(A/N)- Boy it was a pain in this ass trying to get this uploaded. FFNet had some kind of glitch that was affecting the File Upload of Doc Manager, had to use the Copy/Paste which ran up against the "Copy/Paste doesn't keep the formatting" problem. So I had to reinsert all the spacing and italics and everything.
I hope y'all appreciate what I go through for y'all.
(Ao3 remains the superior platform.)
Anyway, this took longer than I liked for me to finish but I'm pretty happy with it. Enjoy more chaos!
Disclaimer: Wheeeeeeze nope not me.
Chapter 4: This Wasn't In The Mission Notes
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon Spaceport - Hanger 37 - Bay 4 - Platform C
THE INCIDENT
Greez started to turn in his pilot's seat as he shut the engines down and lowered the ramp.
"You take a sonic shower the moment you get back, you hear me?" he warned Cal. "I don't want a hint of feymaker pollen catching a ride in with you."
"He's already gone, Greez," Cere told him, stepping into the cockpit and patting his shoulder sympathetically.
Undeterred, Greez turned back around and opened the channel to Cal's comlink. "I mean it, kid. Don't go climbing up any weird vines today. Because it's gonna be feymaker. And I'm gonna hate you forever."
"No you won't, Greez," Cal argued, voice entirely too chipper. "Who would bring you plants for your terrarium?"
Greez leaned off the button. "Well, he's got me there," he admitted with a shrug.
"Should I not go into town also?" Merrin asked, coming up into the cockpit as well. "Be on hand and within range should he need backup?"
"You do what you want, lady," Greez dismissed, waving both left hands. "But same rules apply to you."
She nodded, pale gray lips cracking a genuine smile. "Of course, Greez. I will not bring back any flowers."
She started stepping towards the open side door and Greez called after her:
"Or weird crystals! That last one from Mimban gave me a shock I'm still feeling!"
"I make no promises!" she yelled back as she descended the ramp.
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon Spaceport - Hanger 37 - Bay 3 - Platform A
THE INCIDENT
Hera climbed up the ladder from the cargo bay, leaving the ramp down for now just in case things went sour faster than they anticipated. The Imperial presence in Jargoon wasn't overwhelming per se, but also not something to sniff at.
If she were a betting woman she would put good money down on them tripping the rapid-warning system at some point.
Once back in the cockpit Hera stepped past a still-sulking Sabine, slumped in her custom-painted passenger seat, and settled into the pilot's chair, checking on a few things and making sure the engines were idling but not draining power.
That was when she noticed the blinking message waiting light on the dashboard.
Hera stared down at it, confused, for a moment.
Somewhere in the back of her head she suddenly remembered Chopper telling them about a transmission from Rebel Command. In their rush she'd forgotten to check it.
Hera flipped a switch, a screen on the console flicking on and scrolling a transcript of the message.
Her eyes widened a sliver.
"Ohhhhhh... kaaaaay..." she said, tone uncertain. Her hand drifted across the buttons until she found the comlink switch. She opened it up. "Uhhh, Spectre 2 to Spectre 1?" she called. "Be advised, there is apparently another Rebel unit operating in the area."
Silence for a moment, then the line crackled.
"...Come again?" asked a very confused-sounding Kanan.
"Just what I said," Hera repeated. "I checked on the message Chopper said we got from Rebel Command and they said there's another Rebel team going to be hitting Jargoon."
Sabine glanced up from her pouting, straightening up, alerting to the conversation and stupefied.
"Did they say which team?" Ezra asked, piping up on the line.
Hera checked the transcript again. "No, they didn't say," she relayed.
"Did they say where in Jargoon they're operating?" Kanan asked.
"Nope, didn't say."
"Did they say what kind of mission the other team is on?" Sabine joined in on the interrogation, scooting forward in her chair.
"They didn't say."
"Are we supposed to join up with them or...?" Ezra piped again.
"They didn't say that either."
