Main IC Thread - Act I - Rumors in the Distance

[Flyboy2002]

Shadow and the other two troopers make their way through the maze of hallways directly to the armory (a familiar place for all of them as they go to and from it nearly everyday to be armed and dearmed). As they approach Shadow takes a look through the ajoining office hoping to find his friend the Quartermaster to put in his formal request for the additional supplies hoping that this mission has gained some sort of priority with a General around briefing it. "Good Morning chief," he says with his helmet in his arm showing his smile, ",my team and I were hoping to get an authorization for some close quarters equipment for our next tasking. Any chance you guys have a few extra flash and ion grenades around? We could use the usual load out for this kind of mission. Have you seen any of my other special orders I put in yet, though I doubt they are here yet?" (OOC - Using a little bargaining and alot of charm as well as the fact that he knows the quartermaster well, to try to work some good stuff (maybe a little more than usual) out of him for this mission).

[dadofett]

As Daryn looks straight at Nihl and he feels himself lift off the ground, he is immediately shocked and dismayed. He's seen some pretty snooty behavior from Jedi before, but being made a fool of is not something Nihl has ever experienced from a Jedi commander.

To his relief he notices his men had already left the room, sparing him a loss of honor in front of his troops.

Realizing this is an attempt by the Jedi to assert his authority over this mission, Nihl accepts the chastisement even if he doesn't appreciate the way it was handled and manages to squeeze out an "Understood, sir".

Nihl attempts to kick his feet slightly in hopes the Telekinetic grip Daryn has on him will be released.
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Alpha-ØØ "Nihl"

[Matthias777]

Kage alters his preflight sequence somewhat, performing every checklist he can without powering up anything, then pausing after activating each system in order to monitor for the power fluctuation.
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Arek | Kage

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn looks the captain straight in the visor as he slowly sets him down. "I hope you are not overly angered by my assertion, captain," he says, "and I also hope you appreciate my demonstration taking place after your troops left so you did not look silly. However," he adds, "your comment could be taken as undermining me. You did so in front of not only your troops, but mine as well...not to mention a General. I have no qualms about tapping you for tactical advice; you are a trained leader and I would be a fool to not utilize you to the extent of your abilities. I want you to know that up front. I am not some high and mighty Jedi Master come to single handedly win this war. I am part of a team, and I will be acting accordingly." As the captain is sinally back on terra firma, Daryn bows slightly at the waist. "Your advice is always welcome and appreciated, Captain. Even when I have not yet asked for it. Don't ever forget that.

"Now, Master, about that equipment request..."

[southpaw]

Lurk watched the hovering clone with shock, his gaze darting between trooper and the Jedi. He had little respect for the vat boys, nor for the Jedi, but watching the trooper humiliated in this manner... Lurk couldn't help but feel for him, and once again, the Jedi were lording it over the little guy. Medallea wasn't being high and mighty? Yeah right.

Medallea clearly hadn't worked with many troopers before, clones or no. Respect for the chain of command worked both ways, and if he was keen on maintaining it, he was going about it all wrong. Sure Medallea hadn't pulled his little stunt in front of the Captain's troops, but there were others in the room. They wouldn't forget this incident, and nor would the Captain.

Lurk fought hard not to bad mouth him then and there, but that wasn't going to do anyone any good; Medallea seemed mighty precious about respect and Lurk guessed he wouldn't have taken some fool merc's opinion the right way. Not here and not now at least. But it was suddenly clear that Lurk's knowledge beyond the Republic wasn't the only reason for him to be here. Seems like his military experience was gonna be needed too.

But as for his position in that chain of command? He had no idea. It was clear to Lurk though that the weakest link was near the top; Lurk had better find out just where he lay in that chain, just so he knew which side he'd be on if it broke.

Lurk shuffled up to the Jedi, trying to pick the right time to open his craw.

"Medallea, when you gotta sec, I got a question or two for you."

[Guardian_A]

Slightly uneasy after the little levitation display, Bri'tan takes a slow step backwards, "If we're going to be leaving in a hurry, I should probably go start the preflight, . . . " With that, he turns and starts towards the door.

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Shadow
The Quartermaster studies the armor and then the face standing in front of him, and once he figures out the identity of the clone addressing him, the Quartermaster replies, "Shadow, good to see you. I heard you was back home. Sounds like you and Nihl are about to head out on some kinda top secret mission." A grin appears on the old man's face as he continues, "Cept noone's talking about it. Just what are you boys up to?" The Quartermaster finishes his question, and quickly taps a few buttons on a screen below the counter, all the while grinning at Shadow.

