"Sir! Kylo Ren's forces are on the move."
Marshal Tolhen looked at Captain Holterum, stood by the holomap. Around them, the spaceport's headquarters was almost frenzied with activity. Tolhen had his personnel divided between preparing for the First Order attack, and readying the transports and the remaining fighters to evacuate. If the Resistance fleet, as promised by Captain Finn, could just reach them in time…
He sighed, and squared his armoured shoulders. "It was only a matter of time, Captain. How soon can we expect them?"
"They're… not coming for us, sir." The Twi'lek officer gestured at the display, baffled. "There are units hemming us in here, but the Sixty-Sixth have broken from the formation and gone north. They've stormed through Tanacine and crushed the Twenty-Second and Fouth Companies."
"Damn." Tolhen studied the likely trajectory of the enemy, checking it against Finn's last known position. "Captain Finn hasn't quite gone unnoticed, I fear. Which puts the Incom-Freitek facility in imminent peril."
"Marshal!" A comms operative beckoned to him. "Outside transmission, a Major Rulm, sir. Claims to be Resistance."
"Do his codes check out?"
"Yes. Their fleet are inbound."
"Which means some of us will have a way off this world, to continue the fight."
A sharp electronic chirrup sounded from a unit on Holterum's belt. "And that will be the Resistance operatives. They won't make it out of there without assistance. Kylo Ren is going to flatten them."
"But it takes some of the heat off our backs," another captain said. "It gives us a chance to hold out that bit long-"
Tolhen didn't raise his voice much. He simply brought it to something just short of a shout and sharpened his tone. "It doesn't matter how much longer we hold out here! Especially not compared to what it will mean if the Resistance don't get those plans."
The staff around him fell silent, staring at their leader.
"We are just one world," Tolhen continued. He let his hand settle on the pommel of his vibro-sword. "One world can't halt the First Order. But if we can pass on the means to fight back to a dozen other worlds, then a hundred… that can make a difference."
Tolhen stroked his beard, weighing the decision in his mind.
"Holterum, you are going to prepare for and lead the evacuation. The Resistance ships are inbound – we need to get every transport and fighter we can to them. But," he added, turning back to Holterum. "I'm taking three squadrons – one of gunships, two of fighters. Signal my guard company to embark."
"Sir?" the captain looked at him quizzically.
Tolhen gave him a wry smile. "I'm going to help our helpers."
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Kylo Ren hadn't reached the Incom-Freitek facility yet. But he couldn't be far off, and in any case, he'd sent another advance force. Even as Finn was rounding up scientists and making sure all their datasticks and discs were accounted for, Tannel had spoken to him over the commlink.
"They're here, Captain."
That had left them barely a minute to leave Dade with some of the civilian workers and get into position, as the enemy came at them. At least two hundred Stormtroopers, enough to pin the defenders in place. Finn couldn't tell much more than that, with volleys snapping over his head. A dozen defenders were already down, his squad working overtime to plug the gaps.
They went about the task without a word of complaint, the local soldiers deferring to him with hardly a word. If it was to be a last stand, it would be an exemplary one. But it was so small, just one fight amid a much great battle.
More than that, it would be failure. Finn had undertaken this mission to make a difference, to snatch an advantage from under the First Order's nose. All this, right down to putting himself between those troopers and Dade. All of it for nothing, if they couldn't hold out and if the coming Resistance forces couldn't somehow pull them out.
Finn couldn't hold out much hope for that. The plan had been predicated on them getting the plans back to the spaceport and offworld. They hadn't counted on Ren being here. They hadn't counted on it getting this bad, so fast.
The sun had risen, but that only served to show how severe their situation now was. The First Order advance force had brought up three blocky repulsortanks along with a division of Stormtroopers, and set them straight away to the attack.
The fighting was furious enough that the roar of the wider battle in the city was drowned out. The enemy seemed to just keep coming. Even as Finn found and dropped targets, one of the tanks fired straight at an emplaced cannon, obliterating it and the unfortunate gunner. The soldiers nearby were caught up in the explosion and hurled bodily away.
