by H N Bezdek
Operation Center
by H. N. Bezdek
Copyright © 2018 Herrin Enterprises LLC
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
While the barracks were always cold, Christina still hadn’t gotten used to it even after nearly a month. She bundled up as best as she could underneath several layers of covers as she glanced through her espionage notes. The irony wasn’t lost on her that she was acting as a spy while studying, she just wished it would help her pass their exam.
The classes at the Rebel Training Academy proved to be challenging, but Christina and the rest of Unit 98b were up for the task. Mostly, anyway. The classes had been condensed to fit into a three-month program, which meant they had less time for studying than past recruits. Christina, Blazer, and many of the other students spent a lot of their free time reviewing their notes or practicing.
Viper, Oscar, and Minotaur… not so much.
Loud laughter came from the other side of Christina’s short wall. She was getting pretty good at blocking Oscar and Viper out. The two of them had been hitting it off, apparently bonding over their lack of desire to learn anything or work hard. Whenever Christina would break out her books, Oscar would float over the wall and keep Viper distracted.
“Morning, Null,” said Medusa, leaning against the opening.
“Hey, Medusa!” smiled Christina, looking up from her notes. “Come to study with me?”
“Actually no. I’m already studying with my unit,” shrugged Medusa. “I was wondering if you could get your friends to quiet down some? It’s getting on some of the other’s nerves.”
Christina sighed. While she had gotten used to Oscar and Viper’s incessant noise, that didn’t mean everyone else had.
“I’ll do my best,” said Christina, leaving the warmth of her bed.
Christina turned around the corner as Medusa went back to her unit. The girl’s barracks were about half full, and she could see people peeking their heads around to see what was causing all the ruckus. Christina felt her face turn pink with embarrassment as she gave an apologetic wave to everyone.
She entered into Viper’s room to see Oscar broadcasting a hologram onto the back wall. Christina panicked for a second, thinking he might be contacting her father, but then realized he’d never be so foolish. Besides, it wasn’t like the Emperor was making much time for them. After finding out it would be some time before they learned anything useful, the Emperor had been shorter and shorter with them whenever Oscar contacted him. He hadn’t even answered them the last two times. That was more than fine with Christina.
What wasn’t fine with her was what Oscar was playing. She recognized the four-year-old version of herself painting on the walls of a ship, smudges all over her clothes and face. The young Christina was babbling to the camera about how great her painting of a flower was. It looked significantly more like a giraffe than anything else.
“Had she never seen a flower before?!” laughed Viper, holding her side and rocking back and forth.
“She had a garden in the other room!” wheezed Oscar.
The two roared even louder at that, until Christina jumped forward and smacked Oscar, disrupting the broadcast.
“Don’t show people those videos!” demanded Christina.
“But they’re so good!” argued Viper, doing a horrible job of fighting back a snicker.
“We’re just having some fun,” said Oscar smugly.
“Can you two cut it out?!” hissed Christina, keeping her voice low in hopes that the other recruits weren’t listening in. The last thing she needed was Valkyrie to overhear and come make everything worse. “Everyone else is trying to get ready for the espionage exam. You’re distracting them!”
“Good,” said Viper, crossing her arms. “We’re hurting the competition.”
“You should be thanking us,” nodded Oscar.
“This isn’t a competition anymore!” argued Christina. “We’re all Rebels! We want them to succeed!”
“Oh,” said Viper, tilting her head and looking as if this was the first time she had heard this. “Right.”
“You both should be studying too, you know!” continued Christina, looking back and forth between them. “We can only move on if everyone in the unit passes. That includes you, Oscar.”
“I’d worry more about Minotaur than us,” said Viper dismissively.
Admittedly, she was. The Durgak had struggled a lot in class, not seeming to understand that you weren’t supposed to fight the Imperials that you were trying to trick. However, it wasn’t like Viper had done well on the last quiz.
“Why don’t you two come study with me?” offered Christina.
“Boring!” they said in unison.
Christina clinched her fists and growled at them. “Alright… what do you want to do then?”
“Let’s go to the shooting range!” said Viper, getting exciting.
“That’s always fun!” added Oscar.
Christina wasn’t concerned at all about passing their shooting practicum. All of them had proven to be above average shots, with Viper and Oscar being the best in class. Unfortunately, that meant that’s all they ever wanted to do.
“We were just there two days ago,” said Christina, shaking her head. “We can shoot when we’re done with our spy exam. It’ll be like a reward.”
“I’m not studying for it,” said Viper resolutely. “I know enough to pass it, if barely, so I’m not going to waste anymore time on it.”
“If we’re not going to practice with blasters, I can think of a few more videos to show you,” Oscar offered Viper. “There’s one of Christina when she tried to swim for the first time…”
“Okay, okay!” grumbled Christina, swatting at the floating piece of junk metal. Oscar dodged out of her way, circling around her arm tauntingly. “If I go with you two to the shooting range do you promise to stop sharing those embarrassing videos and quiet down?!”
