The Revolution is an older model, but generally in good repair. A bit messy, having been crewed by only one person for a while before being acquired by B-Gev, but not terribly so. The design is plain and functional: bare metal walls and railings, grated floors, sparse but adequate lighting.

The main door enters onto a hallway between the bridge, crew quarters, and engine room. A stairway leads down to the main hold, which has a large cargo hatch opening rearward. At the front of the cargo bay, a door leads to the galley, med bay, and passenger quarters.

Jonas surveys the medical bay, and starts checking supply cupboards and unpacking his own supplies.

Julie smiles to Marcus. "Runt? Sonny Jim? Do you have a name, or just a bunch of nicknames? C'mon, let's check this ship out!" she says, jogging off towards the bridge.

(Let's fast-forward to having the mission team meet in the galley.)

"So, all of yas need me and my girl here for a job right? What IS this job?"

B-Gev pulls out a big cigar and starts smoking.

"Oh, any of yas wanna cigar? Best brand in the galaxy lemme tell ya heheh"

The boy turned just a tiny bit red from the remark, gazing sheepishly before himself. He hadn1t even noticed at first that she had already gone off.

"Wait up!" he called, going after her. For some reason, he already liked to be around her.

Gem calmly rejects the captain's offer and asks David: "Now that we're all here, could you tell us what do you want me, Denden and this ninja to do?"

David walks to the ships main computer and plugs in his PDA, after some fiddling, you see the screens fill with information. what looks like a blue-print of a building, a photo of a well groomed face with information next to it, and markers at various locations.

"This," David points at the Picture of the well groomed man "Is Benjamin Saval. some of you may have heard of him, at least if you live on this very planet. For those who do not know him, this man is better known as Senator Saval, or in some circles as General, as he fancies himself somewhat of a commander."

David pauses to see is everyone is paying attention

" 'Senator' Saval is a pleasant if somewhat ambitious man who wishes Ceres well. 'General' Saval, the man few people know, is just ambitious. He wishes to rule Ceres, and has offered the NFA his loyalty is they help him to stage a coup-d'etat."

Another glance

"If he truly believes the NFA will allow him to remain despot after he succeeds I do not know, I do know that he has their help, but is relying on his own men and plans as well."

David swallows for the finish

"our job is three-fold, we're to prevent him from giving over this planet to the NFA, we're to find his plans and the extent of his operation here so that we know every last mercenary that works for him, and where he brushes his teeth." David points at a room marked on the blueprint "Which my intel says is likely to be in this room. And, finally, we're going to make sure that the good 'Senator' will succeed in his plan, but not for the NFA, but us, when and where we want it. and that means blackmailing him."

Keeping the Senator unharmed is not only a risk, but something that might not go down well with the crew, after hearing what the man wishes.

"now that you know the goals, here is how we are going to achieve out specific mission: we will infiltrate his mansion, get to the war room where the plans are-" David points at the same marker again" Photograph the plans and data, and get out unseen.
the war room will be occupied, so we also need a diversion to remove the men from the premises. finally we need to plant some "bugs" to provide us with more data with which to blackmail the good Senator, just in case the plans aren't enough"

David looks at each men he hired
"I understand some of you will find it difficult to let the senator get away with this, to you I say, it will only be until he is no-longer useful. doing something against him at this moment is unwise. he fancies himself a general, and that means he has with him a heavily armed escort at all times, and armed men are patrolling the courtyard and corridors looking for suspicious activity. that is how my cover was blown the last time. this is also the reason why I cannot come with you inside. I need to remain on the ship which will meet you for extraction."

"Now is the time for questions and suggestions, you are as much part of this as I am, so you will be granted freedom in how you plan to achieve this and I will be here to help you out. Like poppa always said 'A man alone need not be lonely' "

(sorry for so much text, I hope you liked my story)

"The name is Sabre" Sabre says towards Gem, "had you paid attention, you would have known this."

"Now as far as the mission's concerned, I can take care of the patrol and the diversion. Photographing and bug placing is something I'm not familiar with. I know a lot of different bug species, but I don't understand what you want to achieve by placing them." Sabre said towards David. His last remark got him some weird looks.

"Furthermore, considering this information, I think it'd be wise to avoid the Senator and his escort, a confrontation will only get us into trouble." Sabre continued, "Although I'd like to confront this dishonourable person.".

"Hmm sounds mostly like a stealth mission. Ya already have distraction but I could pose as a Cap'n looking to be hired by him; that could get you some more diverted eyes if need be; oh I can also hack computers pretty good meself, some of the data may be on terminals."

