Biala tensed at the mention of a the warship. "I don't like the sound of that...we should tell the captain immediately."

-screen wipe-

On the bridge, the old captain, Arrayyyk, stood proud. His iconic eye patch and silver-grey fur around the mouth set him visually apart, as much as his demeanor and voice set him apart from all others around him. <Good to have you back, team,> the Wookiee rumbled. <You look like you're in a hurry to tell me something, so go ahead and spit it out.>

The miniature translator droid on Arrayyyk's shoulder translated his growls in appropriately salty language.

-Ok, cap'n, to make it short: mission was successful, but we had to face some Dark Knights. They took Dev away, and when we were fleeing, their ship got us scanned. I don't think they'll be able to trace us here, but caution is king now. On the Dev'rios matter, though...

Lavin doesn't know what to say. It's the first time he loses a teammate, but it seems there are others who are having a harder time, so he makes the effort to appear strong. They might need guidance.

-Sir... cap'n, sir...

"No. If I ask for permission to rescue Dev right now, it might be ignored or denied. my comrades might think high of me, but they would turn their anger on the captain. I must not provoke such a breach in their trust, we need to solve this when we've cooled off our heads a bit."

-...

<Well?>

Gael raised his hand, meaning to put his hand on Lavin's shoulder, but decided against it, as it might show weakness to the captain.

"What Lavin means to say is that we miss our companion very much. Without him we are missing another lightsaber wielder, and a good pilot. I...We..." Gael was becoming wary of how big Arrayyyk was compared to him, and how he might be becoming impatient with him. What should I say? Great move Gael, trying to stick up for your friend and instead only getting yourself in an awkward situation. Quickly, Gael thought of something to say to get the attention off of him.

"Err...Um...Maybe a...replacement?"

Gael looked back at Kell and the others, hoping he hadn't offended anyone.

Marsten, having no social graces at all, interjected his two cents. "Couple of the boys here want to make an attempt to rescue Dav'rios. We are also going to need someone or thing proficient in flying; be it a Droid or not." He piped up, not giving a care about feelings or doing things by the book. "Lastly, we might not want to stay here. A warship scanned us before the jump here. They could be computing our jump as we speak," He added, "Or worse."

Marsten stood silent and still after he spoke, only movement was scanning about those gathered to see a reaction.

Status: Wounds (3/12), (0/12), -1 Strain Threshold (12/13), (10 XP Unspent)

<You all are aware of our policies on prisoners of war. The Order detains them so well that no escape or rescue has been successfully staged in over 50 years. When I was younger, I myself partook in one such endeavor. But now it is too risky. Dev'rios is likely already en route to Ord Vaxal. You should already consider him out of reach.>

The captain barked orders to his helmsman to make the calculations for a circuitous route to the Corellian system. <Once we are safely in hyperspace, we will debrief your mission in depth.>

"Sir if I may, we are requesting that we monitor his movement and placement closely. Dev'rios proved to be a vital asset in the past and if we pay close attention to his whereabouts, we be more able to attempt a successful rescue. Thank you, sir."

Tahiri knew deep down that a blanket attempt to rescue Dev'rios would be futile but with the proper Intel, a successful rescue attempt could be planned. Giving up so early on any possibility of a rescue would be taxing on the crew and Tahiri hoped the Resistance would try to give the Rapier some bit of optimism.

Kell stood at the back of the group, listening as the others tried to make their case to Arrayyyk, but the Nautolan remained silent himself. Glancing down, momentarily lost in thought:

For me, Dev'rios is just the latest name in a long list of people I've lost to the New Order....

Hearing Marsten speak up, Kell raised his gaze back up to the scene in front of him, finally speaking up.

"Don't worry about piloting the ship Marsten, I can handle it. As much as I want Dev back as the rest of you, the Captain is right. He's gone, and spending our time and resources trying to get him back is, ultimately, selfish. We need to focus on defeating the Order, which will free everyone Dev'rios included."

