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| - The Minnow is more to Mandor's tastes. It's small, fast, easy to get around. Sure, it doesn't pack the punch of a Star Destroyer, but there's something graceful about the ship that would take his crew to Dac and back again - hopefully with valuable information. Sitting in a seat behind the pilot in the cockpit, Lieutenant Mandor reads over the datapad, nodding his head gently. "Looks like we got everything we need for a proper recon..." he says, talking mostly to himself. "Should be a piece of cake. We shouldn't have much trouble from the Repulicans. Their security procedures aren't as... strict," he says, this time looking over towards Liza. "Ever been to Dac? It's quite a lovely world. Nice place to take a vacation." Liza smirks as she sets them on their way, the stars now streaking past as they have made the jump into lightspeed. "Can't say that I have, sir. I've only been to Corellia and Caspar..well, and the Academy, but that's a given, yes?" The autopilot's now engaged, allowing the woman to relax while they head towards their destination. "I've never really had much reason to travel much. By the time my mother and father adopted me they were both reaching middle age and such. I think they were just content to sit at home and raise me." Blinking, Molokai falls quiet before muttering in annoyance at herself. "I should get in touch with them. I haven't seen them since graduation and I haven't sent word home since my arrival upon the Inquisitor. I am sure my mother will be livid iwth me." "I know you were born on Caspar. Your Sar spots are quite a give-away," Mandor says, closing the datapad and looking up. "Sarians are quite the interesting species, I must say. Very early spacefarers, originating on Mergansar. Strikingly similiar to the Human species, but, for some reason, no common ancestor has yet to be discovered..." Mandor continues on about the Sarians, detailing their exhaustive history over the eons. "I was actually quite surprised to see a Sarian under Imperial commission. What with the most recent incidents against the Union. That makes me wonder... what exactly drove you to become an Imperial? Is it just your father? I take it he was a human? Or was he one of the lucky few non-humans?" The thought of a Sarian in the Imperial Navy under the Palpatine regime is rather difficult for Mandor to picture. But, then again, Thrawn was a Chiss. It's possible. The questions Liza is asked gets her to laugh, the way he almost rapid fires them off getting her to smile, an actual, genuine smile, not one of the meek ones she's been giving before. "My father was human, yes. TIE pilot. One of some reknown. He managed to pull some strings and got me into the Academy." Leaning back, she looks out as they continue to travel, her eyes lidding slightly as she thinks about everything. "I was their only child. Mother couldn't have children due to a genetic disorder. They both were very, -very- proud when they found out their only child was going to follow in her daddy's footsteps." Pursing her lips, she thinks before continuing. "I am very lucky to be where I am. I'll admit it." "Is your father still in service?" Mandor asks, leaning back in his chair. In his mind he wonders how her father was received within the Empire, what with a Sarian wife, or how the Caspians viewed their entire family, now what with the estranged relations with the Imperials and the Imperial invasion of Caspar several years ago. What did Liza do during that war? Personal questions he should not ask; leave it to Imperial Intelligence and COMPNOR to watch her in case her loyalty was in conflict. "I'm sure they were. TIE pilots are some of the best in the galaxy. It's just a shame their craft isn't on par with their skills," he says, shaking his head. He glances over to the navicomputer, wondering how much time was left until they reverted to realspace and the real mission began. He looks back over to Liza, smiling. "Did you know that the Mon Calamarians once committed genoice on their fellow Quarren? They're a rough breed... we best tread carefully." Liza shakes her head. "My father retired. He and my mother were both Corellian of birth.." There's the answer to Mandor's unasked question, "..and he brought us back to their birthland." She grins, remembering life within Coronet City as a child, an alien child, at that. "Are they tough..?" she asks as she listens to the fact he just told her. "I really do not think it takes a show of strength to commit genocide. It is more cunning, I believe." "Corellian of birth, huh? Corellians are a wily couple. Top-notch pilots. Corellian-Sarian... interesting mix," Mandor says, smiling. "I'm from Coruscant, myself. Or Imperial Center. Whichever you'd prefer. I swear, it's changed names so many times in recent years, I don't think it matters much anymore." He then grins at Liza's observation, and chuckles a tad. "Perhaps you are right. It was a rather bloody conflict between those two; in the end, the Calamarians won out. I suppose you are right about it being their cunning that gave them victory... alright then, they're a very smart breed," he says, winking. The metallic blue of the Sarian's eyes brighten as she laughs and Liza is quick to shake her head. "No. Both of my adopted parents are human, sir. I am full blooded Sarian. My parents were killed in a speeder accident and my brother eventually sent us younger children to live with other families. The Molokai's had been on Casper during the occupation and took me with them after my brother pleaded with them to help him...us." She looks at Mandor fully as she says that, looking at him. "It must not have been easy for them to raise an alien daughter. Especially with my father