Final Blow (Star Wars Rebels)

Dead in Space

"Coward," Evelyn mumbled.

"What was that all about?" Ezra asked. Evelyn took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. When she opened her eyes again, she was back to normal.

"Family matters," she explained. "Nothing too important to you. I didn't know who she actually was, or else I would have done something about her earlier. But she's gone now, and I doubt she's ever coming back."

"Why'd you club me on the head?" Ezra asked, changing the topic slightly. Evelyn smirked.

"You didn't use my correct name," she said. "It's Captain Evelyn, not Evelyn."

"Are you sure you didn't just want to save my life?" Ezra teased.

"I'm sure," Evelyn said. "If I wanted to save one of you guys, I would save the other one. He's much more agreeable. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check on my ship."

Back in the cockpit, Conner and Chopper were already doing just that. The R3 droid was still a destroyed mess. Ezra tried not to imagine if Chopper had received the same fate. Hera would have been extremely mad.

"How's the Windcast?" Evelyn asked.

"Ventress destroyed all of the controls. And we're caught in the gravitational field of Coruscant," Conner explained. "We're going to be pulled into the planet and crash." Evelyn shook her head slowly.

"Why did Ventress have to catch us just above Coruscant?" she asked herself. "Although I suppose I should be grateful. There's more than one way to build a lightsaber."

"Technically there is only one way," Ezra began, but Evelyn waved his comment away.

"It's a saying, Ezra," she told him.

"Do you have the tools to fix the controls?" Conner asked.

"No, but it doesn't matter anyway," Evelyn said. "Remember how I said there was more than one way to end up on a planet's surface? Well, there are actually four ways if you don't have a permit. Each has its own dangers. You can stowaway on a ship, get smuggled to the surface of the planet by a smuggler, jump from a ship and land on the surface, or you can land your ship if it is severely damaged. The last one is the one we're going for. If the ship is damaged badly enough, it doesn't matter if your a bounty hunter, civilian, smuggler, rebel, or senator. I mean, they might arrest you afterwards. But you can land on the surface."

"Um . . . yeah, that could be a problem," Ezra said. "You might just be a bounty hunter, but we happen to be hunted a bit more than you are by the Empire."

"And how long did it take you to figure out that rebels are more wanted by the Empire than bounty hunters?" Evelyn asked, raising her eyebrows and folding her arms.

"You knew the whole time?" Ezra asked.

"There are security cameras in the prison block," Evelyn corrected. "You'd think that two rebels would be more careful."

"How much do you know?" Conner asked.

"I know that the two of you, plus your droid, are rebels," Evelyn began. "I know that the four others who were captured were your rebel friends. I know that Ezra is a Jedi, probably a padawan, and that one of the other rebels is his master. I know that Ezra and this Kimble girl like each other, but then she was captured. I know you guys think that she makes stupid decisions. I know that Darth Maul blew up your ship when you were on Mustafar, probably hunting down the Inquisitor. I know that you're planning a rescue mission. And I know that you don't trust me. I don't need you to trust me. I need you to work with me until we get to Coruscant's surface. Then you can do what you want."

Ezra and Conner shared a glance. Ezra couldn't figure out Evelyn. She seemed to have her own agenda, regardless of rebels and the Empire. She could be totally nice and thoughtful one moment, cold and threatening the next, and angry and vengeful just moments later. How was anyone supposed to tell who's side she was on? Maybe it was a girl thing.

"We'll help you. But as soon as we land on the surface, we're leaving," Conner said. "We can't risk being caught."

"Fair enough," Evelyn said with a nod. "For now, just sit tight. We should be arriving on Coruscant's surface before too long."