Sabine stumbled into the navigator's seat and had to brace herself on the console as the Zephyr took a sudden bank towards the southeast.
"Hey, keep it steady will ya!" She exclaimed to Giz and shot her a panicked look.
"It's different flying in atmosphere," Giz replied apologetically, her hands tensed nervously on the control yolk. "The inertial compensator is a lot more sensitive."
Sabine sighed and made sure to strap into the crash webbing installed on the copilot chair. "Just…take it easy alright?" She brought up the command screen showing the astrogation charts and the several short hyperspace routes the crew had pieced together to get to this location. Even though it took them a few days of travel, now that the hyperlane was mapped out it should only take a few hours to return back to Palatine. Which was a relief if they actually needed to make a fast exit from this system.
Surface readings showed a significant amount of lifesigns that coincide with a moon untouched by civilization for who knows how many years. Even as the Zephyr glided over the forest as it became less dense and the roots yielded to crag and mountainous elevation, there was still so much that filtering through each signal would take an extremely long time.
"Anything?" Giz chirped happily.
"Everything. That's kind of the problem." Sabine said, "There's too much life, it's coming in like interference on the scan." She flicked off the surface scanner in frustration and altered the tracking path of the Zephyr's nav computer to lock on to the southern emergency signal. Several minutes passed in silence as Giz guided the craft along the path towards the escape pod's last known location.
"Hey," Sabine said breaking the quiet, "has the Lieutenant seemed kind of different to you?"
"Different? How so?" Giz asked.
"Oh, it's probably nothing." Sabine said nonchalantly, and it very well could be. But the way Lindmon had been acting had been similar to what she had seen before, the restless sleep, and that shocked, desperate look that was in his eye when he jolted awake. She just hoped it was the stress of establishing Palatine base and nothing more. "He just seems a bit more on edge than normal."
Giz considered her words. "He's been acting like that since just before Shadaa, but it's gotten a little worse I think… stress probably, getting Palatine put together wasn't easy. On top of that the admiral was still having him fly the King to scout out the relays…" she trailed off, trying to think about the issue while still focusing on the jerky controls. "Do you think it's worse?"
The clouds the Zephyr passed through left a brief fuzz around the viewport as the water droplets vaporized on the shields. The barren crags below opened into a wasteland of stone plateaus and deep crevices.
"I think so." Sabine replied seriously, "Training to be a Jedi isn't just meditating and using kinesis. There's a real danger when it comes to being so in tune with the Force."
Sabine recalled the several encounters the Spectre crew had with powerful dark Jedi. Kanan had told her that the Inquisitors had most likely been Jedi at one point, twisted and evil by the Force's temptations of power. They reveled in using their abilities to inflict as much harm on others as possible, enjoying the writhing agony of their prey. It made it difficult when Ezra began exhibiting the same kind of desires, the ancient Sith relic they retrieved from Malachor whispered secret techniques. He only used the forbidden mind-altering Force abilities when the crew had their backs against the wall, and that only made it harder for him to stop.
Giz shut power to the engines and activated the repulsor lift drive, the Zephyr slowed to a crawl and hovered over a wide clearing in the jagged rocks. Sabine decided against speaking up about her friend's dark side temptations, they were trying to rescue Ezra after all, not find reasons to persecute his use of deadly force against some Stormtroopers.
While the ship cycled through its automated landing procedures the two suited up, Giz strapped her DL-44s to her hips and wrapped her headscarf about her head. After their tussle with old Teroch Sabine had inquired about the scarf, considering Giz's penchant for using it in combat. Giz had explained that it was a mesh of Durasteel nanofibers and the silk from a spider native to Cathar, making it exceptionally durable. Being the runt of her litter meant that she needed a leg up when her brothers would spar with her.
Sabine pulled her helmet over her head, strapping her weapons to her as the helmet connected to her armor with a set of flashing status lights. The ship came to a halt on the rocky landing site. Reed rolled out from the cockpit and chirped at the pair as the ramp extended.
"The area seems desolate but we still have some life signs inside the rocks, probably caves of some sort." Giz glanced out of the rear, taking in the tan landscape dotted with black they had found themselves in. "We're lucky the landing site isn't far from here, so we should be able to find it pretty quick.
"The caves would be a good place to check for a shelter," Sabine responded as their boots crunched into the sepia colored earth. "Normally you'd want a high vantage point to keep an eye on the surrounding area. Since Ezra is more like a rat…he would probably squirm his way in between a crevasse you'd never think a person could fit."
