video;

[flightforfreedom]

[Hello, Network! It's your friendly neighbourhood Poe Dameron. You might know him from such adventures as: being that guy that you saw on that one terrible energy drink for months, or that guy that you saw break that other dude's heart on tv, or that guy that showed up on that other guy's dating show even though he was definitely not welcome there. That's right, it's that dude with the really nice hair who has way too much pornographic fanfaction of him available for browsing on the internet and approximately 200 different videos of him getting into and out of a sonic shower on a space station.

You are probably more familiar with his face than you'd like to be.

That said, today he's wearing a very crisp blue uniform that some of you may recognise as belonging to the US Air Force, and behind him stands a very majestic 2-seater training F-16. Beside him is a little weird orange and white ball with a head, that some of you may recognize as his trusty buddy, BB-8.]

Hey, imPorts!

So, turns out that a lot of you left some pretty damn good impressions on the brass in the US Military, which is good - because I've been trying to convince them since I got here that they need to hire more of you. And looks like they're starting to agree.

So, consider this an official recruitment video, I guess? Looking for a job a little more exciting then selling energy drinks? Hit me up.

Next week I'll be flying at the airshow in Heropa, so if any of you want to take a ride in this monster - [pointing back to the F-16] - that's your chance. I'll also be there to answer any questions that you don't get a chance to ask me here, and a recruitment officer will be on site, so. Make sure to--

[He's interrupted by BB-8 suddenly letting out a flurry of beeps and whistles, and the smile breaks into a worried frown for a few seconds before he pushes it to something impassive. When he speaks next, it's to the droid, not the camera.]

What, you're sure? Just now? [The droid replied with a sorrowful beep.]

... Yeah. Alright. Thanks for letting me know, buddy. Just uh... keep a search tracer on the network for if his commlink comes back online, alright? Thanks.

[He is not smiling when he looks back up at the camera, his train of thought broken. He visibly tries to shake it off, and for the most part manages it - but for those who know Poe well, something is definitely Not Good.]

Uh- yeah. Anyway. Come on out and learn how to blow things up, if you want.

[The video feed winks out.]

Comments

video;

[aviate]

[Cocky pilot meet an equally cocky pilot.]

Or you let me fly and I'll show you what a real pilot's like.

video;

[flightforfreedom]

[Poe just smiles in that way of one rooster meeting another and being completely competent that he's still the better rooster.]

What, you're looking for a contest?

Come on down, then. If you can convince someone to let you take a cockpit, I'll be happy to fly circles around you for a while.

video;

[aviate]

You're on. I don't know how much the other guys have been telling you, but us test pilots are a whole different breed.

video;

[flightforfreedom]

[Just arching an amused eyebrow.]

They'd probably just tell you that I'm a test pilot, but sure, I'll ask them how they feel about our 'breed'.

The only shame is that they don't let me build my own, here.

[You should see his X-wing, bro.]

video;

[aviate]

[Oh even better.]

And you're letting that stop you?

[If Hal knew how to build one he'd be doing it right this second, rules be damned.]

[flightforfreedom]

That and the couple thousand years gap in tech, sure.

They don't even have impulse engines here, yet.

It'd be like trying to build a ship out of twigs. I'm a mechanic, not a magician.

[aviate]

[Hal's ring can create anything he can think of, but he doesn't like using it to fly. But if could help simulate what parts they'd need.]

If you have blueprints I might be able to help with that.

[flightforfreedom]

[The smug playfulness in his expression disappears and is replaced by one that's a little too clearly a mix of disbelief and hope.

Man, you better not be teasing him--]

I mean, it's not like I ported in with the schematics, but uh - I could probably draw them--

[aviate]

[Flying > secret identity.]

I can't keep it up forever, but if I know what it looks like I can make a working model which we could then show one of the tech companies here to see if they could make it happen.

[flightforfreedom]

Pretty sure even with the schematics they'd have a hard time making ion thrusters, but...

... Hey, it's worth a fucking shot?

[aviate]

Worst case scenario, we've got the outside of one and I just have to make the engine every time we want to fly.

We'll even save on fuel.