Last time: Oppie agreed to help Cien train the twins and then enjoyed the sunrise with Kait.
Now: The family goes to see Ceros.
Chapter 13- Hunt for Cordova
"Sir, you'll have to check your weapons." One of the gate guards repeated to Kyr.
"No, no I don't." Kyr replied. "You see this, son?" He said, pointing at his T-visor.
"Yes, but -" He started.
"Means I don't ever have to check my weapons. Talk to the Colonel, he'll understand." Kyr said. They had landed at the field on Caranas a couple of minutes ago, and had taken some of the New Republic embassy trucks over to the militia headquarters.
"Sir, please just-" He started again.
"Look, just call the Colonel, and we can -"
"Hey," Kait said from the driver's seat of the next truck back in their small column. "They're with me."
"Oh, okay, go on through." The gate guard said, waving the truck Kyr had insisted on driving through.
Kyr glanced back at the second truck where Kait, Oppie, Sasha and Viran were riding, and Nova and Wynnie had squeezed in as well. Cien was in his passenger seat and the other Coppers were stuffed into their truck. "I like her." Kyr declared as he rolled the window back up and they started pulling forward.
Cien just glanced at him, trying to hide a smirk.
Scamp snickered from the backseat behind Kyr. "There's a reason she got those recommendations from us."
"They've definitely improved stuff a bit since Sasha and I were here last. A lot more organized, it feels like. The defenses are better, too." She said, eyeing the gate as they drove through.
"None of this was here last time I came." Kyr said, "nothing but citrus groves." He said a little wistfully as they were directed to take a right turn into a motor pool.
"You're making it sound like it's been eons since you were last here," Kelce chuckled from the seat behind Cien.
"Well thanks Doc, now I feel old." Kyr said as they came to a stop.
"Sorry," Kelce said, smirking as he climbed out.
Cien surveyed the scene as she stepped out, her buy'ce on, and the heads up display highlighting various bits of tech as she looked around. Kyr walked around to stand beside her. "Everything okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, just feels odd coming back here." She said.
"Tell me about it." He said.
Sasha walked over to them from the other truck. "You guys ready? Colonel Ceros is waiting," she said, sensing their anxiety.
"Yeah." Cien said, glancing up at Kyr.
"This way." Kait said, trying to direct the contingent into the building. The rest of the Coppers were filing towards the door, though Wynnie held back as if she was watching Kyr and Cien like a guard. The two of them got under way, walking over to where Oppie and Viran were waiting.
"So where's this candy shop?" Kyr asked as he approached.
"Up north in Cerrasses. We promise to show you there when we arrive," Viran said, smirking at him as he walked alongside him.
"Fine." Kyr groused as they started walking.
"I'm sure it will be in the briefing." Kait said over her shoulder.
Viran exchanged a glance at that with Sasha.
"My friend, I am so glad to see you well." Ceros said as he saw Kyr come in.
"Colonel, you too." Kyr said good naturedly. He stepped forward and the two men hugged each other.
Ceros grinned as they stepped back. "And I never got to meet you properly last time?" He said, looking at Cien.
"Yeah, this is my wife Cien." Kyr said, looking at her fondly from under his buy'ce.
"A pleasure." He said, taking her gloved hand and kissing the hardened knuckles.
"Likewise." Cien said a little awkwardly. Under her buy'ce she was furrowing her brow a little at the gesture.
"And I would like to ask if I may." Ceros asked, good naturedly, "your name, are you from our region?"
"Possibly, we're not sure." Cien answered a little guardedly.
"Her full name definitely sounds like Polinae to me, but we don't have a way of making sure." Kyr said.
"Full name?" Ceros asked Cien curiously.
"It's, uh, Cienestra Swansea." She answered a little quietly. "Xiv." She added.
"Ah, beautiful. Your armor, you do look like a spirit of the sun." He said with a grin. "A very old sounding name, though, very, very traditional."
"I would bet so." Cien said.
Ceros smiled. "And now to the briefing, follow me if you would." He said, directing them to follow.
Sasha gave Cien a small smile as she followed the Coppers and they followed Ceros. They entered a dark briefing room, where a couple of what looked like higher ranking Militia officers were already waiting, and there was just about seating for everyone. Ceros sat at the head of the table at the far end from the projection, and gestured for all to take a seat. Scamp was the only Copper to come in, the rest of them figured they would sit it out and let Scamp or The Colonel fill them in later while they went to go get some caf.
Sasha took a seat next to Cien, on the other side of the table a large board was set up displaying all of the evidence that was leading to Cordova. There was also a hologram of the tracking beacon in Cerrasses. Viran sat down next to her, then Kait and Oppie.
"Is this everyone?" Scamp asked as he settled into the seat next to Kyr.
"I believe so." Ceros said, "Major if you would care to start?" Ceros asked.
