The battle droid, who indeed didn't respond to Devon's joke (either because it didn't understand it or because it thought it wasn't very funny) starts calculating kill routines to pass the time.  Every guard's gotta have something.

Cor, trying to keep herself distracted, responds to Mika's query.  "Noted, Engineering.  We will be touching down on a deserted rock with just enough atmosphere to allow the speeders to function properly, and will rendezvous with the Nightshrike there.  I gather Ms Jax wisely does not want this transport going anywhere near populated space until we have sorted out its identification and signals."

In reply to Devon Kismet (msg # 39):

Mika shrugs.  "Actually, I'm already patched in to the computer core and making some good headway cracking the command codes.  Bet you 10 credits I'll have it beat in less than 20 minutes."  She shows Devon e information on the datapad, so that he can verify her read of things or point out anything she's overlooked.

Arin looked at cards. "So, should you guys win, what'd you get first with the credits? I'd probably get some more decent and comfortable clothing - all I have is this borrowed jumpsuit." So far, it would seem, the newcomer wasn't really going to say very much about himself or his background. Of course, Rann had an idea about who he was, though he hardly knew much more than hehadlearned on the field.

Heigren shrugged.  "Food, medicine, shelter, maybe bribes to officials.  Really depends where the Captain of this vessel drops us.  We're totally at his or her mercy.  Still it beats facing another squad of stormtroopers.  Present company excepted of course."

He looked at his cards, then he threw some credits on the table.  "I call."

"I never was an actual stormtrooper - just ordered to lead the squad as a sort of a punishment. Ratting out my CO for shooting innocent civilians didn't really do much good for my career. It' funny how it works - the CO practically got a pat on his back and I was shipped to a backwater planet for garrison duty that also required me to serve as infantry. So much for easy life as a flyboy."

Arin slapped some credits on the table as well. "I'm in."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:20, Tue 31 July 2012.

Heigren chuckled.  "You end up a stormtrooper for trying to help innocent civilians and now you're on the run for doing the same thing!  You humans never learn do you." It is clear from his tone he's joking.

He waves at Rann.  "Your bet Mister Mysterious."

Upon hearing shelia's answer, the wookie again growls a few short growls. "Thank you. i wi..." the Droid then issues static. Grayrhynn growls to himself, and glares at the Droid. He nods to Shelia, and then walks out of the port cargo area. He looks around and goes into the starboard cargo area. Spotting the only person he knew, Heigran, he walks over to the group and watches the sabac game. Grayrhynn never understood the game, but appreciated the skill.

Grayrhynn let a small growl escape, and nodded to Heigran. He knew that most were human here, and probably part of the rescue team. He knew this was a perfect time to see what these guys can do.  Grayrhynn's Droid, floating just behind him, beeped, and the woo ie closed his eyes and shook his head.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:35, Tue 31 July 2012.

"We learn alright. We humans just do it running head first at the wall a couple of times just to make sure it is there. After that we probably won't try it again for the same wall but find another one and repeat." Arin grinned as well.

"Gray!" Heigran calls warmly as he sees the Wookie approach.

"Guys, this is Gray.  Met up with him a few weeks ago and I can tell you he's handy to have around when the stormies come knocking.  Gray this is um. . .I just realised I have no idea of either of your names!"

The wookie growls in greeting to the group, slapping his friend on the shoulder for his kind words. He saw the zeltron as a friend more than a teammate. He managed a smile at Heigran and nodded to them all.

Arin nodded at the wookie."The name's Arin. Maybe your friend might want to join the next round of our game?"

Devon stares at the datapad without really seeing it for a moment or two, then blinks several times and rereads what he had just stared blankly at.  He grins.
"No bet." he tells Mika.  "And I think your right.  And I think we can do it in a lot less than twenty if we try."  He plonks his mug down next to the plate and hops off the crate he had been sat on.
"Let's get this done." he says as he activated his own datapad and networked it to Mikas. "There, now we got more processing power if we need it.  You wanna do the datawork and I'll handle hardware?"

<Four hours later>

The next few hours moved in a blur of motion.  The sabaac players only got to finish one hand before Xil called Rann away to help with moving of supplies.  With nothing better to do Arin, Heigren and Grayrhynn pitched in.

In engineering Mika and Devon quickly got the command codes reset and programmed so the Talons had control.  They weren't able to replace the transponder codes as they needed time to go through databases and either create one or 'borrow' and existing code.

The transport's destination proved to be a small planetoid with a limited atmosphere.  The air was thin but managable.  Quickly the group offloaded the stormtrooper speeder before the transport took off again.  Inside the speeder was all the Talons, along with the critically wounded aliens, Aryan's body, Heigran, Arin and Grayrhynn.  Heigren was staying to keep an eye on the wounded aliens, Grayrhynn electing to stay with his Zeltron friend.  Arin, knowing his best hopes of survival lay with the mercenaries had also come along.

Zyra had stayed on board to Ghtroc transport along with Raana, the refugees and the two speeders.  Her plan was to relocate the aliens to a new world and then return.  The moment the ship was cleared it lifted off into space.

The cargo elevator on the Nightshrike was down and Xil drove the speeder straight in.  The entire speeder was lifted into the cargo bay and the hatch sealed.

There was a flurry of motion as Cor's droids came to assist.  PK droids immediately began unloading stock and providing stretchers.  A 2-1B medical droid arrived and began to assist Sheila with the wounded.  A pair of B1 battle droids stood around looking all. . .battle-droidy.

