As First Dates Go, This One is Flying (Anija Ordo)

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna pulled up in his speeder in front of the Ordo house. He was a bit nervous about everything, but he was excited at the same time, though he tried to hide the nervousness well. Somehow, he was more nervous than he'd ever been heading into combat, which bothered him somewhat. He'd cleaned his armor up and touched up the paint here and there, but had left most of the battle scarring in place. Mando boys liked to show they'd seen action.

He got out of the speeder and stepped up to the door. He rang the bell once and stood back. Hopefully, today would go well and he could stop being so nervous.

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Arrbi Betna"]


Anija too was nervous. She liked Arrbi. He seemed to know a lot, and he was friendly and willing to help. Smiling slightly, she clipped her helmet to her belt and checked herself in the mirror.


She had finally gotten a haircut, and her dark hair loosely framed her face. She didn't have a fully customized set of beskar'gam yet, but she'd personalized the clan skin armor that Ordo had given her. At least as much as she felt she could.


It still felt strange to wear it, but she did like the weight of it. And it had served her well on Adumar. There were small scratches and dings in the otherwise unmarred purple and black paint.


Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair and started down the stairs as she heard the door buzzer. Her stomach clenched nervously, but she smiled as she pulled the door open a few moments later. She smiled, and reached out to grip his arm for a moment. "'Cuy. Good to see you." She glanced back into the house for a moment. "Let's go. Can't wait to see what kind of things Mandal Hypernautics has."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

He gripped her arm in return and smiled broadly.

"Good to see you as well," he said happily though he still felt nervous. "I've called ahead and had them pull out a few fighters for you to try out. You'll get your pick."

It hadn't been hard and, honestly, he was supposed to test fly the fighters there anyways. This way, he could do that while getting in some practice and all while on a date with a pretty woman. So far, today was going great. Trick was, though, to not screw it up. Betna stepped forward and held the door on the speeder open for Anija before climbing into the driver's seat and starting the speeder up. Once the engine was going, he set it into gear and got the vehicle moving.

"... You look pretty today," Betna said after a moment or two of awkward silence. So far, so good. He'd only embarrassed himself once already. Usually he'd be at number three or four by now.

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Arrbi Betna"]

She grinned then. "Kandosii!. I'm looking forward to it. Been a while since I'v flown anything besides Buir's ship." She was rather excited by the prospect, and she was grinning like a kid as she looked over at him. "What kind of craft are we talking about here...?" Her question was slightly derailed when he mentioned her looks. Her face flushed slightly, and she fidgeted for a moment. She looked around for a few moments as they drove through the outskirts of Keldabe, passing many other speeders on the way. Finally, she replied, "Vor'e. I don't get much chance to... wear my 'gam." She flushed again in embarrassment at abmitting her own feelings about it. She still felt she hadn't fully earned it.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Well, I think you look great in it," Betna said sincerely with a smile. "Anyways, I had a few Bes'uliik fighters pulled and some cabur classes as well. There's a few other fighters as well, along with a bomber, too. So you'll have your pick of which you want to fly."

Up ahead the Mandal Hypernautics hangar could be seen. It wasn't too far away, bit it was far enough for a bit more conversation.

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

"Vor'e.." she replied softly as she thought about that. "I've been wanting to try my hand at flying the new Bes'uliike. "From what I've read, they sound like a joy to fly." She was quiet as she considered her past. Sure, she wasn't proud of a lot of things... but buir had raised her well. And in spite of her shyness, she was a skilled fighter and pilot.

Frowning, she turned back to him after a moment. "Do you... mind if I ask a personal question? I know that one's past is cin vhetin when they become Mandalorian... but were you raised Mandio'ad or were you adopted in?"
@[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Both actually," Betna said with a shrug. "My father found me in a warzone when I was a little kid. I think I was eight or so. Maybe seven. Six possibly, but I doubt it. He took me in and raised me. I don't remember much before then. Nothing specific. Just being scared the whole time."

