Ayme “Havock” Katash dropped her bags, unceremoniously into the bunk she had been assigned. The squad had just returned from duty, which Havock had been lucky enough to be apart of for a short amount of time at least. She took inventory of her surroundings, there were two bunks in the room, one now belonged to her the other was unoccupied for the time being. A small computer console was almost too close to the small wash area.

With a sigh, Ayme started to get all of her belongings – the small amount there was – organized before her SL could pop a surprised inspection on her. She had heard stories about what squads do to their Noobs and didn't want to give them any ammunition that would make their hazing easier.

Just as she was about to finish the console beeped, Havock walked over to the screen and saw that she had a new message from Jed. Havock rolled her eyes, I just got here and he's already driving me crazy! Her foster father, Jed, had always been a bit overprotective of her. That was one of the reasons she decided to join the Empire, to prove she could handle herself, without a babysitter.

Her fingers felt heavy as they keyed in the code to get the message, almost as if every part of her body was dreading hearing it.

Hiya Hav! Its Jed, just wanted to check in and see how you're doing. We all miss ya here, we let Lacy have your job and she ran right into a wall trying to get out during a speeder train job. [he paused to laugh] Anyways give us a call sometime, huh.”

“Speeder Train Job?” Havock spun around and stood up in one swift move, and was a just about to nail whoever was able to sneak up behind her while she was listening to the message, and froze.

Gaz was eying the fist raised in his direction, “I suggest you put that fist down Trooper.”

Havock looked at her fist then back at her new assistant squad leader, and back to the fist one more time before snapping back to her senses. Her fist dropped, and she started to casually apologize when Gaz's raised eyebrows caught her like a slap to the face, and she realized what she should have been doing this whole time.

Havock snapped to salute, “Sir!”

Gaz looked tired but slightly amused by the young trooper, “So your Private First Class Havock, welcome to the Raiders, Trooper.”

Havock still at attention, “Sir, thank you, sir!”

“So tell me Trooper, what is the 'speeder train job' exactly, oh and At Ease.” he added absently.

Havock relaxed, but just slightly, she had almost taken a swing at her acting SL after all. “The message was from my foster father, Jed, he runs a local business for a...larger corporation. My job was to cause distractions while the other members of the...company carried out their business.” 

“For the Black Nebula gang” That got her attention, “I do have access to your personnel file Trooper.” 
Havock swallowed and nodded, of course he does.

Gaz seemed to come to a decision, He looked at Havock for another moment, “Have you met LCPL Jeanna yet?”

“Jea yeah on the last mission, her and I worked together to take out some snipers.”

Gaz nodded, “Good, well that'll be all Trooper.”

Havock snapped back to salute, “Sir, yes, Sir.”

Gaz just shook his head and muttered something that sounded like “Rookies” as he walked out of her buck and down the hall.

Havock quickly changed her clothes and headed down to the Squad Workout room to get some exercise in before she bunked down for the night.

Havock couldn't get her conversation with Gaz out of her mind while she walked to the Workout room. After he left she had changed into some loose fitting gray sweatpants and a black tank-top. She mindlessly grabbed a water bottle and headed down the hall.

Jae seemed like someone she could become close to. Havock pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she walked. Her “family” back home was mostly a boys club. The girls were, well, not the type that were friend material. Havock had to admit to herself, out of everyone she has met so far, Jae was the one she would kick ass to defend.

Hav turned the last corner when she heard what sounded like someone punching the bag. Someone beat me to it huh?  

Finally reaching the doorway, she literally stopped in her tracks, Talk about ironic. . The person punching the bad was none other than LCPL Jaenna.

Havock smiled, silently wondered to herself if Gaz had somehow tapped into both of there sub-conscious to make this happen, then spent another few seconds dealing with the gut-wrenching fear of that ever happening.

Hav shook her head and laughed to herself as she walked into the workout room. Jae looked up as she crossed the floor, squinted at Havock – probably thinking the same thing Hav was a minute ago – and waved. Havock waved back and set her water bottle down.

Deciding to run, she grabbed a towel from a nearby rack and stepped onto a treadmill. She dialed the speed up to 5.0 to start and got to running. By the time Jae walked up to Hav she was on 8.0 and had been running for almost an hour.

“Hey Havock, whenever you make it to the destination you've been running to, want to spar?”

Havock had to laugh and shake her head, “Sure, sounds like fun.” she breathlessly answered. Hav dialed down the speed for another few minutes before jumping off the treadmill. She forgot to do that once, and fell rather unceremoniously into a nearby weight bench. She prided herself in learning from her mistakes.

