AN: Dedicated to @Majestic-Thorin for the comments and votes! Thank you so much :D I posted an aesthetic I made at the bottom. I'm still experimenting, but it's definitely fun!
Landing on Frellor felt exhilarating to Talia. Her first real act of rebellion was on an infiltration mission, and it included a team! Other physical, real rebels who were trained for battle were present and ready to go. She didn't want to get too optimistic for this mission, but her inner child shouted for calls of justice. After what happened to her on Corellia, she deserved to see the Empire lose something important, whatever it may be.
They had landed near a beach, where all five rebels were waiting. Their tan camouflaged outfits made them stand out against the calm blue look of the ocean, yet blended in with the sand. A soft breeze swept by, causing the fronds on the palm trees to sway softly. The air smelled of sea salt and fish, and almost brought Talia back to her early childhood. She nearly fell into a flashback until the rebels advanced towards them.
Cassian went ahead and spoke to them for a moment. The blank faced rebels appeared to have hard exteriors. They held their guns to their sides, ready for some action. Some of them had cuts, others scars, while many had dirty or calloused hands. After some words had been exchanged, and nervous glances thrown her way, Cassian waved her over. He hadn't told them her identity in order to keep her operation safe, but not knowing who she was made the rebels feel hesitant.
Talia stood among them as the team exchanged ideas and drew a map in the sand for their reference. The rebels kept information as vague as possible at Captain Andor's request. Letting Talia know the full details put everyone in danger. If she got caught later on while at work, the Empire could torture her in attempt to gain knowledge.
Talia knew that wouldn't happen. Let them try... She lost her train of thought when everyone moved towards the freighter. She caught up to Cassian and questioned, "How are we going to get inside the facility?"
Cassian side-glanced at Talia and flexed his jaw. "Find a side entrance to the building. There's a nationalization ceremony taking place on Wayland, so all of the workers are there."
That only left one more question the Captain would choose to answer. Talia sat down in the copilot's chair as she watched the rebels climb down into the cargo hold. "How many Imperials are we anticipating?"
Cassian pushed a few buttons on the console before he sat down. Now that was a good question. How many Imperials get deployed to work on a Star Destroyer? Five, six thousand? That could make up for the vast majority of the Imperials on Fresia. A rough estimate of who was left would be...three hundred at the most. Incom Corporation was an incredible asset to the Empire. Cassian couldn't calculate any more than that when they had a Star Destroyer protecting it. He stopped for a second in thought, then went back to starting up the ship. "It doesn't matter." He made sure the codes had been transmitted from Captain Antilles, and reassured himself when he glanced them over.
Talia grew uneasy and leaned back in her seat. His words hadn't soothed her at all, and created a knot of uncertainty in her chest. She was going to have to come to terms with killing someone. Granted, she couldn't see through the storm troopers' helmets, but this was taking someone's life. Taking them away from their families. Their friends, if they were lucky enough to have any. Maybe there was another way...
She had to protect Cassian no matter what because of the state he was in. He was doing the Rebellion a huge service. Talia would only let the senators down if she could've saved Captain Andor, but didn't.
That's what made her nervous the most.
It didn't take long for them to leave hyperspace and get passed the Empire's security using the transmitted codes. Cassian let out a breath he had been holding once he set the ship down in one of the landing pads across from Incom's facility. He exchanged a glance with Talia, then nodded.
This was it. One of the most important missions of the Rebellion was about to take place, and both Cassian and Talia were given the opportunity to be a part of it. For that, they would be eternally grateful.
For now, they were nervous about the mission failing. Neither of them would admit it out loud.
Fresia was different than both of them imagined it to be. It was a vast desert, covered in the same tan colored sand as the hot planet of Tatooine. The sun shined down in blazon fury, scorching the sand with its heat. The wind had no care in the world to show up, so only the dry air settled in its spot. Storm troopers made rounds circling the building, but if timed right, the rebels could make it inside the facility without getting caught.
Talia pointed the rebels in the right direction to a side entrance. She found it odd so little storm troopers were present on the outside, but perhaps some of them were on break from the intense heat. Either that, or they were in the academy way off in the distance. Training new soldiers must've been more important than protecting whatever was inside the empty staffed facility.
Adrenaline pumped through Cassian's veins, causing the pain in his side to subside. He kept moving throughout the facility as Talia directed him on where to go. If he were to stop, he thought he'd collapse right then and there. He held his blaster close to his chest; his eyes flickered around. He couldn't control his heart as it pounded against his chest.
"Take a right up ahead," Talia whispered. She watched Cassian every few minutes to make sure he was okay. If he were to collapse, she would have to take the lead on this, since she was the only person who knew the layout of the place. It was truly rotten that she had no clue on why they were here. It's classified. She mimicked Cassian in her thoughts. Talia had to have faith that the rebellion was onto something good here.
