by H N Bezdek
They couldn’t take this mission.
“Your task is to find and make copies of the cards as quickly and quietly as possible,” continued Wisp. “Get out with the copies undetected and bring them back to us. No one can know that you’re there. Do this, and you’ll be rewarded by no longer having to take my class.”
“Yes!” said Minotaur, raising both of his hands. He lowered them a bit as Wisp looked at him. “Er, no offense.”
“Um, on second thought,” said Christina quietly. “I think we might need to pass on this one. I have a good feeling we’ll be able to ace the exam without-”
“I’m sorry, Null,” said Wisp, putting a hand up and cutting her off. “Your unit has already agreed to take the mission. We can’t allow you to back out now.”
“Null hasn’t been feeling well recently,” said Oscar. “I didn’t want to embarrass her, but it might not be wise to send her out into the field right now.”
“She hasn’t seemed sick to me,” said Viper, looking Christina over suspiciously.
“We can send her for a checkup with a medic before you go,” offered Wisp.
Christina shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. Just a bit of a cold… I’ll be fine for this.”
“Good,” said Wisp, glancing at a flashing red notification on the hologram table. “It looks like the stolen Imperial Fighter we confiscated has been refueled. Ghost will meet you there. Time for you all to head out and do us proud.”
Chapter 4
Before they knew it, Christina and the others were onboard the stolen Fighter and on their way to their first official mission.
The gray Imperial Fighter was able to fit around twenty people, which meant Christina and the others had more than enough space. The ship was well equipped for a fight in return for sacrificing some speed. It wasn’t particularly abnormal for these ships to be traveling from base to base across the galaxy, so they didn’t have to worry about being intercepted on their way to the Operation Center.
Ghost piloted the ship, allowing them to get some rest during the first day. Early on the second, they had changed into their Galactic Empire outfits, Minotaur’s looking like it was a size too small. There weren’t many Durgak’s in the Empire’s army, so it wasn’t a surprise the Rebels had problems stealing one that would fit him comfortably. He didn’t seem to mind, though. The potential of skipping his spy exam made him all smiles.
Christina wished she could be as excited. If their target laid eyes on her, the whole thing would be a bust. Not only would her unit be compromised, but she’d never be able to work with the Rebels again. They would know who she really was.
“Is anyone else a bit nervous?” asked Blazer, pacing the main room as the others watched him.
“Of course,” nodded Christina. “This is our first mission. It’s a big deal.”
“We also weren’t given a great amount of information yet,” added Oscar. The robot had been anxious ever since they were given the mission, and uncharacteristically quiet.
“That’s got a lot to do with it,” agreed Blazer. “I’d feel better if we knew more.”
“Allow me to fix that,” said Ghost, entering the room.
“Woah, perfect timing!” exclaimed Minotaur. “How do you do that?!”
“The intercom was left on,” shrugged Ghost. “I could hear everything you were saying.”
Minotaur’s shoulders sagged at the loss mystery, but Blazer stepped forward.
“What’s the plan, sir?” he asked.
“Right,” nodded Ghost, walking over to a cabinet to their right and opening it up. “Because this mission calls for secrecy, we’ve created aliases for each of you. You’ll each have a station, and it’s important you stick to it as long as possible. You’ll also need to hold onto these forms of identification, should you be stopped. Memorize them as best you can.”
Ghost passed out badges to everyone. Christina looked down at hers. Her name was Nicole Rodriguez and she was a Lieutenant Junior Grade. To her surprise, however, the picture wasn’t of her.
“You can’t do any better finding a girl that looks like me?” asked Viper, her face crinkled in disdain as she held the card up for the others to see. The girl looked completely normal to Christina, but Viper clearly wasn’t happy with it.
“Mine looks like me,” shrugged Minotaur. “Maybe they gave you the wrong one?”
“Wrong picture for me, too,” said Blazer, who then looked at Christina’s. “Null’s as well.”
“They aren’t mistakes,” chuckled Ghost, turning back to the cabinet and pulling out a strange looking helmet. The glass was so tinted Christina couldn’t see through it, and it looked heavy. “You never know if someone onboard could recognize you from before you joined the Rebels. When our mission is for the Galactic Empire to never know we were there, we take on the appearance of someone else. That way, if they later realize something is the matter and review the footage of when we were there, there’s no way to know it was us.”
Without another word, Ghost put the helmet on his head. Christina shared a worried looked with Blazer as the helmet made a scanning noise.
“Are we supposed to know what he’s doing?” asked Viper.
Ghost removed the helmet, revealing a much older face with short, silvered hair. If Christina hadn’t witnessed him change, she’d have hardly believed it!
Ghost removed a card from the back of the helmet and handed it to Viper. “Simply insert your ID card, then put it on.”
Viper did so, then Blazer. Each was made to look drastically different. Viper now had blonde hair up in a bob, while Blazer’s face no longer showed its cyborg half.
“Woah…” said Blazer, glancing in a mirror behind them. He touched his face in disbelief. “Maybe I should do something like this permanently.”
“I prefer the way you normally look,” mentioned Christina.
“Really?” asked Blazer, turning back and raising an eyebrow.
