Ibram and Sicario walked through the corridors of the Atrus towards the briefing room where the rest of the Squadron was waiting. I had been two weeks since their mission to Ios, yet so much had changed.

They’re in your hands now Ibram. Do me proud.

After two near death experiences, Thomas had decided to call it quits, honourably retiring from active service. Ibram never asked where he was going. And then there was Anden…

We’re sorry Warrant Officer Tyrol. He’s stable, but his coma is very acute. We don’t know when he will wake up.

Warrant Officer…

Ibram still couldn’t get used to it. As the missions got more and more dangerous, more and more good men were lost. Those that were left behind had to step up and take their place, regardless of whether or not they were ready.

Necessity… the true meaning of war

He glanced at Phineaus. Despite illegally breaking out of his cell aboard the Suspense, the erstwhile pilot’s participation in the Second Battle for Ios had not only earned him a full pardon, but promotion to Executive Officer - Another Necessity.

“How’s the hand?”

Phin flexed his robotic limb that had replaced the one he lost during the last battle. Ibram had a sneaking suspicion that that had earned him some brownie points, somehow.

“It’s…different. But I’m slowly getting used to it.”

Ibram still had to get used to Phin being his XO. A part of him still hadn’t forgiven him for abandoning them at the Hangar incident.

“That’s good to hear. Since you’re new to this, best just sit back and watch for this briefing. If you’ve got any queries, you can ask me afterwards.”

Phin snorted, “You’re not exactly an old-hand yourself.”

Ibram shot him a narrow-eyed glare.

“Sorry sir.”

Turning the corner, they were confronted with a pilot and a droid standing just outside of the briefing room. Upon seeing them, the pilot saluted, and after a brief hesitation, so did the droid.

“What do we have here then?” Ibram asked as he approached the newcomers.

“Petty Officer Bacredi reporting sir!”

“Statement: Leading Crewman HK-61 reporting.”

Ibram eyed up the pair. He had already been informed this morning that he would be getting new pilots. From his record, and from what Ibram could see, Bacredi seemed competent, but over-enthusiastic…god knows what the droid was like.

“Droid, please confirm that you are a Type-1 sentience classification.”

Security being what it is, all droids had to prove that they were sentient before they could enlist in the armed forces. Or, at least, whatever the droid equivalent of sentience was…

“Statement: Certainly Sir.”

The droid removed a panel on his chest. Behind it his make and model, and the ‘sentience seal’ that proved he wasn’t just impersonating human behaviour.

“Thank you 61. Welcome to Viper Squadron. I’m Warrant Officer Tyrol, your commanding officer, and here is Chief Petty Officer Gage, your XO. Bacredi, you’ve been placed in the XO’s flight, HK, you'll be inn Petty Officer Lukkas' Flight. Please go in and take your seats.”

“Sir!” Bacredi saluted again before entering. HK-61 saluted silently and followed.

Ibram watched them as the walked in.

“Good luck with that one.” He said to Phin.

“Bite me sir.”

The two officers walked into the room. Ibram was glad to see the older hands still kept up a positive attitude, despite everything that had happened recently.

Mira and Aleia were teasing Arkan mercilessly. The young pilot, now no longer a newbie, was struggling to cope with the endless waves of innuendos and feminine wiles. Poor fellow.

Ryno and Fulfiller were talking quietly to themselves. It was hard to imagine that Fulfiller was also a veteran, but he was. He had stepped up to fill the Flight Leader vacuum left when Ibram and Sicario took over. Ryno was, up until now, the newest addition. The two pilots seemed to be getting on well.

HK and Bacredi were sitting near the front. Phin went to go sit with them.

“Alright everybody settle down.”

Technically, this would only be Ibram’s second briefing, and first as squadron commander. He wasn’t nervous at all, however.

Mira winked at him and blew him a kiss; Ibram just shook his head and chuckled.

“Right, we have a new mission. At 1200 hours yesterday, the planet Epsilon issued a code 0 priority one alert. Apparently most of the planet is revolting against the administration. Which means us.”

Ibram brought up a factfile of the planet on the holo-screen.

“High Command are especially concerned by this, because A/ The Epsilon system has been relatively peaceful for most of its history, and B/ it’s on the eastern front.”

“So, they think its Drakan again?” Phin asked.

“I don’t know, nor is it our job to find out. Our mission is simply to help quell the uprising. The in-system garrison has already formed a lose blockade around the planet, but they don’t have enough ships. A task force under the command of Commodore Skyes is being despatched to assist, which will include us.”

Ibram scanned the room. As always, the pilots of Viper Squadron were taking in everything with a professional eye.

“That’s all there is for now. We’re transferring over to the Victory-Class Star Destroyer Imperator, and we’ll be shipping out at 0800 hours tomorrow morning. They’ll be another briefing once we’ve departed. If you have any questions, come talk to me. Dismissed.”

Ibram let out a sigh of relief, and stepped off the podium.

OOC:

Here is the initial briefing. Any questions, either incorporate them into your post, or send me a pm. See the Viper topic for further instructions.

Subject: Re: Transfer
To: Petty Officer Bacredi
From: Commander Vox
  Your transfer request has been seen by myself, our wing executive officer, Warrant Officer Tyrol, and Chief Warrant Officer C-3PX2. They have all accepted your letter of transfer, and Chief Warrant Officer C-3PX2 has given the go-ahead on your transfer, same with Warrant Officer Tyrol. Your spot on Kaph 1-2 has been vacated and given to Leading Crewman Hunter Morrell, your request to move into Viper Squadron was accepted and you are now in the vacant spot of Viper 8, good day.


Bacredi read the message over and over again. This week had been one of the most eventful in his life. At the beginning he had returned to Vectra aboard the Serenity. He had then requested transfer to another squadron, Kaph had just played too many tolls on Bacredi, he needed a change of scenery. After the debrief at Vectra he had immediately requested transfer to Viper Squadron with Commander Vox of Phoenix Wing, and it had been accepted. Bacredi was now placed as Viper 8, and he was put in the same flight as two other honorable men. He was ecstatic that they were getting a mission underway already.

With his back on his bunk Bacredi quickly shuffled the sheet of parchment under his mattress. Gently moving his extremely long legs down from his top bunk, Bacredi his the Atrus' floor in half a second. Looking scruffier than usual, Bacredi eyed himself in the mirror that was located next to his bunk. He gently patted some of the mattress fibers off of his white uniform, and gently plinned his Merit Cross to his chest. Bacredi's blue Petty Officer pauldrons were already on his shoulders, and it made his appearance look  a little more demanding. His DH-17 was already strapped to his belt, like always, this made him look even more imposing. He would always get looks because he carried a blaster, from his squadron mates and people he didn't know, nor did he want to.

Before the meeting Bacredi had been introduced to his Squadron Commander and his Squadron's Executive Officer. They both seemed like reasonable and cunning people, probably extremely ambitious as well. During and after the meeting Bacredi had met the other members of the flight, Ryno and Fulfiller. Ryno was in the same bunk as Bacredi, Bacredi praised that he was not with HK-61.

Moving his eyes around the room, Bacredi realized that absolutely no one else was in the room. Except for Bacredi's R6 Droid, R6-K3 no one else was in the room, no one with a pulse that is. Bacredi motioned for Kaythree to come over to Bacredi, and once the orange droid did he set off. They began to walk, and pedal out of the room, the sound of Kaythree's wheels sounded, and it was the only sound Bacredi's ears could hear. Once Bacredi exited the room, he could hear the faint hum of the Atrus. The sound made Bacredi feel more at home, more alive, more part of something, it made him feel good. Bacredi's DH-17 holster swayed with his hips as he walked down the gleamin white hallways. Few other pilots could be seen, all the Stormtroopers and techs, a few R-series droids could be seen, a few even gave beeps to Kaythree.

He then came on a hanger, he wasn't actually inside it, he was just looking through a view port. The hanger was labled as 'Shuttle Hanger ES9'. It's name was damn right, two Lambda-Class Shuttles, two Kappa-Class Shuttles, and four TIE Fighters in racks. He was proud to serve aboard this beautiful piece of work, the Atrus, and he was even more proud to live on it. He gently slid his elbows onto the view port, and looked out at the shuttles, a smirk on his face. A few techs strode in and out of the hanger, and a few repair astromechs stayed inside it. Bacredi then broke his stare and turned around, he then met face on face with R6, who had been 'eying' him the entire time.

"Its all good Kaythree, here, lets head to the mess... scan the ship for any empty mess halls." Bacredi ordered Kaythree, and he headed over to the Computer Terminal right next to the viewpot and stuck his Scomp Link in it. He quickly let out a few beeps, they were near a empty one. And Bacredi immediately let out a whistle as he paced towards the empty mess hall. His pack was on his hip, it was filled with his Computer Terminal X2A9, and a few other components to allow him to work. As it was twelve O'clock PM Vectra standard time, there probably wouldn't be anyone in any of the mess halls. Kaythree and Bacredi then stepped into one of the mess halls, they were met by nothing but three TC droids, two 3PO droids, and a few astro cleaners.

"Hello." A black TC droid paced up to Bacredi and Kaythree. This reminded him of his TC droid that was turned into scrap at the Battle of Yetton IV. When the Lobo was destroyed he lost everything... even his starfighter. He had held almost 7.000 credits on that ship, blast the ship. "Petty Officer First Class Bacredi, what would you like today, we have: Bracik Pie, Corellian Tonic, or basically any of the standard Imperial Food Regime. If you need any help deciding we would be glad to help you."

"Glass of Corellian Whiskey, make it a double." The TC droid walked off, and Bacredi moved over to one of the gleaming tables. It had scars of previous misuse, but Bacredi didn't really care. He opened his pack and took out his Computer Terminal. It powered up to display his start up menu, he gently pressed his hand into the screen: it accepted his hand print. A R5 unit gently peddled over to Bacredi's table, the drink in his circular bar rotunda that it was outfitted with. Bacredi grabbed the drink, and slid a credit chip in the R5's slot. Bacredi then cocked his head to face Kaythree: "Power up Briefing Viper Zeta, I want all the information on the Epsilon System. Now." Kaythree beeped for a second, and now a hologram covered part of the air above Bacredi's Computer Terminal. Looking in his sack again, Bacredi pulled out some mission files on the Epsilon System. Not that Bacredi didn't already know enough about it.

Kaythree's display showed information on the Capital of the Epsilon System, Epsilon. Bacredi owned a share of land there, and he gently read through the words, taking in every single word as if it was a planet. He now stared at his Terminal and began to type up his official brief on the Epsilon System, he would then submit this to the Imperator. He still had to write up his brief on Listening Outpost: Viverro, the Battle of Yetton V, and when the Serenity entered the Ios System. But those would have to wait, Bacredi typed a few words regarding the Epsilon System. And what he already knew about it, he knew Epsilon by heart, almost. Moving over to the mission files, Bacredi stumbled upon his drink, he picked it up and took a quick swig. He then winced at the strongness of the drink, "Unusual" he thought, as the drink usually wasn't that strong.

