Hey fellow GMs (and any players that have ideas), I've read over the beginner adventure and I like it fine, but I am having some difficulties reconciling certain issues...

First, the amount of people in the base. The PCs take out several guards. Approximately 8 guards and 6 stormies depending on party size, etc. What about everyone else? I have difficulty believing they would just surrender... So, how to handle them?

Also, when they get into the comm room, it seems they are left with the choice of executing all the officers or just running off after the LT and leaving them to their devices.

Also, if they should take prisoners, it seems unlikely they will be able to take them off planet before the Moff attacks...

I'm sure I will encounter other issues, but I'd appreciate ideas on how to handle these ones.

Many thanks!

Shadowpoint says players can push off the Moff attacking for a time through various means of deception. So in terms of handling the living Imperials that were captured after the base capture, players might be able to call in Rebels to pick up the prisoners.

If they don't think to tie them up or kill them? A lot trickier. Especially since there's got to be a solid number of them (I think the beginner game says somewhere that the max capacity of the base is 30). Reasonably, I only see it feasible to let them all try and escape. Maybe have a number of them and whatever other living support staff (chefs, mechanics, pilots) trying to get the Lambda to work when the players end up catching them when they return. Maybe let the players catch the rest trying to escape to the capital city on some of the speeders (or maybe on foot if something happened to the other speeders), and they give up once the first shot is fired their way.

The only two really problematic plot holes I found are the escape tunnel and the cameras viewable from the control centre. While the tunnel is a good way for Sarev to escape and start a chase, it's a giant middle finger to the party. Literally everything they have done up to this point is rendered meaningless, because this guy is just going to escape through the tunnel, not the shuttle. I'd maybe rewrite this to have him throw a smoke grenade and run or maybe have not been in the room in the first place. It's still scripted, but at least disabling the shuttle was effective and actually cut off an escape route.

The end of the adventure mentions that the bases has cameras in every room that feed into the control centre. This creates a huge problem because the party's cover is almost immediately blown. How on earth does the base not go on alert the second a blaster fight and explosions break out in the garage? I'm not sure what to do about this, but I want to think that Sarev would have basically seen the party coming from orbit and got out of there long before they close in on the control centre.

Not really a plot hole, but taking an AT-ST as opposed to a speeder seems pretty stupid, given how much slower and less maneuverable it is. But maybe Sarev wasn't thinking clearly.

As for the other personnel, Lathrop raises an interesting point. Perhaps a bunch of the staff cheese it on speeder bikes, but get lost in the jungle in their haste to escape. This means the party must track down the escapees as another task needed to secure the base (as well as keeping a few speeders out of their hands, since they perhaps wiped out and damaged the bikes in their escape). This could maybe be run as a mini encounter in the followup adventure.

I think the key here is to understand that taking Whisper Base doesn't wrap everything up in a neat little bow. There is a lot of work the Rebels need to do in order to secure it and tie up loose ends. Taking the base was just the first part. There has been some talk that this adventure provides a better jumping off point than Escape from Mos Shuuta. Perhaps this (the various tasks and future adventures the party needs to complete before they can stop watching their backs) is what those people mean. So yeah, there are a ton of loose ends, but perhaps that's the point.

Not really a plot hole, but I'll toss it in here anyway.

Has anyone else noticed that the description of the garage when the PCs arrive and the map of the garage are different? Specifically, the single, large, metal door is, according to the description, at the back of the garage and leads deeper into the base, whereas the map shows two different walkways/steps into the hallway that don't seem particularly large?

I suppose I could be interpreting it wrong, and it isn't a huge deal, except that it matters a bit when the PCs decide how much of the base they need to go through to get to the shuttle. Otherwise, pretty easy to hand wave.

Thanks for making this post.

I don't have my box yet, but I was wondering what others have done to 'fix' the story for their game.

I ran the EotE BB game as the start of my family campaign rather than as an introduction to the rules. I made some changes to the adventure so it would make more narrative sense for my game. I plan on doing the same thing with the AoR BB game. I'm not going to use the pre-gens, and I'm using the characters we had from the EotE game. It will be their first 'real' mission for the Rebels.

Since my family game has kids playing I've been happy to just use the Beginner Box rules and adventures. Of course my daughter is pressing me to add unicorns into the game, so we'll see how that goes.

