"The Last of the Lyons"
Night had fallen over Pau City by the time Lucy and Kyle made their way down to the Imperial Hydroelectric Power Plant. The facility was nestled within a massive tunnel that branched off from the bottom of the sinkhole, where the plant exploited the natural flow of one of Utapau's many aquifers to generate power with the use of three massive water wheels. The wheels generated the only disturbances in the water, and without them, the water likely would've been almost completely calm. Dug into the wall behind the water wheels was the rest of the plant, including the turbines which would be turned to generate the power.
Befitting its military purpose, the plant was built like a fortress. Much of the facility was plated with durasteel and overlooked by a trio of watchtowers, each of which was affixed with an automated laser cannon. Its position within the natural tunnel also severely limited the options that any potential attacker would have in planning their approach. The facility only had one visible entrance, a main gate which was sizable enough for a vehicle to comfortably pass through it, and guarded by a pair of Stormtroopers. One of the troopers crewed a large static cannon of some kind, powered by a similarly impressive power cell. As Lucy and Kyle approached, the gate opened and they were waved on through.
The walk had been a quiet one, with only a few words exchanged in the brief moments where they'd been relatively alone. Even with little in the way of open communication, they knew each other very well, and Lucy could see that Kyle's apprehension and anxiety were starting to get the best of him. In an unspoken response, she tried to stay a bit closer by his side to remind him that he wasn't alone. A bit of concern clawed at her own heart, but she kept it locked away. They had come too far to succumb to fear now.
"It looks like the Major's got everything in position," Lucy noted. With the possibility of being overheard she chose her words very carefully, as to not say anything suspicious.
"Indeed," Kyle replied. Even with his false accent and the voice modulator in his helmet, the exhaustion that he felt was still clearly audible. "He has certainly not disappointed; let us hope that it will be enough."
The double meaning behind what he was saying was not lost on her, and she tightened her grip on her stolen blaster as they walked forward deeper into the power plant. Kyle had given her some basic lessons on how to use a blaster once but she was far from comfortable with using such a weapon in an actual battle, especially one of an unfamiliar model. Their standing plan was for Kyle to throw her lightsaber to her as soon as the fighting started, but if that failed, she could always pull it to her with the Force.
Behind the main gate was a large courtyard, occupied by several deactivated hoversleds and speederbikes. Their exact models were unfamiliar, but their purposes were unmistakable, much like the rest of the new technologies that Lucy had seen so far. Standing in the Courtyard was Major Dauphin, now clad in a set of dark gray body armor and a simple helmet of the same color, who was looking over a holographic projection of the Hydroelectric Plant alongside two more of his Stormtroopers. Several blue dots on the hologram marked the various positions that the Imperials had taken, but as he saw them approaching he offered a professional nod.
"Ah, Inquisitor, it's good to see you've arrived," Major Dauphin greeted him. "We've prepared an E-Web at the main gate, and have a second in the control room aimed at the courtyard should the Rebels get that far."
"Very good, Major," Kyle replied. Despite the exhaustion that Lucy sensed from him, his impersonation skills had not faltered. "Has the rest of the Garrison been alerted to the arrival of our phantom Jedi?"
"As of around four minutes ago, yes," Dauphin answered. "A full search of the city will be underway within minutes, and the Rebels will no doubt be made aware that they have an ally in need of a distraction with little delay."
Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit disturbed by the venom with which the Major spoke of the Jedi. He wore his hatred on his face, and would not have been the slightest bit out of place in the Army of the Sith Empire. Knowing that men like him held the Galaxy in their fist… it was a good thing she was wearing a helmet. Her expression would have surely been enough to draw the Major's suspicion.
Taking a soft breath, she remembered the lessons that she had been taught by her Masters, and refocused herself. The clock was now ticking, and the sense of premonition of danger that the Force granted her made it clear; one way or another, things were about to escalate.
There was a moment of awkward silence as Kyle debated how to respond, and once again, Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Planning their ambush with the Major would be particularly tricky. While Kyle and Lucy would obviously turn and attack the Empire as soon as the Rebels showed their hand, they had to somehow plan a "defense" that would leave the Major and his men in a vulnerable position. They also had to do so whilst not alerting the Major to the fact that he was about to be betrayed.
"Then we shall plan quickly," Kyle declared. "While the main gate will be the most obvious point of contention, we must consider what else the Rebels may try."
"Worry not, the Rebels will need quite the explosive to breach the walls, but assuming they have them, we can orient the Courtyard E-Web to cover any potential breaches," Major Dauphin answered. Lucy pursed her lips behind her helmet. Although Major Dauphin had only been given a few hours to prepare, he had clearly given substantial thought to the planning. "What about your orders?"
Kyle only paused for a moment, clearly having at least something prepared. "Kill the Rebels if you must, but Lord Vader has made it clear that he desires more prisoners. They should be stunned, if possible."