"Kaythree, pull me up info on Epsilon's Capital, Dreshdea." Kaythree beeped, and the hologram of the Epsilon System dissapeared. Seconds later it was replaced by info on Dreshdea. Bacredi gently moved his finger over the City Layout. Seventy or eight towers came into direct view of Bacredi as other holograpic 'pages' went behind this one. Bacredi then stared at his computer again, typing a second more. Bacredi then thought: "I guess I'll sleep here..." Bacredi then began to type vigorously. Words spewed out of his mind like gumdrops, and he looked at the Epsilon City Plan and found some city scrapers. He then forwarded the brief to the Imperator, it would probably just get chopped in the junk folder or something. He then opened up the Yetton Folder. This would be a long night.

Two days ago:

Lukas was inside his quarters, sitting upon his bunk as he was writing upon his personal journal, enjoying some peace and quiet for the first time in a while. It was a couple of weeks since Operation: Typhus, but the images of war and battle were still fresh on his mind. It was something that he couldn't shake out of his mind, especially the destruction of the Imperian. That picture of an allied ship going down in a blaze of glory was still going back and forth through his mind like a spinning top. However, that horrid image did serve one purpose for him, and that's to carry those souls that were lost on Ios within his heart at all times as he went into battle. They deserved that much.

Just then, a sound came from his door in the form of the attention sounder. Lukas looked to the door as he stood up from his bunk and straightened up his clothing a bit. He needed to be presentable to whoever was on the other side of the door. He walked towards the door and pressed the button to open it, revealling the form of Ibram Tyrol on the other side. Within an instant, Lukas saluted him. "Hello, sir."

"At ease, Lukas. Can I come in?"

"Of course, si....I mean, Ibram."

Lukas had a right to be nervous as he stepped aside to let Ibram inside his quarters. It was the first time since Basic Training that a man of higher rank has visited him like this. He hoped that this visit wasn't anything to do in the form of bad news, but it was still something to behold nonetheless. The door closed behind them as Lukas looked at Ibram with a look that was mixed with seriousness and wonder. "What brings you here, Ibram?"

"Well, I'm here to give you some good news. With Tomas's retirement and Anden's condition, we have a hole to fill in Viper Squadron in the form of a Flight Leader for 3rd Flight. I would like you to have that honor."

Lukas's jaw nearly dropped to the floor as Ibram waited for his overall response to the proposal. Sure, Lukas had heard about Tomas's retirement, and he was there for the party that was totally out of sight. He also heard about Anden and his coma, and he prayed night in and night out that he would come out of it okay. However, this was a big bolt out of the blue. Me as a Flight Leader? Me? So many emotions flowed through him at once, but the main one that was brought out to the forefront was that of happiness as he took the box. "Ibram, I'm honored to be your new Flight Leader. I really don't know what to say."

"Say that you will do a great job."

"I will. Thank you, Ibram."

Lukas and Ibram shook hands as the SC took his leave of the room, leaving Lukas there to ponder with not only his thoughts, but his plans on what to do now. With this new promotion, it meant a lot more work and responsibility on his plate. However, with a smile on his face, Lukas knew that he was up for it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today:

With a steady walk, Lukas nodded to a few of the crewmen that were a part of the Atrus's crew as he headed to the briefing room. Apparently, there was a new mission for the crew of Viper Squadron, and he couldn't wait to return to his TIE to fly in space once more. However, this one would be more significant to him because this would be his first mission as a Flight Leader. He would have to lead his own flight now, instead of following the command of another. Well, except for Ibram and Phin since they were of a higher rank than him. Was he nervous? Hell yes, he was, but wouldn't anyone who was just given a higher position? Of course, so he took it in stride.

Upon entering the briefing room, Lukas's eyes met his friend, Jacen, who jumped from his seat and headed towards him, all smiles on his face. "I heard the great news, man. Congrats on the promotion."

"Thanks, Jacen. I needed that from you."

"Hey, we're going to miss you in Second Flight. It won't be the same without you."

"Don't worry about it. You'll do fine with Phin and Blue on your side. Just remember that just because I'm in a new group doesn't mean that I'm going to ignore you. You're still a rookie, remember?"

Lukas and Jacen shared a laugh that was definitely needed in the moment. It shook out some of the butterflies that was in Lukas's stomach, and that was definitely a good thing. He needed to get into the swing of things as far as his newfound duties were concerned. One of them was approaching him at that moment as a droid appeared next to him and Jacen. Lukas looked at the droid with some curiosity in his eyes. "Can I help you?"

“Statement: Leading Crewman HK-61 reporting, sir. I am to be in your Flight, sir.”

"Have you confirmed of Type-1 sentience classification?”

"Statement: It was confirmed early by Squadron Commander Ibram Tyrol, sir."

"Then, I welcome you to the 3rd Flight of Viper Squadron. Have a seat, for the briefing is about to start."

"Statement: Sir."

The droid made its way to an empty seat as Jacen looked on to see Lukas. "Good luck with that one," Jacen said with a giggle.

"Thanks."

Both Jacen and Lukas took their seats as Ibram made his way to the podium, showing that the briefing was about to begin. This was going to be new territory for Lukas, and he was finally glad to enjoy the ride.

Darkness, that's how Jacen would describe the events that were unfolding lately. Everything was changing rapidly, he couldn't control it, but he wished he could. Though, since he had joined the Navy everything had seemed to be getting easier, or that's how it felt. The one thing you have to remember is wherever there is darkness there is light, you just have to find it.

He slowly headed back to his room, trying to hurry so that he wouldn't be late for the move to the Imperator. The halls were completely empty, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of Jacen's boots striking metal with every step. Thought swirled around in his mind Maybe Phineus was right maybe I do think to much, but I can't help it I like to work out problems. Specailly now, he had to fly with two new people, even with the experience he had gained with Anden he still didn't feel comfortable, it was all new territory.

He had already had some time to spend with Sicario, but that was to play a joke on Mira, even then though Phineus didn't seem like a bad guy; he just wanted to have fun, but at the same time he was serious about his job, after all he was a flight leader lives where in his hands. at least I know if my life is on the line. Regardless, Jacen still didn't know about Blue. He had been transfered from Kaph, and was pretty new to Viper, but still was an experienced pilot. It almost made him feel worthless.

Without even realizing it, Jacen almost passed up his room. He stopped and threw his hand into his pocket, pulling out a key card and swiping it through the slot in the door in almost one fluid movement.  The door opened before him with a hiss, startling him a little bit. The cold feeling of space surrounded him as he entered his room, he didn't mind after all he never spent much time in there anyway. It was a nice little area, but he would choose the living quarters of his YT back home than this place, even though they had their similarities.

“Alright, just grab you gun, and your helmet and get out of here.”He was already acting before he even reminded himself why he was in there. He swiped his pistol off the table and headed for the closet. He pulled the door open with is free hand, frantically searching for his helmet. “That's right, it's in my fighter, stupid.”

He headed for the door, almost running into his bed as he did. His Bulky pilots outfit made it hard to move as he wished, but he imagined it was a lot easier to maneuver in then the Stormtrooper armor.  He broke into a sprint has he headed out the door; almost missing the button to close his door, luckily he got it. The door snapped shut behind him.

Jacen ran down the hall as fast as he could. Dodging cleaning droids and the random passerby,  barely making it past them. I just hope I'm not going to be late for lunch.

Hangar 23-Zeta, SSD Atrus
Mission Day

Ibram sat on a munitions crate in the hangar, caf in one hand and some preliminary reports in the other.

The Squadron was making their final preparations for transferring over to the Imperator. The flagship for this operation was currently waiting with the rest of the task force off the Atrus’ stern. As was Viper’s tradition, they would fly themselves over to the ship, and the fleet would jump towards Epsilon.

“Me and HK have finished our preparations sir.”

Lukas, sporting his new ‘Flight Leader’ insignia, walked over to where Ibram was sitting.

“I tell you, that droid is an odd one. And the way he talks is kind of weird.”

“Yeah," Ibram said. "It’s a design quirk that the manufacturers decided to include in every model. I think it’s their version of a joke on the Galaxy.”

“Funny guys…”

Ibram heard a scream, and saw his XO running out from behind one of the ties, a pack of Gizkas chasing after him. One was carrying what looked like one of Mira’s bras.

Ibram chuckled to himself.

A few months ago, I would have gotten some weird looks for knowing that…

“Sir…this thing between Mira and Phineus has been going on all morning. Shouldn't you intervene.”

“Yes, yes I should.”

Lukas just stared at Ibram blankly as he sipped his caf.

“…are you going to intervene?”

“Probably not.”

“Why?”

“It’ll help… ‘break the XO in’, as they say.”

“Right.”

Ibram watched as Phineus’ T3 droid came to his rescue, stunning each Gizka into submission. He also noticed Mira standing off to one side, chuckling. She looked over at him, and quickly blushed and looked away again.

Lukas saw it as well.

“What was that all about?”

Ibram didn’t look up as he spoke.

“She’s feeling guilty.”

“Guilty about what?”

“About teasing the XO in front of me.”

“Why?”

“That’s none of your business Lukas”

“Are you and her…?”

“Inter squadron relations are frowned upon.”

“If you say so, but I looks to me like she’s got a thing for the XO. Back where I’m from, a girl would pull stunts like this to get a boys attention. I tell ya, with all the commotion she’s caused; she must want his attention bad.”

“Unfortunately Lukas, she wouldn’t know what she wanted if it came up to her, slapped her in the face and said ‘Hey, I’m what you want.’”

“You sound like you know her pretty well sir.”

“Probably better then she knows herself.”

Ibram looked up again. Mira was talking with Aleia, whilst Phin was doing some maintenance on TE. The Gizkas were lying where they had been stunned. Ibram couldn’t help but remember a time when she would be pulling stunts like that against him.

Not anymore… I’ve gotten too close…

Ibram had a feeling it had had something to do with the skipper, or ‘Thomas’ as he was now known as. Mira had hinted more then a few times that they had had something once, but something had happened. Coupled with his two near-death experiences, and this sudden departure from the Starfighter Corps, Mira was hurting bad. At first he had thought it was just her physical injuries, but now he wasn’t so sure.

With the skipper gone, and no-one but me in the picture, she’s worried that I’m getting too close. Now she’s found someone else to vent against… and she’s feeling guilty because of it…

Ibram shook his head. He didn’t need to worry about her. When she was ready, she would come and talk to him, in the mean time, he could sit back and enjoy his XO getting a taste of life according to Mira O’Riley.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carrack-class Cruiser Death by Degrees
In orbit around Epsilon

Lieutenant Laguna paced up and down his quarters aboard the Death by Degrees. A combination of length of service and a technicality of all things had placed him in charge of the system until help arrived.

