Jedi Council Forums - Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Completed 3-15-02]

Locked Topic | Read Only Topic | Previous Active Topic | Next Active Topic

Author	Topic: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Completed 3-15-02]
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/6/02 5:17pm Subject: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Completed 3-15-02] - Date Edited: 3/15/02 8:13pm (4 edits total) Edited By: Thumper09
	Hi everyone! I finally decided to post a fanfic (obviously). Any and all constructive comments welcome. Who: All original characters When: Roughly half a year after the Battle of Yavin Spoilers: None A very big thank you goes out to my beta-readers Valeda Kor, GoldenArrow and Alamosaurus, for putting in time and effort to help make a collection of words into a story. Summary: A rookie X-wing pilot joins his first fighter squadron and goes on his first mission. Disclaimer: The Star Wars universe is courtesy of Lucasfilm. Please don't sue, no profit is being made here. Quite the opposite, really. This is a completed fic and will be posted in parts, the first of which will be up in a few minutes. On with the show... -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/6/02 5:56pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, started 3-6-02]
	"Commencement" by Katie Zajdel -------------------- This wasn't the first time Darin had wondered what he had gotten himself into, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last. He stared out the small window of the cargo shuttle. The pilot and copilot were busy up front with their docking preparations and the only person Darin had for company in the cargo hold had fallen asleep an hour ago. The cargo itself had nothing interesting to say, so he had taken to gazing out the window by his makeshift seat. The starfield was replaced by an overwhelming view of a capital ship as they came alongside it. This was his new home. It felt weird to think that he was really here. Just a few months ago, if one of his friends had told him that he'd soon be part of the Rebellion, he would have laughed it off. But now here he was, moments away from reporting to his first fighter squadron. Darin sighed to himself. He wasn't even doing something sane like becoming a mechanic or a computer tech. No–he was going to be a fighter pilot. Why? Whatever possessed you to do that? He focused on his reflection in the window for a moment, then returned his gaze to the ship outside. Because I wanted to fly. And they stuck me in starfighter simulators and said I was good enough to warrant training. And I had said okay. The starfighter training had been difficult at times and a constant challenge, but he'd made it through in good shape and was second in his relatively small class. Looking back, he knew he did not regret the decision. You've got your work cut out for you now, though, Darin silently told himself as the shuttle passed through the magnetic containment field of the docking bay and settled to the deck a moment later. There's a big difference between a training squadron and an active fighter squadron. The whine of the engines and repulsorlifts faded as the pilots powered down the shuttle. Darin took a deep breath before unbuckling his safety restraints and grabbing his bag. He stepped over to his cargo-hold-mate, a fleet trooper newly assigned to the capital ship. "Hey, wake up, we're here," he said as he gently shook him awake. The cargo hold door behind him opened up and droids and workers came aboard to start offloading the crates as Darin moved to the landing ramp at the front of the shuttle. His heart pounded as he stepped out. He looked around uncertainly–all he'd been told was that someone from Corona Squadron would meet him there. Darin quickly relaxed, however, as he spotted three men in the general duty uniforms of pilots waiting expectantly near the bottom of the ramp. He descended the ramp and came to attention, saluting the highest-ranking one, a commander. "Flight Officer Darin Stanic reporting for duty, sir!" The commander returned the salute and then gave Darin a firm handshake. He was a little taller than Darin and a bit more solidly built. He had a black crew cut and intelligent dark blue eyes. He smiled as he spoke, raising his voice slightly to be heard above the activity in the hangar. "At ease. Welcome to Corona Squadron, Darin. And to the Crescent Star." His quick motion encompassed the entire hangar. "I'm Commander Quentell Mackin. This," he nodded towards the pilot on his right, "is Lieutenant Steen Weas, my XO." The brown-haired pilot looked at Darin appraisingly and nodded coolly as they shook hands. Once Weas stepped back, Mackin indicated the pilot on his left. "And this is Quiver Yanilr. He's going to be your wingman." Quiver stepped forward wearing a big grin and heartily shook Darin's hand. "Hey. Great to meet ya." Darin managed to smile through his nervousness. "You, too." "You have any more bags on the shuttle?" Mackin asked. Darin shook his head. "No, sir. Just this one." "All right. Now, as you'll find will be the case many times, I'm going to leave you in Quiver's–" Mackin coughed slightly, "–capable hands. Briefing at 1400, which gives you almost two hours to get settled. Quiver will get you there; just make sure he does it on time." Quiver snorted softly and rolled his eyes. "Glad to have you with us, Darin," Mackin continued. "Any questions, just ask." "Thank you, sir. I'm glad to be here." "I just wish none of us had to be." The commander smiled amiably and nodded in unison with Lt. Weas. Before Darin had a chance to salute, they turned and headed to the hangar's exit. Darin looked to Quiver in confusion. "Wasn't I supposed to salute them just now? I was going to, but then they left and–" "Don't worry about it," Quiver chuckled. "Generally this squadron is pretty informal, unless you're in trouble or we're surrounded by the ship's officers. Then you'd better dot your t's and cross your i's, if you know what I mean." "Um. . .yeah." "Come on, I'll show you around." Darin nodded and slung his bag over his shoulder. As they started walking he got a good look at Quiver. He guessed him to be in his early- to mid-twenties, making him not a whole lot older than himself. For a snubfighter pilot Quiver was tall, and lanky too. His face even seemed somewhat long and narrow, topped off with blond hair fixed in an unruly-looking crew cut, and accented with pale blue eyes. He walked along easily as he talked to Darin. "Now I don't know what they're teaching you recruits nowadays, so I'll start slowly." He grinned mischievously. "Test at the end, so listen up. This is called the ‘hangar.' It's like a big parking lot for ships." For just an instant Darin felt like he was back home being teased by his friends, and before he could stop himself he grabbed on to that familiar feeling and let himself respond in kind. He plastered the most confused look he could manage on his face and tested the word out like he was saying it for the first time. "‘Sh-i-p-s?' What's that?" He was relieved when Quiver didn't get mad at the remark; instead, Quiver laughed and said, "Your X-wing's over there with the rest, but we'll come back after we get other stuff taken care of first." They left the hangar and started through the maze of corridors. "So'd you have a good flight?" "Yeah, just long." "And you're coming from what squadron? Oh, wait, wait, don't tell me, I know I know this. Sunrise Squadron, right?" Darin chuckled, feeling some anxiety begin to trickle away. "Horizon Squadron with Major Collins commanding. Training squadron." "Yeah, that's right. So you're a real rookie. See any action with them?" "We flew a couple of missions but never ended up in a fight. Accelerated training." "Well, it's too bad the training is so quick, but we're so short on pilots now I guess it can't be helped. We're pretty lucky we got you, and even with you we're not up to a full squadron yet. So where you from?" "Craci Four. Near the edge of the Corporate Sector." Quiver's eyebrows knitted together for a moment in thought until Darin continued, "What about you?" "Druzien. Little place near the Core Worlds." "What did you do before this?" "Me? I was a writer, actually." He seemed about to say more when something down the corridor caught his eye. "Hey, guys!" Three figures stopped and looked their way. As he and Darin approached, Quiver told them, "I found the new guy wandering around." A round of introductions with the three Corona pilots followed. Jayke "Chopper" Forsgren was a very solidly built man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Ikoa Fyndcap was a small, slim woman with lively green eyes, a warm smile, and soft brown hair just barely reaching her shoulders. The third individual was a Gran from Malastare called Maptoo Moog. He didn't say much. After meeting them all, Darin and Quiver continued on their way with Quiver taking the opportunity to give Darin a preview of the squadron. "We're awfully lucky