Flash watched Mika shoot off down the road and shrugged.  Wouldn't have recommended people moving about on their own but they were close to the hospital.

He moved his bike up next to Devon.  "So what's the plan?  Grab three, dump Miss Sunshine, that I've got.  But how do you want to handle the spaceport?"

"Am I your captive now and if so, what are your plans for me?" It was a valid question, after all. She sat up, feeling the residual ache in the back of her head, result of the energy burst that had shorted her out. Now would vlearly be a good time for an explanation, if any. She offered a glare at Kyvarr, who, unlike Heigren, seemed far less friendly and had been one of the three who had taken a shot at her.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:49, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

Heigren shook his head.  "As promised, we've reached a safe location.  We're just outside Det Akari General Hospital.  You're gear is outside on your swoop bike.  You're free to go."

"So, you take a shot at me, abduct me and drop me off at a different location? Quite a taxi service you people run. What was the point of all this, anyway?" The woman seemed to be at a loss, and no wonder. It all must have sounded rather peculiar - even more so, having been said out loud.

Dohr was relieved to get the truck safely to the hospital. Though he was a soldier by training, he didn't wish to put his team (as the Talons were for now at least) at unnecessary risk. And with his driving skills a combat situation would have turned into a risky one for himself, Kyvarr, Vyn and the Chiss woman in the back even without direct incoming fire. He could only wish their luck remained equally good for the rest of the trip to the spaceport. The doctor left the engine running, but hit the hover hold button to keep the truck immobile. He then followed Kyvarr's example and hopped out of the cockpit.

Limping to the back, Dohr jumped up quite effortlessly inspire of his bad leg. To anyone paying any heed to him, it was obvious that the limp hindered the Kel Dorian a lot less than his gait and the cane would imply. He laid a hand on Kyvarr's shoulder as if to ask her to remain calm. The gesture was meant for both the Cathar and the Chiss. He simply wanted the stranger to understand she was in no danger from their behalf. Even if things hadn't gone quite as he would've hoped at the ACE station, everyone would have to simply push it away from their minds - himself included.

Dohr bowed to Idaya and sat down into a seiza position in front of her beside Heigren and Kyvarr. "Let me start by apologizing for the… somewhat hasty actions of my companions. We are under under stress and in great hurry at the moment, so the threshold of taking action can be quite low…"

The doctor offered his hand in the human way of greeting and continued: "So let us begin anew. Doctor Dohr Veen, at your service. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. And here are Mr. Teckla and Hammer. Might I inquire your name?"

"I am Idaya", the blue-skinned woman said. The gesture of shaking hands seemed new to her, but she still offered her hand reciprocically. "And you are not the only ones under stress on this planet. The reason I fired that warning shot was because I thought you were members of the same gang, I had already had several firefights with and whose dead littered the front of the station. I simply wanted to ensure my own security and that of the wounded ACE officer at the station, thus the manacles on Mr. Teckla. And though he did convince me with his initial story, the more he spoke, the less it was believable. You must understand my side of the whole thing - if you were alone, having been under attack for quite some time, and people claiming to be local soldiers came to you, only to turn out to be something else they claimed, would you hand over your weapons and take their word for not harming you?"

The woman changed her pose, shaking her head slightly. "However, I extended my trust to you by coming out where I could have simply manned the rather good firing position and weeded out a number of you in the eventuality, you would have chosen to attack the station - and for what? To be shot at, despite not acting in a hostile manner. We Chiss do not do pre-emptitive strikes, but if attacked, we do defend ourselves. I hoped, I had made that clear."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:38, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

Kyvarr growled.  This constant whining was getting on her nerves.

"You made yourself real clear.  Now let me make it clear for you.  You are FREE. . .TO. . .GO.  Your gear is. . .OUT. . .SIDE.  We have battles to fight.  Go find a shrink to tell your tale of woe to."

She hadn't meant to cut in on Heigren but she couldn't believe this woman went on so much about unimportant rubbish.  If she was one of Kyvarr's troops. . .well the Cathar allowed herself a few moments imagining that.  It was a pleasant thought.

