Xil, who had arrived late to the briefing but had heard most of the plan, inclined his head to Mark by way of apology. He still expected to be reprimanded for the lapse.

The plan sounded simple enough, down the stormtroopers, have the rest of the crew surrender and sent off in an escape pod, take the ship to their planned rendezvous location. "Do we have an idea on trooper numbers per freighter?" he asked.

"We expect three stormtroopers and eight Imperial Navy crew."  CC9 then states, "In such confined quarters three makes little difference compared to four.  It is only in the case of the troopers retreating and spreading out that additional numbers may become... problematic.  If the trooper armour can be salvaged that is an additional bonus, whether it is salvaged or adjusted for Talon use."

Heigran poured himself a generous glass of whiskey, downed it in one shot then poured another.  When Zyra suggested she had 'better uses' for him he just grinned broadly and winked suggestively.

Arin nodded at the plan. It was pretty much what he had expected and should work. The problem of not knowing the number of escorting fighters made him a bit uneasy, especially as the TIEs could easily outfly the older fighters used by the Black Talons. Then again, using the missiles against the TIEs would even things at least a bit.

"I don't think, I would really need to say this, but I'll say it anyway to make sure", he finally said. "Raider Wing should stay in pairs, covering each other. If you are caught alone by a TIE, you are pretty much toast, so keep your wingman under constant cover. If need be, the other pair should move in to assist as well, if the situation permits."

After a small pause he continued. "My plan is, Six and I use two missiles on the TIEs to begin with, so we keep at least two of them preoccupiued for a moment, if we don't outright manage to kill them. That should provide us two to one superiority in numbers, if my estimate of the number of the escort fighters is correct. The TIE-pilots there might not be the most experienced at the garrison, but they are still professionals and we better not forget that."

passive nature? he thinks. He let's a little snarl escape,  then speaks to the group, but clearly addresses cc9. His Droid translate. "Be wary Droid. Your assumption of me being passive is far from true. I'm a soldier, and follow orders of my superiors. Don't mistake a sense of structure for a quiet nature.  And, rest assured, if you think i'm 'passive' wookie, you are very wrong."

"Talon Eight, you will refer to me by my correct designation of 'B2-CC9' or 'CC9', not 'droid'".  The droid's voice is just as it always is but he turns fully to face the wookiee.  "You claim to be a soldier and yet your statement to 'be wary' is a veiled threat against a mission superior.  This threat has been logged.  Cease blustering and pay attention to the meeting.  Your ego can wait."

Then he turns back to face the meeting, clearly of the opinion that the matter, for now at least, is settled.

Mark made no comment of the interplay between CC9 and Grayrhynn.  Instead he turned to Arin.

"Five is right about not being caught alone.  This is why we will use the Tallon Weave to our advantage.  We shall run some drills in the simulator to help people become familiar with it, especially incorporating a cruiser into the maneuver."

"As for the missiles, I leave it to you to judge at the time.  Do not be wasteful, but neither put your pair at risk.  If you face overwhelming numbers use them all.  If we face lesser numbers then save some missiles should we get unexpected guests.  Do not plan to heavily now as you wont know what you face until we are there."

Grayrhynn lets out a little growl, but remains silent.

Mika gives a grimace, annoyed that yet another little spat is developing among members of the group.  Of course, it doesn't occur to her that her own annoyance with Arin's earlier meeting could be seen as much the same by a less than friendly appraisal.

But as she would be co-pilot on the 'Shrike, she'd have to put in a bit of time in the sims to figure out this Talon Weave thing.  "When will the sims be ready for us?"

Seeing the conversation wasn't focusing on tactics he spoke up.

"If there are no more questions you are dismissed.  We leave in ten hours so make sure you have everything ready by then and grab some rack time."

"Sims're ready whenever, Tallon Weave is easy to practice."  Flash shrugs carelessly.  "Two friendlies an' an enemy and you've got the basics.  For this, two wing-pairs and a bunch of TIEs, no problem."  He looks over at Mark.  "How long've we got to prepare, Commander?"

