Cam noted with mixed satisfaction the progress his squad had made. They had made it out of the fray without even a blaster mark on their armor, so it was a good day so far. Still, there was a couple more klicks to go and clone could see that fate was struggling to keep up in this blasted mud.

The sound of buzzing comlinks caught Cam's attention quickly. He checked his HUD momentarily, assuming it was another transmission from Command, but there was nothing coming in. Strange... A quick read-out of his HUD systems seemed to show there was no problem with his equipment. Hmmm... Seemed only his point man and sniper were getting a message.

With eyes on high alert, scanning their surroundings, Cam piped up, "Let's stick together, people. We got two klicks to go and no time to breathe. TK, eyes open, full alert. Sellikus... Linopas... what do you got?"

Both Sellikus and Linopas got the same message. Basically, the message was all static; though, it was both an Imperial code, and it was coming from a nearby area. There was two comprehendable word that could be heard: 'Immediate evac. It ws really hard to tell, but the voice sounded like a trooper of some sort. After a few seconds the message would pause, then looped again as long as the message was being recieved. The spec ops team kept moving east, wanting to get to the objective. Within a couple minutes, the eerie blue forest was on their left ( north of them) in front of the trenches. Although the trees weren't huge, they were dense; furthermore, they provided cover from anyone in the trenches.

Sellikus stops, fist held up in a signal to hold. Turning about, he addresses Cam.
"Sir, what are your orders? This is a bad spot to remain in." He states, eyeing the eerie trees for any sign of hostile units, or movement of any sort....

Immediate Evac... argh... things never go smooth.
Cam sized up his team, before replying to his point man. His mind was already trying to form a plan, even without full intel.

"We keep moving. Hustle up with eyes wide open. Sounds like some people could use a hand."

[OOC: Okay, a couple thoughts here.

1) I'd like us to try and move in stealthy, especially the last km.

2) SirSadaar, does the trench run in a straight line to the command center, with the trees running alongside of it?

3) Team, what if we moved out of the trench and into the woods? Do you think we stand a greater chance running into enemies in the trees or the trench?]

Tk listened to his Sergeant, before coming up with an idea." Sergeant," he began," I think I may be able to use one of the comlinks and trace exactly where the transmission is coming from, and the faction of the person sending it. Tk wasn't sure if this distress call was a trap: however, he was more than happy to do a bit of tech work. All practice for when he was able to get back in the pilots seat aagain. TK had began to ponder wether he really wanted to be a pilot in the Imperial Navy. Flying a Tie fighter seemed like a complete deathtrap to him.

(Ooc The trenches do run towards the command center, with the forest around it.)

"Make it happen, TK," Cam said with some urgency. "Sal, if you don't mind?" The sergeant motioned that Sal would hand over his commlink to TK. "Linopas, you've got rearguard."

[OOC: Chessicfayth has mentioned in another thread, that he has experience a sudden and sad loss just recently ... I imagine this may take him out for a bit.

Also, I receive only one PM from Salvator regarding whether or not to move in behind the tree cover, rather than stay in the trench... he is in favour of the move. I am inclined towards that too, unless the trench provides cover from the tree line as well... let us know, SirSadaar.]

((I'll modify later if need be.))

Sellikus nodded to Cam, turning his comm over to the droid. Looking around again, The Kiffar nodded to himself, then spoke to Cam.

"Sir, I say we get out of this pit. Run parallel to it, using the trees as cover. With any luck, there is no ambush, and even if there is, we won't be where they expect." He explained quickly, keeping an eye on the tree line for hostiles.

TK took the comlink from Sellikus, defineately intending to work. "Thank you." He said to Sellikus. He was about to begin, when he realised that Fayt had some tecchnical knowledge to. "Hey Fayt, would you mind assisting me with this? I don't want to mess up." TK moved over to Fayt. Tk had a high degree of admiration for astromech droids. They were a pilots best friend. "Sergeant Cam, would it not be best to move into the trees? I would prefer to be less exposed."

(OOC When I make posts for Kamina, I usually have talked to him first about what he wants to do. I'm not trying to lead you into a trap or anything.)

Once TK began to work on the comlink, he put his knowlege to good use. At first, he had difficulty trying to lock on to the siganl; however, after a couple seconds, he finally cleared up the comlink. The image that appeared was a stormtrooper, who was in combat while trying to send the message. Though most of the message was still static, the spec ops team could hear a voice full of static which said," ... Corpral Terndus. My commander is hit, and we have wounded. The commander has important informatioon which would assist in winning this battle we need immediate evac. We have wounded..." The trooper paused as he dodged a blaster bolt. He seemed to try and say something else, but the reception suddnely got cut off, leaving a static sound.
"That's all I can get sergeant. Sorry," TK said.
After a moment, TK amaged to bring up the approximate location of the call. It was about 1 kilometer north east of the spec ops team's current location. It would add a little bit of time of heading towards the objective, and they would have to walk through the forest to get there.
While TK was working on the comlink, the trenches began to become surrounded by the forest. Thhe faint blue glow lit up the way a bit, and made eerie shadows move across the trench.

Cam listened to his squad as the moved through the trench. When TK finally got the message unscammbled, Cam thought through the options momentarily before sharing the plan with the group.

