Looks like I'm back to my old ways... :3
Disclaimer: Oooooh, the things I would do if I had Rebels under my control... nothing sinister, I promise- just lots and lots of fluff. After having the characters dance with death -v-
"The whole station?!" Ezra gawked, and Sabine shakily nodded.
"Or most of it- that map up on the screen is showing that the entire room is pretty large, and if it's all filled with explosive materials..." Ezra funneled a condensed breath through pursed lips, running his eyes up and down the monitor once again, as if re-evaluating the chamber displayed there. Sabine bit her lip under the helmet as she did the same, their plan spiraling around in her head.
"We can't pass this opportunity up," Ezra finally commented, raising his voice to definitely be heard above the alarms overhead, "but I don't think we'll be able to go through with the original plan."
Sabine shook her head. "Definitely not. If we detonate that entire room it'll take out near all of the ground floor," excitement trilled in her chest, "and I don't think there'll be anywhere safe on the grounds out there once we do." And even if there was and she and Ezra both survived the explosion (again), there was bound to be more smoke and stormtroopers than the Ghost crew could handle on their own- at least not without someone else getting hurt.
"So, detonation would have to wait until we got back on the Ghost-" Sabine interrupted Ezra before he could finish the thought,
"No- even here my connection to the bombs is weak, there must be some sort of interference. If we want to detonate, we would have to activate it still- still inside the tower." And that was the crutch- no matter how far away Sabine and Ezra went from the explosion in the facility, the only real direction to run in was up. With how much firepower Sabine was guessing lay inside that manufacturing chamber, there was a chance it could uproot the tower and cause it to fall, much like with the original plan the crew had concocted.
Sabine really didn't want to be inside that tower if it fell.
But taking out the tower was too sweet an opportunity to miss out on, and since when had the Ghost crew really been hindered by risks?
"Right- so, we need to go up..." Sabine could see Ezra process that change and all the danger it entailed, and could actually pinpoint the second with which he decided the same thing she had- no matter the danger, they had to do this.
"You gonna be able to get to another terminal without attracting attention?" Ezra asked, trying to conform the original plan with the newest development. Sabine hesitated, thinking for a moment, then nodded tersely.
"I still don't think Morden has any idea I'm in armor, so I should be able to move around with relative ease. You on the other hand-"
"Can, though in no way am looking forwards to, go through the vents." Sabine smirked as Ezra pouted slightly, but didn't poke fun at him for it.
"How're we going to meet up then? I'm pretty sure you're not going to just crawl around the whole tower until you find me in a whole crowd of other people who look like me." Ezra shook his head, navy hair flying, and tapped his head.
"I can probably sense you if I focus hard enough- it won't be like with Kanan since we don't have a bond-" something twinged inside Sabine's stomach "-but I'm pretty sure I can find you. And if I can't, I can just nab someone's helmet at contact you that way- you know your frequency number?"
Sabine popped off her helmet, taking in a deep and much needed breath of fresh air even as she maneuvered the helmet around to peer at the inside. "Looks like..." she squinted at the tiny identification number hidden there, "1N-D-03."
"1N-D-03," Ezra muttered back, nodding, and Sabine knew he'd committed the tag to memory. "Alright- so where are we gonna try to do this?"
Sabine hesitated, biting her lip and staring at the monitor. She moved a sweaty lock of hair from her forehead, thinking deeply on their options. "Morden will know we won't be near the floor we just bombed, so it might be safe to try and relocate over there. Of course, it might also be safer to head higher up the tower, for the blast. But the higher up we go the closer we get to the officials, and there wouldn't be many troopers there because they're looking for us elsewhere, so I would stand out. Not to mention it's most likely where Morden would be."
"So, at the blast sight or above it?"
"...At it. Easier for the Ghost to find us from there. They'll want to stick to the air, since they won't know you've taken out the anti-air guns until we can tell them."
Ezra sighed. "After all that work I went to installing those viruses..." Sabine smirked openly, recalling those hours spent planning in the hospital that had eventually concluded in Ezra installing a program into the other anti-air guns that would render them useless once fired. With the new additions to the plan, it looked like those viruses wouldn't ever need to be used... though if their new plan panned out, nothing in the facility would ever be used again.
