Briar headed back up the tower, Hopefully there's no shooting this time, she thought to herself, reaching the top she returned to her dataspike to investigate what the alert it had sent was.

Hale approaches closer to investigate, and spies movement amongst the bantha, accompanied by their peculiar lowing noises. One in particular, taller and more vocal than the others, is tossing its head about erratically. As the other animals back off to give it space, it becomes clear that it is not actually greater in height- the creature is hovering in place, just above the platform!

No sooner than Hale makes his startling observation, the animal drops back down with a heavy thud, and a shrill cry of frustration pierces the darkness, from the rim above. “Gaaahh!!”

Briar reaches the top of the tower and discovers that a distal proximity sensor had been triggered, but then immediately reset itself. A glitch? Or a clever intruder? But a clever intruder would not have tripped it..?

Her musings are interrupted by the piercing cry from the crater’s rim. From her vantage atop the silo, she sees a small figure in Tusken garb, bejeweled mask of the shaman sitting awkwardly atop the slight frame of what could only be a youngling.

Hale sets his rifle down and starts running towards the edge of the crater, Hold your fire, Luks! It's a kid! He rushes up to the edge and slings his whipcord up around an outcropping and begins his climb. He tries to use the vines to his advantage, but halfway up, one of them latches onto his foot and he can't shake it off. Fierfeck, I'm stuck! "Now's not a good time! That kid's force sensitive. I've gotta get up there..."

The youth sees the Imperials taking an interest, and extends an arm, sending a small boulder tumbling over the lip and down into the crater below. If it is intended as an offensive move, it serves as little but a distraction, as it sails past Hale. “Gaaaahhh!!!”

Turning, the child flees out of sight, into the boulder field surrounding the crater.

Evon felt the chill in his spine as the brother eminated his vicious aura. I probably never gonna get used to it. Well, apparently the questionings have begun. He walks back to the prisoners, taking his "show off" medical case. Buzzsaws and needles frequently loosen ones tongue even on the first glance. He usually lefts some scarlet blooba juice on it just so he can wipe it off dramaticly. They already separated the soldiers, so they can't get reassurance from each other and he starts with the first: ,,Oh, silly me! I forgot to clean the saw, after I used it, anyway hopefully I don't have to use it again today... So sergeant. What's gonna happen is the following: I ask you some questions and you answer them. If I'm satisfied, we move on. If I'm not, I might have to start going through my medical case... Then he gently takes out a vibro-scapel rolls it between his fingers, then puts it back to its place. Start talking sergeant!

Sergeant Hicks is starting to think that he has made some poor decisions. Their station had seemed so far-flung, their duties so remote, that following Fitz hadn’t seemed so... well, treasonous. Which is surely how the Empire would see it.

”Look. I stood down in the sub, kept Stapp from firing. Surrendered. Fitz was our boss. And he offered us more credits than we’d ever make in the service. I didn’t know we were going to be fighting the Empire, though.. that was never supposed to be part of it.. until suddenly it was. This was just supposed to be something on the side. Is there any ending here that I walk away from? I can cooperate.”

The interrogator is content to let him speak, but the prisoner is not sure he should accept the doctor’s assurances at face value. What choice does he have, though, really? He has to give up something, or he will surely face execution or enslavement. And he is not ready for that, if he can help it.

”They’ll be coming, you know. Not for me, but the girl. She was hidden with the Tuskens, but she is not one of them. She is important. Somehow, to someone. Fitz said we needed to cause a distraction, that you were coming for the girl. She had a way out, but there was no time.” The sergeant’s eyes seem distant, and there is a tinge of disbelief in his voice. “How can protecting a child be treason..?” What have I done..?

Meanwhile, on the tower above, Briar has just finished determining the approach vector of the likely intrusion, when a fiery explosion confirms it. Airspeeders coming in fast and low- one of them too low, apparently. She counts four of them as their lights switch on, closing the distance with surprising speed.

Seeing the airspeeders turning their lights on Briar switched on her comm-link "Incoming Airspeeders! Take Cover!" She shouted as she moved to try and take cover from any blasters the speeders had.

For the time, Evon leaves Hicks there, and signals for the Inquisitor. ,,Sir, Hicks confessed that they were only a distraction for an asset hiding among the tusken. Exctraction is on the way. We have to confirm this quickly!" He knows, he has to be decisive but can't be hasty. He rushes to the next prisoner to make sure Hicks' story checks out. If it does, they have to act immediately!

Drogos was in the middle of questioning when the Communicator with Dr.Evon’s message had sounded.

“,,Sir, Hicks confessed that they were only a distraction for an asset hiding among the tusken. Exctraction is on the way. We have to confirm this quickly!"

Drogos simply smiles then looks to Gatz. He slowly walks up to the table the man is chained to his aura of intimidation still emitting at full force. “Your compatriots have spoken, given us a great deal.” He says as he simply places his lightsaber on the table just out of the man’s reach, but in full view to intimidate. “Tell me everything, about the Girl, about the Pirate Queen, about Fitsimmons. Confirm their stories or...” Drogos doesn’t finish the sentence but the Lightsaber spins without his touching it, a blade emitter pointing straight at Gatz.

