Alpha team waited around a table in the briefing room.  Each was seated in a chair, and had been offered a hot beverage.  Some thoughtful soul in the rebellion had been baking Dantooinian bread and had slathered some toast with local berry jam.  A holoscreen on the wall was currently blank.

Each of you had been carefully searched for weapons, which had been left at the armory.  It was only after you had surrendered every blade and bullet that you were allowed into the briefing room.  There was only one door, and a pair of Rebel guards waited outside.

The door opened and a Rebel soldier came inside.  This one was even more heavily armed than the others, as well as wearing more armor.  After her followed a mousy young woman wearing the uniform of an Intelligence agent.  After her, without ceremony, came Princess Leia. She said something to someone out in the hallway and closed the door after her.

Her bodyguard was carefully watching the entire Alpha team. The Intelligence officer handed the princess a datapad.

Princess Leia looked you all over and began to speak.  "Alpha team: you had notable victory against the underworld enemies of the rebellion.  You've also been very successful at gathering up intelligence that the Rebellion desperately needs.  Now it's time for you to strike a blow against the Empire."

As you hear her speak, you begin to sense what it is that makes her so inspirational to the Rebels.  It is not an idealistic fanaticism, nor is it a innocent, starry-eyed hope.  Instead, it is a rock solid confidence that there is no other path to take than the one she is on.  Facing her, and hear her speak, it is very easy to believe that the Rebellion is right and will ultimately find victory.

"After the Emperor rose to power, the very first thing he ordered was the destruction of the Jedi order.  Even after the Clone Wars, the Empire expended enormous resources hunting down and destroying all the Jedi across the galaxy.  What you may not know is that this was not successful."

"At least one Jedi survived the purge.  General Obi-Wan Kenobi went into hiding.  During this time, he mentored our very own Commander Luke Skywalker.  Luke believes that he can become what the Emperor most fears."

"Lore of the Jedi has been hunted down with as much determination as the Jedi themselves.  We are seeking alternate solutions that will help us recover the knowledge we have lost."

Princess Leia pressed a few buttons and a star map came up on the holoscreen. It displays a planet you haven't seen before. The displayed name is 'Karhexadine 1.'
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:33, Wed 04 Apr 2018.

Forim heads to the briefing with Roger.  He has begun to like the relic of a droid.  When they ask everyone to remove their weapons, Forim cannot help but laugh as he stands next to a B1 Battle Droid.  But Forim removes his weapons without complaint.

Forim is a stereotypical Duros.  Slightly taller then the average human.  He has no body hair to speak of, and his fingers are quite long.  His voice is not as deep as the normal Duros, and most humans find it more familiar then that of his other species.

True to form, Forim wears his flightsuit.  The flightsuit however is most assuredly not standard issue.  The color shimmers slightly, almost making it blend in with the environment.  However with a closer look it is easy to see that it is light blue in nature.  Thick and Durable it also looks quite natural on the Duros' frame.

Forim stands next to the holo-projecter ready for their next mission.

As the Princess of Alderaan enters, Forim cannot help but bow out of respect for the leader of the Rebellion.  That he actually gets to be in the same room as her is an honor beyond measure for him.

Prior to this meeting, Forim attributed the tales of Jedi and the Force to people of great skill.  As stories get passed around from mouth to mouth they grow in size.  It is easy to see how such stories could grow.  There is at least one such story about Forim circulating the taverns back home from an adventure of his youth.

However when the princess speaks of the Jedi as a fact, and they exist.  Well, Forim's viewpoint shifts quickly and without resistance.  So, the Jedi are real.  Cool.  It is not that Forim has no opinion to himself, it is just that he believes in the leader so much, that he believes the conviction of her words.  She would know more then he would, and he trusts her completely.

To think that an order of beings of such power existed and the Empire not only wiped them out of existence, but put their existence into rumor.  No one believes the Jedi existed.  Well, fools.  But perhaps that is what the Empire wanted.  Yet another atrocity the Empire has to answer for.

As the system comes into view, Forim racks his brain about the sector of space it is in...

ooc: You can roll Astrogation for me: 1P 2A + 1 advantage on the outcome.

Jedi.  It had to be Jedi.

This has to be the Universe playing some kind of game with me, the young man thought, the edge of a hunk of jam-slathered toast hanging out of the corner of his mouth as his emerald green eyes kept their gaze on Princess Leia.  Even though he had been working as a fighter-for-hire for quite a few years, he had originally been trained as a Teras Kasi.  And their specialty had always been understanding how the Force and the Jedi themselves had worked.  Unfortunately, their knowledge had more to do with how to counteract a Jedi rather than how to train them more effectively.  It was knowledge that Jurell had long since thought was unnecessary with them having long since thought to have been extinct.  But, as soon as he had decided to join this rebellion, serendipitously his mission had to have something to do with them.

Reaching up to his mouth with a hand partially covered by a cut-off synth-leather glove, the dark-skinned human gripped the crust of bread and tore off the piece in his mouth with his teeth.  Chewing thoughtfully, he leaned back in his chair, placing a boot against the edge of the table.  As he did so, he swept back the side of his dark synth-leather coat to reveal a belt with some utility pockets and a comfortable-looking shirt.  While functional, the synth-leather of his outfit was reinforced with internal plates that had kept him alive through more scrapes than he could count.

While his actions were probably atrocious manners, Jurell had not particularly grown up among people who would likely have cared about that.  They had taken away the vambraces he usually had hidden underneath the sleeves of his coat, so he was determined to enjoy whatever hospitality they had--namely the Dantooinian bread with that lovely berry jam.  It was not that the young man felt ill at ease without his weapons.  In fact, he felt perfectly comfortable as he knew that his fighting arts did not require weaponry at all in order to be effective.  It was simply a matter of principle.  He could probably dent or completely mangle plasteel armor with his fist if the need called for it.

