Log:Transmission Intercepted

Transmission Intercepted

OOC Date: March 20, 2016
Location: Habitable Moon 111515
Participants: (not) Dash Rendar, Rake, Nym Landala, Namliss Guun (NPC played by Sesti Gath), Gerratt DeLong, Hex

The short story: The Resistance figures out where the Finalizer is creeping around. Also, there's some fighting with eelamanders.

The long story:

One of the things about being a super secret terrorist - uh, I mean, freedom fighting - organization is that it helps to be light on your feet. No base is impenetrable or unfindable, and no base occupies an unquestionably perfect location. To this end, the Resistance has been sending probes out into space, seeking habitable worlds that might make good candidates for outpost base locations. One moon in particular, designated HM 111515, has been identified as being of particular interest, due to its proximity to the Unknown Regions and to an agricultural world a system over where some Resistance forces had a run-in with TIE fighters recently.

The goals, identified by the brass, are to ensure as much as possible that HM 111515 looks uninhabited, that there is no space or comm traffic passing through, and that the physical environment looks suitable for the establishment of a base. The Outrider is transporting the ground exploration team, all fast and flashy with its .5 past light speed, and Nym is along as fighter escort. It's been a quiet trip so far, though, and the end of the hyper trip is drawing near.

"The landing site has been identified as one potential base location, but there is a second a few kilometers away," Hex frowns at a datapad, reviewing the project at hand with Nym patched in over com. "Great, so, we're landing, and then even though we could easily just look around and say 'yep,' we're apparently going on a hike to a different spot where we'll look around and say 'yep.' Why the hike? This is probably because Major Greystorm realized I'm awful."

"Yeah, but I get paid by the hour," Dash remarks over his shoulder at Hex, hands gripping the control sticks as he waits for the YT-2400 to lurch itself out of lightspeed. The old scoundrel reaches up and tugs idly at one of his shoulder pads, murmuring, "I knew I should've hit the refresher before we left."

From the cockpit of her fighter, Nym listens to Hex's instructions with a bit of a smirk. "I'm right behind you." As an escort, it makes the most sense for her to land last. It feels strange to be putting feet on the ground for a mission. "It took her this long?" The teasing tone is clear in her voice.

"Just get me on the ground or on sensors," the Shistavanen scout says. Rake was greying, definitely one of the older members of the resistance present. "This is a nice ship you got here, Mr. Rendar. Not that pretty, but it's definitely got surprises to it for such an old model. A good setup for someone in your field, I assume." Rake was standing just outside the cockpit, one furry arm holding onto the bulkhead as he peers towards the viewport.

The bothan sitting next to Hux spins his knife along his palm and then shifts it from one hand to the other, tossing it, catching it on the back of his hand, letting it balance, before he twists his wrist, his hand suddenly flicking palm up to close around the blade. "Or Major Greystorm likes you and is giving you a break from Sergeant Major's confidence course", he suggests to Hex with a wink. His ears twitch and then he goes back to flipping his knife.

Having decided the trip in would be a good time to catch a nap, gerratt wakes up now and stretches. Pulling a tin of tobacco from his pocket, the Master Sergeant takes a pinch of the stuff and tucks itin his cheek before looking over his map. Listening to the conversation, he calls out. "No...It's because he's awful." Giving Hex a wink to go with the statement, he looks back to his map once more.

"So, Nym, once it's clear there's nothing around to shoot at us, you're to land with the ground crew and 'collect meteorological readings to assess atmosphere suitability and observe for any problematic flying wildlife or other air hazards,'" Hex continues. "Looks like you get to join us for the hike, while we 'assess terrain and hazards for establishment of a ground base.' Assessing hazards, my favorite. You're a hazard," he calls toward the cockpit, just to be thorough. Then back to the datapad, "We're all to be scanning to pick up any trace of coms or signals that we can, though that's probably mostly Rake's thing. Hey, Master Sergeant, you like how I'm just reading this now but making it look like I'm helpfully filling in everyone else?" Hex is awful.

