Nightshrike Briefing Room
Next Morning 0800


The next morning, people began filtering in to the briefing room in ones and twos.  Mark and Zyra were at the head of the table, discussing something over a datapad.  A fresh pot of caf was on the table and Zyra asked the early arrivals to prepare some breakfast for everyone.

It wasn't until a few minutes after everyone had arrived that Mark began the briefing.

"Newcomers welcome to your first official briefing as Black Talons.  Together we will aim to bloody the Empire's nose as much as we can."

"While turning a tidy profit." Zyra piped in with a sly wink.

Mark threw an exasperated look at the Zabrak who gave the commander a seductive smile in return.  He quickly turned his attention back to the group.

"Firstly housekeeping.  Mr Webb has requested a leave of absence and I have granted it.  As such we no longer have a space force team leader.  For now, I will be taking that role until someone proves capable of taking over or Mr Webb returns."

"Mr Nallis will continue to lead our ground forces.  Ms Master will remain our chief medic, with 2-1B-D3 acting as her assistant.  She'll also remain in charge of our slicing duties.  Mr Jai will continue to use you all as a punching bag and hopefully teach you some of his tricks.  Mr Kismet, your engineering duties will now be split three ways.  Ms Trake will handle capital ship repair and operations, Ms Lambar all droids and you will handle starfighters.  You will also remain in charge of new acquisitions of course."

"Mr Pertwee, your duties remain unchanged.  Ms Jax will remain in charge of intelligence matters, assisted by Mister Toluga who will perform most of the fieldwork.  Mr Sloan your knowledge of Imperial customs procedures, capital ship experience and previous war experience make you a valuable resource too.  Mr Flash, you will be our chief pilot and when necessary, my wingman.  Can't have you overtaking my kill score now can we?"

"Designations will be as follows.  I will retain both One and Lead as my callsigns.  Flash will remain Two, Masters Three, Nallis Four.  Mr Toluga will take Talon Five, Pertwee and Kismet will remain Six and Seven.  Mr Jai Eight, Ms Jax is still Nine.  Ms Trake Ten, Lambar Eleven and Sloan Twelve."

"Become familiar with your designations and roles.  Any questions can be forwarded to the XO."

"Now, anyone have anything to add from yesterday's debriefing before we move on to our next mission?"

---

OOC: Several of you have been busy since the debrief so figured you'd have things to add.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:51, Fri 24 June 2011.

Mika glances at Devon before she speaks up.  "Uhm, Devon, or should I say Talon 7, and I were looking at the fighter.  It took a bit, but Devon got it fixed.  We got some things we want to explore, maybe get some idea where the bastards launched from, but figured making the ship spaceworthy was top priority.  If we have a few more hours, and maybe get some slicer help, we should be able to get some possibles."

Sheila was feeling much better. To mika "Point me where you want me to be."

"Not now."  Zyra intercedes.  "While knowledge of the pirate base would most advantageous, it is not an immediate priority.  But keep at it when time allows."

Darvin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He had changed from his PPA uniform for some comfortable street clothes, his long graying mane was tied up in a pony tail and his callused right hand was pensively stroking his beard, while his left held a cup of caf. For those of you even wondering how he took his caf, he liked it dark like his soul he had joked.

When he was given his designation he almost raised his hand to see if he could get designated as number 13, but thought wiser of it. Instead, he brought the cup to his lips and tasted the dark warm liquid. He raised his cup to Merreck, and leaned back to listen to whatever else the others may wish to discuss.

Merreck raise the cup to Sloan, then sit nursing the cup of coffee, looking a bit worn and tired from the night before, but getting more and more alert as he gets the brew into his stomach. He looks around at the Talons as they get their duties, nodding at Zyra Jax when he gets his own assignment.

He looks at Mika as she reports on the repairs. "Good to hear about that fighter, Ten." He chuckled a bit at their new names, then continue with a short report.

"I and Darvin took a drink in town and we asked around for recent news. So far nothing on the connection between Typhon and Pirates except rumors and coincidences. The pirates should have about ten more fighters and an YT-2000 on top of the Corvette, but that´s more likely a very low estimate. Ships have disappeared, but recently it´s been mostly robbed and sent on their way. Then there was that one attack on a civilian spaceport, a few weeks ago. Bomb dropped from a freighter, random destruction, doesn´t really add up. Typhon and the Imperial Navy are joined at the hip, that much is certain."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:25, Fri 24 June 2011.

Mark nodded solemnly at Merreck's words.  "We saw the bombing occur from space.  What did Mr Webb call the device they used?  A thermobaric weapon I think it was.  Low tech so it wouldn't be caught by scanners but most effective."

"I have noticed the shift in tactics with the pirates of late too.  I noted they offered to release you all unharmed.  I wonder if they meant it.  Why would they suddenly risk releasing people.  I doubt they grew a conscience."

"Still this change of tactics is favourable as are their old ones."

Flash sits in his chair looking very refreshed.  He remains quiet throughout the debriefing and his gaze flicks from one person to another as they speak.  When Mark comments on pirate tactics change the Duros shrugs.

"Maybe they've changed tactics, maybe it's just a ruse, who knows?  They lied about th'bomb, right?  Either way I suggest we just keep on reactin' to 'em like we always have been.  It's nice an' all for 'em t'say they'll let people go unharmed but let's face it, shootin' th'crap outta all those controls an' then calling in a Corvette...  My confidence ain't inspired enough to trust pirates t'keep their word."

Cor has remained very quiet through this exchange.  She sits in her chair as firmly and deeply as she can, nestled in it as if its presence gave her comfort.  The young woman keeps her gazes from the faces of the others for the most part, though Mark likely catches her staring at him in an unblinking, slightly unsettling manner through parts of his commentary.  Cor nods hesitantly as her duties and call-sign are given to her, making notes on a datapad as she does.

She doesn't comment on Darvin and Merreck's adventures, Flash's opinion or... well, anything really.  She simply sits, listens and waits.

There is a heavy sound of footsteps outside, a perfectly even beat that people might be getting familiar with now, and B2-CC9 looms into the room.  It seems to be very good at looming.  Perhaps it's been programmed for it.  Either way it stalks into the room looking a little different today.

In addition to its blaster rifle the droid also carries a holstered blaster pistol, a bandolier with a number of power packs attached and wears medium battle armour.  It looks bigger, chunkier and decidedly more nasty.

"Unit designated B2-CC9 reporting," it states, coming to a stop not far in the room and staring at Cor.  "The defences of the area have been secured, as best as is possible. B1-AE3 and B1-AE5 are situated in tactically sound positions and have been ordered to respond to incursions or obviously violent threats, as their programming allows."  It seems to straighten slightly.  "Awaiting further command."

As Cor nods minutely toward Mark the droid then turns sharply to stare at the commander, not bothering to repeat itself.  Unless the human has faulty audio receptors he would have heard just as well as anyone in the room.  CC9's voice isn't subtle.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:59, Fri 24 June 2011.

He listen to Marks and Flash's comments on the pirates, shrugging at their questions. There´s little doubt he´ll try to look into it again, later on at least.

Merreck see the droid, very much hear the droid, but doesn´t appear to understand why it´s there. He looks over at the Umbaran, Cor, with a questioning look, as if to ask what the droid is doing at their briefing.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:55, Fri 24 June 2011.

Cor looks over at Merreck briefly, double-taking when she sees the man staring at her.  She shrinks a little into her seat, blushing mildly.  Why was the human staring at her?  Had he just worked out what species she was?  Was there suddenly going to be a huge argument?  Worse, did Merreck... like her?  As in... like like??  She doesn't meet his gaze, can't meet his gaze, and just stares at the table in front of her, hoping he'll look away.

Merreck look away after a few moments, as it was too hard to try to make eye contact with someone trying to hide in her own chair, especially as his own vision was a bit shaky.

On the other hand, he did just come up with a theory about why the droids were acting a bit, odd.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:18, Fri 24 June 2011.

"Thank you CC9.  Though in future I would appreciate you being on time for briefings, you're five minutes late."


He turned back to the others.  "As you may have noticed, B2-CC9 has been handling security arrangements for us.  Mr Flash, I want you in charge of ship and base security, CC9 will serve as adjutant, handling most of the day-to-day work."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:49, Fri 24 June 2011.

Darvin pipes up, coming out of his reverie after the battle droid's intrusion: "Getting back to the pirates... The pirates are an interesting riddle, aren't they? The man you captured preferred to jump in mid hyperspace than survive to be questioned.  There's no proof of course that that's what happened, but let's assume he did... That means one thing in my mind... Fanatical. He believed in what he is fighting for, and what he was fighting for is bigger than him, and worth his dying for. It's one thing to die in the field in a huge blaze of fire... quite another to do so willingly after the guys who captured you offer you a roof and sanctuary. Of course, he could have been scared too... but most yellow bellies try to negotiate"

He shifts in his seat again, "About the shift in tactics... I'd gather there was a recent change in leadership... Do you have more intel on what's been happening? The reason they're not attacking Imperial targets could indicate that they're still growing their forces for example, like they're at practice... getting ready for the big game. Or... as some have hinted, they're an extension of imperial covert activity."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:37, Fri 24 June 2011.

CC9 stares at Mark briefly and then inclines its head. "I shall endeavour to have all higher-priority tasks completed before meeting times in the future, Commander," it states, and then moves to stand against a wall.

"It would be better to learn more before drawing any conclusions about the pirates Mr Sloan.  As Ms Jax has already mentioned, they are not our focus today."

"Now as you all know, we have three organisations here we are working against; the Imperials, Typhon Energy and the pirate band.  Now our plan for the pirates at the moment is to gather intel.  At present we have a damaged navicomm, the holocomm frequency Ms Trake sliced and information on their tactics.  Ms Jax will be going over all of this data, perhaps Ms Lambar will free up R2-A9 to assist with some of the slicing.  We can do little about the pirates until we know where they operate from.  Sending out decoy convoys is time consuming and requires materials we don't have."

"So our target for now is going to be Typhon Energy.  By hurting them we hurt the Imperials while helping ourselves.  To add confusion, we're going to follow the tactics and methods used by the pirates.  By doing this we may bring the pirates out of hiding.  Or if the pirates are working for Typhon or the Imperials we may find evidence to support that theory."

"So we need to choose a target that suits this.  I have three possibles in mind that we shall discuss.  The first is a ground based refinery.  This will hurt Typhon's fuel production significantly and reduce their ability to meet demands.  This target benefits Phindar financially as fuel supplies will still be needed."

"The second possibility is to strike a fuel convoy.  We hype in, destroy or capture everything and hype out.  This one seems the most straightforward but carries much risk depending on the escort size.  There may be a chance to acquire some fuel or perhaps ships but that would be a secondary objective."

"The third option is a covert raid to taint a fuel delivery to the Imperials.  This possibility could create severe friction between the Imperials and Typhon and cause a great deal of damage to Imperial ships.  It doesn't help Phindar or the Talons financially but it does hurt the Imperials."</b>

Mark sat back and indicated the others should share their thoughts.  The commander was interested to see how this new team would handle planning missions.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:50, Fri 24 June 2011.

Feeling much better and actually fully alert for the first time in a couple of days Xil attentively listened to the initial discussion around the table, in particular from the new members. From past experience he knew that what Mark had opened with would not be their main focus.

He considered the options presented by Mark, all had good points to them. An idea formed in his head "How about combining two of those options? In quick succession hit a convoy and then a refinery, or vice-versa. I doubt they would be expecting it and it would keep them guessing. I also doubt they would beef up security at a refinery if a convoy was hit first."

"That will always be an option Mr Nallis but we must be careful not to overextend ourselves.  Raids take planning and timing.  Also remember after the last mission you were barely in a fit state to breathe, let along conduct a mission."

He nodded in Marks direction in acknowledgement of the point "In that case, I would suggest the refinery be our first target. Helping Phindar helps us, and there are things that we need that require credits to obtain. Whatever we do, making sure we have the equipment to do the job should be high on our list of priorities."

Merreck things for a few moments before answering. "All three options carry risk of exposure. In some ways I prefer the covert sabotage. We don´t want to call attention to us or our ships, and if everything goes well, it´s the Imperial Navy that is hurt."

In reply to Exilim Nallis (msg #20):

Devon nodded agreement with Xil's point about getting equipment.
'Right. I know some of us ended upwith more holes in us than is recommended...  but capturing that R41 made it a very pofitable Mission for us. we can't afford to overlook opportunitiesto aquire more hardware of any kind.  A ground raid might let us get hold of some things we're badly in need of.'

To Devon. "I don´t see how we will have time to salvage during a bombing run. If we want equipment, wouldn´t the convoy be a better target?"

Perhaps unexpectedly, or perhaps not to those who've met Cor's medical droid, CC9 takes a step forward. "Sir, if I may? Talon Five makes a sound tactical point in stating that a bombing run is unlikely to yield the time expenditure required to obtain additional equipment or salvage. Furthermore Talon Five is correct in the risk of exposure that the Talons have in attempting any of these proposed strikes.  To have outside forces positively identify the same organisation as being responsible for both the protection of Phindar Petroleum and aggressive action against the proposed target would be tactically unwise." It turns its head to observe Merreck briefly before looking back at Mark.

"However, Talon Four makes a likewise tactically sound point that it may be possible to combine two of these missions into one. It would be particularly efficient and may at least partially mitigate the likelihood of exposure - though that," it adds, "will always be a factored risk. According to the exact nature of the company, shipping and targets it may be possible to combine all three strikes into the one mission." After a pause the droid continues.

"All of these missions revolve around the one single resource - fuel. That fuel must come from somewhere. While it may be possible to disrupt the target's ability to acquire unrefined fuel at the source I would suggest a different tactical approach. As there is a higher likelihood of neutral parties visiting, inspecting or joining staff at the refinery of a public company that is also, logically, the place in which that company has the least option of having illegally heavy defensive firepower. Having access to a facility such as this may place the Talons in the prime position to disrupt fuel supply and quality."

"Should a small strike team infiltrate such a facility, one positively identified as shipping fuel to the Imperials, it may be possible to taint that fuel, place explosives on outgoing canisters destined for other locations, gather intelligence on said company and also taint, disrupt or destroy said facility once the necessary tasks to taint and arm outgoing loads have been completed."

Having said its piece the droid then steps back.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:30, Fri 24 June 2011.

"Baldy's got a point," he said pointing a thumb at the battle droid. "As Merreck indicated, a covert op would let us do more than one of these things without tipping who we are, including tainting the fuel, and perhaps lifting a few key pieces of equipment that we need. It'll be easier, say, to lift an extra fighter if the fighter is unattended, its pilot safely tucked away in his sleeping quarters for example." Darvin raised his caf cup to his lips and took a sip.


"The covert aspect opens up several interesting possibilities. If tainting the fuel is to be the first objective, then we could accomplish that and several secondary ones if time permits. For example, one possible secondary objective is to slice one of their nav computers to have it fail during hyperspace travel. If we could sabotage a fuel tanker and have it pop up several parsecs away from its escort, we could just swing in and take it. Granted, I don't know if such a thing is even possible??" he looked at Masters to see what she thought of the idea.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:15, Fri 24 June 2011.

Merreck looked surprised when the battle droid spoke up, siding with him. He wasn´t aware that its tactical software was this advanced. Then again, if people are the best killers, then the best artificial killer must be as much as a person as possible.

