Mika works quickly to load her bike on the cargo hauler.  Fortunately she didn't have a blaster handy or she may have been attempted to shoot, or at least stun Devon and Flash who annoyingly clucked over her and tried to help her do every single thing.  Finally the bike was loaded and she climbed into the cab next to Su.

Flash wisely sensing Mika's mood, realising the young mechanic would not be happy to share the cabin with him, quickly unloaded his bike.  Besides, Sheila, who had no bike and wanted to keep on Mika, needed a seat.

When the hauler took off, Devon and Flash fell into an escort pattern.  As they left, Arin arrived.  He'd finally escaped his fans, received his winnings in the form of a certified credit chip and arrived just in time to see the departing speeder.  Recognising Flash and Devon on their bikes, he followed after them.

The trip back to the spaceport took less than ten minutes.  Su accepted payment from Flash, waved and took off.  After a quick bit of datawork with customs, the Talons and their bikes were back in the hangar were the Ghtroc sat quietly.  They found Cor was aboard and most of her droids were missung.  2-1B-D3 was onboard but CC9, A9 and most of the PK droids were nowhere to be found.



OOC:  I've assumed (since she hasn't posted) Sheila will want to stay with her patient.

Arin you have a certified credit chip (essentially cash) for 500 credits.  Add it to your balance.  Don't forget to deduct 50 credits for the entry fee if you haven't already (that goes for all racers).

Well you're all back in the hangar.  Cor is here (so feel free to join in Cor) but Zyra, Mark, Heigren and most of the droids are not here.
This message was last updated by the GM at 04:15, Mon 07 Oct 2013.

All of the blast doors are down right across the ship.  It's not in lockdown but nobody inside could possibly see out of any of the view ports.  When the ramp lowers to let the Talons in they can also see that most of the lights in the ship are either off or turned right down.

Cor is in the ship.  She's doing something somewhat un-Cor-like.

She's dancing.

It's a sinuous sort of dance with a lot of waving of the arms and tilting of the hips.  She seems to actually be moderately good at it.  She's not going to win any awards but she'd hold her own on a dancefloor (presuming she could stand to be dancing on anything as big as a dancefloor, which is highly doubtful).

Cor is wearing a pair of very short shorts and a cut-off top that bares her midriff.  She's barefoot as well.  Most importantly, perhaps, she's wearing cordless headphones, which is why she doesn't hear the Talons come into the common area where she happens to be cutting the proverbial rug.

When she does see them her eyes go wide.  Then she carefully lowers her arms, assumes a more modest stance and takes her headphones off.  She opens her mouth but nothing comes out; coughing slightly she tries again.

"Er.  Hello.  I did not expect anyone to be back."  She thumbs her comm unit.  "D3, I see that some of the Talons have returned."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:52, Sun 11 Aug 2013.

"Your eyesight is still working then," the droid says back in a somewhat sardonic tone.  "Excellent."

As soon as Arin had managed to park his swoop and power it down, he leaped off it and headed for Mika. "Look", he said before he could be interupted. "I saw you crash and I would have turned around if there had been any room to do so. When there was room for it, I was already too far from you and thought I'd make it to you faster if I ran the course through. I know I must seem like a damn gloryhound and I wish I could have come to your aid, but things were somewhat beyond my control. If you need any parts for fixing your ride, I'm more than happy to pay for them."

Arin didn't care for winning the race nor the prize. He wanted to have a good working relationship with the rest of the Talons, even Flash, and if that meant relinquishing the prize credits, then that was just fine with him. Now he simply stood quiet, waiting for Mika to reply and tell him either to shove off or that it was okay. Had it been Flash, Arin would have been certain of the reply.

Mika winces at Arin's tone.  She closes her eyes, but manages to resist the urge to cover her ears with her hands.  When she gets a moment, she responds in a very small voice.  "Don't sweat if Arin.  Your not a medic and no one's working on my swoop but me.  Even if they were picking me up with sponges and tweezers, there wasn't anything you could've done.  If you'd splashed, I'd kept going.  And you pulled the prize, good for you.  All I really need is some space, some tools and some privacy.  I've got the tools and there's plenty of space around here... ". Her words fade out suggestively.

"If space's what you need, then that you'll have. But if you need anything, you know how to reach me, okay? And for the record, I'm really happy, you are okay. I don't like losing people. And next time, I'll have your wing." Arin gave her a wink and proceeded to stow the swoop for the time being. He didn't want to talk to Devon and even less to Flash, so heheaded out to chat with Cor, who'd hopefully would not get her underwear tied on a knot when she heard of what had happened at the race.

"Next time?  NEXT TIME?" Flash roared, unable to contain himself.  "Is that the shit they teach you to drivel at Imp school where they hatch you guys?  Three times now you haven't had your partner's wing.  Not one, not two but THREE!  Fourth time lucky huh?"

"I have no idea why you're on this team.  You're reckless, irresponsible and a danger to your team.  You're not worthy to be one of us, you're definitely not worthy of your number.  He was a million times the man you are."