Alarms flare as the trip's at an end, and the white lines of hyper resolve themselves back into points of starlight. There in the outrider's view screen (and that of Nym's X Wing!) is a moon orbiting a dry husk of a planet, the moon itself looking pleasantly atmospheric and green and blue. HM 111515 in all its glory. "Dash, can you give us a scan of the area between the two potential base sites, as we come in?"

"I'll pick an experienced gal over a knock-out any day of the week," Dash remarks back to Rake with a grin, before his head turns back around and his eyes fix themselves on the field of whites and blues surrounding the ship.

"Adding it to the bill," Dash says, reaching forward to tap a few commands into the computer console, as the Outrider re-enters real-space. "Scan should complete momentarily. Anyone who needs the updated map, plug in and get it."

He opens the ship's internal comms, "Leebo, make sure that everything's held together alright through that jump. Y'know, just in case we there's a Star Destroyer hiding behind that rock and we need to get to get out of here."

As the ship draws closer to the moon, Rake shifts his backpack further up onto his shoulders and checks the rifle slung. He wasn't wearing the trooper armor, as he was used to being dropped in to scout without carrying any identifying marks. "Experience is usually the better option," Rake says with a toothy grin. At the mention of the updated map, the Shistavanen moves into the cockpit, pulling a cable from his backpack and plugging it in so that the portable sensor package could get the updated topographical data loaded. "How's this bird handle in atmo, Captain?" he asks. "I mean, I didn't even know that the .5's were even real until I boarded back on D'qar."

Grinning at Hex, Gerratt calls back. "Very fine use of the 3rd rule of Infantry leadership Son. If you can't dazzle them with wit, Baffle them with Bullshit. Keep it up and you'll be an officer in no time." Looking at the map, he nods and tucks it away. preferring the paper ones to electronic.

"My favorite kind of readings," Nym replies to Hex. "Am I just bird watching or are you saying there are some dangerous things out here that are going to try and eat me? You know, this is why I don't normally like being on the ground. It's harder to get eaten while in an X-Wing." The X-Wing drops out of hyperspace just behind the YT and she easily takes control back of the ship, angling her trajectory to be behind and slightly above the others.

Namliss Guun settles his knife into it's hiding place, finally. He grins at Hex, and stretches his arms over his head, legs out in front of him, then coils, waiting and ready to head down the ramp.

"Best route, at least safest and unobserved route is going to require a bit of a walk after we land," Rake says, pointing out a spot on the map. It was definitely a long trek through forests, over creeks and even through a canyon. "Hope you brought your survival gear." He pats his backpack.

Scans complete, maps made, the area around HM 111515 seems empty - this is a desolate system, close to the Unknown Regions, and there are no ships here, no sign of comm activity. It seems like no one's ever been here before. There's nothing for either Nym or Dash to pew pew pew at, and the descent to the moon's surface is similarly uneventful. Just a walk in the park... or maybe in this case, a walk in the wild.

The area where the ships land, the first potential base spot, is a flat, open grassy area. It wouldn't be hard to paste up structures there, but it does look a bit small, butting up against some hills that make expansion hard. Nearby the landing site, the forest looms, quiet except for the calls of unknown avians or wildlife. It's a dark tangle where nothing bad would ever happen, clearly, but there is a game trail headed that way, faint but discernible, in the direction Rake and Gerratt have identified as a good way to go. Disembarking from the Outrider, Hex checks his mission briefing one last time, "All personnel to be equipped with sensors... blah, blah... Hey, what?! Corporal Ashkuri to stay with the ships? Weak," he complains, even though he was just complaining about going on this hike, a minute ago. "Well, Dash, I'll make sure nothing eats your wiring. Unless I fall asleep."

"Nimble as a nexu," Dash responds to the dog-man, his hands tightening around the sticks as the ship tears through the atmosphere and quickly comes to light in a small clearing.

