The Taris Event Chapter 3

[Whiteness]

[I don't see any message from Tsont'Ar, so I guess we're still eating at Mok's. Jax landed an hour after us right? So Cuspar might be getting his first message soon?]

You and everyone else would have received a msg from an unknown comm number by this point with the invite to lunch - exact contents are in one of my posts above

"Let's head next door and see what this is all about"

[Blackferne]

[I don't see any message from Tsont'Ar, so I guess we're still eating at Mok's. Jax landed an hour after us right? So Cuspar might be getting his first message soon?]

You and everyone else would have received a msg from an unknown comm number by this point with the invite to lunch - exact contents are in one of my posts above

"Let's head next door and see what this is all about"

You still have a few hours, but ok.

[Furiel]

"I have been fully briefed on your arrangement with the Boss, and part of that arrangement is that you fit into the organization, which means you fit into the chain of command. And that chain of command has you below me. You are not my equal within the organization, that is not open for debate or interpretation. I told you that you are under constant evaluation, and to this point you have failed virtually every test I have placed in front of you. And you've been insubordinate to boot. You have shown no ability to follow even the simplest order, you have massive authority issues and you have shown no inclination toward wanting to work as part of a team. All of which are the exact opposite of what we look for in members of our organization. The only thing standing between you and a trip out of an airlock is me and my evaluation of you. And if the Boss asked me for my evaluation of you right now I would tell him what I just told you and I would add that I do not trust you to follow orders or plans in the field because of the above issues and that you would be a liability to any mission that you would be on. There is still time to change that, but the clock is ticking down real fast. But if you want to continue to walk this path Hayseed by all means, go right ahead. You know the consequences.

Now tell me about this droid. Why do you think it's a Sith assassin droid? And why were they trying to arm it?"

"Look Plushy, if your tests consists entirely of me calling you by the wrong name, then you are correct. We both failed that.
As for the droid, I thought you already knew all about that. You certainly implied it when you said it was a stupid move. I guess I'm confused, do you know what happened or don't you? Because this is a very delicate situation with some very valuable intel. I need to know, what has Mr. T. told you and what hasn't he?"

"What I know and don't know about why you are here is none of your concern Hayseed. Right now my concern is this supposed Sith assassin droid and that you appear to be holding out on the Boss and I..."

[Blackferne]

@ So Leet, Cuspar, Syric, Klak, Fandango

As you exit Mok's and walk a short distance to Sergio's Fandango pauses.

"If you are meeting with Nolan Tsont'Ar and Bulwark Migs is going to be there I feel I should not be. I'm not worried about Bulwark as I am certain I could incapacitate him if needed. But I wish my identity remain a secret from those like Mr. Tsont'Ar. I will patrol the neighborhood and keep my distance. If you need me I have my comms."

[Bulwark]

"What I know and don't know about why you are here is none of your concern Hayseed. Right now my concern is this supposed Sith assassin droid and that you appear to be holding out on the Boss and I..."

"Look, intel is valuable. You know that, I know that. The Sith know that. And they blockaded an entire planet to get this info. Mr. T. has been appraised of the Sith assassin droids. I'm sorry if he doesn't trust you with that info. After you treated me like crap, there is no way I trust you enough to give you this info. If you want to know more, you will need to talk to Mr. T."

The waitress arrives with Bulwark's BothanPotPie. It smells wonderful. He thanks the waitress and takes a bite, savoring every flavor. The tonka peas taste like they have been pressure boiled for a week and the Noitamlad meat is seasoned to perfection. Bulwark makes a mental note to thank the chef before he leaves.

[Cuspar]

That makes sense, Fandango. We'll be in touch as soon as the meeting is over.

Cuspar turns to the others.

I've also just received a comm from the Jedi Jax, requesting a meeting. I'll advise him that I will meet him after our meeting with Tsont'Ar. I don't want him there, because I'm not sure that Tsont'Ar's job is going to... ahem... comply with the Jedi Code. As for this meeting, we need to gather as much information as possible. We also need to remember that our muscle quotient dropped a lot when Eli left - so we can't let our ego get the better of us in terms of what we can do. Also, any equipment or weapons that we need... we should try and see what Tsont'Ar can provide for us.

