Hearts Are Meant To: Chapter 8
Wedge had been right about the guys not being happy. In fact, they'd been anything but. For the past week they'd treated Luke with a cold detachment. Luke gathered that a lot of their resentment came from the speculation that Luke and Genna had had some sort of lover's quarrel, and the Rogues were upset that they no longer had much of a shot at her. Ridiculous as that was, Luke had to laugh at the thought, even as the Rogues were continuing to treat him distantly. In addition, Commander Narra had been scarce lately, leaving Luke to puzzle over what he'd gotten himself involved in that didn't involve the Rogues. But Luke didn't really have time to worry about any of these things at the moment. Those issues would just have to wait for the time being. Right now, there were more serious matters to deal with.
The squadrons had met in the large staffing room of the Mon Calamari cruiser, Home One. Seated among the rest of the pilots, Luke looked around at the assembled group. There were many familiar faces, some he even recognized from Yavin. There were also many new faces he didn't recognize. And then of course, there were the faces of those he would never see again. It was a very sobering thought.
"We're establishing a second base on Derra IV," General Rieekan began. "There's a group already there that has managed to gain control of two manufacturing plants and has also secured engineers to help build and reconstruct snubfighters for our use against the Imperial TIEs."
"'Bout time!" someone from the back of the room called out.
Luke had to smile. They were really running short on spacecraft, and he shared the enthusiasm. Several of the other pilots in the room chuckled as well.
Rieekan smiled and nodded. "Yes, I understand the situation has been very desperate. And I was sure this news would be welcomed."
Someone else called out from the back of the room, "What about the talks of moving the base to the Hoth system?"
Luke shuddered involuntarily at the mention of the icy planet that Han and Leia were currently scouting. He looked to Rieekan, hoping against hope that the talks hadn't gone any further.
Rieekan caught Luke's eye and winked. Luke felt his cheeks grow warm in embarrassment at the gesture, even as Rieekan continued, "Right now, they're just talks. Nothing more. We have personnel checking it out now, but there's nothing more I can tell you about those plans. However, the Derra IV initiative does concern all of you. So I suggest you turn your full attention to it."
Luke perked up at this.
"We have operatives stationed on the planet Vi'tra, and they have gained access to the materials we need to get this operation underway," Rieekan continued. "But as you know, Vi'tra is an Imperial world, and it is heavily defended. Getting the supplies out will not be easy. Nor will protecting them once they are off of the planet. However, they are vital, both to Derra IV, and to our shipyards on Mon Calamari. We'll need reinforcement ships if we are to successfully win this war."
Luke nodded gravely.
General Rieekan then stepped aside and ushered Commander Narra forward.
Narra surveyed the assembly before his eyes rested on Luke, and he smiled. "Before we go into the specific assignments for each Flight group, I want to take a moment to introduce all of you to the newest team we've assembled. Well, actually, I have assembled, and I will be leading it as well."
Luke blinked his eyes in shock. He hadn't heard anything about this.
Narra continued, "It has been brought to my attention that many of the flight teams, the Rogues especially, have been under quite a bit of a strain. Now, of course, we all know they'll deny it; after all, the word around is that there's a running competition over the number of kills, and the Rogues want to keep their lead. But at the same time, I do not want any of my valuable pilots in any of the flight teams to find themselves flying to the point of exhaustion. We all know how fatal that can be. Therefore, I've managed to dig up a few recruits as well as some of our newer pilots, and I've put together our brand new Renegade Flight."
He gestured with his arm toward a group of pilots sitting on one end of the room, and Luke followed with his eyes. The new team then stood, to the muted applause and cheers of the rest of the pilots. Luke realized the same half-hearted welcome had been given to the Rogues when they'd been introduced a year ago. It was amazing how reluctant folks were to change the status quo. Especially in a group of rebels who were fighting to do just that! Resolved to show his support in spite of the less-than-enthusiastic attitude of the rest of the room, Luke applauded loudly. Until his eyes fell on one of the Renegade pilots.
It was Genna.
If she saw him, she didn't show it in any way. She smiled politely at the crowd before taking her seat once more and directing her attention back to Commander Narra. Luke's mind was awhirl. He truly did not know what to make of the situation. Not only had he not been told about this plan of Narra's, but also he'd not been told about Cage's true whereabouts. Had she even gone to Green Flight? Or was that just the story?