to have Commander Mackin with us. He flew fighters in the military for his homeworld before he joined the Rebellion so he knows his stuff. Just give him some time to get used to you and your capabilities and fighting style, and he'll arrange it so that you do the things you do best. "Snubber, on the other hand–" "Wait, Snubber? Who's that?" "Oh, that's Lieutenant Weas, the XO. We have yet to find a snubfighter he can't fly with ease, hence ‘Snubber.' As you'll see, everyone in this squadron has a nickname or callsign. You will too after you've been with us for any amount of time. Of course, some nicknames tend to stick better than others." "What's yours?" "Quiver." "I thought that was your real name." "No, real name's Hentil. But no one calls me that, not even when I'm in trouble." "How'd you get ‘Quiver'?" He grinned. "I'm still waiting for someone here to figure that out. I joined with it. Let me know if you have any guesses." Quiver continued as they momentarily stepped to the side to let some oncoming droids pass. "But anyway, like I was saying, Snubber knows his stuff too, but he's the strictest and probably most aloof of the group. And he's the kind of person where I personally can never tell if he's being hard on me to help me become a better pilot or if it's just because he doesn't like me." He shrugged. "Let's see, who else have you met? Chopper's a nice guy, he just likes to seem tough. Ikoa's a sweetheart; at first glance you'd never expect her to be an ace starfighter pilot. Maptoo tends to keep to himself. And with that," Quiver stopped at a door, "here we are. Our quarters." The door slid open to reveal a small, simple room. A set of bunk beds sat along the far wall. The only thing along the left wall was a modified shipping crate serving as a desk with some datapads, datacards and a light sitting on top of it and another smaller crate available as a chair. In contrast, the right side of the room had holos projected on almost every square centimeter of the wall. Data cards were scattered haphazardly over the crate desk and the old ejector seat chair held a few more. Quiver ushered Darin inside. "You can probably guess which side is yours. And you get the bottom bunk. Refresher station is right through there," he pointed to a door in the corner at the foot of the bunks, "and we share it with our next-door neighbors, Chopper and Kalre." Darin tossed his bag onto his bunk and sat down next to it. He looked around the cramped room. "Cozy." Quiver nodded. "Yeah, but you get used to it after a while. Of course, I've had this place to myself the last three weeks, so it might take me a bit to get used to having a roommate again." He pulled out the chair from his desk, scooped up the data cards and deposited them on top of his desk, took a relaxed seat and looked at Darin. "So what did you do before joining?" "Local freight runs. Not exciting to most people, but I enjoyed it." Darin leaned back on his elbows. "How did a writer end up in a cockpit?" Quiver shrugged. "I was always fascinated by the pilots back home. Wrote a couple of articles about them. It just wasn't until I got here that I had the chance to try it out for myself." "How long have you been here?" "Rebellion or squadron?" "Both." Quiver thought back. "I joined the Rebellion about a year ago. I moved around and did different odds and ends until I ended up in pilot training. I did a few stints with Tauri Squadron before becoming a Corona a few months ago." Darin nodded, trying to absorb everything. He guessed he looked as overwhelmed as he felt because Quiver suddenly looked at his chrono and asked, "You hungry, Darin?" "Not really. I ate on the flight over." "Probably a good thing. You'll have more than enough opportunities to eat in the mess hall here: don't start before you must. Do you want to unpack?" Darin thought for a second. "Not now." "All right. Then let me teach you the most important thing you'll ever learn here: always be prepared. Even if you've been sound asleep for hours, which never happens, you'll have a much better chance of surviving if you're prepared for anything. With that being said, let's go to the quartermaster's and get you some equipment." ********* End post 1 Okay, the other posts shouldn't be quite so long. -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
princess-sari Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 3/6/02 6:22pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, started 3-6-02]
	Great start, Katie or Thumper, whichever you'd prefer to be called!!! I loved the X-Wing novels, so a well-written fic about a squadron is like chocolate to me. And this is definitely well-written! I really enjoyed being introduced to Darin and the others so far and I can't wait to read more! -----signature----- ~~Theed Library~~ http://www.geocities.com/theedlibrary More Than Shadows -- The Handmaidens in Episode 2!! -- 6/14/02 http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=5763331 ~~ The Invisible Woman of The Fortress ~~
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
_Derisa_Ollamhin_ Registered: Jul '00	Date Posted: 3/6/02 6:34pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, started 3-6-02]
	I think there may be a few pilot-fans who keep close tabs on your story, Thumper (love the handle, by the way: you share it with the one Marine member of the Blue Angels Navy Display squadron. ) Keep it up, looking forward to reading more. Derisa -----signature----- In memoriam: Talon Squad Leader . When you can't run anymore, you crawl and when you can't do that...well, you know the rest. . Clear skies, General. You will be missed.
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/7/02 9:36am Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, started 3-6-02]
	Hi! Thanks for the comments. I was really nervous about posting but I feel better now. Either Katie or Thumper, it doesn't matter. And that's so neat about the Blue Angels! I didn't know that. If you still want to follow the story, I'm planning on adding installments every couple of days, and I'll be updating the date in the subject header when I do. Thanks again! -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/9/02 5:35am Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, started 3-6-02]
	Installment #2 ---------------------- Darin and Quiver stood at the quartermaster's counter between two piles of assorted equipment. One pile consisted of pilot general duty uniforms. A blaster pistol, its holster, some power packs, and a pair of general duty boots sat on top of the folded uniforms. The other pile had things like his flak vest, flare belt, ejection harness, flight gloves, flight boots and chestbox–all of his flight equipment, in fact, except for his flightsuit and helmet. Darin looked to Quiver as the clerk on duty rummaged through crates in the back. "What if they don't have any?" "We'll figure something out. Maybe you could borrow a Y-wing outfit." Darin nodded and turned back as the clerk returned with his prizes. "This is all we have left." He set a helmet and a folded bright orange flight suit on the counter. Quiver unfolded the flight suit, held it up and scrutinized it. "This is awfully big for him. It's almost my size." The clerk just shrugged. Quiver did as well as he refolded the flight suit. "We'll make it work. It's easier to make it smaller than bigger, at least. How's the helmet look?" Darin picked it up and looked it over. Most of the paint had been stripped off, leaving half of the X-wing pilot helmet white and the other half an olive green color. A large chunk had been chipped off of the front of the crest and the visor and chin strap were missing. Quiver took it from Darin and inspected it himself. "I know someone who can fix the chipped part, and Slurry has an extra visor because he needed a modified one on his helmet. Chin strap we'll figure out. And it's a tradition for rookies to personalize their helmets after their first mission, so you'll look ugly that first time but then you'll be fine. Good motivation, too: no one wants to die wearing an ugly helmet." He turned to the clerk and shook his hand. "Thank you, my good man." Quiver then turned back to Darin. "Let's go." He gave Darin the flight suit and piled the other flight equipment on top. Darin shifted his weight to start walking but stopped when Quiver also stacked the duty uniforms, blaster, and duty boots on the pile in his arms. He took the helmet and was about to put that on top as well when he saw that Darin wouldn't be able to see if he did. So instead he put the helmet on Darin's head and walked out. Darin jogged awkwardly to catch up with him. "Is this some sort of 'new guy' thing?" "You're catching on," Quiver said through a grin. "You'll find we have lots of those." * They were almost back at the hangar when Quiver turned into a side room. There were a couple of benches in the middle and open lockers along the walls. "This is our suit-up room. You can keep all your flight equipment here. Blaster and gen-duty stuff goes