Onslaught at Arda I, Part 1: Battle of the Gauntlet

*The convergence of a present threat and an ancient menace imperil the Rebel base on Arda I.*

## Agents

### Underground Team

* Gristle
* Pakbatt
* Erdogan Cael
* Hank
* R0C-K4 "Rocky"
* [[Sev-ak

### Aerial Team

* Derra
* R2-M5
* Rip Janson
* Jiimb Ortuba
* Aiden
* Goblin

## Mission Report

The agents return to visit the base at Arda I to visit and remain on call for any tasks the triumvirate may have for them. While lounging in the mess hall, the agents are approached by Urel Haydon, who expresses some concerns about the local rebels’ respect for the agents. Some pilots, like Harl Bess, have a bit of a bone to pick, not liking the amount of priority assignments the crew seems to be getting. Haydon suggests that the agents help out around the base to improve their image and lighten the atmosphere in the base. Gristle heads over to the medbay with Erdo to help out Dr. Morrick while R0C and Sev-ak go to investigate a few postings for jobs involving hazard pay.

In the medbay, Gristle and Erdo wait while Dr. Morrick tends to one of her patients. When she moves to the next, they overhear her complaining about Bess’ handling of the Gauntlet, and she soon notices them. The two offer their assistance in taking care of the heavily wounded patient, doing a quick diagnostic before treating the multiple fractures and punctured lung the man was suffering from. Thankful for the help, Dr. Morrick, expresses some concerns about the base’s leadership and the pride of the soldiers among them, namely Qurno and Niall.

After a short while, the agents gather back up in the mess hall, where they’re greeted by Dr. Enev Nomwec, who seems delighted to see Erdo again. She takes them to a quieter section of the base before explaining that some of the digging crews had found an underground chamber, and that the investigation crew sent inside hasn’t yet returned. The agents gladly offer their assistance, and Dr. Nomwec leads them to the entrance within the base, which has been projected over by a holoprojector, concealing it. The doctor takes them to the shaft where the first team had descended, and they set up lines to descend. Everyone proceeds smoothly enough, but Pakbatt slips halfway down, just barely out of R0C’s reach. Hank reaches out with the Force, but isn’t able to get a grip, and the dresselian quickly slips into the darkness and falls. He’s able to grab onto the wall to slow his descent, but still hits the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. R0C immediately pursues, leaping down, and is able to narrowly avoid crushing Pakbatt as he lands.

The rest of the crew arrives a moment later, descending with the cables, and as they get their bearings, they spot a figure nearby. Said figure is alive, but injured. He tells the agents that two others had descended further. Gristle tends to his wounds while Erdo investigates some nearby columns. R0C moves to the ledge by the wounded rebel and nearly slips further into the darkness before regaining his footing. Erdo uses the Force to seek out Keb, one of the two other rebels, and senses that he is still alive deeper inside the ruins. Gristle finishes stabilizing the wounded man’s wounds while Erdo approaches the ledge and drops a glow rod down. The glow rod lands directly on the body of a human below, and R0C quickly descends. Although R0C’s climbing gear comes loose as he finishes his descent, he still makes it safely and confirms that the man below is still alive, but unconscious. The other agents follow, and on the way down, Gristle notices a glowing white orb near the center of the room. Pakbatt knocks over one of the statues as he lands, but everyone is otherwise safe.

Gristle is able to rouse Keb and get him back on his feet. He seems happy to see Erdo, and the group goes on to investigate the contents of the room. The statues are of some sort of reptilian beings, but Erdo and Gristle aren’t able to get a handle on exactly who they might have been. Near the back of the chamber, R0C finds an inscription on the wall. Erdo moves over to begin translating. The inscription refers to a Sith warlord and her use of “fel alchemy.” Erdo soon senses the orb at the center as it begins to glow red. Tendrils of lightning shoot between it and some of the statues, bringing them to life. R0C immediately leaps toward the orb at the center and slams his axe into it, causing a burst of light to bathe even more statues, turning their stone to scaly flesh. Sev-ak slashes at two of the living statues beside him, killing one while Pakbatt raises his rifle to dispatch another. The orb sparks again, bringing more of the creatures to life. They begin to swarm and attack, landing a few nasty hits on Erdo and Pakbatt. Erdo, sensing that the nearby device is receiving a signal from somewhere, takes out his datapad and attempts to jam the signal, causing the nearby creatures to seize up. With the chamber beginning to overflow, the agents head back to their climbing gear to escape with their rescued rebels. The jamming wears off part-way up, and the creatures pursue, flapping their wings. Just as the crew reaches the surface, a call comes in from R2-M5, exclaiming that the Imperial fleet has arrived and is beginning to attack.

