They paused finally, taking a break in the shadow of a boulder
that jutted out from the rocky hills they had been climbing through since
dawn that morning. Anagha leaned back against it, feeling the cold seep
through her flight suit as she checked a print out of her uncle's map
against the compass built into her crono. It spun uselessly, causing her to
curse, and she stepped away from the shadow of the stone, glancing up at
the sky to try to place their location.
Leeni settled to the ground, sitting cross-legged as she took a drink of water. The forest was still eerily devoid of any life except for them and the wind stirring the trees about them, and she shifted nervously, glancing this way and that.
Goldie, however, climbed to the top of the boulder, laying down flat along the top of it. His curly hair had fallen loose of its knot sometime during the trek, and stirred slightly in the light wind as he pulled out a scope from a pocket on his knee. He settled against his eye and looked through it back along the way they had come, frowning softly to himself as Anagha climbed up next to him.
He nudged her knee and handed her the scope, pointing at something among the trees, still several klicks away from them. The Firrerre nodded and sighted in on it. Faintly, she was just able to catch a glimmer of movement underneath the trees canopy. They dashed quickly from shadow to shadow: too lithe and tall to be orcs, and she doubted the figures would tire as easily as men did. Elves.
There was a chance they could still finish the mission. They weren't too far from their goal now: just a few more leagues and they'd be there. Then she could get what she'd come for and leave. They'd have to take a more roundabout way back to the x-wings of course, to throw their pursuers off their trail, but it could still be done.
She sighed and snapped the scope closed, turning to find Goldie watching her intently. "We didn't come here to check on Yuuzhan Vong infestations did we?"
Anagha didn't answer, but slid down the boulder landing closely to Leeni. Goldie followed her shortly, exchanging a brief look with Leeni as Anagha grabbed her pack. She brushed off her flight suit and straightened it, turning once again into the officer Wedge and Gavin had trained her to be. "Break time's over, let's move people."
She broke into a brisk trot, leading them once more into the depths of the forest and closer to the shadows of the mountains.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas and his company passed through a small clearing around mid- day, a large boulder in the middle of it casting no shadow in the noon sun. The elf paused next to it, running his fingers over its rough granite surface. Here and there the sun reflected off of small glints of mica, something his dwarven friend might have found interesting had he been by Legolas' side, but he focused instead on the traces of dirt that clung to the rough surface and the recently trampled grass underfoot.
He nodded to himself: they weren't far behind now.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The sun was getting ready to set when they reached the caves.
Hidden here and there amongst the rocks, cliffs, and tall pines, black maws stared at them, reminding Anagha of a space worm's mouth. Leeni skidded to a stop next to her, her jaw dropping in awe at the sight before them. Goldie walked up next to them, his expression worried and his eyes questioning as Anagha avoided his gaze.
She studied instead the hillside before them: her uncles maps said that the entrances all led to the same cavern sooner or later. Now the only question was which entrance led there the fastest? Jalaal's journals and maps were extremely vague in that area. She double checked the coordinates against her compass again, and stared up at the hillside, studying the caves intently. Finally she settled on one not too far from them, a little to the left behind a dead stump and up some boulders. Tucking the compass away in her pocket she motioned her wing mates forward, pausing to push a small button on her commlink twice.
"We're not exactly here to check on the population are we?" Goldie's question surprised Anagha, causing her to start as he bent to help her up a fairly tall boulder. Leeni was already walking up the next one, eyeing the obstacle uncertainly. Anagha shot him a glare then gripped his hand tightly as he pulled her to the top. Seeing her look, he smiled vaguely. "I didn't think so. I mean I can understand why we needed to land out in the boonies, but from what I remember we're heading in the opposite direction of anything with a remote chance of being populated. Those plains to the North-West looked fairly hospitable, and there was that one place, at the base of those mountains near the river." He continued as he followed his commander up the next few boulders.
Up ahead, Leeni turned on a small hand held light to fight off the impending gloom at the Caves mouth.
Anagha sighed, brushing sweat out of her eyes as she watched the young pilot. She should have never let the rookie go ahead. "Shut up, Goldie."
"I mean, honestly, who would want to live in a cave?"
"I told you to shut up, Lt. Kenner." Something was bothering her in the back of her mind, a sort of feeling like the shadows were watching them. She rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously then turned on her own light as they reached Leeni. The sun had nearly set, only a tiny sliver of orange could be seen on the horizon, and the land around them was covered with shadows.
They should probably wait until morning before heading in, but they didn't have enough time. The elves could find them at anytime now, and they needed to get back to their x-wings soon. They would have to go in and hope that their followers weren't waiting when they emerged.
She led them into the cave, trying to pick out the path ahead beyond the circle of her light. Goldie continued to babble along, his train of speech interrupted every so often by exclamation from Leeni as she stumbled over something or tripped in some puddle.
A faint stench began to flow up to them from the chambers ahead. Anagha froze, she remembered that smell, the over powering cloying scent of rotting meat. Behind her Goldie gagged, "What died?"
The light revealed a twisted corpse, a few slimy bits of skin and hide still clung to the broken skeleton, and a bright red eye was carved into the skull's forehead. Leeni shrieked and Goldie stifled a bitter curse, "Vong!"
His voice echoed through the shadows and Anagha shook her head: the body was too small and not brutalized enough. Metal glinted here and there about it, imbedded into the bones: chains and large steel loops. The Vong would never touch anything artificial, and metal, while made up of different ores, was hardly a natural occurrence.
A stone fell in the distance, splashing in an unseen puddle. A new scent drifted up to them: one of unwashed bodies, and ill treated leather. Pieces of rusted metal, creaked in the shadows, then fell abruptly silent.
Slowly Anagha backed up towards her wing mates, her hand dropping to the reassuring weight of something hanging at her belt as she twisted her light around, trying to see into the distance. Goldie slid his blaster out of his holster, moving the setting from stun to high, while Leeni fumbled with hers, dropping her light in the process. A stone shot out of the darkness, knocking Anagha's light from her hand. Goldie cursed loudly and let off a shot that ricocheted in the darkness revealing luminescent eyes that shined back at them then shut.
The Firrerre went for her own blaster, and not bothering to check her settings, she began to walk backwards to the entrance, forcing Leeni and Goldie behind her back as they moved. Something shifted in the shadows to the side and with a loud snap their last light went out.
Their attackers rushed forward and the cave became filled with guttural yells and shouts. The metallic cylinder slipped from Anagha's belt with ease, even as she let off her first blaster shot she snapped it on with a practiced flick of her thumb.
A bright golden blade illuminated the darkness as she blocked a poisonous arrow, the sudden light both blinding and revealing their opponents: short, misshapen goblins that her uncle and the elves of her youth had whispered stories about. With a muttered oath she felt her face go pale as she recognized them.
She had led them straight into the lair of Orcs.
Leeni settled to the ground, sitting cross-legged as she took a drink of water. The forest was still eerily devoid of any life except for them and the wind stirring the trees about them, and she shifted nervously, glancing this way and that.
Goldie, however, climbed to the top of the boulder, laying down flat along the top of it. His curly hair had fallen loose of its knot sometime during the trek, and stirred slightly in the light wind as he pulled out a scope from a pocket on his knee. He settled against his eye and looked through it back along the way they had come, frowning softly to himself as Anagha climbed up next to him.
He nudged her knee and handed her the scope, pointing at something among the trees, still several klicks away from them. The Firrerre nodded and sighted in on it. Faintly, she was just able to catch a glimmer of movement underneath the trees canopy. They dashed quickly from shadow to shadow: too lithe and tall to be orcs, and she doubted the figures would tire as easily as men did. Elves.
There was a chance they could still finish the mission. They weren't too far from their goal now: just a few more leagues and they'd be there. Then she could get what she'd come for and leave. They'd have to take a more roundabout way back to the x-wings of course, to throw their pursuers off their trail, but it could still be done.
She sighed and snapped the scope closed, turning to find Goldie watching her intently. "We didn't come here to check on Yuuzhan Vong infestations did we?"
Anagha didn't answer, but slid down the boulder landing closely to Leeni. Goldie followed her shortly, exchanging a brief look with Leeni as Anagha grabbed her pack. She brushed off her flight suit and straightened it, turning once again into the officer Wedge and Gavin had trained her to be. "Break time's over, let's move people."
She broke into a brisk trot, leading them once more into the depths of the forest and closer to the shadows of the mountains.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas and his company passed through a small clearing around mid- day, a large boulder in the middle of it casting no shadow in the noon sun. The elf paused next to it, running his fingers over its rough granite surface. Here and there the sun reflected off of small glints of mica, something his dwarven friend might have found interesting had he been by Legolas' side, but he focused instead on the traces of dirt that clung to the rough surface and the recently trampled grass underfoot.