Nihl
Nihl's feet set back down on the deck and the Anomid Jedi explains his actions, finishing with a slight bow. As Nihl watches, the man with the cybernetic implants approaches to talk to the jedi.

Daryn
Just as he turns to continue his conversation with Master Koon, Lurk approaches and says, "Medallea, when you gotta sec, I got a question or two for you." Before he can continue, Daryn notices Master Koon move away from the conversation and over to the center console to see about pulling all of the data Daryn requested onto the datapad.

Bri'tan
Bri'tan manages to break away from the main group and approaches the door. As he is about to leave, he hears that slow, steady voice of the Jedi Master say: "And where are you off to?" Bri'tan turns to see the Jedi staring down at his console.

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Kage
Kage continues his preflight checks, one system at a time, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. (ooc - Kage's preflight checks will take lots longer than the conversations going on at the moment, so he may be checking the ship for a bit yet)

Daevon
Daevon easily senses tension in the air around him. As much as he has no combat experience, he wonders if the team didn't need some sort of fire-fight to pull them all together. He had never seen such a mixture of personalities before and hoped they could all gel before the mission got too intense.

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn motions to a corner while Koon pulls the data for him. "You got it. What's up?"

[Orgaloth]

Daevon trotts up to Nihil,

"Sir, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but wouldn't having a spare suit of armour make sense? It could be used for replacement parts for suits that have seen a little too much action. I mean, we don't know how long we're going to be away, and we might not have any means of getting replacement parts."

He looks at the clone expectantly, and with no judgment on his expression.
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"I take orders from just one person: Me!"

"You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."
Du Cass' Dream

[southpaw]

Lurk looked at Medallea a moment, studying the alien; he'd heard that some Jedi could read minds, and he wondered if Medallea was one of those. Lurk couldn't stand mindreaders.

"Listen," he rasped, low so no-one else could hear, "I get your chain of command thing, Jedi on top, clones on the bottom. But I got no idea where I fit in, who gets to yank my chain. If yer gonna go all T-K on someone's butt just cause they offered to carry yer bags, I sure don't wanna go pissing you off none. But who give me my orders? You obviously, but what about those vat-boys? The talking wonder-mutt? Or even that Hutt over there?

"Point is you got a menagerie under your command, and you seem like the kinda Jedi who wants everything nice and tidy like. Better get yer house in order before you give yer orders."

[Guardian_A]

Feeling goodebumps run up his spine, he glances over his shoulder at the Jedi Master, "Just going to check on my ship." He says softly, still headed for the door.

[Flyboy2002]

Shaking the quartermasters hand, and setting his helmet down on the desk, Shadow responds, "As usual, I can't give any details, but we need the good stuff. This one is going to be a close in shoot'em up kind of fight, or at least how it seems. As always, the stories are better after the mission anyway, so we can share tales over a drink after I get back. What do you REALLY have in stock these days?"

[dadofett]

Nihl is relieved to be back on his feet and maintains visor to eye contact as Daryn lectures him.

He gets it. As a man who has taken orders and given orders, he understands the Jedi wants to set expectations and establish command.

Nihl decides to take it on the chin, and makes a mental note to throttle back his participation. "Follow orders, just barely, and keep out of the way... we can play it like that" he thinks.

Just as he turns away, the talking pet walks up and unnervingly starts talking to him. Nihl still doesn't know what to make of the creature.

"Sure, whatever the boss says." he replies tersely.

Nihl takes a position against the wall near the door.
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Alpha-ØØ "Nihl"

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn looks at Lurk. "Honestly, I have not even had a chance to look at your orders. I got involved in giving Daevon some instruction, and finished that right before we arrived. Before I do, however, I want your version. Also, I don't plan on 'going all TK' on someone unless the situation calls for it. In my opinion I was being undermined by someone supposed to be under my command. While I am not military, I do understand chain of command. As we are on a very tight schedule, I acted in a manner to make the point as quickly as possible, and also to show the captain that we are just as capable. His tone belied a belief that we are weak for some reason. If he truly believes that, how will he take orders from me? How will he believe me capable in combat? Perhaps I could have handled it better...but I am inexperienced in leading a squad, and my Master only had me to lead, not a group, so I did not and could not learn such things from him.

"So...what is your story?"

In the back of his mind, Daryn mulls over the encounter with Nihl. Hearing his reaction to Daevon, he realizes he has blown it before even getting off planet. He begins wondering how he can recover any sort of credibility with his squad.