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Chapter 6

Ezra’s P.O.V.

“I’m in.”

Sabine’s voice emanated from the comlink on Ezra’s wrist.

“Are we still clear out there, Hera?” he heard Kanan ask.

“All clear,” Hera replied, “If I were you, I’d worry more about whether or not it’s all clear in there.”

“Not a problem,” Sabine announced, “Systems are down.”

“We seem to be making good time,” Mira said with a smile.

“Let’s hope we don’t run into any Inquisitors like last time,” Ezra chimed in.

“Inquisitors are of little consequence,” Grievous said, prompting Ezra to twist his head to get a look at the cyborg standing behind him.

“Seriously?” the young Jedi demanded excitedly.

“Inquisitors are amateurs,” Rain said. She paused adding, “Somewhat like you, but less incompetent.”

“Thanks,” Kanan said sourly.

“I suggest you all cut the chatter,” Bane hissed through the comlink, “And don’t talk unless you have to.”

“Affirmative,” Hera replied.

“Got it,” Sabine chimed in.

“Our lips are sealed,” Ezra said.

“Shut up!”

“Right, right, sorry,” Ezra muttered.

Mira laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t take it too personally,” she said with a gentle smile.

“I won’t,” Ezra assured her, “He and Rain don’t seem to get along with anyone, except for you,” he said, pointing at Grievous.

Mira’s smile wavered, “Rain wasn’t always like this. She and I used to be very close. But...that was a long, long time ago.”

“Rain relies heavily on her cognition,” the General’s voice grated, “It has served her well.”

Mira’s brow furrowed as she turned on the cyborg, “I disagree.”

Grievous merely fixed her with his golden reptilian eyes. A long silence followed.

Ooookaaaaay… Ezra thought awkwardly as he glanced between the two of them.

Rain’s P.O.V.

The two of them crept along, silent as shadows. Upon reaching the corner, they paused, peering into the next hall. Rain saw nothing, but she sensed others nearby. Reaching out, she felt two distinct consciousnesses flanking the door to the reactor room. She signalled a warning to Bane before cautiously proceeding. Bane swept past her, pressing himself against the opposite wall and edging closer to their destination. Rain mirrored his movements until reaching the corner, pausing to glance in either direction. Sure enough, two stormtroopers had parked themselves at opposite ends of the hall. Casting a brief look in Bane’s direction, Rain tapped into the force, feeling it flow through her.

A strangled sound escaped the guards, followed by a sharp snap. Then the troopers keeled over, unmoving. Cad and Rain strode into the corridor, Rain lifted the Imperials off the floor with a wave of her hand and depositing them closeby. Bane opened the door to the reactor room, his blood red eyes sweeping the area for hostiles. Then he advanced, Rain following close behind him and levitating the bodies through the door after them. The sound of the door automatically sliding shut resounded through the reactor chamber, only challenged by the hum of the reactor itself. Rain peered over the railing of the catwalk, noting the painful death that awaited them should they fall.

She propped the corpses up against the nearest wall while Bane slung the bag of explosives off his shoulder and opened it up, directing a quick nod at Rain. She tapped into force once again, causing the explosives to rise out of the bag and form a perfect circle in the air. Then they shot outward, attaching themselves to the surroundings walls.

Bane tapped a few buttons on his gauntlet before declaring, “Countdown should be starting...now.” Activating his wristcom, he spoke into it, “The explosives are set. Time for us to take our leave.”

Rain’s head shot up at the sound of footsteps.

“Company,” she said, striding forward.

“Copy that,” Mira responded through the comm.

“Copy that,” Kanan answered after her, “We’re on our way out.”

Bane straightened, reaching for his blasters.

“We’ll have to make this quick,” he said to Rain.

But she was already well ahead of him. She whipped out her lightsaber, twisting the handle so it split into two. As soon as the first stormtrooper appeared, she flung her right saber, plunging it directly through his chest. He smashed into the Imperial behind him, the lightsaber tearing itself out of his body and flying straight back into the hand of its owner. Cad sprinted up behind Rain, hunkering down and felling three stormtroopers in a row with some expertly aimed shots. The two remaining Imperials scrambled for cover, one screaming at the other to call for backup while scattering blaster bolts in the general direction of the rebels. To the trooper’s surprise, those wild shots stopped midair, backtracking rapidly toward him and cutting off his terrified scream.

The last Imperial, his knees shaking, was still fumbling for his comm.

“I don’t think so,” Rain said, raising a hand and tapping into the force.

