The Machine in the Ghost

"The Machine in the Ghost" is the first of four prequel shorts released in promotion of the upcoming animated series, Star Wars Rebels. The three-minute short was released online on August 11, 2014, and aired on Disney XD the same day. A new short will premiere in the same time slot every Monday afterward on the channel.

Publisher's summary
As the Ghost is pursued and pummeled by TIE Fighters, Hera & Kanan give Chopper contradictory orders, driving the little to an unusual extreme.

Plot summary
In the aftermath of a raid on an supply convoy, the Ghost and its crew&mdash;Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, and C1-10P, also known as "Chopper"&mdash;are pursued by a group of four TIE fighters. Jarrus makes his way into the Ghost gun turret, while Syndulla pilots the ship. A dogfight ensues between the Ghost and the TIE fighters, with the TIE fighters initially having the upper-hand.

During combat, the shields on the Ghost fail, and Syndulla orders Chopper to begin repairing them. The TIEs continue their assault, while another shot from a TIE fighter knocks out the communication system on the Ghost. Syndulla, unable to coordinate the defense with Jarrus, orders Chopper to stop working on the shields and instead repair the communication system. Chopper leaves the cockpit and tells Jarrus he is working on the communication system, but Jarrus contradicts Syndulla's order and tells Chopper to continue repairing the shield generator&mdash;and to tell Syndulla to fly better.

Chopper returns to the cockpit and tells Syndulla what Jarrus said, causing Syndulla to take the fight into her own hands. She quickly maneuvers the ship behind the TIE fighters, and destroys one of the two remaining TIEs. Syndulla again tells Chopper to talk to Jarrus, this time telling him to handle the last TIE fighter, but Chopper is done following contradicting orders and makes his way to the Phantom's gun turret. From there, Chopper destroys the remaining TIE fighter on his own, bringing an end to the fight&mdash;and the arguments.

With the battle over, Chopper returns to the cockpit, where he overhears Syndulla and Jarrus jokingly taking credit for the outcome of the battle. With Chopper annoyed at the lack of credit, they admit they were kidding and know that Chopper destroyed the last TIE fighter. Syndulla and Jarrus tell the droid to fix the shields and the communications system, as the Ghost jumps into hyperspace.

Continuity
This short was adapted into a short story by Michael Kogge in the chapter book Rise of the Rebels.