Public Aurora Station R&R

[Laphisto]

Reaching a taloned hand out towards the man, he half chuckled, "Don't worry, you can borrow one of ours, earn enough though, and you might just make enough to make it yours. Unfortunately, the pirate's home of operations is far beyond our capability to take out just yet. It's a slow war with raiding parties on both sides. As for the group? We are facing off against the Dusate Pirates, led by Ubbal Dusat. From what we gathered, they took power in the vacuum formed by the previous faction that roamed this sector after they collapsed from being a major power. Pirates like Ubbal took hold, eventually forming under his banner. We don't know their exact numbers, but from what we can gather, they have their main base set up in Ank Kit'aar"

crossing his arms back over his chest after the initial hand shake he shook his head softly " we currently don't have the man power nor the resources to fuel a full fledges assault on their home base. not yet, anyways. the R&D team in the stations war forge are always churning out new equipment and ships though."

 

[Zinayn]

"I see. In the meantime then, I suppose I'll perform hit-and-run attacks on them, hopefully hit their supply lines."

Zinayn brought out a datapad from his cloak and started tapping away on it. A minute later, he put it back and said, "I just read about some of the pirates' bases and outposts. I see they have a warehouse on Ord Mantell. Do you know about its security levels? I think I can hit it quick and come back. Do you know what they store there?"

Laphisto

 

[Plikh'ala'niu (Khalani)]

Kailani Fostu folded his hands behind his back as the Peacemaker, a GA heavy cruiser, exited hyperspace a dozen klicks away from a space station. Right at starboard, the Frenzy, a GA CR90 Anti-Starfighter corvette, popped out of hyperspace a second after its commander. The Chiss focused his attention on the three warships directly ahead of him, maybe a kilometer out. He couldn't tell their class.

A voice came over the comm demanding ID.

"This is Commander Kailani Fostu of the Galactic Alliance. I have recieved word from an acquaintance on board your station that you are struggling with a pirate problem. I believe I can help you. Can you take me to your leader?"

Kailani motioned to Officer Lowry to mute the transmission and told his first officer, "Prepare my shuttle and a small contingent of marines."

 

[Astrus]

The idea of working for what you could find on the battlefield was laughable. A cheap trick for cheap labour. Quality soldiers were too concerned with the fight, then looting. Not to mention it actually encouraged unhealthy competition between coworkers instead of fostering teamwork. If Astrus had to fight his comrades after a fight to guarantee a pay check, there’s no way He would trust them to watch his back during a fire fight.

“Let’s circle back to pay.” Astrus said to Laphisto . “I thought you were hiring Warriors. Soldiers. Fighters. Not common raiders or pirates.” The idea of being paid in battlefield spoils wasn’t new. However, keeping what you can find as pay felt like hiring an Artist and asking them to work for Exposure. Not only did it feel cheap, but it significantly disadvantaged those that preferred fighting from vehicles, like speeders or star fighters. It was very clear that the Lilistate Order was far more interested in making themselves look good than actually being good. It was becoming more and more apparent that this was evidently a toxic work place.

 

[Zinayn]

"Indeed, the payment system is certainly flawed," Zinayn said. He laughed. "But if you're strong enough, then you'll get all the loot. Simple enough. As for the people in starfighters, I think they deserve getting nothing. They're not on the ground doing the dirty work."

Of course, he had to admit that dogfights were intense and dangerous. His comment was fueled only by his dislike of space battles, specifically with smaller craft.

 

[Astrus]

Spoken like someone who had never had to work in a team. Also spoken like someone who had never seen a proper battle.
People didn’t enter battlefields with their life saving in credit chips in their pockets. And most credit cards would be blocked within a day or two. The idea that one person would ‘get all the loot’ was a toxic one.

Astrus turned to the Chiss. Frowning beneath his helmet. He was honestly quite offended that the Chiss would say something so brazenly offensive. Some of the biggest battles in the galaxy had been fought with Star Fighters. Ground battles had been turned around by timely air support. To say those brave pilots who risked their lives to not only provide air support, but prevent enemy air support, didn’t deserve to be paid was not only plain stupid, but damn near a straight up invitation to get your head caved in.

Luckily Astrus had the presence of mind to not instantly throw hands. He knew he was on thin ice with the Lilaste Order, and starting a fight likely wouldn’t help his chances. “You best watch yourself, making bold claims like that.”

 

[Zinayn]

Zinayn smiled and pulled the hood closer to his face. “Sure would be a shame if some starfighter pilot took offense and decided to hop in their X wing and rain fire upon my dwelling on Coruscant.0

He laughed aloud jovially and sensed the Mandalorian’s emotions. Anger. Zinayn’s laugh slowed to a chuckle and he said, “Or would those starfighter pilots actually get out of their shielded bucket of bolts and fight me like a true warrior?”

