Star Wars Rebels: When Hope Is Lost

Chapter 7: The "Rescue"

Ezra was cold. Tired. Aching. Pained. He wanted nothing more than to slip into the beautiful darkness of unconsciousness, to be free of his burdens, of his thinking mind, of his decision that had yet to be made. But he couldn't. Not because he dodn't want to, but because he physically couldn't. His body would not let go of consciousness. Mentally, he was already gone, but physically, he had been prevented. Now he realized what those needles had been injected into his arm for. They were to keep him awake, restless.... Thinking. They were forcing him to ponder and debate the same points over and over and over again in his head, like a pounding drumbeat. Over and over and over....

The metal handcuffs on his wrists were beginning to irritate his skin. The console he was leaning against dug into his back. But the most painful thing of all was his aching heart, yearning to know why he had been abandoned.... Yet again. Would it ever end? Would he ever find a place to call home, a group to call a family? He had believed so strongly in his crew.... But his beliefs had been shaken. He didn't know the crew anymore, he didn't know what he was fighting for anymore. He didn't know who's side he was on.

He didn't know himself.

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As the Ghost came out of hyperspace, Hera scrambled their signal and the Imperials' scanners. "Now the Empire can't read us on their scanners," she said. The Twi'lek turned to face her crew. "All right, let's go over the plan again.

"I'll dock the Ghost on the side of the station. Kanan, you, Sabine, and Zeb will cut through the wall into the station, and will go find Ezra. I'll stay here with Chop to make sure that the Imperials don't find us. The trick is to sneak through the station without attracting any Imperial attention until you absolutely have to." Hera looked at each one of her crewmates in turn. "Everybody got that?"

They all nodded. "Good. May the Force be with you," she said, and turned back to her controls. Kanan was the last one to leave the cockpit, and Hera called out to him as he left. "And Kanan?"

The Jedi stopped and turned around. Their eyes met. Hera couldn't put into words what she wanted to tell him, so she told him the simplest thing she had to tell him. The rest could wait till later.

"Bring Ezra home," she said.

Kanan nodded at her. "I will."

And as the ship docked, Kanan left to bring his Padawan home.

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The rebels snuck through the station, avoiding stormtroopers and Imperials bustling through the halls. As they reached the cell block Ezra was being held in, they stopped behind a corner, all of them with their weapons in hand.

"Okay Kanan," Sabine whispered. "Ezra's in cell block A, where they keep their most dangerous prisoners. But I don't know what cell he's in, and we only have one bomb to blow the door off with. We only get one shot, so make it count."

Kanan nodded and stretched out his hand. He could sense all of the life-forms around him, feel their signatures tangle together and swirl in beautiful patterns and designs. He closed his eyes and reached for the special thread of life known as his Padawan....

....And ran straight into the life force of the Sith Lord from over a year ago.

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Darth Vadet turned to his acolytes. "The Jedi is here."

Both Inquisitors looked startled. "But my Lord... No ships have approached the station in days," the Fifth Brother said. "Our scanners would have spotted them."