He turned to Mika.  "Sorry to disappoint you Trake but I always support my wingman.  If you crash, fall, or are in trouble I will be there, wether I can do something or not.  That's what a wingman is for."

"I'm going for a drink, somewhere where it stinks less of Arin's bullshit."

Flash stormed out of the hangar looking for a bar.  He needed a Lomin Ale, probably with three shots of whisky poured in.  As he walked, he realised he shouldn't of used names or hinted at Imperials or teams.  He'd write himself up later.  He tried to justify it to himself that they'd done a full security sweep, set up countermeasures and Cor was overseeing security with the B1's.  The truth was he was mad, furious.  Why did the Commander trust this guy.  And why had he made him Talon Five?
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:14, Mon 12 Aug 2013.

Before Arin or anyone else had a chance to react to Flash's outburst, Devon raised his voice enough to override any comments the others started to make.
"Injured people and doctors here, everyone else over there." he pointed emphatically at the boarding ramp.  He lowered his voice to a more reasonable level. "Cor, can you please either come with me, or watch through one of your droids?  Thanks."

Following Arin, Devon paused in the doorway to look back into the room.
"I'm glad you're OK, Mika," he said quietly, sounding sincere.  "Just call if you need me, OK?"

Devon waited for either Cor or her chosen droid to join them, then shut the door separating them from Mika and Sheila.  He stood for a moment, eyes closed, took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  Then he turned to face the ex-Imperial.  He kept his voice low - perhaps so Mika wouldnt overhear them, maybe just to control his own temper.
"OK, Arin.  Let's be clear - I'm fairly pissed off right now, but I'm tryin' to be fair here.  So how about you cut the crap you were feeding Mika back there and tell me what the hell you were thinking.  Look at this" he pulled his datapad out and tossed it to the other man. "There's the track layout I downloaded before the race, same as you.  That's where Mika crashed." he pointed at a spot on the map.
"After you cleared that warehouse, you could have turned back any time - You didn't.  You could have used comms to alert any of us what had happened - you didn't.  Instead you kept going for another thirty klicks - about two thirds the total length the track." 

Devon paused for a moment, letting Arin look over the map before snatching his datapad back and shoving it into a pocket.
"And then, after you had finished... I think you said 'I had no way of pulling over and heading back, even if I wanted to.'."  There was another few moments of silence.  "'Even if I wanted to.'" repeated Devon, through clenched teeth. "Guess winning the damn race was more important to you than her life, right?


OOC: editted for clarity.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:25, Mon 12 Aug 2013.

Wjile Arin was talking to Mile, Sheila hadn't really been paying attention to what he said.  They'd been racing, she understood why no one would go back since there was help there.  It wasn't like they were playing on a derelict planet, or the left behind one would be captured.  She was thinking about the meds and where they were in the little sickbay and watching mika overwork herself with her ride.

She jumped as flash exploded,  Flash was ready to find fault with arin right now, for anything,  she felt the draw to go calm flash down,and remind Arin to give him time.  Arin might not be her most favorite person, but she'd been recently new to the team too, but at least she'd had some time between jumping ship and joining up to prove her independent creds.  Flash stormed off back out, probably looking for something to get drunk on,  and she decided to see what happened next before she went chasing after anyone.  Besides, there was the mika not overworking herself problem.

Then Devon took the lead and she was stuck in with mika.

Mika gives in to the temptation this time and covers her ears as Flash yells at Arin and Devon yells at bith.  Before she could thank Flash, or ask him to keep his voice down, or respond to Devon wth anything more than a painful nod, Flash goes stomping out and Devon drags Arin into the ship.

Finally left to her own devices, Mika moves about slowly.  She's steady enough as she determines where in the hanger to set up.  She'd need decent light and power connections, but being out of casual sight was a major goal.  Too much attention had been focused on her already and she has a powerful headache.

Cor goes paler than usual when Flash erupts into fury.  She immediately steps for her room but stops as Devon speaks to her; speaking into her comm unit in her native tongue she then nods to Devon, steps around him lightly and shuts the door to her room behind her.  The lock engages.

And then the medical droid is standing there, taking everything in.  Clearly Cor can monitor the situation through the 2-1B.  Eyes everywhere.

Sheila tries one more time.  "Mika, no one will mess with the swoop unless you say so,  but you should rest.  It'll help the pain.  Do not even try to tell me you are not in pain,  you just aren't that good of a liar.

Mika still speaks with a small voice, glad that most of the others have allowed her some peace.  "It hurts a bit, no lies about that. But if I rest, I'll just be thinking about my head hurting.  If I do something I enjoy, like working on the swoop, it'll help me relax and take my mind off the headache."

Arin gave Devon a sharp glance. "I suppose you have bever said anything that came out wrong or was missinterpreted by others? First of all, I was not even fully certain of what had happened and anyway, this is between me and Mika. I'm not sure if you heard what she said, but she doesn't bear a grudge. I've already come to expect, nothing I do will ever be good enough for Flash, so I'm considering not even trying with him anymore. I just want you to know and understand, I'm not some gloryhound that thinks only about winning - I would have turned, had I had a proper chance. Now, unless you want to try and bust my face in or bite my head off, I suggest you leave me be. I don't need this bantha poodoo right now."

