Star Wars OPEN Star Wars: Black Sheep (Always Accepting New Players)

Alec Fenton, Jeen Talgana (combo with @Adalia-Durron)
Mess Hall

Alec looked at the meal in front of him, then closed his eyes and tried to imagine it being something better before taking his first bite. For half a second he was almost successful but then the real taste overcame him again and he fought against the impulse to spit it out.

Having seen Amber off with his fingers crossed, Jeen made his was to the mess hall for breakfast. He'd worked overtime and Alec had been there beside him as his Pilot, Ethan, had managed to keep his craft in one piece and not in need of repairs. Unlike Amber, who'd not even brought her X Wing back and now had been handed the Hangar Queen, a Lemon of a Ship. Hours of work, so many scrounged parts from the now seemingly abandoned N1, so many 'creative solutions'. He just hoped it stayed together now and was thinking that when he entered the mess to meet Alec for 'nutrition' as he was convinced what they served was not food. He was just in time to see Alec's screwed up face. "That good huh?" He sat down.

"Even better," Alec said and managed a smile. "Guess that dam droid really wants to repay me for the mess we made in the kitchen." Not that the food had been much better before but now it really seemed the droid hated him.

"Hey, if its up there, the droid is punishing everyone." Jeen shrugged, "but like you say, pretty its just what it considers food." Standing he leaned over and smelled it before sitting back down. "Yeah, might just have toast."

"Might be the best decision, but had that all day back on Corellia so not very tempting for me either. Really dream of a real meal for once. A real meal and a hot bath would make me happy." He had mentioned that before but with every day the desire for these things just became stronger.

Jeen got up and grabbed a couple pieces of toast, there was some sort of jam he grabbed for it with a glass of something the resembled fruit juice. Sitting back down he sniffed the glass. "Reconstituted fruit powder......delicious!" He said with sarcasm. "Well, Amber's out there in that............thing."

"Wonder why she couldn't have taken Ethan's ship? He currently still on board." Was this just bad luck or incompetence on their superiors part.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's because she wants to test it out, if anything goes wrong, better in training than in battle.............I guess." He sipped the liquid. "Ohh...that's nasty."

"Wonder if there was ever anything natural to that, " Alec said eyeing the liquid concerned. "Back on Correlia I used to prefer convenience food, only here that I really learned to value of a natural meal."

"Doubt it." Jeen put the drink down again and pushed it away. "Back home real food is hard to come by, but it was better than most of this." He bit his toast. "Where's your pilot if not out there?"

"Not sure to be honest," Alec admitted. "He didn't tell me, maybe a strategy meeting or something like that?"

Jeen finished his toast and shrugged. "He is ranking and all. I'm shattered, might hit the rack for a while." He stood up, and grabbed his tray. "Try not to die eating that slop."

Tag: Anyone

 

~IC~ Captain Cassell "Skipper" Wystari
Port side hangar, Intrepid

It made sense. The decision to send half the squadron out for manoeuvres, while the rest remain aboard the Intrepid. Cassell stood on the polished flight deck of the port hangar along with Harley, Zara, Kayn... and Lou’s mechanic they recovered from the last mission, Airen Vehn... as the chosen members of the squadron, one by one, took off and departed through the magcon field to the vastness of space beyond-

The zestful Zeltron connected with Cassell with such a force that it almost bowled him over backwards. The act had caught him off guard and took a moment to process what had happened. Thankfully, his injured ankle was healed enough to support them both as he caught Harley’s spontaneous embrace.

How long was the appropriate time before it started to feel awkward? He counted the seconds then gently patted her back as it reached the double digits.

“Always good to see you too, Harley” Cassell politely said then cringed as she giggled loudly in his ear.

“You too, Mr S!” She leapt back, grinning. “You give the best-est hugs!”

“Ahh, well... thank you...” He stammered then smiled. “...one does ones best.”

He heard Balzroth remark "Let everybody know, I'm putting a bounty on the head of whoever it was who snuck into sickbay and changed the specs on my new eye. My next paycheck for the name of the perpetrator. Clear?"

Before Cassell could respond, the one called Vehn made a throaty sound then said. “I think it might've been Amber. Heard she has a thing for horns."

“A thing for horns?” Cassell repeated under his breath then rolled his eyes. “Troublemaker.” He shook his head. “Pay no heed to that nonsense, Lieutenant.”

TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels, @Sarge, @Vehn, @Bardan_Jusik

 

GM Update: Part I
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IC: Beskaryc Taab
Leading Navigational Training patrol

Sitting in the cockpit of the Iron Cross, Taab closed his eyes for a moment and breathed inwardly deeply before exhaling slowly. Even behind his T-Visor he found the the swirl of hyperspace around him disconcerting. Fortunately these were relatively short jumps, but he could still feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. The training flight had managed to arrive at and then depart from their previous two way points without incident and were now en route to their third and final destination (a point in deep space not so long ago vacated by the Intrepid). Once they arrived, they would do a quick passive scan of the region and then plot their course back to the rebel carrier they called home.

Home. It was a word that generally meant little to Taab. He was a Mandalorian, yet he never seemed to be back there for any of the troubles. Not the Mandalorian Civil War (which one an arutiise might ask, which was actually a good point, the clans always seemed to be at war with one another), nor the troubles during the Clone Wars and not even the Siege of Mandalore, though he'd been a mercenary working for the Republic at the time. Home to Taab hadn't even been his own family or clan, they had been involved in all of those conflicts "back home" and more, and yet it never seemed to bother Beskaryc himself. Home was whatever ground was between his two feet at the time, because in the end , that was all you could really fight for.

He opened his eyes as the a flashing alarm went off in the cockpit, denoting that it was time to drop out of hyperspace. They had arrived at their final destination. With a relieved sigh he pulled back on the B-Wing's hyperspace control lever and brought the ship back to real space with a flash. Distinct points of light, stars out in the distance, light years away greeted him. Those he could deal with much better than the chaotic swirl of hyperspace. Taab's first order of business was to ensure the other fighters had emerged with him. Glancing to his sensor screen he noted five other fighters there. Three Y-Wings and a pair of X-Wings, so far so good he thought even as he visually confirmed the presence of the X-Wings which shot out in front of his bomber.

The next thing he looked for was to ensure they were where they were trying to be, that was something that each pilot (or more probably their droids) would also be doing in their own planes. His own navigational computer quickly gleaned a star fix from those "fixed" points of light out there and confirmed that they had indeed arrived at their in tended destination. Taab by that point was no longer paying attention to the navigational fix, he had already moved on to a passive scan of the area, and what he found showed him that they weren't alone.

The first indicator was a linear radiation spike, an ion trail from a large engine. The Intrepid had left here days ago, her ion trail would have long since dissipated. This was stronger, and thus much more recent. The second indicator was the activity on the wave, in the normal communications band. It was faint, probably stray signals from personal comm links being used aboard a ship that was being lax with their own EMCON procedures. Taab couldn't make out anything being said, the signals were far too weak for that, but they were there, and they meant that whatever it was, it was nearby. The third indicator though was the most telling, and the most troubling. That of course being the Gozanti class light cruiser that Taab could see out in front of the Iron Cross less than a dozen clicks distant. "Well... shab." He muttered under his breath. The vessel was clearly Imperial, the TIE Fighters hanging on the underside of the cruisers hull were testament enough to that, and it had spotted them, as the rapid lauch of the quartet of TIE fighters and the turning of the cruiser towards the flight of Black Sheep demonstrated.

​

"Bandit's on the nose, lock s-foils in attack position." Taab called out now to the Black Sheep. He then relayed a contact report back to the Intrepid, telling them what they had encountered and where the cruiser had been sighted before ending his report with "I intend to attack." there was no way for the Intrepid to help, and of course the battle would be over one way or another before it could send reinforcements, but in case Taab's group didn't return, the squadron would know why. His own group was far enough away from the cruiser that they could probably reverse their course and escape, though they might have to fight off the TIE Fighters first. Taab however was in no mood to run away. Despite none of the attack craft being loaded with any heavy ordinance or warheads, he still thought they could take on the cruiser utilizing just their laser and ion cannons.

