Mission:

You are to infiltrate and capture a freighter headed towards the Alisandor system. You will attempt to intercept it as it makes a course correction at the Bestine system.  After infitrating the ship, you will overtake it without eliminating the bridge crew if at all possible.  From there, repairs and recrewing of the craft will take place, as well as taking on the materiel required for the rest of the mission.

Mobquet Medium Cargo Hauler
Vessel overview
Deckplans

Your initial target is the Mobquet Medium Cargo hauler Danthe Venture, a freighter belonging to Danthe Artifice, Limited.  DAL is a manufacturer of droid personality matrices, and is a major supplier of programming to Arakyd. Danthe is based on the planet Corulag, and is the sister corporation to Tapani Sector's Lanthe Artifice.
Obstensibly, the craft will make stops within the Tapani sector, starting with Alisando and eventually docking at Lanthe.

The primary goal of this mission is to determine the cargo of the Danthe Venture and where it is going.  It is suspected that it is a cover for a movement bent on destabilizing the region and possibly aligning it to the New Republic.  This cannot stand.  Therefore, while interdicting the weapons delivery is good in the short term, we must discover where the weapons are going to and in what method are they being used.

Once within the Tapani sector you will be confronted with a variety of options, which will be relayed via updated orders to your squad leader.

However a brief overview of the system and potential adversaries and the like follows.

Tapani Sector Map

Tapani Sector overview

Path of the Danthe Venture:  Path: Corulag -> Brentaal -> Corellia -> Bestine -> Thyferra -> Mrlsst -> Alisandor -> ? -> Lanthe

Planetary info:

Alisandor
Type: Terrestrial
Temperature: Temperate
Atmosphere: Type I (breathable)
Hydrosphere: Moderate
Gravity: Standard
Terrain: Urban, Wetlands
Length of Day: 22 standard hours
Length of Year: 525 local days
Sapient Species: Humans, many species of aliens
Starport: Imperial/Republic
Population: 1,418,000,000
Planet Function: Trade
Government: Military dictatorship
Tech Level: Space
Moons: 5 (names not known; nomenclatured A-E)
System: Ali

Capsule: As a lesser planet along the Shapani Bypass. It does not share the economical success the other planets along the bypass do. As a result, the planet fell on hard times. Crime went up and so did poverty. This and other factors contributed to a military takeover. Since then order has been restored. And businesses that could not afford offices and space docks on major bypass worlds are flocking to Alisandor. The military takeover has come at a price though. Personal freedoms have been cut drastically. And a resistance movement is starting to take root.

In addition, it is believed that a small shadowport exists on Alisandor D.  This is not confirmed but may be the drop site of an potential weapons you may find.  This is why it is imperative you attempt to keep the crew of the Danthe Venture alive.

Potential military forces:

Gauntlet Imperial Star Destroyer
- With the fall of the Empire, Captain Lin Nunsk, former commander of the escort fleet for bacta convoys in Shapani Bypass, awaited new orders.  This lasted for two years before he and his fleet opted to remain in Tapani space.

The Gauntlet is the survivor of many engagements with pirates and Imperial forces which did not opt to resign their Imperial commissions.  As such, it is a far less imposing vessel militarily but still is more the match for the average smuggler craft.  It has of late been upgraded and restored by the loss of its sister craft, the Reyna, which once patrolled the area around Mrlsst.  Sublight drive failures led to this vessel being decommissioned.  It is unclear how the Gauntlet would factor into any scenario or even if it would arrive.

Local Tapani craft

Tapani-class Assault Frigate

Tapani-class Carrier

Manta-class Starfighter

Kiption and Jeter squad sat down in one of the corridors of the freighter. 

"Gentlemen, this is going to be a fun one.  Today we're theives..." Kiption said.  He waited for the catcalls and hooting to quiet down before he continuted.  "And since I have a great moral concious..." the laughter was quickly sileneced by a glare from Kiption, "I will be turning control over the squad to Merrick."

"What?!?!???"  Dragoon stood up.  "Um.. Kip, a moment?"  He motionend over to the side of the corridor and Kiption followed him there.

"Damnit, wtf is this?  I thought I was your boy.  If you were gonna turn the squad over to someone, I thought it would be me."  Dragoon started to raise his voice.

"What's the problem?" Kip answered.

"My problem is, why don't I ever get a chance to run the squad?  It's always everyone else, Tylen, Merrick.  Next you're gonna be telling me you're gonna put the fking medic in charge!!"

"Look, just shut up and do what she says.  We'll talk about this later." Kip started to walk out of the conversation.

