RPlog:Recon into Dac

The Minnow is more to Mandor's tastes. It's small, fast, easy to get around. Sure, it doesn't pack the punch of a Star Destroyer, but there's something graceful about the ship that would take his crew to Dac and back again - hopefully with valuable information. Sitting in a seat behind the pilot in the cockpit, Lieutenant Mandor reads over the datapad, nodding his head gently. "Looks like we got everything we need for a proper recon..." he says, talking mostly to himself. "Should be a piece of cake. We shouldn't have much trouble from the Repulicans. Their security procedures aren't as... strict," he says, this time looking over towards Liza. "Ever been to Dac? It's quite a lovely world. Nice place to take a vacation."

Liza smirks as she sets them on their way, the stars now streaking past as they have made the jump into lightspeed. "Can't say that I have, sir. I've only been to Corellia and Caspar..well, and the Academy, but that's a given, yes?" The autopilot's now engaged, allowing the woman to relax while they head towards their destination. "I've never really had much reason to travel much. By the time my mother and father adopted me they were both reaching middle age and such. I think they were just content to sit at home and raise me." Blinking, Molokai falls quiet before muttering in annoyance at herself. "I should get in touch with them. I haven't seen them since graduation and I haven't sent word home since my arrival upon the Inquisitor. I am sure my mother will be livid iwth me."

"I know you were born on Caspar. Your Sar spots are quite a give-away," Mandor says, closing the datapad and looking up. "Sarians are quite the interesting species, I must say. Very early spacefarers, originating on Mergansar. Strikingly similiar to the Human species, but, for some reason, no common ancestor has yet to be discovered..." Mandor continues on about the Sarians, detailing their exhaustive history over the eons. "I was actually quite surprised to see a Sarian under Imperial commission. What with the most recent incidents against the Union. That makes me wonder... what exactly drove you to become an Imperial? Is it just your father? I take it he was a human? Or was he one of the lucky few non-humans?" The thought of a Sarian in the Imperial Navy under the Palpatine regime is rather difficult for Mandor to picture. But, then again, Thrawn was a Chiss. It's possible.

The questions Liza is asked gets her to laugh, the way he almost rapid fires them off getting her to smile, an actual, genuine smile, not one of the meek ones she's been giving before. "My father was human, yes. TIE pilot. One of some reknown. He managed to pull some strings and got me into the Academy." Leaning back, she looks out as they continue to travel, her eyes lidding slightly as she thinks about everything. "I was their only child. Mother couldn't have children due to a genetic disorder. They both were very, -very- proud when they found out their only child was going to follow in her daddy's footsteps." Pursing her lips, she thinks before continuing. "I am very lucky to be where I am. I'll admit it."

"Is your father still in service?" Mandor asks, leaning back in his chair. In his mind he wonders how her father was received within the Empire, what with a Sarian wife, or how the Caspians viewed their entire family, now what with the estranged relations with the Imperials and the Imperial invasion of Caspar several years ago. What did Liza do during that war? Personal questions he should not ask; leave it to Imperial Intelligence and COMPNOR to watch her in case her loyalty was in conflict. "I'm sure they were. TIE pilots are some of the best in the galaxy. It's just a shame their craft isn't on par with their skills," he says, shaking his head. He glances over to the navicomputer, wondering how much time was left until they reverted to realspace and the real mission began. He looks back over to Liza, smiling. "Did you know that the Mon Calamarians once committed genoice on their fellow Quarren? They're a rough breed... we best tread carefully."

Liza shakes her head. "My father retired. He and my mother were both Corellian of birth.." There's the answer to Mandor's unasked question, "..and he brought us back to their birthland." She grins, remembering life within Coronet City as a child, an alien child, at that. "Are they tough..?" she asks as she listens to the fact he just told her. "I really do not think it takes a show of strength to commit genocide. It is more cunning, I believe."

