"It's been a pleasure gentleman" Arnaut said, shaking the small man in front of hims hand.

"Likewise. We have scouts positioned on every street corner for a mile, you should be safe to leave. How are you leaving, actually?" The man responded.

"I'm afraid thats confidential"

Arnaut turned away before the man could open his mouth again. Kanderin grinned and shrugged his shoulder's, before also turning on his heels and following his squad leader. Once he got close enough, he whispered into his ear.

"How exactly are we leaving?"

"Aeroport. A so called 'Private Flight'. The flight ticket's got mailed to the reception desk a few days ago. We simply have to tell the guy behind the desk that we're the local racing team on the way to an event"

"Really?" Kanderin blinked. "Local celebrities huh?"

"Not really, we've finished dead last our last twenty races"

"Fair enough"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

They met up with the the rest of the Wraith's just around the corner. Kanderin smiled as he noticed Snipe's desperately trying to shut the zipper on his bag, stopping the mouths of various bottles slipping out. Tnepres and Virius were playing a somewhat loud game of pazzac. Jennabelle sat leaning against a building, running through her bag making sure everything was there. Dixon however, sat away from the rest of the squad, staring at the ground. Kanderin grimaced as he watched the private, and eventually decided to walk over and sit next to him.

"You alright buddy?"

"Yeah...Yeah I'm fine" Dixon responded, snapping back into focus.

"No you're not" Kanderin smiled slightly, but unlike the arrogant smiles he was used to, this was a frail, understanding look. "You're missing that girl. Kellena was it?"

"How did you know?" Dixon asked, bewildered.

"Because I feel the same way" Kanderin shrugged. "Not about the same person, obviously" He hastily added, leaning away from a seemingly furious Dixon.

They didn't speak for a while, instead simply deciding to sit and watch the increasingly annoying game of pazzac. It had now been joined by Snipes, who had successfully managed to shut his bag.

"It's Army Life. This thing tends to happen to everyone at some point, and unless you quit, it never tends to work out" Kanderin explained.

"You used to have someone?"

"I have someone. Back home. I knew we'd be separated for quite a while and I thought I was okay with it. Turns out I'm not" Kanderin shrugged

Dixon opened his mouth to speak, as if to offer some words of encouragement. But after a while he simply closed it again, unable to find the right words. Not to mention Kanderin had beaten him to it.

Kellena had crashed into Dixon and draped her arms around him almost the moment he set eyes on her.

"Did I forget to mention she was coming with us?" Dixon could see Kanderin smirk out of the very small gap left in his vision.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strange looks followed the squad everywhere. Even now, as they wandered through a crowded aeroport wearing very casual clothes, one too many people always seemed to take a second look.

They arrived at the reception desk, where a tall woman in blue clothing sat clicking away at a computer. When she saw the group approaching them, she smiled and got to her feet.

"We're the Abregado Bandit's racing team, you're supposed to have tickets for us?"

"Oh yes, I think they're here somewhere" She smiled back, before scouring in a draw out of sight. "This feel like your race Aevis?"

There was an awkward silence where no one spoke. Eventually, Kanderin decided to take a blind stab in the dark.

"Yeah, fingers crossed. This course is one of my personal fave's"

The woman smiled and nodded, handing the tickets to a bewildered Arnaut.

"Good luck then. I'll be watching"

"Thanks"

The group couldn't disappear fast enough. As soon as they had ducked around the corner, many of them broke into laughter.

"It was a lucky guess, alright?" Kanderin winked

Once they regained their composure, which made them look even more suspicious, they made their way down towards the flight lounge. Scanning their tickets, they wandered in and Arnaut directed them towards a small looking Black door in the corner of the lounge. The woman at the door checked they're tickets, before pressing some buttons on the door and allowing it to grind slowly open.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The flight took them to Tadath in relative ease. The rocking of the ship made things somewhat difficult, but Kanderin sitll managed to sleep most of the journey. Upon arrival, they were immediately shipped towards antoher door, the opposite side of the room.

They had barely stepped inside before Kanderin was tackled to the ground. Exactly who by eluded him, and his staggered cry was quickly droned out. What came next was a very long, awkward silence, where each person looked at everyone else, unsure whether to pretend they weren't watching, or attempt to break them up. They still had no diea who the attacker was.

Eventually, Kanderin pushed her away and she rolled across the ground. Kanderin rolled onto his front, gasping for breath.

"Fraot?"

Yeah, thanks for the warm welcome..." Fraot said, massaging the point on her chest where Kanderin had pushed her away.

"Likewise" Kanderin added, massaging his lip. "Did you bite me?"

Fraot nodded.

"Thought you did.....wait, why are you here?"

"I've finally been cleared for squad activity, and Rizzit has placed me here!"

"The Wraiths? Seriously?"

"Mhm"

"Sorry If I have to interrupt your little get together love birds" Arnaut piped in. "But we do have the little problem of a meeting to attend to?"

"Oh right, sorry sir" Fraot added, somewhat embarrassed. "Right this way"

The squad followed Fraot through a door near the back of the room, which opened out into an even larger room, dominated by a large round table.

OOC:

Ok, as I promised here is the start to our Phase two story. Only a slight technical hitch in that I haven't received any official orders on what we're going to be doing. SO I've kept this fairly neutral, simply introducing the new NPC's and getting us to a soon to be mission briefing. Hopefully I'll have some notes soon, until then, I don't want anyone posting. And I know this post is really awful, but I am trying to wade my way through without a map here

OOC:

Fury, I owe you the biggest drink in the universe. I think we were verging on mutiny with all the waiting

Fraot wandered around the table, towards two men that were quietly conversing at the far end. Their dark clothes had made them invisible for the first few moments.

