Last time: Kelce was able to figure out what was causing the dizzy spells.

Now: The Trio go for a trip.

Chapter 15- A Trip Up North

"Enter." Colonel Ceros called from the other side of the door, after Viran had knocked on it. He opened the door and all three entered his office. "You had a very interesting evening?" Ceros asked them, looking up at the three with an expression that might almost be considered bemused.

"You could say that," Viran said with a snort as they came in.

"I'm guessing J'onz has already debriefed you?" Sasha asked, carefully.

"Yes, he gave an account of what transpired last night. And I also took the time to review the various footage that was taken from the scene as well." He said. "His statement was very opinionated." Ceros said in an understated manner.

"Ah I see," Sasha said, downcast.

"And what is your thought on what happened?" Viran asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"I meant to ask you that before I made up my own mind." Ceros said, leaning back in his chair. "Please sit, if you would like." He said, gesturing to the various chairs that were available around his desk.

The three of them took a seat. However, Sasha looked like she was about to be scolded more than recounting the events of last night. Viran grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Oppie stayed silent, not sure how to approach this situation and having little to say.

"So, you and Deputy Messan went into the club as you had planned. It seems that they were aware of who you were?" He asked Sasha.

"That is correct, sir," Sasha answered. "However, only the owner of the nightclub recognized me. At first I thought that would be a good thing, because the last thing I had him remember was potentially taking me and Cien on a hiking date. So I thought that it could be beneficial for us to getting into the back rooms. It appears I was mistaken."

"Cien?" Ceros asked quizzically.

"The Mando I was with the last time I was here," Sasha clarified.

"Ah." He said, "it would seem like a good plan, if he had not recognized you and known what to expect." Ceros said with a nod. "It is my understanding that Marshal J'onz heard this transpire over the comline and told the teams to move in?" He asked.

"That is what he told us, yes," Sasha said, looking down. "However, it was like maybe five seconds at the most after the blaster was pulled on us that the team stormed in."

"A very quick reaction on his part." Colonel Ceros said, nodding. "And close for you, as you were caught in the crossfire. I am glad you both made it away safely."

"Thank you, sir," Sasha said, her lips pulling into a slight smile before fading away.

"Quite a bit of crossfire, actually." The Colonel continued. "While the nightclub is a favorite of the cartel, apparently, I must ask; did it not strike you as odd how many well armed gunmen were already in place there? Based on the footage and the opposition the teams faced moving in, we counted nearly thirty well armed cartel employees. Too well armed for a night on the town, even for them if I should say."

"I just assumed it was because they were with the cartel. But you're right. That is odd," Sasha said looking up at him.

"Hell they even had an ambush ready for us outside," Viran pointed out. "I thought it was too much of a coincidence, but now I think my actual hunch wasn't wrong from the start. They were expecting us."

"Indeed." The Colonel said, nodding.

"Are you saying there's a mole that informed them?" Oppie asked, finally speaking.

"It would be far from the first time one of our operations has been compromised by inside knowledge." The Colonel said, nodding.

"But not everyone knew the full plan," Sasha pointed out. "That means the mole is someone who knew exactly what was going to happen."

"And the only people who knew are the three of us, you Colonel Ceros, Messan, and J'onz," Viran added. "And maybe a few of the Lieutenants that were in charge of the militia squads, but that's it. Or am I missing someone?" He asked, looking at Ceros.

"No, you are correct." The Colonel said, nodding. "I hope you trust that I was not the one who deceived you, but I understand if some doubt is cast my way. Given your history with the cartel, I would be inclined not to believe it is any of you three. They would have to be paying you most handsomely to overcome what they did to you. So that leaves our two marshals, and the two Lieutenants." He said quietly.

Oppie was caught short by that. The obvious choice to mistrust was J'onz or the lieutenants. But he had to admit, Kait knew more about their plans than anyone had. She had been working so closely with them over the last week that she knew every move as they made it. And she would be in an even better position than J'onz to take some kind of action. He swallowed, trying not to think the worst.

Viran ran a hand over his face at that. "Okay, so we need to figure out who this mole is. I guess it's a good thing we have a lie detector then," he said, glancing at Sasha.

Sasha shot him glare. "No way. I'm not going to do that to anyone until we know for sure. Besides, it would tip our hand to the mole if I start playing truth or lie with them. No, we need to be smart about this," she said. "Was there anything recovered that might give us a clue into any of this?"

