Yep, as expected. Staying low and behind cover Aaron didn't fire unless he had a clear shot or had to, preferring to conserve the weapons power pack. Waiting for what was inevitable, either rebel reinforcements or First Order reinforcements. The way this day was going it would likely be both and end up a full blood bath for both sides.

He took another quick look around, looking for a more dependable spot or even the chance that there may be a way to end this quickly and with less bloodshed.

Blind Perception Roll: I know what you rolled, you do not.

If there was a cureall for this, it wasn't here in the base itself. Fair enough, given that it probably would have been used if it was here.

On the far end of the base there a space that looked like it was probably an armory, with the reinforced walls and lack of windows. There could be something in there to help turn the tide on this, it might also create a large amount of sabotage and shrapnel if it were blown up; depending on if they built their space right. Getting there would be difficult.

Behind you is a secured building within the base. Going in there could create a more defensible fighting position, forcing the enemy into narrow doorways and halls. Someone would need to slice their way into the door, which would be incredibly dangerous.

To your left looks like a comms station of some kind. Qui-Gon said to watch your head, whatever that meant, being in an area built to support a satelite dish might be a good idea, should something be coming down upon you.

On the far right looks like garage were the armored carrier from earlier was probably maintained and stored. There was a large door there that could allow you and your allies to flee and regroup, though you would be susceptible to fire along the way. It's hard to gauge the size, but if it's larger than it looks, there could be another carrier there as well, though it probably wouldn't be large enough to hold everyone.

Quickly studying the area he gave gunny a shout and pointed out the four locations. "Any of those may be good spots to make a stand. Or cause so serious diversion and damage."

The thought of what Qui-Gon had said echoing in his head. Surely in wasn't that straight forward. "I'm going to head to the comms station over there. Try to get some cover and a little harder defenses. Maybe we can work our way around to that garage over there. Find a transport or two and get the hell out of here."


He pause for a second to see if Gunny agreed before he nodded to the others. Darting between cover he desperatly tried to make himself as hard a target as possible.

"What? You wanna live forever or something?" He asked before firing a wild barrage, taking down one of the Stormtroopers, but catching fire in his shoulder. He pulls back in pain, looking at you again

"Ya okay." He said shortly. "Well cover you." He and his men stuck up again, firing off to keep the First Order from firing at you as you went.
A few heads poked out anyway, and tried to make potshots off, largely missing you, though one did graze your leg just as you made it in.

The comms station was secure, and quiet. Whatever it was supposed to be used for, the emitter was off, but a receiver was on, showing the friends Gunny called.

Close air support, coming in fast.

Arron looked around quickly and listened to the chatter on the comms. Keying his comm he started to give Gunny a heads up that air support was on the way then remembered that Gunny's comm was busted. Quickly moving back to the door he signaled Gunny that the air support was incoming.

Then raced back to the comm station. Keying his comm again he tried to raise the incoming support. Hoping to at least give the guys in the air some idea where friendly forces were on the ground and avoid any casualties from friendly fire.

Gunny quickly relayed the message, tapping on the person next to him, Dilancia the combat medic. Providing cover fire, the squad was able to rapidly move into the comms station.

"Good on ya recruit" Gunny said through deep breaths. "They got the message," He looked around in the now crowded space "We should be reasonably safe in here, unless our friends start going for glory and a pretty show."

"They are pilots after all" Dilancia piped in.

"Than we may be in trouble after all. Get on the horn, and make sure they know not to hit the tower"

Make a Use Computer check to operate the controls. Low DC, unless you botch this, you should probably be pretty safe.

Aaron nods and quickly tries the comms. Doing his best to raise the incoming pilots.

"Aaron Trask to incoming air support. Be advised, friendly units have taken shelter in the comm tower. Repeat friendly forces in the comm tower."

OOC: 13:52, Today: Aaron Trask rolled 7 using 1d20+2.  Use Computer. Well that's about normal.

Thankfully, this was a dead simple task.

"Copy that. Stay cozy ground station. All pilots, negative on the candy bowl, save room for dinner."

