Late Night Flight

[Aerion Ivelisse]

What's the difference between a fighter pilot and God?

God doesn't think He's a fighter pilot.

​

Sullust Temple Hangar.


Aerion was a big guy. He was a fighter. Sometimes he broke the rules to get the job done, no matter what it was. As a Jedi, he had yet to do that. Zaren Bouqi attributed it to having inherited that streak from him, the breaking the rules part, but he could never imagine someone so rigid having ever broken a rule. Sometimes when he wasn't so hard ass, there were stories of what it had been like as a Jedi Padawan for him. As any teenager who just wanted to be left alone, he headed out to do the one thing that his father was almost never caught doing.

Flying.

There was something serene about the silence of space. He had learned to tune out the sounds his dark X-Wing made. It was free of an astromech. Likely not the best idea when it came to piloting such a fighter, but he had learned much as a pilot on his own. No one was able to teach him, other than Master Bishop, and that guy was as dry as stale bread.

Sometimes, he headed to the underground Hangar at the Sullust Temple.

Some nights he just went there to climb onto the hull of his ship and sit atop of it to be alone with his thoughts, as he was right now.

On those nights he didn't get much sleep. It happened on a lot of nights, too many to be considered 'healthy.' His skin colouring was dark, more akin to a chocolatey brown pigmentation, because of this it made it hard for someone to see the dark rings underneath his eyes. One would have to get close to see them, real close, and that almost never happened. Young Ivelisse wasn't particularly bothered by that, but some part of him, deep within knew it wasn't right.

Popping open the top of the X-Wing to reveal the cockpit, he chewed on the inside of his cheek as he contemplated entering the cockpit. He had before. Turned everything on, it was just there, a single person sitting on it with an open cockpit...

Waiting.

[member="Choli Vyn"]

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Aerion Ivelisse"]

"Well, you gonna do anything or just gonna look at it?" A rather amused voice asked, coming from behind Aerion. It was Lieutenant Choli Vyn; sixteen, brown hair, rather an abrupt personality but pretty much meant well.

She had on the bright orange coveralls, but the arms were wrapped around her waist. White tank top, Rogue Squadron tags dangling around her neck. Yeah, it was Rogue Seven -- the youngest pilot in the Squadron.

Behind her was a Pebbledrone, similar to a BB unit but with a lot of extra perks. He gave an inquisitive beep boop, rolling along beside her. R4-D9 paused, then a whistle.

So who was this guy?

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

Surprise was what radiated from him via the Force.

Surprise at being caught in the Hangar at this hour. What was the person who that voice belonged to doing in the Hangar at this time? More importantly, how long had she been there to figure that question was warranted?

Damn.

He rotated on the hull and swept his gaze over the spacious hangar until he found the origins of the voice.

[member="Choli Vyn"] was down on the ground, looking up at him and he tilted his head as he regarded her.

Am I going to do anything?

"How long have you been watching me?" Deep voice said lowly, but loud enough for her to hear, as if he knew how to balance his vocals perfectly. But that was just his voice, deep, yet not annoyingly so, perhaps even soothingly so. He rarely used it, what with being caught in his own thoughts almost all of the time, why shouldn't he have a 'hot' voice?

 

[Choli Vyn]

Well, aren't you lookin' like the Jawa caught with a shiny? Choli mused internally with humor, watching the stranger with a bit of amused bemusement.

"Not long," she said, coming up in a saunter over to the starfighter, a toss of her head to blow the wayward strands of hair away from her eyes.

"But long enough to see you ogling my fighter as if you're about to need some alone time." she joked, moving on towards the engines, R2-D9 rolling beside her as he beeped and booped about the strange guy.

"Nah, if he were a spy trying to rig something, he'd have done it by now, Arr-Four," Choli quipped, pulling out a hydro spanner off her belt. She flipped it in the air, watching the dark-skinned man with those almond shaped eyes. The corner of her mouth twitched.

Was she teasing him? Oh yeah, she was. One didn't hang with Rogue Squadron without learning to get a bit of thick skin due to the regular intervals of roasting and teasing.

[member="Aerion Ivelisse"]

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

Young Ivelisse blinked at the girl as she came towards the ship.

It took him a moment to realize what she had said and to determine that she was joking.

She was joking right?

"Your ship?" Brown eyes that matched the colour of his skin looked down to the black finish of the X-Wing that he sat upon. It was his Stealth-X. "I don't think so." Of course he could've gone through the explanations of why it wasn't hers, why it was his, how he always sat on it late in the night and how he was almost always took it out for a spin at this hour... He could've done all of those things. But he almost never spoke that much. But he could add in this last part.