"Nothing substantive." Ceros said. "After the firefight the night club was quite a mess, so there may be clues that are still waiting to be discovered however. That is where J'onz is at the moment, he wanted to return and look for any evidence that might be hiding in the rubble."

"I'm not anxious to go be around him again." Oppie said, "but the nightclub was our only lead." He thought for a moment, "wait, Kait and I found something the other day." He said, reaching into one of his pouches and extracting the small, folded evidence bag. "A candy wrapper, from Selina's office. It seems like a small thing, but do you recognize this?" He asked, handing it to Ceros.

Ceros reached across the desk and took it, examining the wrapper through the bag. "Not particularly." He said after a moment. "It is a small candy business based out of a town far to the north, several hours away. It is a small company though, I remember visiting it when my family took holiday up there as a child and quite looking forward to it. But it is hard to find down here." He finished, handing the bag back.

"That may be a possible lead." Oppie suggested. "Why would Selina have hard to find candy in her office?" He asked rhetorically, then glanced at Sasha. "Did she seem to have much of a sweet tooth?"

"Um, no. But I also never bothered to ask," Sasha said with a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Has there been any word of cartel activity in that town North of here?" Viran asked.

"It is oddly quiet there, despite the fact that the forests to the north are where most of their production is." Ceros answered. "Part of it was that the altitude and the climate seemed too far north to cultivate the planet, but thinking on it, it seems odd that it is so relatively quiet." He mused.

"Then I think Oppie is right. I think that little wrapper might be a possible lead," Viran said.

"It doesn't hurt to check into," Sasha said with a shrug. "And if the mole is one of us, then we might run into the cartel when we get there. And if it's no one who's in this room, then we might hit either a dead end or the jackpot."

"Yes," Ceros said with a smirk. "If you three wish to go inspect this town and this candy shop then please do. And it will be interesting to see if you run into any… pre-planned opposition, if we are the only four aware of your trip." He said with a smirk.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Oppie said with a shrug.

"Then let's get going," Sasha said, moving to stand. "If this place is several hours away, we should probably go before it gets too late."

"Agreed," Viran said, moving to do the same.

"When you go to this place." Colonel Ceros spoke up as they moved to leave. "That confection shop has a dark chocolate mint that I am partial to." He said good naturedly. "If you could bring me some back I would appreciate it." He said with a bit of a smile.

Oppie smirked and nodded as the three turned to leave. They left the militia headquarters and headed straight for the landing field. They thought it best to take the Forerunner as it would cut their travel time in half as well as avoid the potentially dangerous roads that lead up north. Once they arrived, Viran keyed open the ship and climbed aboard to get it started up. Sasha followed him up to the cockpit and sat down in the navigator's seat. She started pulling up a map of the planet to find this town they were going to.

"What do you think of the mole idea?" Oppie finally asked, now that they were in the privacy of their ship.

"Honestly, I don't know," Viran answered first. "I want to believe that we can trust Kait, Ceros, and… J'onz, but it is really suspicious how the cartel just knew what was going to happen when we got to the nightclub. I wish we had more information as to what happened. Maybe it can prove them innocent."

"Yeah." Oppie said, troubled. "And it seems odd anyone from the Republic would have enough of a connection to the cartel to be turned. Maybe bought off, but that still seems like a stretch. But they were prepared for all of us last night."

"Yeah I agree," Viran said with a nod as he started to lift the ship into the air. "I could believe it to be one of the militia Lieutenants since it seems like the militia has a bit of history of being bought off." He paused. "But even then it doesn't feel right."

"Have you gotten any sense of deception from anyone?" Oppie asked either of them. He admittedly felt like he might be a little clouded in trying to discern it in one of the possibilities they had, and he felt a little ashamed of it.

"Aside from the obvious, no," Viran said, plainly. "What about you Sash?"

Sasha, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke up. "Admittedly, I haven't really trusted any of them since we got here. At least not fully like I trust you guys, our family, or the 19th," she admitted, looking away from them.

"Wait what?" Viran asked, turning to look at her. "You're serious?"

