[@Banana][@Dealdric]

"Err, right. Pirates is one way to put it" Stryker said as the agent uncuffed Lexi "We'll fill you in a little later, right now we're all headed in for a drink, come on"

Stryker led the way back to the group. Tibulus met him halfway and slipped him a note.

"Connections gave me this. Should have a vent map, where money is kept, and the easiest escape route."

"Well done" Stryker said, sliding the intel into a pocket to review with the other captain. He made his way over to Carver and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Lead the way"

A few minutes later, the group had arrived at the Sundowner Saloon. Both crews knew the score, get in, keep a low profile, and wait for further instructions. Carver swaggered up to the bar and within 30 seconds, he, Stryker, and Kira were sitting at a private booth, with a nice cold pint each.

"This is my wife, Kira. Kira, Stryker. She's the real brains in all this, so I wanted her to sit in."
"That's fine with me" Stryker said as he took her extended hand in greeting "From the intel we have, it definitely seems like this is a two-ship job, and your crew comes highly recommended, so I'm glad to have you aboard."
"We don't know anything about you guys, but from the look of your ship, I'd say the feeling is mutual" Carver replied before taking a large gulp of his beer. He discreetly slid a memory card across the table "This is what we were given when the Alliance transferred the advance, told me to hand it off to you when we met"
"That'll be the other half of the briefing then" Stryker said as he reached for his datapad. "Here's what we know..."

[@Simple Unicycle]
Grayson kept an eye on things as the captains spoke. Literally. The moment he entered the bar, he'd engaged his eye implant and began scanning the room for anything useful. He fetched himself a drink and decided to make nice with the mercenaries. He walked over to the nearest of them and nodded in greeting.
"How're ya?"

"...and aside from this new recruit the Alliance just dumped on us who may have some important intel, that's about it" Stryker finished.
"Well, I knew there was a reason we had to get here early. Let's see if I can't fill in the blanks for you. Sol's group, the Solengrad, they're more fanatical militia than pirates. They muscled in here and completely overthrew the old regime a year or two ago. I knew the guy that used to be king, and if Sol managed to take him out, then he's definitely no pushover in a fight. Take your first look at the man himself" Carver nodded upwards, Stryker followed his eyeline up to a balcony where several people of various species gathered. Ne'ero Sol jumped out immediately from the crowd. Bald head, reddish-purple skin, fairly hefty. Dressed in his finest suit. He looked more like an obvious crime boss gone to seed than the fearsome ex-general turned pirate king.

"He doesn't look so tough" Stryker said.
"Don't be fooled. Trakerians are slippery bastards. Besides, even if Sol is a little past his prime, he's surrounded himself with very dangerous allies. The Havarn standing off to his side? You can't miss him: eight feet tall, four arms, wide as a truck? That's Kovitar Qresh, one of Sol's top lieutenants. Word is the guy was spec. ops in the Federation army, followed Sol when he left the service. And he's just the tip of the iceberg, but let's get another round before we continue."

Carver slipped out of the booth to fetch the drinks, Kira took command of the situation.
"Your crew have comms active?"
"What?" Stryker was caught off-guard by the question and took a second to realize what he was asking "Oh, yeah, they should all be patched in to our network"
"Good, we'll let them be for a few more minutes, but as soon as we're finished here, I'm going to need a few of them to do something stupid and dangerous"