Chapter 10: Plan C

"Do we even have a plan C?" – Zar
"Run!" – Edge

Except running hadn't worked out too well. Or they had waited too long, expecting for the reinforced crates to be the same grade as Coruscant-approved mining equipment. At least it took out the droids, Zar thought hazily. But his HUD was flashing red in the corner and he scrambled around in the smoke, looking for his partner.
"Edge? Edge!" Zar shouted.
The medium-range communications kicked on.
"What's happening?" Nicko asked, he sounded strange, too, and his own icon began to blink orange.
"Edge?!" Jolly demanded. "Edge, say something, Ner vod."
The smoke was clearing and Zar managed to make out the faint outline of dirty white armor. The rate of the blinking red icon began to slow down.
"NO!"
"Jolly, don't panic," Nicko barked. "He...oh..." Nicko's voice trailed off, as he gasped in pain.
"Jolly, I've got him. Turn off your feed and take care of Nicko!" Zar snapped.
"But..."
"NOW!"

Jolly must have done so because his voice stopped abruptly. Zar gulped and finally made it to Edge. Edge's body wasn't moving, still thrown in the awkward angle from the explosion.
"No..."
Zar tore off Edge's helmet and began pumping his hands over Edge's chest. CPR. Last resort. "C'mon, brother," he hissed. "Don't make me tell Jolly you're dead. Please don't."
Suddenly, Master Beto Mag Liano was beside him. Zar could still smell the acrid scent of a lightsaber on him, and he had a thin cut from shrapnel above his eye.
"Don't stop," he ordered. And then the Jedi Master placed his hand on Edge's forehead and let his eyes drift shut.
Then, the first of the bombs went off. Zar flinched as debris began to rain down on them and alarms began to blare. The structure above them began to sway ominously. But Zar's hands kept pumping rhythmically, willing Edge to open his eyes, and the Jedi Master's eyes stayed closed.
Suddenly, Edge gasped, his body arching unexpectedly. Zar felt Edge's heart surge on its own, and Zar half-fell back.

Edge opened his eyes, looking scared and confused. "Wha...?"
"No time," said Master Mag Liano, his eyes also opening. "I hate to do this, Edge. But you need to run. Understand?" Edge nodded, standing a bit shakily. Zar knew that the command had been laced with some sort of Jedi mumbo-jumbo. But at the moment, he didn't care.
"Zar, do you have the remote for the charges?"
"Nicko has all of them on one remote," Zar replied. He also stood, grabbing Edge's helmet and weapon.
"Tell Nicko to blow them," said General Mag Liano grimly. "And run."
And then they were running, dashing around groups of frantic construction droids and the swaying struts of the Thing.
"Nicko!" Zar shouted into the com. "Nicko, if you can hear me, blow this place to the sky! Go, go, go!"
"Copy that!" Nicko's voice came faintly over the com. And then the sound of three more explosions.
"RUN!" The General bellowed. Zar didn't need to be told twice.

Jedi Master Isa felt bad about forcing Nicko's body to ignore the pain of the shrapnel wound. But no major organs had been hit and she had stopped the worst of the bleeding. Jolly was still half-supporting him, though, as they sprinted through a world of metal and squealing droids.
I could use my old master's droid reprogramming ability, she thought grumpily. She could do one droid just fine if she had time. Which was still impressive, all things considered. But not useful at the moment. Another group of battle droids came running out from the smoke. Isa didn't think much as she launched herself forward, igniting her lightsaber as she flew through the air and decapitating about three of them before they could actually aim. Nicko and Jolly only managed to get off two shots each before she had dismantled the rest of the droids with quick strokes.
"Ma'am!" Jolly said, she could feel how tense he was in the wide ripples he was sending out in the Force. "We won't make it out on foot!"
"On foot," Isa agreed. She'd already spotted the solution. One of those hover-carts meant for hauling gear. "This way!" She took off running again, trusting the two commandos to keep up. She dispatched a few more battle droids as Jolly all but threw Nicko into the cart and jumped into the pilot's seat.
"Go!" Isa shouted. She'd spotted another group of battle droids. But the collapsing structure dropped a rather large metal walkway between her and them. So she turned and Force-jumped onto the back of the cart, using her lightsaber to deflect any stray blaster bolts that came their way and trying to maintain a Force-shield of sorts around them so that they didn't get knocked out by a falling beam or something. And she was trying to find...
"Left!" She shouted at Jolly. "They're to the left!"
Jolly didn't respond, just switched gears and swung the cart in the direction Isa was frantically pointing. Nicko let out a muffled oath as he was sent careening into the side of the cart and then he let out another oath as he got a look at what was in bottom of the cart with him.
"We've got explosives here!" Nicko called.
"Use them!" Isa suggested. She'd powered off her lightsaber and had both hands to the side, her eyes half-closed. "I've got my hands full!" Nicko didn't seem to understand and Jolly had become a steely pulse of concentration, like a rubber band pulled too tight. But Isa had just realized that their IED's had done their job a little too well. She was literally supporting the collapsing equipment with the Force in order to give them an escape route.
And it was huge.

Jolly shouted something and suddenly they were beside Beto, Zar and Edge. Isa trusted everyone else to do their job and blocked it all out, concentrating on a narrow tunnel of escape. The pressure eased a bit as Beto joined her in holding up the remains of the structure and they finally burst out from under it, zooming away to where the small fighter had been hidden.
Isa finally let go of her Force-grip on the destroyed weapon and it all fell into itself, screeching and groaning like a gigantic animal.
"Heads up!" Shouted Nicko and he began throwing the explosives that had been in the back. The few escaping droids all collapsed in a shower of broken sparks.
"Nice aim," Isa panted. She sat down heavily beside the commando.
"Thanks, ma'am," he said. He gingerly put a hand at his side. It came back wet with blood. "Just doing my job," he added in a half-whisper.
Zar crawled over to Nicko and began examining his side. Even with his helmet on, Isa knew he was frowning. But Nicko waved him off, probably saying something on a private channel that Isa couldn't hear.
Edge was leaning heavily against the side of the cart, helmet off. He managed a weak smile when Isa glanced at him with concern. "We'll be okay, ma'am," he told her. "We'll be okay."
Isa nodded. "Yes."
Master Beto glanced at her from the co-pilot's seat.
They did a good job, didn't they? He asked through the Force.
They always do, Isa thought back.