The Road So Far

Posted on Sun Mar 21st, 2021 @ 7:44pm by Lieutenant Kor' de'leia

This is not the beginning of the story. Rogue Wings is the Continuation of the SIM Rogue Squadron. Due to problems with the server and loss of the GM/Sim Owner the story was shifted and adapted into Rogue Wings. For those with an interest in how Kor'd'leia and Jafan ended up together here is the back story from the chronicals of Rogue Squadron....

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Coruscant, Capital District
Timeline: Midday
The wind whipped around the massive buildings with surprising force. The low moaning of the wind seemed almost appropriate for what Anara had seen since landing here. Coruscant, the once vibrant capital of the galaxy had seen better days.

It wasn't that bad, mind you, especially compared to the state many other worlds were in. But there was some luster removed since the seat of power had left it. It didn't quite hold the same awe that you would have thought.

And it didn't hold the same reverence either. Since landing, Anara had been careful not to too loudly display her Resistance markings. Most viewed the group as something approaching terrorists. The New Republic wasn't exactly the most popular topic here either. A lot of people felt that it had turned its back on the old capital. The rich didn't like that their massive penthouses were a so much less prestigious. What good was a view of the Senate building when the government was no longer here?

That particular comment had caught Anara wrong. The Senate hadn't existed there for over 30 years. Their views had been views of the decline of democracy. But to each their own, she supposed.

The more sympathetic frustrations were those of Corescant's many many many poor. The capital had always involved a surprising degree of squalor, a planet wide metropolis built upon the backs of billions of the destitute. But it had come with the benefits of symbolic charity. Politicians would occasionally run programs to try and combat the abject poverty and crime of the lower levels. Nothing large enough to make a difference of course, but enough to look significant. That had continued even during the Empire, though it was increasingly more staged and increasingly less charitable. But now that the capital was gone? There was no real need for symbolic charity in a place out of the limelight.

That had laid the groundwork for a surge in First Order Support. A faction promising the return to prominence they once had felt. The rich saw a chance to feel more important again. The poor saw a lifeline. Anara couldn't exactly blame them.

A set of inquisitive warbles drew her out of her musings. The little violet ball had rolled up to her, its mechanical ocular mechanism gazing in her direction.

"No, buddy, I'm afraid I don't have much good news," she replied, patting BB-4A on the head. "I need to call back to base. You can listen in once I'm in the cockpit."

She walked down the path a little longer, toward the vehicle ahead. Landed almost dead center in the landing platform (a level of precision she was a little proud of) was her customized T-70 X-Wing. She may have tried to tone down her ties to the resistance, but the vehicle was her counter argument. Painted in a striking blue color scheme that dominated the back half of the vehicle, with a few highlights of orange (particularly the bright resistance logo), stood the vehicle she prided herself on. She'd worked hard to earn her X-Wing pilot status and even after a run of bad luck, she felt her spirits perk up on seeing it.

She climbed aboard, waiting for the canopy to snap shut, then activated the holo comm. She gave a small smile upon hearing the little droid clunk into place behind her.

As the image of the senior Resistance officer Poe Dameron materialized, she lost the smile though. Now was the part where she'd have to disappoint them man who'd given her her mission.

"How'd it go, kid?" The man replied hopefully.

Anara's replied sapped the optimism a little. "Not so great, Commander. The Senator promised some tentative support...after the upcoming vote on the new stipends. He doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize his standing in his committee before securing the funds for his Corescant Underground project. And if you ask me, he's weighing his options. Support for the First Order is stronger here than we'd feared. I don't think he is ready to commit to pissing off his constituents yet. We won't be seeing any aid from him for months, if at all."

The man, ran an annoyed hand through his hair. "Dammit. I should have known. They've been flanking us a lot lately. I was just hoping we'd catch a break but..." He paused. "Never mind that. You'll be back there soon enough, so you'll get another shot. In the meantime, we've got something big cooking on our end. Get yourself back to base. The General has a task for you."

The General?! Anara felt herself sit at attention. "Uh...yes, sir! On my way already."

As the comm disconnected, she heard the warbles come through the cockpit speaker. "I don't know what she wants, little buddy. But I'm certainly eager to find out!" A moment later, her engines began to roar to life.
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: D'Qar, Resistance Base
Timeline: -
All that was visible as far as the eye could see was blackness. Whether it was night or the vacuum, she couldn't be sure. She wasn't even sure if she existed here. The thought made less sense every second after it had appeared. But all she could focus on was the void. And then, there was a tiny speck of dim light. It looked vaguely red, but she couldn't be certain.

A few seconds later, the ambiguity was gone. The light was getting brighter with each passing moment. No...not brighter. Closer!

The panic swept her and she attempted to flee, but there was nowhere to go. It was just her consciousness and the void and the red. The ever approaching red. It became blinding and searing hot. She braced for it to hit her, certain with every fiber of her being that it would eradicator her when it did. The light was massive now, encompassing almost her entire field of view as it surged towards her. And-

---
Anara lunged forward, letting out a brief scream, and smacking her head against something hard and cold. Awareness rushed back to her and she found herself exactly where she'd last remembered, seated in the cockpit of her X-Wing, traveling through the calming expanse of spiraling hyper clouds, which made up the lightspeed corridor. They weren't real clouds of course, but she couldn't remember what they actually were, so clouds was the best word she had. The hard object she'd just slammed her head against was he cockpit canopy. Had she slept with her helmet on, she probably would have cushioned the blow, but instead it was stowed down by her feet.

"Ughhh," she groaned, rubbing her aching forehead as she sat back in her seat. A concerned warble emitted from the dashboard, followed by a translation of her droids comment, not that she needed the translator to understand BB-4A. "No, I'm fine. It was just that dream again. It seems to be recurring. Always feels vaguely familiar, but I can't seem to remember why."

A second few warbles followed by a series of beeps emitted. "No, you know I don't like meditating. After last time...." She trailed off for a moment. "Besides, I'll just get an even more intense version of it. I'd rather just startle myself awake a few times and let it pass."

A flashing light on her board attracted her attention to the port side of her instruments. "Oh, perfect timing. Looks like we're just about there. BB, prep us to drop from lightspeed." The droid beeped a cheerful confirmation.

A few moments of preparation later and they were about to arrive at their destination. "Ok. Dropping from hyperspace in 3...2...1..."

Outside her canopy, the clouds suddenly disappeared in a flash of light as the starlines returned to tiny pin pricks of light. The vista that spread out in front of her was as breath taking as always. A lush green world, surrounded by a series of rocky rings. D'Qar, home base of the Resistance. She angled her vehicle and hit the throttle, giving her a dramatic view as she swept her vehicle closely over the rings.

A moment later, a comm signal emitted from the speaker. No doubt her sudden burst of speed had accidentally alarmed someone at the sensor grid. "Fighter craft, identify yourself."

She smiled as she placed the violet helmet on her head and spoke into the comm. "Resistance Base, this is Longshot 2. Returning as ordered."

"Are you under pursuit?" The man replied, his voice giving off a distinctive Twi'lek accent.

"No, Control. Sorry for the scare. I was just enjoying the view up here," she replied apologetically. Her guess had clearly been correct. "Permission to come in for a landing?"

There was a pause, as the man was likely checking his scanners. "Affirmative. Landing pad 12C is open."

"Understood. Beginning my approach," Anara replied as she guided her starfighter into a smooth approach. It was good to be back. Seeing the former Galactic Capital had been a fairly fun adventure, one she was going to repeat after this briefing apparently, but there was a special comfort being back here surrounded by her allies. The rest of the galaxy seemed far less concerned about the First Order's growing influence, some even going so far as to support it. But here, the threat was lost on no one. That would likely sound like a cause for heightened anxiety to most, but not to those actually in the Resistance. Here, it was a tremendous release of pressure. There was no need to mince words, to worry about the allegiances of the person across the table. She didn't need to worry if the next person she talked to would be offended by her implications that yet another delve into galactic fascism was a bad idea. She didn't need to protect the fragile ears of statesmen who would prefer to stay neutral to keep the money flowing in. No, here they all knew the stakes. And that let everyone breathe a little and focus on the real work.

She deftly glided her fighter toward the platform, appreciating the new orange accents on the vessel. Who was she kidding? She was never subtle about her allegiances. She flipped a switch, turning on the vessels repulsor lifts and deactivating its main engines. A second control resulted in the satisfying whir and clunck of the lowered landing gear. With patience of an overfed loth-cat, she guided the vessel down until it ever so gently pressed on its landing legs. Contact with the ground was barely even perceptible. She didn't need to be that gentle, but the practice kept her sense sharp. Little movements were just as important as the larger ones. "Home sweet home, BB," she replied, pushing the button to release the canopy.

Almost immediately the buzz of activity greeted her. Removing her helmet, Anara Shaade climbed out of the vessel and slid down the ladder even as the droid wheeled it up. With a confident stride, she made her way away from her vessel and toward the main cave which held the command center. At her heels, the faithful little ball droid rolled smoothly along, beeping out his inquiry. "You're right, things do seem pretty active here, don't they? I wonder what's going on."

Winding their way around an old A/SF-01 B-Wing, in for what appeared to be some fairly serious repairs. The distinctive markings of carbon scoring coated the vessel's s-foils. It had seen combat, there was no denying. And intense combat at that.

The duo entered the main command hub, greeted by the greenish hues of the holo array. Her eyes searched the displays for some hint of what was going on, but to no avail. She didn't recognize the star clusters on screen at all. She was about to get a little closer, when she heard a voice from across the room. The man's meticulously maintained hair identified him immediately. "Welcome back, kid. The General is ready for you."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Coruscant
Xiann stood on the ledge outside the window of the highrise, soaked through to the skin, as the rain that was supposed to be just a drizzle, according to the man who had hired him, turned more and more into a complete downpour. His eyes were focused on the small screen on his kit, which was plugged into the security system that belonged to the apartment he was standing outside of. With a few more taps of his keys, he heard the small thunk of the security system disengaging, and the window suddenly slid out of the way. Since it happened far faster than he'd anticipated Xiann felt himself slipping forward and had to reach out and steady himself on the side of the now wide open window frame.

Just as he was about to step inside he heard the scream of a ship's engines. 'That's odd, ships don't usually come to this area...' he mused to himself and then turned to finish the task at hand. As he turned to close the window he caught a glimpse of the ship as it screamed past, and was even more surprised to see that it was an x-wing fighter. 'Wow...' he said, under his breath. His own x-wing, which he had won in a rather heated game of sabbac down at the spaceport, was nowhere near as nice as the one he'd just watched pass. Promising himself he was going to spend most of the money from this job on that very problem he slid the curtains closed and slid the night-vision goggles he'd been carrying over his eyes. All he had to do was find the file, download it from the computer onto the secured datapad he'd been supplied, and get back out. Since no one was home, that shouldn't prove to be too difficult, and so he got to work.

An hour later, sporting a black eye, a shoulder he was at least ninety percent sure was dislocated, and the data he'd been sent to secure Xiann pelted out of the building and into a waiting speeder he'd left in place for just such an occasion. Just like the storm that was just supposed to be a drizzle, the owners who weren't supposed to be home had suddenly very much been home when they came back from their engagement several hours early. He'd already finished getting the info, thankfully, and had been about to leave when he'd come face to face with a very large man, and his absolutely beautiful wife, both of whom had been incredibly upset to find a random Twi'lek standing in their home.

The following morning dawned early and found Xiann leaving his small apartment in the lower levels, dressed in a new set of clothes, in the same shades of purple he always wore, with his equipment pack danging in one hand, and an early breakfast of fried mynock in a thin funge-bread wrap. Entering the spaceport district he wove his way along the various alleyways and corridors that led to each berthing until he finally found the small bay that housed his pride and joy, a T-65 X-Wing. It was older and quite battered, but it was his, and that's all that mattered. As he entered the bay he was greeted by the hoots and whistles of the ship's R5 astromech, R5-C7, as he came out from where she'd been hiding.

"Morning, R5!" Xiann called out.

With a few chirps, beeps, whistles, and warbles the droid replied, and something in what she'd said caught his attention, "Wait, what?" he asked, giving her all his attention. A few moments later he was crouched down, looking directly into her optical ports. "An x-wing landed near here last night?" he asked, absolutely shocked at the coincidence. Surely it couldn't be the one he'd seen when he was getting into the apartment... Or could it...

"Let's see where she landed, then, shall we?" Xiann asked, moving over to the terminal. "Good thing I brought this, huh?" he asked, hefting his tool kit and pulling out his slicing console. Plugging it into the terminal he set to work. Normally it would only display various status updates about his own bay, and the ship it contained, as well as giving him a directory of various services he could purchase, at a considerable cost, from the various technicians that worked in the spaceport area. Within a few minutes, however, he had broken through the firewall of the Spaceport Authority and was looking at the berthing roster for every ship in this particular spaceport. His eyes wide he whistled, "Well, what do you know, she really did berth here..." he said as he found only one other x-wing listed. "I wonder who her pilot is..." he wondered aloud, eliciting a series of chirps and whistles from the droid standing beside him.

It was several hours later when he heard footsteps and looked up to see someone approaching the doorway to his bay. He'd pushed the topic of the other x-wing and its pilot out of his mind, and had set to work, and now he was crouched under his own ship, his purple skin heavily streaked with grease and grit, and several banged-up knuckles from the work he'd been doing. Grunting he made his way out from under the ship and stood, leaning against her and using a rag to smear the oil on his hands a hell of a lot more than he was removing it.

But the footsteps weren't coming from the front entrance to the hanger. They'd actually gone quiet, so quiet that someone with lesser hearing might not have heard them approach the back of the hanger. A tiny squeak indicated the door in the back had been opened, slowly and carefully.

---

Anara Shaade snuck carefully into the room, her little BB unit rolling silently along behind her. There were numerous crates and objects blocking her view of the front, and of whatever vessel was stored in here. Crouching down and keeping her voice low, she whispered to her droid. "Are you sure the source of the slicing came from here?"

BB-4A nodded quietly then peered his little head around the corner looking in farther. She knew better than to doubt her companion. He'd detected some unusual traffic in the surveillance system for the hanger and had positively insisted that it was caused by a slicer. It'd have to have been a damn good slicer though. Anara wasn't a code expert, but she could at least tell when a system had been infiltrated. Or at least, that's what she'd thought. But there had been no trace of it at all. The only reason she was even aware was because BB-4A had been plugged into the system at the right time to notice. She was worried about who might have that level of skill.

As the duo peered farther into the hanger, the outline of an all too familiar frame appeared. Anara did the same. To her utter astonishment, an old T-65 X-Wing. The sheer coincidence of it shocked her. She'd been returned to Coruscant again, this time with a new mission. No longer was she just seeking aid for the Resistance. Now Captain Anara Shaade had been tasked with building a new squadron, from the ground up! Her very own fighter squadron! She'd been sent back to Coruscant, this time looking for pilots and ships to join her.

She'd been on Coruscant for over a day trying to find any leads on potential equipment that she could use, without many leads to go off. The best they'd heard was that some kid was working on refurbishing an old worn-out one from the Galactic Civil War. She'd headed this way to check it out. The ship was the only reason she was even in this hemisphere! And now she was standing in the hanger with it, after tracking the source of a very skillful slice attempt. She felt a knot tighten in her stomach. If this was a trap, she'd wandered straight into it. "I have a bad feeling about this," she muttered under her breath.

She acted quickly, rolling out from behind cover, blaster drawn. Her eyes quickly found a target. "Freeze!" she shouted, aiming the gun at....an R5 unit. It beeped questioningly at her. "Uh..."

Watching the woman as she pulled a blaster on a droid, and ordered it to freeze Xiann had to stifle the urge to laugh. "She doesn't quite know that command yet, I've been meaning to train her, but darn it, I just never seem to have the time," he said with a smirk. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked, still leaning against his ship, looking bored.

Anara felt a little silly, as she stood up, turning to assess the man speaking. He was a young Twi'lek, possibly even younger than her. His clothes weren't nearly as ornate as a lot of the occupants of the planet she'd seen, likely someone living in the lower levels. That oddly enough put her at ease slightly. She'd been afraid she was about to come face to face with a First Order assassin. Instead, there was a young man standing here, with engine grease on him. Could this be the boy who was rebuilding the X-Wing?

She stood straighter, lowering her blaster, though not yet holstering it. "My apologies. I was on the lookout for someone who might have been sticking his nose where it wasn't supposed to be. Your droid here doesn't seem to have a nose though, so I'm thinking I need to consider other suspects."

"Yeah, you might want to do that..." Xiann replied. Standing up, his feet spread slightly in a relaxed, but ready stance, he put himself in a better position to reach the small blaster he had magnetized to the underside of the hull. He knew he hadn't left any traces of his work earlier, he'd been doing this far too long for that kind of stupid mistake. But something had brought this woman here, which meant others might also be coming. "What exactly are you looking for?" he asked, stalling for time as he thought.

"You're leaning on it," she said, looking at the X-Wing appraisingly. "I'm in need of some ships. I'd heard rumor that someone around here was putting an old X-Wing back in shape. I wanted to look into those rumors and see if I might be able to reach an arrangement with the man in question."

She adjusted her stance a little more, to make sure she was poised if he started anything. Criminal might be an improvement on First Order, but she wasn't exactly out of danger. "Funny thing though. A little while after I set my ship down, my droid catches something. A slicer breaking into the hanger systems. A damn good one. So good, he probably thought he'd be leaving no trace. And he certainly didn't. But unfortunately for him, I've got a droid. Top of the line, brand new BB unit. And he's a little more perceptive than most. And his search led me right here..."

She looked him over. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Wait, you've got a BB unit? Is it with you?" Xiann said, stepping forward, suddenly incredibly excited. "I've always wanted to see one of those! They are amazing," he added, not realizing that he had pretty much just given away all of the answers she was looking for.

Suddenly realizing his mistake his eyes went wide, "Kriff..." he said, letting his voice trail off. "Look, yes, I do know something about that, and I am also the one rebuilding this old bucket of bolts. Why are you looking for me?" he asked.

She wasn't sure what to make of him but allowed the blaster to lower a bit farther. "This ship. I need it. I'm a Captain with the Resistance. I'm building a squadron and I need ships. Yours is the kind of thing I'm looking for." Anara paused, looking at the droid and back at him with a new realization. This kid wasn't doing anything nefarious...well other than getting into things over his head. "The slicing. That you?"

At this point, Xiann knew he'd already given away far too much to try to hide anything from the woman. Leaning back against the ship again, resting both elbows on it and crossing his ankles he decided to be honest. With a cocky grin he nodded, "Yep, that was me. Been slicing since I was a kid. Pretty impressive huh?" he asked. "And as for the ship, she's not for sale. Sorry."

An odd idea struck her mind so quickly, Anara couldn’t stop herself from speaking. “Can you fly it?”

Xiann hadn't expected that question, but suddenly, there it was hanging between them. He wasn't sure what this woman's angle was, and he wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with her. She could be lying, she could be First Order. There were any number of possible issues coming to mind as he pondered whether to answer her or not. Finally, he made his decision.

"Yes," he said, simply, leaving it at that.

Anara holstered her blaster, allowing the last of the tension to drain from the situation and relaxed her stance. She wasn't positive that this was the right choice. But she was halfway across the galaxy from Resistance command, and she had no major backup coming. Besides, she'd been given pretty wide latitude to recruit. "I'm Captain Anara Shaade with the Resistance. I'm on a mission here to gather allies and investigate the First Order presence here. But I'm operating on my own at the moment. The Resistance needs good pilots and I, in particular, could use the services of a slicer. Particularly of your skill."

She paused for a moment. "And I can pay you. It's not a ton, but it'd be consistent. Something you can plan around."

That was no something Xiann had been expecting at all. He was so shocked he stood back up and looked at her, obviously very surprised. "Wait, seriously?" he asked.

"I'm being completely serious," Shaade replied. "We need skilled people to join us. If you're willing, I can bring you aboard. But I'm afraid my first big ask for you might be...a bit dangerous."

At that Xiann smiled widely. "Xiann," he said, extending his lavender skinned hand. "I've grown up as an orphan in the lower levels of Coruscant. I promise you, dangerous doesn't bother me, and it would be nice to have steady pay. I'm in," he added.

"Welcome to Rogue Squadron, Xiann," Anara said, taking his hand and smiling slyly. "So for your first task on the team, I'm going to need you to get us arrested by the First Order."
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Landing bay 98923
Timeline: Current
Hal was depressed.

He wasn’t really sure when he’d become depressed, but he could recognize it. And there wasn’t much the Duros could do about it either.

Hal was currently languishing in a hammock strung between struts on the Y wing he called Luadra. Rapid fire Binary came at him as Grinder rolled up and Hal shifted to look at the droid. His brain deciphered the droid-speak and the Durosian asked, “No I couldn’t find that slip gear for your servo again today either.”

The white with black trimmed astromech rocked back and forth on it’s stout legs, making a rude noise and Hal scowled.

“It’s not my fault you were built the day before a holiday at the end of the shift and they shoved what components they needed into that tin can you call a skin to get done for the day. You were consigned to a government contract, built by the lowest bidding sub-contractor. What did you expect?”

Grinder made another rude noise, then a moan and tilted sadly. Hal reached over and thumped the droid’s bowl shaped dome and tsked. “Don’t pout! You’re merely lost inventory. I’m the one that’s dead, remember.”

Grinder rattled off more Binary and Hal returned to turning a component in his hand, tapping it slightly with the spanner. Around him, the hanger echoed with silence and the hand light he’d attached to the Luadra’s dorsal armor shed the only light shining. It was the most remote, ill used bay, or near so, that the New Republic had on Coruscant. Nearly four clicks deep from the surface, it smelled like the sewers it co-habitated with made Hal feel even more like a mushroom.

Hal had been part of a New Republic reconnaissance squadron and his flight had been sent to a moon on the Rim to investigate strange telemetry. The flight leader had chosen to land and do a foot recon…and promptly gotten herself and the rest of the flight killed and all of their Y wings mostly blown up.

Mostly. He’d spent many months hauling wreckage around to put one of them into some semblance of flying order…and limped it back to his Squadron to find they’d been transferred across the galaxy and the squadron wasn’t interested in getting him or the Y back. They’d actually gotten a new ship to replace it..and Luadra was hodged together and did not meet the high standards of Bu’Ships.

She flew great…if he could get a couple of things fixed. But that hadn’t been really possible either for the same reason. He’d had to beg, borrow and literally borrow without the quartermaster knowing about it parts to get the Hyperdrive fixed which got him to Coruscant.

The argument to get a landing permit had been the next hurdle…but they’d had to let him land or crash since, even though he was dead, his very real Y wing might kill someone if it fell out of the atmosphere.

Thus, Hal had spent five weeks trudging from office to office. Using what little money he had to try and get the bureaucracy churning to return him to life. The trouble was, not only was he dead according to his old squadron, his records were gone.

Lost in the huge bureaucracy. Hal did have a suspicion as to what happened, but so far no one was interested. He’d filled out some forms and been given subsistence stamps. Housing had laughed at him and told him that Fleet could house him. Fleet had shook it’s head and said he was dead.

The wag had told him to ‘Try a graveyard someplace’.

Hal had drummed up some work, fixing components like the one in his lap for pocket change but it all helped. But he was running out of options. The emergency rations were mostly gone and terrible tasting. Food cost dearly and he could only make the rounds to various shelters so many times before he lost his appetite.

The Durosian was going to have to start hocking gear next, but he’d let himself get really hungry before that. Once you started down that road, he’d be getting in a hole too deep to get out.

He hadn’t even reached out to his family yet. They must think he’s dead too and he didn’t fancy putting the arm on them for help.

Not yet at any rate.

Grinder made a whirring noise and his namesake driver gear caught for a moment as he turned and faced the dark. He had picked up motion. Swinging a leg over the hammock, Hal reached under his coat and pulled the SL-16 Nova special from its shoulder holster as he peered into the darkness. The weapon was modeled after the DE-10, a Mandalorian weapon with a shorter barrel. It still used the semi-rare Tivarian gas but it had been his grandfathers and was one of Hal’s treasured items.

“Hello?” He called out as Grinder jerked into gear again, whirled and moved behind one of the Y wing’s landing struts.

A light emitted from a small point in the darkness, as a little violet BB unit rolled into view. The droid beeped a cheerful greeting, before its companion arrived. A young woman, with her blonde hair tied back in a clean ponytail, and wore a crisp white vest. "Oh, my apologies. Didn't think anyone would be here so late at night," she replied, vaguely in the direction his voice had come from.

Looking over at the BB, unit then at the blonde human he said, "So...if you weren't looking for me. You what, were looking for Luadra?" He gestured at the Y wing and his oval shaped, red eyes hardened. "Let me guess. The Bu' Ships is going to take her away from me too?"

She furrowed her brow. "Take her away? Oh, no. I...I mean, yes. I was looking for your ship, but I didn't expect to find her with a pilot. I apologize, I had assumed it was to be scrapped and I wanted to get to it first. I'm Captain Anara Shaade, with the Resistance. I'm looking to build a squadron, and to be frank, I was hoping to make your ship part of it temporarily." She looked him over, noting the hammock in the low lighting. "Were you sleeping here?"

The Duros looked at the human and glanced around again before saying "A dead man's gotta sleep someplace."

Anara looked back at him, assessing the man she saw in front of him. “You look pretty alive to me,” she replied, somewhat aware or what he was hinting at.

"Only in the meat," Hal half snorted. "On paper, according to Bureau of Personnel, I am officially "Lost in Action and assumed deceased. The fact that I showed up alive is, apparently, a source of irritation to the lousy data pushers." With a gesture toward the Y wing and Grinder, he stated. "Likewise with Bureau of ships and these non-numbers matching assets."

Assessing the human again and looking around the darkness that crowded on them, he finally shrugged. "And, even though dead, I'm still responsible for my lost Y....so, once I'm alive again I'll have to answer for it. Which means I'll be in hack for probably ever."

"So, how are you," the Duros said conversationally, trying not to let his frustration bubble over any more.

Anara ignored his question for a moment, looking over the craft. She began to walk down the side of it, assessing the situation. The fact that he'd cobbled the damn thing back together was incredible. Engineering skill like that could be more than a little useful for her team. She trailed her hand along engine support pylons. "Fused sensor dome, looks like at least a few busted or crosswired power couplings, a cracked exhaust nozzle with a temporary patch, empty torpedo racks, and a hyperdrive I can't imagine can make more than another jump or two." She looked at him. "This ship is barely holding together, and yet you managed to build it from pieces, get her airborne, pull off a jump through hyperspace, and land without killing yourself and everyone else on the platform. That takes more than a little skill."

Not giving him time to reply, she approached him. "I need people with that kind of skill...and about that much crazy too. And I know a thing or two about rebuilding from scratch. If you'd be willing to fly for me, I can provide a steady income. Not a big one, but one you could live off of. And I have enough in the reserves to front the repair costs on Luadra and get her combat ready. What do you think?"

More or less reasonably sure that the human didn't have cohorts waiting to leave him in a pile someplace, Hal returned the blaster to his shoulder holster and watched her walk around Luadra. After her commentary, he stated "She's in better shape than she looks. Some of those...like the couplings are cosmetic overlays. I had to leave the torpedo load out behind in order to achieve escape velocity...."

The Duros trailed off then glanced at her and said, "Lady, who are you and what exactly are you trying to build a unit to do?"

"I'm Captain Anara Shaade, Commander of Rogue Squadron. And I'm looking to do what the rest of the Resistance is looking to do. Stop the First Order and save the galaxy," she replied, half comedically. "And if you're up for it, there's a spot for you and Luadra in my team. On one condition."

Snorting the Durosian shook his head. "There's always a catch of some sort." As she started to speak he held up a hand and paused for a few beats, then shrugged, and made a 'give it to me' gesture with both hands. "I might as well hear what it is."

She gave a sly smile. “I’m going to need you to ditch those New Republic colors and go with something a bit more...rebellious.”
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Various
Dev piloted the stolen Imperial ship, looking for someone to tell him where he could find some a safe place for the children he had on the ship.
The escape from the RyLoth system hadn't been without peril, but his piloting skills, somehow managed to get them away from pursuit.

The only good thing about the ship was...there was plenty of food for everyone. A lot of the kids hadn't had decent meals in a long time. Plus they all had a safe place, at the moment, to bed down for the night.

Dev's droid had tapped into the ship's computer and brought up a star map of all the systems. He was looking for a neutral planet, far enough away from the Empire where he could leave his "family".

After visiting some potential planets, he landed on a planet in the Lothal system. The planet seemed nice enough, people seemed friendly once they got over the shock of an Imperial ship landing in their spacedock. He, his droid and one of the older children, left the ship and headed into the town. Their was a load of credits on the ship, so they bought some supplies at one store.