“Aw!” complained Viper. “But you were so stupid as a little kid!”
“Fine,” said Oscar as Christina glared at Viper. “I’ll do my best to stop sharing your hilarious childhood videos.”
“And you’ll both keep it down in here in the future?” insisted Christina.
“Sure,” said Viper winking at Oscar as she hopped off her bed.
“I saw that!” shouted Christina, following the two of them out of the barracks.
Why did she have to get stuck with this unit?
Chapter 2
The blaster range was set up on the backside of the Training Academy and pointed away from the main buildings. While it would’ve been nice to have it indoors, the freezing temperatures allowed them to practice under nonideal circumstances. Christina guessed from the familiar buzzing sounds as they approached that several other recruits were already using it as a distraction from studying.
Christina and the other two walked passed a few stalls to try and find an empty one that gave them some space. About a fourth of the way in, she did a double take and came to a stop.
Minotaur and Blazer had their backs turned. Minotaur was practicing with a small pistol-like blaster Christina hadn’t seen before, while Blazer was firing with a long gun. The two of them unloaded down the range at paper targets made in the shape of the Emperor. It made Christina a little uncomfortable.
“What are you two doing here?” asked Christina when the two finished firing.
“Having some fun!” smiled Minotaur, holding up his blaster.
“I can see that,” said Christi
na, tongue in cheek.
“Minotaur wasn’t sitting still,” said Blazer apologetically. The two of them had talked about Blazer tutoring the Durgak before the exam. That clearly wasn’t going well. “He said he’d be able to focus better if we did some shooting first.”
“We don’t need to study for that lame test,” scoffed Viper. “For all we know, the real test is to know when to study and when not to! Eh? Eh?”
The others ignored her.
“What is that you’re using?” Oscar asked Minotaur, floating closer to the small, silvery blaster. “I’m not familiar with a model like that one.”
“It’s a Z Model,” explained Minotaur excitedly. “I had never shot one before. They’re really fun!”
“Where’d you find it?” asked Christina.
“I let him borrow it,” came a new voice. Christina turned to see Tundra approaching them with a laid-back smile. “One of my favorite blasters. It’s got some pretty rad features.”
“Rad?” Viper mouthed.
“Like what?” asked Christina, looking at the gone curiously.
“There’s a third option on it,” said Tundra. “Instead of stunning or killing, you can set it to sleep. It’ll drop your target without making as much noise, plus you can wake em up more easily.”
“I suppose that makes it hurt less,” guessed Oscar.
“Yeah,” nodded Tundra. “I’ve accidentally shot myself with it a couple times. Doesn’t really hurt at all, and you get some of the best sleep you’ll ever have! It’s like you can’t even remember what happened beforehand.”
Before Christina could ask him how he accidentally shot himself with it more than once, a blonde haired girl walked up behind him, her arms crossed and a sour look on her face.
“Why are you talking with these dweebs?” asked Valkyrie.
“Is that really the way to address a higher ranking unit?” asked Viper, sticking her nose in the air.
Valkyrie glared back, but Tundra just laughed.
“She’s got a point,” said Tundra.
“Whatever,” said Valkyrie, rolling her eyes. “I’m done here. Let’s go find the rest of our unit and compare notes one more time.”
“We should do the same,” Christina said, glancing at the others.
“Aw…” complained Minotaur and Tundra.
“No way!” said Viper. “We just got out here! You promised we’d get to shoot or Oscar could keep sharing those embarrassing videos of young you!”
“That piece of junk has videos of you?” asked Valkyrie, a wicked smile spreading.
“As if I’d ever show you them,” said Oscar.
Christina smiled at the robot.
“These videos are only meant for those in our unit!” finished Oscar.
Christina frowned at the robot.
“Ah, there you are!” came Ghost’s voice. Christina and the others turned to see their old recruiter walking briskly towards them. “Medusa said I’d find you out here! And with the whole unit, perfect!”
“Is something wrong?” asked Christina, her heart skipping a beat. She hated being singled out by the Training Academy. It always made her think they found out who she really was.
“Not at all,” said Ghost, shaking his head. “You all should follow me inside. We have a potential mission for you.”
“But we need to study,” said Blazer.
“And shoot!” exclaimed Viper.
“There will be time for that later,” said Ghost. “Since you’re the top ranked unit, you’re going to be offered any available missions first. We can’t go down the list until after we talk with you.”
“And we can reject the mission, right?” asked Christina. She was worried the others were thinking this was a way to get out of studying for the spy exam. While she was looking forward to doing real work with the Rebels, she wanted to make sure their unit didn’t get stuck at the Training Academy for the next year.
“If as a group you decide to,” nodded Ghost.
“Yeah, it’ll become completely normal for you soon,” smirked Valkyrie. “If you want to live, you’ll have to pass on all the dangerous and exciting missions.”
“It’d be a shame if we lost you in one,” said Oscar dryly.
