"SNAKES!" bellowed Zar as he fought to keep the Yucabra's head away from him. "I HATE SNAKES! HELP ME OUT HERE!"

While it was a few moments for any meatbag watching, to SN, it was like he was in his own personal time bubble as he processed information. One of the many advantages of being a droid. Zar was fighting with the fifth Yucabra that had snuck up and dropped down on him from the jungle canopy, this was one was particularly big, and Zar was having a hard time killing it. Bariq had his own hands full frying some Yucabras and other fauna that were trying to turn him into a bite sized snack. The Jawa could handle it with his ion blaster, but Zar was the one who needed help more, no thanks to his snake phobia. Not for the first time, SN wondered if he should just walk off and find a less reckless and hotheaded group…but for some reason, he just quelled that notion, shook his head, and marched forward to save the Mandalorian's skin again.

Before the snake got close enough to bite, SN gripped both of its jaws, and yanked. The whole snake was ripped clean in two thanks to the upgrades from his former…owner. SN thought to himself that he really could have worse owners than the Talons. "Remind me why we're doing this?!" spat Zar resentfully as he got to his feet, and started blasting at the animals ganging up on Bariq.

"You're doing it for food," SN informed him, and raised both of his hands. A panel slid open on each, and he fired his own blasts into a frog-like animal that had leapt at the Jawa. It was sent flying back with two holes in its head. "I'm doing this because I'm the only droid in the galaxy cursed with owners like you."

The surviving animals decided they had had enough and leapt or slithered off into the jungle. Zar gave him a sideway glance and patted him on the shoulder. "And don't think we don't appreciate you, rust bucket."

They looked at their handiwork. Besides the Yucabras, there were several decent sized mammals, a few feathered avian creatures, and their sacks that were already filled with fruits that the Zabrak cook had said were edible. Once they had gathered them up, they headed through the jungle back to the speeder, where the Major was waiting. "About time," he grunted. "What is with your friend there? I could have heard his screams all the way back at base."

Zar threw his sack at the Major, who barely caught it before it could send him sprawling. "I hate snakes," said Zar, and he hoisted himself into the passenger seat. "We all have something we really don't like. What's yours, Major Vuis? Tookas?"

The Major grimaced. "Call me Natron, please. Hearing bounty hunters call me by my rank doesn't sound right."

After SN and Bariq got in, Natron took off. The jungle passed by them in an emerald blur, here and there an animal darted into the bushes, or took off into the sky as they approached. "We better not get stuck on cleaning duty when we get back," groaned Bariq as he laid back in his seat.

"Don't worry," replied Natron, "you're not. Cleaning would give you plenty of chances to plant an explosive or worse. You'll be taking care of the locals, that way there's plenty of eyes on you."

Bariq groaned again, but caught SN's eye and gave a slight nod. At last, they'd have a better chance to get help about their mysterious items from the locals. They had only gotten a few brief interactions with them as they passed through the caves, and none of them long enough to ask them for translations.

Finally, they arrived back at the base. Natron passed the speeder over to some other Rebels, who started unpacking the food, and they entered the tunnel again. They kept walking deeper and deeper into the caves, until they reached the largest one they had seen yet, packed with the native Yucari, and offworlders who called Yuca home. It was much like makeshift shelters that had been used during and after the Clone Wars, crude and cramped. SN's former owner loved bragging about how he dragged out traitors hiding in them for execution. Thankfully, they wouldn't be doing anything like that here.

Natron approached one of the native Yucari. It was largely insect-like in appearance, with pincer-like appendages protecting the mouth underneath, a singular horn on its head, and a flat shell on its back, but unlike most insects its green exoskeleton was so thick and rough, it looked like it was made out of rock. It had two green eyes with horizontal pupils, and it regarded them intently as they approached.

"These are the bounty hunters I told you about, Dynas," Natron told the Yucari. "They'll help you attend to the residents here. Don't hesitate to call me if they give you any trouble."

"Of course, Major Vuis," said the Yucari in a guttural voice and saluted. "But be warned, should they approach or damage the eggs, there may not be enough left of them for you to punish."

Natron shrugged unconcernedly and left them to it. "Listen up!" barked Dynas, as he regarded them with narrowed eyes. "Besides the Yucari, there are many other species who have been forced here by the Empire. I assume you should be familiar enough with them. But we Yucari, you know nothing of us! Take care of the other residents here first, but dare not approach a wounded Yucari unless I say so. Even if you do mean well, you may end up poisoned or catching a deadly disease by accident. Understood?!"

