Juragga beamed at Shard's proferred offer of whiskey.  Nodding, he warbled an affirmative, and then offered up his own massive flagon of warm wine - a swap, or sharing, as it were.

He chortled something under his breath and took a swig of the rotgut.  His reaction was to stop, blink... and then smile in a broad Wookiee grin.

He nodded to Mark, and took note of the grim figure of Rhijans... both of which seemed to be engaged in discussion with the 'Jedi'.

"The Colonel isn't a big fan of me," Shard points out to Rhijans.  "But he's fair.  There's a reason.  Just...keep that in mind."  Shifting to a seat close enough to allow the exchange, she accepts the heavy cup in both hands and takes a small, careful drink.  It's for a Wookie - her tolerance is impressive, but not that developed.  But the drink turns out to be a warm, spiced wine, surprising this early in the morning.  Surprising for me...maybe not a Wookie.  She reflects further, eyeing the flask as the Wookie drinks.  Huh.  To be honest, maybe not for me, either...amazing, he likes the stuff.

She'll have to stock up if she has a drinking partner.  Not on the mission, Shard, not on the mission.

Not in the briefing, either.

"Doesn't go down easy," she murmurs, taking back the flask, "but you're welcome to it." Her eyes find the 'Jedi', deep in discussion with Jacobs regarding the relative merits of the armor.  Armor and a sword.  Just hope he has a blaster in there...waitaminute.

"Hang on, hang on," Shard says, more loudly than she intends.  Ah, well...it was meant to get attention.  "Last mission we got in a bit of trouble that wasn't helped by everyone's tendency to cart around hand cannons and popguns - no offense, Rhijans, yours beat mine.  Now, I try to avoid shootouts, but they happen.  So I figure I ought to ask - what's everyone's loadout?  Are we still all short-range workers?  Or does anyone carry a regulation pistol, or even a carbine?"

She slaps her hold-out on the table.  "I have this...piece of junk."  Shard eyes the little toy with some exasperation.  "Figure on requisitioning a standard blaster from the Colonel."

At Shard's question a smile spread across Haarmon's face, almost like he'd been sitting there waiting for just that question. And to be asked by the hot chick with questionable judgment and visible self-destructive tendencies? Perfect.

He shoots to his feet and stands, hip turned slightly sideways so everyone can see both the blaster and its elabourate holster.

"You go ahed and keep your standard Blaster, sweets. What I have here, lady and gents, is the Aurturean Legacy, Mark XVII. Anniversary Edition." At this he pulls leather, like a streak of blue summer lightning his hand flies to the grip and quicker than a gundar blinks the long, slim, ornate blaster is in his hand.

"Less than ten thousand were made. Single deadliest blaster in the Galaxy. Pin-point accuracy. Easy-pull smart trigger. Over 50% more efficient than the Baen Sureshot." Anyone who's been in a public place recently would recognize the ad copy, lifted almost verbatim from the high-rotation commercials that filled the nets about a year ago.

He turns it from side to side and spins it in his hands in a series of complex movements, holsters it in one fluid motion and draws again.

"Cuz the artist is only as good as his tools, am I right, Rags?" He holsters the pistol and sits back down again, his posture much more of a 'lounge' now. He favours Shard with a suggestive look. Or, at least, some sort of half-baked adventure-cast attempt at a suggestive look.

Rhijans listened to Dak's recitation of the merits of his sidearm, and suppressed a chuckle.  The kid would learn...

"You've seen my load-out, but for the sake of the new kids..."  He smiled thinly, a gesture that may, possibly, have been intended to mask the resignation that colored his voice--but instead, nuanced it dangerously close to disdain.

"I carry a heavy blaster pistol.  Yes, it's the same model they issue to Imperial troops.  Yes, I carry it legally.  No, I have not yet seen a replacement for it on the market that even vaguely interests me.  It does the job, does it well, and has never failed me.  I'll take proven reliability over high-concept marketing drivel, any day."  He finished wiping the coffee off his hand, soaked as much out of his shirt as he could, and dropped the dish towel on the floor to soak up his spill there, nudging it around with his boot.  He hardly glanced down, as he moved it around.

Juragga swapped drinks back with Shard and nodded, the Wookiee ritual of drink-swapping complete.  Happily, he downed the rest of the mulled wine, setting the empty mug down next to his chair, at his feet.

Discussion turned to weaponry.  Before the massive Wookiee could warble a reply, Haarmon stood up and preened, showing off the shiny blaster he wore on his hip.  Juragga shook his head and let out a single "MuUUUrrrghh!" of mild disagreement.  In his experience, the tools were only as good as the artist, to use Haarmon's terminology.