Has anyone else noticed that the description of the garage when the PCs arrive and the map of the garage are different? Specifically, the single, large, metal door is, according to the description, at the back of the garage and leads deeper into the base, whereas the map shows two different walkways/steps into the hallway that don't seem particularly large?

Yeah that was driving me crazy. I think something went wrong between the map and the writing. There were a few other inconsistencies like the number of officer beds.

The end of the adventure mentions there are 30 stationed on Whisper base. It also mentions how to get rid of prisoners, which is not a hand wave.

One thing I thought was odd is that it's supposed to be a base to spy on an Imperial admiral. You'd think that the PCs would want to take advantage of that capability, but there's no mention of how the Moff does it. No spies, electronic surveillance, etc. Nothing. Just a mention of a person that shows up with supplies every two weeks. I was hoping for more in this department. If they have a tap to their communications then the PCs can use this. If it's a base for a field operative then that operative will be checking back in.

I like the adventure a lot but I needed less detail on Toor and more on how the base works for spying, surveillance, and internal security. It's a good adventure if you take a bit of time to fill in some details.

One thing I thought was odd is that it's supposed to be a base to spy on an Imperial admiral. You'd think that the PCs would want to take advantage of that capability, but there's no mention of how the Moff does it. No spies, electronic surveillance, etc. Nothing. Just a mention of a person that shows up with supplies every two weeks. I was hoping for more in this department. If they have a tap to their communications then the PCs can use this. If it's a base for a field operative then that operative will be checking back in

If I was to guess. I would say the Moff is using the Signal Intelligence Array to spy on the Admiral. It's a significant part of the followup adventure.

Thanks. Yeah I just started reading the follow up and am glad to see that part.

Cameras installed everywhere. I can see how this presents a big problem for the players to solve. I'd have to include that item in the mission briefing and let the players devise a plan to overcome this logical obstacle. Also, I would imagine as well that when blaster fire starts being traded, that the base would go on lockdown at that moment. Yet another big problem for our would-be heroes.

One way around the base staffing issue is that perhaps a chunk of the base personnel are off site for whatever reason, which is why the PCs strike when they do. Perhaps another group is in process of intercepting incapacitating these reinforcements while the players are tasked to take the base. Makes it more plausible for a team of 2-6 to pull this off. In addition, with Operation Shadowpoint, I'd say once the base is secure, more Alliance staff and troops are assigned, giving the players the option of operating out of this base, or being a mobile team with a shuttle.

One way around the base staffing issue is that perhaps a chunk of the base personnel are off site for whatever reason, which is why the PCs strike when they do. Perhaps another group is in process of intercepting incapacitating these reinforcements while the players are tasked to take the base. Makes it more plausible for a team of 2-6 to pull this off. In addition, with Operation Shadowpoint, I'd say once the base is secure, more Alliance staff and troops are assigned, giving the players the option of operating out of this base, or being a mobile team with a shuttle.

Great suggestion. Thanks. We played last night and I mentioned there was a diversionary op that pulled some of the garrison out of the base. It lent a countdown element too since they had to complete their mission before the Imperial detail returned from investigating the distraction in the jungle.

They actually sliced the cameras and put them on a loop early on. They thought of that on their own.

They had the diplomat so they did a lot of bluffing with the uniforms as a tech crew there to fix the comm outage. She really played up disdaining having to work with the Mon Cal tech.

They won over Toor and sent him out on a speeder bike and then "reported" it as an escaping rebel infiltrator so that got a few more scout troopers out of the base for the control center takeover. Those are the ones that showed up later in the chase.

They pacified the skeleton base, eliminated Sarev in the chase, and hoped in the AT-STs for a rude welcome home for the troopers that were returning from the distraction, Divide and conquer.

It was a fun adventure and the PCs played it smart.

First off has anyone wondered where the sick bay is?

I'm assuming the one near the training facility but could easily be another exercise room.

Secondly has anyone thought to turn the barracks into bunk beds?

So instead of 24 you have 48 and why was the front entrance wide open?

There's another thread which sounded like a great way to start this game by having the PCs using the stormtrooper armours of some scout troopers and using the speeder bikes to enter unnoticed cutting the comm line which has the added effect of disabling the interior camera feeds.

So those 4 guards are sent believing they have a fault in the garage giving the PCs a means of pulling off that ambush but not being immediately rumbled.. anyone think that's doable?

