Militaristic Visitations

[Onrai]

"Get me a rescue craft! Now, damn it!" The rending of metal could almost be heard audibly by the Grand Admiral as a dropship hurredly flew to the site of the wreckage. Cautiously, whatever scrap was left, hand-in-hand with the survivors, was brought aboard, Ivy being brought back to the Tulak Hord as the Imperial Navy's finest prepared to work on saving her - the pirates who had stolen the now harmlessly dispersed nuclear material died during transit.

As she was wheeled to the medbay of the Iceni, Bosch found himself walking with her stretcher as she was wheeled in for emergency surgery. From afar in the room, he watched as the doctors struggled valiantly to stabilize this woman's condition. After all...

Wasn't it his fault she was here?

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

To say the Egris proved it's durability was an understatement. Not only had it hammered into the Pirate Vessel with enough force to stop their engine, it had nearly flattened them in the process. The Egris would require extensive repair to the front hull and forward circuitry, but it'd made out in better shape than it's Captain. It was a very well made ship indeed.

Shattered knee, broken ribs, punctured lung, dislocated shoulder, massive concussion, severe whiplash, several deep-tissue lacerations, internal hemorrhaging and a myriad scrapes, cuts and bruises landed Ivy in the critical care unit's Bacta Tank. There she hung in something not far from suspended animation and there she stayed for several days, teetering perilously between realms.


She was back on Panatha nearly 400 years ago and she was surrounded by her friends, her family, her comrades-at-arms. They looked upon her with a warmth she'd not felt since the Gulag Virus had turned the galaxy into such a dark, cold place. Smiling, crying, elated she'd finally come to join them at long last, they were speaking to her but the sounds of their voices were muffled in a distant wind. Ivy could no longer remember what they sounded like, but the images of their faces had long been burned into her memory. As she looked them over, one by one - her mother, her father, brothers and sisters, her closest companions - she felt her joy slowly siphon away.

Where was Samson?


A stream of bubbles escaped the mask of the woman in the bacta tank. Ivy stirred and slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings through the pale blue hue of bacta. If Samson wasn't there, then he wasn't dead and that was all the proof she'd needed to keep going.

 

[Onrai]

"Sir, she's awake!"

"Thank God..."

As Ivy awoke and looked around, she would see the Grand Admiral standing in front of her tank, a hand on the transparisteel that seperated her and her sea of bacta from the world of the Star Destroyer around her. Thankfully, she would still hear him perfectly through the glass.

"You're alive... I'm sorry for your injuries and your loss. Our technicians are already working to repair your ship. The nuclear material harmlessly scattered through space. You saved a lot of lives that could have been lost had they successfully built a dirty bomb."

He paused, trying to think of adequate reparation. "I need aides. Hired hands for some work we're doing. I know you rejected the offer previously, but... Would you be willing to reconsider?"

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy's eyes were heavy and stung slightly from the bacta. She could see the Admiral and hear his voice, understand his words even, but everything was a big...foggy. The taste of bacta was strong in her mouth and it sickened her. The last time she'd tasted it was the last time she'd even laid eyes on Panatha.

Bacta had been at its highest demand in known recorded history during her time. As economics tended to trend, its high demand also made its value skyrocket. Thyferra was hard pressed to service neighboring star systems, let alone the entire galaxy. A moderately sized shipment of bacta patches back then cost a large fortune and she'd seen entire families give everything just to save a life - one of the few things in her memories that had given her any hope at all in humanity.

Ivy didn't even want to think about the cost of an entire tank of the stuff.

The woman closed her eyes, looking lost in painful thought for several long moments before she gave the Admiral a definitive nod.

 

[Onrai]

"It's okay, Ivy... You're going to be alright. Just relax." The care that hadn't surfaced in Bosch's voice for an individual in over thirty years finally exposed itself. Her being in this bacta tank was his fault, and he intended to pay recompense for it. Looking her over, he noticed the curious look on her face, her unknowingness as to the price of bacta having returned to relatively normal levels.

"Ivy? You have a look on your face... It seems to be confusion. Or a lack of understanding. What's troubling you?"

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Eyes drooping, the woman considered his question. The value of a Merc's life over a tank of high-grade bacta? How utterly self destructive. She said nothing, shaking her head slightly in return and felt the weight of exhaustion settle in again. Sinking into the feeling of weightlessness, her eyes closed.

"Sir, it'll be another 36 hours before she's stabilized enough for extraction. We should let her rest," the Medic tending to the readings of the tank glanced to the robed women inside it, wondering momentarily how many of the scars riddling Ivy's exposed skin were old and what were the result of the crash.


The process of extraction from a bacta tank was not the most appealing. As luck would have it Ivy was not coherent during most of it. Faces swam before her eyes, blinking in and out. The exchange of environments was a bit shocking, and being out of the tank now lent her to healing the rest of the injuries on her own. Not that there was much left to heal, but by the throbbing in her shoulder, head and knee she wasn't 100% yet.