What Dev was interested in was where they could find the Resistance. He overheard someone saying that there were probably Jedi's fighting in the Resistance. So he started making discreet inquiries at some of the marketplaces. When he sensed someone was lying or afraid, he moved away. But one man, a human, told he that he could put him in touch with someone who knew someone in the Resistance. Dev sensed no deceit from the man, so he and his droid followed him.

The man led them down an alleyway. Suddenly, two men jumped out, intent on robbing them. Dev put his hand out towards one of the men and the man was tossed backwards. Dev pulled out his blaster, he raided the armory on the Imperial ship, and pointed it at the other man. That's when the man ran away as fast as he could.

Dev was angry, so he grabbed the man who led them into this trap, and put the barrel of the blaster against his head. "Now, tell me where is the Resistance!" He starred into the man's eyes, and it was like he could read his thoughts without the man speaking. He got the information he wanted, then he looked at the man and said, "You will not remember any of this." The man nodded, then ran away.

Dev told the other boy to return to the ship with the things they bought. "I'll be along shortly. Trust no one. Let no one on the ship. You have weapons, use them if you have to." The boy nodded and headed off. "Come on R4."

Dev and R4 walked through the town, and stopped in front of a tavern. There was a big sign in front saying "No Droids Allowed!!" so he ordered R4 to find a hiding spot and wait for him.

Dev entered the tavern and looked around. Seemed like this was a gathering place for ship's captains, smugglers and other low life's. Dev focused his attention and let his mind search the place. His eyes settled on a female sitting at a table along with a big Wookie. He approached the table. He felt the woman's eyes on him. The Wookie stood up and blocked his path, and growled.

"My friend doesn't like strangers. And neither do I."

"My name is Dev Edo. My adopted parents were Coryn and Larena Yeh."

The woman looked at Dev, then nodded to the Wookie, who returned to his seat.

"I knew the Yeh's. Good smugglers until the stormtroopers killed them. Have a seat." Dev sat opposite her. "The Yeh's were good people. I remember you, but you were just around 2, so I guess you don't remember me. You the one who piloted that ship here?"

"Yes. I stole it to save me and my friends when the stormtroopers came."

"My name is..."

But before she could answer, Dev said "Kana Creel. I remember you."

"How? You were just a baby!!"

"I remember things. Can you tell me where the resistance is? I want to join."

Kana looked at him. "Why?"

"I want to avenge my parents death....and I'm looking for Jedi."

"Good reasons." Kana nodded. "What's in it for me?"

"You take me and my friends there, you can have the ship I came in on. It must be worth a lot of credits to someone."

Kana and the Wookie talked quietly between themselves. "I can take you to someone who can bring you to someone, but if you're lying, your dead and I still get the ship."

Dev looked at her, he didn't sense any danger to him. "Agreed."

They got up, left the tavern, R4 came out of hiding, and they walked to a speeder. The Wookie picked up the droid and put it in the back.

Kana piloted the speeder out of the town and they rode for 2 hours until they came to what looked like a deserted town, buildings were rotting away because of the wind and the sand. They entered one of the buildings and Kana put her hand on his chest. "No weapons from here on." Dev handed over his blaster and Kana opened a panel on the wall and they walked down several meters underground.

When they reached the bottom, 3 men appeared and rushed Dev. Dev raised his hand and one of the men was pushed back. The others came at him, and he jumped over them. They turned around and Dev kicked one in the head, and the other rushed him and he tripped him and he fell. Dev picked up one of their blasters and aimed it at Kana.

"STOP!" A man appeared. He was old. His beard white. He wore robes. "Put the weapon down, boy. You couldn't kill me with it, it's not charged." The man turned and walked down a corridor. "Excuse that, it was a test..and you passed." The man sat in a chair. "We had to be sure of what you said was true." He motioned to a chair opposite him. Dev sat. The man starred at Dev. "The Resistance needs good pilots, and I think you can be a good one."

"I want to find a Jedi. I want to learn the ways of the force."

"There is someone who may be able to train you. Those you travel with, what happens to them?"

Dev looked at him. "I want them to be taken care of."

"Then leave them in my care. The Resistance is no place for children. They will be safe here. Kana will bring them here. Here they will be feed, and safe and they will learn. Your future is somewhere else."

"Where is that?" Dev asked.

"A planet where the Resistance has contacts. They will teach you to fly and fight. You are going to D'Qar!"

Dev went back to the ship with Kana and tell the others what will happen. "You will be safe here." Some wanted to go with him, but he told them this was for the best.

Kana had the children moved, then she, the Wookie, R4 and Dev left the planet and headed for D'Qar.
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Various
Dev piloted the stolen Imperial ship, looking for someone to tell him where he could find some a safe place for the children he had on the ship.
The escape from the RyLoth system hadn't been without peril, but his piloting skills, somehow managed to get them away from pursuit.

The only good thing about the ship was...there was plenty of food for everyone. A lot of the kids hadn't had decent meals in a long time. Plus they all had a safe place, at the moment, to bed down for the night.

Dev's droid had tapped into the ship's computer and brought up a star map of all the systems. He was looking for a neutral planet, far enough away from the Empire where he could leave his "family".

After visiting some potential planets, he landed on a planet in the Lothal system. The planet seemed nice enough, people seemed friendly once they got over the shock of an Imperial ship landing in their spacedock. He, his droid and one of the older children, left the ship and headed into the town. Their was a load of credits on the ship, so they bought some supplies at one store.

What Dev was interested in was where they could find the Resistance. He overheard someone saying that there were probably Jedi's fighting in the Resistance. So he started making discreet inquiries at some of the marketplaces. When he sensed someone was lying or afraid, he moved away. But one man, a human, told he that he could put him in touch with someone who knew someone in the Resistance. Dev sensed no deceit from the man, so he and his droid followed him.

The man led them down an alleyway. Suddenly, two men jumped out, intent on robbing them. Dev put his hand out towards one of the men and the man was tossed backwards. Dev pulled out his blaster, he raided the armory on the Imperial ship, and pointed it at the other man. That's when the man ran away as fast as he could.

Dev was angry, so he grabbed the man who led them into this trap, and put the barrel of the blaster against his head. "Now, tell me where is the Resistance!" He starred into the man's eyes, and it was like he could read his thoughts without the man speaking. He got the information he wanted, then he looked at the man and said, "You will not remember any of this." The man nodded, then ran away.

Dev told the other boy to return to the ship with the things they bought. "I'll be along shortly. Trust no one. Let no one on the ship. You have weapons, use them if you have to." The boy nodded and headed off. "Come on R4."

Dev and R4 walked through the town, and stopped in front of a tavern. There was a big sign in front saying "No Droids Allowed!!" so he ordered R4 to find a hiding spot and wait for him.

Dev entered the tavern and looked around. Seemed like this was a gathering place for ship's captains, smugglers and other low life's. Dev focused his attention and let his mind search the place. His eyes settled on a female sitting at a table along with a big Wookie. He approached the table. He felt the woman's eyes on him. The Wookie stood up and blocked his path, and growled.

"My friend doesn't like strangers. And neither do I."

"My name is Dev Edo. My adopted parents were Coryn and Larena Yeh."

The woman looked at Dev, then nodded to the Wookie, who returned to his seat.

"I knew the Yeh's. Good smugglers until the stormtroopers killed them. Have a seat." Dev sat opposite her. "The Yeh's were good people. I remember you, but you were just around 2, so I guess you don't remember me. You the one who piloted that ship here?"

"Yes. I stole it to save me and my friends when the stormtroopers came."

"My name is..."

But before she could answer, Dev said "Kana Creel. I remember you."

"How? You were just a baby!!"

"I remember things. Can you tell me where the resistance is? I want to join."

Kana looked at him. "Why?"

"I want to avenge my parents death....and I'm looking for Jedi."

"Good reasons." Kana nodded. "What's in it for me?"

"You take me and my friends there, you can have the ship I came in on. It must be worth a lot of credits to someone."

Kana and the Wookie talked quietly between themselves. "I can take you to someone who can bring you to someone, but if you're lying, your dead and I still get the ship."

Dev looked at her, he didn't sense any danger to him. "Agreed."

They got up, left the tavern, R4 came out of hiding, and they walked to a speeder. The Wookie picked up the droid and put it in the back.

Kana piloted the speeder out of the town and they rode for 2 hours until they came to what looked like a deserted town, buildings were rotting away because of the wind and the sand. They entered one of the buildings and Kana put her hand on his chest. "No weapons from here on." Dev handed over his blaster and Kana opened a panel on the wall and they walked down several meters underground.

When they reached the bottom, 3 men appeared and rushed Dev. Dev raised his hand and one of the men was pushed back. The others came at him, and he jumped over them. They turned around and Dev kicked one in the head, and the other rushed him and he tripped him and he fell. Dev picked up one of their blasters and aimed it at Kana.

"STOP!" A man appeared. He was old. His beard white. He wore robes. "Put the weapon down, boy. You couldn't kill me with it, it's not charged." The man turned and walked down a corridor. "Excuse that, it was a test..and you passed." The man sat in a chair. "We had to be sure of what you said was true." He motioned to a chair opposite him. Dev sat. The man starred at Dev. "The Resistance needs good pilots, and I think you can be a good one."

"I want to find a Jedi. I want to learn the ways of the force."

"There is someone who may be able to train you. Those you travel with, what happens to them?"

Dev looked at him. "I want them to be taken care of."

"Then leave them in my care. The Resistance is no place for children. They will be safe here. Kana will bring them here. Here they will be feed, and safe and they will learn. Your future is somewhere else."

"Where is that?" Dev asked.

"A planet where the Resistance has contacts. They will teach you to fly and fight. You are going to D'Qar!"

Dev went back to the ship with Kana and tell the others what will happen. "You will be safe here." Some wanted to go with him, but he told them this was for the best.

Kana had the children moved, then she, the Wookie, R4 and Dev left the planet and headed for D'Qar.
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Vehicle Garage, First Order Detention Center
Timeline: Intercut with tail end of Cellmate Post
Kor had left the rest of the party near the prisoner holding cells. She carefully looked for a nearby stairwell or clearly posted evacuation notice. The First Order had order, she would give them that, it also made her job much easier. A convenient graphic of the floor layout and a large arrow showing evacuation routes led straight through the Vehicle bay. Thank you Supreme Leader! Kor quickly made her way through the building as marked, ducking a couple trooper patrols. Seriously who needs to patrol the inside of their own buildings. Whatever, they were gone in a few moments and she was able to slip into a short hallway that took her right to the bay.

The door was locked. Figures. She reached up to her gown and quickly removed the underwire from her chest. Dangling from the thin metal wire were a couple memory chips that made up a defacto slicing array. While certainly not up to Xiann’s standards, Kor knew how to identify primary power relays and redundant security circuits. She just jumped one power node to another and moments later the lock clicked and the door slid open. No alarms. That meant she was doing well and her confederates were likely still on the loose too.

She looked over the vehicle bay. Several rows of swoops and standard first order speeder bikes were along one wall. Along the center were a variety of airspeeders, many of which had a bit of armor lining their frames as squad cars for the First Order troops inside. At the far end was a large troop transport with a blaster turret on top. She smiled at the vehicle, her mind racing with the possibilities of what she could do with one of those beasts. But theirs was a need to get away quick and agile.

She snuck up alongside one of the patrol speeders, an all black unit with a large repulserlift and seating for four. Kor figured it would do the trick. She plugged her slicing unit into the speeder and triggered the ignition. Nothing. Kor made a few adjustments on her unit and the repulserlift roared to life. A smile crept over her face as she took the pilot’s seat and lifted the vehicle out of its dock.

Running through the readouts on the dash display the airspeeder looked fueled and ready for action. She checked her face in one of the viewer modules giving herself a sexy smile. Kor tuned the holonet player to her preferred music channel as the cockpit blared with a solid fusion beat of technopop and Chandrilian opera. Ready to roll, Kor piloted the speeder to the front of the bay. A gate attendant looked out at her from his booth as she glided up. She gave him a playful smile.

“What are you doing in this vehicle?!” he demanded.

She gave him a wink. “Boss says to take her out and get a good cleaning and shine job. You’re welcome to come if you want.” She said pursing her lips.

“I need to get approval on this. Shut down the engine and get out of the patrol vehicle.” The First Order attendant ordered.

Kor’s lips dropped to a frown. “Your choice.” She said with a hint of sadness. The attendant looked quizzically at her as he reached for the alarm button. He stopped as the bolt from her blaster fired into his face. Reaching into the booth, she pressed the button to open the garage shield and she kicked the thrusters into full power. A couple First Order troopers ran out, trying in vain to get her to stop. She cranked the music up a little louder and shot out of the bay into the towering skyways of Coruscant. And now the alarms sounded.
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Secluded Hanger, Coruscant Industrial District
Timeline: Following Introductions
Anara walked back into the hanger, hearing the welcome murmur of conversation. I'd been a few short days on Coruscant and she'd managed to pull together enough threads to have assembled the group she saw now. Flanked by their varied starfighters, the new Rogue's looked ready for action, if a bit bored. Their timing couldn't have been better either. With the report she'd intercepted through the bug they placed in the First Order base, they now had an action item ahead of them. She came to a halt next to their "meeting table", little more than a simple piece of circular wood. When they finally had their base of operations, they'd have to get a real holotable. In the meantime, her little purple companion would do the trick. "Alright, Rogues. Gather round."

Caran had been huddled near his T-65, deep in conversation with BD-7 as they replenished some of the vital personal supplies that sat in the hidden compartments on the base of the craft's nose. With the instruction to gather from the Captain, the former Imperial officer wandered over to the table without so much as a word, his droid perched on his back and right shoulder, peering over at the table.

Kor sat off to the side of the hanger filing her nails into sharp points. She wore a tight pair of black vinyl leggings and a loose lightweight top, neither of which was exactly suitable for a fighter pilot, but better than the orange monstrosity they issued for her to wear. She was relieved to hear Anara call the group, things were getting a bit dull for her taste. She walked over to the 'table' where the other pilots were forming up. "So, are we gonna get to blow something up, or is this gonna be another reconn bore?"

Stepping over from the workbench he'd been standing over, tinkering with some computer components, Xiann took a place amongst the others to wait for Anara to tell them what she had in mind. He'd finally been given a flight suit and had taken to wearing it often. In fact, he was doing so now, unzipped, and pulled down around his waist, with the arms tied to keep it up, and a thin black undershirt covering his torso, leaving his arms and the upper part of his chest bare. He realized, as the youngest of the group, he might be a bit immature at times, but the suit made him feel like he belonged, and he had never experienced that before.

Grinder hummed, whirred and beeped repeatedly until he had gotten Hal's attention. "What? What muster?" The Duros asked, then looking around Hal dropped down out of the Y-wing's weapons bay and walked toward the gathering, dusting off his hands and unwrapped the sleeves of his flight suit from about his waist and slipped back into it, worrying at the wrinkles. The suit was a deep green with white piping that was form fitting that he'd had tailored. Walking up to the others with his slow, easy walk he looked inquiringly at Captain Shaade. Behind him, Grinder hovered near the edges of the assembly area, clearly eavesdropping.

Vakrees stood quietly among the group as they waited for Rogue Leader to fill them in. Regrettably, she'd not had much time to interact with the others and found herself feeling a little lonely. A quick glance down towards her droid, BBZ3, put her mind at ease. Whatever they were about to do would bring her the familiarity she prefered. She observed each face for a moment and found peace, the pack was always stronger together.

Anara nodded as each of them gathered. The squadron looked ready, if a bit bored. Which was exactly what she was hoping for. "I've got some news, courtesy of our little bug in the First Order Comms system," she said with a nod toward Xiann. "For the past few weeks, the First Order has been pressuring Coruscant security to turn over jurisdiction to them. This has been part of their pitch in the outer rim. Find an exposed system and convince them they need protection. It's pretty much the same here. Coruscant security has been resistant, but after the New Republic's disarmament, they don't have much of a counter argument."

She nodded to BB-4A, who projected a hologram layout of the Coruscant system over the table. "Then cue today. The First Order has brought a ship into the system, one of their Interdictor Cruisers. They've taken up position along the main hyperspace route from Corellia and are claiming there is an imminent threat to the system coming in the next few hours. And it was no big surprise when I learned that Corellia have been the main source of Coruscant security's equipment imports."

"So, they've basically created a blockade situation..." Xiann said, "That's just great."

Kor looked at the projection the droid was displaying. "They bringing anything else to the party, or just their cruiser? Are we being politically sensitive and disabling it, or does it get to burn?" she added with a creepy grin.

"It's a big bite. Interdicting Corsucant with one lousy cruiser. They have to know that it'll leak. With the syndicates and others who move around the edges." The Duros cocked his head for a moment, then said. "It's for show to the populace.....once they start catching some of the criminals, they'll use that as an excuse to crack down on the people's behalves. It's an old story..."

Hal caught the others looking at him and his skin darkened in a blush. "Sorry. Other than working on Luadra, all I had to do was read technical manuals and histories Grinder had loaded.."

“Don’t apologize, Hal. Your read is dead on. It’s clear this is a publicity stunt. One little ship comes in and catches a bunch of small criminals. All of a sudden people are a buzz. Why couldn’t all of Coruscant security stop them? Never mind the fact that Coruscant security is being resource starved in the process. And then people begin to speculate what a whole group of First Order ships could accomplish.” Anara added before turning to the Twi’lek. “But you’re right. One ship does seem like a bit...scant. So look what turned up just outside local sensor range.”

She gestured to her droid, and a second smaller image was projected just beyond the Coruscant system. The outline of the triangular vessel was projected a little larger. “Just a short jump away is a First Order Star Destroyer. One of the smaller one’s thankfully. If we were up against a full Resurgent class, I’d be concerned. But that right there? That’s our target.”

The blonde pointed at the Interdictor point again. “Tomorrow morning, the best shipment of supplies is due to Coruscant. They’re going to stop it and claim some sort of contraband. Coruscant Security is going to give a feeble protest, and then be afraid to act. That’s where we come in. We’re going to go in, claim jurisdiction, and when they fire on us, we show them what a handful of elite fighters can do to their Interdictor. When they call in the big guns, then we get to really have fun. This goes right, the First Order gets egg in their face and we come away looking like big damn heroes.”

Kor watched the dagger shaped contact on the screen. The Interdictor was only a pain if you were trying to run. In a worse case scenario where they totally botched this mission, they could still limp back to Coruscant, so this was just a matter of time to down that. A proper Star Destroyer, that was gonna take a bit more. And that was their main objective. "So inflict as much damage as possible on the Cruiser drawing the Destroyer in, then ion blast the hell out of it's systems before dropping the big bombs?"

"That's the general idea," Shaade replied. She gestured to the little droid and a single dotted line showed up, indicating a flight path. "But if we all go in guns blazing, they'll be ready for that. That's why I want us to go in as two groups. I'll lead the X-Wings in and engage the Interdictor. They likely won't suspect much there. X-Wings operate alone all the time in Resistance operations. Once we've done damage to the cruiser, they'll bring in their back up and scramble fighters accordingly. What they won't be expecting is our Heavies." A second gesture caused another line to appear, this one angled at the Star Destroyer's approach vector. "We're going to have you floating in with your systems powered down. When the Destroyer jumps in, they'll be angled toward us and will launch their fighters, giving you the perfect moment for light them up with those ion cannons."

"Why not strike them both at the same time?" Caran blurted out was meant more as an internal musing but accidentally escaped his mouth and drew attention to himself. The cat was out of the bag now, so to speak, so he opted to share the rest of his musings. "If we wait until the Destroyer is drawn in, then they'll have their defences and weapons hot. If we hit them with the element of surprise first, or even at the same time, then the Interdictor doesn't get any help and we have a better chance of taking down that Star Destroyer," the former Imperial officer suggested, using his insider knowledge.

Anara looked over the hologram and nodded. "That's not a bad idea. You could jump in and surprise them. We could split the X-Wings up. Send 2 with the heavies as back up, and have the other three focus on the Interdictor."

"Sounds like a solid plan to me, gives us a better chance of doing some heavy initial damage," Xiann replied.

Hal glanced over the battle plan for a few minutes, then verbalized. "We could, conceivably, Ion strike the Interdictor first before it gets a chance to send any message...say just as the Transports arrive? If we can coordinate with the transport's arrival, hit them so the transports get their cargo through then jump and aid in the strike as the Star Destroyer from another direction, the confusion could edge the odds in our favor."

Kor's lekku twisted towards the Duros. "I'm with Hal on this. As much fun as it would be for us to try taking down a Star Destroyer on our own, I'd prefer a flight of X-wings to even things up a little more. And jumping in is better than drifting without power in the Coruscant shipping lanes."

BB-4A made a few warbles in protest as he adjusted the hologram with each new proposed plan. Anara gave a chuckle. "It's called a strategy session, buddy. Plan might change a bunch of times before we find our final plan." She looked out at her fighter pilots and tilted her head in concession. "It's up to you all. I might be Rogue Leader, but you're Rogue Squadron. I don't want to pull us into an attack you're not comfortable with."

Xiann had the least amount of experience of any of them in regards to things like this. He'd flown his ship a few times, and he was good at it, but he'd never had to fight in any actual battles, so he didn't really have much authority. Finally, he came to a decision, and spoke, "Look, I don't have experience in this, I admit that, but the element of surprise is something I know a hell of a lot about. If we have even a chance of using it, I say we do so."

"Any advantage we can get over that Star Destroyer must be utilised," Caran told as he stood upright and folded his arms across his chest, BD-7 beeping along in agreement with his 'master', a sort of verbal high-five between the two, not that BD had ever disagreed with Azulas during their time together.

The last contributions gave Anara another idea, a wilder one. "The Interdictor is going to be at its most vulnerable when it is attempting to pull the ship out of hyperspace. They'll need to reroute their power to other systems after the gravity well generators are deactivated. That's our window. We have the manifest for the transport, so we'll know exactly when to hit. We jump in just as it is dragging the ship back to normal space. Hal, Kor, you two will focus your ions on trying to knock out as many systems as possible, starting with communications. The rest of the squadron, will work to eliminate surface turrets and help you bring it down. We're only going to have a few minutes to pull this off before the Destroyer will get suspicious. But once the Interdictor isn't going to hurt anyone, we jump again, this time a precision jump to just behind the destroyer. Then the real fight is on," the captain said.

She turned to her heavies again. "We're really relying on you guys for this mission. Hal, I'm going to need you to try and take out hit their hanger. If we can immobilize even a portion of their fighters, we might be able to win this thing a lot faster. Kor, you're going to hit their shields. The B-Wing should have enough firepower to punch through those generator casings. Once those come down, the X-Wings will be a lot more useful for taking out systems."

Kor nodded, her headtails coiling up slightly as she contemplated the serious nature of her role in the assault. "Sure. No problem, Pearl can punch right through those towers. Might take a couple shots, but I can blow their shields." Well she knew she could theoretically. It was always her favorite simulation to run, but that was different than blowing up the real thing. Still, how different could it be?

Ok, so it wasn't quite what the former Imperial officer had suggested, but it was still, in his eyes, a better plan than had originally been suggested. Lifting a hand towards his head, he reached out and gently tapped BD-7 reassuringly, in the same way he did whenever he felt his minuscule companion shudder in the same nervous way he had when they first met several years ago.

The Duros nodded met the Captain's eyes. "Yup. We can do that. After jump, if I can get a couple of X wings to lead cover, we go at their hanger with them lighting up the Destroyer's surface. Then about 400 meters out, they cross out and keep the point defenses busy, we'll drop a couple of DD-488's down the pipe and then carpet bomb the rest of the Destroyer's lateral surface." Hal looked at his fellow pilots then back to the Captain. "Do we know which SD this is?"

"It's the Prudent," Anara replied, gesturing toward it. "One of their smaller ones, but still a Destroyer. As for the X-Wing escort, you'll have it. I'll stick escort you myself."

Anara then turned to the other X-Wing pilots. "And that means we're going to need to be everywhere at once. We'll need to play anti-fighter defense for the heavies, while also dishing out damage of our own, particularly to the vessel's hyperdrive. Think you guys are up for it?"

"I reckon that's what we are here for. As long as we have a script, I can play my part." Kor responded in a somewhat detached tone.

"Agreed, just point me in the direction you want and I'll be there, ready to give 'em all we've got," Xiann replied with enthusiasm.

Caran remained silent, simply nodding as he surveyed the gathered group and made his own assessment of their chances. Granted, it had been a while since he'd been on the bridge of the Dominance, and much had changed since then, but he hoped this new Commander of his wasn't underestimating the threat the Destroyer posed. If something went wrong, and the Destroyer learned of their presence, it would be game over for sure. He knew it, BD-7 knew it and, he hoped, the pilots around the table knew it.

Shaade nodded. "Then suit up and get your engines warmed up. Rogue Squadron takes to the skies in 2 hours."
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Main Hanger Coruscant Hidden Base
Timeline: Following New Trouble
Kor leaned against a structural support holding up the ceiling of the Hanger. In front of her spread the Hanger holding most the fighters in 'Rogue Squadron'. Kor knew the name was supposed to mean something, a group of pilots that was the best of the best back in the day when the Empire ruled the Galaxy. Times change. She tapped her cigar against the duracreet support holding her up, ruminating on the coming mission. She could fly. She could blow things up. But she was no soldier. Part of her held significant pride in that fact, but as she prepared for the first actual combat mission, Kor genuinely wondered if it was enough.

Ground crews covered the assorted vehicles like a swarm of bees, preparing the ships the best they could for the on-coming fight. Her B-wing would be ready and in proper shape. She had no doubt of it. Pearl wouldn't accept anything less. Kor sighed. The other pilots around her seemed inseparable from their droids. Kor didnt have a pet droid, she was not really one for programmed companionship. A droid was good for fetching take-away food, but it wasnt going to buy you gifts or drinks, except with your own money, and that was no fun.

With 30 minutes to launch, Kor tapped her cigar out against the building and returned the unused portion to a small box she kept in her flight bag. Pausing for a moment she looked over the parked fighters, taking in the task ahead of her. Taking down a Star Destroyer was once of her favorite simulations to run, but she wasnt sure if any of this would be enough when it came to actual combat. The tide of war was wrought with Chaos and unpredictability, but then so was Kor.

Walking through the Hanger, Kor found her way to her B-wing, parked alongside Hal's Y-wing, just in front of a half dozen X-wings. Kor mounted the stairs to the cockpit hatch. "You are late." the synthesized voice said as she entered. "You are seriously not wearing that!"

Kor sighed. "I'm about to change Mother."

"As I have said before, I would never gestate you even if I was capable." the voice continued in the cockpit cabin.

"Always reassuring Pearl." Kor replied as she slid into the pilot's couch. "How are we looking for the mission?"

"I will be fine if you do not screw it up." PeaRL responded back. "Thank you for asking."

Kor rolled her eyes. "Just tell me we got gas and guns."

"Affirmative ion blasters and laser batteries are fully charged. I am carrying two torpedo pods with a complement of 16 proton torpedoes. Hyperdrive is fully functioning and fuel levels are topped off." PeaRL reported.

"That should do some damage." Kor answered back.

"A single MG7-A Proton Torpeaso has a destructive yield of 456.382..." PeaRL began.

"It goes boom I got it." Kor said cutting the recitation off.

"Yes. It will go boom." PeaRL replied in a rather defeated tone. "Will you ever fully appreciate what you recklessly blast out into space? The ability to level a mountain is no trivial..."

"I got it Pearl." Kor stated as she flipped off the monitor of the Ship's Stores. Crossing her arms over her head she pealed off the T-shirt she had been wearing.

"What are you doing? Not again!" PeaRL protested.

Kor rolled here eyes again, as she slid her leggings down and pulled her legs out. Unpacking her orange flight suit from her bag, she unzipped the loose fitting coveralls.

"May I remind you of the hygienic problems with what you are doing?"PeaRL nagged.

Kor awkwardly slid the flight suit down to fit her legs in and pull it up as she was in the pilot's couch. "I am not going to be seen in this monstrosity."

"The monstrosity you are disparaging keeps your body protected in the vacuum of space. Without it you would perish in 32.642 seconds." PeaRL reported.

"Still looks like hell." Kor said, zipping the suit up over her naked chest. "But I'm wearing it. Just don't tell anyone."

"I suspect your squadron mates would find what you are not wearing under the flight suit more interesting than that you are indeed wearing it." PeaRL scolded.

"It's our little secret.: Kor said with a wicked smile.

" Ours and maybe Kush the crewman, I think he was looking in here while you got suited up." PeaRL observed.

Kor looked out he cockpit window to where the tall Snivvian in blue ground crew coveralls was working on the nose blaster array. Kor smiled at him and waved. "Lovely. Guess we made his day."

"I did nothing for his day." PeaRL responded.

Kor shook her head. Her Leeku curled up behind her shoulders. Her flight helmet took into account her headtails, but its wasn't the most comfortable fit. Attaching the hoses from the flight suit to the umbilical life support nozzles Kor finished attaching herself to her fighter. "Pearl, get the engine's warmed up we are airborne in four minutes."

