A/N: Hello reader! Here you are! The first chapter, new fandom, kind of nerve-racking honestly, don't really know the crowd here. Although I feel like I do because I've been reading Rebels fanfiction ever since my random ( and well based ) decision to rewatch all four seasons of this amazing show.
Just for your convenience, I put in a little key because I noticed that everyone does it a little bit differently and this is the particular way I happen to be accustomed to:
Bold- Authors note or enunciated words
Italics- Thoughts or Ship names
Underlined Italics- Comm chatter
For those of you who came over from WOF hello, if you haven't seen rebels. Watch it. It's really good. I don't have a super lot to tell you and I don't wanna take up your time so I'll be putting a longer Authors note at the end to talk more if it interests you, but without further ado!
The disclaimer: ( That no one needs yet we all still say it ) I don't own Star Wars Rebels or Star wars for that matter.
By the way, this is set after "Legacy of Mandalore" but before "Through Imperial eyes."
Chapter One
According to Plan
In the blank soundless void of space, some found comfort, others found the exact opposite at the vast emptiness of it all. Ezra, as the stolen Imperial shuttle drifted closer to the small fleet of Imperial light cruisers, was only slightly nervous.
The dark grey paint of the Imperial ships stood out against the blackness of space with twinkling stars in the background. He briefly glanced to his side, Kanan calmly piloted the shuttle closer waiting for the inevitable call that would demand their access codes.
Ezra adjusted himself in his amour, the rustling of the plates causing his brow to furrow in annoyance. Kanan glanced his way, giving him something akin to an amused smirk at his struggling padawan.
"How is it going over there?" He asked.
"How's it look…" Ezra grumbled, straightening his armor.
"Like a Stormtrooper," Kanan said simply, if anything his words being a slight complement considering Ezra's objective.
"Yeah well, maybe they should consider getting better equipment for their soldiers," Ezra complained, rotating his arms.
Kanan smiled softly, but before he could respond the shuttle common flared to life a dull typical Imperial voice came over it.
"Shuttle T-678a4 this fleet was not expecting you, transmit clearance codes immediately." Kanan cleared his throat.
"Transmitting codes now," Kanan said, a hesitant pause preceding his voice.. "We were sent to rendezvous with your fleet, we have extra rations and supplies onboard."
The lie was established well beforehand, part of the well-thought-out plan. Once they were on board they simply had to sabotage the hyperdrive, transmit their position to the rest of the fleet and then steal what they needed before reinforcements could arrive.
This particular convoy was already late, the unscheduled arrival of a shuttle wasn't helping anything but hopefully, they wouldn't think twice about their reason, they would accept the codes and let them dock.
"Shuttle T-678a4 you are clear to dock, go to the following coordinates." The voice came back over the system as the nav computer beeped at being given a fresh set of coordinates.
"Thank you, sir, proceeding to transmitted coordinates," Kanan responded, muting the comm channel as he piloted the shuttle towards the awaiting cruiser.
Ezra let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding as he removed himself from the seat walking towards the back area of the shuttle where they would wait for the airlock to seal and let them over to the Imperial cruiser.
Kanan appeared next to his side with his own set of Stormtrooper armor already on as he had his lip pulled into a tight neutral expression as he set the helmet over the top of his head. Giving Ezra a nod of encouragement and a pat on the shoulder Ezra followed suit sighing as the tight helmet squished his features into uncomfortable positions.
He really didn't understand how the Stormtroopers wore these for so long.
The ramp hissed open and the two 'Stormtroopers' briskly walked away from the shuttle, hoping to slip into the rest of the crowd. The hangar was empty. Save for the random stormtrooper pair, all who didn't bat a second glance at two more stormtroopers in the hanger bay.
Ezra could feel the pull and tug of the ship as it entered hyperspace and he allowed a smile to grace his lips.
The plan was going quite flawlessly, with a simple press of a button this particular cruiser would be forced out of hyperspace without its extra convoy, upon entering space the rebel fleet would drop out alongside the ship boarding and raiding it long before any Imperials could even begin to comprehend what had happened to their missing convoy member.
Ezra checked himself, the plan was going without fail now, that didn't mean it would be in the next phase. They marched through the hallways with purpose on their way towards the engine room. They passed numerous Stormtroopers but none of them showed the slightest gaze or question at the pair.
"This is relatively easy." Ezra finally commented from next to Kanan as they took another turn down the winding Imperial hallway.
"Are you trying to jinx us?" Kanan retorted although his tone held no scolding.
"All I'm doing is pointing out how the mission is going well!" Ezra protested.
"Yeah well lets hope it stays that way…" Kanan said his head straight forward as they took the final turn to the engine room.
"It will, It will." Ezra said as he gave the guards at the front of the doors a glance.
They approached the two stormtroopers who both seemed confused by the sudden presence of two more guards. Although Kanan gave Ezra a noticeable nudge as if to tell him 'I've got this.'
"Hey, we're here to relieve you." Kanan said, trying to put confidence into his voice.