Ezra gave an aggravated sound of frustration. "Well what did they say, Hera?"
"'Oh god oh god, please don't interfere with each other's missions'?" Hera read from the message transcript.
"Helpful," Ezra grumbled. "Guessing we can't call Rebel Command and ask for clarification?"
Hera shook her head, lekku bouncing. "Can't risk sending a transmission at this point. I guess just... try not to shoot anyone who doesn't look Imperial?"
"They know they put a blind man on this mission, right?" Kanan drawled witheringly. "That's not gonna help me."
"And what if they're in disguise?" Ezra asked, agitated. "Or what if we're in disguise and they shoot us? Or what if—?"
Hera threw up her hands. "Just be careful, okay!" she snapped.
Kanan gave a heavy sigh. "We'll do our best. Spectre 1 out."
The line disconnected and went silent.
Hera smeared a hand down her face.
"Well," commented Sabine, standing now, arms crossed with an amused smile. "Barely been on the ground a minute and things are already messy. That's gotta be a record for us."
The Twi'lek pilot exhaled. "...Go prep some of your paint bombs," she ordered. "Just... just in case."
Sabine lit up like a firework sparkler and rushed for the door.
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon Spaceport - Hanger 37 - Bay 3 - Platform B
THE INCIDENT
Leia was taking advantage of Han's absence to put the wall panel in the cockpit back together. Her mechanical aptitude was a little rusty but she was fairly confident in her ability to splice wires together, at least.
And then she got an actual look at the interior.
Wires crisscrossed in a messy, haphazard tangle, attached to all the wrong sprockets and clearly not up to standard code. There were loose chip boards floating in the wire nest—still connected—and there were pieces of parts she didn't even recognize spliced in and hotwired.
"How is this heap still flying?" she wondered in disbelief.
As she fiddled and made some attempt at understanding the configuration, Threepio came to stand next to her nervously.
"You do think they'll be okay out there, don't you?" he fretted, tilting back to look out the window in a worried fashion.
"Han's a big boy and can take care of himself," Leia assured him, slightly muffled from sticking her head inside the compartment. "Only question is will anything still be left standing when he's done with it," she grumbled. She stared at the tangled wires. "Did he fuse these together with a soldering iron?!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "What was he thinking?!"
"I sincerely wish I knew that, Princess," Threepio commiserated, stealing a glance out his photoreceptors at the tower of the IRO facility in the distance and resisting the quite-irrational urge to call Artoo for updates every five minutes.
(Artoo sent him some anyway, because he knew how Threepio worried.)
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon - IRO Alpha-Four Facility - Lower Corridors
THE INCIDENT
BD-1 chirped on Cal's shoulder softly as the Jedi stepped carefully across the scaffolding beams. Cal's boots tapped almost silently as he made his way across—or rather over—the long hall, trailing just behind a pair of Stormtoopers involved in a very... heated conversation.
"It's absolute sithspit is what is it! I get docked for taking 'excessive breaks' 'cause I got a bladder condition and meanwhile Mister Shiny Lapels up there can just take off on unannounced vacations whenever he pleases and suffer zero consequences!"
The other man shook his helmeted head in sympathy. "Preaching to the Rodian Chorus, pal," he complained. "I haven't been able to get any vacation time approved in years. I think the staffing lady in Offices personally hates me."
Cal came to the end of his beam and stopped, cursing quietly. He was still about five feet short of and ten feet high up from the door, which unlike the other passage he'd just came through had no overhang above it that he could land on, no auxiliary exits or vents to pass through. He crouched down on the beam, considering his options, biting his lip.
"I know!" the first trooper exclaimed, as he and his companion stopped rather inconveniently right in front of the door. "My sister's wedding is next week and I can't even get any personal time off! You wanna know what that schutta said?" He put on a falsetto mimicry. "'You're married to the Empire now, dear, and you should be grateful.'"
"What a bitch," the other agreed.
