Aeos Prime:

Kara felt the satisfying crunch under her fist as she delivered the blow. Sweat lined her forehead, dripping into her eyes which were furrowed in concentration. She stepped back, wiping the perspiration away before leaping forward and delivering a flurry of furious blows.

'We're three clicks from entering into Aeos Prime space' Clips voice echoed out of a speaker.

'You don't want to wear yourself out before the mission' Tarkin grunted, who was sitting on a bench, polishing the grime from his helmet. Kara nodded, breathing heavily. She walked to the bench across from the punching bag, wiping her forehead with a cloth. She stuffed it back into her bag and stood up, slinging it around her shoulder.

Without another word, she left the gym, making her way into her room. KT was nestled into Kara's pillow. 'I need you to stay with Clips for the mission' said Kara. 'He'll be staying aboard the Blade.' KT dropped her head and leapt off the bed, landing on the floor. She stumbled out the door, headed towards the cockpit. Kara pulled the panel off the floor and removed her armour.

She exited her room, fully kitted. Her grey armour shone like polished kohlen, with the red lines covering the joints in her armour. A red imperial crest was emblazoned on her shoulders, and her black visor had an eerie, hollow look. A blaster pistol was strapped to her belt as well as flash grenades, thermal detonators and a med-pack. Electric trip mines as well as spare ammunition were strapped to the front as well as her rifle on her back. A pair of macro binoculars and an omni tool were on the back of her black belt.

She marched down the base. 'We're coming out of hyperspace now' said Clips through the comms. Kara stopped in the hall, staring out of a window in the wall. The blue swirls disappeared, fading into the background. The ship lurched forward and the ever-present hum of the hyperdrive ceased, it's absence unmistakeable. Kara pulled her gaze and walked into the hold, her footsteps resounding throughout the corridor.

Kara unstrapped her rifle. 'We're approaching Aeos soon. We all know why we're here. To hunt Jedi.'

'How do we know they're here?' Thane questioned. Kara knew it was a subtle attempt to undermine her leadership and that she would have to tread carefully around Thane.

'We don't know if Jedi will be there, but Rook has done an aerial sweep of the planet and believes he has located a potential Sanctuary' Kara responded, turning to face Rook. He nodded confirmation.

'Have you ever seen a real Jedi, Kara. The Phantom Order hasn't found a Jedi since before we were here' spat Thane, motioning between the two of them.

'You haven't exactly been here for as long as most of us, Thane' Reeve retorted and Kara knew he was trying to help her.

'Oh yes. I'm sorry I forgot. Kara and I haven't been with the Phantom Order for very long' Thane mocked.

'Just because your Father chose me, doesn't mean he didn't love you Thane' said Kara, trying to end the dispute.

'Oh, I'm sorry, Commander' Thane snarled, his eyes rolling with contempt.

'Don't you talk to your commander like that. You'll never be half as good as her,' said Reeve, his voice dangerously low.

Thane stood to his feet, and begun to speak. 'You really trust Kara! She's been with the team for –.'

'As long as you have Thane!' Reeve roared, standing to his feet. 'You shut your trap.'

Thane opened his mouth to yell back but Kara cut him off. 'Enough!' she yelled. Thane stopped, still staring at Reeve. 'I will not have you squabbling like foundlings.' Thane's hands clenched into fists and he reluctantly sat back in his seat. Reeve looked at Kara and she turned to face him. He couldn't see through her helmet but he could sense it was time for him to back down. The other troopers were watching awkwardly, not wanting to find themselves on the receiving end of Kara's rage.

Kara continued, 'we're going to be landing on a narrow rock shelter on Aeos. According to Rook's map, we should be able to follow the cliffs to the top of a hill. The Sanctuary is probably hidden under the hills, which means thermal readouts wouldn't have detected it.

'What do you think we will find in there?' Brock asked.

'I don't know. We might find Jedi, we might not. But if we do, we need to be prepared to kill those traitors.' There was a chorus of agreement, but Kara still sensed the familiar thud as the Shadow Blade contacted with the ground.

The entry ramp lowered once again and Kara led the troops down the steps, and onto the rocks. An array of sensations assaulted Kara's senses. The first thing she noticed was the smell of the salty air. She could taste it through her helmets filter. The sound of the waves crashing maintained itself, never ceasing. The Shadow Blade was balanced precariously on the edge of the rocky cliff face, unseen behind the cover of shrubbery. The waves had eroded the cliff, revealing the layers of rock, embedded deep in the rock. On top of the cliff was a large plateau, a barren rock with patches of grass, paled in comparison by the grey sky and the grey rock. Thick clouds scudded overhead, crackling ominously. Massive waves sprayed water onto the plateau, leaving pools of mud under the dead weeds.

'Not a partic'larly pretty sight' Kings chuckled. Kara couldn't help smiling under her helmet.

