Nerra
Raven and Mia lead a group of Clone Troopers around a corner as they attempted to search the city of Lessu without getting too much attention.
"Why are we sneaking around?" Raven asked in a soft voice.
Mia huffed and blew a strand of hair out of her face in frustration, "If there really is something going on here I would like to keep the culprits in the dark for as long as possible," she answered for what felt like the millionth time.
Raven quirked an eyebrow at the back of the Agent's head but when he was about to respond she stated sharply, "Wipe that look off your face, would you?"
The Jedi Knight snapped close his slightly open mouth and relaxed his raised eyebrow, "Except if there is something going on here then the Senator would have already told the culprits," Raven pointed out the obvious.
Mia turned to look at him with a frown, "My mission, my rules," she snapped heatedly.
Raven raised his hands in the air, "Wow, I was just pointing out the obvious," he admitted in defence causing the Clones behind him to chuckle softly. In the next couple of minutes, the group reached one of the outer walls of the city and Mia took out her comlink.
"Anything to report?" Mia asked and silence followed for the next few seconds as they waited with baited breath for the responses to flow through.
"All clear here at the main city entrance," Obi-wan replied.
"All clear at the other landing platforms," Gav responded.
"Nothing suspicious going on here at the Embassy," Ashlyn reported.
The others all followed through with their reports of no suspicious activity or danger.
"Something still isn't quite right here though," Raven mentioned as he looked around at the surrounding area.
"What makes you say that?" Mia inquired curiously.
"Well, I've never been to Ryloth before but this is a marketplace," the Jedi Knight mentioned, trying to prompt the Agent into realising what was out of place but when she clearly didn't understand he continued, "I have never seen an empty marketplace before."
Then Mia realised that there was no signs of any Twi'leks anywhere and while they had been walking through the streets she had barely seen any of the people who usually filled the city.
"Spread out from the city, something is going on here and we need to find out what exactly is going on. Report to me if you find anything," Mia ordered into her comlink and then received confirmations of the order being received.
Meanwhile nearby in the city of Lessu, Anakin and Obi-wan began to cross the plasma bridge that connected the mesa on which the city was built on top of to the rest of the planet. The Clone Troopers followed close behind them as they walked across the red dirt plains in an easterly direction.
"It's nice to be back on Ryloth again," Waxer mentioned lightly.
Boil punched him in the shoulder, "Brings back memories of the good old days, doesn't it?" he asked in amusement, "What do you think the little ankle biter has been up to since we saw her last?"
"You mean Numa?" Waxer corrected him swiftly, "She would be an adult now. If she is still alive that is," he added.
"Well you might certainly find out," Obi-wan mentioned vaguely, "Because the village is our first stop," the Jedi Master revealed.
"Really?" Boil enquired in confusion, "Why are we heading back to that village?" the Clone asked curiously.
"Because Nabat is the closest major village," Obi-wan explained briefly.
"I wonder if she will recognise us after all these years," Waxer said thoughtfully.
Wooley laughed loudly, "With that ugly old mug of yours, I doubt you would even recognise yourself."
Waxer frowned slightly at his brother who just continued to laugh as he walked on ahead.
"Better watch yourself Wooley, after all we all have the same face," Cody pointed out which stopped the laughing Clone Trooper in his tracks, "Now come on men. I want to hear less talking and see more walking," he ordered swiftly.
Waxer and Boil chuckled lightly as they continued walking past Wooley who was still trying to get over the shock.
The journey to Nabat on foot took the better part of the day with little resistance unlike the last time the group had made the journey. However, last time they were fighting the droid army the entire way while now there was nothing but empty plains and horizons. It was sunset by the time the group reached the main entrance into the village of Nabat to find no guards on duty.
"Very odd," Obi-wan mumbled as he approached the entrance cautiously.
"Master?" Anakin enquired curiously as he came to a stop behind the older Jedi Master.
"There should be at least two guards on duty at the main entrance to the village," Obi-wan pointed out, "Ki'uk! Eu circoo?!" he called out in Ryl as he walked through the gates.
The company followed closely behind Obi-wan as they stayed on high alert, looking around at the buildings as they walked into the village. Waxer and Boil frowned slightly as they entered the building that had been Numa's home to find it empty.
"Where is everyone?" Waxer asked.
"I don't know Waxer but look," Boil stated as he gestured at the inside of the home, "Nothing has been disturbed. There is no signs of a struggle or damage at all," he pointed out.
Waxer noted the same and lead the way back out to the street where the rest of the company were coming across the same evidence.
"No signs of any disturbances," Obi-wan mumbled as he stroked his beard smoothly, "That could mean only one thing. All the Twi'leks trusted whoever took them away," he concluded.
"Or they evacuated to somewhere safe," Anakin suggested.
"Let's search the rest of the village, see what else we can find," Obi-wan said, "Move forward."
The company continued further into the village but still were finding the same lack of evidence of anything that had gone wrong except for the obvious lack of Twi'lek villagers.
"This place is starting to give me the creeps," Wooley stated aloud what all the Clones wanted to say.
"I wouldn't worry Wooley, your ugly mug will just scare any monsters away," Waxer stated back with a chuckle.
