Devon decides to cut his personal margin of safety to a bare minimum of five jumps.  This has the shuttle emerging from hyperspace at the arranged rendezvous four hours later.  The fleet is on high alert and dozens of turbolasers target them and fighters swing towards them before Devon can announce who they are.  There is some surprise as the team is not expected back for days but a quick explanation from Devon has the shuttle landing on the medical frigate where Mark and the other wounded are whisked off by the medical teams.

With the wounded of their hands, the Talons are assigned to an area on one of the transport ships.  While not technically prisoners, they were confined to an area of the ship with a mess hall, a recreation area and several cabins.  Their needs were all attended to and when Kota returned several days later, Devon was taken away for debriefing and each of the team were debriefed.  The ex-prisoners were also debriefed about their time on the prison world.  Arcas received the most 'rigourous' interrogation though he was in no way threatened or molested.  Other than that the Talons were left to read, exercise, practice in the flight simulators, watch holovids or whatever else they wanted to do.  Devon was stuck with the joys of preparing the post-mission report though Zyra helped him through the tedium.

It was nearly a week before the container returned with Sivren and the rest of the team aboard.  Their end had gone off without a hitch and despite the medical team being kept busy and dealing with a few small incidents, their trip had been uneventful.  Despite the cramped accommodations the prisoners had enjoyed the benefits of food, warmth and medical care.  For them it was a big step up.  They flooded in to the medical frigate and suddenly the Talons were the heroes of the hour as many of the prisoners came to thank them, embrace them, promised to name future children after them and the like.

Overall it turned out they had rescued ninety-seven prisoners.  Of those three had died in transit and two were still critical.  Mark was responding well to treatment and was expected to make a full recovery (minus a leg).  Zyra had spent most of her time in medical with the Admiral and had only been seen by the Talons sporadically.

It was on day ten they finally received note that they were to meet with Kota.  They had yet to hear about the Nightshrike or any of their fighters.  The general was due to meet with them at their current location in less than an hour.

---

OOC: Well done.  You survived!  You have a week of downtime so everyone has time to heal up, and work on anything you like (that can be done in what is almost house arrest).  Aderek you have a new (standard) cybernetic arm.  Aderek, Lin and Arcas you now have your startup gear or credits equal to the maximum for level 1, whichever you prefer.

I'll be calculating XP and letting you know if anyone levelled soon.

You'll be meeting with Kota soon.  No need to debrief him (you were all debriefed and both Devon and Sivren gave detailed reports).  This is more to discuss where your ships are and 'what now?'.

Note you don't have access to your ships at the moments but your droids have been brought to you if you requested it.  You also have your weapons and gear.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:42, Sat 18 Nov 2017.

Within less than a few hours from their arrival to the medical frigate, after which Lin had disappeared amongst the crew, she returned to the others with a new set of clothing, a heavy blaster on her hip and a hand-held computer in tow. If asked, she grinned slightly and said, she had been playing Sabacc - for all anyone knew, she had left the others carrying nothing but the Stormtrooper Bodyglove she was wearing, which suggested she either knew how to play or the opponents were completely inept. Now she was wearing a dark blue pair of cargo pants, black boots, white shirt and a black vest on top of it, her bubblegum pink hair on a braid.

"So, what do you plan to do next, Seven", she asked Devon. Without the grime and properly dressed, she was pretty enough to turn heads. "The unfortunate events have left me in a bit of a spot, since I lost almost everything I had. I could use some work, if you know anyone in the need of a slicer."

As soon as the get back, Mika has a long session with a fresher, followed by a large meal of fried gorrick tubers and spicy saffric sauce, bantha cheese poppers and of course a plate full of setish sliders.  Oh, and what must have been five jazgrape fizz pops to wash it down.  Still, within hours after eating, her face and coveralls are again marked with grease, dust and soot.

After that, she sits down in a corner of the mess and she field strips her blaster pistol.  The speed and surity of touch advertises an impressive skill.  After that, she starts on her buzzbot, making sure it's in tip top shape.

Kyvarr maintained a regular schedule to keep the team focused.  She ran twice daily exercise programs and martial arts and weapons sessions during the day.  She left it to Devon to decide wether people needed to attend any of these sessions.  She devoted some of her spare time to the simulators, working on her skills with ships.

On returning to the fleet, the other Talons barely saw Devon for almost two days after they got back.  The first day was mainly taken up with a long hot shower, followed by good food and nearly twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep.

The second day, Devon mostly spent growing increasingly frustrated with the post mission report that Kotas people clearly expected of him.  He and Zyra sat on opposite sides of a table in the mess hall, talking and passing data-pads back and forth.  Devon frequently looked alternately baffled or irritated, and there was some swearing from the Corellian, but eventually they got it done - Zyra translating Devons extremely conversational in tone account of events into something more formal.

On the third day, the Talons were informed that Mark had regained consciousness, and Devon immediately raced to visit his former commander, arriving shortly behind Jax.  Devons visit was brief, but he came out of the room almost smiling, and looking a little more relaxed.  On his return, he announced to the Talons that Mark was recovering, although he needed a lot more time.

Banished from medical - as Sheppard still needed a lot of rest - Devon spent the next few days attempting to unwind, but it seemed that without something to keep him occupied the engineer was struggling to stop himself from fretting about what was coming next.  He frequently moaned about the continued absence of the Talons ships, and his own ship Moonshadow



When Lin tracked him down, Devon was pacing back and forth in the mess, gesturing with a mug of caf and talking ship modifications with his R2 unit, Catch.

Devon lowered his mug and turned to regard the woman.
"Our next move?  Honestly, I dont know.  We - I gambled a hell of a lot on this mission.  An' we're waitin' for our allies to come through on their half of things...  till that happens, an' we know what we've got to move forward with, its kinda hard to make plans."

The shipjacker sighed and sat down, one hand resting on the R2 units dome head.
"Work?  well, given where an' how we met you... an that you didnt get chucked into another cell after you were debriefed... I'm inclined to trust you.  But final say belongs to Zyra Jax.  If she says you're on the level, then there's a place for you on our team if you want it.  We can always find use a good slicer.  They pays bad an' the hours are lousy.. but if you got a hate on for the Empire, you'll get satisfaction outta it."

Devon regarded the R2 for a few moments.
"In the mean time, you wanna do me a favour? I bought Catch here on Nar Shaddaa from a guy who didnt really wanna go into what he'd been usin' the droid for before... anyhow, long story short - Catch has got a bunch of skill programming I think I wanna change.  That somethin' we can get done?"

