1 Ch 10 ~ I Don't Like the Idea of Letting You Down
Tycho checked his scope once more to make sure that he wasn't wrong. Nope. A couple dozen hostiles. No problem Clechu. If you make it out of this alive… He was jarred out of his reverie when the missile lock went off. Sith!
"Tycho, things would be a little less crowded if we were flying through the Death Star." Winter told him dryly from the gunner's seat.
"And a might bit less hostile too, hang on!" Tycho swung the Y-Wing around as fast as he could, barely missing a building as he did.
"Your move didn't fool them."
"Not designed to. I wanted to give you better targets." Tycho shot back at her.
"Such generosity…" Winter muttered, aiming at a new enemy.
"Well, you deserve the best, Winter."
"I'll settle for clear scopes."
"Wish I could comply, love, but my scope just picked up incoming." Tycho tried not to sound downtrodden, but there was little chance they could hold off anymore. They were already at their limit.
"And I show a heavier ship here. It was fun, wasn't it?" Winter said the words slowly, wishing she could at least touch his face. Tycho didn't reply immediately, but when he spoke next, she was very confused.
"And about to become more so!" Tycho's voice was elated.
"What?" Winter was more than confused, but her question was soon answered and she laughed openly.
"You haven't finished these guys off yet, Tycho?" Wedge's voice crackled over the comm in a relieved fashion, no doubt happy to find them in one piece.
"Well, you know these Y-wings are slow and I wanted to leave a few for Winter to shoot." Tycho explained with a grin.
"You'll regret that remark Clechu." Winter grumbled.
"Get clear. We have them." Wedge insisted, seeing the terrible shape that the Y-Wing was in.
"There's lots of them. Seven of you. We have shields, we'll come back into the fight, thanks though," Tycho responded and Wedge rolled his eyes.
"Move fast, may not be that much fight left for you."
"Three for each of us?" Wes said in dismay, counting the ships that had yet to be destroyed. "Not odds I like…"
"Lets even them up then," a flippant voice called. All of the X-Wing pilots turned to see the Millenium Falcon sweeping over the Axxila sky line.
"By the Emperor's black bones…" Wedge muttered.
"You X-Wing pilots, so excitable when rescued," Han said with a chuckle as he and Fel turned their attention to helping out the Rogues.
"Has to be Solo in that thing." Tycho laughed.
"Why is that?" Wedge questioned as he targeted another hostile.
"Who else thinks a stock freighter is a snubfighter?" There was a general consensus as the Rogues laughed.
"Han you just love poaching on and X-Wing's kills, don't you?" Wedge said, trying to keep the light mood moving.
"Bad habit of not wanting to see friends die, Wedge." Han replied, Chewie grunting in agreement.
"Tough habit to break. Don't try."
"Lead, I'm seeing hostiles evac the area," Tycho called, very relieved. He heard Winter let out a breath behind him.
"Copy that. My scope is clear. Hobbie, Wes, you give us cover. Han, Tycho, we'll escort you home." Wedge was more than glad to give the orders.
Leia was waiting in the landing bay when she saw the Falcon coming in. "Han? What is he doing here?" She turned to jog towards the ship when it landed. She ran right past Wedge who was walking with Avan and Feylis Ardele, another of the Rogues.
"I'm telling you, Captain, that freighter came out of nowhere!" Avan was insisting.
"The Falcon does that sort of thing pretty well," Wedge responded, half watching the limping Y-Wing set down on the other side of the bay.
"You're referring to the Death Star at Yavin, right?"
"Solo and the Falcon saved Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion doing less than today," Wedge responded with a nod.
"Question is, how did the Falcon get here?" Feylis asked the question Wedge had been wondering himself. The only thing he could think was that Han had come after Winter and Tycho.
"And how did Tycho get here?" Avan asked.
"I'm a bit more concerned with our getting out of here," Wedge said, dodging their questions and looking towards the Y-Wing.
Fel watched curiously as Princess Leia raced past him to greet Han who was coming down the ramp of the Millenium Falcon. He turned to Chewie, thoroughly confused. "That was Princess Leia. But I thought she was a prisoner."
"Arrorroronk?" Chewie replied, moving in a way that could only be considered a shrug.