"I've been ready for the last hour while you were out polluting your respiratory passages." PeaRL commented.

"Thank you Pearl. Queue up High Energy playlist" Kor commented as she secured the last seals between her helmet and flight suit.

The overture for a dramatic Chandrillian aria began to play in the cockpit.

"You know the composer of this piece killed them self after writing it. Just thought you should know. " PeaRL interjected over the blaring opera.

Kor ignored the comment and toggled on her mic to control. "Flight Control, this is Rogue Three, ready for lift off."

"Rogue Three you are cleared for lift off. Good Hunting." the voice on the Comm replied.

The flight crews detached utility lines, moorings and the boarding stairs. The flight director signaled all clear for her and gave her the go ahead for ascending.

"See you all in a little while." Kor said as she lifted her ship up off the tarmac and lined herself up with the launch tube. "Rogue Three pulling away." she said into the comm, turning up her music as the B-wing shot into the skies of Coruscant.

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Hanger 28465, Coruscant
Timeline: After New Trouble
Hal ducked out from underneath the Y-wing, continuing his preflight after having checked the sixteen bombs they’d scrounged up for Luadra. As he slipped from beneath the ship, he stopped to watch as he said. “Ok, Grinder; close the bay doors.

Grinder, already in place in the astromech socket, acknowledged with a couple of low bleeps and the sound of doors sliding shut. Giving the ship a last once over, Hal untied the vacsuit arms from about his waist and slid his arms and torso in and closed it. Then he shrugged into the survival vest, ejector seat harness and lastly fastened the pressure hose into the valve on the front. Tucking the dangling hose into a pocket, he then somewhat awkwardly climbed up the boarding stick pegs to the canopy.

The Duros did a visual check on the dorsal side of the Luadra and lastly over Grinder before he slipped into the cockpit. Settling into the ejector seat, he fastened the pressure hose to the fitting and activated a power switch. He had to push himself up slightly as the suit activated when charged and sucked the material to fit tightly to his limbs.

Dropping into the seat again, he fastened the hookups and straps to the life support modules and then pulled a cover off of his right fore-arm, revealing a checklist which he began to go through.

Five cycles later he grabbed his flight helmet and pulled it on, securing the chinstrap and life-support leads. Activating the comm, he said “Control, this is Rouge Six. Spinning up.”

“Roger Rogue Six. Go ahead,” came back the reply and he began activating switches.

There were four switches, two per engine. Flipping the first two to “ON” and “START” he switched the comm over to local and called out to Grinder. “Ok, spin up one, Grinder.”

The droid didn’t reply, but Luadra rumbled as the number one engine began it’s start sequence and strobed into life.

Hal repeated the procedure and command for number two and soon had both engines started and warming up. It wouldn’t take long because they’d been using a ground umbilical to keep everything charged, but, but the Durosian had enough time to finish the last of the safety and flight checklist.

The weapons would be checked once they were in space.

After two more cycles, everything was registering in the green and he could feel the deep green, craft wanting to fly. Reaching for the damper control, he throttled back the engines from ‘START’ to ‘IDLE’ and switched power to the repulser lift system. The indicator’s there flashed from yellow to green three times and then went full green.

Hal nodded and held a thumbs up to a mechanic-droid who had been on fire watch while he lit off the Y’s engines and hit the canopy control. As the armored hatch closed and sealed he switched his comm back to broadcast and called out.

“Rouge Six, ready for launch.”

“Affirm, Rouge Six,” the controller called back. “You have your flight path. Watch out for local traffic, they’re supposed to stay out of the registered zones but there’s always some idjit…”

“Roger that, Control. I got it. Rogue Six lifting,” Hal chuckled into the comm as he switched it back to LOCAL/MONITOR and said, “Ok, Grinder. Final check. My board’s green. You?”

The droid gave him a digital thumbs up noise and Hal put his feet on and hands on the controls, and began easing the throttle ahead. Power grew and fed through the repulser unit and he felt the Y-wing rise. More power fed through the engine and the Y rose and began turning in the hanger as it cleared the walls and then he switched power to both engines and the Y began climbing, nose at a raising angle as he flipped another switch and the landing gear retracted and the last of Luadra’s open panels thumped shut, their indicator’s going green then fading out.

Once the Y was 500 meters above the landing pad, Grinder activated the navigational system and Hal nosed the ship into the flight plan they’d filed as a joy ride. With the weapon systems and shields powered down, only visual would clue anyone into the fact that it was a forest green, Y-wing with yellow and red striping and a snarling monster face on the fuselage.

By the time anyone found someone willing to say something about it, it wouldn’t matter.

After three cycles, he was reasonably sure the ship wouldn’t fall back out of Corsucant’s atmosphere and he let a grin slide over his face as he rocked the ship one way then another, getting a look at the city/planet before he slid into a cloud formation and turned his concentration back to his systems and watching the scope for idjits.

It was good to be flying again.

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Out of the way place, near a Secluded Hanger/ Corsucant
Timeline: Hours before New Trouble
Hal waved the smoke away with a sigh and made another note on the shattered bit of crating he was using for a clip board.

The Duros sat in what could only be labeled a shack, put together with crating, scrapped plating and good intentions. He’d drug other empty crates in and formed a table of sorts out of the largest and shelving from the rest. The Duros, with Grinder helping, had also appropriated salvaged and striped down ejector seats. Four from Y-wings and two with appeared to be A-wing. There were also a couple of so called couches along two of the walls with had been stripped from some shuttle or other.

Strung together diodes, scrapped wiring and instrument panel lighting to give some ambiance to the darkened atmosphere and now he sat in one of the Y-wing seats, a leg drawn up. A bottle of Kintassian ale sat before him, half drank, the rest of the case plugged into a socket in the makeshift table to keep chilled.

One didn’t drink KIntassian ale warm, after all. He wasn’t a Hutt. On the bar sat a cooler he’d cobbled together from a helmet scrubber and a few odds and ends. Hal had found some Bavarian Chu’ Cha’ juice concentrate and filtered it all through the ‘cooler’ twice. For some unknown reason, it was custom to keep a container of ‘Bug Juice’ available in a pilot’s ready room.

Now the Durosian was contemplating a still. He had been trolling the place, looking for parts and trying to obtain as many replacement parts for Luadra, which was slow going. The Y was in decent enough shape to be adjudged mission ready by Cass’ah, the slow speaking Mon Calmari crew chief who had chosen to adopt the Y wing. She had promised Hal to find three more permanent crewers as well, as soon as any could pass her testing.

The Duros shook his head and turned back to debating which to use as the primary ingredient to the whisky he planned to brew. Coolant from an X-wing’s primary, or fuel from a proton torpedo.

Kor's lekku were beginning to twitch. She had been in this "base" for the last four days, and it was getting quite dull. Technically, they were pilots not prisoners, But the "Base" was on a security lock-down, being all clandestine and such. Kor found it a considerable bore. No shopping, no clubs, not even a good place to get a drink. So she was off once more 'exploring' the 'base'. Seriously it took like fifteen minutes to go completely through this place. A couple good storage closets, and the communications hub had some neat trinkets, but this was almost as bad as her cell back with the First Order, except she could walk. So she walked.

The screened off shack tucked out of the way just off the man hanger was new. And from the look of it very recently put up. She pulled back a draped tarp that might be a door... or a wall... hard to tell. She looked in. It looked like a dimly lit used parts shop. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light on the interior she noticed a familiar layout to the place. "Bi'tzat' moi'!" Kor exclaimed as her Lekku unrolled. This was a freaking bar. Her eye lit up as she stepped in. A very quiet Bar. Just a Duro sitting by himself with a bottle in front of him. She could get behind that. She stepped in further walking towards the Duro. "Nice place you got here. Whatcha serving?" Kor inquired.

It took a moment for things to sink in that he wasn't alone any more. After a few beats, the Duros looked up focusing on the Twi'lek and said. "Nice? I'm not sure about that but it's better than the rest of the drab. As far as serving. I don't serve, but there's Kintassian ale on the table or Bug Juice, aka Chu Cha in the cooler. I was going to use a burnt out astromech shell for the tub, but Grinder started to get offended...." the Duros trailed off, looking again at his clip board then setting it aside.

"Welcome to ... I'm not sure what to call it. But I thought a place to kick back on the quiet would be nice for those who wanted to find something. I'm Hal Janks, by the by."

Nobody ever accused a Duro of enhancing the truth... the place was a dump, but in this egregiously dull 'base' something to take the edge off and someplace to pass the doldrums was a welcome oasis. "Kintassian Ale sounds perfect."Kor said slipping her sublime form into one of the a-wing seats next to the Duro. "Kor'd'leia. If you are pouring the booze, you can call me Kor." she said throwing a wink at the Duro. "Glad to see you found something useful to make with the wreckage lying around here."

Feeling twitchy, Vakrees had opted to take a stroll in order to think things over and pass the time. She had just come back from looking at the fighters when she'd picked up Kor with her montrals and decided to follow the Twi'lek woman towards the shack. She'd hesitated at the entrance for a moment as she had a quick listen to ensure she wouldn't be interrupting. Happy the chat seemed casual she made her way in.

"This is nice," Vakrees said nodding her head in approval. It kind of reminded her of the kind of places they'd stay in during her time trying to route the remnant from Shili. She also thought the décor was a nice touch. "Not bad at all, Vakrees Saal" She said in introduction as she made her way to where the others were sat, grabbed herself and ale and plonked herself into a chair. "Once we get the chance to leave I'll repay the favour," she said with a slight tip of the bottle she had grabbed.

The Duros nodded absently to Vakrees. "Nice to meet chya Vakrees. I'm Hal Jaks. I was sort of thinking of making it, or at least parts of it, a traveling fixture of the Squadron. We all kick funds or contribute something as we go along and have a place for down time, when we get it." Hal stopped talking abruptly and looked to Kor and grabbed another ale from the case on the table and passed it to her. "Now that's not a bad name for it. Down Time."

Vakrees unscrewed her bottles cap and took a swig. She winced a little at the taste, ale had never been her favourite, but quickly remedied that by taking a heartier swig. She wriggled a little as she put her hand into her pocket and retrieved enough credits to cover the cost of the next case, "consider that our first contribution" she said as she reached forwards and deposited the coins onto the table that the crate sat on. "Down time is a good name indeed," she said once she was sat back in her seat properly.

Kor smiled coyly at the Togurta as she walked in the hut. Her pink lekku rolling welcomely to the newcomer. The sudden topic of funds and supplies was a little off putting. Kor was not accustom to buying her own drinks, there were usually any number of very eager suitors willing to drop their hard earned pay on her pleasure. She'd give it a few days, as people found out about the hang out, there would be people to buy her drinks. She reached down into her overly tight vinyl leggings and dropped twice the number of coins on the crate. "And that can be your second. And if you happen to see any Dilnlexan Cigars while you are securing libations, I'd greatly appreciate a case."

Smiling at the Togurta again, Kor said, "So did they break you out of jail too?"

Vakrees smirked putting her bottle down by her feet, "Fortunately not, happened to be on Coruscant when word got back to me from some contacts that a new resistance cell was forming up. Was operating out of Green Squadron but decided a change was in order" the Torgruta woman explained, "Heard about the break though, everyone did" she carried on, "ballsy" she said her approval clear.

Kor looked back at the Torguta with a Devilish smile. "Oh we do try. Lots of sitting around for ten minutes of fun." She let out a bit of a refined and practiced laugh. "You look like you are good in a fight, feel welcome to come along next time. "

TAG Vakrees

Dev Edo, a pilot, walked into the "bar" and looked around. The place was basically a hog sty. He didn't have a flight suit, so he wore some clothes he had brought with him. He had a few credits in his pocket, not many, but some.
He'd been told to report her to a Captain Shaade. Not knowing what Shaade looked like, he moved to a seat and sat down.
He kept an eye out.
His blaster was in his holster, covered by the jacket he wore.

Hearing the voices of several people speaking together, and laughter from time to time as well, Xiann moved towards what looked like some sort of ramshackle lean-to and walked inside. The low lighting and the salvaged appearance of most of the furniture reminded him of his early life on Coruscant and brought a slight smile to his face. Noting that Kor was there, and having met her he nodded to her in greeting and then turned to the rest of those gathered.

"Hey there, everyone, name's Xiann," he said as he picked a nice place on the floor and settled into it, pulling his knee up towards his chest and draping his arm over it. He'd ditched the flight suit and was wearing his normal baggy, pocket covered pants, and a tight vest, leaving his arms and most of his chest exposed.

Hal took in the newcomers and started handing out drinks to those who didn't have them. As credits hit the table, he said in passing. "We're basically paying our way here. For Down Time I don't expect a profit, though Grinder will keep track and see if we can scrounge comforts as we go."

Looking toward Edo, he took in the black-haired human and said, "Hey there. More new faces, I'm Hal Jenks, flying the Luadra Y-wing."

"Dev Edo, X-Wing pilot." He looked at the man. "I'm looking for Captain Shaade. Is he here?"

The Duros grinned and shook his head. "She hasn't found her way here yet, but give it time. For now grab a pew and launch in with the rest of us welcome to Rogue squad. There's ale on the table, or if you're a teetotaler, there's bug juice in the cooler over there."

The Duros slipped back into his chair and gave a half-wave to Xiann, "Looks like we'll need more chairs. Though the floor's mostly cleaned. I think Grinder even swept it...."

Politely declining the drink, but tossing a couple credit chips on the table nonetheless, Xiann replied, "Floors fine for me, I didn't usually have furniture in my place anyway."

Turning then to Kor, Hall remarked, "Dilnlexan Cigars. Nice, choice. I'll ask around. Not sure how long we'll be here, under wraps. As it was, I had to repaint Grinder this morning and send him on a run."

"Probably a better chance findin' em here than where ever we get posted next." Kor replied to Hal. Their little enclosure was getting full fast. She looked at the assortment of pilots, the most she had seen on one place so far. Pilots from races and planets from all over the Galaxy, how very much like the Republic. Her eyes turned to the silent dark haired human (Edo). "What's your story? Here to save the Galaxy?"

Dev looked at Kor. "First, to avenge the deaths of my adopted parents at the hands of stormtroopers, then to learn the ways of the Jedi." He sat down in what was suppose to be a chair. "What's your story?"

"I thought Revenge was not the way of the Jedi, not that I've ever met one. What, there are like five in the Galaxy or something. Bunch of hoccus-poccus. Me, I'm an actress and entertainer. I've worked theaters, ships and lounges from one side of the Galaxy to the other. This seemed fun, so I tought I'd help out until something new comes along." Kor said with a beguiling smile.

"Some of the greatest people from my race were Jedi" Vakrees cut in. History was important to the Togruta and the members of their species that left Shili to join the order were held in high esteem. Whilst they didn't worship the force, their respect and reverence for the natural order aligned well with the Jedi order. Tales of Master Shaak Ti and Ashoka Tano inspired her drive to rid the galaxy of the Empire. They likely wouldn't approve of her methods, she imagined. "If the tales are true, I wouldn't dream of taking a Jedi on toe to toe. Imagine having the ability to throw someone across a room with your mind" she finished, almost sounding envious.

Hal shook his head at the story, "They did big, great things but where are they now? Give me a good blaster any day."

Dev thought about demonstrating his limited abilities, but that would be showing off....plus maybe he can't do it all the time. "I'm looking for the captain. Does anyone know where he is?"

He. Dev hadn't met the commander. Kor reminded herself it was good to be helpful to newcomers. That's the good thing to do... But this was too easy.... Taking a long swig from her ale Kor gave Dev an innocent look as she said. "Captain Shaade. You can't miss HIM. Big MonCalimari fella in the all white uniform. Whatever you do, dont look at him in just one eye. He hates it."

From the way the woman spoke...Dev had a feeling he was being tricked. "Big MonCalimari, eh?" Dev walked straight up to the woman and went nose to nose with her. "You think I'm stupid? I know for a fact that the captain is human! You call yourself a pilot...you're nothing but a drunk! I need some air, it stinks in here, and I think it's coming from you!" Dev turned to leave.

Kor started to laugh when the Human got up in her face. Her lekku curled up behind her back spiraling in short motions. She trusted Xiann got the message to block the door. Instead of laughing her lips spread into a devilish grin. Her hand brushed against the dagger fastened to the back of her belt checking is was ready when she needed it. She stepped right up to Dev as he was turning away, her headtails coiling up and lightly brushing his shoulder. "Oh Darlin' if I was wondering if you were stupid, you just removed all doubts." The slight point of her canine teeth pressed against her lower lip.

"The myths were vague but I'm pretty sure the path to becoming a Jedi was one of peace and unity" Vakrees piped up from her chair entirely bemused at how quickly the situation had devolved. She had hoped they'd hit their first hurdle when they were a bit more familiar with one another, not now at the moment they were all meeting. She rose from her seat, crossing her arms once she was stood. "Being a Jedi aside, this kind of behaviour will ensure this unit will become cannon fodder for any First Order we encounter on the battlefield. We should be taking this moment to form bonds that bring us together as a team, not bickering over nothing" she finished, looking between the pair hoping that maybe Dev would turn around and take the opportunity to start again.

From his seat on the floor, Xiann had watched the interactions with barely concealed confusion. Who was this man, and why was he so unstable. If he hadn't even met Anara what was he doing in the hangar bay. There were so many questions and no real answers as of yet. Choosing not to get involved he simply sat and watched. He'd do something if it came to blows, but for now, it seemed Kor could handle herself, so he let her. He had noticed her lekku doing something, and put it in the back of his mind to ask her about it whenever he could, and then listened as the togruta chastised them both.

Anara had been a mere moment from joining her crew in their lounge when she'd heard the man's voice. It was distinct, not one of the members of her crew. And the topics he'd brought up were concerning. Mentioning her by name, though thankfully seemingly unaware of her exact identity. The mention of the Jedi was what really sent her over the edge though. Did they know somehow? She had yet to tell even a member of her own crew about her albeit limited training. A random man snooping around their headquarters, looking for her and talking about Jedi. That was a problem, and one she needed to resolve quickly. She took a moment to alter her outfit a bit. She was already out of her flight suit thankfully, opting instead for a red top and dark travel pants. Looking around, she found a discarded cheap looking jacket. Throwing it on, ruffling her usually meticulously styled hair, and adopting a much less imposing posture, she walked into the makeshift bar, hoping her crew would follow her lead.

As she entered, she assessed the room and immediately headed back behind the bar. "Hello everyone, sorry I'm late," she said in a timid accented voice that sounded virtually nothing like her own. Years of training allowed her to assume an innocuous identity quickly. "Uh....oh...I am sorry. I did not realize there was a new face. I am Hana, the bartender. May I get you anything to drink?" Her seemingly timid persona cloaked a razor edged focus, and a hand itching to retrieve a certain tool strapped to the back of her belt.

Dev turned back to the woman. "If you were a man, I would beat you to a pulp." He looked around at the others. "With people like you in the resistance, no wonder we're losing. I'd make more of a difference flying solo."

Kor blinked at the man. "I might give a damn, if you were a man." Her lekku sagged down in a rather disparaging effigy of the human's shortcomings. "You wanna try flying solo? Bring it." she said gesturing the human toward her.

Dev undid his holster and placed it on the table. "Then bring it....whore."

Whore... Kor's mind flashed to other human lips that had called her that word. The years of suffering in the slave pits and under the First Order. The smell of them on her, the shudder of her flesh at their intruding touch, at their smell... The pain of it all came rushing back before she could lock it away. Her vision flashed into the present. This human, the malice in his eyes. His repugnant human form. She didn't think. she couldn't. Her body leapt forward towards the man, her nails ready to tear into his wretched human face.

Dev picked up a chair and tossed it at the woman as she leaped towards him. He moved out of her way and waited for her to land. She was mad....so mad, she'll make an error, one he can take advantage of.

The mistake never came. It may have, had the moment lasted longer, though Anara doubted it. Kor knew what she was doing. But while Kor was righting herself from dodging the chair, and while Dev had prepared himself for a follow up attack, the innocuous bartender had struck. With reflexes built over years of combat and training with Force that she still concealed, she'd moved that little bit faster. The blaster had leapt from Anara's holster, meeting her hand where it had been poised to prepare drinks. She hoped the other crew hadn't seen that, but all eyes seemed to be focused on the brawl. With a flick of one finger, the blaster settled into its stun setting and fired at the back of the man who had entered their base so unexpectedly. He'd reacted remarkably quickly, but given Anara's proximity, it hadn't been enough. The blue ring of stun energy struck him square in the back, and he collapsed in a heap onto the floor. She didn't know who this man was, but no one talked to her crew like that and got away with it.

Kor had landed immediately regretting her impulse to leap at the man. This was not control. She knew how to kill, dispassionately, quickly and with no regret. This was different. She blamed the alcohol, albeit she had been far more inebriated and capable of terminating a target. This one had got under her skin. Something she would not allow again. Her pulse still throbbed inside of her, wanting the man's throat under her blade. A blaster blot fired, followed by the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor. She glanced at the man, the Captain, her blaster raised approaching from behind. Kor took a deep breath, closing her eyes and releasing the surge of emotions. She stood upright, straightened her clothing and walked towards the Captain, with a practice pout on her face. "Pudooh, you took all the fun out of it.:" A lie. she was grateful to be saved from herself but she would never admit to it.

----

"You sure those ties are tight?" Anara asked as she watched the Rogue's finishing tying Dev Edo to one of the chairs. He was beginning to come to and she had little interest in additional thrown chairs. Whoever he was, she wanted answers.

With a quick jerk of the restraints, making them as tight as he could without causing damage to the wrists and ankles of the other man Xiann looked up, "Yeah, they are tight. He won't get out of them easily, and we'll know if he's trying."

"Well, then. I think it's time we see how our guest is doing," Anara joked, approaching and proding him with a stick like she was trying to wake a sleeping nexu. "Hey. Wake up."

Dev shook his head as he tried to get his bearings back. He tested the restraints, but found them unbreakable. He looked around, then looked at Kor. "You call this a fair fight? You let the others fight all your battles for you? Sounds like the work of a bunch of cowards!!" Without waiting for a reply, Dev closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and the chair started rising into the air.

Kor returned his stare with one of her own. As he started ranting she simply waved her hand at him and his pointless words. Then the chair began to rise. She drew her blaster and immediately leveled it on the floating human. "Sorcery! Captain, permission to burn the Space Witch down!"

Anara watched as the chair itself rose into the air. She supposed that answered why he was bringing up Jedi. However, there was now a new issue. She had to decide whether to use her powers or...Her mind made itself up in a second, her blaster coming back out and shooting the man unconscious a second time. The chair crashed unceremoniously to the ground. “Tie it to the floor this time.”

Kor dropped her blaster down to her side with a light smack. "Once, more you take all the fun out of it." Holstering the small gun, she pulled her dagger out from behind her belt allowing the light to catch on the thin shiny blade. "Can I ask him some questions? I promise I won't kill him. Its no fun to torture a corpse. Trust me I've tried." The Captain seemed to let her words slide past her as the others set to securing the prisoner and his flying chair.

When the others had done so, Anara strode up to the man and gave a nice hard slap across the face. “Hey, dumbass. Wake up and pay attention to the person shooting you this time.” Her hand grabbed his jaw and pulled it so he was facing her.

Dev looked at her. "Stop stunning me and we can have a conversation. Or are you all afraid of one man?"

“Well let’s set one thing straight, right off the bat. No one here is afraid of you. Not sure if you noticed, but you’re pretty much out of commission at the moment. Kor was probably a minute away from gutting you. You’re currently tied to chair which is tied to the floor, and I’m still holding that gun that I’ve shot you with twice. And that doesn’t even account for the other half dozen people in the room,” Anara said calmly. “You’ve made an awful lot of accusations about cowards and fear. But all I’ve seen is a bundle of stupid. A random blowhard walks into my clandestine base, starts running his mouth off and insulting my crew, and then picks a fight with one of my pilots. I’m not about to take that.”

She leveled her gaze at him. “So since you talk such a big game, how about some answers. Who do you work for? The First Order? The Hutts? A local crime gang?”

"My name is Dev Edo. I am not working for the Empire or any crime organization. I am a pilot. I came here to join the resistance. I was told to come here and meet a Captain Shaade." Dev paused. "If you think I am lying, put that blaster to my temple and kill me."

Kor silently waved at the Captain, pointing down towards her blaster with a coy smile.

Dev looked at them. "Either believe me what I say, or kill me. I'm getting tired of this nonsense. You don't want me to fly with you, end it."

"You're one to talk about nonsense," Anara said, looking the man over. Upon closer inspection, he didn't seem particularly equipped to be a First Order spy, or a criminal for that matter. She'd argue he didn't look equipped to be a member of the Resistance either, but that could be said of most of them. "And you may want to update your intel a little. The Empire's been dead for 29 years. It's been gone since before either of us were born. We're fighting the First Order, and you'd do well to remember that."

She holstered her blaster and retrieved a datapad from her back pocket. The name Dev Edo rang a bell, but before she untied him, she wanted to be sure. It took a moment for the device to pull up the encrypted Resistance message again. The holonet connection in their "base" left a lot to be desired. But after a moment, it came up.

Dev Edo, recent recruit dispatched to Coruscant by way of D'Qar Command. And an image that matched him exactly. Well, I guess that explains how he knew were to look for us, Anara thought. She looked at the man again, making sure that he really was the man in the image, then sighed. "Alright, Mr. Edo, it looks like your story checks out. But I want to be clear about something. I am Captain Shaade. The way you just busted in here and started throwing out my name, mentioning the Resistance? That's not gonna fly in my squadron. If you have any intention of flying with the Rogues, you need to learn how to keep your cover and keep our intel under wraps. There's no room for ego and temper in the cockpit, so you best check that on the flight deck."

She walked over, releasing his restraints herself, much to Kor's disappointment. "The people in this room are your allies, and are likely to be the only thing standing between you and the vacuum of space. I suggest you treat them with a bit more respect. And while your little tricks with the Force are visually impressive, you're not a Jedi yet. Keep those under control or you're going to get us killed."

The chains dropped away from him, and she extended a hand to help him up, though the tone of slight scolding remained. "Your record says you can fly. You got a ship?"

"No captain, I don't. But I can fly anything. And, captain, I will treat the others with respect. I will do my best to protect those I fly with....as long as they treat me the same way." He stared at the captain. "I've been trying to keep my abilities in check, but sometimes they come out, especially when I feel threatened, ma'am."

"You'll want to work on that. If that happens in the field, you'll make yourself an immediate target. As for ships, we happen to have a spare T-65 X-Wing. Not quite in as good of shape as the others around, but we can whip it into shape," Anara said, gesturing toward the hanger. Her next idea was sure to be unpopular, but it would help with team cohesion. "And Kor? He's going to be flying escort for you for the time being. You'll be relying on each other. Make sure you play nice...at least while we're in the air."

"You got the spare parts for it, I can get it ready for combat, captain." Dev looked at Kor.

Kor gave Anara an incredulous look. Her lekku wrapped themselves tightly together as she waited for a punch line. None came. Shaking her head, she slid her knife back into its sheath behind her back.as she walked back to her bottle of Ale she left where she had been sitting. She was going to need another for this.

Anara gave a slight chuckle, wondering whether or not she was losing it. With a sideways smile, she turned to her Duros squad mate. "Wouldn't mind that drink now, Hal."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: The Hangout
Timeline: Durning 2nd Stunning of Dev
Kor looked at the unconscious body of the human tied to the chair, her knife glinting in the light. The Captain was obviously not interested in her slicing into the man. A slight pout went over her face. Strange incident across the board. She definitely wanted the human to suffer a bit more than the stun bolts were doing, but this was apparently not the time for her to do things her way. Pity.

It occurred to her this would have been over a bit sooner had she gotten more back up from her squadron mates. A surge of annoyance ran through her as she turned her gaze on Xiann. Not only a teammate but a brother Twi'lek. She couldn't have made her request to him clearer...

She turned and grabbed him by the upper arm. "We need to talk."

"Oh, um, okay..." Xiann yelped as he was nearly hauled off his feet when Kor began to pull him along.

Keeping a firm grip on the kid, Kor wheeled him back to a set of X-wing seats. She gave him a quick shove down into a seat then whirled around and smacked him between his headtails. "What is wrong with you?! I was looking for back up with that idiot!"

Xiann jerked away, his hand going to the stinging spot she'd just slapped, and looked up at her in shock. "What are you talking about?"

Kor's violet eyes squinched in to focus on the boys. "Are you blind or just dumb? I clearly asked you to block the door!"

Completely stumped by this Xiann just stared at her like she was stupid. "Um, no, no you didn't. You didn't say anything at all to me, much less ask me to block the door," he replied.

Kor stared intensely into Xiann's eyes. "Don't play stupid. You were standing right there." Kor pointed vigorously. "There is no way you didn't see."