"Well, if your team is okay with me, I wouldn't really mind running with a crew for a change. I've been working solo for long enough, though even a team would not have gotten me out of trouble that landed me in that prison camp, Lin said. "But you lot seem to know what you are doing, at least most of the time, and that is refreshing. At times, some more premeditation might be in order but you got us out of that jam back there, so no hard feelings. I'm sorry if I was a bit snappy back there at times - you try going for three months without a fresh pair of underwear and you'll know."

The blue woman studied the droid. "You mean a full wipe, or just tampering with some skills? The former is easier and I can do that in a minute, but the second one would take a while with proper equipment. I'd probably need a more advanced computer for it than the one I managed to win in Sabacc", she said patting a hand-held computer hanging on her side. "The natives are lousy Sabacc players. I literally won these clothes off a couple of them."

For second-hand clothes, the outfit she had seemed to fit rather nicely the slicer. From beneath the grime and underneath the bodyglove had spawned a rather good looking woman in her mid-twenties or so. Light blue skin, bubblegum pink hair and a pair of intelligent golden eyes, hence the temporary callsign. She did not, however, look like a party girl like most women her age. She seemed more a consummate professional with probably a couple more skills in her repertoire than just slicing.

Aderek was relived when they had met up with the fleet.  There was something refreshing to him about all the specks of presumably friendly specks of metal out there with allies.  He was happy to offer a helping hand to move any of the equipment.  In fact, as I'm sure there was plenty of room, he probably had been one of the last of the 'impromptu' crew of the shuttle to still be working as the helpers were trying to herd him in with the others, he had missed the first couple more polite calls for him to stop helping and follow them to his new quarters for the time being.

When it finally sunk in, he paused and nodded, saying "Sure, lead the way."  He followed, a little disappointed, but also becoming a bit tired as things were calming, it kind of lead him to a crash as far as energy came.  "There was a certain disappointment, in regards to the sense that they were being gently confined.  But compared to his recent treatment is was nothing, so he felt kind of foolish feeling that way.  Likely the others found him asleep on a chair that didn't actually look that comfortable, but had a view out into the darkness of space, and its specs of metal and light out there.

Waking up, he found his way to the refresher when it was freed.  He hadn't pushed to use it, so he was one of the later ones to avail himself of its services.  He was concerned about the status of the injured, the statistics on the losses and how it compared to the saved.  He didn't like the losses, but knew they had fared worse from whence they came.  He tried to periodically check with the Doc on the status of people including Mark, whom it had become obvious was important.  He also made an effort to acknowledge 10 whenever he saw her.

During the next couple days he was a little bit agitated, eventually spending a lot of time, staring out into space, or chatting with others to distract himself from not being able to do much.  He might have played some in the way of games of chance, but he certainly was not a big spender on such pursuits, and wasn't that hard to read.

When things started moving along a bit, and the various people were being interviewed, and their needs met.  He was surprised to learn that he was getting fitted for a new arm.  He was familiar with the model, though it wouldn't have been his first choice, it was none the less a fully functional option.

When he came back in the common area, some might have failed to recognize him.  Although the dull grey artificial hand revealed the artificial nature of the arm.  He seemed to control the arm quite proficiently.  Some noticed while controlling his thumb and index finger seemed completely natural, some of his other fingers on his hand seemed less prone to moving, and sometimes moved unexpectedly.  It apparently was taking some getting used to operate those other digits for some reason.  He was wearing a dark grey flight suit and looked far more distinguished than the rather worn clothing he had worn before.

He had some renewed energy at receiving his arm, and he began trying to volunteer to help out more.  However, it becomes clear that they aren't really ready to let them out yet.  This probably lead Aderek to chat with the Doc and eventually potentially Devon, letting them know he appreciates their help with his arm, and wondering what he can do to help, wondering if they needed any help designing a prosthetic for Mark, mentioning that with how invasive his infection had been, it was likely going to make his body potentially be more inclined to try to reject the mount implants, and he was familiar with something similar in the past.  If talking to the Doc when mentioning that, he suddenly realizes that the Doc may also be familiar with something similar, but he might sense that Aderek feels a bit uneasy being unable to work towards anything.

At some point he begins working on plans on potential modifications to his arm to re-integrate the tools he was accustomed to having access from it.  It was going to be harder using this arm as a base, but it provided some other options, now that the situation arose.  To begin with, not having tools he'd mentioned being useful, he had to content himself with working on the plans.  Tools and raw materials would come with time.

Devon regards the woman speculatively for a moment, then shrugs.
"Lemme think on it for a bit.  Catch is just startin' to show some personality an I ain't sure I wanna get rid of that."

He stood up and stretched.
"An' about the team?  yeah, we wing it an awful lot.  Its good to have a plan, but we stay flexible and improvise when the crap hits the fan.  You talk to any of the team, they're all good at more than one thing.  Take me for instance:  mechanic, fighter an' transport pilot, get-away driver, ship-jacker, an' a half decent shot with everythin' up to an' includin' heavy weapons.

Our bothan?  demolitions, infiltration, fighter pilot, interrogation, damn near any covert work you can name.  Point I'm tryin' to make here is that everyone on the team does more than one thing that's useful... so what else do you bring to the table?"

Devon grinned a challenging grin at Lin.
"Tell you what, theres some Sim pods down on deck 2 - I think at least one of the team is down there right now.  You any good as a pilot?   How about we go find out?"
He headed for the door with Catch rolling along behind him and beckoned for Lin to follow.


As they walked, Devon muttered into into his earpiece commlink.  Lin could only hear his side of the conversation, but that was probably enough.
"Four?  Gotta task for you. Y'know that lounge we got given the run of?  Can you get that ready for a social?  Munchies.  Drinks.  You know what to do.
What? No, you don't gotta top the Party Of the Century.  Fun though that might be, I for one wanna wake up tomorrow in a bed that's not in danger of catchin' on fire.
How long you need?  Two hours?  Great.  Comm me when you're ready."

When they arrived at the sim pods, Devon glanced at the one one occupied pod and checked the control screen to see who was in there.  Kyvarr.
"Looks like I was right, Five is already here.  Why don't you hop into one of the spares an' we'll have some fun."

Devon used the command console to quickly set up the scenario he wanted - a quick little two VS one dogfight in an asteroid field, with everyone in identical ships - and seated himself in his own pod.
"Catch?  gimmie a moment to get comfy, then get things started."  he told the droid, which warbled obligingly and plugged itself into the command console.

The two of them trying to take Devon down - maybe he was setting himself up for a nasty surprise?  After all, he had no idea how good or bad a pilot Lin was, and Kyvarr was bound to have improved since last time - given how much time she spent practicing.
Time to find out.
If nothing else, it would kill time whilst he waited for Heigren to get things ready...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:58, Tue 21 Nov 2017.

