It was a rainy day once again on Tadath. For the past week the barracks had been pelted with never ending rain. Most people remained in the halls of the barracks and other buildings, choosing to walk the tunnels that led from building to building. This still had its downside. It never before seemed there were too many people at the Army headquarters, but now the halls were filled with people, making getting anywhere impossible. Moving through a tunnel that led away from the office building, which was home to some of the higher commanding officers, Kairo finally had had enough.

  "Ok, all you unimportant people, move!" Kairo yelled at the back of the heads in front of him. Only a few heads turned at his outburst, and no one moved. Infuriated, Kairo squeezed to the side of the indoor walkway and tried to crawl past the limitless supply of people. This is ridiculous. What are all these people doing here? No one goes to this building unless they're a commanding officer. Oh, they're all technicians and orderlies. Great. After another two minutes of not getting anywhere, Kairo looked around for an escape route.

  Spotting a door a few feet ahead of him, Kairo looked out side in hopes that the rain had died down only to have a strike of lighting and peel of thunder meet him. I've been through worse. As he was about to open the door, another voice spoke in the back of his mind. You only have twenty minutes until the meeting. You will have to get changed in that time if you go out there, plus you'll still have to walk the halls after that. Pausing a moment, Kairo considered it. With out further delay, he threw open the door and rain out side.

________________________  Twenty Minutes Later ____________________________


  Dripping into the briefing room, Kairo pushed his soaked hair back away from his face. The uniform he had been wearing was totally wet and completely form fitting. Without showing a trace of embarrassment or doubt, he walked around the room, ignoring the dumbstruck looks that followed him. "Uh, sir, do you need anything?" a feminine voice from the table in the middle of the room asked.

  "No Alasse, I'm fine, but thank you for asking." Kairo answered as he reached his seat. Brushing the back of his pants to remove as much moisture as he could, Kairo sat in the head chair. Looking down the line of soldiers, Kairo looked each and every one of them in the face, discerning and judging what they were capable of doing from their eyes. "Welcome to the new Jester squad's first meeting. The first thing you will notice is, I'm not Kiption. I will be taking you on this mission, because he has been asked to do some other work for the Army for a bit. If you have a problem with that, tell me now. Some of you have been with Jester for awhile now, but a lot of you are new faces. As you know, Storm platoon has been losing members on the missions it's been sent on, while some of them have retired. Due to this, I've decided to group the best and living into a single squad. Those of you that are here have been taken through rough situations and broken from the soft shells of academy soldiers to reliable men and women.

  "So enough chit chat, it's time we sent you out on your first mission together." Taking a moment to breathe, Kairo brushed a strand of hair away from his vision. Pressing a button in front of him on the table, a holo-projection of a planet started to spin above the middle of the table. "This is Cerea, a planet that is ripe for us to add to our Empires resources, but not for a while yet. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves from Thrawn or the New Republic. Now, what we need to do is land a small group on the planet and start looking around. Visit a few of the cities and chat with the locals. We will split into two groups. One will go to two of the planet's main cities, while the other will head into a forest area where our first exploration team met some resistance. All we have know is that a group of men, who went into the jungle, found themselves being hunted by something and barely made it back to their ship. Well, most of them made it back anyway.

  "What the higher ups want to know is if this planet is even worth taking. We need to know what the people's feelings are to the Empire. What resources does it have to offer? What is this hidden threat in the jungle? Can we take it out easily? Now, group one will consist of me, Yillis, Aobee, Abstinance, and Keef. We will be going to Rathmore and Fel'stine, the planet's two main cities. They are located in the upper hemisphere of the planet. We'll land there and pose as traders to gain information. Our stay will be short in each city, so gather as much information as you can. Once we are done, we will then leave the planet and enter from the other side to meet up with group two. I hope you can figure out who group two is, but if not, Alasse, Phenix, Madstar, and Nicholas, you are group two. You will be going to the jungle and searching for whatever attacked our first reconnaissance group. You will, of course, go well armed and prepared. Alasse, you will be leading the group. Find whatever it is that's there and take it out if you can. If you run into any serious trouble, send us a message and we'll drop whatever we're doing and head to your coordinates. So, any questions?" Switching off the holo-image, Kairo looked around the table.

  "What will our equipment be?" Abstinance asked.

  "For group one, we will go with concealed weapons. Anything you can hide is fine with me. Change into some normal clothes and take some with you, but our armor is waiting on the shuttle in case we have to use it. Group two, you get as much as you want. You will be given this squads normal equipment, but can take anything extra you feel is necessary. Your armor is in each of your rooms. It is a set of jungle trooper armor to help you blend into your surroundings. We don't know what was that's out there, so stay sharp. Hopefully, whatever it was is already dead. Any other questions." No one responded. "Our shuttle leaves in two hours. The trip will be a short one, since we don't have far to go. Be ready and meet me at the hanger bay. Dismissed."

    Everyone got up and started to leave the room, even though the beginning of Kairo's speech had said they had been through a lot, he knew that some of them hadn't seen anything yet. Time to break in some more green horns. As Kairo got up from his chair, the fabric clung to his clothes, forcing him to peal himself off inch by inch. Next time, do as I advise. His conscience advised. Checking to see how damp he was, Kairo grimaced and headed for his room. Once he arrived at another connecting hallway full of people, Kairo's grimace turned into a grin. "Well I'm already wet." Opening the door, Kairo ran outside once again and headed toward the Storm platoon barracks.