The one man was seated, legs up on the desk, the datapad to their side cast a slight shadow across the table. The other man turned to face the squad as they walked in, and immediately marched over to Kanderin, shaking his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you. Where's Arnaut?"

Kanderin struggled for words for quite a while, he was so used to being in control that being faced with an Imperial that outranked him so much was something somewhat uncommon.

"Oh, he's outside. I believe he's talking with one of our new arrivals, sir"

The man laughed.

"No ignore the badge, you outrank me. I'm the newest Wraith, Senior Sergeant Giovanni Bryden"

"Oh, right" Kanderin smiled "But yeah, Arnaut is outside. Either his age or that bad back of his is getting to him. At least I hope its his back, he's only slightly older than me..."

"He left a long time ago Kand" Fraot smiled, nudging Kanderin in the ribs to knock him out of the trance.

"If I can interrupt your little get-together" The man at the table called, tapping his boots together impatiently.

"Oh, sorry. Wraith's in here, immediately" Kanderin called out, taking a seat next to Fraot. One by one they filed in, taking their seats. The one's that passed Fraot patted her on the shoulder or wished her luck. The other's did the same to Kellena.

Eventually, Arnaut walked in, still deep in conversation with Giovanni. They took seats to the left of Kanderin. Almost as soon as their chairs were tucked under the table again, the man started to speak.

"Alright ladies, I don't want to be here anymore than you do. So let's make this quick. You're being relocated to Giju. There's a shipyard on the planet that, without spilling too much information, has been proving quite a point of interest for us in this campaign. Lots of weird crap, basically"

"I like this guy" Kanderin whispered to Fraot, who struggled not to laugh.

"The New Republic have some morale problems, their alcohol shipments haven't been getting through lately. I'm sure a squad such as yourselves can really sympathise. Therefore, to make sure nothing goes wrong this time, the next shipment is going to be escorted directly to the shipyard by two NR support ships.

Luckily for us, we have a man on the inside by the name of Tan Nalgen. He's going to get you onto the ship, which fingers crossed will place you straight into the heart of the operation. The only problem is security is really high, we cant just place you in under false names, it would never work. Only thing for it is we're going to have to hide you in that ship. However you perform that is up to you, just don't screw it up.

Once at the shipyards, your task will be to sabotage the defence grid and as many of the hanger's as possible. Good luck gentleman"

The man got up from the chair and walked out of the room, leaving the Wraith Squad somewhat baffled.

"That was the shortest mission briefing I believe I have ever sat in on" Arnaut said

"Definitely" Kanderin nodded "But that might well also be the first one I haven't fallen asleep in. Anyway people, I'm off to have a check on the sleeping arrangements"

He was out of his chair like a shot and around the corner, not long after Fraot did the same. And then Arnaut, who briskly called Kanderin back.

"I've allowed Fraot on board the squad because she is a very talented individual. But if for one minute I think that your feelings for each other are going to compromise this mission, I'm dropping you both off at the nearest Imperial base"

"I knew this was coming. Arnaut, out of work we are a couple. On a mission, our relations with each other will be purely for the sake of our success. While I'm wearing this uniform "Kanderin pinched at his shoulder "She means nothing more to me than you, or any other Wraith. I give you my word"

"I'm holding you to that!" Arnaut shouted, as Kanderin had darted back off down the hallway the moment the last syllable had escaped his mouth.

Beer. Mm. That’d be nice right now. No! He needed to think of something else. Let’s see…the mission. It would be a hard mission, that was for sure. But beer. They got to smuggle away on beer-guarding ships! What could be more awesome a mission than that!?

Well, there were a few that Arnaut could name off the top of his head. He had always wanted to liberate a Corellian ale factory… But still.

He pushed those stray thoughts from his head. The mission. The mission…I wonder what beer it will be…

He looked over at Snipes. The man lounged at the other side of the table. Behind his back he clutched a bottle of whiskey, almost, but not entirely, out of sight. Must’ve gotten the bartender to slip one as they came in.

As far as Arnaut could tell, Snipes had always and would always live his life from behind the bottom of a beer glass. Half the time he was drunk and the other half of the time he was finding ways to get drunk. He was a good soldier, sure, but maybe this wasn’t the best mission?

Oh boy.

Snipes, who loved beer of any make, trying to smuggle away on a ship filled with crates upon crates of beers. Granted, they probably couldn't survive the harsh cold or the lack of air in the beer coolers without their suits, but Arnatu was sure that Snipes would find some way to grab a beer or three. They would just have to deal with that problem as it arose.

“... task will be to sabotage the defense grid and as many of the hanger's as possible. Good luck gentleman." And then the man just…left.

It’s...over? I didn’t even get to my brain-dead, glazed over stare-at-the-wall phase yet! But the man had no intentions of coming back and giving them any more information in the briefing.

"That was the shortest mission briefing I believe I have ever sat in on." Arnaut commented, already sifting through his mind to piece together what had been said.

Something about New Republic morale, beer shipping, guarding, Snipes getting drunk…no, wait, that had been his own thought.

Uh-oh. People were starting to walk away, and he was left just staring blankly at the table. Other occupants of the room gave him funny looks. To cover his error, he got up and ran over to Fraot and Kanderin. He had been meaning to talk to them anyway.

"I've allowed Fraot on board the squad because she is a very talented individual. But if for one minute I think that your feelings for each other are going to compromise this mission, I'm dropping you both off at the nearest Imperial base," he warned, only half kidding.

"I knew this was coming. Arnaut, out of work we are a couple. On a mission, our relations with each other will be purely for the sake of our success. While I'm wearing this uniform," Kanderin pulled at his shoulder, "she means nothing more to me than you, or any other Wraith. I give you my word."

"I'm holding you to that!" Arnaut shouted as Kanderin darted back off down the hallway.

Arnaut went off in the other direction, muttering about how they’d be 'the death of him'. He just hoped they were as professional in uniform as Kanderin had said.