Cuspar sends the following to Jax.

Lunch engagement first, then I can meet you wherever you like. Please advise.

[Furiel]

"What I know and don't know about why you are here is none of your concern Hayseed. Right now my concern is this supposed Sith assassin droid and that you appear to be holding out on the Boss and I..."

"Look, intel is valuable. You know that, I know that. The Sith know that. And they blockaded an entire planet to get this info. Mr. T. has been appraised of the Sith assassin droids. I'm sorry if he doesn't trust you with that info. After you treated me like crap, there is no way I trust you enough to give you this info. If you want to know more, you will need to talk to Mr. T."

The waitress arrives with Bulwark's BothanPotPie. It smells wonderful. He thanks the waitress and takes a bite, savoring every flavor. The tonka peas taste like they have been pressure boiled for a week and the Noitamlad meat is seasoned to perfection. Bulwark makes a mental note to thank the chef before he leaves.

"You can't just make things easy can you Hayseed. Everythings got to be hard with you. I can understand why your teammates shot you now. But if you want to play it this way that's fine. We're done."

Tony pulls his datapad out of a pocket and begins putting notes into it

[Blackferne]

@ Tony and Bulwark

Your comms beep simultaneously: With an hour before the meeting I'd like to review what to expect. Meet me in my office on the ship ASAP. -NT

[Bulwark]

@ Tony and Bulwark

Your comms beep simultaneously: With an hour before the meeting I'd like to review what to expect. Meet me in my office on the ship ASAP. -NT

Bulwark picks up his com, "Roger that, we are on our way."

Bulwark settles his bill and tips the waitress. He then heads for the ship with Tony.

[Whiteness]

You still have a few hours, but ok.

[I didn't know what time it was]

[Reese]

Klak gives a half-irritated look at Cuspar.

"I promise you my friend, there is no lack of muscle as long as I am in the fight. We will be just fine if I am up front."

Klak is now visibly tipsy. He clearly had one too many drinks at Mok's and its not even noon yet.

"And I am still a little lost as to why Eli left, what happened between you guys and why Fandango is not coming to this meeting. But frankly, the way this consortium operates, its par for the course. Now lets get inside, I could use a drink."

[Blackferne]

@ Tony and Bulwark

You walk into Tsont'Ar's small office on the ship and have a seat in the two chairs opposite his desk. The walls have vid screens scrolling data and another crew member is working one of the consoles.

"Gentlemen I trust you are becoming fast friends. What I have lined up is an operation that will require coordination and proper execution in the field. We have located a lost asset and need it recovered, and then as a matter of due course we will need to destroy the facility. I'm hiring Aderbrent for the job as a way of keeping them close. The knowledge about the Sith battle droids is interesting to say the least and I feel their pursuit of Mr. Jounville Blackferne will prove a valuable vein of information in that area." He pauses.

"But Aderbrent is at this point still an outside entity and I need my own men in there running the operation and keeping tabs on what is happening. Your mission isn't just the simple asset recovery, what I want is combat evaluations of each of the members of Aderbrent. However for those reports to be objective I need to know you two are on the same page. You've had a day or so to get to know each other, what are your impressions of each other?"

[Blackferne]

@ Tony and Bulwark

"Well I'm waiting" Tsont'Ar says.

[Bulwark]

Bulwark glances at Tony and then responds to Mr. T., "Professionally, I think we will have no probelms completing our missions efficiently. Personally, I don't suspect we will be friends 'outside the office' so to speak."

