Fwurg

[Mercury]

((OOC: Continued from Regime Change.))

With their new ship, Darones, Trigiel and T'sal were ready to head out. As they moved to inspect the ship, a gold plated protocol droid awaited them.

"Greetings. I am EX-1T your protocol droid. I shall assist you in your interactions with the Xrim'Adate. Would you like some tea?"

[Fecta Trigiel]

Trigiel looked at the droid with his head flaps raised in surprise. Then he realised that the tea question couldn't possible be meant for him and his head flaps rearranged them back to normal. "Hello EX-1T, it's nice to have you on board."

Then he proceed to check the ship and its supplies. He made sure there was enough food containers and powercells on board for him for the mission. Then he made himself familiar with the ship. He wanted to know all the ins and outs of the ship, where every bolt was and what colour every wire had.

"I'm ready to go."

[Mercury]

As everyone was ready, the ship powered up its engines and flew off. Soon the vessel was in hyperspace, heading out to meet the Xrim'Adate.

EX-1T explained about the Xrim'Adate culture while they were en-route, hyperspace visible through the ships windows.

"The Xrim'Adate identify strongly with their ships. Though they fly anything, they take pride in modifying their ships to be as effective and at the same time beautiful as possible. To have an impressive ship is something to be admired, but only as far as it is practical to the community: having a luxury cruiser all to yourself is very inappropriate, but sharing it with a large number of people and offering them comfortable passage is quite the opposite.

They generally do not expect foreigners to understand these subtleties and won't judge you for your ship, though they will be most pleased with any compliments about their vessels, which shall surely put them in a good mood to agree with any proposals you may have for them.

The Xrim'Adate people are notorious traders, in the sense that they often 'trade' items people own or have in or on their ships for similar items that may or may not be able to perform the same functions. When they like people, they will trade them for items that are better than the ones taken, but when they become angered or upset with someone, they may find the replacements much less desirable." EX-1T explained

"It is of key importance that they trade these items in secret - when you discover one of them making a trade, it is their custom to run away as fast as they can. If they are captured, the trade must be undone."

"A final important part of Xrim'Adate culture is the handshake. It must be made with both hands at the same time, like so." the droid demonstrated the gesture with each of the Jedi, which resembled a cross between a bow and a folding together of hands. "To fail to shake hands properly would be most offensive to them.

Does any of you speak the Xrim tongue? If not, I shall be happy to translate for you."

[T'Sal]

T'sal helps with loading the Mandalorain technological equipment on board of their ship. She then takes a look around and she meets EX-1T.

"Nice to meet you EX-1T, I am T'sal. Yes, I would like some tea."

T'sal drinks her tea while she listens to what the protocol droid has to say.

"I do not know the Xrim tongue, but I am good with languages and got a translation matrix on my datapad, could you teach me their languages?

I have taken some Mandalorian equipment on board and downloaded a lot about the Mandalorian technology on my datapad. Maybe you guys can study that during our travel?"

((OOC: You are posting early Mercury))

[Fecta Trigiel]

Trigiel paid attention to the culture and etiquettes of the Xrim'Adate. Doing things right would be very important in order to make a success of the mission. He practised the handshake once more to make sure he got it right.

"Is the Xrim tongue the same as galactic basic or Teprogrenaian? Otherwise I don't speak it."

To everyone, including the droid, he stated: "Maybe it is a good idea to bring some stuff with us what we can trade. We can make a stop in the Hiocan space sector where we can buy something. What do you guys think? I suggest to bring some additional nice generic weapons, and maybe a hyperdrive with us. We have enough cargo space."

((OOC: Mercury is not posting early. He waited a week to post.

Mercury, I saw that I officially updated my character after the official opening of the mission. However, I have spend my xp before my first post. And besides, I had my xp laying around while I wasn't participating in any mission, so it wouldn't matter if I had spend it a week earlier. Can I use the skills I bought in this mission?))

[Darones Rei]

"Good idea Trigiel," Darones responded after EX-1T had given an introduction into the culture of the Xrim'Adate and he had finished his cup of tea. "Though I think that nearly anything will do for them, betting on some more serious equipment such as hyperdrive's, bulkheads, power couplings, support equipment, medical supplies and weaponry is probably the way we need to go.

Perhaps adding some crew would help too, as this ship is rather large."


