Star Wars Rebels - Lost

Chapter Sixteen: Hitching a Ride

Dawn arrived and the crew assembled in the cockpit of the Gauntlet. There was a tension in the air. Everybody knew that this was it, the final push. It was unlikely that all of them...if any of them, would make it home alive. But that thought wouldn't stop them. They were all soldiers, whether by choice or not, and today, they had a job to do. Skorn, Sabine and Ezra were all already sat down in the cockpit when Ahsoka walked in. They had saved the pilot's seat for her, it would be her who flew them into battle, if their repairs had been enough to get this bucket of bolts moving. She approached the seat, but Skorn quickly spoke up while flicking a switch on the desktop.
"Ship's log is active...if you want to say something, might not get chance to later" the clone said. Ahsoka gave a look of surprise, she was being made out to be a leader, she had always thought of herself as more of an outcast personally. She took a deep breath for several seconds, and nodded her head.
"Today we don't fight for any one life...we don't fight for ourselves, for the Republic, or for the Alliance. Today we fight for the galaxy...for every innocent child on every planet in the sky, so that they may look up at the stars at night and see a symbol of peace, not of war. Thrawn threatens a republic that is in its infancy, a democracy that does not have the strength to repel him. If he wins, the last twenty years of sacrifice will be for nothing. Everything we've lost...will be for nothing. We may be few, but we have one thing that Thrawn does not...unity" she said in an inspiring tone, standing above her crewmates who all responded with smiles and nods. Skorn flicked the switch again, ending the recording, and gave his general a smile. It was time to get this thing done. Ahsoka slid into the pilot's seat, and immediately began flicking a number of switches above her head. One by one, the ship's core systems came online; lights, emergency shielding, backup generators. A lever beneath the desktop activated the engines, which spluttered smoke for several seconds before roaring into life. Ezra breathed a sigh of relief, the repairs seemed to be holding for now.
"Take-off procedure initialised" Ahsoka stated, pressing a big button and causing the ship to beep rapidly in return. A red flashing light activated above her, accompanied by a siren. She whacked the dashboard with her hand and suddenly the alarms ceased. The ship lifted itself several metres into the air, wheezing with the intense effort of the engines. Its systems were being dragged along, crawling with weakness, but they were stable. The repairs had worked.
"She flies!" Skorn shouted in a celebratory tone.
"Hah! I knew you could do it girl!" Ezra said, patting his arm rest with a grin.
"Alright then...take us to Thrawn...I need something to shoot" Sabine said with a smile. With the pull of a lever, the Gauntlet's engines roared and it zoomed off over the weird and dangerous forests, flying towards the battle.

On the command deck of the Munificent-class star frigate, Thrawn sat in his throne, data-pad in hand, awaiting any update from his workers. Despite being a patient man, he did not desire to wait much longer, he had been trapped here for far too many years. It was time to return to the galaxy and bring a new order. A tactical droid suddenly walked up to the admiral, saluting before giving him the update that he had desired.
"Sir. The hyperdrive is in place and initial tests have been successful...the frigate is ready" the droid stated, causing Thrawn to smile. This was pleasing news.
"Excellent work. There is no time to lose, activate the gravity pulse, let us leave this foul place" he ordered, causing the droid to nod its head and walk away again. The gravity pulse. It was a simple, if crude, device but it would accomplish its purpose. The engines on this vessel were not powerful enough to lift it off the ground, thanks to its heavy modifications, but they would be able to sustain movement in space. So the gravity pulse was a simple mechanism designed to help with the take-off procedure. Essentially, it merely involved a large expulsion of energy out of the main evacuation tunnel on the underside of the ship to blast it into the air. It would fry anything inside the tunnel, but who would ever use an evacuation tunnel aboard such a powerful ship anyway?

