The Tyrant's Tyrant

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She was really going to fly a space fighter. Really for reals. And Wyl was gonna be so amazingly jealous!!

Teagan beamed wide at the two pilots as they stood, her mind running at the frenzied pace that only a child's mind could.

"Rekwizishon," she was careful to pronounce it just like Mr. Luka had.

"... is that where I get my flying clothes?"

[Jaden Luka]

An only child of only children, and the product of a career in the military, children had never been something that Jaden had been exposed to in any real way. Sure, he knew people with children; but most of them were smart enough not to trust him with holding the baby, with babysitting, or anything like that.

His first real encounter with a proper youngling, Jaden was honestly struggling to work out what all the fuss was about; and particularly what had got the Commodore all wound up about it. From what he could tell so far, this Teagan girl was just like any other nugget pilot, only with a little more enthusiasm and a little less arrogance: in other words, the perfect sort of person to train, height issues notwithstanding.

"That's right," he answered with an approving smile. "Requisitions is where the Quartermaster hangs out; and in starfighter parlance, the Quartermaster is the guy who looks after the stores and supplies, and then requisitions - does the paperwork to ask for - any new stuff that is needed." He offered her a shrug. "Navy people will tell you that a Quartermaster is something to do with navigating a star cruiser, but those guys are just plain weird."

He hesitated for a moment, realising that the kid in front of him was a girl; his complete lack of experience suggested that maybe fashion and ponies were the kind of things that she might be concerned with. "And don't worry," he added. "Orange may not be the most flattering colour in the world, but pretty much no one looks good in a jock-smock." He jerked his head in Jamo's direction. "Joker especially. The way it hangs all loose-like between his legs makes it look like he's constantly crapped his pants."

[Jamo Jakatta]

"Don't listen to Captain Tightpants here, kid."

Jamo jerked a thumb at Jaden then gestured to himself, the motion matched by a lop-sided grin.

"I make this.. look good."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Teagan stared up at Mr. Jakatta, a healthy mix of wonder and skepticism in her eyes. She had no real idea whether the orange flightsuits were supposed to look good or bad, but she at least knew that to her husband they were cool and awesome and the most wicked things ever, and owing to that the little Lupine felt just the same way.

"Well," her gaze went from Mr. Jakatta to Mr. Luka, then back again.

"I guess I need mine then."

There was a pause as she made a cautious face.

"Does it have to be orange though?"

[Jaden Luka]

Jaden's lips curled into a wry smile. It was a cheap shot, but A-Wing pilots like he often needled at their X-Wing and Y-Wing equivalents over their fashion choices. Granted, orange flight suits were considerably easier for rescue shuttles to see when you were extra-vehicular; but since anything that might cause an A-Wing pilot to eject would likely also cause their fighter to explode before they had the chance, it didn't seem to matter all that much. If you were brave enough to fly around in what was essentially a barely shielded seat with two huge rockets welded to the back, you deserved to be wearing something a little on the cooler side.

"Mine is green," Jaden said simply, half an eye on Joker, the rest trying to gauge Teagan's reaction.

He offered a shrug. "There may not be much in the way of choice," he added carefully, "But we'll do what we can to find you something that doesn't look like it was thrown up by a rancor."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She beamed wide, glad that at least Mr. Luka was willing to help her out with whatever clothing she might need. The orange was what she always saw, but it was just so... just so bright.

The girl gave Mr. Luka's jumpsuit a critical glance before nodding.

"I think green would be best, yes," she agreed in as formal and business-like tone as she could manage.

Dama was always good at making her voice sound so firm, and the little Lupine decided that if ever there was a time to start practicing, now was it.

[Jamo Jakatta]

“You'll need a helmet too,” Jamo interjected, deciding to let the rancor-vomit comment slide. “Once you've seen combat, you can start slapping all sorts of shit on it, to show what an ace you are. Skulls, krayt dragons, krayt dragon skulls...”

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

The stars had lined up perfectly, showing her a new world rife with fantastic visions of bragging rights.

"What about dewbacks," she asked expectantly, "... can I put those on my helmet?!"

Her mind ran through all of the possibilities - they were endless.

"Any kind of... shit... " she was sure that was a word that Dama and Dad would scold her for using, but in the company of these pilots, there was no expectation of parental punishments on the horizon.

"... would be great."

[Jaden Luka]

Dewbacks? A galaxy full of brutal and majestic predators, and the kid wanted to decorate her helmet with dewbacks? Hell, why not pull out all the stops, and cover the thing with butterflies and unicorns?

Jaden fought back the urge to sigh. Unlike most of the rookie pilots he encountered, Teagan here was still young: still malleable. He could fix this: there was still time. All it would take was a day or two locked in a room with a projector loaded up with all the right kinds of classic holomovies, and they could push all the stupid pink and fluffy stuff right out of her head; and then replace it with explosions, dinosaurs, and all the cult references necessary to understand all the idioms and in-jokes that floated around the pilots' locker room.

Would they have enough time, though? Would the Commodore be willing to surrender her to their care long enough to undo all of the heinous damage that her child rearing to date had wrought?

"Come on," Jaden said suddenly, overcome with determination and purpose. "The sooner we get you suited up, the sooner we can hand Joker's ass to him in the simulator."

And the sooner we can fix your poor girlified brain.