((OOC: Since I had not posted my equipment yet, here is the list

Equipment:

• His lightsabers
• Communications device
• Datapad with holonet link
• A stack of credits
• A small backpack with a medkit, an engineering kit, and supplies for a few days.

))

[Fecta Trigiel]

"Then lets see if we can buy some stuff along the way. We don't really need extra crew for the trip. This is a cargoship, it's made to be operated by a limited amount of crew. "

If T'sal didn't object, Trigiel let the ship stop at a space port along the way so they could bought some stuff they could trade. Stuff like medical supplies, power couplings, support equipment, repair equipment, some decorative stuff and weaponry. All depending on what their budget and space allowed.

[T'Sal]

((OOC: As I said in my post T'sal takes Mandalorian equipment on board, I do not know what is available and what fits, but I think it would be general Mandalorian mechanical engineering things and weapons. But taken more is better))

T'sal turns to Trigiel.

"On Erau ex-Mandalorians are living and I think we could there some extra material to trade."

[Mercury]

((OOC: Trigiel: I have no problem with you using the skills you bought in this mission))

The group loaded up on various goods, which with the addition of T'sals Mandalorian tech added up to a nicely filled cargo bay, including weapons, ship components and supplies both medical and electronical.

EX-1T was unable to teach Tsal the Xrim tongue in the short duration of the trip, but T'sal managed to learn some key phrases and with her translation matrix she would be able to have at least a basic understanding of what was going on, even if EX-1T was not there to translate.

Soon, the ship left the territory of the Hiocan Society, heading off towards Mandalorian space, and Xrim-459

Xrim-459 was quite big and though the actual density of the cloud was what on a planet would be considered a "vacuum", the presence of the gas molecules reduced visibility to about a lightyear. Beyond that, there's only a brownish-orange haze of refracted light. Navigation was possible, but difficult.

Outside of the cloud though, a strange vessel was waiting for them. It looked like a love-child between a Mandalorian warship and a Union mass transit cargo freighter, except only about 12 meters in length, 3 life-signs on board. It was radiating blue and orange light from a series of fastly strobing led-lights that had been spread over the ships surface.

"This is the United Xrim Navy Star Destroyer PXC-107D Alpha Galaxy. We are here to welcome and escort the most honorable Jedi."

The transponder codes checked out with the ones that had been given to them - this was likely their welcoming committee.

[Fecta Trigiel]

Trigiel had to suppress a chuckle. A 12 meter ship like that was never going to be a Star Destroyer. He assumed for the moment that a real destroyer was nearby but hiding in case somebody else than the jedi would show up.

"This is the Jedi vessel The Abiding your escort is most appreciated in the gas cloud."

Trigiel send their transponder codes to proof that they were indeed the jedi.

[T'Sal]

As the ships is approaching their destination T'sal goes to the cockpit. She sees that another vessel is there and is hailing them. She takes a seat and analyzes the United Xrim Navy Star Destroyer PXC-107D Alpha Galaxy with the ships sensors.

[Darones Rei]

With Trigiel handling the communication, Darones was perfectly content with sitting back and 'enjoying the ride'. Obviously the ships that had hailed them wasn't a star destroyer, but the name did have a nice ring to it.

"Well... let's see what it is that we have gotten ourselves into.." he said.

[Mercury]

With contact made and Trigiel's transponder codes confirming the Jedi's identity, the two ships entered the gas cloud, making their way ever deeper inside the cloud.

T'sal scanned the escort vessel, but found little of interest. It was just an average ship, though its owner had clearly spent a lot of time adding custom nonesense to it, like those folks who overdecorate their houses for Life Day.

Finally, the Jedi ship arrived at a space station that was enough to cause headaches just by looking at it. It was covered in stroboscopic lighting that varied in colour from infra-red to ultraviolet, without ever sticking to a single colour.

Following instructions, the ship docked with the station, where an honour guard was waiting for them. The inside of the station was sparsely lit and here too strobing lights were a regular presence, giving the entire station a surreal atmosphere.

They were escorted through narrow corridors which seemed quite busy with people, many of them curious to see or even touch the Jedi, eventually arriving at a meeting room that in comparison to the rest of the station seemed an oasis of rest with only a single large light on the ceiling and comfortable chairs set up around a circular table.

Here, several Xrim were already waiting for the Jedi and one of them spoke, EX-1T translating:

"This is Admiral Norin. He wishes to welcome you to his vessel. It is now appropriate to shake hands with him and then the other Xrim delegates." the protocol droid explained "Afterwards, as visiting parties, it is up to you to steer the conversation, such as asking about what means they have available or proposing a plan."