"Corellian of birth, huh? Corellians are a wily couple. Top-notch pilots. Corellian-Sarian... interesting mix," Mandor says, smiling. "I'm from Coruscant, myself. Or Imperial Center. Whichever you'd prefer. I swear, it's changed names so many times in recent years, I don't think it matters much anymore." He then grins at Liza's observation, and chuckles a tad. "Perhaps you are right. It was a rather bloody conflict between those two; in the end, the Calamarians won out. I suppose you are right about it being their cunning that gave them victory... alright then, they're a very smart breed," he says, winking.

The metallic blue of the Sarian's eyes brighten as she laughs and Liza is quick to shake her head. "No. Both of my adopted parents are human, sir. I am full blooded Sarian. My parents were killed in a speeder accident and my brother eventually sent us younger children to live with other families. The Molokai's had been on Casper during the occupation and took me with them after my brother pleaded with them to help him...us." She looks at Mandor fully as she says that, looking at him. "It must not have been easy for them to raise an alien daughter. Especially with my father being from the 'old school' era. But he loved me just as much as if I was his own flesh and blood."

"Oh. Excuse me," Mandor says, rather embarrassed. He had assumed her mother was a Sarian, and Liza was half-human, half-Sarian. Now he remembers the old saying about making assumptions. Blushing, he readjusts his spectacles and coughs. "I see. Do you remember anything of your birth parents?" he asks, recomposing himself.

Liza nods. "I was seven when my parents died so I do remember them. They worked hard but were both very loving. My father was very handsome and my mom more beautiful than anything." Her head comes to rest against the back of her seat as she slips the ship back out of hyperspace, letting the small vessel come to a full stop as she does so. "What about you? What's your story? How did you get to be where you are now, sir?"

Mandor watches as the stars come back into view and the full-form of Mon Calamari appear ahead of them, traffic going back and forth from the planet. He stands up from his seat and moves up to behind the pilot and copilot chairs, resting his arm on the copilot seat as he looks out at the planet and the space around it. "Oh, my story isn't that thrilling. I was born forty-five years ago, read some history books, taught at the Institute for Galactic History... and well, after Coruscant was liberated a few months ago, I decided to put my skills to better use. Here I am." Very condensed version of his life story; he doesn't talk much about his life. "We'll have to resume our conversation sometime else, Officer Molokai... time to get down to business." Being commander of the operation, Mandor gets to work. He looks over at the communications specialist assigned to them. "Get those sensors up and begin scanning... record everything. Molokai, take us in closer... fly casually."

Liza flips a few switches as she turns the sensors on, setting them to a passive sweep that should escape the notice of most anyone out there, or so they can hope. "So what are we looking for?" The Minnow is slowly maneuvered towards the planet, the speed kept deliberately slow, almost as if to give the impression the ship belonged to sightseers rather than to Imperials on a covert operation. "This...is going to be boring, yes?" That gets her to frown a bit but hey. Not all missions can be full of dogfights and laser fire.

The Guardian-class light cruiser soars towards Mon Calamari, its engines propelling it through the void of space. With Lazi at the controls, Lieutenant Mandor is given free reign to command the operation; after all, he's not much good behind the controls. "Keep her steady." His eyes are set out at space and the massive orb of Calamari that takes up much of the view. Around the world he can barely make out the countless dots that represent ships going to and from. Beyond that, the Mon Cal shipyards, having been rebuilt since their destruction at the hands of the third Death Star, are clearly visible. "We want everything, Officer Molokai. A complete read-out of this system," he says to Lazi before turning his head to the communications specialist, "and I mean everything. Every ship, from their big guns down to the passenger freighters, record it. I also want a read-out of all their orbital defense emplacements." While Mandor can't exactly see the individual ships, the highly advanced sensors that the Minnow is equipped with are more than up to the task of recording those far out vessels, recording their transponders and designations - whether they be Mon Cal Cruisers or Republic Star Destroyers. Naturally the process is not an easy one; it takes a while to sort through them all, and they'd have to get closer to get better results. And, naturally, they always run the risk of being detected. But Mandor trusts in Lazi to keep them out of harm's way. "Veer more towards the shipyards, Molokai; that's where the bulk of their defense fleet will be located. Lieutenant Hendricks," he says to the specialist, "mark the shipyards and her surrounding defenses as targets of opportunity for future reference. He gives Lazi a pat on the shoulder. "You're doing good."