"Vixen, Max clear the way for us." He commed out to the pair of X-Wings, "and keep those TIE off of us while we make our attack runs." He paused for a moment before he issued orders to the Y-Wings. "Wishbones, form up on me, line abreast," he wanted to present as much firepower to the cruiser for as long as possible. It meant the bombers wouldn't be able to protect each other from the TIE Fighters, but Taab was trusting the X-Wings to handle that threat. "Shields double front, and pour on the speed."

TAG: @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @galactic-vagabond422 @TheSilentInfluence @Bodhran777

OOC: We've got the Gozanti out in front of us with a quartet of standard TIE fighters between us and it. Those of course will be trying to attack the bombers, but will have to honor the threat posed to them by the X-Wings first. Addie and renata, the TIE fighters are free use to maneuver, damage and destroy as you see fit. Attack/Bomber pilots, feel free to make your attack runs on the Gozanti as well. You may also report any damage on the cruiser you deem necessary in your attack runs though leave the final destruction of it for a subsequent update. Any questions of course, you all know how to reach me.

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IC: Flight Officer Quin (NPC)
Port side Hanger Bay, Intrepid

"Oh, I know who it was, I know I know I know!" Harley began to jump up and down in next to Wystari in response to Kayn's challenge. Of course her antics caused her to bump into the , bumping into Skipper every time she landed. Noting everyone looking at her after her declaration she paused for a minute. "Oh wait. No I don't." She shrugged. "Sorry, I thought we were talking about something else." her face scrunched up as if she was in deep thought and she wanted everyone to know it. "I bet we can figure it out though," her face brightened as she gave a broad, almost too broad, smile. "C'mon, let's go to the mess hall and figure this out together!"

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Intrepid Mess Hall, a few minutes later...

​

Led by Harley, the quintet ("Quin, oh I love it, very nice there Bardan", "Quiet Harley, you know how rough I can be on NPCs." "Shutting up sir.") of Black Sheep strode forcefully into the mess hall. "Everyone get what they want and let's meet back over there!" Harley said exuberantly, pointing to a sparsely occupied table. At one end was a pair of Intruder Pilots, Maverick and Charlie. Harley's first instinct was that the pair was on a date, oh and what a cute couple they would make! The male pilot's red rimmed eyes though bespoke to something else though. He had either been crying a lot lately or he hadn't slept. Maybe both. It looked like Charlie was trying to console him.

At the other end of the long table was a pair of bridge officers, Lieutenants Felix and Iela, and Harley could tell they were talking shop over their...well whatever the slop was they were eating. It occurred to her that the mess hall had at least been cleaned up properly since the last ...incident here, but she gave it not much more thought than that. Once everyone had gotten what they had wanted they sat down as a group in the middle of the table.

"OK, so here's what we know." Harley whispered conspiratorially to the others, leaning over the table and pointing to Balzroth's eyepatch. He and his fellow A-Wing pilot, Zara, were sitting across the table from her, while she had made sure Wystari had sat next to her. Vehn then was sitting on the other side next to the Valkyria's captain. "Some one, we don't know who..." she was trying her very best to sound serious but she was interrupted by shouting from Maverick who sat just a few seats down to her right.

"No, no no. I will not accept that it was just happenstance!" His outburst engendered looks from everyone else in the mess hall, and so censured his voice became lower, though the Black Sheep could still over hear what he was saying to Charlie. "Goose, was a great pilot, he was also my friend, and those Defenders, those Skulls, knew just when and where to hit us." He had a wild eyed look now. He pointed now to the Black Sheep who had all subconsciously leaned a little closer to the conversation. "It's happened to them too, and the Raiders, oh the Raiders have been massacred by the Skulls." His eyes welled up with tears as Charlie again tried to console him. "It s just war..." she said not knowing what else to say. "People, sometimes our friends, die in..." Maverick though had heard it all before. "No, this is different. That wasn't war, it was murder. The Imperials have someone on this ship, a spy, a collaborator, someone who is telling them where we are and what we're doing."

Lieutenants Iela and Felix had also heard the conversation and had moved down the table towards the pair of pilots. "Be careful what you say Maverick," Iela cautioned softly, "that sort of talk is bad for morale." The look Maverick responded with showed how little he cared about morale at the moment. "It's just bad luck," LT Felix said. "The ship has had a reputation for bad luck ever since we defected from the Empire." Iela shook her head at that. "That sort of talk is bad for morale too." Felix considered that for a moment, though it didn't look like she had changed his mind. "Well what do you think Black Sheep?" Felix asked them. He knew of course, the whole ship did, about the results of their last mission to destroy the Bith Marquis. "Bad luck, paranoia or do we have a spy on board?"

TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @Sarge @Corellian_Outrider @Vehn

OOC: Feel free to describe your characters getting food/drinks whatever before sitting down at the table. let's see if we can keep it on our trays and in our own mouths this time.

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OOC: The following is a result of a combined effort between Anedon, Mitthy and myself to make the interrogation flow. Originally intended as a combined post, it works even better now as a part of the update.

IC: Captain of the ISD Bith Marquis (NPC)/Ethan Malek/Akiva Lurell
Interrogation Room, Intrepid Combo Post/Update

Ethan entered the room and sat down opposite to the prisoner, for a moment he said nothing, instead quietly studied the datapad they had given him on the prisoner.
Then he raised his head and looked the captain straight in the eye. "Captain, I do not know who close you where with the people of your crew, but you have my condolences to their deaths. I regret the loss of every good life in this war, no matter which side they are on and my sole wish is to end it as fast as possible." Each of Ethan´s words was true, but it was both sincerity as well as deliberate flattery in hopes of getting through to his opponent. The others would likely begin threatening or pressuring the captive soon enough and it was probably helpful when at least one of them tried to reach out to him.

The Imperial captain raised an eyebrow at the rebel's genuine sympathy. It was not at all what he had expected, though to be sure he really wasn't sure what to expect. It certainly wasn't this however. Still he resolved to tell these rebels nothing, it was his duty to resist, and he would uphold his duty to the utmost.

Tilting her head she listened. Not to her compatriots words of balm and salve, but to the heart, to the beating, to the tell tale heart. "Surprise? Yes, I think fits it best. He is surprised." she softly whispered. Let the man think what he wants to her soft words and see what her companion weaves from them. If she read that heartbeat change-up correctly she should hear another in a moment as she sat there on her pedestal and watched, listening.

"My name is Ethan Malek, and I'm currently in the rank of a sergeant. But ultimately I'm a veteran... just like you." Ethan said hoping that their guest would at least be polite enough to give them his name.

A sergeant? Leading the interrogation of an Imperial Captain? The Imperial officer snorted in derision. This veteran wasn't even a commissioned officer and he thought the commander of one of the Empire's mightiest warships, well until recently, would deign to talk to him. Of course at least the non com was human, the Imperial sneered in disgust at the Codru-Ji. That one was probably a private, or airman or whatever ranks the rebels used. It was disgusting how far he had fallen, but still he resolved to tell them nothing, not even his name.

Ethan placed his hands on the table in front of him and gave the imperial a friendly smile. "Really? Thats all? Not even trying to come up with a fake name? Must say I´m a bit disappointed." He made a pause during which he continued to smile, but then his face turned serious and he said in a quieter tone. "I´m trying to help you, they send me first because they at least want to give it a try being nice, but in truth they have absolutley no qualms causing you pain and suffering to no end. Trust me, I don´t want that to happen, I think no one should be treated like that." Again his words where utterly sincere, but also a final attempt to achieve at least something before the others would have their way with the captive.

The Imperial captain flinched inwardly at the mention of pain. He had his doubts that these rabble would revert to such methods, but one look at the Codru-Ji told him otherwise. That...thing wanted nothing more than to cause him excruciating pain. His eyes moved furtively from the Sergeant (it still galled him that his interrogator wasn't a commissioned officer) and the alien. He drew in a deep breath, what harm would it be to tell them his name, to give them something they already had if they were competent in the slightest? Especially if it would save him some pain?