[Furiel]

OOC: sorry for the delay, lots to write and we're busy today so that's cutting into my creative writing time

"Hayseed has proven to be an extremely difficult pupil. To this point he has failed virtually every test I have put before him. He has chaffed at my use of a nickname for him. When I explained to him why I use them he then attempted to threaten me saying that he would tell you I’m a liability because I won’t remember his name also while claiming he doesn’t care what I call him. He failed to comply with the simple request of using my name, even when ordered. When I asked him about the members of Aderbrent Services he gave me no useful information that wasn’t already on file.

He has repeatedly demonstrated that he has major authority issues, often times manifesting themselves as a superiority complex the leads to him responding in insubordinate and demeaning tones of voice and body language. He is arrogant and smug and believes he has it all figured out all the time and that he is always a step ahead of everyone else because he believes he is smarter than everyone else.

He also has yet to demonstrate that he has any willingness to work as part of a team, likely due to his superiority complex, going so far to say that he would only follow my orders in the field is I wasn’t acting like a jackhole I believe was the turn of phrase he used. He also claims to have information on Aderbrent Services attempting to arm a Sith Assassin droid that he refuses to share with me saying he briefed you on it and as he does not trust me he will not share it with me since you did not. However I’m quite confident that if there was a Sith Assassin droid on Tatooine or even traveling with Aderbrent that you were aware of that would have made me aware of it as well.

I took my time with him and I explained my Plush-damentals to him immediately, and since I have attempted repeatedly to impress upon Hayseed what the chain of command is, where his place is in it and the consequences for him continuing to be uncooperative and insubordinate and he has continued to press me and test my patience. At this point I would not want to go in the field with him because I feel that he would not work with the team to develop the plan nor would he stick to it if he thought he had a better idea in the middle of the mission and that would put us all in danger. "

[Bulwark]

Bulwark nods, "like I said, not friends outside of the office. The whole 'do as I say, not as I do' is a hypocritical pill that's hard to swallow.
I would like to say I got to know him better, but the majority of the day was spent complaining about nicknames and other petty issues. At several times I attempted to redirect the conversation, but was met with threats. It's certainly nothing that I havn't had to deal with before, but it is a bit annoying", Bulwark says with a shrug.

[Blackferne]

"Well that isn't a glowing recommendation by any stretch of the imagination." Tsont'Ar sighs.

"Mr. Migs I thought this was clear but apparently not, so I'm going to lay it out one final time. You are here at my invitation, and it was that invitation which probably saved you an early death at the hands of the Mos Eisley 'judicial system'. In exchange for my help in that legal trouble I wanted you to help me in pursuit of my own objectives. I said that I was recruiting you into my organization. I said that I expected you to conform to codes of conduct and not allow emotions to get the better of you. When I introduced you to Mr. Plush here I said that you were partners but that you should be deferential in your partnership. Phrasing it that way is my fault, I assumed it was clear, but apparently nuance isn't a strong suit of yours."


"In simple concrete terms Mr. Plush is your commanding officer. We are off the grid so to speak, we operate in suits and plainclothes instead of military uniforms. We don't have ranks with fancy names. But if that is what you need then I would be Colonel Nolan Tsont'Ar. I earned those stripes while in the military and I can walk into any base in the galaxy and get a salute for that fact. Mr. Plush here, or should I say Lieutenant Plush served in the Republic Army himself before finding his way into my organization. To the best of my knowledge you have never served in the military so you would be Private Migs."

"In this hierarchy if Mr. Plush tells you to jump you ask how high. You don't have to like Mr. Plush, you don't have to agree with his approach to a problem, but unless I or one of Mr. Plush's other commanding officers is in the room, he is the law of the land. I hope that is clear what I'm expecting."

"Now that makes the next part here especially important. You are here to fulfill a contract for 10 jobs while under my employ. After 10 jobs you are free to resign your post and go do whatever it is you desire. Start ranching on Dantooine, hunt gurks on Lok, I don't much care. But if you cannot fulfill these 10 jobs, and be nicely paid for them, then our arrangement is null and void. And if it is null and void I can opt to send you back to Mos Eisley with a big ribbon around around your head for DCI Hunt. He'd like that I'd imagine. But in all likely hood sending you back would be a waste of time and fuel when an airlock is a quicker result to the same end."