He’d asked for something interesting, but not this. He stopped pacing and stared at the read out’s once again.

From what he could tell, and unknown faction whose numbers matched those of a small army have seized the Capital, along with the major spaceport. Smaller uprising were occurring all over the planet, but these seemed like more half-hearted affairs.

The local garrison had been quickly overwhelmed, and where now dug in at military bases and make-shift forts dotted around the outskirts. No demands have as yet been made, and luckily there had been no incidents like this elsewhere in the system.

Still… doesn’t make my job and kriffing easier…

The Death by Degrees, along with the other handful of military grade ships, had set up a (very loose) blockade around the planet, and now all they could do was wait, which Laguna hated.

He went over to his wall communicator and signalled the bridge.

“Any news?”

“No sir, nothing new. There’s still fighting going on in the capital, but now the enemy has the spaceport completely locked down. Colonel Garibaldi is digging in until the reinforcements get here, but he’s sent small parties out to try and assist the smaller towns and settlements.”

“Any news on when the reinforcements are going to show up?”

“No sir, Fleet Admiral Japheth said that he was putting a task force together. We should expect it within a day though.”

“Got it, thank you XO.”

A day…what do they expect me to do until then?

With only a handful of ships as his disposal, Laguna was worried that the situation could escalate out of his control fast. Luckily, no-one was trying to run the “blockade” that had been step up, but that could change.

He checked his chrono. Whilst it was only around the middle of the day in ship time, he had been on his feet for the past 12 hours.

I think I’ll get some rest…

No sooner had he laid down into bed however, his comlink started beeping.

“What is it?”

“Sir, I think you better get up here.”

“What is it?”

“Reinforcements sir.”

“But they’re not due for another day you said?”

“Not ours sir, theres.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SSD Atrus

“Ok everyone, gather round.”

Ibram was in the centre of the hangar, and slowly but surely, the rest of the squadron gathered around him.

“Preparations are complete, and we’re now ready to transfer over to the Imperator, it’s going to be heading out soon. One final announcement before we head out – there’s going to be a little twist to this mission.”

He directed everyone’s attention to the holo device sitting next to him. Stepping back a bit, he tapped a control on his own data pad, and suddenly the device came to life.

Mira frowned as she looked at what was being displayed.

“What is it?”

Ibram grinned, “This is the Scimitar-class Assault Bomber, courtesy of Sienar Fleet Systems.”

Phin whistled, and several other pilots raised their eyebrows in surprise. Mira, however, was still frowning.

“So?”

“So, Petty Officer O’Riley, this is what we will be flying during the up-coming mission.”

Ibram looked at each of the squadron members in turn, gauging their reactions. He’s kept this part of the mission secret, partly to do with orders, and partly because this was fun. He hadn’t even told his command staff.

“The designs for the Scimitar were…appropriated from the SFS R&D department by the Naval Intelligence division. This far into the unknown regions, it can be hard to keep up with the latest developments.”

Ibram didn’t know the details, but he did know that a few months ago, SFS was hit by an ‘unknown’ faction, and part of their R & D building was wiped out.

“We have 6 of these babies to play with, and they are the only 6 that the Vast Empire own at the moment. There have been other sightings of these vessels across the galaxy, particularly in Thrawn’s fleet, but high command wants to know how they handle.”

Ibram started walking around the holo-representation as he continued to address his squadron.

“The scimitar is 8 meters long, is and off shoot of the classic TIE design, and has a single elongated body as you can see. It’s only got one ion engine, hence why it isn’t called ‘TIE scimitar’ or something like that. It has one pilot, and one bombardier. In atmosphere it can reach speeds of up to 1,150 km per hour, and an additional 100 km per hour whilst dive-bombing. Its weapons included two laser cannons, concussion missile launchers, and chutes for thermal detonators and proton grenades. This is the ultimate planetary vessel this side of a patrol boat. It is lean, it is mean, and ladies and gentlemen, it’s all ours.”

He stopped his walk and turned to address them all.
“These models aren’t equipped with Hyperdrives, but we have added shields. Any questions?”

Lukas raised his hand, “Sir, you said there were 6 available, but there’s ten of us. That means we can only fill 5.”

“Good point Lukas. R & D likes even numbers, and 4 is too small to get an accurate analysis, so the 6th craft will be pilot by two experienced pilots from the Imperator. They’ll be temporarily under my command for this mission, and you’ll be able to meet them when we arrive.”

Mira, true to form, didn’t bother to raise her hand.

“Who will be paired with?”

Ibram looked over at her, and couldn’t help but wonder who she would prefer.

“Hasn’t been decided yet, I’m going to wait and see. When we transfer over to the Imperator, there will be some initial training simulations. Once I’ve gauged what everyone can and can’t do, then I’ll assign pairs, and you can practice together from there. We have some custom-made simulators to help us train with these, so try not to break them.”

“Will we get some live practice?” Phin asked.

“Not before we reach Epsilon, no. But depending on the situation there, we may be able to go over some simple manoeuvres.”

He checked his chrono, it was time.

“Ok people, time’s up. Any more questions are going to have to wait until we’re safely aboard the Imperator. Let’s move out.”

In a blur of motion, the pilots of Viper Squadron quick-timed it to their respective fighters, and powered them up for launch. Ibram couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride.

They were his pilots now.

OOC:

Check the Viper topic for further info. All posts from now on should concern us transferring over to the Imperator. Now simulator time yet please.

Phineus never felt so thankful for his natural born skill in the art of athletics. He had ran from one end of the Atrus to the other, and his thighs had still yet to burn. Luckily, his TK droid had zapped the gizkas, and he was now free to collapse to the floor and pant.

“I…” Phineus began, breathing heavily, “owe you one… TK”

Upon saying ‘TK’, Phineus once again was zapped. Every time he called the droid, it zapped him and began playing Boy George songs, something Phineus was least fond of. TK didn’t want to do it, and constantly apologized between zappings.

“Alright,” Phineus hesitated, “T3… Head over to maintenance, get yourself fixed, and then report to the med bay, I’ll be gone by then. Remember; keep a good eye on Tommy and Anden.”

TK whistled in embarrassment in being sent to get checked up, but took his job in making sure Anden and Tomas were ok with pride. He wheeled off, and Phineus knew TK would miss him, as would Phineus miss TK.

“Little buddy,” Phineus shouted out.

TK beeped questionably.

“Good luck, make sure you’re still active when I get back. Oh, and please, for the sake of me getting demoted, don’t cause too much trouble,” Phineus said sarcastically.

TK gave a beep of happiness, said his own goodbyes, and wheeled away. Phineus opened up a comm channel to Jacen Nexrak, better known as Ryno. Earlier, Phineus had felt some sort of distressing, heartrending, and poignant feeling seeping from Ryno’s pores. He couldn’t quite describe how he felt it or why, but all Phineus knew was that he almost felt what Ryno felt. It concerned Phineus to know that one of his flight member’s was having problems, and he always made sure his member’s were taken care of.

“Sir?” Ryno asked over the comm.

“Hey, Jacen,” Phineus made sure to call him by his actual name, to make it sound more personal. “Can you meet me in my office?”

“You have an office, sir?” Ryno said, half jokingly.

“Very funny, Jacen, you’ve got ten minutes,” Phineus said with a grin.

Phineus entered into his quarters and took a seat behind his medium sized desk. Engraved on the top of the desk was a green, menacing Viper Squadron insignia biting into a Rebellion insignia. Otherwise, it was as plain as the rest of the room. Phineus didn’t bother topping it with anything, he honestly had nothing. His Koroushi data pad was all that he needed, or wanted, he had a firm disgust for clutter. He opened up his mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of vayerbok, and struggled down the thick, vegetable based beverage. Ryno knocked on Phineus’ door, and Phineus opened it with the control panel imbedded in his right arm rest. The door rose open, and Ryno saluted.

“At ease, Jacen, take a seat,” Phineus welcomed.

Ryno took the seat opposite the side of Phineus’ chair.

“So, what do you need, sir?” Ryno asked.

“In here, it’s Phineus,” Phineus stated, “did you get some rest last night?”

“Yes sir... er, Phineus. I slept pretty well.” Ryno replied.

“Good, would you like something to drink?” Phineus motioned towards his mini-fridge.

“Got anything good?”

“Some Darthwater and vayerbok.”

Ryno shook his head, “I can’t drink that sludge, but some water will be fine.”

Phineus chuckled, “It’s an acquired taste.”

Phineus opened up the mini-fridge and unscrewed the top on a Darthwater, and handed it to Ryno.

“Thanks, sir.” Ryno took a long swig of the water.

“Phineus, please. So, Jacen, have you run system checks on your TIE? We’ll be shipping out within the hours.”

Ryno narrowed his brow, “You know we don’t run system checks until we prepare to ship out.” Ryno was on to Phineus, “Why am I really here?”

Phineus nodded, “Ok, Jacen, I’ll get to the point. I’ve sense some distress in you.”

“Sensed?” Ryno pushed.

Phineus shrugged, he didn’t even quite know how he sensed anything, “Call it a feeling.”

“People feel lots of things.”

“Well, this was a strong feeling. I felt as though something troubled you.” Phineus tried to sound as worried as possible, and it didn’t take much trying at all.

Ryno shrugged, he wasn’t truly positive if Phineus was honestly worrying or not. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

Phineus took a long blink, “There’s something you’re not telling me. Look, just be honest with me. I won’t judge you, trust me, I’ve been through my fair share of down times.”

Ryno finally began to look a bit more comfortable, “I don’t know. It’s just, with all this change in the squadron, with Anden leaving, and now I’m flying with you and Zhar. It’s just,” Ryno hesitated, thinking of how best to word his muddled thoughts, “Well; it’s as if I spent all my life in a hot, crackling fire. And now, all of a sudden, I’ve been cast into the snowy banks of Hoth. It’s all so new, so alien to me. Then there’s Zhar getting transferred here, and you being the Executive Officer, I just feel so worthless, though I’m not quite sure why. It’s so many things but…”

Phineus interjected, “…you just can’t pin point it.”

“Exactly!” Ryno’s eyes widened, finally having someone else understand, “And with all this pressure of having to protect myself up there as well as others. And now that Fulfiller is gone, it’s like I’m doing it all alone.”

This guy is just like how I was, Phineus mused. Young, pressured.

“This sounds cliché, but I understand how you feel,” Phineus spoke as though he truly did know what Ryno was going through. “Look, you’re still nineteen; you can’t be expected to carry so much weight on your shoulders. But Jacen, you’re among friends here. Keeping your problems tucked away will only allow them to spring back up again. Fulfiller may be out of our flight, but he’s still in our squadron. Not to mention myself and Ibram, we’re all here for you.”

