There's an incessant knocking at my door.

"Go away!"

"Get up, Cass! We've got a mission!" Linami sounds too happy for this early in the morning.

"Come in," I groan, rolling off my bed onto my feet.

"Get dressed for the cold.  We're going to Hoth.  Quick in-and-out.  You're shooting an officer, Perl is extracting a file for a new walking fighter.  It's fast.  Get dressed, be at the Ghost in ten."  And with that, she's gone.

I can't help but chuckle as the door closes.

I've got a warm blue coat with fur, much warmer that the one I had on Fest, and I grab that on my way out of the room, as well as my sniper rifle.

When I get to the Ghost, Linami's bustling around, adjusting valves, and Tinred is nowhere to be found.

"Where's the infantryman?" I ask gruffly. Without him, we're weakened. He's the one going in there in the first place.

"I thought you would wake him up," she says, opening the hatch with a grunt.

I sigh. "I'll be right back."

I storm down the hall to Tinred's room, and jam the button in to open the door. He sits up with a start.

"We are leaving in five. Be there. You can watch the briefing on the way." I turn and leave.

I take my seat down below, where the gunner's position is, and push it back and forth to get a feel for it.  Through the glass, I see Tinred duck under the hull and climb up into the Ghost.

He closes it, but I make Linami wait while I go and double check it.  I give her a thumb's up once I've tightened the hatch and drop down into my seat.

There's a buckle, but I ignore it, instead pulling out my holopad and tapping it.

A woman I haven't seen before is projected into the air.  She has short hair and a regal posture.

"I am Mon Mothma, a newly elected leader in the Rebellion against the Empire."  That's funny.  I don't remember electing her.  "Please pay extremely close attention to this message.  After it concludes, it will entirely delete itself and will no longer be able to be retrieved.  Do not write anything down."

The engines fire up and I see the ground disappear beneath me.  I turn my attention back to the hologram so I don't get sick.

"You, and your team, are to fly to the Imperial Base on Hoth.  There, you are to assassinate Imperial Commander Lee Marlantes."  A hologram of a man's head floats in front of me.  "Ensure that you do not shoot the wrong man.  Your infantryman will then, in the chaos, slip into the base and attempt to steal the plans for an All-Terrain tactical fighter.  The pilot has your coordinates, and your infantryman has the code name.  The less information each member has, the better.  May the Force be with you, Sniper 510."

The image flickered out.  When I tap the holopad again, nothing happens.  I stash it beside my seat and put on my earpiece.

"-ssian!" Linami's voice clips.

"Here."

"Why weren't you responding?"

"I was watching the hologram."

"Watch it before next time."

"Copy.  I'll try."

"Don't try.  Do."

"Alright then."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bunk," she mutters.

"You're the one snapping at me and bossing me around."

"I am older."

"I am the sniper and considered the leader of this mission team."

"Alright Mr. Snooty.  Let's see how well you can get us into Hoth."

"You know you're the only one who can fly this—"

She cuts me off.  "I mean get those TIE-Fighters off our backs, stupid!"

I look out the sights and see the aforementioned Imperial fighters.  The controls have a computer sight, which is good, because there's nothing to put my eye against.  You know, it'd probably be pretty good if they trained us in our vehicles before sending us out on missions like this.

I fire when the fighter gets in the square, and it explodes.

"Nice shot!" Tinred crows.

I ignore him and focus on the next one.  There's five in total now, but it only takes one to shoot us out of the sky.

I fire at the second fighter, and the others case after, firing at us with green blasts.

One makes connection and my head hits the glass.  "Ow!"

"Are you alright?" Linami calls.

"Fine.  Just make sure we don't crash."

I push on the triggers and there's another explosion in the screen.

"Eight o'clock!" Linami yells.

I wince at the noise in my headset, and swivel to take care of it.  The holopad falls by my feet, but there's nothing I can do about it.  I'm just trying not to get us killed.

We get hit a second time.

"Head in the bloody game, Andor!" Tinred tells.

"I don't see you helping get rid of them!" I retort, firing at the third.