back to our room." They walked down a row of lockers. "The lockers are sorted by squadron, then squadron designation. Those belong to Quake Squadron, the Y-wings stationed here with us. These are ours, and here's yours. You're Corona Nine. I'm Ten." Darin carefully set his load down on a bench and pulled his helmet off. The locker was as bare as his desk and that felt weird; even after moving around several times in the Rebellion during the last few months, he still wasn't used to starting from scratch like this, not after he had lived his whole life in one place. He looked at the designation above his locker and repeated it to himself. "Niner." "Yeah." Quiver pulled a duty uniform out of the pile and handed it to Darin. "Go ahead and change. We'll leave all this here and pick it up after the briefing." Darin put on the uniform as Quiver stacked the rest of the equipment in the locker, with the exception of the blaster, which he holstered to his own belt. When Darin was ready, Quiver motioned to the door. "We have a little time left. Let's go introduce you to your ship." * The hangar was just as busy as it had been almost ninety minutes ago. They reached the squadron's X-wings and wove through them, ducking under S-foils until finally Quiver stopped and pointed to the one farthest in the back. "There's yours." Darin looked. Aside from some different patterns of scorch marks on the hull and a lack of kill markers, it looked the same as every other X-wing there. It was a flat grey with its red stripes outlined in black. Its form was sleek, with its elongated nose pointing the way for the laser cannons mounted on the ends of the S-foils set farther back along the fuselage, behind the cockpit. The four engines on the insides of the S-foils waited silently and patiently. There was nothing different about this one. And yet, the fact that it was his, that the ship would be like a partner and would play a large part in deciding if he lived or died in any given encounter, made all the difference in the world. He was still staring when Quiver suddenly jogged away and knelt down next to an astromech droid he'd spotted, then returned with the droid following. It was white with green accents, and the inverted-flowerbox-shaped head identified it as some sort of R5 droid. "Darin," Quiver said once they were back, "meet Botch, your astromech. Botch, this is Darin, your new pilot." The droid beeped a few times and Darin knelt down in front of it. He noticed that there was a text readout of what the droid was saying and silently thanked the stars–it had been so hard to figure out what the R2 units in Horizon Squadron had said. He quickly read the words and grinned. "Nice to meet you too, Botch." He paused for a moment. "Do I even want to know how you got that name?" Botch beeped a few grunts which apparently had no Basic translation. Quiver chuckled. "The former Corona Nine wasn't big on droids. Anything that went wrong was always the droid's fault. He named Botch." Quiver patted Botch on the head and grinned. "And we all know that R5 units are prone to software glitches." Botch blatted at him and Quiver quickly pulled his hand away, laughing. "Just kidding, just kidding." He looked at Darin, who straightened up. "We'd better head to the briefing now. Follow me." They both said goodbye to Botch as they headed out. *** A few minutes later they walked into a simple briefing room. A table with a holoprojector was situated at the front, with a lectern pushed off to the corner so it would be out of the way. Chairs were arranged theater-style. A couple of people already occupied the room, but Mackin was the only one Darin recognized. Quiver led him to a middle row and sat down, putting Darin in a seat right behind another pilot. Darin jumped when the charcoal-skinned pilot in front of him turned his head almost all the way around to look at him. Darin hadn't really had a chance to notice before that he wasn't human. "Ah, you must be the pilot new. I'm happy to meet you." There were two large reflective eyes on his face near where a human's would be, and a smaller eye to the outer side of each main one, pointing slightly outward. Only a slit marked his nose, a few centimeters above his lipless but otherwise "normal"-looking mouth. He turned his head back to the front again, then stood up and turned around to face Darin, and that was when Darin noticed the extra set of arms. One set, larger and presumably stronger, was situated at his shoulders like a human's. A slightly thinner set protruded from his sides from where the middle of a human's ribcage would be. The main arms had three fingers and a thumb on each hand; the other set of arms had two thicker fingers and a thumb, and these curved inwards towards his palm slightly. All of the fingers had thick, pointed fingernails resembling rough talons. His knees were about two-thirds of the way up his legs, and they bent opposite of how a human's did. He stood barely a meter and a half tall. Darin suddenly realized he was staring and tried to cover it up by blinking and offering a smile. Quiver gave him a little push to get him to his feet. "I am Tictintco Tnis. But everyone here finds it easier to call me Slurry." Darin took the hand Slurry offered and shook it. "Hi, I'm Darin Stanic." "Quiver, you shouldn't be trying to scare away the new guy already," came a voice from behind. Darin turned and saw Ikoa with another woman pilot, who had black hair and beige eyes. The one he hadn't met smiled at him. "Hi, I'm C.C., Corona Six." Darin shook her hand. "I'm Darin." "I feel sorry for you, being paired with Quiver. I know a good place to go scream if you ever need it." "And she's good at screaming, too," Quiver remarked. C.C. jutted her chin out. "Only when I see you." "Oh, curse this gorgeous face which causes ladies to scream and squeal when their gaze alights upon it!" He grinned and put his hands over his face. "Glad to hear you can still dream, Quiver." A Rodian stepped up, interrupting them. "This is the new pilot." It was phrased halfway between a statement and a question. "Yeah, this is Darin," Quiver said. "Hello. I'm Kalre." "Hi there." After they met, Kalre silently took his leave and sat down a few rows up. Chopper, Snubber and Maptoo came in together and sat down. Commander Mackin took a head count and stepped up to the front of the room. "Okay, Coronas. Grab a seat. Let's get started." The remaining pilots scattered to various seats around the room. When Darin sat down he felt something crinkle against his back. Confused, he leaned forward and felt along his back. He found a piece of paper stuck to it and pulled it off. Quiver and some others who had been anticipating this chuckled quietly as he read the sign silently to himself. "I'm the New Guy. If found, please return to Corona Squadron, c/o Commander Mackin." For a moment Darin felt very uncertain and a bit vulnerable and wasn't sure how to react. This wasn't how the pilots in Horizon Squadron had acted at all. Commander Mackin had patiently paused upon the chuckle interruption and was looking slightly amused himself. What were these guys up to? But whatever it was, he told himself that he had to be a good sport, no matter how much it might scare him to open up even a little to a new group yet. A bad reaction at this critical time would leave a horrible first impression. All of this went through his head in a split second, and Darin quickly finished making a hard decision. Why not. He smiled as best he could as he said, "Hey, thanks, just what I needed. It took Quiver twenty minutes to find me when I got lost in our quarters. And this way, you'll never get rid of me." Darin awkwardly stuck the sign on his back again and gave Quiver a sidelong grin. Some of the pilots laughed a bit more, including Commander Mackin. A moment later he sighed slightly in resignation, waited for the squadron to quiet down, and began. "This one will be quick, guys. Not a lot today." He had to pause again and wait for the scattered cheers to die down. "As you all most likely know by now, we finally have a new pilot with us, Darin Stanic. Introduce yourselves afterwards if you haven't already. "We have some mission plans nearing finalization, but nothing you need to concern yourselves with just yet. Make sure you get some sim time if you don't have a patrol coming up. And that's actually all for me. Snubber?" The squadron's Executive Officer stepped to the front. "Some of the mechanics have complained that some of our pilots are leaving their fighters in Standby Prep mode after landing. I'm sure you all know that they should be completely powered down unless specifically told otherwise. I don't want to hear that this squadron is getting sloppy, people." He nodded to Mackin and sat down. Mackin took over again. "Thank you, Snubber. Anything else from anyone?" Quiver raised his hand; Mackin looked dubiously at him. "Yes, Quiver?" "Yes sir, I just wanted to remind everyone not to end a sentence with a preposition: it's bad grammar." "Sorry, Quiver, I should have asked if anyone had anything useful." "Oh. Well, in that case, Squadron Warming Party, tonight, 2200 hours, at the Tank. Bring your favorite initiation rite for our rookie." The pilots seemed happy about that. Darin looked skeptically at Quiver and asked, "Why do I get the feeling that I'll be qualified to paint my helmet after this 'party?'" Quiver just shrugged innocently. "Well, I think I'd better adjourn this meeting before something else like that is announced. And I will see all of you back here tomorrow at 1400 as usual, no matter how hung over you are." Mackin smiled and headed out the door. ************* End Post 2 TBC -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Mayo_Solo Registered: Aug '01	Date Posted: 3/9/02 5:59am Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Updated 3-9-02]
