Rooster's Tale By Lumi Rus'ti "Rooster"

Wolf’s Den Commanding Officer Avery "Foxfire"Shroeder had assembled the entire Wolfhead Squadron in the main hangar. She wanted to introduce their newest member, Lt. Lumi "Roo" Rus’ti to the group. She watched from her office as the staff haphazardly completed formation. "Well, they aren’t real good at making formation, but they’re mine, she thought.

"Nice assortment of pilots of we have, eh Foxy?" Captain Lewis "Moose" Gregory, the Operations Officer, commented as if reading her mind. "But there’s something missing." Foxfire scanned the half-assembled group. "Ibero and Granite are missing", she replied, "and where the hell is Roo? This is for her." The Executive Officer, Michael "Vyper" Stauber entered the office. "Anyone seen Rooster, Ibero and Granite? Can’t seem to find them anywhere. We’ve checked their quarters and the Bomb Shelter." The three veteran officers shared a look of intrigue as the same thought crossed their minds. "NAH!" they all remarked simultaneously.

Arachnoid broke formation and ran over to Moose. "Um, Moose, one of the SecOps says he heard something coming from a storage area. He’s pretty freaked out about it. " Foxfire, Moose and Vyper made a mad dash for the aforementioned storage area.

"Yer bludy chergers damn near maedered me!"

"Shut-up-already-about-it-ya-know-it-was-an-accident-and-besides-if-you hadn’t-tried-to-do-what-ya-did-then-ya-wouldn’t-have-been-shocked!"

"Would you both please quit hollering! My head is about to explode!" Ibero said as he tried to go back to sleep. He curled up closer to Rooster. As it was completely dark in the room, and the 3 were still very hungover, they managed to doze off again.

Vyper, Foxfire and Moose met with the person who reported the noises. ‘Well sir, it sounded like a moan. But I can’t be sure. I’ve isolated it to Storage Bin Number D-59. But a random scan of the Bin showed nothing. "

Vyper scanned the Bin himself and the report showed only a pile of fabric. Albeit, a very large pile of fabric. "Lt., open the door to this Bin," Foxfire ordered. "I’ve been trying ma’am, but it won’t budge. I think the controls are dead." ‘Moose, you open the door", the Commanding Officer stated. "Why me? Moose asked. "Because you are a man, you are strong and I am your CO and I said to, that’s why." She replied. "Well now that that is clear…" Moose commented.

Moose and Vyper threw their full body weight into the door at the same time. But the door did not budge. They tried it again and it came down with them landing on the "large pile of fabric". One part of pile jumped up and screamed. "IMPERIALS! IMPERIALS!" and tripped over the other two. Rooster’s receptors accidentally touched Vyper’s scanner and he got a small shock. "Ouch! Roo! Watch those things!" Despite the comical scene before her, Commander Shroeder kept her composure. "LT.! What is going on in here?" she ordered. Rooster shrugged and managed a small smile.

Moose and Vyper got up and pulled the hung over Lumi out with them. Granite and Ibero stumbled out a moment later. "I expect a really good explanation for this little scene", Foxfire stated. "But it will have to wait until we release the squadron. For now, get your butts over to the main hangar. The rest of the group is waiting for me to introduce you formally." She walked away with a smile, Moose following with Vyper.

"I just can’t wait to hear this one." Moose commented. Vyper chuckled. "Yeah, this will be one to remember for a long time."

Later in the day, Rooster, Granite and Ibero waited in Foxfire’s office. Vyper held the door open for Foxfire and Moose. Foxfire took her seat and motioned for the 3 embarrassed pilots to sit. "Ok, I think I’m ready now to hear what happened. Who wants to go first?" The 3 pilots looked at each other. No one spoke. "Roo? Why don’t you tell me what happened." The petite Lumi, her receptors now white – a sign of fear, looked to her compatriots.

"Don’t be afraid Roo, I only want to know what happened. That’s all", Foxfire assured.

Rooster glanced at the 3 officers. "Um…I don’t remember what happened. All I remember is Granite telling me that one more glass of Blue Stuff would not hurt." "Yer bludy wrong! I nae said that!" he retorted. "yes you did you gave me the last glass of Blue Stuff and after I took the last sip I don’t remem…OH MY GOD!" her receptors went flat.

"Roo", Vyper began, "I have a report showing that three different sections had electrical blackouts last nite or early this morning. Do you know anything about that?"

Ibero looked at Rooster and answered for her. "We were having a blast in the Bomb Shelter and I dared her to show me what her receptors could do. We were playing a game kind of like Truth or Dare. So, the three of us took off and well, we found out what they are capable of." Granite slumped in his seat. "Granite, would you care to add anything?" Moose asked not sounding like a question. "We went into the Bin to get more Blue Stuff and the door shut. We could not get it open from inside. So we asked rooster if she could use her electrical charges on the wiring and in the process, the electrical panel went out. We were struck in there. So we went to sleep. "

"A Lumi has to control the amount of the charge she sends out," Roo explained. "But I couldn’t because I was so um….happy?" Foxfire thought about the situation and decided that it was all harmless, except for the scared person in the storage area. All three promised to apologize to him.

Granite and Moose made their way to the maintenance bay. "So Granite, what did you ask Roo in your game that made her choose the Dare?" "I nae tell ye. But I will tell ye that she took the dare mighty fast." ‘What did you as dare her to do the other times?" Granite smirked. "She’s a good sport is all I can say." Moose chuckled and smiled. Some day I will find out what really happened, he thought.

 THE END

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