Be Your Brothers

Chapter 10 - The Mysterious Pine Hills Part 2

Rex p.o.v

I've been walking for while and the damn DMF detector keeps loosing the signal. I should have just stayed back and help Ahsoka recover Kix. While the DMF detector kept loosing its signal, I used my helmet's scanner to pick up on the trail. "Ahh. There you are." 

My helmet had locked in on the signal and I continued tracking.  Sudden steady beeps came from the detector. It had picked up the earlier signal. 'Must be getting close' I thought to myself. 'Better let the Reetha know. "Reetha, DMF's picked up a steady signal. I might be closing in on the target." I waited for Reetha's reply but she didn't answer. 

"Reetha?" I tried again. She didn't answer me. "Vod, you alright?" I asked, worry clear in my tone. She did not answer. As if the universe hated me, the DMF and my helmet lost the signal once again. 'It's either we are tracking on a messed up hill, or our we are' I sighed to myself. I decided to continue waking my current path, not forgetting to mark my trail with my neon green markers. 

The hill was quiet. Too quiet, ever since we started our hike. I kept myself alert, treading my path carefully. The fog was settling in and it was getting harder to see.The forest around me started to thicken, making it hard to walk. Big roots protruded from the ground and the path became much narrow.

 A snapping of a twig caught my attention. I set my blaster to stun, not wanting to kill an unsuspecting animal or a person. I rounded behind a tree and hid myself, preparing to fire on what was creeping up behind me. 

The scanner in my helmet picked up a heat signature just slightly ahead of me. It was human. I care fully crept towards the figure. Boots landing softly on the ground. I quietly made my way up to the person, only to find, my bumbling brother. 

"Hardcase?" "Rex?" Hardcase pulled his helmet of showing relief on his face. "I see we crossed paths." I said while walking over the Hardcase. He got his foot stuck under a root and had fallen down. "Found any droids?" I said pulling him up to his feet. 

"No droids. How bout' you?" "On and off signal. No solid leads." I replied. I took off my helmet and looked around. "If your looking for Reetha, we got separated." Hardcase said coolly.  "You got what?" the shock in my voice evident. "How did you manage to loose her?" Hardcase sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. "It was very foggy, and I was leading up front. We were just walking, but when I turned around, Reetha was gone." 

I brought my hand to my chin thinking about what might have happened. "There was no sign of struggle. Even if there was, I would have heard it." I nodded my head. "So where were you headed? The terrace?" "Yeah. She did say that if we got separated, we were to go to the terrace. I tried to scan for droids along the way, but as you can see, no droids. Anyways, where are Ahsoka and Kix?" 

"Long story vod, but they are alright and will meet us at the terrace." "Also, I was wondering if you have been able to reach Reetha?" "You can't connect to her as well?" Hardcase nodded. "Right, best option is for us to regroup and discuss our plans. Hopefully Reetha would be there too." I started walking ahead of Hardcase. "Coms would be a real help about now." 

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-Kix's p.o.v-

Pain shot through my body, my vision was fuzzy and I could not stand. The last thing I could recount was that I thought I saw a droid after getting some water. My head pounded as I tried to remember what happened. I was lying face up and my back was on uneven surface. I moved a little to get out of my uncomfortable position but it just made my pain a lot worse. 

I found my bag full of medical supplies lying a few feet across me, some of its contents thrown. 'I guess I fell', I thought to myself. Warm liquid dripped from the right side of my head, dripping down to my face. How long have I been bleeding?