As the orders are given, Liza begins the scan. Nothing's left unscanned. No ship or shipyard or anything inbetween is left without being scanned, the information gathered then recorded as it's taken in. "Should I send this on a encrypted transmission or should I wait and give it to the Commodore once we return home..?" She shakes her head as she asks that, not sure why she's doing so. As the scanning is being done the ship flies 'casually', moving at a speed that will hopefully not draw attention for being too slow or too fast.

 With securities tightened, perhaps ridiculously so given the importance of the Dac system, it is not long that any scans of the vessels and other such military emplacements of the New Republic's Navy would be detected. And as if that was not enough, when those scans are being conducted with military precision and equipment, stationned aboard a civilian vessels, well, that's enough to perk up more than a few alarms. However, aside from those few alarms, nothing else is said or done from the New Republic's part, or more specifically there is no high-speed chase given...just yet. "Send our fighters out on nearby patrol coordinates to likely jump points for that vessel if it was to turn tails and run towards Corporate Authority, and Imperial Space, include Hutt Space as well.", you never know what those Hutts are being up to after all. "I want that vessel intercepted and caught if it attempts to escape." And only when everything begins to move towards the designated space does the Audacity peel off from its spot amidst the ships orbiting the shipyards. Its speed neither too hurried, nor too slow, just a routine examination of a civilian vessel that wandered too close to military assets.

 In the hangar bay of NRCV Audacity, Kesander Beysarus takes little time in getting settled in the cockpit of his X-Wing once the launch order comes. The remainder of his small force, drawn from the pick of Ghost Squadron's pilots is no slower than he. "Krayt, this is Sandman. Team Revenant launching now. Will form up and wait for your vector data transmission." With this, Captain Kesander Beysarus's group of fighters soars forth into the star-spangled blackness of space.

 Indicators crop up in the cockpit of the Minnow. The Republic was on to them. Mandor smiles. "Don't worry, Molokai; don't show any sign that we're reacting in any way," he says to his pilot. "Just keep those scans going. So far they've only began deploying a few fighters to intercept. They're not taking us as too much of a threat, it seems..." He wonders how long it will be before they hail the Minnow and go through the usual formalities. But, Mandor is not a military officer; he's a politican at heart. He can handle a few hotshot Republicans. "Keep the scans going. We still don't have enough information; try not to get us squeezed in between any of the big ships... head on a clear course, if possible, Molokai," he says, watching as the shipyards grow near. He could now make out the orbital defense platforms that defend Mon Calamari. He looks down a bit at the sensors, watching as they go to work at recording all the information and anxiously awaiting the hailing announcement from the Republicans to cease all activities and so forth. "You worried?" he asks, looking down to Liza.

 Looking at the view that looms ahead of them, Molokai can't help but to give a bit of a nervous chuckle, Liza apparently somewhat tense..and the historian's constant chatter and questioning is not helping. "I wasn't until you started babbling..sir." That's said with a grin, the Sarian's smile meant to show the man she's joking. "Are you?" The Minnow drifts lazily from place to place, the scanners still running, drawing in more information. The fact that the NR seems to have taken notice of them does not change one damn thing as she continues to do her part in their little mission, the pilot following Mandor's orders as he gives them.

 "Sienar Guardian-class Light Cruiser.", begins the transmission being broadcast to the vessel on a general hailing frequency, or whatever the term is, just as the jamming equipment on a nearby vessel kicks in full power scrambling the scanners's readouts of the surrounding. "You have enterred private space, and have begun to take scans of sensitive material. Identify yourselves, and your purpose here." Rasi's voice a cool, and reserved barritone somewhat distorted by all the mechanical thingamajigs it has to go through to be broadcasted onto the bridge of the other vessel. "Please prepare yourselves to be escorted back to the appropriate civilian lanes.", the Audacity still moving forward towards the cruiser. And far away in the system, the fighters begin to move towards those points that Rasi sent them to, a smaller freighter-sized vessel heading to join them. "Sandman, this is Krayt Actual, please tuck in next to them and prep your engines in case something is pulled."

