.
"We also have a droid called Chopper," Hera explained as they rounded another corner.
"Where's he?" asked Ezra.
"Hiding," said Sabine as the kid gestured for the group to stop. "Well, hopefully the spot I gave him will keep him hidden until we get back."
"Why have we stopped?" asked Zeb.
"I came through the vents," the boy explained. "I just have to find my bearings."
Which way… he thought. Which way…
He listened to the Force. He knew the armoury was near the entrance, so everyone would be able to get their gear back before they got out. There were four Storm Troopers far down the hall to their left and right, and more up ahead. There were bad spirits everywhere.
"I guess we'll be fighting our way out after all," he said, mostly to himself. "This way." He ran forward and the others followed, then stopped at a door.
"I'm surprised we haven't been running into any of those bucket heads yet," said the Lasat, looking around behind him.
"Don't get your hopes up," Ezra said, "there's some behind this door." He placed a hand on the door in front of them and felt the Force wrap itself around five Storm Troopers. He glanced to his left and noticed Kanan doing the same.
"Five of them," said the man. Ezra nodded.
"Easy," said Sabine, placing herself into a fighting stance.
So elegant…
Snap out of it. The kid ignored his thoughts as Kanan reached for the access pad on his left and said, "You ready?"
Everyone nodded.
As soon as the doors opened, the Lasat's heavy weight squashed two of the troopers to the ground. Sabine kicked another in the face while Hera dodged the one beside him who attempted to punch her. She then tripped the soldier onto his face before knocking him out, snatching the blaster from his hands. Kanan and Ezra punched the last soldier in the face at the same time, and the kid flexed his burnt hand and rubbed it gingerly as the man grabbed the blaster from the fallen Storm Trooper.
"You alright?" Kanan asked the teen.
"Yeah, all good."
"Where to now?" asked Sabine.
Ezra continued to run down the corridor, but as they turned to go right a small army of Storm Troopers began to fire at them. The small group leapt out of the way and took cover behind the opposing wall.
"Shouldn't we try to find a way out?" Zeb yelled over the sounds of blasters scraping the walls.
"That is our way out," Ezra stated as a plasma bullet grazed the corner of the wall near his head.
"Any suggestions on what to do next?" Kanan shouted.
The boy racked his brain for ideas. A moment past before he removed his backpack and rummaged around for a homemade flash bomb. His fingers curled around a small cylinder and without any hesitation he pulled it out and activated it.
"What is that?" the Lasat asked as Ezra threw it down the hall.
"Flash bomb," he announced. "Cover your eyes!"
His surroundings went dark as he pulled an arm over his eyes, then as soon as he heard the loud bang of the mine going off, he shouted for the others to follow. They shoved past the blinded Imperial soldiers – Zeb toppling some over with the bulk of his large body – and headed straight down the corridor until they reached two sets of doors.
"Your weapons should be in there," said Ezra. The Lasat cracked his knuckles and smashed at the door until it peeled open, and the crew squeezed through. They had all found their weapons in not time.
Ezra touched the cold metal of the larger door with his fingers.
This is it.
He reached for his screwdriver and plugged it into the hole below the access panel. Like the prison cell doors, it rotated and clicked, then began hacking its way into the control systems. This time Ezra fidgeted with the handy device to allow it to open the door faster than it had with the cell door, even though it was probably going to take a moment longer.
"Hurry it up," said Hera as the crew backed up against the door, holding their various array of weapons at the ready. "Looks like they're recovering."
"Almost… have it…" the kid replied as he felt the screwdriver click again.
As soon the Storm Troopers began to fire once more, the door opened, and the group hurried out into the open air of Lothal.
"Your ship should be just over that wall," said Ezra as the Imperial troops pursued them. He stopped and faced the door they had come out of and readied the small sling he had on his left wrist. It didn't do much damage, but there was enough power in each ball of energy it fired to stun a soldier for a few seconds.
Sabine, Hera and Zeb continued on, but Kanan stopped and looked at the kid. "You're coming with us, right?"
"Of course, but I'll hold them off so you guys can get to your ship."
Kanan stared down at the fast-approaching soldiers, avoiding a blaster bullet as it whizzed by. He glanced back at Ezra and said, "Are you sure?"
Ezra let his slingshot go, causing a Storm Trooper to topple and jolt around as the circuits in his armour fried from the electric shock. "Yes, go," he said as let another little ball of energy fly into another soldier.
Kanan hesitated, then turned and headed in the direction the rest of his crew has disappeared in.
Ezra ducked and hid behind a nearby stack of crates as the soldiers laid fire upon him. Some shot towards Kanan who was attempting to fire back as he ran. The kid knocked them out with his slingshot, but more were coming in fast.
Alright, lets see how much damage your armour can take.
He stood up, ignoring the blaster fire, and focused on the Force. He raised his hands slowly, feeling the weight of the crates in front of him. They moved a little at first, then they started to hover. After lifting them some more, Ezra pushed his arms in front of him, causing the three crates smash into the Imperial soldiers and knocking them all to the ground.
The kid wavered, quickly recovering from his experience, and ran for the gate that led out into the pasture of dry grass.
Late evening was passing across the sky as he leaped onto a 614-AvA Speeder Bike and sped out into the grasslands, straight towards his communications tower. A deep rumble was suddenly heard in the clouds that threatened to block out the rising moons, and the loud screams of TIE Fighters pierced the air as the light freighter appeared and whooshed overhead with several of the smaller ships on its tail.
The kid sped along as fast as the speeder could take him, and after what felt like hours he finally arrived at the tower.
Ezra jumped off and opened the large doors at the base of the tower to reveal the Jedi starfighter.
I hope this thing doesn't crash on me.
He passed a work bench, grabbing an old trooper helmet and putting it on his head, and climbed into the pilot seat. The starship revved to life as the boy checked the engines and the weapons. The turret on one side of his ship rotated smoothly 360 degrees; the laser cannon on the opposing side to balance the ship out rose and fell just as smoothly; the additional laser cannons mounted on the underbelly of the ship shifted up and down and side to side with ease.
Everything was in working order.
Now let's see if she flies, Ezra thought as he pulled the ship up off its legs. The braces sidled into their respective slots and, with a deep breath, the boy pushed the joy sticks forward.