She was lean, stronger, a lot of her curves were replaced with muscles. A toothpick hung from her mouth and sunglasses held back her now chin length curly hair, in regulation that she didn't have to keep braiding it back. She got up from her chair after the room had been dismissed and headed towards the training room.

"I'm so hardcore, a real badass," she thought with a slight smirk.

"Thinking about how tough you look with your new haircut aren't you?' Tomas asked coming up beside Mira.

"Hell yeah, and I'm hot!" Mira thought guiltily taking a long sideways glance at Tomas and grinned, "And your point?"

"None really, where are you heading?"

"Well I wanted to get a little more training, I mean I'm getting pretty good with my melee training," Mira spoke, touching the vibrosword on her belt and smiling fondly. Not to mention her trainer was really good looking, with his dark hair, blue eyes, strong chin and warm voice. Mira grinned giddily, if that didn't get a person to work out she didn't know how other people did it.

"Mira come along with me," his dark blue eyes sparkled as he held out a hand to Mira. She was dressed in a long white gown, looking unsure she looked up at him with questioned filled eyes before taking his hand, he pulled her onto a horse and they rode into the sunset.

'You're really getting into your training," Tomas spoke raising an eyebrow at Mira's expression.

"Yeah Master Ingrade is a really good teacher," she said snapping out of her expression. She really had to quit daydreaming right in front of Tomas. Well at least she wasn't thinking of other squadmates that way. Then again she had an interesting dream about Ibram with involved a lot of chocolate, little clothing, and for some reason a TIE Fighter. She blamed it on the take out the night before, even if she occasional let herself take in how nice Ibram looked.

"Why don't I join you in training? I could use a little refresher on melee fighting," Tomas said as Mira turned to go into one of the training simulation rooms.

"Uh, okay, sure, grab a vibrosword," Mira said slowly thinking for a moment. I couldn't hurt, besides Tomas had been complaining about them not spending as much time together as they use to. Mira shook her head, they only had an hour or two before the shuttle took off. She had gotten into the habit of pre packing everything before the mission briefing so she was ready to go, after a few missions of forgetting to pack underwear was enough for her to always be prepared.

Taking her vibrosword from her waist, Mira stood waiting for Tomas to get ready, "Come on now, I'll go easy on you," she said sweetly.

Lukas sat in his seat during the briefing of this latest Naval mission as he listened towards every detail of the situation. This was an important mission towards all who were involved, which he nodded after the explanation of Viper Squadron's role in this mission. It was imperative that the Rear Admiral was to be rescued and secured within the hold of the Vast Empire once more.

The more imporant fact within all this was this mission is to be Lukas's first with Viper Squadron. He had only joined them while they were in the midst of their last mission, and this would be his chance to make the grade or break it. He smiled a bit as he heard the last of the briefing being detailed towards the new squad, Task Force Alpha. He turned to see them and gave them each a nod as he hoped that they all can bring the Rear Admiral safe and sound.

Lukas stood up and followed the rest of Viper Squadron towards the entrance of the room, needing one question that had to be answered. He knew that his FL could answer it himself, but it would be good for experience sake if he asked the CO his question instead. However, Tomas had whisked himself away with a woman of the same squadron. He had never seen her before, and she must be very important to him if he wanted her so quickly. The decision was made to put the question on hold for now until the time was right to ask it.

Lukas stepped out of the room and headed towards his quarters as he knew that he had to prepare for the upcoming mission. It would be his first, and he hoped that it wouldn't be the last.

After the very brief Mission briefing Anden watched as the members of the Nazgul squadron were called by their SC to meet further about the mission. Not surprising. There hadn’t been a lot of information given to them except a very brief explanation of what their separate mission objectives would be.

