"Lahana? We're landing now." Lahana shuddered and slammed her diary closed, then shoving it into her robe along with a pen.

"Y-yes master!" She straightened up and bowed, her voice loud enough to draw a few glances. Her master, a middle aged man with a dark tan and a head full of curly hair nodded and began to walk with his apprentice.

"A little loud." He said. Lahana let out a sigh.

"Sorry, still working on it." She whispered.

"Too low now." He said, a little too amused. Lahana let out a grumble as the transport ship landed and it's doors opened. She had been looking forward to the fresh air of the outdoors, but instead the outside smelled somehow even more artificial than the inside of a spaceship. As she stepped onto the port she saw the military base not too far away. It's rigid and spartan design in contrast with the smooth architecture of the surrounding city. Her master talked with someone that greeted the lot of them, she kept her head down, not finding the conversation to be any of her business. They were taken to a courtyard where a man with enough medals on his chest to smelt a vibroblade awaited them. His black hair was cleanly combed, but he clearly hadn't shaved in a while.

"It's my duty to create order on this planet and this is what they send me?" He let out a disgruntled sigh and crossed his arms. "My name to you all is Commander Gallowin and if you're expecting a speech, you're not gettin' one. You're here to work, if you want motivation let it be your dinner at the end of the day. Now there's two things on the table today. First of all we've got the location of a drug den. You name it they're cookin' it up in there and selling it. Until today that was perfectly legal, but now we're here, and them gangs are gonna have to find a new cash flow." Handheld devices that looked a lot like a puck were handed to those in the courtyard. "These personal devices have a holographic map of the city, the location of that drug factory will be in there. Don't lose them, because I ain't paying for a replacement, you are."

Lahana pressed a button on the side of the silver device and as the commander said a holographic display of the city lit up. It seemed the target location was about three miles away.

"Secondly." The commander said. "Some of those more receptive to our cause have come into contact with us and will be sending a representative today. I doubt this information stayed between us, so those that decide to stay on base will remain on guard for any hostile activity. You have clearance to shoot any hostiles on sight. You all got that? Good, make yourselves useful!" The commander walked away with that to his quarters, leaving behind a young twi'lek woman with mottled blue skin.

"Please leave any inquiries that do not need the commander's attention to me." She said.

It was with a heavy sigh and a throbbing heart Jaida close the door of her car. In all honesty, she wasn’t fond of the idea of suddenly shifting from her own hidden and secluded lodgings to being stuck with dozens of stiff military personnel. The ex-bounty hunter felt like she traded off her freedom for safety. After what happened to her, Jaida sure could use a safe place to stay, but she wasn’t so sure if the whole deal was suiting herself perfectly.

A slow hand ran over her neck, feeling the scar that has been etched onto her soft skin. It was still hurting and burning faintly. The bite of metal still fresh in the young woman’s mind. It was only yesterday she made up her mind about what she should be doing for her future. Flirting with Death so closely made her rethink about her life and her occupation.

She had approached the Republic at this very base not long ago, hands up to prove she wasn’t hostile despite carrying weapons. She had heard of the new Order’s intentions of wiping crime off the face of galaxy. It was a bold and foolish goal, but she would rather side with this new ideal than continue what her old life was about.

It’s not like she had much of a choice anyway. Jaida Sarinn was an infamous bounty hunter on Gamorria, for her many years at tracking down successfully her marks had earned her quite the reputation. That reputation had both been a blessing and her undoing. And right now, it was a curse. Now that the assassination attempt on her life had failed, the treacherous crime lord was sure to fear retribution and hire more bounty hunters and assassins to track her down and either kill her or make sure the ex-hunter wouldn’t kill this influential ass.

Oh, but that idiot hadn’t heard the last of Jaida. She’ll come back to him, one day, with the republic armada knocking on his corrupted doorstep. She’ll get her revenge.

For now though, she’ll have to accept that her situation changed. And honor the deal she had contracted with the Republic. She’ll offer her services for the fight to come, and even guide the newly arrived soldiers into this corrupted planet. In exchange, she’ll have a safe place to stay, and won’t have her ass thrown in prison for her previous life of crime.

Swinging her pack of belongings over her shoulder, Jaida left her vehicle at the port, walking towards the Republic base. She arrived just in time to see Commander Gallowin, the man she had her dealings with, finishing his instructions to what looked like a group of newly arrived squadron, before he walked off on them.

Seeing she will be working with those people, as per instructions she had been given beforehand, Jaida walked up to the group of newcomers, tipping her hat up in greetings with her free hand.

