Chapter Fifteen – Wild Knights Squadron
The building hardly stood out against Coruscant's skyline. It was one of those buildings that you'd pass by if you weren't looking for it directly, or knew something other than what color the durasteel was. However, Cloud Ritril wasn't one of those people. He knew what the building was and he was looking specifically for it. It was like a home away from home, the first home being Wraith headquarters.
He was flying in from Wraith, actually. With a grin, he realized that Wild Knights base was deserted. However, that hardly surprised him. Wraith headquarters was closest to the Wild Knight headquarters, so it was really no surprise to him to be landing Wingse as the first pilot present. Following a quick checking over of his X-Wing and a few words to his over-traumatized astromech, he walked toward the building, the door rolling back, and then went off down the hall to the main conference room that doubled as Nicola's office.
* * * * *
Mara Jade Daragon was not at all surprised to see other crafts at the base before her; in fact, she would've been worried if there hadn't been. She had been, thankfully, on her way from Naboo to Coruscant when she'd received the message that she needed to get to base. So she'd high-tailed it to base.
As her X-Wing, the Clawdite, landed down on its repulsor pads, she quickly got out of the cockpit, her helmet taking her place on the seat. A swift checking over of the hull proved that her worries of something hitting her ship were false. Probably a good thing too, she thought, as Uncle Luke would kill me.
It was odd to think of her Uncle as her Jedi Master, and vice versa other times. He wasn't as strict as he used to be, she was told by Alex Gallia, but he was...fun. She searched her mind for a better word, but found none. Fun just 'fit'. Who else would let you sit on their head when you were in nexu form? Well, besides Lucas. A wrench of annoyance mingled with something almost like pain in her mind. Sithin' Vana Sage went off and got Lucas as a boyfriend. Well, on no uncertain terms would Mara be exacting her revenge.
While she had been thinking, her feet had been carrying her towards the 'office', and it was a shock to find herself already in front of the rolled back door. Stepping inside the room, she quickly looked around to see Cloud Ritril already sitting in a chair. Mara opted to stand by the door, however, her back against the wall.
Her eyes lingered for a moment out the window, unconsciously watching the Petition land. Paige Gtim, Jedi Knight, hopped out. While she knew Paige had been Knighted, even talked to her right after she was, Mara still found it hard to believe that her 18-year-old friend was no longer a padawan. Not that it mattered any. Paige always had a quite air about her, quiet and collected. Mara could remember the countless times her master would attempt to throw her off, trying to find something that would make her tick. She had never been successful.
Mara watched as Paige threw her helmet into the cockpit of her fighter then turned to look at her droid. Mara forced back a grin; she'd always liked that droid, even if he was a bit like Threepio. A few minutes later, Paige walked in and looked around. She spotted Mara and waved, which Mara returned.
Paige walked over to stand by the wall as well, a slight grin on her face. Mara nodded and gestured to the window framing the Petition. "What's up with Ditto then?" She couldn't help the smile that was etching over her features at the droid's name.
Paige sighed, "Going on about how I should know better than the just 'chuck', as he phrased it, my helmet into my cockpit." Mara stifled a laugh, but Paige seemed not to notice it and went on, "I told him I didn't need lessons on manners. He seems to be in a mood to disagree today because he's been arguing with me all morning. And people say droids don't have character."
* * * * *
The Clone and the Imbrusia were the next to X-Wings to land, the latter touching down first. Adra Amidala watched her Jedi Master's craft as she brought it to it's point on the hanger bay and then landed her own craft. She shrugged her helmet off then turned slightly in her seat to look at her R2 unit. Checking that the thing wasn't about to 'yell' at her, she climbed out of her X-Wing, helmet left behind in the cockpit. Adra walked around her craft, fingers prodding certain points of it as if finding another mark she hadn't noticed on it.