Arriving in the hangar bay, the team sees the attending rebels under attack. Rebel communications seem scrambled, and an Imperial pilot seems to be taunting the Alliance forces over their own comm network. The Eddo family is across the way, with Sr. hiding while Jr. fends off a trandoshan mercenary. Taking care of their own mission first, the agents set some detonite by the entrance to the tunnel in order to block off the horde of reptillian creatures below. Gristle and Erdo take off toward a group of rebels, including Dr. Morrick, who’ve just been gunned down by some of the attack Imperial troopers. R0C bounds across the hangar to join Jeppo Jr. in fighting off the trandoshans, and Pakbatt races up to try to get a vantage point atop one of the landed transports. Sev-ak charges in, dodging a shot from one of the troopers while closing the distance. Hank makes a running leap to join the fray with the trandoshans, immediately dealing a series of crippling blows to one of the mercenaries and drawing its ire in the meantime, even as wounded as it is. One of the troopers in the distance also takes aim at the lightsaber, but narrowly misses, nailing the wounded trandoshan straight in the head, killing him. The other trandoshan lashes out with his blazing therm-axe, striking Hank and doing little damage, but catching his robes on fire. One of the troopers calls into the elite squad leader, who steps over to open fire on the Jedi clashing with the mercenaries.

Erdo hits the detonator once all of the agents are safely away, sealing off the tunnel while R0C draws his axe to land a heavy blow on the trandoshan. Pakbatt makes it to the top of the transport at the same time and turns, shouldering his rifle to take aim at the trandoshan. The slug flies true, impacting just above the mercenary’s ear, killing him instantly. Erdo finds a nearby terminal to slice in and overcome the Imperial jamming and interference while knocking the taunting pilot off of the channel. Gristle moves over to give Dr. Morrick medical attention, pulling her to her feet. She thanks him and gets to work patching up the other rebels that had fallen with her. Meanwhile, a turbolift opens and some more Alliance soldiers enter the room to help. With the trandoshans taken care of, R0C charges in to pincer the elite troopers, immediately landing two decisive strikes before throwing one of the troopers out of the hangar bay and down into the canyon below. Sev-ak cleaves through one of the soldiers, moving toward their leader, nicknamed The Butcher. Pakbatt lands a shot from the back of the transport, wounding the Butcher while Erdo engages another trooper. The Butcher fires off a shot at Sev-ak, too proud to retreat, but lands a painful blow. R0C bounds in as the Imperial turns his back, escaping his notice until it’s too late. R0C’s axe cleaves straight through him, mortally wounding the elite Imperial leader. With the bay clear, the rebels rally up and start piling into the safe area. Advisor Hase with Var Narek enter the landing bay and enlist the agents to clear and defend the second hangar. Meanwhile, Erdo finds the bug that had allowed the Imperials their backdoor into the Alliance commnet, but concludes that it had to have been placed there before the attack even started. Erdo tries to formulate a signal to attract the flying creatures to the Imperial ships, but isn’t able to broadcast it. Instead, he sends it over to R2.

Jeppo Jr. approaches while the agents are recuperating, asking where his father had gone. One of the rebels informs them that Sr. had already taken the turbolift up, and by the time they catch up, they seem him heading toward the hangar bay, claiming that he needs to detonate the explosives manually in order to seal the section off. Before anyone can convince him otherwise, he triggers them, causing a large explosion that seals the bay and swallows him as well. With no options left, but the objective complete, they retreat back to the hangar bay to board Hase’s transport and join the evacuation. Outside, the other team pools their resources to weaponize the signal, turning the creatures on the Imperial ships while all Alliance forces make a hasty retreat, locking in coordinates to jump as soon as they leave the gravity well.

When safely away, the agents are all gathered on Advisor Hase’s transport. She informs everyone that Ran Niall had perished during the battle, and the agents in turn inform everyone else of Jeppo Sr’s demise. Erdo and the others bring up the signs of a traitor in the ranks, and although they’re resisted by Qurno and Major Yalor, Gristle is able to convince them to investigate with the others’ help. Impressed by his initiative, Hase puts Gristle in charge of the investigation.