Just as the girl had predicted, the storm dissipated roughly three hours later. The skies were still dark and there was lightning higher up in the atmosphere, but otherwise the landscape outside of the downed freighter seemed stable. She showed back up near the bridge with a pack slung over one shoulder and a patchwork hooded coat now worn over her jumpsuit. Additionally, she had acquired an ancient looking blaster rifle, fastened in an easy release holster now strapped to her back.

He knew the model only vaguely. It had been old even during the Clone Wars. A terrible short range weapon, it was, however, rather formidable at medium and long range. He did not wonder if she knew how to use it. He had a feeling she would not be bringing it if she didn't.

The wind was still strong when she pulled open a side hatch leading into a broken airlock. It howled across the opening. There was a short drop to the ground outside, no more than a meter. The girl went first, dropping down with an ease that could only come from something repeated on a daily basis. The wind pulled at his cape as he followed, though he paid it little mind. The temperature readings on his helm's HUD showed that it was only fifteen degrees above freezing. The girl made no comment concerning the cold, her only acknowledgement of the temperature to adjust the hood of her coat.

She set off, following the outer rim of the crash site towards the front end of the ship. He trailed behind her without a word. As they rounded the nose of the freighter, he could see just how fortuitous of a landing the ship had made. The hull was pulled up in places where it had skidded along the ground but otherwise the rest was intact, making an efficient cap to the ravine below. It was evident in the way the paint had been worn that the ship had been sitting there for years.

If the girl seemed distraught about their departure from the apparent safety of the crash site, she hid it well. That she had moved so quickly to gather her things to leave had him doubting her as having any attachment to the place. She had wanted to leave for a while, it seemed, and had simply been waiting for the opportunity to do so.

As they left the ship behind, they passed by what looked to be makeshift cairns. The rocks were stacked haphazardly but with a definite purpose. He counted eight in total and spotted a number of items tucked in and around the stones themselves, distinguishing them from each other.

The girl only gave them a glance and did not stop.

He kept silent.

The dark clouds that masked the sky made distance sight difficult, so the mountain she had described did not appear on the horizon until it was nearly full dark. Even then it was a smudge, a dark grey spire against a slightly lighter backdrop. They had been walking for several hours by then, stopping only twice in that time. It was highly evident that the girl knew the landscape as well as her limits. The pace she had set was quick but measured, as if she had gone this route a thousand times before. The two stops she had made were for food and water.

Each time, she had offered him a nutrient bar and her canteen.

Each time, he declined them.

As night fell they reached an area of jagged rocks and crags. The path dipped down into a crevice beneath between two large boulders, narrow at first but widening into a deep dim alcove. Stacked within were some supply boxes and what looked to be two worn bedrolls wrapped with a thermal blanket.

"Night gets cold," the girl explained, unslinging her rifle and pack. She set them aside and opened up one of the boxes, revealing a portable heater. "Very cold."

He watched for a moment as she began to set it up, before moving to the alcove entrance. The temperature was already dropping far faster than he had expected. His suit allowed for operation in sub-zero temperatures, but it did have its limits. Traveling in the dark, though feasible, would present more hazards than it was worth at the moment. He would make better time on a known path than attempting to forge one on his own.

Behind him he heard the faint hum of the heater powering up and the sounds of more rummaging as the girl set up camp. When he glanced back he saw her flattening out the bedrolls. Atop the boxes was set her canteen and two more nutrient bars.

He would wait.


The second day progressed much like the first, save much of their travel occurred along the bottom of a narrow canyon. The mountain was no longer in sight, blocked from view by the rocks and crags above them, but the path went roughly in that direction. It widened out as what passed for daylight there started to fade. The trail, however, went up along the right hand cliff face, transforming into a narrow sloping ledge.

In places it had crumbled away. The girl crossed these gaps with what seemed to be a practiced ease despite the ever growing height. She didn't hesitate even at the widest of of the breaks. He did not falter either, using the Force to maintain his balance in places where the ledge narrowed too sharply.

Near the top of the canyon was a crack in the wall just barely big enough for him to squeeze through. It dipped into the rock, expanding into a cavernous passageway that continued on and on into the dark.

Here the girl paused, taking a moment to dig through her pack. She soon extracted a small lamp, lighting it and adjusting the output before continuing on.

The cave was mostly level, though it did at one point break into a series of uneven stair-like ledges leading downwards. Just past the bottom of these, several distinct corridors branched off from the main chamber, none of which appeared to be marked. The girl led the way down the third opening without so much as glance towards the others. It narrowed several meters in, barely wider than his shoulders - straight for nearly a kilometer before turning sharply to the left and widening out again.

There was another little campsite in this last chamber, with much the same contents as the last. The girl set her lamp down atop one of the boxes and began unpacking another heater as she had the night before. After the heater was powered up, she went back to one of the boxes and pulled out a roll of flimsy.

Closing the box, she flattened out the roll, using her lamp to weigh down one of the edges and a nutrient bar for the opposite corner. He moved to look, taking in the markings across the surface of the flimsy. It was a map - incomplete and somewhat worn at the edges, but a map none the less.

"The mountain?"

She nodded, studying it for a moment.

"There's...ways in. Not easy," she explained, tapping a spot which seemed to indicate a main door. "Big door there. Cameras watching, but…"

She moved her finger to another point a scant few centimeters away, the label barely legible - air vent.

"...here. Can get in. But...small. Tight fit."

The girl glanced up at him, expression one of uncertainty. He ignored her for the moment, looking over the map and its various markings. It appeared as if the main entrance on this side led into a storage warehouse, with a corridor and a catwalk within. On one side of the corridor was a small room, its label drawing his interest - computers.

He tapped it.

"That?" she asked, peering at it. "Not...sure what for."

"Can it be reached through the vents?"

"Yes."

"Then you will do so. Disable everything."

She didn't argue or ask what he was planning on doing either. She just stared at him a moment before nodding and rolling up the map.