Scraplands (GRS Aegis Crew members)

For once in his military life, Lieutenant Commander Crassus Vossk was not working, but sleeping. Which was a rare thing, because it seemed that even when he was off duty the man was keeping his own fighter running, running through strategies with Shenhua, or just simply taking questions about their first mission. Not that he knew what it would be, of course, for some reason he doubted that even Commander Vien' knew what the Aegis' first mission would be.

Crass' eyes were quickly moving back and forth behind closed eyes; he was dreaming. This dream was far from pleasant, however; it was a nightmare, a phantasm, a wraith in the night. The red tinted man was returning to his camp in the forest, bringing supplies so that he and Ess could venture further into the timber, it would make it harder for the bounty hunters to find them. Crassus knew what was going to happen: his mind had reminded him of this agony every time he closed his eyes. He came through the brush, expecting to see Ess and that bounty hunter standing with their blasters pointed at each other. Suddenly, the man heard his name called from afar, someone outside of this horror was trying to wake him... but his mind would not release him from this torment. Not yet. Not until the final act had flashed across his unopened eyes.

What the Zeltron saw when he came through the brush he saw that Mandalorian bounty hunter pointing a heavy blaster rifle at Rah... he did a double take. Rah? Why had she taken the place of the lamb to the slaughter? Again, he heard his name called from afar, followed by three sharp and loud knocks on his door.

And so, the final horrific act began.

His mind, however, translated these knocks into the distinct sound of a blaster discharging a lance of plasma. Naturally, these blaster bolts were fired by the two opponents that stood before him and much like his usual dreams: Both the innocent and the assailant where hit. Mortally. He tried to plant his feet, knowing that every time that he rushed over to Ess' side it hurt him beyond words... but the will of his conscious mind had little weight in this plane. He mournfully ran to Rah's side, but before he had a chance to do or say anything the man was shook out of his slumber.

The lids of his eyes snapped open to reveal an overly bright room... and since he was still in a semi-dream state his mind thought that he was in some other place, and not the place where he went to sleep. He shot up and began to look around frantically, looking for any way to escape. After his conscious mind took hold and his eyes readjusted to the light he calmed, then looked at the petty officer who was sent to fetch him as she spoke. A false look of concern flashed across her face.

“You alright, sir?”

He smiled, knowing full well that she could care less... but he would play along. Officers were supposed to be so full of themselves that they believed the enlisted cared about their problems.

“Just a bad dream... why are you in my quarters again?”

She raised her chin and locked it in place, for some reason the woman thought that she was required to be in “utmost respect mode,” despite the fact that he was in his boxers.

“Commander Vienneau has ordered all of the Aegis' officers to muster at the staff meeting hall, sir. You have about...”

The woman checked her watch before looking back up at the Zeltron with a finely honed body in little more than his boxers. She probably expected a clumsy come on or worse: Pheromones and emo-jection... he chuckled. Maybe if today was 5 years ago, but not today.

“... Five minutes.”

She turned on a heel and exited the room. He sighed before walking over to his dresser and slipped into his uniform, taking one last look around before heading out of the door. Crass arrived at the staff meeting hall about 5 seconds before he could officially be called, “late.”

“Lieutenant Commander Vossk signing in.”

Wakefulness had turned to meditation, meditation had turned to sleep, and sleep had once again become wakefulness. This was the typical cycle Rahja ran through and today had not been any different. The Aegis had only just departed from the docks when the sudden jolt of the docking clamps releasing...sudden meaning sudden to the chiss woman...had awoken her from what little sleep she'd been about to receive. Groaning as she opened her eyes once more, the red orbs flickered about the room until they lit on something familiar. Sender. Sitting up, the little avian droid noticed her movement even in the utter darkness of the room, his infrared and heat based optics having switched on as soon as he had been awoken...presumably by the same motion that had woken Rah herself.

Good evening Rah. I was hoping that the departure of the Aegis wouldn't wake you, but it seems that it has. Is everything alright?

Rah tilted her head to the side slightly at the bird's words as her mind shook of the last of sleep's grip so that she could make sense of what he had said. The departure of the Aegis?....OH!....well, that explained things. Nodding, she offered the little bird a smile.

