Ch. 3 ~ You Might Get to Kiss me Goodnight
"I tell you Wedge, the agent has to be Winter." Tycho told Wedge fervently, over the comm in his X-Wing. He was flying right below Wedge and Elescol. The three X-Wings moved fluidly through the stars. They were en-route to Tattoine where Admiral Ackbar had assigned them. The planet was in uproar since Jabba the Hutt's death. Everyone was vying for a place in control. There was already an agent there, trying to calm things down. That agent was a woman. Rogue Squadron was to be there for her if she needed a strike force.
"Wishful thinking Tycho, the Alliance has a lot of female agents." Wedge chuckled.
"Yeah, but how many would have the guts to go undercover on Tattoine in the middle of a gang war?"
"Surely, Lieutenant Clechu, you aren't suggesting that female rebels lack courage?" Elescol asked Tycho with a grin. Wedge laughed.
"Okay, Tycho. Let's hear you fast talk your way out of this one." Wedge smirked as he said this.
"No contest Captain! I plead temporary insanity and beg the Lady's forgiveness." Tycho replied smoothly.
"Apology accepted, Lieutenant, but what makes you think your insanity is temporary?" Elescol chortled. Wedge cut off Tycho's reply with an order to jump to lightspeed.
The day was hot and dry like it always was on Tatooine. Winter was in her dressing room in one of the few good hotels. She already had on a purple evening dress that clashed terribly with her white hair. She pinned up the short hair and pulled on a blond wig just as her right hand man came in. His name was Kapp.
"Admiral Ackbar has sent Rogue Squadron to assist us." He started. Winter dropped the pin she was using. Rogue Squadron, coming here? That means I'll see Tycho… "Four of the flyers are here already. The other three arrive later today."
"So…their cover is a reception Huff Darklighter is holding to honor the anniversary of the death of his son, Biggs." Winter mused, trying to forget about Tycho.
"What does this do to our plan?"
"Their cover becomes my cover. Here's what I want you to do…" Winter began to explain to Kapp that she wanted him to hire some local gun slingers to raid Darklighter's party, but not to do any real damage or hurt anyone. There was something she needed to look for… Kapp nodded and left to fulfill his orders. Winter finished dressing, wondering exactly who would be attending the party along with Wedge. Surely Tycho…but Derek "Hobbie" Klivan, who was also a Rogue, knew Biggs. And Wedge would have to bring a date. Winter hoped that the other chosen would be Tycho, not Hobbie.
Later that evening, Tycho stood in the lobby of the hotel the Rogues had checked into. He was waiting patiently for the agent to show up. He paced nervously; hoping it would be Winter.
"So are you my date for the evening?" Came a soft female voice. Tycho hesitated. Was it Winter?
"Well, if it isn't the lovely and talented…" He began to turn and came face to face with a large Selocian female. He froze mid sentence as she grinned at him.
"Back of Betsi." A louder voice came. Tycho turned to see Winter headed his way, but no longer the spitting image of Princess Leia. "This soldier boy's mine. His Squadron saved me from pirates once upon a time and I promised to show him my gratitude." She said, protectively taking his arm. Winter tried to ignore the shock she felt being so close to him, not to mention the creeping jealousy she had felt when the woman had first approached Tycho. He was looking rather charming in a boyish sort of fashion in his dress whites.
"Well, I can't sell what you're giving away for free. Have a good night, Soldier." The Selocian said and walked away.
"Uh, thanks. You too…" Tycho muttered, his face flushing. He turned to look at Winter. "Winter! You look like a million credits! It's good to…" She reached up and put three fingers over his lips, causing him to immediately shut up.
"Shh. The name's Windimere Wellen." She said, steeling herself against all the thoughts that were going through her head. "And I'm a short-haul trader you saved from pirates, remember?"
"Like it was yesterday." Tycho replied dryly, but not missing a beat. "I hope you meant what you said about showing your gratitude."