"Alright- so I'll head over to the blast sight, find a terminal, wait for you to find me, the both of us wait for the Ghost, we comm them with the tower's frequency, and blow the entire place to smithereens when they're in the right position to pick us up." Sabine paused. "Doesn't sound dangerous at all."
Ezra smirked at her, shrugging his shoulders. "Eh- we've gone through worse. You got your helmet's comm on?" Sabine rolled her eyes and grumbled, her hands moving to activate the communications unit, but pausing when she noticed-
"Where's mine?" The colorful piece of artwork was indeed missing from the scene, and Sabine found herself aching to wear it instead of the bucket.
The teenager winked at her. "Somewhere safe; trust me."
Sabine blinked back. "I do."
Ezra opened his mouth, blinked a couple of times, closed his mouth, shook his head, and then muttered something to himself that sounded an awful lot like 'not the right time to ask'.
"Uh, right- we um, we need to start moving. Now." Ezra cleared his throat, looking rather uncomfortable, and gestured to the door. "I'll see you when I get there."
Sabine hesitated again. He was thinking about whatever it was that'd distracted him so much earlier on in the hospital again. "Ezra-"
"We don't have a lot of time- you need to get going." His blue eyes were clear again, still hiding something but resolved to keep it that way until a later time. Sabine pursed her lips, unhappy with her partner concealing whatever it was bothering him- even though she had an idea of what. But he was right- they needed to get moving now if they wanted to pull off the mission with any degree of success.
She pointed an accusing finger at Ezra. "Don't be late." He grinned a sly grin back at her, all hints of his earlier conflict hidden behind the faux mask Sabine hoped to one day show him he didn't need.
"And risk the wrath of the Mighty Mando? Never." Sabine snorted.
"Good- 'cause this time I got a whole facility of bombs to back me up."
Sabine was barely two floors below the one she'd bombed before the smell of smoke drifted in through the helmet's filter. She was surprised, but not displeased. The larger the destruction, the better chance the message got out to the Ghost that 'hey, something's going on down here you might want to check out.' Their luck had held out so far, but Sabine had a nasty feeling it wouldn't last for much longer, and figured the sooner the Ghost came to take them back home the better.
You know, maybe, once in a while, we take on a mission that doesn't somehow land one or more of us in mortal peril. Just once. It might be nice, going somewhere without being shot at.
But that would most likely only happen when the Empire was finally defeated- so, if anything, their persistent hunting of the rebels and Sabine only served to further her resolve to take them out. And so she would- to her last dying breath, Sabine would fight against the bucket-heads until she could finally live in a world where she didn't have to fight. That would take years- would take dozens of sacrifices, hundreds of close-calls, and thousands of more missions- but it would happen. Eventually. Sabine and Ezra just had to get out through this one alive, and so many others afterwards, and they would make it to a better world. They just had to make it out alive.
Sabine prepared herself, steeling nerves as the smell of smoke drew closer with more pungency. The elevator slowed to a stop, and the sounds of muffled actions and orders filtered in through her helmet- over the now-calmer orders still coming in through her headset -even before the doors opened.
She was expecting the floor to be moderately occupied with soldiers trying to restore what order they could to the place. With the activation of the AntiBlast procedure, they were no doubt scared Sabine had hidden explosives elsewhere in the facility, so she expected to encounter maybe ten or so stormtroopers overall in her journey through the detonated floor.
Not dozens.
Apparently Commander Morden had been expecting the Spectres to return to the detonated and destroyed floor, because in addition to the salvage parties and the clean-up crews, there were small patrols of three or four stalking down the halls, no doubt on high alert for any sign of her or Ezra.
I need to stop underestimating this Morden, Sabine thought, once again thankful that the stolen stormtrooper armor kept her disguised. If it didn't, the entire area she was in now would have been an almost certain deathtrap. She trotted through the halls, looking for all intents and purposes that she had a purpose to be there, orders to follow, and a goal to reach.
