And There Was Another✔️

Chapter 27: Hoth

Seth stood in the cockpit of the Dauntless, just behind Yex, who silently worked the controls of this vessel he now called home. He stared at Hoth, which was a ball of white, tinged with pale blue. It grew gradually as they approached it.

Behind them, the door slid open.

"Have they responded?" Maya asked as she stepped in.

"I'm afraid not," Yex replied. "Should I stay on course?"

Maya sighed, coming to stand next to Seth. She scrutinized the silent planet, her gray eyes intense. "Have you managed to run any scans?"

"Yes, although weather in the region is interfering with them. As best I can determine, there are life signs at the Republic outpost. There are also a scattering of life signs, some sentient, some not, across the region, with another concentration at the abandoned mining installation. Unfortunately, this does not necessarily help narrow down the true status of the outpost. I am at least reading several energy sources there, so they still have power."

"Stay on course, and keep trying to talk with them. Seth...come with me."

She about faced and left the cockpit. Seth stared at the planet for a few seconds longer, then followed after her, matching her brisk pace. She led him silently down the passageway, through the galley, and into the right corridor. Ultimately, they came to the armory, where both Nova and Seri were pulling on armor.

"How is it?" Nova asked.

Seth immediately went to the locker he'd set aside for himself, opened it up, and began pulling on his customized Republic Mod Armor.

"No contact, but there's at least life signs and energy readings at the outpost. Yex is taking us in. I'm going to expect the worst, given that this is a warzone we're flying into, so I want all of you ready to fight if need be. Seri, you might be needed to deal with casualties, so be ready. Seth, Nova, I'll be relying on you for backup if we do find ourselves in a combat situation."

"Understood," Seth replied.

"I'll be ready," Seri said, and Nova nodded tightly.

As he finished pulling on his armor and started grabbing his arsenal and inventory, Seth tried to tell himself that it was probably just a malfunctioning comms array or bad weather. Either were possible, even probable.

But his gut wouldn't let him believe that.

* * *

Seth stood with his back to the wall in the little receiving bay outside of the airlock, listening to as much as enduring the rattling of the Dauntless as it burned through the atmosphere of Hoth. He was about as ready as he was going to be for this.

The comms unit mounted on the wall beside him crackled to life. "Now that we are closer to the surface, I'm detecting weapons fire coming from our landing zone. There is definitely a battle in progress," Yex reported.

Seth reached over and hit the respond button. "See if you can get us in behind enemy lines, fast and low." He paused. "This thing have any weapons?"

"Unfortunately not," Yex replied.

He sighed. "All right. What kind of numbers are we looking at here? Locations?"

"It is hard to tell, but I believe the enemy forces are fifty strong, mostly firing from a ridge overlooking the base. They have a few vehicles that are moving into position. I think they may be siege engines of some kind."

"Damn. All right. Good piloting."

"Good fighting."

Seth let go of the button, then hesitated, realizing all at once that he'd kind of just taken control of the situation. He glanced at Maya. "Guess I should've run that by you first."