SN and the others nodded politely. They had to be on their best behavior for this…but it was already becoming too much for SN. He would already have given up several of his Imperial upgrades just to insult the bug.

A few hours later, SN felt like his circuits and servos were overloading. They had hustled over supplies to residents who weren't able to move, helped them look for and recover useless items, taken verbal and sometimes physical abuse from them, and worst of all, took care of the children in the cave. SN was glad when they finally got a break and he sat next to an exhausted Zar and Bariq.

"Any luck finding a translator?" he asked the duo.

Zar was already snoring and Bariq shook his head. "They were too busy screaming requests at us. Even my old colony had better manners than these savages."

"Talons! Break time is over! Get to the medbay!"

It was Natron again and he looked more serious than normal. He didn't even bother listening to their reply, he just barged to the medbay. SN shook Zar awake, and he grumpily followed them to the medbay.

When they arrived, they immediately saw what the fuss was about. On a table in an operating booth, several doctors in green medical garments were performing surgery on a massive Yucari, who looked like he had been caught in an explosion. "Have the bacta patches arrived yet?!" demanded one doctor.

A burly Aqualish barged past them with a box and offered it to them. They took several patches out and pressed them against the Yucari's injuries. The patches were quickly stained a yellow green from the Yucari's blood. "Bounty hunters!" barked another doctor. "Make yourselves useful and hold and pass us our tools when we tell you to!"

The trio mentally grimaced at each other but did as they were told. SN was sorely tempted to tell them that he could do a better job as the Talon medic, but kept silent as he held and passed them their tools. "Okay," sighed the lead doctor, who was a Yucari himself. "He's stable for now, so we can take a few minutes to get our breath back. In the meantime, someone will have to watch over him and make sure the wounds don't reopen. Any volunteers?"

Bariq caught SN's eye and subtly jerked his head at the Yucari. SN stepped forward. "I think I can be of assistance," said SN in what he hoped was a winning tone. "I serve as the medic on the Shyyyo Talon."

The doctors seemed too tired to suspect anything. Instead, they gave him instructions on how to handle the injuries, what not to do, and to make sure his comrades didn't get any blood in their eyes or mouths. They closed the booth's curtains and walked off to talk with Natron. "So why did you volunteer?" asked Zar with a stifled yawn. "Aren't you the selfish cynical sort?"

SN ignored him and addressed the Yucari. "Sir? Can you hear me?"

The Yucari's yellow eyes opened up slightly, full of weariness and pain, but still had some strength left in them even in his current state. "Yes," he muttered weakly.

"Are these injuries from the Imperial invaders?"

The Yucari's eyes narrowed in anger and hatred. He barely managed a nod. "We need your help," SN continued. "We believe we know what the Imperials are after. If you can help us with these, we can make sure all of the time and effort the Imps have put into their project get turned to ash."

Bariq shuffled forward and gave SN the fangs. The Yucari's eyes widened in shock. "How did you find those?"

"Long story," SN replied. "Can you translate them?"

The Yucari eyed them carefully before he spoke. "I can…but you must swear to me…the Imperials have no idea of the dangers…that await them. You must…destroy what they seek…before it's too late…"

"We swear," the trio said instantly.

But the Yucari looked unconvinced. SN supposed he couldn't blame him. "Swear it…on something…serious."

Zar walked up to the Yucari. "What's your name, sir?"

"Kebro."

"Kebro, I swear on my lost homeworld, Scarif, that we'll keep our promise."

Kebro's eyes suddenly filled with realization and sympathy. "Very well," he said softly. "Child of Scarif…show me the fangs…and I will tell you…where they must be…returned…"

Dendro slowly chewed on a snack as their group snuck towards the excavation site. A group of temples towered over them, along with an Imperial wall encircling the entire site, and several lights sweeping across the area. The occasional Stormtrooper passed over the main entrance, but thanks to the foliage and dark night, they hadn't spotted them. Nailah motioned the group to gather around her. Besides the Talons, there were several other Rebels, including a few humans, Kashvi, a Rodian, an Ithorian, and a Nikto. "Getting in is not going to be easy," Nailah started.

"Are there sensors on this wall too?" Ru asked, as he leaned against a tree outside of the huddled group.

She shook her head. "Thankfully, no. Yuca has so many creatures that if they did, the alarms would constantly be going off."