Zinayn chuckled again, doing his best to provoke the Mando. If the gunslinger was kicked off the station and barred from doing missions for the Lilaste, then the Chiss would have eliminated a competitor.

Astrus

 

[Astrus]

“Maybe not, but pilots have friends.” He said as stepped closer to the Chiss.
Coruscant. That explained the naïveté of the Chiss. Though how a Chiss wound up in the Core worlds did prove to be a curiosity.
“Bedsides, I hear housing isn’t as cheap as it used to be. I’m sure you would hate to have spend your pay check on rebuilding your house.”

 

[Zinayn]

Zinayn smiled. He was getting to this Mandalorian. He pulled out his datapad and started typing. A few seconds later, he put it away and looked up at the Mandalorian helmet staring down at him. "I would think using my paycheck for that purpose would be unfortunate. But speaking of unfortunate, I just read up on you and it seems you're a Gen'Dai. I would have tried to toy around with you using jokes about your mother, but now it seems..."

Zinayn hoped he hadn't pushed too far, lest he want one of the Mando's deadly crushgaunts come swinging his way. He expanded his Force senses to give him a warning if a strike came.

Astrus

 

[Laphisto]

laphisto gave a small chuckle shaking his head softly. A small growl rolled from his lips shortly afterward, hands crossing over his chest and grasping at the bridge of his nose with a small shake of his head " That's enough, the both of you. There is no need to insult and harm one another on my station. if you prefer being paid by a mission, that is acceptable as well, it means everything you find on the battlefield belongs to the lilaste order. Payment is payment, whichever way you prefer" Looking from one to the other, he gave a stern look to each of them " There is no position less important than another. All gears turn together. Without one, the rest cease to operate. We are all united from the ground to the navy, each as important as the other." at the mention of astrus's words about hiring soldiers and warriors he gave a light nod " that is the plan yes, currently the majority of the orders credits are going into the production of arms and weapons. it would be preferable to pay you in Lilaste equipment but if you prefer credits i can make that work."


As the peacemaker debuted in Lilaste space, the stations CIC sent the alarm to Laphisto of the approaching ship. two Air'mar Heavy cruisers along with five Forray Class Corvettes, quickly approached the ship, closing the distance between them, sending a signal in return " Galactic alliance warship, you have entered into Lilaste space. Hold your position and await further instructions."

when the news reached his datapad Laphsito brought his arm up into view, squinting to try and see what was going on, a light grumble rolling past his lips upon gathering that a GA warship was in system with an escort" great"

 

[Zinayn]

"Ah, the GA has reared its ugly head. I'll be on my way then, Laphisto. I'll be back in maybe a few days or weeks depending on how tough the Ord Mantell job is." He waved a hand and said, "I'll take the spoils of battle as payment. You're credits are obviously needed elsewhere. Good day, Laphisto."

With that, Zinayn left the corridor headed back to the hangar. It would be an interesting prospect, working for Lilaste. It would certainly bring about decent pay in the form of possible relics and goods from raiding the pirates. He brought his shuttle out of the hangar and drove hard towards the GA ships.

Then, he threw a lever forward and entered hyperspace, hopefully giving that Novella heavy cruiser a scare.

 

[Plikh'ala'niu (Khalani)]

"Holding position as ordered, Lilaste."

Kailani crossed his fingers, as humans did, that Lilaste wouldn't consider him an enemy. He was only here to help.

 

[Astrus]

“You can’t seriously be considering employing that punk?” Astrus asked Laphisto . They showed no respect to the navel profession, and was quite obviously trying to provoke the Gen’Dai into an altercation. Very unprofessional.
The prospect of new gear was enticing one, even if arms and weapons were technically the same thing. “New weapons?” He questioned.

 

[Laphisto]

with word of the Galactic alliance in system laphisto frowned, sending a communication outwards to the fleet in orbit, the last thing the Lilaste order needed right now was to start a war with the galaxies stronger contender. instead they would permit a single shuttle craft to land under escort. when the Chiss male left he shook his head softly with a light shake of his head, his ear perking when he heard the Gen'Dai speak

"unfortunately beggars cannot be choosers, my friend" he looked to Astrus with a shake of his head, and when he asked his next question with some interest he gave a small nod reaching a hand out towards one of the nearby soldiers, who in turn placed the LO-17D blaster rifle in Laphistos hand, mulling the weapon over in his grasp he showed it off in a since " a hybrid weapon, using both 30-06 slug rounds and tibana gas, we at the Lilaste order pride ourselves in quality over quantity" after giving the rifle a small inspection he handed it towards astrus so he could examine it

as the Lilaste fleet moved in, the large Air'mar cruiser stood directly in front of the GA ship broadcasting landing co-ordinates for a single craft to land within one of the far hangers away from the Civilian hub.

