Flight of the Force (Star Wars Rebels)

Little Bird

Ezra's POV

I opened my eyes for the first time in a while. I wasn't on a metal table any more. Now I was inside of a cage. I could see other cages around me. A few of them had animals inside. I could see several Lothcats, but otherwise I couldn't recognize the animals.

"Good to see you up kid," Zeb said from behind me. I turned to look down the other end of the hallway. Zeb was in a cage nearby. I noticed that he had bands on his arms which kept them tied together. Beyond his cage was another one which held Sabine. She didn't appear to be tied up at all. A bunch more cages with animals were beyond them.

"How did we end up here?" I asked. My voice was croaky.

"Vizago sold us over to the Empire," Sabine explained. "They brought us here and put us in separate cages. I think they're planning on running tests on us."

"Tests?" I asked. It was my worst nightmares come true.

"Yes, they've got this horrible person working for them. Doctor Carther or something. He doesn't even treat us like we're actual people."

A door opened at the far end of the hall, allowing a man to enter the room. For a heart stopping moment I thought it was Agent Kallus. But I was wrong. This man was wearing a white lab coat and looked younger than Agent Kallus. He walked up to my cage.

"Hello little bird," he said with a smile. "We've got a lot to do today."

"You look just like Agent Kallus," I told him. "And anyone who looks like Agent Kallus is bad news."

"Kallus Carther is my older brother," the man explained. "I am Doctor Hetero Carther."

Doctor Carther pressed a button on my cage and it began sinking into the floor.

It seemed like I was going where he wanted me to whether I wanted or not.

---

The testing was relatively painless. Doctor Carther had me move around my wings in various directions. Then he examined them and took several feathers and blood samples. After that he sent me and my cage back into the hallway.

"How did it go?" Sabine asked.

"He just wanted to check out my wings," I told her.

"It could be worse," she admitted.

"Yeah, well I'm not sticking around to find out if it will."

I closed my eyes and used the force to unlock my cage. It took a few minutes of straining, but eventually it worked. I smiled. My training with Kanan was paying off.

"Just give me a minute to get you guys out," I told Sabine and Zeb. They were staring at me in awe. My words snapped Sabine out of her trance.

"No, go contact Kanan and Hera. They need to know where we are," she said.

"I'm not going to leave you guys," I said.

"You'll have to," Zeb growled. The door at the far end of the hall opened, allowing a guard to enter the room. He paused mid step.

"Hey! Get back into your cage!" the guard shouted. I turned and ran in the opposite direction. I burst through the doors and turned down another hallway. This one was full of empty cages. I heard an alarm go off overhead as I pushed my way into another room labeled Solutions.

This was a large room filled with shelves and desks. Bottles and vials covered every available surface, and several workers in lab coats were gathered at the tables.

I flapped my wings, testing how they felt. It was painful, but it would have to do. I had to fly away from here.

"Stop him!" a voice shouted from behind me. I smashed several vials with my wings in order to slow the guards before before bursting through another set of doors.

I found myself outside. It was dark out, and there didn't seem to be any guards. It looked like I was on an abandoned landing platform.

I was free.

"So, the little bird thinks he's outgrown his cage," Doctor Carther said, stepping into view.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got places to be," I told him. I flapped my wings and jumped into the air. My wings and back burned, but at least I was flying.

Suddenly everything was hurting. My wings refused to obey me. I spiraled towards the ground, struggling desperately to get my wings to work. I crashed into the ground, at Doctor Carther's feet.

"You didn't think we wouldn't install precautions, did you?" Doctor Carther asked, placing a remote in his lab coat. The pain was replaced by numbness, my vision went fuzzy, and I closed my eyes.