Christina blushed and nodded. She didn’t think about it before she spoke. She quickly inserted her card into the helmet and put it on.
The inside of it was completely black, and for a moment she couldn’t tell whether her eyes were opened or closed. A flash of blue light appeared at the top, then slowly moved down as she heard it scan. She could feel her face changing, but it thankfully didn’t hurt.
“These masks will only last up to 24 hours,” she heard Ghost say. “You wouldn’t be able to make the change permanent.”
“Oh,” said Blazer, disappointed.
Christina took off the helmet and handed it back to Ghost.
“Long nose,” commented Oscar.
Christina glared at him. “What about your costume?”
“Minotaur and Oscar won’t change their faces,” explained Ghost. “Minotaur will fuel the ship while Oscar and I stay onboard.”
“Guess I’ll have to miss out on the fun!” said Oscar.
Lucky.
“Aw,” said Minotaur, taking the news quite differently. “I have to sit this out?”
“Sorry. A Durgak wandering the halls will draw attention,” said Ghost, handing out small earpieces to Viper, Blazer, and Christina. “There’s also no way to disguise Oscar, so he’ll be speaking to you all from inside the ship. I’ll remain with the two of them in case there are any problems, and to monitor how the unit does.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of Oscar being in our heads…” said Christina slowly.
“Agreed,” nodded Blazer.
“At least Viper’s got my back,” said Oscar.
“Well…” she replied, looking away from him. “You can be a little… much, sometimes.”
“What?!” gasped the robot.
The room flashed red and an alarm sounded.
“What’s that?” asked Viper, spinning around.
“Don’t change the subject!” demanded Oscar.
“We’re being locked onto,” said Ghost, hurrying to the front of the ship. “We’ve arrived.”
C
hapter 5
As they entered the control room, several screens flashed with warnings on them. Up ahead, Christina and the others could see a large, circular ship. There was a red outline imposed around it, meaning it viewed them as a potential hostile.
“W-What do we do?” asked Blazer.
“We talk to them,” said Oscar. “They probably aren’t expecting us and just want to make sure we make contact before getting any closer.”
“Correct, Oscar,” nodded Ghost. “I’m glad to hear you’ve been studying up on the Galactic Empire’s protocols.”
“Uh, yeah,” said Oscar, casting a look back at Christina. “Null reads them to me before we go to sleep.”
“I’ve never heard her reading,” said Viper, tilting her head to the side.
“I try to keep it down so I don’t wake anyone,” said Christina quickly.
Before they could be questioned anymore, a large message appeared on the screen saying Incoming Call. Ghost hit it, and a man’s voice spoke to them.
“We do not have any records of a ship arriving at this time,” said the voice in an almost apathetic tone. Christina figured this wasn’t an extremely rare occurrence, and the worker was just going through the motions. “Please give me your name and ship number.”
Ghost turned to Christina and gestured for her to speak.
“You’re the highest ranking alias,” he whispered.
“This is Lieutenant Junior Grade Nicole aboard Fighter SK920,” said Christina, keeping her voice as steady as she could, glancing at the ship number on a screen to her right. “We’re in need of a quick refuel.”
“Where are you coming from, SK920?” asked the man.
“Quazlu,” she said, after Ghost whispered it to her.
“Quite the journey,” said the man, sounding interested for the first time. “How did you like it out there?”
“If we could skip the small talk, I need my ship fueled as soon as possible,” said Christina firmly.
The others looked back at her in shock, except for the impressed Viper. It was harsh, but Christina knew how this worked. Anyone that was speaking to incoming ships from the Operation Center would’ve been outranked by her.
“Very well, ma’am,” said the man, mild annoyance in his voice. “You can pull into Port 7 for refueling.”
Christina cut off communications. A few seconds later, all of the warnings and alarms turned off. The Operation Center was no longer outlined in red, and Ghost piloted the ship forward.
“We’re in!” smiled Christina.
“You were a natural!” exclaimed Minotaur.
“I would’ve been stuttering all over the place,” nodded Blazer. “Weren’t you scared?”
“Clearly not with the way she shut down the operator,” chuckled Ghost.
“Oh… Should I have not done that?” asked Christina, pretending to not know any better.
"No, you did a good job there," nodded Ghost approvingly. "Now the real fun begins. Minotaur, there should be one or two guards that watch the ports. Be sure you don't make yourself to widely known while you are fueling our Fighter. Obviously, you will probably draw some attention being who you are, but just reply with grunts if they ask you anything and they should leave you alone for the most part."
"Got it!" said Minotaur. "You can count on me!"
"I hope so," said Ghost. "Because we actually do need the ship to be refueled."
"Oh," said Minotaur glancing around. "Maybe you can’t count on me, then. I actually don't know how to do that."
"I'm sure you can figure it out," said Ghost before turning his attention to the rest of them. Minotaur looked flustered, but let it go. "The three of you will need to make your way down the hall towards Port 1. That is typically where the nicest rooms on the ships are, so I assume General Trent has taken one of them. You'll need to sneak into his room, find the cards, and make a copy of them."
"About that," said Blaser. "How exactly do we make a copy of them?"
