|
     |
Most Rebel debriefs are probably informal things, but two local days after the mostly-successful 'shopping trip' on Gulvitch, Devlin Cinn gathers each team together in turn in one of the spurs of the abandoned mine they're holed up in, first Aurek team, and then Besh. He stands alongside a crate with a basic datapad atop it, nodding briefly as each of the Rebels joins the little cluster of chair-sized crates. Too-sparse glow-bulbs on the ceiling above leave the light dim in the area.
Not that the silvery droid requires such strong illumination. He finds a spot to stand near the cluster, and waits for the others to arrive.
Rebels; a bit of a strong word for Whiskey's tastes in regards to her situation. Employee or hired gun might be more akin to her liking but really, it's semantics at that point. The woman is present in the location, hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket as she fiddles with some coins that are in them, creating a jingling noise.
Sindri would put them more as miscreants, there's even pirate bands with better kit and all..though he supposes the point -was- to acquire things, yes? For once, the flight suit isn't sealed up, they are..in a place they should be safe, also it is relatively cool. So Sindri lowers them self down on a crate, fidgeting briefly in a hopeless attempt to find more comfort.
Ruggles is sitting in the corner with a stormtrooper helmet in a crudely-made faraday cage made out of chipped ore stones and random electronics. He is in the process of removing a chip from inside the helmet.
Devlin Cinn waits until the four are in place, "Thank you. You did well out there." His Coruscanti accent and stiff cadence makes it clear enough that he is the one who briefed on the plan as well. "It looks like we will have several suits of complete kit out of this, although the techs aren't certain exactly how many." He clasps his hands together for a moment, "In the interests of improving our craft, I would like to go around the room," that's a generous term, "and have each of you give two ups and two downs." Reaching for the datapad, the ex-Imperial pauses, "That is to say, two things that you thought worked well, and two things that you thought need improvement."
DAAR-4 is silent for a moment. That is a rather complicated question to consider. He then speaks up, "The APC was effectively stopped. Our spirit and passion made our victory possible. But some of us seemed to retreat from the battle early. And I hear that the smoke grenade aided those troopers who escaped—attempting to bring our prisoner his kit with him. It was a poor tactical choice that aided our enemy."
Ruggles looks up from his tinkering with the stormtrooper helmet. "I thought the clamshells threw the smoke grenades!"
Whiskey's eyebrow rises up as DAAR speaks and she looks in the direction while making a scoffing noise. "The job was to acquire Stormtrooper armor with as little damage as possible. Yet every one of you brought blasters and explosives?" The woman shakes her head slowly and pushes hands further into her jacket pockets. "Blowing a building up, you all seem very suited for. But operations of a gentler touch? Not so much. Dark locations, eliminating lights, eliminating vision." That has the woman looking at the others gathered. "What you did was send a message to the Empire. Here we are! Come and get us! And in doing so passed up the gentler touch that could have been used." Then she shrugs, "But again, that is going off what I was told the job was, acquiring stormtrooper armor that can be reused. Maybe I didn't get the contract quite right."
Sindri doesn't say much, he is listening to every one. "I believe it wasn't an ideal plan to acquire intact kit. We made a demonstration people would fight the Empire, but if we wanted their kit? We should have nailed a depot, barracks, or repair facility. I am also unsure -what- good this armor will be to us. Why do we not go and hijack decomissioned Clone War era armor? There is thousands of such suits sitting in depots virtually unguarded…" He says, just..rather casually.
Devlin listens to all of the points in turn, tapping notes into his datapad as he does. Once the first round of comments are done with, he answers a few points only, "Thank you. In order for this process to work, we all need to be open to feedback." Which is not how it works in the Empire, but it's how it's supposed to work. Evidently he's trying. "It was our hope that we could piece together multiple suits to make a smaller number of complete sets." That's to Whiskey, "But I agree that in general single shots or careful melee would have been better, but I don't want to second-guess the people on the ground. Sometimes extreme measures are necessary." He looks over to Sindri then, "Clone War era armor would not be mistaken for current armor at even a cursory glance, sir. From what I have seen, the current model of armor is generally only stored in stormtrooper barracks, or worn in the field." Looking to Ruggles, he adds, "Do you have your ups and downs?"
DAAR-4 refrains from saying more. He looks over at Ruggles, curious as to what the little mechanic has to say.
Ruggles says, "The ambush worked well. As for downs… clamshells are hard to kill. We need heavier weapons."
