[i][b]ISD-Blackstar (Hangar)[/b]
[/i]


“Welcome back, Obsidian, proceed to the starboard hangar and dock there.” A familiar voice spoke over the radio, inviting the squad back inside. 

“One more thing, recommend you keep those helmets on when you disembark. Blackstar out.”

Now that they were closer, Liam could see the Blackstar for himself without the help of sensors. Scores of scorch marks painted the hull. He briefly humored the thought that the ship was starting to look like its name.

The starfighters swarmed around the ship for a few moments as they redirected themselves according to fighter control, and as Liam came into dock, he noted that the hangar wasn’t as clean as it used to be. The forcefield keeping the atmosphere was still on, but there was this weird coating of teal and brown powder everywhere.

Equipment and storage boxes were strewn about the hangar, as if a storm and blown through the ship interior. Clean up crews and mechanics were picking up after the mess, rearranging tools, or attending to damaged equipment. Most of the mechanics seemed bothered, their faces furrowed, obviously bothered, and it wasn’t due to the mess.

Maran gave a whistle as he climbed out onto the catwalk. “Seems the Captain was busy.” 

“It would have been fine if she just left the fighting to us.” Blanche agreed as he jumped down, meeting Maran along the way towards the entrance way. 

 “Don’t be so sure of that, whatever she did drew that ship away, that fighter was something else.” Ben held his head in thought. 

“I’ll say, that guy was slipperier than a mynock.” Jarael disembarked next and rested herself on a nearby handrail.

“I lost it after it jumped off Liam, did one of you shoot it down?”

The rest of Obsidian, and even passing by pilots from other squads signaled ‘no’ in their own ways.

“Hyperdrive?” Maran said while shrugging his shoulders.

“Could be, I’ll send a request for the sensor logs later.” Ben nodded.

With his body coming down from the dog fighting and recent emotions, Liam gave a sigh before moving to remove his helmet. He disconnected the support tubes and lifted his helmet slightly, before plugging himself back in swiftly. Blanche gave a quick chortle before captain Ben shot him a look.

“Meet you guys at the mess, I’ll change first.”

“That bad huh?” Maran asked, staring right back into Liam’s dark red lens, and Liam nodded.

[i][b]ISD-Blackstar (Mess hall)[/b]
[/i]


Liam, now dressed in his usual uniform, had planted himself onto a seat near the beverage machines, and the rest of the squad had joined him only moments later. The mess hall wasn’t empty, it was full of hundreds of other off duty officers, complaining about the recent mission from their own points of views. In the meanwhile, Obsidian had started to criticize each other’s meals, from lack of taste, presentation, or nutrients, before the topic shifted back to the previous battle.

“So, what was that thing, it was practically [i]dancing[/i] around us, not even our ints move like that.” Maran asked, sending glances around the table.

“No kidding, I was almost vaped.” Liam grumbled as he hunched over his meal, then looked up with a confident smirk.

“I’ve got some ideas for my TIE, maybe next time I can even the score.”

“You’ve got ideas? You mean you wanna bother your favorite mechanic, right?” Jarael taunted him from across the table.

“I'm more of an ideas guy, I'll let someone else do the dirty work.”

Ben Jenson, the squad captain had been vaguely listening at the other end of the table, lost in thought with his bulky arms crossed over one another, before he huffed and finally spoke.

“You know, now that I think about it, I [i]have[/i] seen something like that.” He said, nodding.

“The fighter?” Liam exclaimed.

“No, the fighting. Reminds me of the one time we fought with Vader, he went out in his own fighter, never got to hear what it was called. But he was full of tricks, just like this guy.”

Maran furrowed his brows, then pointed his fork accusingly towards Ben. “Wait a minute, old man, we never fought with Vader!”

“We did, well, the old squad with me and O2. Before your time.” Ben gave him a smile, but his gaze seemed to drift away.

“Yeah... those Jedi flew around like that too in those old holovids. It always looked scripted because of how they were able to dodge so well.” Liam said while stroking his chin.

“We’ll be prepared for next time; this kill will be mine.” Blanche rasped from beside Ben.

“Don’t count on it, I plan to pay him back for my ship.” Liam shot a challenging smirk towards Blanche, then someone started tugging at his ear, an arm from across the table, drawing a quick cry of surprise from him.

“Did you forget the part where the only person in Obsidian hit, was [i]you[/i]?” Jarael said with fake tenderness, and a sinister smile that showed off her canines.

Maran chuckled at Liam’s suffering, before Jarael pulled at him too.

“Ow, why me!” Maran complained as he tried to fight her hands with his.

“Because I don’t like your smug look!” Jarael said exaggeratedly before letting them both go, just in time for Ben to start speaking again.

“Liam, I know you have an... appreciation for the TIE ln, but switch to an int.”

“Sir, with all due respect, I’m a great pilot, and I can keep up with the rest of you just fine. My formation flying has never been off until now.” Liam said, starting off calmly, and gradually becoming insistent.

“You wouldn’t be here if I thought badly of you, but switch to an interceptor as of now, that’s an order.” Ben insisted, his gaze never leaving Liam’s eyes, and the latter had no choice but to nod.

“Heeyyy, if Liam’s going to start messing around with an int, maybe I could customize mine too. A nice big picture of a dancer on the side would be nice.” Maran interjected before Jarael elbowed him. Ben huffed and then shook his head as he spoke firmly.

“That’s against regulation, and a definite no.” Then he donned a smirk.

“Unless you want to draw all the fire from now on.”

“Um, understood, captain.” Maran fell back into his seat, like he had suddenly been deflated.