Of course, that didn't mean it hurt to have really big tools - something Rhijans seemed to grasp as he displayed his heavy blaster pistol.

With little flourish and in a matter-of-fact manner, he reached behind his back and produced a massive Wookiee bowcaster, its bow folded for storage.  He gobbled an assessment of the weapon before sliding it back into place on his back, never deploying the arms.  It wasn't fancy.  It wasn't shiny.  But it was durable, weather-resistant, powerful, and he knew how to use it well.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Tue 12 Apr 2011.

Rhijans quirked an eyebrow.  He'd heard of bowcasters...had never actually seen one, but he'd heard very interesting things about them.  He'd be curious to see if the reality lived up to the stories he'd been told.  He suspected not...he had yet to see a weapon that would shoot around corners while slicing and buttering your bread for you, which was about the same degree of implausible he'd been told.  But the thing didn't have to live up to every story told about it to be a remarkable weapon.

He was, however, very glad the Wookiee was carrying it.  The thing was way too big to be comfortably used, by his own standards.

Okay...the Wookiee, at least, seems to know what he's doing.  There might be hope for us, yet... he revised his opinion of the new additions to the group.  The Wookiee was, debatably, at least competent, unless the wear and tear on the bowcaster were the result of someone else's use of the weapon.  The kid?  Well, he could, perhaps, learn enough to not be a total loss...if he learned how to stop acting like a holo-character in a bad gangster film.

The 'Jedi'?  Well...Rhijans didn't hold out much hope for them ever turning that guy into a competent operator.

Shard listens to the advertisement with a small smile on her face, taking the occasional sip of her loaded drink.  The young man displays some practice with his weapon...practice playing with it, in any case.  The spinning display is quite impressive, but whether or not he can actually hit the broadside of a barn is open to debate.  Finally Haarmon finishes up, and she cocks her head to the side, raising an eyebrow at the sobriquet he bestows upon her.  There are so many innuendo-filled comebacks she could fire, but her head hurts and she's not interested in witty repartee.  Instead..."Okay, I'll buy that.  But can it shoot far?" she inquires.

It's completely plausible that this one has gone for punch over distance.  More than plausible, she considers.

Rhijans explains his own choice, one Shard knows quite well at this point.  Blunt, as always.  Her mouth twitches as he sops up the coffee spill, then her eyes turn to the Wookie as he brings out his preferred tool.  Shard has seen a bowcaster - once - but never seen one fired.  Archaic didn't mean 'weak', and hopefully the weapon has some distance to its shots.

She takes another sip of her drink.  'Rags'.  Her eyebrow rises again as she glances down at her clothing.  Maybe so.

"I've requested a rifle or a carbine." Mark added as the group discussed various weaponry. "But I haven't received approval. But if I can get my hands on a DL6H Heavy blaster pistol for obvious reasons."

"As long as we have something that can hit - accurately - out past fifty meters, I'm happy," Shard mutters.  "I don't like shootouts, but in this line of work they're inevitable."

So far, so good.  Better to have a good mix of blasters than everyone loaded down with two - the handcannons most people carried gave the group solid firepower in the short ranges at which most of their altercations would occur, and having at least two or three longer guns (even standard pistols!) would allow for more accurate discouragement at greater distances.

Could have used a couple of pistols firing at those swoops she considers.  It would have been better to have engaged them at a decent range - she'd lay odds that was the kind of 'target shooting' best for Haarmon and his fancy blaster.

And if things got too close?

K'thar is probably decent with that sword of his.  He'd better be, unless the Colonel is planning a milk run or five.  Rhijans looks competent enough, so I expect he can handle the close-in work.  Same with Jacobs, and even odds one of them has a vibroblade.  Hard-edged described them, the sort of people who might carry a backup weapon.  Her eyes turned toward the seven feet of muscle and fur currently displaying the bowcaster.

He's a trump card.

The conversation is interrupted as Colonel Kourene enters the room, accompanied by two other men dressed in flight suits.  Kourene takes his position at the lectern, while the two pilots grab themselves chairs.  As the buzz of conversation dies down, the Colonel clears his throat.

"Good morning."

"We've recently received some information regarding an Imperial facility in the Alrirkr system.  Up until a few months ago, the Imperials were running a relatively small-scale mining operation there, extracting low- to medium-grade metal ores and crystals.  The planet was of little importance."

