Chapter 1: Baptism By Fire

[Bad furday 57]

"A bit of both, I'd hope!" replied Jya, giving Layla a genuine smile.

[Rogue 4]

Layla returned the smile.

"Anytime! It was nice meeting you Atuarre!" Layla said with a polite wave. She found herself relaxing a little. Socialization was good. She wanted to be close to her new squadmates.

Only...they might not be her squadmates for very long. That thought sent a bit of aprehension through her pheromones.

Stang she needed to figure this out.

Edited June 16, 2007 by Rogue

[Bad furday 57]

"What's wrong?" asked Jya, looking at her rather oddly.

[Rogue 4]

"Hm?" Layla asked her, leaning against the side of the simulator. "Nothing's wrong...what would make you think something's wrong?"

[Bad furday 57]

"Err..you looked sort of sad for a minute there...well, either that or I'm seeing things" unconvincingly replied Jya.

She smiled again. " Well, let's fire up the sims!"

Edited June 16, 2007 by Bad furday

[Rogue 4]

"Well---"

The buzzing of the comm on her belt made her pause. "I'm sorry." She said to the two of them as she picked it up. "I need to take this. Just a second I promise."

She took a few steps towards the nose of the simulator before saying, "Hello?...Oh hey baby, what're you doing calling me, huh? I thought I told you I'd call you when I was off-duty."

She was smiling brightly through the exchange. "...huh?" she looked at her wrist chrono. "Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't realize it was so late. It's only noon where I'm at." A pause. "No, Sena...I have to go, I have important things to do right now okay?....I miss you too, and I promise to call you when you wake up tommorrow okay?"

Another pause, and she switched off the comm, smiling brilliantly and running a hand through her hair as she turned back to them. "Sorry about that...and I could absolutely go for a good sim."

Edited June 16, 2007 by Rogue

[Chickenman 9]

Atzena squeezed the trigger, firing her torps. Nima and Atzena's torps struck the launcher with a satisfying explosion. Atzena couldn't bask in the glow of this victory, however, as she noticed some new blips on her sensors.

"Nima, we attracted their attention. There's a flight of TIE Fighters heading right for us!"

***

One of the four TIEs broke out of formation as Kaden vaped the other three with ease. As he was working on them, the lone TIE sneaked up on his tail. It fired.

Edited June 16, 2007 by Chickenman

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

It had taken a few hours, but Atuarre was now confident that she had learned the basics of flying an X-wing. She was no Han Solo by any stretch of the imagination, but she hadn't crashed or gotten vaped for awhile. However, her empty stomach was becoming a distraction, so she decided to head to the cafeteria and try the simulator again tomorrow.

[Drake 53]

A small transport docked at the secret moon base housing the new squadrons. After powering down in its place, the transport dropped its rear loading ramp and released a new predator into the fray.

A tall, lean, and almost mystic-looking character stepped from the loading ramp and onto the floor of the hanger bay. He wore a black flightsuit that bore no insignia or rank. Following him was a short, eight-legged, insect-like droid that was pulling a hoversled behind it. On the sled was a single luggage container and a large, black lockbox that looked ancient.

The man stopped and looked around. Several people milled about their tasks, paying him no mind. Finally one young technician, who almost tripped over the insect droid, stopped.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I almost didn't see your droid! Umm...may I ask who you are?"

The man raised an eyebrow at the bumbling technician and said, "Who I am is not as important as why I am here."

The technician nodded, "Riight. Well...why are you here? Do you have clearance to be here?"

"Even though I easily could have if I really wanted to, I would not have gotten through the base defenses without clearance, so yes. As to why I am here. I am here because I was ordered here by one Admiral Besav. Now, who would I speak to about a commanding officer?"

Cue...anybody?

[Princess 35]

Nima glanced at her sensors. "Copy that Atzena. R4, mark the TIEs 1-12. Atzena, I'm your wing."

[Drake 53]

The young technician took a step away from the newcomer to the base and activated his commlink.

"Captain Tunon, sir, this is Technician Third Grade Marko Poldos. I'm in the docking bay and I have someone here to see you."

There was talking from the other end of the link.

Marko glanced at the man in black then turned back to the comm. "Yes...he is, sir."

The Captain on the other end of the commlink said something else that the man couldn't quite make out.

The technician turned back again. "Umm...is your name Takeshi Beskar?"

The man gave him a sideways smile.

"Yes, it is, sir. Okay...thank you, sir." With that, the technician shut off the comm. "Someone will be right with you, sir."

Takeshi Beskar nodded and watched the tech walk away.

[Rogue 4]

A tall Twi'lek man entered the landing pad a few moments later. His face was marked in a frown, his arms crossed over his chest. A long lekku crossed the front of his neck, mirroring the angle of his left arm. He stood dark against the slate-gray of the new base.

The new pilot had arrived quickly. They must not have added extra jumps into the flight plan as they had with the other pilots and support crew.

Vivid yellow eyes found the new pilot easily. He stood out like a sore thumb in the midst of the technicians. "Takeshi Beskar?"