[Nav-Comp:]   Rasi on CS-5888 rolls a 15 for his SENSORS skill. roll! [Nav-Comp:]   Liza on SF-7715 rolls a 32 for her SENSORS skill. Her uses a Character Point to boost this by 9, giving her a total of 41. roll!

 "Krayt Actual, this is Revenant Leader, roger that. Moving on intercept vector towards target Sienar Guardian Class Light Cruiser. Will prepare to interdict. Sandman, out." The pilot of Ghost 7 switches to his tactical channel and sends to his team mates, "Team Revenant, lock your s-foils in attack position and accelerate to attack speed. I want to close the distance to that cruiser as quickly as possible. We will move to take up a blocking position as soon as we can. Keep your eyes peeled for any additional unexpected company, Sandman, out." Switching to his ship intercom, Kesander Beysarus addresses his R2 unit, Z-10. "Smokey, do us a favor and boost the forward shields another ten percent if you can manage it. There's no telling what those jokers on the cruiser are going to do once they realize we're here to shut them down." And with this, Ghost 7 points her nose in the direction of the target ship, even as her Fusial ion engines flare with additional thrust.

 Locking his S-foils into attack formation, Raxis takes Kesander's wing and begins adjusting his shielding and telemetry data with the help of his faithful astromech unit, V10. Taking a moment to glance around as he slides Ghost 3 into the textbook formation and soars with his wing towards the cruiser. "Copy Revenant leader, standing by for additional orders." He adds into the comm, taking a moment to crack his knuckles.

 "Sorry..." Mandor says apologetically to Liza. As a former history professor at the Institute on Coruscant, Mandor will often go on rants. It's inherit in his nature... and often finds him annoying others. "I'll try to keep myself quiet," he says. He watches as the scanning continues, until it abruptly ends. "They're jamming us." He looks over to the sensor specialist, nodding his head. In just a few moments, through Liza and the specialist, the jamming is broken, and the scans are allowed to continue unhindered. He pats Liza on the shoulder again. "Good job, good job..."

Then the message from the Audacity arrives, and Mandor simply smiles. "Simple Republicans..." he says, moving over to the communications console but not activating it. "You see, Officer Molokai, the greatest weapon in our arsenal against the Republic is themselves: their democracy plagues it. As it will now. Keep the ship on her present course, ignore ethose pesty womprats circling around us..." Mandor keys the comm., activating a line between himself and the Republicans. "Attention Republic control, this is the Minnow. You're interfering with official business and harassing civilians. As citizens of this Republic, we are entitled all protection from harassment such as this... you are violating the freedom of information, sirs, and I do not wish to turn this into a political quagmire. I hope I do not have to talk with my good friend, Admiral Stone, that we were being harassed by Republic officers at Mon Calamari... now, cease harassing us, allow us to continue. If you are having trouble understanding this, please confer with the CO in charge of this garrison to check the law, or I will speak to him directly. I doubt the Republic wants IGNews to report such treatment of civilians..." He closes his line, awaiting the response from the Republic, which he suspects will be a little delayed. Democracies are run by bureaucracies; it's slow, painfully so. At the most, Mandor bought himself and Liza a few minutes extra to continue scanning... and that'll be all they need. Afterall, what are a few pilots in the military expected to know of the laws ina democracy? Half the citizenry barely knows the law. Grinning, Mandor folds his arms across his chest and awaits the response. "Keep scanning..."

 Any attempts to block the scanning is easily thwarted by Molokai, the woman's knowledge of the sensors she's operating enough to over-ride the jamming signals. "Simple? I don't think so, sir. They may not be very intelligent, but we shouldn't under-estimate them." The recording of information is continued, the sensors working perfectly. "I hope things do not resort to violence. I don't think the Commodore will understand if we get the ship dented."

