Pilots of The Rebel Alliance

[starmark2k]

Star Wars

Storm Front

 

The rebel alliance struck it’s first fatal blow against

the tyrannical Empire by destroying it’s newest super

weapon, The Death Star. News spread across all the

worlds of the galaxy and support quickly grew to the

Rebellion’s cause.

 

Two years after the destruction of the Death Star a new

class of star ship was stolen by the rebels. The ship

was a new highly advanced stealth cruiser with two large

hanger decks that the Rebellion filled with it’s own fighter

craft. Now the rebellion can strike the Empire with a force

of fighters anywhere in the galaxy.

 

Mothma’s Arrow rested in orbit around an uncharted planet within the mid rim. The Ship had dropped out of hyperspace when they started experiencing problems with cloaking device. They had been hiding out of the empires regular patrol routes while the mechanics attempted to fix it.

 

Captain Thray walked across the Hanger deck and over to his fighter, he looked over the ship and stroked his hand across it’s side. It had been his fighter since he was first given an X-wing after the battle Yavin and it had served him well, many TIE fighters had been destroyed by it’s guns. The last month it had been given a new paint job, blue stripes replaced the old red ones and the hurricane symbol planted on one wing. His fighter would be like a Hurricane, destroying every Imperial who cared to get in his way.

 

Thray had been on Mothma’s Arrow longer than most of the crew as he was apart of the party that had liberated it from imperial hands and after that he was charged with its protection for the months it took for the engineers to convert it for rebellion use.

 

Xander sat on an ammo crate a deck hand had left on the floor by Hurricane 1 and he began to look at his wedding ring. He had not taken it off since the day he heard of Alderaan’s destruction, a constant reminder of his love for his family and why he was going to kill every Imperial he could while he still lived.

[Rogue Nine]

Pulling himself out of one of his X-wing's Incom 4L4 fusial thrust engines, Cole Carithlee straightened up into a sitting position, wiping his greasy hands with a rag. He'd spent the good part of the past few hours tinkering around with the innards of his fighter's sublight drives, determined to get every little bit he could out of them. With the Rebel Alliance being as strapped for credits as it was, sometimes they couldn't afford the best equipment. Case in point, Cole had salvaged two of his X-wing's engines from crashed fighters. Remarkably, they were the two that had rarely given him problems; it was the two factory-manufactured ones that were finicky. Go figure.

 

Setting his booted feet on the ground, he lurched off the mechanic's plinth, turned and ducked under the locked S-foils and looked up towards his cockpit. Jigen, his R2 astromech droid, turned its domed head to focus its photoreceptor on Cole. "Jiggsy," he called out, "fire up engine 4 and give me a readout."

 

The little droid chirped an assent and did as it was told. Cole grabbed a datapad hanging out of his cockpit by a cable and studied it intently as the engine roared to life. A small smile crossed his face as he read the test results. "I think that's as nominal as we're going to get it, eh?" he told Jigen. The droid beeped at him curtly, then flashed a message across the datapad. Cole laughed as he read it. "Yes, I know you're overdue for your oil bath, you little prima donna. Engage the shutdown sequence and I'll get you out of there."

 

--------

 

After dropping Jigen off at the droid mechanic's, Cole walked over to the lift and hit the call button, intent on heading up to the mess hall for a hot cup of caf. As he waited, he glanced over across the hangar at his commanding officer, Captain Xander Thray, sitting next to his fighter. The captain looked as if he had a lot on his mind, and Cole wasn't surprised if that was the case. Xander was a good man who had had a lot of bad things happen to him. There were a lot of people like that in the Rebellion and each dealt with it in his or her own way. Xander's method of coping was to sit in the cockpit of his X-wing and destroy as many enemies as he was able, as if he could regain some of what he lost to the Empire by doing so. Cole felt for the captain and would have liked to have offered his support, but his status as a former Imperial held him back. He wasn't quite sure if Xander trusted him yet, but he was determined to prove his worth in whatever mission they were thrown into.