The tank Pilot is visibly shaken, and starts stammering, then just blurts out what he does know.

”I-I-I... I don’t know about the child, except Fitz told us your team was coming to take her, and that he had promised to look out for her... Someone important.. A lot of credits.. Fitz said there was an underground stream.. another cenote just a few clicks down where we could lay low for a while.”

”He’s still out there somewhere, I know it. Has some sort of collar under his helmet that can inject a whole cocktail of stims.. He goes down, sure, but he gets right back up.. I’ve seen it!”

”Pirate Queen.. That was our ticket out, Fitz knows her.. I thought it was only a last resort, though... the stream will take you there, though it is some distance away.. Blackwind Crater, if you can believe it! And...”

The tank pilot simply will not shut up, but eventually just begins repeating himself, stammering as he glances apprehensively at the Inquisitor’s weapon so close.

First Sergeant Fitzsimmons opens his eyes. It is dark, and he is wet, entangled in vines. He has felt better, to be sure, but he is alive. And he has a mission. He has just begun his arduous ascent, when a boulder sails past him, splashing into the water he had just emerged from. Clinging to the vines, he hears Hale’s voice above, and is alerted to the presence of a shooter. Maybe the same shooter who tried to send me plunging to my death? And they’ve found the girl...

Den watches the sergeant-major running towards the crater wall before holding up his rifle to use the scope to see better. Seeing that it is in fact a child on the lip of the crater he shakes his head and calls out to Hale over the com. "Hale, man, leave it! It's just a tusken, they'll probably come back for it and I don't want to be in the middle of that".

Shakes his head and laughs again to himself as he watches Hale get tangled in the vines. Focusing the sights on his superior he speaks through the com again. "Oh yeah, I got you covered real well from here, those vines won't get you, not on my watch".

It wasn't until the boulder was flung over the edge that Den leaps to his feet in shock. "Wait, did that kid just throw that rock at you? Without touching it?" He felt a chill run down his spine as he refocuses on the small figure, only to lose it as it ducks into the boulder field. "Ah strewth! I knew those stories about tuskens and their shamans was true. Hang on Hale, I'll come get you and we'll go grab that brat before it goes to far!"

Den begins to run towards the cliff wall but skids to a halt as he hears the message from Briar come in. "Agh, when it rains it pours". Switching his com to respond to Briar, he shouts down the channel as he changes direction. "Negative, negative! Sergeant-major Hale has identified a possible high priority target in the boulder field. We need to extract it now! I'm moving to intercept the speeders. Can you try to contact them, warn them to turn back? Because I'm not going to be playing with them. We may want to warn tall, dark and pointy about this as well, he'll probably want to know".

Switching back to Hale's com, "Den continues to half shout as he runs. "Stop messing around with the plant life and get that kid, I don't know what these speeders are here for, but I'll make sure they don't get in the way". It was true that Den was the lowest ranking soldier here, not even an officer, but that never stopped him dishing out any plans that came to mind. Of course it had gotten him into trouble before, but that wasn't his priority at the moment.

Luks rushes for the LAAT/c, determined to get it in the air before the speeders arrived. He assumed that they would be hostile, why else would anyone be all the way out here? It was too much of a coincidence. If he passes any imperial personal he would shout to them "heads up! Potential hostile vehicles incoming!"

Leaping into the cockpit he begins the process of starting up the engines, ready for take off. It had been a while since he'd flown anything other than a shuttle, it should be interesting to see how it goes.

,,Last, but not least Sgt. Stapp! It's your turn to tell me everything about this "side mission" of Fitzsimmons." Evon leans closer and tones his voice down. ,,I need names, contacts and a reason to believe you." He turns to the side and opens his medical case. ,,Don't disappoint me, Sergeant! I don't have the time and patience to deal with sad, misguided soldiers and their fairy tales. Hopefully your confession won't contradict your fellow comrades', otherwise...." He ominously takes out a needle, with some brownish, hazy liquid in it. ,,... I might have to use my equipment."

Stapp is obviously still in considerable pain from injuries sustained in the sub combat. He is less loquacious than his comrades, wincing as he corroborates much of what the task force has already learned, and providing some new insight into the unfolding plot.

“The mission, if you want to call it that, was babysitting! With a big pay-off. Client has creds, gave us a whole case of disruptor rifles. I was on the tower with Fitz once, while he was communicating with the client. It’s her. This self-styled pirate queen. We’re supposed to keep an eye on this kid, without letting on, and to get her away if we had to. Boss seemed really familiar with her, too, like they had worked together before. Maybe more...”

Evon puts back the needle, and takes out a bacta-patch just to slap it onto Stapp's shoulder wound. ,,For your services soldier." He waits a moment to see the involuntary relief on the man, as the painkillers are gradually seeping into him.

Evon steppes away from Stapp, so he doesn't hear him and contacts the fourth brother: ,,Sir, Sergeant Stapp confirmed that they were quote-unquote "babysitting the kid for a big pay-off." He also told me, that the rifles were part of the payment so we should probably send the contraband up to the Intrepid. They could check who stole them, or if the pirates have another group that supports them in the vicinity.

