Star Wars: Rebels: Rising Darkness
Disclaimer: Star Wars Rebels and all Star Wars characters and Lore are not my property, as they are all owned by Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Company.
A/N: Here's Part 2 of the promised two-part special as promised! Enjoy! :)
Chapter 8: Playing the Part
Meanwhile back inside the officer's lounge in the Imperial base, General Dodonna and his young, new allies were ready to begin their escape. After voluntarily disarming himself to aid in the appearance of being an innocent and helpless hostage, by discarding his blaster and two grenades, the older man faced his would-be rescuers, informing them he was ready. He saw that Sabine had reloaded the cells on her own blasters, and Ezra had kept watch out the windows.
"Okay, all set. You two ready to go?" hearing the general's words, Ezra turned around back to them as Sabine finished inspecting the closest route to the airfield via the base's layout on her ragefinder, which had been uploaded earlier courtesy of Dodonna.
"All set, here. A patrol is walking by outside. We should make our move once they're gone," the young padawan informed the others. Dodonna quickly nodded in approval.
"A good idea; try to time our escape between exterior patrols. The less obstacles we encounter between here and the platform, the better. You know, you've got an eye for strategy yourself, young one," the veteran general commented. Sabine didn't miss their words, chiming in immediately after.
"He has his moments," she said with a snarky tone, giving her slightly younger teammate a smirk from under her helmet.
Now it was his turn to rolls his eyes as he returned her gesture, sensing her teasing expression even with her face obscured. They both missed the older military officer off to their side as he gave a light smile at their display, musing to himself regarding the both of them, this time.
Despite himself, the general pondered the evidence that there was something about these two neither one was telling him. Perhaps, somehow, they didn't even see it, themselves.
"Ready when you are, general," the words of the teenage Mandalorian pulled him from his thoughts. Ezra nodded as well. Dodonna returned the gesture as he spoke.
"Very well, we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's move out immediately," and with that declaration, the older veteran and his younger allies made their move.
Down in the sublevel storage room, the squad of troopers that had been knocked unconscious earlier by the two younger Rebels began groaning as they finally came to, a few of them crawling across the floor to recover their blasters as they slowly began to recover their senses. Climbing back to his feet, the sergeant was the first to address his team.
"On your feet, men! We've got no idea what the current situation is thanks to that involuntary nap. Rebel scum!" the sergeant cursed their attackers as his men slowly got back up as he did.
"Well, at least we're not dead, so that's something," one of the troopers replied as he stood up.
As if on cue, at that moment, Kanan leapt into the room through the hole in the floor. Both Zeb and Aygo climbed in as well immediately after. Both parties raised their weapons at one another.
"A jedi? Just great! Open fire!" the sergeant ordered. His squad obeyed immediately.
Easily deflecting the blaster bolts, Kanan incapacitated most of the squad with no visible strain. The sergeant lunged forward, intending to try and strike the intruders with the blunt force of his rifle instead, but Zeb's own brute strength was too much and a blow to the helmet with a Lasat bow-rifle, combined with a drop kick from Aygo, sent him flying back into the storage crates. A lone Force push from Kanan sent the rest of the squad back as well.
"Let's move!" Kanan told the rest of his team as Kavir and the other Freedom Coalition operatives climbed in through the hole as well.
The Rebels and their allies quickly left through the door, leaving the stunned squad alone once again. They began to regather their wits a second time as the same trooper from before spoke up.
"Well now, at least we're still not dead. Gotta be grateful for that!"
"Shut the hell up, private!" the sergeant barked sternly in irritation.
"Yes sir," the trooper replied.
Meanwhile on the upper levels, the younger Rebels along with the general were steadily making their way down the hall towards the entrance to the airfield, having taken another turbolift without incident. It was to their relief that she automated security system was still disabled; no autoturrets or any visual cameras were active. Once the doors to the airfield opened, however, it became apparent they would no longer be able to move unseen. At least a full company of troopers were scattered throughout the area, guarding the premises.
"Okay, now just like we planned," Dodonna whispered to Ezra and Sabine, the latter of whom pressed one of her blasters into his back as requested. Ezra drew and ignited his lightsaber to help sell the act.
"All right, move, Imperial dog!" the young padawan ordered harshly. As the troopers looked over in their direction, Sabine reinforced the deception by tapping the blaster in Dodonna's back as he raised his hands in apparent surrender and submission.
"You dirty no good Rebel scum!" Dodonna retorted as he snarled at them from over his shoulder. The teenage Mandalorian was grinning beneath her helmet. They just might pull this off.
"Don't try to interfere! We're taking the general with us!" said young artist called out to the alerted personnel who looked to their general for his orders. They had raised their blasters as they moved closer.
"Do as they say, men! I've been out of worse situations than this! Trust me!" feigning the part of a confident prisoner, the general urgently ordered the troopers to keep their distance and not open fire, and they silently obeyed.
Soon, the younger Rebels and the general were close to the personal shuttle of the latter, boarding ramp extended and access open. At that moment, the rest of their team came charging in from a side entrance. The familiar faces caught the attention of the smaller group immediately, as did the familiar presences Ezra had sensed abruptly.
"You two, and General Dodonna!" Aygo was the first to address them. Before their charade could fall apart, Sabine had quickly thought of a way to hold everything together.
"Lieutenant Governor Aygo, sir, we have the general as you ordered! Shall we make our escape together, sir?"
Kanan and Zeb both looked like they needed a moment to process what was going on, but Aygo picked up on it faster and responded before they could.
"Excellent work, soldiers! Yes, let's get out of here! To the shuttle!" and with that the Rebels and their allies regrouped with Dodonna, quickly moving towards the landing back and up onto the shuttle as the troopers watched in silence.