How does Sarev get to the Comm Station? How? HOW?

Probably some bridge or something obscured by the exploded view of the Com Station. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Except don't look at the map in the bonus adventure.

I was wondering about having the shuttle Launchpad descend out of sight from above ground after all its supposed to be a secret installation and a landing pad with a lambda shuttle kind of screams the opposite doesn't it?

As for Sarev, yes I was wondering about that... maybe use that Ryloth energy bridge from the Clone Wars so we have him tramp across pursued by the PCs and he shoots the controls on the other side to either trap them half way across the chasm/river or on the other side...

Huh I was thinking about running this game slightly differently and have the PCs take the comm station out first and then head for the base so you have the money shot of Sarev thinking himself free and clear and the PC demolition expert blows up the comm tower or simply have npc rebels waiting to arrest him once he climbs out of that AT-ST totally unaware the rebels are already there...

No that steals the players thunder but why that map with ship wreckage that has nothing to do with the beginner game itself?!

Still the energy bridge would be an interesting addition especially if your players have watched the Clone Wars animated series especially the Ryloth arc.

Huh missed the hunting lodge... thought it would have been interesting to have that energy bridge be down there I guess straight across the river is the only option... maybe a constructed bridge and Sarev collapses it as part of his escape attempt?

For mine I'm saying that interference from the moon is going to cause issues with the bases com system and internal cameras.

I'm also wondering why they just walk into a garage full of speeders and AT-ST without any issues. I may say they are rushing in as the garage door closes after they were opened for a patrol that was leaving.

I know this is mostly an introductory to the rules but I want it to make more sense. I'm also still trying to figure out what all the rooms are on the map.

How do the PCs approach Whisper Base so easily in the Beginner adventure, when afterwards (during Operation Shadowpoint) they automatically receive detailed proximity alerts from the base's security system whenever anyone approaches the place from the jungle?

Hey all, just registered so apologies for missing any forum etiquette/rules...

I've not yet played the beginner's game, but I have spent the past few days running through the adventure book and making a few tweaks, some of which have already been pointed out here. I'll not be playing for a couple more weeks, so if anyone has improvements they'd like to suggest, feel free. I should also point out I'm planning on running a group of 5 PCs, so the changes tend towards increased difficulty.

I think a few (cameras, external sensors/detectors, short staffing [but see below]) can be explained by making the base brand new and not yet fully operational, so these systems are not yet on line/not fully staffed yet.

- Garage Door - is there actually a door or is this a "car port"? If so, this is the jungle and the planet is famed for it's agressive wildlife, wouldn't you put a very good door on the garage to keep them out?

I've added a pre-encounter 1 item: team must find the comm line outside the base and cut it (AVG perception check), and then open the door and slip inside (AVG Computer check). Bonus on hiding if they remember to close the door after they get inside.

That said, I just read the post by Copperbell above with the idea of ambushing a group of scout trooopers, stealing their armor and bikes and getting in to the garage that way - you run a mini-combat encounter but you're effectively switching around the "order" that the beginner's game has for introducing concepts to new players - that might be an idea better suited to players with some experience of the FFG system (ie existing EotE players switching to AoR).

Most of the rest of the first half up to the interlude doesn't require significant modifications beyond GM comments about how eerily quiet the base seems to be.

From post shuttle-disabling onwards, the biggest question is whether my group goes straight for the control room or tries to secure the rooms on their way to keep their backs clear. Here are the changes/further detail I've got:

- Officer's Quarters (2 rooms): 1 is empty, this is Sarev's quarters. Upgraded him to Captain. Other room has Lt sat behind desk, will surrender pretty quickly. Datapad has base staffing and schedule (to help PCs predict where personnel will be), but this information is also in main computer and easy to find if the PCs start slicing earlier. Base staffing is closer to 60 (Sarev + 2 Lts, 2 squads Stormtroopers (12), 1 Sqd Stormtrooper Scouts (6), 3 Sqds Army Troopers (18), 4 Base support engineers, 16 Comm/Intel techs). Staff who aren't on duty are either asleep in the Barracks (yes, assumed bunks in those rooms - actually assumed triple-layer bunks like on navy ships), on firing range or in rec room.