Heigren nodded.  "Can't do much in two hours but I'll do my best.  You want a proper shindig I'll need at least a day and a little help."

Seeing Devon was taking Lin with him he sidled up and gave her his best rakish grin.  "Come see me when you have some time.  I've got an offer you might be interested in."  With another grin and a wink at Devon he wandered off to the galley to work his magic on the catering staff.  He wondered where he was going to find alcohol on a medical frigate.  Flagship was usually the best place for quality booze but given the boss around here was a Jedi, who weren't renowned for anything within a million light-years of 'fun' he didn't think that was the case here.

Fiarr snorted at Devon's description of her.  "You forgot my best qualities.  Namely saboteur, assassin and thief, especially of colleague's credsticks at racous parties!"  She threw a wink at Mika at the last comment.

"Are we seriously still stuck with numbers here?  I'm usually the paranoid one but even I think it's time we were a little more friendly with the new guys.  Wether they stay or go I think they've earned a little trust."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:12, Wed 22 Nov 2017.

Looking into the guts of the buzzbot, Mika takes the probes and starts testing the circuits.  That damn prison planet had stressed every bit of machinery they'd taken down there.  Anything that looked even a little suspicious was removed, cleaned, tested, inserted, retested and then activated.  She'd like to replace some of them, but she didn't have any spares or materials to make her own.

She was back to considering possible upgrades.  An integrated blaster maybe, or a self-destruct system, or maybe amp up its sensor resolution....  So many options, so little time and materials.

Finishing with her efforts, she closes it up and reactivates it.  "okay, wake up.  You fully functional?"

When 'lefty' saw ten working on a droid, he had taken a break from pacing or peeking out at the stars out in space.  "If you need a spare hand, let me know." spoken in a friendly tone, but was still polite and not invading her privacy if her work on the droid was private.

Since her return from the planet and onto the medical ship, Kira had spent some of her time deep in thought on the first day debating her path. Growing up she had always had a plan, a vision of where her life led, and though some had not come to pass, since her training with her former mentor, she had grown in many ways.

But since her recruitment with the talons, her skill set had been questioned by herself.

Since childhood Kira had nothing but hatred for the whole bothan race (for good reason too), but since introduction to the group, one of the team, the one she felt most akin to was indeed a bothan. In fact, many of her skills she also saw in herself and where the bothan was a lethal soldier and infiltrator, Kira was trained as a bounty hunter....learning how to track and hunt.

Hear physical skills as a tracker were honed to a sharp edge....she had keen eyes and and could move like a shadow if needed, but some of her other skills that were taught earlier were put on the back burner.  She knew this, preferring the isolation to urban setting.  She also was ill used to teamwork until this group.

....but she was willing to rectify that.

On the second day she approached Fiarr on her own.

"Fiarr....i was wondering if you could help me with something when you have a minute." At the time, a few days ago, she realised the bothan had her own things to attend to, and didn't expect her time straight away.

So in the days following Kira trained.

She exercised every day, spent at least an hour cleaning her blasters and another hour familiarising herself and cleaning the sniper rifle she had come to be acostomed with on this trip

She approached Kyvarr asking her help with some hand to hand combat exercises.

But her mind raced on her path ahead.  She knew the group all had their own dynamics....and she was sure she'd find her place in them.

After several hours in debriefing, Arcas arrived. Still in his Imperial officer uniform, haggard and blood-stained from all the events in the station, the man seemed exhausted but less tense. To any curious Talons he merely replied "I suppose I'm your problem for now".

For his first action Arcas sought out the other defectors, making sure they were all right. Now that the situation was clear, he wanted to address them all. "I apologise for disrupting your lives," he began, "When I parleyed for your freedom, I did so sincerely believing that remaining on the station would have been a death sentence, even if the prisoners would have shown you the same grace as the Rebel operatives. My last interaction with Commander Stennings leaves me with no doubt that the inevitable Security Bureau investigation would have resulted in severe purges."

"I hope you can lay no blame to the prisoner populace nor any individual who has taken part in the events that led to our current situation. I do not; poor management and politics way above our reach are the reasons why this mess happened in the first place. I will continue to work to improve the situation in any way I can, but I do not expect the same from you. For you are free."

"I will do my best to help you get on your feet, as a thank you for your courage to support me when I spoke against the cruelty and mismanagement in the prison. But for now, I suggest you rest and find your own spot in the galaxy."

After hearing what they had to say and offering his sympathy, Arcas headed to a free bunk somewhere. Without bothering to take off his uniform, he lay down, closed his eyes and surrendered to sleep.

On the next day the Talons could find a different-looking man. With dark stubble on his chin and wearing some overalls he found to fit properly, though still walking with the posture and stride of an officer, Arcas had shaken off the Imperial outlook, instead looking like an unconvincing undercover police officer. He was mostly idly investigating his new surroundings, deep in thought, ruminating on his new situation. Eventually he found the ship's modest library of nonfiction, checking out the contents and idly swiping the pages of the documents.

While the Zeltron was acquiring supplies for the social gathering, he could hear the precise steps of Arcas approaching. "Ah, 'four' was it? I'd like to thank you for your words back in the station. It was comforting to know that there was someone who saw beyond the uniform", he stated as he caught up with the Talon. "And now I find myself in need of rather urgent assistance that I must ask from your... group."

"Well, get me a proper mainframe and someone who understands about computers, and I can simply modify your droid's programming the way you want. It's not just simply 'push that button after this and it's sorted out'. I'll probably have to rewrite some of his original programming completely to fix him", she said. "But sure, with right gear it can be done."

She listened to the man list his own and the Bothan's specialties. "I'm not just another pretty face, you know. One might call me an operative - instead of sneaking around, I walk in and they are none the wiser. I am good enough forger to get by, know enough about thievery to swipe things off people or planting things on them without their knowing and reasonably good at disguising myself. And of course, I'm a pretty face to look when I win all your credits in Sabacc." With the last sentence, she grinned mischievously.

When Devon started talking about flying, Lin raised a brow. "You sure know how to proposition a lady", she said moving after him. "So you want to be chased? Fine. I'll do it this time, just nit to hurt your feelings by making you feel abandoned. But I'm not making any promises in the flying side of things." The golden eyes flickered with amusement. She climbed in to the pod and set herself up for the simulation. If they wanted her to fly, then fly she would.

Lin gave Heigren a cheeky grin. "I'll find you once I have handed our friend here his ass on a plate. Or at least his virtual one", she said with a wink.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:21, Thu 23 Nov 2017.

Fiarr was amused by Kira's request.  She spread her arms to demonstrate their environment.  "Not much to do at the moment.  Anything that keeps me from one of Five's torture sessions is preferable.  What do you need?"