Once everybody's all disembarked and such, the scoundrel will watch over Hex's conversation, deadpanning slightly at the commands that are issued. He grunts and says, "Yeah, yeah." A finger is poked into the Twi'lek's chest and he says, "Anything gets broken or goes missing, you're gonna be paying me for the next few decades."

Rake sniffs at the air as he disembarks the ship. He then keys up the sensors in his backpack, linked to a display on his wrist. Old, rebellion era gear, and bigger than the newer models, but just as powerful. "I'm getting a strange reading," the Shistavanen says. "Not sure what it is, maybe an encrypted transmission of some kind."

The X-Wing lowers itself with a whoosh of air as it lands a little while after Dash's ship does. Her scans were complete and picked up nothing and now comes the part that she's not quite as good at: being on the ground. The canopy of the fighter raises and the young pilot pushes herself up and out of the cockpit. She's not wearing the neon orange flight suit today: that kind of defeats the purpose of staying under cover. With the rustle of grass announcing her, Nym moves over toward where the others are gathering. "Encrypted? Well, that's not all that encouraging about this place being totally uninhabited."

Patting hex on the shoulder, Gerratt looks towards Rake as he mentions a transmission. "Can you get a bearing on point of origin?" as he speaks, he looks around the clearing himself, but is distracted waiting for Rake's answer.

The shorter furry humanoid follows behind the group, scenting the air, and turning to watch Nym land and disembark from her x-wing. His eyes scan the small field, and then trace the game path until it disappears as he listens to the others. The mention of the transmission draws his gaze back, fur giving a ripple of curiosity.

"It's gone," Rake says to Gerratt. "I'm not getting any further readings. It's old equipment, but trustworthy. Had it since before Endor, and it didn't fail me there." He looks to the treeline. "I could guess, but I'd have a 1 in 359 chance of pointing you in the right general direction, based on cardinal directions."

"If anything goes missing, I am straight up running into the woods and never coming back," Hex replies to Dash. "I'd rather live feral in those dank ass trees than tell you your ship got broke." He eyes said trees, and raises a brow at Gerratt. "Have fun," he salutes.

With no signal to track from the scanners, and a semi-reliable... sort of reliable... unreliable soldier left behind to protect their ride home, there's nothing left to do but head toward the hiking path that seemed the best route on the map. It doesn't look like a real pathway and certainly not something used or created by humanoids; it's just a game trail through the tangle. The sound of moving water can be heard some distance away.

"Well, let's get to it," Dash says, tugging idly at a shoulder pad before his hand moves to grab the grip of his DL-54 and free it from its holster. The old scoundrel keeps his blaster at the ready as he begins moving down the path. A look to Rake and he asks, "Endor, huh? I don't suppose you date back to Hoth, do you?"

"That sounds like the wisest course of action," Namliss suggests to Hex after Rake reports on the transmission disappearing. "If we're lucky, it will pop up again to get a better fix on it. Hate to set up camp underneath the First Order's new Death Star." He draws his weapon and gets into line with the others, carefully treading along the game trail.

Nodding to Rake, Gerratt checks his weapon once more and nods. "Take the lead Sergeant? Keep an ear out for repeat trnasmissions and everyone keep your eyes open."

Rake glances over towards Dash. "I was at Yavin and Hoth," the Shistavanen says. "Hoth was a damned terror. Barely got out of there with my fur, was on one of the last transports off that frozen rock." He then glances to Gerratt, giving the man a nod. "Sure thing, Top." He settles his rifle into a proper grip, though the weapon doesn't look as big in his massive arms. "Give me thirty seconds, then follow along. If there's anything ahead, I'll likely smell it or see it first." He taps his eyes, which have a metallic twinge to them. Trophies of war, cybernetic enhanced vision after he was blinded by a grenade.

The Shistavenen then moves into the forests, surprisingly for his size, the man moves pretty damned quietly.

While more confident in the sky, the moment Nym has boots on the ground and follows the others, she is more quiet. Her eyes dart this way and that as she moves follows close by the others. Even the conversation about past battles is almost entirely missed by a woman who normally would kill to hear these stories. Without the protective shell of the fighter around her, she feels exposed and worried. She follows along, silently.