"But I wanna talk about it now...." Dragoon followed behind him.

"Just shut up and see what happens.  This mission's all yours... Merrick."

Sorry guys, meant to post this as Kiption and forgot to log him in... I'll do better next time


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::Salute::
FM Threeof4
Field Marshal - Vast Empire
Email
I'm in hell.

Stitch nodded to Merrick as he made his way out of the room.  Already outside, Sokudo was waiting for him.  The two made their way to Jester's quarters in silence, both examining the details of the mission in their minds.

"Something tells me I'm not going to enjoy the trip.  We're using a dropship instead of a boarding craft.  Something smells like this mission has evil officers behind it." thought Stitch as he shoved his hands into his pockets.  His hand brushed against the stone that he would rub with his thumb when he was worried.  There was a noticeable smooth spot on the stone where he ground away his thumbprint on the more worrisome missions.  Hanging around Dragoon had insured that the stress stone was well used.

They rounded a corner and the door to the bunks slid open when Sokudo slapped the release button.  Without hesitating, Sokudo entered and propped himself up in the far corner of the room.  He rested his sword against his shoulder and was promptly asleep.

"I never can see how you can fall asleep not only sitting up, but on the floor.  Paranoid little freak." Stitch muttered as he removed his coat.  With a well-aimed toss, the neck of the coat caught on the rack a couple of yards away.  Stitch sighed as he slid down onto the mattress and was soon very much asleep.

---

The sound of the door opening awakened Sokudo.  The sound of Sokudo's sword being drawn from its scabbard awoke Stitch.  Stitch rolled out of bed and had his small blaster drawn by the time his feet hit the floor.

Dragoon stood in the doorway with wide eyes as two soldiers stood ready to use their weapons on him.  He swallowed hard and managed to say, "Merrick said to wake you guys up.  It's almost time to head out."  Without waiting, he backed away and the door hissed close.

Stitch let out his breath and sheathed his weapon after hearing Sokudo do so with his.  "We're not even in the air yet and I'm already jumpy.  I need a vacation." thought Stitch as he scooped up his coat.
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(+)  Lance Corporal Eitras "Stitch" Daevra
Jester Squad - Combat Medic
MDC/LCPL Stitch/Jester Squad/Storm Platoon/VEA/VE

"Doctors, you do a bang up job here."
"Well, they keep getting banged up and we'll keep doing our job."

Merrick sat and waited while the rest of the squad showed up. They had an hour before they were due to drop in on the freighter. Dragoon was still moping around outside, waiting for the others to show up, while Merrick talked to Kip. Not long after Stitch and Sokudo came in - the first to show up - everyone else entered and sat down.

"Well, we have just under an hour before we get dropped. I want to remind everyone that we want to see where this freighter is going, and that means no killing the crew. Dragoon, don't blow anything up unless I tell you to." Dragoon looked up at the mention of his name, and then started sulking some more. "I see Stitch and Sokudo are already geared up. The rest of you get what you need and get back here. Non-lethal weapons would be preferable." Dragoon looked up again. "That mean you aren't taking your axe, Merrick?" Merrick shook her head. "Be back here in 20 minutes. Gotta get comfy before they drop us. Dismissed."

Stitch and Sokudo left as they had come, together and arguing about Sokudo's alleged paranoia. Everyone else wandered off to get their gear. Dragoon hung back and asked to talk to Kip. Merrick left them to go get her own gear ready and stowed on the drop ship.
 
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TRP/SSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
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Jester Squad's chick with a sword
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Aboard the Pickpocket:

"Captain, we are getting readings from the sensor buoys.  Confirmation is coming from the shadow craft." A captured New Republic Ferret stealth ship had been quickly repaired and pressed into duty for this mission.

"Excellent.  What about the interdictor craft?"

"As soon as the target craft stops hyperwave transmissions, it will microjump over to the ships' location and begin interdiction and jamming.  We will receive the same coordinates and jump into the interdiction field.  If done correctly this will place us almost on top of the target craft, and we should be able to open our bays and shoot the dropship right on target before they are able to power weapons or shunt power over to shields."

"And what if the shields do come up?"

"That's what the coating on the dropship is for.  At least that's what the engineers told us."

The captain sighed.  "Any other good news?"

"Intel says there may be a squad or two of enemy troops going along for the ride."

Captain Novath blinked. "And do the stormtroopers know this little factoid?"

"I don't presume so.  We just received the transmission a few moments ago."