Well, their shuttle left in two and a half hours. Probably a good time to eat a nice lunch and get a working plan going, he decided. He made his way out of the briefing room and into the main area of the spaceport, already eyeing the various restaurants. Then again, a cold beer would be pretty nice. The cantina that Snipes had slipped into didn’t look half-bad. He began to hum Abregado-rae’s parade anthem as he made his way into the cantina and to an open seat.

OOC:

Well, not much time to write so here's what I got down. We'll start this properly once we have more people posting and working and such. For now, just, yah know, do spaceport/airport stuff.

Giovanni's reaction towards him took him somewhat by surprise. He couldn't remember ever having that greeting, and it left him that dumbstruck he wasn't able to reply. He simply watched Gio turn the corner, before crouching back down and clutching his side.

"How can I have a stitch" he grunted "I've gone absolutely nowhere!"

He hobbled down the hallway, in the direction Gio had wandered off in. As the stitch got less and less, his pace got quicker. He wasn't in a rush, he just preferred to do things quickly. Eventually he made it to the entrance of the ship. He simply stood there for a while, wondering what to do. Staying on the ship would mean he would get first dibs on the beds, and being no stranger to Imperial layouts he knew there would always be one superb bed, and another dozen crappy ones.

But on the other hand, he could really do with a drink. And with no doubt, the cantina would also be where he finds Snipes. And since a drunken Snipes is amusing, he'd put money on the fact he would find a couple of other people there as well.

Out of nowhere, a hand was clamped around Kanderin's mouth and he was dragged around the corner. Before he could put up a fight another set of hands clamped onto him, and he was slammed to the ground. He went to leg sweep the closest one to him, but paused as the giggling started.

Fraot, Kellena and Dixon looked down on him.

"They put me up to it sir, I swear" Dixon grinned, trying hard not to laugh.

"Very funny. For that you lot can buy me a-"

Kanderin collapsed back against the floor after his failed attempt at getting up.

"Alright who's the wise guy" He grimaced, tugging at the handcuffs now chaining him to a large filing cabinet.

"That one was Kellena. However," Fraot smiled "This one's from me"

She bent down, and with a lot of struggling, managed to pull kanderin's trousers off. He sat there in an army jacket and boxers, chained to a filing cabinet.

"I swear I'm going to kill someone once I get up. Where's the key?" He asked.

"Sorry sir, lost it" Kellena smiled, shortly before all three ran off back down the hallway.

"We'll be in the cantina!" He heard Fraot shout back.

Kanderin sighed and looked around for the first time. The room was heavily decorated, a huge wall of certificates lining the back wall. The name on them made him freeze.

Grand General Fury

He was chained to a filing cabinet, semi naked, in Fury's room. He doubted that the annoying trio had noticed the name on the door when they pushed him through it, because not even they were evil enough to do this to him.

"I....am...not" Kanderin grunted, tugging hard at the handcuffs. "Going...to...be...mistaken...for...a...kissogram..."

Hopeless, the chain didn't budge.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I hear that,” grumbled Snipes, now deeply inebriated.

“To the simple things in life,” said Arnaut, lifting up his glass and proposing a toast. “To good friends, good food, and good ale.”

The clash of glasses filled the cantina. The smell of the stew wafted up into Gio’s nostrils, overtaking the stale, musky smell of the cantina. The house band played a funky number, which quickly grinned to a halt as Kanderin wandered in.

He stood in the cantina entrance wearing nothing but a very sweaty shirt and a pair of boxers, while chained to a filing cabinet. Some of the people inside turned and gasped. But most laughed. In particular Wraith Squad, who had all assembled at the front of the cantina, wolf whistling and laughing.

OOC:

Thought I might lighten the mood a little bit. Nothing like a bit of self embarrassment

“More wraith,“ said Arnaut. At this point it looked as if he was almost taking a nap on counter. He exchanged greetings with LCPL D’har Leth Faintly he could hear a scraping sound. It came closer but it didn’t really bug the man. He was enjoying the music, and filling his stomach with a stew made of something he had never heard of. He didn’t  care. It was delicious. His attention was completely on his food and drink, till something came in the door and the music came to screeching hault. Giovanni still didn’t bother to turn around. The stew was too good, and the beer was cold as ice. It was the wolf whistles and cat calls that brought his attention to the man by the doorway.

    “Kanderin?” inquired Gio, squinting his eyes, trying to make something out of the silhouette by the doorway. All he could make out was a thinly built man shackled to what looked like a filing cabinet. He wasn’t wearing any pants. Giovanni turned around and went back to his food. If it really was Kanderin, he didn’t want to be the first person he recognized and called out in a cantina full of war-hardened imperials. It wasn’t the kind of attention he needed, nor wanted, and especially not in his first day with the squad.

    Giovanni hunched his head down and continued to slurp down his stew, no longer piping hot anymore. D’har was chuckling next to him as a tall, noxious looking drink was brought to a person next to him. The person seemed a little naïve, and a bit too eager to accept a drink brought to him out of nowhere. As soon as he took a mouthful, a horrible gurgling sound came out of him. His stool tipped back and he was laid flat on the floor behind him. D’har laughed riotously at what had just happened. Snipes turned around, took one look at the person on the floor, mumbled something, and wen’t back to his drink.

    Kanderin stood soaked in sweat at the doorway. “Any help please?”

    Giovanni finished up his stew and drank the rest of his ale. “Compliments to the chef.” He got up, left his credit chip on the table and approached the exit. Kanderin was waiting there, his face flushed with embarrassment.  “Doin’ alright there, bud?” inquired the senior sergeant. Kanderin tried to hold back the cries of frustration. Giovanni reached behind him and pulled one of the drawers out of the filing cabinet. He flipped through some of the papers liberally, not caring to put anything back in place. He saw many familiar names. But one stuck out in his mind. He pulled a paper out and waved it in front of Kanderin’s face.