- Barracks - Half of off-duty personnel are asleep here, unarmed, and will surrender easily if the PCs are stealthy (EASY coercion check). Else they are awake and armed with knives

- Comm Room - 3 Comm techs, light blaster pistols, HARD check to coerce into surrender

- Armoury - As written, 3 Stormtroopers guarding unless PCs have been very sneaky up to this point, in which case a single stromtrooper guard.

- Training Facility has remaining off duty troopers, half armed on firing range, half unarmed in the gym, Rec Room has remaining off duty techs/engineering staff, unarmed

- Control Room has the rest of the staff (Sarev, Lt, 9 Comms/Intel Techs, Support engineer/tech)

The biggest outstanding problem I can see is with the pursuit - firstly, the PCs are in the control room, full of NPC imperials (granted I've made this worse by assuming a large control room contingent) - I'd rather they didn't wipe out the entire lot before persuing Sarev (they are supposed to be the good guys, after all), but will they have time to shepherd the imperials to the barracks and lock them in one of the rooms before persuing? Other than leaving one of the PCs here to guard them (or Toor, if they have brought him this far, which I doubt) or tying each one up one by one, can anyone think of other solutions I can nudge them towards?

I'd also very much like one of my players to suggest taking the shuttle after him, which will shorten the chase when they blow the AT-ST's legs off...

If they don't, I figure that Sarev took the AT-ST over a speeder bike as he a) wanted firepower over speed and/or b) can't ride a speeder bike (he lets the Stormtrooper drive the AT-ST). He crosses the river by fording it in the AT-ST (skill check if the PCs try to follow in their AT-ST, otherwise they fly over the top on speeder bikes).

As I said, any comments, questions or suggestions would be most welcome.

Hey all, just registered so apologies for missing any forum etiquette/rules...

I think a few (cameras, external sensors/detectors, short staffing [but see below]) can be explained by making the base brand new and not yet fully operational, so these systems are not yet on line/not fully staffed yet.

Better IMO to just narrate one of your PCs doing something to create a video loop on the security cams in order to temporarily disable them, as well as the base's proximity alarms.

- Garage Door - is there actually a door or is this a "car port"? If so, this is the jungle and the planet is famed for it's agressive wildlife, wouldn't you put a very good door on the garage to keep them out?

I've added a pre-encounter 1 item: team must find the comm line outside the base and cut it (AVG perception check), and then open the door and slip inside (AVG Computer check). Bonus on hiding if they remember to close the door after they get inside.

- Officer's Quarters (2 rooms): 1 is empty, this is Sarev's quarters. Upgraded him to Captain. Other room has Lt sat behind desk, will surrender pretty quickly. Datapad has base staffing and schedule (to help PCs predict where personnel will be), but this information is also in main computer and easy to find if the PCs start slicing earlier. Base staffing is closer to 60 (Sarev + 2 Lts, 2 squads Stormtroopers (12), 1 Sqd Stormtrooper Scouts (6), 3 Sqds Army Troopers (18), 4 Base support engineers, 16 Comm/Intel techs). Staff who aren't on duty are either asleep in the Barracks (yes, assumed bunks in those rooms - actually assumed triple-layer bunks like on navy ships), on firing range or in rec room.

- Barracks - Half of off-duty personnel are asleep here, unarmed, and will surrender easily if the PCs are stealthy (EASY coercion check). Else they are awake and armed with knives

- Comm Room - 3 Comm techs, light blaster pistols, HARD check to coerce into surrender

- Armoury - As written, 3 Stormtroopers guarding unless PCs have been very sneaky up to this point, in which case a single stromtrooper guard.

- Training Facility has remaining off duty troopers, half armed on firing range, half unarmed in the gym, Rec Room has remaining off duty techs/engineering staff, unarmed

- Control Room has the rest of the staff (Sarev, Lt, 9 Comms/Intel Techs, Support engineer/tech)

The biggest outstanding problem I can see is with the pursuit - firstly, the PCs are in the control room, full of NPC imperials (granted I've made this worse by assuming a large control room contingent) - I'd rather they didn't wipe out the entire lot before persuing Sarev (they are supposed to be the good guys, after all), but will they have time to shepherd the imperials to the barracks and lock them in one of the rooms before persuing? Other than leaving one of the PCs here to guard them (or Toor, if they have brought him this far, which I doubt) or tying each one up one by one, can anyone think of other solutions I can nudge them towards?