[T'Sal]

T'sal makes a bow and speaks in Galatic basic leaving the translating to EX-1T.

"I am Jedi Knight T'sal. It is an honor to meet you Admiral Norin. It seems we have a common enemy and I am curious what your plans are to solve this matter together."

She then walks to Admiral and the delegates to shake their hands.

[Fecta Trigiel]

He tried to ignore the touching while they were on route, or to smile kindly to the people. The latter was a bit difficult though for someone with no mouth. So only his lower headflaps extended a little. After having to walk through such an overload of sensoric information, Trigiel was happy to finally have some rest again in the room.

"Admiral Norim, I'm Padawan Fecta Trigiel. It is a pleasure to meet you." Trigiel also spoke in Galactic Basic. The cyborg also proceeded to the typical handshaking with the admiral, and then the other delegates.

"To start, I am mostly interested in what your current situation is, and what we, the Xrim and the Jedi, have available in equipment and personnel."

[Mercury]

"Welcome Jedi. May we find good ways to cooperate."

With their training, the three Jedi managed to go through the greeting properly and soon the lot of them were talking business.

The Jedi soon discovered that there was no shortage of ships, although they were a bit unclear on the exact amount of firepower the Xrim held - they seemed to have a tendency to call things "Star Destroyers" and "Super-star destroyers", when in reality the ships were much smaller than those names would suggest.

Realistically, it seemed as if the Xrim had a large fleet of small vessels with obnoxious colours and excessive firepower - they could deal some serious blows to the Mandalorians, but not in open conflict - they'd need to use hit and run tactics, which did not seem to align very well with the disorderly bunch they were: discipline wasn't a strong suit, but there was a definite will to cooperate to defeat the Mandalorians.

Someone needed to get them organized and trained though!

((OOC: I don't want to rob you of a chance to RP, but I also wanted to move the story along a bit :)))

[T'Sal]

As Darones seems a little quit, T'sal introduces him.

"This is padawan Darones Rei, he is an excellent pilot."

T'sal takes a look at all the ships. She would love to check them all out and see what they could do exactly, but that would probable take quite some time. Now it is time to make friends with them and get things organized.

"I see you have a great fleet with firepower in every kind and color. You will be able to take down any ship with a few shots. By using your knowledge of the sector you could have the advantage over any incoming Mandalorian fleet with the guidance of the Force.

Do you have a meeting room where we can discuss things in greater detail? I would like to see a map of the area and having some numbers to work with would be nice. I am a scientist and engineer. Trigiel has military experience and always some up this in his compartments. "

((OOC: Gerben are you still hanging in there?))

[Fecta Trigiel]

Trigiel had no idea what T'sal meant by 'some up this in his compartments', but he ignored it for the moment. They had to look organised if this mission had to succeed.

"Master, you have knowledge in learning as well right? Maybe once we have a clear understanding, you can design a learning curriculum that covers what the Xrim exactly need to learn in an as short as possible time. Then, with my military experience I can drill the people, while Darones learns them flight and attack patterns and shows them the weak spots of our targets.

I agree that a map with the Xrim and Mandalorian assets would be nice."

[Mercury]

((OOC: I don't think Gerben is still with us.))

"We will take you to the large meeting hall."

Soon the Jedi found themselves in a small meeting hall with a central table that projected a three-dimensional map of the gas cloud.

The cloud featured prescious little landmarks like bases and planets, but there were various stations around the area, marked on the map. These were the main Mandalorian support stations from which their operations were led and organized. Stations could be supported by other stations that were close by, though it would take more time to aid stations further away.

With Trigiel's military experience, Darones' flying skills and T'sal's math skills, they would certainly be able to come up with some battle strategies! Based on the number and strength of the ships, they soon determined that they could raid supply trains to different stations to weaken them, make strikes on Mandalorian space stations which may cause more or less risk based on whether they were low on supplies and whether or not the Mandalorians were actively defending them and use infiltration of the space ports to conducting sabotage.

Though Trigiel, Darones and T'sal could certainly aid in these, the key was not to do it themselves, but to teach the Xrim to be able to do so, as they would not be able to be everywhere at once. Thus, the key problem was organizing and training the Xrim, deciding what skills would best match their objectives, what targets to attack and to come up with any additional plans that might help the Xrim to succeed.