    “You have got to be kidding me,” Giovanni looked on with hysteria in his eyes. “You got locked up in Fury’s room?!” He began to laugh uncontrollably, pushing Kanderin gently through the door of the cantina. Kanderin stayed by the entrance, not knowing what to say. Giovanni walked back in and had a talk with the bartender, who reached under the counter and pulled out a vibroblade, a little something he liked to have around to keep him away from all evil. He grabbed the hilt of the bladed weapon and walked towards Kanderin, who hadn’t realized what Giovanni intended to do, and still looked pretty calm for someone shackled to his superior’s filing cabinet.

    “Do you trust me Kanderin?”

    Kanderin’s eyes widened. He began to sweat profusely. Giovanni lifted the blade above his head. “Stretch that arm out now, if you please.” Kanderin looked down at his arm and tugged it gently. “A little more,” Kanderin tugged harder. He couldn’t think of what to say. This was all so sudden. It’s not every day that a man with a sword plans to cleave your arm at the wrist. “A little more,” said Giovanni, smiling wickedly, “I’d hate to miss.” Kanderin took this as his cue to leave and tried as fast as he could to exit the cantina. The bulk shackled to his hand screeched ominously against the dingy floor. “I said hold still! I wanna do this in one cut!”

    Kanderin rocketed forward and out of the cantina and landed on a heap right outside of the door. He looked down at his sweaty, intact hand, and then looked at Gio. Gio then looked over to the bartender.

    “Told you it’d work.”

“Dinner and a show!” Giovanni laughed and clapped a little. Snipes’ song and dance number had won over the better part of the cantina. His spicy language didn’t bother Giovanni in the least, but for some of the customers, it proved too much. Disgusted, they filed out of the cantina and looked for somewhere classier to get a drink. What did they expect, a family restaurant? With a little luck, their day would be ruined. And with a lot of luck, Snipes would sleep off his drunken funk on the ship ride over.

  The bowl of stew did good to delay the effect of the ale and brandy, but the second pint of ale quickly found its way into Gio’s blood stream. The effect was subtle, but put him in high spirits. That fuzzy feeling that makes life so damn enjoyable.

  Kanderin stammered back in, fully clothed, sat down, but didn’t say anything. Giovanni held back a laugh and took a sip from his pint. He worried for a second that he had lost track of time, but looking around he realized that if indeed he was late, so was the greater majority of his new squad.

  “The man earlier didn’t cover this, but what weapons should we bring with us on the mission? I understand Tan Nalgen will get us aboard, but are we keeping a low profile or going in guns blazing?”

  His inquiry fell on deaf ears. Arnaut was too busy clapping away at Snipes’ dance and song, which by now was more of a stumble and moan than anything. Even the house band had stopped playing. They lost their audience to this very drunk man in an imperial uniform and his unorthodox methods of entertainment. Giovanni attempted to start a conversation with Kanderin, who was halfway through his first glass of beer.

  “Does he always do this?” Kanderin turned slowly. He hadn’t forgotten the previous incident and didn’t seem eager to forgive the new Wraith. “Only when there’s alcohol around, and we’re not on-duty. And there’s always bound to be alcohol when we’re not on-duty, so I guess he does this every time we’re not on duty.” Kanderin kept rambling.

“Hmmm, right. You think he’ll be alright for the mission?”

“Oh I’m sure. He’ll sleep it off. I’m certain of it.” replied Kanderin. Giovanni felt a little more comfortable now. It would be unfortunate if their cover at the shipyard was blown by a man with his shirt off dancing drunkenly on top of a table.

“Say, bartender, you wouldn’t happen to know the time would you?” The bartender grunted back, his voice muffled by the rhythmic clapping and shouting of the people in the cantina. By Giovanni’s calculations, they now had an hour and a half left until they were to report to the shuttle bay and take off. That’s plenty of time, I might even get another bowl of… His stomach turned and he brought his arm to settle it down. Well, maybe I’ll just eat again on the shuttle.

OOC:

Keep the posting up, fellas. I can do this all day :].

"Arnaut, I'm going to be leaving you early. I'll meet you back at the ship" Kanderin whispered across the table.

He had obviously spoken too loud, as the heavily drunk Snipes lurched over towards them.

"YOUR LEAVING? *hic* WIMP! *hic* WHY YOU LEAVING US THEN WIMP!*hic*"

"Same question" Arnaut grinned, taking another sip of his drink.

Kanderin leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"The group of girls in the corner are staring at me. And every time I smile, or look, or well, do anything that could be considered aimed at them - Fraot threatens to chop a certain part of me off"

Kanderin noticed too late that Snipes was listening in.

"WHAT? THOSE SKANKS? *hic* OVER HERE LADIES! IGNORE THE SKINNY BOY! *hic* I'M-"

Much to the relief of Kanderin, Snipes had staggered to one side on his limp across tha bar and collapsed in a heap besides the bartender, sending various bottles and beer taps flying everywhere. Every Wraith that was still somewhat sober suddenly dive for the nearest bottle or spray of alcohol coming their way.

In the confusion, Kanderin and Fraot managed to roll out two large kegs of alcohol from underneath the bar.

"How are we going to get these past the flight security? "Fraot asked.

"We're not. This one" Kanderin tapped the barrel he was rolling "Is going around the corner, where we're having our own 'party'"

"Oh okay" Fraot smiled. "And this one?"

"Confidential. Rizzit contacted me and told me he'd left it there, I have tot ake it to Fury's office"

"Whats in it?" Fraot asked, bewilderment stretching across her face.