"Captain Voss," he finally said through gritted teeth, giving in to the urge to save him some bit of pain now, though he knew it would be at the cost of great pain later. They wouldn't stop at just asking for a name, but it would be all he would give them, torture or not.

Akiva shifted forward to plop down from her perch after the threat was made. So Ethan was on the same page as her? That was good to know, she had been worried the human was too squeamish for such things. Staying on toe point she minced forward as the Imperial Captain Voss shared his name.

"So, you are like Vader? One name only?" She softly asked as she moved behind the others chair. "Let's add, whole truths keep the pain away." She simply stated as she reached up with two arms and grasped his head as a free arm pressed a finger deep and hard in the gap behind where jaw and ear meet. Applying pressure to a nerve cluster for some sharp and intense but brief pain. Nothing truly bad, "Just a light reminder. Whole truths." she whispered as she backed away. She was curious to see if she would even have to do anything now. She had an oddly sad notion that she had studied and brewed poisons for nothing the way this man was already talking at the mere mention of pain.

The captain's head snapped back with the intense pain that came along with the alien's admonishment. The pain he knew was a mere foreshadowing of what they had in store for him should his answers not please them. He steeled himself for what he knew would be coming, for he was unwilling to go any farther than he already had. "It is my name," he said as soon as the pain faded.

Ethan flinched when his opponent was hit with the pain. It didn't surprise him the action yielded no results, pain was ultimately an ineffective way of torture, as in the end the tortured would say anything to make it stop. "I´m not approving of this," Ethan said and once again it was sincere. "But our higher ups see things a little differently, so the only way I can keep them from unleashing even worse things on you is if you give me something I can present them with."

The Imperial eyed the rebel NCO dispassionately, an outward attempt to disguise the lingering pain he still felt from the alien's assault. "And just what would you have me say?" He grunted a forced bit of laughter. "My command codes have no doubt been erased from the Imperial network, my ship has been destroyed." He shook his head. "I know nothing that could be of any value to your pitiful little band."

Akiva slowly walked around the table to lean against the back wall behind her fellow pilot turned interrogator. "Well, if they are so worthless, why do you court more pain and mutilation by keeping them? By keeping any secrets from us?" Pausing in thought she tapped her lower lip, "Or are you one of those masochists?" she asked with a disgusted scrunch of her eyes and slight snarl on her lips.

Sweat began to bead on the Captain's brow as the alien creature moved around the room. It seemed she flowed around it gracefully, like some sort of viscous malevolent fluid. With her snarl at him the beads began to pour down his face. "I... I have nothing more to say." He said slowly, putting on a brave front, totally forgetting the two way glass through which he was being observed.

TAG: @Anedon @Mitth_Fisto @The Real Kyp Durron @adaml83

 

OOC: Still separating the updates into parts so everyone gets their tags. Any questions, feel free to PM me or ask in the X-Wing Fanclub over in the EUC.

GM Update: Part II
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IC: Major Roger Hammond, Captain Steppan Rouger (NPCs)
Barracks 2, POW Camp, SonTay Prison camp

Things had grown understandably heated after the stormtroopers had discovered the tunnel the prisoners called Tom. Recriminations flew first among the prisoners as more troopers poured into the yard and detained a number of prisoners, those assigned to the barracks in which the tunnel had been found. LeBeau, Newkirk, Kinochle Carter among others. Also taken was the senior ranking POW officer, Ganho. All whisked away by the stormtroopers and brought to the northern end of the camp, where the solitary confinement cells and prisoner interrogation facilities were located. All other prisoners were ordered immediately back to their own barracks, and the camp put into lockdown.

Of course the prisoners themselves had no intention of staying locked away in their own huts. As soon as darkness fell Major Hammond, the Big X, the man in charge of the escape attempt and his second, and Captain Rouger slipped out through loose boards in their own barracks and stealthily made their way towards barracks 2. The tunnels had all been well guarded secrets until workers from barracks two had been assigned to them, and so the POWs investigation onto who had betrayed their presence would start there.

Moving through the darkness, the men evaded the ever present spotlights as they played over the shadowy spaces between buildings. They noted the increased trooper patrols both outside the fence line and even a few random patrols now within the camp itself. Neither had ever seen the Imperials this keyed up before, this eager. It seemed they were almost hoping for an escape attempt just for the excuse to shoot the prisoners. It was with all that fresh in their minds that Hammond and Rouger crawled up into barracks two through the night latrine and confronted the POWs there.

"What the hell happened?" Hammond immediately hissed to Ordwgal. These were his men, and as such he had vouched for them. If one of them had indeed betrayed the Rebels, then it reflected just as poorly on him. "It's not his fault." Rouger tried to run interference for his fellow Captain. "Imperial spies are trained for years at this sort of subterfuge, there is no way he could have known." Hammond looked at him wild eyed. "Then you think this isn't just some prisoner that betrayed us, you think it's a plant?" It seemed the idea hadn't really occurred to him, though Rouger seemed quite sure of himself. "Maybe Stilts broke under interrogation and gave the tunnel's location away." Even now Hammond wasn't even sure if the leak had occurred here, though it was still the logical place to start looking. Rouger though shook his head.

"No, Stilts knew the location of all our tunnels, all our plans, but the only thing given up was Tom, and that's the only thing some of these prisoners knew about." He looked accusingly to the recently transferred VIP Prisoners. "So it's one of them, we just have to figure out which."

TAG: @Jerjerrod-Lennox @TheAdmiral @Vehn @darthbernael @Mistress_Renata @Sarge @HanSolo29 @Sinrebirth

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IC: Agent Blut (NPC)
Overseeing prisoner interrogations, North Camp administration section, SonTay Prison Complex.

Ignoring the screams behind him as the hatch narrowed and closed Blut broke character long enough for a wicked grin to cross his face. He did so enjoy causing these prisoners pain, he just couldn't show it much of the time. To do so was unprofessional, but every so often he allowed his joy to peak through. Their screams now though were cut off as the soundproofed room was sealed behind him, and his smile dropped to his usual serious facade. The round up of prisoners had gone well enough, and the torture was at least proving to be distracting, but the interrogations had as yet provided nothing of consequence. Oh he knew these men and women were holding back, but it seemed nothing short of killing them would give him any more answers. He shrugged, even then, one of the prisoners had already paid the ultimate price, tortured to death. That sadly would mean a rather copious amount of paperwork for Blut to sign off on, something he was not at all looking forward to.

Beginning the slow march to his office he ran into Agent Hollymander. "Oh, are you still here?" Blut began, his earlier joy now forgotten as he began brooding over the paperwork awaiting him. Perhaps showing off to this underling would improve his mood. "Are you here to observe the interrogations?" He jerked a thumb back at the sealed room where the one called Newkirk was being tortured. "I'm afraid our guests are being less than forthcoming, though what they say matters little at this point." His eyes gleamed as he let Hollymander in on his little secret. "You see, I know something that not even our dear commandant knows." He leaned in closer to the agent as his voice became a whisper. "I have a spy in among the prisoners, that is how I knew of the tunnel." He leaned back, though his voice was just as soft. "And soon that spy will give me an excuse to take over the entire camp, after which I will liquidate every prisoner on SonTay."

TAG: @The Real Kyp Durron

 

IC: Airen Vehn
Mess Hall

Airen grunted as he poked at his food. Harley was being her usual conniving self and the mood in the hall absolutely exploded after one of the other pilots in another squadron, whatever that was called, started screaming about Imperials and spies and death traps and how bad the Intrepid was and curses. He shook his head. Unbelievable. Such behavior would never have been tolerated in the Empire. Course, nothing ever was. You stuck out there and you wound up being shipped back to your family in a box.

"So what do you think Black Sheep?" Felix asked, "Bad luck, paranoia, or do we have a spy on board?"