"So, what's the mission then?" he asked gruffly after swallowing the piece of bread.  Jurell's lack of love of the Empire was no secret considering that according to his reputation he had a personal brush up against Moff Nyall.  So, his eagerness from the fact that this mission would be them directly up against the Empire combined with the fact that he didn't care much for long-winded conversations led to his current abrupt demeanor.  Taking another bite from the hunk of bread he held between his thumb and forefinger, he ran a hand through his locks of dark hair to sweep some stray locks from before his eyes.

Looking at the newcomer in disbelief he says "Show some respect to the princess!"

He is now wondering who this person is and why they are in an alpha team meeting.  He hopes the man is just lost...  Maybe off his meds too...

Wolfing down the last of the bread in his hand, Jurell kicked back, adding his other foot to the table and folding his hands behind his head.  He glanced sidelong at the rest of the Dantooinian bread considering taking some more when he heard the Duros speaking to him.  Rolling his eyes at the flight officer, he sighed.

"I joined up to take the fight to the Empire, not kowtow to royalty," he replied nonchalantly.  "If doing that would put some Empire officers in a cell, I wouldn't mind.  But, I don't see it having that desired effect right now."

Xyklo was dressed in his customary large grey coat. Riddled with scuffs and patches, it looked as though it had been dragged through a hedge backwards, then shot. Although this wasn't armour in the military sense, and would not stand up to trooper blaster fire, such a material was not tough enough for such punishment.
But here it was, mostly in one piece.

The verpine inside was crouched over the Dantooine toast and berry jam, he had been silent since it arrived, his snout nibbling at the rich and floral sugars. His dark green carahide skin lent even more emphasis to his stillness. Indeed he seemed in some form of trance, even as the Princess began their brief, his head moved only enough to track the displays, both hands keeping the treasured berry jam scant centimetres from his mouth.

He had at least taken his hat off. The battered thing sat on the table like a giant green toadstool. It had at some point had a strap or buckle circling it. All that remained were the scars of torn stitching.

At the exchange between Forim and Jurell his snout twitched. He knew neither of these two well, though he'd completed the basic training with the surly human.

Xyklo felt a tentative need to say something to bring the assembled men and women back to harmony, though he knew it wasn't his responsibility. In the end the berry jam won very easily and he immersed himself in the euphoria of rich sweetness.

Jospi had elected to take a seat next to the verpine he had shared a hard vacuum training exercise with a couple of days ago.  Nodding to his former teammate, he glanced around the room taking in the others gathered with them.  His familiar brown eyes took in the assembled cast of characters with the practiced nonchalance of a security officer.  At the entrance of the Alderaanian princess and her entourage, he remained nonplussed.  She certainly wasn't the first noble he'd ever laid eyes on and she was by no means a Corellian noblewoman.

Once the duros and dark skinned human got into it, he just rolled his eyes at their antics; there always had to be somebody, if not two of them, who felt an overriding urge to make sure everyone knew his opinion and how much more important it was than anyone else feelings or thoughts.  He just folded his green sleeved arms over his chest and left them to it.  Sooner or later they would be made aware how childish was their behaviour or it would come to blows.  That would be entertaining, especially for the princess as she likely had never seen a real fist fight before.

Forim cannot believe his ears.  Now this human wanted to start a fight in front of the Princess.  That was almost as rude!

Taking the higher road, Forim turns his back on the human in disgust before saying quietly "My apologies" to the princess with a slight bow.  Forim hopes that the creature will move on from his life, otherwise they might have to have some words about protocol and etiquette later.

Forim puzzles over the map for a moment, recalling where it might be. He hazards a guess that it is near Malastare, off the Hydian Way trade route. The Expansion region, then.

If the Princess is offended by the lack of kowtowing, she doesn't show it. She waits for the conversation to lull, then continues her briefing.

"A recent Imperial transmission was decoded with the aid of the slicer you retrieved.  The intelligence indicated a location that may have information we need to pursue this objective."

"This is Karhexadine 1, the only inhabitable planets in its stellar system.  The message we intercepted was a protest from the sector's Moff against an order to redirect forces away from it."

Princess Leia opens another file.  Everyone listens as a well-educated but weedy voice complaints.  "...  Given that the Emperor's highest priority has always been the destruction of the prime enemy, I feel it is a poor decision to redirect forces away from Karhexadine.  I formally request the retraction of order 27.42..."

Princess Leia turns the message off.  "Whatever is on Karhexadine, the Empire has it buried. If they don't want us to have it, I think we should at least find out what it is."

The Princess opens a third file on her data pad to project a holo of a GR-75 medium transport next to a holo of an X-Wing. "You'll be travelling through imperial space on this mission.  Rebel command has authorized the use of a transport with an X-Wing as escort.  Alternatively, you could keep using the Sunset Shimmer.  However I'm told that the range of a YT-1300 is insufficient to reach the objective without stopping to refuel.  You'll have to stop at an independent fuelling station on the way."

Still leaning back in his chair with his booted feet on the edge of the table, Jurell interjected as he shifted his body weight forward to put his feet back on the ground and sit up.

"Let me get this straight," he said, scratching the side of his face with a finger for a moment.  "We're supposed to search an entire planet for some unidentified something.  How do we even know what this Moff is talking about?  Might be some small artifact, sure.  But, if it's some kind of ruin or piece of architecture it would be pretty difficult to transport it."

Hunching over, the dark-skinned human glanced at each of the other members of the team.  They were sending in a small group to attack an objective that, while less guarded than would have been in general, probably had something to do with Jedi.  Friggin' Jedi.  His Master had always told him repeatedly that Jedi and the Force were things not to get mixed up in.  They had led to some of the worst problems for the Teras Kasi in their history.  The destruction of the original planet on which they had studied historically, but more recently the hunting down of members of their own tradition by the Empire.  After his Master had passed, he had taken to heart the idea of staying away from anything to do with them.  The thought of having to go back into the area he had been avoiding made his stomach roil.

