Chapter Twelve – Rogue Squadron
Sola landed Naboo, hopped out of her cockpit and carefully looked the X-Wing over. Laser marks covered it from wingtip to wingtip, but the craft was still as good as ever beneath the S-foils and durasteel coverings. At last satisfied that the X-Wing was battle compatible, she headed towards the building. So much for spending time with her family... but that didn't really matter much now anyway. She'd be flying with over half of them in little more than nine hours. Entering the deserted hallways, she looked around for other signs of life.
With none yet found, she continued walking, though a pang of sympathy crossed her face, tied with her last thought. Jacen and Celtic's youngest child would be flying with the squad today. If Ari had been older, say around 15, she doubted she would've worried as much... but the girl was only 9. Sola's thoughts then jumped around to land on her own children. They might fly someday. When they were 14- or older. Now passing the exiting squad leaders and twics, she entered the nearly deserted office. Seeing Wedge Antilles, Han Solo, Iella and two other pilots still present, she looked at her commander.
"Should I go wait in the lounge, or stay here?"
Meanwhile, Ari was reminding herself over and over again not to use what had been, amazingly, her first tongue- Huttese- when asked a question. At the same time her X-Wing touched down, she caught sight of her aunt's within the throng of others. A second glance around the platform enlightened her to where her grandfather and the Millennium Falcon had gone at such a quick pace. At least she wasn't alone in this... Although, from what's she'd previously heard of Rogue Squadron, you had to be a pretty good flyer to get in. Well, being a Rogue at age nine was certainly a good thing. However, the other half she'd heard about Rogues was that the pilots that had been in for a long time usually had a very broad sense of humor. With the Force as her witness, she sure hoped they didn't start picking on a kid: she might have to joke back.
A slight smile crossed her face at that thought. There were advantages of having the Yuuzhan Vong Trickster Goddess as your aunt. Including having one up on the famous- or infamous, depending on who you asked- Wes Janson. With a bit of a shock, she found herself at the office door. Well, now or never. All Rogues report. That's what the message had said.
Walking inside, she smiled at her aunt, and then looked around. General Wedge Antilles was standing near her grandfather and what were, apparently other figures of importance. She noticed General Antilles' wife sitting behind his desk. That was an odd sight, to be sure. Nearly laughing aloud, she quickly shut her mouth and went over to stand by a wall.
Wedge watched as both Sola Gallia and then Ari Solo came into the office. One nine-year-old newbie, one sane original; he didn't know which was more strange. However, they were both good pilots. He nodded to Sola and smiled.
"No, I think you guys can stay here," he said, and then he turned back to talking with Han.
Tycho was watching the girl that had entered behind Sola. His first thought was that it one of Wedge's children- probably Myri- who'd found a flight suit and had suited up, trying to get a chance to fly without her father noticing. He was just about to tell the girl to go find her sister, but then stopped to inspect her flight uniform. After a minute, the Alderaanian's eyes widened a bit. So this was the Solo kid. The one Wedge and Han had a bet going on about her and her older twin. He turned and tapped Wedge's shoulder, grinning, "Here's your first shot at making a pilot out of a Solo." He motioned to the girl, his grin getting broader.
The pilot then looked over at the door as Hobbie entered. The first of Hobbie's actions nearly caused him to laugh. He had obviously assumed that the Solo kid was one of Wedge's girls because as he'd passed her, he had put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. Try as Tycho might, he couldn't keep a straight face.
"What?" Hobbie's question was a bit unsure, as if he might not even want to know.
Tycho indicated what he'd just done, though even that was a struggle over the laughter trying to burst out. Hobbie looked over at "Wedge's" daughter and seemed to realize his own mistake. His only words were 'Oops' and then he broke out into laughter himself. As he walked over to the girl, he fought to keep his laughter under control. And he managed... just barely.
"Sorry about that, short-stuff. Thought you were one of the 'Exalted One's' girls. The name's Derek, but Hobbie to friends. What's yours?"
* * * * *
Ari had fixed her hair as soon as the pilot had wandered off to the other one, wondering what in the name of the all the stars had caused him to do that. It was probably one of those "Rogue Squadron" things that Aunt Sola had warned her about. As he came back over though, she got a bit defensive, on the pretence that he was going to do the same again. However, she heard him out and then shrugged, muttering 'Koochoo' under her breath, not really caring if he could speak Huttese.
"Ari Solo. Leah tukr irgo chuba," she said in an offhand way. Realizing what she'd done, a smile appeared on her face as confusion crossed the other pilot's. Now it was her turn to laugh, and she did. Grinning slightly, her tension losing its grip, she made a struggle to get it out in Basic, hating that she had to actually think about it. "I'm Ari. Nice to meet you."
She could tell instantly that he was relieved she 'translated' her words for him, though Ari really had no doubt that they would get it...eventually. A smile began to form on the Hobbie's face once again, and then he spoke.