 That would imply that Rasi is not among the more sanguine of officers within the New Republic's military. And any such implication would be dead wrong, recent times, from Cochran to Nar Shaddaa, having only made him that much more single-minded in his determination to see things done right. "You will cease and desist in all your scans of the surroundings. You have exactly 5 seconds to stop those scans, turn down your engines and power down any and all weapons on your vessel. If these commands are not heeded, your engines will be disabled, and your ship will be towed and your crew imprisonned for trespassing on New Republic Military Property, and performing illegal scans as per regulations ." His words highlighted by the utter calm he says them with, something even his own bridge crew notice, "Five, four, three...", ok, so apparently he is serious. And as if that wasn't enough, the ion weaponry on the Audacity powers up, fire solutions being calculated by the targetting computers even as Rasi spoke,

 That would imply that Rasi is not among the more sanguine of officers within the New Republic's military. And any such implication would be dead wrong, recent times, from Cochran to Nar Shaddaa, having only made him that much more single-minded in his determination to see things done right. "You will cease and desist in all your scans of the surroundings. You have exactly 5 seconds to stop those scans, turn down your engines and power down any and all weapons on your vessel. If these commands are not heeded, your engines will be disabled, and your ship will be towed and your crew imprisonned for trespassing on New Republic Military space, and performing illegal scans as per regulations <whatever the specific regulations are> on sensitive areas." His words highlighted by the utter calm he says them with, something even his own bridge crew notice, "Five, four, three...", ok, so apparently he is serious. And as if that wasn't enough, the ion weaponry on the Audacity powers up, fire solutions being calculated by the targetting computers even as Rasi spoke.

<SPACE> Aboard Ghost-7, Kesander notes a high-priority change to the information on his mission data read out and toggles his comlink on the tactical channel. "Team Revenant, listen up. Audacity is powering up her main armament. Shift approach vector to the one I'm sending now. We wanna stay out of the way of those ion cannon. And get your own lasers warmed up. We'll fire on Audacity's fire. Target that ships sensor array first. We'll worry about her shield generators, bridge, and engines later. Sandman, out."

<SPACE> "Copy, Revenant Leader" Raxis responds into his comm as Ghost 3 banks and adjusts its course to a high angle towards the cruiser to maximize the firing profile on its sensor array. Tapping off the comm to his internal speakers, Raxis takes a moment to prep his astromech. "All right, hang on tight back there Vee, looks like we're going another crack at this. Keep an eye on the sides just in case some reinforcements of theirs blip in,".

<SPACE> The response isn't exactly what Mandor expected. Well, not everyone was dumb, it seems. Sighing, Mandor closes the intercom and moves back over to Liza. "Looks like these boys don't care about collateral damage. Alright now..." he says, his eyes quickly glancing over the sensors, "we're in very dense space. Big ships, small ships. Revert power to our rear shields and accelerate to full..." he says, pointing over to an independent cargo freighter, several hundred meters in length, to their port. "Liza, think you can maneuver us there? The Republicans won't dare open fire if we're surrounded by other ships... too much risk of hitting someone else." Hiding amongst other ships in the immediate area, whether they be independent or Republican of nature, would definitely help in their chances. "And start making a vector towards this jump point..." he says, bringing the data up on the screen. "They've covered all exits to Imperial and friendly space... but they left the back door open," he says, looking at the map of Caspian space. Caspar itself was a single jump point away from Calamari, the route forming a straight line. That would be their escape vector. "Maneuver in between all these ships, get close to them, and make your way there... we got all the sensor information we need."

<SPACE> Grunting as Mandor begins to list off tactics and coordinates, Liza looks at him even as she diverts power to the shields as told, the power from their weapons and non-essential systems used to hopefully increast the strength of their aft shields. "Yeah. I think I can." Sighing, she casts a baleful look towards the NR ships from her seat before she pushes forward with the throttle, tyring to get the Minnow to the nearest 'friendly' ship. "Oh...and do me a favor, sir. Once the shooting starts...don't talk, alright?" She gives Vextin a brief-yet-apologetic look for that, but she just can not fly with noise buzzing in her ear. Makes her thankful she doesn't have to fly with an astromech.