Well, she did, but probably not the same goal that the rest of the bucket-heads had.
Sabine hadn't just been placing her explosives all willy-nilly around the place- there was a certain method to her madness. Kind of. She'd thoroughly spread them all out across the floor, of course, but there had been a few places along the outer outer walls and edges of the tower that she'd placed two or three. Not just for the fun of it, most definitely- those five 'special' places would now be home to large, definitely people-sized holes responsible for the chilled draft that Sabine could feel through her armor. As they stood right now, they were useless danger hazards, leading to a near forty-foot drop down below. Sabine was heading straight towards one of them in the hopes of finding a terminal, because once the Ghost came and found them, they wouldn't be death-traps anymore- instead a viable escape route. She hadn't meant for them to turn out that way- when she'd blew the holes in the walls it would have been to confuse the bucket-heads and make the Ghost's actual entrance point become that much more hidden to the.
The closer she and Ezra would stay to one of the holes as they waited to scan the Ghost through the tower, the better. Quicker escape, less stormtroopers able to get there in time to block them, and less hassle. Not just that, but she and Ezra would need the least amount of time to get into a safe-haven before the bombs went off below- Sabine would have to blow hers from inside the tower itself, so she and Ezra both would need to be able to jump onto a secure surface if or before the tower started falling.
This is still gonna be pretty hard, Sabine mused, eyes tracking yet another search party walk by. There are plenty of stormtroopers on this floor alone, and they'll all have the same idea of where the Ghost is as we will. We might get swamped pretty fast by them- but it's not like we can do anything to change that. They had no more distractions to pull- Sabine couldn't blow another bomb without putting their lives in jeopardy, Ezra couldn't pull focus onto himself or another part of the facility without either putting attention back on him or taking too much time and missing their exit.
Oh I swear if he does something like that just to make sure I can get out... Honestly, Sabine could see Ezra trying to pull something like that. Especially after all the time he'd spent with the Ghost crew- but if he did try something like that, Sabine would go and drag him back by the ear and he would learn to not. Do that. Ever. Sabine didn't like leaving people behind. She liked leaving her loved ones behind even less. And Ezra-
No. If he ever does something stupid like that I am going straight back after him- whatever the case. You're not sacrificing yourself for me, Ezra Bridger- I'm making sure of that. Sabine sighed slightly, stepping over a fallen girder and stilling her urge to paint a bright symbol on one of the non-scorched walls. He better not do anything stupid. He'd better not.
Sabine rounded the corner and was met with the sight of one of her holes in the walls, surrounded by scorched metal that had been blackened from as far as ten feet away, including up the adjacent hall. She couldn't help but feel proud about her work. Peeking through the hole, Sabine could just barely make out the moon and stars above, the trailing smoke was so thick. She was protected from the brunt of it through her helm- through the bucket, but Ezra would probable need to hold something up to his face to prevent the acrid smoke from doing any damage. Especially in those ducts, with the limited airspace-
He'll take care of himself. Unless he starts doing stupid things, I don't have to worry about him... too much. For now, she just had to focus on finding a somewhat secluded terminal. Which, honestly, would have been a lot easier if she hadn't placed explosive miracles around the place. Although the individual rooms should still be somewhat functional... if there hadn't been a bomb placed directly on one of the outer walls...
Sabine pressed the opening key to a door on her left, only half-surprised when it failed to open. This was right next to one of her concentrated explosion areas, after all. A large chunk of area surrounding the blast-zone was bound to be inoperable.
Still, she pressed on around the edges, staying within the same area of the hole and desperately hoping to find a room she could get into-
Like this one.
The door halted half-way through, but even with the double-layered armor Sabine could squeeze through it. Ah, this room, Sabine thought, recalling it very specifically as she looked at the absolutely destroyed room. None of the others were this bad on the inside- and that was because none of the others had housed stormtroopers that'd seen her. She'd been heading away from her condensed bomb area when a soldier had exited the room, seeing her and giving the few soldiers inside a vantage point as well. Instead of charging in the room to take them all out one by one, which would have given them time to call in about her presence, she had chosen to throw in a grenade and take out the single lone soldier that had exited.
