Location: Talon Nest
(One week later)

It has taken the better part of a week for everyone to gather back at Talon Nest.  Whilst the trip itself had only taken three days, then there was then the issue of keeping Jace imprisoned in a cabin while Devon and his droid team cleared the navicom of all data since they'd escaped from the TIE's.  He also performed some quick repairs.  Then it had just been a case of flying the ship to open space, purging all systems again and then letting Jace go with his ship before returning to base on the Nightshrike.

There had been no warm farewells when the group had parted ways.  Jace's treatment had been less than ideal and it was possible he might try to make trouble in the future for the Talons.  They'd even been suggestions of ensuring there was an 'accident' aboard his vessel.  These suggestions were quickly quashed and Jace went on his way.

Aside from that, things had been fairly routine.  Flash was responding well to treatment, closely monitored by Sheila.  The new employees were quickly found accomodation and duties to perform.  Devon found his repair droids had been performing well in his absence.  Both headhunters had been repaired and Devon declared them both combat-ready.  The Nightshirke had also had all external damage repaired and now just needed work on secondary and non-essential systems.  The cargo conversion on her was not yet complete which meant she couldn't serve as a hanger for the two fighters yet.

The only downside was that Zyra had yet to report in or make contact.  It was possible she was laying low or was having trouble getting off-planet.  Nobody spoke of the possibility she hadn't made it.  They'd lost too many Talons to Imperial treachery to consider the loss of their XO as well.

After nearly a week, they'd finally recieved orders from Mark.  They'd be a mission briefing the following morning.

---

OOC:  Everyone has five game days to have been working on any side projects they wish to.  Once everyone has had time to post about what they've been doing, well move on to the mission briefing.  Flash, you will be at full health provided you only engage in non-strenuous activity.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:41, Sat 10 Oct 2009.

Since arriving back at base, the commander remained buried in his work.  When he wasn't in his office pouring over Zyra's files on finances, logistics and the like he was pulling shifts in the hangar, helping repair the ships.  He took no meals in the recreation halls, taking his meals back to his office with him.

While the commander had always been known to be moody at times, but never to this extent.  Some of the veteran Talons tried to engage him in conversation, but gained little more than grunts in response.  Normally when the commander was in this kind of mood, Zyra would be the first to tease and chastise her superior until he relented.  Unfortunately she had still not reported in which only added to the gloom.

Some of the newer crew expressed concerns at Mark's behaviour, but those who knew him well, knew he'd snap out of it.  A good fight was what he needed.


OOC:  Thought I'd post something while I'm waiting for everyone else.  Seems to be a lot of OOC posting but not much (albeit any) in-game!

Sheila will spend a decent amount of time getting settled and exploring the part of the base that she's allowed on (she doesn't expect to be given the keys to the kingdom given she's new), when she's not on her assigned duties.  She will also try to get to know the other talons, what they used to do, how they ended up here, but she will not push either..  And if anyone asks, she will give a generalised history of herself.

She will do as much sitting on Flash as necessary to get him healed up (Plash, how much work do you make her do in that regard?)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:53, Mon 12 Oct 2009.

Somewhere along the way, Flash realized that he didn't have his rifle!  Consequently, he was rather sour, and more silent than usual, if that was even possible.  He did tend to talk more during missions, but the rest of the time, he kept quite to himself.  If Sheila tries engaging in conversation, she would find that he responds some, but as soon as she prods into his personal life, he shuts up like a clam.

Jamie spent a great deal of the five days following the mission with rest and relaxation.  There had been far too little opportunity for sleep and recovery on this last trip.  He considered these five days his personal vacation time.
There were also some personal questions he now had; he spent a lot of time digging through any archives available on the ship and base computers. 
He also spent a bit of time being conversational with the new recruit, Sheila, being fairly open with her about his past.
"Most people don't ask about that.  I was fortunate enough to go through the Academy.  I served in the Imperial Navy as a TIE pilot for a year or so.  I was pretty good...obviously...I survived the deathtrap that is a TIE fighter.  I was ordered to do some...unpleasant things.  I followed orders for a while.  Then...well, I'd always had a strong liking for explosions.  I blew up my TIE.  They ripped off all my insignia, one by one, and dishonorably discharged me.  Ha!  Then I found my way to Commander Sheppard; I signed on to his crew as the "demolitions expert."  I was really looking to have a good time in the ranks of a rebellion!  I figured it wouldn't be as strict as the Navy, and I'd get a lot of care-free opportunities to blow stuff up at will.  The Commander saw things a little differently.  He offered me a command opportunity.  I figured someone had to do it, and I was available; that's when this got serious for me.  I've had some fun, sure.  We've had dogfights and groundside battles.  I've blown up some big stuff.  We've destroyed a slaver group, fought the Imperials, and now we've destroyed a drug processing facility.  We've done good things.  But we've lost a few good people along the way."
Jamie paused for a moment solemnly to contemplate and honor those who had died in the service of the Black Talons.  Then, in a sharp reversal, he smiled charmingly at Sheila.
"So...what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

In reply to Jamie Webb (msg #5):

"You made it all the way through the Academy and TIE fighter training and didn't realise that they were seriously going to expect you to obey orders?"  She laughed, a relaxed moment she hasn't been able to have in a long time.  "Of course, orders is what got me too, in the end.  And believe me, a place like this is better than the last couple places I've been. My pay for this last job was transport.  That's all, no money, just a lift off that hellhole."   She ran her finger's through her wispy blonde bangs and smiled back at Jamie.  "I'm tempted to let you guess, if I didn't suspect that you'd probably already looked me up."

"I was supposed to get married, be some up and coming officer's wife, proof of his loyalty and status. My brother was going to be a general. He washed out of Raithel, ended up at Cariba in the storm trooper training,  Except I didn't like any of the young up and coming officers I was introduced by my father the minor bureaucrat that he was.  Hell, I could probably do better jobs at what they were trying to do than they could."

Rann spent the five weeks working through his contacts to find a buyer for the droid CPU he'd acquired.  Then he went to see Sheppard.
“ I've found a buyer for that CPU.  If you want, I can try to find someone to supply the gear and supplies we'll need to get the ships back in working order?”

On returning to their base, Devon disappeared into his bunk and slept for twelve hours straight.  Emerging around lunchtime the next day, he grumbled his way down to the hanger and got straight to work on the Talons small fleet of vessels...


For the next couple of weeks Devon seemed to live in a groove between the hanger and his bunk, throwing himself into his work to take his mind off the ones who had died, and the ones they had been forced to leave behind.  Occasionally he'd join the other Talons at mealtimes, and when he did he was his normal cheerful self; but more often Devon would work through mealtimes, sending one of his droids up to collect his food for him.

The former thief worked diligently on the ships that had been placed in his care, and for the most part he worked silently; it was clear that Sheppard didn't want to talk, and that was OK by Devon - in his book you couldn't do any good by forcing someone to talk if they didn't want to; and so he worked alongside his commander in companionable silence.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:32, Fri 16 Oct 2009.

Returning to base gave Exilim the perfect opportunity to get some sleep, so that's what he did, at least for the first day at any rate.

From then on he divided his time between any on duty hours and activities, reading what he could about advanced tactics, and tinkering with his weapons.His tinkering took up the majority of his time. As he didn't currently have a "proper" sniper rifle, he wanted to get as much out of his blaster rifle as possible.

He spent mealtimes with any of the other Talons around, but kept his talking to a minimum as his mind was often occupied with tactics and tinkering.

Marks behaviour was understandable and Xil watched quietly and desperately wished that Zyra would turn up.

Next Day, 0800, Briefing Room


There was an expectation in the air as people went about their morning routine.  Nobody had heard from Mark about what was to be expected, but the unspoken consensus was that there would be a mission.  Who the mission was for was the question.  Various Talons had taken shifts in the communication centre and as far as anyone had heard there had been no major comm traffic.  It was possible that Mark had been making some private dealings, but it seemed unlikely.  Such subltlety was Zyra's speciality, not the commanders.

Still the signs were there.  The briefing room was set up and serving droids were placing out pots of caff and large plates of pastries and savouries.  Such occurances always conincided with a long planning session.

Despite some of the Talons arriving early, none of them beat Mark to the briefing.  He was intently studying a handful of datapads, cursing quietly to himself.  With Zyra missing, he'd taken on the financial aspects of running the business himself and clearly things weren't good.

Even after everyone had filed in, Mark still continued to keep to himself for another five minutes or so.  Finally, he called the meeting to order.

"Alright everyone, party's over.  It's time we got down to business.  First things first.  In Zyra's absence, I am taking over her duties.  If anyone feels up to assisting with the intelligence, financial or public relations side of things, I'd love to hear from you."

"Secondly let me remind you that Sheila has agreed to be our medical specialist.  I imagine she's had plenty of time to look around the sickbay while patching up Flash.  Sheila, and requisition orders you may have should be sent to our quartermaster."

"Which brings us to our other new employee, Mr Pertwee here has already shown his skills as a heavy gunner.  What you may not know is he is well connected in various underworld organisations and may have access to tech we couldn't normally acquire through legitimate means.  Rann, you may consider yourself our new quartermaster.  Anyone who needs things, talk to him.  Our budget is shoestring so don't expect much until we get some paying work.  One thing for you to look in to is a small transport craft of some sort.  We can't keep hitching rides or riding around in a Corellian Cruiser all the time.  We need a small transport or shuttle for small hops.  Perhaps you and Mr Kismet can work together on that."

"All other departments, I'll hear you're reports now.  How are we looking?"

---

OOC: Everyone here (except Flash whom we need to find one for or we'll dock his pay!) has a department they take care of for the business.  If you're not sure or need some clarification on something in relation to your department, please PM me
This message was last edited by the player at 23:01, Fri 23 Oct 2009.

"Sir, our supply of explosives is always lower than I'd like," Jamie put it, "But I think we'll be alright.  I can cook up a little as we go, too.  Our roster has undergone some significant changes since our early days; we need a reassessment of abilities.  I'll work with everyone to see what they can do, then assign them duties accordingly."
Jamie tapped a foot as he took a bite of a pastry.  Especially in deep space, such things were delicacies.  He savored the morsel for an extra-long moment before swallowing and continuing.
"I'm not an accountant, Sir, but I should be fairly capable help in the Intelligence and PR sectors."

"Very good Mr. Webb.  Make sure that everyone here is capable of flying both a Z-95 and the Nightshrike.  In an emergency, I want every person capable of taking the helm."

Sheila nodded when he spoke to her.  "I can handle a starfighter, I've no experience with anything bigger."  Although now  she knew who the quartermaster was.  THe sickbay could use some replacement stuff.

Flash put a word in.  "I've had experience with fighters and transports, but nothing as big as a cruiser."  He then returned to his caf, musing over what the heck it was he did around here anyway?

Devon sat forward and tapped at his datapad.
'Well from my side of things, if your going to want to start running training flights then fuel is very quickly going to be a problem.  We've got enough for maybe a week of operations... less if heavy combat happens.  We need to secure a supply soon.'
He paused to take a bite out of a pastry and wash it down with some caf.
'On a similar note, munitions:  we're even worse off here than the fuel situation... we've got four concussion missiles and that's it.  On top of that I've got a massive 'wants' list of spare parts, replacements, tools and equipment... and that's just to run our fleet in its current configuration.'

Devon sighed.  'As to the big refit you wanted, Boss?  Ripping out Nightshrikes diplomatic deck and refitting it as a hanger?  Sorry to say that plain and simple I haven't had the time and we don't have the parts.  I'll put a list together of what we need... once we get all that stuff, its going to take about a week.  About the best I can do in the meantime is mount some docking rails on the Shrikes upper hull.  That would let us carry the Z-95s through hyperspace, but the pilots would have to spend the entire time in their cockpits. '

Devon brightened up a bit.  'The good news is that within the fuel and munition limitations... our little fleet is basically operational, and barring a major disaster I can keep it that way so long as my supply of spare parts hold out.  Primary systems on all ships are up and running - we even got Shrike's primary hyperdrive motivator working again.'  The shipjacker held up a warning finger.
'Nightshrikes primary systems are all up and running, and in theory she's ready for action... but I better warn you that some of the non-essentials are still down and a couple of the primaries are still a bit glitchy...'

Devon plonked his datapad on the table and slumped back in his chair.
'In summary, our fleet is as operational as I can get it in the time I've had and with the gear I've got.  What I really need is more time and an awful lot more equipment...'

Flash offered something quite unusual: His assistance.  "Actually, I might be able to help you get that done faster.  I wouldn't know what needs to be done, but at least I can do it."  He sat back in his chair.  He had certainly been a lot more conversational since he first met the Talons, though he still kept mostly to himself.

"Well train people on the ground as much as you can.  Let's not waste what fuel we have.  Send your list of needs to Mister Pertwee."

Turning to Rann, "As my new quartermaster, you have the most diffucult job of all.  Going through everyone elses wish lists and seperating what they actually need from all the things they want.  It's not Life Day.  Then I need you to start working out where we can steal, buy or trade for the goods we need."

"Now, if Mr Nallis would give us his report, we can move on."

Xil listened patiently as the others reported what they needed. He looked from Mark to the rest of the Talons and started.

"Let me start by saying that in terms of ground based ops, we are a little better equipped. We have done well so far, but it hasn't been without loss or severe injury." He looked around, letting his eyes fall on Rann for a moment A special order for you coming up he thought to himself before continuing.

"As it seems that a lot of the missions we be undertaking are going to be ground based, there are some area's the we need to do some work on." he didn't pause or look at anyone in particular as he kept speaking "Firstly, we need to be a little better prepared in terms of the equipment that we carry with us, besides our weapons that is. As an example, we can assume that there will be a degree of breaking into places, therefore, I think it would be prudent to have most of us carry a compact 'break in' kit and be somewhat proficient in the use of it. What we are doing at any given time will dictate what we need, but we need to be thinking more laterally." he took a brief drink and the kept going "Secondly, as we will be operating on the ground a bit, I think that we could all do with some training exercises involving a range of ground combat tactics. Close quarter combat, entering buildings by stealth or with all guns blazing are two of the things high on my agenda." He looked around the gathered Talons knowing what he was going to say next would be even less popular "And yes, there will be an obstacle course involved." he picked up the pastry in front of him and started eating it, after all what he had in mind would require that he had energy to burn.

"We all need practice in those areas Mister Nallis.  We've hardly been the most effective team on the ground so far.  We've seen numerous mistakes we can't afford.  Most of us are too used to being pilots.  Work us hard Mister Nallis, and make sure Flash gets extra times on rope climbing."

"Other information that you're not going to like.  We acquired no new merchandise on this run so there is no prize money to distribute.  So we're going to be tightening our belts. . .again.  In fact we're worse off then we were before.  We need to make credits, lots of them and quickly.  As such I've already begun planning our next group of sorties."

Picking up a remote, he flicked on the viewscreen and brought up a nearby sector.

"You all remember the Phindar System, especially since we were only there a week ago.  Added to the fact they tried to kill us with rigged explosives also tends to make it stick in your mind.  Well we're going back there."

"I've chosen this system for a number of reasons.  Firstly, it's an outlying Imperial system with limited military resources.  The fact they employ mercenary forces shows they're less equipped then other sectors.  "

"Secondly, they clearly have internal strife at present.  We witnessed a terrorist bombing of one of their major spaceports.  While it may increase their alertness, they will likely be spreading their resources a lot further to protect civilian targets.  Since we don't bomb innocents, this should mean less Imperial presence when we do strike."

"Next is logistical.  It's a few days away in the Nightshrike, we have seen inside one of their bases and have scans of at least two of their planets as well as space traffic.  We have a reasonable picture of what they can throw at us.  We also know that they're going to be having petrochem shortages since we took out one of their major refineries.  This will mean shipments for the forseeable future which means tanker convoys.  If we could hijack even one tanker, we could fuel our craft for weeks."

"Finally, I'm pissed off.  The Imperials treated us as expendable assets and I do not consider any of you expendable.  We've lost three, maybe four valuable colleagues and I will not let that stand.  Added to which, when word gets around, it may make us appear weak which will cost us work.  I plan to show the Imps, just how big a mistake they made trying to kill us."

Mark stopped to allow the others to absorb this information.

"So we'll be returning to Phindar space to conduct a number of operations.  Our goals will be threefold.  One, acquire any and all assets we can.  We need creds, ships, supplies, fuel, whatever.  Second, we need to try and acquire any information on Zyra's wereabouts that we can.  Finally, I want to hurt the Imperials, a lot."

