* Imperial Escort Carrier ‘Forerunner’, Location: Xyouju System, Present Time *

Silence, all that is heard; Space, as vast as the Imagination; Viper Pilots, the most skilled in the galaxy.

    The Pilots of Viper Squadron, minus the Squadron Commander and Executive Officer, were all seated in one of the briefing rooms aboard the Imperial Escort Carrier. They were told nothing about why they were onboard; the mission was to be kept secret. So much so that immediately after the splitting off with the Imperial Star Destroyer ‘Suspense’, the ship where the Viper Pilots came from, they had outgoing communication silenced. This mission was kept so much of a secret, that even once they had exited hyperspace, the Pilots had not even been told what they were doing.

The pilots were sitting in their chairs chatting and speculating about the mission, when the door to the briefing room opened. Master Chief Petty Officer C-3PX2, the Squadron’s Executive Officer, walked over to the podium, as the Pilots stood up and at attention.

“Good Morning, Pilots.” C-3PX2 said to the crowd.

“Good Morning, Sir.” The crowd responded.

“At ease, you best be sitting down. There is a lot to go through.”

The Pilots sat back down in their seats, eager to hear their mission, and to find out why it was such a secret.

“First off, Operation: Trojan Horse has been labeled a success by Naval High Command. The recovered supplies began to arrive at their destination earlier this morning. All the Bulk Freighters were recovered, though in the process we lost the Wayfarer Delta. After it transferred us to this ship, the Suspense went back and began to scrap it and remove any critical systems and data.” C-3PX2 said as he turned on the view screens behind him, by pressing a button on the podium.

The view screens showed what looked to be a space station, some communication logs, and the specs of various fighter craft.

“This picture you see on the center screen, this Station; that is our mission.”

He got a look of confusion from some of the pilots, as he expected.

“I will make this quick, Tomas is in the Mission Finalization Meeting right now, he shall be here soon with the very detailed information. I only have for you the basis of the mission.”

He paused, and then continued.

“Through interrogation of some of the Pirate Pilots that ejected and survived, and communication logs recovered from the Carrack Cruiser, we have identified how theses pirates were able to identify the Convoy. Here, in this system, the Xyouju System, there is a New Republic Listening Post. Apparently, they had located our Convoy, and had paid the pirates to attack and disable it; Most likely the beginning of preparation for a push into Vast Empire Space. This is another reason it is a good thing those supplies got to their posts, they are all now battle ready.”

Again, he paused and thought for a second before he continued.

“Once the High Command Learned of this station, and the threat it poses, they assigned us to be the ones to crush the insurrection into our space. We have been assigned onboard this ship, for it is going to be leading the attack on the station. Onboard the ship is a squad of Space Marines, who will be raiding the station while we provide cover in space.”

As before, the door to the briefing room opened. Only this time Chief Warrant Officer Tomas, Viper Squadron’s Commander, walked into the room. As before the pilots rose, and stood at attention. C-3PX2 as he was at attention, stepped back from the podium offering it to Tomas.

* Meanwhile, aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer ‘Suspense’, On-route to Abrae *

Telok Redstorm sat in a dark room; he was under arrest by the Empire, charged with treason. They had found out about the planned mutiny, and were beginning to arrest all who were involved, starting at the top and working down. It had been a shift in the feelings of the crew of the delta, to know about the mutineers.

“I swear to you, Commander Kahn was a traitor. He pointed a pistol, the one you found my with, at me and told me so before he killed himself.” Telok said.

“Unfortunately for you, we have reviewed your case, and your story. We cannot confirm what you have said, there for once we arrive at Abrea, you shall be transferred to Imperial Security Forces where they shall place you in a Penal Colony to await a hearing.” The Interrogation Officer said.

“Wait … there was proof. There was a Data Pad on the bridge, its destroyed but if you can repair it you may be able to get the data.”

“Why is it destroyed? How do you know what was on it if it is destroyed?”

“I destroyed it, it contained data about our Mutiny Plans, and I was hoping it wouldn’t have gotten out; so I shot the data pad with Kahn’s Pistol.”

“Interesting, We will have to check into this. Unfortunately a mutiny is a mutiny, until another party’s treason is confirmed. You will still be transferred to Imperial Security Forces.”

“What happens if you find the data?”

“I leave that up to Imperial Security.” The man said as he walked out of the dark room, leaving Telok there.

* Meanwhile, back on the ‘Forerunner’, Present Time*

“At Ease.” Tomas said he stood at the podium.

“Alright, lets make this quick. We are to be launching in …” Tomas looks at a digital watch, “Twelve Hours. Our objectives are simple, but at the same time complicated.”

He looked out in the room, and noticed something. This was not the same band of pilots that had been thrown together, they were now a squadron. One who had been though battle together.

“Our mission is to go in ahead of the Forerunner, scout out the area, and then relay a safe location to launch the marine shuttles. Once they are launched, we are to defend them until the board the station, where they shall take control and complete their mission. We have no data on enemy forces in the area, so be sure to watch your six. Once the mission is complete, we need to escort the marines out of there, and get the hell out of here.”

The squadron gave confirmation nods, they understood their mission.

“Alright, on the table by the exit are Data pads with the known information. Take one and go get some sleep. Pre-Flight is in Ten Hours, make sure you area there. Dismissed.” He said as he took a step back.

