First Reply Ground Control to Major Tom

[Naomi Carolina]

"Bwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeep bzzzzt BOOP BOOP!!!!!!"

"I see it Grits," Naomi yelled as the red flashing lights filled the canopy of her X-wing. Fingers flew over the switches and controls. The lines of hyperspace suddenly halted as she found her shoulders test that crash webbing as her modified x-wing out into real space. Alarms and red lights lit up her ship's sensors. Bright red hair of hers feathered across her pale, freckled face.

"What was that?"

The pebbledrone booped back at its captain.

Naomi gripped the controls, straining with every muscle in her short self. "I know those systems are failing. Just...," she almost blacked out as the ship continued to spin, plunging them toward atmosphere of purple-blue planet that began filling up the other side of that tinted canopy.

"WHERE ARE WE?" The redhead yelled, still fighting her ship. Everything going wrong in her ship. Her brain could figure out the rest later. Like what had yanked them out of hyperspace. Just. Had. To. Keep. Them. Alive.

"Blerp beep."

Naomi's eyes widened even as the sensors continued to scream at her. Even as mountains in different shades of violet were rushing up to meet them.

"Vortex?!" Dark Empire Space. Naomi's teeth ground and with a final tug of the controls, she was able to stop the death spiral and fire forward thrusters. She knew the crash was coming but was hoping it would be enough to not hurt as much.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

He didn't like the Army so far.

He was promised adventure, action, a chance to serve the Empire and create order and stability to the Galaxy...

And his first posting? Stuck on Vortex.

A boring planet on the border with the Alliance, but had yet to see any action. Or events. Or really, anything. His Squad Leader, Company Commander all promised them "soon" and "soonerer" and "more soon".

But here Sid was, digging a trench. For the fifth time today. The Stormtrooper Rookie grunted, his spade digging into the ground. What was he digging for? Cause someone said so. What were they digging a fighting position for? Cause they said so.

Life was uncomplicated like that for the new Stormtrooper.

That was, until, obviously, a ball of fire appeared in the sky. Sid, helmetless, looked up and squinted.

"Oh cool a shooting star!"

It wasn't. The "Shooting star" got closer and closer....

And it kinda looked like....

An X-wing?!

 

[Naomi Carolina]

The thrusters and shields kept her ship from exploding. It didn’t stop the bone jarring bounce as the ship hit trees, rocks, and hillside. Metal ground and split like it was nothing stronger than tin. Debris spewed into the air like a mini eruption.

Naomi blacked out. Then came to as smoke curled inside her nose. Something warm and sticky dripped down her temple. Grits razzied from behind her.

“Right,” the redhead croaked. “Standard,” she struggled for breath. “Protocol. Yeah, wipe,” she winced, reaching forward to pop the hatch “‘em.”

By the grace of the hyperlane gods or the force or the kark the teen knew, the hatch opened, a plume of smoke billowing high into the sky. Fingers dropped to unbuckle her crash webbing.

Only it was stuck.

“Feth!”

Grits booped behind her. “Lifesigns in the area noted. Got bigger problems right now Grits.” It was hard to keep the panic down that wanted to roar its ugly head.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

His posting just got a lot less boring.

He picked up his rifle, sprinting towards the crash site. An X-Wing! Could it be a pirate? An ISB agent on a secret mission? A rebel? An Alliance pilot-

He crest the hill, rifle in hand, and stopped, seeing the wreckage.

He blinked, helmetless, and nervously brought up his rifle. He approached the smoking crash site from behind the X-wing, the trench from it's impact nearly causing him to slip a few times in the mud. He turned, and popped around the corner of the X-wing and his blaster came up to meet the foul Alliance scum-

Girl.

A girl about his age, maybe.

He felt a lot of guilt in a short amount of time, but kept the rifle decently upright at her.

"D-Don't move! I'm Private Berik with the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps and you're now my prisoner!"

He then realized he left his helmet behind at the trench he was digging.... Which had his comm unit in it. So he couldn't radio it in. But maybe she wouldn't know that.


Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

The teen had just dropped to the ground when she heard his voice above the clicking and groaning her ship was still making - like a wounded animal. Knife clutched in one of her hands. The same one she'd used to cut her crash-webbing away.

Ah kriff, a stormie.

Hazels squinted against the smoke at him. Red hair in tangled ribbons splashed across her face and shoulders A lighter crimson than the blood that was dripping down her temple. He looked young. And human.

She swayed on her feet, hands slowly rising. "Stop movin' and I'll stop movin,'" she called back as his image blurred into two guys with lighter hair and hazel eyes? Brown? She blinked, black spots growing at the edge of her vision. Chit, how much blood had she lost? Legs wobbled and suddenly that freshly upturned rocky-earth came up to meet her as she crumpled to her side.

Her pebble-drone remained silent, its sensor zeroing in on Sid Berik , hidden for the moment behind some rubble on the other side of her x-wing.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

Sid was probably maybe a few months older, if that, than the girl he had his rifle pointed at.

"You're...you're hurt."

He was human. Surprisingly, human. He crouched down, realizing that she wasn't much threat anymore. He crouched near her, unclipping his first-aid kit from the webbing on his belt, holding it out for her- with his opposite hand, the one not on his rifle.

"Can you... can you get out of that on your own?"


Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

Naomi groaned, letting the weight of the ground hold her as her vision tried to focus. He hadn't shot her or killed her yet. That was a good sign. She couldn't help the small flinch as his hand went for something in his belt.

Rusty brows scrunched on her pale face.

"You remind me of a friend back home."

Reaching out, she took the offered medkit, taking out the bacta spray and applying a layer to the wound on her head. Then a therma patch to seal the wound.

"Private Berik, right?" The teen offered the kit back to him. If he looked closer at her x-wing, he'd notice a few bright splashes of paint on the wings and a circled M. "You sure you wouldn't rather leave me here?"

A crooked grin that didn't stay long on her face.

Right. She had to move. Her head still pounded and she felt a sense of weightlessness that wasn't right for gravity. So much for all that Alliance training. Right now she'd be lucky to over-power a lothcat. She pushed herself to a seated position. Her gaze flickered around them.

Was he alone?

If she wasn't in such rough shape, she'd be thinking about making a run for it.

"Actually, um, yeah. Could you give me a hand?"

A wary look at that rifle of his.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

She was just a kid.

And so was he. She had friends. He had friends. Maybe-

Maybe mercy wasn't the worst thing to show.

He could've left her out there. No doubt there'd be a lot of Imperial patrols coming for her. But she was alone. She was hurt. And she wasn't a threat. She was-

She gave him his medkit back. Didn't throw it at him. Didn't spray him with bacta and try to run away. No she was nice, and she had her merits-

Kinda like him.

He reached down, grabbing her by the webbing of her flightsuit, and started to pull. Sid was a tough cookie- fresh out of training, and it showed when he yanked her out of the X-wing and onto her feet. He stared at her, breathing deeply after exerting himself for a moment. He looked over the hill.

"Is it just you? Or are there gonna be more that need help?"

Sid didn't have a radio on him, that much she could see being up close. So his help was genuine, and so was the question. He gave her a once over. Okay, maybe more than a once over.... And she didn't seem too banged up, though not great.

He was already violating at least fifty orders, and had at least fourteen equipment violations. At least. What was one more? Besides, if nobody found out- well. He couldn't get into any trouble.

Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

Her hands instinctively went around his arm and wrist as he lifted her out.

"Chit, you're strong," she breathed as she found her boots on that solid purple earth of the planet. She released her hold around his plasteel armor. There were small burns and cuts on her fingers but nothing as bad as the wound on her head that was no longer openly bleeding. Thanks to him.

A glance down at his grip still on her flight suit then surprise as her eyes panned upward back to his face.

Did he just say help?

'It's just me," she admitted. Did they have some kind of tech that pulled ships out of hyperspace? Something wasn't adding up because she wasn't even supposed to be here.

"You can let go now. I ain't gonna fall again."