"I have no specific missions in mind at present, just a theatre of operation.  I need ideas on how we can best utilise our resources.  We'll take Nightshrike and both our Z-95's.  Jamie, organise a crew roster for our ships.  We need everyone assigned a role that best matches their skill.  Z-95 pilots will also needs jobs on the cruiser.  Xil, set up your training regime and get everyone a crash course on ground warfare.  Flash, transfer whatever weaponry you think will need from the armory to the Nightshrike."

"Remember people, we only have the fuel for one week of combat operations.  So we need to see results fast.  I want to ship out tomorrow morning, so we need to plan now.  So lets work out how best to hurt the Imps while filling our coffers."



OOC:  So in a way I'm creating a 'choose your own adventure' stub of sorts.  I've left the mission vague so you can decide what you want to do.  Want space combat?  Lets hijack some convoys?  Want land combat?  Let's raid some supply dumps or board a Imperial space station.  Want stealth?  Lets covertly slip a team into an Imperial base to slice their systems for info, creds, whatever.  Want a combination of four?  That's what combined ops is all about (i.e. We could have starfighters suppressing defenses while a ground team infiltrates a structure/ship/station).

I want you to help me plan the next adventure based on wether you wanna blow stuff up with the cruiser, get some dogfighting in, rip up some stormies with an e-web or go stealthy.  Thank about what you (your player) wants to do and we'll blend it all into a mission.  Please don't write 'I wanna blow things up' (well maybe Jamie can get away with that), blend it into a mission (i.e. 'Lets blow up some munitions dumps to prevent Imperials from resupplying').  That way if people wanna do covert, maybe we insert them first to steal stuff while the flyboys provide cover, etc.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Wed 04 Nov 2009.

"Sounds like half a plan, Sir.  We need fuel, credits, spacecraft, weapons and ammunition.  We don't need to get all of it at once, though.  Striking back at the Imperials is going to be extremely dangerous.  If we're going to survive, we'll need a clear and simple goal, a clear and simple plan, the advantage of surprise, and lots of focus.  If we go in all at once intending to exact revenge and collect as much in the way of goodies as we can, we'll be astronomically lucky to come out with even our lives.
"We should come up with a series of operations.  With each, we should accomplish one or two things and get out.  Only our first strike against the Imps will have the element of surprise.  After the second strike, they will know we mean business.  A third strike would be possible if we plan it properly.
"I propose we make our first move at a fuel shipment.  I'm thinking this may be better suited for subterfuge.  Rather than directly attacking a tanker, if we can get on board before the shipment is made, we can hijack it mid-flight and redirect it without even entering the Phindar system.  This would give us a very short window in which we could make a second strike and still catch them with their trousers down.
"Whatever our second strike is will have to be quick.  What would be nice is if we hit a supply depot and split up.  Flash and Sheila would gather weapons and munitions and medical supplies; Devon and Rann would steal and prep a ship or two; I would leave my little presents around the depot.  It is conceivable that we could get in, split up, do our jobs, meet up, and get out again within a few minutes.  Mark, you and Xil would fly cover for us on the way out.
"At that point we leave the system.  We could have the Nightshrike resting at a near-system staging area so we don't have to come all the way back here.  Then we prep for our next hit."
Jamie took a deep breath and drank the last of his caf.
"At this point the Imperials are on high alert systemwide; we'll have to be sneaky to get back into the system.  Once we're in, we find Zyra and just fly out again.  Our in and out will be the tanker we hijacked.  We will pose as the crew.  With a little creative slicing, we can pull it off."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:27, Thu 05 Nov 2009.

After scanning through the large list of stuff the group need, Rann put down his datapad and took a sip of his caf.  'Well, I hope you dont expect any records off me on the assault course.  Also, this is a big list and some of this stuff is going to be hard to come by...'  he grinned  'but I do like a challenge.'

"Jamie has a point about us having diminishing returns on the surprise part of whatever we do. I also agree that our first strike should be for fuel, better to get that early than try when the Imps are looking out for us." He looked up at Rann for a second, pulled up some information on his data pad and then passed it across to him "Something for you get your teeth into." he said.

"So its agreed our first target is to be fuel.  Wether it be a refining plan, storage depot or a convoy in transit will depend largely on intelligence.  And that's going to involve some work on Sheila and Rann's part.  We need to know the location of all possible targets, proximity to military bases, personal defences and so on.  We also need to keep careful track of wether each targets is military or civilian.  With the former I'm happy for Jaime to play with as much detonite as he pleases.  Civilian targets must be handled more carefully.  We're here to hurt the Imperial war machine, not innocent workers."

"The Nightshrike will leave in the morning to head back to the outskirts of the Phindar system.  Jamie, Xil, you're going to be leading the teams on the surface.  You need to find the most appropriate targets and then determine how to capture the fuel.  Remember it will be a lot easier if we can hijack a tanker somehow.  Otherwise we'd have to convert the Nightshrike to hold more fuel, and then get her in, fill her up and get out again which will take much longer.  I will remain on Nightshrike to co-ordinate and continue to try and contact Zyra."

"Jamie, please prepare a crew roster for our fleet.  You are free to use them as you see fit.  Just remember we're not in the PHA anymore.  We lose our ships there are no replacements."

"Xil, you have permission to torture us all your obstacle course.  The cargo hold on the Nightshrike is at your disposal.  Everyone is to complete whatever physical training you deem necessary, that includes myself."

"Everyone else, ensure all the gear you plan to take is stowed on the Nightshrike by zero four hundred.  We leave at zero four thirty hours."

"Any questions?"



OOC:  Could everyone please ensure they make a list of what they are taking with them (this will include Flash's list of weapons he's transferring from the armoury).  One good thing with the Nightshrike is she has a dozen staterooms so there's no 'bunking up' with other people!

"Understood Commander" Xil replied to Mark. Turning to Jamie he said "Can you make sure in your rostering to allocate time for my torture sessions, I wouldn't want anyone to miss out."

In his mind he was already picturing how the obstacle course would look First things first though... he thought to himself get my gear stowed away on the Nightshrike and then the course

If no one has any thing else to add Exilim will excuse himself and get to work.

Sheila nods to Rann.  She turns her thoughts to what she has, and what the base has.  A second blaster wouldn't be a bad idea. Taking the medical droid wouldn't be a bad idea either, as well as stocking the medical bay on the ship.  Cause when it comes down to it, if they lost the ship, they would probably lose the team.

Her gear won't take much to stow on the ship, she only had what she had carried to the pirate base.   A second change of clothes and some 'new' boots, now that would be good.

"Yes, Sir."
Jamie first packed his things.  This consisted of a duffel that was already prepped and half a dozen shiny new concussion grenades from the armory (which Jamie inspected carefully before packing).
Returning to his bunk, he began conjuring a crew roster for the mission, based on his knowledge of each team member's skills.  He would need to present this to Mark as soon as possible; after a few minutes of rearrangements, he came up with a good plan.

Devon nodded acknowledgements to the other Talons and slouched off down to the hanger, pouring over his datapad - he knew he was going to have a busy night ahead of him, and he didnt anticipate getting much sleep...

Accepting the offered datapad, Rann took his leave and headed down to the base stores to make a start on provisioning the cruiser.  Fairly high on his list of priorities was to learn what the cruiser had in the way of an armoury and storage space that he could use.

Location: Free Trading Station, Just outside the Phindir System
Time:  Three days later.


Finding a booth big enough to house the entire team had been problematic.  Fortunately Rann knew someone who knew someone and the group had a private room within the station's main tapcaf.  Nobody seemed to be taking much notice of the group.  They looked like one of many teams that were here to make deals.  Pirates, mercenaries and traders alike all came here.

Nor was anything said about their arrival.  A Consular Cruiser was nothing overly suspicious, even one that was modified.  Besides, it had only docked long enough for the teams to disembark.  Mark stayed aboard alone, relying on droids to assist him.  He'd promised to find a quiet spot for the ship and wait until contacted.  Xil and Jamie both had contact codes and times for the ship.

So now the Talons gathered together without their Commander or XO.  Mark's instructions had been simple.  Infiltrate the Phindir system, and determine targets of opportunity for sabotage and capture.  The primary goal was fuel and credits, with anything damaging the Imperial war machine as a secondary target.  How they were to do that was up to them.  The Phindir system had three populated worlds, two habitable moons and numerous stations.  There was plenty of places to go.



OOC:  Okay.  This is the first mission without Mark there to annoy you.  You've got no transport, but securing a berth on a freighter is no problem.  Various planets will have different possibilites/levels of security (but this is an Imperial system so expect reasonable security in most places, especially the main planet).

I need you to determine what gear you're actually carrying (vs. what you left on the Nightshrike).  Basic weaponry wont raise an eyebrow here (though it will on some Imperial worlds).  You wouldn't be walking around with heavy weaponry (that will attract too much attention).

"Well Exilim said and then paused briefly "Anyone have thoughts on where we should get started? he asked.

Even though he was the the ground force commander it was not a role he was entirely comfortable with, nor was he feeling all that confident in his ability to ferret out information. He was a sniper, liked the freedom of working alone to a degree and in general was a bit withdrawn. He had worked at improving himself, and while communicating with those he worked with was not an issue, the communication needed for gathering intel from complete strangers was a different story.


OOC: a few things;
1. Apologies about tardiness in posting, have a 6 month old who has decided that sleep in the evenings is apparently not necessary.
2. Xil is carrying/ wearing his usual array of gear: Blaster rifle, blaster pistol, vibroblade, knife, 2 concussion grenades All Temperature Cloak,Credit Chip, Macrobinoculars, Padded Flight Suit, Comlink, Secure Comlink, 3 Power Packs, 2 Energy packs
3. HE has left on the Nightshrike his flight suit

Sheila spends alot of time poring over maps and datasheets on her datapad and invites Rann in on the search.

Xil notices that Sheila and Rann are busy looking up information on her datapad. With no offers of information coming he asks them "How are you two doing? Any information on petrochem plant locations, how the fuel is transported at any stage would give us somewhere to start planning."

Jamie leaned in over the team's table.
"I'd like to remind everyone to restrain your tongues.  Places like this usually have live security feeds.  Anything we say here will likely be recorded."
He leaned back and started twiddling his thumbs.
"My suggestion is that we find a shipment scheduled to arrive at the Imp base where we believe our girl may be held.  If we snag the ship en route, we can complete its delivery as scheduled.  If we're posing as the crew, that's our ticket into the base.  However, we may not be able to get that perfect job.  Let's see what we can get."
Jamie looked around the private room.
"Seven, check the room, please.  I want to know what sort of security and surveillance we're working under right now.  Rann, you'll be Talon Three, at least temporarily.  You and Two can mull around and see what sort of computer resources we have on this station.  Are there directories of some sort?  Holonet access?  Check out anything near here and be back in this room in ten minutes.  In the meantime, does anyone have ideas?  Sheila, how good are you with people?"

In reply to Jamie Webb (msg #34):

When Jamie starts talking about watching what they were saying, she nods, then looks up sharply when he stops watching what he's saying, but decides not to say anything, after all, Exilim is supposedly in charge and all an argument will do is bring more attention to them.

Sheila brings up a map, a general purpose map, of the area she believes Jamie is talking about, they've been trying NOT to set off any alarms.  "I see that."  THen when Jamie asks how good she is with people, she shrugs.  "Depends on what you want.  I'm a starfighter and computer sort of girl."

Grumbling about always been given the grunt work and faking a limp, Devon began his examination of the room.  He flashed a quick grin over his shoulder to show that there was nothing serious in his grumbles.



Busily poking around in the corner, Devon glanced over his shoulder.  'It won't be that easy, surely?   I mean, Imps are going to have an escort for their convoy, right?  which means either we take over the ship in such a way that the escorts dont realize... or eliminate and replace the escorts too.'

He paused for a moment, turning the options over in his head.  'Actually, that second idea has something to be said for it... if we can find a way of doing it...  that lets us add the escort fighters to our list of aquisitions...'

Rann bean working with his datapad, looking for good places to gather information about the locality and the comings of goings of ships

Jamie couldn't help but smile when Sheila gave him the you're-an-idiot look.  In a way, he was an idiot...that seemed to be a requirement of the job.
"We generally use numbers instead of names.  We can generalize instead of giving details such as time and location.  We're here to start a job...we can't get completely around talking about it...but we can avoid giving away enough details for someone to plan a surprise reception for us when we get there."
In response to Devon, Jamie nodded.
"Or perhaps we can snag and replace the crew before they even meet up with the escort.  Perhaps, even, we could infiltrate the group doing the shipping and be the official crew?  It all depends.  We'll find out soon."

She ignored his response to her look and asked. "It looks like we want to get here,"  pointing at the map.  So exactly what did you mean when you asked how good I was with people?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:02, Thu 03 Dec 2009.

OOC:

Glad to see the pickup in posting.  I'm going to try to answer everyone's questions here:

COMPUTERS
There are two major functions:

1.  Searching the Infonet (for lack of a better term).  This is the SW equivalent of the internet (Google Star Wars mayhaps?).  Anyone with a computer use or gather information skill can use this.  (if you have both use higher, I may also add bonuses to a search if both skills are high).  So an example of how this might help would be:

Maps of the station and the Phindir System will be here (tourist maps, etc).  Wont show everything (most maps have military zones just listed as such).  I'm going to assume Sheila downloaded all this already (being the good slicer she is).

2.  Slicing.  This is hacking.  So you try to break into an illegal system.  An example might be to hack into the station's ship manifest to check arrivals and departures/cargos/etc (not someting they usually pop on the world wide web!).  Since you need proper computer equipment and a landline to do real slicing (not a datapad in a tapcaf) I'll assume no slicing has been done yet.  Also, many places keep info on closed systems so sometimes slicing has to be done on sight, not remotely.  (Depends on the info.  Some info does need to be shared so is accessible externally (though encrypted).  For example, ship manifests may be accessible externally for viewing (as info needs to be shared with the cargo bays, fuel station, etc), but other info will be kept on private systems.  For example, if you wanted to replace crew on an official manifest (Jamie's idea of 'swapping crew') you would need to break into the particular ship to alter the records.



INTEL GATHERING
Another way to gather info is by word of mouth through the use of the gather info skill (beefed up with diplomacy or bluff if you have it).  So Rann wanted to find out where the ship captains hang out.  That's not something you'll find on a computer most likely.  But mingle in the bars with ships crew and bar staff, grease a few palms (or buy a few drinks) and its amazing what you can learn.  I believe Rann is our smooth talker here.


BUG SWEEPING
Devon, a standard bug scanner is in your security kit.  You find no bugs upon searching.  However you're just in a private booth/room in a bar so it's hardly the most secure.  It has a standard security camera on the roof (they're not trying to hide it).


Hope this all helps you with your planning!
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:19, Thu 03 Dec 2009.

Exilim let out a little chuckle as he caught the interaction between Jamie and Sheila.
He had been listening to what had been mentioned, and while he liked the of having more fighters it raised the complexity of the mission.
"Before we get too ambitious with our planning, lets actually see what is feasible." Xil said. He turned to Sheila looking at the map that she had indicated to "So, what have you found us?"

"NOt all that much at the moment, I really can;t get anything really good from here.  But this is where you think she is.  And this is a vague visitor's map."  the map had the general shape of the base, but very little was labeled, except the building where visitor's were expected to check in before proceeding further into the base, after passing the first checkpoint to get in.  "There is also these companies, who claim to provide fuel to the Imperials in their advertising.  And a list of ships looking for passengers, and a list of crew wanted, although I would bet that;s out of date within an hour of posting,"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:17, Fri 04 Dec 2009.

"Well, at least it gives us somewhere to start looking." Exilim said looking around the table. "I think that we need to find you somewhere that you can get better intel from."

Pausing briefly he continued speaking to the gathered Talons "What's the general consensus? From what Ten has been able to get so far a range of possibilities present themselves."

"Certainly, I'm sure several of us have good qualifications for a job, but a prospective employer is going to want more identification than we can offer.  If we had more time to prepare, that might be more reasonable."
Jamie looked at the visitor's map, trying to identify the buildings.
"These companies may be our in.  They'll have security, but it won't be as good as whatever the Imps have.  This may be our in.  On the other hand, it may be easier to work these jobs one at a time."
Jamie looked up at the others.  "Planning this sort of thing is not my specialty.  If I have to do this full-time, I'm going to be...very upset."

