Chapter 2

Renz walked down the hallway from the simulators to the briefing room with Iwa beside him. He glanced at her, and then motioned her through the open doorway. The briefing room was quite large and the other officers at the base were already seated. Renz took a seat near the back and pulled out his data pad. Iwa sat beside him. Looking up at the front, he saw a tall human male with a Colonel's insignia was taping keys on the podium. Renz sighed. It appears that it will be boring. He thought.

The Colonel introduced himself once everyone had arrived and gotten seats. "My name is Colonel Sanders. I work with New Republic intelligence. I have been dispatched to brief on this sector and nearby sectors. As you are already aware, the Empire abandoned Mandarin to us without a fight. However, a good number of pirates continue to name this sector home. Other pirates may be moving into the location from different places in space. Ah, Yamato was kept secure until recently when the Empire pulled out of there as well. So far, Intel has no information on its situation. Other pirates have been sighted moving towards Endor…err, sorry. Intel has reason to expect that pirate or mercenary forces will be heading into Mandarin since we only control a small portion of it. We believe…" Colonel Sanders continued on…

Meanwhile, elsewhere on Mandarin

Lysa waited for the other pilots in her squadron to arrive at the meeting point outside of the base's entrance. She was dressed in civilian clothes as was the other pilots. After the pilots were assembled, Tobin lead the way to Grozenk's; the sole cantina on planet. The pilots passed a few shops and a few merchants selling out of booths before arriving at the entrance to the cantina underneath a bright sign. The group shuffled in and looked around for a table.

Lysa motioned a table that looked big enough to house most of the pilots. The group headed over and sat down. She glanced around as she sat down, noting the large groups of Mandalorians sitting at nearby tables. Lysa motioned around them. "Nice place. Quite the impressive clientele." She said. A couple of the other pilots looked around. A serving droid took their orders and departed. Lysa sighed and glanced around.

Jacks gave her a glance. "What's up? You tired already; we just did one simulation today?" He asked.

Lysa shook her head. "No. I was noticing the large number of mandos in here. Most of them have drinks too. What is the deal here? Is this the local mando recruiting station?" She quipped.

Frisky shrugged. "Most likely it's a popular meeting spot. There aren't any other cantinas on planet. Grozenk's is the only place to go." She said.

The serving droid brought them their drinks. Lysa waited for the droid to leave before talking. "So, I have already seen combat before showing up here. I managed to get my ace status before being sent here. What about the rest of you? Have any of you others seen combat?" She asked. Three pilots shook their heads, the three being Chaz, Nodirz, and Kitty. Lysa motioned to them to speak. Chaz went first. "I graduated from training a few weeks ago. I have not seen any combat yet." He said. Nodirz spoke next. "I have been active for a while but haven't managed to get any posting where any fighting was going on. I am thrilled to have posted here." He said. Kitty smiled at that, then spoke. "I was posted here after I got in trouble. My family's connections usually meant that I was given posh assignments with lots of free time and little work. It got annoying fast; I enlisted to fly and fight, not to fly data pads for high-ranking officers." Kitty said.

Lysa glanced at the others and motioned for them to start talking. Peaks, Jacks, and Joran summarized their histories, the three having fought in some engagements including Rogue squadron, other engagements not. Shade spoke next, her eyes narrowed. "I fought in the fleet hunting Zsinj. Then I got transferred around a bit until I ended up here. I am hoping to make the most of this." She said.

Chow spoke next, his voice soft. "I'm here because I have anger management issues according to my superiors. I'm too aggressive for a member of my species.

Maybe Command thinks I can learn how to handle my temper out here." Chow quipped, amusedly. The others paid him a glance, unsure if he was joking or not. Frisky cleared her throat before speaking. "Well I am here because I used to be a smuggler that lost her ship. I figured that if I did well, the New Republic would give me a nice ship and it has. After a few years of this, I should have enough credits to buy a new ship." Frisky said.

