Long ago, in a galaxy far away...

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Aboard the ISD Intrepid, the Trandoshan Barney Kallukoras sat in the well-lit briefing room, a round durasteel table before him with a holoprojector in the middle. He had signed up for the Imperial reservist forces, but with entire planetary armies diverted elsewhere for colossal Imperial construction plans he had been called up to service for this mission. It could have been anyone from his division for this mission, but his specialties made him particularly suited, as did his race. Not only was it out of character for the Empire to use aliens for sensitive missions, but he was a genetic defect amongst them - most of his race were a dark green or a brown, but he was, inexplicably, purple.

His attention was drawn towards the door as it slid open, and there were two people standing there, a person you could call either a human or a ghoul depending on the light, and a Bothan. The human was wearing a light brown uniform, though even with that it was easy to guess that you could poke his organs with the tip of a finger. Not that Barney would try, of course. It appeared that the human was in his late 40's, with graying hair and aged face, but despite appearances he was still quite spry.

Standing beside him was the Bothan, who was considerably shorter and looked as if he worked out even less than the human. He did appear to be in better shape though, not that it was easy to tell with his dark brown fur. Like the human he was wearing a light brown uniform, leading to the conclusion that these two were a team of some sort. They took a seat on opposite sides of the table with Barney in between, leaving a spot at the head of the table open.

It was about another thirty seconds before another person walked in, this time a man in a black uniform with rank indicators showing that he was a Major. His boots clicked on the durasteel table as he approached the table. "Good evening gentlemen," he greeted, "I am Major Carlson of the 53rd Corellian, the commanding officer for this mission. It's nice to see you could make it Corporal Kallukoras, and our pair of freelancers." He nodded to each of them in turn, then withdrew a cylinder from his front pocket and pointed it at the holoprojector sitting on the table. With the push of a button it flickered to life, displaying a planet covered in jungle.

"This will be your destination, Rasbon IV. It's a planet with confirmed Rebellion sympathies, and it's highly suspected that they have a secret base somewhere within the dense jungle. However, even our most advanced scanners can't penetrate any more than the first couple of layers of canopy. We don't know if this is from the jungle, a technological source, or if it's a planetary property, though the last is very doubtful. We would send Stormtrooper divisions to investigate, but they are otherwise occupied.

"Obviously, this is where you come in." He zoomed in with his remote, to display a fairly large city. It was little more than a hamlet compared to some of the massive Imperial metropolises they had seen, but considering the surroundings it was a sizable town. "You will be landing in the star port here. We've reserved docking bay number 36 for you in the name of the Budovin Transport Company, ostensibly for the purpose of a business meeting. From there you will be approached by another Imperial agent who will provide you with shelter while you're deployed. In case he fails to do so, you are to proceed to his address anyway. All proper documentation and pertinent information has been uploaded to your datapads. Are there any questions?"

[PurpleXVI]

Argon sat upright and to attention in his chair, no sign of slouching visible in his gaunt shape. It looked like he would have stood to attention had they not been supplied with places to sit. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered what little information they had been given. The freelancer gestured quite heavily with his hands as he spoke, as if trying to carve his words out of the air, especially when he occasionally got stuck thinking of a word.

"How..." he spent a moment searching for the right word, "Heavily colonized is this world, sir?" Directing his question at the major, "Are there many outposts? Has nature been forced back to some degree? Or is most of it full of dangerous indigenous creatures? If so, are there any files on these animals that we might request access to? We could ask the natives, but the more questions we ask when we get there, the more we'll stand out as strangers."

Once his question had been answered, he would thank the officer and proceed with another line of inquiry, "If for any reason we end up being unable to contact a representative of the Empire for orders, what are you expecting us to do if we find a rebel base or something nebulous? Merely scouting until we can re-establish contact, or are we also contracted to take action of some sort?"

[Kazilan]

Sorkuk remained quiet while Argon spoke, the Bothan choosing to examine the display of the planet and city instead. He glanced at the trandoshan repeatedly during his examination, and couldnt' help but voice his anxiety over the being's presence once Argon had finished speaking.

"Are we to transport this Corporal in our ship, or will we meet him on the planet? I wasn't expecting an extra passenger, especially not one of his size. And are we receiving orders from him? Or will he have his own goals apart from ours?"