Yes, Sender, I'm fine. The Aegis has finally been given clearance to leave then?

It would appear so. By what the military files state, the Aegis was released for departure at 17.00 hours. It is now 17.30....hmm...we seem to be a bit off schedule.

Rah simply shrugged her understanding, running a hand over her face as she sighed and pondered trying to get more sleep. Heh...I doubt an hour of sleep will have done you any good after nearly a day and a half without, Rah...she thought, scratching at her head for a moment before running her fingers through her hair and ridding it of a few tangles that had appeared during the short stint of sleep she had gotten. Just then a knock at the door caught the woman's attention and she rolled her eyes.

One moment.

She stated, getting out of the bed and pulling on her boots once more. Rahja had the tendency to sleep in whatever clothing she happened to have on that day, so really the only thing she was missing WERE her shoes. This was a habit developed over the years of sniping and mercenary work...both jobs that left one with little enough time to DO the job, let alone change for sleeping. One just had to learn to sleep when and where they could, and Rah had even gone so far as to adopt the "sleep where you stand/drop" method. That aside, she moved silently to the door and opened it with a hiss of compressed air, the young woman on the other side seeming bored and rather tiffy. Rahja raised an eyebrow as the petty officer stepped back a pace, seemingly surprised and put off by the appearance of a Chiss behind the door. Smirking, Rah leaned against the door frame and folded her arms across her chest.

Well? I suppose there's a good reason for waking me up when I'm off duty?

She snipped at the younger woman who stammered a mild, and far from heartfelt apology. Narrowing her eyes, Rah couldn't help but be bombarded with the young woman's thoughts, a few images of a certain red toned man in little more than his boxers flashing before her. The chiss woman tried hard not to allow her subtle smirk widen into a catlike grin at that image as she leaned ferally against the bulkhead, her lithe body making her appear to be little more than a wildcat prepared to pounce on her prey. As the young woman stuttered under the glowing gaze of the sniper, Rah finally learned that her purpose was to summon the officers to the staff meeting room.

Really? They're counting Command Sergeants as officers now? How interesting...forgive me if I don't believe you.

The young woman blinked, wide eyed, mouth agape, at the chiss and Rahja had to try not to chuckle at the feelings of disbelief and consternation the young woman emitted at her statement.

"I...Commander Vienneau has requested your appearance with the other officers because of your enlisted rank in the Special Ops."

Rahja nodded slightly, understanding a bit better as to why she was being summoned as well. Shrugging, she blinked at the younger woman once again.

How long?

"Th...three minutes...."

Understood.

Without another word, Rahja turned her back to the girl and shut the door once again. An obvious dismissal. Walking toward the short dresser that was in the room, Rah burrowed around inside it for a moment looking for a particular article of clothing.

You really SHOULD be more kind to the others around here Rah. They're your team now, and so you'll be living with them for a while. It's best not to...

Don't lecture me, bird. They're not my 'team'...I wasn't asked to be stationed here with a bunch of Navy brats who always get the easy life. I could give a whomp rat's arse less what they think of me. I'm here to do my job, not make friends. Got it?

She snipped, as she unburied herself from the drawer, pulling out a black bodice. Since she'd removed her leather armor her shirt hung loosely from her frame and she didn't want to put the gear back on again until she had to. So, what was she to do? Obvious, wear another article of clothing that would rectify the situation. Easily slipping her arms through the top of the vest like bodice and lacing herself into the supporting material, she readjusted her shirt, brushed through her hair for a few seconds, slipped on her belt and called Sender to her shoulder, foregoing the cloak that she so often wore. Leaving the room and locking it behind her, Rah made her way toward the meeting room.

Checking the time on a passing clock, she sighed slightly. Great, because of that idiot woman she was going to be late. Rah knew for a fact that their conversation hadn't been more than a minute long, and only having three minutes to get to anywhere on this ship was pushing things unless one was off at a jog. No doubt she'd been the last one notified as well considering she was most likely going to be the lowest ranking one there. Huffing at her luck, she ran her hand through her hair once again as she reached the door to the room she had been looking for. Upon entering...nearly a half minute late...she only spotted a few others there, Crass being one of them...and the only one she had actually knew.

