Ask Corellia Fly, Bluebird, Fly

[Vera Coulter]

Been some time after the events on Coruscant.

Medico had cleared her at least, which was important. But with the caveat she still had to prove herself quite the adept fighter and pilot. So of course, she was slung in with a batch of fresh bloods so young their mams probably still gave them pack lunches. She arrived to the launch pad bright and early, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, blue eyes sharp and uniform neatly pressed.

The stump where her leg was still ached fiercely where the clunky temp cybernetic attached. It was a hard adjustment. But she'd wait on it for as long as was necessary.

They said this trainer was good. For their sakes, she would hope so, or else she would've wasted at least one good day of sleep, and she needed her kriffin' sleep these days. How else was she gonna keep up with this young pack of tenderfoots?

@samdragon

 

[Cobalt Cavern Chronicler]

Cobalt hummed a soft tune as he walked in the hangar after a couple of minutes. He was already wearing his custom flightsuit, made to fit on his relatively minute, slender body. He approached the group of five, and looked at each of them, scanning them from head to toe with an inquisitive glance. For a few moments he didn't say anything, then he tapped on a small box attached to his suit - the portable translator he used at all times, since Shashay weren't able to speak Galactic Basic - and cleared his throat. "Welcome recruits! My name's Cobalt Cavern Chronicler, and I'll be your flying instructor for this lesson. From what one of my colleagues told me, you have received some basic training regarding the various ship commands and also made a few simulated flights, but you've never actually flown a ship. So today, I'll bring you up in space! For this session, we will use a T-70T X-Wing Trainer, so you will take turns with flying."

@Killa Ree

 

[Vera Coulter]

She stared at the bird for a moment. Really stared hard right back as he stared at her.

Ooooh. They assumed she had never flown a ship? That burned, deep in her gullet. Drawing up to her full height, she merely inhaled through her nose, not saying anything yet. But her grip was hard inside her fists as she stood at perfect parade standing.

Cobalt Cavern Chronicler... right. Coby it was from here on out.

Glancing at the smaller Shashay, she tilted her head, her voice rougher than even his warbling translator.

"And if we've already had extensive flying experience?" she replied shortly, blue eyes an intense stare.

@samdragon

 

[Cobalt Cavern Chronicler]

At the woman's question, he looked at her, slightly confused, and then chuckled. "I apologise miss, no one told me that there would be someone with experience among the recruits. I assume you're here to consolidate your skills? In this case, don't worry, I can cover that too!" he said with a smile, hoping that his answer was satisfying for the woman.

@Killa Ree

 

[Vera Coulter]

Not for the first time, Vee had seen aliens smile, or at least give an approximation of one. But here he was, this little warbler of a Ranger, giving her the happiest smile she'd ever seen on a non-humanoid, and the pain of the prosthetic racked up the little patience she had and tossed it bodily into a bonfire. Instead, she sucked in a breath, and merely gave a clipped nod.

"Clearance on... reaction time." She gestured to her leg, where the pant had been rolled up to show the cybernetic. "Gotta get back to the field, ships are the type I go for. Can't outrun a torpedo."

A few of the students shuffled awkwardly, but she wasn't gonna lie to the kids. Some of them learned sooner rather than later anyways.

@samdragon

 

[Cobalt Cavern Chronicler]

He chuckled a bit, then noticed the students' discomfort and looked up at her. "So, it's alright if I first take care of the recruits and then I come to you so we can make that lesson more calmly?" he suggested to the woman. In the meantime, a Rodian's head popped out from what looked like a TIE fighter that was parked at a side of the hangar. "Hey Coby, the training droid here is ready if you need it!" The Shashay turned and gave the Rodian a thumbs up. "Perfect! Is the remote control already active?" "Aye! It's linked and such, so you can already make it fly" the Rodian answered, waving a wrist remote. "Good, leave it there, I'll need it later" Cobalt say, and then turned back to the group of students, and especially Vera.

@Killa Ree

 

[Vera Coulter]

She nodded once crisply. Perhaps that would have to do for now... but to stand on the ground and watch those taking to the skies was gonna hurt more than she could tell. Getting back to basics was a really hard hit to the pride, and seeing all the kids staring at her, she felt a small measure of shame.

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to nod once.

"That's fine. Thank you."

@samdragon

 

[Cobalt Cavern Chronicler]

Cobalt gave her a look, then he stood on his toes and motioned at her to lean down. As she did so, he whispered "Don't worry, I'm not planning on giving you all the basics and such, I trust you that you know them. It'll be more of a test of your skills and a lesson to improve your shortcomings." Once he said so, he stepped back, putting his helmet on, and motioned to the first recruit, a young human male who was definitely nervous about the whole situation! The two went on the training fighter, the human in the front seat and Cobalt in the back, and the cabin closed. After a few minutes, during which probably the young man got acquainted with the ship's commands, the starfighter slowly lifted off and flew out of the hangar...