Sorkuk brushed at the hair on his neck for a moment before continuing.

"And of course there is the matter of payment. It is good business to confirm the amount before departure, as I'm sure you know."

[Caleb808]

Barney took notice of Sorkuk's glances and winked at him, which might be a comforting gesture if he wasn't doing it while periodically looking down at a cookbook with Bothans and Wookies on the cover. He had no questions for the Major and so he simply waited for the issue of transportation to be sorted out.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

The Major clasped his hands behind his back and looked at Argon. "There are not many known colonies on this planet. It was discovered in the last period of exploration before the Republic proved itself to be an ineffective government, and thus only the first steps of incorporating it to becoming a useful planet were taken. The city you'll be landing in is the only known settlement of over a hundred thousand people as of the last full planetary survey, but we don't know if there are any hidden. You shouldn't need to go into the dangerous areas, and what reports of the planetary biology we have doesn't report anything too dangerous for a skilled group to handle.

"If the Imperial contact is unable to meet you, then you are to use his address given as a base of operations. Should something like that happen you should proceed as you would otherwise - try to establish contact with and infiltrate Rebel support groups, and discover the location of the Rebel installation if there is one. While you are not contracted specifically to destroy any sort of base you might find there, it will result in a bonus."

He saw this as a fine opportunity to segue into answering Sorkuk's questions. "For fulfilling the basic wording of the mission, you will receive seven thousand credits each," he said. "Taking action against their base will net an extra three thousand each. Though he is a member of the Imperial military, Corporal Kallukoras will also receive similar compensation on his salary. He will also be traveling with you, so as to not avoid suspicion. He should fit fairly easily in your ship, and arriving together would help preserve the pretext of you being there as a business deal. You will not be receiving orders, as you have the same goal and are not members of the Imperial military. Is there anything else?" He slid the remote cylinder back into his pocket, and washed his gaze over the group again.

[ 02-25-2007, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: Man Who Fights Like Woman ]

[PurpleXVI]

"I can think of only one last thing to ask," said Argon, ignoring Sorkuk and Barney flirting with each other, though a brief image of the terrible spawn that could result flitted through his mind, "You say that Rasbon IV has Rebel sympathies, how strong are these? Do they directly aid the Rebellion? Do they take action against friends of the Empire? Mostly I'm wondering how unpleasant a reprisal we can expect if our employer is somehow discovered and what sort of attitude we need to fake."

[ 02-25-2007, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: PurpleXVI ]

[Kazilan]

Sorkuk nodded at the Major's responses. "The terms are agreeable to me, so long as the corporal here stays away from me and my ship controls. I know of trandoshan appetites for other species."

The Bothan shifted in his seat, eager to get behind the controls of the ship and into the vastness of space.

[ 02-26-2007, 12:00 AM: Message edited by: Kazilan ]

[PurpleXVI]

Argon frowned at the Bothan's commentary, "Our ship, Sorkuk," he turned away from the major to face the Bothan, "And I'm flying this time, you can spend your time taking care of the passenger. You know I'm the better pilot."

[Caleb808]

The sexual tension between Argon and Sorkuk was painfully obvious, as was Argon's jealousy at not receiving any attention from Barney. He saluted the major and excused himself from the room to avoid getting in the middle of the lover's spat. He grabs his luggage and stands next to the feuding couple's ship, waiting patiently for them to kiss and make up so they all could depart.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

The Major answered Argon's question quickly, as he could see the sexual tension was beginning to heat up the room. "If you are somehow discovered to be agents of the Empire, I can suggest only escaping as soon as possible. They're likely to form a mob and try to lynch the three of you unless you have a real good cover story. If that is all, I have a meeting to attend to." If there was nothing else, he would surely leave the room, as this lover's spat was near to boiling over.

While waiting by the ship, Barney could see the hustle and bustle of mechanics going about their business, repairing and maintaining Lambda-class shuttles with the help of their astromechs. When someone walked past him they almost made a point of not looking at him, as if they were trying to convince themselves that he didn't exist.

Back in the briefing room, there was only silence and the occasional flickering light while the two mercenaries sorted out their issues.

[ 02-26-2007, 04:43 PM: Message edited by: Man Who Fights Like Woman ]