Disclaimer: *sings to Disney tune* When you wish on the Death Staaaaar- planets blow up near and faaaaar! Alderaan and Rebel ships aliiiiike aaaare doooooooomed.

Sorry. Couldn't resist. :3

Karabast-!

One of them had managed to comm in for back-up. Sabine swept the legs out from the bucket-head in front with a low kick, snapping her blasters up and aiming high for the stormtrooper that'd called for help. He was down in seconds, but that didn't negate his actions. They knew she was in, now. Well. Further in than the production line, anyways.

Gotta move fast now- faster than before. Ezra I swear if I show up after all this and you've somehow gotten yourself killed anyways, there'll be hell to pay.

Sabine took off from the bodies of the most recent patrol, once again sprinting down the halls. They didn't have long now. If the Empire'd been following the attack plan Sabine thought they were, the other Spectres would have noticed the patrols as well. Either they'd simply taken them out and headed towards the rendezvous like Sabine had started to, or they'd realized the same thing she had and gone towards Ezra. She really hoped it wasn't the latter, because then they'd all be running around the complex with no idea where any of the others were.

Of course, with the amount of patrols she'd been running into, Sabine kind of doubted the rest of her team was following her actions. The majority of the Empire's forces were still looking in the hangars, based on the few numbers she was running into, which made Sabine doubt if they'd be able to manage a clean escape like she was hoping for. Still- one thing came first, and that was gathering everyone in the same location. Then they could worry about getting out of there.

But, as Sabine was quickly realizing, finding Ezra might be a little more difficult than she'd originally thought. She had absolutely no idea where he could be. And, as they'd noticed in the Phantom, this place was huge. She knew what floor he should be scurrying around in... but not what section, or even the room Chop had stationed them in.

Comming him was out of the question, because if he wasn't in trouble and was still doing his rounds, activating his communicator would undoubtably attract attention and land him in trouble anyways. And it the Imps had caught him... it was useless anyways.

Now, she could run around like an agitated Tooka, scanning the ceilings for life signatures as she went... but with the attention the bucket-heads were now undoubtably going to fix on her from that one's frantic comm, that would get real tricky real fast. Not to mention the task would be time consuming in and of itself. She'd have to run through the halls, checking inside every room, and even then there were places where the ventilation shafts wouldn't be accessible from the ground floor, meaning she could run past Ezra without even knowing it. And there was also the matter of him being stealthy. He wasn't supposed to be found by anyone when he was in the vents, so he wouldn't be found.

Of course, if he's not in the vents because something happened, then me running around would be COMPLETELY useless... Apparently it helped to have a plan before running off to do something. She'd been a lot more enthused and willing when she was in the hangar... but now, out here, she had absolutely no idea where to start.

Maybe I could try and use the Empire's security system? No, if Ezra's hidden he won't show up on there. And then there'd be the issue of actually finding a place where I could actually hook into the system... no, sticking with just one target to find is a much, much better plan. She'd just have to run around anyways, hoping to find him before any Imperials did... or before something more sinister happened. Sabine severely hoped she'd find him before any of the situations flashing in front of her eyes became a reality. Though with the size and complexity of this place, that would be easier said than don-

"Karabast-"

Sabine froze, instantly stopping in her tracks, head whipping up to the ceiling so fast her neck popped. There was no way. There was no freckin way.

Hesitating for just a second, Sabine reached upwards and tapped the ventilation shaft above her.

"Ezra?"

In hindsight, going up the ventilation probably wasn't the best idea. In even more hindsight, it had kinda been his only choice. After all, it was suicide to try outrunning a fuming Mandalorian, especially with injuries. The vents were the only place he could hope to get some peace- even if it meant pushing his ribs to their limit in the cramped space.

Even breathing hurt, but Ezra knew enough to assess that his internal organs were most probably fine. If one of his lungs had been punctured, breathing wouldn't have just hurt- he'd be gurgling with every intake of air, which he thankfully was not. Still, he knew he'd probably have to have Hera force him to take it easy for a few days. And fuss over medical supplies. And proper treatment and eating habits. And... oh, she wouldn't be happy.

