Four weeks had passed since the resignation of Commander Sheppard and the majority of his squadron from the Permedian Hydian Alliance Starfighter command in order to keep the Black Talons active as a rogue palamilitary organisation.  It had only taken a few weeks to bow out of their roles as they were members of a now defunct unit.  Rather then have to wait for replacement pilots, transfer of responsibilities and the like, the group needed to merely return all their equipment and perform all the administrative requirements.

Mark and Zyra had made no effort to contact anyone during this time.  In fact it was rumoured that neither was aboard Indeftaigable as neither had been seen for some time.

Some of the Black Talons wished they could have joined them.  Whilst some crew sympathised with their decision to go out on their own, most saw the group as being mercenary or worse yet traitors to the Alliance.  Many said they were worse than the Empire as they were only going to fight a war for profit.

Finally all the crew received an electronic memo that simply read "Hanger Bay 4, tomorrow 0500, ZJ."

All the Talons gathered in the hanger bay at the allotted time.  At this time of the morning only a few technicians and the duty officer was about.  At a few minutes after five, a YT-1300 transport landed in the bay.  A Sullustan on the boarding ramp waved at the group to come aboard.  They were taken to the lounge area and gestured to seat.  No words were spoken.  Either the Sullustan did not speak Basic, or he chose not to.

Once everyone was strapped in, the Sullustan left and moved up into the cockpit.  The door was shut and locked.  Almost immediately the craft took off and within 5 minutes made the jump to hyperspace.

Four long hours passed.  Nobody made any move to speak to them and there was no way to determine where they were going.  It was only when the Talons felt the transports repulsors kick in, shortly before it landed did they realise they had arrived.

The Sullustan appeared from the cockpit and hurried them all to the boarding ramp and then off the ship.  Once they passengers were disembarked he moved back up the ramp and even before the ramp was up the ship was taking off once more.  It flew out the mag field and into space, showing the Talons they were on some sort of orbital station.  The fact the walls were made of rock made it quickly clear this was an old asteroid mining facility.

The Black Talons found themselves alone in a large hanger bay.  The bay could have held several medium sized transports, but looked barren with only the Sarratoga and two Z-95 Headhunters off to one side.  Otherwise the place was barren.



OOC:  Welcome to your first day as a palamilitary group.  It's going to be 'interesting' to say the least.

Please make sure your char sheets are up to date.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:23, Tue 19 Feb 2008.

After the transport had left, Zyra was quick to enter the hanger bay.  "Ah, you made it.  Faster then I expected too.  I'm sure Rek'thall was his usual antisocial self.  Probably made his co-pilot do the meet and greet for him too.  Still he's efficient and discrete.  Can't ask for more."

"Welcome to our new home.  I've taken to calling it Talon Nest but that's not chiselled into the rock anywhere.  This asteroid was heavily mind for dueterium and other metals about 75 years ago.  Once they had got all they could they packed up their gear and moved on.  Fortunately I have access to their mining records and was able to 'erase' the existance of this one.  That should keep us secure for a while I hope."

"So let me give you the grand tour.  How was the trip?"

'Yeah,' Grumbled Devon, 'He was real sociable.'
Devons normal god cheer reasserted itself and he grinned as he looked round the hanger.  He, for one, seemed happier with the new non-military, less official structure for the squadron - probably reminded him of more carefree days when all he had to worry about was who's speeder to steal next...

'On the basis that I'll probably get roped into repairing those -' the shipjacker gestured across the hanger at where the battered fighters and Sarratoga sat '-I spent most the journey reading up on their designs.  Not the most entertaining stuff I ever read... but useful.'

Shouldering his backpack, Devon started ambling through the hanger, his head turning like a tourist; the only thing missing was the tri-d camera on a strap around his neck.
'So we got us a base now?  How well shielded is it?  Not deflectors - I mean how much radiation are we leaking?  The less the better - make us harder to detect.'

Daron walked down the ramp of the yt-1300, carrying his bag with all of his worldly belongings packed inside. It contained everything he'd brought with him when he left his home world.

He looked over the area surrounding their transport here to the new secret base of the Black Talons. There was definately a lot of room here for the Talons to grow. Perhaps eventually they will get to the point where they were as powerful and well connected as they had been when they were with the PHA.

Daron was a military man. His family had been in the military for several generations, and Daron had been trained his whole life to join the military of his home world. This was definately a new path in his life. He was turning his back on the military-blood that ran through his veins and was venturing into unknown territory. Daron felt he had made the right decision though.

"I had a four-hour nap on the way," Jamie offered as he set down the duffel he was carrying.  Other than a comlink and the pistol at his side, he'd managed to fit everything in that bag.
"Excellent work, Captain!  Err...are we still using our former ranks?  Or are you Miss Jax now?  Anyway, we'll have plenty of space to work."
Jamie eyed the duffel on the ground and picked it up again.  If they stopped at his new quarters, he'd hate to have to make a special trip back here for his effects.
"How much more is there to see?"

Exilim followed the others off the transport looking around their new base as he went. While he carried everthing he owned with him, he still felt a little naked. The sniper rifle that should have been with him was now back with the PHA.

"Nice rock" he said. "After our recent escapades the flight was......very uneventful" he added.

Looking around the largely empty space he though to himself ....we should have acquired more ships.

Allen slowly ambled down the ramp near the back, carrying a half-empty duffel bag which still contained all his worldly possessions, minus the blaster on his belt.

He motioned at the headhunters.  "How well do those things fly right now?  They look a bit beat up."

Jax smiles at Jamie.  "I believe the Commander intends to retain a degree of military discipline but until he enlightens us, Zyra is fine."

"As to your question Mister Kismet I am unsure.  The asteroid acts as a natural shield to sensors.  It would take a capital class ship doing a detailed scan to locate life signs.  However, that (gestures to the magnetic field) is a giveaway.  We can't exactly turn off the force field or we'd all be sucked into space and at present we have no way to hide it.


Seeing the interest in the fighters Zyra walks towards them.  "Unfortunately we ended up selling the Cloakshape as we needed the credits more than a fighter that would take too much time and effort to repair.  The first Headhunter is actually the Commander's as is fully serviceable.  The other one is the fighter Devon flew at Hydia IV.  I'm assured that her systems are fully operational and just needs some work on her hull."

"The cruiser needs quite another few weeks of work, not just on her hull but her systems too.  I've had some slicer friends erase all traces of her former identity, but we have yet to program a new one.  We need to choose what we will call her.  We also invested in a few droids to help automate her a little more.  A few droids have also been purchased to keep the base running, reducing our personnel needs."

"In short we have a fledging force.  We are short on supplies, credits and nearly everything else.  We don't even have a transport vessel, hence the need for your transportation with a third party.  We will need to procure all these things quickly to ensure our continuing effectiveness."

Zyra continues the tour of the base, which is largely spartan.  A few of the former slaves can be seen working on various maintenance tasks.  After showing the Talons the main areas she leads them into a medium sized room that looks like it used to be a storage area, now converted to a briefing room.  It was now equipped with a dozen chairs around a large table.  A data projector was hung on a wall.  On the table was a pot of caf and a pile of cups.

At the head of the table Mark sat, sipping caf and flicking through a pile of datapads.  Seeing Zyra arrive he put down the pads.  "About time Jax.  I need you to look at these.  I'm a soldier, not a damn accountant.  I'm making you my official bookkeeper.  Keep the money rolling in, and not too much skimming unless I'm getting half alright?"  Mark laughs at his own poor attempt at humour.

He looked to the arrivals.  "Well sit, sit.  There's no general to impress here.  Whilst we're still going to have a hierarchy, things are going to be a little more democratic than you're used to so I want you to come armed with your opinions.  You've all got an equal share in this."

"Firstly I've prepared an organisational structure for the Talons.  This will be your chance to agree or disagree. We're trying to distance ourselves from the Alliance so they are not held accountable for our actions."

"I will retain operational command.  Zyra will remain my XO and will be responsible for our finances and intelligence.  Jamie and Exilim.  You will be my flight leaders.  In my absence, Jamie, you will be in command for space-based operations, Exilim will command on the ground.  Devon will serve as our chief mechanic.  Devon, Darron, Zenna amd Allen; I have yet to determine any specific responsibilities for you.  If you have an idea, let me know.  We have a lot of work that needs doing and not a lot of people to handle it."

"Anyway, our main points of business today are simple.  I need your thoughts, opinions and comments on our courses of action.  We need to rename our cruiser.  Additionally, as we are a smaller group we should consider reallocating our designation numbers."

Devon gravitated toward the caf as soon as he entered the room.  Cup in hand, he listened in silence to Marks little speech and then frowned in thought.

'Back when I used to steal stuff for a living, first thing you always did was set up a secure bolt hole...'  Devon gestured around the room, to indicate the base in general.  'we got a good one of those already.  The NEXT thing you did was work out what to do when the law found out where your safe house was and decided to come visit...  I know we're not stealing speeders or running a chopshop here, but some of the principles are the same:  Sooner or later, someone WILL come after us.  Might be local law enforcement or pirates with a bone to pick... might be Empire if we're really lucky.  It wouldn't hurt to have a plan in place for when that happens.'

back when I used to steal things?? Devon thought to himself  hang on, I still do. Only difference is these days its starfighters, not speeders

Bishop wandered into the conference room, apparently unconcerned he was late.  Scratching at his beard he stepped in and to the side as to not disturb the Commander as he spoke.  He let a bit of a laugh escape as Devon spoke, more of a huff of air than a laugh, but he said nothing as he leaned up against the wall.  Taking stock of those in the room he sighed, some thoughts milling about in his mind.

Allen heard the laugh, and turned toward the source.  Seeing the newcomer, he rose with an exclamation of surprise.  "Loka!  Bishop, wasn't it?  What are you doing here?"

Mark nodded to Bishop and indicated he take a seat.  For those of you who have yet to meet Bishop, he is the latest addition to our little group.  His skills make him a perfect addition to our little band.  He also has a particular dislike for slaving bands.  It was our little 'encounter' recently that caught his attention."

"As to your comments Devon, we shall see little in local law enforcement as we are in a sector not commonly traversed.  It is several hours to the nearest major space lane.  We will not likely see people here unless it is a co-ordinated assault.  If that happens our choices are limited.  We can run or we can fight in here.  It would take incredible sustained firepower to damage this rock.  Only the empire is likely to be able to spare that kind of power for a pirate force.  I can tell you right now that if a Star Destroyer parks itself anywhere in the system, we bug out.

One advantage we have, something you wont have seen on your way in is that we are located within an asteroid field.  As such any ships much larger then a starfighter will have great difficulty getting here without a massive asteroid sweep first.  It took us some time to land our cruiser here and she lost half her shield power in the process."</b>

He looks to Bishop.  "Since you missed the initial briefing let me bring you up to speed on the main points.  I'm looking for a name for our cruiser, we need to reallocate designations.  Additionally I am deciding wether we need to retain a more formal military posture, in which I designate ranks for all of you.  As it is we have a chain of command;  I am in overall command with Zyra as my adjutant.  Jamie and Xil have command of my space and ground forces respectively.  Would people feel more comfortable with a rank structure?"

Daron came into the room and grabbed himself a cup of caf as well. He hadn't been able to catch any sort of rest on the trip here, anxious as he was to find out the direction they would be going now. He took his new drink and found himself a seat and listened as the others talked. Daron thought for a moment about what specific responsibilities he felt he could take care of for the Talons.

"Not particularly." Zenna replied to the Commander. "Ranks, if we use them publicly will only attract notice. Better to just stick with callsigns when necessary and use our normal names or aliases. We're going to have to blend in with the populace from time to time."

"And we can't afford to have someone slip up and use a rank by mistake." Zenna stated.

The young raven haired woman turned and locked eyes with Bishop momentarily.

Having sat down with something hot to drink, Exilim listens to the coversation. "I don't think that official sounding ranks are necessary" he commented "As along as we all know how things stand it should be enough."

"If it took that much effort to get the cruiser in here it appears that we should be safe enough. Sounds like we may need a different place to park her eventually though."

Bishop took pause, sometimes those aliens all looked alike to him, then he remembered, "Allen." as if reassuring himself of the Duros' name.  He cracks a slight grin to one corner of his mouth as he extends his hand, "A guy's got to make a living in this galaxy."

Bishop nods to Sheppard as he's addressed, "Aye sir. Personally in a military or even paramilitary organization I think it's important to establish a rank structure."

He glances over to Zenna, their eyes meeting momentarily as he's speaking with Allen.  A brief recognition flashes across his eyes, but says nothing uncertain if he had heard her name mentioned or not.  Well, at least she was more to look at than Allen.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Fri 29 Feb 2008.

Jamie simply nods to most of the statements, looking a bit like a bobble-head stormtrooper on a smuggler's nav console.
"I've lived in a military environment most of my life; I'd be comfortable with an established structure.  However, I don't think it's really necessary that we have official titles, so long as everyone knows what's what.  Of course, depending on the idea you want people to get, perhaps we should use official ranks anyway."

"It's agreed then.  We wont have the formality of rank provided when we are in situations that warrant it people obey orders.  Were we still in the alliance, Jamie and Exilim would hold ranks of Lieutenant.  So if they give you an order, obey it.  For the most part, I will put decisions to the vote.  However, there will be times I will go against your decisions.  Not too often I trust though."

"As for designations I feel we can leave most people unchanged.  However since there is now only nine of us we will need to reallocate Devon's number for ease.  I thought of leaving him as eleven to make our numbers appear bigger but such deception wont acheive much and I prefer things concise.  This means we have the designations 3,6,7, & 8 for Devon, Zenna, Darron and Bishop.  Feel free to choose your own."

"That, like the new name for our cruiser is something to work out amongst yourselves."

"Now do any of you have any thoughs or recommendations regarding our current situation?  Its all well and good to discuss retreat but with out limited funds and equipment all we could do right now is jump on our cruiser and run.  We need to look at the now.  What priorities do you envisage?  What specialists do we need to try and employ.  Of a more personal interest, how do you want me to work wages?  I've used the prize money system for the cruiser.  If you'd prefer a different system let me know."




2/4/9/11

"One thing we definately need are proper mechanics tools for our ships. We are only as good as the equipment that we fly in, and the tools are what keeps our equipment flying. Now, where could we get some? Well, if we had the funds, we would just buy that stuff. However I don't think we've got the kind of funds to properly refit this asteroid to keep us going fight after fight after fight.

The only other options would be to borrow them, which really isn't an option for us, I don't think, or to steal it. Imperials are the only options for victims that I think we should consider. Intercept a ship enroute with supplies or take them from a planetside base."

He took a sip of his cooling caf to wet his mouth a bit. Daron shifted his position in the chair slightly to face more towards Sheppard.

"It doesn't do us any good to have any of these ships if we can't fix them when they get busted up."

"I agree.  I can tell you the Empire doesn't have enough firepower to keep all it's supply routes safe from pirates.  If we can find a weak link, we would have decent chances of getting away with our cargo holds full, so to speak.  Of course, we'd never be able to hit the same place twice, and they'll step up security around here pretty quick if we hit them two or three times.
"As for staff...who's in charge of these droids?  Are you sure they know what they're doing?  Do we trust them?"
Jamie shook his head hopelessly.
"Solomon.  We could name the ship Solomon.  That's my father's name."

Bishop pipes in, "I'm all for raiding the Imps, but perhaps we shouldn't limit ourselves.  Afterall there are all manner of scum in this galaxy, say, pirates?"  He cracks a slight grin out of the ironic thought that may be only a couple of others in the room might understand.

Kris flashed a smile at Bishop's comment. "Right. Pirates are a good target especially if we hit them after they hit an imperial convoy."

Zenna shook her head in Jamie's direction. "I'm not for sentimental names. I'd rather name the ship the White Knight."

Mark let the discussion continue for a while before intervening.  "The one thing you may not have considered is a question of simple logistics.  We have two starfighters at the moment and thats it.  Our cruiser needs several weeks of work to be ready for duty and so we have no transport capability or heavy guns.  We can't wait for the cruiser to be ready or we'll be out of credits.  As such we're going to have to shelve any supply raids for the moment.  Instead, we're going to take a new angle."

"We're going to start working for the Empire."

Bishop blinks a couple of extra times at Sheppard's last declaration.  Then laughs a little as he commends the Commander, "That's good, oh that's good." nodding his head in approval.  "Why not hide among your enemies?" he asked rhetorically to no one in particular.  He tapped his scruffy chin pensively as if trying to figure out the Commander's exact angle or plan, so he asked, "What exactly did you have in mind, sir?"  This time he full well is expecting a damn good answer.

Jamie almost choked on a breath of air.
"Uh...well, I suppose that could work...but I'll need a real good identity.  A new one, I mean.  If it works, perhaps we can hijack a ship or two?  A supply ship or fighters or a small transport.  I imagine having an Imperial craft could be extremely useful."