As he watched the Nazgul Squadron exit the briefing he nodded and gave a friendly smile to those he made eye contact with. He didn’t really get the feeling that there was any ‘bad blood’ between the two different squadrons. Then again he was new. What he did know was that he was eager to get to know more about their plan for once they were on the ground. Anden thought it was a very good plan, the little that he knew of it. Being a smuggler usually required one to have skills of being a pilot. Sending pilot’s down and try and persuade Nobunaga to form an alliance with them, it was a good way to play things out, regardless if it was their commanding officer. That point made it important to them personally, true. But he thought it would be better to send a squadron of pilots down rather than a squad of Stormtroopers. He didn’t have anything against the troopers, he just knew that they would blend into the environment easier. And if he had learned anything from the last mission it was the importance of getting in and out and staying unknown for as long as possible. 

The part that he was very ready to see was the chance to see a Defender in action. Oh man, how I would love to get to fly in that. He thought to himself as he found himself at the back of he briefing room with Tomas and Ibram.

“I don’t know about you guy, but I have half a mind to get into that Defender myself.” He said with a wishful grin. The comment brought a smile to Tomas’s mouth.

“Not if I beat you to it, Beliam.” Tomas said leaning in towards them. Then he was off, as if he disappeared in a magic show, with Mira who Anden recognized as another Viper. He had been about to ask a question to get a see if he could work out a few more details on any exact parts of the plan. He guessed they would have to wait.

Anden looked to Ibram as his wingman, Phineus, walked over to them. Anden gave Ibram a what’s with those two? look. Ibram just gave him a grin and he glanced back in the direction Tomas and Mira had taken off to then gave a shrug.

“So what you do you guys think about the whole going on a ground mission?” he asked to those who were still around, with little success in hiding his excitement. After all, extraction was one of the types of missions that intrigued Anden the most. Get in, get on and over with it and get out.

Not to mention doing it with as little detection to them as possible. It would make keeping the Admiral, and themselves from taking on any serious injuries.

“’We fly you die’ sure doesn’t have as much meaning when we are on the ground, it will be good to get up in our fighters.” Phineus said assuredly, and Anden smiled in agreement with him. Even though the idea of extracting and rescuing the Admiral gave him a thrill, nothing compared to the feeling of home while locked loaded, ready to take on the enemy in his tie fighter.

As he stood there, with his forearms folded gently across his chest and talking with some of the other Vipers, Anden caught a site of Zane and Lukas and tried calling out to them, but Zane had already disappeared. Odd, I wonder where he went off to. Anden wondered for a moment if he still needed some down time after being so close the explosion. He had hoed to congratulate him on a good kill, and also hoped to see how he was doing. He called Lukas over to them, wanting to make sure he felt welcomed with the Squadron.

“Come on over here mate, no reason to go of to your quarters to study the mission just yet.” He said as Lukas came over to them. He extended his hand to Lukas, “I’m Anden, good to have you onboard. I am new here as well, great to be outta flight school eh?” he asked with a smile.

OOC:

758 words

Tomas stalked off towards his office to the sound of Mira giggling behind him. He'd been enjoying the time they were spending together, despite the fact it was him getting his butt kicked in something athletic. He decided right then and there that he was going to get back into the kind of shape he'd been in growing up. He'd been introduced to grav-ball as a kid, and taken to it like a fish to water. The sport had in turn had kept in great shape, despite the fact that he merely played in a "recreational" league. These days were a different story, as piloting and other Navy duties took up the majority of his time. Sure, he still kept his slim physique but the muscle ratio was severely decreased.

The way he had seen Mira interact with her instructor no doubt strengthened Tomas' resolve. It was obvious to see how fit and attractive Master Ingrade was, and now that Tomas had seen the two interact the far off dreamy looks Mira tended to drift off into made more in more sense. At least, that was his guess at what they meant. Regardless, Tomas was not giving up without a fight and hoped with a little work of his own Mira wouldn't need any distractions like Ingrade.

And that was what Tomas was thinking as he entered his office. Sure, it was likely a overreaction and Mira probably liked him just the way he was. But with everything Tomas had just witnessed and taken part in, that was his mindset at the moment.