Cor's voice comes through the droid's vocabulator.

"Arin, you have only been in the Talon's company for a very short time and defected directly from the Empire.  Flash is not subtle nor polite a great deal of the time but his caution is understandable - particularly as he is our chief security officer.  In many ways it is his job to be paranoid.  Also remember that at our last debriefing Ms Jax advised that he was at liberty to draw up a security screening process and put people through it if he felt a need - and he has not put anyone through this process, not even you."

There is a slight pause.  She doesn't sound accusatory, just factual.  "His approval - or at least his grudging acceptance - is perhaps the most important you can win, in some ways even more important than the Commander's because if the Commander did not trust Flash to be a good chief security officer he would never have given him the job.  If you wish to alienate the chief security officer your time with the Talons will simply not get any easier, no matter what others' opinions of you may or may not be.  I would advise against giving up on him."

"Oh, yes, he has a right to be paranoid if he wants to be. The problem is, he is not even trying to give me a reasonable doubt. On the contrary - he is riding my ass about everything and assuming the worst before he does his job and figures out, what has actually taken place. I'm just sick and tired of being nibbled to death like I was in the middle of a pack of hungry womprats."

Sheila couldn't hear the conversation that was going on, she was out with Mika, but now that she thoguht about it, she needed to do a couple of things.  Mika was not going to be happy if she hovered, but chances were she could stand one of the droids hovering.  So she needed to talk to Cor and the med droid about that.  And she needed to talk to Heigren.  Let him know what had happened,  She looked back at Mika.  "Having me hover is probably going to bother you, can you stand having the med droid hover in my place, cause you have the choice between us, OK?  "

Another pause.  "I am not in the habit of repeating myself, Arin.  I will do so once.  He could have placed you through a rigorous screening process.  He has been given explicit permission to do so for any of us.  He has not done so.  Perhaps he is..."  She pauses, unfamiliar with the term but guessing its meaning,  "'riding your ass' less than you give him credit for."

"Well, at least it does not feel like that right now, but then again, I must be being oversensitive to the whole thing." Arin was clearly on defensive, thanks to the whole thing, and especially discussion that had taken place. From his point of view, he could have done differently and probably would have, but that was a hindsight and there was no use for that.

In reply to Sheila Masters (msg # 17):

Mika sighs.  "I was checked out at the track.  The doc said I was banged up, but nothing particularly serious.  I got a knock on the head, it hurts, but that's all there is to it.  But if you and the other insist on my having a babysitter, then yes, I'd rather it be a droid."

It takes some effort, but Mika starts mentally reviewing her tools and materials, wondering if she had what she needed to cobble together a restraining bolt.

Cor's other four droids - her R2 unit and three PKs - roll and plod into the hangar at precisely that moment.

Devon glanced round at the arriving droids, then snorted derision.  'Oh woe is you:  people didnt automatically trust you.  News flash for you:  we let you in a fighter that last mission to give you a chance to prove you were trustworthy.  Mostly you did fine; but then you ditched Sheila - your wingman - to go pull some thrilling heroics.  And out on the track today... you ditched Mika whilst you won the race.'

He brandished the datapad again.  'Best justification you come up with for that to say "you didnt want to turn round" and then totally ignore me when I point out that you COULD have turned round at almost any point, and you COULD have commed someone."

Devon tapped at the datapad for a moment, then let it dangle from one hand.  WIth the other hand he jabbed an accusing finger at Arin.
"And don't go claiming thats just between you and Mika - cos it aint.  We're supposed to be a team.  That means we look after each other.  Maybe the Imperials view those Stormies as replacable parts, but that aint the way we do things here, we look after each other.  Her life was more important than that race - but you dont seem to get that do you."

Devon paused, and put his head on one side.  His voice was cold   "I guess that's how you Imperials do things though, isnt it?  Drop anything that slows down your fastest route to where you wanna be?  After all, you didnt hesitate in the slightest about setting up that squad of Stormies and leading them into our ambush.  You gonna do the same to us when we're no longer... profitable?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Mon 12 Aug 2013.

The droid goes very still.  If Cor has something to say about that she certainly doesn't do so.

"Paint me brown and call me a Hutt! I - did - not - ditch - Sheila", Arin said, clearly being about par with a hungry Rancor on his mentality. "If I tell my wingman to steer clear and she does not do that, you pin that on me?! Get a grip! And if this was a team, you'd be handling this much better by not persecuting me like it was me who rammed Mika! I'm fed up being second guessed, fed up with being told how I cold-bloodedly sent the Stormtroopers in to your damn ambush, when there was no alternative and I am sick of being scrutinized for every damn thing I do as if I was not good enough. Hell, this Security Chief is far more dangerous in cockpit than I am because he takes risks that outweight the risk I took with that patrol craft! If you people don't want me around, then take it to the Commander and be done with it. Do you have any idea what my actions meant for me back at the warehouse? If the Imperials catch a glimpse of me, they'll come right after me, because to them I am a traitor and they're not goingto ship me to Kessel mines - that would be lenient. By joining you, I have forsaken my family as I can not contact them - ISB is most likely watching them just in case I'd surface somewhere. I made an error at the track, but for crying out loud - they have their medical team that is far more proficient in keeping people alive after a crash than I am. Now, do you have something else, or shall I just fetch a blaster and shoot myself, so you don't have to bother?"