The Comms station lacked windows to the outside, so the only way to see what was coming was through a tiny viewscreen, getting camera footage from above. The First Order soldiers were quickly heading in, trying to form a defensive perimeter around your area, so that you couldn't escape. A few were even constructing a turret to deploy heavy and sustained fire downrange.

The heavy insulation of the walls made it so that they heard the incoming planes before you did. Now flanked, they lacked the time or the opportunity to defend themselves. Instead, they tried desperately to shoot at the enemy and bring them down, to no avail. The base was immediately ripped by a torrent of fire from blaster cannons.

"Sweep completed Ground Station. Barring an all clear, coming around for another pass."

As the pilots first message came across Aaron nodded and looked around at the others. "Okay everybody take cover and keep your heads down. It's about to get noisy. May not hurt to pray the guys in the air aren't to enthusiastic to."

As the first pass commenced he watched the small screen. Even though he had a deep seated dislike of the First Order he almost felt sorry for them as the blaster cannons from the fighters opened up. Most of those soldiers were only following orders out of blind obedience most likely.

As the sweep finished he looked over the grounds looking for any threats that may require a second sweep. Looking over to anyone close to the door. "See any signs of movement out there?"

"You should have better eyes than we do, private, but I think we're good. Don't hear anything out there beyond the flames"

Aaron nodded, he hadn't expected much movement after the he saw the results of the first pass. The view on the camera showed nothing moving and Gunny hadn't picked up on any threat from his spot near the door.

Keying the comm again, "Everything appears clear air support. We should be able to handle the clean up."

"Copy all ground station. All flights are currently RTB. Will proceed inbound if further help is necessary."

mall amounts of rocks and debris fall into the space as the doors open, followed by smoke and dust slowly after. A few fires of ignited material were going, but appeared to be self-contained. As you came out, the air wing flew over; providing a short glimpse of them before returning to base.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d1/5...69fce14e784f255c.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-165">https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d1/5...69fce14e784f255c.jpg" alt=''>

Their work did seem thorough and complete. The First Order soldiers were all KIA, from the looks of it. The teams were quick to celebrate the apparent victory, but were put in check in short order

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves soldiers. I want this place checked out top to bottom. Make sure nobody is hiding out. I want the bodies brought out and lined up along this bulkhead" he pointed to a nearby wall "and I want a full accounting of what we got, and what we paid for it, and I want it now. Move!"

As everyone started to move apart in hurried fashion. "I would like to talk with you one-on-one, private."

Aaron had started to head out to help with the bodies and equipment as Gunny instructed. But then Gunny stopped him for a one-on-one talk. Figuring this was going to be either bad or really bad he steadied his nerves and waited to see what was on Gunny's mind.

This had been one whirlwind day. He hadn't even been on planet but close to two standard days and he was already tired and worn out. But he had chose this path in the hopes of a little retribution on the First Order. Of course the ghost of a long dead Jedi silently advising him hadn't been factored in at the beginning.

Sighing he nodded to Gunny. "Yes Sir."

Gunny's nature was loose, almost frumpy, now that the battle was over, and out of sight of the rest of his soldiers. Though it would be hard to make out with the facial structure of a Bith, the tone in his almost denoted a smile.

"Waddya think? Not bad for a first day on the job, ey?"

Aaron hadn't expected that question or Gunny's almost friendly attitude. He grinned, "Have to admit it was a little more than I had expected so quickly."

He looked out the door, watching as the rest of the unit went about gathering up bodies and equipment. He thought this would make him feel better, helping fight against the First Order and getting a little payback for how his parents had been treated. But for some reason it just didn't. He actually felt bad for all those First Order soldiers who had lost their lives today.

Turning back to Gunny, "So what now?" He started to continue but decided better of it.

"I've made it a personal mission to never think I've seen everything, or that things are happening according to plan. Every time I do, fate has a cruel way of proving me wrong. Today was unexpected, in a lot of ways. You in particular" As he patted your shoulder "the other recruits gathered around like a magnet, and you all got things done successfully. Recklessly maybe, but successful. I need about a hundred more of you right now, but I'll take you while I have you."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small item, holding out in your hand. Upon inspection, it was a patch indicating the rank of Corporal. Still a lower rank in the grand scheme of things, but it was the first taste of leadership.