[Drake 53]

As the Twi'lek approached, Takeshi's recall kicked in, drawing up the information on every member of the squadron. This was Nat Riamor. Lieutenant and Executive Officer.

Takeshi saluted, "That's me, sir."

[Rogue 4]

Lieutenant Riamor returned the salute.

"Then welcome, Flight Officer Beskar. I am Lieutenant Nat Riamor, the Executive Officer of 'Blue' Squadron." he introduced himself, a lekku curling at the end as he spoke. "Captain Tunon would have liked to be here to welcome you, but unfortunatly he is...preoccupied at the moment."

Edited June 18, 2007 by Rogue

[Drake 53]

Takeshi nodded. "Understood, sir. Now...where can I stow my gear?" He motioned to the droid and his luggage.

[Rogue 4]

A long shudder ran up one lekku as he looked at the strange droid and baggage. "Room assignments are going to be posted later in the day. In the meantime..." he turned to the technician that had called earlier. "Technician Poldros, would you mind taking Officer Beskar's belongings to storage with the rest of Blue Squadron's?"

"Yes sir!"

"Thank you." he returned his gaze to the new pilot. "The squadron has gathered in the simulator room. I am headed there now, if you would join me."

[Drake 53]

Takeshi looked at the incestoid droid and muttered something in another language to his companion. "Teroch, nu jurkad, burc'ya."

The little droid, named Teroch, made a sort of odd buzzing noise then followed Poldros with the luggage in tow.

Takeshi noted the strange look from the Twi'lek. "A language I picked up over the years. Teroch and I use it to communicate. He knows Basic and a few others but he knows it's from me if I speak that. Now...I would be happy to join you, sir."

Takeshi followed Nat Riamor to the simulator room.

[Bad furday 57]

Arlan rolled his virtual X wing up and to the right.

Sandwiched between the fighters of Jya and Layla, the three of them streaked towards the small moon.

An Imperial garrison was located there, complete with a TIE landing field. With Atuarre heading off to the cafeteria, the three of them were left to take it out.

"Alright, form up on me, Blues" said Jya in a cool, calculating voice. When she was at the controls of a ship, it was like she was an entirely different person.

"We'll strafe the landing field, and take out as many of the TIEs as we can. Then, we'll circle back and attack the main complex."

[Rogue 4]

"Copy that." You could almost hear Layla's grin behind the comm as she pulled her X-wing easily over in formation, just to the right of Jya's. "If we take the TIE's out before they can launch this'll be sweeter than rhyscate."

[Bad furday 57]

Arlan brought his fighter to the left of Layla's. He waved, then realised that the sim wouldn't show it on the other's canopy screens.

"Perhaps they'll have some in the cafeteria...we should check it out when we're done with this!" he suggested.

[Rogue 4]

"Absolutely! I doubt it though. We're more likely to find rehydrated bean paste." Layla laughed, looking over at his X-wing. "You're doing good over there, a bit shakey, but not bad for your first time."

Okay, a lot shakey...but he'll get better I'm sure.

The Zeltron reached over, flicking a switch. "Power up your turbolasers. Sensors say the landing pad's not far off. Ready for an attack run?"

[Drake 53]

Takeshi trailed Nat Riamor into the simulator room. He looked around at the modules and the handful of active ones.

Lieutenant Riamor flicked a lekku and motioned his hand toward the other members of the squadron. "Feel free to join them. I have some business to attend to now."

Takeshi nodded, "Yes, sir." He studied the different scenarios his fellow pilots were running then chose a simulator next to Layla Nasrin.

After getting everything set up to his liking, Takeshi activated the currently running program and joined in the fun.

[Bad furday 57]

"Let's go!" cried Jya.

She sent her Xwing streaking down the plain, firing lasers at the TIE fighters parked below.

Behind her, Alrlan and Layla were doing the same.

Coming to the end of the landing strip, Jya sent her Xwing into a steep climb, then rolled over and focused on the main complex.

"I've got the main building in sight now" she said, giving her instruments a glance. "It looks like they're scrambling whatever we didn't get on the ground to attack us."

Edited June 18, 2007 by Bad furday

[Rogue 4]

Nat looked over the simulator bay, walking over to the main controls for the simulators and taking a seat. He could watch the action from here. he was particularly interested in one of the scenarios.

"Copy that, Jya." she said, manuevering to keep in formation with the other woman.

"Blue Group," Layla said, as a new blip hit the sensors.

"I've got something new on radar, a friendly, about 200 klicks behind our formation. X-wing class. Is that you joining in, Atuarre?"

Edited June 18, 2007 by Rogue
moved post to fit better

[Drake 53]

Takeshi smiled to himself, "Not quite, pilot. My name it Takeshi Beskar but you can call me Tak. I was called in to cover for one of your mates while they were grounded." Knowing full well that he was talking to the very person who was grounded, Takeshi's smile grew wider. "I hope you don't mind my intrusion. It has been a few years since I've flown one of these things."

Tak pulled into formation with the other fighters.