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The flight to Piston Peak was long. Considering that he had been stationed half the way across the world though, that was kind of a given. Cabbie allowed himself a small moment of rest, closing his eyes and relying only on his sensors to guide him. There wasn’t much airtraffic out over the open sea, at least not at his current altitude, so he let himself enjoy the quiet while he still had it.
This was a bad idea.
For a moment he almost wanted to turn back and set everything straight until he remembered why he had taken the blame in the first place. It had been a stupid prank, the youngsters wanting to have some fun amidst their dull everyday life on the station while they trained. Officially it had been his shift, his responsibility to watch them but he had traded it last minute with one of the younger, uprising generals who had wanted to get a bit of experience in that part of their job. A bright young mind, devoted to their cause as he had rarely ever seen anybody, determined and with a skillset to back it up. Only that for the job of ‘youngling watch’ as the older soldiers often called it among themselves required more than simple skill and knowledge.
The fact that they had children on base at all was already bad enough but the generals had decided that it wouldn’t do to leave orphans on the street to die in the wake of the destruction that they were partially responsible for. The country had refused to provide for them, pouring all funds into the war and not caring about their population’s future. Hence, the base orphanage had happened, where older soldiers took over the job of role models and caretakers, teaching the children what they would need to know in order to survive on their own. Of course, the place was still a military base, so the care was rather apathetic and from a very disciplined and distant sort but all agreed it was better than having the kids starve in the streets.
The only problem was that without their makers or a caretaker equivalent to show them love and teach it to them, younglings tended to rebel at a certain age. After the first children had hit that age mark the generals had assigned special people whom they deemed empathetic and resilient enough to watch the troubled youths and get them out of the rebel phase and into the reasonable, almost adulthood phase that followed when the youngsters realized that they couldn’t change a thing by simply refusing whatever was given to them and that they’d have to make amends. It was far from ideal, all the children had to grow up way too fast that way but again, it was better than being out alone in the streets and it was the best that they had been able to provide as a military organization on a base with limited resources. Cabbie knew for a fact that others hadn’t bothered to go that far.
He opened his eyes again, letting them roam over the endless ocean around him and almost feeling a little lost. He sometimes got like that, almost philosophical and when he did more often than not he questioned life itself and the cruelty that some fell victim to while others never knew harm in their life. As a soldier, such moods and thoughts had been greatly discouraged for the sake of their own sanity.
But I guess I’m not a soldier anymore, am I now?
At this point, he wasn’t even sure he regretted that fact.
Closing his eyes again he let his thoughts roam back to that last day on base when the young plane had asked him with shining eyes if maybe he could do the youngling watch and Cabbie had foolishly agreed. Should have known better. He himself had always liked working with the small children and youngsters alike. He’d never had the chance to have a family of his own so giving those kids something back that they had lost with all the love and care he could possibly give them had felt very fulfilling. He’d been good at it too, had even managed to earn some of the rebels’ trust at some point. It had been a nice counterbalance to everything else happening, to see young mechanisms smiling, thriving with life and looking at him with those shining, delighted eyes that they so seldom had reasons for.
Yes, looking back on it I guess I have a talent for that kind of stuff.
The young general, however, hadn’t. The youngsters had completely overthrown him, quickly evading his care and going on to prank some of the soldiers that they didn’t like by coloring the ‘huge blanket’ in their backpacks bright pink. Said blanket had turned out to be the parachutes that were supposed to blend in and not attract attention. Needless to say, the bright coloration hadn’t done a good job at that. The mishap had thankfully been discovered during a training maneuver, sparing everybody from serious harm but the fallout had been the same.
Since the shift switch hadn’t been an official one, Cabbie had been the one to get the disciplinary issue and in a moment of philosophical thinking and questioning his choices in life he had seen it as his chance to maybe give something back for all the good things people had done for him in his past. He knew that the young general had been ready to take full responsibility but he also knew that it would have ruined his career whereas he would only be discharged.
Which isn’t better, not at all, but compared to him I’m old, I’ve done what I can and maybe it is time to leave the playing field to brighter minds.
