Private Wingmen

[Valery Noble]

Edge of Alliance Space

​

Outfit: Flightsuit
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Reima Vitalis

Had she cut it off too hard?

While Reima got up and retrieved her tray with dishes, Valery remained seated a moment longer to think about it. She had been enjoying the conversation a lot, but her own embarrassment sparked by gushing over her husband had made her cut it short. Sure, the meeting was starting soon, but they weren't exactly in a rush either. She sighed, looked down at her own dishes and decided to get up and push aside her thoughts for now.

Lingering on it wouldn't help her peace of mind.

After bringing her tray away, Valery zipped up her flightsuit for the first time today, grabbed her helmet and already headed over to the meeting room. She wanted to get a few things ready before starting, which gave Reima the time she needed to get ready. When the woman finally entered, she definitely looked the part. Her flightsuit made Valery feel a lot less confident about her own, which was one of the older, uglier, orange ones.

Luckily, she was good at hiding that bit of jealousy.

With a smile and a dip of her head, Valery welcomed her wingman into the briefing room, and watched her get settled before turning to the projector. An older Naval commander soon joined them, and nodded in greeting, "I'm Rear Admiral Tarruk, thank you both for coming." The man pressed a button on the console of his desk and a map of the Galaxy was projected for them, but with a red bleeping highlight in the Tingel Arm.

"I'm sure you are both aware about the Sith Order taking over the Stygian Caldera. Their efforts haven't stopped there, however. For months, we've been monitoring their activity in the Tingel Arm but one particular signal we haven't figured out yet. Every three to four days, a Sith signal appears here in the Tingel Arm, lingers for about an hour, and then disappears again completely. No traces or signs of Hyperspace travel. Nothing."

"It's dangerous territory so we're tasking the best to look into it."

That was, of course, the Jedi and Revenant pilot in front of him.

 

[Reima Vitalis]

QUOTE AND/OR OBJ HERE

Reima crossed her long legs, cupping her knee with slender fingers as she listened to the briefing. The white-blue light of the galaxy reflected in her dark eyes, and her gaze focused narrowly on the red light in the Tingel Arm.

Lots of questions raced through her mind, like how did they know it was a Sith signal? What else was in that area of space? Had any previous reconnaissance been completed? Would they just be wandering into Balance only knew what?

Still, Reima knew enough about her role to know that ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die -- and that was doubly true because she was but a lowly Flight Officer. She glanced over at the Jedi Master; she was undoubtedly the more senior of the two where rank was concerned, and therefore the privilege to ask questions first fell to her.

For the time being she settled with a quick request, rather than a clarification. "Rear Admiral, would you mind zooming in a touch? I'd like to see what neighborhood or system we're dealing with."

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Edge of Alliance Space

​

Outfit: Flightsuit
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Reima Vitalis

Rear Admiral Tarruk had deliberately kept his briefing short, so he could answer questions that were actually on their minds, rather than bombard them with details they didn't care about. Valery, who hated long meetings, appreciated that but she was going to give Reima the first opportunity to ask questions. She was the pilot by profession, so her concerns or questions were a little more important to Valery.

She could ask anything that was still on her mind after that.

"Of course," he replied to Reima before zooming in on the signal. "We've picked it up near the Seline system. The planet Seline itself has been an important battleground between the Republic and old Sith Empire, thousands of years ago. The Gree ruins on the planet are believed to be a source of advanced technology," he explained.

"The signal is not on the planet itself, though very close to it."

"So you're suspecting they might be after Gree tech?" Valery asked.

The admiral shrugged, "It's a possibility but we're not able to draw conclusions. The signal we receive matches with other Sith vessels we've picked up and confirmed, so we know they're out there for some reason."

 

[Reima Vitalis]

Reima knew next to nothing about Gree, other than that they existed as an advanced civilization that seemed to predate most other spacefaring species in the galaxy -- and even that, she was rusty about. She glanced at Valery, one eyebrow arching. If there was technology to be found -- and the Sith were after it -- she suspected that it was going to be more troublesome than a simple datapad or ship engine. If the Sith were after it, that meant it was bad news for her, for Valery, and for the rest of the galaxy.

