One Day in the Fish Tank
by Sazril "Yale" Murshid
CRS Morning Star cruised slowly across the unnamed system. Two X-wing starfighters from Red Squadron and two Blue Y-wings lined up to enter the hangar bay. From scorched mark on the hulls, they had been involved in a small fight and won. The pilots were probably very happy, but Pappy wouldn't be when he sees the condition of the ships.
Ranger deployed his landing gear and activated the repulsor lift when he breached the magcon field. A slight thump signaled that he had landed safely in the cruiser. His hand hovered above the canopy release while he warily searched the hangar for Pappy. He wouldn't want to be the first to get out and explain the bumps and scratches on the starfighters when they were supposed to be out on a routine forward scouting mission.
After confirming that Pappy was not near his X-wing, Ranger pop the hatch open and walked quickly out of the hangar bay. He breathed a sigh of relief after the blast door shut behind him. He headed toward the debriefing room. Unfortunately as he turned the corner, he bumped into Pappy.
"There you are, Captain Magill," he said, crossing his arms. "You're not in a hurry to go anywhere are you? I was in the observation deck and saw those X-wings came in. Maybe you could spare some time to explain why they need a new paint job."
"Well, there's this encounter with pirates and …"
Ranger emptied his glass and leaned back against his seat. The Fishtank is empty at the moment since almost everybody is out on a search patrol. A few of the pirates that attacked his patrol had gone into hiding and Command decided a few search patrol should be able to deter any possible ambush. Lucky for him Pappy was more concern about the fighters than chewing him up.
The blast door opened and he saw Angel walked in and headed towards the bar. Her uniform showed evidence of Pappy's reaction when he saw her fighter. She was in the thick of it when they ran into the pirates. So naturally her fighter suffered the most damage and carbon scoring from missed shots. Pappy's usual treatment involved soap, water, solvent and muscles. Being diminutive in stature, Ranger bet Pappy told her to clean the intakes as well.
He called her over to his cubicle. She looked at him and made a face. Ranger smiled at her.
"So you failed to escape the wrath of Pappy."
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Angel sat down heavily.
"How come you're not wet and dirty?" She asked. "Your ship is as bad as mine if not worse."
"Privilege of being an XO," he answered. "I could actually ask you to clean my fighter for me, but being a nice guy that I am, I won't tell you to."
"Yeah, right."
Suddenly, an unarmed stormtrooper walked into the Fishtank. Everyone was on their feet and drew their weapons out.
"Don't shoot!" he said. "It's me, Pip!"
The stormtrooper took off his helmet and looked at it.
"You know this Stormtrooper armor just does nothing for me!"
"It nearly got you killed," Ranger shouted, as he holstered his sidearm. "And remember to report to the flight deck later for your 3 am patrol."
"But I'm not scheduled for a 3 am patrol."
"You are, now," Ranger said as he sat down.
Pip mumbled as he walked to the bar. He brightened up when he saw Trixel behind the bar.
"Is that a lekku, or are you just happy to see me?" Pip asked Trix as she came up to him to take his order.
"Very funny, Pip," said Trixel, twirling the lekku shaped head gear she was wearing. "What will you have?"
"Corellian Ale, Trix."
"Coming right up," Trix responded. "Why don't you sit somewhere else, you smell like the emperor's arm pit."
"But," Pip sniffed his underarms and smiled. "I loved the smell of Palpie's armpits in the morning...it smelt like victory!"
"Ugh… get away from me, you stinking…"
Angel looked over at the bar and saw Trix pouring a big jug of cold water on Pip.
"Sigh… I told him not to get too frisky around Trix," Angel told Ranger.
The doors opened and three Red Squadron cadets walked in. Ranger stood up and they immediately turned around.
"Hold it! Just where do you think you're going?"
The three cadets fidgeted while Ranger moved towards them. He scrutinized their uniforms, looking up and down critically. They knew they were in for it when Ranger stood up when they came in. Ranger always chose a seat that face the entrance so that he could see who came in. If he did not move then they are safe, but if he moved, they need to get out of his sight ASAP.
"Hmm… very good, nothing out of order," Ranger said after a while. "You may go on with your business."