Resting his elbows on the table, Jurell folded his hands and rested his chin on it as his emerald eyes scanned the visuals shown on the datapad.  He had done quite a few retrieval jobs in his career, but he always made it a point to get information about the job laid out ahead of time.  Unknowns were usually grounds for cancelling a job outright.  Unknowns got people killed.  And this particular job was full of them.  Of course, he expected that there wouldn't be a great deal of intelligence on a place that people weren't supposed to know anything about.  But, with the few operatives they were using on top of the limited resources AND limited intelligence?

It was beginning to look almost suicidal.

Lieutenant Caddanra had arrived at the meeting, on time as always.  She was dressed as she 'normally' would be: elegantly.   Today's outfit was slender, pink and lacy and she had her hair caught in buns - quite oddly reminiscent of the commander's own hair style.   She is sitting quietly as the briefing unfolds, listing to the talk of the others and specifically taking 'note' of their reactions given that she suspects they will be new members of her team.

When Jurell pipes up she softly replies, "If that is all the intelligence on offer, then we'll have to do our own reconnaissance.   If that is a problem, I'm sure we can find someone more suitable to participate in this mission?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:54, Sat 18 Mar 2017.

The insectoid follows the conversation without a pause in his nibbling. Cautiously bringing the toasted bread a few inches away from a mouth now smeared in sticky red jam, like a cheap holo-horror flick, he glances once at Jospi before finally offering some words.

"Reckon we go for the '1300 then. Scouting with an X-wing into Imperial space sounds safe as giving a rancor a proctol inspection. Nothing wrong with free traders stopping for fuel."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:10, Sat 18 Mar 2017.

Glancing sidelong at Caddanra, the dark-skinned young man sat up from where he had been leaning on the table.

"Yeah, sure, criticize the guy commenting on how close this is to a suicide mission," he said with a musing, sarcastic tone accompanied by a whimsical hand gesture.  Leaning back in his chair, he turned his body posture to actually face the pink-haired young woman.  "Listen, Sweetheart, in my line of work, good intelligence gets the job done smoothly, and bad intelligence ends up with people dead.  Doing intelligence work on the fly usually ends up with focus split from the job at hand, and can also end up with people dead.  Trying to play on my ego won't change those facts."

Jurell was not foolish by any means.  He knew a veiled goad when he saw one.  Working in the worst hives of scum had given him a wide variety of experiences with people who worked others for a living.  They usually ended up being the focus in firefights the most.

Shrugging, he stretched in his chair to get more comfortable, but not before reaching out to grab another hunk of Dantooinian bread.  He really had to find out what they put in the stuff.  It was downright addicting!
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Sat 18 Mar 2017.

She considers returning the gesture but settles for words.   "That'll be Lieutenant Sweetheart, rookie.   We aren't here for milk runs.   If you need to be spoon fed then nothing will ever go smoothly."

She then turns to Forim, "It's your call on the ship, Forim.  We could retrofit it for the longer trip if needs be."   Caddy might hold rank here but they are a team and she knows full well when to delegate to those who know 'best' in a specific situation.

"While I would love to fly an X-Wing, I think flying a military vessel through imperial space is just asking for us to be searched at every checkpoint.  I agree for the Shimmer.  Re-fueling probably wont be an issue.  Just another spacer looking to refuel.  Assuming we have the credits for it?" he asks inquisitively.

Turning to the Belligerent One "Someone has to get intelligence, and that is us.  If you do not like intelligence work, and would prefer to just have someone put something in front of you that you can hit and not use that thing between your ears at all at all - go get assigned to the infantry.

We are going on this mission to gather intelligence.  Intelligence that can potentially help Commander Skywalker fight the Empire.  If that intelligence just somehow happens to be a piece of architecture" he says rolling his eyes "then we have to take holos, and get word back to Commander Skywalker that he should take a closer look.  Commander Skywalker does not have time to chase down every lead.  Our job is to see if this is a viable lead and get what information we can.

If you have a problem with that.  There is the door.  You would probably make a good grunt."

Jurell simply shrugged in his seat.  "Rank is great and all, but I'm willing to bet that I was placed here by virtue of the fact that missions like these are what I've been doing for most of my life," he stated, reaching over to spread some extra berry jam on his bread.  "Though, it's good to know that you see fit to throw a person with experience in the matter under for pointing out the rather glaring, death-causing issues with a mission.  Really shows great leadership."

With a sigh, the dark-skinned human swung his legs downward and leaned up at the same time, actually standing up from his chair with a glance at the Duros flight officer.

"Yeah, sure," he stated dryly, rolling his eyes.  "Insulting my intelligence.  I would really love to see you do what I do.  I don't claim to have expertise in your wheelhouse, which, from the way you're dressed, I assume is piloting?"  Taking a few strides he brushed some stray locks of hair from in front of his face.

"Yeah, I think I'll take your advice on the door," he said glibly as he kept walking.  "Pass on the grunt work, though.  Try not to get yourselves killed.  As naive as I think the two of you are, my teacher taught me that lives are precious."  With that, he walked for the door, waving at them all without looking with one hand while stuffing the crust of bread into his mouth with the other.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:31, Sat 18 Mar 2017.

Xyklo cautiously leans across the table and reaches for the jam.

"You want me to go after him?" he asks, to the group in general.

Princess Leia nods to her aide, who rapidly talks into a commlink.

[Private to Jurell Delgar: As Jurell is stalking down the halls, he is confronted from all sides by a quartet of Rebel soldiers and their NCO. At their forefront is a Gotal seargent. "Corporal, you will have to come with us."]

After dealing with that issue, Princess Leia continues.

