Chapter Seven: Fire and Ice
"Heads up," Mako's voice sounded in Zarek's ear. "The lockdown just went off-line."
"How did they manage that?" Zarek demanded. But the answer didn't matter. "Never mind. How many troops are heading our way?"
"Or ours?" Cipher Nine's voice interjected.
"No way to tell," Mako replied. "But there are 300 Republic troops aboard, so…"
"Too many," Zarek said flatly. He wheeled to Haken and the Imperial troops. "All right, ladies and gentlemen. It's time to go."
"Should we kill the bridge crew?" Kaliyo asked.
Zarek was disgusted by the eagerness in her voice, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he glared at the Republic officers. "Only if they give you a reason," he said. "Any of them moves before we're off the bridge, you know what to do."
Two troops flanked the exit, facing the bridge crew to allow the others to withdraw.
Zarek lingered inside the doorway. "Prisoners to the bridge!" he barked. He waited, watching warily until the final Republic trooper had filed in. Then he slipped out, blasting the wall sensor on his way out. It wouldn't take long to bypass that, but for at least a few minutes, the bridge was locked.
"We need to move," he told the others.
But it was too late. Republic troops were already visible at the end of the corridor. They were closing fast.
"Into those doorways!" Zarek ordered. "Give them a gauntlet to run!"
Before the Republic forced were in range, the Imperials had taken up positions, holding the enemy at bay with staggered blaster fire. But it wouldn't last. Two smoke grenades would obscure their vision; a well-placed incendiary would knock enough of them out for the Republic to get through.
Khem Val stared eagerly at the Republic forces. "I hunger," he announced.
Zarek considered. The monster would definitely knock the enemy back, and he wouldn't mind losing the unpredictable Dashade. But he didn't trust the creature's Sith Master to be understanding if Khem died.
"Too many, even for you," he told Khem. "You come with us."
The creature growled at him, but obeyed.
Zarek called to Mako. "I need an escape route, and I need it now."
"Can you blast through some walls?" Mako asked.
Zarek conveyed the question to Kaliyo, who responded by throwing back her head and roaring with laughter.
Cress processed the enemy formation in an instant. The Imperials were few in number – he estimated between 12 and 15 – but they were well positioned.
"Do we have any smoke grenades?" he barked.
No response for several seconds. Then one private raised a hand. "I have two incendiaries," he said.
It wouldn't create the level of smoke Cress would have liked – But if they were thrown with precision, the heat would be enough to drive the Imperials back from their doorways. It might even take one or two of them out, depending on the level of heat.
"OK, HAVOC," he said in a low voice. "We're going to have to do this perfectly. Who has the best throwing arm – Not just distance, but accuracy?"
"Miklin," the private said without hesitation. Several other voices agreed. Miklin – a craggy Weequay, took the grenades from the private.
"You're going to need to throw those directly between the far doorways," Cress told him. "First the end of the hall, then the one right in front of it. Can you do it?"
"Easy," the Weequay replied.
"The rest of you," Cress said. "As soon as those incendiaries go off, we're going to charge right up that corridor. It's going to be hot – You're going to feel like you're burning when we cross the blast zone. You need to keep moving. One foot in front of the other, blasters firing all out until we reach the bridge. Don't bother with aiming. Just keep moving through the heat. Even if the guy next to you falls, keep moving forward. Simple, I know - but you better believe it's not going to be easy. Questions?"
There were no questions.
"HAVOC Squad – advance!"
Zarek left a half dozen troops at the end of the hall, directing them to hold off the Republic troops. "Don't wait too long," he emphasized. "Delay them, but not long enough to get killed or captured. Buy us two minutes if you can, then follow."
He and Kaliyo ducked into the room on the left – the side away from the hull. Kaliyo planted a charge at the center of the opposite wall.
The blast was enormous, but also controlled. The center of the wall collapsed, leaving a hole wide enough for two at a time to cross to the adjoining room.
"Next, the inside wall," Mako directed. "That will take you into the service ducts. From there, you should be able to reach the shuttle bay."
As Kaliyo planted the remaining charge, Zarek called Cipher.
"What's your status?" he asked.
"Mako's closing bulkheads behind us to keep us from getting overrun," Cipher replied. "We'll be taking an escape pod out. Just as planned."
"I don't like this," Zarek protested.
"We'll be fine, Zarek," Cipher said. "You've done your job. It's time to let us do ours."
Cress heard the blasts before Miklin was in range to throw the grenades. Loud blasts, with sounds of metal shattering. He was confused for a moment, then realized what it must mean.
The Imps were blasting themselves an escape route.
They were at the edge of the Imperials' range, and the enemy was already firing. Miklin let out a howl as he ran forward, throwing the first incendiary and reaching for the second. A blaster bolt caught him, and he fell to his knees. But he held onto the second grenade, and managed a decent forward throw.
"Advance!" Cress shouted.