 

The lift rumbled to a halt and the doors slid open. Cole stepped inside and hit the button for the mess deck.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Trey emerged from the deflector shield generator of his X-wing, grunting as he did so and throwing a wrench at an unlucky Gonk droid passing by. The pilot's R4-droid whistled and beeped sadly in response before wheeling itself to the large crate placed next to the starfighter. Supplies and repair parts for the X-wing. The regular check-up package what the Rebel Alliance could afford with rations and tibanna gas being the only fresh produces. Most of the spare parts were even now used or otherwise faulty that were afterwards repaired by the mechanics, even if the Rebels by now had many factory planets supporting them. The astromech came back after fetching what was needed and Trey jumped onto the wing of the fighter to receive the part.

 

"This thing keeps wearing these converters like crazy. Start loading up the gas, power cells and rations, will ya? I want them loaded by the time I get this darn shield working like it's supposed to" he said and climbed back up to install the part. He had been struggling with the deflector shield since Hoth when one of the Star Destroyers' ion cannons fried the shields right before the jump into hyperspace. Not he or the mechanics on the ship knew what caused the massive wear to the converters and a request had been made to Starfighter Command that the ship was transported to Incom for proper maintenance or that the shield generator was replaced as a whole. No word had come back yet from them, so they just had to work with what they got.

 

---

 

A Duros man sat under his Y-wing, checking the alignment of the blasters and the proton torpedo chutes. The mechanics had already loaded the ship up with all the tibanna gas and proton torpedoes they had received orders to put in the ship. They had also taken care of all the little adjustments and problems that were routine maintenance after a flight. Such things as rations and weapon alignment were always up to the pilot and how he wished to modify them to suit his own wishes.

 

Thelor climbed out of under the ship and patted the R5-astromech on the dome.

"You've done a great job. Take a break or something" the Duros man said in his native dialect before walking off. Heading for the hangar bay doors, he looked at the stars and the planet showing out of it. He missed his home. He didn't have a real reason for being in the Rebel Alliance, but when asked why he was there he usually lied that he was bothered by the xenophobia of the Empire. In truth he just wanted something to do with his life. He would be hunted by the Empire anyhow, so why not give them a reason for it as well.

[Quist]

Noelle M'si strode into the mess hall, a towel around her neck. She rubbed her damp hair absentmindedly as she approached the counter. Smiling at the galley worker, she greeted, "Good morning, Grembae!"

 

The elderly woman behind the counter returned the younger's smile. "Good morning to you, Noelle," she replied. "You're very bright and chipper today."

 

"Of course," Noelle said. "Is there any reason I wouldn't be?"

 

Grembae chuckled. "Hopefully any such reason will never come to pass," she told the young Rebel pilot. In her many years serving the Rebellion, she'd never come across a soldier who was as happy and upbeat as Noelle. The cheery brunette almost always had a smile across her pretty face and never seemed to be depressed about much at all. "Can I talk you into trying out some Tarisian pancakes today?" she asked Noelle. "Maybe with some nerf milk?"

 

Noelle continued dabbing at her hair with the towel. "No, though that does sound delectable. Just the usual for me, please."

 

Grembae sighed as she reached over to place a tray in front of Noelle. On it sat a protein bar and a glass of water. The older woman sighed. "No wonder you keep that figure of yours so slim," she said, looking Noelle up and down.

 

"I try," Noelle replied, blushing a little as she picked up her tray. "Have a great day, Grembae!"

 

"You too," Grembae called out as Noelle headed off.

 

She chose a seat next to the long viewport overlooking the planet surface. Settling down into her seat, she was about to take a bite of her protein bar when the doors to the mess hall swooshed open and admitted a fellow pilot of hers, Second Lieutenant Cole Carithlee. Putting her food down, she waved her arm and called out, "Oy, Cole! Want to come eat with me?"

