Saga Reporting Live--a year's journal of an undercover reporter in the Alliance--Updated finally!

Day 1

My boss at the Coronet News figures that this'll be a real human interest story. After all, he claims the Rebel Alliance won't last another five years and he wants to be the one to know what exactly was going on at the time. It's like the guy who spent two years in the Grand Army of the Republic so he could get an exclusive on the breaking news about the Clone Wars.

Sure, I went to the University of Aldera, finished third in my class for my degree in journalism, went on to get my master's in business administration so I could not only write the news, but run the industry as well... And after two years of writing about the socialites at the CorSec Ball, he decided to throw me this bone. I appreciate his confidence in me, but couldn't I be doing something, anything other than freezing my well-toned butt off on Hoth?

But if I complain to him, he'll just start that lecture about how being an ace war correspondent means suffering for your art and how only the great journalists understand the price you have to pay...yada yada yada. Fine, I'm willing to suffer for my art. Taia knows I've done it already! "Lady Carmyn Delairs was spotted there, resplendent in a champagne-colored strapless Rosca le da Arent. It is rumored that she has refused yet another marriage proposal from Thrackan Sal-Solo, but we all know that he's far too young for her..." Well, okay, maybe I never wrote like that, but you get the idea.

Anyway, sitting behind a desk and studying etiquette didn't exactly equip me for warfare. At best, I feel like I'm the human equivalent of one of the protocol droids, but an extremely well-educated and misunderstood protocol droid. My dad would probably be proud that the education he paid for is going to such a suicidal cause. My mom would see it as a sign that I'm finally going to meet a nice boy and live happily ever after.

That is, they would feel that way if they hadn't been on Alderaan when the Death Star decided to make orbit.

I don't really know what side I'm on in this war. Because of the News policy, I'm supposed to write pro-Imperial. After all, we'd lose our franchise if it were discovered that half the editors are Rebel sympathizers and most of the journalists believe in neutrality. I figure I can work out everything I believe while here and then edit out the unpatriotic thoughts before this goes to copy. This is my journal, after all, not what they'll let into the newstransmit.

Okay, while we're getting things over with, I'll record my name, rank, serial number, etc. Liara Vos from the Coronet News. I'm a Flight Officer with Blue Squadron becuase somehow it turned out that I have some kind of flying skills. I'm Blue Eight, since that was the only call sign left. It's my first day here and all I've done all day is take aptitude tests, do simulator runs and do debriefings.

I got here in a very convoluted way, since I had to make it look as if I hadn't been tipped off by Imperial Intelligence as to how to get a hold of the Rebellion. It took me three weeks from expressing an interest to a sympathizer in Coronet to even get a hold of someone who might have once been with the Alliance. From there, he got me in contact with a cousin of his who ran arms for the Rebellion until that fiasco at Derra IV made every arms smuggler kind of nervous. He got me a comm code for someone in Intelligence and two weeks after that, I found myself here. I always thought they were joking when they talked about having to get to the Rebellion through "your mother's nerf-herder's third cousin twice removed's fourth husband's ex-mother-in-law's gardener" and all that. I'll never be able to keep a straight face at that kind of thing again.

Pardon me for being unpatriotic, but it's been twenty-four hours and I'm still looking for one of the "bloodthirsty murderers" that they're always talking about in the news. They seem to be pretty harmless for criminal masterminds and I've spent half the day recognizing all the names on the Wanted flimsis at the comm

 

This is going to be good (it is on-going, right?). Boy, this storyline has potential, and you are off to a great start.

 

This journal is going to be fun! I already love her observations on personalities we know.

 

Near as I can tell, there are only seven women on base right now and it makes every available man who has ever reached the age of puberty prone to flirting us to death. It should be an entertaining year.



Interesting plot here.

 

Awesome Ishy!! This looks great!

 

Yes indeed! It should be an entertaining year with this kind of diary start. Great job!

 

Valairy_Scot--Thanks! It's very on-going for 365 days. This is a storyline that I've been wanting to write since 2004, so I'm very excited to be getting going on it.

Noelie--Yes, she's rather fun to see around people we already know. I especially enjoyed having Han flirt with her because she was conveniently around to spite Leia.

slow_dawn--LOL, glad you think so.

AvenKiel--Thanks, Aven! I hope you continue to like it.

PadwanKayla--LOL, hopefully entertaining, but there will be tough times. Especially since she hangs around since Hoth.

 

This is...quirky, and entertaining. Very good so far.

 

Oh, this has a lot of potential. It's well writen, and will provide an interesting perspective on the Alliance. I can't wait for more.

 

Pardon me for being unpatriotic, but it's been twenty-four hours and I'm still looking for one of the "bloodthirsty murderers" that they're always talking about in the news.

