Last time: Cien met the archeologists from the board she's on and looked into the temple.
Now: The raiders have arrived.
Chapter 20- The Raiders
"Were you able to get a hold of them?" Troy called back to Nova as he took cover behind a large mound of dried lava material. Blaster bolts were flying past as the raiders shot at them.
"I think so," Nova said as she shoved the commlink back into her pocket before pulling on her goggles. "But the signal was poodoo. For now, we hold the line." She pulled out three mini thermals, rolling them in the palm of her hand before thumbing them to life and launching them at the raiders. The thermals went off followed by a series of screams from the raiders.
The sound of a rotary cannon firing rapidly grew as Wynnie came running over, ducking under fire and snarling as she slew the cannon around to fire at the jerk that almost hit her. She ducked down behind the cover that Nova was at. "Those two marine guys are getting the archeologists down into the temple for cover." She said, as she put the cannon down and brought her rifle up to her cheek, firing off a few rounds at the mercenaries that were coming at them.
"Good," Troy said as he continued to fire off shots. "Now does anyone have any ideas?"
"I just blow stuff up. That's where all my good ideas go. And right now," Nova said before lobbing another mini thermal. "I'm trying to come up with one." The thermal exploded followed by more screams. "You got anything Wynnie?"
Wynnie just brought the cannon up and laid down a blanket of fire as an answer.
"We need to flank them," Troy said as he peered around cover. He pulled out his comm and called up his men. "Gorse! Take Hess and Kalen and cover the right sector, try to catch them in a crossfire!"
He received a series of confirmations from their troops as he spotted men and women move to flank the raiders.
"On your left," a voice called from behind as a series of blaster shots flew past them and towards the raiders.
Nova looked back and smiled. "Good timing, Commander."
"Are you all okay?" Kelce asked as he knelt down next to Nova.
"Yeah, but we are being overrun so any tricks you all got, please use them," Nova said, smirking.
Scamp looked at Troy. "What's the status here?"
"Right now we have troops moving in to flank them," Troy informed them. "They deployed from a few small transports about half a klick north of here, but they're sending more men. They have a corvette or something, and the Tretavane and its escorts are being attacked by more of those fighters up in orbit." He said, referring to the Republic corvette that had come into the nebula with them.
Kyr ran over to join them, Cien was beside him as they settled in behind the bit of cover everyone seemed to like. "What've we got?" He asked. Overhead fighters that were definitely not X-wings or A-wings went screeching past, which dropped proton bombs a little too close to their position.
"I counted like one hundred and fifty guys. Mercenaries, but good ones." Wynnie said as she adjusted her base of fire to try to help the marines that were over taking the position on the right flank.
"And they have a dozen fighters in the air," Troy added, frustrated as he ducked from a series of blasts. "We don't have the kind of equipment to attack them. And if we don't take them out soon, then we will be."
"How did they sneak in past the Valor?" Kyr asked annoyedly as he stood up and fired off a few blasts.
"There was a different path back in my time through the nebula, maybe it's still clear." Cien said in frustration. "It would have let them circumvent the Valor."
"Tac, where are you?" Kyr called into his bucket. There was a series of whistles and beeps in response. He and QT had already taken off to try to not get pinned down by the enemy air support. "Okay, good thinking, let me know when you guys can provide fire support." He yelled into his com over the din of battle. "Tac and QT are repositioning the Shadow, they'll provide fire support for us in a few minutes."
The sound of overly loud repulsors echoed over the plain as a corvette sized ship that looked like the mercenary's mothership came in.
"Osik." Kyr said.
"That's not good," Nova said, blanching as she looked up. Kelce moved off to tend to a nearby trooper who fell injured.
"What do we do, Commander?" Troy asked, the slightest hint of panic in his voice.
"We need to find better cover and take down these raiders while Tac and QT provide indirect fire. Nova, I need you to set up a chain link explosive. I have an idea to lay an ambush for the mercenaries on the ground," Scamp came up with.
"On it," Nova said as she pulled out a rolled chain of explosives from her bag.
"What about me?" Troy asked.
"Stay here," Scamp ordered before looking at Nova. "Follow me."