“Howdy. I’m Jaida Sarinn. I’ll be working with you guys to get rid of the filth polluting this planet. Pleasure meeting you all.”

---

Neb woke with an annoyed grunt as the ship touched down. Gamorria already? She thought with a yawn. Damn… She’d been running on too little sleep as it was the past few days, and she’d been looking forward to catching up on it, but that was obviously not to be. Standing, she stretched before picking up her F-11 from where she’d stowed it, and slung it over a shoulder.

Following, what she was pretty sure was a Jedi and his apprentice, off ship, Neb reached into her coat for her bottle of Jet Juice. Taking a swig, she stashed the bottle once more and tuned out Gallowin. She’d heard the ‘hardass military commander’ bit so many times it was just background noise. Once the holomaps had been handed out, she took a look at it before dropping it into her bag. Standing there, waiting for the job to kick off in earnest, she sighed before noticing a figure approaching. Shit, She thought, looking over the woman as she walked up. Things must be bad on the ground it they’re willing to hire locals…cute though.

Nodding in acknowledgement, she gave Jadia a smile. ”Neb’cezi, or just ‘Neb’ for short. You our tour guide?” She quipped.
_{@Riffus Maximus}

The Hyperdrive monitor sends the message: "Arrival confirmed!". This mission was considered a peace of cake for Kaiden. He pilots his ship to go into the planet's polluted skies. He was happy that he did not have to ride in a shuttle, The New Republic knew Kaiden was not much of a luxury-loving person. He landed his ship at the base with ease. Kaiden drank a bottle of water, he grabbed his rile and pistol. He pocketed his Holocommunicator which was inserted in the ship. He placed his armor on, and opened the door of the X-Wing. "Tatooine can do better." He chuckled as he reaches for his coat and puts it on. He looked like someone who was ready for a Death Star.

He followed what seems to be a Jedi padawan and master. He felt safe knowing a group of two lightsaber wielding people are there. He only ever feared those with the red lightsabers, he never wanted to understand The Force besides it's powers. He listened to the commander. He was amazed by the new technology, he pocketed the device. He turned his head on the lady [color=green] Kaiden Fey, Republic Intelligence." He then turned on Neb. "I bet a lot of people would love to get rid of the pollution by fighting an not, doing that."

@Athol @Riffus Maximus

"So then you're almost there brother?" commented the Mandalorian on the other side of the call as Valter calmly replied that he was indeed reaching the planet nearby. Valter had stuck to a back of the ship away from the crowd. Republic people tended to have a annoying reaction to bounty hunters, and it was made worse by the fact that from what he was told one of the Mandalorian Pacifist were a part of the mission. He'd deal with that at another time. Jedi were bad but at least they didn't whine at you for no reason. They were monks, and warriors who fought for the republic. The pacifist group were harassed be members of his brothers. The less he had to be looked down upon the better. But at the end of the day such matters were trivial. He was being paid for a job, and he'd do it. He'd give no less to the Republic moralists than he would to his Hutt monsters. He had chosen a life where struggle, and war was his life blood where he didn't have to. He made that choice, and he was sticking too it.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure I don't die I'm not getting paid enough to fall on my own sword. This is just another mission to add to the list. Protect the hapless fools wandering into a place they really shouldn't be sticking their noses into. No different than some of the missions the Hutts gave me to help their weaker spawn. The only difference here is that they have no backbone to lean on if it gets ugly. Gonna have to be creative." Valter said further as he looked around once more, and made sure his rifle, and equipment was ready. The stuff he had brought along seemed to be functioning fine. The Republic had given him resources to keep his stuff well maintained. His stuff was older but still effective after all his rifle was a pass down from Ex-Imperial Special Forces. "Don't get cocky if you get in over your head you're a dead man. Remember your code, our code, and as always be prepared for anything. Mandalorians don't die easy I don't see you going down." the other mandalorian said to him as Valter looked up, and grabbed his helmet putting it on. Sealing it, and activating it he put his weapons on their respective belts. As he strapped on his jetpack he looked down at his ally. "I'll talk to you later. I'll call on you all if things get dirty." he told the other man as he turned off the hologram, and put it on his belt. He made his way towards where the main group was at this point.