(Nice job, JFSOCC :welldone:)

"I did hear your name, ninja", Gem replies Sabre's words. "I only rarely use the names of people I just met." And don't trust, he adds in his thoughts.

"As for the mission", he turns towards David, "it seems clear that me and Denden should be the ones doing the photographing part - Denden as the photographer, me as his sentry."

(Voyager, your character can hack into computers, doesn't he?)

(Did I seriously just forget my characters own skills? Woops :aww: , i'll edit my post)

(Yeah, good stuff JFSOCC.)

Julie glances in the engine room. "Aha! She's got a Stanwick engine! You know that's the engine they used to put in JL Escort cruisers? They had a bunch left over after JL bombed, and they were so cheap that everyone snapped them up no matter what they were building. And when you drop 'em in a ship this small, lemme tell you, she can fly rings around any modern ship her size!"

She runs off towards the pilot deck, sits in the pilot's chair and looks around. "I hope I get to fly!" She grabs the controls and pretends to swerve around imaginary obstacles. When Marcus catches up, she looks over and says, "you said you've been in a ship lots before, yeah? Did you ever get to fly one?"

The boy followed Julie without halt, listening to everything she had to say. He couldn't tell why exactly, but he found it quite pleasant to follow her aroud. It felt rather unnerving. He stopped behind the pilot's seat, standing on his toes to gaze down at her from the other side. He flinched to her question, finding it rather strange.

"Of course not." he stated, as though it was the most simple fact in the world. "We were never allowed even near the pilot's cabin."

The floor plans on the monitors look like this (click for full view):

Ground floor (It's kind of hard to tell, so I indicated doors with red arrows):


Upper floor:

Julie looks over her shoulder at Marcus. "Aww, really? That's no good! Well, you wanna start learning now? It's a long process, learning to fly a ship, but I'll teach you the basics in no time. You can be my co-pilot! If that's okay with the captain, I mean. C'mon, sit down there and I'll show you what's what." She points to the co-pilot's seat.

Gem looks carefully at the plans and says: "I think the best way would be the hard way. The ninja" - he quickly gazes Sabre - "could provide our distraction and get the men from the war room - how he does this, I do not know, but I can't say I'm not curious about it."

"Me, Denden and captain could get through the windows - either here, before the distraction" - he points at the storage room - "or here, after it." - he points all three windows of the war room - "The first way means we'd have to get into the war room right after the first man passes the storage room. Then, we'd take the pictures, place the bugs, and get the hell out of there."

"We can't do this immediately, though. We need to know the guards' patrol routes and the best possible moment we can do this. Preferably, somewhere deep in the night."

The boy remained still for a little while, before curiosity got the better of him. He always wanted to learn how to fly a ship, and with a free chance now, he knew he shouldn't give up on it. Without waiting any further, he sat down into the co-pilot's seat, alternating his gaze between Julie and the controls, looking much younger in his curiosity than he really was.

(I'll be on holiday for four weeks on saturday, but y'all be free to use my character as an NPC, my skills come in handy. Pity I can't be here, though, this mission looks awesome)

"If Sabre can get the guards out of there, then we'll have no trouble getting into the war room." Denden was glad enough to even remember someone's name, and since he always distanced himself from other team members in past team missions and often failed to complete the mission, this was a new approach for him. Dangerous, but worth the try.

Denden pushes a button on his utility belt and three items are revealed. "These grappling hooks are well suited to this stealth mission. They're silent and will get us up quick. We need to be wary also for any alarm systems on the windows, we can expect them on the war room windows. I can easily take care of that if this is the case, and the scanner on my camera will reveal if there are any before we go in."

(Damn it :()

"Perfect", Gem smiles lightly. "I expected you'd be the biggest help around here."

"Okay! First, let's look at the helm. See the dual control sticks there? That's one for each thruster: slide 'em forward and back to control thrust, and tilting changes thrust angle. Go ahead, give it a try - she's not powered up, so we won't go anywhere."

(Does someone want to take over playing Denden's char for this episode?)

David sees some strengths and flaws in the plan so far.
"the study is the most likely place where the security controls are located, it will be manned by only one or two men. when I first got there, the kitchen had 3 guards in it, they were having dinner. unfortunately they have their own closed supply, so getting to the food is impossible"

"At night there will be increased guards on the perimeter, but less likely people in the war room"

"when the Senator is present he slacks his security, he feels there is less to worry about when he is there, so we need to do this mission within 4 days"

this map shows no cameras, but they are there. if you would enter through the kitchen, and move quickly to the study, you stand the best chance of disabling them unnoticed. the recordings would have to be stolen though, because you would show up, if only for a small moment."

to Sabre he asks: "What manner of distraction did you have in mind? we need to have the guards and the Senator, and any other personel out of the way, but without them knowing that there is a team on the ground. a Fire alarm could work, I suppose?"