-----------------------
Gunnery Sergeant Kairo
Platoon Adjutant
*DarkDragoons*

PL:A/GSG Kairo/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][CoV]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

Alasse left the briefing room the moment Kairo had dismissed them. She immediately headed towards her room and luckily for her, there weren't many people there blocking her way.

In the privacy of her room, she put on the jungle trooper armor, minus the helemt of course, and grabbed an empty haversack. Looking through her things, she stuffed in a MedPac in case of injuries, a couple of Ration Packs, a set of throwing knives, her towel as well as her DD6 Light Blaster Pistol. On hand she held her E-11 rifle.

It had been some time since she last did a mission and she didn't want to be unprepared. After a thorough double check of her equipment, especially her communicator, she was pretty much all set to go.

With slightly more than an hour left, she decided she might as well grab a bite to eat. Slinging her haversack over her shoulder, the helmet in one hand and the rifle in the other, she locked her room and left.

Yillis was at the back of the room and waited till the rest of the squad left the room. He got up slowly and started to leave. He paused at the doorway and watched the train of people pass by, waiting for a hole. He got his chance and jumped into the full hallway. He had barely made it out the door when a wookiee rushed by him almost knocking him right over. This is crazy! We definitely need to invest in larger tunnels.

He made it back to his room and pulled open a few drawers jam-packed with weapons. He pulled out a set of Flyhigh throwing knives and closed the drawers. Walking over to a picture of him and his brother, he pressed the frame of the photo. The picture popped away from the wall and revealed twin IR-5 Intimidator Repeating Blaster Pistols. &I hope Geth can handle himself in the navy&

Taking just a moment to recollect his thoughts, he proceeded over to the cabinet that was filled with all his non-army clothes. Never thought I'd be going on a mission not wearing armor, but hey, the brass isn't dumb, I hope& Packing two outfits into a bag, along with his knives and twin blasters. Looking to check what time it was, he saw that only an hour had passed. He decided to call Geth's wife, Glissa, to tell her where he would be.

After talking to Glissa, he checked his chrono again and had still 45 minutes, so he decided to head on down to the shuttle. Checking outside his room there was noticeably less traffic than the other parts of the complex. He grabbed his bag and left his room following the route that would take him to the shuttle. On the way he ran into a few friends that wished him luck on the mission, and all Yillis could say was thanks before they were out of sight.

Getting to the shuttle roughly fifteen minutes later, he put his gear in the holding area on the shuttle and went out to talk to some of the workers. A few minutes later Phenix showed up, looking eager to get on a mission. Yillis just laughed and help him bring his gear onto the shuttle.

 
-----------------------
Corporal Yillis
TRP/CPL Yillis/SQD/PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [WM] [GS]
Rep/GameRep Yillis/GameRep: 6/Gaming Division/VET /VE

  Once Kairo had reached the Storm platoon barracks, he was completely soaked. As he stepped inside from the torrent outside, he tried to wipe his shoes off at the door, but once he started to walk down the hall, he left a trail of water behind him. Well that's going to cause work for someone. Feeling a pang of guilt, Kairo walked hurriedly down the hall. Once he reached his room, he quickly opened the door and jumped inside. Stripping out of his sodden clothes, Kairo shook his head from the echoing sound of rain. Spray flew from his hair as he shook himself. Sighing, he examined the mess he had made, and went to his refresher unit to get a towel. Once he had dried himself off, he looked in a mirror to see what he looked like. His hair had become a tangled mop on top of his head, but that was what it normally looked like.

  Putting the mirror to the side, he picked up his damp clothes and hung them in the refresher unit. They'll be dry by the time I get back. Moving to his closet, he pulled out three sets of clothes. One was a black suit which rose all the way to his neck, fitting him snuggly. It would make him look like a man of business, or so he hoped. Putting that one to the side, he looked his next set of clothing. This one had a pair of black pants with a green shirt. A belt and calf high boots would complete the ensemble for another look. Placing that on top of the suit, he looked what remained. There were a black pants and black shirt, with a double sided cloak. One side was completely black, while the other was grayish. On one side of the cloak were four pieces of fabric which would hold four of his knives perfectly. A belt with a hidden holster fit comfortably around the pants. Along with the shirt came a wrist holster for another weapon. Last was a pair of leather boots.

  Picking the last pair of clothes off the bed, Kairo changed into them and moved to his weapons cabinet. Pulling it open, he pulled out four daggers and put them inside the cloak. Next he put a small hold out blaster in his wrist holster and a vibro-blade into his right boot. He also slid a Mynock slug throwing pistol into his left boot. Next, he grasped his extendable vibro-pike, which now looked like a harmless hand and a half cylinder, and attached it to his belt. Brushing his hand over his highly modified blaster, named Dragon's Fury, and quietly said, "Not this time." Pulling out a Kylon-3 blaster, he put it on the back of his belt in the concealed holster. Stepping back, he closed the cabinet then the closet. Packing his two other pairs of clothes into a bag, he checked to see if he was missing anything. Throwing some rations and twenty-five thousand credits into his bag, he walked to his desk. Picking up his datapad, comlink, and chronometer, he slipped them into their proper places on his personage. Grabbing the bag, Kairo left the room and locked the door.