"Well it's a good thing I came along then, catching rats is my specialty." Giz chirped humorously. She checked her tracking device that indicated the landing zone of the escape pod. "It seems like it set down in that sector over there. Just a few minutes' walk from where we are."
Reed tweedled behind as they hiked over the jagged terrain, the dirt and light brush smothered the natural stone formations of the Sinviri moon. The large patches of stone were obsidian and glossy, reflecting the shimmering colors of the swirling gas giant imposing over the horizon.
Deeper into the forest, Lindmon and Sul cut their way through the dense underbrush. Lindmon's lightsaber flashed as it cut through the foliage, leaving a trail of burnt plant matter. Sul's vibro-axe cut deep furrows into the bushes, emitting a high-pitched whine as the blade sparked against the plants.
"There's too much here. It's like being flooded, there's so much going on…" Lindmon found himself complaining, though the feeling of seeing his surroundings and their connection to the force brought a sense of serenity he couldn't place.
"That'sss not necessarily a bad thing. That meansss plenty of food for somebody hiding out here." Sul had taken a position a few paces away from the Lieutenant, a forked tongue flicked out of his mouth. It tasted the air around them, the damp earth and deep trunks of trees spoke to his senses. They were deeper in the forest away from the mountainside and he could distinguish the familiar aromas left by a herd of creatures.
A rustle in the brush dozens of yards away from their position gave Lindmon a start and he pivoted quickly to defend his flank. He had been uneasy and sporadic, overwhelmed by the feeling of the unclaimed wild around them. Attunement to the cosmic energies of the Force lit up the feelings of life and death around him, staying at this level of intense awareness could not be good Sul thought. Lindmon's eyes darted around the treeline looking far beyond sight and scent, his attention split and quickly moving from the predator just in front of him.
"It iss a beast," Sul spoke as he gingerly stepped over the roots and debris of the forest floor. "A danger to be cautious of. If we are careful it will not be able to catch us unaware." Sul grasped a large, low hanging branch and snapped it loudly.
The dark stalking creature bolted from its hiding place, startled by the noise. It bounded with a feline grace, carried away by long powerful legs laden with sharp claws and after a few meters its dark supple fur allowed it to disappear into the growth. A soft fluffy tail was the last thing Lindmon saw as it vanished.
The lightsaber hissed as Lindmon deactivated it, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I thought we had seen some intense wildlife on any number of the other planets we have been through, but whatever that was," his hand moved to the side of his head and rubbed at his temples. "My senses just sort of moved over it, I'm not sure how useful I'm going to be in detecting that particular species." He looked around and waved a hand, exasperated. "Or at all." He sighed.
"You have never needed your new sssenses before now, you will be fine without them as well." Sul grunted, bringing his axe down on a series of thick branches in their path. His feet cracked the foliage underfoot as he stepped over and through a large bush.
"Well yes but until now they just sort of helped more, it's strange knowing that it can be this," Lindmon reignited the blade with a snap-hiss and followed through. "Overwhelming!" He grunted as the saber passed through a thick clump of foliage.
"When lossst at sea your best hope is to pick a ssstar and swim." Sul recounted, looking up towards the canopy of trees and presumably towards the stars beyond.
The pair continued slicing through the forest, Lindmon worked to keep his mind focused on moving forward and not on the cacophony of life force swirling around him. It would have been easier if their target had the same radiant presence as Ahsoka, a bright star to follow as Sul had suggested. Beyond all the noise of abundant life all he could sense was something sinister and hungry, and it sent a chill down his spine.
Just as they were nearly to the beacon a swift humanoid shadow moved past the periphery of his vision. For an instant Lindmon dismissed it as his mind conjuring a specter of the Black Skull, the dark and twisted figure that had been tormenting his dreams, until Sulahaan regarded the flicker of movement.
"Did you see that?" Sulahaan asked with a start. The shadow turned and sprinted silently over the twigs and thick grass, even in the waning sunlight Lindmon couldn't make out any features of the figure. Ice poured through his veins. There was no way that this lurking shadow could be their lost Jedi, in fact he hoped it wasn't. He had no way of knowing how long it had been stalking them, and that meant it had nothing good planned for them. Lindmon felt a strange prickling on his skin and quickly realized the disturbance was emanating from his companion.
"Sul! No wait!" Lindmon shouted as the large Anoo-dat hurtled himself after the dark shadow of the forest, without regard or caution.
Sul's eyes had turned to slits, his nostrils taking in the scents around him as he weaved through the trees after whatever the figure had been. He could hear Lindmon's call, though already in pursuit and not wanting to lose whatever this humanoid was he carried forward. Lindmon would follow, he knew that much.