The squadron exited the Briefing room, to go to their quarters and get some sleep. IT was needed and deserved, that had already done a hard mission, and had another ahead of them.

OOC:

1144 Words; This story is the continuation of Trojan Horse, extended into a new story relating to the events after Trojan Horse. Right now get some character development in before we launch for the mission. We probably will not stay on CD very long before moving into the actual mission. Also, there is now a wiki page for the story, located at Operation: Mjolnir Wiki Page.

Tomas now stood at the podium, outlining the final details for the mission that some of the squadron had not quite understand. It was hard though, as Mira sat near the back of the group, leaning forward heavily on the desk in front of her. Her upper body protruded out much more than usual and Tomas found it quite difficult to take his eyes off of her. He managed...somehow, composing himself just enough to deter suspicion.



“Glad you’re getting the swing of things crewman. Congratulations on you’re promotion by the way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some preparation to do.” Tomas said before exchanging salutes with the Senior Crewman before him. Exiting the briefing room with the majority of the squadron, the squadron commander decided he would get at least a little sleep before leading his 'mates into this next mission. He had lead them to a resounding success in his first mission as a squadron commander and for this Tomas could not be happier. No casualties within the squadron.

As he rounded a corner, Tomas nearly jumped out of his skin as Mira popped out and roughly shoved him into the wall. Mira gave him a tight hug before speaking: "I saw you looking at me," she teased with a nudge.

"Was not!" Was all Tomas could say in response, but he knew she didn't buy it.

"Pfft, pansy." Mira said, giggling before jumping Tomas with another a hug and a strong kiss on the lips and as she had done so many times before, Tomas struggled to find his breath.

"Mira! Not here, we can't! I thought we were trying to be secretive!" Tomas objected struggling to pull away.

"Fi-ine." Mira conceded, releasing Tomas from the snog attack. She didn't let him off the completely though, interlocking her arm with his and dragging him off down the hall.

"Er, where are you taking me?!?" Tomas pleaded, not liking this feeling of absolute lack of control.

"You'll see..." Mira teased, pulling him further down the hallway. "Ah, here we are." And with that, she pulled open the door and shoved Tomas inside. Laughing hysterically she followed him, threw the door shut and attacked...

The Xyouju system was one that Jaden had noted of having visited before, but not the particular area that they would be heading into.  The New Republic was beginning to pull out the short stops that had been expected, and their numbers were beginning to increase largely throughout the systems surrounding immediate Vast Empire space.  The vast amount of gas and mining planets was beginning to draw more and more attention with each new visit to the area, and now things had finally gone over the line of diplomacy.

These leaders within the New Republic.  Do they really rely on other people to do their dirty work?  I can see that in this situation, it's being done at a very wrong angle.  The New Republic wants more conquered systems, just as the rest of the factions in the galaxy do, but they are beginning to stink with desperation.  Hiring pirates to do your work is the same as paying them to raid your convoys that are passing through.  The reality of pirates is they can never be trusted unless you've got enough credits to tide them over.

Jaden stood at his desk reading the data pad he had received.  The smoke filled his lungs from the top to bottom as he took a drag from a freshly lit cigarette.  He had been waiting for this relaxation for some amount of time, and now all he needed was pure relaxation.

The former multi-squadron commander banged his head in motion with some sort of beat as he moved around to the heavy music.  His arms would rise to the ceiling as a sign that a breakdown was coming up, and then he would begin to flail them around as if attempting to kill anything and everything within his own personal bubble.  The computer terminal speakers were at their full volume; filling the entire room with what he was listening to currently.  The instruments seemed to scream throughout the large speakers, along with the vocalist.  The seasoned pilot took a moment to realize that the music was beginning to tear his mind apart, and before he knew it, he was addicted.  The new music had taken him over.


* * * * *

After having reviewed the entire mission specification more times than needed, Jaden pressed himself to get out of his office.  His dark brown hair fell down over his halfway decently distinguished face as he looked at himself from a standing point in the mirror of his own office.  He could barely see his own face, which was exactly the way he wanted it.  He threw his hair down and tossed up the hood before leaving the office. The hooded trench coat insulated with triple-layers of bantha fur kept him nice and warm during the cold temperatures that came from random stops throughout his times on board ships during his career.

His attitude didn't seem to show to anyone once he entered the rather small bar aboard the Imperial Escort Carrier.  He knew the medium sized star ships were rare in number, but they were no big deal to him anymore.  Their design was said to match that of two Corellain Corvettes, which to Jaden was an old tale told throughout generations of people fearing the Empire.  The cramped style Jaden hadn't hoped to experience on the carrier seemed to be in every aspect of his job, but he knew that the escort carrier was a fast star ship.

He smiled and nodded to friends and fellow squadron mates before he sat down at the bar.  A lovely looking bright blue skinned Twi'lek walked up to the man and offered him her assistance.

"My name is Mesilva, new bartender here tonight," she said, speaking nearly perfect basic.  "Can I get you anything to drink?" she smiled, "I'm going to guess something hard?"

He kept his stare blankly set on the counter top, and finally decided to give in to the temptation of booze.