"Which leaves the question of who is in the Y-Wing with Tycho. You know, working for the Empire was never this confusing." Fel muttered to himself, then walked towards Wedge, who was making his way towards the Y- Wing. The canopy of the Y-Wing was just opening.
Tycho sighed audibly and pulled off his helmet while Winter did the same. "We're down. We're safe. Without your shooting, we'd have been seriously vaped," he said as he began to climb out of the cockpit.
"You're welcome, Tycho. Without your flying, we'd be two Alderaanians headed for the Graveyard."
"I'm not looking forward to making that last trip home for a good long time." Tycho slid off they Y-Wing, landing lightly on the ground. He winced in pain, but looked up to Winter, offering to help her down with a raise of his arms.
"You're a better pilot than you are a realist. Our jobs don't make long life very likely." Winter told him seriously as she started to climb out. So this is what it comes down to. Tycho thought idly. We'll always have this between us. The fear of commitment because one of us might be killed at any time.
"It's not the length of life, but how much you do with it that counts." His voice was serious as he lifted her down, pausing as he did, to let her hang almost motionless in mid-air.
"That's a philosophy I can agree with." Tycho smile. "You can let me down now."
"I don't like the idea of letting you down." Tycho's face was entirely serious and Winter searched his eyes for any sign of amusement.
"You haven't, so far, but I would like my feet on the ground again." Winter was firm, so he set her down.
"Why?"
"So I can stand on my toes and do this." 'This' was a kiss. Winter stood on her tiptoes, true to her word, and kissed Tycho. After all, he deserves it.
Wedge and Fel stopped their advance when they saw this. Wedge grinned and Fel took careful note of the pleasure his commanding officer took in witnessing this unknown girl kiss his second in command.
"Come on," Wedge tugged Fel's sleeve. "Things are probably bad down on the surface, we're going to have to do something."
"Wedge…" Leia approached with Han. "An Imp Star has just dropped out. It's Krennel. Hobbie and Wes say things are bad down on the surface."
"If only we could get Pestage to order them out of here…but that would blow everything we've worked for. Even with the Falcon and Tycho with that Y-Wing we have no hope of getting past and Imp Star…"
"Maybe there's another way." Fel said slowly. "Solo, if you could mount that tractor beam, I might be able to get them out of here. I'll need Tycho and that Y-Wing."
"Agreed. Let's get out of here." Wedge nodded. "Tycho! Is your Y- Wing ready to go?" he called to his second as Tycho and Winter approached, hand in hand.
"Huh? Yeah, I guess so…"
Minutes later, Tycho was strapped back into the Y-Wing with his ribs bandaged quickly by Leia. This time however, his gunner was different. Fel sat behind him.
"Are you sure you don't want to be flying, Colonel? Instead of shooting?" Fel still made him nervous. I hate how I feel around him…
"You think I'm that bad a shot?" Fel asked with a chuckle.
"Ah, no… I ah…"
"Relax. This isn't Carida. And I want you flying because you are far more qualified in this thing than I am." Tycho nodded and finished his preflight. "Here we go.
Winter watched the Y-Wing take off. Please don't die. I want to see you again…
Between Tycho's flying, Leia and Wedge's shooting, and Fel and Han's maneuvering, they managed to capture a Tie Fighter, which they tractored back to the base. Once back, Fel overrode Krennel's orders, ordering him instead to stand down, using the captured Tie Fighter's secure Imperial code. Each Rogue held their breaths, waiting for news. Finally Tycho sat up straight in his seat, pulling off the headset.
"Krennel's gone! They've left the system." There was a collective sigh of relief.
"Let's get out of here." Leia urged and no one disagreed with her. The Rogues loaded up and the Millenium Falcon prepared for lift off. Winter waited by the ramp, wondering if Tycho would say goodbye. When will we see each other again? It could be months… As she waited, Leia caught her eye and walked over.
"Smile Winter. He's all yours now. I see you did fall in love with him…or was that a fake kiss?" Her gentle teasing caused Winter to smile. She ran her fingers through her hair, grateful to not be wearing the wig anymore.
"I guess I am in love. Problem is…he's here today…shipped out tomorrow. Or I am."
