Last time: Kyr discovered a temple in the middle of an Imperial Garrison. Sasha and Viran found a temple complete destroyed.

Now: Kyr, Viran, and Sasha inspect the garrison.

Chapter 7- Stake Out

Viran pulled the ship out of hyperspace over the planet that Kyr gave them the coordinates to rendezvous at. Guiding the ship down to the surface, they spotted Kyr's ship resting in the valley. Landing the shuttle next to his ship, Viran started the shutdown sequence. Once done with that, Viran and Sasha grabbed the necessary equipment and their weapons before making their way down the ramp. As they walked down the ramp, Kyr stood waiting near his ship.

"Hey guys." Kyr said in greeting, "I like the new outfits." He said, admiring their new Jedi attire.

Sasha and Viran glanced down at themselves as if they forgot for a moment what they were wearing. They then looked up at him with a smile.

"Yeah well our other clothes are still covered in slime," Viran said. "And Sasha was already working on these for us. So it worked out in the end."

"Yeah, I hear ya," He said, turning to lead them up the ramp to the Shadow Runner. "I'm still cleaning mud out of places I didn't even know about from the last planet."

Tac met them up at the top of the ramp, excited to see his friends again. He whistled to them to all follow as he led the party back to the lounge, where many small sweaters and a few hats were now spread around, organized as though they were munitions, though instead of sorted by warhead type they were matched by color. Sasha and Viran stared in shock.

"Oh my…" Sasha trailed off. "That's a lot of sweaters…"

"Tac did all of these?" Viran asked as he stood there shocked.

"Yeah, he's worried that the cat we get might be cold since I, apparently, keep the ship too chilly." They could hear Kyr rolling his eyes.

A few whistled beeps and a raspberry responded.

"Well it's not like either of us has cared about the temperature before. You're supposed to work in a vacuum and I wear temperature controlled armor." Kyr shot back.

They couldn't hold a straight face anymore. Sasha and Viran burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry to laugh, but I just find this funny is all," Viran apologized as he was still chuckling.

"As funny as it is, I think it's adorable," Sasha said as she grinned, but still giggled.

"Yeah, wait till you hear the sound of knitting needles in the middle of the night." Kyr said, exasperated. "Anyway, how have you guys been?" He asked, continuing on to the cockpit to get them back up to orbit.

Sasha and Viran exchanged a glance. She gestured at Kyr with her eyes as they followed after him. They still hadn't told the Mando that were now together.

"Oh you know, not a whole lot," Viran said casually. "Just searching for temples. Getting some training down. The usual stuff."

Sasha face palmed.

Kyr stopped and looked back at them from behind his buy'ce. "Okay, well, I'm happy for you guys but if you make me throw up I'm going to make you clean it." He said, knowing exactly what was going on from the look on Sasha's face and Viran's excellent sabbac face.

Sasha and Viran skidded to a halt in surprise.

"How did you know?" Sasha asked, somewhat impressed.

He just looked at them for a second. "Before you didn't stop grabbing each other's hands and stuff, now you're being careful not to." He said, turning back to head to the cockpit. "Also Sasha has a terrible sabbac face, and yours is too good Sport."

They both blushed at that. Viran then chuckled as he accepted the compliment from Kyr about his sabbac face. Sasha continued to turn a solid red. Noticing her blushed face, Viran wrapped an arm around her and started pulling her along as they followed Kyr to the cockpit.

"That's the kind of thing I was talking about making me throw up." Kyr said as he was walking down the corridor away from them, not having turned to see Virans gesture.

They both immediately pulled away, confused at how Kyr even noticed.

The Shadow Runner approached the planet on another stealth orbit, coming in below the base's sensor horizon and making the journey around the surface at a low tree top altitude so the base would not detect the ship coming in. Luckily the garrison was constructed in a valley nestled in between mountain peaks, and a thick forest covered the region, providing ample ground clutter to confuse the sensors as they swooped in as low as possible. They landed five kilometers away, and hiked up to a ridgeline overlooking the base. They didn't seem to attract any notice, the base seemed more setup for research so its defenses and sensor suite were not up to more than basic perimeter defense.

They approached the overlook carefully, staying low and finally crawling in on their stomachs. It was still late afternoon, with the sun behind them and already darkening the valley as it disappeared behind the trees and mountain ridges.

