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Author Topic: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, completed 1/28
Thumper09  1057 posts
Registered: Dec '01
14731_X-Wings
Date Posted: 12/4/08 5:10pm Subject: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, completed 1/28 - Date Edited: 1/28 3:37pm (8 edits total) Edited By: Thumper09
Title: Commencement
Author: Thumper09
Timeframe: OT era, approximately two months after the Battle of Yavin
Characters: OCs (Rebel fighter pilots)
Genre: Drama
Summary: A rookie X-wing pilot joins his first active-duty squadron and goes on his first combat mission.
Notes: Many thanks to Peri for the beta, and many thanks to all those who have been my sounding boards and idea generators. I couldn't have done any of this without you.
The story has been finished in advance. Updates will be made weekly on either Wednesdays or Thursdays. PM updates are available for anyone who wants them.
Disclaimer: Thank you, Mr. Lucas, for the wonderful sandbox and toys! All original characters are mine, much to their displeasure.

Constructive criticism is most welcome. Hit me with whatever you've got.

----------

Corona Squadron Roster

Corona One / Lead - Commander Quentell "Mack" Mackin, human male from Treminal III
Corona Two - Lt. Ikoa "Rancor" Fyndcap, human female from Rin
Corona Three - Lt. Jayke "Chopper" Forsgren, human male from Brentaal
Corona Four - FO. Kalre "Parsec" Unatel, Rodian male from Druckenwell
Corona Five - FO. Maptoo "Admiral" Moog, Gran male from Malastare
Corona Six - FO. Chryse "CC" Cerac, human female from Avalar
Corona Seven - FO. Tictintco "Slurry" Tnis, Bilgana male from Bilgan
Corona Eight / XO - Lt. Steen "Snubber" Weas, human male from Plonia V
Corona Nine - FO. Darin Stanic, human male from Craci IV (just assigned)
Corona Ten - FO. Hentil "Quiver" Yanilr, human male from Druzien
Corona Eleven - xxxx
Corona Twelve - xxxx

----------

"Commencement"


Chapter One

This wasn't the first time he had wondered what he had gotten himself into, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.

Darin Stanic stared with wide eyes at the scene before him. For more than twelve hours he had been a passenger in a cargo shuttle's hold, where the time had passed quietly and intolerably slowly despite taking a nap and making a distracted attempt to read a datapad he'd brought. Now they had arrived at their destination: the main hangar of a winged MC80 Mon Calamari Cruiser. From where Darin stood at the top of the shuttle's landing ramp, it was obvious that those quiet and slow hours were gone for good.

The sheer number of sights and sounds that assaulted him made Darin long to retreat back into the shuttle. He wanted to go back home. He wanted to go back to the relative familiarity of his training squadron. He wanted to do anything except face this frightening new situation. Everywhere he looked, there were people and droids going about their tasks with a seriousness that underscored the fact that this was a warship, and with every action completed, every bolt fastened, every decision made, lives could and did hang in the balance. This was no game.

Darin gripped the shoulder strap of his duffle bag harder, chewed on his bottom lip and scolded himself for his reaction; after all, this shouldn't be that different from what he'd gone through with his training squadron. He could do this. Besides, his new squadron wouldn't want a pilot who was intimidated by a little chaos.

With a deep, shaky breath, Darin forced himself down the landing ramp and then did his best to move out of the way of people and droids coming to help unload the cargo from the shuttle. Pungent odors of lubricants and fuel saturated the cool air and smacked him in the face, and the noise created by voices, engines, equipment and repair tools was soon compressed by his brain into a general background din. Darin's gaze floundered around, searching for a particular uniform type to anchor him. All he'd been told was that someone from Corona Squadron would meet him there.

After dodging another droid he finally spotted three men in the familiar beige general duty uniforms of starfighter pilots. They were standing together near the shuttle and were searching the faces of the personnel around it. If nothing else, Darin hoped they could tell him what to do or where to go to report to the Coronas, his first active-duty squadron.

The eighteen-year-old began walking toward them, and as he got closer one of the men noticed him and directed the others' attention to him. All three turned toward him expectantly. Maybe they were there for him after all.

As soon as he was the focus of their attention, Darin's pace faltered a bit. The swirling thoughts in his mind now were taken over by an unhealthy dose of anxiety, but he was past the point of no return and had to keep going. He couldn't mess this up.

The highest-ranking one was the commander in the middle of the group, so that was whom Darin came to attention before and saluted. He took care to make the salute as sharp and correct as possible. "Flight Officer Darin Stanic reporting for duty, sir!" His new rank still sounded funny in his ears after he'd been a cadet for so long.

The commander returned the salute. "At ease." He then smiled at Darin and raised his voice a bit to be heard above the activity in the hangar as he said, "Welcome to Corona Squadron, Flight Officer, and to Crescent Star." He indicated the entire hangar in a general way with those last words. "I'm Commander Quentell Mackin." Mackin reached out to shake Darin's hand, and after a hesitation Darin returned the unexpected gesture. The commander had a black crew cut and was a little taller and more stocky than Darin.

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Darin replied. He resisted the urge to wipe off his sweaty palms and hoped the commander hadn't noticed they were like that.

Mackin nodded toward the brown-haired pilot on his left. "This is Lieutenant Steen Weas, my XO."

There was no smile offered from Weas, only a scrutinizing look and finally a hand for a handshake. "Flight Officer."

Something about the cool tone and appraising gaze made Darin wonder if he'd already made a mistake and didn't know it. Hopefully the lieutenant wasn't angry that Darin wasn't in uniform, but he and the other people on the shuttle had been ordered to wear civilian clothes in case they had encountered any Imperials. Darin acknowledged Weas as politely as he could through a large new dose of shyness. "Sir. Pleased to meet you too."

Once Weas stepped back, Mackin indicated the pilot on his right. "And this is Flight Officer Quiver Yanilr. He's going to be your wingman."

Quiver stepped forward wearing a big grin and heartily shook Darin's hand. "Hi there. Great to meet you."

Darin somehow managed a small smile. "You too."

"You have any more bags on the shuttle?" Mackin asked.

Shaking his head, Darin said, "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. He'll show you around and get you set up, and we'll take care of the more official paperwork and such once you've had a chance to get settled. We've got a squadron briefing at 1400, which gives you almost two hours. Quiver will get you there; just make sure he does it on time." Quiver snorted softly and rolled his eyes at that comment, and Darin was surprised he wasn't reprimanded.

"We're glad to have you with us, Darin," Mackin continued. "If you have any questions at all, just ask."

"Thank you, sir. I'm glad to be here."

"I just wish none of us had to be." The commander nodded once in unison with Lt. Weas, and then those two turned and walked away.

It was a new personal record for Darin: less than five minutes had elapsed before he had made his first mistake. He watched his two superior officers go while he tried to get his stomach to stop sinking. "Oh no."

"What? What is it?" Quiver asked. "You forget something on the shuttle?"

"No, I--I didn't salute them before they left." The absence of a formal dismissal had caught him off-guard. "I didn't mean--"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Quiver chuckled as he cut him off. "You didn't do anything wrong. If Mack had wanted a salute, you would have known it. Generally we're pretty informal, and we don't worry about the whole saluting thing within the confines of the squadron 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."

Darin's brow furrowed. "Um...okay." This was a strange new concept to him. The surest way to get in trouble in his training squadron had been to fail to properly salute a superior.

Quiver genuinely didn't seem to think twice about it, though, and he beckoned Darin with a nod of his head. "Come on."

Darin followed, and as they began walking he got a good look at Quiver. Darin guessed him to be in his early twenties, and Quiver's blond hair was short but unruly and styled like a crew cut that hadn't been trimmed in a couple months. Being tall and lanky, Quiver was a rather atypical-looking snubfighter pilot, and his long strides allowed him to walk along easily while he talked.