"Paranoia," Airen replied as he mowed down his food. He was starving. "No such thing as luck and the odds of the Empire putting a spy aboard this ship? Highly unlikely. Now, if we were with Admiral Ackbar and Home One, absolutely. Look, I was with the Empire. They may have the resources to be everywhere but they're only going to put those resources where they have the best chance at crushing this rebellion. As great as this squadron is we aren't up there with anyone else.....yet."

Tag: @Rebecca_Daniels; @Sarge; @Corellian_Outrider

 

Ic Agent Blut, Saxon Hollymander - Gratitude to @Bardan_Jusik
SonTay Prison Complex.


Saxon listened to Blut and decided the man was unprofessional. “A spy you say?” He spoke in a low voice and interested that his own suspicions had been confirmed. “As for observing…” He gave his head a shake. “There are much easier and more effective ways to gain information from prisoners. I do believe the Rebels prepare for pain.” He did wonder why anyone would eliminate such a rich source of information.

Blut raised an eyebrow at the underling's reticence towards torture. "That may be true," his lips curled sadistically. "but those are far less enjoyable for myself and my men." He shrugged. "Any information we glean from them is icing on the cake as they say." He leaned in towards Hollymander. "My spy tells me all we need to know about the prisoners and their plans for escape."

He chose to ignore the man's pleasure in others pain. Not that he was adverse to that at all; the fact was he enjoyed the mental torture as well as the physical kind. It did give a sense of complete and utter power that few situations could match. He raised a questioning eyebrow. "You found one tunnel? Have you considered scanning the camp? There are likely more." He clasped his hands behind his back. "But of course I am not telling you how to do your job. Only an observation." He thought for a moment. "Is this spy one of the newer prisoners brought in?"



Tag @Bardan_Jusik

 

OOC: This combo with @The Real Kyp Durron is not stalking...yet...it's a little weird...
IC: Baniss Vermillion, Mackenzie Hollymander

MacKenzie stood silently listening. He flinched slightly at the Captain’s surname before grabbing a nearby datapad. He knew the name. “Darius Voss.” He murmured. “I know this creep.” He stated as he turned to his counterpart. “And not for his Imperial career.” He snorted. “No wonder he fell for the ruse so easily. He’s well known in ‘that’ scene.”

Baniss looked a little confused thinking back in the Black Sheep’s past, “Wait, is he the pirate captain that some of you ran into around Hoth?”

“I wasn’t at Hoth.” He turned and passed the datapad across. “No. This is the Captain of the Bith Marque. He has somewhat questionable tastes in his personal life.” He shook his head slightly. “Much like the man I used to work for. I think creeps tend to congregate and find their own kind.” He turned back. “I believe he prefers to inflict the pain rather than be the recipient of it.”

“Or was, at least now.” Baniss looked at his own datapad. He started a search for both Darius Voss and Bith Marque within Intelligence. It would be quicker if he had included the ship’s computer, but he had that old instinct kick in. Baniss looked back to MacKenzie, “Sorry this may take a little bit, but I tend to not trust a computer that hasn’t been torn down and rebuilt by a team I trust implicitly. Old habits die hard you know…”

“Take your time.” He nodded toward the window. “It seems our friend will do the same for a bit.” He folded his arms. “I don’t imagine he will give up anything too easily.” A wry smile spread. “Nor will he hold out forever. The man’s a coward from what I’ve heard.”

Baniss glanced at the window, “Do you think he’s actually useful?”

“Honestly? No.”

“Then we’re effectively wasting our time.”

“Pretty much.”

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik, @Anedon, @Mitth_Fisto (Mention only for the last two unless they want to see two grumpy observers)

 

IC:Artemis "Art" Deco
Location: Barracks Two, SonTay POW Camp

As Artie returned to the Barracks he felt nervous and maybe a little disappointed. As soon as the Imperials had found Tom tunnel the recriminations were flying in. And the once proud barracks that worked together was now falling apart.

Prisoners had been taken, thankfully no-one from Barracks Two but Feral looked like he wanted to rip someone's head off. And suddenly Artie was afraid of him, the man he considered a little bit of a mentor to the group (well maybe apart from Traer) was about to turn into someone frightening. Of course you wanted to find the traitor but using your anger against the group? The traitor would reveal themselves, something would happen that would bring them forward.

Or maybe if they had a bit of a conscience they would. Karma would do it’s work.

The two of the more senior officers of the Barracks were having words with Feral so Artie moved back towards where his bunk was and waited for the argument to begin. He quietly sighed this was not going to end well.

Feral’s eyes roved over the squad he felt Feral’s gaze rove over him and Artie shivered and looked away. He knew that he would probably be accused like everyone else but it still felt unfair. Of course he was the youngest in the group and hadn't been here as long as the others and he considered himself the black sheep of the group already being socially awkward, at least he had made a good start with Joy, Lou and Joy’s parents at least. Of course also the new people would be accused too especially since most of them were former Imperials.

Feral had hit something and his anger was clear now. And all Artie wanted to do was run away from him, he was so damn scary. Of course he had been good to Artie but now...it was as if Artie didn't know him anymore like he had been replaced by an angry monster.

And then it began, argument after argument and it was all turning into white noise in Artie’s head. He wanted to yell at them to stop accusing everyone as it would not help the squad when they escaped although to be honest escape was looking further and further away. It was all falling to pieces and when it came to the crunch he was seeing people maybe for who they truly were. Well Traer was no change but the rest…..

They will literally eat each other to prove their innocence.

Artie still wanted to scream at them to stop it but it was going to be no use. Who would listen to him? The silly little kid in the corner who was naive (even he could admit that) who trusted people a little too much and wanted to make friends. And now those friends were behaving like kids in the playground.

Artie couldn't look anymore; he was trying hard not to shake with anger or fear or nervousness. Maybe perhaps it was best if he left the Barracks and waited until they were all done and then it was probably his turn to face the music, stand up to be counted and have things thrown his way. Maybe it would be better for him to do it in private instead of here in view of everyone.

And if Feral had this anger building inside of him, would he hit someone, even Artie? They had all suffered enough and since Artie believed in karma he believed it would work it’s magic and then Feral could perhaps turn his ire onto the real perpetrator of this treachery.

So Artie stayed quiet until it was his turn but he was not going to say anything to the group while they acted like this. Your opinion is not wanted nor needed Artie….Feral is too unstable to talk to. We're supposed to be Rebels not Imperials.

And so Artie just stared at the wall.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik , @darthbernael , @TheAdmiral , @Vehn , @Sinrebirth , @Sarge , @Mistress_Renata

 

IC Zara Yaren
Not entirely here...

"Your friend, Yvan Sifer,." Max handed her a datachip. "If you're still interested, here's where you'll find him."

The datachip weighed in her pocket, unread but still she checked on its presence every few minutes. Priceless and terrifying. If she read it, she would be committed. Stealing a ship wouldn't be hard, a pre-loaded hyperspace jump would mean she'd be out of reach before tractor beams could respond. It was a constant beat, every time she lifted off from the hangar deck, to turn away and just disappear.

And maybe that was why she had to watch the rest of the squadron take off without her, with no excuse of injury or grief to explain her absence from the flight. Maybe they knew she was going to do something stupid.

The other grounded pilots were talking but she couldn't concentrate on the words. Kayn's tone of voice was... angry? But she couldn't take her eyes off the starlight outside the hangar bay. It was paralyzing, stuck in drawn-out moments of indecision. What if she left? What if she waited? What if...

They were moving now, and she didn't remember tearing her eyes off that vista, but now all she could feel was the shaking. It began at the tips her fingers, and she shoved her hands in her pockets to hide it, but then her headtails started up. Her suddenly-pounding heart echoing outwards, a reflection of her indecision...

The smell of caf and mess food stilled her, for the moment, brought her mind back closer to the moment. Everything was happening on delay, like a galaxy-spanning hyperspace call routed through the cheap relays. Somehow, a cup of caf was in her hands, surprisingly steady, and a sip brought time back in sync as the shaking subsided.

There was a table the pilots were gathering at, and without a good excuse to leave, she joined them. They might talk to her if she insisted on leaving, while sitting with them she could pretend to be involved without actually joining in. Just as long as she didn't look anyone in the eye, she wouldn't blurt out her half-brained plans of leaving the rebellion for personal revenge.

