Stowaway: A Star Wars Rebels Story

Unidentified Fragmented Object

Y/N's POV:

Working at the autobody shop was the highlight of my day. It's been that way for the past year. Every day after school, I would throw on my uniform and fix any problems people had with their cars or trucks. Dent removals, glass repairs, the usual. Whatever they needed, I knew how to fix it, and I fell in love doing it. The late nights and work events only strengthened my bond with the boys alongside me. Sadly, it had to end, much to the dismay of my dad, who got me that job in the first place. Stupid corporations wanted to buy out the shop, and of course, the store managers happily accepted the money. They laid off everyone except me for some reason, and they installed a completely new staff. I tried getting them up to speed, but the new boss kept trying to 'normalize' the methods used here. I had enough. Walking out of that meeting with my final paycheck should've felt relieving, but it wasn't. I wanted this, didn't I? I shed a few tears after stepping into my truck, knowing that I left a big part of me behind, but I had to move forward eventually. Maybe someday, I thought.

15 minutes later, I pulled into my driveway, turned off my truck, and walked inside. My parents left earlier today. They told me they were vacationing for the week. With their lives being full of work, I'd say they earned it. Pulling out some leftover steak and potatoes, I made myself a plate and heated it up in the microwave for a few minutes. While I waited for my food to cook, I pulled out my phone and called my dad. After waiting a few minutes, I heard his voice from the other side of the line. "Hello?" He said into the phone. I took a deep breath and answered back. "Hey, Dad. How was your flight?" "It was smooth, Y/N. But you can't smooth talk me out of what happened today." Damn it, I mentally cursed myself. I knew that I shouldn't have told him I planned to quit today. "I know. But I made this choice. Everything felt wrong." I reasoned with him. "That's not the point. It was a good job for you and I'm disappointed." He replied. "You have to learn what responsibility is." "I have, Dad. But it was a losing game staying there. The way they do things now is robotic. You never taught me to live like that!" I said, getting a little defensive. Growing up, he encouraged me to be creative and do my own thing. It served me well before the buyout, and I just wanted him to see that in me right now. "I understand where you're coming from. But you must know the sea of unemployment is hard to navigate." He said. "I have a year of experience under my belt, and there are other autobody shops in town," I explained. "The closest one is half an hour away from the place you worked at, and there's no guarantee they'll hire you after your stunt," he said. Hearing this made me a little angry, so I calmed myself down and proceeded to table the conversation. "Look, I'm sorry Dad. We can talk about this when you and mom get home. Please, I don't want to ruin your vacation after you just got off the plane. But for what it's worth, I think I'm better off with the choice I made. Trust me." "I hope you're right, son. I'll talk to you later in the week." He said. "Alright, have fun, Dad. Love you." I then hung up the phone and proceeded to eat my food. With my fork in my right hand, I scrolled through Instagram with my left, curious as to what was going on in the world.

After getting lost on my explore page, I found myself growing more tired, so I got up, took off my coveralls, showered, brushed my teeth, and got ready to sleep. But just as I was about to drift off into dreamland, I opened my eyes and heard a faint screaming sound. I shut my eyes, thinking it was nothing, but the sound grew closer. I sat awake, shaking a little in fear. Then the house started shaking. "WHAT THE FUCK?" I yelled out. I opened my window and saw a burning object crash into the clearing a few minutes away, forming a dust cloud in the process. "OH MY GOD!" This looks really bad. I have to check it out. There could be people trapped inside. I put on some normal clothes and my work shoes, grabbed my keys and my phone, got in my truck, and started speeding towards the fire. I got as close as I could and parked on the side of the road, then sprinted to the crash site. After a few minutes of running, an unfamiliar vehicle came into my vision. There was glass shattered everywhere, the roof towards the middle was caved in, and both sides were on fire. "Holy shit," was all I could say when I saw the damage, and there was certainly more destruction that wasn't visible. What to do? Call 911? It seems to be the likely option, but the authorities were probably already racing here. Out of the corner of my eye, some rubble moved. I had to get closer and help the person stuck there. "Hang on! I'll get you out of there!" I screamed towards the debris. I carefully climbed on top of the ship and pushed aside the rubble one piece at a time. Once I saw a hand, I used all my might to pull the person out of there. To my amazement, he survived and looked well off in comparison to the burning vehicle. "You okay?" I asked, attempting to comfort the boy. "Well, considering my ship crashed, no, of course I'm not okay!" he said in an angry tone. "Sorry, I'm just trying to help. Was there anyone else with you?" "Yes, 5 others, and I'm not sure where they-" "Ezra? Ezra, where are you?" A female voice interrupted from behind us. "I'm okay Hera!" He answered back. "Let's go see who that was," I suggested. After climbing down and walking over to the other side, what I saw next shocked me. Not the two humans, but a moving machine and two aliens. I was speechless. I was told all my life that they didn't exist. Not knowing what my next move should be, I was snapped out of my initial shock by the sound of sirens and a police helicopter flying towards the crash site. Knowing this could end very badly, I quickly devised a plan to keep the distressed crew safe. "All of you, back into the tall grass and don't make a sound," I commanded. "Are you crazy? You're asking us to abandon our ship," the female alien said. "They think you and the big purple thing are aliens, and that story never ends well on this planet. Trust me, you don't want to call their bluff. Now get in the tall grass and let me deal with this situation." I said coldly. Unwilling to take any chances, the crew backed away, out of sight as the authorities came running to me.

"What the hell happened here?" "Did you do this?" "What on earth is this?" Three police officers were pestering me with questions. "I'm not sure, no, and I don't know. But we need to put out the fire if there are any survivors still inside," I replied, hoping they'd take the bait. Right on cue, they signaled a firetruck to roll towards the ship. Three firemen released the hose and they turned on the water, quickly extinguishing the flames. I thanked them for helping out, but the officers still weren't satisfied with the situation. Understandable, since no one knew where this thing came from or why it landed here. "What?" I asked. "We knew you did this," an officer said. "Yeah, we think you're lying, kid. Now fess up and tell us what really happened." They tried backing me into a mental corner, but I could tell they weren't experienced in intimidation. "I look very healthy, right? For a crash this big, there's no way I should have survived. And even if I did, I wouldn't be this calm. I'd be trembling in fear," I countered. "Sir, there were no reported survivors," a fourth officer came around the corner giving his initial analysis of the situation. I smirked, thinking they'd finally fallen for my trick. "Widen your search and send in reinforcements to keep at it. We will find who did this," one of the officers in front of me said. I quickly frowned. I didn't think this through. I might have messed up big time.