Kourene shakes his head gravely, "This is no longer the case.  Three months ago the Imperials discovered a rich deposit of Nergon-14, which is, as you may know, a major component in a number of explosive devices, including proton torpedoes.  The Imperials are currently in the process of repurposing the mining facility to extract Nergon-14."

The rebel officer smiles, "This is where you come in.  Your mission will be to go to Alrirkr, steal any Nergon-14 currently being stored there, and bring it back here for our use."

He pauses then, checking around the room to see if anybody has any questions so far.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:58, Thu 14 Apr 2011.

Rhijans followed the briefing with quick thought, analyzing the data and the potential ramifications.  When questions were opened, he spoke up.

"Yes, Colonel, I have a question.  Do you want us to try and leave the facility mostly intact so we can hit them again in the future, or do you want us to see about sabotaging it, as well?  Purely as a secondary objective..."  It would make a difference, in terms of what he requested from the quartermaster before they shipped out.

Haarmon nods to himself throughout the Colonel's speech, as though he knew all this already and was just waiting for the others to catch up. As soon as the officer pauses, though, his hand shoots up and wiggles back and forth for about half a second before he himself shoots to his feet.

"So what are we looking at here, Cap?" he says, "Is what we got here a civilian or a military operation? Are we looking to pull a snatch-and-grab from some union schlubs trying to pay the rent or a full-out guns-blazing commando raid?"

So saying, he sits and shuts up. Perhaps mercifully.

Shard sits up a little straighter when the Colonel comes in, quickly finishing off her now-tepid drink.  She narrows her eyes at the men in flight suits as their officer begins his briefing, slotting them into potential places for their mission.  Escort?  Or...

Rhijans snatches up the first question - a logical one, though Shard suspects she knows what the answer will be.  Getting back in a second time will be exponentially more difficult than the first, if they leave anything worthwhile behind.  Herself, she feels the Colonel will request destruction, assuming it won't cost workers their lives.

Maybe it's a mine operated by droids.  That would be better.

"Have a question of my own, Colonel." Shard makes a motion of her hands, indicating size.  "How much Ner...gon are we talking about?" she stumbles, having never heard of the stuff before.  "Seems to me if it's rich and being mined, we're looking at a pretty big chunk.  I'm thinking we can't just grab it and fly off in a regular ship.  Are you figuring us on stealing an imperial transport, and is there a way to load the darned thing with all we can grab?"

K'thar nods at the Colonel as the briefing ensues.  It seemed like a reasonable task, other than the fact that he thought taking the mines would be the better option.  Defending it might not be a task that the Rebellion leaders were up to.  The others had all asked good questions and he was certain that detruction of the mining base would be the answer.  Such a shame, at least they could take what they could get.  K'thar seemed strangely quiet as the others asked their questions.

Juragga sat attentively, barely munching his bird leg as the Colonel laid out their objective for them.  When he took questions, the Wookiee let the others speak up, and then chimed in himself.

Yoweling a long string of gutterels and hoots, the massive behemoth inquired if there were any known slaves being used to labor in the mines, or if they had any intel thereupon.

All the questions everyone else was coming up with reminded Rhijans of the poor intel they had on the last mission.  He really hoped that the intel this time was better...

Haarmon cocks his head to the side in an overtly sagacous fashion while Juragga speaks. When the Wookie is done he nods. "Good call, Rags." He looks back up at the Colonal, but his voice is clearly meant to be heard by everyone.

"Rags wants to know about who's working the mines. Secondary objectives. Should we be looking to minimize collateral damage? And maybe tacking a rescue mission to the whole thing? Personally, I think Hot-Lips over there has it right on. We go in tech-ninja quiet. Fix the Nets to make it look like we belong there. In. Out. Like kissing a bantak."

Mark Jacobs sat back. He didn't have anything more to add to the initial series of questions. He hoped the intel was good enough to shed more light on what they already knew about the facilities.

"As far as we know, they have not started mining in earnest yet." the Colonel explains, "Equipment and slaves are still being moved in, with the goal of increasing production within the next week or so.  For the moment, our information is that they haven't mined more than a couple of hundred kilos of Nergon-14 yet.  Captain Lund's YT-1300 should be able to manage that."

A brief pause while he considers the other questions, then, "Sabotage and freeing slaves will slow down progress on that goal, so those are both valid secondary objectives, if they can be achieved."  He gestures towards the two men in orange flight overalls, "To that end, a squadron of Z-95s will escort you to Alrirkr and lend assistance if needed.  Blue Squadron will also bomb the mine site with concussion missiles if more subtle forms of sabotage fail."