"The planet is pre-interstellar, but not uninhabited.  Our information suggests several native groups that may have information you can use.  They have been under imperial oversight for decades, and may be willing to aid the Rebellion."

Princess Leia opens another file on the holoscreen.  The screen displays an artistic carving.  It resembles a tree with wide boughs and humanoid figure's dancing around beneath them.  A number of symbols are inscribed in an arc around the top of the tree.

"When we began researching Karhexadine, we found an archaeological study dating to the Old Republic.  Most of the files were expunged, but this piece survived in an archived edition.  Whether it is a literal tree or some sort of symbol, we suspect that it is pertinent to your mission."

According to the images' title, the piece of art was categorized as Item 2056: Symoblic Representation of 'Tree of Knowledge.'

The green skinned Nautolan wore a leather vest over a dark blue shirt with ivory buttons down half of the shirt.  Green and black ocean waves rolled along the collar and down the sleaves and cuffs.  A black leather utility belt with several pockets hung off his hip, along with a now empty Blaster Pistol holster on his right side.  A well used thick databad holster was on his left hip, the data pad in his hands as he made notes during the briefing, to ensure he didn't forget critical notes.

Looking up at the Princess again, Kraken's mind wondered back to the reason why the Empire was hunting the Rebel's.  Jedi.  Kraken's people respected the Jedi and the power they influenced, just as they respected anyone with power or any weapon, tool or piece of technology that could bring a power to bear on their foes.  Kraken's own great grandfather had been a jedi, or so his family had told him during evening meals along with Grandmaster Jedi Seaweave.  Kraken thought it would be cool if he could be a Jedi but with the Empire hunting all Jedi, such a wish was a death wish.

Kraken sat somewhere in the back of the room, listening to the briefing, his eyes darting from side to side as the group bantered ideas and other less than savory comments.  Frowning occasionally, the Nautolan waited and watched for the calm to return and mused the mission in his mind, trying to see any questions that had not been asked but needed to be asked.

A middle-aged Sullustan in a grey-blue flight jacket sits near the front, listening intently. He frowns as he hears the pilot say something about grunts and one of the grunts storm out of the room. That's nothing new. He fidgets a bit in his seat and pats at his empty holster. Though he is a mere trooper, he has the appearance of one who has seen it all.

He remains silent, given his rank and lack of knowledge on the subject, knowing that if he has to do his job, things are going to get very dangerous.

Caddy purses her lips.  She really didn't want to start a new working relationship with a fight but it appeared that words needed to be said.

"My apologies, Commander."  She turns to Jurell.   "Whatever the mission and regardless of the odds, I have no intention of leading anyone I work with to their deaths.   You have clearly been brought here for a reason.  So you must be good at what you.   Please respect that we are equally as 'useful'.  If you sit down and stop blustering, I'm sure we can find out a bit more about both each-other and the mission."  While her words were 'commanding' and maybe even a little patronising, her tone and demeanour was 'politically neutral', hopefully dampening the effect of those words.  She really wasn't trying to pick a fight but she was the ranking member of the Alpha Team and she wasn't about to throw in the towel on a team member before she'd even learnt his name!

[And while I don't normally condone rolls against other PCs when it isn't PVP combat, I thought I'd see how successful Iwas in my stance and demeanour vs your 2D willpower.   I gave myself a 1B for actually having higher rank than you and 1B for you being outnumbered.

A nice total of 6 successes!

01:38, Today: Caddanra 'Caddy' Manitu rolled 6 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1A 2P 2B 2D.  Leadership.]

"What does the Alliance know about Karhexadine 1 current sector's Moff and the current Imperial position?  Military, social, political and what do we know about this planet and its inhabitants?  If we can find a copy of Order 27.42, we might find out where the troops are being redirected to.  Not that this is part of the mission, but I think the Alliance would want to know where the Empire is moving large amounts of forces.  It also might state why they are moving away from the planet and give some hint about why the forces where there to begin.  How long has the current Moff been in charge and who was there before him?  If this thing has been there for some time, we might be able to find out what's there by investigating the old Moff's files without the Empire realizing the Alliance is on to them.  I can do some internet searching, see what I can find." he offers.

OOC:
What do I know about Karhexadine 1.
What do I know about the solar system it's in?  Anything of significant value?
Outer Rim Lore:  1 success 1 advantage
Underworld Lore:  0 Success, 2 advantage

Forim says "Looks like the system is near Malastare, off the Hydian Way trade route. That's in the Expansion region.  Long way off so I can see why we would have to fuel up.

My suggestion would be to fuel up close to the target as well, so we have a full tank in case we have to leave in a hurry.  However, as long as we can fill up on the planet, we only need to have a half tank to be able to run in case we can't get down.  Less interactions mean less chance of detection.  Both methods have risks and benefits."

Looking to the Princess he asks "Your Highness, Is our mission to simply gather as much intelligence as we can about what the Empire is doing there?  If there is an item that we can obtain to help with Commander Skywalker's training should we take the risk and grab it, or report back and get a larger team organized?  Is there also an element of sabotage implied in our mission, for example should we look at taking out the Moff?"

Not that he wants to do all that, he just wants to make sure everyone is on the same page with the parameters of the mission.

His earlier question ignored Xyklo happily returns his attention to slathering jam on some more toast. He nods just a touch at Krakens list of specifics, then again at Forims proposed transport options.
The final suggestion that taking out a Moff brings his head up sharply, his left antenna twitching.

Xyklo stares at the Princess, awaiting her response.

Caddy is considering the problem (that of Jurell as he departs) and then offer Xyklo Voozul a smile, "Thank you for offering.  For now, let's focus on the briefing."

Unfortunately, she knows little of the planets in question and cannot add further to the information the small group are sharing.

[OOC: My apologies Xyklo.  I wasn't ignoring you! :-) I just didn't see your post amidst the mess.