_________________________  Thirty minutes later _____________________________

  Kairo arrived five minutes before the shuttle was designated to leave. The whole squad had been getting apprehensive from his absence. "Everyone on board. Since we're all here, we can leave a little early. I trust you have all put your things on board?" They all nodded. "Then get a move on."

  He waited until everyone had boarded the shuttle before he walked up the ramp. Sealing it behind him, Kairo threw his bag into the empty room left for him on the ship as he walked to the cockpit. "You're not flying, are you Kairo?" Yillis' voice asked from down the hall.

  "Yes I am actually. You better strap in." Kairo said sarcastically over his shoulder.

  "Everyone brace themselves. It's going to be a bumpy ride." Yillis called out before, Kairo disappeared into the cockpit.

  Little nuisance. Kairo thought as he started the engines. He had flown plenty of times in his life, but he wasn't a born pilot. Where others were able to make it seem effortlessly smooth, Kairo had never been gifted with that talent. He enjoyed piloting land vehicles, but space was a different feeling. Lifting the shuttle off of the hanger bay's surface, he flipped on the comunit which would carry his voice throughout the shuttle. "We'll be arriving in an hour and a half. A short flight, so do whatever you want to prepare along the way. Once we arrive, we will be dropping off team two before my team heads to the first city." Shutting off the comunit, Kairo moved the shuttle out of the hanger bay and started the assent out of Tadath's atmosphere.

 
-----------------------
Gunnery Sergeant Kairo
Platoon Adjutant
*DarkDragoons*

PL:A/GSG Kairo/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][CoV]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

Once everyone had boarded the shuttle, they were off. Her group would be first to get off the shuttle so she decided not to get too comfortable during the short journey. Pacing around a little, it wasn't long before they received the signal from Kairo to prepare for the jump.

"Alright." she simply responded as all four of them from group 2 got ready their equipment and picked up their packs.

She awaited the signal to jump. She was clutching into her E-11 rifle, personally hoping that nothing attacked them the moment they landed. "1..2..3.. go!" They had been given the ok to jump. With no hesitation, she jumped and made it off the shuttle, onto the forest floor below.

Looking around to make sure none of them had gotten injured during the jump, she watched as the shuttle flew off. Thereafter, a quick scan of the area told her what she needed to know. Someone or something had been here previously as the grass at the area they were in had been totaly flattened.

It was now up to the four of them to find out what had attacked their men previously. Sighing, she signaled to the others that it was time to go. Whatever it was, it was likely it was still alive.
 
-----------------------
Alasse
FTL/CPL Alasse/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [LoR]

    Phenix readied his weapons, just to make sure he was prepared for combat before anything could take advantage of the team. He was determined not to be intimidated by his superiors...he would prove he was just as good as any one of them.

    Phenix waited for Alasse's lead, and continued to follow with the rest of the squad. As the group proceeded down the flatenned path, Alasse gave everyone their positions. Phenix and Alasse kept on the path with Phenix covering rear, as Madstar and Nicholas stayed about 20 feet to the sides, Nicholas the left and Madstar on the right.

    By this time, the team was fully suited up and had already checked their vital systems and communications. Through the team's channel, Alasse ordered them to proceed with caution, and notify the group of anything suspicious.

    As the minutes went by, the team finally came upon a foreign signature on the scanners, but it showed very weak life signs. Alasse gave permission for Nicholas and Madstar to move ahead and intercept the lifeform. Phenix and Alasse stayed low on the side of the trail, covering the other two soldiers. Luckily, Phenix had his sniper rifle, so he could target anything before it would see Nicholas and Madstar.

    Several minutes later, Madstar's voice came over the comm with a report. "We have intercepted the target and he has been restrained. We are bringing him to you, Corporal."

    Through his scope, Phenix could see the Nicholas and Madstar, with the other creature, who was humanoid, between them. It didn't seem to have hostile intentions, judging from the way it walked. They escorted the target without struggle, and as they got closer, Phenix could see that they didn't even have to hold on to him.

    The alien was a tall Ithorian who suffered from a large cut over his left eye. The closer they got, the more Phenix could see that the Ithorian went through some sort of struggle, as he looked injured all around his body.

    "This Ithorian has information on the creature that has been causing some serious trouble for the local population, especially for major foraging companies," Madstar informed Alasse. "It seems this planet has been inhabited by these herbivore Ithorians for quite some time now."

    The Ithorian, who introduced himself as Yytsirk, took a hard breath and began to speak in Basic.

    "Only recently have we discovered this creature, as it seems to have resided in this jungle. We began getting resources from a certain rare tree that grows valuable fruit, but is quite abundant in this ecosystem. The creature also must feed from the trees, as it protects them with a fierce vengeance. After the creature discovered that we were taking from the trees, it has attacked us unrelentlessly.

    The creature is wild, and doesn't speak any language...trust me, we tried negotiation. If you plan to attack the creature, you will need more than those weapons. Its body is made up of a thick natural armor, and standard lasers won't penetrate it. Worst of all, the creature has learned our transport routes, which is how it located my crew...I was the only survivor."

    Alasse signalled for Nicholas to remove the restraints on the Ithorian's hands. Yytsirk rubbed his wrists and gave Alasse a nod of appreciation.

    "We need you to tell us exactly what you know about this creature's living habits, all known spotted locations, and anything else you think is important. We will provide you with medical care to treat your wounds. We need to know what happened to a recon team that was attacked in this area, and we believe it could be this monster," Alasse instructed.

    "The only reason for the monster to attack anyone is if it sees them taking from the Graandula trees...the monster is a herbivore, as well as us. I am not sure this creature is necessarily the one you are looking for. You are from the human datatchment camped across the border, are you not? They do not wear armor such as yours," the Ithorian replied...

-----------------------
Private First Class Phenix
Jesters Squad
Storm Platoon
Army of the Vast Empire
TRP/LCPLPhenix/3SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE [LoR]

"Let me help you tie the rope around your neck..."

As the explosion struck, Nicholas pulled down, gripping his weapon tightly, and took out his scanner. He started a scan, finding nothing for about thirty seconds, but then realized that there were actually about ten human life forms to the south coming their way.

"Corporal, there are ten human life forms heading our way. I cannot seem to tell where they are from, but they are armed," he said into his com link.
"Ok, we will have to intercept them, but I don't know how with only four of us. Ok, Phenix will go more south on this side of the path, and stay hidden. I will go north a little more with Yytsirk, while Madstar and Nicholas will do the same, Nicholas south and Madstar north." Alasse gave orders to the team, "When I give my signal, we will ambush them, but Phenix and Nicholas must properly make sure they do not attempt to escape on your side, but you must also make sure there are no more of them."

Nicholas, Madstar, Phenix and Yytsirk did what they were told, keeping fully hidden, yet ready to quietly jump out and intercept the ten soldiers. As the ten of the soldiers came closer, Nicholas could see more and more of the ten of them. They seemed to be a New Republic recon group.

Nicholas glanced over at Alasse and Yytsirk, ready for the signal, as the soldiers appeared faster and faster. At the exact second that the ten of them were in the center of the team, Alasse gave the signal and the five of them slid out.

Nicholas picked one of the back soldiers in the head and yelled, "Freeze!." 

Phenix and Madstar had shot out two other men, while Alasse shot out two herself. That made five of them left, just enough so they couldnt surprise them and take them out. Nicholas checked behind them, but the path stood empty.

"Alright who are you guys?" ordered Alasse, her weapon aimed right for any of them who decided to move.


-----------------------
TRP/PFC Nicholas Star/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA [LoR]

"You can trust none but your own weapons."

    Phenix felt a sudden urge to jump the trigger as he pointed it at the head of the closest man. He was careful to keep his eyes jumping between the enemy group so that none of them could try to pull something fast on his squad. He could see the strain of fear in each of their eyes, but also felt the tension within himself.

    Madstar was careful to check over each of the group members as well, but Nicholas stayed focused on just one unit. He kept his stare on the aimer, keeping it pointed at one man. If anyone was going to be taken by surprise, it would be Nicholas.

    "I want hands up and the leader to step forward! Drop anything in your hands onto the ground, and do it fast!" she screamed to the group.

    Just as soon as half the group had their hands in the air, two or three units sent blaster fire through the air, none of them being close to hitting a target. Phenix sent a shot straight into the back of one shooter, sending him crawling to the ground. He didn't know who the other two shooters were, so he jumped into the group and grabbed the closest man to him.

    Phenix grabbed the enemy's arm around the wrist and twisted it backwards, dislocating it at the shoulder. Another of the group tried to knock Phenix over, but he quickly caught his balance and threw down the attacker by the throat.

    Phenix saw two other members of his squad move into the group and restrain the rest of them. Just as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off, Alasse sent a shot into the back of the head of one of the other shooters.

    "Now, tell me who you are before we take the rest of you out!" Alasse ordered.

    With a final hesitation, one man indicated himself as the leader and revealed that they were a scout squad of a Rebel detatchment, looking for an Imperial recon squad reported to be sneaking around in the jungle somewhere...

They must be talking about the other squad that got attacked... Phenix thought.
 
-----------------------
Private First Class Phenix
Jesters Squad
Storm Platoon
Army of the Vast Empire
TRP/LCPLPhenix/3SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE [LoR]

"Let me help you tie the rope around your neck..."

  It was harder to reach the main political building than it looked from the turbo-lift. After stopping to ask directions from a nice old woman, Kairo made it to the building after three minutes. Stepping through the main doors, he was stopped by a security guard. "I need to ask you to give me any weapons you are carrying sir."

  Turning his head to the side, Kairo looked at the man. He was muscularly built, more so than Kairo at least, and had two weapons at his side. "Are you going to frisk me if I say I don't have any?"

  "No, but you are going to step through that scanner over there when you enter the building. Things always take longer if you have a weapon on when you walk through." Kairo sighed. He could tell that the man liked the sound of his own voice. "You see, when it detects a person with a weapon, ten stun bolts get shot from ten different directions into the doorway. No one gets through. Then, we haul whoever the stupid person is into a special room we like to call The Booth. After about ten hours or so, we let the poor person go. Well, that is if he has been a good boy, tells us what he was planning, and gives us his word that he won't do anything like it again. Now, do you have any weapons?"

  Waiting a few seconds, Kairo responded, "Sure, but all I have is this knife in my boot. Would that have triggered your machine?"

  "Yes, it would have. Now move along." The guard moved back to his position next to the door, waiting for the next victim he would bore to death. Wow, he finally shut up. And he gave me a nice, detailed explanation about this places security system. Of course, it probably hasn't had a lot of fancy equipment delivered recently, and I do so love testing my nice cloak. Stepping through the second doorway from the outer hall, Kairo absently crossed his fingers. As he continued to walk through into the building, Kairo quietly whistled a small tune. Too bad that guard didn't ask me to take off my cloak with the handy dandy sensor scrambler, and, of course, my boots, otherwise, he might have actually caught someone.

  Stepping in front of a map of the building, Kairo scanned through the list of sections and found the catalog library. After walking through the halls for a few minutes, he had finally made it to his destination. Looking down at his chronometer, he saw that he had about forty-five minutes left until he was to return to the ship. "I just love digging through news and shipment logs from the past few months."

  "Shush." A busybody woman put her finger in front of her lips and pointed at a sign. Another reason I hate libraries.

_______________________ Deep in the Jungle _________________________

  "We're part of a New Republic detachment in this sector." The leader of the squad explained. Now that their numbers were down to six people, along with a blaster pointing at his head, he didn't seem to waste anytime revealing their mission. Speaking quickly, he kept his eyes on Alasse's finger, which hovered precariously over the trigger of the blaster pointing straight at his forehead. "We were sent into the jungle to find a group of Imperials. Their shuttle was spotted landing around here about a month ago. We haven't found the shuttle or them yet, and we've been at it for the past three weeks."

  "You expect us to believe that you've been wandering around this jungle for three weeks straight?" Phenix asked with a slight, mocking tone to his voice.

  "Wawehwell, we have a base set up near by, and we get sent out in shifts." A different Republic trooper said from the other side of the group.

  "Be quiet, Private." The leader snapped. Alasse's foot shot out and kicked him in the stomach. As the first speaker crumpled to the ground, she turned to the private and said, "No, no, please, continue."

  Eyes widening, the man broke into a quick stream of words. "Our base is located in the mountains. That way," he pointed to the north, "And there are Five other squads stationed there. The Republic has been looking to establish this planet as part of its territories. The Ithorians have met us with some displeasure, but that's just because they feel like we're taking the planet away from them."

  "Five squads, huh?." Nicholas muttered.

  "Are you the only group on patrol right now?" Alasse continued to probe the man.

  "Uh, yes, but, if we don't report in, they'll send a group of looking for us. A group of Ithorians have taken to harassing us when we're out here. Wrecking the environment or something like that." The Private finished and looked around. The rest of his squad were sending him looks of disdain. "What?"

  "Don't you know to shut up?" Another Republic soldier spat at him.

  Alasse walked over to the helpful private and put her arm around him. "He's just being a good little boy. Now, is there anything else any of you feel like telling us?" There were no responces. "Well then," she said. Raising her hand into the air, she gave the rest of the squad a signal. A second later, the rest of the Republic soldiers were lying on the ground, stunned.

  "Why didn't we just kill them?" Phenix asked.

  "Because Kairo might want to have a chat with them," Alasse replied. "Keep an eye on them and the perimeter," she ordered the group. "Put them over by that tree and keep a look out. I'm going to send Kairo a signal."

________________________ Back at the Library ________________________

  After thirty five minutes searching for anything useful, Kairo was just about to give up and head to the shuttle when a shipment log jumped out at him. "Of course," he whispered. He'd already been snapped at by the apparent librarian. Why didn't I think of it sooner. Switching his search list to contain items that would be used during a long term campaign, he immediately found what he wanted. Food supplies, hardware, communication equipment, spare speeder parts, tools, water, and everything else have all been ordered by that name and sent to... the same place somewhere on this planet. I bet if I look up the company's owners, I'll find something linking it to the NR military. Bingo. Pushing back from his seat, Kairo winked at the librarian as he left the room. I bet she hates me now.

  As he entered the outer hall a minute later, he threw a mock salute to the guard and exited the building. It took him only ten minutes to make it back to the shuttle this time. Stepping inside, he tapped his boot impatiently. A second later, the shuttle entered the mountainside. As he was stepping out of the shuttle into the hanger, Kairo's comlink chirped at him. Clicking it on, he continued to make his way to the squad's shuttle. "Yes?"

  "This is Alasse sir." A voice came through the speaker.

  "Are you in trouble?" Kairo asked, adrenaline rushing through his body.

  "No, but we do have some useful information I think you might want to hear in person."

  "We'll be there in fifteen minutes. Give me your coordinates." Kairo ordered as he made it to the ship. Yillis and the rest of the group were waiting for him. Waving them inside, he memorized the numbers Alasse gave him. "Good, sit tight. We'll be there soon." Shutting of the comlink, Kairo stepped into the shuttle and said, "Get into your armor. We might be having a little fun soon." Grabbing the bag his armor was inside, Kairo walked to the cockpit. After guiding the shuttle back through the mountain's winding tunnels, Kairo put Alasse's coordinates into the computer and set the ship to autopilot. Opening the bag, he started to change into his armor.

(OOC Ok, so, basically, if you can't get an idea of what we're going to be doing, we're going to take destroy the Republic outpost that they've built in the mountains. Once the two groups meet up again, I'll probably question the leader personally and alone while you guys set up base. We'll wait a night before setting out. Also, we could use the rebellious Ithorian group I mentioned in the story to aid us. There are quite a few ways to take this story now, and I hope you make it as creative as you can. The only real goal is to make it to the Republic outpost, get inside, and take it over before they get some sort of distress signal out. If you have any questions, e-mail me, ask in a comnet message, or even in our squad area on the comnet. Sorry, I couldn't get this up sooner. I hope this sparks some more posts. )

 
-----------------------
Gunnery Sergeant Kairo
Platoon Adjutant

PL:A/GSG Kairo/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][CoV]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

In the shuttle back, Kairo started asking the two group's questions, and found out he knew more than they did. They mostly found out that there was a base in the mountains, but could only assume if it was NR or not. Kairo went back to concentrating on flying and the com system went quiet. As soon as Kairo's voice stopped, Yillis pulled out some beverages from the local bars they went in.

"We'll keep this for celebration later," He said with a huge smile.

Everyone started shaking their heads, which made Yillis grin even more, and he got up to put the booze at the back of the shuttle. Just as he was getting back Kairo's voice came back over the com.

"Everyone get ready, we're meeting up with the other group now."

Kairo dropped the shuttle a little rough in the jungle, and came out of the cockpit.

"Let's go," and walked to the opening door. The rest of his group followed him out, where he was talking to Alasse.

After Alasse explained the situation, she showed him the prisoner. Kairo told everyone to give him a few minutes alone with him, and the rest of the squad headed to the shuttle to unload some gear to set up a base.


 
-----------------------
Corporal Yillis
TRP/CPL Yillis/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [WM] [GS]
Rep/GameRep Yillis/GameRep: 6/Gaming Division/VET /VE

  After ordering everyone else to give him time with the captured New Republic trooper, he directed the man back into the ship. Before entering through the hatch, Kairo turned and said, "Keep a patrol. Go in shifts of two. If you aren't doing that, start setting up a base. There are plenty of supplies in the back cargo bay of the ship. Make sure we can defend this area or fall back to it if things get out of hand." With that, he followed the man he had pushed inside. "Well then. It looks like it is just you and me. Please, have a seat." Kairo motioned toward the benches lining the walls. "One of my troopers told me that you are quite helpful. Is this true?" Kairo pulled his Kylon-3 from its holster and placed it next to him on the bench.

  The Private's eyes darted to the gun while his mouth said, "Yes, sir."

  "No need for formality here. Now, apparently you and the rest of your platoon have set up a base in the mountains above this forest. Is that correct?"

  "Yes it is, but to be more precise, have of it is actually built into the mountain. We salvaged some old mines we found there. Apparently there weren't any good materials to harvest, but they do serve nicely." The Private was a gushing fountain of information. Kairo couldn't believe how inept he was.

  Smiling, Kairo walked over to a store cabinet and asked, "Are you thirsty?"

  Shocked, the young man immediately replied, "Extremely."

  Pulling out a bottle of water, Kairo walked back to his bench and placed it next to him. "You seem to know quite a lot and are willing to tell me anything I want to know. Keep it up, and you might be rewarded." The Private nodded. "So, how many other squads did you say there were besides this one?"

  "Five: two infantry, one vehicle, and two scout. We were one of the scout squads."

  "Why were you patrolling the forest around here." Kairo continued to probe.

  "Well, an Imperial shuttle crash landed somewhere in this forest about a month ago. We have been looking for it in shifts. Each day a different scout squad gets sent out. Unfortunately, an Ithorian guerilla group has been harassing us. Another scout squad will come looking for us if we don't report back soon. They may have already sent them. . . Hey, where are you going? Can I have the water now?"

  Kairo was already down the ramp though with the Kylon-3 back in its holster. As he exited the shuttle, he called Yillis over and said, "Keep an eye on him. Give him the water on the bench, but don't let him do anything else. Don't even talk to him if he starts to blather." Yillis nodded. Looking around, Kairo saw the Phenix and Nicholas weren't around. Must be out patrolling. The rest of the squad were building up barricades in the surrounding jungle. Fortunately, the area had a large rock outcropping to one side of it, allowing them to concentrate their efforts to fortifying two-thirds of the perimeter. The rest of the scout squad they had captured was tied up next to a tree in front of the miniature cliff side. Signaling for Aobee to join him, Kairo walked over to the prisoners. Before they were within earshot though, Kairo said to Aobee, "Climb that cliff. It will make for a good vantage point into the jungle. I want you to keep a look out. After about three hours, you can trade shifts with someone. Got it?"