Exilim grinned as he looked around. "Infiltration and trying to walk away with goods, again." he pauses and looks around at faces old and new "A relatively soft target would be a good way to start. It will make it easier to get everyone working together, and learn how we complement each other to get hings done."

Mark listens for a few moments as the Talons begin formulating ideas.  It was good they were thinking, this was what the unit had been formed to do.

"Good ideas, but you're on the wrong track.  An Imperial planetary governor who controls the Phindar system has been having pirate troubles.  Obviously he doesn't want to let his superiors he can't deal with this annoyance so he's put out the call for bounty hunters.  Zyra caught on to this through her contacts and we're going in as a private security force of such.  We'll be performing a number of raids for this Moff."

"Not only does this get us close to an Imperial Planetary Governor, which give us the opportunity to potentially access the Imperial Holonet, we can deal with a group of pirates who have been attacking trade routes and murdering civilians.  Best of all, the Moff will pay us hard currency.  Wins all around."

"Of course, we're going to pull the dirty jobs the governor doesn't want to use his army troops on.  He'll probably hope we killed in action so he doesn't have to pay us.  We'll just show him what a group of mercenaries can do."

"Transport will pick us up tomorrow.  We're largely ground-based on this one.  Zyra will serve as our liaison officer."

Mark sat abck in his chair, giving the Talons time to absorb the plans.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:39, Tue 04 Mar 2008.

Daron nodded. The plan made sense. No one knew who the black talons were right now. Answer the call for some mercenary work. Take care of some pirates. Get some cash to fund their operation.

In the end, though, they were making it easier on the Imperial Moff. It was good that they were taking care of this pirate group that was terrorizing trading lanes and killing innocent civilians. But after all was said and done, they were going to make that Moff look good for getting the job done.

Daron waited a few minutes to see what the others thought about it. It wasn't that he thought they shouldn't go on the mission, because he thought it was as good a chance as any to get what they needed for their cause. But there was a slight reservation in the way they were doing it.

"So we play it cool and get to earn some cold hard credits." Zenna stated the obvious. "We'll have to see if Zyra will be able to get us an allowance for supplies. Or at the least, we'll make sure that anything we find off the pirates is confiscated before the Imperials take inventory."

Bishop poses a question related to Zenna's, "Are the 'spoils of war' part of our contract, Zyra?"

Allen slowly considered the conversation.  "Yes, we would need supplies, and more than just weapons."

Sitting back in his chair Exilim considered what Mark had said. Working for the enemy, even though sounding wrong, made a perverse kind of sense.

Noting others had mentioned supplies and 'spoils of war' he decided not to continue down that line. "Will be interesting to see the quality of any intel we get. It may not be the most reliable if the Moff is hoping that he won't have to pay us" the last bit said with a smirk in Marks' direction.

Bishop nods and lets out a small laugh himself at Exilim's comments, adding his own, "I wouldn't put it past those Imp scum to try and waste us after we served our purpose."  He conjectured, "Perhaps we shouldn't do too good of a job."

"On the contrary."  Zyra interjects.  "If this Governor is smart he should be more than glad to pay our fee and not wish to rid himself of us.  A smart man knows that good mercenaries are hard to find and they are loyal as long as they are paid well."

"Still that requires the governor to be smart and us to be good at the mercenary life.  We can't control the actions of the Imperials at this point but we can sure make them want to keep us if we do our job well.  The more they like us, the easier for us to stick the vibroblade to them where it really hurts."

"As for the question of reward, the Commander and I have discussed this already."  Zyra knew Mark wasn't a commander any more but old habits were hard to break.  "We shall all receive a flat five percent of all liquid currency we receive.  The rest of the credits go into the kitty to run this operation.  All equipment gathered will be added to our inventory.  Anyone may use items from the inventory at the discretion of their superior and the quartermaster."

Zyra's face takes on a serious look.  "Remember, the credit situation is MY responsibility.  You will also receive your shares in due course.  When we're on a mission you keep your minds on the job and off the credits.  Any loot acquired is given to me for distribution at a later stage.  We may be playing the role of pirates, but it doesn't mean we are."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:55, Sun 09 Mar 2008.

"I really couldn't see anyone in the Empire, especially a Moff liking someone who succeeded in doing a job that they couldn't, making them look bad. If we are good enough to get the job done when he and his storm troopers couldn't, then I would think they would consider us a threat.

Either way it's probably good for us to watch our backs around the man if we do indeed take the job and complete it. I've not met an Imperial I could really trust, even one that didn't want me dead."

With his caf finished, he set the cup on the table in front of him and continued to listen to the others.

"Lets hope we are working for a smart governor." Exilim said. Turning towards Daron he continued "I don't think that it's a matter of us getting the job done when his own troops couldn't. By the sounds of it, we'll be doing the dirty jobs he doesn't want his troops getting involved in. Hopefully that means the rewards for us will be greater."

Bishop holds his hands up in a submissive surrender gesture, "Whoa lady, I wasn't suggesting we pirate the loot, what I meant was we wouldn't have to return it to the Imps, right?"  He shook his head, he may have appeared to be a scoundrel, but he was either coded with some sort of ethics or he developed some of his own along the way somewhere.

"Lets leave discussions of plunder until we have some people.  Zyra will handle that end of things.  For now, we have missions to prepare for.  The transport will be here tomorrow morning.  There will be an equipment check tonight at 2100.  Be ready.  Some of you have extra work to do.  Jamie, I want you to redesign our flight groups to suit our skills and equipment.  Exilim, I want you to start planning how you want us to work as a ground unit.  There are many roles to fill and limited people.  Devon, a few of the ex-slaves are former mechanics.  Look over our 'fleet' and assign them some work orders."

"The rest of you need to start looking at how you can help run a portion of this business.  For now though prepare your gear.  Examine our weapons cache and see if you need or want anything from it.  I'm also looking for someone to take over the role of quartermaster for us."

"Tomorrow the new, mercenary Black Talons go to their first job."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:35, Mon 10 Mar 2008.

Okay so with the exception of those who have additional duties, people need to check if they want to take anything from the inventory of gear.  If you want to take something for the mission/s, let me know.

"I think I have everything I need, Sir," Jamie replied.
"Now, about the flight groups...what did you have in mind?  Groundside or otherwise?"
Jamie looked at his hand and starting holding up fingers, ticking off Talon members and ships.

Devon looked up and smiled for the first time since Sheppard had said 'working for the empire' - his expression and silence had made it quite clear the shipjacker wasn't exactly in love with the idea...

'I had this feeling you were going to ask me to take over the job of mechanic - so I did my best to prepare.'  He vaguely waved the datapad he was carrying.  'Reading up and stuff.  I'll go see what I got to work with, give my helpers something to do in the meantime and let you know what we're going to need...

It went without saying that the shopping list of parts and equipment needed was going to be substantial...

Shouldering the pack full of his belongings, Devon waved to his squadmates and ambled out of the briefing room, tapping at his datapad...

Having found out where he was supposed to sleep whilst on base and deposited most of his stuff there, Devon rounded up his helpers and headed back down to the hanger to make a start on what he felt sure was going to be a mammoth task...

Zenna checked over the supplies that were logged into the inventory. She felt that her personal gear was adequate for almost any job. But the addition of a few grenades might tip the balance in her favor should the need arose.

She picked out two concussion, four mini-smoke and four mini-stun gas grenades. As she examined the mini-grenades it became clear that the grenade launcher would be necessary. Since nobody else came for the weapon, she stowed it with her other gear.



Edit: Added the grenade launcher to the gear
This message was last edited by the player at 05:35, Wed 19 Mar 2008.

Daron didn't have much that he'd brought with him, a blaster and a stun baton that he'd picked up to use as a club, along with his clothes and some other minor things. He found a place to bunk down, putting his belongings somewhere safe where nothing would get messed with and went to check out the inventory of equipment that had been picked up by the Talons.

He looked over the stuff that the Talons had taken from their last mission. It was pretty good for the small group that they had, especially when you tack on top of that the capital ship and the starfighters that they'd aquired. They didn't seem to have any lighter armor, something that Daron would be able to use. The blaster rifles, though, would come in handy for Daron if they were going to be working on the ground for this next mission. Perhaps a few grenades as well.

"Yes Sir" he replied to Mark after being given his orders.

Getting up from the table he finds an empty space to bunk down, again lamenting the fact that he no longer had the sniper rifle. Once his few belongings were stowed away he quickly checked over the gear that he would probably need for any upcoming missions, deciding that the addition of a couple of concussion grenades wouldn't hurt.

He then got down to the task of working out how they would operate as a ground unit. Going over the number of people at hand to work with, he returns to the briefing room and gets to work.

Bishop made his way back his quarters to run Pre-Combat Checks of his weapons and gear.  He sat down cross-legged on his bunk as he disassembled and gave a quick scrubbing of his blaster carbine.  Once reassembled he felt a bit bored and stowed his gear in the ready before making his way out to find 'something' to do.

The transport arrived the next day on schedule.  It was the same YT-1300 transport who had delivered them the day before.  Once again the pilot made no effort to greet his passengers, staying hidden away in the cockpit.  Instead his Sullustan co-pilot again wordlessly directed the Talons to the cargo bay.  He then left with a single nod to Zyra.

The trip took a good twelve hours during which the Talons were left with free run of the ship.  Mark kept to himself, absorbed in a game of holochess that seemed to move more slowly then a bantha in a mudpit.

Finally the ship arrived at its destination and the group was disembarked.  They were quickly met by in Imperial Army Lieutenant.  He made little effort to introduce himself, clearly unimpressed with having to play chaparone to a group of mercenaries.

An umnmarked transport flew them quickly to a nearby Imperial Garrison.  Several of the Talons could not help but feel apprehensive as the past a platoon of stormtroopers and several groups of general infantry on parade.  The transport flew past quickly and made its way to the far end of the barracks, were a dormitary stood off far to the side.

The Talons were disembarked and left to explore their new 'home'.  Zyra alone remained with the transport as it whisked off again.

Their lodgings clearly had once housed the motor pool.  There was enough bunks to sleep twenty whilst a large open area had once housed equipment to repair and upgrade land vehicles.  At present it had been stripped bare.  A kitchenette contained a standard-issue food dispenser.  All in all the accommodation was sparse but entirely servicable.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:58, Mon 24 Mar 2008.

"They're certainly rolling out the welcome mat aren't they?"  Mark mumbled as he inspected their lodgings.  "Still its servicable.  We can be fully independant from here, with plenty of room for training and equipment."

"Three, Five.  We're unlikely to have much downtime.  Governor's don't pay our sort to watch the holovid.  Might pay to turn that office over there into a briefing room.  Dig up any maps and other relevant info you can."

"Six.  You're our slicer for the forseeable future.  Get on that computer and see what you can dig up.  I doubt it will be much.  Three, seven, I want a full security sweep of this place.  Bugs, cameras and so on.  I want to know what time any patrols swing by, hell if a dog takes a whizz against the wall I want you to measure it!  Start with the briefing room.  What's said in there needs to be for our ears only."

"Two.  I want all our weaponry checked, cleaned and pronounced servicable ASAP.  Get to it people."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Tue 25 Mar 2008.

Zyra took her place at the lecturn of the briefing room and waited for everyone to arrive and make themselves comfortable.  Then she began her briefing.

"Well I've spent the last hour or so receiving our first 'official briefing' from a Major Terell.  The Major is an adjutant to the planetary governor and is apparently charged with dealing with the problem we've been hired to solve."

"In short the governor has problems with a rebellion.  Supply raids, bombings, riots, and racketeering.  This pirate group or groups have been getting increasingly brazen in their attacks recently.  They've even hit a few small military convoys."

"Reading between the lines it seems the Governor has backed himself into a corner.  He'd told the local Moff that he'd dealt with the situation nearly a month ago.  In truth his stormtroopers raided and destroyed a suspected rebel outpost.  The place had been booby-trapped with explosives and he lost over half his stormtroopers in the explosion.  Assuming the rebels had cut and run, the governor reported his men had died in battle, destroying the pirates.  He didn't want to admit he lost dozens of stormtroopers due to poor planning."

"Which brings us to our job.  We will perform a number of strike missions which will be given to us on a 'need to know' basis.  Their intel is poor at best.  For now, we've got convoy duty.  A convoy of ground transports is heading out from here tomorrow to one of the western provinces.  Its a six hour trip through some barren country.  Risk of a strike is considered moderate.  As of now we're the official escort.  Sounds like there will be approximately a dozen vehicles carrying a mix of cargo.  I'm assured there's no munitions on board but they wont tell me the cargo."

"Our planned route will have us travelling through built up areas for an hour or two.  Then between there and our destination, most of it is open road with only two or three small towns to break up the monotony."

"We haven't been given much to work with.  Wether they're deliberately keeping us in the dark or they couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag is anyone's guess.  A bit of both I'll wager."

"Convoy duty." Mark echoed.  "How positively thrilling.  Nothing like playing glorified chaparones to a bunch of cargo hauler drivers waiting for someone to drop the hammer on you in a place of their choosing."

"Four, ground ops is your field.  I'm a throttle jockey not a ground-pounder.  How do we run this?  I know several of you have land operations experience so lets hear it.  I'm too used to working in three dimensions, not two."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:53, Wed 26 Mar 2008.

Not a great deal of information Exilim thought to himself. Turning to Zyra he asked "Is it possible to find out how many other guards there will be besides us....or is it just us for the dozen vehicles? Also any details on whether they have used this route before and likely ambush sites, barren doesn't mean we are going to get a clear view if anyone comes at us."

He went back to looking at the mission from a worst case scenario....they really needed more people.

"We're it." Zyra confirmed.  "Normally they'd only supply a handful of guards to such a convoy so we're considered more than sufficient for the job."

"As to ambush points I was hoping you would tell me.  I'm assuming nobody would be foolish enough to attack us in the first or last leg of our journey as we'd be in metropolitan areas were local law enforcement can respond quickly.  The small towns enroute would surely still run the risk of someone calling the authorities.  Surely the logical place to site an ambush is in the barren areas.  Its largely plains and desert from the maps."

"I think the route is the one they normally use.  Its the only good land access.  It's not easy to run cargo haulers around back roads."

"So then if these pirates will only be expecting a handfull of guards on this trip, perhaps we should conceal our numbers. Hide half of us or so inside the trucks we are transporting, that way when they open them up to steal the supplies, they've got a suprise?"

It seemed like an interesting job for them to be doing, going in place of the governors storm troopers so that they could die instead of the imperials. It left a bitter taste in Daron's mouth to have a bulls-eye put on his back so that a storm trooper could live and a governor could stay in power.

Devon - who had slept through most the journey - shook his head at this one.

'nah.. if they get to the point where they're opening the trucks.. it means they already dealt with any guards.  Which means half of us are either captured or dead...  hide people, sure - I just don't reckon we should wait for them to open the trucks.'

He covered his mouth and yawned  'Spent too long going over those ships - not enough sleep...' he mumbled, then perked up slightly - 'reckon we could make an inside contact with the pirates?  The extra intel wouldn't hurt...'

"Lets have a look at these maps before we talk of concealing ourselves. With the little information at hand, we will probably need some scouts out ahead of us in the barren areas anyway as the maps can only give us a rough idea of ambush sites. That means our numbers with the transports will be down a little already."

Exilim smiled grimly to himself.......it was always more fun setting up the ambush rather than walking into it

Flash did everything he was supposed to(in case there was any doubt).

He mostly left the planning up to the others, those who had experience.  Ground was not his territory.  Space and computers for him, but when it came to hills and bushes, he left it to the experts, and did what he was told.  As a result, he didn't have any input of his own, but stayed back and watched, learning, gathering information that might be useful later.

"Then we use a feint," Daron explained. "We're just mercenaries after all. We don't get paid if we don't live. When it gets too hot, the exterior group falls back, leaving the transports "alone". When the raiders go to open up the trucks, they find themselves staring down the barrel of a blaster rifle and then the first group returns and the raiders are pinned between both groups with nowhere to go."

Allen speaks up.  "I'm no expert on ground tactics, but in space, you generally try to keep the enemy off your ship for as long as possible."

Bishop went about stowing his meager gear and checking his equipment and weapons before the briefing.

At the briefing Bishop chuckled to himself when the ground was referred to as two-dimensional, he muttered mostly to himself, "Always a 3D battlefield."  He leaned back in his chair and listened to the others formulating a plan.  He posed a question, "How good is our intel?  Could this pirate group be an Alliance cell?  And if it is, I think the idea of making an inside contact may be a good idea."  He grimaced slightly at the plan of squeezing the pirates in a crossfire, that took precision and a lot of trust, which he thought just wasn't all there yet.