"Just attend to business, flyboy, and I may let you kiss me goodnight." I can't believe I just said that! They were silent as they joined Wedge and Elescol. Soon they were off to the reception.
The reception was full of important people, ranging from local warlords, to Imperial sympathizers, to Rebel pilots. Tycho felt strangely out of place in his dress whites. Huff Darklighter had thanked them for coming, but he was a cold man and he left Tycho with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Winter seemed to be feeling the same way. They wandered over to the ice statue of Biggs, Huff's son who had been a Rogue pilot.
"There's been so much loss. It's hard to comprehend it all." Tycho said suddenly.
"You've lost as much as anyone, Tycho. Your fiancée Mia…your family…" Winter said slowly, testing the waters.
"Mia was my sister. My fiancée was named Nyiestra." Tycho said, turning from her to hide the pain in his eyes. Nyiestra had been a beautiful girl. Tycho had been pledged to marry her from a very young age and he had grown very close to her, but it had never come close to love. The last time he had seen her was when he said goodbye on the day after he was drafted. "This ice sculpture is melting already." He mumbled.
"According to your Imperial file…" Winter wasn't ready to let it go.
"That file's full of errors. I was talking to my family on Alderaan when the holonet transmission went down." Water cascaded down his hand. "Later, I learned why…because my whole planet had been destroyed by the death star. That's when I went Rebel." He said definitively.
"Raiders!" Some one screamed, just as Winter was reaching up to touch Tycho in comfort. They both spun.
"They're early!" Winter cried in dismay. Two hover cars and some speeder bikes came barreling towards the outdoor party, spraying the sand with blaster fire.
"You were expecting these guys?" Tycho demanded.
"They're a diversion I hired. Come on!" She grabbed Tycho's arm and pulled him towards Darklighter's compound. Tycho followed her, glancing back one or twice. They snuck into the darkened house. "There's a valuable data disk in Darklighter's safe that I'm itching to get my hands on." Winter told Tycho.
"You staged all this for a data disk?" Tycho was incredulous and he looked outside at the mess of the party.
"They're under strict orders to hurt no one. They'll break off the raid any moment now." She told him firmly. Tycho froze on the steps as he watched one of Darklighter's guards shot to the ground.
"Your diversion's turning deadly!" He called, sensing something gone terribly wrong.
"Shh…someone's inside." Winter whispered. She reached down and pulled up her dress, revealing a blaster strapped to her thigh. Tycho nearly choked.
"Nice…stunner." Winter ignored him and slammed into the door, firing as she went.
"Hold it you!" She yelled at two Rodians who were robbing Darklighter's safe. Tycho reached in and pulled her back just as a third came out of nowhere, shooting. He missed Winter by inches. The Rodians made good their escape, heading towards a waiting hover car. Winter pulled Tycho after her as they followed them outside. Winter spotted Wedge not to far from the Rodians. "Wedge! Stop those Rodians!" She called. Elescol pulled up in another speeder and Wedge hopped in.
"The Rodians got the disk! We have to get it back!" Winter said to Tycho.
"Too bad I left my wings back at the spaceport…" Tycho said ruefully.
"What's going on here?" Darklighter demanded, coming out from under a table. An idea came to Winter.
"Thieves hit your safe, you won't mind loaning us a speeder…" Minutes later Tycho was cruising along in a brand new land speeder, quickly gaining on Wedge and the fleeing Rodians. Winter unpinned her wig, letting it fly off. Her short white hair flapped in the breeze. "Obviously those raiders weren't the diversion I ordered. Somebody else wants that disk as badly as I do."
"That must be some disk."
"It could determine the future of the sector. Is that important enough for you?"
"Say no more." Tycho responded with a grin and used his expert in flying machines to edge a little more speed out of the speeder. They barreled along at a break-neck speed until they could clearly see Wedge and Elescol practically on top of the fleeing Rodians.