Cassian peered back at his short-term copilot in near annoyance. "How much farther?" This place seemed to be a huge labyrinth. Ten minutes had already gone by. Get in. Get out. If only it were that simple.
"Two halls over. Room eight." She yearned to question what was in such a huge room. The room itself was the size of a fourth of the building. She glanced down the hall, and locked eyes with two patrolling storm troopers.
Talia's dark oak eyes widened as they put their guns up; she quickly yanked Cassian deeper into the hall for cover. The storm troopers' E-11 blaster rifles' shots hit the wall, missing their target by a hair. The heat kissed Cassian's skin, sending chills down his body. Talia ducked her head out and fired at the Imperials in an effort to scare them. Her hand shook slightly. Killing them was a horrifying thought. She knew the aftermath of death all too well. She didn't want to put their families through that, if they had any at all.
Cassian narrowed his eyes at Talia and stepped beside her. He raised his gun and fired, hitting the storm troopers in the heart. Both fell to the ground in a heap. "You were holding back," he pointed out in a low growl.
"I would have handled it without killing them," she spat back, shooting him a side glare.
He got up close to her, fire bright in his eyes. This wasn't something to be taken lightly. Cassian spoke lowly to make sure no one else heard, "You either kill, or you die. You're not only putting your life at risk, but the team's and the entire rebellion. Either step up, or go wait in the ship."
Talia clenched her jaw as she held steady eye contact with the captain. She had to choose her words very carefully. He wouldn't send me back. He doesn't trust me enough yet. He had heart. She had to give him credit for that. If he didn't, he wouldn't have stayed behind to protect her, or given his real name. He could've gotten someone else to do that, but no. He did it himself. She whispered fiercely, "I hope not all rebels are as soulless as you." Soulless was the perfect term. One could have a heart, but still have no soul.
The lights dimmed for a split second, then the facility's emergency siren started to go off.
Cassian's anger only ignited the fire inside of him even more. "This is on you," he told Talia, holding back all of the venomous comments he could've said. He was better than that. They had a mission to do.
Their window just minimized almost completely.
He nodded towards the other rebels and they stayed grouped together, moving faster through the halls to get to the giant room. Talia moved in front of them and led the way, firing at walls to make the storm troopers run for cover. Two rebels in the back fired at oncoming storm troopers from their direction, and made sure the Imperials didn't get a chance to fire their blasters. Cassian put in the codes for the room and waited for the door to open. The alarm system must've delayed access for any coded rooms. He held his blaster tightly, finger itching to pull the trigger on a bucket head. He controlled himself and waited for the right moment.
A group of storm troopers came around the corner and shot at the rebels. Talia stepped in front of Cassian to shield him, and shot near the enemies' heads. One of the rebels in front got hit by the blasters, and the rest fired. It was madness.
Both sides fired, but it was the storm troopers that fell to the ground in the end. One rebel got wounded in the shoulder, and another hit in the leg, but all in all, they were fine. Once they got the X-Wings, they would get out of there and seek medical attention back at Dantooine base. Cassian hit the door access pad impatiently, and it opened slowly, but surely. He entered the room as the lights turned on, and stood in brief amazement.
Four X-Wing prototypes sat on the hangar floor. The bright white paint with red lower sides glistened under the luminous light. Stripes of red ran along the far sides of the wings, close to the connected laser cannons. The S-foils that made up the wings were held together when stationary, but Cassian couldn't wait to see them fold out into an X shape during flight. Finally...A break for the Rebellion. Cassian sighed internally in reassurance.
Talia watched the door and shot every now and then at the oncoming storm troopers. She peered into the room for a moment, her eyes catching onto the newly made fighter ships. She held her head up high and watched the rebels run to the cockpits for a brief moment. This will teach the Empire a lesson. She thought to herself, and turned back to the hall.
Cassian took out his communicator and declared into it, "Contact me if there are any problems. Is that clear?" He received an affirmative from the rebel in charge of the group, allowing him to leave the room. He walked passed Talia, over the dead body of their fallen soldier, and headed towards his ship. He fired at the storm troopers ahead of him, dropping them to the floor like unwanted trash. Cassian felt a tinge of relief when he was able to take them down, and he wasn't sure if that cheered him on for more, or started a sick feeling in his stomach.
Talia followed behind Cassian quickly. She held her gun up, watching out for any storm troopers that came their way. Echoes of footsteps came from down the other hall, headed towards the hangar bay where the X-Wings were. Both of them attempted to put a pep in their step, but Cassian began to lag behind. Talia took his arm and put it over her shoulder. He scowled for a second, until he felt the relief of pain that came with it. She helped him move faster down the corridor, while he held his gun up, ready to shoot anyone that got in their way.
One of the rebels called out on Cassian's communicator, "I figured out the controls. Beginning power up sequence... Abort! Abort launch sequence! I'm detecting anti-aircraft turrets all over the area!"
"You've got to be kidding me..." Cassian trailed off bitterly as they exited the building.