Luke forced his attention back to Narra, trying to fight back the odd sense of betrayal he was feeling at this turn of events. Regardless of what had happened, he was still Rogue Leader, and it was still his job to make sure his pilots did what they were supposed to and came back alive to tell the story. Nothing was going to change that.
He glanced to Wedge, who sat beside him, and he saw shocked mixed with doubt in the other man's features. It wasn't reassuring.
*****************
When the briefing came to a close, Genna scanned the room to gauge the reactions of the other pilots to the new Renegade Flight. The initial greeting of rather dull applause had not been lost on her or the other Renegades. Nor had the overtly obvious show by Skywalker. Had his applause been meant to mock or to openly welcome? She hadn't been able to tell. However, she had noticed the stiff posture and stoic demeanor he'd presented throughout the rest of the briefing.
As she rose from her seat, her eyes shifted toward him. Most of the other pilots were on their way out, as she was. He, however, remained seated, staring at Commander Narra as the older man spoke with General Rieekan. Continuing her progress toward the door, she stole glances toward him, wondering when he would get up to leave or at least approach Narra. He seemed strangely rooted to the spot, a frozen image of a man who betrayed nothing of his thoughts or feelings at this moment. Was he happy, hurt, angered, abandoned, frustrated, or furious? It was difficult to tell. He might as well have been carved in stone.
Realizing she wasn't going to learn anything from observing him, and wondering why she was bothering to look in the first place, she headed out the door. She wasn't expecting the person who was standing by the door waiting for her.
"From a Rogue to a Renegade, eh?" Tycho Celchu asked, his tone revealing nothing of his emotion. He and Luke must be taking lessons at the same school, she mused.
She folded her arms across her chest. "Is there a problem?"
He shook his fair head slightly. "Of course not," he answered. "Just wondering how this all came about."
She narrowed her eyes. "Does Narra have to tell you everything?"
"No," he conceded. "But Luke and Wedge usually do, and neither of them had a clue about this." He took a step toward her, closing the distance between them and trying to intimidate her. "In fact, it wasn't until you left Rogue Flight that Narra started getting all secretive. So I'm betting you had something to do with it."
In response to his baiting words, she lifted her chin. "Look, I wanted to be a Rogue. It just didn't work out that way, though. Can I help it if Narra saw opportunity in my decision to transfer?"
"What I want to know is," Celchu continued, refusing to back down, "who gave them the idea that we were worn out?"
She shook her head with a snort. "Please. It didn't take a genius to see that your team has the fewest numbers while keeping a nearly constant flight schedule. The day I joined you guys, you were recovering from a nearly incessant string of missions. And wasn't it last month when several of your members began coming down with colds and various other illnesses, brought on by fatigue?"
Genna was surprised to see a dark grin spread across Celchu's face as he leaned against the wall. "You're a crafty one, aren't you, Cage?" he intoned.
Genna arched her brows in confusion.
"You used your all-night discussion with Skywalker to your advantage," he continued quietly. "Taking casual information he'd told you in confidence, and using it to get yourself a squadron when things didn't work out between you two. Pretty clever."
Genna swallowed, tensing. Put that way, it did sound rather manipulative. And bitter. Not to mention the fact that it seemed very close to petty revenge. But what did it matter? Skywalker had said he didn't want her flying with him. Was she supposed to simply make do in one of the other squadrons? Her piloting skills defined her whole existence. If she wasn't one of the best, then she was nothing. Surely Celchu had to understand that.
"I did what I had to do to keep flying my best," she bit out at last, her jaw muscles tight with emotion. "I'm a pilot. You of all people should understand that."
"I understand," Celchu snapped back. "But I also understand that you are trying to undermine those who have been here longer and who have worked harder at this than you have."
Raising her finger to point it in his face, she struggled to keep her voice from yelling. "No one has worked harder than I have! Do you hear me? I did not spend years training and fighting and struggling every day to be accepted just to have you tell me I haven't worked! So I may not have been a Rebel all this time, but I am now! And I want the Empire to pay! And I want to be there when it happens! And it wasn't going to happen the way I wanted it to if I wasn't in the best damn team you sorry Rebels have to offer!"
"You think the Renegades are going to be the best?" he retorted incredulously.
"You just watch us, Rogue." She spat out the last word as though it were the vilest of insults and spun on her heel. Celchu would probably report everything she had just said to Skywalker and Antilles and whoever else he could tell, but she didn't care.
They'd see. The Renegades would be the best. She would be the best.