Sheila's data reveals that there are 3 suppliers of fuel within the Phindar sector.


1. Typhon Energy

Typhon Energy is a massive congomerate that supplies most of the fuel for military operations within the local arm of the galaxy (numerous sectors).  They have the tender for supplying fuel in the Phindar sector (and in typical Imperial fashion have strangled out the competition).

The advantages of hitting these guys is that they have several plants (4 on various moons/planets) and numerous fuel convoys you can hit.  Also any damage you do to these guys reduces fuel to the military (the plant Bishop's team destroyed belongs to Typhon Energy).  The disadvantage is their convoys and plants are well protected by the Imperials (especially after your act of sabotage) making them tougher to take.



2.  Phindar Petrochem

This is a sector based company that deals mainly in fuel for the security and agricultural sector.  They do supply some fuel to Imperials (when Typhon can't, etc) and have been trying to expand but are being effectively squeezed out by Typhon.

These guys would have less security to deal with but also less convoys.  They have two processing plants on heavily populated worlds.  Hitting these guys does not hurt the Imps (though that is a secondary consideration).



3.  Zandar Corporation

Zandar corproation runs a number of fuelling stations for the retail sector.  They are a family-run corporation with no Imperial ties (aside from paying taxes etc).  These guys would be easiest to hit as they have very little security.  However little of their fuel is military grade (though a little refining will fix that).  They have one manufacturing plant.

Rann hands his backpack to Sheila “Look after this for me, I'm going to talk to some people and see what I can find out.”. Grabbing his coat, Rann  heads out to see what the local gossip has to say.

Rann will be gone for the rest of the day most likely so can people sort out what they're doing (if anything) so he isn't left out of the action for too long?

"Have fun out there." says to Rann as he leaves. Turning to Sheila he says "Find somewhere that you can plug into the local network and slice away. I want as much intel about those fuel suppliers as you can get. Also anything extra on that base would be nice."

Turning to the rest of the team he says "I'm going to take a sniper look at that base and see, well, what I can see. What about the rest of you?

OOC:
Rann was supposed to be asking either Xil or Jamie to lend him some credits out of the stash Mark gave you for his information gathering.  Since he has yet to do so (its been 4 days) I'm going to assume that you give him the 250 credits he wanted.

I'm also assuming since nobody has posted that nobody has any plans for the rest of the day (as Rann will need many hours to ask around.

You all meet the next day you all meet in one of your rooms (which has been security swept and is bug-free) to learn what Rann knows.

The next morning Rann arrived back from his night out with a data pad of info and a sore head. “Caf black... no blacker” he said “Well, Typhon Energy have sold out to the Empire; they're undercutting the competition by having the Empire crew their supply ships” he said in between sips of caf “ If we need reinforcements for a strike we have a lot of crews who are out of the job and willing to help us. And we can might make some money on the side from the other company's if we cut Typhon out of the system.” he pulled himself slowly too his feet “ I'm going to bed, that cockroach is moving to loudly for me.  Goodnight”

"Well that makes posing as a Typhon crew member problematic." Xil said in reply to Rann's information. "It does make them a better target if we are looking at hurting the Empire's presence here however. I also like the idea of getting paid by the other companies for what we were already going to do."

He lent back in his seat considering the option of using some of the out of work crews to help them in their venture or ventures.....

"Do you have any information on these potential assistants?  We can't bring just anyone along.  We should know something about them first.  Typhon sounds like a good target, but it will be hard.  Did you find out anything about the security?  That's crucial.  If they have rentacop style security this will be a breeze.  The Empire can't send proper escorts everywhere.  On the other end of the spectrum, if they have proper Imperial escort, this could be nigh impossible...or at least not worth the trouble.  If we want to get paid by one of the other companies, do we need to eliminate Typhon or just damage them?"

Sheila's on the computer, up to now she's been finding the fences, how far one can go into the sites of the companies before hitting walls, she's starting the test the fences, hopefully finding some answers to questions mentioned.

After looking queasy for a moment, Rann suddenly bolted for the nearest toilet, hands clamped over his mouth.  He should have realised that his kebab having a tail was probably a bad sign... before slamming the toilet door he tossed his datapad back onto the table the others were sat at, its screen full of text.

Sheila will comment from her padd.

"There's an imperial ship due to dock at 1000 hours tomorrow, to pick up cargo, it's a Imperial Delta class DX-9 Troop Transport.  The station's fuel depot is supplied by Zander, which isn't so good for getting back at imperials with.  If I sit here, I can sort of get into the sensors, if we want to try to figure out the imperial patrol pattern, or watch who goes by, which is basically the name/number of the ship.and what we can figure out visually, or someone a little sneakier than I am can upload a program that will send the feed to the pad more securely.  Finding out of work Typhon crews will be  footwork, there's fifteen ads right now on the boards looking for work, but we might be able to get security info from them, whether or not we take them along."

Once Rann stops retching enough to hear her, she will ask loudly "You want something for that stomach?:"

 .

Xil chuckles at Sheila's comment to Rann as he reaches for the quickly discarded datapad. "Lets see whats on here" he says as he starts to go through the information on the datapad.

Devon watches Rann bolt for the bathroom and listens to the noises coming from behind the hastily slammed door without even stopping chewing on his snack.
'Secret to healthy livin', he mumbled round a mouthful and held up his partially unwrapped meal for the others to see.  'Eat prepacked ship-rations.  All the vitamins minerals and calories you need, never go off and available in a variety of colours...' he regarded his food for a moment. 'Don't think much of this green one though... prefer the orange.  Yeah, whats on that datapad anyhow?'

Typhon Energy has recently signed  a deal
deal signed with the Imperials
all tankers are now crewed by Imperials.
5 fortmaine ZZZZ, 2 alderaan hammers, 2 telti sherrys
The security is run by imperials.
Typhon Energy has significantly raised its profits.
They have got a stranglehold on the system's fuel market
many crews & locals are out of work.
 Few jobs with the other companies
6 hothers, 3 ZZZZ, 1 goopers original ale
very few jobs with other companies
freighters are signing on crew
lots of unhappy crew and locals
tankers are put in small fleets
2 khomm star breaker, 3 starbuds, 4 ZZZZ, 1 bantha milk
usually defended with a  corvette
sometimes a patrol craft or frigate and a few fighters escort the fleet
Phindar Petrochem are desperately trying to hold on to business
typhon sabotaging  other companys
4 starbuds, 5 sknab bitter
phindar lost the most to Typhon's increasing expansion
 increasing convoys has not worked
convoys lightly defended
believed that pirates are working with Typhon
Phindar is employing mercenaries 

(occ: virtual crates to who ever gets the names of all 5 beers hidden in the above message happy new year)

'Hang on a moment.' said Devon, swallowing the last of his food and pointing at Sheila. 'You mentioned a DX-9 transport, right?  I heard about those... they ain't your basic transports - those things are assault vessels; designed for boarding actions:  lots of guns, tough shields and a uni-dock.  Plus you can cram a couple of dozen stormies into one...' he tailed off for a moment, thinking.

'Well, if they're sending one of those, its either not picking up a cargo (but why send an assault ship to do a shuttles job?) or that cargo is seriously valuable.  Given that Rann's detective work says Typhon has a deal with the Empire and is activily sabotaging other companies... I'd lay money on that DX-9 has been seeing combat...'
This message was last edited by the player at 00:14, Wed 06 Jan 2010.

"mmm interesting theory Seven. It wouldn't be surprising to find out that it was a 'pirate' vessel. If only we could make it become part of our little fleet." He re-read the information on the data pad a couple more times. "Phindar could do with a group like us. It would allow us to hit back at the Imps through damaging Typhon and if we are lucky we might get some extra resources along the way."

Xil considered what he had said for a long moment before coming to a decision.

"We need to get some credit flow happening as well as trying to get ourselves some more resources, i.e. fuel. Any significant action against Typhon/ the Imps is going to take some serious planning. Zandar Corp is the softest target, but to get the most out of them we would need fuel refining capabilities. Therefore, Five, I want you and Two to make contact with Phindar. Offer them our services. It is a way of getting paid and if anything they might be able to supply us with fuel as part payment. That would at least alleviate some of the urgency we have in acquiring it ourselves." He paused and looked around. "Seven, Ten and myself will go to the station to have a look around. It would be nice if we could find a way to delay the shuttle in any way." turning to Sheila he said "We might be able to find you somewhere to plug in and slice away a bit more." Pointing to the bathroom "We might have to leave him for now. If he feels better later on we'll see if he can get any intel from the out of work Typhon crews."

He looked around the table again "Any questions?"

The silence is broken by Rann's datapad pinging to indicate he has a new message.  As everyone turns to stare at the pad on the table, a ping is then heard from Jamie's datapad also.


OOC:  I should point out as Rann's datapad is on the table, anyone could check the message.  Or you could wait for Rann to finish in the bathroom.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:58, Sun 10 Jan 2010.

Jamie nodded.  "Good plan.  Let's do it.  I'll offer them our services and ask for their help.  We're professionals but we could use some supplies...fuel, weapons, ammunition...and we could use some information.  They can probably give us more than we can find here.  Oh wait..." he checked his datapad.  "New message.  Excuse me."
Jamie stepped out of the room to view his message.

Sheila will step over to the bathroom and offer something to Rann.

The toilet door opened a crak and Ranns hand poked through to accept the medicine from Sheilia.  ”Thanks...”  the hand disappeared again and there was some painul swallowing noises.  “umm.. did my datapad ping?”

"YEs, it did."

"You want us to see what came through on your data pad?" Xil called out to Rann. Even though they had been looking over some of the information on it he thought that they should still give him a little respect for his privacy.

Not being as respectful as Exilim, Flash grabs the datapad and begins reading it.  The Duros quickly becomes agitated and begins cursing.  "What the. . .?  I don't owe anyone any money!  Rann, who the Sith is Sif Novak?"



*NPC'd by GM*

Moments after Flash's tirade, there is a knock at the door.

Jamie, having just returned from reading his message, had not even had a chance to mention it to his comrades when the knock came.  He couldn't think of any good reason for a knock.  He stood against the wall about a meter to the side of the door, and signaled for Xil to do the same on the other side.
With a hand on his pistol, he nodded to Xil.
"Come in," he responded loudly.

Jace opens the door and steps through.  Seeing the pistols pointed at him, he just sighs.  "Is that any way to treat an old friend?" he asks.

After giving Jace a once-over, Jamie leaves his pistol in it's holster and instead holds the hand out for a shaking.
"Welcome back.  How's the galaxy treating you?  What can we do for you?"
Jamie wasn't feeling terribly excited to see Jace return; the man had been a whinebox during that last operation.  Still, it would be rude not to greet him properly and hear him out.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:09, Sat 16 Jan 2010.

"Not so bad; finally got that bomb removed from my skull, and I'm no longer working for the Hutts," Jace replies, shaking Jamie's hand.  "Incidentally, you should probably be a little more discrete in future; from landing here it only took me about an hour to find you.  How about yourselves?"

Xil swore as he put his pistol away. Turning to Jace he says "Hello again" He was annoyed that they were so easy to find. "We're getting by. I take you looked us up for a reason?"

Jace shrugs.  "The last time we met, there was talk of offering me a job.  I was wondering if that's still a possibility."

Flash drops the datapad back on the table and glares at Jace.

"Are you the one going around telling people I owe you credits?  I don't owe anyone anything!"


*NPC'd by GM*

Jace chuckles.  "I told one person; the bartender at that cantina you had a private room booked in.  I suppose I could have told him the truth, but I doubt I'd have gotten any answers that way," he points out drily.  "I was sure I'd asked him not to tell you I was looking for you though..."

  Sheila waves at Jace, he's not going to do anything, all the others are watching him, so she goes back to her datapad to watch the feed.  Although the fact that he found them so quick does bother her, but she doesn't let it show.  She learned the hard way in the imperial navy never to let anything show.  Although she does run everything they've done through her mind, to figure out where they slipped up.  Coming in on their ship and as a group was probably a good one to start.  Talking in the bar, maybe.  SHe glanced up every so often to keep an eye on those around her.

Devon's mouth dropped open when he saw who was at the door, it wasn't often someone whos ship you had stolen came looking for you afterwards.  Well, actually, that bit happened a lot.  The bit that didn't often happen was them coming looking for you with friendly intent...

Devon shut his mouth .  He really couldn't get his head round the idea that Jace wasn't here to cause problems... and so he let one hand drift casually under the table to the pistol holstered on his waist.

Jamie thought for a moment as the conversation unfolded around him.  Then he extended a hand to Jace.  "Welcome aboard.  Consider yourself a probationary member of the team; you'll work and be paid just like the rest of us, but don't be surprised if we don't completely trust you for a while.  Of course, we'll have to clear this with the commander...but I expect he'll be glad to have you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jace replies, shaking Jamie's hand a second time.  "So, can you trust me with what it is you're doing here?  I assume you're still looking for that teammate of yours that you had to leave behind on one of the nearby planets?"

"This isn't the best place to go into details," Jamie suggested, "But here's the gist.  We plan to rescue the princess, hurt the bad guys, and restock the pantry of the good guys.  We're in the process of making plans right now.  We don't have a concrete mission plan yet."

"We don't have a concrete mission plan? Flash echoes, "I didn't think we had any plan!"


*NPC'd by GM*

Xil shot Flash a quick look before picking up the conversation "Welcome to the team. While we have nothing 'concrete' just yet, I recall that we were about to head out just before your arrival." he shot another  glance at Flash before continuing. "Five and Two, I believe you had to make the acquaintance of some business owners. The rest of us were going to have a bit of a walk around the arrivals bay." The arrival of Jace had reminded Xil that they needed to be more careful about how they went about things, and that included speaking so freely about what they were up to.

"Before we head out, do you have anything to update us on Five?" Xil indicated to Jamie's' data pad as he asked the question.

“ hello again, Jace” said Rann, who was leaning against the bathroom doorway “So far we have no plan, just ideas and information.  If you have anything you can bring to the table that would be good”

Ran crossed to the table and retrieved his datapad from Flash.  “ To answer your second question Sif Novak is the one who got us the private room at the Tapcaf last night” he said as he sat down.   “ ok give me two minutes, also what are we going to the arrive bays for?”

"Well, it wasn't him I spoke to; the person I spoke to was as bar tender, who complained that you were lousy tippers," Jace says drily.  "Speaking of which, bar staff always notice that kind of thing."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:45, Mon 25 Jan 2010.

Xil indicated to Sheila as he said "Ten's shuttle is arriving and we really only have today to check out possible ways of making issues for it.From midnight it will be a closed Imperial shop so to speak. Five and Two are to try get us employed with the mid size fuel company. Like I said earlier, why not get paid to do what we were going to do in the first place."

"Then you might find these useful," Jace replies, passing over a datapad.  Stored on it are layouts for the security room, the control room and the docking bay.  "I've not recced any of them first hand, so I don't know what kind of physical security there's going to be, but it's better than nothing."

Sheila will reach for the datapad to see the layouts of the rooms. "Well, we're gonna walk through the bay, so this should help with that.."  She studied them, "Do you mind if I copy the maps to mine?"

"Be my guest.  I only have them because I didn't expect you to still be here; I thought I'd have to find sensor logs to see which route you'd left in," Jace replies with a shrug.  "I've got a technician's uniform hidden away too if anyone wants it; it probably won't hold up to too close a look, but if you don't draw attention to yourselves it should keep people from wanting to."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:56, Wed 27 Jan 2010.

"I think the technicians uniform will come in handy, so make sure to pick it from where ever you've got it hidden." Xil said to Jace. Turning to Sheila he asked "How do you feel about dressing up to try get better access to the systems in the port Ten?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:53, Thu 28 Jan 2010.

"OK. Sounds good."    She;s still studying the maps and thinking.

Flash turns to Jamie.  "So what do you want me to do?  We're going to talk to Phindar right?  I'm not much of a talker."


<NPC'd by GM>
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:31, Sat 30 Jan 2010.

"It's in the closet at the end of the hall; won't take long to pick up when you decide you need it," Jace informs the group.

"How badly do you think we need to see the feed? I can write something that will send it directly to me, a better link than what I have now, if we need it.  All it will tell us, basically someone has to be watching, is who passes by and which way they are going. I'd bet I could put in parameters so it would beep us if something we wanted came up, but there's not much room to save much.  Any reason anyone can think of that we need to go to these?"  She indicated the control room and the security room maps on the pad with her fingers.