"Our blaster's stunners won't do much against their power armor, but I've had my men turn in their grenades for sonic detonators," Major Dauphin explained. "We might even be able to coax them to surrender. After all, they haven't been faced with an Inquisitor before."
"Perhaps, but we should not depend on such a possibility," Kyle replied. "As for prisoners, remember Vader's will, but our primary mission remains the destruction of this Rebellion. I don't believe that there's any good reason to lose sleep should all of our enemies lie dead after today."
The Major nodded enthusiastically, but Lucy did not miss the hidden meaning of Kyle's words.
"Well said, Inquisitor," Major Dauphin said. "Now, forgive me for suggesting what might seem like a cowardly approach, but I suspect that our ambush will be more successful if you weren't… visible."
There was a slight look of anxiety on the Major's face as he danced around telling Kyle to go and hide, but Lucy was surprised to not sense even the slightest bit of fear from him. If anything, he seemed almost emboldened, no doubt feeling as though he'd gotten to tell an Inquisitor what to do.
"As much as I loathe such methods, you make a fair point," Kyle conceded. "My agent and I shall remain concealed by the second E-Web. Once the battle commences, we shall reveal our hand. Where will you be?"
"By the main gate, of course," Major Dauphin answered. "I suspect my presence will have entirely the opposite effect," he added with a confident smirk, even being so bold as to flash a conspiratorial wink at the Inquisitor. "I shall make for an excellent target."
Again, Lucy failed to sense any fear from Major Dauphin, although she did detect a fair degree of disbelief from Kyle. The Major's confidence made total sense to her, since as far as he was concerned, he had an Inquisitor watching his back.
"Then I shall not delay any further," Kyle stated. He turned away before pausing to say over his shoulder, "...And do try to avoid getting killed, Major. The Empire is in short supply of qualified officers."
Major Dauphin gave him a small smile. "I shall do my best, Inquisitor."
There was a small degree of guilt that radiated off of Kyle as they made their way deeper into the Hydroelectric Plant, but along with it was a strong sense of resolve. Just as a reminder that he wasn't alone, Lucy briefly stepped in front of him and accidentally bumped into his shoulder. They exchanged a silent look at one another, and even behind the masks of evil that they wore, Lucy swore she could see him smile.
It had been about thirty minutes since Lucy and Kyle had arrived in an observation room, manned by only a single Stormtrooper. His heavy E-Web cannon was pointed at the main courtyard of the power plant, affording an excellent field of fire that, as Lucy noted, included all three of the watchtowers and their automated laser cannons.
Communication between her and Kyle turned out to be very sparse thanks to the unwanted third party sitting between them. At the very least, the Trooper didn't seem to pay them much mind once they'd briefed him on their "plan." As far as he was concerned, she and the Inquisitor would be leaving as soon as the shooting started.
There was a rich tension in the air as the small but well-equipped Imperial squad warily waited. Even without a guarantee that the Rebels would take the bait, there seemed to be an unspoken guarantee that something was going to happen. Kyle remained totally silent, his hand resting firmly on the Inquisitor's lightsaber, which he kept concealed beneath his dark robes.
The Force became more and more disturbed with each passing moment, and Lucy found it hard to ignore. It only became worse as the Empire began its crackdown and search of Pau City, creating an atmosphere of fear that seemed to smother half of the planet. Her heart panged with sympathy and regret, but it was too late to turn back now. They would simply have to make things right once they had joined forces with the Rebellion.
Lucy's thoughts were swiftly derailed by the sound of a screeching rocket. She, Kyle, and the Stormtrooper crewing the E-Web all snapped to attention just in time to watch one of the watchtowers be struck, its automated laser turret reduced to a heap of burning shrapnel. As flaming scrap metal rained down across the courtyard, the Stormtroopers leapt into action and began to fire at the unseen attackers.
Blaster fire rang out from both ends of the cavern, and Lucy heard a second rocket fly and explode, but did not see where it landed. The automated laser cannons all turned to fire at unseen targets beyond the wall.
The Stormtrooper standing beside them swung their E-Web around, scanning for targets, up until the exact moment that Kyle ignited his lightsaber through the back of the man's head. It was about as quiet of a kill as he could've managed, and he quickly caught the lifeless Imperial's body before lowering them gently down to the ground. He then reached into his cloak and pulled out Lucy's lightsaber, tossing it to her as she tore the suffocating helmet off of her head.
Lucy ignited her weapon as she breathed freely for the first time in hours. "How did you ever wear one of these everywhere for so long?" Lucy asked as she dropped the helmet to the ground.
"Remind me to tell you later," Kyle brushed off the question. He threw off the black cloak and clipped the Inquisitor's helmet to his belt, revealing his Temple Security Force Uniform once more. He took the time to safely de-ignite the Inquisitor's lightsaber before affixing it to his belt as well, before stepping up to the back of the E-Web. "Right now, let's deal with those cannons…"
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you know what you're doing with that?"