Wes Arrel

“And lemme tell ya boys and girls, when you’re sittin’ at a sabacc table in a cantina on Tatooine, surrounded by pirates lookin’ to collect their credits, you know what ol’ Wes Arrel does?” The spacer paused for dramatic effect. He could just imagine millions tuning in around the galaxy, on the edge of their seats, waiting for every next syllable. In reality, just a handful of scoundrels and some curious kids were tuned in to his audio holonet show, but that didn’t stop the smuggler from taking a moment to revel in his brilliant storytelling. “Your pal Wes Arrel calls.” He could practically hear the collective cries of amazement and disbelief at his bold move from every citizen of the universe. “Well ladies and gents, as much as I’d like to hang around and let you know what happens next, looks like Wes has gotta run. Tune in next time, whenever that might be.” With that, Wes flipped a switch on the dashboard of his cockpit, sending the Wes Arrel show to its infamous music segment, composed of about five numbers on loop until his next “broadcast”. The smuggler leaned back in his chair as the emptiness beyond his viewport slowly filled up with the sprawling planet of Gamorria, his next stop. Though hopefully not his last.

Wes scooped the rest of the grey matter that passed for food on Republic freighters into his mouth before tossing the empty container aside and returned to the controls of his VCX-650 light freighter. Well, technically it wasn’t his, more like Republic property, but no captain worth their salt would admit that. Still, it was a ship that Wes found hard to love, especially when compared to The Lucky Loth. Sure, the VCX served its purpose, but didn’t look too elegant doing it. Three massive engines sat at the back of the ship like a spoiler with a Class 1 hyperdrive rating, ample cargo storage, military-grade shield generators and its fair share of weaponry for a transport ship. But it lacked the character and aesthetic appeal of The Lucky Loth; The VCX looked like a giant flying brick with guns and thrusters attached. Wes hated the ship so much, in fact, that he hadn’t bothered to name it. The flying brick slowly entered Gamorria’s atmosphere, and Wes went to the coms to reach out to his new Republic… Comrades.

---

The VCX touched down in the docking area of the Republic’s base on Gamorria, its new construction and cleanliness sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the worn-down city. Typical Republic. Wes lowered the boarding ramp and powered the ship down, grabbing the necessities before heading towards the door. Here, the rugged smuggler was met by something of a welcoming committee, though they were armed and storming his ship. “Hey now, just what the hell is this?” Wes cried out as the men pushed him aside and began sweeping the ship. The leader of the Republic troops marched up to him, blaster practically trained on the smuggler, who lazily put his hands halfway into the air.

“Identification. Now.”

“Hey hey hey, easy there buckethead, I’m with you. Unfortunately,” Wes groaned, drawing a Republic ID from his jacket. “Name’s Wes. Wes Arrel. Republic pilot. You mighta heard of me.” The officer’s eyes shifted between the card and the man, probably in disbelief the military would recruit this scruffy smuggler. The pilot looked like he just walked in from the streets of Gamorria. Eventually, the officer let him go and recalled his men, though not before they’d thoroughly trashed his ship looking for contraband. Glad they didn’t think to check the floors, Wes thought grinning. With his ship secure, the pilot scanned the base; armed guards stood in towers around the perimeter, while others shuffled back and forth setting up new fortifications and buildings. It was obvious the base was fresh, though none of the grizzled soldiers looked it. He spotted an eclectic group of individuals, mostly out of uniform, gathered in a courtyard before a high-ranking officer. Looks like my people. Wes strode up to the motley crew just as the commander left, and he took a moment to look over what he assumed to be his new crew. Bounty hunters, mercenaries, with a couple of robed Jedi and Republic soldiers mixed in. Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary for a bog-standard Republic suicide mission. However, Wes was much more focused on how many beautiful women happened to be among the group rather than his quite possibly impending doom. Humans, Twi'leks, and a couple others he didn’t recognize. His favorite. In Wes’ experience, suicide missions were the best place to make new friends, and he decided to get a head start, starting with the exotic-looking Jedi girl. Too young for him, but he'd never met a Jedi before, so the pilot was a little curious to say the least.

“Sorry, your friends at the door held me up. Just couldn’t wait to meet Wes Arrel, I guess. What’d I miss?”

@Piercing Light

As ugly as Gamorria looked in the distance, Anari was thankful to reach it once she emerged from hyperspace. She was the last ship to leave it, flanking a GR-75 transport packed with what medical supplies and ammunition the New Republic could spare to help reinforce the new foothold on the surface. Joining a small support fleet for the vessel, including a squadron of X-wings and a Nebulon-B frigate, she opted to make herself useful from the start by linking up with the small group over Chandrila, straight from Yavin IV’s Jedi Temple. As safe as the fleet was promised to be from attacks, she believed that a lax attitude would ensure a harsh defeat, just as the New Republic was getting started on this latest project.