"Now I don't know what they're teaching you recruits nowadays, so I'll start slowly." Quiver smirked. "Test at the end, so listen up. This is called the 'hangar.' It's a big parking area for ships. Did you get that? You need me to repeat it?"

Those were just the sort of teasing comments his best friends back home would have made if they were still alive, and it had been months since Darin had heard anything like it. For just an instant he almost felt comfortable, and before he could stop himself he grabbed onto that familiar feeling and let himself respond in kind. Darin plastered a confused look 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, his new wingman just laughed and mentioned something about how Darin would fit right in.

Quiver expertly guided his new charge around equipment and through small groups of people in the hangar. Off to the side Darin saw Y-wings in one large subhangar where they were being swarmed by mechanics. Another subhangar housed X-wings, which were receiving much of the same attention. Quiver motioned toward those fighters and said, "Your X-wing's over there with the rest, but we'll come back after we get some other things taken care of first. Besides, it's cold in here, and I want to go warm up a bit. Why does space have to be so cold, anyway? It's annoying."

They left the hangar and were only about five steps down the corridor when Quiver pulled Darin to a stop next to a door. "Here's your first stop, rookie," Quiver said. "You've got to go through in-processing with Security. They'll authenticate your orders and everything, make sure you are who you say you are, maybe interrogate you or throw you in the brig if you look at them wrong, standard procedures like that." He shrugged and grinned with a casualness that almost seemed to inject truth into what Darin thought were merely joking remarks. "I'll be waiting out here for you, so I'll see you when you're done. Well, unless they throw you in the brig, in which case I can't make any promises. Maybe I could visit you sometime, though."

Quiver keyed open the door while still wearing that grin. Darin decided not to comment and simply thanked him before stepping inside.

----------

 

-----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
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Jedi_Perigrine  960 posts
Registered: Apr '08
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/4/08 8:42pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, started 12/4
WOOT, I got the first post! Super writing, Thumps! You've made a wonderful character in Darin that's a pure joy to read about. I'm excited for you as you share him (and all his buddies) with folks. It's awesome awesome stuff! Don't forget to PM me with the updates!

 

-----signature-----
Check out the Talons! They RULE! http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28126755/p1
I can't believe Darth Writer's Block only abandons me for NaNo.
NaNo word count: 25267
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Trika_Kenobi  9463 posts
Registered: Nov '99
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/5/08 10:27am Subject: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, started 12/4
Thumps! OMG. You posted this without letting me know! Haha! But I have found it, and I love it!

Please put me on your PM list, madam. And, in addition, you and I need to discuss matters of your Corona Squadron. I've been to your site numerous times, and I'm finally going to make it a priority to read and catch up with the saga during the holiday break this year. I'd like to make the Coronas a Talon friend and be able to link to and/or host and/or work with you on the website and whatever else you need.

Great start, Thumps! I'm looking forward to reading about Darin's adventures! mischief

Trikes

 

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My Uncle Sam sends me places... the "going OCONUS lol" is here!
Current Location: Iraq

Don't bother running. You won't get far enough.
http://www.TalonIntelligenceSquadron.com
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snowspeeder_gunner  1629 posts
Registered: Apr '07
Date Posted: 12/5/08 8:24pm Subject: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, started 12/4
Yesssss!

I am so excited to read this! I love love love Darin, and I can't wait to see what you've done with Commencement. And to answer your question, there are a couple new things I didn't notice before, so I don't think I've read the newer revision.

Keep up the great work!!

 

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haha! it's like the stars are my icon!
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Alion_Sangre  3668 posts
Registered: Dec '01
47622_Shark
Date Posted: 12/9/08 5:57pm Subject: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, started 12/4
Nice to see you up to you and the Coronas up to the usual tricks, Thumper. wink

 

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BEWARE OF STRESSED NERD
Now POSTING: Halberd Squadron - see profile for link.
"Gratuitous acts of senseless violence are MY forte!"
I've become intolerant of stupidity in my old age. plain
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Thumper09  1057 posts
Registered: Dec '01
14731_X-Wings
Date Posted: 12/10/08 5:03pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/10
Peri: Thanks for coming and commenting, and thanks again for your help! I hope you enjoy the piecemeal version of this story too, LOL. tongue Maybe I should toss in a new twist or two to spice things up for ya. wink

Trikes: Sorry about that! I was running late with the PM updates, but you tracked it down, so it's all good. happy Thanks for reading even with having a lot of activities on your plate, and I hope you enjoy it. I keep forgetting to contact you about the Talon website stuff (have I mentioned how scatterbrained I've been lately? tongue ), so I'll do that now once I get this thing squared away.

snowy: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you could make it, and thanks for reading and commenting! This newer revision is my attempt at smoothing out some areas and strengthening the characterizations of the Coronas since I've gotten a somewhat better handle on them than I had when I first wrote this story. So we'll see how that goes. happy

Alion: Hey, good to see you! Thanks for stopping in! happy


Here's the next post. I hope you all enjoy it. I had to stop in the middle of the scene due to length, and I apologize for that.

-----------

It took nearly an hour for Darin to finish with Security, though he was glad for that in a way since it gave him a chance to clear his mind a bit and settle down. He was going to be spending a lot of time with his new squadmates, and he couldn't let himself be taken over by his shyness now, especially when he was making his first impressions on everyone. At least Darin wouldn't have any issues when flying with them, and that should help him fit in. His training squadron had been challenging, but he'd made it through and was ready to fly with the Coronas out here. If he could focus on that professional aspect, it should help carry him through until he overcame his shyness in the more personal areas, and then everything would be all right. Darin felt a little better after his mental pep talk.

When he finally walked out of the Security office back into the corridor, Quiver was gone. Darin looked around and tried his best to examine his options calmly. Going farther down the corridor to look for Quiver would likely just result in Darin getting lost, so he turned toward the hangar to try there first. He wasn't ready to be alone in this overwhelming place just yet.

Once inside the hangar, to Darin's relief it was pretty easy to find Quiver: he was sitting on a shipping crate nearby and talking to two people and a Gran who were all wearing uniforms identical to his. Quiver noticed Darin almost instantly, held up a hand to pause his conversation, jumped off the crate and came over to him. "Ah, you're done," he said to Darin. "So are you legit? Not a spy or anything, right?"

Several possible comebacks came to Darin's mind, but he settled for the safe reply this time. "No, I'm all cleared. They gave me some of my access codes too."

"Good. Come on, there are some squadmates here you should meet." Quiver draped an arm over Darin's shoulders and steered him toward the group he had just been talking to. Darin immediately tried to pull away from the contact but then caught himself and uncomfortably stayed with Quiver.

As the pair walked up, Quiver said to the three others, "Here's the new guy I was telling you about. I found him wandering around earlier, and lucky for him I found him when I did, too: the poor rookie was trying to get into an airlock thinking it was the door to the mess hall."

Darin barely noticed what Quiver said. His full attention was instantly drawn to the lieutenant rank plates the two human pilots were wearing, and he snapped to attention and saluted.

The Corona pilots seemed startled at his actions--especially Quiver, who jumped and pulled his arm away from Darin's shoulders--but they quickly recovered. One of the lieutenants, a small, slim woman with light brown hair that just barely reached her shoulders, smiled and returned Darin's salute. "Hi there." She raised an eyebrow at Quiver and said, "I figured you would have broken him of that habit by now."

Quiver sighed. "I'm working on it," he replied.

Darin was still saluting rigidly, and one look at the other lieutenant showed why: the man had simply crossed his arms and was basking in Darin's salute with a smug grin. "I don't know," the man said to the others. "I kind of like this treatment."

