Chapter 6

"I thought you said you had a map."

"This is map."

Tech adjusted his goggles, sighing. The piece of parchment in his hands, was indeed, a map. But who the Force used paper charts anymore?!

Anaria rolled her eyes, pulling out a data pad and taking the paper from Tech. She scanned it, clicked a few buttons, and a digital version of the map appeared on the pad's screen. "Here." She tossed the device over to him. "Better? As I show you the way, and you can take scans of the surrounding terrain and create a 3D model. If we can get close enough, you might even be able to scan the base. Will that be sufficient?" She raised an eyebrow at him, folding her arms smugly, and Tech's face turned a little red.

"Very. Thank you… I could have done that transfer myself, you know."

Anaria smiled, pulling on a hooded black jacket and gloves. "Alright then, I'll leave the tech stuff to you then, Tech." She winked, picking up Keraa, and motioning to Nikau to open the front door. The three of them headed outside, followed by the clones, and Anaria handed Keraa to Nikau, who took her with a frown. "Head over to Mrs. Omari's. I'll be back in a few hours."

The two kids made their way down the street, while Anaria turned to the Batch. "Ready?"

Hunter folded his arms. "Before anything else- we need to know what our options are for scouting out the base. Where can you see it from that's hidden?"

Anaria scratched her head, eyes flitting back and forth as she thought about the question. "Alright. There's two ways we can do this. We can make our way over to the base and try and get as close as we can, or we can head up the mountain and get more of an overview of the area. Which would be better?"

Hunter looked down the street towards the valley and then up at the mountain. "How far did you say the base was from here?"

"From the town- about five clicks south. From the cliff where I would take you, more like eight. The base is pretty hidden by the forest that comes down the mountain behind the village- there are very few places you can see it from aside from the south side of the forest and in the open valley."

"They probably have security sensors around the perimeter of the forest, and a scout for the valley." Tech stated, looking at the map Anaria had downloaded for him. "The cliff would probably be the best option."

Anaria put her hands on her hips. "The only problem with that is, that's eight clicks away… you're not going to be able to see enough of the base- it's too far off…"

Crosshair chuckled darkly, and everyone turned to look at him, a smile on each one of the clone's faces. "Just leave that to me."

Anaria looked confused but nodded all the same. "Alright then, mountain it is."

She led them out of town via a trail heading north, walking along the base of the mountain. The rising sun hadn't yet peaked over the elevation, and the path they walked was in shadow and overgrown in some places, but clear indications of a once well-traveled trail were visible in certain areas.

"A long time ago, there used to be a mine towards the north side of the mountain, which is was this route leads to if you don't start heading northwest like we will soon. The mountain seemed to have a large enough deposit of metals, but the mine collapsed at one point, and since Bakura has such a large mining operation, this one was never reopened. Timora is really insignificant in comparison to the surrounding planets."

Anaria walked briskly down the trail, jumping over a couple roots and at some points, walking backwards as she talked to the Batch. "It's why Vandrick and his men are able to get away with everything- we're at the edge of the galaxy, no one really cares what goes on over here. As it is, the largest city on Timora is on the other side of the planet, and they don't care what goes on over here either. We're basically in the middle of nowhere out here… It's actually really nice sometimes, if you don't count the pirates."

"I can imagine." Hunter kept pace with her, with Tech close behind, scanning the area and asking questions about the Timora.

"I heard your main export is Sunpetals. You mentioned that they grow on the other side of the planet?"

Anaria nodded. "Yes. The climate is too cold up here for them to grow. Which is a shame, because they're beautiful."

"Do they have a practical purpose?"

Anaria shook her head. "Actually, none that I'm aware. But since they're supposedly one of the most beautiful flowers in the galaxy and they only grow here, they're considered a perfect gift due to their rarity and nature."

Crosshair raised an eyebrow. "What makes them so special?"

Anaria smiled, walking backwards so she could face them as she spoke, waving her hands around as she described the flower. "I heard that under the right conditions, when the sun hits the flowers just right, it looks as though the petals are glowing! Hence the name. Normally, it's just a simple white flower, but when it's 'glowing,' it's a golden hue!" Anaria turned back around, skipping a little. "I've always wanted to see one."

Tech made a face. "You live on this planet, and yet you've never seen one?"

"No. I've never really left this area before. I came to the village with my father when I was ten. We used to live on Coruscant, oddly enough, but things were hard there, and it wasn't safe. So, we saved all our credits and came to live here, as far away from everything as we could. We had a small farm at the edge of town and made a living off of that. I loved the change at first, but after a while, I began to hate the fact that there were so few people, and I never got to experience anything new. So, I started exploring the mountain in my free time, just to give myself something to do. It's why I know the area so well."

Hunter swung his vibroblade, slicing easily through a tree branch sticking out across the path. "So… where's your dad now?"

Anaria sighed sadly. "Died in his sleep one night… He had worked in the lower levels of Coruscant his whole life, and it took a serious tole on his health. I was about fourteen at the time, and I went to go live with Mrs. Omari, an older woman down the street. She's very friendly, if a little strange. She's almost like a village elder, but not quite? Sounds weird, I know. But she's like a grandmother to everyone here." She paused, turning to face Tech. "Sorry, I went off on a bit of a tangent. The flowers- I take it you've never seen them either?"