The Major nodded, "Good morning. Thanks to the work of our friends at the New Republic Marshal's office," he said, nodding to the four of them, especially to Viran, "we were able to get a tracker on one of the cartel Lieutenants as he fled. While we were not surprised he headed north, we did not expect him to head to Cerrassas. For the most part the town had been relatively quiet from the perspective of our ongoing conflict with the cartel."
"Which Lieutenant?" One of the other militia officers asked.
"Frey." The Major replied.
That earned a snort of derision from the officer that had asked. "The pimp himself." They said under their breath as they shook their head.
"So have we figured out where exactly he ended up in Cerrasses? I doubt it is for the candy shop," Viran asked, curiously.
"No," the major said, "in the street behind the candy shop." The major said. "The tracker lost signal there."
"Behind the shop?" Sasha asked, then looked between Viran and Oppie. "Where we saw those strange tracks?"
"Yeah," Viran said, then cursed under his breath. "We must have missed something big there that could have led to the cartel HQ."
"What tracks?" Ceros asked.
"Some kind of mech tracks, like a foot print." Oppie said.
"Like an AT-ST?" Kyr asked, his head cocking to the side.
"Maybe?" Oppie said, "I couldn't tell an AT-ST track from a heavy load lifter or something." He admitted.
"Were you able to get a picture of it?" Scamp asked.
Viran shook his head. "No, we had no cam or anything to impress it with. We just headed back to the ship," he explained, "but I have looked at numerous images of ships and trucks and all terrain vehicles. I've never seen a mark like it. But it was also fairly incomplete."
"I could see the cartel getting their hand on some leftover stuff from the war. They had a lucrehulk after all." Kyr said, hiding a grimace under his buy'ce. "So who's going to go check this out?" He asked.
"I think we should. We know where the mark is," Sasha suggested as she gestured to her family, Scamp and Kait. "And it might be best to not send an entire platoon out there to scout out the area. For all we know, this might just be another communication hub."
"I sure hope that's not the case," Viran mumbled under his breath.
"I think that's a good idea," Scamp agreed with a shrug.
"Yeah, we can keep it small. We'll just blend in as a band of heavily armed tourists." Kyr said, nodding.
Ceros looked at him wryly. "Your wit has not diminished nor grown my friend."
Kyr hesitated for a second. "Thanks?" He said.
Scamp chuckled at that. "Well was there anywhere else in town that looked suspicious? Because we can split up and do a full scan of the area."
"Aside from the candy shop, no," Viran answered.
"We should approach the candy shop and confiscate everything we find on the premises." Kyr suggested.
Cien glanced over at Scamp, "is this what every mission briefing was like?"
Scamp thought for a moment. "Yeah. Pretty much."
"So we are agreed, then, that your party will go scout the town out? Do you want any backup from my people?" Ceros asked.
Kyr glanced at Scamp since he was technically the one in charge of the Copperheads.
Scamp looked at the hologram for a moment in deep thought. "Any back up would be great. And we have the 19th in orbit ready to go at any instant." He looked back to Ceros. "If we can have them be set up near enough to not raise suspension but be ready to act in a second, that would be most helpful."
"What if we staged your militia guys up with the 19th so they could be ready to go?" Kyr suggested. "We were going to have a few troops ready to go in low orbit, we might be able to spare a U-Wing or two to get some militia in a position to respond quickly."
"That would work," Scamp agreed. "Then when we need reinforcements, everyone is right there. Good call, Kyr."
"This may be the turning point we have been waiting these long months, if not years for." Ceros said, looking around the table. "If this leads us to a major cartel hold out, we may be able to break them here."
"No matter what happens here, Cordova is within arms reach. I can feel it in the Force. But this won't be easy. The cartel has caused a lot of us problems," Sasha said, staring at the table. "So we will need to look out for each other and have each other's backs."
Viran smiled at that. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "It's good to see you like you again."
She looked at him and smiled.
Kyr looked over at Sasha. "We will, that's our thing." He affirmed. "So when are we going on this little adventure? Got time for lunch first?"
"A quick one," Scamp smirked. "But I think the sooner the better. Before that trail gets too cold."
"Maybe just…" Cien started, looking at Kyr. "What did you call them? Elevensies?" She suggested.
Kyr glanced at his clock. "Eleventhirtisies, but yeah."
Viran glanced at them, chuckling as he caught the reference.
"Is there anything else we need to know before we go?" Sasha asked, looking at the other militia officers and Ceros.
"Not at this time." The major answered.
"And all of this information is thanks to your excellent work over these past days." Ceros said, looking to Sasha, Viran, Op and especially Kait, "this is an opportunity to finally deal a blow that the cartel cannot recover from, and end this decades long standoff that has strangled this planet and our people. Good hunting."
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