"Get closer!" Winter demanded in a detached manor. She felt to close to Tycho and was getting nervous. "We have to get that data disk!"
"Ease up." Tycho responded irritably, trying to hold the speeder steady at a speed it was never meant to go. "Elescol and Wedge practically have them gift wrapped. Besides, I promised Darklighter I'd bring this baby back without a scratch." Winter pulled out her blaster and shot off the metal emblem on the hood.
"Now it's scratched." She said coldly. "Get closer."
Just up ahead, Wedge and Elescol were just about to knock the Rodians out of the air when the rocks erupted in blaster fire, hitting their speeder. The speeder smashed into the sand and the two scurried out. Tycho dodged their wreck and Winter shot at the fleeing Rodians. Just then one of the mercenaries who had ambushed the other speeder took off, crashing into Darklighter's speeder. It lit on fire and Tycho lost altitude control. The speeder plowed nose first into the sand, throwing Tycho and Winter clear. Tycho pulled her to her feet and they ran from the speeder, only to be thrown forward by the explosion that followed. They got to their feet, unharmed and headed to where Wedge and Elescol were waiting. From the distance, Winter's original "distraction" approached. Her partner, Kapp, had hired the other Rogues as his helpers on accident and they had become suspicious and had knocked him out. Winter sighed in dissatisfaction as they all came together.
"I see you've met my partner, Kapp.
"This guy? He just hired us to buzz some dew ranch." Plourr Illo spat.
"Don't tell me…," Tycho said with a halfhearted chuckle, crossing his arms. "Your 'distraction' Winter?" Winter shrugged him off and began to think, pacing back and forth.
"I want to have a chat with Darklighter. You two come with me." She said, motioning to Wedge and Tycho. "The rest can return to Mos Eisley."
"Maybe I'll just go with the others and…" Tycho started, not anxious to have to explain to Darklighter what had become of the expensive land speeder.
"Forget it, Flyboy. You get to tell Darklighter all about his speeder." She said with a grin.
"Lucky me." Tycho muttered.
"I tell you Wedge, the agent has to be Winter." Tycho told Wedge fervently, over the comm in his X-Wing. He was flying right below Wedge and Elescol. The three X-Wings moved fluidly through the stars. They were en-route to Tattoine where Admiral Ackbar had assigned them. The planet was in uproar since Jabba the Hutt's death. Everyone was vying for a place in control. There was already an agent there, trying to calm things down. That agent was a woman. Rogue Squadron was to be there for her if she needed a strike force.
"Wishful thinking Tycho, the Alliance has a lot of female agents." Wedge chuckled.
"Yeah, but how many would have the guts to go undercover on Tattoine in the middle of a gang war?"
"Surely, Lieutenant Clechu, you aren't suggesting that female rebels lack courage?" Elescol asked Tycho with a grin. Wedge laughed.
"Okay, Tycho. Let's hear you fast talk your way out of this one." Wedge smirked as he said this.
"No contest Captain! I plead temporary insanity and beg the Lady's forgiveness." Tycho replied smoothly.
"Apology accepted, Lieutenant, but what makes you think your insanity is temporary?" Elescol chortled. Wedge cut off Tycho's reply with an order to jump to lightspeed.
The day was hot and dry like it always was on Tatooine. Winter was in her dressing room in one of the few good hotels. She already had on a purple evening dress that clashed terribly with her white hair. She pinned up the short hair and pulled on a blond wig just as her right hand man came in. His name was Kapp.
"Admiral Ackbar has sent Rogue Squadron to assist us." He started. Winter dropped the pin she was using. Rogue Squadron, coming here? That means I'll see Tycho… "Four of the flyers are here already. The other three arrive later today."
"So…their cover is a reception Huff Darklighter is holding to honor the anniversary of the death of his son, Biggs." Winter mused, trying to forget about Tycho.
"What does this do to our plan?"
