Allen smirks(or as close to it as a Duros can get).  "Maybe you should be made official Mission Planner."

"I could do this stuff on my own, but it wouldn't work all the time.  We are a team because teamwork has better results than solo work.  We need input from everyone to be all we can be."

"That was sarcasm."

The commander frowns.  "Actually I am the official mission planner but I was hoping to see that the people under my command had the ability to participate to the planning process.  It is clear that some people here need work in that respect."

"Firstly we will not be using the slaver's home base as ours.  Even if it were possible from a logistical and administrative perspective I would not use it.  By doing so we paint a giant bullseye on ourselves for retalitory strikes.  We will be searching for alternative sites for our base, preferably offworld if we can manage.  Whilst Zyra is looking into that I will have a few of you covering that angle too."

"The buying angle is dangerous, but possible.  How do we know that this base is actually a place where you can purchase slaves?  It might be nearly a storage and transit point."

"Secondly if you had strangers turn up at your slaver operation would you let them just wander around armed and unescorted?  The people who go in will likely be under heavy guard and surveillence, if they are let in at all."

"This plan has the advantage of letting Cyril see at least some of the interior design of the facility, maybe observe a little of their security.  We can not base an assault around what we might find.  This would be a recon operation only.  The quesion is, is it worth the risk.  If we need schematics of the place we can likely acquire them through other methods.  There must be a city records somewhere.  I'm sure a little slicing or greasing of palms can get us plans."

"I am in no way saying your plans are wrong or should be scrapped.  I am merely trying to get you all thinking of aspects and potential problems you might not have considered.  Years of command has taught me the importance of calculating the ratio of risk to benefit."

"I'm willing to risk it," says Cyril. Inwardly, he was rejoicing at the chance to beat the odds again. Happiness was an emotion he often used as a tool in his covert work, and he was only truly happy when he was doing something so risky that it might end his 'career'. Walking through a slaver's HQ with nothing better than a blaster was one of those things.

"I'd still only go in with one or two bodyguards, and let a sniper team - Exilim and Flash - stay outside to back us up should we require a hasty exit. The others may spend the time looking around for the information they need about the place, or search the facility itself... without going through the front door like I will."

Well, maybe once we get in we won't get to wander around but we still have eyes and will come away with some amount of intel. Nirro wasn't used to this stuff, all this cloak and dagger nonsense was getting to be too much for him.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 13:22, Mon 11 Sept 2006.

"I was suggesting we use their facility as a drop point, rather than a home base.  If lots of stuff is there already, we wouldn't even need to move it.
Cyril should be able to find out what sort of facility it is...he already has a source of information...the Blood Axe Trading Corporation.
If it is just a transit facility, we think of something else.  Otherwise, we go for a slave-buying offer.  The plan hopes they are somewhat stupid, and leave us unguarded.  If not, we just observe what we can, and give them no reason to shoot us.  Mostly this plan requires discretion on the part of the team; once inside, they will be the best judges of what they can get away with."

Sat on his bunk, Devon listened to the back and forth discussion with a frown on his face.
'Do we want to come up with a plan that relies on them being dumb? To have gotten away with whatever they do in there for this long, they must haave at least a certain amount of smarts.  Hell, most the... groups I knew back home took real care about any complete strangers that showed up and acted friendly.  Suspicious generally wasnt the word.  Cos if you wernt careful... then either the Imps or some rival group would nail you.'

Devon swung his legs for a moment, apparantly in thought, then grinned suddenly. 'I know its a different subject, but we're supposed to 'make it showy', right?  Well, simplest way to do that and to cover what we steal would be to use their own fighters to slag the facility - plus if we capture the fighters before they get off the ground and start threatening to melt bits of their real estate with starfigter class cannons... thats an insentive to surrender, right there.'

Devon looked round at the others, although when he glanced at the commander, a flicker of expression gave away that he seemed to be expecting his idea to be shot down quickly...

"My plan doesn't rely on them being dumb...but it would work better if they were.  Your plan has merit...but it's easier said than done.  You can't really expect to attack them and hope to get to their ships before they can.  However, if you used the slave-buying plan to get in, then surprise them and go for the ships, you'd have a much better chance.  There would still be a massive shootout, though, possibly with many casualties."

Nirro thought carefull, SO maybe we should combine the two ideas then? Go in with the intention to buy slaves then make a run for the ships.

'No...' mused Devon  'They're not going to be dumb enough to let total strangers near their fighters... AND we still dont know if they buy and sell slaves there - it might just be a stopover point.  We really need to know a lot more about the place and how they operate before we start planning which parts to blow up and which to steal...'

"Who says we need to blow anything up?  Just disable it so we can take everything."

"Something needs to explode because that's the point of the mission," interjected Cyril.

"The objective isn't to steal stuff. The objective is to eliminate the slaver group on the planet while making sure that everyone, especially the Blood Axes, know that it was us who did it. By doing so, we are hoping to gain acceptance into their organization, which in turn puts us in the best place to acheive our overall goal of discovering and eliminating the threat of piracy for the Alliance."