Ryno looked a bit less poignant, and a bit more eased. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Trust me, I am. I’ve been through a lot as well, more than my fair share to be honest. Jacen, if you need anyone, I’m always around to help. If you have any problems, Navy related or otherwise, just come see me.”

“I will, thanks Phineus,” Ryno sounded unconcerned for the first time all day.

Phineus nodded, “Alright, now go get your things together, Ibram will be prepping us soon.”

Ryno stood, the two exchanged salutes, and he left Phineus to himself. Phineus slouched back in his chair, trying to think of something other than Mira.

She’s so cute when she’s angry, Phineus mused, and so kriffing sexy.

Phineus couldn’t shake the picture in his mind of her from earlier, her soft lips that were merely centimeters from his. It was the point of his day that was sure, until she nearly knocked him out with just a squeeze of her fingers. She was powerful, cute, and one hell of a pilot. Just what Phineus liked.

A beep pinged in from Phin’s comm., he pressed the blinking green light.

“Go ahead, sir,” Phineus spoke, addressing Ibram.

“Mind shooting over to my office, we have some things to discuss before we head out.”

“No problem.”

Phineus closed the comm link, picked up his vayerbok, and headed for his Squadron Commander’s office.

-Later-

Phineus gave a quick double knock at Ibram’s door, “Wanted to see me, sir?”

Ibram was thumbing through his data pad, “Mm, take a seat.”

Phineus took a sip of his vayerbok, and sat across from Ibram, “Seat taken, sir.”

Ibram continued, still without looking up from his data pad, “I’ll be addressing the crew soon, we’ll then be preparing for take off. We’ll be flying some different fighters this time; they’re already stationed aboard the Imperator.”

Phineus cut in, “We’ll be taking a shuttle over there?”

“No,” Ibram finally looked up, tossing his data pad onto his desk, “no, we’ll be flying our TIE’s there.”

Phineus narrowed his brow in confusion, “Our TIE’s? What’s the point if they have their own fighters for us?”

“A safety precaution, just in case the Imperator’s fighters get damaged, or we find them to be of no use anymore.”

“No use? Is this some sort of special star fighter I don’t know about?”

Ibram grinned, “Exactly. You’ll find out with the rest of the squadron shortly. One more matter for you; I’ve notice Ryno’s expression has been a bit glum, can you handle it?”

Phineus smirked, “Way ahead of you sir, I have it covered.”

There was still some tension between the two, but it was beginning to clear up as much as it could.

“Aye, form up with the rest of the crew, I’ll be there shortly,” Ibram commanded.

Phineus took another swig of the thick juice and departed his office. Once he got to the door however, Phineus turned back halfway and addressed the question that was undoubtedly on both their minds.

“We ok, sir?”

Ibram looked up at Phineus, and nodded, “Yeah, mate, no worries.”

Phineus wasn’t quite sure how much he believed it, but the response was good enough for now. He knew that things will simmer down for now; both were professionals and both would go into the fight with clear heads. It was all just a matter of time.

-Later-

After Ibram’s speech concerning the Scimitars, the Viper pilots rushed off double time to their respective TIE fighters. Phineus took his time however, per his usual, as he climbed upward into the cockpit. Phineus plopped down into his seat, grinned and shook his head at the vast amount of stickers spread evenly throughout the ‘pit, and then fixed his gaze on the picture of his mother taped right below the view port. He took a deep breath as he sat in the canopy, staring at the picture.

I’ll need you for this one, mom, Phineus deeply contemplated. I’ll need you.

He was in such a deep thought process, he felt as though he was extending himself throughout the entire galaxy. He felt as if he seemingly was in such a deep trance, that the entire squadron could somehow feel the confidence and belief his emotions dictated. If they could somehow, he hoped it would be a motivator.
Comm chatter plagued the noise inside his helmet, inside the canopy, inside the TIE fighter. Phineus strapped himself in the crash webbing and fed his voice into the already heavy comm link.

“Alright, flight two,” He said addressing Blue and Ryno, “get yourselves warmed up with this flight over to the Imperator.”

“Aye,” Blue chimed.

“Aye,” Ryno chimed in as well.

Phineus thumbed some switches as the TIE fired up, letting the familiar humming of the engines smooth Phineus’ mind. The fighter lightly elevated off the Atrus’ hangar’s durasteel floor, and fully sparked to life. He lifted off, following the first flight’s departure, and led the way for flight two. As he piloted his TIE into the starry night sky, he yet again realized- as he always did again and again with each time he witnessed the universe’s pride and joy, the sky- just how much he loved it. How serene it was, the tranquil, comforting feeling it gave him that many other objects only seldom achieved. Flying was what Phineus lived for; it was his true, one and only love. What else would he need in the galaxy? He had his droids, his crew back on the Fortis, and he had the stars, the moons, the planets, and the sky. And he had it all to himself. Wherever he went, it was there. Whenever he needed it, it was right there awaiting him. It was the perfect relationship, he could want nothing more.

After a relatively short flight, the crew of pilots berthed in the Imperator’s hangar bay. Phineus gently lowered his TIE fighter, landed, and unstrapped his crash webbing. He lifted off his helmet and placed it down behind his pilot’s seat. He gave a soft kiss to two fingers of the leathery glove covering his robotic hand, and pressed them softly against the picture of him and his mother. No matter how many times he’s seen it, he never got tired or bored of the same two people… ever. It was the last eyeing memory he had of her, and he cherished it closely to his heart. Phineus climbed down the canopy’s hatch way, and dropped to the Imperator’s durasteel floor. It seemed, to Phin’s eyes at least, that each Imperial ship he docked in all had identical hangar bays, without the smallest of differences.

Viper squadron was immediately greeted by the staff of the Imperator, and were given a run down of where their sleeping quarters were, where the mess hall was, and that they would have roughly twenty hours before shipping off to start the mission. The flights were dismissed, albeit Ibram, whom was held back for administrative reasons. Phineus shot him a questioned look, and Ibram shot one back which showed that he had it under control, and did not need Phin’s services at the moment.

Phineus ungloved his left, human hand, and slipped the glove into his flight suites left most pockets. He ran his fleshy hand through his hair and down across his five o’clock shadow that was beginning to grow. The stubble was short and sharp against his fingers, and itched his hand against it.

Phineus took his time walking to the mess hall, hoping to get in a quick bite of breakfast before taking a quick nap to get his bearings. It’s not that he was tired, not necessarily, he just wanted some rest. Some time for his eyes and his mind to not have to work so hard. And on top of that, he needed his body to rest. It still ached horribly since Typhus; he didn’t know whether it was the crash landing or the insane piloting, but either way, he just needed some time to cool his heated body.

In the mess hall, Phineus was greeted by the entire squadron.
“Heeeyyy,” They all seemingly shouted at once.

“There he is,” Zhar said, welcoming Phineus with a firm punch on the shoulder.

“Um, did I do something?” Phineus asked with his brow raised.
Zhar shared a laugh, “We were just wondering when you’d show up, you were walking slower than a one legged rancor.”

Phineus’ face churned into a crooked smile, “Yeah yeah, can’t a guy think?”

“Careful,” Mira said as she passed ahead of him, a tray in her hands, “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Phineus gave her a look of minor embarrassment, combined with a sarcastic grin.

“Here you are,” Ryno said handing Phineus a tray of salad topped with Coruscant red wine Vinaigrette, with another plate homing a Bantha Breakfast Biscuit. “C’mon, our flight has its own mini-table.”

Phineus grabbed a bottle of Aitha on the way, and then plopped down in between Ryno and Blue. This was his second love; the comradery of it all, the excitement that stirred within the mess hall, the feeling of being surrounded by his closet friends. Viper squadron was a family, a dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless. Phineus bit into his biscuit, sipped his Aitha, and began to smile and the jokes told by Blue. This was all the rest Phineus needed. 

______________________________________

Words- 2,570

"You know if you keep picking on him, he'll think you like him," Ibram commented as Mira sat down in the chair across from him.

Mira smiled, 'Who says I don't?" she then giggled at Ibram coughed on the blue milk he was drinking.

"Wha?" Ibram asked his eyes bugging out.

"What? I'm only female, besides I only like him because he actually fights back with my pranks," Mira said leaning back in her chair and smirking. Gods how she loved to make Ibram squirm, she knew all to well of his fighting feelings for her and she took every oppertunity to make him feel uncomfortable. "It's like you, only you know instead of giving crap back for my pranks you go into all father mode and tell me how bad I am for the Navy and give me lecture, no fun at all.'

"Oh you mean, like as a person?" Ibram said letting out a sigh.

"Of course, jeez you're so like a dad, making sure I behave myself," Mira laughed cheerfully, "Please, first off I don't know Phin that well no matter how good he smells I still have to get to know him. And you Ibram, because you're probably wondering where you're at with me. Are extremely boring, impress me or something, now..." Mira said letting out a long yawn, "I didn't get much sleep, shaving Phineas took a while so I'm going to head to the common room and grab a nap."

"Mira..." Ibram began but it was too late, she was already walking away, "Damn."

"Yoink," Mira said as she reached around Phineas as he was deep in discussion with Aleia, well it seemed more like flirting to Mira, grabbing his right glove before running off.

"Hey, give that, excuse me," Phineas said jumping out of his chair and taking off after Mira only to lose her in the vast hallways of the ship, "Damn, damn, damn that woman is driving me crazy!"

Mira grinned gleefully as she settle into the couch in the common room. She pulled a blanket over her, and placed the glove down her shirt just in case Phineas ever did find her. Mira drifted off to sleep, though it was an uneasy sleep, as usual after a few minutes her leg began to prickle uncomfortably making her wake up several times to stretch it out. This was why she didn't sleep that much, most of the time it was a pain to do so. She had finally fallen asleep again when the door to the common room slid open. Mira squeezed her eyes shut.

"Mrph, go away," Mira grumbled curling up deeper into her blanket as Phineas' cologne hit her nose.

"I want my glove back," Phineas stated.

Mira turned away from him, "Its mine," she said grumpily, until Phineas practically tackled her and the two of them began wrestling for control of the glove. The two of them got tangled up together in the blanket, falling to the floor, Phineas taking the brunt of the impact as Mira landed on him.

"Gimme!" Phineas practically yelled as the two of them tugged on the glove.

"No I like it!" Mira yelled back.

The door slide open and Ibram walked in, stopped and stared at the two of them, "Gods, would you two grow up!"

"Never, don't think so," Ibram and Mira said in unison. Ibram looked frustrated, extremely so as he stormed out of the room. The two of them looked at each other and began laughing, Phineas tried reaching for his glove and Mira quickly held it out of reach.

