OOC: Tilc is a "non-participating character," I made him up purely for this story.                                             Chapter 2                                       Chill of the Night             “What she’s doing now is tearing me apart,             Filling up my mind, and emptying my heart.             I can hear her call each time the cold wind blows             And I wonder if she knows             What she’s doing now.”                                   -Garth Brooks     Chippy had passed the simulator test and was now flying his first combat mission.  Aegis had been ordered into the core of the galaxy, behind enemy lines, to make a series of guerilla assaults on New Republic supply convoys.  The first part of the mission called for the squadron to ambush a couple of freighters and an old carrack serving as the command ship.  And now Chippy felt like he was about to die.     The lasers zipped past him as he tried to keep up with his flight leader, Sk8guy.  They throttled up to full power and made several passes against the carrack, launching torpedoes and firing laser cannons.  Chippy watched with terror as Sk8 nearly flew into the huge ship, then skimmed along only 3 meters from its hull.  What was he doing?! Surely the carrack would swerve, or roll, or a turret gunner ahead of Sk8 would see him as an easy target!     The cockpit of Chippy’s Star Viper exploded into noise as two shots slammed into his shields, bells and whistled screamed their warnings as he yanked on the controls and nearly rammed an X-wing.     When he regained control again and looked for Sk8, Chippy saw he had pulled up and begun to circle around.     “Ready for another run, Chipmunk?”     “Af-af-irmative, sir,” came the shaky reply.     Chippy felt like collapsing.  He was sitting in the lounge, a can of Sun Drop in his hand, the cool soda washing his parched throat.  He was amazed at the battle: after the second run he had stopped thinking.  It was the sort of clichéd feeling of watching a movie of yourself.  In fact, all Chippy could remember was nearly being killed, the carrack wrenching apart, and the ever-present fear.  And yet, there had been a sort of thrill, an indescribable rush of adrenaline that came with combat.  If not for the fear, he might have found it fun…  But he quashed that thought before it got any farther.     “Hey, Henderson!  Grab some more firewood for the women, and then you can take a break.”     “Yes, sir.  Thank you, sir.”     “Oh, and for pete’s sake, just call me Brian.  I’m only a sergeant.”     “Yes, si… sure Brian.  Thanks.”     “No problem.  You check out that gal in the red dress?  Pretty, ain’t she?”     Chippy wiped the sweat off his forehead, even though his handkerchief was already soaked.  “To tell you the truth, I was looking at her friend, in the light gray.  Prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”  He gazed around, marveling at the camp.  His friends and he had managed to create a cross between the army and boy scouts, a sort of military club that was half for fun, half for actual training.  Eventually, they had even managed to get several girls to join, who had immediately refused drilling but took up cooking and washing for the group.  Chippy had thought that they wouldn’t like acting like mere housewives, but most were simply the insecure kind of people that joined anything, trying to feel like they belonged.  Yet some actually enjoyed the work.     “Tell ya what, Hender, you go talk to that purty gal, and I’ll find someone else to carry that wood,” Brian said.     “Really?  Can I?”     “Ya, why not?  I’d talk to ‘em myself, but I doubt them refined ladies would appreciate my company,” smiled the tall redneck.     “Yes!  Ha ha, blasted you again, Tilc!”  The sim, a contest to see who could win a one-on-one dogfight, came to an end.  Chippy stepped out, beaming at his new friend, Tilc Jafa.  “That’s three drinks you owe me, you just better be glad Sun Drop isn’t very expensive.”     “Ya, ya, whatever.  You just got lucky is all.”     “For the third time in a row?  Maybe you oughta cash in the chips before you get even more in debt.”     “Ya, fine.  Let’s go.  Le’s see if da lounge’s too crowded ‘o not.  So, you ever, well, you know, have a little fun with that gal friend a yours?”     Enraged, Chippy gave him a hard smack on the arm.     “Ow!  What da heck was dat fo’?”     “Don’t ever talk about her like that again, got it?”     “Ya, sho, I got it!”  Tilc began rubbing his “dead-arm,” desperately trying to relieve some of the pain.  “Hey, I’s got ta get ma money, I see ya there in twenty minutes.”     “Alright.  See you later.”  Chippy walked into his quarters and sat on his bunk.  He thought of her again, that beautiful hair blowing in the breeze, such a sweet smile on her lips.  A song was playing distantly, the last that they had danced to – the Dixie Chicks, “Top of the World – those violins reaching deep into his heart…     “I wished I was smarter,     I wished I was stronger,     I wished I loved Jesus     The way my wife does.     I wish I could have stood     Where you would’ve been proud     But that won’t happen now,     That won’t happen now.”     The words had so much meaning, almost exactly reflecting what was in his heart.     “There’s a whole lot of singing that’s never gonna be heard     Disappearing every day without so much as a word.”     No, no!  Leave me, go away!  Stop, please God, make it stop!     “Think I broke the wings off that little song bird     She’s never gonna fly to the top of the world.”     Squeezing his head, Chippy slumped to the floor.  Why?  Why did I… have to… leave…?  Guitar, violin, reaching…     “I wished I’d a shown you,     Wished I’d a shown you     All of the things I     Was on the inside.”     And then it all faded into blackness.
 
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"The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other &*@#$% die for his!"
                                                                          -General Patton

FM/LCRW Chipmunk Man/Viper 1-4/Phoenix/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=A=)