Heigren turned and nodded when he heard Arcas approach.  He'd been halfway through cajoling a chef while tasting something in a spoon someone else had handed him.  He also seemed to be talking to someone on his earpiece comm.

"Yes, as many as you can get. . .mmm needs more salt don't you think?. . .Well tell her I can't get those until we hit a port, wait I have another call. . .Two boxes?  You're a gem, love you."

After winding up his comm calls, speaking to two more people while typing on a datapad, Heigren finally stepped away and listened to Arcas.  He shrugged.  "I always try to see the best in people.  That's what I do here.  I'm not much with a blaster and I can't fly a paper plane, let alone a real one.  But people I can handle.  I try to tell the boss who we can trust and who we can deal with.  I grew up an Imperial slave and while I hate the Empire and all it stands for, I know there are people, good people who serve not out of ideology, but because of fear or just because it's all they know."

"So what can I do for you Arcas?  Oh, and call me Heigren, at least in private.  I hate all this code number stuff.  Enough Imps know my name and none of them seem to care, not like you could sell it if you wanted.  Just don't tell the boss!  Best call me Four around him until he gives the all clear."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:03, Wed 22 Nov 2017.

Kira took Fiarr to the side and spoke quietly to the woman. "I haven't been here long with the group, yet in the time i have seen that each person here has their own skills, their own place." The woman pauses, then looks at the bothan. "When we first met i had a conflict of emotions...not many people know but my father died at the hands of one of your kind."

She gave a slightly sheepish smile as she continued. "I think the only thing keeping myself from trying to kill you was absence of professionalism and the need to get off that planet. Then when things went bad, you helped me....something i hadn't had in a long time."

She was quiet for a moment, then snapped out of her memory to continue. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that in the short time I've known you i have grown to trust you...like you. Your skills and mine have some similarities." She shifts on her feet then continues. "There in lies the problem.  I was trained as a bounty hunter, but spent most of my recent years more as a tracker. Seeing you in action has shown that some of my other skills are a little lacking in areas."

She places her hands behind her back and looks at the ground. "Getting to the point, i can see areas that i can fill....sniper, infiltrator, and possibly more if trained up....demolitions maybe. But my problem is i don't know what to do...where my skills will be best suited."

Fiarr shrugged.  "I suppose that depends.  I'd say the main difference between a bounty hunter and what I do is a question of a pulse.  Good bounty hunters tend to like their targets alive.  Tends to pay better.  I merely reduce their heart beat to a nice flat zero.  Is that who you want to be?  I'd suggest if you plan to say with this group that you be good at your own specialty, not try to be good at everyone else's.  Team could use a bounty hunter, someone who can track, identify and capture priority targets.  I'm no good at that.  Bit it's up to you of course.  I can teach you the anatomical position of the brain stem in thirty different species or the best place insert a vibroblade to minimise blood, prevent screaming or cause an agonisingly slow lingering death.  Let me know."

She started to walk away then turned.  "If you had genuinely thought about killing me I would have done away with you, long before you'd finally committed yourself to it.  I contemplated it when I could tell how much you hated Bothans.  Was toying up between poisoning your caf or garotting you with some monofilament wire I carry.  Even worked out where to dump your corpse.  Glad it all worked out though.  I don't think our resident Zeltron would have approved of your murder and I hate it when he gives me that sad puppy look he gets."

She wandered off, looking for said Zeltron.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:58, Thu 23 Nov 2017.

Kira was taken aback slightly by Fiarr's comments, though not entirely suprised. When she first met then Kira was a little on the hostile side of her attitude, and given the things she had seen of the bothan's skills, she had no doubt that the woman's words were true.

As she finished speaking, Kira spoke up. "I'm glad you didn't kill me either....and for the record i thought of trying. I knew from the start i could never have pulled it off, even hurting you."

As the bothan left, she pondered the woman's first part of the conversation. Fiarr said the team needed someone to be a bounty hunter..track and identify targets. The fact Fiarr said that made the young human smile. She had skills in physically tracking people, in hiding and finding, but her urban skills were lacking, and she knew it.

....she knew the path she needed to take.

With Fiarr now gone, Kira looked after where the bothan went and spoke to the empty hallway.

"Thanks."

Devon, Lin and Kyvarr positioned themselves in their respective simulators and Catch quickly loaded the programs.  Two on one.  Kyvarr and Lin versus Devon, all in Z-95 Headhunters.  Given Catch's familiarity with the team, he also broadcast the fights to the main holovid display in the recreation area for anyone who wanted to watch.

For some the outcomes were a surprise.  Devon was clearly the best pilot, but this did not mean he wiped the floor with the others, far from it.  Lin showed great skill in the ships, showing a talent that surpassed many trained pilots.  How she had gain such mastery was a secret she had yet to divulge.

While clearly the weakest pilot, the surprise was actually Kyvarr.  She was incredibly gifted with the ships, though not to the other two's level and her command of tactics was impressive.  Her main downfall was her tendency to think in 'two dimensions', her ground warfare expertise becoming obvious.  Still Devon thought it wouldn't take much to train Cathar into one of the best pilots in the Talons.  She was no Flash, but then apart from Mark, none of them were!

Overall Devon found himself losing more than winning.  Occasionally he took out both fighters but more often he was destroyed though he usually got at least one fighter.  Kyvarr often fell to his guns as he recognised her tendency to ignore the third dimension.  Still the shipjacker couldn't help but be impressed.

When they were done Devon led the pair back to the rec area where he found the others and led them into the lounge.  Whatever they were expecting to find, all were disappointed.  Those who did know Heigren expected little more than caf and nibbles.  Those who did know him expected something extravagent.  The Zeltron had pulled off an impressive but tasteful balance.

All the chairs had been moved out, bar a few intimate cluster of 3-4 chairs in small group in the corners.  Long buffet tables, covered in tablecloths were spread with an array of food, some sweet, some savoury, all designed to be eaten by hand or from small plates.  Along wall a makeshift bar had been set up with Heigren and a human female in the uniform of a steward were setting up glasses and drinks.  One couldn't help but wonder which liquor stash they had raided as the selection of beverages was impressive.

The lighting has been dimmed a little to create atmosphere and a classical instrumental symphony was playing quietly in the background.  All in all the room had the feel of a semi-formal and fairly high class mixer.

A messenger droid of the M4 series floated with purpose through the corridors of the frigate, seeking out its recipient in the utterly single-minded manner that such droids have been known to possess.  With cheery blue strip-lighting that was certainly not standard on the model, the messenger zipped hither and yon, scanning nearby life forms for identification purposes.