"It would be a good idea to establish contact with these guys.  We hear they're the scum of the galaxy, but hey, we are too!  If they don't know we're here to end their rebellion, contact could be extremely useful; we could play holochess from both sides of the console, so to speak.  Trouble is, how do we contact them?
"We have no idea what kind of resources these people have.  They could be sophisticated, with attack vehicles and snipers or they could be charging with stun batons.  All we know is that they aren't stupid; they've evaded the Imperials this long and they're on their toes.  It could be that they have and inside informer and they already know we're coming.
"Any resources that are not present at the moment of ambush will likely be useless.  An ambush like this requires a quick-in, quick-out plan.  We won't have time to think and they have the initiative.  Once we know what's going on it will probably be too late.  If we're doing our job, we'll likely be killed.
"These people could be prepared for anything and everything, so we should give them what they won't expect:"
Jamie looked around expectantly.
"Nothing.  Anyway, that's my idea.  We watch them, study them, and, when they're finished, we track them."

Bishop raises a finger as to motion a point, "It's also possible this convoy is total bantha-poo and they Imps are just using us to draw out the 'pirate' forces, or could be an integrity test for us." emphasizing 'pirate' with air quotes.

Zenna had take a seat next to the computer terminal. She was silent for the most part as she ran several procedures. She started by checking for spyware before she began a few inquiries of her own.

As she waited for the results, she turned from the terminal to respond to the ideas that were being thrown out. "So it sounds like there's two ideas."

"One - repel the ambushers."

"Two - let the ambushers take the convoy."

Zenna smiled as she stated the two basic ideas. "Why not let the pirates take the convoy. We'll have to implant several homing beacons so we can track the shipment after they take the cargo. Then we can plan an attack of our own. One of our choosing."

"I'm not sure the tracking idea is going to work Zenna.  I mean the first thing we did when arriving here was scan for bugs.  If you lifted a convoy wouldn't you immediately begin scanning it for tracking devices?  Besides, I doubt the Imperials are going to just merrily let us hand over the convoy to the pirates."

Leaning over to Zyra he says with a grin.  "With all this planning they'd better attack us.  It's going to be a dull trip otherwise."

"The Imperials won't stop us if they don't know," Jamie put in.  "We go with the convoy and tell them we're controlling the perimeter.  Basically, we keep our distance and watch.  If we use a tracking device, it would have to be remotely activated, say, one hour after they take the convoy.
"But that's not exactly what I had in mind.  I meant we could follow them.  Then we either strike some sort of bargain with the pirates, should they be the kind of allies we're looking for, or we give the Imperials the location of the rebel hideout.  Now, it's quite possible they won't run straight back to their home base, so we may have to shadow them for a while before we learn where they operate.  I don't know what the Imperials do, but back on Corellia the security forces used this tactic all the time to catch bands of undesirables."

Zyra frowned.  "It's up to the Commander of course but I can't say I approve of in any way risking the convoy unless we have a very good reason.  We are trying to develop a reputation as a reliable mercenary force.  Handing over the convoy we were ordered to protect is not going to inspire future employers to think of the Black Talons.  I know we'd be betraying Imperials but people will still associate us with betrayal of their employer."

She paused and let out a sigh.  "And as bad as it sounds, we need the credits.  You don't realise how much money we owe and how many favours I've called in to keep us going.  Just arranging discrete transport to and from our base cost us thousands of credits.  Now we chose to work for the Imperials and I think we need to maintain some degree of loyalty to them.  I'll grant we plan to turn on them eventually, but I recommend we do it once we've left their employment."

"I recommend we try to learn more about these pirates before we consider attempting a meeting.  I'll put some feelers out and see what I can learn.  Of course we're a democray now so I can't enforce anything.  But since I'm responsible for finances and intelligence these are my financial and intelligence recommendations."

"Can't argue to much with that logic I think" Exilim says looking at Zyra. "We need to establish a good reputation before we start playing around. If we are in that much in debt, it also makes more sense to be employable" he continued.

Pausing for a moment "In terms of protecting the conoy, well, it's not going to be all that easy. Zyra has already stated that it will be just us out there guarding it. The barren area's will provide heaps of opportunity to trap or ambush us, and contrary to previous claims that ground based stuff is two dimensional, well....it's not." pausing again he takes a deep breath before continuing "Bear in mind that these pirates may attack us from the air, or even from under the road if they have planted mines or remotely activated explosives." he looks around the table as he finishes his statement.

Mark shrugs.  "It's the joy of convoy duty.  You have to react instead of be proactive.  I always hated space based convoy duty.  In the end you can only try to guess where your enemy might strike and stay alert for when he does.  Try to counter every possible ambush in your head and you'll blow a gasket."

"It's not entirely impossible to pick the battle field in this situation. Present them with a tempting offer and let them come to us when we're ready," he shrugged as he offered another solution for the group. He wasn't entirely sure anyone would think the idea was good or that there was anything they could really do but wait to be attacked. Daron just wanted to make sure that other things were thought about at least.

He waited to see what everyone thought of the idea before elaborating further.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:32, Wed 02 Apr 2008.

"How do we do that Daron?  It wouldn't take a slicer much effort to learn the convoy's route and time of departure.  They're not going to let us change the departure time and the driver's know the route and would need to be 'convinced' to change it.  The Imperials are sticklers for routine, what military garrison isn't?"

"I'm no tactician but it seems that any ambsuher has the luxury of choice.  How do we make them play on our shockball court?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:00, Wed 02 Apr 2008.

Devon stared at the ceiling for a moment, frowning.
'Reinforcements nearby in speeders - turn the ambushers into ambushees? Once they commit to attacking the convoy, the convoy guards call in the reinforcements - leave the ambushers caught between the convoys guns and armed speeders...'

Allen feels obliged to point out a flaw in thee plan.  "That sounds great, but... Where are these speeders again?"

Zyra blushed.  "I should have mentioned the logistics at our disposal.  I neglected to mention we will have an entire XP-38 speeder at our disposal!  How generous are our employers?  A whole, entire civilian landspeeder to defend a convoy they claim is at 'moderate risk' of attack!"


"We have to escort six cargo haulers over nearly a thousand kilometres.  Apparently the haulers can travel at around one hundred and fifty kilometres per hour.  None of these vehicles are armed or armoured.  The trucks come with a driver and fuel.  We're expected to supply the rest.  I negotiated a better contract by saying we'd supply our own weaponry.  I assumed our gear would be better then the outdated-surplus gear they would undoubtedly supplied us with."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:54, Thu 03 Apr 2008.

"If they can find out the route that we are going to be on, then I would assume that so can we. We just pick the most adventageous point for ourselves and present them with a situation too tempting to pass up. As an example, we could rig a breakdown or mishap on one of the convoy trucks, forcing us to stop to fix it. That turns us from a high speed chase to sitting ducks."

Well you'll need to find it fast.  The convoy leaves at 0600 tomorrow.  No sleep in for any of you it seems!

Ping

Zenna smiled as she leaned back from the computer console. "Looks like I've a good idea of what we're shipping tomorrow."

"There's enough munitions to stock a small army. Weapons, mines, anti-air material. This definately a shipment that will attract attention."

Zenna turned back to the computer to check on another idea she had.

Bishop shrugs, "If we're talking about building a reputation we better just get this convoy through without giving anything up.  If it turns out these pirates are Alliance, well then that's the unfortunate side of playing both sides of the coin."  Bishop is beginning to feel a bit frustrated and crosses his arms shaking his head.

"Interesting idea about trying to pick where we want them to attack us, don't know that it will work though, as unless they are watching the entire route we can't be sure that were we stop they'll be close by."

He looks around the table "What we need to work out is how to make best use of what we have to get to our destination. The speeder can be either used for scouting ahead or as an extended perimeter around the convoy. There are nine of us to spread around this convoy to cover all angles. Any idea's on how to best achieve this?"

"We could always try to rent another speeder or two for the day, if we'll need them.  If we want a breakdown, I can mix up a small one and rig it to blow when we're ready for it."

"Actually there's eight" Zyra corrects Exilim.  "I'm liaison on this one so I need to remain here.  I'll use the time to dig up what information I can on the pirates."

"In regards to your point Bishop, we are highly unlikely to see any PHA in this sector.  When choosing a place for our business the Commander and I deliberately chose an area far from their theatre of operations.  We wanted to avoid the very risk you described.  But of course just because they aren't members of the Alliance doesn't mean they can't be allies.  I shall work on that."

"Jamie, our budget doesn't really have room for renting a speeder.  Well it does provided you don't damage it.  We are really walking a monofilament edge here.  Any expenditure has to be essential.  Honestly at the moment I'm uncertain we have the credits to return to our base when we're done."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:52, Sat 05 Apr 2008.

"Then we'd better do a good job." Zenna replied to Zyra's comment on funds. "It's tasteless work that we're doing, but we'd better do a damn good job at it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:02, Sun 06 Apr 2008.

Mark looks directly at Xil.  "Let me offer some advice as someone who has both escorted and ambushed space convoys.  I know that's not what we're doing but the principles are the same."

"First, everyone is running on the assumption we will definitely get hit.  Whilst its good to treat any escort like its going to get jumped you can over prepare.  If the Imperials were 100% certain of ambush they'd not be sending some mercs they just hired."

"Second, I'm not sure of the logic of preparing an 'enticing target' by mimicking a breakdown.  When I set an ambush I choose the site ahead and rarely deviate.  If the target bypasses the site or the circumstances change then I call off the ambush until the next trip.  To me, changing a planned ambush takes away your advantage."

"Now Zyra is telling us we can't afford anything else so we're going to use what we're given.  Looks like we have six trucks with drivers and one speeder.  We have all our own munitions.  Unless there's a good reason to acquire more I'm hesitant to release more funds."

"We need to plan on the assumption the Imperials wont change their convoy plans based on our recommendations.  If we have any we'll have Zyra approach them but we all know how hard nosed most Imperials are."

"Of course my assumptions are based on space warfare and my own tactics.  We don't know enough about the enemy to predict him.  Lets just not over or underestimate them.  They may prepare an elaborate trap or they might not show at all."

"Tasteless yes, but with benefits more than just financial.  While we're working for the Imperials we have a wonderful opportunity to get to learn their techniques, plans and movements.  If we earn favour with planetary governor we can do much more damage to them when we want to.  It's about helping them on a small scale in order to hurt them on a much larger one."

"We need to be so good at what we do that whenever the governor needs a job done, they call on us.  It allows us to make him dance to our tune.  Then when we do slip the vibroblade in we can make it really hurt."

Looking at both Mark and Zyra "Your both right." Damn, I should have stopped this earlier he thinks, reminding himself that he was given leadership of ground ops.

He takes a moment and then looks around the table "Lets drop the talk of a counter ambush as it's not getting us anywhere. As pointed out, if we get hit, it will  more than likely be a place of their choosing and probably set up well in advance. We stay alert and respond to any assault if it happens." pausing briefly he continues "You'll be given your positions in the convoy shortly. By the way, anyone happen to bring a heavy or light repeater with them?

Mark shakes his head.  "No.  I just have my standard issue blaster pistol and rifle.  That's why ground ops are your responsibility.  I hoped you packed sufficient munitions."

Allen frowned(or about as close to it as a Duros can get).  "No, they kept the heavy repeater I grabbed.  Although I did manage to get an X-45."

"X-45 huh?  Well I'm sure Xil would love to borrow that from you when we're doing any work involving a sniper.  However, for a convoy escort I'd recommend you leave that at home.  Its too delicate a weapon for convoy duty."

Allen considers this statement a moment, and the possibilities, and suggest, "One could have an X-45 on the speeder a short distance from the convoy, so if and when it does get jumped, we either have advance warning, or an advantage, an ambush for the ambushers, so to speak."

"If I were ambushing a convoy and they had a landspeeder with mercenaries in it, I'd hit it with a rocket launcher or a blaster cannon." He shrugs. He definately hoped he didn't pull duty in the landspeeder.

"Well in that case I don't think I'll volunteer for a position on the speeder!  I don't feel like being barbequed on our first independant run."

"I took the grenade launcher." Zenna said as she swiveled in her chair. "Though I normally pack a rifle along with my sidearm."

"If anyone thinks that they could better use the launcher, let me know. I'll make sure that our quartermaster knows that you'll be using it. Bishop, I recall you being handy with a larger gun. Do you want it?"

"It might prove wise to wait until Exilim assigns roles to the team before assigning weaponry."

Bishop knew his business, but for the time being kept his mouth shut and just shrugged.  He nodded to Zenna, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I guess we'll figure that out."  He added, "Soon, I hope."

Allen reluctantly recalled an important fact of his new toy.  "Actually, I'm working on modifying the X-45, and I don't think it'll be ready for use by tomorrow, so that's out.  I'll be wanting another gun, the best I have is my pistol."

"I've got an extra rifle; you can use it," Jamie offered to Flash.
"Swing by my bunk after the meeting and I'll hook you up.  It looks like it's in decent condition, but I haven't used it yet, so you should check it."

"I've numbered the trucks in the convoy from one at the front, to six at the back. Assignments in that order are Mark, Daron, Zenna, Bishop, Devon, Jamie. That leaves Flash to drive the speeder and me to go with him" he grins quickly at Daron before continuing "In the built up areas we will probably be in single file, out in the barrens we will have to see what the road is like. Being strung out in single file doesn't really sit that well with me when we are that exposed. Flash, we are to  scout ahead looking for obstacles or places that just don't feel right. Just don't get us so far ahead that we can't get back quickly to help if needed."


"If we are brought to a stop we can assume that we will be surrounded. If that happens we will circle the wagons so to speak giving ourselves the best chance to cover all sides. Plans may change on the fly so be ready to act."

"Questions, suggestions?"

Mark nods to Xil.  "Sounds like a good spread of our forces.  I would recommend that you and Flash have the heaviest weaponry.  Say two rifles and the grenade launcher.  No matter where trouble hits, you two are most likely to be there and put the items to good use."

Daron let the plans given by Exilim unfold in his mind, where everyone would be, what kind of roles they would fill, and he found that he didn't have anything that he could add right now.

"Well since there seems to be no objections then we will adjourn this meeting so people can prepare and grab some sleep.  If you need more weaponry then your personal gear then discuss it amongst yourselves.  If anyone wants to borrow my blaster rifle they are welcome.  I prefer my heavy carbine."


OOC:  I'll be pushing forward with the mission shortly.  So if you want to borrow a weapon from someone do so quickly or you I'll go with people's personal gear.  I know Flash is borrowing one of Jamie's rifles.  The issue of the grenade launcher is up to Xil.  Otherwise we are good to go.

Wont you just hate me if nothing happens on the run?

Next Morning

The cargo haulers were assembled and ready to depart on time.  The XP-38 was ready as promised and there was little fanfare as the Talons arrived at the convoy.

Mark looked around the team.  "Now, four has operational command on this run but I want to say a few things.  Keep your radios on tac comm 1.  Nine will be on tac comm 2 should we need her support at all.  We use numbers only, no names.  If three gives an order I expect you to obey it.  I want sitreps every fifteen minutes and I shall report our status to nine hourly.  Now lets get this babysitting done."

The Talons moved to their respective vehicles and quickly moved out.  The drivers of the cargo haulers were all private soldiers in the Imperial Army and seemed to take having a mercenary escort in their stride.

The first few hours of the trip was largely uneventful.  After leaving the city, they passed through wide open country for hundreds of kilometres.  Jamie and Flash continually ducked forward and back in their landspeeder vigilantly, but soon they began to relax a little.

Halfway through the trip the convoy passed through a small town where there was barely a local to be seen.  Not needing to refuel the convoy drove through quickly and hit the open road again.  A further hundred kilometres down the road, the first item of interest occured.  A trail of smoke could be seen rising in the air.  It was a good 20 kilometres away and over a small hill, making it impossible to determine the source.  Whatever it was something was burning fiercely and it looked like the convoy would have to pass right by it in a few minutes.


OOC:  All Talons can see the smoke as its quite significant.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:11, Wed 16 Apr 2008.

Noticing the smoke off in the distance Exilim refocused his drifting concentration. Turning to Flash "Trouble in the distance, let's pull ahead quickly to check it out. Stop us about 5km from whatever is burning." Getting on the groups secure comms "Four here, Two and I are going a little further ahead to check out the smoke, slow to 60kph and hold that speed until we've had a chance to see whats going on up there."

After cresting the rise Xil will pull out his macrobinoculars and survey the area ahead as best he can.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:03, Wed 16 Apr 2008.

"Roger that four, reducing speed.  Convoy this is one, slow down before you pile into the back of me.  Two and four are going to have a looksie.  Keep your eyes open everyone."

Switching over to the channel he was using for his hourly status reports he contacted Zyra.  "Nine, this is one.  We are slowing down so four can investigate a smoke plume about twenty kilometres ahead.  Our co-ordinates are as follows.  Will keep you apprised, emergency services may be required."

Mark blurted off the convoy's current position and then waited for four to report.  He found himself reflexively gripping his blaster carbine.  Was this trouble, or just a simple distraction?