He pauses for a moment then looks back at you with a grave look.

"I know you are thinking right now that you might be able to make a run for it. Live on the lamb, maybe go off to the far corners of the galaxy and live under a rock someplace. But as good as a tracker as you are I employ half a dozen who are better. If you run before your 10 jobs are up, I will find you, and your death will not be a quick one."

He smiles real big.

"Now how about before we go see your friends for lunch you tell us about this Sith assassin droid they are arming."

[Bulwark]

Bulwark frowns at Mr. T, "Cuspar spoke well of you and that holds some weight. We had an agreement on Tatooine and I trust you will hold to your word. I told you I would be no slave, and I expect you to holdd to your end of the agreement. Now when your associate comes in and cops an attitude and tells me to lick his boots, that leans a bit heavily on the slavery side.
I have no intention of running. I am a man of my word and I stick to it.
If we are on a mission, I will absolutely defer to Tony's judgement. But when he tells me he owns me, that's crossing the line."

[Blackferne]

"You are not his slave, and I'm assuming Mr. Plush wouldn't stoop to levels of embarrassment such as boot licking. You are in an organization that deals with matters of life and death. But given the nature of our work every moment is a matter of life an death. For all I know there is an assassin waiting for me outside the cargo bay doors and if two of my men are fighting over nicknames and not focused and alert that is an advantage lost. When Mr. Plush says he owns you that is just his military speaking through."

He turns to Tony.

"Mr. Plush I expect you to treat Mr. Migs with honor and respect. You are his teacher as well as his guide. I expect you to form him into a useable asset."

He turns back to Bulwark.

"If you feel Mr. Plush is not treating you with the respect and dignity you deserve let me know. I ask that you forgive his one personality quirk about nicknames. He can recite the military handbooks chapter page and verse. He could tell you what you had in your right hand the second time you met. Ask him to remember your name...it is a challenge for him."

"Assuming you two are in a proper understanding, can we please find out about the arming of a Sith assassin droid."

[Bulwark]

"Yes, so we 'befriended' one of the Sith Assassin Droids from Bryx. Apparently, it had gone rogue and would kill other assassin droids, so it was armed only with ion weapons. When we got to Tatooine, the Exchange thug, Ro'talth, decided it would be a grand idea to outfit it with blasters; you know, so it can hurt organics too. I took offense at that idea and tried to stop him. And the rest, as they say, is history.
I'm honestly a little suprised that Cuspar hadn't mentioned it in your conversations."

[Blackferne]

"Do you know where the droid is now? If we had a working model that could prove very valuable." Nolan says leaning back in his chair looking like he is receding into thought.

[Bulwark]

"Thanks to our friends in the Mos Eisle Police Department, I haven't seen it since Tatooine. But I have no reason to believe it is not still on the ship."

[Furiel]

"I see where it would be valuable Boss, however if it is in fact one of these new droids and not a refurbished combat droid that someone has reprogrammed, how much good will it be in it's present condition? If it has gone rogue as Hayseed implies then someone, somewhere must have reprogrammed it because combat droids don't just go rogue.

I'm also very curious about how this 'befriending' occured. So one of the combat droids mid-fight just stopped shooting at all of you and switched sides spontaneously? And why do the others trust it? I understand that the enemy of your enemy is your friend in a fight, but the second that fight is over unless you are supremely nieve questions start being asked and sufficient answers need to be given."

[Bulwark]

"The droid appeared mid-fight. As far as I know, a good explination on how or why it arrived at that particular time and place was never given. The droid claimed it was an associate of a mutual friend and that won over most of the crew.
I never trusted it and still don't. Simply mentioning someones name is hardly worth trustiing your life to it."

[Blackferne]

"Very well." Nolan looks at his chrono. "Well let's head over to Sergio's for our meeting."

Tony, Bulwark and Nolan arrive at Sergio's a quarter til noon.