He still wasn’t completely sure why, but at that moment it had felt like the right thing to do, to give the young one the possibility to continue and do great things with his life, things that he could only dream of. So he had taken the blame and had ended up discharged with the young general never being tied to the event. Before leaving the base, the young plane had come to find him, thanking him for what he had done, eyes full of disbelief that somebody would go to such lengths. Cabbie had been halfway to waving it off to not make his goodbye any harder than it already had been, but the general had refused to leave until he had properly expressed his thanks. ‘I’m really sorry you’re going through this now because of me. Listen, I don’t know if this will be of any help but I have a cousin that works as a firefighter. She’s the second in command at her station and I asked if she could put in a good word for you to get you a job there. It would be similar to what you did here, only instead of dropping our guys behind enemy lines you’d drop theirs near the fires. Only if you want to of course, please, if you don’t, don’t feel obligated. I just… It’s probably stupid but I felt the need to do at least something for you after everything you did for me.’
Cabbie smiled as he thought back to that. At that time he hadn’t had a plan yet, he’d still had to get used to the thought that he would be forced to leave the base at all. He had taken a little time off to sort himself out, had visited his family for the first time in a long time and had talked about his situation with his maker for almost a day. She had encouraged him to try it out for a season, see if he would like the job and the team. In a way, it wouldn’t be all too different from his life before: He would live on a base together with a team. There would be some sort of rank system he’d be integrated into and he would be fighting for a good thing. Only the enemy and the weapons they used would change. After a few days of contemplating, he’d decided it didn’t sound so bad. So he had called Fireflight and she had told him he was welcome to come and get himself trained with them.
His sensors came to life, warning him that he was nearing the shore and therefore more crowded airspace, forcing him to open his eyes. He couldn’t help but smile at the familiar image of his past. He still remembered when he had left this exact shore for his first assignment overseas. It felt nice coming back. Not like home – not anymore – but nice in a way that suggested it could be home once again, given the time and the right environment.
And as he watched the landscapes beneath him change from urban into rural settlements and then to raw nature, he began feeling like he was exactly where he should be.
a
Upon reaching the Air Attack, Cabbie was greeted by a red and yellow plane with flames painted onto her side, giving him a warm smile.
“You must be Cabbie. Nice to meet you. I’m Fireflight, we spoke over the horn. Did you have a good flight?”
Cabbie nodded, returning her smile.
“Yes, I did, thank you. How about you?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
They drifted off into a small pause that Cabbie used to take a good look at the place that was going to be his base for now.
“Eh, it’s nothing much but we make do.”
Cabbie’s smile widened at that.
“If you’d seen my former base you wouldn’t be saying that. Compared to that this is quite the paradise.”
Fireflight laughed, shaking her head before sobering a little and motioning behind Cabbie.
“That’s our chief coming in behind you. Tamati was out scouting. He’ll be your go-to person regarding… Well, pretty much everything connected to this job. Apart from mechanical issues, you can take those to our resident mechanic, Maru.”
Cabbie nodded, clearing the runway and automatically resuming a more formal stance as his new chief landed, a bright smile plastered on his face. As soon as he laid eyes on Cabbie, the smile turned into a grin and he gave Cabbie a good-natured pat with his wing.
“At ease, soldier. No need to stand attention here.”
Cabbie nodded, automatically relaxing at the familiar words. For a moment he’d nearly forgotten that these people were firefighters, his own little metaphor he’d initially used to warm up to the idea running away with him. His Chief didn’t seem to take it personally, he just laughed and motioned for Cabbie to follow him. He quickly gave his goodbyes to Fireflight, prompting another laugh from both planes at his formal wording before following the chief to what he assumed was his office. When the office turned out to be a personal hangar though, Cabbie wasn’t that much surprised. The demeanor he had seen so far and the way the base was structured gave him the feeling that this place handled things rather informally, at least compared to the military. So far he wasn’t opposed to the idea of a change in pace.
“So, you’re the one that took the blame for ‘Flight’s cousin, eh?”
“Yes. He’s got a bright future ahead of him, I’m well past my prime. Was the right thing to do, Sir.”
The chief nodded, giving him a warm smile.
“Drop the Sir. I’m Tamati. And well, something like that isn’t a given. Let’s just say he was pretty dumbstruck when he radioed. Anyway, nothing like the present. I did a little digging from your old superiors and got them to submit me your records. Most of the stuff you’re required to know here is already on there, the only thing not specifically covered is the basics of firefighting. You won’t need any of the practical stuff since you won’t actually be fighting the fire. Unless you want to, of course, I’m sure our mechanic could modify your compartment into a tank.”
