After resting and some bonding the Rebels were not idle long. Away from Imperial space they had the freedom to do what they liked.

The local hero Rynn was patted on the back by Corporal Tessus as he finished his report "you did well lad, all credit to you. A lot has changed around here in the last couple of days since Commander Tallon came along. I expect your new friends will shake things up too, stories of their fame is spreading. There's plans for a ceremony of some kind to celebrate in a couple of days. Take a rest until then recruit" he ordered Rynn.

Comfortable with the company of T3 the starship engineer Klyn was searching for the Alabak's Gold checking the inventory and ship rosters he found nothing to indicate the ship was here at all. T3-M8 beeped excitedly to attract Klyn and checking the records T3-M8 had found a report that the Alabak's Gold had been found by a Rebel patrol but repairs or salvage had not yet been scheduled.

They all felt the absence of the Alabak's Gold and returning to the starship would also give them another chance to meet the crystal warriors of planet. Evening saw all four Rebels seated in the cantina discussing their plans for the next day.

Talking with Tera had eased Lyla's dark mood, and she'd enjoyed a long boozy lunch chatting with her friend, rather than a longer, more embarrassing exercise in simply boozing with strangers. Oh, she still wanted to party, but now she could save it for the night where it belonged, and not let these few hours of peace and freedom pass by in a beery blur. After a while, she left Tera to her research and slipped away to explore Neskroff.

Moving beyond the dull, well-defended spaceport and Rebel base areas, Lyla found a flourishing city. It had all been settled by refugees and political exiles of the Empire, so they were pretty open-minded too, though mostly human. They all operated mining, refining, processing, and manufacturing industries that turned minerals into starfighters – most of the Rebel fleet, she'd learned. And in support of all that, it had a very good service trade as well. Great. Lyla needed some pampering, something to erase the icky feeling of the torture chair, to have people work for her comfort and pleasure, not her discomfort and humiliation.

So Lyla whiled away the afternoon at a spa overlooking Neskroff Mesa and the endless dancing rainbows. She enjoyed a luxurious bath with bacta bubbles and eukamint oil that washed away the sand, crystal grit, and blaster grease of the last few days, leaving her bright orange and clean again. She had a manicure and pedicure, smoothing out work-worn nails. She'd told herself she didn't care for this nonsense, but it was part of the service, and had to admit to herself she like feeling like the glamorous, beautiful dancer, not the scruffy nerfherder. And she got an awful lot on credit for being a hero. She even got a massage from a handsome masseur, who eased the kinks and aches from her weary limbs, and stroked her tails from top to tip. After sharing her tale of how she'd saved Isis from obliteration and the people from imprisonment or flight, she'd earned her happy ending...

*

Evening in the cantina, Lyla was radiant and golden, well oiled, and in a much better mood than when she'd started the day. She even had a clean shirt and cargo pants, tight and figure hugging. She was outlining plans for the expedition to the Alabak's Gold and the friendly Gutretee tribe. '...We're gonna need exact coordinates from that patrol, we can't afford to wander. The whole ecology is crystal: plants, animals, people. We can't forage or hunt food, so we have to rely on supplies... The crystal mountains refract light downwards, so it gets hot in the valleys. Remember Tatooine? We'll also need sunshade goggles against glare... We also won't have communications with Neskroff, so we can't get lost...' Lyla realised they'd probably have to take a landspeeder or speeder bikes – but then she lost all interest in the expedition. She wanted to walk, to survive, and to be alone. Simply driving out with all her friends just killed the appeal, took away the challenge.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:00, Sun 05 July 2015.

"We should have some form of commlink with us and tell everyone where we're going so if they don't hear from us they know where to look." Tera looked up from her drin in the cantina, this time alcoholic. She was rather excited to be heading out and meeting the gutretee again, but also to getting to the Gold. She hadn't spent much time on the ship...but it felt more like home than anywhere else she'd been in the last few years.

'Uh, no, it seems the crystals cause interference that disrupt all communications, sensors... It's why they use fibre-optics and fixed com-boxes here.' Lyla had found some time to do a little research too.


OOC: I'm just going by the wiki and what was described in "The Chase" thread.