"Never fear my dear friend. I won't let him slip away from you that easily." Winter raised an eyebrow, ready to ask what she meant, but Leia was already halfway up the ramp. Winter leaned back against the ship and watched at Tycho approached Wedge, looking much better. He was back in his normal off duty pilot garb. His face had been looked at and bandaged where he had been bleeding. Leia had done an amazing job of covering up his bruised and swollen eye.
"I copy Hobbie, we'll pick you two up on our way out." Wedge finished talking with Hobbie and turned to Tycho.
"We're pretty much good to go. The Colonel will take Leia's X-Wing and Nrin is ok to fly." Tycho motioned over his shoulder at Nrin.
"Good enough."
"You want me to fly the Y-Wing back?" Tycho asked, motioning to the ship.
"Hard to throw away good equipment," Wedge told Tycho with a nod. Winter approached at hearing their conversation and stood a few feet behind Tycho, crossing her arms and looking menacingly at Wedge.
"Okay, I'll just tell Winter she should just ship in the Falcon."
"Wait, we never checked the hyperdrive on it. Pirates likely have it patched together," Wedge said, his eyes widening as he saw Winter.
"Diagnostics seemed okay on it…," Tycho said, unaware of what was going on.
"Pirates probably screwed that system up too."
"I'm willing to chance it, Wedge." What is his problem? We could use that ship. Its not like I don't take risks everyday.
"I'm not," Well that at least is true, Wedge thought silently. I've never been more afraid of a woman as she is making me feel right now. "Pull the memory cores from it. You'll have to ship home with Han."
"If you insist…" Tycho gave Wedge and odd look and for a moment Wedge thought he might really protest.
"Consider it an order." Tycho shrugged and turned to go get the memory cores, surprised to find Winter standing there, as if she were waiting for him. He turned and looked at Wedge, who raised a knowing eyebrow. Ah, now I understand. I think. He turned back to Winter and smiled at her, taking her hand and the two of them walked off.
"And that's the way it should be… And Tycho, I'm really not willing to risk that." Wedge spoke slowly, then radioed Tycho's intentions up to Han, and then finally turned to go to his X-Wing, smiling all the time.
Tycho checked his scope once more to make sure that he wasn't wrong. Nope. A couple dozen hostiles. No problem Clechu. If you make it out of this alive… He was jarred out of his reverie when the missile lock went off. Sith!
"Tycho, things would be a little less crowded if we were flying through the Death Star." Winter told him dryly from the gunner's seat.
"And a might bit less hostile too, hang on!" Tycho swung the Y-Wing around as fast as he could, barely missing a building as he did.
"Your move didn't fool them."
"Not designed to. I wanted to give you better targets." Tycho shot back at her.
"Such generosity…" Winter muttered, aiming at a new enemy.
"Well, you deserve the best, Winter."
"I'll settle for clear scopes."
"Wish I could comply, love, but my scope just picked up incoming." Tycho tried not to sound downtrodden, but there was little chance they could hold off anymore. They were already at their limit.
"And I show a heavier ship here. It was fun, wasn't it?" Winter said the words slowly, wishing she could at least touch his face. Tycho didn't reply immediately, but when he spoke next, she was very confused.
"And about to become more so!" Tycho's voice was elated.
"What?" Winter was more than confused, but her question was soon answered and she laughed openly.
"You haven't finished these guys off yet, Tycho?" Wedge's voice crackled over the comm in a relieved fashion, no doubt happy to find them in one piece.
"Well, you know these Y-wings are slow and I wanted to leave a few for Winter to shoot." Tycho explained with a grin.
"You'll regret that remark Clechu." Winter grumbled.
"Get clear. We have them." Wedge insisted, seeing the terrible shape that the Y-Wing was in.
"There's lots of them. Seven of you. We have shields, we'll come back into the fight, thanks though," Tycho responded and Wedge rolled his eyes.
"Move fast, may not be that much fight left for you."
"Three for each of us?" Wes said in dismay, counting the ships that had yet to be destroyed. "Not odds I like…"
"Lets even them up then," a flippant voice called. All of the X-Wing pilots turned to see the Millenium Falcon sweeping over the Axxila sky line.
"By the Emperor's black bones…" Wedge muttered.
