Faction Joyflying (Troublesomes)

[Fred Gred]

Aries, head engineer of CST, lead the group of young Mandalorians across "Main Street" of the Artemis, the large mobile shipyard of Concord Specialized Technologies. This was an interesting idea from Fred on something he and his friends could do. Plus, it meant they could take a little trip out of their normal stomping ground. Plus, he was excited to see some of the new stuff that he'd heard about. The engineer continued leading them through the large hanger, and passing by multiple vessels in production, they soon can to some of the newer lines. He would soon point out some a somewhat familiar design.

"That over there, is an update to the Viper Interceptor. We call them "Kodashi" Viper MKIIs. Better armament and hyperdrive than the originals, and we even managed to squeeze in an astromech slot. Of course you aren't going to fit an R-series droid in it, but the little V-2s and BBs work just fine." A whistle soon came from group as Fread's V-2, IA-9, piped up. Aries chuckled a bit, looking back. "The droid's right. They have reverse engines too. Makes the fast fighter a fast breaker." Fred was eating this up, but when he noticed Aries move on he stopped, eyeing the Kodashis. He then looked at his friends, smiling a little.

"Hey.... Anyone wanna do a little joyflying? We do have at least one droid that can unlock some."

Adara Raxis Rhaegar Dib II Amma Dib Taru Cadera Tabitha Solus R Reyn Australis Tuuli Miles Brigh Solus Skirae

 

[Rhaegar Dib II]

If drool was corrosive than the ground beneath Rhae's feet would have melted into a pool of rapidly disintegrating metal. He would have fallen away. Thankfully it was not. Walking in a trance his eyes hungrily followed every curve of the Starfighter, the perfect proportions, the elegant lines, and the tantalizing curves. He was mentally memorizing her dimensions when Aries made the innocent enough offer of a joy ride.

"Hells yeah!"

Like a flash he was over at the fighter, hands trailing across her hull as he leaned in peering at her form with unadulterated hunger. She was beautiful. While he was quite fond of the fairer opposite sex, he was infatuated with tantalizing tech. And the Kodashi Viper met the necessary qualifications to be drool worthy.

"When do we go?"

His question was asked without taking eyes or hands from the Starfighter in question. Closing his eyes he felt his mind drift across and through the ship, familiarizing himself with components unseen, sensing the welds to know what they could handle, the engines, and the weaponry which bristled with danger.

Oh he was going to have some fun.

 

[Amma Dib]

Joyflying.

Joy. Flying.

The first instinct in Amma's terrified teen body was 'no. Netherworld no. Never ever ever. Not happening. Walk away.' That was the sensible answer, to wait for adult supervision, or a series of lessons on how to properly fly the fighters. But, as with all things in the Dib Household, Rhaegar Dib II leapt at the opportunity to rush forward and get one for himself.

"Rhae-Rhae, gosh, you don't even know how the control panel supports a safe flying environme-" In situations like this it was imperative that Amma keep one firm thought in her mind. 'What Would Uncle Dede Do'? He'd sigh. Open the manual, and start studying. Perhaps ask permission.

But Fred Gred smiled.

Her friend smiled, a bit of mischief in his eyes. And for some strange, stupid, impossible reason, it made Amma want.... to try.

"Ah... I'll... try... yeah." Amma brushed her curls behind her ear. "When do we go?"

Fred Gred Adara Raxis Tabitha Solus Tuuli Miles R Reyn Australis Brigh Solus Skirae Taru Cadera

 

[Fred Gred]

Fred smiled even more when his friends agreed to have a little fun, particularly Amma Dib for some reason. Then again, he was getting a good laugh outta watching Rhaegar Dib II gush over the Kodashi Vipers. He finally answered Rhae’s question about where though.

“I was thinking just around the yard. They only have class 5 hyperdrives, so not like we can get too far from here. There is a Mando occupied world we’re orbiting though.” He then looked to Eya, giving her a nod as the droid began to work to unlock the ships, and get two more compact astromechs to join the teens on their adventure. Fred has noticed Amma didn’t seem to be the most comfortable with the idea, so he had an idea.

“If you want Amma, I could see if Eya would be your copilot. Oh! And Rhae watch those reverse engines when you’re flying. Can be a bit tricky.” Fred chuckled a little, figuring his friend already knew that.

 

[Rhaegar Dib II]

"Please sis, like you aren't the only one who knows things. First of all, the lighter hyperdrive can still jump you out of the system, but by being lighter the ship is faster. Much faster than the average Starfighter. Ship designs make the ship more maneuverable too. But one of the downsides of a lighter ship is that atmosphere conditions can affect this ship more than a heavier ship."

Climbing the ladder next to the fighter as soon as Freddie gave the a okay, he hopped in and hit the switch that lowered the canopy. Strapping in he went through a brief pre trip inspection. Checking engines and pressure once the canopy closed, Rhae slipped the earpiece on and activated comms. His teeth gleamed from an unconcealable grin. Activating the repulsor field he began moving the ship toward the mag field.

With a shout the ship was gone from the hangar.

Floating in space, cut off from everything else, the silence of the moment deafening, and just the peace of the moment, Rhae relaxed. Activating thrusters he out a little distance from the mag field before bringing the three engines online. His left hand moved to the throttle lever and pressed it forward slowly as his right hand gripped the joystick. Twitching the stick to the right caused the ship to spin while continuing straight. Leveling off he sighed.

