Study Hall (Pilots, Command)

[Ewan Isaacs]

Ewan was normally sitting at the bar, drinking it up with others when he was in here, but not this time. He was sitting at a corner table. Sure, he had a pitcher of ale and a couple of glasses sitting there, but it was hardly touched, even the glass he poured himself was almost full. No, the devil pilot was too busy studying a couple of datapads. One of them had the schematics and material on the B-wing, one of them the E-wing, the K-wing, and the fourth being the Y-wing. It looked as if he wanted to know as much as he could.

Wasn't he supposed to be a moron?

[Alexandra Russo]

The Chief of Navel Operations rubbed her temples. The numbers were just not adding up. The new budget proposal for the military with next year's imposed 10% cuts from each department was giving her one big headache. Alex needed a change of scenery other than the four walls of her stuffy office to figure this all out. Not wanting to sit another minute behind her desk, the former Rogue knew of only one place that would give her peace of mind to think things over from a different perspective, and that was the Cantina with a nice cold ale on hand to sip. Alex pushed back her chair, then grabbed her old flight jacket and stuffed her datapad into the inside pocket. As she passed her assistant's desk, the Commander just smiled and gave him a little two finger tally ho at Petty Officer Webb. He knew her well enough now to know she couldn't be corralled for too long in one place. Webb would hold down the fort while she got some fresh air.

As Alex entered the Mirror's Edge Cantina, she quickly scanned the room to see who all was there finding Lt. Ewan Isaacs of Rogue Squadron sitting alone at a corner table hunched over a bunch of datapads seemingly studying something. She had been meaning to talk to him regarding some squadron business to help her sort that part of the budget out. Perhaps this would be the perfect time.

The brandy-eyed brunette strolled up to the table and whistled as she leaned over to see what had captured Isaacs' attention so intently. ""Homework, huh? Me too. Care if I commiserate with you?" Alex asked with a pleasant smile on her face.

[Ewan Isaacs]

OOC: Corner table actually.

He was engrossed in the logs made by test pilots about the E-Wings rigid frame taking away her capabilities in atmospheric piloting. This made him appreciate the overall design of the X-wing that much more, from the balance of the design, to the strength of the frame itself. The fighter that destroyed both Death Stars was indeed cutting edge and it's over 20 years old.

They can't all be X-Wings... just hope it never rains if I have to pilot one.

Comparing the design of the E-Wing to that of the Y-wing, he was surprised that the fighter wasn't slower than it was... Looking up with a start, Ewan practically fell out of his chair at the sight of the rude Commander who gave him a tongue-lashing under the guise of an interview the other day.

Criminy, what did I do now?

Wait, was she being nice? Well, it made sense after all this was an off duty Cantina. Offering a respectful smile of his own, and getting an image of his mother pulling his ear if he didn't, Ewan stood up and pulled out a seat for Commander "What'shername".

Sure, by all means. I was just studying.

[Alexandra Russo]

OCC: lol I saw that. Blonde moment. It's all good now. :-)

His initial reaction to seeing her didn't surprise Alex in the least. To be honest, the Commander had given the pilot candidate quite a hard time during the interview for the CO's position of the New Republic's elite squadron, and he was probably thinking she was here to give him grief again. But Isaacs hadn't made it any too easy for her either that day, so maybe they were even...

"Why thanks," Alexandra offered as the flyboy had shown his gentlemanly ways, standing and pulling out the chair for her. She took the seat, then fished her own datapad out from the inside pocket of her flight jacket, then placed the unit on the table top in front of her.

"I know we got off to a rough start the other day... I apologize if I came off being a bit too harsh, but I was just doing my job. How about we try again?" the Commander smiled, her hand extending across the table.

"Hi. I'm Alexandra Russo, but I prefer Alex. So what exactly are you trying to get from all those starfighter manuals? she asked inquisitively while slipping off her jacket which still proudly displayed the Rogue Squadron patch and her Ace pin.

[Ewan Isaacs]

Sitting down slowly, he looked over the various datapads, Ewan just shrugged. It wasn't really a conscious thought until she made it one. What did he really want to get out of any of this? Was he looking to move up? Was he looking for a change? Did he want to be a better pilot? What?

Well you caught me off guard, and I don't react well to that... but that's no excuse for me, I should have been nicer. Putting them aside, Ewan took one last glass at the datapads as he took a sip of Ale. Normally he would take a huge gulp, but something was stopping him this time.

Noticing the "Ace" pin, Ewan was indeed envious, he was more of an "attack run" pilot. Reese was more of a specialist in taking out targets and fighter support was minimal in those situations. It was a cool thing to see, those... wait she asked him a question.

I guess I'm just trying to learn more about the fighters we have. I'm only checked out on X-wings and A-wings but I figure if I get the educational side out of the way, it's only then a matter of flying them.

Of course I've been wrong before.

Shrugging again.

Either way I'm just enjoying the reading. Ewan Isaacs... but then again... you knew that.

[Romon Darksands]

Romon walked into the Cantina after a long day sim work. The squadron hadn't seen any flight time in a while and he wanted to keep his edge up. After going up to the bar and getting his customary whiskey he turned around on his bar stool to do a reckon run of the room and see it there was any of his fellow pilots. He saw the Commander and Isaacs sitting at a table. Romon vaguely remembered Ewan having said something about a study session. Not wanting to interrupt the two Romon waved a greeting before leaning back against the bar again and taking another drink.

[Ewan Isaacs]

Ewan said nothing to Romon, he just nodded and waved back. The pilot was free to join the table if he wanted.

