Chapter Nineteen – Those Who Are Overprotective

Adra was jolted awake at 0300 to the sound of the alarms blaring.  Cursing silently, she quickly extricated herself from the warmth of the blankets and grabbed a flightsuit.  Stupid, stupid Imperials.  A few minutes later, she was out in the hall, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.  Nicola was just walking past, an extremely annoyed look on her face.  Deciding not to say anything, Adra called her helmet to her, via the Force, and then hit the control panel to close the door.  Face was, no doubt, already at the docking bay talking with Wedge over the command frequency about what the real problem was.  Her thoughts were brought back to her friend as Nicola spoke.

"I hate this," she scowled.  Adra raised an eyebrow, inviting her to continue.  "It's so annoying!  I've got two sithin' weeks left until I'm not allowed to fly and Bror's already acting as if I'm going against orders by going out to the dogfight today."

Nodding every so often as her friend vented, Adra continued keeping pace with her as they walked towards the docking bay.  Well, Bror did have some form of point.  After all, there was no way you could debate that Nicola wasn't pregnant anymore, unless you took the swell of her abdomen as being overweight.  Not only was she pregnant, though, but with twins.  Had it been her, Face probably would've ordered her to stay at base.  Not that she would've listened.  However, that wasn't the point at this moment.

The pair walked out into the docking bay, separating to go to their ships, even though they were right next to each other.  Adra settled happily in her X-Wing's cockpit and pulled her helmet over her head.  Hands assisting each other pulled on flight gloves and then were leading her mind, now on autopilot, through the pre-flight check.  One hand jabbed at the comm, turning it on to the open frequency.  Wedge's voice came spilling through.

"-fine, fine.  But Face, you're taking the blame when it comes back at me."  Next second Adra could see Face and Bror grinning like maniacs out of their cockpits.  A sudden knot of dread swept into her stomach at the look.

"Wedge, what the kriff did you just agree to?" Adra demanded, turning her own comm on.  An unusual silence swept across the frequency.

"Uh...nothing, Adra.  Uh...well, your squadron commander has orders for you."  There was a click signifying Wedge had changed frequencies and Adra let out a string of yelled curses, including some of her Imperial Academy favorites.  Face was dead.  Really dead.  The chatter amount picked itself up over the comm but Adra didn't listen to it.

By the time the talk had really started to turn back to the fight, she was at the bottom of her ladder- having jumped down- and was shaking her head loose of the helmet.  She let it drop to the ground, not caring at the crack it made when it hit the durasteel.  She probably shouldn't have done that, but right now there were a lot of things she probably shouldn't have done.  Her angry strides carried her past the eight fighter crafts placed, in order, between hers and her 'dear' squadron commander's.  As she reached the X-Wing's ladder, she pulled herself up and, once at the top, grabbed Face by the neck of his flightsuit, pulling him up.  It was probably a good thing he hadn't strapped himself in yet, because she wouldn't have given a Sith over it.  Face, helmet and all, glanced up at her, his expression one of guilt.  Her expression never wavering, she pulled him to a standing position in his cockpit and then jumped back to the docking bay.  Silently, she gestured to the open space in front of her, all but demanding he get his butt out of his craft and explain.

Reluctant though he was, Face obeyed.  Smart boy, now maybe she'd only partially kill him.

"Adra, look, it's not like that.  It's just that, well, Bror and I both feel-"

She cut him off angrily, not even willing to listen.  "You both felt what, Face?  That we wouldn't be able to take care of ourselves?  That you'd drive us absolutely mental by keeping us on the ground during dogfights early because you figured you'd feel better about us being 'safer'?  Well guess what, flyboy, we're not green recruits just out of flight school!  You take a quick look at Wild Knights and then remember before Wedge passed his frilling thing on only being on one squadron roster and remember who led and co-led it.  Your partner-in-crime-and-worry should do the kriffing same!  You don't want us to fly?  Well I'm sure I'm not speaking only for myself but for Nicola as well in saying that if that's the way you're going to play it, we'll go to another squad.  Jaina's, for example, since she isn't stupid enough to try to keep us on the ground.  She at least is compassionate over our situation, considering she-"  Adra stopped herself before she said too much.

Face's expression changed from guilt to curiosity, but Adra just shook her head angrily and stormed back to her X-Wing, picked up her helmet and climbed back in.  By all the lucky stars in the universe, don't let her crash today.  That helmet would probably do her no good.

Adra flicked off her comm as she spoke to her droid.  "Send a private message over to Nicola."  The droid beeped at her, complying.  "Nicola, we're going up."
"Good.  If we weren't, I'd get really, really pissed.  And then I'd drag you to Rogue so we could steal Wedge and Tycho's X-Wings.  Then, after the run with the Imps, I'd go Targeter on both our husbands.  Of course, that's not saying I won't anyway."
By the time she was done, Adra was trying not to laugh.  Instead, she just double-clicked her comm and prepared her X-Wing for launch.  Adra saw Face glance over at her X-Wing before he took off.  Nicola's voice came over her comm again, startling her out of her glare at him.

"You know, we're lucky you're his wife.  If he weren't married, or he'd married a less-willful woman, he wouldn't be letting us go up."  Nicola paused, laughing slightly.  "Sometimes I've gotta wonder who's running this squadron."

Adra laughed out loud and flicked her comm back on to reply.  "Yeah, I'd be inclined to agree with you.  I think it's this baby girl."

Nicola laughed appreciatively as she finished her powering up.  Adra changed her comm frequency back to Wraith Squadron's, listening to her put-out husband begin to speak.

"Bror, sorry, I'm letting our insane wives go up.  Besides, I heard from Jag a minute ago and he said to drop the plan.  Apparently Jaina wasn't big on it."  He paused and sighed, all the while Adra imagining his expression at the thought of Jaina Solo not agreeing, and then he continued, "Alright, in order people.  One is good to go."

"Two good."

"Three all green."

The soundings continued along, all ready to go, until it got to Nicola.

"Nine is good, if we could just get going."

Adra smiled appreciatively at her friend's words, though her mood didn't really lighten.  "Ten is all lit and all pissed."

The reports concluded with Elix and Cloud, but Adra wasn't really paying attention.  Instead, she listened in on the Force, sensing her wingmate's amusement and her husband's sighing attitude.  Well, if he hadn't tried to keep her grounded a whole three months early, she wouldn't be in this mood with him.  He would have to get used to it because she certainly wasn't giving it up until she had to.

Once the squadron was through the atmosphere, Adra had her astromech connect her with Nicola's private frequency once more.  "You know, I plan on continuing my little 'chat' with my husband after we fry some Imps, but I was thinking...  Perhaps you and I should form a mutiny and leave those two to spend the night in the lounge?"

Nicola's laughter answered, before she said "Copy that, Computer Girl, copy that.  I have a very strong feeling that that's where those two will end up tonight, if not for a longer period of time than that."

In spite of what she saw before her- Imperials, of course- Adra had to laugh, all the while trying to keep focused.  "Got it, Fighter Girl.  I'm going back to main frequency now."  Maneuvering her X-Wing so it was just off Nicola's A-Wing, she quickly changed the frequency channel to Wraith Squadron's again.  Face was giving out last-second instructions even as they broke into formation to meet the TIE squadrons heading their way.