Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Uhh, where are they?
Vancil hummed thoughtfully as he tapped the chin of his mask, "Now, if I had to guess, I'd say we're a bit late."
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious smartass." Came the snarky reply of Captain Tryd, whose gaze was similarly locked onto the quarry just below them.
Kandria remained silent, a small amused smirk playing on her lips. Vancil's often sarcastic, mostly nonchalant remarks was a breath of fresh air for her, and one which seemed to get better the longer she spent around him. It was… fascinating, and a situation she would have gawked at being before being transported into the future.
"Thanks, I always try to make sure everyone is on the same page, asshole." Vancil shot back, just as snarky but with a healthy dosing of smugness on top.
Kandria shook her head in mock disappointment as she looked at the focus of their attention. Currently their ragtag party was perched on a barren rocky cliff overlooking an abandoned quarry that had apparently stopped operations centuries ago. It was also here that Deathwatch supposedly had their main base. That intel turned out to be correct.
"It's just that, you know, if they weren't going to be here, we could have parked the speeders closer. I'm all for a good stroll, but this place is fucking gloomy at night, even by my standards." Vancil shot back with just as much snark and sarcasm as the captain.
Sure enough, the quarry was completely devoid of noise or movement. What the real tell that there was a base here though, was simply that everything was still there. Several floodlights had been set up around the quarry, providing light to several camps dotted around the base of the quarry. From their position at the top of the quarry the exact details couldn't be made out, yet it was clear that this camp was very recently used, considering the fact that there were several still smouldering campfires letting off wisps of smoke.
"So… we going down there?" She offered up, breaking the seething glares the other two had been giving each other.
Tryd glanced over to Kandria, a hint of caution in his eyes at her proposition before nodding with a grunt, "Yes, we are. Keep your guard up though. Deathwatch are some craft sons of bitches so there's probably some traps left behind for us."
Kandria nodded and soon the trio were making their way down the path into the quarry, eyes scanning every crevice and crest around them in preparation for an attack… nothing. Kandria herself even reached out with the force to see if she could sense anything… still nothing.
The former Jedi shifted her grip on her deactivated lightsaber, maintaining her composure despite the anxiety that threatened to appear as a result of their uncertain situation. A quick glance over at Vancil soothed her nerves slightly, at how calm and confident he himself was acting, but also just because he was there, standing alongside her.
When they finally reached the base of the quarry and got into the camps themselves the silence persisted, with only the crunching of stone underneath their boots to keep them company. After they had gotten a decent way into the series of camps the group collectively slowed to a halt, each looking at the tents surrounding them as though a Mandalorian was going to burst out at any moment.
"Seriously dude? I thought these Deathwatch fellows were supposed to be a 'return to the old ways of war' kind of folk. Where the fuck are they?" Came Vancil's exasperated tone as he regarded Tryd with an annoyed look.
Tryd, for his credit didn't take the bait, instead gesturing to faint scrapings on the ground, "Look here, seems like they took their gear with them."
Vancil grumbled slightly at being ignored but did not press further, only silently glaring as Tryd led them along the trail. As it brought them further into the camp several other trails soon joined it, creating a large path of sorts for them to follow. If she had to guess these were likely some sort of weapon crates. She had dealt with a Sith terror cell on a Republic planet at alongside her master at one point, and if terror cells still maintained their fundamentals this far into the future, they likely did not have the equipment to easily lift crates of ammo and weapons, meaning they had to physically push and carry them. That would also explain why this seemed so… sloppy, considering that campfires still smouldered and lights still remained set up, and Deathwatch would have had extremely short notice considering how recently the main government had started to move; only an hour or two at most.
"I don't like this." Vancil said, his tone surprisingly lacking the previous confidence, instead replaced by a seething paranoia only a Sith could manage, "Something doesn't seem right…"
Kandria licked her lips beneath her mask. She too could sense that something was amiss, yet the feeling was faint, likely just due to her nerves and how uneventful this was. And so, she kept silent. Tryd had no such qualms apparently.
"Of course it doesn't. They would have had the shortest possible notice to retreat, it makes sense that things seem so off." Was his curt reply.
Vancil growled in slight annoyance, "I know that you twat. I'm just saying, something is off even more then what we are seeing. I can feel it in my gut. This fits the picture too perfectly, though. Nothing is this sloppy, even in the shortest possible notice."
"Well, you can save it for later. For now, it seems like the trails all lead into that cave entrance."
Kandria broke her gaze from the arguing two and towards where Captain Tryd gestured. A branching network of trails crisscrossing with each other created a tapestry of indescribable lines, all of it funnelling into a small opening in the wall of the quarry. It appeared to be an old entrance to a mineshaft of some sorts, considering the metal which framed the entrance seemed to be much older and have much more wear than the rest of the camp. What was further past the door was near indecipherable, with darkness cutting off all vision a few feet into the cave.
Tryd slowed his pace, raising his pistol cautiously, his head flicking over every angle an enemy could possibly have on them as they approached the cave. The group paused just outside of the entrance, with the captain detaching a flare from his belt and throwing it into the darkness. A red light permeated the tunnel before them, revealing… nothing. Simply more trails in the gravel which continued on.
"…It looks safe. Any tripwire would have been set off by that flare." He said after a moment of waiting.
Tryd began to move forward again, his pistol aimed down the tunnel. Kandria glanced at Vancil before also following with a shrug after a moment's hesitation. She didn't look back, expecting him to follow. But when another step of footsteps didn't join their own, and an outburst of fear happened from behind her, Kandria stopped in her tracks to look at Vancil in confusion.
The man's gaze wasn't on her or Tryd, rather he seemed to be staring at the top of the entrance frame. Kandria tilted her head in curiosity before taking a step back to see what he was staring at. A… camera? And right beside it, almost indistinguishable at a distance from the metal frame… a bomb. Her eyes widened as they followed the frame's edges. A lot of bombs. The flare didn't activate any tripwire bombs, because they weren't tripwired…
Her head whipped to Vancil in realisation and alarm. His hands were already outstretched, and she didn't fight being the sensation of being pulled away from the deathtrap, also noticing that Tryd was being pulled back as well.
And then her vision was filled with fire.
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