"It'll be fine… this doesn't look terribly different from the repeating blasters we used to use," Kyle said as he took control of the E-Web, targeted the closest laser cannon, and pulled the trigger.
Instantly, the weapon began to launch a hail of bright red blaster bolts in a blinding storm of fire. The whole weapon jerked in his hands at first before Kyle got a hold of the recoil, shifting the stream of fire back towards the target. Each of the large blaster bolts exploded on impact, and within a few seconds, the armor of the automated laser cannon melted away, and the top of the watchtower exploded. Kyle shifted focus onto the last watchtower, which quickly exploded into a similar spray of sparks, shrapnel, and fire.
As the second turret was destroyed, Lucy noticed the E-Web's power supply begin to steam, and could feel the room grow noticeably warmer. "Kyle!"
Her shout got his attention, and he let go of the trigger just as the steam emanating from the E-Web's power supply became thicker. A small spark flew out of the boxy device, as she and Kyle hastily backed away from the battery, and Lucy braced herself to contain any potential explosions with the Force. However, it seemed that she had warned him just in time, and the power supply merely made an uncomfortable crackling noise, before the lights on the battery's controls went dark.
"Alright, so maybe it was a little more complicated than I expected…" Kyle admitted sheepishly. "That's the cannons taken care of, but the rest of the Imperials probably know we're not on their side anymore."
"Leave them to me," Lucy said, tossing her blaster over to him as she got a better grip on her lightsaber. The gloves of the Stormtrooper armor that she was wearing weren't all that different from the gloves on her own armor, so she didn't feel particularly hindered by them.
What was different however, was the actual mobility offered by the rest of the armor. The Empire had evidently considered eliminating weak points to be a bigger priority than flexible movement when they had designed their armor. While that made perfect sense for rank-and-file infantry, it was a noticeable disadvantage for a Jedi, and would force her to be a bit more cautious with her movements.
Lucy took the lead as the two of them descended back down into the courtyard. There, they found a trio of Stormtroopers taking cover amidst the parked hoversleds and speederbikes, but they swiftly turned their attention to Lucy once they saw her lightsaber and lack of a helmet.
"A Jedi?!" Their leader asked in disbelief, before swiftly coming to their senses and ducking into cover, narrowingly avoiding a blaster bolt that Kyle had fired at them.
The three Stormtroopers demonstrated their skill well, all immediately turning and firing their weapons at her as quickly as they could, forcing her onto the defensive. Shots were fired at Kyle as well, but Lucy deflected or otherwise blocked all of them, attempting to deflect the bolts back at those who had sent them. Her efforts were foiled by the cover the Stormtroopers had taken, and Kyle wasn't having much luck with hitting them either. It was a difficult situation, but not for a Jedi.
With her lightsaber clutched firmly in her right hand, Lucy pushed out with the other, and sent a shockwave through the Force that pushed against the Stormtroopers and vehicles alike. All three were forcefully thrown from their feet and roughly impacted the parked vehicles, before being struck again by others. Whether or not the collisions had killed them wasn't a certainty, but even if they had survived, they were certainly out of the fight.
"Thanks, I didn't really know what to do there. I wish we had some grenades," Kyle admitted. "Look out, there's more!"
No doubt having been drawn by the noise, another pair of Stormtroopers ran out from the direction of the main gate. Both opened fire as they ran, but again, Lucy was able to protect herself and Kyle from the blasts. This time, the Stormtroopers advanced without cover, and paid for it when Lucy deflected their own blasts back at them. Both fell to the ground in heaps, but Lucy and Kyle paid them little mind as they continued towards the gate.
They found the main gate had been blown open, likely by the second rocket, and just outside of it, the E-Web and its operator had similarly been blown to smithereens. The corpses of several other Stormtroopers surrounded their fighting positions, replaced instead by a new team of soldiers.
There were a little over a dozen of them. Most were human, with the obvious exception of a large muscular green alien whose species Lucy didn't recognize. All of the humans wore suits of what had to be power armor, although it was a far cry from the sleek, uniform armor that Lucy had observed from the empire. It was very heavy-looking, dominated by simple gray metal plates, and covered the entire body and head. Emblazoned on their armor in a striking red color was a symbol that, while different in its own right, bore a striking similarity to the insignia of the Jedi Order.
The Rebels had made their entrance.
The only Imperial still breathing was Major Dauphin, who sat on his knees as another armored rebel, presumably the leader of the group, held a sword-length vibroblade to his throat. Dauphin looked with a hopeful expression to the gate as Lucy and Kyle ran through, before a look of shock and betrayal overtook his features. His eyes lingered on Lucy's green lightsaber, and then the Inquisitor's helmet and lightsaber on Kyle's belt, and he glared at them with utter disgust.