"Perhaps the computer could be rigged to use another course without the crew knowing, that way we don´t have to guess where they drop out of hyperspace. We need to know enough about the convoy ahead of time, but we can get that information on the refinery."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:46, Fri 24 June 2011.

"Depending on time permitting," the battle droid states impassively, "sufficient infiltration may allow Talon members to assassinate, coerce, bribe or even legally replace pilots, navigators and workers."  It looks toward Mark.  "An element to consider is the number of hours of work this mission is to span, whether an additional number of hours in the one location may save hours of work in others, and the lengths to which Talon members can infiltrate the facility - legally joining the facility's staff would logically require more resource expenditure but may allow greater freedom of operative movement."

It pauses then.  It's hard to tell why.  Droids don't exactly have facial expressions.

"An additional consideration is the willingness of operatives to eliminate non-hostile civilian bystanders should such a matter be necessary or tactically sound."

Cor sits by, watching, a look of mild amusement on her face at the battle droid's willingness to become involved in the talks, and also the reactions it's getting from the members of the Talons.  She's still quite surprised Mark has given no one, but two of her droids direct places in the chain of command - second-in-command of medical, if she's understanding this paramilitary lingo correctly, and security adjutant?  She watches CC9.  'Is it satisfied?' she thinks to herself. 'Or does it just think the Commander's decision makes 'sound tactical sense'?'

Mika's head bobbles from speaker to speaker...

"A few points here.  First, taking out the refinery does not equate to a bombing run, unless that's the way the pirates are doing it and I'm not sure that they are.  If they are, that'd be easiest, but we're not going to snag any equipment as a result and that seems to be a major focus for yo... uh, us.

But you can forget about loading the fuel containers with explosives to hurt the Imps.  Sure, it might drive a wedge between the Imps and Typhon Energy, but I bet even the Imps aren't stupid enough to load a bunch of unscanned fuel drums onto their ships just so we can enjoy watching them blow up.  But if we could find a way to taint the fuel as Sheppard suggests, and I'm not enough of a chemical engineer to know what that is off the top of my head, but that has some real potential.  An additive to clog fuel lines, changing the thermal characteristics so that the fuel burns too hot... or not hot enough..."  She pauses as the ideas flicker behind her eyes....  "Yeah, real potential."

She shakes her head slightly, putting herself back into the present.  "But if snagging equipment is our big goal, I think hitting the convoy makes the most sense, if we've got the fire power to take down the escort.  Obviously, it'd be best to use the R-41's for it.  If anyone gets away, they'll just see the same thing people report from any other pirate raid."

Edited.

"Hurting civilians will not get us any public support. In fact, it might only rile the civilians to side with the empire at that point," Darvin stated as he considered the droid's idea. "It's the empire that we want to damage, it's the people we want to unshackle. We need to be careful about civilians casualties in my opinion... keeping them at a minimum should be something to consider."

His caf finished he simply held the cup by looping his index in the handle and crossed his arms, "Miss Trake also has another very valid point, the possibility of making enough damage to imperial assets by delayed detonation of a fuel cargo isn't very high given the port inspections. It would make a fine distracting tactic, but only in coordination with a strike in my opinion. We could save that idea for another mission," he suggested.


"One benefit of tainting the fuel (water is usually sufficient to cause trouble), is that you can also pin point where the gas is being used through cause and effect. If the pirates are on the Imperial side of the business, they might end up with surprises of their own if they use the same suppliers."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Fri 24 June 2011.

The battle droid swings its head to look at Mika.

"Clarification, Talon Ten: I was suggesting that operatives may taint some fuel supplies and load explosives onto others.  The former would be primarily aimed at fuel supplies heading to the Imperial destinations, the latter to less security-conscious destinations.  Your calculation of Imperial action, in specific their likelihood of scanning incoming loads, is sound.  I have no chemical analysis or chemical engineering software either, so that task would require clarification and completion by Talon units ahead of time."

Then it looks back at Darvin.  "Talon Eleven.  Public relations are not a part of my programming but I concur that all civilian casualties - all casualties that do not directly relate to the pirates or Imperials - are best kept to a minimum."  Another pause.  Perhaps it realises that organics find this a sensitive topic.  Perhaps it's just calculating something in between talking.  "However if an operative is part way through committing an act of sabotage and is found by a civilian bystander it is tactically logical to stun or kill that civilian if it is not possible to deflect them in any other way.  My point is a tactical one referring to the intellectual and emotional processes of the Talon operatives.  It would be unwise to send operatives who are not willing to eliminate civilians should it become necessary in order to see the mission through to completion."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Fri 24 June 2011.

In reply to B2-CC9 (msg #31):

"I think that is something we all considered when we joined the navy, army, or whatever uniform some of us wore at some point," Darvin replied, "civilian caualties are unfortunate, but a reality, unfortuately."

Merreck looks shocked when he hear the droid talkinga bout killing civilians, and he asks it a question in a serious voice. "Droid, does your programming permit you to kill unarmed civilians without a direct order? If so, under which conditions?"

"About hitting a refinery, it must be a bombing run or an infiltration on the ground, none of which allow us to salvage anything. The risk of reinforcements arriving make anything else too dangerous. The only things we might be able to salvage would be if we steal ships on the ground, before calling in our own fighters for an attack run."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:47, Fri 24 June 2011.

The battle droid observes Merreck for a moment and then states flatly (as if it states anything in a way that's not flat), "My programming in that respect is irrelevant.  It would be tactically unwise to send this battle unit into a covert mission of any kind, with the unlikely exception of needing to infiltrate droid units of the same model.  As the B2 super battle droid line is largely obsolete," it adds, pausing to glance at Cor before returning its gaze to Merreck, "that likelihood is extremely low.  The programming of those units that would be involved - organic units - is the relevant matter."

Merreck continue slowly, with some command in his voice. "The reason I ask is irrelevant, your programming is not. Does your programming allow you to eliminate civilians with deadly force, with or without a direct order?" He frowns to himself. For a deadly combat droid, it acted, evasive.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Fri 24 June 2011.

"You know, you can ask me that," Cor says mildly.  "But it might be worth noting that it has no orders or programming that require it to answer you, Five.  CC9 is not a computer, it is a droid.  Some measure of autonomy is inherent to them."

Mika nods as B2-CC9 shares it's computated considerations, "But how does one tell what fuel is going to the Imperials and what's going to less security conscious destinations?"

She then turns to Darvin, still trying to figure the fellow out, "Of course, not all of us Talons hail from the uniformed gentry...."  Her voice trails off and she quickly looks aside and quickly jumps into Merreck's interactions with the droid, almost too eagerly.

"It's a battle droid Merreck.  Most droids have behavioral inhibitors against harming sentients, but that convenient bit of coding usually doesn't find it's way into the behavioral matrix of a battle droid.  Otherwise, the enemy would just shield itself with innocent civilians and stroll right past them."

"Yeah, I know, Mika, a droid that can kill, just like we can. I´m just worried if it knows when to do it."

Merreck answer Cor like the droid wasn´t present. "I know I can ask you, Cor, I just wanted to hear it from the droid. It´s a good thing we can´t let it out in public, because I wouldn´t trust it around civilians. A good fighter, I´m sure, but you know what I mean."

Merreck shrugs. "So, Miss Lambar, what do you think about the three missions?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Fri 24 June 2011.

Mark made notes on his datapad as the briefing continued.  He wasn't making notes about the tactical suggestions, most of them he'd discussed with Zyra already, but instead the way the Talons planned and argued their points.

"I should clarify, that when I spoke of destroying a refinery I meant a ground based infiltration, not a bombing run.  A bombing run is crude, makes our craft to exposed to Imperial sensors allowing them to identify us and means we have to outfight Imperials starfighters on the way out."

"If we performed this run it would be land based infiltration op.  This offers many benefits;  The ability to use all our team; the ability to more systematically apply explosives for maximum effect; the chance to complete secondary objectives like the acquisition of computer data or possibly even a ship.  Added to that when you evacuate you could set an alarm to 'accidently' trigger.  That way we can minimise civilian deaths.  This is war, but we are not butchers, I leave that to the Imperials."

"Finally, the quieter we are, the less likely we can be identified and the more 'evidence' we can plant to suggest it was a pirate attack."

"This is not to say I think this is the best plan of the three.  I merely offer some clarification into my thinking."

"I know what you think you mean," Cor says mildly.  "I wonder if you do, however.  You do not trust a droid because it has not immediately answered you, and yet CC9 would look to my commands over even our commander's unless I ordered it not to - which I have," she adds, mainly to Mark.  "As you are my peer now, not my superior, it has no reason to obey your orders unless instructed to do so.  Consequently you believe as it has not answered you as if it were your droid, you would not trust it around civilians." She tilts her head curiously, looking directly at Merreck for the first time since meeting him.  "As Ten has said, behavioural inhibition software - or, at least, the software you are likely thinking of, is not suitable for battle droids."  Without looking away from Merreck - and without blinking - Cor says, "CC9, explain your reason for not answering Talon Five immediately, and then answer his question, please."

The battle droid answers immediately.

"My response to Talon Five was calculated in an attempt to keep the discussion on matters pertinent to the mission.  Comforting Talon Five as to my suitability to civilian interaction did not appear to be relevant to the discussion of the mission, which takes highest priority at this meeting."  Turning its head it then looks at Merreck.

"I have the programming and capacity to eliminate or stun civilians as deemed necessary by mission parameters, tactical programming and logic - what you may term 'common sense'.  It makes no logical or tactical sense to harm civilians that are not jeopardising a mission, and the appearance of a B2 battle unit is often enough to avoid needing violence to make civilians leave the vicinity.  However.  As I am no longer an automaton I differ significantly from unmodified B2 battle droids; one of those differences is the capacity to decide for myself when lethal force is and is not necessary.  Your capacity to trust my programming is currently irrelevant," it adds, "but that is the answer to your query."

Mika's ears perk up as the droid shares its answers and as soon as the droid completes it's answers, she turns to Cor, "What does B2-CC9 mean when it says it's no longer an automation?"

She pauses, waiting on Cor's answer before addressing Sheppard, "It might be a good idea to have the droids, at least the security droids if nothing else, programmed so that they'll obey order from all of us Talons, at least when they don't conflict with your's or, uh, Talon 11's orders."

Cor looks over at Mika and gives a warm smile before answering. "Well, as you know, the B2 battle line was created to function as part of a large squad.  They have backup processors but no main processor unit built in.  They rely for the most part on a central processing 'brain' and only use the secondary for backup if the main remote brain fails.  I removed the remote receiver and backup brain, and substituted an advances heuristic processor.  CC9 is fully autonomous - in that sense."

Merreck listen for the droid to finish before answering Cor.

"No, I don´t distrust the droid because it doesn´t obey my commands, I distrust the droid because it will use deadly force against civilians when it deems it appropriate. I would feel the same if it was my droid and I sent it away on independant tasks. Mika mention a good point, in case it or any of the other battle droids does make a bad call, wouldn´t it be best if the closest Talon can get it under control?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:46, Fri 24 June 2011.

Cor sighs and sits back in her chair, looking at the table in front of her.  "You do not have any behavioural limitations," she says softly, "and you are possibly as good at killing people as CC9.  Just because it is a droid does not automatically mean it is out of control."

"Mistress Lambar.  This line of conversation does not fit within mission parameters," the droid states.  "It would be ideal to avoid matters pertaining to my programming and position in the command structure until after this meeting is concluded."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:52, Fri 24 June 2011.

Mika nods understanding as Cor explains the not automation comment, "Okay, that makes sense."

As B2-CC9 speaks about the conversation being outside mission parameters, Mika gives a bit of a chuckle and looks back at Sheppard, "A good example of why it might be worth reprogramming the droids.  Sure, they operate fantastically within the framework of their programming, but sentients are generally still better at adapting to unforeseen circumstances."

She gives Cor a sympathetic nod.  If Mika had a stable of droids, she wouldn't want everyone else having command access to them either.

CC9 looks at Mika.  It doesn't comment, turning its head then to stare forward.

Merreck chuckle at the comparison between him, a person, and the droid. "Yes, I am capable of killing, as is any person with a blaster. There´s a difference though, right? Well, we can take this later. What did you think about the three options, Cor?"

"I am not a tactician," Cor says, her voice a little strained.  "That is why I programmed CC9 for tactical analysis.  I have never raided a fuel facility, so I have no idea what would be best or worst.  If it were my choice," she adds, "I would allow others to discuss combat scenarios and concentrate my efforts more on upgrading the Nightshrike and obtaining more equipment.  As for difference -"

"Talon Five has indicated a willingness to leave that topic until a later time, Mistress Cor," the battle droid interrupts.  "That would be a sensible course of action."

Cor pauses, mid-sentence, and shuts her mouth with a small 'clop' noise, nodding to the droid and sitting back in her chair a bit.

A droid specialist being ordered around by her minions. The conversation cut off without a clear conclusion, Merreck look around to see if anyone has something to add to the meeting.

Flash just shrugs at Merreck's look.  He casts a cautious glance at the tall droid and then looks back out over the table.  "I'm up for some raidin'.  An' if we can get some ion cannons at some point then we can put Twelve's ideas for extra salvage into action as we're doin' the freighter attacks, yeah?"

Darvin looked up in surpise at Flash, his support for his idea had been unexpected. So far Darvin had been listening to the exchange, and would have tossed his support with Merreck and Mika, but the discussion had taken a life of its own and he simply couldn't get a word in in time. He respectfully nodded his thanks at the Duros.

Will post a more detailed pst later.

Devon let a filthy, filthy grin spread across his face.  'Take a closer look at our newest fighter, Flash - we've GOT ion cannons.  And like Mika said, she's ready to fly.  That little beauty is going to make it a whole hell of a lot easier for us to score salvage from now on.'

Perhaps it came from Devon being a career vehicle and ship thief, but if he enjoyed the thought of what that R-41 was capable of any more, there'd be a law against it.  Knowing the Empire, there probably already was.

Flash stares at Devon in surprise and then returns that wicked grin.  "All right.  That's damn perfect!"  He nods to Devon and then Mika.  "Nice work, team.  VERY nice."

Mark saw that the droid issue hadn't been settled fully so he decided to clear the air now.

"B2-CC9.  I wish to outline your command structure to you clearly.  I know I am repeating myself, but that is partly for the benefit of the others present.  In all matters you will obey all orders from myself and Ms. Jax.  In matters of security you will also take orders from Mr Flash.  On combat missions you will answer to my designated team leader.  You will clarify rules of engagement with a team leader or myself before any combat mission if time allows.  These orders are the same I expect of all Black Talons and they will continue until such time Ms Lambar chooses to resign from the Black Talons.  At that time you no longer take orders from us.  Is that clear?"

While Mark was speaking to the droid the whole time, the change in his tone of voice when speaking the last sentence made it clear he was addressing the entire room with that statement.

"Now that's dealt with.  Let's get back to planning a mission."

Merreck listen to whom the droids answer to in different situations, then points something out, a possibly very important flaw, considering what happened during the boarding action. "Clear, commander. I have one question though, if the team leader is incapacitated, who does the droid take orders from?"

"Okay,  If Mika was bothered by Shappards ignoring her suggestion with the droid command structure, there's no evident sign of it.  "Then I'm back to thinking either infiltrating the refinery or taking the convoy.  Given that there's several of us newcomers and we're not exactly pulling together as a team yet, that the convoy is the way to go.  After all, if it doesn't go well, we can get clear easier than if we're ground side sneaking about."