19:51, Today: Caddanra 'Caddy' Manitu rolled 1 failure, 1 advantage using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3a 2d.  Out Rim knowledge.]

Roger stands near the wall behind Forim.  His head looks back and forth between the participants in the discussion, his neuroprocessors trying to figure out why the organics just can’t understand how to process mission details…  The battered battle droid, with purple marking plates, sets his heuristic processors to assessing the information and responses concerning the mission, letting the interactions fall to secondary processors, freeing up the primary threads for more pertinent information.

He waits for more pertinent information to add to his calculations… but, he’s no T-series tactical droid…

Meanwhile, standing outside the doors of the meeting, Jurell was standing flanked by four guards and their NCO with a grimace on his face.  Of course, that damned Princess.  She probably got upset that he was leaving a meeting that had some sort of sensitive information.  Well, that meant that his freedom was no longer his own.  That was what he got for joining up with an organization instead of just working by himself.  The money had been good, and it allowed him to kick the Empire in the balls every once in a while.

Standing as he was with his back against the door, he still caught Caddanra's parting words to him as he left the room.  The dark-skinned young man was mildly annoyed that she seemed to think his points were nothing but blustering, but, she seemed to at least be willing to change her mind when necessary instead of sticking to orders for orders' sake.  Maybe there were some redeeming factors to her?  Besides, it beat having to stand here and stare at a squad of Rebel guards that seemed all-too-willing to throw him in a cell by the way their NCO had been saying that they wanted him to follow them.  [Private to GM: However, the most important consideration was the fact that his life was now tied directly to what the Empire wished.  The more useful his position, the more likely they would be to leave him well enough alone as long as he submitted reports on important Rebel activity.  And considering how important Alpha Team's activities seemed to be to the Rebellion (searching for Jedi artifacts?!), he had to bet that being in this squad would get the Empire off his back indefinitely.]

Weighing his options for a few moments, Jurell raised his hands in a surrendering motion and flashed the Rebel guards outside the door a brilliant smile.

"Sorry, I'd love to come with you, but it seems I'm sorta needed in the meeting going on through the door behind me," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.  "So, if you don't mind, I'll be heading back in there.  Have a nice day!"

With that, the turned on his heel and walked back through the automatic door into the briefing room once again without giving the NCO a chance to get a response in.  After all, Jurell didn't want to give him a chance to decide he wanted to take the fighter-for-hire into custody anyway.

Walking past Caddy on the way back to his seat, he glanced sidelong at her.

"Alright then," he stated with a shrug and a wry smile.  "Just try not to get us killed on this op.  I signed up to do some real hurt to the Empire, and I'd be pretty disappointed if we all died on the first mission."

With that, he was back in his chair, leaning back with his feet propped up on the edge of the table with his hands folded behind his head.  Still, he was quiet and listening to the rest of the details of the mission.  His posture was reminiscent of a Huurton when not on the hunt--body posture completely relaxed, but senses completely alert.

Aside from its approximate location, very little is known about Karhexadine.  It is one of many hundreds of inhabited worlds in the known galaxy. It lacks any star ports and is not on any common hyperspace route.

Princess leia turns to her intelligence aide when asked about the Moff.  The aide consults a datapad of her own. "Moff Paydon Montrose, Formerly of Imperial Intelligence, he was awarded his position two years ago.  It had previously been vacant, overseen by the imperial navy. Our intelligence suggests that he spends most of his time traveling back and forth from Coruscant."

Princess Leia resumes the briefing. "Your primary mission objective is to secure as much intelligence on this 'Tree of Knowledge' as possible. Obtain copies of any intelligence you can. If it is an item, locate it."

She presses on her datapad. "Rebel Command has prepared these objectives for you as well," she adds, as the holoscreen behind her changes.

Primary Objective:
 - Tech-Procurement: Locate the 'Tree of Knowledge' or any information related to it.

Secondary Objectives:
 - Combat Victory: Capture at least one high-ranking Imperial officer.
 - Counter-Intelligence: Sequester knowledge of a Rebel team on Karhexadine 1.
 - Intelligence: Obtain intelligence on any Imperial strongholds on the planet.
 - Personnel: Prevent casualties among Rebel agents.
 - Political Support: Obtain resources relevant to the mission from local support.
 - Sabotage: Prevent Imperial broadcasts for support.
 - Space Superiority: Destroy one squadron of Imperial fighters.
 - Support: Fulfill as many objectives as possible.

Princess Leia's intelligence agent checks her chrono. "The Princess has two minutes available for questions," she announces.

Xyklo raises a hand eagerly. As the sugar begins to enter his system he is becoming more lively, visibly bouncing in his seat.

"Sounds like we may be required to improvise on arrival. Any chance of a couple of crash kits and survival gear in case this requires exploration in a non urban environment?

Also, when you say capture, do you mean alive?"

Caddy nodded to the recalcitrant individual, "That's the plan...."

She'll then refocus on the objectives, nodding as each is revealed.  "It sounds like we have our work cut out for us."  And then she smiles at Xyklo's question, "I suggest that capture implies living... and gear, within limits, can be requisitioned before we leave."

Forim nods and says "Additionally your Highness, How many funds will be available to us for refueling, bribes, and similar on the surface purchases?"

Seeing the mission objectives come up, Jurell planted his feet on the ground and sat up straight, his emerald eyes scanning over the words.  Hearing the Duros's comments, he nodded his agreement.

"We should probably requisition some security spikes and the like as well if we want to keep a low profile like the mission wants," he added, tapping a bare finger against the side of his cheek thoughtfully.  "If this base is as secure of a facility as we're expecting it to be, there may be electronic surveillance we will want to scrub in order to eliminate any traces we've been there.  Organic eyes aren't the only ones we have to worry about."

