Thomson and his team arrived back at the camp and he immediately headed for the command tent. He stepped inside and saw General Lawson speaking to three Lieutenants. He walked up, "General, I have important information."

"Alright. Lieutenants, return to your squads." They saluted and left. "Let's hear it Lance Corporal."

He pulled out a map and laid it on the table. "We found a small campsite with two dead Imperial scouts. This map was on one of the bodies."

Lawson nodded and examined the map. "It's not much, but it gives us a general area the Imperials are searching. The question is, why?"

"I don't know sir. Do we have any squads operating in that area?"

Lawson looked at the larger map. "No, not that I'm aware of... I want a scouting mission sent to that area ASAP. Lance Corporal, find Lieutenant Jackson and tell him I need to see him."

He saluted, "Yes sir."

He left the tent and headed to the officers' tents. He asked around and was pointed towards Jackson's tent. He thanked them and headed to the tent. He opened the flap finding Jackson sitting at a small table smoking a cigarette. He looked up, "Thomson? What do you need?"

"Sir, General Lawson wants to speak with you immediately."

He sighed, stood up, and put out his cigarette. "Thank you Thomson." He stood up and walked out of the tent. He reached the Command tent and entered. General Lawson was still looking over the map. "General, I was told you wanted to speak to me."

"Yes. I need you to assemble three more scouting teams ASAP."

"Why, sir?"

"Thomson found this map one a dead Imperial scout. I want to know what the Imperials are searching for in this area."

"Understood sir. I'll assemble the teams immediately." He saluted and left heading for his squad's tent. He through the flap open, "EVERYONE UP! GET UP YOU LAZY BASTARDS!"

The whole tent snapped awake! They threw their covers off and stood at attention! "Now, I need three teams of four to assemble outside the tent!" He walked out and twelve squad members followed him shortly afterward. They assembled into three teams of four in front of him. He nodded, "Excellent. Brooks, you lead team one. Sara, you lead team two. Cole, you lead team three." He turned and walked towards the Command tent with the teams following him.

He entered, "General, I have three teams." They walked up to the map and examined it. General Lawson looked up and nodded. "Thank you Lieutenant." He pointed to a position on the map. "We found an Imperial map that had this area marked for scouting. I want to know why. Sergeant Brooks, your team will scout this area. Corporal Sara, your time will scout this area. Corporal Cole, your team will scout this area. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed."

The three teams split up once they entered the forest. Brook's team cautiously made their way through the forest. Although there have been no reports of Imperials in the forest they're still being cautious. With her, is private Justin and two other scouts. Justin is off her left while the two scouts are off her right. They're only two kilometers from the search area but the forest has slowed their progress.

"What do you think the Imperials are looking for?"

"No idea, but we're going to find out."

After another hour of walking, they entered the search area. "Alright, spread out but stay within talking distance." They nodded and spread out.

They slowly walked through the forest looking for anything of interest. They were only to use their radios if they found something of interest. As they moved further in, the terrain off Brook's left started to rise. Unfortunately, it didn't give them much in the way of sight. One of the scouts stopped and used his binoculars to try and spot anything but, no luck. He lowered his binoculars and followed his fellow scout. He found crouching down and looking at the ground. "What is it?"

"It looks like someone came through here but I can't tell when."

"So there might be Imperials in the area."

"Yeah. We need to tell Brooks."

He stood up and jogged to catch up with Brooks. The terrain started to slope down but they couldn't see Brooks or Justin. "Shit. I think we lost them."

"Well, they were heading in this direction. If we keep going we might find them."

"Not a bad idea."

Back with Brooks, she had just noticed the missing scouts. "Justin, hold up."

"What is it?"

"Cox and Hawkins are gone."

"Gone? How'd we lose them?"

"Don't know. Let's hold here for a minute."

They crouched down and Brooks pulled out her map. She pointed at the grid coordinates they were to scout. There is no terrain high enough to see over the treetops so it will be difficult to find anything. She sighed and put the map away. She pulled out her binoculars and scanned the forest. She was about to put them away when she saw something. She focused and saw the helmet of an Imperial. "Down!"

Brooks dropped to prone with Justin following. "What?"

"Imperial directly ahead." She raised her head and saw glimpses of maybe two scouts. Soon, they disappeared from her line of sight. "They're gone."

"So there are Imperials in the area."

"Looks like it. Question is, how many?"

"Well, if they're just scouting the area, they should only have a few teams."

"I hope you're right." Brooks moved to a crouch and scanned for more Imperials. Justin moved forward and crouched behind a fallen tree.

Three minutes later, Brooks heard someone behind her! She dropped her binoculars, turned around, and raised her gun! "Thunder."

"Lighting."

She and Justin lowered their guns and Cox and Hawkins walked out from a bush. "Where have you two been?"

"We took a small detour ma'am. Cox found evidence of someone walking through the forest."

"You don't say. Well, we just saw two Imperial scouts three minutes ago."

Hawkins looked to Cox, "Looks like you were right. Where were they heading?"

"They were heading North. Now that you're here, we can follow them."

They readied their weapons and set off. Brooks lead them to where she had briefly seen the Imperials. Cox moved forward and crouched. "Looks like two sets of tracks. Definitely Imperial."

"Alright. Cox, lead the way."

He nodded and lead the team forward. Once again, they slowly moved through the forest. After twenty minutes, they came upon a shallow stream and here the tracks disappeared. "Damn, I can't find the footprints."

