Chapter 19

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You dropped out of hyperspace overlooking the Ryloth system about an hour later. The orange and brown planet was large in comparison to the small moon where you knew Cham and Eleni were being held.

Tech pulled out the holodisk from Cid and read the coordinates, "general, this cannot be correct."

You walked over to his chair and leaned over, "what's up, Tech."

"These coordinates are in the middle of a small mountain that appears to be a non-active volcano," he explained, pointing to a small map of the terrain.

"There are no volcanoes on Ryloth," Wrecker interjected.

"That may be true," Tech answered, "but we are not going to Ryloth, we are going to Tupelo, it's nearest moon."

"Oh," Wrecker remarked before sitting back in his chair and striking up a conversation with Omega.

"Land near the coordinates and we'll approach on foot," you instructed, "I will try to make contact with the daughter."

You walked over to the panel in the cockpit and typed in the contact information listed on the holodisk. After a few moments a young voice came through, "hello, who is this?"

"I am assuming this is Cham and Eleni's daughter," you paused looking back at the holodisk, "Hera is it?"

There was silence for a moment, "yes," she replied hesitantly.

"Hera, my name is (Y/N), we were given the coordinates by one of the guilds to rescue your parents," you explained to her.

"Really?" she said, surprised, "I was not sure anyone would help me."

"We are here to help you, but the coordinates we were given put us directly in a volcano, can you tell us your position?" you asked.

You heard a great deal of shuffling on the other end and then her voice again, "my parents are inside the volcano, that is where they are holding everyone," she seemed short of breath, "I just came from in there to spy on them, but I'm sending you coordinates from a clearing outside."

You chuckled and handed the holodisk to Tech to make for the new coordinates, "Hera, stay where you are, we will be arriving soon."

"Ok," she responded, "Hera out."

You smiled at the sentiment from the girl, she had to be very brave and strong to do what she had been doing, especially because she was alone.

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You touched down at the coordinates Hera gave you and walked out into the gloomy, dark air of Tupelo.

A young twi'lek girl with light green skin came bounding up to you all grouped by the entrance of the ship, "(Y/N)?" She had to be about Omega's height and age.

You knelt down, "yes, young one?"

She immediately began spouting off information, "I have been spying on them for a few days, they have about 20 security guards covering all the exits, and a large one comes in every few hours to assess everyone's strengths..."

You held up your hand, "slow down there, why don't you come inside and help us create a map of this place."

She smiled and nodded to you before following you back into the ship. "Alright Tech, pull up a map of the volcano," you said sitting in the common area with Hunter on your left and Hera on your right.

"We have no known maps of the inside of the volcano, so I took a quick geoscan to map out any of the natural barriers and walls," Tech explained, pulling up the large holomap.

"Go ahead Hera," you said, urging her to stand within the hologram, "just point things out and Echo will add them to the map," you gestured to Echo who was plugged into the system and awaiting Hera's intel.

She rubbed her hand on her chin, "about here and here are the main exits, where the slavers come and go," she said, pointing to a small outcropping of the volcano. "And about here is where they are keeping my people enslaved," she explained, pointing to what looked like a clearing in the center of the mass. "They take some of the strong ones out of the volcano every few days, but bring them back after dark," she finished.

You leaned forward resting your elbows on your knees, "and where is it you have been spying from?"

Hera giggled and pointed to a location higher in the volcano, "about here, there is an old shaft here from when my people used to mine the gems in the volcano," she runs her hand along the side of the location, "and here is the small shaft that I squeeze through to get there."

You smiled at her, "thank you," you turned your attention to Omega, "Omega, why don't you take Hera outside to play while we come up with a strategy."

Omega's eyes lit up, "you mean we can go outside on our own?"

"Yes, but stay close and track your locations with your com device," you instructed. She bounded over and grabbed Hera's arm as she playfully pulled her outside. "Omega, I want check-ins every half hour," you called after them.

"Yes, (Y/N)," she called back before exiting the ship with Hera in tow.

"Do you really think it is wise to let two kids go out on their own?" Hunter asked.

You shrugged, "they are two kids who have never gotten a chance to be kids," you explained, "letting them have a little bit of fun will not hurt them."

Hunter looked at you shocked, "but there are slavers nearby."

"And they are both in constant contact with us," you explained, "and will not stray far from the ship, they cannot let the weight of the galaxy sit on their shoulders."

Hunter's shoulders fell as he took a deep breath, "you are right."

You smiled at him and nudged his shoulder with your own, "I am always right."

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around your shoulder loosely as you both turned your attention back to the map and the others. "Alright Tech, what's our best play?" 

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