trans_9 | just a couple of fighter jocks

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just a couple of fighter jocks | location: hangar [OPEN]

It's been an intense half a day for Tycho, what with arriving here, learning about the destruction of his universe, learning about the existence of other universes, and the fact that he's been dumped in the middle of a whole new war to fight. After talking to Captain Kirk, he'd spent a while reading as much as he could find on the omnicoms about the Ohm and the ship and the entire situation. He'd also messaged his new squadron, the thing he suspects will take up most of his time on this ship. What he's learned so far tells him ... it's going to be a challenge.

Now though... he could really use something familiar, something from home before his head starts to spin like an x-wing with the stabilizers blown. Stacy's hanger is certainly like no hangar he's ever been in before. The air is humid, and his boots echo strangely on the organic floor. It's also large, maybe almost as large as the main hanger on the Lusankya, filled with all kinds of craft he's never seen before, which compounds the feeling of strangeness. Tycho isn't some outer rim dweller- he's been around the galaxy a few times, seen plenty of things, and the unfamiliarity of almost everything here compounds the feeling of how far he is from home. Still though, his heart can't help but begin to soar as he takes in the sight of near two dozen x-wings parked together near one of the edges.

Tycho strides quickly up to them, noting the familiar shape of Wedge's X-Wing, kill decals bracketed by the two Death Stars, before his eyes alight on his own. He traces his fingers up the side, instantly feeling more centered, more at peace for the feel of the durasteel under his fingertips. He's going to be okay. As long as he has his X-wing and his squadron, everything will be fine.

His R5 chirps in greeting, and Tycho pulls a datapad out of one of his flightsuit's pockets. He might as well use his time well and start running some preliminary diagnostics while he waits for Wedge to arrive.

"Yep," he responds in answer to the astromech's query as the translation scrolls across the screen. "We're far from home buddy." He comfortingly pats the X-Wings side. "We still got our jobs to do though, so let's get started."

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Asuka came to a stop, arms akimbo as she stared at Tycho. Oh, man. Figured, didn't it? "You're Tycho Celchu? _{Well, that's just great...!}"

She sighed, rolled her eyes and straightened slightly, letting one hand dangle while the other rested on her hip. "I'm Flight Officer Asuka Langley Soryu."

Tycho's eyebrows shot upwards at the girl's introduction. "You're Ms. Soryu?" he asked in an echo of her own disbelief. He stared at her for a long moment, as certain things started to make more sense.

"... Please tell me you're older than you look, Flight Officer Soryu," was all he could finally think to say.

"I happen to be fourteen and I was an ace pilot back home, so you can can anything about my age! General Antilles thinks I'm good enough to be in the squadron." Asuka grinned triumphantly (although it was turning into something of a smirk). "So, you're the General's old executive officer, huh? Nice to meet you~"

"... Right," Tycho said. That was about what he would have guessed her age at. He put his palms over his eyes- he was going to need to have a talk with Wedge about this. 16 year old Gavin Darklighter had been one thing, but this ... Tycho let his hands fall away and looked warily at the child (yes, she was still a child) in front of him.

"I'm sure your piloting skills are fine," he said slowly. "That's not the issue." He sighed. From his experience talking to Asuka on the com channel, he knew trying to reason with her wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he was already going to give the discussion up ... for now. Talking to Wedge later would be another matter entirely.

"Yes," he said calmly, noting her smirk but not bothering to respond, "I was Wedge's XO back home, and I'm sure I'll end up being a sort of second XO behind Luke here. And it's nice to meet you as well, Miss Soryu." Sort of. If by 'nice' Tycho meant 'informative'.

Asuka rolled her eyes again, smirk fading. "I get it. You think I'm too young to be flying."

She took a determined step forward, glaring up at him. "I'm good at it! I was the best Eva pilot back home and I fought then! So don't tell me that! I'm used to danger!" She folded her arms with a small hmmph.

