Chapter Text
His arms pushed against the wall of the shaft, while his lower legs pushed the opposite side. He was climbing up the cooling ducts, in one of the Empire’s compounds on Coruscant.
“When’s the next drop point?” He whispered into his comm link. Ezra hoped internally, this was the last drop point. His muscles were starting to ache from crawling, climbing and jumping through the enclosed space. He scooted farther up to see the opening a few feet above him.
A smile appeared on his face in relief. The rest of the climb went by in a flash as he leaped into the air and completed the rest of the way up. Tucking and rolling he landed on top of one of the imperial compounds.
The comm link started blinking as he dusted himself off. He grumbled to himself about how long it took for him to respond. He lifted his comm up.
“If you paid attention in the briefing you would know it’s on your right. At least did you remember to bring the data pad?” Kanan sighed. Ezra rolled his eyes. “Hmph and I knew where the location was, I…was just testing you.” He answered snarkily.
The comm sizzled for a second until Kanan replied again. “
We don’t know what the Empire is planning with this device, Spectre 6, and we can’t let them know we’re onto them.” Kanan’s voice echoed through the comm link.
“Right, I just have to grab this unknown device without getting caught simple enough.” He responded quietly. Ezra leaped over to the next roof over landing with a soft thud.
“Be cautious.” Kanan repeated.
“When am I not cautious?” He sassed back while making his way to the vent opening. Ezra attached his comm link to his belt, while grabbing his pick lock. He picked the lock and climbed down leaning against both sides with friction to not fall down.
“Yesterday when you encountered those spiders, angering them and endangering your scouting squad.” Kanan replied in a very serious tone.
“Well it’s not my fault there are unfriendly and difficult to connect with.” He grumbled to himself.
His boots made impact with the bottom of the ventilation flooring. He pulled out his tools to pick the lock again. The shaft opened with a click and he fell to the ground quietly as a mouse.
“Just don’t get caught by Spectre 6.” The connection went out as the conversation ended. That went well, at least it wasn’t the longest lecture he had. That last mission wasn’t really his fault to begin with. He wanted to learn how to connect with the spiders like he did with the Lothal cats.
Ezra glanced around the small room that was occupied by crates, helmets, and other storage equipment. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary from your average imperial storage unit. He wondered why an object of most importance was hidden here in this storage space.
He pulled out the data pad he received from Sabine. The screen brightened to show the layout of the place. It was a small facility with only two stormtroopers posted outside. Lucky for him there were no cameras inside.
Swiping to the next set of details the image of the device was shown. It was a wrist gauntlet that looked ancient, almost as ancient as Rex. His lips quirked into a small smile while thinking about that.
Another set of details showed that the device was going to be delivered to an outpost in the outer rim. Well too bad for them, they won’t ever get to deliver it. Those bucket heads won’t see it coming.
He powered the datapad down, sliding it into his pouch. He walked around the disorganized room, searching for the device he was supposed to steal. Ezra lifted up some crate containers peering inside, and stole some trinkets along the way.
About halfway into his search he stared at the helmets that were stacked against the wall. He wondered if he should get a new one, since the one he was wearing had the communicator damaged.
But he shook his head, he had to stay focused on the task at hand. Ezra turned away from the display of helmets, continuing his search. After a few more glances through different sizes of crates he sighed in disbelief.
The Empire could have at least organized their storage units, though that would be their specialty. I’ve been searching for hours and all I found were trinkets and junk.
His head jerked up as he felt a tugging sensation in the back of his head.Pushing it away, he selected another batch of crates to search through. But the sensation didn’t drift away, he felt it grow stronger. He let his guard down for a moment. With his eyes now closed he allowed the force to guide him.
His eyes opened to view a dark grey tarp covering something.He grabbed the tarp, throwing it off, revealing one lonesome container crate. He smirked lifting the lid to the container. The only device that appeared before him was junk. Ezra groaned in frustration. Oh of course it’s just another junk container, this is harder than I thought.
He started to turn around but something caught his eye. It shined through the junk that was covering it. Turning back to the crate he shifted through the pile. After a few seconds of rummaging through the junk he grabbed a pair of gauntlets.
The gauntlets had a particular coloring of silver and gold. Wonder where the Empire found these. Both of the gauntlets seemed to cost a lot of credits. But the color was ugly and almost had an imperial flavor to it. Maybe Sabine could paint it when he got back to the Ghost
He flipped the gauntlets in his gloved hands examining them with triumph. “These better be worth it.” He stashed the gauntlets away into his pouch and picked up his comm from his utility belt.
While he talked into his comm link, the gauntlets vibrated a strange frequency that Ezra didn’t pick up on. He was too occupied with getting transport.
“Spectre 6 here, I found the device which are gauntlets, they didn’t give us the right information.” He complained. He waited for Kanan to answer. But all he got was a sizzling feedback of no response.
“Great…The Empire must have jammed communications again.” He turned his comm off, hooking it back onto his belt. Ezra walked right to the center of the storage unit looking up at the vents again. This time it was too far to reach from where he was standing. He was also drained from using the force to find the device, and to hide his signature from any wandering inquisitors.
He pushed a couple of crates near the vent, to create a semi balanced staircase for him to climb on. Using the smaller crates he was able to create it with ease, and without the force.
His head jerked up as he felt something was off in the room. He looked around to find everything in order, his crates were still stacked high, the logos still held their menacing look, the helmets looked the same overall except the room looked cleaner than before, but something was off. He just couldn’t put his mind to ease. His eyes widened as he took in another intake of the room.