Finally, after who knows how long, it found its target.

The round shiny optical sensor was already scanning Devon even as he got out of the flight simulator.  Its blue lights shifted to green and it emitted a soft 'ping!'

'Attention, operative designated... Talon 7.  You have received... two... new messages.  Would you like to play the first message?'

Arcas nodded to Heigeren's tale.

"Good to meet you, Heigeren", he stated, smiling, after finally learning a name he could address, "I'll make sure to be discrete." But then his smile died down.

"After our prison escape the Imperial Security Bureau will launch an investigation on what happened. They have records of my voice from Vendetta's comms and have grounds to accuse me of treason. And the next step would be to question my family."

Arcas turned towards the nearest viewport, showing the stars outside and a flash of a patrolling starfighter. "The Endeel are an old and prestigious family of academics. We have done centuries worth of all kinds of research. Politics. Social sciences. Philosophy. But after the rise of the Empire and its... limited views on government and education, we have fallen into disfavor and scrutiny."

The ex-Imperial turned back towards Heigeren. "Now I fear my defection might be cause for a full investigation. I have to warn my home so that they can prepare, get rid of any incriminating evidence, create statements, play me as the black sheep."

As the catering arrangement demanded Heigeren's attention more and more, Arcas gave a bow. "I see you are busy, so I won't take more of your time. But if you can render assistance, I would appreciate it."

Lin walked in to the lounge with her head held up high. She had shown Seven her skill and by any standard, the man should have been surprised by her skill. He, nor the Cathar, had been bad pilots, but Lin knew, she was not very far behind the man. "...and you might have dodged my shots, if you had made a bootlegger's turn", she said to Devon going through the last bout of simulated dogfight. But then, she was cut off mid-sentence as she saw the lounge. "Sithspawn! I should have played for that dress too", she said before she burst in to a joyful laughter. "Then again, I'd probably be overdressed compared to everyone else. And well, I don't even like wearing a dress, most of the time, though playing the princess part every now and then is quite okay. Now, if you excuse me, I suppose this is the part where I am supposed to go and mingle." The last part was spoken with an aristocratic accent and manner, and for a moment she looked at least as much at home in a fine upper class party, holding a cocktail and having small talk, as she was in the cockpit of a fighter or hacking Imperial Code Cylinders.

"Ah, Mister Four", Lin said, offering her arm to Heigren with a mischievous grin on her face. "I must apologize for being so ill dressed, but there is not a single seamstress aboard this cruise and I have misplaced all of my finest dresses, it seems", she continued in the manner of speech, the nobles around the Core were know to use. "Now, you hinted you had something that might strike my fancy, but I warn you - if it is something base, I will have some gentleman call you out." She looked quite humoured by it all, but the whole thing was far too refined to be entirely an act. More likely, she had really mingled amongst them and her accent, though ever so slight, pointed towards the core, perhaps Chandrila or Kuat.

Lin, though she was more than hateful towards the Imperials in general, decided to give Arcas the benefit of a doubt. ”If you need help, I may have some contacts that could help your family if needed. For now, I am offering my services to them rather than you, but that may change if you prove yourself more trustworthy. I may even build you a completely new identity that will pass checks by anyone but the most inquisitive ISB agents.”
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Sat 25 Nov 2017.

Once Devon had rounded everyone - except Heigren - up, he led them down to the lounge, refusing to answer any questions.  If he was honest, he'd maybe pictured the usual refreshments that tended to go along with the Talon briefing and mission planning sessions.
He'd herded the others through the door ahead of him before he took a look around the room and realized that once again, Heigren had outdone himself.
Devon couldnt help it, he started laughing.
This was so much better than he had thought to hope for.

Shaking his head at the bemused expressions on the faces of some of the others, Devon caught the eye of the steward behind the bar and gestured for her to turn the music down
Then he shook his head and chuckled again.

"OK, first things first - it was pointed out to me earlier that our code numbers thing is kinda redundant right now.  Our new friends here -"
He indicated Lin, Arcas and Aderek
"-earned our trust back there in that damn jungle.  Maybe they'll stay with the team, maybe they'll go their own way... but they've proven themselves.  So to hell with the numbers.
That's part of why I had Heigren set this up; give folk a chance to meet each other properly."

Devon beckoned to Heigren to come out from behind the bar and join the others, he waited till the Zeltron was stood amongst the Talons before continuing.
"But like the rest of you, he don't know what this is all about."
Devon grinned, remembering a line from an old film - time for some payback for Heigrens quotes on the shuttle.
"I expect you're wonderin' why I gathered you all here.  Its simple really.  You guys have earned this."

His expression turned sober, earnest.
"Ninety seven.  I want you all to remember that number.  Ninety seven.  Thats how many people you saved.
They were in hell an' you walked in there, gave them hope an' you pulled them out.

I know you've already met a bunch of the people we rescued, an' they've said 'thank you'.
But this is from me.

Thank you.

Be proud of what you did, an' never forget it."

Devon stood silently for a moment, meeting the eyes of each person in turn, hoping his gaze communicated what he couldn't find words for.

Then he glanced down at himself and laughed quietly.
"An' this is why I should get someone to say this crap for me - I ain't no good at speeches..."
he looked up again and raised his voice slightly.
"This is your night, my way of sayin' thank you to all of you.  But dont forget we gotta briefing at 0900 tomorrow morning - please, no-one show up hungover.

Now, relax.  Have a drink, or three.  Have fun!  That's an order."

The steward took this as her cue and the music came back on.  Devon joined her behind the bar and set to work, chatting and joking with people as he made them drinks.
He made a point to introduce himself by name to Arcas, Aderek and Lin as he served them.

He had just handed Mika a large glass of chilled juice drink when an M4 droid buzzed through the room and stopped next to him.



Stepping back a little from the bar, Devon left the steward in charge for few moments, and led the droid into a slightly more private corner.
"Play the messages," he told the droid "an' pipe audio to my commlink, dont use your external speakers."  He didnt want to spoil the others evening with what might be serious business...

OOC:  Gm let me have the M4 droid find Devon here rather than at the sim-pod as events had already moved past that point  :)

This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Thu 23 Nov 2017.

Heigren smiles at Lin.  "Awwww, you're so sweet.  Well if the boys bother you, you let me know okay.  I'm sure Kyvarr can teach you how to defend yourself.  No, I have a business proposition for you when we have a chance to talk.  Maybe a bit later on as I have to ensure the party is in full swing first.  Be good."

'As you wish.  Connection to your commlink is being established.'

There is a pause and a soft 'ping!'


'First message will now be erased in accordance with file safety protocols.'  Ping, ping!  'Would you like me to play the second message?'