The Rebel Leader also looked over to them, her voice ringing out an order even before the rest of her Rebels could finish raising their rifles. "Hold your fire!"
The rest of the Rebels, now noticing that they clearly were not working the Empire, steadily lowered their weapons and looked to Lucy. Now having the Rebels' attention, and sensing no surviving Imperials aside from Major Dauphin, she extinguished her lightsaber and stepped forward. Strangely, the premonition of danger still lingered, but that was probably coming from the rest of the Imperials in Pau City.
"We mean you no harm," Lucy told the Rebels as she came to stand before the Rebel Leader. "I'm Lucy, and this is Kyle. We came here looking for Sarah Lyons and the Rebels."
The Rebel Leader tilted her head in faint surprise, before reaching up with one hand and removing her armored helmet. Lucy sensed a small bit of annoyance from Kyle as the Rebel did so, but Lucy's attention remained firmly on whose face was behind the mask.
Unsurprisingly, Lucy found herself matching the gaze of Sarah Lyons. Her eyes were a steely blue, her short blond hair filled with specks of dirt and what was probably bits of debris. The expression on Sarah's face betrayed a strong degree of surprise, but also a reserved giddiness. "Then you won't need to look any further… By the Force, I thought that you were just some Imperial trick…"
"That makes two of us," Major Dauphin bitterly agreed, staring at both women with utter disgust. "But a Jedi won't be enough to save your little gang. You-"
Sarah did not silence him with words, but made her point clear by moving her sword to within an inch of the Major's throat. A look of fear dominated the Major's features as he closed his mouth, but Lucy could sense little firm determination in his heart. Even in his most dire moment, Major Dauphin's loyalty didn't waver.
"The rest of the Imperial Garrison is dead, but we shouldn't stay for long. It won't be long until the Empire notices that we're here," Lucy said, before gesturing over to Kyle. "Kyle and I have a ship we can use to escape. Assuming there's not any more of you, we can fit you all."
Sarah nodded, taking the information in stride. There was an unspoken, mutual understanding between them all. Introductions and explanations would have to wait, right now they had to ensure that they would all survive to get to know each other. Given the lack of any objection to the plan from Sarah, Lucy had to presume that she was okay with leaving Utapau, at least for the time being.
Gesturing to the rest of the Rebels, Sarah issued out rapid-fire orders. "Glade, Kodiak, clear the compound, make sure we're clear and plant the last of our detonators on whatever looks important. Val, Peter, Fawkes, take our power cells and get them refilled. The rest of you, pull security."
"What about him?" Kyle asked, nodding his head towards Major Dauphin.
"Indeed, Sentinel Lyons, what about me?" the Imperial asked with a mocking sneer, somehow managing to sound contemptuous even while on his knees with a blade held to his throat.
Sarah returned her attention to the man and glared down at him, her calm demeanor doing no justice to the absolute fury that radiated off of her. "You will be given the same mercy that you gave my father… any last words, Major?"
Briefly, Lucy considered intervening in whatever was about to happen. Executing a defeated enemy on their knees was a far cry from defending oneself in battle, and any Jedi who did such a thing would be reprimanded substantially, if not removed from the order outright. Whether or not the individual in question "deserved" to be killed was a matter that the Jedi deemed irrelevant, as killing someone in a demonstration of such hatred was about as far into the Dark Side as one could fall. Sarah was clearly no Jedi, but the Dark Side radiated off of her all the same.
After a moment's thinking however, Lucy stayed her hand, realizing just how little of a choice they truly had. Major Dauphin might have had a look of fear on his face, but through the Force, Lucy still sensed a proud, stalwart defiance radiate off of him. In a completely mad way, this was precisely what he wanted, to die as a loyal martyr in service to his Empire. Stopping Sarah would also make for a less-than-stellar first impression, and so, with a hefty weight in her stomach, Lucy stood silently and waited for Dauphin's answer alongside Kyle and Sarah.
Dauphin's fearful expression lingered for a moment, before it was supplanted by one of stalwart determination as he turned to face Sarah. "Not for you, Rebel Scum! Long live the Em-"
Major Dauphin was interrupted as Sarah almost casually removed his head from his shoulders, not even bothering to look as it rolled away. Instead, she reached down and retrieved a small object from his chest pocket. It might have been an unfamiliar model, but Lucy had spent enough time in the Jedi Archives to recognize a code cylinder when she saw one.
With the code cylinder in hand, Sarah donned her helmet once more, and stood back up to face Lucy. "You're not wrong about the Empire. I'll assume you inspired the panic they're in, but it won't last long. My people are exhausted and don't have the ammo for a prolonged fight, we need your ship on the double. If they park outside the tunnel, we can run our way to them."