Xil turned to Jamie "Five how about you and Two head out to make the contact that we discussed earlier. Two says he's not much of a talker, but that is not the only way to make an impression." Directing his next comment to both of them he said "Remember, we want them to know that we are a professional outfit and that we can do what they want us to. Make sure you give them that impression."

Turning to address Sheila he said"I can think of some gear that the security room might have in it, and the control room would probably allow us to get more intel. However getting into either of them might not be the easiest thing. Write up whatever you need to to get that better link and try those parameters for anything that might be of interest to us. When you're done we'll head out."

Exilim only planned to wait a short time for Sheila to do what she needed to, time was getting away from them.

As if to accentuate the point, Xil's datapad pinged.  It was an automated message from the hotel services on board.  The rooms they were in were only booked for one night and needed to be vacated in an hour.  If they wanted to stay longer, they'd need to report to the main reception area.

Xil grunted as he checked his datapad. "Looks like time is catching up to us. Ten you have 30 minutes max to do whatever you can and then we move out." He paused momentarily before continuing "Everyone make sure your gear is packed and that it goes with you. We are apparently a little too easy to find here." he shot a grin at Jace. "Rann, find us a new place to hide."

As he stood and began gathering his gear up, Devon glanced across at Xil.
'Want me to take a walk through the local hangers and see what I can see?  Never know - might be something we can... put to use.' he grinned at the sniper.

'And if we cant find anything more interesting.. there's always that DX-9.'

“OK I will see what I can do, but I'll need credits” said Rann, as he started to go through his contact list to find someone who could get them a place to stay where no one would ask too many questions.
(ooc:Rann rolled a 21 on computer use to find a contact to help them)

Sheila finished up her datapad, repacked her pack, which didn't take long and looked up.  "Ready."

"Indeed there is that DX-9>" Xil said in reply to Devon as he looked up from where he was packing his gear "Let's see what the port is like before we make any firm plans on it though. Knock yourself out in the hangers however, anything that could possibly be of use to us is the basic search criteria."

Turning to Rann he said "Just let me finish this and then well work out the credits."

He finished packing just as Sheila says "Ready". "Excellent, everybody else done?

Jamie checked that his blaster was ready in its holster, and hefted his duffel.  "All ready.  Four, we'll be in touch via comms.  Be discrete in your calls.  Two...let the negotiations begin."
With that, Jamie led Flash out the door to hunt down representatives of an oil company.

Flash slipped on his pack, grabbed his rifle and checked the power pack was fully charged.

"Ready to go."



**NPC'd by GM**

Jamie and Flash were the first to leave, moving off to find representitives of Phindar to whom they could offer their services.  They headed for the turbolift and quickly disappeared.

Xil's team moved out shortly thereafter.  Jace stopped and picked up the technician's uniform he had stashed and soon the group was off to plan their reconnoiter.


OOC:  Okay, as far as I'm aware there are 3 teams at the moment:

Team 1 is Jamie and Flash.  They're job is to contact Phindar and offer their services.
Team 2 is Rann.  He's been assigned the job of finding new accommodation for the team.
Team 3 is Xil, Devon, Jace and Sheila.  They're planning a recconoiter of Docking Bay 3.

I should also point out that as your accommodations are about to expire, every team member is currently carrying all their gear with them (including Jace who hasn't been on the station long enough to organise any accommodation.

Go, go, go!

As they start to head out Xil asks Rann "How many credits do you have left from what we gave you the other day?"

While waiting for a reply Xil reminds himself to look for some place where they might be able to stash their gear if needed, they might look a little suspicious poking around the docking bay fully loaded down with their gear.

OOC:  Rann spent all of the 250 credits he was given.

Xil sighed as he handed Rann another 200 credits saying "Somewhere no questions get asked would be good." Being on a tight budget made it feel like it didn't go far.

As they started heading towards the dock he pulled out his datapad and started looking for a likely spot to temporarily store their gear.

Once in the turbolift, Jamie dropped his bag.
"I forgot," he told Flash, "I'm supposed to reply to a message."
With that he pulled out his datapad and typed up a quick reply...trying to keep it informative, but vague and innocent, and avoiding keywords that would attract the attention of local automonitors.  He hit send and packed up the datapad again.
"That's out of the way.  Time to find work.  Any ideas for how to go about this?"

Flash stared at Jamie.  "You're asking me?  I suppose we could look them up in a computer directory and call them.  Otherwise I have no idea."


OOC:  It's only Jamie and Flash in the elevator.  The other teams are not with you.

*NPC'd by GM*

"Yeah, you're a computer nerd, aren't you?  Oh well.  First order of business is to move away from our current location.  Second is to find out what sort of security this island has.  If we're looking for work, I want to know who's watching."
Jamie looked around the lift for signs of monitoring devices, and tapped his foot until the elevator stopped.

While looking for somewhere to store their gear Xil notices that a message had come through on his datapad. He quickly reads it and comes to a stop. He calls Devon and Sheila over and says quietly to them "The boss has settled down, but needs a better and safer link to us. Get your heads together and see what you can do." He makes sure they have the right frequency before letting them get to it.

He sends off a quick reply to the message he received before going back to what he was doing.

"Do we want to stop somewhere and sit down for this?"

OOC:  Well I suppose it depends on what job you're doing first.  Setting up a secure link requires some time with your computer (and ideally a comm line other than your commlink which doesn't have the range) or recon of the hangar bay.

"Do we want to finish the first business first, or sit down for this first?"  She looks at the other two.  BOth items are important, but the survey does have a time limit.

"It would probably be best to do the survey first; once that's done, I can show you where I spliced into the main comm lines; it's easier than trying to slice in via the holonet," Jace suggests.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:55, Wed 24 Feb 2010.

'yeah'  Devon tossed his encrypted commlink up in the air before catching it and returning it to his pocket.
'I've got a few ideas we can try, but they're going to take some sit-down planning; lets go play tourist in the hanger first.'

Hoping that 200 credits would be enough to rent a place or at least put a deposit down on one,  Rann picked up his bag and walked to the nearest public comm station so he could contact Sif and organize a message drop that Sif could use to reach him.

Xil's team stows their gear in some public access lockers and then makes their way towards the hangar bay.  There seems to be quite a bit of movement as a new ship has just landed and is unloading cargo.  Through a set of transparent dividers, the group can watch as droids unload large crates and pallets from a Barloz class freighter.  Standing near the hatch a human and a Ithorian are deep in conversation.

Up ahead in the corridor is the security checkpoint.


OOC:  So far nobody is wearing the uniform but I'm assuming you have it.  To get into the hangar bay, you have to pass through the security checkpoint (equivalent of customs at an airport).  You can see part of the hangar through the dividers as its transparent at the moment (hangar personnel can switch it to opaque if they wish).

Xil signaled the others to come to a stop "We are not all going to be able to get through that checkpoint. We might be able to get someone in the uniform through and hopefully another if we can make look like they are being escorted through. Ten, I think you should play dress ups as you need to be able to slice into the systems here." Turning to Jace he asked Where did you hook into the comm lines?"

While waiting for Jace's response he quickly weighed who should also attempt to go through the checkpoint with Sheila.

"In a small back passage close to the place you were staying," Jace replies.  "Once we've had a good look at the hangar, I can show you were it is.  Like I said, I've not actually been in the hangar bay since I arrived on the station."

"I'm going to need some sort of id, right?  do we have anything?"

(Ooc, I have no ranks in forgery.)

Jamie's datapad pinged.  He glanced at it and tapped it a few times.  "It's a response from the boss.  Ladadada...okay.  He's taking care of it.  That means we've got nothing to do, for now.  Follow me, young man; we're going to have a drink."
Jamie led the way out of the turbolift and towards the public cantina.

<Hangar Bay>

While Xil's group stands discussing their plans, the Ithorian and human make their way over to the checkpoint, show ID's, answer a few questions and are let through.  The pair walk past Xil's group and head for a turbolift.  In the hangar, the hangar droids continue to unload the freighter.


<Cantina>

The cantina was only lightly populated when Jamie and Flash walked in and they easily found a booth to themselves.  A serving droid quickly took their order.  The only other people in the cantina was a few individuals, a pair of humans in another booth and a large group of rowdy patrons who looked like maintenance workers at a booth on the far side of the cantina.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:05, Sat 27 Feb 2010.

"Corellian ale double shot no ice." Flash says to the serving droid.  Once his drink comes he leans back and smiles at Jamie.

"I could get used to this kind of 'work' boss."



*NPC'd by GM*
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:24, Sat 27 Feb 2010.

Xil notes the human and Ithorian show their ID and leave the hanger. He watches them head for the turbolift, waiting just long enough for them to be out of ear shot before saying quietly to the group "Looks like the required ID's just went past us, lets go get them." He turns to discretely follow the pair.

Xil's team turns to follow the human and ithorian.  Both appear unarmed and are moving quickly and with purpose.  They reach the bank of turbolifts and enter one.  They press a button and immediately the doors begin to close.


OOC:  Since Xil's team is following the pair I thought I'd see if you guys plan to try and get in their lift or take one of the others.  Four of you squishing in with the two of them may be a little cramped.  Also, are you armed?  Weapons on the station are meant to be powered down (any you brought on stations would have been powered down though you have had time to charge them).  So if you have weapons they need to be concealed (else you'll have security bugging you).  It is unlikely the Ithorian and Human have weapons as they would be tricky to get through a security checkpoint (though there are methods such as bribery)
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:43, Sat 27 Feb 2010.

OOC: I'm armed, but my blaster pistol is powered down.  That said, I don't think we want to be firing blasters when we can just as easily sneak up on the pair and knock them unconscious; if nothing else, they're not imperials so there's no good reason to kill them...
This message was last edited by the player at 04:45, Sun 28 Feb 2010.

<Cantina>
Flash quickly finishes his drink and moves to the bar to get another as the droid is out back at present.  While he's gone, Jamie recieves another message.


The Duros quickly returns with a few more glasses of whiskey.  It's certainly not Corellian, but it still has a kick to it.

Despite the group having drinks, the serving droid makes an appearance. "Excuse me sirs, it is most odd but I have been asked by the gentlemen at the other table to suggest that you should finish your drinks immediately, unless you want to join them for some 'Bug-Eyed Alien Stew'.  I informed them we have no such item on the menu, today's stew is a braised nerf but they were most insistant."

As the droid shuffles off, Jamie and Flash quickly look at the table filled with eight off-duty personnel.  They are looking back at the group, especially Flash and their mannerisms are far from friendly.  You have the feeling that they're either just drunk or they're Xenophobes which are fairly common in Imperial Space.  None of them are armed, but being labourers, most look like they could handle themselves in a fight.


<Hangar>
Xil's team stop to ponder their plans and are too slow to catch the elevator and it closes without them.  It rises two floors to one of the promenade levels.


OOC:  I'm pushing on so you've missed the elevator.  However you know where they stopped and there is an elevator on your level and a stairwell.  So you can easily catch up with them if you wish.

Could all players also indicate if they're armed (this includes Jamie and Rann) remembering what I said about weapons onboard (i.e. you're not meant to have charged weapons so if you have weapons be sure to conceal them else security will pay you lots of attention!).

"Come on, let's catch the other elevator."

Sheila will head to the other elevator.

"Two teams; Ten, you and Seven take the elevator. Jace, you and I are taking the stairs. We'll follow them until we can subdue them quietly." He headed for the stairs quickly not waiting to see if Jace followed or not.

OOC:Xil has his blaster pistol in its powered down state and is also carrying his knife concealed about his person.

Jace nods, moving quickly after Xil.

Hearing the droid's words, Flash reflexively felt for his blaster pistol that was secure in its shoulder holster under his longcoat.  Security didn't allow powered-up blasters but that hadn't stopped him from charging a power pack.  It wasn't like he'd been ordered not too.  Covertly he slipped the weapon from its holster into his lap and ensured it was set to stun.  If there was trouble, he'd be ready


*NPC'd by GM*

Xil's and Jace burst out of the stairwell in time to spot their quarry.  Whilst the promenade deck is quite busy, a two-metre Ithorian stands out amongst the mostly human personnel.  Knowing he wont lose them, Xil flips out his datapad and checks the station layout while Devon and Sheila arrive in the elevator.  He notes that the station's main tapcaf is located around the corner.  Good place to meet someone or to just grab a drink if you've been on a starship too long.

A commlink call comes through from Rann, telling Xil he's ready to regroup.  Giving him the tapcaf as a meeting point, the four then move out.

Rounding the next corner they notice that the Ithorian has indeed entered the tapcaf with his human counterpart.  Xil stops in the doorway and notices with some surprise that Jamie and Flash are already within.  The five of them (as Rann had just arrived) saunter over and join Flash and Jamie in their booth.  Xil notices that Flash has his blaster in his lap and is about to ask when he spots the cause.

The group of workers had been getting more and more vocal at their table and most of it was derogatory towards aliens, especially Duros.  The group had stood and was surging forward when one of them called out "Wow, look at that one!".  The man was pointing at the Ithorian.  The group suddenly changed direction and quickly surrounded the booth with the Ithorian and human, obstructing them from view.  At present it sounded like the workers were just hurling abuse.


OOC:  Well the team's back together!  The Ithorian and human are in a booth in the back corner of the tapcaf.  The eight workers are now standing around the booth in a semi-circle, blocking them in (as there back is to a wall).  You can't see the Ithorian and Human anymore (too many bodies) but they have zero escape routes.

Jace smiles.  "Looks like we have an alternative source of ID cards," he says drily.  "I needn't even feel guilty about pounding their heads into the deck plates..."

Leaning on the table, Devon surveys the scene.

'Eight of them... seven of us, plus the two at the table.' he says quietly  'Let's wait and see what happens for a moment.. don't want to jump in too early - would look odd.' 
He grunts and straightens up.
'I'm gonna get a drink, whilst we wait...'
Heading over to the bar, Devon gives the selection of drinks an appraising look, then orders the beer on the end - the one served in the bottle that you could grab by the neck and take a good swing with... should the mood take you.

As Flash readied his pistol, Jamie was doing the same thing.  He surreptitiously loaded the power pack, but he didn't flick the weapon to stun...not yet.
"Hold the drinks, boys."  Jamie stood and walked over to the table where the group of workers had been sitting.  He commandeered a few empty bottles and poured in the remainder of the workers' drinks.  Bringing the bottles back to his table, he poured in all the remaining whiskey.
"Two, I'll own you one."
Jamie stuffed a few table napkins into the neck of each bottle.
"Five Surprise, my favorite," he announced to his team as he finished the improvised devices.  He looked back towards the workers, trying to get an idea of what they wanted...did they want to heap scorn on the aliens, or were they looking for a fight?

As the others watched Jamie prepare his 'concoctions', things at the booth in the corner became more heated.  Loud voices turned to yells.  Suddenly, one of the mechanics grabs the human patron and drags him out of the chair and holds him from behind.  The human seems largely undisturbed and seems to look over and ask the Ithorian something.  Wether he got an answer or not was impossible to tell as the mechanics became distracted by one of their own.  The man round the far side of the booth who was about to grab the Ithorian suddenly spun around and pushed the other men away, as if defending the Ithorian.

It was at that point the human being held burst into action.  Dodging a punch thrown at him be a mechanic, he moved his hips laterally and delivered a hammer punch to the groin of the man holding him.  He followed up with a roundhouse kick to the man who had tried to strike him.  Both hit the ground and stayed there, one clutching his groin, the other knocked out.  Three more mechanics closed in on him, one had a smashed bottle in hand, another a nasty looking hydrospanner.

On the other side of booth, the lone mechanic continued to try and push his two colleagues away from the Ithorian, defending him.  His friends seem unimpressed to put it mildly.




OOC:  Well there are now 6 mechanics rather than 8.  Clearly the human is very capable of looking after himself.  He's now got 3 men surrounding him.  The Ithorian meanwhile has not moved a muscle.  For some reason one of the men who had been harassing him was ineffectually trying to push two of his colleagues away.

Devon you are at the bar, everyone else is in the booth.  Jamie and Jace are on the ends (so can get out the easiest) followed by Sheila and Rann.  Xil and Flash are tucked in the middle so if either wanted to get out in a hurry they'd have to jump on the table.

Jamie has made 2 small improvised incendiaries.

This message was last edited by the GM at 07:24, Sat 06 Mar 2010.

