Mika chuckles at Kyvarr's question.  "I vote for withholding information, at least initially.  Just because we think he's legit doesn't mean we're right.  Besides, if he wants information about us, he should be willing to reciprocate, but he sure wasn't playing by those rules wi me.  The only reason I can see for talking to the guy is to help find our people.  If they can't, or won't, do that, then I agree with the why bother school of thought."

Kyvarr glared at Mika.  "What EXACT information do you propose we share and withold then?  Sheila makes it sound like he can do this job without us so why should he need to share with us?  We're the ones who want in on this operation.  What if the one thing you don't share is the very element that would get us on the mission.  Besides, he pegged you pretty fast.  What if he already has good knowledge of what we have?  You withhold something he knows we possess and goodbye rescue chance."

She turned to Devon.  "Sir, I don't believe this is the time for stupid games.  If the man is a real soldier then lets treat him like one.  Put our weapons and capabilities on the table.  I for one want in on this Alliance right from the start.  I really didn't know your Commander or Executive Officer well but if you want to do everything to save them is this the time to hold back?"

As soon as Devon gave the all clear she got into action.  "Flash, dock with Voidsong so Catch can get on board?  While he prepares the jump could you find us the closest neutral port or station outside Mantooine that has regular transports to the planet?  Can't arrive on the Moonshadow after all."

"Heigren, you've got ten minutes to pack and then we're off.  You have to carry your own bags so keep that in mind before you pack your industrial strength hairdryer!"

When Mika and Kyvarr started talking she sat quietly typing away on her datapad, making notes.


After a minute or so she stood, nodded to the others.  "I'll be on comms until we jump to lightspeed.  I hope to be gone in fifteen minutes tops."

"The only mission that interests me is getting our people back.  I say we are upfront with that goal and see if they're going to help.  If they are, we can play nice, if they aren't.....". She pauses and glances at her data pad, then continues, "It's just, we have to take care of or own, don't we?". The last comes across a little weak.

Devon nodded agreement with Mika.
"Might be a bit of 'we scratch their back, they scratch ours though.  Allies are good things to have - an' we ain't gonna know what they have to offer till we talk with them."

Looking across at Fiarr, Devon asked hopefully:
"Hey Fiarr, you were off doin' somethin' secret again, right?  You learn anythin' that might help us at this meet?  Hell, even if its just a rumour or somethin' we can trade for data or good-will, I'll take it..."

Cor frowns.  "If the man Sheila met is the same one I produced pictures of, and I have no reason to believe she is mistaken, then it is Kota.  He is known to be operating in this area.  Besides that, who precisely would be stupid or insane enough to impersonate a known and prominent Jedi Master?  Everyone in the Galaxy knows they are still being hunted to this day; pretending to be one would be a death sentence.  The matter of whether it is Kota or not is redundant; bringing it up only confuses an issue which should be extremely straightforward."

She makes a sweeping gesture with one hand, ending at Mika.

"Our priority, above all others save the lives of our current crew, is the recovery of the Commander and his XO.  As Mika says, that is our overarching goal.  Kota is known to be looking for survivors of the raid which captured the group which included our waylaid leaders; if he were not I would not be bothering to pursue this meeting at all, no matter who was holding it.  I thought that was made plain earlier but clearly I was wrong."  She presses a button and Kota's face, revolving slowly, appears on the comms.  When she speaks again it is just a little sharply.

"This man is the best chance we currently have of finding the Commander and Ms Jax.  He is also the best opportunity of having additional resources when we move to secure and liberate the two of them.  Yes, we must be upfront about our intentions.  Whether he has ever heard of them is immaterial; he must know precisely how invested we are or he cannot take us into account correctly.  Our personal motivations for fighting the Empire, what brought us to this point, why we favour our given fields of expertise... all of those things are immaterial and, bluntly, not his business.  He will most likely not care about them in any case.

"He will wish to test our skill.  He will need to know what resources we can commit to the fight.  He will need to know that we can follow orders when they are given and improvise when all plans inevitably fall apart.  These things he will learn; he was not awarded the rank of General because he fills in forms well."

There is a pause and then she leans forward, toward Devon's image.