"Yeah, so now Yahnna is gonna be on my ass for the rest of our lives for ruining her big day, and we already don't get along—"
Cal tapped a heel in place impatiently, glancing back down the corridor. He tapped BD-1 on the side of the little droid's head. "We can't go around this door, can we?" he asked.
BD-1 helpfully brought up the map, blue-white hologram shivering in the air a moment, allowing Cal to make a quick study and judgment.
"Great," he groaned, mouth pulling down.
Sensing he was done looking, BD-1 shut off the map and cooed sympathetically, patting a little clawed foot on his shoulder.
"Maybe you could fake medical leave?" the other trooper suggested.
"Are you kidding? Then I'd have to deal with Kevin and he doesn't give out leave for anything short of dismemberment!"
Cal gave one more glance down the corridor, then checked the chrono on his wrist. Straightening up, the Jedi pulled out his lightsaber with a sigh. "I guess there's no way around it," he said to BD-1.
"I still think it could be worth a shot," the other trooper insisted.
Skeptical, the first trooper spread his arms to indicate the empty hallway. "Oh what, you think we're just gonna be attacked out of the blue, like some Rebel or Jedi is gonna drop from the ceiling just like tha—"
He happened to glance up just in time to see Cal Kestis dropping from the scaffolding beams, blue lightsaber held high over his head.
"—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
-SW-
Klipspree Airspace - Imperial Cruiser The Revenant - Human Resources Room
8.5 hours after "The Incident"
Kevin stamped the flimsi sheet and cheerfully handed it back.
"Enjoy your medical leave!" he said.
The now-left-armless trooper took the paper grouchily.
"Yay," he grumbled.
He turned stiffly, careful not to pull at the extensive bandaging, and marched past the long line of Imperial personnel waiting behind him.
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon - IRO Alpha-Four Facility - Floor 7 - Light Defense Grid Hallway
THE INCIDENT
Ezra gingerly lowered the latest unconscious Imperial technician to the ground. Chopper gave a cackle as he put up his electric shock prod, immensely pleased with himself.
"Last one," Ezra told Kanan, who was standing at the ready and pulling his saber from one of the door controls.
The other door locked shut, blocking that hallway off. Now they just had two exits to cover: the turbolift, and the door at the far side of the light defense grid.
Kanan inclined his head. "That sounds like a lot of buzzing," he commented. "Is that...?"
"Yep," Ezra confirmed. "That's the defense grid. Comes right up to the foot of the data core entrance."
"Of course it does," Kanan sighed. "We'd better be careful. These things are super sensitive. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're wired into the rapid warning—"
He stopped abruptly, turning a sharp glare down.
"Chopper!"
Chopper, whose squeaking wheels had given him away, immediately stopped inches from the grid pattern on the floor that would trigger the flashbang sequence.
"BWHUB?" he blorted innocently.
Kanan reached forward and grabbed Chopper by the top antenna, yanking him back like he would a misbehaving child, to Chopper's indignant screeching.
"One of us still has working eyes," Kanan chided, pulling the droid back out of range. To Ezra, he asked, "Can you see the control panel?"
"Yeah," Ezra said. "It's on the far side of the hall. I think I can turn it off from here."
"All right. Carefully though, we don't want—"
BRAAAAAANG! BRAAAAAANG! BRAAAAAANG! BRAAAAAANG!
Ezra threw up his hands. "I didn't touch anything!" he defended immediately.
Kanan gave a long, heavy, tired sigh, just raising his lightsaber and urging the boy forward. "Nothing for it now, you'd better go with Chopper into the data core, cover him!"
Chopper rolled smugly forward, grabbing onto one of Ezra's thigh straps and dragging him forward onto the gridded floor. Ezra barely had enough time to fling up his arm to cover his eyes as the bright flashbangs went off, strobing down the hall like some kind of unholy rave.
"Ow, Chopper!" Ezra complained. He stumbled as Chopper yanked at him. "I'm coming! Cut it out!"
"Play nice!" Kanan scolded from behind them.