Jedi, Reima could be ambivalent about, but there was nothing ambiguous about the Sith. They used their power to conquer and dominate. It could not be allowed.

"That resolves all of my questions, except..." Reima's quiet voice trailed off, and she folded her arms as she gazed thoughtfully at the map. "Is there any pattern to this movement, of this signal or other Sith signals you mentioned? Are we able to extrapolate whether it is likely that other ships may happen by while Master Noble and I are investigating?"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Edge of Alliance Space

​

Outfit: Flightsuit
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Reima Vitalis

Valery shared Reima's concern when the nature of the problem became more clear. While not confirmed, it seemed unlikely the Sith were there for something else - that stretch of space didn't have much of interest beyond the Gree tech that could still be out there. For it to fall into Sith hands...she knew she couldn't allow that to happen.

They would have to be thorough.

"We have not detected anything that could suggest other ships may show up there. It's one identical signal that periodically appears and disappears," the vice-Admiral explained while he looked between the two women. "That said, it is not impossible that other ships are in that region and jamming sensors. So I still advice caution."

"Why are just the two of us sent if there's a risk like that?" Valery then asked, clearly a little concerned that this was going to be too dangerous.

"If we send more, we risk early detection. But if two smaller ships jump in to the edge of the system, you can remain undetected as long as you don't use long-range communication to reach back out to us here."

"Collect data, get back out, and then make a report."

Valery let out a soft sigh but nodded, before looking at Reima. "Well, I'm ready to get going if you are."

 

[Reima Vitalis]

LET'S GET THIS BREAD

Her nicotine requirement having been sated, Reima was able to analyze the answer and she decided, on the whole, that the Rear Admiral's explanation hung together enough to be plausible, so she simply gave a shrug of her elegant shoulders and nodded. "Aye, ma'am," she told Val. She stood, saluted the Rear Admiral, and made ready to depart.

"What's your angle on all this misery?" she asked her wingman once they were left alone to return to their ships. "The Sith have been... if not quiet, then unsettlingly un-loud. Uncharacteristically so. But if they're after Gree tech -- well, I'm not expert, but I know just enough to file that under B for Bad Things."

As they approached the hangar, Reima nodded to a side door. "Need the head or anything? I can sneak you into the pilot's locker room. I need to get my support harness and hat anyway." She placed her hand on the palm reader and waved Valery inside, then crossed over to her locker, which she opened and pulled her support harness out. 'The hat,' as it turned out, was not a wide-brimmed Galidraani affair but rather her helmet. She took her cap off and tucked it into her locker, ran a hand over her lustrous chestnut locks to be sure all remained in place, and then hooked her arm around her helmet.

"What do you reckon?" she asked casually to Valery as she polished some non-existent schmutz from her helmet. "Should we top off the tibanna and torpedoes, just in case?"

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Edge of Alliance Space

​

Outfit: Flightsuit
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Reima Vitalis

"My angle?" Valery sighed and raised a hand up through her hair. "We've been keeping our eyes on the Sith ever since they began reclaiming the Caldera, but it worries me they are now going far beyond that. Whatever we find, it's going to be serious trouble." That much was probably obvious to Reima as well, but it's the fact the Sith's reach was this far that bothered Valery the most.

It made her wonder where else they were in the Galaxy to try and turn an upcoming conflict in their favor.

On the way to the Hangar, Reima stopped by the locker room and asked Valery if she wanted to join. She dipped her head, stepped inside and walked over to one of the small sinks, so she could look into the mirror above it and fix up her hair. She knew her helmet and sitting inside a usually warm cockpit would ruin it again, but it still felt worth the effort.

"Yeah, let's head out in combat configurations. We won't be as fast and nimble with the extra weapons, but it's better than running out of ammo if we encounter trouble." She turned to Reima and watched the woman for a quiet moment.

"You might not care, but I have a feeling this might get intense, and I'm usually not wrong when I feel this way ahead of a mission. It's a warning I get through the Force." Perhaps Reima wouldn't trust it at all, but Valery's own life was on the line here too. She had no reason to lie, downplay something or make it sound worse.

