Final Blow (Star Wars Rebels)

Flames of Change

When Ezra looked for the Phantom, he discovered that it had detached. That made sense, since Kimble would have had to leave in something. He momentarily wondered how the rest of the crew had followed her. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew how they had gotten to Mustafar's surface.

Ezra returned to the cockpit and looked at the viewport. It was dark, with small red speckles. When he thumped it with his fist a section of the darkness fell away, revealing a view of the volcanic surface of Mustafar. Black volcanic ash must have fallen on the Ghost and covered the viewport while the crew was away.

Ezra grabbed a communicator and opened the bay doors before stepping out into the baking heat. Chopper followed closely behind, complaining loudly and waving his arms.

"Come on Chop," Ezra said. "Let's go find Conner."

Before leaving, Ezra had done a quick scan for all nearby electrical signals. There were three small signals a good distance away that were grouped together, heading in the direction of a large electrical signal, probably a ship or building. There was also a single weak signal that was stationary to Ezra's left, surrounded by nothing. Ezra assumed that the three signals were Hera, Kanan, and Zeb. Hopefully the weak signal was Conner.

While Ezra forged ahead in the direction of the weak signal, Chopper stayed behind on the Ghost. Ezra turned back to look at the stubborn droid.

"Aren't you coming?" Ezra asked. Chopper whirred and folded his arms.

"The rocks aren't that bad. I'm sure you can travel just fine over them," Ezra said. Chopper beeped and backed up slightly. Ezra shrugged.

"Fine. Just stay out of trouble," he told Chopper. He started trudging through the black rocks once again.

It didn't take long for Ezra to come across Conner. In fact, it was Conner who found Ezra. Ezra had barely been walking for five minutes when Conner stood up from behind a large rock, smiling despite the harsh circumstances.

"About time you showed up," Conner said.

"You know the Ghost is just around that bend on the other side of some rocks, right?" Ezra asked. Conner blinked.

"Obviously not, or I would have gone straight to the Ghost," he pointed out.

"You didn't exactly choose the best hiding place either," Ezra said.

"I didn't have much to work with," Conner replied defensively. Ezra smiled.

"It's good to have you back," he said.

"Hold your mushy goodbyes until you actually get me off this miserable rock," Conner said, but he smiled all the same. Ezra led the way back in the direction of the Ghost.

As soon as they were within sight of the Ghost an explosion of light, heat, and sound washed over them. Ezra and Conner fell to the ground and covered their heads. When Ezra looked up, the Ghost was a smoking wreck. A ship was flying away high above. Ezra recognized it as an imperial ship.

"I hope the others weren't onboard," Conner said.

"They shouldn't have been," Ezra replied. "That's the second time that the Ghost has blown up. I hope Hera has some insurance on that thing or something."

"Should we go down there?" Conner asked.

"Might as well. When the others return with the Phantom, we'll want to be somewhere they can find us," Ezra pointed out.

"They'll definitely be able to find us now," Conner said darkly. They picked their way down the slope towards the flames. As Ezra stared at the twisted metal, he remembered that Chopper had stayed behind.

"Chopper!" he shouted, scanning the remains of the Ghost.

"What about him?" Conner asked.

"He stayed behind," Ezra said. "He didn't want to get rocks stuck in his gears."

Conner and Ezra split up to circle and search the wreckage. There was still too much fire and smoke to venture inside.

When Ezra was halfway around the Ghost, he heard Conner shout from the other side. Pulling out his lightsaber, he ran to Conner's side.

Conner was crouched in the black sand, dusting off Chopper's dome head. Ezra grinned broadly when he spotted the resilient little droid. He deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.

"Glad to see you're ok Chopper," Ezra said. He heard a soft sigh from behind them.

"Do I even want to ask how two boys and their droid ended up on Mustafar with a blown up ship?" a female voice asked. Ezra cursed himself for not paying better attention and reached for his blaster, but paused when he felt something cold and metal press against the back of his head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice continued. "I'm known for my lightning reflexes. I could put a bullet through your two empty heads before you could even say Evelyn Quickdraw. And experience has taught me that I usually get my bounty, whether the target is dead or alive. So you better start giving me reasons for the latter."