The force didn’t even let him have time to process before he could hear voices coming from the other side. He cursed as he was halfway up the stacked crates when two troopers came in. They both didn’t seem to notice him at first, but the second they did blasters were pointed at him.
“This is a restricted area! Freeze where you are!” The right stormtrooper ordered.
The left stormtrooper started talking right after. “Return the object you stole and come with us quietly.”
He stopped climbing with a grimace. At times like these he wished he took better concentration to not getting caught.
“Well that’s a long story, surely you wouldn’t want to hang around and talk.”
He turned away to the both stormtroopers who were, armed to the bone but their armor looked less buckled than regular stormtrooper gear. Moving that thought aside he concentrated on what was happening in front of him.
Ezra raised his gloved hands in mock surrender. “Hiya bucketheads did you miss little old me?” He didn’t give them any time to respond. When the stormtroopers looked at each other for a split second, they were caught off guard by his performance. He whirled right passed them, leaping over both their shoulders, landing right behind them.
“It was nice getting to know ya!” He loudly called behind them with a mischievous gleam in his electric blue eyes. The stormtroopers turned, starting to sprint towards him. Ezra waved a mock salute at them while closing the door sealing them in. He turned away from the storage unit and started running away.
Ezra glanced behind him to see the two stormtroopers he left tailing behind him. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. They never quit, do they? He eased through the crowd of people trying to lose the two stormtroopers that were chasing him. He slowed his breathing, letting himself calm down, focusing on connecting with the force. He reached out into the force looking for a quick escape route.
“Stop right there!” Both of the stormtroopers ordered as he rounded the corner. Everything around him seemed to be blurred together. Letting his senses wander was the worst idea he ever had. He felt nauseous as the illuminated street signs brightened as he rushed past. The trooper's voices drifted away, replacing a faint ringing in his ears.
He lifted his hand to his forehead trying to cease the pressure that was building up. The stormtroopers were hot on his trail now and he needed an escape route fast. He needed to process what was happening to him. If only Kanan or Ahsoka were here. They would know what in the force was happening!
A tugging sensation pulled at him, dragging him farther into the crowded streets. He glanced behind him as the stormtroopers were making their way through the crowd. He quickly turned his head away as his head slashed with pain.
He squeezed his eyes shut and dashed into a random alleyway, pressing against the wall sulking himself into the shadows. He opened his eyes welcoming the quick change to the darker lighting. He looked around only to find nothing, no drain pipe, no wires, nothing to use to climb to escape his pursuers. He leaned deeper into the wall. The troopers would be catching up to him soon.
Seconds ticked by as the throbbing slowly decreased, but the ringing felt like being near the engine of the Ghost. He leaned against the wall
Ezra slid down placing his face into his hands. His senses were still acting up but it was a dull ache now. But it still didn’t help that his mind was all over the place. What was he doing here? It was supposed to be a slip and run, a quick get away. Now his comm link was down and he couldn’t contact the crew. Every little thing seemed to be different. The stormtroopers, the planet, and the force.
Something soft brushed against his hands. He jumped in surprise, lifting his hands away from his face. To his amazement a light toned purple Loth-cat was looking up at him, purring with delight.
He smiled down at the creature. He stroked the Loth-cat letting them press against his right hand. Letting himself relax he lifted the tooka into his arms, he stood up now staring at his surroundings. Then looking down at the tooka his face brightened up. His senses felt lightened as a feather, and it wasn’t pressing against his head now.
He placed the Loth-cat on top of his head, while he went to the entrance of the random alleyway he ran into. He raised his right hand out, reaching into the force. This time the force felt still, even at peace.
He raised calmness toward the Loth-cat, making sure it was calm before he pulled his plan into motion. After the Loth-cat was calm he stayed close to the entrance, making sure to stay hidden. He listened for the heavy footsteps of the two troopers. They were almost coming in his direction. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. He reached out through the force reaching for all live connections on the planet, he grasped a few to direct toward him.
He opened his eyes seeing the two stormtroopers right in front of him now. He waved at them to get their attention.
“Oh well it looks like you caught me.”
They both walked toward him with their blazers raised down. They looked tired and started to seem desperate.
“Kid, we won’t hurt you, we just want to know why you broke into a secured storage unit, seeking to steal from the order.” The left stormtrooper asked tiredly.
Ezra shrugged a slight smirk tugging on his lips. “Ha, why would I listen to bucketheads? You're all so weird, you now want to negotiate instead of blasting me to pieces, like you all do?”He rested his hands by his hips making himself more intimidating or so he thought.
The force felt calm and responsive then before. The creatures were closing in from all corners of the huge city. It would take a few more seconds, seconds that he had to distract these two delusion heads. But once this was over he could contact Kanan and get the kriff off this planet.
The two stormtroopers didn’t seem to look at each other this time, remembering the last time they lost him. “Uh sorry kid but we don’t know what you’re talking about.” The left stormtrooper replied feeling very confused. The other was getting annoyed at him and bitter.
“Just come with us and stop wasting our time.”
Ezra backed an inch away smiling from dimple to dimple. “Yeah but that’s not really my style buckethead.” A second later a bunch of Lothal-cats jumped at the two stormtroopers, making them drop their blazers.
He scratched the tinted purple one that was on top of his head. “Good Loth-cat.” He seemed calmer then before and the force felt lighter, not draining. Which was a huge relief and lifesaver.
Ezra sprinted to the back of the alley leaping up and landing on top of the roof with grace. He looked behind him, seeing the stormtroopers fighting off the Loth-cats; they seemed to be too busy to notice him escaping once again.