She had to be.
Wedge had been right about the guys not being happy. In fact, they'd been anything but. For the past week they'd treated Luke with a cold detachment. Luke gathered that a lot of their resentment came from the speculation that Luke and Genna had had some sort of lover's quarrel, and the Rogues were upset that they no longer had much of a shot at her. Ridiculous as that was, Luke had to laugh at the thought, even as the Rogues were continuing to treat him distantly. In addition, Commander Narra had been scarce lately, leaving Luke to puzzle over what he'd gotten himself involved in that didn't involve the Rogues. But Luke didn't really have time to worry about any of these things at the moment. Those issues would just have to wait for the time being. Right now, there were more serious matters to deal with.
The squadrons had met in the large staffing room of the Mon Calamari cruiser, Home One. Seated among the rest of the pilots, Luke looked around at the assembled group. There were many familiar faces, some he even recognized from Yavin. There were also many new faces he didn't recognize. And then of course, there were the faces of those he would never see again. It was a very sobering thought.
"We're establishing a second base on Derra IV," General Rieekan began. "There's a group already there that has managed to gain control of two manufacturing plants and has also secured engineers to help build and reconstruct snubfighters for our use against the Imperial TIEs."
"'Bout time!" someone from the back of the room called out.
Luke had to smile. They were really running short on spacecraft, and he shared the enthusiasm. Several of the other pilots in the room chuckled as well.
Rieekan smiled and nodded. "Yes, I understand the situation has been very desperate. And I was sure this news would be welcomed."
Someone else called out from the back of the room, "What about the talks of moving the base to the Hoth system?"
Luke shuddered involuntarily at the mention of the icy planet that Han and Leia were currently scouting. He looked to Rieekan, hoping against hope that the talks hadn't gone any further.
Rieekan caught Luke's eye and winked. Luke felt his cheeks grow warm in embarrassment at the gesture, even as Rieekan continued, "Right now, they're just talks. Nothing more. We have personnel checking it out now, but there's nothing more I can tell you about those plans. However, the Derra IV initiative does concern all of you. So I suggest you turn your full attention to it."
Luke perked up at this.
"We have operatives stationed on the planet Vi'tra, and they have gained access to the materials we need to get this operation underway," Rieekan continued. "But as you know, Vi'tra is an Imperial world, and it is heavily defended. Getting the supplies out will not be easy. Nor will protecting them once they are off of the planet. However, they are vital, both to Derra IV, and to our shipyards on Mon Calamari. We'll need reinforcement ships if we are to successfully win this war."
Luke nodded gravely.
General Rieekan then stepped aside and ushered Commander Narra forward.
Narra surveyed the assembly before his eyes rested on Luke, and he smiled. "Before we go into the specific assignments for each Flight group, I want to take a moment to introduce all of you to the newest team we've assembled. Well, actually, I have assembled, and I will be leading it as well."
Luke blinked his eyes in shock. He hadn't heard anything about this.
Narra continued, "It has been brought to my attention that many of the flight teams, the Rogues especially, have been under quite a bit of a strain. Now, of course, we all know they'll deny it; after all, the word around is that there's a running competition over the number of kills, and the Rogues want to keep their lead. But at the same time, I do not want any of my valuable pilots in any of the flight teams to find themselves flying to the point of exhaustion. We all know how fatal that can be. Therefore, I've managed to dig up a few recruits as well as some of our newer pilots, and I've put together our brand new Renegade Flight."
He gestured with his arm toward a group of pilots sitting on one end of the room, and Luke followed with his eyes. The new team then stood, to the muted applause and cheers of the rest of the pilots. Luke realized the same half-hearted welcome had been given to the Rogues when they'd been introduced a year ago. It was amazing how reluctant folks were to change the status quo. Especially in a group of rebels who were fighting to do just that! Resolved to show his support in spite of the less-than-enthusiastic attitude of the rest of the room, Luke applauded loudly. Until his eyes fell on one of the Renegade pilots.
It was Genna.
If she saw him, she didn't show it in any way. She smiled politely at the crowd before taking her seat once more and directing her attention back to Commander Narra. Luke's mind was awhirl. He truly did not know what to make of the situation. Not only had he not been told about this plan of Narra's, but also he'd not been told about Cage's true whereabouts. Had she even gone to Green Flight? Or was that just the story?