(I could attempt to play denden, since I cannot go on the mission myself)

"Steal? I can definitely do that heheh"

(Sounds fair to me, FWIW)

Gem wonders a bit and says: "If the guards are going to be in the kitchen, then we can assume the dining room is clear. So we can get through the window in the corridor between the kitchen and the dining room, sneak through the latter to the study and get the necessary things done. Then our ninja provides the necessary distraction. What goes directly afterwards depends on the distraction. When the mansion is clear we immediately get to the war room, do the job and use Denden's hooks to get out. I'm assuming by the proportions that the northern window can get us right outside the mansion, so it's a clean getaway."

It took a few moments before Marcus mustered enough bravery to touch the control sticks. He immediately brought his hands back at first, as if he touched fire. It was still engraved into his mind to never ever even try to touch controls. Still, his curiosity got the better of him in the end.

He gently tried out the two control sticks, pulling and pushing on them a bit, getting used to the feeling. He found it quite interesting, a faint smile creeping on his face only after a short while. He stopped soon enough though and glanced back at Julie, waiting for the next lesson.

"all right, so let me reiterate the plan so far:"
David nods to Gem "First Mr Mor'Ian will enter through the side window in the Dining room, he will have to move fast to remain unnoticed. he will quickly pass the small corridor and enter the study, where he will disable the Guards on site- quietly and without them being able to recall please."
"following this, he will remove the security footage and replace it with a fresh tape. that will not be recording, you close the security room, and leave the way you came, unseen"

then David looks at Sabre
"Mr Sabre will then cause a distraction, I have faith in his skills that he knows how to do so. this will cause the evacuation plan to be triggered, the Senator and his co-conspirators will move from the war room down the stairs at a slow pace. he might leave a guard on station, and the door will be locked"

moving to DenDen and B-Gev, David continues
Mr Meyers and the Captain will use their grappling hooks to enter the 2nd floor, use their skills to get into the war-room. here Mr Meyers will photograph every plan and codex, every letter and every file which he can. some will also be stored digitally. while Mr Meyers does this, our good captain will plant these 3 devices in the wave transmitter (phone) the war room computer, and one at a random location. be sure to program them to start working only 28 hours after they have been planted, as it is standard procedure to sweep the room for bugs after an evacuation."

Finally, looking at Marcus, blushing at Julie David finishes

"The team will go out the same way they entered, with seconds to pass before the evacuation alarm is found out to be false, assemble just outside the courtyard wall, and egress using the SS Revolution piloted by our Ladyship and her new student"

"Pray that everything goes well and we will not need our good doctor."
"Did I miss anyone, or is there anything to add or ask? please do so now, otherwise, I would say we are ready to finalize the plan. and remember, if anything changes, I will be on your communications channel the whole time to update you with any radio chatter we might hear."

(sorry for my late response, I've been busy)

"Hmz, my plan of distraction would have been more "confronting"", Sabre said, "I had planned to disable the guards on duty, and make intended noises to let the others investigate." "But...", Sabre continued, "a fire alarm might be more effective to get the job done quick. I will however need matches(or a lighter) and a location for a smoke detector."

"Speaking of which, do we require any other items to get in?" he asks David. "I don't like surprises. And aren't there any extra security systems activated in case of fire alarm?"

Sabre waits for David's answer.

"Two more things, One: should I kill or knock out the guards I encounter?, and two: If our mission is compromised, what is our course of action? I can hold off a large group of guards, but I'm only one person. May it be necessary, I could provide a "special" escape." Sabre said, his eyes shortly gleaming. "This is however a last resort, and I prefer not to use it."

(If David wants to know, Sabre will tell about and show, a part of his morphing skills. Yet he won't show the others, because of the trouble it might give)

"no, in case of fire most alarms are shutdown to allow for easy evacuation. camera's would start recording but we are already dealing with that."

"Whatever floats yer boat David sir, i'll do what's needed. What 'bout Sonny Jim here? He may be a kid but he's got a pair of legs on him, and i'm trainin him, so this may be a good experience for him."

To Sabre: "I got ye matches right here lad, plenty of 'em!"

Marcus froze a bit upon hearing that, turning away from the controls. He'd only been listening with half an ear till now, so he just had the very basic grasp of everything. He didn't really know what he could actually do, apart from getting into everyone's way.

