Mission Afterthoughts / Debrief
35:1:6 - 13:17
– Portions encrypted for personal use only –

Finally, a chance to do something useful for this new team! I was just drifting off when my comm blared - it was Marv signaling the team for an emergency meeting at the bar. I grabbed all my gear (ha, not that I was left with much after retiring – I'm just glad I managed to sneak out my armored clothing, I have a feeling it'll come in handy) and made the short walk to HQ. Rain… perfect for some guerrilla tactics.

Turns out a couple of dissidents were raided by the Empire earlier in the day, and we needed to get them and their equipment to our safehouse before the Imperials finish the job. I ended up on Red Squad with Sprend - thank the matriarchs, as I'd much rather deal with the Takkas than try to take apart a printing press! I'm not sure Sprend was thrilled to be on my team though - he's hard to read sometimes. Often.

– I just hoped he was listening to the “no dead bodies” part that Marv tried to emphasize; if somebody dies and I have another breakdown mid-rescue, he and I are going to have SHARP words. –

We headed out for the taxi Marv had procured for us as soon as the briefing was over. On the way I heard the Baron doing some of his finest oratory… and I heard Madar being his usual self, trying to impress the latest female recruit with his authority. Pig. I'm looking forward to this mission knocking him down a notch or two in Army Command's eyes. Too bad he can't be allowed to know who was responsible.

True to stereotype, the driver was very chatty, and during the seemingly unavoidable conversation Sprend accidentally let slip his true feelings for the Empire. Thankfully I was able to jab him and cut him off before he gave out too many details! I chatted up Vinnie a bit afterwards so Sprend wouldn't have to, and after a short time Vinnie felt comfortable enough to let us know HE didn't care for the Empire either. In fact, he was so gung-ho about the fact that he volunteered to wait for us at the apartments for free! After dropping us off out front, he headed around to the side, near the fire escapes. I hoped he was as trustworthy as he seemed - it would NOT be fun to walk back to the safehouse in this weather.

Ah, the rain. It started pouring even harder as soon as Sprend & I stepped out of the cab. I was starting to wish I'd had time to grab something more waterproof to wear, but at least the soaked look shouldn't be particularly threatening to the residents. I tried to see if there was any obvious security in place outside the building, but recon was difficult in this weather. After a quick look, we decided that Sprend would go upstairs to get the Takkas while I'd keep watch for any trouble. Pulling my jacket closed tight, I leaned against the graffiti-laden outside of the apartments. Hopefully Sprend would make it quick, since the Baron commed shortly after to say a slightly drunk Madar was on the way.

Well, it was quick… but not good. A few moments after the Baron's comm signed off, Sprend started talking urgently into his. “Get up here now, this is going horrible!” I rushed up the stairs, heart pumping, and saw him in front of a closed door, reaching for his gun as if to blow it open.

– What was I thinking?! C'mon Damaria, you're smarter than that… you send the sniper to keep watch and the talker to retrieve the hostages. Tactics 101! I'll have to get my head in the game better if I'm going to survive as a resistance fighter… –

“Wait!” I shouted, nearly out of breath, as I put a hand on his gun arm, “let me try to talk to them!” I'm not sure I'd have any better luck, but the last thing I wanted was to start shooting out doors in a crowded apartment building. I knocked hurriedly, hearing harried whispering from the other side… and a baby screaming. Great, there was no mention of a baby in our intel. I'd have some words with Marv after this was done! A moment later the door opened, revealing (too much of) a male Rodian, in his nightgown… thing. – Shudder. Clearly Rodians are NOT my type. – Must be Chulo.

“Why you wake my baby Bobo?!” he demanded to know, clearly upset.

“We're here to help! The Imperials know about your propaganda and raided your office earlier today - and they're coming for you now. We're no friends of the Empire either, and just want to get you to safety before they can harm your family any further. But to do that, we need to leave NOW, they're already on their way!”

Apparently the stern tone of my voice convinced Chulo, as he started muttering about “Knew this would happen soon, only a matter of time” and opened the door for us. The Takkas started whirlwinding around the room, proclaiming “We can't let the Imps get these files!” as they went. As I turned towards the stairs to make sure we were still clear, I saw Sprend pace into the room and scoop up the baby, an almost fatherly look on his face. Not enough of one that the baby stopped screaming, but at least the kid wasn't distracting his parents anymore. Hmm, I guess he's not all gun-happy.

I stood at the top of the stairway a moment and checked for any unwanted visitors. – Maybe this Force thing will prove useful yet… as I relaxed a moment and tried to reach out, I could tell that nobody menacing was right nearby yet. Plenty of people were huddled in their apartments, and I could sense a strong undercurrent of fear, but no threats were directed at us. – So far we seemed clear, but Madar would be arriving at any minute. Spinning back around towards the Takkas' door, I caught Sprend looking at me funny as he handed the baby back.