She stopped as she saw the orange flightsuit of Airell standing by the Imbrusia. The sigh that had intended to meet the air was strangled in her throat. While she could understand her master's caution, she didn't need to have her hanging over her to the point where she couldn't even walk to the Council chambers and back without company of some sort. While she had been able to stifle the sigh, she couldn't stop the words.
"I could've found the office by myself, you know." Adra knew Airell was getting ready to reply, but found she didn't really want to hear it, since she already knew what it would be. It would be the same argument over again. 'Yes, I'm well aware you could've, but if you spent more time looking your X-Wing over and someone wasn't here I wouldn't hesitate to say that if Jori or one of her Sith personnel saw you, you'd be gone.' That was always how it went, no matter how many times Adra tried to point out that she knew very well how to handle a lightsaber. Her arguments usually meant nothing however. Resigned to this fact, Adra walked purposefully into the building and towards the conference room. She knew Master Airell was right behind her, and the footsteps that echoed hers confirmed her belief.
As she entered the conference room, she looked around for any faces she knew. Like Mara Jade and Paige. The two were a little ways off, Paige sitting in a chair and Mara standing with her back leaning up against the wall. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her Jedi Master go sit down by the desk in the room. Adra herself went over to stand by Mara, one of the only other people her age in the entire group.
* * * * *
The journey from Rogue headquarters had been uneventful inside the cockpit of the Suprosa. Not that you thought it would be, Adra reminded herself. The quick glance of the docking bay she took before she landed was enough to tell her that Mara, Airell, Cloud and Adra Amidala were already present. Nicola was still at Rogue base, and Sith knows where everyone else was.
With the knowledge that Nicola wasn't here came a grin. Adra quickly hopped out of her X-Wing, her helmet somehow managing to get lucky and land on the seat inside the cockpit and not on the ground. As far as Adra was concerned, you could easily get a new helmet, so why not beat yours up a bit?
Her thoughts trailing idly to Rogue base once more, she found herself, to her chagrin, thinking about Face. She'd have to comm him before they got in the air. However, now was most definitely not the time to be thinking about her boyfriend. They had far bigger things to worry about...like what would happen if Daala gained control of the Bilbringi, for one.
Pace quickening, Adra looked ahead down the hall, her eyes searching for the door that led into the office. At last finding it, she took the last few steps toward it and turned inside. Walking purposefully to the desk, she looked at one of the chairs near it, debating whether or not to take that one or Nicola's. No competition. Deciding she might as well take the seat while she could, she grabbed the chair behind Nicola's desk and sat herself down.
Besides, this spot had the best view of the hanger bay. As she turned the chair, Adra noticed Mara's amused smile. Returning it, she looked out the window, watching Lucas and Buri walk in. It was strange to think that out of twelve pilots, five of them were currently living on Naboo. Not that there was anything wrong with Naboo, but just the fact that they also happened to be the more insane ones was what caused her to raise her eyebrows. Of the entire 'Nubian Group', Buri was probably the sanest. She had good reason though, from what Luke had said.
Adra repressed a shudder at the thought of being a Tatooine slave. As far as reports were concerned, Anakin Skywalker and Buri Alva had been slaves to the same Toydarian, though at much different times. Watto had never been a pleasure to talk to, and Adra was quite sure that in his old age he didn't get any more so. Luke had mentioned something about Mica Alvarez having been a Tatooine slave at one point as well...though she didn't really know the details. Hardly anyone did, she guessed. The main reason Luke knew so much about Buri was the fact that he had gone on the mission to retrieve her. Mica had freed herself and earned a living as a smuggler, that much she knew. Other than that, you got a fist in your jaw for asking about Mica's experiences on Tatooine if her brother didn't catch her arm before her fist flew.
Xenon Alvarez was another interesting person. His wife had turned into a Sith, his sister was a slave turned smuggler turned Jedi, yet still he found joy in the universe. That might have had something to do with actually finding out he had a sister. While you'd receive serious physical damage if you asked Mica about Tatooine, you could pretty much count on not receiving any if you asked her about her brother and what it was like growing up with him, the latter of the two things something she didn't do. While how she had been separated from the family and landed in the Tatooine slave market was strictly an out-of-bounds subject, asking how she'd met her brother was an okay one.