No one would take that admission well.

"Bad luck, paranoia or do we have a spy on board?"

"Paranoia," Airen replied. "No such thing as luck and the odds of the Empire putting a spy aboard this ship? Highly unlikely. Now, if we were with Admiral Ackbar and Home One, absolutely. Look, I was with the Empire. They may have the resources to be everywhere but they're only going to put those resources where they have the best chance at crushing this rebellion. As great as this squadron is we aren't up there with anyone else.....yet."

She could actually decipher full sentences, so she'd count this as a success. Mumbling, hunched over the cup of caf, Zara echoed his words. "No such thing as luck," she agreed.

TAG: @Sarge @Vehn @Corellian_Outrider @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC Ianna Mcear
Training Mission

It was nice to get back into the swing of things again, to fly once again. Pat was getting a good shake down of her navigation abilities. Ianna was junk at trying to do that stuff free hand. The young pilot knew the basics, but the math made her head hurt a little too much for her to be any good. So she was completely fine letting her astromech make the calculations for her. Besides she knew the consequences if she messed up and she didn't want to do that. For now she was content jumping into systems then out of them. It was a nice easy rhythm and it worked for her. There was a calm serenity to it all, far more enjoyable than just sitting around her room, or whatever else she could be doing...except maybe having a food fight in the kitchen.

Coming out of hyperspace again she looked around taking in the sights checking her starchart and nodding her head. Yep she was here, safe and sound, or whatever she was supposed to check. She was already making preparations for her next jump when everything changed. A cruiser jumped into the system deploying TIE fighters. And here she was without torpedoes. She'd feel so much safer if she had two of them.

However she would have to work with what she had.

"On your wing." She called out falling into formation and swapping her shields. Her hand shook a little, a sign of her nerves but, orders where orders and well she wasn't alone. Taab was with her, Mixer was with her, the new pilot was with her, Max and Amber were watching over them. All of them working together could handle this she knew it.

Serica is rocked with bolts glancing off her shields, she tried a few controlled evasive maneuvers but they weren't enough. But it did get her close enough, to begin her run. Alternating fire of lasers and ion blasted the cruiser. The ion leaving behind little lightning bolts dancing across the hull, while the lasers heated the metal. It didn't look like much but one blast of lasers left a hole, a quick follow up with ion cannons sent a jolt through the ship.

A few hit like that and maybe, maybe it could be felled.

TAG: @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @Bardan_Jusik @TheSilentInfluence @Bodhran777

 

IC: Eliana Saeli & Alec Cadera
In Battle

"Are you ready?" Alec asked, as he piloted the Y-Wing into battle, following Taab, wondering what this mission would bring them. He frowned at the silence on the comm and thought for a moment that Eliana wouldn't answer him. How could he blame her, after that last mission. It wasn't as if they came out of it unscathed.

"Yes. Let's do some damage Alor." Eliana answered, her voice quiet, a little hesitant. She gripped her controls a little tighter, so tight that her knuckles were turning white. She let out a slow breath. "Let's do our best to avoid getting shot down this time."

Alec laughed. "You know, that wasn't entirely my fault."

"Oh? Was it mine?"

Alec smiled a little. "I think it was a 50/50 effort."

Eliana scoffed, and laughed; feeling a little better. Alec manoeuvred them into battle as the X-Wing's engaged the TIE fighters, and started to target the Gonzati a bombing run. She kept her eyes peeled as Alec began to set them up; watching the heated battle around them with growing anticipation. The Y-Wing lurched as a TIE flew past, shooting at them and Eliana turned her head to follow them.

"Our shields are fine. Get ready to take down some of those guns on the Gonzati." Alec ordered quickly, "The sooner it gets taken out the better." He veered sharply as the TIE tried to come around for another pass and sped them up. "Starting attack run." Alec said over the comm. He doubled the shields in the front and dived steeply towards the Gonzati, their defences firing quickly as they spotted them. "First bombs dropping."

Eliana nodded, and continued to fire at the defence placements, wondering if that TIE would come back around again. She looked back for a moment as one of the turrets exploded into flame, and they aimed to do the most damage they could. And as long as we don't get shot down again, we're fine.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @galactic-vagabond422 @Bodhran777

 

IC: Kayn
Dinner and a Show

Kayn poked at his plate. He was hungry, but this 'food' was effectively killing his appetite and he hadn't even taken a bite of it yet. Today's special? My left horn! There's nothing special about it! He sighed and glanced around at the others. No one else seemed enthused about the cuisine either. He tried to think of a joke about the food, but they'd all been told a dozen times over; no one wanted to hear them again. No one wanted to be here at all, that was clear. Zara was doing her thousand-meter-stare thing again. Kayn wondered if that was a sniper trait, but didn't ask. Sometimes it was best to let her have her private moments.

A pilot from another squadron was having a public meltdown. Kayn frowned. Didn't the man have any pride or self-respect? This was hardly the time or place to display that sort of weakness. Kayn's first impulse was to slap some sense into the fool. But it wasn't his place to do that, not his chain of command, and such forms of discipline were considered unseemly in the Alliance forces. Besides, the poor fellow had obviously been through a lot, and maybe compassion would be more helpful. That seemed to be a quality valued among humans, especially Rebels and idealists.

Airen Vehn was replying, but Kayn was distracted. Did something on my plate just move? Or is my new eye acting up? Maybe I should have ordered the soup.

"No such thing as luck," muttered Zara.

"If we were lucky, there'd be a fire alarm right now and we wouldn't have to eat any more of this. What did you order, Z? Wanna swap?"


TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @Vehn @Corellian_Outrider and all the patrons of fine dining at the fleet's finest feast

 

IC: Captain of the ISD Bith Marquis (NPC)/Ethan Malek/Akiva Lurell
Interrogation Room, Intrepid Combo Post Bardan, Anedon, & Me

Looking at their captive Imperial she sneered at his reply. Pulling out a datapad and needle from her hair she sat the pad on the table and slid it to him. "We all have choices, and worthless information makes us all so warm and fuzzy. Might even have to reward you with a reprieve from my company? How does that sound? Of course other choices. . ." she practically whimpered her voice as it got softer and higher in pitch, "Have consequences." She finished waving the needle.

The Imperial Captain did his best to keep his face impassive, though the way this alien hissed out the word consequences made him clench up in fear. "I have nothing more that would be of any value to you." he managed to say, though his voice cracked on the last word.

"If I learned something in my life then that every information can be of value," Ethan said, getting more and more uncomfortable with this. "Also do you really think this is going to end just because you say there is nothing more to know? They will make sure you told them everything and then some before they stop with this. Trust me, I´m the only one onn this ship who can help you prevent that. If you help me I can help you."

"And just what is it you'd like me to divulge?" the Captain asked wearily, not sure that he believed the non commissioned human. "If you can't be specific I can't help you."

"Well firstly maybe with you exact rank and position in the imperial forces, as well as an overview over your activities in the last couple of months," Ethan said wanting to start simple.

The captain laughed. "You know my rank and position, Captain of the wrecked Star Destroyer Bith Marquis, as for our activities." He snorted. "Hunting down rebels."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "I may not hold a rank as high as you sir, but I think we both know this is hardly the information I was asking for. But for your sake I will be more prescise: In which quadrants where you hunting? What about other imperial forces in the region?"

The captain swallowed hard, his eyes darting back and forth before coming to rest on the alien. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes before looking back to the Veteran. "I don't remember." It was clearly a lie, but he was an officer of the Empire, he couldn't divulge any information to these rabble, regardless of what they might do to him.

"Oh yeah right, for a moment I forgot what brain dead idiots the empire prefers for their officer positions, must be the reason I never made it up there." Ethan said, decided to play this game along, maybe provocation would help.