Special Ops Command Sergeant Rahja Kel and AER recon droid Sender present...finally.

Finding a seat beside Crass, she sat down and watched as Sender hop off her shoulder and onto the table, settling down and withdrawing his landing legs so it seemed he was laying there like any typical bird might.

2nd Lieutenant Jarka Sharkal sat in the break room munching on replicated food. The food was bland and gummy, but he ate it nevertheless. His new assignment still needed some getting-used-to, but other than that he had made himself right at home. The GRS Aegis was a fantastic ship, and he was a fresh officer in the ground task force. Most of the soldiers were battle-hardened Republic soldiers. He was in charge of a 3 fire teams.

When Lieutenant Sharkal was introduced to his fire teams, they did not pay much respect to him other than a standard salute and they obeyed his orders, other than that the soldiers did not believe in his leadership skills much.

Jarka finished his breakfast and checked his chronometer, it was early morning still. He brushed the crumbs off of his dress uniform and put his cap on. He tightened his belt and checked the holster of his sidearm. Jarka still had ten minuted until he had to wake his men and spent it at the small firing range onboard. He unstrapped his blaster pistol and aimed it at the target. Firing off a few shots, he watched as the bolts hit the target's chest, kneck and thigh. His marksman skills had not dwindled after being on reserve for almost a month. He checked his chronometer and made his way to his squad's bunk room. He opened the door and flipped on the light.

"Look alive men!" shouted Jarka as he took an alarm clock on a private's nightstand an set it off. The soldiers on by one got up and stood at attention. Jarka saluted them and they returned it going into an at ease position.

"Chow time men, you have five minutes to get ready!" ordered Jarka as he walked out of the room and to the large break room. After a few minutes, the first of his men began to arrive and get food from the replicator, they were all dressed in their uniforms. Jarka put a seargent on watch duty and walked to his room. He dressed in his green camouflage and matching cap. He walked back to the break room to find that everyone was just about finished.

"Alright, fire team Aurek, your turn to man the detention center, Besh, you will do patrol duty on the command deck and Cresh, patrol the first level. I will be in a briefing, everyone got it?" asked Jarka.

"He got a resounding "Yes sir!" and the men split into their fire teams. They all took their turns going to the armory and grabbing their weapons.

Jarka took off to the Staff Briefing Room. He entered casually and stopped at the door, saluting the officers in the room.

Shenhua lay on her bed quietly, anyone else would have thought she was sleeping. She wasn't exactly awake but she definitely wasn't sleeping either. The same way she was physically on the ship but her consciousness was somewhere else. It was roaming the vast depths and mysteries that is known as space. Shenhua tend to do this often, to her it was about as relaxing as a bath could be.

Now that I think about it, I could go for a nice bath, maybe with that pilot who seemed to be so into me. Nothing like cleaning yourself and getting dirty at the same time. she mused as a wicked grin flashed across her face.

The grin quickly faded though, as more serious thoughts entered her mind. War was approaching the Republic, she could sense it. She was a fighter pilot but that did not mean she enjoyed killing. War also meant that there were a lot of friends she was going to lose, she was certain of that fact. She wasn't a stranger to loss, but her connection to the Force made her sensitive to it.

She was taken out of her reverie when there was a call for officers in the meeting hall. She quickly walked over to the refresher, splashed water on her face, and headed out of her quarters. She made it to the meeting hall just in time and snapped off a crisp salute to the Commander.

"Lieutenant Shenhua Noriega reporting as order!"

By far the Lowest ranked in the room, the Tall, muscular man stood near the back, arms crossed in the darkest part of the room. A Sergeant by training, he had just recently been promoted for his command on Nar Shadaa, and for his assistance in bringing in the Traitor Aunna Borgonia.

