THE ROGUES BET ON IT

Chapter 4: The Princess and the Pirate

(Wedge Antilles)

"Antilles!" Klivian is running towards me. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what? I hear lots of things, including your big mouth."

Klivian laughs. "The Princess and Solo are back!"

"Pay up, loser!" I'm gonna be rich tonight. But it's not just the money. Okay, the money's a good thing. But seeing the Princess and the pirate is gonna be great.

"Where the hells are they?" I demand.

"Being debriefed by Rieekan and Dodonna," Klivian tells me. "They'll be at the meeting later. Calrissian and Skywalker, too."

"Wow, old home week! Can't wait to see 'em. Bet they've got some great stories to tell."

"I'm sure. Later, dude."

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The Empire's been building a new and improved Death Star. Hardly a secret. But till now, no one's been able to get hold of the architectural plans. It's surrounded by this massive energy field and no one's figured out where the energy shield's controls are.

I see Solo and the Princess sitting down in front a few people down from me. I wave, and I get a huge smile from both.

Yep, they've definitely done it. More than once. The way they sit near each other, the way they look at each other, you can tell. And it's more than boinking. They look like they're truly madly deeply in love with each other.

Mon Mothma's up, so time to pay attention.

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It's a crazy ass mission, but crazy ass missions are Rogue Squadron's stock in trade. Give us the impossible and we'll make it happen.

And leading the Rogues? None other than General Lando Calrissian. Apparently he's a friend of Solo's, so right there, you gotta wonder. I'm told he's mostly a scam artist. The Rogues don't give a womp rat's ass so long as you can do the job.

Ackbar gives the final instructions and we disperse to meet Calrissian. He's a friendly guy. Likes the cape a little much, and you can tell he's a fancy ass dresser, but he's intelligent and funny and completely insane. The Rogues like that in a person.

And for the ground crew on Endor, Solo's the lead. My teeth nearly fell out of my mouth when Madine called him general. But he'll be good at it. The fact that he's as crazy as any Rogue is one of his best qualities.

While Solo's putting his command crew together, Skywalker strolls in. It's good to see him, even if the black outfit isn't exactly regulation flight gear. He joins Solo's command crew, along with Chewie and yes, the Princess.

Word on the street is that Skywalker's now a Jedi knight. Talk about crazy.

We'll have to catch up later. We've got a mission to fly.

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The attack was one of the craziest I'd ever been in, crazy even by Rogue standards (which are very high, by the way). It got a little worrisome when Solo was taking longer than expected to get the shield down, but Calrissian was better than I thought he would be. We lost no Rogues; in fact, we had the fewest number of casualties of any battle in the entire war.

And, we blew up the Death Star, Part 2. This was the definitive military victory we needed to crush the Empire, and crush it we did. I felt as if I was on such a high. Adrenaline rushes after battle are common, but this was the good kind.

It was nearly dusk when the Rogues landed on Endor. I was still riding high. All of us were. Fireworks were going off in every corner of the galaxy, and there was enormous cheering and loud music and as we flew into orbit. I've never been so excited in my life!

I think over the last four years of my life. I lost my family. I lost friends. I lost the girl I always figured I'd marry. So the victory's kind of bittersweet.

I have no idea what I'm gonna do next. Probably be a peacekeeper. I can't imagine a life other than being a soldier.

But tonight, it's party time!

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We drink and dance and drink and laugh and drink and hug and drink and eat barbecue and drink and drink and drink.

I look around, see who's dancing with whom. I notice that Skywalker hooked up with a hot redhead. I'll cut in later. She's a number, that's for sure.

I also catch a glimpse of Solo and the Princess. They dance with no one else. The look between 'em is what I remember love feeling like.

"They're gonna marry each other," I say to the other Rogues.

"Oh, sure!" "As if!" And so on. They're laughing their asses off. I'm drunk as a thresel skunk and I'm not the most intoxicated one here.

"Nope. They're gonna get married. 5000 credits says they're gonna do it!" I'm confident enough to put up that much, and it ain't just the liquor talking.

"Be prepared to lose your shirt," I'm warned.

Believe me, I wouldn't have thrown up that much money if I wasn't totally sure.

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Six weeks later, I get my money back.