It was time to focus on something else though, as Tomas had much to plan for the upcoming mission. The main component of reaching their objective revolved around successfully playing the act of a smuggling group. This started with the proper ship codes, and registration in order to get on the planet's surface itself. From there Tomas figured the best course of action would be to take on aliases. No point in risking background checks revealing them as Imperials was there?

Hmm, I think I shall be ... Francisco Zanzabar. Has a nice ring to it. Hmm, John Prettyboy sounds about right for Ibram ... not to unrealistic for smugglers really, and I'm sure the others will get a kick out of it. Hm, what's a good name for C-3? Destructobot, Tinman? Ah, screw it ... he's probably got some sort of name generator thinga-ma-bob installed in that wiring of his he can pick his own damn name. The rest of them too while he's at it.

With that, Tomas gathered his notes and set off to find the rest of the squadron in order to finalize the immediate plans. What they decided to do once on the planet itself could wait for now, but he felt it better they become familiar with eachothers new callsigns as soon as possible, in order to prevent slip ups down the road.

OOC:

Alright guys, feel free to post about whatever you're doing up until the squadron meeting as well as in the squadron meeting. Be sure to post about receiving your "new name" and letting us know what it is. Otherwise we will choose one for you ... and I can't guarantee that you'll like it.

Zane laughed at himself as he disappeared before the young recruit’s eyes. He listened as him and the other new pilot talked. After just a couple a minutes he decided he had enough so he decided to retire back to his quarters. Zane had decided that he could wait here, and also do any other duties until it was time for the mission.

Zane passed his own self designed security features, and then walked through the metal scissor doors. Turning on the light Zane could help but look at the wonderful view. This mission had to be a successful one; they were even partnered with the Nazgul Squadron. What could go wrong?

Zane couldn’t see anything going wrong but he knew that wrong would definitely find him. Zane sat down, and while pondering he hooked him self onto his oxygen tank. It was a hi-tech device, and it was used to filter his mechanical lung. Zane didn’t have to do this too often tough, and it was a length process.

After  finishing that he then went to his gravmill  to exercise. Zane always exercised when ever he could. He even suped up the gravmill so that he could get a way better workout. Zane kept every bit of him fit and very muscular, and for this new mission he would definitely need it.

After a few hours of that he decided to go and do some combat training of his own. Zane needed all the workout he could get before the mission, he would need every bit of strength and skill he could get. From what the Commander had said it would not be an easy mission.

Zane had decided to visit the Imperial Center to buy a few supplies and such. After that he decided to wonder around for a while. But after wondering around for a few hours he soon found that there was nothing really to do.

Silently Zane made his way back to his room. Then after getting everything ready for the mission he decided to go to the local cantina. He really had nothing else to do. So leaving once again Zane now made his way to the cantina .

Finally making it there he was once again overwhelmed by the intoxicating aromas of the alcohols and cigar smokes. Zane really preferred for none of these, unless it was a very rare occasion at least.

Zane found and empty table and pulled out his datapad to review the mission. After reviewing again Zane then began to ponder about his new mission name. He had always favored Shadow as a nickname or code name. But for this Zane would probably have to have a fake name that sounded like an actual name.

Zane thought for ever and finally and arguing and consulting with himself he finally came up with one that might work.  Zane had decided on Ezekiel "Shadow" Black. It wasn't catchy really, maybe it even wasn't the coolest. Zane really didn't care. He kind of liked it.

After deciding his new mission name Zane thought maybe perhaps with any luck maybe some of the other members of the Viper, or even the Nazgul squads would join him. It was after all a pretty bit table and they did have some time till the mission began.

“Whatcha got in mind?” Mira said with a grin.

“I was thinking some major psychological warfare. Nothing like a complete breakdown to take care of those pre-mission blues.”

Mira gave a brief chuckle, “Since when did you turn into an evil “old-timer”? You’ve still yet to prove to me you’re not a newb.” She stuck her tongue out.

Ibram grinned. “I guess I’ve spent too much time around you O’Riley. C’mon, let’s go own some newblets.”