"You're not going to take this away from me."

Tycho pinched the bridge of his nose. This was the argument he did not want to be having right now, because he already knew she wouldn't listen. "It won't be up to me to decide whether you fly," he said carefully, "that will be up to Wedge as your commanding officer. But I will be speaking to him about it, because yes, I do think you're too young to fly." He gave her a firm but non-challenging look- he looked slightly resigned in fact. Either way though, she deserved to know where he stood- Tycho wouldn't be doing anyone and favors by trying to influence Wedge in secret.

He sighed again at her final statement, looking even more tired and older than his 34 years. The problem was he understood her feelings, he understood them only too well. "Wedge doesn't agree with me on everything though, so I can't say right now what his answer will be," his heard himself saying. Wedge had already probably considered all of the arguments Tycho was going to give him against Asuka flying. The fact that he had let her on the squadron in the first place meant he had considered and rejected them. Tycho in fact sincerely doubted that anything he would say would make Wedge change his mind.

That meant he was stuck with her, which meant it was now Tycho's duty to shape her into the best pilot he could, and do his best to make sure she didn't get killed. "Look, Miss Soryu," he said slowly. "Asuka, if I may." Tycho reached out, dragging one of the crates over to sit on it, gesturing for Asuka to do the same. "Let me ask you," he said voice firm yet quiet, "why do you want to be an X-Wing pilot?" There was genuine interest in his eyes.

Good was Asuka's private thought. She probably wouldn't have to worry about getting kicked out of the squadron. Not now. Not after the work she'd put into finally learning how to fly the damn thing. Not after Lafiel and getting grounded and everything else. She was going to fly and she was going to be the best. She looked like she was going to interrupt, but she settled, looking rather sullen. That wasn't fair.

For a moment she glared at him and then she plopped herself down on the crate, arms folded over her chest. She eyed him suspiciously when he asked his question and then tossed her head back, grin reappearing. "Because I want to be the best! Because I'm a good pilot already!"

Because she needed a purpose.

"Because you want to be the best, hmmm." Tycho rubbed at the side of his face. This was exactly what he had been afraid of, and exactly why he thought she was too young to fly. Because she saw things through the mindset of a kid, and to her this was all a game. Oh he knew plenty of adult X-Wing pilots who had been caught up on being "the best" (Corran Horn's name came easily to mind) but underneath all that ego and bravado, they understood the risks, and more importantly they knew what they were fighting for.

"You could be the best at a lot of things," Tycho finally offered. "Why piloting specifically?"

"It's what I did at home! I thought I told you that," Asuka scoffed, "Besides, this way I have a chance to actually do something worthwhile instead of being forced to just sit and be a good girl with the rest of the stupid kids."

She eyed him for a moment, daring him to challenge her. "I'm not a kid, anyway. I'm an adult and I can handle myself. I've graduated from university, I'm one of the best Eva pilots in the world where I'm from and I'm a combat veteran!"

"Humor me, okay," Tycho says, smiling gently. "Why were you a pilot at home? Why did you want to become a pilot in the first place?"

He didn't rise to her bait and challenge her assertion that she was an adult. Better to save fuel for the battles he might actually have a change at winning.

"I was selected for it. Because I was one of the best. And they needed me because the world needed to be protected from the Angels." She looked as if she'd told this story before and she drummed her fingers against the crate.

"You were selected," Tycho repeats. "How old were you when you were selected?" He still looks genuinely interested.

Keep giving him short non-informative answers Asuka, and he's just going to keep digging. Tycho certainly has enough patience to out last you.

"I was five," Asuka responds matter-of-factly. She doesn't particularly want to dwell on that day, though. She was so excited to find out that she'd been chosen. Maybe her mother would finally look at her for once. Instead, she'd found her mother hanging from the ceiling, a rope around her neck. She was still proud of being an Eva pilot, but that memory would probably never leave her.

"Why is that so important?"

Why is that so important?