Betna shrugged again. He really didn't know much about his home planet. He didn't even know the planet's name or where it was. Jol, his father, had never told him specifically and couldn't remember when the man grew older. Hell, Betna wasn't even sure if he really was twenty four. They had just assumed he was eight when they'd found him and while the Doctors that looked him over backed that up, they weren't fully sure either. For all Betna knew, he could be twenty three or twenty two, but that didn't bother him. Age really didn't matter much past a verd'goten.

"After that, he raised me as his own. Adopted me into his family and he and his wife became my buire. I had my verd'goten at the age of twelve and then worked alongside Jol until I was in my late teens. So, yeah, both really. Adopted and raised."

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

Anija nodded. It was similar to how she'd ended up where she was. And she said as much. "Ordo found me on Corellia when I was ten. I ran smack into him when trying to get away from some CorSec goons." She laughed slightly. "I had a... habit of stealing fresh-baked bread when the local shops set up their market stalls in the mornings." She paused. "I.. .ran smack into him one day. Kriff, I was so scared. I'd heard stories.. but never seen a Mandalorian before."

She smiled slightly. "He... grabbed my arm... and I thought he was going to turn me in... and then he... pulled me behind him and told off the CorSec... said I was his daughter...I was... floored. Never thought anyone would put themselves on the line like that for me.." She shrugged slightly. She'd had her own Verd'goten, sure. But it had been later than most... and there were times she felt she still hadn't quite earned the right to wear her beskar'gam. That was something she'd have to work on, she supposed.

@[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Sounds like Ordo," Betna said with a laugh. "He has a soft spot for kids, from what I've been told. I'm glad he took you in. Us Mandos... well, the Galaxy as a whole sees us as these horrible barbarians hell bent on destroying worlds and wiping out entire planets. Honestly, at one time, we were. But now, we're much more... lenient, I think. More focused and in control. We don't wipe out planets unless we absolutely need to and we try to avoid causing widespread damage in general, unless we're provoked."

Betna thought of Dromund Kaas at that comment. Sure the Mandalorians had wiped out the planet, but from the battle reports, it was kind of an accident. Well, the act wasn't an accident, of course. He'd seen the reports and knew that @[member="Captain Larraq"]'s tactics were to ram the space rocks into the planet, but only to bring down the shields. Apparently whatever astromech or datapad he was using failed to carry a decimal or divided by zero or something and... well, while the incident hadn't been accidental, the amount of damage done that wiped out the planet and was currently causing it to freeze over was. Kind of. Mostly.

"People don't realize we're more than warriors. We're also very much family oriented and very, very structured around freedom and honor. Anyways, I'm glad he took you in, though," he said to @[member="Anija Ordo"], his mind picking up his train of thought again. "Otherwise I wouldn't have such pleasant, and pretty, company."

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Arrbi Betna"]
She nodded. "Mandos are so misunderstood. And... I can see why. But it's frustrating. Hell, Serenno was evidence of that. It was pretty obvious that they all felt we were going to go in guns blazing and just burn them to the ground." She caught the direction of his thoughts, and frowned slightly. She wasn't really sure about what had happened at Dromund Kaas, but she knew it was bad.

"Buir was always reinforcing the family aspect with me. It was hard for me to accept at first. I grew up on the streets, and it took me months to get over the fact that what he offered was legit. I'd grown up with people offering me food and other things... but wanting something in return..." She shuddered slightly, and reached over to grip his hand for a moment. "And, I'm glad I'm still here... and that Ordo found me.." She looked up then, noticing that they'd reached the parking area at the base of the Mandal Hypernautics facility.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"I'm glad he found you, too," Betna said with a smile. He parked the speeder and got out to hold the door open for Anija. He lead them into the hangar where there were a number of starfighters and such waiting for them. "Alright, down to business. Take your pick and we'll get things set up and started!"