Mira and Ibram began walking back towards the briefing room where Ibram had left the new guys chatting excitedly about the up-coming mission. It was hard to believe that Ibram had been like them a mere two months ago. He had come along way in such a short space of time.

I guess war changes people. Fast.

Mira had a towel round her neck, still slightly sweaty from her previous workout. With her hair at it's new shortened length, Ibram couldn’t help but think how good she looked in her training gear. He was still trying to figure out how he felt about this wild flirtatious brunette. Events over Solstice had finally helped him to get over Marisa, and move on with his life, but he still mulled over whether Mira was where he wanted to move on too…

Not everything has to be long term, especially in this profession…maybe I’ll just have a bit of fun.

He realised he had been staring, and that Mira had caught him at it.

“See anything you liked?” She said with a sly smile.

Ibram grinned again. “You could say that…I hear you’re really coming along with your melee training. I saw you kicking the CO’s arse all over that training room.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” She teased. “But yeh, I’ve always wanted to improve on that side of things…and I guess it was a good shout because here we are, about to go on a mission that will require a bit of ground pounding. You should get some practice in whilst you can.”

“I’m okay,” Ibram explained. “I’ve been giving myself lessons for a while now. My uncle is in the Imperial Army back on Minor, and he sent me some CQC material to celebrate my promotion. I’ll admit though, I’ve had little practice with people.” He gave Mira a side glance.

“Well maybe I’ll get to kick you’re ass before the mission too.” She said with a grin.

“In your dreams sugar.” Ibram stuck his tongue out. Mira blushed slightly, as if remembering something.

“Enough about dreams,” She said. “I just saw that Anden guy go down to the crew quarters, maybe we can catch them there?”

“Last one there is a Bantha turd” Ibram said as he sped off.

Mira chased after him, whipping Ibrams rear with her towel.

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

The two pilots found Anden and Lukas hanging out side the crew quarters, talking quietly about the up-coming mission. Anden and his wingman Phineas had already flown the failed MJOLNIR mission, so weren’t complete newbs. Lukas on the other hand had just joined up with them, and you could tell by the look on his face that he was both excited and awed by the events unfolding before him. Jaden would have hated him.

Rookie, Ibram thought with a grin. He missed the erstwhile Lieutenant.

Ibram spoke first. “Hey guys, how are you settling in? I’m Ibram, and this here is Mira. We form the official un-official Viper Squadron Welcome crew.”

“We’re here to make sure you guys aren’t having any problems.” Mira chipped in, a mischievous glint in her eye.”

Lukas introduced himself first and Anden re-acquainted himself with the older pilots. “We haven’t had much time to talk since MJOLNIR….I’m sorry I  wasn’t able to participate in the competition.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was close, but we ultimately got our asses handed to us. No thanks to this lout.” He nodded in Mira’s direction.

“I’m too good for those things.” She said tersely.

Lukas sniggered like a schoolboy. Ibram decided to let the mind-fucking begin.

“So, are you guys stocked up on Elbow Grease? Skipper says we will need a lot of it for this one.” Ibram could see Mira barely containing a giggle.

“Elbow grease?” Lukas and Anden frowned.

“Yeh, lubricates your elbows. Great for crawling.” Mira chimed in, grinning like and idiot.

“Which remind me,” Ibram feigned a light-bulb moment. “I need to pick up some break-light fluid from the store.”

“Head light fluid?” Lukas was looking worried. Anden was busy reading his datapad, as if trying to verify what Ibram was saying.

“We may have to fly in tight formations, gotta make sure you’re breaks are in order.” Mira explained. She was very close to tears.

Lukas glowered. “You’re having me on aren’t you?”

“Yes!” Ibram blurted out. Neither he nor Mira could contain their laughter. Anden couldn’t help but grin, despite himself. Even Lukas eventually let out a chuckle.

“Oh I needed that.” Ibram wiped a tear from his face. “You guys are alright. You can take a joke.”