"Well, I'm not really supposed to show you. But open it up, as long as you swear not to tell anyone"

Fraot had barely muttered 'I promise' when she was already pulling at the loose end. Eventually she pulled it loose and stared into the barrel. Which, like the other, was filled with alcohol.

"Kand, I don't under-"

She didn't finish the sentence. Kanderin had pushed her head first into it and sprinted around the corner cackling, leaving her waist high in a really strongly smelling drink.

"And now for my next target" Kanderin smirked, rolling the other barrel as quickly as he could.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kellena dragged Dixon through the alley ways, repeatedly refusing his requests for alcohol.

As they turned the one corner, they both stood staring in awe at the keg of ale, just sat in the road in front of them.

"Can we keepsh it?" Dixon stammered.

This time even Kellena couldn't say no, and they both set about slowly levering the top of.

Eventually it popped off like a cork, and they both stared down into it. It looked exactly as they expected, waves of ale slowly washing up against their fingers. All except for the small flashing green light in the bottom corner.

Suddenly, the barrel violently erupted, drowning both people in a huge wave of ale. That violent that it washed them a good hundred feet down the alleyway, right to the feet of a now sniggering Kanderin.

Kanderin stopped giggling and began to listen. There was a beeping echoing from under his shirt. He yanked his comlink out and checked the message glowing on screen.

Quote:All Wraith's to the ship. We leave in ten minutes

Already? It seemed way too soon. Not that he minded, he was really ready to get into action. Even though 'action' would only include being sat in a beer cooler for god knows how long. With nothing to do. Surrounded by huge crates of beer. Who was he kidding, he was going to love it.

He crashed into Fraot as he turned the corner, who was still trying to wring herself dry of the remains of the beer keg.

"We're even, ok?" She grimaced, as they made their way towards the two guards stood at the entrance to the ship.

"Deal" Kanderin smiled back "And put your arms around me and cling as if your life depended on it t my side"

"Why?" Fraot asked. "Miss me?"

"N. It turns out beer makes your top go see through"

Fraot looked down and immediately wrapped herself around Kanderin. He was still giggling as they made a somewhat difficult trek past the guards.

Much of Wraith had already assembled in the entrance way. Snipes was still unconscious on the floor. He dragged Fraot out of sight of everyone else, then watched her run down the hallway to the dorm rooms on the right. He saw a little more of her than he had expected, but he didn't complain.

He wandered back to the main room, and saw Dixon sat in the corner.

"Kellena is changing I suppose?"

"How'd you know" Dixon mumbled, obviously still in a bad mood with Kanderin.

"Well, let me guess. You hate to see her go but you loved to watch her leave?"

"Ok seriously. How'd you know?" Dixon stared right at Kanderin.

"Same thing happened to Fraot" Kandern added, sitting next to him.

"Ah"

OOC:

So begins the posting chain. I'm deliberately keeping it short so we can fit a lot in

The second pint lay on its side, spilling its remaining amount of fluid all over the counter, like a dead soldier. It was time to go.

“Hey listen, Arn, I’m not sure how long it is before we take off but I’m gonna head to my room and pick up my stuff. See you on-board?”

“Sure thing man, don’t get left behind!” responded Arnaut, now having finished his second and final bowl of mystery stew. Snipes’ revelries were winding down now, probably from exhaustion. I’d hate to be him in about five or six hours. I like hangovers just as much as I like kicks to the genitals. Giovanni continued past the drunken piles of people strewn about tables, and on special cases, the floor. The quaint smell of vomit rose in clouds from the floor. The door swung open and the light hurt his eyes. He became acclimated to the clean air, free of interesting smells and noxious gasses.

Giovanni made a bee-line towards his living quarters almost subconsciously. If he could make his way back home completely inebriated, stumbling, and vomiting, then he could surely do it in a lightly intoxicated state. He walked past Kanderin, who has being clutched tightly by a woman in uniform, soaked to the bone in some kind of liquid.

Gio couldn’t help but wink and point at the man. He returned the wink and nodded with a smirk on his face.

It seemed like a longer walk than before, probably because he was fully conscious, a stark contrast from his usual walks back home after happy hour at the cantina. His room was a little too warm for comfort, but it didn’t matter. He’d be on a ship soon, and the climate control in his suite would be the least of his worries. There were other things to worry about, like restraining Snipes from the massive amounts of beer being delivered. Or restraining himself, for that matter. And there was also the question of what to take.

Gio reached into his pocket and pulled out a keycard. He walked to his bed and reached under his bed to take out a case. On this case he entered a personal identification number, which then brought up a keycard slot. He slid the keycard through, and opened the case. Inside was his E-11 rifle, two side arms, a knife that had never been used, and a few ammunition packs. He reached under once again to pull out a faded black duffel bag, which he promptly packed with clothes, a flask of whiskey, his weapons, and his storm trooper armor.

A data pad buzzed on the night table next to his bed. Hmm, guess I got a new one after all. Apparently, they were leaving in 10 minutes. Good thing I took off a little earlier. Giovanni picked up his bag, looked in the mirror and straightened his hair, and headed out of the door. He took one last look at the room. He wouldn’t be back in a while.

The accommodations were modest. They must have wanted to keep a low profile. Giovanni handed his bag to a technician and told him to be careful with it. He got a kick out of that. A highly trained technician reduced to a lowly baggage handler. Clearly, the young man wasn’t too happy. He was ignored, however, and Giovanni straightened his clothes and continued onto the ship. Arnaut was up and walking around. The majority of the Wraiths we’re passed out, or getting there. Tnepres and D’har Leth seemed to still have a handle on reality.

“Let’s see...who’s on board?” Arnaut took count, starting over several times. Were we missing anyone? Gio didn’t bother to look. He hardly knew who was who in the squad. Just then a young woman came in and snapped to attention. She seemed to have rushed onboard, barely arriving on time. Her bag was half-open, almost spilling its innards on the deck. His attention was not on her, though. Somewhere behind him, someone had shuffled a deck of Sabacc cards.

