Duna

"'Problem. They found him. Cover's blown' - Episode 10"Duna is a member of the so called 'Echo People' from the planet Dirakan. A former favourite of Rosto, the Tek Village Elder, she served as a scout after an unknown incident caused her to fall out of favour.

She discovered the Last Resort after they crash-landed on Dirakan, first making contact with Hikaru and eventually forming a bond with the Xextonian. Acting as their eyes and ears amongst the tree canopies, she introduced them to Rosto, and later joined Hikaru in his infiltration of the Imperial facility nearby.

Proving immensely helpful, being both stealthy and efficient at taking down the guards, she returned to her people with at least part of her honour restored.

Background
She had formerly held the presumably exalted position of 'Elder Favourite' for Tek Village, until an event caused her to lose that standing and be viewed upon with relative disdain.

She is well trained in combat situations, rather unexpectedly, managing to knock out a guard in the Imperial Installation with a swift and powerful double kick to the throat and temple.

First Contact
She first emerged when the Party re-landed in an open clearing after their botched first attempt resulted in a smashed turret and being shot at by anti-air guns.

Scuttling about on top of their ship, she was discovered by Hikaru and Whitefang, with the Xextonian offering her a bit of his ration packs. Curious as to whether she was sentient, the two mirrored each other's movements until Hikaru finally said hello, and she returned the conversation. After learning that she was not a foe given their current mission, she offered to lead them on a clear path to the Installation, after consulting with the village elder.

K'ruhk, already greatly frustrated by how much the mission had been bungled, refused to follow after her as the others happily did. That is until Duna was attacked by some monkey-lizard creatures that then stole from Hikaru. The Xextonian fired off a shot at one of them, which Nox heard and pursued, shadowed by Mergon. K'ruhk continued his bee line for the building, blinded by his anger, until the emergence of a bi-pedal Imperial Walker stomped into view. Supported by a squad of troopers, the sight snapped him out of his determination briefly and the Party as a whole fled into the trees and after Duna.

The Echo Land
Asked by Whitefang as to what her people were called, she denied knowing a common name for them, just that her kin were the Tek Clan. She then led them to her home village, a bustling centre of her species with small-scale farms and a communal town center and pub all present. Hikaru followed behind her quickly, while the others got distracted by this distracting hustle and bustle.

Appearing again moments after disappearing inside a building, she brought forth the village elder, named Rosto. Bowing her head and showing him reverence the entire time he was present, she took no part in the negotiations that followed. Whitefang did ask if someone could lead them toward the source of their problems, with the Elder shrugging and assigning Duna as their guide, suggesting that the former favourite could possibly begin to earn back her standing by doing so. The Selonian even asked, that in return for doing this favour for them, that he be allowed to learn some of their history. Due to the lack of a name for these people, he dubbed them the 'Echo People', based on Duna's mirroring of Hikaru earlier on.

The Scout Leader
She acted as the fore scout for the group, leading them towards the source of these monkey-lizards. She warned the group that they were likely to act selfishly and underhandedly, and thus to be on edge at all times. Her familiarity with the forest caused many humorous moments from her point of view, as the Party bumbled their way through the tree line and set off traps or bumped into each other.

She mostly steered clear of any of the problems herself, occasionally returning to the ground or the lower canopy when asked a question by her charges.

Source Of The Problem
She then watched over Whitefang when he scouted ahead, to discover the home of these monkey-lizards. What he didn't expect to see was a whole crew of humanoids that seemed to work in partnership with the creatures, akin to a pirate colony. Granted, this was after he tried to first look through a ration pack, then through his electrobinoculars backwards, his nerves getting the best of him.

The problem escalated when his attempts to discern the leader of this group, possessing a similar prehensile tail to the Echo People but walking upright and standing roughly 6ft tall, led to him being discovered by one of their scouts and forced to present himself to the others.

Watching this, Duna then ran and warned the others that their cover was blown. K'ruhk charged forth, expecting to meet a horde of little monkey-lizards, his pace rapidly slowing as the threat turned out to be nearly 30 well-armed pirates with guns pointed in his direction. Nox took cover, while Duna and Hikaru took to the trees again and scouted out to the rear of this encampment.

The two of them spotted a rather vicious looking individual cleaning weapons, strangely hanging back from the rest of the group that had converged on Whitefang and K'ruhk. Though this was concerning, they then couldn't help but notice the gigantic mini-cruiser vessel that was parked at the back of the opening, merging with the cliffside. Covered by foliage, and likely been there a while due to trees growing around it, the presence of canopies, marquees and tents showed it to have become a static home rather than a frequent vessel.