"Most of us have forsaken our families," Cor comments through D3.  "From what I understand Mr Kismet's comments regarding Ms Masters do not relate to your conflict with the system patrol craft but instead have to do with you breaking formation of the Tallon Weave and thereby rendering both of you in danger to the superior manoeuvrability of the TIE fighters - though I, of course, was not there."  Her tone is reasonable and even.  Chances are high that all she's trying to do is ask Arin to see it from Devon's point of view.

"Don't do anything to the droid.  I've seen those looks before."  Sheila steps to the ship and speaks into the communal.  "May I come in?"

I presume by 'communal' you meant the shipwide, public comms?  :)

Still locking his eyes with Arin as the ex-Imperial continued to try and change the subject, Devon thumbed the button that opened the hatch, letting Sheila in.  Whilst he waited for Sheila to board and the hatch to close again, Devon paced up and down and took several deep breaths - taking the opportunity to calm himself down.

Once the hatch was shut, Devon nodded a greeting to Sheila and said in a calmer tone than he'd been using a moment before.
"We've just been having a chat about why Arin didnt stop to help Mika - or at least alert someone.  So far I think its fair to say we ain't had a straight answer."

He looked to the medical droid (and by extension, to Cor) to see if she wanted to add anything.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:03, Mon 12 Aug 2013.

In reply to Devon Kismet (msg # 27):

Sheila looked very uncomfortable. "I actually came in to talk to Cor about the medical droid doing Kimi-sitting duty, since she stated she would prefer the droid over me hovering.."  She sighed, devon wouldn't let her stay out of it.  "So, as for the race, I saw it, and the crash and I went over to the medical tent immediately but I was in the audience.  There were beautiful replays of the crash for us.  Lots of closeups of Kimi.  Course she's better looking than most of the guys that crash.  And there were plenty of places to turn around if you wanted to.  However, it was also a race, so we weren't concerned with capture, just the crash.  And I wasn't privy to whatever agreements and promises you guys made before the race, or a good lot of what's been said since.  At the same time, I'm not sure what any of you could have done, other than scrape her up and take her to the medtent, or a hospital or back here?"     She sighed again and her face turned red.  "Oh, hell, if I'd been racing and I saw one of you guys crash, I'd have turned around, it was only 50 credits to race, right? and I'd have been damn disappointed if at  least one of you guys didn't come back for me, although I wouldn't say it out loud.  Mainly because you guys are the only family I have left."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Tue 13 Aug 2013.

(Gotta love autocorrect)

Sheila sighed again, she didn't know cor's reaction, but from what Devon had just said, she suspected that Arin was getting it from Devon too. "Look, it was a race, most everyone there was every man for himself, that's the nature of a race.  Arin, just quit saying you wanted to turn back, because you easily could have, you didn't want to, it was a race and you wanted to finish and you figured there was medical personnel . . . . . "  Sigh. "Finishing the race seemed like the best idea at the time, right?"  She stopped, she was trying to help, but somehow she didn't think she was.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:21, Tue 13 Aug 2013.

The expression of anger on Arin's face changed in to one of surprise and perhaps even disbelief when Sheila of all people came to his defense. They had been far from amiable, but she was defending him in a way and that struck him deeper than he had come to expect. "The only thought that crossed my mind was to finish the race and get her help. I am not a medic nor do I have any gear for treating any kind of injuries on me nor the swoop. Thinking back, I should have turned around and headed back, but I wasn't thinking straight. The only thought I could come up with was finishing the race and getting her help. I don't know if you thinkof me as an Imperial spy or whatnot, but you keep on rubbing the Stormtroopers at my face at almost every turn. You think, you'd be fed up with that, if it was you at the receiving end?"

Mika moves over to her swoop and carefully moves it to the place in the hanger she'd selected.  Power and privacy where the two prime concerns, lighting would be good but she could always set up some lights if she had to.

Once that's done, she'll head back into the ship, pick up her tool kit and the other tools she'd bought.  That should have everything she needed to fix the immediate damage that she found, she'd have to go over it in more detail of course, make sure she didn't miss anything.  She might need some extra parts though, once she gets into the improvements.  With a second glance, she picks up her blaster.

Another thought occurs, the galley.  Food didn't interest her at the moment, but she could use a rather large and rather cold drink, something to stimulate her a bit.

In reply to Arin Branden (msg # 30):

Sheila turns on him. "But that is not what you said. Think about that.  And quit making excuses for yourself.  Flash may not like you, but he hasn't DONE anything.  And given how you joined us, I suspect, had I joined under similar circumstances, Flash would have been just as suspicious of me, But then you did break the weave, and you did seperate us during the battle.  Those are legitimate questions that when put together. . . . .  Just think about it while you're feeling so sorry for yourself."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Tue 13 Aug 2013.