"You, Devon, need to convince him that we are committed; I will be able to join in remotely if absolutely necessary via tightbeam to whichever R2 unit you take along.  I see little point in telling Kota our life stories but also no particular need to hide everything we can from him. There is nothing that we may wish to hide that he would be interested in and there is no reason not to tell him what resources we have.  The only thing I would expect you to not reveal would be the location of our base and our ships.  Again, he will likely not care, but if he asks then merely assure him we will have what ships we can in place when the time comes - as long as we are given reasonable warning.

"On the note of extraction, if this meeting goes 'belly up' then it will be for one of two reasons.  Either you have insulted the General - in which case he will likely simply leave - or the Imperials have caught wind and come snooping, requiring a fast exit."

Mika doesn't look happy at Cor's summation of things.  "Only someone who is stupid or insane would impersonate a Jedi Master, so he has tobe legit and if he's legit, we should go ahead and let him know what we got in he way of ships and people, so that we can then help fight the Empire, because we're all obviously ready to sign up for that one.  Fine."

"There is no need to be snide," Cor answers.  "We are not doing this to fight the Empire.  We are doing this to recover our leaders.  Whether the Talons then join the Alliance or not will be up to them, not us."

"Nothing relevant to all this.  Gotta run"  Fiarr called as she rushed out the door with Heigren.

True to her word, Fiarr has Heigren and herself bundled on to the Moonshadow less than 10 minutes later.  Flash and Catch had used the time to set up their astrogation route.  Less than a minute after Fiarr boarded, the ship was in motion and only another minute or so later, the Moonshadow vanished into hyperspace, leaving the others to finalise their plans.

”Resourcefulness, proficiency, dedication. Those are some, if not the main things the General will be looking for in the way we operate. Exactly what Cor said. He is without a doubt after people he can trust, people he can invite to join the rebellion. And while his goals might not match ours perfectly at the moment, I am sure the General can see the wisdom in freeing our senior officers before talking about joining the cause. Who knows, he might even be planning to use us to save some other people too… I know I would.”

"Yeah, if this general is everythin' you say he is, then he's gonna be a good guy to know - even if I do think Jedi are frakkin' creepy..."

Devon sighed.
"OK - so we're gonna meet the scary space wizard an' convince him that we're worth knowin' - worth helpin'.  In the mean time, we gotta plan how we get outta this alive if somethin' goes wrong.  Now, we ain't got no details on location yet... gonna have to wait an' see what Fiarr an her team dig up for us.  So we keep stuff flexible ...

The shipjacker sat back in his chair, thinking.
"Worst case scenario, we're gonna have to shoot our way out an' run for it.  So I figure we want to have plenty of firepower as close by as can manage, in case we need it.  So here's how I see it goin':

I'll take the Ghtroc down with R2-A9, we'll link up with the Farr's team an they'll extract on the Ghtroc if they need to.  I'll take my speeder bike on the Ghtroc just in case.
Cor - you're gonna be in Voidsong waitin' to join in remotely soon as I make contact with Kota.
Kyvarr,  Mika - the two of you are gonna take Moonshadow once we link up with Flash - the two of you will provide some real muscle if we gotta extract under fire or somethin'.
Sheila - you an' Flash will be on the Wayfarer, ready to launch in the fighters if things go really badly.
An that jus' leaves you, Doc... we need someone flyin' the Wayfarer - an you'll be able to join in, same as Cor."

Devon paused, thinking.
"Anyhow, that's how I see it goin'.  Ideas?  Questions?'

Kyvarr considered.  The plan seemed sound.  "Cor, may I suggest you assign B2-CC9 to the Moonshadow with Mika and myself?  I could use the backup if I have to provide ground support for an extraction."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Thu 22 Oct 2015.

"Granted, Kyvarr."  To Devon the Umbaran shakes her head.  "No, I will be in the Voidsong awaiting transmission if it is required, and not before.  Even being there remotely may jeopardise our chances with the General if he decides that violates his 'one person' rule.  But I will be listening in.  This is your show up until it becomes clear another voice is required - if that happens."

Dohr almost choked on his drink as he heard Devon’s suggestion. ”I am sorry, Devon. Could you please repeat that? Are you asking me to pilot the Wayfarer? No, I must have misunderstood you, right? You see, while I may be able to drive a hoverbike or at least a hovercraft and did not do extremely bad in the simulator on Nar Shaddaa, I have zero experience of piloting a real spacecraft. Therefore, unless you can make it as easy as one-two-three for me, I believe someone else should be flying the Drifter.”