Devon flinches and almost pulls his commlink from his ear as he listens to the first message, then frowns in puzzlement.

"Not yet.  Who sent these messages?  An' can the file safety protocols be overridden?"

The droid pauses for a few seconds and then its lights flash red briefly.

'Sender name is withheld, with reason given: probably not necessary.  File safety protocols can be overridden but only prior to being uploaded for delivery.  Previous message has now been deleted.'

Devon frowned again.
"Nuts.  Do not play second message yet."

He regarded the droid for a few moments.
"What are the file safety protocols for the second file?"

There is a very brief pause.

'Reference to 'nuts' not understood.  No data security exists on the second file.'

Devon nodded, and chewed at his lip for a moment.  Then he produced a datapad.
"OK, do you have any queued instructions you are to carry out after delivering the second message?
If so, what are they?  If not, download a copy of the second message into this datapad, along with all associated information and file properties.  Then play the message via my commlink."

This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Thu 23 Nov 2017.

‘Apologies, the details of my schedule are not an included feature of this messenger service.  Your access to that information has not been authorised by my owner.  File copied; playing now.’


There is a ping.

‘Message addendum follows.’

Heigren moved around the party, ensuring everyone had a drink and something to eat, made a little small talk and then honed in on Lin when he spied her alone in a corner.  Putting on his best 'panties-melting' grin he wandered over and took a seat next to her, close next to her and leaned in close.  The way his head buried itself into her neck left little to the imagination.  The only mystery was how Lin would respond.

Seeing Heigren was already 'attending' to the Pantoran, Fiarr wanders over and strikes up a conversation with Arcas.

"Hi. I'm Fiarr.  Having fun yet?  Make sure you do because if you hang around it's rarely like this.  Devon, oh that's Seven's name by the way, wasn't kidding when he said it's hard and pays bad.  I've been with the group for months, have been shot at numerous times and haven't received a single credit!  Price of being a Rebel I guess!"

Mika puts her buzzbot back together, at least enough for it to follow her as Devon was ready for a meeting.  Following along, she sees the party atmosphere and gives Devon a smirk.  "Meeting, huh."

She listens to Devon acknowledging their efforts and gives a nod.  She maybe hadn't carried as much of the load as others, but she'd worked hard to get them through the jungle and into the camp and the rest, she'd made a contribution.  She takes the drink that Devon hands her, a trifle sweet, but not bad, though no carbonation.  Well, once she made some room in the glass, a little fizz water could fix that.  She takes a few of the savory tidbits Helgrien had supplied, and one or two of the sweet ones.

She moves over to one of the chairs.  A few more bites, a few pulls on the juice and then she pulled buzzbot a bit closer to finish connecting the components properly.  Devon had ordered they have fun, what could be more fun then doing some work when lives didn't hang in the balance and when she wasn't in danger of having a ship shot out from under her.

Dohr was glad to hand over Mark to the medical staff on the frigate. He was exhausted and didn’t really trust his own abilities to carry on taking care of the Admiral before getting some real shuteye. He hadn’t been able to rest much since they entered the prison compound, so he was happy to let go of his responsibilities for a moment. During the handover, the Doc gave a full report on what had happened to Mark and what he had done with the help of Private Trycson as there were no records to pass on.

On the other hand, handing over a patient hadn’t felt quite so bad for a long time. Although Dohr had never had a chance to get to know Mark personally, he still considered the human a teammate and his boss. He would’ve liked to see to Mark’s well-being until the Admiral was back on his feet again. But his offer to help was turned down bluntly. It made Dohr feel angry for a heartbeat, but he could totally understand the situation from the point of view of the doctor in charge. He probably wouldn’t have wanted outsiders mixing in with his own staff had he had any. Despite of being denied access to Mark’s room, Dohr requested a short update on his progress on a daily basis just to keep the Doc and the team posted on his recovery.

The Talons were confined to their quarters and for at least a couple of good reasons. The first one doubtlessly applied to all of the people who made it back from the jungle world; quarantine. There was no telling what bugs, viruses or disease they might have picked up during their time down on the surface. It definitely applied even more on the prisoners who’d been there for a far longer time, but also to the Talons. Although the frigate’s medbay had equipment to deal with any kind of a infection or contamination, they didn’t have the means to handle such a large group at the same time. So quarantine it was.

The other reason Dohr only suspected. As far as they knew, there had been a traitor amongst their little group. And while Dyre had only taken one life, he might have caused a lot more damage had he not been caught. Kota’s people had to be sure there weren’t others. So Dohr was quite certain they were being watched and eavesdropped while locked away from the rest. It would be most boring to watch him…

The days passed quicker than Dohr would’ve imagined. It felt good to be able to rest and relax without a constant need of being ready for anything. And he didn't exactly miss the heat and humidity of the jungle either. Most of his hours were spent in socialising with the team, reading, drinking caf and practising his swordplay. Since they’d been given their weapons back, Dohr had decided he didn’t need to hide his most priced possession anymore from those who weren’t aware of it yet. Hidden within his ornamented cane was a magnificently made rapier with a beautiful hand guard that sprang open when the blade was drawn. The blade was long and thin and incredibly sharp and those taking a closer look could see the connectors of its ultrasonic vibration generator at its base.

While training, Dohr kept the vibration switched off, although it would’ve been hard to notice as the rapier’s mechanism was completely silent. Those watching could see the Doc was no stranger with the blade. To anyone who knew anything about sword fighting, it would’ve been clear that his style differed quite a bit from anyone using heavier vibroblades. His limp seemed to disappear as he moved with a grace and agility that could only come from years and years of training. And anyone who had ever seen a Jedi master fight, might have recognised some moves of the Makashi form or style of lightsaber combat in Dohr’s practice.

At some point, Dohr sat down for a long while with Aderek to discuss about prosthetics. He would be glad to get some hands-on (pun intended) help from a professional, although the Key Dorian suspected the medical team onboard the frigate might provide Mark with a new leg instead. ”Oh and do call me Dohr or the Doc like the others often do.”

During the “party”, Dohr took his time to talk with everyone if they were interested in having a conversation with him. He enjoyed the refreshments Heigren had once again arranged. Not quite like the “party of the century”, but very good nevertheless. He didn’t drink much, but then again, he rarely did. Of all the people present, the Doc was most keen on getting acquainted with the newcomers Arcas, Aderek and Lin. He shared his own story quite freely, but tried to keep it as short as possible. His 37 years had not exactly been uneventful…
This message was last edited by the player at 11:43, Fri 24 Nov 2017.

