[H15 - Pam'ba - WW] Freedom Fighters Highlands Base

Once the snows had cleared from the highlands of Pam'ba, the Freedom Fighters had moved back to their Highlands Base to begin operations on Pam'ba and the surrounding systems. Much of Pam'ba was wetlands, which weren't ideal for landing fighters. The small group of freedom fighters and their A-Wing air support had arrived around noon, departing from a 1st Volunteer fleet frigate. They had been called in by the small amount of settlers who had been displaced in the Galactic Civil War following the discovery of toxic gases near their settlement. Pam'ba had once been mined for phosphates, so the mines near the settlement would be searched first.

Lieutenant Dorn had gotten a call a few weeks back while he was on leave in the federation headquarters on Batuu. It had come from the leader of the settlers, a short gran named Jebro. He had been coughing throughout their call and his eyes were bloodshot. He said that almost everyone in the village were coughing and some of the settlers were too weak to work the rice paddies. Food would be short for the settlers. This worried Dorn. Although a seasoned veteran of the rebellion, he had never dealt with fighting a plague or famine before. Their had to be a rational reason for the disease. Immediately, Dorn had gone to find Joo Roo Tifaka, the head of settlement planning. It had taken most of the afternoon searching everywhere in the caravansary of Tabana to find her. Upon finding her, Dorn relayed the message from Jebro. 

"We must find the source of this and fast," Tifaka replied. "I know you're on leave, but could you get to Pam'ba and fast?"

"Yes, I'll leave immediately. There's a 1st Volunteer fleet frigate docked in the spaceport."

"You'll need medical supplies and food for the settlers," Tifaka said. "I'll prepare these and have them delivered. In the meantime, I suggest you find some free soldiers Lieutenant."

"I know a few," Dorn replied. "I'll collect them and meet you at the frigate."

Their transport had landed first at the small landing pad. Then they docked their air support to refuel. The landing pad was located on a grassy field on top of a round mountain, the comms controls on the peak of the the mountain. Looked to be some sorta granitic dome structure. It wasn't the largest mountain in the area, but it offered a commanding view of the jungle below. 

"See if you can find any signs of the settlers or phosphate mines, Enga," Dorn told the leader of the pilots. He'd only been able to scramble three A-Wings last minute. Once they'd found the settlement, they'd deliver the medical supplies and food. Unfortunately, it'd be hard to find them in all of the marshes, but it must be done. 

"Makedaa, check the comms system. I want it operational so we can get those supplies asap, once those villagers are found. Dosha, I want you on patrol. Make sure this base isn't near any phosphorous mines or unfriendlies." 

"Lieutenant!," the pilot, Enga, called. "My ship needs a few repairs before I can head out. The stabilizer got banged up real bad at Balmorra."

"Right, where's the mechanic?" Dorn said. He scanned the small landing pad, there was a large pile of crates stacked unevenly. Dorn grunted. This was going to be a tiring mission, wasn't it. But it was for a good cause, he reminded himself. Suddenly, a green head belonging to a rodian poked up over the pile of crates. The rodian disappeared for a moment and then emerged again. There was a lot of clanging. 

"I'm over here," the green rodian said, panting while running over with a large box of tools. The rodian placed the box next to a small crane on the landing pad. 

"I'm Cheela Oya by the way, I don't think we've met."

"No, we have. In Tabanna. Remember, I pulled you out of the cantina mid-lunch?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry, I forgot."

"Right," Dorn replied. "Enga needs repairs, can you fix the ship?"

"Yes!" Cheela replied, enthusiastically. She climbed onto the crane and into the seat. She seemed to know how to operate it. Dorn was surprised it still worked given the base hadn't been used in so long. "Where's Enga going anyway?"

"We don't know that yet," Dorn said with a scowl. He preferred precision and good planning, but this was urgent after all. "The settlers should be located in a marshland north of here. It's past the equatorial jungle and near the coast. We weren't given exact coordinates." 

"You'll find it, I'm sure! Anyway, these repairs shouldn't take too long." 

While Cheela repaired the A-Wing, Enga was recalibrating the controls in the cockpit. 

"We better soon. Those settlers are in trouble." 

"All right, done!"

"Already?" Dorn asked, raising his eyebrow. He scoffed. She was fast. "Well, that's good news."

"Yep, just need to finish refueling."

"It's full Cheela," Enga replied from in the cockpit. Dorn went over to the fuel cannister and disconnected the pipe from the engine to spare Cheela the effort. Makedaa returned from checking out the comms system, his steps clanging on the metal gangway.

"Comms are good, I was able to rely a message back to the frigate. We should also be able to communicate with Enga from it."

"Let's test it."

Makedaa ran back to the comms system and pressed a few keys, before leaning his head in to speak into the intercom. "This is Makedaa, Enga do you copy?" 

Dorn and Enga could hear Makedaa's voice from the ship's intercom. "Roger that."

"Good," Dorn replied. "It works." 

Enga closed the cockpit, while Dorn and Cheela gave the ship leeway to take off. Once Enga had left for her reconaissance, Dorn called Makedaa over. 

"Let's go check out the jungle below. Cheela, we'll be back in three hours."

With that, they began their trek down the mountain.

Note for scoring: the A-Wing is modified from the set 75150.