The Asilyr had taken position behind a dune on the hill below. Charging straight at our position caused too many casualties. We were unloading suppressive fire on their position, keeping them pinned.
"Keep up the fire, we've got them!" Irkchik shouted.
As I was laying down fire with my rifle, I felt an odd sense of…camaraderie with these hunters. When was the last time I was shoulder-to-shoulder with fellows, using teamwork to take down enemies? From Omman Minor to here, we had worked together to pursue Cassus. This, this was it. My future. As a bounty hunter, I could work with other hunters to track down and take down our targets.
It was all a nice thought, but why the hell were just the Asilyr attacking us? Terran and Munshaan were firing at our other flank, and they had gone quiet. What were they doing?
"What happened to your buddies?!" I shouted back.
"What?!" Palscho asked. In the midst of the confusion, the Ithorian took a blaster bolt to the side of the face, sending him sprawling backwards.
"Don't let up the fire!" Gorman shouted. Amateurs would instinctively think to go for their wounded comrades. Instead, it was better to gain fire superiority, suppress the enemy, and then tend to the wounded. Palscho would just have to suffer for now, poor bugger.
Suuvarsh said something. Irkchik replied "We can't help him, there's more coming!"
Another wave of Asilyr warriors came to reinforce their allies, attacking our flank. I turned to my left to hold them off, unleashing my gauntlet flamethrower while Gorman, Suuvarsh and Irkchik held off the main group. "Right flank!" Gorman yelled.
As he turned to shoot the next group, blaster bolts came shooting from the rear where Terran and Munshaan were. Palscho was groaning in Ithorian garble on the ground, while Suuvarsh and Irkchik took blaster fire in their backs, pegging them against the boulder cover.
"Irchik what's happening back there?!" I shouted back, holding off a wave from the left flank.
When they didn't respond, I took a quick look back to our fighting position. Palscho was rolling around on the ground in pain, while Suuvarsh and Irkchik had face planted against a boulder. Blaster wounds were smoking out of their backs. Covering the right flank was Gorman. As he ducked down to reload, blaster fire forced him from his position. He went down prone, and as he tried to crawl away, blaster bolts ripped into his legs and back, while a final shot smoked the back of his skull. He was finished.
Well shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.
I primed a frag and tossed it to the Asilyr on the left flank. As they scrambled to get away, I turned back around to face our main fighting position, as a horde of Asilyr swarmed in. I unloaded my last blaster pack into the horde, so I dropped my rifle and pulled out my pistol. As I shot into the horde, they returned fire, pegging me in the shoulder, chest, and helmet. My Mandalorian armor managed to soak up the bolts, but the pain would sting bad later. That is, if I was still alive.
I backed away towards the left flank. Even if the Asilyr there were alive, there were fewer there than in the fighting position. As I turned to run, someone blocked my way.
"Cassus?!"
There he was, after all this time. He wore his signature armor and battle helmet. His pistol was holstered on his thigh. Before I could react, Cassus quickly grabbed me by the shoulder, and with his other hand gave me a swift punch into my helmet, sending it off my head. I dropped backwards, smashing into the ground. As I shot my weapon arm up to blast Cassus at point blank, an Asilyr got the drop on me, and smashed my head with a blaster rifle.