Snorting at the man she slowly stepped around, playing with the needle as she closed the distance around the table. Ethan was trying to goad the truth, but she could smell it on him. Leaning forward as her two lower arms clamped his left arm down at the wrist and should Wolf whispered, "Heart rate irregular, pupils just all kinds of wrong, and that smell? Even this nose blind human can smell that one." Shaking her head she sighed, "And here I thought you might do this the easy way."

With a fluid motion her right upper arm grabbed his hair and jarred his head back by it, something to make sure he couldn't focus to ignore the coming pain as her left hand sank the needle into the back of his hand near where a nerve cluster should be and actually straight through to the table below with an audible -clink-. The mix of oils on the needle would cause an instant burning sensation to begin to radiate out in a blend of ants tapping spike feet that were dipped in the worst hot chili peppers fire directly out from the point of insertion. Or at least that was what the instructions stated, she hadn't gotten to try it yet herself, out of curiosity she let go of his head. "Now be honest with us, how does that feel?"

The captain screamed in pain unable even to answer the alien's simple question, or react to the insult from the rebel non-com. The pain began to spread through up his arm and his breathing became shallow, just short ragged breaths as he tried to regain his composure, but it wasn't happening. He breathing became more erratic and it felt like he was gasping for breath even as each inhalation brought with it more pain. He felt a tightness in his chest as he reached out for help, any help, to alleviate the pain...

Her eyes squinted in the odd reaction she was seeing. Erratic breathing, reaching hand. . .she pulled the needle out and lifting a leg up to her rear she reached behind and pulled out a 'flare' from the leg holder. Putting it over the spot she clicked it on, only instead of sparkling fire and smoke it sprayed a soothing antidote to what she had given him. "Shhh-shh-shh-hh." she whispered to him as she put a hand on his head and began to rub back his hair in a soothing gesture.

"That was one of the milder ones. You're okay. You're alright. Shhh. Just breath, slow through the nose in, slow through the mouth out. That's it. That's it. Shhh. Just answer the nice man and we will make it all better." She whispered as she let go and slowly stepped back from him. Waiting to see what would happen now, he hadn't screamed, but that breathing was worrisome.

Ethan felt how sweat run down his neck and hoped no one else would see it. This needed to end, now, he had tried it friendly but the captain had ignored every chance to save himself that Ethan had offered. He needed to get his point across. "You see," he began slowly. "I am utterly disgusted at this, but there is nothing I can do to stop it. It is the same feeling I had all the years I served in the empire. But that isn´t true, there was one thing I was able to do, I could walk away." He rose from his chair, "if you aren´t willing to give us anymore information there is nothing I can do here but see you get tortured. And believe me when I say again that I´m nothing but disgusted at that notion, so all that´s left for me is to leave you two alone, cause stars only know I´ve got better things to do that to try my hardest to protect you from pain a thousand times worse than what you´ve been through so far." He made a pause to give the captian the time to think about this. Then at the door he turned around again, "I want to help you, I honestly want to, but you have help me as well."

The Captain inhaled deeply now as the pain subsided, his red rimmed eyes searching for a way, any way, out of this horrible mess. Finally a raw scream erupted from his throat, he had been in too much pain to even scream before, but now as the memory of the pain was all that remained it seemed to be all he could do. He was so accustomed to the pleasures of command, he had no way to process what was happening now. The screams subsided and he began to sob. He had soiled himself now as well, whether before or after the pain had relapsed he didn't know, nor did he care. He was no longer himself, no longer master and commander of his own vessel, his own fate, he was instead a mournful , blubbering, pitiful mess...

Now we have him, Ethan mused and gave Wolf a look. Don´t take it any further than this or he will break to the point where he will make up anything just to have you stop. Moving around the desk he gently put his hand on the mans shoulder. "Captain, I know you want to do the right thing, you want to tell us what we need to know. But you are afraid aren´t you? Afraid of what the empire will do to you if you talk, and what my.... colleauge will do when you don´t. And you know that it won´t matter for the empire if you cracked or not, they won´t take that risk, if they ever find you again they will kill you. I think you know by now that sooner or later you will tell us, cause you want to, every inch of you wants to get this over with and end the pain. You just have to talk, just tell me and it will be over. If you help us we can protect you, we can make sure you are save."

Staying back Akiva pulled out and twirled the glistening needle whose tip was red with the mans blood. Not in a flashy manner, just slowly between her fingers, just barely in view as she stared him down. Nose twitching purposefully as though waiting for a hint of deception as she strained to listen to his heart and watch his eyes.

TAG: @Anedon , @Bardan_Jusik , Any that want to know what's happening in interrogation

 

GM Update: Part I
​

IC: Flight Officer Quin (NPC)
Mess hall, Intrepid

"Jeez guys you all need to lighten up." Quin let out with an exasperated sigh. "So your friend died, so what?" She rolled her eyes at Maverick. "We've all had friends die..." The Intruder pilot looked at her with murderous intent through his red rimmed eyes as his squadron mate mouthed a near silent "uh oh." Fortunately for Quin, just as it looked like a full on fight would break out in the mess hall the warning klaxon sounded along with a voice overt the ship's public address circuit.

"Crash stations, crash stations, incoming friendly fighters on approach, crash station, crash stations incoming friendly fighters on approach." Lieutenant Iela exchanged a knowing look with her counterpart, LT Felix. "I hate it when someone else does my job." Her nose crinkled in agitation as Felix let out a short bark of a laugh. "Could be worse..." he intoned. They all knew what crash stations meant, the pilots better than anyone. There were damaged fighters on approach.

"Iceman and Slider..." Maverick said almost in a trance. Major Charlie wrapped her arms around Maverick in a comforting hug before explaining. "Two of ours were escorting the Star Raiders on a routine attack run on an Imperial light cruiser..." Meanwhile Quin was looking at Balzroth with a fascinated look on her face. "How did you do that? You asked for a fire alarm and we got one..." She cocked her head off to one side as she visibly changed trains of thought and then looked to Major Charlie. "Hey our friends are out there too!" She exclaimed before looking at her fellow Black Sheep. Her words hung there in the air for a moment. They all had friends out there. Comrades, squadron and wing mates, and no one knew who it was coming back in for emergency landings. "Let's get to the hanger deck and find out!"

TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @Sarge @Corellian_Outrider @Vehn

---

IC: Captain of the ISD Bith Marquis/Commander Wallings (NPCs)
Interrogation Room, Intrepid

The captain barely heard the words of the non com as he slid in behind the Imperial officer. His eyes were still affixed on the alien and that needle stained b y a smear of his own blood. He would do anything, anything to avoid that sort of pain again. It was then that the hatch swung open, and a pair of rebel marines barged in, escorting the dark skinned form of a rebel commander he didn't know. "That's fine, we'll take it from here," the woman commander said bluntly to her underlings. If the Imperial captain had still been in total control of his own faculties he would have realized that the two rebels that had been interrogating him recognized the woman.

"You two may leave now." Commander Wallings said just as bluntly to the two Black Sheep pilots. It was clear it was not a suggestion, but an order. Now that the Imperial captain had been broken, it seemed the professionals were going to scoop him up and take the lion's share of the credit, as well as garner the lion's share of information from the man. Just then the public address system crackled to life...

"Crash stations, crash stations, incoming friendly fighters on approach, crash station, crash stations incoming friendly fighters on approach."

TAG: @Anedon @Mitth_Fisto @The Real Kyp Durron @adaml83

---

IC: Beskaryc Taab
Leading Impromptu attack on Imperial Gozanti

As the X-Wings surged forward, scattering the TIE formation protecting the cruiser, the four attack craft of the training element formed up in line abreast and began firing everything they had at the Imperial star ship. Taab heard Cadera announce his dropping of bombs, and waited for a beat as nothing launched from the fellow Mandalorian's fighter bomber. He had apparently forgotten that they were all BlasTech only, armed just with their laser and ion cannons and without any warheads loaded aboard their craft. It was perhaps an easy mistake to make in the heat of combat, when the bloodlust was at it's fullest, but it also showed a marked lack of professionalism. The other Mandalorian, Tarin, meanwhile hadn't said anything in some time, though his craft had taken it's place in the attack line and begun firing just like everyone else's.

