Reunion (#3 Post-Order 66 Series)

Reunion - Part 12

"Coming up on Wayland now," Echo said as the streaks of hyperspace once again faded to black around them. Senna stirred from her place in the bunks, straightening her tunic and sliding her feet back onto the floor as she stretched her arms above her head. After the adrenaline had worn off from the TIE fight, she'd suddenly felt exhausted and had opted for a nap once she had been repeatedly assured by Rex that his shoulder was fine. Letting her hair down, she carefully combed her fingers through it, gently scratching across her scalp. She was starting to feel slightly defeated, concerned that perhaps they'd gotten the wrong idea about where to look. It's alright. If it's not on any of these planets, we'll just go back to the drawing board. Surely there are some candidate planets Tech eliminated that might warrant a second look. Heaving a deep sigh, she stood and began braiding her hair down her back as she strode towards the cockpit.

Like Ithor, Wayland was covered in various shades of greens and blues with white clouds twisting in the atmosphere. One of the larger differences Senna noticed were the massive rocky mountain ranges that ripped through several of the landmasses, the most notable one along the equatorial region. There, the greens seemed even more vibrant, and she assumed those were the large jungles Tech had identified during his search.

"We need to be more careful on this one," Rex was saying as she took the seat behind Echo. "Can't afford to get into another firefight like we did at Ithor."

"No need to worry," Tech stated. "I have since scrambled our signature, and there are no Imperial ships currently flying within the vicinity."

Senna leaned over Tech's shoulder once more as he brought up the scanner and began running the sequences. Almost immediately, he leaned forward, adjusting his goggles and squinting at the screen in front of him. "What is it?" Senna asked, coming around to stand in between him and Echo. She felt Rex rise from his seat, leaning over Tech's opposite side to get a better view.

Tech indicated a series of red dots that were appearing on the screen in front of him. "I focused the scan on the equatorial region of the planet since that is where the mountain ranges are mostly concentrated, and I'm seeing these heat signatures," he said, indicating the dots. "They appear to be roughly five meters in diameter and are spaced fairly regularly."

"Could it be volcanic activity of some sort? Or perhaps some of the colonists?" Rex asked, but Tech shook his head.

"They're far too equidistant to be natural occurrences, and all of the colonies are focused in the northern hemisphere, which is more hospitable for agriculture. These aren't marked on any known map of the planet." He adjusted the settings on the scanner, zooming in. "They appear focused around the base of one particular mountain."

Senna squinted at the screen. "How large is the mountain?"

"Large enough to hide an entire facility within, to be sure," Tech replied.

Senna chewed her lip. "What about the other scans? Any irregular EMI activity, radiation, comms?"

Tech punched through a few windows on the display, his eyes scanning the outputs from behind his goggles. "There appears to be some comm chatter on some frequencies, but they aren't known Imperial channels. As for radiation, I-" he cut himself short, his eyes widening.

"Tech, what is it?"

"There." He pointed on the screen, and Senna leaned closer still. As the Marauder's position changed above the mountain, its opposing face was revealed. Near the peak, a thin line of heat appeared on the sensors. "That's a hangar entrance," Tech said quietly, and Senna's nerves felt as though they were suddenly electrically charged. Glancing over at Rex, she could see the same excitement and trepidation dancing behind his amber irises as his eyes met hers.