He nodded to himself: they weren't far behind now.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The sun was getting ready to set when they reached the caves.
Hidden here and there amongst the rocks, cliffs, and tall pines, black maws stared at them, reminding Anagha of a space worm's mouth. Leeni skidded to a stop next to her, her jaw dropping in awe at the sight before them. Goldie walked up next to them, his expression worried and his eyes questioning as Anagha avoided his gaze.
She studied instead the hillside before them: her uncles maps said that the entrances all led to the same cavern sooner or later. Now the only question was which entrance led there the fastest? Jalaal's journals and maps were extremely vague in that area. She double checked the coordinates against her compass again, and stared up at the hillside, studying the caves intently. Finally she settled on one not too far from them, a little to the left behind a dead stump and up some boulders. Tucking the compass away in her pocket she motioned her wing mates forward, pausing to push a small button on her commlink twice.
"We're not exactly here to check on the population are we?" Goldie's question surprised Anagha, causing her to start as he bent to help her up a fairly tall boulder. Leeni was already walking up the next one, eyeing the obstacle uncertainly. Anagha shot him a glare then gripped his hand tightly as he pulled her to the top. Seeing her look, he smiled vaguely. "I didn't think so. I mean I can understand why we needed to land out in the boonies, but from what I remember we're heading in the opposite direction of anything with a remote chance of being populated. Those plains to the North-West looked fairly hospitable, and there was that one place, at the base of those mountains near the river." He continued as he followed his commander up the next few boulders.
Up ahead, Leeni turned on a small hand held light to fight off the impending gloom at the Caves mouth.
Anagha sighed, brushing sweat out of her eyes as she watched the young pilot. She should have never let the rookie go ahead. "Shut up, Goldie."
"I mean, honestly, who would want to live in a cave?"
"I told you to shut up, Lt. Kenner." Something was bothering her in the back of her mind, a sort of feeling like the shadows were watching them. She rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously then turned on her own light as they reached Leeni. The sun had nearly set, only a tiny sliver of orange could be seen on the horizon, and the land around them was covered with shadows.
They should probably wait until morning before heading in, but they didn't have enough time. The elves could find them at anytime now, and they needed to get back to their x-wings soon. They would have to go in and hope that their followers weren't waiting when they emerged.
She led them into the cave, trying to pick out the path ahead beyond the circle of her light. Goldie continued to babble along, his train of speech interrupted every so often by exclamation from Leeni as she stumbled over something or tripped in some puddle.
A faint stench began to flow up to them from the chambers ahead. Anagha froze, she remembered that smell, the over powering cloying scent of rotting meat. Behind her Goldie gagged, "What died?"
The light revealed a twisted corpse, a few slimy bits of skin and hide still clung to the broken skeleton, and a bright red eye was carved into the skull's forehead. Leeni shrieked and Goldie stifled a bitter curse, "Vong!"
His voice echoed through the shadows and Anagha shook her head: the body was too small and not brutalized enough. Metal glinted here and there about it, imbedded into the bones: chains and large steel loops. The Vong would never touch anything artificial, and metal, while made up of different ores, was hardly a natural occurrence.
A stone fell in the distance, splashing in an unseen puddle. A new scent drifted up to them: one of unwashed bodies, and ill treated leather. Pieces of rusted metal, creaked in the shadows, then fell abruptly silent.
Slowly Anagha backed up towards her wing mates, her hand dropping to the reassuring weight of something hanging at her belt as she twisted her light around, trying to see into the distance. Goldie slid his blaster out of his holster, moving the setting from stun to high, while Leeni fumbled with hers, dropping her light in the process. A stone shot out of the darkness, knocking Anagha's light from her hand. Goldie cursed loudly and let off a shot that ricocheted in the darkness revealing luminescent eyes that shined back at them then shut.
The Firrerre went for her own blaster, and not bothering to check her settings, she began to walk backwards to the entrance, forcing Leeni and Goldie behind her back as they moved. Something shifted in the shadows to the side and with a loud snap their last light went out.
Their attackers rushed forward and the cave became filled with guttural yells and shouts. The metallic cylinder slipped from Anagha's belt with ease, even as she let off her first blaster shot she snapped it on with a practiced flick of her thumb.
A bright golden blade illuminated the darkness as she blocked a poisonous arrow, the sudden light both blinding and revealing their opponents: short, misshapen goblins that her uncle and the elves of her youth had whispered stories about. With a muttered oath she felt her face go pale as she recognized them.
She had led them straight into the lair of Orcs.