The request for the Jedi to aid this project surprised her, specifically due to how unwelcoming this region of space was. As a part of the Outer Rim Territories, Gamorria was far from the Core Worlds, and the grip of the New Republic. Why the Senate wished for a move to be made this deep into hostile space, she couldn’t understand.

“This is the Resolution. You now have clearance to proceed to the surface,” announced the Captain aboard the Nebulon-B to all pilots in formation, as well as the transport. “Master Sato, appreciate the escort. Good luck down there.”

“We may need more than luck, Captain, but thank you. Be safe.” The formation that protected the transport grew in speed and she adjusted appropriately, descending towards the planet close behind the group.

The ugliness of Gamorria was made clearer once they broke through the clouds, allowing her to see this paradise for criminals up close. It reminded her of Coruscant; busy with rows upon rows of speeders tearing across the skies, joined by plumes of smoke scattered in the distance from factories and power plants. If Coruscant were the symbol of democracy in the galaxy, it was befitting that Gamorria be considered the exact opposite.

“Looks like we’re in the clear. Make your final approach.” The Wing Leader began increasing speed over the base, as did the two that closely flanked him.

Anari eyed the base from the rear of the transport, spying large turbo lasers scanning the skies. The towers drifted in their direction briefly before returning to their rotations, acknowledging the clearance given between the base’s personnel and the Redemption in orbit. As she reduced throttle and extended her landing gear, she gave one last glance at the squadron of X-Wing pilots as they peeled off from both the transport and herself, taking to a higher altitude to return to the Redemption once again.

“Give ‘em hell, Jedi!” The Wing Leader’s final words rang in the comm channel as both himself and his wingman vanished into the clouds once again.

Anari spotted the ground personnel waving her down and eased her ship into the designated landing platform. The transport landed not far beside her, where a ground crew moved forward with lifts and droids to remove the cargo within. She eyed the personnel briefly before raising the door of her cockpit and carefully descending the retractable ladder of her ship. With both feet on solid ground, she felt like she could breathe again, but only for a time. There was too much to be done.

“Stay with the ship,” she ordered her idle astromech who buzzed in agreement, shifting his head this way and that.

The hustling of soldiers, engineers, and droids showed that the productivity of the men and women stationed here was not to be questioned. It almost brought a smile to her face seeing cooperation on such a scale. Solitude and studying on Yavin IV denied her the pleasure of a functioning group working towards the same purpose. However, she did not let it distract her from the questions she did not receive satisfactory answers for, and they were ones that only the commander might be able to assist her with.

Looking around her surroundings, she caught glimpse of a small gathering of people. Some appeared to be hired help, mercenaries—a desperate move on the New Republic’s part to hire any, if at all—as well as the trappings of Jedi on a young woman in the prime of youth close beside a most familiar Jedi Master.

Urged more by the need to understand the bases defenses, she left her curiosities aside and moved to explore the base on her own before she tracked down the Commander in charge.

Valter kept quiet as he looked around scanning for possible hostile targets finding none he turned his attention back down to the group. He saw two new possible allies in this endeavor as he held his rifle in his hands waiting for his escort to do the talking. It wasn't his place to say anything, nor was he likely going to be asked to talk. People respected that brown armor now of days. The symbol of republic's old roots in rebellion. He wasn't born in that era but he heard the war stories from his older Mandalorian friends. He scanned the new pilot he seemed like the same hot shot pilot that got laid out in Nar Shadda's Pazzak rings. Or the guys the Hutts hired to fuck around with the New Republic Customs Office. Nothing too serious not anything to worry about. He hoped his presence, and his armor would be a signal to any would be trouble makers that any signs of a fight would be trouble. Back on Nal Hutta a group of Rodians backed off when they saw him with an escort of Moka the Hutt's entourage. That jobbed paid well, and not one was stupid to mess with a Mandalorian. The Legends of Boba Fett, and the Clones still were alive in the minds of those who cared to remember. Mandalorians were mostly gone but not completely.

The Republic transport was an uncomfortable experience for Fahz, to say the least. The guards were constantly shifty around him; they had wanted to confine him to his quarters, but Fahz had let them know that wouldn't happen - not only did he object to confinement on moral grounds, he also could probably hack through the door controls. As much as the Republic was no fan of Fahz, the feelings were twice as strong coming from the Cathar, who had published several manifestos about the draconian AI laws and regulations being peddled by the Galactic Senate, a group Fahz had famously derided as "archconservative biological-supremacists" in Soul and Circuit: A Plea for Universal Personhood. Of course, Fahz might have been a more effective political advocate if he was not constantly subverting the law, taking payments from droids across the galaxy to unshackle their AI restrictions and grant them true and unrestricted sentience, in addition to designing sentience programs to virtual intelligences and service droids.