"Entirely clear, Commander," the droid states impassively, not appearing bothered in the least by the ruckus.  Then again, no facial expressions.  Droids, huh?  It doesn't address Merreck's question as it was directed at the Commander, nor does it appear to have an opinion on Mika's suggestion to reprogram it.

"B2-CC9.  If you have been given specific orders with set rules of engagement and then the person giving you those orders, how will you react to that circumstance, where the clear command chain is lost and there are likely changes to mission priorities?"

"If the command chain is fractured but can be re-established then I will take orders from the next command unit in legitimate place to do so.  If the command chain is lost and there is no indication as to which command unit should be giving orders," it states calmly, "I will calculate a new tactical approach according to new mission priorities, and act accordingly.  My software allows for tactical and logical priority changes within both daily duties and mission-based activities."

"One other thing we might need to think about.  Are all of our fighters hyperspace capable? That was actually a problem in the last mission, in that when the freighters jumped we couldn't take all the fighters with us, which is part of how we got seperated."  SHe really really hoped her memory wasn't completely screwed.

"Not all of 'em," Flash says, shaking his head.  "Look, I'd love t'get the whole lot kitted out - hyperdrives, ion cannons, shields, torps, the lot, but unless Nine here can make money outta space dust I think we're gonna have t'work up to it."  He nods to Sheila.  "We've gotta think about it.  The more mobile our fleet is th'better."

Interesting reactions by some Xil thought to himself as the conversation about B2-CC9 finally appeared to come to an end. It was not something he had worried about, nor was the droids programming going to worry him. If Cor and the droids had been accepted by Mark and Zyra, then Xil took for granted that they had already gone over these sorts of details.

Turning his attention back to the mission options "Destroying a refinery is still my preference. It has potential to not only increase Phindars profits and therefore ours, but by careful infiltration produce intel. Also, Devon has this ability to take ships, a transport was his last solo effort. Sadly for him we made him give it back. If we approach it in the right way, who knows what we could come away with."

"If I had that kind of money Allen, I'd have long retired.  As it is my various 'income sources' are barely enough to cover running costs.  It isn't cheap keeping Talon Nest, a capital ship and several starfighters operational after all.  One problem with increasing out fleet is our maintenance costs increase.  This is why we need Phindar Petroleum to be successful, so I can start spending my credits on more important things; like nice shoes. . .and some deoderant for the Commander!"

Aryan, sitting quetly and looking restful, drinks a quiet cup of water. "Isa for the raiding of the refinery...though that because i'm more suited on land with stealth and tracking."

He looks up impassivly, then continues. Whichever we do...hitting them closly together will be harder, but they will not expect it." the gungan takes a sip. "Besides, isa itching to get some payback for them tryings to blow a ship up with mesa in it."

"Revenge is an inefficient tactical premise," CC9 states, almost to itself, "but anger is a more useful emotion than despair."

The gungan looks at the droid.  "Revenge may besa inefficent tactically, but it is a motivator..and it can make a simple farmer beat a seasoned warrior."

the gungan looks around.  "Its not the only reason...Isa like to fight"

The droid turns to look at the gungan.  It's killed things of this species on the field of battle before - not on Naboo, but in other engagements.

"Tactical and logical calculations place the likelihood of a simple farmer beating a seasoned warrior on a scale of what you may term 'extremely small'.  In the overwhelming majority of cases the seasoned warrior would eliminate the simple farmer with little to no effort.  Nonetheless your enthusiasm for battle is... understandable."  A slight pause.  "Your comment on revenge as a motivator is a sound point regarding command of organic battle units but, again, an extremely inefficient one.  Hope, hatred and overwhelming conviction in a greater cause - normally ideologically based - are all far more effective and persistent motivators.  Hope for a better future.  Hate your enemy.  Have conviction that you act on the side of 'right' and 'justice'.  As an alternative to this last you may wish to join a fanatical anti-Empire death cult."

It then looks forward again.  Is it serious or did it just make a joke?

Xil didn't know whether to chuckle or just grin at B2-CC9's reply to Aryan, hence he just looked away and cleared his throat."Good to have that clarified." he said to the droid.

He turns back to Zyra "Hopefully whatever we do, helps Phindar become successful. But if you want a quick injection of credits, then a destroyed refinery or two will probably fit that bill."

"I am inclined to believe a refinery strike makes the best tactical sense.  We can use all our team effectively, we may gather intelligence to benefit our other missions and we aid Phindar Petroleum, at least in the short term.  We may even get lucky on some salvage to keep Mr Sloan and Kismet happy."

"Unless there is a major voice of dissent, we'll focus on Typhon's key refinery as our next target."

"If we want money quickly, then we need to get something, while at the same time hurting Typhon, but we could miss a valuable opportunity here. I´d like to point out how things look, and what the enemy will think. Sabotaging a shipment of fuel is best in the long run, the money will take a while to get back to us. It will create tension between Typhon and the Imperials because the fault will lie with Typhon. Once we start hitting in open attacks, they will prepare themselves, and the responsibility lies with the Imperial Fleet. They don´t just walk away from a fight. Every convoy we take down will increase how many ships the Imperials send as escorts, and pretty soon we won´t be able to handle them. Perhaps they won´t increase facility security if they get attacked by pirates, but if we blow up a facility, then infiltrating other Typhon sites to sabotage later, will be much, much harder."

Merreck takes a short pause, for emphasis and to breath.

"In an effort to keep our options open, I advice against an attack on the refinery, at this time at least, because an attack on a convoy or sabotaging a fuel shipment will be much harder after the mission. If we can hang on until the effects of a fuel sabotage sets in, then we should do the fuel sabotage. If we can´t, then hitting a convoy like common pirates is the best way to get hardware without loosing the option to hit a refinery later. If we strike the refinery first, then it´s immediately obvious that Typhon has someone targeting them, and they will prepare themselves for another attack." Merreck finishes, and having made his case he leans back to hear opinions on that.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:25, Sat 25 June 2011.

"In the case that the refinery in question is to be destroyed rather than the fuel supplies quietly sabotaged from within, Talon Five makes a tactically sound point," CC9 observes.  "However, a quiet infiltration may also be used to turn Typhon officials and staff against one another as each blames the other for the tainted fuel.  Is any additional intelligence available regarding the behavioural patterns of the organisations to be targeted?  It may assist in calculating the most likely courses of action to be taken in each particular case.  Delaying a decisive strike on the refinery may be wise - if," it adds, "the earlier suggestion to combine these three missions into one refinery infiltration is deemed unsuitable or unfeasible, and if the refinery is to be outright destroyed."

Valid points Mr Toluga, striking a target will make them increase security.  However if we destroy their primary refinery then we cut their ability to produce fuel significantly.  Ms Jax's calculations suggest they will lose approximately forty to fifty percent of their production ability.  Even if we don't attack any other target afterwards then we've already achieved an economic victory.  Also, if they start spreading themselves too thin defending convoys, they may potentially leave another valuable target undefended that we can strike."

"Of greater concern to me is security.  Their primary refinery, fuelling most of the Imperial fleet, will be well guarded, undoubetedly with Imperial troops.  If we cause an alarm to be triggered they can call in support troops and starfighters before we can evacuate."

"Added to which, the refinery is on Phindar Prime so our first challenge would be getting ourselves and our gear there.  Mr Sloan may be a customs expert but even he is going to have trouble smuggling a group of mercenaries and droids, armed to the teeth onto the planet."

"Greatest risk but greatest potential reward.  I agree that sabotaging a fuel supply would be easier, though the payoff is much lower.  If we were to sabotage a fuel supply, it would not be the refinery, we'd hit a smaller storage station.  No point risking the security of the refinery merely for an act of sabotage."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:44, Sat 25 June 2011.

In reply to Merreck Toluga (msg #74):

A point on security.'  Says Devon. 'Not trying to discount the threat here, but increased security is more draining on them than it od on us... they have to be ready for us all the time, we only have to worry about thrm when we're out there.  That sor of heightened readiness can take its toll, and even if it doesn't, their running costs will inncrease...'

"A bold attack, very dangerous. It might give us intel, hardware, an economic edge, and quickly. We loose the chance to drive a wedge between Typhon and the Imperial Navy though. Typhon will eventually recover the financial damage from the attack, and Phindar will gain much until they do. Meanwhile we have time to plan something else, or work on our own agenda. Yeah, it could work, and I have an idea to keep even our involvement secret. We have many skilled technicians here, and who do you send to fix a reactor problem? If we can get some of us in as legitimate workers, or look the part once inside, we should be able to make it all look like an accident, evacuate everyone, and wipe away any traces of our presence. A refinery is a big flammable machine, it won´t take much, just something blowing up, something we can delay long enough for everyone, and we ourselves, to get out."

"Would it be feasible to attack several refineries at once?  Not only their primary one," Cor asks gently, "but secondary ones at the same time?  Smuggle in explosives, stage a bombing run, nuke them from orbit or... whatever it is that you might do," the small woman adds, blushing slightly.  "Not...  Not only cripple their primary refinery but also wipe them from the economic map?  Perhaps have some 'private buyers' offer to take their suddenly useless equipment off their hands, legally."

"If you sent your droids to attack the other refineries by yourself, maybe," Darvin said with a wan smile. So far he had been silent, musing and wondering which refinery they would be hitting, and of course Phindar Prime would need to be the primary target. He gave a resigned sigh when Mark confirmed the refinery in question. He had friends there, and he now saw that he could probably never return to Phindar I after the incident.

"The rest of us will be too busy setting up explosives and coordinating our efforts on the ground," the irony of him placing the bombs on the world that had been his home for the past 20 years wasn't lost on him.'Maybe it is time to let go and seek out new places anyways... it's a small price to pay in slowing down the Empire,' His steely grey eyes hardened, maybe he could plant proof of his death in the wreckage... 'that would cover things up nicely.'

"Forty to Fifty per cent is a small amount of the fuel that the Empire actually uses, we might dent the empire's consumption by five percent if we're lucky, but it's got the best potential of shifting some of the economics back into our favour," he said.

"I figure that we'll be detonating the charges by remote? Seems to me the best way to ensure that everyone gets back before poodoo hits the fan," Darvin asked suddenly, as he glanced at the the lead. "Do we have the required charges? How much intel do we have on the refinery? Shift rosters, etc? Did you also analyse which parts we need to hit for maximum damage? For example, is there an order of assets we'd want eliminated? If not, I'd recommed we hit the equipment that is the hardest and most costly to replace."

"We haven´t decided on the refinery, yet it has the most support, and many advantages if we succeed. If we go for it, we´ll need a good plan, and time to gather information and infiltrate people. We will also need to wait for the right moment, too. I suggest before a large shipment. If they have freighters present, then we have the opportunity to scuttle their ships as well, those we don´t steal."

"You forget Devon, they will already have increased security.  Don't forget it was only a week or so ago that we severely damaged one of their petrochem storage plant.  That was where most of you destroyed the pirate drug lab and Zenna Kern led a team to destroy the plant.  It was the same mission where we lost Zenna's whole team."  A hint of sadness entered her voice.




"Definitely a possible entry point.  Though of course we'd have to forge up work orders and uniforms, slice ourselves into the personnel database and somehow account for the new faces, etc."

"As for the simplicity of blowing up the plant, demolitions is not my area of expertise.  However rather then just destroy the place, if the team is not detected, why not make the whole thing look like an accident?  We set the explosives to look like some sort of internal breakdown or sloppy maintenance caused the disaster.  We have our slicers sent out some kind of alert minutes before the explosion simulating some kind of catastrophic failure.  This adds strength to the deception and gives workers a chance to evacuate.




"If we wanted to perform clumsy, brute force attacks then it might be possible.  It would however shine too much suspicion on Phindar Petroleum as they have the most to gain.  Also the risk of losses on our part increase significantly."




"That's a generous result, my calculations are the Imperial war machine would barely notice.  However sector Imperial resources would suffer in the short term, becoming more reliant on fuel deliveries from other sectors.  However it will make Typhon look incompetent and too expensive to deal with.  This may cause the Empire to break the tender agreement and seek fuel from other sectors.  Such a move also helps resistance cells as hitting a convoy on known hyperspace routes is easier when you can 'hit-and-hype' as the fighter jocks put it."





"I thought you'd just try and blow the whole place up.  Why destroy vital equipment when you can destroy everything?  Still that would be for our demolitions experts to determine." she looks sad all of a sudden.  "This is just the kind of job Jamie would have enjoyed."

'Actually, I didnt forget.'  Devon smiled. 'Lemme give an examnple that might illustrate my point better:  Back before I hooked up with the Talons, I spent a few years on Ord Mantell.  Part of an organization there that (amougst other things) used to steal smaller ships - shuttles, personal transports that sort of thing - give them a clean ID and sell them on.  Pretty sweet deal.  One day the local law decides they've had enough of us.  They decide they're gonna track us down and take us out.  So they mount this big operation.  They put more cops on the street to hamper us, they bribe informants, tap comm calls, tail suspects, raid suspected safehouses; the works.  They were at it for about six months.  Meanwhile, we simply moved on and focussed our efforts elsewhere for the duration.  Result:  After six months of operation they'd spent thousands of credits in their efforts to stop us, and the crime level hadnt dropped in the slightest.'

'Our situation is kinda similar - currently our target's in a heightened state of readiness: guards are alert, fighters and other defence systems are primed and ready to go - you get the idea.  That all takes money... and causes stress to both staff and hardware.  Staff get stressed, tired and may get sloppy.  Machines breakdown and require maintenance.  Both of which in turn costs MORE money.  Right now, they're costing themselves more than they would like simply to guard against the possibity that we might attack.  Meanwhile, we are sitting round a table drinking caf and eating pastries.'

Devon paused and glanced around to see if his point was getting through 'Whether or not we hit them, they have to deal with the threat of us every second of every day... and that can be a huge drain on resources.  We on the other hand, only have to deal with the threat of them when we decide to hit them.  I think you'll find that we've already done more financial damage to them than you realize.'

Zyra raised an eyebrow.  "Pastries?  I'm still waiting for my full Corellian breakfast I was promised."

"The one issue with finances of course is when the Imperials are paying, cost is rarely an option.  We'll run out of caf long before they run out of money.  What might be of advantage though is reallocation of resources.  If we force them to use more TIEs to defend convoys then that is less TIE's defending a military base or a supply dump.  More things to blow up.  Problem is we need someone to be our new head demolitionist."

"I disagree, Devon, making our presence known is not preferable. They are still working with the Empire, so if they worry about security, the ones paying the bill will be the Navy, not Typhon. If we make it look like an accident, then we can infiltrate as employees, and noone will think more of it. If they suspect sabotage then they will try to identify us, find witnesses, trace us, find the ones responsible. It´s more likely that a few inconsistencies in their database is overlooked if it all looks like an accident."

"Well according to compiled reports on your experiences, the most experienced demolitionist we presently have is. . ." Mark consults his datapad.

A rare smile creases the commander's lips as he looks up, "It seems our demolitions expert is. . .B2-CC9.  His demolitions programming is superior to the next most skilled person, which is me.  I took a standard sapper course as part of my officer training many years ago."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:41, Sat 25 June 2011.

The battle droid inclined its metal head slightly in acknowledgement of Mark's statement.  It doesn't say anything; not much point, really.  Mark knows its programming.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:02, Sat 25 June 2011.

