"I believe I may understand Mr Allen's point, Commander," Cor's voice comes through via CC9.  "As you know, getting people through life-and-death situations is not only about skill in arms or tactical ability.  If your team will not listen to you then it does not matter how skilled a tactician or combatant you may be.  I believe, however, that the votes may tell whether people have confidence in following CC9 into battle or not.  The Talons involved may not be as hesitant as Mr Allen understandably predicts."

CC9 says nothing on his own behalf.  He's arguably equipment.

After Mika finishes her discussion with the commander, she resumes her seat and continues to eat. Unlike the others, she goes for a frizzy fruit drink,   She's surprised at the turn of events, she hadn't thought about such weighty things.  "I don't know, droids are great, but there's more to leadership than stratigic goals, battlefield tactics and expendable assets.  I'm thinking an organic is a bit better amid the chaos...". Mika breaks off as the thought occurs that there was an argument to be made that a droid could cut through the chop and see to the core of things.  "Well, maybe, I'll have to think about it."

Since Flash had pulled himself out of the running, Mika gives some thought to nominating Arin.  That'd be like tossing in a flash grenade into the mix.  A leader had to have the respect of those following and people had been been riding Arin's butt since he signed on. That pretty much left it with Sheila.

For the ground guy, she sure didn't want it.  Her one experience at that didn't go so well.  Despite what the boss had said, Mika didn't think having the same person in charge of space and ground was a good idea.  She didn't think Devon was well suited to it, he was like her, better at keeping stuff working then leading troops. Hmmm.....

Apparently caught out by his nomination as ground force commander, Devon was doing a fairly good 'deer in the headlights' impression - the pastry he had been eating stalled halfway to his mouth.

He recovered as the conversation shifted towards spending money.
"While Flash is right and we do need to decide what our plans are before we decide what to spend, there's some things we're gonna have to buy no matter what our plans are.  You say we're a specialist space force right now, but there's stuff we're always gonna need to stay viable in a dogfight:  we've got a supply of fuel on tap, so we CAN fly... but we've got absolutely no munitions for our fighters and only two of our three fighters are hyperspace capable.  And that's another thing - we got waaaay more pilots than we got fighters."

Devon paused to munch on his pastry and think.
"I mean, I dont care if we buy the stuff or steal it from someone deserving."  a crafty smile spread across his face at the idea.  "But I'd really like to go into a fight one day where we're not outgunned AND outnumbered..."

"I've been pushing our XO and our various quartermasters for some time to get us a steady supply of proton torpedos and concussion missiles.  So far they haven't had much success."

"As for fighter I have been giving that some thought.  While normally I prefer the speed and agility of a Z-95, I think we need some more robust fighters for our less experienced pilots.  Plus some of our team are not pilots at all as we are not purely a starfighter squadron."

"I'm thinking a few Y-wings might be the way to go.  Rugged design, can seat two, which means you can have either a gunner or just a passenger and parts are relatively easy.  Sure it wont match up well to a TIE fighter but what's available right now that will?"

"Another choice would be some R-42 Starchasers, but they're very rare."


OOC:  Please note that the game is still in 2BBY which means X-wings and A-wings have not been produced yet.  In fact the Corellian treaty hasn't even be signed yet, though that's really close.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:38, Sun 08 Sept 2013.

"Oh.  He's 'asked us to get a steady supply'.  Typical flyboy.  Think we can just snap our fingers and illegal weaponry will just pour in.  Perhaps I should go down to the local department store and buy in bulk?  Oh and that's right.  Where have the credits been to buy these items?  It was getting to the point where I had to choose between heating our base or supplying caf.  Probably would have gone with the caf."

There is no anymosity in Zyra's voice.  In fact no Talon has ever seen her angry.  It's clear she's teasing the commander.

Mika glances at Devon, her face thoughtful.  "You know, you got some pretty decent engineers in the room, maybe with some research, the proper chemicals in the proper proportions..."

"...then in theory we could make a handgun that could shoot a hole in the world." grinned Devon.
"But if you don't mind I'll watch the test firing from the next system over.  Yeah, we got some good engineers, and I dunno about anyone else, but I'm no munitions expert - I'm a glorified speeder thief!  That last load of missiles we got?  I built a sort-of ammo magazine to keep them in and just prayed no-one sneezed too loud whilst walking past."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:43, Sun 08 Sept 2013.

Sheila nods at flash.  I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I need to think about it.  As for direction, we need more people if we are going to be able to field a ground force.  Which is fine, we need them for that. Cor is not a leaving the ship type person, So do we want to balance out or stay more the space force.  My question for the boss is, which way are we more likely to find jobs?  Space force or on the ground?  historically? Has there been a change in the kind of jobs over time, so that we are heading more space  or ground, so we can judge from that?  Or has it been staying pretty balanced?"

She's been working through the selection of fruit on the table.  That's one of the things one misses most in space, fresh produce.

