The journey to Boden 3 did not take long, as the system it was located in resided inside the Inner Rim. That meant there were plenty of clear-cut travel lanes, which greatly cut down travel time. During the two-and-a-half-day trip, I passed the time by mostly enchanting piloting equipment to keep busy, though I did do a little sparring with Malua. She was actually pretty good with her saber, even if she hadn't had a functioning one for very long. Power was one of the first things they lost when they were stranded on Nirn, so dueling with lightsabers would have been impossible. I would put her on par with Luke, though considering he had only been training for a year or so, I kept that to myself.

She fought with a single blade, with a more aggressive fighting style, and used primarily Makashi, or form II. That made dueling her difficult, though I could still give as much as I got.

I also stayed in contact with the team back at Nirn, discussing business and developments. Among a few things discussed was my own executive decision to purchase the final C-Roc necessary to complete the Hammer, Chisel, and Tongs group. They were already starting the upgrades on one of the C-Rocs. I wanted the group finished ASAP so that we could start looking for A-Wing pilots and finish the 3rd Group dynamic.

We also discussed allocating funds to upgrade our remaining ships. For some, that meant fifty thousand credits, maybe double that. Such an amount was easy to stomach, especially given our last paycheck. Unfortunately, our larger ships were a little further up the budget, and no one had even bothered mentioning Boxi's Fury or the Forge. In the end, we decided to spread basic upgrades throughout the fleet but to hold back on the more expensive ones. We had a lot of growth planned in the next few weeks, maybe even months, and our credits needed to be counted wisely.

Despite needing time to organize and stabilize our people, Second Group was already looking for a new target, which was good. We couldn't afford to be spending so much time down, not when we would also be spending money. I told them to keep it light and simple.

When the first stage of the trip was finally over, we dropped out of hyperspace on the very, very edge of the Bogden system. It was a rather busy system, with the massive gas giant Bogden surrounded by twenty moons, several of which boasted breathable atmospheres. There were several cities spread out through the moons of Bodgen, and one of the largest was on Bogden 3, though the planet still retained most of its wilderness. On top of the numerous habitable moons, it was also on the Hydian Way trade route, making it a valuable spot to stop and rest, as well as a hub for trade. Unfortunately, since we were on the Chariot, and very wanted by the Empire, we wouldn't be able to set foot on any of the planets without a fight.

This was why I was convinced that there were no Jedi in the system. The whole system was too busy, especially around Bogden 3, and there was no real place to hide, at least not reliably. This was even doubly true for Jedi or Force sensitives since the idea of "in plain sight" never really worked for them, at least not usually.

When we got in the system, rather than bothering to navigate closer, tempting fate in the process, I simply scanned for the names I knew worked, all nine younglings and the singular padawan.

"Okay, the good news is the scan is still picking them up," I said with a smile. "But they aren't here. In fact, the scan seems to think they are just about in the opposite direction."

"So, what's next?" Malua asked curiously.

"Now we jump away before someone spots us and reports our presence," I said, looking across the lounge area to the bridge. "Calima, we are done here. Do me a favor and make a small jump out of sensor range, please."

"Sure thing… Boss," Calima responded, getting the ship working on the calculations with the help of the onboard stationed slicer astromech.

I would have to remember to thank Miru for having the foresight to make the powerful, incredibly useful modified astromechs standard equipment for all our large ships. Not only should the system Racer developed for triangulation with Clairvoyance already be built into the deceptively simple-looking droid, but having a slicer on tap was just smart in general.

We jumped away after about five more minutes, hopefully before anyone got a good look at us, even from a distance. While being in that specific system wasn't an immediate giveaway for what we were doing, if someone with the right information got word we had visited the Bogden system, it wouldn't take them long to connect the dots.

Once we were safe in deep space, I worked with the slicer droid to get a decent heading on where Clairvoyance was pointing us. With an adjustment for accuracy, we sat down at the holotable and planned our next move.

"I want to get a bit closer before we start making triangulation jumps," I said. "I say we jump somewhere around Vena, do another scan, then start plotting out our target. While not guaranteed, their location is probably on record, meaning it shouldn't be hard to identify what planet they are on. After that, it's up to you, Malua, to guide us to them. Think you could handle that?"

"Yes, I believe I can."

"Fantastic. Calima, you hear all that?"

"Aye, Boss. We can plot a course for Vena," She agreed. "Just to… confirm, You see that that is not far from the Hapes Consortium?"

I frowned and looked at the map again, zooming out slightly and spotting that she was correct, it was just a short jump from the Consortium.

"I see it, but we can only hope that's not where the spell leads us," I admitted. "If it does… well, we can cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let's just focus on locating them."

"Very well. The trip should be plotted soon."

Within ten minutes, we had returned to hyperspace for another two-day-plus-long trip. I had honestly forgotten how much time in hyperspace we spent doing these triangulation missions. It was boring, but I could spend the getting ahead of my enchanting backlog. I already had the dex enhancements for our A-wings squadron, and now I was working my way through the pilots and gunners of our new ships, which was going to be one hell of an undertaking, one I would be chipping away at for a while.

When we arrived at our next location, another scan showed the younglings were still ahead of us, but I figured we had closed enough distance to start triangulating. It also showed that they had not entered the Hapes Consortium, a blessing since dealing with them would have been a nightmare.

We spent a few minutes in the cockpit planning our jumps, before the slicer astromech took my hand with his gripping claws, I cast Clairvoyance, and we slowly lined up the holoprojected arrow with the magic one. After that, it was a matter of jumping, waiting, and repeating the process.

