-Southern Hemisphere of Sorgan, foot of Pine Hills-

"Alright guys, lets hunt some droids." Reetha spoke up drawing the attention of her teammates. They had left the twilight at early light to get on with their investigation. "These forests are dense in certain areas , and they have weird magnetic fields because of the various metal composites that be found in the hills. 

It's not enough to mess up the DMF detector readings but it is strong enough to disable comm channels. Your helmets would be able to scan for droids." Reetha said gesturing to the clones. "The Pine Hills have unpredictable weather, so expect fog or light rainfall as long as we are still on the hill. You guys brought your coats?" Ahsoka, Rex, Hardcase and Kix nodded. "I packed some heat packs just in case the weather gets to cold." Kix then added.

 "Alright. So, to cover more ground, we will separate into two teams. Hardcase with me, the rest with Ahsoka. I will track with my senses. Rex has the DMF detector." Reetha continued her briefing "Make sure to stay together. Like I said, these forests are uneven and get dense in certain areas, so make sure to mark your tracks. We will communicate with each other through the force."

 Then, she fished out a holo projector from her pocket. It showed the geography of the Pine Hill. She pointed two fingers towards a red dot, beeping steadily "If at all we happen to loose each other in the forest or happen to run into unwanted trouble, we should rendezvous at this terrace at the eastern side of the hill."  

"I've already sent this map to each of your holo projectors. The closer you are to the terrace, the red dot will beat more rapidly. However, we won't be able to keep tabs on our live location or track our trails. R4 can't scan us because of the magnetic field and we can't communicate with him. That is also why we need to mark our tracks. " 

Reetha paused placing the projector safely into her pocket. "Any questions?" "No, commander. We're clear on the plan." Rex replied, swiftly placing his helmet onto his head. "Alright. Let's spread out and try to be back at the Twilight by dinner. May the force we with you." 

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-Ahsoka's team-

Ahsoka and her team had headed out towards the west of the hill. They had been searching for droids for about an hour. Rex lead the team up ahead with the DMF detector, with Ahsoka and Kix trailing behind him. "Sure is quiet out here." 

Kix took note of his surroundings, walking fast to catch up with Ahsoka. "I agree. In fact, I find it a little to quiet. Where are the bird songs?" Ahsoka said as she tilted her head to sense sounds around her. "Rex, any readings on the DMF?" she questioned. 

Rex slowed his pace, allowing the two to catch up to him. "No readings commander." He sighed deeply, raising his head to look around. "Hmm, not to be judgmental, but I really do hope General Skywalker's intel source is indeed reliable." Kix said as he continued to walk ahead. 

The trio resumed their search and the DMF detector had not been able to scan any droid signatures. At least they hadn't run into any trouble, or, so they thought. Ahsoka had walked in front of the group, scouting ahead with Kix and Rex close behind her. They were about to turn a corner, when Ahsoka caught a glimpse of  something attached to a tree.

 She walked closer to inspect . Her eyes widened in shock to find a carbon freezing mine, waiting to be detonated. She looked to the ground nearby to find more of the mines. She knew she had to warn the others. "Kix, watch out!" Ahsoka said as she shoved Kix away from a nearby mine. Thankfully, she had warned him just in time. 

Rex came over and inspected the mine, as he placed another neon green marker on the tree. "I noticed the mine. One wrong move, and we all could be made wall decorations." Ahsoka stated as she moved to stand by Kix. "Thanks, commander."

 Kix sent her a grateful smile. Rex stood up, eyes scanning the path laying ahead of them. "I saw a few mines buried along the path" Ahsoka said as she walked up behind Rex. "Looks like, someone does not want to be found." Rex continued. "Come on. Let's check it out." 

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-Reetha's team- *inclined sentences are spoken through the the force*

"I can't sense anything." Reetha hissed through the force to Hardcase."This is ridiculous." "Calm down ReeRee. At least you  have the ability to sense. Poor old me here had to rely on my helmet scanners." Hardcase laughed and spoke out loud. 

"Anyways, this fog isn't helping either. I can't see for more than a click away from me. Wish I had brought my scopes." "Yeah, well. It would be really helpful to have another DMF detector. Too bad R4 rolled over it." Hardcase chuckled a reply. "That astromech is a handful, but it does compliment you." Reetha took a glance as Hardcase. 

Her golden loth wolf eyes conveying a curious look. "What? R4 is a funny droid." Hardcase replied with a smile. "And, when you are brooding in silence, R4's makes you laugh with his antics." Reetha tilted her head towards Hardcase. "Hey, I don't brood in silence." "You do." Hardcase teased back. "No, I don't." "On the contrary my dear vod'ika. You do." 

Reetha was about to sass back when something  caught the corner of her eye. Her stance immediately stiffened into alertness as her snapped to attention. The muscles behind her ears twitched, perking up her ears. She lowered her body closer towards the ground, as if stalking a prey, Her claws partially dug into the ground, body full of adrenaline. 