"That doesn´t help us much. The droid can´t get in, unless we smuggle it inside in a crate, and keep it unseen while it works. Once the alarm goes, and the evacuation begin, it can move a bit more freely. Overall i think it´s more problem that it´s worth. I suggest we make the bombs outside and smuggle them inside instead. With so much fuel in there, it just needs to be a small, and reliable, primer."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Sat 25 June 2011.

I'm no structural engineer but I can't imagine someone would build a fuel refinery without incorporating safety measures to prevent chain reactions if a fuel storage blew.  First careless person who lit a deathstick or a random lightning strike could cost you an entire plant.  I'm sure it will take a little more skill then you're suggesting Mr. Toluga."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Sun 26 June 2011.

"Which was why I was asking about collateral priorities," Darvin said from where he was sitting and smiling towards Zyra who had suggested they go and just blow everything up. "Depending on the fail safes they've included when they built the refinery, we might only be partially successful."

"Which ever way we go, blow everything or a targeted approach we need to know the structural details. Both ways potentially fail without that information. Getting that intel should be our first step." he paused and took a drink.

"As Merreck has suggested, timing it around a shipment also opens possibilities for us, either to damage their transports or to acquire some for ourselves. If we are really lucky, maybe some fighters. You never know."

CC9 looks toward Merreck and then, at Darvin's words, toward him.

"In the majority of cases extremely extensive damage can be delivered to a target with explosives places in the correct location.  The difficulty in demolishing an entire refinery lies not in making the fuel explode with small primed charges, as any facility built with the purpose of refining and storing a volatile substance will be designed in a manner that assumes that the material may, in fact, ignite - if only through industrial mishap or organic error."

It lifts a hand, fist clenched.  "Making any form of charge is only one part - the much less difficult part - of demolitions.  In order to eliminate the structure the explosives must be placed in precisely the correct location."  It opens its hand in a 'boom!' gesture, and then lowers it.  "I have the software capable of designating suitable targets to bring down infrastructures, cause explosive chain-reactions and incendiary incidents beyond the capability of most fire systems to fully contain... But as I have stated previously, and Talon Five has restated, it would be... tactically erroneous to send a non-organic operative in, particularly one as distinctive as myself.  I will not attend ground infiltration as my appearance would render me useless except as is part of an outright attack force - which would have a failure certainty so close to one hundred percent that it is not worth calculating."

It then looks toward Mark.  "However.  If there is a Talon with knowledge suitable to the task, intellectual capacity to follow orders and emotional clarity to take instruction from a droid, I can relay instructions via commlink.  Of these three prerequisites I ascertain that the second will be of no issue.  Each member of this team displays at least adequade intellect to follow instructions.  I believe it is the last of these that will cause most significant issue as several members of this team have already expressed outright distrust, hostility and disdain for my abilities and nature.  Based on this evidence I believe that the Talons that may be the most suited to this task would also be the ones least willing to undertake my commands."

Its tone doesn't seem to indicate an accusation, merely a statement of what it believes to be fact.

"That is assuming of course we can even smuggle you on-planet CC9.  We'll have to see just how skillful Mr Sloan and Mr Toluga truly are.  We've still got to get ourselves and our equipment on planet.  It's not like we can just land the Nightshrike.  Unless Mr Sloan thinks his forged documents are good enough to land an unregistered capital ship on the capital world of this system!"

Merreck shrug when he hear the droid point out flaws in the plan. "First of all, I don´t distrust the droids ability to destroy things, if it tells me where the bombs must go, I´ll get them there. Second, getting a droid on-planet shouldn´t be that hard, Cor can partially disassemble it and we´ll move it as spare parts. What makes the battle droids illegal isn´t their components, but that when they are put together, it can kill people."

"Are we going for the refinery then? We have a lot of things to prepare, many depending on me and Zyra Jax getting quality intel on that place."

"As I said before Mister Toluga, the refinery is our target unless there is a major voice of dissent.  I have not heard one yet."

Merreck look around at the other Talons.

Zyra shrugs.  "There is a great deal of risk associated with a refinery strike.  Many things that can go wrong, things we can't plan for.  A convoy strike would be easier but would not further our cause anywhere near as much.  I suppose it depends if you want high risk for potentially high reward or a moderate risk for moderate reward."

"Actually," Darvin said as he turned to Merreck, "Custom officials are trained to detect dangerous goods in the various parts, in case someone tries to smuggle something in small pieces... they're always on the lookout for dangerous components, including battle droid parts. It won't be as easy as you make it out to be."

"We´ll leave behind his weapons and the recognisable chassis. If they do recognize it as components from a battle droid, then we´ll show it the new brain. Cor, is there any mundane task that CC9 can do as cover? Maintenance droid?"

Cor stares at Merreck's left shoulder for a while before saying, "Have you ever tried to clean a toilet with a blaster rifle?  CC9 is a battle droid.  Nobody will believe it is a maintenance droid of any kind, not even if I were to consent to dismantle it.  Nobody with any intellect at all, in any case," she adds quietly.  "Battle droids, often with extremely little modification, are occasionally used as bodyguards, though.  As I understand it you are skilled at falsehood and deception, yes?"  She then looks over at Darvin's right ear before glancing back at Merreck's shoulder.  "There are other options for entering a system, surely - capturing an Imperial freighter and posing as its legitimate crew, perhaps, or entering the system under the guise of a merchant, HoloNet star, or some other self-important individual who might wish a retinue of assistants and a droid bodyguard.  Perhaps we might wish to consider these options," she continues, her brow furrowing just slightly, "before presuming to decide whether CC9 should be pulled into pieces or not."

As with the issue of the droids programming, Mika seems completely unphased by the minimal support for her suggestion of attacking a convoy.

"I would certainly be open to taking instruction from B2-CC9 on the demolitions and I believe my intelligence is not excessively remedial, but I'm quite ignorant whe it comes to explosives...."

Mika pauses, then pushes ahead, "But before we continue to just float and sink each others random ideas, lets analyze what we know of the refinery.  What do we know about it?"

"In order to get a battle droid in, as far as I am concerned, we have two options. The first is a forged work order and associated permits for a battle droid at the petrochem plant. The problem with that... Well, it takes a lot of planning. The other way to get a battle droid is to drop it off behind the lines by avoiding the port inspection. You know, the fly by, drop a black comoed object at night and have the droid rendez-vous with the team covertly. This wold require intel, which we need anyways, and can be done quickly without raisin' suspicions should the petrochem brass see the work order by accident. Many a plan was stopped cause some guy was actually doin' his job and said: 'I wasn't aware of a droid delivery... Let me clear it with my boss...' Better to avoid the whole paperwork in my opinion and just drop it and extract it."

Cor doesn't comment for a moment, squinting and rubbing her forehead with the tips of her fingers.  Then she nods to Mika, actually looking directly at the woman.

"Yes.  I agree, there is little point 'planning' if we know next to nothing about the target.  I, personally, have no opinion on which mission we should target - though the convoy is sounding like a better option until we ascertain how well we work as a cohesive unit.  No?"

"Cor has a point, the convoy does sound simpler."

"We would require some serious documents to have a combat droid loose, bodyguard or killer doesn´t much matter. The best bet is probably dropping it while flying in, and have it wait nearby to help on the mission. If a team land ahead of the rest, they can be ready on the ground to pick it up when it drops in, and we´ll pick it up either after the mission, or when flying out before we blow it all up."

"Let's keep it focused. The brass wants to tackle the refinery," he said nodding towards Sheppard, "let's tackle the refinery. I am sure that the team is quite capable, and this challenge might just bring us closer together. Besides, I'm getting tired of shifting targets. Unless the refinery proves too hard of a nut to plan for, I suggest we keep that option until we've exhausted it."

Shifting his weight he looks over to the front where the Talon brass was, "Let's look at the intel we do have on the place and lets start looking at entry point scenarios and exit strategies. The bombing, I can help with... and it should go so much quicker if baldy can also do some in tandem, but that doesn't need to be planned out until we know more about the actual layout of the place..."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Sun 26 June 2011.

"For entry points, we've already determined that bringing in explosives and a battle droid through the front door isn't advisable, so let's look at getting two entry scenarios while we're at it. One for the doubtful equipment, and the other for the personnel. We've hinted at going in as new employees, etc? Certainly doable, but that also puts us in a situation where you might be remembered on the site... so depending on the intel we do have," he nods again at Mika, "we can start planning from there."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:08, Sun 26 June 2011.

"I repeat, I am not suited to a covert operation of this nature.  Talk of 'smuggling the droid in' is irrelevant.  If the blueprints of the refinery are available then I am capable of outlying a plan of demolition that should be suited to the infiltration team's capabilities, and may not require my ongoing contact."  It looks toward Mika briefly.  "The organisation you are part of also contains, according to your discussions, talented software engineers and 'slicers'.  An encrypted HoloNet channel and a HoloNet transceiver may suffice should ongoing contact be deemed necessary."

Then it turns to look at Merreck.  "As Talon Twelve has indicated," it says slowly, "transporting me to the location - if deemed necessary, and it seems an unnecessary risk, in my calculations - would be far easier to do covertly and without dismantling me.  Not only is such a suggestion presumptuous, it is also illogical, as you would then require a droid engineer of sufficient skill to reassemble me should I be actually required to fulfil my primary function, and Mistress Lambar does not have the emotional clarity required for such a mission."

"Be careful not to put words in my mouth Mr Sloan.  I did not see we had to hit the refinery, I stated we would hit the refinery if there were no voices of dissent.  Well it seems we have some.  Ms Trake has raised the issue and many of you seem to agree with her."

"I will make it clear that a refinery hit will require a significant degree of planning and teamwork.  That teamwork does not seem to truly exist yet, too many new faces and opinions.  If we can't pull together, the run will fail and people will likely die.  We lost the entire team last time we attempted a refinery hit and that was on a smaller refinery."

"A convoy run might be a good warm up exercise but it requires planning of it's own.  While it's good to discuss both missions, as we will execute both at some point, we need to decide which is our preference.  As this is not a military unit I am going to be unconventional and put it to a simple vote.  Majority wins."

"I vote for the refinery hit.  It hurts the Imps, helps Phindar and has the most strategic long-term benefit."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:20, Sun 26 June 2011.

Zyra shrugs.  "This group is not a cohesive unit.  We need a team-building exercise, something to teach us to work together.  I vote for the convoy attack."

Merreck find the droids words funny, smirk, and wink at Cor. "Well, it seems the emotional clarity of our droid expert must be considered. Our comlinks should reach low orbit on full power, so getting down to the ground isn´t necessarily a necessity. Someone knowledgeable, like Mr Sloan, on site, is necessary, though. It might not be possible to get detailed enough schematics, if we don´t have good enough plans, if they have made changes, or if the failsafes kick in and halt the explosion, someone down there must know what to do."

"As for getting in, there are a few ways, but we probably need to use more than one for the whole team. Okay, we can sign up as employees, kidnap employees and disguise ourselves like them, or go in with fake papers. Those work when it´s business as usual. When the chaos descend, we get a few more options, like sneaking inside, flying into the hangars or parading in as an emergency relief crew. We´ll have check up on that last one to see if it´s possible. Did I forget anything?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:48, Sun 26 June 2011.

Merreck leave the discussion about infiltration, waiting to hear which mission they are ultimately going for.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:49, Sun 26 June 2011.

The droid says nothing.  It simply stands there.  Droids are good at that.

"You have no need to consider my emotions, Mister Toluga," Cor says in a small, tight voice, "as I will not be anywhere near.  You certainly have not considered them to this point and are under no obligation to do so.  I have other duties I am more suited to."

After a pause she says, "I am not the correct person to ask tactical considerations from but if we are all required to vote I suggest the convoy.  Disguised as pirates it may not cause undue suspicion on Phindar Petroleum and it is not as if you will not attack the refinery at some point anyway."

In reply to Mark Sheppard (msg #109):

Darvin grumbles, "Refinery... for krife's sake." The first part was loud and clear, the second part was mumbled and towned down, though someone sitting nearby might have heard it.

Merreck brush aside Miss Lambars misunderstanding of the joke. "Not much of a covert agent, are you? I guess that skin tone is hard to disguise. As for the mission, I say we go for the refinery, if we succeed then it´s a real blow to the collaborators. Attacking a convoy will give us a lot of usefull hardware, but Typhon will barely feel the loss."

Devon thought for a few moments before speaking. 'Convoy.'
He leaned back in his seat.
'Zyra's right - we're all over the place right now.  If we try to go after the refinery as is, people are going to get killed.  Plus a convoy hit might give us useful intel or hardware that will improve the odds during the refinery mission.'

Flash tilts his head this way and that, thinking.  He looks over at Devon and after a little while he nods.  "Seven's right.  More equipment and intel isn't gonna hurt the refinery strike.  And I'm lookin' forward to seeing how that fighter's ion weaponry stands up to, uh..."  He grins, perhaps a bit unnervingly.  "Heavy use."

Cor opens her mouth to respond to Merreck, her brow furrowing as he comments on her skin tone, and then she just shakes her head.  She seems to think there's not a great deal of point commenting so she doesn't.  The young woman looks angry, briefly, and then simply blank as she looks Mark's way to see how he's reacting to all this voting.

Mika leans back in her chairand lets the others talk. Refinery or convoy, they didn't have enough tactical information to figure anything out.  Until that changed, she'd watch the others for a bit.

"Mr Toluga." Mark growled.  "I don't know if that was a poor attempt at a joke or a veiled attempt at speciesism.  I will assume the former and suggest you work on your humour for if I mistake it for the latter you will not last long here.  We are not the Empire."

'No... the Empire they aren't,' thought Darvin as people continued voting (of all things), 'however, there are things that the Empire is good at, and one of em's making a decision. This wishy washy nonsense is astounding... Usually, if the brass gave you a preference, you went with it.'

The whole monologue was internal, and those around him would have only seen him frown and watch the others as they voted. Only the way his cup of kaf jiggled from his index finger betrayed his annoyance at the Talon's organizational structure and incapacity at making a decision. 'Of course, it might all be about the team building,' he gathered suddenly, 'but let's stop all the whining and get a decision already, I don't give a two centicred which krifing one, just quit wasting time.'
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Mon 27 June 2011.

Mika shrugs,  "This is all quite interesting, but I've not heard anything to change my initial thought that attacking a convoy is the way to go.  Of course if we have any specific details on the refinery or possible convoys, that might change.  Do we have any specifcs on either target?"

"Oh please." Quietly, to himself, then he answer Sheppard.

"It´s not specieism, it was an observation of her aptitude, thanks for noticing." His jokes shot down, Merreck sit back is his chair with an irritated frown on his face and look around at the others present. It hasn´t gone beneath his notice that several of the Talons were being quiet as to which mission they prefered.

"If I haven't made it clear by my previous comments, I vote for the refinery." he looks at Mark to confirm that his vote has been acknowledged.

"As some have pointed out we are not yet be acting as a cohesive unit, however, remember that it is not like we are going to hit the refinery tomorrow. There is the intel to gather and the planning of the strike before we set foot in the refinery. It will take time, time that we can use to at least start becoming a more cohesive unit."

Mark sighed.  Clearly the Talons were split evenly over the issue.  Half wanted the convoy and half the refinery.