"You X-Wing pilots, so excitable when rescued," Han said with a chuckle as he and Fel turned their attention to helping out the Rogues.
"Has to be Solo in that thing." Tycho laughed.
"Why is that?" Wedge questioned as he targeted another hostile.
"Who else thinks a stock freighter is a snubfighter?" There was a general consensus as the Rogues laughed.
"Han you just love poaching on and X-Wing's kills, don't you?" Wedge said, trying to keep the light mood moving.
"Bad habit of not wanting to see friends die, Wedge." Han replied, Chewie grunting in agreement.
"Tough habit to break. Don't try."
"Lead, I'm seeing hostiles evac the area," Tycho called, very relieved. He heard Winter let out a breath behind him.
"Copy that. My scope is clear. Hobbie, Wes, you give us cover. Han, Tycho, we'll escort you home." Wedge was more than glad to give the orders.
Leia was waiting in the landing bay when she saw the Falcon coming in. "Han? What is he doing here?" She turned to jog towards the ship when it landed. She ran right past Wedge who was walking with Avan and Feylis Ardele, another of the Rogues.
"I'm telling you, Captain, that freighter came out of nowhere!" Avan was insisting.
"The Falcon does that sort of thing pretty well," Wedge responded, half watching the limping Y-Wing set down on the other side of the bay.
"You're referring to the Death Star at Yavin, right?"
"Solo and the Falcon saved Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion doing less than today," Wedge responded with a nod.
"Question is, how did the Falcon get here?" Feylis asked the question Wedge had been wondering himself. The only thing he could think was that Han had come after Winter and Tycho.
"And how did Tycho get here?" Avan asked.
"I'm a bit more concerned with our getting out of here," Wedge said, dodging their questions and looking towards the Y-Wing.
Fel watched curiously as Princess Leia raced past him to greet Han who was coming down the ramp of the Millenium Falcon. He turned to Chewie, thoroughly confused. "That was Princess Leia. But I thought she was a prisoner."
"Arrorroronk?" Chewie replied, moving in a way that could only be considered a shrug.
"Which leaves the question of who is in the Y-Wing with Tycho. You know, working for the Empire was never this confusing." Fel muttered to himself, then walked towards Wedge, who was making his way towards the Y- Wing. The canopy of the Y-Wing was just opening.
Tycho sighed audibly and pulled off his helmet while Winter did the same. "We're down. We're safe. Without your shooting, we'd have been seriously vaped," he said as he began to climb out of the cockpit.
"You're welcome, Tycho. Without your flying, we'd be two Alderaanians headed for the Graveyard."
"I'm not looking forward to making that last trip home for a good long time." Tycho slid off they Y-Wing, landing lightly on the ground. He winced in pain, but looked up to Winter, offering to help her down with a raise of his arms.
"You're a better pilot than you are a realist. Our jobs don't make long life very likely." Winter told him seriously as she started to climb out. So this is what it comes down to. Tycho thought idly. We'll always have this between us. The fear of commitment because one of us might be killed at any time.
"It's not the length of life, but how much you do with it that counts." His voice was serious as he lifted her down, pausing as he did, to let her hang almost motionless in mid-air.
"That's a philosophy I can agree with." Tycho smile. "You can let me down now."
"I don't like the idea of letting you down." Tycho's face was entirely serious and Winter searched his eyes for any sign of amusement.
"You haven't, so far, but I would like my feet on the ground again." Winter was firm, so he set her down.
"Why?"
"So I can stand on my toes and do this." 'This' was a kiss. Winter stood on her tiptoes, true to her word, and kissed Tycho. After all, he deserves it.
Wedge and Fel stopped their advance when they saw this. Wedge grinned and Fel took careful note of the pleasure his commanding officer took in witnessing this unknown girl kiss his second in command.
"Come on," Wedge tugged Fel's sleeve. "Things are probably bad down on the surface, we're going to have to do something."
"Wedge…" Leia approached with Han. "An Imp Star has just dropped out. It's Krennel. Hobbie and Wes say things are bad down on the surface."
