Worth: A Star Wars Story

44. The Sons of Talon Ordo

I set off early the next morning for the valley that Ros mentioned armed with an updated holomap and an old speeder. Concord Dawn was lots of wide open spaces and normally flat until hills kicked in, forming deep valleys away from what looked like it was once used as farmland ages ago. most of it looked overgrown and barren now, but from what I had read, the place used to be vibrant before wars set in on the system.

It took me about two hours to arrive at the location that Ros had marked out, and when I arrived there I soon found what he had been talking about. There was a smattering of old compounds all built up along the ridges of the massive hills that shielded the deep valley on all sides, and I jumped off the speeder to get a better look around. There was something eerie about the old abandoned camps, completely devoid of life.

I decided that sweeping them one by one would be the best course of action. I didn't know what else could be waiting for me in the old buildings, so taking it slow and keeping myself as lowkey as possible seemed like a good bet. The first few I managed to search amid rusted creaks and falling panels yielded few results, so I turned my attention to the old, ground-level command center instead. I shoved the old door open with my shoulder, making it groan almost angrily in reply as I did. I stepped inside and found the whole place caked in dust and dark, turning on my helmet light to be greeted with more dust-ridden air and worn old wall panels. There were the occasional blaster hole and rusted floor panels that would groan under my footsteps regardless of how quiet I was trying to be, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary until I heard a faint click as I passed by a small alcove. I froze in place and looked down, relieved to see no mine, but equally as confused as to what, precisely, I had managed to trigger. or, perhaps more importantly, what I had managed to trigger that somehow had flown under my radar. Whoever set it up was good, I had to give them that.

There was a faint plink, and I saw something move ahead of me, suddenly revealing what depth to what I thought had been a wall before, just when I heard something swing out behind me. Whatever I had activated swept me off my feet and had me hit the ground, and I heard the charge of a blaster before I managed to get my bearings, "Wait... Kando?" As quickly as there had been a charge, I heard the sound reverse as the cell was deactivated, and the sound of boots made me grunt against the sharp pain in the back of my knees to try and sit myself up. I figured whoever it was wasn't going to kill me if they asked who I was.

I recognized the voice, and when I sat up and turned to look over my shoulder, I saw Wylan standing there lowering his rifle. "Hey there, old man," I chuckled as he swore quietly and slung his rifle over his shoulder, holding out a hand to me. "Sorry I snuck up on you. Didn't want to alert anyone else if I found you here."

"Can you stand?" Wylan asked with a small shake of his head, and I nodded and grabbed hold of his arm, letting him help pull me to my feet before he dusted off my kama and gave me a firm, friendly slap to my left shoulder plate. "There we go. What are you doing here?" He didn't sound upset, just confused. Reasonable, given the circumstances. I watched him kick a thick piece of metal out of the way and figured that was what took me out at the knees.

"Ros called us. Said you might need help." I took the minute to look around. I hadn't even heard him the entire time he had been laid up in front of me, but h would have had to have had eyes on me the entire time. Chances were that his night vision visor wouldn't have picked up my paint until he got actual light on me, which explained why he was ready to put one round through my helmet. His position and traps had been textbook, and I couldn't help but feel more than a little bit impressed by it.

Wylan sighed, "Of course he did." He pressed a button on his gauntlet, and I suddenly saw small red pinpricks of light blink on and off all around the old control room. He could have likely killed me a hundred times over in that room if I hadn't been paying attention. "Sorry about this. Had to set this place up in case Pre's people found me first. Imagine my surprise to learn that he's even got Dar'manda working for him now. Shab."