being from the 'old school' era. But he loved me just as much as if I was his own flesh and blood." "Oh. Excuse me," Mandor says, rather embarrassed. He had assumed her mother was a Sarian, and Liza was half-human, half-Sarian. Now he remembers the old saying about making assumptions. Blushing, he readjusts his spectacles and coughs. "I see. Do you remember anything of your birth parents?" he asks, recomposing himself. Liza nods. "I was seven when my parents died so I do remember them. They worked hard but were both very loving. My father was very handsome and my mom more beautiful than anything." Her head comes to rest against the back of her seat as she slips the ship back out of hyperspace, letting the small vessel come to a full stop as she does so. "What about you? What's your story? How did you get to be where you are now, sir?" Mandor watches as the stars come back into view and the full-form of Mon Calamari appear ahead of them, traffic going back and forth from the planet. He stands up from his seat and moves up to behind the pilot and copilot chairs, resting his arm on the copilot seat as he looks out at the planet and the space around it. "Oh, my story isn't that thrilling. I was born forty-five years ago, read some history books, taught at the Institute for Galactic History... and well, after Coruscant was liberated a few months ago, I decided to put my skills to better use. Here I am." Very condensed version of his life story; he doesn't talk much about his life. "We'll have to resume our conversation sometime else, Officer Molokai... time to get down to business." Being commander of the operation, Mandor gets to work. He looks over at the communications specialist assigned to them. "Get those sensors up and begin scanning... record everything. Molokai, take us in closer... fly casually." Liza flips a few switches as she turns the sensors on, setting them to a passive sweep that should escape the notice of most anyone out there, or so they can hope. "So what are we looking for?" The Minnow is slowly maneuvered towards the planet, the speed kept deliberately slow, almost as if to give the impression the ship belonged to sightseers rather than to Imperials on a covert operation. "This...is going to be boring, yes?" That gets her to frown a bit but hey. Not all missions can be full of dogfights and laser fire. The Guardian-class light cruiser soars towards Mon Calamari, its engines propelling it through the void of space. With Lazi at the controls, Lieutenant Mandor is given free reign to command the operation; after all, he's not much good behind the controls. "Keep her steady." His eyes are set out at space and the massive orb of Calamari that takes up much of the view. Around the world he can barely make out the countless dots that represent ships going to and from. Beyond that, the Mon Cal shipyards, having been rebuilt since their destruction at the hands of the third Death Star, are clearly visible. "We want everything, Officer Molokai. A complete read-out of this system," he says to Lazi before turning his head to the communications specialist, "and I mean everything. Every ship, from their big guns down to the passenger freighters, record it. I also want a read-out of all their orbital defense emplacements." While Mandor can't exactly see the individual ships, the highly advanced sensors that the Minnow is equipped with are more than up to the task of recording those far out vessels, recording their transponders and designations - whether they be Mon Cal Cruisers or Republic Star Destroyers. Naturally the process is not an easy one; it takes a while to sort through them all, and they'd have to get closer to get better results. And, naturally, they always run the risk of being detected. But Mandor trusts in Lazi to keep them out of harm's way. "Veer more towards the shipyards, Molokai; that's where the bulk of their defense fleet will be located. Lieutenant Hendricks," he says to the specialist, "mark the shipyards and her surrounding defenses as targets of opportunity for future reference. He gives Lazi a pat on the shoulder. "You're doing good." As the orders are given, Liza begins the scan. Nothing's left unscanned. No ship or shipyard or anything inbetween is left without being scanned, the information gathered then recorded as it's taken in. "Should I send this on a encrypted transmission or should I wait and give it to the Commodore once we return home..?" She shakes her head as she asks that, not sure why she's doing so. As the scanning is being done the ship flies 'casually', moving at a speed that will hopefully not draw attention for being too slow or too fast. [Nav-Comp:] Rasi on CS-5888 rolls a 15 for his SENSORS skill. roll! [Nav-Comp:] Liza on SF-7715 rolls a 32 for her SENSORS skill. Her uses a Character Point to boost this by 9, giving her a total of 41. roll! Then the message from the Audacity arrives, and Mandor simply smiles. "Simple Republicans..." he says, moving over to the communications console but not activating it. "You see, Officer Molokai, the greatest weapon in our arsenal against the Republic is themselves: their democracy plagues it. As it will now. Keep the ship on her present course, ignore ethose pesty womprats circling around us..." Mandor keys the comm., activating a line between himself and the Republicans. "Attention Republic control, this is the Minnow. You're interfering with official business and harassing civilians. As citizens of this Republic, we are entitled all protection from harassment such as this... you are violating the freedom of information, sirs, and I do not wish to turn this into a political quagmire. I hope I do not have to talk with my good friend, Admiral Stone, that we were being harassed by Republic