The comm flew from the trooper’s gloved hand, crumpling easily before dropping onto the catwalk. The Imp fell to his knees, throwing up his hands in defeat and cowering in the face of his enemy. Bane quickly strode up and dispatched him with a blaster bolt between the eyes. Rain glanced around at the corpses now littering the catwalk.

“We’ll have to move the bodies. We don’t want the next patrol discovering them.”

“I have a good idea of where we could hide them,” Bane replied, peering over the edge of the catwalk.

Ezra’s P.O.V.

Ezra waited anxiously as Mira gingerly poked her head around the next corner.

“Do you see anyone?” he whispered.

“No,” she replied, edging forward and stepping into the corridor, “The coast is clear.”

Ezra uttered a sigh of relief, moving to Mira’s side.

“Once we get to the lift, it should be easy going,” he said confidently, gesturing to emphasize his words.

“Yes,” Mira agreed.

“Guys,” Sabine’s voice crackled through their wristcoms, “We have a problem.”

Ezra’s spirit instantly sank, “What is it?”

“We’ve been caught between two patrols,” Kanan responded, “And we can’t fight them both without drawing a lot of unwanted attention.”

“Wait, how much time do we have left?” Ezra asked worriedly.

“That would be twenty-six standard minutes,” Rain responded, “Hardly enough time to outwait them I’d imagine.”

“Where are you?” Ezra demanded.

“About three corridors from the lift,” Sabine answered.

“We should help them,” Ezra insisted, turning to Mira.

She hesitated, “Ezra—”

“It would be utter imprudence,” Grievous interjected.

“But we’re the backup team,” Ezra pressed stubbornly, “This is our job, right?”

“I’m afraid right now we need to focus on getting back to Hera,” Mira said, her expression pained.

Ezra stared at her.

“But you want to help them too, don’t you?”

“Yes, Ezra, but...we can’t. They’re going to have to figure this out on their own.”

She squeezed his shoulder lightly in an attempt to reassure him, then turned her attention back to the path in front of them. The young Jedi followed her sullenly, glancing frequently down at his wristcom in the hopes that at any moment Sabine and Kanan’s voices would reassure him that everything was all right and the patrol had moved on.

Mira skirted the next corner, waving on her two companions before sprinting ahead to where the lift was. A few quick taps on the control panel opened the way for them, and Ezra and Grievous quickly stepped into the enclosed space, Mira slipping in after them and closing the doors behind her. She punched the correct floor number into the inside panel and they began their ascent. Ezra was painfully aware of the minutes passing. He glanced at his wristcom again.

Kanan and Sabine are just a few floors above us. We’ll be going right by them on our way to the rendezvous point.

He turned his gaze to Mira. She was watching their gradual climb with furrowed brows.

They were two floors from Sabine and Kanan’s position. Then it was only one floor. Ezra activated his wristcom.

“I’m sorry,” he said, turning Mira and the General’s heads, “But I have to help my friends.”

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“Ezra—”

The young Jedi leapt forward before his companions could react, slamming his hand against the emergency trigger and sending them all lurching forward at the abrupt halt. The lift doors flew open and Ezra immediately sprang out, drawing his lightsaber.

“No!” Mira shouted.

Moving faster than Ezra would have believed possible, Grievous snatched at the youngling, forcing Ezra to perform a rather clumsy dodge. The cyborg’s claws tore the back of his collar and the young Jedi landed in a heap on the floor, momentarily stunned.

“Whoa,” he said aloud, scrabbling quickly onto his feet as the General came at him again.

Throwing his head back, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “HEY! Is anybody home?”

Mira’s P.O.V.

Mira’s hand shot to her wrist, activating her comm.

“Rain,” she said breathlessly, watching as Ezra raced down the hall shouting “Any bucket-heads wanna come get me?” while Grievous pursued, “Ezra...he’s alerted the Imperials.”

“He what?” Bane hissed.

“Ezra, what are you doing?” Kanan’s voice demanded harshly, “We could’ve handled it!”

“Well,” Ezra said, disappearing from Mira’s line of sight as he turned into the next hall, “I figured since this place is gonna blow up in a few minutes, better to be far away when it does than stuck worrying if we’re gonna alert the guards. I’m sure they’ll get the memo when this place goes up in flames.”

“You little fool,” Bane snapped, “If the Imperials know something’s up, they’ll start searching this place top to bottom. If they nab us and fail to find the explosives, we go up in flames with them, but if they find the explosives, then this whole operation was for nothing!”

“Not to mention if they can restore their security system, they can call a legion of Imperial reinforcements down on us,” Rain pitched in, “I hope you’re satisfied, youngling.”

There was no answer. Grievous had now vanished from Mira’s view as well, and she could hear the chaotic sounds of battle echoing down the corridor.