We spent two days homing at our destination before we finally managed to lock it in. A small system in the Axiom Sector of the Expansion Region called the Arkinnea System. It was the only habitable system that lined up with our work, at least that existed in the records.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Once we had settled on that system, we let our slicer droid do a little digging, and according to what he could find, the system had only one livable planet, Arkinnea. This planet was mostly an Agri world, with very little material production beyond lumber. During the Clone Wars, there were some mentions of Separatist attention on the world, and a period of economic instability due to large amounts of refugees, but according to what the droid could find, and what we could find to collaborate, the planet had settled significantly.

It had no major Imperial presence beyond the usual circling patrol, which we were just lucky enough to avoid, as long as we left within the next few days. A quick half-day jump brought us to the system, and we slowly approached the livable planet. There were two major cities on the planet with dozens of farming communities spread out over the planet, but there were still large portions of the planet that were still more or less wild.

"Alright, Malua, you're up," I said, gesturing for the Force-sensitive to join us on the bridge. "Come guide us in."

"Could you not just continue using your magic?" She asked, sounding curious as she sat at a gunner's chair, turning to look forward. "Why rely on the Force?"

"Because I'm hoping it will give them a little warning that we are coming, and let them see you through the Force," I explained. "If it's too rough, don't push too hard, though."

"Very well."

The humanoid alien closed her eyes and let out a long, centering breath. After a long moment, she opened them again, a small smile on her face.

"I can feel them… I think they felt me, too," She explained. "They are in the top hemisphere, along this southern coast, but not too close to the sea."

Calima pulled up a scan, and together, they slowly brought the ship down. We didn't get contacted by anyone, which is not entirely surprising considering how small the two cities were. We slowly sank through the atmosphere, lower and lower, until Malua was guiding us over forests and plains. After about five minutes of crossing land, we finally flew over a final clearing, leaving a forest behind and slowing down. A large, half-ruined structure sat in the large plains, halfway up a gentle slope that eventually led to a long range of flowing hills. As we approached, I could see a few people climbing on some of the structures, others taking cover inside as we landed. As we did, I flicked through a couple casts of Clairvoyance, just confirming that everyone I had scanned was there.

"Keep the droids inside, Calima, at least until we can explain the situation," I ordered, standing up from my seat. "Nal, I want you to stay in here, armored up and ready to come rescue our asses with Lefty."

"Rescue you from what?" Malua asked with a frown. "I could feel them, there was nothing dark about them."

"If I killed a man for attacking my home, does that make me dark?" I asked, Malua and Julus following me as we made our way to the first desk.

"Of course not," She responded.

"And yet the man attacking would still call me a bastard for killing him," I pointed out. "Confusion happens to everyone, even good people. Best to stay prepared. Besides, all our weapons have stun settings."

That seemed to mollify her, which was good because we had reached the front boarding ramp. I activated the ramp, and it began to descend. Once it was ready, we slowly made our way down, finally stepping onto the grassy ground beneath us. Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few people who had exited the partially ruined structure to greet us. What I was surprised to find was a few much older people, including what I was pretty sure was a Whiphid. On top of that, there were more than just the ten people I had predicted using Clairvoyance. There were at least eight people that I could see alone, and we had all seen more retreat inside.

The people were dressed in simple but well-made clothes, worn but not falling apart, and definitely not handmade, though some people sported cloaks or additions that were. I could see a few different species, some of which I recognized, and some I did not. Malua looked at me for a moment, and I gestured for her to step forward.

"H-Hello, my name is Malua Var'Samallo," She said, stuttering once but quickly getting control of herself. "I am a Padawan, learning under Jedi Knight Casmott Amescoll."

When she was done, she gave a small bow, greeting the group. The older Whiphid stepped forward, the large humanoid alien hard to read since I had no experience with his people.

"Padawan Var'Samallo, it is good to see a survivor. I am Master K'Kruhk," He said, looking over her shoulder at me, before focusing on Malua. "Knight Amescoll, he lives?"

"He does, as do my peers," She explained, continuing when the master looked confused. "As you may know, Amescoll was put in charge of guiding padawans through their Gatherings, and as they designed their lightsabers. When Order 66 was given, the Crucible managed to defeat our Republic escort. We fled to a secret location."

"Even more survivors! That is great news!" He said, his face pulling into what I was hoping was a smile. "How did you manage to find us? And why have you sought us out? We are happy to hear of your survival, but secrecy and obscurity are both our best defenses."

"We come with good news and an offer," She explained. "Perhaps we could sit down and discuss it?"

"I have plenty of supplies for a meal," I said from behind Malua, the Jedi Master shifting his gaze to examine me. "We would happily share what we have."

"And who are you?"

"I am Deacon Roy, Leader of the Skyforged Vanguard," I explained with a slight bow. "A Rebel mercenary group fighting against slavery, pirates, and the Empire."

Now he looked even more confused, studying me for a long moment, trying to puzzle out just exactly what my intent was. I could feel his mind against mine for a moment.

"Please, restrain yourself from probing too deeply. I'm not a big fan of that sort of mind invasion stuff," I warned, holding the older humanoid's gaze. "A light reading is fine, but please keep it to that. But please, we have a story to tell you, and an offer you will at least want to hear."

"...Very well. We have a meeting pit, where we have fires and share stories," he offered. "I believe that will suffice."

The Whiphid turned, and the crowd of younger Force Sensitive spread for him, allowing Julus, Malua, and myself to follow after him. Soon, we were sitting around a meeting room, with the center hologram system torn out and turned into a fire pit. It was a nice touch, and as we sat, I could see the younger people following in behind us, taking a seat to listen. Malua remained standing in the center of the space, as did I, while Julus sat down behind us. More people filed in, sitting around us and waiting patiently, some of them whispering to each other.

"We are comfortable, and out of the sun," Master K'Kruhk said with a nod. "Now, what is this story? I wish to know if my people are safe. "