"What are you even doing in here this late?"

Of course, whatever her answer was, he doubted it'd even come close to applying to him.

[member="Choli Vyn"]

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Aerion Ivelisse"]

There was a notable sassy grin from the young woman. Oh ho, caught! Then again, the same could be said about him.

"Me? " Choli gestured to herself with the end of the hydrospanner, tapping her breast bone.

"Doing my rounds." she quipped back, R4 rolling to a stop beside her. He still was rather suspicious, giving another beep, beep boop.

"What are you doing here?" A brush back of her bangs again, along with a small scratch on her cheek with one finger. She appeared to be pretty assured of herself just standing there, hip cocked out to the right, with her hand perched right at the curve of it.

"There ain't no missions to go out.... you in Blue Squadron?"

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

"Doing rounds?"

But then he seemed to note the orange jumpsuit that was wrapped around her waist.

"No. I'm not apart of any squadron," he said. "I fly solo," he explained. "At night." There was a shrug of his broad shoulders.

But he realized he missed something.

"It's calming to fly at night, in silence," his eyes dropped to the astromech droid and then back up -- down? To the girl.

"What's your name?"

[member="Choli Vyn"]

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Aerion Ivelisse"]

At that, the older teenager received a small expression of disbelief.

"Uhh...don't think anyone would allow an unauthorized flight on..." she pointed her hydrospanner at the stealth craft, "that." Who was this kid? Which was ironic considering that Choli would be the youngest out of the two.

She gave a cant of her head to the right, really getting a good look at him and just who he might be.

"Lieutenant Vyn, Rogue Squadron." she told him plainly, if a bit more formally.

"Who are you?"

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

There was a raise of his brow.

Did she think he'd care if someone didn't authorize it. Sure he could get in trouble, but it wasn't something that got you expelled from the Order. Aerion did what he wanted, no matter what was in place. The strict Zaren Bouqi got his lessons in that many years ago. Even if he disciplined him, his son had soon grown up to be the same size as him. There was no more putting him into line, and this little girl?

He shrugged his shoulders.

"They'd have to see it to unauthorize it, I think." That was the beauty of the Stealth-X. Didn't come up on sensors and was nigh impossible on seeing it in plain sight when in the night sky.

"Aerion Ivelisse," he had grown accustom to not using his birth name anymore. Ivelisse was his mother's maiden name, and Aerion was a name he had thought was cool. Besides, Zayden was much too close to Zaren.

[member="Choli Vyn"]

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Aerion Ivelisse"]

Oh, so we have a Rebel, do we?

R4 gave an inquisitive beep beside her, swiveling his head over to her only to return back to Aerion.

Choli in the meantime appraised Ivelisse, one hand tossing the hydrospanner from left hand to right.

"And how many times have you've been risking getting caught, Ivelisse?" Now that was a question. How long has he been here? How often?

Choli used his surname as that was the norm for the Squadron, but now she was really curious where he came from.

"Where are you from?"

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

Raised a brow.

So it had become an interview?

Shoulders shrugged.

How many?

"I don't keep count," he replied.

Her final question gave him pause. Where did he come from? Easily Tython, but that home was lost. The Temple was probably torn down, never to be the same again. But he was born on Tython, but his father had been from Haruun Kal. He was Koruunai. The Force within him was strong, but he was Tythonian all the same.

"Think I'm gonna do something," he answered.

Earlier she had asked him whether he was going to do something or just stare at the Stealth-X. Rising up to his feet and dropping into the Stealth-X's cockpit, his hand slipped around the yoke and the Stealth-X rose off of the hangar floor.

[member="Choli Vyn"]

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Aerion Ivelisse"]

Secret, mysterious guy in a stealth fighter.

"Alright," a pause, and then Choli quipped back.

"And then what?" she questioned him, studying him as he sat himself inside the cockpit.

"What will you do after? Seems you like to fly... but aren't part of any squadron?" that one poked to see if he was with Green or Red. Rogue had a bit of a rivalry with Red. But with so many new faces, this guy could very well be one more.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

There was a headset on the console in front of him.

He slipped it onto the top of his head as he leaned back into the chair. He just remained hovering there with the top open.

"I fly solo." That should stow the chatter of flying with a Squadron. Though the idea had come to him once. Perhaps he should join one of the squadrons... Or make his own. Too bad he had no friends.

"Maybe I'll see you up there. Unless you need your Squadron to cover your ass all the time?"

The cockpit closed and angled towards the exit.

And then he took off, spiralling out of the exit and into the night sky.

[member="Choli Vyn"]