OOC:

Joamer
(A9) Scouting
Second level 0- 6 months, 15 posts.

The tree pressing against his back felt soothing after the days activities. Joamer opened his eyes as he heard someone approaching, but shut them as he realized the young woman was simply going some place else. For the past week and a half Joamer, and three others had operated as an attachment to one of the special operations groups the Empire used in various missions. It was their job to teach the new comers the basics of their trade during one of their training missions.

From what he figured only three of the four trainees were actually veterans of some type. The forth he figured was someone still in the Academy, being bred for the spec ops community instead of being placed in a normal squad. The other two he had no real idea about, both females were small, lithe, and extremely confident in their environment. Maybe just a refresher course, or they were here for another reason entirely.

The air was cold this far north, his uniform was unadorned and heavier than he normally wore. Even with the gillie suit they all had he knew it was going to be another cold night. It was a light camp both groups assembled, able to vanish in a few moments notice if need be. No fires, no blanket rolls on the ground, no tents. Just a tree trunk for warmth and company. He could taste the storm coming, the air felt thick with the increasing humidity.

He missed his squad though, the seven long months on Thyveck had changed him. No longer a trooper, he had returned to Thyveck as Squad Leader in mind and body. He knew the scars of that campaign would be long in healing, there were some things you never got over doing. As the more rogue outfit than most squads in the Empire it feel on his shoulders to do the dirty work that was needed sometimes. What they had done in Bastion was something he would not forget in a long time.

"Reistlin." A voice in the darkness said a few moments into his remembrance. "Tasking orders for you this night. Avoid detection till dawn, locate the enemy patrol and gather intel if possible."

He did not bother replying, it had been like this for the past week. At random times any one of the four would be given a task to complete or fail. At the end of the mission the scores would be tallied to see who passed this training exercise. Standing up he adjusted the Particle Magnum on his hip, raised the covering of his gillie suit, and simply moved off away from camp.

The small squad had covered twenty miles at a slow march earlier today. He had noticed a ridge two klicks south of them that looked promising for a possible scouting location, but he had no intention of climbing up there himself. The cave system that ran through that mountain would no doubt house another company of men that were training in ways to capture the recon squad operating in this area.

He could feel eyes on him, sensor drones recording his every action or another scout having picked him out of the group to play with. He was not sure if this was a simulated training run, or if these men were on a real mission. Edging on the side of caution he decided to believe in the second part, which meant if he got captured being disavowed was a strong possibility.

He walked slowly for just under two hours, leaving the small company far behind him. He knew the ridge was to his left about half a mile, the trees prevented seeing it but his sense of direction told him it was there. Stopping an instant later he dropped to his knees and allowed the gillie suit to do its job. Senses honed after years working with specialized squads froze him solid as the seconds ticked by like hours.

Using only his eyes to look around he breathed slowly, quietly. He did not have to wait long, two minutes later a figure that had been leaning against a tree no more than thirty yards ahead of him stretched and groaned as he moved off. Joamer watched the man walk away to the left, he counted till six hundred before daring to stand up and move off to the right.

Stationary sentries, not seen patrolling guards yet but this puts a whole new level of difficulty to the game. He thought to himself. He stayed more alert now, only moving from his crouching spot when he knew no one was out there.

Kneeling two feet away from a tree, and acting like no more than a common bush he scanned the air as the temperature dropped again. He wished he knew the seasonal change on this planet, but using common knowledge he knew it stood a very high possibility of dropping below freezing very soon. Already he could see faint traces of mist as he exhaled.

Looking around he made the first move to stand up when a stick breaking froze him again. It was an uncomfortable position, his weight was settled on the toes of his left foot but he dared not shift an inch to readjust the sound had come from behind him. He concentrated on staying calm and acting like no more than a simple bush.

A minute later he heard the sounds of two footsteps coming from his left, and then the sound of guards talking quietly. "I heard about that woman, quite feisty and a red head to boot. Too bad they did not manage to snag her with that squad they caught on Thyveck. Would of been nice having her around."

"True, but she would probably stick you with something sharp long before you got around to her. I've read her dossier, says she..." The faces faded as the patrolling guards moved out of hearing range.

Daring to ease back on his foot again he breathed out slowly after he had counted to six hundred this time. Stationary, and patrolling guards. Talking about things that happened on the Thyveck mission too, I don't like this at all anymore. He thought as he moved away, circling slowly around to where he knew the cliff face and cave system to be. He should of reported back in by now, getting confirmation of two different types of guarding being done was enough but he wanted to see the base and confirm its location first.

Dropping to the cold forest floor he eased his way up to the tree line very slowly. He knew the sky was beginning to change color as he finally reached a spot he could use to watch the cave. Pulling out a pair of macrobinoculars he scanned the area in front of him slowly, no fortifications that he could see, but signs of inhabitance still stood out. A lone chair sitting next to the cave entrance, a well traveled track going in three directions from what he assumed was the guards coming and going.

What interested him though were the two men standing off the side looking over a datapad. Turning on his telesonic audio pickup one of the spec ops boys had handed him he tuned it quickly and finally filtered out enough to hear their voices. It was scratchy, but his basic understanding of the device let him us it.

"Their defenses are down still, we can easily swoop in and be inside their main facilities before they knew was was happening. Our spy we sent in two months ago is ready, the main base at Tadath is ready for the taking." One of the men said as he laughed quietly.

"Good, Thrawn never liked being defeated by that rogue group. It's time we pay them back." Both men moved back inside as Joamer lowered the macrobinoculars and shut off the audio pickup. Breathing quietly but knowing to move slowly he moved slowly away from the treeline and the base. The news worried him, if it was a real op then this information needed to get back and being caught would be a very bad thing.

The sun was beginning to rise as Joamer moved through the forest slowly, he wanted to break out into a run but knew he would be spotted. He had passed three more guard patrols, and four stationary sentries as the hours passed by. Stepping around a bush he froze as he felt the muzzle of a blaster pressing against his back.

"If I was the enemy, you would be dead right now." The commando leader said quietly. Breathing out slowly he turned around happy to see the man's face.

"Probably, luckily you did not shoot. Stationary, and patrolling guards everywhere. Both sets move at random times, in random directions. Most troubling, caught two men talking about a spy in Tadath and an attack by Thrawn happening very soon." Joamer reported in as he removed the hood of the gillie suit.


"We know, we caught wind of it a few days ago. Tadath has been warned but we need to figure out more. Good job Reistlin, stay here with the others a dropship is coming to pick you up in seven hours eight klicks south of here."

"Where are you going?" Joamer asked as he flexed his half frozen fingers.

"Taking my men inside that cave system and getting more intel." The man said as he turned around. Joamer looked around as silent shapes moved off from where they had been squatting and seemed to vanish walking slowly in the direction of the cave base.