She nodded and he covered her as they moved forward so she could set the explosives.
"I'm still worried about those ships," Troy voiced to those that remained. "Are we sure your droids can handle that many ships on their own?"
"The fighters, probably. Got plenty of AA missiles." Kyr said as he poked around their cover and took potshots at some of the raiders that were trying to push up on the left flank. "That corvette is something different though, not sure I've got enough firepower to crack it."
"Could we jetpack up to it and take it out?" Cien asked as she deflected a few blaster bolts that got too close to them.
"No, the particle shields would block us from coming in." Kyr groused, trying to think.
One of the raider fighters screamed in low, and Kyr took cover and pulled Cien down with him. A proton bomb went off behind their position, showing them with dirt. As he recovered he looked over at Troy. "You okay Eltee?" He asked over the din of the firefight.
Troy coughed from the falling dust. "Yeah, I'm alright," he answered. "Are you Colonel?"
"Yeah." Kyr said as he stood up and fired off a few rounds. Another fighter came in right behind the other one, and they could hear the sound of the engines screaming in. Before Kyr could pull her down, Cien swept her arm up in something that looked like a roundhouse punch, hitting the ships nose hard with the Force, sending it into an uncontrolled cartwheel and it slammed into the ground in a rolling fireball of wreckage behind them.
Kyr looked at it stunned for a second. "That works." He said, turning around to pour more fire out to try to keep the troops at bay. "How do you have your marines deployed?" Kyr asked.
Troy shook his head as he was still staring at the destroyed vessel in a stunned daze. He looked over to Kyr. "I had Gorse take Hess and Kalen and cover the right sector. You know, try to catch them in a crossfire." He replied, still dazed. "Two marines are protecting the archeologists while the rest are holding a defense perimeter around the camp. And we have a dozen or so troops on the ground. Plus the Coppers present." He then added.
"Great." Kyr said. "Wynnie, cover that sector over there." Kyr said, pointing to the left flank, the raiders were pushing up on that side, leap frogging from cover to cover.
"Got it." She replied, switching to her rifle so she could lay down better fire.
"Cien, can you go cover the archeologists?" He asked.
"I'm staying here." She stated.
"They need the kind of cover you can provide with your saber, get them to safety, then we'll go deal with that corvette." Kyr said, an edge of exasperation to his voice.
She hesitated for a moment and grimaced under her buy'ce. "Fine." She said as she bound off to go help the archeologists get from their encampment into the digsite.
"What should I do, sir?" Troy asked as he came out of his daze, but it was obvious he was shaken.
Kyr glanced at him then at Wynnie. "Wynnie, stay here and provide suppressing fire. Eltee, you stay here and watch her back and coordinate your troops. Tell your men to fall back in phases if they start getting overwhelmed, but hold this position as long as possible, you got that?" Kyr asked.
Troy nodded. "Yes sir," he said as a new wave of confidence washed over him. He hefted his blaster and gave Wynnie cover. He also relayed the orders Kyr provided through the comm to the troops.
"Our last phase line is to fall back into the temple, we can hold out there for a while until the rest of the 19th can get in here in a few hours." Kyr said. "But hold this line as long as possible, and then fall back. Don't risk your troops, and don't ask them to do anything you aren't willing to do." Kyr said, getting up and bounding off to the go help out on the left flank.
"Yes sir!" Troy responded as he made a mental note of all of that. He felt ashamed for how poor of a job he was doing, but he was grateful for Kyr's advice. So he did as the Mando instructed.
"This is your first firefight, right?" Wynnie asked as the rotary cannon spun and she let out a gout of blaster bolts in suppressive bursts at anything that was moving.
Troy kept his gaze forward as he tried to keep a straight face. "I've done simulators and battlefield tests. And passed them all with flying colors. But an actual battle… yeah," he admitted ashamed. "I'm sorry I'm not what you expected."
"You're doing fine. Don't apologize though, it's bad for morale." Wynnie said as she closed her left eye to try to pick off a group of raiders that were pushing up on the left.
Troy looked at her and nodded. "Okay. Thanks Wynnie." He said smiling at her before turning his attention back to the battlefield.