Ivy woke to the blinding lights of the infirmary searing through her eyelids and groaned, wincing.

"Miss Lasranae, welcome back. I'll inform the Admiral you've awaken at once," said a voice to her left.

"...water..." Ivy rasped, lifting her sore arm to block out the light.

"Take it easy, the tissue damage should be healed but bone takes a bit longer. It'll be a few more days before you're ready to tote that big gun around again. You need to rest for now to get back your strength."

Ivy felt a container being pushed to her and took it readily, drinking from it as though she were a whale. Whales could never have too much water, certainly though one could have too much bacta. Ugh, that taste.

 

[Onrai]

"Admiral?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"She's conscious."

"I'm on my way."

Bosch sighed, carefully traveling through the hallways of the Iceni. He thought about Ivy, what he was going to say to her in regards to the situation that had transpired, but words lost him as he arrived at the medical bay. Stepping into the room, he eyed over the landscape before focusing on @[member="Ivy Lasranae"]. Stepping over to her, he smiled, gently taking her hand. "It's going to be okay. You'll be fine."

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy drained the water from its container before the Admiral arrived and made haste to ask for another. She was halfway through the second when the man strode through the door of her room in his pressed Imperial uniform, worry etched across his face. Her eyes still attempting to focus, she did not recognize the latter.

"Another-" Ivy griped, passing away the empty container to the attending Nurse.
"Miss I'd advise against-"
"another," the Mercenary growled. She would drink until she exploded if it took that much to rid the taste of Bacta from her mouth. Grief and guilt tasted like Bacta, apparently, and no one had ever thought to tell her.

She felt the hand scooping up her own and turned to look at the Admiral as he spoke. Hazey hazel eyes peered up at him.

"Admiral," the woman began languidly, "I'm 48 years old. I know when I'll be fine and when I won't."

Ivy frowned and grunted as she felt a third container pushed into her other hand, "Thank you."

@[member="Aken Bosch"]

 

[Onrai]

"And I'm fifty years old. I've been in the navy for thirty years, ten of those leading fighter wings, and twenty of those commanding every warship from the lowly Ravenous-class Corvette to the powerful Tulak Hord-class Star Destroyer. I've seen countless people, most of them under my command, be critically injured in the line of duty. Many of them died for the safety of the Empire's citizens. Please, pardon me if I want reassurance that someone I'm responsible for putting in harm's way to begin with is still okay."

The stoic military demeanor had returned. His guard had been let down, and the result was an attitude precisely like his own responding. Thus, he responded in kind.

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"You weren't asking Admiral," Ivy said between gulps of water, "you were telling. If you had asked, I would have told you myself."

She batted a brow at him and moved to sit up. The woman gave a pained grunt as she touched at her head, now swimming slightly, "Either way, I'm ...grateful for your administrations - professionally, medicinally....mechanically," unlikely that she would have been able to afford repairing her ship back into working order. That would have left her in quite a bit of a rut.

Needed money to make money. Apparently the galaxy was still very much the same.

"Will the Egris fly again?"

@[member="Aken Bosch"]

 

[Onrai]

"Your ship suffered critical damage and system failure. But even a complete wreck can be rebuilt. I guarantee you, it'll fly again. My credits bet on it - who do you think's paying for its repair and refitting?" He smiled, eying over her current situation. "You'll have work from me. Board in one of the Iceni's passenger quarters. Our best engineers are currently hunting down parts for the Egris, getting her damaged frame into workable condition. It'll be several weeks, maybe a couple of months, but she will be back, better than ever."

It was rare for him to be so friendly and charitable, especially to a merc. But for some reason, he felt she related to him. Maybe it was the hard-nosed attitude.

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Warm bed, a ship, a job-" the Mercenary gave a tired sigh, "what more could a woman ask for."

She finished off the water in her hands and passed it back to her Nurse.

"...another?" asked the Nurse cautiously.

"No," responded Ivy, "just a bathroom."

She was out of bed despite insistent reproach from the Doctors. Apparently Merc women couldn't be told what to do or what was best for them, they just wouldn't hear it. After she'd washed the smell of bacta from her skin and flushed as much of the taste from her mouth, the woman returned to her room asking for her armor.

"Ma'am you're not healthy enough to be up and about. You must rest! Ma'am? Ma'am! Get the sedative-"

"Don't you dare-" Ivy threw a nasty look in the direction of the Doctor, "I will blunt your nose."

The Doctor waivered between caution of her temper and need to follow code. He looked to Aken, "Orders Admiral?"

"I don't handle idleness well, Admiral. I'm fit to work," Ivy's lips drew thin as she keep a close eye on the Nurses nearby, one of them holding a syringe full of sedative.

@[member="Aken Bosch"]

 

[Onrai]

"Leave her be, Doctor. If she re-injures herself to such a degree that she requires your assistance, you can say you told her so." He turned to Ivy herself, a smile on his face. "Welcome to the Imperial Navy, Miss Lasranae. Now before I send you on your first mission, I'd like to ask what experience you have in regards to flying TIE-class starfighters. The primary ships you'll be flying are of that class, after all, and if you aren't familiar with them, I intend to get you trained."

