Reunion (#3 Post-Order 66 Series)

Reunion - Part 12

We found it.

She shook her head. Focus. "Alright, let's set down the Marauder and do some recon. This is definitely it. I think we should land a good distance away and hike in. What do you think Rex?"

The captain's brow furrowed as he considered it. "Normal Imperial protocol would be to scan three klicks in any direction around the base to watch for intruders. Since this is a highly classified facility, I'd imagine that range will be even larger. I wouldn't get closer than ten klicks just to be safe."

Echo was flicking through a map on his computer. "Here," he said. "It looks like an old survey site from when the planet was first being scouted for settlement. There's an area that's been cleared, and it looks like there are even a few underground caves that might be a good place to stash the Marauder and keep it out of sight."

"Ten klicks is a long walk," Senna said. "Especially through an inhospitable jungle."

Rex shrugged. "I don't see any way around it."

"The good news is that there are some trails in the area," Echo piped up once more. "Either hunter trails from the survey team or perhaps made by the wildlife. There's one that looks like it should run relatively close to one of those heat points."

"I imagine the hot spots are for the base's heat dissipation," Tech commented, pushing his goggles up his nose.

"How hot do they get?" Senna asked.

"Around fifty degrees centigrade give or take a few degrees," Tech replied. "Why? What are you thinking?"

"That's survivable for humans. Very uncomfortable and not something we should spend a lot of time in, but if those ventilation ducts are less than a kilometer long, I think we could perhaps use them to infiltrate."

"I'm sure they have sensors or cameras around the ducts. Perhaps both," Tech stated.

"Good thing we brought two technical specialists and a slicer then, isn't it?" Senna countered. She turned to Rex, trying to gauge his opinion. He was stroking his chin, deep in thought.

"There's a lot of unknowns here," he finally said. "If we get in, and that is a big if, we'll be going in blind. We don't have the faintest idea about what the layout of this place is. We could walk right into the barracks for all we know and be captured before we so much as blink."

"It is a risk," Senna agreed. "But we've come all this way. No one's spotted us yet. We may not get another chance as good as this, particularly if activity in the area is being ramped up."

Rex considered it for a few more seconds, and Senna could feel the conflict within him as he weighed each option. Finally, he sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think you're right. It's not a good shot, but we may not get a better one." Turning to the other two clones, he raised a questioning eyebrow at them. Both of them nodded, and Tech turned back to his flight console.

"Echo, please find me a suitable location to land."

---

Half an hour later, they were on the ground. Tech had managed to maneuver the Marauder down into one of the underground caverns, gingerly parking it near a pool of water and a staggering set of stalagmites that Senna had spent several minutes admiring as the clones armored up. As Rex adjusted his belt around his hips, he glanced out at her and couldn't help but smile. Never has lost her sense of wonder. It was one thing he loved and admired about her. Whether it was the joy that she'd taken in the festival they'd stumbled into on Lothal or the way she'd stared at Alderaan's mountains at sunset, she always managed to find the beauty around her. Even in the thick of a mission with the odds stacked against us, he thought as he powered on his vambrace, checking that it was functioning properly.