"While an explosion would do nicely, that might not be the best option.  No matter how you put it, we'd be using these explosives for show.  We have a very limited stock of explosives on hand, and we shouldn't use them if there is another option.
"If sudden combustion of the showy sort is required, I might be able to make something myself.  I would need materials...which we could probably attain on the open market...and time, and information on what we need to blow."

Nirro was busting his brain trying to come up with a plan but his expertise lay in other areas. He thought he did have an idea though. He just didn't know how the others would take it.

How about a couple of us sneak in, I disable their alarm systems and then we make a break for the ships. Once we get into the ships we start laying down cover fire and you the rest of the team comes in and meets us at the ships we make sure they get there safely by taking out weapon emplacements, enemy troops etc. Once evryone is there we use the ships weapons to the blow the place to high heaven. We get ships, the slavers are history and the Blood Axes get their explosion.

Devon (who was in a similar boat to Nirro when it came to planning) nods.  "Its like I said - use the ships to slag the facility - that way its not going to cost us extra in terms of equipment needed and we get a bunch of fighters out of it.  Man portable weapons arn't going to worry fighter shields too much are they?  Meaning all we'd need to knock out fast would be any static defences, right?'  he looks round at the others for confirmation.

The commander waves everyone to silence.

"Lets get back on track here.  I never said we HAD to blow up the facility.  I agree that nobody has asked us to do that.  Our problem is that the Blood Axes want us to make an example of these slavers.  That means they want a bloodbath.  They want these slavers massacred to the last one.  They want people to know we did it to show we're a force to be dealt with and worthy of the Blood Axes"

"The problem with this is that I'm a soldier, not a murderer.  I do not line unarmed prisoners against the wall and shoot them when they have surrendered.  Nor do I accept this from my troops.  Surrended troops are to be given quarter, injured men receive treatment as best we can."

"So the problem is, if we do take prisoners we need to somehow conceal the fact that we didn't murder every one of them.  We need to conceal the fact that there may be a lack of bodies.  Getting the prisoners out should not be too hard if we capture a transport.  We need to however create the illusion of a massacre.  An explosion was my thought on how to create this illusion.  However I am open to suggestions."

"For now however you have a recon mission to plan and undertake.  Once we know numbers and layout we can prepare our real raid.  Cyril and Jamie have joint command for this operation.  I am too well known having hunted pirates for years.  I will take the time to make contact with the Captain and work on our new base."

Cyril sighed at the Commander's words. Unlike the Commander, the "communications officer" would have no qualms shooting surrendered troops - but only if he was ordered to. He guessed he'd never have to face such a moral crisis under Sheppard's command, as the man was seemingly far too honorable to do what must sometimes be done. Then again, what the Commander didn't know, couldn't hurt him.

Once the Captain had finished, Cyril spoke up again.

"I can do better by scouting from the inside. Would anyone care to join me in my attempt to make contact with the group and hopefully gain access to their facility as their guests? My team's objective will simply be to observe from the inside, posing as a prospective buyer."

Nirro nodded, I wouldn't mind, I would be glad to get a look at the complex from inside, check out what kind of security measures they have. Maybe I would'nt get to actually get into the system but knowing where the consoles are would help.

"It seems then that an explosion is our best option.  I will come, of course," said Jamie.  "It would be best to have Devon and Nirro as well.  If we see fighters, we'd need Devon to assess them, and perhaps Nirro could learn something of the security so he can bypass it later.  Flash could take up a sniping position at a distance, just in case things go really sour.  Nirro...would you be able to bypass security systems from outside, or do you need an inside link?  If necessary, we may be able to plant something.
"After the recon mission I'd like to see what I can find in the market here to build a few of my own boom-machines."

Cyril jerked his head a bit at the mention of 'planting'. Taking and putting stuff without anyone noticing wasn't a strong point of his - yet. Perhaps someone else would be better that at that skill, he hoped, for his only success would be with the skill of word-play.

"Then that's settled. The four of us will go inside, while Exilim and Flash stay out and recon from afar. Don't worry, I'll try not to get us all killed."

Cyril grinned, getting out-of-character for just this one time, as the expectation of another risky infiltration entered his thoughts.

Allen nods his head in agreement.  "Alright then.  When should we get started?"

'Yeah, not dying is definitly a bonus.' Devon grinned back at Cyril then scrambled to his feet.  'How are we going to do this?  what gear we taking?'

"Get used to it," Jamie grinned at Devon.  "For now, we need only our personal weapons.  We're just going in to look around.  That is, if Cyril determines we can buy slaves there.  We don't make any sudden moves until we know more about these people and their facility.  Beyond that, we'll find whatever you need to get into their ships."
Jamie looked back toward Sheppard.  "Sir, do we have a go?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:30, Tue 03 Oct 2006.

"Yes Mister Webb you have a go.  I leave it to you to learn what you may.  Just remember this is a recon mission nothing more.  If it looks bad, pull back and regroup.  When we take that place down, I want us all together."

"Good luck.  I'll keep the comm open in case you need me."


OOC:  I'm opening a new thread.  Make sure each of you posts what you are taking with you or else I will decide for you (and you might not like what I equip you with).