Devon nodded emphatic agreement with Sheila, but didnt say anything for the moment.  She was making the point far better than he'd managed - lady was eloquent.  Perhaps they were finally getting through to Arin - that this wasn't a personal vendetta.

R2-A9 beeps at the freighter a few times and the starship opens up.  Once it has the astromech and his entourage of plodding PK mini-mechs heads up the ramp and inside.  They head directly into the hold, apparently just heading for somewhere stable to wait for their owner to tell them what to do next.

The medical droid is silent again.  It seems Cor is either doing something else or has nothing in particular to say at this point.

Arin let out a deep sigh. "Look, guys, this is the problem. Sheila, you've served in the Imperial Navy. I suppose you would agree with me if I said, the Talons are a whole different book when compared with it? I'm a former Imperial Navy officer and even if I don't subscribe to the views they have, it'll take a while before I get my head adjusted to the way you think. I've been taught to put the mission above everything else. I won't lie to you - it's hard for me to change from that way of operating, but I am trying. I should have turned back and checked on Mika - what I did was stupid. However, most of this kind of race tracks have medical teams on standby, far better equiped to deal with accidents than me. I'm just a fighter jock, who can put on a bandage, but that's about it. At the speeds we were flying, you either turn in to a pulp in which case the bandage won't help at all, or you roll with the fall as Mika did. I know you probably don't appreciate how pissed off I am with myself but there's not much I can do about it. And yes, I might be feeling sorry for myself. Would you not, if you were in my shoes? How long did it take you, Sheila, to get adjusted to the Talons?"

If it was worth anything, at least the ex-Imperial was trying to calm down and set a new tone to the discussion. He wanted for the things to be okay with the other Talons, but also hoped, they'd give him a chance.

The 2-1B droid shrugs.

"All right.  I am satisfied with that explanation.  An adjustment to one's way of thinking is certainly understandable and a high-speed race is not conducive to a full awareness of all options."  Cor's tone is as even as always.  "Mr. Kismet, Ms Masters, are you satisfied with that?  I would ask Ms. Trake as well but I suspect she simply wants to put this behind her."

"Just a moment, Cor, I need to explain one more thing to him, cause he;s not getting it." She turned back to Arin, her voice very  serious. "I joined under different circumstance than you, Arin, but If I had joined under the same, I would understand the situation.  You ARE getting a chance, more than one actually, more than I ever got with the pirates I joined. THIS is your chance.  If we weren't giving you a chance, we'd have said thanks and shoved you out the airlock. Unfair as it seems, you have to continue to prove yourself, the empire has been known to shoot their own to get spies in places. And If you really think the commander gave you lead on our pair because he admired your leadership skills, you are stupid, he was testing you. And you very nearly failed, but you got ANOTHER chance, no on blasted you out of the sky when you broke the weave, which I can guarantee you, would have cost you your life, either in space or back on the ship, no matter how the mission went, if you'd still been flying with the imperials.  THe spc, maybe not, but if you'd failed, you'd have been dead and they'd of shot me for not staying with you, which from a wingman's point of view, makes you very dangerous."  She paused a second.  "Now, I need to talk to cor about getting a droid to stay with kimi, I need to contact  Heigren to tell him what's going on, and I believe i offered to buy you a drink. If you're up for it now, we'll find someplace that's not where flash is and talk, any others are welcome and I'll treat them too, if not, that's fine."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:31, Wed 14 Aug 2013.

Devon alternated between fiddling with his datapad and nodding agreement with what Sheila was saying - he had no idea how the Imperial Navy actually handled the sort of situations they were discussing, but he knew how the Talons did, and how many chances they'd given Arin.

"Yeah" he said quietly.  "Maybe you think it ain't fair that Flash don't trust you? Well he's in charge of security... its his job to be suspicious of everyone."  Devon grinned  "Flash is brash, a loudmouth, and doesn't hide what he thinks with pretty words.  But if he says he's got your back, then the bad guys are gonna have to kill him before they can get you.  And if you did go down in a fight, he WOULD come back for you."

"Oh and just a thought: if we're ALL going for drinks, we better invite Flash too.  i'm serious, can you imagine what he'd think if he wasn't invited?"



OOC: minor edit.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:44, Wed 14 Aug 2013.

"Nobody here knows Flash as well as Mr. Kismet does," Cor points out via her droid.  "If anyone can make comment on his motives it would be Mr. Kismet.  Now," she adds in an entirely reasonable tone, "while we are all aware this issue is not yet fully resolved perhaps we can let it lie for the moment, yes?  I, of course, will not be coming out for a drink but I hope you all have a very pleasant time.  Ms. Masters, I can easily set a rotational feed so that any droid within visual line to Ms. Trake can send observational data to 2-1B-D3.  Should he feel there are any undue emergencies he can deal with them and I can comm you immediately.  Does that sound ideal?"

"You have a point on that, should invite Kimi too, but she shouldn't be indulging.  Although I need to get arin drunk alone."   She turned to the droid.  "Thanks, Cor, that should do."

Heigran was next on the list.

