Chapter 2: Forges of Ithyari

[Ayingel 24]

"You're about right with dinner. At least on our schedules...We haven't been eating much anyway." Szen grabbed another one from the crate and went back to sit down.

[Ender 8]

Jaim grinned back. "Not at all. It's just that most of the Intel people I've met, be they NRI, Imperial, CorSec, et cetera, all seemed to be either heartless nerfherders or more droid than human. You certainly don't seem to fit either bill."

[Mara 29]

"No? Too busy doing whatever you were doing?"

[Drake 53]

Tak raised an eyebrow at Layla's report. "That's probably not good. You say that Teroch showed up? I'm guessing he hyjacked another of these droids. We can only hope that the Boomer didn't transmit his discovery to the rest of the Imperials."

[Rogue 4]

Layla shook her head. "He didn't have time to. He recognized Szen and Aston as being with the NRDF, but he was having trouble identifying me...That's when Teroch showed up, but..." She crossed her arms, looking over in Szen and Aston's directions. "He had just gotten it...he made mention of my bounty on Corellia."

[Ayingel 24]

"Yeah, you could say that. It's all been a blur since we got here."

[Mara 29]

Nods, eating some more. "Yeah, I imagine so."

[Drake 53]

Takeshi followed her gaze and nodded. "Meaning we're going to have to keep an eye on those two. Make sure they don't find out anything they shouldn't. That's going to be near impossible with Aston. Once he gets onto something, you can't stop him from nosing around. Especially in places he shouldn't nose around in." Looking back to Layla, his expression softened into one of care. "Even if those two learn anything, I think they would know best to keep it to themselves. I don't think they would sell you out."

[Rogue 4]

"I don't know...I heard Archaic's been growing recently. I bet with all that money Argos is making my bounty would be pretty high." She sighed, trying to think rationally. "I don't think Kendall could find out about the bounty here though. If he got curious enough he'd probably slice into either the Captain or Lieutenant Riamor's datapads, and they don't know about the bounty. They do know however about the charges...and if those got out, well, everyone's opinions of me would certainly change at best."

[Vergere 1]

Brier laughed. "You've not gotten on my bad side yet. Nor have I had to be heartless so far. I know quite a few people who know me as typical Intel -- I'm on a lot of people's bad sides and I've sent a lot of people to jail. But I'd prefer not to be." She shrugged. "I'll do what my job requires, though. And if it takes me being cold and callous to accomplish what I need to get done, then so be it. Hopefully this assignment will never require that of me. I don't like people being mad at me. But I can get real cold real fast." She mock-threateningly pointed a finger at Jaim. "So no causing me trouble." She grinned again, once more looking like she loved to laugh and smile.

[Mara 29]

Kaden ate in silence a while, realizing that had killed the conversation a bit by bringing up their mission. He wondered if something had gone wrong, and that Szen didn't want to talk about it.

"So..." He cleared his throat. "Are you enjoying your new occupation?"

[Ayingel 24]

"Well, by being thrust into my position almost immediately, it hasn't been so bad...At least I've been active. I'd hate to think of what I would have thought of it if I were stuck in the X-Wings like the rest of you." Szen laughed a little.

"But really, I do like it. It's interesting and keeps me on my feet."

[Ender 8]

Jaim put on a face of mock terror and put his hands in front of his face.

"Pwease, pwease don't hurt me!"

[Vergere 1]

In a mock evil voice, "Rawr, fear me, minion." She laughed, screwing up the entire dramatic atmosphere. "So does it bother you that I'm here?"

[Princess 35]

Nima finished her talk with Arlan and promised to work with him some when they got back to base to avoid another relapse. Her stomach growled. How long has it been since I ate? She looked around and saw a chunk of the squadron sitting around eating rations. Hopefully there was some caf around too. She headed over towards them, "Hey guys. How's the food?"

[Drake 53]

"How much do you really think their opinions would change?" Tak asked Layla. "Our boy Aston used to run with a group of freedom fighters on Imperial-held Coruscant. Jaim got in trouble on several worlds for anti-government actions. Who knows what kind of trouble Nima has gotten into in medical school. And we don't even want to get into my past. I think assault, theft and arson are a little petty compared to the other things some of us have done. I think that if word about the charges got out, you might be surprised at the reaction."

[Rogue 4]

"I hope you're right." Layla sighed. "I guess I'll deal with it when the time comes."

[Bad furday 57]

"I think I could go for some rations and caf!" smirked Arlan.

He held out his hand to Jya.

"Shall we?"

Laughing, the pair followed Nima towards the ration munching group.

[Ender 8]

"Not at all. I always like meeting new people. Especially those I'm not assigned to steal credits or other illicit goods from."

[Vergere 1]

"If you steal credits or goods from me, legal or not, you're in deep trouble." She smiled softly.

[Ender 8]

"I always got into deep trouble anyways."

[Rogue 4]

"If you didn't you wouldn't be Jaim Adarra." Layla smirked, entering the conversation as she got herself a cup of caf.

[Princess 35]

Nima grabbed a cup of caf too. "So what happened on the ground while the rest of us were babysitting your fighters?"

[Drake 53]

"Crazy, sexy fun!" said Tak, approaching behind Layla. "So much excitement that I can't even think of the words to explain it."

[Vergere 1]

Brier laughed softly at Layla's comment about Jaim, her quiet personality showing through again. She finally decided to sit up instead of lie on her back, and looked at Nima, her face deadpan. "Acted crazy. Blew stuff up. Got drunk off our asses. You missed quite the party, complete with Imperial fireworks. Oh and I think we did some work at some point in there as well." She grinned.

Edited October 1, 2007 by Vergere