The three cadets stared at his back as he walked back to the cubicle he was sharing with Angel. Ranger sat down and the cadets gingerly moved forward towards the bar.
"Is Ranger feeling alright?" Jackal asked. "Did he just let us go without giving us more sim time?"
"I don't know, should we get someone to take him to sick bay or something?" Phantom suggested.
"Better not, let's enjoy this while it last." Hulk responded. "You know, he might be changing.'
"Whom are you kidding?" Jackal said. "It'll sooner snow on Tatooine than Ranger changing."
"Yeah, you maybe right. And as my dad used to say…" Hulk interjected. "Tatooine smells good after snow!"
"What if he changed his mind while we're having a drink?" Phantom asked, worriedly.
"Like what my dad used to say," Hulk began. "We can't stop Judgement Day, we just have to survive it…"
The Jackal and Phantom just groaned.
Angel looked at the nervous cadets moving to the bar.
"Why are they so nervous? What did you do? Give them more sim time?"
"Nothing, exactly nothing. I just let them have their drinks."
"Are you feeling well, Ranger? It's not like you to let them off the hook that easy."
"Let's just say I'm making sure that I'm unpredictable. They'll be better off not knowing what I'll do."
"You are one evil man, Ranger."
"I do my best," he replied.
The door opened and this time Yale and a dispatcher walked through. Yale was talking and the dispatcher was taking down notes. Suddenly the dispatcher looked up from the datapad.
"You want it going where?"
"I think you heard me the first time," Yale responded.
"But there's no one on the planet," the dispatcher said, scratching his head with the datapad.
"That's why I'm sending it there."
"Well, it's your package," the dispatcher said. He continued typing on the datapad and ripped off the receipt. "Here's you receipt, please hold on to it in case you need to claim if the package get lost."
"You mean, there's a possibility of the package getting lost?"
"Yes, why? You are not going to cancel the order are you?"
"Not at all," Yale answered. "Could it possible for you to lose the package if I pay you extra?"
"You fighter-jocks are crazy," the dispatcher turned and left the Fishtank.
Yale saw Ranger and went over to him, sat down and nodded to Trix to order his usual.
"What was that all about?" Angel asked.
"Remember the brilliant idea you had during our last briefing?" Yale asked.
"Which one? I have lots of brilliant ideas."
"Here, I'll read you the transcript of your exact words," Yale began, as he fished out a piece of paper from his pocket. "I know, let Vape design the new squadron uniform."
"Oh, that one. What does that got to do with…," Angel's face turned white. "She didn't, she wouldn't?"
"She would and she did," Yale said. "But luckily, I saw the prototype and drawings and somehow I managed to misplace them."
"What does it looked like?" Ranger asked. He was worried too. He knew what Vape was capable of doing with bright colors. What if Zoom liked the design (or worse, the color).
"Have you been in Vape and Angel's quarters?" Yale asked.
"That bad?" Ranger asked, remembering the dizzying experience.
"Worse," Yale said, taking the proffered meal from Trixel's tray. "Thank you, Trixel."
Yale took a bite and looked at Trixel.
"Fo shizzle, neptizzle."
"Sorry, lieutenant," Trixel said. "We ran out of your usual, so I had to give you the new brand to try. How was it?
Yale kept munching and swallowed.
"Great taste! Less filling!" Yale said. "But I appreciate it if you tell me next time."
"Sure, here's your…" Looking at Yale, she continued. "usual drink."
"Good."
"OKAY! WHO TOOK THE DESIGNS FOR THE SQUADRON'S NEW UNIFORM?!"
Vape angrily marched through the door. She looked over and saw Yale acting very calm. Unlike her loving attachment to bright colors, she knew he could not stand them. She automatically homed in on him.
"Yale, you wouldn't happen to see my prototype and designs anywhere, would you?" She said, smiling menacingly sweet.
"What? No, I have no idea. Do you want me to help you look for them?" Yale asked, very, very calmly.
"No, thank you," Vape said. She thought for a minute and continued. "I think I'll just design some new ones. The last designs weren't bright enough."
The three Reds stared in horror at Vape as she turned and catwalked out of the Fishtank. Especially Yale, since he knew what the previous designs looked like.