"Take that bastard out!" Finn roared. Immediately, Ki'rii and LM took aim at the tank with their missile launchers and fired. The first projectile cracked the thick armour, Ki'rii's keen eye finding an ammunition magazine. LM's burrowed right into it, and the explosion tore the tank open in a booming explosion. But that was just a temporary reprieve, and losing the cannon was a serious loss.
The gunners on the remaining three hammered the other two tanks, losing another cannon to their onslaught before their volleys finally told and with the tanks were blasted apart. The Stormtroopers responded by falling back. Finn watched them go, hunkering down across the plaza from them, clearly unwilling to risk a frontal assault.
Briefly, he wondered why. At a guess, they didn't want to make a messy massed attack, which could easily spill into the facility proper. It wouldn't do to destroy the facility when it could be taken. The same technology Finn was meant to spirit away from Kerothime would serve to bolster their already monstrous war machine.
Another grim thought flitted through Finn's mind; perhaps the Supreme Leader wanted to deal with the Resistance fighters personally, and just wanted them pinned in place until then. He might be flattering himself there – he knew Kylo Ren's grudge against Rey ran much deeper – but still, he had wounded the bastard once, and he'd never forgotten the fury in Ren's voice that night.
But then a busy rhythmic hammering sounded, and he realised that the enemy's wait had been entirely practical. More walkers were coming, and those weren't AT-STs making that sound. No, they were something worse – two hunched, crabbed shapes which now emerged from the smoke and dust. They were ugly things, all slabbed armour and bristling cannons.
"What are those?" demanded Cylarei next to him.
"All-Terrain Armoured Scouts," he replied. "New toys, and nasty ones. Gonna need those rockets again!" he called to LM and Ki'rii.
"Aye!" they called, but he was quite aware that they knew the same thing as he did. They'd need a miracle to put down these monsters before their cover was torn open and their heavy guns silenced. The walkers halted just short of effective weapons range, the enemy readying themselves for the push.
They crouched down, switching out spent power packs. Missile launchers were primed. Finn's commlink bleeped. He glanced down and saw the message. In system. Have your position. ETA 15. HOLD ON.
He gritted his teeth. "So damn close, and yet-"
"Hey." Rose squeezed his arm. "It's not over 'til it's over, right?"
"Even so-"
She raised a reproachful eyebrow. "Don't jinx it."
Finn laughed. "I've never known bad things to come of saying I love you."
This time, Rose squeezed his hand. "Love you too."
For a moment, they shared a long look. Then there came a rumbling growl of servos as the walkers lurched into motion. Finn and the troops around him raised their blasters, seeking targets. "Brace yourselves," he called. "Aim. Fi-"
"Incoming!" yelled someone behind him.
Finn turned to the man, but his words was lost in the roar of engines. Dark shapes – several dark shapes – eclipsed the rising sun. The next thing he knew, a laser shot stabbed down and speared an AT-ST, the machine erupting in a geyser of flame.
Fighters – not First Order TIEs but Kerothime craft – swept into view and rained down plasma and missiles on the First Order walkers and the troops around them. The Stormtroopers, to their credit, raised their blasters to the sky and fired back, but they had no hope against that kind of firepower. The AT-STs succumbed in mere seconds, shot through and fires igniting inside them. Briefly, they staggered like drunkards, still firing wildly. Then they came crashing down too.
The Heavy Scouts, with their thick armour, initially resisted, turning to fire up at the fighters and smashing a few out of the air. But their triumph was short-lived, for now a squadron of gunships came into view, sweeping the ground with blistering volleys. Heavy cannons cracked and then punched clean through armour. When they were done, only debris was left of the walkers, and the remaining Stormtroopers fell into retreat, leaving the plaza covered in broken white armour..
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"What?" was all Cylarei could offer for a moment. Tannel couldn't really think of anything to add, even when his ears had stopped ringing. Everyone else seemed to be either cheering or as speechless as him.
The gunships had come to ground, setting down just ahead of them. Kerothime soldiers were pouring out – not just any soldiers, Tannel realised, but the High Command elite. And among them.
"Marshal," he breathed.