<It is more than difficult to monitor traffic on and off of Ord Vaxal. We simply do not have the resources...>

At that point, the helmsman signaled that the ship was ready for hyperspace. Arayyyk stopped short and conferred with his officers to make the jump. Before long, the ship had jumped to lightspeed. The captain turned back to the heroes.

<Now, if you would follow me,> he said, proceeding to a seating area around an empty holotable. <Please tell me everything from the beginning about your meeting with the Anselmi leadership.>

Kell slipped into a seat at the table, across from the captain, putting a hand down to stop his lightsaber from banging against the edge of the chair as he settled in.

"Well one thing was certain, they were not happy to have a Nautolan at the meeting, I spent most of it outside, so I'll let the others fill you in on how negotiations went and save my report for later on in the debrief"

"Excuse me, Captain. Asking permission to visit a nearby restroom, sir!" Gael said in true military form. He stood straight when he said it, with his jaw tightened. He tried to be as stiff as possible, hoping it would help him resist the urge the protest against this rubbi-- sorry -- indifference from the captain. Plus he really had to go, so he had to hide that too.

He stood there, awaiting an answer without looking Arrayyyk in the eyes.

<Of course,> the captain told Gael. <I'll look forward to your report after you have had the chance for relief.>

Gael slightly bowed his head, and awkwardly ran over to the bathroom. After relieving his bowels of the stress, Gael washed his hands. Being careful not to cause rust on his mechanical arm, he looked up and saw himself in the mirror. The face that stared back at him seemed tired, and there were bags under its eyes. Gael raised his cybernetic arm and slowly took off the piece of Revan's mask that always covered his right eye. The skin under the piece was horribly scarred and deformed, and it all surrounded his pale eye. It was always strange seeing the eye in the mirror, but never being able to see with it. His mind drifted back to Dev'rios. How strange that the sound of that name used to trigger the feeling of friendship and happiness, and now it only triggered stress and loss.

Are they really going to just let him die?, Gael thought. It seemed to him that everyone was so keen to just give up on someone that relied on them so thoroughly. Dev could be in an Imperial cell, or being tortured in the most heinous ways. And yet everyone would just give up on him, and ignore the fact that he would've saved them from Imperial custody if they were in that situation. A thought occurred in Gael's mind, an alien thought that was absurd. Yet when he thought about it more, it actually seemed reasonable. Officially, Gael would leave Dev'rios in that prison, just like everyone else. Unofficially however, he could convince the crew to disobey orders and go after Dev. And if they encountered any Imperials, they would suffer for what they had done to his friend.

The thought stuck, even when Gael's common sense said it was wrong. Unfortunately, his mind was made up. He strapped the piece back over his eye like an eye patch, readjusted it, and left for the briefing room.

Kell waited for everyone to seat themselves, an awkward silence descended on the table. Kell glanced around waiting to see if anyone else would speak up, when no one did, he leaned forward and broke the silence.

"We met the Anselmi delegation at a derelict tavern, I was tasked to be on guard outside. As I mentioned earlier, they weren't happy with a Nautolan being there, so I wasn't actually present for the negotiations, so I don't know exactly what the deal was, but from our reception later I would assume it was positive.

Hal joined me outside, we talked for a moment, keeping up visual surveillance on the area. I went to check the rear of the building, I'd made it about half-way towards the back when we heard and saw an approaching assault-shuttlecraft. Hal and I warned the others via commlink, the Order deployed three Dark Knights into the streets and a squad or two of stormtroopers onto the rooftops across from the tavern.

We engaged their forces, buying time for the Anselmi delegation to escape. I destroyed a Knight in lightsaber combat, the others heavily damaging the other two and killing several stormtroopers. The Order forces began to withdraw under covering fire from the shuttle, in the chaos Dev'rios was taken captive and loaded onto the shuttle. Expecting a quick return with reinforcements we radioed Gael, who was still on the Rapier, with the location of the Anselmi refugee camp and he met us there, we had another exchange with the Anselmi and then left the planet, jumping to the rendevous point shortly after being scanned by an arriving Warship, which may be following us as we speak, Sir."