Mika sticks her tongue out at Devon.  "Fine, have it your own way.  I'll see what I can dig up myself."

Remembering the events with the freighters, Mika speaks up a bit more.  "Seems to me we need some ground pounders either way.  If we stick mostly to space jobs, we still need some heavy hitters to help handle the captures.  Remember those freighters?  We got lucky, but a few more hard chargers might've made that go a lot smoother, and quicker."

She looks to the commander as she continues, "Which I think means that the guy in charge of the space operations shouldn't be the same guy as is in charge of the ground operations because when the lines blur, one guy would get overloaded trying to keep track of both.  I guess that makes my vote towards Sheila for space and CC9 for ground operations."

"I do not have any future 'jobs' in mind as it were.  Our last operations were designed for one purpose and that was to secure a source of income and fuel for our operation.  It also met with our core objective of hurting the Empire.  That has always been our primary mission.  Weaken the military machine where we may, assist the opressed, formulate rebellions where we might.  If enough groups rise up in rebellion we might one day work to reform or overthrow this tyrannical regime."

"So future objectives will be based on opportunity and our capabilities.  We can't go toe-to-toe with our enemy so we strike where we may.  At the moment that's primarily in space; hit a convoy, destroy a patrol.  A land force would help us raid equipment dumps rather than just bomb them.  But such a force would take equipment, skilled personnel and training which we lack.  This contact of Zyra's claims he has a tank expert looking for work but this doesn't mean they're any good or it's even an area we want to pursue.  Personally I think we need a ground capability.  As Mika pointed out we can't board and capture without a ground team.  We can rescue prisoners without a ground team.  We can't acquire supplied without a ground team.  Wars aren't won in space and it's hard for a fighter jock like me to admit it.  Nallis was our expert on ground warfare but since he's in a coma he's not much help.  Our other specialists, the wookie and gungan are both dead.  I have to wonder if our lack of equipment and training played a large part in that."

"Oh you're such a blunt instrument Mark." Zyra chided.  "You think you can defeat the Empire with bigger guns and bigger ships?  For every one you have, they'll have a million.  Information wins wars.  We need to work on our intelligence gathering networks and we need specialists in intrusion, espionage and the like.

Take our last mission.  Who gathered all that information on the convoy, patrol schedules and the like?  It wasn't your team running around the planet causing havoc.  It was Cor, CC9 and I who slipped in, acquired the information and slipped out without anyone suspecting a thing.  We even arranged departure clearance for the entire team aboard a stolen ship!  Only CC9 had a blaster and he never fired a single shot. Yet without us we wouldn't have a big pay-off and a potentially profitably business venture back there."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:38, Fri 13 Sept 2013.

CC9 doesn't comment to Zyra's statement.  Cor's voice can be heard, a slight, embarrassed cough.  The droid doesn't respond to Mika's statement either.  For the most part he stands there looking mostly inert, almost as if he's been turned off.  Inside, however, he's making calculations.  A lot of them.

Mark turned his attention to Arin.  "Mister Branden, you have been awfully quiet.  I thought you of all people would have some ideas on equipment and plans for future direction.  You have recently served in the Imperial space forces AND ground forces, something few can claim to have done.  How would you suggest we proceed in our struggle?"

Mark was also curious why Arin had not put his name forward for space force commander, something he new the man coveted.  Assumedly he'd approach him in private on the matter.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:14, Tue 10 Sept 2013.

"Having been educated as an officer, I would be qualified for the command of the spaceborne operations, but it is more than apparent, very few if any would follow me in to combat except under orders to do so. I will not put my name forward, but should someone do so, I would work hard to do my absolute best to fill the expectations - I don't abandon people, disregard of what people might think. As for whether a droid should command the ground team or not, with no disrespect for CC9, was I to fight on the ground, Iwouldprefer my commander to be of flesh and blood. We organics tend to prefer that, because most organic commanders consider all the options in terms of keeping those under their command safe, even of it causes an inconvenience considering the mission. I'm not sayin, people here would not be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice if needed, but I believe it would not work well with a droid as a commander."

Arin had a short pause to sip his drink. "And Kimy is right - the same person should not be in charge of both teams. It would require too much attention for him or her to perform adequately, I'm afraid, especially in the case we have a mixed operation going on. I can not exactly name candidates for either position as I have not enough knowledge on any one of you to make that kind of a call."

"Well I suppose then you have two weeks to gain the trust of your colleagues Mister Branden since you don't think you have it."

"As to the conversation at hand, I was asking you what tools and personnel you thought we might need to take on the Empire.  What starships would be best to counter TIEs?  What land equipment will give us an edge against Imperial forces?"

Flash, tapping notes on his datapad, flicks to a different screen and types something before flicking back to a screen of sensor data.  He doesn't look up and doesn't say a thing.

"Almost nothing can match the agility of the T.I.E., but the playing field can be leveled by getting or upgrading ships with shields and enhancing the weaponry on them. That requires time and credits, though. As for against the ground forces, mobility and stealth would be the key."