Sindri crosses his lekkus around his neck when Ruggles brings up the obvious. "Yes, but heavier weapons would have meant more damage to the kit..though..only humans can wear the bulk of the kit the Imperials use. Personally, I still say in the future, we hit a depot, or a shipment. Also..we should bring in vehicular support. I do not enjoy being forced to engage a superior enemy with out an equalizer. Nothing like quad blaster cannons on a speeder truck to level the playing field..or a Z-95 doing CAS."
"From my perspective, the target wasn't the lone issue. The incursion points could have been selected a bit differently and…" Whiskey trails off for a second before she shrugs, "Understanding the specializations you hire in for a job as well. Were you looking just for a shoot up in an alleyway, hire people for such work."
Devlin nods slowly at the Chadra-Fan's comments, gesturing to Sindri as the Togruta brings up the downsides of the weapons, "If we face stormtroopers in the open field, I agree that we will want the heaviest practical weapons. However, I would also caution against facing stormtroopers in the open field, given that we do not have those heavy weapons, nor the numbers to face the Imperial Army and Stormtrooper Corps head on." At least from what he's seen so far. And then he responds to the Togruta again, "You're quite right. In fact, only a relatively small range of Humans and Near-Humans can wear stormtrooper armor, given that it is built for a certain height range. And if we can arrange such heavy support without drawing too much attention, I think it would be ideal. Likewise, if we can find a shipment of stormtrooper armor en route to a garrison, it would be ideal to hit it. Unfortunately, my sources have been unable to locate one." He scans his datapad, "Next step. Suggestions on how to overcome these 'downs'? Early retreat from the field, questionable tactical choices in the field, different selection of terrain, making the right selection of weaponry and possible support."
DAAR-4 suggests, "Are the trooper helmets filtered or sealed? If not, gas could have been a move effective weapon."
Sindri leans forward a bit, watching Devlin closely. "Curiosity..we -are- concerned about their IFFs and all..wouldn't an Ion Bomb take care of such things? I do not imagine the systems are hardened to resist a military grade Ion pulse. It won't stop them from fighting..but it would ensure we could take the kit with out being tracked..and certainly make sure they can't call for Reinforcements. I am afraid..as I am a Togruta, I never had much training with the current armor of the Empire." He says, gesturing a Lekku at Devlin. "Though, I believe it is sealed against external toxins."
Whiskey shrugs her shoulders at the commentary. "At the end of the day, there were probably a lot of other ways to handle the situation." Her eyes drift to this Devlin chap. "For myself, the biggest suggestion would be utilization of personnel. Had you wanted a sniper, I have a few associates I would have put you in contact with. My own skill set lies elsewhere."
Once again, Devlin nods to Sindri, this time in response to DAAR-4's question, "There are some particularly virulent strains which it cannot block, but the helmet includes filtration systems and a limited supply of air, while the bodyglove is vacuum-sealed. Unfortunately…" he smiles a little tightly, "I never took to the armor, so I am uncertain of exactly how good the filtration systems are. Nor am I sure how well-shielded they are against an Ion Bomb. We would want the electronics functional at a later date, additionally. Whether that's possible, I leave up to our technical support. If it would be correctable, that might be a suitable approach indeed." Looking over to Whiskey, he nods too, "I admit, I am working with far from imperfect knowledge of personnel and situations. I had hoped that you might be able to eliminate one or more of them in the confusion without damaging the armor, but from what I've heard from the debriefings, the situation was not ideal for that."
Sindri will look -pointedly- at Ruggles when technical support is mentioned. "I suggest we let him find out. It would be nice to quickly knock out their comms when we ambush them. Though I still say we just roll assets up they can't hope to out gun, and demand surrender."
Whiskey shrugs, "It was less than ideal yes, however that also stems from a few missteps I took as well. Operating in the field, particularly these fields, is a new venture for myself. Working on the opposite side of the law without the resources normally afforded does change things. Plus…" She pauses, then actually giggles a bit. "It doesn't help falling through a roof."
"We must be strong. Suggestions should be welcome during the planning stage. Requisitions should follow, as many of these plans require gear we currently lack," DAAR-4 states in as much of a speech as he gives, "We should be unified in the field, and adapt to changing situations. Recriminations afterwards serve little purpose. Our passion and determination should be beyond question."
Once more, Sindri's words receive a nod, "I think that would be valuable use for one set of the kit that is too damaged for us to use. If, however, you can make a squad of stormtroopers surrender, I will be more than impressed." Whiskey's laughter causes Devlin's lips to curve up in a faint smile, but it fades away quickly, "No, I would imagine that that does not help matters." Looking over to DAAR-4, he nods again, "You're right. I had been seeing these as merely the requisitions. Further input at the planning stage would allow for a greater variety of viewpoints, something that the commander may have missed. I will try to build time for that into the next mission."