Klyn was happy to find the rest of the team, mainly because he needed their help to get their ship back. While the others spend their time resting and having fun, he mostly endured the wait.  He did try to get some spare parts for the ship

"I believe we can get some equipment from the base, especially while our good reputation is still fresh."

Rynn showed up from the bar carrying a tray full of drinks, still basking in their celebrity of returning the ship and supplies. "Hey ya'll. Looks like the locals are still showing their gratitude." he said, setting down the drinks and looking around, the smile evident through his voice amplifier even though it couldn't be seen through his bodysuit. "So what's the plan then? You guys going to stick around ISIS? There is talk of a ceremony to celebrate our win."

As they had experienced before all communications on Isis were through fibre optics as the crystals disrupted the transmissions of regular comlinks and also disrupted sensors so that the locating of Alabak's Gold would have to be done from the reports from the Rebel scouts. It was this anomaly in the structure of the planet which made it ideal for the Rebels to hide from the Empire as nothing on the planet could be scanned so the Imperial Survey Corps would have to identify the planet as worthy of further investigation and then send a team to investigate on the planet surface. Something which they had all been personally responsible in preventing from happening any time soon.

At the hangar Klyn is able to requisition a A-A5 speeder truck and scavenges plenty of bit and pieces he calculates he need to get the Alabak's Gold in condition to return it to the base for final repairs and any modifications. The speeder truck had plenty of space for cargo and was durable enough for the harshest conditions the crystal planet could throw at them. Klyn now needed a crew however, to properly drive the speeder they would need three pilots. That left them one short with Klyn and Rynn at the helm.

"Yeah... I know a guy. Ex-Imp, kind of a risk taker but a pretty spot on pilot." Rynn said, when asked about finding another pilot. "I think he'd fit in well here. He's a pretty likable guy. I've flown a bit with him in the past."

'I hope they'll replace everything we lost on the Handree. I had some good gear – it wasn't great, but it was mine.' As a ranger, Lyla owned no more than she could carry, and what she carried represented her life, memories, and heritage. While she'd left some personal effects on the Alabak's Gold, since she'd left in a hurry, the Imperials had confiscated her old Rylothan knife, which she'd lived by since childhood; her favourite entrenching tool; and worst of all, the Girl's Best Friend, her ex–Clone Trooper–issue, army-surplus DC-15A blaster rifle with scope. 'It could be a chance to upgrade, I spose...'



Lyla took her drink with equal gratitude. 'Mmm, I know.' she said with a small grin at her earlier experience of local gratitude, before quickly sipping hers. 'That depends where command sends us next. But it looks like we have some shore leave here for now. They seem to expect us to spend it recovering our ships ourselves – don't forget we gotta dig your starfighter out too.'

'Ooh, a ceremony. Sounds fun. I might even wear a dress for it.' suggested Lyla impishly, for whom clothing was either work-wear or nothing, and as Tera knew she'd shown she was prepared to go with the latter.



'Eh, I dunno – ex-Imperial?' Lyla began reluctantly, before looking apologetically at Tera, whom she rarely thought of as ex-Imperial since finding out. 'No offence, T... But can't you just show us how to drive?'
This message was last edited by the player at 06:52, Tue 07 July 2015.

Tera looked suspiciously at Rynn after frowning at Lylas comment "Do you know where he served? What ship? What unit he served in?" Tera looked at the other apologetically "Some of the people I knew in the Navy were doing it just because it offered the best paycheck and opportunity." she shrugged "I don't know. I guess we'd have to him....and figure out how we're going to pay to get back all of our gear. Frankly I arrived here in an Imperial Navy troopers uniform and I had to borrow clothes to fit in from the med bay."

"If we can't get the gold flying, we could always salvage parts from the imperial ship....between the parts we take out there and the scout vessel. I think we'll find enough between us to get the gold...or something at least flying."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:08, Mon 06 July 2015.