The trail is thick and dense with foliage, and small, stinging insects welcome the arrival of new, unfamiliar prey to this forest! They don't seem harmful, just very annoying, and Rake and the Bothan probably welcome the extent to which their fur protects them. It's the kind of trail where you have to hope the person in front of you doesn't let go of a branch too soon to smack you in the face, and it disappears, reappears, fails to go the direction they need to go, at varying intervals.

Eventually the trail such as it is leads to what looked on the map like a small creek. It's not a small creek, as it happens. It's a big, wide creek about a hundred meters across. The water looks very shallow, maybe knee-deep on a human (waist deep on Nym? ha ha), and it's moving slow, except for a few side eddies making the noise of moving water they heard earlier. It's passable, but they're going to have wet feet; the map doesn't suggest a better crossing point.

Dash Rendar found an old war buddy! The Corellian cracks a grin at the prospect, watching as the Shitavanen tears off through the woods.

As the team goes deeper and deeper into this dingy little forest, Dash begins smacking at the insects, obviously keeping a running tab going in his head. "Now, don't get me wrong; I love a good forest moon base, but I'm not too hot on the prospect of...looking for it. I think I'd much rather have grunts like you doing the footwork, and then letting me pop in a month or two later, when I can kick my feet up and enjoy all of your hard work."

There's a strong urge for Rake to call back for everyone to shut the hell up, but he refrains. Then they're at the edge of the creek. "Looks like we'll get a bit wet." He pulls the backpack off and cinches the waterproof bag inside tight, and pulls out a small roll of disposable plastic trash bags. "Make sure your electronic equipment stays dry," he says, holding the bags out, along with fresh socks. You don't want to spend the next couple of days walking around in wet socks." Of course, he doesn't really bother with his own, hell he doesn't even wear boots.

Namliss passes the socks and bags back towards Nym, giving her a grin. Although he hasn't been too talkative, he's offered the pilot small words of encouragement, making sure that she's not going to smacked in the face with the branch he's holding aside before he lets it go. He does check the closures on his own pack, though, before getting ready to set across. Then he draws his knife and there's the barest humming as he cuts down a few branches with a forked ends, handing them to those who want them. "Might be some snakes in the water... if not, at least it will help keep your balance if the rocks get slippery," he tells Nym as he hands her one.

From her position, Nym is grateful for the attention paid to her by Namliss. "Water is one thing I'm good with," she assures the Bothan. Coming from Naboo, she was in and out of water and swamps from a young age. Though, she does take the socks and the branch with an appreciative smile. Putting her equipment int he plastic bag, she seals it up. "I'm not a grunt," she mutters under her breath, keeping the balancing stick in the water and her electronics out of it as best she can as she crosses.

Dash Rendar may be getting on up there in years, but he's surely no slacker. The smuggler easily hops with way across the creek, using stones here and there as a pathway. Reaching the other side, his blaster points itself into the great unknown; the forest beyond. Over his shoulder, towards the rest of the group, "I'd be extra careful. Something's slithering around under the surface. Probably not the best idea to go for a dip."

Rake hands out the bags, and when he moves towards the edge of the creek, but loses his footing, sliding into the water with no form of his usual grace. Thrashing to gain his balance, he spots the toothy creatures slithering towards him. "Stay out of the water!" he calles out.

And just as everyone is warning everyone else to stay out of the water, Nym's footing slips right out from underneath her. Splash! Into the water she goes. Spluttering and attempting to keep the bags and equipment out of the water, she flails for a few moments before pushing herself up and out of the water. Water streams off of her hair and her arms as she starts the shake herself off. "That's a little easier said than done," she tells Rake. "Those things look hungry and aren't too particular about what it is they get."