"Oh, stop it," the woman said, swatting his arm. "Just return the poor rookie's salute before he strains something." She turned back to Darin and said, "He's not normally this mean, only when he forgets that he was a rookie once, too."

The other lieutenant, a solidly-built man with dark hair that was cut very short, shot her an indignant look. "I was not," he muttered under his breath to her before he grudgingly returned the salute.

As soon as Darin's arm came down to his side again, Quiver took his new wingman by the shoulders and shook him around. "Relax! Loosen up! My back hurts just looking at you. These are squadmates: I told you saluting isn't necessary."

"I'm sorry, but it's just too weird to not salute," protested Darin.

The male lieutenant snorted a chuckle. "Oh, this is going to be great. Five-to-one odds that Quiver goes crazy about the rookie saluting all the time before the rookie goes crazy about not saluting."

"I say that as a compromise we let the rookie salute anyone except Chopper here," said the Gran in a calm voice.

The woman laughed. "I like that idea." She turned to the other lieutenant, who presumably was "Chopper," and emphasized, "I like that idea a lot."

"Wow, Maptoo, you made a joke!" Quiver said to the Gran. "I'm amazed, truly I am!"

The confidence generated by Darin's earlier pep talk was being eroded as he tried unsuccessfully to follow the banter and figure out if they were telling him to do something or not. Quiver noticed his bewilderment and made a dismissive gesture. "Don't listen to them, rookie. Just stick with me and you'll be fine."

With a grin, the woman said, "Well, I'm not so sure about that."

Quiver's expression turned mournful as he put a hand over his heart and directed his attention back to the woman. "Ikoa, I'm hurt. I never expected you of all people to say such a thing. Are you taking lessons from CC or something?"

She considered. "No, I'm not, but that's a good idea. Thanks for the suggestion."

Quiver muttered something unintelligible and then launched into a brief round of introductions with Darin and the three pilots. The male human was Lt. Jayke Forsgren but was usually called Chopper, the woman was Lt. Ikoa Fyndcap, and the Gran was Flight Officer Maptoo Moog.

When the introductions were over, Lt. Fyndcap looked from Darin to Quiver and said, "We've got that mission coming up soon. Have you talked to Mack about whether Darin will be flying with you on it?"

Finally, something Darin could use as common ground with his new squadmates. "What kind of mission is it, ma'am?" he asked Lt. Fyndcap. "Escort? Scouting?"

"A hit-and-run," she answered.

Somehow Darin hadn't quite expected that reply. He paused, blinked and then said, "So it's a combat mission, ma'am?"

"Yeah, but you'll get some sim time on it before it comes up," Quiver told him. "It's nothing you need to worry about right now."

That answer didn't do much to quiet the sudden shifting of his stomach, but Darin said, "Oh. All right."

Then Quiver directed his attention to Lt. Fyndcap. "Do you know something I don't, Ikoa? Why wouldn't he be flying with me? He's my wingman." The lanky pilot grinned.

"I meant more in terms of whether Darin has enough experience to be going on the mission, period, not whether he'd be flying with someone other than you," Lt. Fyndcap said.

Quiver shrugged. "He's here. That's got to mean he's qualified. Right, rookie?" Still grinning, Quiver nudged Darin but didn't seem to notice Darin's sudden inability to speak.

Lt. Fyndcap studied Darin for a moment while he tried to put on a brave front, and then she asked him, "Have you ever been in combat before? What squadron are you coming from?"

Quiver jumped in before Darin had a chance to answer. "Oooh, wait, I know this one. Mack told me the other day. It's... um... Sunrise Squadron, right?"

Darin half-grinned. "Actually it was Horizon Squadron with Major Collins commanding. Training squadron. And no, ma'am." He grew somber again. "No combat outside of sims. We flew a couple of real escort missions but never ended up in a fight. They called it something like 'accelerated training'."

"What?" Chopper's voice was flat. "Are you serious? They let a fighter pilot graduate from a training squadron without ever having flown in combat? What the hell are they thinking?"

"What do you expect them to do?" Lt. Fyndcap asked Chopper. "We're so short on pilots that we need them faster than they can train them. Or have you forgotten that it took us three weeks to get Darin and we're still short two pilots?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten. I'm not stupid," Chopper retorted. "But--" He glanced at Darin, then continued speaking to Lt. Fyndcap. "But what good is a fighter pilot who's never even fought before? That's something that should be worked out in some little border skirmish in the safe little controlled environment of their training squadrons, not out here in the deep end on the front lines. We don't know how he'll react. It's unpredictable loose cannons like that that kill people who aren't supposed to be killed. People like me. At his current experience level, he shouldn't be here. At best he'll get in the way, at worst he'll get one or more of us killed."

"I can't believe you just said that, and right in front of him, no less," Lt. Fyndcap said in a low but sharp voice. "What's wrong with you?"

Chopper crossed his arms. "Don't get all bleeding-heart here, Ikoa. This is no place for coddling rookies. This is a fighter squadron. This is life and death--namely our lives and deaths. If he can't handle it then I want him nowhere near me, and I want him to know it."

Darin was getting more nervous with each word Chopper said throughout the exchange. The one thing Darin had thought he had was no longer there, and he didn't know what to do. He knew he'd probably get in trouble for interrupting the lieutenants, and he'd never talked back to a lieutenant before, but he felt compelled to say something. He just hoped his voice wouldn't waver. "With all due respect, sir," Darin said to Chopper as calmly as he could, "we did a lot of combat work in the sims, like I mentioned. Major Collins did all he could to prepare us and let us know what to expect in a fight through the sims, which are supposed to be realistic from what I'm told. And it's not like I've never been shot at in real life." He left out the fact that he'd been a civilian at the time, not in a ship or even armed, and that he'd been scared to death. But he was more prepared now. "I think I can handle myself here, sir."

"Really. You think you can handle yourself here." Chopper's tone was somewhere between disbelieving and challenging.

Darin felt a bead of sweat on the back of his neck, and he tried to take a deep breath. "Yes, sir, I do."

"Yeah. Well, we'll see about that. You'll see how lacking the sims are in some aspects. Prove me wrong, rookie. But without combat experience under your belt it's going to take a hell of a lot of sim work before I'm comfortable flying around you with live weapons."

Quiver spoke up. "Chopper, blast it, lay off him. He'll be fine. He'll be with me."

"You're not helping your case," Chopper said.

Quiver snorted. "Shows what you know."

Lt. Fyndcap muttered a word in a language Darin didn't understand, and then she looked at Quiver. "Just talk to Mack first, okay?"

Quiver held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, if it makes you happy. And now if you'll excuse us, I'm cold, and my wingman and I have warmer places to be."

---
(cont'd)

 

-----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
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Jedi_Perigrine  960 posts
Registered: Apr '08
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/10/08 9:56pm Subject: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/10
Another great post, Thumps! The story's moving very nicely. Your action scenes are great, as your audience may or may not know, but where you truly shine, my friend, is portraying the humanity--the living, breathing, sweating, half-panicked stressballs of fighter pilots. You've taught me many things about lives of pilots outside of the cockpit. Keep up the fine instruction! grin

 

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Check out the Talons! They RULE! http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28126755/p1
I can't believe Darth Writer's Block only abandons me for NaNo.
NaNo word count: 25267
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Trika_Kenobi  9463 posts
Registered: Nov '99
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/11/08 1:11pm Subject: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/10
Awesome! Great update, Thumps! I really feel for Darin... poor kid, getting out into the world of the fighter jock and finding out how cold space can be. Quiver seems pretty chill, though. I hope the two of them can band together and prove to the rest of the squad that Darin can make it with the Coronas.