Attention: Xil & Flash

Driving about 10km ahead, Xil and Flash crested the hill and were able to see the source of the smoke.  It was coming from the road ahead and looked like some sort of speeder accident.  Closing to 5km it was hard to make out detail but it looked like a large vehicle had burst into flames.  Judging from the size of the fire, the speeder had been carrying something volatile, possibly a fuel truck.

From five kilometres it was hard to make out a lot of fine detail but there seemed to be at least two smaller vehicles on fire as well.  No people were evident.  They had either fled, were hiding or were still in the vehicles.


OOC:  The scene is an inferno.  If anyone is still in their vehicles they are long dead.  From five kilometres you can't make out much more.

Concerned that there may be people hurt Exilim kept in the back of his mind that it could be an elaborate set up for an ambush. "Four here, it appears we have some sort of accident ahead, I can make out one large and two smaller vehicles on fire" he reported on the groups comm "Two and I are going in for a closer look, slow to 40 kph to give us more time. Will report shortly" he continued.

"Ok, take us in to about 2 km out from the accident, keep your eyes open for anything suspicious. We have to make a call on this pretty quickly." he told Flash.

As they get closer to the accident scene Exilim will also scan the surrounding area.

"Yes sir," Flash replied, and brought the speeder in for a closer look.  When he got to 2km, he turned and began to circle around it to get a different angle.

As the speeder closed, the carnage become more apparent.  The larger vehicle had clearly been burning for some time now but the liquids it had spilled was still burning fiercely.  The other vehicles seemed to be not so badly burned, though they were well beyond salvaging.  The scene looked like some sort of horrific smash.  Still, something in the back of Xil's mind told him there was more to it.

Closing to two kilometres, Xil surveyed the entire landscape through his macrobinoculars with the skill and patience of a veteran sniper.  His efforts paid off as he spotted several burned pockmarks off to one side of the road.  A casual observor may have ignored them but being a pilot, Xil had a suspicion to the nature of this hole.

Searching the landscape he quickly found more of the holes and his suspicions were confirmed.  The holes were laser scoring.  These vehicles had not crashed but rather were the victim of a strafing run from some airborne vehicle.

"Understood, slowing to forty." he nodded to the driver to slow the cargo hauler down.

"Five, this is one.  Keep an eye on our tail.  If there is trouble ahead we don't want some civilian barrelling into it."

Talon 3 rode shotgun in his truck in the convoy, rifle held ready with an eye towards the rising smoke up ahead. The front seat of a convoy truck was cramped like the cockpit of a starfighter, but it just wasn't the same. There was no control stick in his hand and he didn't have twin laser cannons at his disposal to wipe out an enemy. Perhaps he should have volunteered to ride in the landspeeder, as suicidal as that seemed.

A shiver went down his spine as he surveyed the scene and deduced what had happened "Keep us moving closer, but be ready to get out of here at top speed if we need to. They got hit from the air, keep your eyes and ears open for anything that could be airborne" he said to Flash

"Four reporting. This group were hit from the air, there is laser scoring all over the place." he said over the comm to the convoy behind them "Keep an eye above you as well, we may be in for a surprise. Increase your speed back up to 60 kph, it should give Two and I enough time to continue our survey. Be prepared to scatter if we get airborne company."

As Flash brings them closer Exilim will try to pick out more details and look for survivours while also remembering to look up to the sky and search for danger.

Flash moved in closer, ready to turn the speeder around at a moment's notice.  He kept an eye out as well as he moved around.

Sat in his designated truck, Devon listened intently to the comms from the landspeeder.

Great he thought to himself they're airborne now.  Frowning, Devon kept a wary eye on the skies, expecting to see an incoming bogey any moment now...

I should of stayed in bed...

The convoy came back up to speed as Flash and Xil approached the crash site.  With Flash keeping the speeder running, Xil cautiously got out of the speeder and began to search the area.

The scene was pure chaos.  The flames still burned fiercely, the laser scoring on the road and the vehicles plainly clear at close range.  As he examined the vehicles it became clear from the degree of destruction that the fuel truck was destroyed first and the two other speeders were destroyed later.  There was no sign of survivors nearby.  It was likely the driver perished in their vehicles.  Xil didn't feel inspired to check as anyone in the vehicles would have long perished.

Realising nothing could be done, Xil moved back to his speeder.  As he did, the sounds of the convoy approaching was heard.  It was quickly drowned out by the whine of two engines powering to the west.  Turning to look, Xil saw two craft rising above a crestline.  Using his macrobinoculars, Xil quickly recognised them as T-16 Skyhoppers.  The craft were common recreational vehicles but there was nothing friendly about the heavy repeating blaster mounted on each one.  The carnage around him was testament to their effiency.

The two T-16's, having cleared the crest began accelerating.  One flew at the speeder whilst the other banked off, presumedly to strike the convoy that was even now come into view.


OOC:  Time for fun!  Its combat time.  The T-16 is about 500m away from the speeder and closing fast.  The second T-16 is viewable by the convoy as a small, rapidly approaching blip in the sky.  Only Xil has so far identified the model and their armament.

A succesful spot check of 20/30 will allow you to identify the craft model/armament (anyone with electrobinoculars/macrobinoculars can take the bonuses listed in the RCRB.

Even if you can't identify them this round, you will all know them intimately VERY soon!
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:47, Thu 17 Apr 2008.

Zenna sat in the cab of the truck with the grenade launcher in hand. She listened to the chatter over the comm as she peered out the window. Nothing.

She pulled out her macrobinoculars as the flying craft came into view. It took a few seconds to get the small craft into focus.

With her eyes glued to the approaching Skyhopper, Zenna keyed her comlink. "Six here. We've a T-16 on a fast approach vector. It's armed with a heavy repeating blaster. Repeat, heavy repeating blaster."

"Four, how do you want us to run this?"

Zenna flipped up the macrobinoculars as she waited for a reply. She began to scan the immediate area for some cover, any cover, that might give some protection from the incoming T-16.

"Recommend we speed up and stagger our trucks. We don't want to be in one single line and give them an easy straffing line of attack. Six out."

Scrambling into the speeder, Exilim with adrenaline surging, yells to Flash "Get us out of here"

Quickly switching to the Talons comms "Four here, inbound T-16's from the west, armed with heavy repeaters. One heading your way, we have the other. Accelerate to max speed, staggered formation, evasive action as it closes."

Turning back to Flash as he readied his blaster rifle "Find us some cover so we can try take this thing down" While keeping an eye on the T-16 and firing at it randomly, he will also try to spot somewhere that provides enough cover to try taking it out.

"Yes sir," the Duros replied, and sped up as fast as he could away from the T-16.  As he went, he looked around the barren desert for anything that would provide cover, lacking trees, a sufficiently large dune.

"T-16's" he muttered to himself.  "Fantastic, we're gonna get blasted by a pair of kid's toys."

He prepared his carbine, wishing he'd kept his rifle instad of giving it to Devon.

"One to convoy, prepare for incoming fire.  Remember what we're carrying here.  A hit on the cargo will be very hazardous to your health."

Zenna loaded a frag grenade into the launcher. She turned to the driver, "You've got two options. Drive fast and evade the T-16 that's coming after us." Zenna maneuvered to climb half-way out the window on her side of the cab. She braced herself with her legs and feet in order to keep her balance. "The second option isn't one I want to entertain. When we get through this, I'll buy you a drink."

He took his window down on his side of the truck. It was just what he wanted, to ride passenger in a truck filled with munitions while being shot at by skyhoppers. Daron leaned out the window with his blaster rifle, flipping the safety off. Would his rifle even do anything against these? He seriously doubted it, unless he could get a shot through the front viewport.

"Perfect day," Jamie said, looked around the truck for advantages: handholds, viewports, openings through which he could shoot...even the possibility of climbing outside to fight.
Looking at his munitions and other equipment he judged his options.

(ooc: how fast are the T-16s moving?)

Flash slams the speeder into a sideways drift as he swing off the road, aiming for a small dip in the countryside off to the west.  The maneuver throws the gunner off his aim, his repeater blasting large holes in the concrete before the Skyhopper gains altitude in a blur.  It's clear the pilot is moving at full speed.  Flash slams the speeders accelerator to the max as he tries desperately to gain some cover as the T-16 spins back around.  Repeater fire bursts all around them, one bolt slamming square into the rear of the speeder, missing the crew by less then a metre.  The engine, damaged beyond repair sputters, dies and begins to burn as the speeder continues to drift.

As the convoy begins to spread and scatter, the other T-16 continues to approach menacingly.  At the rate of closure the trucks will likely be under fire in around 30 seconds.


OOC: A lucky shot on the T-16's part has trashed your command speeder (guess you all should have listened to Daron after all!!!).  The speeder is on fire and will likely explode if you can't put the fire out.  Flash and Xil are unhurt.

The convoy has around 4-5 combat rounds (at most) before its under fire. 
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:16, Sun 20 Apr 2008.

Jolted by the blaster fire hitting the speeder Exilim begins swearing profusely as he turns to survey the damage. Seeing the engine begin to burn he quickly considers their options. Turning back to Flash he says"You Ok?" without waiting for a response he starts collecting his equipment and looking to see what they had on hand to extinguish the flames "Get your gear together, if we can't get this fire out we need to get away from here as fast as we can."

"Four here, we've been hit, the speeder is out of action. Two and I are ok at the moment" he said quickly over the groups comm before getting back to the task at hand.

If there is nothing with which to extinguish the flames, Xil will get Flash out of the speeder and hopefully far enough away to avoid injury when the engine explodes.

Zenna heard the chatter over the comlink. It wasn't good.

"Four, what are your orders. Do you want us to circle the wagons as planned?" Zenna began to scan the surrounding area for any sort of cover.

Mark let out an audible sigh of relief when he heard Xil's report.  Being in front he'd seen the blaster fire connect with the speeder and had worried he'd lost two Talon's in one hit.  Xil and Flash were still in the game.  Sort of.

Ignoring local comms for a moment, Mark switched channels to the one he'd set up with Zyra.

"Niner this is one.  We are under aerial attack.  Two armed airspeeders are attacking the convoy.  Command speeder hit.  Need immediate air support over."

He looked over to his driver.  "Don't drive in a straight line or in any pattern.  Random speed and direction changes to throw off their aim.  Only drive steady when they're practically overhead so I can try and hit 'em with my popgun here."

Hearing Zenna over the comm, Xil replied quickly. "Four here, do not stop moving, get your drivers to drive as evasively as possible. You stop you, become an easy target."

"Understood one.  I'll see what I can do.  Nine out."

Zyra immediately contacts her Imperial liaison in an attempt to acquire some air support for the convoy.

Unable to find anything with which to put out the flames in the back, Xil made the decision to abandon the speeder.  As the speeder continued to slow, he and Flash dove out onto the grass, rolling to soften the impact.  The speeder kept rolling on under its own momentum.  The T-16 swooped around for the kill but it proved unnecessary.  About 10 seconds after they bailed out, the speeder exploded in an impressive fireball.

Xil and Flash began running for the rock outcropping they had been aiming for with the speeder.  At nearly a hundred metres away there was no way they could reach it before the T-16 was upon them.  The pair kept running, hoping the speeder was a bad shot.

The T-16 however did not open fire.  Seeing the speeder explode, it veered off, chasing its comrade.  Clearly the aggressors were more interested in destroying vehicles then shooting at the drivers.

The convoy began spreading out in anticipation of attack from the first T-16.  Driving off-road was possible due to the relatively flat landscape but it did make the ride a lot bumpier as the repulsor units were clearly not designed for rough terrain.

Each of the Talons prepared their weapons and took aim at the airspeeder by either opening the window or hanging partially out the door.  Being left-handed and in the right hand seat, Mark was less subtle and smashed the windscreen in front of him with the butt of his carbine.

The T-16 came in hot, taking only 15 seconds to close to weapons range.  Wasting no time, the T-16 began opening fire at the trucks.


OOC:  Time for combat (yay say all).  The fighter will pass over the entire convoy in the next round.  So while he's not quite in weapons range of everyone yet, he will be in a minute.

I should point out that T-16's are designed to be mega fast and agile.  They're a stunt plane, not a starfighter.  So they have minimal hull points and no armour.  Whilst shooting at an airspeeder is very difficult you do have a chance.  Your weapons will do damage if they hit.

Since combat is starting I wanted to give everyone a chance to post.  In combat I aim for 2-3 day turnaround on posts max.  You don't post then you will be limited in what you do.

Best of luck.


PERSONNEL
All Talons - Uninjured
All Drivers - Uninjured

VEHICLES
All Trucks - Undamaged
T-16 Alpha - Unamaged
T-16 Beta - Undamaged
Command Speeder - Destroyed

Leaning out the side of his vehicle with his rifle in hand, he urges his driver to drive as evasively as possible.

"Look man, if we get shot, we're toast, so don't get us shot and I'll try to get that thing to stop shooting at us," he said to his driver and returned his attention to the skyhoppers coming their way. He wasn't familiar with the model, but he seriously doubted that they had shields. They were just landspeeders basically. Perhaps their repulser engines were vulnerable to rifle shot. In the future, they should invest in ion rifles.

"One, this is Nine.  Major Terell is contacting space command and having them scramble fighters.  Hang in there."

When no enemy fire came down around them Exilim slowed down and had a look behind them. Seeing the T-16 heading back to the convoy a plan started to form in his mind.

"Four to all Talons, you now have the second T-16 heading your way." Turning around to get his bearings right he continued "Approximately 100 m from our burning speeder there is a rock outcropping, Two and I can take cover there. If the T-16's can be led in our direction we might be able to surprise them, get a lucky shot and bring at least one down."

He then started sprinting after Flash again, pushing himself to get to the outcropping as fast as he could.

Jamie opened his window as he pointed away from the rest of the convoy.  "Drive that way," he said, "But don't be too erratic."
Jamie then sat himself in the window and hooked his feet around his seat to keep from falling.  Leaning out, he readied his rifle to take a few shots at the incoming Skyhopper as soon as it is within a decent range.

OOC: Thought I posted?  Oh well, I have now.

Flash rolled over rather ungracefully, then climbed to his feet.  He lifted his blaster rifle and aimed it after the receding speeder, then began sprinting for the rock.  When he got there, he looked for a good way to get up, or else a good corner to hide behind.

'I don't want to die and I bet you don't either...' Devon told his driver  'So you keep them from hitting us; and I'll see if I can persuade them to go play somewhere else...'

Devon hurriedly clambered out of the cab window - stopping with his legs still inside and braced to keep him from falling, he readied the blaster rifle he had borrowed from the Commander and took a bead on the approaching speeders.

The trucks went evasive moments before the lead T-16 opened fire.  Not trained in such tactics but doing their best the Imperial drivers swerved their vehicles in all different directions.  Only Mark's truck stayed on the road as the commander urged his driver to head for Xil and Flash's position.

Blaster fire erupted from all the vehicles as the airspeeders closed.  Jaime and Mark both missed by small margins but the T-16 was proving very nimble.  At the same time the craft failed to hit with its repeater.  On its first pass it narorwly missed Zenna's truck and then swung around and scored a glancing blow high on the cargo section of Bishop's truck.

The trucks lost any cohesion as they all went in different directions.  Several of the trucks remained relatively close but a few like Mark's and Bishop's became seperated from the larger group.



OOC:  Well most of the trucks are still relatively close together.  Marks has pulled several kilometres ahead as it continues down the road.  Bishop's driver is rattled and has fallen behind and to the right of the other by several kilometres.  No truck has been hit yet (just a scratch to Bishop's truck)

The high speed and agility of the speeders makes 'em hard to hit but it also makes it difficult for them to hit you either.

In answer to Devon's question the trucks are enclosed, not flatbeds.

Bishop was attempting to get a bead on the incoming T-16s when he noticed his driver was beginning to let the truck lag behind the convoy.  Cursing in all manner of languages he knew or didn't know he yelled at the driver, "Get this frackin' bucket bullseye moving or we're toast!  Drive unpredictably, but for the goodness sake keep up!  They pick off stragglers, now move!"  Hoping his 'pep' talk would motivate the driver he went back to trying to take down the T-16.

Zenna switched from the grenade launcher to her rifle. She didn't want to waste ammo on a difficult shot. "Those guys are coming back for another run at us."

"Ok, new idea." She said quickly to the driver. "Keep weaving, but as soon as they pass us I want you to drive straight and steady. But only after they pass us. I want to see if I can get a good shot at their back."

Mark fired another burst as the T-16 flew close by and cursed.  He clicked on his comm as he fired.

"This is ridiculous.  Those things have gotta be going over a thousand klicks.  By the time we see them and shoot they've overshot us.  Unless someone has some a portable missile launcher handy we need to get them to slow down somehow."

He cut off comms as he let forth another burst at the T-16 as it strafed his truck.

