Friday 1 November 2019

Star Wars: Old Wounds (9)

"That went well." Wedge sighed, as they trudged away from Sloane's residence, with R3 trundling behind them.

"Shut up." Dak replied, without turning back to face Wedge.

"This is why I leave diplomacy to the senators. I'm a pilot: Give me a target, I blow it up. Simple."

"Its rarely so black and white. I've never had time for absolutes." said Dak as he pivoted to lay a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "Take the TIE pilots we fly against, most of them are young, fresh out of the Imperial Academies, just looking for an opportunity to leave their homes."

"I was one of them." Wedge admitted. "Until I found a better cause."

"Exactly. The Empire is built on malice, corrupt to its core, yet often its most loyal subjects are ordinary, decent people. That's the worst part. The galaxy is too busy tearing itself apart to realise who its true enemy is."

"So how do we fight that? How can you make someone act against their own self interest, and do the right thing?"

"You don't. You can't. Everyone has to make that decision for themselves." Dak sighed. "I used to think that setting a good example was enough. But look at the Jedi, supposedly paragons of virtue, heroes to be emulated, but in the end as corrupt and fallible as anyone else."

"So what keeps you going? In the face of all that, if people can't be helped, why bother?" 

"Honestly, I don't know anymore. Stubbornness, if anything. I still fight because I couldn't live with myself if I didn't. And maybe, if enough of us choose to stand up, one day we might actually make a difference." 

With that, the two men continued to hike in contemplative silence. Upon reaching the brow of a nearby outcrop, they found themselves overlooking the Imperial mining facility nestled in a valley below. A small gravel path snaked from their vantage point, down towards a small open area in front of a set of imposing durasteel gates. The base was surrounded by a thick duracrete wall, at least 10-feet tall on three sides. The rear of the enclosure backed up onto a shear cliff face, the base of which was dotted with crudely carved entrances to various mineshafts. The region within the barricades was dived in two by a modest chain link fence. On one side stood a prefabricated building consisting of modular offices, the same architecture as any Imperial base found on countless worlds. Next to the admisistrative building there was a landing pad on which sat an Imperial shuttle, and two modified TIE fighters with an unusual bronze colouration. The other side of the fence was clearly designated for the miners, with scattered mess tents, tool storage and workshops, along with a number of lumbering load lifters obeying their scheduled tasks. A much sturdier road snaked along the valley floor, linking the facility to a small town in which the miners resided. 

"So, what's the plan?" asked Wedge, as they surveyed the camp below them.

"Why must I have a plan? I've been in charge ever since you fell out of the sky. And you out rank me. Technically."

"Fine, fine." muttered Wedge, as he looked through a pair of cracked macrobinoculars. "We could try and commandeer the shuttle, make a break for it?"

"Risky, with the Destroyer blocking the colony. It's a toss up between a tractor beam or straight up vaporisation by ventral cannon. Neither would be ideal."

"Then we get into the facility, patch R3 into the comms system and call for assistance."

"One problem, assuming we survive long enough for help to arrive. There's nowhere near enough firepower in our fleet to take on a destroyer, even if we could convince them to get here." explained Dak.

"We don't need to take it out. Not really."

"How do you figure that? Are you going to ask the Moff really nicely to let us pass?"

"We only need a few ships, enough to cause a distraction. While the Imps turn to deal with them, we take the shuttle and slip away."

"Wedge, when we get back home, you're getting your head examined. I think the crash affected you worse than I thought."

"Do you have a better plan?" Wedge replied, a slight grin creeping across his face.

"On second thought, I love this plan. I'm excited to be a part of it!"

*****

The pilots continued down a gravel trail, descending from their vantage point into the valley below. There was a rough path through the loose shale which they followed, sticking to the shadows where possible as night slowly became dawn. Along the main thoroughfare below them, the first miners were already travelling from the town, to take their places during the next shift change. 

As Dak and Wedge reached the valley floor, they took cover behind a parked load-lifter, and studied the gathered crowd of miners. A couple dozen men had already gathered, split into several groups who were conversing and laughing before their shifts began. However, a solitary pair took Dak's interest, as they were distinctly isolated from the rest. 

"Those two don't seem popular." Dak whispered, drawing Wedge's attention to them with a pointed nod.

"Look at their armbands. Supervisors? Management? Might explain why nobody wants to chat with them?" 

"Possibly. But it is an opportunity. Be ready for my signal." 