	This is really good Katie! I especially like the screaming part. -----signature----- "It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing!""-Duke Ellingtontonton Visit the South Florida Swing Dance Productions swing troupe website. swingtastic.net I'm probably one of the few who welcomed 2005 by dancing to music from 1945 "Because I can"-Ma
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/12/02 6:16pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Updated 3-9-02]
	Post #3 (Note: This post is longer than the others {I know, I know, bad Katie! No biscuit!} because my story breaks didn't fall very well. Also, this will allow me to keep the mission together as one post instead of breaking it up, though that post (the next and final one) will end up being about as long as this one is. But then the story will be done.) --------------- Darin fiddled with his uniform's waistline as he sat at their table. The Bacta Tank was the ship's main downtime establishment and it had as sterile a feel to it as the medical bays did. When Quiver brought him here, Darin had noticed a sign beside the door that said, "Come cure all your afflictions by getting tanked." Now they were almost an hour into his Squadron Warming Party, and he was beginning to feel just a little buzzed from the round exchange rite. But he wasn't yet out of it enough to not be annoyed at having to wear his uniform inside-out. Throughout the night he had noticed a young woman at the bar across the room occasionally catching his eye, grinning shyly, and then quickly turning away to giggle with her friend. One time Quiver saw Darin notice her and he conspiratorially leaned over to him. "What do you think of her?" Darin raised an eyebrow at him. "Who?" "That girl over there that keeps looking at you." Darin's gaze returned to her. "She's cute." "Glad you think so." Quiver's grin reappeared as he straightened up and rapped three times on the table, the indication of an initiation rite. "Go sing her a song. A love song. And make sure we can hear it from here." The other squadron members at their table laughed as Darin turned to Quiver in horror. "You're not serious." Quiver knocked on the table three more times. "You bet I am. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you. And no talking to her before you start, either." Darin opened his mouth to protest again but Chopper cut him off. "Come on, rookie. The sooner you start, and all that." Darin chewed on his bottom lip for a moment as the pilots watched him intently, grins on their faces. As Darin sighed in resignation and slowly pushed his chair back to get to his feet, they applauded and Quiver patted his shoulder. "Atta boy, rookie." He slowly wound his way around tables towards the young woman, feeling like an idiot in the inside-out uniform. He stopped about a meter behind her and actually felt himself go pale when she and her friend turned around to look at him curiously. For one awful moment he froze, drawing a blank on every musical note he had ever heard in his life. He probably would have stayed like that for hours had the bartender not accidentally clanged two mugs together while filling them. That outside noise was all he needed to snap out of his stasis, and he took a quick breath before he could forget everything again and began singing the first song about love that came to his mind. "I've wanted to tell you something now for quite a long time–" "Louder!" he heard Slurry call out. Darin obligingly raised his volume a bit. "About why you see this goofy grin when your gaze returns mine. I'm usually in such control, I never break my stride, but ever since you came around that seems like such a lie–" The women in front of him were giggling shyly, and he was getting a wide range of reactions from the other patrons around him. He tried to block it out and sang the already quick-tempoed song a bit faster. "I never looked for love before and I swore I never would, but you've got some weird grip on my heart and girl, you've got it good. I have to say this now before my courage runs away: I have to learn just what you do to get my heart this way." He stopped after the first verse and refrain, fairly confident that the other pilots wouldn't know there was more to the song. Even if they did, he doubted they cared as they started cheering his performance. The other patrons went back to ignoring him as he grinned sheepishly at the woman he had just serenaded. He could tell there was color in his face again because now it was burning. "Um, sorry about that." Suddenly all the shyness from the two women evaporated as they laughed heartily. The one to whom he had sung, a woman with a commanding presence, pitch black hair and soft brown eyes, smiled at Darin's confused look at their sudden transformation. "You're not mad?" he asked. "Relax, rookie. Nothing bad happened to you, did it?" Darin's confusion grew. "Huh?" "You thought I'd be mad that you gave in to pressure from your drunk pilot buddies and made a move on me in a bar?" Darin's brow furrowed for a minute. "Um. . .yeah. I guess so." She turned to her companion, a woman with a blond ponytail. "They're so sweet when they're new." The blonde nodded. "Unless they're one of those 'I'm invincible' guys. They're a bit hard to swallow." "Amen to that." Darin's bright green eyes flickered between the two women. "Wait a minute, what's going on?" The blonde laughed easily. "We're members of Quake Squadron." "Quake Squadron? So–did you know about this?" The black-haired woman spoke up again. "Yeah, we set this up ahead of time. The two squadrons join up for this kind of stuff, unbeknownst to the initiates. You're not the first pilot to sing his heart out to me, and you won't be the last. You should ask Quiver what song he sang." She winked at him. "I think some Coronas want to do a round exchange as a reward for your performance. Better head on back there. Stay sweet, rookie." The two Y-wing pilots smiled as they turned back to the bar. Darin slowly retraced his path to his table, where he was greeted with back slaps and handshakes and, as the Quake pilot had predicted, drink offers. As per the custom with a round exchange, he bought a drink for each Corona pilot that bought him one. He knew that basically meant that he'd be a lot more drunk than everyone else tonight, but he was fine for now so he'd keep going along with it. Quiver gave his shoulder a good shake as he sat down. "That was the 57th best singing that I've ever heard in my life." "Right between Huttese Opera and Jawa Rap, huh?" Darin asked over the rim of his glass as he went to finish off his old drink. He suddenly spit it out, an atrocious taste filling his mouth instead of the decent-quality lomin-ale he had been drinking. With a grimace, he pushed his chair away from the table, trying to spit the intangible taste out of his mouth. "What was that stuff?" he asked over the laughter of the pilots. C.C. reached out and rapped three times on the table. "Just a little vinegar and a bit of a rather strong drink from Tatooine mixed in to your lomin. Nothing that'll hurt you." Darin was seriously wondering if running his sleeve across his tongue would help get rid of the taste when Slurry came up behind him and put his main hands on Darin's shoulders. "Don't worry, rookie, I know what'll get that taste awful out of your mouth: it fixes everything else. Barkeep!" He raised one of his lower arms. "A Bacta for my pal, please!" The bartender raised an eyebrow at Darin, who wearily held up two fingers. The bartender nodded and gave the waitress two drinks. She deposited them on their table. Darin picked up his glass and studied it for a moment. The most popular drink here was called a Bacta, due to its uncanny resemblance to the bubbly liquid medical bacta. Feeling rather paranoid now, he cautiously sniffed the drink. "Come on now, rookie," Slurry said as he took a swig from his own glass. "Nothing wrong with that one, I promise. At least nothing that we did." Still not convinced, Darin took a trial sip. It wasn't that bad, so he took a bigger one. The taste of a wintery-green alcoholic drink filled his mouth, and the bubbles tickled his nose from inside. He swallowed