"Hey, wait," Mira said looking at Phineas closely as she sat on his chest still holding the glove out of reach, "cool!" she then stated untangling herself from the blanket and climbing up onto the sofa, 'You have a robo arm!"

"you think that's cool?" Phineas asked untangling himself and brining the blanket to the sofa and throwing it over the two of them.

"Well yeah, I am one of the best mechanics in the Navy, I'm sort of interested in stuff like that," Mira said sticking her tongue out at Phineas as she handed back his glove.

"Well its not something you just run around and tell everyone," Phineas said preparing to put the glove back on.

"Don't," Mira said putting her hand on the arm, "Why wouldn't you want people to know?" she asked holding up the mechanical arm, with her free hand she put on her glasses. Carefully her fingers ran over the smooth metal.

"I, I guess I'm just not use to it myself," Phineas said watching Mira study his arm.

"Amazing," Mira said as Phineas bent his fingers then elbow to show her how it worked. Her cool fingers then traced over where the metal met skin, "The doc who did this, just wow, it just mends into your skin," she said looking up at Phineas her eyes filled with questions and interest.

"I was pretty lucky," Phineas said smiling as Mira took his other hand and began tracing the lines on his hand as she leaned against him. His nose settle on the top of her head and he let out a sigh his mechanical hand settling around her waist, 'What about you?"

"Hm?" Mira asked her fingers wrapping around Phineas'.

"Other then your lack of personal space, and your tendency to pull pranks, you can't hide the fact you have a limp," Phineas asked.

"Oh," Mira said quietly, "Well," she said biting her lip, 'You're right it is hard to explain these type of things. Because if I show you will you be so repulsed that you'll be uncomfortable, then again you have a robo arm, and...you might understand better then anyone," Mira said sighing before removing some of the blanket to reveal her leg. Silently, she pulled up her pants leg to reveal a mass of scar tissue and missing flesh from her leg.

'Mira..." Phineas said tightening his grip around her as she tried to pull away, "What...what happened?"

"I was lucky actually, I could have lost all of my leg, had a robo like you," Mira said settling back against Phineas again, resting her head against his shoulder, "There was a hangar explosion, my leg was caught underneath a bunch of rubble, there was fire too, it burned my back pretty bad," Mira said biting her lip, "Bacta shots have removed most of the burn scars, but my leg will never be completely healed and I'll always have a limp. That's why Ibram's so protective of me, he still feels guilty for the whole explosion. His hovering drives me crazy sometimes."

"Well he cares about you," Phineas chuckled deep in his chest.

"Still annoying though," Mira sighed, she then turned to look at Phineas, "what about you, why do you have a bum arm?" she asked.

"Hey I can't let you know all of my secrets!" Phineas protested and Mira punched him in the arm.

"Jerk," she said frowning.

"Ow! Anyone tell you that violence isn't the answer?" Phineas moaned rubbing his arm and pouting.

"You girl," Mira said leaning forward to give Phineas an apologetic kiss on the nose, only to have him lift his head at the last moment and her lips made contact with his.

"Mm," Mira hummed in surprise, her eyes opening wide before settling closed her body molding against Phineas' Her hand gently rested on his chest while the other cupped his cheek. Meanwhile Phineas' arms wrapped tightly around her waist, the cool metal of his arm touching her skin as her shirt exposed a little of her skin.

Mira let out a small squeal at the cold metal against her skin and pulled away from Phineas' lips. Her cheeks blushed bright red, "You're terrible you know that, and you still owe me a story," she retorted punching Phineas' arm again.

Ibram sat in his chair in the mess hall, steaming cup of caf nestled in between his hand. It was his fourth cup this morning.

I drink way too much of this stuff…

He looked around the mess hall. The squadron seemed to be settling back into routine nicely, with most of them sat around the central group of tables. The droid, HK was by himself reading his Manuel. He was strange that one.

And to think C-3 could have past for a man in an iron suit…

Ibram thought back to the scene he had just walked in on, Mira up close to Phineus, and shook his head.

That woman drives me crazy sometimes…

Ibram had resigned himself to the fact that he liked Mira, he just didn’t know what to do about it. Relations between Flight Members and Squadron Leaders were against regulations, and severely frowned upon. The catch was in not getting caught. Ibram had suspected a similar thing had happened between Mira and the skipper, but he couldn’t be sure. Speculation was not something he was good, or even liked doing.

He finished his Caf, and got up. It wouldn’t do him any good to dwell on Mira. Technically she could do as she pleased, without any regard for his feelings. Ibram would live on, as he always did. He survived Marisa, after all.

Ibram left the mess hall and headed towards his office aboard the Imperator. It wasn’t much, but then it was only temporary. Pulling out the data pad, he began finalising the details of the coming mission.

They would begin training tonight, so he needed to work out the pairs. Unfortunately, there was an odd number, so someone was going to have to go with one of the Imperator’s pilots. It only took him about five minutes to do.

Hopefully these pairings won’t cause too much trouble…

He picked up his comlink and summoned Phin to his officer. It was time for the newly appointed XO’s first briefing.

---------------------------------------------------------

“The situation has become untenable. We’re pulling back and will take up position around the moon.
Our only hope is that our reinforcements will get here sooner rather then later. Until then, they’re on their own.
No sign of those 'BaCo' privateers.. Just what in the hell are those guys up to?”
  - From the personal log of Lieutenant Troy Laguna,
during the Epsilon Uprising.

------------------------------------------------------------

Ibram had just finished briefing Phin about the training session that evening, and was thinking about taking a nap when he heard some knocking at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and three pilots Ibram didn’t recognise stepped in.

“Petty Officer Trask Terep, Senior Crewman Logan Helvance, and Senior Crewman Marco Fyori reporting for duty sir!” the first man said.

Ah, these must be our ‘sit-ins’ for the mission…

Ibram saluted them and motioned for them to have a seat.

“Greetings gentle, my name is Ibram Tyrol, and I will be you commanding officer during this mission. Now, you’re with Hammer Squadron, the Imperator’s resident bomber squadron, is that correct?”

“Yes sir,” Trask said. “We were chosen by our commander because we are some of the best bombers in the squadron, but also because we’re good at team work.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, have you done your homework on the Scimitar?”

“Yes sir we have,” the one who was identified as Logan spoke up. “A lot of the controls are similar to the standard bomber, their just split into two stations. If anything, it should be easier.”

“Good. Logan and Marco, you will be in a Scimitar to yourselves, whilst Trask, you will be pairing up with one of mine, Petty Officer Bacredi.”

“Bacredi? As in BaCo Bacredi?”

Ibram frowned, and quickly looked up Zhar’s file. Sure enough, it mentioned that he was the current company president (in abstentia) of the Bacredi Family Shipping Corporation. Ibram hadn’t known that.

Interesting…

“Yes, it appears you are correct Petty Officer. Will this be a problem?”

Trask took a moment to answer.

“I shouldn’t think so, no sir.”

Ibram stared at him before replying.

“Whatever BaCo’s done to you Trask, let it go. Zhar is a pilot in the Vast Empire Navy, nothing more.”

“…yes sir.”

“Good. Our first training session will be later today at 1830, just after Evening Mess. I expect to see you all there. Dismissed.”

“Sir!”  The pilots saluted and left the room.

Ibram just sat there and stared at the door for minutes. He then turned to his screen and brought up Bacredi’s file once more. There was a surprising amount of date in there.

I suppose its stuff like this that should teach me to check up on my pilots…

Ibram started to read through. There were some bits about his early life that he skipped, but things started to get more interesting later in his life.

Wow…apparently he owns a mansion on Dantooine…I think I know where our next leave is going to be…

It was the Bacredi Shipping company he was chairman off that Ibram was most interested in. A multi-system organisation, it had influence everywhere, from the core worlds all the way to the outer rim. It was also founder of the Trader’s alliance, making it, and him, the de facto head of one of the largest trading organisations in the galaxy, not to mention potentially putting one of the biggest civilian fleets at his disposal.

But that wasn’t the most interesting part, not by a long shot. Ibram stopped at an item labelled, ‘BaCo Military Assets’, and opened it. After a brief skim, he leant back and gave a small whistle of surprise.

Very Interesting…

He picked up his comlink.

“Bridge? This is Warrant Officer Ibram Tyrol, have we jumped yet?...Ok. Is there a VENI representative on board? I have something they may want to look at…”

Ibram looked back at the screen he had just opened. The first bit read:

BaCo First Fleet
Flagship: Leviathan
Location: Vast Empire Space - Epsilon System

Mira had left the room, giving Phineus some time to think about the kiss they shared.

Oh, what the hell am I doing?

Phineus was in no way in need, or in want, of some sort of female companion, even if it were just to play around. Phineus was a smart guy, he knew Mira was just playful, and fed off of Phin’s playfulness. He didn’t want things to go any farther than they already had, and he certainly didn’t want his friendship with Ibram to strain because of this. Phineus slipped his black bantha-leather glove over his mechanical right hand and departed once again towards the mess hall.

On his meandering towards the mess hall, Phineus noticed cleaning droids and technicians going about their jobs, and a lone Viper pilot a few meters ahead. From the back, it looked like Ryno; his head was lazily hanging down, his shoulders were slumped, his hands in his pockets.

“Hey, wait up!” Phineus called out.

Ryno turned back to see Phin catching up in a slow jog, “Hey, sir.”

Phineus’ hair blew in the wind his jogging created and he finally caught up completely, “Hey Jacen. Going for a walk?”

Ryno nodded.

“Mind if I tag along?” Phineus asked.

“Don’t mind at all,” Ryno replied. “I could use the company.”

“You and me both, kid,” Phineus said, wearing a small smirk. “How about those Scimiters?”

“Seem pretty cool,” Ryno said as he raised his head.

Phineus nodded along, “Well it’s one ugly piece of craft, but you can’t deny its vast weaponry. Should prove effective.”

Ryno glanced over at Phin, “How’d the prank work out?”

“Oh, that?” Phineus mused along in his head for a moment, “Not bad, I suppose. What do you think of Mira?”

“Me?” Ryno half asked. “I thought her and Tomas had a thing… or was it Ibram?”

“Tomas?”

“Tomas,” they rounded a few corners and headed down a long passage way. “Heard they shared a bed together once. Nothing happened, literally just slept together.”

Phineus let his eyes settle on the ground, “Oh, I see. And her and Ibram?”

“I think they have something, but Ibram acts more like her mother or something, from what I’ve seen,” Ryno shrugged. “Maybe he’s just being responsible and mature in not taking part in her games, I don’t know.”

They rounded the last corner and came up to the mess hall. As they began to enter, Mira began to exit.

“I’ll catch up with you later, Jacen. Get some food in, we’ll be training soon,” Phineus said while keeping his eyes on Mira.

“Take it easy, XO.” Ryno said with a lazy wave.

