Episode 10

"'Let it not be said that Captain Tuka Magrehbe wasn't a gracious host!'"'''With their initial plan of attack disrupted by their unfortunate landing, the Last Resort struggle to come up with a fervent plan of action. A quick re-positioning makes matters worse, and soon draws an Imperial patrol to their location. However, the planet seems alive with a myriad of mysteries that may come to their aid...'''

First Contact
Scuttling about on top of their ship, a small simian creature was discovered by Hikaru and Whitefang. With a long prehensile tail, black and grey striped fur, and an inquisitive nature, the creature sat and watched the group from its vantage point. Clambering up there himself, the Xextonian offered 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, stating her name was Duna. 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 first. Curling up into a little ball, she rolled off of the ship before clambering up a nearby tree and swinging between branches.

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 a bi-pedal Imperial Walker stomped into view. Its heavy footsteps crushing logs and roots underfoot, supported by a squad of troopers, the sight snapped him out of his mood briefly and the Party as a whole fled into the trees after Duna. Whitefang and Hikaru took to the canopies, while the larger members of the group stayed on the ground. Nox, terrified of being discovered, initially just took cover, watching the patrol walk past them and towards the ship. K'ruhk cursed under his breath at this, as their ship was likely now out of reach for some time, at least until they could dispatch that group. While Nox then left cover and followed after the rest of the group, K'ruhk festered in his disappointment and walked slowly until they reached wherever they were going.

The Echo Land
Asked by Whitefang as to what her people were called, Duna 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, a communal market, and a pub all present. Hikaru followed behind her quickly, while the others got distracted by this hectic hustle and bustle. Whitefang, fascinated by these people, leaned in a bit too close to one of the sentries on the border of the village, receiving a swift slap to the forehead with the sentries quarterstaff. The pub was home to a mix of musicians all playing festive music, while village folk danced and drank. Thankfully its roof was tall enough for the entire party to stand up, though K'ruhk and Mergon both had a hard time manoeuvring. Those two were also nearly beside themselves with confusion, as to them these villagers looked like children, something K'ruhk in particular found disconcerting.

Appearing again moments after disappearing inside a building, Duna 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.

He negotiated with Hikaru, who he came to view as the leader of the Last Resort during their stay on Dirakan, eventually stating that he may be willing to lend them aid in their attack. He was not quick to dispense such help however, suggesting that they perform a small task for the village, and how they performed would affect the reward he would grant.

Revealing that the critters that had attacked Duna earlier and stolen Hikaru's money were comparatively recent arrivals to their home, since this time they had harried the village for supplies. Because they never killed or threatened violence on his people, he had ordered no vengeance. He also dared not antagonise them by following them home and demanding they cease their raids, lest they stop their 'no-kill' policy.

His task was for the Party to discern the motives behind their attacks, and through one manner or another, put an end to them. Whitefang, intrigued by his people, asked if he could be permitted to study them and learn about their culture as his own reward for taking part in the task. While he seemed agreeable to this, Rosto again pressed that he would allow it depending on how well the Party performed their task. Assigning Duna as their escort and guide, citing it as a chance to re-earn her favour, he bid them farewell and returned to his abode.

When she lifted her head once more, the Party asked Duna if she had any information on the threat. All she could reveal was that they often attacked in great numbers on their village, sometimes twenty strong, and struck quickly before resistance could be mounted. They were conniving and underhanded, not averse to striking in small groups when somebody was isolated either. Despite their intelligent nature, she had witnessed no obvious leader of these attacks.

As the group walked towards the treeline, Whitefang pondered to himself. 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 Infiltration, Group One
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 5 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, 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 situation, Duna spotted a guard that possessed a keycard, pointing him out to her ally and asking what he wanted to 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 armed troopers, Duna and Hikaru followed this guard via the vents into a back security room. Staying as silent as a pair of dust mites, the two dropped down behind him as he surveyed his monitors, the human taking no notice. 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 at and kicked the guard square in the throat and then the temple, causing him to crack his head on a terminal at his side, so powerful were the blows. As the poor guy 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...

The Infiltration, Group Two
As those two infiltrated, Nox and Whitefang managed to stay low and approached the blast doors, suspecting they may be able to hack into the mainframe and trigger the blast doors. With the Selonian keeping watch, Nox made a first attempt to bypass security, and it seemed to go well until a sudden protocol trip shunted him out of the system. He tried again, though this time he tripped an actual wire and received a hefty shock in return. Although frazzled, he noticed a small blinking red light on the panel and cursed under his breath. The pair retreated back to the treeline, knowing they had failed. This was when Hikaru commed K'ruhk, saying he had seen a number of people leaving. A loud grinding was heard as the blast doors opened. Empty at first, before an elevator lowered slowly into view, carrying with it a complement of ten heavily-armed troopers.

As the troopers filed out, four speeder bikes whirred forth, before splitting into two pair and speeding off to presumably do a quick scouting of the perimeter. The troopers however remained in formation near the blaster doors, appearing to be observing the tree lines. K'ruhk then dispatched the villagers to distract them, telling them to stay out of harms way. While the first group managed to draw away four of the troopers into the trees by pelting them with rocks, the second group met with far worse results. Throwing objects to draw them in, these troopers instead just returned fire into the tree line, the firepower of six blaster carbines brought to bear in a vicious haze of gunfire. K'ruhk and Mergon were unsure of the actual result, though they heard the pained screech of one of the villagers as the first rounds streaked through the tree canopies.

Unsure of what to do, and still faced with six troopers that could likely draw in allies at any one time, K'ruhk seemed determined to rush in and just attack them. For a moment this seemed to be agreed, until Whitefang blocked his idea with a suggestion: Let's think about this. Knowing that any attack was likely to bring back allies, why not just pose as one of their allies? He brought up the point of the walker patrol that had passed not too long ago, and suggested he could go and hijack it and use it to take care of the soldiers, or to infiltrate the base itself perhaps...