quickly and coughed a bit, rubbing his nose when it seemed like a sneeze was imminent. Quiver laughed. "You'll be used to that bubbly feeling by the end of the glass." Sure enough, he was. * A groggy voice and a constant shaking eventually pulled him awake. "Hey, rookie. New guy. Darin. Wake up." Darin decided that it would hurt too much to open his eyes, so he kept them closed and rolled over; however, that didn't let him escape the shaking or the voice. "Come on, you gotta get up. Commander wants to see you." "Commander?" Darin's mind was still wrapped in a thick fog as he peeked out a bit from under the cover of his arm. "What? Why? It's still dark out." "That's 'cause the light is off, nerf-herder." The shaking stopped and a second later the room was filled with a painfully bright light. Darin quickly squeezed his eyes shut and hid them under his arm again. "Ow, that's too bright," he moaned. "Look, you've gotta get up, because I have to get you up. And I can't get back to my hangover-reduction sleep until you go see the commander. So get up." The voice paused. "That made no sense. I don't care. Get up." A few neurons started firing in Darin's brain. "Hangover?" He squinted out against the bright light and saw Quiver standing over him beside the bunks. "I know you." "Yeah, fortunately for you. Come on. Git. This light is killing me." Darin sat up reluctantly and banged his head on the forgotten bunk above him. "Ow!" He rubbed his scalp as things slowly began coming back to him from the previous day, though he couldn't remember getting back to their room after the party. He looked at his chrono. 0647. He sat on the edge of the bed and buried his face in his hands. "Ugh." "And put your uniform on right before you get there. Turn left, left again at the next corridor, right at the next, three doors down on your right. And I'm stealing your bunk now so I won't have to climb back up to mine." Darin stumbled to his feet and turned his uniform inside-in. He had just enough energy left to smooth out the major wrinkles and run some fingers through his dusty-blond bangs before he shuffled out the door into the equally bright corridor. He was actually a bit surprised when he found Commander Mackin's office without getting lost. He stood outside of it for a moment trying to compose himself, hoping his eyes didn't look as hollow as they felt and that the stormtroopers marching relentlessly inside his head would just relax for a minute, and then pressed the chime on the door. He immediately heard Mackin call from inside, "Come in." Darin entered the room and came to attention before Mackin, who was seated at his desk. He saluted as he tiredly said, "Flight Officer Darin Stanic reporting as ordered, sir." "We're informal right now, Darin. Please, have a seat." Mackin smiled at him. "Thanks for coming. How was the party last night?" "Interesting, to say the least, sir." "Judging from all of my pilots' lack of activity this morning, it must have gone late." Darin nodded. "Or early, depending on your viewpoint, sir." Mackin chuckled. "I called you in here to check and see if you were okay. Yesterday must have been fairly overwhelming for a rookie." Darin wearily rubbed his head. "Yes, sir, I'm fine." He opened his mouth again, then quickly closed it. Mackin looked curiously at him. "Something more?" "No, sir." "Come on, you've got me curious now." Darin looked up just to make sure he was serious. "Well then, with all due respect sir, couldn't this have waited another hour? Or two?" Mackin stopped smiling, though his face gained no hostility. He leaned forward on his elbows and looked intently at the young pilot. "Yes, it could have. But if you'll permit me to get up on a soap box for a minute, Darin, let me teach you something about the Rebellion: it's all about condensing. Condensed training, condensed forces, condensed supplies. There's an overwhelming need to make do with as little as possible, and that goes for time as well. We don't have the luxury of taking our time to get to know someone's core personality traits. In our line of work, we can be called on at any moment to go fight, and we have to know and trust our squadmates and instantly act on that knowledge if we're all to make it out alive. "The party last night was good for morale, but also think about how much all of you learned about each other during that short amount of time. When faced with an unexpected situation, how do you react? How far will you go? Do you trust them when they say you'll be okay? Do they keep their word? And I've found that a good, fairly reliable indication of character and how someone acts under physical hardship is to get them out of bed early with a hangover." He half-grinned. Darin blinked as the first layers of that began to settle in. "So what you're saying is that all of this so far has just been a lot of tests." Mackin leaned back in his chair. "In some ways. Informal tests, surface impressions, nothing too duracrete. Nothing to worry about." Darin made a face. "Everyone's been telling me that. Doesn't anyone ever worry about anything around here?" Mackin's smile returned. "We do more than enough worrying out on the lines. We decided that we don't need it here too." Darin nodded slowly, then his commanding officer spoke up again. "Go get something to eat. You and Quiver have the noon patrol, then you'll be back in time for the daily briefing at 1400 that you attended yesterday. Have any questions?" "Um, just one, sir," Darin said as he stood up. "Where's the mess hall?" * "So has this been a fairly typical patrol?" Darin asked. "Pretty much," Quiver answered, "except for the part where I put you through your paces." "Well, it's good for us to know how the other flies. My wingman with the Horizons was fond of just bumping his shields up and trying to outrun everything during battles." "I hope you didn't learn that habit." "No. In fact, I think I got killed in sims more often than him just because I tried to protect him when he did that. I hated it when that happened, but he wouldn't change." "Pilots who won't change don't last long, unfortunately," Quiver replied. "You ready for another run?" "Sure." "Okay. Let's switch this time: you catch me." Quiver immediately banked his X-wing to port and began a downwards spiral. Darin yanked his stick to port and followed. He increased his throttle slightly to try to catch Quiver, but had to slow down again as Quiver pulled out of the spiral only to turn in another spiral going in the opposite direction. Darin didn't follow Quiver's path this time, but instead rolled over to starboard and dove straight for him. Quiver did a barrel roll to port and started an inverted loop back towards their starting point. Shying away from the head-to-head, Darin banked to starboard, cut out his throttle to make a much tighter turn, then ran his engines all the way up and was promptly on Quiver's tail again. Quiver feinted a turn to port then turned slightly to starboard. Darin fell for the feint and cursed softly as he saw Quiver pull away from him. He looped around nose-over-tail and increased his speed. He'd almost reached Quiver again when his scope started flashing and Botch beeped at him. He immediately put the game out of his mind and entered straight-and-level flight. "Hey, you see that?" Quiver had also stopped dodging and pulled up alongside him. "Yeah. Working on getting a reading now." Botch displayed the sensor data on Darin's scope and Quiver confirmed Botch's report. "TIE fighters. There has to be a bigger Imperial ship nearby for them. Come on, we're heading back. Keep comm silence until we're within range of our ship." Quiver and Darin pushed in their throttles and silently flew back to the Crescent Star. *** "Crescent Star, this is Corona Ten. Patch me through to Corona One, please, urgent." Quiver's voice filled Darin's ears through his headset as the Crescent Star came into view ahead of them. A minute later he heard Commander Mackin answer. "Go ahead, Ten." "Sir, we picked up a group of eyeballs in sector 83x9x12. No other ships were found, but there must be one somewhere." "Come back in for refueling, then report to the briefing room immediately. Our schedule just got bumped up." "Be there in a bit, sir. Corona Ten out." *** Darin swiped a roll of tape from a mechanic's countertop as he and Quiver headed out of the hangar to the briefing room. As they took a seat and waited for the two fighter squadrons to join them, Darin started folding and taping a couple more sections of his flight suit to make it shorter and less baggy. Quiver chuckled a bit as he tore off some tape for him. "Still too big, huh?" "Just a little. The parts we taped before seem to be okay, though." "Good." In another couple of minutes, all the pilots had assembled. Commander Mackin and the Quake leader, Major Unirt, entered the room and strode to the holoprojector at the front of the room. "Hold up," Quiver whispered, "we're gonna start now." Darin stowed the tape as Major Unirt nodded his readiness to