2 ABY – 06 Echo – 26 Centaxday (Relatta). The party gets started early as they don't want to stay on Relatta for long and yet they can't leave — not without a navicomputer and with a starship that no longer exists. Trackers found the party before through financial records — and cash is running low. Kantarra could float the team since she has been paid but before she can talk to Cheebs to allay is concerns, he sees a familiar furry customs agent outside the ship's front hatch.
Nix appears serious and a bit frantic at the base of the ramp. A quick conversation reveals that he's more than a customs agent — he's the provincial commissioner and authorized an expedition to head into the forest to retrieve some old data about a mining facility. He lost contact with the team, which sent out a brief distress call a few hours earlier. Given the terrain, there's no ship that can fly to the campsite — except for the Intrepid Porg, an assault ship uniquely designed to land in any terrain. After some posturing, Nix and Cheebs come to a deal — return the party and the data, and receive a handsome reward.
From the cockpit, Kantarra observes the conversation. She witnesses the posturing between Nix and Cheebs and grows quite concerned. The pistol that Nix is suspiciously showing is none other than a custom Monlitzer S-195 blaster, a known tool and symbol of those aligned with a syndicate. Kantarra quickly deduces that Cheebs unwittingly cut a deal with someone very high up the food chain within a criminal syndicate that they know nothing about.
Arriving behind Nix and then joining Cheebs in the walk up the ramp is a humanoid droid, C4-BL3 (Cable). He introduces himself to the party and shares the data he has on the last known location of the expedition and its last campsite.
The party is seeking to recover the expedition team and the data:
- Dr Gena Tan (Human researcher)
- Osadera Koken (Quarren security)
- Tora Nin (Human researcher)
- Achare Acharo (Rodian security)
- Megane Lisso (Twi'lek researcher)
- Eurion Hire (Human researcher)
Armed with information and a purpose, the party lifts for a quick 50km trip over the boggy forest.