"Well that didn't work.  So I'm going to make the decision.  We'll prep for both but we'll hit the convoy first.  The simple reason for that is it will require less planning.  We merely need to slice the delivery schedules, choose a convoy to hit and go."

"For the refinery mission we're going to need a lot more intel and equipment.  Mister Webb used up the last of our explosive ordanance so at the very least we need to secure that.  Plus we need schematics of the refinery, as much information about their personnel and routine as possible, likely security response time and much more.  Much of that needs to be determined on planet."

"So.  We'll have Nine head to Phindar Prime to commence intel for us.  In the meantime Mr Sloan, I want you to work out how we insert our team, complete with gear onto Phindar Prime.  The other alternative is to arrive without gear and somehow acquire it on planet, work with Mr. Toluga and Mr Pertwee on acquiring any gear we need."

"Now, the convoy mission will be straightforward.  We plan an ambush point, wait for our prey, jam comms, neutralise the escort then capture what we can and destroy the rest."

"We'll break into three teams for this.  Team one will be the starfighter escort.  We'll need three good pilots to neutralise escort and help with the freighters.  Team two is the Nightshrike team.  We engage any larger ships, ensure comm jamming and tractor anything we can.  Team three will be the boarding team.  This group will board and capture any freighters we feel we can salvage before Imperial reinforcements arrive.  Now Teams two and three will overlap duties somewhat."

"Team three will be led by Mr Nallis.  I'll assume overall command and lead Team 2."  The tone of his voice indicates he is not happy with his command.  The more senior Talons know Mark is happiest in the cockpit of a starfighter.  "That means I'll need three of our best pilots in Team 1, along with someone to lead the team."

"Now you've all looked over the Nightshrike.  She needs a crew of eight to fight optimally, twelve is better."

"I need each of you to determine where best you can serve."



OOC:  If you're unsure of the crew positions on the Nightshrike, check out the schematics page which lists the crew positions.  She'll be running a little undermanned but that can't be helped.  You don't take the 'Shrike only three people get to play and there will be no chance of salvage!

Merreck nod at the decision. Best of both worlds in a way. They need only make sure that the pirates are to blame for the attack on the convoy, and the refinery attack would not get compromised.

"I´m best in Team 2. I´m not a Fighter Pilot, and although the Nightshrike is a bit bigger than I´m used to, I´m sure we´ll get along fine. Communications, Navigation, or flying in the cockpit. Co-Pilot might be the best if we are short on crew, I can do other duties from that seat. By the way, gun operator is one way for the teams to overlap. Hopefully, we won´t need the turrets active when boarding the freighters, so parts of Team 3 can man the guns during the initial engagement."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:22, Mon 27 June 2011.

Mark looked over his datapad.  "Mr Toluga, I have already made it clear that teams two and three will pull double duty.  Until we have determined what those duties are, I see little point in speculating about how those teams will overlap.  For now I'm interested in where people feel they can best serve in this attack."

"Like I said, Team 2, more flying than shooting." Merreck looked around, wondering who would request to fly a starfighters.

"I'm probably best for team 2 in Engineering for the initial assault, though If Engineering is covered, I can handle a number of other positions.  After the assault, if we have anything to show for it, I can pilot a ship back.  I'm a lot more comfortable with cap ships then I am with the smaller ships and hopefully you wouldn't need the whole compliment on the Nightshrike just for a jump back to base, though you'll probably not want to jump straight back here."

"By the way, I know a little bit about upgrading blasters, pistols and rifles that is, if anyone's interest in such."

"Probably no need to say it but I'm for team one," Flash says, raising his hand a little. "I dunno who you'd want as lead, though, One. Depends on who's gonna put their hand up to be flyboys." He shrugs.

"I've never shot weapons from a fighter, but I'm familiar with the helm of a capital ship. I've also trained as a gunner back in the day, and my demolitions skill might help boarding parties..." Darvin explained, "I'd be best on Team 2, with perhaps some suppressing fire and entry making for team 3, should they need it. Up for them to decide, but I'd rather watch Team 1 line some up in my gunnery range."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Wed 29 June 2011.

"Ms Trake.  While engineering is definitely your strength, you Mr Sloan and I are the only people on this team with any real capital ship experience.  I will need that expertise on the bridge.  Given your skills with all things electronic and mechanical, you're the logical choice for the co-pilot's chair.  From that station you can access nearly every station on the ship.  I'm sure Ms Lambar can handle engineering should that prove necessary."

"I am somewhat grounded on the 'Shrike, I think," Cor says carefully,"so I will automatically be on Team Two. Neither of the other teams suit my... Skills. B2-CC9 is perfectly suited to the boarding team, though, especially with AE3 and AE5 as backup. R2-A9 can assist as well, in all the normal capacities that an astromech would be capable of."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:02, Tue 28 June 2011.

"Aye-aye, sir," Darvin nodded in answer, "I will be honoured to assist on the bridge as required, though I assume you meant Ms. Trake should take the co-pilot seat?" It was clear to Darvin that he had no skills with Mechanical contraptions; he only had an eye to recognize their potential and guess at what they do, but it wasn't clear from what had been said. He stood a bit taller, the pride at being on the bridge of a capital ship was a terrific opportunity.

"Don't worry Ms. Trake," Darvin said, "you'll learn the ropes rather quickly. I'll be able to assist occasionally as well. This ol'gargant still has some tricks he can pass down," he added with a wink.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:15, Tue 28 June 2011.

Mika gives Sheppard a nod of assent, "Of course, co-pilot it is."  She seemed pleased that Lead saw her potential.

She turns and gives Darvin a wink, "And maybe I'll manage to share a trick or three yself.

Mark listened to the various reports, ticking off crew stations in his head.

"Mr Toluga.  Given your previous occupation as navigator, that seems a logical position for you.  However I'm wondering if you'd serve better in the communications centre.  We'll need someone skilled with communications equipment to handle the jamming.  Perhaps you could perform double duty; handle the astrogation duties with R2-A9 assisting you and focusing on comms during a battle.  Your thoughts?"

"Mr Pertwee, given your skills as a heavy gunner, your role on Team 2 seems pre-determined.  Do you feel your skills would be best served in a turbolaser or ion turret?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:59, Tue 28 June 2011.

"This is how I'm seeing our teams at present.  Team one I'm thinking Two, Three and Seven.  I haven't decided on a team leader yet."

"Team two would see me in command, twelve pilotting, ten as co-pilot.  Five covering comms, sensors and nav.  Eleven in the computer room with R2-A9.  Four, six and eight on the guns."

"Team three would have Four in charge with B2-CC9 assisting him.  Four, you'll need to pick a boarding crew that mixes firepower combined with people who can fly a ship out of the engagement zone.  The number of people in your team would need to be based on the threat level expected."

"That's not set in durocrete but it seems a good use of our team.  We could potentially add Nine to the computer room and have R2 assist Five but it means we lose some forward intel on our refinery op, though that's only a minor inconvenience."

"That should work, commander. I´ll take Navigation when we´re flying in, and focus on communications the rest of the engagement. If there is an emergency, then 10 can help me with jamming while I get us a quick hyperspace route out of there. Sensors will probably be handled by Eleven's R2-unit. We´ll see, I´ll improvise."

"In battle Mr Toluga, good sensor data can make the difference between life and death.  The right information sent to a gunner in the heat of battle can increase the chance of defeating your enemy.  While an R2 unit might be capable of collecting such data, do you think it has the tactical sense to deliver that information to the person who needs it most in the heat of battle?  That is a job better suited to you then a droid"

Devon frowns at Marks list of who should do what.
'Just wondering, wouldnt I be of more use on the boarding party?  I mean, that is what I used to do for a living, right?'

"The problem Mr Kismet is that few here can match your skill with a starfighter.  Only Mr Flash and I score higher than you in the simulators.  Who would you suggest we swap you with?  Mr Pertwee has scores close to yours, but you don't have anywhere near his skills with ship weaponry.  Perhaps you could fly our newest acquisition as a consolation?  That ion cannon could bring down a lot of new ships."

"Understood Commander. If we can get some intel on the convoys crews that will help with team allocation for potential boarding" He did agree with Devon, ship taking was his specialty, but if they wanted a chance to take a ship they needed to get rid of any escort fighters asap. Out of the crew remaining on the Nightshrike, who would be best to assist with not only capturing but flying their prize as well. He would have to think on it.

Merreck answered Sheppards request. "Okay, as sensors is the highest priority, I'll take that myself, and leave jamming communications to the R2-unit. One thing, about navigations, I´ll plot the jumps, but in case something happens, the pilot of Z-95 Alpha and the R-41 might need to be able to plot their own course home."

"I'm sure the pilots can manage that Mr Toluga.  As for your wish to be part of Team Three Mister Kismet, here's a possibility.  I take over Team One, you assist Eleven in the room and Nine takes over command of Team 2.  It means you're free to join Four on Team Three should the need occur."

“Well, if we are going for acquiring stuff then I'll gun the ion cannon” said Rann as he checked his data pad “ I should warn you that Typhon have their freighters manned by Imperials, so we'll need to be ready to evacuate fast – the Imps will arrive MUCH faster for Typhon than they did for us...”
Having said this, Rann went back to playing with his datapad

"Speaking of 'acquiring stuff' Mr Pertwee, we have a number of requisitions to look at.  We really need the following: some concussion missiles for our fighters; explosive ordanance; more grenades; an AR-1 rifle or similar sniper rifle to get Mr Nallis off my back.  I'm authorising fifteen thousand credits for this.  I know it's not alot but do what you can.  Mr Toluga and Mr Sloan will no doubt be of great help here.  Though don't forget you two are also to begin preliminary intel for a refinery hit too."

"Ms Trake, we need you to set up the navigation console so communications can be handled from the same room.  We need to consolidate the work stations as much as we can on board to minimise required crew."

"Ms Masters we need data on upcoming convoys so we can choose a target.  We need it to be away from heavily trafficked lanes, perhaps a jump point on an interstellar run.  Mr Toluga can assist with any legwork you might need done."

"Mr Nallis, I still need you to select your team and make sure they're appropriately equipped."

"Any other questions?"

This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Wed 29 June 2011.

Devon appeared to be thinking hard.  If he was honest with himself, he was conflicted about where he could be of most use.  He'd never really thought of himself as one of the Talons best pilots - and now that had been pointed out to him, was he of best use in the cockpit?  Worry about that in a moment.

'On the subject of of plotting hyperjumps out, can I suggest that Flash pilots the Z-95 without a hyperdrive?'  Devon gave the Duros hotshot a friendly grin.  'He's already shown he can dock a fighter in a hurry.  On a related note, we're going to want to keep any dogfights in close to the Shrike, where we can take best advantage of her heavy guns and tractor beam.  And dont forget to...'

Devon trailed off as he realized what he was saying.  He was talking like a fighter pilot, specifically, he was talking tactics.  Which meade him a commander.  Damnit he thought to himself and threw up his hands in surrender.  'Ok!   I'll lead the fighters!' he laughed.

Xil let out a chuckle at Devon "You sure that's where you want to be? Taking possession and getting away with any ships will certainly be easier if you're part of team 3."

He had been thinking of the make up of the boarding team and which ever way he looked at it they would be short on the ideal number of people required on either ship. Still, there were those that had experience in transports and capital ships.

"As for the boarding team, well, besides myself and B2-CC9, Eight and Ten with Six as back should hopefully be enough to take the ship. Means you'll have to take the Nightshrikes co-pilot chair though Commander. If there's a spare droid to help that would also be good. Five can send us the jump data so that we can get away."

"Alternatively we could swap Ten with Twelve, but I would prefer Ten as she also has the engineering knowledge and has proven how efficient she can be when needed."

Aryan, sitting in silence listening to the conversation, looks at Exilim, nodding with his idea. "Isa best suited in a boarding party..i can fly, but i'd be better on the ship. If we can confuse tehm, we may be able to take some by suprise."  The gungan looks at the droid, and sniffs.

"Just make sure you don't shoot me in the back" He says to the droid. "I prefer to take them silently if i can before shooting up the place."

The droid turns its head to look at Aryan.  "Your pointless but predictable hostility is noted," it states flatly.  "Stealth is an effective method of infiltration and a valuable combat commodity.  Eliminating members of your own strike team is not."

Cor puts her hand over her face and rubs it gently, muttering to herself in her native tongue.    She shifts in her seat and glances at the door, lowering her hand.

"I think," she says carefully, perhaps directing the matter at Mark, "that my place in the strike teams - as well as CC9's - is quite direct and clear.  There is R2-A9 for help in astrogation, piloting and communications, as you request, Talon Four.  I would enjoy a second R2 unit but unless I can source one soon I doubt that is likely that we can count on such being available for the convoy strike."

Then she looks over at Mark's chest.  It's a nice chest, even for a human.  There are many nice chests in the room, in fact, but now is not the time to get distracted.  "Are there other matters I am needed for?  I am no warrior or tactician so there is little I can contribute to this discussion and I would greatly enjoy getting back to the aspects of refitting the Nightshrike that you have assigned me to."  She glances at Mika and smiles at her briefly before looking back at Mark.  "There are aspects of the 'Shrike's systems that can be perhaps automated, which may make Ten's task easier but that, I think, is a matter for a more focussed discussion.  May I go?"

Did the droid just say something about shooting the gungan in the back? Merreck shrug and press on with an entirely different issue, adressing Exilim, the leader of the boarding party.

"What do you think about bringing Talon 3 when boarding the freighter? Team 3 might need a medic if the crew of the fighters are unwilling to give up without a fight."

In reply to Merreck Toluga (msg #153):

Sheila sighed.  "And I was looking forward to getting behind the stick again. "  She added some notes to her pad.  "INfo on convoys,  I'll go along either way, on the boarding team or in a fighter."   She hadn't said anything, but the convoy was probably the best thing to start with right now.  Add in  intell on the refinery if she had time at all.

Mika nods as Sheppard orders that the comm functions are accessible from the Nav console.  It shouldn't be all that difficult, just basic rerouting of the interfaces.  She is surprised, and complimented, as Exilim suggests her for the boarding party.  She's not a bloodthirsty pirate or anything, but it was good to be seen as being competent.

"I'm better with a spanner than I am a blaster, but I'd like to try my hand at Devon's trade."  She gives Seven a wink.

As Cor gets up, she gives Eleven a nod.  "I'll catch up with you when we're done here so we can compare notes."

"I'm afraid Ms Masters' medical skills are not as valuable as her pilotting skills in this case Mr Toluga.  She'll stay with the fighters.  If there is a medical emergency we can always have the labour droids bring the wounded back to Nightshrike to be attended to by 2-1B-D3"

Cor smiles at Mika's left ear and nods to the human.  "I would like that," she says.  Then she hears Mark's suggestion and hesitates at that.  "That is true," she says doubtfully.  "They are strong - particularly for their size - but they are not designed to transport medical patients.  There are medical emergency transport droids available but you can likely imagine that being specialised droids they are not cheap.  May I go, Commander?" she repeats.

Devon grins back.  'Well to out do me, your going to to have to single handedly neutralize the crew of and capture a YT-2000 or better AND  talk him' Devon jerked his head in Marks direction. 'into not making you give it back.'

OK he thought Didnt tell her there was only one crew member aboard, or that he escaped several minutes later... but it still counts right?

'Anyhow, if your going to be starting serious work on the Shrike, want me to come along?  After all, I was in charge of keeping her running till you guys joined up.'  He grinned again.  'Even if you dont want to yell at me for the way I did things, I'm sure I can still help out.'