As Nym claims being good with water, Namliss gives her a smile and heads into the water himself. Although he doesn't bound across with as much grace as Dash, he doesn't seem to have any troubles keeping upright. When he hears a splash behind him, he turns to see Nym and offers her a hand up. "See 'em," he says calmly, the stick reversing position, forked end down to meet any that come close to endanger him, or Nym, before she's back on her feet.

Rake was busy trying to get back to the bank, but as one of the creatures drew near, he aimed his rifle and fired at it. Granted, the weapon isn't designed for firing in point-blank range against targets underwater, and traversing it while waste deep in water and mud, it wasn't an easy feat. Water sizzles against the plasma blast, missing the target by a good bit. "Move it, move it...." he says, hoping his armor is razor-fish proof.

Dash Rendar adopts his preferred firing stance; off-hand out, body turned, blaster up. He sights down the length of his heavy blaster and squeezes the trigger twice. Each pull of the trigger sends two bolts of superheated plasma screaming into the water. Boom. Two dead fishies. "Better start swimming!"

Not close enough to either shore at the moment to completely escape the mad eel-manders, and pretty sure that the pilot isn't out of harm's way, even if she's on her feet, Namliss aims and fires, missing, then hitting one of the eels, enraging it to flail faster in the water towards them. "I wonder if they taste good with a little citrus and pepper," he asks, drawing his knife in his other hand, blade beginning to hum.

On her feet again, Nym attempts to shoot at the strange eel-like things in the water. However, her training is mostly on ship guns, not actual blasters. After her first attempt, she's quick as she can across to the other side, still soaked and slippery from her dip into the water. "I'm not against trying, but I'm certainly not carrying them!"

The Eelamanders Attack! They move in a pack, flashing excitedly with pale blue bioluminescence as they argue in Eelamander over who gets to eat Nym, who is obviously less effort to bite on than those fuzzy ones. Two each seem to be whipping their way toward Rake, Nym, and Namliss. Are they cooperative? Do they hunt in packs? Do they mate for life? The natural history of the Fangtoothed Eelamander is totally fascinating. Too fascinating for Dash, who can't handle it and smokes two from the get go. They're too beautiful to live.

There are four left, but of the ones that remain, some seem to have been distracted - the one Namliss shot is trying to bite his feet, but the other three have peeled off to start chompin' on the bodies of their belly-up comrades. They don't seem to mind the lack of pepper. For Nym and Rake, the path to the shoreline is clear!

Meanwhile, back at the ship, Hex drowsily contemplates a nap on the Outrider's landing ramp, then contemplates his own mortality, and wakes back up.

Dash Rendar manages to vent another one of the mantaraymandereels, and another one decides Dash is far too handsome to go toe-to-fin with, so it turns tail and swims away. "Any time now, kids!" the scoundrel shouts, blaster still at the ready.

Rake isn't one to look a gift bantha in the mouth, and he uses his opening to get to the shore, water soaking into his fur and the smell of wet dog wafting off of him before he gives a shudder, shaking a good bit of the loose droplets off. "Damned mud is slicker than mynock shit," the Shistavanen says, giving another quick shake to shed water.

On the other side of the river, Nym pulls herself out and shakes off her hands to dislodge it from more water. With a few deep breaths, she glances over at the others. "Thanks," she gasps out for a moment. She shakes her head, water droplets shaking everywhere. It's a gesture not unlike Rake's. She's worried if she attempts to shoot the fish, she'll hit Namliss instead. Instead, she leans out and holds out a hand toward him to help pull him out of the water.

Not liking the idea of turning his back on anything angry with teeth (a lesson taught him by his wife), Namliss faces down the eel as it charges. The body wraps around his ankle, but it's the head that he aims for, the vibrblade that was flipping around his knuckles earlier now flips into his hand and slices through the water. A spray of water and blood follows the arc of his swing as he cuts through the neck and sends the head flying. Holstering his blaster, he takes Nym's hand and climbs out onto the bank, shaking eel off his leg. "At least I brought dinner with me."

