Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Bridging the Gaps

Hera's POV:

I was running diagnostics in the Ghost's cockpit when I heard someone enter. I looked away from the status panels and saw Kanan standing in the doorway. "You wanted to speak with me?" he asked. "Hey, love. Yeah, it's about Sabine and Y/N," I said. "They're still not talking to each other, aren't they..." Kanan trailed off. "Yeah, and I'm sick of it. I don't know what happened after the mission to Skystrike, but this has gone too far," I continued. Y/N has tried to repair his relationship with Sabine multiple times and it hasn't gotten anywhere. In fact, it's gotten worse. She purposely avoids him. We had to separate Y/N on the mission to Mykapo at Sabine's request. "They've been through better days, but making them stay out of convenience is the easiest way to end their relationship. We can't force anything," Kanan explained. It made logical sense, but nothing about this whole situation made sense to begin with. Maybe if that's what it takes to fix this? Defying all logic? Yeah, I have an idea. "We can, actually," I sneered, hoping he'd catch onto my off-putting tone. "What are you getting at?" Kanan wondered. "Let's send them on a mission together. They have to talk no matter what," I proposed. "Not a bad idea. I'd say we invite a few friends too," Kanan agreed, somehow making my good idea an even better one. "I'll go inform Commander Sato," I said, running off to put my plan into action, but Kanan stopped me before I could climb down the ladder. "Aren't you going to finish your repairs?" he wondered. "Oh...right," I said, getting a little nervous. I was so desperate to heal this fracture between two of my crewmates that I forgot to make sure my ship was in working order. I hastily finished fixing the Ghost then set off to find Commander Sato. This will be an intriguing game to play.

I rushed to the command center and found the commander reading through some datapads. Each one usually had intel that scouts around the rebellion gathered, and that's how we would plan our missions. "Commander Sato," I alerted, getting his attention. "Captain Syndulla. What brings you here in such a hurry?" he wondered. "I'm assigning a mission to a few pilots. May I see the datapads?" I asked coolly. "Actually, I received a new transmission from Fulcrum this morning that may interest you. I'll play it for you now," Sato said. Urgent missions like these are prioritized, and I couldn't believe how perfectly timed this was. Sometimes intel could be days old before being utilized despite our attempts to be efficient. The commander found the recording in the logs and played it back on our holoprojector. "My intel indicates there's an Imperial project being built on Jelucan. Although it does not suggest anything specific, we have reason to believe it's part of something more sinister. Your objective is to destroy the base before they can make any more progress. And if possible, discover its secrets. Fulcrum out." "We can't afford to chance this. We have to stop the Imperials from completing their project," I stated firmly. "Agreed. Pick your crew and have them report to our carrier. They will be briefed there," Sato said. "Understood. Thank you, Commander," I saluted, leaving the command center to begin my search. I know exactly who I want. This plan can't possibly fail. I found all ten pilots I was looking for throughout the day. They flew their fighters up to the carrier, but we had to stagger their departure times due to some expected complications - mainly a certain Mandalorian and a galaxy traveler being stubborn. I saw the last two pilots enter the bridge and ordered the soldiers piloting the ship to jump to hyperspace.

I displayed a hologram of the base's schematics and began the briefing. "Ahem," I said, clearing my throat to get the pilots' attention. "Alright, rebels. This mission will be unlike anything you've faced before. The Empire's base might not seem big, but much of it lies within the mountains. At the bottom, there are factories and an airfield, and there are anti-ship batteries lined up all the way to the top. Those of you in the Y-Wings that General Dodonna lent us will attack from above and destroy the base, shutting down its project. Those of you in the A-Wings will clear a path and keep the Empire back from the bombers. I will shadow you in the atmosphere. Once you're done, come straight back here and report to me. Questions?" I explained. The squadron stayed silent for the most part, agreeing with the plan. All except for a lieutenant who caught onto every detail I said. "What exactly is this secret project the Empire is working on?" Y/N asked. "Fulcrum wasn't sure but he believes that there's something bigger," I replied. "So shouldn't we find out what that something is?" he reasoned. "Our objective is to destroy the base. We don't have time to uncover this mystery," I countered, laying the argument to rest. Or so I thought. "With all due respect, Captain, Y/N has a point. Even if we destroy the base, the Empire probably has copies of their plans elsewhere," Wedge said, defending his crewmate. I sighed, accepting that he was right. We can't let the Empire's secrets go unnoticed. I had to change the objective because of that. "Alright. We'll still go with the bombing run, but I'll make a little adjustment. Y/N, Sabine, you will break into the base and download their plans," I decided. "WHAT?" Sabine shouted. I saw Y/N side-eye her, displeased with her constant refusal to be around him. "You've done it before. Go do it again. The rebellion depends on it," I stressed. "I understand," Sabine responded, my words finally getting through to her. Seems like I found the problem. She'll do it for the rebellion, but only when I tell her to. That's not a good sign. "We're coming up on Jelucan," a soldier announced, dropping Phoenix Nest out of hyperspace. There were no Star Destroyers in orbit, which was promising. "Pilots, get to your ships. Good luck, everyone," I said. The pilots saluted me and ran for the hangars, ready to depart for this wild ride.