Luke forced his attention back to Narra, trying to fight back the odd sense of betrayal he was feeling at this turn of events. Regardless of what had happened, he was still Rogue Leader, and it was still his job to make sure his pilots did what they were supposed to and came back alive to tell the story. Nothing was going to change that.
He glanced to Wedge, who sat beside him, and he saw shocked mixed with doubt in the other man's features. It wasn't reassuring.
*****************
When the briefing came to a close, Genna scanned the room to gauge the reactions of the other pilots to the new Renegade Flight. The initial greeting of rather dull applause had not been lost on her or the other Renegades. Nor had the overtly obvious show by Skywalker. Had his applause been meant to mock or to openly welcome? She hadn't been able to tell. However, she had noticed the stiff posture and stoic demeanor he'd presented throughout the rest of the briefing.
As she rose from her seat, her eyes shifted toward him. Most of the other pilots were on their way out, as she was. He, however, remained seated, staring at Commander Narra as the older man spoke with General Rieekan. Continuing her progress toward the door, she stole glances toward him, wondering when he would get up to leave or at least approach Narra. He seemed strangely rooted to the spot, a frozen image of a man who betrayed nothing of his thoughts or feelings at this moment. Was he happy, hurt, angered, abandoned, frustrated, or furious? It was difficult to tell. He might as well have been carved in stone.
Realizing she wasn't going to learn anything from observing him, and wondering why she was bothering to look in the first place, she headed out the door. She wasn't expecting the person who was standing by the door waiting for her.
"From a Rogue to a Renegade, eh?" Tycho Celchu asked, his tone revealing nothing of his emotion. He and Luke must be taking lessons at the same school, she mused.
She folded her arms across her chest. "Is there a problem?"
He shook his fair head slightly. "Of course not," he answered. "Just wondering how this all came about."
She narrowed her eyes. "Does Narra have to tell you everything?"
"No," he conceded. "But Luke and Wedge usually do, and neither of them had a clue about this." He took a step toward her, closing the distance between them and trying to intimidate her. "In fact, it wasn't until you left Rogue Flight that Narra started getting all secretive. So I'm betting you had something to do with it."
In response to his baiting words, she lifted her chin. "Look, I wanted to be a Rogue. It just didn't work out that way, though. Can I help it if Narra saw opportunity in my decision to transfer?"
"What I want to know is," Celchu continued, refusing to back down, "who gave them the idea that we were worn out?"
She shook her head with a snort. "Please. It didn't take a genius to see that your team has the fewest numbers while keeping a nearly constant flight schedule. The day I joined you guys, you were recovering from a nearly incessant string of missions. And wasn't it last month when several of your members began coming down with colds and various other illnesses, brought on by fatigue?"
Genna was surprised to see a dark grin spread across Celchu's face as he leaned against the wall. "You're a crafty one, aren't you, Cage?" he intoned.
Genna arched her brows in confusion.
"You used your all-night discussion with Skywalker to your advantage," he continued quietly. "Taking casual information he'd told you in confidence, and using it to get yourself a squadron when things didn't work out between you two. Pretty clever."
Genna swallowed, tensing. Put that way, it did sound rather manipulative. And bitter. Not to mention the fact that it seemed very close to petty revenge. But what did it matter? Skywalker had said he didn't want her flying with him. Was she supposed to simply make do in one of the other squadrons? Her piloting skills defined her whole existence. If she wasn't one of the best, then she was nothing. Surely Celchu had to understand that.
"I did what I had to do to keep flying my best," she bit out at last, her jaw muscles tight with emotion. "I'm a pilot. You of all people should understand that."
"I understand," Celchu snapped back. "But I also understand that you are trying to undermine those who have been here longer and who have worked harder at this than you have."
Raising her finger to point it in his face, she struggled to keep her voice from yelling. "No one has worked harder than I have! Do you hear me? I did not spend years training and fighting and struggling every day to be accepted just to have you tell me I haven't worked! So I may not have been a Rebel all this time, but I am now! And I want the Empire to pay! And I want to be there when it happens! And it wasn't going to happen the way I wanted it to if I wasn't in the best damn team you sorry Rebels have to offer!"
"You think the Renegades are going to be the best?" he retorted incredulously.
"You just watch us, Rogue." She spat out the last word as though it were the vilest of insults and spun on her heel. Celchu would probably report everything she had just said to Skywalker and Antilles and whoever else he could tell, but she didn't care.
They'd see. The Renegades would be the best. She would be the best.
She had to be.