"How you handle your entry into the complex is up to you.  You are, after all, the people who will have to do this, so select whatever method suits you best."

There is a click, and a holographic map of a planet appears next to Kourene.  One point on the surface flashes red.  "This is Alrirkr.  As you can see, it's a glaciated world, so pack warm clothing.  This marker is the location of the mine facility..."  The view zooms in, the mine site expanding until it is a couple of metres across.  Buildings flash red as Kourene explains, "This is the administrative centre.  Storage and warehousing is here.  The minehead here... and equipment stores there and there.  This cluster of buildings is, as far as we know slave barracks, only about half of them are in use according to our latest intelligence.  That will change as more slaves are shipped in."

Mark rubbed his chin. Finally he asked, "Do we have any information on resupply schedule? If we can take that craft, we can crew the supply ship and enter the facility. Any other transport entering the area would alert the mining facility. We don't want that."

Slaves.

Shard's lips thin.  They just became her number one priority, even over the Nergon.  "We're going to need a big ship," she murmurs, nodding approvingly toward Mark as he inquires about the supply transport.  If they have slaves, they need to feed them.  That many slaves will require a lot of nutrients, or lots of equipment to produce said nutrients.  Which means regular supply transports.

Perfect.  Just need to ambush a supply transport...where?  Just outside of its hyperspace drop-point?  Going to be tricky, that.  They'll need the interceptors after all.  But that might prove impossible, so....

"If actually commandeering the ship isn't good," she states, "we could get into the mine area while there's a supply ship and use it to get away with the goods.  And slaves."

Better to get that out on the table, so to speak.

"I disagree that the slaves are a secondary objective.  We're not going to beat the Empire through force of arms.  We need to turn the galaxy against them, completely - to get more popular support." She closes her eyes a moment, fights against the fogginess in her head.  "We need...if we liberate the slaves, every one of them becomes a supporter.  They have families.  They have stories.  There are people out there who probably don't even think about slavery, but if word gets out that the Empire not only condones it, but there's evidence showing the Empire traffics in slaves, that might make more people sit up and think."

She opens her eyes. "And that's setting aside the most important thing - that we're saving lives.  I'd say that's at least as important as concussion missiles."

Her voice drops.  "But if we bomb the mine site with the slaves in it...how are we any better than the Empire?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:18, Mon 18 Apr 2011.

Juragga caterwauled his agreement to Shard's commentary.  Obviously, the original goal was important - getting the Nergon would be a boon for the Rebellion - but the slaves were important too.

"GRRrrrrruuuUUUUHN.  WaaaaaaaaHHHHR," he rumbled.  There was no reason the goals were mutually exclusive, he said.  With planning, bravery and luck, the Wookiee knew they could accomplish both.  And leave a big mess behind when they left.

He yowled that the Imperials no doubt had transport craft that could help in both evacuating the slaves and the material.  Then with a low "UhhhhHHHR?" of query, he wondered how many of the team could fly a transport... or if they'd need extra pilots.  While it was always possible some of the slaves had piloting skills - it wasn't best to count on it.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Juragga hoped there were Wookiees there - and that he could help free them.

Mark Jacobs heard the Wookiee. He shook his head as he failed to understand the big creature. "Sir." Mark added after he got the Colonel's attention. "How are we supposed to work with the Wookiee, if we can't communicate with him?"


rolled 7 using 3 dice with the WEG Classic system with rolls of 2,3,{Wild}2. Alien species to understand wookiee. Probably a failure again :)

Completely oblivious of the Wookiee's intention, K'thar just smiled at him.  "I second the motion.  Freeing the slaves is our primary objective, detonating the unmined Nergon should be secondary."

Rhijans grimaced.  This was going to be a long mission, no doubt about it.  "Colonel...how difficult would it be to set up a secondary drop point, where we could get the slaves vetted and make sure they're actually safe to release...or to recruit?"  His mind showed him flashes of hardened criminals that had been turned into slaves...and the kind of chaos that would ensue if such got turned free on an unsuspecting galaxy.

"And how much of a military presence do they have there?  If it's just a caretaker operation, overseeing the mining and keeping the slaves in line, sneaking in will be a lot easier than if it's garrisoned and defended."  He contemplated the challenge of trying to hijack one of the transports...there were a frightening number of variables that came to mind.

"Unless we know, for certain, of a civilian transport that's going in there, I think we're better off trying to infiltrate the base through other means.  That, however, means we need a specialist in glacier operations, because I don't think I've spent more than a handful of days anywhere that it got cold enough to even snow, much less create glaciers."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:44, Wed 20 Apr 2011.