Without so much as moving a millimetre the battle droid finally speaks up.  It's very obviously CC9 talking, his flat, emotionless monotone a grating contrast to Cor's own calm, mellifluous voice.

"Talon 5's intellectual incapacity to calculate my ability to put the functionality of a team at a higher priority than mission parameters is far less relevance than his obvious and very common anti-droid bigotry.  Such sentiments are common amongst the Empire.  My calculations regarding my ability to lead encounter difficulty only in two areas - that his sentiments may be common amongst the Talons and that my mobility is considerably lower than that of an organic or a droid designed for a more... fluid form of motion."  There is a slight pause.  "Put in simpler terms, I am entirely capable of directing a ground force team but cannot do so if I am considered no better than a psychotic toaster and should stealth be desired my physical presence would be distinctly detrimental to mission success.

"Composition of requires ground forces is determined directly by intended use.  Specialist infiltration teams may be small, highly equipped for stealth and entry, geared also for long-distance target elimination.  We now lack a sniper expert."  If he's concerned for Exilim Nallis's well-being it doesn't show.  "All such operatives would need at least basic sniper training, skill in the use of lightweight combat armour, high-quality communications equipment.  Such a team would also require an expert slicer and an explosives expert."

With only a slight pause he continues.  "Heavy-combat ground operations require high-yield weaponry, high-grade armour, armoured transport - preferably with shielding - and, most importantly, cannon fodder.  War is not won without casualties.  Our numbers are insufficient for such operations.  One tank expert and one medic would be insufficient to wage such forms of combat.  The Talons are better suited to stealth infiltration and combat-heavy raiding strikes rather than large- or medium-scale battlefield combat.  Unless we build up a stock of cannon fodder to soak up enemy fire our operations must, by necessity, remain small-scale and highly strategic.

"Nonetheless," he adds, "there are some commonalities that we require whether we intend to concentrate on infiltration, raiding strikes or both.  Primarily, we require an outfitted dropship - shielded, armoured and designed for undetected planet-fall.  We also require suitable armour of extremely high grade - my understanding is that we managed to salvage some stormtrooper armour from our recent raid but we will need more.  A standard weapons and equipment kit for all Talons - consisting, for example, of a high-quality long-range blaster, a close-quarters blaster, med-kit, area jammer, restraints and so on - would also be highly beneficial and would cover gaps that some Talons do not have covered with their personal equipment."

"If anyone is curious," Cor's voice comes through, "his final comment is primarily regarding me.  I own one weapon - an ion pistol.  CC9 has never been... fond of that fact."

Mark nods at CC9 approvingly.  "Now that's what I'm looking for in my officers.  Decisive decisions and new ideas.  Not saying I agree with all of them but that's not the point.  We need that kind of thinking for our ground and space forces."

Praise from the commander not with standing, CC9's comments on their needs already has Mika second guessing her thoughts for a ground commander.  She could probably handle the slicer role and with some study, maybe even the demolitions role, but she wasn't interested in learning sniper rifles or wearing a bunch of stupid armor.  And the equipment pack that CC9 was referencing sounded like it'd be pretty heavy, not all of the Talons were built to pack around a ton of equipment everywhere they go.

Janine spoke up.  "Actually, that sounds like a decision right there.  We can't do much of anything without a ground/boarding force, even if it is just a small stealthy one, so we need to acquire people and equipment for that.  Then move on to upgrading the space force."  She glanced at the droid, then at Zyra.  "We apparently have a first class information gathering team already.  Couple more evening dresses and they should be all set."  She smiled at Zyra and her voice was a little teasing.  Then her expression returned to seriousness.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:15, Fri 13 Sept 2013.

"Sheila's compliments nonwithstanding, I think she's raised an important issue.  You'll remember we said this fixed had two potential recruits for us, a medic and a tank expert.  While we could use two or three more people in the team are these the people we need?  A medic might be useful, depending on his or her skills.  It would free Sheila up to focus more on flying and slicing.  But the tank expert.  Assumedly that person is trained in tanks, perhaps walkers and heavy ordanance.  If stealth and speed are our goals, is this a suitable person for the team?"

"I think we need different kinds of recruits.  A specialist in covert insertion and extractions for one.  I also think we need a 'face'.  Heigren would fit the bill if he decides to stay with us.  We could also use one who has knowledge of the black market to replace Rann."

"Let me know who you think we need and I can let our contact know."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:39, Fri 13 Sept 2013.

"If you so wish, sir, I can write you a thorough report on what we can do to beat the Imperial Navy with fighters. Ground forces, well, I'm more a pilot than an infantry officer, but I can see what I can come up with."

Arin leaned back in his chair. "If I wasn't in the grey area about whether I am alive and a traitor or dead, I could work as a 'face', but I do concur we need one. The things we need for outfitting both our ground and space forces, we can obtain only through black market or by looting them from the Imperials."