Fiarr had been watching the local area closely.  It had paid off as she spotted their special intruder.

She spoke on the comm.  "Seven.  There's a probe droid observing us.  Not one of your M4's.  This one is larger and round.  It's also trying to remain unseen.  Do you want me to engage?"

Kyvarr's growling comment was not unexpected. She was a Cathar after all. And she hadn't cut the Chiss into pieces with he claws yet, so that was positive too. But her words were not helping. Anger was not what they all needed right now.

"Yes I agree, it was not something I would have done. But please, try to leave that behind at least for a while. And yes, like Hammer kindly mentioned, you are naturally free to go. But I believe the person currently in charge of this… operation… would also like to have another civilized word with you. However, I do not think he wishes to carry on the argument that was already closed, even if emphatically. There may be a chance to have that discussion later on, should you care to listen to what he has to say."

Dohr reached for his commas and was about to call Devon, when he heard Fiarr go online. It was not good news. The new probe was definitely not one of ACE's as there would be no need for them to hide. There were other well resourced individuals, groups and companies who might employ such devices. Even some of the gangs might have probe droids in their use. But Dohr had no idea why any of them would be so interested in their little group.

He waited until Devon had responded and then activated his comlink. "Seven, Doc here. Our guest is awake. I believe there was something you wished to discuss with her?"

Devon was stood by his bike, stretching out some of the aching muscles he'd picked up over the course of the day.
"huh?" said Devon, straightening up to look at Flash - the shipjacker looked tired and stressed and - with Flash at least - was making no attempt to hide it.
"Frakk knows - best plan we've got so far is Hammer's idea to take out a strong point and then turn its guns on the enemy.  Maybe we take it by stealth, maybe we straight up assault it... insufficient data.   We're going to need to do some recon when we get closer.  Guess Fiarr and the droids are gonna be our go-to for that."


When Fiarr called across on the comms, Devon glanced round at the Bothan and totally failed to spot the lurking droid.
Thinking rapidly he spoke into his commlink.
"No.  No shooting near the hospital - we can always kill it further down the road.  And describe it for Eleven - she might be able to give us a make on it, which may give us an idea who sent it."

Devon remounted his bike and continued talking into his comms.
"OK people, someone's trying to spy on us so its time we left.  Everyone who hasn't got a bike, in the speeder or the truck.  And someone give Two a commlink - I want at least one comm per vehicle."

Astride his bike, Devon looked round to make sure he hadnt forgotten anything before he answered Dohr's query.
"Yeah - you an' Vyn pitch this offer and nothing else:  her whole-hearted co-operation until we get off planet - no arguments and she follows the chain of command without question.  I'll decide what the chain of command is.  In return we offer transportion to a mutually agreed destination.  Destination to be decided only once we are safely away.  If she wont agree to that, then this is her stop.  No negotiations."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:01, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

"Roger that, Seven"

I will decide what the chain of command is… Very well, Mr. Seven. I will accept your leadership until we get off this world and meet with your superiors. It will make things easier.

Dohr lowered his comms and turned his eyes back to Idaya. "So let me pass you the suggestion as I am in a fairly similar situation as yourself… As you may or may not know, the spaceport is under a siege of sorts. The gangs have arranged two barricades at the entrances and getting in means getting through those barricades by some means. While we are quite ready to assault them by ourselves, we would really appreciate the help of an excellent shot such as yourself."

The doctor let the words sink in for a couple of seconds before carrying on: "In exchange for your assistance, Seven and his team are willing to provide you a lift of this world to a safe destination agreed later on. But there is a catch of course. Not a bad one, but one nevertheless. Should you agree to join us, you will have to subordinate yourself to their chain of command and agree to co-operate fully until we get off Det Akari."

"Oh and we need the answer right now."

"Just so you know, the droid is mine. Once I get my commlink that is situated in my helmet, I will ask it to stand down", the woman said. "It is on orders to simply observe for now, so there is no threat from it."