((OOC: You can help by going yourself, but it means you would be unavailable to train troops so it might not be a good idea.))

[Darones Rei]

"I can see that we have several options here," Darones said as if he just dropped a bom... "And I apologize for my behaviour earlier, I seem to have dosed off a bit."

" While attacking the space-stations seems like a good strategy, we would first need to make sure that they are low on supply so that they pose less of a threat, and that we draw any attention for the Mandalorian fleets some were else. Hit and run assault on the supply convoys would therefore be my first choice, provided we have sufficient ships and a well trained crew.

How about you work with the troops Trigiel and teach them a little about warfare and improve their physique and condition.. harden them a bit so that they can put up a coordinated fight. Then T'Sal can educate them and the officers on tactics and the benefits of various stategies like guerilla combat and feinting a retreat to use as bait. I'll take some pilots and teach them a few tricks or two and make sure they are up for it.

Meanwhile we should also get to work on the equipment we brought and make sure improvements are made to the ships that need it or are best suited to make use of it. It would be a shame to miss out on the opportunity to really hurt the mandalorians and lose ships when it counts the most."

[Fecta Trigiel]

One of Trigiel headflaps rose a little annoyed and surprise: "Yes Darones, thank you for exactly repeating the proposal I did.

Keep in mind, we must not be too successful, otherwise the Mandalorians will eliminate this annoyance with full force, and that the Xrim will certainly loose.

Simply attacking the supply lines multiple times wouldn't suffice, the Mandalorians will eventually reinforce their lines with escort war vessels. I think it will be best to begin with harassing some supply lines up to the point the Mandalorians will send escorts. Then we leave those supply lines alone and start assaulting other supply lines. Hit the lines which are unprotected.

Then when all lines and stations are worn out a little, we can assault the supply stations self. We must not wait too long with that or the reinforced lines will have the stations fully running again. The Xrim can take over a few stations, like this cluster in the top of the cloud. Surely the Mandalorians will come to reclaim it, and we will let them. We have no means to hold the stations, but the capture alone should send out a clear message that the Mandalorians are not in full control anymore. We should use the gas cloud in our advantage. Hide in it so the Mandalorians do not know where to expect an assault. Hit and run would be the way."

[T'Sal]

"With my teaching degree setting up a curriculum will not be so hard. I think it is good that everybody at least knows the basic strategy and learn the necessary basic skills to survive and how to work together as a team.

I agree with Trigiel. First spread them out, weaken them, draw them out and then take over that cluster of three. That will make a strong statement.

It will take some time before we are ready to make our move. In the meantime we can check out the ships and make some upgrades."

T'sal makes up a curriculum to train all the Xrim. Making sure everybody has the minimal necessary skill and strategic insigth and then continue on with the officer on strategics and also care take of the engineers while the guys do train the soldiers. In between the classes she goes to check all the ships, vehicles and other equipment and makes some improvements.

[Fecta Trigiel]

"Are there any locations with debris or rock formations we can use for practice targets?" Trigiel asked to the Xrim.

((OOC: I will be on vacation till August and thus unable to post))

[Mercury]

After deciding on a grand strategy, the three Jedi set up a plan with T'sal writing up a curriculum and Trigiel and Darones training soldiers. Trigiel found a small moon on which he could train troops.

Returning to their ship to prepare though, they made some rather unfortunate discoveries: someone had been "working" on their ship:

The ships high quality sensor array had been replaced with a pair of binoculars, attached to the ship by a piece of string. The twin-linked lased cannons had been detached and the ship now sported a wooden trebuchet on each side that had actually been -nailed- to the hull. Worst of all, the ships battery had been replaced by a training bicycle that could be paddled to generate power via a dynamo. Not enough power to activate any systems, of course.

It was unclear what exactly had happened, or how but clearly this was not the same state they had left the vessel in originally...

((OOC: I will presume that Trigiel is away training troops))

[Fecta Trigiel]

Trigiel looked at what was left of their ship in horror and disgust, but he remained calm. He turned to the Xrim who had been escorting them and spoke calmly, allowing their protocol droid the time to translate: "Do you know what the meaning is of this? Because this is a rather inefficient course of actions. I understand your need for supplies and new stuff, but this was totally unnecessary. We were ready to trade with you guys anyway. But truly, a bicycle to power the ship? I assume you know that we actually need to leave this station right? Aside from the other... counter productive changes made to the ship."

((OOC: last post here before I leave :).))