"I'll give them a call," Kyle replied as he reached for his comlink and switched it on. "Ryder-One, this is Scepter, do you read? Repeat, Ryder-One, this is-"
Kyle's voice seemed to trail off however, as Lucy's focus was rapidly ground down by a great disturbance in the Force. The premonition of danger that she had sensed ever since the battle had begun was only growing worse, but the Imperial Garrison had been defeated.
Closing her eyes, she calmed herself, breathed deeply, and sensed her surroundings with a greater focus. Had the Empire realized what was happening sooner than they had expected? Were there more Imperials at the Power Plant that they hadn't known about? Had the battle done enough damage to the cavern walls to destabilize it?
She received her answer when, amidst the sound of crackling fires left over from the battle and the Rebels talking to one-another, Lucy heard the distinctive sound of a large amount of water being moved, creating a wave.
But the water was calm when we arrived, why would- Lucy's train of thought skipped a beat as the realization clicked, and she interrupted whatever conversation Kyle and Sarah were having. "Wait! There's something in the water!"
The two ceased their discussion and turned to face her, and while Kyle seemed more confused than anything, Sarah shot into immediate thought, before her helmeted head jerked up to attention. "Shit… Look alive people, we've got company in the water!"
Sarah promptly sheathed her sword and pulled a heavy-duty blaster rifle off of a sling around her shoulder, before running over to the badly-damaged Imperial Positions. Lucy and Kyle slid into cover right behind her, and Kyle tightened his grip on his blaster as he looked to Sarah with newfound doubt. "What is it, more Imperials?"
He found his answer when the sound of waves could be heard again, although far, far louder this time. A low, loud groan echoed down both ends of the entire cave as a massive reptilian creature emerged from the water, clambering onto the duracrete surface. Even on four legs, it stood eight-meters tall, and stared down at the gathered Rebels with a pair of large forward-facing eyes, mounted just about a large mouth, which was easily big enough to swallow a man.
"Worse," Sarah answered. "Nos monster. Open fire!"
Kyle and Sarah opened fire with their blasters, swiftly joined by all of the other Rebels who were present as the rest began to run back to the gate. Blaster bolts rained down on the Nos monster like hail as it approached the gate with rapidly increasing speed, but the creature barely even flinched, and was certainly not slowed. A shot fired by Sarah Lyons managed to strike the creature's eye, forcing it closed, but again, the Nos monster did not stop.
Recognizing that the massive beast would be on them in mere seconds, Lucy reached out with both hands and unleashed the strongest Force Push that she could muster. The air rippled as the wave of energy struck the beast, causing it to stumble on its feet in surprise and begin to slide forward instead of run. The creature had finally been slowed, but hadn't been stopped, and Lucy ignited her lightsaber, bracing herself for a melee.
"Glade, rocket, now!" Sarah shouted.
At her urging, one of the Rebels ran up to the gate, rocket launcher in hand. With well-practiced ease, they dropped to one knee, took aim, and sent a rocket downrange towards the Nos Monster. The rocket struck the creature's neck, and the beast fell on its belly as its momentum carried it across the ground. By the time its dead body had stopped sliding across the duracrete, it was only around a meter from Lucy's foot.
"That was my last one, Sentinel," Glade calmly stated whilst everyone caught their breath. "Our explosives are in place, we're ready to leave once you give the order."
"Get everyone together, the Jedi and her friend have a ship coming to get us," Sarah ordered, receiving a brief acknowledgement from Glade before he left, and Sarah turned her attention to Kyle. "Better tell your pilot they'll have to come to us. We just killed a mother, and her kids are gonna be pissed."
Kyle glanced at the massive corpse beside them as he nervously drew his comlink. "How many kids do they usually have?"
"Enough to kill us before we can walk out of this tunnel," Sarah answered vaguely before turning to Lucy. "Nice work. I don't suppose you could pull that trick on something a lot smaller?"
Sarah meaningfully gestured to a grenade resting on her belt, and Lucy nodded. "Just tell me where you need it."
Even with a helmet on, Lucy could somehow sense Sarah's smile. "I was hoping you would say that."
At the same time, Kyle was on his comlink. After a moment of adjusting the signal, which was likely not coping well with the millions of tons of rock all around them, he managed to get a clear connection. "Ryder-One, this is Scepter, change of plans. We need you to come to us, how copy?"
"Are you kidding?! You want me to fly down that tunnel?!" Paulen replied with audible dismay. "I'll have maybe four meters of wiggle room on either side!"
"Oh come on!" Kyle complained in turn. "What kind of pilot doesn't like a chance to show off?! Just get the hell down here!"
Paulen sighed with resignation, but the sound of engines firing up could be heard through the comlink. "Just be ready to climb aboard!"
Kyle holstered his comlink, and gripped his blaster with renewed vigor. "Got a plan in mind Sarah?"
"We hold the gate and wait for your pilot," Sarah simply answered. "We can't use the opening as a chokepoint, but whatever's left of those watchtowers will block your ship from reaching the courtyard."