Now that the fighter-for-hire was being more cooperative, his experience with operations like this was starting to show through his rough demeanor.

"With a mission like this, we're flying a bit blind," he stated as he glanced from Forim to Caddanra.  "So, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for a worst case scenario.  If we get made, we'll probably have to switch off to a targeted strike to a communications hub and scrub their system of our presence on the planet."

The young man's eyes glazed over as a memory of his past came to the forefront of his mind.

"We really don't want the Empire knowing that we know information about Jedi and the Force," he added darkly.  "A lot of people have been hunted down who had information like that.  My own Order was hunted down for even having research on it.  They won't hesitate to hunt down every person who even had remote contact with it.  In fact, I'm surprised it's not higher up on our objective list."

While it was a criticism of the mission objectives, it was not a criticism for criticism's sake.  It was fairly obvious that Jurell had a great deal of personal experience with the methods of those particular hunters from the Empire.

Xyklo nods at Caddy's reply.
"Alive. Yep. Ok. Good to check."

At Jurells suggestion that the Empire would exact a brutal cleansing of anyone with knowledge of Jedi related secrets they wished to remain hidden, the Verpine scowled. Well, the carahide above his eyes creased visibly.

"Yeah. They're murderous fascists all right. Good thing we got the personnel objective right. No one gets left behind," he growls, or possibly buzzes, his voice temporarily reverting to a more primal state.

Princess Leia remains quiet as her aide answers the questions posed so far.

"The Sunset Shimmer is being repaired and replenished. It should be ready soon; I'll update the team that you will be using it. I'll memo Supply that you would like some extra crash kits and survival gear."

"In addition to determining for ourselves the details of the Tree, which we have code-named The Resource for this mission, we would like to know what intel the Imperials have on it. To that end..."

"To that end, we need sentient intelligence," Princess Leia finishes. Her aide goes back to tapping her datapad. "Rebel Command has authorized eight hundred credits for refuelling. We estimate this to be enough for two refuels, which should be enough to get you back to base after the mission."

On the subject of bribes and resource expenditures, she says nothing. From a career politician, that speaks volumes.

 “Wow.  Imagine if it really is a tree…” Roger muses to himself.
He turns his attention to Leia and her aides, “Is there a limit to the amount of time we can spend on this mission?  When are we expected back?”

Princes Leia answers. "Rebel Command is not dispatching you lightly. We expect you to take as much time as is required to find proof of the Resource. Remember that the longer you are on the ground, the more Imperials will focus on you."

Unfolding his arms, Jospi sets his hands, palms down, on the table.  "Very well.  It seems we have a mission; it's objectives and expectations are clear.  As this is open ended and knowledge of our presence is frowned upon, let's make sure we have basic supplies for a month planetside in addition to the round trip flight time.  That way, if we need to, we can deploy in a remote area away from the inhabitants and not have to expose ourselves by going grocery shopping.  Aside from spikes, are there any other requests for specialized gear?  If so, let's hear them.  If not, let's get going."

Xyklo grins and puts his hand up again.
"How about some more jam for the journey?"

Caddy smiled at the request for more 'jam' but leaves the others to talk about what might be needed, her own thoughts dwelling oddly on the hilt she'd kept well hidden in her personal equipment.

Princess Leia is called away. "Good luck, and may the Force be with you." Her bodyguard precedes her from the room.

After you leave, you are escorted to a barracks that has been emptied of other personnel. "All contact and movement are restricted until you leave," explains the Seargent-at-arms, whose name is Thengual. "This barracks is for your use. Meals will be brought to you. If you need to leave, you will be escorted. You will be able to inspect the ship tomorrow afternoon. You will depart in two standard days."

Caddenra is handed a stack of flimsiplasts in a file marked 'Eyes only. Destroy after reading.'

"These are your agent profiles. You are authorized to share them with your second-in-command."

With that, the agent leaves. A few minutes later, a member of the custodial team brings you fresh clothes, baked bread, and homemade soda.

The change in environment dampens the Verpines trivial joviality. It feels serious now. He prowls around the barracks, his system still twitchy from the sugar loading. After exhausting the possibilities of exploration within the confines he finds a space near Caddanra.
"We will get a chance to check our gear before departing, right? Should I speak to you about reserve power charges for weapons? I have a couple but, you know..." he glances from the pink princess to the Duros, and back again.

"I haven't worked as part of a team in a long time," He turns his head to take in Jospi, Leic, Kraken and Jurell. "Feels....   good."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 17:31, Tue 21 Mar 2017.

Forim follows the guard to their room, then waits until they close the door.

Looking at the new people he says "Hello Everyone, I am Flight Officer Luk.

Of the 12 beings who have joined Alpha Squadron over our last few missions, I am the only original member.  Caddy has been with Alpha Team for a while, joining near the beginning.  She got lucky and got to skip basic training.

That said, management seems to simply call whoever is on the mission with me Alpha Team without any official paperwork to say the roster has been formally updated.  I guess welcome to Alpha Team." he says with a shrug.

"I am the pilot of our ship, a YT-1300 named the Sunset Shimmer that has quite a few miles on it.  It has two turret mounted medium laser cannons, and one forward mounted medium laser cannon.  While flying, I tend to focus on flying and not shooting.  That means there are three gunnery positions up for grab.  If we only have two takers, then I can take pot shots with the forward cannons when the situation presents itself.

Lieutenant Manitu is the ranking officer in this team, however when situations come up and we are flying, I have tended to call the shots.

We know this is going to be a hard mission, and respecting the chain of command while on the mission is going to prevent us from getting killed.  There is no point arguing like a bunch of children because you don't like the orders that are being given.  If you think they are wrong, please politley state why they are wrong and then accept the order if it does not change.  Command has her reasons, usually" he says with a smirk.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:24, Tue 21 Mar 2017.