She kept to the tree-line during the subsequent negotiations with the Shadow Foresters, despite Hikaru heading in clutching a grenade, not sure how everything was going.

An Elder's Scorn
She was next around with Whitefang and Hikaru back at Tek Village, while Hikaru explored their culture and beverages, and Whitefang met with Rosto once more to learn some of their history.

After the training exchange for farming knowledge and supplies was made between Tek Village and the Shadow Foresters, the Party then set about on making a plan to take the Installation once again. Now without a ship or means of escape, and the enemy alerted to their presence, they needed a new plan of attack.

Whitefang and Hikaru negotiated with Rosto, with Duna still bowing before him, and eventually earned his support to take some of the Village to use as a distraction, while praising Duna's help so far and asking for her to join them. The elder brought up her shame once more, saying that he was happy to let her go. He said she was often too smart for her own good, and live or die on this mission, she may well re-earn his favour. When K'ruhk and Whitefang pressed the matter, wandering just what she had done to earn his scorn, he deflected the matter, saying that was a private and personal situation they need not know.

The Attack
Duna then took point with Hikaru, the two growing to trust one another's instincts, and pointed out a ventilation shaft built into the mountainside that she and the Xextonian could use to infiltrate the base. Nox and Whitefang would try and slice the main blast doors, having evaded a nearby walker patrol, while K'ruhk, Mergon and the five Tek Villagers that were to serve as a distraction held back.

She and Hikaru scaled the shaft easily, and while the party member was unsure of where to go, he followed Duna when she seemed to pick up a scent. Coming upon the Mess Hall in the installation, they spied twenty five individuals, fifteen of which then stood up and left, as Nox had triggered an alarm during his attempts to hack the main doors. As Hikaru filled K'ruhk and the others in on the threat likely heading their way, Duna spotted a guard that possessed a keycard, pointing him out to her ally and asking what he thought they should do.

They struggled to come to a decision, and as the members outside tried to deal with the sudden emergence of four speeder bikes and ten heavily-armed troopers, Duna and Hikaru followed this guard via the vents into a camera observation room. Staying as silent as a pair of dust mites, the two dropped down behind him as he surveyed his monitors, the human remaining entirely oblivious. Hikaru then motioned that he was going to knock the guard out. But before he even had a chance, Duna clambered up the terminal they were near and kicked the guard square in the throat and then the temple, which then caused him to crack his head on a terminal at his side, so powerful was the combo. As the poor man staggered in place, Hikaru, awestruck though he was, clocked the guard with the butt of his pistol, knocking him out.

Locking the door behind them, the two then scanned over the monitors, finding they now had eyes on most of the installation, including their target - the communication centre...

Attributes

 * Soak: 3
 * Wound Threshold: 15
 * Strain Threshold: 15
 * Defence (Melee): 1

Skills:

 * Athletics: 2
 * Cool: 1
 * Coordination: 2
 * Lore: 1
 * Medicine: 1
 * Melee: 3
 * Outer Rim: 1
 * Perception: 1
 * Ranged (Light): 1
 * Stealth: 3
 * Survival: 2
 * Vigilance: 1
 * Warfare: 1

Special Abilities:

 * Starts with a rank in Perception.
 * Brawl, Melee, Ranged (Light + Heavy), Core Worlds and Outer Rim are all additional career sklls.
 * May spend 2 Advantage on a combat hit to disorient her foe.
 * Can spend a maneuver once per session to make the Familiar Suns action, learning all they can about the planet they are on - whether it's inhabited, where habitation is etc.
 * Remove up to 2 Setback from checks for foraging.
 * Grant 1 Boost to Perception and Vigilance checks made by allies in short range. Allies in engaged range are granted 2 Boost instead.
 * Can dismount/mount a vehicle or mount as an incidental instead of a maneuver.
 * Can reroll any one Perception or Vigilance check once per session.
 * Remove setback for attempts to move through or manage terrain.
 * Gain Boost in combat checks against enemies that haven't acted yet in an encounter.
 * Once per encounter, may use a Second Wind incidental to recover 2 strain.
 * Granted Boost in checks made during a chase.
 * Granted 2 Boost to Coordination and Stealth checks

Weapons:

 * Iron Pole
 * Melee, Engaged, Damage 6, Critical Rating 5, Disorient 2, Accurate 1.
 * YYYB
 * Battle Suit
 * Soak 6, Wound Threshold 8.
 * Mounted Rifle
 * Gunnery, Long Range, Damage 9, Critical Rating 4, Unwieldy 2.
 * GGGG

Inventory

 * Iron Pole
 * Exoskeletal Battlesuit