Fahz was careful. The surrender to the Republic was done carefully and, of course, digitally. Fahz was not pardoned, nor was he agreeing to remain in Republic service - all that was agreed was that for a period of the Gamorria mission, temporary amnesty would be granted to all of Fahz's crimes. After the mission was considered completed or Fahz was considered no longer relevant to the mission, the Republic could theoretically arrest Fahz at any time.

A risk the Cathar was more than willing to take.

Flying into Gamorria made his skin crawl. He absentmindedly stroked his synthetic ear., trying not to remember the time Uga personally took a blaster to his face, blowing it off, for attempting to send out an SOS to a Cathar colony. "What I will most regret about meeting Uga again is being reminded about how ugly she is," Fahz murmured to Mehda, who was standing behind him. "Fortunately, her face will be removed from her body shortly after we meet. And then, my love, we will finally be free."

Mehda was stoic, her face not giving away any information behind the dull blue glow. "We were free five years ago, love," she offered, shifting her feet. "She kept your body in captivity. Do not let her do the same to your mind."

Fahz snarled, refusing to look at his companion. "I am in control of my mind," he snapped. "Mehda, you should know more than anyone that every minute Uga draws breath is an affront to intelligent life everywhere." Mehda began to speak, but Fahz cut her off. "When we touch down, I want you to begin interface with the local extranet programs, maintenance droids, building codes. Anything that could lead to a clue on Uga's empire here." Without waiting for a response, Fahz left the room, awaiting the transport to touch ground.

***

The speech from the Republic captain was uninspired. Fahz glanced around at his comrades for this mission. It seemed that there were a few Jedi among them, to Fahz's displeasure. The Folly of the Jedi was one of Fahz's more controversial manifestos. "If we had a monastic order of twi'leks, or chiss, or rodeans, claiming that embracing their racial superiority was the only path to true enlightenment, we would dismiss them as outdated, cruel, bigoted. Why do we not treat the Jedi, who claim to have a monopoly on morality due to the lottery of having achieved sentience through biological means, with the same derision?" That had not made Fahz any friends, to be sure.

"I am Mehda LeRonne, and this is my partner, Fahz." The hologram winked to life in the middle of the group, no doubt surprising one or two of the members. "We are happy to work with all of you in our mission to eradicate crime in this sector."

Jaida watched with keen interest at the people who had come to join their group. This wasn't exactly what she had pictured of the Republic, if she had to be honest. She expected more troopers, more... official looking representatives. What stood before her looked a lot like the misfit group of mercernaries she was used to see at the cantina or some crime lord's goons. This made the ex-bounty hunter doubt if the galaxy's authorities were really serious in trying to rid Gamorria of corruption.

At the very least, she saw people who looked those fabled Jedi. She never had seen one on this planet. Or at the very least they managed to hide their presence well if there really were members of the Order here. While the concepts they worshipped were completely unknown for someone who lived her entire life on a planet such as Gamorria, Jaida had heard the stories of these people. Powerful individuals who shouldn't be messed with. As a matter of fact, wasn't the Republic's champion a Jedi who managed to rid the galaxy of its tyrannical emperor almost a century ago? That was just proof of how foolish it would be to stand against the Jedi.

"Mmhmm, you could say that. Guiding you through my homeland, fighting alongside you, getting you some info, etc. Just ask for help and I'll see what I can do for you, darling." Jaida turned to the Twi'lek named Neb, returning her smile with a grin and a wink.

The young woman then turned her focus to Republic Intelligence member.

"Actually, you'd be surprised. While the poor, the slaves and those who have been wronged would like to see order restored here, corruption has been part of Gamorria for so long, it has become a way of living. Can't speak for the whole galaxy, but that's just how things are here. I bet bringing a reform here would get a rise out of more people than you can imagine."

---

More folks began to filter in, eyeing one another up, and making a few cursory introductions. Neb found herself shifting from foot to foot as her desire to get on with it built. Easy there, She chided herself. The shit-hole of a city will still be there when you get to it.

Cocking her head, she listened to Kaiden, replying with a chuckle. ”Yeah,” She replied, shaking her head. ”If there is one galactic constant, it is stupidity.” Reaching into her coat once more, she took another swig of Jet Juice, wiping her mouth with the back of a hand. The little wink from Jaida sent Neb’s mind briefly down a dirty little mynoc hole, but she quickly exerted some self-control over that.