"Nice to meet you, too. Have you met our Exalted General-of-a-commander yet?" he questioned. Ari quickly shook her head. She had heard an awful lot about General Antilles, but had never actually met him. Either that, she had but didn't remember it. And while she also knew that her grandfather and he had some sort of underhanded deal going on, neither she nor Aurra could work it out of Grandpa Han. Hobbie seemed to be pleased by her response and immediately took her hand, leading her to what must've been the General. Then he spoke to the other, "Ari, Wedge. Wedge, the girl I thought was one of your daughters."
Iella couldn't help laughing at Hobbie's words; Ari could see the ex-CorSec officer getting up from behind her husband's desk to get a better look at the pilot in question: a.k.a., Ari herself.
"It's probably a good thing she's not one of my children," the calm voice was hardly a surprising accompaniment to Iella Antilles' calm face. "She'd be getting a good bit of sense knocked into her. Though I have to wonder, General Solo-" the words seemed to change tact at the speed of light and were very suddenly directed at Han- "why you'd let your granddaughter fight Imperials at age nine. Though, that's none of my business." Her voice paused again, and Ari found herself looking straight into the woman's eyes. The next second, however, Iella had looked to her husband. "I'm going to find our daughters and make sure they haven't decided to try and sneak into squad lineups. Have fun trying to mold a Solo." With that, the now-motherly figure went off down the hall, presumably to find her children.
This left Ari quite-consciously looking up brazenly into the face of General Wedge Antilles, survivor of two Death Stars. However, the Corellian's face was kinder than she had expected it to be. There was no doubt about his keeping his laughter in check, but that didn't stop the smile from his face. At last, the General looked up to Hobbie, still standing next to her.
"No need to introduce us Hobbie. I've known Ari for a long time," his words were directed to Ari and Hobbie, but his eyes tracked his wife as she left the room. He quickly spoke up before she disappeared, saying, "Don't worry, I will. And knowing Myri, she's probably tried to." Shaking his head as his wife left, he nodded to Hobbie and Ari once again, dismissing them. Then his talk went back to bel Iblis, Lando and Han.
Janson chose that moment to make his comments heard. He started with Hobbie's debut at mistaking a Solo for an Antilles. "At least you didn't accidentally insult Jaina Solo! And for some reason, she finds my X-Wing offensive. Can you imagine?"
At that interesting moment, the Intruder- Gaeriel Captison's X-Wing- made its landing. As Gaeriel got out, she stood looking at Ari's X-Wing for a good few minutes. Ari had no doubt as to what she was thinking. Probably something on the lines of either the owner was a newbie who had enough friends to land a spot as twic somewhere, or one of the Rogue pilots had banged their X-Wing up enough to get a new one. After a moment, in which Ari studied the calm face of the Jedi that she knew was to be her wingmate, a look of comprehension seemed to cross the Jedi Knight's face. Sure enough, the woman walked into the office minutes later, her duo-colored eyes roaming in search of something. They paused on Ari's face. Ari offered a cautious smile to her and she found it was returned immediately. Then the Jedi Knight mock saluted to Wedge, breaking eye contact with Ari, and the former went to talk with Ari's Aunt Sola.
Technically, Sola wasn't her aunt. She was her first cousin once removed, or something... but it was so much easier to say 'Aunt Sola'. Besides, the quick-tempered, yet quiet Skywalker preferred it to other titles. Anyone could tell you that.
Mirax Halcyon's reply to Wes Janson seemed to bring everyone back on-planet. She had looked like she was sleeping, but that illusion was quickly murdered as the cocky Corellian's voice carried across the room. "Janson, everyone finds your X-Wing offensive. It's hardly difficult for the Goddess to pinpoint you for someone to find offensive."
Kell Tainer walked into the room at that minute, able to catch a few of the comments. Though they weren't technically supposed to separate themselves if they happened to be in other squadrons, Kell still took his tradition position in the seat next to Face.
"You know, with Mirax's diplomacy, Janson's maturity, Hobbie's wonderful eyesight and optimism, and Poster Boy's and my good sense, I don't know how we can lose," his voice carried across the room, providing those near enough to hear with a good laugh.
Face, it seemed, wasn't in a good mood, however. His glare at Kell quickly told Ari that. So she was hardly surprised by his sharp and serious reply, "If those are our weapons, then we're doomed. And if you keep this up Explosion Boy, I might have a talk with Nicola and ask her to do something about you and Gaeriel."
Whether he had consciously done it or not, it seemed Face had cracked a highly explosive joke. Everyone short of the Generals, Sola, Ari and Gaeriel broke out into fits of laughter. Ari looked at her aunt, not quite sure what was so funny about it. Sola opened her mouth to reply when Doran entered the room, his own remarks putting a stop to the laughter still rippling around the small room.
"Hey, does this Nicola only set up people she really likes or really hates?"
The murmurs or 'both' seemed to make Doran even happier, for he smiled and rubbed his hands together, an odd spasm of insanity crossing his face. "Well then..."
Having been so distracted by this little 'conversation', Ari nearly jumped when she felt a hand tap her shoulder. Quickly she turned to see another pilot bedecked in the New Republic orange flightsuit. A quick smile from the other sent Ari's nerves to ease and she listened for whatever the pilot had to say.