"How many more are there?" Cien asked the closest marine loudly over the din of battle as she deflected a few stray blaster bolts that came out of the dirty air towards her. The two marines at her side were providing cover fire for the groups of archeologists as they made their way from the weak cover of their camp in groups of six to the lift, getting down into the temple. It was a crossing over open terrain, and they were having to shield the groups and provide cover fire to keep the expedition members from getting picked off as they ran across the open terrain to the lift.
"Only twenty left," Mariss called as she ushered people along. She was surprisingly calm despite the firefight happening.
Cien grimaced, she hated having to babysit them like this, she should be out at the front carving through the mercenaries. She tried to remind herself that this is probably what Sasha would be doing if she was here, so that's probably what she should be doing as well. Overhead a fighter dropped proton bombs near a team of marines that were further up trying to hold the line. Kyr was with them, and she saw him take cover as the bombs got too close. As it pulled up from its strafing run it came directly over the top of her, and out of reflex she just looked up with a snarl and let loose a gout of Sith lightning that played across the hull. It didn't go down, but it faltered midair and the engine started smoking.
"Whoa," Mariss breathed out as she watched that happen. "Was that lightning?" She asked, amazed.
"Yes." Cien said, looking at her. She clamped her hand on Mariss' shoulder and pushed her out of the way. "Get down!" A storm of blaster bolts came down on their position, which Cien turned and reflected back towards the source with her saber and a snarl.
Mariss yelped as she fell to the ground, covering her head with her arms. She stayed down until it was safe.
"Ma'am, focus on getting the others underground," one of the marines called over to Mariss.
"Understood," She said, giving him a thumbs up. She then scrambled to her feet and rushed back over to help the others get to cover.
Cien rushed over to where the marines were trying to hold the position. "If you don't need me for cover I'm going over to the camp to cover the next batch." She said calmly over the din of the battle.
"We've got this, Ma'am," the same marine from before said. "We'll call you if we need back up."
"Yeah, go help the scientists." The other said in response as they returned fire.
Cien turned and rushed across the open field, getting to the encampment where Mariss was getting the next group of archeologists ready to go. "This is going too slow." Cien groused as the raiders steadily pressed closer despite the defense.
"I know. I'm sorry, but the lift can't hold more than six or it could break. And then everyone down there will be trapped," Mariss explained as the lift went down. "So if you know of another way in, now is the time to suggest it."
Cien sight heavily. "No, the only other way I know of is buried under tens of meters of dried lava." She groused. "Do you have climbing gear? We could remove the lift and just have everyone repel down. They could even just use the power cables."
"Yes! We do!" Mariss exclaimed, remembering. "We used that to initially set up the lift. I'll go grab them. Have one more group board then we can do your idea." She said as she rushed off back towards the tent.
"Let's go!" Cien ordered the next batch as she placed herself between them and brought her saber up, ready to deflect any stray blaster bolts. The expedition members ran at her side across the open terrain, and Cien kept pace with them, which felt like she was trying to guard timid snails making their way to the entrance. They arrived, and the lift was waiting for them. "Load in!" Cien told them, bringing her saber up and deflecting a couple of blaster bolts away. Behind her she heard the sound of the lift slowly making its way down before she had a chance to look back at them, but the surround view in her helmet confirmed that they were headed down.
Mariss ran back with an arm full of various climbing equipment and extension cables. "This enough?" She asked Cien, panting from the running.
"I don't know, I've never gone climbing!" Cien replied.
"Then I'll take that as a yes," Mariss said as she moved over to the opening and started setting up the climbing gear. There was at least four ropes, five cables, and two free climbing kits. And there was still a little over a dozen people to go.
"I'll go get the last group, they can just repel down?" Cien asked, based on what little knowledge she had of what non-Force users had to do when they were climbing.
"Yes. As soon as one person is part way down on the ropes another can go. But the ropes only can hold two people max. The lava is just too loose for more to climb down the same rope at once," Mariss explained as she set everything up. "The extension cables can take the same. As for the free climbing gear… Well, it's for whoever is brave enough."
"Okay." Cien said, taking off to go get the last group. She activated her com line that was linked into the marines and the Copperheads. "We're getting the last large group of archeologists down with climbing gear."