“Hera,” Rain’s voice said, “Prepare the ship for departure. Hopefully we’ll arrive before the Imperial hordes descend,” she added pointedly.

“Imperial hordes?” Hera echoed, “What’s going on?”

“Your little friend decided to blow our cover,” Bane growled.

“Ezra?”

“Just get the ship ready!” Bane snapped impatiently, “Mira, I suggest you move quick. You’ve got eighteen minutes and counting.”

Mira took a deep breath, shifting her hand to her lightsaber.

“Right.”

Igniting her weapon, she raced down the hall.

Ezra’s P.O.V.

An ear-splitting crash sounded as the General flung a trooper against the wall with tremendous force, causing the Imp’s armor to shatter.

Ezra was so stunned by the display that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Kanan shouted his name. The young Jedi spun around just in time to see his master send a bucket-head flying past him.

“Let’s go!” Sabine shouted, felling the last trooper with a well-aimed shot from one of her twin blasters.

She and Kanan led the way, Ezra falling in behind them while Grievous took up the rear. Mira almost bowled over Sabine as they rounded the corner, forcing Kanan to make a wild grab for her to prevent the two of them from falling flat on the cold, hard floor. Ezra swooped in, catching Sabine under the shoulders only to be shrugged off quickly with a muttered “I’m fine.”

She didn’t even bother to look at him.

I was just trying to help… Ezra thought, feeling stung.

“We only have about twelve standard minutes,” Mira said.

“Then what are we standing around for?” Kanan demanded, waving them on.

They’d only covered a few paces when the sound of a wailing siren filled their ears.

“Security systems back on,” Sabine said grimly.

“Great,” Kanan said, aiming a glare at his student.

Ezra avoided his gaze.

Mira reached the lift first, stopping to usher the rest of them in.

Just as Ezra crossed the threshold, a voice shouted, “Halt!”

He turned to see a stormtrooper aim a shot at Grievous and miss, the blaster bolt barreling right past the cyborg and deflecting off Mira’s saber.

“General!” she shouted, “You have to get onto the lift!”

Grievous uttered a mechanical roar, picking up the trooper and hurling him backwards, striking two other bucket-heads who had just arrived on the scene. Then he turned and raced onto the turbolift, covering the distance in only a few strides. Mira squeezed in behind him, slamming a fist against the control panel and prompting the doors to close. As they began their ascent once more with Ezra pressed between Kanan and Sabine, the young Jedi could feel himself shrinking under the disapproving gaze of his friends.

I’m gonna get an earful for this one.

“Syndulla,” Mira said, speaking into her comm, “We’re on our way, only a few minutes from the rendezvous point.”

“Copy that,” Hera’s voice responded, “Your sister and Bane are just boarding now.”

“Hurry up,” Rain added icily.

The lift came to an easy halt, admitting its passengers to their desired floor. Mira again stepped aside to wave the rest of them on, Grievous hanging back with her until everyone else had cleared the lift doors. As they raced down the hall, Ezra glanced at the long line of corpses littering their path, their armor scorched by lightsaber and blaster alike.

Looks like it was brutal.

Kanan reached the outer door first, aiming a heavy-handed smack at the control panel. The doors flung open and the gang spilled out onto the balcony, the cold air washing over them. Ezra suppressed a shudder, falling in behind his master as they boarded the waiting ship. As he stepped inside the Ghost, he uttered a small sigh of relief, taking comfort in the familiar interior of the light freighter.

We made it.

The sentiment didn’t last long however.

The ramp had hardly finished closing behind them when Kanan rounded on his student.

“Ezra, what were you thinking?!”

The young Jedi had no time to choke out an answer.

In an instant, the floor disappeared from under him and he was slammed against the wall, the air rushing out of his lungs and his collar growing tight around his throat.

Rain had seemingly come out of nowhere, Bane at her side, her fist clutching a handful of Ezra’s wear. Staring into her face, Ezra saw no anger, only coldness.

Somehow it scared him more than anger ever could’ve.

Kanan, Mira, and Sabine’s voices mingled together in a mixture of rage and fear.

“Hey, let him go!”

“Rain!”

“Drop him!”

Kanan came barrelling forward, seizing Rain’s arm and wrenching it downwards. Rain’s grip on Ezra loosened considerably, allowing him to suck in a few breaths of air, but Rain’s hold ultimately remained.

Then it was Mira’s turn to run up. She laid a hand on her sister’s forearm, pleading with her.

“Stop! He just wanted to help his friends,” she explained, distraught.

“His idiocy could’ve cost us all our lives,” Rain insisted, never taking her eyes off Ezra.