Thanks! Wonderful story from you, as always!
Trikes

 

-----signature-----
My Uncle Sam sends me places... the "going OCONUS lol" is here!
Current Location: Iraq

Don't bother running. You won't get far enough.
http://www.TalonIntelligenceSquadron.com
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snowspeeder_gunner  1629 posts
Registered: Apr '07
Date Posted: 12/11/08 4:54pm Subject: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/10
Chopper doesn't waste any time, does he? I really like the good cop/ bad cop thing going on with him and Ikoa- it definitely adds to the excitement.

At least Darin's got Quiver to look out for him!

Great update! I love this story. love

Keep up the awesome work!

 

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haha! it's like the stars are my icon!
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Thumper09  1057 posts
Registered: Dec '01
14731_X-Wings
Date Posted: 12/17/08 4:32pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/17
Peri: Aw, thanks. blush I have a total soft spot for the out-of-cockpit interactions and activities, which is probably why this first chapter is so darn long. wink Thanks for reading and replying!

Trikes: Thank you! Yeah, Quiver doesn't get riled up too easily. And Darin's hoping the exact same thing you are. happy Thanks for commenting and reading!

snowy: Thanks for reading and replying! Heh, Chopper has a bit of a blunt streak in him, that's for sure.

At least Darin's got Quiver to look out for him!

Very true. But is this a good thing from Darin's standpoint? tongue wink

--

Thanks again, everyone. grin I'm not sure if I'm going to update next week or not due to the holidays. If I do update, it'll be on Monday.

-------

(cont'd)

Quiver held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, if it makes you happy. And now if you'll excuse us, I'm cold, and my wingman and I have warmer places to be."

The pair left, and Quiver again took Darin out of the hangar and started through the maze of corridors. Maybe it was all the turns or maybe it was his inability to stop thinking about what Chopper had said, but Darin soon realized he had no clue how to get back to the hangar. Luckily Quiver didn't seem to be attempting to ditch him and leave him stranded, lost and alone in the veins of the great ship; he actually seemed more interested in making conversation.

Darin didn't even hear most of what Quiver was saying as they walked. At one point he noticed a lull in Quiver's talk and took advantage of the opportunity. "Quiver, what's that mission about? What will we have to do on it?"

"Huh?" Quiver looked at him. "Oh, it's a hit-and-run against some Imps, like Ikoa said."

"What's my duty schedule for the rest of today? Can I get a copy of it?"

"Your duty schedule?" Quiver gave him a strange look. "It's your first day. It's called 'orientation.' Your regular duties will start tomorrow, and you'll get a copy then."

"Will we have any time today when you can show me where the simulators are so I can start practicing that combat mission?" Darin pressed. "I'd really like to get some time on that as soon as I can."

Quiver finally stopped and turned fully to Darin, who stopped as well. "Rookie, relax. It's your first day. You'll get time in the sims tomorrow when the rest of us do another practice run for that mission. Until then, enjoy the last easy day you'll get for a very long time, and let me enjoy it too."

"You won't have to do anything; just point me in the right direction and tell me how to load the sim with the correct mission. I'd really rather not wait until tomorrow. You heard what Lieutenant Forsgren said. I have to get up to speed on this mission, and I'd rather not go in cold and blind tomorrow when all of you already know what you're doing."

"Wait, is all this because of what Chopper was shooting his mouth off about?" Quiver shook his head and continued walking. Darin followed. "Ignore him."

"Ignore him?" His new wingman was either insane or a whole lot braver than Darin was. "I can't do that, Quiver! He's a lieutenant!"

Quiver rolled his eyes. "Trust me. Ignore him. If you can do that, you'll like it here much more."

"How will blatantly disrespecting a superior officer I just met help me like it here more?"

"You're giving Chopper too much credit. Besides, like I told you, it's pretty relaxed around here. Despite what you may think after Chopper's little rant, we actually have a really good time with each other. Well, mostly. Sometimes I think Snubber's incapable of having fun, but that's his loss. His big loss. And don't you dare tell him I said that." Quiver stopped at a turbolift and pressed the call button.

"Wait, 'Snubber'?" Darin asked. He couldn't keep all these names straight, and every moment spent with Quiver seemed to create more confusion. "Who's that?"

"Oh, right. That's Lieutenant Weas, the XO. We have yet to find a snubfighter he can't fly well, 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 callsigns tend to stick better than others."

"What's yours?" Darin asked.

"Quiver."

Darin blushed a little. "I thought that was your real name," he admitted.

The turbolift doors opened, and both of the pilots got on. "No, my real name is Hentil, but no one ever calls me that, not even when I'm in trouble." Quiver pressed the button for a different deck. "Not that I ever get in trouble, mind you. See, mine is one that sticks."

"How'd you get your callsign?" Darin asked while the turbolift ascended.

His wingman grinned. "I'm still waiting for someone here to figure that out. The pilots in my former squadron gave it to me, so I joined the Coronas with it. Let me know if you ever have any guesses."

A brief lull came in the conversation, and then Darin spoke up again. "So can you show me where the sims are, or what else I need to do to get ready for everything around here? Please?"

Quiver closed his eyes and heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Yes, rookie. We're on our way to our quarters now, and after we drop your stuff off I'll show you around before the briefing."

Worried that he had annoyed Quiver, Darin felt himself blushing again and kept quiet for the rest of the brief turbolift ride. After the turbolift slowed to a stop and opened its doors, the pair stepped off and Quiver directed Darin down the corridor. It wasn't long before Quiver came to a stop next to a door. "And here we are," he said. "Our quarters."

He punched in a passcode on the door's access panel, and the door slid open to reveal a rather small, simple room. A set of bunk beds sat along the far wall. The only thing along the left wall was a desk made mostly out of a shipping crate with a computer console, some datapads and datacards, and a light sitting atop it, with 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. Datacards were scattered haphazardly over the crate desk and computer console, and the old ejector seat chair held a few more.

Quiver ushered Darin inside with a flourish. "You can probably guess which side is yours, and you get the bottom bunk. The refresher is right through there," he said while pointing to a door in the far 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 before taking a moment to look around the cramped room. He also noticed a closet door on Quiver's side of the room and some makeshift shelving units on the wall by the entrance. "Cozy."

Quiver nodded. "Yeah, but you get used to the tight spaces after a while. I'll warn you, though, 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. The former Corona Nine was a difficult roommate anyway.

"So where are you from? I've never heard your accent before," said Quiver. He smirked and then added, "It sounds kind of funny."

Darin wasn't sure how to take the comment about his accent, but he decided to just let it pass to avoid saying the wrong thing to Quiver again. Besides, Darin didn't think Quiver was one to talk when it came to having a funny-sounding accent. "Craci Four, near the edge of the Corporate Sector," Darin answered. Quiver's eyebrows knitted together for a moment in apparent thought, but Darin had no desire to continue with that sensitive topic. Doing so would only open the door for the inevitable grief and homesickness pangs and everything else he was trying to cope with. He hurriedly cut off any follow-on questions by asking one of his own. "What about you?"

Quiver snapped himself out of it and answered, "Druzien. It's a little place near the Core Worlds."

"What did you do before joining the Rebellion?" Darin asked.

"Me? I was a writer, actually. If you want, I'll let you read some of the periodical articles I wrote before I Rebel-ized myself. My favorites almost got me thrown in jail by the Empire," Quiver said with a proud grin.

Darin's brow furrowed. "A writer? Seriously? And now you're a fighter pilot?"

"You know, I get that reaction from everyone." Quiver chuckled. "What can I say? I love being a fighter pilot. I have better luck with women this way, too, and it sure beats my boring first job in the Alliance. How about you? What did you do before joining?"

"After I finished school I did local freight runs for a shipping company. Not exciting to most people, but I enjoyed it."

Quiver looked at Darin for a moment and then simply said, "Ah." It was all too obvious to Darin that Quiver was part of the majority that didn't find such an occupation exciting. Then the lanky pilot said, "You want to see some holos of my homeworld? Come here, I've got a bunch as you can probably tell."

