Burning Summer

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"] [member="Asmus Janes"] (if he wants in)

ooc/ this is meant to be a thread open to short scenes or clips from the lives of wraith squadron members. Feel free to set the scene or change it. Feel free to jump in and out of this thread whenever you need to or change the time period to match whatever public threads are relevant.

Aboard the http://starwarsrp.net/topic/102448-subversion-class-stealth-carrier/

"Naomi," Jay Wilson's voice seemed a bit off. Feet squirmed from beneath the belly of her starfighter where she was working. Warm splashes of oil dripped down her freckled face as she brought the hydrospanner up. Hazels squinted in the light provided by her BB8 unit.

"What? Kinda busy here." The teen remained blissfully unaware of her squad mate's intentions.

"You and I fly good together. You know? And I was just wondering if you-uh..." he paused.

Chin tipped up to her chest as she caught a glance at his shifting boots, the only thing she could see from her vantage point. A drop of oil splattered on her noise and she cursed. "Dagum Jay. Huh?"

"Want to go out? Sometime?" He bumbled ahead.

The teen remained oblivious. "Aren't we all going out tonight to celebrate that First Order victory?"

"Well yeah. But I meant just you and I. And not everyone. You know?"

She froze, hydrospanner still hissing and sparking in her hand. Hazels finally managed to blink. The teen gulped. The only panicked thought swirling through her mind was that he didn't know she was 16!!

 

[Adder]

Incidentally, Adder was tinkering with her own baby just a row over, waist deep in the ion engine. Like the pirates she used to chase across the hyperlanes, the redhead was clutching her weapon of choice between her teeth – the hydrospanner. The bluish cooling liquid was smeared all across her forearms, pricking her skin. She was sweating like a pig, trying to fix a damper, and desperately holding back a guffaw.

Because feth, that was a deafening silence if she’d ever heard it.

The tool clattered on the ground as Adder pulled out, laughing loud enough to compromise their stealthy presence in the system.

“Shet, Wilson,” the cop cackled, wiping dirty gloves into her baggy pants as she traipsed between the strewn bits of machinery. “That was as smooth as riding a stripped down Zephyr-G with a missing turbine and a snapped steelton cable through a Force-damned sandstorm.”

“You ‘aight down there, Freckles?” Adder asked, snickering, as she poked the other redhead with the tip of her boot.


[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]

"Damn, Red," Wilson muttered. "I didn't think anyone else was around."

A snort left the teen's freckled nose from beneath her bird. Adder to the rescue! For the moment, she refused to move or come out. Jay seemed to get the hint. "Alright well, just let me know. I'll-uh-see you later Freckles."

Her voice cracked a bit. "By-ee." Eyes squeezed closed for a moment and she watched his footsteps retreat. Hands reached up and with a shove, she pulled herself free. "I'm glad you were around," she breathed, shoving a grease-covered hand through her coppery-hair and across her freckled brow. "It's just. I don't think he knows how...," she shut her trap as fast as she opened it. Adder didn't know either. She knew Asmus suspected her age. But, well, she didn't know if Adder would tell. And she couldn't afford to be kicked outta the squad now. Her younger brothers were counting on her for an income.

And selfishly, Naomi loved to fly.

 

[Adder]

“Don’t sweat it, kiddo,” Adder grinned as she offered the younger woman a hand. Pulling the other redhead to her feet, the cop quirked a brow at her flushing cheeks.

“Knows how what? How hot you get under the collar thinking of Flight Officer Greer instead?” She paused, playing up the speculative detective stare. “Or is it our shet-eating Wing Commander that has you crossing your legs, hmm?”

Adder leaned in with narrowed eyes, then winked and retreated in a blink. “You’re gonna be fine, Freckles. Give it a year or so ‘till you… snrk, round out, and you’ll have all the boys in the Squadron eating from your… mm. Hand.”

In times like these, she wasn’t beyond laughing at her own jokes – even if they were tied for the worst spot with Asmus’ pick-up lines. Because hell, if you couldn’t crack a smile in wartime, might as well put a slug between the eyes and quit before the bantha poodoo hit the thrusters for real.

Tipping her head to the side, Adder cast a glance over her shoulder. “You coming? I’m raiding the mess for their caf’s worth. It’s... 900 hours and I still haven’t had any – must be coming down with something serious.”