"Ah, yes," chuckled Ghost, pulling out a metal device from his pocket and handing it to Blazer. "You couldn't have gone very far without this, could you have? When you have the card, simply feed it through the opening on the top and the handheld will copy that data. When it’s done, the card will come out of the other end."
"Is there anything else that you are forgetting?" asked Viper suspiciously. "Is this even really an Operation Center? Or is this all a staged room to see how we handle the pressure?"
"You really think that the Rebels would waste all this effort just for you to come back without any real intelligence?" asked Ghost, narrowing his eyes.
"That wasn’t a straight answer!" fired back Viper.
Christina rolled her eyes. "What about getting into General Trent’s room?"
"We don't know the code to any of the rooms on the ship," shrugged Ghost. "It will be up to you three to figure out how to get in."
"I can think of a few ways," snickered Viper, tapping her fingers together.
"Remember, you shouldn’t leave behind a mess that will tip anyone off."
"More like you don't want us to destroy anything that you will have to replace for the next unit’s test," said Viper giving him a wink.
Ghost ran his hand over his face and shook his head.
Their Fighter reached the designated port by the time they finished talking. A notification popped up in the front that let them know it was safe to board the Operation Center.
“You want me to stay here and moderate them, right?” Oscar asked Ghost.
“Correct,” he replied. “Listen in to everyone’s conversation and direct them where to go next.”
"Sounds easy enough to me!" said Oscar, floating over to a chair and landing. "Good luck, guys! Hopefully we don’t have to listen to you all get killed."
“Thanks for that,” mumbled Christina, heading for the Operation Center with the others. She couldn’t wait for this to be over.
Chapter 6
Christina, Blazer, and Viper walked down the main hallway of the Operation Center. All the ports and rooms were connected by one long hallway that created the main bulk of the ship. If the ship was ever under attack, the ports doubled as its defense, along with a charged up plasma ray that would form in the center of the circle of the ship. Christina had heard of the ship’s devastating power, but the Rebels being so decentralized cause this powerful weapon to rarely be fired.
The others followed Christina's lead as she would salute the appropriate officers who outranked them, keeping up the appearance. Viper wasn’t keen on saluting at first, but she eventually followed suit.
"Wow," said Blazer, after getting saluted back. "You really must have been studying up on all of the Galactic Empire's rankings, Null. Not even I recognize a few of these."
"Yeah," said Christina glancing sideways at him nervously. She was probably being a little too cautious with all the saluting. After all, most of the men and women that they outranked rarely saluted them. "I figured it would be something that would come in handy later."
"You guys can keep track of the ranking and all this bureaucratic stuff," said Viper. "I'll take care over when we come across any serious threats!"
"No," said Blazer firmly. "We’re hopefully not going to have any ‘serious threats’."
"That’ll only happen if everything goes smoothly," pointed out Viper. "What are the odds we don’t have any hiccups?"
Christina wasn't a fan of how hopeful Viper was for this mission to be a bust.
"Don't get carried away, Viper," came Oscar’s voice in their ears. "If we are going to pass this exam, then we need to do this the way we were told. I don’t think Wisp will be happy to hear that we blew our cover just because you were in a stabby mood."
Viper crossed her arms. "You‘re only saying that because you’re stuck on the ship. If you were here, you’d be wanting some action, too."
The three of them were nearly to Port 1 according to some signs Christina saw overhead. They were closing in on what
was hopefully his room, where they’d need to figure out how to break in undetected. Right as she started thinking of ideas, a door up ahead opened and a tall man walked out.
Christina felt her heart skip a beat as General Trent walked in their direction. She held her breath as he got near, doing her best to remember that she was disguised and there should be no reason he would suspect her.
"Excuse me!” said General Trent with mild annoyance, pausing as they passed. “Are you not going to salute the general?"
All three of them stammered and saluted him at the same time.
"I-I'm really sorry, s-sir," stammered Christina, upset with herself for forgetting something so simple.
"It w-won't happen again!" said Blazer.
General Trent squinted his eyes at Christina and leaned toward her. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Christina saw Viper and Blazer begin to panic out of the corner of her eye, but she tried to play it off. It wasn’t like she had too many other options. "I don't believe so, sir.”
"Your voice sounds oddly familiar," said the General, itching his chin. “But I can't seem to place your face. What’s your name?"
"Nicole Rodriguez," said Christina, trying to make her voice a little bit lower.
"Are you and these other two stationed here?" he asked, with suspicion. "Even though you seem familiar, I don't recall you being onboard."
“Quick, someone else talk!” came Oscar’s voice.
"There's plenty of us on the ship," said Viper, trying to get his attention off of Christina. "It's hard keeping track of everybody."
"I make a point to know everyone that is serving on my ship," said General Trent firmly. Christina cursed herself for forgetting that about him. "Are you telling me that you three are the only three on this ship I don’t know about?"
It didn't seem like a good idea to Christina to try and keep the lie up.
"She's just playing around, sir. I’ll be sure she’s reprimanded appropriately," said Christina, pretending to look disappointingly at Viper. "We just arrived for a quick fueling of our Fighter. Decided to stretch our legs while that happened."