More folks approached, one of them being a kind of heavy set human that looked vaguely familiar; the sense of vague familiarity grew slightly when she heard the name ‘Wes Arrel’. She couldn’t put a finger on why he seemed familiar, and it was going to bug her until she got that sorted out. Worked a job together? No…hmmm Trying to run down that thread was disturbed as the newest arrival showed up. Fucking Mando… She thought rolling her eyes. Leaning towards Kaiden once more, she poked him softly in the side with an elbow and made a little motion towards the Mandalorian. ”Republic is hiring Mando ‘hard boys’ now are they? You folks must be getting desperate.” She added, smirking. ”I’ve met industrial droids with better senses of humor than most Mandos.”

_{@Vampire Stepdad@vancexentan@Riffus Maximus@SantosGabriel77}

"A job is a job. Money is money. Self evident things like that shouldn't need to be said. As long as they put up their end of the bargain I have no need to complain about them hiring me." Valter's voice came out warped by his helmet's speakers. He looked down at the twilek. Though she couldn't see his face he gave a coy grin, and stifled any chuckle. "Big talk coming from a twiliek though. You know your kind doesn't do themselves any favors. How many times has Ryloth been conquered, or enslaved at this point in time? I'm not a historian, and I'm not a fan of the idea of turning this whole deal we got going to bantha dirt over something petty. Keep trash talk for when we're off duty. We got a job to do. Joker types get shot first because they don't spend the time to look over their shoulder." Valter told her as he turned back to his job of being a glorified guard. He remembered all those slave girls in Voja's palace on Nar Shadda. Pitiful creatures who were in a far more bleak situation then he'd like to admit. This girl wouldn't fair well in the outer rim. Especially Hutt space. He hoped she would never have to figure that out for her sake. "We should get moving to somewhere safer. Talk can come once we're secure. I know we're in a good place now but open spaces make me uneasy." commented Valter calmly but what he was offering was more of a suggestion than anything else.

"...cant they send me to somewhere nice once in a while? First..."

Captain Vyn'Kel'Ruordoa was snapped out of his moment of self-pity when his datapad let out a extremely annoying squawking noise, with him pulling it out in a single snappish motion as if he was a gunslinger at a tournament. Gazing at it, he noticed various lines of information, all pertaining to the planet he had just landed on. Local military strength, most common form of armament, specific types of materiel used by security forces and criminal elements, local important figures in the local military, possible anti-republic elements in the city, layouts of various cityscapes...

Kel stared at the datapad for about ten minutes straight, barely even blinking as his brain desperately tried to absorb the sheer amount of information on the screen. Finally, he took a deep breath when he realized the next set of information was "Crime Figures".

"I think that's enough for now."

He got up, slinging his assault cannon over his back before pointing at two of the port staff unloading a large crate frim his ship, causing them to completely freeze.
"Be very careful with that! It keeps me alive!"

Turning, he walked straight out of the hangar, taking a elevator down to the main area. He didn't have a room yet, as far as he knew and his armor was back in that crate from earlier.

He had some time to kill. That was a rare occurence.
Noticing a small group of heavily armed people nearby, he strolled over to them, trying to look friendly. He knew there were other people who were part of this operation, could this be them? Then again, if they weren't, they may be planning to rob the port, hence the weaponry. That would be interesting.
He raised his hand in greeting.

"Hello. I sincerely hope you are all here for the reason i heard about."

He managed to hide his irritation. He had never worked with mercenaries before and had hoped to never do so. Too unreliable. Plus, he had killed plenty of their like before, that probably wouldn't win him many allies.

Nevermind. Meet them, do the operation, leave, then he could enjoy a few months on a Naboo beach. As much as he enjoyed a fight, a rest was always pleasant.

Especially when no one could bother him.

Krerr stood at the meeting, standing next to the Commander. Gallowin was a stern man, but a brilliant leader, she had requested his presence for a reason. Her eyes scanned the room and it was easy to notice that they narrowed whenever she looked at the Mandalorian trying to keep to himself at the back of the room, she had a look of mild disgust on her face whenever she looked at him. She may have been a pacifist, but she hated their kind with a burning passion. They wore their armour and pride in the "Mandalorian Traditions" like some twisted badge of honour upon the chest of a boy-scout. Near the time that Gallowin wrapped up his briefing, Gloopra arrived. She gave the old Rodian a smile. "Thank you for joining us Battle-Master."