On the other side of the bank, the eelamanders, or mantaraymandereels, don't seem so bad. They're a bit snappy, sure, but they haven't managed to actually harm anyone, and they make no moves that indicate they've got any agency or desire to leave the wide, shallow creek. So the hike begins anew, back through the forest, which slowly begins to get less buggy, and less dense, the longer the group travels. They've walked long enough to dry out a little when they reach the edge of the forest, where a clear path disappears into a field of bright, vibrant red blooms before heading into a canyon. According to the map, the proposed alternative base site should be just on the other side of the canyon.

As they approach the flower field, a blinking red light indicates an incoming com. "It's Hex," well, he's still alive apparently, "I'm picking up something weird, but it just seems like static whenever I try to get a read. Run your equipment and see if you catch anything better, alright?"

"Well, that was somethin', huh? Time to turn back?" Dash asks of the rest of the group, activating the safety on his DL-54 and slipping it back into its holster. He smacks his lips a little bit and crosses his arms, assured that his idea will get shot down.

On the other side of the creek now, Rake looks back to the wrist-mounted display of the sensor pack on his back. With his free hand, he pulls a vibroblade from its sheath and slings the rifle. "No, we're just getting started," he says, trying to get a reading. "Whatever you're picking up, Corporal, it's not originating on world. Maybe there was a satellite or probe in orbit that's transmitting on encrypted frequencies. Maybe the ship's comm suite can get a stronger reading if Mr. Rendar doesn't mind you trying."

"Mr Rendar is his dad," Hex comms back, helpfully.

Namilss shakes his head as he listens. "I don't think it's encrypted, corporal. I'm guessing they aren't worried about being overheard way out here, whoever they are. I can't make it out, though. I agree with the Sergeant, maybe you can boost your reception there at the ship and see what it is."

"Mr. Rendar was my-" Dash begins, before Hex interrupts. "Yeah, what Hex said. Go ahead." The scoundrel looks around the group of them, remaining silent for the time being.

"You're not going to let some fish scare you, are you?" Nym asks Dash with a bit of a smirk. Her hands are still shaking a little from the near run in and after helping pull Namilss out of the water. Pushing herself into a standing position, she attempts to pinpoint things, but she gets little better than Hex does. Luckily, the others are much better at it.

"Copy that. I've gotten nowhere but I'll keep trying," Hex sums up his comm array task and also his life, and the connection to the team switches off again. The group is left with the flowers to cross, and the canyon, before they get somewhere where Dash can theoretically put his feet up.

"Follow me, and quickly," Rake says after looking at the patches of flowers. "If you'll notice, there aren't any insects around them. There are similar plants on Irgon Prime that release a toxic pollen, use everything they kill as fertilizer. Even if these don't do the same, it's better to play it safe." He starts heading downhill towards the canyon entrance. It wasn't necessarily the best option for travel, but safer than traveling through fields of deadly plants. "I'm starting to like this planet," he mutters mostly to himself, a toothy grin on his face.

"I'm starting to hate it," Nym replies to Rake's mutter with a sigh, still dripping wet and annoyed that she keeps having to fight the planet in order to find out more about it. Wiping her hands on her damp clothes again, she follows after Rake. While not knowing quite that much about the flowers, she could tell by their shape and coloring that they were bad news and to be avoided. Nodding, she's close behind, breath held just slightly as a precaution.

"Between the fish with the giant teeth and the poisonous flowers, what's not to like?" Dash asides, following after the Shistavanen scout, hand resting on the grip of his blaster.

Already keeping back from the field of flowers, Namliss follows along, although he can't help the curious look to the flowers. He stays near the forest edge, and gives a shrug. "A lot of natural defenses to this second location, for sure," he mentions idly.

The comm flashes into life again. "So if you -- frotz! -- run into any red flowers -- /shit/ -- don't touch them, okay." Apparently Hex managed to find some, and whatever happened, his speech is now peppered with Ryl and Basic cursing. Not everybody is as smart as you guys. "I'm fine, I'm -- dammit -- fine here, just uh. Chod! They aren't good flowers."