[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]

"What?" Hazels widened something fierce as she was teased relentlessly by her only other female squad-mate. A grease-covered palm playfully shoved Adder on the shoulder, trying to shove the young woman out of her business and small bubble of personal space. Plus, Naomi didn't like being under the radar much especially from an ex-cop-detective-whatever-she-was. Made her nervous the older red-head would find out the truth.

"Our shet-eating commander is way too karking old. And stuck up. And has horrible taste in music," the teen grinned a shet-eating grin of her own.

Hands wiped down her smudge-covered coveralls that were always a bit too big for her shorter frame. "Yah, yah. I'm comin."

A snort left her freckled-nose as she caught up to Adder with a quick shuffle of her footsteps, fingers jamming the hydrospanner back in its proper place in the toolbelt around her waist. "And I heard Greer was hot and heavy for a certain ace mechanic." The teen whistled and hip bumped Adder as they walked.

"You think they sprang for real cream this time?"

 

[Adder]

Adder shrugged, grinning right back at the other redhead. “Too bad for Greer then. That ace mechanic been racin’ for the other team since forever.”

She snorted, throwing back her head. “Yeah, fat chance. Right after they give us a bigger budget and new stealth tech.”

Their brisk pace brought them to the mess in but a few minutes, long strides clicking across the floor. The tables were mostly empty by now, with a lonely janitor robot picking up the trash left by hurrying pilots.

Another was buzzing about at the sprawling caf machine, replacing the decimated reserves. Adder beelined for her target, practically tripping over her own legs in her haste.

It was only after a steaming cup was warming her work-stiffened fingers that a modicum of coherence returned to the cop. She turned to Naomi with a milder smile, breathing in deeply of the fresh aroma.

“Where’d you learn to fly, Freckles? You pulled some rad moves back with those pirates over Seltos.”


[member="Naomi Carolina"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]

The teen hadn't gotten used to the taste of cafe yet. So she settled on a can of fizzy-pop and a bag of extra large chips. Jay always wondered how someone so small could pack away so much food. Naomi would just smile and munch away.

Wandering over with Adder, she plopped down across from the older woman at one of the long, cafeteria style tables that had certainly seen better days. Chair squeaked when her butt hit it. "Thanks," a bit of shyness crossed her grease-smudged freckled-face. "Hard to keep up with you, actually."

She grinned and pushed up her sleeves a bit more, plopping a chip in her mouth. "Born and raised on Barkesh. My dad taught me everything. He was a mechanic for the Alliance but died about five years ago, during some Sith incursion. I picked up the rest on my own. Picture riding swoop bikes in the cave systems in the Barkesh canyons. Didn't say I was the smartest."

Another twitch of her lips.

"What about you? How'd you end up with SIS and the Alliance?" With a start, the teen realized she'd never really asked or found out before.

 

[Adder]

Nothing but caf and Adder existed for those few moments when the first sip of the dark, hot beverage filled her mouth.

Pure. Bliss.

She shook it off, taking another swig of the cafeteria swill. It would have to do. The redhead just cracked a smile at the compliment, content to warm her belly as the younger girl continued.

At the mention of the Sith, her brow furrowed – that story sounded mighty familiar, just set a couple decades later. Fething Sithspit.

“Shet, Freckles,” Adder grinned, shaking her head. “Sounds like my kinda course – race you sometime?”

“That’s one long-ass story, kid. Not sure we have the time before morning patrol…” she glanced down at her datalogger, then shrugged. “Oh, what the hell. I can tell you the rest on the way.”

“I’m a Coruscanti kid, mom and pop were shopkeepers. We lived down in one of the rougher districts, so it was either join a gang or get bullied… and I never let anyone shet on my head. There was a bunch of local swoopers fething around, I liked speed…” she shot Naomi a crooked grin, “you know how it goes.”

“Before I knew it, I was running with them. Courier stuff mostly – I knew all the fastest routes through the districts. Nobody could beat my time.”

“‘Cept for the cops, of course.”


[member="Naomi Carolina"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]

She stuffed the rest of the chips in her mouth and clattered to a stand. Fingers curled around the fizzy-pop, not ready to part with the sweet liquid. "Yeah, I'll race you," her smile faltered into a frown. "If we ever get my home back from the First Order."