Lindmon cursed under his breath and sped off. His rifle quickly unslung and the lightsaber in his hand twirled out, whizzing along just over his shoulder. His senses were screaming at him. Whoever this figure was, they had evaded his senses and that didn't sit well with him.
Sulahaan was fast, much faster than Lindmon as they both ran at full clip after this strange shadow. Sul was being pulled further and further away from the trail leading to the escape pod as Lindmon's wrist tracker charted their arcing path. "Sul listen to me!" Lindmon shouted, bounding over an oversized root. "We don't know who that is damn it!"
The closer Sulahaan got to the figure the less he concerned himself with avoiding low hanging branches and other obstacles. Snapped branches wet with blood and dented tree trunks were left in his wake as Sulahaan's pursuit became more determined. He was nearing something dangerous, controlling and ominous. Lindmon couldn't let him go further, he was afraid of what may happen when Sul caught up to their pursuit.
He gripped the hovering lightsaber tightly in the Force and spun the hilt with a flick of his wrist. Lindmon sent it hurtling down the path in front of him, it tumbled end over end for several meters until it reached the tree he had designated in his mind. It was difficult at this distance but Lindmon swiped his right hand hard, channeling the energy of the Force into a wave that collided into the saber changing its direction and pitch suddenly. It cleaved the base of a trunk with a loud snap, the additional power of Lindmon's Force push allowed the blade to cut clean through the thick wood.
The tree groaned as it collapsed, interwoven branches from decades of growth snapped off and exploded into splinters. Lindmon sprinted as fast as he could towards the collapsing tree and leapt onto the thick tower of wood, quickly summoning his saber into his hand. He conjured another blast of Force energy and it collided against his back hurtling him upwards along the tumbling tree. His thighs screamed as he raced towards the collapsing apex. Just as it reached the perfect angle, Lindmon launched himself forward and carved a path through the tree branches as he soared above the thick obstructions of the forest floor.
He came to the ground hard and fast, landing just ahead of his charging companion. "Stop!" He shouted as his voice rang out and then was swallowed by the forest. Sulahaan skidded to a halt, dirt and fallen leaves kicked up by his speed. He looked frenzied for a moment before shaking his head and looking around.
"Sssir! The figure, we can't just-"
"Calm yourself! Clear your mind and think, that's an order!" Lindmon whipped around, his eyes searching the much denser growth around them. Whatever shadow they were chasing had faded into the trees. Lindmon fell to the floor, the sudden landing having jarred his knees harder than he anticipated.
Sulahaan hissed, taking up a defensive stance as his two sets of eyes darted independently around. "What if that was Bridger sssir?"
"Charging blindly towards it wouldn't do us any good Sul, we need to stick- shit- together, not be drawn apart by whatever or whoever that was." Lindmon struggled to his feet just as the tree he had cut down broke through the last sections of overgrowth and slammed to the floor with a loud crash. The forest turned silent around them and the pair stood quietly, ready to attack the first sign of movement they saw.
A strike never came however, and the stalking shadow seemed to have dissolved just beyond their view. Lindmon kept hold of his saber hilt, resting it just underneath his blaster barrel as he examined the new treeline. The shadow man had taken them quite a way off track from the escape pod signal. "Come on," Lindmon ordered, "We should probably double back the way we came."
"Right sssir," Sul replied, a bit abashed after his chase "I apologize…for ignoring your orders. I could hear you calling but it was muddled, I-I felt like I needed to catch them-I had to." He finished, and wiped a streak of blood from his cheek.
"It's alright Sul," Lindmon assured, "We just need to be…careful…" He let his voice trail off as a large object broke into his view through the trees. A light transport lay flat against the ground, its hull had been dulled and weather beaten by what seemed like a few years of neglect. The crafts Imperial standard gray coloring was stricken with rust and pitting. The normally glossy black of its canopy glass was shattered, and the cockpit was invaded by mud.
Lindmon moved cautiously around a few more trees and found several portable sensor control systems, a small holo console and a portable power generator. He was familiar with the make and models of the equipment, designed by the Empire to be a quick and effective way of establishing a small outpost. The disrepair, however, was considerable and it gave Lindmon an eerie feeling. Especially after the shadowy figure had escaped Sul's enthusiastic pursuit.
Lindmon tapped several keys on his wrist tablet, a subtle beeping came from it shortly after. "We should let the ladies know what we found." He stated, glancing around the clearing once more as the device connected.