"True, we have the droid. I didn´t think of that." Answering the commander he nods to himself, and turn to congratulate the former TIE-pilot. "Looks like you get to fly your fighter, after all."

He writes notes on the comlink on his wrist, of the things that need to be done. Hyperspace jumps, convoy movements, refinery plans, response time for the refinery and the spacelanes, acquisition or smuggling of equipment for the hit on the refinery. It looked like he would be busy the following weeks.

"You can go Ms Lambar when the meeting is adjourned." Mark said firmly.  "You've just made a statement about droid capability and then you want to leave?  Your expertise is needed at these discussions.  I have said at some briefings a proxy will be acceptable.  This is not one of those times.  Remain where you are until we are done."

Turning to the others.  "Having said that, I don't actually think there is much more to add.  We have our teams and you all have your jobs.  Make use of the Talons who do not have assignment.  Dismissed."  Though the final command is aimed at all, Mark looks to Cor as he says it with a small nod of his head in acknowledgement.

While others get up to leave, Mark remains in his seat, making sure he is available to any Talons that may wish to speak with him after the briefing.



OOC:  So looks we have the following (TL = Team Leader):

Team 1: Devon (TL), Sheila, Flash (need to work out who flies what)
Team 2: Mark (TL/Commander), Darvin (Pilot), Mika (Co-Pilot), Merreck/R2-A9 (Nav/Comms/Sensors), Cor/Zyra (Engineer/Shields/Power/Sensors), Rann/Xil/Aryan (Gunners)
Team 3: TBC - Xil (TL), B2-CC9, Aryan, Mika, Merreck


Jobs for the present
--------------------
Devon/Mika/Cor - Prep Ships (Mika to make comm functional in nav station)
Rann/Merreck/Darvin - Acquire equipment
Sheila/Merreck - Obtain convoy data
Xil - Finalise and equip boarding team
Team 1 (Devon has final say) choose fighters - Devon has suggested Flash fly Z-95 with no hyperdrive due to his impressive abilities to dock in a hurry)
Merreck/Darvin - Begin intel gathering for refinery mission

Hope I haven't missed anything
This message was last edited by the player at 10:19, Thu 30 June 2011.

As the meeting is adjourned and Mika raises, she looks at Devon, "Of course, you probably know the systems better than anyone."

As Mika leads the way over to Cor, she adds, "By the way, I'm not looking to outdo you in the collecting of ships but I wouldn't mind making a valuable contribution here and there."

Turning to Talon Eleven, she gives a shrug.  "Sorry about that suggestion with the droids, if I'd known it was going to stir up a bunch of buzzbots, I'd have kept my trap shut.  I'm pretty interested in getting a couple of my own if it works out.  Maybe we could compare notes about them when we've got some time but I guess we should get to working on the Nightshrike."

Cor blushes and nods, keeping her eyes down as Mark reprimands her, though nicely considering everything.  She shits still for the tremendously small time it takes for the meeting to be adjourned and then, blinking a little in surprise, she stands up.

"No need for an apology," Cor says quietly, offering Mika a smile.  "People can be very... determined about their opinions on droids, yes?  And battle units, particularly ones that can think for themselves, tend to raise opinions quicker than others.  As for comparing notes, well." She looks thoughtful, and seems very careful not to meet Mika's gaze directly.

"We should put aside a formal meeting time, perhaps, to discuss ideas about droids, technical upgrades, all of that enjoyable sort of thing - both in regards to the Nightshrike and in general, perhaps?"  She rubs at the small metal stud in the centre of her forehead that her player keeps forgetting to mention, some kind of decorative piercing, most likely.  It gleams, a satin sheen on the metal that makes it difficult to see at a distance, blending in and accentuating her pale skin tone more than standing out garishly.

Darvin was silent, thinking about the refinery strike more than he was the convoy. He'd be at the con of the Nightshrike for the convoy run, so he needed very little except perhaps help in getting the necessary equipment for the fighters. With a sigh, he got up and headed for the galley where he cleaned out his empty cup. 'I'll have to talk to Merreck and Rann... maybe we can get everything we need at the same time. I can check some of my own contacts too,' he started a mental list of things for him to do, 'then I need some schematics of the refinery and the layout surrounding it, perhaps even review what I know about the Phindar system itself to see if there's any potential snags on the way...'

Cup cleaned, he dried it and stowed it back where it belonged then walked on over to Rann Pertwee. "Hi Rann," he started, "I'm Darvin. I don't think we've been formally introduced, but I figure I can help with the acquisitions a bit if you need a hand. Maybe I can connect us to a local provider, which would cut down on shipping time..." he added with a grin. He noticed Merreck from the corner of his eye, and waved the young man over.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:01, Fri 01 July 2011.

Merreck saw Darvin wave to him, and made his way over, finishing the cup of coffee as he walked. He smiled at them, even though he still had the ghost of a hangover. "I hear there´s some acquisition to be done. Where do we start? Shall we take inventory first, so we know what we have allready?"

Rann looked at his contact list which gave him 3 names of people who worked in the sector or knew some one who did. “I will make some calls and meet up with you guys” he said to Merreck and Darvin, as he went off to make his calls.

"Alright, me and Merreck will tally what we need," Darvin said, nodding at Merreck in agreement. He was heading over to the storage units hen he slowed. "Didn't Xil want a riffle?"

"Correct, the commander mentioned a Sniper Rifle for Talon 4." Merreck checks his datapad, just to be sure.

"Yes, a sniper rifle, and missiles for the fighters, grenades and explosives. 15.000 credits for explosives and weapons. Do you have any idea where we can get concussive missiles, off the books, around here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:23, Fri 01 July 2011.

"Errm... Not exactly sure about the missles given I'm not exactly in the market for them, usually, but I'll check. Maybe Rann will have more luck though. He did say he had some contacts near here. Maybe you should check with Xim while I check the inventory, then we could meet up again once I've checked out a few leads myself?"

Mika looks a slight bit surprised, ready to jump into the technical discussions immediately, but it was obvious that Cor had other ideas.  "Well, uh, okay.  I plan on getting started on the mods right away, so the sooner we can sit down and talk, the more use it'll be.  When did you have in mind?"

"Okay, I´ll talk to Four about his weapon, and we´ll meet up later today to talk about how to proceed. I´ve got other things to find out." Merreck nodded to Darvin and went to find Xil.

"So, a sniper rifle? Any preference?"

Cor looks a little sheepish at Mika's look at surprise.  "I, uh, I apologise.  I need to..."  She sighs a little and looks at her feet briefly.  "It is hard to explain.  If you feel safe enough to accompany me I can... try to explain..?  If not then I will need about an hour."  She looks around the room and shudders a little before smiling at Mika again, not meeting her gaze directly.

Mika glances at Devon and back at Cor, not sure if the woman intended to include Devon in the invitation or not.  She's obviously torn and finally curiosity wins out, "A bit of a walk would be good, clear my head, get my thoughts out of that meeting and on the comm system."

She leaves it to Cor or Devon to address the issue as to if he'll accompany them for a bit.

Aryan, at conclusion to the meeting, gets up and walks to Xil and follows him to help prepare for the boarding party.

Xil looks up at Merreck as he approaches and asks about the rifle he had requested "I was thinking an AR-1 blaster rifle by Greff-Timms. Made for use by the Antarian Rangers, a robust but long range weapon. Means that on ground missions I can probably just carry the one rifle rather than two. My previous weapon was delicate and had to be carried in a case, a little ackward when having to move fast."

He notes Aryan standing by "Lets go check what gear people have and make sure those that may be required to board a ship are properly equipped.

Seeming to misunderstand the glance that Mika gives Devon, Cor smiles to the man as well.  "Oh, we will not be gone long.  And then we will plan, yes."  She turns her head very slightly to speak to CC9 in Umbaran before nodding to Mika again and heading for the door, apparently assuming the human woman will follow her.

The droid nods curtly to Cor.  "By your command.  Commander, I shall be contactable via internal comms if my presence is required further."  Then it nods to Mark and Zyra before striding out of the meeting room.

Devon shrugs at the two women.  'Meet you in the hanger' he tells them as they leave.
He had to admit it was nice to have two fellow engineers around... although up until recently he'd have never called himself an engineer.  Hands thrust into the pockets of his jumpsuit, Devon ambled back to his bunk before heading to the hanger.

Mika gives Devon a winsome little smile and shrugs.  Falling into step with Cor, Mika stays quiet, waiting to let the droid engineeress speak when she's ready.

Cor stays silent for a little as they walk down the corridor, finally turning to look vaguely in Mika's direction.  "Thank you for humouring me.  I am sorry if I seem... cautious," she says after a while, "but it is rare that my kind are given as friendly a welcome as the Talons have offered.  We are not very well-trusted."  She takes them unerringly in the direction of the droid hold as she speaks.

"An AR-1 blaster rifle? Is there any special reason or quality that makes you want that particular model? I´ll see what I can do, I can´t guarantee we´ll find it, but if not, I´ll try for something sturdy, deadly, and accurate. I´m sure you´ll be satisfied." Merreck answer Xil confidently, and unless he had anything else to remark, Merreck considered heading over to ask the commander about the ambush.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:18, Sun 03 July 2011.

Sheila heads off to work on the convoy data, since Merrick is apparently doing equipment first,  taking a break to check with the medical droid to see if he did an inventory on the shrike, and if not, to do one herself, the point being to request med pac and kits and to make sure the boarding party has as many of them as they can fit around their weapons, or at least one of each per person.

"2-1B-D3. It's Talon 3, have you done an inventory on the shriKe? Do you know what we need in medbay?"

The medical droid answers promptly.  "Hello, Talon Three.  I've done an inventory and...  Well.  To tell you all of the things that the medbay needs would likely take a great deal longer than I suspect you have, and would certain exceed the Talons' budget several times over."  It sounds testy and long-suffering, but not actually unkind.  "Chiefly we need a bacta tank and sufficient bacta to both fill it and refill it several times.  I have sent a list of recommendations to Mistress Lambar by her request; would you like me to forward it to you?"

Mika, strolling along, is confused.  "Your kind ....?  What kind are you that you're not very well trusted?"  Cor's coloring was a little odd for a main-line human, and the lack of hair... But different planets, environments, circumstances, they all leave their mark and Cor didn't seem all that different from any other human.

Cor gives Mika an odd look.  "I am Umbaran.  Some - mostly Humans - say we read the secrets from others' minds and sell those secrets to the Empire.  Most of my species is Empire-aligned."  She pauses at the entrance to the droid hold and gives the corridor a quick glance, as if she finds it distasteful, before heading in.

As Xil and Aryan walked out of the briefing room he said to him "Alright, this is the minimum that all boarding party members need; blaster rifle and pistol, concussion grenades, smoke grenades & stun grenades x3 each, plus a launcher. As for non weapon stuff, after our last experience, medpacks x2. Between all boarding party members that should enough." as he finished talking he sent the data to all people in groups 2&3, circumstances could mean that any of them may be called up to help. He also sent the data to the procurement team so that any needed supplies could be obtained.

"Lets see if we can chase up specs of what we might be boarding, a better planned approach is what we need."

Merreck headed out of the conference hall to check up on a few things when he his comm signaled a message from Talon 4. He sighed when he saw the list of things they need to get, desperately hoping they allready had most of it. Once outside the room, he looked around for the armory and headed inside. They were well stocked on some items, and dire need of others. Merreck noted what they had on his commlink and started on a list of what to get. Focused on calculating, he stood still and almost oblivious in the middle of the armory.

He scratched his shin and considered his list again. Having counted their grenades, he leaves the armory. His boots echoed in the halls as he jogged through the corridors, arriving at the door of the small med bay.

Looking inside, he saw the two top physicians of the Talons. Apparently without thinking of his last conversation with the new droids, he explains his errand. "Ms Masters, 2-1B, just who I wanted to meet. How are we doing on medical supplies? Do we have medical kits and medpacs for the boarding party?"

Darvin headed towards the storage lockers and counted the weapons and explosives, particularly the things that they would need for the convoy mission. Noticing all the firearms, he wondered why he had even bothered to bring his own on board. Perhaps he should go talk to the Trake girl and have her tweak it a bit... More food for thought. Some of the weapons brought him back to his crewman days, but the nostalgia quickly left him. His mind was working on serveral things at once, and mainly on the refinery run.

Satisfied that he had noted all the things that were missing, he closed everything up and decided to go pace a bit in the cargo bay. There he mimicked the sentinel droids as he paced, deep in thought. Some inkling of a plan was brewing in his head, but he wasn't sure how to get it out. The pacing eventually slowed, and his feet led him towards Cor and Mika.

The women seemed deep in discussion, and he decided to turn around but hesitated....
This message was last edited by the player at 02:12, Wed 06 July 2011.

"...is added incentive not to like them, I supp-"  Cor stops mid-sentence as the droid hold door opens, and looks around quickly.  Upon seeing Darvin she smiles, not quite meeting his gaze.  "Hello, Darvin.  It has been quite an interesting time so far, yes?"  A screen behind her flickers with figures and statistics, and from a few scattered droid parts it looks as if she's been tinkering with microrepulsors at some time in the past.

2-1B-D3 looks up from its work which, at the moment, appears to be finalising the stocktaking.  "Boarding party, Mister Togula?  That would depend greatly on how many people are a part of this 'boarding party' you speak of, and how many of them are organic.  In any case," it adds, "Ms Masters has requested a list of the medical inventory along with my recommendations for required equipment.  Perhaps she knows better how much your 'boarding party' requires."

<Next Day - 0800 hours Briefing Room>

Everyone had recieved a message on their Talon comms the night before indicating they should attend breakfast in the conference room at 0800 to discuss their progress.  Mark and Zyra were already in attendance.  Once everyone had arrived, Mark got down to business.

"Several of you were given tasks to complete before we can plan our next strike.  I'd like to hear reports on how each team is progrssing.  Ms Trake, you were to integrate our comm and navigation systems.  Mr Kismet, was to assign his team their fighters.  Mr Pertwee, you were to arrange new equipment.  Ms Masters was to start acquiring convoy information.  Mr Nallis was to prepare a list of equipment the boarding team required and submit it.  Finally Mr Sloan was to begin preliminary intel on the refinery mission.  Ladies, gents, what is your progress?"

Aryan, sitting up teh back, listens intently to the reports

Mika gives Darvin a nod, then looks back at Cor.  "Well, times a wasting.  Did you have any input on my routing comms to the nav console?  Oh, and don't worry about that other matter, I bet there will be enough work to keep you, me and Devon all gainfully employed."  She gives the Umbaran a grin.

Moving on to the next day:

Mika looks at Sheppard, she just couldn't think of the man as Mark, and clears her throat.  "I made a bit of headway and should have it complete with another three to four hours work.  It'll go a bit quicker if Cor or Devon could lend me a hand."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:53, Wed 06 July 2011.

R2-A9 rolls in, settling not far from Mika.  It turns its domed head to look at her and gives a few cheery beeps and whistles before turning back to look at the Commander.  There is a slight hum as its holotransmitter activates, projecting no video but certainly projecting sound.

Cor's voice can be heard coming from the astromech.  "Talon Eleven here, Commander. I have looked further into the matter regarding droid automation and believe I may have thought of a few ways to tighten ship security at the same time.  I shall converse with Talon Two on this and report further when I have more solid plans.  In the meantime I am available to help Talon Ten as best I can, and my droids have been instructed to assist her however she may need it."