The X-Wings had cleared the way, and while the TIEs were busy engaging them, the attack craft had an easy lane to the target. Laser fire from the Gozanti now erupted towards the four ship element of rebel attack craft. Taab has expected a broad base of fire from the Imperial cruiser, affecting them all as they poured in shot after shot at the besieged vessel. He was surprised then when he noted that the Iron Cross had taken but a few glancing blows. Looking to his left he saw that rather than firing on them all, the Gozanti was concentrating it's fire on just a single fighter, an all out effort to take it out one ship and subtract it's firepower from the formation before they could take down the Gozanti's shields. Cadera and Kid's Y-Wings looked to also be taking just glancing fire from the cruiser while Crow had drawn the short straw and was taking the brunt of enemy fire. The Mandalorian pilot never wavered though, even as his own shields, set to double front like the orher attack craft, were hit by hammer blow after hammer blow of enemy laser blasts. Taab for his part kept pressing the trigger of his own craft's weapons, cycling between auto-blaster, ion cannon and light turbolaser. While he fired one, the others would recharge and then he would cycle to the next, and then the next starting the sequence over again.

As the line of rebel bombers approached the Gozanti, one of her turrets exploded demonstrating that they had broken through her shields. They couldn't do much more this pass Taab thought as his craft roared over the ship, but their next pass should be able to take them out...

*FLASH*

A bright light and a huge explosion behind him racked the Gozanti and rocked the Iron Cross, pitching the B-Wing's nose heavily downward. Pulling back on the control yoke Taab managed to regain control quickly enough, as he began to do a quick systems check as well as look out after the rest of the group. They too had been tossed about by the explosion behind them. The Iron Cross was in good shape, though one of her engines was damaged in the sudden blast. Looking out his canopy he could see that Cadera's fighter was singed as well, but clearly still flyable. Looking the other direction he saw that Kid's wishbone was in similar shape. That made any follow up attack on the Gozanti a risky endeavor, though with Crow and the X-Wings, which had by now finished off the TIE threat, they should have the firepower to finish off the damaged cruiser. The problem was, there was no sign of Crow anywhere.

"Black 9 this is 13 how read over?" Taab sent out over the wave getting no response. "Black nine, this is 13 say position..." Still nothing but static as he began to swing his fighter around in an arc searching for the lost sheep. Frustrated now at the lack of response Taab let loose one last time over the radio. "Crow, this is Iron Hand..." he stopped as he caught a glimpse of the Gozanti. She was burning badly, listing and spinning out of control. There was no way they had managed to hit her that hard on a single attack run, not without any heavy ordinance. A huge hole amidships of the vessel though showed she had indeed been struck by something large, larger than a warhead. "shab," was all Taab could let out as it became apparent to him what had happened. Crow's wishbone had rammed the Gozanti right at her center line and exploded, taking the light cruiser with it. Whether the strike had been deliberate or not, neither Taab nor anyone else could say. It was possible his ship had been damaged by the concentrated anti fighter flak, or maybe Crow had simply had enough. Maybe it was a combination of factors. Whatever the cause, he had taken out the cruiser, there was no way it could survive such damage and already it was being wracked by internal secondary explosions.

"Black Sheep, let's get some distance from the cruiser, check your systems for damage and scan the area as able." He rolled the Iron Cross over, heading away from the burning ship at half speed. "Maybe he got out before impact."

TAG: @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @galactic-vagabond422 @TheSilentInfluence @Bodhran777

OOC: The X-Wings (if they had paid attention, your call on if they saw it or not) would have been able to see Crow's fighter fly straight into the damaged Gozanti impacting her amidships. Our scans won't pick up any ejected pilot.

 

OOC: Still separating the updates into parts so everyone gets their tags.

GM Update: Part II
​

IC: Major Roger Hammond/Captain Steppan Rouger/Tanner Vic (NPCs)
Barracks 2, POW Camp, SonTay Prison camp

Major Hammond remained quiet as Captain Ordwgal laid out his own theory. He was quite right of course, it was all just a little too convenient. Still, the Empire generally showed about as much subtly as a brick through a plate glass window, and what Feral was laying out here was perhaps a little too sophisticated for them. Still, he could not dismiss it out of hand and so he said nothing as he mulled it over and allowed the occupants of this hut to sort things out themselves as he observed.

The conversation naturally became more and more heated, and though Hammond did his best to remain stoic throughout, Captain Rouger by his side was beginning to show his agitation. He clearly had his own thoughts on the matter though he was keeping them to himself at the moment as well. It was a situation that wouldn't last for long though judging by the way he kept constantly shifting his weight from left to right and fidgeting where he stood. Enough then, Hammond thought as Traer raised the most salient question, time to perhaps step in and get the good "Captain Skarn's" opinion on things. A whistle from tanner Vic, who was standing watch by the closed window, though quickly put and end to that notion.

Vic had again taken up his spot, watching out through a seam between the shutters on the closed windows. His warning whistle meant that someone, probably stormtroopers were headed towards the hut. That meant it was time for those who weren't supposed to be here, Hammond and Rouger, to disappear. There was no time for them to retreat from the barracks, so they each rushed to separate bunks, hiding beneath them as they prayed to whatever gods they believed in that the imperials wouldn't be too thorough in their search of the barracks.

They did so just in time, as a loud banging at the door was followed soon after by a quartet of white shelled stormtroopers barged into the hut. Two stood by near the doorway, their blasters leveled at the POWs while the other pair of troopers went straight for Aryan Graul. They grabbed him and pulled him out the door with them, while the pair with the rifles kept the other prisoners at bay. With Graul then secured the troopers left the barracks, closing and locking the doorway behind them. As Hammond and Rouger came out of hiding, Vic rushed back to his lookout post near the window where he exclaimed. "Looks like they're taking him to the administration building." That meant Graul was going to be spending time now in isolation, and with the Imperial interrogators of the ISB.


TAG: @Jerjerrod-Lennox @TheAdmiral @Vehn @darthbernael @Mistress_Renata @Sarge @Sinrebirth @HanSolo29 (one last time )

OOC: Sadly Solo29 PMed me saying that he'd be stepping away from the game, at least for a little while. So this is how we'll be writing his character out of the game while leaving us some wiggle room to bring him back in at a later date if he is able. It also might be able to provide some additional intrigue for us going forward...

---

IC: Agent Blut (NPC)
Overseeing prisoner interrogations, North Camp administration section, SonTay Prison Complex.

Blut considered the man carefully before choosing his next words. "Oh yes, there are more tunnels, I have no doubt of that." The cruel twinkle in his eye belied just how certain he was. "However, their existence is crucial to my plan." His lips curled sadistically. He wouldn't tell the man what he was planning, that as soon as the prisoners began their escape he and his ISB stormtroopers would swoop in and capture them. The move would demonstrate not only just how soft the Commandant had become in allowing the escape attempt to begin with, but also the error in keeping so prisoners alive after their usefulness was at and end. The Commandant would be arrested, the prisoners executed and Blut left in charge of the facility. From there he would create the Empire's foremost information extraction and prisoner elimination program right here on SonTay. He just needed to give his superior, and the rebel prisoners, just a little more rope and they would hang themselves.

"Is this spy one of the newer prisoners brought in?"

"Oh?" He blinked away the glazed over expression in his eyes as he realized he had been asked something else. Blut shook his head, again with a thin humorless smile. "My spy is well placed within their organization, not some mere newcomer." He rubbed at his chin as another scream erupted form down the hall. "Though certainly their own suspicions, similar to yours, will tear them apart from within."

TAG: @The Real Kyp Durron

 

IC: Kayn Balzroth
Medium Rare

"How did you do that? You asked for a fire alarm and we got one..." Quin seemed awestruck at the fluke. Kayn made a face. Still, weird things happened in the galaxy, and there was nothing to lose... What was it he had just said? Something about being lucky.

"If I had any luck the Personnel Bureau would finally come through with my promotion to flight captain," he said to the confused Zeltron.