Jason tosses a few more clothes into his backpack before zipping it up, since leaving the empire gathering up his possessions didn't take all that long. Apart from the clothes in his backpack, the rifle set against the wall and the few items stuffed into his utility belt, he didn't own all that much. But then being part of the rebel alliance wasn't something one did to get rich. And really he doesn't need anything else. He's just glad to go out on an assignment that isn't either patrol or guard duty. Those were fine for a while, a short while. But Jason prefers a little more direct action so when he heard Rynn would need another pilot he didn't hesitate to volunteer, it was promising to be far more interesting than staying at the base. And fortunately his superior hadn't given him any trouble or denied his request to help out an old friend. So he throws his backpack over his shoulder, picks up his large blaster rifle and checks to make sure his bunk is empty, then he sets off towards the speeder assigned to this group of 'heroes'. At least everyone around here said they were heroes. He'd see for himself soon enough.

He first heads to the speeder they were supposed to be using, but finding nobody there, he decides the best bet is the cantina. Rynn might be there, and indeed, he spots the man sitting with some others. He tosses the backpack into a corner and places his rifle against it as well, no need to go carrying around a large weapon or war into a rebel cantina. Then he walks over towards Rynn and nods at him and the people he's sitting with.

"Hey Rynn, I spoke with my superior. If you still need a pilot then I'm all yours. He said they can manage without me for a while, and I have to agree, place seems pretty quiet currently"

Then he looks at the others at the table and gives each of them a small respectful nod and making eye contact for a moment before moving on. They seem like pleasant enough beings. But his eyes linger for just a microsecond longer on the Twi'lek woman. Whatever prejudices his father might have tried to drill into him, Jason left those behind along with his rank and imperial service. But his life in an imperial family and with the imperial service has left him with very few experiences interacting for any long periods of time with non-humans. So his interest is merely curiosity.

"So I hear you're all quite the heroes around here. My name is Jason Starflare and it's good to meet you. I understand you're in need of a pilot and if I do say so myself, I'm a pretty good one if you'll have me"

'Oh, the Wanderer.' Lyla remembered. 'That's a Far*Reach IV PQR armed scout-ship. It should have some good gear, maybe even intel for the Alliance. They might even get it going again as an undercover vessel with its Imperial transponder codes.' she suggested, though these ideas covered a lost dream: a scout ship of her own, with which she could explore the galaxy all on her own. She groaned. 'So, that makes three ships we need to salvage and dig out. That's why we need three pilots.'

At the new arrival, she looked up in acknowledgement, and figured his lingering look to be that usually given to Twi'lek women. 'Heroes? Yeah, so everyone tells us. Hi.' she greeted, before realising who he would be. 'Your buddy?' she asked Rynn, a little wary. Being strapped to a chair while too many male Stormtroopers and security guards stood around and watched had only made her less of a fan of Imperials.

"Humm... I didn't think about that one either" said Klyn.
"I'm not sure I have enough parts for the three ships. I didn't really take the time to check the imperial one, maybe it cannot be repaired on site.  In any case, we could transport the X-wing with cables if needed."
His reflexions are interrupted by the arrival of the man mentioned by Rynn.  While the pilot joined their little team 'by accident', and quite literally, Klyn was, like LyLa, a bit unenthusiastic about having another addition.  It took time for him to adapt to new members.

But they needed some recruits once the Gold is fit to fly again. And this mission would serve as a field test... especially for an ex-imperial...

He nodded to welcome the man, a young one apparently. He wondered what happened for him to change his allegiance.

"Not sure what unit he's in..." He was saying to Tera taking a sip of his drink. "But it seems like you can ask him yourself." He said, lifting his glass to be noticed by the pilot that had just walked in.

He nodded to Lyla, "Yep, that's him." He said taking another drink. "Good to see you again, Jason. If you're tired of things being quiet stick with us... always a fair chance of death... and isn't that exciting..." He said draining the rest of his drink.

He turned to Klyn, "I don't think the X-wing was too damaged, just need to unbury it, should be flyable."

Lyla shook her head and tails; she'd had enough excitement and death on the last few missions. 'Nuh-uh. No excitement, no death. Just a road-trip, hiking, salvage, and meeting the Gutretee. And no duels! This is going to be boring.' she insisted flatly. Of course, saying that aloud, it had the air of being a prophecy...

Klyn nodded in agreement: "Yes, and boring is fine at the moment.  Our mission is to save an old and battered friend.   But you might enjoy the scenery."