  Aobee nodded, walked over to the outcropping, and began to climb. Tilting his head back, Kairo judged that it would barely break the trees. At least it won't be that high of a climb. He can always just skid down if he's in a hurry. Walking over to the prisoners, he asked loudly, "Which one of you is to report in?" No one answered. "You aren't as talkative as your friend, so I guess that means you want to do this the hard way." Pulling out one of his daggers, he threw it directly between the highest ranked soldier's legs. Flinching back, the soldier cursed. The dagger was bare centimeters away from removing something. "Now," Kairo pulled out his second dagger, "does anyone wants to tell me?" He started to twirl the dagger as he waited.

  "It's me. I'm the communications technician." Kairo looked at the speaker. He clearly had fright in his eyes.

  "What do you normally have to call in and say? I must warn you. If you trick me, I will eventually find out and do something far worse than that to you." Kairo pointed at the dagger. Of course he was bluffing. He never had a taste for torturing people or killing them once they were captured, but they didn't know that.

    "Just say Bravo 3. That let's them know we are fine and will be out for the rest of the day. The frequency is already set into the equipment over there." He nodded to the tools that had been stripped from the prisoners.

    "What if you don't return?" Kairo questioned.

    "Well, sometimes we find a trail and follow it. That can take two days, so we let them know by calling in and saying Bravo 5." The technician was staring directly at Kairo's dagger.

    "And what is the name of the person you talk to?" Kairo probed.

    "We never know, it switches, so don't worry about it." It looked like the man was about to faint.

    "Why thank you." Kairo replied, walked over to the leader, pulled out his dagger, and walked away. A sigh could be heard from behind him as Kairo walked to the equipment and picked up the com-package. A minute later, he entered the ship and said, "Yillis, use this to call in to the NR base. Give them the code Bravo 5. That should keep them off our backs for awhile. Be creative if they ask you anything." Yillis grabbed the equipment and exited the ship. Kairo sighed and sat back down on the bench he had used before.

  The Private looked at him and asked, "What now?"

  "We talk some more." Kairo answered. Hopefully, Yillis can send out the transmission before they send out another scout squad, unless they have already been sent. I hope Phenix and Nicholas don't do anything rash if they run into them.

(OOC Phenix and Nicholas, it's up to you if you want to just wait and hide until the people you mentioned go away or attack them. Keep up the good work everyone.)

 
-----------------------
Gunnery Sergeant Kairo
Platoon Adjutant

PL:A/GSG Kairo/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][CoV]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

    Kario had finished interrogating the hostage several minutes ago, and was waiting impatiently for Nicholas and Phenix to report in. Just as he called Alasse and Madstar over to begin a search, Nicholas and Phenix came crashing through the bushes. Startled, the other three soldiers grabbed for their guns, but settled their nerves as soon as they recognized the suits.

    "You're almost thrity minutes late. You have not sent in anything over the comm and didn't respond to us," Kairo began. Before he could start another sentence, Phenix cut him off.

    "We found the rebel base on our patrol. We took a little time to investigate and found out they have a large communications site inside their perimeter," Phenix interjected. "We believe they may be intercepting any transmissions and comms that we make or receive."

    "Damn...We will have to get moving. They will know that we're here if this is the case," Kairo replied inquisitively. "Soldiers! Prepare to enter the jungle. I want everyone suited up in ten minutes."

-------------------------------

*Meanwhile, inside the rebel base...*

    "Sir, I've picked up a foreign frequency, not familiar to our Republic channels. It seems to be coming from the following coordinate ranges," a Republic soldier reported to his superior. The soldier hit a button on his computer, causing several numbers to scroll down the length of the screen.

    "Perhaps it is an Ithorian channel that has not yet been identified. Do a satellite surface readout and tell me what is in that area," the officer ordered.

    After several seconds, a visual came onto the wall-mounted screen, displaying a patch of green squares surrounded by static pictures. The screen began to focus after several seconds, until finally a legible image was left, showing the top-view of several trees and shrubbery.

    "According to our databanks, this is one of the main Graandula harvesting jungles. Many possible unidentified frequencies are probably used there. A minor channel must have accidentally interfered with one of our Republic transmission lines," the soldier reported. "I doubt there is any need for concern."

    "In any case, I shall send a couple of investigation groups to patrol the areas. Save the coordinates and send a copy to the captain. He will dispatch the squads himself," the other concluded.

      "Very well, commander..."

-------------------------------

*Back at the Imperial camp...*

(Welcome to the Jungle playing in the background)

    The squad was just leaving the camp. Alasse and Yillis were ordered to stay with the ship and the hostages, and the rest of the team would proceed to the rebel base. Phenix left the clearing, and proceeded to make his way through the trees, with Nicholas and Madstar close behind. In front of Phenix, the rest of the team hurried around trees, swiftly dodging any obstacle that got in their path. He could hear the pilot engaging the ship's engines as it took off into the sky.

    Phenix side-stepped away from another tree as he ran quicker to keep up with the pace of the squad. He could feel the burn after only a few minutes of running. He had never been a strong runner and remembered that the rest of these troops have probably been conditioned much longer than he has.

    Time faded away in Phenix's mind, barely realizing where he was. The longer he ran, the more life seemed surreal.