"What? We're aren't supposed to be off duty for another couple hours…" The stormtrooper's voice conveyed confusion although his friend seemed to be taking the bait.
"Well maybe we got the time wrong, come on." The other guard said motioning towards a different corridor.
The first stormtrooper stopped him with a hand and stared at Kanan. "What's your operating number?" He said his friend letting out an audible sigh.
A brief moment of silence passed before Kanan spoke; "Should've just left when you had the chance." Kanan said dully before bringing his blaster up to connect with the side of the first stormtrooper's head.
His other stormtrooper companion barely had time to react before he met a similar fate, his body slumping to the ground alongside his fellow trooper.
"I don't know why we didn't just start with that." Ezra said his tone was light as he shoved the body out the way moving towards the door.
"I like to see if the good old shift change will work, maybe it will one day." Kanan said jokingly as he reached for the button.
"Yeah I'll believe that when I see it…" Ezra trailed off as the door slid open.
The engine room of the light cruiser was small, especially compared to that of a star destroyer. The technicians and other personnel gathered in the area wore the typical Imperial garb and only a few looked up upon their entrance but none batted an eye at two extra stormtroopers in the area.
Kanan and Ezra walked across the platform when stopped by a technician his voice portrayed confusion which was understandable. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh we're… On patrol…" Ezra said his voice doing little to convince himself and definitely not convincing the tech.
"You're hopeless, you know that?" Kanan said before dropping the technician with a swift punch.
Blaster fire instantly hissed at them and both Kanan and Ezra ignited their blades deflecting the bolts of energy with relative ease. They ended up back to back, as the door slid open and more stormtroopers moved to lay into them.
"This wasn't part of the plan until after we dropped out of hyperspace…" Ezra yelled over the sound of battle.
"Well then we better do that then!" Kanan yelled back as he ducked behind a panel giving himself a brief respite.
Ezra followed suit and then glanced around trying to find the panel that controlled the hyperdrive quickly realizing he didn't entirely know which one it was. He suddenly wished Sabine was here, she would be able to tell exactly which panel did what. Or at least which one the hyperdrive was.
His heart twisted a little bit at the memory of Sabine and leaving her on Krownest, he knew that it's what she needed to do and nothing could've been said or done to change that but it didn't make it any easier on him.
He was a bit lost without his closest friend, or even in some cases more than that, although he was quite sure she didn't want anything more than friendship and after he originally got over his boyhood crush he gave her exactly that, stopping his childish flirting attempts.
That boyhood crush never really went away, just remained in hibernation, and slowly grew to something more.
He looked at the panel above Kanan trying to remember the panel that had been displayed during the briefing. He was pretty sure that the switch was in the wrong place but if he had learned one thing during his time in the rebellion it was that sometimes you did things on the fly.
He bounded up from his cover, and jumped farther than any human should be able to, landing near the panel he raised his blade bringing it down in a wide arc across the panel. Sparks followed the sabre and Klaxons blared overhead as the ship shuddered violently.
"What did you do?" Kanan asked as Ezra ducked next to his master.
"Cut the hyperdrive control panel." Ezra said nonchalantly, peeking up and returning blaster fire to the stormtroopers on the bridge, who lacked cover.
"How did you know it was that one?" Kanan asked his own blaster peeking around the side and also letting loose relentless fire.
"I didn't," Ezra said simply.
"One of these days you are going to do something incredibly stupid." Kanan said with an eye roll as he removed his comlink, pressing the button that would send the signal to the rebel strike group waiting nearby.
"Count on it." Ezra replied with a toothy grin as he stood up his blade in full blocking motion of the bolts as they flew by.
Kanan didn't respond as he stood up behind his padawan, "You know your part of the mission?" He asked.
"Yeah of course." Ezra responded, beginning the slow walk backwards towards a clear bridge.
"Alright, I'll meet you in the storage room." Kanan said deactivating his blade.
Ezra nodded his understanding and Kanan raised himself on his feet, making a dead sprint across the opening, Ezra right on his heels. The door at the end remained open as they dashed through it, the alarms still ringing overhead.
Ezra dipped his head one more time to his master and then quickly took off in the other direction. This next part of his mission was only his to carry out Kanan would make his way to the Hangar to assist with the boarding party.
Ezra's job was to go to the storage hold and clear out any and all complications they might run into, as well as begin the sorting process of the crates they needed and useless things that could go down with the rest of the ship.
They had limited time before the Empire's reinforcements arrived and it was the goal to get the whole mission done in less than half an hour. Hopefully chopper was able to keep the Jam on their coms up for that long or else the mission would hit some big complications really fast.
Ezra continued to run through the halls dispatching the Stormtroopers it occurred to him that there didn't seem to be as many guards as he would think there should be but then again the Imperials probably didn't believe the rebels would be attacking this ship of all ships.
That was the Rebels goal however, the cargo vessels in the convoy probably had more supplies but they were also bound to be the ships that were most heavily guarded. Therefore making a singular cruiser the perfect target.
