"WE'RE HERE!!!" they shouted. The girls piled out of the car and Garrik followed suit afterward. They girls burst through the door and Garrik followed afterward running right into Tycho.
"Oops…sorry about that Tycho," Garrik said. The car pulled away.
"Hello Garrik, long time no see. I'm sure you enjoyed that car ride," Janson said bubbling with excitement.
"Uh huh…sure, what ever you say. You try ride in a craft with three girls trying to sing to the latest pop CD, it's not a pretty thing," Garrik replied.
"Oh…I see…" Hobbie responded.
"Winter's never been able to carry a tune," Tycho said. Winter turned around.
"I heard that Tycho Celchu!" she called back.
"Oops…" Tycho sighed. They all made it back into the house. Janson flopped on the couch and his mom came into the room bearing a basket full of cookies. He immediately propped himself up on the couch awaiting the wonderful smelling prize.
"Alright kids, here's some cookies to start you off with. I'm sure Janson will show you some courtesy while you're here."
"Moooooooooommmmm…" Janson groaned.
"We've got some fun and games afterward, so don't eat too much," Janson's dad said. The kids dug into the cookies. Hobbie and Tycho were sitting on the side talking and Wedge was bothering Janson's cat, Chocolate Chip. You could probably tell he was hungry when he was naming his kitten…but oh well, can you ever tell when Wes is hungry? Iella, Winter, and Mirax were busy talking in another corner which left Janson alone. He got an idea and went to the T.V. He stood on a chair and reached up above the set. He brought down a box full of figurines. He heard a cat screech and then Wedge came over to him.
"What'd you do to my cat?" Janson asked suspiciously, "don't act like you didn't do anything."
"I didn't. I just tried petting it, and then I saw your toy lightsaber on the ground so I reached for that to put it away and…" Janson put his hand up.
"Stop there. That's where it went all wrong, Choco Chip…she hates that thing," Janson said. He busied himself with trying to get the box down. He eventually pulled off the top having it clatter down to the floor. Wedge gave him an upturned eyebrow.
"What's that for?" he asked.
"It's my Starfighter Command toy figurines. It's got em' all. All types, X-Wings are my favorites. It's got A-Wings, B-Wings, and Y-Wings etc. I even gotz some TIE fighters and Interceptors to beat up on. Got some pilots in New Republic uniform too," Janson said proudly. He dumped the toys out on the floor. Hobbie and Tycho saw this and immediately stuffed their cookies down their throats and proceeded to join Janson and Wedge in the corner to play fighter pilots. Iella, Mirax, and Winter eventually made their way over to see what the boys were up to. The guys had already chosen their fighters of choice and had almost begun to start the battle when Mirax tapped Janson on the shoulder.
"Whatcha doin'?" she asked.
"We're playing fighter pilots, but all the X-Wings are taken. You could be the control ship though," Janson said thoughtfully. Mirax smiled.
"That sounds like fun. I've always wanted to have control of a freighter. So what's my job?" Mirax asked.
"Well…first you gotta have a crew…" Tycho said, "it's impossible to man a freighter by yourself."
"Officers Iella and Winter reporting for duty," Iella and Winter said at the same time. They were giggling.
"Alright, alright…you guys can manage the freighter, leave the fighting to us," Janson said. They had a full staged battle going. Wedge and Tycho were one pair, while Janson and Hobbie were another. They were fighting and fooling around with ships until Janson's mother called them in for cake. "CCCAAAAKKKEEE!!!" Janson cried out. He dropped his X-Wing on the floor and made a mad dash for the kitchen.
"Squadron…this is Leader. I believe we've lost one of our pilots into deep space. We should play the anthem of death in his tribute," Wedge said solemnly. Hobbie was trying hard to keep his face straight. The others nodded. "To a wonderful pilot…whose stomach was bigger than his brain…"
"Hey, I heard that," Janson called from the kitchen. Hobbie snorted and they all ran in the kitchen to get some cake. They sat around the table and waited anxiously while Janson's mother cut the cake. She handed each of them a slice. Wedge could've sworn that Janson's was gone within five seconds. The others were still eating there's and Janson was getting himself another. Tycho was poking at his, Hobbie was eating all the frosting off his slice, Mirax was busily eating while talking with Iella and Winter, who too, were eating their cake. Wedge was eating his piece by piece….trying not to make a pig of himself like Janson was.
"So…utath afah biz?" Tycho asked with a mouthful of cake. He blushed, and then swallowed and asked again, "what's after this?"
"We're gonna play lightsaber wars!!! And I got my mom to have a doll house and dolls if the girls don't wanna play lightsaber wars," Janson said.
"Lightsaber wars?" Garrik asked. He finished a last mouthful of cake and pushed his plate aside. "What's that?"
"You need to really stop acting like that Garrik…don't you know what lightsaber wars is?" Hobbie asked.
"It's only the best game in the galaxy!" Janson said exuberantly.
"In Wes' universe of course," Wedge added.
"That's right," Janson replied.
"Ah…so I see," Tycho said. Tycho pushed his half-eaten cake aside.
"Is everyone done?" Wedge asked. Everyone nodded.
"We've come to a conclusion. We would like to play lightsaber wars too…" Iella said.
"Alright…then we'll have to alter the game a little. We'll make it like a squadron!!!" Janson exclaimed.
"Yeah! We can name it the Cake Squadron!" Garrik exclaimed. He obviously liked the cake.
"Or the Frosting Squadron!" Hobbie shouted as they walked out of the kitchen back into the living room. Janson's father had brought their 'tools of war' out.
"I say we put Wedge in command of the squadron," Iella said. Everyone turned to look at her. "It DOES make the most sense…he has the most brains here, besides Tycho too," she added.
"I'm hurt," Janson said.
"Me too…I've got brains," Hobbie said.
"Me too, I just left them at home," Janson retorted.
"Er…Wes, you are at home," Mirax reminded him.
"Oh…that's right…we'll…we had a fight and I locked him in the closet on time-out," Janson replied. He nodded.
"Right…that's what you say…" Winter said. She turned and whispered in Mirax's ear, "So…what did the Gungans do with the REAL Wes Janson…I think the Wes had more brains than this."
"I heard that," Janson replied.
"So…" Wedge said. He was doing his best to stay out of this conversation. He didn't feel the urge to challenge Wes' sanity…or lack of it actually.
"Let me put it this way…" Winter said coolly, "if we have Janson in charge of our squadron…"
"We rename ourselves to the DOOMED squadron," Hobbie replied.
"Exactly."
"I'm hurt," Janson said. "Owwww," they all nodded.
"Well then, let's get this started. Janson, equipment. Tycho, get the blasters. Girls, you're our intelligence officers, very important people you know…they get all the information and help us plot our course," Wedge said. Mirax, Iella, and Winter nodded. Janson even had fake uniforms inside his box of stuff. Man, what his parents did to please the little kid. After Wedge, Tycho, Janson, and Hobbie put their New Republic orange flightsuits on, and the girls had their New Republic intelligence officer uniforms on, they proceeded to start their game play.