At Tamati’s questioning look, Cabbie quickly shook his head. He’d never actively participated on the front lines and he wanted to keep it that way.
“I feel more comfortable as a vessel if that’s all right.”
“Perfectly. It’s actually what I was hoping you would say. You see, we have a crew of 18 Hotshots here and more than half of them originally trained to be a Smokejumper. Only that up to now we didn’t have a drop plane for them. As you can see, your field of expertise is sorely needed. Of course, you still need to learn all the theoretical mumbo jumbo and the radio code since you have to be able to understand what’s going on around you if you don’t want to die but other than that you’re good to go. More than good even. I imagine flying over a little fire must be nothing compared to flying over a battlefield while constantly being shot at.”
Cabbie shook his head at that, unable to stop himself from smiling at the mental image of dodging embers instead of bullets. From that perspective, it does seem easier.
“Until we’ve taught and properly certified you I can’t let you help us but you’re welcome to join us any time you’d like to watch and learn from the sidelines. As long as you stay out of the way that is.”
“Of course.”
Tamati nodded, looking pleased with himself before seemingly remembering something.
“Oh and, don’t take it personally if some of the Hotshots don’t want to go back to being a Smokejumper. Or none of them under certain circumstances. They’ve built some pretty strong team relationships and experience shows they work best when they stay together if given the possibility. In those cases, you could still help with scouting and could act as a secondary lookout to keep your eyes on the weather and such. And when you do work with them that will be what you do after you dropped them off as well. I take it you know how to monitor the weather on the go?”
Cabbie nodded, already feeling more comfortable with the knowledge that his field of tasks really would be much the same as his old one. Really, all that would change was his surroundings and of course his coworkers. It almost felt strange to not think of them as ‘comrades’ but he didn’t mind. It would take some getting used to but he knew he would adapt.
“Alright, I think that covers it. If you’re tired from your flight then I can show you your hangar and leave you for the night. Or, if you’d rather like, I could show you around and you could meet the team. Especially the Jumpers since you’ll be working with them the most. But there’s time for that tomorrow, so either is fine. Take your pick.”
Cabbie contemplated for a moment. I am tired, but not tired enough to go to sleep already. Besides, I do want to know who I’ll be living with from now on.
He’d spent the better half of his life stationed on one base or the other, he was no stranger to the way that relationships between everybody were essential and that with time the people living here would become sort of a family. Better get started on getting to know them.
“I’d like to get to know the team, thank you.”
Tamati nodded, moving for the door and making his way over to a building that looked suspiciously like a garage.
“Well, with you there are currently 25 occupants on this base. You already know me and Fireflight. She’s my second in command, so if you ever need anything and I’m not around, go to her. Apart from our 18 Hotshots we still have two helicopters, one of them a heavy lifter, one mechanic, two more air tankers, a SEAT and our communications officer.”
Before they reached the garage, a green forklift was coming their way, rushing past Cabbie and practically throwing himself at Tamati with an excited squeal.
“She said yes! You were right Tamati, all I had to do is get it together and ask her! I’m going to get married!”
Despite not having expected it at all, tamati seemed to take the sudden hug in stride, a huge smile breaking out on his face as he pulled the forklift in tighter, much to Cabbie’s amusement as the forklift momentarily struggled to not be squished.
“Wow, that’s awesome Finx, congratulations!”
He had to smile at the show of affection between chief and underling, no, crewmate. It really said something about a team when relationships were this good. I think I’m going to like it here. The forklift, Finx, only belatedly seemed to realize that there was somebody new beside his chief and the moment Cabbie saw the realization in his eyes he turned beet red.
“Uh, hi… Sorry about that.”
“No problem. Congratulations on your engagement.”
The blush on Finx’ face lightened a little as his lips split into a dreamy smile.
“Thank you. So, you’re the new guy?”
Cabbie laughed.
“Evidently. I’m Cabbie.”
“Finx, communications officer. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
Finx nodded before giving Tamati another hug and excusing himself to tell the others the good news.
“Looks like you picked a good day to come here. News like this are usually cause for celebration. He’s been wanting to ask her for almost a year, you know. So be prepared for a party within the next few days.”
Before they could continue, a gush of wind blasted over their head. As Cabbie looked up he could see a green helicopter passing them, making his way away from the base.