Pushing away his untouched plate, he joined the rush from the mess deck to the hangars. If someone was about to crash in flames, all those highly combustible humans who made up the majority of the crash crew would need some Devaronian help.

He wondered what was going on with the Sheep on their training/recon mission. Had they run into trouble? That seemed likely enough. Maybe somebody on comms knew something. As he squeezed through the overcrowded mess deck hatch, he activated his neural links. Since they'd been trashed on his last mission, he'd had them overhauled and tweaked for better interface with Intrepid's systems. It only took a thought to select the flight ops comm frequency and tune in to the ship's traffic controller.


TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @Corellian_Outrider @Vehn and the whole volunteer fire brigade

 

IC Ethan Malek, Alec Fenton
Intrepid, Mess Hall

"And that really happened?" Alec asked still a bit disbelieving as he finished writing down his notes on what Ethan had just told him.

The older man nodded slowly, "it did, you should have seen that poor captain at the end of it. Not sure what Wolf exactly did to him but it destroyed something within him. And in that very they pulled us out of there, they press him out now. Wouldn´t be surprised if we never see him again, if what little remains of him will simple be disposed off via airlock."

"So much for being better than the empire," Alec said quietly. Ethan´s description of what happened at the wedding had already shaken his perspective on things but the stories of the interrogation only added more fuel to the fire. But there was one thing he did not understand. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Ethan looked around , the mess hall wasn´t too full and none of the other people seemed to take much note of them. "I am a pilot, and so are Amber and anyone else in the rebellion I trust enough to talk about it. We could die any time, this is pretty much a suicide squadron, maybe in the end they truly will send us into a pointless fight to die so we don´t talk about what happened. You are a mechanic, you stay here in relative safety."

"A safety you endanger by telling me about these things," Alec responded with half a smile.

"I´m not forcing you to anything," Ethan responded and it was true, the young man had decided to help on his own volition. "Think about it, if we defeat the empire do you think Flagg and co will ever admit to what they did here? Of course not, they will go on to have long and successful careers in this New Republic, never having to answer for the crimes they committed. And who knows how high this goes? How many officials in the rebellion are involved in shady dealings like this." He made a pause before continuing. "If this new republic should truly be able to avoid the mistakes of the old we need to prevent things like that from happening again, war crimes cannot be forgotten or shrugged away as necessary. We need someone to tell the truth, not now. But once this war is won we need someone to tell the galaxy of the Black Sheep."

Tag: No one

 

IC: Akiva 'Wolf' Lurell
Interrogation Room, Intrepid

Looking at the small Imperial man as he finally broke brought a grin to her face. Her fellow pilot had this! They had this! Her lips were just beginning to part to instruct him to answer the nice man, when the unthinkable happened. She - she - came in with two marines.

"That's fine, we'll take it from here," the woman commander said bluntly to her 'underlings'. This was not how things were done! Well, actually she had never done these things before as all her past experience had either been adjacent or the back room shakedown variety, but she was pretty sure this was not how things should be done.

"You two may leave now." Commander Wallings said just as bluntly to the two Black Sheep pilots. It was clear it was not a suggestion, but an order. She was very tempted, very tempted, to grab all three of them by the ears with a little blaster ant venom on her nails and drag their screaming bodies out of the room to keep the fear alive in the Imp so he wouldn't see this as his salvation. Only two things kept her from doing this, one Commander Wallings could likely make sure she never flew a B-Wing again, two - why go to prison when she could just poison her in secret later? Well that and the alarm going off, really that was a combo for second place reasons not to fight her on this. The public address system crackled to life stating...

"Crash stations, crash stations, incoming friendly fighters on approach, crash station, crash stations incoming friendly fighters on approach."

Racking her mind for a moment she remembered that few from her squadron were out, including one of the competent B-wing pilots! Bloody walls, not again! She snarled and shoved her way through the interlopers, she had somewhere to be and they knew how to find her when they failed again.

TAG: @Anedon @Bardan_Jusik , @The Real Kyp Durron @adaml83

 

IC: Eliana Saeli & Alec Cadera
Attack on Imperial Gozanti

Alec swore loudly in Mando'a, but tried to let his anger pass. He must have gotten mixed up. He looked back at Eliana firing quickly at passing TIE fighters, and pulled up sharply at the command to clear and fall back as the Gonzanti exploded, and realised that they had been singed by a previous explosion. Alarms were going off in their Y-Wing, and Alec started to flick a couple of switches and buttons to get them to turn off. "Eliana are you okay?" He asked concerned. Their Y-Wing was moving a little slower, but nothing that a re-route could handle. Alec waited for a response and breath a sign of relief when it was answered.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Eliana sounded tired. "I'm sorry. I think I was running on adrenaline for the last few minutes." She swallowed hard and watched for any enemy fighters, but she didn't see any. "Are you okay Alec?"

"I'm good Mesh'la." Alec was grateful when she didn't mention his mistake. "Vor entye."

"What does Mesh'a mean?"

Alec laughed, feeling warm. "I'll tell you later."

Eliana rolled her eyes and smiled a little, "Promise?"

"Of course." Alec replied, shaking his head. "I promise. When we have some time to ourselves." He watched the skies around them, carefully flying. I don't need to hit anything after all of that. Still, I wonder how many of these cruisers we have to defeat before we have an advantage over the Empire.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @galactic-vagabond422 @Bodhran777

OOC: Whoops, I guess I should have doubled checked my post before I posted last time. Oh well.

 

OOC: Another fun combo...maybe he is @The Real Kyp Durron...
IC: Baniss Vermillion, Mackenzie Hollymander

Watching the events playing out before him caused MacKenzie to frown and shake his head ever so slightly. Deep down he’d hoped the Alliance would not have adopted the Empire’s tactics.

He’d been wrong.

Looking over his shoulder he wondered how Baniss was reacting to the torture before them both. “This is pleasant.” he murmured sarcastically.

Baniss had closed his eyes to listen more to the interrogation. He didn’t like torture in this situation especially the only thing they were getting information that they already knew. Once he heard the door open his shoulders slumped and shook his head, “Anything that hasn’t already confirmed our suspicions?”

“Nothing…. But..” The hatch door in the interrogation room swung open and Commander Wallings escorted by two burly marines entered. “Wait…” he added with curiosity. MacKenzie listened as she dismissed Malek and Lurell. “Wonder if she knows we’re here?” He murmured. Could this be an opportunity to clear her? Or quite the opposite?

Watching as the fellow Black Sheep pilots left he began to wonder what she could be up too. The woman was in Command and they generally did not get involved in such interrogations.

Baniss grinned, “Maybe maybe not, but if he knows anything then she’d do a better job than the pilots.” he growled, “And with less Imperial-like tactics… maybe…” while looking at the two burly looking men. He was about to say something else, when an alarm went off:

Crash Stations!! Crash Stations!! Incoming friendly fighters on approach! Crash Stations! Crash Stations! Incoming friendly fighters on approach!!

Baniss non verbally asked a question with a look, “Who does what?” Baniss wouldn’t be useful for the incoming fighters, but he is usually very good at gathering information.

MacKenzie looked upward to the sound. “That’s a little disturbing.” He turned to the other man. “The training group didn’t leave that long ago and no one else is out there.” He frowned. “I think they have enough help on the deck. Deck crew as well as pilots.” He shot his companion concerned look. “I think we should stay here. I believe we need to hear and see this.” He was still very suspicious of Wallings. Moving to the side of the two way glass he said quietly. “Out of sight is often considered out of mind.”

Baniss nodded, “Though you know that we can’t take anything she says for granted…” he grinned, “Then again, can you with anyone?”

MacKenzie was unsure as to how much Baniss knew. “Those on the flight deck believe there is a serious security leak onboard The Intrepid.” He narrowed his eyes as he watched Wallings move. “Several believe ‘she’ is the leak.” That should be enough to urge the man to observe Wallings with him. “Who knows what she may say to our prisoner if she believes we aren’t listening?”

Baniss grinned, “That’s the problem with us Intelligence types, we always believe someone’s listening.” We may need to hack her computer...

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik