Star Wars: Vector Prime IC

[Binks]

Opening Crawl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DZd1f2fdHY)

"...and once you have completed your objectives you are to rendezvous with the sector fleet at Sernpidal and await further instructions. Are there any questions?"

The question, asked by a holographic projection of your team's commanding officer, momentarily draws you all back to the beginning of this briefing. As she pauses for a moment to wait for questions you recall the operation that had been outlined during your approach to the planet Belkadan, an out of the way planet at the very edge of the galaxy.

Precisely 93 hours ago an ExGal outpost on this world missed a scheduled check-in. Normally this would be a little consequence, outposts like these often suffer technical issues due to their remoteness and it's not unknown for one to lose an important part of their hyper-comm system and be out of contact for weeks before a supply ship arrives, but something about this outpost caught the Emperor's eye.

And so you, Special Forces team Delta-45, find yourselves inbound to the planet on your stealth modified Lambda-class shuttle, your only company for the 13 hour hyperspace trip aside from your fellow -45ers having been your pilot, a Private by the name of Gavin Locke, a 2-1B medical droid that spent most of the trip deactivated, and your modified IN-4 information droid, who was all too happy to fill you in on every little detail of Belkadan's rotation, plant life, orbital period, and plenty of other details that couldn't be more boring if the droid had been trying.

Your mission is simple. Make contact with the ExGal outpost and determine the cause of their failure to check in. If possible you are ordered to aid them in repairing the damage, otherwise just return to make a report on the issues. A mission so simple a group of recruits could handle it...which makes it all the odder that a skilled spec-ops team would be hand picked by the Emperor for the mission.

Your thoughts return you to the present where your Lt waits to hear any questions you may have before you begin final approach.

[Noedig]

Crash leaned forward from the seat had been reclining in and raised a hand. His helmet was at his feet and he rested a boot on top of it. A smile broke across his face as he spoke.

"Yeah, I've got one. What the kriff is going on? This sounds like a job for peacekeepers. I look around and see a collection of some real Spec-Ops badasses and a kriffing Dark Jedi. Come on LT, level with us. Pretty please?"

[Binks]

"Your team was hand chosen for this mission by the Emperor himself. I am not privy to his criteria for selection." the Lieutenant says in an obviously practiced manner.

[Noedig]

"Spoil sport. Well I suppose I'll just have to deal with it being a surprise. Same old stang, just a different day of the week."

Crash sat back with a sigh and a rueful smile as he began to juggle his frag grenades.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren listened patiently and intently to the hologram, nodding slowly. She stood straight, her arms crossed behind her, maintaining the dignified posture of an Imperial Officer. She turned her attention to their demolitions expert at his question, frowning just a touch at his rather informal method of addressing their superior. Still, such behavior would be expected within the Special Forces, and so she simply accepted it and moved on, "We should be honored that the Emperor has chosen us for any mission, no matter what its importance may or may not be. Perhaps it is is simply a test?"

She turned her attention back to the holographic projection, a touch curious now, "Commander, if I may ask, what was the content of ExGal-4's last report before their outpost went silent?"

[Hazuki]

Marian leans back in a seat in the corner of the room, her black hood pulled down and her eyes playing close attention to the hologram of their lieutenant as well as Wren. She had been sleeping in the seat in the seat or most of the trip, waking briefly for the briefing. She taps at the holoshroud on her belt, covering her stealthsuit with some civilian clothing, hiding her weaponry and armor.

She just wanted to get down to the planet and get started; she had gathered all the infrmation she needed from the droid. Of course it wasn't just going to be a malfunction; things didn't work that way. Marian stays quiet for the moment, tapping IMP with her boot to wake it from its shutdown.

[Binks]

The Lieutenant nods in response to the question, a habit you all recognize as a means of stalling for time while waiting for information. After a few seconds pause you see her reach outside the hologram's view area and take hold of a datapad passed to her.

"Their last communication was entirely unremarkable. It appears to have a been a completely routine 24h check-in. This is true for the last 3 signals they sent before communication was lost. The last off-hour communication they posted was detection notice of an asteroid passing through the ExGal designated edge of the galaxy, on a course that backtracking shows would have taken it by the Helska system, possibly originating there." she says, clearly reading off the datapad as she speaks.

"Nothing to indicate why communication was lost." she says before passing the datapad back to whoever handed it to her.

[Noedig]

Crash had grown bored with the briefing almost immediately and now the waiting was becoming intolerable. He began to pat the many pockets of his harness and rucksack.

"Anyone got a cig? Can't find mine."

[Battleship789]

Alstair, who had been listening in a contemplative mood to the rest of his team and the Lieutenant while checking the scratch on his helmet, leans over to Crash and fake whispers:

"No, though if you keep patting down those pockets of yours, we may end up resembling a spent cig."

Quickly changing focus back to the task at hand, with an obviously faked tone of excitement:

"If asteroids passing through the system are viable choices for an off-hour comm, then this place sounds as exciting as our information droid says. Still" - reverting to a normal tone of voice - "the fact that we were sent out here by the Emperor himself on what appears to be a milk run is interesting... Do we have any off-the-book information regarding the members of the ExGal team? Should we worry about this being related to the Hutt mission, since the Emperor sent us and not some engineering squad?

[Noedig]

After a few moments of patting, Crim discovered the beaten back of cigs and extracted one. He lit it and took a pull, before exhaling the smoke and turning face the larger man. He smiled and held up the lighter.

"I'm not settin' off any of my boom yet, my friend. If this turns out to be more than a milk run, maybe we'll get to see it."

[Binks]

"Not as far as Intelligence can tell. The outpost is led by a Commenor citizen. Family are all loyal Imperial citizens, no evidence of association with any underworld elements in her profile."

"There are two noted discrepancies in the other scientist's files. An individual identified as Dr. Ballow has a flag in his file for suspicions of association with rebel elements around the time of the Battle of Yavin. No hard evidence, but enough circumstantial for Intelligence to have mentioned it. There's also a relatively new addition to the team, a Mr. Carr, whose file is flagged for having been possibly sliced at some point. Could have just been an inquiry, or an alteration. Intelligence wasn't that worried about either since they're not in a sensitive positions, but the notes are present in their files."

"The rest are relatively boring, I'll leave any further questions on them to your droid, he has their complete bios and Intelligence's reports on them. If there is a relation to your previous operation, or any underworld connection at all with this team, then it appears only the Emperor is wise enough to have figured it out."

"If that is all then I will wish you good luck. I believe your shuttle should be nearing," she says, as the ship begins to shake from re-entry, "the planet's atmosphere now."

[Noedig]

Grim gave a small laugh as he picked up his helmet.
"Put your soldier faces on boys and girls. Time to go play peacekeeper!"

[Battleship789]

Alstair gave a small chuckle to Crim's comment as he snapped on his helmet and headed back to the ramp after the initial shuddering from reentry stopped. Speaking to Gavin Locke over his built-in comlink:

"Private. Before we land, do a quick flyover of the site so we can take a look at it before heading in. If a windstorm knocked over their comm array, I will feel incredibly stupid for being sent all the way out here. Go in silent as well. If something is going down, I am positive that none of us want to get shot at while trying to land."

[Noedig]

Crim slid his helmet on and hefted his rucksack to his shoulders. He noticed that one of his team members had turned into a rather dour looking civilian woman. He barked a laugh and wagged a finger in mock seriousness.

"Ma'am this is a military transport and not for civilian use. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

He laughed again and hitched his rucksack higher onto his shoulders then turned and strode to the landing ramp to stand with the hulking armored figure. He looked Mando, and it made Crim feel more secure. Mando's knew how to fight.

[Hazuki]

Marian stands up from her seat as IMP hovers up to her side, violet eyes doing a brief scan of the room before looking up at its master. She points at the droid to stay by her side, before following the brash demoman to the landing ramp. She makes sure her holoshroud is still up as she waits, and that her weaponry was hidden.

She decided she was going to pay attention to the words of Lt. Ozzel and expect her to impose some order on the gathered misfits. IMP hovers quietly beside her.

[Binks]

With a final nod, obviously satisfied that the team is ready to go, the LTs holo-comm cuts out.

Gavin's reply comes over Alstair's comlink, a short range broadcast on the team's frequency designed to go no further than the shuttle itself. "Right-O sir. One flyover coming up, right as soon as we..."

With that he cuts out as the ship briefly shudders. He comes back over the shuttle's intercom. "Whoa. Uhh, we apologize (another bump) for the turbulence, please hold on a moment (shake) as we adjust...and there. Sorry about that, had to adjust the stabilizers. Atmo's a bit..." he says, trailing off as the com clicks off for a moment.

There's a brief pause, during which anyone close to the cockpit can hear a few whispers of "that can't be right...sensors must be broken...secondaries too?..."

The pilot's voice comes back over the intercom. "Uhh, got a bit of a situation. The sensors are reading extreme elevations of Sulfer and Carbon Dioxide out there. There's still pockets of breathable atmo, but sensors are reading it as a hostile atmosphere out there."

At this point your information droid feels the need to chime in. "Belkadon has an atmospheric composition of 71.24% Nitrogen, 23.4% Oxygen..."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but I've rotated through every sensor this thing has, and they all say the same thing. Might want to make sure you grab a breath mask on your way out...and I'm going to seal the cockpit before we land."

There's another brief pause before he continues.

"Approaching for a high-altitude flyby now. Good news is, there's lots of cloud cover I can use over the place. Bad news is, the clouds are reading acidic. So this should be fun."

[Noedig]

Crim lifted his helmet just enough to uncover his mouth. He took one last pull from the cig, exhaled and then put his helmet back into place. He looked around for a waste bin, and finding none, he surreptitiously extingued his cig on the Mando's armour.

He let the smouldering butt drop and he crushed it under his heel before pulling a breath mask out.

"Yes! Finally something interesting. I was bored to death. We are going to have fun."

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren arched a disapproving eye at Alstair as he issued an order to the pilot. After the turbulence of entering atmo died off, she stood and moved to gather a breathing mask. Looking over the rest of the squad, she took a moment to consider her words, "It appears that there is more to this situation than was originally anticipated. It is possible that the sudden change in the planet's atmosphere is due to some sort of natural disaster. If that is the case, then this mission has just become a search and rescue."

Her arms behind her back, the Lieutenant paced back and forth within the confines of their section of the shuttle, "If we are fortunate, then we have Imperial citizens inside that outpost with no way out given the nature of their situation," frowning and giving Crim a look of disdain for his apparent lack of appreciation for the gravity of the mission, moving forward to get into his face.

"Shape up, soldier. We represent the Empire in this task, and given the nature of our assignment, we represent the Emperor himself. If that is beyond you, then I suggest you allow me to handle the matter of dealing with these scientists. If any of them need to be detonated, I will defer to your experience."

Then her eyes darted back to Alstair, a calm fury behind them, "And if I require you to undercut my authority again, soldier, then I shall defer to you."

[The_Snark]

For most of the shuttle ride, Osheda remained silent, paying token attention to the mission briefing and ignoring the soldiers' banter. Judging by her choice of seating (as far from the others as possible), the Jedi was none too happy about being sent on this mission. The Emperor, in his nigh-infinite wisdom and spite, had decreed she be reduced to the level of a common soldier, or at any rate an uncommon soldier. Well, she'd brought it on herself: after her last altercation with the pretender Knights, he certainly wasn't about to try and fit her into his new Order again. But she didn't have to like it.

Her lips twitched up in a brief smile as the Lieutenant reprimanded her men. Satisfying than seeing somebody on the receiving end of the lash for once. She had no love for the Empire's discipline, but there was a vicious kind pleasure in seeing it turned against somebody else. Particularly someone who was irritating her.

It was not surprising that something was amiss. Everybody aboard could tell there was something off about sending special forces on a routine checkup, even the loudmouth. The long wait was over, thankfully; time to get to work. Osheda closed her eyes, stretching out with her senses and feeling for life in the complex below.

So... sensing other living beings is definitely something Jedi can do, but I'm not sure how it's supposed to work mechanically. Sense Surroundings sort of does it, but not quite, especially at these distances. I guess I'll use Farseeing to check up on a random person at the base?

Use the Force: [roll0]

[Noedig]

Crim's heels clicked together as he snapped to attention and he spoke with complete seriousness, which was no mean feat for him.

"Yes Ma'am! Sorry, Ma'am! I will not demo without express orders, Ma'am!"

She looked to be younger than him, and the way she jumped on him, probably new to command. Crim gave an inward shrug and smiled, thankful that his helmet obscured his face. Force but the officers were getting younger and younger. Crim was 30 and after a decade of Spec Ops operations, felt closer to 40.

[Binks]

I've always been bothered myself by the lack of rules regarding sensing non-force users, but I can't find anything. It doesn't look like Saga has, or is really supposed to have, rules for sensing people beyond a short distance. Within ~50m you can just use Sense Surroundings to see through walls (DC 20 + perception check at a penalty for distance) but there's nothing there as far as sensing normal people much further out.

Alright, farseeing on a random person coming up. ExGal 4 has 15 scientists working at the facility, so 1d15 determines who you're targeting (going off the order of the list on Wookiepedia)
[roll0]

Your senses focus on one of the more unremarkable individuals, a Dr. Gorth, whose background is dull enough that the odds of him being involved in anything are terribly low. You reach through the force, but are unable to gather any information on the scientist.

"Commencing flyover." comes the word from the cockpit as your ship shakes a little. "Passive sensors are having a little trouble with this atmo...alright, that's what I'm talking about. Sending you facility pictures now. Comm Tower looks intact." he says as those of you with datapads or other computer systems receive images from the fly-over. The facility is clearly visible, an duracrete block in the middle of a dirt patch.

Cross-referencing with the facility layout your droid gave you earlier you confirm that the Communication Tower, set a short distance from the main building, appears to be intact. The facility is within a small set of walls, around 3m tall, just enough to keep out the local wildlife. Those walls are intact as well. No damage to the facility is visible from these images. The facility's transport shuttle, an old Spacecaster model, is not visible. You can clearly see where it must normally sit, a flatter than usual patch of ground with visible landing gear indents, but the shuttle itself is gone.

[Noedig]

Crim glanced over the photos and his mental wheels grind into action.
"What do you think Ma'am? Chemical weaponry, maybe? Can't think of any reason for the atmosphere to be as frakked as it is. Force, I hope they have enviro-seals on that base. Nasty way to die."

He stashed the datapad in one of his many pockets and checked the connection between his breath mask and helmet again. He'd built a few dirty bombs in Sapper School and seen their affects first hand. He still shivered when he thought about them.

[AvianMalkavian]

Looking down, Wren pulled back her sleeve and made use of the computer on her wrist, checking the pictures closely and frowning again. Everything about this situation was wrong, but what could have happened? Taking a moment to collect herself, she returned her attention to Sgt. Crim, "It's too early to know for sure what occured here. If we're to find any answers, they're likely to be inside of that outpost."

She strode briskly to the comms, speaking with that commanding tone of hers to their pilot, "Private Locke, set the shuttle down as close to the outpost as you can. We're going in."

[Noedig]

Crim glanced around at his teammates before pulling out his spare mask.

"Anyone need a mask? I've got a spare."

He held it aloft and turned to speak to Wren.

"Weapons out on drop Ma'am?"

[Binks]

"I can put you down at their shuttle's landing site, a clearing just outside the base's walls, or about half a click south. Those are the best landing points I can see. South spot's behind some hills, I can bring us in so that we're not visible from the base on approach if you want to go stealth. Clearing's close without being too obvious, but if anyone's watching we'll be visible. Base landing pad is obviously closest. Up to you." the pilot says as he loops the shuttle around and begins descending.

[Battleship789]

Spoilered for out of order speech: After Wren starts speaking to Crim, Alstair starts to wince and swears quietly too himself in his helmet, realizing that he had reverted back to command mode from the Stormtrooper days. When Wren has finished speaking to him he simply replies: "Very good, Lieutenant" and makes a mental note to speak with her after the current mission is over. No need to cause any more problems with the situation unfolding as it is.

As the data from the flyby comes in, Alstair pulls it up on his HUD and looks it over, frowning at the missing shuttle. As he watches the others start to put on their breath masks, he pulls up a systems check on his armor and prepares to lock the vacuum seals. After determining that everything checks out he stands still to the side of the ramp exit, waiting for the tell-tale signs of landing before activating the seals.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren removed her blaster rifle from the holster at her hip, taking a moment to look it over and make sure that it was working condition before setting it to stun, "Yes, Sergeant. Have weapons ready, but set to stun. While we have no proof of hostiles, I'd prefer we take precautions. Something about all of this doesn't feel right. Still, I would prefer to avoid any civilian casualties if at all possible."

She returned her attention back to the comm, taking a moment to think on it before responding, "Set us down behind those hills, Private. If this is a rebel trap, I'd rather not alert all of them to our arrival."

Looking to her team, she inspected each of them and giving a small nod of approval, though she was perhaps a bit unnerved by the presence of the Jedi on this mission, "Sergeant Crim, Sergeant Drang, and.. the Jedi.. you will accompany me into the outpost. Lieutenant Alfsigr, look for an advantageous position close to the ship, look for any unusual activity and report it to me immediately. We will proceed from there."

[Hazuki]

Marian nods at the order given to her by Wren. "Yes, Ma'm." She speaks clearly, but keeps her weapon holstered. Her holoshroud would be effective if she wasn't going with the majority of the group; if this was some kind of Rebel trap, they wouldn't shoot anybody not clearly a soldier on sight. Even ones with jetpacks. IMP comes floating back to her side, holding out to her a breath mask and three air filters.

IMP fiddles with the device on Marian's belt, the shroud around her switching to a hologram of an Imperial Technician, as she attaches the breath mask to her face and nimbly inserts the canister. The quiet woman uses the holo-feature on her Commlink to view the facility and surrounding area, looking out for any kind of structure that would provide her with a good view of the facility and the surrounding areas.

She uses the knowledge given to her by their information droid to make sure this structure, natural or otherwise, would also give her cover of main entry and exit points of the facility.

IMP takes 10 on Use Computer to change the holoshroud.

Disguise for Imperial Technician: [roll0] (+17 Stealth Rank, +10 from Holoshroud, 5 for simple disguise)

I'm unsure if I need to make a Knowledge (Tactics) roll for finding a position, but if I do, I'll take 10 for a result of 22. If I get a bonus for having images of the facility and such, add that please. :smalltongue:

[Binks]

The shuttle loops around and comes in for a landing, using a nearby mountain range for cover as it drops low enough that the hill will shield it from the facility. As the shuttle flares in for a landing you hear the sound of the cockpit seals engaging.

"Clear. No sign we were detected." the pilot says, his voice taking on a serious tone in response to the rest of the squad's behavior.

Marian, after examining the data from the flyover and the survey data from the information droid, finds an ideal location about 300m west of the facility. A small mesa that, according to the surveys, used to be covered in grass and trees. The aerial pictures make it look like the plants are dying but it's still a good location, close, with coverage on the main and secondary exits of the facility and, more importantly, both exits to the walls around the facility. In short, the only way something is moving around out there without her seeing it, is if it jumps the rear fence...and even then it would be visible shortly after leaving the place.

Consulting the maps she determines it should take no more than 15-20 minutes to reach her post from the shuttle's landing site.

[Noedig]

The bay door dropped and Crim hustled out and took a knee to the left of the ramp. He hadn't actually waited for orders, but training and reflex had commanded his movements. His IWS was up and panning left and right searching for targets.

"Clear left. Awaiting orders."

[Binks]

Crim finds that the landing site is clear, no threats visible. The plants in the area are brown and obviously dying and the only living things he can see are a few beetles, obviously hardier and more capable of withstanding the atmosphere changing. One scurries up the ramp towards him as he waits.

[Battleship789]

Alstair switches his ICWS over to stun and covers Crash's movements, keeping an eye on the forest and specifically the region towards the compound. Seeing nothing of much interest, he stays quite on the comm.

[Hazuki]

Marian descends the platform with IMP beside her, taking a turn at the bottom, headed to the mesa that will serve as her cover. IMP follows dutifuly by her side as she she slips along the route that will get her there. "I will report status on arrival. Fifteen to twenty minutes, Lt." She speaks into her commlink, shutting it off immediately after.

Heading to the mesa, going to try to move there stealthily.

Marian's stealth: [roll0] +10 DC to perception checks to hear her movement, thanks to her Sound Sponge.

Imp's Stealth: [roll1] Sound Sponge for IMP too as she's in range of the sponge.

Don't know what the hell happened in the OOC with the quadruple post. :smalltongue:

[The_Snark]

Osheda reached out with the Force, and felt...

... nothing. She frowned. Even at this distance, there should have been something to feel: the lingering shock of the scientists' deaths, or a sense that the facility was abandoned. But if there were any such impressions, they escaped her. It reminded her vaguely of her youth, not yet attuned to the Force and struggling to grasp senses that she had no words for, faint impressions that slipped away as soon as she noticed them.

She marshaled her thoughts and reached out again, attempting to pierce the haze.

Trying again after 1 minute, this time targeting the expedition leader.
Use the Force: [roll0]

Just to clarify: that's a result of nothing at all? Not just dead, but blank, as if she'd failed to beat his Will Defense? I just want to be clear on whether this is out of the ordinary, since Farseeing can normally tell whether a target is alive or dead.

Also, can she sense the widespread death of plant/animal life caused by the change in atmosphere?

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren carefully affixed the mask to her face before heading down the landing ramp to join the rest of the squad as they waited patiently for Marina to get into position so that they could move forward. Her blaster rifle was at the ready, though held low for now. She mused that most Imperial officers would have stayed aboard the shuttle rather than follow their squad, but if she had learned anything at the Academy, it was that if an officer wished to inspire loyalty and respect from her followers, she would need to earn it.

It was better than thinking about the mission, which was still bugging her. Everything about it was.. off. The simplicity of their assigned task, the presence of the Jedi, and now the bizarre change in the very nature of the planet. And though she was uncertain of what purpose the Jedi served in regards to their mission, she would make use of every asset available to her, "Do you.. sense anything unusual, Master Bavaine?"

[Binks]

Osheda, reaching through the force for the expedition leader, feels that she is clearly alive. She feels...cold. The leader's location is...cold and icy. The leader seems to be sitting, not moving much, perhaps meditating or resting, and Osheda gets a clear impression of fear from her.

Snark - Yes, you didn't beat Will before. You can get a feeling that the planet is dying through the Force, yes.
Marian's approach to the Mesa goes without incident. Though she does pass a bit close to the edge of her cover a few times there seems to be no response from the facility.

[Hazuki]

Marian enters the little mesa with a careful eye, looking over it briefly before approaching the viewpoint of the facility. She gets down on one knee as she pulls out her electrobinoculars, IMP silently moving to her side and focusing her glowing eyes on the entrance to the mesa. The sniper sets up her binoculars to scan the facility, keeping her hands steady as she opens the commlink again. "Set up. I have a view of the entire facility." She tells Wren in a hushed tone.

[Binks]

Marian's closer view of the facility reveals a few details that were not fully visible from the aerial scans. The ground around the facility is cleared, and the plants beyond that clearing are dying, much as the plants back at the landing site. The facility's doors are sealed, and the gates locked from the inside. There is no movement visible in or around the facility.

The comm tower in the distance, on the other side of the facility from Marian, is visible in her electro-binoculars. From this closer vantage point and with a better angle she can tell that some of the wires that connect the main transmitter to the hyper transceiver are damaged. Said wires are near the top of the tower just under an overhang...a position that makes the damage both hard to repair (as the tower is over a hundred meters tall, a requirement of punching a signal through from this distance), and nearly impossible to detect from above...

[Hazuki]

"Doors are sealed. The gates are locked from the inside." Marian continues without skipping a beat. "Ground around the facility is clear. The wires connecting the main transmitter and hyper transciever are damaged. In a way so as not to be visible from above." She finishes, waiting for a response.

[AvianMalkavian]

"Excellent. Maintain your position, we are moving in. Watch our backs," With that, Wren motioned for the others to follow her, and began moving toward the outpost, her blaster rifle now raised as she cautiously began her approach, "Then their communications were sabotaged? Be on alert."

[Noedig]

Crim's normally light mood darkened at the mention of the transceiver wires. He keyed his commlink as he rose from his kneeling position and flanked Lt. Wren.

"I'm speaking out of turn Ma'am, but this doesn't sit well. You're absolutely right about sabotage. There's no other damage to the tower itself, meaning that the wire were specifically targeted. I smell a kriffing trap. Permission to go weapons hot?"

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren's attention was turned to the demolitions expert, regarding him silently for a moment before speaking, "Negative, Sergeant. We still don't know what happened to the scientists, and I would rather avoid civilian casualties. Also, if there are still hostiles here, better that they be taken alive so that they can be interrogated by Imperial Intelligence."

[Noedig]

Crim frowned, thankful that his helmet obscured his face. He gave another mental shrug ablnd continued to follow her. He may not have liked it but orders were orders.
"Acknowledged."

[Battleship789]

Following Wren towards the outpost, keeping an eye on the surrounding forest with his weapon trained towards the direction of the compound, Alstair asks her: "How do you want us to approach the scientist's outpost, Lieutenant?"

[The_Snark]

"My senses are clouded," the Jedi answered curtly, voice muffled by the breath mask. She sounded annoyed but remote, her ire focused on something else. "I will know more when we are closer."

And then, a minute later: "At least one of the crew is still alive, I think. I can feel fear. And cold."

[Noedig]

The Jedi's voice sent a shiver down Crim's spine. Kriffing dark Jedi made his skin crawl, and they always had to have their noses in everyone's business. Running ops with them was a nightmare. Oh sure, they were fine in combat, but you always ended up looking over your shoulder when they were around.

Crim clipped his weapon to his combat harness and let it dangle for a moment while he adjusted his rucksack. In retrospect, taking a full combat load had probably been a bad idea, but it brought a saying from Sapper School to mind.

"Better safe than dead."

[AvianMalkavian]

"So some of them are still alive. By the sounds of it, likely being held prisoner by rebel terrorists," Wren looked to Alstair, "We move up carefully and we take our time. Keep your eyes open and watch for suspicious activity. As much as I would like to charge in and rescue the scientists, we'll do them no good if we walk straight into an ambush."

She took a deep breath, steadying herself as she continued forward, making sure to follow her own orders and looking around, watching for any signs of movement or anything that just didn't feel right. While the Jedi bothered her, her abilities were certainly useful. They, at least, knew something of the fate of the scientists, that much was true. Still, how could the rebels have managed to cause this kind of widescale effect on a planet so quickly?

Something didn't add up, and it was gnawing away at her from the inside.

[Binks]

As you approach the outpost you pass by dozens of plant species, all dying. There are more of the beetles from the landing site on the ground as you pass, but most of them appear to be dying or dead as well.

Your group reaches the outer wall of the facility without issue. The wall, built to stop wild animals, is around 3m tall and made of duracrete. It is old and obviously worn with pockmarks and missing chunks in various places.

The two gates that allow entry to the facility are just as Marian said, locked from the inside. The outside entry panels appear non-functional. The one closer to Marian (hereafter gate 1) appears to have partially corroded in the sulfurous atmosphere. It could probably be restored to working order with some tools and a few minutes work. The further entry-point (hereafter gate 2) has a long slash mark through the panel. It appears to have been halfway patched over and the panel appears to be working, displaying a message that the gate is locked and requesting a passcode to unlock.

To the east the Communication tower stands. There is a well worn path leading from the facility to the tower. It's hard to tell at first glance if there are any recent depressions.

[Noedig]

A quick glance at the walls told Crim everything he needed to know. The gates and walls weren't designed to withstand anything more dangerous than animals. Crim was infinitely more dangerous than that.

I can have this gate out of the way in two minutes, with your permission of course.

[The_Snark]

The threatening snap-hiss of a lightsaber pre-empted any reply that might be forthcoming. Osheda began to carve a way through the damaged gate.

[Binks]

The gate, being relatively thin and made of low quality durasteel, melts away as Osheda carves a passageway through the gate. It takes a minute or so to carve a passageway large enough to accommodate everyone.

Marian doesn't notice any response from the facility to the lightsaber's activation and usage.

[Noedig]

Crim chuckled audibly as the Jedi carved her way through the gate. It was probably for the best that he hadn't gotten to blow it open.

"Well, that's one way to do it." He flicked the channel over to Marian's. "Hey sniper lady, we wake anybody up?"

[The_Snark]

The last piece of the gate fell to the ground, and Osheda stepped through, lightsaber humming in her hand. No blaster bolts streaked toward her from the compound, no spikes of danger loomed ahead in the Force. Good. She stayed ready nonetheless, half-closing her eyes as she surveyed the grounds. This close, it should be easy to sense any spots of life amidst the dead and dying life that permeated the rest of this world.

I'm assuming that if somebody were going to shoot Osheda the instant she stepped inside, you'd have mentioned it in your last post. If I'm wrong, I shall of course edit this out!

Using Sense Surroundings to ignore cover/concealment/total cover
Use the Force [roll0]
Perception (if needed) [roll1]

[Hazuki]

Marian quietly turns on her end of the commlink again, setting down her electrobinoculars. "There are no movements. And thank you so much for your aptitude for subtelty and realizing why somebody might disguise themselves. Imbecile." She says with a chill in her voice, shutting off her end of the commlink as her holoshroud drops.

The woman puts away her electrobinoculars, instead unholstering her Interchangeable Weapons System and switching it to its sniper variant, setting it up to watch out of her position.

[Noedig]

Crim laughed audibly. Subtlety? What did she think he was, a spy? And what was the point of a disguise? There was no one here and the atmo was acidic and toxic. Unless she was disguised as a rock, she'd stick out like a sore thumb anyway. He considered telling her as much, but it paid to not piss off the sniper.

Crim shrugged off the insult and stepped through the hole the Jedi had carved, taking position on the left flank.

[Binks]

Osheda steps into an open clearing within the facility's walls. Nothing attacks him and as he tries to feel the surrounding area through the force he once again finds it cloudy. He doesn't see any living beings within the facility's walls, but the facility itself feels hazy and indistinct, as though his senses are not quite able to penetrate it.
Basically, you got the sense surroundings, but that perception check can't really see all that much. You can see through the walls, but you can't get a clear perception of what's inside the facility

Crim, following the Jedi, see much the same thing, a clear facility exterior and no signs of anyone coming to meet the group.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren took one last look around the outpost, trying to spot any unusual activity. However, after noticing nothing and also deciding that it was a job better suited to Marian, she simply turned and headed inside through the hole, following in after Sergeant Crim. With blaster rifle at the ready, she took the lead, beginning to move through the facility. However, she took care, peeking around corners to try and spot any traps that might be awaiting up ahead.

Rolling for Stealth (which I'm not great at) and Perception.

Stealth: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[Battleship789]

Seeing the Jedi pull out a lightsaber and start to cut through the door, Alstair turned to survey the surrounding forest.

Perception check: [roll0]

When Wren has passed through the hole, Alstair enters the compound backwards, figuring that his team members have the front covered.

[Noedig]

Once the rest of the team was through, Crim keyed his comm again.

"Main facility Ma'am? Or do we want to look at the tower?"

[Binks]

Wren moves up, approaching the main building as stealthily as she can. With the rest of the group following, and Alstair having seen nothing out of the ordinary in the forest behind the group, you approach the main building's entrance.

The door is closed. It's an older model airlock system, standard for any remote outpost, regardless of planetary climate. The console by the door appears operational and has a rather large and easily seen button to begin the airlock sequence that would permit you entry to the main facility, as well as a secondary function to bypass the sequence and just open both doors.

[Noedig]

Crim took up a position on the left side of the airlock, ready to turn the corner and fire if anything threatening proved to be in the airlock. He flashed a thumbs up and snuggled the butt of his IWS to his shoulder.

[AvianMalkavian]

Moving to the button, Wren examined the console for the airlock system. Something just felt.. wrong about it, too easy. The communications tower had been sabotaged, after all. What was to stop the rebels from sabotaging the airlock? Deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry, she removed several of her tools from her belt, beginning to check the console for any unwanted surprises.

Rolling Perception to check for traps, and then Mechanics to disarm any if I find them:

Perception: [roll0]
Mechanics: [roll1]

[Binks]

Wren's careful examination of the airlock controls reveals no evidence of tampering. The system does not appear to have been trapped or sabotaged in any manner she can detect.

[AvianMalkavian]

"Everything appears to be fine. We should avoid letting any of this air into the facility, though."

Confident that she had thoroughly examined the console, she decided to proceed with the airlock sequence. Waiting until everyone was inside, with the exception of Marian, of course, she pressed the button and waited patiently.

[Noedig]

Crim's face was hidden by his helmet, but he raised an eyebrow anyway. So this officer wasn't just zeal behind a pretty face, she could do things. He wisely kept his mouth shut, knowing that if he opened it, it would earn him a tirade.

He slipped around the corner as the airlock opened. Seeing nothing he took up position on the left again and waited for the cycle to complete.

[Binks]

The airlock cycles through without issue and the squad soon finds itself looking at a hallway that leads into the main areas of the facility.

The lights remain online and the place looks to be in good shape. Dirt is tracked all over the ground near the airlock and a rack hangs next to the inner door with several breath masks on it. 5 are missing.

The facility's interior layout is such that there are 3 doorways visible from this airlock. One is to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead at the top of a T-junction.

To the right the doorway leads to the dormitory-style barracks. That door hangs open and a cursory glance in that direction reveals nothing of interest. There are several rooms whose doors are shut but they're too far away to see easily.

The doorway to the left leads to the primary lab and main computer room, the place the scientists would have gathered to analyze any detections, report back to ExGal command, and just generally hung out. That door is shut but the control panel appears functional at a glance.

The doorway at the T-junction leads to the secondary lab, an area the scientists were reported as using for analysis on Belkadon's native wildlife, but was originally designed for initial analysis of any extragalactic samples that might be retrieved by the team. That door is also shut and the control panel also appears functional at a glance.

The hallway splits right before the third doorway, leading off to what was marked on the facility layout diagram you received as a mess hall on the left, and a mechanical storage room on the right. Neither of these is visible from the entrance.

Anyone who removes their breath mask read the following (the air detects as breathable if you have any means of sampling it without taking off your mask)
Anyone who removes their breath mask immediately notices two things. First, the air is very stale, as though the environmental systems have not been running for a while. Second, there is an unmistakable odor of death in the air. It's not very strong, but you can clearly tell that there is at least 1 decaying body in this building with you.

[Noedig]

After a quick scan for targets, Crim popped the breath mask attachment off of his helmet. He took a deep breath and had to resist the urge to immediately spit. He pulled his helmet up and quickly spit onto the floor. After he cleared his mouth, he slid the helmet back down.

"Gah! Tastes like a kriffing corpse in here. 10 to 1 there's a body in one of these rooms."

[Battleship789]

Alstair takes up a post near the open door to the bunks, taking a cursory look into the room, feeling some adrenaline hit his system with Crim's comment.

If necessary, Perception: [roll0]

[The_Snark]

"I sense nothing," the Jedi announced, sounding distracted. "Nothing alive. There's something... odd about this place..."

Old instinct told Osheda to calm her mind, that the veil clouding her senses would disperse when she was serene. But years of tutelage under the Inquisitorius said the opposite: use the frustration she felt, ride the storm and force the haze to clear. She shook her head, annoyed. This was no time to allow her old Jedi training to resurge. The Republic Jedi had all died, their teachings a failure.

"If there are any survivors, we won't find them here," she said more briskly. "Did this facility have an orbital shuttle, or some other vehicle they might have evacuated in?"

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren removed her mask, covering her mouth and nose a moment later before she could allow herself to take another breath of the stale air, tainted by death, "Yes. Flying over the outpost we saw the markings of where a shuttle would have been, but it was gone. I'm not sure what happened to it, but for the time being we need to search this building thoroughly and, hopefully, ascertain the whereabouts of any survivors."

Moving down the hall, she looked it over carefully before stopping at the closed door on the left, "A computer room. There may be something of use here. Just a moment."

Not wishing to take chances, the 2nd Lieutenant repeated the process she had at the airlock doors, taking out her tools and checking for any booby traps. It was entirely possible that the airlock hadn't been tampered with to give any search parties a false sense of security, only to catch them off guard with a thermal detonator attached to the inside of the control console of one of the doors. The Rebel slime were capable of anything, after all.

Once again, Perception and Mechanics checks to look for and disable traps.

Perception: [roll0]
Mechanics: [roll1]

[Noedig]

Crim took a fragmentation grenade out of one of his many pouches and began to toss it lightly into the air. The young officer clearly knew her way around electronics and machines and he had begun to grow bored.

[Binks]

Alstair's glance towards the barracks area doesn't uncover much. One of the doors near the end of the barracks hallway hangs slightly ajar but other than that there isn't much to see in that area.

Osheda's senses confirm his first impression, she feels no living beings within the facility, even from this close distance.

Wren's examination of the computer room panel reveals no evidence of tampering here either, and the door slides open without any resistance as soon as prompted, revealing a large empty room with a rather large computer display at one end, and a space that was likely used for conferences with the facility's scientists at the other judging by the number of chairs. The computer hums, obviously still active, but the screen is dimmed, likely in a sleep mode.

[AvianMalkavian]

When the door opened, Wren retrieved her blaster rifle and lifted it, scanning the room slowly as she moved inside. She made sure to look over the interior before approaching the computer and setting her blaster on the console as she reactivated the machine. Glancing back briefly at Crim, she smirked a touch, "I hope I'm not boring you too much, Sergeant."

And she promptly turned back to the computer, checking the files and looking for anything unusual, be it information, the possible signs of tampering with information, or perhaps even the lack of information.

Rolling Use Computer to look for any useful information.

Use Computer: [roll0]

[Binks]

Wren's examination are quickly rewarded as the scientists, or at least one of the scientists, appeared to be obsessed with record keeping. There appear to be logs of every major event that took place in the facility.

Going back to around the last check-in 93 hours ago and following the records from that point until they stop:

T-1 hour before check-in.
Potential extragalactic signal detected. Examined the evidence, and Dr. Carr proposed that it was likely a asteroid that had rebounded off the hyperspace anomaly at the edge of the galaxy. After a lively debate decided to simply note the asteroid's existence in our next automated check-in but not make any extra communications.
T+10 hours after check-in
Asteroid's course has carried it into the Helska system. Telescope is watching for impact.
T+11 hours after check-in
Asteroid didn't seem to make any sort of impact despite its course intercepting Helska-4. Dr. Quee has hypothesized that we may have detected some kind of free-floating ball of gas or another anomaly. Dr. Quee, Dr. Badeleg and Dr. Tomri are taking the Spacecaster to examine the object. There was some worry about the shuttle's dependability but it has not had another incident since last time so Dr. Quee believes it will be safe to use.
T+12 hours after check-in
Automated check-in wasn't able to get a signal. Dr. Carr and Dr. Breise went out to check on the comm tower.
T+13 hours after check-in
Spacecaster departed successfully. Received a signal from it that there was a strange storm approaching. Dr. De'Ono, Dr. Doole, Dr. Ballow-Reese, and Dr. Cadmir went out to investigate. Dr. Carr and Dr. Breise are still working on the transmitter and Dr. Donabelle has gone to check on their status and assist with repairs.
T+14 hours after check-in
The other scientists have not returned. The storm approaches, it's already too dangerous to check on the transmitter team. Comms are not able to reach any of the other scientists. We're moving to the secondary lab to try and see if any of the equipment there can help figure out what's going on.
That is the last message in the system's computer from this terminal. There is one additional file of interest, recording when the door to the facility has been opened. It shows openings that line up with the logs, save one opening, triggered from the outside console, shortly after the last log was recorded. The next opening recorded is your cycling of the airlock when you arrived.

[Noedig]

"Not at all Ma'am. Thought it would be nice to have a present waiting if anything nasty was on the other side of the door."

Crim tossed the grenade a few more times, then pocketed it.

"Wish we could get rid of this smell as easily."

[AvianMalkavian]

After examining the recorded logs and double checking everything, she stood up from the computer and looked around the room absent-mindedly, her thoughts elsewhere, "Its so.. strange. Everything leads me to believe this was some kind of rebel attack. The communications tower was sabotaged, the scientists who left the building to fix it never returned, and the logs just.. stop. But why? What reason would rebels have for attacking an outpost like this?"

"From the logs, it appears several scientists took the shuttle to investigate an asteroid, but never returned contact. It was also likely sabotaged. Once we finish up here, I think it would be best to head towards Helska-4 to ascertain the fate of the other scientists," Picking up her blaster rifle, she motioned to the rest of the squad and moved towards the door, "The last log says that what remained of the scientists moved to the secondary lab, so that's where we'll check next."

[Battleship789]

Alstair follows Wren and takes a post to the "North" of the Secondary Lab, keeping an eye on the hallway down to the Mess Hall. While he was thinking of popping his vacuum seals to replenish his air supply, the Lieutenant's words make it seem like they won't be on this planet for much longer. And the smell of death is something that isn't especially pleasant.

[Noedig]

"Roger Ma'am."

Crim took up position opposite of Alstair and waited for further orders. He considered readying another grenade, but the chance for friendly fire was too high.

[AvianMalkavian]

Reaching the door to the second lab, Wren took out her tools again and repeated her process with this panel. It helped take her mind off of the situation, and the possibility that there were dead bodies waiting for them on the other side of the door. She wasn't particularly enthused about that part of their mission, but death was certainly nothing new to her. She had seen her fair share of fighting during battles against the rebel remnants aboard the Harbinger, and during the assault on their shipyards.

Taking a slow, steadying, breath and, assuming there were no traps attached to the door or its controls, she opened it and cautiously stepped in.

Rolling Perception and Mechanics, again.

Perception: [roll0]
Mechanics [roll1]

[Binks]

Wren's cautious check once again finds no traps.

The door slides open, revealing a gruesome scene. The walls and floor are splattered with blood and guts. The bodies of several scientists lie scattered about, quite obviously dead. Tools, equipment, and chairs are scattered randomly about as though a fight had taken place here.

Standing at the center of the room, right in front of a center 'island' for coordination, is an alien whose species none of you have seen before. His face is heavily scared and topped with a set of spikes, and his body is covered in some kind of shell that almost looks like armor.

The alien appears to have been in some kind of trance prior to your arrival, eyes closed, hands clasped before him. As the door opens, however, his eyes open and settle on your group. Something slithers along his right arm, looking vaguely like a snake that is wrapped around his arm.

He speaks, his voice raspy and deep. "Good. The other sacrifices have arrived. I am Yomin Carr, the harbinger of doom. I am the beginning of the end of your people!" he says, punctuating the sentence by assuming an aggressive posture, obviously prepared to attack.

[The_Snark]

Neither the threat nor the days-old slaughter seemed to bother Osheda. As the alien finished speaking, she raised a hand negligently and gestured as if flicking the creature away.

Move action: enter the room

Standard: Use Move Object to try and hurl the alien backwards into the wall
Use the Force [roll0]
Damage ?

I'm not really expecting this to work, but it's the kind of thing you do when you're a dark Jedi and used to throwing your weight around. So to speak.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren looked at the creature with her usual stoicism, allowing it to impart its disturbing message while she turned on her wrist communicator, opening the channel for Marian. As much as she despised this alien, she needed to understand why. Why kill so many innocent people? Why target an ExGal outpost? There was only one way to get those answers. Backing up, she began to fire.

"Set for stun! I want him alive!"

Move Action: Moving back.. 10 feet from the door, I guess?
Swift Action: Turning on the Comm, I would think.
Standard: I'm going to use the 'Lead the Assault' part of my Commanding Presence talent. If I hit Carr, all allies within line of sight (which I think is everyone except for Marian) get a +2 morale bonus to their attack and damage rolls.

So.. attacking! [roll0]
And damage (which is stun)! [roll1]

[Binks]

As Osheda reaches through the force to grip the alien before him he finds...nothing, nothing at all. No force presence to grab onto and hurl away. There is simply a void where the alien should be.

Wren's attack goes wide, missing the alien as he steps to the side and begins moving forward.

"It is good that you fight. It will make your deaths more honorable." Carr says before drawing something from his waist. Its previous position allowed it to blend in with the shell around his body, separated it looks to be some kind of armored bug, flattened and heavy looking. Knowing what to look for 3 others can be seen on his waist.

With a flick of his wrist the alien tosses the bug at Wren, before moving into the doorway with a sadistic smile on its face.

Atk vs. Ref: [roll0]
Dmg: [roll1] normal damage on a hit. No other effects.

[Battleship789]

Hearing the alien speak, Alstair turns away from the hall and looks into the room. After a brief moment of confusion, especially with regards to the weaponry and armor of Carr, Alstair complies with Wren's order by raising his blaster and firing.

Swift + Swift (Move traded in): Aim (even though it doesn't really do anything here...)
Standard: Shoot with ICWS

Attack vs Ref (w/PBS): [roll0]
Damage (stun and w/PBS): [roll1]

[Noedig]

Crim watched in horror as the living weapon hit Wren. His mind reeled as it took in what had happened in the room. For a moment he was paralyzed, but instinct kicked in.
"SITH ME!" He'd also forgotten to switch out of an open channel.

He fired his gun twice on pure reflex, unable to take careful aim.

Using Rapid shot feat meaning two shots as a single attack roll, +1 die of damage if I hit. +1 to hit/dam because of Point Blank Shot. God I hope I hit him.
To hit: [roll0]
To dam: [roll1]

[Hazuki]

As Marian hears the commotion over her commlink, her head snapping to the side from the sudden loudness, she does a quick scan of the area surrounding the facility to see if there was anything on her end. Seeing nothing, she whacks IMP on the head, jumping out of the front of her hiding hole. "Turn on your hologram function if you can." The sniper requests, speaking calmly as she sprints to the ship through the forest, IMP whizzing behind her.

She activates the hologram function of her commlink as she runs, keeping an eye out for any feedback from the rest of the crew.

[Binks]

Alstair's shot, like Wren's earlier, goes wide, missing the agile alien.

Crim's shot, on the other hand, catches the alien straight in the chest. He staggers back a bit, but doesn't seem to be badly wounded. In fact, as the armor on his chest splits slightly and something liquid seeps out, he smiles wider than before.

[AvianMalkavian]

A sharp gasp of pain escaped Wren as the.. bug was thrown into her. Still, she couldn't allow the pain to slow her down. Not right now, at least. Freeing up her right hand, though keeping the rifle in her left, she clenched her fist and threw a punch at the bizarre alien before moving back behind Osheda and barking out another order, "Take him down, now!"

Standard Action - Wren will try to punch Carr (and she's wearing her combat gloves): [roll0]
Move Action - She will use her move to Withdraw back behind Osheda to get out of Carr's threatened squares.
Swift Action - Wren will use her Born Leader talent to give all her allies within line of sight (that would be everyone except Carr and Marian) a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls.

[The_Snark]

Surprise froze Osheda where she stood for the first few seconds of battle. There was nobody there, nothing she could feel or touch with the Force—of course not, she would have sensed it earlier—but how—

With a screech of fury she exploded into motion, dark robes and red saber whirling as she darted around the retreating lieutenant and (briefly) through Alstair's line of fire to get a clear view of the alien. For half a second she was still, giving the thing a venomous yellow-eyed glare, and then leaped at it with a downward slash of her lightsaber.

Swift action: Battle Strike
Use the Force: [roll0]

Move action: tumble to H6
Acrobatics DC 15: [roll1]

Standard action: charge to K6 and attack Carr
Attack: [roll2] 22 with Acrobatic Strike factored in
Damage: [roll3] plus 9 from Battle Strike

[Binks]

Wren's punch is knocked out of line by the alien with almost casual ease. As she backs away he calls out. "Running away is not the way. You should die with honor."

Osheda's blade seems to catch the alien off guard, he's barely able to get out of the way in time and a tiny bit of the shell covering his arm is burned off.

"Will you be a worthy opponent?" he asks, sounding a bit hopeful as the serpentine thing on his wrist straightens out and he jabs it at Osheda.

Carr will remain where he is, switch his weapon to spear mode, and attack Osheda.
Atk vs. Ref: [roll0]
Dmg: [roll1]. You treat your Threshold as 5 less for determining if this damage overcomes it.
If you take damage and the attack roll beats your fort defense you move 1 persistent step down the condition track from poison.

[Noedig]

When his shot hit the creature, Crim recovered a modicum of composure, this time actually aiming. He let out a small breath as he pulled the trigger and snapped of a single shot.
"Die, ugly!"

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Battleship789]

Seeing the Jedi burst into motion and start to fight with the alien, Alstair sighted up and fired.

Swift + Swift (Move): Aim
Standard: Fire ICWS

Attack vs Ref (w/PBS, -5 for shooting into melee): [roll0]
Damage (Stun): [roll1]

[The_Snark]

Rather than replying, Osheda flicks her saber in a deadly parry, batting the strange organic spear aside and leaving a scorch mark down the alien's arm.

Reaction: Osheda uses Makashi Riposte in response to the attack. Her Use the Force check automatically beats his attack roll; she takes half damage on a hit, but as it's a miss she takes nothing. Then the riposte!
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] (half on miss)

[Binks]

Crim's shot catches the alien at precises the moment Osheda's riposte bats his arm out of line. Off balance and with a lightsaber closing in the alien only has time to partially dodge the saber, taking the shot from Crim's blaster on his upper arm and causing more of the armor to become damaged. Once again, however, the alien seems to shrug off the stun effect of the weapon, becoming no more sluggish than he was at the start of the fight.

Alstairs attack goes a bit wide as he's forced to compensate for the melee battle currently taking place.

[The_Snark]

Osheda pressed the attack, saber whirling in a bewildering array of feints and probing attacks - any one of which could quickly turn deadly, if the alien showed the slightest hesitation in parrying. Her face was frozen in a rictus snarl, eyes glittering with either fury or excitement or both as she tried to break through the alien's defenses and score a killing blow.

Swift action: Dark Rage!
Use the Force [roll0]
Result: +6 rage bonus to attack/damage

Swift action: activate the Consumed by Darkness talent; Osheda gains a +2 Force bonus to attacks and a -5 penalty to Will until the beginning of her next turn.

Standard action: Saber Swarm
Use the Force: [roll1] 23 (Force point used, see OOC)
Osheda makes two attacks at a -2 penalty.
Attack 1: [roll2] 21
Damage 1: [roll3] 27
Attack 2: [roll4] 35
Damage 2: [roll5] 33

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren growled as she watched one of the stun blasts strike the strange alien warrior and do.. nothing. She had never heard of a creature that could shake off a hit like that so easily, but she wasn't about to take any chances now. Switching her blaster back to its more lethal setting, she took aim and fired into the melee, hoping to strike the creature and put it down once and for all.

"Shoot to kill, men!"


Swift Action: Setting blaster rifle from stun back to normal setting.

Standard: Shooting at Carr (and already counting the -5 penalty).
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Binks]

Osheda's array of attacks drive the alien back somewhat. One of the swings lands, cutting a serious looking wound in the alien's leg and obviously causing it quite a bit of pain.

Wren's shot, however, is dodged by the alien as he dives into Osheda's attack to make an attack of his own.

The alien jabs his weapon straight at Osheda, showing no fear of the dark jedi and no acknowledgement of the serious bleeding wounds he has suffered.

Osheda - 1 hit, you beat CT
Carr starts recovering then attacks Osheda
Carr's attack: [roll0] (CT factored in)
Dmg: [roll1]
Treat your DT as 5 lower for this damage. If you're damaged and the attack beats your fortitude defense you move 1 persistent step down the condition track.

[The_Snark]

Block: [roll0]

[Battleship789]

Hearing Wren's command, Alstair responds by flicking the setting on his rifle to kill and fires.

Swift: Stun to Kill
Standard: Fire at Carr

Attack vs Ref (+1 PBS, +1 BL, -5 shooting into melee): [roll0]
Damage (+1 PBS): [roll1]

[Binks]

Osheda's lighsaber swings up to block the blade, though it's fairly close.

Alsair's shot catches the alien directly in the chest, driving him backwards into lab room. The alien looks down at his chest before looking up at the group and falling to his knees.

"Well done *cough cough*. You were truly worthy opponents. But don't *cough cough* think this is the end. I am merely the harbinger. You will all still be destroyed!"

And with that the alien falls flat on the ground. He does not appear to be breathing anymore.

The facility goes deathly quiet as the battle concludes.

[Noedig]

Crim stood there for a moment in the abrupt silence that followed the fighting. He walked over and gave the hideous alien a solid kick that turned it onto its back before pulling out his sidearm. He put a booted foot on the alien's chest and looked to Wren.
"Ma'am, if you have no objections, I would like to make sure it's dead."

[Hazuki]

Marian grinds her teeth as she slows down to a walk, hearing the commotion on the opposite end of the commlink die down. She stops where she is, looking ahead to the path that will take her back to the shuttle, clenching and unclenching her fists in succession. The sniper closes her eyes in an attempt to calm herself while the small medical droid hovers to a halt by her side. She had too much anger welling up inside her to calm it so easily.

First the idiot in demolitions had compromised her disguise from what could only have been stupidity or malice, and had been reprimanded for it by no one. Then she had made a request through the commlink, which too, had gone unheeded. Was this what she was going to expect in future missions? Being treated as only a tool?

The other Lieutenant had said nothing of it, and as she was the designated "leader" of the group, that meant nobody with higher authority would listen to Marian's complaints. She bites down on her tongue for a moment, as she activates her jetpack.

Marian ascends beside on of the trees in the mostly unspoiled area, flying to the top of it before landing on the same. She unholsters her ICWS again, keeping her eyes still against the ground. Her finger clenches against the trigger, letting a hail of blaster fire shoot up to the sky. Her hand keeps strong against the recoiling weapon until the energy cell is depleted.

It was a less violent way of expressing the anger that ate at her.

The woman jumps fof of the tree, descending with her jetpack until her feet land firmly on the ground and she resumes her walk to the shuttle's landing space.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren let out a relieved sigh when the alien finally fell. She looked down, remembering the strange bug-like thing that the creature had thrown at her and she grabbed it, yanking it out with only a soft cry of pain before throwing it to the floor. She would have to make sure the thing hadn't poisoned her. The lieutenant looked at the body and then Crim, offering him a small nod in agreement, "We'll take the body back to the ship. Hopefully the medical droid can find something of use after performing an autopsy. And we still have to head to Helska-4."

[Noedig]

Crim nodded back and crouched over the prone form of the alien. He put the barrel of his DC-15s against the creature's eye and pulled the trigger twice. The gun bucked in his hand and the alien's head jerked.

"And good riddance, you Sith spawned piece of stang."

He rose and wiped the blood clean from his gun before reholstering it.

"Are we going to look for survivors here?"

[Binks]

Marian notices, as she heads back to the shuttle, that the beetles that were the last apparent living thing on the world are dying out.

The alien twitches once as its shot. After that there's no movement from it at all. The hole in its chest and head, as well as the other wounds, seem more than sufficient to have put it down for good.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren looked to Crim and then the what was left of the scientists in the secondary lab, frowning just a touch, "I doubt we'll find any survivors. But we should check the rest of the outpost, thoroughly. Best to split up and cover the other sections of the building before heading back to the shuttle."

Eyeing the rest of the group, she motioned to them one at a time, becoming just a touch hesitant when her gaze fell upon the Jedi who had fought the creature so effectively, "Crime, take the mechanical room. Alstair, the mess hall. Master Osheda.. you may.. return to the shuttle if you wish, I will check the bunks."

With that, she headed back down the hall and moved into the bunks, making sure to look for anything of use or importance.

Perception Check: [roll0]

[Noedig]

Crim nodded and turned to head to the mechanics room. It was deathly silent in the complex now, and the hiss the door made as it slid open was almost obscenely loud compared to the relative quiet.

Crim stood to one side of the door way for a moment and then turned into the room, weapon up at the ready.

Perception: [roll0]

[Battleship789]

Happy that one of his shots finally did some damage to the alien, and even more glad to see it finally drop, Alstair stepped over to the body after Crim had sent a few blasts through its eye, looking at the curious armor and weaponry. After a cursory glance, he acknowledged the Lieutenant's command and went to search the mess.

Perception: [roll0]

[Binks]

Wren's search of the bunks, thorough and professional as it is, reveals a few details. The slightly ajar doorway holds a dead body within, bringing the number of scientists accounted for up to 7 of the original 15 (assuming that alien that identified itself as Carr was the Dr. Carr of the original team). The computer records state that 3 went on the shuttle, and 5 besides Dr. Carr went out of the facility on foot, so that's all the scientists' locations accounted for.

Within Dr. Carr's room Wren finds a strange fleshy...thing hidden within a small box in a false drawer in his dresser. It is brown, roughly spherical, has a single green flat spot, and has numerous tentacles protruding down the bottom. It is vibrating slightly as she finds it.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060304002536/starwars/images/thumb/f/f5/Villip.jpg/250px-Villip.jpg

Crim finds the mechanics room devoid of life, or dead bodies. The room contains a number of tools and replacement parts as well as several repulserpads. Crim's careful investigation shows evidence that several people have been through the room recently, at least 2 came in to retrieve parts from a section of the room that seems to hold communication equipment, and one other entered later and went to an area on the wall that looks about perfectly sized for a sensor backpack. Other than that the room doesn't seem like it's well traveled, it was obviously not a favorite location for the scientists who worked here.

Alstair's critical examination of the alien's weapon and armor reveals a few details. The armor is more akin to a shell or carapace than battle armor, covering the body with several layers of hardened material. Serpentine seems to be the best description for the weapon still, as it looks like it might be a living snake. The creature/weapon sits unmoving and doesn't react to anything Alstair might do.

As Alstair moves on to the mess hall he finds it to be in good shape. There are no signs of battle, no blood, no dead bodies. The food dispenser appears to be fully operational.

http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/9/97/Amphistaff-NEGWT.jpg

[Noedig]

Crim stepped back into the hallway and keyed his comm unit.

"Sergeant Terix reporting. No survivors, no bodies in the mechanics room. Looks like someone took a sensor backpack out of here though. No way to tell how long ago that was. Orders?"

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren carefully picked up the spherical object, handling it with a great deal of caution given she wasn't sure how it worked. When the comm went back on, she responded, "One more body in the bunks. I think we can assume that the scientists who left the facility to fix the communications tower were dealt with by this Carr. If so, that means that the only ones unaccounted for are those that left on their shuttle to investigate Helska 4. Crim and Alstair, gather the body and any of the creature's personal effects and we will take them back to the shuttle for closer study when we have the time."

She made a brief stop to gather up the bug-like disc that had been thrown at her, as well as remembering to put her mask back on, before heading out towards the shuttle.

[Noedig]

Crim walked back to the body and considered it briefly. With the Mando helping him out, the corpse wouldn't be too hard to carry. He wasn't sure how well it would handle the atmosphere though.

He pulled off his helmet and began to search his pockets for a cig while he waited for Alstair to arrive.

[Battleship789]

After finishing his search of the mess and finding nothing out of the ordinary, Alstair began to head back to the secondary lab and keyed his comm:

"Sgt. Drang here. Nothing of note in the mess hall. Everything looked normal; even the food dispenser is working. Heading back to the corpse now."

After arriving back at the corpse and greeting Crim with a nod, Alstair looked again at the snake and bugs on the alien's body for a few seconds before keying his comm again: "Drang again. How do you want us to handle the alien's weaponry? The snake is almost certainly poisonous, and the bugs he was throwing might also be poisonous, though neither has moved since the alien was dropped. Should we let the info droid on the ship take a look at them and the body before we risk moving them? The fangs on the snake are pretty big. I'm not sure if my armor is thick enough, and I am even more uncertain about Crix's armor, if that snake tries to take a bite."

[The_Snark]

Osheda barely acknowledged the lieutenant's words, staring at the creature's corpse for some time. It was just as absent from the Force in death as it had been in life. No, absent was not the word; droids were absent. This thing was not merely absent but empty, a void she could neither sense nor touch. It was loathsome. Dangerous too, but that didn't explain the visceral fury it evoked. It was an abomination, pure and simple.

Without warning, her lightsaber flicked out to sever the serpent-staff's head. "If it's dangerous, then shoot it. That is your job," she said curtly, deactivating the saber. "Now. Stow these things aboard the shuttle somewhere I won't have to look at them!" She wheeled around and stalked out.

Heading back to the shuttle.

[Binks]

To Osheda's surprise the snakelike things head remains firmly attached to the body, the lightsaber having done almost nothing to damage it. There isn't even the slight distortion often present when a lightsaber encounters something it can't cut quickly, the snake thing just seems to block the lightsaber entirely.

It still doesn't move or react.

[Noedig]

Crim took a long, thoughtful pull on the cig as the Mando walked over. He wasn't particularly interested in carrying any of this to the shuttle, but Lt. Wren had spoken. He bent down to collect the snake-like thing, but the Mando's words stopped him. Force, those fangs were big.

He nearly choked when the lightsaber flashed down in front of him, and when he saw the lack of damage it had done to the snake, he pulled hard on the cig.

"Sith me, not even your kriffing saber can cut it. Doubt shooting it would do any good."

He bent back down and touched it once gingerly before carefully picking it up. Crim held it at arms length away from himself with one hand, and held his sidearm with the other, in case the snake took exception to being picked up.

[AvianMalkavian]

With a sigh, Wren lifted the comm on her wrist and spoke into it calmly, "I'm quite certain that you can easily find a bag or some other container to place those items in if you are uncomfortable with touching them. Just make sure you get them to the ship. The sooner we leave this place, the better."

[Noedig]

Crim shrugged and holstered his sidearm before grabbing one of the alien's legs and dragging it toward the airlock. With his free hand, he snapped his breath mask into place.

[Binks]

As soon as Crim grabs the snake-like thing it whips around in his hands and points its mouth at his face, spitting some kind of venom right at his helmet. The armor protects him from whatever the stuff was, and the snake-like thing settles down a bit and stops fighting after spitting, but it's certainly not a pleasant experience.

The alien's body is fairly light for its size and armor and isn't too difficult to move.

The amphistaff has no real chance of hitting you with the armor on, as it makes an attack against both your ref and fort with a +0 bonus. Not bothering to roll for a 20 because it's easier to just explain that your helmet protects you. You're free to shoot it, it won't react.

[Noedig]

Crim recoiled in shock as the snake spit venom into his visor. He thanked the force he had had the presence of mind to pit his helmet on because whatever the snake had spit looked and smelled lethal.

"Ornery one, isn't he? Lieutenant, be advised that unprotected handling of the alien weaponry is extremely dangerous."

Keeping a firm eye on the snake, Crim dragged the alien through the hallway to the airlock, and from there to the shuttle.

[Battleship789]

Alstair flinches slightly when the snake spits the venom onto Crim's helmet, but, after not seeing any damage, relaxes slightly and moves over to grab the alien's arms/shoulders to help Crim carry the body.

[Binks]

The group makes their way back to the shuttle, carrying the dead alien's body, his snake-like weapon and the insert-like thing he threw. They find Marian waiting for them, having already arrived shortly before. The shuttle appears secure, and you can actually hear your information droid talking on some subject from the landing ramp.

"...the orbital mechanics! It's simply astonishing to be honest, I'm not surprised you were interested in it. Why it's one of the most hotly debated topics in all..."

[Noedig]

"Home sweet home. And hey, we brought gifts! We've got a corpse and some living weapons. Who wants to pick first?"

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren had already set down the strange spherical device and one of the thrown objects on a table, motioning for the others to put the body there as well, "Put the medical droid to good use. But make sure its careful. We don't know what these things do and I have no interest in having the ship blown up because it got careless."

Moving to the comm that connected to the cockpit, she flipped it on, "Pilot, we're finished here. Take off and set course for Helska 4."

[Noedig]

Crim put the corpse and the snake weapon on the table and stepped away to clean his equipment. His specialty was in mechanical devices and explosives. His knowledge of living things extended as far as how to make them not alive anymore and stopped, so he left the task to those better qualified.

"Anything to drink on this tub? I could use a cold one." He glanced up at his lieutenant. He wasn't sure how she felt about the imbibing of alcohol post mission, and he pissed her off once today already. "With your permission, of course."

[Hazuki]

Marian makes no comment as everybody boards and brings in their discoveries. Upon seeing the thing brought aboard, she restrains herself from making a comment on the comparatively useless autopsy they planned on. She passes behind Wren, scanning her with the hologram function of her commlink without trying to be subtle.

The sniper moves back to her corner of the ship, sitting down with IMP beside her. She pulls the datachip out of her holorecorder, handing it to the camouflaged roid. IMP dutifully switches the datachip with the one in Marian's holoshroud. Marian rests her head against the back of her seat.

IMP takes 10 on Use Computer to beat the DC15 check of switching the holoshroud's hologram. Switching the Imperial Technician hologram for the Wren Ozzel hologram.

[Binks]

"Uhh...Helska? We're not rendezvousing with the fleet?" the pilot asks, as he begins the power-up sequence.

The information droid drops silent as it begins looking at the stuff the group brought back.

The medical droid comes online and starts looking over the stuff brought back as well.

[The_Snark]

"Send a report first," the Jedi said suddenly, breaking her silence for the first time since leaving the facility. "Neither the alien nor his tools have any presence in the Force. I don't know what that means, but the Emperor should know of it."

"And you," she rounded on the information droid, "tell us everything you know about Dr. Carr." Osheda had finally placed where she'd heard that name before.

[Battleship789]

Alstair helps Crim unceremoniously drop the body on the medical table and moves off to the side, releasing the vacuum seals on his armor to restore the air supply and runs diagnostics on his weapons and armor. After Crim's comment on a drink, he replies: "Probably not the best idea, Terix. Helska isn't very far away from here if my memory is correct from the briefing, and who knows what we will find there."

A short time after the Jedi says to send a report and gains the information on Carr, the checks signal all clear for his equipment and he reseals the armor and moves over to watch the droids go over the body and weapons. After a few seconds, he flicks on the external speakers of his helmet and speaks toward Marian.

"Apologies, Lieutenant. I wasn't able to gather any of the data you requested. I neglected to mention while we were planet side that I regrettably don't have any 3D recording equipment in my helmet. I wonder if there is enough gear on board to modify my helmet before we get to the Helska system in case something else happens..." As he trails off, Alstair turns toward Wren and says: "With a some time and the med-droid's help, I think I might be able to use the snake as a weapon, or at least figure out what it can do. I have a rather...broad weapons background and having watched the alien fight will make it much easier to figure out a style for the weapon."

[Noedig]

"Damn, you're probably right. Hangovers are greatly frowned upon when working with explosives. Eh, I'm sure we'll have all the time in the galaxy to crack open a cold one when this is over. I owe you a drink anyway for killing that kriffing alien. I was about to put an anti-armor round square in his face, and that would have been a serious mess."

[AvianMalkavian]

"Oh.. uh, yes, of course. I will send a report, Master Jedi, but first things first," Wren turned her attention to Marian, watching her curiously for a moment before glancing at Crim as well, "Perhaps I did not bring it up earlier, but that was due to being in the field, facing an unknown threat, without the security necessary to go into any lengthy discussion on the matter. However, now that we have the time, and are relatively secure aboard this shuttle, I feel I must make it known that your behavior, thus far, Sergeant Crim, has been woefully disrespectful to both myself and to Lieutenant Alfsigr."

She crossed her arms, bearing her full attention down upon the demolitions expert, "When we are in such dangerous situations, do not contact Lieutenant Alfsigr when she is in a delicate situation which requires no one being made aware of her presence. If you do so again, I will have you ejected from this squad, is that understood?"

Wren turned back to Marian now, focusing upon her with the same calm, but steely, focus, "Lieutenant, I understand your frustration with the situation, but the battlefield is no place for an argument. All our attention must be focused upon the mission at hand and completing it with the utmost efficiency. If you feel I am not up to the task of leading this squad, you may certainly inform Imperial Intelligence and request leadership of this squad be transferred to you. Until such time, I should hope you will show me the respect inherent in my position."

Another turn, this time to Sergeant Alstair, "Given the object's apparent.. hostility towards us, I would not suggest using it. Just attempt to learn whatever you can about this creature and its weapons. Information is ammunition, Sergeant."

With that done, she took a seat and began to write out a report upon a datapad, continuing to remain calm, cool, and collected.

[Hazuki]

Marian looks up at the other lieutenant as she's spoken to, placing a hand on her thigh and leaning forward. "If this mission was to be performed with the utmost efficiency, we would have a holorecording of this alien. Of its fighting style, the way it moves, talks, reacts to your weaponry while it was still moving." She speaks with a hard tone in her voice, watching the lieutenant with restrained fire in her eyes.

"Even if you four did see the alien, how much trust do you put in your memories? All memories fade. Not to mention the fact that you were unprepared for such a mission; you didn't even have fully upgraded commlinks. I suggested a course of action for the apparently shocking figure you'd encountered. I got nary a whistle back." The sniper gets to her feet, using a hand to support her against the nearby wall.

"Do you all put your lives above providing useful intel to the Empire? You said it yourself, lieutenant. We represent the Empire in this task. According to you, the Empire's force will compromise every time they get a little bit scared." Her eyes travel over everyone in the room this time, clenching the knuckles on her left hand.

"I will not be requesting leadership yet. But I want you all better equipped and able to listen to advice from the one operative in this unit that knows the importance of intel." She slams into her seat with a loud thud, resting her head against the back of her chair and closing her eyes.

[Binks]

"Umm..." the pilot says, breaking the silence after Marian's statement, having obviously heard most of the going-ons through the divider. "Right then. Helska it is." he says as the shuttle begins moving.

"I'll hold position once we hit orbit for you to send off a report." he adds, his jocularity replaced with a bit of fear, he obviously doesn't want to 'rock the boat' any further.

Thankfully the information droid has no programming in social situations, and is happy to chime in, responding to Osheda's question with a tone that borders on glee.

"According to the files Dr. Carr was born on an outer rim world, Bespin to be precise, a rather unusual birthplace and I'm sure a contributing factor in the file's flagging as..."

The droid catches itself going off-topic and continues, "Anyway he was born on Bespin, lived there for his youth, received a degree in astrophysics from the Bespin school system, not a very highly accredited school and known to be almost trivial to slice, then moved to Coruscant in 10 ABY. He took an immediate interest in ExGal and was hired on to work for them in 11 ABY. He was assigned to ExGal 4 on his own preference, ExGal is known for letting its workers pick their location, and has been recorded as being a diligent but quiet worker by the other scientists at the ExGal 4 facility."

"Imperial Intelligence has flagged the file as potentially sliced as I mentioned earlier. There are a number of minor discrepancies in the file and Bespin is known to be a fairly easy planet to create a fake identity from due to its somewhat lax policy towards data security."

"Would you like to know anymore? I have his permanent record from his youth, latest tax reports, and family status already called up for you. The status is relatively boring I must say, no living relatives, seems all of his family died before he moved to Coruscant. Dreadful happenings..."

The droid trails off, still obviously happy for having the chance to serve its purpose, but waiting for further inquiries.

[Noedig]

It took Crim a few seconds to understand what disrespect his lieutenant was referring to, but when she mentioned how he had blown a superior officer's cover during a mission, he remembered it with perfect clarity. He dropped his helmet on the floor of the shuttle.

"Oh."

'Sniper lady.'He'd said it mainly because he wasn't sure what to call Marian in the field, but in the perfect vision of hindsight, he realized now just how big he had screwed up. He snapped to attention.

"Yes Ma'am! Sorry Ma'am."

He remained at attention until Marian had stopped spitting fire, then quietly crept to a corner to oversee his kit. He made a mental note to requisition a better commlink as soon as possible.

It was very clear to him that he was the only one with a sense of humor on the team, and that it would probably get him shuffled out or shot if he didn't keep a lid on it.

He patted his harness down, searching for his cigs, but immediately thought better of it. No need to risk antagonizing the two lieutenants further. Instead he pulled out his datapad and began running calculations on the explosives he'd brought with him.

[Binks]

The pilot breaks the silence a few minutes later. "We've hit orbit. I've got the holocomm linked up if you want to send a report. Just let me know when you're ready to go and I'll hit the hyperdrive for Helska. Out of curiosity what are we looking for there?"

[AvianMalkavian]

"The shuttle missing from the Ex-Gal outpost. Several of the scientists took it to investigate an asteroid headed towards Helska. Its possible they reached it, and we were tasked with discovering what happened," Wren stood, wincing just a touch as she seemed to remember her wound from the bug-like device that Carr had thrown at her, as she headed for the holocomm, she looked to the medical droid, "I will need you to see to my wound after I have sent my report."

Stepping up to the holocomm, she took a moment to straighten her uniform and clear her throat, "This is Lieutenant Wren, Designated Squad Leader of Delta-45. Our mission to investigate the Ex-Gal outpost was met with.. difficulties. The team is still learning to work with one another, as well as learning to maintain their composure both on and off the battlefield."

"Our investigation discovered that the Ex-Gal outpost had been sabotaged, though we still do not understand the motive behind this attack on the scientists. However, this was not a random act of Rebel terrorism. We encountered an alien, a species that I have never seen or heard of before, who had, apparently, infiltrated the outpost before sabotaging it."

"The creature in question made use of bizarre weaponry, living weaponry, to be exact. Master Osheda has also informed me of another peculiarity. Though my knowledge of the Force is limited, our most respected Jedi tells me that neither this creature, nor his equipment, could be 'felt' within the Force. She has suggested that this information be made available to the Emperor as soon as possible. The alien is currently being studied by our medical droid, and we shall contact you with any further discoveries."

"As for the scientists, they are all dead with the exception of a select few who took a shuttle to investigate an asteroid heading for Helska 4. We are heading for Helska 4 now, so that we may ascertain the whereabouts of the missing scientists and complete our mission."

[The_Snark]

Osheda listened to the post-mission rebuke with indifference; either she was remarkably sanguine about the operative's criticism, or she simply didn't feel it applied to her. Given the Jedi's disposition, the latter seemed far more likely. Only once did she show more than passing interest: when Marian looked around the room she found the older woman's eyes locked on her, a slight smile on her face.

The droid's pedanticism broke some of the tension. Osheda made a dismissive gesture in answer to its query. "No. Pointless. But flag his file for a full investigation, in case the slice can be traced. What species was he?" She frowned. Had he really been there for over ten years? Or was that part of the record also falsified?

[Binks]

"Human." the droid says, its answer sounding almost as though the question was silly.

The pilot's voice comes over the intercom. "Message sent. Transmission shows 4 by 5 reception. You want me to head to Helska now or wait for a response?" he says, clearly still a bit hesitant.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren frowned just a touch as she moved back to the comm, flipping the switch to communicate with the pilot again, "We'll wait to receive orders from Imperial Command."

She looked back to the medical droid as she found a seat, "I need you to see to my wound and make sure I haven't been poisoned."

[Binks]

The droid examines Wren quickly and efficiently and pronounces her to be in good condition with no signs of poison in her body.

It takes almost half an hour for a response to come back from Imperial Command. When it does it's quick and efficient, as expected.

"Message Received. Permission to proceed to Helska granted. The Relentless and its escorts will be moving into position to support. Command out."

Anyone who makes an Int check of 10+ (memory) or asks the droid.
The Relentless is an Imperial class Star Destroyer. It's a bit old, having been one of the last -1's produced, but it's known for having a skilled captain and crew.

Your pilot cuts in after the transmission. "Course laid in to Helska. It's about an hour long trip, so get comfortable back there." he says as the shuttle makes the jump to hyperspace.

[Hazuki]

Marian rests the back of her head against her seat, closing her eyes to take a nap. Beside her, IMP shuts down, its glowing eyes disappearing in the semi-darkness of the corner.

[Noedig]

Crim spent the short journey napping, taking a cue from Marian. Sleeping in relative safety was a luxury that he suspected they would not have again for awhile.

[Binks]

The shuttle's trip to Helska passes in relative silence. Precisely 56 minutes after departure the shuttle drops into the edge of the Helska system. Dead ahead hovers an Imperial Star Destroyer, its dagger-like bow pointed in towards the star. Around it are a few support vessels, Carrack cruisers and tender frigates.

The comm lights up almost immediately and the pilot feeds it back to you.

"This is Captain Dorja of the Relentless hailing special forces team Delta-45."

[Noedig]

Crim woke to the sound of the hail, and immediately had to suppress the urge to answer it. That was the Wren's job, and he was still gun shy from earlier. He was glad that they were going in with support though. The fleet assembled above Helska 4 looked like it could really bring down the hurt if necessary.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren sat in silence for the trip, simply going over what she had found out about the unknown alien. However, when they arrived and were immediately hailed by the Relentless, she was quick to get up and move to the comm, "This is Lieutenant Ozzel of special forces team Delta-45 responding. How may we be of assistance, Captain?"

[Binks]

The captain barks a quick laugh. "I was just about to ask you that. I have been ordered to assist you in your task. I was given few details, however, just that your squad was inbound to the Helska system to investigate some missing scientists and I was to aid you in any manner feasible."

"Care to explain what's so important about these scientists that they would draw the Emperor's attention? My orders came from the highest authorities in the Imperial Navy." he adds, clearly somewhat confused. Not confused enough to not obey his orders, of course, but clearly wanting more information as to what's going on.

As the captain pauses for a moment you see a red light pop on next to the hologram, the signal for a muted call (from your end). The pilot's voice comes from the front of the ship. "Anywhere specific you want me to go? Sensors aren't picking up anything unusual at the moment, though there's plenty of asteroid fields and other navigation hazards that could be hiding stuff." he says, glancing back at you through the door to the cockpit.

[AvianMalkavian]

"I'm afraid I am unable to entirely explain the situation, Captain Dorja. We are rather in the dark as to the truth of our own mission. However, we do thankful to have such a decorated Captain available to assist us in this endeavor," She turned her attention to the red light and then to the voice of the pilot, turning slightly so that she could better respond, "Have you been able to pick up an ion trail? Or anything to indicate the presence of their shuttle in the system? Set an approach vector for Helska 4."

And then Wren turned back to the hologram, offering a small nod and congenial smile, "We have no way of knowing if there may be any danger lurking nearby. However, should we come across any, we will happily make efforts to steer it your way, Captain."

[Binks]

"Hmm." the captain says, sounding a bit unconvinced. You can practically hear his thoughts. Which is more likely. Spec Ops have a mission they're keeping secret from me, or they really don't know what they're after here...

After a moment he continues. "Very well then. I will be ready for whatever comes our way then. Dorja out."

The shuttle begins moving, accelerating in-system. It's a minute or so before your pilot responds. "Got a very faint ion trail near the fourth planet. We're inbound now."

The shuttle flies through space, followed by the Relentless and escorted by a flight of TIEs. As the shuttle nears Helska-4 your pilot notes the presence of a large number of asteroids in orbit.

As you near the re-entry point you suddenly hear your pilot yell "Son of a Hutt!" as the shuttle jerk to the side. An instant later the shuttle rocks from a shockwave, it feels like a nearby detonation.

It's a tense few seconds as your pilot doesn't respond and the shuttle jerks around in space. The feel of the shuttle slamming into the atmosphere and re-assuming a straight course is almost comforting as your pilot turns to address you, the shuttle being effectively locked on course until re-entry is completed.

"Soon as we got near orbit those asteroids came to life. No idea what they are, but they vaped a TIE before we could respond. Our escort broke off to engage and distract the enemy ships. We're still intact, obviously, but it was a near thing for a bit there."

He waits to see if anyone else has any questions as the shuttle continues its descent towards the planet.

[Noedig]

Crim couldn't help but chuckle as he reassembled his kit.

"We may have unwittingly discovered and pissed off the sentient asteroid tribes of Helska 4. Congratulations on a flawless first contact, pilot."

He slid his helmet onto his head and heaved the bulging rucksack onto his back before turning to the Mando.

"How much are you willing to bet that the welcome on the ground will be unpleasant?"

[Hazuki]

Marian rises from her seat quietly, IMP floating up beside her a tad clumsily as she does so. The woman tightens the heavy gloves attached to her wrist, looking around the room briefly. Nothing was too out of place. She moves to the exit of the room and leans against it, her cold eyes watching the ship itself more than anyone in it.

[Binks]

The pilot glances back at Crim with a smirk. "I'm not taking that bet." he says, before turning serious for a moment.

"Any recommendations on how I should land? Sensors aren't reading much, but backplotting the ion trail gives an approximate re-entry vector. 'Course they could be klicks off that if they maneuvered much in atmo. You want me to just fly around until someone notices us or put us down near where the shuttle would have gone if it just came straight in?"

[AvianMalkavian]

"Take us in on the last known trajectory. If we don't see any signs of the scientists or their shuttle, we'll begin a fly over," Wren turned away from the comm and approached their information droid, crossing her arms, "Tell me what you know about Helska-4 that might be pertinent to our mission. What is the surface like? Is the atmosphere breathable? Any indigenous lifeforms? If so, are they dangerous?"

[Battleship789]

After reverting from hyperspace and receiving the notice from their pilot, Alstair and the droids returned to the cockpit of the shuttle from the supply area, where they had been studying the alien's body and weaponry for most of the short jump, after relocating there about 20 minutes through the trip. Releasing his vacuum seals, which had been closed while he was investigating the alien's weaponry, he arrived back at the cockpit just as the Lieutenant began speaking over the comm with Captain Dorja. He listened thoughtfully to the exchange while absentmindedly checking over his equipment and was interrupted when the asteroids attacked the shuttle and it's escort. After a short laugh at Crim's joke, he responded to Crim's bet:

"No bet from me either, Terix." with a snort of amusement. "With the reception we just received, I'm inclined to agree with our pilot."

[Binks]

"Helska IV is an aquatic world whose distance from its star causes the outer layers of ocean to freeze over for 96.7% of its orbit. Imperial survey probes have previously detected no signs of life on the planet, though it has been noted that the ocean could contain life at lower depths as those have not been properly surveyed."

"The planet has a barely breathable atmosphere, very limited carbon supplies mean that the atmosphere is primarily composed of Nitrogen, Oxygen and Hydrogen. Official Imperial survey reports recommend breath masks but they are not required."

"According to the records the surface is a large ice shelf, supposedly very pure ice as the planet was formed from a very young steller nebula, one with few heavier ele..."

The droid is cut off by the pilot before it can go any further. "No indigenous life, icy surface, barely breathable atmosphere. Great...why can't we ever visit a nice scenic place where the biggest danger is having too good a time?" he says, before hastily adding, "Course adjusted to follow the shuttle's re-entry vector."

[Noedig]

˝Oh stow it. You get to stay on the ship at least. We have to go out there and freeze are asses off. Thank the force for all temperature cloaks."

[Binks]

The shuttle comes in at a nice descent angle...right up until it suddenly lurches downwards. "Whoa!" the pilot says, as he turns back to his controls and frantically plays with them.

"Some kind of tractor beam. Powerful. Trying to break. Shields...what!?" you hear before the shuttle lurches again, upwards this time, before shooting off at full velocity.

"Coming in for a landing..." the pilot says, focused on his controls once more. You feel a slight tug on the shuttle, but it seems you're out of range as it quickly relents.

The shuttle lands hard, skidding to a stop as the engines flare. It's actually a relatively safe landing, far from any obstacles and relatively smooth for the circumstances, but it's definitely hard. The pilot slumps back in his seat. "We're down. Had to move to avoid the tractor, sorry about that. Beam was coming from pretty close to the shuttle's re-entry vector...I don't think searching the planet's going to be necessary."

"We're just on the other side of a glacier from whatever had the beam. About 10 klicks. I can get closer if you'd like, but I'd rather not risk moving unless needed. I'll have my comms open if you need evac, but if you do I recommend finding and disabling whatever's making that beam...or it's going to be a really short evac."

[AvianMalkavian]

Once they were safely landed, Wren went about getting dressed in the standard issue cold weather gear, holstering her blaster rifle and looking to the rest of the team, "I still don't entirely understand what the threat is that we're facing. However, I believe that we are capable of handling it and discovering the fate of the rest of these scientists. We are Imperial Special Forces, the best that the Empire has to offer. Let us show that the Emperor's faith in us was not misplaced."

She smiled just a touch at the pilot's words, looking to Crim, "Congratulations, it appears you'll have something to blow up, after all."

[Noedig]

Crim pulled out his all temperature cloak and donned it. He slid his helmet onto his head and secured a breath mask to it. Finally, he pulled up the hood of the cloak. It wasn't entirely necessary, but the baggy hood looked cool combined with his helmet. Very mysterious and dangerous looking. Sort of like Lt. Marian.

When Lt. Wren mentioned explosives, he grabbed his rucksack and slid his arms into the straps with a laugh.

"Today just keeps getting better. First we get to kill an alien, now we get to blow something up? And that something might be guarded by more aliens? L-T, my birthday isn't for six months. You need to stop spoiling me."

[Battleship789]

While the other members of Delta put on their cold weather gear, Alstair checked over his equipment again, as the generators in his armor and the armor itself were sufficient to hold off most cold temperatures. Even if the temperature was too cold for the generators, he could always seal up his suit without any hassle. With a small internal laugh at Crim's "spoiling," Alstair became serious and turned to Lieutenant Wren:

"On the subject of aliens, specifically the one who attacked us at Belkadan, I have a report to give on the alien's weaponry that I complied with the droids' assistance. I am sending the written form to you now." Alstair's voice changes slightly as he transfers the file from his helmet computer and begins to read the document that he has pulled up on his HUD (The written form contains additional information, though most of it is incredibly dry data from the medical droid's analysis. Alstair was given the layman's version by the droids and that is what he is repeating here. Most of the weaponry talk is actually him, and not the droids' condensed monologues...):

"Based off of the data the droids and I could gather during the short trip and some memories of the fight, we have gotten a respectable amount of useful information on the weapons. While the data on the bug is limited to 'it isn't poisonous,' I had much more success with the snake.

I was unable to coax it to spit again but the med droid did a basic analysis on the fluid that was left on Sgt. Terix's helmet and we were able to extract some venom from the fangs. Both are most likely a form of paralytic poison and are very powerful and fast acting.

The snake itself is virtually indestructible: Osheda's lightsaber didn't even leave a burn mark on the animal and tests conducted with a plasma torch did no apparent damage. With my armor's vacuum seals locked, I attempted to recreate the motions that the alien used during the battle, with limited success. The snake's natural form is rather flexible (the creature attempted to bite me during these tests and it was able to bend itself in half) but with the application of a moderate amount of force at the proper location, the animal will snap into a rigid posture, which I cannot change until the pressure is again exerted at the same position. Also, the head and tail of the snake become incredibly sharp when this position is pressed: it was able to scratch my armor with barely any force and it cut through a piece of scrap metal like the metal wasn't there. The medical droid's sensors say that the edges appear to be near atomic thinness, though it is baffled as to how the edges become so thin.

As for the snake's planet of origin: the med droid took a quick DNA sample of the snake and found no match in its limited database. The information droid was also unable to identify the snake or bug, to its dismay.

In conclusion, it is a definitely a weapon of war, and a particularly deadly one. However, I believe that the risk is too great for someone to attempt to train with it, especially with the poison. The snake attempted to bite me multiple times and, if it weren't for my armor, I would have been poisoned several times over."

[Hazuki]

"It would be prudent to deliver it to an Imperial lab." Marian comments from her perch in the doorway, as her little droid glides around and scans Crim, hurrying back to Marian as she dons the dear suitable for the ice planet. With a few modifications to the device attached to her belt, a hologram of Crim covers Marian and she stands up of her own volition, prepared to leave.

[Noedig]

"Yeah the egg heads in intelligence will have a field day with those."

Crim looked at the hologram Marian was wearing.

"Ha! And my parents told me I was an only child. Liars."

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren frowned a touch at the information that was relayed to her by Alstair, "The fact that this weapon is so.. durable is rather disturbing. Still, blaster bolts seem to work well enough against them. It goes without saying that anyone not wearing armor with environmental seals should attempt to avoid getting close enough to these things that they would risk exposure to the venom."

She grabbed one of the breathing masks, putting it on before turning her attention back to their rather silent Jedi companion, "We are ready to leave when you are, Master Osheda."

[The_Snark]

The Jedi nodded but remained seated for a few moments longer, staring at nothing in particular with a faraway look on her face. Then she rose, one hand brushing against her lightsaber to make sure it was still at her belt, and made her way towards the shuttle ramp.

[Noedig]

Rifle at the ready, Crim stepped off the shuttle and on to the frozen world.

[Binks]

The group steps out into the icy chill. Immediately a cold wind blows in from the west, making it very clear that this planet is not a comfortable one.

The glacier the pilot pointed out is clearly visible in the distance. As you head towards it you can vaguely hear the sound of explosions in the sky above, looking up it appears that at least part of the space battle has entered the upper atmosphere as you see an explosion almost directly over your heads.

It's a reasonably quick trip, taking just shy of an hour and a half to traverse the distance to the glacier. By the time you arrive there the battle above your heads has long since ended, though you can't be sure who the victor was. It seems entirely reasonable to assume, however, that whatever the asteroid things were they were no match for an Imperial Star Destroyer.

As you approach the glacier you begin to feel a low hum in your boots. It feels like some kind of machinery or something is buried here, perhaps an underground facility of some kind. According to the pilot you should be within a klick of the tractor beam's origin point, just on the other side of the glacier.

[Noedig]

Crim hugged his all temperature cloak closer as they moved to their objective. The humming was oddly reassuring to him. Perhaps there was a facility under the ice, and if that was the case, perhaps it would have heaters.

He turned and waved a hand signal at Wren, wondering if they were running comm silent.

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren did her best to shrug off the cold wind as it cut into her, pulling her cold weather gear a bit tighter around herself as they made their approach towards the glacier. She briefly wondered about the presence of a facility under the ice, but if there was one here why hadn't the information droid made mention of it? It was a question for another time, however. What was important was dealing with the tractor beam.

Turning to Crim, and deciding to maintain comm silence for the time being, she moved to him, arching a slightly frosted brow, "Yes? What is it, Sergeant?"

[Noedig]

"What's our ROE? I forgot to ask on the shuttle. I don't really think there's anything friendly on this planet, judging by our reception, but figured I'd ask you L-T."

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren nodded again, looking over the rest of the squad to make sure that they could all hear, "From the information provided by our droid, the planet has no indigenous life on the surface. As such, our ROE is KOS unless I order otherwise. Now, lets move out."

And with that, she turned and began moving around the glacier, blaster rifle at the ready.

[Noedig]

Crim nodded and unslung his rifle. He loaded a power cell into it and flicked the safety off before following Wren.

[Binks]

The group comes around the glacier to find a plain of ice stretching before them. In the distance more glaciers can be seen jutting up from the ground, while closer to the group a series of holes in the ice drop away with no bottom in immediate sight. A short distance away a cave is visible, a gentle sloping descent of ice that leads to somewhere underground. There are no signs of life in the immediate area.

[Noedig]

An idea popped into Crim's head when he saw the holes in the ground. This both worried and elated him, as his idea's were usually fun, if a little hazardous.

"Hey L-T, I bet those holes lead to whatever is making that humming noise. My guess is they're vents or intakes of some kind. We could fast rope down and infiltrate, catch whoever's down there by surprise. Please? It'll be fun, I promise."

[AvianMalkavian]

Lieutenant Wren took a moment to consider the Sergeant's suggestion, looking over both the holes and the cave that appeared to likely lead down to where they needed to go, "It would seem likely that any enemies would expect an attack to come from the cave, and catching them off guard by taking an unexpected route might help us in the assault. Still..."

She moved closer to one of the holes, looking down into the seemingly unending darkness, "We have no way of knowing just how deep this goes and I have no interest in finding we've run out of rope and lost precious time. It may be the more cautious route, but we're taking the caves."

[Noedig]

Crim nodded, slightly crestfallen.
"Ok, your call Ma'am."

[Binks]

As your team approaches the cave entrance the more perceptive among you hear a noise, a guttural but rhythmic sound that could be speech. Finding some rocks to take cover behind you're able to observe as two beings that looks vaguely similar to the alien you fought before emerge from the cave entrance. The sound you heard is them speaking to each other in an alien dialect you don't understand.

The two beings begin looking around, standing next to each other and still chatting as they scan the nearby area. They both hold the snake-like weapons and have a few of the gray-ish bugs that Wren was hit with on their waists. They also have a red-ish bug that appears to have some spikes on it in the same spot.

Map to come later when I have time. For now the rocks you're hiding behind are about 70ft from the entrance. They're standing side-by-side at the entrance and haven't seen you yet.

[Battleship789]

Pulling his electrobinoculars out of his armor storage, Alstair looked between the rocks at the aliens. After looking for a few seconds, he turned to the others and said:

"Almost certainly the same species as 'Carr,' though they appear to have a another bug type. Looks pretty similar to the bugs 'Carr' had. How do we want to approach this, Lieutenant?"

[Noedig]

Crim kept his voice as low as possible. The aliens were some distance away, but he wasn't keen on alerting them.

"I vote for a nice solid double-tap. Preferably from here, where it's safe. "

[AvianMalkavian]

Wren looked at the two of them before nodding, "I agree. I'm not particularly interested in seeing just how capable they are with those staves."

With that, she turned to Marian, "Lieutenant Alfsigr, can you take them out quickly and quietly?"