"I'll take two triple-shots of Corellian Double Aged Whiskey," said the man in a very deep tone.  The middle-aged officer walked up to her as she was making the drinks, and said his next words nearly directly at her.

"If I find any of those shot glasses under measured, or tampered with for any reason, you can be sure to prepare for the repercussions of the decision.

Oh this brings back the memories even harder.  The long hard nights as a pilot in this squadron, combined with the mass amount of alcohol lingering, I'm surprised that most of us ended up making it to any briefing whatsoever the next day, if we were scheduled.  Sitting in a Cantina, surrounded by members of a crew who are all dedicated to their jobs, but yet they don't seem as if they have any responsibilities in life besides making sure that the craft that is deployed is in tip top shape from top to bottom.  Guaranteed.

Silently, the Forerunner crawled through space. It had recently arrived in the system where it would make its assault. Now all it needed to do was stay hidden long enough to prepare the pilots for the mission.

The New Republic had their defenses for the station. None of which the pilots knew about, they prepared for them, but did not know exactly what to expect.

* New Republic Nebulon-B Frigate ‘Nemesis’, Location: Xyouju System, Present Time *


On the bridge of the ‘Nemesis’, a New Republic Frigate patrolling through the system, a discovery was made.

“Sir, I have a target off out port side. Unknown class or designation.” The sensor officer reported.

The Executive Officer of the Nemesis walked over to the radar screen. He noted the target, and then made an order.

“Helm, plot course to target; Weapon Control, arm all weapons; Communications, Jam all communications from this ship and disable our transponder.

The crew, puzzled to why these strange orders were being given, followed them to a tee. The Nebulon-B Frigate made its adjustments, and then began to approach their target. They approached their target, undetected, in a strange way. The ‘Suspense’ had no idea that there was a ship directly below them.

“Ready bombers, equipped with magnetic mines on trigger detonation.” The executive officer yelled to his crew.

* Meanwhile in the halls of the ‘Forerunner’ *

The halls were as silent as a warship could be in time of leisure, not too loud but at the same time not silent. The crews were going about their business, whether it was official or leisure. They would soon be in combat, where all depended on the skills they possessed to keep themselves alive, along with their fellow crewmembers.

C-3PX2 was sitting in the cantina, as he normally did. Being a droid, he lacked one major use of the cantina, it was impossible for him to drink. Instead, he browsed through the Holo-Net, and reviewed the latest sensor scan reports. His Com-link beeped, he looked at who it was and saw it to be the hanger bay, he answered it.

“Yes, what is it?” he asked.

“Sir, you need to come down here, we have a problem with one of the TIEs that you brought here.” The Deck Chief said.

“Well this seems familiar, I am on my way.”

C-3PX2 got up, picked up his two data pads, and left the cantina for the hanger bay. All he could think was that a similar incident had happened on the previous mission. As he walked threw the halls, he could hear ‘Clank”-like noises coming from the hull. He did not know what they were, but through nothing of them. It would be something that he would later mistake.

OOC:

458 Words

Jaden was moderately intoxicated, and he knew it.

The room seemed to swell and swerve a bit as he arose from his seat at the bar.  He grabbed the pack of cigarettes off the bar; clumsily grabbing a single one, putting it in his mouth.  The flame instantly began the process of the cigarettes extinction, and the smell of the plant that was packed tightly into the roll of paper filled the bar very quickly as he stood in spot taking drags from the cigarette, whilst leaning up against the bar near where he had previously been sitting.  He glanced over at the corner table and noticed that the group of pilots looked rather familiar, and he couldn't figure out for the life of him exactly what they were doing in the same cantina that he had decided to reside in for the past few hours.  Then the memory of the upcoming mission floated slowly but surely back into his mind, but then the thought of its importance slipped away as he stopped and observed his surroundings.  He was now lost in the toxicity of the alcohol content  within the liquid he had been drilling down his throat, and he realized that he was experiencing one of the worst forms of De Ja Vu in his entire life.

As he began to move slightly closer to the table, the faces seemed to transform with each step.  He could almost make out Warmakers face as the mug rose to the mans mouth; suds from the head creating a mustache across his upper lip.  Beside him, Sheepy had been throwing down the double throttle with two seperate bottles of Corellian Ale.  The look on his face brought joy to Jaden as he continued to observe the party at the table.  With each second, the faces sitting at the table slowly became clearer to his line of sight, and before he knew it, the entire roster of members from the former Viper Squadron that he knew all to well were all sitting around the table, having what seemed like one of their usual times together.  Every single person seemed like they were the happiest individuals anyone could ever meet, but seconds later the atmosphere within the room turned sour.  The some-what revived pilots from Jaden's mind stood up from the table, as if beginning to argue with an outcast that had sat down at the bar just moments earlier.  The apparent stares he had been sending onwards towards the squadron commander had filtered through into the pilots' conversation, and they now all seemed as if they were ready to fight for their lives.

Within a few frames of the experience playing out in his mind, th entire squadron had some how attacked the man.  Bottles flew in all directions, and soon enough blaster fire began to ring out throughout the area of the barkeeps usual position.  The now dead outsider was almost immediately picked up by Megadeth, the Ensign in the squadron, and the pilots were exiting the area.  Jaden attempted to follow them out the door, but he was interrupted by one of the things from his reality, his wingman Ibram Tyrol nudging him with great force on one of his shoulder blades.  He quickly spun around to make sure that it was who he had thought, and his assumptions were correct.