"Then why don't you inform them? If that ship stays online and in enemy hands, our survival is as much at stake as those troopers. "  He stared at his comm officer a moment more.  "Well..get on with it!"
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PRF/MG Fury/VEA/TADATH/VE [SCP][PoC][SotE:HC][SotE:VEA][IOC]
Stormtrooper Corps Prefect
Shopkeeper - Imperial Center

Merrick tucked her vibroaxe and blaster pistols into safe positions and waited for the jump. She wondered how many of the Pickpocket's crew had bet against them surviving the drop onto the freighter. They were soon warned that the ship would be making the jump, and Stitch began to look even less happy than he had been before. Everyone hardly had time to look tense before the jump was made, and they were ready and about to be dropped. Merrick still sat there looking happy, while everyone else gave her odd or disgusted looks, except Tylen, who was blank as always, and Sokudo who merely sat there with his eyes closed and his hands on his weapons.

Merrick started whistling to herself just as they were dropped, hiding the apprehension about making it through before the freighter had time to raise shields. Everyone else probably shared that apprehension, and not everyone was trying to hide it. Merrick would have been happier to just face the enemy troops without having to go through this crap, and without needing to worry about not killing the crew, but anyway. A mission was a mission, and they didn't exactly have the luxury of choosing which they were assigned to.
 
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TRP/SSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
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Jester Squad's chick with a sword
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

"We'll head up to the bridge and hope we don't meet any opposing troops on the way. Don't want them to be too prepared for us when we take control of the ship." Merrick looked at Sokudo and Dragoon. "Try not to kill too many of the crew or break too much of the ship, we want this thing intact." Dragoon looked slightly unhappy. "But you can kill the troops, so long as you are careful about it. Let's go."

Merrick took point, again letting Sokudo bring up the rear. Kip stuck near Merrick, until the next time they stopped for any length. "What's the plan for after we get to the bridge, Merrick?" Merrick smiled a little. "Well I figured we would sit around and drink until we get attacked." Kip didn't laugh. "Yeah ok. We'll leave probably Stitch and Sokudo behind to take care of the crew on the bridge, and go hunting for those troops that are rumoured to be aboard. Unless, that is, you'd rather do something else." Kip shook his head and followed as Merrick moved off toward the bridge once again.
 
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TRP/SSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
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Jester Squad's chick with a sword
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

[OOC: Terribly sorry (if anyone has been following this) I have been doing exams. Will be finished in a few days and get back to it then, promise.]
 
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TRP/SSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
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Jester Squad's chick with a sword
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Merrick picked up her commlink and listened for a minute. "Hurry it up Stitch, gotta get down to the engine room. Looks like they have found something." Merrick and Stitch had stayed on the bridge, as Stitch had refused to let Merrick go without first tending her wounds properly. The rest of the squad had gone to search the cargo bays and engineering sections of the ship, and had apparently found the squad of troops they had been looking for. Dragoon had sounded happy. Finally someone to kill. Merrick was just worried about the damage he would do to the ship in the process, especially being so near the sublight engines.

By the time Merrick and Stitch had made their way down to the engine room, everything seemed to have quieted down. "So, what's happening?" Kip turned to Merrick. "Well, I think we got most of them. There seems to be one or two still hiding around here though, so I sent Dragoon and Augustus to dig them out." Merrick nodded. Dragoon interrupted, over the commlink, "Hey guys we could use some help here, they got Augustus, but he's not dead. I'm not really sure where we are either." Merrick looked at Kip and he laughed quietly. "On our way Dragoon."

10 minutes later, the squad of enemy troops had all been dealt with and Jester stood around while Stitch did what he could for Augustus, before heading back to the bridge.
 
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TRP/SSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
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Jester Squad's chick with a sword
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

"Ahh, home sweet home." Merrick looked at Dragoon. "Not exactly, but close enough for now. Someone give the Pickpocket a call and tell them it's all good to go, no more troops on board." Sokudo jumped up and sent the message before anyone else could move. Merrick sat down and looked at the bridge crew. They stood in silence doing their jobs. It looked as though they hadn't moved since Jester first made it onto the bridge. "Merrick, Novath says there's a problem and we might have a change of plans. Merrick?" Sokudo waved a hand in front of her face. "Eh? What kind of problem?" Sokudo told her quietly. "Mmm, sounds like fun. Well give them to go ahead to come fix it, and maybe we get to go home early." Sokudo nodded and did so, as Kip started pestering Merrick to tell him what was happening.
 
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TRP/SSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
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Jester Squad's chick with a sword
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.