– I'm going to have to be careful… so far only the Baron knows about my Force sensitivity. He's the only one that I feel sharing the same plight, so until the others prove their trustworthiness a bit more, I'm going to try to hide it. Especially from Dash… cute kid, especially when he gets flustered, but his family is too close to the Imperials for my liking. –

Finally we convinced the Takkas it was time to leave NOW. As Sprend led them out the fire escape, I shorted out the apartment's lock. It might not do much, but any slowdown could help. Then I followed the others out onto the fire escape.

More rain. Great for sneaking around, not so great when you're trying to find your getaway vehicle. There were lights a short distance away, but I had to get closer before I could make sure it was Vinnie. It was, so Sprend started hurrying the Takkas my way… but we weren't alone anymore. As I slipped on a wet piece of plastifilm and knocked a can into the street, someone from above yelled out “Halt! Imperial command! Stand down!” I could almost smell the reek of alcohol in Madar's voice.

Unfortunately, the troops with him didn't seem as impeded, as blaster fire streaked past Sprend's ear. Perhaps the rain still had an upside - a curse and a thump from the shooter showed they were as impaired by the torrent as us. Although not impaired enough it seemed, as more troopers ran around the sides of the buildings, three of them cutting of the taxi's escape route. So much for Plan A: a clean getaway.

More blaster fire, and things went downhill even faster - Chulo was hit! He collapsed to the ground beside the taxi, screaming in pain. I yelled at Sprend to contact Gold Squad and then hollered at Grexi to get herself and the baby into the taxi. As I grabbed Chulo and threw him into the front seat, I saw a stun bolt flame past the taxi towards the troopers blocking it. Sprend's shooting ability pulled through big - one trooper went down hard, another teetered on the edge of collapse, and the last one dived out of our way in an attempt to dodge the shot. The way was clear!

“Punch it!” Sprend hollered at Vinnie as he jumped into the back of the cab with the rest of us. Muttering about the screaming Rodians and griping about his now-drenched interior, Vinnie slammed the taxi into gear and took off. I knew immediately we were going to be in trouble… this thing was far too slow, and I could just make out the troopers hopping onto speeder bikes through the driving rain. There was no way this thing would be able to outrun them… I hope Vinnie was as experienced a driver as his age suggested!

Vinnie did give it his best, careening off walls in order to dodge incoming fire… but his taxi was no match for the heavy blaster barrage pouring down upon it. I even desperately tried to patch up pieces up the crumbling taxi with the junk lying around in the back seat, but no luck. I knew I should have taken that course in mechanics back in the Academy! After Sprend radioed the other group (“Get here NOW!”), I could hear him cursing under his breath while he tried to line up a shot on the incoming speeder. No luck, the weather was hurting us as much as the troopers.

A few seconds later, the end came for the taxi. Metal screamed as the engine blew and Vinnie unsuccessfully tried to get things under control. The world tilted as we rolled and hit a huge pile of garbage at the next T-junction, causing shrapnel and unmentionables to fly everywhere. At least we had cover now – but no getaway vehicle. The speeders were bearing down on us from the south, and we had empty alleys running off east and west.

Time to move to plan C: extreme improvisation. As we clambered out of the wreck, I told Vinnie to grab Chulo. He muttered about his taxi the whole time but immediately followed orders - I wonder if he ever saw service? A quick comm to Gold Squad let me know which direction they'd be coming from, so I motioned Vinnie and the Takkas to start running down the east-bound alley. Trying to provide cover, I ineffectively fired off a shot at the incoming troopers. Damned rain! Clearly I wasn't going to do much good this way, so I turned to break cover and run towards the Takkas. At least I could shield them a bit…

Sprend. CLEARLY a more valuable asset than I'd at first thought. What happened next could only be called a thing of fortuitous beauty. As I was turning, I saw him stand up and take a bead on one of the speederbikes. His shot sped out, hitting the pilot full force and causing the trooper to slump unconcious onto the throttle. The passenger trooper tried to jump off in desperation, but slipped (forget my former complaints about the rain!) as he did. When he landed, his arm snapped back like a cheap TIE wing. That one shot had taken out half our pursuers! Now we just had to worry about that second bike. That, and the out-of-control vehicle now speeding towards the charred lump of our taxi.