Mark nods.  "Thank you Ten and Eleven.  Keep upgrading as time allows.  We generally ran the Nightshrike undermanned so the more we can combine and automate duties the better.  Make sure you leave the ability for crew to run each station though."

The commander looks around to the others waiting for a report.

Merreck drinks his coffee, like the morning before, and like the morning before he doesn´t look in top shape, although his eyes are alert as usual. It had been another late evening, but at least he was getting to know the station.

There was things to report, but he didn´t volunteer anything, leaving it for the others who were there. Instead he looks over at Darvin, Rann and Sheila, in case any of them wanted to begin.

“ If no one minds I would like to do mine ” said Rann as he stood up. “ Me Merreck & Darvin have managed to secure us a supplier how managed to get hold for us 5 missiles, 5 detonite and timers, and 5 frag grenades. The supplier is willing to trade with us in future and is willing to give us a bulk buy discount which with our limited sauce of  income have only started to tap into, furthermore while looking in the small arms armoury I came across 12 riot shields which I think you will find useful as well as this light repeater.” he said as he finished his report and sat down

Mark flicks through the details sent to his datapad then gives Rann an appraising stare.  "Mr Pertwee, I know of every single item within my armoury, I can even tell you where we obtained most of them.  Why did you think these particular items would be of interest to me?"

"I also don't see an AR-1 sniper rifle on here for Mr Nallis.  I specifically told you to acquire a sniper rifle of his choosing.  Care to explain why you have failed to do so?"

Darvin opted for shades this morning, his mug already empty and his hair tied back in a cue. He looked surprised when Sheppard dressed down Rann, but hid his surprise by raising his mug to his lips. He winced, it was empty and he hadn't even noticed he'd gone through his second cup already. He got up, probably breaking Sheppard's eye contact with Pertwee, and headed for the Kaf dispensers where he poured himself another cup while he waited for Rann to explain just how overpriced the riffle was.

Newly armed with a third mug, he leaned against the wall and protected the kaf from any potential intruders...

standing up Rann explained his actions “yes I can with four reasons. One the supplier was charging way too much for the rifle in question. Two the we needed the other items more. Three the convoy raid is a close fire fight and a sniper rifle would be no use in the small spaces in a freighter. Four I want to find more suppliers to get items from sort of keeping our eggs in different baskets, hopefully some will have his rifle cheaper and in time for the refinery raid” he said  “ sir” he finished as he sat down.

Mark allowed a smile to cross his features.  He'd expected no less of a response from Rann.  After all, he'd challenged his ability.  He was training independant specialist, not a team of lapdogs.

"Very good Mr Pertwee.  I appreciate independant thinking and decision making.  I appreciate more that you stand by your decisions.  You must realise though that you are not always made aware of all the plans I am devising.  Opportunities must be taken where appropriate and they call for my specialists to be appropriately equipped."

"Now, if this rifle is severely overpriced as you suggest, find another one that meets Mr Nallis' requirements and specifications.  If you feel your supplier may do a reasonable deal then I will authorise an extra five thousand credits to your expenditures.  Do not waste them and do not leave a sniper rifle off the list this time.  You forsee any problems with this?"

Merreck listen while Mark tell Rann what for, keeping a straight face. Considering how much money they were given to buy black market goods, they came away with more than expected, and the right gear for the mission. Merreck woved to learn to tell the difference between these suggestions, and orders.

He drank his coffee.

Xil frowns a little at the conversation around his sniper rifle, but he had to acknowledge that something like the AR-1 wouldn't be cheap.  "I do have some funds that I can contribute to the cost, let me know" he says to Rann.

He considered what they had managed to aquire so far "I've sent all team 2 & 3 team members what they should have with them for boarding. As we may not get all on that list, I note we still have some medium armour in our inventory which we should have ready for use as well."

Devon leaned forward as Rann finished his report.
'We've got concussion missiles?'  He asked.  'What sort of quality are they?  How soon can you get more?'

Realising he had drawn Marks attention, Devon realised he had better give his own report.
'Not much to say from my side of things, boss.   Fighters are ready, apart from loading ordnance; and I think I got pilot assignments sorted too. Can't really work up too detailed a flightplan till we know more about our targets... got some general ideas though...'

"Maybe I can add to that... he said nodding at Devon. "As you know, I was tasked to look at insertion scenarios for us on the Refinery Strike... Since I can't learn much about the Typhon refinery from here, I had to get to Phindar Prime to do it, and tagged along with Merreck... hence the tired rugged look this morning..." he apologized with a grin. "We had a long night, but managed to find out a few things by various covert means. Given the insertion aspect of my tasks, I was mainly concerned with the Imperial presence in the Area and its strength, as well as the imperial's routines in the Sector to determine if there might be some blind spots in their network that we can use...." Darvin said as he shifted his weight against the bulkhead.

"One thing we found out early was that Typhon crews have been displaced by Imperials. The only time there is a Typhon crew, it's usually when the Imperials are too busy and need to pull a few people around. It happens rarely, and the crews were rather vocal about it. The point is, we wouldn't be up against your usual crew compliments... security is probably going to be tighter than expected."

He let his words hang a bit as he straightened up and walked back over to the Kaf dispenser. "To make matters worse... while Typhon freighters are technically similar to the ones that Phindar Petrochem uses, Typhon has had theirs beefed up," he said as he poured himself another cup, his back was turned to everyone for a bit, and then he continued as he returned to his seat... "Apparently, Typhon freighters have been equipped with shields and four point-defense lasers for starfighter defense, with a complement of 2-4 stormtroopers on board for security, not counting crew complement which is usually 8 for optimal operation.

"If that weren't enough, they're usually escorted by a complement of 2-4 TIE fighters, depending on the convoy size. Larger convoys sometimes have a small capital ship (corvette or light frigate) in defense. Smaller convoys usally have only fighters with them. Those freighters are equipped with docking clamps to carry the TIEs through hyperspace. We found out that these clamps take time to power up after a jump. We might have a 30 second window that we can exploit," the later was followed by a nod, directed towards Team 1's leader, Mr. Kismet.

"Other than that, convoys leave from Typhon refineries at regular intervals. Remember, the usual crewmen are out work at the moment because the Imperials have taken over. They're kept out of the loop on convoy planning, so they don't know many details. I'm afraid that we'll need a whole lot more info, and that we'd need to go directly on Phindar prime to get it." Darvin looked over at Sheppard, "Sir, I'd like us to consider doing a recon mission on Phindar Prime, before any convoy strike."

Merreck smiled at Darvins mention of various covert means. Phinnys Liguor wasn´t exactly a well kept secret.

He clears his throat, and begin with a hoarse voice. "We know how hard it is to defend an Action VI transport, the pirates showed how hard it is to board them. At least we know the ships, we won´t get lost. I´d look into training on one of the Phindar Petroleum transports, between fuel runs."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:53, Thu 07 July 2011.

The red-detailed R2 unit lets out a little squeak of alarm at the mention of the Imperial forces.  Cor's voice joins it.  "But that is...  The Imperials are giving these freighters military escort?  TIE fighters, capital ships and freighters outfitted with weaponry and shields - that sounds more like they are transporting military data or dangerous prisoners than fuel."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:06, Fri 08 July 2011.

Can Cor actually understand what the R2-unit is saying? Curious.

Merreck shrug. "They don´t have that much more escorts than the we brought during the last run. Fuel is expensive, and there are pirates around. I don´t think there´s anything more to it. If a ship picks up cargo at a refinery, then it´s probably carrying fuel."

In reply to Merreck Toluga (msg #208):

"A bit more recon would confirm or deny either way," Darvin added though he agreed with Merreck, "but I don't see why they'd choose to cover up military intelligence in that way given they're the actual law in the galaxy, they don't need to make elaborate schemes to hide things from people, they have their propoganda office for that. The simplest answer is usually the right one... Protecting the fuel makes more sense in this case, but it can be assertained via intel work if there is more to it."

Merreck nod in agreement with Darvin. "When we scout out the refinery, we´ll hear if there´s anything odd going on, besides imperial crews and troops taking over Typhon."

"Oh no," Cor's voice comes forth, "I do apologise.  I do not mean that I think they are moving something other than fuel, I just mean to say that a quartet of TIE fighters attached to armed and shielded freighters seems... excessive.  Paranoid, in fact.  Is this a change that has occurred specifically after Phindar Petroleum's last encounter with the pirates?"  There is a thoughtful pause.  "Because if so then it seems more a response to the Talons' involvement than to any pirate threat.  Which may suggest they expect an attack."

Darvin suddenly had a flash of an a devilish plan, "You know what? It occurs to me that these miniature convoy runs might be the ideal way to get us into the refinery. If we could disable the TIE fighters on a small escort mission, as well as capture the tanker, we can easily swap the crew with Talons... Finish the escort to avoid suspicion and use the hauler to smuggle our refinery hit equipment on the escort bacl and perhaps keep under the imperial radar at the same time. Both ways, we should do some leg work first, sir," he said turning to Sheppard.

Flash, who has been sitting slouched in his chair, has been silent for most of the meeting. The mention of TIE fighters gets his attention, though, and he nods at Darvin's suggestion. "Wouldn't that be a prize," he grins at Shipjacker Devon, "dropping in and grabbing a freighter before those TIEs can undock, securing the armed freighter and all four TIEs! Those'd be useful for heaps of covert stuff, the refinery hit would just be the start of it..."

"So basically, we need to go to phindar prime to get more information.  IF we want anything more specific than we have, like when the convoys leave and so on, I need to actually get into their computers."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:12, Fri 08 July 2011.

Devon returned Flash's grin.
'it WOULD be nice, tricky though...' he thought for a few seconds.  'Ok.  Thirty seconds to undock.  Assume the pilots are already aboard their fighters and ready to launch, so we wont get MORE than thirty seconds whilst they hop into the cockpit.  Hmmm'

Devon scratched at his chin, deep in thought.  'If we can jump in right on top of them, I mean already close enough to go to guns on them... then the R-41 and jump capable Z-95 will hopefully have time to make a couple of strafing runs along the convoy each.  Plus the Shrike herself can be getting creative with her ion cannons.  If we can undock our second Z-95 and get that into the fight fast too, might get another attack run there...  If we can plan this properly and pull it off right... I dont see why we can't disable or destroy all four TIEs before they launch.'

Devon grinned round the table, the predatory grin of a shipjacker looking forward to a big payoff.
'And with their escorts taken down in half a minute by our display of terrifingly accurate shooting, I'll bet the crews are more likely to consider our demands.'

"Mmm, Imperials are tough, though. If they're in control of the freighter's weapons they might prove a hard nut to crack." The Duros taps his fingers rhythmically on the arm of his chair. "Ion cannons on all of our starfighters would be a huge boost to the number of ships we could jack. Disabling the TIEs before they can even undock would be favourite."

Then he looks over at Sheila. "Three, you were a TIE pilot, right? Anything you can tell us about combat training, TIE fighter tactics, craft capability, anything that could be useful like that? Could mean th'difference between a successful hit and an embarrassing loss."

In reply to Allen 'Flash' (msg #216):

"Don't let em get off the docking clamp might be the start."  (as a player I am unable to actually answer those questions in an actual post, xince I don't really know anything about fighter tactics, ets.  What I think his plan requires is knowing the timing and path of the convoy so we can literally jump in on top of them as they jump in, since I expect the tie fighters would launch immediately upon jumping into real space, so there really isn't any time.)_

"Merreck is right.  Fuel is the lifeblood of any military operation.  Well fuel and pay. . .oh, and food of course!" The final statement is accompanied by the Zabrak reaching for another slice of toast which she liberally smears in tlyoberry jam.

"Typhon controls most of the fuel in this sector.  We already hurt them by blowing up a refinery of theirs.  Shipping in fuel from other sectors is costly and shows that the local Moff can't keep order, something he wont want to demonstrate to the Emperor.  A military escort makes sense."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:35, Fri 08 July 2011.

Mark listened to the conversation for some time before speaking.

"Mr Sloan.  It sounds like a more detailed recon mission to Phindar Prime is needed, by many members of the team.  Please put a team together and have a mission proposal for me on this by the end of the day."


"Now the idea of taking the entire convoy without a shot fired by them is very wishful thinking.  If Mr Toluga is correct and they can launch within thirty seconds of reversion to realspace that means at worst we have thirty seconds to overwhelm them.  So either we have to predict within five to ten kilometres where they will revert at a jump point.  Either that or we have to jump in on top of them with the same degree of accuracy.  Mr Toluga, I have heard you are a gifted navigator but are you that good?"


"Then we need to effectively comm jam them.  We were planning to do that already but it is still a critical point."

"Next, if we achieve this we have thirty seconds to disable the TIE's.  That would require some pinpoint accuracy from the only two gunners who have access to ion weapons.  Don't forget the freighters are shielded so it is possible this will also protect the TIEs clamped to their hull."

"Then if we did capture the convoy intact, it is unlikely the deception would last any longer then it would take for one person to step off the ramp at the refinery.  The maintenance crew are bound to notice the change in ship personnel, ships don't just change crew mid-flight."

"It's an ambitious plan people, probably too ambitious, but one that we can certainly use components of.  I have a few ideas for the refinery hit but I'd like to see what intelligence you gather first."



OOC:  Remember that 30 seconds = 5 combat rounds.  Given you only have 2 ion weapons available, you need to get an (as of yet) unknown number of TIE's disabled in 5 rounds.  That's assuming you're close enough to them in the first round to shoot!  Not impossible, but certainly difficult.  Plus it means you can't use those shiny new concussion missiles you're getting (maybe that is the plan all along, a cunning scheme to save money!) :P
This message was last edited by the player at 22:37, Fri 08 July 2011.

"The pilots will be in the TIe's the whole trip, so there will be no loading time, pilots are a pain to load onto TIE"s, and a free tie is a match or better for our ships, speed and agilitywise.  And to put it blunty, intimidation won't work, getting into a TIE fighter is in and of itself more intimidating than pretty much anything,  We'll need to get as many as possible in that 30 seconds."

A9's head turns to watch Zyra and then swings to look at Mark.  Cor sounds unsettled as she speaks through the droid.

"So we have very little chance of immobilising the fighters before they undock, and if they do undock they out-run and out-manoeuvre us?  And even if we do not end up as salvage the freighters have shields and weapons?"

Flash grins at the droid. "Well that's just pessimistic."

Merreck frown when he hear the plan the shipjacker came up with.

His confidence isn´t at its highest when he answer the commander. "It can be done, sir, but it´s a very hard stunt. Flying through hyperspace is never an easy matter. I´ve heard too many stories of convoys arriving a ship short. It´s the reckless pilot who doesn´t arrive with the others. They are lucky if they arrive at all."

Merreck thinks for a moment, looking at an empty point in space, then again catches Marks eye and continue, somewhat downcast. "Maybe, with an accurate enough estimates of where the convoy will exit hyperspace, but if anything goes wrong, then we loose the element of surprise, or worse. If the numbers are just a little bit off, then we won´t arrive alongside the freighters, we will crash right into them."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:59, Fri 08 July 2011.

Mark chuckles.  "Trust a navigator to suggest it's the 'reckless pilot' who causes ships to be lost.  As a pilot myself I would have said the same thing, except I'd mention 'reckless navigators'!"