Lysa nodded. "That's all good reasons for us to be here. Hopefully we can make a good impression on our superiors and gain some serious recommendations for other postings. For those of you who have seen combat, do you have any interesting stories?" She asked them. Jacks raised his hand and began to speak.

His words were drowned out by the sounds of fighting nearby and the body slamming down on the pilots' table and rolling across it to fall to the ground. Lysa jumped up and glanced the way the body had come. The mandos were standing up as several of them were throwing punches at each other. She sighed and reached down for her drink before someone shoved into her back and knocked her down onto the table. She spun around and swung with her right, leading with a nasty haymaker. She connected, her hand stinging, as she saw the mando she had just punched in the face flying backward into another table with mandos sitting there. Oooppsss. She thought, hearing her fellow pilots stand up.

Meanwhile, Back at base

Renz continued to listen half-heartedly as Sanders droned on about another subject. Glancing around, Renz noticed that most of the other officers were either asleep or not paying attention anymore. General Sand was still watching, a grim expression growing on his face due to the lack of style of the presenter. Renz paid it a glance and realized that the colonel was in the fourth re-telling of he had said before. Apparently he had either lost his place or his notes since he was displaying pictures of a different system and talking about how the New Republic had driven the Empire from Borleias. Of course, the system displayed was Corellia, which was definitely not Borleias. Renz sighed and turned to regard Iwa, who was pantomiming the colonel talking. Renz suppressed a snort before sighing and taping his data pad. Iwa glanced down at it and he transmitted a brief message to her. Iwa read the message and scowled before breaking into repressed laughter. Renz began using his data pad with her, carrying on a conversation.

Meanwhile, at Grozenk's

Lysa raised her forearm to block a punch and swung her other hand around, clubbing the mando on the head with her ale mug. The mando fell back and Lysa dropped her broken mug. She moved back to stand beside Frisky who was looking pleased with herself. "How fun is this! A bar fight, and so soon after meeting everyone!" Frisky laughed. A mando fly through the air between them, landing in the far corner.

Lysa heard Chow roar, and then heard a whining sound. She turned to see Grozenk standing on his bar, holding a large stun gun pointing it at everyone. He growled something and the mandos glanced up at him pausing in their fights. He growled again and the mandos scattered, dropping what they were carrying and moving back to their seats and cleaning up. Lysa frowned at the sudden change of things. Suddenly, the cantina was cleaned up and no sign of a struggle had taken place. She noted her other pilots though and sighed. She lifted her comlink up and keyed it. "Umm, hawk somebody requesting medical team to Grozenk's. There has been a bar fight." She said, wincing at her words.

Meanwhile, back at base

Renz heard the claxons indicating that something had happened and medical personnel were being summoned. Renz glanced over at Sand who had now stood. "Colonel. Colonel! I believe we are done here." Sand said, dismissing Sanders. Sand turned to regard Renz. "I think it was one your pilots that called for medical, Major." Sand said softly, his eyes narrowing in suppressed rage. Renz nodded and quickly left, with Iwa trailing behind him.

Renz found his pilots entering the base on medical speeders. He scowled at Lysa, who came to attention before him. He studied the others quickly and turned back to her. "Care to explain, flight officer?" He asked darkly.

Lysa gulped. "Reporting an engagement with superior hostile forces that turned into a draw, Sir. We disengaged and are reporting partial losses on the enemy side." She replied, saluting. Renz shook his head. "What enemy are you talking about, Skye?" He asked.

Lysa frowned. "We engaged several groups of mandos. We managed to hold our own however. For the most part." She answered, trying to sound as humble as she could.

Renz laughed. "Mandos? Our locals, eh? Well, the mandos didn't press charges and paid for any damages and are offering several free rounds for next time you lot join them. However, it will have to wait since I am confining all of you to quarters. Dismissed." Renz ordered. His dejected pilots headed inside and Renz grinned in amusement. He felt a tap and turned to regard Iwa. "Not bad for a bar fight. Eh?" He asked her. Iwa just sighed and shook her head before heading back inside. Renz followed.