War Child--Rogue One

XXXIV

No TIE-Fighters show up on our radar until we almost reach the planet.

Nobody but the pilots know where we're going; the less anyone knows, the less the Empire can get out of you. Nobody's supposed to, that is. Kubamanu wrestles it out of his pilot pretty quickly. As it turns out, we're off to Jakku, where the Rebellion recently discovered a hidden research base.

Tinred is pretty sore at all of us, because it turns out we don't need any infantrymen, and he was the only one who didn't get the memo.

"Andor!" Ciara snaps. "Are you awake?"

"Of course."

"Good. Keep an eye out. You're left flank. Don't hit any of us."

"Incoming," Kubamanu warns. "Seven o'clock."

"That's you."

"I know, I know," I grumble, swiveling until the squadron of a dozen TIE-Fighters comes into range. Then I fire away.

When I can no longer fire for fear of hitting another Rebel ship, I sit back and let the others take a shot at them.

By the end of the first pass, the Ghost has three more TIE-Fighters to paint onto the side.

"They're circling back around!" Pilot 418, a Mon Calamari called Akbar, calls.

"I see them."  I squeeze the triggers and am satisfied by a cloud of fire on the first shot.

"Nice shot!" Linami calls.

"Thanks!"

"Head in the bloody game!" Tinred calls.

"It is."  I shoot another before they're out of my range.

"How are we going in?" Linami asks the other pilots.

"It's a huge dust bowl and a tiny base.  We've got a whole planet."  Pilot 78 doesn't sound super happy, honestly.  "Admiral?"

"I say land down by the sinking sands.  If we hide behind a dune, they won't be able to see us and think we've sunk," Akbar says.

I fire at another TIE-Fighter.  "And how far is that from the base?"

"Approximately 7821 meters," Pilot 78 reports.

"Yeah I'm not trekking that far," Ciara says, grunting as she fires at another TIE-Fighter.  "That'll take all day, if not longer."

There's one left, and I shoot it down in another satisfying cloud of fire.

"What if we land, then all load up into the smallest ship and fly closer, low to stay out of their radar, then sneak in?" I suggest.

"Sounds good to me," Kubamanu says.

"It's up to the pilots," Tinred says.

"I like it," Pilot 78 says.

"As do I," Admiral Akbar affirms.

"I guess we're doing it," Linami adds.

I tune them out while I scan for any more TIE-Fighters.  It appears that the base has a very small fleet.  Makes it easier for us.

We land and all three of us snipers convene in the circle in the middle.

"The Zeta's the smallest," Ciara tells us.

"The what?" I ask.

"Zeta-class cargo shuttle," she tells me matter-of-factly.

"Thank you."

"Then that's what we'll take," Kubamanu says.

We climb inside the bottom level and settle in for the ride.

"This could get bumpy," Akbar warns.

"Is there a gunner position?" I ask, stepping up one step to the top level.

"Yeah. Get up there," Kubamanu says gruffly. As I climb, I hear hushed conversation behind me and roll my eyes.

"Right back there," Akbar says without taking his eyes off the sandy landscape in front of us.

I look, and, sure enough, there's a raised platform at the top.

When I climb in, I'm perched above the Zeta, and have almost as much mobility as on the Corellian Ghost.

It's an interesting angle, sitting over the ship and not under.  I like the view.

The horizon's the coolest part, where the tan sand, boiling hot, meets the cool, blue sky.  Right at the seam where they're stitched together is a darker blue, a fold in the fabric.  In this gold eventually grows a tan complex.

The base.

"Look alive up there," Admiral Akbar calls.

"Copy that."

"You might want to hold on down there," he warns to the pair in the lower level.

Kubamanu and Ciara call back a response at the same time that a half dozen TIE-Fighters rise out of the sand.

The first three are easy to take down.  The next three take a bit of circling on both parts, and we take a few hits on the Zeta.

"I'm taking her down!" Akbar tells us all.

After three affirmative yells, he dives steeply towards the dunes.  I fire and finally get two of the fighters, and the third falls just as we land.

I jump down.  Akbar hands me something.

"Smoke bombs?"

"To--"

"Hide the ship.  I know."

I hand off one on to Kubamanu and another to Ciara.

We set them off and trek over the dune towards the base.

"Do you remember what they look like?" Ciara asks.

"Yes," I tell her, assembling the rifle faster than she can.

"Good.  Kuba?"

"Of course."

We lay on the dune in the hot sun, with our rifles ready.  We don't have to wait long though.  The first comes out, a redhead.

I raise a finger, claiming the quarry, and fire.

The silencer does its job and the courtyard is thrown into chaos as they try to figure out where to shoot.

We duck behind the dune and circle slowly, splitting up to make a square with the entrance, so we all have equal shots.

I shuffle until I have my comlink in my hand.  If we think we've got the best shot, we press the button and the other comlinks will crackle, quiet enough that nobody will hear, but loud enough that we can.

I'm drenched in sweat already.

The other three men run out and group around their comrades.

My comlink crackles, and Ciara whispers, "Fire upon the one closest."

I press the button to acknowledge and line up my sight with the closest officer's chest.

I'm surprised by how easy it is to kill.  I pull the trigger and that's my second kill for the mission.

Once all three men are dead, alongside the first man, we've got about forty-five seconds to run around the dunes and board the ship.  It's hard, but we finally make it and leave before they can get any more TIE-Fighters in the air.