The result had been... productive. The entire inside of the room- which had blown out the wall of the other room adjacent to it -was black and ashy, the ceiling a mess of loose, sparking wires and still-smoking ceiling panels. If she looked past some of the destroyed wreckage, she could actually peer up into the floor of the room above her.
Sabine hesitated, knowing that the inside of this particular room was all but certainly useless... but maybe not the room it had blown into. Decided, Sabine peered out the door once again, looking for one of the patrols- finding none, she returned to the center of the room and moved further.
The blow leading into the room over had left the edges of the once solid wall jagged and splintered, metal warped and twisted and burnt by the force of her explosions. It looked as though the blast had largely been contained into the singular room she'd thrown it into, though- apart from a few minor damages to the furniture and ceiling, the second, invaded area was mostly intact. And free of a bucket-head presence- And, Sabine grinned when she noticed, formerly a part of an Imperial briefing room.
Complete with computer screens embedded into the circular central desk, just waiting for her to access them.
I guess luck does work with us sometimes, Sabine mused, rushing over, taking off her helmet and tapping one of the screens expectantly. It activated after a second of delay, which sent Sabine grinning wider and feeling better about their situation than she had in a while. A secluded area close to an exit-point with a working computer terminal was more than either she and Ezra had actually been hoping for- and it felt nice.
Once again, with a few taps of her fingers she was looking through the facility's scanners, and noticing that the lower floor was still on high lock-down. Morden would probably have it stay that way until he found Sabine and Ezra- though if their plan worked, it wouldn't really matter too much.
Still though, Sabine had to admire the fact that the lock-down procedure had been automatic- hardwired into the system of the factory itself, it was probably also programmed to shut down if it detected anyone trying to tamper with it from the outside. It meant the bucket-heads wouldn't have to focus on protecting the lower floors, and instead be allowed to work solely on getting the perpetrators out of the facility. Afterwards, when they'd cleaned up everything, attention could be drawn back to-
"What about in here?"
Sabine started at the sudden shout of an Imperial voice, and her heart hammered harder when she realized it'd come from right outside the door of the briefing room. Sabine was scrambling for her helmet and jamming it on her head even as a stormtrooper outside responded, but even so was only just able to make herself look like any other unassuming bucket-head before the un-damaged door slid open with a hiss.
Huttspit, Sabine's fingers itched to grab for her blaster- lying on the table just beside the panel -because it wasn't just a search-and-salvage squad. No, it was led by an officer- and even if the obviously Mandalorian armor garbed around him didn't give his identity away, Sabine knew how to read the Imperial rankings.
This man was none other than Commander Morden- and as his cold eyes swept across her, Sabine found herself wishing the Ghost would show up sooner rather than later.
"What are you doing in here?" His voice was cold, too- cold, calculated, and strictly no-nonsense. "Where's your squad?" Think fast-
"My partner was injured by a falling girder- he had to be relieved, and his replacement hasn't come yet. Um, sir." Sabine crinkled her nose, not used to calling anyone superior to her but remembering when she had been and not liking it. Still, her heart pounded in her throat as Morden snorted, looking back at the four stormtroopers behind him.
"Go help another team, your late partner will find his way to work someway or another. Remember, if you find the rebels or any sign of them immediately contact me- do not engage. That's how you people keep on losing. Get to it." Morden stepped through the thresh-hold, his company of soldiers following close behind him. Sabine held herself perfectly still as the Commander walked past her and headed through the hole in the wall towards the other destroyed room. The soldier's armor clacked with each step, raising small clouds of ash as they went, and Sabine was breathing so hard it fogged her visor briefly with each outtake.
The clacking stopped. The stormtroopers were right beside her, Morden behind and looking over her shoulder at what Sabine realized too late to be the still active console and the facility's sensors-
Morden snapped his eyes up to her visor, and Sabine inched her hand slowly over to the blaster-
"Aren't you a little... short, for a stormtrooper?"
Sabine's hand darted forwards like a snake, grabbing her blaster and vaulting over the table as the room exploded with blaster-fire.