She strode with Adder back up thr familiar path to the debriefing room. There, they'd get their flight assignments for the day. "Growing up in a city world. Can't even imagine. I'm used to the wide open spaces."

Fingers tucked wayward strands of coppery hair behind her ears.

"So what? You get busted by the cops or something?"

The teen still didn't know Adder was one. Of so, she might be been a bit on edge about being caught in the whole being a minor thing.

 

[Adder]

“Hey,” she said, nudging the shorter girl with a light elbow, “we’re Wraith. Behind enemy lines, amrite?” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, but hey – fake it ‘till you make it, right?

Plopping her ass down in her usual seat, Adder sipped at the cool dregs of her caf, ready to spend the rest of her morning licking the sour aftertaste out of her mouth.

“Or something. I was way underage, so they gave me two options. Go to juvie… or go undercover.” She shook her head, a disbelieving curl to her lips. “Shet. I’d never been so scared in my life, but feth if it wasn’t a choice at all. I ended up taking the job, and they they ended up taking down the swoop gang.”

Narrowing her eyes, Adder poked her tongue out as she took aim – and goal! The crushed remains of her disposable cup landed smack-dab in the bin on the other side of the room.

“And that’s fifty-three. Not that I’m keeping score.”

“But yeah. That was kinda the end of my racing days, hah. I finished the academy a few months after… never saw my folks happier.” She shrugged. “Guess that whole mess turned out better than any of us were expecting.”

A bitter smile crossed her face. “But you know, universe always evens it out. Gig went to shet right fast after that.”


[member="Naomi Carolina"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]

"Yeah, behind enemy lines," lopsided grin faltered. What she wouldn't give to get an assignment back home. Maybe see if her Ma and missing brother were still alive. Just maybe...

Listening to Adder helped to distract the teen from her own gloomy thoughts.

"Show-off," she grinned as Adder sunk another shot.

They were early. Looked like the other pilots were slowly coming in from the two way glass that looked from the debriefing room out to the hangars. Fizzy-pop sputtered from her mouth. "What?!"

Hazels widened to saucers.

"You're a cop? Or, were a cop?! What happened?" She couldn't keep the nerves from creeping into her voice.

 

[Adder]

Adder turned a quirked eyebrow and a smile on the smaller girl. “Were. Wasn’t for a long time. Are again.” Her grin widened a fraction. “You didn’t know?”

Shaking her head, the redhead picked up pace once more. “Shet, Freckles. You're pretty clueless sometimes,” she chuckled, softening the blow with a side-eyed wink.

“Relax. I’m not gonna arrest you or anything.” One-shouldered shrug. “Only got authority on Sulon, anyway. Your misdeeds are safe out here.”

“‘Sides. Who’d keep me sane with all these STINKIN’ BOYS ‘ROUND HERE!” she raised her voice as the rest of Wraith joined them.


[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Adder"] [member="Naomi Carolina"]

Asmus was late. That was because of easing straight for this briefing room he'd made his way past the conference room on B Deck. That was because it had a particularly nice caf machine that had several warning notes about not being for general use on the front. That wasn't strictly why he was delayed. His timing had not been so poor to as miss the pilot's brief. It had, however, been poor enough to find Captain Amadgener's considerable bulk framed in the door before he could leave. Apparently the caf machine was out for a senior bridge officer's meeting. The dressing down was why he was late. Or more specifically the fact that Asmus couldn't resist talking back.

The SIS squadrons were the equivalent of the army's special forces. Which meant they often felt they were outside of the typical chain of command and a law of their own. Amadgener didn't share that point of view.

"Oh, how many guesses do we get?" Asmus answered from the door. "Is it the morale code of a former cop? Lingering around the medbay for the nursing shift change? Oh the constant challenge of keeping the ship's swearing quota at military regulation levels? Every other word is still the target right?"

"Clearly it's your sparkling wit," came the dry retort from Ro'vena. The twilek had a chip on her shoulder a mile wide about all the educated, middle class jocks in the Starfighter corps. To Adder she was a natural ally.

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Asmus Janes"] [member="Adder"]

"No, I didn't know!" She yelped and punched Adder in the arm playfully. Then quickly shook out her fist. Dang, the woman's arms were like steel. "Hey. I-uh, don't have any misdeeds anyway," the teen finished lamely. Jay shot her a look as he plopped down at the opposite end of the table. Eyebrows raised as if he still wanted to make sure she was thinking about his offer and that date.