The sharp release of the door as it slid across the frame was enough to drive her thoughts from her head. Adra watched at Nicola walked up, easily reading from her expression that the battle plan and Wild Knights part in it wasn't what she wanted. Allowing Nicola to use the Force to move her from the chair, she grinned and instead took up a standing post just behind Nicola as the other Jedi 'reprimanded' her.
"My chair, Adra. One of the privileges that come with command."
Adra opened her mouth to reply, but then quickly shut up again as Bror entered the room, Jade Veila in tow. While she was in two squadrons with Jade, she'd seen the woman all of three times in a year.
"I see you finally got her out of her self-induced exile," Nicola was saying.
Bror smiled at his wife, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before he turned and looked at Jade. "Yeah, it took a bit of persuading and Force use, but I finally managed."
The look on Jade's face suggested to Adra that more that a 'bit' of Force use had been necessary. While Jade was no slouch with the Force herself, Adra knew that if you crossed Bror with the Force and shear physical strength, it could be a tricky situation to get out of. Jade glared at Bror for a minute, her green eyes flashing, but then took a seat in the back of the room.
Nicola looked about ready to start when Bria Tharen walked in. A bit breathless with having run from the hanger, she smiled slightly.
"Sorry I'm late," was all she offered before she went and sat by Mara and Adra Amidala. They were much closer her age group than the rest in the room.
Adra could see Nicola rolling her eyes at Bror, then the Jedi nodded to Bria. Even without the Force-enhancement Adra knew she fed into her voice, Nicola would've been heard.
"Alright, everyone sit down and shut the Sith up. Your orders have been transmitted to you. So read 'em, follow 'em and you get my point. And make sure your ships are working because it would be a bit embarrassing if you were killed because of a mechanical failure that could've been prevented. Oh, and you younger-ish pilots," Adra grinned slightly at Nicola's wording, "like Mara, Buri and Adra; please try to stay alive because if you get shot down, your masters are going to take me apart, piece by piece."
Adra couldn't help grinning. Quickly she commented to Nicola through the Force, not really feeling that everyone else in the room needed to hear her words. That's only if they can get past your friends, Fighter Girl.
Having been keeping tabs on what Imperial Communications she could, a laugh escaped her as she read Daala's last order. Going over to the desk Nicola was now sitting behind, she put the datapad on top of whatever she was looking at. She felt a flicker of annoyance coming off Nicola through the Force, but that soon disappeared as Adra raised an eyebrow and explained.
"Figured you might as well know your wingmate and her partner-in-'crime' are specific targets. Though I doubt it'll cost us more than a few extra shots at the TIEs." Her quizzical expression turned into a slight grin. After Nicola had nodded, she pulled out her comm to tell Tyria the 'joyous' news.
Adra knew the holoimage of herself was quickly erected in front of Tyria at her command center. Tyria's voice came through, cutting Adra off before she'd begun. No doubt, she was guessing at why she'd commed in.
"Yeah, I was just about to call you about that. Anyways, Wedge just sent me a copy of yours and my new orders. He wants one of us to stay on the ground and I'll do it," At this point Adra broke in, wanting to debate that with her, but Tyria shook her head, cutting her off in turn, "because you're too good a pilot and Nicola depends on you too much for you not to fly. I'll keep hacking into their systems but this time I'll use my personal signature. Hopefully Daala will get mad enough and concentrate on getting me. And remember, only my computers will miss me if I get captured; you'll leave Face waiting. In the mean time, use the transponder package I spent last week working on and put it on your X-Wing's I.D. It should take them about four hours to break that code and that's if they can get a targeting lock on you for more than five minutes."
