Rex p.o.v

I've been walking for while and the damn DMF detector keeps loosing the signal. I should have just stayed back and help Ahsoka recover Kix. While the DMF detector kept loosing its signal, I used my helmet's scanner to pick up on the trail. "Ahh. There you are." 

My helmet had locked in on the signal and I continued tracking.  Sudden steady beeps came from the detector. It had picked up the earlier signal. 'Must be getting close' I thought to myself. 'Better let the Reetha know. "Reetha, DMF's picked up a steady signal. I might be closing in on the target." I waited for Reetha's reply but she didn't answer. 

"Reetha?" I tried again. She didn't answer me. "Vod, you alright?" I asked, worry clear in my tone. She did not answer. As if the universe hated me, the DMF and my helmet lost the signal once again. 'It's either we are tracking on a messed up hill, or our we are' I sighed to myself. I decided to continue waking my current path, not forgetting to mark my trail with my neon green markers. 

The hill was quiet. Too quiet, ever since we started our hike. I kept myself alert, treading my path carefully. The fog was settling in and it was getting harder to see.The forest around me started to thicken, making it hard to walk. Big roots protruded from the ground and the path became much narrow.

 A snapping of a twig caught my attention. I set my blaster to stun, not wanting to kill an unsuspecting animal or a person. I rounded behind a tree and hid myself, preparing to fire on what was creeping up behind me. 

The scanner in my helmet picked up a heat signature just slightly ahead of me. It was human. I care fully crept towards the figure. Boots landing softly on the ground. I quietly made my way up to the person, only to find, my bumbling brother. 

"Hardcase?" "Rex?" Hardcase pulled his helmet of showing relief on his face. "I see we crossed paths." I said while walking over the Hardcase. He got his foot stuck under a root and had fallen down. "Found any droids?" I said pulling him up to his feet. 

"No droids. How bout' you?" "On and off signal. No solid leads." I replied. I took off my helmet and looked around. "If your looking for Reetha, we got separated." Hardcase said coolly.  "You got what?" the shock in my voice evident. "How did you manage to loose her?" Hardcase sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. "It was very foggy, and I was leading up front. We were just walking, but when I turned around, Reetha was gone." 

I brought my hand to my chin thinking about what might have happened. "There was no sign of struggle. Even if there was, I would have heard it." I nodded my head. "So where were you headed? The terrace?" "Yeah. She did say that if we got separated, we were to go to the terrace. I tried to scan for droids along the way, but as you can see, no droids. Anyways, where are Ahsoka and Kix?" 

"Long story vod, but they are alright and will meet us at the terrace." "Also, I was wondering if you have been able to reach Reetha?" "You can't connect to her as well?" Hardcase nodded. "Right, best option is for us to regroup and discuss our plans. Hopefully Reetha would be there too." I started walking ahead of Hardcase. "Coms would be a real help about now." 

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-Kix's p.o.v-

Pain shot through my body, my vision was fuzzy and I could not stand. The last thing I could recount was that I thought I saw a droid after getting some water. My head pounded as I tried to remember what happened. I was lying face up and my back was on uneven surface. I moved a little to get out of my uncomfortable position but it just made my pain a lot worse. 

I found my bag full of medical supplies lying a few feet across me, some of its contents thrown. 'I guess I fell', I thought to myself. Warm liquid dripped from the right side of my head, dripping down to my face. How long have I been bleeding? 

The tired state of my body was catching up to me. I was tempted to close my eyelids but I needed to stay conscious. I knew I has to tend to my bleeding wound so I do not loose too much blood. But the pain, so intense forced my to squeeze my eyes shut. 

I wake up to someone calling my name. It sounds familiar but I could not tell with the ringing in my ear. "H-here.." I try calling out. The person calls me again and I try to muster out another cry. I hear the person stop. "Kix? Is that you?" "Commander. Here.." I say loud enough and it gets her attention. "Oh gosh, Kix, you alright?"

 "Not yet dead." I smile weakly. "Looks like you have a deep gash on your thigh." Ahsoka examined my injuries. "Armor?" I questioned. "Cracked and broken on your leg. Some of the pieces must have cut through your thigh." I hummed a response and nodded to her. "Help me sit, please." she eased and arm under my shoulder and slowly pulled me up, leaning my body against a tree. 

"Got a small gash on your forehead, nothing serious. I'll tend to your wounds, then we can get back." I nodded. "Where's the captain?" "We were coming to find you because you were gone for quite a while. Then we found out you fell down this slope. Rex wanted to come help, but the DMF picked up a signal. I told him I could find you." I smiled back to her. "Thanks commander." 

"I'm going to contact Reetha and let her know of our situation. Just hang in there Kix." She closed her eyes, but then her eyebrows furrowed. A distressed look washing over her face, then she opened her eyes. "Commander?" "I can't get a connection to Reetha. I tried Rex and Hardcase too. 

