So here I was, Wedge Antilles, Commander of Starfighter Command, Rogue Lead, creator of Wraith Squadron, destroyer of Death Stars and to some hero of the New Republic, leaning on a wall outside ‘Wal-Mart’, nonchalant as the next guy. Or girl. Or alien. Or whatever. I was waiting to meet up with Hobbie, Janson and Tycho, who had somehow convinced me that a day off was something I needed. Why had I let them talk me into this?
“Wedge! Over here!”
Ah, that was Janson, waving furiously at me from the other side of the glass lifts. Tycho was standing next to him, saying something I couldn’t make out above the general hubbub of people walking in and out of Wal-Mart. Hobbie, I noticed, was looking slightly embarrassed at Wes’ antics.
I wandered over, careful to slip into the nonchalant strides of the people – and others – around me. It was at times like this that I wished flippantly that I’d got Face Loran to teach me some acting during the time I’d been in Wraith Squadron. I can’t really cope with crowds. Not odd, considering most of the time I’m stuck in an X-wing cockpit, vaping Imps. I don’t have to deal with crowds. I don’t even have to deal with speeches… most of the time. Hence the Antilles 4 Step Speech.
“Right.” I announced myself to Tycho, Wes and Hobbie once I was over the other side of the shopping complex, “I’m here.”
“We missed you so much!” Wes exclaimed, and gave me a huge hug.
I shot him an odd look, and turned to Tycho, “Weren’t you supposed to be controlling this sort of behaviour?”
Tycho shrugged helplessly, “This is Wes we’re talking about here.”
“Are we going to die here, or are we moving out?” Hobbie asked.
“Oh, we’re going to die here.” Wes replied.
“I thought as much.”
“Bacta wont save you this time.”
“Janson…”
“Nope, and before you die you’ll have to suffer the agonisingly painful effects o—”
My mind wandered from Hobbie and Wes’ conversation (or was it argument? Either way, Janson was having much more fun than Klivian) as I kept in stride with Tycho, who was moving the group out. The shopping centre was extremely crowded, and it didn’t look like the direction we were moving in was any less so. If anything, it was more. And they were teenagers. I groaned inwardly.
“Uhm, Tycho?”
“Yeah boss?”
I didn’t like it when he called me boss. It usually meant trouble was just around the corner. “Where are we going?” I fought the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“We’re just going to th—”
“Tych! Wedge! Wait up!” Hobbie’s voice yelled, sounding slightly panicked, from a few pedestrians back.
“What?” I spun around, instantly going into Commander Mode.
Tycho had done the same, but he’d managed to fight past the human traffic, and was next to the dour man in an instant. He exchanged words with Hobbie and then was back at my side, and Hobbie had disappeared.
“What was wrong?” I asked, “Where’d they go?”
Tycho grinned, “Wes went off to get some chocolate. Hobbie just said he’d catch up with us. Said something about having to give Wes his wallet back after some prank.” He shook his head. “C’mon…”
After five more minutes of walking, we reached our destination.
The hum of machinery and noises of computer games filled my ears, coupled with the smell of freshly made popcorn from the opposite shop.
Wes and Hobbie bounded up behind me, Wes with some chocolate and Hobbie with some bright pink stuff on a stick, “Haven’t you ever been in an arcade before?” Hobbie asked in response to my confused look.
“No.” I answered plainly. Honest is the best policy, after all.
Wes grinned in his maniac fashion and pushed me into something I can only describe as not-quite-a-simulator cockpit, faced with a joystick and a small screen, illuminated upon which was a small green fighter aircraft, which I controlled using the joystick. The object of the game was to vape ‘enemies’, the red ships on the screen, using the green ship, by pressing a red button on the joystick to fire.
“Pretty,” I commented. “What do we blow up first?”