Although Ezra was more than grateful to even have someone who could fuss over him like the Twi'lek captain. This wasn't the first time he'd sustained injuries to his ribs- a particularly nasty fall had mangled a few, and it'd taken nearly two month for it to settle on its' own. Those hadn't been fun times.

Progress was slow. Ezra knew he needed to be fast, because Morden was surely having all the vents inspected and every exit sealed. Not just for him, but for the rest of the crew as well. They should be able to override a gate, especially with the tools Chop had on him, but him waiting for his injuries wasn't in anyone's favor. Especially since the Ghost crew was probably waiting on him in order to get out.

The lack of any alarms told Ezra they were still mostly hidden, but that wouldn't last long. Not with every bucket-head in the building looking for them. Guilt curled unpleasantly in his stomach, and Ezra once again felt sick. If he'd noticed the hinges from the trapdoor, they wouldn't be in this mess. Morden had said they would have been found anyways, but that did nothing to appease his guilt. Not only that, but he was the reason they were most likely stuck in the northern bay- they wouldn't leave without him and he knew it. Until he got there, they were stuck.

And it was all his fault.

Ezra tried speeding up again, moving his arms faster and using his legs more than he usually would. It worked for a few seconds, and he made reasonably decent time- until he had to turn the corner. The curve his body made to fit through the junction sent pangs of pain through his entire chest, and Ezra couldn't help but cry out a little. He curled up involuntarily, his instincts forcing him to protect the sensitive area from further danger. Gradually the burning passed, though the pain kept coming with every breath. No, Hera wouldn't be happy at all.

Come on big baby, you have to get to the elevator. The crew's counting on you- a little pain is nothing compared to them. Especially when it was his fault in the first place. He couldn't finish planting the explosives in the tower, but they'd have to settle for only hitting three of the production lines instead of all four. Getting everyone out alive was more important than that.

"Karabast-" The curse slipped out unintentionally as he continued forwards and another wave of pain rolled through him. Praying that there weren't any stormtroopers below him to hear, Ezra continued on before completely stopping at the sound of someone knocking on the ceiling a little ways behind him.

"Ezra?"

Sabine- Relief flooded his head. At least she was alright.

"Nope- just some other kid in the vents behind me."

"Ezra! Oh thank god* I found you; can you get down?"

She sounded relieved as well, though there was a certain shakiness to her voice that Ezra could only describe as worry. And, if she'd been running through the halls apparently looking for him, Ezra could deduce why- she'd noticed the Imperials were looking for them and had made the conclusion something bad happened.

Well, she wasn't wrong...

"Uh, yeah- give me a little bit, there's an opening a few feet ahead."

Ezra started moving once again, eyes narrowing a bit in pain. Just a moment after he'd started, Sabine tapped directly beneath him- and Ezra laughed a bit.

"Knew we were training together for a reason..."

Sabine chuckled as well, though it sounded strained. "I told Kanan it had a purpose, didn't I?"

"Yeah- I just didn't really think we'd play it out so soon." Ezra reached the vent's opening, pushing it open with one hand and dragging himself closer to it. Now came the hard part.

Gritting his teeth, Ezra lifted his torso off the metal and crawled over the opening, moving until he could get his legs through. No sense in going out head-first and trying to execute a flip that would do more harm than good. He dropped out feet-first and landed heavily, stumbling slightly and wincing. His actions weren't lost on Sabine, who was staring at him through the helmet. He noticed her hand was twitching slightly, as though she wanted to reach out to him.

"Ezra."

"Yeeeeaaaaah?"

"What happened." Her dead-pan actually weirded him out a little bit.

"Hey- I know I'm not exactly sticking to the plan, but neither ar-"

"I'm not talking about the stupid plan, what happened to you?!" She snapped, and Ezra wondered in the back of his head the exact reasons she'd been looking for him as she continued. "You're bleeding from your head-"

"I am?" He was.