[Rogue Nine]

Cole hadn't taken more than a few steps into the mess hall when someone called out his name.

 

"Oy, Cole! Want to come eat with me?"

 

He turned his head in the direction of the voice. Sitting at a table near the viewport was Lieutenant Noelle M'si, leader of the Mothma's Arrow A-wing group, Lightning Flight. Cole had only met her twice before, but both times were quite pleasant, as she was an extremely upbeat person. It also helped that she was Hapan and thus rather attractive. Unconsciously smoothing his ruffled hair, he called back in reply, "Sure Lieutenant! Just let me get something and I'll be right there."

 

He shuffled over to the counter quickly and ordered a tray of food. As the elderly woman heaped braised nerf onto his plate, he could've sworn she'd winked knowingly at him. Slightly perturbed, he picked up his tray and walked over to where Noelle was. "Good morning, Lieutenant," he said by way of greeting as he slid into the seat opposite from her.

 

(( Oh, and Happy Belated Birthday, Quist. ))

[Grace]

Katalin 'Flash' Jaye sat alone atop her A-wing in the hangar in quiet contemplation of the past couple of weeks. The young Kiffar woman had to admit that, despite the drastic changes that had taken place years before, this transfer to the Mothma's Arrow was one of the hardest changes to adjust to. Kat had grown used to flying with larger squadrons, which left a little room for greater anonymity. But here, everyone at least knew her current name. For someone who'd spent years trying to forget herself and to change who she was, this was unsettling.

 

Still more unsettling was that there were only three A-wings, two pilots besides Kat. And that was the real challenge. Kat understood that they ought to be able to trust one another and to predict one another's movements in action to an extent. But for Katalin Jaye, trust was not something that came easily. She still remembered slavery all too well, remembered the lack of trustworthiness in sentient beings, and she hated the idea that trust could make her vulnerable to betrayal again.

 

So she sat here, when she knew others would be eating. With a frown, Kat realized that she was hungry as well. Somewhere at the back of her mind, a little voice challenged her, Go eat with them... even if you say nothing. Kat didn't like that little voice, but she found herself shifting her weight, rolling smoothly and dropping lightly to her feet on the hangar floor.

 

Kat walked slowly to the mess hall and froze immediately inside the doors. There they were; the two people Kat knew she should be able to trust were just sitting down, but Kat had such difficulty in letting herself go. Her confidence wavered and for a moment, she considered backing out and instead coming back to the mess hall later. She'd been without food before; she could handle it for another hour...

[Quist]

(( Thanks, R9! ))

 

"None 'o that 'Lieutenant' guff, Cole," Noelle told him, leaning forward and smiling. "We're not on duty. You can call me Noelle." She shot him a playful look. "Or is it because you'd rather not be too familiar with an A-wing speed jockey like myself?"

 

Before Cole could respond, the doors to the mess hall opened up again, admitting yet another pilot. Noelle perked up even more; this was one of her people. "Speaking of speed jockeys..." she muttered surreptitiously to Cole, then stood up and waved. "Oy! Kat! C'mere and sit with us!"

[Jedi Atomic]

Darrick was finfishing up his patrol around the Mothma's Arrow with a few other fighters. "Ha I won." Darrick said into the other fighters he had been patroling with.

"Yeah that's because you have a A-wing." the X-wing pilot said.

Darrick looked at him only a few yards from him, giving a thumbs up. "Better luck next time!"

'You have a A-wing though, I'm never going to win."

"Well that sucks. You should transfer."

"No way Dak. I picked the X, I'm sticking with it."

"Whatever you want. Well see ya later my shifts done."

"See ya later Dak."

 

Darrick made his way towards the hangar. He slowed down as he entered it and then switched the trigger for landing gear. The gear formed out and touched the floor of the recently waxed hangar. He opened the cockpit of the fighter, and started climbing out. He took his white helmet off and set it in the cockpit seat, and started climbing down. He noticed his captain by his ship and walked over to him. "Your married? Who's the lucky person? I've been here less than a month and didn't notice that."

