Chapter 3: Archaic

[Mara 29]

Kaden nodded and secured his webbing, sitting back to wait for the landing.

Artie extended a magclamp from his carapace and attached himself to the nearest wall.

[Drake 53]

Captain Tunon led the two Lieutenants to the lifts. The took the first available one up to the Starfighter Corps levels and went to a meeting room just down the hall from the pilot's lounge.

Once they had seated themselves around the table, Tak having to almost wedge himself between the chair's armrests, Aeric said, "Alright Tak, tell us what happened."

Tak put his hands, palms down, on the table and began to recount what had happened earlier in the day. "It started at approximately 11:45 base time. I was returning to my room from a run and was going to meet Officer Nasrin in the cafeteria when the base shook with a near turbolaser impact. That first volley took out our long range communications. Once the Base Commander reported that there were incoming dropships, I opted to remain in defense of the base instead of taking my X-Wing to assist Captain Slade's squadron."

Captain Tunon nodded at this but remained silent.

"So I returned to my room and changed into this." Tak pointed to his armour. "I've been keeping it hidden in a secure lockbox. Next, I went directly to Commander Tebus in the control centre...."

Takeshi told them all that had happened and left out nothing, save his feelings for Layla. He told them about his conversation with Tebus, the battle in the hangar, the confrontation with the Archaic commander, the fight with the Bothan bounty hunter Karsus, chasing after Layla, and then finally the heated battle with the other Mandalorian which ended in Layla's capture.

Once finished, Tak removed his hands from the table and placed them in his lap, waiting for any questions the other two men might have.

[Vergere 1]

Brier led them to a safe and uneventful landing, much to her husband's disappointment. One less thing to harass her about. Sometime later, Zak had gotten a speeder for them and dropped Kaden and Brier off at NRDF HQ. Brier kissed her husband's cheek and promised to call him later for pickup after they found out what was going on.

Dressed in what basically constituted as a typical Corellian outfit, Brier and Kaden headed in, got the directions of where to meet, and entered the pilots lounge.

[Ayingel 24]

Szen looked around at everyone in the room. "Seems we're missing a few. Maybe they're the ones who know what's going on." She shifted her weight to make things a little more comfortable in the chair.

[Ender 8]

Jaim abandoned his stolen speeder a few blocks away from NRDF, and left a transponder on it so Lassa could find it again. He walked into the building, heading for the receptionist.

"Let me guess... Revenant Squadron?" she asked. Jaim nodded. "Just a sec."

Edited June 1, 2008 by The Stig

[Drake 53]

Aeric was about to ask Takeshi a question when his comm beeped. "Tunon here," he answered.

"Hello, Captain." It was Sanna. "Mr. Adarra is on his way up."

"Thank you." He switched frequencies to speak with Jaim. "Officer Adarra, this is Captain Tunon. Report to Meeting Room 130-12, down the hall from the lounge, for a debriefing."

[Ender 8]

"Copy that, I'm on my way."

Jaim headed for the turbolifts, and shortly was at the door of the meeting room. He knocked twice, and walked in.

[Drake 53]

"Come on in," said Aeric. "Have a seat. I know a lot has happened and we have a lot to do so this won't take long."

After Jaim had taken a seat around the table, Aeric leaned forward and said, "So tell us what happened, during the attack, from your perspective. Afterwards, I'll ask you and Tak some questions."

[Ender 8]

"I had just recently woken up and headed for the pilot's lounge when we heard the alarm. I joined up with Layla and headed for the hangar, where several ships, not looking as though they were in terribly good condition, had landed, and there were mercenaries all over the hangar. After a while I got a distress call from some of the maintenance crew who were pinned down at the power station by some of the intruders. After dealing with them, I followed another bounty hunter, a Devaronian, who spent a good amount of time rooting around the crew quarters. I confronted her, and killed her. I then got a distress call from Layla, who said she was being chased by someone. I exited the base and followed her, notifying Tak of my position. I fell behind him, and didn't get there in time to help him with the other bounty hunter. And now, I'm here.

"Now, there aren't a whole lot of criminal organizations who'd be able to pull off something like this. While I was still running jobs out of Corellia, I heard tell of an organization called Archaic, and I even dealt with intermediaries from them once or twice, running guns and whatnot. The man who's apparently in charge now has got a very nasty reputation. As for why they took Layla, I'm assuming she was connected to them once. She knew of me, when we first met. The only way she'd know me would be if she was into the underworld."

[Drake 53]

"She was," both Takeshi and Aeric said at the same time.

Aeric nodded to Tak. "You go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Layla told me this in confidence but it would seem that, in light of the circumstances, she would understand that I told you."

"Continue," said the Captain.

Takeshi nodded. "Well, she used to be in a personal relationship with Deign Argos, the leader of Archaic. Apparently he used to be a good man. Well, good relatively speaking in the criminal world, I suppose. Then the Imperials came in and Deign started working deals with them. Eventually he changed. He became harsher and cruel. He became more Imperial, I suppose. That's when Layla finally turned on him and left to eventually join the New Republic military." His facial expression subtly changed, revealing for a moment the sadness and disappointment he felt in himself. "She thought that the military would be a safe haven from Argos...that we could protect her. She was wrong."

Aeric nodded. "Yes. When the squadron was first put together, Lieutenant Riamor and I discussed Layla's previous offences and charges. She explained some but she left out reasoning behind others. Those being B and E, assault and arson. As they were all filed with Corellian Security, I would only assume they were related with Archaic."

"That's correct, sir," said Takeshi. "More specifically, they were against Deign Argos himself. Officer Nasrin had to appropriate some...property of hers and needed to fight her way out."