"Their cover becomes my cover. Here's what I want you to do…" Winter began to explain to Kapp that she wanted him to hire some local gun slingers to raid Darklighter's party, but not to do any real damage or hurt anyone. There was something she needed to look for… Kapp nodded and left to fulfill his orders. Winter finished dressing, wondering exactly who would be attending the party along with Wedge. Surely Tycho…but Derek "Hobbie" Klivan, who was also a Rogue, knew Biggs. And Wedge would have to bring a date. Winter hoped that the other chosen would be Tycho, not Hobbie.
Later that evening, Tycho stood in the lobby of the hotel the Rogues had checked into. He was waiting patiently for the agent to show up. He paced nervously; hoping it would be Winter.
"So are you my date for the evening?" Came a soft female voice. Tycho hesitated. Was it Winter?
"Well, if it isn't the lovely and talented…" He began to turn and came face to face with a large Selocian female. He froze mid sentence as she grinned at him.
"Back of Betsi." A louder voice came. Tycho turned to see Winter headed his way, but no longer the spitting image of Princess Leia. "This soldier boy's mine. His Squadron saved me from pirates once upon a time and I promised to show him my gratitude." She said, protectively taking his arm. Winter tried to ignore the shock she felt being so close to him, not to mention the creeping jealousy she had felt when the woman had first approached Tycho. He was looking rather charming in a boyish sort of fashion in his dress whites.
"Well, I can't sell what you're giving away for free. Have a good night, Soldier." The Selocian said and walked away.
"Uh, thanks. You too…" Tycho muttered, his face flushing. He turned to look at Winter. "Winter! You look like a million credits! It's good to…" She reached up and put three fingers over his lips, causing him to immediately shut up.
"Shh. The name's Windimere Wellen." She said, steeling herself against all the thoughts that were going through her head. "And I'm a short-haul trader you saved from pirates, remember?"
"Like it was yesterday." Tycho replied dryly, but not missing a beat. "I hope you meant what you said about showing your gratitude."
"Just attend to business, flyboy, and I may let you kiss me goodnight." I can't believe I just said that! They were silent as they joined Wedge and Elescol. Soon they were off to the reception.
The reception was full of important people, ranging from local warlords, to Imperial sympathizers, to Rebel pilots. Tycho felt strangely out of place in his dress whites. Huff Darklighter had thanked them for coming, but he was a cold man and he left Tycho with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Winter seemed to be feeling the same way. They wandered over to the ice statue of Biggs, Huff's son who had been a Rogue pilot.
"There's been so much loss. It's hard to comprehend it all." Tycho said suddenly.
"You've lost as much as anyone, Tycho. Your fiancée Mia…your family…" Winter said slowly, testing the waters.
"Mia was my sister. My fiancée was named Nyiestra." Tycho said, turning from her to hide the pain in his eyes. Nyiestra had been a beautiful girl. Tycho had been pledged to marry her from a very young age and he had grown very close to her, but it had never come close to love. The last time he had seen her was when he said goodbye on the day after he was drafted. "This ice sculpture is melting already." He mumbled.
"According to your Imperial file…" Winter wasn't ready to let it go.
"That file's full of errors. I was talking to my family on Alderaan when the holonet transmission went down." Water cascaded down his hand. "Later, I learned why…because my whole planet had been destroyed by the death star. That's when I went Rebel." He said definitively.
"Raiders!" Some one screamed, just as Winter was reaching up to touch Tycho in comfort. They both spun.
"They're early!" Winter cried in dismay. Two hover cars and some speeder bikes came barreling towards the outdoor party, spraying the sand with blaster fire.
"You were expecting these guys?" Tycho demanded.
"They're a diversion I hired. Come on!" She grabbed Tycho's arm and pulled him towards Darklighter's compound. Tycho followed her, glancing back one or twice. They snuck into the darkened house. "There's a valuable data disk in Darklighter's safe that I'm itching to get my hands on." Winter told Tycho.
