Yerbol paused for a moment to look around and take stock of his surroundings, much to Aria’s relief declaring shortly afterwards that he knew EXACTLY where they were, though he was reluctant to divulge too many details. She thought she could see a faint flush of colour appear in the young Knight’s cheeks as he trailed off, and smirked knowingly. Now wouldn’t be the time to be teasing him about anything though, they had to get to this village and find any of the remaining Jedi as quickly as possible. They trudged up the pathway he had indicated would lead them to the village, somberly quiet as they prepared for the inevitable confrontation that would occur with the ground troopers when the pair were spotted.
“Whatever we have to do.” she agreed, just as quietly, as they crested the slope and found themselves looking down into the Twi’lek settlement. About a dozen or so troopers scattered throughout the open main clearing.
She fell in beside Yerbol, following his gaze to the Commando leader who appeared to be standing watch of the entrance to some kind of large building. If they split up, they could try to sneak around the sides, perhaps. Bashing their way in, though technically more efficient, would leave them open to further ambush on their way out when reinforcements arrived to calm the chaos.
“Let’s try and split...we want to keep inconspicuous as long as possible. Neta’s gonna have a hard enough time trying to sneak us out of here without us giving ourselves away too quickly.” she looked towards the enclosure nearby as Yerbol pointed it out and nodded. That would be their best chance of cover. “Okay, let’s get over there, and see if we can get a closer look at things. Then we can split off and try to find a way inside without them seeing us.”
She doubted they could get through the front door without the Commando captain spotting them. If only she had been more well-versed in Force camouflage techniques, they sure would have come in handy right about now. Keeping to the shadows cast by the steep mountainsides meant the duo could edge around the perimeter of the village without attracting too much attention to themselves. They made it to the pen in question in next to no time at all. A few bushes and tufts of grass jutted out here and there, about the closest thing they would get to cover. Up ahead, the Commando had stopped chattering into their earpiece and seemed to be surveying the work of the other troopers as they methodically searched each building for any other possible survivors.
“I mean, we could try and lure the troopers away and trap them somewhere, instead of killing them.” she shrugged, glancing up at her companion. “We may still have to kill them to get out of here, but I suppose there’s no harm in trying other things first, right?”
She paused to peer at the assembly hall again, trying to think this through for once rather than make things up as they went along.
“Any of the survivors in there are gonna listen to you over me, so how about this: you try and sneak through behind the commando guy, I’ll stay out front here and try to make enough noise to get their attention, send them on a little wild bantha chase to keep them away from the assembly hall. Then I can loop back and join you, and we SHOULD in theory have a few minutes to make a break for it and find Neta again.”
Aria squared her jaw, eyes darting towards a trio of the troopers as they exited a dwelling off to their left. They didn’t really have time to debate too much, they’d have to start moving if they stood a chance of not getting caught. “Here goes nothing.” a thin smile that didn’t quite fill her face twitched over her lips as she patted the Knight on the shoulder. “Good luck, Bol. I’ll keep them busy as long as I can.”
She slipped past Yerbol to head further into the enclosure, spotting another path across the clearing that appeared to snake further up the mountain. That would do nicely. If she could lure them up there, they’d have difficulty getting back down that narrow track in a hurry, with the heavy suits of armour they wore. Now all she had to do was draw their interest in that direction and give Yerbol a clear run to the building.
She stopped at the foot of the trail, crouching as close to the sparse foliage as she could to avoid being spotted. The slope was steeper than it had first appeared from afar, which could work in their favour. Shutting her eyes, she focused on the silt and debris clinging to the ridge, looking for weak spots that would allow her to shift some of it. Just a little nudge would do the trick....
The pebbles shuddered and slid down the hill, the clattering echoed in the nearly empty valley.
“What was that?” some of the troopers nearby snapped to attention and looked towards the path at hearing the sound. The Commando outside the assembly hall barked out in a sharp tone.
“Well don’t just stand there! You heard command, we can’t let ANY of them escape! They’re dangerous now!” they marched down the steps towards the other men as they spoke, rifle held in one arm and the other gesturing wildly as they relayed further orders to capture and subdue any fleeing Jedi by any means necessary. They really WERE here to make sure nothing was left of the Jedi Order. There would be no second chances here, Aria realised. If they couldn’t get any Jedi in that hall to come with them, they were on their own.
Go, Bol! Hopefully they’ll fall for it and I can keep them up here a while but try and make this as quick as you can!
She could hunker down until they ran past and pull more debris down to block the entrance to the track, then make a break for it to catch up to Yerbol...
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