"I don't think these guys need a whole lot of help.  Let's not make a big mess.  Two, use these devices only if you deem necessary," Jamie instructed.  "I've always wanted to do this."  Jamie grabbed his own chair and leaped into the fray, attempting to smash the chair on the back of one of the mechanics.

Xil watched as the bar fight erupted in front of him. In particular he watched the human take down two of the mechanics with relative ease.

"Well" he said to no one in particular "Looks like we could of had our hands full getting his ID away from him. Still there appears to be a few other opportunities presenting themselves."

He picked up an empty glass, took aim at the head of one of the mechanics before throwing it. Not waiting to see if it hit he jumped over the table to join the fray.

Sheila decided that actually joining the brawl wasn't a good idea, but dragging the injured out of the way might be useful.  She skirted the fighting group to get to a man that was down.  She theought she might just relieve him of his id while she was checking his pulse.

The human facing off against six men moves carefully, clearly attempting to keep the man with hydrospanner in clear view.  He makes no effort to attack the mechanics, instead waiting for them to come to him.  There is a small delay as the mechanics stare amazed at their fallen friends.  Finally one shouts something and they move in again.

The man with the broken bottle lunges forward but his opponent casually sidesteps and grabs his wrist.  Some backwards pressure on the wrist has the mechanic gasping in pain, the bottle falling from his hands.  A quick front kick to the solar plexus has him hurltling backwards into his colleague with the hydrospanner.

The mechanics continue to punch ineffectively at the martial artist.  Wether its due to his skill or the mechanics inebriation (or a combination of both), not a single effective blow has been landed on the lone human.

Finally tiring of arguing with their colleague, the other two men rush around the table to help their friends.  They are unable to get to him in the tight confines, and one is distracted as a glass bounces harmlessly off his shoulder.

"Let me at him!" growls the one with the hydrospanner.  Like a wave parting, a path clears for him.  However, he takes no steps forward as a chair suddenly crashes into his back dropping him senseless to the floor, the spanner sliding away.  Behind him, Jamie is grinning widely, immensely proud of himself.  Beside him is Xil, determination etched on his face.

Still at the bar, Devon sees the bartender run to the wall comm and dial security for help.



OOC:  Luckily the lone human is playing defense or there may not have been much for Jamie and Xil to do!  At present the baddie situation is as follows.  There are 5 mechanics still standing (the 2 the human took down in the first round are still down and the one Jamie offered a seat to is also out for the count.  Of the remaining five. . .

One is standing before the Ithorian, seemingly protecting him.
Two are in melee with the human (too tight for anyone else to get at him.
Of the three not engaged in combat, one is severely winded from the kick to the chest he recieved and the other two are uninjured.  None of the mechanics are currently armed but there are various items that could be used (i.e. chairs, they hydrospanner on the floor, bottles, etc).

Sheila, you can't get to anyone without getting into melee so i'm assuming you're still hanging back, waiting your chance.

Devon is at the bar, the others are still in the booth.

Game on!

Jace walks up behind one of the one of the two remaining mechanics, throwing a nasty punch at the man's kidney.

Hurriedly gulping down  his drink, Devon ambled over to join in the fun.  He hung back and finished the dregs of his drink whilst Jace snuck up behind one of the combatants and clobbered him.
Waiting till Jace had distracted the man with his kidney punch, Devon sidled peacefully over and whacked him over the head with the now empty bottle.

Hoping that the attack by Jace and Devon was enough to distract the mechanic closest to him, Exilim springs into action launching a flurry of punches.

Watching the bar fight develop, Rann looks for a target he can tackle against a wall so he could steal their wallet and hopefully ID too.

As the Talons move in, two of the mechanics turn to face them.  It proves of little help as Xil runs at one of the mechanics and lands a pair of punches to his midsection, blows the mechanic is unable to reciprocate.  Jace comes in at the second man whom he'd hope to attack from behind.  Suprise lost, he attacks anyway but fails to score a direct hit.  Devon is more successful as he casually slides up behind Jace's target and smashes a glass on the back of his head.  Momentarily stunned, Jace quickly delivers a flurry of blows that takes down the man quickly.  The pair then turn to assist Xil with his attacker.  Outnumbered three to one, he goes down quickly.

Looking around they find little else to do.  The martial artist has already dispatched the remaining mechanics while Rann has dealt with the man who'd been winded and is now rummaging through his pockets.  Sheila meanwhile begins to move amongst the unconscious mechanics, ensuring they are alright.  She frowns with concern when she comes to the one whom Jamie had clobbered with a chair.  One pupil was blown and fluid was dripping from his ear, suggesting a potential skull fracture.

Sheila began working to stabilise the man when she felt a shadow fall upon her.  She looked around to see the Ithorian now standing beside her.  Looking at the man he then bent down and placed his hand on the man's head and seemed to concentrate.  After about fifteen seconds he removed his hand, stood and walked back to his colleague without speaking.


The martial artist moved over to Jamie.  "Thanks for the assist.  I'm Iden.  Could have taken them myself but never say no to a little help.  Don't worry about the Captain, he doesn't approve of violence."

Iden gestured to the Ithorian who was now saying something in Ithorian to the remaining mechanic, the one who defended him.  The mechanic nods and walks over to Iden.

"Very sorry for my friends sir.  We had a bit too much to drink.  We'll pay for the damages."

Iden shrugs like he's not surprised and moves towards the door with the Ithorian.  Clearly the pair plan to leave.


OOC:  Well the Talons are clearly the bar brawl champions.  There are 7 mechanics on the ground.  Three are out cold and four are waking up.  The last mechanic (the one who didn't fight) is at the bar, paying for damages.  Iden and the Ithorian are at the door, preparing to leave.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:00, Thu 11 Mar 2010.

Exilim noting the lone mechanic occupied at the bar quickly approaches one of his unconscious friends and starts searching him for ID "Lets see what you have ...." he says quietly to himself.

Sheila looked up at the Ithorian.  "How'd you do that?"

The Ithorian says something to Iden in his native tongue.  Iden smiles and turns to Sheila.

"Like you, he has a natural desire to heal and preserve life.  He saw that you were trying to assist the wounded while your friends seem to enjoy smashing random objects on their heads.  He thinks they enjoyed themselves far too much."

Iden shrugs apologetically.  "He gives me the same lectures all the time.  Even here, he'll probably point out that I wasn't acting purely defensively and I didn't look for a non-violent solution.  I'm no diplomat, personally I think that smashing a chair on someone's head IS the diplomatic solution sometimes."

This comment brought a retort from the Ithorian which did not sound too pleasant.

Iden shrugged.  "Yup, I'm in trouble again.  Guess I'm scrubbing injector manifolds for the rest of the day.  Thanks for the assist."

Iden and the Ithorian walk out the door.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:37, Fri 12 Mar 2010.

With a hurt expression, Devon spread his hands in a gesture of injured innocence.  He had been helping end the fight!  His protestations weren't really helped by the remains of his beer bottle in one hand...

After the Ithorian left he muttered 'Your welcome...' quietly after them
This message was last edited by the player at 23:17, Fri 12 Mar 2010.

"Nice to meet you." as they walked away.

Iden and the Ithorian quickly disappeared down the corridor whilst Xil and Rann continue to search the unconscious mechanics.  Sheila uses the time to offer what aid she can.

Less than a minute later, four men, dressed in station security uniforms rush into the bar.  Two take up position at the door while the other two come in with blasters drawn.

"Security, what's going on here?"

The mechanic who 'befriended' the Ithorian came over.  "Our fault.  We had a bit too much to drink and took it out on an alien.  We've apologised and paid for the damages."

"And who are these people?" the Security Officer said, gesturing at the Talons.

"No idea.  They decided to get into the fight.  That one glassed Bail and that one smashed a chair over Luis' head." gesturing at Jamie and Devon.

The security officer turned to the Talons.  "Care to explain your involvement in all of this?"

Before they can answer, one of the mechanics who had woken up yelled.  "Hey!  I've been robbed!"


OOC:  Of the 8 mechanics, 4 are now conscious, 4 are still unconscious.  Rann you have collected 5 sets of ID as well as credits and other valuables, Xil has 2 sets of ID.

There are now 4 security officers (2 in the doorway, 2 in the room).  The 2 in the room are holding blaster pistols, the 2 at the door have weapons holstered.  I guess nobody paid too much attention to when the barkeep called them on the comm!

Well now you have to explain to security why you were involved in a fight.  Remember a couple of you have charged weapons (which is against the station rules) and two of you are in possession of stolen items.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:59, Tue 16 Mar 2010.

Sheila seems to be getting a little emotional.  "There were eight of you on two guys.  IF those two hadn't helped who knows what you idiots would have done before security got here."  And she looked at the guy who woke up.  "And I guess they took something for the trouble you guys put them to."

Rann went over to Sheila and put his arm round her.  “Sorry about my wife, she gets very emotion around violence; ever since we saw some Keldor beat a man to death...” he told the officer.  “If you don't mind, I'll take her back to our hotel room, she needs a lie down.”
Without waiting for an answer, Rann started pushing Sheila towards the exit.
“Come along, dear.”

Flash just leaned back in the booth, his attitude openly ignoring the fact the he was originally to have been the subject of their abuse.  Covertly slipping the charged power pack back out of his blaster, and pushing the two cocktails away from his seat with an internal twinge of regret at not having got the opportunity to use them, he would openly stare back at anyone who looked his way.
"Don't look at me, I didn't get into no fight."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:46, Wed 17 Mar 2010.

The security guard stares at Rann for a few moment then nods.  "Very good sir, just scan your identichip here so we can contact you if we have any questions.  Your wife will need to do the same."

The guard holds out a standard ID reader.

Sheila will give everyone in the room a good glare, including her 'husband', giving obviously token resistance..  "I do not need.  . .  Fine."  She swipes her ID

Good move Xil thought to himself as Rann started to walk Sheila out of the bar Subterfuge is not really my strong point, doubt I'd get away with something like that. the thought continued.

Knowing that his chances of bluffing the security team are minimal, Xil chooses to hopefully divert attention to himself so that Rann and Sheila get out a bit easier. He approaches the security guards, holding out the two ID's he'd collected. "Here you go" he says handing over the two ID's "Wanted to make sure that if they got away before you got here that at least you would know who they were. I can't stand people who treat other species like that." The lie for all it was worth was the best that he could come up with. At least it had an element of truth, he didn't mind anyone as long as they weren't Imperials.

"Officer, we were merely trying to be responsible citizens.  These eight men began verbally harassing two people...one of them an Ithorian...in that booth right there.  We just ignored it and minded our own business, until these fellows started physically attacking the other two.  At that point, we jumped in to intervene.  We have no quarrel with these men, but we didn't want to sit by idly as they wrongfully beat two innocent people.  These men have already accepted responsibility for the damages; are my friends and I free to go, or do you need our assistance for anything else?"

The security guard was seeming more disinterested with each passing moment.

"So the proprietor has been paid for damages and the initial victim of this brawl has left and so clearly doesn't want to press charges.  I'll let you all off with a warning this time.  If it happens again you'll spend a week in confinement.  Now everyone scan your identichips and you can go.  Don't leave the station until our investigation is over."



OOC:  Since Rann has acquired 4 sets of ID's and other items of stolen loot you may want to leave quickly.  Gonna be hard for the mechanics who've had their ID's stolen to swipe 'em.  Unlike Xil, Rann can't casually hand over 4 ID's, along with their credits and other artifacts and expect to get away with it.  However, you're not going to have too long before the security finds the mechanics' IDs are missing and will come hunting you.

The ID's you're all using are naturally fake.  However, you don't have any spare ones with you (though Zyra had made some and there are plenty on the Nightshrike). 
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:31, Tue 30 Mar 2010.

Jace nods, and scans his ID into the system.  "Understood, officer," he says with a respectful nod.

'Hey, we're not going anywhere, are we guys?' affirmed Devon as he handed over his ID, eager to get this over with before any more question are asked...

Flash just sat there.  He wasn't involved in any fight.  Why should he have to get involved in the cleanup?  Unless someone called him out, he'd stay put until security was through with their little ritual, then follow the others out the door.

They're getting ID's from everyone, including people at tables who weren't involved at all (SOP in case they need to question witnesses, etc).  Also you were the reason this all started in the first place (not your fault but the mechanics did target Flash first) so they're gonna be wanting yours too.  Just a question of wether you wait for them to come to you or you go to them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:13, Thu 18 Mar 2010.

Xil scans his ID with the security guard and walks towards the door saying 'We'll be here if you need us".

Once they are far enough away from the bar and the investigating guards Xil will get the Talons together to quickly plan their next move.

Since that be the case, Flash would wait a few moments, and work his way to the door a few places in 'line' after the team.

"Yes, sir," Jamie was cooperative and swiped his ID.  He also stopped to pay the bartender for the drinks before leaving.
Once outside earshot of the security guards, he cleared his throat.
"Boss has gotten us an interview.  Let's meet back in that cantina in an hour to regroup.  You guys stick together; I've got something I have to do.  See you in one hour."
With that Jamie turned and trotted away towards the hangars.

As Rann leads Sheila out he lets them swipe his ID
“ Yes dear, its a good idea.  It's been a bad week... he says to Sheila loud enough for the officer to overhear him.

Having had their ID's swiped, the Talons quickly made their way down the promenade and out of sight.  Once Jamie rushed off into an elevator, the rest of the team was left alone with no plan.  Problem was that eventually the security was going to figure out that several of the mechanics had been robbed and would come looking for them.  With no transport off the station they had limited avenues open to them.

In exchange for this new problem, the team had access to Rann's ill-gotten gains.  Namely four security cards which belonged to some of the unconscious maintenance crew.  Once they were found missing they could be a detriment as they'd likely be cancelled and their usage tracked.

Sheila, using her equipment quickly determined that the cards offered access to various areas on the ship including crew spaces, four personal cabins (i.e. each maintenance man's personal quarters, hangar bays and the command deck.  They did not access the security station.

Xil quickly gathered  the remaining Talons together. "Rann, make sure everyone has the location of where you found us to stay. If needed that will become our fall back position."

"We have four ID's that we are going to be able to use for what I am guessing will be a very short time. Ten, Seven, Jace and Rann, you up for using the ID's to see what you can find out, use, or sabotage? Especially for when that shuttle arrives. Two and I will take up observation points to keep an eye out for trouble." He looked at the gathered team Really need to give Jace and Rann call signs ... he thought to himself.

"I'm not sure if going back to the cantina is the best move, but we'll leave that flexible for now. We have an hour before meeting back up with Five and by then I'm guessing these ID's will be useless so let's make the best out of it that we can. Any questions?"

If there are no questions Xil will start looking for someplace that will keep him concealed while still allowing for a good view of the port.

"I need a quiet corner and about 15 minutes to fix the id;'s then we really need to consider getting out of here after we use them, cause they'll know who did it."

Presuming we can find the quiet corner,   Is there one in the vicinity?

The group find a small cafe in which to sit while Sheila works on the electronic ID's.  True to her work after fifteen minutes she has finished her work.  She'd managed to successfully input photos and false data onto three of the chips.  Sheila, Jace and Devon know had maintenance ID's which would gain them access to most areas on the station and should pass casual scrutiny, at least until they were reported stolen.  Unfortunately she's scrambled the fourth ID she'd been working on for Rann and it was now non-functional.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:30, Wed 24 Mar 2010.

Jamie's voice comes over the comm.
"Four, this is Five.  I'm done and I need to meet you all again pronto.  What's your current situation and location?"

"We need to use these now.  They have a very short lifespan."  Shwe will say quietly as she gives one to Jace, One to Devon and keeps one herself.  "Sorry, this one just wouldn't do it." to Rann.

Jace nods.  "Then let's see what Five has to say, then get to it; no point waiting any longer than we have to," he says with a shrug.

OOC:  In order to save time I'm going to assume that Xil (or another Talon) has given Jamie the group's location and he's joined back up with you.  So now he's with you, you can explain your plans (and he can explain his)

Jamie sat at the table with the group and leaned in to get closer to everyone.
"Alright, folks," he announced softly, "Here's the situation.  I've been in communication with Mark, and he's gotten us an interview.  Our next step is to get over to the rendezvous point to meet him.  I talked to those two people that were in the barfight...the human is a pretty awesome individual, by the way...and they've agreed to give us a ride off this station.  The catch is, they're leaving in a few minutes...if we're not on board in less than half an hour, we get left behind.
"That leaves us with one major problem: how do we get past security?  Security wants us to stick around until they've completed their investigation; they're not going to just let us leave.  If we use violence to get past security, the Ithorian won't let us on his ship.  That pretty much rules out standard procedure.  I've got one idea so far."
Jamie looked around again to make sure the area was clear before continuing.
"They had us swipe our IDs before leaving the cantina.  My guess is the station has a simple security database, and our IDs are now set to raise an alarm if we try to swipe them to leave.  The incident was only a few minutes ago, so the odds of anyone at the hangar really knowing what happened are pretty slim; they've got to be relying on the database.  If we can get into the security database, we can reverse whatever they did, and swiping our IDs when we leave will be as easy as a Quarren bounty hunter."

