[DL-1364]
Something like a huge krill, except adapted for life on land, had rushed out from behind the wing and leaped on top of TN-1017. DL-1364 found herself frozen in place, stunned by this. It was all happening again. She was going to lose all her people. The ship had already been cut in half. Why hadn't she recognized the parallel before now? And the monsters – the monsters were going to eat everyone, relentless as the void of space. Unable to look away, unable to move, she saw it tear off TN-1017's arm.
Corporal H-482 called out, "Open fire! Engage!" The voice was loud in her ears and jarred her into action. Training – so much training, so many simulations, so much drill and practice – allowed her to raise her blaster, take aim, and mechanically pull the trigger.
One shot. Then another. Then another. Even and spaced as she stepped forward with a steady, measured pace. Nothing really mattered, after all. It was like a sim. She hit the thing with every blast. She could see the bolts boil and flay and bubble the segmented shell of the thing, hurting it but not doing any more damage than if you held a burning iron to a person's skin for a few seconds – agonizing, but not life-threatening. Then two shots from H-482, in quick succession and targeting the same spot, penetrated. It must have severed the spine, because the creature collapsed backward, permanently interrupted from eating TN-1017.
DL-1364 turned, taking in the scene. She hadn't been given new orders and lacking those, she just stood there and stared. DL-8192 was getting back up, the land-krill on her having been dispatched by the Wookiee's bowcaster. There was another one dead nearby – doubtless it had attacked the Rebels, but apparently it didn't have much luck in that. Given what she'd seen of the one she'd fired on, she assumed the bowcaster had dispatched both of them.
The Wookiee and Commander Dameron ran forward to where all other attention was focused. Tico was trapped under the repulsor-lift, which Threnalli was using to shove a crab-like monster, keeping it from attacking her. Denied its primary target, it turned to Finn, who was peppering it with ineffective shots from his blaster pistol. It caught his forearm briefly with a claw, trying to jerk Finn forward so it could bite him. The sharp spines of the claw ripped through Finn's unarmored flesh. He avoided its mouth, but he still fell with a pained noise.
FO-1282 leaped on the repulsor-lift, then nimbly transferred from it to the broad, flat back of the crab, somehow keeping her balance while putting the muzzle of her weapon directly against the shell. She fired. The gun bucked in recoil. The crab staggered, clearly mortally wounded. She fell between it and the wing section as it scuttled back and forth without coordination. People stopped shooting, as they were in each other's firing lines and it looked like it might die for good any second.
At the last moment, it managed to identify the person who had harmed it and lunged toward FO-1282, who had been unable to find her feet with the thing knocking into her and the ground loose beneath her. But her blaster was up, shoved into the gaping mouth that reached for her, and blew another hole in the thing from the inside.
It was dead. DL-1364 felt dull inside and tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of all this. Being alive was exhausting. But the alternative? She didn't want to die. She just expected to. Dully, she looked down at her blaster rifle to check the settings. Everything was fine on it. She couldn't help but reflect it would have been better if she'd been on point instead of TN-1017.