"Wait!" Wedge hissed in reply, but it was too late. Dak had already begun to slink towards an adjacent load-lifter, and towards the two isolated miners. As he crept forward, he scooped up a handful of small pebbles from the ground. When he reached his position, a few metres away from the two men with only a load-lifter between them, he tossed the first stone towards their feet. One of the men looked up briefly at the noise before returning to his conversation. The second rock bounced off his boot. 

Dak watched the man through a gap in the load-lifter's frame. He saw anger flare across his face, tinged with a brief flash of resignation in his eyes, as if this was not an unusual occurrence. He tapped his partner on the shoulder and walked in the direction from which Dak has tossed the rocks, muttering quietly about how "they're at it again."

The pair adopted a wide, intimidating stance as they approached the load-lifter. As they crossed around its front, Dak snuck around the opposite side and kept going, looping behind them. The pair stood side by side, looking ahead as Dak maneuvered behind them. With a quick hand signal towards Wedge, he swung a fist into the side of the first man's head. The man fell to the ground, and the other spun around, catching Dak by the throat before he could react. "You'll pay for that, Rebel scum..." he snarled, just before Wedge jabbed his ribs from behind. The man wheezed and doubled over in pain. Dak charged him, driving him to the floor. In the span of a few moments, both miners were unconscious. Wedge looked around nervously, expecting others to have heard the struggle, but nobody came. 

"If you're done gazing around, help me strip these guys." grunted Dak, as he undid the first set of overalls.

"Excuse me?" Wedge exclaimed.

"Keep it down! And give me a hand, unless you'd prefer to infiltrate that base in your very orange flightsuit."

"Next time, tell me your plan first. You could have gotten us killed." hissed Wedge angrily. "I thought you were tired of making plans anyway."

"I was. I am. But you were taking too long." replied Dak with a shrug. "Now come on, the shift is changing soon and we still need to hide these two."

*****

A short time later, the two unconscious miners lay bound and gagged in the back of a load-lifter. Dak and Wedge, in their new uniforms, joined the growing throng of people in front of the facilities gates. 

"Stop fidgeting." Dak whispered. "You look ridiculous." 

"Of course I do. You just had to pick someone two sizes larger than me..."

"Its not like I had a choice." Dak replied defensively. "Just act casual, and we'll get through this."

"I hope R3 is having an easier time." 

"He'll be fine. He always is." 

Dak had sent the astromech droid to join the Imperial droid pool. It would have been too risky to bring him with them as the miners changed shifts, so R3 had to find his own way in by a secondary security gate designated for the mining droids. Dak had, overs the years, fitted the stubby green droid with an array of advanced and somewhat illegal infiltration modules and deception subroutines for such occasions. However, he had a tendency to tremble uncontrollably or leak oil while 'undercover', due to a persistent software glitch Dak had been unable to pinpoint. Something in his motherboard made the poor droid a nervous wreck. Dak smiled to himself as he wondered who would stand out more, Wedge or R3. 

The droid had been given a recorded message from the pair, explaining their plight and requesting assistance. His orders were to get into the base's communications array and send an encrypted transmission to Lara, while the pilots tried to liberate a transport. 

Dak and Wedge ceased chatting as a siren blared out from speakers atop the gate. As the noise ceased, the gates slid open with a mechanical screech, and the night shift workers began to trudge outside, accompanied a squad of Stormtroopers who took positions around the entrance. Some miners stopped briefly to chat with the new shift waiting outside, but most kept waking, either out of tiredness or fear of the Stormtroopers watching them. The pilots waited until a few others began to head inside, then followed in their footsteps. As the strode past the Stormtroopers, Wedge found himself staring directly ahead, desperate to avoid eye contact with any of the bulky white helmets surrounding him. He missed being in a cockpit, and the feeling of control he had while flying. Down here, he felt so exposed, so vulnerable. But he kept walking regardless.

They followed the group into the main courtyard, until a group of Imperial officers halted them. Wedge's eyes widened with fear, but sensing his friend's panic, Dak silently urged calm. 

"What's this all about?" called one of the miners, as he approached an officer. "We got a shift to get started. We've got your precious quotas to fulfil." A couple of others cheered on their fellow with boisterous shouts, but were quickly silenced when a group of troopers raised their blasters threateningly. The accosted officer help up a hand, and the troopers relaxed. Slightly. "Come now, no need for unpleasantness. You local ruler and generous benefactor, Moff Atticus Wurmly merely wishes to address you all on the topic of Rebel attempts to disrupt this mighty facility, and the vital work you do here. Don't worry, it shall be brief."

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Wedge sighed.

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