Corellia: 18 BBY
Clan Covert
Nakoa Sen

    Nakoa leaned his head against the table and watched Ketei work from the corner of his eye. She was crafting a helmet for one of the foundlings. "You are bored?" Ketei asked, moving the molten beskar into its mold. Nakoa had been surprised to learn that there was still plenty of beskar left, even after she'd made some armor and weapons.

    "I'm a wanderer. We're not used to staying put for so long."

    "I thought you were enjoying your time off."

    "I was, but now it's boring. I wish I was doing something." His thoughts flickered towards Tarek, as they had frequently these days. The anniversary of his parent's death was coming up soon.

    "Well," Ketei sighed and faced him. "I may have something for you. Galaar is missing."

    "What?" Nakoa straightened immediately.

    "He left for Geonosis the same time you went to Kashyyyk. He made contact two days later and I haven't heard from him since."

    "Why didn't you say something before?"

    "You know how Galaar is. It can be several days before you hear anything from him. I want you and Oni...and Les?" She tilted her head questioningly. Nakoa nodded. "I want the three of you to go to Geonosis and see if you can find him."

    Nakoa clenched his jaw, then replied. "What was he doing on Geonosis anyway?"

    "We heard that the Empire is preparing to start some sort of operation there. Galaar wanted to find out what it was, so I let him go," Ketei explained. "These were his last known coordinates." Nakoa held out his holodisk and she input the data. "Good luck."

    "I'll need it. Oni and Lesia are on the brink of severely injuring each other, I think."

    Ketei gave a small laugh and pushed him towards the door. "Worry about them when they're about to kill each other. There's nothing you'll be able to do until then."

    Nakoa inclined his head and stepped out. He paused, glancing back for a moment. Ketei sat down at her work table. Her shoulders slumped and she rested a helmeted head in her palms. She looked so tired, not at all like the proud woman who called him her son. Nakoa watched her worriedly for a moment longer before leaving.

    He found Oni within minutes and quickly explained the situation as they headed back to the Mythos. "What?" Oni exclaimed. "Why would Ketei wait to send someone after him?" She held up a hand before he got the chance to reply. "Never mind. I know Galaar. I suppose I wouldn't have suspected anything until now either."

    Nakoa nodded and held up his holodisk, revealing Galaar's old coordinates. "It looks like he was near one of the old droid factories, close to the Petranaki Arena."

    "He might've lost his comm signal if he went underground to investigate the factory," Oni said. "We should start there."

    "All right." They reached the Mythos and Oni entered the cockpit. The engines started up shortly.

    Les emerged from her cabin and blinked, appearing rather drowsy. "What's going on?"

    "We're going to Geonosis."

    Her eyes widened at the word. "Geonosis? Why?"

    "Galaar is missing and he was last seen there. Ketei wants us to find him."

    Les stared at him, panic welling up in her eyes. Nakoa still couldn't tell if they were blue or gray. She shook her head after a moment. "Right, of course."

    "Hey," Nakoa caught her arm as she tried to push past him. "Are you going to be all right?"

    Les nodded. "I've heard stories about Geonosis, that's all."

    "If you're sure."

    She gave him a sideways smirk. Its humor didn't entirely reach her eyes. "You're sweet to be concerned." Les brushed a hand over his shoulder and entered the cockpit. He followed a moment later and they took off. As soon as they cleared Corellia's atmosphere, Nakoa activated the hyperdrive.

Geonosis: 18 BBY
"Mythos"
Lesia Mirri

    Geonosis. The planet's name rang through her head again. She'd never been there, but she knew plenty about the planet. It was where the war had started. Her master had fought there during the first two battles of Geonosis. He had said the carnage was like nothing he'd witnessed before.

    The name filled her with fear. She tried to push it down and cast her senses about the ship. Les brushed them past Nakoa. He seemed tense. She touched his presence again, picking up the familiar feelings of sorrow and anger. She drew her senses away from him and pushed them towards Oni.

    Oni's presence was turbulent. Les could feel waves of anxiety emanating from her. Despite Oni's previous words regarding family, Les guessed that the young woman was closer to Galaar than she let on. She drew her senses back in as the navicomputer began beeping.

    Nakoa deactivated the hyperdrive and they dropped out before the large red planet. A ring of asteroids surrounded it. They soared over the ring and entered the atmosphere. Oni leaned over the monitors.

    "It doesn't look like the Empire is here," she said. "The scanners aren't picking up any Imperial ships, anyway."

    "Scan for life forms," Nakoa replied.

    "The hives are filled with creatures. We should land a ways away from them."

    Les recalled the images of the Geonosians that she'd seen as a padawan. "The Geonosians are bugs. That's why they build hives. You said the factory was beneath a hive, right?" She faced Nakoa as he nodded. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel and a hologram of the hive and Petranaki Arena appeared. "The hive is attached to the arena. From what I've heard, Geonosians are known for building catacombs all throughout the planet. We can find the catacombs and sneak into the hive that way. It shouldn't be hard to reach the factory and from there, we can start searching for Galaar."