"So I need to hack into the security Database for those of you I don't have a fake ID for, unless any of you have second id's"  keeping her voice down.

"That's sounds about right" Xil replied to Sheila. "I'd suggest you get onto that immediately as the fake ID's you have at the moment won't be viable for long. The rest of us will get our gears and yours from where we stored them and be ready to move as soon as the hack is done."

He looked around the table at the gathered Talons "Let's move, our time frame is very short."

Xil will start to head to the storage locker where they stored their gear.

Rann listened to what the others had to say, then added: “ we have two options as far as I can see” he said “ we either need some more Ids -  not strong, but just good to get us out of here.. or we somehow misdirect the guards to the bays.”

"Wait," Jamie suggested.  "We all have IDs anyway.  Would it be easier to modify them?  That'd probably be less risky than hacking the local security systems, right?  Sheila, what do you think?"

Xil pulls up and says to Sheila "So do you think you can do it and quickly for all of us at that."

Flash left the cantina not too far behind the others, and is supposedly now approaching their position.  Either that or he is very lost.

Well since more than fifteen minutes has passed I'm hoping you've caught up with the team because given another fifteen minutes they're (hopefully) leaving the station with or without you!

Trailing along a few meters behind the others, Devon was reading his shiny new fake ID, learning the details on it - just in case.

Looking up, he glanced around.
'uhh... I thought I was last out, but we're missing one... anyone seen Flash?'

"It'll be faster and easier the close I get to the terminal, inside would be even better, but security will have a good view of me in there, and I gotta have a reason.  the three of us who already have id's are good to go through, though, so we just have to get the rest of you through while I'm in."

Fortunately, Flash was not lost.  At the same time he discovered this, Devon's question was answered, as he came into sight.

OOC: Don't know how far away 'in sight' is!

Jamie nodded his understanding.
"Alright.  We're short on time; we need to move quickly.  Who's going to go in?  Sheila, are you comfortable doing this alone?  We have a uniform, don't we?  You could use that to get in and do what you need to do."

"It would be better if I had someone standing between me and the security people, maybe hunting through his bag for something, cause they're going to question me slicing in where they can see me, and the closer I can get to the terminal the better.  We're going through to catch a ride with that captain, right, so we have a reason. Then they can signal you to come through."

 She peers down the way.

"We have three ID's that we can use at the moment, might as well use them all. Sheila in the uniform, Jace and Seven to provide some cover for her. The rest of us will just have to wait for signal to say that you are ready for us."

Xil looked around to make sure everyone understood before saying "Get going you three, as Five said, we are short on time."

The question being though, why would maintenance staff be catching a lift on a private vessel when they work on the station?  The security guards are going to be wondering about this.

Sheila rolls her eyes as she reaslized she forgot what their ID's were for.  "I'm an idiot. Yes, Jace, be off duty cause you're not in uniform, and 'help' me work  or be trying to pick me up or something so you can be between me and them. Then everyone use their own id's."  She grabs the uniform, her toolkit and padd and ducks to put it them on.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:38, Sat 03 Apr 2010.

She was looking at the padd as she finished dressing. "Actually, I need someone to help me get through them, I can't forge a work order fast enough, so I need some help fasttalking them or distracting them cause I ain't that kind of girl.  JAce, seven, can't at least one of you do that." She put's on her best 'help me' face.

OOC:  You would all know that Devon is certainly no diplomat, as are any of the 'veteran Talons'.  That only leaves Rann and Jace.  You'd assume Jace has little in the way of diplomacy skills (unless he keeps them well hidden).  Rann is a possibility as he's a dealer in black market goods which suggests he'd probably have some skill in bluff and/or diplomacy.  Problem is Rann does not have a mechanic's ID which will require a little more creativity if you involve him.

Rann doesn't have a good id, but he would be the best one to help. "Rann, you're good at this, can you help me make a good work order?  I'm thinking a short in the connections to the nearest ship that would be reachable by the nearest junction box. And maybe distract the guys at the terminal when I go through.  We don't want them calling my 'superior'.  Maybe quiz them about whether or not you'd want to try to get a job here, or something security people would know. It would be nice if Jace or seven can go through and provide a screen while I work, but if you think that it would be better I go alone, I will, since they would be off duty mechanics, but it would be good to get at least one of them through. And once we're up, everyone else come through on their own id."  She's talking too much and this is taking too long.

Rann and Sheila quickly begin discussing the best format for a work order.  Not knowing the kinds of orders used on the station was a problem but they didn't have time to find one.  The chrono was against them.  After five or so minutes of discussion, argument and furious work on a datapad, the pair had put together an official looking work order.  Wether it was good enough to fool the guards couldn't be determined until they tried it.



OOC:  So we now have Sheila in a mechanic's uniform with a forged work order.  Sheila has outlined a basic plan of what she wants to achieve.  If anyone has an idea to add now is the time.  Remember only Jace, Devon and Sheila have maintenance ID's and only Sheila has a uniform.  Rann is the only fast-talker here and Sheila wants him to distract the guards somehow.  Just going to give it a day or so for people to contrinute as its been too long.  Several people have not posted in over a week.  Sheila, Jamie and Xil are the only ones contributing at the moment.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:04, Tue 06 Apr 2010.

“Ok, we're going for misdirection, so we need a plan. ” said Rann “ Sheila, can you fake up a work order for a suprise inspection of the bay?  Make it from some obscure internal security department on Coruscant... something they will never have heard of. he paused to take a breath.

“You two don't know whats going on, play dumb but defer to me.  Hopefully we can distract the guards and pull them out of position so the others can get in...”

Flash wasn't one to contribute when he really didn't follow what was going on.  Still, he gathered that they were trying to slice into the system to let everyone through.  He knew a thing or two about that, himself, but not so much about getting in there to do it, so he kept his lipless mouth shut.  Still, it didn't keep him from getting impatient.  He glanced at his chrono.

"You guys keep this up much longer, we're gonna miss the bus."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:46, Wed 07 Apr 2010.

Having completed the work order the Talons quickly moved from the tapcaf they had been sitting at down to the hangar bay level.  They found a spot where they could observe the security station without exposing themselves.  They noticed that there were two guards still on station.  Traffic through the security point was minimal, mostly maintenance staff.

The walls were currently set to transparent and the Talons could see the hangar in its entirety.  Three ships were currently in the bay.  Two were powered down, however the Barloz Cruiser could be seen to be powering up various systems.  Clearly the crew were going through their preflight checklists.  Checking the chrono, the group confirmed they had less than fifteen minutes until the departure time given to them by Iden.

Whatever plan Rann and Sheila were cooking up would need to be instigated quickly.



OOC:  For those who don't know, the Barloz Cruiser is the ship that Iden and the Ithorian fly on.  The fact they are pre-flighting tells you they are planning to leave fairly soon.

Any advice people have to help get you through the checkpoint I'm sure will be welcomed by Sheila and Rann.

Also remember that several Talons still have charged weapons so you'd better do something to ensure security doesn't scan these people.  Blaring alarms can seriously hurt a bluff (they can also be incredibly handy in the right circumstances!)
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:02, Thu 08 Apr 2010.

Jamie looked at his chrono.  We might not make it...
He pulled out his comm and set it to the frequency Iden had given him.
"Calling Iden of the Starflower," Jamie began, not really sure how to address the man.  "We're working on getting to you, but we may be a few minutes late.  Any chance you could delay your takeoff for a few minutes?"

"Guys, make sure your weapons are not charged, unless you want to set off alarms. Rann, I'll pull on my ponytail when I'm in and you can come through."

Toolkit, work order, Id, hopefully, she had everything.  Sheila will saunter around the corner with her forged work order like she had moved through the group, and hopefully Rann will be shortly behind her to keep the guards busy.  She will run her forged Id through their terminal and flash a smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:40, Tue 13 Apr 2010.

"That's a negative matey.  Captain says we have a schedule and we need to stick to it.  We lift off in ten.  If you're still having probs in five let me know and I'll talk to him for you."

"Oh, and wave."

You can barely make out someone in the cockpit of the Barloz freighter waving at you.

As ready as she'd ever be, Sheila moved towards the guard station with Devon in tow.  The guards nodded to her but made no move towards her.  The pair swiped their cards and moved through the station without incident.

One of the guards waved to Sheila.  "What brings you guys down here?  Didn't think anything was broken."  Sheila hands him her work order.  "Upgrade huh?  Whatever.  We all know the station manager is on his toes because the Imps are coming.  Hell, we're expected to press our uniforms and stand at perfect attention like we're stormtroopers or something!"

He nudges Devon.  "You new here?  Better not let the boss catch you outta uniform.  He's a stickler for the regs you know, especially with Imperials landing tomorrow."




OOC:  THe guard doesn't seem overly suspicious at this point, more curious at this point.  Devon (Sheila wanted you and this is her plan so welcome to the fun!) and Sheila are at the security station talking to a guard, the other is at his post.  Sounds like all staff are being pressured to make sure everything is perfect before the Imps arrive.  This may mean they're more dilligent, it may just mean the complain a lot!

Phase 1 of Sheila's plan is in motion.  Phase 2 involved Rann providing a distraction to keep attention of of her and Devon once they start working.  Remember Rann can't swipe his card or the security warning will pop up.  Good luck!
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:51, Tue 13 Apr 2010.

SHeila made a face.  "Oh gods, I hope I'm not down here for that.  I don't do attention well.  Better get this done."  She will move toward the node where she intends to slice in from, and the guys can see her from outside..
This message was last edited by the player at 02:07, Tue 13 Apr 2010.

Sheila moves over to the data port where she plans to slice into and begins connecting in her wiring.  Devon stands near her, providing advice as she works, his own electronic expertise proving useful.  The pain soon have all the appropriate wiring in place.

Pulling out her datapad, Sheila prepares to turn it on when a shadow falls over.  Turning, she sees with a start that one of the security guards, the one that she'd been talking to was standing behind her.

"Always had a thing for electronics.  Mind if I watch?".  Not even waiting for a respons he takes a position behind the pair where he can see what's going on.

"So, why do you think the Imperials are coming on board?  We're not due for any routine inspection or anything.  I'm betting its all the pirate activity in the sector.  Maybe they think some of them are here.  Why Kael up in operations heard from one of the night staff that somoene in supply has been skimming. . ."

The guard continues to prattle gossip.  Clearly he's bored and is enjoying the chance to chat to the pair of maintenance staff.  The only problem being that if Sheila engages her datapad, the guard will undoubtedly recognise what she's doing as the program running will be the very system they use in their booth.


OOC:  Well Sheila and Devon are spliced into the cables and ready to go.  However they can't attempt to slice the system with a chatty guard behind them watching their every move!


[Devon Kismet rolled 15 using 1d20+13. Repair Check. +5 competence awarded for Devon's assistance.  Final Roll 20 = success (DC20)

Sheila, you haven't hacked in yet as you can't turn the pad on with the guard watching.  Once he's gone you can reroll or keep your current roll.  You get a +5 bonus to your computer use skill as Devon is assisting you.]

Come on guys Xil thought to himself as he checked that his blaster was powered down. As he looks back up at Sheila and Devon he sees the guard standing near them.

"Damn, distraction tactics anyone? I doubt Ten and Seven are going to be able to do much with that guard so close." He quickly starts trying to think of what options he has to create a distraction.

Devon Sheila hands Devon the pad for a second and moves in close to the guard,.  "You're right, must be the pirate activity, hope they don't try to hit us here.  But you know, talking about inspections, he's already watching me.  I'm nervous enough, I don't think I could stand having someone else watch me mess up." 

“You want a distraction?  Then give me your wallet” said Rann, whilst eyeing a nice big crowd that was headed their way  “ when I give you the signal shout 'thief', ok?

Jace shrugs and hands over his cred pouch to Rann.  He wasn't sure he liked what Rann was planning but the others had said he was the expert at this kind of thing.


*NPC'd by GM*
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:16, Wed 14 Apr 2010.

"Rann!  If you get yourself arrested, I'm not coming back for you.  If you have something genius in mind, go ahead, but if that's the distraction it looks like, you're just going to bring more security down here, and we really don't need that right now.  We need an innocent distraction.  Which one of you has the other ID?  Maybe you could pretend to be an idiot, not knowing how to swipe it.  You could call the guard out to help you figure it out, and keep him busy for a minute, while the rest of us wait around the corner.  Oh yeah, and if any of you still have weapons powered up...like me...you'd better change that."
Jamie reached to his own holster and removed his power pack, returning it to an accessible pocket.

Flash likewise removed the power pack from his, but remaining ever more wary then even Jamie, palmed the power pack, tucking it up into his sleeve.  If shooting broke out, he wanted to be able to fire yesterday.  Too many bad experiences with reloads out of reach.

Rann took the wallet from Jace, nodded briefly at Jamie and then sauntered off in the direction of the crowd.  He timed his approach so that he had to walk through the middle of the small group going plast.  Almost mperceptibly he slipped Jace's pouch into one of the groups pockets.  The Talons only saw the slip because they were watching for it.

Rann moved away from the group and signalled Jace who began yelling "Thief!!" loudly as instructed.  All around him people froze in shock and surprise.  At the security station, the guard who had been busy chatting to Sheila excused himself and moved over to where Jace was.

"What's going on here?"



OOC:  Well Rann's distraction has worked and so far it has only cost you all of Jace's money!  The guard hampering Sheila and Devon has moved to speak to Jace and co leaving her free to work.  However he's now looking unimpressed about dealing with a screaming Jace.

The group who 'stole' Jace's wallet were watching in surprise for a minute but have now begun to walk off.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:43, Fri 16 Apr 2010.

Sheila gets to work as fast as she can.

“My friend thinks his wallet has been stolen.  When did you last see it, Jace?”  Ran hoped that he and Jace could keep the guards occupied long enough for Sheila and Devon to do their job.

Sheila makes sure they can see her and starts pulling on her ponytail likes she's nervous.  Alot, and she'll  keep doing it until our people start moving through the terminal.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:07, Fri 16 Apr 2010.

Jamie wasted no time in moving through the terminal.  He swiped his ID, fingers crossed that nothing would come up, and moved through at what he hoped was a reasonably slow and not suspicious pace.
Once through, he wasn't ready to breathe easy just yet.  He turned around and waited for the rest of his team.  If they weren't already on the way, he jerked his head toward the ship in a "c'mon" signal for the others.

Sticking right with Shelia, Devon busied himself with their work, and did his best to stay off the guards radar.

Flash followed right on Jaime's heels, so close he could turn around and they'd bump noses.  He swiped his card and passed through as well, though he didn't manage the 'inconspicuous' look nearly so well.

Seeing that Jamie and Flash had gone through Xil walked forward, swiped his ID and then moved to join the others. Let's hope that you ploy works Rann he thought to himself

With Sheila hacked into the system, Jamie, Xil and Flash all make it through the checkpoint without incident.  The trio ignore the 'mechanics' and make their way towards the Starflower.


Iden greets them at the gangway. "Not bad. Was worried you wouldn't make it. Question is what do you do for an encore? From what I see you have two crew being questioned by security and two dressed up as station mechanics. Staff don't normally  abandon their posts to take joyrides."


OOC: 3 down 4 to go.  Jamie, Xil and Flash are through but how will you get the Rann and Jace on board?  After that how do you explain two mechanics suddenly boarding ship?  If the guards get suspicious they can close the airlock doors before the Starflower can leave.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:14, Sat 17 Apr 2010.

In reply to Master Servious (msg #221):

Sheila's watching the guards and they seem to have complete attention on Rann and Jacde.
"Devon, They're busy with Rann and Jace, Ne careful and GO.  If they ask me, I'll say you had to leave, didnt' they see you go?  If I have to, I'll claim 10 minute break and shipwatching to stay in the hanger long enough to dump the uniform and join you."