“Oh you are one evil sunuvabitch Mr. Tyrol.” Mira was dabbling her towel round her eye.

Before Ibram could reply, his comlink beeped, as did everyone else’s.

“All Vipers, please report to briefing room 022 for a squadron briefing.” Tomas’ voice blared out in Quadruple. “We will be going over our part of the mission, from insertion to extraction.”

Back to the daily grind, Ibram mused as the four pilots started wondering back, chatting.

OOC:

917 words. I'll post about the meeting later, so don't count me out.

"Yes, I agree. I learned much in there, but there's no better experience than to be out there in the field. Since you're as new as I am, I was wondering what it was like to fly one of those TIEs out in the battlefield. I mean, what was it to be free out there in the midst of combat?" Lukas had replied after they shook hands.

The question was to be expected. Anden just looked to the others there. They had all had more experience than he did in an actual mission. He had only signed on with the squadron last minute right before the last mission. After the squadron members didn’t say anything. He replied, “It feels like home.” He said with a smile.

Anden’s comlink gave of two beeps in quick succession, and in a smooth motion retrieved it from his belt and spoke into it, “Go ahead R7.”

A very rattled and irritated line of beeps, blurps and chirps came through and Anden responded surprisingly calmly, “Easy R7, I don’t care what you have to do, give ‘em a jolt if you have to. If they still won’t leave it be, then I come there.” He said as they began making their way back to the crew quarters. Anden stowed his comlink back on his belt and walked along with the others.

On his datapad showed some schematics of his Tie Fighter and he was checking and adjusting things on the screen with a stylus, making plans for his next modification to his Starfighter.

“If the tech ‘liked’ his improvements to his TIE’s scanner range…they are gonna have a field day with this” Anden thought to himself, grinning.

He clicked the display on his datapad off and slid the stylus into its slot as Lukas asked him another question. “They said that there will be a TIE Defender in the freighter we are going down in….” he said with an eagerness that was anything but shy, “Do you think that they will give us all Defenders to fly in?” he asked.

Anden couldn’t stop a grin coming o his face, Yeah, and the republic is going to just fall down and die.[i] “Not a chance mate, you do know how much it costs to produce. Naw, we’ll get to fly back in our Tie’s.” Anden said with out sounding overbearing in the least bit. [i]That is unless Tomas has something to say about it. He thought remembering the remark that Tomas had made earlier.

That was when he spotted Mira and Ibram walking up to them.

“…Here comes the initiation jokes…” He said grinning once he saw the lightly hidden smirks the two were wearing, sneaking a glance at Lukas and pulling out his datapad again he knew that the newbie was a little enamored by the whole everything going on that he probably didn’t get the sense of what was happening. He knew that the jokes would most likely be aimed towards him as well- it was expected and he really didn’t mind.

Ibram was the one who spoke up first, ah, the instigator of the small prank,

“Hey guys, how are you settling in? I’m Ibram, and this here is Mira. We form the official un-official Viper Squadron Welcome crew.” Ibram said warmly.

“We’re here to make sure you guys aren’t having any problems.” Mira chipped in, a mischievous glint in her eye which Anden caught and he doubted Lukas could say the same.

Anden talk some more with the other squadron members a bit about some of the equipment they had already decided they would need for the up coming ground mission, checking and readjusting the starfighter image and functions here or there, then he heard Ibram talking about the previous botched mission.

“We haven’t had much time to talk since MJOLNIR….I’m sorry I  wasn’t able to participate in the competition.” Anden said, being truly sorry he couldn’t have had a hand in helping the Vipers.

Ibram shrugged it off, “Don’t worry about it. It was close, but we ultimately got our asses handed to us. No thanks to this lout.” He nodded in Mira’s direction.

“I’m too good for those things.” Mira responded in a short matter-of-fact tone.

Lukas sniggered like a little as Anden glanced down at his datapad right before Ibram put in. “So, are you guys stocked up on Elbow Grease? Skipper says we will need a lot of it for this one.”

