Chapter 13
….
'Okay,' Zare thought. 'The Ghost crew wants to kill me, if the Empire finds out what I'm doing they'll kill me, and I may have just killed Ezra. Well this days going great.'
I mean 'don't get distracted by the holo table'? What kind of clue was that! Now all Zare could do was watch the nine storm troopers get filled in on the plan of how to ambush a kid, before seeing them march into the docked ship. He desperately tried to look away from the seething glares, that were just plain fear from the Ghost crew, kneeling a few yards away. They were still at gunpoint.
Zare wanted them to be free, but not before they knew what side Zare was really on…
Ezra knows Zare's on their side, the Empire thinks Zare's on their side, the Ghost crew thinks Zare's on the Empire's side, and Zare knows that they don't know that he knows.
Gah!
Great little web he's spun for himself, huh?
Zare never really believed in luck. I mean, his sister disappeared into the Empire; he's an undercover trader for the biggest Empire in the galaxy, and he's one wrong move from either blowing it, or somehow pulling it off. Well… there's no time like the present.
…
"Crazy, isn't it?" Hera said to the crew, not being surprised by the blow to the shoulder by the butt of the gun. She ignored it. "This morning we all woke up in one piece." She then turned to the trooper standing behind her, "you sure do know how to ruin a day, don't you?"
The crew gave soft smiles. Always count on Hera to lighten the mood.
That used to be Ezra's job…
…..
"Main room?" Ezra said to himself, hoping back up in the vent and leaving the Cockpit (and its two unconscious occupants) behind him. "Why would Zare tell me to go there? But, he's gotten me this far..well, as far as you can get in a vent." Ezra said to himself, because who else was there to talk to?
The radio was only one way.
But there was something about Zare's voice… something.. off. But Zare was a friend. Zare could be trusted. Even though Ezra knew that the Ghost crew was still wary of the young Cadet for being, well, a young Cadet.
But still. They had not been in the Academy with him. Zare had. And so, Ezra went to the main room and looked down from the vent, because that's what his friend told him to do. Ezra looked down at the holo-table Zeb had beat him at, simpler times ago (and not let him forget since…). He looked at 'Hera's Quiet Chair', the special place where when she would sit down in it, everybody had to shut up.
At the bright pink still stain on the metal floor from when he had been outrunning Zeb and knocked it over. (Then he had to outrun Sabine, too!). And even the place where Ezra had first shown his home-made lightsabers to his trusted crew.
It was now a warzone. But it was always home. He missed it…
If he- when he made it out of here, he'd have to bring it up to Kanan and Hera about getting this old girl up and running again. He knew she didn't like 'laying low.'
Ezra jumped down from the vent, but the smoke bombs hit the floor before he did. He was blind! Ezra didn't even have time to let out a scarred cry, because Jedi didn't cry- and because the sound of boots through the wall of smoke would have drowned it out anyway.
It was a trap!
Zare had… did he..? No. Ezra would cling to hope, because maybe the only his rag-tag family had taught him was loyalty. He believed in his friend. His equally scared, just as young friend who didn't have a strong Jedi Master, or a motherly Twi'lek, or a big brother Lasat, or even a moody teenaged best friend, to confide in. Ezra was now, like Zare was all the time. Alone and surrounded by Troopers.
Troopers that did not know that he still had Sabine's mask. The same one the girl often wore when spray painting to keep the fumes away from her, did the same thing for smoke. Slipping it on without another doubtful thought, Ezra's good arm found his Saber at his side and unhooked it.
But still, he did not activate it. The calming blue light would cut through the fog like the red blaster shots that were already. He couldn't give away his position.
Another shot whizzed through the air. Ezra narrowly avoided it, backing up and bumping into something- the holo-table.
Don't get distracted by the holo-table.
Holo-table.
Yes!
Without giving it a second thought, Ezra flipped over the table and used it for a shield agents the oncoming fire.
But the table took as much as it gave away. It gave him cover, but make a loud noise as it crashed to the ground. "Over here!" He heard a trooper yell.
"So much for the stealthy approach!" Ezra called, igniting the saber. He had never been in a one-armed sword fight before. Well, at least it would make a cool story!
If he survived, that is.
Standing up from behind the over-turned table, Ezra began deflecting shots left and right, firing them right back, much like he had done in training.
Huh. Guess it really did help to learn how to deflect shots, blind. Looks like he owed his master an apology…
But the fire was too heavy. He was drowning, injured, and backup was not an option.
Don't get distracted by the holo-table!
Without a second thought, Ezra ducked back down under it. The heavy steps got closer. The boy finally let his over-due panic set it.
Now Ezra. He heard his mother say. A person he might just be meeting again any second. Don't get your wire's crossed!
Wires… Holo-table… The boy gasped, then began shifting through the wires and cables under the gaming table. How had he been so stupid?!
Kanan had taught him this, like so many other things! He knew was to do.
Ezra quickly took a trembling, gloved hand and crossed the green wire with the red. The red over the blue, and then cut the yellow.
Without even waiting to see if he had done it right, he activated his Saber again, and in one swift move sliced opens the vent behind him.
He was barley in when he heard the boom.
….
A/N: Wow guys, I really just put this one up on a shelf and forgot about it…. Well, if you're still interested, here's a little taste! Let me know if it's something I should continue, because it really is a lot of fun to write! Love you all and a thousand apologies!
-Azilia 3