Wooley was about to respond with his own snarky comment when they were suddenly surrounded by noise.
"What the-?" Wooley stammered as he looked around and found himself face to face with a Twi'lek.
"Cluku'a! Cluku'a!" the Twi'leks yelled as they surrounded the Clones and two Jedi Masters.
Obi-wan held his hands up in the air and called out, "Gan ohk circaa ar fa'kan!"
"Juno'hervoe," an older Twi'lek gasped in surprise as he recognised the Jedi and then the Clone Troopers.
"Ka, Do ohk Juno'hervoe Maste Obi-ti'at Kenobi," Obi-wan revealed, "Gan fic ohk karkan tae ji Tum'eni ro," he added.
"Master Kenobi," a voice called clearly over the noise and the crowd of Twi'leks parted to admit Cham Syndulla to approach the two Jedi Masters.
"Cham Syndulla," Obi-wan greeted as he approached the Twi'lek, "Just the Twi'lek I wanted to see," he added in relief.
"We must get to our hideout," Cham revealed, "Nabat isn't a safe place to be in after nightfall," he added as he led the group through one of the secret exits out of the village.
The Jedi Master frowned slightly, "Why exactly is that?" he asked in concern.
"Don't worry Master Jedi, I will answer all your questions once we get back to the hideout," Cham reassured Obi-wan swiftly.
The group walked across the rocky plain and eventually reached a cliff face which looked familiar to many of the Clones but especially to Obi-wan Kenobi. The Twi'leks began scaling down vines that were dangling over the edge and down the cliff face as the Clones followed suit with their own grappling hooks. The younger of the two Jedi Masters ignored the grappling hook attached to his belt and used one of the vines to slide quickly down the face of the cliff.
"Is it wise to use the same hideout now as you did during the Clones Wars?" Obi-wan inquired curiously.
"Not when those you are hiding from don't know it exists," Cham stated confidently as he followed his people down the cliff face.
Obi-wan shrugged his shoulders absent-mindedly as he proceeded to anchor his grappling hook between two large rocks and walked down the face of the cliff. When he reached the bottom the group was already entering the cave that was the hideout to find more Twi'leks inside, many of whom were only children.
Cham saw the expression on the Jedi Master's face and answered the question that was clearly about to be asked, "Many of our people were captured and taken to the Ryll mines, the invaders did not think twice about leaving the young ones alone and defenceless."
"Invaders?" Anakin asked with a deep frown appearing on his face as he approached them.
"Yes, we have Senator Taa to thank for these invaders being allowed to land on our planet and take our people as prisoners," Cham growled through gritted teeth.
"How can you be certain that the Senator is behind this?" Obi-wan asked softly.
"Because it was Senator Taa who ordered the blockade of Ryloth, no communications allowed from off world or from the planet and no one allowed to arrive or leave," Cham answered coldly.
"What do these invaders look like?" Obi-wan inquired curiously as he stroked his beard thoughtfully.
The Twi'lek remained silent, "I have never actually seen the invaders. Only the children have," he stated.
"May we speak with one of the young ones?" Anakin asked in concern.
"Yes, wait a moment," Cham said as he walked away for a few moments and approached two young Twi'lek women and started speaking to them in Ryl. After a few moments, the three Twi'leks approached the Jedi Masters at a brisk pace.
"Master Jedi, this is my daughter, Hera Syndulla," Cham introduced them to the older of the two younger Twi'leks.
Hera had bright green eyes, skin and was dressed in traditional pilot attire which gave the impression that she had spent a lot of her adult years flying around the Galaxy.
"It is good to see the Republic have sent their aid," Hera thanked them gratefully. At that moment, the other young Twi'lek standing next to her had been looking very closely at two of the Clone Troopers rather than listening to the conversation.
Her eyes widened as she approached them, "Nerra?" she asked.
Waxer and Boil looked up at the sound of the only word in the Ryl language that they were familiar with to find a young Twi'lek woman standing in front of them with a curious expression on her face, she had green-blue skin and purple eyes. The two Clone Troopers removed their helmets to reveal their faces and then were simultaneously engulfed in a hug.
Obi-wan approached the group of three and watched on in amusement as the two Clones tried to figure out what was going on. Once the young Twi'lek let go, the Jedi Master asked, "Sil Do banirkan dei goh?"
"Numa," the Twi'lek answered as she looked at the Clones, "You two found me in Nabat during the Siege of Ryloth," she added.
Realisation dawned on Waxer and Boil's faces as they made the connections in their minds that the little girl they had discovered years ago hiding in an alley of the abandoned village nearby was standing right in front of them.
"Well, it's nice to see that you're safe," Waxer said.
"Yeah, it's good to see you again kid," Boil stated awkwardly.
"Now that introductions are out of the way, I would like to speak to one of the children who saw these invaders," Obi-wan said as he moved the focus back to the topic at hand.
"Yes, if you could follow me Master Kenobi," Hera requested as she began to walk away, further into the hideout.
Anakin went to follow his former Master who then stopped him, "No Anakin, I need you to get as much information as you can about what is going on here from Cham," he stated. The younger Jedi Master nodded and then returned to where the Twi'lek man was standing to ask more questions.