That one goes down, and another flies through the explosion, as if they figured that their comrade would die soon, either that or they would just ram right through them.

Fortunately for me and unfortunately for them, they fly right into the sight, which was already set for where they were, and shooting them down is a piece of cake.  The fifth is clearly a skilled flyer.  He dodges expertly, and I almost feel some appreciation for him.

That appreciation is short lived, since we get hit for a third time and the lights up on the main deck flash red.  I give up on sniping him and just swivel around, firing aimlessly.  I just wasted a large amount of ammo, but I got him, and, besides, it will all recharge as the engines turn.

I whoop.  "We are all good!"

"I'm taking her down really fast," Linami says.  "I want it to look like a crash, so once we land, we all need to get out there and set off some smoke bombs.  Then, Cass and Perl, you two will go off and do your job and I'll fend off anyone who comes poking around."

"Copy."

"You may want to buckle your seatbelt," she warns.

I do, and lean to pick up the holopad.  When I do, the white snow lurches towards us, and my stomach surges into my throat.  I sit up as carefully as I can and stare up at the hatch above me.

I am thankful for the thickness of the glass as we hit the ground and slide over the ice before coming to a stop in the drifts of snow.  Tinred and Linami spring into action.

I, on the other hand, decide to take a second and let my stomach settle where it should be before I shove he holopad in my pocket and lift myself out, stuffing my arms in my sleeves and heading outside with a smoke bomb and my rifle in its bag.

"Put them where there's the most snow on the ship," Linami directs, hurling one on top.  "That way, it will melt and we can get out of here sooner."

I throw the bomb and head off into the snow, hood on and comlink tucked in my pocket.

The base is just over the hill, and I wait on the top, with my rifle assembled, for the man to emerge.  I see him, after a long while, and wrestle the comlink out.  "Target located.  Prepare for infiltration."

"Copy," Tinred says.

"May the Force be with you," Linami adds.

I squint and find him in the sight, then fire.  It's a perfect shot.  He drops to the ground and I start running towards the Ghost.

The smoke bombs have done their job.  The top of the Corellian Ghost is cleared.  I climb up and sit anxiously by the hatch, blaster at the ready in case someone who isn't Tinred tries to climb in.  Although I wouldn't regret shooting him.  It would be painted as a jumpy accident, and I'd be suspended for a month or so before being sent back out.

As I'm contemplating this, a disk flies up into the converted freighter.  "Help me up!"

It's Tinred, and, as much as I dislike him, I help him up, because if I don't, I could die.  As soon as I've secured the hatch, I drop into my place and wrestle with my jacket.

We fly in the opposite direction this time, so less TIE-Fighters even see us on their patrols, but we still hold back on the celebrating until we're safely in hyperspace.

"Well done, Cass!" Tinred says as I climb up.

I acknowledge him briefly, and am startled when Linami throws her arm around me.  "He never even saw you coming."

"That's the point," I say.  "Great flying.  And quick thinking."

"And what a flawless extraction," Linami says to Tinred.

He smiles.

The computer beeps.  She walks over and checks it.  "Alright.  We're approaching Dantooine.  Prepare for landing."

I don't have to defend us this time, so I sit at a small table and buckle up.  We drop out of hyperspace and land on the landing pad.

It's a pretty graceful landing for such a junky ship.

There's no welcoming committees, no celebrations or medals.  We just take the plans to the briefing room, where the short haired woman, Mon Mothma, is waiting.

"Sergeants Andor and Friant, Private Tinred, congratulations on the extraction."

We nod our thanks and she slides the file into the hologram table.

Nothing happens.

She presses a button.

We all deflate.

There's nothing in the file.

"A ruse," she muses.

"We went all that way for a bloody blank disc?" I say.  Linami shoots me a look.  "My apologies."

"Accepted.  Apparently, the Empire foresaw our attempt and took precautionary measures.  However, I don't believe they expected Commander Marlantes' death."  She nods to me.

My chest swells, the tiniest bit.

We're released to our R & R time while she speaks with the other leaders.

"So much for a triumphant debut," Linami grumbles.