D’har and Tnepres were getting ready to play. Giovanni felt obliged to join. He had a knack for Sabacc, and was always more than willing to secure squad bragging rights as he had with the Dragoons before them.

“Mind if I join you guys?” he said. The ship took off just then, causing Gio to stumble a bit. He regained his step and sat down across from D’har and Tnepres. “I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Giovanni Bryden, and I’m about to school you in Sabacc.” He shot a smile at the two. They weren’t amused. “We’ll see about that,” said Tnepres, shoving the deck his way. “Deal.”

He took the 76 card-chips in his hand. “I don’t suppose we’ll ante up, so I’ll just deal.”
Gio dealt two cards to D’har and Tnepres, and two to himself. The game was on.

Looking down, Gio noticed he had drawn a fourteen of staves and a seven of flasks. Twenty-one. He smiled a little to the two wraiths across the table. It was a good hand. Not perfect, but it would do. No one seemed to be paying attention to the game. They were too busy power napping or trying to nap. Hmmm, I wonder if there’s an open bar .

“Anyone wanna call?” They didn’t respond. Giovanni dealt one card each. He received the idiot. How fitting. His card count stayed at twenty-one. He took the idiot and discarded it. Tnepres and D’har looked on, deep in thought. They seemed to be determined to beat this cocky newcomer. This newcomer who promised them defeat.

Each of them tapped their hand on the table, to signify another deal. Giovanni complied. Three more cars were handed out. He looked over to D’har. He could hardly contain himself. Under the card chip in front of him lay the evil one. His hopes and dreams of a pure Sabacc hand had just gone down the drain.

“I win!” D’har got up and laid his card chips down. Tnepres cleared his throat. “Excuse me?”.

“Empty your pockets.” Tnepres looked D’har dead in the eye. “What in the hell are you talking about? I have nothing to hide.” D’har shied away from the table. “So you mean to tell me that skifter you always carry around had nothing to do with this?” Tnepres put his hand out. “Give it to me.”

D’har gave in. He handed the skifter over and sat down again. Giovanni pushed the deck of cards over to him.

“Deal.”

No plan. Why did that not surprise him. Somehow he knew this would be the way the mission panned out.

"Hey! Quit daydreaming and deal!"

Kanderin looked up towards the pilot, then back down at the deck of cards. He shuffled them without much thought and threw them out among the people sat around him.

The first couple of games went very smoothly. Kanderin made a very neat profit, probably because of the fact he was the only member of the game carrying a gun. And placing it in a place on his belt so that it was in plain view of everyone that needed to see it, probably didn't help either. They had all learnt a long time ago, never take an armed man's money.

Eventually he got tired of bullying the men, threw a note in each of their directions and wandered off out of the lounge. He was so busy counting the huge amount of notes that still remained in his hands that he stumbled over something and collapsed sprawled on the floor.

"Hey! Touch me again you wont have any legs to hit me with" Snipes spat

"So you're awake" Kanderin smiled gingerly

"No, I've learnt to talk in my sleep. Of course I'm awake dumbass. Now get me some aspirin before I'm forced to hurt you"

"Haven't got any on board, but will a 50 do?" Kanderin smirked, waving the note in front of his face.

Snipes mumbled something about it working nicely, before he slumped to the side asleep again. Kanderin smiled to himself as he collected up the rest of the notes and carried on down the path.

"Ladies!" He shouted as he entered into the room where most of the Wraith's sat. "And Gentleman! Oh and the Wraith's, I guess. Everyone to the bar, drinks on me"

A bomb would of had less of an effect. Every person there immediately dropped what they were doing and sprinted past Kanderin. He stopped D'Har and pushed a handful of notes into his arms, before pushing him on his way and grabbing Fraot by the shoulder.

"Not you" Kanderin winked.

"What? Why?" She asked, pushing his hand away.

"Well, you can go get that drink if you want. But the way I see it, is we have just over four hours left before we're on the mission officially, and I want to make the most of them"

"Oh, I see" Fraot replied, turning back to face Kanderin "Lead the way Kand"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well what do you think I meant?" Kanderin smiled, as he watched Fraot pack yet more ration's into yet another rucksack. "Someone has to pack"

"Still not talking to me?" Kanderin smiled, opening one eye to look at Fraot. She was still attempting to burn a hole right through him.

"I guess not" Kanderin shrugged when no reply came.

"You should see what I did to your rations"

Kanderin laughed, unsure whether to take Fraot seriously. Eventually though, she got up and planted a kiss on Kanderin's forehead.

"Just kidding"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What does it take to get a cup of coffee on this damn ship" Snipes cried, punching the wall on his way into the lounge.

"There's a bar near the rear Snipes. Now please, We're trying to sleep" Kanderin replied, this time not opening an eye. He listened out for a reply, but Snipes simply muttered something about 'cocky lovebirds' and wandered off, so instead he put his arm further around Fraot and drifted off again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kand"

Prod

"Kand!"

Another prod

"I Know you're not sleeping. Fraot's gone by the way"

Kanderin eyes opened immediately, at the same time his hand lunged for where he knew Fraot used to be. She was still there, sleeping like a baby, her breath slowly warming up Kandeirn's chest. D'hars face was grinning down at him.

"Alright" Kanderin yawned "You got me. Now what do you want?"

"Can we have some more money" D-Har grinned, offering his hands out like a child asking for sweets. Kanderin groaned.