[Black Knight of Keno]

Trey jumped off his ship and wiped sweat from his forehead on onto the back of his hand. He was smudged with oil and grease and you wouldn't think he was nothing more than a peasant or slave, taking he was dressed in his old clothes which he kept as rags when he needed them. On his belt was a blaster as well as a tool kit. The pilot looked at his R4-unit and wiped his hands on his shirt.

"Take care of the loading, then report to the mechanics for your oil bath. I'll be n the lounge if you need me. And don't start a fire like last time" he said ad pointed a finger at the booping and whistling droid that tried to deny such accusations.

 

Only moments later 'Brows' entered the lounge and looked around. A lot of fellow pilots and a few mechanics. He walked to the counter and looked around again before turning to Gembae.

"Give me two portions this time, Gembae" he said, nodding towards the Kiffar woman. The elderly woman looked over his shoulder to see her as well and nodded.

"Sure thing. You be careful now out there" she said and filled two trays that the Chev took with a grateful smile. He had noticed that one of the lieutenants was trying to get the Kiffar woman to go over there, but before she could move off her seat, the Chev sat down in the same table and slid the other tray to her.

 

"You looked hungry. The name's Trey. Trey Traddoy. Some call me Brows thanks to my... Well... Eyebrows" he said and glanced upwards to note the heavy brows. He smiled warmly to Katalin before extending his arm across the table for a shake.

[Grace]

Kat cringed inwardly at being noticed by Noelle, but she smiled faintly and waved in return. Now that she'd been seen, she couldn't be blatantly rude and sit somewhere else, but before she could even move to get food someone else sat at the nearest table and shoved a second tray in her direction. Startled, Kat looked down at him as he introduced himself and commented that she looked hungry. With another wave to Noelle, this one more apologetic, Kat sat across from the man and shook his hand.

 

"Katalin Jaye," she introduced. "As for nicknames, I have many. Kat, Lin, Jaye, and Flash are the more common ones." She gestured to the food. "Thanks."

[Rogue Nine]

Cole chewed at a piece of nerf as Noelle tried to flag down another pilot, but was thwarted by a Chev man in a flightsuit. As she sat down looking a little dejected, Cole swallowed and looked at her again. "Not at all, Noelle," he said to her, answering her previous question. "The A-wing's a mighty fine ship, I'll give you that. I'm cross-certified for it, so you'll hear nothing but good things from me about its pilots."

 

He pointed a fork over at the two pilots. "Besides, that's one of my guys over there with one of yours, so clearly they've got no problem associating with each other."

[starmark2k]

((OCC@ Jedi Atomic- The only three X-Wing Pilots on the ship are X-Ray, Deuce and Brows. Don’t worry about editing just keep that in mind for the future.

 

@Quist- if you still want to do a Y-wing pilot go ahead.))

 

Casey Tey was dressed down in her sweats in the small Gym area of the ship, she was not alone and a couple of crew were also working out in their down time. She was currently dancing around a dangling punching bag occasionally punching or kicking it as hard as she could. She had to keep fit as a strong body helped with a strong mind that she needed when trying to target a specific subsystem with a bomb while burning at full speed.

 

She had come to the end of her workout and grabbed a towel to dry her self off, after a good workout she decided to get some food and packed her towel away. The Zabrak walked into the mess hall and saw some of the other pilots eating their food, she walked over the counter and got some food.

_____________________________________________________

 

Xander continued to stare down at his ring, trying to remember pass the hate to the good times he had with wife and his children. It was lost, all he could remember is hearing of Alderaan’s destruction, the shock, the anger and hate. He Vowed on that day, at that very moment that the Empire would pay for the death of all he held dear.

 

"Your married? Who's the lucky person? I've been here less than a month and didn't notice that."

 

Xander came out of his own trance and looked up at the young A-Wing pilot, He calmed himself down quickly and stood up. “I use to be, I don’t like to talk about it.