What none of the other team realized was that the video feed from the helmets of their foes was transmitting back to Colonel Veers in the command room, who had forwarded the live video directly to Vice Admiral Thrawn up in lower orbit on the bridge of the Furious Vengeance, contacting the admiral himself via hologram. Having been updated on the situation by below previously by the Grand Inquisitor, the Chiss tactical genius decided to make a judgement call, knowing the Grand Inquisitor was otherwise engaged overseeing deployment of the Seismic Bomb. The Imperial flagship would be deploying the gunships once inside the atmosphere in a matter of moments.
"I recognize the ones working with Aygo and abducting the general from the reports the fleet has received. Colonel, they cannot be allowed to escape. Their capture or demise outweighs the life of your superior officer. Stop that shuttle from escaping at all costs," as Thrawn gave his orders, cold and factual to the point, Veers responded without hesitation.
"Yes sir! All batteries, open fire!" as the decorated colonel relayed instructions to his personnel, Thrawn switched frequencies to contact his own superior.
"Grand Inquisitor, sir, I know you are about to embark with the gunships any second now, but I think you'll be most interested in knowing the identities of some newcomers to this little civil war we've come to deal with," the Chiss was immediately asked to give the rundown.
"Then speak freely, but make it fast," the Grand Inquisitor replied.
"Will do, sir."
Back down in the Imperial base, General Dodonna's personal shuttle began to lift off with Sabine at the controls. Further back in the main cabin, some introductions had been in order. Kanan shook the hand of his new ally.
"Pleased to finally meet you in person, sir."
"Likewise. You are among the last of the Jedi from the old order, are you not? The honor is mine," Dodonna replied respectfully. He then looked over to Aygo who sat next to him, offering him his hand as well, "Lieutenant Governor Eiten Aygo. You look just as mean as you do through the holonet," the veteran general joked as Aygo shook his hand with a smirk.
"And you have just as many wrinkles as you appeared to, old man," both Aygo and Dodonna chuckled at the words of the former.
As the shuttle began taking off, the focus of everyone further back in the shuttle was diverted to Sabine just ahead of them in the cockpit as she alerted them to a new danger.
"I'm afraid we're not out of this yet! Brace yourselves!" the teenage Mandalorian activated the deflector shields as the base's anti-air turrets rotated to lock onto the shuttle.
Without warning, they opened fire in a steady barrage, forcing Sabine to immediately engage in evasive maneuvers to avoid being overwhelmed in seconds. The shuttle violently shook at it was still hit from all sides, even with successfully dodging the full barrage.
"Sabine, feel free to punch it!" Kanan ordered as he grabbed onto a hand rail.
"Already on it!" the young artist called back as she gunned the accelerator, speeding off towards the city outside to the north. Just a moment before they cleared the base, HK-47 had emerged on the northern wall, taking aim with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher he had acquired while indoors.
"Mockery: Try dodging this, you feeble meatbags!"
Pulling the trigger immediately after he finished speaking, the droid recorded the sight in utmost satisfaction as the missile sped toward the engines of the shuttle, locked on target. Even at full speed, Sabine could not avoid or dodge the rocket, especially since it was fired at such close range. The high-speed explosive detonated upon slamming into the aft of the shuttle, the shields having already been worn down from the turrets.
A lone gunship, loaded with a squad of troopers, took off from the base, apparently having been the only one ready for flight at the time. They gave chase as the shuttle went down into a city street, leaving a thick trail of smoke behind it. Thankfully the shuttle landed upright, though its horizontal wings and underside were scraped and torn off against the hard pavement, rendering the entire craft disabled. The landing had been rough, but not enough to cause any serious injury to the pilot or passengers. At that moment, the Furious Vengeance deployed the gunships and escort squadron of TIE fighters, having entered the upper atmosphere. The Grand Inquisitor observed the war-torn city below from his perch on board the center gunship with the Seismic Bomb.
Utilizing the Force, Kanan and Ezra blew out the forward windshield on the disabled shuttle, providing an alternative means to evacuate the wreck as the boarding ramp was firmly jammed shut on the underside. The two Jedi were the first to set foot out onto the street. The lone gunship that had given chase landed right in front of them, the squad it carried disembarking and taking their shots immediately. Lightsabers drawn and ignited, the two Jedi shielded the rest of the team behind them, deflecting the blaster bolts and using the Force to not only disable their attackers, but rip open the hatch to the cockpit of the gunship and pull the pilot from within, throwing him aside telekinetically as well.
"Is it just me, or do you Jedi have a habit of stealing all the fun," Zeb half-joked as he crawled out and back onto his feet with the others.
"I see now why the Empire was so eager to try to get rid of you all. You guys are awesome!" Kavir told Kanan and Ezra in awe of their display.
"Thanks, we try," Ezra replied as he grinned at the praise. Kanan turned to Sabine, requiring her pilot skills once more.
"Take control of that gunship, we'll be using it the rest of the way," the Jedi Knight told her, and she nodded and ran over to the forward hatch to the cockpit without delay.
"I'm on it!" she called back over her shoulder.
"Everyone, get on that gunship! Before Imperial reinforcements arrive!" Aygo ordered sternly.
Little did everyone present know, there would be no Imperial reinforcements coming to stop them. For as the Rebels and their allies boarded the gunship in front of them, off to the distance high in the skies above, the Grand Inquisitor and his top secret payload were getting ever closer to the calculated bombing site.
A/N: The next chapter is already in progress, and it will be the climax of the story. The moment of truth, ladies and gentlemen. I hope to see you there. ;) I hope you enjoyed these last two chapters! Feel free to leave your thoughts, as again I always value your input!