Oh boy, he's going to have to tread carefully here isn't he. Tycho rubs tiredly at his jaw, trying not to let his consternation show on his face. You sure know how to pick 'em Wedge he thinks to himself. If piloting is all this girl has ever known, she won't accept not being able to fly. But, on the other hand, Tycho knows if you take a fighter into space with the wrong motivations, you get careless, and careless means dead. If he can't get through to her, can't help her to grow and mature, this brash undisciplined overconfident young girl is going to go out in an X-Wing and get herself killed, and Tycho will hold himself responsible, because he can see it coming, and therefore he should be able to prevent it. He will be able to prevent it. He doesn't give himself the option of failure.

But, how to get through to the girl sitting in front of him? Tycho takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Piloting is all you've ever known," he says slowly. "It's understandable if you don't want to do anything else. And it's understandable if you want to be the best- it's your identity, it's who you are. But Asuka-" and here he looks her in the eyes, trying to convey the seriousness of what he's saying, "being a pilot is not just about being good. I have seen plenty of incredibly good pilots go out there and end up just as dead as less good pilots."

Asuka watched Tycho. She didn't know his thoughts or even much about his background. What she did know was that he already seemed to be meddling far too much with her for his own good. She leaned back, kicking her legs out and propping her self up on her elbows, staring up at the ceiling carelessly.

"Piloting is who I am," she responded, "It's what I do. I save the world, everyone knows who I am. I'm just that good."

She sat up and eyed Tycho. "I'm not going to die. I'm too good to die."

I'm not going to die. I'm too good to die.

Ahhhhhhh. If he had a cred chip for every time he's heard that sentiment ... it still wouldn't buy back the lives of all the friends and comrades he's lost because they believed that exact thing, and their overconfidence got them killed.

Tycho may not know the details of Asuka's life, might not know about her world, but he knows her, in that fundamental way that comes from meeting dozens, hundreds of pilots, soldiers, people like her. He knows her fundamental beliefs in her abilities will not be shaken- maybe not because of how strong it is, but because she cannot let it be shaken, because it is too integral to who she is, to her identity. It's time, once again, to try a new tactic. Tycho shifts arguments as seamlessly as a fighter rolling out of the enemy's sights and on to a new attack vector.

"Let me ask you, and I mean this seriously, I'm not mocking you," he prefaces. "But honestly Asuka. What does being a good pilot mean to you? How do you know that you're good? This is not an idle question. I really need to know."

For this to work, he needs a real answer out of her, not just more rebuffing and superficial deflections. He waits, eyes earnest on her face.

Asuka snorted, eyes narrowing. Who did this guy think he was? Was he trying to psychoanalyze her or something? She stood, turning away from him with a snort. "Why do you care, anyway? You don't think I'm good enough anyway. You know so much more then me about this piloting thing, after all! I wouldn't want to get in your way."

She turned back to him and jabbed a finger towards him. "I know I'm good because I am. I'm the best or I will be. Anything less is worthless!"

"I never said you weren't good," Tycho says softly. "That is not the issue here, not at all." His voice is still soft, but it's starting to take on a dangerous edge. "I do know that much more," Tycho continues, "But I can't force you to agree with that, and you know what, it doesn't matter if you agree or not, because I out-rank you, and so no matter what you think, you have to listen to me."

Asuka is refusing to listen, and so she has brought out another side of Tycho, a side he doesn't often let show. He knows arguing won't get through to her. If calm respectful conversation won't work either, it's time for Tycho to change tactics entirely, to stop using lasers and switch over to proton torps. He looks up at her, and now his eyes are cold, like hard flecks of ice. This is a man who has killed more men and women than will comfortably fit painted on the side of an x-wing. This is a man who has ordered other men and women to go into battle in which he knows some will die without flinching. This is a man who has shot other men and women with a blaster and watched them die in front of him. This is a warrior, who has earned his rank.