Alone? Devon raised his eyebrows in puzzlement, then shrugged.

"Well, I'm gonna go stow my bike properly.  Gimmie a shout when it's time to leave."
Still fiddling with his datapad, Devon ambled off to the cargo bay.
Having lowered the cargo ramp, Devon moved his bike up into the Ghtrocs cargo bay and locked it in place against one wall, out of the way.  He spent several minutes carefully wiping dust from the bikes bodywork and then stood back to admire his new toy with a very smug feeling before closing the cargo ramp and wandering to the galley in search of a snack.

"I'll stow my swoop and we'll see about the drink", Arin said. He wasn't much of a drinker, even though he had had his wild parties in his youth. Now, even less than before, he was in a position to get inebriated, but there was a talk about a drink in singular - maybe that was going to be all, even though Sheila talked about getting him drunk.

While the others sent off to their new toys, Sheila thumbed the talon com to heigran.  "Give me a call when you've done, there have been developments."

Heigren calls back a minute or two later.  Wherever he was calling from had a lot of music in the background and many people talking.   "Hey babe, what's up?  You seal the deal with that spunk at the cafe yet?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:38, Sun 18 Aug 2013.

Over the Ghtroc's speakers Cor's voice can be heard.  "Does anybody know how the sale of our gains from the last venture are going?  I have... intentions for my share of it."

In reply to Heigren (msg # 45):

"no.  I went to the race, they all have new toys, but kimi got hurt.  She'll be okay, she needs to take it easy for a couple days, and her new toy needs fixing, and we're having teamwork conversations."  There was an odd emphasis on the last two words.

"Conversations.  Sounds positively. . .boring.  Glad to hear Kimi's okay though.  She'll be a looker when she finishes growing up."

"So what is it you want me to do?"

Janine was clearly hinting at something but she was being too vague, even for a wily Zeltron to figure out.

In reply to Heigren (msg # 48):

"Well, she won't put up with me hovering, so the rest of us are going out for a drink.  Are we still on for tonight?  Hopefully nothing else will happen, so I can go out. I'll tell you the rest whenever we get together."

"Drinks huh?  I'm always up for those.  Where and when are you going and I'll try to meet up."

"Reservations are still the same for tonight.  It would be a shame to put your dress to waste."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:08, Mon 19 Aug 2013.

With the decision made to go for drinks, the group heads out.  Having not frequented the various drinking establishments on planet, the group decided for ease to head to one of the bars within the spaceport, the one sporting the least traffic.  Sheila sends a message to Heigren, letting him know where they are.

The team found a suitable booth in a corner where they could talk undisturbed.  They quickly spotted Flash sitting at the bar.  He had a pint of Lomin Ale before him, barely touched.  He was absorbed in writing something on a datapad and hadn't noticed the Talons come in.


OOC:  A shipjacker, ex-Imperial and a slicer walk into a bar. . .

Time to make some plans for the next few days.  Only thing on your agendas at the moment is an (optional) meeting with Mark and Zyra tomorrow evening.  Other than that your two weeks are entirely yours to do what you will with.

Mika up to you if you change your mind and go with them. 

Heigren, you can turn up any time.

Flash is at the bar, but is too absorbed in whatever he's writing to have spotted the Talons in their booth.

Rian was already part way down his first glass of lomin ale.  He stared at the ceiling contemplatively for a few moment.
"Today... was an interesting day.  Had its ups and downs." he said to no-one in particular, then spotted Flash over at the bar. "I'm gonna drag him over." he told Rathon and Janine.
"You guys gotta bury the hatchet somehow, right?"

Topping up his glass from the pitcher he'd ordered, Rian picked up his drink and ambled over to the bar.  He settled on the barstool next to Flash and when the Duros didnt react to his presence immediately he waited a few moments more before saying conversationally:
"If you don't drink that, I'm gonna.  Shame to waste it."

He grinned disarmingly as Flash looked up.
"Look, if you're done writing incident reports, how about you come join us?  we got a booth over in the corner there.  Vyn's on his way, I think, and Sola might be sending one of her droids along.  Dunno if Kimy's gonna show or just stay back at the ship - depends how she feels, I guess."

Flash spoke briefly to Devon before nodding and standing.  He grabbed his drink in one hand and his datapad in the other.  He followed Devon to the table and sat down, nodded a greeting at Sheila and then went back to working on his datapad.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:33, Wed 21 Aug 2013.

Cor goes back to doing whatever it is she does when she's locked away in her room (which is most of the time).  As nobody's actually answered her question she doesn't reiterate it and simply gets on with the business of being her.

After getting the tools and such together, Mika moves them in small, comfortable hops to the area where she'd parked the swoop.  Step one was to sit and enjoy a bit of the stimulating drink she got from the ship.  Step two was to get that bent steering vane off the swoop.  Then she'd have to straighten it, or maybe just replace it completely.  Having been twisted already, it would be more prone to twisting in the future.  A new piece then, but first get the old one off.