Jae already had her hands wrapped and ready from practicing with the punching bag. Havock took a seat on a nearby bench and got to work on her hands and wrists.

This belongs in the StoryNet

Squad stories only here, I'm afraid.

Havock looked up at Jae still alternating between shaking and rubbing her wrist through the wrapping. Hav was going to have to take this spar a bit more seriously. She had been in her fair share of fights back on Corellia. Even though she left when she was very young, in the orphanage she was constantly in fights. Mostly with boys for some reason. She remembered they would come up to her, tease her, pull her hair, whatever it didn't matter. Shortly after they were always on the floor.

After she starting living with Jed, she still got into many fights. Only difference was that Jed would always step in and stop them before she could end it her way.

Hav smirked at Jae, stretched her back muscles by crossing her arms and pulling them back so that they were behind her back a few times. She rolled her neck, lightly punched her fists together, and nodded at Jae. “Okay, let's try that again.”

Havock tapped her fist to her cheeks and forehead to remind herself to keep her hands up. Her weight balanced between the balls of her feet, alternating between them evenly.

Jae shifted her weight and jabbed with her right, and landed just past Hav's left ear as she dodged. They started to circle around each other. Jae faked with her left and jabbed again with her right. Hav bent her knee and shifted her body over to avoid the punch, then quickly twisted at the hips and slammed Jae in the ribs with a left hook.

Jae didn't miss a beat, she dropped down on her knee. Then she swept her leg behind Havocks legs sending Hav flying down on the mat. The impact knocked the wind out of Havocks lungs. She tried to get back up anyway, but Jae beat her and already had her foot on her chest, “Going somewhere, Private?”

Havock looked up at Jae, let her eyes roll back and dropped back to the mat using her arm to cover her face. “Ughhh, Frak.”

Jae shook her head and took her foot off of Hav. “Look you have to use your whole body to turn you opponents weight against them. You focus on your arms and punching, but your shoulders give away your movement.” Hav still had her arm over her face but Jae could tell she was listening. Then she touched her ribs that would probably be bruised and winced a little. Jae extended her arm towards the prone Havock, “Come on I'll show you a few moves before we head back.” 

Hav took her arm off her face and looked up at Jae and almost reached up and took her hand, then stopped and narrowed her gaze and seemed to be in deep thought for a few seconds. Jae's face became concerned, “Hav, come on. What's wrong?”

In a single, swift movement Havock grabbed Jae's arm between her hand and elbow. Hav's foot came up and she flipped Jae throwing her to the mat. Hav rolled over and got up, by the time she walked over to Jae her smile was beaming. She knelt down next to Jae, “You know, you are a really good teacher.”

“Oh shut up.” Jae and Havock started laughing. “Alright” Jae slapped her hands on the mat. “That's enough for today.” Hav helped Jae up and they heading back to the barracks.

OOC:

Will be moving soon, don't worry I did get the memo :-)

A few days after returning from Kalee...


Thwap Right jab.

Havock, dressed in her tank top and loose pants, nailed the punching bag. She had already been in the gym for almost an hour. Thirty of those minutes were spent with the med therapist working on her ankle.

Thwap Left hook.

She wasn't angry about the ankle. Injuries happen, Havock knew that.

Thak, Thak, Thwap. Jab, jab, cross.

What was eating her alive was her reaction to the pressure on Kalee. She was almost completely incapacitated. Her mind was frozen during the mission, she couldn't breathe.

Thwap

Couldn't think.

Thwap

She was useless.

Thak, Tak, Tak, Thwap

Breathing heavily she leaned against the wall behind her. Sweat was pouring off of her face. Havock closed her eyes and let her head fall against the wall, purposefully using all of her will-power to slow her heart.

Wincing she looked down at her ankle, that had started to throb again. The med said she could be up and exercise but to take it easy. Apparently Hav had done too much.

Sighing she put her head back against the wall and took a few deep breaths. Then she pushed herself off the wall. Without breaking stride pulled her right arm back and Thuwap hit the bag one more time. Then she walked out of the gym and back to her bunk leaving the bag to swing in her wake.

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

The next morning, Havock woke up with a groan. Her legs were killing her! Grabbing her head she swung her legs over the bunk, sending more waves of pain through her torso. “Agck! What the Hell?” Hav whispered sleepily as she rubbed her eye and forehead.

Scratching both hands through her scalp she, with the hopes of shaking herself awake, she stood up and instantly regretted it. Stretching she sat right back down on the buck with a 'thud'. Looking around the bunk for the first time since waking up she noticed that her comm light was flashing. Not again.