 

[Plikh'ala'niu (Khalani)]

Kailani took off his crash webbing as the shuttle touched down. Escorted by his four marines, he left the landing craft and looked around. It was an impressive landing hangar, even for a ship of the Lambda's size. Seeing as no one was there to greet him, the commander took it as an invitation to progress further into the station. However, before he left the hangar, he decided to leave two of his guards by the shuttle.

This was for two reasons. First, he didn't know what kind of crowd hung out here. He didn't want any drunkards wandering into his shuttle and downloading sensitive Alliance data. Second, the leader of Lilaste might see four guards as an unnecessary amount, therefore ruining Kailani's first impression. Unless he'd already ruined it by showing up uninvited.

He walked around the corridors, getting strange looks from patrons and merchants alike. Finally, he arrived before a dragon looking figure, and a Mandalorian. Kailani smiled and said, "Greetings."

Laphisto

 

[Astrus]

“If you pride yourself on quality over quantity,” he took the rifle. Inspecting it. “Then maybe you should seeing yourselves as beggars.” He was intrigued by the weapon. It wasn’t often you saw someone create a blaster out of Fyrirdögun. He shouldered the gun without hostile intent. The blaster wasn’t pointed at anyone. He just wanted to see the how sights lined up. “A nice piece of hardware.” He said earnestly. “How do they handle?”

 

[Laphisto]

laphisto thought over the words astrus spoke. perhaps he was right, desperation for numbers in this war seemed to have influenced the quality of the men and women they seem to have hired in that past year or so. a matter he would need to correct in the future moving forwards. shkaing his head softly he watched the Mandalorian inspect the weapon a small grin rolling along his maw with a light nod " almost weightless. shes got a bit of a kick if your armor isn't equipped with an AASH system, or aim assist stability harness. the duel ammo types allows for multiple used. while blaster bolts are cheaper to use they have no penetration through surfaces, and force users can deflect the bolt back at its target, while with the option for slug rounds the weapon gains significant piercing capabilities and an added bonus against fore users who may be foolish enough to try and deflect a metal round. if you wish we have a gun range in which to test out the capabilities of our weapons."

as he spoke to the Mandalorian his lone ear perked his eyes darting over to the alliance officer. turning to face the man his eyes became coated with a blue hue to them, peering into the man through the force and testing their alignment like he had done to so many before. " evening officer, your a long way from galactic space, may i ask what the Galactic alliance is doing this far south?"

 

[Plikh'ala'niu (Khalani)]

Kailani smiled. "I had just heard about your faction, and I was wondering if you wanted to ally with the Galactic Alliance. Of course this would have to go through the Senate, but think of this as an interest check. Perhaps we can even help you with your pirate problem later down the line."

Laphisto

 

[Astrus]

Astrus chuckled. Now Laphisto was speaking his language. Though he did the comment about needing an AASH. Astrus was quite used to using large unwieldy weapons. He was quite fond of heavy weapons.
His eyes moved to the new individual. “If the Galactic Alliance had the means or desire to do something about the pirate problem, they would have.” He said under his breath. A snide off hand comment. One that was technically true. The Senate was often far too political to mobilise any sort of significant force against the many smaller Pirate Factions. It was just too much hassle to send the resources so far from their own territory while the threat of the Sith Order and now the Mandalorian Enclave provided much bigger threats. That’s not to say they didn’t care, they just didn’t have the resources to solve every problem in the Galaxy, and had to pick their battles.

Aside from his snide remark, he would remain quiet. It wasn’t his place to speak for a group he wasn’t even a part of. “Laphisto. May one of your men show me to the shooting range? I would love to test fire this exquisite piece of firepower. You obviously have things to discuss with the Galactic Alliance.” He didn’t mention that it was odd they would send two ships for a recruitment effort, before having membership set in stone. The logical move would have been to push it through the senate before arriving. He highly doubted this Navel Officer could speak for the Galactic Alliance as a whole.

 

[Laphisto]

laphistos arms crossed over his chest at the mention of help from the Galactic alliance, and even then an alliance, such bold offer coming from some naval officer none the less. when astrus spoke he gave a soft nod at both of his remarks, or perhaps just one? motioning the soldier that was with the man he had originally choked and embarrassed he looked back to the Mandalorian " take our new friend here to the shooting range, deck four, and bring out our full arsenal along with a set of LO-56A if he so wishes to try it on." bringing a closed fist to his chest he gave Astrus a light bow, he had seen mandalorians use the gesture before as a term of respect though that was near four thousand years ago.

turning his attention to the officer he shook his head softly " from my readings this alliance is no different than the Galactic Republic of my day and age, and i know you cannot guarantee an alliance let alone resources to aid in my struggles here, so what is the alliances true purpose? or are you an officer gone rouge trying to fill in the gaps where the alliance is lacking?"