"What are you doing spinning slowly around the room," said the younger pilot in the group, "Having some trouble making your way out of the bar there Lieutenant?"

Jaden laughed at him as he gained his ground, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"No I am not, Senior Crewman," said Jaden, turning around towards the exit point of the bar.

"Just trying to figure out why I've come back to this place in such a hurry.  I think it may have been in haste to rejoin the name that is still so familiar in my mind," he started saying, while walking slowly out of the bar.  "But I've just now finally come to a conclusion."

The pilot gave the older man a confused look as he made his way out of the bar, not saying anything at all.

"I've finally found the peace I've been searching for, for some time now.  It's the closure that I've needed for many years now, and now it's finally made its way back to me when it was most needed.  That," said Jaden, now having his head turned halfway back around towards his wingman.

"Is the satisfaction of knowing I've still got the memories I thought I had lost so long ago.  The satisfaction of knowing I can some how revisit the past I thought I had lost is bringing me to the point of insanity."

After the man had exited the room, Ibram turned around and grinned.

"Yup, he's drunk."

“That was fun,” Mira smirked. Tomas meanwhile wasn’t exactly feeling the same sentiments. He had been found himself in a rare fit of rage when the marine started running his mouth. When the Sergeant Major implied that the guys of Viper squadron weren’t ‘good enough’ for Mira and that she should instead join him and his troop of knuckleheads Tomas just about lost it. Only the potential consequences prevented the Squadron Commander from socking his counterpart in the face.

The arrival of the Army Captain had been a relief, allowing Tomas to calm down severely in the wake of the confrontation. After the brief conversation, Tomas sat back down and business continued as usual. Mira seemed a little less bored thanks in part to the recent commotion, and Strangler had gone back to eyeing the various women about the cantina.

“So Ibram, you were saying about your homeworld…?” Tomas said in an attempt to revive some conversation at the table. Ibram was about to answer when he was interrupted by an all too familiar giggle from Mira. It was almost evil-sounding the way it came out, and caused the entire table to glance in her direction out of curiosity. With all the attention on her, Mira simply shrugged and got up from the table causing even more raised eyebrows among the others.

“Shit!” Strangler exclaimed as they realized where Mira was headed. Enzadi had been glancing over at a particular table of women for quite some time now, in attempt to check them out and perhaps get their attention. Mira had now grabbed a seat at the table and was chatting them up with a mischievous grin on her face. All of a sudden she said something and pointed at Strangler. Whatever it was, the group of girls reacted with a mixture of gasps and giggles, before breaking out into an all out laugh that broke the otherwise quiet cantina. Tomas watched as his pilot turned beet red, uncertain whether to sink lower into his chair or sit tall and proud pretending it didn’t happen.

“Don’t worry dude, I’m sure she didn’t say anything that was too too bad,” Tomas said, ever the optimist. “Plus, at least now you have their attention.”

“You do realize this is Mira we’re talking about, right?” Enzadi pointed out, keeping an eye on the other table. As one of the woman blew him a kiss, he sat glued to his seat unsure as to whether it was all some big setup or not.

“Touche.” Tomas replied to the recent realization. With that he left Strangler to himself, and turned back to Ibram. “Where were we?”

OOC:

Feel free to write about your homeworld Ibram. If it ends up being too unrealistic or whatever that's what the edit button is for.

“Where were we?”

Ibram was still chuckling into his Ale as the CO turned back to him.

e“Not much else to tell really. The Moff is on Thrawn’s side, sort of. That far from the galactic centre, he doesn’t have to worry about reprisals much, but he’s not stupid enough to get on the wrong side of Thrawn. Keeps the Admiral happy by supplying him with ships and recruits, but he keeps most of the heavy stuff in the general area. I heard there’s a consolidation of power amongst the Moff’s happening at Bastion.”

“Bastion? That’s were I’m from. I’ll be honest; I haven’t kept up with the news from that part of space lately. Why didn’t you join the local faction? It’s a bit far here in the VE.”

“Well I just wanted to get away really… My fiancée died few months ago. Was one of the main reasons I left.”

“I’m sorry.” The CO patted his arm.

“Don’t worry about it, it hurts, but I’ll live. Death is like a friend in our line of work I suppose.”

The CO gave a grim laugh. “Too true I’m afraid, lets hope you last eh?”

Ibram raised his drink in a toast. “To lasting.”

“To lasting.”

Ibram noticed that the other new pilot, Zane, had just shown up. "Excuse me for interrupting," he said." But do any of you care if i join you?"

"Not me Crewman, sit down. I haven't had a chance to give you a proper welcome yet but...welcome!" The CO smiled at him.

Ibram introduced himself. "Ibram Tyrol, I'm the other new recruit. Your shuttle delayed too?"

"Sort off. I found the Suspense, but then realized that Viper Squadron had transferred here, so i had to catch a re-supply ship."

"Don't worry, i missed the main fight too, although i got to fly around whilst we picked up some swabs that had crashed... muppets." Both the CO and Ibram chuckled, remembering the events of Trojanhorse.

Meanwhile, Mira was still conversing with the group of girls the Strangler had been eyeing up. They were laughing and giggling away like school girls. Very very attractive school girls. Enzadi had by now turned a newly discovered shade of red.