Then she heard the familiar voice of their XO. A happy distraction. Fizzy-pop nearly went through the youngest Wraith squad member's nose as Asmus made his quip. Wasn't Jay babbling on about some story involving Asmus and a male twi'lek?

Hazels looked from the female twi'lek to Asmus and back again.

Nah.

Better to keep her trap shut and stay outta the line of fire.

 

[Adder]

She air-fived Ro'vena before launching her counter-attack.

"With you around, it ain't that fething hard fullfilling that fething quota."

"Sir."

A chorus of chuckles joined her twinkling green eyes. She held Janes' stare for a moment longer, then tipped her head towards the younger girl.
"Wouldn't know about that, Freckles... I hear Wraith squadron parties all kinds of hard when Amadgener ain't lookin'..."

Adder herself had been to one such event – calling it a binge would be too generous. The amount of alcohol consumed per pilot should've been enough to put down a Krayt dragon, but Wraith had just kept it going until every last one of them was down for the count.

Next day? Recovery mission.


[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"At least she said sir and not fething sir," a snort went through the end of her freckled-nose. Ah yes, those Wraith parties. Naomi managed a few swigs of alcohol before her eyes watered and she nearly coughed it up - that one time. Sure, she had her share of Barkersh 'shine back home but this stuff always tasted worse than drinking ship fuel.

And since she was such a lightweight, she knew she'd get buzzed real fast.

So...Naomi ended up pretending to nurse a drink long enough until everyone else got karked, then slipped out the door to return to her bunk. Hadn't gotten caught, yet. She just had to get out before Jay went overboard on the hitting-on-the-short-redhead gig. Poor guy still didn't know she was underage.

She finished off her fizzy-pop and managed a belch to put even Asmus to shame.

Being around boys all the time, it didn't even phase or embarrass her.

 

[Adder]

Adder shot a shocked look at the younger girl. “Shet, Wilson. You sure you wanna kiss that mouth?”

[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Naomi Carolina"] [member="Adder"]

"You are a tiny little disgrace," Asmus said at Naomi with a roll of his eyes. Adder brought up the matter of Wraith squadron drinking parties. The ship ran silent for weeks at a time and getting more than a few quiet drinks in was difficult. When they got shore leave things tended to messy. He didn't like the idea of sitting with Naomi whilst she had her stomach pumped and then trying to dodge the military police and paperwork. Perhaps she deserved more credit; he'd seen her taking her time with drinks. But there was always that first time when things spilled out of control.

Max Odennus, their Flight Commander, walked into the room as Asmus took up a bench and pulled out his datapad. He was behind on his reports again, but could probably do them as he absorbed the brief.

"It's going to be a difficult day," Max started. "We've picked up three enemy relays protected by a minefield. The holo-display lit up. It showed the Subversion in deep space beyond a star system. The view pulled in until it showed several yellow markers in an asteroid field. And then a sea of red dots.

 

[Adder]

“Just wait ‘till she grows up,” Adder snickered in her chair, fully prepared to dodge any feisty fists Naomi might throw her way.

The chatter and jokes finally died down when Odennus showed up. His handlebar moustache never failed to crack her up, but she had the good grace to laugh on the inside. Sometimes.

His announcement sobered her up, at least. Minefields. Great. Treacherous to navigate, even with a fighter as tiny and agile as hers. ‘Sides, one explosion, and Adder was stardust.

“We destroying or piggybacking on the relays?” the redhead asked as she leaned forward in her seat, elbows on Wilson’s backrest.

[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]

BASTION - weeks later

Why'd he let her go? Just like that? Hands shook as she took out the burner comm.

Fingers typed in Adder's number. The Barkesh mining girl had missed her check-in by over a day. She knew something would pop up on the SIS radar. Not only that but her jedi contact had never shown. Head shook, still feeling a bit drowsy from the probe droid's drugs that had been in her system. Stomach heaved again. Cearly her body hadn't liked what [member="Arkaitz Zambrano"] had done to her. It worried her because it hadn't been that much.

Had she just been lucky?

Line went through to her wingmate as she sat on the dillapidated motel bed, peeking out the window of the busy streets below.

"Adder. It's Naomi. You there? I need help."

Hands wouldn't stop shaking.