He shook his head, agreeing with the others. This really was futile. Eventually, those skyhoppers would score a hit on each of their trucks. Daron continued to fire shots at the repulsers in the bottom of the craft, trying to take out their advantage over the trucks.

They really had nothing to hit these things with. Unless there was something in the back of these trucks that they could use...

He broadcasted out over the comms towards the others. "What happens to our pay if we lose one of our trucks?"

Zenna slung the rifle over her shoulder. She began to climb out the window of the truck. "This is six. I remember when I checked the inventories. We're hauling all sorts of hardware for the military. There's also anti-air weapons. Just one catch, I don't know which truck it's in. Everyone better check their payload."

Flash watched the speeders in the distance, swooping around for another run.  If only the would come closer...  "Yes, anti-air would be a big help right about now!" he said to himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:56, Tue 29 Apr 2008.

Devon sweated for a moment, what he was about to attempt was a risk, but... well, if it was more stupid than he thought, one of the others would over ride him... he hoped.

Hell, he thought, I never claimed to be a tactical genius...

'Two, Four - this is Seven.  I'm going to try and pick you guys up.  I wont be able to stop the truck for more than a moment or two... so be ready.  When I stop, both of you jump in back and see if we haven't got any AA gear back there.'

Devon pointed to where the two stranded Talons were taking cover.
'Stick with the other trucks till we're as near their hidey hole as we're going to get, then make a break for it - we don't want to be separated from the group for too long.' he told his driver, then clambered back out the window to fire some more deterrent at the T16s.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Wed 30 Apr 2008.

Zyra voice comes over the comms.  "Roger that one.  A flight of TIEs has been scrambled to intercept.  ETA is five minutes.  There's a troop transport enroute also.  They're ETA is eight minutes."

"We'll be all done here in five minutes," Jamie said to no one in particular.  "How convenient for them to miss the action."
To the driver he turned and said, "If I get to the back door of the truck, will I be able to get inside?  Or is it locked?"

Desperately trying to think of a better plan he turned to Flash with a grim smile on his face "Well, you ready to jump onto a truck?"

Turning back to the trucks racing along he gets on the comm "Understood Seven, not much more Two and I can do for now. One is heading our way already. I'll try to get onto his truck, Two will try for yours. Hopefully it will increase our chances of finding something useful."


OOC: You guys are still at least a few minutes away from us by my reckoning as we had pulled ahead a far bit initially.

Daron continued to hang half out the window of his truck. He wanted to try climbing out the side and back onto the trailor, but that was too risky. Instead he continued to fire shots towards the skyhopper. Perhaps a lucky shot would take out an engine or shatter a windshield and lessen the risk of death by a bit.

Flash hung off the rock, waiting for the truck.  "No sir.  Are you?" he shot back, looking at Xil to try to see how nervous he was.  He'd done things like this before, but it was still gut-wrenching every time.  Best not to think about it much beforehand.

The T-16's continued their strafing runs whilst the trucks continued to madly swerve and dodge to avoid the incoming fire.  The Talons continues to fill the air with laserfire but with no effect; airspeeders flew in and out of range faster then the speed of sound.  However the high speed was also costing the T-16's in accuracy.  The gunners were clearly not very good at their job as they had yet so score another hit since destroying the command speeder.

Mark continues to push his driver to reach Xil and Flash's position as fast as he could.  He was still a good thirty seconds away at top speed, Devon another thirty seconds behind him.  The two trucks had drawn the attention of one of the T-16's whilst the second seemed to be randomly shooting at whoever was closest at the time.

Zenna, eager to even the odds, climbed out of the truck cabin and on to the roof, determined to get to the rear cargo door.  She makes it on to the roof and is moving towards the rear when the T-16 strafes her truck.  In a panic the driver veers sharply to the left, nearly tipping the truck, and sending Zenna flying.  A last second grab of a guard rail has her hanging from the side of a speeding truck bruised but unhurt.  In a panic at seeing Zenna hanging from the side of the truck, the driver slams on the brakes bringing the truck to a halt.  Unable to rsist the inertia, Zenna loses her grip on the truck and goes rolling across the ground.  Luckily the comparatively slow braking speed of the truck resulted in a few bruises and a rapidly swelling ankle.  If she'd been hanging on to a speeder she'd likely have been killed.

OOC
Well so far nobody has been hit (so far).  The trucks are starting to scatter so you're all a few filometres from each other now.

Mark's truck is ~30 seconds (5 rounds) from reaching Xil and Flash.  Devon's truck is about 1 minute (10 rounds) from them.  The pair of them have earned the attention of one of the T-16's.

Zenna has taken some minor injury from falling from the truck (bad balance roll to hang on, nice tumble to save yourself!)  She is now about 50m from her truck which has ground to a halt.  The T-16 is currently strafing Daron's truck but he'll probably notice the stationary truck on the next pass (which may make it an irresistable target.

On a side note the speeders are actually not attacking you every round but once every 2-3 rounds.  Once they strafe you they need a full round to turn and come back (due to the high speeds they're pulling).

The TIE's should arrive in a little over four minutes.  Extremely fast response time but as Jamie pointed out, probably too long to be of use to you!



Status
Zenna: 24/30VP 12/12WP
All other Talons: Uninjured

Zenna sprinted to the rear of the truck while waving at the driver. "Go, go, go!"

She grimaced in pain but she continued. Zenna knew that if she took too long the T-16 would pick them off easily.

Once Jamie sees the Skyhoppers are not shooting for his truck, he yells, "Stop the truck!  I'm going around back to look for AA weaponry."
As soon as the truck is stopped, Jamie will leap out and run around to the back door to set a small charge on the lock.
Once inside, he will search as quickly as possible for anything that looks remotely like Anti-Aircraft weaponry.

As Bishop leans out the window to fire the truck driver decides then to swerve a little wildly not only throwing off Bishop's aim, but sends them bumping over some rocks.  The sudden lift causes Bishop to momentarily lose a grip on his carbine and it nearly tumbles into the road.  Luckily it was slung around his neck and just gets slammed against the truck door.  Bishop grimacing grabs his carbine and secures it again in his hands and across his chest.  All of this clamoring has kept him from firing again, not that it's been all that effective anyway.  He looks back at the driver with a mind to kick him in the head, instead he yells, "Stop the truck!  I'm going to check the back for something more useful."  As an afterthought he adds, "And don't drive off without me."

Without turning back to Flash Exilim says "No body every really wants to do this stuff, we just get to. Lucky aren't we."

Watching the approaching trucks Xil feels his heart start to beat faster as a mixture of nerves and adrenaline start to kick in What a way to make a living.... he thinks to himself

"Keep driving. Keep driving!" He tells the driver of his truck to continue in the convoy, following after the lead truck. "When they pass us again, I want you to stop as fast as you can. They are going to strafe past us and shoot ahead. I'm going to hop out and go to the back of the truck. It will take about fifteen seconds or so for them to get back around to shooting at us again. That will give me time to get to the back and see if we can't find some punch back there. When I give you the signal, you're going to start off again and follow the others. Got it?"

Zenna cursed as she found that the rear of the truck had been locked and secured. "Damn. Why didn't I check the door when we left the lot? I'm such an idiot!"

She ran to the cab and climbed in. "GO!"

Immeidately after the T-16 makes another unsuccessful strafing run, Daron, Zenna, Jamie and Bishop all call for their drivers to stop the vehicles.  Running around the back all three are confronted by a securely locked door.  Cursing, Zenna runs back to the cab of her truck while Bishop and Daron stare at the doors, wondering how they can get them open.

Jamie meanwhile was more prepared.  Running to the back, he slapped a shaped charge on the lock he'd been pre-warned about.  Ducking around the side he blew the charge and then ran to the back, unlatched the bolts and jumped in.  He was immediately assailed by stacks and stacks of boxed of different shapes and size.  He immediately began hunting for something useful.

The T-16 came hurtling back for another run, however fate was on the Talon's side.  Aiming for Zenna's truck, the gunner was caught unprepared as the driver took off once again.  The repeater fire which had been perfectly lined up on the stationary truck, missed the rear door by so little, there was blaster scoring left on the door.

<Many kilometres ahead>

Flash and Exilim got to enjoy the show as they watched Mark's truck approach them, still be constantly hounded by one of the T-16's.  A few shots looked like they couldn't possibly miss but the truck still plowed on.  In the distance another truck could be seen, presumedly Devon's.

Mark's truck was practically on top of the outcropping before the driver seemed to notice it and slammed on the brakes.  The truck skidded about thirty metres past the hidey-hole as the heavily-loaded truck rebelled against such rapid deceleration.

Xil rushed out from cover and ran to the back of the truck only to discover, as many others had, that the truck was securely locked.

Flash meanwhile watched Devon's truck approaching as well as the T-16's return, clearly having spotted Mark's stationary truck.


OOC:  The T-16 will be back in one round.  Three trucks (Jamie, Daron, Bishop) are currently stationary.  Jamie is in the back of his truck, looking through boxes.  Daron and Bishop are standing behind their trucks, looking at locked doors.

Jamie it will take 3 search checks (and thus 3 rounds) to search the entire truck.  You can start with the left, right or back.  If you don't have a light source you will take a small penalty (which I will apply after) for the cargo at the back (its a sunny day but the back is still dark).  You will also take a penalty if you search while the truck is moving.  Mind you, a stationary truck may be asking for an early grave!!!

Xil you are in the same boat as Daron and Bishop.  The truck is locked and the T-16 is coming back!

Devon's truck will reach the outcropping in round 18.




Status
Zenna: 24/30VP 12/12WP
All other Talons: Uninjured

Bishop curses himself as he feels like an idiot with the locked doors.  Raising his carbine he attempts to blast the lock.  Stepping off to the side he hopes to avoid any deflection if things don't go as planned, and that seemed to be the order of the day.

Jamie hopped into the back of the truck, cursing himself silently for his lack of proper preparation.  Always carry a light...
Beginning with the left side of the truck, he began to examine the contents of the boxes.
"Whatever happened to packing lists?" he muttered to himself.  "Unless the list would say, "Top Secret, Top Secret, Top Secret!"  What am I supposed to do with all this?"

Now he was in trouble. He shook his head, feeling like a complete idiot for not thinking that perhaps something like this would be in place to keep people from stealing equipment from the Empire.

Daron took a few steps back from the lock and took a shot at it with his rifle, squeezing the trigger a few times, trying to damage the lock enough to open up the back.

Xil and Flash lined up on the fast approaching T-16 and prepared to take what was likely the best chance they had.  Fate was not with them as the T-16 became confused by the lead truck's sudden braking and pulled into a rapid climb, ruining thier shots.  Xil, finding the truck locked had little choice but to jump into the cabin next to Mark.  Another strafing run later, Flash likewise had jumped into Devon's truck.

Daron and Bishop, confronted with locked doors, pulled out their blaster and let loose a flurry of shots at their respective trucks lock.  Whilst both scored several direct hits, the fire achieved little more than some scoring on the locks.  It was going to take some time to break through the locks in this manner.

Time was not something the T-16's were going to be accommodating.  The stationary trucks had drawn the attention of the circling speeder.  A strafing run against Zenna's truck proved unsuccessful.  Then as hers began moving again, the T-16 circled and targetted Daron's truck, this time with precision.

Blasterfire erupted along the road and then cut diagonally across the cab of the truck and partially into the cargo area.  Daron dived to the side as the airspeeder screamed by overhead.  Running back to the front he found the powerplant had taken several direct hits, as had the driver.  The imperial had a massive smoking hole in his chest.  The spluttering powerplunt then gave way and the speeder's repulsors died, causing it to slam to the ground, narrowly missing Daron's foot.  The cargo section of the truck was lightly armoured and had shrugged off the fire better, with only a few small holes in the back.  Miraculously the truck hadn't exploded. . .yet.

Deep inside his truck, Jaime began rummaging through boxes.  He discarded numerous boxes until his eyes lit up as he found one marked 'Mini Mag PTL'.  Sure enough, each box contained one of the Imperial proton torpedo launchers.  Jamie had heard of them but had never got his hands on one as they were tightly regulated by the Imperials.

Some more searching produced several boxes of proton torpedos.  Sadly there was no obvious sign of any guided missiles.  Still, it was better than he'd seen to date.  Dragging the box to the back of the truck, Jamie jumped out and loaded a torpedo into the launcher.  It was a slow process as he was unfamiliar with the weapon but soon enough he had it loaded.  He looked up in time to hear the sound of lasers striking a solid target, indicating a truck had been hit.  Distance made him unable to determine who.


OOC:  Well Daron's truck (and driver) is toast.  The truck wont move anytime soon and your only cover is a truck full of explosive ordanance!  The nearest truck is Zenna who is about 400m ahead of you.

Jamie has found himself a new toy.  A mini mag proton torpedo launcher.  The missiles are dumb fire only but it sure beats trying to shoot down an airspeeder with a rifle.  The targetting in the launcher makes it easier to track airborne threats but the torpedo wont track.

Since they didn't post I've assumed Xil and Flash have jumped on board the trucks.  THis means Devon can no longer shoot as he's sitting in the middle of the bench seat.  Mark can shoot as he kicked out the windshield early on.


Status
Zenna: 24/30VP 12/12WP
All other Talons: Uninjured
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:28, Tue 13 May 2008.

Mark grunts as Xil jumps in beside him, necessitating him to move over.  As he continues to point his carbine out the window he looks over to Xil.  "Well four, does this mean there was nothing of interest in the back or did you just miss me too much?"

Zenna heard the sound of the blaster hitting metal. She looked out the window to see that Devon's truck had taken a hit. "Turn around. Circle back to the truck. We've got a man on the ground."

The determined young woman grabbed several items of her gear. She climbed out of the window of the truck as it was moving, again. Zenna had a grapple hook and synthetic rope ready.

Flash kept an eye on the speeder, shooting at it when it came close enough.  "Back door's locked.  Suggestions?" he asked Devon.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Sat 17 May 2008.

Cursing as he hits the seat next to Mark "Damn back of the truck is locked. Unless we can blast it open quickly we probably wont be getting in there anytime soon."

Taking a moment to settled down a bit he says "A small shaped charge should do the trick, got anything on you we can use?"

Not pausing for an answer he get's on the Talons secure comms "All Talons, Four here, sit reps"

Daron dove to the dirt when blaster fire started pock-marking the ground around him. He instinctively covered his head with his hands as he hit the ground, though what his hands would have done against the blaster cannons of the skyhoppers, he didnt know.

When the shooting near his head ceased, he looked up and saw that his truck was completely destroyed, the driver a smoking hole in his chest. He got back up, backing away from the truck. He assumed that the other trucks would be more of a target than he would be, and started running towards another of the trucks.

Jamie took a moment to latch the back of the truck.  After all, what's the point in escorting a convoy if all the goods end up on the road?  Then he hefted his new friend and ran around to the passenger cab.
"Drive!" he shouted as he hopped inside; "Drive towards the attackers.  I mean to do them in."
"This is Five; I've found a nice weapon in my truck," Jamie called to Xil.  "I'm closing in for a better shot."

When the ringing in his ears subsided, he realized that his radio was squawking at him. When he understood what was being said, he clicked his radio.

"This is Three. Truck is destroyed, driver is dead. I'm unharmed," he explained to their missions leader.

"I'm trying to get to the back of the truck and get it open." Zenna knew that she might be tossed from the truck at any moment. She took time to make sure that the grappling hook was secured before she made her move around the outside of the truck.

"I've order the driver to circle around so we can pick up Three. Six out."

Bishop cursed and ran back to the front of the truck and hopped into the cab.  Yelling at his driver, "GO! GO! GO!" he leaned out the window again to engage the T-16s.  Even though he couldn't hit, he might as well lay down some kind of screen to at least keep the T-16s maneuvering and not totally comfortable.  After hearing that Three was down he clicked over the comms, "Three, this is Eight, we're coming your way, why don't we give you a lift?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:37, Wed 21 May 2008.

"Four here. Good to hear you're alive Three. Eight, let Six pick up Three as they are closer. We don't need 3 transports all in the one place." Xil said over the comm
This message was last edited by the player at 05:23, Sat 17 May 2008.

Devon scrambled over hurridly to make room for Flash, then grabbed his team mates arm and half dragged him into the cab.
'MOVE' he shouted at the driver - the longer they were stationary, the more likely they were to get dead... 'follow them.' he pointed at the truck Mark and Xil were in. 'Stay about ten meters off to one side and double that behind them.'

Devon slammed the stock of his rifle into the trucks windshield, then brought his booted foot up to kick as hard as he could - if he could get the windshield out of the way, then Flash wouldnt be the only one in the truck shooting...
'One, this is Seven, we're right behind you - we got a plan?'