* * * * *
Orbiting the planet, Imperial Admiral Daala stood on the decks of the Knight Hammer. Her comm had just intercepted one of the unprotected Rebel frequencies and a thin line was crossing her face as a result. Tyria Tainer. That girl was a problem that needed to be solved. Or disposed of. Before she could begin thinking of all the things she would love to put the hacker through, a smile bloomed on her face. Whether unknowing or not, Tyria Tainer had just released a bit of information that would prove...useful.
Face Loran, eh? Well there was some news worth listening to. Adra Tallon was in love with Face Loran. She made a note to have the TIE commander informed of another target X-Wing, then listened to the rest of the conversation. Her face clouded once again as she heard the next bit of news. Target lock Adra Tallon? Impossible. She dodged out too quickly. Even the top graduates from the Imperial Academy couldn't lock her for more than enough time to fire. And by the time the attack reached the target point, the vonging Rebel was gone. A curse escaped her lips, but she listened to the rest of the conversation. So the Rebels were going to play hard ball? Excellent.
Quickly she punched in the ship's comm, tapping in the code for the TIE commander once more. "Add another to that list. I want Face Loran as well. It seems one of our little hackers girls has a certain...attachment to him."
A merciless flick of a smile passed her features once more as she disconnected from the communication. There was going to be a certain...loss for Adra Tallon in her near future. And then maybe she'd decide she was going to try to rescue this vital asset to her life. Well, that odds-against rescue mission would inevitably end up with her playing into Imperial hands.
* * * * *
Adra saw Tyria from down at something in the terminals below the holocomm's view. A confused expression crossed her face and she waited for Tyria to explain what was wrong. She didn't have to wait long.
"Uh-oh, we've got intruders." Adra watched her friend type furiously. "I knew I should've upgraded this system! Daala's listening in on our conversation." The anger on her face quickly passed out of it and then she saw Tyria look to her again. "Give Face a heads up for me, alright?"
Cringing slightly, Adra nodded to her friend. "Okay. Will do...just be careful, okay? If I come back and you've not survived, I will murder you again when I take the 'big leap' myself," she couldn't help grinning at that, but nodded once more in a good-bye to Tyria. Quickly she thumbed her comm to Face's frequency. Kill two TIEs with one missile, Adra thought, grinning slightly.
"Face? Adra here. Daala's got TIEs focusing on you. Stay away from groups of them. You're not invincible and if Daala ends up catching you it's not going to be pretty on my end. See you in the air." Even though she told herself to just end the transmission right there, she couldn't. So instead, she listened to Face's laughing voice: music to her ears.
"I'm not invincible? What the Sith are you talking about Adra? And you're my girlfriend not my mother, love."
Adra quickly beat back a sigh, instead laughing at his remarks. "I know that, dear," she quickly returned the 'endearing' term to him, though with much more sarcasm ripped into it. "But you're not invincible. I'll hack into that X-Wing computer of yours and remove your shields if you need that as a lesson." Though she could threaten it all she liked, she was privately thinking that she'd never do that if her life depended on it. "Anyway, just be careful."
Her voice joked less now and she found herself staring at the comm seriously, as though it might transmit her face a well, showing the seriousness of the situation in spite of the laughter throughout the squads. Admiral Daala head easily three times the firepower the New Republic had... things would and could easily get very sticky for the New Republic if they weren't careful.
She heard Face's laughter coming over the comm, followed by his voice. "You'd never take away my shields, Adra, and you know it." She smiled at his statement, at the same time thinking that he knew her too well. As he spoke again, his voice grew a bit more serious. "I'll be careful. And you be careful too, alright? If I come back and find you captured, I'll be very disappointed." The sounds of laughter from the Rogues came over the comm, but Adra listened only to Face's voice. "I've got to go, we insane Rogues are annoying the Sith outta each other. I love you Adra. Poster Boy out." And then there was an almost audible click signifying that he'd turned his comm off.
