Chapter Text
"Not that way!" Sabine grabbed Ezra's arm. "Down here." She pulled him into a side hall, Kanan and Kallus sliding in after them.
"What? No, the detention block should be this way."
"For the standard imperial ship, yes." Kallus peered around the corner. "For a science vessel, the labs are going to be located centrally with cargo rooms between them and the cells."
"See, this is why we should have fallen back to the Ghost and done more planning." Kanan said.
"No, we shouldn't have." Sabine stressed. "Falling back would have wasted time. I know what I'm doing, I just need you guys to not run ahead of me."
"She has a point." Kallus murmured, and Ezra scowled.
"Okay, sorry."
"Alright." She pulled a data chip from her belt. "The labs will be just east of where the armoury is usually located, and they'll be in the standard lateral pattern. The last lab will be the main one, and should have file access to all the rest. This will wipe any info they've recorded on whatever they've taken. And then just grab the thing."
"Good." Kanan nodded. Sabine tucked it into his belt. "Wait, why are you giving it to me?"
"Because while Ezra and you are doing that, Kallus and I are going to rescue Ketsu."
"What? We can't separate here-"
"We've got two objectives, we've got to split. You have the most straightforward path, and you'll be able to tell if one of them is hiding something. This is the best plan."
"You didn't tell us before now because you knew I'd disagree-"
"You do it too when you're leading missions!" She spoke over him.
Kanan held up his hands. "Fine, fine. Let's talk about this later. What do you want to do?"
---
Someone was outside her cell.
The sound of footsteps told her there were two people out there. A lengthy pause between them stopping and the beep of the access cylinder meant they were new. This would be her best chance.
The door swished open, and she hurled herself at their legs. Knock them down, they'd be easy pickings-
If one hadn't been prepared, and shoved the other away before trying to tackle her.
"Ketsu-Ketsu! Quit it, it's me!"
Ketsu froze and stopped trying to grab the closest pair of ankles. She looked up.
Sabine tsked and knelt beside her. "You know you're bleeding, right? Take care of yourself before trying anything, did you forget the basics?" The man standing beside her-friend, Ketsu guessed they were back to being-gave Ketsu an appraising look. He pulled a bacta patch from his belt and handed it to Sabine.
Ketsu gritted her teeth against the cold feeling on her scalp. What was she doing here? "Wasn't in there for too long, that idiot wanted to know what I knew about his filthy thieving. And what do you think yo-"
"He has it then? Corporal-or whatever his rank is now-Sallaine got the artifact?"
"A copy of plans he took off me. Doesn't even know how to read it. That's probably the reason I'm still alive, in case this little crew of his can't decipher the earliest versions of our language."
"You found something that old?" Sabine breathed, leaning close. "What is it?"
Ketsu grinned for a moment, sharing Sabine's excitement. The smile slid off her face when she remembered they weren't alone.
She stared at her old friend, then at the strange man.
Sabine gave her a hard look, before sighing. "Seven. Scout the next few corridors?" They all knew time was short, but her friend couldn't resist learning what Ketsu already knew. Ketsu smiled again despite herself.
The man didn't hesitate. "Of course. I'll be back." He walked around them, and Ketsu noted the slight imbalance of his stride before Sabine pulled her attention back.
"Ketsu. Tell me everything."
---
"You won't get away with this." The skinny man spit, puffing up in indignation. "This was cleared by the highest-"
"Yep, sure, got it." Ezra held up the data chip. "Any idea the best spot to plug this in?"
The man paled. "You can't, we've been looking for so long-"
"For something that isn't yours." Kanan interrupted. "Ezra, it's over here."
"Got it." Ezra skirted around the clustered group of scientists, all but one gathered in the center of the room. The last one was the one pretending to be intimidating-and standing in front of a console. He tossed the chip to Kanan.
"Scuse me there, sir-"
---
"The Besalisk design plan..."Sabine whispered. "I can't believe it. It's been lost for..."
"Centuries." Ketsu gripped her arm. "It was a defining part of our culture, it's ours, we can't let them have even a shred of that information."
"We...no, we can't. Imagine what they would do with it..." Sabine shook her head. "The destruction it would cause."
"Yeah, that too. Now, he didn't catch me til I got here, no way he would wait to grab me if he knew the way to the outpost where I found the originals. So we just need to destroy all of his copies and the one I made-"
Sabine's companion came back into view. "We're clear. For now."
Ketsu scrutinized the man. Medium height, blond hair long enough to pull back in a tie, those sideburns were ringing a bell... "Don't I know you?"