Ibram grinned. “Well don’t just sit there like a maroon, go over there.”

“Are you kidding? I’d rather do the Kessel Run.”

“Don’t be such a wuss, there only girls.”

“Oh yeh? Why don’t you come with me?”

Ibram thought about it for a moment, then grinned and downed his drink. “All right then, you coming skipper, zane?”

The newcomer shrugged, the CO sighed. “Why not?”

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

Mira saw the four men get up and wander over. Enzadi was looking like a tomato, Ibram was looking like he was up for some fun, the new guy was looking slightly bewildered, and the CO looked like he was regretting being born.

She turned to the other three girls with her, “Ladies, this is going to be fun.”

OOC:

496 words. Nice to see you Zane

C-3PX2 entered the hanger bay, knowing that he would not like what he would see. This was an all too familiar trip, for on the last mission he found that one of the TIE fighters were damaged. It resulted in a switch of fighters, ad later led to the discovery of a traitor onboard the Wayfarer Delta.

“What is the problem, Chief.” C-3PX2 said.

“ah, good you’re here. This TIE is having some computer issues that we just can’t figure out.” The Deck Chief said.

“What kind of Computer Problem?”

“All computer Problems, it just wont start at all. We cant boot the computer systems.”

“I will take a look at it. What exactly have you already done?”

“Nothing, except try to boot it up. Last time this happened we tried to fix it and got a Fuel Leak. We just aren’t touching it. “

“Right, well then, I would be happy to risk myself to fix it.”

C-3PX2 walked over to the TIE fighter. Evaluating any problem he could obviously see. There was none, he would have to open it up and see what was wrong. First though he had a few questions ro ask.

“Have you made any upgrades to the hardware of this fighter?” C-3PX2 yelled out.

“Yea, a few. We upgraded its Power Flow for better use and power management.” The Deck Chief replied.

“Really, well then. Let me take a look.” C-3PX2 said as he opened the casing towards the power units.

He looked inside, not normally knowing about Mechanical Stuff in Fighters, but even he could see the problem. There were wires not connected, as with most mainstream computer consoles. For power to reach the main board, two wires must be in. Besides the Main power cable, there is a smaller AUX, auxiliary, cable that must be connected to provide power.

He connected the wire, and then replaced the panel.

“Alright, try it now.” He said.

The Deck Chief attempted to start up the computer systems. The moment he did, music began to blare out of the fighter.

“Hrm...” C-3PX2 began, “It must be Mira’s Fighter.” He said as he began to walk away.

Mira quickly applied a little mascara and eyeliner before she headed out of her room. Seeing that she had a little time for waste she went to the galley and grabbed some food and headed back to her room only to find Enzadi, Ibram, and Tomas waiting for her. "Come on notice I'm wearing make up," she thought silently as she came up on the group and started some witty banter with Ibram. The man was really too pretty for his own good, too girly for her taste. Through her eyelashes Mira looked at Tomas and smirked a little before they started down the hall and she was caught up picking on Enzadi, that is until he was run into a wall. Motherly, she inspected the wound and made sure he was alright with a casual follow the finger test. Finding him of sound health, other then a knot on his head she promised him a drink, before looking at Tomas rather guiltily and changing her reply.

Ah, the cantina, already there was a steady beat going from the band that ran through Mira's body calling her to dance, that is after a fruity drink that had an umbrella in it. A little while later Mira frowned watching Jaden stagger out of the catina, the guy had problem more then her which was a surprise. A group of clean shaven head and faced men came swaggering up to the table, Mira looked at them with interested green eyes as she sipped her drink.

“Time for some fun I think," casually mentioned, feeling the marine's eyes drift down from her face to her v-neck green sweater to where her chest was just barely visible. Her cheeks flushed a little, she hadn't worn the shirt for some jarheads to take a gander! Her hands went down to her lap and turned into fists, maybe a little fight wouldn't get her in too much trouble.


“Well well well, if it isn’t the almighty Viper Squadron. How’s it hanging flyboys? Saw one of your boys staggering around outside. Do you always fly drunk?” Was she suppose to answer that? Mira grinned slightly, hadn't that one time she had flown with a hungover her ship had come back with less repairs then usual? That was her little secret though.. oh wait, Tomas was getting that hard knot in his cheek he got when he was mad. Mira watched as his face went from humor filled to serious and hardened. She tried not to swoon a little, but she did like when he went all CWO on people other then herself.

“You’re way out of line trooper," Tomas growled and Mira let out a throaty chuckle as the pissing contest with rank went on. She took another sip of her drink, she looked back at Tomas, she was resisting every urge to jump him there in catina, but she was pretty sure that went against their hush hush policy. Though the thought of his surprised, loony tune face would almost be worth it..

What’s a pretty little thing like you doing with these bozo’s? Why don’t you come hang with some real men?” one of the marines suddenly asked her, /Mira raised an eyebrow, so many replies she could give him, then she remember that most of these men outranked her and could possibly hinder her promotions instead she gave them her pretty, 'if you don't get the hell away from me I'm going to kick to in the nads,' smile.