By now, Ezra’s heart was pounding, his eyes transfixed by those deep brown orbs, searching for some kind of emotion, any kind, something that would assure him that what he was gazing upon was actually human.

After all, if she really was human, Ezra could at least take solace in the fact that she might feel remorse over killing him.

And, in that moment, he felt as if that was the best he could hope for.

Suddenly the ship lurched, throwing everyone temporarily off balance and forcing Rain to open her clutches.

“What was that?” Sabine gasped.

“Let’s find out,” Kanan said, glancing down at Ezra, who had quickly attached himself to his master’s side. “Come on, Ezra.”

Don’t have to tell me twice, Ezra thought, trembling slightly, his gaze pinned on Rain and Cad, No way I’m staying here with THESE guys!

He rubbed a hand against his throat before pressing even closer to Kanan and striding off with him.

Mira’s P.O.V.

Mira watched Ezra leave the room before turning her horrified gaze on her sister.

How could you?! she wanted to scream, He’s just a child!

But the words wouldn’t come. So instead Mira turned away, following Kanan’s lead.

We’ll discuss this later, Rain.

She raced off, reaching the cockpit just in time to catch the tail-end of Kanan’s questioning.

“The Empire,” Hera responded, struggling to navigate between the thick cloud cover and the hulking mass of an Imperial star destroyer, “Ghost can’t pick up the signal. There was nothing to warn us.”

The Twi'lek cranked the wheel to the right, causing everyone to scramble for a support.

“They must have jammed our sensors,” Kanan surmised grimly.

“There’s no way they could’ve known what frequency we were using!” Sabine protested.

“Regardless of what they’re doing or how they’re doing it, the result is the same,” Hera said, “I’m pretty much flying blind he—”

Her words were cut short as a gasp escaped her lips. She yanked back on the controls, throwing everyone backward as the ship catapulted into a steep climb. Then a grinding crash echoed through the ship and it jerked back into level position.

Mira was still recovering from the whiplash when Ezra exclaimed, “What was that?!”

“TIE fighters!” Hera shouted back.

Kanan immediately sprang into action.

“I’ll get on the gun,” he declared, heading for the door.

He was stopped in his tracks by Bane barging into the cockpit with Rain and demanding in none-too-pretty language what was going on.

“It’s the Empire,” Sabine answered, “Looks like they got their reinforcements.”

“How can I assist?” Rain asked quickly.

Kanan jabbed a finger at her, hissing, “You can stay right there. You’ve done enough.”

Rain’s eyes narrowed in fury, yet she said nothing, merely moved to the side, allowing Kanan to get past her and Bane. Grievous appeared behind Rain just as Kanan vanished from view, placing a clawed hand on her shoulder. Mira noted that the gesture seemed to relax her sister somewhat.

But there was no hope of calming Bane. He looked to be absolutely seething, staring down Ezra with an unquenchable rage. Mira’s face hardened at the sight of it.

Rain’s P.O.V.

Rain noticed her sister’s change in expression and her fingers subconsciously curled into a fist.

I can imagine what you think of me, Mira. You think I’m cruel. Maybe I am. But I have to be. It’s how one survives in a war.

Her gaze shifted to Ezra.

It’s how he’ll survive. He can’t be babied. He can’t walk away with just a slap on the wrist after endangering everyone. He’s not a child. He’s a soldier. If you really wanted to protect him, you would’ve taken my side. You would’ve argued against his coming along on this mission in the first place. Part of him...is still innocent. He doesn’t belong here. No child does…

A memory pressed on the edges of Rain’s mind. She pushed it away.

I have to protect you all. You, Bane, Grievous. Don’t you understand? No one else is going to do it! YOU won’t even do it!

She swallowed hard, her nails digging into the palm of her hand.

I wouldn’t have hurt him all that much. I just wanted to scare him, force him to remember this moment. Maybe then, he’ll know to be more careful in future...if there is a future…

The ship lurched again, causing Rain to stumble a little. Her gaze fell to the floor.

If his friends died today, would he ever forgive himself?

Kanan’s voice came through the ship’s comm system, but it sounded strangely distant to Rain.

“Hera, I got one off our tail! Can you make a break for it?”

“I can’t see! Wait, hang on...we just broke the cloud cover again! It seems like the Imps are trying to herd us toward so—oh no.”

“Hera!” Ezra screamed.

Grievous had to lock an arm around Rain to prevent her from flying forward as the ship careened yet again.

“It was a trap!” Hera yelled into the intercom, “We’re caught in a tractor beam! Kanan!”

Rain turned her gaze on Mira one last time, thinking, If one of you died today…

...could I ever forgive myself?