He legs were feeling steadier beneath her than before. Was he going to haul her in like this? Her pebbledrone was still out of sight. At least for the moment.

"Can you...help me get off world?" It was the wildest thing she thought she'd ever be asking a stormie. But so far, Sid was proving to be different than any stormie she'd met. Her crashed ship smoked next to them and Naomi smelled something burning.

That probably wasn't good.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

Sure she was cute, around his age and maybe single but-

Was she worth getting shot in the back, or tied to a post and shot? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. But he didn't want to shoot her, and he knew what they'd do if they captured her.

"I- I don't know how to get you off world. I'm just an infantry guy. I don't really have access to any of that stuff."

He looked over the horizon, around the hills, nudging his head towards a further hill, letting her go. Begrudgingly.

"Come on, grab your stuff, we gotta get moving- more patrols are probably on their way, and who knows what else."

Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

Naomi didn't wait to see if he changed his mind. She dug into the cockpit and snatched a small emergency landing bag. A grab-bag. It was full of some survival and camping gear. A change of civilian clothes. A small medkit much like his own.

Slinging the worn strap of the bag over one shoulder, she looked back at Sid just to make sure he wasn't going to shoot her in the back. Her chin tipped toward the hill he pointed out as if to say I'm ready; let's go. She scrambled out of the crater-sized hole that her smoking ship had made. "Maybe if I can pass for a civie I might have a chance. Just have to get out of sight for a bit." A glance back at the man that was saving her life. AT least for the moment. She only took a few long strides when that high-pitched whine behind them just grew louder.

"Get down!" She warned and dove to the dark purple earth as her x-wing exploded behind them.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

Sid stepped dove near Naomi, just before the explosion went off. He went flying forward- also taking the brunt of the explosion, and landing on his face, a bit from her. She also went forward in a dive, but he couldn't tell how far or where she went. He pressed his palms to the ground, his ears ringing louder than anything he had ever heard before.

He rolled onto his back after a minute, hearing the approach of a walker and the roar of a few speederbikes, or maybe some more as his hearing came back into focus.

He groaned, rising to a stand, unable to find his rifle.

He pointed up the hill, barely able to hear anything besides the high-pitched whine, and began to move up it, if not, very, very, slowly.



Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

There was heat and pressure at her back. She curled into a ball, covering her head as small shrapnel from her ship began to rain down around herself and Sid. It took her a moment longer to finally move. With ears still ringing, she pushed herself to her feet.

She couldn't hear the speeders or walker approaching but she did feel the rumble from the walker beneath her feet. She should bolt and try to save herself. But her gaze caught Sid's struggle up the hill.

Was he hurt now too?

Her conscience pricked and nagged at her.

With a final huff, she ran toward his side and would offer her shoulders for his arm to sling across as her arm snaked around his waist as she'd offer to take some of his weight. They'd hurry their steps until they crested that hill. One last glance behind her as the smoke shifted to show some speederbikes beginning to circle the crash. With lungs and legs burning, they'd begin to descend the hill, disappearing from any view as they entered some woods. Trees of lilac, mauve, and plum rose high and thick into the air. Leaves and vines of periwinkle thickened the further they made it in.

Her body and mind screamed at her to stop. To rest. To catch her breath. But she kept going even as she began to slow and her legs trembled beneath her.

"Are you hurt?" A sideways glance up at him between lungfuls of air.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

[Life gets weird sometimes. ]

Ohgodshetouchedmeohgodshetouchedmeohgodshetouchedmeohgodshetouchedme

The explosion hadn't rattled him enough, and he regained his footing and the use of his figure after a brief respite. He returned the favor, helping her up the hill. White-framed armor came scouring around the crash site, examining it as much as they could, the intense heat keeping them back for the time being. The pair crested the hill and had a break on the other side, Sid crouching down, breathing deeply.

"What's an Alliance pilot doing by herself all the way out here anyways!"

He said after a long while, keeping his tone low.

Man she was pretty.


Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

Whelp, he wasn't hurt or he didn't admit it when she asked.