Through the cargo bay, an authorative voice rang through the intercom.  "Debriefing, twenty minutes.  Cor, you have permission to remote.".  Several of the Talons frowned.  The commander did not sound happy.

With the droids do so much of the work the team had time to grab a quick bite to eat, freshen up and change clothes.  All except Arin who had no clothes to change in to.

Every Talon was in the dining room in less than twenty minutes.  It was well known by the Talons you didn't make the commander wait when he was in a bad mood.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:20, Sat 11 Aug 2012.

Mark walks into the dining room exactly at the alotted time and sits at the head of the table.

He nods to Arin, Heigren and Grayrhynn.  "I've received a quick breifing from my XO on you three, we'll get to you soon."

He turns to the others.  "For now, the rest of you can explain your actions.  I send you on a simple recon mission.  Watch a fuel refinery, observe their movements.  Should have been a cakewalk for a single Talon."

He consults a datapad.  "Instead I have one dead Talon, three missing.  I have my XO bailing you out.  I have firefights across a planet.  What I don't seem to have is any data on a refinery.  What the Sith happened down there?"

Cor sits quietly in her chair, hands folded in her lap.  She's changed into her more standard work clothes and wears wraparound sunglasses to the meeting, her pale skin ever so slightly pinkish from the extremely hot shower she had recently.

She is, as she almost always is, unarmed.

Having no way of explaining things to the Commander she keeps quiet, her expression blank, her datapad carefully placed in front of her on the table.

Grayrhynn was both suprised and pleased by the leadership this man showed, as well as the respect that his men showed him as a leader. The man, though blunt and authorative, was by far one of the better commanders he had seen or served under.

The wookie stood inpassive to the side, arms behind his back and listening to teh debriefiing.

His initial notice was to their fallen comrade, from what he could surmise, a gungan and a warrior of some skill.  From the pieces he's patched together, he died in battle saving some aliens.  Even tholugh he generally thought gungans a 'flighty' race, this wrrior died with honor, and he respected him for it.

As things went though, his thoughts drifted to the missions the team had been on.  He knew of one, the one some of the aliens have talked about, rescuing aliens from stormtroopers...the one this gungan was a part of.  Though he died, and some aliens perished, some also got away.

But now, this other mission, a simple recon, causing havoc was interesting, and though he was curious to see what had gone wrong, he also knew in the heat of battle, sometimes plans changed.

The wookie however showed no outward sign of this....he stood to the side looking at the group, the  commander and listened.

CC9 can't answer that question either.  He stands by the door as a guard might, his blaster rifle pointed at the floor.  He hasn't had a shower but he has had a short recharge, and keeps a close visual sensor on the three unknowns in the room.

A9 is also present, standing beside Cor's chair.  The droid is uncharacteristically quiet and mostly looks between the Commander and Cor.

Mika had been glad for the help, but couldn't resist a quuip about Devon not electricuting himself while slicing the new command codes.

As they offloaded, she gave a snort.  To Devon, "Oh sure, we go to all the effort to jack the ship, get the command codes all sorted out and what happens, Zyra jacks it out from under us."

Given a few minutes before the briefing, Mika runs off to not only grab a quick change of clothes, but to take a turn in the fresher.  The sewer hadn't been as disgusting as it might have been, but it was nice to feel fully clean again.  Despite her edforts, her new set of clothes look much the same, gray, baggy coveralls, boots scuffed to the point that thei color could only be guesses. The blaster is still at her belt though.

Arin nodded at the apparent leader of the outfit in reply and greeting and stood back. He listened to his new comrades being chewed by the man, apparently partially for a good reason. Of course, Arin had is part in the setback, though it had not been his choice to be there in the first place. He was tired and content, he wasn't being chewed up just now, and stood there listening with one of the B1 droids standing somewhere nearby.

"We failed to have a place for the refugees to go before we got to them, I was unable to find a place.  If we had, we could have left immediately.  They had nowhere to go, we didn't feel we oculd just leave them with the warning, and we took too long to get the speeder to get away, at that point, we did the only thing we could and Aryan died doing it."

She was beginning to wish she had been killed along with Aryan, she said we, but really, it was her fault, she was the slicer and that was that.  Of course, the last few hours had been too busy to think about that for more than a few minutes at a time, but right now, she was able to think about it.  Maybe she should resign.

Mark turned to Sheila, a slight softening of his features.  "Aryan died defending those who could not defend themselves.  There is no shame in that.  Also reading over the XO's report, Aryan was in charge of that mission, not you.  But we digress."

"The fact is you never should have even needed to go there.  Your mission was in Seba Grove.  Go in, recon the refinery and leave.  No shots fired, no suspicions raised.  What the Sith happened to Sloan?  He requested and had command of the mission."



OOC: You may (or may not) recall Darvin Sloan was in charge of the mission.  He and Merreck Toluga disappeared without trace when things started to go bad (i.e. when Xil and Aryan fell afoul of the cops.  Darvin and Merreck weren't with them.  Rann saw them last at a bar but he left to regroup, the other two were meant to follow but never did.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:30, Wed 01 Aug 2012.

Heigren nudges Arin in the ribs and nods towards the commander.  "Bit of killjoy isn't he?" he whispers.  "Totally needs to get laid.  Or drunk.  Or both."

Arin shook his head and spoke in a low tone. "He is, if I am not completely off, the commanding officer of these people and he is well within right to ask them questions, especially if the mission went sour. It is his perogative. If his people have strayed from the mission he sent them on, no matter how good their intentions, he has a very good reason to ask."

Arin was quiet for a moment. "As for your suggestions, maybe so, but he has other concerns right now."