Selethen, their most skilled navigator, led them across the rock, avoiding the marshes. Kara took up the rear, watching her troops from the behind. She noticed Thane had deliberately distanced himself from her. The rhythmic breaking of waves as they crashed against the cliffs drove them into a forced march. They tried to remain hidden as best as possible, but the open nature of the plateau made it difficult for most of way. Kara trusted that Selethen would be able to get them to the Sanctuary without any difficulties.

There was a hill ahead of them and Kara knew that the Sanctuary was built into the opposite side of the hill. Their route led them away from the cliffs, but to Kara's surprise the sound of the waves didn't grow faint. It grew more powerful. As they crested a small rise in the terrain she saw a thin line of grey on the horizon and she quickly realised that there were waves to both sides of them. Kara turned her gaze to the hill ahead of them and could have sworn she saw a tiny figure atop the hill, but a sudden change in the wind and the shadowy figure disappeared from sight as quickly as he had appeared. Kara refrained from saying anything, deciding that it would only help Thane if he heard she was seeing things.

They covered the remaining distance with speed and were soon to reach the top of the hill when Selethen halted them. Kara walked past her teammates and saw Selethen and Chaff kneeling in the mud, studying them with intent.

'Tracks?'

'Not sure. The wind and rain could have cleared them and distorted them if it had been a few days, or someone tried to cover their tracks. Or I could be seeing things' said Chaff, his crisp voice barely audible over to the waves.

'You wouldn't be alone' Kara muttered, thinking of the figure she had imagined on the hill. Kara tried to think if she had sighted the figure near their current location, but was unable to put her finger on it.

'What was that?' Selethen asked casually, looking at Kara.

'Nothing' Kara said quickly, perhaps a little too quickly. She forced herself to turn her attention back to the mission at hand. As far as Kara could see, there was nothing about the ground that was different from the rest they had walked on, but she knew that Chaff had served as a scout trooper before he'd been promoted to the Phantom Order. If anyone could track, it was Chaff.

'We'll need to move on before we can determine anything for sure. Perhaps there will be more definitive tracks ahead' Selethen interjected.

Kara nodded thoughtfully, 'That's wise. We'll go on.'

This time, Kara, stayed close to the front, near Chaff, Selethen and to her dismay, Thane. They reached the ridge, staring across a vast plateau, much like the one they had just ascended from. Rain started to drizzle lightly but it was just enough to sour the mood. They moved on, Chaff forced to cut a path through the thick weeds. On their descent, it was quite by chance that they stumbled upon a small clearing on the hillside.

Kara walked into the opening, stopping beside Selethen. The weeds and grass had been cleared and soil was levelled out. In the soil were green shoots. 'Someone planted something here' said Selethen.

'I wonder if you'll win the Empire Day prize on Coruscant for the most obvious statement' Rook laughed, walking alongside Chaff. 'I wouldn't say we need the galaxy's best tracker to see what's going on here.'

'I'd say you do need me to tell you who's been here and when' responded Chaff, dropping beside the soil. Kara was able to make out tracks imprinted on the soil but how Chaff was able to tell them about how long ago each set of tracks had been there, and how there had been two males and a female, Kara wasn't able to explain.

'At least we can confirm there are people here, inhabiting this island' said Selethen. Kara nodded agreement.

'We know there are a minimum of three, but if they're Jedi or not, that's beyond me' added Chaff, scanning the tracks for further signs.

'Again, there is little that we can conclude from this evidence other than there have been people here' responded Rook. 'I believe we should check out the area around the Sanctuary and then make our move.'

Kara looked between her troopers, and then back to the plateau. 'What are we waiting for?'

They continued their march down the country side, and found more signs of habitation along their path. Scorched blades of grass or imprints in the mud. They soon found themselves at the bottom of the hill.

'We need to fan out in our pairs' Kara ordered, looking to her troops. 'Scan the face of the hill for any sort of cave or crevice that might lead into the sanctuary.'

There was confirmation from her troops and she watched them find their pre-designated partner. Kara looked around for hers and realised that she would have usually been paired up with Clips, who was still aboard the Shadow Blade. That meant she was paired with whoever Seevor's teammate had been. With a sinking feeling, she saw Thane watching her coolly.

'I guess that leaves us' said Kara. Thane shrugged. 'Look, Thane. I have no idea why your Father chose me to lead, but he did. We have a job to do, and any hard feelings between us need to be left behind on this bog.'

Thane shrugged again and Kara gritted her teeth, her temper rising. She knew she had to keep a cool head and couldn't let Thane get to her. Without another word, she took off, heading towards their position. Thane followed her down the path she forged in the thick weeds. They were walking parallel to the cliff face when Kara stumbled through some of the weeds, falling into a pit of mud. She sunk into it slowly, stopping when she was waist deep. Before she could warn Thane, he too had tumbled through the weeds and fell into the mud.

'Well this is just fantastic' Thane jeered. 'Commander Kara has landed us in a pit of mud.' He tried to pull himself out of the mud and almost unglued himself from the sticky mud, but was pulled back before he could get out.

'Keep your complaints for later Thane' said Kara, a deadly quietness in her voice. 'We'll get out. Wolfe and Madge should be close by. They can help us.'