Chopper blew a pointed electronic raspberry.
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon Spaceport - Tanar Marketplace
THE INCIDENT
Merrin had run afoul of that most dreaded bane of retail service—what her clan mother used to call a "gusty".
"Prattles on and on and never gets to an actual point," she'd been warned.
She was trying to edge away from the table of goods, making frantic glances towards the shopkeeper behind the table to come to her rescue and interrupt.
Alas, it seemed the shopkeeper had buried their nose in a magazine for just such a purpose as to ignore the one-sided conversation completely.
"Fantastic summer weather there, you'd love it. You're far too pale, darling, you need some sun."
Merrin gave a chagrined smile, quite certain she had heard an entire travelogue's worth of information about Spira and the 'magical holiday' the old woman had spent there.
She was only too relieved to hear the distant loud siren coming from the IRO facility.
She excused herself with a hurried, "YesIseethisisallveryfascinatingbutI'mafraidIhavetogorescuemyidiotJediboyfriendnow!", which was about the most she could squeeze out between the woman's breaths, and promptly vanished in a green sparkle and flourish.
"And that's when we tried out skyfishing and—good lord!" the woman yelped, interrupting herself, gaping at the spot where the nice young lady in red had been just moments before and falling, for a moment, blessedly silent.
The shopkeeper made a mental note to offer Merrin a discount, if she saw her again.
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon - IRO Alpha-Four Facility - Level 4 - Hall KY8
THE INCIDENT
White boots went head over keister as Han clotheslined another trooper in the neck, felling him with one strike. The Stormtrooper went down hard, groaning and lying dazed on the floor.
Behind the smuggler, Luke casually deflected a blaster bolt back into its shooter with his saber.
"You know, Han," he commented, already turning his back on the shrieking trooper, "I can't help but notice the 'shortcut' you were convinced we should take is taking a lot longer than our original path."
Han grit his teeth, wresting with another trooper for possession of his sidearm. "Not the time, Luke," he growled with irritation.
Seemingly oblivious to Han's annoyance, Luke continued. "And that there's a lot more troopers in our way since you touched that device that you swore 'wasn't connected to any alarms'," he added, tone just on the edge of witheringly sarcastic.
Han managed to finally wrestle the blaster from the other trooper, shooting him point blank in the stomach before throwing back at Luke dismissively, "Everything's under control. Chewie and I have been through loads of scrapes like this."
Chewie put in a comment of agreement. The Wookie finished off the last man in the hallway, upending him and sending him slamming into the ceiling before dropping him pointedly onto the floor, insensate.
Smug, Han turned around to grin. "See?" he said. "Nothing we can't handle."
Luke made a doubtful face and noise, which grated on Han's nerves way more than any of Leia's pointed verbal barbs.
He didn't comment though, turning to the turbolift doors and prying then open, ushering everyone in. Artoo took a minute longer than he liked, maneuvering around the fallen bodies (he swore that droid had rocket boosters and was just refusing to use them to make his life difficult) but finally made it in with a cheerful chirp.
The doors hissed shut.
Calm, upbeat music filtered in through the speakers as they ascended.
One floor... two floors... three floors...
...
"...So did you have a plan or—?" Luke started to ask.
Han held up a sharp warning finger.
"Okay," Luke acquiesced, backing off, holding up his hands. "Just asking."
...
The group fidgeted as the elevator climbed.
...
Ding!
With a bright chime the turbolift came to a stop, opening to a short auxiliary hallway just off the North Tower data core. All was quiet, even the buzzing from the light defense grid around the corner was more ambient noise than anything.
Feeling self-satisfied and vindicated, Han let a sly grin steal over his face.
"There, see?" he said, stepping forward. "What'd I tell ya? A quick pop into the data core and we're home free."
He reached for the door controls to the side entrance, pressing them.
"You worry too much, kid," he was saying, as he walked boldly into the data core room. "Stick with me and you'll do just—"
Whatever he was about to brag was lost as he was assaulted at shin level by a searing electric shock.