"You staged all this for a data disk?" Tycho was incredulous and he looked outside at the mess of the party.
"They're under strict orders to hurt no one. They'll break off the raid any moment now." She told him firmly. Tycho froze on the steps as he watched one of Darklighter's guards shot to the ground.
"Your diversion's turning deadly!" He called, sensing something gone terribly wrong.
"Shh…someone's inside." Winter whispered. She reached down and pulled up her dress, revealing a blaster strapped to her thigh. Tycho nearly choked.
"Nice…stunner." Winter ignored him and slammed into the door, firing as she went.
"Hold it you!" She yelled at two Rodians who were robbing Darklighter's safe. Tycho reached in and pulled her back just as a third came out of nowhere, shooting. He missed Winter by inches. The Rodians made good their escape, heading towards a waiting hover car. Winter pulled Tycho after her as they followed them outside. Winter spotted Wedge not to far from the Rodians. "Wedge! Stop those Rodians!" She called. Elescol pulled up in another speeder and Wedge hopped in.
"The Rodians got the disk! We have to get it back!" Winter said to Tycho.
"Too bad I left my wings back at the spaceport…" Tycho said ruefully.
"What's going on here?" Darklighter demanded, coming out from under a table. An idea came to Winter.
"Thieves hit your safe, you won't mind loaning us a speeder…" Minutes later Tycho was cruising along in a brand new land speeder, quickly gaining on Wedge and the fleeing Rodians. Winter unpinned her wig, letting it fly off. Her short white hair flapped in the breeze. "Obviously those raiders weren't the diversion I ordered. Somebody else wants that disk as badly as I do."
"That must be some disk."
"It could determine the future of the sector. Is that important enough for you?"
"Say no more." Tycho responded with a grin and used his expert in flying machines to edge a little more speed out of the speeder. They barreled along at a break-neck speed until they could clearly see Wedge and Elescol practically on top of the fleeing Rodians.
"Get closer!" Winter demanded in a detached manor. She felt to close to Tycho and was getting nervous. "We have to get that data disk!"
"Ease up." Tycho responded irritably, trying to hold the speeder steady at a speed it was never meant to go. "Elescol and Wedge practically have them gift wrapped. Besides, I promised Darklighter I'd bring this baby back without a scratch." Winter pulled out her blaster and shot off the metal emblem on the hood.
"Now it's scratched." She said coldly. "Get closer."
Just up ahead, Wedge and Elescol were just about to knock the Rodians out of the air when the rocks erupted in blaster fire, hitting their speeder. The speeder smashed into the sand and the two scurried out. Tycho dodged their wreck and Winter shot at the fleeing Rodians. Just then one of the mercenaries who had ambushed the other speeder took off, crashing into Darklighter's speeder. It lit on fire and Tycho lost altitude control. The speeder plowed nose first into the sand, throwing Tycho and Winter clear. Tycho pulled her to her feet and they ran from the speeder, only to be thrown forward by the explosion that followed. They got to their feet, unharmed and headed to where Wedge and Elescol were waiting. From the distance, Winter's original "distraction" approached. Her partner, Kapp, had hired the other Rogues as his helpers on accident and they had become suspicious and had knocked him out. Winter sighed in dissatisfaction as they all came together.
"I see you've met my partner, Kapp.
"This guy? He just hired us to buzz some dew ranch." Plourr Illo spat.
"Don't tell me…," Tycho said with a halfhearted chuckle, crossing his arms. "Your 'distraction' Winter?" Winter shrugged him off and began to think, pacing back and forth.
"I want to have a chat with Darklighter. You two come with me." She said, motioning to Wedge and Tycho. "The rest can return to Mos Eisley."
"Maybe I'll just go with the others and…" Tycho started, not anxious to have to explain to Darklighter what had become of the expensive land speeder.
"Forget it, Flyboy. You get to tell Darklighter all about his speeder." She said with a grin.
"Lucky me." Tycho muttered.