"Yes, I am," Sasha said, sternly. "Can you blame me? The last time I was here I trusted someone that I thought would help us, but instead she nearly killed Kyr. And I trusted that droid and Oppie and I almost died on Myrkr because of it. Let's just say I'm not in a very trusting mood. At least not right now."

Viran opened his mouth as if to respond, but didn't know what to say. She was right after all.

"That's fair, Sasha." Oppie said, "but have you sensed any deception? From Kait? Or from J'onz even, setting aside the fact that he's one of the biggest shabuirs we've had to work with?" He asked.

There was a long pause before she responded. "No, I haven't," she said quietly. "But I didn't from Selina, either." She cleared her throat. "I put in the coordinates for you, Vir. We should be there soon. Excuse me." She then stood and excused herself into the back compartment.

Oppie watched her go through the hatch before looking back forward towards Viran with concern. Viran shared the same look he did. He then slowly turned his gaze back out the viewport as they flew over the landscape.

"I want you to know," Viran said after a moment of silence. "I trust Kait. And I don't want to believe her to be the mole either."

Oppie looked over at him, from where he still sat in the seat behind the pilot and co-pilots seat, then looked away, not sure what to say. "Me neither." He finally settled on.

Viran glanced back at him, frowning slightly. "What do you think about her?" he asked, carefully. "Kait, I mean."

Oppie looked back at him. "I…" He started, "I think we can trust her." Answering the safer version of what Viran's question might be. "I don't see how she could have been compromised so quickly by them." He said. Though it suddenly struck him that she had been requested to come here. And her brother had apparently been with the wrong crowd, so that might have provided some kind of connection that could link her to the same circles the cartel traveled in.

"Yeah I agree," Viran said, nodding. "She has been nothing but helpful to us since we got here." He paused to think about that. "Of course, if you were to betray someone I guess that would be the way to do it." He shook his head. "I don't know. I think I'm overthinking it now. The Force is telling me to trust her and I'm going to follow my instincts on that."

Oppie considered for a moment. He knew his insight was clouded on the matter. He wanted to trust her for his own reasons, and trying to compensate for that made him pick apart their interactions and start seeing where her story might be slipping. Or perfectly legitimate. He knew what his instinct said, but he also knew he couldn't trust that. Viran might be the only one of the three of them that was able to see the situation clearly enough to listen to guidance from the Force. "Let me know if that changes." Oppie asked him.

"Of course. You guys will be the first ones to know," Viran said, smirking at that slightly.

Viran landed the Forerunner on the edge of the town after a couple of hours of flying. The town wasn't overly large compared to the main city on Caranas. It appeared to be an old mining town that had seen better days many, many years ago. Possibly before the cartel ever rose to power. The main part of the town was quaint, but most of the buildings were in very rough shape as if they hadn't seen any form of refurbishment. However, there appeared to still be many businesses that were still running even though the town seemed rather empty. Viran glanced over at Oppie as he shut down the engines.

"Well, here we are," He said, stating the obvious. "Shall we go look for this candy store?"

"Yep." Oppie said standing, running his hand across his blaster pistol and the two sabers at his hip. Thinking the better of it, he unhooked his two sabers and slipped them into his jacket, so they would stand out a little less.

Viran did the same with his lightsaber as he flicked off the last switch. He then stood from his seat and made his way towards the ramp as it lowered. Sasha was sitting on her bunk, looking like she just came out of a deep meditation, when he came through.

"Time to go," Viran said as he passed her to the ramp.

"Alright, just give me a second," Sasha said, hopping off the bunk and securing her saber into its hidden jacket pocket. She then followed him down the ramp.

The air was pleasantly cooler than in the lower altitudes and more desert climate of Caranas. Oppie glanced around, the landing field was mostly empty, except for a few small transport type ships that looked like they saw little use. And they looked old.

Viran noticed the ships too as he let out a low whistle. "Whoa. The poor things. They look like they haven't flown in decades," he said with a hint of pity in his voice.

Sasha rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Come on, hun. You can come back and gawk at them later," she said tugging his arm. She definitely seemed to be doing better.

"Fine," Viran groaned before following them.

"So, do either of you know where this shop is?" Sasha asked as they entered into the town.

"Not really." Oppie said, "downtown I assume, but walking a little to get a feel for this place might be helpful anyway."

Sasha and Viran nodded in agreement.