Master Sergeant Damien Meesha's Squad had taken heavy losses during that mission, having encountered Sith Troop Resistance, But He had walked away, taking the Bodies of the fallen with him, back to their Families. Still with him, Ellemaiare, Sean, Emmath and Hosk had been left back in their Quarters. The good thing about this ship was, it was big enough for the Squad to actually practice...which was especially useful considering the new guys that had been assigned by Central command.

So now, with three pretty new Rockers on his shoulder, Damien awaited the Briefing's beginning, arms crossed and eyes glancing over the other Men there. Looked like a Damn bunch of REMF's to him, and that annoyed him, Officers were great at Acting smart, but when it came down to the actual fighting, they never left him enough Leg room on the ground.

It pissed Damien off.

It had been poor planning that had led to the Loss of So many on Nar Shadaa, and his arm was still sore from the names that had been added. They were his squad, and he wasn't going to forget them, not ever.

So now he waited, waited still, for a Briefing that would end with his men's and his own lives in danger once more, all for the Safety of the Republic, all for the Safety of her Citizens. It was a Worthy cause in his mind, but still something that he wished could be Automated.

Wishing it would start, and get over with, Damien made his plans for later... he had a Nice Box in his pocket, and a Date arranged on the Upper Decks, with a Nice View outside.


(1000th POST)

[...from Floating Rumors]

[Did some editing so this makes more sense with the previous thread].

After a few more days of training with the new Venoms both in the actual ships and running some missions in the sims, Pak Har'endanno thought himself sufficiently proficient in the flying of the new ships. They weren't a whole much different than what he was used to flying, except the handling was a lot more sharper. And that wasn't hard to get used to. In fact, he enjoyed them. Buckling into the beautiful fighters was the best part of his day. Especially if he got to fly near that Miraulka.

The Balosar smiled to himself as he thought about the woman, sitting in the officers' mess. Despite the fact that she couldn't see and usually kept her eyes covered, her beauty still shone through to him. Alas, though, he hadn't had much time to speak to Shenhua besides last night in the officer's club. The LooCom demanded a lot of her time. Even though he had noticed that there was some history between them, he felt a little out of place. Why should he spend more time with her? He and some of the other pilots were of the same rank as she was. Pak didn't understand the matter, but it wasn't for him to dwell over. If the LooCom respected her opinion more than the other lieutenants, that was his prerogative. He was just here to be a crack awesome pilot.

His tray was piled high full of carbs with a bit of protein. The night before he had finally found the officers' club and had treated himself to a few rounds of Corellian ale and had some pleasant conversation with Shenhua. Nothing too heavy; he had heard the rumors that the Aegis would be departing Kuat in the morning. Pak didn't have a hangover--he hadn't drunk enough for near that--but it was always good to be preventive about it. So he had a very hearty breakfast.

He was just cleaning off his plate, when a young enlisted man came running up to him, interrupting his continuing thoughts of the night before, to inform him of the meeting to take place in 15 minutes and counting. Pak acknowledged the order and took the time to finish off his caf before leaving the mess. The meeting hall was just around the corner and he could be there quickly.

And, in fact, he was, being one of the first to arrive. Pak was even there before the almighty LooCom. Amazing. He took a seat near the back after introducing himself to the female Commander. Another looker... The Balosar quickly moved his thoughts on to safer matters; it wouldn't do to flirt with his Commander. He hoped that the seat next to him would remain empty for Shenhua.

Gradually the rest of the officers trickled in, including Lieutenant Commander Vossk, a woman he didn't recognize from spec ops and then Shenhua. Hearing her voice, he glanced back at her. His antennapalps twitched slightly; he could feel that something was bothering her underneath her outer shell. She couldn't see him in the general sense, but Pak hoped she would sense him as he discreetly gestured to the empty seat beside him. This time, he merely wanted to offer her company. The rest could come later.

He wasn't so heartless as to take advantage of a female in that way, so Pak tried to settle down his feelings and turned towards the front to focus on the Commander. If Shenhua joined him, that was great. If she didn't, well, there would be other opportunities. It was time to focus on his duties now and not what he did when he was off duty. Perhaps a nice swift run around the ship would be in order after this meeting... and a cold shower...

