Strong winds quickly dried the streams running down her cheeks. While traversing the rural terrain, her mind raced with questions concerning the fates of Strigis and Deak.
Did Master Jove succeeded in evading the first squad of death troopers? Or did he perish in battle? Did Deak manage to break his fall with the force? Or was he too late to save himself?
She struggled to maintain composure and focus as the questions nagged at her. For a moment, the dreaded thoughts that plagued her mind ceased, as the Barathrum Mine came into view. Across the outlying dryland, a rocky hill range stood tall in the distance. At the base of the center-most hillside was a long arching crevasse that burrowed into the mine below. A short while later, Azla arrived at the entrance. She parked the landspeeder and carried R5 out of the back seat. The latter was a task that required the aid of the force since Deak was not present to assist her. She and the droid moved with haste into the hillside's gaping maw and made their descent through a sloping narrow tunnel that lead to the underground. Azla used her weapon's luminous blade to light her way through the pitch black, while R5 utilized the bright beam of it's holoprojector. Before they could get any further beneath the surface, their path was blocked by a large rusted durasteel door. This was the main gateway to Perigaea's now defunct heart of industry. For many standard decades, the Barathrum Mine was the town's primary source for jobs. In recent years, business had been on a steady decline, until finally twelve standard months ago when the ground yielded no more deposits of aurodium, the mine was closed down. Azla pointed her lightsaber forward. With both hands on the hilt, she drove the blade into the door. Plasma burned through metal as she moved her weapon in a chronowise motion. After completing a full rotation, a circle-shaped piece of the door fell away, leaving a hole large enough to pass through. She and R5 entered the opening and proceeded to the cavern. At the end of the tunnel, they came upon the chamber interior. The hard uneven floor was littered with rocks. Boulders of varying shape and size lined the stone walls. Clusters of stalagmites large and small hung from the ceiling and protruded from the ground. Several tunnels branched off in different directions. After observing a faded directory sign mounted onto a wall nearby, Azla decided the best place to hide would be the lowest chamber. To get there, she would need to take the south-east tunnel, turn left at the third junction, then continue straight. Once she and the droid had memorized the route, they went on their way heading further below. In passing, Azla noticed how very few pieces of mining equipment remained in the facility. It seemed that anything of value had been removed from the place following its closure. What little she could see consisted of weathered turbohammers, cracked hardhats, and broken safety goggles. The only sounds were the crunching of her footsteps, the buzzing of R5's treads, and the scuttling of beetles. But as she and R5 exited the second junction, a new sound could be heard. Faint at first but gradually growing louder. They turned to face the artificial hum coming from behind. Azla held her lightsaber cautiously, ready to move into a defensive position. They braced themselves as the source of the noise glided out of the shadows. Hovering in front of them was a small probe droid. It's oblate spheroid body was black with an extended antenna on top. Attached underneath were five thin mechanical limbs with pincers on the end. It gazed down at the Jedi and the astromech through a large glowing red photoreceptor with two small black ones arranged diagonally on either side. A warble came from it's speaker. Then the droid flew off back the way it came.
They followed us in. Azla realized, now more on edge than before.
She knew the scout would return to it's organic superior, relaying their location. With the enemy not far behind, they would have to move fast, getting far away before the imperials caught up. The two continued on their path, now rushing towards the third junction in fear of the imminent hostile presence seeking to claim them.