"Roger." Kyr's voice came over the line.
Cien arrived at their encampment, where the rest of the archeologists were trying to stay out of the line of fire, and all but one or two seemed terrified by what was happening. "We're all going this time, come with me I'll cover you." She said, They timidly got to their feet and moved as quickly as they could at her side. They crossed the space as Cien deflected blaster bolts and the marines kept the raiders away, even though they were pressing closer.
"Okay Cien, we're ready," Mariss called as they arrived, and she tugged the last line to make sure it was secure.
"Can you manage this?" Cien asked Mariss.
"Yes," Mariss said confidently. "Do what you need to do."
"They're starting to get closer." Wynnie observed. They had taken out a lot of the mercenaries but they were actually pretty good, so they weren't going down too easily. They didn't have the single minded drive of Stormtroopers, these guys actually cared about their lives, so they were using surprisingly good tactics to counter the defenders.
"Move back," Troy ordered. "We need to keep space between them and us."
As Gorse and the two marines started trying to make their way back from their flanking position, a fighter came in overhead for another strafing run, catching them in the open with no cover. The three marines were thrown by the explosion as a proton bomb was dropped right on top of them, their forms scattered across the dusty ground, and none of the three moved.
"No!" Troy cried as he watched his men fall. "Medic!" He screamed as he rushed forward to help them.
"Lieutenant! Stop!" Wynnie called after him.
"I'm not leaving them behind," Troy called back over his shoulder to Wynnie as he continued to run.
"Kriff." Wynnie said under her breath as she got up from her prone position. "Troy get back here! There's nothing you can do!"
"There's always something I can do," Troy said back, wholeheartedly. But nothing was going to stop him until he reached his men. They had to be alive. They just had to be.
"Troy!" Wynnie called behind him.
But he didn't listen. He just kept running and running, dodging bolts left and right. However, as he bound up over a small hill towards his men, a raider fired off a shot that impacted his right shoulder. Troy faltered from the blast and tumbled down the hill, disappearing onto the other side.
"Troy!" Wynnie screamed in shock. She unslung her rifle and fired off several bolts back towards the origin. She wasn't sure if she hit anything but the fire from there paused, briefly. She ran over to Troy's form, where he was on the ground. "Troy! Are you okay?" She asked a little frantically as she knelt to his side.
Troy was lying on his front and his right shoulder was badly injured. He groaned as he attempted to move. He flopped over onto his left side, coughing. "Wynnie?" He said a little dazed, probably from being shot and falling down a hill.
"Troy's been hit, I need help." Wynnie said into her comm line on her wrist brace. "We need to get you back." She said to him, slinging her rifle over her back. They were in cover from a bit of the hill so they were relatively safe, even though the din of the firefight continued all around them. She grabbed onto the straps that were on the top of his combat vest shoulders, trying to drag him back to the encampment. She struggled, trying to pull his bulkier frame.
"I'm on my way, Wynn," Kelce's voice responded.
"I can walk," Troy said through clenched teeth as the motion was making his shoulder burn.
"Okay." She said, letting go and looking around for any enemies that might be coming up on them.
Troy staggered to his feet, holding his right arm with his left hand. He looked around for his men. "We still need to get my men. I'm not leaving them behind," he told her, determined.
"Troy, they're gone." Wynnie said, "it won't do them any good if you go with them." She said, looking at him fiercely.
Troy looked at her, blinking. He then looked over to where he could see their bodies. They weren't moving. He released a ragged breath as he tried to keep his emotions at bay. "Damn…"
"You still have nine other people in your command depending on you. Wait until after they're safe to worry about what happened to them." Wynnie ordered him, unconsciously adopting the tone the Colonel used.
He nodded and wiped his face on his ruined shirt. "You're right. You're right. Let's go," he said sorrowfully. Troy looked at her. "Thank you."
She just nodded. "We need to get back to the others." She told him.
"Yeah, lead the way," Troy said before readjusting his arm. There was no way he could shoot with that arm. It was a good thing he could shoot with his left. He picked up his discarded pistol and hefted it.
She unslung her rifle and started forward, grateful for the cover the hill provided them from this angle.
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