Darin spent several minutes looking at holos Quiver was pointing out on his wall and eagerly telling about. He tried his best to follow along, but there was just too much information, and Quiver's energetic attitude was starting to tire Darin out. It was too much, too fast, too soon after his long flight here on the shuttle, and that flight was starting to really catch up with him now.

Darin wondered if his eyes were visibly glazing over when Quiver looked at him and stopped in the middle of one holo's explanation. "You look beat. Do you want to unpack?" Quiver asked.

Shaking his head hard to wake himself, Darin said, "No, not now. Sorry, I'm just tired after that flight."

"So you don't want that big tour anymore, right?"

Darin really wished he could take a nap, but he didn't want Chopper to think he was incompetent and lazy. "No, I'd still like that, please," Darin replied. "Moving around will wake me up, and I really need to figure out everything here as soon as I can."

Quiver shrugged. "All right, if you want to. There are some general duty uniforms and boots for you here in the closet. Hopefully they'll fit. Go ahead and change, grab a datapad and then we can head out. But don't blame me when you realize down the road that you squandered your one and only chance to relax."

*****

"See, all the lockers are sorted by squadron, then squadron designation," Quiver was saying while he showed Darin the pilots' locker room. "Those over there belong to Quake Squadron, the Y-wings stationed here with us. This row is ours, and here's your locker. You're Corona Nine. I'm Ten."

The open locker Quiver was pointing out contained Darin's flight equipment. Darin felt a bit better just knowing where this was in case something happened and he had to launch. Hopefully nothing would actually happen, but if it did he was closer to being prepared now than he had been ten minutes ago.

Darin looked at the designation above his locker. He knew that simple number would soon sink into his soul as it was now his identity in the squadron, and he softly tested it out. "Nine."

"Right." Quiver pulled out the bright orange X-wing flightsuit from Darin's locker and held it up to the smaller pilot for comparison. "Blast, I figured as much. Probably three sizes too big for you. Sorry, rookie, but it was the only X-wing flightsuit they had in Supply. We'll try to get you a couple better-fitting ones whenever the next supply ship is due to arrive. This one will be fine until then, though."

Quiver returned the flightsuit to the locker and then waved Darin out of the room with him. "We have a little time left before the briefing. Let's go introduce you to your fighter."

The hangar was only meters from the locker room, and when they entered it Darin found that things had calmed down a bit in the last ninety minutes. He eagerly followed Quiver over to Corona Squadron's subhangar, and they wove between the X-wings, ducking under S-foils and laser cannons until Quiver pointed to the fighter farthest in the back. "That one's yours."

Darin's gaze settled on it. 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, and the red stripes on its fuselage were outlined in black. The four engines sat dormant while they patiently waited to be called into action again and take flight. Its elongated nose pointed the way for the laser cannons mounted on the ends of the S-foils, like on every other X-wing in this hangar and many others in existence.

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.

Darin felt a bit silly for getting so caught up in the moment, but he couldn't help it. He slowly walked up to the fighter, then under it and around it, letting his hand trail lightly over the hull and become accustomed to its feel while his eyes soaked up every visual detail. All the anxiety of his new situation melted away for a moment, and Darin smiled at the snubfighter underneath his fingertips. He couldn't believe such an amazing thing was actually assigned to him of all people.

During his time with the Horizons, he had often reflected on his decision to join Starfighter Command instead of another branch, like Fleet Command, that was more sane. Darin had gotten his small transports pilot's license back home a couple years prior, and the only thing he'd wanted when he became a Rebel was to fly something, anything. Some early simulator testing had convinced the placement officials that Darin was at least good enough to warrant an attempt at starfighter training, and he'd gone along with it. Since then, Darin had discovered that this was flying at its most dangerous; however, it was also flying at its best. Nothing else could compare to it, and there was no room for any regrets or second-guessing inside that moment of awe he was sharing with his new X-wing. There was no doubt in his mind then that Starfighter Command had been the right choice.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you smile since you got here," Quiver commented as he walked up beside Darin.

The smile turned self-conscious. "It's all just a lot to take in at once." At least he knew where he stood with a starfighter. He didn't have to prove himself to it, only with it.

"You'll get used to it." Quiver grinned.

A sharp squawk and something ramming into Darin's leg grabbed his attention. "Hey!" When Darin looked down, he saw a white and green astromech had wheeled into him. The R5 droid harshly blatted again and then whistled a query.

There was a small text readout on the astromech's front panel of what the droid was saying, and Darin was instantly grateful: it had been so hard to figure out what the R2 units in Horizon Squadron had said when outside of the starfighters. He crouched down to get a better look at the readout. "What am I doing over here?" Darin repeated the astromech's question. "I was just looking at my fighter."

YOUR fighter? the droid replied with a flat tone. This is not your fighter. This fighter belongs to me and my pilot.

Darin looked at the droid in confusion. "But--wait, who's your pilot?"

I have been notified that my new pilot is Flight Officer Stanic.

Darin almost laughed. "That's me. I'm Darin. What's your name?"

The droid processed that for a long moment before replying, Greetings. My designation is R5-D4, Serial 198YJ437TN, Identifier 62690857. Organics call me Botch.

"It's nice to meet you, Botch."

"Aww, one big happy family," Quiver piped up before cryptically adding, "I can't wait to see you two trying to work together." He smirked and then checked his chrono. "Well, we'd better head to the briefing; I'll never hear the end of it if I get you there late. You and Botch can chitchat later if you want. Let's go." Darin said a silent goodbye to his ship and an audible one to Botch before the two pilots left.

---
(cont'd)

 

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"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
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Jedi_Perigrine  960 posts
Registered: Apr '08
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/17/08 9:49pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/17
The droid processed that for a long moment before replying, Greetings. My designation is R5-D4, Serial 198YJ437TN, Identifier 62690857. Organics call me Botch.

"It's nice to meet you, Botch."

I love the droid's name, it's one of my favorite SW names ever. I love the waxing philisophical as he caresses his fighter. Darin's life is going to change irrevocably, and soon! Great stuff, Thumps, I'm privelidged to be able to pre-read your piloty goodness! Keep it coming! grin

 

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Trika_Kenobi  9463 posts
Registered: Nov '99
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/19/08 7:46pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/17
I heart your writing so much, Thumps. And Botch! OMG. What a great name! grin

Quiver still seems like a pretty cool dude to me, helping Darin along even through the mass of rookie quirks. I find I'm becoming comfortable with the pairing just as Darin is throughout the scenes. Great update! You're awesome!

 

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Thumper09  1057 posts
Registered: Dec '01
14731_X-Wings
Date Posted: 12/22/08 6:30pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/22
Peri: Thanks! If you ask me, there was not enough waxing philosophical about X-wings in the Classic Trilogy. But there's probably a reason no one's asked me. tongue Thanks again!

Trikes: Aww, thank you! blush Yeah, Quiver is all about the relaxing and being comfortable as much as possible, and whatever can rub off on Darin now will be a good thing. wink Thanks for reading!

Little tidbit: Botch's name came from my uncanny knack of "botching" important dice rolls during a particular tabletop SW roleplaying campaign. I can't remember how many times I accidentally almost killed the party or my own character as a result. tongue It seemed to fit the droid since R5's are supposed to have a reputation for having more problems than R2 units. wink

This update will finish the Longest Chapter One in the History of Forever, and it completes all of the introductions to the rest of the Coronas. Chapter Two (which is a bit more reasonable in length) will start on the story's regular update day next week, which is to say New Year's Eve. Thanks for bearing with me through this long chapter.