officers at Mon Calamari... now, cease harassing us, allow us to continue. If you are having trouble understanding this, please confer with the CO in charge of this garrison to check the law, or I will speak to him directly. I doubt the Republic wants IGNews to report such treatment of civilians..." He closes his line, awaiting the response from the Republic, which he suspects will be a little delayed. Democracies are run by bureaucracies; it's slow, painfully so. At the most, Mandor bought himself and Liza a few minutes extra to continue scanning... and that'll be all they need. Afterall, what are a few pilots in the military expected to know of the laws ina democracy? Half the citizenry barely knows the law. Grinning, Mandor folds his arms across his chest and awaits the response. "Keep scanning..." As the ship lurks into hyperspace, Mandor gets up from his seat and returns to standing behind Liza. "You did good, Molokai. I'll be sure to include your superb piloting in my report. I know the Commodore will be proud," he says, giving the young woman a pat on the shoulder. "I need to get to work on decompiling this data and begin formulating my proposal to the Commodore on how best to deal with Mon Calamari. But, you need a well-deserved rest... we still have time before we arrive at Caspar. Return aft, get some sleep.. let her go on autopilot for a while." Liza shakes her head. "Couldn't sleep, sir.." she says softly, the more polite side to her returning now that the stress and combat's over with. "Sorry for the stuff I said. I didn't mean to be so brash. I just didn't have time to be civil." She looks over at Mandor once that's said and offers a smile. "It was interesting. But if you ever make me fly something other than a fighter, sir, I will put up a fuss. Count on it." Mandor smiles and nods. "It's quite alright, Molokai. I'm used to it," he says, stretching his arms and cracking his back. "But I understand you perfectly: it was a mistake to use a light cruiser. We should have used a small scout starfighter. Agile, fast, and, obviously, right up your alley... I'll have to recommend that to the Commodore for future missions. But, overall," he says, sitting back down, "we did good." Liza yawns softly before she closes her eyes, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose in apparent attempt to stave off a headache. "Yes. We did. Hope the Commodore won't take the cost of repairing this ship out of our pay." Shaking her head, she has to chuckle at herself for that. "So do you have any? Kids, I mean." Mandor begins to yawn. As an older man, things like this tend to make him tired more easily. He covers his mouth, pondering whether he should hit the rack. "Oh, I wouldn't worry. The Imperial Navy has enough to cover the costs," he says, chuckling. "Kids? Me? Oh no. Never found the time for a wife. Too busy with my studies. But, the thought has occured to me several times throughout my life. But, I'm not getting any younger, and now that I'm in the military, I don't think I ever will." Yawns are so contagious and soon Liza's yawning herself, the Sarian not bothering to cover the fact by putting a hand to her mouth. "Hmm. Shame. You're a nice person. Smart, funny. You should try to find a lady to marry, someday." Pivoting her head, she gives Vextin a glance, curious about what his reaction will be. "You're a historian, after all. Wouldn't you like to see your personal history carried on?" With the casual chatter, and the lack of anyone to remind her about using 'sir' when talking to someone of a higher rank, the Sarian falls into a more comfortable form of speech, talking to him as if he were a peer opposed to a superior officer. "Maybe. Good point," Mandor says, shrugging. "Never really thought of that. So obsessed with the past that I sometimes forget of my own self. Well, okay. Once the war is over, I'll find a woman. But first..." he says, cracking his knuckles now, "let's win the war. As much as I want to pass on my own legacy, I want to ensure the Empire's legacy does not become extinguished." "The Empire will not fall apart if you get married, sir. Nor will you be remiss of your duties if you take some time for yourself." Liza shrugs herself, now. She's not going to try and convince Mador of anything but maybe she can get him to realize that sometimes duties to one's self has to outweigh duty to anyone else. "You know, I could see myself not getting married or something. The very few men I could see myself liking like that are men I shouldn't like in that way." Mandor smiles and shrugs. "I'm a historian, dear! Not a psychologist. You women are so complicated, it baffles me. I'll just stick to my books, I think... but, hey, I'm sure there's a guy out there for you. There's some good men aboard the Inquisitor, hell, within the Corps. Lieutenant Wolf seems like a nice fellow, no?" Liza nods. "Yes. He seems fairly nice, what bit I've spoken with him." Molokai pauses and then adds, "So is the Commodore..." That's said matter of factly, almost as if the topic changed to the weather. "Anyhow, it's a moot point, truly. We both have obligations..." She blinks and then eyes Mandor as she wrinkles her nose. "Just how are women confusing, sir?" Mandor just grins. "I never know what they really want. While I never had a girlfriend, I always wondered if female colleagues of mine ever had interest in me. I could never tell, though I wondered. Too shy to ever pursue it, however, and, ultimately, too wrapped up in my work." He stands up and looks towards the aft. "Well... good flying. I'm going to head back and begin decompiling the data. Let me know when we arrive at Caspar. Talk to you soon," he says, exiting through the cockpit.
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