45

KANAN WASN'T going to lie. He loved pretending to be a stormtrooper. Now that quite a few of the real ones on board (not to mention the captain) knew that a Jedi was on the ship, well - blending in with the vast crowd of Imperials who looked exactly the same was definitely the best (and most fun) way to blend in.

He followed the directions helpfully provided to him earlier to the lift and stepped inside. It was crammed full of other stormtroopers. Kanan felt more than a little claustrophobic.

"I'm going down," he told them.

"We're going up," one of them informed him. "Sorry, pal."

"Well, I'm going down so I can follow orders - to guard the extremely dangerous cargo," Kanan huffed.

The real stormtrooper fell silent for a moment, glancing back at his companions.

They sighed in unison.

"This always happens," one of them muttered.

Kanan smiled gleefully underneath his helmet and pressed the button that would take the lift all the way down.

***

Kanan stepped out of the lift, which promptly closed behind him, and took a look around. He was standing in a rather narrow hall. There was a door directly in front of him that was being guarded by a trio of armed stormtroopers. Yikes. He was going to have to alter his excuse a bit.

"I have orders from the captain," he reported. "He wants your shift to end. I'll hold the fort while the other guards get here. You know how that lift is always packed."

One of them shivered. "Yeah."

"Thanks," another said to Kanan as all three walked towards the lift. The other two nodded gratefully.

"Hey, no problem." Kanan was grinning hugely. "I'm always happy to help."

Once they were gone and the lift was ready for more passangers, Kanan slid his lightsaber out of his boot again. He activated it and stabbed the blade into the lift so no surprises could come down while he was stealing the cargo. Getting back up again might be a bit of a problem, but Kanan was sure there would be another lift down the hall he could use.

Kanan put his lightsaber away, then entered the room the three troopers had been guarding. It was medium-sized and completely empty, aside from a single small crate and four more stormtroopers. They were all sitting cross-legged on the floor, playing Sabacc and betting their lunches.

They looked up inquisitively as Kanan walked in.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, trotting forward.

"Hey," one began amiably. "What's-"

Kanan shot him.

The other three stared down at their unconscious companion for a moment and dropping their cards in shock, then up at Kanan again.

"What the heck?!" another one of them demanded.

Man. These guys were allowed to guard a potentially-devastating kyber crystal? Kanan was pretty sure he was actually doing the Empire a favor by knocking the rest out as well.

He then approached the crate. It resonated so strongly with the Force he could feel the hair on his arms standing on end, as though he was a little too close to a tree during an electrical storm.

Kanan reached forward and popped the lid off. There it was, nestled in a bunch of packing peanuts - their last chance to possibly getting Ezra back.

He picked it up reverently. Kyber crystals could be used to make lightsabers - which were deadly in the wrong hands. Perhaps even worse, they could also be used to make all sorts of horrible things - bombs, superlasers, etc. Kanan hoped that whomever Vizago sold it to, it wouldn't be someone with bad intentions.

Kanan tried not to think about the kind of people black market dealers tended to sell to.

He slipped the kyber crystal into his other shoe (it wasn't the most comfortable place for hiding stuff, but it was certainly the go-to one), then grabbed his com, which he'd put on his new stormtrooper belt when he'd changed outfits. "Hera, I've got the kyber crystal. Now I just need to get out. It should be a piece of cake." He wasn't even being sarcastic. "I just need to be quick."

There was no reply from Hera's end.

Kanan's eyebrows met. "Hera? Do you copy?"

Nothing.

"Hera? Chopper?! Is anyone there?!"

Kanan's heart was hammering as he listened to only silence. He couldn't keep standing there. He had to move and carry out the rest of the op and pray that Hera would be able to do the same.

But as he ran back out into the hall and set out to find another lift, he could not quell the fear that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.