Phineus turned back around and walked up to Mira’s side, “Hey.”
“Hi,” she said in short reply. “You better be here to tell me that story you owe me.”

In all honesty, he wasn’t. He wanted to know what Mira’s intentions were, her true ones. Whether they were just friends, or if her playful attitude was strictly friendly. But he decided it’d be wise to ease into that, instead of rape another conversation with his confused questioning.

“It’s not exciting,” Phineus said grinning. “During Typhus, I kriffed up my TIE pretty good, had to crash land aboard the ship. When I did, burning hot shrapnel, I’m talking like, thousands of pieces, ripped through my flesh and sliced upon some of my nerve endings. Basically, my hand was quite useless after that. So, I could either have a limp piece of arm, or get something I can actually use. As you can see, I went with the latter.”

Mira looked bored, but still enjoyed the knowledge of Phineus’ robotic appendage, “Interesting stuff. How long before they operated?”

“Awhile, almost an hour, standard time. Had some more fighting to do, then had to retrace to the Atrus,” Phineus said as he wiggled his metallic fingers beneath his bantha-leather glove.
Mira nodded, “Must’ve hurt like frak.”

“At first, then the pain died down and I couldn’t feel it at all.”
Mira nodded once again.

“Can I ask you something?” Phineus said as he stopped in front of Mira, facing her eye to eye.

“Shoot.”

“What’s with you and Ibram? Is there something between you two, or…?”

Mira appeared a bit uneasy at the question, “Why?”

Phineus shook his head, “I was just wondering. You two look close, but it’s hard to read.”

“Well, I don’t know. He’s like my mother or something,” the now common phrase reappeared.

“So I’ve heard.”

“Why do you care anyway? It isn’t really any of your business,” Mira sounded upset or defensive, most likely both.

“You’re just confusing is all,” Phineus said, raising his voice slightly in return to Mira’s.

“I’m confusing? I’m the confusing one? You just kissed me!”

“You leaned in for it; I went the rest of the way!”

“I leaned in to kiss your nose! Trust me; I’d rather kiss a Wookie.”

Phineus didn’t take much offense to that, “I doubt that, you did shave my beard after all.”

“You nerf herder! I can’t believe this.”

“You gave me the vibes anyway.”

“Vibes? What vibes? I have no vibes.”

“You so do. Pulling pranks, sneaking into my room at night all sexy like. What was I supposed to think?”

“Phineus,” Mira said, sounding as if she was about to lecture him. “You don’t understand girls, do you?”

“Well, I mean…”

“That’s what I thought. Look, we’re friends and all, but… I mean c’mon, we’re about to be in the middle of a mission, neither of us have time for this.”

“I agree. No more kisses for you,” Phineus said
sarcastically, “deal?”

“Deal.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“G’day, milady,” Phineus said with a bow.

“You need to shave soon, your five o’clock shadow is coming in,” Mira said playfully as she walked away.

Well, there’s one less thing to think about.

Phineus noticed his comm unit blinking yellow, thumbed a button, and answered.

“Phineus.”

“Phin, it’s Ibram. Can you head over to my office one last time?” Ibram asked.

“No problem, every thing alright?”

“Just dandy, need to touch base on a few things with you before we sim up.”

“Aye, aye.”

-Later, Office of Ibram Tyrol-

The office aboard the Imperator was half the size of the one back on the Atrus. It was much less fashionable and presented much less décor. Reason being because it wasn’t an official office, it was merely a cast to the side room the Imperator had for those squadron Commanders that happened to be shuttled over the Imperator for short term stays. However, it served it’s purpose well enough, and Phineus wouldn’t complain if it were his.

“I hate this office,” Ibram did, however. “Barely have enough room on this desk for my data pads, holofiles…”

“So I see, sir,” Phineus added the slightest touch of apathy.

“Anywho, just have a few things to cover,” Ibram pulled one of his data pads off the table and handed it to Phineus. “It’s the pairings for the Scimiters. I hope you’re alright with them.”

Phineus looked the pairings over and nodded, “Yeah, things seem fine.”

“Good. Feel like giving your first briefing?”

Phineus smiled, “Of course.”

“Good, we’ll be starting the simulators tonight. Just give the basic outline, nothing to big, inform everyone of their pairings and so on and so forth. Think you can handle that without losing an arm?”
“Space yourself, sir.”

“Good, dismissed.”

-That Evening-

“All members of the Atrus’ Viper Squadron please report to the training room. Repeat, all Viper Squadron pilots please report to training room for simulation testing.”

The training droid reported the orders over the comm speakers, and Phineus just arrived a bit early to the VR simulation room. It was bigger than the one back on the Atrus, as were the simulators cockpits as well, to better resemble the Scimiter.

“Chief Petty Officer Gage,” The droid spoke. “How are you enjoying your stay aboard the Imperator?”

Phineus knew the droid didn’t honestly care, that it was just programmed to offer pleasantries, but he answered normally anyway, “Good thanks, every one has been more than welcoming.”

“Good,” the training droid hovered over the training terminal, “protocol?”

“Set protocol for Vector-Alpha-Red-70, Scimiter-class, crew equals two per fighter.”

“Understood, setting system requirements now.”

“Thank you.”

The pilots of Viper squadron, as well as three others from the Imperator’s best piloting division, entered into the training room and lined up side by side, saluting as Ibram took to Phin’s left side.

“The floor’s yours,” Ibram whispered, “don’t put them to sleep.”

Phineus took a half step forward, “Alright squad, welcome to the VR room. We’ll be in these two man simulators practicing with the Scimiter-class starfighter, her arsenals deadly, and she flies as fast as our normal TIE’s. The simulation will have us in the planet’s atmosphere, standard protocol. Ibram will patch through any objectives and information once we strap in. You will need to choose who will pilot the craft, and who will act as the bombardier, I’ll leave that up to you. Pairings are as follows: Ryno, you’re with me. Fulfiller will ride with HK; Commander Ibram will ride with Mira…”

The last pairing ignited a bit of whispered murmurings, all unsurprised.

“…Blue-Leader will have the pleasure of flying with one of the Imperator’s pilots, Trask Terep; Aleia will be with Arkan, and the final crew will be two of the Imperator’s bests. The mission begins in ten, I suggest you decide who flies and who bombards, and strap yourselves in.”

The pilots separated into their twosomes, and Phineus and Ryno stepped toward their training simulator.

“You feel like bombarding?” Phineus asked Ryno.

“Oh, yeah, my pleasure,” Ryno replied with a grin.

“Good, let’s show ‘em how we do it.

Phineus took his seat in the front of the simulator; Ryno plopped down in the seat behind him. Phineus strapped his crash webbing across his body and began to get a feel for the less than familiar cockpit.

“Alright, Jacen,” Phineus said over their helmet comms, “all ready?”
“Copy that,” Jacen replied, “all things are go.”

“Good, I’ll try my best to keep the heat off us while you drop the bombs.”

“I’m sure we’ll blow them back to space,” Jacen said, Phineus noted the first sense of confidence in his tone since they arrived on board.

Phineus had hoped Jacen truly was up to this. It was merely a training sim, but it would prove to Phineus just how confident, trust worthy, and good Jacen really was. He had every ounce of faith invested in him, but Phineus could never be sure about anyone. He wasn’t quite sure if he’d ever fly with another wing man as trust worthy and have as strong a connection as he and Anden did. They flew as if they knew exactly what each other was about to do, which defensive or offensive move they would try to pull off next, when they’d fire their lasers or when they’d back out. They were once the new element of the Vast Empire’s Viper Squadron, and they continually took their enemies down with speed, grace, and power, both in air, and on the ground. Phineus wasn’t sure if he’d ever get that sense of teamwork back again with anyone else, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t open for an attempt.

Phineus ran his fingers across the cockpit, trying to fully immerse himself and familiarize himself with the slightly different look and feel. He had read the readouts and the schematics for the Scimiter, and had no doubt in his mind that he could fly it as well as his personal Eta-2 or his Imperial TIE fighter; it just took some time to get used to. To shake his muscle memory left over from flying the TIE so many times. The training simulation’s countdown was down to two minutes, and Ibram would then start the simulator himself. All the pilots had to do now was wait, and prepare their minds for the VR mission.

_______________________________

Words- 2,004

Victory-class star destroyer Imperator
1800 hours – Viper Squadron simulation exercise

Ibram stood by and watched has Phineus gave the squadron its briefing for the simulation. Considering it was his ‘first time’, it wasn’t bad, although it was a bit shorter then he would have liked. Still, as Squadron Commander, it was Ibram’s job to fill in the blanks anyway.

He looked over at Mira ahs Phin announced the pairings. She simply smirked, but didn’t look at him, although he knew it was just a show. Even though she was in his flight, Ibram couldn’t help but admit to himself that their paring had been slightly more then deliberate.

What can I say? She’s a fun person to be around…

Phin dismissed the squadron, and walked over the first simulator. Mira was already waiting for him with a huge grin on her face.

“Well well, fancy us to being paired together. Those guys down in administration must have a sense of humour.”

Ibram smiled, “Very funny Mira. In all honesty, I just wanted you where I could see you. You can be pain after all.”

“Yeah, but you know I’m way more of a pleasure.”

And with that, she winked at him and entered the tube.

Ibram blushed slightly and followed her in. She was already sitting in the bombardier chair.

“I don’t think so O’Riley, I’m in that seat.”

“Awww, why? That’s not fair.” Mira gave him her puppy dog face. He hated that face, but only because it made her look so gods damn gorgeous…

“Because A/ you’re a better pilot then me and, B/ I’m also coordinating the whole squadron from this seat. I can’t do that if I’m trying to fly this crate. Now hop it, that’s an order.”

Mira mumbled something about wanting to blow stuff up and sat sulkily in the pilots seat.

Ibram sighed and shook his head as he took his position.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“You better.”

“I always do.”

That made her turn around, and in one brief moment, Ibram saw a glimpse of the women Mira kept trying to hide. The women Ibram had a sneaking suspicion he liked the most. Then she grinned and the woman was gone.

The door to the pod closed, and the simulation kicked into life. The cockpit’s view of the training room’s wall disappeared and was replaced by a view of space. Ahead of them, Ibram could see what was supposed to be a representation of Planet Epsilon, and around them were the ships and fighters of the relief fleet.

Activating the squadron channel, he addressed the squadron.

“All right boys and girls. The creative geniuses over at starfighter control have designated us ‘Gyro’ squadron whilst we fly in these Scimitars.”

Ibram could already hear snickers and giggles coming over the Coms. Most of it he realised was coming from Mira. Glaring at her back, he continued the brief.