Xiann suddenly felt like he'd stepped into a parallel universe. "I am so lost... What are you talking about?" he asked, again. "You keep saying I should have seen something, or asking if I'm blind, what does that have to do with you telling me something?"

Kor paused looking at the young man. She looked over his features, at his body position roughly crumpled in the chair. She had figured out more obvious tells from beings far more rugged than this kid. ... he looked like he might be telling the truth.

Her lekku uncoiled themselves from her neck and proceeded to twirl and twist in an intricate little dance across her chest. She crossed her arms and studied the boy closely. Was it possible? Her features softened. "Ryma geeyi’tak allesh. Runnan?" she said asking if he was an exile.

Xiann was somewhat mesmerized by the pretty ways Kor was moving her lekku, and it took him a second to realize she was speaking to him. He had caught a few snatches of the Twi'Lek language growing up, but he had never learned it, not even conversationally. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Ryl..." he said, his pale purple cheeks darkening in an embarrassed blush.

Kor's head slightly nodded forward at the comment. dumbfounded at the sadness of a Twi'lek that didn't know his own heritage. "And you obviously don't speak Lekku either. My poor dear. Where did you come from?" she reached out and lightly touched his lekku, undoubtedly sending interesting sensations into the boy.

"I have no idea," Xiann replied, looking towards the ground in shame. "My earliest memories are of being alone in the lower levels and having to scrounge up a living to survive. I didn't even have a name until I was older. One of my friends gave it to me because he said it meant spider in Ryl, and my ability to get into the information webs around us was so good."

Kor looked at the young man with genuine pity. Not that her upbringing was anything less than tragic, but she did remember her parents. She gave a slight chuckle at Xiann explaining his name. "Do you realize that the Xiann is a female spider? They lay their eggs in the husk of their mates to provide nutrition until they hatch. Well, a little afterwards too." Kor sat down on the seat next to Xiann and reached out to lightly caress his lekku. "You can use these to communicate. few outworlders know how to read lekku, but it could save your life someday."

"She thought I was a girl," Xiann admitted. "I was still young, and I liked boys, so she just assumed. By the time she realized it was a little late to change it."

When she touched his lekku he felt a bit of a tingle and looked over at her. "Could you teach me?" he asked, looking into her eyes with a sadness clear in his. He'd hated knowing nothing about his own people for as long as he'd known he was Twi'Lek. It was a source of embarrassment and shame for him to not have a family.

Kor moved closer to Xiann, placing her hand aside the middle of his Lek. Her eyes were moist with compassion for the young man. "Of course I will teach you nerra (brother) Xiann. You have a right to know your heritage. It can be kind of fun too. But we will get to that."

Her right lek curled up into a slightly crooked angle. "Can you do this? It means 'Help'. you can do it in front of your body or behind. There's a lot more to add, but if I see you doing that, I will know you are in trouble."

Her lekku then twisted around to her back and bent jabbing her in the back below her shoulder blade. "If you see this, it means I am most likely going to kill the person I am looking at. So you might want to grab a weapon and some distance," she said with a slight chuckle.

Xiann had been concentrating on doing as she'd shown him with his lek, so he'd be able to signal he needed help, and when she mentioned the second thing he actually burst out laughing and lost all concentration. It felt nice to be getting to know stuff like this, and it made him feel like he might be gaining something he'd never had before, a friend. "I will keep that in mind," he said.

Turning his attention back to his lek he attempted once again to make the signal for help, and finally smiled, "I think I've got it," he said, his excitement clear in his voice.

Kor gave him a broad smile. "Good. There's a lot more to teach you, but we will have to wait until later. We have an idiot to grill at the moment." She stood letting her let to slide up his as she moved back. The sensation to both of them would have felt quite provocative. She gave him a quick wink. She was just being playful, but for a young man not raised around Twi'leks, she was sure he would find the stimulation most exhilarating.

She turned, her hips swaying as she walked back to where the Captain was preparing their prisoner in the flying chair, her lekku definitively jabbing into her back.

As Kor stood, brushing against him Xiann shuddered a bit. Then, as she walked away he saw how she was indicating, he burst out laughing again and stood up, shaking his head as he followed her back to the rest of the group.
Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Coruscant Hyperdrive Lanes
Timeline: Following "New Trouble"
The engines of Anara Shaade's T-70 X-Wing Starfighter hummed quietly in the background, as she plotted her course ahead. "BB, how are those jump coordinates coming along?" A series of small beeps from the ball droid behind her came quickly in reply. "Perfect. I'll patch these through now."

She angled the starfighter along its new trajectory, briefly allowing sunlight to glint off the silvery/white exterior of her craft, allowing her a momentary view of her own reflection. She'd come a long way from that fledgling recruit she'd been years ago. They were up against a fairly substantial challenge. She hoped the squadron was up for it. The fact that a good portion of them were flying older craft didn't help matters either. Their fighters were good vehicles but against newer, faster, harder-hitting First Order TIEs? She shook the thought from her head. No. They were ready. She guided her craft into the lead position, just head of Rogue Six's Y-Wing, ready to provide the cover he'd need.

Reaching forward she punched up the comm channel they'd selected. "Rogue Leader to Squadron, form up on me. Flight pattern, Besh 3. Coordinates for our first jump are on the way."

As the coordinates came up in his system Xiann turned navigational control fully over to his R5 unit. Seconds later he heard the chime that everything was set and ready to go. "Rogue 9, ready, Rogue Leader!" he called out over the comm channel as he fighter formed up behind the others.

The aria blasting in Kor's cockpit hit a crescendo as the last of Coruscant's atmosphere faded into stars. Kor sang out the last verse with the recording, her voice nearly matching that of the vocalist. "Coordinates for hyperspace jump have been received if you are paying any attention," PeaRL interjected.

Kor took a breath. "Plot the jump, Pearl."

The B-wing remained in horizontal orientation as Kor brought herself into formation with the rest of the flight.

"I had the calculations finished 24 seconds ago. Just pull the lever. You know how to do that right?" PeaRL reported.

Kor ignored the comment as she toggled on her Comm, the distinct rhythm of her soundtrack playing the background. "Rogue Leader, Rogue Three ready to go!"

Hal took his time, letting Grinder do several more system checks while he watched on his monitor. Satisfied, he hit his comm's toggle and said, "Rogue Six. All systems five by five. Good to go." He listened to the banter as the coordinates streamed into his nav system and he locked them in.

Dev checked his nav system. "R5, check all systems." When R5 beeped that all systems were working properly, "Rogue 7. Standing by."

Caran Azulas had stayed silent as he listened to the different pilots in the group begin to report in, monitoring the chat and liaising with BD-7 through their modified controls. His droid was not the standard astromech type droids that most of the others had with them in their craft and was actually considerably older and smaller in size, but he had seen a lot over his lifetime. The T-65 X-Wing that they flew in had been modified in other ways too; with its black hull adorned by a mixture of dark purple panels and a star-like effect dotted across it, the fighter was as close to a stealth fighter as the Resistance could get.

Once BD-7 beeped away cheerily and indicated receipt of the co-ordinates, Caran announced his readiness. "Rogue Five. Standing by," he advised his leader.

Tag Rogues! (any more who want to)

Anara, despite getting the readout of her squadron, did a visual check to make sure they were in formation. First time with a bunch of new wingmen always gave her jitters. But she saw they all were where they were supposed to be. Of course they were. They were all trained pilots, even if Dev and Xiann were new to the resistance scene. "Alright. Jumping on my mark. 3....2...1...Jump!"

Throwing back the hyperdrive controls, the pinpricks of stars in the distance suddenly stretched into starlines, and the fighters of Rogue Squadron zipped out of orbit.

---

"Arrival in 3...2...1...Mark." Anara counted off as the fighters popped back into real space. Their approach angle had been aggressive, intentionally bringing themselves perilously close to the Interdictor's backside, to prevent warning before they were in range. "Fighters, lock S-Foils in Attack Position! Rogues 3 and 6, follow me. We're going for that Comms tower!"

Kor watched what was likely the shortest hyperspace jump in her life as the back end of the Interdictor suddenly filled her view. She rolled the B-wings fuselage as she triggered the deployment of her s-foils into an attach cruciform. "Copy that Rogue Leader. On your six."

Rogue Leader's X-Wing sprung into attack formation, even as its engines were flaring to life. The fighter swooped in on a low, parallel course to the Interdictor Cruiser's hull, making sure to stay out of most of the defensive batteries' firing arcs. By the looks of it, the cruiser had been caught completely unaware. Her fighter raced along the outer hull and fired a strafing hail of laser fire from her four cannons. Predictably, they hadn't been strong enough to penetrate the shields, but it had hopefully softened them up for the big guns. She arched her fighter away from the hull, allowing herself to become a slippery target for the surface cannons, drawing the attention away from the two craft close behind.

Kor lined up alongside Hal as they tailed Anara's fighter on the attack vector. Kor bracketed the tower in her targeting computer and queued up a pair of Torpedoes to ruin its day. They were incredibly tight on the cruiser, tighter than simulations tended to allow. It felt more like her days escaping security troopers on the spice runs. She launched her torpedoes as they streaked away to their immediate target. Hopefully they would smack the shield down and let Hal's bombs do some serious damage. The torpedoes homed in on their target and caused the tower to erupt in a massive ball of flame. One more tower to go to leave this cruiser defenseless, well except for the TIE fighters, and laser batteries. Hal's bombs would definitely leave their mark on the ship.

Once Luadra dropped out of hyperspace, Hal went to work. The Y's sensors went active, hull mapping the Interdictor, reading it's weapon mounts, shield generators, comm's traffic and projectors that allowed it to pull craft out of hyperspace. Following Rogue Leader, he acknowledged her orders, then switched back to intra-ship and said. "Grinder, keep an eye out for enemy fighters and go random on the Ion-Cannon. Take potshots at likely targets." The droid acknowledged and the Duros could hear the ion mount swivel behind him. He'd wouldn't be using the blasters, for the time being, so the droid might as well cause as much chaos as it could. With the ion wumping away, he activated his targeting computer and took stock. Picking likely targets ahead, he manipulated the controls and the ship drifted downward, loosening their tight formation and he triggered four protons to track after Kor's. The torpedoes were set to ripple fire over the Interdictor's bridge and observation areas. Then he caught sight of their main target and his hand reached over and took the safety covers off of the bomb switches, which also opened the bay doors.

As they raced at military speed over the surface of the Interdictor, Hal's targeting computer went red and he squeezed six of the switches, which were lined up in pairs, toggled away from one another. As they toggled together, proton bombs began falling from the Y-wing's bay, carpeting the Interdictor's gravity well projectors with high explosives.

Hal then took stock again, closing the bomb bay doors and re-balanced the Y's deflector shields and energy. He activated the blasters, lowering Grinder's ability to fire as rapidly as he hit the comm's switch. "Payload away. Six seconds to impact."

Dropping back to normal space Xiann immediately began following the orders he'd been given. "Alright, R5, get some targets pulled up, let's get this party started," he called out. From the back, a series of beeps and whistles acknowledged his order. Seconds later he watched as his laser cannons began firing bolts of highly energized energy into the massive ship before him.

Once his fighter dropped back into normal space, Dev had his droid locate Kor's ship....since he was assigned as her wingman. Once his droid located her, he flew towards her and positioned himself on her 6. "Rogue Seven to Six. I'm on your tail. I'll keep an eye out for any boogies."

Kor heard the voice over the Comm. "Rogue Three to Rogue Seven, I'm over here getting set up for a run on the second tower. Catch up and keep em off me." She swung her B-wing around to head back at the Cruiser, coming in from behind again to keep the majority of the laser batteries off of her. "Pearl, keep a track on Rogue Seven. Make sure he doesn't take any potshots at us." The computer system assigned a target to the craft without making an active lock.

"That would be most rude of a squadron mate to fire on us. You didn't mate with him did you?" the synthesized voice responded.

"Ew gods, no Pearl! We just had a little disagreement in the bar earlier. Just keep an eye on him." Kor replied back.

"Did this disagreement come from you pulling a knife on him?" PeaRL inquired.

"Don't we have fighters coming in? Go calculate something." Kor said cranking up the heavy drum beat music selection that was playing.

"I calculate he thinks you are a bitch." PeaRL state. "But then so do I."

Kor bracketed the second tower in her targeting computer and toggled up another dual torpedo flight.

The second pass did the trick, sending a plume of fire from the comms tower as it burst into a sprawling mass of warped metal. Anara swung her fighter around for the next attack. "Nice shot, Rogue Three! Alright. X-Wings, you're with me. We're going to take out those defense turrets come in low and stay out of their easy firing lines."

Dev did as he was told, stayed close to Rogue 3, and kept an eye out for fighters.

His droid, R5, beeped as he sent a message to Dev. He read the message and smiled. "Yes, R5, she is the one who I had the disagreement with earlier," R5 responded back. Dev looked at the screen. "No R5, I will not be targeting her just because we had a fight. Now keep an eye out for any fighters!"

Listening over the open comm channel Xiann heard the chatter going on, but his attention was much more fully placed on the fighters swarming out of the large vessel. He was trying his best to take out as many as he could, and still stay in one piece. A sudden screech of concern broke out from his astromech droid and he glanced at the readout to see that he was warning him about a fighter that had taken up position behind him. "Poodoo! Hold on to your bolts!" he cried out and jerked the stick to the right and back towards him, sending his x-wing screaming into a diagonal spin that whipped him around and placed him firmly behind the attacking ship.

Reaching down he pulled the firing trigger and watched as fighter went up in a ball of fire. "That was way too close..." he said, and then dove back into the fray.

"Alright buddy, hold on to your feet this time!" Caran spoke into his intraship comm, sharing a joke between him and his BD Unit droid that accompanied him. Pulling on the joystick control of his T-65, Azulas sent his fighter hurtling towards the Interdictor, pulling up and over the ship's dorsal hull at the very last moment and making a beeline for one of the surface turrets. Pulling the trigger, several blaster bolts demolished the tower before the X-Wing, his craft diving through the subsequent fireball and instantly giving chase to one of the dozens of TIE's that now flooded the airspace around the larger craft.

Dev kept watch when suddenly... three Tie Fighters headed towards Rogue 3. Dev swooped down, angled towards them, pulled the trigger and one fighter exploded in a ball of fire. The other 2 headed towards Rogue 3. "Rogue 7 to Rogue 3...you're going to have company soon."

"Thanks for the heads up Rogue 7," Kor replied into the Mic. Her eyes shot up to her heads up display. A new set of signals clearly were closing range with her. "Balance the shields to aft Pearl, and track those inbound fighters."

"I did that 3.7 seconds ago, but good to know you are paying attention," PeaRL responded back. Indeed each of the fighters were assigned targets now. Kor swung the fuselage of the B-wing in a corkscrew making herself as difficult of a target as possible while she closed in on the Gravity well generators on the Cruiser. Bracketing one of the four large globes she unleashed another volley of Torpedoes. Her entire ship shuddered as the missiles fired out. That wasn't normal. Green laser bolt traces shot by. "I'm taking fire. Going evasive," she said into the comm. She pulled up on the stick as the Torpedoes cracked on of the Generators. Even if they didn't destroy the cruiser today, it wouldn't be interdicting anyone for some time. Speaking of which...

"Rogue Five, how long does it take for a Star Destroyer to respond to an emergency call?" Kor inquired while going into a series of rather erratic movements of the B-Wing to mess with the TIEs pursuing her.

Dev watched as Rogue 3 took fire from the fighters. He hit his afterburners and closed the distance and pulled up behind the fighters. He targeted one, disabled it, and watched as the 3rd one went evasive.

It wasn't evasive for long as Rogue Five appeared from above and blasted it into oblivion with a hail of high-powered blaster fire. BD-7 beeped away at the back of the X-Wing as they hurtled away in pursuit of a new target, a TIE Interceptor that had their name on it. When the question came over the comm, he took a little time to consider an answer. "That depends on the competence of the crew aboard the Destroyer," he answered honestly. "If their call got through at the start of our attack, I'd say the Destroyer could arrive any moment..." he added with a hard swallow.

Dev returned to his primary assignment....watching out for Rogue 3. His droid kept an eye on the TIE fighters, as well as the other Rogues. He was happy...first assignment....2 kills.

Anara gritted her teeth. "BB, did we get any hints of that call making it through?" She pulled the X-Wing into a needlepoint turn, using a misbalance of the afterburners and a sudden intense application of the inertial dampeners to essentially skid the X-Wing sideways through space. The resulting change of her attack vector shocked a group of two TIEs that were just coming around the cruiser's frame, resulting in a set of fireballs spiraling into the distance.

BB-4A beeped a reply. It wasn't encouraging. Anara through power back into the afterburners, racing after a fighter on Hal's tail as she reactivated the comm. "Rogues, heads up. At least a fraction of their message made it out before we got that tower. Good chance we've got a -"

A flash of light interrupted Anara and announced the sudden arrival of a massive vessel in the distance. The large triangular frame was immediately recognizable. "- fully alert Star Destroyer inbound," she finished. Things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

"Alright, new plan everyone. Form up on me, Firebird formation around the heavies. "Rogue 2, take starboard, Rogue 5 take port. Other X-Wing's watch their sixes! Arm torpedoes. We're going in as a group for a full fire assault on those shield generators. "

"Would it be weird to say I am enjoying this?" Caran spoke over the comm as he performed a u-turn with his X-Wing and formed up to the left of Rogue Leader. He waited for several other Rogues to form up on his rear and then he gunned it for the Port shield generator, taking a few of the Heavy Bombers with him.

Kor had been lining herself up with Rogue Six to finish off the Cruiser when the giant dagger blipped up on her display. "Kunta!" she exclaimed. The Cruiser was just going to have to burn on its own for now. "Looks like we got a whole lot more folks coming to the party Pearl."

PeaRL answered back. "Watch your language. Also, don't get us destroyed."

"I'll do my best Pearl." she toggled the Comm. "Rogue Three to Rogue Leader, I'm on my way." She flipped the B-wing into a spiral gyration that brought her in line with where the attack wing was preparing to rush straight into the guns of a Star Destroyer. she nestled herself up behind the flight leaders. Not exactly safe, but several of the X-wings would go down before she did. "Pearl deflector shields double front and set the Torpedoes to launch in threes."

Luadra flashed through the thunder and light show that resulted over the bridge sections of the Interdictor from their torpedo's. Six seconds was a long time and the Rogues had a new playmate show up before the squadron could finish pulling the wings off. As they squared up on the SD, Grinder tweeted, beeped and burped and Hal checked his instrumentation. The Proton bombs had found something important. Keying his comm, he said. "This is Rogue six. The Interdictor is getting some funky power fluctuations, so I think we did the job on her but she's still got legs and probably some weapons. Keep an eye on your backsides."

As the Y wing settled into its place in formation, a warning indicator began flashing and Hal checked the systems. "Grinder. How is it that port inertia stabilizer is trying to reset?"

The droid's answer was not very reassuring. "Well, I'm really glad you got such a spectacular deal on it. I swear to Fate if it blinks out on us purposely, I'm ejecting you into a waste dump someplace." The Y wing shuddered slightly in its path and Hal swore again as he adjusted trim and power, trying to even out Luadra's flight.

Xiann had felt a thrill run through his body when the huge ship had suddenly appeared on the field of battle. His stomach had turned into a knot, and his lekku had stiffened in response as his heart rate had gone up an extra notch. When Rogue Leader had called out to form up he'd done as instructed and was now in position playing guardian to Rogue 5, taking potshots, and landing quite a few hits on the swarm of fighters boiling towards them from the Star Destroyer.

"Yes, R5, I'm aware of that," he called out when the small droid made a maddeningly obvious calculation of the odds of their survival. "But frankly, I'd rather go up in a fireball than continue to live with the spectre of the First Order hanging over our heads, so let's just do what we have to do and hope for the best," he added, and then sent a few more shots at a fast-approaching tie-fighter, sending it spinning off into the void with a missing wing and spouting gouts of fire from a damaged engine.

"This is Rogue 5, going in..." the pilot of the stealth X-Wing told over the comm, pitching his fighter at the perfect angle for a direct assault on the port shield generator dome above the bridge of the massive craft. "Heavies get ready," he called out once more as he prepared for his final run.

The squadron raced toward the spherical shield generator. A shower of projectiles exited the formation and slammed against the giant crafts protection. The left orb popped like a soap bubble, sending a plume of fire upward and a surge of power disruption across its side of the command tower. There was a brief roar of excitement across the squad's comms.

The excitement was short lived. As they circled back around on the craft, Anara saw how quickly the situation was becoming dire. They'd done a good deal of damage, but the situation was degrading. The Resistance Fighters were sturdy as hell, even the older ones. But as advanced First Order TIEs began to exit the hangers on the Destroyer, their air superiority eroded completely. They'd be lucky to last a few minutes in this. They needed to get out of here, and fast. But...if they could do a bit of damage at the end of this...

She took a deep breath. The scene slowed down in front of her as her mind took in everything. Dense TIE Squadrons, exiting the hangers on the Destroyer. The Interdictor turning to face them, currently halfway through that turn. Perpendicular to the Destroyer on current path. If it could stay at that angle...

"New plan! We're only going to have a few seconds to pull this off," Anara said, shouting through the comm channel louder than probably was needed. "Rogue Six, you have enough left in those Ion Cannons to knock out the Engines on a Star Destroyer for a moment?"

Still fighting the Y's controls, the Duros blinked twice as he looked at the Star Destroyer, then out his canopy to where Rogue Leader was and in that time, his mind flashed through threat assessment and tactics doctrine he'd read and he keyed his mike. "Roger that, Rogue Leader. I still have some eggs in the clutch to shake them up as well. We'll need to get into knife-fight distance at full military power, according to the theory." Bemused, his brain almost seemed to become super focused on the SD. "Grinder, reconfigure shields to double front and stand by to red-line the Ion Cannon."

"We will not survive this battle. I recommend a hasty retreat." PeaRL declared to Kor as the screen lit up with dozens of new fighter contacts. "Pearl, start plotting a jump to anywhere friendly."

The Captain's request came across. "Rogue Three to Rogue Six. Ready to form up with you. I've got a lot of Ions to blast and four torpedoes left." Kor said into her Comm.

Dev formed up with the other X-Wings, primed and ready for action. His droid swept the area and highlighted available targets.

Hal keyed his mike and replied, "Three, this is Six. Ok, when we hit the tail end of the run, draft behind me and we'll double up on the Ion spread."

Anara knew they only had a moment or two before those TIEs were on top of them. "BB-4A, get us clean jump coordinates out of the system. The second you have them, send them to the other droids. No time to waste." She clicked off the comm, and took a deep breathe. "X-Wings, we're their shield. Angle your deflectors front and take out as many of those ties as you can. The second their bombs hit, jump to the coordinates BB is relaying now."

Rogue Five swooped into position on the port side of Rogue Leader, ready to be the leaders shield. "Rogue Nine," he called, "Let's blast these nerfherders into next week..."

Stifling a laugh at the other's use of such language Xiann formed up as well, and prepared to do as he'd suggested. "I'm right along beside you, let's do this!" he called out with genuine enthusiasm.

"Rogue 7 to Rogue leader. Preparing to engage the enemy." Dev piloted his X-Wing into formation with the others. His deflectors were fully charged and positioned as order.
R5 informed Dev that he had received the coordinates and the droid plotted the course.
When the first Tie fighters came into range, Dev started firing his weapons. The lasers lite up the space.

There were so many Tie fighters heading towards them, it was like shooting wamp-rats in a cargo container.
Dev's first barrage blew up a Tie fighter just as it got into range.
Another fighter's fire struck his shields and they fell to 65%. So Dev went into an evasive maneuvers to avoid any more contact on his shields.
That didn't stop him from blasting 2 more fighters.
He kept an eye on the other Rogue ships.

Hal was fighting the controls now as the stabilizer kept shorting out. He was able to keep the roll and pitch to within five meters along the flight path they'd taken. In a way, it was working for them as he and Kor's ship's bobbed through the hale of fire that the SD's point defense weapons were throwing at them. Twice he would have been flash fried if the Y's stabilizer wasn't acting up.

Sometimes it was better to be lucky than good.

As the X-wings fought off the fighters and paved the way, the B and Y wing, he took control of the Ion Cannon and activated the targeting computer.

They'd only get one pass at this. As the two ships flashed over the stern of the SD, he thumbed the trigger, activating the cannon at it's full rate of fire. The Ion particles washed over the SD, causing sparks to dance over the shields. The Duros's other hand hit the bomb switches, dumping the remainder of Luadra's proton bombs in his wake.

Kor came in on Red Six's tail. Her ion canons positioned below his Y-wing. As his barrage opened up, Kor let loose on the B-wing's combined fire power landing the Star Destroyer's engines with haevy blaster and ion fire. She the toggled her remaining torpedoes to launch falling behind the disruption the ion cannons created in the enormous ships defenses. "Get that hyperdrive spun up Pearl, we are out of here!"

The barrage of Ion bolts from the combined Y-Wing and B-wing, began to strike home, causing blackouts across the stern or the destroyer. Moments later the volley of torpedoes struck the engines, causing the bright blue blaze within them to fade and go out. The Destroyer was monetarily crippled, and would need to join the interdictor in space dock for a couple weeks to clean up the mess the Rogues had made of them.

"Have we got those jump coordinates the Captain sent?" Kor asked PeaRL.

"Pull the lever and stop wating our time talking." PeaRL answered back.

Kor activated the hyperdrive just as green bolts from the arriving TIE squadrons shook her fighter. Green lines turned to white as Rogue Three jumped into Hyperspace.

The other fighters flashed away into lightspeed, but Captain Shaade hung back. Her fighter didn't love the idea much, as she bucked and weaved to avoid what was now an entire TIE Squadron on her tail. There wasn't time to fight back. But at this point, she wasn't here to fight. The damage had been done. She'd remained for one reason and one reason alone.

To confirm the kill.

BB-4A had isolated the channel the First Order was using, so she patched herself in. The realization of what had happened lit up the air waves.

"Commodore, the engines! They're offline."

"What do you mean they're offline? Get them back!"

"I....I can't! We're completely adrift!"

"Adrift?! There's a damn cruiser in front of us. Get those engines online!" Their alert klaxon began to sound.

Anara had seen enough. Based on the angles, the vessels wouldn't destroy each other. The Destroyer would clip the Interdictor, scraping across its dorsal bow and disabling several gravity well generators. Not likely a fatal blow, but one that would certainly leave both licking their wounds for weeks. And the vessel they'd planned to Interdict had used the chaos to make a break for Coruscant orbit. They'd never catch up to it now.

The First Order had made their show of force, bringing in a full Star Destroyer as back up. And a small scrappy squadron had disabled them in plain view.

As the X-Wing lined up for her coordinates again, Anara pulled back the jump lever. Even as a storm of green laser bolts came her way, the starfighter popped into lightspeed and out of reach.

A short distance off, the collision of the two massive vessels began, sending a morasse of debris scattering in every direction. A large secondary explosion from one of the gravity well generators shook the craft, sending the Star Destroyer careening across the hull toward another of the orbs. Perhaps, the damage had been underestimated.

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Usu, the Tropical Moon of Retara, in the Obotron System
Timeline: Following "Objective 1: The Interdictor"
The starlines receded to their traditional pinpricks of light as Anara Shaade's T-70 X-Wing returned to real space. The star system was quiet. Extremely quiet. She may have said too quiet had that not been the whole idea. They needed a base. One that wouldn't be swarming with the first order. In the hours after their attack on the First Order ships, the faction had descended on their base like a swarm of fire wasps.

Thankfully, their flight crew had managed to grab the major valuables and escape on their handful of small freighters. But that didn't spare the surrounding population from the First Order's increased scrutiny. Drifting through space and without a place to return to, Anara had decided not to endanger civilian populations further by embedding in them. They would instead opt for an old Rebel Alliance approach, finding a far off base that would attract little attention.

After much searching, they'd finally found one here, in the far flung Obotron system. An old abandoned base that had been old even when the Rebellion had briefly occupied it. From what they could tell, it dated back hundreds of years.

She decided it was time to check in with her companions and flipped on the comm. It had been quite a long journey after all, with numerous lightspeed hops that didn't exactly allow them time to get out and stretch. "Rogues, you all make it ok?"

Kor reverted to normal space again. Jump after jump they had made a path through he galaxy nobody could follow, or really ever want to Kor was sure. "Rogue Three reporting in. Are we there yet? Are you gonna tell us where there is?"

"I can tell you this sector of space in sparsely inhabited. No planets fit for life." PeaRL added to Kor.

"Guess this isn't the last stop." Kor said rolling her eyes trying to mentally prepare for another dull jump through hyperspace.

"Rogue nine, present and accounted for!" Xiann called out in response to the question from Rogue Leader.

"Rogue Five, present and correct," Caran retorted over the comm with a stifled yawn, whilst BD-7 beeped away furiously in the back. "Although BD-7 says you can go and screw yourself because his leg joints have seized from being stuck in his spot for so long," the former Imperial laughed.