Ru nodded and shared a small grin with Dendro. "Have we got any contacts inside the site?" asked Kashvi.

"Not even that," sighed Nailah. "We're going to have to try and get in the old fashioned way; climb right over, and hope no one spots us."

Dendro fought hard to keep his grin from getting bigger and Tor started to subtly chew his lip. Dendro wondered when the noble crusaders would notice what was going on. "And what if they do?" grunted the Nikto. "Or even worse, they call in walkers or air support?"

Nailah's brow furrowed in thought. "I'll try and see if they've managed to sneak in any new fighters yet. Don't hold your breath though." She brought out her commlink. "Major Vuis, this is Captain Nailah. We're about to hit the site, but before we do, any chance of air support in case things go bad?"

There was a pause. "Sorry, Captain," said the Major's voice. "It's been a mess at the base, we barely managed to save one of the Yucaris' best fighters. I'm afraid no new starfighters have been able to get past—"

There was a beeping sound on the other end and it clicked off. Nailah groaned at the same time Tor let a low one out. Thankfully, she didn't notice. "Belay that," said Vuis's voice, and he sounded in high spirits. "Our favorite scoundrels have just snuck a few ships past Imperial lines. If things get heated, Rogue Squadron is on the way."

The Rebels looked like they had already liberated Yuca; all of them, including Nailah, looked ecstatic. Dendro glanced at Tor, who shook his head. That name didn't mean anything to him either. "Understood," said Nailah gleefully, and she put the comm away. "Now that the cavalry is here—"

Dendro and Tor both let out a strangled gasp and looked away for a moment. The Rebels drew their weapons and looked around, but there was nobody there. Then the duo breathed a sigh of relief; that was a very close call. "What was that for?" hissed Nailah.

Dendro let his grin unfurl and pointed at the wall. The Rebels turned there gaze their and every jaw dropped. Ru was scaling the wall with his gauntlets, darting behind bulges and crevices every time an Imp walked towards his position. "What the hell is he doing?!" seethed the Twi'lek. "Get him down from there before—"

And that was when Ru reached the top and flipped over onto the balcony. He darted towards the control station over the gate. "We have to go help him!" Kashvi insisted. "There's got to be at least half a dozen Imps in there!"

"Well," snarked the Rodian, "at least they'll do Nailah's job for her."

"You Talons have some nerve!" Nailah ranted at Dendro. "If by some miracle he escapes there, from now on, you idiots will do exactly what I—!"

Dendro pointed at the station. A green light blinked in one of the windows and the gate opened just a crack. "We need to get up there now," said Nailah, and she charged off, with the team right behind her. "If someone checks in…"

Dendro's grin faded. Ok, they hadn't thought of that one. They slipped through the gate, and thankfully, a lift around the corner took them right up into the control station. Ru was seated by the controls in front of the windows, and he grinned as they saw his handiwork. Several Imps were dead or unconscious on the floor. Nailah stormed over and was about to let loose when a button started beeping on the console. She motioned everyone to shut up and flicked it on. "This is Command," said a bored male voice. "Any signs of Rebels…animals…or anything else out there worth shooting at?"

"Nothing to report," said Nailah in an awful impression of an Imperial Officer. Dendro and Ru shared a gleeful glance and silently bumped fists. "The site remains secure."

The voice grunted an affirmative and signed off. Nailah heaved a huge sigh and sank into a chair. "That was awful," Dendro laughed. "I've seen Imperial holodramas with better acting."

Before she could snap at him, the door to the balcony opened, and a Stormtrooper stepped in. He had just enough time to lift his rifle before the Ithorian rammed him with his shoulder into the wall. "And that," snarled Nailah, "is why you won't do anything from now on unless I say so. Got it?!"

The Talons meekly nodded. "I've got the layout for the site," said the Nikto, who was standing over one of the consoles. "There's a fuel depot near the central temple. If that thing blows, they'll see it all the way from Onderon."

"But what about the slaves and workers?" spoke up one of the humans, a redhaired female. "We can't blow this place until we get them out of this dump."

Nailah nodded. "She's right. Kashvi and Mokar will find their barracks and get them out of here. Churu, see if you can tap into surveillance, you'll be our eyes and ears. The rest of you, you're going to blow up a fuel depot with me."