Roughly two hours later, and three lessons later, Cobalt and Vera remained alone in the hangar after Cobalt's comments about the recruits' performance. He looked up at the woman with his brand smile. "So! Ready for our lesson?"

@Killa Ree

 

[Vera Coulter]

For two hours, she stood at perfect stance, watching. While the other two recruits started talking amongst themselves, she stood, blue eyes staring sharply into the busy skies, waiting. The blue of those skies never fooled her. She knew just beyond that shallow blueness was a sea of black, of stars and space, and many mysteries. Those kids had a taste of that sense, now. Having practiced for so long, that they understood that once they were out there, it was just them. No droid brain. No instructor. Just the endless sea of stars and themselves... unless they had partners.

Coby came back her direction, and she levelled him a stare before nodding crisply. "Always. Tell me what to do, kid, and I'll do it." However, when she moved her leg, a grimace of pain lit on her lips as the stump protested with movement with the prosthetic; it would take time, and standing on it as long as she did wasn't the brightest of ideas, most likely.

However, she forced herself to swallow it down and keep walking. There was a bit of a limp with using it, but her stony features said she refused to be coddled.

"Let's see what this old gal can do."

@samdragon

 

[Cobalt Cavern Chronicler]

Cobalt winced a bit at seeing her suffer, and he offered her some help by gently hugging her to ease her weight from the prosthetic leg. He helped her slipping in the pilot's seat and then he sat behind her, humming some. "Before we start, mind telling me about your experience with starfighters? I mean, what kind of ships you've piloted before, how long you've been a pilot, and so on? Also, mind if I ask what happened to your leg? If you want to answer, of course."

@Killa Ree

 

[Vera Coulter]

The TIE felt a little too small with such a chatty little bird.

Her shoulders steadily stiffened with each question, blue eyes dark with pain as she gripped the controls. A droid brain stood between her and real piloting, so even then the conversation wasn't really an alone one. Still, the kid was somewhat trying to be polite.

It grated on already fraying nerves.

"I've flown since I was able to count to three," she answered crisply, feeling the engine hum to life beneath her hands. "But starfighters? Since I was twenty. Tion Core Police Force, just a cadet." She swallowed thickly, gripping the controls tighter, until her knuckles whitened and the tendons in her hand flexed. "Blastboats, Y-Wings, X-wings, even piloted a couple RangeMasters in my day."

At the question of her leg, she swallowed thickly, her features stony.

A flash of red blade and a scream haunted her thoughts, and red eyes glowing with hatred. Just the image of the thing left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"A Sith," she finally croaked out, nostrils flaring. "Caught my leg with some fire and shrapnel; guess there goes my dreams of being a galaxy-class dancer." Heavy sarcasm, with a touch of something else. Hopefully that would answer the instructor's curiosity, as she wasn't up to patience for the third-degree grilling. The pain didn't help either.

@samdragon

 

[Cobalt Cavern Chronicler]

In truth there was no droid brain inside the X-Wing trainer they were using for the lesson, but it was installed in the TIE Fighter on the other side of the hangar. Cobalt nodded as he listened to her answer, and noticing that she was just a little bit annoyed by his chattiness, he said "Thanks, that's all what I needed to know. Just a moment" he said, jumping out of the cockpit and running to the TIE training droid, where he fetched the wrist remote and tapped some things. The TIE's engines roared to life with the too familiar wail their ion engines were known for, and then the drone slowly lifted off and flew outside. Meanwhile Cobalt returned in the X-Wing, fastened the belts and closed the cockpit. "Alright, now turn on the ship, make it lift off and follow the drone" he said after putting on his helmet.

@Killa Ree

 

[Vera Coulter]

Following the TIE, engine checks, releasing the docking pads, shields, every check ticked off and taken care of by the surly woman. Most would have felt bad for being as mouthy and abrasive, but she absolutely had no apologies for her behavior. She was too old to care, and too tired to say anything remotely sorry. However, she did feel bad for Coby to deal with her verbal abuse; he was a sweet little featherbrain.

Chatty, but he meant well. She had to keep that in mind, but the pain kept the edge of irritation sharp.

"X-wing to bank and follow," she spoke crisply, gripping the controls with narrowed blue eyes. Helmet on, focus made.

"Let's fly, Coby."

@samdragon

 

[Cobalt Cavern Chronicler]

Cobalt smiled softly and tip-tapped some commands on the wrist remote. The TIE drone moved out of the hangar, followed by their X-Wing. As soon as they were out though, the drone sped away, turning up sharply, headed out of the planet's atmosphere. "Let's see how good you are in a pursuit, to begin. Try to catch that TIE!" he chirped with a mix of excitement and seriousness, curious to see just how good she will be with fast flying.

@Killa Ree