It took a bit.  Su's work had left if very solidly attached and twisting it out of true only made it all the hard to remove.  After a bit, Mika accepts that she wasn't going to do it as a solid piece and opts for a laser cutter and small plasma torch.  A bit later, she has it free.  Making sure the mounting for the vane doesn't need extra attention right now, she makes a mental note that she'd have to realign the thing later.  But first, she had to find a suitable steering vane replacement.  Anything that was durable and light-weight with just the right amount of give would work.

07:38, Today: Mika Trake rolled 23 using 1d20+17. Repair Check.

Heigren arrives at the cantina a few minutes after everyone else.  He wanders over to the table and frowns.  "This won't do at all."  He heads over to the bar, selects a decent bottle of Corellian whisky from those on display and points.

"The bottle and four glasses my good sir."

Receiving said bottle and glasses, the Zeltron returns to the table, pours out a generous serve of the whisky for each person and then hands the glasses out.

He raises his glass in a toast.  "Your health."  He then knocks back his half-filled glass in a single swallow and considered the glass.   "Well it's no Whyren's Reserve, but my funds are running a little light unfortunately.  Still it's not a bad drop."

He refills his glass.  "So what have I missed?"

Arin wasn't exactly thrilled about Flash joining them - on the contrary, he seemed a bit reserved though not exactly hostile. He was uneasy with the Duro at the table and would have preferred to settle the score with him in private, rather than sit at the same table with him and the other Talons before the things had been talked over. But there was no running away from this, not anymore. It felt a bit like a betrayal or ambush as Arin had thought, they'd go down to a bar just the three of them and have a drink or two, just like Sheila had said. He joined the toast in silence.

Flash raised his glass to Heigren's toast.  "Your health." he repeated, speaking for the first time since joining the table.

When Heigren asked about their adventures the Duros shrugged.  "We bought some swoops and raced 'em.  Kimi crashed but is okay.  Rathon won the race.  Pretty impressive given the antiquated junker he was racing."

He looked at the whisky in his glass, he'd only sipped a little when the Zeltron toasted their health.  "Whisky aint bad."

He turned his attention back to his report.

Heigren stared at Arin closely for a long while.  "You win the race and undoubtedly the prize and the adoration of the fans yet you look like someone just sold your family into slavery.  Something you'd care to share Rathon?"

As he speaks, Heigren tops up Rathon's glass to the brim before filling his own.

"Just not exactly my day, save for winning the race", the ex-Imperial said. "Let's leave it at that for now." Having said that, Arin poured the drink down his throat with a single swig. If he was going to talk to Flash, he didn't want that much audience - he preferred handling the whole thing in private. And besides, it might be, the Duro wouldn't care talking to him right now either.

Rian sniffed at the whiskey and then raised his glass to Heigren with an appreciative grin.

"Not bad at all." he said as he set down the glass.  Rian glanced sideways at Rathon - "Yeah, he's just sore cos he knows he bought the wrong bike."
He leaned forward conspiratorially. "I mean, seriously - wait till you see it." he said in a stage whisper.

Rian sat back and reached for the whiskey glass again.
"Hell, wait till you see mine.  That thing is the bike I've wanted since I was about... this big."
He waved a hand, indicating the height of a much younger version of himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:47, Mon 26 Aug 2013.

"Yet he won and we lost."  Flash commented without looking up from his datapad.

Heigren raised an eyebrow slightly at Arin's drinking of a full glass of whisky in one shot.  Humans usually lacked the constitution for such hard drinking.  He quickly refilled Arin's glass for him.  The bottle wouldn't drink itself.

He knew Arin didn't want to talk about it but when you'd lived with thirty other people in a warehouse barely big enough for ten, secrets do not tend to last long, nor are they a good idea.  Well 'lived' he corrected himself.  More than half his 'family' was now dead thanks to Arin's former squadmates.

"Come come now Rathon.  You're among colleagues here.  You're on paid vacation on a world where you can do pretty much what you like.  Nobody here is out to kill you.  You just beat a bunch of veteran racers, including the Duros there who I would have bet on, in a swoop race and you're having a bad day?  What could possibly be so bad?"

"Later, Vyn."  Janine was regretting the drinks idea rather thoroughly right now.  "I'm sorry to all of you, this was a bad idea.  I should have."  She sighed and held her head in her hands, mussing her new hairstyle.  "I'm sorry,:  she finished lamely.

Flash looked up from his pad at Sheila's sigh and apology. What on Duro do you have to be sorry for Janine? Gathering the team for a drink? Seems a good idea to me. We are on vacation after all.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:54, Tue 27 Aug 2013.

Rian nods agreement with Flash whilst toying with his whiskey glass - his Lomin ale forgotten for the moment.
"Yeah - you guys know what we were doing:  swoop bikes.  Hence all the dust and Flash having that bug splat on his forehead - I was going to tell you buddy, I swear.  _{After I got pictures.}  What have you two been up to?"

Rian sat back expectantly, waiting to be enlightened...

Flash began rubbing his head in surprise but stopped after a few moments and checked his head with the datapad.  He then did the best Duros approximation of a scowl.