Ezra came up on the storage hold door and was surprised to find no guards. His gaze narrowed only slightly, as he pressed the button and the door slid open.
When the doors opened he was shocked to find that there were also no guards walking about the hold. He would figure that at least one or two would be inside the small yet important storage hold. Guess they must've been reassigned elsewhere.
Ezra decided to think nothing of it and quickly went to locate the various crates that would be of importance to them. Weapons, Ammo, rations, anything and everything he could find. He activated the levitator on the crates and pushed them towards the center of the room to be grabbed soon.
He almost jumped when his comm crackled. Almost.
"Spectre two too Spectre six what is your status?" Hera's voice crackled over the comm.
Ezra briefly checked the crates before picking up his arm to respond. "I'm in the storage room now, it is a bit smaller than we thought but it should be alright."
SIlence held for a moment but Hera's voice came on again, this time the sound of blaster fire in the background.
"We're holding a spot in the Hangar for now, don't know how much longer a squad is on their way once they get there, get the crates and move it to the han-" Hera's voice cut off and a bit of worry came over Ezra but he pushed it down, refocusing on his part of the mission.
"Got it, I'll meet up with you in no time." Ezra responded, clicking his comm link off. There was no guarantee she got the message but better to say something just in case.
The ship shook violently with what he assumed was fighters and bombers making their attack runs. He shoved another crate out towards the middle but stopped once he noticed something behind. It was a shiny object, tucked behind crates, Ezra almost missed it.
He bent down to reveal a Stormtrooper blaster, and tucked further behind the stack, was three unconscious, maybe even dead Stormtroopers. Ezra was so stunned he forgot about the squad sent to help him and when the door hissed open he whirled around the blaster already in hand.
The rebel on the receiving end quickly put up his hands. "Whoah, whoah, easy there it's just us."
Ezra quickly dropped his blaster, a look of remorse taking hold of his face. "Sorry, it's just, well… Look."
He said motioning towards the pile of bodies. The rebel scrunched his eyes and the rest of the team moved in quickly securing the crates necessary to their plight. Once the rebel caught sight of the Stormtroopers he looked equally concerned.
"You didn't do this?" He asked, giving him a glance.
Ezra shook his head, "I think we have a stowaway…" The rebel nodded, showing his agreement and quickly stood up.
"Let's grab the crates and get out of here. I'd rather not fight them, maybe if we leave quick enough we don't have to run into our friend here." He said turning away from the Imperials.
Ezra turned on his heel towards the other men in the room grabbing one more crate that was filled with ammo, "Alright let's get a move on." He commanded, shoving the crate forward.
Everyone followed suit, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as they passed through the hallways with no further issue. The long grey empty hallways scared Ezra a little bit but he would assume that most of the Imperials on the ship were either already taken care of scrambling to find each other or already at the hanger bay.
The group rounded the corner and into the open bay, Ezra already had his Blaster removed and pointed into the room so when the large blast doors opened he shot at the closest group of white troopers.
Ezra quickly glanced around taking in the scene to the best of his ability. On the far side of the hangar there was an airlock door that presumably led to a rebel ship. Zeb, Hera, and Kanan were defending the entrance with great effort. Spread around them were more rebels providing cover fire and they were actually doing well but they couldn't hold out forever.
Before Ezra could make a dead sprint for the others Stormtroopers located them and redirected blaster fire in their direction forcing the team to duck behind crates in their best attempt at cover. Ezra glanced at the rebel he spoke with earlier and at the already rough path they would have to take to get to safety.
"This mission just keeps on getting more and more complicated doesn't it…" He commented as he returned fire over the top of the crate.
"It always does…" Ezra said trailing off.
A/N: And cut. Well that was a fun ride no? I enjoyed it. Writing in this universe is fun and I definitely enjoyed myself. A couple things I wanna mention. My update schedule: IS non-existent. I would like to try a weekly basis but I can't guarantee anything.
This is an AU and while I tried not to change too much obviously some things will be different so please don't sue me. We haven't hit the AU element yet but we will, soon.
Sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger but I saw spreading this out across multiple chapters as a perfect opportunity to give myself an extra week of procrastinating editing the already written chapters. The first element I'll mention now is time:
As far as time goes I started this by trying to figure out how long Sabine was gone for but for the life of me I can't figure it out. It's only a 4 episode gap ( Not counting Zero Hour ) SO for my purposes I just chose the time gap of two months. I feel it's fair and if you don't like it… Too bad it's an AU anyway. I'll be putting a day counter on the top of each chapter starting next chapter so it's easy to keep an idea of the timescale. Also if you can find a canon source that gives me the time I wanna see it, not that'll change anything I'm just curious.
In summary this chapter takes place about a week after they left Krowrest. This is an AU so except differences, I talk too much, my update schedule is not cement and Have a good day!
Alright this author's note is getting too long and I doubt half of you actually read through this to those of you who did thank you. Don't forget to R&R!
Stay Safe.
See you all next time!