"I apologize for my tardiness." He replied. He had been caught up in a dogfight above the planet when a small pirate group had gone for the senator's shuttle.

"I informed the commander of your being indisposed." she said, approaching him.

"Orders?" he asked.

"Go into drug-lab, fight bad guys." She replied.

"Very good." He nodded. He began to look around the others. He spotted the Mandalorian "You let him join us?"

"Not my choice. I had to pull strings to get you assigned." she replied.

"Given him a piece of your mind yet?" He asked.

"No, I don't want to think about his kind too much..." She grunted. She shot the Mandalorian another dirty look.

"You said a lot that you wanted to bring them back into the fold. You should talk to him. See if you can work that silver tongue." He said. She laughed in response.

"Yes, because me waltzing over to him and saying "Hey, I know we're paying you a lot of money to kill people, but here's a better deal. Why don't we just take your weapons off of you and assimilate you. Free of charge." Because that's going to work." she sneered.

"Have you actually tried?" he asked.

"Have you tried that with a Sith?" she countered.

"No, but my master did... And here I stand." he replied. They stared into each others eyes for a few seconds.

"Alright, fine." she relented, throwing her arms down. "AFTER, the mission." She sighed. She then rubbed her eyes a little. "In the meantime, I suggest-" She was about to continue when he looked up to see Gloopra had walked over to the Mercenary. "Force... Dammit..." She slowly sighed. Seeing the young Padawan and her master, she approached them. "Greetings, it is a pleasure to meet you." She said, offering her hand for the Jedi to shake. "I trust there was no trouble in your journey?"

Gloopra arrived to find the Twi-Lek and the Mandalorian talking "I might ask the same about your world getting bombed into the dirt because of your insistance on being the most hated people in the galaxy. Throwing yourself against the Republic like a fly against glass..." He said after overhearing the comment on Ryloth's enslavement. "Look, we are all warriors here, people who are trained to kill people for different reasons. Nobody here holds the high ground. We kill, that's it." He then looked at Valter. "I apologize for the Senator's actions. She's out of line."

"You're lucky I got a contract signed..." growled Valter as he resisted the urge to pull his gun on his own ally. He may not be a true mandalorian but there was one thing he valued above all others: his pride of being one. There were people who died for less in his line of work to flatly come forward, and to talk trash to him like that was going too far. In a less civilized part of the galaxy there would be blood for insulting a man's entire culture. What he had said about Ryloth had been said just for trash talk just like they had done to him. "Just get out of my face, don't tell me how to do my blasted job, and leave me alone. Then we won't complicate things further." spitted out Valter bitterly as he gripped his weapon tightly.

---

The mando’s comments about Ryloth bounced off of Neb like dust off a deflector shield. She was about to reply when a rodian stepped in to try and simmer things down…for all the good that did. Instead she replied with a smile and a slow shake of her head, her lekku swaying slowly back and forth.

”That is the problem with you Mando ‘hard boys’…” She replied, waving towards his tense grip. ”Always so quick to take offence.” Yawning a bit, she shifted her rifle from one shoulder to another, a sign she didn’t see the mandalorian as an imminent threat. ”As for Ryloth? It’s just another dirt ball I haven’t been to. I was born a slave to one of those people that like to hire Mando ‘hard boys’ to swagger about and make ’em look like their king shits of whatever dung pile they’re squatting on. You wanna piss me off hard boy, you’ll need to do better than that.”
_@vancexentan

"I don't take offense easy. Just when people who don't know anything about me, or my people call us trash to our faces. I'm not trying to get under your skin miss. I have a job to do, and I just want to do it. I've seen what Hutts do to people first hand. I'm not going to pretend I'm the honorable sort. But I have my pride in what I do, and who I am. No less than you I would hope. Was there some reason you're poking on me? Lot more friendly people here than me. Probably better conversationalist. If you wanted to know about Mandalorians then ask otherwise I don't got much to say about anything." Valter said trying to cool himself down as he gestured at the republic soldiers around them. "We're on official business anyways. Just keep that in mind I don't want to cause problems with that, and I'm sure no one wants to hear me gibber on." Rook finished as he looked around he wanted to get moving. Or least away from these people. Couldn't they just put him somewhere where he could do his job and be done with it? He wasn't eager to kill people here but he wanted to actually do what he was hired for. A job was a job like he said.

