Astera:
It took us less than half an hour to ready the ship, new supplies stored on board by way of a very gracious Shep, who met our flimsy excuses only with understanding. He must have gotten word to Phee though, as she was now approaching the ship while we loaded up the last of the crates. She was holding the hand of a child, one that I could see the closer they got was a certain Nautolan boy.
I stepped down from the stairs with Omega as she caught sight of them, breaking into a run to speak to them. Cleex, likewise, let go of Phee's hand and started to run too, right past Omega and stopping in front of me.
"Cleex, what are you doing here? Where's your mother?"
"I needed to see you." He didn't even bother trying to answer my question, grabbing hold of my wrist in both his small hands and tugging me down so my eyes were level with his. "You have to know something before you leave."
"What's wrong?" I crouched down in front of him, the boy's glassy eyes huge and unblinking. He leaned in close, as though ensuring no one else would be able to hear what he told me.
"Something feels wrong," he frowned at me, his next words sounding far too mature for the child's voice that delivered them. "I- I have a bad feeling, Astera. You shouldn't go. Something bad will happen if you do."
I reached out to ruffle the tendrils on the kid's head affectionately, trying to disguise the involuntary shiver that passed through me at the thought of this mission going wrong. We'd only met once, and the kid still felt obligated to come and warn me about a feeling he had. He would have made an excellent Jedi. "I'm sorry, but this is a mission we can't stay back from. You don't have to worry about me, kid. I'll be extra careful. I promise."
His lips pressed together, the dissatisfaction with my answer clearly showing, but he nodded anyway and glanced over my shoulder as I rose and took his hand to lead him back to Phee. Only she seemed to be quite busy herself.
I arched my eyebrows, seeing both Tech and Phee together at the entrance to the ship, again. They'd been spending a lot of time together since we'd landed on Pabu, which was highly uncharacteristic for Tech. I had no doubt it was Phee always going to him and pushing it, but he seemed to mind it less than he did with anyone else. In fact, I was beginning to think he even liked the attention. Though he clearly didn't know what to do about it - he seemed even more engrossed in his datapad than usual, to the point where it seemed almost forced. As I watched, she insistently pushed it down and spoke to him a little more intensely, though I was too far to make out their words.
As soon as she saw us approaching, Phee chuckled lowly and shook her head, turning away from him with an exasperated look. "See you around, brown eyes."
"I'll look out for him," I couldn't help but grin knowingly at her when she met us a few paces away. "But you don't have to worry about anything. Tech's got eyes for no one."
She just rolled her eyes good-naturedly at me and took Cleex's hand, leading the kid with her back to the stairs. "Come on, kid. Narri's probably wondering where you are right now. Next time you tell her where you're going before you come asking me to take you anywhere, alright?"
Tech watched her go, looking distinctly flustered - I thought I could even see a tinge of red in his face. I shook my head with a laugh - of everyone, Tech was the last person I'd expected this from.
"She's something, huh?" I nudged him teasingly, whose already wide eyes only darted to mine in alarm before he quickly - too quickly - spun on on his heel and marched up the steps of the Marauder, my quiet laughter following him into the ship.
******
"I have identified a suitable location to land outside their sensor range," Tech indicated a little spot on the outskirts of the planet, outlined in red on the navicomputer. I readjusted the pauldron on my shoulder nervously, patting down every section of my armour to ensure it was fixed in place. A small knot had been growing in my chest since we'd left Pabu, and the closer we got, the worse it was getting
"How are we bypassing those Imperial cruisers?" Hunter pointed to the three other blips circling the dot that was Eriadu, symbolising the Imperial cruisers outside the atmosphere.
"Using a clearance code Rex and I acquired from one of our contacts." Echo had the smallest of smug grins as he said the words, clearly proud of himself for having said clearance code.
"Good to have you back, Echo." Wrecker stuffed another of Shep's rolls in his mouth whole and grinned at Omega.
"Just like old times," I added with a slight edge of amusement in an attempt to loosen my anxiety. It had been too long since all six of us had run a mission.
The ship shot out of hyperspace, the three cruisers in question already looming above us. My chest constricted automatically at the sight of them, my breaths coming shallower and quicker. Aside from Serenno, it'd been a long time since we'd willingly put ourselves so far in Imperial territory, but now we were this close, the strangling feeling I'd become all too used to at one point had returned, my muscles also stiffening in response. The telltale signs of an oncoming panic attack.
