Heigran allowed Sheila to take his arm without a witty retort, which was incredibly unusual for the Zeltron.  His eyes kept darting around, his face a mask of wonder. . .and apprehension.

"There would be plenty of cargo space for swoops," CC9 notes.  "They would be extremely useful for a variety of tasks."  He seems content to plod along passively intimidating the locals for now.  He does keep a close eye on the surroundings, though.

Mark had been in a bad mood since planetfall and everyone knew why.  When passing through customs and being asked his name, he'd gone red then answered "Rainbow Blossomdancer", with mixed smirks and snickers from the Talons.

The commander stood quietly, glaring frequently at Zyra and waiting for their hotel transport to arrive.

Zyra ignores Mark's glares.

"Well have fun all of you.  Remember all medical bills come out of your own money.  Comm if you need anything."

Without much ado the transport arrives - a simple enclosed speeder van with plenty of space for passengers and equipment - and after a short period of packing it takes the Talons off and through the streets.

Airspeeders pass overhead in regular streams, guided by flight regulator paths, while the transport powers along the ground at a steady pace.  Traffic is heavy but doesn't tend to slow down much and during the trip the Talons have time to watch their surroundings.  Buildings tower overhead.  It's a very urban planet.  Neon hologram signs pulse and buzz, advertising the wares of the shops about, lurid and fantastic in the morning gloom.  Aba Shen, the city they're in, knows how to advertise.  There are even touchscreens in the back of the van's seats so that passengers can look up local businesses and attractions of all kinds.

It takes about half an hour to get to the hotel but when they look back the way they came it seems they're not that far from the spaceport they just left.  Either way the Blue Pulsar Hotel towers above them, one hundred and ninety floors of glittering architecture, gleaming and ready to serve them.  A pair of door guards wait to let them in and, inside, bellhop droids roll around to and fro.  Everything has blue accents and many feature the Blue Pulsar logo, a decorative blue star in a double-circle.  It's a simple enough matter to check in - IDs are checked by a pair of receptionists (a Twi'lek and a Cerean, both female) and the two droids are registered as belonging to the guests - and after a quick weapons check the Talons are guided through the foyer into an elevator.  One droid takes their luggage and the other guides them up.

The bellhop droids are distinctive and clearly custom-made.  They resemble humanoids of no particular species with simple circular blue photoreceptors in round heads.  A slim neck leads down to a pear-shaped body; a little over half of them seem modelled as female, the rest male.  Each has four arms and rolls about on sturdy wheels.  The one that takes their luggage first backs up to a trolley and with a magnetic 'snap!' connects to it as if it were an extension of its own body.  Perhaps it is now.  It takes a service elevator rather than the guest elevator.

Up on the one hundred and twenty-seventh floor the bellhops show them to their quarters and unload their luggage.

"Please," says the 'male' droid that guided them up, "if you need anything just contact reception or flag down a passing bellhop."

"Enjoy your stay at the Blue Pulsar!" the 'female' with attached trolley says in a cheery tone.  "We're here to serve!"

In unison they both turn and head off into the service elevator leaving the Talons, for the moment, to their own devices.

Mark grumbled something under his breath and moved to his allocated room, the door closing quickly behind him.

"I have a few locations for music, Flash," Cor's voice comes over the Talon comms, "I'll forward them to your datapad now.  I have a couple of things I would like to buy, too.  There is a very nice selection of droid supply stores on-planet," she adds in a somewhat impressed voice.  "If anyone wishes me to find any services or stores for them let me know."

"I don't think Rainbow is going to be joining in any of the festivities right now.  Personally, I think I'm going to find a beach somewhere, pull out a trashy holonovel and get some sun."

"Why did you do that to him?"  Janine shook her head and sighed.

Zyra looked to Mark's door then turned back, a smile on her face.  "Oh he's fine.  Rainbow is so used to having to be the leader, being in control.  It's a full-time job, every minute of the day.  So now we're on vacation he needs to be reminded he's just 'one of the guys'."

"Besides, how often do we get to make fun of the boss without fear of reprisal?"