Happy holidays, everyone. happy

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

(cont'd)

Quiver smirked and then checked his chrono. "Well, we'd better head to the briefing; I'll never hear the end of it if I get you there late. You and Botch can chitchat later if you want. Let's go." Darin said a silent goodbye to his ship and an audible one to Botch before the two pilots left.

They soon walked into a small briefing room near the locker room. A table with a holoprojector was situated at the front, and the chairs were arranged theater-style. Three people already occupied the room, but Darin only recognized two: Commander Mackin and Lt. Weas. He reiterated their names to himself to ensure he wouldn't forget them.

Quiver led him to a middle row and sat down, putting Darin in a seat directly behind the unknown pilot. The rookie jumped a bit when the charcoal-skinned pilot in front of him turned his head almost completely around to look at him. Darin hadn't really had a chance to notice before that the pilot in front of him wasn't human.

"Ah, you must be the pilot new. I'm happy to meet you," the slim alien said with a thick accent. At least, those were the words Darin thought the alien said.

There were four reflective eyes on the alien's face, and only a slit marking his nose a few centimeters above his lipless but otherwise "normal"-looking mouth. He turned his head back to the front again, stood up and turned around to face Darin, and that was when Darin noticed the extra two arms. One pair was situated at his shoulders like a human's, and another pair protruded from his sides where the lower part of a human's ribcage would be. 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 an embarrassed smile. Quiver gave him a little push to get him to his feet.

"I'm Tictintco Tnis," the alien said, "but everyone here finds it easier to call me Slurry."

Darin shook the three-fingered hand Slurry offered and introduced himself.

"Quiver, are you scaring away the new guy already?" asked a voice from behind. "At least let him get through his first day."

Darin turned and saw Lt. Fyndcap approaching with a black-haired woman pilot, who was a flight officer like Slurry was. The woman he hadn't met, and who Darin guessed had just spoken, smiled at him. "Hi, I'm CC, Corona Six."

The nametag on her uniform proclaimed her last name to be "Cerac," so Darin figured CC was probably her nickname. "I'm Darin."

"I feel sorry for you, being paired with Quiver," CC said. "I know a good place to go scream if you ever need it."

"And she's good at screaming, too," Quiver remarked as he stood up.

CC set her jaw. "Only when I see you."

"Oh, curse this handsome face which causes ladies to scream and squeal when their gaze alights upon it!" Quiver said melodramatically while covering his face with his hands.

Rolling her eyes, CC said, "And you wonder why I scream." Then she turned back to Darin and said, "But your arrival kept Quiver out of my face for the last two hours, and for that I'm deeply grateful to you."

"Only because you know that absence makes the heart grow fonder," Quiver told her while lowering his hands.

A Rodian flight officer 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. "Darin, this is Kalre. He's one of our next-door neighbors."

"Nice to meet you," Darin answered. There was no way he'd remember all these names in fifteen minutes.

Kalre crossed his arms and looked Darin up and down. "Chopper was right. You're kind of scrawny, aren't you. Younger than I expected, too. Well, I hope you're a tougher pilot than you look; we need everyone to pull their own weight around here. Though compared to the low standard of your wingman, I imagine any amount of effort on your part will look spectacular, so--"

"Oh, great. Now you've done it," CC scolded, cutting off both Kalre and the self-defensive remark Darin had just taken a breath to say.

"Done what?" Kalre asked sharply.

"Ha! Did you hear that, CC?" Quiver said with a big grin on his face. "Kalre said my actions make other people better. I make the galaxy a better place simply by existing. See how lucky you are to have me as your wingman, rookie?" He elbowed Darin.

Darin had no idea how to answer, but he didn't need to because CC looked at Kalre and pointedly said, "That."

Kalre demanded, "Do you two always have to do that?"

CC's tone of voice shifted to one of pure innocence as she replied, "When you start saying stupid things, yes."

The Rodian shook his head in exasperation and left to find a seat in one of the back rows. Lt. Fyndcap turned to Darin and said, "Don't listen too closely to Kalre, or Chopper for that matter. They just like to sound tough."

"Yes, ma'am," Darin replied, attempting to hide the fact that he was actually a bit rattled by Kalre's words. He hadn't even done anything yet and he was already getting judged by more than one squadron member. Was it that apparent to them that Darin wouldn't be good enough or didn't belong there?

Slurry made a sound like he was clicking his teeth together and then said something that Darin couldn't comprehend for the life of him.

Lt. Fyndcap apparently didn't have any problems making it out. "True, true," she replied with a soft laugh. Then she looked up at the tallest pilot and said, "Oh, Quiver, I ran your idea by CC, and she's agreed to give me lessons on how to annoy you. I figure I can't ask for a better teacher."

Quiver heaved a big sigh and moved past Darin to where Lt. Fyndcap stood in the center aisle. He picked her up around the waist and began to carry her toward the door. "Then I'd better put you someplace where you two can't get in contact with each other. Maybe the brig?"

Darin watched incredulously, breathlessly dreading the swift and decisive discipline that was sure to be handed down to Quiver for such treatment of a superior officer. But all that came was some laughter from Lt. Fyndcap and the mild, almost disinterested voice from Commander Mackin at the front of the room saying, "Quiver, kindly set my wingman down. We're almost ready to get going here."

"Blast. And we almost had Quiver in the brig, too," CC muttered.

Quiver put Lt. Fyndcap down lightly on her feet just as Chopper and Flight Officer Moog entered the briefing room and found some seats. Darin still couldn't believe it. If anyone in his training squadron had tried doing something like that to an officer, no matter how playful or innocent the intentions, they would've gotten in trouble so fast that-

In his peripheral vision, Darin saw movement at the front of the room. He looked and saw that Lt. Weas had moved to the front center next to the commander. Commander Mackin took a head count, made a comment to Lt. Weas with a smile and all ten fingers held up, and cleared his throat. "Okay, Coronas, grab a seat. Let's get started," he announced. The loitering pilots scattered to various seats around the room, and Quiver returned to his seat next to Darin. CC sat on the other side of Quiver, and Darin pulled his datapad from a pocket in preparation for taking notes.

A moment later, Mackin began. "As you all know by now, we finally have a new pilot with us, Flight Officer Darin Stanic. Introduce yourselves afterward if you haven't already.

"The mission we've been simming for will be coming up soon, but the exact timeframe is not final yet. Our next sim session will be tomorrow afternoon, and some of you have patrols coming up. Check the schedules. You know the drill."

Quiver leaned over to Darin. "We have a patrol tomorrow," he whispered. "I hope they taught you some tricks in training for how to make patrols less insanely boring."

Darin could only shrug and shake his head slightly at Quiver, then he made a few notes and turned his attention back to what the commander was saying.

The briefing started off straightforward enough, but soon Mackin was getting into topics and details that Darin didn't understand. It seemed like every note he wrote on his datapad was accompanied by two or more questions he'd have to ask Quiver after the briefing was over. Easily half of these subjects, particularly ones regarding maintenance and scheduling, hadn't even been touched on in his training squadron, but all the other Corona pilots seemed to know exactly what Mackin was talking about. Integrating into this squadron seemed to become more and more challenging with every question mark on Darin's datapad. He fought the urge to fidget and tried to concentrate on getting down as much information as he could. He'd just have to figure it all out after the briefing.

A short discussion on the newly reorganized flight groups made Darin realize he didn't even know most of the other pilots' numerical designations or who his flight leader was, though he did learn that the underpowered squadron only had two flights and he and Quiver were in Two Flight. Darin made another note to ask Quiver about it all.

Finally Mackin and Lt. Weas wrapped up the briefing. "And that's it for today," Mackin said. "Anything else from anyone?"

Quiver raised his hand, and Mackin looked dubiously at him. "Yes, Quiver?"