The force feel...blocked, somehow. I can't even sense them." "I should try-" "Kix, no." She gently cut me off. "Your already tired and injured. Communicating through the force will only tire you out even more." She looked at me concerned and I understood. "Let's wrap your wounds and then go to the terrace. Rex will meet us there."

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Reetha p.o.v

I kept hearing Master's voice calling me deeper into the forest. I tried to resist but the more I did, the more powerful the call became. My limbs wouldn't obey my command, and I could not establish any connection to the others. I tried listening out for them, but it seems that communications are blocked both ways. 

Walking a little ways more, the voice finally died down, but I could not move on my own. The forest seemed to close in on me. My eyes darted around as I stood in the silence. Then, from the darkness of the forest in front of me, two silver eyes met mine. I froze in place, not helping my current situation. 

The eyes seemed to get closer, I sensed a dark presence surrounding it. I wanted to shout and run, but none of my body would do as I commanded. The eyes picked up speed and came closer. 'No!' I thought. 'Stay away from me'. The being picked up speed and was about to attack me, eyes eating away at my soul. 'NO!' "NO!!" 

The colliding feeling forced me to revert back to human form. I crumbled to the ground as beads of sweat formed on my forehead. My chest heaved and I stared into the ground. Collecting myself, i stood on shaky legs. The figure was gone. 

There was no voice, and I was alone. In the middle of a thick forest. I had to somehow reconnect with the group. It didn't work when I was in wolf form, but maybe I have a shot now. I drew calm breaths and focused in the force. I was in a void. I tried to widen my senses but I could not even pick up anyone's presence. 

I tried focusing on singular signatures but nothing worked. I grumbled under my breath and sighed. "The terrace. I got to go there." Making my decision I took out my holo projector and tried to find my way to the terrace. "Reetha..."  My footing slowed down, and I turned a small glance back. 'Not this time.' I said and quickly ran out of the area.

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Third person p.o.v

Rex and Hardcase were on the way to the terrace, but every now and then, Rex would try to connect with Reetha. Sometimes, he felt like he could feel her presence, but it was not enough to form a connection strong enough to communicate. 

A signal flared to life on the DMF and in both of Rex's and Hardcase's helmets. This time, the signal was very steady. "We might be on to something." Hardcase stated. Rex walked in front and slowly waved the detector around, until it pointed down a path where the readings became rapid. 

He ran down the path and Haardcase followed close. Thankfully this time, the signal was staying alive. "I think we finally got our lead Hardcase." Rex shouted over his shoulder. They came to a slope climbing upwards. Rex angled the DMF to the slope, and the reading hit its max. 'We've got it' Rex thought to himself. Hardcase and himself crouched on their legs and walked closer. 

"Team 2, prepare for scouting mission" a voice spoke up. "Roger roger unit 27. Team 2 move out." 

"No kriffing way.." Hardcase spoke. "We actually found the clankers." Rex and Hardcase watched as a group of droids exited what seemed like to be a bunker. "I wonder where they are going." 

The droids have been walking downhill. A small clearing appeared and it seemed as if they had dug up a quarry. Several commando droids from the groups went down into the quarry as the rest waited. "This must be why they're here." Rex observed. "Hardcase, try to connect with Commander Khan or Commander Tano.

 It you manage let her know about our situation." The two clones have been spying on the droids, and maintained good cover. "Hardcase?" "No can do sir. I can't seem to communicate to either of them." Rex nodded and sighed as he looked back to the droids. The commandos have finally came out of the hole. "Hardcase, they're here. Keep down."

 The two watched as the droids carried a black mass out of the quarry and loaded it on a cart, then they departed. Hardcase and Rex shared a glance and Rex quietly told Hardcase to move back up the hill. They were following the group until they reached a tight path. Before the droids could walk any further, Rex and Hardcase expertly ambushed the droids. "What the-argh" The droids immediately fought back. 

"Protect the cargo." one shouted. "Hardcase! Blast those commandos." Hardcase marched in front and thinned out the commandos while Rex used a droid popper to deactivate the remainder. "Weird." Hardcase looked to his blaster and to the droids. "There were no blaster sounds" Rex bent down to check the blasters on the droids. 

"Their guns are hot, they fired. But no sound." He looked back to Hardcase, who was just as confused as him. "Lets stash these droids and reap their guns." Rex instructed, lifting up the lead droid by its legs and pulling it into a thick bush.  

He unsheathed a blade from his boot to remove a transponder from the droid and placed it in his pocket. He looked into the cart and found chips of black stone and took a few. "We got out intel. Let's head to the terrace and regroup."

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It was getting dark. Ahsoka and Kix had reached the terrace and set up a temporary camp so Kix could rest. 

"Ahsoka.. you there?" the togrutas eyes went wide. "Reetha? Reetha, where have you been? We were worried something happened to you." "Don't worry Ahsoka. The important thing is we can communicate with each other now. Where are you? Are the rest with you?" 