Tech shook his head. "No. I'd like to though; they sound absolutely fascinating! The fauna on this planet is actually quite fantastic! I've seen several medicinal herbs up in the mountain, and a wide variety of lesser plants down here as well."

Anaria nodded. "If you're interested, the doctor in town has a whole collection of medicinal herbs, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to give you some samples and tell you about them."

Tech's eyes brightened, and he looked over at Hunter, who smiled. "If we have time, we'll stop by." A small grin tugged on the corners of Tech's mouth, and he continued scanning, a slight spring in his step as he walked along the path.

Anaria stopped at one point in the trail, taking a little footpath that led up into the mountain. The path was fairly steep, continuing northwest and upwards towards a very very tall cliff, probably the same altitude as the clearing the Batch had landed in the previous evening. It took a long time, but they finally reached the top, each of the clones breathing heavily, despite their being trained for such conditions.

Anaria sat down as soon as they reached the top, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Damn, I'm outa shape! I haven't climbed this mountain in almost two years, and it's way harder than I remember!" She gasped for air, holding her side as she rose and walked to the edge of the cliff. Up here, Hunter realized for the first time that the mountain range was a bit of a crescent shape, with their location being at the north end. The sun shone warmly on this part of the mountain, though the rock they stood on was still cold from the night rain, and a chilling wind blew sharply all around.

Crosshair walked over to Anaria, looking as she pointed south. "There. You can't see it from any other part of the mountain because of the trees, but the base is right there." In the distance, a large metal structure lay hidden amongst large pines. Crosshair took out his Firepuncher, aiming it at the base and adjusting the scope. Anaria stood on his left, her jaw dropping as Crosshair confirmed a clear visual.

"I've got eyes on the front entrance."

"There's no way you can see that far."

Crosshair smirked beneath his helmet. "I can see everything quite easily." He made a sound of disgust. "Too easily. Force, pull up your pants!" Anaria made a face and Wrecker laughed, while Crosshair pulled his eyes away from the scope with a curse. He lay down on his stomach, taking out his stand and positioning the Firepuncher so it was steady and aimed at the base once again. He scanned the area before locating the front entrance.

"Can you see the Marauder, Cross?" Hunter took out his binoculars, scanning the forest and valley surrounding the pirates' headquarters.

The sniper nodded. "I've got it… on the far side of the landing platform at the front of the building."

"Guards?"

"None, but that doesn't mean there won't be later."

"Entry points?"

"Aside from the front door, there's a back bay and a vent on the north side about twelve feet up."

"If there are proximity sensors, you're not gonna be able to get in any way except the front," Anaria pointed out, placing her hands on her hips.

Crosshair shrugged, looking up at Hunter. "There's no security to speak of. We could probably walk right through the front doors, take our ship, and leave before they knew what hit them."

"Aw, yeah!" Wrecker pumped a fist, practically dancing in place. "That's a great plan, let's do it!"

Hunter shook his head. "Hold up, Wrecker. We need to do this stealthily. Our best bet is to sneak past the guards from the direction of the valley after dark. If we hug the tree line, we should be-"

"Something is going on." Crosshair had looked back through his scope, where he caught site of several speeders taking off.

He described what he saw to Hunter, and Anaria went rigid. "Oh no… Crosshair, which way are they headed?"

"They're making their way around the forest's perimeter."

Anaria cursed, dashing past Wrecker and Tech, practically sliding down the mountainside.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Hunter scrambled after her, the others close behind. He caught up to Anaria, grabbing her arm. "Slow down! What's wrong?!"

Anaria's eyes were wild, and Hunter felt her tremble slightly. "If they're not headed into the valley, then they're headed for the village! I thought I was fine, heading up here, because they had come not long ago, but now…!" She jerked free from Hunter's grasp, continuing down the path. "I have to get back!"

The Batch chased after her, Wrecker slipping at one point and almost knocking them all over like a bunch of bowling pins.

"Anaria," Hunter shouted, "we're not going to get there before them! Besides, what are you going to be able to do against them that the people in the village can't do themselves?"

"You don't understand, the kids, they're my responsibility! The children in the village, when the pirates come through, it's my job to take care of them, to hide them! I have to- augh, I'm an idiot, why did I do this?!"

She ran full tripping tilt down the trail, reaching the base of the mountain in less than half the time it had taken them to climb it, before pelting down the main path towards the village, fueled by pure adrenaline. The others kept pace with her, as she struggled to explain.

"No one in the village stands up for themselves! They're all a bunch of old folks that don't want trouble, or widows that have seen what happens to people who fight the pirates firsthand. They let the pirates take what they want and leave. I'm the only one that's willing to fight against them, if need be, so I stay with the kids."

"Why?" Wrecker panted. "Why not just charge 'em and get rid of 'em."

"Because, the last time someone did that, they were murdered, and as punishment for their defiance, Vandrick had one of his goons kill the one of the woman's children. He said if anyone ever denied him what was 'his', he'd take something precious from us. So, since then, we've let them do what they want, and we hide the children, just in case. But there's one kid that won't listen to anyone but me- he won't hide! He'll try taking out all the pirates on his own, and he'll die in the process!"

Anaria almost tripped on a root, but she caught herself at the last second, Hunter directly beside her.

"Who?" he asked.

"Nikau!"

Wrecker frowned. "What?! Why? Why wouldn't he just hide with the others?"

Anaria scowled, her brow creased with worry. "Because, the woman that fought against Vandrick, the one he killed… it was Nikau's mother."