Although the canyon is a fine place to die, rocks poised to fall and everything, perhaps fate rightly fears and respects Dash's shoulder pads. What rockfall could contend with those? None, that's what. It's a decent hike, but not a difficult one, and soon the canyon descent spits the group out onto the plateau below. Now this looks like a good place for an outpost, with kilometers of open savanna and flat ground, a clear shot of the sky. The weather seems nothing remarkable here; temperate in all respects. It must get good signal traffic out here, too, because suddenly the sensor equipment the group is carrying bursts into static.

"Probably not the best environment for a base," Rake admits. "Some young GIs getting the urge to get their willies wet drift off base for a picnic and never return. But, it ain't my job to determine what's the best place. As the traverse through the canyon, the Shistavanen looks up to both sides. As the sensors come alive, Rake looks at his wrist display. "Seems like we're at the epicenter of where the broadcast is being sent," Rake says, "Or we're getting some bad interference."

It's the Bothan's equipment that catches the off-world signal, and suddenly, all the static and incomprehensible noise resolves into a message, clear as day:

The radio crackles with a faint touch of static as a message rolls through clearly intended to be on a secure channel, "Finalizer to home base, reporting on status of acquisition of primary target." There is a brief pause, presumably filled in with the other half of the conversation. "Negative. Target escaped. Finalizer is to remain at Felucia. Troops are searching for intel regarding where target escaped to." Another slightly longer pause, and then, "Affirmative, base. More details soon."

"Well," Rake says. "Even less of a good idea for a base since the FO seems to already have something set up here. If nothing other than a relay center. My suggestion, we set up a small repeater so we can monitor communications and get the hell out of here before they realize we're in system."

"Man-eating fish, poisonous flowers, /and/ a First Order relay," Dash begins, hands moving to slip thumbs through his gunbelt. "Some place you folks decided to come visit." Without any sort of response from the others, Dash turns and begins to make his trek back to the Outrider.

As the broadcast is sent, Nym straightens, eyes widening. Quickly, she looks about at everyone. That is not good, no that is not. Her head turns back toward where the ships and her X-Wing are parked, longing for her X-Wing. "Wait! Acquisition of primary target, though. They're looking for something that escaped." For some reason she's whispering, as if the First Order might be able to hear them through the communication devices. "We should find out what target they're interested in! Maybe get it ourselves! If the First Order is interested in it, it could help us. It might be nearby."

As they leave the field behind, Namliss Guun pauses and turns back. Finding a nice rock, he hefts it in his hand, then throws it way out into the middle, watching the puff of pollen that is immediately released with some satisfaction. Then he continues on, and after some fiddling, listens to the broadcast with the others. He's silent for a moment, then gives a slow nod. "Well, I don't think we need to run right away... if they are broadcasting so openly, that indicates they are secure in believing they are alone here." He looks over to Nym and nods. "I agree. Perhaps if we can help their target, we can help ourselves."

"Did you guys -shit!- pick that up?" Hex comms in, his speech still plagued by mysterious random cursing. "It's relaying from another system - point A is apparently Felucia, and point B is close enough to here that we're sniffing around - SHIT! - near to - assbasket! - wherever 'home base' is. Come back home, that's about as tasty as a nugget as there is to - schutta! - acquire, and this intel needs to get to people smarter than us asap." He actually says a-sap. "Also, I'm lonely."

As for the trip back to the Outrider, well... another glance at the map shows that there is in fact another way to the first landing site, this path appearing easier and safer, and assuming success on tactics/cartography rolls where previously there were none.

Rake was a scout, so finding the scenic paths was always better than the most direct, at least that will be his excuse when anything is asked. "Let's get back to the ship," he says. "We're not geared for a long-term incursion on planet, we need supplies, and well, some of us just aren't cut out for it," he says with a grin. "I ain't the rankin' officer here, but I'm probably the best expert on traversing hostile environments and gathering intel on them. We don't want to be caught out here by a squad of Stormtroopers. Trust me, the new ones got better optics in their helmets and actually can hit their targets."