Summary: Amber gets some noisy payback on Ochre.

Blow Ya Pipes

When it came to prank wars on Skybase, there were a couple of rules:

1. Duty comes first, no prank should interfere with one's capability to do one's job.

2. Keep the pranks off the command deck and out of medical - if you thought having an irate Colonel chewing on your arse was bad, having one of the doctors or nurses, with them having access to all sorts of sharp pointy objects, mad at you, was worse.

3. Stay away from the nursery - Colonels and Doctors are nothing, compared with pissed off Mamas.

4. If someone accidentally got caught in the crossfire of a prankster and intended victim while both parties were engaged in a prank war, they have a free pass to retaliate against the prankster (and some times the intended victim depending on the situation) without fear of retaliation.

These rules were generally followed to the letter and in 2098 there were two colour captains duking it out for the unofficial crown of prank king of Skybase.

They were Captain Amber, aka Sean Taggart, and the new Captain Ochre, aka Richard Fraser.

0o0o0

Captain Ochre woke suddenly to the sound of bagpipes blasting from behind the couch he had been sleeping on in the officers lounge.

Ochre growled, as he picked himself up off the floor, and looked up at the newly promoted Captain Amber, who was playing said bagpipes, "What in the ever loving fuck," Ochre roared. "Do you think you're doing, Sean?"

Amber kept playing, as if he hadn't heard Ochre yelling at him.

Ochre walked up to Amber and got into his face, "What's your damage, Sean?" He growled. "Didn't you see me sleeping there?"

Amber stopped playing, "Oh, hey, Rick," he said, in a fake surprised tone. "Where did you come from?"

"I was having a nap in here, before you started playing those things," Ochre ran a hand through his hair. "Where the fuck did you get that thing anyway?"

Amber looked down at his bagpipes, then back at Ochre, "You talking about my pipes?" He replied. "I've had them since I was a lad, me dad taught me how to play, I usually practice in an empty hanger, but since the lounge was empty I thought I'd have a change play here today."

"I was here asleep, moron," Ochre snapped back. "And I thought you were Irish, like the so called reformed gangster."

"Me mammy's Irish," Amber replied. "The old man is a full blown Scotsman," he shifted the bagpipes as if he was about to start playing them again. "Now if you will excuse me-"

"If you start playing those things again," Ochre snarled. "I'm going to teach you a whole new way to play them." He groaned loudly, "Is this because I froze several sets of your underwear and left them to defrost in random places around Skybase?" He hissed.

"What the fuck do you think?" Amber snapped back. "Unlike you, I do happen to have a girlfriend, and some of the places you left them were questionable to down right embarrassing."

Ochre laughed darkly, "I bet it was," he growled. "But don't think for one second I'm going to let you get away with this little stunt."

Amber got into Ochre's face, "You think I'm afraid of you?" He replied. "Bring it."

"You will sleep with one eye open if you're smart boy, Sean," Ochre replied, as he stepped around Amber, shoulder checking him as he went. "Oh, and Seymour?" Ochre turned to face Lieutenant Chartreuse, who had entered the lounge in the middle of his and Amber's conversation. "You saw nothing, understand?"

Chartreuse gulped as he looked between Ochre and Amber, "S.I.G." He replied nervously.

Ochre smiled and left the room, he had a prank to plan…

Notes: So, I figured Ian would teach his kid how to play the Bagpipes.

Amber is also the prankster/shit stirrer of the Skybase kids.