    "Soon...I will have to be strong. And I will not fail."

-----------------------
Lance Corporal Phenix
Jesters Squad
Storm Platoon
Army of the Vast Empire
TRP/LCPLPhenix/3SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE [LoR]

"Let me help you tie the rope around your neck..."

                                  (Republic Base)
"Sir, here are the coordinates of the intruders. We have sent out a search unit of 12 men with four speeders. They will be giving us updates every 15 minutes."

"Good. You stay on charge of that. If they do not report in fifteen minutes, you know what to do. If any of them are down, send an emmidiate squad of 20 units down there, and activate a code blue." code blue."

    Nicholas ran throught the forest, swatting away branches from his face, trying not to make much noise as Madstar ran nearly beside him, catching up closer to Phenix who was slowing from possible cramps in his gut. Nicholas was feeling the heat across both of his eyes, slowly catching more speed, and slowing down to keep quiet.

    Phenix was about to stop and pant for a second, then he saw something and stopped. Nicholas and Madstar stopped behind him crouching down.

    Now that Nicholas was crouching he could see up ahead, past Phenix. There was a high chainlink gate but no guards were around anywhere. Phenix pulled Nicholas and Madstar over to the side and pulled somthing out of her pocket. Nicholas couldn't see it from his point until he had it out. It was a scanning device that used satiletes from the ship to detect enemies around them.

    Phenix held a straight face until the last slpit second. He all at one instance jumped out, tackled Nicholas and Madstar into the side of the clearing. All in that second, four speeders with three republic soldiers hanging on each blasted by, through the chainlink fence.

    After they had clearly gone, Nicholas walked over to Phenix with Madstar and checked up with him.

    "Hey, you saved me man. Well, all I guess I can say is... thanks," Nicholas said to Phenix in gratitude, stretching his hand out.
    "Don't worry about it. The only thing we should be caring about what those guys on the speeders were doing," Phenix said, grabbing Nicholas's hand and lifting himself up.
    "They looked the same as the other group of guys we saw on that other speeder," Nicholas said, brushing off leaves and dead vines.
    "Yeah," inqueried Madstar, "but what were they doing blasting out of there at such speed?" 

    Phenix led the group down the scarcely-trodden path right beside Yytsirk. Madstar and Nicholas stayed only a couple feet behind, idly chatting to each other as they peered around the trees.

    After not very long, Phenix could see an entire wall of the fence and raised his fist in the air to indicate complete silence. In a split second, none of the team members made a sound of any kind, barely allowing their own footsteps to crunch on the soil beneath them.

    Each of the three men drew their weapons, holding them in front of their chests. No one wanted to be caught unprepared if a scout group came by from any direction. The short-membered squad made a triangle, keeping their backs together. In a area as dense as the jungle they were in, it's always important to keep eyes watching at every possible angle.

    "We have to make sure to stay clear of the fence, but not go too far from the path. I think over there would be the best way..." Phenix began to point out. Nicholas cocked his head and gave Phenix a shove.

    "I don't know why you think you're in charge, but I've been around longer than you have. We'll go my way," Nicholas stated.

    Phenix frowned underneath his helmet, but decided to let it go. He covered the sides, as Madstar covered the rear and Nicholas took the lead.

(OOC: Time to go to work but I'll continue...)

-----------------------
Lance Corporal Phenix
Jesters Squad
Storm Platoon
Army of the Vast Empire
TRP/LCPL Phenix/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE [LoR]

"Let me help you tie the rope around your neck..."

    Nicholas thought out his scheme very carefully. He pointed at each team member in turn and said, "Madstar, I need you to go around the side. Phenix is gonna go to the front of the building and investigate. When I give a signal, each of you have to make a distraction or something so that I can get in." Nicholas turned to approach the building, but neither of the other two moved.

    "We are on rendevouz with the rest of the squad. Since we can't communicate with them, we'll have to hurry so they don't need to come find us," Phenix decided out loud.

    "We need to check out this structure, just in case. If we don't..."

    "If we don't hurry then we're either going to make the rest of the squad come look for us, or they might even just leave us behind." Phenix had cut Nicholas off. Tension rose, as each of the three members became frustrated with one another.

    "You seem to have forgotten that I am in charge here, and you will just have to do what I think is best," Nicholas declared.

    "Look, no one is in 'control' here. We're a team and we have to make the decisions together until we can get back to our real leader. I'm confident that we can do whatever it is we need to do, but we'll be easily overcome by the rebels if we're too busy fighting ourselves, rather than fighting them," Madstar finally interjected.

    Phenix looked at each member grudgingly, but realized that this wasn't the best place to be making so much noise. "If no one else is going to listen to me, then I'll just keep going. Madstar, you can follow who you want, but just know that if you stay with Nicholas, you will die. You're outmanned by the rebels, and everyone is acting foolish."

    With that, Phenix turned on his heel and proceeded towards the faintly drawn path before him, leaving the other two to do as they will, without looking back.
 
-----------------------
Lance Corporal Phenix
Jesters Squad
Storm Platoon
Army of the Vast Empire
TRP/LCPL Phenix/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE [LoR]

"Let me help you tie the rope around your neck..."