Lucy spared a glance at the smoldering ruins, before an idea struck her. Rather than being solid structures, each watchtower seemed to be held up by a number of smaller supports, the strongest of which couldn't have been more than half a meter thick. "What if we could bring them down?"
"No can do ma'am," A fourth voice answered her as the Rebel known as Glade returned, along with the rest of the squad. "We just placed every charge that we had on the power generators, we've got nothing to bring them down with."
Lucy ignited her lightsaber, and Glade gave a nod of understanding. Sarah, however, spoke up in protest. "We're going to need your help here, Lucy."
"I can do it," Kyle said, holstering his blaster and drawing the Inquisitor's lightsaber. "Just keep me covered."
Before Sarah could reply, the sound of freshly-created waves could be heard from the river, and Kyle broke off into a sprint back into the compound as Sarah shouted after him; "Make it quick! Everyone else, dig in and hold the gate!"
Whilst Kyle was running off, Lucy turned to face the oncoming Nos monsters with her lightsaber in hand. When the first one's head came into view over the edge of the duracrete walkway, Lucy felt the slightest hint of relief. She'd assumed that the younger Nos monsters would be smaller, but this one was about twice the size of an adult human, and one of the Rebels managed to snipe it down with only a single blaster bolt to the eye. Lucy's newfound confidence was swiftly dashed, however, when at least ten more of the creatures began to emerge from the water from various points and approach them.
"Oh blast," She heard one of the Rebels mutter, perfectly echoing Lucy's own thoughts.
The Rebels opened fire, and Lucy stood waiting for her moment to act. Behind her, she could hear Kyle cutting down the first of the watchtowers with the Inquisitor's Lightsaber. The Nos monsters wilted quickly under the storm of blaster fire unleashed upon them, but as the Rebels intermittently paused to cool their weapons, the creatures were able to gain ground rapidly as they effortlessly bounded over their fallen brethren and charged the gate.
"Lucy!" Sarah shouted, getting her attention. The barrel of Sarah's blaster softly smoked and glowed a heated red as she rested the weapon's stock against her side, while in her left hand, she held a grenade. "I need this in the river!"
"Throw it!" Lucy replied.
With a hefty toss, Sarah sent the grenade into the air, and Lucy assisted it forward with a Force Push. The grenade sailed over the heads of at least a dozen of the beasts, before landing in the river with a soft splash. Seconds later, a massive eruption shot water into the air in every direction as the grenade detonated. It was hard to judge just how effective the grenade had been, but there was a lot of alien blood mixed in with the many water droplets that fell all around them.
Directly after the grenade exploded, Lucy heard the sound of a lot of metal crashing loudly against duracrete. Kyle had brought down the first of the watchtowers.
At around the same time, all of the Rebels' blasters cooled enough to begin firing again, and with only around a dozen of the Nos monsters out of the water and still approaching them, they managed to finish off the swarm. It was far from a comfortable situation however, and Lucy ended up having to finish off the last of the creatures with a single cut after it made the mistake of entering Lightsaber range.
The Rebels all held their fire, waiting for more of the creatures to appear, but the grenade that Sarah had thrown appeared to have given them a moment's pause. The barrels of their blasters softly smoked as they caught their breaths, warily waiting out the moment of calm. Behind them, the sound of a lightsaber cutting through durasteel could still be heard.
Reaching out with the Force, Lucy could feel that the battle was not over. Even though there were at least thirty young Nos monsters lying dead on the duracrete, there were still many, many more still waiting for their chance to strike. Briefly, she considered the idea of calming the creatures with the Force, but that was a technique that she had never been particularly skilled with. She could perform such a trick with a sentient being, sure, but not a carnivorous predator, and certainly not such a large group of them.
"Nice work," Sarah commented, breaking the tense silence. "I've only got one more of those left."
"It'll be enough," Lucy replied, doing her best to communicate a sense of confidence that she didn't actually feel as the sound of waves being made could be heard once more.
Behind them, the sound of the second watchtower falling unintentionally punctuated the arrival of the second wave of Nos monsters. Once more, the Rebels opened fire with every blaster that they had, but their lane of fire was now cluttered with the corpses of deceased Nos monsters, acting as cover for those that still lived. Despite the obstacles, the advance of the creatures was not delayed, as their strange webbed feet seemed to have little issue moving across dry land.
"Lucy!" Sarah grabbed her attention as she lowered her rifle and hoisted her final grenade. "Middle of the pack!"
"Got it!" Lucy shouted back.
Just like before, Sarah armed and threw the grenade as hard as she could. Unlike before, however, Lucy opted to more gently and precisely guide the grenade into place. With her guidance, the grenade softly landed on the duracrete towards the center of the group of creatures, before detonating with terrific force. Whatever creatures weren't claimed by the resulting shockwave and firestorm fell victim to the shrapnel.