“Settled down. Now, Me and Mira will be Gyro 1. Aleia and Arkan are Gyro 2, and our guests will be Gyro 3. Sicario and Ryno are Gyro 4, Blue and Trask are Gyro 5, and Fulfiller and HK are Gyro 6. Now, if we need to separate we’ll probably do it in 3’s. Gyro’s 2 & 3, you’re with us. 5 & 6, you’re with the XO.

Right, we’ll being with scenario Alpha, which is at a medium difficulty, and we’ll go from there. We’ve only got one other training session after this, so make it count. Let’s do this people.”

Ibram started to familiarise himself with the controls as Mira lead the squadron towards Epsilon.

This should be different…

-------------------------------------------------------

Planet Epsilon Imperial Records Officer (PEIRO)

Serial number: 00010-983-333994
Type: Notification of Contract Agreement.
Party A: Moff Destrata – Epsilon System Overseer, Vast Empire
Party B:  Kiff Binks, Bacredi Family Shipping Corporation
Attachments: BaCo –VE contract

………………………………………………..
………………………………………….
…………………………………….

Summary

The afore mentioned provisions form the total sum of the contract  between Party A, and Party B. In summary, the contract stipulates that, in the event of a crisis, either military or civil, with the aggressor being any party that is not a body that is within or affiliated with the Vast Empire, Party B shall do all in its power to assist the local military with its efforts to stop the aggressor.

Party B also agrees that, during this crisis, any traffic belonging to Party B that is in-system at the time of the afore mentioned crisis is to submit to the will of the in-system representative of Party A.

Further more, Party A agrees to….

----------------------------------------------------------------

Ibram slumped in his seat. The squadron had been training for two hours solid, and they were just starting to get the hang of their new ships. To an outsider watching the live feed, Viper’s antics could be viewed as amusing, even funny. Indeed, months later, the squadron would look back at these recordings and laugh – but not today.

Ibram rubbed his forehead as he thought back to a few of the ‘his-haps’ that had occurred. Mira had repeatedly rammed, hit or generally gotten in the way of Phineus’ ‘Gyro’ – which he was sure was deliberate. Fulfiller had accidentally set off a bomb whilst it was still in the rack, instantly eliminating him from that round, and Aleia and Arkan kept bombing civilian targets, or simply missing everything entirely. Blue had even bombed Phineus by accident.

The bomber pilots Logan and Marco were currently the best out of the group, although that was to be expected – they were natural born bomber pilots. But still, it was slightly embarresing.

“Ok people,” He spoke over the squadron channel. “That’ll do for today. Next training session will be 1000 hours tomorrow, get some rest.”

He switched off his console, and turned to face Mira.

“Well… that was fun.”

“Makes a nice change from our regular TIE’s,” she said, flexing her arms.

“Controls are a piece of cake though.”

Ibram rolled his eyes, “I’ll make sure to tell Phin that when I see him.”

Mira just winked at him, “Jealous you weren’t getting any bumping action?”

Ibram chuckled and made to leave. “Totally jealous.”

He was about to open the door when he felt Mira come up behind him and wrap her arms round his waist.

“You know,” she whispered into his ear. “All you have to do is ask…”

This woman drives me crazy sometimes…

The Simulation was on.  With Fulfiller bombing, HK had to pilot.  His metal hands began to shake,  he had read the manual, downloaded everything he needed, but still he was nervous.  He was wondering more and more whether he had made the right decision when he requested to be in Navy, but that was something for another day. 

While he began to get used to the controls, which didn't take him long, he wanted to ask his wingman a question. 

"Query: Do the other squad mates...think of me as a droid?" asked HK-61, for the first time actually showing signs of sentience.  His piloting grew sharper as he accelerated faster and faster, trying to get ahead of the other pilots.

"I don't know.  I don't ask, they don't say.  I'm sure it's just hazing." said Fulfiller as he scanned the area for hostiles and bombing objectives.

"Statement: I hope so.  I thought Xenophobia was extinct in the Vast Empire." said HK, trying to dodge a bit of turbulence.

"To be fair, you aren't an Alien. You are a droid.  Some people don't think Droid's have feelings, and despite your sentience, you don't."  said Fulfiller, still scanning. 

The Droid, quickly mastering the controls due to his mechanical advantage over the meatbags, performed an Immelman, quickly allowing him to be right behind all of his compatriots.  He did a quick scan with his optical sensors to make sure who was in front of him. 

HK accelerated as much as possible, bringing the craft right up on Phin's rear.  The recording of laughter flooded everyone's comm link as HK blocked all of Phin's view. 

"Statement: It appears you are flying like a Hutt might move..." said HK as he bumped the simulated craft of Phin's. 

"What? That makes no sense." said Phin as HK-61 got right up next to him so that they could both view each other. 

"Statement: It appears I forgot the rest of the joke..." replied the Droid as he flew by Phin, doing a barrel roll to show off. 

"Statement: Reports show enemy activity to our right.  Taking us in now. I'll do it slowly for you Fulfiller. I sense your heart rate has increased in speed since I started flying." said HK as he played the recorded laughter. 

"Yea...I'm amazed at how comfortable you are at the controls of the Scimitar." said Fulfiller as he HK dropped off of the beaten path of the other Bombers to get near the Supply Depot.  "Are you sure there is a supply depot out here?  I'm not picking up anything with the view screen."

"Answer: I'm more positive then a Gungan Senator." said HK, playing the recorded laughter at his own joke. 

"Uh oh...That doesn't sound good." said Fulfiller as the Droid began to get higher in altitude. 

"Statement: If you cannot see them, I shall paint them for you.  If you look closely...not sure how good your eyes are... you can see small blips of movement.  Around there is the supply depot.  After we take care of that, we shall move on to the next area I wish to decimate and laugh as it burns underneath our wings." said HK-61 as he turned on the laser pointer, completely giving away the Depot's position. 

As Fulfiller dropped the bombs, HK began to sing his favorite little tune as he could hear the explosions and feel the vibrations.

"Query: Where...oh where...oh where is Shadow?" sang the Droid as he accelerated from the wasteland that was once the supply depot to the military outpost further north of their position.

OOC:

Sorry this ain't much, but it's a post.

The situation changed drastically. An entire squadron of unknown TIEs had come circling around the flight, and now Bacredi's craft had one fighter on it.  Bacredi began to curse under his breath as he performed evasive maneuvers, a TIE then came into his sites. It was streaking past the skyline, and it began to move closer to Phin's fighter, unknown to Bacredi. More blasts nearly destroyed Bacredi as the other fighter inched closer to Bacredi's guns. Finnaly, it came close enough. Two blasts from Bacredi's ship went in what Bacredi thought as 'slow motion', the green blasts moved closer to the TIE as one Scimitar blasted towards a point of intersection. Bacredi lifted his fingers off of the joystick and toggled up his COM, but it was to late. A simulation ending of Sicario and Ryno's deaths came up, and Bacredi flew past their remnants.

"...Shit." Bacredi muttered, he then realized he was talking on an open Squadron COM. "We have a friendly down at points 1:12 Beta," Bacredi said, if this was a real combat situation he would of been quickly saying that, but this was a simulation, and he did not want to. But he knew he had to, "Requesting immediate status check on lifeforms in that area." Bacredi stopped talking as more blasts came close to him, "And I am suggestin' that we pull out of the area and-BLAST IT!" Bacredi was hit, a simulation explosion came. Bacredi could barely see as smokes engulfed the cockpit, he only watched as the Scimitar Simulator that he was in came in contact with a nearby tower. He checked his radar 'one last time' and saw that the Building was now being barraged by fire. He quickly hit the sim switch on his helmet, "Blast it, my bad Trask."

"No problem, Petty Officer. Now lets get our sorry asses out of this walking lump of metal." Trask said as he unbuckled himself, Bacredi did the same. He exited the Simulator and walked into the outside room, to see a few snickering faces, all looking at Sicario. Bacredi turned red.

“And Zhar, why’d you feel the need to blow us up?” Sicario bellowed at Zhar, Zhar fingered his blaster holster as if to stun Sicario right there right then. Zhar began thinking of something to retort, and it hit him, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't Sicario's either, it was a random chance of unfortunate events.

“Sorry, kid, targeting systems were a bit off, maybe we should recalibrate the…” Zhar finished the sentence in is mind: "...the targeting sensors and re connect the vibes, maybe it would set the motivator back to zero-fifty standard settings." Bacredi was then cut off by Sic, he put on a scowl, the young bastard had no right, well actually he did...

It’s a computer! It should work perfectly.” Sicario said, Bacredi knew this was untrue.

Bacredi took a last swig from the bottle and dropped it lightly onto his bunk, it hit with a small 'thud' and it rolled over to reveal the alcohol label: 'Correllian Ale - Made by the Best', Bacredi had finished the bottle over a course of seven weeks, sharing it with his squad mates, but he secretly didn't mind that it was gone. He had begun to drink even more than usual lately, but he had to get over it for the mission at hand. Jumping off his bunk, Bacredi slapped his blaster holster back on his belt, and began to walk out of the room until he was stopped by Kaythree, Bacredi's R6 Droid.

"Yes, Kaythree?" Bacredi said, with a few beeps as a response. "The training sim failed, I need you to work on the targeting sensors on his datacard." Bacredi walked over to the droid and slid a tiny datacard into it, he then began to walk away. "I am going to get some caf and a bite, see you later Kaythree." Bacredi walked out of the quarters and turned to move down to a mess hall. He entered to find it nearly empty, only a few techs from around the ship. He moved over and grabbed a tray, and then a cup of caf. Moving around to the food he reached for a sandwhich, moving back to a table he sat down. And looked at his caf, he reached the inside of his pocket and pulled out a flask of whiskey, he then unscrewed the cap and lowered it over the cup of caf, only a few drops came out... he then put the flask back into his pocket and frowned, he was ashamed of himself, so he was drinking, and drinking to much.

He then began to drink the caf, the hot smoldering contents of the cup tasted different without the whiskey, but Bacredi smiled that he wasn't drinking anything with it. He now felt a tad better about himself, but not much. He smiled still as he took a huge chunk out of his sandwich and downed it, he then began the process again, taking a larger chunk out of it this time. He then began to down his food with a sip of caf.

Hologram Room B81

Bacredi stood in the Hologram Room B81, he dialed up the Leviathan. Soon enough a hologram of the scruffy looking Lieutenant Karracks was displayed on the pad, his tall body was a familiar site to Bacredi. "Captain!" Karracks said, saluting.

"Lieutenant, what is the situation on the Leviathan?" Bacredi said, as the hologram suddenly faded. "Lieutenant." Bacredi keyed the Holopad, nothing came up. "Lieutenant!" Bacredi screamed, wondering why the connection had been lost.

The droid, covered in a variety of colors, slumped in Fenris's room.  He had nothing to do, no one to see, only thing he could do was train...which he was planning on doing soon enough. 