Brogan stared glumly at his console. Things had gotten out of hand so quickly. Thankfully he was able to get around letting the Talons in, thanks to some fake evidence mixed with real evidence to get rid of one of his rivals, but Vader's new demands were ridiculous. Two weeks to find what the Emperor wanted or they'd be sent on a wild mynock chase for the Rebels in the Outer Rim. He started to wonder how in the galaxy anyone could expect such results, but stopped when he remembered it was that mystical megalomaniac expecting them. "You seem bored, Lieutenant. Maybe I can send you out on the front lines? You'll find plenty of excitement out there."

Brogan glanced up. It was Commander Anvil, who stared sternly at him. While Brogan didn't want to get on the Clone's bad side, he wasn't terrified of him either. "No, sir," said Brogan politely. "I was just thinking of how we're going to meet the new deadline for Project Uraeus."

Anvil reluctantly nodded. "Yes, Lord Vader…has never been one for patience. But it seems the Emperor is in agreement with him on this, so not much we can do. Still, take it from me, Lieutenant, Umbara makes Yuca look like Scarif…before Governor Tarkin used the Death Star on it anyway."

Despite himself, Brogan was curious. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw several other officers glance up trying to listen to Anvil. "How? Not saying that it isn't, of course, but I can't imagine too many places that make Yuca seem tame."

Anvil had an odd look on his face. Resentment, perhaps? "Well, you're not entirely wrong. Umbara probably should have been won much sooner, and we wouldn't have had to spend so long dodging Umbaran missiles, or trying not to tread on Vixus'. But because of that toad…"

The sound of heavy steps foretold the Moff's arrival. "Don't waste your time thinking of that fool," grunted Locus. "Believe me, I should know. As you said, all that matters right now is the Emperor's demands."

The console next to Brogan had a half asleep officer stationed there and he spoke into the comm there. "This is Command. "Any signs of Rebels…animals…or anything else out there worth shooting at?"

"Nothing to report," said a female voice. "The site remains secure."

The officer had just turned the comm off when it hit Brogan. "Wait," he said suddenly. "I got relieved down there an hour ago. Scovill took over. That definitely wasn't his voice."

Anvil looked alarmed, while Locus seemed thoughtful. "Call them up again!" snapped Anvil.

"Belay that," said Locus, his massive robotic arms crossed. "Pull up surveillance for any areas around the control station."

They all looked confused, but the officer did as he was asked. A minute or two passed, and then several people, a mix of humans and aliens, darted to and from any hiding place they could find in the site. Anvil gave Locus a concerned look. "You're not planning on losing this site to these Rebels are you?"

Locus laughed, a horrible wheezing, squelchy sound. "Trust me, old friend, we won't lose this site. At best they'll slow down progress here. We'll still send some troops down, never fear. If they capture them, excellent, but it may be in our best interest to let them have their small victory here. Tell that underling of yours to prepare his new droid. It's time to see if his boasts about it have some merit."

Dendro peered around the corner. Luckily a pair of Stormtroopers were well on their way to the control tower near the back of the site. They were all clear. He waved a hand, and the Talons, Nailah, and the other Rebels hurried from their hiding spots to join him. Dead ahead was the central temple and the fuel depot. "No sign of any guards or workers there," said Ru as he scanned the area with his new goggles. "So, Talons and Rebels: ready to make some noise?"

"First we set up a perimeter," said Nailah, and pointed to the humans. "You guys, let us know if any Imps show up, just in case Churu doesn't notice them." She pointed at the Niktos. "Ceras, you set the depot to blow. The Talons and I will cover you."

They all hurried to their assigned spots. Dendro grimaced as they arrived at the depot, a mass of pipes, tanks, and hissing and steaming sounds. This was why he never wanted to be an industrial worker; he could handle almost any foe with his cannons, but never felt comfortable in such creepy places like this. "Alright," muttered the Niktos as he typed instructions into the control computer. "Almost done. These Imps are getting sloppy. The security, physical and digital, is pitiful—"

"What in the Great Tide is that?!" whispered Tor in shock and disgust.

Dendro and the others whipped around, but there was no one there…and then they saw what Tor was looking at.

The temple was made out a mixture of different metals and the same strange black stone that the snake statue had been made of. There were no windows, only a pair of doors…and right where the doors met, were a pair of skeletons coated in some strange material. They both held the end of one door in a clawed hand, and their empty faces focused on any approaching visitor, with a jaw full of fangs opened in a menacing snarl. To make things even darker, a massive skull of some sort of beast mounted the top of the doors, its maw full of even bigger teeth also open, as if eager to scoop up any visitors in its gaping jaws. "Don't tell me the Yucari made these temples," said Dendro with a shudder. "They don't seem like the type to make something that creepy."