Ah, I love this line - it just goes to show what difference there is between official Imperial propaganda and the truth!

I like th idea, it's very original. It'll be very entertaining to see her thoughts on Luke, Leia, Han and the rest of the crew.

 

leiamoody--Glad you're enjoying. It is very quirky and will get to a higher form of that.

alhana_antilles--Thanks, Alhana. What I'm looking forward to is the development of whether or not she ends up feeling loyalty to the Alliance. I hope you stick around to read it.

Rhodna--Part of this was inspired by a friend who commented to me about the Iraqi Minister of Information, claiming that the Americans were being slaughtered all the while that they were winning battles. I love looking at the difference between propaganda and the truth. Glad you like the originality of the idea and I'll definitely be putting in her thoughts on the heroes of the Rebellion.
*****
DAY 2

The "cold season" apparently hit last night and we're having some trouble adapting. That is, the entire population of the base is probably trying not to think about the possibility that they'd letthe Empire capture them just so they can get a heated cell. Our ships aren't much better for heat and the engines are seizing up because of the climate. Whose bright idea was it to hold a war in a snowdrift after all?

Maybe that's why the Rebel Alliance is still struggling to survive twenty-three years after the fall of their revered Republic. Then again, it's probably a mark of tenacity that they have managed to stay alive this long. Well, most of them, that is. Sometimes, I have to wonder how they've kept going after losing Bail Organa, Garm Bel Iblis and most of their political support. The scuttlebutt indicated that there might be Rebel sympathizers in the Imperial Senate, but we all know where that ended.

As it is, I got introduced to my new ride today. Her name's Squeaky and she's a tauntaun. Apparently, everyone who's supposed to be on patrol duty with their snubfighters is supposed to take their turn out in the blizzards. I wonder if they're tyring to thin out the population.

My roommate is, thankfully, female. Her name is Toryn Farr and she and her younger sister are about as well-known around here as Organa herself. Maybe I'll stick around long enough to make a mark like that. Maybe the Empire will finally end this war before I can. Maybe I'll catch hypothermia tomorrow and it won't matter anyway.

 

Hey this is nice, 365 parts by the end of the year?

 

Her name is Toryn Farr and she and her younger sister are about as well-known around here as Organa herself.

Nice use of characters. Their interaction is something to look forward to.

 

Very nice beginning.

I love the idea of an imperial reporter infiltrating the Rebel Alliance.

Perhaps Laira will start to see the Rebellion in a new light?

Looking forward to more

 

Maybe the Empire will finally end this war before I can. Maybe I'll catch hypothermia tomorrow and it won't matter anyway.

Pessimistic, aren't we?

I like Laira's attitude - she seems quite jaded by the entire concept of war, but doesn't strike me as an Imperial sycophant. Perhaps there's still hope for her yet!

 

earlybird-obi-wan--It will be 365 parts. Probably the most consistently I've ever written.

alhana_antilles--Yeah, I like using familiar names. And the younger sister is actually a well-known pilot in the Alliance, so it would make sense that the character in Blue Squadron would notice her.

KELIA--Thanks, Kelia. I think she'll definitely change her perspective, but what she does with that is another matter.

Rhodna--I'd call that optimistic. She's definitely jaded at this point but not someone who notes the flaws in the system.
*****
DAY 3

No such luck. No hypothermia, no ambush and I'm still freezing from my icicled head to my frostbitten toes.

We had a bit of a 'girl's night in' after patrol today, with Toryn and Samoc Farr and myself holing up with some of the less stale ration bars and a sabacc pack. We invited the other girls, but they either had a boyfriend or a fight to pick with Han Solo. I won a couple of hands, but lost a few more. Still, it was good to do something that had nothing to do with the war.

That is, until Samoc started the standard grilling about my reasons for leaving the Empire. Toryn rolled her eyes as if everyone gets this treatment, but her sister wouldn't let me leave it at the true story--Alderaan.

It's as good a reason as any. The Empire had its issues with Organa, but I'm not buying the story that she ordered her own planet's destruction. No one with half a mind will and believe me, I'm talking from experience. I just hadn't expected my own government to turn their guns on a Core world. MY Core world. I can still remember being in a training meeting back in the days that I dabbled in holocast journalism and we had to pull a story off the latest newsfeed. I was looking for something like espionage or politics to talk about when instead some incredible story about the reported destruction of Alderaan came, with corroborative images of an "asteroid collision" where my planet should have been. I had never hated someone the way I hated the producer for trying to make me go on with the training. As it was, I threatened him with the blaster in my purse if he didn't get out of my way. I probably made it fifty yards outside the training room before I collapsed.

All right, I've finally talked about the one thing I never share. It's none of their business and I intend to keep it that way, no matter how much I'm supposed to build a relationship of trust with these people.

