Orange Humiliation,
Short single chapter fic by Nebula. Starring: Nell's bratty sister Rachel!

It was a sunny morning at Orange Star Headquarters. It was quite warm for early spring, but this was cancelled out by a cool, refreshing zephyr.

Rachel, Max, Lash and Sami were all in the cantina, eating breakfast. Rachel grabbed a slice of toast and ripped off a corner with her teeth. Lash and Sami were sat in front of a bowl of corn flakes each. They slipped their spoons into their mouths and wiped away any spilt milk. Sami used a napkin whereas Lash, being a little less educated in manners, used her sleeve. Max had a huge plate with sausages, eggs, bacon, tomatoes and bread, all fried. He stuffed a load of food onto his fork like some fry-up shish kebab.

Rachel finished eating her toast slice. She stretched and got up. "I'll see you guys later," she yawned, ambling away from the table. Lash tried to let out a small laugh, but spat out some milk and corn flakes. Sami cleared her throat. Lash just giggled.

Max turned his head, still chewing on his breakfast. As Rachel walked out, Andy walked in carrying a small glass of orange juice. He sat down next to Sami and leaned over the table. He whispered very quietly, but not so quietly that Lash, Sami and Max couldn't hear him. "Hey guys. Does Rachel know about what's happening later?"

Lash chuckled. "Don't worry. The secret's safe with us, right Sam?" she squeaked. Sami nodded in agreement.

Sami left the table with her now empty bowl. She returned it to the chef for washing up and grabbed her coat.

Max yelled over to Sami. "Hey, where are you going, Sami?"

"It's Saturday, training day," she replied, slipping into her commando boots. She bent over and tied the laces, then walked out the door.

At the academy, Sami warmed up her recruits with push-ups. There was one recruit which took her eye though. He was from the Ansal province of Green Earth. He looked about Jakes age with red hair, which ran down his head in a similar way to Adder's when he's wearing his large coat. The boy, called Albin, wasn't training to be a grunt; he was far higher ranked than that and had already passed most of training in Green Earth. He was in fact training to be an infantry commanderback in Green Earth.

"Okay boys; that's enough. Now today we're going to discuss in depth indirect combat," Sami announced. Albin cringed. There was one thing he hated more than cheaters and that was indirect combat lessons. The recruits were attentive, except for Albin who was half asleep.

"A good strategy for using a Piperunner is what Albin?" Sami asked, picking on Albin's lack of attention.

"Is what?" he answered back, yawning.

"If you aren't listening, you obviously know. Come on. Let's see you explain. Don't be shy, come up here," Sami smirked.

Albin dragged himself to the front. "Uhm... Piperunner... What does that hit?"

"It drops shells on anything that isn't hidden in any way from long range," Sami explained patiently. She then whispered to Albin, "See me after class."

From the outside, Orange Star HQ looked a lot like the White House. However, instead of white it was orange. It wasn't a bright orange, but it was easily to spot at a long distance. There was something unusual outside it though. On the grassy gardens was a large, black stage with two plasma screens. On the stage, near the back, were two tall booths similar to telephone booths. They were made of clear Perspex on all four sides and the door only reached half way up before a gap. A small blue-green box nestled on top of them.

That afternoon, Sami came back to HQ with Albin. As punishment for nearly falling asleep in lesson, he had to do some tasks for Sami before his graduation test on the next day. Sami walked into HQ. She told Albin to wait at the door. Albin obeyed without question.

Orange Star's HQ's rec room was large and spacious. There were two pool tables, a games console, a pinball table and a ping-pong table. There was a bar for getting non-alcoholic drinks and food. A TV and a couch were neatly hidden away in the corner. The Orange Star COs, including Flak, Lash and Hawke were inside.

Sami poked her head in. "It's time!" she yelled. The other COs heard and followed Sami out of the building. Rachel watched confused and followed behind Hawke, who was at the back of the line. Albin joined the line as the groupwalked past him.

The group walked out to the stage where a rock band were just leaving, stage right. There was a fairly large audience in front of the stage. Jake took the microphone from the lead singer. He spoke into the mic so he could be heard. "Good afternoon Orange Star! Y'all been lovin' it?"

His question was answered with a loud scream from the crowd.

"Now you all know why we're here. We're making dough for the less fortunate and entertainin' while we're at it."

The crowd responded with another cheer. Jake passed the microphone over to Andy while Jake walked over to the drum kit the band had left on stage.

"Now it's time for the part you all have been waiting for!" Andy yelled. "Two of our COs will be in a rather... sticky situation... if you catch my drift."

The crowd were semi-surprised. They sort of knew what was coming but were unsure about how it would be executed or who would be involved.

Hawke was stood at the side of the stage and flicked a switch. The two booths moved forward so that they were towards the middle.

Rachel was stood off the stage. The other COs were calm, but she wasn't. All day, the others had chuckled as she walked past. She put two and two together and prayed she hadn't come up with four.

Back on the stage, Andy produced a silver envelope from his pockets. He cleared his throat. "Now, the other COs and I were discussing what the main event will be. We decided on two of us getting a shower of slime."

Rachel chewed her bottom lip. She had alwaysenjoyed watching TV game shows, but not the ones that involved slime. She found the whole idea behind the slime revolting! Her reaction when she first saw an Oozium was "Do Black Hole do those icky TV shows or what?" due to the Oozium's resemblance to the slime used on TV.

"Hey Jake! Gimme a drum roll!" Andy said. Jakenodded and did a drum roll as Andy opened the envelope. "And the two... well, I would say "victims" but is there any other word?" Andy chuckled. The crowd laughed with him. "Anyway, the two getting it are..."

Off the stage, Rachel was tenser than before. She took off her cap, wiped away some of her sweat and put the cap back on.

"Katrina Lashville and Rachel Samson!" Andy announced. Jake smashed his drumstick on a cymbal. Lash ran up onto the stage, dragging Rachel with her. Rachel was blushing and turning a bright red colour. They were going to do something like this and didn't tell her?

Lash slipped her boots off and sat in the left-hand booth. Rachel sighed, took off her shoes and cap and got in the other booth. She knew she wasn't going to enjoy a second of this.

"OK Hawke, press that button!" Andy commanded with a huge grin on his face. Hawke pressed a green button and...

SPLAT!

Lash's reaction and Rachel's reaction couldn't contrast more. Lash just giggled as the liquid oozed into her hair and down her body, sliding down her legs into a blue-green puddle at her feet. She was enjoying the experience and was clearly showing it by rubbing some of the sludge on her skin.

Rachel just hung her head and let the gunge flow down her. After it had stopped falling on her, she just let it all trickle off her to the floor, much like it had for Lash. She knew she would hate the experience and was completely right. A tear rolled down her left cheek. For years, she had hated watching things like this. Now she was on the receiving end of it. All she wanted to know was who had set her up so she could get revenge.

Jake then said the one word that summed up the whole experience for Rachel. "Owned!"