“This is Windlifter, our heavy lifter. Looks like we just missed him. He’s more of a secluded type, likes to go out on flights from time to time.”
Cabbie nodded in understanding. With the beauty of this place, I will probably do that too. Seems like a nice way of unwinding after a stressful day. Maybe I can join him, ask him if he can show me around.
They continued on towards their original destination, the garage. The door was closed and Tamati gently knocked, waiting for the door to slide open. Behind it was another forklift, this one gray and blue, and behind him, partially hidden in a corner a red helicopter.
“I see Blade is with you. Good to see you guys are getting along.”
The forklift smiled at that while the helicopter only retreated further into his corner. In doing so, he must have accidentally knocked something over because as soon as he moved a loud clang reverberated through the garage, causing both the helicopter and forklift to curse at the same time.
“Stop breaking my garage, Blade! Get out of there before you damage something valuable.”
They exchanged a look and Cabbie got the feeling that there was more meaning to the last sentence than the mechanic being worried about his equipment but he decided to let it go for the moment. Unless either of them told him about it it was none of his business. By all the familiarity on bases, privacy is important. He knew better than to disrespect it by being nosy. The moment passed and a tentative smile bloomed on the helicopter’s face for the fraction of a second before he schooled his face into a neutral expression and joined the forklift at the door. Tamati awkwardly cleared his throat at the prolonged silence, seeming at a loss for words for a second before apparently remembering what he was currently doing and started his round of introductions.
“Okay guys, this is Cabbie. As of today, he’s part of the family. Cabbie, this is our residual mechanic, Maru. And the shy guy over here is Blade.”
Blade instantly seemed to tense at the attention, prompting an almost instinctive reaction from Maru as the forklift partially moved in front of the helicopter as if to protect him.
Interesting.
Before the moment could evolve into another awkward silence though, somebody called out to them from behind, effectively causing Tamati to turn around and Cabbie to follow him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the forklift laying a reassuring lift onto the Blade’s side as the door slid closed again.
“Don’t let him bother you, he’s always like that. You should have seen him when he first came here, wouldn’t talk to anyone and always go missing as soon as missions were over.”
“He’s still not much of a social person, apart from with Maru. Somehow that guy got him to open up a little. He’s not half bad, he just doesn’t like to be in the spotlight. But I think he’s warming up to us.”
“Alright, that’s enough you two, let Cabbie find out for himself whether he and Blade will get along or not.”
Tamati shot the two planes a scolding look before turning towards Cabbie.
“Those two are Tobulouse and Melro, our designated gossipers. Don’t believe anything they tell you.”
At that, the smaller plane, Melro, made an offended gesture while Tobulouse simply laughed it off.
“Rude…”
“That may be but it’s true nonetheless.”
“Tamati the charmer, always a nice thing to say about your teammates.”
It seemed to be some sort of inside joke as all three of them chuckled before Melro sent Cabbie a questioning look.
“And you are?”
“Cabbie. I’ll be your new drop plane.”
“Oh, the Jumpers finally get somebody to exert them. Have fun!”
Another air tanker had joined him, this one painted in a mix of yellow, neon green and a deep red.
“I’m Alair, nice to meet you. Cabbie, right?”
Cabbie nodded in greeting, mentally counting the number of people he’d met so far and coming to the conclusion that now all that were left was the Hotshots and Smokejumpers.
“Well then, ready to meet the crazy bunch?”
“Sure thing, bring them on.”
They made their way over to a hanger that was at the outer edge of the base, slightly secluded and almost looked like an entire station. Before it, 18 mechanisms were gathered, some racing, some sunbathing and the others either reading or talking. One of them, their Captain as Cabbie assumed, immediately came over as soon as he spotted them.
“Tamati. What brings you over to our humble home after hours?”
Ah, so it actually is sort of a separate station.
“Nothing dangerous Jurigan, relax. I just wanted to introduce your Jumpers to their new drop plane.”
At that, ten heads perked up, eyeing Cabbie with interest while the other seven paused in whatever they were doing to watch.
“So, we’ll actually get to do our job? Like, for real?”
“Ouch… So being a Hotshot isn’t a sufficient job for you Ashet? How rude of you to say.”
“Oh zip it Drolin, like you’re any better. I know you can’t wait to get out there and fly again.”
“True, but that doesn’t mean I want to quit being a Hotshot.”
“Guys, guys, you can be both you know. No need to fight.”