Jarka took a seat near the back next to a man that seemed to be dressed in a pilot's uniform. They both wore the bars of Lieutenants, just different branches. Jarka felt out of place not dressed in his dress uniform, but he did not show it on his face. He checked over his uniform, the standard green and black camouflage, black boots, Army Insignia pin, Lieutenant bars, name stitching and utility belt still looked new since Second Lieutenant Sharkal had never been in combat.

Jarka looked at the man next to him. He was gawking at a Commander. How immature... Jarka faced forward and awaited the briefing.

Aurora laid the thin datapad on the table before her and rubbed her eyes before standing in preparedness for the arrival of the first group of the ships active officers not to mention some of their enlisted brothers and sisters from the ships special operations division compliment. now standing she thought back to the mission profile that she had finally be allowed to actually unlock. Once more she glanced down to the datapad the image of the prideful looking Hammer head II-class Cruiser plain upon the small nine inch screen of the datapad.

Aurora turned her head to the door as she heard the door begin to open and the first of the officers in this case a rather disheveled looking Lieutenant from the ships engineering department. She made a note to herself to have a talk to him about his presentation later as she quickly returned his half-hearted salute with a crisp on of her own and gestured for him to take a seat at the long aluminum conference table arrayed in the ships fore officer's lounge that she had chosen to commandeered for this officers meeting area. This process continued until the last of the gaggle trickled in.

Aurora set slowly into her seat hopping the few still standing would sit. "I'm afraid I haven't meet all of you at this point, I am Commander Aurora Vienneau." she said gesturing momentarily to herself before setting her hand down on the computer top before her. "Now, protocol first, this mission briefing does not leave this room. If any of you are caught telling enlisted to transmitting details of it you will spend the rest of our journey in our brig." deftly she moved her fingers across the keyboard bringing up a holographic image of a large republic warship. "This," she said gesturing at the hologram. "Is the GRS Amendment a hammerhead II heavy cruiser which recently disappeared en route to Kuat after responding to a pirate related distress signal." Slowly the image changed to a large serious of parts. "We are to find it, or at the least it's cargo." the commander pointed as the parts disappeared to show a large naval gun. "The amendment was carrying parts for this a prototype for a micronized plasma stream cannon. Before you ask we do have a search area here, in sector 33KLN. Now, this sector is unexplored, but recon probes have identified an asteroid field surrounding it." She looked at the assembled officers. "Any questions?"

Crass let a small smile curve the ends of his lips as Rah sat down next to him, he nudged her a little bit before leaning in (still looking forward) and whispering.

“You have a decent night's sleep?”

He asked, a slight tinge of concern could be found in his voice for more than one reason. Not only did he just dream of the woman dieing in front of him, but she also looked exhausted yesterday. He was about to say something more when Commander Vienneau spoke, effectively interrupting him. The man slowly let his spine rest against the back of the chair and let out a sigh of comfort.

The Zeltron clenched his jaw when pirates came up, he hated pirates. They stole his sister, his life, and innocence from him. Forcing him to brutally “interrogate” captains of captured ships for information. The galaxy grew brighter with the passing of every corsair, especially the ones that dealt in slavery. Crass raised his hand a little bit just before speaking, not particularly caring if he was recognized or not.

“Do we have any clue of enemy forces in the area?”

He sighed, the Zeltron knew the answer before it even left his lips: It was no. He shrugged, maybe they would get lucky.

Pak never had a chance after that to notice whether or not Shenhua joined him in the empty seat next to him, though, another man in camo took the place on the opposite side of him. He paid the man no mind, though. Most of the seats were full as the commander at the front of the table began to speak. She had his complete and undivided, mature, attention now; the Balosar easily switched to pilot mode from his easygoing persona.

He listened carefully as Commander Vienneau laid out the details for the mission that they were most certainly departing to. After days and days of training, it was time for them to go out and do something, do what they were training so hard for. Just a little eager and not wanting to miss any word, Pak was sitting straight up and leaning slightly forward, arms folded on the table before him. Even though the mission seemed an easy one--find some cargo and bring it to its proper location--he was just happy to be doing something soon. The asteroid field would just make things interesting.