She raised her brow a bit att he offer. "Considering the state of the planet, it would be tactically unwise to deny the request. All I ask, I am given the courtesy, you would extend to any other member of your team and to be treated fairly. In return of a voyage off this planet, I will offer my tactical and martial skills. Now, I suppose my speeder and gear is somewhere outside the vehicle, so I can get my flight suit back on. This bodyglove is a tad exposing to my preferrence." It was an understatement, really, as the bodygloves, usually worn underneath spaceproof flight suits like the one she had been wearing, tended to be very form-fitting and there was no question about her shapes, not that they were not pleasant to watch.

In reply to Mika Trake (msg # 6):

Sheila nodded "thank you,". and climbed on the back of the speeder.

Kyvarr rolled her eyes.  "You 'suppose' your vehicle and gear are outside?  Vyn there told you your gear is outside on your bike.  I told you your gear is outside.  You might want to start listening what is said to you.  Battle has no time for repeating yourself and battle is where we are likely headed."

She pushed open the back doors and limped out.

Mika makes a slow return to the others, hoping that they'll work out the wrinkles with the blue woman.  "so, what happened to you, Janine?  We found where the taxi crashed and some blood.  We went looking for you, but CC9 said you'd been hauled off in an ambulance.  Figuring out where they had stuck you was on our short list of things to do."

The battle droid gets out of his speeder and stomps directly up to his immediate superior, waiting for a lull in the conversation before speaking his synthetic mind.  "As you are no doubt aware the debate surrounding the Chiss is an unproductive use of time," CC9 states flatly to Devon.  "We have no calculated need of her.  If she continues to be a disruptive influence I suggest leaving her behind.  Also, re-evaluating the plan at this stage is counter-productive.  If we have delayed enough at this stop-point I propose that we use the M4 droids to create a gas grenade smoke screen as earlier suggested, their launchers suitable for the task's parameters, and avoid combat if possible by moving quickly before the gang members have time to recover.  If required I will run my speeder into the barricades to create a suitable distraction while the team escapes.  If that does not get their attention I doubt anything will."

Dohr shakes his head slightly as Kyvarr storms out of the truck. "Never mind Hammer. She is… well, a Cathar."

"Your request is not unreasonable. As long as you accept and respect the chain of command, you will be treated with the same courtesy we all are. I suggest you get outside, put on your gear and report to Seven. He's the human male on a speeder bike. We need to move out as soon as Three gets here."

It was quite clear, the Chiss had simply ignored the Cathar and would probably continue doing so in the future, if she did not change her tone towards the blue-skinned woman. She simply gave Dohr a polite nod before heading out and towards her speederbike, from which she unloaded her flight suit and proceeded to slip back in to it. It didn't take very long before she stood in the black suit of armour again. She checked the power pack on her strange-looking blaster (or at least that was what it probably was) and apparently summoned the black, orblike droid, the same one that had been observing the Talons, to her. It resumed hovering close to her, as if she had been a star and it had been orbiting it.

Fiarr saw the blue-skinned alien approach and gave a respectful nod.  The rifle was in her hands but it was not pointed at the Chiss.  Her eyes also only met Idaya's for a second, the rest of the time they continued to scan the rooftops and streets.  She was clearly on watch for trouble.

"Idaya right?  I'm Fiarr.  Your bike and gear are here, exactly as you left them.  I took extra care with your swoop."

When Idaya called the droid over, the Bothan relaxed a little.  "That explains why it was following us.  Good thing, I was planning to subdue it.  I doubted that gangers would operate probe droids but then again who would have thought gangers could destabilise an entire city?"

"Pleased to meet you, Fiarr, though I wish the circumstances were a bit different", Idaya said politely. It was quite apparent, the woman was of both breeding and high education, not to mention somewhat an alien to the galactic culture. "You are quite observant to catch even a glimpse of it - they are built for stealth, after all. And the bike, as well as the droid, are really owned by the Chiss Expansionary Defence Force rather than me, but I do appreciate them being returned in their original condition."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:09, Fri 28 Mar 2014.