OOC:if Devon can kick the windshield out/smash an opening in it, then he'll start shooting again.  :)

Jamie checked that his weapon was ready to fire before closing his eyes.
Concentrate...don't miss...only a few shots...take it slow...
Calm...
Calm...
Jamie opened his eyes again, ready to tell his driver when to stop and let him out.

Flash did a quick mental inventory of what he brought with him, then began digging through the stuff in the truck cabin.

OOC: Searching for materials for improvised explosives - 5
Can you search multiple times?  I forget.

Daron continued to haul butt in the direction of the other vehicles. He wasn't going to present a stationary target for anyone regardless of how small and unimportant he was. He glances back to see how far away his pick-up would be, counting seconds off in his head.

Zenna's driver spun his truck around as quickly as he dared and began rushing back towards Daron's position.  Not wanting to wait, Daron began running towards the incoming truck.  Seeing the lone figure sprinting in the open, the T-16 diverted from its planned strafing of Zenna's truck and homed in on Daron.  It even slowed a little, the pilot obviously planning to enjoy vapourising the lone Talon.

His plans were abruptly ended by Jamie.  Hanging out the window with the rocket launcher, he'd ordered his driver to go straight at the airspeeder.  After careful aiming and a few cleansing breaths, he fired the rocket.

No guidance system could have targetted the warhead more perfectly.   The rocket blasted into the cockpit, cutting the pilot in half only milliseconds before exploding.  The T-16 was instantly reduced to a fireball, the blast knocking Daron to the ground but not injuring him.

Shocked by the suddenness of the shot, Zenna's driver slammed on the brakes.  Zenna, who had been climbing across the roof of the truck was caught by surprise as the driver slammed on the brakes.  Reflexively grabbing on to the rope attached to the grappling hook she managed to avoid being thrown clear, and likely being killed.  Instead she swung out then slammed into the side of the truck with only a score of bruises to show for it.

Now only fifty metres from the truck, Daron run over to the cabin.  About two hundred metres to the west, what remained of the airspeeder slammed into the ground and continued to burn.

Several kilometres ahead, Mark and Devon's truck were too preoccupied with simple survival to notice the explosion behind.  Having picked up their passenger, Mark's truck shot off at a rapid rate.  Devon's truck was slower as they waited for Flash to jump on board.  Whilst less than a minute behind, it was too long.  The airspeeder stitched the truck with fire.  The cargo section was hit with several shots, fortunately nothing caught on fire or exploded.  The truck shifted into gear and took off as the T-16 began its turn.  Whilst the truck engine took no damage, the rear of the truck seemed 'heavier' suggesting at least partial failure of the repulsorlifts.  As a result the driver had to apply more power to make up the strain, running the truck dangerously in the redline.  Even so, overall speed was decreased by about 20%


OOC:  Well I'm back and getting this ball rolling.  Jamie scored a critical hit at the abolutely perfect moment!!  One airspeeder is toasted.


Status
Zenna: 17/30VP 12/12WP
All other Talons: Uninjured
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:02, Tue 03 June 2008.

Jamie pulled himself back into the cab of the truck and reloaded his launcher as an ear-to-ear grin spread across his face.  "Right in the face," he thought to himself, though he said nothing.
When his launcher was reloaded, he stuck his head out the window again.  "Full speed," he said to the driver, "Take us toward the other Skyhopper."

Flash hung out the door, trying to look behind at the back of the truck.  If luck was with him, one of those hits opened up the back.  Climbing out onto the side, and then onto the roof, he looks for a way in, ready to signal the driver to stop if he has to climb down to do so.

"All Talons report in." Exilim said over the groups comm. With vehicles heading in different directions he wanted to make sure that he knew where they all were and that they were all still alive.

While waiting for replies he rifled through his pack looking for anything he could use to open the trucks back door.

"Talon Five here; I've found a weapon and destroyed one target.  Approaching the second now."
Jamie turned to the driver.  "I'll tell you when to stop."

"Five, Four here. Excellent work. Anything we can do to assist, I am currently in the same truck as One." he says as hope starts to surface that they may get out of this with none of the Talons lost.

'_{hell, that was close...}Seven here.  Have picked up Two, but took a hit in the process.  We're still mobile.  Two is trying to get into our cargo to find some ordenance.'

With Flash clambering around on the roof, Devon returned to hanging out the window with his rifle, waiting for speeder to come back...

The explosion knocked Daron to the ground, causing him to roll for several feet. When he could get his feet back underneath him, he saw that he still had all his limbs and that he wasn't bleeding. He'd gotten extremely lucky with that one. Looking around, he saw the truck stopped for him and Daron ran flat out for the cabin. He openned up the door and tossed his rifle in and climbed up inside the cab.

"Go to the rear. Go to the rear of the truck." Zenna called out to Daron as he started to climb into the cab. She ran to the rear of the truck with a grenade in hand. She intended to get the truck open and search through the cargo.

Daron raised an eyebrow and leaned out the side of the truck, holding on to the door frame. "We're going to be toast in about fifteen seconds. There's a lock on the back of the truck and I couldn't get it shot open. We need to get moving."

"I'm going to blow the lock off with a grenade." Zenna had a grenade in hand as she was running to the rear of the truck.

Hearing Jamie's report upon the downing of one T-16, he slammed his fist on the dashboard in glee.  "Now we're cooking."  Turning to the driver he says, "On my signal I want you to spin us around and head the other way as fast as this crate will go."

"One to seven.  Sounds like five has got the party toys so we're taking this one to him.  Follow our lead."

Looking over at the driver he says simply, "Do it!"

The driver slammed the truck into a controlled slide, manipulating the truck like a professional car driver.  Bleeding off speed, the driver then turns the truck the remaining distance and hits full power.  The whole maneuver took less than ten seconds and ended with Mark's truck shooting past Devon's in opposite directions.

"Now that was fun!" blurts the driver, speaking for the first time.  "I've always wanted to try that."

Devon and Flash watch in amazement as Mark's truck pulls the insane maneuver.  Wasting no time he then orders his own driver to turn.  This driver is less confident then his colleague and slams on the brakes, jacknifing the truck momentatrily.  Losing all momentum, the driver throws the truck into reverse, completing a three point turn before taking off forwards again.

The driver's hesitation proves costly.  Whilst Mark's truck never stopped during the whole maneuver, Devon's stopped and even went backwards for a good fifteen seconds, more than enough time for the T-16 to line up and stitch the container section with another volley of fire and damaging one of the rear repulsorlifts.  The strike caused the rear of the truck to hang low and drag to the left, slowing the truck.

Like a predator, the T-16 circled, intent on its wounded prey.  COming around from behind, the speeder took longer than usual to strafe the truck but when it did, it did so with deadly precision.  THe fire stitched all the way up the container and into the cabin before continuing several metres past the truck.  The engine block exploded, hitting all the passengers with schrapnel.

The driver was killed outright by the blast while Flash and Devon both took hits from the schrapnel.  WIthout anyone to control it, the truck veered off the road and smashed into an outcropping causing Flash to bash his head on the dashboard and Devon to be nearly flung out of his seat.  Neither was significantly injured and quickly managed to exit the vehicle.

Unaware of the trouble further ahead, Zenna attached one of the concussion grenades she was carrying to the lock with some adhesive tape she had handy.  Setting the timer, she ducked around the side and waited until the explosion.  Grinning with anticipation she ran around the front, only to have the grin almost instantly vanish.  The armoured vehicle had shrugged off much of the concussive force, leaving only a moderate sized dent in the lock.  The truck remained locked.



OOC:  Well a second truck (and driver) are toast (the dice don't like the drivers, I'm not specifically targetting them!).  On the bright side the back of the truck has been opened up like a sardine tin!  Devon and Flash have been numped and bruised but aren't seriously hurt.

Zenna, the grenade damaged the lock but failed to destroy it.

Heading towards each other it will take another 5 rounds for Jamie to be in range of the T-16.  THis assumes that the airspeeder chases Mark instead of coming back to finish off Devon and Flash.


Status
Devon: 14/23VP 12/12WP
Flash: 12/31VP 10/10WP
Zenna: 17/30VP 12/12WP
All other Talons: Uninjured

Still leaning out the side of the truck, Daron watched as another truck went up in flames. It looked like their first run as a mercenary group was turning out to be quite the bust. Already they'd lost two trucks and their landspeeder by his count.

Daron looked back towards Zenna, waiting for her confirm that she'd blown the lock on the back of their truck, hoping the grenade had worked. He had thought of doing it himself, but hadn't thought the grenade would work against that kind of lock.

"Did it work?"

Devon found himself lurking behind a rock with Flash next to him and for a moment, couldn't for the life of him remember how he'd got there...

Then it came to mind - the T-16 strafing the truck whilst he and Flash desperately scrambled to safety.  He touched a finger to the small gash on his forehead, muttering curses and then risked sticking his head up to learn just how bad it really was...

After a quick glance round, Devon ducked back behind the rock and crouched next to Flash.
'That's two vehicles you've had shot out from under you now he told Flash 'Your not allowed in my next one - your jinxed.'  He grinned at his teammate before continuing.
'Bad news is the truck, and driver, are toast.  We're on foot.  Good news is that T-16 seems to like moving targets over stationary ones... which probably means he wanted to stop us running from a ground based salvage crew.  So how about you update One and cover me whilst I go see if there's any useful firepower in the back the truck?'

Peeking over the rock again to make sure the coast was clear, Devon darted round to the back of the truck and scrambled inside it to do something he'd previously made a career of - helping himself to other peoples stuff.  Sometimes, I want credits... sometimes I want valuable goods... he thought as he hurridly rumaged through boxes, right now, I'd settle for a nice heavy weapon.

Flash grimaced - well, it looked that way.  Kinda hard to tell with a Duros.  He had been thrown off the truck when it hit the ruck, and had been lucky enough to neither be crushed by the rock, or hit by the T-16.

"I'll try not to make it a habit," he assured his companion.  He found his blaster, not that it would do much good, and moved to a covered position.

After brushing themselves, Devon and Flash run to the back of their truck.  Now that the truck had been strafed so effectively, Devon had no trouble climbing into the back.  The cabin was a mess with boxes splayed everywhere and their contents spilled all over each other.  A mixture of blaster pistols, uniforms and ration packs had all dispersed in a multicoloured mess.  Rummaging through the boxes Devon couldn't see anything that would help bring down the airspeeder.  Still he'd only searched the rear half of the cabin.

Fortunately for the pair, the T-16 seemed to have lost interest in them now they were disabled.  Swooping low over the truck, Flash ducked as he overshot, but instead of firing he waggled his wings before taking off after Mark's truck.

It took a matter of seconds for the airspeeder to close the distance.  Repeater fire exploded around Exilim and Mark as they willed Jamie to hurry.  Their return fire remained as ineffectual as the T-16's as both partied continued to miss on the next two passes.

Mark watched as the speeder swung around for another pass.  Mark took aim at the T-16 as he grumbled to Exilim.  'He's gonna hit us eventually.  Even a drunken blind man can't miss a large truck forever.

He prepared to fire on the rapidly closing speeder once it was in range.

"Truck incoming."  offered the driver.

Looking forward Mark and Exilim noted another of the convoy heading full speed towards them and would pass them in less than a minute.

"It must be five."  Mark said.  "Lets hope he brought the party favours."


OOC:  While still several rounds from passing Mark, Jamie is now in visual range of the truck and also the T-16.  The airspeeder is merrily strafing the truck and assumedly is unaware of his partners fate (a truck exploding doesn't look much different to an airspeeder when out of visual range!).

Zenna is still staring at a locked truck that is being stubborn.

Devon it will take another two rounds to finish searching the truck if that's your plan.  The sound of repeater fire is moving away.  Flash is able to see the T-16 strafing Mark's truck.

If it makes you feel better, the ETA of the TIEs is 2 minutes!

Status
Devon: 14/23VP 12/12WP
Flash: 12/31VP 10/10WP
Zenna: 17/30VP 12/12WP
All other Talons: Uninjured

He didn't like that he was sitting inside the cab of the truck while it was just sitting here with Zenna at the back. "Come on Six. We've got to get moving or else we're toast." And after seeing what happened to the cab of his own truck, he didn't feel like sitting here motionless for much longer.

"I'm almost there," Jamie announced.  "Keep leading him this way."
When the airspeeder is within range, Jamie will order the driver to stop; he will then lean out the window and fire his "party favor" at the speeder.
Doot doot doodee doot doot doo...

Zenna gave up on the lock and ran to the forward cab. "Alright. Go, go, go."

Daron tossed his rifle back in and scooted over towards the middle of the truck so that he could make room for Zenna. It appeared as if they wouldn't be getting into the back of their truck this time around. So far it seemed like about half this mission was going to be a bust. When they got done with all this, they would probably be in for an earfull from the Imperial who had put them on this job.

Exilim glanced ahead to the truck approaching them. He silently prayed that it was Jamie and his new toy. Leaning out the window he continued to try and hit the T-16 even though he knew he was unlikely to even get close to it.

Flash scanned the empty horizon.  It was rather unnerving, knowing that your teammates were out there getting shot up, and there was nothing you could do to help.  That had to change.  Deciding that they'd get enough warning if one of the T-16s was to come their way, Flash hopped up into the back of the truck to help Devon search.

Jamie braces himself as comfortably as he can as he takes aim on the T-16 strafing Mark's truck.  Taking a slow breath, he exhaled slowly, allowing his tension to flow with it.  Shutting out everything else, he focused entirely on the enemy airspeeder.  In his mind he could almost see the trajectory he needed, he envisioned the missile striking the speeder.  Almost unconsciously, he pulled the trigger.

The missile flew straight and true.  The airspeeder, not even seeing the approaching missile, was just going through a left bank when the missile struck the craft.  The projectile failed to explode, but succeeded in tearing off the top fin.

The T-16 went into an immediate, uncontrollable lateral spin and plummete dlike a stone.  It struck the ground upside down and slid several hundred metres on the cockpit roof.  The entire cockpit (and its occupant) were shredded and crushed to pulp.  Finally the speeder came to rest.  Miraculously it did not catch on fire and explode.  The underside in fact looked largely undamaged.  However with the extensive damage to the cockpit, the ship would never fly again.

Mark watched, thoroughly impressed at Jamie's accuracy.  "Bandit down.  I repeat bandit down.  That makes two.  Regroup but keep your eyes open people.  They could have friends."

Ignoring his own order, Mark ordered his driver to stop and moved over to the downed airspeeder.


OOC:  Well the Talons have prevailed again!  Nice work!  Oh and the air cover should be there in a minute or two!!

Bishop acknowledged the last communication with a simple phrase, "Eight copies."  He looked at his driver to make sure he wasn't too shell shocked and then put his attentions back to looking for air and ground obstacles.  He quietly wondered if they had just taken out some bandits or if they just crippled their own Alliance allies.

Jamie pulled the trigger and watched the missile slam into the doomed speeder.
He simply sat back in his seat, watching as the craft tumbled to the earth and saying not a word.
He sat like that, staring at his knees, before reloaded the weapon and ordering the driver to follow Mark's vehicle.
I should be excited, he told himself.  I should be proud.  Or should I?  I just killed two pilots who opposed the Empire.  I'm helping the Empire again...killing for them...I won't do it.  I won't.

When Flash first scrambled into the back of the wrecked truck, he got a momentary shock as Devon reacted quickly to his presence - whipping round and levelling his blaster pistol in one fast and deadly movement.  Then the shipjacker recognized his visitor and holstered the weapon instead of shooting.
'Sorry' he said 'For a moment I figured you were a bad guy...'



Straightening up, Devon kicked a couple of ration packs out the way as he clambered back towards the exit.  'Seven copies.  Two and I have nothing worse than a fun collection of bumps and scrapes, but our driver is dead and I think the truck is toast.  Fairly sure I heard the engine blow.  We'll see if we can get it mobile quickly.  If not, we're going to be on foot.'

Devon lowered his comlink and glanced at Flash.  'Come on - lets see if we can get this crate moving - I for one don't fancy walking home.'  Suiting actions to words, Devon padded back to the front the truck and began to assess the damage...

Flash's hand brought his blaster up  even as Devon whipped around, even though he knew perfectly well who he was.  He wasn't about to get shot down by someone he thought of as a friend.  Not again.  Seeing Devon lower his blaster, Flash followed suit, warily.  He kicked at a few crates, frowning at the contents.  Uniforms.  How useless.  He hopped back out, disgusted.  He heard One's message, and followed Devon around to the front of the truck, inspecting the damage as he went.  "Looks pretty toasted to me.  How good are you at fixing things?"  He reacehd back for the tool kit on his belt, leaning forward toward the engine to examine it more closely.

This wasn't Daron's truck. He'd been stupid enough to let his driver get killed, shot clean through by one of the T-16's. The weight of what he'd allowed/caused began to settle in on him now that it seemed like they were out of immediate danger. With his rifle in hand, he rode the middle seat in Zenna's truck, waiting for her to decide what they were going to do now that it looked like they were in the clear.