Finally Stapp allegedly saw Fitzsimmons once speaking to the pirate queen herself and he said that they sounded like old aquaintances. I have no reason to doubt his confession under the circumstances. We should check Fitzsimmons files and connections, further narrowing down the suspects.

"Okay, Phantom is temporarily up and running. It'll take some fancy flying to keep her from going down again, but she's ready if needed."

23 minutes ago, Rimsen said:

,,Sir, Sergeant Stapp confirmed that they were quote-unquote "babysitting the kid for a big pay-off." He also told me, that the rifles were part of the payment so we should probably send the contraband up to the Intrepid. They could check who stole them, or if the pirates have another group that supports them in the vicinity.

Finally Stapp allegedly saw Fitzsimmons once speaking to the pirate queen herself and he said that they sounded like old aquaintances. I have no reason to doubt his confession under the circumstances. We should check Fitzsimmons files and connections, further narrowing down the suspects.

"Very Good. Gatz confirmed the same." He would say into his communicator in a serious tone "Gatz also tells me that Fitzsimmons is not dead, he has access to some stimulants that grant him the ability to come back from seemingly life ending injuries. He must be dealt with, just as the Pirate Queen. She is down stream in the Cenote we can reach her in the Submarine and we shall." He pauses for a bit then his tone grows even more serious than before "I believe the girl is a force sensitive, the Pirate Queen supposedly protects them, so the girl must be captured or killed, Non-Imperial force sensitives are not to be tolerated." By now Evon could hear the Inquisitors footsteps he was passing by and seemingly in the direction to exit the ship.

“Easy, Inquisitor. I was that girl. And my Emperor would want her alive.” Agent Veitra drifts in from seemingly nowhere, no visible symptoms of whatever had been ailing her. She smiles, and there is a playfulness in her eyes, but also an edge to her tone.

Taking a deep breath, Evon interrupts the Inquistor and the Agent. ,,Sir, If I may. With some firepower, we can go after Fitzsimmons. I'd be really interested in this revival-collar. Then you can go after the girl with Agent Veitra."

"And Lord Vader would want her eliminated should she not turn to our side," Drogos says to Veitra. "Fitzsimmons is her guardian we will deal with both of them." He addresses Evon.

Evon knows better than to get into this argument between the saber-wielders, he steps back with a slight bow of head and starts checking his equipment, getting ready to move on.

Hale hears the agents message and shakes his head in frustration. He slips his foot out of the vine and keeps pulling himself up, "I'm working on it Luks, just keep the speeders off us." He pulls himself up above the lip of the crater and glances around. He sighs, seeing nothing and starts to stride forward, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. He doesn't hear or see the kid so he stops and starts to take off his helmet, speaking quietly into the comm, "hold on, I've got to go dark for a minute." He sets down his helmet on the boulder beside him. "After what those... those, agh! After what they did, there's no way this is going to work." He grins to himself at the thought of him taking this particular tack, "Sometimes a light touch is the proper way to get things done." Hey, kid. Are you okay? I'm not here to hurt you. He puts up his hands, showing he isn't holding any weapons, See? Look, danger is coming, let me help you.

She knows she should flee. She does not know the man calling out to her, but the lights and sound of the approaching airspeeders are scary. You must run. They are coming for you. Those had been Shamanka’s last words to her. I never should have returned for Nabi. Her bonded bantha. But she could not leave without her...

”How do I know I can trust you?” The reply comes, just as Hale is about to give up. The child’s voice sounds smaller than it had before, cautious, but hopeful. The stormtrooper still cannot see her, and it is difficult to discern the direction of her voice amongst the boulders strewn all about. But she is close.

Hale bites his lip, instantly feeling guilty. Who knows what Drogos would do to the kid. He'd heard the rumors passed around. He'd waved them off as scuttlebutt, but now they came back to mind. There wasn't any chance of letting her get away, she'd made her presence known and the others had seen her. What would be worse is if she got caught between Drogos and Vietra. He shuddered. The pink lady still gave him the creeps.

He ducks down among the boulders and pulls his helmet down with him. Hopefully the airspeeders wouldn't notice him. I came without my gun, didn't I? Look, I... I can't promise much, but I'll protect you. Stay low. If you can see me, follow me. I'll try to find us somewhere safe, okay?

The T-47s are upon them, flying low overhead, searchlights making shadows dance erratically through the boulder field. The girl goes to him.

”Imperial Outpost. We are conducting a search and rescue. Do not mobilize. Do not fire or you will be fired upon.”

As he crawls forward, he glimpses the girl crawling along parallel to his path, inching closer to him as they weave through the boulders. He spots a small dip in the ground, sheltered by boulders. A very small dip in the ground. Not big enough for him, let alone both of them, but it'll fit the kid comfortably. As the speeders come up quickly, he realizes there's no way they are going to miss him. He gestures towards the dip and hisses to the girl, Get in there and stay down, I'll draw them away. As the girl wriggles down into the little cranny, he lunges to the side as one of the speeders comes up, its searchlight locking onto the bright, reflective white armor amid the dark, drab boulders. As it begins to circle him he hastily moves along the ground away from the kid, trying to find some cover.