"Welcome to the squadron, Ari. I'm Lujayne, one of the only sane members in this squadron." Before Ari could reply, Wedge Antilles looked up, apparently having heard Lujayne's words.
"The only others being Sola, Gaeriel and you, Ari," Wedge seemed to expand on his pilot's sentence. "The rest of us are just pilots with interesting sense of humor. Alright everyone," he said, raising his voice on the last few words. Quickly, everyone quieted down to listen. "Your orders have been transmitted. If you have any questions, ask 'em now. I suggest that you refuel yours X-Wings and triple check 'em. If there are any problems, send a message to Alana."
Numerous pilots nodded, and then one voice broke out- which Ari quickly identified as Wes Janson's- to reply verbally to the commander. "Yes General! Wait; I mean, yub yub, O Exalted One!"
Ari couldn't help laughing at that. While most of her new squadmates obviously knew she spoke at least some Huttese by now, they didn't know that she also knew a few other languages. So, on her way out to her X-Wing, she quickly muttered a small sentence to Janson, keeping her voice low so only he could hear her words.
"Look everyone, it's a mookiee." Quickly, she dived into the hall, waiting just around the corner to hear the after-effects of her words.
Gaeriel's voice, however, was the next to break the air. No doubt she was talking to Wedge. "I think the numbers for sane people just dropped one." A pause came, in which time Ari would've bet, had she not been one quarter Corellian and half Solo, that Gaeriel was looking over to Wes. "I think that name suits you really well, Janson! I wonder what other names that kid's got up her sleeves..." Then Gaeriel passed Ari, going out to the docking bay.
* * * * *
Wedge, and it appeared he was not alone, tried not to laugh. Janson and the Ewoks was a very old joke for the old-time Rogues and Wraiths. Wedge's voice was choked with laughter as it called after Gaeriel's retreating back.
"Yes, the sane members are definitely down to three and now there are two insane ladies in the Rogues." Wedge grinned at the group, then called Ari's name. No doubt she would be hanging around out of sight, as any good practical joker would, to see the rewards of her troubles. The girl reentered the room and he couldn't help smiling at her.
"The Ewok thing is a very old joke between Janson, myself and several other Rogues and Wraiths. I really don't recommend bringing it up again. Wes is very...er... sensitive about that." At his last remarks, it truly became a struggle not to laugh outright at the expression on Janson's face.
What surprised him a bit more was the response he got from the girl. Ari bowed her head in what appeared to be pseudo-respect or even false awe and saluted. Her reply was just as pseudo-truthful. "Yes'sir, Exalted One, sir."
"Actually, that's 'yes, O Envy of all Corellia'," he grinned after the girl.
Before he could reply further, he saw the young Jedi pilot turn tail, poking her deactivated lightsaber at Janson's side, as if she were an Ewok with spear. That alone was enough to send him laughing again, but then the girl ran off down the hall, yelling some random phrases in Ewok.
Wedge only stopped laughing as Janson glared at him, his face in a 'this-is-so-unfair' pout. "Wedge, can we go back to the over 16 in age policy? Even better, the old Rogues?"
He grinned at Janson's pleading face. "Of course we can Wes. If you can answer me two things: One. Would you like to have Jaina back in this squad so she sees you every time we're at base and, henceforth, can exercise her rights to pick on you? And two, I'll just need you to tell me how to get everyone back in the squad without offending everyone currently in it who's not considered an original."
Hobbie must've sensed the sarcasm behind his voice, though Wedge was pretty sure he'd managed to keep it out of it. Either way, the tall pilot went over to Wes, shaking his head. Then he put a hand on Wes's shoulder, steering him towards the door. "I'm afraid it's impossible, Janson. Now let's go see if we can't find a way to annoy that Solo kid." With that, he left Wes with a sardonic grin.
Wes, following Hobbie, had to grin. "Hmm, maybe we should go jump in a simulator and beat her up. Always makes me feel better."
Wedge could tell that he was not the only one who was about to start laughing again, but was again not the only one to rethink it as Sola Gallia's voice echoed angrily through the Force into all of their heads.
You know, Janson, if you beat her up in the simulators, not only Jaina and I will hurt you, but her mother, father, grandfather and just about ever other related person in her family will post a death mark on your head.
Wes was about to say something, no doubt filled with sarcasm, when Lujayne stepped in between the hot-headed Sola and the sarcastic-to-the-point-of-stupidity Wes.
"Alright, this is getting old. Captain Gallia, you should know what Janson means by beating up Ari in the simulator. And Janson, you should try to keep your mouth shut and stop the smart remarks. Quite frankly, I don't really care who started this huge Skywalker/Solo versus Janson feud, but it needs to stop now. We can't fight Imperials if we're fighting ourselves."
And with that, the woman correctly termed "Rogue's Heart" walked out of the room and towards the docking bay. Wedge blinked after her, quite taken aback by Lujayne's hot words. Well then, it that didn't get everyone's minds on business, the only option left would be to take a laser cannon to them.