His soldiers charged, firing blindly into the corridor. The heat from the blast was like an inferno. Cress felt as if his organs were boiling. He heard cries and coughs from the men around him. A few soldiers were driven back – but the majority held the line and continued the advance.
Cress saw and heard some men fall, but not as many as he had honestly expected. The Imperial fire was slowing. The Imps must have been gradually retreating into the hole they had blasted.
By the time his men cleared the hot zone, no living Imperials were visible. From the bodies in the hall, it looked as though they had cut the Imp numbers in half. He took stock of his own force. He had lost seven soldiers, including those who had fallen back from the heat.
"Check the bridge," he told the man nearest him.
The wall panel had been blasted. Cress left two men to force it open, then went in search of the Imperial escape route.
It didn't take long to find the path they had blasted into the service ducts.
"HAVOC Squad! With me!"
He jumped into the hole, double-timing it, pushing to catch up with the enemy forces.
Zarek was almost at the shuttle bay when he heard the sound of pursuit. The enemy was closer than he had expected.
"Can you do something to slow them down?" he asked Kaliyo.
"Do you care how nasty it is?"
"Not if it buys us time."
Kaliyo dug into her back and removed two bits of plastic. She waited, listening for the Republic troops. Then she slammed the two bits together and thrust the plastic onto the wall beside her.
"Run!" she screamed.
Cress heard the woman's cry. "Run!" Urgent, but not panicked. Not the voice of someone afraid of the troops chasing her.
He remembered the shuttle. Someone had rigged that expertly.
"Down!" he shouted, diving to the floor himself.
A sheet of blue fire erupted overhead. Cress braced himself for heat. Instead, he felt intense cold. Frigid ice that made the wastes of Hoth seem temperate by comparison.
The men who didn't dive fast enough never had a chance to scream. They were frozen in place, like statues.
When the blue flame cleared, it was with a sonic burst. The statues that had once been troopers shattered into glass. Cress' remaining force stared at the crystallized remains in horror.
"Mourn later!" Cress snapped. "Now we make those Imp bastards pay!"
The prospect of revenge fueled the troops, quickening their pace as they again gave chase.
They burst out into the shuttle bay, firing wildly. The Imperial troops had dragged wreckage from the initial explosion, forming a barricade around their shuttle. A delaying action, to allow the Imps to retreat.
Cress and his men scattered, firing at the barricade. To Cress's satisfaction, Imperial troops fell. The defensive line crumbled.
"Advance!" he shouted.
The Republic troops had recovered from Kaliyo's explosion more quickly than Zarek had anticipated. The Imperials' defenses had crumbled. There were still soldiers in the shuttle bay, but Zarek could actually see the angry eyes of the Twi'lek trooper leading the assault.
"We have to go," he said. "Lift off now!"
The Imperial pilot obeyed. But as the shuttle rose from the floor, Khem Val jumped out.
"I hunger!"
The Republic troops backed up at his fearsome presence.
"Hold!" Zarek ordered.
Imperial soldiers leaned out the entrance, extending their hands to help their comrades into the shuttle. Zarek could see the Republic rallying, fire concentrating on Khem. The Dashade was strong, but not blaster-proof. He was being driven back, and finally spun and ran toward the opposite corridor, heading aft. Toward Cipher and Reyenna.
Zarek doubted the monster would make it. But his idiotic charge had bought them time to get the remaining soldiers aboard.
"Punch it!" he ordered.
The Republic soldiers had shifted fire from Khem to the shuttle. Zarek felt a lurch.
"Engine Two is out," the pilot gritted.
The shuttle was rocked by more fire. But the pilot held the ship steady, and accelerated as rapidly as he dared. Another engine was taken out, but that still left them with one - enough to lurch back toward the Black Talon.
Zarek allowed himself a deep breath, then looked at the faces of the Imperial soldiers. For most of them, he knew this had been their first engagement. Most of them looked like they were in shock, staring at their friends disbelievingly.
"We're alive," he confirmed. "We made it."
He glanced over his shoulder, in the direction of the Republic ship. He thought of Cipher Nine, and hoped she would make it out as well.
Cress watched the Imperial shuttle retreat on its one remaining engine.
We had them, he fumed. But he hadn't been prepared for that... thing that jumped out at them. The men had recovered quickly from the shock. A few seconds was enough to bring weapons to bear and drive the creature back.
But those seconds had been enough. The Imps who had invaded were gone.
At least we chased them off the bridge. It was a victory. How complete would depend on Jorgan and the Jedi, but he and his men had done their part.
As he turned back to the Republic troops, he saw them drawing into formation in front of him. They were grinning. They knew nothing about The General. All they knew was that Imps had stormed their ship, and they had driven them off.
The men began chanting. Low and discordant at first, but growing steadily in volume. Two words, over and over. words that a mere hour ago had seemed destined to become a curse instead of a cheer:
"HAVOC Squad! HAVOC Squad! HAVOC Squad!"