Mission 3.14 - This week's mission is called "Harassment 2"

::as Grey and the Cadets file in to the briefing room, Castor stands 
easily at the podium.  He seems to be comfortable, but does not quite 
display the energy he once did::

::the Grey pilots, some of the more senior ones (who knew Castor 
"back when"), noticed small oddities in the way he moved - or didn't 
move, as it were - as if he hadn't yet quite  made his new parts "his 
own"::

::taking a deep breath, and sweeping the attendees with his studied 
glance, he began::

First, I'd like to offer a moment of silence for Commodore Neo, who 
has not yet been released from the Bacta Tanks.

::Castor frowned and shuffled through the papers on the podium for a 
moment, possibly to mask the fact he was bowing his head in silent 
prayer::

::after a short while Castor looked up again, and continued::

Med Ops assures me that Neo will recover fully, but I feel that any 
support we can give him will be that much more energy that he can use 
to become well again.

Now...

::Castor continues, and brings everyone up to date on the missions 
and objectives of the current part of the Tour, and soon he 
announces...::

General Greedo has decided to step up the harassment tactics we are 
using against the organizers of the Star Hammer project.  In light of 
this, the General has decided that we will send out a number of pilots 
to fly "solo" missions.  I will talk to each of you, in my office, one 
at a time, to discuss your next mission.

Dismissed.

::Castor waited as everyone filed out of the briefing room.  When 
everyone had left, he sank heavily into the nearest seat.  He rested 
his head in his hands, with his elbows braced on his knees for a short 
while::

::after a few scant minutes after everyone had left a solitary figure 
re-entered the room and stopped in front of Castor.  The figure stood, 
and took a ragged breath before speaking::

"I'm sorry."

Castor slowly looked up at Qixx.  The Lieutanant Commander stood 
looking quite penitant.  Qixx Dragoon was one of the only two members 
of Grey which had been here longer than himself.

"Understood."  Castor said, although he wasn't quite sure what Qixx 
was sorry for.  But it seemed like he wouldn't have to wait long for 
an explanation, by the look in Qixx's eyes.

"I couldn't come see you in the tanks."  After the Sabacc missions, a 
brilliant and quite impromptu plan to gain information about the Star 
Hammer project and it's organizers (the plan being formulated by 
General Greedo) - and ending in the acquisition of one of Kedrin's 
Star Destoyers, and the RE-capturing of the Odin - Castor had been 
returned to the Odin in frightful shape, along with several other 
officers, including Commodore Neo.  While Castor's life was not in 
jeapardy, as was Neo's, he had been missing a number of body parts, 
and others rendered completely useless by Kedrin's "interrogators".  
Qixx alone, of all the pilots who had made it (more or less) safely 
back to the Odin, had not been able to bring himself to view the 
inert forms of Castor, Neo, Quim Rashada and Saber.

"Understood."  Castor said.  He'd read the numerous reports which 
ended up on his desk in the aftermath of the "Sabacc Maneuver" (which 
it was beginning to be called throughout the Alliance).  He'd read 
about the reactions from everyone involved and the consequences 
thereafter.  Rabid had caused many repairs to be made to the Mission 
Simulators before, but he'd never gone so far as to damage himself 
quite as much.  Ace Farlander, one of the youngest Grey pilots, had 
not abandoned his vigil in Med Ops until he was ordered to do so by 
General Greedo himself.  Most of the rest of the Grey and Cadet pilots 
had been returned to the Odin in "moderate" to "good" shape, but the 
one who'd had the hardest time "coping" was Qixx.

"I just..."  Qixx paused, trying to find the right words - which in 
itself was odd, because he was not normally ever at a loss.  Nor did 
he ever display any other "front" than "devil may care".

Castor knew about, and felt quite keenly the conflict within Qixx.  
Qixx had been feeling the stirrings of the Dark Side within himself 
as of late.

As Qixx still stood in front of Castor, and Castor's neck was starting 
to hurt from looking up at such a sharp angle for so long, he reached 
up and took hold of Qixx's wrist firmly and pulled gently toward the 
seat beside himself.

"Sit down before I send you out in another B-Wing."  Castor 
interrupted and smiled, as Qixx sat.  "Look, there's something you've 
got to know.  Right now, though, neither you nor I have the time to 
work on this.  However, my master of the tunnels taught me that the 
two sides of the Force can be reconciled.  Vader did it - at the last.  
Kip Durran did it.  I was trained that way, so I can't be Light, so my 
master said, regardless of how hard I may wish.  But it's also not 
likely that I'll ever turn to the Dark side.

"The point is, that the danger lies in fear.  Fear is a tool of the 
Dark Side.  Once you give in to fear, you've lost.  That doesn't mean 
that you can't be afraid - there's a fine line between brave and 
stupid.  Stupid is not having the sense to be afraid.  Brave is 
allowing yourself to fear, and then continuing on in spite of that 
fear.  And not allowing yourself to be ruled or controlled by it.

"So you couldn't come and see us in the tanks.  Big deal.  Was there 
anything that you could have done standing two feet away from the 
tanks that you didn't do from the next room?  All of us have our own 
ways of "coping".  YOU've just got something a little different to 
cope with than most of the others.

"The dreams you're having...  meet your fears, and remain calm.  Many 
things are directly controllable - minds are, the Force is, the energy 
of the sun is - so bladders sometimes aren't - as I've found on 
occasion - the Kesselian tunnels were very good at teaching that 
lesson.  Defeat your fears, and you are well on the way to defeating 
that of which you are afraid.  The Dark Side can not control you any 
more than your fears - if you do not allow it to do so.

"Now help me up so I can get these guys out of here and doing 
something productive before Greedo accuses me of 'not earning my keep' 
as he did while I was in 'recovery' in Med Ops."

Through this dissertation, Qixx sat quietly, listening intently as if 
to cling to any shred of anything he could to keep from being dragged 
into the pit of the Dark Side which seemed to loom below him like the 
gaping mouth of Sarlacc.

"Castor, sir, it's damn good to have you back."

"Qixx, it's damn good to set two functional feet on the floor again, 
and I don't much care that one of them wasn't one of the ones with 
which I was born.  Now let me go do some work - I'll see you in my 
office in a few minutes."

::Castor hobbled down the corridor, his neural pathways not yet having 
re-established themselves in his right foot, with Qixx looking after::

::A short time later the pilot came into Castor's office::

"Sit down," Castor waved toward one of the stationary chair-dogs, and 
the pilot sat waiting for his orders.

The mission your going to be flying today is a fairly important one.  
The information that we've been able to slice out of Kedrin's 
computers says that there's a ComLink system in process of being laid.  
We're hoping to catch the Freighter at one of the critical junctures 
in the system.

Your mission is to take a single X-Wing to the juncture point and 
destroy both the Freighter and the ComSat.  We know that there will 
be mines, and that their will be a capital craft guard on station - 
probably a Frigate.  We expect normal support craft from the Frigate, 
at least of Interceptor calibur, but we don't have exact numbers on 
ANY of these.  Expect and be prepared to deal with tough resistance.

Here are the coordinates.

::Castor hands the pilot a data chip, and salutes::

Good luck, and nest high.

Please send in the next one waiting as you head out - thanks.