Dank farrik. I'd put too much time into ensuring a reaction like this wouldn't happen again. I pressed my lips together and shook my head in an effort to clear those thoughts, forcing myself to take deep breaths and loosening my muscles one exhale at a time. This was a stealth mission. If we were careful, no one would even know we were there. It was nothing to get worked up over.
Omega looked over, noticing my stiff posture, and reached out to take my hand silently, offering up a small smile of reassurance. My answering smile was shaky, but her support helped to ease the lingering panic, enough that I could breathe normally.
"Wrecker, man the tail gun. Just in case," Hunter told the larger clone, who immediately got up with a nod.
"You got it."
"Transmitting clearance codes now." Echo leaned forward to press a couple of buttons on the display, opening the broadcast channel to prepare for the response from the cruisers. Omega squeezed my fingers beside me, her serious gaze firmly fixed on the view outside.
"If this doesn't work, be ready to fly out of here," Hunter warned Tech, gripping the back of Echo's seat so hard I was sure his knuckles would be turning white. Tech nodded, easing back on the controls and letting the Marauder drift toward the planet underneath the Imperial ships.
We didn't have to wait long for a response. "Vessel 1143, you are clear for approach."
The relief was palpable - everyone visibly relaxed, stiff shoulders rolling out and clenched fingers loosening from various tight grips. Even my chest felt like a weight had been lifted off it, though the residual shadows of panic still lingered.
Tech boosted the ship towards the planet, breaking through the cloud cover and heading straight for the landing zone he'd identified - a tiny outcropping of rock barely big enough to hold the entire ship.
"Let's make this quick." Echo already had a gun in hand as we descended the steps, the others following suit with their own weapons. "Before they realise we didn't land at the base."
"What kind of approach are we making?" Omega asked as we forged through the trees, her voice holding far too much enthusiasm for a mission like this. Almost like she was excited to show Echo what she had learned while he was away. "A side-wind breach?"
"It worked on Raxus." Tech acknowledged contemplatively, pausing to mull over the effects of said plan. Echo, however, shook his head grimly, immediately vetoing the idea.
"It won't work here. The Empire's protocols have changed since then."
"Thanks to us," Wrecker cackled, moving ahead to catch up to Hunter.
"That means no tanks and no explosions this time, Wrecker," I reminded him. Normally, the words would have been accompanied with a teasing grin, but I wasn't feeling like joking around right now. The sooner we completed his mission and left, the better.
"Fine." Wrecker's shoulders dropped with a groan, but he kept moving, ducking under a low hanging branch.
We kept low through the trees, creeping on the first sensor alarm that blipped steadily on Tech's datapad. It was soon visible through a gap in the canopy, attached to a huge metal support that towered above us. Similar supports decorated the view at evenly spaced intervals, thin beams stretching between them. As we watched, rail cars whistled past overhead, heading for the tallest mountain peak miles away from us.
My rangefinder clicked down automatically, the fuzzy shape that was Tarkin's compound suddenly magnified in my eyes. It was even uglier up close, the entire building almost carelessly shoved into the middle of the mountain. But I had to admit, the natural structure of the mountain were good fortification, albeit one that would make our job a whole lot harder.
"That compound is heavily fortified." I wasn't the only one who'd noticed - Hunter lowered his macrobinocs, the frown evident in his voice.
"But there's a weak point in the rail line we can exploit." Echo zeroed in on said weak point, indicating it for the rest of us. "We'll sneak past the sensor and hitch a ride under one of the cars."
"You mean... hang?" Omega said slowly, her eyes widening as she looked down over the edge, into the cloud canopy that obscured any view of what might be at the bottom. All I knew was that it was going to be a very, very long way down if one of us fell. "Over that?"
"Well, it's the only way to access the compound unnoticed."
"Tech, disable the sensor." Hunter deliberated Echo's response only briefly before making his decision, his visor passing over the support column and the sensor attached to it.
Tech consulted his datapad, reading off schematics for the sensor he'd scanned the instant Echo had pointed it out. "That would trigger an alert. I can temporarily disrupt the feed, but I estimate only thirty seconds for us to clear the zone before it reactivates. We must be precise."
Five sets of eyes turned simultaneously on Wrecker. "What?" he protested immediately. "I can handle it!"