Going into a lazy turn he watched his acceleration while dialing in the inertia compensator. One G of force and you take a real tight turn even at half speed and all the blood would drain from your head knocking you unconscious. Zero G and it gets hard to gauge how hard you are banking or accelerating which could slam you into a wall, ship, or into the ground. He set the compensator at fifty percent as he pushed the throttle even further and pulled his stick back and to the right, performing several barrel rolls before leveling out once more.

Amma loved her studies and books and the careful attention to both uncle DeDe and buir, but he needed the freedom of pushing himself. And when you are in a Starfighter, on a swoop bike, or even a suit of armor how weak your connection to the Force was didn't matter. He knew it hadn't been noticed yet, but it was only time. Course ba'vodu Muad had seen it and helped with more training and the runes upon his forearms.

Slamming the throttle fully forward he cranked back with all his might making figurative donuts I a tight circle. Teeth grit as he pushed it, then finally he relaxed and backed down to cruising speed heading for where Amma and Freddie were going to emerge.

Amma Dib Fred Gred

 

[Amma Dib]

“You know things! But… but you never read the safety recommendations, and you could get hurt! What happens if you get hurt in space?” Amma shrunk into her sweater, as RhaeRhae scurried up to get into the fighter. “I… I just don’t want to bury you… this ship is small enough to throw some sand over and call it.”

A big gulp had Amma biting her lip as she toddled toward her star fighter. “Is.. is there a manual? Maybe a safety seminar? Some… glyphs on the side that explain what the buttons… around the yard… yeah! Yeah, we can totally… epically go around the space yard full of space and… more space.”

When Fredgred chuckled, Amma jolted and immediately attempted to look like the coolest girl in Mandodome… mostly by remembering all the things Stabby taught her. Be confident (looking), stand with your feet apart (for defence!), prepare three ways to defeat him (with knives or pointy sticks), give him a smile (with teeth), and laugh when he talks (whether it’s funny or not).

“Eehehehehhhh yeeaaah… Yes please! Yes. Eya, yes. Yes please and… reverse? The engines reverse!? Like… backwards!?” Amma gasped, her toothy smile becoming a crestfallen half-smile. “I… mean………. backwards in a screaming hunk of well engineered metal sounds like the… the best thing in…. best-ness. Let’s… totally we can… lit.”

Both thumbs went up in thumbs up, as Amma shakily tested the ladder before getting up and into the cockpit of the starfighter. Fredgred was counting on her! He was… hopefully being impressed! Obviously he’d never even look at her again if she dared not fly this miracle boy-magnet machine.

“Oooh kay. SO. I’m in the cockpot and… zomg!” The fighter closed up, its’ hermetic seal kksshhhing to life. Amma shut her eyes and squeaked. Why couldn’t she be brave like RhaeRhae?

Wait…. RhaeRhae.

“Ummmmm Eya? Can you… patch me through to RhaeRhae and only RhaeRhae please?” The droid complied with happy little beeps, as Amma made herself familiar with the yoke and panel of buttons and switches around her. While Uncle Dede would be aghast at his niece being…. timid about such things as responsible flying techniques, Amma noticed the different groupings of buttons and ship systems, counting them out, she hissed out a breath.

“RhaeRhae?” Amma squeaked. The fighter hovered in place, Amma’s hands taking the yoke as she sat ramrod straight with perfect posture. “RhaeRhae…. oh my Kad I need your help, I don’t know what I’m doing and you know everything about flying and swoop bikes and all I wanted to do was fly around a little ‘cause Fredgred was smiling at me, and made me wanna do it, but he’s not smiling at me now and OH MY GOSH I’m moving! I’m moving! I’m… totally…. moving! HELP. Help, help, help…. which button makes me go safe and slow?! Like… stabilizers times a billion?”

Amma’s hand twitched on the yoke, sending forward momentum through the engines until she broke free of the station. She tried not to scream, hand flailing over the yoke until the starfighter continued pursuing the same forward momentum even though she gave it no juice. “AAAH! Physics! Physics in a vacuum! I’m moving, oh gosh I’m… aaaaaah! I’m gonna hit a mailbox or Marek’s swoop bike or or or MOM!”

Tabitha Solus Rhaegar Dib II Fred Gred

 

[Fred Gred]

Fred looked at Rhae as he jumped into the fighter almost too quick to hear anything before darting off. Then he saw Amma smile at him. He couldn't help but smile back, not even seeming to notice the awkwardness that she was showing. He was just happy that she seemed excited. He then looked down at Eya, patting her head.

"Ok Eya. Keep her safe. Got it?" The droid let out an affirmative beep before getting into the smaller astromech slot of the Viper. Fred then ran to hop in his before noticing a droid looking confused... wait? Did Rhae remember to get a mech? Poodoo.... He quickly jumped into the cockpit, flipping some switches as he noticed Amma launch. He smiled a bit, launching out behind her before opening a comm link between the three fighters.

"Hey Rhae! I think you forgot the astromech." Fred notably kept close to Amma, making sure nothing happened. Eya, for her part, only patched Amma through to Rhae, and quickly whistled that she could help. Especially when it came to the reverse engines.

Rhaegar Dib II Amma Dib