What was unexpected was seeing a sinister looking fighter parked on the landing field. Kyr wasn't sure what to make of it, and Sasha had been unconscious last time she saw it. Viran, however, had been fully conscious last time he saw it.

"That's her fighter." Viran said in a hiss. "I recognize it from Polis Massa."

Sasha clenched her fists. "That means Cien is here," she said as she cursed inwardly. "That means she really is alive. Kriff."

As if summoned by her name, a woman in black robes appeared from out of the temple complex with a haughty expression on her face, paying very little attention to the officer attending her. Kyr was looking through the scope of his verpine rifle, and both Sasha and Viran were watching through electrobinoculars. She was striding across the field towards her ship.

Sasha felt anger rise in her. The memories of everything Cien had done to her and her mind came flooding back. Sasha felt her body shake as she tried to control her emotions. She was never one to get angry, but seeing Cien's face made her cringe. Viran reached over and grabbed her hand. He laced his fingers with hers. This allowed her to squeeze his hand very tightly as she tried to control her anger. Sasha could see Viran too was equally pissed to see her. However, his gaze looked like it could kill Cien with just a glare.

"She's kinda cute." Kyr commented as he tracked Cien though the sniper scope.

Sasha and Viran both turned their heads slowly to look at Kyr, a look of abject shock and disgust on their face.

Kyr looked up from his scope to relax his neck a bit and saw their look. "What?" He asked a little taken aback.

Cien walked away from the temple with apurpose, annoyed for wasting her time. This garrison was set up to study it, but had no useful information. She had arrived early in the day and spent her time in the temple. The command fell all over themselves to serve the need of the thirteenth sister, as she styled herself to these minions, and their fearful countenance towards her suited her just fine. There was nothing here. The Force was strong here, and she could feel it suffusing the entire valley, but there was no particular difference here than most other places. It did not even have the same feeling that the temple on Chikara had, the feeling of that place being a confluence of memories and events. Maybe a whisper of it here, but so faint it may well have been her imagination trying to conjure something of value to justify the trip.

It was also far, far away from the Calervon and Vestora systems, so there was no reason to think Sasha and her companion would be here. The garrison itself would probably keep them away, not wanting to bring the attention of the Empire down on them.

Beside her the commanding officer was being an annoying pest, and she couldn't wait to lea-

A whisper, a familiar presence brought her up short. She looked around, and beside her the officer went silent, not sure what spooked her. He gulped loudly, not sure how to react.

She looked around, in the distance, around the ridges surrounding the valley. Her gaze settled on one particular ridge.

"Uh oh." Viran said, looking through the electrobinoculars as Cien stopped and started looking, as if searching. Sasha and Viran both recoiled a bit and tried to sink into the ground. Then her gaze turned to look directly at them. Kyr kept a bead on her chest in case she might expose them and had to be taken out. He started taking deep, steady breaths and became aware of his heart beat. The distance was three-point-zero-eight-two kilometers according to the scope. Wouldn't be too hard of a shot.

Whatever it was she couldn't grasp it. Such a slight feeling, especially in an area so strong in the Force washing everything out. She shook her head and continued, dismissing the fleeting sensation. Upon reaching her fighter she stepped up into the hatch gracefully, turning back to the captain that had been her constant annoyance during her stay.

"Thank you for your hospitality. Ensure you contact Moff Jiardon's office directly if there are any... Irregularities."

"Yes, ma'm." He said. Not sure how to address an inquisitor.

She turned without another word and settled into her cockpit, ready to leave this place.

"Phew, looked like she might have spotted us there for a second." Kyr said relaxing a little. The fighter took off almost immediately and flew directly over their position. All three hunkered down, pressing themselves into the dirt out of reflex even though she couldn't possibly see them.

Sasha and Viran held their breath. Sasha made her sure her mind was closed and hidden to the force. She hoped that Viran was doing the same. Either way, they watched the fighter with utmost anxiety.

"Tac," Kyr started, "there's a fighter leaving the base. Track it if you can and make sure it goes to hyperspace. See if you can get its vector if possible." The droid acknowledged with a few beeps. "No, just track it, if we shoot it down it'll alert the garrison." Kyr said in a slightly exasperated tone.

Sasha and Viran didn't move until they were sure her fighter was out of sight. Even when it was, they didn't relax until they were absolutely sure she was gone.

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