Mark stared at Flash for a long moment.  "Ten hours."

Flash looks a little confused at Mark's stare, as if he hadn't heard how long they had because he was speaking to Mika.  "Right, I'm off, then."  He gets up and leaves swiftly, heading straight for the simulators.

Mika gets up as well and heads on towards the sims.  It shouldn't take more than an hour or two to figure out how to put a capital ship in to a snub ship maneuver, at least from what she'd heard.  And she was co-pilot after all, not the primary, but still she'd best know what's what if she ended up at the controls.

Arin stood up with the others as well. He knew of the Tallon Weave even though he never had had to use it in combat, thanks to the quick and agile TIE-fighter. He followed Flash to the simulator.

"I suppose we will need to work in pairs when flying in the simulator. We'll alternate in flying the TIEs for now."

"Like hell," Flash says bluntly.  "We haven't got time to be flying any of the TIEs now.  Schedule's changed, kid.  We put the TIEs on auto and hammer the Weave out best we can.  Then we get rack time like the Commander says, 'cause flyin' tired is gonna get someone killed."

Once at the sims he starts punching in the setup - the four Talon fighters against two TIEs.

Arin disagreed with Flash - the Weave was important to learn, but having only simulated enemies flying against you would greatly diminish the learning value of the whole thing. A this point, he was too frustrated with the Duros to even try. He felt, there was probably going to be trouble with that hotshot.

But regardless, he sat in to the simulator pod and was determined to show his worth.

Grayrhynn sat passively until the commander called the briefing to a close. The wookie was angry and frustrated at the Droid, but he knew he was right...his ego could wait.


...and destroying the Droid in front of the commander wouldn't go down well.

He was determined to train with exilim once this was over...and use his bowcaster with some target practice.

"If my presence is required I shall be weapons testing for the next three hours.  Any Talons skilled in crafting armour are requested to speak to me."  With that he turns and stomps out.  He makes no motion or word toward the wookiee - nor anyone else, for that matter.  He does, however, activate his commlink.  "B1-AE5, continue your patrol.  B1-AE3, you are required for weapons testing."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:25, Wed 24 Oct 2012.

Cor slips from her chair and then looks about the room briefly.  "I will be in my quarters," she says shortly.  Then, unless stopped, she heads out.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:26, Wed 24 Oct 2012.

Devon sat quietly through the briefing, munching on a pastry and saying nothing - though his eyebrows were quite eloquent at times.  By the end of the briefing he found himself with several questions he wanted answered... most irrelevant of which was him still being undecided on whether or not CC9 had a sense of humour.

As the briefing ended, Devon scooped up another pastry, refilled his mug of caf and ambled out in gentle pursuit of his battledroid team leader.  Catching up with the B2, Devon matched its pace.
"I'll help with the masks where I can," he told the droid by way of greeting,  "But if I were you I'd ask Mika to take a look too."

"I asked everyone to 'take a look'," CC9 says clearly.  He doesn't slow or stop but Devon can easily keep pace with him anyway.  "Mika Trake will assist or not as she chooses.  Your assistance is appreciated.  What skill do you have in crafting?"

OOC: In relation to the masks CC9 wants.  Every Talon who wishes to help should indicate how much time you dedicate to this.  You have 10 hours before battle.  Remember though some of you have other tasks and you might also want to sleep (it's now evening so anyone who chooses not to sleep will be fatigued in the battle).  Once I know who is helping (and for how long) I can make craft checks.

CC9 will also have to decide what kind of masks he wants as various kinds will take longer than others.

Grayrhynn got up from the meeting and went to the target practice range. Using his bowcaster, he practice for a while, then with his hands.

Grayrhynn then went to bed to rest for the mission.

Mika gives some thought.  First, a bit of time in the sims, an hour should be more than enough.  Then she could spend an hour or two on crafting the masks.  That'd give others some time to figure out what they want in terms of a mask, but they'd best keep it simple if they want to crank out a bunch in the short time frame.  Then she'd settle down for about six hours, giving herself a good hour to get up and get functional before they take off.