Sabine snorted. "Yeah, long story, tell you later. Don't blast him if you remember in the meantime, he's one of us." She hauled Ketsu to her feet. "Sorry, we've got to move now-"
Ketsu pushed her arm away. "I know that." Sabine tried to not look hurt, but she knew that face. She tried to soften her tone. "I can walk on my own. How are we getting out?" She took a few steps, and promptly collapsed.
"Okay, up we go." They each looped one of her arms around a shoulder and picked her up. "You remember Kanan and Ezra?"
"Ponytail and twerp, yeah."
"Ha, yeah, they're using one of my chips to wipe to the system. They'll probably be confused about nothing being there to grab, but we've got nothing to worry about besides finding them once they're done."
Ketsu breathed a sigh of relief. "Good...that's good."
---
Ezra pushed a button, and a blue model appeared. Kanan gave the man a stern look before walking over.
"It's plans...for a droid?" He circled the table and squinted at it. "A really weird droid."
"Our-our most recent assignment." One of the other scientists stammered, twisting his hands together. "The plans-they're right over there."
"Keep your mouth shut, you-"
"Sir, I think you should take your own advice." Kanan cut him off, making a sharp gesture. The stool behind the man scooted forward and took his feet out from under him. The man kept quiet after that, staring at Kanan with huge eyes.
"Okay, you were saying."
"Th-the information we recieved-we're supposed to recreate this. It's a-all there. This-this is the only ship that has the data, I swear. Please," He said desperately, "Please, we aren't soldiers. We don't-I've never hurt anyone."
Kanan tucked his 'saber away, and took a careful step toward the man. "We're only here to take any artifacts off your hands and erase the data pertaining to it. That's all. Just tell me everything you know about the project, and we all walk away." He put a hand on the man's shoulder. "I promise."
The scientist looked at Ezra, then back at Kanan, and nodded several times. "Yes. I'll tell you everything."
---
"There they are!" Ezra whispered. Kanan spotted the trio skulking in the far corner of the cargo hold, Ketsu slumped between them. He met Sabine's eyes before she looked pointedly at the other woman's bloodied head.
"Yikes. Okay. We'd better hurry." He pointed at two anti-grav lifts about halfway between, not far from the few 'troopers talking amonst themselves. He held his hands together and mimed an explosion. Sabine nodded, and pulled a few things off her belt.
"She's got the message. Get ready to run."
"Always am."
Luckily, the exit was close.
---
They all converged not far from the Ghost.
"Well that wasn't too painful. Er. For most of us. Hey, Ketsu, long time no see." Kanan nodded awkwardly.
She waved her hand. "M fine. We got a destination in mind or are you going to drag me around all night."
"We're almost there." Sabine reassured her. "We'll get you patched up as good as new, and then-then maybe we could go recover the plans? Bring them back together?"
Ketsu hesitated. "We should talk about it."
"Good idea." Kanan agreed. "We might have destroyed their prototype but that doesn't mean the Empire-"
Sabine turned to Kanan, horrified.
"Prototype?" Ketsu hissed. "They had a prototype?"
"Yes-but you blew it up in the cargo hold-"
"I though that was just a distraction! They-they already made one-"
"Just the one!" Ezra interrupted. "There weren't any others, it was still in pieces, and no one else knew about it. We made sure all the plans were wiped, just like you said."
Ketsu wrenched herself away from Sabine with a snarl. "If they made it once, they can do it again. You think those scientists forget everything the second they step away?" She slammed her fist against a wall. "You were too late." She looked at Sabine. "We have to go back."
"And do what, exactly." Kanan said. The two stared each other down.
Kallus stepped between them before tensions could build any further. "They knew someone was aboard the moment we blew those lifts in the cargo, and have undoubtedly noticed Ketsu's absence by now. We have to get back to the Ghost and regroup."
Ezra eased out from behind Kanan and gestured down the street. "Er-this way. You want a hand?"
Ketsu threw one last glare at Kanan. "No." She stomped after Ezra and the rest followed. The Ghost came into view, and she stormed up the ramp and disappeared.
"That-" Kanan sighed. "That isn't going to be a fun conversation. Patch her up, she's barely keeping her feet. I need to talk to Hera."
"Okay."
Sabine looked to Kallus helplessly once Kanan had left. "They're going to try to make it again."
He was a silent for a moment. "Let's go plan for it, then."
She threw one last look back down the street, and followed him aboard the Ghost.