Finn was quicker, moving cautiously out of cover to greet Tolhen. Murmurs and whispers were starting to build among the other defenders. The fighters which had accompanied the transports whirled above their heads, watching for any more attackers.
Tolhen spoke first, a slight smile visible beneath his beard. "Ren's forces looked to be coming your way. I thought we might try and pre-empt them." He gestured to the transports. "As well as giving you a faster route offworld." It was at that point that he noted Cylarei and Tannel. "Ah, my troopers did come through. I'd hoped as much."
"They're a credit to your planet," Finn said, and Tannel couldn't surprise a little swell of pride in his chest. Then the captain added, "Rose, you and Ki'rii go and fetch Dade and the scientists."
The two women had scarcely gone back into the building then a low rumble began to build in the distance. A much larger army was advancing towards them.
Tolhen sighed heavily. "That will be the Supreme Leader, I suppose. Coming directly to us."
Finn nodded. "Either he's onto the same thing we were after," Finn murmured, "or he's sensed me here."
"Well," responded Tolhen. "Whichever it is, you'd all best be on your way."
Finn shot him a look, but the old soldier smiled grimly.
"The transports will only fit so many and in any case, someone's got to stand as the rearguard." He looked around, taking in the remaining defenders, the scientists and the other civilians around him. "You've held on long enough. We'll go to head the enemy off, and the Resistance will take care of you on the other side. But you must leave, now." His gaze lingered on the discs in Rose's hands, and the boy clinging to Rose's back. "You carry my world's hope with you, my friends. Be sure to bring it back one day."
Finn saluted. "I'll owe it to you, Marshal."
Tolhen took his hand in a firm grip and shook it. "You'll find a way, I'm sure of it."
"But what can you do alone?" Tannel asked.
The Marshal gave him a rakish grin, drawing his vibrosword and gesturing to his guard company. "I'm not alone. And besides, your escape needs covering. An officer and his guards might give the enemy pause. And if Ren opts to take the prize himself, I'll see to it that the Supreme Leader has a scar to remember Kerothime by. Now go, and may the Force be with you!" he barked. With that he and his men strode off, towards the coming enemy.
For a moment, the Resistance operatives and the others paused, watching them go. "You heard the man," Finn called. That broke the spell, and people began to move. He and the Scrappers ushered people onto the gunships, glancing nervously skyward. The First Order would have spotted them. There would be fighters coming to blast them out of the sky.
Rose turned to one of the Incom-Freitek people, a Twi'lek women. "There's nothing left in there for the enemy to find, right?"
The scientist nodded. "We've wiped the whole database. What we're carrying are the only copies. The First Order will never have them."
His squad all clambered aboard the lead gunship, Rose taking the seat next to the pilot. "Key into this homing frequency," she told the man, flashing her comm unit. Then she hit the audio unit. "Major Rulm."
The officer's voice crackled out. "Lieutenant Tico, you had us worried. We're ready to drop from hyperspace and retrieve you."
"Well, hope the Force is with us that little bit longer," Finn said, as the transports began to climb skyward. "We're coming to you."
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Tolhen stood his ground on the boulevard, his men in serried ranks around him. Battered as they were, they stood tall. He took heart from that. He couldn't have chosen finer soldiers to meet his end alongside.
They held formation even as the massed footfalls of heavy boots heralded the emergence of black-armoured troopers from the murk, and the enemy shield wall parted to allow Kylo Ren through. The Supreme Leader and his Knights advanced to within five metres, and halted.
There was a sudden silence, as the two leaders stood and regarded each other. They were equally tall, Tolhen perhaps a little broader. Then the quiet was broken by the sullen buzz of Ren's modulated voice. "Marshal Tolhen. I assume you intend to observe the old formalities?"
"I intend to spill your blood, Ren," Tolhen replied lightly.
"A sad waste." Ren called his lightsaber into his hand. "A man of your talents could prosper under the First Order, not least if you hand us your scientists and their work. You could have a world of your own, or any command you desired."
"My talents might fit me for your service," Tolhen said. "But my conscience never would."
Ren sighed, just a little, and shifted into a battle-stance. "So it comes down to blood?"
"It always will, for tyrants like you. Now come on, Ren, and bleed for your conquest."