[Jason Darsten]

“Don’t trust ‘em K-Wings, the Dampener’s are always hard to keep at a steady level, personally don’t know why we still keep them around, but hey, I ain’t gotta fly them.” The interruption came from a man in his mid to late thirties, dark hair neatly sat around his face and finishing his appearance with the older styled beige officer’s uniform of the New Republic.
“Sorry to interrupt. Lieutenant Commander Jason Darsten.” He said offering his hand out to both Ewan and Alex. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” He added just for good measure as he slid into one of the seats at the table, his leg crossing over the other as he balanced the small glass of Corellian Whiskey in his hand.

“Sorry should have asked.” He said, smiling in his slightly traditional way, a smile that had been made famous in the later years of the civil war where Jason had served both Army and Navy factions of the NR, “Mind if I join you, just looks like newer schematics, and honestly I haven’t seen any of the fancier new equipment you lot have got in.”

Taking a quick sip out of his glass he looked at one of the schematics with slight interest. “In fact, I haven’t even had a chance to count my own toes yet, felt like Telos is spinning faster than Hyperspeed at the moment.”

[Ewan Isaacs]

Ewan was just about to take a sip when someone else went to sit down. A 'Lieutenant Commander'? That's new. He seemed okay enough to accept a handshake, but really one could only wonder as while he was respectful, when his rank didn't really force him to be, the officer was helping himself to the devil pilot's datapads.

Get over yourself, Ewan, the guy's making an effort.

At least they're not a 'logisitcal nightmare' as the rotating cabins of the B-wings are called, right?

Taking the delayed sip of his ale, Ewan looked over the firing controls of the E-wing as he chuckled.

Ewan Isaacs.

[Laina Reynolds]

Laina thought twice about joining the group of officer's sitting at the table as she looked for a seat - oblivious of Ronin's presence - but then realized that, if they wanted to keep it private, then they should've been behind closed doors. Still, she didn't recognize the two men. One was vaguely familiar, and the other? Well, he must've been a transfer.

Now confidant that she wasn't going to intrude too much, especially since she knew Alex, she walked over to the corner of the room and stood at a respectable distance. "Sirs, Ma'am," she said in greeting. About to ask if she could take a seat, she saw the E-wing on the datapad one of the commanders - the new CO of the Rogues if the popular rumor was true - held under his nose. She moved closer. "Oh! Tha E! Bes' ship out there," she said, feeling slightly out of place with her farmers accent. Not too many people came from Flitter. "I'd take one over anythin' any day." The blond woman paused, realizing that she had never introduced herself. Backing herself up a step, she said "Sorry, Laina Reynolds. Mind if I join?"

[Ewan Isaacs]

OOC: Going to work, this is all I really have time for, sorry.

Ewan disagreed with the new blonde who had an affinity for the E-wings. The look on his face (either that or he has to use the bathroom) symbolized that. However that didn't stop him from pushing out a chair.

Please...

[Alexandra Russo]

"Commander Alexandra Russo, though call me Alex," she said with a conservative smile to the older, dark haired pilot as he plopped down in a chair and began grabbing Isaacs' datapads and chatting it up. Torr had mentioned that one of the old Army guard had shown up to re-enlist, this time as a Navy pilot. She hoped the Lieutenant Commander would be able to transition into Rogue Squadron seamlessly.

Alex was pleasantly surprised to see the blonde farm girl, Cadet Laina Reynolds, walk up and ask to join the ever expanding group. "Please do, Laina. I think this is leading up to be quite an interesting discussion," she grinned, then motioned with her hand for another Rogue member, Cadet Ronon Darksands who was sitting at the bar, to join them as well.

When the waiter droid came by, the Commander ordered a couple more pitcher's of ale to be sent over to their table along with a variety of appetizers, all charged to her personal tab. With the major military budget cuts coming down the pike, there'd be no more officer expense accounts to use. But the personal expense would be well worth it to Alex if she got some good debate on the New Republics' starfighter arsenal. This would be helpful in her upcoming decision of which types of craft to keep and which one's would be cut loose. The New Republic Military needed to get leaner and meaner if they were to meet the monetary support given to them from the government.

[Romon Darksands]

Romon watched Laina walk in. "There's just something about her." He said to himself as he saw Commander Russo wave him over. Gathering his whiskey he walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for Laina and waited for her to be seated. While he was doing this he decided to offer his two cents. "No disrespect for you E - wing, but the X is the best we have in the arsenal. It has the best balance of shields, firepower, and speed. Sure others excel in certain areas, but you can't beat the bird that killed two Death Stars."

[Ewan Isaacs]

Ewan was still busy looking at his datapad. The Devil pilot wasn't being rude, or not trying to at least, he was just engrossed in his reading.

A good pilot can excel in any craft.

It was the Corsec training in him, he didn't believe in specifics he wanted cross train in everything... well... because... everyone did.

[Jason Darsten]

“E’s have their perks.” Jason’s posture changed as he sat back into his chair, his eyes on the blonde, “Yet being in comparison to the X or the A, even the B they are new and as such tend to have maintenance problems, especially when thrown into extended combat.” He took a glass of ale to his mouth and let it quench that thirst that had slowly been building. “However I’ve heard good things about there handling capabilities, so maybe there is hope for them yet.”

He let the others mull over themselves, as he sat there staring at the datapads without much attention. His mind remembering the first time he had seen an X-Wing up close and personal, been allowed to touch it, to sit in it and then hours later forced to fly it. He had been scared and tormented by that experience, of course he had been forced to engage enemy forces at the time, he had been only fifteen; just.

Snapping out of it he moved his eyes over towards Alex, his smile painfully obvious as pasted on trying to hide the memory that was still fighting to get into his head.
“So, how long have you been with the New Republic Miss Russo, don’t think I saw you around much before?”