"Looks like it's time to be heroes..." the sergeant said dryly. "We'll cut through the tree line, make straight as possible for that transmission's twenty. I want full-on alert, quick and quiet for the next klick. TK and Sal, you continue on point. Linopas, you and I will take rear guard. Fayt, keep us moving in the right direction."

[OOC: One, I'm wondering if it's possible for Cam to carry Fayt on his back... like you see in some of the Clone Wars Cartoons where a clone trooper has an R2 unit strapped to his back... is Cam able to do this?

Two, is Fayt able to move freely enough through the terrain without assistance?

Three, if the forest is going to slow Fayt down to walking locamotion (4 squares), Reralae would you mind if Cam carried Fayt on his back?]

Sellikus nodded again, climbing from the trench and immediately pressed his side to the nearest tree, keeping eyes out while the rest of the unit scrambled up.
The pale light was eerie, but suddenly Sellikus was glad for it. The forest would have otherwise likely been quite difficult to see through.

Once everyone had made it out, he went back into a half crouch and started the procession, keeping the pace quick, quiet, and cautious. Twin pistols still in hand, The Kiffar left no mental stone unturned. He wasn't going to die in some crummy forest in the middle of this war-torn kriff hole......

((Actions: Scale Trench wall, Quick sneaky jog, looking for hostiles))

Fayt whistled in acknowledgement as she propelled herself out of the trench to follow after the soldiers, careful not to stray too close to any foliage, before setting down by the edge. With a quick access to her navigation subroutines, she attempted to get bearings on their current position relative to the target location.

It couldn't be harder than keeping track of astronavigation coordinates in the memory she accessed when aiding a ship's hyperdrive. At present though, she had to make sure she didn't get caught up in any of the local flora...

Linopas and Tk both moved to the individual positions before the group moved out. Cam manages to carry Fayt as he walks. It slows him down a bit, but not as much as it would to Fayt over someground.

After a few minutes walk, Sergent Cam heard some sort of blaster noise. A moment later, Fayt and Linopas heard something too. As the group advances, the blasters became louder, and Sellikus and Tk began to hear it as well.

The first signs of battle was a downed Stormtrooper. His white armour was dirty, covered in mud, making it impossible to see what killed him. A few steps later, a Tapien soldier was also found. The spec ops team advanced, noticing more dead soldiers as the got closer to the battle.

As Cam was walking, he noticed a strange texture on the ground. It was partly buried in mud, but it seemed to be some sort of black powder. It certainly didn't seem to belong, looking somewhat artificial when compared to the ground.

While Tk was walking, a brilliant blue electrical blast rips through the air towards him. A sharp snapping sound alerted the whole spec ops team to it. The blast itself misses terribly, it crashes into the ground too far away from Tk to faze him.

Sellikus slowed as the group approached the first dead trooper. This was obviously the place.
Wrinkling his nose slightly, the Kiffar continued on, quickly finding another corpse. but this one wasn't Imperial.....
Slowly bending down, Sellikus began to examine the body, having never seen a Tapien up close before.
But before he could learn much, he was set into action.
A split second after the strange blue light roars past TK, Sellikus jumped to his feet, both pistols raised, pointed to the area the light came from, and blasting in a wide spray.

"Take cover!" He yells, though he expected everyone should already have reached the same conclusion.
Moving to the nearest tree, the Kiffar continued firing until his blasters' power packs ran dry.

(Actions: Quick examination of Tapien(Irrelevent), Lay down suppressive fire)

With the marching order set, Sergeant Cam took his position while carrying the droid. The machine was heavy enough, but Cam knew the thing was not built for crossing long distances of rough terrain.

As the moved in the direction of the distress call, Cam was first to hear the blaster fire ahead. "Sharp eyes. Sounds like we'll be coming in hot."

The blaster fire volume increased, and soon the evidence of battle came into view as the passed the bodies of the fallen. The grim sight of his dead brother sullied invoked an even grimmer determination within Cam. We will succeed with this mission...
A little ways away, the sergeant noticed something that seemed not to belong... a black powdery substance, different from the soil. [OOC:Assuming Cam has time prior to the electric bolt crashing in... Cam scooped up a sample of the stuff and examined it briefly before heading it to the droid. "Fayt, can you identify this sample?"

Suddenly, an electric blast crashed in beside TK. The shot went wide of the clone pilot... But was that intentional? wondered Cam. [OOC:Can Cam make a Knowledge [Tactics] check to see whether the shot intentional missed? Can he make a knowledge check to see if he can identify the type of weapon used to make such a blast? Can he make a perception check to determine where the blast originatated from?]

Sellikus opened fire and called for the team to get to cover. "Move! Move!" Cam added. As he found some tree cover, Cam released Fayt. "Don't go getting yourself diabled now!"

Looking around the tree, Cam attempted again to notice an any enemy activity. "Linopas, stay here and see if you can get a bead on this 'sniper'.

"TK, you're with me. Let's see if we can circle alongside and flank them.

"Sellikus, keep tem distracted while we move into position."

"Let's get moving."

[OOC: Not sure how many rounds my actions take up, but I suspect a couple. So when he get the chance, rifle is out and he is looking to come alongside the source.]