I'd also very much like one of my players to suggest taking the shuttle after him, which will shorten the chase when they blow the AT-ST's legs off...

I figure that Sarev took the AT-ST over a speeder bike as he a) wanted firepower over speed and/or b) can't ride a speeder bike (he lets the Stormtrooper drive the AT-ST). He crosses the river by fording it in the AT-ST (skill check if the PCs try to follow in their AT-ST, otherwise they fly over the top on speeder bikes).

The FPG are around somewhere...they basically say stuff like, "get along with people, don't be a jerk." Trolls/flamers/spammers tend to get booted

Ah, Wheaton's Law. Works for me.

This is problematic, since the feel I get from the follow-on adventure is that this base has existed for some time and already faces regular attacks from Beast Riders, regular visits from Moff Dardano's agent (every 2 weeks), and has an already-established indentured work crew from a nearby village.

Ah, that's a good point.

Better IMO to just narrate one of your PCs doing something to create a video loop on the security cams in order to temporarily disable them, as well as the base's proximity alarms.

That's one option. Need to think on this one a little more, I can't say I think much of a proximity alarm system that lets you get close enough to slice the computer network that it's attached to without triggering.

Be prepared to deal with failure in this instance, make sure they can still continue the infiltration. Failed check might mean they have to storm the base or find an alternate route in.

Again, an excellent point. Need to think up emergency alternatives if I continue with the planned dice roll approach.

Yikes!! 60 is a lot. I'd rather save those kind of numbers (5 against 60) for the end of Operation: Shadowpoint, when you have a few more allies. The other ideas are very cool, though.

When I first sat down and started calculating, I thought the same, but then I started adding up the staff already mandated by the adventure itself, bearing in mind a party size of 5:

- 5 Army Troopers in the Garage

- 5 Army Troopers guarding the door to the Launch Pad

- 2 Army Troopers guarding the pad itself.

- 6 Stormtroopers protecting the Control Room

- 3 Stormtroopers protecting the Armoury

- 4 Stormtrooper scouts (?) on speeder bikes

- 1 Stormtrooper driving Sarev's AT-ST (I made this a Scout)

Which is 26 soldiers, and that's without the potential troopers on the firing range (book suggests 3, I think) and asleep. The others I've added are the comm/intel techs and engineers (20) who should be lightly armed and surrender quickly (comm room [see below], off duty or in the control room and therefore have a scripted surrender), 2 Lieutenants (1 in officer's quarters, 1 in control, both surrender quickly), the other troopers (3 stormtroopers, 3 army troopers) are off-duty and unarmed, and should be easy-ish pickings (famous last words of any GM/DM... )

On top of this, I figure a bit of door-lock slicing will enable them to close off areas of the base and imprison any free-roaming imperials as well.

Nice ideas here. Just be sure not to rely too much on dice rolls. If you had a group of 3 Comm techs and 5 armed soldiers rushed in and ordered a surrender, I hardly think the techs would dare to put up a fight. Stormtroopers are different, of course.

Yeah, I might downgrade the difficulty for the Comm room. Knowing my players (we play D&D 4e together), they'll probably shoot one of the techs in the face for twitching as they burst in anyway... :-)

Narrate that they get tied up BEFORE Sarev's escape is noticed. Then proceed as normal with the adventure.

D'oh. Of course. That even fits with giving Sarev enough time to crawl along the tunnel to the garage while the PCs hurriedly tie up the techs and realise Sarev isn't among them.

Lol, nice. Be hard to do if they disabled it, though.

True. Only works if they choose the "lock" approach to disabling the shuttle. If they wreck it the idea is a no-go. I'll try to point out that an off-the-books Lambda-class shuttle is a valuable asset to everyone. Hopefully they'll get the hint (but there's no guarantee, see my comment above... )

Yeah! Fording the river, never thought of that. And of course speeder bikes can just fly over the water. *smacks head*

Don't worry, I wondered about the lack of a bridge on the map for a while before I settled on the fording idea...

Thanks for the feedback, I'll feed it in to my prep work.

Good stuff.

I toyed with the idea of fording the river, but, after looking at the map and the terrain, decided that the banks of the river were too steep and narrow for an AT-ST to maneuver. No reason you CAN'T do it though, whatever works for you guys.

Good stuff.

