I worked with them for several days, when Lemon jumped me in the hall. I spun and kicked at him, and jumped away. He charged and blocked my blows. He went on the offensive and I blocked, then spun and headbutted him, knocking him back. I did my double kick and he punched relentlessly. I grabbed his fists, knocked his helmet off and banged my head against his. He wrestled out of my gri...p and tripped me. I kicked at him and he fell to the ground. I jumped away and got ready. He charged me again, and I jumped onto the ceiling, crouching on the bars. He looked up.
"You've got to do better than that, Sourpuss." I said.
"So do you, Green."
"I like the sound of that." I replied, and jumped down and landed on him, then jumped away. "See you in training." I said. He nodded.
"Same to you…Brigand."
I saw Jas on the landing pad doing something with my ship. I decided I'd better know whether he was pranking it or fixing it.
"Jas, what are you doing?" he jumped and banged his head on the wing.
"Hi, Brigand. Um…" he looked away.
"Hey, if you're making improvements that's great, but I'd rather know beforehand whether or not you're messing with the fuselage, engine and landing gear and whether or not they'll blow up when I take off." I said.
"Well, your wing joints are a little rusty with all this rain, and the fuselage could use a tightening." I crouched down by him.
"You sure know ships, don't you?"
"Well, not just ships. I know about how all the tanks, cruisers and walkers work, even the enemy's. I know where the weak points are on them and where to protect. I'm hoping to be an engineer." He replied. "But the others in the squad think it's silly. They all want to be on the front."
"Engineers are essential to a team. If something breaks they know what to do, where otherwise the mission would be that much closer to failure. It's also just as dangerous as being on the front. If a tank goes and you're trying to fix it, it could all blow up by another shot, or as you're running you could be shot down." I said.
"Did…did you have an engineer?"
"No, we didn't use any equipment except blasters. We were ground crew, for infiltration or for cleaning up the remaining droids." I said. "At first, before I had a squad I had an engineer. He did his job well. Then an AAT shot the AT-TE he was working on, and, well…" I look at the fuselage blankly.
"I'm sorry."
"It's war, it happens. But I knew him, we were friends. Every man down hurts, but his death hurt more. And then when Ventress…I just had to get away for a while."
"I want to help my squad, but…I don't know how. I mean, I'm not good with blasters, they feel weird to me. I like tanks. The controls are smooth, they feel good in my hands. Am I making any sense?"
"Yeah. The same to me with most blasters. The rifle and the pistol are the only ones that felt natural. Don't worry, if you do your best, you'll help your squad." I replied. "Why did you miss training?" I asked.
"Um. Lemon told me to not go and help him rig stuff. Like your ship. So I'm fixing it. He had me put shorts in the wires. I think he knew I'd change my mind."
"I think he's changed his mind, too." I stood up. "Thanks for fixing the ship." I said, and went back inside, my armor squeaking slightly from the rain.