The Gauntlet whooshed through the air at great speed, covering the many miles between its crash site and the location of the enemy frigate in mere minutes. Every few seconds, the engines would splutter and cut out for a second, and it was doubtful that this ship would be able to make orbit. In fact, the whole vessel was rattling and shaking violently, as if the very bolts holding it together could give way at any moment.
"This doesn't feel safe. This doesn't feel safe" Ezra muttered under his breath, hands gripping the armrests of his chair with white knuckles.
"Don't worry, scanner says we're almost there" Sabine responded, placing her helmet over her head and doing one final check of her blasters. Everything had to be perfect for this fight. As they flew over the next hillock, the intimidating sight of Thrawn's frigate came into view. The massive Munificent was a hell of a sight, and it certainly looked like it was a fleet-killer. With Thrawn in command, it had the potential to destroy the entire New Republic on the spot. That could not happen.
"Why are the scanners saying that Thrawn's shields are down? Why would he take such a risk?" Ahsoka asked, frowning at the monitor in front of her.
"Who cares?! Let's go, hangars are sealed so the evacuation tunnel is still our entrance!" Skorn answered, loaded on adrenaline and exhilaration for the battle ahead. Ahsoka remained suspicious, but this was no time for uncertainty so with a flick of her wrists, she angled the ship downwards and flew around the underside of Thrawn's massive vessel. None of the exterior auto-turrets fired at them as they approached the tunnel, suggesting that the frigate's computer systems were focused on some other task. But what? Ahsoka flew straight up into the evacuation tunnel, gritting her teeth as she attempted not to crash. The Gauntlet could barely fit through it, and the edges of its hull sparked as they scratched along the walls of the tunnel.
"Come on!" Ahsoka muttered, continuing to fly upwards. They had to reach some sort of entrance soon. But at that moment, as they kept ascending, a bright blue light appeared in front of them. The closer they got, the brighter it got until it was nearly blinding.
"I thought this was supposed to be an empty evacuation tunnel? Why does it look like the inside of some sort of engine?!" Ezra asked, beginning to panic.
"Oh kriff..." Sabine muttered, realising what was about to happen "get us out of here!" Ahsoka tried to think of something, but the tunnel was too narrow to allow her to turn back, and there were no visible side passages. They were trapped, and heading towards an ominously bright light. As they neared the light, a deep groaning noise emanated from the frigate, filling the air around them. It was definitely powering up.
"General..." Skorn said quietly with worry.
"I know Skorn!" the togruta shouted back in stress. They had to find a way out and fast. Suddenly, as they continued flying scarily close to the light ahead of them, Ahsoka spotted something that may just save them.
"There! That ventilation shaft!" she shouted, flying to the left. It was a tiny side passage. It didn't look large enough to fit a tie fighter, let alone the Gauntlet, but today was a day for taking chances. Ahsoka harshly pulled the flightsticks to the left, causing the ship to collide with the tunnel walls with a horrible grating sound. She turned the engines to half power and flew straight into the ventilation shaft. This passage was tiny, so much so that after several seconds of flying, Ahsoka was forced to land the Gauntlet to avoid crashing.
"What was that light?!" Skorn asked in confusion. But he didn't need to wait for an answer. Mere seconds after he asked, the blue light shot down the entire evacuation tunnel in a burst of flames, and suddenly the entire frigate flew into the air at great speed.
"Whoa! What the?!" Ezra blurted out, having almost been thrown from his seat.
"Some sort of gravity pulse device, to lift this ship off the ground. They fired a burst of energy out of the evacuation tunnel" Ahsoka explained.
"Yeah I got that" Ezra answered sarcastically "so that's why the shields were down...to let out that energy".
"Yes...scanners say that the shields are now up, I reckon we've broken atmosphere...Thrawn will be preparing to make the jump to hyperspace" the togruta responded.
"Then there isn't a second to lose, let's go!" Sabine said passionately, getting up from her seat and walking towards the exit. Ezra quickly followed her, and then Skorn, and finally Ahsoka. Everybody was eager to see this mission done.