"This conversation just became non-optional," he says in that same hard flat voice of command. "You will sit down and talk with me, and that is an order, Flight Officer Soryu. You will give my questions careful consideration, and you will answer them to the best of your ability. Do you understand?"

Asuka clenched her jaw, fury and anger and fear running through her. She didn't want to talk about her life to this man. She didn't want to talk about her mother or why she piloted or why she was Asuka. This man didn't have a right, senior rank or not. She shook her head, voice rising in volume as her hands balled into fists at her side. It was a pretty impressive sight, actually.

"What right do you have to make me talk about my life to you? You're not some stupid psychologist, you're not Arha and you're definitely not going to learn anything about me! My life is my business, you hear me? I am not going to sit down and tell you everything about me just because you order it! Who the Hell do you think you are?!"

Tycho stares at her, completely impassive in the face of the yelling. It is impressive, but more, it's heartbreaking to see a child rendered this upset, and Tycho is not proud to have been the cause. Still, the fact that she has this little control over her emotions only reinforces his conviction that she is not ready to be a pilot, not without some major growth and changes.

"Your life impacts your piloting," he says calmly. "That makes it my business. And it doesn't matter who I am, other than the fact that I am your superior. Rogue Squadron is a military unit, you knew that when you joined. That means you have to obey the chain of command, whether you like it or not."

He pauses for a moment giving her time to process. Then, he continues. "Now, I gave you a direct order. I don't care if you like it, you will follow it if you want to pilot an x-wing ever again."

Asuka hissed through her teeth at him, glaring balefully. After a long hard, moment of rage-filled seething she slowly sank down and sat, folding her arms again. She looked away from him, refusing to make eye contact. He couldn't do this. He couldn't make her talk to him. She'd sit, but she didn't have to talk.

Tycho waits, and then waits some more, but it's pretty clear she's not going to talk. "Asuka," he tries. Then again, "Asuka." No response. He sighs. At least she hasn't left. That's something, right?

"Look, we can sit here all night," he finally says. "I'm patient, I have no problem waiting. You can keep not talking to prove your point, if you want. But sulking won't do anything to convince me that you're mature enough to be a pilot."

I'm trying to help you, he doesn't say, because he knows right now that's the last thing she'll beleive. It's true though. He looks at this obviously hurting young girl in front of him, and he wants to help. Tycho isn't a religious man, not in the traditional sense, but Force grant me strength, he thinks, and the ability to get through to her.

Asuka kept her arms folded, glaring at the floor. She hated this. She hated that this man was trying to talk to her about things she didn't want to talk about. She didn't have issues. There was nothing wrong with her. Guiltily, a part of her wished Arha were here. She didn't need Arha's help for this (she shouldn't need Arha's help at all). "...my life is none of your business. I'm fine."

"Asuka." Tycho sighs. "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you, and I don't want to make you tell me about your entire life. I just want to have a simple discussion about what being a pilot means to you."

He sighs and rubs tiredly at his eye (tired tired why is he always tired? Piloting might be a young man's game, but command was no walk in the park.) "Look," he continues, "if you want to convince me that you should be a pilot, prove to me that you understand what that means."

He doesn't like it, but it's time to go for a sucker punch. "Prove to me," he says slowly, "that you actually understand what you want to do, and that it's not just something you're doing because someone chose it for you when you were five. Prove to me that you're not just blindly following along the path someone else set for you, wanting to be the best only because you don't know anything else."

Asuka glared at him again. Tycho's very lucky that looks can't kill or he'd probably be dead several times over at this point. She hated him. She didn't want to talk about her life or why she was a pilot or anything else. General Antilles never wanted to and she'd been doing fine before this Tycho guy showed up, the whole punching Lafiel thing aside. Her hands balled into fists again. She wished she could pummel him into submission.

"I want to pilot because it's what I do. I made the choice. I was supposed to save the world!"

just a couple of fighter jocks | location: hangar [OPEN]

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