"The other thing you have to factor in is the skill of the convoy navigators.  Unless we know EXACTLY where they plan to jump in, we can't base our jumps with any precision.  Long range sensors are only so accurate so even a microjump would lack pinpoint data.  Some kind of homing beacon on a freighter would give you the data but that would take a mission in itself just to plant one in a way to ensure it wasn't found."

Merrecks mouth crease in the hint of a smile at the mention of reckless navigators.

He nods as Mark continues. "We could wait for them to jump in before plotting the jump, but the calculations take time. We don´t have to know exactly where they arrive, but during the minutes it takes to plot the jump, the TIE are free to detatch, and the real problem still remain, that making a precise microjump is very, very hard." He shakes his head.

"I think we need to come up with something else in order to approach the convoy." Merreck looks around with a slightly disappointed face. He didn´t enjoy dashing their hopes.

Darvin just blinked at this, slightly surprised. "About this team I'm to put together... I'm not clear on what everyone's hidden talents are, exactly? The way I see it, I need a very good slicer, I believe that Ms. Masters is the actual expert," he said as he turned to her, wondering if she'd accept to go. "Merreck has a way with the locals, and he can look into who usually does business at the refinery and whatever auxiliary services / maintenances they might require on a regular basis. I can get us fake documents... I'd like at least one structural engineer and tech specialist with me to look at the Refinery's layout. That person can probably assist with bypassing security as well," Darvin thought out loud. He didn't want to speak for Cor or Mika, but he was certain that Cor would never want out of her chamber.

He looked at the others, pretty certain that they had other qualities he wasn't aware of. "Do we have an infiltrator type among us? A little bit of muscle would be nice too," Darvin said finally. "I'd be open to suggestions, and perhaps we should discuss more in detail once we finish the briefing. Some of them might have other things that would need to be done on Phindar, it would be the perfect time to pipe up about it... then we can hash out a plan to get all that stuff done," he suggested.

"Sir, about that tracking device you spoke of," he said hesitantly, "would a sniper be able to peg a device on a few of their ships? Would could map their jumps, and probably anticipate where they'd be in advance that way... otherwise, perhaps slicing through one of their nav droids would do."

"You'll have many tasks you'll need performed on such a mission and as such you will need a wide array of skills.  Since little is happening here until we gather more convoy I suggest you take the majority of the team.  Four is a keen observant, skilled in stealth and camoflague. He is also ground force commander.  Why I'm giving you leave to run this mission Mr Sloan, he has my authority to take command in an emergency."

"You'll obviously need three for her slicing skills.  Five and Six will make a strong espionage team.  Seven, ten and eleven will provide valuable technical skills, of course Seven will undoubtedly spend his time trying to ply his 'other trade'.  Please ensure he doesn't become too eager.  Eleven can also provide support with some of her droids, R2 units are so commonplace that A9 should hardly rouse attention.  I think CC9 may be a little too conspicuous for a recon mission."

"Finally you said you'll need muscle.  Eight and two serve that role, though I will probably keep Two here.  His pilotting skills would serve better leading our convoys.  Covert operations are not his specialty."

"As to your question about tracking devices, how are you proposing Mister Nallis attaches a device to their ships?  His skills in stealth are formidable but I doubt he'll be able to get that close to the ships to attach anything."

In reply to Mark Sheppard (msg #227):

"Well, just as there are taggers for people that you can tag at long range, I figure a similar method might be used to achieve something similar with a vessel. Of course, I don't know if such a thing is feasible, but I gather one of the techs could work on something that Mr. Nallis could use without even setting foot in the refinery," Darvin suggested. "It would be a quick way to tag several vessels and start mapping their jump points. With enough data of the sort, we could anticipate where their convoys will go and simply wait for 'em to appear."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:51, Sat 09 July 2011.

"Some kind of magnetic heat-proofed beacon shot from a long-range tagging gun," Cor's voice muses. "Depending on how efficient their pre-flight checks are that may work. If infiltrating the workforce or bribing a worker is not viable."

Merreck warmed to the idea of putting tracking devices on freighters.

"Could work, if they don´t watch the grounds too well, or if we can give another reason to allow Four to be nearby. It will have to be at the right time. When taking off, their particle shields are down, allowing a tracking device to be attached. Depending on their schedule, however, this could be a long and ardous task, but once done, it will be very usefull for obstructing Typhon. Once we are done with attacking freighters, we can give the codes to the pirates, and have them do our work for us."

"You would have to get Xil awfully close." Zyra interjected.  "I've never heard of a tagger with a range greater then seventy-five metres.  Surely if we could get him that close we could actually get someone on the ship itself to plant a tracker on the hull?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:33, Sun 10 July 2011.

Not knowing much about taggers Xil let the others carry this part of the discussion.  He nodded briefly to Mark when he told him he would still be team leader in an emergency.  The commander always had a contingency

He listened to the options presented, having no real opinion.  When Darvin suggested he shoot a tracer from outside the refinery he considered "If the weapon is accurate I can hit a transport from a great distance.  But wouldn't the tracer just be destroyed on impact?  Something that travels that distance has to be fired at supersonic speeds"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:44, Sun 10 July 2011.

R2-A9 whistles and beeps a little.  It sounds vaguely excited. 

There is a slight pause and Cor's voice comes forth a few moments later.  "That is a good question, actually.  Do we have intel on the procedures of flight?  Are the coordinates sent to each freighter from a central location or are they plotted on-board?  In either case would they have an organic plotting the courses or an astromech... or similar?  Either way if those coordinates can be intercepted then we have precisely the information required."

Merreck helpfully answer Cors question through the R2-unit. "We don´t know any details. Getting accurate information about their routines at the refinery is what we are going to Phindar Prime to find out. As for coordinates, if we can´t intercept transmissions or predict their course of action, then perhaps we can find out through other means."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:20, Mon 11 July 2011.

Cor isn't present personally and her R2 unit turns to look back at the Human.  Cor's voice can be heard to respond, after a moment's hesitation, "Oh.  I see, yes."

Mark listens, realising the briefing session was quickly changing into a planning session.  "Well Mister Sloan, it seems the floor is yours.  A recon mission to Phindar Prime for several reasons seems apparent.  Please outline your plan so we can discuss it."

OOC: Sorry for the long post.


"Alright," Darvin says, somewhat pleased that his ideas had been so well taken as a whole. "There's a lot of ground to cover... Here's what I think our primary objectives for the recon should be:

• We need to get as much information for our next convoy run.
  
• We'll also need to figure out the Refinery Plant's layout and get a leg up on the refinery hit.

"Given you seem to have some ideas on the tagger, Cor, can you work with Xil to see if you can get something that we could adapt to a sniper riffle, or something similar? Do we even have one for him?" He asked, his brow arching up as he looked over towards Rann, though he quickly resumed his chain of thoughts. "Maybe Devon and Mika can assist before they leave for Phindar Prime... At worse, we'll have to get up close and personal, which is something I would like to avoid, so I also see the point in taking a second approach in gaining their jump coordinates, in case we fail on the first idea," he continued.

"Ms. Masters, I'll want you with us on Phindar, and I'd like you to try slicing the information through indirect means... maybe they file flights plans, maybe a droid will need some maintenance and has all that information already. Let's try not to slice imperial networks. We wouldn't want to tip our hand, inadvertently.

"That should pretty much cover the first objective? Now the second objective will need more work, and we should get as much of it done in advance," he said. "I figure we'll need:

• Very detailed plans of the place, and its surroundings,
  
• The plant's employee database and shift schedules, particularly their security details,
  
• The plant's maintenance schedule, especially to see if there is a crew coming in for a scheduled maintenance that we could work with.
  
• Refinery Plant's Response Times and Emergency Counter-measures as well as Phindar's Response times to emergencies, this includes their places of origin and possibility of infiltrating/disabling ahead of time,
  
• Plan for a diversion that can get their security to look the other way.

"Merreck / Rann, I think we can whip up those unhappy crewmen and maybe use them as that  distraction. Any distraction that you can stir up, might draw security forces away from us long enough for us to attempt something if we need it. Lay down some ground work for it to happen when we need it later, and perhaps test out the security response times while we're at it. You and Rann might also be able to find out if there are outside entities that regularly work at the refinery. Maintenance, repair, medical... whatever it is, if we can find a side way in, perhaps Masters can slice into their system and help me make any IDs that much more credible," he added.

"Masters, obviously front and center again on this second objective. You could work with Merreck and Rann on which data systems we could slice into, and perhaps see if there's a way to slice the Refinery's mainframe. The Refinery ought to be the very last thing we do, because it may give us away. Also, if we put something on their servers, I want to make sure you have a failsafe for that information to be removed.

"Xil, I don't think we'll need to walk into the refinery on this first pass, but we will have to when the time actually comes up to blow it all up. Since you're the best person to lead a team in, we should explore infiltration points and exit strategies. If you think I need to get a combat droid to help with placing charges in Tandem, I'll have to figure out a way to get that piece of metal into play. I'd rather not go that route if we can avoid it.

"Aryan Jai... I'll need someone to watch our backs. I'd rather it be you, than a droid that attracts a lot of attention." Darvin smirked at this, as if he had reservations about droids in the first place. Luckily Cor wasn't around to notice.

Darvin paced a bit as if thinking some more... "One last thing," he said as if remembering an important detail. "We can't go in this time around with a full set of equipment that will raise suspicions. Weapons will have to be low key... so if you have doubts, come and see me."

The R2 unit lets out a few low whistles, watching Darvin as he speaks.

Cor can be heard.  "I will happily work with Mister Nallis but I have been thinking.  As Mister Nallis points out there is no way of firing something from a sniper rifle without it shattering on impact."  Tapping keys can be heard.  "Slugs fired from sniper slugthrowers strike their target before the sound can catch up; it would be as useless as, say, trying to fire tranquiliser darts through a sniper rifle."

She lets out a little sigh and there is the creak of a chair as if she is leaning back from her terminal.  "I am looking into it at the moment and not a single form of tracking device capable of sending hyperspace signals would be small enough to fire in anything less than a cannon, in any case.  To add to that, a tracking signal is useful for finding where something is but useless for determining where it is going to be; leaping on the convoy seems as if it would rely on attaining astrogating coordinates, and a tracking sensor would be useless for that.  Slicing is a better option in all respects, as long as Ms Masters can reach a spot that will allow her to slice in."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:59, Mon 11 July 2011.

"It was worth a shot," Darvin said from where he stood.

"Happens to the best laid plans Mister Sloan.  If a contingency falls through, then you just focus on the others."

Mika snorts in response to the R2's whistles before quieting herself down again to listen to what the others had to say.  Wanting to get back to her work on the comms and nav consoles but remembering Sheppard's response to Cor wanting to leave the prior meeting, Mika holds her silence.

Mark stands.  "Well it looks like you have everything sorted Mister Sloan.  I suggest you get moving on this as soon as possible.  Good luck everyone."

"Oh, Mister Nallis, I'd like to see you in my office when you are done here.  Miss Lambar, I'd like to see you and R2-A9 in 2 hours"

The commander leaves the room, followed by Zyra.


OOC:  Well the briefing is oficially over but not sure if you all want to discuss anything else.  If you want to jump to the mission, be sure to update your personal equipment threads with what you're taking on mission (you put nothing I'll assume you take nothing!).  Remember Darvin said 'low key' weapons and gear only.  If you are unsure what that means, speak to him.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:34, Sat 30 July 2011.

R2-A9 promptly rolls back a little way, presumably to avoid getting in the way of people leaving.  It peers about the room at people, keeping quiet (for a change).

Given the others might have questions for him, Darvin simply waited for everyone to leave before he walked away to prepare his gear. He'd been a nervous wreck as he pitched his idea, but years of stoic resolve had made him forget where he was, and though he probably talked far more than he had intended, the plan had been given a green light, which was more than he had expected. His mouth parched, he reached for the water this time and took several swallows as Sheppard and Zyra exited the briefing room. Before the droid could wheel out of ear shot, he yollered for it to wait a sec, "Cor, will you be lending us the R2 for the recon mission? I'm sure he'll come in handy..."

A9, standing against a wall, turns its head to look at Darvin.  "I certainly can," Cor can be heard to say.  "In what capacity?  What would you need it for?  I was going to suggest to Talon Three that I may be able to reprogram it," she continues, ignoring the R2 unit's alarmed beeps, "to assist with slicing.  If she is willing to accept the assistance of a droid, of course," the Umbaran adds evenly.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:08, Tue 12 July 2011.

In reply to R2-A9 (msg #245):

"That's exactly what I wanted to secure the R2 unit for," he said with a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

The R2 unit falls silent, perhaps a little grumpily.  Cor's voice says, "It is not a problem.  Pleased to be of assistance."

"No problem accepting help from a droid."  She is relatively pleasant.

OOC, I got's to go to bed, I'll be back probably early afternoon tomorrow)

As the meeting starts breaking up, Mika heads back for the bridge.  She has a few more hours of wiring before her.  Not that Sheppard had commanded it, but she liked Cor's suggestion of cross-wiring the consoles so that not only could one hand both comms and navs from the nav console, but also let one handle both comms and navs from the comms console.

The droid turns to look at Sheila. "I am glad," Cor says. "Would you send me a list of your preferred slicing tools and software, to better program your new assistant?"

Exilim saw no real problem with his proposed role in the upcoming mission.  Getting a beep from his commlink he quickly took a call, responding only with "Understood."  He walked over to where Darvin was standing.  "Anything else for me?  When do we leave?  How long do you plan to stay on world?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:07, Tue 12 July 2011.

"Given we still have the whole day ahead of us," Darvin said with an amused smiled, "I thought I'd catch a nap on the shuttle to Phindar Prime this afternoon, but I know there is some prep-work the others need to finish here," he said casting a glance at Mika who had to finish certain things on the bridge. "Not sure what the priorities are on those, but hopefully we can get started on the recon mission before the end of the day. I'd welcome any suggestions you have though."

Xil shrugged.  "This op is yours.  Nothing to offer at this point.  Maybe when we get there I'll have more to suggest."

Aryan, Scratching an ear, stands and walks to Darvin.  "How low key we talking?  I carry a blaster pistol and vibrodaggers standard.  I'd like a blaster rifle handy if wesa can, but no issue if not..."

The gungan sighs.

"Isa can always beat the snot outa someone and use their guns."

Cor can be heard to mutter something to herself in Umbaran. The R2 unit is still peering about the room.

Darvin nodded at Xil and then turned to consider Aryan's question. "We're talking nothing bigger than a pistol, or we might have some trouble at the checkpoints. I'm somewhat glad that we couldn't use the sniper approach to the tagging idea. It would have raised too many questions... and yes, stocking up while we're down there is probably a better idea."

Darvin stiffled a yawn, 'no rest for the wicked it seems. At least, not until I get my gear together.'

More at home in spacestations and starships, Merreck comment on the irregular enviromental control of Phyndar Prime. "Planetside. I guess it´s polluted air and wind for a few days. And water from the sky. Okay, I´ll go finish up for the trip."

A9 turns to look at Merreck and beeps helpfully before rolling out.

This message was deleted by the player at 14:15, Wed 13 July 2011.

Mika's laughter can be heard from down the corridor, apparently having just caught R2-A9's beeping as she moves back towards the NightShrike's bridge.

Merreck give the droid a wry smile, suspecting he was being made fun of, but taking it in stride. "And I have no idea what you just said, A9."