"Damn Jarheads," Enzadi murmured under his breath the marines turned and Mira eyes sparkled, yes there was going to be a fight! No wait now there were walking out of the cantina, damn, she was really hoping to punch those chest starers in the face. Mira calmly went back to her drink. Her attention drifted from Tomas who looked furious for some reason, she would have to ask him about it later, usually the antics of other branches of the VE didn't seem to bother him, to Enzadi who was staring at a group of pretty girls, all of them wearing school girl outfits with very short skirts. An impish grin went on her face and she let out a giggle, before noticing that the rest of the table was looking at her, shrugging she got to her feet and headed over to the table to where the girls were sitting.

"'Ello luvs, mind if I have a seat?' Mira asked the girls nodded and she sat down.

"Relaxing before your next mission too?" one of the girls asked.

"Yeah sure am with the rest of my squad over there, see that big lug over there, that's my wingmate Enzadi," Mira said ordering a round for the girls.

"You're a pilot?" another girl asked her eyes as big a saucers.

Mira chuckled," Yeah unfortunately." she joked.

"We figured that one of those guys was just your boyfriend and you were spending time with his squad."

"Yeah, the brown eyed one looked furious when those soldiers were hitting on you."

"Wow, observant females, though they aren't far off with the boyfriend" Mira thought before putting on her most charming smile, "Nah, he's our CO, he's protective of all of us."

"Oh so he's free," another girl said giggling and looking over at the table with the Viper squad.

"In a sense, but I think your interests should be on my wingmate, charming fellow, a bit of a lummox, but good hearted," Mira said pointing at Enzadi who turned a deep shade of red and looked like he wanted to either to kill her or drop through the floor, "And not to mention, so I've heard from a few other female pilots that he's quite the lover," this comment caused the whole table to burst out into giggles and more questions. Mira grinned as finally Viper squad made their way over to the table, grabbing chairs and scooting up next to the females.

"So you guys are pilots? Wow, we're all flight attendants for the private shuttle," a girl who introduced herself at Deena said touching Tomas' arm, "And you're a officer, how tres cool."

Mira found her hands gripping the side of the table, her urge to kill rising, and her common sense was desperately trying to mention the whole hush hush policy. Finally, Mira was able to rein in her temper, though she was glad that Ibram was in close discussion with another girl named Fern, Enzadi was talking to Sayrah. But she was not glad that Deena had her rat claws all over Tomas' arm. Casually, Mira got up, "I'm getting another drink," she spoke brightly getting up from the table and heading over to the bar, dancing as she went.

This was probably the reason why she saw the group of Marines, different from the ones from the before. These were past drunk, and had cold, mean looks to their eyes, each of them sported several tattoos. She was also the first to see one of the Marine break the bottle of whiskey they had been passing around and head for the table. Panic filled Mira's chest as she made the connection, these girls flight attendants yes, but had a thing for military men, military men they had a boyfriends, dangerous ones at that.

"Hey squid, what do you think you're doing?" one of the Marines growled pulling Tomas out of the chair, that was the last straw, Mira's eyes narrowed as she went running across the cantina, jumping onto the table knocking drinks left a right, flying past CWO Dagoram and tackling the man to the ground. Promptly she got a fist to her cheek, the hell broke lose as she punch the guy in the jaw only to be pulled off him by another one of the Marines who got a back kick to the groin. Mira dropped to the ground and rolled a few feet backwards, tripping the Marine that Ibram was grappling with.

"This how you always relax O'Riley?" he asked and Mira grinned impishly as a reply.

"Actually I use its how I meet men!" she laughed.

“Hi, my name’s Fern.”

“Ibram Tyrol pleased to meet you.” Ibram flashed the grin that Marisa always liked. Forgive me sweetie, but I have to move on.

Fern was a pretty little thing, nice shapely legs, bright features, and long blonde hair. You could tell she was a flight attendant though, very gossipy. Ibram could imagine having some fun with her, but nothing serious.

Still, listening to her talk, Ibram failed to notice Mira leaving, and then failed to notice the second group of threatening looking marines come over, and grab the CO.

“Hey squid, what do you think you’re doing?”

Here we go again.

The next few minutes were a blur. Ibram gently shoved Fern out of the way as he crippled with a marine gunning for him. Mira managed to trip him, and Ibram booted him in the stomach, before blocking another punch, and sending another marine flying. Enzadi was grappling with a brutish gropo on the floor, and Zane was fighting another marine, plus the bouncer who had come to try and break things up.

“Is this how you relax O’riley?” He said sarcastically.

“Actually this is how I meet men.” She retorted.

Ibram saw the CO go sprawling. Zane and Enzadi were losing ground too, so that just left himself and Mira against a score of angry marines.

Enough is enough.

Ibram pulled out his DC-15 just as the leader of the group was a bout to kick the CO in the head, and fired twice in the air. He then pressed the muzzle against his neck.

“I think that’s quite enough.” He said.

“You think you’ve got the guts to shoot me, squid?”

Ibram saw another marine leering at him from jut behind the leader, so he flicked a switch on his blaster and shot the guy in the leg. He fell, his leg injured by the reduced blast.

“Yes.” He said, switching the gun back to full.

The leader paused, and glared at Ibram.

“Ok.” He said. “We’ll play it your way. C’mon boys.”

