What a Massive Hunt!

Military action

Upon the orders of Major General Winters Kayvan Whidowes under his new guise of Jayce Twinstar , Seleema Jahlone, Uk'ta and lead by Jema Lzra the group are dispatched to the Forrest planet of Tantaur 3 to search for the distress signal of Bispo Kuralcan and scope any imperial presence. The group find much more than they expected with Bispo Kuralcan and his travelling companion Kanelaw Fitzwallace deep in the hunt for Big Red.

It is a time of great discovery in the Rhao system, as on the surface the Republic seems to have settled the larger conflict with an influx of fresh reinforcements from Coruscant, the Imperials now appear to be fighting a secret war from the shadows. A small party returned from Kazan recently, with no discovery of a new temple, but disturbing news of an imperial research vessel, aboard which heinous experiments were taking place. The Phalanx and its crew, under the direct orders of Major General Winters, continue to seek out the hidden corners of the galaxy and unearth it’s mysteries. With the group of Seleema Jahlone, Uk'ta , Jayce Twinstar and Jema Lzra gathered around a holoprojector Winters addresses the room : “Hello all, I have little time so I will keep it brief, Jema you will be leading this mission, once on the ground all mission decisions will refer to your authority directly, I would like you to take along Saleema, Jayce and Uk’ta to help assist you in this mission. A U-wing is being prepared for you in the docking bay, briefings will be sent once you are aboard, please check your personal communicators and read up on your journey. All the best of luck to you.” “Cly, Smomdu, maintain the Phalanx position to support the efforts of this mission for as long as can be managed. Only if the Phalanx is under direct threat, would I expect your retreat. Once this comms has ended I defer to your authority to carry out decisions as necessary. May the force be with you all.” After receiving their mission and now under the command of Jema Lzra the group took a short visit to the Phalanx quartermaster to grab some stims and a decent weapon for Jema. Once prepped with equipment, Seleema Jahlone took the U-Wing out the docks and headed for Tantaur 3. Whilst the ship made it's journey, the group read through the provided mission briefings on their personal communicators. Meanwhile deep in the thick forests of Tantaur 3 Kanelaw Fitzwallace and Bispo Kuralcan contemplate another day of survival, awaiting potential rescue. Another day here in the forest, how long has it been now? Possibly days, weeks, longer? It is hard to know the long days and short nights beneath the tall trees have left things a blur. Living inside the broken remains of your ship the remaining power runs an old republic distress code. Food and water supplies are getting low, and there has been little sign of rescue. It may be time to scout further afield, but the camp needs to be safe for you to return to. The pair set some traps around the camp, but bored from the camplife and with Kanelaw Fitzwallace twitching to seek out Big Red and to claim his trophy, they did not want to stay long. They gathered up some gear, doused their fire and set about finding a trail that would lead them to their quarry. Our group leaving the Phalanx start the decent towards the planet surface, a wash of green from above, the dense forest masking any open land from view. As it brings the ship down to the top of the forest canopy, the distress signal beeps intensify from the tracker. Looking out of the viewport a faint pillar of smoke can be seen rising up from amidst some trees to the East. Readings indicate that this is as close to the signal that a clear landing can be made. The ship descends under the thick canopy and down below the tall trees, touching down gently in a small clearing below. The group briefly gather their bearings before Jema Lzra issues commands and the group moves out as a unit. Jayce Twinstar using his stealth to scope ahead, Seleema Jahlone hands by her guns ready for action, Jema Lzra and Uk'ta  hanging back to assess.   Not before long the group come across a number of Storm Troopers fanned out slowly stalking through the forest ahead. Jema Lzra silently issues out signals to the group to approach and take them down quietly. Between Seleema Jahlone and Jayce Twinstar and a group of Nexu creating a fortunate distraction, the Storm Troopers are quickly and silently dispatched. Upon checking one of the bodies Uk'ta  discovers that these particular troopers have explosive shock collars attached. He disarms and takes one for future use. Mere miles away Kanelaw Fitzwallace and Bispo Kuralcan are having some trouble of their own, having run into a small group of Troopers themselves. Neither of them being fresh to combat, they manage to get through them with relative ease. They continue their search for Big Red. Back with Jema Lzra and her squad, they begin to notice small debris here and there, it leads on to the path carved out between the earth and trees, by the ship that crashed here weeks ago. Following the path of destruction a short while they come across the ship, ripped though its centre and broken in two under the weight of impact, between the two halves of the broken ship a crudely constructed but well defended campsite has been constructed. Knowing the beacon in close they try to make contact with anyone nearby, and enter the camp with caution. Jayce Twinstar circles around the perimeter carefully, when BOOM! A mine explodes under Seleema Jahlone and Uk'ta  's feet, they manage to avoid the worst of the damage, but Jema Lzra is quick to realize they are amidst a minefield. After causing a few more to explode, whilst being extremely cautious, Seleema Jahlone utilises her grapple gun to access the inner campsite with Uk'ta . They search around and Uk'ta  manages to create a minesweeper from some scrap. This shows them a safe passage through the remaining traps and the group gather to look around the inner camp, discovering some essential information. They find that Bispo Kuralcan has been keeping some basic tracking of imperial movements and patrols, they note that it had been more intense and frequent, until a few weeks ago, when it suddenly became more quiet. They also find information relating to Big Red with a hunting bounty and prize attached. They know how close they are to finding the survivors, and continue to follow some footprints that lead out of camp.