Groaning she walked over to the comm saw that the message was from Jed. “Ugh, not right now.” She waved her hand at the screen, as if the computer could see her. Rubbing her eyes again she collected her toiletries and headed for the fresher to take a shower.

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

Showered and much more awake, Havock sat in the commissary with a cup of caf in one hand and a datapad in the other. There was some commotion in the room between a group of troopers a few tables away that caught Hav's attention. Honestly it wouldn't take much to draw her attention, studying for her next Vehicle Crewman exam was just not the most interesting thing this morning. 

Absently she started to take a sip from her mug, still looking at the rather loud group, when the 'clash' of a tray hitting her table startled Hav. Grabbing a napkin to clean the Caf that spilled she looked up at Jae who had a piece of toast in her mouth as she sat across from Hav. Smiling with her mouth full she waved at Hav.

Hav was still wiping caf from her shirt, grumbled “Morning Corporal.” 

Chuckling Jae pointed at Hav with her hand still holding the toast, “We may need to keep an eye on that drinking problem, Private.”

Hav just shook her head but couldn't help but smirk at Jae.

Havock blew out a very long breath and looked around. A forest, why does it always have to be a fraking forest. It wasn't bad enough that she disliked foliage to begin with. But with their last mission going the way it did trees seemed to bring up the worst of memories for Hav. She swatted at her ear. “Jeeze Jae, did we have to program bugs? I mean we could still practice without the blasted bugs right?”

Jae chucked and looked at Hav. “What and miss seeing you swat at computer generated insects, never.”

“Ugh, the words cruel and unusual come to mind.”

They were wearing their Tuff combat suits and carried standard issue blaster rifles. Neither of them saw the need to go full armor for a short simulator session.

The simulator was amazing. All they did was pull up a program and it came to life as if they were actually there. The leaves cracked beneath their feet and the air smelled like, well to Havock like forest. But it was all so real, right down to the fraking bugs.

Their simulated mission was to infiltrate a small rebel camp and steal a datapad then return to start. Shots could be fired in the sim, but the real people could not be injured. Sure the blasts would hurt, they were not fatal. Safety protocols or something, Jae called them. Hav trusted her, and computers were her thing.

There was some movement up ahead Jae dropped to her knee. Looks like we found the rebels. It took Havock another few minutes before she saw the soldiers ahead of them. Then, as she looked at them their faces contorted, their bodies melted until they were Kaleesh. Havock squinted her eyes and shook her head violently to remove the vision. When she opened them again she saw almost stereotypical rebel soldiers, as it should be. But again as she looked at them they blurred and there was a Kaleesh solder again.

“Argh” Havock grabbed her face and threw herself against a tree directly behind her.

Jae was a fraction of a step in front of Hav this whole time and was surprised when her friend fell backwards. She turned and looked at Hav, throughly confused at her actions. “Hav? Whats wrong?”

Havock still had her hand over her eyes, squeezing has hard as she could. Her breathing had become ragged. She yanked the hand off her face and slammed it into the ground. She kept trying to get her breathing under control, then she felt something touching her shoulders. Her eyes snapped open, it was Jae.

“I don't know what you think your seeing, but its not real. Don't forget I'm right here.” Jae looked concerned but she also looked like she was trying her best to hide it for Hav's benefit.

Havock just looked at her for a few more seconds before closing her eyes again. A few more deep breaths and she was back in control. She looked back at Jae, who hadn't moved, and nodded. “Sorry.” Hav started chewing on her bottom lip. “I'm really sorry, Jae.”

“We don't have to do this.”

“No, no. I'm good.” Hav wiped some sweat from her forehead. Jae did not look convinced. Hav smiled “Really, I'm alright now.”

“Okay. Let's go capture the flag, shall we.”

They got back into position, although this time Hav and Jae were next to each other. Hav couldn't help but notice that Jae kept glancing over to make sure she was okay.

The soldiers moved to a decent position. Hav and Jae moved up to get closer, preparing to steal the datapad. Hav spotted it on a table near the center of the camp. The guards were far away from their position so Havock slipped out of the cover of the forest and headed towards the datapad. Jae trained her blaster rifle on the soldiers covering Havock.

Havock grabbed the datapad and turned to leave she got three steps before she heard, “hold it right there.”

Turning she could see the blaster pointed at her head. Glancing over at the other soldiers, none of them had moved yet. Taking the opportunity, Havock grabbed the mans wrists, twisting until is palm was upright. She pivoted her body inward towards his, then slammed him in the ribs with her backside. The soldier puffed and coughed. Havock grabbed his thumb and pulled hard, the blaster came falling to the forest floor. Havock stepped back into the solder, pulling his arm over her head. This threw him off balance and sent him face first into the floor. She quickly grabbed her blaster and nailed him in the back of the head with the butt of the rifle.