<SPACE> "Krayt Actual to Revenant team, this is Commander Cen, stay with them as close as possible, target their engines if possible, but don't fire if you risk hurting the civvies. We'll go the long way and try and cut off their escape routes. Fighters from nearby vessels are being sent to compliment your force, Revenant Leader, you have command over them.". The formalities taken care of, the channel is cut to an end, and the Audacity surges forward after the Sienar vessel, but not to directly follow it. A message broadcast through the nearby surroundings, and the system to stay several dozens of kilometres away from the escaping vessel, though that does not stand for the NR vessels peeling off from their normal groups to head after it.

<SPACE> Crazy Corellians. That's the derisive remark made by the envious of a thousand different worlds. To Kesander Beysarus, of course, it's a compliment, praise of his people's highly evolved talent for successfully piloting space craft, even in the most dangerous of circumstances. Rolling his ship and banking and then jinking to stay on the cruiser, even as it attempts to manuever among the civilian commercial traffic, the StarOps Captain hits his comlink and transmits to his team, "You heard Krayt Actual folks, target priority has changed to engines, so adjust your targetting computers accordingly. Fire on target vessel as your weapons bear. She's clearly running and this is an interdict mission so it's our job to try and stop her. Sandman out." Switching to the Dac system fleet operational frequency, the Captain transmits "Gold leader and Red leader, we're chasing the Cruiser. Would appreciate your people trying to get in front of our quarry to cut off whatever escape vector she's trying to follow. Do the best you can. Revenant Leader, out." At this point, all talking is done. As he banks and turns sharply around the back end of an independent cargo frieghter, the pilot of Ghost 7 gets a lock on the the fleeing cruiser and, thumbing his weapons selector to quad lasers, squeezes the trigger.

<SPACE> "And in we go..." Raxis calls out to Vee-Ten as Ghost 3 matches speed with Ghost 7 and powers its quad lasers as well. Taking queue, as he takes a moment to target the sensor array, "Revenant Leader we're going to need -alot- of firepower to take out that deflector array," He adds, hoping for support from their own capital ship. "Opening fire now." He finishes, swooping in with a salvo of blasterfire.

<SPACE> As the laser blasts hit against the rear shields, and the cockpit vibrates, Mandor clutches the handgrips on his seat. He's ignored Molokai's comments for now; sure, they stung, but Mandor couldn't help it. Speaking a lot is what he did. "Huh. Who'd imagine the Republicans would resort to this.. they're certainly getting more vicious," he says, smirking. He remains unwaivered, however. The ship is taking damage, but hope is not far off. They're nearing the edge of the gravity well, and beyond that would be freedom: one-way trip to Caspar. Of course the Republicans would be able to track them down to Caspar with no effort, but not even these ones would dare send a fleet after them to neutral Caspar. Standing up from the seat, Mandor walks back over to the communications system. "Republic control, you are about to kill innocent civilians! I have children at home!" he says, taking a seat at the console. "I promise you, Admiral Stone will NOT hear the end of this if we make it out of this alive!"

<SPACE> It's a good thing Liza's too busy flying otherwise she'd be laughing right now, what her companion said about having children at home striking her as funny despite the fact that he's doing what he can to get them out of this. The humor's finally gone as she finds herself having to work especially hard on keeping them alive, now, and the urge to laugh is replaced by the sudden desire to cuss up a storm as the shields are down thanks to the numerous hits they took. "Damnit.." she mutters while flipping a few switches, trying to find somewhere to divert more power from. "I hope you do not get motion sick, sir.." she then banks hard towards one of the larger civilian ships, the Sarian praying like mad that the NR will back off long enough for her to be able to punch in, and complete a jump.

<SPACE> "Please surrender, think of your children, if there are indeed any on your vessel and you do not lie, do not do anything that would endanger either your lives, or those civilians on nearby ships. You have broken the laws of the Republic, do not endanger any more lives, particularly of those innocent civilians you are intentionally heading towards. We cannot allow you to put to danger those civilian ships you are going after, therefore, for your safety, and theirs, we call on you to stand down.", Rasi's voice rings out through the cockpits, and the like, of any ships tuned to the conversation between the two vessels. Rasi's intent on getting irrefutable, and undeniable moral high ground when it comes down to this, and the man is fully intent on taking whatever step necessary to make sure that this happens. See, he's not your average Republican. If for no other reason than while Rasi speaks, the gunners on the vessel have that opening they require, with a big enough clearing that they do not risk hitting anything else, and a powerful salvo from some of the vessel's turbolasers sent the cruiser's way.