'I'll delay launch as long as I can.  Stay in touch, and good luck' Devon muttered to Sheila before starting to move away from her, still 'working' on his datapad the whole time.

Waiting till he was sure the guards were distracted, Devon walked briskly down the corridor.   He didn't run, but walked in a brisk and business like fashion.  A running man would attract immediate attention, but a mechanic working on his datapad and clearly not doing anything suspicious?  That would pass without comment.  He hoped.

Once clear of the guards, Devon moved to catch up with his squad mates and inform them of what was going on.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:01, Sat 17 Apr 2010.

Shit, everyone was through but Rann and Jace and they had the full attention of the two guards.  Sheila watched them nervoudly as she pretended to be working.

With Devon reaching those that had made it through the check point Xil knew that the others really needed to make a move. Over the Talons secure comm he says "Rann, Jace whatever plan you have to ditch the guards and join us, do it now. Ten, be ready to make your move to us.

Jace looked at Rann, not sure what he was supposed to say as he hadn't been briefed.

"Uh, well I know I had it just a minute ago."


*NPC'd by GM*
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:14, Tue 20 Apr 2010.

COme on guys, come on guys, come on guys.  Sheila is muttering under her breath at the two still outside.  She can't leave until they go through.

Sheila touches her comlink carefully, just in case one of the guards look back at her.

The guard standing near Rann and Jace finally tires of waiting.  "Well if you want to report your wallet missing or stolen, please report to security on Deck 2 or comm them.  I must return to my station."

Over by the Starflower, Devon had managed to sneak on board without being spotted by the guards.  Jamie and Xil were still standing by the ramp with Iden.  Iden's commlink beeped and the Ithorian could be heard on the comm.  Though neither of the Talons could speak Ithorian, they could tell that clearly the captain was getting impatient.

"Better tell your men to stop playing tourist and get them in here.  Captain says we lift in five minutes wether they're here or not.  We're nearly over our departure time and their rates here aren't cheap."

Left with no choice but to move them along, Xil jumped on the comm to Rann.  "Hey guys, the captain is going to leave without you.  We can file a report at our next stop.  Get over here now."

Rann quickly acknowledged and the pair moved through the security station without incident.  Jace moved quickly towards the Starflower while Rann stayed behind talking to the guards.

Jace walked to Jamie.  "Rann said to get Sheila to pack up and be ready.  He'll distract the guards and she can quickly board the ship."

Jamie quickly commed the plan to Sheila who quickly sliced out of the system.  Packing her gear she suddenly heard both the guards burst into laughter.  Looking over she noticed the guards were totally focused on Rann.  Whatever he was telling them had their full attention.  Sheila casually walked over to the ship and boarded the vessel without incident.  Shortly after, Rann made his way over to the Starflower.

Iden nodded.  "Nice job.  Now get on board.  I have to return to the cockpit."  He quickly hustles the group up the boarding ramp and into the common room.  He then leaves them by themselves.

Less than a minute later the group feel the vessel take off and feel the familiar thrum of the vessel heading off into space.


OOC:  Due to Jace and Rann's continuing silence I've had to push through without them and based their actions purely off of dice rolls.  Jace's char is going to be dropped from the game if I don't hear from him (though I have another player in the wings to replace him).

On a side note, Rann's deception has cost Jace his wallet and the 1000 credits contained within.  If Jace's char is dropped I'll forget about it but if Jace miraculously returned you'll probably have to reimburse him somehow.

So you're off the station and sitting in the common room of the I.S.S. Starflower.  I've placed a floorplan in the 'schematices' thread.  While the Starflower crew are busy this is a good chance to quickly debrief/discuss anything you want.  Once you've had a chance to chat we can move on.

In case my HTML is dodgy, the link to the deckplan is at http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki..._freighter_TCWCG.jpg




Master Servious, on behalf of Rann Pertwee, rolled 29 using 1d20+11. Bluff roll - Distract Guards
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:25, Thu 22 Apr 2010.

"Let me get out of this uniform."  Sheila will retreat to a corner of the boardroom and take off the mechanic's overalls. SHe'll also take the opportunity to look through her pack and make sure nothing got dropped and to rearrange it for this trip.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:22, Thu 22 Apr 2010.

“ OK so what's the plan now?” asked Rann to the rest of the talons

Jace looked around.  "Do you think we're safe to talk here?"  Then again, he wondered if there was anything they were likely to talk about that was secret.

He looked to Rann.  "You could start by telling me why I'm now down a thousand credits.  I wouldn't have given you my wallet if you didn't plan to give it back!"


NPC'd by GM
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:40, Fri 23 Apr 2010.

"Five, do you have anything to report other than that we are going to meet up with the Boss? If not, details can wait until then. I'd suggest that we all follow Ten's example and check over our gear and get some rest."

Xil sat down and followed his own advice and started going over his gear.

"The boss has set up an interview for us with Phindar.  We'll meet him and discuss that then; I don't know details just yet.  In the meantime, we'll be with these gents for a while.  I think I trust them.  All the same, keep your eyes open, and stay in groups whenever possible.  If you can do anything to be of service, do it.  They are being gracious...I hope...in giving us a ride.  For now, do as Four says and get some rest."
With that, Jamie slid his power pack back into his pistol and secured the weapon at his side.
"I'm going up to the cockpit to see what's going on and have a little chat with the crew.  I should be back soon to update you all."

About a minute after Jamie leaves, Iden comes back.

"Well your colleague has gone to talk shop with the boss.  While they're engaging in tedium I'll be your tour guide.  If you want to rest, eat, hit the fresher I'll show you where.  Or if you would like a tour of the Starflower we can do that too.  Just tell me your pleasure."

In reply to Iden Ouyet (msg #235):

Sheila volunteers.  "I'll take a tour,"

Jace stands. "A tour sounds good."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:41, Sun 25 Apr 2010.

“ yes a tour does sound like a nice way to send some of the journey” said Rann as he got up off his seat.

"A tour it is then!  What about your friends here?" he gestures to Devon, Xil and Flash.  "If you wish to eat the galley is starboard side at the end of the corridor.  The room next to it is set up for sleeping if any of you wish to rest.  The fresher is on the port side opposite the galley.  There's towels and all the amenities in there, advantage of having women on board!" he adds with a wink to Sheila.

His expression becomes more serious, as does his tone.  "If any of you do not come with me you must confine yourself to this room, the galley, fresher and cabin.  All other areas are off-limits.  If you really want to see the inner working of the ship you should come on the tour with me.  We really don't have secrets but we can't just have everyone wandering around, I'm sure you understand."


OOC:  Devon, Xil and Flash.  Are you joining the tour or sticking around?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:32, Mon 26 Apr 2010.

Xil looks up from checking his gear "I think I'll come along for the tour." After all he reasoned, they would be on board for a while so it couldn't hurt. He checks his blaster strapped to his hip and joins the waiting tour group.

Flash silently stepped over to the group.  Best to know where everything is, just in case.  Five may trust them, but I'm not so easily impressed.  The small area I'd be confined to is only a fraction of the ship.  Checking over his gear, he made sure his blaster was loaded, and loose in it's holster.  Also might be a good idea to find out just how many people are on this ship.  We only know of Iden and the Ithorian, but they never said they were alone...

Iden doesn't seem to take offense to the sight of several of the Talons strapping on blasters, especially since he wasn't wearing one.  In fact, an amused grin finds it's way on to his face.  Clearly the man isn't worried about a couple of armed strangers wandering about the ship.  Then, given the way he handled the men in the bar, he probably knew he could take care of himself.

Seeing everyone was joining him he started heading forward until he reached the cockpit.

"Welcome to the cockpit.  It only holds four so we'll have to take it in turns."

He opens the door and immediately a stream of accented basic comed out.  In the back-right chair sits a Twi'lek male arguing with someone on the comm.

"Not good enough.  You were supposed to have those converters ready for me last week."

"But I. . ." came a voice, clearly over the comm.

"But nothing.  I gave you this business because of the deal you did my on that chakran spice last year.  But don't think that gives you the right to leave he hanging in the wind.  Kyle would love to deal with me."

"Kyle's a second-grade smuggler wannabe." retorted the comm'd voice.

"Maybe, but he's got the goods and I'm getting impatient.  You've got thirty hours."  He then cuts the comm.

"Social chat?" says Iden sarcastically.

The Twi'lek turns and shrugs.  "Nah.  L'beb always comes through, but he has a habit of procrastinating.  Never known a Sullustan so inclined to lose work through laziness.  But let's not worry about him.  I see you have guests."

Iden nods and makes the introductions.  "This is Rhu'tah.  He takes care of the financial aspects of our travels.  He serves as accountant, diplomat, merchant. . ."

"Dancing girl?" Rhu'tah chips in.

Iden sighs.  "You're never going to let me forget that one are you.  Besides, you looked great in the dress.  Besides, I'll never forget the look on the face of that guy who thought he'd get a free feel of your 'goodies'."

Both Iden and Rhu'tah burst into chuckles over some private joke.

Iden waved around the bridge.  "Don't mind Rhu'tah.  He's on watch so I'm sure he'll spend it keeping in touch with all his contacts. . .and girlfriends.  We're set on autopilot so please don't touch the controls.  Our engineer gets cranky if we start rolling the ship unexpectedly."

"Now who would ever do that?  Especially during her sleep cycle!" says Rhu'tah with a grin.  Iden shrugged and raised his hands in mock surrender.


OOC:  The cockpit has four stations (as per the schematic).  Rhu'tah is in the comms/sensors chair, the others are empty.  The pilot/copilot layout seems quite sophisticated for a transport.

Feel free to look around, ask questions of Iden or Rhu'tah, then we'll move on

Devon had an amiable grin on his face as he looked around the cockpit, hands in his jumpsuit pockets.

'This is a nice ship.' he said 'have to admit... I'm jealous.' he peered over Rhu'tahs shoulder at the control panels, but didnt touch anything.

'Designed for quick access and responsiveness, right?  Multifunction panels so you can remote control damn near any onboard system, yeah?  You must have had to seriously upgrade your computer core to run all that.  I know the stock core on a Barloz couldnt handle it.'

Iden smiles.  "What can I say?  I like my toys, our engineer is great with tech and the captain lets us upgrade the ship as we see fit."

"And he leaves me to work out how we're going to pay for it!" adds Rhu'tah with a grumble.

"Oooooh?  And who was it who organised the upgraded comm hookup so he could better track his girlfriends?  Oh no wait, what did you tell the captain?  So you could better track the stock market.  Suuuuuure!"

Rhu'tah chuckles.  "You're just jealous because you can't get a girl. . .unless you pay her that is!"

Iden glared for a moment then shrugged.  "Seriously though folks, the captain is great.  The ship is our home and our business and he has no problem spending the credits to keep us comfortable and happy.  Guess it's why we've all stayed together these past few years.  It's been a wild ride."

"I can understand that." Exilim said as he also looked around the cockpit and admired the way that the systems had been upgraded.

"Gives you something to think about for our normal ride." he said to Devon.

"You have your own ship?" Iden enquires.  "Nothing beats the freedom of it.  Go where you want, when you want.  Chase your dreams, credits or just the solar winds.  So what type of ship do you have?"

“So, what are you trading for at the moment?  I might be able to help you, I know a few people...”  offered Rann

Flash managed not to say anything, but he couldn't help but stare at the controls like Christmas came early.  And his fingers were literally, visibly twitching.  Man, if only I could get my hands on those controls...

'Yeah, it does...' Devon looked over his shoulder at Xil and grinned.  'Should I be taking notes?'



'Nothing we can afford to run at the moment - and that's just dull.' he sighed.
Devon risked another glance at Xil, hoping for some indicator as to how much he should say... admitting you had your own slightly battered and very stolen cruiser could get you into trouble if mentioned at the wrong time...

'I've flown or worked on near anything you care to name...' he said, hoping to deflect Iden from his original question.  'Personal speeders, shuttles, fighters, freighters... all the way up to cruiser class.  These days I'm mainly engineer for our little group.
He turned a mock accusing eye on Flash  'I have to fix the stuff that Twitchy-fingers here has fun breaking.

SHeila was just enjoying the tour.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:19, Sat 01 May 2010.

Flash nearly, but not quite, snaps back.  "Hey!  I didn't break the cruiser, you can't blame me for that one."  Yeah, he didn't catch on as quick as Devon.

Xil felt like giving Flash a quick slap on the back of his head, but kept himself in check and let out a sigh instead.

To Devon he said with a small smile "Take as many notes as they will let you, one day you might actually get to do it."

"We trade whatever needs moving." he says in response to Rann.  "Can't always be choosy.  The Captain and Rhu'tah makes all of the deals."

Iden gave Flash a clap on the back.  "Don't listen to them.  The credit-crunchers always complain when we break something.  They don't get that you can't no a machine's breaking point until you've pushed it there and beyond.  Maybe we'll have time for you to push this baby a little before you go.  It would cost the same for me on your ship though!"

"Let's move on."

He leads the group out of the cockpit.  Rhu'tah waves and then turns back to the comm array.

Iden moves back down the corridor and through the machine shop.  The latter is cluttered with various mechanical parts but he doesn't stop, instead moving through to the cargo bay.

What's immediately apparent about the cargo bay is that a full-third of the cargo space has been walled off.  A tranparisteel wall runs from floor to ceiling from just aft of the starboard escape pod to the centre of the room before heading aft until it hits the rear bulkhead.  It easily covers three-hundred square metres.  The walls are only mildly transparent at present and what looks like plants can vaguely be seen inside.  The rest of the cargo bay is relatively free from cargo.

"That's the Captain's hydroponics bay."  Iden explains.  "It's strictly off-limits to everyone without the Captain's express permission."

The other noticable item in the cargo bay is the creature in the aft-port corner.  He's clearly practicing unarmed combat on a training dummy.  Judging by the blows he's landing, you'd really hate to swap places with the dummy.

"Our other passenger." Iden explains as the group wanders over.  "Hasn't said much about himself, but he's paying his way so he's earned the right."  There seems to be a little reproach in Iden's voice though wether its due to the fact the Talons are riding for free or being tight-lipped with their business is anyone's guess.  "Seems pretty skilled in unarmed combat.  I'm hoping we'll have time for some sparring before he leaves.  Looks like he could give me a challenge."


OOC:  Using the schematic, the walled off area is 4 squares wide x 9 squares long.  It runs from just below the starboard escape pod (14 on map).  It runs to just below the cargo elevator (13) and then runs the full length down to the rear bulkhead connecting to engineering (16).  It cuts their cargo carrying capability by a third which is very strange for merchants/traders/smugglers as you tend to use every square inch of space for cargo.

The other passenger is a Gungan.  Unless your history has taken you to Naboo it's unlikely you've met one (they've been quiet since the Clone Wars, rarely venturing off-world).  Make a Knowledge (Alien Species) check DC12 to recognise the species (or you could just ask him!).  Whoever he is, he's skilled in martial arts.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:37, Tue 11 May 2010.

Jace made no comment when Iden asked about the Talon's ship.  It wasn't because he saw a need to keep things quiet like the others, but because he honestly didn't know!  He hadn't spent much time with the Talons and he was wondering if he really wanted to extend this.  His first trip with the Talons had nearly cost him his ship and his life.  This second trip had cost him a thousand credits and nearly got him arrested.  Where was the profit in working for these guys?  Did they ever take paying jobs.

Now the Starflower crew interested him.  They clearly made serious credits somehow.  Ships weren't cheap to run and this one had been modified.  The fact that the cargo bay was empty only heightened his suspicions about their 'work'.  You didn't make the kind of modifications they had by hauling freeze dried pet food.  They were into something more exotic, something he suspected that was in the 'hydroponics bay'.  They weren't just growing house plants in there.  Why devote so much space and security to plants.  Either they were growing some kind of drugs or the hydroponics bay was a cover for something more sinister.

He wondered if he could slip away and take a look.  But he noticed that while jovial, Iden always had one eye on everyone in the group.  If he was going to slip away, he'd need a distraction and it would need to be good.  Iden was clearly not going to lose one of them for long.




OOC:  Now Jace is my NPC, I'm wondering how much trouble I can cause!

Sheila moves over to Exilim and leans into whisper in his ear.

The gungan, training on the dummy, has obviously worked up a sweat..his brown skin gleaming.  the gungan notices the movement, and turns to the group. The gungan's dark brown eyes fall on iden, and the gungan nods at him once with acknowledgement.

he picks up a nearby cloth, wiping himself, then continues attacking the dummy.

