Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Seasoned Veterans

Sabine and I woke up earlier than everyone else to fix the Phantom. The Empire could be here sooner than we anticipated, so getting as much done as possible was paramount. Upon exiting the inside of the walker, I was met with the rays of the sun on the horizon. Just like another opening shift, except I'm outdoors. I opened our ship's door and detached a panel, assessing the damage again, more closely this time. The left engine looked awful, to say the least. This would take a while. "Y/N, hand me the fusion cutter and plasma welder. We have to join these wires together if the Phantom is gonna fly," she told me. I knew how to work the tools that were similar or identical to the ones back on Earth, but there was a lot that was different here. So many unfamiliar items, but she explained their uses in a way I'd understand. I thought I was pretty resourceful, but Sabine just one-upped me at everything. "Agh, there's a lot of blockage here. Help me out," she said. "Alright, what do you need me to do?" I asked, ready to help. "Push the red and blue wires towards me, we'll work on the green and purple ones later," she answered. "One at a time is the most efficient way, correct?" I wondered. "You're getting the hang of it," she complimented. I smiled, proud that my instincts still serve me well here. Doing as she told me, I pushed the wires where they needed to go. Then, I watched her precisely weld the broken pieces together. "Engine tape," she called out. Reaching into the toolbox, I grabbed the roll of tape and handed it to her. "Not me, you. Actually, you know what, switch. You hold the wires and I'll tape it off." "Gotcha." We switched, and being careful not to move anything, she patched the damage up. We did this a few more times as the morning dragged on, but there was still a lot to do. The Phantom was nowhere close to flying yet, and we had to update the crew on our progress.

Sabine tapped her comlink, signaling Kanan. "The probe hit us pretty badly. Repairs are gonna take a little while longer," she said. "We don't have much time. There's no telling when the Empire will get here. We've got to get off the surface," Kanan warned us. "Well, the Empire's not our only problem. There's a storm coming up behind us," Sabine responded. I peered out and saw a big dust cloud forming in the opposite direction of our walker, slowly getting closer. "If the Empire gets here before we take off, the storm will be the least of our problems," he said. "Wrench," I told Sabine. We did a similar operation repairing a much bigger ship before and succeeded. Well, mostly. I took the wrench from her hand and tightened some screws. The engine needed to stay in place so we could fly, but this would be a lengthy process. After a few minutes, I heard a TIE Fighter shoot right above us, so I dropped everything and warned the crew inside the walker. "They found us!" Sabine alerted. "Looks like that search pattern paid off," Ezra commented. "Battle stations," Rex commanded, pulling a crate from behind us. Zeb opened the crate, and in it lay some rifles and a rocket launcher. Grabbing a rifle, we rushed up top to see the TIE shooting around the walker. I got in a defensive position right by the turret. "We're sitting mynocks on this thing!" Ezra shouted. "Think so? Wolffe, evasive maneuvers," Rex said. The walker started to move erratically to dodge the TIE's lasers. "Hurry, he's coming around for another pass!" I urged the crew. Once the fighter got in range, we started shooting at it. None of our shots were landing, they all went under the TIE. "You're welcome to help!" Zeb shouted, noticing the clones doing nothing to help stave off the flying machine. "Why spoil the fun? We haven't been shot at in years," Gregor joked. "Yeah? Well, this happens to us every day," Sabine remarked as the TIE flew over our heads. "Why doesn't someone man the big gun?" Ezra questioned. He made a good point, it was probably more powerful and accurate than relying on our hand-eye coordination. "No good in this situation," Rex answered. "Ah, kind of like you guys," Kanan criticized as he climbed on top of the Phantom. His skepticism was still showing and there was no sign of it going away soon. I ducked down to avoid the TIE's lasers, and as it passed over us, Gregor took aim and shot a rocket at the ship. The missile hit its target perfectly, and it exploded the TIE in the air. "Gregor, you still got it," Rex praised. "It's in my blood," Gregor said back, his experience still showing. "You know, we'd make a good team if we all fought together," Ezra said. He really is a rebel at heart. "Yeah, tried that once. Didn't work out so well," Kanan replied, alluding to the catastrophic end to the previous war. Ezra told me last night that the vast majority of the Jedi were killed by the clones, so Kanan still had a lot of animosity. "Now if that storm gets any closer it'll ground us. Sabine, Y/N, get the Phantom ready to fly," Kanan ordered. "Got it," we said, retaking our positions back at the half-done engine. The Empire didn't appear to send any reinforcements yet, so I'm confident we will finish this soon.