When Vossk spoke up with a question, Pak suppressed an urge to groan. Of course, he would be the one to speak up. Not just because he was commander of the fighter squadron, obviously he had that right, but the question--a good one--just landed dully on Park's ears. He hadn't had too many encounters with the lieutenant commander except for their training exercises. Especially when the man sighed afterwards. Pak wasn't sure why, but it just rubbed him the wrong way.

Oh, well, they had a duty to perform now, and he couldn't let his feelings get in the way of doing his job. He had to put it all behind him and be professional. Pak remained quiet himself, waiting to see if there were other questions and answers from the female commander.

Rahja hadn't even bothered to pay attention to the others who came into the room...at least not visually. There were, of course, always those pliable threads of the force prickling at her senses as a new member entered the room, so it wasn't difficult for her to glean information about those around her even without seeing them. Picking at one thread at a time, Rahja slowly began to unravel the fabric of the force around her to get a better image of it. There was, of course, the commander: a pretty woman, but uptight (bordering on high and mighty)...she seemed none to pleased with a few of the members who entered the room, least of all a man who she had already deemed the first on her list of those who would be needing a good talking to. Following her was a new man to the military, still fresh and crisp from training...poor soul...he seemed to find the whole ordeal comfortable enough now, but that would change soon enough...get the boy some combat and he'd not know what to do with himself. Near the back of the room was another ground pounder like herself...this one with a chip on his shoulder almost as big as her own. Something bad had happened to this one, and she was mildly intrigued, but decided it best not to pry even through the force...no...things like that were best left alone, especially when it came to her...she didn't want others prying, so she wouldn't pry. A woman entered shortly after...she was touched with the force as well, and Rahja instantly withdrew her own signature, ripping away her connection to the woman roughly. If the woman knew anything about the force, she would feel it and hopefully get the hint that the chiss wanted to be left alone. There was another as well...this man seemed to be less than thrilled at being here and intensely interested in the force touched woman...in turn, the red eyed sniper felt a wave of something akin to disdain and...jealousy?...toward the last member in the room, Crass.

The zeltron man sat beside her, calm as anything. Rahja didn't even bother to feel the threads of the force connecting her to the man beside her...she already knew enough to be getting on with. Even as she thought this, however, the red tinted pilot leaned toward her casually asking how she had slept. What an odd question to be asking...she mused to herself.

As decent as I can get on this floating tin can...

Her reply was blunt and sarcastic, stating exactly what she thought...no punches pulled. That, however, was Rahja for you. At least...that was one part of her. Following her answer the commander began her little ramble about just what the mission was going to be. It seemed all pretty space oriented, so Rahja didn't see the need for the "little toy soldiers," like herself, to be here. After Crass posed his question Rahja only waited long enough for the commander to give him an answer before posing her own only a half heartbeat later.

This seems like a fairly space oriented mission...nothing for us ground pounders. Are we on stand by, then, or do you foresee needing us ready to go at the drop of a cred? Also, do we know if these pirates have a base? If so, do we have schematics for the area or will there be intel gathering involved?

Crimson eyes bored into the commander's as she asked her questions. It wasn't a challenge, simply her was of showing that she was all business...but it wasn't always easy to tell with chiss eyes just what their looks meant.

Jarka listened intently. He even took mental notes on the things the commander said. He watched as a Chiss said the question he was about to ask, though the crimson-eyed, blue female said with about as much intelligence as a spacer.

Are all the soldiers like this onboard? Jarka mused to himself quietly. The young officer looked around the room, it was sure quite an odd group formed here, the NCO's of the Special Forces were there, which Jarka thought odd that they did not have an officer in charge of them. He looked to the man next to him.

"Hello, I am Jarka, I am going to be leading the infantry fireteams," whispered Lieutenant Sharkal to the Belosar next to him.

The young lieutenant hoped to get some sort of kind response from the man, he seemed to be ignoring Jarka, which only made the young Second Lieutenant more intrigued. He figured that if he got to know atleast one of these "Space Jockeys" as his father referred to the Naval personnel, he would break the stereotype of being "High and mighty, and stuck up, never-getting-their-hands-to-dirty-types" his father had explained to him about.