Fiarr chuckled.  "I think we all expected this day to be a little different.  I was waiting at a hotel cafe with Kyvarr to have an interview with this team.  We were hoping to sign on.  Then the hotel exploded!  Kyvarr, that's the Cathar with the winning personality by the way, broke her leg.  She risked her life to save civilians and myself."

"Now here we are.  Instead of an interview I'm submitting my application through deeds.  Makes sense though.  These guys have a ship in the spaceport and Kyvarr and I want off this rock.  So wether they take me on after this or not, at least we get offworld."

She spared a glance back at Idaya.  "Well I'd better find my new transport since you'll want your bike back.  Now they've picked up their team member they'll want to move out.  If you're staying you'd better get instructions from Seven.  He's the human male talking to the Duros, the one who ordered you stunned.  Why don't you come with me to see him."

Fiarr headed for Devon to find out her new orders.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Fri 28 Mar 2014.

Heigren sighed.  He'd expected the angry tirade from Idaya but it didn't make it any easier.  Clearly while the Chiss expected people to be polite to her, she didn't feel she needed to reciprocate.  He hadn't seen that kind of bigotry since escaping the Empire.

He was surprised Idaya was agreeing to help the Talons.  Still it was the best way off this planet.  Though he wondered how she'd go taking orders.  He'd seen the way she'd responded to Kyvarr.  The Cathar was a soldier and seemed to act like one.  So if Idaya couldn't get along with her, how would she handle more undisciplined members like Flash and even Devon?  Not well he imagined.

Still, that wasn't his problem right now.  The spaceport was the problem.  Though at this point he couldn't imagine how his skills might be of use for breaking a blockade.

Flash nodded.  "I tend to agree with CC9.  She's probably going to be a bigger pain in the ass then we need right now.  Still let's give her a chance.  I've been called worse then a pain in the butt before and the boss gave me a shot.  If she's too much trouble we can dump her."

"We should get moving.  The sooner we get to the spaceport the better.  If we're going with the M4's firing grenades idea didn't the kitty mention she needs to modify the grenades somehow?  We should get her to do that enroute."

Flash was still astride his bike, awaiting the order to go.

"yeah, and we didn't even shoot you."    grinned Devon then quietly told Flash and CC9: "We dont need her, but we can use her - and I agree, we'll ditch her if she doesnt keep her end the deal.  Ok, lets get organized here."

Devon closed his eyes for a moment, conjouring up memories of the many harangues he'd seen Mark deliver, then he raised his voice to address the group as a whole.
"Ok - unless we come up with a better idea once we see what we're up against; the plan is to use the M4s to dump gas grenades on the enemy to create some confusion then we blast straight through their line in our vehicles without slowing down.  Shoot as we need to, but don't get dragged into a protracted fight.  If you have to shoot, shoot to kill.  Dont mess around.  Eleven will make sure that the spaceport defenders know we are coming and dont gun us down."

Devon pointed to Kyvarr. "Hammer - you need to be modifying those grenades ready for the droids.  Set up shop in the back the truck - both M4 droids, in the back of the truck.  Doc, I think I heard you say you could assist?  Anyone whos on a speeder bike, make sure you got a comm and a pistol - I also want one commlink in both the truck and the speeder.  We've got two rifles - so I want CC9 in the speeder and Fiarr in the truck with rifles to act as shooters.  Vyn, you drive the truck; Three, take the speeder but give your commlink to Idaya - CC9s got an internal comm."

Devon paused for a moment, thinking.
"Ok, bikers - we're the perimeter.  Two, you're on point.  Ten, rear-guard. I'll be on right flank.  Which puts you on the left, Idaya - and I want that shiny spydroid of yours up front blazing trail for us.  Droids are easier to replace than Duros maniacs."

Mounting his bike, Devon looked around to make sure everything was organized properly before giving Flash the signal to move out.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Sat 29 Mar 2014.

"Let's do it!"  Flash called excitedly.

"Okay Three, give me a hundred metre lead.  Only close up if you lose sight of me.  Next stop, Det Akari Spaceport, or somewhere close by."

"Idaya, wanna get that droid going?  We'll be moving at the maximum speed the truck can manage so your droid needs to go faster then that!"