𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘

𝟎𝟏𝟐. 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡

012. TROUBLE UP NORTH

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MATIAS HONESTLY WANTED TO PULL HIS HAIR OUT. They'd been crouched down in a ditch for little over half an hour and his legs were starting to cramp. Additionally, the silence was excruciating. He looked over at Caleb and for once in his life, he seemed completely still. He must have realized how high the stakes of getting caught were.

They had discovered the weapons factory over two hours ago, but had yet to step inside. The rotation of the guards was unpredictable and not even Bishop had been able to crack the pattern yet... which he would undoubtedly give the clone captain a hard time about later. The guards rotated again and Bishop muttered some sort of curse under his breath.

Commander Rook looked over at him, but Bishop simply shook his head. "Just when I think I've figured the pattern out, it changes again."

"You're losing your touch, Captain."

Each member of the Paladin Squad and Matias looked over at the Jedi Knight in shock. It was extremely unlike Master Cors to be making jokes, and the smirk on her face only provided them with more unease. Master Billaba chuckled under her breath and suddenly Caleb had the same look of shock on his face.

The pair of Jedi chuckled to themselves once more, and Silara stood. She dusted herself off before looking over at her troops. "If we can't sneak in from the side, then perhaps we should try an aerial view."

Depa nodded her head in agreement. "You take the lead, Silara. Caleb and I will keep watch."

"Master—"

Depa quickly hushed her padawan. "Someone has to do it, young one."

Castle cleared his throat and took a step forward. "I don't mean to overstep my boundaries, General, but you may be needed once inside. Decoy and I can stay behind to keep watch."

Silara nodded her head in agreement. "Knight and Check should remain behind as well. The smaller our group, the easier it will be to move around once inside."

As no one objected, Silara nodded her head and motioned for those heading inside to follow after her. Caleb quickly sidled up beside Matias and leaned in to harshly whisper, "That was weird. Right?"

Matias nodded his head in agreement. "I don't think I've ever heard Master Cors laugh."

"Okay," Caleb nodded his head with relief, "I thought I was going insane."

"Then again," Matias shrugged, "I've only been her padawan for a few months now."

"Also true." Caleb nodded again.

Silara looked back over her shoulder and hushed the pair of padawans simply by raising a finger to her lips. They were immediately silenced. The brief carefree look that they'd seen on her face earlier had completely disappeared and been replaced by a hardened look.