Ghost - A Star Wars Fanfic

Chapter 17

Ground fighting had never really been Wedge Antilles' thing. He preferred a space-driven firefight with his joystick in his hand and his squad mates in his ear as an astromech beeped out binary commands through the computer and directed his flight pattern and weapon control. Unfortunately, that was not his mission at the moment. This mission would be far more important than any old space battle in his X-wing.

This was it. The opportunity the Alliance had been waiting for for over two decades. It could either deal a significant enough blow to the Empire to cripple the government and allow Chancellor Mothma to overtake power, or it could be the battle that dealt a blow hard enough to destroy the Rebellion completely. Either way, none of this would've been possible if not for the faint and distant distress call they had received. The ominous message had been replayed at the mission briefing on a loop, so similar to the message the princess had sent to Ben Kenobi back during the days of the Death Star when she had been captured by the Empire. Luke had told him how he had gotten the cryptic message from his astromech back on Tatooine and had immediately wanted to help the the princess despite not knowing who she was or why she was in trouble. But Leia's newest cry for help seemed to be worse as all of High Command had paled listening to the breathless voice shouting through the staticky comm of the Falcon. The failure of Luke, Leia, and Han to show up at the rendezvous had caused a bit of alarm, but the message was the last thing they expected to receive. But again, Leia's determination and stubborn will had gave the Rebellion hope once again, a chance to catch the Empire off guard.

Well, that was only if the stupid stormtrooper helmet sitting on his head would stay in place. He yanked the armored covering further down his face, grumbling out a few Corellian swears as the ocular lenses of the helmet provided him no visibility whatsoever. Not to mention the fact that his Alliance uniform underneath barely fit underneath the heavy armor and was squeezing against his limbs, slowing his movements. He took a deep breath and ignored his complaining mind, sweeping the corner with his blaster and continuing forward.

Walking around an Imperial detention complex, especially the one on Imperial Center, made him decidedly nervous, but he knew High Command had chosen him for a reason. As he approached the cells, he took a deep breath, looking out for heavily armed guards. Vader wasn't stupid to have someone like Luke locked up with mere amateur stormtroopers. A Jedi was difficult to capture, especially Luke, but even his luck had to run out at times.

Wedge was beginning to get desperate as he combed hallway after hallway and found nothing, the entire area like a never-ending labyrinth. He began to fumble for his comm to contact Admiral Ackbar before he heard the shout, "T-3802, what the hell is happening?" A devilish grin of hope spread on Wedge's lips underneath the helmet and he pressed up against the wall with his blaster gripped firm. He peeked around the corner to see two arguing troopers standing before a cell. Wedge couldn't see into the cell, but he knew it had to be exactly who he was looking for. Making sure his safety was off, Wedge spun on his heel and marched forward in standard Imperial fashion. Memories of his time as a TIE pilot sent all regulations and procedures flowing back into his brain and he played the part flawlessly.

"What are you doing down here, trooper?" One of them questioned to him when they noticed him approaching.

"We need more troopers out there, sir, we're getting massacred, a complete surprise attack," Wedge explained in a monotone.

The second trooper reached for his blaster instinctively, his eyes no doubt narrowing behind his helmet. "We're under strict orders from Lord Vader himself to have these prisoners under the highest of guard."

Wedge didn't even flinch, "I'm aware, sir, but Lord Vader did not expect an attack of this scale I'm sure. We need as many fighters as we can get...unless you want to refuse a direct order from Admiral Piett," The confidence in his tone almost convinced himself and he tried not to react to the negative memories of his time in the Imperial Academy.