The marines left the bar, some limping, others being carried. Zane had a black eye and bruised knuckles, Enzadi had a bloody lip, and the CO was unconscious on the floor.

Victory, he thought.

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

It was 20 minutes before the CO came too. Enzadi had been placating the manager, and Zane had been having a glaring contest with the bouncer. Mira and Ibram were looking after the CO.

"Hey, wha-" the CO tried to say, but grimaced as the pain in his cheek overwhelmed the numbness from the ice that Mira was pressing against his forehead.

"You really haven't improved at fighting have you?" Mira said with a chuckle as she removed the ice to get another look at the wound.

Slowly but surely, they picked the CO up, and began to leave the bar. Enzadi caught them up, explaining that he had to pay the bartender for the damage.

“We’ll take it out of the squadron budget.” Mira said. Everyone chuckled. "You ok to walk, sir?" Ibram asked.

The CO nodded.

After dropping him and Mira of to their quarters, Ibram parted ways with the others. He wandered silently back to his billet, and crashed into bed.

He never did get Fern’s details.

OOC:

545 words

“So, free Friday night?” Ibram asked.

Mira turned bright red and mumbled, “erm…depends on why?”

Smooth Ibram, very smooth, he grimaced inside. It was only meant as a joke, but Ibram kind of liked the small brunette. Even if she was crazy.

“I was just thinking you know…’steady girl who can fight for herself’… sounds a lot like you.” He smiled. Gak, gak, gak, gak, gak…

She looked away clearly embarrassed. “Erm…well….i dunno… I mean you’re cute and all, but I’m…..i’m…”

Not interested.

“It’s ok.” Ibram said, holding up his hands. “Forget I said anything. Here, let me walk you back to your quarters.”

Of course, being as small as she was, Mira was finding it difficult to ‘lean’ on Ibram, so in the end he just ended up piggy-backing her all the way to her room. They talked about the fight and joked all the way back.

“…and then I kneed that guy in the groin, and I swear he started crying.” Mira said, snickering.

Ibram chuckled. “Remind me to wear a box next time I get in a fight with you.”

Mira snickered suggestively, “I like going for the groin.”

There was a moment’s silence, before:

“Oh wait, here we are.” Mira reached over Ibram’s shoulder and knocked on the door. It took a few minutes before a very sleepy, and very grumpy Enzadi opened it. “What the frak do you want?”

Ibram smiled sheepishly, ”Sorry officer, I think I’ve got something of yours.”

Enzadi looked at Mira, who was still on his shoulders. “You forget your key again?”

“You know me.” She beamed.

Ibram walked slowly in, turned around, and then lowered her onto the bed.

“Thanks pretty boy.” She teased.

“You’re welcome sweet cheeks.” He retorted. She playfully slapped in on the butt as he walked out.

“See you in a few hours.”

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

Ibram shuffled sleepily into his room. The clock told him that he had roughly 5 hours before he should be reporting to pre-flight.

Damn clock.

He stripped off his clothes, and collapsed into bed. He was asleep within minutes.

It was a mostly peaceful sleep, although for some reason he kept thinking he was in a training simulator on-board the flagship Atrus, doing some sort of competition…

OOC:

379 words. thought i'd add a sneaky reference to LSM :P lol

Ibram woke with a start.

The chrono said he had half an hour before pre-flight began. He groggily pulled himself out of bed, and had a glass of water.

Remind me not to drink before a mission, he thought.

Pulling on his flight suit, Ibram wandered what could be in store for them in the upcoming mission. The station defences will obviously have to be overcome. He checked the data pad.

The main enemy would be the station’s guns, not something fighter pilots could deal with easy. Ibram doubted this would be a simple baby-sit run though; the station was bound to have a squadron or two stationed there for protection.

Who knows, he mused. Perhaps they’ll have a whole fleet.

Grabbing a few ration bars, and a jug of Caf from the dispenser, Ibram left his quarters and made his way towards the hanger bay. Most of his flight stuff was in his storage locker down at the bay. The only things he really kept in his quarters were off-duty clothes and personal items.

Along the way, he bumped into the CO.

“Good morning sir.” Ibram said.

The CO chuckled. “Morning? You do realise that technically it’s the evening here on the ship.”

“Except the hanger bay, it is actually 0903 according to them.” Ibram smirked.

“Oh?”

“Yeh, Deck Chief Nihlus is from Yavvitiri, same as me. He likes to keep to his own sleeping pattern. Apparently it’s morning over there.”

“That’s…that’s very odd.” The Co had a bemused smile on his face.

Together, they walked to the hanger bay, chatting about little things; the fight, the mission, the fighters…

“I’ve put in several requests for upgrades, but so far nothing. Rumour has it that they’ll be some sort of competition between all the squadrons soon, and the winner will get new fighters.” The Co was explaining.

“Odd, I had dream about that last night.” Ibram said.

“Oh yeh, who won?”

“Dunno, got knocked out of the running, then I woke up. Although I do remember something about some cheating…”

As Ibram was talking, they entered the hanger bay, which was bustling with activity. The CO went off to check his own fighter, whilst Ibram walked over to where his and Jaden’s TIE’s were stored. True to form, the Lieutenant was already there, prepping his fighter.

“What took you so long rookie?”