Devon looked up from his examination of the engine.

'I do OK, usually.'  He grinned at Flash, 'The ability to start a vehicle in a hurry is one of those career skills, where I come from.'

"Ok. Let's go see if there's any cargo from your truck Daron." Zenna gestured for the driver to turn towards the burning wreck.

Exilim cheered as the second T-16 was shot down. Over the next few moments just how lucky they were really sunk in. With that, he also realised that they had been woefully under prepared for all the possible eventualities. Berating himself silently great start to my efforts at leadership, one dead, two transports hit and really under prepared.... " he quickly started to reassess their situation.


"All Talons, Four here.Report in. Great work Five, you really came through. Six and Eight, take your trucks to where Three's transport is. Salvage what you can. Five, join One and myself at Seven's truck. Everyone keep an eye out, there may be more of them out there. Six, when you get to your location I want a sitrep."

Turning to Mark and his driver "Lets get back to where you picked me up from."

"It... well, it didn't look too good. I was concerned that if there was ordnance in the back of the truck, that it wouldn't be good for me to go rifling through the back when it could explode at any minute."

Daron was along for the ride with Zenna. He was the idiot that had gotten his own truck blown up. Now he was going where ever she was going.

Bishop indicated for his driver to make their way to where Three's truck was disabled.  He thought to point out a minor problem, "Eight copies, moving.  Just one thing, where are we going to put the salvaged items, if any, since we can't get into the back of most of our trucks?" afterall, he was just a grunt, perhaps they had some brilliant plan he just didn't know about.

"Roger that," Jamie called to Xil.  He pointed out Mark's truck for the driver.
"Follow that truck," he said curtly.
As an afterthought, he added, "Nice driving today.  I appreciate that; I'd hate to be one of the casualties."

The convoy regrouped as best it could.  With two trucks and a speeder disabled, the group had to divide their forces to maintain the area.  A perimeter was agreed upon and people were just setting out when the roar of TIE fighters could be heard overhead.  A full half-squadron of TIE fighters took position overhead, setting up a combat air patrol.

"Never thought I'd be glad to hear that noise" Mark quipped to Jamie.  The commander had returned from the wreckage of the second speeder, now carrying the light repeater that had been turreted underneath.  THe weapon had survived the crash, unlike the pilot.

Less than five minutes later an assault transport arrived and set down.  Two squads of stormtroopers rushed out, led by a pair of lieutenants.  One squad immediately moved to the secure the area whilst the second approached Mark, Jamie and Xil who were standing together, reviewing the situation.

The officer halted before the trio.  "Lieutenant Serro, 5th Company.  I am ordered to take command of the convoy.  You and your men are to return on the transport for debriefing immediately."

Looking up from the engine he was upto his elbows in, Devon made a disgusted sound as the stormtroopers began to deploy.

'Imperials,' he muttered, just loud enough for Flash to hear 'I feel safer already.'

Giving up on his repair attempt - he wasnt going to make things easier for the Empire troops if he could avoid it - Devon perched on the edge of the truck, wiping his oily hands on the leg of his pants as watched the Imperial Lieutenant issing orders.

Zenna was sitting in the truck with her driver when the Imperials finally showed up. She was sipped her canteen and wiped the crumbs of the ration bar as the troopers took control of the area.

She heard the orders to get aboard the transport. Zenna waited for Jamie or Mark to give the word before she gathered her gear and climbed into the transport.

Bishop snarled to himself as the Stormtroopers showed up.  Several memories flashed through his mind, but he kept himself in check.  As he overheard the Imperial officer give them the order to head back in he snorted thinking to himself they probably knew about the ambush and let the group take the hit.  Shaking his head he waited for the word from his own commanders since he certainly didn't like the idea of following a direct order from an Imp.

Flash extricated himself from the other side of the engine.  "Right," he commented dryly, and stowed his tools.  For a moment, his hand drifted toward his blaster, before he caught himself.  No, shooting them would be a bad idea, even if we could take them on.  We're working for them now, remember?  Put that way, however, the idea made him shudder.  He'd seen far too much of what the Imperials did to relish working for them, and he'd seen some of what they did to mercenaries they hired as well.  Frankly, he wasn't about to stay around long enough for that to happen to him.

Working to cover one side of their little circle of protection, Daron's eyes went to the sky when he heard the scream of the twin ion engines of the TIE fighters as they soared overhead. With their escort arrived, Daron relaxed and walked back towards the trucks that they still had in one piece, awaiting the arrival of the assault transport.

Daron to this point had not been this close to so many imperial storm troopers. The planet he hailed from had been far enough into the outer rim that Imperial presence wasn't standard until the infection took hold and resulted in the deaths of approximately 99% of his worlds population.

Even then, the Imperial presence had consisted of Imperial I-class star destroyers that simply hung in orbit to keep people from escaping a quarentine. Being this close to actual storm troopers was interesting to say the least.

Xilim looked at the Lieutenant, it was just the sort of greeting he expected. Typical he thought to himself.

Turning to Mark and Jamie with a slight grin on his face he said "We may as well do as they are ordering, a discussion out here  with the messenger will get us nowhere." He turned and started heading for the transport calling out to the rest of the team to follow them.

On Exilim's orders, the Talons began regrouping.  Stopping long enough to collect their gear and thank their drivers, they quickly converged on the transport.  On unspoken mutual agreement, nothing was said as the group travelled back to base.  As opposed to the much longer trip in the landspeeders, the space transport had them back to base in ten minutes.

Upon landing the Talons were escorted out of the transport and back to their barracks, escorted by a full squad of stormtroopers.  Whilst no weapons were pointed in their direction and the Talons were not relieved of their weapons it was clear that the Imperials wouldn't hesitate to shoot if their orders weren't complied with.

Upon reaching their barracks, the commanding stomrtrooper spoke simply, pointing at Mark.  "You are under orders to come with us for debriefing.  The rest of you are to remain here."

Mark shrugged and handed over his pack to Jamie, along with the light repeater he'd liberated from the crashed T-16.  He left his pistol in his shoulder holster.

"Five, your in charge until nine or I return.  Four, this was your show, commence debriefing.  Three, seven, due to your performance out there, you're stuck on cleaning duty, just like this morning.  By the time I return I want some strategies in place.  Nobody messes with us and gets away with it."  Wether the last part was genuine or piritical bravado for the stormtrooper's benefit was anyone's guess.

Mark was then marched away.


OOC
Well you're back.  A few notes:

Devon & Daron, you didn't clean anything this morning.  The only thing you did in the morning together was sweep the barracks for bugs and cameras.

I need to know if anyone kept any gear they 'acquired' from the run.  Mark has a new light repeating blaster he took off the crashed T-16.  A little more firepower for the upcoming missions.

Humble apologies for the delays in posting.

I will update the xp totals today as well.

Bishop feeling the fatigue generated by the adrenaline takes a seat and removes his poncho and most of his gear.  He espouses his displeasure with what had happened out there, "Well, that was a charlie-foxtrot." as he begins to wipe down his carbine.

Glancing at Bishop Exilim says "For sure". Turning to the rest of the team he says "Lets get ourselves cleaned up a bit, stow our gear and wait for Three and Seven to finish cleaning before we do anything else".

Then, following his own suggestion, he starts the process of getting himself sorted.

On bug sweeping duty because he'd gotten his truck blown up probably, Daron went about his job just as he'd been ordered. "Did we really have a chance to get out of that unscathed though? I mean, we lost what, two trucks and our landspeeder?" He shook his head and worked over foot after foot of wall, floor, ceiling, looking for bugs. "We needed some surface to air missles, but it's not like we knew they were going to come at us with T-16's"

Starting at the opposite end of their home-away-from-asteroid-base to Daron, Devon began his own careful search for bugs.  As he worked, Devon listened to the other Talons talking.

'Yeah,' he called in response to Daron 'Next time I see an armed T-16, I don't wanna be on the receiving end of it... maybe these raiders have more T-16s, maybe they have something else...  Maybe they already gave us their best shots.  I figure we're safest assuming they got more where that came from.  So we need something a bit punchier than one unarmed speeder next time...'

"Two and Eight, you two are on patrol for now.  Keep your eyes open and your blasters handy, but please, please, please don't be trigger-happy."
"Three and Seven, take your time and be as thorough as possible.  Report to me when your sweep is complete."
"Four and Six, gather your thoughts for that debriefing.  We'll want to debrief as soon as we know this place is clean."

With that, Jamie began to lay out his gear, inspecting and cleaning anything that needed attention.  He paid special attention to the "party favors" he had acquired from one of the trucks, making sure to stow that equipment as soon as it was inspected.  When he finished his gear, he opened Mark's pack and began to go through that.  He cleaned and inspected the weapons, but spread the rest of the gear on Mark's bunk.

It took less than ten minutes for the warehouse to be swept for bugs.  The place was still clean for any kind of obvious tampering.  If there was anything there, it was beyond their skill to determine.

Outside, the patrol found a hotbed of action.  When they had entered there had been nothing more than a two-man stormtrooper patrol on the grounds.  Now people were running around madly, troops were forming into squads, technicians were pre-flighting transports and speeders were moving out at rapid speed.  Something was clearly happening and it did not look like a drill.  A half-flight of TIE fighters were being fuelled and pilots were running to their craft.

A squad of stormtroopers saw Flash and Bishop staring at them.  They moved over to the pair, weapons pointing at them.

"You two!" barked the commander.  "You are confined to your barracks until further orders.  Anyone leaving the barracks without authorisation will be shot on sight."

It was clear the stormtroopers meant business.




OOC: Well something has happened in the last fifteen minutes that has the base in a frenzy.  Fighters and transports are being prepped and just a lot of hustling and bustling.  The stormtroopers do not seem to be in a conersational mood at all.

On the bright side it means the Talons are being largely ignored as long as they stay in their building.  The whole area is clean of bugs (that you can tell) and you've got nothing to do but debrief.  Neither Mark or Zyra have yet to return.

Bishop gladly picked up his carbine and went outside to make some rounds only to be thwarted by a pair of stormtroopers.  As the stormtroopers carbines came to bear down on him he had to keep himself from lunging at them and beating them through their armored hides.  It took a great deal of willpower and restraint for Bishop to not bring his own weapon to bear on the pair of stormtroopers.  They were afterall one of his most hated enemies.  But Bishop was a soldier, and he was smart enough to realize the overall goal of their mission.  So he glared for a moment and just about snarled at the pair.  He waited for Flash to say something or back-down before he moved, he hated to be the first to concede.

Having finished the process of cleaning and stowing his gear, Exilim sat and went over the day in his head. He silently cursed himself a number of times for not having the team better prepared, it was his command after all.

Accepting that he should have done better, and promising himself to not fall short again, he called out to Jamie "Are we ready to get started?"

Done with searching the barracks for bugs, he finally took a moment to relax and take a seat. The thoughts of the driver he'd accidently gotten killed were still at the forefront of his mind.

If they'd had the right equipment, if they'd known that they were going to be going up against vehicles like that, maybe Daron would have been able to do something. Maybe if Daron hadn't told his driver to stop so he could get into the back...

It was apparent to anyone trying to find out, something was nagging Daron.

Devon straightened up from examining the underside of a bunk.
'No problems that I can find.' he said as he returned to his own bunk and finally started sorting through and cleaning his gear. 'I don't see why we cant get started...'

Zenna returned to the computer console when word got to her at the imperials were getting busy outside. "Let me see if I can patch into their communications relay."

After several minutes, Zenna called out. "Damn, there's too much traffic for me to isolate what I need. I need some help here."

rolled 11 using 1d20+8. Computer Use

Flash moved back to the barracks to keep from getting shot.  As he went, he thought about the fury on Bishop's face.  After a few moments, he said, "I have to reevaluate my first impression of you.  Seeing you show up with Nine, after the last time I saw you really threw me off.  As I recall, we picked you up off as TIE fighter out in the middle of nowhere, tied you up and tossed you in the back hold.   Not the best first impression."  As you recall, this is a practical speech for him, who normally hardly talks at all.  He was doing some serious thinking, while trying to express something he'd never had to before.  As a result, he got somewhat eloquent, for him anyway.  Feeling he'd talked his share for now, he promptly shut his mouth, and didn't talk anymore, except for monosyllabic responses.

As Flash walked away Bishop gritted his teeth and backed away from the Stormtroopers until they were back inside the barracks.  He took a deep breath and recomposed himself turning to walk with Flash.  As Flash spoke he simply listened, replying cryptically, "Nothing is ever as it seems."  He unconsciously scratched at his beard and his large facial scar.

Noting that Devon and Daron had both finished with their cleaning duties and Flash and Bishop had returned to the barracks, Xil calls the team together "Okay everyone, lets get this debriefing done before the Commander gets back, he won't be happy if we haven't got to it yet." He takes a seat at the table and waits a moment for all to join him.

"Let me begin by saying that we are here to look at what happened. What was good, bad, and what we could have done better. Getting into arguments and blaming people will not get us anywhere and will not be tolerated." He looks around the table before continuing "We also let one person speak at a time and let them finish saying what they want to before we add any comments and move on. Who wants to start?"

"Well, I guess I'll start. I'd like to say that I'm sorry for not going into that situation prepared for that sort of outcome. I got my truck blown up and we had to divert our resources in order to pick me back up. I should have been ready for anything, and honestly I wasn't ready for that."

"I don't think any of us were ready for that sort of assult. I must admit I had really only considered a ground assult as the most likely type that we would face." Xil responded to Daron.

"Let me continue by saying that I was in charge of ground ops and should have had the team better prepared for all sorts of possible attack scenarios. Obviously we were not armed for dealing with fast moving targets such as the T 16's that we faced. Something that we will need to fix asap."

Jamie held up the rocket launcher with a grin.
"You mean this?  I figure if we used it to save the rest of the shipment, we get to keep it.  Perhaps it's not very portable, but it may come in handy again."
He put the launcher away again as he continued.
"My first comment is that we put very little effort into our preparation.  We can do better next time if we put our efforts into it.  When we were attacked, I think that the team generally reacted well and rolled with it.  We had some losses, but we did survive and we saved the convoy.  We improvised nicely...but we shouldn't have had to improvise."

"Have to agree with those points" Xil said turning to Jamie smiling "Including keeping your new toy." He paused momentarily, "People did what they needed to, when they needed to. We can't expect not to have losses, and in the overall picture they were minimal to what they could have been if the whole convoy was shot to pieces."

He looks around the table before continuing "If we examine our preparations, it could probably be agreed that we spent too much time being exotic rather than practical. We know for the future that we need to be ready and armed to deal with aerial attacks as well as land based for this particular style of job. Looking at the arms we actually carried with us, we may have also been hard pressed to deal with anyone that had 'big guns' or armoured vehicles."

"You're very lucky you weren't" came Zyra's voice.  Turning to the door, the Talons noticed Zyra returning.  Mark was not with her.  She found a seat and joined the conference.

"Turns out the convoy was nothing more than a lure.  After you left I remembered Zenna's comments on the computer security so I had a look at the security precautions being taken.  The security protocols were sloppy, almost obviously so.  The Imperials obviously wanted news of this convoy to leak to the pirates."

"That combat team who arrived on scene was already prepped and in orbit, hence why the got to you so quickly.  They were under orders to await an attack on the convoy so they could wipe out the pirates in one go.  The convoy, its drivers and all of you were expendable."

"However its clear the pirates are smarter then the Imperials and did not take the bait.  Sending two airspeeders to tangle with such a rich target suggests they were not really after the convoy.  If we'd sent two of you after such a force the convoy would have been rubble in under a minute.  Their two pilots couldn't seem to hit the side of a stationary star cruiser with a targetting computer.  They were bait.  The pirates baited the Imperials who were trying to bait them."

"The question is, why spring the trap at all unless they were after a bigger prize?
This message was last edited by the player at 08:04, Sat 16 Aug 2008.

"Well that has added a whole level of complexity to this discussion." Xil said with a tight smile on his face as he turned and acknowledged Zyra's arrival.

"If there's a bigger prize to be had, we need to know what it is. It also means we need to be better prepared for any scenario. We were bait this time, and very expendable to our employer. It's not a position I'm all that happy about."

He looked around the table again as he tried to remember what they had left behind at their base that would be nice to have close at hand.

I get the feeling Xil that we shall find out soon enough.  Something has clearly happened judging from all the activity out there.  I've got some local contacts looking into it.  I thought about ferreting through Imperial records for myself but that's probably best done from another location.  If they traced a slice to us we might lose more that just our contract.  Already they're trying to dock our pay for the convoy job."

Zyra looks around the room, assuming the silence is due to her mention of pay.

"Don't worry about the Imperials.  I'll get our money from them one way or the other.  I really don't feel like trying to walk home.  With our finances the way they are, that's what we'd be doing if we abandoned this contract."