"This isn't official yet, so your first test is to keep your mouth shut. I need to work my magic with the O's, but once everything is done, you'll be under Sergeant Dilancia. Form a small squad of the people we still have, and wait for our next orders. In the meantime, we need to finish taking inventory. We were told this would be a large win; time to see if we got the jackpot."

Aaron's raised an eyebrow, the battlefield promotion was unexpected. True it wasn't official but still it was a encouraging that Gunny actual thought he was capable enough for it. Wait had Gunny actually given him a compliment? This day was definitely alot to take in.

Nodding he stuffed the patch into his pocket. "Will do Gunny." Heading out the door he smiled. "Wonder what equipment the First Order saw fit to donate to our cause?"

"Hopefully nothing else that's booby trapped like it was before. Make absolutely sure our people are being vigilant. If they'll do it once, they'll do it again."

Out of breath, one of the other recruits, Jon Larthol came running up. "Permission to speak Gunnery Seargeant"

"Yes, recruit, what is it that you had to sprint over for?"

"There's something that you should see. Please, follow me."

Gunny looked at you and nodded "very well recruit, lead the way" He was more reluctant to run, feeling Jon's actions were a bit unnecessary. A large double doorway in the armory led to a darkened ramp, into what seemed like a vast tunnel system of some kind.

"Well, good work recruit, you ensured the tunnel didn't run away in time. I'm glad you brought this to my attention."

Sincerity mixed with sharp sarcasm, Jon responded simply "Thank you Gunnery Seargeant"

"Do we have any idea where this goes?"

"No Gunn"

"Recruit, you say Gunnery Seargeant one more time, and I'll have you strapped to the bottom of the transport. Just tell me what you know."

"We don't know" The teenager visibly relaxed "we just sent out a probe droid, it'll take some time for it to get a full report.

"I want a full report from the droid as soon as it's available. Anything else?"

"The comms system overhead is interfering with our comlinks, we're not sure what's going on, but working on it. One of the other soldiers came accross something unusual when we were going over the dead."

"Unusual how?"

"He wasn't dressed like the others, not even like an officer, he had what some kinda cube on him, a computer maybe, we couldn't figure it out." He pulled it out immediately, it was etched with runes and appeared to have complex mechanisms inside.

"Well, I'm not in the need of paperweights, and I'm not fond of my soldiers taking souvenirs. Find somewhere for that to go, so the eggheads can make heads or tails of it. Trask, you have any idea what it is?"

17:25, Today: Midichlorians, on behalf of Aaron Trask, rolled 22 using 1d20+2 ((20))
17:26, Today: Midichlorians, on behalf of Aaron Trask, rolled 22 using 1d20+2.  Use The Force.

You've heard of such things, but had thought they were merely a legend. This is a Holocron, a sort of living computer utilized by the Jedi and the Sith to hold knowledge. Only a person with knowledge in the force could use something like this. There is no Force energy residing in it, meaning it was likely destroyed in the blast, or was already destroyed by whoever was holding it.

The Holocron had drawn Aaron's attention as soon as Jon brought it out. He had heard the tales about such things but had never put much stock in them. Considering them tall tales, much like dead Jedi. And he had seen where that got him. Reaching out he took the Holocron from Jon. "Yeah, I've heard about these. Though I never expected to see one. It's a Holocron, the Jedi and the Sith supposedly used them to store knowledge. This one is dead though, probably destroyed in the attack. Maybe even before."

"That complicates things" Gunny's response was understated, at first. "The battle for Coruscant is going to be hard enough. If there's Sith fighting among the First Order, than we're all in for a lot of hurt."

He makes to sharp pointing actions, one at each of you "Let me be very clear. We did not find a Holocron, and we didn't kill no Sith. I don't want any of those kinds of rumors running around, and I especially don't want those airhead flyboys taking credit for it."