Unfortunately by the time this all had happened the other soldiers had noticed their comrade being assaulted by some crazed woman. Jae was already taking shots at them as they ran. There was only about five, well three left standing. Havock took off towards the forest running. Jae took out the other three before Hav could even reach her position, she started to drop her rifle when Hav saw something move behind her.

Havock grabbed Jae's wrist and threw her behind Havock. As she raised her blaster the solder who had flanked them fired his shot. The fake blast nailed Hav right in the chest she cried and managed to just barely finish lifting her blaster to take out the soldier. Then she fell to the ground coughing. Her chest burned like hell, but it was already starting to subside.  She turned her head to look for Jae, who was getting up off the ground behind her.

Jae scrambled over to Hav. “Hav, what the hell?” Jae managed to say as she brushed her hair and leaves out of her face.

Hav smiled then coughed again holding up one of her hands. “Still got the datapad.” She laughed between the coughs.

Jae shook her head at the younger girl. “Come on.” Jae helped Hav to her feet and they walked back to the entrance.

Havock felt like an idiot today.

She had just spent, she didn’t even know how long, in the gym and only realized that she had forgotten her towel when she finished. She ran her hand through her wet hair as she approached the door to the bunk her and Jae shared.

She was about to push the door controls when she heard what sounded like a metal object being thrown across the room. Havock froze and decided to knock.

"What do you want?" Havock heard Jae’s voice yell through the door and she took a step back. She wasn’t sure if she should come back, Jae sounded stressed, but her need for a towel overpowered her timidness and she decided to try again.

"It's me, Jae. Are you decent? Can I come in?" Havock spoke softly into the door.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. Come on in." Havock pushed the controls and slowly walked in, looking sheepish and heading right for the locker to get a towel.

She heard Jae speak in a soft voice. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, hun."

Havock shook her head and shrugged, looking over at Jae for the first time "It's okay. I was just coming in to get a towel. I just got done working-" The girl's eyes caught Jae's exposed cybernetics. "What the-"

"Oh? You didn't know? Yeah. It's fake. Cybernetic. But I have this fake skin on it so that it isn't obvious."

Havock's eyes were wide now. She looked at Jae sitting on her bunk with her arm exposed, wondered how she could have missed such a big detail about her best friend.

“Synthflesh, right?” Havock's eyes still were on Jae's arm.

“Yeah, you know about prosthetics?” Jae looked quizzically at Hav.

Havock nodded then shrugged. “Well, kind of, one of the nurses at the orphanage she had one. Saw her fixing it a couple of times. I know the basic structure. The neural-interface is linked to the control rods-” Then she shook her head. “You really should stop me when I ramble like that.”

“Heh, its okay. I'm just trying to fix this part, but...argh...its driving me crazy.” Jae looked very aggravated by the whole situation and possibly a bit frustrated at her own inability to repair her arm.

Glancing on the bed next to Jae she could see the screwdriver that Jae had thrown a few minutes before. Havock silently reached over and grabbed the screwdriver and sat down next to Jae on the bunk.

Havock held the screwdriver up in her hand. “You want me to help. I can try?” Havock shrugged. “I'm pretty good at repairing things, I mean I think I can help you if you want.” Hav had to roll her eyes at the clumsiness of her own words, what was with her today?

Jae looked at Havock with a strange expression Hav couldn't identify. “Its not freaking you out, right?”

“What your arm? No. Its just...” Hav grabbed her lip with her teeth, immediately regretting that little continuation of her thought.

“Its just...what?”

Havock shook her head and laughed a little. “Its nothing. Just, my first impulse is...is...is to find the person who did that to you and...well...rip their arm off.” Havock slapped her hand to her forehead and rubbed it down her face. “Really you should just ignore my random idiotic thoughts.”

Havock turned the screwdriver in her hand and looked at the open components on her friends arm. Hav was pushing a few components with her fingers trying to see the best way to put everything back together again.

Suddenly she became aware that Jae was silently staring at her, obviously lost in thought. Which worried Hav since she only marginally knew what she was doing at the moment.

“Jae.” Havock stated without looking up from the open arm.

“Yeah Hav.”

“I repair 2-M Assault Repulsor Tanks and haven't seen one of these since I was six.” She looked up at Jae’s face. “So I’m gonna need you to tell me what to do.”

Jae shook her head, “Right, yeah, okay. Sorry.” 

Hav smirked and got back to work.