"They didn't," replied Nailah, who looked equally unsettled. "They told us these temples were made by an evil group thousands of years ago, who came to Yuca seeking power."

"Do me a favor," Dendro told her. "Get Ceras to make sure the Imps can't stop the depot blowing. The sooner it blows up, the sooner this thing stops staining the face of the planet."

Nailah nodded, in agreement with him for a change. "All set," said Ceras. "We can blow the depot remotely once we get out of the blast radius—"

The sound of a blaster bolt interrupted him. One of the humans fell dead, and several more bolts took out the other humans. Several figures detached themselves from the shadows. Black armored figures. "Take cover!" shouted Nailah.

They retreated further into the fuel depot, the troopers bolts barely missing them. "Churu, they know we're here!" Nailah said into her commlink, while the rest of them turned on their own comms to listen in. "Status report!"

"Kashvi and Mokar are still fine," said Churu steadily. "The last of the slaves are almost out. More troopers are moving in on your position…wait, something strange is going on. Some Imps are setting up explosives in a research area near the tower. It looks like they don't want to risk us finding whatever is in there."

The Twi'lek swore. "Then we have to find out what's in there."

"That's not all. Locus and the other Imps are taking off in shuttles and TIEs. Not sure why…" There was a pause. "Now we're really in trouble, TIE Bombers are en route! I'm going to see how far away Rogue Squadron is; if they don't make it in time, we're all dead!"

"You heard the Rodian!" Nailah shouted as she shot a pursuing Death Trooper. He faltered only a moment, then resumed firing at them. "We have to get to that research facility!"

Thankfully they soon got out of the depot and ran towards the tower. Dendro turned around and started blasting. The troopers quickly but professionally dodged the blasts. As one aimed at Dendro, Nailah shot him in the helmet, and this time he stayed down. But their small victory was short lived as they heard the telltale screech of TIEs. And thanks to the night, it was virtually impossible to tell where they were.

"Find cover!" Nailah ordered. "Find—!"

Several explosions in the sky lit up the dark sky. A squad of X-Wings soared past them, their red engines cutting through the darkness like shooting stars. The Rebels and Talons cheered their rescuers on, and Dendro felt himself grin. "Sorry we're late!" said a new voice over the comm. "Our professional smuggler had some trouble convincing the blockade to let us through. Amazingly, they had their doubts that we were transporting spare parts to Yuca."

"Not a problem, Rogue Leader!" replied Nailah, who looked happier than Dendro had ever seen her.

Their thanks were cut short by green lasers firing after the X-Wings. More TIE Fighters. "Do me a favor, Nailah," said the voice. Now that Dendro thought about it, the voice sounded really young for a Rebel leader. "Try not to get blown up down there, I promised Kashvi we'd have a rematch after this mission."

"Try and do us a favor!" interrupted Dendro, as he laid more fire on the troopers, and finally took some more of them out. "Less talking, more shooting!"

"Who's that? New recruit?"

"Unfortunately, no," said Nailah through gritted teeth. "I'll tell you later, good luck Rogue Squadron!"

Not long later, they reached the facility, still dodging lasers from the Death Troopers. Ceras opened the door, but lasers shot out from inside the small building. "There's still troopers in there!" he snarled. "Dendro, make yourself useful and—!"

Ru dashed past him into the facility. As Dendro reached the door, he saw the Stormtroopers inside trying to blast him without success as he weaved past all of the tables, using them as cover. They noticed Dendro too late and he cut them down in seconds with his cannons. He and the others burst in, and Nailah and Ceras closed the door immediately, and began to weld it shut. "This won't hold them for long," Nailah grunted. "We're going to have to make a stand here—"

Dendro wasn't listening. He was too busy staring at the thermal detonators sticking to all of the computer consoles, beeping ominously. A true professional, Tor was already working on deactivating them with one of his handy tools. "Here!" he exclaimed, and threw some to Dendro and Ru. "We'll have to work fast, do exactly as I tell you, or we're all be cooked to a crisp!"

Dendro listened intently to Tor's instructions and made some slices exactly where Tor said to make them. It quickly became a blur of silver, red, and blue no thanks to the detonators and computer screens. More than once he stopped himself from making the wrong cut. Dendro groaned; this job had better be pay off well, because he felt like he would need to visit a medical center after all of this stress.