"Here's a fifty" Kanderin groaned, before again getting comfortable. "Now go away, and tell everyone else that if either of us are disturbed again, I'm throwing them out into space"

OOC:

More filler, I need to talk with Arnaut before we can move on

If the harsh bump with the ground hadn’t scattered the Sabacc deck and the pot of credits all over the floor, Giovanni and the rest of the Wraiths participating in the game would not have noticed a thing. The game had become more than a matter of winning money. It was about pride now. That is, until the money flew every which way. Then it became a mad dash to recover as much of your lost loot as you could. Giovanni let Tnepres and D’har fight with each other and fumble around trying to grab as many credits as he could and quietly grabbed the remainder of it on the table. There was quite a bit of screaming coming from the cockpit.

Damn flyboys, he thought. He went to the bar, grabbed a thermos full of coffee, and made a bee-line towards the exit. Most of the squad was out already, looking exhausted from the previous night of heavy drinking. For once, Giovanni felt good the morning after. Maybe this whole ‘drink in moderation’ thing could work out for me. He chuckled at the thought. Times had definitely changed.

“A bit of a messy landing, no?” said Giovanni, carefully sipping the hot liquid. “Nothing compared to this hangover,” responded Snipes. The rest of the squad was waiting patiently for a word from Arnaut. A few of them, now no longer intoxicated, began to reflect on the potential danger of the mission at hand. Some were visibly worried. Giovanni on the other hand, merely leaned back on a cargo crate and kept sipping his coffee. His eyes were tired, his back stiff from sitting around and doing nothing for a few hours. His hair was no longer cleanly combed, but he maintained the calm, elegant, composed look he was known for. He wasn’t really worried about his mission. In truth, he never really lived until he was ready to die.

The cargo was now being brought out by the crew of the ship, and being stowed away in transports. Gio sat silently and patiently waiting orders. The coffee was now almost gone, and what was left was no longer scalding hot. He downed the rest of it, feeling a lot more awake and refreshed than he had before. He attempted to strike a conversation up with Kanderin, who seemed to busy with his lady friend to notice. Tnepres and Snipes were having a conversation, but about what, he couldn’t tell. Everything was quiet, save for the clanking of light machinery, and the low shuffle of the feet of the technicians.

He couldn’t tell what time of day it was, nor did he want to know. In truth, it didn’t really matter. Him and the rest of the squad were trained to do their job, regardless of time, place, or any other circumstance. A little thing such as sleep deprivation was nothing but a very minor nuisance. They were on Giju now. Their task was only moments away from being tackled. Giovanni felt the need to prove himself.

What better place than here?

What better time than now?

The squad followed Tan in a line, trying their best to fit in as a tour group.  Talstorin didn’t like the idea, for some reason the Wraiths didn’t exactly look touristy especially with one or two members half-drunk.  They passed by a couple of uneventful rooms and Tan began to drone on about something.  Apparently the man was trying very  hard not get caught.  In fact, Talstorin had begun to pick traces of uncertainty in the man’s voice.  Could this man really be trusted?  If he gets caught, there’s a high chance he might just sell us out for a lighter punishment.   The trooper’s thoughts were interrupted as someone lightly rammed into him and he spun around to see the culprit.  Kanderin grinned as Talstorin’s eyes met his, the two still walking with Talstorin walking backwards, occasionally looking back to see if he was going to crash into something. 

    “You missed it,” Kanderin said.

    “Missed what?  And as the ASL now, shouldn’t you be up front with Arn?” Talstorin gave Kanderin a scowl.

    “You missed EVERYTHING.  And being an Assistant Squad Leader,” Kanderin said, emphasizing his new rank, well new-old rank.  “Being an Assistant Squad Leader doesn’t make me too good for mah old buddy.’  Kanderin gave a big smile though Talstorin didn’t catch it as he had turned back to avoid walking into Jennabelle. 

    “You sure you didn’t have one too many drinks back there?” Talstorin asked.  Kand was a little peppy-er than usual.

    “I’m fine,” he answered quickly, his voice returning to it’s normal tone.  “Just happy, you know why.”  Talstorin shrugged.  “And we have to keep a low profile, we’re a tour group, not a squad.  Remember?” Kanderin added.

    “Alright, so why are you hanging around me?  Shouldn’t you be hanging with your girl?”

    “Oh geez, don’t be so cranky.  You’re just jealous I got her first.”

    Talstorin chuckled.  “Sure.  Besides, I have my own g- ,” he said before pausing.  The thought of Sarah made him feel sick and he decided to change the topic.  “What’s with you and Dixon?  Soon Wraith squad will have so many couples, we’re going to have to change our name to the LoveBoat.”

    Kanderin paused and thought about the idea before shrugging.  “That wouldn’t be so bad.  Next girl we meet is reserved for you?  Happy?”

    “I don’t need ANOTHER girl.  Alright?”  Of course, Kanderin wouldn’t know much.  No one in Wraith knew much about his past, or Sarah.  In fact, Durandal was the only person in the army who even knew him past a shallow level.  “I just think you’re having too much fun.”
Kanderin laughed.  “Can’t help it if I’m a playa.”

    “Whatever.”

    Kanderin gave Talstorin’s back an odd look.  What was with him? He was so cranky lately.  Someone obviously didn’t have enough to drink.  Some of that nectar would wash all that emo-ness out of him.  Deciding not to bother Talstorin further, Kanderin slowed down, going back to his place next to Fraot. 

    Talstorin turned his attention back to the squad.  The games of Sabbac had cheered him up slightly, but right now, the feeling was going back away though he wasn’t sure if it was just the half a drink back there talking.  At least time was passing by fast. 

    “And this is the shipping room, where we ship some of our products,” Tan announced, his voice was unmistakably shaky, as he pointed to a room.  There, they saw their plane, which two workers were standing next to, packing shipment’s of beer.  As they passed by it, Tan whispered to Arn.  Talstorin heard a “we’ll get back here later.”  Arnaut gave him a nod before a flash of light surprised the whole squad.  Leth had taken a picture.  Talstorin gave Leth a look.