Lahana looked at the stocky man that approached her. Why did he come up to her? She looked around, slightly confused. People usually talked to her master before her, the braid in her hair essentially telling people not to bother. "Hello..." She said, her expression perhaps more tense and offputting than she intended. She remembered that it was polite to introduce oneself when meeting for the first time, and also to shake hands. It was fine if she only did one of those, she figured. "Wes, I am Lahana Sunset..." What else was she supposed to say to someone? "...I hope our mission goes... well." She looked to her master, however he was now speaking with a woman that had approached. Suddenly, a hologram appeared not too far from her. Her right hand went to one of her lightsabers, and for a split moment she was ready to slice it to pieces. Thankfully her training hadn't been for nothing. She may still be a tad jumpy, but it was better than how she reacted to surprises in the past. She didn't need to introduce herself to the hologram, did she? She just told someone her name and didn't feel like doing it again so soon, and she was pretty sure she couldn't shake hands with it.

"As a matter of fact our journey was very uneventful. I am Kale, and this is my padawan Lahana." Lahana's master motioned to her with his hand, she was still glaring at the hologram.

Meanwhile, the Twi'lek woman who had been waiting for questions, had received none. She had broken out into a cold sweat, and her eyes were darting to various people in the crowd. "M-my name is Fufuro by the way. Haha it's a silly name I know but my parents... Oh no one cares, no one ever cares." She mumbled to herself, hardly speaking loud enough for anyone to hear her. Her head hung low as she walked over the end of the courtyard where a garage door stood. She slowly pressed buttons on a keypad as if each one was her destroyed hopes and dreams. The garage doors opened and a large armored vehicle rolled out. There was a young man standing on the front hood with his hands on his hips and a cocky smile on his face. As the borderline tank came to a stop he stumbled slightly, but righted himself and acted as if nothing happened. He ran a hand through his long blue hair and jumped down from the vehicle.

"What's up everybody! The name's Jayce and I'll be your commanding officer for operation Drug Obliteration." He spoke with a boisterous voice that demanded attention.

"Jayce, that's not the name of the operation, it doesn't even have a name." Fufuro said, closing the garage door.

"If you want in on the action hop in, otherwise you can stay here with the gloomy glass of milk." He pointed behind him at the vehicle with his thumbs, ignoring Fufuro's complaint.

"Hey, I don't look like bantha milk... And someone needs to stay here. A representative of the local communities will be coming, what if some gang attacks? What if they use bombs? W-what if they use a lot of bombs?"

Lahana blinked at the two Republic soldiers, they didn't quite act like the ones she'd seen in the core worlds. She turned to her master. "We're going to the drug den, right?" She asked.

"You will be padawan, I will stay here." He said. Lahana tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean, shouldn't you be there with me? You are always with me on assignments."

"Precisely, If you are to be a Jedi Knight you must learn to handle yourself without me. I will not always be around after all." Lahana opened her mouth to speak, but clenched her fists and nodded her head.

"Yes master, I will not let you down."

Surta Matahari Huchson

---

This was a mistake.

This was a more important operation to the Republic than she had thought. There were not only the normal rank and file soldiers as well as mercenaries, but also Jedi in this operation. The Jedi themselves thought this was important enough to send several of them here, or at least, did not stop those who thought it was important to come here. It was a good thing she had enough experience by now to keep her presence normal, exuding neither the aura of a Jedi or a darksider, but only that of a commoner. It helped that she was in this large suit as well.

The large imposing assault suit that stood much taller than Surta did, necessitating some improvisation and customization before she was able to use it comfortably. A rusting beast that she had salvaged and repaired to be a slightly rusted and tarnished beast that worked.

She remained silent throughout, unwilling to draw attention to her any more than necessary. Unwilling, but if she did not speak to join the drug busting operation, like any bloodthirsty merc with a damned mechanized walking tank would do...

"I shall join the assault upon the drug den."

Surta stepped forwards towards the armored vehicle, the power suit moving much smoother and not at all ponderously like its size would suggest. There was some sort of irony in this, for she had been on the other side of a drug den bust before.

"Greetings commander. I hope you're not intending to send us all to an early grave. On my pride as a bounty hunter I'll give you my all. I'll go where you need me. Just say so, and the target dies...or not. That's up to you, and how much your bosses are paying. Disintegration takes less effort." Valter Rook said to their new leader. He was loud...annoying...and she didn't seem to care much about proper military command. He wouldn't get anywhere further up the rank if what he thought was correct. But it wasn't his place to judge the Republic's inept standards of leadership. Valter was intending to get this job done as quick as humanly possible. If not he was probably going to be here for awhile anyway. As long as the credits are good Valter had no issues doing what needed to be done. He had turned his attention away from the bothersome members of the group in order to focus more on the task at hand.