Lin did not seem to mind the advances by the Zeltron and instead of slapping the purple skinned humanoid silly, she craned her neck slightly. For a moment they stood like that, her fingers running along the Zeltron's neck before they parted. "Heigren, you are such an unruly and ruthless beast", she said audibly, though she did not really look sorry about him being one. "But this is a public place and I would not have my virtues questioned by people due to such advances, not even from you." But what she said was said in a sweet and friendly tone, not in an angry manner, her cheeks slightly purple.

Lin mingled, introducing herself properly to the others. She seemed very much a nice and friendly person, though she was not sharing very much about herself with people. It might have been because of her profession as a slicer and intelligence operative of sorts - she probably had more than one identity at her disposal. But despite of being what could have been called a private person, she was genuinely fun. One could have easily imagined her in the center of some huge feast and flourishing in the limelight.

She spent some time with Dohr, listening to the Kel-Dor's past. She talked with Aderek, traded a few words with Arcas, got to know Kira a bit and spoke about flying with Kyvarr (without grinding her face in to the loss to both Lin and Devon at the simulator). The longest discussions she had, however, with Mika and Fiarr. With Mika she raised a question about building a transportable computer mainframe once she could procure the required resources for building one - she was in practice asking for her help, conditional to her acceptance in to the Talons. With Fiarr she found perhaps most common ground of the Talons, and much to the surprise of most, she actually conducted the discussion in fluent Bothanese rather than Basic.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Fri 24 Nov 2017.

Devons face cycled through multiple expressions as he listened to the second message, passing through surprise, amusement and concern along the way and finishing on amusement.  The message ended.
"Wait for me in the corridor."  he ordered the droid.

"I gotta go." Devon told the steward lady, then slipped out from behind the bar.
As he headed for the door Devon raided the food and drink as he passed, grabbing a large pastry and a bottle of some beer he didnt recognize, but it looked good quality (not that Heigren would allow anything else.)

Tucking the un-opened beer bottle into a pocket, Devon nudged Fiarr as he passed her.
"I gotta go see someone - Comm me if things get outta hand, OK?"

Out in the corridor, Devon prodded the droid with a faintly accusing finger.
"OK, you have instructions to guide me to the message sender, yes?  Lead the way."
Devon set off down the corridor after the droid.

Fiarr seemed more bemused than impressed by Lin's command of Bothese.  Seemed to be flavour of the month with the new guys.  Seeing Devon get his message Fiarr watched with interest.  When he left she turned to Arcas.

  [Language unknown: "Anyoulpre nd ersurehou en Ticonelar?  Ol n thuoutsheproore it."]]

"Look I hate to be rude, but I have to do something, sorry talk soon.

Fiarr excused herself, and made for the door, speaking quietly into her comm and tapping on a datapad.

Aderek was happy to discuss prosthetic with the Doc.  It is a topic that he finds easy to delve into, and one he has a multitude of opinions on.  He would be happy to talk about aspects of it in general, or even more specific topics ranging from options for Mark's leg, Aderek's own arm, or even could delve into more controversial questions such as if a leg replacement could or should be able to repair a limp.  It is obvious that his skills allow him to discuss it both from the medical side, the patient's side, as well as from the standpoint of the technology itself and its own maintenance, choices and ramifications.

When Lin approaches Aderek she finds him happy to chat with her.  He is certainly an older human, she suspects he isn't in his physical prime, although with his new arm, he looks far more complete and 'normal'.  She perhaps found him tinkering, tracing some of the circuitry within the arm, as he seems to be surveying all of the details of its makeup.

Aderek thanks her for her part in the rescue, having heard from others that she had played a significant role in it.  He manages to sneak in a complement or two regarding her appearance, which he can't help but notice, but they seem more like friendly complements than passes at her.  She finds him friendly and likewise relatively easy to manipulate and channel the discussion to where she wants it to go, meaning that he likely comes out knowing little more than her name and a variety of rather vague statements about her.  She on the other hand knows he grew up a Belter and medic, until some sort of significant catastrophe occurred when he was a young adult.  Since then, he's found his life following a path of one event leading to another, helping to channel his life.  Leaving him without an arm and with quite a bit of knowledge on how to put people, ships and life support systems back together, to try to keep people alive. 

Aderek's attempt to chat with Mika found her really too focused on her droid, and lacking the tools to particularly help her at the moment, he excused himself politely and left her be in her work she was focused on.

Aderek was happy to talk to Devon.  He knew only of him as being the group's leader.  He considered Devon responsible for not only his 'rescue' but being given the opportunity to assist in the process.  He knew that it had likely been due to his having been willing to help their friend Mark, but he didn't feel like a hero for that.  He wished he had known about Mark and his injury before it had gotten so badly infected.  The fact that he had lost the leg was unfortunate.  He knew however that some were surprised, given how bad Mark's wound had gotten, that he had survived, and some attributed it to Aderek at least a bit, but Aderek lays the bulk of it on Mark's own will to live.  That has always been one of Aderek's claims was one's biggest factor, or so he claimed, in people's recovery from serious injuries.


Aderek takes the time, having heard that Heigren is responsible for much of the Logistics of the party, he thanks him for putting it on.  It likely is notable that parties aren't exactly Aderek's most comfortable element, but he still takes time to enjoy the refreshments and the excuse to converse with a few strangers he might not otherwise meet.

Aderek might remain a little distant from Arcas, not choosing to specifically approach him himself. This isn't to say that he would actively avoid him, if approached or present when he finds himself needing to talk to someone else, but he might still recognize him as having been wearing an imperial uniform for some time.

[If, I missed anyone saying they talked to me, I apologize and would happily add my response if you point it out, as he wouldn't intentionally ignore someone.]

The droid dipped slightly.  The lights along its body turned yellow and began blinking, reminiscent of a warning light, and then it turned to zoom off through the corridors at the equivalent of a brisk walking pace - slow enough for Devon to keep up but not to get distracted or dawdle along the way.  Whether that was part of its programming or simply coincidental was hard to say.

Arcas was impressed of the thought and design that had went into the social event, overcoming the modest accessories and supplies. Being in the Imperial command hierarchy had brought him to a few gatherings, but his opinions had never given a good impression on his colleagues. But soon the memories from before he joined the Empire bubbled in and Arcas found himself having small talk, meeting new people, learning names and partaking in the relaxed atmosphere.



Arcas gave a polite bow to the blue woman. "I appreciate your assistance, my lady, as I believe does house Endeel. Rest assured, despite my previous affiliations, I endeavor towards respectable and empathetic conduct." Spotting Heigeren and his intentions, Arcas gave a bemused chuckle. "I believe the master of ceremonies would like for your attention. I shan't take more of your time."