Mackin, who then took a quick head count and began. "Okay, everyone, listen up. The mission we were going to brief you on this afternoon has just pushed its way to the here and now. "The Crescent Star is currently en route to pick up a group of Imperial scientists and a couple of medical doctors who wish to defect. They're stationed aboard an Imperial Nebulon-B frigate, the Night Phantom, whose coordinates they've supplied to us daily. The scientists have assured us that, when required, they'll be able to access a hyperdrive-capable shuttle, but due to their stations they can't fly out unnoticed." Mackin looked out at the pilots, the light from the holoprojection of the frigate illuminating his face. "That's where we come in. The scientists will be given the word and they'll be ready to escape on their shuttle. Our mission is to fly cover long enough for them to get out and jump to a predetermined rendezvous point. Our goal here is not to take out the frigate, just to provide enough distraction to let that shuttle escape." Major Unirt, a heavyset man with greying hair and mustache, picked up the talk. "The patrol has just spotted a group of TIEs, and our sensors have now found the Night Phantom. They'll also know that we're here any moment now, if they don't already. Corona Squadron will be the first wave, followed by Quake Squadron. Concentrate on the TIEs first, Coronas. That will leave the Quakes free to take out the turbolaser batteries on Night Phantom if needed." He looked around. "Are there any questions?" No one spoke up. "Okay, then," Commander Mackin said. "Mount up." *** Darin almost felt sick from nervousness as he entered the hangar. He tossed the roll of tape back and was heading to his X-wing when he was stopped by a voice from behind him. "Hey, look, it's our sweet little rookie!" He turned around to see the two women from the Bacta Tank dressed in the grey flight suits of the Y-wing pilots. The black-haired one grinned. "Good luck out there." The blonde finished braiding her hair and took her helmet back from her companion. "You'll do fine. Buy me a drink when we get back, okay?" Darin tried to smile through his anxiety but met with only minimal success. "No problem. Good luck to you, too." The women turned towards their snubfighter as Darin continued to his. Since they had just come back from patrol, Darin's and Quiver's X-wings were stationed near the magcon field. Quiver grinned reassuringly at him. "You'll be fine, kid. Just stick close and shoot at anything that's not friendly. And if you hit it, that's even better." Darin silently nodded and watched Quiver jump up the ladder into his cockpit. Darin put a hand on his own ladder but his legs suddenly wouldn't move. He chewed his lip, took a few deep breaths, then closed his eyes momentarily and forced himself up to his cockpit, trying to ignore stray thoughts that were wondering if he'd ever touch solid ground again. A mechanic tending to Botch handed Darin's helmet to him after he strapped himself in. Darin took the helmet and flipped it upside down for a moment. He looked at the top of the inside and saw the photo of his best friends that he had just printed out and stuck there before suiting up for patrol. He, Cohen Knurem and Bosko Wanth were sitting together, wearing their donri gear and posing rather goofily for the camera. The original holo had been taken right before his school's donri semifinals their senior year, and even though their team had ended up losing, that road trip together had been one of the best times of his life. He reminded himself that he had to find a family picture to put in there as well when he got back. He pushed the donri memory aside as he put his helmet on and pressed it onto his head, just barely feeling the photo inside. "Help me out here, guys. This is for you, after all," he whispered. Yesterday after the briefing Quiver had gotten Slurry's old visor and put it on his helmet, though it was still missing the chin strap, the large chunk on the crest and a decent paint job. He lowered the visor as he put on his flight gloves and went through his preflight checklist. The mechanics finished prepping his fighter and gave him a thumbs-up indication that he was good to go. A minute later, Commander Mackin's voice came over the squadron frequency. "Corona Squadron, status." One by one, the pilots went numerically by designation and reported their X-wing's condition. After Quiver's report, Mackin said, "Okay, then, we're set. Nine, Ten, you two are up there. Lead us out." His stomach still twisting and with him feeling like every eye in the universe was watching his every move, Darin carefully lifted up on his repulsors and followed Quiver out of the hangar. *** End Post 3 One more to go! -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Risste Registered: Nov '01	Date Posted: 3/12/02 7:10pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Updated 3-12-02]
	Great story. Extremely well written, nice job. Post more, please! -----signature----- It is in accepting our limitations that we surrender our hope for a better future. Stop telling others what to do and go do something useful!
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
princess-sari Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 3/12/02 7:59pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Updated 3-12-02]
	Great posts, Thumper!! I loved the rookie initiation rites and also the explanation that they were more than just fun and games. I think Darin showed himself to be a good addition to the squadron with his responses, too. I also liked the detail about the pic of his friends in his helmet. Now I can't wait to hear how Darin does on his first mission!! -----signature----- ~~Theed Library~~ http://www.geocities.com/theedlibrary More Than Shadows -- The Handmaidens in Episode 2!! -- 6/14/02 http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=5763331 ~~ The Invisible Woman of The Fortress ~~
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/15/02 8:13pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Updated 3-12-02] - Date Edited: 3/15/02 8:28pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Thumper09
	Well, the post length is comparable to the previous installment, but it's the last one! I'll warn you up front that dogfights are not my strong suit, but I did my best. I'd love to hear suggestions on how to improve it. Here we go... Post #4 ---------------- "Lock S-foils in attack formation." Darin flipped the appropriate switch and his S-foils split to give the X-wing its distinctive appearance. Just ahead and to his port, he saw Quiver's do the same. "One Flight, on me, we're coming in from port. Two Flight, starboard." Commander Mackin's fighter pulled away, followed by the rest of One Flight. "You heard the boss. Coronas Seven through Ten, with me." Snubber's fighter rolled to starboard and Darin followed in formation. The flights separated a distance, then turned and pointed back towards the Imperial frigate. "Accelerate to attack speed," Snubber said. "Once we're engaged, break by wings and fire at will. The defecting shuttle will have a friendly IFF signal." The two flights rapidly closed with the advancing TIE squadron that was guarding the frigate. The Rebels engaged the TIEs at the same point, with Two Flight crossing over One Flight's heads, all providing an angled crossfire which was deadly to a few TIEs. They broke into pairs and the fight began. *** Darin had never experienced anything like flying headlong into a swarm of real TIE fighters before, and he was quite certain that he didn't like it. No matter how realistic those flight simulators were, they weren't that realistic. He followed his flight in but still flinched when the TIEs began firing and flew past them in multiple head-to-head passes. He cursed at himself for flinching and tried to concentrate on his scope, on following Quiver's X-wing, and on trying to stay alive. * "Ten, you've got one on you. Hold on, I'm coming." "Better get here quick, Nine." Darin throttled up and settled in on the tail of the TIE fighter following Quiver. He fired a couple of rounds but missed. As he struggled to get the juking TIE in his crosshairs again, his scope showed another red blip turning abruptly right into Quiver's path for a head-to-head. "Aaah!" Quiver's X-wing pulled an almost ninety-degree turn to dodge it. An instant later, the TIE that Darin was firing at jerked aside, nearly colliding with the oncoming TIE. That left the new TIE, which had previously been blocked from his sight by the ships he'd been following, on a direct collision course with Darin's X-wing. "Aaaah!" Darin's yell rivaled Quiver's as he squeezed his trigger harder out of reflex, too close to turn out of the way in time. Darin was still firing as he blew out of the TIE's fireball, shrapnel pelting his fighter like an angry hail storm. It wasn't until Botch blatted at him that he realized he had made it through, opened his eyes and pried his finger from the trigger. "Great