“Sorry sir, was taking a leisurely stroll round the entire ship.” Ibram said sarcastically.
“Well be quicker next time.”

Ibram grinned as he went over to his locker and grabbed his gear.

“Hey fly boy!” Chief Nihlus boomed as he walked by. “Try not to break anything!”

“Only if you try to keep the hanger bay clean.” Ibram joked back.

Putting on the rest of his flight suit, Ibram carried his gear over the storage compartment, and stowed it away. Jaden was sitting on the roof of his fighter, the hatch temporarily closed.

“The mission will be over by the time you’ve finished.” He growled, cigar in mouth.

“Someone sounds hung over.” Ibram teased.

Jaden just glared at him.

Opening his hatch, Ibram sat down in his cockpit.

Lets get to work. He thought.

OOC:

528 words. Another cheeky LMS reference :P mwahahaha

C-3PX2 walked out of the hanger bay, satisfied at how he just showed up the Deck chief in knowledge. He decided that the next place he should go to make sure everything was ready and in order, was the Ship’s Armory. There he could see exactly what the marines were going to use for their assault. He was hoping to see if there were weapons available for “testing”, he would love to get a few shots in before the mission. There was little time left before they began their mission, and he was going to make the most of it.

He continued to walk down the halls towards the Armory, noting the design of the ship as he walked. The ‘Forerunner’ was one of the most high-tech ships in the fleet, using some of the latest in weapons, engines, sensors, and communication technology in the empire. This ship was one of the prototype models designed from an older model that was used by the Storm Commandos, nine years earlier in the Galactic Empire. This ship was all tech, there was not a thing on this ship that had not been upgraded in some way of form, this ship was just plain “uber”.

After what happened in Osiago Phi, where the New Republic paid the pirate forces to attack the Vast Empire Bulk Freighter Convoy, C-3PX2 was ready for this battle. He wanted revenge for the crew of the Wayfarer Class Medium Transport ‘Delta’. He would do his best to take out every hostile star craft in the system. He wanted to get revenge, for the fact that the majority of the crew onboard the ‘Delta’ were killed by explosions or in the planetary crash landing. In addition, he hoped to encounter the Deck Chief from the Delta, the traitorous scum that sabotaged their fighters prior to launch. If it was not for one of the pilots calling him down, they probably would have died from a crack in the hull of their Tie Fighter. After they told him of this, he forced the Deck Chief to repair it.

C-3PX2 walked past two of the cooks onboard the Forerunner, they were discussion a list of items to get from the storage area.

“What the hell is Shirp?” one of the cooks asked.

“What?” the other one said.

“Shirp, that’s what it says here. Ten pounds of Shirp.”

“Um… yea. That would have to be a misprint. I think it means Shrimp.”

“Why does it say Shirp? Why don’t they go and fix that?”

“Probably just for the fun involved in the confusion it causes.”

“Probably.”

C-3PX2 laughed a little at the misprint, for it actually was a little funny; as he continued on his way to the Armory.

Name's Phineus Gage, LCRW and new member of the Viper Sqaudron. Proud to be aboard and look forward to flying with all of you. Awaiting orders

Guess she is interested after all, Ibram mused.

He was feeling rather chuffed with himself. Not only was his fighter in good condition, and ready to ship out, he now had a date Friday night.

Chief Nihlus had personally looked over the fighter along with his assigned mechanic, a Twi’lek named Sass. “Hah, poor Sierra, he never was much of a mechanic. Don’t worry Bram, we fixed everything you told us about, and more! Wait and see how she handles, you’ll fall in love again!” He had said.

“Flight control, this is Viper 8. Pre-flight completed. Stats are green across the board.”

“Roger that 8, we’ll inform the CO.”

Ibram doubled checked that his equipment was secure, and that his coms were working. Leaving his helmet behind, he climbed back out of his fighter, and sat on it like the Lieutenant was. The Hanger bay was a bustle of activity; Vipers were arriving and heading to their fighters, deck crews were making sure everything was working properly…Ibram saw the CO talking with the Army Captain from before. They must be going over the plan again.


He looked over at Jaden, “Sorry about the cheekiness earlier sir, but I never really asked: how are you?” He said.

Jaden gave him a look that seemed like a mixture of embarrassment and surprise.

“I’m ….coping Crewman, thanks for asking. How about you? I heard you had an eventful time earlier.”

“So-so.” He grinned. Mucked in a bit with some Gropos…two groups of gropos, actually, although the first fight was stopped before it even started and well, the other one was pretty hectic.”

“Fights always are.” Jaden commented.

They sat in silence for a bit, neither feeling the need to talk, yet completely at ease with each other.

“What do you think about the up-coming mission?” Jaden asked.

Ibram took a deep breath, “Not to sure…It’s not going to be a walk in the park. Stations like that tend to have a squadron or two for protection…sometimes some light-cruisers too…We’re going to have to wait and see. The Forerunner will have to do most of the work as even without protection, TIE’s aren’t much of a match for stationary guns.”

Jaden smirked, “Been doing your reading I see. Very well done… you show a lot of potential crewman.” He took a long drag of his cigar.

Ibram frowned, “Potential for what?” he asked.

Jaden simply smiled, and climbed off his fighter. “I’m going to the refresher, be back in a minute.”

Ibram just sat there, waiting.

OOC:

422 words