It was fortunate that the Invictus was being phased out. Bosch was saving his first Star Destroyer, the Royal Jewel, for conversion into the first of a series of training vessels, best suited for training of Imperial starfighter pilots. Such ships would train the latest generation of Imperial starfighter pilots.

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"None," the woman replied simply, expression flat, perhaps ponderous.

There likely had been a handful of occasions that she'd run into a few TIE Fighters. In the end, however, this meant very little. Obliterating the things to space dust only gave one so much experience.

At least learning to fly a ship wouldn't require much physical effort on her part, she mentally noted while gripping at her still-smarting shoulder.


@[member="Aken Bosch"]

 

[Onrai]

"Well then... Let's get you trained. Follow me."

To the shuttles the Admiral went with the female mercenary, and once the two of them had gotten on board, their shuttle exited the Iceni, on its way deeper into Imperial space. The shuttle was on its way to the Empire's premier training ship: the Royal Jewel, an Invictus-class Star Destroyer repurposed for training of Imperial pilots. Its complement, formerly a cluster of ground assault vehicles and of a prefabricated garrison base, had been replaced with several squadrons of TIE Caridas, the older TIE fighters having been replaced with TIE Detonators and Fragmentor-class target drones.

"This was my first Star Destroyer. I saved it for conversion into a training ship. Unlike other factions, which will only give you combat training in a simulator, live-fire exercises are the name of the game for our starfighter corps. You'll be outfitted same as everyone else: two laser cannons to start out with, with concussion missile launchers added during intermediate training. We'll get some Fragmentors and Detonators ready."

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy was lament to go anywhere without first donning her armor. When she called for it they'd brought her, instead, a freshly minted Imperial pilot's uniform. The material was stiff and scratchy, not at all fitted like the glove that was her armor. Even with all the layers to protect against the colds of space she still felt naked beneath it.

Not to mention completely underslung.

Here she was, a warrior, pilot, Captain- a woman of nearly half a century's experience in the vast realm of the galaxy, standing in what equated to a young girl's first set of private school livery.

A deep, grating breath escaped the woman's lips as she walked alongside the Admiral onto his refitted Star Destroyer. It was likely the biggest ship she'd ever set foot on in all her life, though she'd seen plenty Star Destroyers from space. Ghastly beasts to come upon when falling out of warp - enough to make one mess their britches.

She listened with a tethered patience to the man, mentally reminding herself that this was a curious opportunity. If nothing else, she would learn a very valuable lesson in all this. Namely: the best and fastest way to blow these silly TIE Fighters up should the need ever arise.

Brow lofting as he finished, she gave a nod, "Alright. I'll do my best not to make a mess of things."

@[member="Aken Bosch"]

 

[Onrai]

"Excellent." With a soft smile, Bosch opened the door for the woman as the shuttle landed within the Royal Jewel's hangar bay. As the two of them walked down the ramp, Bosch led her to a seemingly untouched TIE Carida. "This is yours now. Your personal ship while in training. It'll be upgraded over the time you spend in the training program. But I'm a fan of starting things off with a bang, and if you're ready now, we can go over basic flight training in the simulators. I only said combat training was done live-fire."

She seemed like someone he could work with exceptionally well.

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

The Mercenary moved off, strolling around the TIE Carida with a judging eye. Ivy knew ships - she'd flown a large variety in her lifetime, and this had to be the absolute skateboard of the lot. Small, cramped, more than likely a bit squirrely. If she had to guess, the only thing it had going was speed and agility.

It made her stomach churn just thinking about it.

She returned to the Admiral, unsmiling but otherwise staunch-faced, and nodded, "Let's get started."

@[member="Aken Bosch"]

 

[Onrai]

The TIE Carida was actually quite spacious for a starfighter thanks to its training status, most hardware stripped away and replaced with the smallest possible units to reduce energy use and fuel cost. That was one of the reasons for said Carida being used instead of training variants of the actual TIEs used nowadays. "Get on inside and take a look for yourself. There's enough room to move around inside, that I can guarantee for you."

There was a reason Bosch supported the Carida program. It was a step-up from the TIEs he's been using during his time training at the Imperial Academy. "When you're ready, we can get started."

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy stifled a groan with a tight released of breath through her nose and a nod.

After climbing in and securing the belt straps, Ivy pulled the flight helmet and headset on and took a look at the controls. Her experience with flying several different types of ships gave her enough to go off of - much like operating a computer, one simply needed to be familiar with the basics to figure most things out. Likely there were toggles and buttons here and there that would elude her, but that was what training was for, no?

After perusing the layout she sank back into the seat and gave a cursory look around the compartment. This was what he called spacious?

"Not going to butter you up, Admiral, I feel like I'm sitting in a soda-can."

A few to many shakes or rolls and -POP!