She reaches into a pocket and pulls out an ID card.  "Besides, I've got a spare one of these for him.  Think he'll like Samyr Trycson better?"

"If I where a betting woman, I'd be willing to put down a few creds that e would prefer Samyr Trycson.  Besides, I wouldn't be all that sure that you don't want to have a fear or two of reprisal."

She looks around, getting ths scope of the place.  "So, what's the plan?  We want to get that drink, maybe a good, hot meal, head strat to the swoops, shopping....?

The drink sounds good.  Or many drinks.  Heigren was starting to lose his inbuilt fear of persecution.  Seeing so many non-humans on the trip over and not a single stormtrooper was making him realise he was probably safe here.

Then I want to see EVERYTHING.  Maybe there's some great museums and galleries.  Then hit the casinos and clubs tonight.  It's going to be fannnnntastic!

"I'll need some new clothing", Arin said. The coveralls he was wearing were bad enough for him to look like a grease monkey and that did not exactly fit the image of corporate people on vacation. "I suggest a drink, some clothes for me and then hitting the swoops. We can eat when we get back if we don't grab something along and eat when we find a nice spot." Okay, that sounded almost like a picnic date, though that was not the intention exactly.

"I'm betting he'd prefer that too." said Rian.  "but first round is on me if you wait at least another day.  I wanna see if we can get him a tie-dye poncho or something.  See you guys in the bar after we've checked in?" 
Evil grin in place, Rian sauntered over to the check in desk to collect his key.


Ten minutes later, any other Talons who headed to the bar would find that Rian intended to keep his promise of buying the first round of drinks - he'd secured a large corner booth for the group, and was sprawled bonelessly in a comfy chair with a chilled glass in one hand and an amiable grin on his face as he watched the world go by.  On the table in front of him was more than enough empty glasses for anyone who chose to join him along with a large pitcher of some local beverage.

OOC:  dont leave me drinking alone here guys :)

Heigran followed Devon down to the bar.  He was always up for free drinks.

"Whatever passes for good whisky here.  Second round is on me.  What shall we drink to?"

Kimy (Mika) drops off her stuff and gives her room the once over, then heads down with any ready to join Rian in the bar.  She'd limit herself to tame drinks though, a swoop wasn't a good place for someone who's been drinking.

Seeing the familiar face, she heads over to Rian.  "Hey there spacer, got room for one more?"

Janine dumped her pack, nothing exciting in there, just clothes.  then headed down to the bar.  Finding the others,   "Well, I offered a drink, but I'll pick up a round later."  She pulled out her padd and downloaded a map and guide to the attractions.

"No worries Janine.  You can get the third round!"

When his scotch arrives he raises it in a toast.  "To our fallen friends.  Gone but not forgotten."

He downed the scotch in one shot and looked for his second.

Zyra did not join the group heading to the bar as she had other things to do before she could relax: unpack, deal with a grumpy commander, etc.

Flash raised his glass to Heigran's toast then emptied his glass.

"I think I would have liked Grey.  He seemed to like killing Imperials."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 23:00, Fri 26 Apr 2013.

In reply to Allen 'Flash' (msg # 52):

Janine scooted in close to flash and whispered.  "We are imperials."

Flash shrugged, unabashed.  "Someone say there was another round coming?"

The bar is moderately busy but not overly so; there are more interesting places to drink.  This is just close.  The bartender - a curvy Nautolan woman with a crisp white shirt and black slacks - makes sure the drinks keep coming as the clients need them.  She spends the intervening time cleaning glasses and checking stock, glancing now and then as a small vidscreen mounted behind the bar itself.  It shows four security camera screens and she seems to be using it to work out where people have finished with their drinks.  The only other person on duty is a rather skinny Zabrak youth with scruffy black hair with a few stubby horns showing through his fringe.  His main job seems to be to collect glasses and get in the Nautolan woman's way.

Heigren looked surprised when only the Duros raised a glass with him.

"Is it not a custom among humans to honour the fallen with a toast?  Or is it perhaps you only drink to fallen humans.  Do a Wookie, a Gungan and the dozens of family I lost in the last week not rate your notice?"

Sheila turned red,  "I'm sorry."   She tossed back the glass.