Finally, Tor defused the last one, just as the door exploded. A Death Trooper came in, gun at the ready, but Tor was right next to him thanks the last computer's position. He grabbed his rocket launcher and bashed it on the trooper's helmet. Bits of armor flew everywhere as he collapsed. The remaining troopers wisely stayed outside, but Dendro had had enough, and charged out with Ru. They hurriedly dodged his cannon's blasts, but didn't notice Ru until it was too late, and he used both his kukri and lightsaber to cut them down.

Dendro took a brief look around. The coast was clear. He sighed and motioned for Ru to follow him back in. Ceras was muttering in front of a computer; the Niktos began to look more shocked and repulsed the more he read the monitor, as did Nailah. But then Dendro noticed what were on the tables.

Mummified bodies. They were in much better condition than the ones on the door, but they still bore a striking resemblance to them, with claws and sharp fangs. "Find out what the Empire wanted with these things?" asked Dendro. "Never known the Empire to be interested in the dead before, usually they're too busy stealing from them."

"As far as I can tell," replied Ceras, "only researching. Perhaps looking to see if any of them had clues for whatever they're looking for. But what's really bizarre…these things have Yucabra DNA."

Dendro stared at the one in front of him. "These things are Yucabras?" grunted Ru in disgust as he trumped over, and callously lifted the corpse's arm. "Don't look like any Yucabras we've seen before."

"They're probably not pure Yucabras," said Nailah, who looked shaken. "If these results are accurate…these beings were mutated. It looks like someone was performing genetic experiments on Yuca thousands of years ago."

Ru hastily dropped it, as if worried he'd be mutated too. Ceras continued, "Nothing else on them, but according to the files, these temples are full of kyber crystals and other artifacts. It doesn't sound like they've found whatever they were looking for."

"Doesn't mean we'll let the Imps have this site," said Nailah with a grim smile. "Let's get the others and get out of here."

They had just walked outside when the comms went off again. As soon as they answered, Kashvi yelled, "Nailah, get over here! Snipers have us pinned down, Mokar has been hit!"

Nailah didn't even bother with a reply, she just ran, with a terrified look on her face. They ran after her, but Dendro felt slightly uncomfortable. She looked like his parents and grandparents did whenever they were worried over him and the others. Despite his ill feelings towards the vicious Twi'lek, he'd do his best to make sure the Togruta didn't die on this mission too.

They quickly arrived at Kashvi's position. Scout Troopers were perched along the wall, taking potshots at them. Kashvi and the other released slaves were hidden behind various mining vehicles and equipment, Mokar the Ithorian was sitting next to her, bleeding. Nailah charged between cover spots to avoid the snipers, and she knelt in front of Mokar. "Mokar," she whispered soothingly. "Mokar, stay with me, we'll get you back to base soon!"

Mokar replied weakly in his native language. Nailah cursed. "I'm sorry, I don't speak your language. Does anyone here speak Ithorese?"

"He said he'll hold on," Dendro told her, as he took a shot at the snipers, who dodged it. "But he's not doing any more stealth missions after this disaster."

She stared at him, an unconvinced look in her eye. "I had to learn a lot of languages back at home," Dendro went on with a shrug. "As the eldest child, I had to take on many duties to get us through the hard times." He cursed as a sniper shot scored one of his cannons. "Tor, can you do anything about those snipers?! I'm not having any luck here!"

The Karkarodon was one step ahead of him. He and Ru were heaving fuel containers onto a hovercart; thankfully the vehicles and equipment shielded them from the snipers. Tor put a few more of his own personal explosives onboard, and then he ordered, "Cover us! That wall is about to come crumbling down!"

Dendro and the others let out some more blasts against the snipers, Tor even managed to fire one of his missiles too, and the snipers leapt out of the way as the bolts flew past, and the missile took out a good chunk of their cover. Too little too late, they noticed Ru as he pushed the cart at the wall. Tor pushed his detonator with obvious pleasure.

The explosion didn't just tear down a huge part of the wall, it rattled the vehicles and equipment they hid behind. As they waved away the smoke, Nailah tapped a control on her wrist. A minute or two later, their speeders arrived on autopilot. "First," she ordered, "we're getting Churu and our fallen comrades. Then we're going to make sure Locus can't steal anything else from this site!"