It wasn’t something that he enjoyed; it was a sense of duty. It was a defensive instinct that kept his mind free of the shackles that threatened to constrain his will, his own sanity, with the surge of a raging ocean. It was his way of bearing the responsibility that was placed on his shoulders the instant he clasped his fingers around that stylus to acknowledge his rise in rank. It was his way of penance for his share of the disaster he had caused.

It was his burden. Only he could carry it.

The marble floor shimmered like a diamond under his polished boots, a light click echoing with each step. His right hand pressed against the temple of his forehead. His footsteps staggered slightly, a free hand groped through the darkness for an object to cling to. Auburn bangs stuck to his forehead as sweat began to pour down his face.

An ocean with thunderous waves spun through his mind. A maelstrom of water crushed against cities, burying those both guilty and innocent under its wake, its downpours encircling the innocent in its murderous embrace. From its depths, a serpentine beast, immeasurable in size, shrieks its war cries from the abyss. Although it doesn’t emerge, he can see its shadow skulking just below the surface of the floods. He can feel its yellow eyes burning into his mind, its fangs itching to sink into flesh. Its burning urge to be free from its prison. Free to terrorize.

Riqimo shredded the image from his mind with a piercing cry, barricading his subconscious thoughts. The Leviathan of his nightmares faded, and he found herself, once again, in the small room he had taken as an office for several more months than he cared to have.

Riq steadied his balance, slowly moving away from the file cabinet he found support upon. The images were always bad first thing in the morning.  Gathering his bearings, Riqimo moved to the light switch on the far wall. As the glow of the bulbs overhead increased, the icy headaches from his mind subdued and he felt the nightmares fade from his mind.

Perhaps the light cleared the threat of water from his mind, but a lone folder on the desk before him held a new nightmare.  Suddenly the visions of water swept through Riq's mind once again before he barricaded them and forced himself to read without intruding thoughts.  He knew full well that he wouldn't be able to brief such a mission with his nightmares and with that rose from his desk to send a copy to each member coming along with him.

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Mission File P3242353

Classification: Reconnaissance/Infiltration
Priority: 4 (Scale 1-5, with 1 being the highest)
Planet: Aquaris (Expansion Regions)



Assignment to:
Eclipse Squad (Long Range Recon), Storm Platoon
Paladin Squad (Unconv. Warfare), Storm Platoon



The mission is intended to be undercover and all that is provided is a set of commercial tickets from Tatooine to Aquaris.

Mission Briefing

The New Republic has sent out a call throughout its planets for able-bodied workers to come to Aquaris for unspecified reasons.  It is suspected that they are recruiting for some form of construction or mining operation of sorts.

Deployment Procedures

Eclipse and Paladin will be taking third class shuttle transport, disguised as out of work personnel from Tatooine.

Planetary Intel

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aquaris

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Later...

Riq strode through the halls, taking long routes through connected buildings to avoid the heavy Tadath downpour outside.  Due to his roundabout route, he was going to be about twenty standard minutes late to meeting up with his platoon to take a covert insertion into the deserts of Tatooine where they would then hike to the infamous Mos Eisley spaceport so that they could board their way to Aquaris as lower class workers.

Riq already looked the part and relieved several glances from passing Imperial personnel who would have stopped the short man for questioning if it were not for the id card he wore on his chest for that very reason.  He knew that this was a debatable situation he was in, holding two positions at once, but that was not a matter to be addressed until after the mission was executed.  And with luck, Riq would make it last if he could, just in case it was his last.

Wicket was watching his daily holodrama that was being played on the Holonet. He had his drink next to him, taking sips every few seconds. He was watching the show with such intensity that nothing could interrupt him. Not even the message that came over the datapad.

After the show was done, Wicket took a minute to let all the drama that happened soak in. He mumbled to himself about the show, since no one else seemed to watch it. Dax did occasionally, but not this time. Wicket looked down and saw a message from Riqimo. “What could this possibly be?” Wicket sighed. “Probably wants me to do something other than sit around…” He picked up the datapad and read it. “Oh. That figures, another mission. Well, I better get ready.” Wicket headed down to the barracks to get all of his equipment ready.

It was a bit of a walk from where Wicket was down to the barracks. Once he arrived he laid down on the bed to rest for a moment. Unintentionally, he fell asleep. Wicket dreamt about the show he had just watched. It was probably his favorite show at the moment. All of a sudden, Saphira slapped Wicket across the shoulder. Wicket jolted awake. “What was that for?!” Wicket shouted, grabbing his shoulder.

“I was waking you up! Don’t you know we have to be getting ready? We have a mission to prepare for.” Saphira replied as she packed some items into her bag.

“Oh! That’s right. I completely forgot. I must have fallen asleep or something.” Wicket said. He got up and started to grab all of his belongings. “I was watching my show and I didn't even notice that Doc sent us a message. Oh! You will never believe what happened this episode!” Wicket started to explain.

“Oh yeah? That’s cool!” Saphira said heading out the door.

“But I didn't even tell you what happened!” Wicket shouted back at Saphira. She kept walking. “Hmm, guess she didn't want to know.” Wicket shrugged as he picked up his bags and headed out the door.