Arcas felt a slight relief as he could finally place a name on the man who was in command... Or at least seemed to. "Now that the situation is no longer extraneous, I must express my gratitude. I realize what a leap of faith it was to put your trust in a man wearing your enemy's uniform. This is quite awkward, but when you have the time, I would like to ask for a further favour."



Arcas took a sip of his drink while the Bothan was speaking. Her relaxed veneer, the cheery way she joked about her pay told a different story than the same Bothan who casually stated that she could torture whatever information she needed out from him. Arcas was reminded of the Imperial navy officers on promotion ceremonies: All smiles and handshakes, but ready to toss anyone in their way to the sharks. The thought that in the Fiarr's case those people were probably deserving did not prove exactly comforting.
"It's still more than the Empire's salary of distrust and accusation of treason", Arcas stated politely. "But I suppose this is a vocation more than just a day's job. I can respect people who are willing to effect change, regardless of its cost", he stated, offering to clink his glass with the Bothan.



[Language unknown: "I fordernde."] Arcas nodded, raising his glass.

Dohr Veen was an interesting acquaintance and Arcas inquired whether his medical expertise was self-taught or whether he received some sort of education. The subject of education was close to his heart and Arcas gladly shared his experience of being taught on myriad of subjects by his many relatives, most possessing doctorate on their relevant fields.

Regarding Aderek, Arcas did notice his reluctance to introduce himself. The ex-imperial respected his decision, choosing to greet him with a respectful nod. He recognized the man's prosthetics and the prison's responsibility in their existence, feeling sorry about the situation in general.

While choosing the next delicacy to enjoy, Arcas listened to the flow of the conversations. He enjoyed the feeling of genuine relaxation, the absence of the feeling of walking on knives that came with interacting a large portion of Imperial command staff. Especially since Fiarr was absent. But every now and then, to his annoyance, a thought lingered to his mind like the stench from an old flight helmet filter: These people are unlawful dissidents and pirates. He shook his head slightly. So what. I'm a treasonous defector.

To keep his mind occupied with other matters, Arcas decided to entertain anyone listening with interesting anecdotes he had learned from his aunt Elanas who had studied the history of galactic frontiers. Assuming if anyone is interested.

Mika would take a few minutes to greet anyone who came by, but her attention was mostly focused on the droid.  That is until Lin comes by to talk about a mobile mainframe.  "That's an interesting challenge.  What sort of capabilities you looking for?"

Mika had built a data pad or two in het time, but this would be another level of magnitude.  But really, it was still just a processor array, storage and power supply.  Well, the interconnects, and the input and output options too.  And a housing and the whole thing small and light enough to be portable.

"It'll take some high end components.  Not that they're all that uncommon, but you need it light and small, and ruggedized.". Mika's brow furrows as she things through the options and the steps.  "we'll need to go on a buying trip, were likely not going to be able to scrounge much."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 21:21, Sat 25 Nov 2017.

"My idea is to build a mainframe that can be moved between ships and built to utilize their comms. I was also thinking about building in a vocal processor as well as an heuristic algorithm, so it could both communicate and learn. Of course, this brings it closer to being a stationary droid than anything else", she replied. "But, in this line of work, we're going to need all the calculating power we can get in order to decrypt codes and hack in to heavily protected networks. It should not be too difficult to build an interface to it, so it could utilize the terminals of the ship it has been attached to at the time. Let's sit down at some point to figure this out a bit more thoroughly, shall we?"

Passing by Arcas, Lin stopped briefly. "When the party is over, let's talk about your family and what we can do for them to keep them from the hands of the Imperials", she said quietly. "I already have a couple of ideas." Then she was again on her way.

Her next stop was by Kyvarr again, whom she approached with a friendly smile."I was wondering, if I start working with you lot, I might need some training in unarmed combat. I was thinking about K'tara, more precisely. Could you help me with that?" Of course, should the Cathar have something she needed in return, she'd do her best to accomodate her.

The doctor smiled behind the mask that was his breathing apparatus. Most of the Talons were already accustomed to his facial expressions or the lack of any obvious ones and they had probably learned to tell apart Dohr's smile from his frown. The Kel Dorian couldn't say whether Arcas Endeel was familiar with his kind or not, although he was fairly sure there were none of his species working for the Empire... directly. The situation on Dorin was a different matter of course. The provisional government put in place by the imperials had been in control for a couple of decades now. Some of its Kel Dorian members seemed to have questionable motives at best.

"I have indeed studied in the University of Medicine on Dorin as well as in the Dorinian Armed Forces. The imperial invasion throughout the Galaxy altered the plans of many of my fellow Kel Dorians as it did mine. I was called into military service before I had the chance to finish my studies, but fortunately our World did not seem to be very interesting from the Emperor's point of view and we had a couple of years to prepare ourselves. So, in addition to my military training, I was able to deepen and complete my studies as well."

The Doc sipped his caf, deep in thought.

"But the preparations were not sufficient... I do not think anything would have been. Dorin, much like any other World in the Galaxy was totally powerless to stop or even hold back the imperial forces. And that was probably for the best. No matter how hard we would have fought, the Empire would have conquered us anyway. After a short-lived battle our government surrendered and only a few lives were lost..."

Dohr voice turns colder and more bitter for the last sentence:
"Lord Vader was very efficient...

Arcas listened empathically to Dohr's tale. "I'm sorry for the hardships of your people. It pains me to think of the resources that the Empire could have been put to use better use. All those Star Destroyers could have been colony ships. All those prefabricated garrisons could have been new homes. All the technicians, sensor operators, gunners and officers could have been farmers, teachers, miners, creators of culture. For once the Empire could have invested those credits into struggling colonies, poverty-stricken planets, mobile medical fleets and improving overall galactic infrastructure, without the political gridlock of the Galactic Republic. They could have spread the living standards of the Core worlds to hundreds, if not thousands of new planets. They could have unified the galaxy in a way that the Republic could have never accomplished." One could see the fires of idealism burn in Arcas' eyes as he lamented on the Empire's decisions. It was clear that he had been thinking about these matters for a while.

"Uncle Er'han hoped that Chancellor Palpatine would have understood the Separatists after the clone wars ended. They were just worried about income inequality between the constituents in the Republic. Instead of a massive clone army, just a few changes in legislation and economic policy would have sufficed. Palpatine could have done those, if he just had listened to the political analysts and experts." Arcas sighed and looked at his cup. "I'm talking politics again; A sign I've had enough drink for the evening. Thank you for your company. I hope that one day you can return to your homeworld and practice medicine in peace again." He nodded to Dohr and thanked Heigeren for the event before heading off to find Lin.

Aderek notices the commander's exit with a little interest, but continues to mingle lightly with the others at the party.