Dev's fighter just jumped in from hyperspace. "Rogue 7 reporting in. No damage that a little paint couldn't fix."

Anara chuckled at the discourse over the comm. "You can tell BD-7 that I second his complaint. But thankfully, we're done with hyperdrive for a bit. Everyone form up behind me, but keep a healthy distance."

She didn't offer additional orders. She figured she'd let the view do the rest. Gunning her engines, she rocketed toward the big blue gas giant looming in the distance, only adjusting her heading as they got closer. There was a moon orbiting it. That would be their destination.

At first glance, the object appeared much like it's partner, a gaseous blue ball. But as they got closer, it became apparent that this was somewhat of an illusion. It was blue, though the actual tone was slightly different, mostly reflecting the larger planets hue. Instead, the smaller orb was terrestrial. The moon was engulfed mostly in ocean, with massive storms raging in various parts of the globe. But there were some areas of land, mostly volcanic looking islands, covered in the lush greens of tropical climates. Some of these islands rose quite high. But they weren't very large in surface area. Sharp declines from the mountains led down to brief tropical forests, and then into sandy beaches. The view was any tourists dream.

Anara patched herself over the comms for a moment. "Welcome to Usu. The little known and largely uncharted tropical moon of the gas giant Retara. There have only been a handful of survey ships which have ever even visited the Obotron system, making it the perfect little hideaway for a group of rogues such as ourselves."

"First chance I get, I'm going sunbathing..." Caran laughed over the comm, but in all seriousness, the world looked stunning. Totally not the kind of place the Rebellion, or the Resistance, would usually make their hideout.

"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." Dev fell into position, following the others. "First thing I do, is to tune these engines."

As the fighters gradually neared the moon, Kor's mouth dropped open wider and wider. A string of amazed profanity flowed out over the comm. "Kika’lekki... Ci’el veri.... this is where we are going?

The B-wing dropped in formation the bright blue seas of Usu filling Kor's mind with drams of tropical paradise. "Pearl this is seriously not happening."

The automated voice answered back. "I whole-heartedly agree. This is a disaster. Sensors show mostly uninhabited volcanic islands, limited flora almost no surface fauna. The oceans do show abundant fish and sealife. Technology level is minimal at best. No maintenance facilities, or availability of parts, fuel or other necessities. A fairly rough and dull location. No civilized being would want to come here."

Kor gasped at the beauty surrounding her. "I don’t care about civilized. Pearl, we're home...."

Ants shook her head. “Just wait til you see the view. Speaking of which, everyone hang back for a moment.”

She gunned the engines to separate herself from the pack but quickly decelerated again. She didn’t want to come in too quickly. The fighter banked abruptly, heading not toward the ocean, but toward the sheer cliff face. The rock was covered in greenish moss for most of its surface, and a dramatic waterfall poured out over the top of the cliff, fed by waters from the extinct volcanos caldera lake.

But Anara didn’t turn, instead her fighter flew directly at the water. Had she not been here once before, she’d have been equally certain of her demise. But she had, so instead of a fiery death, she was about to perform a very dramatic reveal. The prestige, she thought.

As the fighter passed through the water, instead of a cliff, it slid into an open hanger, concealed behind the water. The hanger was old, but decently large. And her fighter came in and set lightly down in one of the fighter slots to the side. Over the comm, she could already hear exclamations. “I’m not dead, in case you’re wondering. Just come in slow, same heading as me. Your sensors won’t do you much good.”.

Dev toggled his comms. "Since I'm the junior person here, I'll let all you senior people go first."

Kor watched in horror as Anara piloted her fighter into a cliff face. Her grip tightened on the control stick as she started to veer away for the tragedy. Then her com message came through. She cut her airspeed and lined up as instructed. "Warning! Obstacle in our immediate path. Reroute." PeaRL chimed in. "Take it easy Pearl, if the Captain made it through so can we." She toggled on her comm.

"Ugh, Captain, how wide is this landing space. My b-wing has a bit more length than y'all's fighters."

Something inside her told her this would be alright. She lined up her ship and brought it forward into the waterfall, clenching her teeth as she went. Moments later, slightly wet, she emerged into the hanger.

"Holy Frotz! That was crazy! Come on in kids, it's all fine inside."

Kor brought the B-wing in and set it down next to Anara's X-wing.

Caran had watched the few that had travelled through the waterfall safely and took a deep breath. "Alright BD-7, let's do this..." the pilot sighed as he turned his craft in the direction of the cliff face and gunned the engines. Eventually, and with the pilot holding his breath, the dark-skinned X-Wing emerged inside the new hangar for the Squadron and was soon placed down on the surface.

Luadra dropped out of hyperspace and Hal guided the Y-wing toward the indicated moon, taking his time to look around the system and make sure Grinder did a scan of the surrounding area for reference.

The fighter dipped through the moon’s atmosphere and he felt the first nudges from the winds. Following the other’s toward what the Captain claimed would be a base, he let the ship’s sensors do their thing.

Grinder whirled and burped and Hal nodded. “Well there’s something down there at least…” When first Anara’s then the other’s ships flashed through the waterfalls without accompanied explosions, Hal smiled and activated the landing cycle and guided the ship toward the curtain of water.

Once all the others maneuvered their ship through the waterfall, Dev followed suit, putting aside the instinct for survival by flying into a waterfall.
When he emerged, he saw that the others had already landed, so Dev found an empty space and touched down.

As the squadron was landing Kor quickly unzipped her flight suit and peeled the wretched orange monstrosity off her body.

"Must we really do this again?" PeaRL stated with disdain.

"Ugh, I think I've been trapped in that thing for a week. Burn it if you can." Kor said as she pulled her legs out of the sweat soaked pressure suit.

"I will spray down the whole couch too." PeaRL continued with a distinct tone of disgust.

Kor pulled her clothes out of her flight bag. They were worn, but she didnt have many other options, not knowing if or when the support crews might arrive with her belongings. She slid her arms into the thin tunic and paused when she considered the leggings. "Pearl, what's the temperature outside?"

"A balmy 32 degrees with a humidity of 93%. A highly corrosive environment for metallic parts." PeaRL reported. "Whatever are you doing?"

Kor took her knife from its sheath and cut away most of the legs on her leggings. What she pulled on really didn't qualify as pants or even shorts.

"Well that's very professional looking." PeaRL exclaimed.

"Shut up Pearl." Kor said as she released the clamps on the cockpit hatch. A wave of hot moist air filled the cockpit. Kor smiled as she climbed out. "See ya later Pearl."

"Fine, I will just sit here rusting." PeaRL remarked as Kor shut the hatch.

Kor's long legs climbed down the slide out footings on the side of the B-wing doen to the ground. She took a distinct pleasure in her feet touching down on the stone floor of the hanger. She walked quickly over to Anara's x-wing. "SO Boss, how what have we got here, a cave behind a waterfall, or proper accommodations? Not complaining, just exploring possibilities."

Dev hopped out of his fighter, and unloaded his droid from it's housing. Then he pealed off his flight suit, wearing just his underwear, and draped it over one of his fighters wings. "Is there a shower around here anywhere?"

Kor turned and looked at Dev with a sardonic smile as she pointed at the Waterfall behind them, her lekku wraping around her outstretched arm.

Dev looked at the waterfall. "Well...it's better then nothing." He walked over and got under the rushing water, washing away the sweat and grime. He found it refreshing.

Climbing out of Luadra's cockpit, the Duros stood for a moment on the superstructure of the Y-wing, taking in the hanger bay from a heightened position. Grinder activated his housed repulser lift and popped out of the astromech socket, drifting toward the deck while Hal climbed down. Once on the ground he walked toward the other pilots who were starting to cluster around the Captain. He opened his own suit and pulled off his flight gloves and helmet as he went.

"Well, looks like it could be home. Any idea how big this place is?" the Duros asked randomly.

"Big enough to grow into," Anara replied, cheekily avoiding the question that she didn't have an answer for. "Let's meet finish post flight prep and meet up in the planning room in a few minutes.

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Coruscant Under Levels
Timeline: Prior to Rogue Squadron's First Mission
The Shadow Troopers were one of the most xenophobic, fascist gangs in existence on Coruscant. Initially formed during the time of the Empire, they have existed through the fall, and into the post-Empire period, and had formed deep ties with the First Order. Because of this Resistance operatives had been sent to Coruscant several times, each with varying levels of success.

Growing up in the bowels of the City planet Xiann had encountered them a few times, but he hadn’t heard about them much in the last couple of years. He was a bit surprised to see them come up on his display as he was reading through some resistance bulletins he’d sliced his way into and went back a few pages to see if he could find anything truly interesting. When his eyes fell on a report from Resistance Intel he skimmed it, growing more and more interested as he went.

The subject of the report was what truly caught his eye, and he read it a couple of times, getting more excited as he did so.

‘Caran Azulas, Corellian, 52, assigned to Coruscant on Resistance Intelligence mission, tasked with infiltration of the criminal network known as Shadow Troopers. Remains uncompromised.”

The bold print at the top of the report showed it to be highly classified. He immediately shunted a copy over to his own drive and then picked it up and headed out to find Anara.

He found her, as always, planning, and approached respectfully. "Captain, mind if I bother you with something?", he asked.

Anara had been reading the reports from the Outer Rim. Reports of First Order assaults on fueling depots, attempts to extort weaker settlements in exchange for protection, and a number of other schemes. Their conflict seemed to only be heating up. "Come on in, Xiann. Bother away."

Xiann crossed the rest of the distance and held out his datapad. "Take a look at this, I might have found us a new recruit," he said and gave her a few moments to skim the document. "I've had a few run-ins with the Shadow Troopers. They are a pretty serious threat to anyone not human enough, so they've given me a few scares over the years. Bunch of overgrown thugs, all human of course, and they wear old stormtrooper armor, most of it painted to look gruesome, and all in shades of grey so they blend into the areas they tend to frequent."

"If he's infiltrated them he's here on Coruscant, and he'd be a definite asset," he added.

Anara read over the dossier and her eyebrows shot upward almost instantly. "Wow. This Azulas has quite the resume. Adding him to our team would be fantastic but..." She looked up and met eye contact with him. "Do you have any leads on how we'll get in contact? I'm not in a major rush to go confront a violent xenophobic gang with a diverse squadron."

"I already know a way in," Xiann replied.

"They are a criminal organization, but they aren't that bright. They rely much more on brute strength and scare tactics than any sort of planning, or strategy. I sliced into the network a few times back in the day and it was the easiest system I've ever broken into. I could do it again and locate his own device. I should be able to put a trace which would let us keep tabs on his location and get him alone," he finished.

"Do it," the Resistance captain replied. "And while you're at it, keep an eye out for signs of other slicers. If we were able to find him this easy, our enemies might be able to, as well."

"It was more a matter of luck, and my accessing Resistance documents that got me the info, I don't think we have much to worry bout. But I'll keep an eye out," Xiann replied. "I'll let you know as soon as I have something we can work with."

Several hours later as he sat, looking at the glowing readout of his screen he jerked, there was a ping, and judging from the location the man was all by himself. Sending a tray full of empty dishes and utensils flying he scrambled up and out into the main bay. "Anara! I've got something!" he called out as he made his way towards her.

The woman appeared at the doorway in a flash, nearly running into the twi'lek. "What'd you find?"

"Him, I found him! And he's alone," Xiann said, showing her the data feed. "And he's less than twenty minutes away by speeder!"

She simply nodded, and grabbed her belt from the desk, beginning to strap it on. "We go now then. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Xiann replied with a devilish grin. "Let's get it!"
________________________________________
Coruscant, Former Capital of the Republic
________________________________________


There was a time when sunlight bathed the surface of the Galactic Republic's former capital. Rays touching everything at one time or another, boundless, almost endless energy traveling even to the smallest regions of this fragile world. What a rich and contrasting world they had lived in. Mother Nature had strength then, the progression of life seemed unstoppable. Then the dark days came, the days of destruction, desolation... death. The days of the Empire. Darkness had taken its stranglehold, squeezing life and consuming memories, turning them into forgotten dreams. Gone were the days of peace, prosperity and the Jedi. Even now, years after the fall of the Emperor and his Empire, the planet remained shrouded in darkness. Sure, up on the surface people would conveniently forget the days gone by, but not down in the shadows. Down there, reminders of the dark days were rife.

"Do you know the rarest resource on Coruscant, my friend?"

A variety of different beeps and whistles pierced the silence in the shadow of one of the largest buildings in the area.

"The Sky. Down here, the sun is a myth," the bearded human quietly retorted to his companion as he glared out from behind the crate that had served as their cover for a short while now.

"I was supposed to be a myth..." he continued as they watched a passing gang of thugs approach the building that was in their sights. "Remind me why I agreed to Leia's plan?" he asked of his friend in this strange endeavour of his. Another round of hushed tones told him what he already knew. "Yeah, you're right, as always," he smirked as he reached his hand down and gently petted the 'head' of his colleague.

Together, Caran Azulas and BD-7 had been on Coruscant for a total of one hundred and eighteen days. They had probably spent about a hundred of those down here, in the shadows. Having infiltrated a dangerous cartel of thugs known as the Shadow Troopers, General Organa's plan had been a success so far. He'd become one of the gang and was trusted by them. He'd been on missions, he'd flown them places and he had, reluctantly, killed for them, all in the name of the Resistance. Now it was pay day. Today, his work was done. He'd got the information that Leia had so desired; he'd found out who in the First Order this cartel were getting their orders from. The Shadow Troopers had been causing the Resistance problems all over the planet, and beyond, and today he'd figured out who they were working for. It didn't make for pleasant reading.

Tapping his buddy on the head, Caran jerked his head in the opposite direction and together they retreated further from view, heading for the secure facility that housed his personal spacecraft and had been kept secret for months. Together, they'd take their information to the General and, hopefully, repay an age old debt.

---

Anara Shaade and Xiann passed through the dark undercity tunnels, doing their best not to look like they were continuously looking over their shoulder. The effect was passable at best. They'd at least know the rough region, but the tunnels were packed, and visibility didn't go very far. A less than friendly encounter with some Gamoreans had them more on edge than ever. With her cloak, wrapped tightly around her, Anara still found herself checking her pockets routinely. In her years of living with covers and entering dangerous situations, she'd never fully grasped how often her 'close calls' had still been in affluent areas. Seeing this level of destitution made her check her level of privilege...at least, when she wasn't anxiously clinging to her belongings. "I hope we're getting close. I feel out of my depth here."

Out of the shadows a few feet ahead of them, a lone figure took a few steps into the light.

An assortment of beeps and whistles emanated from the small droid that bobbed up and down and bounced from leg to leg as it tried to communicate with the two humanoids.

Anara felt the presence before she really was aware of it. She grabbed Xiann's arm, turning him to face their approaching mechanical contact. The droid was perhaps the most stress relieving aspect, but she wanted to confirm. "I believe we've met before, but can't place where," Anara said. It wasn't a preplanned code phrase, but she hoped that the little droid would be able to work with it, if he was with Caran of course...

The BD Unit stood there, gazing up at the two humanoids with the focusing lens on his larger eye rotating as he scanned the creatures. A cacophony of beeps several seconds later were accompanied by some excited bouncing from the little critter.

Whilst he danced, a second figure appeared behind the two, his Black WESTAR-1 blaster drawn and pointing in their direction. "He thinks I shouldn't blast you both into next week, but I'm not so sure..." the deep voice trailed off.

"Gotta admit, I like his assessment better," Anara replied cautiously, assessing the man. The blaster seemed to keep distracting her attention. "We were just looking for a friend who had been staying around these parts. I was wondering if your droid knows him."

While the other two had been talking Xiann had been checking his datapad, and suddenly he glanced up sharply, clearly excited by what he had to share. "It's him, Captain. No way it couldn't be, he looks exactly like the man in the picture."

Caran glared at the excitable creature and raised his blaster a little higher, with a little more purpose. "Who sent you?" was all he asked, one slip of the finger away from pulling the trigger and blasting him into next week.

Anara tilted her head. "I suppose in a manner of speaking, I sent us. But we have a mutual friend from Alderaan. Turns out we need some assistance and she said you were around these parts." Anara decided they had to convince him. She folded her hands, allowing a finger to slip over the ring on her right hand. As it did, a small control on the ring flipped, revealing the Rebel Aliiance Starbird.

"That woman is going to get someone killed one day," Caran frowned as he lowered his blaster and holstered it on his leg once again. "Alright buddy, you can stop dancing now," he told his droid, a nod of his head signalled a call for the BD Unit to return to him.

"Caran Azulas," he spoke quietly as he stepped forward and offered a hand to the woman he had conversed with the most so far. "This is my good buddy, BD-7."

Xiann had tensed when the man had truly seemed on the verge of blasting him out of existence, and visibly relaxed when he put the blaster away and stepped forward. Reaching up he wiped a sheen of sweat off his forehead and smiled, "Thanks for not shooting me..." he said with a relieved grin as he watched him and Anara exchange pleasantries.

"Anara Shaade," the woman replied, taking the man's hand. "This is Xiann. If you're in the middle of something, we can withdraw for the moment. But we have needs of your skills topside, if you're able."

"And I suppose saying 'no' isn't an option?" the man asked, his arms folded across his chest as he stood, looking over the two rebels.

"Depends how much you like stormtroopers, I suppose," she replied in a jovial voice. She couldn't force him to join, but she wasn't sure he knew that and she wasn't about to give up her leverage. "I'll add that we pay decently well and we've got some good brew, if that's a concern."

"Will it stop that crazy former Senator from putting me in harm's way again?" He hadn't forgiven Leia for sending him to Coruscant in the first place, so if he could get out of her grasp, then so be it.

Anara considered that for a moment, before finding a reply that was honest but left her a little wiggle room. "Depends how good you are in a cockpit."

"I can probably fly rings around most of the Resistance pilots you guys have signed up," the cocky character remarked as he put his hands on his hips. "It's my knowledge that will be of most use to you," he grinned, purposefully vague about what knowledge he had to share.

Anara smiled. "Well then. I think there's a good chance I can keep you busy enough to keep our mutual friend from pulling you into much else. I've gotta warn you though. We have a bit of a tendency to get in trouble. Hell, we got arrested pretty recently, didn't we Xiann?"

"I mean, we did do that on purpose..." Xiann replied, in the interest of full disclosure.

Caran looked down at his little mechanical friend, who looked up at his 'master' and gave a beep or approval. "BD-7 wants to get out of here," Azulas told, "and I make a habit of listening to my little friend. Shall we get out of here?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Anara joked in reply. "Ready when you are."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: The Aerie, Planning Room
Timeline: Right after "The Aerie"
Anara Shaade kicked the projector table in frustration. "Oh, come on! I've plugged in as many-"

The projector came on, immediately casting a large projection of an aquatic lifeform into the room. Anara nearly jumped out of her skin as it did, before realizing it was an image. "Stars! That nearly scared the life out of me," she said, turning to her little droid. "Not a word of this to the others."

She composed herself, and headed to the doorway into the room. "Alright, projector table is fixed. Come on in, everyone!"

Kor made her way up the duracrete steps from the hanger to their "planning room". The latent humidity in the air left a layer of moss nearly anything with moisture on it. And that was almost everything. She carefully negotiated the stairs, not wanting to slip and make a complete fool of herself in front of her squadron mates, or get hurt for that matter.

The base had old bones, in its day it was likely quite spectacular. The briefing room was stepped up with aged seating surrounding the presenter's dais. The furnishings were much newer than the building, with a utilitarian simplicity that spoke for its origins in the Rebel Alliance some decades before.

Kor took a seat in the third row of chairs, putting her feet up on the chair in front of her to preserve her line of sight.

"How the Rebels ever defeated the Empire using bases like this I'll never know..." Caran thought, wandering into the room behind Kor and taking a nearby seat, BD-7 not far behind. The small critter did a little shuffle before using his legs to propel himself a few feet and land in the lap of his master, who gave an audible "Ooof!" when the droid landed.

Finding his way into the large bay just as Caran took his seat Xiann had to stifle a chuckle as he watched the droid land awkwardly, and obviously painfully in his owner's lap. He was quite thankful his own droid, and old Imperial R5 wasn't able to jump, nor would it be willing to do anyway.

"Might wanna teach him not to do that before you find yourself missing some important equipment," he quipped as he took a seat beside the other man and gave him a wry smile.

Dev walked in, followed closely by his droid.
Dev found a seat near the back, while his droid settled in next to me.

Hal found his way into the briefing room, wiping his hands on a stray rag and looking somehow oily and dusty at the same time. He'd have to stand under the waterfall for a few minutes to get the morning's grime off, but he had a happy glint to his eyes. He found a spot where he wouldn't get anyone overly dirty in passing and leaned against a wall. "This place is fun, though," he commented, "Lots to do and play with."

Anara cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Hope you're all settling into the new base. I know the ride here wasn't exactly ideal. And I also know the base itself isn't in fantastic shape. We're going to have our work cut out for us getting it in combat shape, but I think this could be safe harbor for a long long time."

She didn't really want to shift the conversation in this direction, but it made sense to start here. "So we need to talk debrief. I know you all likely had time to think over what happened back in the Coruscant system. But I want a real breakdown. Something that lets us pull out our faults."

Xiann frowned slightly. "Not gonna lie, Anara, I was way outside my comfort zone. I'm a slicer by trade, with a little flying under my belt, but I don't think I'm ever going to be a lot of help in a fight like that..." he said.

Kor raised her hand, a head tail wrapped down in front of her. "I think we got through pretty easily all told. They weren't expecting us. I think they were planning on tangling with a few poorly shielded Corelian Freighters, not a squadron with bombs. They got a ton of bad press for it, but we are on the other side of the Galaxy now, for all I know. I tend to be lucky, and this was luck."

"I think we got through mostly on that luck," Anara said, shaking her head a little. The situation had been far more dire than some of her pilots may have known. "We got the drop on them, but we weren't quite fast enough to actually prevent a fully alert Star Destroyer from coming down on us. We adapted well, and still managed to land a blow on the First Order. But had that been a Resurgent-class, I'm not sure if any of us would still be standing here."

The squadron leader leaned forward. "You all did well. I'm not trying to detract from that. But I think some improvements need to be made before we're ready to really take them on. For example, were any of you aware that one of our fighters didn't make the jump to the Interdictor?"

Hal grunted and spread his hands at that. "It's combat. Things happen. Given the nature, I agree it went well. But it won't get easier and we'll have to get better. Who didn't make the jump?"

Dev had been listening to the conversation. "Did they have an engine failure or their droid plugged in the wrong jump data?"

"I didn't make the jump, and it wasn't because of BBZ3," Vakrees piped up, throwing a glare Dev's way as she patted the droid in question on the head. The droid emitted a serious of indignant chirps before rolling off away from the group, "I'm not entirely sure what caused it, but it's looking like it began at the hyperdrive and cascaded faster than BBZ3 could counter," She explained. Now in full view of the others, it was clear she had been working on her fighter. Engine oil was everywhere and the tool belt she wore was difficult to miss. "I was lucky comms didn't fail, I had to be towed back by the transport," she added with a grimace. 3 years with green squadron and not once had she missed a fight, it irked her to have missed their first assignment as a team.

Anara addressed the group. "It thankfully wasn't the end of the world, but it means we've got a lot of work to do. That said, everyone made it home safe from our first battle. That's worth something too." She looked over the room. The missing fighter was as much her fault as any of theirs. "We've also got our work cut out for us with this base. I'm going to need everyone pulling full shifts to get basic amenities set up. Once we've got bedrooms and support tech is all set up, then we should talk our next target."

Kor raised a long slender hand. "Umm, what can you tell us about this base? Where are we supposed to sleep? Exactly how big is this place?"

Dev spoke up. "We can make areas for each of us to sleep. All it takes is some material and a little imagination. And we only need enough space for our ships to land. Were you expecting a luxury resort?" Then he looked at Vakrees. "If you need some help with your ship or your droid, I'm willing to help in anyway that I can."

Kor's lekku rolled up tightly. "Room service would be nice. I'm perfectly happy in a hammock on the beach, but if the executive suite is available, I'd be alright with that too. Is there a jacuzzi tub?"

"I think Vakrees has that covered. She's a seasoned engineer. If there's a problem with either, she can find it," Anara said before trying to address the rest of the string of questions. "Ok. Where to sleep. There's a suite of rooms up one level that overlook the back fo the falls. We can convert those into private chambers for each of us. There's more than enough for everyone, at least once they're cleared out. As for the size of the base, we're not certain. The main section is on part with most regional Resistance bases. But the tunnels extend farther into the mountain, and we're not entirely sure what we'll find."

She pushed a button and a scan of the mountain popped up. "We don't know a lot about the base. It's old. Very old. The Rebel Alliance Briefly had a stealth squadron stationed here back before Yavin. Prior to that, it was a listening post during the Clone Wars. That's where a decent amount of its infrastructure came from. But it definitely predates that. It could date back hundreds of years, easily. So be careful as you're exploring."

"So, you are saying we can grab anywhere we want to stay? It might be time for some exploring." Kor quipped out.

"We should be sensible about the living arrangements. Males on one side and females on the other." Dev responded. "And we should explore the base, there might be supplies we can use. Maybe there are credits stored somewhere, and maybe there's animals who have taken shelter here. And that could mean fresh meat for us!"

Anara gave him a puzzled look. "Sensible about the...Are you going to have an issue staying out of your roommate's rooms? Because I can find you a room on the other side of the base if needed. Pretty sure everyone is an adult here," she said, an extra edge to her voice. "But as I was saying earlier, yes, we're going to need to explore the base. There are almost certainly supplies here that are useful because of the role it has served in the past. We'll start with vital systems and living space and expand to base exploration and sorting."

Kor's eyes widened a little at the notion of hidden credits. Treasure hunting certainly wasnt at the top of the squadron's list of things to do, but still a cache of credits would come in handy, for logistics of course. "Ma'am, are we welcome to scavenge and use anything we find around in the base. Which does make we wonder when our personal affects will arrive? Did they make it off Coruscant?" Kor looked quickly at her own legs and the outfit she had on. It would be a shame to be stuck in these rags longer than she had to be.

"Anara. I want to propose that anything we find on the base, should be used for buying supplies...food...fuel. Anything like tools or supplies can be shared amongst us." Dev proposed.

Capt. Shaade shook her head as the two started sending paired arguments her way again. "Your personal effects are on the transport. You can check with Vakrees to retrieve them. For scavanging, how about a compromise? Obviously, the squadron is going to need credits and supplies to keep you all alive and paid. So anything we find, if it is valuable, goes to the Squadron. However, in the interest of motivating some exploring, if you find credits or other treasure, the finder gets a cut to keep for themselves. Sound reasonable enough?"

Kor liked the idea of a finder's fee with any substantial discoveries. "Sounds fine Ma'am, just out of curiosity, what sort of cut are we talking about?" Kor had apparently forgotten her surroundings and had slipped into the familiar mindset she used among Smugglers and criminals.

"A small one," Anara said, giving Kor a look that hopefully reminded her of the importance of the group resources. "Maybe 1 in 10 parts. Remember, the funds are for the squadron. And go toward important little things like food and fuel and your wages. Any final questions from you all?"

Kor shook her head. "I'm good boss. Nothing to spend credits on here anyways."

Dev raised his hand. "Do we search in teams or alone?" He was eager to start exploring.

Hal shook his head. This group was starting to sound more like pirates than squad mates. "I'd recommend everything discovered be turned in first. No taking your cut off the top," the Duros said, keeping only some of the disgust out of his voice. "As to looking around, let's go in teams. That way no one gets lost or hurt and left laying for hours before someone stumbles on you."

Anara appreciated a bit of reason. "I second that. But I want living quarters set up first. The rest can follow. And on that note, squadron dismissed."
Anara walked through the hallways of their new base, looking around admiringly. Their new headquarters was coming together quite nicely. It was an old location. Very old. But it was in good order. Their location in the mountain meant that the temperature was almost always comfortable, if a bit humid at times. As such, she had taken to a semi-standard outfit while at base. One of her sleeveless shirts, red today, and her sleek black pants. The boots and weapons holster never left her though. She didn't feel like being ill prepared. And her room was situated under the falls, giving her a soothing sound to fall asleep to at night.

However, she wasn't wandering the halls to admire the base today. No, she had a specific destination in mind. She'd rounded another corner and come upon the door she was looking for. She came to a halt and raised her hand, giving a sharp wrapping knock on the old metal door, a bit more urgent sounding than she'd intended.

Dev walked to the door when someone knocked. He didn't know who it was, considering that most of the crew didn't like him much. He opened it and saw the captain. "Yes, captain. Something I can do for you?"

Anara looked at him, before gesturing to the metal box sitting on his side table. "Dev, there's something I'd like to talk to you about. Away from base. And I think you should bring that box with you."