“Flurne’s right. Besides, you couldn’t get rid of us even if you tried.”
“Once a Hotshot, always a Hotshot, eh Geelt? How fitting to say that, seeing how you’re a Jumper as well.”
“Oh shut up Hala. You’re just jealous.”
“Maybe I am. I don’t know. Liore, are we jealous?”
The car in question made a show of contemplating his answer before smirking at the female digger, Hala.
“I don’t think so. Michgal, Ornat?”
The two saw-cars shook their heads simultaneously, wearing matching grins directed towards Geelt.
“Well, if the twins agree it’s got to be true. They hardly ever do.”
“True true, Steede. Still, all of you forget one thing. They’re still gonna do the same job, they just arrive at the scene differently. It’s not really a difference.”
“Hear, hear, Malvorie has spoken.”
The friendly banter was all a little chaotic to follow, especially with all the names being thrown around. Cabbie was sure he’d get the hang of it eventually but 18 new names all at once from mechanisms that all had vaguely similar frame types and paintjobs was a little much to take in. Their captain, Jurigan, seemed to sense his confusion and immediately put an end to the bickering.
“Alright guys, I know this is exciting but how about you discuss whether or not Smokejumpers are Hotshots later and properly introduce yourselves? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re 18 very similar looking people and unless you want – What’s your name?”
Cabbie had to laugh at that, shaking his head at the chaos as he answered.
“Okay, unless you want Cabbie here to pick up Hala instead of Geelt you should maybe clear up who’s who. Slowly.”
Tamati chuckled beside him, leaning in in a conspirational manner and whispering into his audial.
“Don’t worry if you can’t remember all the names or tell them apart immediately. It took me about half a year to get them all right…”
That was long, especially for a chief but by the crew’s reaction to their Captain’s statement Cabbie guessed they were used to it.
“Alright, ladies first. These lovelies here are our female Smokejumpers: Flurne, Ann, Bria and Malvorie.”
Flurne and Ann were saw-cars while Bria was a bulldozer and Malvorie was a digger.
“The other jumpers are Ashet, Drolin, Geelt, Burell, Evall and Marshall.”
Ashet and Geelt were diggers as well, Drolin and Burrell had skid-steer claws, Evall was another saw-car and Marshall actually bore a small water tank, much to Cabbies surprise as those weren’t typically used in Smokejumping.
“So those ten will be your main partners here but of course, there’s still the rest of the Hotshots.”
Tamati took over the introduction, allowing Jurigan to join the line that the rest of the little crew had built for better orientation.
“This time, gens first because we’re all equal here. There’s Jurigan - the captain, Liore, our twins Michgal and Ornat, Licroy, Linnt and Steede. And for our single lady in this squad, Hala.”
Jurigan and Liore were both cars, the twins were saw-cars, Licroy and Steede had skid-steer claws and Linnt and Hala were diggers equipped with raketools.
Cabbie slowly nodded, his head swirling a little from all the new names and faces but it was starting to get a little clearer.
“Don’t worry. When you start working with us you’ll pick up our names soon enough. Everyone does eventually.”
Jurigan winked at him, giving Cabbie a warm smile supported by many encouraging nods from the crew before saying their goodbyes and turning back to whatever they had all been doing before.
“They’re a fun bunch, you’ll see. I think as far as first impressions go you made a good one.”
“Really? I didn’t really do much besides standing there.”
Tamati laughed, bumping his side with his wing and starting to roll back to the main base, going for a hangar that they hadn’t been to yet and that Cabbie suspected would be his.
“Well, you listened to them and you made a valiant effort to learn all their names. It was plainly visible in your eyes. Let’s just say not everybody was so enthusiastic at first.”
“Alright.”
All in all, from what he’d gathered with his first expressions, the Piston Peak Air Attack team seemed to be really nice. Openminded, friendly, deeply connected and caring about each other but not prying and having a healthy respect for individual personalities and friendships. Of course, there were some odd things as well but that was as much part of every good team as everything else.
As Cabbie entered his hangar, said goodnight to Tamati and laid down on his sleepingmat he realized for the first time just how tired he was. The day had been exhausting, but in a good way. He fell asleep with a smile on his lips, his last thought staying in his head throughout his dreams and never really leaving him even when he woke up again:
I think I’m really going to like it here. Enough that I think it can be ‘home’ again.