Freaks of the Force

WING

I laid on a stone shelf in my assigned sleeping area, staring up at the small hole in the ceiling. It was only big enough for me to stick my hand through, so there was no escape through it. At least it provided temporary relief from the chaos of WING.

A week before I hadn't even known WING existed. It stood for Winged Insurgent Night Guard. It was made up of fifteen elite members who were all girls with wings like me. I was the only boy with wings. All of the girls were my cousins who had gone into hiding fighting the Empire. All except one, who from what I knew hardly ever saw anyone else. Her name was Norasky, and she was the leader of WING. The other members of WING were a mixture of boys and girls without wings. Only a few of them were related by blood. The rest of them were volunteers who believed in the WING cause.

"Ezra?" a female voice asked. The wooden door opened and Kina entered my room. She was wearing her usual gray jumpsuit and her white feathered wings were folded on her back. She was my cousin and only two months younger than I was. She tossed her dark blue hair and tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Sulking again?" she asked. I grunted. She stepped farther into the room and closed the door.

"You can't go back, you know that," Kina said. I didn't respond. I didn't want to.

Everyone thought I was dead. The Empire, the rebels, everyone. It hurt to think about it. I wanted to go back to them the moment that I had healed from having my wings forcefully regrown, but Kina and the others hadn't let me. Every time I approached the entrance to the cave systems where we lived I was turned back by two armed cousins.

"Norasky wants you present when they plan the next raid," Kina told me. "No idea why, but I suppose she wants your input on something."

"Is she actually going to be there?" I asked, sitting up.

"Doubt it, but you never know," she replied. I stood up and followed her out of the room and down the stony corridors. Occasionally we would pass someone going in the opposite direction. Each time we did, they would shoot me reverent looks. It made me uncomfortable, but I didn't shy away like I used to. After a week of similar treatment I got used to it.

It was all because I was the only male born with wings. Apparently males were really rare or something. And that made me a celebrity. A champion among amazon warriors. Everyone expected me to be some sort of hero.

We entered a larger cavern which already held several people. Four of them were girls with feathered wings just like mine, while two were ordinary humans, a boy and a girl. They were gathered around a table which had several charts laid out on it.

"Ezra," one of the winged girls said with a smile. I smiled back. It was Safra, one of the younger cousins of mine. She had leathery bat wings and was the only one who had leather wings instead of feather wings. Since she was unusual like me, we got along quite well.

"We're just working on a raid," one of the other winged girls said. She had gray speckled wings and her hair was dyed a dark green. She was one of the cousins who had been there during my rescue. Her name was Thalia.

"What have you got planned so far?" Kina asked, approaching the table. I followed and placed myself between Safra and Kina.

"We want to take out their broadcasting tower, but we have no clue about the defenses we might be up against," Thalia explained, pointing at a chart.

"That's why Norasky sent Ezra," Kina announced. "She says that he has raided a broadcasting tower before."

"How did she know that?" I asked in surprise, thinking back to the rebels' mission to hijack a broadcasting tower.

"Norasky often has visions which tell her things," Thalia explained. "We don't question her, or anything she says."

"Have you really raided a broadcasting tower before?" Safra asked with wide eyes. "All by yourself without a patrol of WINGs?"

"I wasn't by myself," I told her. "I was with the rebels. My other family."

A young girl entered the room. She looked like a doll make of fine china. She was young, maybe five or six. I had seen her twice before but she had never spoken to me. Everyone seemed to treat her with respect. Was she Norasky?

"Norski said that the meeting needs to stop," the little girl announced. "The patrol is about to return, and she thinks they might have important news."

"Thank you, Jenta. We'll be right there," Kina promised. The little girl turned and skipped out of the room.

"This meeting will be held again very soon," Thalia announced. Everyone exited the room except for Safra and I.

"Who were your other family?" Safra asked. "Did they have wings too?"

She glanced at her own leathery wings, flapping them as she did so.

"No, only I did," I told her. "There was Chopper, a little robot who was always starting fights and getting into trouble. And Zeb, a fierce Lasan warrior who was the most loyal friend I had ever met. Sabine, a girl who is a fighter and has a creative perspective. Hera, the pilot who always knows how to fix things and has a positive outlook. And then there's Kanan."

"Who's Kanan?" Safra asked. I gazed at the charts, absorbed in my own thoughts. I missed the crew so much. Did they really think I was dead? Or did Kanan sense that I was still alive somewhere? Were they looking for me?

"You miss them, don't you?" Safra asked, giving me a big hug.

"Yeah, I do," I admitted, hugging her back. Never had truer words been spoken.