 

Dak hadn’t been apart of the Rebel movement very long but had already made his mark on the higher ups, it’s how he got assigned to the ship, so far the younger pilot hadn’t had the chance to prove his worth as a pilot in storm squad, but no one had, they hadn’t been sent on a mission since Mothma’s arrow had been put into service.

 

Other than the occasional patrol fighter patrol the pilot had been sitting on their hands waiting for something to do. This annoyed Xander more than most probably, time spent not shooting down the imperials was time his family went un-avenged and that was not good.

 

“So how was the patrol.” Xander asked.

[Jedi Atomic]

(Wait... what? Where is Xander then?)

 

“I use to be, I don’t like to talk about it."

 

"Sorry." Darrick looked down, thinking she obviously had died or is somewhere unretreivable.(sp) He didn't want to upset his captain so didn't say anything else.

 

“So how was the patrol?” Xander asked.

 

"The patrol? The patrol... umm Me and the fellow raced around the ship a few times. I obviously won because they were to scared to push their X's. It's not like they can damage the engine to where it'll take longer than something to happen here in this sector. Heck, the last combat I remember was a year ago and I didn't even shoot any imps out of the sky." he said as he looked up to Xander.

 

He paused for a second. "Hear about any news of action? Anything we could get involved with? I'm ready for some action. It's like if I had a gun I would start shooting right now."

[starmark2k]

"Word has it that the Alliance higher ups have something planned, but I can’t say any more than that until we get closer to the OP.” Xander replied. “We’re all getting a bit frustrated having to sit on our hands waiting for us to get a Go.”

 

Captain Thray looked around the room and noticed some of the droids driving around fixing up the fighters, one wizzed right by them beeping something about getting an Oil bath. “C’mon Let’s get some food.”

[Jedi Atomic]

“C’mon Let’s get some food.” Xander told Darrick.

 

Darrick grinned, "Sure could really go for some food right now." He looked down at his stomach and put a hand over it as it grumbled. He followed Xander as he watched other people walk by in the opposite direction. He knodded to them and eventually came to the doors of the bar. He walked in before Xander but stood there looking around. He noticed Katalyn as she was the only facing his direction. He had met her a couple times before this but never really talked to her. Darrick looked at Xander, "The guys are over here." He started walking over to the table.

[Black Knight of Keno]

"You're that slave girl, right?" he asked, waving his fork towards her with a knowing look.

"I've heard about you from the A-wing pilots" he said before putting the fork back in the food and smiling.

"Nice to meet someone with a slave past. How long have you been around on the Arrow?" he asked and took a bite out of the food. It was unusual to find a pilot who had been a slave and it was ever so pleasant to share the stories of escape with someone. And the sharing of pilot mission stories was just as pleasant. Everyone in the Rebel Alliance had a reason to be there, or so they said, and the former slaves were usually the minority of them.

[Grace]

Kat had a bite of food halfway to her mouth when Trey mentioned her 'slave past' and she nearly dropped it in shock. She scowled ever so slightly. "Slave past?" she echoed, her voice low. "Who told you that?"

[Black Knight of Keno]

"Word goes around. Especially with A-wing aces like you" he said before munching down some more food. The expression on her face was both revealing and amusing to 'Brows', making his eyes lock onto her expression while he was eating. The man's stomach was growling after a hard day of fixing his ship, exhaustuing him both mentally as physically.

[Grace]

For another moment, Kat did not speak. Then, she shook her head slowly and answered the question he'd asked before. "I've been here about two weeks, same as everyone else." She cocked her head slightly to the right. "I suppose next you intend to ask me of my reasons for accepting the position."

[Jedi Atomic]

Darrick walked up to the table Katlyn and Trey sat. "Mind if we join you?" Darrick looked at Katlyn then at Trey. "Brows! Whatcha you guys talking about?"

[starmark2k]

Bwoop! Bwoop!