"I'll catch him if he needs it," I cut in while Echo handed Tech a grappling line. Wrecker's only response was to scoff and mutter a "you're not throwing me" under his breath. Tech aimed the line at the sensor, Hunter raising his binocs again to give the signal.
He was running as soon as Hunter dropped his hand, the grappling hook sinking perfectly into the hull of the sensor and pulling him off his feet towards it. I knew those lines were safe, and he'd been in several similar situations before, but it still didn't stop me from instinctively reaching for the Force, ready to intervene if something went wrong. This planet had me as hypervigilant as Hunter was sometimes, only to the point of neuroticism.
Despite my worries, Tech made it onto the platform above the sensor, popping off the panel that hid the external controls and beginning to work on them. "Stand by," he said slowly, the rest of us rising up from our crouches with grappling hooks gripped and at the ready.
Squealing from further down the line had me switching focus, my rangefinder easily catching sight of the rail car quickly growing larger. "Another rail car is approaching," I informed Tech exactly that, still working at the sensor's controls.
"Are we set?" Hunter added, eyeing the vehicle with what sounded like concern. That rail car was moving a lot faster than we were expecting it to, and if it passed before Tech deactivated the sensor, well, then Tech going to all that trouble would very well just be useless.
"Not... yet," came the careful response, Tech still intently focused on the panel in front of him. The rail car was so close I could pick out the individual details on it now. We had seconds left.
I heard it when the sensor deactivated, a low pitched hum that sliced through the air and the red lights dying halfway through its next round. "The sensor is down. Move in!"
We were up and running before Tech had finished the second sentence, five grappling lines embedding themselves in the hull of the car at the same time. The winch in my vambrace caught and jerked me off my feet, body sailing through open air towards the rail car. I was probably airborne for two seconds, max, but it did nothing to lessen the thrill that went through me at the sight of my legs dangling over the very long drop, before my body half slammed into the side of the railcar and my hands automatically hooked over the first holds I could find, the soles of my boots bracing against the metal. The clones on either side of me had adopted similar positions, grappling hooks remaining embedded into the wall. Just in case.
"Halfway there," Echo called back eventually, voice cutting through the wind that tore at my armour and clothes. Wrecker huffed out a laugh on my right, the clone surprisingly calm considering we were hanging thousands of metres in the air.
"This isn't so bad." That was promptly followed by a groan, and his breathing accelerated to the point of hyperventilation. I didn't have to look back to know he'd made the mistake of glancing down. "Ohhhhh, never mind."
I shook my head and let the rangefinder click down again, the rapidly approaching rail car entrance blowing up in my viewplate. It was also built directly into the mountain, the line disappearing into the depths before reappearing on the other side. Walkways extended on either side of them, perfect for sentries to keep watch on the rail cars.
"There's two troopers on patrol," I caught a flash of white armour standing out starkly against the dark grey of the mountain. Their helmets weren't the distinctive shape I'd become used to over the Clone Wars, it was that new design that we'd first seen on Daro. "New designation, not clones." That would make our job just a bit easier.
We were now only metres away from the entrance of the railcar, and the troopers still hadn't clocked us. In fact, they both had their backs to the railcar, one of them surveying the sky from the corner and the other crossing the walkway to join them. A quiet snort escaped me before I could stop it - the clones would never have left such a big blindspot in their perimeter. The stormtrooper bill Sidious had wanted so badly might have cut the costs of cloning, but the troopers they produced were still inferior, training wise. Only this time, it would work in our favour.
I hit the ground at a run, charging across the walkway for the soldier with his back to me. He stiffened as the sounds of my footsteps reached him and turned, just in time for my fist to catch the front of his helmet rather than the side. He buckled sideways with a cry, providing all the more leverage for me to yank him into a knee thrust upward and wrestle his gun away from him. I slammed the butt of his blaster into his face, the momentum sending him fully over the railing with a scream.
The other trooper's weapon came up, and I jerked my shoulder back instinctively to let a blaster shot fly past and hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him over the edge with his comrade. I glanced briefly over my shoulder, briefly registering smoke curling from the barrel of Echo's blaster - so he had been the one to take the shot - but before I could say anything to him, the door set into the mountainside hissed open and a third trooper stepped out onto the narrow bridge.
Hunter raised his blaster and fired before the trooper could react, the resulting shot at such close range the soldier was launched off his feet and sent flying backwards into open space.
There was no one else in the corridor as Hunter directed us into it. Just like that, we had infiltrated Tarkin's compound.