"Yes, sir, I just wanted to remind everyone that a Tatooine Sunburn, even if properly mixed, does not go well with nerf steak."

"Sorry, I should have asked if anyone had anything useful," Mackin said.

"I believe that was useful, sir."

"Pertinent, then."

"Oh. Well, in that case, Squadron-Warming Party tonight at 2100 hours at the Tank. Bring your favorite initiation rite for our rookie."

The pilots were decidedly happy about that. Darin aimed his own dubious look at Quiver, who just shrugged in return with an air of innocence about him.

"Well, I think I'd better end this briefing before something else like that is announced," Mackin said. "And I will see all of you back here tomorrow at 1400 as usual, no matter how hungover you are."

----

 

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"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
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Jedi_Perigrine  960 posts
Registered: Apr '08
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/22/08 9:09pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/22
Woot! First post again! I love the banter between all the squadron mates. I can totally relate to Darin and his sensation of not fitting in. He's getting in over his head...temporarily, anyway. I have little doubt that Darin will begin to fit in soon, but things are likely to get more intense before they get easier.

Great post! I love the way you're creating tension between all the highly realistic characters. Super stuff!

 

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Trika_Kenobi  9463 posts
Registered: Nov '99
46133_Talon Squad
Date Posted: 12/25/08 6:08pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/22
Bring your favorite initiation rite for our rookie.

Oh noes. Poor Darin. Will he survive the night without taking in too much alcohol? Or without returning to his bunk colored purple, or smelling like engine lubricant, or worse?

Here's to hoping the el-oh-el of the night is rather tame... for the rookie's sake. tongue

Great update! Thanks for the read!

Trikes

 

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Current Location: Iraq

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Thumper09  1057 posts
Registered: Dec '01
14731_X-Wings
Date Posted: 12/31/08 4:40pm Subject: RE: Commencement -- Rebel pilot squadfic, OCs, OT era, updated 12/31
Peri: I have little doubt that Darin will begin to fit in soon, but things are likely to get more intense before they get easier.

Wait, we're supposed to make things easier for our characters? Where was I when that memo was sent out? thinking
I'm glad you enjoyed the banter--that's my favorite part of this squadron. tongue Thanks for reading!

Trikes: I wish I would've thought of turning him purple, LOL! That'd've been fun. grin If I ever expand or redo this section I'll need to come to you for some ideas. mischief Thanks for reading!

Happy New Year, everyone. happy Here's a party post in honor of the occasion.

-------

Chapter Two

Darin fiddled with his uniform's waistline as he sat at their table. The Bacta Tank was the main downtime establishment in this section of Crescent Star, and it had as sterile a feel to it as most medical bays did. Now they were almost an hour into his Squadron-Warming Party, during which time his new squadmates had quizzed him about himself and his flying experience, and Darin was beginning to feel somewhat buzzed from the round exchange rite. However, he wasn't yet out of it enough to not be annoyed at having to wear his uniform inside-out.

Throughout the night and between the quizzes and various initiation rites, the other Coronas would often get into rambunctious, tangential discussions with each other, and during those times Darin felt himself turning invisible and forgotten as the alcohol and his quiet shyness took hold more and more. In some ways he was glad to have the attention taken off of himself, especially since he was dead tired now from all the social interaction, the events of the day and the travel lag, but in other ways he felt like an uninvited guest in the midst of it all. Even though most of the pilots had been friendly so far, there was just too much within that tight-knit group that Darin didn't understand, didn't know and couldn't relate to.

It was during one of those tangential discussion times when Darin was poking at his uniform's waistline and looking around the Bacta Tank. He again noticed a woman who was sitting at the bar across the room and discreetly looking at him. When she caught his eye, she grinned bashfully and quickly turned away to whisper to her friend. Darin had noticed her doing this a few times since he and Quiver had arrived, and if he wasn't so burnt out from already meeting so many new people that day he figured he probably would have gone over to talk to her.

Darin sighed and swirled his drink around in his glass. Then again, maybe he wouldn't have tried to talk to her. Every social activity had gotten so much harder since he'd lost his best friend, and the motivation to be more sociable than required just wasn't there anymore. He remembered how even the Horizons had written him off as a loner, although Darin believed that he'd been misdiagnosed.

"What do you think of her?" asked a quiet voice.

Looking up from his drink, Darin saw Quiver conspiratorially leaning over to him. Darin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who?"

Quiver kept his voice soft so it wouldn't carry. "That girl over there who keeps stealing glances at you."

Darin hoped he hadn't been so obvious in looking at her that Quiver had noticed. His gaze returned to her. "She's cute."

"Glad you think so." Quiver's mischievous grin reappeared and his voice strengthened 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 Coronas laughed and settled down for the show as Darin stared at 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 CC cut him off. "Come on, rookie. The sooner you start..."

Chopper piped up with, "Besides, you're not scared, are you?"

Damn right he was. "No, sir, I'm not."

A smug grin spread over Chopper's face, and the lieutenant simply replied, "Prove it."

Darin chewed on his bottom lip, took a deep breath and reluctantly pushed his chair back to get to his feet. The pilots applauded as he stood, and Quiver patted his shoulder. "Atta boy, rookie."

Silently cursing his idiotic, inside-out uniform, he slowly wound his way around tables toward the woman. He couldn't believe what he'd just implicitly agreed to do, and there was no graceful way out of it now. Darin stopped about a meter behind her and 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 glasses together while filling them. That outside noise was all Darin 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. I stutter and I falter and the words just cannot flow. It's a far cry from the confidence I always show." The women in front of him were giggling timidly, and he was getting a wide range of reactions from the other patrons around him. Darin tried to block it out and sang the quick-tempoed song even faster. "I never looked for love before and I swore I never would, but you've got some strange 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 make me act this way."

He stopped after the first verse and refrain, 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 while Darin 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," he said.

All the shyness from the two women evaporated, and they laughed heartily.

Stunned at their abrupt transformation, Darin could only stare. Was his singing that bad, or was something funny about his apology?

The one to whom he had sung, a woman with braided dark hair, said through her laughter, "If your face gets any redder you'll look like a dehorned Devaronian."

"Well, I--" Darin fumbled. "I'm sorry for embarrassing you like that."

"You thought you were embarrassing us?" she asked in amusement. "Who's the one with the landing flare for a face right now?"

"So you're not mad?" Darin ventured hopefully.

"Despite the fact that you've probably had too many drinks and gave in to pressure from your drunken pilot buddies to make a totally forward move on me in a bar, no, I'm not." She smiled. "Relax, rookie. Nothing bad happened to you just now, did it?"

Darin's brow furrowed. How did she know he was a rookie? Was the inside-out uniform the ship-wide indicator of such a status?

Her companion, a woman with a blond ponytail, nudged her. "He actually apologized. Did any of the others do that?"

"I don't think so, but he's newer than most were when they got here, I think." The dark-haired woman grinned. "And they're so sweet when they're brand-new."

"Unless they're one of those 'I'm invincible' guys," the blonde said, nodding. "They're a bit hard to swallow."

"If this past minute is any indication, though, I don't think we'll have to worry about that with this rookie. The hangar might become bearable again unless the Coronas corrupt him."

The blonde sighed. "And they are good at doing that, aren't they."

Suspicious now, Darin's green eyes flickered between the two women. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

The blonde answered that with a smile. "We're members of Quake Squadron, proud partners-in-crime with Corona Squadron."

Darin slowly processed that information through the haze of alcohol and puzzlement. "Quake Squadron? The Y-wings? So--wait, you knew about all this?"

"Yeah, we set this up ahead of time," the dark-haired woman said. "The two squadrons secretly join up for this kind of stuff. 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. Better head on back. Stay sweet, rookie." She smiled, then the two Quakes turned back to the bar.