I toyed with the idea of fording the river, but, after looking at the map and the terrain, decided that the banks of the river were too steep and narrow for an AT-ST to maneuver. No reason you CAN'T do it though, whatever works for you guys.

Give the AT-ST some jet thrusters.

Flying chicken walker!

So, I (finally) managed to get the group together to play the beginner's game last night, and it was a great success.

As I outlined earlier, there were a few changes I wrote into the game to fill some of the plot holes - at the beginning, I had a narrative description of them paradropping into the jungle at first, and when they reached the base, I had them head out towards the Comm Tower in order to find the Comm Line, which they did fairly easily. Instead of cutting the comm line, though, they followed it to the Comm Tower itself (in the end, I gave them a bridge, although it was only a small footbridge to carry the comm line conduit over the river). After dealing with a couple of imps at the comm tower (one tech enjoying a smoke break - Deathsticks, anyone? :-) plus an Army Trooper), they grabbed a couple of uniforms. The Tendaar player, being a real-life engineer, came up with a plan to "tweak" the comm array - any messages sent would be buffered but appear to be sent out, effectively sabotaging the entire Comm system without letting the Imperials know they weren't actually transmitting. He rolled pretty well so I let him do it.

They headed back to the base, and after much umm-ing and ahh-ing finally opened up the Garage door and slipped inside. This was about 2 hours into the play session and we started Encounter 1. :-)

Encounters 1-4 went pretty much by the book - they talked to Toor but couldn't persuade him to help much, and ended up stealth-killing the Launch Platform Door guards, then sneaking aboard the shuttle. The Pilot player rolled very well on his mechanics check so I had him pull something the size of a spark plug from under the pilot's console that would disable the Shuttle with a fairly easy reversibility.

After Encounter 4, though, things started to go a bit sideways. Confronted with a large total complement of staff, my players decided, rather than taking them on a few at a time, locking doors, and generally being sneaky, to follow the philosophy of Go Big Or Go Home.

After situating the Pilot and Spy characters in the two AT-STs in the garage, the Engineer then helped the Diplomat fake a distress call from the Scout Patrol requesting urgent assistance. When two full squads of troops ran into the garage to fire up the speeder bikes, the AT-STs activated and had their own little turkey shoot in there, killing them all. The Pilot then turned his attention to the door to the base (the one closest to the Conrol Center) and started blasting whenever someone stuck their head out, causing untold chaos. The Spy slipped out, killed a Stormtrooper guard at the Armory (with the assistance of the Soldier) and the two of them headed for the Control Center, using the blaring alarms and confusion as cover. By now it was getting pretty late, so I had them fight two Stormtrooper guards from Encounter 5 outside the control room, then successfully bluffed the Control Room to open the door. They seized the control room, to discover Sarev had escaped into the tunnel heading to the garage... where the Pilot was stlll sitting in his powered up AT-ST firing at enything that moved.

You can guess what happened next - they'll need a new cleaning droid to wipe up what was left of Sarev... :-)

Afterwards I asked them what they would have done if they hadn't grabbed the garage first, and Sarev had made it to the AT-ST and out the door. The Pilot immediately said he'd have taken the Shuttle and pounded the AT-ST from above, and as the Engineer had already sabotaged the Comm Tower, they were under no threat from the chase anyway - it would have been a simple enough mop-up job.

All in all, I think the holes in the Beginner's Game (which are made more apparent when you read Operation Shadowpoint material) are annoying but can be overcome with a little immagination.

I ran this adventure on Saturday night at a con this past weekend, after running the EotE beginner game the night before. It is a relatively small con, and the time slots I had had allot of competition with other great RPGs...still I had 9 people sign up for EotE and 7 signed up for AoR...so I was turning alternates away. I ran them with the pregens supplemented by the bonus ones posted here on the FFG website.

I'll share some of the particulars and highlights from the Whisper Base adventure here...

First off, I only briefly read through the adventure...and so, was aware of a couple of the glaring loopholes/plot problems...but this was my first run-through of the module.

Second, I have experience from GMing EotE, but have only ever had 4 PCs at a time, max. So, I was nervous about how to scale the difficulty without making it too dangerous for non-combat oriented player characters.

After reading the opening crawl I added that the team needed to set up some kind of video loop on the closed circuit video surveillance feed while cutting off external comms.