Mira was now nearly to the point barely containing a giggle, hiding it as if acting she had something in her eye.

“Elbow grease…?” Lukas asked, sounding very unsure of himself and glancing from Anden, to Mira and then to Ibram. Anden put on a frown, deciding to play along. 

“Yeh, lubricates your elbows. Great for crawling.” Mira chimed in, grinning like and idiot.

“Which reminds me,” Ibram continued on, acting as if he had just remembered something very important. “I need to pick up some break-light fluid from the store.”

“Head light fluid?” Lukas was looking worried. Anden was busy reading his datapad, as if trying to verify what Ibram was saying.

“We may have to fly in tight formations, gotta make sure you’re breaks are in order.” Mira explained. She was far past the point of containing a giggle and if there had been anything in her eye it would soon be washed away from tears that were soon to come.

Lukas glowered at the two more experienced pilots. “…You’re having me on aren’t you?”

“Yes!” Ibram blurted out, both he and Mira could no longer contain themselves. Anden could help but grin and chuckle at the site of Ibram nearly convulsing with laughter or of Mira trying desperately to dry her now pouring eyes from hard she was laughing. Finally even Lukas let out a chuckle that gradually became more sincere and free.

“Oh I needed that.” Ibram, finally said after the laughter died down a bit, “You guys are alright. You can take a joke.”

“Oh you are one evil sunuvabitch Mr. Tyrol.” Mira was dabbling her towel round her very wet eyes.

That is when all of their comlinks set off with a notification from Tomas.

“All Vipers, please report to briefing room 022 for a squadron briefing…We will be going over our part of the mission, from insertion to extraction.”

As a side note on Anden’s datapad appeared an instruction to choose new names for themselves to be used on the mission. “Looks like we get to be whoever we want to be.” Anden said to the other three, telling them about the side note.

Anden shrugged, “Alright then..” he thought for a moment, then continued, “Erik Dysart…good to meet y’all” he said in the genuine drawl similar to one of the mechanics who he had worked.

Lukas gave another one of his sniggers, Mira rolled her eyes and Ibram exclaimed, “Come on, Beliam…is that honestly the best you come up with?...” then leaned towards Mira whispering not so quietly, “Are we sure he was supposed to be assigned to Viper?...”

Chuckling a little, he elbowed Anden jokingly and Anden gave him a shove back in good humor. They continued on there way towards the briefing room meeting other on the way there.

OOC:

1,213 words

So many stars was looked at by Lukas as Anden answered the question that was asked before. It was to be expected to be excited about giving the opportunity to be a part of this infamous squadron, and it would be a thrill to fly with him as well as the rest. Out there, it was to be his home, and for Lukas, it would be his home for years to come.

Lukas did pose another question to Anden about the possibility of flying the Defenders instead of the regular Fighters for this mission. Unfortunately, his mood dampered a bit with the answer that was given to him. It would have been very interesting to fly the latest that the Imperial Navy has to offer, but it was not to be. However, for Lukas, it's great to fly anything at this point, especially in a mission as important as this one. With a slight smile, he nodded to the answer and accepted it as much. The regular Fighters would do for this mission, and there were more well-known in the galaxy anyway, so it was still a plus in his book.

Then, the world became twisted within a few minutes with the arrival of Officers Ibram and Mira. Lukas knew that the normal hazing of the new guy was coming at some point, and he had to admit that these two did a good job at making their jokes. However, with the mention of 'head light fluid', Lukas took a smile to this while Anden was checking his datapad for the use of such thing on a TIE Fighter. He called them out on it, and it was confirmed that these two were joking, to which he took a chuckle with them. A valuable lesson was learned from this, and that was to keep the eagerness and giggles to a low minimum. He was here for the glory of the Vast Empire, and he had to act like it.

Suddenly, his comlink, as well as the others, flashed to life as Tomas called the Viper Squadron over for a meeting about the upcoming mission. It was time to figure out how to get the RA out of this mess that he's in, and it was the Viper's job to get him out. He nodded to that as he turned towards the group that he was in. Anden announced his cover to Ibram and Mira, so Lukas did the same with his alias.