In bewilderment, Darin slowly retraced his path to his table where he was greeted with backslaps and handshakes and, as the Quake had predicted, drink offers. As per the custom with a round exchange, he bought a drink for each Corona pilot who bought him one. He wondered if this was why Quiver had been so eager to help him get access to his financial and computer accounts after the briefing.

Quiver gave Darin's shoulder a good shake as he sat down. "That was the 57th best singing I've ever heard in my life."

"Right between Huttese love songs and Jawa picket dancing, huh?" Darin asked over the rim of his glass as he went to finish off his old drink. As soon as the liquid hit his tongue he spat it out; where there once had been lomin-ale, now there was something that tasted atrocious.

With a grimace, he pushed his chair away from the table, trying to spit the taste out of his mouth. "What was that stuff?" he finally managed to ask over the renewed laughter of the Coronas. Maybe being invisible and forgotten hadn't been such a bad thing.

CC rapped three times on the table and grinned mischievously. "Just a bit of a strong, nasty drink from Coruscant mixed into your lomin."

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 two of his hands on Darin's shoulders. The young pilot had learned by now that Slurry was a Bilgana, but that fact didn't help much since Darin had never heard of a Bilgana before.

"Do worry not, rookie, I know what'll get that taste awful out of your mouth: it fixes everything else. Barkeep!" Slurry raised one of his lower arms. "A Bacta for my pal, please!"

The bartender cocked an eyebrow at Darin, who wearily held up two fingers. The bartender gave the server droid two drinks, and they were ferried to their table.

Darin picked up his glass and studied it for a moment. The Coronas had told him that 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. "There's nothing wrong with that one, I promise."

Still not convinced, Darin took a trial sip. It wasn't that bad, so he took a bigger one. The taste of a minty alcoholic drink filled his mouth, and the bubbles tickled his nose from inside. He swallowed quickly and coughed, rubbing his nose when it seemed like a sneeze was imminent.

Quiver laughed at his reaction. "You'll be used to that bubbly feeling by the end of the glass."

Sure enough, he was.

*****

A weird rhythmic beeping and a constant throbbing inside his head pounded him awake. Slowly Darin began to think that the beeping sounded like a distorted comlink.

"Someone get comlink," he muttered as he covered his eyes with his arm and tried to go back to sleep. Sleep meant escape from the awful headache.

Neither the headache nor the beeping was letting up, though, and Darin eventually became more aware that whatever he was lying on was hard and uncomfortable. This didn't feel like his bed. He pried one eye open and peeked out from under the cover of his arm. It took a few blinks for his vision to focus, and then he saw that he was lying on what looked like grating.

"Huh?" Darin slowly opened his other eye, which confirmed the first one's findings. He tried to look around a bit more, but it hurt to move his head so he kept motion to a minimum.

A few long seconds later Darin saw that he was lying on a narrow walkway between rows and rows of different pipes running parallel to the floor. The lighting was dim, and the area was fairly quiet. He had no idea where he was.

Even more long seconds later some neurons started firing in his brain. Bits and pieces came back to him from the previous night. That's right--he'd been at a party. He was even still wearing his uniform inside-out. His memory ended at some undetermined point during the party. He still had no idea where he was or how he got here. And blast, his head hurt.

The incessant beeping was getting on his nerves. Darin finally realized that it was his own comlink making the noise, and it took him a few moments to figure out how to reach that pocket with his uniform inside-out. As soon as he managed to grab his comlink, he lay back down, closed his eyes and moaned a bit before turning it on. "Cadet Stanic."

"Finally! Darin, where the hell are you?" the vaguely familiar voice on the other end of the connection said.

"I don't know." It was an effort to get the words out correctly. "Who is this?"

"Who is this?" the voice repeated. "This is your wingman, you nerf herder. Quiver. And what do you mean you don't know where you are?"

"Quiver?" Darin thought for a moment. "Oh. Yeah. I know you."

"Listen, Darin, you'd better shake off that hangover really quick and start concentrating here. The commander wants to see you right away."

Quiver's words hit home even through the mental fog. "Commander? Oh no." Suddenly the headache got even worse. He was in deep trouble for getting so drunk at that party, he was certain of it. "Blast it, what do I do now? How do I get there?!" Darin opened his eyes and struggled to a sitting position.

"I can't help you until you tell me where you are."

"I told you, I don't know where I am!" The temptation to panic was getting stronger by the second. Not only would he be in trouble for his behavior, but every second's delay in reporting to the commander was another nail in his coffin. Mon Cal Cruisers were over a kilometer in length, and if he'd ended up on the far side somehow... "All I see are pipes and fluid lines. No one's around. There aren't any signs or anything!"

"Pipes and fluid lines? Are you in the service access areas or something?" Quiver asked. "You know what, it doesn't matter. Just find a door back to civilization. Once you're in a normal corridor on a normal deck, I can get you back here."

"Okay." Darin pushed himself to his feet, wobbled a bit and steadied himself against a large pipeline beside him to fight off some lightheadedness. Going vertical shot a new throb of pain through his head. Once he had regained his balance, he looked around. He picked a direction at random and began stumbling along the narrow path of grating. The larger, sturdier pipelines became invaluable in helping to keep his balance at first until he remembered how to properly walk.

About ten meters down Darin came to a side door. He went through and ended up in a more roomy maintenance hallway. This one had a solid floor and different sorts of equipment and droids stored along the walls. Looking around, he saw another door a few meters away.

Luckily that one opened into a regular corridor. Darin would have sighed in relief if he wasn't busy flinching from the sudden and painful bright light. Once he could see again, he put the comlink back to his lips. "All right, Quiver, I'm in a normal corridor."

"Good. Where?"

"I don't know."

There was silence for a moment, and then Quiver's even voice came back. "Find out."

Darin looked around but saw no signs posted. There were room numbers by some of the doors, though. He was just about to ask Quiver if those would help when an enlisted Mon Calamari came out of one of the rooms and headed his way down the corridor.

Darin intercepted him. "Excuse me," he said, "can you tell me which way the hangar is?"

The Mon Cal stopped and looked Darin up and down uncertainly, and Darin suddenly wished he'd remembered to put his uniform on correctly. He hoped the Mon Cal wouldn't call Security on him. "I'm new here," he tried to explain. "I got lost during an initiation." It was close enough to the truth for now.

The Mon Calamari muttered something about pilots under his breath, then asked Darin, "Which hangar?"

"The aft hangar. The main one."

The webbed hand pointed back over the Mon Cal's shoulder. "That way. Quickest way is on the trams."

"Thanks." The Mon Cal left, and Darin ducked back into the maintenance hallway for a moment to put his uniform on correctly.

At last he was on his way. Jogging made his head hurt, but it was better than the headache from the stress of thinking that walking was too slow. He only prayed he wouldn't come across some high-ranking officer as he dodged beings in the corridor: he was too desperate and in too much of a hurry to do more than salute as he ran by. But he was in trouble anyway, and he doubted things could get much worse. "Quiver, where are the trams? I'm at--" Darin read off one of the room numbers as he jogged by.

"You're way up there?" Quiver asked. "Oh, never mind, I'll ask later. Okay, first you need to find a turbolift and go down five decks. And you'd better be hurrying, too. I don't want to have to tell Mack that I lost my wingman in less than 24 hours."

"How long ago did he say he wanted to see me?"

"It's been a good ten minutes by now, rookie, and if you are where I think you are it'll be another ten."

Darin cursed and increased his jog to a sprint while he looked for a turbolift. Being twenty minutes late to such a summoning without a damn good excuse in the Horizons would have been unthinkable and unforgivable, and Darin certainly didn't have a damn good excuse this time. Quite the opposite, in fact, he thought with a cringe.

This was not the kind of lasting impression he had wanted to make on his new commanding officer.

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"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
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