Creeping to the base of one of the Geonosian tunnels, Malice gestured for her group to follow her. Ora had been left at home with a majority of the droids. Only Aiya, Mortem, Edward, Imp, and the spiders had joined her. Receiving the call to go investigate had been a mission she'd been hoping to get. Geonosians were a species she'd thought dead. Now they were here and she couldn't help being a little curious.
"Get in, get information, get out," she reminded herself, Aiya huffing in agreement. Malice turned to the group, looking around to make sure they were alone before speaking.
"Mortem and Imp, you'll both be staying out here to stand watch, understood? If any of the Geonosians show up, signal us through the comlink, don't just start fighting. Amelie, Aran, you'll be coming with Aiya and Edward and I. You're two of the fastest, so if something happens to us, you take the information straight back to Selika."
A chorus of acknowledging beeps and whistles followed, mixing with the few affirmatives of those who could speak. Giving the groups a nod, they split, and Malice took her team into the catacombs beneath.
Once inside, Malice found an empty room to dish out more instructions.
"Spiders, you stick together. Aran, you can mimic the sound of their battle droids?"
"Roger Roger."
"Excellent. You protect each other, ok? Don't get caught, and if you run into trouble, buzz them and get out to the others, ok?"
"Roger Roger."
The two of them scurried off, their task to gather information about the source of the droids themselves one they were clearly excited for. Malice and Aiya would be investigating the species, sending her information back home to Alexa, who would compile it and send it to Selika, as well.
She'd expected the caves to be dark, so it was no surprise when they entered areas that were pitch black. Keeping close to Aiya, the two twisted through the cave system, searching for any signs of life. It was awhile before they found it, and the noise was unlike any language that Malice had ever heard. A melody of chirps and clicks made her tilt her head, and a quick look at the Nexu nearby confirmed that neither of them recognized the language. Malice made a mental note to look into the language further. If it was only these silly noises, surely it wouldn't hurt to learn it herself?
Peering through a window-like hole in the side of the wall, she was finally able to see what the species looked like. Somewhat tall, bipedal creatures with insect wings and faces that looked almost like someone had come along and smashed them. They weren't especially appealing, but she could see how they could be a problem. With the amount of droids they had and their mastery of flight, or at least what one could assume was mastery, based on their use of wings, could prove a deadly combination. Nothing that the clan couldn't take care of, though.
Malice began to notice a few behaviors that she recognized from other, smaller insects that she'd encountered. While some were clearly guards and warriors, holding weapons of some sort and making their rounds below, many others were joined together on different tasks., most notably digging deeper into the ground, perhaps to create more housing rooms. Their behavior mirrored that of bees or ants, which meant they likely had a queen somewhere at the heart of their colony.
"Time to go, Aiya, that's a key piece of information that master will need to continue her plan progression," she whispered, quietly calling to the spiders to return. When they came scuttling from the shadows, they both appeared fine and whirred excitedly with their own information. Seems they had also found what they were looking for.
"Let's go. Good job, team."