"But, Gu"

"I know!" He responded back sharply "They have enough to gloat over. They start talking about how they killed a Sith, the entire galaxy will know about it in a day. I don't wanna hear it, and more importantly, we don't need that kind of attention."

He stared at the Holocron a second or two "Trask, you hold onto that thing for a while. You seem to know the most about it, maybe you can find a way to fix it. In the meantime, I need a mapping specialist. There has to be something going on for our special guest to be here with that thing, and we should figure out why that is."
This message was last updated by the player at 01:21, Sun 24 Oct 2021.

Aaron understood Gunny's concern about the rumors and what this could mean about the Sith. If the tales were to be believed they would make things even worse in this war. Slipping the device into his pack out of sight he then looked over at Jon. "Was this the only thing they were carrying?"

He was a bit suspicious and wondered if it really was a Sith or possibly just one of their agents.

"Only thing that I'm aware of, but I wasn't the one that moved him."

Gunny motioned towards the bodies for you both to take a look

21:46, Today: Midichlorians, on behalf of Aaron Trask, rolled 15 using 1d20+8 ((7)).

21:54, Today: Midichlorians, on behalf of Aaron Trask, rolled 22 using 1d20+2.  Galactic Lore.



It is not hard to pick out who the person was that was holding the Holocron; the only individual not in Stormtrooper armor. Under the deathly scars, he looked to be in the dress uniform of an officer of the First Order. As you searched him, and the other bodies, shows nothing definitive.

"This is quite unusual." You hear the familiar voice of Qui-Gon in your mind "The Sith are not prone to hide their identities. Sidious was the exception that proved the rule. There is no lightsaber, no sign that the Force was strong with this one. I sense something else is at play here."

Make a Use the Force Check, with a circumstantial +1, so you should be sitting pretty at a net +4
This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Tue 26 Oct 2021.

Aaron looked at the body and the uniform, "Definitely not dressed like any Sith or Jedi I've heard tales of."

Qui-Gon's voice mentioning that something unusual was going on only made him that much more apprehensive. If the First Order was recovering Holocrons it was for anythin good that was for sure.

08:43, Today: Aaron Trask rolled 24 using 1d20+4.  Use Force.

You gained temporary access to the Technometry Force Power

You see the object in it's recent past. Intact,  operational, and unused. Sitting quietly within the archives of the Imperial Palace, previously known as the Jedi Temple. A daring and skilled officer of the First Order managed to sneak inside and take it. "At last" you hear in your mind, as you see him lay his hands on the device <i>"The secrets of a lightsaber are mine". Stuffing it away quickly, he made off with his treasured prize Holocron, before leaving and being found out, going through the tunnels that connect to this base.

It would be impossible from this glimpse to impart information about the officer who took it, other than that they were knowledgeable and skilled in the Force, possibly beyond even what his superiors in the First Order were aware of.

It's puzzling whether the First Order ordered him here or not, given that it's the First Order themselves that control it and have it sequestered off. If they are trying to siphon off the information here for their benefit, they must be doing it while keeping it a secret from themselves.

Aaron stood quietly lost in time for a moment as things from the recent past played out in his minds eye. Catching his breath he looked around at the base, gunny, Jon and then back to the body.

Hesitantly he stepped away from the bodies and closer to Gunny. In a low voice meant for only Gunny to hear, "I'm not really sure how to explain this. But the Holocron held information on how to build a light-sabre. Our unfortunate officer here went to a lot of effort to steal it from were it was being held in the Imperial Palace with out the First Order knowing it, or at least the majority of the First Order."

Looking back at the body and then at the tunnels, "Those tunnels connect to the Imperial Palace Its how he managed to sneak out without being noticed. From what I...." he paused as he tried to think of a way to explain it, "...saw he was working alone."

"I think there may be some faction within the First Order that is working on there own agenda." He still was sure how he had seen the vision or if he really trusted it, but it was so real.

Mentally he focused his thoughts and spoke to Qui-Gon "What was that vision. Was it really what happened?"