Lucy ducked and covered her head with her arms as small pieces of debris landed all around her. What few pieces did strike her failed to do any substantial damage through the plastoid gauntlets of her Stormtrooper armor. The Rebels' power armor effectively protected them from such dangers, although Lucy was left with ringing ears, and was now somewhat coated in the water and alien blood that had been blown all around the cavern.
Unlike the previous grenade, the explosion did not create any noticeable pause in the oncoming tide of Nos monsters. While it did kill a considerable amount of them, more and more continued to pour out of the river, and they began to steadily grow closer and closer. Between the blast of the grenade and the absolute fusillade of blaster bolts, dense gray smoke loomed ominously throughout much of the cavern.
Some of the Rebels had fired so many blaster bolts that they needed to reload their Tibanna gas cartridges, while others poured water from their canteens onto the barrels of their blasters to keep them in the fight. The Nos monsters, despite having lost at least fifty of their number, showed no such signs of exhaustion. Steadily, even as the Rebels kept killing them, they grew closer and closer.
"Where the hell's that ship?" Sarah asked as she cleared a malfunction in her own blaster rifle.
Lacking a comlink with which to get an answer to the question, Lucy reached out with the Force, searching for Paulen. To her relief, she could sense him approaching, although he had also only just reached the entrance of the tunnel, and was being forced to traverse it at a slower rate to avoid crashing. "On the way, if we need to fall back, we still can!"
As she spoke, however, a Nos monster finally reached their positions and lunged at Sarah just as her weapon overheated once more. Leaping in front of Sarah, Lucy swung out with her lightsaber and struck the creature dead with a slash to the head, but was unable to entirely dodge the flying corpse of the newly-deceased creature, and her leg was clipped as she fell to the ground.
Landing face-first in a puddle, Lucy hastily returned to her feet with a helping hand from Sarah, who issued out an order to her men. "Fall back into the courtyard. Fawkes, pull rear guard!"
The Rebels pulled back in pairs in what was clearly a well-practiced maneuver, with the large green alien Rebel being the last to retreat alongside one of the Rebels in Armor. Fawkes laughed maniacally as he blasted the incoming Nos monsters with a hail of fire from a rotary blaster cannon, firing until the barrels dispensed a thick black smoke. At last, he released his hold of the trigger, and narrowly avoided being tackled by a Nos monster when Lucy blasted it away with a strong Force Push.
Lucy let out a hefty breath of exhaustion as she fell back into the courtyard alongside Fawkes, taking their positions behind the rest of the Rebels as they momentarily rested, while a few of their number kept the rest of the Nos monsters at bay. The effort of using the Force so extensively was nothing that she couldn't handle, but doing so after an immensely draining day was a different story; especially considering that she hadn't actually felt particularly rested even after she left stasis.
Her lungs burned, her ears still rang, and the acrid smoke burned at her dry eyes. Across the courtyard, a loud clanging briefly drowned out the sound of blaster fire, marking the destruction of the third watchtower. Moments later, Kyle was at her side, planting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Breathe. We're almost through this, hang in there."
Lucy took a few more hefty breaths, clinging on to Kyle's reassuring presence in the Force, before giving him a firm nod. "Ready."
The two turned back to the gate just in time to see the first of the Nos monsters reach the impromptu chokepoint, before being shot dead by Sarah Lyons, who promptly swore as her rifle then let out a dissatisfying click. "Shit, reloading!"
More of the creatures charged and died as Kyle took his place by Lucy's side. After returning the Inquisitor's Lightsaber to his belt once more, he turned his blaster on the Nos monsters as he shouted to the Rebels. "Our ride's almost here, keep the Courtyard clear!"
True to Kyle's word, Lucy could hear the sound of repulsorlifts echoing down the tunnel as Paulen, no doubt with great caution, guided their ship through to the Power Plant. If the Nos monsters noticed the sound, it offered no discouragement, and they continued to pour through the gate into the hail of blaster fire, growing ever closer to the Rebels, and showing no signs of slowing down.
Finally Ryder-One came into sight, its frontal-facing blasters sadly fixed in their mounts, useless in such an enclosed space. Lucy was forced into action as the foremost monsters reached melee range. With a Force-assisted leap, she launched herself at the first creature and slashed it across the head, causing it to drop into a heap. Another lunged out at her, but it was stopped by Sarah Lyons, who sliced the beast across the flank with her Vibrosword, before plunging it into the creature's chest. A third tried to sneak around Lucy, only to be shot dead by Kyle as Lucy cut down a fourth.
As the fight began to devolve further into a melee brawl, Paulen steadily glided the dropship over their heads, doing a one-hundred and eighty degree turn over the courtyard as he lowered the boarding ramp.
"Fall back, but don't let up!" Sarah ordered.
