"NINER," a chorus of voices yelled suddenly over the private link between making the squad jump and turn towards the Sarge.
"Sorry," he mumbled, turning down the volume. But it was too late. The other three squad members checked his video feed and made so it filled their helmets. Three women were grinning brightly through the video feed and waving. A familiar face to all three was right in front.
"Ilori," they all chorused and traded greetings.
"Can't get any privacy, can you, Sarge? Thyme couldn't call you before she was shipped out, so she wanted us to do it for her," Ilori said, climbing right up into the lenses of the holo recorder, taking up the whole view with her body.
"She says she loves you, misses you, and if you die she will be very vexed at you and when she brings you back to life, she'll remove something you will miss very much," she said cheerfully,"Don't die!"
"Ilori, get down! We want him to see us, too," someone complained as Fi chortled at the message. The fairy woman grinned at the recorder before jumping away and the other two came into view.
"Hey Belledomia," he greeted first,"What's the piercing of the day?"
"Whichoneyouwanttosee?Ihavethisreeeeeaaallllyyycoo lonethatlookslikeaDCbutIhave thisotheronethatlookslikeadr agonandanotherliketheseweird lookingsuns. OooomaybethesnakeonenowTHAT' -"
The other three commandos were not prepared for the fast talking speech or all the chatter that came with it that left their heads spinning. Niner, however, was used to it by now. The blue headed IO agent was chattery and one of the most confusing besides speech. Very sweet but had an explosive temper when crossed. She and Thyme were closed, loving to watch mongrels try to keep up with their conversations (troopers, too, sometimes), laughing about it later.
And she had a thing for piercings. There was a bet going around trying to decide how many there were on her body. Thyme went ahead and told him (he wasn't really interested as his vode). She didn't know WHERE they were...but she knew they were there.
"Are any of the ones you mentioned ABOVE the chest," he asked. She thought for a moment before nodding.
"Dragonandthesunsaremytonguep iercingandearpiercingsthosea reupabovemychestunlessIbendd own."
He rolled his eyes, but smiled and said,"Well, lets see."
Her hair flew upwards and revealed two dragons clinging to her earlobes. Their tales started at the piercings, went up along the shell of her ear, and came to a rest on top with it's head looking Niner's way. Next, she stuck out her tongue and revealed a sun with different shades of orange for the middle and wiggling rays.
"Nice," Fi chuckled as he looked over the feed,"That's three I've counted!"
"You have a whole lot more of counting to do, commando," Belledomia said back to him, laughing and enjoying their looks at her slowed down speech pattern. The other girl bonked her out of the picture to glare at Niner.
"No hello for me," she asked, mocking anger.
"No, sorry, Dream. I heard of your accident with Hardcase and am currently trying too hard not to imagine it," he informed her. She cackled.
"Fun news travel quickly!"
"I may have heard wrong...but there's something going around that he had seen you in nothing but a furred blanket and bright pink lower skivvies."
"Semi right," she grinned wickedly,"Bright pink tiger stripe skivvies! Did they say how he was shocked speechless and tripped over himself running out of the medical ward deep red?"
Atin shook his head at the image. The hyperactive trooper had to been a sight.
"Back to business," Ilori cut in, settling herself onto Dream's shoulder,"We found something you might like!"
"Oh," Niner asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep," she said smugly,"It' a good picture. Belledomia's uploading it from her holo right...now."
A beeping sounded and they all said at once,"Have fun!"
And the screen went blank. The picture was pulled up and they stared for a while.
"What the kriff is it," Atin asked, perplexed. It was a strange creature thing. Bright yellow as well as purple that clashed together horribly. The thing's body was completely rounded, like a ball, and a purple tail poked out form around the ball. Two little ears were pointed and two little fangs were biting into its own body.
"Ugly little thing, isn't it," Atin said,"You think it's a baby strill?"
"No, strills aren't that good looking at birth," Fi said back,"It defies nature. But I think the yellow is a ball of material."
Darman suddenly made a choking sound.
"Hey, Sarge...does that thing look like...Thyme, to you?"
"No," Niner said, confused,"Too small. She can't morph into anything."
"Sarge. Look again. Please," he asked, sounding near to busting a gut.
"Say it out loud," Darman said, still shaking in his seat. Niner sighed.
"Well...it's purple like her, but there are no zigzags on it."
"How can you tell," Fi asked,"That ball it's chewing on hides almost its body!"
"It's face," he explained,"Thyme has zigzags on her cheeks."
"What's that behind its ear?"
Darman's semi repressed laughter started up again as Niner zoomed in on the image.
"It looks like a bra-"
He suddenly stopped.
"I've always loved braids. Even when I was a kitten, I had them in my hair," he remembered her telling them,"It calms me down when I twist my hair to make them.
The tiny pod was silent for a long time before it was filled to the brim with the hysteric laughter from four Republic Commando Jango Fett clones.
Author's Note:
A small humor fanfic with Omega squad. The first part. Not sure how good it is, sooo please send me a message if you think there's a way I can do it better.
The fabulous candle13 on DeviantArt gave me permission to write a story on her picture of Thyme she made for me ([link])! Next up, her picture of Thyme at the Beach ([link])
Omega Squad belongs to Karen Travis's Republic Commando books.
Thyme, Ilori, Belledomia, and Dream all belong to me