"This place feels like it would be a nice little town. But it has an odd air about it." Oppie observed as they walked the streets. The residents were there, walking around, but they had their heads down, buried in their business. None of them seemed very happy.

"Yeah, it doesn't exactly strike me as the 'go to getaway vacation spot' of Caranas," Viran observed as he looked around.

"Gloomy is probably the best way to describe it," Sasha added as she looked at the people walking through the streets. "I also get the feeling that they don't receive many visitors. At least not anymore."

"No." Oppie said. "This reminds me of how towns were under the Empire." He said, finally realizing what it reminded him of.

"Now that you mention it, I can definitely see that," Viran agreed with a nod as it clicked for him too.

"Do you think the cartel has a handle on how this town runs then?" Sasha asked quietly as slipped back into her old habits from when they were on the run from the Empire.

"Dunno." Oppie answered. "I guess it would make sense if they are operating somewhere here in the North."

"Yeah, we should keep our eyes peeled," Viran said cautiously. "Just in case."

Sasha nodded in agreement as suppressed a shudder. There was something off in the Force up here, but it was too clouded for her to understand at the moment. Right now, though, they just needed to find that candy shop then they could inspect the rest of the town for any signs of cartel activity.

They took a turn, heading down another one of the streets that made up the downtown area. And before them was the candy shop, with a relatively vibrant corner display window. There were treats arrayed in the cabinets behind the windows, enticing people to come in and buy. "Our sister would love this." Oppie said with a slight smirk.

"Oh yeah she would," Sasha said, smiling at the sight of the candy. "I might have to grab her some."

"She would never forgive us if we didn't." He said, opening the door for them.

Sasha chuckled at that as she entered the candy store. Viran, who was following her, faltered slightly as the smell of pure sugar and chocolate hit his nose instantly.

"Whoa, that's a lot of sweets," Viran observed as he looked around at all of the candy.

"Welcome!" A voice behind the counter said. A stately old gentleman that smiled seeing them. "Samples?" He said, holding a tray out to them from behind the counter.

"Thank you," Sasha said as she approached and took one of the samples. She took a bite of the candy and melted at its chocolatey goodness. "This is really good."

"Thanks." Oppie said, also taking a sample. His was a dark chocolate truffle with a vanilla cream center.

"Yes, thank you," Viran said as he took one too. He smiled at how delicious it was. "Man this is good. May I have another?" He asked the store owner.

"Absolutely." He said good naturedly. "I'm glad you are enjoying them. Are you folks from out of town?" He asked.

"Yeah, we were just stopping by to visit some family when we heard about your candy shop," Sasha said sweetly as she looked around. "So we just had to come check this place out. How long have you been here?"

"Oh, years and years." He said, "my mother started this store and then I kept up the tradition." He said as he held the tray out for them to take more.

"I see. Well it all looks so good," Sasha said as she was eyeing various kinds of candy.

Viran grabbed another dark chocolate truffle and ate it with satisfaction. Oppie's next piece was a dark chocolate covering some kind of zherry liqueur, which he hadn't been expecting but quite liked. Sasha perused the aisles until she spotted a bag of chocolate covered zherries. She immediately plucked it off the shelf as she knew Cien would love it. As she returned to the counter, she glanced outside.

"May I ask what happened around here? Your town is quaint and all, but it looks like it doesn't get many visitors from out of town," Sasha observed with a frown.

He shrugged. "Like everything else on this planet. We used to be a mining town, and then as that fell away we became a vacation spot for people from the Caranas to come and get away from the city. Then the cartel setup shop in the forests between us and them, and no one had the ability to take weekend holidays, much less brave the trip it would take to come up here. But we still cling on. Making candy and supporting ourselves." He said in a good natured way.

Oppie had been perusing the store as well, and he had picked up a bag of the mint chocolates that he presumed Ceros had asked for, and then a box of the dark chocolate enrobed vanilla truffles that he had tried as his first sample. "Does the cartel come into town?" Oppie asked, as though he was a worried tourist learning about disturbing news.

"No." The shopkeeper shook his head. "They seem content to just work out of the forests, and they leave us pretty much alone. There's a bar at the edge of town where, I presume, some of them like to go for their own holidays, I suppose, but other than that they leave us pretty much alone." He said assuringly, as he eyed the selections they made. "Would you like to try one of those mints?" He asked, reaching into the display counter to bring one out for Oppie to try.