"- you're hurting inside the vents and you're wincing from landing- what happened?" Even though she'd calmed down at the end, Ezra still blinked dumbly at her. That had certainly never happened before- Sabine always kept her cool.

"How did you know I was hurting in the vents?"

She huffed, seemingly deflating as she put her pistols away and walked up next to him. "You cursed loud enough for me to hear from outside. You never make a noise when you're trying to be stealthy. And your face is really kind of pale. What. Happened."

Ezra smiled half-heartedly at her, scratching his head and immediately finding the blood she'd been talking about. "Hey, it's nothing, I'm fi-" He abandoned that trail of thought when she just looked at him. Even without the helmet, Ezra could clearly envision the 'don't-you-dare-say-you're-fine' look she was giving him.

"Cracked ribs and I don't know about the head. But it doesn't matter- It was a trap all along, commander Morden knew we were coming and he's probably chasing after me right now. He's got soldiers looking for the rest of the crew as well." Sabine nodded firmly, telling Ezra that she had indeed noticed the searches and deduced the situation off of their appearances. She beckoned with her head back down the hall, and they quickly made their way down the hall and closer towards the elevator she'd no doubt taken to get up to his level.

Immediately as they turned the corner Ezra saw five unconscious stormtroopers- and he smirked. "Should've known you were the one wiping out the patrols; they were pretty scared when they commed the commander." Sabine grunted, but immediately switched back to her previous topic.

"Which side of the ribs? And how?"

Ezra grimaced slightly, though he thought he managed to pull it off as a slight smile. He knew she was watching even as they moved. "Like I said, it was a trap- they were waiting for us. Well, for me, I guess. Left side; I met up with the commander, and let me tell you that guy has a killer kick. He-" Ezra blinked at Sabine, who'd maneuvered herself up in front of him and on his left side.

"I'm not about to let you get yourself injured anymore than you are now- though you're gonna have to look after your own head. Make sure you don't get a concussion." Ezra pouted, slightly put out.

"I don't injure myself, others do."

"Yeah, I can see that. Morden was personally involved?"

Ezra nodded, serious again as they moved through the halls. He noticed Sabine wasn't moving as quickly as they both knew they should, but he didn't think he'd be able to go any faster to be honest. Just breathing hurt, he didn't want to try running.

"Honestly I think I just managed to stumble in on him in his office... Apparently he's been suspicious of us since we took out one of his main suppliers, so he had the vents rigged for traps. He'd installed trap doors in the center of the tower on every floor- well, basically wherever he thought I might hit up as a target. I... didn't see it. Let me just leave it with commander Morden's really good at welcome parties. Oh- and he's Mandalorian." That got Sabine's attention, and he nodded in response to her looking at him. He couldn't see her face, but he knew enough about her body language. It was like a cat's, really...

"Yeah, he's got armor a bit like yours, but more of it and much less color and detail. And he kind of didn't take any damage when I activated a bomb." Sabine stopped abruptly, and Ezra almost bumped into her.

"You blew up one of the bombs?"

"I was far away enough from the others that I knew it wouldn't chain react with the ones in the ceiling, it was perfectly safe!"

"Please tell me you weren't in the same room with it when you did."

Ezra scratched his head. "Weeeeeeeell,"

Sabine sighed, then resumed walking. There was the elevator- relieved to step inside and not find a dozen bucket-heads pointing blasters at them, Ezra nevertheless felt the need to defend himself.

"It was the only way I could get out of there! There were, like, ten people in there!"

"Oh, I'm not doubting you had a reason. It's just," Sabine keyed in the ground-floor to the elevator controls, "sometimes, I don't know why I worry about you; you can take care of yourself. It's times like these when I know why I worry."

"You worry about me?"

For the third time, Ezra didn't need to see her face to know she was giving him a sarcastic look.

*There is actually a Mandalorian religion- there's a detailed article on Wookipedia if you want to look it up for yourselves. It's actually pretty interesting, though I'm not entirely sure it's canon now.