“I can handle way more by myself than your whole unit put together,” she shot back.
“Pretty sure we didn’t beat them at the Ranking,” pointed out Tundra. “My memory might be fuzzy, though. You did use me as a shield, after all…”
“I said I was sorry!”
“Enough,” said Ghost, growing impatient. “Valkyrie and Tundra, you two might as well come, too. If Null’s unit turns it down, there’s a good chance it’ll fall to you.”
“You don’t need to make it sound like we’re being given their scraps,” grumbled Valkyrie.
“Is that how you’re going to view future missions?” asked Ghost, raising an eyebrow. “Is this something I should warn Mask about?”
Valkyrie’s eyes widened and she frantically shook her head. “N-No! I-I was just playing around!”
“I suggest you change your attitude, then,” said Ghost, turning around and heading for the closest building without another word.
Christina and the other shared a smirk as they followed Ghost. Even though she didn’t want to come out to the shooting range, seeing Valkyrie get told off had made it completely worth it.
Chapter 3
The group of Rebels walked into the operations facility. Christina hadn’t been inside of it yet, and was surprised to find several dozen robots working throughout. Since the Training Academy only had so many instructors, they must’ve relied heavily on these robots to receive and send information to the Rebels scattered across the galaxy.
Ghost led them through a series of hallways and brought them into a large office. A hologram table was in the middle of the room, which was otherwise bare. The spy teacher, who went by the name Wisp, leaned over the table. Wisp was a Heulon woman, looking just like a human except for a mist that circled around them. It’s been said that they could control the mist and use it to form a protective shadow around them, but Christina never knew if that was just a rumor.
“I wasn’t aware Tundra and Valkyrie were in Unit 98b,” said Wisp, raising an eyebrow to the two recruits.
“Figured I’d bring them with,” shrugged Ghost. “No harm in a couple more recruits listening in. If 98b turns down the mission, maybe they’ll be interested.”
“After the second and third ranked units get a chance, of course,” said Wisp. She glanced over at Minotaur and Viper, smiling. “I have a feeling they’ll be accepting this mission, however.”
“Why’s that?” asked Blazer.
“This one will require a high level of skill in espionage,” explained Wisp. “The unit that successfully completes this will automatically be granted a passing grade on my upcoming exam. Based off of some of your earlier scores, I’m not sure if I’d miss out on this opportunity…”
“We’re in!” said Minotaur quickly. Oscar nodded in approval.
“For sure!” added Viper, jumping up and down.
“Er, maybe you should listen to what the mission is first?” offered Valkyrie, her eyes wide. Christina was certain the girl wanted to skip this exam just as much as anyone. While she didn’t know her scores, Valkyrie didn’t exactly exude subtlety. “Besides, if you go with this one, you’ll miss out on any other missions that come in while your away. Something even better might come up.”
“Doesn’t seem likely,” said Christina, glancing at the others. “I’m in if everyone else is.”
“This is what we signed up for,” nodded Blazer, his voice a bit nervous.
“Sounds like we won’t be needing Unit 12d’s help then,” said Wisp, smiling at Ghost. “Would you mind escorting them out? They’ve got an exam they should be studying for.”
“Not a problem,” said Ghost, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and pushing them out.
“Best of luck, guys!” said Tund
ra, waving goodbye to them. Valkyrie pouted and didn’t say a word. Christina smiled at the thought of coming back to find out their unit failed because of Valkyrie.
Wisp waved a hand over the hologram table, causing an array of green images to appear. In the middle of it all was a large, circular spaceship with several arms stretched out in different directions. It had been a few years, but Christina had been on one of these before. They were called Operation Centers, and were strategically sent across the galaxy to provide support and supplies to the Galactic Empire’s troops in the region.
“We’ve found the location of one of these Operation Centers about two days away,” began Wisp. “It’s anchored out in the middle of nowhere for some reason, but we have no idea why.”
“So you want us to figure out what’s going on,” reasoned Oscar.
“We’re not opposed to that, but it isn’t the main point of this mission,” said Wisp, the mist around her spinning as she shook her head. “This Operation Center recently fueled on the planet Fruna, and one of the Emperor’s favorite generals was spotted going onboard. We believe he is carrying several cards with important information on him.”
“You want us to kill him and take the cards?!” asked Viper.
“This mission calls for gathering intelligence, not assassination,” said Wisp firmly. “Only as an absolute last resort should you kill anyone on the ship. The Empire would realize we could’ve only found out about them from out contacts on Fruna, and they’d likely destroy the whole planet if it brought about the death of General Trent.”
The hair on the back of Christina’s neck sprung up. She saw Oscar give her a worried glance out of the corner of her eye, but she did the best she could to not react. A man appeared on the hologram table, an eyepatch over his right eye.
Christina had known General Trent since the videos Oscar had been showing Viper. She always thought of him as a nice, friendly man, although he obviously needed to be around her. She had seen him not too long ago, and was certain he would recognize her and Oscar immediately.
