It's not Maurauder/Sentinel specific - my Inquisitor and Consular show 2 distinct blades when doing the double strike/thrash attack. If something changes in the future, I'll mention it.

It's actually simpler than this, at least from the Trooper mission point of view. All you have to do is get away from Fort Garnik and you can use your communicator. After i did so, I was able to accept the mission *and* complete it normally. Just don't use the darn communicator in FG, or you'll be stuck. Almost done with all the Mannet Point missions except Wexx. I forgot about him while chasing my teammates. I will let everyone know what happens. Could they finally have fixed part of the problem?