Hardcase noticed the immediate change in Reetha's behavior and held his blaster closer to himself. "Reetha, what's wrong?" he asked through the force. Reetha didn't reply, as she walked forward, body remaining close to the ground. Hardcase followed suit, walking as quiet as possible. After a few quiet moments, Reetha relaxed her body. 

What ever she saw just now, or whoever, had disappeared. Still, she continued looking down the path, something itching at the back of her mind. Something didn't feel right, but she ignored it anyway. "It's.. It's nothing. " Reetha stammered. "I thought I saw something along this path." She shook her head as she turned to face Hardcase. "What did you see?" He prompted. "I...I'm not sure." Reetha looked down, then back to the path and continued walking.  

They continued walking, but this time Hardcase took the lead, blaster at the ready in case something were to jump them. He had insisted upon taking the lead, wanting to protect his little sister. Reetha was still trying to sense driods in her wolf form, but to no avail. She remained a little behind Hardcase. 

The quiet helped Reetha to focus, but her mind was still invested in what the thought she had seen, earlier. She didn't tell Hardcase, but her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she thought she had seen her former master. She did not want to bother Hardcase about it because she was convinced that she was just dreaming. As she looked around, her muscles behind her ear twitched as it picked up a soft voice. 

"...Reetha..." the voice hummed. She immediately stopped in her tracks, tensed paws digging into the ground . Reetha carried her head towards the direction of the sound. It remained quiet for a while, she continued to listen. "...Reetha..... I'm here, young one." Her ears twitched to the source. It seemed to be coming from the left of her, leading of  into the forest. 

Reetha sniffed the air to pick up on any new scent, but she could not find any. She tried to sense for any droids or people other than her crew, but could not find anyone. ".....Reetha..... I'm here. Follow me...." the voice echoed.

 It sounded eerily similar to the voice of her former master. She continued to stare down the path. The voice beckoning her to follow. As if in a trance, she carried a paw and started walking towards the voice. Unbeknownst to herself of what she was doing.

"...so that is why I always carry this marker with me. Very efficient in marking trails when we go hiking. Anyways, got any leads yet ReeRee?" Hardcase said as he stood up after placing another marker along the trail they walked. The silence from Reetha drew his attention. "Hey Reetha.." he repeated.

 "So what do you think of-" Hardcase cut himself short when he realized that Reetha was no longer behind him. "Reetha?" He called again. He tried to keep the worry in his voice low. When she didn't reply, he walked a little down the path. "Reetha?"  he asked again. "Ah, great.." he sarcastically sighed to himself. 

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-Ahsoka's team-

The hill kept getting foggier by the second. A slight rain had just started making climbing the hill less easy. The path was slippery and they were loosing light, as dark clouds slowly descended upon the hill. An ominous feeling that surrounded the three was slowly sending chills down Ahsoka's spine. 

She tried to use the force to sense subtly changes around her. Trying to find out any movement up ahead. Throughout the climb, Ahsoka noticed that they group had not seen any animals, not even insects or birds. The hill was silent and still, and not in a good way. Ahsoka reached out with the force once again. Her eyes, slowly scanned the fog that enclosed them. As usual, she sensed no other life form, besides Rex and Kix. 

"I don't sense any droids nearby." she said as she slid against a tree, resting on one of its protruding roots. "The scanner hasn't picked up anything yet. I wonder how Hardcase and Reetha are doing." Rex huffed as he joined Ahsoka on the ground. 

"Some rest wouldn't hurt. The ground is getting slippery and harder to climb." Kix sat down beside the captain. "Here, drink up." He passed Rex and Ahsoka some water. "I'm going to go collect more water from the stream up ahead." He told Rex, then left. 

Kix had filled three canteens with water and was now headed back to regroup with the others. The walk back was silent, expect for the crunching of leaves and grass beneath his boots. Everything was fine, except for when he heard an unmistakable snap of a tree branch. 

Kix stopped and immediately  spun around, blasters at the ready. He kept quiet for a while, eyes scanning the area for any sign of an enemy. Snap! He heard it again. He knew he wasn't dreaming. Kix willed himself to inspect the sound.

 He crouched down close to the ground and kept his eyes in front of him. As he walked into the fog, he saw a shadow that unmistakably looked like a droid.

 His eyes widened, but he continued to approach the  figure. If it were a droid, he would have heard them communicating, he thought to himself. On the other hand, the droid like shadow was completely still. Malfunctioned maybe?

 Either way, Kix rounded up a corner, bracing himself, he took a deep breath and poked his blaster through a bush. He looked through the scopes. When the fog cleared up, he realized that, the shadow was just from a broken tree branch. 

'So that's where the noise came from.' He sighed quietly. Kix got up, just staring at the branch and wondering how silly he would have looked. He was about to walk back to the trail, when his foot slipped from beneath him, making him fall to the ground. He tried to get up, but the ground was to slippery. 

Kix felt himself fall down further. He turned his body around to find a steep slope behind him. His eyes widened in worry as he desperately tried to get back up on his feet. His blaster had fallen into the slope, and he was flat on his front. 

Hand trying to grab on any tree roots, but he was slipping to fast into the slope. He spun his body around, using his feet to try to stop him, but the ground was to slippery and he was falling fast, Kix had no idea that the slope was deep but tried to slow down with his feet. 