Before the inevitable collision happened, our backup finally arrived. – What took Dash so long?! Without even concentrating, I could sense the waves of frustration pouring off him… perhaps it'd be best to leave him be this time and chalk it up to youth. If it becomes common though, I'll give him plenty to be flustered about, but not how he might hope. – Tor-Nenko jumped off and ran towards Chulo, who was still being determinedly dragged along by a remarkably stalwart Vinnie. Quickly assessing Chulo's condition, Tor-Nenko ripped off a strip of his – remarkably clean – no, really, HOW does he stay so spotless, even in the midst of a mission and the driving rain?! – jumpsuit and staunched Chulo's bleeding.

Right as Tor-Nenko finished, Sprend dove our way and an explosion ripped through the streets - said inevitability had occurred. Somehow we all managed to avoid being hit by the shrapnel flying everywhere - sometimes things DO go your way on a mission! Grexi (carrying Bobo) jumped up onto Dash's speeder and they sped off back to the safehouse as Sprend laid down covering fire.

Turning back towards our pursuers, I saw the troopers were now off their bike and in the middle of the intersection, right by the now-mangled-and-melted remains of the taxi & ill-fated speederbike. Leaving Chulo in Vinnie's care, Tor-Nenko and I both took shots at them, but were thrown off yet again by that miserable rain. Thankfully Sprend was a better shot, and moments later the two remaining troopers lay out cold among the wreckage and garbage.

I quickly ran towards the now-abandoned speederbike in the middle of the street - we still had to get Chulo back to safety, and more Imperials were sure to be on their way! Dash had radioed that he'd gotten to base and would be coming back for us, but we couldn't delay. Chulo could NOT be allowed to fall into that fool Madar's hands. I motioned Tor-Nenko to follow and showed him where the standard-issue tracking device was on the Imperial bike. As always, his work was fast and efficient - I even heard him mumble something about “got some Imp code data” as he worked. As soon as he was done, he lifted Chulo up onto the bike as I hopped on and twisted the throttle wide open.

Finally, a reprieve from the torrential downpour! It was still raining, but at least it was sparse enough now that I was able to speed safely back to the bar, Chulo in tow. Marv, Grexi, and the Baron (who was clearly unhappy about his clothing getting drenched) ran out to help Chulo off the bike as Dash pulled back in, carrying Sprend, Vinnie, and Tor-Nenko on the repulsor lift he'd used for his part of the mission. Everyone made their way inside and out of the danger of prying eyes as quickly as possible.

– A successful escape, equipment recovered, and none dead - the Baron called it a job well done, but I can't help but feel we drew far more notice than I'd have liked. I must work harder to prepare for the next mission, so I don't make the same mistakes again. I was even shown up by Dash - just a kid! But one who pulled off HIS mission without a firefight ensuing. Having Tor-Nenko on his side definitely played a big part, but still… –

Now safely inside the bar, her husband under sedation and healing and her baby finally calmed to sleep, Grexi came over to our table, stumbling over herself to express her thanks for saving her family. To our surprise, she then told a story of finding a decades-old Imperial datachip in an abandoned warehouse. They never cracked its contents, but she thought perhaps we might have better luck. On her way out after handing over the chip, Grexi surprised me again with a hug, her tears of gratitude mixing into my rain-soaked jacket.

– I've seen enough in my career to know her happiness at being out of Imperial hands is well founded; I remember particularly the “Involuntary Information Extraction” classes at the Academy. I only hope the dissidents the Takkas were with are not the same I was responsible for nearly eradicating before my “incident”… or that if they were, Grexi & Chulo never find out the details. –

Shaking off the fog of exhaustion, Tor-Nenko popped the chip into his datapad and poked around for a few minutes while the rest of us tried to dry off our outsides and wet our insides. Suddenly a hologram popped up in the middle of the room - it appears to have been a message about the tomb of a supposedly mythical Jedi Knight, which the sender believed to be located here on our planet. Tor-Nenko couldn't get any more information out of the chip at the time; I heard him mumbling about “moldy security codes” as he stumbled into the back, presumably to crash into the depths of sleep.

– A Jedi Knight, on this planet?! This bears deeper investigation… I must find a way to press the others to to find out more, without revealing why I'm so interested. Of course, the Baron could be of help in this; I'll have to talk to him once I've rested. –

I followed suit shortly after, hardly noticing on the walk home that the rain had finally slowed to a drizzle. Barely getting my soaked clothes off before collapsing into bed, one last thought drifted through my mind: Had Madar recognized me?

XP spent:

• Force Power / Sense: Control - Damaria is realizing the potential usefulness of her fledgling power in recruitment; as she spends time the following week trying to practice her sensing, she comes to the startling realization that on occasion she is also able to sense the thoughts of those she's talking with.
• Vigilance +1: Damaria is determined not to be caught by surprise so easily next time and has been practicing maintaining an enhanced state of awareness throughout the week