She sunk to the ground, letting her back rest against the bark of a large lilac tree. Blood dripped down from one of her ears but the ringing had mostly stopped. Fingers reached up and wiped it away. A glance up at Sid Berik as she slung off her pack and began rummaging around, pulling out a set of plain clothes.

"I wasn't even supposed to be here," she mumbled and looked up at the trooper. "Something pulled my ship out of hyperspace. Fried my systems and I ended up here. You know of any new tech the Dark Empire has?"

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

[Life gets weird sometimes. ]

"I wasn't even supposed to be here," she mumbled and looked up at the trooper. "Something pulled my ship out of hyperspace. Fried my systems and I ended up here. You know of any new tech the Dark Empire has?"

He looked up at her, aghast. He sat down finally, as they were both well behind some terrain features to conceal their position. He took a deep breath, taking his canteen off of his belt.

"Lady I don't even know when lunch is or when I get paid most weeks, do you think I know anything about that?"

He sighed, looking up at the sky. He was in SO much trouble.

"I think- if you wanna get off-world, maybe I can get you to a freighter or something. Stow you away on a trade route or something. There's lots of ships moving in and out of the system, do you think you could smuggle yourself off world if I got you into the spaceport?"

Part of him wanted to turn her in. It was the right thing to do. But- she was kinda like him. Maybe too young. Maybe too inexperienced. Maybe a lot of things. But he didn't feel like she was like the Jedi or the Alliance military- no. She didn't murder worlds, kill hundreds of his comrades, or control the Senate and rampage across the galaxy.

No, they were just two soldiers on opposite ends of a war. But that did mean that she deserved to be imprisoned- and worse?

He looked down at his feet, his head wracked with guilt.


Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

She probably shouldn't say it but...

He hadn't hauled her in yet. Hadn't flagged those other troops swarming the wreckage of the crash site. No, he'd given her some bacta spray. Actually, helped her.

She slid around the other side of the tree for a modicum of privacy and unzipped her flight suit. Then began peeling it off. And she said it.

"I'm Naomi. And yeah, Berik. If you can get me to the spaceport, I think I can get myself off world. It'll help once I get these civie clothes on. Hopefully."

From behind the tree, she'd kick aside her flight suit and then the underclothes before she began tugging up the spare set of pants, tanktop, and jacket. The young redhead never thought she'd be stripping behind a tree on Vortex with a Dark Empire trooper just on the other side who'd actually been kind.

She let out a strangled laugh that was halfway between a sob as shock from her crash and everything that happened began nipping at her frayed edges.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

[Life gets weird sometimes. ]

Okay, he might've looked.

He looked over when she made a noise, somewhere between a laugh, cry.

"Hey- it's gonna be okay. Just a bad day, yeah?"

He stood up, offering her his hand.

"Let's get you home before I get in trouble."

Naomi Carolina

 

[Naomi Carolina]

She stashed her flightsuit in the royal-colored underbrush. Fingers wiped beneath her eyes as she looked at Berik. After a moment of hesitation she took his hand and scooped up her pack.

"Alright Private."

At least with this new set of clothing she didn't have a giant I'M WITH THE ALLIANCE COME ARREST ME sign on her back. And she was hoping as they cleared this small wood if anyone saw 'em, they'd just see a civilian with a trooper. Maybe something not so abnormal to see? Minus her banged up face.

She had no idea how casual Vortex was.

And she had no idea of Private Berik would change his mind. Especially if they got stopped and questioned.

"So, how'd you end up with the Dark Empire?" A quiet question as they walked.

 

[Sid Berik]

THE ROOKIE

He trekked through the woods, quietly, thinking about her question.

"Well, I grew up in the New Imperial Order and I never liked the Sith so.... The Dark Empire took control of my world. We had a lot of problems, and we were really poor. But my dad got a job helping the Imperials with lodging and stuff, and my mom started to work as a secretary. So, my brothers and sisters got out of poverty, and our world was safe."

He walked a little further.

"It's not perfect, yeah. But- what is? What about you? What got you in with the Alliance?"



Naomi Carolina