So, when Samoc wanted more reasons, I talked about the way my parents came to Alderaan in the first place because of Palpatine's actions against members of Republic Intelligence. They'd been forced to reinvent their lives and abandon everything just because they had principles. Fortunately, we had the help of the Alderaanian government, but it was a lousy thing to do. Anyway, it made for a convincing story about how I grew up hating the Empire.

Samoc's just come on base to be Blue 8, so I guess I'll have to like her or at least put up with her nosiness. She's supposed to be one of the better pilots outside of Rogue Squadron. Rogue Squadron seems to be a boy's club, since there hasn't been a female pilot in there since it started out as Red Squadron before the Battle of Yavin. I'm not sure if they have a policy or if they are trying to just protect the female population from what they're asked to do. They certainly don't seem to have the same misogynestic tendencies as the Imperial Starfleet. If I ever get up the nerve, I'll ask their CO about it. Maybe I'll even apply... No, I'm not getting myself into this any more than absolutely necessary. This is an assignment, a curiosity, nothing more.

 

Her telling the truth and not being believed for it reminded me a bit of Jack Sparrow.

 

Ah, so Laira was from Alderaan. I'm surprised she didn't go running to join the Alliance after it was destroyed.

Loved that she was able to convince Samoc she grew up hating the Empire afterwards. I certainly would have.

Great update

 

Day 4

Well, it turned out I didn't have to contrive a reason to run into Rogue Squadron's CO. "In order to promote unity among the Corps," the Corellians on base set up an intersquadron sabacc tournament. Neither I nor Skywalker was particularly good at it, so we got to talk for a few minutes. He's a nice guy, if a bit idealistic. It seems strange that there are even people like that still out there. My mother would have liked me to bring home a nice boy like that, but I wouldn't have ever done so in a million years. I liked watching her try to politely welcome the ruffians and rebellious types into our home where they'd invariably use the wrong fork and drip mud on the white couches.

You see, my parents had to leave Republic Intelligence, but when they reinvented their lives, they decided to give me what my mother called a "proper Alderaanian upbringing." That meant that I had an overabundance of education and an underabundance of a normal childhood.

Anyway, I digress. Luke Skywalker would be the type that mother would have liked for his idealistic integrity, but he would have still confused his forks and would forget to change out of his maintenance coveralls. Then again, most of the male pilots here are cut from the same cloth. It exasperates half the females on base and thrills the other half. I'm leaning towards a middle ground.

As it was, after the standard introductions and the exchange of rank, serial number and call sign, I brought up the issue of Rogue Squadron as the boy's club. He didn't laugh at me, which I appreciated, but he smiled and conceded that I had a point. He then told me that he would take any qualified pilot who applied, male or not, and asked if I was trying to tell him something. Fortunately, I pulled out before I committed myself to being a famous traitor instead of being assigned to be a traitor.

He gave me a discreet run-down of the six females who had bothered to apply for the squadron and the reasons for their denial.

And now I've spent all of my mental chronicling energy talking about whether or not the farmboy is sexist. There isn't much to report, however. The Empire hasn't found us, we haven't been able to get our ships airborne and the Solo/Organa conflict is showing every hour on the hour, no entrance fee required. Sometimes I wonder if that's the only reason half of these people stay around. They just want a good form of entertainment.

 

Sometimes I wonder if that's the only reason half of these people stay around. They just want a good form of entertainment.



Nice to see such optimism

She seems to like Luke - begrudgingly.

Great update

 

a lot of fun to read!
I'll be looking forward to reading a diary entry each day...

 

the Solo/Organa conflict is showing every hour on the hour, no entrance fee required. Sometimes I wonder if that's the only reason half of these people stay around. They just want a good form of entertainment.

Nice way to end the diary entry.

 

DAY 5

Well, I should write more, but so far, there is nothing further to report on the war front. I can't review Imperial broadcasts because I'm not sure who may be monitoring that sort of thing. After all, the Rebel Alliance has managed to avoid the Imperial Starfleet off and on for three years and it can't be for a lack of intelligence...or Intelligence for that part. I am as cut off from the Galaxy as the rest of the base, but I suppose that is the point.

As it is, I am studying a new facet of the war effort: the part where the powers that be command us to be fruitful and multiply. Well, not that exactly, but after three days of dropped hints and polite conversation, Hobbie Klivian asked me on a date. He's one of the Rogues and not bad as uptight snubjockeys go.

I'm not sure exactly what you can do on a hidden base for romantic purposes. Extra rations and snow cones? I guess I'll find out.

 

Snowcones!?

 

Hmmm...should be very interesting to see what dating on a frozen, secret rebel base is like. Well, at least Laira is having some fun.
Great update