Sabre quickly turned to B-Gev after hearing this "What? You want to send in a boy? This isn't like stealing apples!" Sabre snapped. "Look, his size might be good for infiltration purposes, but if he gets caught, they have an advantage on us. No, I think it'd be better he would sit this one out. Besides, if you bring back the camera tapes, he might get to see us in action after all, or not, if we're all capable enough."

Sabre turned to Marcus "Look kid, I'm sure you have a lot of skills, but I just don't want you to put your life on the line, just because the captain thinks you should. If you want, I could learn you a combat trick or two."

Sabre was surprised the captain would propose such a thing, hadn't he listened to the mission? He might mean it well, but the tasks had been assigned, and what did he know about the skills of the boy? No, the boy should stay, watch and learn until he was capable enough to go. The kid was the only one in the group not bittered and tainted by the world of today, Sabre saw great potential in him, but he wanted to learn about the kid first.

"Oh and I will take those matches, thank you" said Sabre, turning to B-Gev again.

"Sonny Jim would stay with me at all times, he'd be my responsibility entirely; he's sure as hell quiet enough for the job. But, I don't wanna get into an arguement, at least not tis early into our mission, so whatever David says, I suppose, will go. By the way Sonny Jim, what other skills do ya have anyways?"

"I see that you care for him, and I have no doubt you can handle the responsibility, but the people who will stay here can take care of him as well. I'm not looking for an argument either, but I'm merely saying you might want to think twice before you do this." Sabre replied, "But as you said, David will have the final say in this."

Sabre turned his gaze to David, hoping he will let the boy stay here.

The boy turned bright red from the discussion over him, though resisting the urge to duck behind the back of the seat. He wasn't used to even the simple fact that someone cared about whether he lived or not, which made him look at Sabre in a way that could be best defined as thankful.

He was however slightly scared of the possibility of moving out on a mission, mostly because he had no idea what to do at all. He'd only known the interior of a ship for almost as long as he could remember.

"I can...tamper with locks...a bit." he muttered, once again answering whatever question he was asked.

He thought about it, but couldn't find any other notable skill he might have had. Glancing at David and B-Gev, he wondered what would be the final decision. Despite obviously not one, right now, he thought of B-Gev as though he was his master, his oldest insticts active once again

"No. You will stay on-board. I believe I heard you wanted to learn piloting skills? now is the best time to do that."
Looking at B-Gev David Adds "our mission is fraught with risk and you desire to bring a mere boy into this? I have faith that he will be a good addition to the team in time, time he wouldn't have if he is dead. there will be other times and better situations."

looking at Marcus David adds "I'm sorry if you wanted to go, but believe me when I say this, I am not keeping you away out of spite. If you wish to help the team, and I have a feeling you do, watch closely, and learn. learn how to pilot from Julie, how to observe and analyse from me, how to dress a wound from our good doctor. and whatever talents you have will show"

(damn! that made me feel like my father! :P)

"I've been doing these sorta missions since I was his age, worse ones too. I was a boy like him but if you saw the t'ings I did...anyways, if he stays he stays, nothin' wrong with learning how to pilot, but I would like to teach him as well. Miss Julie, please take good care of my girl while i'm gone."

Marcus heaved a sigh, smiling a tiny bit. Though there was of course a twinge of thirst for excitement, he was still rather happy he didn't have to go. He knew he would be of no use, and didn't wish to endanger the team. He nodded to David's words, finding them quite wise, and worth to follow.

Slumping back into the co-pilot seat, he glanced at Julie with something he hadn't produced all day...a faint smile.

"Can we continue then?" he queried, rather excited to learn more.

"No worries, Cap'n. Taking care of ships is what I do best!" Julie turns back to the controls with Marcus.

"Okay! Make sure you've got a good feel for those control sticks. Like 90% of flying a ship is feel. I can tell you about it for hours, but ten minutes in the air'll make it clearer than anything I could say. If you're feeling ready, we can have a go at giving you the helm while the team's out on the mission. Besides that, it's all remembering what button does what. Don't worry about most of 'em for now... except," she points to a couple, "here's the comm switch, and this is the landing gear. Oh yeah, and there's a scanner screen. It'll show you ships, rocks, debris, and whatever other stuff is floating around nearby."

(Mission team: ready to go, or is there more to work out?)

[ If I don't hear any objections, I'm going to close this thread and start the mission proper after lunch. ]

no objections from me. I believe everyone knows their job.

Yep, all good here.

Okay: Sabre, Gem, Denden (played by JFSOCC), and B-Gev, head to Saval Mansion. David and Marcus, you're watching from Sidelines.