"If only we could get Pestage to order them out of here…but that would blow everything we've worked for. Even with the Falcon and Tycho with that Y-Wing we have no hope of getting past and Imp Star…"
"Maybe there's another way." Fel said slowly. "Solo, if you could mount that tractor beam, I might be able to get them out of here. I'll need Tycho and that Y-Wing."
"Agreed. Let's get out of here." Wedge nodded. "Tycho! Is your Y- Wing ready to go?" he called to his second as Tycho and Winter approached, hand in hand.
"Huh? Yeah, I guess so…"
Minutes later, Tycho was strapped back into the Y-Wing with his ribs bandaged quickly by Leia. This time however, his gunner was different. Fel sat behind him.
"Are you sure you don't want to be flying, Colonel? Instead of shooting?" Fel still made him nervous. I hate how I feel around him…
"You think I'm that bad a shot?" Fel asked with a chuckle.
"Ah, no… I ah…"
"Relax. This isn't Carida. And I want you flying because you are far more qualified in this thing than I am." Tycho nodded and finished his preflight. "Here we go.
Winter watched the Y-Wing take off. Please don't die. I want to see you again…
Between Tycho's flying, Leia and Wedge's shooting, and Fel and Han's maneuvering, they managed to capture a Tie Fighter, which they tractored back to the base. Once back, Fel overrode Krennel's orders, ordering him instead to stand down, using the captured Tie Fighter's secure Imperial code. Each Rogue held their breaths, waiting for news. Finally Tycho sat up straight in his seat, pulling off the headset.
"Krennel's gone! They've left the system." There was a collective sigh of relief.
"Let's get out of here." Leia urged and no one disagreed with her. The Rogues loaded up and the Millenium Falcon prepared for lift off. Winter waited by the ramp, wondering if Tycho would say goodbye. When will we see each other again? It could be months… As she waited, Leia caught her eye and walked over.
"Smile Winter. He's all yours now. I see you did fall in love with him…or was that a fake kiss?" Her gentle teasing caused Winter to smile. She ran her fingers through her hair, grateful to not be wearing the wig anymore.
"I guess I am in love. Problem is…he's here today…shipped out tomorrow. Or I am."
"Never fear my dear friend. I won't let him slip away from you that easily." Winter raised an eyebrow, ready to ask what she meant, but Leia was already halfway up the ramp. Winter leaned back against the ship and watched at Tycho approached Wedge, looking much better. He was back in his normal off duty pilot garb. His face had been looked at and bandaged where he had been bleeding. Leia had done an amazing job of covering up his bruised and swollen eye.
"I copy Hobbie, we'll pick you two up on our way out." Wedge finished talking with Hobbie and turned to Tycho.
"We're pretty much good to go. The Colonel will take Leia's X-Wing and Nrin is ok to fly." Tycho motioned over his shoulder at Nrin.
"Good enough."
"You want me to fly the Y-Wing back?" Tycho asked, motioning to the ship.
"Hard to throw away good equipment," Wedge told Tycho with a nod. Winter approached at hearing their conversation and stood a few feet behind Tycho, crossing her arms and looking menacingly at Wedge.
"Okay, I'll just tell Winter she should just ship in the Falcon."
"Wait, we never checked the hyperdrive on it. Pirates likely have it patched together," Wedge said, his eyes widening as he saw Winter.
"Diagnostics seemed okay on it…," Tycho said, unaware of what was going on.
"Pirates probably screwed that system up too."
"I'm willing to chance it, Wedge." What is his problem? We could use that ship. Its not like I don't take risks everyday.
"I'm not," Well that at least is true, Wedge thought silently. I've never been more afraid of a woman as she is making me feel right now. "Pull the memory cores from it. You'll have to ship home with Han."
"If you insist…" Tycho gave Wedge and odd look and for a moment Wedge thought he might really protest.
"Consider it an order." Tycho shrugged and turned to go get the memory cores, surprised to find Winter standing there, as if she were waiting for him. He turned and looked at Wedge, who raised a knowing eyebrow. Ah, now I understand. I think. He turned back to Winter and smiled at her, taking her hand and the two of them walked off.
"And that's the way it should be… And Tycho, I'm really not willing to risk that." Wedge spoke slowly, then radioed Tycho's intentions up to Han, and then finally turned to go to his X-Wing, smiling all the time.