"Just you wait Cloudrider, just you wait."  Flash's tone suggests he's taken the prank in good humour, though partly it covered his concern for Sheila.  Why was she so upset.  Somehow it seemed linked to Arin but he wasn't sure how.

Sheila sat back.  At least things weren't exploding.   For the moment.    "We went to a spa and went shopping. I think I screwed up getting picked up and I think he succeeded.  That pretty much covers it." 

Mika scrounges about the hanger, looking for something that would make a proper steering vane for the swoop.  She pauses frequently to sip from her cold drink, finding the chill and the distraction of working on the swoop, and a few pills, do a fair job of keeping her mind off the headache.

The extra building sheeting was a bit too flimsy, the stack of spare support framing pieces were good and sturdy, a little heavy perhaps.  The packing crates were pretty stout, they might be used.  She decides on a composite, two layers of packing crate panels sandwiching a double layer of building sheeting material.  That should be stout enough and light enough to not cause any particular problem.

First it was cutting the sections out and doing the rough shaping.  Then came the annealing process, making sure they wouldn't split under stress.  Some gluing and welding to hold the pieces, some thin struts from the spare framing, split long-ways around the edges.  Then, the whole thing is wrapped in some of the packing sheeting from the crates.  Apply a fair bit of heat and it snugged down well over the whole panel.  Paint, that was the next step, it needed a bit of painting.  She didn't have much available, a basic gray would be okay.  After all, a flashy swoop would draw all sorts of attention and garnering attention isn't what Mika's looking to accomplishing.

That done, the swoop is back to factory standards.  Now it was time to start thinking about how to start improving on the factory standards.

"We went to an AWESOME spa and then had an AMAZING time shopping.  Then Janine chatted up some hunky guy whom I'm sure is waiting for her call." he corrected.

As he spoke he nodded at Devon and gave a small wink.  He knew Devon was changing the subject and he knew that Devon probably knew he knew.  But he'd go along with it.

Flash finished his report, sent it and sighed.  He put down his datapad then had another sip of his whisky.

"So what's everyone's plan for the rest of today and tomorrow?  Got that dinner tomorrow night with the boss but nothing until then."

"Theoretically, we're going to a show."  She indicated Heigren and herself. "Who knows about tomorrow.  I was going to try to set up someting with a Mr Kyle Brannon on the day after that unless Vyn here dumps me for tonight and I'm forced to do for myself."

"I'm hurt Janine that you would think I'd do that to you."

R2-A9 follows Mika around at a slight distance, assisting when he's asked to but otherwise mostly keeping out of the way.

In reply to Heigren (msg # 73):

A brief glint of mischeviousness hits her eyes,.."Just teasing, you just seem to have found a party while I was gone. judging by background sounds."

Either Arin had very little in the way of plans or he wasn't going to share them - the meal with the other Talons was on the schedule, of course, but other than that was very much left open. He seemed both thoughtful and tired, slowly sipping down the drink.

"Oh no.  I was in this great little music store.  Had it's own recording studio in the back.  Had some new band making a demo tape.  They were great.  Hyperspace Rainbow they were called.  I think they're going to be big!"

Flash took one last sip of his whiskey and stood.  He'd barely drunk a quarter of it and even less of his lomin ale.  However it was clear to him that Arin was going to continue to sulk until he left.

"Thinking I might enter another race later.  Also going to check out what else this planet has to offer.  Comm me if you want me.  Have fun."

He spoke a few sentences in an unfamiliar language as he rose, nodded to Devon and left the bar.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:04, Fri 30 Aug 2013.

Rian raises his glass to the Duros.  "Luck in the races." he says cheerfully.

After Flash had left, Rian turned back to the others.
"So - anyone got any plans for tomorrow?  Flash might be happy spending the whole time hanging around the race tracks... but not me.  I'm wondering what else they have round here.  Lets see what we can find..."

Rian played with his datapad, entering a few searches for local attractions and typing a reply to a message whilst he waited for the search results to come back.

Sheila raised her glass to Flash as he got up. "Good luck."  but she was still subdued.  "I don't know what I'm doing after tonight. Calling this Kyle guy, but beyond that?"  She shrugged, then said a very quiet, "sh-t" under her breath.

Cor totally replies to Devon.  Gossip, gossip, gossip.

Heigren quickly becomes figidity and bored as the group sits quietly.  He'd already drank a good quarter of the bottle of whisky himself.

He gets up.  Can't dally.  So many things to do over the next few days.  So much to see, so much to do.  Can't spend it sitting down.

Janine, I'll see you in the lobby tonight at eight.

He walks off.

(( Please note: a new thread has been opened for the scheduled meeting Zyra is holding about 18 hours after this scene occurs.  This thread will be left open for a day or two in case anyone wants to continue posting here. ))

<About half an hour after the meeting>

Battle droids roam outside the hangar, keeping people, including the Talons, out.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:13, Wed 18 Sept 2013.

Cor remains sequestered inside the ship, doing... something.

Secretly secret things happen in a most secret-like fashion

Occurrences happenate.  Possibly, but not necessarily, involving droids.

"Hey Sola, we have a request if you can do it." in janines voice comes throgh if it gets through.