"Hnngfnhhghhhh!" Han grunted as he seized up, eyes widening.
He toppled forward, near senseless, with enough time to spy an orange-domed astromech and wonder who had painted it such a hideous color before he fell unconscious on the floor.
-SW-
Klipspree - Jargoon - IRO Alpha-Four Facility - North Tower Data Core
THE INCIDENT
"Chopper!" Ezra snapped.
Chopper blared out a loud blort that sounded very much like an indignant, WHAT?!
Ezra threw hands out in exasperation, gesturing with agitated motions to the prone body on the floor. "What did Hera say about not attacking anyone who wasn't Imperial?!" he cried, annoyance in every syllable.
Chopper hotly rushed to defend himself as the other Rebel team filed in. The trim R2 unit moved professionally to the bank of computers after only a cursory glance down at the unconscious man. The Wookie, on the other hand, knelt down by his companion with a huff of concern, turning him over and beginning to slap a paw to his face.
The blonde-haired kid, meanwhile, just kind of stared unnervingly at Ezra. Ezra ignored that for now, focusing on Chopper's binary complaining.
"How do I know they're not—For kriff's sake, Chopper, you think the Empire employs Wookies?" Ezra scolded, pointing at said Wookie in question.
(Said Wookie had given up on tapping at his friend's face and was now just kind of... rolling his torso upright and letting him thump back down.)
Kthunk! Kthunk!
Chopped pouted sourly, crossing his manipulators and turning his dome away with a grumble.
"And you can't just zap someone because they 'looked like an asshole'!" Ezra complained.
"Are you a Jedi?"
Annoyance at Chopper entirely forgotten, Ezra glanced back to see the kid still staring at him, bug-eyed with awe this time.
He was suddenly very aware of his ignited green blade.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." he said, nervous and slightly panicked and starting to wonder if he was going to have to murder a kid his own age to keep his secrets.
The other young man fumbled with something in his hands, hastening to show him. "No no—Look! Look, see!" He held up a silver hilt, and pressed the button to sprout its blue blade again. "See? I have one too!" he said excitedly.
Ezra's face lit up with a kind of 'Did we just become best friends?' expression.
He practically dive-bombed in for a closer look.
"Where'd you get your kyber crystal?" he asked excitedly.
"My what?" the other boy asked cluelessly.
"It's what powers the lightsaber, I got mine at an abandoned Jedi Temple on Lothal."
Luke turned the hilt around, peering at it now curiously. "Mine just came with it, I think. It was my father's."
Ezra flailed a bit. "Your father was a Jedi?!" he asked, too excited to hold still.
"Yeah," Luke said, grinning a bit. "Anakin Skywalker."
"YOUR FATHER WAS ANAKIN SKYWALKER?!"
"YOU KNOW MY FATHER?!"
"I HAVE LIKE A HALF-DOZEN LIGHTSABER TRAINING INSTRUCTIONAL KATAS OF HIM ON MY HOLOCRON!"
"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS BUT IT SOUNDS AWESOME!"
Both of them were vibrating out of their skins now, operating on the same hyperactive wavelength. Neither of them heard it when Ezra's comlink chirped on, a very concerned-sounding Kanan on the line calling.
"Ezra, what's going on in there? Did you get the information? Hello? Ezra?"
Chopper huffed and turned on a wheel, deciding he'd better get to work before the cranky older Jedi decided he needed to come inside the Data Core. He butted Artoo out of the way, and Artoo gave a surly beep and whacked him back. Both droids cursed at each other in binary, jostling for access to the port.
Meanwhile on the floor behind them, Chewbacca gave a satisfied grunt and leaned back as Han finally began to stir.
"Ugh..." he groaned, lifting a land to his eyes. "...what hit me?"
(A/N)- Gonna try to hash out the gags for the next chapter and (hopefully) have it up in a week or two. Needless to say the shenanigans will continue until morale improves.