"Yes captain." Dev grabbed his jacket and his box, exited his room and followed the captain. He didn't ask where they were going, left it to the captain to fill him in.

"And call me Anara. The Resistance isn't so militarily regimented as the New Republic Navy. If we're off duty, drop the rank. Hell, I don't particularly need it on duty," she said, leading the duo down a slight maze of tunnels. They emerged on the outside of the facility, on the mountain face angled away from the shoreline. From the sky, you'd have no idea that this door was even here.

She led him down a slanting path, taking them into the treeline and around another major hill, thus out of view from the base. "There, I don't think they can see us from here."

"Yes cap.....Anara." Dev was confused about where they were going. Why was she leading him someplace where the others couldn't see them? Was she interested in him?
"Why are we here, Anara?"

She arched an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "You tell me. Why do you think we're here?"

"You made sure we were out of sight, so you either want me to spy on one of the others, or you have a mission for me." Dev responded.

She gave a sideways smile. “Not a bad guess. But also wrong. When you joined us, you demonstrated some abilities. Can you duplicate that?”

"Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't." Dev responded.
There was a rock near them. He closed his eyes, held out his hand and tried to levitate the rock.

She watched as he concentrated. The rock shook slightly but didn’t move otherwise. So his powers reacted to emotions currently. That could be a problem without training. Her mind was made up. “Do you know what these powers are?” She was intentionally probing to see what he knew.

Sweat beaded on his forehead from concentrating. "I know they are not natural, so I think it is the Force."

Anara scoffed a little at the way he phrased it. The words sounded foreign to him. But the way he thought about it firmed her will. He needed training. Without it, he could become a danger to himself and the other Rogues. With training from the wrong person, he could become a danger to a lot more than that.

"Oh, Dev Edo. You have an awful lot to learn." She took a step or two away from him, facing deeper into the forest as she did so. Her voice came out calm and smooth, echoing the voices of those who had once trained her. "There is nothing unnatural about the Force. It is intrinsic to nature itself. The Force is an energy which binds all things, living and dead, into a net which forms our existence. It guides us, knowingly or unwittingly, to the paths that are meant for us. It is in its standard state neutral, neither benevolent nor malicious, though it can adopt these features from those who wield it. And it is in all beings. It is in you. It is in me. It is in the trees around us, the birds in the sky, and every one you have ever met. The Force is life incarnate." She didn't turn, but the rock he had concentrated on, floated smoothly into the air and moved to hover in front of him.

Dev watched the rock. "No one ever told me about the Force. I grew up, not knowing any family." He looked at her back. "Are you a Jedi?"

The man was a tough one to get a reaction out of. Though a slight trick of levitating the stone wasn’t exactly a big display. She turned to him, having the rock fly into her waiting hand. “No, I’m not a Jedi. I’d begun training to become one but...” A heavy pause stopped her. “But I was forced to give up on that. Or put it on hold perhaps. I’m mostly self taught. But I can impart the training I have onto you. The Force can be an amazing thing, but it can also be dangerous. That outburst in the bar could have proven lethal. I’m willing to train you, but if I do, I will need you to agree to a few things.”

"And those things are?" He looked at her.

"First," Anara said, holding up a finger. "Your abilities are a secret. You've already exposed yourself to the crew. That is unavoidable now. But you need to keep these under wraps on a mission. If you go off using them openly in the field, you'll bring down a whole world of hurt we are not ready for. They need to be concealed." Her finger pointed at him for emphasis. She genuinely hoped the severity of her words got across, as the entire crew could be in danger if he was exposed. There were many who would go well out of their way to acquire a force sensitive individual. Some even made the First Order seem reasonable.

"What...,' Dev started asking, "if I need to use what limited abilities I do have and can use correctly, if it's to protect the team?"

The question was a decent one. "Until you are trained, they are for life and death situations only. You could pose a risk to the entire team." She raised her hand again, still meeting his eyes as a second finger raised. "Second, you will under no circumstances ever reveal that you know about my abilities. No matter what. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear, Anara. Your secret is safe with him." Dev responded.

She assessed him for a second. "Good. Because your life depends on it." The lightly veiled threat might slip by him, but she wanted to at least state it. She wasn't positive if she could go through with it, but the threat itself was important. "Now...bring me that box."

Dev pulled out his comm and summoned his droid.
When the droid arrived, he knelt down. "Hand it over R5." The droid beeped and a panel on the droid opened, and Dev pulled the box out, patted the droid, and sent it on it's way.
"Here it is. It's still locked." He handed it over to her.

The woman looked at the box for a moment, tumbling it between her hands. It was an odd thing. There was clearly a lock mechanism, but no discernible key. She jostled it gently, pulled at the hinges, and tried twisting. No effect. She was starting to look frustrated when her eyebrows raised. "Oh...I see."

Dev watched Anara as she stared at the box so intently. "Do you know how to open it?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes. Just needed a moment to figure it out. I've only seen a few of these before," she said, as she weighed the box in her hand. "Dev, do you know what's in here?"

Dev shook his head. "No, I just know that it was something that was found with me when I was a child. I'm hoping it's something that can tell me who my parents were."

She held the box out in front of him, with her hands underneath it. "I think this may be the answer you're looking for then. Place your hand on the box."

He placed his hand on top of the box and waited. "Now what?"

She pushed the box against his hand a little firmer. "Close your eyes. Breathe out. Clear your mind. I want you to focus on the environment of where you are. Listen to the wind, the birds, the rustling of the leaves. The waves ebbing and flowing in the distance. Let go of yourself and focus on the box. Tell me, what do you want to do with it?"

Dev closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. In and out, in and out. He cleared his mind. He felt the breeze against his skin. He could hear the rustling of the leaves as the wind blew through them. It was almost if he could see the waves crashing against the shore. Nothing else mattered....except the feel of the box in his hand. He heard Anara speak. His voice was low. "I want it to open."

Her voice seemed calm in his mind, almost part of the background noise. "Then open it."

Dev kept his eyes closed. He pictured the box in his mind. He started visualizing it opening....the lid lifting. The box sifted in Anara's hand slightly as new seams formed, which hadn't been visible before. She gave an approving smile as the lid, retracted a bit, allowing access to the object inside. "Open your eyes, Dev Edo."

Dev opened his eyes, and saw that the box was open. He cautiously looked inside the box....expecting to see something that would say who his parents were. But what he saw was about half a meter in length. It was metallic, silver with what looked like a wood inlay in the middle. The metal had a design in it, probably etched.
Holding his breath, he pulled it out of the box. It didn't feel cold like metal would...it had a warmth to it. Holding it in his hand, he looked at Anara. "What is this?"

"It's your answer. If this belonged to your parents, I think you just uncovered a bit of who they really were," she said, allowing him to support the box as she took a step back. "Take it out and activate it...away from me. I'd rather not get injured."

Dev pulled the object from the box, and held it in his right hand. The balance felt as good as a good blaster felt. He looked it over. One part seemed to be the handle. There was a button. He turned away from Anara and pressed the button. A beam of light exploded from the front end. Dev was surprised and he almost dropped it. "Is this a light saber?"

The green glow cast an interesting hue across the vegetation near them, reminding the woman very much of a bygone era when she was in training herself. When the idea of training as a Jedi wasn't something which filled her with dread and paranoia. "It is. I think this belonged to one of your parents. At least, that's the impression I get off of it. I'm not exactly an expert at sensing these things."

She gestured toward the base. "You need to keep that a secret for right now. I can train you on how to use it, but it will take time. And until you're ready, that will be as dangerous to you as it is to anyone else."

"I swear to keep it a secret. I won't even carry it until I get good enough to handle it, Anara." Dev looked at her.

"Good," she said, giving him another appraising look. She figured they shouldn't delay on that regard. "Then bring that and meet me here tomorrow morning. We have a lot of work to do if we're going to get you combat ready."

"Understood, Anara." Dev placed the light saber back in it's box, and headed back to his quarters, and when he got there, he gave the box to his droid for safe keeping.

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Aerie Base Unexplored section
Timeline: Sometime after Nesting
Kor narrowly squeezed through the hole she had opened in the hall barricade. The captain made it clear they were setting up essential services before setting out to explore the base. She tried to convince herself, that she had just uncovered the hole by accident. She was moving some of the junk that was piled in the corner of the barracks section when she accidentally knocked part of the wall open. Accidentally was like a stretch considering how stubborn the duracreet walls were in this base. Still after a bit of work the block had pulled away from the rest of the wall showing a clear crawl space beyond. So she was checking it... for safety.

She shined the light from her torch into the crawl space between what were two walls. NOt much room, but for a slim woman like herself she could wriggle into it. Her legs were getting inexcusably dirty in the process, but so were the sacrifices for discovery. She saw what appeared to be an aged ventilation duct transverse the crawl space. Wedging herself between the two walls she climbed up and found the duct fairly simple to enter into.

Pushing her torch ahead of her, she moved forward beyond the outer wall of the base below her. Ten meters along she found a shaft leading upward. She wedged herself along, her knees getting quite inflamed. about three meters up the shaft branched off into a duct system on an upper level. She scooted along finally arriving at a grate to a dark room. With a little force, and a bit of a racket if anyone happened to be in this section of the base, she knocked the screen out of the duct and was able to lower herself into the room.

Not much to see really, more duracreet walls devoid of much furnishings. Some general junk cluttered the room, that appeared to be some form of office. Shelves on the walls were mostly barren with a few mostly useless pieces of dull clerical equipment. No credits. As she explored the space with her torch she found a door that she was able to open fairly easily. The space beyond was a hallway continuing further away from the established base. She walked along the hallway, peering into rooms along the way. One was a fairly large assembly hall or dining area or something similar. The air smelled old, likely undisturbed for quite a long while.

If there was a eating hall there must be a nearby kitchen and pantry. Maybe her luck was changing. after some searching she came upon a large walk in larder, that still had some boxes and bags upon it. The torch showed different spices, oils and culinary additives. Those could be worth something. She would pick some of them up on her way back. In the back of the room she found a wine rack with a few bottles still intact. She looked over the labels and noted they were of respectable grade, nothing too fancy, but good additions for Hal's bar. She took a bottle with her as she marked a large K on the door to help find places of value later.

Back in the hallway, her skin felt a slight breeze. She turned out her torch and the hallway became a blanket of darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she made out the slight glow of light along the floor ahead. She carefully made her way through the darkness towards what appeared to be the slit beneath a door emanating dim light.

Turning the torch back on she opened the door and looked into another mostly empty office. A desk had been turned up on its side against a wall. Just beyond it light flooded in from a crumpled hatch that apparently led outside the building. Examining the hatch closer she noticed it had been forced open from the inside. The thick metal door had been crumpled, whatever opened it produced a tremendous amount of force. The warm tropical air flowed in form outside. Kor carefully climbed out of the ruined door much the same way as whomever had ruined it likely did.

Outside was a narrow atrium surrounded on each side by five meter high walls, above the walls a thick canopy of vegetation was pierced by blue skies. The ground was covered by a deep layer of decomposing leaves from the canopy of trees far above her. To one side of the atrium was a rusting ladder leading up and out. She climbed and soon found herself in a grove of tall trees with thick roots winding in every direction.

Looking back where she had come from the atrium looked like a dark pit, almost indistinguishable had she not known it was there. A variety of songs form different birds could be heard in the nearby trees. Kor walked through the grove back in the direction she felt she had traveled underground. There was no indication that the sprawling complex lay just below her. She came to a volcanic rock outcropping. She could see ahead of her was a deep ravine, a wide river flowed into the ravine creating a deep mist that reflected a rainbow. Kor settled herself down on the rugged black rock looking at the majesty of the setting. The mountain peak climbed up above her, but she could see the ravine wind itself to the coast far below.

If she hadn't known better the black cliffs of the ravine were just another beautiful vista in this tropical jungle. The sun shone down on her and for a few moments she reveled in the solitude of moment. She closed her eyes and breathed in sent of moisture and with a pungent sweet smell of rotting fruit. She tied her shirt up in a knot letting the breeze blow across her exposed midrif. It was a place to get carried away with a fantasy of paradise. The fact was the entrance to the hanger was somewhere a ways down the face of the waterfall. She stared as hard as she could, but couldn't make out the edges of the hanger opening. Another world.

Kor found a flowering brush nearby. Plucking several of its blossoms, she wove them together with some thin vines crawling across the rocks to make a string of flowers that she wrapped about her lekku. Opening the bottle she found inside, she savored the aroma before lifting it to her lips and drank a healthy amount. She looked over the tropical grotto she had entirely to herself, and wondered how the others were getting on with cleaning the base. Yep paradise.

(

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: The Aerie
Timeline: -
Anara looked over the room. It bore a remarkable resemblance to the previous iteration of their little bar, largely because the ground team had scooped up everything from the old base when they evacuated. But the surroundings were a bit nicer this time. The walls were less industrial and worn down than the previous base. And the one way transparasteel window that looked out over the backside of the waterfall definitely gave a much more welcoming ambiance.

Dev sat a table, playing a card game by himself. On the table sat a glass, which held water. Occasionally he would take a sip.
Every so often, when no one was looking, he tried to move a card by using the Force.
None of the cards moved, which left him very frustrated.

Shaade looked over him as she assessed the room. She'd need to find a way to get the team to accept him a bit more. After the last encounter in their bar, things had...gone less than smoothly. As leader of their little Resistance cell, she'd need to try and work on that.

"Well, I have to hand it to you, Hal," she said with a smile. "I definitely like what you've done with the place. A substantial upgrade on our previous one."

The Duros glanced then followed by turning from where he had been working on a cooler unit. "Thank you, Captain," he said, his eyes shifting to look around the place. "It's coming along. Once we get a chance to slip into a more civilized port someplace, we can add a bit to it. Speaking of, any requests I should have Grinder keeping a sensor tuned for?"

Fuel was their most urgent need, but Anara knew they needed some fun too. "I'll take anything that's got a spice to it. And maybe something to let us experiment with fermenting some local fruit."

"Hey, Anara!" a voice from behind the team leader called out as the pilot of the stealth configuration T-65 approached. Ahead of him, a small droid bounded towards the team leader before letting of a burst of beeps and whistles, then scurried off into the depths of their new home. "BD-7 would like me to tell you he is not your friend, and wants some engineers to fix up our bird if you're going to make us do any more long haul flights," Caran smirked, coming to a stop and nodding in acknowledgement to both Shaade and Kor.

The woman turned to address the owner of the very peeved droid. "If he ever wanders back, convey my deep apologies and let him know my own knees agree with him. I'd kinda hoped to get us on the ground hours earlier, but we had a hard time finding a safe harbor. We're lucky this place exists or we might still be hopping."

Dev heard the conversation between the Captain Caran. "Captain, if repairs are needed, I can handle it...I'm pretty good with machines."

"Check with Vakrees, she's in charge of the ground crew. Maintenance of your own craft is your responsibility, but assisting with other work isn't a bad idea. We've got plenty to do around this base," Anara replied, as she walked up to the bar and gestured for some of their newer brew. "But forget that for now. I know we've got work to do, but we need to rest or we'll burn ourselves out. Hal, mind tossing me a glass of the brew?"

Hal went to the chiller, pulled out a frosted mug and filled it from the rudimentary still he'd finished wiring up. A dark brown, disturbingly foamy liquid filled the mug and he set it down in front of the Rogues leader. "Aged all of seven hours. Might be a bit bitter but it should smooth out. As to the fuel...do you want to buy it, requisition it, or commandeer it?" All three are options. And all three are probably best be kept quite about where it's actually going."

"I'm hoping the former, but I'm afraid it might have to be the latter. Though obviously, that couldn't primarily be a fighter job." Anara took a swig of their brew, but her face wrinkled a little. "Oh wow, you weren't kidding about it being bitter."

Vakrees entered the social space looking weary. She'd spent almost the entire time since she'd grounded her fighter trying to get to the root of her malfunction but kept coming up short. She'd given up the hour before to help corral the flight crew into an effective repair and maintenance routine before deciding she needed a drink. "Something bitter sounds appropriate roundabout now," the Togruta said once she was close enough to be heard and fished through her overalls to grab her flask. Finishing the remnants of water that remained in the reciprocal she handed it to Hal, her expression hopeful, "You wouldn't mind, would you?"

The Duros nodded affably, taking the flask and sniffing at it and making a face. "It's been a while since I was dirty enough to carry water in my booze holder," he said. Taking a wide necked bottle from the side, he topped off the flask first a clear liquid from the bottle.

Well mostly clear, except for what appeared to be a mollusk at the bottom. When he saw Vakree's face, he didn't say anything, but filled up another chilled mug of the brown foamy liquid and sat it in front. "Don't mind Oscar," he said, tapping the bottle. "He's one drunk, happy oyster that helps filter out impurities and add's a slight licorice taste to it."

Turning back to the Captain, he said "So, it seems we should locate a transport. A transport that isn't necessarily officially tied to us?"

"Might not be a bad idea to have a burner ship. Vakrees's ship is a little more recognizable," Anara said, thinking it over as she took another drink. The Rogue's transport was impressive, but it didn't blend in. "See what your contacts can do. If we can be in two places at once, that might help us get on our feet faster."

Hal nodded and said, "Yes Captain. I'll start looking. Ideally, it'll be something horribly common and easy to modify. Though that usually means a lot of work too. Good thing we have a fair bunch of spanner spinners here." The Duros grinned and took another pull from the drink in front of him, wincing slightly. "Ouch. That definitely needs more hours of brewing. Or something....do you think it tastes too much like shavaa? (licorice).

"Hmmm...I don't claim to be a brewer by any means. But I think you're on to something there. The spices might be a little weak too, but it's hard to tell if that's just due to brewing time," Anara said. "Well, luckily we have a lot of time on our hands to let it sit."

Dev spoke up from the back of the room. "Maybe when we explore the base, we'll find enough resources to buy a used transport ship, then we can fix it and update it and give it a new look."

The squadron leader nodded. "Possibly. Though perhaps we could acquire one through means that are a bit less...monetary. If we could steal ourselves a transport from a black market source, we'd ensure we have a ship with no historical registry. I'd rather put the primary funds into our fighters or Vakrees's transport. All we need out of our 'dirty' ship is a less auspicious option."

"Why not raid at any of the old Imperial bases still around? Most of them are sparsely defended. We can steal a couple of transports, load up with supplies and make our getaway." Dev suggested.

Glancing toward the younger being, the Duros nodded. "That's not a bad idea for a second act. And an overt one in Squadron form. For right now though, I think hitting an impound lot might work. We'll start nosing around to see what's been impounded and who we can blame things on."

Then he grinned to the Rogue's captain. "We might as well cause trouble and get them looking at someone. Maybe we can find your small crime organization and double up on causing them trouble. Then when they come looking for us, we lay a surprise and use them for intel."

The woman nodded. "Fair enough. Dev, do some research. See if you can't find jus a small little port with an impound lot and a local crime cartel we can blame things on. I'll go talk to the others."

She headed toward the door of the bar before turning back and giving a head bow to the Duros. "Thank you once again, Hal. I appreciate these chats."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Hanger, The Aerie
Timeline: -
Anara Shaade looked over the empty fuel tank, as if somehow observing it would refill it. The puncture had been an accident, caused by a member of the flight team trying to set up a new refueling hose to better reach the various craft. But that didn't change the fact that as of this moment, Rogue Squadron was essentially grounded.

Running a hand through her hair in exasperation, she finally motivated herself to speak. "Well...I think we're going to need to do that fuel run sooner rather than later. What's left with fuel in it?"

Hal pushed the cap on his head back and muttered a few choice words as they finished cleaning the spill. "Well, it would be a chance to get some other supplies as well, so maybe we look at it as an opportunity. Part scouting mission, part trading. It would also help to start making some friends around that we can maybe get some information out of. Sitting here in the dark, so to speak, isn't ideal..."

Kor walked up awkwardly carrying something similar to a mop, just as the others had finished cleaning the spill. "Pearl is pretty low on fuel. But if y'all need it, your welcome to it. If we need to make deals, I have um... contacts... in several of the biggest syndicates across the rim. I'm happy to see what I can arrange once we get there. Or if we just wanna grab some fuel and leave, I can arrange that too." Kor said with a sly grin.

Dev spoke up. "I have almost a two thirds fuel in my fighter. I can fly escort, unless someone else wants the fuel. Or I can be a part of the scouting mission."

Hal nodded to the other two and then looked to Anara, "So here's the ten thousand credit question. What legend do we want to use for this? Given we're using a hidden base outside of NR supply...well, should we pose as merchants, smugglers, an independent mining colony we fake up?" Looking around at the hanger area, he gestured, "This isn't going to be a once and done and if we're going to be running sorties and the like, we're going to go through quite a few things. Fuel's going to be the easy part. Sourcing parts and things like torpedo's, bombs, and Tibanna gas."

tag Anara

"I think posing as smugglers might be a bad idea...something illegal like that could put us in the cross hairs of a rival smuggler. Merchants, traders or a mining colony might be a better idea, but of course, if we're miners we should have something we mined to use as payment. Just my thoughts." Dev replied.

Kor wrinkled her eyebrows a bit at Dev's dismissal of things 'illegal' looking. "I agree, fuel is easy everyone needs that. If we want armaments, then we need to deal in armaments. Plus it gives us a good in for the smuggler crowd. Nothing suspicious about gun running in this day and age. Lots of wealthy clients are building up private security with the First Order crawling around. I'm happy to play the ornament for a wealthy quiet buyer, someone like Hal. You'd look sharp in furs. We swoop in, set up a supply chain and keep things coming in without official scrutiny."

Dev responded back. "Gun running is better then smuggling. We'd still need something to buy weapons and fuel with. Unless you want to rob a casino or something."

Kor's tekku softly curled downward. "That's a brilliant idea Dev! Where should we hit first?" her tone of voice provided no clue if she was joking or not.

Dev looked at her. "I was joking! We can't become criminals! We do that, we're no better then the first order!" He continued to look at her. "I hope you were kidding."

"Half the Galaxy already thinks we are criminals, and we operate outside the law for the other half. Might as well embrace what we are." Kor replied matter of factly. "They kill innocents, we kill guilty. We are still killers for a cause."

"That's not who we should be! We're suppose to be the good guys! We should act like it." Dev replied. "We kill the enemy...the ones who wish to enslave the galaxy...makes slaves of worlds." Dev stood up and placed his drink on the table. "You want to go out and become the first order? Go ahead. It's not what I signed up for." With that, he turned and left the room.

The Duros shook his head at the others as they debated. "Cover is not accepting a lifestyle. We are not going to start running theft rings or anything of the like. What I do think we can do is prop up a freight business. Things are always being moved around and we can fake buyers for things. What we're going to need is funds. Now if some of those items we self-requisition from Republic stores or outright take from the Order, well I don't see anything wrong with that sort of thing."

Kor just nodded her head in agreement. "Nothing wrong with it at all. Running a fake business is great too, but we could make a lot of money selling some goods we liberate from the Order to interested buyers. Just an option."

Anara was rubbing her temples as they argued. "Please don't make me stun anyone again, alright? We need money and resources, but we're not going to acquire those by being cold blooded killers. Selling First Order goods is a good option to keep ourselves funded long term, and it can help us prop up communities in need, but we're going to have a rough time getting ourselves a large prize without fuel. So I'm thinking something lighter. We could go after one of the smaller crime syndicates. Easy pickings for us, even with a limited amount of air support. We could get in, grab fuel and even some valuable cargo, and get out without a terrific amount of effort."

Hal reined in his brain and looked a bit sheepishly toward the Captain. "Sorry, Captain. Got ahead of myself. First things then is to find fuel. I'll look at the nav information we pulled coming here and see what we can find."

Kor had been getting excited that the Rogues were finally getting the guts to do what needed to be done, but she also knew when to keep her mouth shut... sometimes. She would let the Captain make her decision. Real or fake, it would be good to get some real smuggler merchandise flowing through the base.

The squad leader nodded. "Alright. See if you can find us a target. I'd like to get underway sooner rather than later."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Dev had waited to see if anyone wanted to search with him.
When he realized that no one was coming, he started toward the entrance to the base, pulled out his blaster and a light beacon, and entered the entrance.

He'd only gotten a few meters in when a voice called from behind him. "You know, I think we'd advised not to go searching alone."

Anara Shaade walked down the corridor behind him, little BB unit in tow. "You'll probably want a partner, in case things get messy."

Dev put his blaster back in its holster and faced Anara. "I asked if anyone wanted to team with me in the search, and I waited for anyone, so when no one arrived, I decided to go on alone. But your company is welcomed."

"Make sure to double check next time. I'm sure someone would have come. Doesn't change that I'd said not to go off alone," Anara replied as the duo ventured further into the hall. "So any location in particular? Or are you just wandering?"

"I managed to get a scan of the base using my ship's sensors. It's not detailed, but it shows all, or most of the corridors." Dev pulled out his knife and carved a symbol into the wall. "We keep marking our progress so we won't get lost." Dev put his knife back in it's scabbard.

Dev walked down the corridor and found a medium sized cavern. He flashed his light inside it and paused and whispered, "There's something in here."

Anara moved almost instantly, pushing her back against the entrance doorway for cover. Her blaster came out a second later. "Like...something alive?"

"Shhh...." Dev moved quietly, and stood near some crates. Then he aimed slowly and fired....killing a large spider like creature. "Seems we have neighbors. Looks like it was chewing on these crates." He picked it up by it's tail...it's head missing. "Big'um too." Spider webs covered almost everything in the room.

“Lovely,” she said, wincing a bit as she looked at it. She wasn’t sure if the creature itself or the injury got a strong reaction from her. “I imagine it’s not alone either. If we’re going to store supplies back here, we’ll need to determine where they’re coming from.”

"Probably coming from the forest surrounding the base. My guess is that when the base was abandoned, the small creatures moved in to escape the larger creatures, so then they moved in as well to hunt the small ones." Dev walked over to a tarp that was covering something large. "Wonder what's under here?"

Anara gazed at the dead creature for a moment. "That's all the more reason for us to survey the base. Good for us to know the openings the creatures are using. We can't exactly treat the base as secure while there are openings and entrances we don't know about." She finally addressed his tarp. "Here, you pull it back. I'll be ready with my blaster."

Dev walked over to the tarp, grabbed one edge and pulled it back, ready to jump back if any more spiders appeared. Under the tarp was a small one person ship, a fighter by the look of it. Dev ran his hand over the ship. "This is a beauty. I wonder what kind of ship is it."

Anara's jaw dropped. "No way! I didn't think there were any of these out there outside of museums or private collections." She walked over toward the craft, her hand trailing along the edge. "This is one of the old Eta-2s. Extremely limited service history. They were basically only ever used by Jedi back in the Clone Wars. She looked around at the large room, scanning the walls with her eyes. "But it's a starfighter. It had to get into this room somehow, and it clearly wasn't the door we came through. Yet...I don't see a hanger door anywhere."

Dev kept his eyes on the ship, it was somehow..calling to him. As he touched it, he felt a tingling feeling. "Maybe the Jedi pilot levitated into this cavern. The rebels wanted to hide it from discovery." Dev puled the tarp all the way off. "Looks like the engines are fried. I'm hoping there are spare parts here to fix it...maybe even update it. What a prize."

"Levitation wouldn't make the fighter smaller," Anara replied jokingly as she continued to scan the room. It had to get in here somehow. "But I suppose we could try and get it running. We need an interceptor or two to balance out our squadron make up."

"We can take it apart and take it out in pieces, if we can't get it out any other way." Dev started looking through the crates that were stacked against one way. "Looks like spare parts...fighters and droids...probably have to recalbriate them to fit our ships." Dev continued to look in crates. "I wouldn't count on finding any food supplies....they would probably be very stale. If we get hungry, we can catch a bunch of these spiders and cook them."

"Gross," Anara replied, wrinkling her nose at the idea. "Ok, you keep searching. I'm going to find that hanger door. The ship got here somehow. I want to know how."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Cardis, Isolated Trading Post
The sounds of the scenery around her were muted, distant. The soft sounds of wind were the only things in her mind. It was a soft breeze, slow and cool, coming up from the southern side of the platform. From their vantage point, on this elevated landing platform, the tundra wastelands below seemed to extend forever into the distance. It was an odd place. The planets red star cast the scene in an orange glow, when one might have expected a bluer or whiter scene. The snow almost appeared like reddish sand or dust when the sun hit it the right way, but the moment passed quickly. This landing platform was thousands of feet in the air, accessible only by a set of turbolifts which ferried people to the surface. It made sense given the planet's oppressive government. Couldn't have the rabble getting off world after all. But here, just above the clouds, things seemed almost normal.

Anara felt a slight chill. Wrapped in her traveling cloak, she knew it wasn't the temperature. Something was off here. But what it was, she couldn't quite place.