"Anyway, the Commander said you were debriefing on the job.  Don't let me stop you.  I'd be interested to hear what you've come up with.  The drivers seem to like you guys.  I suppose saving their lives does that to a person, even an Imperial."

"I wonder what those drivers would do once they found out they were only bait," suggested Jamie.  "I doubt any of them would be happy with his current expendable status."
"These Imperials are using us more than we suspected at first.  Personally, I don't like to be a tool.  If we want to get out of here alive, on foot or otherwise, we're going to have to play it out...but if we figure out the rules, we can cheat."

"I imagine the drivers will say nothing about their expendable status.  They knew their role in the Imperial war machine the second the signed up or were conscripted.  I doubt any of them will go out of their way to help us or speak out in any way.  If they did, they'd likely be reprimanded. . .or worse."

The datapad that Zyra was carrying suddenly pinged.  Turning away from the others she watched something that scrolled across the screen.  "By the force." she mutteres in suprise.

She called the others around.  "Well, it looks like we now know what their main target was.  Almost simultaneously with your convoy being attacked, a lone transport used an explosive of an unknown kind on the main civilian airport, approximately 200km south of this base.  A landing freighter caught some footage.  I'm patching it in to the viewscreen."

The viewscreen on the wall flared to life.  The view was from above and was grainy.  It looked like optical sensors from a large cargo freighter.  About 50kms below them a corellian freighter could be seen opening its rear bay.  Something large and cylindrical fell from the bay before the ramp raised and the transport headed upwards.  The ship was soon lost form view but the object continued to fall.

About 500m above the ground the cylinder seemed to break apart and some sort of fluid ejected from it in a massive spray that spread out over a radius of several hundred metres.  A few seconds later the entire thing erupted into flame.

The effect on the ground was catastrophic.  Buildings blew apart like they were made from kindling.  Transport ships on the ground were shredded and blown apart.  People could be vaguely seen on the ground incinerating like matchsticks.

Almost as quickly as it starts it was over.  The spaceport and a block around it had been blown away, as if by a massive tornado.  Fires burned all over the place.  Nobody could be seen moving.

Zyra froze the viewport.  "The Imperials aren't sure what the explosive used was.  All incoming vessels are scanned for munitions.  There is no trace of radiation or gas.  Any ideads Mr Webb?"

[17 blank lines suppressed]

thermobaric

Jamie reviewed the footage briefly.  "Looks like a thermobaric warhead of some flavor or other," he began.  "See how it spreads out the explosives before ignition?  It's simple yet brilliant.  It leaves virtually no traces of radiation.  These weapons usually employ explosive gases, but it looks here like a liquid was used."
He looked at the ceiling.  "Weapons like this are most effective in low-oxygen areas such as space stations or underground facilities, and least effective in an open area like this.  However, these are fairly low-grade technological devices and are relatively easy to manufacture.  Perhaps the people responsible are on a low budget?"

"Well this just keeps getting more interesting as time goes by" Xil said with his eyes still fixed on the screen.

Turning back to Zyra he said "While our explosive guru is pondering, here's where we got to in a nutshell. We have very briefly said that people reacted well and did what needed to be done when the attack started. We have only just begun to talk about the fact that we were not really that well equipped to deal with this type of encounter."

He pauses, thinking for a moment "I don't suppose you have a list of the stuff that we left behind at the base?" he asked Zyra.

"Thermobaric weapon?  Never heard of it.  You say it's low tech?  Would it be low tech enough that it wouldn't appear on a standard scan?  Remember system craft routinely scan incoming freighters for dangerous items like explosives or illicit goods.  A proton bomb would be detected long before they got near the planet.  Is this a case of our pirates being poor, or sneaky?"

"It seems we're dealing with well led pirates here.  Not only have they evaded the Imperials for this long, but they deliberately bait a trap to draw the defense fleet away while they bomb a civilian space port."

"I suppose the questions are who are they, how do we find them and what value do they get out of bombing a space port.  It had no military value.  It mainly housed cargo vessels and passenger transports."

Flash spoke up, one of the few times he did so in such situations.  "Maybe they weren't after the Imperials?"  He fell silent once again after voicing his opinion, but he was ready as always to defend his view if confronted.  He leaned back out of sight, leaving the remainder of the discussion to the others.

"It really depends on the materials used.  Obviously, this bomb was not detected.  It looks fairly simple on the vid.  It could have been low-tech enough, or they could have had someone on the inside to let them through.  In either case, you may be right.  If they used this weapon to bypass the scans, they know what they're doing."

Devon was sat on his bunk, elbows on knees, frowning.
'So why vape a space port??  I mean, all that does is garantee that the Imps will be on higher alert from now on.  And how they did it is the sort of trick that dosent work twice... so why bother?  what did they gain from this?  Think like criminals here, guys.' he grinned.  'I'm good at that'

Devon stretched out on his bunk, wiggled into a comfortable position and stared at the ceiling.
'Your a group of pirates that are raiding the local Imperials convoys.  Then you toast a spaceport.  Lots of people dead... but thats not why you did it - a blood thirsty pirate is usually a dumb pirate - and dumb pirates get caught fast.  So your smart pirates... which means you did the space port because it gives you some form of advantage.  An advantage that you keep even though the Imperial garrison will make sure you can't pull the same trick twice...'

He fell silent for a few moments, thinking; then looked up.
'What if thats why you did it?  The Imps have got limited manpower, or they wouldnt be calling in mercenaries.  So you force the Imps to use their manpower where YOU want them to: around targets your not really interested in.  Next time you hit a convoy and it calls for backup, the Imps will hesitate before responding - is this convoy attack just another decoy?  If we send the garrison to defend the convoy, will the pirates hit the space port - or somewhere similar - again?'

Devon sat up again.
'I think they're setting things up so that the next time they hit a convoy... we wont have Imperial backup to call on.'

"Maybe" Xil said looking over towards Devon. "We can probably agree that we are dealing with smart pirates. You have to remember that Zyra has told us that we were bait in a supposed Imperial trap for these guys. The pirates knew it was a trap and didn't turn up to play with anything except two T16's."

He turns back to the rest of the group "T 16's that weren't really there to loot any of the cargo. So the question is why? Were they meant to bug out as soon as the the Imps turned up or were they expendable like us. If they were expendable, losing two T16's is not all that inexpensive. Therefore what is their end goal that allows them to throw things away like that."

Looking around again "If you think about it, they obviously didn't send good pilots, so my guess is they were probably expendable." he paused for a moment "I don't think this is about making it easier for them to get to convoys. I wouldn't think they have any problems with looting convoys, as the Imperial response time is probably long enough for them to get what they want and get away. After all the Imps were ready to to come to the aid of our convoy and it still took about 5 minutes for the first of them to arrive."

"So, how did they know it was a trap? We could really do with a slicer about now. Most importantly what is their main objective?"

"You may be right, Devon.  The spaceport wasn't valuable enough by itself; the pirates are probably building towards something else.  Perhaps that something would require a larger window of opportunity.  It may be that they had a good reason for the spaceport, or they may just be trying to cause a disruption."
Jamie stroked his chin pensively.
"In any case, these actions are inexcusable.  I must admit I had been having thoughts of persuading these people to join our cause.  I revoke anything I may have said on the matter.  These people are pirates, rogues, and murderers."
Jamie stared at a spider in a corner as it sucked the blood from an insect.  That gave him another idea.
"Perhaps we've been looking at this backwards?  Maybe the pirates are trying to buy time for another target before the garrison will come to the rescue...but perhaps, if they keep this up, the Imps will respond to the first threat and send out all sorts of other patrols for the inevitable second attack.  But what if the second attack is going to be here, at the relatively unguarded base?  I mean, an Imperial garrison is a hefty target, even with half its forces dispatched, but it would be a worthwhile prize should they succeed."
"We may not have a professional slicer, Xil, but we have the next best thing."  Jamie pointed across the barracks.  "We have Flash.  I believe he's shown some talent in that field."

Flash straightened his back, as he got pointed out.  He didn't much like being brought into the spotlight, but he felt a certain pride at being praised like this, even subtly.  The to feelings conflicted, but in the end, the deciding factor was that of duty.  If he was called on to do something, he would, for the team.  He hadn't known them long, but they had been through more together than anyone else he'd met, and he felt a responsibility, to do his part for the team.  That's what they were, not just a collection of people with a name, but a team, working together.  If one backs down, the whole team suffers, and he couldn't do that to them, so he just stood there, waiting to see what orders he would be given.

Zenna nodded.  "It's clear we need to start thinking like pirates.  As you said, this raid to date has cost them two T-16's and bombing a spaceport has signed their death warrants all across Imperial Space.  Whatever they are doing, it is worth all this exposure and cost."

"Of course, as was mentioned, the pirates may just be in someone's employment.  That doesn't change the fact that there is a prize at stake.  Something big.  If we can find the credit trail, we may have our people."

"The question is, what's worth this kind of trouble?"

"A sound question indeed.  We have many possibilities.  We agree that whatever they are after is bigger than just a convoy.  Potentially something that requires more time without interference.  I will put some feelers out and see what I can learn.  Perhaps there is some big shipment coming in soon, something valuable.  I will also ask around regarding the spaceport.  Maybe the spaceport was the target and not just a diversion.  At the least its two avenues to pursue.

Zenna, I may call on you somewhat for this.  I know you've had a little intelligence training.  Whilst I'd normally do the investigations myself, but being on an Imperial world, there are some places a human can go that I can't."

Mark returned to the workshop shortly after.

"Well it looks like we've got our next mission.  The Imperials have a number of possible pirate supply dumps.  We're going to be serving as recon for one of them.  The Imperials have commando teams hitting the other sites.  We've been given a small manufacturing plant on a moon of the fifth planet of this system, codenamed 'Site six'."

"Mr Webb, you'll be happy to know that the Imperials will be supplying you with a supply of the latest explosives for you to play with.  If we confirm that this site is a supply dump, we are under orders to destroy it."

"Now we are uncertain the numbers on-site, but intelligence suggests if this is a definite site, then the pirates will likely defend the site aggressively.  We can call in air and ground support if the situation warrants it but I'm hoping to not have to rely on them."

"More information should be being transmitted shortly.  Once we get it, we'll likely be shipping out quickly.  So have your gear stowed and lets do what we can to be prepared because you can be sure the Imperials wont do a thorough job."

Xil sat quietly for a moment after Mark had finished to let the theories and new mission details sink in. Damn Imps ...... there is just so much we don't know yet he thought to himself.

"Well, let's get our gear sorted asap" Xil suggested to the rest of the group. "Flash I can help with yours, as I want you to see what you can find out about this moon and that manufacturing plant. We know that the Imps intel is not the best so anything extra we know will be of benefit."

As if on cue, Mark's datapad beeped to indcate he'd received a download.  Checking it he murmured to himself.  Finally he looked up.

"Hmmm.  Well we have the aerial scans of the manufacturing plant.  I'm uploading it to the view screen.  I've also collected some 'interesting' data which I need to pursue.  Exilim, Jamie.  Gather the Talons and formulate a plan.  I need to 'borrow' Zyra and work on an idea I have forming."

Less than a few seconds after Mark issues the upload, the plans appear on the viewscreen.  The manufacturing plant is of modest size, covering well over 10 hectares.  It is four levels in height and looks like it one was use to fabricate plasteel.  The plant seems to have fallen into disrepute somewhat, but the scans show a significant presence still there.  Thermal images show at least a dozen people still on site.  Too many to simply be security.

The building was surrounded by a ten metre chainlink fence topped with barbed wire.  The surrounding area was largely surrounded by farming land.  The noise from the plant made it viable for little else, save more industry.

In short, it looked like little more than a rundown industrial plant.  There was little to suggest it was being used for anything else, yet it would be an ideal location for illicit manufacturing or a supply dump.

"Well," said Jamie.  "That didn't take long!  This could be easy.  Those could be janitorial staff.  That's extremely unlikely."
He leaned back on his bunk and kicked his legs up.
"We need to confirm that this target is hostile before we destroy anything; running in with blasters blazing is out of the question.  Considering the level of noise, we could probably physically sneak in; that worked pretty well last time, but they may have a sensor array prepared just because of the noise.  We could try to simply walk in...that worked for us once, too."
Jamie pointed at the Duro.  "I think yours will be the first task, Flash.  Get into cyberspace and see if you can find any reliable facts about this place.  Most of all, see if you can find out what sort of security systems they have.  Make sure they don't find you snooping."

About 5 minutes later Mark returns. "Well I hope you have all started formulating a plan because its just about to get trickier.  One of Zyra's on-world contact had provided us with some valuable information that I intend to exploit."


He programs something into his datapad and a new image appears on the screen.  "This is a petrochem depot located approximately four hundred kilometres from our strike zone.  It supplies over twenty percent of the fuel for military operations in this sector.  The loss of which will be a significant blow to the Imperials."

"Now, since we're in the area anyway, we're going to kill two mynocks with one bowcaster and take out both targets simultaneously.  Not only do we hurt the Imperials, but we have a great alibi in that we were working for the imperials at the time.  To sweeten the deal, the Imperials have been kind enough to provide us with some high-quality explosives.  Now we get to return the favour by making things go boom."

"Now Zyra is arranging for her contact to meet us near our insertion point with transport.  This contact has agreed to help us in exchange for helping her get off-planet.  Team one will then recon the pirate's base while Team two destroys the petrochem plant."

"Jamie, Xil, I need you to adjust your plans to accomodate this.  Team Two will need to be a small group, skilled in stealth and explosives.  They need to be in and out quickly.  We can't afford to make the Imperials suspicious.  One slip up and this could come crashing down.  Apparently this contact of Zyra's is a skilled slicer and pilot.  Add him to Team one as I haven't heard anything about explosive or intrusion skills."

"Lets get this done people.  We have only a few hours.  Everyone needs to have the gear stowed in an hour.  Jamie, Xil, I want a plan put together in two.  Then we'll fine tune it as a team.  Move out."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:35, Tue 07 Oct 2008.

"SHE!"  Zyra says as she comes in.  "SHE will meet us at the insertion point with transport.  Typical male."  She feigns indignation towards Mark.

Xil stopped what he was doing as Mark told them about the petrochem depot. He let out a little sigh as he looked at the new images on the screen. Life can never be easy can it? he thought to himself.

He began running through the skills of the Talons in his mind as he worked quickly on getting his gear sorted. Turning to Flash he said "I don't suppose you brought your X-45 with you?"

Looking at Mark and Zyra "This contact give any idea about security and all that stuff at the depot?"

Something resembling a smile drifted onto the Duros' face.  "I did."

"My contact is not actually on the moon at this time, though I'm assured she is planning to get there as soon as possible."

"As for the security I'd have to assume its not that heavily guarded.  The bombing of the spaceport might change thier thinking but short of aerial bombardment, the only way to make a real dent in the facility would be from within.  I don't think the Imperials credit any pirate force to be a threat in that way."

"I did, but it's currently in pieces.  I'm modifying it, and haven't had time to complete the modifications."  He seemed irritated that he wouldn't get to use it.

"If the fuel refinery is heavily guarded then that team will simply abort.  We're not here to get people killed on a secondary objective.  Its just we wont have a better alibi then we will now.  Not only that, the Imperials are picking up the transport costs and even supplying the explosives."

"LIke Zyra, I'm guessing security wont be that heavy.  Probably some gate guards, some patrols perhaps and some cameras.  I'd be very surprised if the guards were anything more than civilian security or perhaps imperial army."

"Still; Jamie, Xil, this group is meant to be about stealth.  We want them in, explosives planted and out without so much as a shot fired if possible.  I certainly wont be going.  You want me to blow something up then stick me in a starfighter."

Xil turned and looked at Jamie "Well, we have a number of people in the group who fit the criteria of being able to get in and out by stealth." he glances over at Zenna and Daron in particular. "Two or three should be a big enough group to take out the depot. Maybe send a little muscle along with them to cover a hasty retreat if needed."

Having taken a moment to consider his options Xil made up his mind.
"Listen up everyone" he calls out making sure that he has the attenion of all the Talons before continuing "Zenna, Daron and Bishop will be group Two, they will head to the petrochem depot and see if they can blow it up. Zenna will lead the group. The rest of us are group One, we will focus on the on destroying the supply dump. I want everyone looking at what intel we have and coming up with options."

With that Xil will start going over the information at hand.

Zenna nods.  "Shouldn't be a problem.  However, I know very little about explosives.  I wouldn't feel confident to set up the charges.  I'm sure I could work out where to place them but someone else will need to prepare them."

Jamie nodded his approval of Xil's choice.
"I'll go over that with you before we split up," he offered to Zenna.  "I'd love to come along and blow up a petrochem facility, but the other target is our main priority."
Jamie will then begin studying visual info on the building, as well as blueprints and layouts if Flash can produce them, analyzing the target for weak points, structural supports, and possible damage amplifiers.