Galactic date: 13 December, 2 BBY

Location: Kadavo

Three armoured figures descended towards the Zygerrian weapons factory. They just jumped out of a freighter orbiting Kadavo minutes earlier. "4000 feet." Said Hera through the comms. The crew soon broke through the clouds and saw the factory below them. "That's not what it looked like when I first came here." Said Rex.

"You've been here before?" Yelled Zeb. He was having a hard time trying to hear what his teammates were trying to say, and the noise of the wind was not helping. "Yeah, during the Clone Wars. Wasn't exactly a pleasant trip though. I was captured, had to work in the factory just to save my ass. We destroyed it in the end." Replied Rex.

"3500 feet."

The crew checked their rocket packs. They'll need it to slow down their descend. "I though this place was filled with volcanoes! How did they manage to build factories there?" Yelled Zeb.

"That was history Zeb. Guess nature decided to cool off for a while. Doesn't affect our mission." Answered Kanan. "3000 feet." "I thought you never liked assassination missions Kanan. Last year, you had to choose not to end the Mando that almost killed your wife!" Said Zeb.

"Well, at least it paid off now. No extra enemies to deal with." Replied Kanan. "2500 feet. Prep rocket packs." Ordered Hera. The crew ignited a few short bursts to decelerate. They eventually landed near the east end of the factory.

"Alright. There should be a group of cannon towers 100 yards directly ahead of you. That's where the King's ship will land. Get there." Said Hera. The crew jumped up the wall with a little boost from their rocket packs. Kanan grabbed his binoculars and scanned the landing platform.

"Five AA cannons, three guards...regular duty." Whispered Kanan. Rex flipped down his visor and magnified on the cannon towers. "Those guns are ray-shielded. Disruptors are useless." Said Rex. "We'll have to take them out in the old fashioned way."

"Stay focused. Here comes the ship." Kanan said as a Delta S-9 freighter landed on the platform, blowing fumes and smoke towards the crew. "Karabast. No clear shot. My optics are covered in the smoke. Rex, you got anything?" Asked Kanan. "Nothing. My visors are scrambled. But I still have audio recording. Switch to thermal sight. It'll help you see through the smoke." Answered Rex. He toggled his visor with his datapad attached on his arm and recorded the dialogue between the keeper and the king without missing a beat.

"...can assure you, those rebels would never touch this place." A Zygerrian said. He was the keeper of the factory. "Indeed. Not only am I aware of their naive infiltration, but I can also end their lives, with the voice of a simple few words." Rex was confused. How the heck did those scumbags know anything about our visit? Must've got a mole to do something like this.

Kanan stood up, filled with confusion in his mind. "Get off! Now!" He ordered. They had no time to spare. Everyone jumped off their vantage point just before a streak of yellow explosive rounds hurtled towards their previous spot, igniting a ball of flames and smoke right above their heads. They landed on the platform and was confronted by several Zygerrian guards.

The crew and the Zygerrians drew their weapons. Kanan and Zeb deflected the whips flying towards them while Rex sprinted to the control panel to open the blast doors and get inside the facility. "Better keep them off my back general!" Yelled Rex. Kanan leaped towards a guard and cut him down. The rest of the Zygerrians tried to subdue the jedi with their whips and blasters, but to no avail. Kanan noticed the turrets were rotating, and ran out in the open towards the closest one.

He jumped onto the top of the turret and opened its hatch. A volley of red blaster bolts flew towards him instantly, which he all deflected. He jumped into the turret and commandeered it in no time. "You're clear. Rex, get the door open!"

Rex was still fiddling with the locking mechanism at the door. Right now he was craving for an astromech to help him out. "Got it!" The blast doors hissed open, and a series of hallways and stairwells were revealed in front of them.

"We better start looking before the king gets too far. I'll stay behind and make sure no one gets in or out. Good luck." Said Kanan. Rex and Zeb decided to split up. Zeb sprinted towards the slave quarters while the clone ran down the stairwell and took out a few guards along the way.

He was stunned by the view in front of him as he proceeded downwards. He found himself standing on a bridge, looking at the speeders zooming by below him. The brightest and the dimmest of lights from the densely arranged buildings glowed in front of him "Hera, are you seeing this?" Hera kept her eyes focused on Rex's kill cam. "I am. What in the galaxy is this?" She exclaimed. "It's more than a factory. It looks like...a city, an underworld." He stammered.

"Commander Sato. The Zygerrians built an underground city for their slave empire. We're gonna need more than our freighter to extract them all." said Hera through the comms. "Copy that captain Syndulla. Reinforcement is on their way. ETA four hours." Hera lay on the pilot's seat, slightly frustrated but relieved. "Well that's gonna take a while."

Zeb dashed through the hallways towards the quarters. He saw three guards standing in his way, whips ignited. Zeb roared, and charged towards them. He missed, and all hell broke loose outside the slave cabins. The sound of banging and slashing rang across every inch of the facility, attracting more and more guards' attention.

Eventually, Zeb was overwhelmed. The Zygerrian binded him with their whips and electrified the Lasat. Zeb cried out in agony, and soon lost his strength to fight back. The Zygerrians dragged him away, leaving absolutely no evidence of the violent fight behind.

Rex was attempting to track down the king when he was interrupted by a disturbing voice. "Stand down!" He turned around, and saw three angry Zygerrians pacing towards him. He jumped up, without a second thought, and did a backflip in the air and vanished.

He landed on an incoming speeder and onto its passenger seat. The driver pulled out his blaster and tried to shoot him, but Rex was one step ahead. He stunned the Ithorian driver and took over the speeder.

Within moments, several speeders mounted with cannons closed in onto Rex. He managed to dodge most of the bolts, but was in grave danger of colliding into another speeder or the ground.

He reduced his speed and dropped behind the Zygerrians. The pursuers rotated the read gun of their speeders and opened up on Rex. The clone pulled out his pistol and crippled one of the turrets.

He then descended towards the streets, hugging the ground. People dodged the vehicles as they sped through the streets of the underground city. Eventually Rex sent one of the speeders crashing into the buildings, but ended up with his engine smoking.

He bailed out and landed safely with his jetpack. His speeder crashed a few hundred meters ahead, drawing away the attention of the civilians and the Zygerrians. He turned into an alley and activated his comlink. "This is Rex, does anyone copy?" A familiar voice relieved him when it reached his ear. "Kanan here. I just lost contact with Zeb, do you have eyes on him?"

"Negative. I just got chased down to the lower levels. Need to stick to the shadows. I will contact you once I find your friend." Replied Rex. He just finished his sentence when dozens of Zygerrians surrounded him. "I gotta go!"

Meanwhile, aboard the Phantom...

Ezra was woken up by the racket of the Phantom's alarm. He sat down on the pilot's seat and checked the nav computer. They were only one parsec away from Mandalore, which was some good news Ezra desperately needed.

He heard a yawn from behind him, the Mandalorian sat down beside him and stayed silent. "Hey." That was all Ezra could think to say. "How're you holding?" He continued. "Last night was great. Some pleasure I haven't felt for a long time."

Ezra activated his data pad, and scrolled down to a profile of a Mandalorian clan. He kept his focus on one particular member, Jaden.

He knew he was about to reunite two long lost warriors, and he was glad about it.