<SPACE> Aboard Ghost 7, Kesander curses in Corellian, both because of his mediocre shooting on the first opportunity and because of the nearness of the turbo laser fire from Audacity to his own craft. Toggling his mic, the Captain transmits on the tactical channel, "They're almost at the edge of the gravity well people. Line 'em up and shoot those engines. We've probably only got one more chance here." Sighing as he clicks off his comlink, the X-Wing driver re-achieves lock on the fleeing cruiser and squeezes his weapons trigger once more, sending hell-fire red lances of destruction flying at his quarry. Above and behind him, the pilots of Ghost 11 and 12 light off their weapons at almost the same instant.

<SPACE> Biting his lip, Raxis turns hard on his flight yoke, continuing the attack on the engines as the entire flight of X-wings rains laserfire on the cruiser.

<SPACE> Mandor sighs. Perhaps he needs to take acting class? "Molokai, if we get back to the Inquisitor in one piece, drinks are on me," he says, leaning back in his chair as the warning lights go off, indicating a hull breach in their rear portion. Very soon they would be nothing more than debris. "I wonder how this will look on IGNews... Republic starfighters destroy civilian cruiser! Hah! The publicity damage... you know, this all reminds me of the Battle of Corulag during the New Sith Wars..." he goes on, ranting about history as he typically does. As he talks about the maneuvers of Admiral Jarnth during that particular engagement, he glances over at the sensors and immediately changes topics. "We're clear of the gravity well, Molokai. Hit it!" Caspar, here we come. As the ship shakes yet more as another laser blast hits, Mandor returns to his console. "The press will have a field day with this... I have very important friends, you know. You haven't seen the last of me!"

<SPACE> "Sir, think this is a good time to drop the act.." Liza mutters. "They aren't buying it." Sighing, she punches in a quick calculation which takes about three seconds longer than she'd like for it to take, and then the jump's made. The ship shudders for a moment before it manages to get into hyperspace, the damage having taken its toll. Needless to say, this ship is going to cost its owners a lot of credits in repairs.

<SPACE> "Kray Actual to Revenant Leader.", and as soon as he is patched through, Rasi speaks up, "Captain, transmit all your combat recordings, and those of your team to the ILO. I want to learn anything and everything they were able to scan and pick up as soon as possible." And a mental note is taken to collect as many of the local transponders and transfer them over to whatever office is in charge of public relations. Ah, the duties of a shift commander, so dull 99.999 of the time, ridiculously the opposite that other .001. "Any damage sustained in your team?", there shouldn't be, but it is always better to ask.

<SPACE> "Copy, Krayt Actual. I'll have Team Revenant transmit all sensor telemetry and comms logs to ILO immediately. As far as I know we have no battle damage. That cruiser never fired on us. Sandman, out." Switching to the tactical channel, Kesander transmits "Looks like it's time to head back to the barn, people. All Team Revenant ships return to Audacity. Send sensor telemetry and comms logs to the ILO immediately prior to landing. Sandman, out."

<SPACE> Sighing aside from his comm, Raxis shakes his head and stops to watch the spot that the cruiser jumped from for a few seconds. Chewing at his lip for a moment, he bitterly taps his comm. "Copy Revenant..." He pauses with the vox still active as he taps a few buttons on his console. "...flight data enroute now, Ghost 3, over." He finishes, turning off the comm and takes a moment to rest back in his cockpit to gather his senses. Mouthing an obscenity, he turns his X-wing back into formation.