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

@[member="Arrbi Betna"]

Grinning, Anija hopped out of the speeder, gripping his arm for balance for a moment as she did so. She was rather excited about the prospect, and she had to keep herself from running ahead to look at the craft that awaited them. She was particularly looking forward to flying the bes'uliik, as she'd never had a chance to do so. When they reached the hangar, she stopped and just... stared. The ships were beautiful. She stepped past him and reached up to run her fingers along the dorsal hull of the bes'uliik, trying to get a sense of it. Through the Force, she picked up a faint sense of... exhilaration. Whoever the last pilot had been, they had enjoyed flying it. "Kandosii..." she breathed after a moment. "I want to fly this one first.."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Good choice," Betna said with a grin. "The Bes'uliik is a nasty piece of work for anything it runs across. And it can take a beating full on from even the biggest guns."

Betna jabbed a thumb at the cockpit with the grin still in place.

"Go ahead and hop in and run on through the startup sequence. I'll get mind ready once you're settled and get the hangar door opened."

@[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

Anija was already moving before he finished speaking. It only took a few moments for her to scramble up and reach the cockpit. A few seconds later, she was comfortably settled in the pilot's chair and began working through the preflight.

It took a couple minutes to familiarize herself with the console and the flight controls, and then she began going over maneuvers in her head. Just the mere fact she was sitting in the cockpit was exciting.

A few minutes passed as she watched the preflight checks on the screen. When they did, she carefully started up the sublights, letting the thrust could warm a bit before she lifted the ship off the permacrete and angled it towards the hangar doors.

@[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Seeing that she was well settled into the cockpit, he stepped over and opened the hangar bay doors. Once done, he found his own bes'uliik and hopped on in. He followed her out the hangar and gained altitude. Once at a decent height, he keyed his comms.

"Alrighty, I'm assuming you know you're basics, so we'll go over some intermediate stuff. Sound like a plan?" he asked her.

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

She nodded, even though he couldn't see her and grinned. "Aye, I've got the basics down, at least." She looked across at him, clicking her comm twice. "Sure, I'm game for whatever you got in mind." She gently goosed the throttle, turning in a slow circle for a moment.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Alright, then let's do this," he said with a grin. "We'll do a little Hunter Killer to warm up with. I'll fly ahead and mark targets. You then kill the targets. We'll use the Mandal Hypernautics range out in the desert nearby, just sync your targeter with the training beacons and we'll get started."

With that, Betna pulled his own bes'uliik into a lazy banking turn and headed toward the training range. He synced up his own systems with the range's and dropped altitude.

"Remember, Hunter Killer is nape-of-the-earth, so we'll be going low altitude attack runs on this one. Also, you only get one pass per target, so make your shots count," he called cheerily.

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

She smirked slightly add he described the training exercise. It seemed straight forward enough. She banked her fighter around to follow him, using her right hand to sync up with the training beacons as she drew closer to the training area. She had done similar training during her time training with @Ordo.

As she closed in on Arrbi's position, she grinned and rolled her ship away from him and towards the first beacon. The craft definitely responded quickly and smoothly. Shex watched as the red laser bolts lanced out and the first remote began smoking. It was close, but not quite on the mark.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Close, but not fully on target," Betna said as he angled towards the next target. "Line up the crosshairs on this next target and get the bes'uliik lined up for it. Try and get the fighter's center axis lined up nose first, then dip the nose down slightly. That way, even if you start off target, you'll strafe onto it."

The next target was a simulated fuel depot. It was just a ramshackle thing made mostly of old plywood and rusty scrap. From up here, though, it looked close enough to warrant a few blaster cannon shots.

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

@ Arrbi Betna

Frowning, Anija rolled the Bes'uliik back on course, lining up the beacon's marker in her targeting reticle. Then, she carefully goosed the thrusters, boosting the fighter towards the target. her lasers strafing as she drew withing a hundred meters. This time, she nailed it. The building disintegrated. She grinned fiercely. "Like that..?"