    To her surprise, it was Oni who agreed first. "That's a better plan than what I had."

    "What was your plan?" Nakoa asked.

    "I didn't have one."

    Les grinned and they soared over the red terrain. Steam rose from several holes in the ground. Nakoa landed the Mythos in one of the large thermal vents. Nakoa took the lead, with a tracking device in hand. A red dot appeared on the monitor of the device and they started walking.

    They entered the catacombs shortly. Oni and Nakoa switched on the small lights attached to their helmets. Les sighed, wishing she could use her lightsaber to help. She cast her senses out once more, trying to find any signs of danger. Nakoa led them through the winding tunnels for several minutes.

    He paused and smacked a hand on the back of the tracker. The screen warped, then went black. Nakoa switched it off. "We must be too deep underground to get a signal anymore. Stay close. Our comms won't work either."

    "Do you know where you're going?" Oni asked as they carried on.

    "The factory is just up ahead."

    They reached another opening and froze. Lesia stared into the massive factory, shocked. It was entirely shut down as she had expected, but all of the droid parts were still there. It was as if the factory was frozen in time. Oni and Nakoa jetted down to one of the conveyor belts. Oni went on ahead. Nakoa waved a hand to Les.

    "I could make that jump by myself," she muttered. "Well, a Jedi could, anyway." Les relented and jumped. Nakoa caught her and set her down gently. They followed after Oni.

    Lesia continued to stare around the factory. Machines were still hovering over the conveyor belts. Some had tools that had been cutting through sheets of metal. There were droid heads that were only half welded onto their bodies. Large vats swung from the ceiling, but a few had fallen to the floor. Huge mounds spilled out of them. She guessed that the mounds had once been molten metal.

    "Nakoa!" Oni exclaimed. She knelt to the ground and picked something up.

    Nakoa and Les sprinted over to her as she turned. In her hand, she held a broken range finder. "That must've come from Galaar's helmet," Nakoa said, taking the item from her.

    "So what broke it?" Lesia murmured. The Force whispered past her and she stiffened. "Something's coming."

    Instantly, the three of them drew their blasters. A strange clicking sound filled the area. Les could hear dozens of flapping wings. Geonosians swarmed out of several catacomb openings. Nakoa and Oni opened fire, knocking a few of them from the air.

    Lesia blasted away, each shot taking down a bug. The creatures gave loud shrieks and closed in around them. She gasped, spying several battle droids joining them. A super tactical droid aimed a blaster at her. "Surrender now," it ordered in a mechanical voice.

    "Do as it says," Les hissed.

    "What?" Oni jerked her head around. "Are you crazy?"

    "They aren't going to kill us if they're telling us to surrender. We might stay alive a little longer if we obey," she explained. Les tossed her blaster away. One of the Geonosians grabbed it. She bit her lip, waiting to see if they'd investigate her satchel. They didn't and her lightsaber remained hidden.

    Oni followed her lead and set down her blasters. She added a few blades and explosives to the pile. The bugs collected those as well. Les faced Nakoa and gave him a prompting look.

    "No way," he growled.

    "Stars," Lesia rolled her eyes and stalked over to him. Nakoa tensed but didn't stop her.

    She yanked his blasters out of his hands and threw them towards the Geonosians. She ran her hands over his armor, quickly locating a few hidden blades. She tossed them as well. There were a few charges on his belt. Lesia bit her lip and subtly slipped a few into her satchel.

    She looked him over, searching for any remaining weapons. "Where's your vibroblade?" Les asked.

    "Why don't you search for it?" She heard Oni mutter. Les ignored her and raised an eyebrow at Nakoa.

    He sighed and pulled it out of his boot. Les moved to grab it, but he held it out of her reach. "Nakoa, they are getting impatient. I personally would like to stay alive and not be killed by bugs and battle droids," Les said, exasperation lacing her voice.

    "I..." he began.

    "You'll get it back," Oni promised. "I know how much it means to you."

    Nakoa sighed, his shoulders slumping. He threw the blade at the Geonosians. They collected all of the weapons quickly. Les narrowed her eyes as the battle droids shackled her wrists together.

    They began marching through one of the catacombs. Bugs and droids surrounded them. Every now and then, one of the bugs would jab at her shoulder with an electrostaff. Les refused to reveal how badly the electrical current hurt.

    Nakoa finally angled himself in between her and the bug. When the bug attempted to shock her again, Nakoa grabbed the staff and shoved it through the bug's chest. Instantly, dozens of blasters aimed at him. He straightened, his stature seething anger. "Keep your toys to yourself," he growled. He turned away from the bug and the droids lowered their blasters.

    "Thanks," Lesia whispered as they began walking again.

    "You'd better hope they're taking us to Galaar," Nakoa replied. Les lowered her gaze, sensing that his anger was mostly directed towards her. Still, she didn't miss the defensive position he'd taken once more.