As the ship lurks into hyperspace, Mandor gets up from his seat and returns to standing behind Liza. "You did good, Molokai. I'll be sure to include your superb piloting in my report. I know the Commodore will be proud," he says, giving the young woman a pat on the shoulder. "I need to get to work on decompiling this data and begin formulating my proposal to the Commodore on how best to deal with Mon Calamari. But, you need a well-deserved rest... we still have time before we arrive at Caspar. Return aft, get some sleep.. let her go on autopilot for a while."

Liza shakes her head. "Couldn't sleep, sir.." she says softly, the more polite side to her returning now that the stress and combat's over with. "Sorry for the stuff I said. I didn't mean to be so brash. I just didn't have time to be civil." She looks over at Mandor once that's said and offers a smile. "It was interesting. But if you ever make me fly something other than a fighter, sir, I will put up a fuss. Count on it."

Mandor smiles and nods. "It's quite alright, Molokai. I'm used to it," he says, stretching his arms and cracking his back. "But I understand you perfectly: it was a mistake to use a light cruiser. We should have used a small scout starfighter. Agile, fast, and, obviously, right up your alley... I'll have to recommend that to the Commodore for future missions. But, overall," he says, sitting back down, "we did good."

Liza yawns softly before she closes her eyes, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose in apparent attempt to stave off a headache. "Yes. We did. Hope the Commodore won't take the cost of repairing this ship out of our pay." Shaking her head, she has to chuckle at herself for that. "So do you have any? Kids, I mean."

Mandor begins to yawn. As an older man, things like this tend to make him tired more easily. He covers his mouth, pondering whether he should hit the rack. "Oh, I wouldn't worry. The Imperial Navy has enough to cover the costs," he says, chuckling. "Kids? Me? Oh no. Never found the time for a wife. Too busy with my studies. But, the thought has occured to me several times throughout my life. But, I'm not getting any younger, and now that I'm in the military, I don't think I ever will."

Yawns are so contagious and soon Liza's yawning herself, the Sarian not bothering to cover the fact by putting a hand to her mouth. "Hmm. Shame. You're a nice person. Smart, funny. You should try to find a lady to marry, someday." Pivoting her head, she gives Vextin a glance, curious about what his reaction will be. "You're a historian, after all. Wouldn't you like to see your personal history carried on?" With the casual chatter, and the lack of anyone to remind her about using 'sir' when talking to someone of a higher rank, the Sarian falls into a more comfortable form of speech, talking to him as if he were a peer opposed to a superior officer.

"Maybe. Good point," Mandor says, shrugging. "Never really thought of that. So obsessed with the past that I sometimes forget of my own self. Well, okay. Once the war is over, I'll find a woman. But first..." he says, cracking his knuckles now, "let's win the war. As much as I want to pass on my own legacy, I want to ensure the Empire's legacy does not become extinguished."

"The Empire will not fall apart if you get married, sir. Nor will you be remiss of your duties if you take some time for yourself." Liza shrugs herself, now. She's not going to try and convince Mador of anything but maybe she can get him to realize that sometimes duties to one's self has to outweigh duty to anyone else. "You know, I could see myself not getting married or something. The very few men I could see myself liking like that are men I shouldn't like in that way."

Mandor smiles and shrugs. "I'm a historian, dear! Not a psychologist. You women are so complicated, it baffles me. I'll just stick to my books, I think... but, hey, I'm sure there's a guy out there for you. There's some good men aboard the Inquisitor, hell, within the Corps. Lieutenant Wolf seems like a nice fellow, no?"

Liza nods. "Yes. He seems fairly nice, what bit I've spoken with him." Molokai pauses and then adds, "So is the Commodore..." That's said matter of factly, almost as if the topic changed to the weather. "Anyhow, it's a moot point, truly. We both have obligations..." She blinks and then eyes Mandor as she wrinkles her nose. "Just how are women confusing, sir?"

Mandor just grins. "I never know what they really want. While I never had a girlfriend, I always wondered if female colleagues of mine ever had interest in me. I could never tell, though I wondered. Too shy to ever pursue it, however, and, ultimately, too wrapped up in my work." He stands up and looks towards the aft. "Well... good flying. I'm going to head back and begin decompiling the data. Let me know when we arrive at Caspar. Talk to you soon," he says, exiting through the cockpit.