At the Danes' Orbital Command Center, alarms ripple through the Halcyon Shipyard as tactical displays highlight a newly discovered Hund Hole on Charon's surface.
Reconnaissance feeds show increased Hund movement across the surrounding desert, coordinated enough to suggest a high-ranking resistance leader may be present.
Captain Sorne
The Dauntless is dispatched immediately. We investigate the site, identify the command structure, and pacify any opposition.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
Pacify, he says. That is a tidy word for a Hund Hole crawling with defenders.
Captain Sorne
It is the word in the orders, Sergeant. Keep the crew disciplined and the objective clear.
Beyond the command center's armored windows, the DS Dauntless disengages from its berth. Launch lights wash over the shipyard as crews seal the vessel for departure.
Among the assigned personnel, Lieutenant Jayson Starbrand receives his deployment notice: Charon, an unconfirmed resistance stronghold, and orders awaiting execution.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the Hund Hole
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the Hund resistance leader
“Can the reconnaissance feeds identify the resistance leader's location?”
YES (Likely, rolled 18)
The reconnaissance feed sharpens as the Dauntless clears Halcyon's orbital traffic. Thermal traces converge beneath a broken escarpment on Charon, revealing a concealed command complex.
A targeting frame locks onto the strongest signal. One encrypted transmission repeats through the dust storm, marking the resistance leader's exact position.
Captain Sorne
There. The command node is no longer theoretical. We have their leader's location.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
And they have a fortress buried under half a desert. Knowing where they are does not make reaching them tidy.
The tactical display overlays approach vectors, defensive emplacements, and shifting Hund patrols. The identified signal remains steady while the surrounding defenses awaken.
Captain Sorne
Transmit the coordinates to Lieutenant Starbrand's section. We proceed with the objective before the resistance can relocate.
Across the Dauntless, warning lamps change from amber to red. Charon's pale surface fills the forward screens, and the hidden stronghold waits below.
“Is the resistance leader inside the stronghold?”
NO (Likely, rolled 76)
The targeting frame flickers, then resolves into a cold discrepancy. The strongest signal is active, but no life signs occupy the command node beneath the escarpment.
Captain Sorne
The leader is not inside. The transmission is being relayed from elsewhere.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
So the fortress is bait, or we are chasing a voice with no body attached.
Fresh sensor sweeps pass over the buried complex. Empty chambers and dormant consoles answer the Dauntless, while Hund patrols continue moving around the false center.
Captain Sorne
Hold the approach vectors. We do not strike an empty command room merely because its signal is loud.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
A leader who leaves a decoy behind is still directing the battlefield.
The red warning lamps remain lit as Charon turns beneath the ship. The resistance leader's location is unknown, and the stronghold offers no immediate confirmation.
“I triangulate the relay's source”
SUCCESS (Good Engineering, rolled +3)
Jayson isolates the relay's carrier wave, filters out Charon's storm interference, and synchronizes three Dauntless sensor arrays against the repeating transmission.
Lieutenant Jayson Starbrand
The signal is moving.
The triangulation resolves on a Hund mobile command convoy crossing a canyon network forty kilometers east of the decoy stronghold. Its lead vehicle carries the active transmitter.
Captain Sorne
Lieutenant Starbrand has the source. Mark the convoy and revise our approach.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
A moving headquarters, then. Better than storming an empty hole, and close enough to intercept.
The sensor lock supplies more than coordinates. Its return identifies a narrow canyon entrance concealed from the main patrol routes, giving the Dauntless a covered approach.
Captain Sorne
Transmit the route to Starbrand's section. We have the leader's trail and an undetected way in.
“I ask McCallister to scout the convoy route”
SUCCESS (Fair Leadership, rolled +0)
Lieutenant Jayson Starbrand
McCallister, scout the convoy route and report anything that could compromise our approach.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
Aye, Lieutenant. I will take a look before we send the whole ship into that canyon.
McCallister directs a compact recon drone through the concealed entrance, then follows its feed from the tactical station as dust obscures the canyon walls.
The drone maps the route in layered blue lines: a narrow western throat, two abandoned service tunnels, and a sheltered overlook above the convoy's projected path.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
Route is clear for a covert insertion. The western throat hides our approach, and the overlook gives us eyes on the lead vehicle.
Captain Sorne
Good work. Starbrand has the route, and we retain the advantage. Prepare the section for immediate movement.
“I advance through the western throat toward the Hund Hole”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +1)
Jayson leads the section into the western throat. The Dauntless's landing craft slips beneath the canyon rim, engines throttled low as dust streams across its hull.
Blue route markers pulse over the cockpit glass, guiding the craft between sheer stone and abandoned service conduits. The concealed passage opens into a sheltered overlook above the convoy route.
Lieutenant Jayson Starbrand
The overlook has a clear line to the Hund convoy.
Sergeant "Gunney" McCallister
We are in position, Lieutenant. No patrols have spotted us, and the convoy is moving beneath the ridge.
The section disembarks under the canyon's shadow. Ahead, the Hund Hole's buried access complex rises from the rock, its concealed emitters tracking the passing command vehicles.
Captain Sorne
Excellent. Starbrand's section has reached the objective unseen. Hold the overlook and prepare to identify the convoy leader.
Quest Complete
Reach the Hund Hole
Skill Upgrade: Leadership Fair→Good