'Well, Kara, you're doing a fine job at being commander' Thane continued, happier to provoke Kara now they were alone.

'Thanks Thane. Fine job, yourself' Kara mocked, whilst looking for something she could use to lever herself out with. Thane was quiet, and Kara gave a small smile at the thought she had bested him in their verbal battle. However, when he remained silent for another moment, Kara turned her head to look at him. He seemed to be staring into the distance, straight through Kara. Not trusting him, she kept an eye on him while spinning to see what he was now pointing at.

At first Kara saw nothing but when she stared a little closer, she saw it.

A black cave mouth was carved into the side of the hill, with jagged rock edges creating the teeth of the tunnel. It was cleverly concealed in the rock face, barely noticeable at first glance. 'The Sanctuary' said Kara, without meaning to.

'I found it' Thane laughed triumphantly. 'I found it' he repeated. Kara nodded and then pushed her legs forward, wading through the mud slowly.

Kara placed a finger to her comm as she communicated with the team. 'Thane has located a cave. Everyone, group up at the entry point, on the hillside, parallel to our coordinates.' She made sure Thane heard her, so that he knew she wasn't trying to claim what had technically been his achievement.

'Copy that' Rook responded.

Kara pushed up towards the banks of the mud pit and grabbed onto the weeds. With a pull, she tried to heave herself onto solid ground, but only succeeded in ripping the weeds out of the ground. Thane saw what she was doing and also waded through the thick mud with great difficulty. Kara grabbed onto the banks and tried to pull herself onto them. She struggled to get a grip, slipping on the wet mud. Finally, she was able to get a handhold in the mud and pull herself onto the grass. The bottom half of her armour was covered in thick clumps of mud. She spun around and saw Thane had reached the bank. She leaned out over the mud and helped haul him onto the grass.

'We'd better get to that cave entry so the others can have a visual reference.'

Thane let out a deep breath and nodded. His earlier hatred seemed to have been replaced by a vigorous tenacity to reach the Sanctuary.

They moved across the grass, mud, rock and bog with more care than they had at first. They spotted Madge and Wolfe across from them on the plateau as well as five other pairs, all heading towards them.

Madge and Wolfe quickly reached them and it was Wolfe who spoke first, gesturing to their muddy armour. 'What happened to you two?'

'We fell into a mud pit' responded Kara.

'Well done on spotting that cave mouth' Madge commended. 'We ran right past it because we were more focused on the Skeever trying to kill us.'

Kara unsuccessfully tried to stifle a laugh.

'We need to keep going' Thane interrupted, clearly wanting to reach the cave. He was stiff with anticipation. 'If there are Jedi in that Sanctuary, we best not give them time to prepare.'

'You're right' Madge replied. 'Let's keep moving.' Kara nodded, and allowed Wolfe to lead the way. They made their way around the bogs and weeds until they reached the entrance to the tunnel. It was dark in the tunnel, and Kara couldn't make anything out other than the black rock that surrounded the path. They were the first group to arrive, and the rest of the team soon arrived.

'Tell Clips what we've found so far, and have him relay the information to the Empire' Kara commanded, and Rook begun his work immediately. All fourteen troops turned on their helmet and blaster lights, to provide them with maximum vision. With that, they begun to file down the tunnel.

It was narrow, and they could barely walk two abreast. Kara walked at the front with Selethen. She felt sweat running down her neck, and could sense the uneasiness amongst the team. Kara had never fought a Jedi before unlike many members of the Phantom Order, but the edginess in even the veterans' movements proved to Kara that it never got easier.

Finally, after much winding through the hillside, the tunnel widened out to reveal two massive black doors, fixed on hinges attached to the rockface. The moment had finally come. Kara looked to her team. 'This is it. Selethen, plant a smoke screen above the doors. Tarkin, take Filler's light grenade and give us some light in there. Thane, plant charges on those hinges.'

There was a flurry of movement, as the team prepared to face whatever lay beyond those doors. Kara took a step back from the door as the team made their final adjustments to their cover.

'On three' said Kara, her eyes scanning the door. There was no sound from behind the doors. The movement of light at the edge of her vision were pushing her to the edge mentally. 'One.' She already had her rifle drawn, and flicked the safety off. 'Two.' The rocky surface of the wall reflected their lights, and Kara squinted to keep herself from being blinded even through the shade of her helmet's visor. All Kara could hear was her ragged breathing and the thumping of her heart. 'Three.'

There was a blast as the doors in front of them collapsed. Next, smoke exploded down. The Phantom Order surged through the doors, filtering through the smoke with caution. Kara walked in, her eyes trying to make out shapes in the darkness. The light grenade was thrown past the doors and its spin created uncertain, flickering light. Kara spotted several figures against the walls that flickered in and out of focus before Kara could make sense of them.

There was a hissing sound from ahead, followed by a gentle humming. Kara looked into the centre of the room and saw the thin blue blade of a lightsaber.

'Oh dear -.'