The Sullustan speaks up, slurring his words as he does his best to properly pronounce the words in Basic.

"Never had any formal training, but I fired plenty of blasters back in the Clone Wars. I'm not bad on the controls either, if you want me in the co-pilot's seat and manning the forward cannons. But I haven't flown in a bit, so if someone else wants to help you out I can take a turret instead."

OOC: I have no ranks in gunnery or piloting, but I have 4 agility and remove one black die on piloting checks.

"I'm Trooper Zeic Plirr. I served in the Clone Wars, and spent the time since kicking around wild space. Good to be back in civilization. I'm a bit rusty with these," he says as he pats at the small arsenal strapped to his body,"but I'm sure I'll get it back soon enough. Also, don't play dejarik with me for money if you like keeping it." Plirr grins mischievously.

The Nautolan sitting near the back corner listens to Flight Officer Luk raising an eyebrow, but choosing to keep his thoughts to himself at the time about rank, officers and orders.  Glancing at the one who he called Lieutenant Manitu he studies the pretty woman for a second, before looking back to the Duros Spacer to hear him finish his opening speech nodding to indicated he had heard his comments but not adding his own.

Looking towards the next man, the Sullustian Trooper, Zeic Plirr, Kraken listens intently nodding once just to show he was listening.

Seeing no one else wanting to make introductions, Kraken frowns not really wanting to speak but ground his teeth and stood anyway, perhaps too quickly, pushing his chair back as he stood, perhaps a little nervous.

"I go by Kraken.  I'm willing to take a hand at the ships guns if needed, but I have no formal gunnery or piloting training however I am pretty good at making the Astrogation plans to ensure we don't bounce off any stars, planets or end up in an asteroid field.  If its needed, I'll get Crack-en on it."  Feeling he had said enough for now, Kraken took his seat.

The human in the green nomad's greatcoat stands.  Taking a moment to look around, he announces, "Jospi Renning.  I'm Corellian.  I'll be handling engineering.  Unless one of you is a trained doctor, engineering is to include biologicals.  I'm a dab hand with computers in general and slicing in particular, but if that's someone else job, I can lend a hand as needed.  If the situation warrants it, I'll grab an open gunner's seat."

Looking to the Lieutenant, Jospi says, "When we've finished introductions, will you arrange for an escort to the ship?  I wouldn't want to tweak the noses of the nice ground pounders, but waiting an entire day to go over the ship when I could be effecting repairs or upgrades is wasteful and inefficient."

With the briefing concluded, Caddy softly replied to the farewell, May the Force be with you too.  Then, accepting the file, she followed their handlers to the barracks and settled down on a bottom bunk, her back to the wall to scan the contents of the file.  Eyes only.

Fortunately it isn't a particularly long file though it is... revealing.   She purses her lips, memorizes the names, and then closes the file as Xyklo sits down next to her.  "We certainly will.   As for spare reloads, I'm sure we can requisition a few though resources are limited and we don't want to appear too military on approach.   Don't forget we are on a freighter and our cover needs to be clear."

She then listens as Forim speaks and when he concludes (and after the few questions), she'll speak up (still seated - her style is more... relaxed... than folk may be used to but then she doesn't look particularly military!)  "Thank you Forim.   My name is Caddy Manitu and I lead Alpha Squadron with Forim my right hand man."   She gives him a small, "As I said before, you have been brought together in the team, each with different histories and skills sets, for the goals outlined by our leaders.   I respect each of your skills sets.   A good example of this is Forim who, when aboard ship, is Captain and I defer to his experience - even as he looks to me for overall direction.   I expect this from each of you."  She gestures towards Jospi Renning, "If, for example, we were dealing with Corellian aristocracy - Jospi could take the lead."  She gives the man a small nod.  For the others it may be clear that Caddy has a little more information about the group than they may at first have realised.   "I expect everyone to work together towards the decided goal - but make no mistake, the decision on path and the current objectives are mine to decide."

[OOC: Caddy will wait for each of the new folk to make their 'introductions' before she says anything further in reply.]
This message was last edited by the player at 09:58, Wed 22 Mar 2017.

Crossing the threshold into the barracks, Jurell crossed his arms.  Turning to look over his shoulder at their escort, gave them a sardonic smile.

"You know, I came back into the mission briefing because I didn't want to be locked away," he grumbled at the Rebel guards.  Rolling his eyes, he shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner as he turned to walk the rest of the way into the room.  "I suppose this is what I should expect of Rebel hospitality.  Got a better reception on Hutta, and that's saying something."  At least Hutta had dancing Twi'leks and other things.

Walking past some of the other new members of the team, the dark-skinned human turned and leaned his back against one of the walls, his arms still crossed in front of his chest as he listened to each one in turn.  At Caddanra's words, he gave her a mock salute.

"Yes, Ma'am, Lieutenant, Ma'am," he said sarcastically with an accompanying roll of his eyes.  "Look, like I said before I don't mind following directions so long as it's not going to get me killed.  If you're ordering suicidal charge 'For the Glory of the Rebellion' or some sort of tripe, I'll be walking in the other direction, thankyouverymuch.  I'm not a soldier.  But, that doesn't mean I won't pull someone's fat out of the fryer."

Scratching the side of his head with one hand absently, he subsequently refolded his arms.

"Jurell Delgar," he stated his name simply as an introduction.  "You point at an objective, I get it done.  It's been my job for more years than I can remember."  The young man's name carried with it a bit of a weight of reputation as a fighter-for-hire/bounty hunter across more than a few systems noted for getting jobs done that needed done whether they were bloody or not.  Though, there were rumors that accomplished assassinations with minimal supplies or weaponry.  Of note was a particular job in which he sneaked into a Hutt's territory and killed his best lieutenant bare-handed.  He was also rumored to have launched a solo strike against the an Empire outpost while being hunted by a full Company of Stormtroopers headed by Moff Nyall personally.