"I don't know what the dummy did," Iden says jokingly, "But I'm glad it's not me!  Almost makes me want to reconsider my wish to spar with him. . .almost!"

Iden points to the aft blukhead.  "So did anyone want a tour of engineering or you had enough?  I know engines don't exactly thrill everyone.  We can always head back for some caf and a meal.  We've still got a few hours before we reach the colony."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:13, Wed 05 May 2010.

PM
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:53, Mon 10 May 2010.

Sheila does a quick count of the people with them,   She's next the Exim anyhow, she'll look at him
This message was last edited by the player at 12:52, Thu 06 May 2010.

Xil takes his eyes of the person hitting the dummy and notices that Sheila is trying to indicate something at him.

As he waits for a response he thinks to himself Don't know what he is, but those would be great skills to have on the team.

OOC: Sorry for the delay. I am currently away from home, looking for a new home and had a hectic first birthday weekend for my son.

Sheila will whisper to Exilim.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:24, Sun 09 May 2010.

''Yeah, lets get on with the tour.' said Rann, with a frozen oh-god-what-have-we-done smile  smile.

Oblivious to whatever it was that was causing all the whispering and panicked looks amongst his team mates, Devon was inspecting the construction of the captains hydroponics bay - well, as much as he could without going inside - anything he learned here might come in useful for refitting the Nightshrike.

After a few moments, he ambled over to the transparisteel wall and crouched down next to it, inspecting the join between it and the cargo bay floor.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:58, Wed 12 May 2010.

"Well let's move on shall we?  Engineering awaits and I'm getting hungry."  Iden quickly hustles everyone through the doors to engineering after swiping a passcard.

"You're welcome to join us." he calls back to the Gungan.  "Our engines are quite impressive."


Iden is not exaggerating.  Walking into the engineering bay, the first thing of note is the sheer size of the engines.  Even a novice notices they're larger than normal, evidenced by several walkways have been severed to make room for them.

"These are our engineer's pride and joy.  Try not to scratch 'em.  Lumin tends to get a little testy if anything happens to these babies."

The gungan stops beating on the dummy and looks at the group.  Grabing the cloth, he wipes his brow as he comes over.

"Sure." he says in a deep voice.  "Isa been wondering what this ship has."

"nice engines."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:51, Wed 12 May 2010.

Devon blinked in surprise and looked up at the other Talons, performing a quick mental headcount.

Still examining the transparisteel wall, Devon thought frantically for a few moments, replaying recent events in his head.  Then he reached a decision, stood up and resolutely ambled after Iden to look at the engines...

On seeing the beasts driving this vessel, Devon whistled appreciatively and began an enthusiastic inspection.
'At first glance,' he said, his voice a little muffled by the power converter he was peering behind 'You've ripped out the standard Quad-D, and replaced them with... two of the drive tubes from a C-90?'  he looked up for confirmation and grinned.

'I bet these babies can REALLY move, you can probably outrun damn near anything in the sky, if you dont mind burning fuel that fast... how did you stabilize the power draw without blowing the feeds?  Is the fuel consumption really that bad?  I really gotta meet your engineer...'

Standing back and folding his arms, Devon delivered his professional opinion as an engineer (and a shipjacker, but Iden didnt need to know that bit).

'I want this ship!'

"I asked the same question when our engineer ripped out the Nova Quads and stuck these babies in.  Took 'em off a junked C90.  Whilst we've never tested them at more than sixty percent I'm assured we can get some incredible speed if we cranked 'em up.  Of course fuel efficiency and maneuvering will drop to nearly zero, but I'm sure if we were in that much of a bind, the tradeoff would be worth it."

Aryan smirks at Devon's comments.  Listening to iden, he smiles

Xil let out a chuckle at the ship drooling Devon. "Why don't you find their engineer and make friends. You might be able to get some ideas for the Nightshrike."

He turns to Iden "You certainly have a good set up here." he says as he walks around looking about.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:14, Sat 15 May 2010.

Flash got noticeably testier with all the whispering going on, His hand drifted to the blaster he was carrying, fairly obviously.  But then the door was opened and the engines became visible.  After a moment, he finally said(with considerably less tact than others were exercising), "Where did you get the credits for all this?"

"Well the engines here were free.  As I mentioned, we salvaged them off a trashed C90.  What I didn't mention was that the C90 had only recently been destroyed by an Imp Vic.  We were first on the scene.  Saved what crew was left and acquired a little tech as payment.  Beats the Imp salvage crews getting it."

"That it does," Flash said, nodding.

"Always pays to have bigger engines than the other guy." Iden quips.  "Victory-class ships are notoriously slow but you've still gotta outrun her eighty concussion missile tubes!"

"Sounds like you haven't done many modifications on your ship; the Nightshrike was it?  Happy to give you some ideas if you want.  Oor engineer is a whiz as you can see.  Though of course you might have to actually tell me something about your ship!  Maybe you can grant me security clearance, I'd hate for you to tell me then try to kill me!

Xil let out a laugh at Iden's comment "From what I saw in the bar that would be easier said than done."

Xil took a moment to think about their situation. They didn't have many friends out here and they could certainly do with some. The crew of the Starflower must have means of keeping their ship fueled and that was something that the Talons were in desperate need of. Weighing up options he decided that there was little to lose by giving out some information. He doubted that Iden would go off an tell the nearest Imps and starting friendships of any sort had to start off with some level of trust.

He looked at the other Talons gathered in particular Flash before saying "The Nightshrike, well our little bird is a Republic Cruiser that we managed to acquire." He didn't say more, waiting to see what Iden's reaction would be.

Flash snorted at the word 'acquire', but kept his lipless mouth shut.

Aryan listened intently to the new group and iden.  hearing their accounts of their ship, aryan looks at exilim.  Catching Flash's snort, the corner of the gungan's mouth turns up in a half smile..the first you have seen on him They's have some potential..lot can be done to them

Iden nods in Aryan's direction.  "I'll say they do.  Rep Cruiser huh?  Well you've gotten your self a nice ship.  Highly versatile, like all Corellian Engineering ships.  Carry about ten times the cargo of this baby and those detachable pods make 'em incredibly versatile.  Of course, they cost more to run and tend to attract more attention than this baby.  Still, a modifed Consular-class isn't going to be bothered by anything less then a militatry-grade ship.  Oooh I'm jealous now.  Never been inside one, even a stock model."

He turns to Flash.  "Kind of ironic, you asking how we can afford this.  Last I heard, you could buy about ten Barloz freighters for the cost of one Consular class cruiser.  Even with all our upgrades your ship is worth a lot more than this one!  Perhaps I should ask you the very question you asked me."

Now Flash managed to keep his mouth shut, but he shifted a little, trying to to look at Xil, but also managing to look like he's avoiding Iden's eye.

Iden smiled as Flash went silent.  "Must be a really good story.  Don't stress, I'm not the Imperial Judiciary.  Tell you what, let's all head back to the common room and have a glass of Corellian whisky and I'll tell you the tale of how we acquired the Starflower.  It wasn't at a used-ship auction that's for sure."

He leads everyone out of engineering and back towards the common room.  As they move through the cargo bay several of the Talons note that the gunbelt has now vanished.

When they reach the common room, Raiwaw is sitting in the room alone, sipping a glass of water.

"Hey captain, I was just about to tell the story of how we got the ship."

Raiwaw sighs and waves a hand at Iden for him to continue.

Iden smiles.  "He gets tired of me reminding him how I saved his life.  So I'll grab the whisky and be right back.  Anyone want anything else?"

He takes any requests and then leaves the room, leaving the Talons (minus Jamie) and Aryan alone with the Ithorian.

Aryan sits silently next to Raiwaw, ordering some water.  He leans back in the seat, looking around at the new group on the ship.

Xil takes a seat, nods at Raiwaw and waits for Iden to return.

When he does he comments "This should be an interesting story, can't wait to hear it." he looks quickly around at the gathered Talons and says "Hopefully our story on getting the Nightshrike will match it."

He sits back waiting for the story to begin.

Iden returned a minute later laden with a tray containing several glasses and mugs, a decanter of water, a bottle of whisky and a pot of caf.  He placed them all on the table and began pouring out drinks.  When done he poured himself a glass of the whisky, which he downed with a single pull then poured another and settled back.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed with a gasp after downing the first shot.  "Now to the tale."

"It was just over two years ago.  I was an out of work soldier for hire.  I'd been hired for a job, politician's daughter kidnapped by a pirate group.  The politician put together a team of mercs to rescue the girl.  A few hired guns like me, but the real suprise was Raiwaw1 there and Lumin, our engineer.  Both were mechanical experts and Lumin was skilled with a blade but our friend here was a pacifist.  We thought the guy was crazy sending Raiwaw with us but he was the one the politician knew and trusted."

"Anyway we tracked the pirates to their vessel orbitting a nearby planet.  Raiwaw and Lumin manage to sneak us aboard without detection and a few stunned pirate crew later we've found the girl."

"Now the smart thing to do at that stage would have been to get out of there but we must have been high on glitterstim because we decided we were going to take the pirates down so we made a plan to take the bridge.  Raiwaw and the rest of the team went straight for the bridge and I gain access through a ventilation duct.  Plan was for me to drop a stun grenade on them while the main team distracted them."

"Well sure enough the pirate boss and his lieutenants were on the bridge like we planned.  What we didn't plan on was the old droideka battle droid the pirats had as a bodyguard.    It had no shields but its blaster cannons worked just fine.  It took out one of our team before we even knew he was there."

"Well while the droideka had the others pinned down I had the perfect vantage point, being in the roof over it.  Some blasterfire to its rear and it was soon molten scrap.  After that the other pirates went down to more conventional tactics.  Even Raiwaw took one down, stunned of course."

"So the girl was returned to her father who rewarded us handsomely not only for the mission but also for taking out the pirate boss and his cronies.  Turns out they had a big bounty on their heads for slavery and other untasteful jobs.  As a bonus, he also allowed us to keep the ship."

"So Raiwaw, Lumin and I stayed together, the rest of the team went their own way.  We re-registered the vessel 'Starflower' and we've been cruising the spacelanes since.  Rhu'tah joined us after a particularly nasty encounter was an Imperial Army Captain and he's really helped with the mercantile side of our operation.  We each have our own jobs but we split our profits evenly.  It's worked for us so far.  Can't take Imp jobs as they don't think much of a mostly alien crew but then again we're not exactly fans of the Empire anyway so no tears shed."

Iden stopped and took a long pull of his whisky and poured another.

"Well that's our story.  I could embelish my noble rescuing of my captain at the risk of my own life but I'm far too humble for that!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:48, Tue 25 May 2010.

The Ithorian let out what sounded like a snort and began shaking his head, one hand over his face.

Jace sat quietly in the corner, a glass of the whisky in his hands.  Whilst appreciating the flavour of the whisky, he was carefully sipping it, rather than trying to empty the bottle like Iden seemed to be.

He listened with interest to Iden's tale.  Of greater interest though was the story of how the Nightshrike had come into the Talon's possession.  Like Iden, he'd been amazed to hear the group had a Corellian Cruiser in their arsenal.  The group hadn't seemed to have that level of finances to buy or training to capture a capital ship.  The story proved to be interesting, if it was told.

Xil let out a little chuckle "Sounds like you had some fun with that episode."

He took a deep breath, had a quick drink and gathered his thoughts. This wasn't really his thing but he would have a go at telling their story. "Where to start ..." he muttered to himself "I suppose from when we got the fighters ..." He looked up and realised that he had been talking out loud. "mmm sorry, let me start"

"We were rescuing prisoners or slaves, take your pick. We had cleared the compound and luckily for us there were a nice pair of Z-95's and cloakshapes plus a Barloz freighter for us to use."

"Unfortunately by the time we had managed to bypass the ships systems and prep them, the local security forces, in the form of the Corellian cruiser and a couple of fighter escorts, had turned up to investigate some of the noise we had caused."

"Obviously we didn't hang around and cutting a long story short there was a fight. We lost one of the cloakshapes, destroyed one of theirs and chased the other off. The freighter played chicken with the cruiser and when it disabled the freighter, we managed to trick them and get a boarding party onto the cruiser."

"Our party was able to take over the command deck of the cruiser and eventually secure it. We transfered everyone over from the freighter and got ready to leave. Unfortunately one of the cruiser's crew had sabotaged the hyperdrive."

"You would have thought that the local security forces would have learnt but they sent up a Corvette and more fighters. So once again into the fray we went."

"Another battle, lost one of the Z-95's this time, got rid of some of their fighters and eventually managed to chased off the Corvette and the remaining fighters."

"We fixed the hyperdrive, dropped off our guests and kept the cruiser, plus the fighters."

"Our story in a nutshell"

Xil took another drink and looked around. It was a short re-telling of what happened, and didn't do it justice, but it was what came out of his mouth. One of the others that had been around at the time would have done a better job. With neither Mark or Jamie around he felt that he should be the one to speak.

"So you're saying that not only do you have an intact Corellian Cruiser which you somehow boarded in mid-battle, you also have a Headhunter and a Cloakshape for escort?  Wow.  I'll bet there's a lot more to that story then you're telling.  We had a tough enough time capturing this baby and we got on board undetected.  YOu took a whole cruiser during a firefight.  Hmmm, don't steal my home while I'm not looking will you.  Sounds like you've got quite an arsenal already.  What are you planning to do with it?"

Aryan looks at Exilim and lets out a whistle.  "Yousa be either very skilled or very lucky to pull of thatsa sort of thing..i'm impressed.  The gungan looked at the team with a half smile.

"How did yousa get together as a team?"

Xil looked at both Iden and Aryan "A combination of luck and skill, in some places probably more luck. As for what our plans are, well, we'll have to see what comes up."

He looks around the room before saying "As for how the team got together, well that's a whole set of different stories."

SHeila is sitting in the corner with her glass, learning how the team got their ship.

Jamie strolled into the room warily.  He was dripping a little and had scratches all over.  A few twigs were tangled in his hair and stuck on his clothes.
He looked over at Raiwaw.  "No power abuse, no killing," he said mysteriously.  Then, a little more sheepishly, he added, "You, uh...may want to have your sprinkler system checked out."
He looked at the rest of the team and smiled.  "How was the tour?"

Devon looked up from the whiskey he was nursing with a mock offended expression.
'Hey! It was pure skill when I stole that YT-2000!  Luck had nothing to do with it!'  Devon was secretly glad he had never told anyone the actual details of how he had captured that ship...

He turned to Iden with a hurt expression on his face.  'And then they made me give it back...' he said in a small voice.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:15, Thu 27 May 2010.

"That wouldn't be MY YT-2000 by any chance?  The one that was on loan to me from a Hutt crime lord?  The same Hutt who'd implanted a bomb in my skull?  Yes, I'm devastated you had to give it back."

“Before I hooked up with these guys” said Rann as he sipped his drink “ I worked for Coruscant Spaceways.  First as a gunner on one of their transports, then they moved me to stores.  Which I did for a while, till there was a disagreement over the location of some stock. Then I was a enterprising businessman till I meet these  guys.  But that's a different story. ”

Sheila is watching Jase as Devon, he, and Rann spoke, probably formulating her own answer, but she doesn't actually speak, just swirls the drink and she slowly sips it.

Iden looked at Jamie's clothes with amusement.  "If I'd know you were going to wash the clothes and mow the lawns I would have put out my dirty shirts.  You look like you could use one of these."

He pours a large glass of Corellian whisky and passes it to Jamie.

Realizing Jamie had arrived in the middle of his rant, Devon glances up at his team mate, then takes a longer look.

'Ok, I'll bite.  What happened?'

Jamie looked longingly at the glass of whiskey from his home planet, but turned it down politely.
"Thank you for your generosity, sir, but I should not be drinking right now.  I am on the job.  Another time, perhaps?  I'd love to taste the homebrew again."
He couldn't help but smirk at Devon's question.
"I was attacked by vegetation.  Have no fear, I made it out alive!  It was in the hydroponics bay.  I went in there for a tour with our Captain, and we talked about our business.  On the way out I lagged behind a little."

Xil grinned at Jamie's explanation, he was sure there was more too it than what he was saying but figured that the story would come out in time. "Looks like you should have kept your distance from the plants." He turns to the captain "Your hydroponics bay is a very interesting place it appears."

Addressing Jamie again "I'd suggest using the facilities and all that sort of stuff, looks like you could do with some refreshing."