"Mixaf Kilost, and the pleasure is all mine."

The two officers shoved Lukas and Anden in good ribbing as the group turned and headed towards the meeting room. Lukas gave a good shove back to Ibram before concentrating on heading towards the briefing. It was good to finally meet the men and women that he will be flying with, and these few minutes was good for Lukas in all fronts.

They rounded the corner, and was met with the rest of Viper Squadron milling about the briefing room door. Ibram saw Mira, who in turn saw him and waved.

“Hey stranger! Where’d you run off to?” She paused as she noticed Aleia, eyes slightly narrowing.

“Aleia isn’t it? Welcome back.” She gave Ibram another glance, and let out a sly smirk.

“The CO hasn’t turned up yet, the lazy oaf. I’ll leave you two alone.” She slid off.


He turned back to Aleia, another shy smile on his lips. “Guess we’re in for a bit of a wait.” He said.

“Guess so.” She replied.


God.. what am I doing? I. .I don't talk to people..


She thought to herself, lowering her eyes slighty from him a she ran her hand back over her shoulder. Rubbing her neck gently she wasn't sure why she was even still next to him. The few other Vipers that were standing about seemed to be standing off apart from them. Making Aleia feel like a target with Ibram.


"So.. apart from being in Sick Bay.. I never see you around with anyone.." Ibram spoke up.


Crap.. way to go... Make her think I'm some weirdo..

Ibram kept a straight face. Not giving anything away but hoped she really wasn't going to freak out on him. Aleia tensed for a moment. Not saying anything to him for a few heartbeats that seemed to draw out longer then it actually was.


Her own mind was clicking. Thinking on how to reply as she didn't think he ment anything like a special someone in her life. It wasn't somethign she ever really thought of. Flying was her only passion.

"That's because I don't..."  She looked straight up into his eyes. No hint of anger in her voice.

“That’s because I don’t…..” Aleia said, staring at him.

Tough crowd. He thought.

“Yeh I kinda noticed….It’s not as bad as people say you know. Unless you’re with Mira.”

That brought a small smile. “Yeh. I remember that about her.”

Progress. Progress is good.

A sociologist somewhere would probably find it fascinating that Ibram’s thought processes were becoming more basic by the minute in the presence of this shy young woman, but Ibram just found it annoying.

At that moment, the CO rounded the corner. He made some joke about everyone else being late and ushered them all inside, but Ibram wasn’t really paying attention.

“Hey…you wana sit with me? I don’t bite.” He said.

Aleia paused for a moment, still rubbing her neck. “Sure.”

Rather typically, Mira planted herself on Ibram’s other side, and periodically ribbed him with her elbows. It made conversation rather difficult.

“So…where you from anywaoooow.” He winced.

“Are you ok?” She asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Yeh.” He said trough clenched teeth. “Stubbed my toe.”

The skipper began talking about the mission.

"Okay, now to the mission itself. Insertion should be pretty straightforward. Use the landing codes provided by Intelligence to gain clearance to the spaceport. From there we'll try and stay low key, and between the lot of us I'm pretty sure we can get some information on the whereabouts of the XO…."

Ibram leaned over again. “Ever had any training for something like this?”

“Several Naboo-style Martial arts, and some hand-to-hand. You?”
“My uncle sent me some army CQC material, and I took self-defence as a teenager. I haven’t has much practice against other people though. Fancy some sparing later?”

“Yeh, we all know what kind of ‘Sparing’ you’re into Ibram.” Mira chipped in.

Ibram and Aleia both turned bright red, and Ibram gave Mira a glare that would stop even Vader in his tracks. Ibram realised the skipper was talking to them.

"…. I was thinking you and Aleia could play the part of a couple, and how all the tights spots we've been in have brought you two together? You know?"

That made Ibram pause.

Oh gak….