"Maybe they changed their path?"

"No, their footprints clearly stop here."

"Well shit. Now what?"

"We spread out as we did before. Cox, Hawkins, try not to get lost."

Hawkins smiled, "Will do ma'am."

To their North, Cole's team was scouting their area. Much like Brook's team, they haven't found anything. "Are we sure anything is out here?"

"Well, the Imperials have interest in the area. So something must be out here."

"Hold."

They crouched down, "What is it?"

"Someone is walking towards us. Get down!"

They hid behind trees or went prone. The sound of footsteps got louder and one of the scouts poked his head around the tree. He saw four Imperials approaching, one shock trooper and three scouts. He used hand signs to tell the rest of the team. As they approached, they could hear them talking.

"Sir, we've been out here for three hours and haven't found anything. Are a few escapes really worth all this trouble?"

"No, they're not but General Gregor wants them found."

"Why does he care about a few escaped Darcsens? They'll die out here before they reach the Gallians."

"He wants to make an example out of them."

"Why not just make an example out of the ones still in the camp?"

"Because that would be a waste of workers."

"What does it matter? They're going to die anyway."

Cole tightened the grip on his SMG as they continued to walk closer.

Bang!

A shot rang out and the Imperials crouched! "Was that one of ours?"

"Don't know. To all teams, we just heard a shot. Was that one of ours?"

He nodded after a few seconds. "One of the teams found some of the escapes. Two got away from them and they were heading our direction."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's catch the bastards." They jogged away from Cole's team.

"Sir, we have to stop them."

"I know. Sergeant Brooks, do you read?"

"Corporal Cole, was that shot from your team?"

"No. Sergeant, the Imperials are searching for escaped Darcsen poisoners. That shot was one of their teams finding some. Over."

"Damn. We're heading towards the shot now, out."

Cole put the radio away, "Let's get after them."

They stood up and followed after the Imperials. It wasn't very difficult to follow their path. After about twelve minutes, Cole held his hand up and they stopped. "What is it?"

"There's a small clearing ahead. Spread-out, find cover."

"Sir."

They waited for eight minutes when they heard someone sprinting towards them. A few seconds later, two Darcsens entered the clearing. One of them fell to his knees and the other helped him up. "Come on. We have to keep moving."

"I- I can't. Just leave me."

"Not a chance. Come on." He pulled the other to his feet and they started moving. A shot ran out and the wounded Darcsen was killed! "NO!"

An Imperial scout walked out and smashed his rifle in the Darcsen's head! He fell back holding his bloody nose! "You're going to wish we killed you." The Imperial punched him three times blacking both his eyes.

"Alright. That's enough. He needs to be able to walk."

"Well, as long as we don't break his knee caps he can still walk."

Cole narrowed his eyes and singled to his team. They nodded and he raised his SMG. He shot at the Imperial Sergeant and killed him! The scouts fired killing the three Imperial scouts! It was over in seconds. Cole stepped into the clearing while the scouts watched over him. He crouched down next to the Darcsen who was still in shock. "Hey, you alright?"

The Darcsen starred at him for a second. "No I'm not okay. My friend was just killed and I got beat to hell."

"You're alive. Focus on that. How many of you are in this area?"

"There were five of us but the Imperials found us and we split up. I don't know where they went or if they're alive."

Cole nodded and pulled him to his feet. He waved to one of the scouts and he walked over. "Make sure he gets back to base alive."

"Sir." He walked off with the Darcsen following. "Sergeant Brooks, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear. What do you need?"

"We just saved a Darcsen from the Imperials. He said there are more escapes in the forest, possibly three. Over."

"Understood. Out."

Brooks put her radio away. Ahead of her, Justin, Cox, and Hawkins are spread out in front of her. "Ma'am. I found a body."

Brooks walked over to Cox who was crouched down next to the body. "Darcsen." He rolled the body over, "Mid-twenties, signs of harsh treatment and malnutrition."

"Cox, how are you so good at that?"

"My dad was a police investigator. Before he passed, he taught me what he remembered from his time in the force."

"Alright, let's get back on track. Footprints are leading this way. If we're quick, we might be able to save the remaining escapes."

"Let's move."

They started to move following the many footprints in the dirt. Another gunshot rang out, "That was close."

"We need at least one of them alive."

"One still is alive."

"Yeah, barely. He can't be made an example out of."

"Then kill him. It's not like anyone is going to care."

BANG!

"There. Now if the other team caught the runners, General Gregor will have his example."

Four Imperials, three scouts and one shock trooper, are standing around the body of a Darcsen. Brooks motioned her team to get into position. Once ready she raised her rifle and fired at the Sergeant! Three bullets hit his chest and he fell backward, dead. The other three tried to get into cover but her team opened fire killing them before they had a chance.

Brooks stepped behind cover and pressed her hand to the Darcsen's neck. She shook her head and stood up. "Cole, has your team found more Imperials or Darcsens? Over."

"Negative ma'am. Over."

"Understood out."

"Sara, has your team found anything? Over."

"All quiet on our side Brooks. We've heard quite a few shots, I'm assuming that was your team. Over."

"It was. Imperials are searching the forest for escaped Darcsens. Start heading back to the camp, it's going to be day soon. Out."

"Wait ma'am. What if they're more escapes in the forest?"

"I'll tell General Larson what we found. He'll organize another scouting mission in this area. Out."

"Cole, head back to base, we're running out of darkness. Out."

She turns to her team, "Let's get back to base."