"No, we ran into some trouble along the way. Kix and I are at the terrace. We'll be waiting for you, Rex and Hardcase." "You guys split up?" "Long story Reetha. I'll let you know when you reach the terrace. What was up with communications earlier?" "I'm not sure, but it will be fine now. Give me a few more minutes to reach the terrace. Reetha out."  

Ahsoka was finally able to calm down a little. Seems like things are getting back together. After a while, Rex, Hardcase and Reetha finally reached the terrace. "Commanders." Hardcase and Rex raced over to Ahsoka and Reetha walked up to them. "Reetha, thank goodness your okay." Rex walked up to the young girl. "What happened? Are you alright?" She smiled back and nodded. 

"Yes, Rex. I'm fine. How are you guys?" "Rex managed to keep us alive." Hardcase lowered his blaster and sat down. "Ahsoka?" "I'm fine Reetha. It's just Kix." Reetha raised an eyebrow. "Is he alright?" "He's doing fine. He feel down a steep slope and got quite a bad wound on his thigh." "Is he unconscious?" Rex walked closer to Kix, who layed on the ground. 

"I patched up his wound and stopped any bleeding. He will do fine but for now I don't think he'll be able to walk on his own." Rex nodded to Ahsoka. The group sat down together and took out some rations. Ahsoka turned on a heating cell to keep them warm. 

"Hardcase and I found our droids." Reetha and Ahsoka perked up. Rex fished out the droids transponder and passed it to Ahsoka. "This should lead us back to their camp." "Good job guys. Where were they hiding?" Reetha asked. Hardcase sat forward polishing one of the droids guns. "There was a bunker somewhere west of here. We were on our way back when the DMF picked up a strong reading. Turns out these clankers were hiding in the hills." 

"In a bunker to be precise" Rex added. "We managed to follow them to a quarry where they collected this black stone." Rex handed them over to Reetha. She ran her fingers over them. "Familiar, sir?" "Not that I know of. We need to get to the bottom of this." Hardcase and Rex nodded in agreement. 

"How did they have a quarry in the hills, but we were not able to hear it?" Ahsoka raised a very good question. "We can't really tell commander, but as far as Hardcase and I know, it that the natural laws of sounds don't work on this hill." Rex remembered the shoot out with the droids. Reetha leaned forward with curiosity on her face. 

"What do you mean?" 

"When we attacked the droids, there was no sounds what so ever. No sound from either of out blasters and no sound from the clankas ." Hardcase recounted the event.

 "There was no sound from the quarry. It may explain why it was so hard to find them in the first place. The quarry drilling would have made very loud noises but the hill seems to dampen the sound." Reetha concluded. Ahsoka spoke up "Maybe, but does it effect everything around us. There was no bird song or the sound of leave rustling in the wind. We could only hear sounds very close to us."

 "Hmm. I can't figure out a clear reason why but hopefully we can find out when we infiltrate the bunker." Reetha suggested "Hopefully we can find a reason as to why we could not communicate earlier." Ahsoka added thoughtfully. 

Reetha looked to the ground, remembering her encounter with the mysterious voice in the forest. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "You okay?" Hardcase asked softly. Reetha look back to him not sure of what to say. "I..may have a reason why our communications went off." She said, eyes on the ground. 

"What was it, Reetha?" Rex layed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Reetha drew in a breath and spoke. "When i was tracking with Hardcase earlier, I heard a voice." the rest of the team looked to each other then to her. She looked up meeting their gazes. "It was my masters voice." Reetha hesitated for a while and continued to speak in a softer tone.

 "I think it was, but I could not really tell. It was as if whoever was calling me had power over my mind." Reetha drew her head up to meet the faces of her team mates. "I could not control my own body or mind or even try to communicate with any of you." She ran her hands through her hair. 

"Eventually I was drawn out to a thick part of the forest. The voice vanished and then I saw someone or something standing in the shadows beneath the trees. I could not move and it came towards me at fast speed. I thought it was going to attack me but then it just vanished. But whatever it was, it managed to revert me from my wolf form back to human." Reetha shuddered just thinking about it. 

Thankfully Rex was there to comfort her. "Can you still morph?" Ahsoka asked. "Yes. I hadn't heard the voice ever since, but I can assure you that communication wont be a problem this time." Reetha nodded to Ahsoka. "Alright. We should rest up for now. Then we can form our next plan." Ahsoka dismissed the group. 

Hardcase patted Reetha's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "I'm glad your alright." He said then went to Kix's side. "You alright?" Rex asked as he stood up. "Just a little shaken, but I'll manage." Reetha spoke up smiling to him.

 He noticed some hesitance in her voice, but he did not want her to worry. "Alright vod'ika, if you say so." He smiled to Reetha. "Let's get some rest." He offered a hand to Reetha and she accepted as he pulled her up and then went to join the rest.