Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Brothers Divided - Part 1

Ezra's POV:

Naraka Prison. One of the most secure Imperial prisons in the Outer Rim. It's currently holding a very valuable asset to us that had intel we desperately needed. But none of my crewmates believed that once they heard that Hondo was our man to break out. They became discouraged because of the trouble he'd caused us on a few missions, but my level of trust ran deeper than they could understand. Y/N, however, is a special exception. Even though he has the most history with Hondo, he hates the pirate to his core. I couldn't risk a dangerous encounter just yet, so I had to leave him on the Ghost for this one. Hopefully, he'll come around, or at least be calm upon seeing Hondo.

Because of the prison's unique layout, I had Sabine and Zeb climb under the platform to eliminate the stormtroopers while Chopper would jump down from above to avoid the sensor that watched over almost the entire outside. Sabine put the plan into action, pulling a trooper off the ledge. "Hey," I said to the other trooper before knocking him out. "Gotta hand it to you kid, this was a pretty good plan. You've been on a roll," Zeb complimented. "Hey, I'm just getting started, buddy. Now come on, let's move," I said, sensing the sensor approaching. We barely avoided it until it changed direction. "Okay Chopper, jump," I ordered through my comlink. He beeped back in fear that he would rocket boost because of the height. "No rocket. It's too loud. Now jump!" I reiterated. The droid jumped down right over the sensor, so I had to use the Force to levitate him in midair. I waited for the detector to pass, then dropped him into Zeb's arms. "Chop, get this door open. Hurry," I said. He grumbled his way to the door but did his job and opened the entrance to the prison. Sneaking past the patrols, we made it to Hondo's cell quickly.

"6609. This is it. Sabine, you're up," I said as she got to work unlocking the door. "Still can't believe we're here to break this guy out of prison," she complained. "Trust me, we need the information he has," I countered. "You heard the boss, open the door," Zeb nagged. "Don't encourage him," Sabine muttered. "He is in here because of us," I said, remembering our last encounter with Hondo. In my mind, he covered our escape from the spaceport, and I felt bad that we left him with the Empire after he saved us. "Ha, keep telling yourself that, Ezra," Sabine mocked. Yup, she definitely doesn't understand. The cell door opened, but we saw an Ugnaught snort at us instead. "Who's the pig?" Zeb wondered. Then the man we expected to see emerged from the darkness. "Purple guy, Mando girl, and Ezra Bridger! My, look how you've grown. I knew you would not let your old partner Hondo rot away in this prison," Hondo cheered. "Hondo, it's good to see you," I welcomed. "Not really," Zeb groaned. "You better have the intel you promised," Sabine said coldly. "Yes we do," Hondo confirmed. "I'm sorry, 'we?'" Zeb asked. "Yes. Me and my business associate, Terba," the pirate said, pointing to the Ugnaught. "You wouldn't believe the secrets he knows." "You're right. I wouldn't," Zeb growled. Terba snorted something at my crewmate, probably unhappy about being called a liar. "What fun. Now we're rescuing two people," Sabine said sarcastically. "Hey, twice the fun," I joked. "Look out!" Sabine alerted as I saw a shot whiz past me. I turned around and shot the lead stormtrooper in the chest. "Move, move, move!" I ordered as we escorted the prisoners away. We turned at a hallway and started running from the troopers, with Sabine and I taking potshots back at them, hoping to minimize the pressure. "Spectre 2, change of plans. We need a 44 scoop at the landing platform," I commed to Hera. "On my way, Spectre 6," she responded. If undetected, we would have snuck to the top of the cliff and safely fly away in the Ghost. Obviously, this didn't happen. We found a turbo-lift in the middle of the hallway, which would serve as our temporary escape route. Chopper pressed some buttons to get us one floor higher as Sabine, Zeb and I defended Hondo and Terba. The door opened and we all rushed inside, one step closer to getting out of the prison.

A couple short arguments formed between Sabine and Hondo as well as Zeb and Terba, but I did not care what they said. I used the Force to visualize the prison's floor plan to find the optimal escape route. Got it. The doors opened and we gunned down the patrol waiting for us. I looked down the hallway and found the exit. "Come on, this way," I said. Troopers kept pouring into the hallway, but we were prepared. I ignited my lightsaber and dodged some shots, then leaped into the air and dealt with the squad. "Is that really Ezra?" I heard Hondo ask, impressed at my progress as a Jedi. "Most of the time," Sabine answered, not as impressed. I smirked but remained focused on getting to the exit as the alarm went off. We kept running as the doors opened, and the plan was going well. But Terba had other ideas, sprinting ahead of us. "Terba, wait!" I shouted, but he didn't listen. As he made it out of the prison, a walker was waiting and blasted him, sending the Ugnaught into the void below us. "No!" I yelled. "Well, I guess the deal is off," Hondo said. The walker redirected its attention towards us and fired, along with the stormtroopers that were also on the platform. "Get down!" I ordered, getting my team to take cover from the blasts. We fired at them but couldn't land a shot. "Karabast! We're cut off!" Zeb said. Chopper rolled to the door as Sabine activated a grenade. "We need to make a move or we're never going to!" she shouted as the doors shut, trapping a squad inside with the bomb. "Don't worry, Sabine. I got us into this, I'll get us out," I said, standing up. Using the Force, I stuck my hand out and pictured the walker and its driver ready to make my move.