I laid out the base map at the beginning, explaining that advanced intel provided schematics on the party's two data-pads (Jin-Rio and the Mon Cal engineer)

When reading the description of the garage, I changed it to describe both doors shown on the map.

When hiding/setting up the ambush, Jin-Rio tried to use her disguise kit to look like an Imperial tech....but failed her deception check. The soldier set up behind some crates to cover the left door. The Bothan tried to open one of the crates and failed his athletics check...and only had time to take a maneuver to try to duck behind some crates (no time for another skill check). The Duros spy climbed on top of the left AT-ST and lay prone to cover the left door as well. The Mon Cal failed his stealth check and so failed to disguise his 'fishy' smell under the catwalk. The pilot hid under the catwalk near the right door to ambush anyone coming in that door.

The security guards (6) piled in and noticed Jin-Rio failing to impersonate an Imperial tech, a Bothan awkwardly crouching half-behind some crates and a funny 'fish' smell. They immediately closed the door and advanced to attack. Jin-Rio managed to fire off a few rounds and hit one of the guards, then the soldier asked, "Can I shoot those 'fuel-tank' looking things they are running past?" So, after having them flip a destiny point to have the tanks filled with tibanna gas, he unloaded on them with his heavy blaster rifle! He rolled something like 6 success with crit advantage...

So the blast took out all of the minions, charred and rocked the AT-ST and set a bunch of stuff on fire. The diplomat bluffed a reactor leak to route the emergency responders to the door they were not escaping through. and proceeded to open the other...there stands Toor, the dejected janitor droid...the PCs laughed- thinking this was the emergency cleanup crew, and directed him to the fires...so they blew through the first and second encounters.

The landing bay door was being guarded by 6 (one per PC!) guards, and this time Jin-Rio was able to bluff and get them to head off to help with the explosion. They headed out and disabled the shuttle by removing a rare, crucial part they could re-install later.

After fighting through 12 storm troopers (the Duros spy pulled a 'Han on the Deathstar' charge and led them into an ambush set up near the rec room.) the diplomat succeeded with her deception check to get into the control center....but rolled a despair! I had the despair trigger Sarev's 'surprise' escape to the garage through the tunnel.

They left the technicians and lesser officers to their own devices and pursued to the garage. They broke into the remaining AT-ST and grabbed a couple of speeder bikes to give chase.

They managed to bring down Sarev's walker right before they reached the river...not sure how I was going to deal with the river, so that worked out.

In the end it worked out great for a one-off con game...but linking it to the next adventure, you really want to deal with the prisoners before taking off and leaving the base you just took to fall back into enemy hands. Also, speeder scouts are super easy to take down in minion groups. I think next time I will run them as individual rivals to up the challenge.

What if one of the pre-generated characters is a local?

One of those indentured workers manages to sneak out the code for the garage door and the team whom were smuggled into the village use their contact to reach the base and get in using an otherwise okay code but a team of troopers are sent into the garage to double check as the team by then has cut the comm link as per the start of the game?

Internal security cameras' are still being installed as per a previous message in this thread and the base is currently understaffed due to the effort to keep its existence a secret so the gradual build up in personal via that lambda shuttle as the base is about to go fully operational...

After reading the above I have this vision where an npc is introduced and later revealed to be an Imperial Agent who helps the rebel team because Sarev murdered a friend of his who just happens to be a Rebel.

Have this scary image in mind where Sarev recognises the npc and the team realises they only gained entry into the base because the Agent knows all of the codes and lets them keep the base as long as they keep his identity a secret from their superiors as he knows the Rebel Alliance has leaks and he's been trying to help the Rebels because he sees them as a useful tool for improving the Empire.

Given what I read in that game I think that might make a better explanation for how they got inside and found out about the base and given them a recurring ally/nemesis who they're willing to talk to once they realise he's more likely to help than hinder them if its truly for the greater good.

Yes I'm plumbing the depths of other nefarious threads but could that work?

To me, the biggest plot hole of all comes in Operation Shadowpoint. Page 39 reveals that the players are warned of Moff Dardano's coming attack by Admiral Corlen. But the entire point of Whisper Base was that Dardano used it to spy on Admiral Corlen. If he knows about it now, what good is it to the Rebel Alliance anymore? Why would they even bother defending it now that it's entire purpose is nullified?