At that speed he could not see a big rock up ahead, and his feet slammed right into the rock, sending his body tumbling head first into the slope. He felt a sharp pain to his right side of his head, and felt a warm liquid seeping out of it. He could not move his right leg. 

He tried to look around but his vision swam, dizzy from the fall. He tried to stand but his hand gave out. Kix laid on the ground, slow breathing, as he slowly passed out. 

The togruta closed her eyes and straightened her back, once again diving into the force. She focused into the force. Out from the calmness of her mind, Ahsoka suddenly felt what seemed like a jolt of electricity flowing in her veins. Her eyelids flickered and her fingers twitched slightly and she muttered under her breath as she sensed a new presence, one she was not familiar with.

 Whoever she sensed, was incredibly strong in the force, but she could not come to realize their alliance in the force. It was quite peculiar. It felt so close, yet so distant at the same time. Ahsoka, not wanting to back out, continued to indulge in this new presence, slowly trying to find its source. The force resonated within her bones. 

Beads of sweat started to form on her head. She saw a vision, a person, looking out from the shadows beyond. The figure got closer, and eventually close enough to reach out and hold her upper arm. The feeling was so real that she tried to pry her hand away from the shadow but her body would not move. Her mouth form soundless words, but the figure only grew stronger, pulling her deeper into the force.

"Ahsoka, Ahsoka get up!" Ahsoka screamed in shock as she finally awoke from the vision. "You alright kid? You look scared." Rex had woken her up from her nightmare. "Uhm..y-yeah. I'm fine. Just.." she slowed down to a whisper as she looked around her. They were still at their resting spot. 'It's just a vision.' She thought to herself. "Just what?" Rex called back to her. Ahsoka turned to Rex, she took in a calm breath, slowing down her heartbeat.

 "..I was just meditating. I saw a vision.. But I can't make sense of it. Don't worry. I'm fine now." Rex looked at her and nodded, seeing that she had calmed down. "How long was I out?" She asked, looking towards the sky. "About 15 minutes. Is that considered normal for a jedi?" the captain asked with slight worry in his voice. 

"Seems to be." Ahsoka replied with a slight laugh. "Anyways, where is Kix?" "I don't know. He's taking to long to just get water. We should go look." Rex stood up and extended a hand to Ahsoka, helping her up as well. 

The reached the stream, but there was no sign of Kix. Not even his bag, or the canteens. Ahsoka crouched closer to the ground, inspecting the grass. "Rex, I found a trail." Rex bent down and ran his fingers across it. The trail started by the river mouth. "Kix" Rex whispered.

 They both followed the trail and it eventually lead them to the bush Kix hid behind. "Hmm. He stopped here. Why?" Ahsoka held a hand to her chin, stroking it. She backed up but did not see the slope behind her. One foot slowly slipped behind and she let out a startled cry. Lucky for her Rex was closer by and caught her arm before she fell. "Got'cha." He pulled Ahsoka away from the slope. 

"Look!" Rex gasped. He had noticed Kix's tracks moving towards the slope. There were finger marks on the ground, as if someone was struggling to hold onto the slope. Rex's brow crinkled in frustration. "Kix?" Ahsoka asked. "Must be. He hasn't come back to the resting spot, and he's trail leads here. He must have fallen into the slope." Rex's voice was full of worry. 

"Let's get him." Ahsoka said, but as the two prepared to get down into the slope, the DMF detector Rex held picked up a signal. He took it out, looking at the screen. "I've got a faint signal. It's coming from the west of our current position." Ahsoka's eyes widened at the news, but she looked back into the slope.

 Rex looked down into the slope as well. "We need to get Kix out of here. But, we can't loose this signal. "Rex" Ahsoka said softly. "Follow the signal. I'll get Kix." Rex nodded at Ahsoka. Ahsoka left a neon green marking on the ground where they stood. 

"Once I get Kix, I'll meet you at the terrace." "Alright. Stay safe little one." Rex bid goodbye and chased after the signal. "Hang on Kix. I'm coming to get you." Ahsoka whispered as she carefully slid down the slope.

-Meanwhile-

"Ah..great." Hardcase hummed sarcastically to himself. 'How can a wolf that big, get lost, so fast?' He had mentally slapped himself. Damn those silent wolf paws. Hardcase couldn't believe that he had lost sight of his vod'ika. He contemplated his decision, whether or not to go looking for his commander. 

Eventually he decided against it. He knew Reetha could hold her own, and he knew the plan. If they got lost, they should meet up at the terrace. He figured if they lost track of each other, it would be safer to wait at the terrace. His helmet had not detected any droids. He pulled out the holo projector and decided to find droids along his journey to the terrace. 

He had remembered to mark his trail.  "Reetha, if you can hear me, I'm headed to the terrace. I lost track of you. Are you okay?" He closed his eyes and tried to connect through the force again. She didn't reply and Hardcase got worried. He tried to establish a connection again but to no avail. he sighed and shook his head. Deep down he could only hope that his little sister was alright.