A subtle pat of the long belt pouch across her back gave her some reassurance, but only a little. They'd need to be careful here. She turned back facing the small collections of rogue who had joined her on this mission. It felt odd to be without their ships, but a squadron of fighters would have called too much attention. They needed a subtle transport and they needed to get it without being too flashy.

She turned to address her compatriots, keeping her voice low. "Alright, folks. You all ready to head down? We'll want to bring whatever we need because I don't think we're coming back up here until we have a way off world."

The sudden chill coming up the hatch certainly told Kor they were a long way form the tropic balminess of the Aerie. Wrapped in a misfitting fur lined parka that had been provided by the quartermaster, Kor looked out on the clouds surrounding the landing platform. The Orange was unusual, but she had seen red suns before. She just hoped this planet wasn't as dull as it seemed. As much as she professed never wanting to leave the Aerie again, it felt good to be off world. The base, beautiful as it was, was pretty boring. "No welcoming committee?" she quipped to the Captain.

The blonde chuckled as they walked down the ramp toward the only means of reaching the surface. “Oh I think the only warm welcome we’re likely to find is the welcoming muzzle of a blaster. Keep your eyes peeled. And honestly...if it comes to it, shoot first.” Gazing over her shoulder, Anara spoke loud enough for the others to hear. “Our contact is going to be an associate of Broiza Porr. The man’s a bit disgruntled with his employer, which gives us an opening to cause a bit of chaos.”

A wicked smile crept across Kor's face. "You want Chaos, I'm yer girl! Sounds like my kind of town." She quickly tapped the small of her back making sure her knife was secure then pulled up the hood of the Parka against the snow, ready to get to work.

The trio boarded the turbolift system which, after a less than reassuring series of bumps, began the voyage down toward the surface of the planet. Cardis had never really recovered from the end of Imperial rule. One despot gave way to the next. The cycle repeated itself on end.

Anara opened her mouth to speak when a sensation tugged at her. The Force was positively tense here, as if ready to burst. She closed her eyes to focus on the senation...and she was back. Floating helplessly in the void. Absolute darkness, filled with nothing but dread. And then it appeared. A tiny red speck in the distance. But the speck never remained as insignificant as it began. It grew until it encompassed everything. And this time, when it overtook her, Anara could have sworn she heard screaming. A bump in the lift brought her back to reality, but the sweat that had formed across her brow was a dead giveaway that she was not calmly taking the elevator.

The lit was certainly not to standards Kor was overly happy with, but she had dealt with worse, but she still didnt like it. The lift was cold, seeming worse than outside and seemed to shake at the most unnerving times possible. She had a bad feeling about this. "At least we are headed the right direction." Kor quipped, feeling an odd amount of tension in the lift, then she looked at Anara, who was obviously having a worse time of this than she was. "Hey Hal, you got any droids in your pocket that can do a technical readout on a lift?" she asked hoping to get the group focused on more than plummeting to their deaths.

The Duros had been busy adjusting the thermal poncho and his gun belt as the Twilek's voice filtered through the cold air. Shaking his head, he replied. "No, but I am happy to see you, Kor." He glanced around as he fastened the thigh strap of his holster and commented, "The lift looks worn enough that it should be fine. It sounds like their maintenance people are lazy and if they had the right lubricant in the first place, they probably sold it and replaced it with something like bantha crap, so it's freezing and the cogs are busting through the chunks as we go."

Finally happy with the gun belts ride he adjusted the brimmed mad bomber hat he was wearing and tied the flap to keep his ears covered. "This will be just like a walk over a cliff...should be entertaining for the short term." The Duros wasn't sure if his attempts at levity would be successful, but you had to try.

tag?

---Surface---
The turbolift doors opened onto one of the dingiest streets Anara had seen outside of the lower levels of Coruscant. Poverty seemed to emanate from every one of the nearby housing blocks. It took a considerable effort to remind herself that she was, in fact, not here to topple the oppressive regime. They were here on business.

Not terribly far off, the vibrant sign of a cantina stood in stark relief to the drab buildings around it. The inebriated customers of the Wayward Scoundrel saloon stumbled too and fro, making what was served there clear to even the most sheltered of visitors. Anara gestured subtly toward the building. "I think we'll find who we're looking for there. Try not to...well...try to stay out of trouble."

The lift filled with a familiar stench that surrounded poor hovels on most worlds. Kor knew it well, it was the smell of her neighborhood where she had been raised. She did her best to avoid looking at the denizens of this place. Too many familiar faces and stories that changed location, but not content. Scared, desperate people looking to survive. Their eyes sizing up the new comers to figure their potential for kindness, danger or graft.

The light of the Cantina came as a relief for Kor, she knew these places too. Same hungry looks on the Patrons, with more stupidity thrown in from drinks. Kor looked over the bar, seeing who was laughing, who was playing and who sat darkly by themselves. "I'll be at the bar. Signal if you need backup. C'mon Hal." she replied back to Anara. She navigated her way through the crowd to an open stool by the Bar. She smacked her hand down to get the bartender's attention. "Kishae. Straight. and whatever my friend wants." she requested of the bartender making room for Hal to stand next to her.

The fist impression Hal got from the Cantina was desperation and despair. The air fairly reeked of it. Which he judged to be fairly normal, given the surroundings and patrons. The smells of unwashed bodies, raw alcohol with variations of sweetness and some kind of grain and smoke assailed the Duros as he followed in Kor's wake and they found a spot near the bar.

The three had been tagged entering together and he noted gazes lingering on them, appraising them as the trio in turn appraised the people at the bar. When the tap turner approached and Kor made her order, he said "Delirium. Sealed container if you have it. The tapper gave him a sharp look and Hal winked, flustering him. Glancing over at Kor he said, 'The next droid I build is going to have to have a chem analyzer if we're going to keep coming to such exotic places." Truth told, Hal was enjoying himself.

With a wink and a sly grin Kor responded, "Just enjoy. The stuff they put in it will kill anything dangerous. It'll probably kill us too, but its the thrill of the journey right?" Her lekku curled down as she sipped her drink. She turned her eye to their surroundings, looking for anything, out of place or at least interesting.

As the bartender set up their drinks, Hal gave his a dubious look and left it for a few moments, waiting to see if the liquid would eat through the container. Instead he looked around, "So, we'll need to start asking around. I know we're supposed to have a meet, but we don't have to limit ourselves to one dance."

A smile came across Kor's face as she drank more of her beverage. "Absolutely, we should definitely keep our options open. Who knows what kind of bargains we might find." She eyed a table of spacers in a Sabbac game with a noticeably large pot. Kor's lekku curled up in excitement. "Maybe they know some good contacts for fuel?" She stood up formt he barstool and unzipped her Parka, revealing a delicate lace mesh dress that hugged her body tightly. Handing her Parka to the Duros she said, "Come on Hal, it might be fun."

The Duros glanced at her and shook his head, "Go ahead. I'll provide overwatch for when the trouble starts," Hal said, a knowing look in his eye as he looked her over then glanced through the bar's patrons again.



Meanwhile, on the other side of the downtrodden, smoky establishment, a small crowd had gathered around a card table. The feature was a high stakes game of Sabacc. Sitting around the table were eight players of various species. Two in particular stood out from the rest: a Dug and a human. Both had garnered large stacks of credits and other precious items, most likely gathered from those around them.

Kor sauntered up to the card game, adding a deliberate sway to her hips as she approached. She felt the eyes of many of the bar's denizens tracking her every step at least form behind. A well practiced sultry look on her face she gracefully slid into the crowd of on lookers, and made her way to the front where she found herself positions between a Dug and a Deveronian. The Dev seemed a bit down on his luck, but the Dug was deeply focused on the game.

The crowd was boisterous as it typically had been, with viewers hurling insults back and forth and side bets being placed left and right. The looks were now focused on the Dug, who had drawn a fifth card. The Dug looked at the human and let out a slow, dark chuckle. "More," he simply said, and put out a stack 1600 credits. As the card was dealt to the human, he placed it face down in front of him without looking at it. He didn't speak. He raised an eyebrow and pushed in a stack of credits nearly triple in size of the Dug's bet. The crowd let out a collective gasp. The Dug chuckled again and matched the bet. "Roll," he ordered the dealer. The die were cast.

Kor watched fascinated as the game heated up. She looked at the players, The darkly morose Dug and the seemingly mute human with a heap of credits. While her normal instinct was to disdain humans, she had a feeling with this one. The kind that usually meant large stacks of cash. She gave the human a smile and a wink letting her shoulder drop so as to allow the strap of her dress to fall off her shoulder. A cheap ploy, but it had worked plenty in the past. Although with the stakes currently shifting on the table, she expected the man to be a bit to focused to notice her.

The crowd once again gasped out as the pair of Sabaac dice fell to their resting place, each showing a different symbol. The game was to continue. Each player had the option to be dealt a card. There were only a few more to be had left in the deck anyway, so the hand would soon be over, whether one of the two challenged the other or not. The Dug accepted the card and looked at it, then looked back at Jafan. Jafan looked at the dealer and accepted his card, which made one thing very clear. With each player now playing five cards, and no rolled spike, it signaled the end of the hand. The final bet was to be placed!

Considering the size of the pot already, whatever the final play was, it would be a tremendous amount of credits. Kor contemplated accidentally tripping the rather pushy female that was trying to get into her vantage point and having her scatter the credits across the room. But still there was sport in this. Stakes that shouldn't be spent in a back waters cantina on a despotic mining colony like this. This was going to be interesting. Some one would win big, lose big or a tremendous fight was about to break out. The crowd knew it. Kor knew it. She let the pushy female slide in next to the Dug, better cover in case of blasters. Kor was ready to drop to the floor if the table flipped.

As the room grew more heated, a Rodian emerged from one of the booths and approached Kor and Hal. His eyes darted around to make sure no one was watching to closely before he spoke. “Heard you some folks might be looking for some...’business’ with Broiza. Wouldn’t happen to be you lot would it? No offense, but you don’t blend in with the locals.”

Hal regarded the Rodian and said, "Well thank the fates for that. If I resembled any of the lot here I might have to shoot myself." Glancing toward Kor, then back at the Rodian he continued, "And sure. We're always open to doing some business and this rock isn't exactly a tourist trap."

Kor while focused on the game reaching its climax, noted the Rodian chatting up Hal. She knew this likely meant business and she would need to be back at her squadron mates side. On the other hand, there were credits, so many sparkly credits. She planned on grabbing what she could from the table when things turned south, and sliding out with Hal and his Rodian friend as cover.

Anara had been observing the scene from the bar when she felt an odd tugging in the Force. Despite her better judgment, she decided to follow it. With a gesture toward her two companions indicating that they could proceed, she made her way to the door. Hopefully, this would only take a moment. But even as she approached, she felt a second sensation resonating. Danger.

A half foot out the door, she felt a pistol pressed against her back. “Come with me, Miss Shaade.” The man behind her was a gruff looking human, but the cut of his jaw somehow told her what she needed to know. First Order. “I think we have some things to talk about. Perhaps regarding your little stunt over Coruscant.”

She didn’t feel like fighting just yet. “How’d you know I’d be here?” She asked, half for her own curiosity.

“We didn’t,” he replied honestly. “Got lucky and spotted you on arrival. First Order has eyes everywhere. Now enough with the questions. You and I are going to go outside and get aboard our transport without incident, or your friends die.”

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: First Order Transport
Timeline: After Causing Some Trouble
The tunnel ahead was approaching quickly. Anara was surrounded, a dozen First Order troopers packing the transport car. Her hand cuffs were secure. That much she was sure of. She’d contemplated making her escape at the cantina, but it’d been too packed. They wouldn’t have made it alive. But here, on the outskirts of town...

“Alright Shaade,” the one guard said in a taunt. “Hope you’re ready to spill. Sooner you give us the intel, the sooner the pain will end. Of course, I wouldn’t mind if you dragged it out.”

Anara looked at the burly human, assessing him for a moment. The tunnel loomed ahead, filling their view even more.

“Well, there is one piece of info you might want to know sooner rather than later,” she said, her mouth quivering slightly. “You see I’m...”

“Oh do go on,” the guard said.

Anara looked at the ground, hesitating. Or at least that’s how she wanted to look. The shadow of the tunnel spread across the craft as they entered, and time slowed as she allowed the force to stretch her perception.

Darkness over took them, and the didn’t wait a blink. Her feet planted into the ground, and with a force assisted burst of strength, she launched herself backward. Her back slammed into the guard who’d been taunting her and he was sent sprawling throughout the craft.

Lighting fast reflexes heightened by atunement to her surroundings meant that she landed on her feet and moved toward her next target before he even knew what happened. She ran halfway up the car wall before lashing out with her right foot. It met his jaw with a sickening sound. She didn’t stop moving. The third guard had started toward her, but in the utter darkness of the tunnel, he didn’t catch as she backflipped, bringing a solid boot into his chin.

As the third crumpled, the fourth advanced. His reflexes were better than his friends, and he brought out a stun baton. It took every bit of strength Anara had to right herself before the baton made its impact. But she managed to dodge aside, causing it to make contact with a fifth guard. She kicked savagely at the fourth’s left knee, adding power to it through the Force. A loud cracking noise informed Anara and the other guards of what had happened even before the inverted shape of his knee did. She lunged forward, head butting him and sending him collapsing to the floor screaming.

There was a moment of pause as the seven remaining guards froze, looking at their still handcuffed prisoner. Anara wasn’t sure if they fully grasped the gravity of their situation, but she didn’t give them time to reconsider.

One drew his blaster and fired, and she wove her way through the air with the grace of a dancer. The bolt sizzled over her head as she ducked, traveled down the length of her back, mere centimeters from her, and slammed into handcuff casing.

Her arms swung out as if the wings of a bird of prey. The guards got the idea. One with a stun button, came forward at her, but with a dodge to her left she brought a fist to his face, shattering cheakbone, and sent him sprawling. His weapon didn’t reach the ground.

Bringing it around, Anara chucked it at the next guard. The electro feature met his chest and sent him flying several feet back. 5 left.

Reaching out with one hand, she pulled with the Force, sending one guard careening toward her. Her knee met his chest. She couldn’t keep this up for long though. The remaining 4 drew blasters. With a running leap, she skidded across a display table in the middle of the craft, and disappeared as blaster bolts assailed her hiding spot.

Light returned to the craft for just an instant as they passed between tunnel sections. Her hand reached the compartment on the back of her belt. It was time.

Darkness over took the craft again, but this time it didn’t stay. A brilliant blue glow filled the room as the energy blade roared to life in her hand. She brought it up so her face was visible. “I’m not who you think I am,” she said, and barely finishing her words, rushed them.

A brief hail of blaster bolts was met by a skillful deflection. 2 guards fell to their own bolts. The remaining two didn’t last more than a pair of slashes.

And just like that, the escort car was silent, save for the thrum of her weapon. And Anara’s secret was out. She needed to get back to her squad. The First Order would eventually piece together what had happened here, and it’d bring a storm down on her head. There was a timer on how long they could remain here.

As she extinguished her lightsaber, Anara felt the disturbance in the Force grow. Whatever danger approached, it was getting closer. She stepped toward the door, when the sensation spiked. The shock hit her so hard she nearly collapsed to the side, grabbing a console for support.

The screen on the console flared to life, indicating a message stream between this division of troops and a group on a location referred to as "Starkiller Base." A few moments of investigation later, Anara's jaw had dropped. She needed to find her team. Now.

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: First Order Transport
Timeline: After Causing Some Trouble
The tunnel ahead was approaching quickly. Anara was surrounded, a dozen First Order troopers packing the transport car. Her hand cuffs were secure. That much she was sure of. She’d contemplated making her escape at the cantina, but it’d been too packed. They wouldn’t have made it alive. But here, on the outskirts of town...

“Alright Shaade,” the one guard said in a taunt. “Hope you’re ready to spill. Sooner you give us the intel, the sooner the pain will end. Of course, I wouldn’t mind if you dragged it out.”

Anara looked at the burly human, assessing him for a moment. The tunnel loomed ahead, filling their view even more.

“Well, there is one piece of info you might want to know sooner rather than later,” she said, her mouth quivering slightly. “You see I’m...”

“Oh do go on,” the guard said.

Anara looked at the ground, hesitating. Or at least that’s how she wanted to look. The shadow of the tunnel spread across the craft as they entered, and time slowed as she allowed the force to stretch her perception.

Darkness over took them, and the didn’t wait a blink. Her feet planted into the ground, and with a force assisted burst of strength, she launched herself backward. Her back slammed into the guard who’d been taunting her and he was sent sprawling throughout the craft.

Lighting fast reflexes heightened by atunement to her surroundings meant that she landed on her feet and moved toward her next target before he even knew what happened. She ran halfway up the car wall before lashing out with her right foot. It met his jaw with a sickening sound. She didn’t stop moving. The third guard had started toward her, but in the utter darkness of the tunnel, he didn’t catch as she backflipped, bringing a solid boot into his chin.

As the third crumpled, the fourth advanced. His reflexes were better than his friends, and he brought out a stun baton. It took every bit of strength Anara had to right herself before the baton made its impact. But she managed to dodge aside, causing it to make contact with a fifth guard. She kicked savagely at the fourth’s left knee, adding power to it through the Force. A loud cracking noise informed Anara and the other guards of what had happened even before the inverted shape of his knee did. She lunged forward, head butting him and sending him collapsing to the floor screaming.

There was a moment of pause as the seven remaining guards froze, looking at their still handcuffed prisoner. Anara wasn’t sure if they fully grasped the gravity of their situation, but she didn’t give them time to reconsider.

One drew his blaster and fired, and she wove her way through the air with the grace of a dancer. The bolt sizzled over her head as she ducked, traveled down the length of her back, mere centimeters from her, and slammed into handcuff casing.

Her arms swung out as if the wings of a bird of prey. The guards got the idea. One with a stun button, came forward at her, but with a dodge to her left she brought a fist to his face, shattering cheakbone, and sent him sprawling. His weapon didn’t reach the ground.

Bringing it around, Anara chucked it at the next guard. The electro feature met his chest and sent him flying several feet back. 5 left.

Reaching out with one hand, she pulled with the Force, sending one guard careening toward her. Her knee met his chest. She couldn’t keep this up for long though. The remaining 4 drew blasters. With a running leap, she skidded across a display table in the middle of the craft, and disappeared as blaster bolts assailed her hiding spot.

Light returned to the craft for just an instant as they passed between tunnel sections. Her hand reached the compartment on the back of her belt. It was time.

Darkness over took the craft again, but this time it didn’t stay. A brilliant blue glow filled the room as the energy blade roared to life in her hand. She brought it up so her face was visible. “I’m not who you think I am,” she said, and barely finishing her words, rushed them.

A brief hail of blaster bolts was met by a skillful deflection. 2 guards fell to their own bolts. The remaining two didn’t last more than a pair of slashes.

And just like that, the escort car was silent, save for the thrum of her weapon. And Anara’s secret was out. She needed to get back to her squad. The First Order would eventually piece together what had happened here, and it’d bring a storm down on her head. There was a timer on how long they could remain here.

As she extinguished her lightsaber, Anara felt the disturbance in the Force grow. Whatever danger approached, it was getting closer. She stepped toward the door, when the sensation spiked. The shock hit her so hard she nearly collapsed to the side, grabbing a console for support.

The screen on the console flared to life, indicating a message stream between this division of troops and a group on a location referred to as "Starkiller Base." A few moments of investigation later, Anara's jaw had dropped. She needed to find her team. Now.
Hal sat in the dark.

Well, it was mostly in the dark. His face was illuminated by a computer screen as he spoke.

“Try the line now, Grinder,” he said over his link.

When nothing happened to the readouts he was looking at, he sighed and said, “The OTHER line. You know the one we just replaced? I swear your logic circuits are scrambled some days.”

A bleating warble came back over the link which resounded with both indignant and hurt intonations and he ignored him as his console lit up.

“There we go! Good job, Grinder. Monitor where you’re at while I power things up.”

Hal stood and moved to a line of heavy switches and repositioned the first to ‘ON’.

Overhead lights flickered on in the room and the computer console he’d been using simply as a desk thrummed up with power. In a slow procession he threw the others and power fed through the complex.

“What kind of readings are you getting, Grinder?” He asked next.

At the droid’s warble he said, “Alright. Good. Do a once over and monitor everything for twenty cycles or so. While you’re at it, set up a maintenance check list. I’m going up to that command center we cleaned out.”

The droid acknowledged him and Hal went up to the aforementioned Command center. He was gratified to see the lights had come up and he moved to power up some of the console’s he’d checked over days before and found a convenient wall to lean against, then slide down. The Duros pulled a thermos from a gusset bag he’d been toting and poured himself a cup of hot cha and waited.

The computers had sat dormant for so long, powering up the batteries would take a while.

Then he dozed off.
*****


Hal looked up after a boot had nudged him unceremoniously awake and squinted up with one eye at a voice.

Clearing her voice, the woman gave him an faux unamused look. In truth, Anara Shaade was more than a little entertained at the idea of giving her squadron mate some good hearted ribbing. "Sleeping on the job are we, Jaks?"

Grinning, the Duros yawned and said "Just studying the inside of my eyelids, Captain." Levering himself up, he regained his feet and moved to the console. "Looks like we're starting to get power to these. Once we dig in, we should have steady lights and power throughout the complex, including the air exchangers. We'll need to get filters and stuff you don't really care about knowing, other than things are getting done...." The Duros chuckled and wiped at the console with a rag as he wanted it's readouts. "Given we have a maintenance staff of me and Grinder right now, it'll just take time, but it should be interesting. The small crew we have of maintenance people for the ships is going to be the bigger concern once we get into combat situations..."

The woman took a few steps into the room, sitting down on one of the storage crates. “I was thinking the same thing. Vakrees is off trying to deal with that right now. We need people. And more than just a few. My X-Wing alone is going to be a bit of a resource drain, since her parts are newer and a bit less battle hardened than the 65s. One of the rooms in the back seems to have some old Z-95 pieces which could work in a pinch, but we need a steady supply chain.”

"What we need," the Duros mused aloud, "Is a tie-in to a training or R&D squadron. Or one that's about to be posted out. Get into the bureaucracy, change a few codes around and set the parts to self pickup." Hal scratched at his head and said, "When my old squadron was taken out and I finally returned the bureaucracy hadn't caught up to it. There were two months of supplies sitting there and the chain still ready to chug along behind it....the base CO couldn't be troubled to update anyone and with the squadron technically missing..."

Hal considered things for a minute, "Come to think of it, it wouldn't have been overly hard for the CO or someone to sell things on the blackmarket right out the back door and doctor some reports..."

Anara nodded, thinking it over. "I hate to set us down that path but...do you think that's the sort of thing we could leverage to our advantage? I'm sure there are plenty of poorly maintained supply chains out there."

"So...," the Duros said moving to another terminal and using his own portable computer to talk with it, began another startup routine. "I should probably sneak into someplace and see about subverting some material our way. Grinder's a scoundrel right down to his base frame...but maybe one of the more discreet hackers could come with..."

Anara nodded. "Done. You'll have your pick of them. Think you'd need air support? I can be hanging back in the X-Wing, ready to hop into the system if things go south."

Hal debated that then shook his head. "I don't know about immediate air..but knowing you'll come looking for us if things go wrong would be nice. Hopefully we can divert something to someplace, then pick it up and make it look like just another snafu..."

The Duros was thinking about that when Grinder hooted over the comm and Hal glanced at the screen he was by and then the next one. "Yeah. Looks good Grinder. Everything looks five by five. Go onto that sub-station we looked at and double check the air handlers and filters? I want to make sure the sensor's are reading correctly. Then I'll meet you in the maintenance bay and you can get your oil bath."

Grinder hooted and bleeped a happy reply and Hal chuckled as he fiddled with the consoles. "Ok, Captain. Looks like the complex should have lights everywhere. Next we'll start tracing what does and doesn't work and follow it along. Unless you have a project?"

"No, inventorying our facility works for me," she said, with a nod. "Gotta know what we have before we know what we need. I'll let you get to it."

"Roger that, Captain," Hal said with a salute as she turned and left. After checking the consoles again, Hal made his own way out, taking mental notes as he went.

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Aerie Base
Timeline: During Exploring the base.
Kor climbed back through he small hole in the wall she had "found" earlier. It was a bit of a squeeze, but she managed to drag along several bottles she had brought in from her new found stash in the abandoned section of the base she had discovered. She stood up, and dusted herself off. Her trail back was fairly straight forward, but not simple, but she had not discovered another entrance to the base beyond the hidden hanger entrance she was not equipped to traverse, so it was back in the same way she had found her way out.

She headed straight for The Hangout, Hal would likely be interested in the treasures she had recovered. She was a bit of a mess having crawled though debris and dirt, not to mention sweating in the hot tropic sun outside. The bands of flowers were still woven through her lekku and her shirt, what there was of it, was still tied up exposing her stomach.

She walked into the bar looking for the Duros. "Hal! You in here someplace?"

The Duros rolled down from the rafter's where he'd been double checking some wiring. He was hanging by his knees as he regarded Kor, his large red eyes blinking. "Someplace? That's another good name for the bar. We're really going to have to christen her one of these days. Whatchya need girlie?"

A mischievous smile washed across Kor's face as her lekku wriggled excitedly. "It's more about what you need my friend." She held up two of the wine bottles she brought back, wiggling them a little.

Hal reached up, secured a handhold and let go with his knees. As he righted himself he let go and dropped nimbly to his feet and straightened as he peered at the Twilek then at the bottles. "Ahh. So you found booty did you?"

"Oh, I got some booty alright." she replied with a wink. "There's a bunch more where I found those, and a lot of spices and supplies for the galley. I could use some help carrying it all back... and maybe some breaching charges."

The Duros's eyes flickered with interest as he found a rag from his back pocket and wiped his hands down. "Breaching charges? So, locks that you can't slice or power issues? How hard is it to get to this area? Grinder was working on a transport sled yesterday so if it's fairly level, we could let it do most of the toting."

Kor grimaced a little. "It's kind of a wall... and getting one floor above us, sort of... It's not in the 'base' exactly, at least not what the base is now. You kind of have to see it, but we will need the breaching charges to get things back here. Come on, I'll show you." Kor placed the bottles down on the bar and beckoned the Duros to follow her.

Realizing he'd been babbling, Hal took a breath and nodded. "Yeah, lets get a look. Maybe we can find an alternative to blowing things open....fixing them again is a pain." The Duros retrieved his gun belt from beneath the bar and strapped it on as they walked. "I didn't take a look at the bottles. Any idea how old your stash is?"

Kor led the way taking Hal toward the 'barracks' section of the base. "I didn't really notice. But I can tell you they taste good still, and give you a tremendous buzz." She walked up the corridor past several rooms set aside for quarters. The Duro was being typically quiet. "What? It was hot outside. And there was a really pretty meadow...."

At last they came to a large pile of junk at the end of the hall that was still needing to be cleared, a crumpled tarp lay across part of the pile. scuff marks on the floor were quite apparent. Kor lifted away the tarp revealing the small hole she had made in the wall to crawl through. "Right through here."

Hal shook his head and momentarily toyed with drawing his blaster before he knelt and eyed the hole. It was small and he wasn't all that sure his shoulders would fit but, after glancing at Kor approvingly, the Duros snickered a bit and began worming his way through the hole. "I'm glad you were careful anyway, some of these caches used to have contact poison on them..."

Kor watched the Duros slither into the tight space between the walls of the new and old base, or whtever it was. She was astounded his long cylindrical head fit. Kor let him get in a couple paces and shouted into the hole. "Hope you have a torch, I can pass mine up if you need it. Climb up one floor and there is a ventilation duct. climb in. You will probably see where I came through earlier." With that she started sliding herself into the tight space behind the walls.

Following the Twi'lek's directions, Hal levered himself around and started climbing. At her mention of a light, he grunted and said, "Yeah. It's darker than Hutt's heart in here. He paused with a sure handhold and reached into a belt pouch and pulled out a small marble sized orb. He held it in his palm for a few seconds, then opened it and the Ioun stone's wings unfolded and began fluttering madly, causing it to rise up. The Duros gestured the micro-droid toward the ventilation shaft next. The thing wasn't much more than wings and a light source, though adding the wings had let him shoe-horn a sniffer sensor to check for oxygen levels, but it was invaluable for that.

Hesitantly, the orb fluttered up and entered the aforementioned ventilation duct. Hal climbed after and then slid into the duct, then leaned back into the area and watched Kor climb. "How exactly did you decide to go through a wall and climb up here Kor," he asked. Above him, the droid had retreated from the ventilation shaft and now lit Kor's climb.

Kor saw the light of Hal's... orb float along side of him and then cut back to her. "Gotta get me one of those." she murmured to herself. She moved up the framework of the inner walls with a practiced grace and slid herself into the ventilation duct. Hearing Hal's comment she smiled and replied, "I just kept on going where the path led." She didn't bother to mention the countless times she had wedged herself through crawlspaces and gaps to enter apartments, offices or banks all over the Galaxy. "There's always a way in or out of somewhere."