 

Sirens and sounded and alarm lights began to flash throughout the ship, Xander looked around the room and went over to a small window. Looking out side he could just about make something out in the very far distance.

 

“All pilot’s report to fighters and stand by for launch, All Pilot’s report to fighters and stand by for launch.” A voice Ordered through the Speakers.

 

“Come on, Move like you have a purpose.” Xander shouted to all the pilots in the mess hall as he ran out and towards the hanger. The mess wasn’t far from the Hanger so it took less than a few minuets to get into it, As Xander was already wearing his jump suit he dived straight into his fighter and put on his helmet.

 

“Hurricane 1 to Control, I need a Sit-rep.” He requested as the ship came to life with the console light flashing.

 

“Xander we have a single Imperial Dreadnaught inbound, It launched one squad of TIEs, one Squad of Interceptors and three TIE Bombers.” The familiar voice of Chrysler Informed. “Fighter’s will be on us in 5 minuets, The Dreadnaught is around 10 minuets away.”

 

“Aye sir should be no problem but just in case I suggest you hyperspace out of here and We’ll meet up after we dealt with the Imps.” Xander Advised.

 

“We Can’t, The cloak and hyperspace are connecter to the same power systems, which had to be shut down for repairs.”

 

“Great, So I have to Destroy fighters, a Capital ship and protect the Arrow.” Xander sighed sarcastically.

 

“Yeah, and the shields are on the same power system as the Cloak and Hyperspace.”

 

“Got any Good News?”

 

“You’re clear for launch.”

 

“Good.” Xander replied switching his comm unit to the other fighter. “All Storm are clear to get form up on me when you’re in the black.”

 

Xander then launched out of Mothma’s Arrow and slowly flew towards the oncoming enemies.

_________________________________________________________________

 

Casey Followed Captain Thray out of the room and ran over to the Locker room and quickly threw on her Pilot’s jump suit. This didn’t take long and she was soon strapping her self into her ship and placing her Helmet that had been modified to fit her horns on.

 

As she was given permission to launch from both the Captain and the Ships Officers she launched following Hurricane 1 out into space.

[Quist]

Noelle had been ready to chat Cole up on his A-wing experience when the klaxons went off and warning lights splashed crimson on the walls. "Ain't that always the way?" she asked Cole with a rueful smirk. She downed the rest of her protein bar and water in one go, then quickly stood up. "Gotta go earn our keep," she remarked to him cheerfully. "Watch yourself out there!"

 

Weaving over to the table where Darrick and Kat sat, she grabbed them both by their collars and hauled them gently but firmly up. "C'mon Lightnings, let's get a move on! We'll never hear the end of it from the captain if we're the last ones out!"

[Jedi Atomic]

Darrick forced himself free from his lightning lieutenant. "I'm on it." He started walking ahead of Noelle He was the only one that had his flightsuit on so he jumped straight into his A-wing. He ignited the engine and flipped a few switches and began floating in the hangar.

 

He entered space, "Lightning 2 out." he looked around as he got out of the hangar quickly. He noticed a X-wing a few meters ahead of him. "Captain that you? You made it out quickly. Ready to kill some Imps! Cuz I am! Been waitin' for this for a long time!" He pushed the throttle to catch up to Xander.

 

"Forming up." He pulled up right beside Xander.

[Grace]

((Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Darrick and Kat form up on Noelle, not on Xander? A-wings with A-wings, X-wings with X-wings etc. ...))

 

 

"Aye, lieutenant," Kat answered in a slightly stiff tone, shrugging easily away from Noelle's grip on her collar. She sprinted to the hangar and powered on her A-wing. She pulled out a little slow to give Noelle time to get ahead so the Lightning group could form up.

[Jedi Atomic]

Darrick started flying around the ship awaiting orders from Lightning 1. He looked where the dreadnaught was and then the TIE's that were getting closer than ever. "Hurry up guys. I'm getting trigger happy here." He said hat anxiously with his hand over the trigger, twitching.