Shenhua, looked around the room, until her gaze finally stopped on familiar person. She walked over to where Pak was and slid into the empty seat next to him. She also noticed that Crassus was right across from them.

Thiiiiis could turn out akward

Luckily she was saved of imagining any further, as the commander began the briefing. It seemed fairly simple but still sounded somewhat mysterious. She hoped that they would run into some pirates or something, she was starting to get bored.

Shenhua remained quiet as Crassus posed his question and wondered who the lady sitting next to her was. Her question was soon answered as the girl then asked a question of which the nature of her station here was revealed. She waited patiently for both their questions to be answered, as her mind drifted to thought on the mission.

Pak's antennapalps notified him a nanosecond before the man beside him spoke. He suppressed an urge to sigh, opting to roll his eyes instead. What kind of officer or an enlisted man, especially, would interrupt a mission briefing to make pleasantries and introductions? The Balosar found it extremely rude; he was trying to pay attention to the answers that the Commander gave. There could be something important in them.

He quickly thought about his options. He could just ignore the man and pretend he never heard him. But that might make this Jarka fellow inquire louder, interrupting more than just Pak's thoughts. Or he could glance at him quickly and show him how rude he was being and hope he would also pay attention to the front of the room. Thirdly, he could actually whisper an answer back, hoping that he wouldn't keep talking and that the Commander wouldn't notice.

Pak settled for a mixture of the last time. He glanced sideways at the man and bit out quietly, "Good for you," before turning his attention forward once again.

The small break of his attention, though, before he had focused entirely back on Commander Vienneau's answers, had made him recognize the presence of Shenhua beside him. Pak smiled inwardly; he was glad that she wasn't completely repulsed by his presence after... last night. He had hoped that she had had a good time, as he had. There were so many things he wanted to do to let her know that he was glad she was sitting by him--least of all grabbing her knee--but this wasn't the place. Just as it wasn't the place for soldiers to be whispering introductions. Pak just hoped that Shenhua would sense his pleasure before he sat forward slightly, listening to the Commander, all his thoughts on the mission ahead.

"There isn't any information that there are any pirates in the area with any luck we won't have to fight anyone." Aurora glanced at the faces after she finished speaking hoping to get some indication of their thoughts. "That said the possibility is always there so I expect everyone to be ready to respond quickly." Aurora said letting a smile break her stony mask for a moment. "Perhaps the ship simply hit a asteroid and we just have to swoop in and pick up the survivors." "Though I very much doubt that."[/color] she added to herself. "Vossk, I want your fighters to patrol the Aegis' halo for as long as we're in the asteroid field. Are there anyother questions?"

Rahja let out a quiet "Ha" of ascent to the commander's answer. It all seemed pretty cut and dry to her...hurry up and wait. Well, at least she could get some rest while she was waiting around. Everything she needed was still pretty much packed and ready to go, all she needed to do was check her armor for any problems and her ammo to make sure she had enough of the rounds she would need. Moving a portion of her heavy cloak, she settled back against the seat and waited to see what, if anything, the rest of the meeting would entail.

Crass nodded at the Commander's order and her answer. He knew that the combat forces would be unknown... those numbers were always unknown, it seemed that it was a requirement sometimes. That didn't matter though, as long as a pirate armada wasn't in the system they would be fine. He smirked a little at the thought. The 433rd could handle anything that was thrown at them... they were some of the best pilots in the Republic.

He had no further questions.

Arms crossed as he listened to the plans that were being discussed, Damien wondered why on earth he had been ordered to attend this meeting. After the commander was done talking, he sighed a little, shifting his seat and looking at the commander as the others asked their Questions, letting them finish before he spoke up.

Begging the Commander's pardon, I find myself wondering why I was Ordered to report to this meeting. My Squad is a Ground-fighting one, and this sounds like a Job for the Spacesuit pukes he said, revealing why his promotion was an amazing coincidence. Damien's main fault was the fact that he was Blunt. If he didn't like something, or Couldn't understand the reasons for it, he'd Question it.

This was something that he didn't understand