The light of Hal's orb showed a distinct path through the dust ahead that were tell tale marks of Kor's previous journey. Not far ahead the scurrying path lead to a vent that had been kick open into a dark abandoned office space of some level.

Moving through the path Hal, with Kor right behind him, moved up to the vent and he half whispered, "Go on, GS95, move into the center of that room."

The droid hesitated at the opening, it's camera aperture turning to blink at the Duros who made a go on motion with his hands and finally the golden orb fluttered into the office space so he and Kor could move up. "Can you believe Snitch is afraid of the dark?" he asked the Twi'lek as they slid up to the vent then wormed out and into the office space.

Kor dropped into the room landing like a cat. She walked over to the tiny fluttering glow droid, looking at it with wonderous eyes. "Nothing to be afraid of. If you light up, when are you in the dark little one?" she normally didnt talk to droids, but this one fascinated her. It was bright and tiny and the delicate little wings were amazing. Her urge to explore had been sidetracked by the tiny droid. "Where did you find him?" she asked Hal.

"Built her," Hal commented as he pulled a palm light from his belt and began shining it around. "I had a LOT of down time when I crashed out that time and I needed a hobby from trying to cobble Luadra back together. He thought about dusting himself off, then let it go. They'd still have to get out...

"She is beautiful." Kor said starring at the fluttering wings of the tiny droid. "You can make more right? These could catch on in a lot of markets. I'd be happy to pay for this one if you like." her eyes longingly looking at the glowing droid.

Hal grinned at Kor's face then looked to the droid, "GS95, do you want to work for Kor now? I think she's smitten with you.." The droid bobbed slightly in front of the Duros, then buzzed around Kor for a few moments, darting about rapidly, taking the Twilek in then returned to bob in front of Hal. The Y-wing pilot nodded gravely then cast a glance over toward Kor, "I think he likes you..." Then he focused on the droid he said, "Go ahead and halo her then."

Kor twirled while the tiny droid flew about her it's twinkling lights twirling about her like a fabled sprite from a classical theatrical piece she had played in so long ago. She actually giggled with delight at the tiny device.

With that the droid zipped over and began orbiting a quarter meter above Kor's head, leaving a glowing tail that formed a lighted halo around the X-wing pilots head. "Seems that's settled," he said, as he turned his attention back to the room, wondering the story behind it.

A genuinely satisfied smile was affixed to Kor's face. "Thank you so much. She is wonderful." Her plans of how to snatch the tiny droid from Hal no longer a concern, she found herself back in the immediate situation. "This room is pretty useless. There are a few more interesting ones up ahead. And the hard part of this trip is over, until we try to bring everything back."

Hal nodded as they started for the door. "All of this space could be useful at some point though. I'm working at getting power up, the air handling system online...hopefully we'll be able to get a floor plan of the place and then see what matches up and what doesn't. For now, we can get an inventory, then work on how to get it all back..."

The Duros was deep in thought then cleared his head and said, "Going to be a busy while here..."

"Only if we are lucky." Kore replied back with a wink. "Come on, there;s more down this way."

Kor walked out into the corridor, the light of the circling droid lightly illuminating the way. The air still tasted of centuries of dust, but after awhile the moist air of the jungle became more apparent.

"Let's see..." she said wandering down the dark hallway. She pointed to her left into the room with the torn out hatch with light streaming in form outside. "That leads out. Something nasty went through there. We should probably figure out what some day." she abruptly turned and walked to another series of doors with large letter K drawn on them. "I marked these as having interesting stuff in them. The third door down here has the booze. They other ones I havent completely been through. You know, because there was booze."

Hal nodded. "I understand priorities. It's an odd way for someone to set up a cache. It's out of the way enough but..it's been here for awhile..." Hal's mind wandered through the fact that the stash had been left here. "It's a nice find. I'm glad there weren't any booby traps..." Hal's thoughts wandered off and he took a glance through two of the doors and said, "Looks like higher end consumables. Almost like someone took off a resort or passenger liner..."

At the mention of booby traps Kor gave Hal a squinted scowl, "Shall I grab my sword and breastplate for this adventure? Seriously, who has time for traps. I did do a quick sweep for basic security, I think this was more for storage than treasure caches."

Hearing about a resort or passenger liner, her lekku swirled outward. "Ooh, really let me look!" Kor started to try to wedge herself past Hal to get into the door. "I noticed a lot of spices and stuff for cooking. Then I got side tracked by the bottles. I didn't see any resort items. Where? Where?"

"The spices and booze are kind of a give away, but I saw a couple of sealed containers toward the back that look sealed and refrigerated which likely have some sort of perishables. Might be some mushrooms or truffles." The Duros took a couple of steps into the room and wondered if he could find a manifest.

The remains of a monitor was set into one wall, but had been smashed potentially hundreds of years ago. Kor looked around at the racks of assorted items. "This is an odd assort of goods. Kind of like a kitchen pantry, but more like storage for a much larger operation, like a resort or something." She was likely dreaming more than analyzing, but there was an unusual amount of high end consumables. Most were likely useless with age, but some of the dried goods and of course the alchohol was still fine. In her searching Kor found what appeared to be a door behind one of the racks. "Hey Hal, wanna give me a hand here." she started trying to pull one of the racks away from the wall. A cloud of dust depped on her. "*cough *cough It looks like some sort of additional room back here."

Hal slid the kerchief he wore around his neck up to cover his mouth, then moved to help Kor with the rack. They struggled with the rack and the boxes and bins that hampered their efforts, but were ultimately successful in clearing the hidden door. "Well, all of this looks to have been gloss to hide the real gem?"

He paused for a moment, then said "Maybe. After you, it's your discovery."

Wiping the dust from her lekku, Kor moved up to the newly revealed doorway. "Why thank you kind sir, I solemnly swear to split anything we find at least 70/30." With that she pushed the door, which gradually slid open into a housing in the wall. The room inside was dark. Kor looked up to her new fiend orbiting her head. "Care to take a look?" The tiny flying droid squeaked something less than complimentary back at her. "Fine you want a percentage too? Very well. A modest sum for being a flashlight." The tiny droid emmited a high pitched squawk and flew into the room. Inside were boxes and crates some with tarps covering them. "... interesting." Kor stated as she stepped over the threshold of the door only to be immediately smacked in the head by some form of club with a long spike in it that narrowly missed puncturing her face. "OWWW!" she cried grabbing her face with her hands.

The Duros smirked slightly then covered it as he looked at her then then club. "You'e right. Who has time for traps..." Since she was still standing, she was ok. "As long as it wasn't covered in acid or something, you'll be ok." He peered past her into the room stating, "Though you are going to have an interesting bruise until you can get it treated."

Kor stood to her feet again. looking over the device that had unceremoniously knocked her in her face. "I've worn black and blue before, a lot worse than this."

Hal examined the club, then ducked and reached up toward where the club was mounted and spent a moment semi-awkwardly tinkering before there was a click and he was able to pull the club away. "Unique....you were meant to get hit by the club and if it speared you, it would break off. A normal reaction would be to stagger back and then the grenade would go off..." He showed Kor the grenade he'd made safe before unhooking the club. "Looks like a stunner..."

Pulling her hand down from the swollen area of her face, Kor looked into the room with a renewed interest. "anything somebody went through all this mess to protect has gotta be worth something. Whad'ya say we find out what they are stashing."

Hal nodded and eased into the room. "Maybe set to teach members of their own crew not to mess with something? Otherwise, we'd better keep an eye out for a beacon or something." He hadn't quite decided to draw his blaster yet as his hand light flashed over several storage lockers, crates and barrels. "Looks like a cache all right..."

Kor sauntered over to the crates, paused for a moment and moved her hand over them like Hal had. All this boobytrap business was getting tiresome. "Shall we see what was worth hiding and trapping?" She pulled out her knife from her belt and started using it to pry into the top crate.

It took some time. Her knife was not the best tool for this kind of job, but she didnt have a pry bar. In time the top came off. She unceremoniously tossed the lid clattering to the floor. The contents had been wrapped for shipping, outbound or inbound she had no idea. Moving the top packing layers asside, Kor found several smaller boxes. She lifted one out and handed it to Hal. Within the box in front of her she found several metalic spheres. She paused for a moment not wanting to move. "Uh, Hal, we might need some help dealing with these...." She carefully placed a rack of Thermal detonators down on the floor.

Hal looked over from a crate he had opened and shook his head. His own hands dipped into the crate and he came away with a case of rations. "Looks like they're about fifteen years old. Old for a cache. Maybe someone's emergency retirement plan?" He saw her look at the detonators and nodded. "We'll scan them. Make sure they're still stable before moving them."

The Duros walked over and picked one up, moved the trigger cover and looked at her. "If I remember right, you push the trigger to the left.." He did so and the detonator began to blink. Three red blinking lights, then a green and red." The detonator beeped in response and he nodded, "Well, I guessed right. Looks like they're in good shape. Might need to change arming batteries on some..."

"Well not wealth unlimited like I had hoped, but there are still more boxes." Kor replied as she went to another crate to start jimmying the lid off. "Oooh! This looks interesting." she called back looking intently at the contents of the new crate. "You ever deal with Spice? Tell me if this tastes like the real thing." she said, holding some of the fine powder on the blade of her knife towards Hal.

Hal tapped two fingers on his tongue to wet them, the touched the powder with one finger tip and after that pressed the other to a nostril.

Then he coughed. Sneezed and bent at the waist for a second before looking rheumy for a few seconds before they brightened disturbingly, his pupil's dilating. "Yup. Definitely Spice, "the Duros confirmed. "This is looking more and more like...." he broke off his sentence and blinked, his head whipping around in a squirrel reaction before he looked at Kor again and continued, "Someone's private stockpile."

Kor's eyes widened. "Things just started sounding more profitable. Or we have one hell of a party." She quickly rummaged around a few more of the crates. "Yep, there is a healthy stash that could set someone with connections up for a good amount of time. Can your droid find us a discreet buyer?"

Hal shrugged. "If I let him do too much of it, he'll want a bigger cut. But, we shouldn't have a problem. Probably a week. Three at the most, depending on how we front it. Let's get the inventory and get back."

Kor looked over the stacks of contraband with a satisfied smile. "Did you bring those breaching charges? Otherwise, this is gonna take awhile. I'm not hauling those Casks and Crates over a wall."

Hal studied the cargo and said, "There's a repulsorlift sledge we can use to get to the opening and load everything on it, lash it down and take it round. We'll probably want to look at repairing this way in anyway." "And I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a corridor that actually leads round to where we're at as well," the Duros speculated.

Her lekku curling up Kor weighed the profit of the discovered items versus the physical exertion to actually bring them back. "Well I guess we better get started."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Cardis
Timeline: Following Element of Surprise
The room had gotten tense. The smoky air had turned stale with the stillness of the room. Most the attention had begun to revolve around the Sabacc table where a Dug and a human sat across from each other, deadlocked in a heated match for a large stack of credits. Both were confident. Both were ready to win. Soon the cards would be revealed and the new owner of the overwhelmingly large stack of credits would be announced. The crowd held its breath in anticipation.

The card game was interesting. And intense. Hal was keeping an eye on it, but moreso he was watching the crowd. These things tended to go pear shaped quick and the Duros highly suspected Kor would be in the middle of it. Hal turned to the bar and ordered another drink, using the maneuver to cover the surreptitious unsnapping of the restraining strap on his blaster. He wore the pistol in an open front, forward throw holster strapped to his thigh and decided he might just need the extra time to clear it for action if....when things went badly.

He met the Rodian's eye and gestured toward the crowd. "Things are getting a bit exciting and I don't want to get caught in other people's trouble. Especially when we haven't had a chance to talk business yet..."

"Yaas, business." the Rodian squeaked. "I have many contacts that can find whatever you may be looking for. The Droid mentioned fuel. I know a plaacce where it can be procured. No guards. Well few guards. Easy pickings."

Hal didn't bite right away. He met the Rodian's eyes and said, "Sounds promising and a good place to start.. What kind of deal are you looking for?"

The Rodian's snout puckered. "The droid said you have high value trade. If you have the product, we can have a deal." a high pitched snickering came from the Rodian."I have an ideal target for your... neeeeds."
****


Credits piled on credits in the center of the table. Kor's eye gleamed as she looked on so much cash being thrown about. With any luck it would be physically flying in a moment. She had positioned herself so the human and the dug could safely blast each other if so inclined, but she was in a perfect spot to be the first of the scavengers that grabbed credits falling from the table if it was over thrown in a fight, or if she over threw it. Her mind still tracked Hal and the Rodian he had started chatting up. The Captain had disappeared for quite a while now. She would start getting concerned, but this game was about to get real interesting, and it was taking up most of her attention.

The form fitting dress she had chosen for this mission was gracefully adorned with her quite stylish sheath for her knife in the small of her back. Between it and the intricate jewelry wrapping her lekku and arms, she looked ravishingly elegant, while functionally deadly. She gave a wink to the human, who was likely too involved in the game to notice, but she had to try.

The dealer waved his hand over the play area, indicating the betting round officially over. The pile of credits was rather large and Jafan was ready to take them. The Dug, who he'd noticed was a rather nasty individual, felt the need to hurl an insult in his direction. Jafan looked him dead in the face and didn't respond. The dealer ordered the showdown. The Dug laughed deviously and tabled his hand, one card at a time. The values were minus three, three, minus three, three, and a sylop. The dealer announced the Dug had made the hand known as 'Fleet.' And using three's, it was considered a top five hand. The Dug confidently looked at Jafan and muttered something that sounded like, "Poo doo." Jafan tabled his hand. First, he turned over the middle card, the second sylop. Then, at the same time, he turned over the other four cards. The dealer announced, "Full Sabacc." He pointed at Jafan. "The winner." The crowd cheered and booed, indicating the determination of the side bets.

As the credits were being pushed towards Jafan, the Dug slammed down on the table, screaming, "Cheater!" The Dug lunged forward, propelling himself over the table. There were multiple screams and gasps as the Dug moved forward. Simultaneously, if not only a split second later, Jafan pulled his concealed blaster out of its holster. In the time it took for the Dug to reel his own weapon around, it was too late. Jafan had already fired. The blast sent the Dug flying backward towards his seat. The impact sent the body crumbling to the floor, in a mangled heap with the chair.

Kor fell forward with the sudden outbreak of unexpected violence. She struggled to push herself off the table and away from the terrible scene. She quickly went about straightening the very tight dress clinging to her body. The smell of burnt Dug hung over the area.

The smoke filled room once again was silent. The atmosphere was tense. Many looked around, but most were firmly focused on Jafan. He slowly stood up, blaster pistol still drawn, but hanging down at his side. He looked around and spoke for the first time. "Anyone else?" His tone was dark and almost sinister.

Silence was his only response.

Kor just nodded her head and smiled at the human, the man with the blaster was in charge.

Jafan holstered his pistol and turned towards the bar. He walked up to it and indicated he was purchasing the three largest containers of a popular beverage. He turned back toward the crowd. "In that case," he paused, noticing most of the crowd straining to hear what was to be said. "Next round's on me!"

The crowd cheered and clapped loudly, all rushing towards the bar. The music returned in the background and all was back to normal, as if nothing had happened. Jafan moved over to a quiet corner of the bar, bottle in hand, and took a seat at the booth.

"You drinking that alone?" a melodic voice asked of Jafan. The Twil'lek stepped into the dim light emminating from the candle on his table. "You play a pretty good game."

Jafan raised an eyebrow and looked up at the stunningly beautiful Twi'lek. No doubt she was a bottom feeder who only followed the ugly stench of credits. He responded, "I was." Jafan indicated for her to sit. "You have an interest in Sabacc?"

Kor slid into the booth in a graceful fluid motion. Her leg intentionally coming into contact with the human's. She put on a practiced demure look her eyes wide and sparkling. She leaned over the table toward the human. "I enjoy having an interest in Sabacc, especially in profitable players. In many of the gaming circuit's I am considered a bit of a good luck charm. My favorite number has always been 23." She reached over to one of the large bottles the Gambler had acquired at the bar and pulled it toward her, popping the stopper out. "Do you play professionally, or is this just a hobby for you?" she stated bringing the bottle up to her full lips and taking a slow indulgent sip.

"I play when I get the urge to. Or when someone pisses me off." And of course, the urge in this case was the annoying demeanor the Dug had put out. It wasn't his intention to kill the Dug, but the result was not without satisfaction. Jafan took a large gulp of his bottle. "So what significance does the number 23 have for you?"

A wide, slightly wicked smile came across the Twil'lek's face as her lekku curled up to form a heart shaped frame around her face. She batted her eyelashes. "Perfection of course. Every child that picks up a Sabacc deck knows that." She looked the human's face over. Repugnant, like most of his species, but not altogether without character. So if games aren't your usual trade, what is your game? Especially that brings you to a place like this?"

Jafan chuckled a bit. "Work actually. I'm in shipping and hauling. Fastest ride in the galaxy, for a price."

Kor rested her chin on the backside of her hand keeping up the demure act. "Oh really. My associates and I are in need of a reliable hauler. Are you available for a job in the immediate future?"

Jafan cocked his head to the side in a somewhat affirmative gesture. "I don't currently have any obligations. I've been riding the wind these days."

She toyed with her lekku looking intently at the human. "How would you characterize your association with the First Order?" Her tone while still keeping a level of flirtation became more like a job interview.

An odd question to start with, Jafan thought. Truth be told, he had no love for the First Order, given his previous entanglements with them, but he knew nothing about this woman. He had no idea where her loyalties lie. Jafan started to go on alert, though kept in the mood to not arouse suspicion. "I stay out of their way and they stay out of mine. Too much paperwork."

Looking at the human with her deep violet eyes, Kor replied, "Good. My associates and I represent a client that would like to avoid... unwanted paperwork, and few questions."

Jafan smiled while he took another gulp of his drink. "I'm sure they would." He paused a moment. "All right, I'll bite. What's the job?"

Kor smiled "Just necessary supplies, a little fuel and essentials. They would need to get off this rock and to the coordinates you will be given for delivery. Simple hauling job. One small catch..." the woman smiled wickedly, "...the pick up window will likely be very brief and the cargo loaded in a hurry. Keep the engine running. Of course there will be rewards." Kor produced several shiny credits she had palmed off the table and dangled them in her fingers just in front of the her chest. She would let the human play in his own mind what she was offering.

Bottle still in hand, Jafan eyed the credits the Twi'lek woman dangled in front of him, his mind being filled with everything from the thoughts of credits to many more lustful endeavors. "Someone you all are hiding from?"

She shook her head, her lekku coiling gently, "Not hiding, our client values discretion and privacy." She leaned in conspiratorially, her lekku rolling out toward the human. "So, are you... interested?"

After leaning in as she did, Jafan sat back, getting comfortable once again. He took another full gulp of his beverage, fully savoring the flavor. He inhaled and sighed. "Well I was leaving anyway. Might as well have a flight plan." He nodded his agreement.

Kor was pleased with this result. It beat taking the human out in the alley and knifing him. Although he had a lot of pretty credits... no it was better developing a usable asset. She slowly sat back herself taking a drink fromt eh bottle she had procured. "We are agreed then. Very well. I have some people for you to meet Mr... I never learned your name."

"Jafan. The name's Jafan. And what do I call you?" he asked inquisitively.

Kor smiled politely, offering her hand out to the man form across the table. "A pleasure Jafan, you may call me Delilah. Please come with me." she said taking the bottle in her other hand and sliding out of the booth.

Jafan raised an eyebrow and he accepted her hand. It was all very mysterious, but Jafan liked a good mystery. He followed her.

Kor led the human by the hand through the smokey barroom back to the bar where Hal was discussing business with a Rodian. The Rodian was saying something in its squeeky little voice. Kor stepped in.

"Roscoe, I need to introduce you to someone. I'm sorry were you two talking? Freighter Pilot, can transport what we need. I know you are thinking, Delilah, where do you find these people. Like I always say, Delilah is your good luck charm." Her lekku brushed along Hal's shoulder hoping he could pick up a cue. "Roscoe, this is Jafan, he has a ship that may suit our needs."

Hal didn't respond right away as Kor, with human in tow bustled in. He held up one digit to the Rodian and turned his head, "Ahh. A ship, you say? That interests me more than the man at the moment." Glancing the human over briefly, the Duros said "No offense...Jafan, was it? Business is business after all." Turning back to the Rodian he dropped his hand and said, "So far, my friend I like what I've heard but we'll need details."

Jafan raised an eyebrow to the complete dismissal. "No, it sounded like a compliment," he muttered just loud enough so they likely both heard. He finished off his bottle and turned towards the bar, going in search of another.

Hal met Kor's eyes again briefly, eyed Jafan's back and shrugged to the Rodian, "Since we're buying information and this is a first date, so to speak, how about a cask of Tevarian brandy? Well aged and probably a better drink than you'll find anywhere on this rock. And likely worth twice what your information is worth in itself...but a good show of faith from me."

The Rodian's bulbous eyes twitched a little. "Your droid promised high value product." it squeaked as sarcastically as a Rodian could manage. "But since you will be doooooing the hard work in this arrangement, I accept your offer. The drink would will work as a deposit... your show of gooood faith."

Kor's hand slide behind her back feeling the comforting handle of her knife.

Anara raced back to the cantina as quickly as her legs would carry her without arousing suspicion. She flew through the doors and looked over the crowd, trying to find her companions. But the see of faces was dense, and it appeared that a scuffle of some sort had ensued. She began to fear the worst, but decided to opt for a more thorough search before resorting to panic.

Hal caught site of the Captain's head bobbing through the crowd and took stock. Gathering as they were, they'd start to attract notice. Especially since the human had caused a stir. To the Rodian, he said "We have some well aged T'garaian brandy. I think a barrel would suffice for you information, yes?" Glancing to Kor he said, "Why, Delilah, there is our friend An. I don't think her family get together went well from the looks of it. Perhaps we should find somewhere else to chatter, yes?"

Kor's eyes were boring holes into the Rodian. Hal's comment drew her back to the here and now. "Welcome back An. Roscoe and I were just about to take his friend over to our associate Jafan's booth in the back, or would the alley be more appropriate for this kind of transaction?" she tugged on the knife behind her back.

"I think a new venue wouldn't be a bad idea," Anara replied, eying the crowd. She didn't see any obvious First Order contacts, but that was sort of the point wasn't it? Infiltrators would blend in. "I just came into some information which is going to turn some heads. And I may have a tail myself. Either of you have any ideas on where we can lay low?"

Kor gave Anara a nonchalant look, her lekkus swinging to her side toward Jafan. "He's got a ship, might as well check it out."

The blonde turned toward their new companion. "Care to give us a tour, Mr...."

Having heard most of what was said, Jafan new bottle in hand, turned back to the group. "My ship is in Docking Bay Twenty-One Eighty-Seven."

Tilting her head to the side, her lekku curling up and brushing Jafan's shoulder Kor replied, "You heard the man, Docking Bay 2187. Is your friend coming?" she asked of Hal.

"We've a trade to do, so I'll go with him, meet up with Grinder and finish this trade. Then I'll catch up with you all with the information," Hal decided. "If I'm not backing an hour, kill this one slowly," the Duros said off handedly to Kor, gesturing toward the Rodian with his thumb.

"My pleasure." Kor replied with a distinct level of malice that made it very apparent it would be. She turned and linked arms with Anara and Jafan as she wheeled them towards the cantina exit. "So we got a ship to see. Lead the way sir."

Mission: Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Location: Near Docking Bay
Timeline: Concurrent with If it wah a pair of wings...
Feelings. Bad feelings. Kor was familiar with the sensation. She tended to get this way before horrible and tragic things happened. She knew enough from experience to to pay attention. The streets had been quiet, too quiet as the saying goes. Something was very wrong. Not that that should be a surprise on a run down oppressive world like this. Kor needed to get space.

She broke off from her companions. "I gotta go check on a guy. Keep going, I'll catch up." she told them as she slipped off into the shadows. Her experience with choreography on the stage had her very light on her feet. She moved with a grace and fluidity few bipedal beings could duplicate.

Ducking behind a stack of long forgotten crates, she watched as her companions moved down the street. She waited. Since they left the cantina she had been certain they were being watched. The cold of the surface bit against her skin even with her Parka on. She contemplated the wisdom of choosing such a thin outfit for this mission. But negotiations had more to do with influence, and she felt better influencing situations in a tight dress.

A being just under two meters adorned in a long black cloak moved down the street, sticking to the shadows, but moving too fast to properly avoid detection. Kor let him pass waiting to see if others were following for back up. Seeing no one, she stretched out her awareness to take in all of her surroundings. She wasnt sure shy she did that, but it had helped in the past. She stepped out onto the street and began following the follower.

Anara and Jafan had traveled for some distance. The shadowy tail following from shadow to shadow behind them. Once or twice it lifted what appeared to be a comlink to its snout and mumbled off something. A voice on the other side cursed it for not speaking basic. "Target moving down boulevard passing Docking Bay 14. They do not appear to be aware. Still only two." A rather haughty voice responded, "We have an advance squad in position. Reinforcements are closing in."

Kor slipped in closer, moving with a stealthful grace that was completely unnoticed by the cloaked figure. She unsheathed her knife from her back. A swift leap, a twist and a careful forward roll, she was standing and turned momentarily backwards as the cloaked being crumpled into an unmoving heap. The seconds since its last transmission counted off in her head.

She took to running swiftly to overtake Anara and Jafan, She raced a couple blocks ahead of them, until she felt she needed to stop. She lept up on a storage container and stood quietly, looking over the silent shadows. Something wasn't right. She couldn't see it, but her sense of foreboding was strong. Frozen in place she watched.

Anara and Jafan continued on their journey, growing uneasy about a crowd blocking their way into the docking bay. On the side street behind them a team of four Stormtroopers lined up ready to move on their order.

The lead trooper followed Anara with his blaster. He had the shot, just not permission to engage yet. His finger tensed, wanting to shoot, if they were dead, what would it matter... Behind him a figure dropped form above. A single blaster bolt fired into the night.

Mission Episode I: Rogues, Form Up!
Title If she had a set of wings I know she would fly
Location Docking Bay 2187
Timeline Following We've gotta Move
Content The streets if you could call them that of Cardis were oddly vacant. The all pervasive scourge of poverty seemed to fade into the shadows as Kor, Jafan and Anara made their way into a largely commercial area that seemed to be a bit more affluent than the rabble around the Cantina.

"So where is this ship of yours Jafan?"

Jafan looked around as they walked. It seemed a little quiet, but not totally out of the ordinary. After all, they were getting to into the early hours of the morning. The nights activities were likely dying down. He pointed ahead briefly. "About twelve docks that way."

The further they walked the more disturbed Kor became with the conditions. "Something is up. Keep your eyes open." Her lekku curled up as she looked around the abandoned streets. "I gotta go check on a guy. Keep going, I'll catch up."

She silently moved into the shadows and seemed to fade from sight.

Jafan watched her go off on her own. He chuckled and shook his head. "That one sure likes to lay it on heavy."

Anara shrugged as she kept a subtle eye on Kor. "She has her reasons. Been in a lot of trenches compared to most people in the Resistance. When you've seen as much as she has, I don't think you come away unscathed. I feel pretty paranoid myself most days. But with Kor, I trust her instincts....mostly." The captain herself resisted placing a reassuring hand on her blaster. No, she had to keep herself looking unfazed. "So this ship of yours. Think it'd be ok under a bit of heat? There's a good chance we're going to attract some unwanted attention."

The Resistance. That explained a lot. He'd not had any interactions with the Resistance up till now. "She'll get you where you need to go." Jafan almost immediately went on alert. It was too quiet for a reason and his new friend's question didn't make it any better. This was his element, though, and he loved being in his element.

Anara felt a flicker through the force. Danger. But she kept calm, forcing herself to remain tranquil. “Well, we’ll make sure you’re compensated appropriately for your aid. I appreciate the risk you’re taking.”

The two progressed further towards the docking bay. As they approached, still a few sections down, a small group of men came into view. Jafan noticed them a little earlier, but they hadn't moved since they had caught his attention. Now coming into clear focus, one of the men turned just enough for Jafan to quickly move to the side, pulling his companion along with him. He recognized the man! A wave of emotions rushed over him, a little fear, but mostly a sick sense of satisfaction. They came to rest down one of the alleyways, out of sight of the group, but still within they're own sight.

Anara didn’t need the Force to notice Jafan’s emotional reaction as he pulled her to the side. Her eyes scanned the crowd, but whatever he’d seen, it must have been familiar to him. “What is it? You see something?” Her hand settled itself on the handle of her blaster.

"You better draw that. It's about to get messy." a voice said from the shadows behind them. Kor stood there, a little bit worse for wear holding two stormtrooper helmets.
"It seems the First Order has a welcoming reception for us. I disabled one of their squads, but you've been followed since the Cantina."


Continued in Rogue Wings