shot, Nine," Quiver said. "Pretty dramatic first kill. Congratulations." Darin's mind was too wired to comprehend what had just happened. He saw Quiver's X-wing pull in front of him again and he tried to clear his mind as he automatically formed up to search for their next target. * The comm system was overwhelmed with the chaos of disjointed warnings, triumphs, and information. "On your six, Eight!" "Another squadron incoming!" "Be right there!" "Just lost aft shields–" "I got him!" "Quake Four, take out that port aft battery." "The shuttle has just left the frigate hangar. Corona Two Flight, we're covering it." Darin checked his scope. He and Quiver were near the fore of the Phantom, and the shuttle was now near the aft and heading away. They looped around and were flying underneath the frigate when there was a bright flash to Darin's starboard. A static-filled comm transmission followed almost immediately afterwards. "–Shields down, direct. . . .lost my gunner, power–" "Quake Three, get back to the ship immediately," Major Unirt said. "I need the nearest Corona to fly cover for her." "That's you, Nine," Snubber said. "Go." Immediately Darin headed towards the damaged Y-wing, which was already on a course back to the Crescent Star. He saw no TIEs moving in yet, but that could change in a heartbeat. "What's your status, Three?" he asked once he came alongside the Y-wing to its starboard. "–you, sweet rookie?" Darin's head swam as he recognized the blonde's voice. "Yeah. That's you? Both of you?" "Yeah, bo–. . .–gunner, no shie–" A long burst of static, then, "–at 20%." "I can't understand you!" Darin said as his heart raced even faster. Botch beeped urgently at him and he saw a TIE approaching from port, apparently wanting an easy kill of a severely damaged fighter. Darin dropped under the Y-wing and came up on its port side, hoping the sight of his fighter would be enough to deter the TIE. It wasn't. Darin gritted his teeth and turned towards the eyeball, adjusting his throttle to try to keep himself between the TIE and Three. He bumped his shields full forward and started firing. The Imperial pilot dodged the laser bolts and started to climb; Darin followed and managed to nick the TIE's wing. That didn't affect it much, and as if to laugh in Darin's face the TIE smoothly spiraled upwards a bit with Darin still following before it pitched over and throttled up, heading straight for the injured Y-wing now a little distance away. When Darin saw that he had left Quake Three open like that his stomach turned hollow. He was still a little bit under the TIE in relation to Three, and in one instant he had reversed his throttle, desperately pulled a turn so sharp that the inertial compensators couldn't immediately correct for it, and punched his throttle in full again as he raced to get between the two craft. He put his shields full aft and snuck into the TIE's line of fire just as the Imperial opened up on Three. Darin felt the lasers impacting his rear shields as he physically shielded Three, but he knew they wouldn't last like this. He hadn't gotten very far ahead of the TIE–he hoped he could get him to change course so they wouldn't end up ramming the Y-wing. Quickly, before the TIE's first salvo had ended, Darin cut back his throttle to two-thirds. The full-throttle TIE pulled up sharply to avoid the X-wing braking immediately in front of it. As Darin adjusted his course and dove under the Y-wing, he was glad to see that they were almost back to the Crescent Star, which was busy exchanging distance blows with the Phantom. Once he was clear of the Y-wing, he pulled up and headed after the TIE fighter. "Almost. . . .–kie." "Botch, let me know if anyone else even so much as looks in her direction." Darin finally felt like he had the upper hand as he pursued the lone TIE away from Three. The TIE jinked and juked to avoid his fire. A miss. A horrible miss. A miss. A direct hit. *** "Crescent Star, this is Corona Nine. You have Quake Three?" "Affirmative, Corona Nine. Three has landed." "Thanks." Darin turned and headed back towards the battle. He was about halfway there when he heard Snubber's voice. "The shuttle has jumped to hyperspace." "All fighters, disengage at your first opportunity and head back," Major Unirt ordered. "The Star will provide cover, and she'll be jumping out of here the instant we're all on board, so don't keep us waiting." "Sorry, Nine," it was Mackin this time, "but you might as well turn around again. We'll be hot on your tail." "I copy, Lead." Darin did another 180 and went back to the capital ship. He was still full of adrenaline but also relieved beyond measure that the battle was over and that somehow he was still breathing. That feeling stayed with him until he passed through the hangar's magcon field and saw Quake Three's ship. He hadn't gotten a good look at it while flying but now he could see it clearly as he circled around the mess sitting in the middle of the hangar. The entire aft section of the fuselage was burned and melted. The cockpit's forward part was barely recognizable as such, and the rear of it where the gunner sat was all but gone. Mechanics were swarming it, spraying foam onto it and trying to drain fuel to protect against it exploding. Darin probably could have handled that sight if he had turned away then, but a second later he saw a mechanic near the front of the Y-wing talking to a deck officer. The mechanic was gingerly holding a light grey Y-wing pilot helmet, which Darin recognized as the helmet the blonde had worn. As he flew slowly past the mechanic on his way to his landing spot in the corner he saw that the back half of the helmet was splattered with red. Darin stared at it until Botch beeped at him to pay attention to his landing, and he numbly watched himself go through the motions as light-headedness threatened him. He made a landing for which any of his flight instructors would have docked him points, then powered down as quickly as he could. He couldn't stop thinking about that mutilated Y-wing, the blond pilot's bloody helmet, and the black-haired person who that blood had been inside of mere minutes before; and the more he thought about it, the more his thoughts amplified themselves inside his head and the more light-headed and nauseous he got. The second his ship was powered down he unbuckled his restraints and awkwardly put his head on his knees to try to get more blood to his brain, ignoring the flight yoke pressing uncomfortably against his face. From far away and through the ringing in his ears, Darin heard Botch beep inquiringly, then concernedly. He stayed bent over for a full minute and a half, moving only to motion that he was okay to a mechanic who knocked on his canopy. He slowly sat up and leaned back against his seat after his initial wooziness passed, allowing him to pop the canopy open and let the cool hangar air blow against his sweaty face. The ringing had mostly dissipated, and the whine of engines and repulsorlifts now heralded the return of the rest of the snubfighters. Even after the last ship landed he continued staring blankly through the magcon field, oblivious and disconcerted and more than a little scared. Next to him, Quiver's X-wing settled to the deck and a moment later it was powered down and the canopy opened. He pulled his helmet off and set it next to his heads-up display as he called over the noise, "Hey, Darin, back from your first mission! But what are you still doing in here? Thought you'd be changed and everything by the time us banthas got in." Quiver paused when Darin didn't respond. "You okay, Darin?" Quiver tried again. This time Darin chewed his bottom lip momentarily, but he continued staring ahead, slouched back in his seat. Quiver's brow furrowed and he hopped down the ladder that a mechanic had just hooked to his cockpit. Ikoa approached after taking a concerned look at Darin's X-wing but Quiver silently gestured for her to wait. He slowly climbed the ladder hooked to Darin's fighter. "Darin?" he asked as he got to the cockpit level. He saw Darin's pale expression and kept his voice at an easy conversational level. "You hurt?" Darin still gazed ahead, but he distractedly and slowly shook his head no. Quiver was encouraged that he at least got a response that time. "Your first fight, wasn't it? You did well. The first one is always the worst." Another lack of a response, so Quiver tried a slightly different angle. "Gets pretty rough out there, doesn't it?" He saw Darin's eyes flicker down to stare at the Y-wing wreckage, and Quiver pressed on when it seemed like he was finally getting somewhere. "When you were with Horizon Squadron, did you ever have any casualties?" Darin shook his head again. "So Carsyn was the first person you knew who was killed in a battle?" Neither Quiver nor Darin himself really expected the floodgate that opened then. Darin suddenly turned to Quiver with a stricken look on his face and began in a small voice, "She's gone, Quiver. Just like that. Gone. One minute I'm