Mira was laughing beside him, and Aleia had turned even redder, and shot the CO and even meaner look. The CO simply smirked.

“That wasn’t a request by the way.”

After the meeting was over, everyone slowly filed out to enjoy what was left of their preparation time. Mira started teasing the CO once again, but gave Ibram a sly smile as he followed Aleia out of the briefing room.

Ibram really wanted to punt her, but he suspected something was going on between her and the CO, and it probably wasn’t the best of ideas to go ticking of you’re CO.

Aleia turned round on him abruptly, cheeks still slightly red. “I suppose we’re going to have to sort our story out for later.” She said flatly.

“Yeh, guess so.” Ibram said, trying to keep a brave face.

Aleia paused, as if struggling with some internal logic that couldn’t understand what she was about to say.

“Well…how about discussing it over a drink at the bar?”

Ibram paused again.

Gak me, did she just ask me for a drink?

“Er….sure! I’d love too!” He gave a genuine smile, which seemed to help her relax. A little.

“Good. I need to go to my quarters quickly. I’ll meet you outside in about twenty minutes.” She said.

“Sounds great.” Ibram resisted the urge to pinch himself.

“I’ll see you then.” She walked off, a little too quick for casual, but Ibram didn’t notice.

“See you then.” He said quietly.

OOC:

602 words

Zane was at the bar for a little while when his own comlink went off.
Just like the others the same message spouted out of the comlinks speakers.

“All Vipers, please report to briefing room 022 for a squadron briefing…We will be going over our part of the mission, from insertion to extraction.”

Zane got up immediately and headed for the Briefing Room 022. Zane was one of the first ones their, again taking his place in the dark corner. Zane got out his own personal datapad which he modified himself to record voice and picture in 3D image. Of course it needed to be hooked up to a Holographic projector though.

After several people arrived, and even when the room was filled, their was no commander. to Zane it didn't seem like him, but that was none of his business anyways. Finally the commander arrived and the meeting began.

On a similar topic we will be using fake names once planetside, as I mentioned previously. How many of you managed to come up with one for yourself?" Tomas asked, looking out on the squadron. Only a small handful raised their hands. "Alright then, for the rest of you here are envelopes containing your new personas. Hope you like them." With that, Tomas handed them out with various reactions ensuing. He paused momentarily to give the pilots a chance to read over the files.

"Okay, now to the mission itself. Insertion should be pretty straightforward. Use the landing codes provided by Intelligence to gain clearance to the spaceport. From there we'll try and stay low key, and between the lot of us I'm pretty sure we can get some information on the whereabouts of the XO. I'll likely have to meet with chief Nobunaga at least once in order to maintain our cover and divert any suspicions. From there we'll roll with the punches and come up with some sort of plan to get him out of there. Basically, once planetside: gather information, don't draw attention to yourself, and maintain cover and we should be fine." With this Tomas turned in Ibram's direction.

"Speaking of cover, I was thinking we could give an illusion of a tight knit group that has been together for quite some time. Seasoned, I guess you could say. I was thinking you and Aleia could play the part of a couple, and how all the tights spots we've been in have brought you two together? You know?" This caused Mira to break out in laughter next to Ibram, as he slunk deeper into his chair.

Then soon enough it ended, and Zane walked out. Once again he went to his room and exercised a little, and trained just a little more. Finally as dusk began to overtake the planet, Zane decided that was enough for that day, and headed back down to the bar.
It didn't take long, and once he got their he again went to the same table, and ordered a non-alcoholic drink.

Zane again sat and pondered about the mission, about his life, even a bit about his squadron members. Zane sat for what seemed like forever, and becoming board soon pulled out his datapad and decided to review the last briefing. What could it hurt, were his thoughts? He had nothing better to do anyways.

Zane even pondered about that for a couple hours. He again found himself wondering that he might be joined by the other squadron members. Right now he didn't care, he was board, and going back to his quarters would be a waste of time. Well, of course this could be a waste of time as well, but it would be a more fun waste of time though.