Nat frowned in thought. "That certainly explains why she kept dodging our questions and avoiding anything remotely resembling a straight answer."

Captain Tunon slowly nodded and stared at the table, in thought. "Indeed." Finally, he looked up. "Well, we have authorization to mount a rescue mission. Additionally, this will serve a secondary objective."

Nat raised an eyebrow. "Sir?"

"Command thinks it necessary to eliminate the further threat caused by Archaic. Not only does it pose a continual threat to our security but it's also a supporter of the Imperial presense on Corellia." Aeric looked at Tak and a barely inperceptible smile tugged at his mouth. "That said, our second mission is to bring Deign Argos to justice. Be it dead or alive."

"Understood, sir." Tak could barely restrain his pleasure at the thought and his voice reflected it.

Next, Aeric switched into planning mode. He drew a pair of datapads, giving one to each Lietenant. "Now, down to logistics. Officer Adarra. You grew up on Corellia and used to have dealings with the underworld there. As you said, even Archaic a couple times. Do you have anyone you could contact who know anything that would be beneficial to us?"

[Princess 35]

Nima saw Szen shift into a more comfortable position and walked over to check on her. "How are you doing with your rehab Szen? I know I was only gone a couple of days, but are you progressing sufficiently? How's the control of the prosthesis coming?"

[Mara 29]

Kaden and Artie came into the room, Kaden wearing an olive green flightsuit. He was chewing in a ration bar as he went to find a seat. Though it had only been a few days; he felt as though he hadn't seen his squadronmates in weeks.

[Bad furday 57]

Arlan and Jya entered, carrying their luggage with them.

"Hey all!" said Jya, as she and Arlan found empty seats.

The pair placed their bags on the floor, and looked round at the others.

Jya and Arlan both seemed to be checking out Szen's prosthetics with great interest.

[Ender 8]

"Well, I burned a hell of a lot of bridges when I left last time, but I've still got some friends around. Haven't spoken to any of them for a while, but I'll probably still be able to contact them. Jysella Tormeo, who picked me up on Ithyari, she could probably help us out as far as getting in.

"I've also gotten info from a contact of mine here on Coruscant that Archaic is running an insurance group as a front here. Leader's name is Shen Garos, she's got maybe two dozen running the office with her. Figured we might want to have a chat with her, before we go forward."

[Ayingel 24]

"I haven't tried firing with it yet." Szen opened and closed her fist. "Eating the first time with both hands was a little awkward. And I haven't tried writing yet either. At least it doesn't hurt much any more. It only woke me up the first night. My eye, however, is doing much better. I can barely tell the difference."

Edited June 2, 2008 by Ayingel

[Mara 29]

Kaden nodded as Jya and Arlan entered.

Artie twiddled a welcome as he wheeled himself near Kaden's chair.

[Vergere 1]

Without a word really, and a self-amused smile on her face, Brier sat down a pace from the others. She watched everyone and everything going on with rapt attention, not sure why the squadron was called back, but curious enough to find out. Even though she wasn't on the recall, as their Intel liason and an Intel officer in general, she had the ability to come in and be nosy enough to find out.

[Princess 35]

Nima nodded and grabbed a datapad, pulling up Szen's record. "It all looks good from what the medical team here uploaded to your file. Oh! That reminds me, I need to requisition some spare parts for you. We're going to have to get used to carrying around repair pieces with the medical supplies."

[Pandora 77]

Tyrena City, Corellia

Deign led Layla to the door of the modest home and rang the bell. A moment later a grey-haired woman answered and immediately embraced Deign. "Deign, sweetie!" She looked to her left and took in Layla. "Oh my word, it really is you, Layla!" Tera Argos hugged Layla suddenly, nearly dancing with joy at seeing her. "My heavens, Layla, where did you disappear to for all these years? Oh I've missed you so much!"

Deign stood only a step away, smiling.

[Rogue 4]

Layla glanced over at Deign, a look filled with ice as his mother embraced her, and the look turned warm again as Tera backed up and it shifted to her. "Oh Mrs. Argos, you know me. I can't stay in one place for long. I have to say though, you look as lovely now as you did then. I love the new hairstyle."

[Pandora 77]

"Oh, Layla, dear, honestly, "Mrs. Argos" is what my neighbors call me. Tera's still fine." Tera ran a hand over her own hair. "And do you like it? It took some time to convince Jaxon that it was a good idea, but that's niether here nor there. Oh! How rude of me, come in, come in!" She stepped aside so the two could ender the house, flashing a little wink at Deign.

She rushed over to a nearby sofa and fluffed a few cushions. "Now you two just sit down and make yourselves right at home. I'll have dinner on the table in just a minute. Layla, can I get you something to drink? Ale, wine...?"

[Rogue 4]

Layla flashed her dazzling smile at the woman, taking a seat on the couch. "I stopped drinking, but I'll take some coffiene if you have it. Thank you."

[Pandora 77]

Tera squinted a little at Layla as if she expected her to change her mind and ask for wine, but scurried off to the kitchen nonetheless.

Deign settled back into the couch. "Just like old time, huh?"

[Rogue 4]

Layla was glad Tera didn't push the matter. She didn't want to drink because she knew that she was normally a party without any alcohol in her. She didn't need to get a little buzzed and start making clumsy mistakes, or divulge information. She turned to look at Deign who was now sitting beside her. "Your mother hasn't changed a bit."

[Pandora 77]

Deign laughed a little. "No, she hasn't. Father, though..."

As if on cue, Jaxon Argos came into the room on a repulsorchair. He smiled at Deign and Layla, despite the obvious cloud of alcohol in his eyes. The smell of a Corellian whiskey followed him. "Layla, my dear, it's good to see you again!"