singing to her in a bar, the next she's splattered all over her pilot's helmet. She's just gone. On and off. There then not. No transition. No warning. Just–stopped." Darin realized that he wasn't making much sense, but his momentum wouldn't let him stop now. "And just yesterday, and just before we headed out today, she was just like anyone else. Nothing different. She was one of you. One of us. She was you. She was me. She was anyone, and that means that anyone can have the same thing happen to them. How do I live with that? With the knowledge that anyone I see or talk to could really only be moments away from being dead, another kill marker on some TIE fighter? Or that it could be me, that I'll be that ‘anyone?'" He took an unsteady breath and looked blankly ahead again. His voice got even quieter and it slowed and shook a bit. "I don't think I can do this, Quiver. It's too much. I can't." Quiver processed that before asking, "Why did you join the Rebellion, Darin?" Darin turned back to him in slight surprise at the unexpected question. He forced himself to think a bit and simply replied, "Because I didn't want what happened to my world and my friends and my family to happen to others." "So you didn't stop at the loss." "Huh?" Quiver locked gazes with the younger pilot. "You want to know how to survive, Darin? How to stay sane in a career where the difference between a chance at another lungful of air and being restored to your fundamental particles can sometimes be measured in nanometers? Where you find yourself at a memorial service for someone you just beat at sabacc yesterday? It's simple in theory but hard in practice, and it's this: you don't focus on the losses. You focus on the gains, the achievements, the lives saved, the victories denied the Empire. We lost a great gunner and a wonderful friend today in Carsyn, and we will remember her and mourn her and miss her. But we will remember the good she did in her life, and we will also remember that her pilot survived. You allowed Jenna to make it back. And because of that, this galaxy will be a little brighter, a little better off, and a little more hellish for the Empire. You're here because you didn't stop at whatever losses you've experienced in your life, so you know it can be done, though it can be one of the hardest things ever. Remember the losses, but focus on the gains." Quiver paused and watched that sink in for a few moments, and then he took a deep breath. "Now, unless my wingman has any questions, I'm on my way to the medical bay to check on Jenna. You just might be able to convince me to show you how to get there too." Darin offered a weak half-smile and nodded. Quiver started back down the ladder, but was stopped when Darin looked away again and haltingly asked, "Quiver? Who was Corona Nine?" Quiver reversed his step. "The one before you?" Darin nodded in reply. The blue-eyed pilot composed his thoughts for a moment. "His name was Prehn Johnsat, nicknamed Cracker. Don't ask. Big-boned guy, adequate pilot, and he rivaled both Snubber and Kalre in his arrogance. I think he was a mercenary or smuggler before coming to the Rebellion, though why he joined no one really knew–he didn't seem to care that much about it. About three weeks ago, some of us were on a ground-based mission and he was killed." He studied Darin, who again seemed uneasy and lost in thought. "He's one of only a small handful of people I know whose life I can sum up in a few sentences. If you're preoccupied now with mortality and legacies, don't worry. I have a feeling that, just like everyone else here in this hangar, your life won't end up reduced to a paragraph. That's not all you'll ever become or all the difference you'll ever make. That's not the end result of all this." Quiver started down again after yet another pause but was stopped once more. "Quiver?" "Yes?" Darin looked at him and smiled weakly. "Thanks." Quiver offered a somber smile and a sloppy salute while gripping the ladder with his left hand. He slowly went down one rung of the ladder, then stopped and abruptly looked at Darin as though expecting him to say something again. When Darin merely raised an eyebrow, Quiver laughed softly and quickly descended to the floor. He stopped to talk to Ikoa who was waiting between the wingmates' X-wings. Darin took off his helmet and, like Quiver, placed it next to his heads-up display. As he turned and began climbing out of the cockpit, he looked past Botch and saw the top of his port S-foil and paused momentarily. There, painted prominently, was the Corona Squadron emblem. It was a black circle with a red border, the colors of the squadron. The center showed an eclipse, a smaller black circle with silvery rays stretching past it from behind. Over this black dot was positioned a red Rebel Alliance insignia. He had seen the emblem before, and indeed even had the patch on his shoulder, but it hadn't really meant something until now. He looked past the Rebel insignia, past the oppressive black dot, and now focused on the silvery rays of the eclipsed star's corona escaping from behind the black dot, refusing to be blocked. The gains, not the losses. Darin chewed his lip for a second more, and then slowly swung out of the cockpit and down the ladder, gripping it tightly so he wouldn't see his hands still shaking. The mechanics tended to his fighter and droid as he joined up with Quiver and Ikoa and accompanied them to the medical facilities. ***The End*** Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to those who managed to stick with me 'til the end. I appreciate it. Now back to your regularly scheduled lives. -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Rani Veko Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 3/16/02 4:17am Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Completed 3-15-02]
	Thumper09, that was absolutely wonderful! You really captured a rookie's trepidation well, and I loved the initiation rites, right down to the triple-knock on the table. It's little details like that really make a story more believable, sucking the reader into the world you're making for them. Thanks for having the courage to kill off a likable character without foreshadowing her death: I didn't see it coming, so it was easier to feel Darin's shock along with him. The blood splattered on the back of the helmet was another nice touch that reminds us that war isn't all heroics and happy endings. Lastly, I love the fact that Quiver was a writer. He'd have to be, to talk the way he does as he reassures Darin. Oh, and nice choice of squadron names, capital ship names, and the description of the Corona crest. Two thumbs up! - Rani -----signature----- "None of it means a damned thing." - Malcolm Reynolds
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/18/02 7:34pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Completed 3-15-02]
	Hi! Thanks very much for the comments! In this case, it wasn't too hard to not foreshadow the Y-wing pilot's death, because when I originally wrote the earlier parts with her I didn't know she'd be killed either. Then when I started writing the dogfight it seemed a good way to teach Darin a hard lesson that any rookie Rebel pilot eventually has to learn (IMHO). Thanks for reading! -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
princess-sari Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 3/19/02 8:39am Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Completed 3-15-02]
	Wow, what a great story!! I loved it! I really liked the banter between Darin and the other pilots. But I also liked the more serious side of being a pilot that you showed here. As much as I hate to see ANY character killed off, the other pilot's death was a powerful way to show Darin and your readers what exactly in involved in being a fighter pilot. Excellent job and I hope we get the chance to read more of your work soon, Katie!! -----signature----- ~~Theed Library~~ http://www.geocities.com/theedlibrary More Than Shadows -- The Handmaidens in Episode 2!! -- 6/14/02 http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=5763331 ~~ The Invisible Woman of The Fortress ~~
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/21/02 8:18pm Subject: RE: Commencement [OT-era, all orig.char., X-wing fighter squadron, Completed 3-15-02]
	Awesome, thanks! I've got a few more stories done (one about why Darin joined the Rebellion and another few Corona fics) but at this point they feel more like scenarios or snapshots rather than stories with plots so I'll be working on them more before I post them. Actually, the one where he joins the Rebellion doesn't really have that problem so much, but since I wrote it mainly for background I'm not sure it would really fit on the boards well. I'll e-mail it to anyone interested, though I may eventually change my mind and post it anyway. <shrug> Okay, this wasn't supposed to be that long of a response. I tend to do that, though. Thanks for reading! -Katie Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History