 

[Reima Vitalis]

Reima watched her new wingman curiously, eyebrow arching a little at her commentary. She might have been a skeptic due to her religious upbringing -- no might about it, but as Reima was learning such beliefs really only flourished until first contact with someone who didn't personify her prejudices. But even the most skeptical of skeptics would have been a fool to ignore the hunches of a Jedi Master.

"Why on all that is good and green would I not care about the premonitions of a Jedi Master?" Reima asked, giving her head a shake. "I may be a skeptic, but I'm not stupid." She switched her helmet from one arm to the other so she could close and lock her locker.

"Combat configuration sounds good," Reima agreed. "Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

The Galidraani aristocrat knelt to adjust the fasteners of her boot before straightening. "Well. Pitter patter," she said and headed for the doorway to the hangar. Reima exchanged a few words with the technician chief with instructions on how to outfit their ships. The tech was pleased to report that Bartoo was ready to roll (the pun Reima understood to be quite intended from the smirk) and Reima spied the old droid chittering away to another tech working on her ship.

"Bartoo," she called over. "Come meet Master Noble." The droid came rolling over, gave Val a curious once-over, then chittered a greeting. Reima glanced at Valery. "That means hello. Are we all set, Bartoo?" Another round of chittering, his photoreceptor unit twisting to point at Val's X-wing. An excited beeping, then he rolled back and forth. "He says your ship looks very sharp, and -- yes, I'm getting there," she told the droid, who had blatted at her unflatteringly. " -- and he wishes he could do up his X-wing, but it's not in regulations."

The nerve on this little ball. His X-wing?

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Edge of Alliance Space

​

Outfit: Flightsuit
Ship: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Reima Vitalis

"Well, I can be wrong, too," Valery said with a chuckle. "As long as you're not blindly following me, we should be good." Not that she thought Reima was like that, but a lot of people definitely were. What Valery really needed from the people fighting alongside her was honesty and critical thinking, no matter the situation. That was going to help them both make it home alive, and she fully intended to see her family again after all of this.

"Agreed, and the combat configurations won't slow us down that much either. Not enough to be the difference between life and death." Especially not for skilled pilots, and she liked to think that they both were.

Valery then followed Reima into the Hangar and spotted her ship being prepared for flight, though only after Reima chatted with the maintenance crew, they began loading up weapons. That'd take a brief moment, which gave her the opportunity to meet the droid she had mentioned, "A pleasure to meet you," Valery told him with a warm smile before glancing at Reima. "Glad he likes the ship, too. Maybe after today, you can request something a little more unique for yourself too if you want." Most of the Navy was in standard equipment, but surely the best of the best could get something custom?

It'd be extremely useful to a pilot like Reima.

"Alright, I'm going to hop in my fighter and we'll get going. Coordinates were already transmitted to our navigational computers, so we'll clear away from the station and make the synchronized jump." With that said, Valery headed over to her X-wing, climbed her way into the cockpit, and ran through the final checks before take-off. Her canopy lowered and sealed with a loud hiss, and with powerful engines roaring to life, she took her fighter out.

<Ready for the jump?>

 

[Reima Vitalis]

Reima's eyebrows lifted at the thought of getting something more custom for her ship. The thought did entice her, but on the other hand she didn't want to stand out from her squadmates. She wasn't the best pilot in Revenant Squadron, and she wasn't in its leadership, so it mightn't be appropriate. But for specialized missions like this...?

Well, the thought did appeal.

"You might be on to something," Reima said enigmatically. "Any rate -- better get to it. See you out there."

Reima ran through her preflight check, checking off each item one by one, and occasionally answered a question from BB-10R2, peppering her with inquiries about his new unique ship. "Calm down, Bartoo," she said in an exasperated tone. "And what's all this business about your ship?"

BB-10R2 made a rude noise that translated into a series of asterisks on her data screen. Yes, quite, Reima thought dryly.

Soon enough, she was in space, her engines burning clean, Bartoo settled and chittering quietly to himself in his socket. Reima selected the coordinates in her navicomputer and she keyed her communicator. <That's an affirmative, Master Jedi,> she commed back. <Coordinates are set, navicomputer is primed. Ready to jump on the mark. Three. Two. One. Mark.>

Slender fingers pressed the hyperdrive levers forward, and stars streaked into lines into the comforting multicolored mottle of hyperspace.

Valery Noble​