    “What?” he asked when he caught Tnepres, still holding his camera.
   
    “Why the hell did you bring a camera?”

    “I thought we were supposed to be tourists.”

    “But we only found that out after we landed.  Why did you pack it in the first place?”

    “To take pictures?  Duh?”  Leth gave him a matter-of-fact look before heading off, putting away his camera.  Talstorin shook his head and sighed.  His palms had began to get abnormally sweaty and the right hand had began to slip as it held on to the compacted electrostaff that had been attached to his belt.

    The tour lasted a while longer before they headed back to the shipping room.  When they had entered, the room was empty but they still passed by it, walking in the opposite direction this time.  It was not long before they found pilots talking to the workers they had seen before.  Without getting too close, the group began to eavesdrop.

    “And everything is packed?” one of the pilots inquired.

    “Yes, everything.  Will you two be delivering it now?”

    “Yep,” answered the second pilot, “ we’re just getting our alcohol level test.”

    “Alright,” the worker said before the two walked away in opposite directions.  As the two workers passed the group, everyone stood up straight and pretended to act normal.  One worker stopped and eyed the group.

    “Who are these people?” he asked finally.  The squad looked at each other before Tan answered.

    “A tour group.  They’re done though, I was just taking them out.”

    “Oh.  Alright, be on your way then.”  The worker said, appeased.  Leth took a picture of the wall, hoping to convince him further.  It had worked.  The worker talked to Leth before running off.

    “That’s a pretty old model.  You should probably get a new one.  They have this really nice one that comes with a built in clock.”

    “Oh, uh, yea, I think I will, thanks.”  The worker ran off.  Talstorin wasn’t surprised about the built in clock.  These days, everything had a built in clock.  It just didn’t work if it couldn’t tell time as well. 

    “Ok, now’s our chance.  The room is empty.”  Tan said as he pushed the group back to shipping room.

    “What about the security cameras?” Kanderin pointed out.

    “I can shut them off remotely.  Just run in.”  The group nodded and as soon as Tan clicked a button on a weird remote, everyone made a run for it, Snipes tripping a bit on the way.  They curved around to the back of the cargo ship and jumped in.  There were a couple of “ows” as they landed but aside from that, everything went smoothly. 

    “Owsh!  Gesht off meh!” Snipes yelled as Talstorin fell on him.

    “Sorry,” he apologized as he got up and walked further in.

    Leth stared outwards at the door and before he had hide when the pilots walked in, he caught Tan talking to someone over a comlink.

“You knoooow, speaking of Hurricanes,” Snipes began as he took another chug at the beer bottle in his hands.  “Speaking of Hurricanes,” he repeated as he lazily wiped his mouth.  “Speaking of Hurricanes, I remember, once….”  Snipes took a deep breath.  “Once I ate my babysitter and -.”  He paused when he noticed the squad passing odd glances at him.  “I mean, what am I saying.  I meant baby sister.”  The cooler echoed with “ohs” and “I sees” followed by some nods.  “And, the next day, I joined the Imperial Navy.”

    “That happened to be how I joined the Navy too,” added Leth.

    Talstorin blinked before turning to Arnaut.  “Are they still conscious of the fact that they’re NOT in the Navy?”

    “Probably not,” Arnaut answered, holding back a laugh as Leth got up clumsily before tripping over Kanderin.

    “You sure they’re going to be sober by the time we land?”  Talstorin looked around.  Half the squad looked too drunk to even stay conscious.  Dixon gave a loud laugh out of nowhere. 

    “The only hope we have is the hope that our prayers are answered.  Probably not, no.”  Meanwhile, Kanderin and Fraot had begun doing a recreation about life on Zerm.  Talstorin sighed. 

    “I’m beginning to think this mission will bring us our highest death toll ever.”

    Arnaut nodded.  “The sad thing is, most of the deaths will be caused by intoxication rather than by actual fighting.”  Talstorin chuckled at the thought as he pictured headlines.  A squad and half of a Snipes found in a beer cooler, drunk, happy and dead.  

    “Well, if you can’t beat em, join them,” said Arnaut before he grabbed a bottle and opened it.  When he found Talstorin giving him a glare, Arnaut simply shrugged.  “Hey, not all of us overdue drinking.”

    That was one good news.  Giovanni looked sober though you could catch the occasional disoriented movement.  A few other squad members seemed fine as well.  If one ignored the heap of tripping people in the middle, the squad actually looked slightly acceptable. 

    “So how long do we have before we land?” Jennabelle asked as she walked up to Arnaut.  The squad leader shrugged. 

    “A long way.  At least I hope.  These guys need all the recovery time they can get.  I’m pretty sure most weapons have that warning sign saying: Don’t operate while under the influence of alcohol.”
    Catching a part of the comment, Talstorin added in.  “But when did we follow general rules?”  The squad leader shrugged again.  Jennabelle just walked away.  Frowning, Talstorin realized that he hadn’t even talked to some of the new recruits.  It seemed like Wraith was an entire new squad now, more than half of them were new.  Still, he wasn’t in the mood to so he made a note to himself.

    Fraot slapped Kanderin lightly, fell, got up and then fell again, this time on Fraot.  Talstorin chuckled.  Those two were getting way too close.   He leaned against the wall when he suddenly heard voices.  Narrowing his eyes, he motioned Arnaut to come closer before he pressed his ears to the wall. 

    “You know.  The cargo is moving around a lot.  There’s a lot of thumping.  Maybe one of the containers was opened.”

    “You’re so paranoid.  Pay attention to the flight.”

    “… No, hold on.  I’m going to go check on it.”

    The trooper’s eyes shot open as he looked at Arnaut, who was looking back at him.  Both of them were out of ideas.  Fraot giggled in the distance.

OOC:

Didn't want to move the story too much.  Enjoy