Kell sat back in his chair after finishing his report to the captain, looking around at the others gathered.

Arayyyk focused exclusively on Kell as he talked, sitting unmoving until Kell mentioned destroying a Dark Knight. His bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he glanced around discreetly at the rest of the crew as Kell gave his summation of the battle. He otherwise remained quiet and focused until Kell had finished.

<Very well,> Arayyk said drily. <Perhaps sending a Nautolan to this conference was too much wishful thinking on our part. But I am glad you were there, for your companions' sake. One less soldier could have meant an even bigger loss than we already suffered.>

He looked to Lavin. <Would you care to fill me in on what happened during the talks? What did the Anselmi leaders have to say about joining our cause?>

-They agreed to support us, as long as they are treated like genuine allies and be given protection. All this I promised them. They were a bit reluctant at the beginning, but Kell's performance (that a Nautolan fought so hard for them) played a big part in convincing them.

<Good. Well, that is what we had hoped for. I'll send a delegation to their location so that we can begin the process. Meanwhile, you have all earned some downtime after your arduous mission. You'll find your bunks clean and stocked.

<We should reach the Corellian system in several hours, long enough for you to eat and sleep. Once you've had the opportunity for rest, you'll be briefed you on your next mission.>

Everyone gains 25 XP for the successful completion of the mission.

Those with Duty gain +10 Duty, and both Lavin and Kell gain another +10 for fulfilling aspects of their personal Duty types.

Once-per-session abilities reset now.

Please remove any strain remaining on your character sheet.

Once you have spent your XP, please roll your Force die so we can generate a new Destiny Pool.

Destiny -- 1eF:1 Dark Side

Spent experience points to get the final rank in Fearsome and one Control upgrade in the Bind power tree.

Gael returned from his bathroom break to get back to the debriefing and watched as the others explained their progress on the previous mission. Once the captain had dismissed them, Gael waited for a chance when the group was alone. At one point, everyone was getting some food from the cafeteria. Gael kept trying to work up the courage to tell them of his plan as everyone told each other stories and jokes.

He hated spoiling such a light-hearted moment, but Gael knew that he had to speak his mind.

"So I told Biala-"

"Guys, I think we should make a rescue attempt despite the captain's orders. Dev'rios is counting on us. We can't just let him die…"

Destiny:

1eF: 2 Light Side [1eF=LS/LS]
http://orokos.com/roll/376262

Some nice luck for the destiny.

Not so Much for my heal attempt:

1eF: 1 Dark Side [1eF=DS]
http://orokos.com/roll/376263

Tahiri exited the the briefing and retired to a personal location for some relaxation and meditation. He struggled to concentrate due to the loss of his friend. Having trouble concentrating, Tahiri decided to get something to eat and met up with his compatriots in the cafeteria.

Destiny Pool: 1eF 2 Light

Marsten stayed with the group for the most part. He contemplated heading to medbay to change out an arm or his legs, but decided that resistance resources were scarce as it is.

To Gael's mention of going for Dav, Marsten's only response was, "Look, I'm all for helping out, but Dav is not exactly going to be kept someplace easy to get to. What you're asking might be suicide. I already died once, I'm not looking to do so again."

Status: Wounds (0/12), Strain (0/14)

"I understand Marsten, but I think we can get him back if we track that transport down and extract Dev before they can take him onto Ord Vaxal. If he is already within the prison, maybe we will have to create a plan. I don't know about you guys, but I'm done giving up on people. I say that if we are ever going to beat the Order, we can't just keep letting them take our allies and do the Force knows what to them."

Gael said this with a confidence he hadn't felt in a long time.

-Well... as much as I hate to say this, because I don't like disobeying direct orders... I'm with Gael on that. What kind of people are we, if we don't at least try?

Gael took a double take at what he just heard. Did he just hear Lavin right? Gael was so sure that he would get a great amount of opposition from Lavin or Kell, or maybe both. This was going much smoother than he had thought it would.

"Thanks Lavin." Gael said with a smirk. It was always nice to be surprised by your friends.