Though, he volunteered nothing more than what he said.

[Private to Caddanra 'Caddy' Manitu; Forim Luk: In Jurell's file, however, there is more detailed information should the two officers wish to know more.  Thanks to a good deal of digging on the part of the Rebellion's dedicated vetting staff, they managed to affirm the truth to some of the rumors of Jurell's jobs, including the fact that he tends to finish his jobs without conventional blasters or explosives, though basic training has shown that he is no slouch with sidearms.

However, there is more that could only be found with a good deal of resource expenditure.  It turns out that according to one or two reliable sources that Jurell was trained at a young age by the Order of the Teras Kasi.  The martial arts he demonstrates from his arsenal were not simply picked up in his travels or on the job, but were instilled in him at a young age.  Considering that the Empire has killed a great deal of people that practiced usage of the Force, it is no surprise that the Teras Kasi were hunted down for simply having studied its origins and usage even though they were not Force users themselves.  What his current connection is to the Teras Kasi at this point is unknown. ]

The Verpine smiled at his new teammates, making note of their introductions and areas of skill. He giggles at Krakens joke and salutes awkwardly at the two squad officers.
"My name is Xyklo Voozul. My friends call me Xyklo.

Mostly I just kill people." He says cheerfully.

Forim nods to Zeic and Kraken, chuckling at the joke of the latter, and says "I think we might be able to better use you in the Gun Turrets Zeic" being a bit more informal now.  "With Kraken's ability to chart the jump into hyperspace, that skill is more useful to me in my co-pilot.  Sensor Operations, and Shield operations are also key skills.  I already know Roger has astrogation programming, so he can be in the cockpit with us and Caddy." again being more informal "However, if I am not in the cockpit, then you will be our backup pilot.  Jospi will be best spent free of any stations so he can fix whatever explodes as it happens.  I will be your Backup Mechanic.  I have spent probably over a hundred hours under the panels of that ship so far.  Let me know any assistance you need, and I would be happy to support you.

That leaves either Xyklo or Jurell in the other turret.  Which one of you two think you would be better in that seat?"

ooc: So you guys know, I am 3P 1A and ignore 2 blacks on every piloting roll ;)

"I won't be much use operating a turret," Jurell replied, staring at the ceiling for a moment before glancing at Forim with his emerald eyes.  "If it's not much more than point and shoot, I could probably manage something.  My experience with ships pretty much center on sabotaging them or slipping away in one.  Repairs are pretty much sabotage in reverse, so I could lend a hand in that area."


OOC: 2P in Mechanics, so if you want me for combined repair rolls, I'd generate a good deal of skill to it.  Could probably solo it, if need be.  I've got nothing but base 3A dice in Gunnery. 

Forim nods and says "That settles it. Xyklo, you are in the other turret.  Jurell you can help out Jospi when things explode.  Probably worth while having you join us when we go over the ship so you can get familiar with it.  With your physical abilities, you will probably handle turbulence better when not being strapped in too."

ooc: I only have 1P 2A mechanics, happy to pass that on to someone else! lol  I had looked at your characters and knew that already, but I wanted to at least TRY to role play the introduction of each other / our skills and motivations.

"While your help on the ship is much appreciated, I am not sure that I like that you have stated up front that you will walk away mid mission if you disagree with an order the Lieutenant gives you.  Maybe it is a suicide charge, but perhaps she has to give that order to save the rest of the group.  You might not know the full reasoning behind the order.  You either trust the Lieutenant, or you don't.  I don't know about everyone else, but I do not feel that comfortable knowing someone with so little loyalty has our back."

Knowing that Caddy has made better traction with this then Forim, he steps back to let the others chime in if they are concerned as well, rather then getting into another shouting match.

Nodding to Luk, Kraken nods, accepting the co-pilot position.

Sliding closer to Jospi Kraken nods, "So you are a computer hacker as well?  I've done a bit of work myself.   Once we are done here, lets talk shop." Kraken offers to the Corellian.

Looking towards Lt Luk and Jurell, Kraken smiles, "I'm pretty handy with a wrench myself.  Done a bit of work on many a droid repair as well as reprogramming.  Glad to lend a hand.  If ya got it covered, I'll leave ya to it."

OOC:
Astrogation: 1P 3A
Computers: 2p 2A
Mechanics: 1P 3A   

Smiling, Flight Officer Luk says to Kraken "Many hands make light work.  Anyone who wants to learn the quirks of our ship is welcome to to join me for the ground tour."

All sweetness and sugar, Caddy listens to the men as complete their introductions and work out who will have which seat on the boat.  "Well Forim, it looks like you have matters well in hand.   I have to say though, I don't make idle threats or indeed threats.  They are far too gauche for my liking.   I do however take the lives of my team quite personally and I will quite happily deal with anyone who believes otherwise."   While maybe not a threat, can Jurell truly ignore her words?

[22:38, Today: Caddanra 'Caddy' Manitu rolled 3 successes, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 3P 1B 2d.  Deception.

I can take the threat as strain giving me 3 successes - to convince you that pushing your luck is maybe not the best thing to do.]

"While we're on the subject of taking lives, who here is going to be doing the fighting? I'm good with a blaster and tougher than I look in a fight, and I can heal people up a bit if necessary."

 “I am B1-P1, a piloting droid, as the Captain said.  Many organics seem to like to call me Roger, and I’ve accepted that as my fate.” His long face flicks between all of them, “I have little I need to do in preparation, perhaps some light work on my chassis after what that amorphous life form did to me on the last mission.  I will be ready to fly when you are.

"Thank you Zeic.   I generally try and avoid direct conflict.  But having you aboard will certainly make negotiations a little easier."  She smiles.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:24, Sun 26 Mar 2017.