"The Wayfarer isn't the sort of ship you want to cut your teeth on learning to fly.  It's not as messed up as Devon's Slave I, but still....  Cor, you got another pilot droid available?"

Cor shrugs one shoulder.  "I would not know about the relative ease of flying a Wayfarer, personally, but yes - I can have a droid programmed for freighter piloting without much difficulty."

Devon couldn't help laughing at Dohrs reaction, the look on Kel-Dors face had been priceless.
"Sure, have a pilot-Droid along - it can't hurt; but you've all missed it..."

He paused for a moment, then decided to not keep them in suspense.
"The fighters are hyper-space capable.  We can park the Wayfarer two systems away if we want to.  Doc, in theory all you'll have to do is watch the comms, wait for us to come back and hope we don't need any holes plugging."

"Well if Dohr isn't happy flying a ship, then why doesn't he come with my extraction team?  An extra blaster and a skilled medic could be very useful.  Can't we just leave the ship somewhere if the fighters are hyperspace capable?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Fri 23 Oct 2015.

"No problem with being on the ship. I can sit with the pilot droid if Dohr doesn't want to, unless and until we have to get into the fighters."

"Why does anyone need to sit with the pilot droid Sheila?  Either it can fly the ship or it can't."

Mika chimes in.  "Droids are pretty damn good at doing what they're told to do, long as their programming and equipment can handle it, but they aren't quite so good when it comes to intuition and responding to unanticipated situations as they arise, organics still win in those arenas.  Not saying that the run to Mantooine will be anything but a blue milk run, but you never know."

Having let the debate run on for a few moments, Devon decided to reign things back in.
"Kyvarr's right - Dohr, you should be on the extraction team.  We can just park the ship some place in deep space with a Droid pilot an' Corp can beam it plan updates as needed."

"Sheila, I don't want you sat in a damn freighter.  If things go bad, we're gonna need to move fast.  So you need to be ready to go instantly...   the time it takes for you to get to your fighter, run pre-flight an' launch might get people killed.  We can have a Droid pilot the Wayfarer - we need you an' Flash in fighters, ready to go."

He paused, looked around the room.
"Ok - so if things go well, I meet Kota, we talk.  Everyone comes home quietly.  If things go too badly, you guys are in position to haul my ass outta there the hard way.
Don't forget thought - if we have to go to the hostile extraction option, then at its worst you're gonna have to fight your way in and back out through Imperial troops.  Its gonna be messy, an we might as well have declared war on Mantooine.

Fiarrs team are on Manntooine right now makin' sure it don't come to that - an until we hear back from them, there ain't a lot of detailed planning we can do.

Unless anyone can come up with something we've missed, the current plan is gonna see Mika, Kyvarr, Dohr an' the Doombot on board Moonshadow, all hopin' for a boring day.
Sheila an' Flash will be in the fighters, flying escort for Moonshadow.

Cor, you're gonna be sat in transmission range of me, and may end up talkin' to Kota.  If we do end up in a fight, Cor will be in a better position to see what's goin' on than me, so she'll act to co-ordinate us an' get everyone out safely.  If Cor gives orders, we follow them.

Now, what have I missed?  What alternate options do we need to set up?  Variations on the extraction plan?  Moonshadow goin' in alone?  Rendezvous points?  Lets hear it."

Dohr nodded to Devon. He’d come to the same conclusion, but as a good soldier waited for his commanding officer to make a decision. ”Will do. I am already looking forward to a boring day.”

”The plan sounds good to me. However we probably need to agree on a regrouping location, calculate the coordinates for an emergency jump and store the route into every ship’s navcomp… Unless of course that has already been done.”

Dohr thought about it for a short while and continued: ”Mantooine is an imperial controlled world and as such the customs officials might be very interested in all ships coming in or going out and especially in ships sitting in orbit over some nondescript, remote location.”

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<I>OOC: Sorry about the crappy post. If it makes no sense, I blame the lack of sleep. :)

***MOVED TO NEW THREAD***
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:26, Sat 31 Oct 2015.