Adra sat stunned, surprised more than anything by his last announcement. During the course of their conversation, she'd slipped unconsciously into a chair. She blinked, looking over at Nicola, hardly believing she'd actually heard Face say what he had. Adra glanced around the room, noting that it was devoid of all people but herself and Nicola. She looked back at the comm still in her hand, knowing that she couldn't reply through it as his was now off. Instead, she whispered it through the Force, knowing he'd hear it.
I love you too Face...
She shook her head, looking over at Nicola again. At last, she stood up, nodding to her friend. "I'm going to get my X-Wing ready."
Nicola nodded, one hand over her mouth, looking like she was attempting to conceal a grin. No doubt she was, too. Adra wondered vaguely if it was merely that she knew who Adra had been talking to or if it was that she knew what had been said, but she didn't have time to fathom the answers. Nicola stood up and walked over next to her friend.
"Alright. I'll come out with you. I need to get away from the duties of command for a few minutes."
Adra was careful to keep her face expressionless and she nodded and walked out to the Suprosa. She grabbed a fuel hose quickly, dragging it to her X-Wing and began to refuel. Somehow she knew Nicola wasn't going to leave it alone; knew it by the look on her friend's face.
"Alright. What."
She saw Nicola raise an eyebrow, looking for all the part like she was innocent. Adra saw through it immediately. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I just was thinking about how I recognized the look on your face."
Though that was not what she had expected, a grin none-the-less came to her lips as she turned back to her X-Wing. "What look was that then?" her reply was as off-hand as she could make it, though she knew it was fooling Nicola about as much as Nicola's 'innocence' had fooled Adra.
Nicola's reply came with a grin. "The look on your face when your boyfriend tells you he loves you for the first time."
Adra felt heat rising to her cheeks and suddenly wished Nicola didn't know her so well. She turned quickly to put the fuel hose back, then looked at her friend.
"Fine, be that way." Adra muttered to herself as she worked on checking her X-Wing over, acutely aware that she had muttered a bit too loudly the words 'well I do love him'.
Without looking at Nicola, she could see the grin that would undoubtedly be on her friend's face. Nicola moved away to put her hose back, then walked over to Adra. She was a bit surprised that when Nicola spoke again, there wasn't a hint of sarcasm. "Be careful out there, will ya? I really don't need to lose another friend."
Adra looked Nicola over, thoughtful, then nodded, specifically hoping that this wasn't the last time she was going to be talking to her friend. "The same to you, commander."
She was rewarded almost immediately with a mock-glare from Nicola. "Don't call me commander, Adra. It makes me feel old when people say that."
About to say something in response, she looked over Nicola's shoulder and nodded to the girl who'd come up behind her. Quickly Adra busied herself as Amidala talked with Nicola. She could tell the girl was nervous about interrupting and didn't want to add to her nerves by watching her as she reported.
"Master... Captain Afyon, three Imperial ships have been spotted orbiting the planet...and judging by the frequencies running about, the rest of the fleet is going to arrive soon."
One thing she had to give to that girl was her intelligence. Airell had told her some of the history around her padawan with Senator Padmé's last name and part of that had come to the effect that Jori Daragon had created the girl. She was a clone in some ways, yet entirely unlike a clone in most. Adra knew that Jori had tampered with both the intelligence level of the clone-to-be and also the midichlorian level. Unfortunately for Adra Amidala, Jori had lost possession of the girl and in trying to regain said possession, had terrorized the kid when it came to talking to superior officers she hardly knew.
Adra could tell Nicola was about to snap at Amidala for calling her Captain, but was relieved as Nicola stopped herself in time. "Alright, thanks Adra. Go ahead and tell the rest of the squad for me. Oh, and you can call me Nicola. Captain Afyon makes me feel old."
The girl saluted to Nicola and Adra in turn. "Yes, Ma-" Adra heard her stop herself. "Yes, Nicola."
A smile played on her lips as she watched the girl walk away, easily reading that the lack of title felt awkward to the girl. But that was just how things were run in Nicola's squadron.