"Inner Monologue: I need to make my ability perfect to the point of being able to execute any turn without causing explosion." thought the Droid.  As he got up, some silly string stuck to the couch, and he only shook his head, not feeling the need to pick it up or do anything.

Walking down the halls, he went unnoticed, just another protocol looking droid wondering the halls, being left alone to do whatever.  The more the droid thought, the more he realized that if he actually executed a barrel roll while turning that it might give enough force to allow the bombs to stay in place. 

"Statement: It's worth a shot." said HK as he entered the Training Room.  The computer didn't welcome him like it did to most other beings, HK just let it roll down his back, not caring if he wasn't greeted.

"Commanding Statement: Training Computer...Execute Training Simulation: Scimitar Bombing Ship.  Artificial Bomber Wingman." commanded the Droid, and was quickly replied with a successful acknowledgment that the task was done. 

HK got within the craft and entered the simulation.  Rolling text popped up onto the view screen, which HK quickly got rid of, this was just to mess around and test a few theories.  Like seeing if spinning into or out of a turn decreases chances of a bomb exploding, and seeing if having an artificial wingman is better or worse then a meatbag. 

"Query: Artificial Wingman?" asked HK-61, adjusting his speed after take off.  The computer beeped to indicate that it was there, making HK shake his head at the Binary. 

"Query: Can you speak basic? Binary at the moment will take away from the experience from a real life situation." said HK-61.

"Beep deep doo zip." said the Wingman.

"Command: Run Fulfiller.wav, then reply." said the Droid, gaining more and more speed as he pressed on the accelerator.

"Done.  Adding organic slang and speech patterns...computing...computing...done." said the Wingman.

HK played the recorded laughter as he felt all reality float away from him.  His optical sensors began scanning the ground, switching from regular view to thermal to ultraviolet back to regular, allowing him to pick up all activity on the ground, and allow him to dodge any warm air pockets in the sky which might have caused turbulence. 

"Statement: Initiating painting of target." said the Droid as he did exactly that.  The Artificial Wingman unleashed multiple bombs, causing a huge scorching fire that leaped up into the skies. 

Statement: Going to test something...things might get rough." said the Droid as he realized the wingman couldn't feel anything.  The droid punched the accelerator, causing his ship to jump and a quick increase in speed began to occur.  The natural flora that was around him seemed to disappear just as fast as it got into view, and when he reached top speed, he did a barrel roll turn.  The bomb shook a little during the turn, but not so much to make it explode.

"Statement: It isn't turning...it's the speeding up mid turn that is the problem." said the Droid, turning on his recorder. "Analysis: By increasing speed mid way through a turn, the pilot actually causes the bomb to move forward then back at an alarming speed, which might in fact cause the bomb to become shaken and then blown up."

"Query: But how do we fix the problem?" asked the Droid. "Command: Simulation off."

The simulation went black as the Droid stepped out of the ship and began to walk to the Mess Hall.  Thoughts began to race through his processor as he tried to pin down a solution, but alas, none had come to him that was simple and effective and easy to master.

"Statement: I need a meatbag..." said the Droid.

Victory-class Star Destroyer Imperator
En route to Epsilon

“So you stuck him in the garbage chute?”

Ibram was looking down at an unconscious Phineus Gage lying on the infirmary bed, an MD droid was doing a scan of his body. Mira was in the room with him, leaning back on a chair.

“He made another wisecrack about how short I was. He’s lucky I don’t file sexual harassment charges.”

“One of those jokes eh?”

“Yup. You remember what happened to the last guy who cracked a joke like that at me.”

Ibram did. The man took an extended shore leave shortly afterwards, something about replacing a testicle.

He sighed and shook his head.

“But Mira, it’s the XO. Not only is this gross insubordination, we’re en route to a combat zone, and you’ve put him in a coma.”

“Actually Warrant Officer Tyrol,” The MD droid spoke up. “Chief Gage is merely unconscious. Although the line is thin at this point, his brain waves indicate he’s recovering from severe mental distress.”

Ibram looked around at Mira.

“You scared him into a coma? Just what’s in that garbage chute?”

Mira shrugged.

“Garbage?”

Ibram rubbed his forehead.

First HK and now this…

He looked at his chorno. It was 1130 hours ship time. They had had another training exercise in the morning, and Ibram was relieved to note a marked improvement across the board. They were due to come out of hyper-space in another 5 – 6 hours, and from there they would proceed to Epsilon.

I don’t have a choice…

He turned towards Mira.

“Petty Officer O’Riley, report to the Brig.”

Mira looked at him sharply.

“Excuse me?”

“We are due in the Epsilon system in about 6 hours. You will confine yourself the Brig until then. That’s an order.”

Mira narrowed her eyes at him, and slowly stood up. She didn’t say anything, she just looked at him.

“…yes sir.”

She gave him a pristine salute, and left.

Ibram just stood there, alone with an unconscious subordinate and a medical droid.

Damn you Mira…
------------------------------------------------------

“Is this line secure?”

“Probably.”

“Probably? What do you mean probably? We’re in a critical situation here!”

“No need to tell me. If this channel isn’t secure, then there’s probably nothing neither you nor I can do about it. There’s defiantly nothing the enemy can do about it.”

“hmrph…speaking of the enemy, any clues as to who they are?”

“Not yet. We’ve identified both Imperial and Rebel technology, along with other assorted gear. I doubt these guys are either though.”

“Well whoever they are, they are fortifying the space-port and the capital. They’ve also sent reinforcements to the outlying towns. We’ve made grounds in the south, but I don’t know how long I can hold out. I need more men.”

“Well don’t look at me.”

“You guys have marines don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then send them down here.”

“No.”

“Damn you Laguna!”

“Listen Colonel, collectively our marines barely number a full platoon. Couple that with the fact that they don’t have any specialised army gear. When the relief fleet gets here, then I’ll think about sending them down to help, not before.”

“…fine. When is the relief fleet getting here?”

“It is expected in about 6 hours.”

“Good, because the longer they take, the less likely it is we’re going to retake Epsilon.”

“I sincerely hope you’re wrong general. A rogue planet is the last thing the Vast Empire needs.”

--------------------------------------------------

Imperator
T-minus 4 hours till Epsilon

“Alright everyone gather round.”

It was lunch time, and Ibram had everyone gathered around him in the mess. Well, mostly everyone.

“Where’s Mira?”

“She’s busy.”

“Statement: By ‘busy’, I hope you mean dead sir.”

“Very funny…”

“The XO is missing as well.”

“He’s also busy.”

“Query: Is he dead too?”

“Shut up HK.”
Ibram stood up in a booth and motioned everyone to settle down. They didn’t have to officially be in stand-by positions for another three hours, but Ibram always liked being prepared.

“Ok everyone. As you know, we’re about 4 hours out from Epsilon. The Commodore still has no idea what we are expecting, so we have to be ready for everything. I know we don’t have to be at positions until T-minus 1 hour, but I’m… ‘suggesting’, as squadron commander, that you guys fit in some extra practice if you need it. Other then that, you are still officially on down time. Dismissed.”

As everyone broke apart and went off to do whatever it is pilots did in the ‘calm’ period, Lukas made his way over to Ibram.

“Everything ok sir?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Daily grind you know?”

He looked at his subordinate. This would be Lukas’ first action as flight leader. Ibram could already see how nervous he was.

“Hey, it’ll be ok. Don’t you worry Lukas.”

The young pilot gave a weak smile.

“Thank you sir.”

Lukas saluted, and also left the mess.

Ibram sat down in his booth slowly, and let out a long sigh. He just wished he could know what they were up against, so he could better prepare the rest of the squadron.

I suppose we’ll find out soon enough…

His comlink beeped.

“Tyrol here.”

“Warrant Officer Tyrol? This is Lieutenant Voi. I’m the resident VENI operative. I would like you to attend an intelligence briefing at T-minus 2 hours.”

Ibram paused. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like this.

“I’ll be there.”

He clicked off his comlink and looked around the mess hall. It wasn’t very busy, but then again it never was. Most people just took their food and left. The on-board logistics team always had a hell of a time chasing down food trays.

His stomach grumbled, and he realised that he hadn’t eaten at all today.

He went up to the counter and grabbed two food trays, and then made his way towards the brig. He remembered that Mira hadn’t eaten anything either.

The main brig was actually several decks up, but there were ‘mini’ brigs scattered across the ship that were specifically for troublesome crewmembers that needed a time out.

There was only a single guard on duty, but he wasn’t all that bothered. Just one look at Ibram’s rank insignia and he buzzed open the door to Mira’s cell.

Mira was sitting on the cell’s only bed, back against the wall, eyes fixed firmly on the opposite wall. She didn’t look at him as he entered. Neither did she say anything.

Ibram placed the tray down next to her, and almost immediately she picked it up and started eating. She wasn’t stupid after all, food was food.

There was a long silence as Ibram sat at the end of the bed, eyes on Mira as she ate. Mira never looked away from the wall.

“What do you want?” She finally asked when she was finished.

Ibram sighed, “You know what I want.”

Mira snorted, “I wasn’t talking about that.”

“I know. We’re to be at positions at T-minus 1 hour. I’ve instructed the guard to let you out half an hour before then.”

“How very kind of you sir. You not going to let me even practice? You’ll be in that scimitar too you know.”

“If I thought you’d need it, I would have postponed this punishment.”

She paused.

“So I’m being…punished?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

She finally looked at him, eyes angry. “Yeah… well who are you to say whether I’m ready or not!?”

Ibram let off a sad smile.

So that’s it…

“I’m tired of games Mira. I get jerked around plenty by my superiors. I don’t need it from you too. When you realise that, then you’ll be ready.”

“Oh please! If you’d grow some balls and actually do something, I wouldn’t have to play games.”

That made Ibram start.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Hmrph. Looks like I’m not the only one who ‘isn’t ready’.”

“How can you say that!?”

“Quite easily!”

“I can’t believe you!”

“Yeah? Well believe it. All you ever do is nag and worry. You haven’t done anything meaningful towards ‘us’, you really are just like my mother. You mean well, and you sure know how to pull a romantic turn of phrase once in a while. But they’re just words Ibram. A gal can’t live on words alone.”

They were both standing now, glaring at each other from opposite sides of the room.

“You’re impossible,” Ibram spat.

“And you’re a sissy,” said Mira.

Ibram realised that she was partly right. Despite all his best intentions, he really hadn’t done anything himself to try and make things work. He had just dumped all that on her…

Don’t give in, other wise you really are just a sissy…

Mira’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. He looked up at her to see that she was still glaring at him.

Don’t be stupid, she’s not telepathic…

Mira looked away again.

“You know…you make it so easy to hate you sometimes…”

“Look whose talking…”

Mira let off a small smile and sat back down the bed. Ibram went and sat next to her, and the two just sat in silence, arms firmly around each other.

OOC:

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