"Sure." Oppie said, taking it. It was indeed quite good, a nice combination of dark chocolate that was well accented by the mint flavor without it being overpowering.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that," Sasha said as she noticed a bag of milk chocolate pieces. She grabbed that for herself. "This place is really amazing."

Viran nodded in agreement at that as he found a bag of citrus infused chocolate squares that he grabbed from a nearby shelf.

"Thank you." The shopkeeper beamed at them. "I love this place, making such wonderful treats for wonderful people such as yourselves." He said.

That made Sasha smile. "You're welcome," she said, then eyed the selections they all made. "I think we have found a little more than we were planning." She chuckled at that as she set her two bags on the counter top.

The shopkeeper chuckled. "A far better addiction than what the cartel peddles, I should say!" He said with a laugh.

Viran chuckled at that as he set his bag down next to Sasha's. He also set down some credits and paid for their selection. "Well thank you for letting us try and purchase some of your candy. We will have to be patient and wait to enjoy all of these with the rest of our family," he said simply.

The shopkeeper smiled at that as he rang them up. "And you'll have to bring them back, yes?" He said knowingly as he passed the change back to Viran.

"Oh yes," Sasha said with a nod as she grabbed her bags. "Our sister in law would love this place." And that was the truth. Cien would really love this store.

"Yes." Oppie said with a smirk as he passed his own credit across the counter. "We may be back very soon once we tell her that your store exists."

The shopkeeper nodded. "I'll look forward to it!" He said good naturedly as he handed Oppie his change. "Thank you again." He said, "and come back anytime for samples!"

"Of course! And thank you," Sasha said as she waved at him while heading out the front door. Once outside she looked to Viran and Oppie. "Well that was nice."

"Oh yeah," Viran agreed with a smirk.

"Yeah." Oppie said. He had looked around the store a little but hadn't seen anything untoward, at least not in the front section. "Do we want to grab lunch here in town?" He suggested. "And maybe we can take a look around the back of these shops?" He suggested in a lower tone.

"Sounds good to me," Sasha said, agreeing to both ideas.

Oppie looked around. There were two somewhat run down restaurants that were evident in this downtown area. Since it was lunch time they seemed a little busy, but nothing was crowded here. "Anything interest you guys? Looks like we have quite a variety." He said slightly joking since they looked like two very standard diners.

"Um, maybe let's keep looking?" Viran suggested with a shrug as he looked over the two restaurants with some unease.

"Sure." Oppie said, "this way?" He said, seeing a side street that seemed to lead in between the shops to where they might have loading facilities.

Sasha and Viran nodded. They followed Oppie as he led them down the side street. Sasha suppressed another shudder.

"Well this isn't creepy," she said sarcastically.

Viran snorted at that as they walked along. Suddenly he noticed something on the ground up ahead. He came to a stop and knelt down to inspect it. "Look at this."

"What is it?" Sasha asked as she looked down at the ground, tilting her head to try and see what it was.

"It looks like tracks of some kind, but I don't recognize the tred," Viran observed as he looked it over.

"It's big though." Oppe said, the footprint, as it were, was large, with something like… a claw sticking out the front. "Like some kind of loading mech?" He suggested, looking at the various loading docks from the small shops around them.

"I guess that would make sense," Viran said, running his fingers over the impression on the ground. "But I've never seen a loading mech leave a mark like this." He looked up at Oppie. "Do you think it's a clue?"

"Might be." Oppie said said with a grimace. "I wish we had a holocam or something." He groused, not having thought to bring one.

"Yeah and I don't think we will be finding one around here," Sasha said. "I think we should get back to the ship. There might be one there."

"Yeah," Viran said, still looking over the mark. The longer he looked at it the more he was thinking it was probably nothing, but he knew better than to look a gift tauntaun in the neck. He nodded as he straightened up. "Sounds good to me." As he straightened, he felt a shiver go down his back as if they were being watched. He glanced around and found no sign of it. Sasha and Oppie seemed to notice the same thing he did, "Besides, this town is giving me the creeps. I'm okay leaving this be if you guys are."

"Don't need to ask me twice," Sasha answered.

"Yeah." Oppie agreed. "Let's get back to the ship."

Sasha and Viran shared yet another nod as they followed Oppie back out onto the main street, and back to the ship.

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