Steadily, the Rebels began to backpedal towards the ship's ramp, climbing aboard one by one. With each Rebel that boarded the ship and stopped firing, the Nos monsters were able to move with greater freedom, and Lucy quickly found herself beset upon by an entire group of the creatures.
Kyle pushed his Imperial blaster carbine to its very limits in an attempt to keep them off her back as he shouted to her. "Lucy, come on!"
Even as he spoke however, another Nos monster slid between her and the ship. Two more snuck around her, and as her exhaustion mounted, one of the creatures managed to sweep one of her legs out from under her with its heavy tail. She fell to the ground on her side, and rolled out of the way onto her back as one of the creatures attempted to bite her in half.
Now encircled and all but pinned on the ground, Lucy could vaguely hear Kyle screaming out to her, but the exhaustion that she had felt earlier now returned, albeit far stronger. Her muscles became heavy, her lungs were on fire, and her vision was blurred by her water-stained glasses. Another Nos monster attempted to lunge at her, and she managed to barely lunge out with her lightsaber, causing it to impale itself. Its heavy corpse landed on her arm, and she bit back a cry of pain as both her arm and lightsaber were pinned beneath the corpse.
She tried to move it, but felt her strength steadily begin to wane. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she watched another creature line up to strike her, being momentarily distracted as somebody threw a smoldering blaster at its head. Lucy's eyelids grew heavy, and for a brief moment, she could've sworn that she could hear the Force calling her.
…Lucy…
Her eyes shot open. She knew that voice. She could feel the familiar presence of its speaker. Years of training flashed before her eyes, visions of half-a-dozen Masters who had all trained her at one point or another, each of which being killed by the Sith. But finally, one Master had managed to stick with her, the Jedi who had guided her through the last years of her training, all the way to Knighthood.
The Force wasn't calling her, but somebody was.
"Satele…" Lucy muttered. Fresh energy rushed through her veins, and she looked up to see a Nos monster just above her, seemingly frozen in place in the middle of a lunge towards her head that would've certainly killed her. Instead, it was as though it was frozen in time… before a fiery red blade tore the creature in half, and its wielder turned to face her with tear-stained eyes.
"Come on!" Kyle all but screamed at her, before he threw his entire strength into pushing the dead Nos monster off of her arm. Lucy's arm came free, and Kyle pulled her up to her feet. Several more of the creatures tried to intervene, but were all cut down by Sarah Lyons, who whirled through them in her power armor like a tornado with a sword.
Under Sarah's protection, Kyle helped Lucy stumble aboard the waiting ship, before Sarah herself leaped aboard the ramp and shouted up into the rest of the ship. "All aboard, punch it!"
Kyle guided Lucy up into the Troop Bay, and the two sat down on one of the benches alongside the rest of the Rebels. All of them were catching their breath, and most of them were likely looking at her and Kyle, as he held her in his arms and frantically asked if she was okay.
She wanted to nod and answer him, to reassure him that, a crushed arm and maybe a broken bone or two aside, she was fine, but "fine" didn't quite describe the state of shellshock in her mind. Such a close brush with death, on top of a mountain of mental exhaustion, and then, to top it all off…
It was impossible to explain what she'd heard, what she felt, but she knew better than to doubt the Force, and that went double for her old master.
"Lucy?" Kyle's shaky, unashamedly scared voice finally broke through the cage around her mind, and she rapidly wrapped her arms around him. The lack of any serious pain in her arm from doing so suggested that her Stormtrooper armor had done its job, although she was likely going to have a nasty bruise.
"I'm here, I'm okay," She finally answered him, feeling a weight lift off of her shoulders even as their ship lifted further into the air and began to work its way down the tunnel. Kyle held her tighter, and even though she could feel the eyes of all of the Rebels upon her, she didn't care. "I won't leave you."
For a brief, blissful moment, Lucy allowed herself to relax and be at peace. It was tragically short-lived, however, as Sarah promptly walked over and softly spoke. "I don't mean to interrupt, but my men and I have been running on fumes in hostile territory for weeks. We need a place to lie low, got one in mind?"
Lucy paused, briefly thinking it over. In her turbulent state of mind however, it was difficult to think of just about any location, let alone those that she could assume were still safe after however-many years she'd been in stasis. Thankfully, Kyle had an answer in her stead.
"The base, on Verdant, where Paulen picked us up," Kyle explained, gesturing with his head towards the cockpit. "He's our pilot. I know he's in an Imperial Uniform, but he's on our side."
"Got it," Sarah said with a nod, and promptly turned to go and speak with Paulen. The rest of the Rebels quickly began to talk amongst themselves, and now that the fighting was over, Lucy noticed just how sluggishly they were moving. Various names were engraved on their chestplates just above where their hearts would be, she recognized Glade from earlier, along with new names; Peter, Colvin, Reddin, Val, and perhaps half a dozen others. It was impossible to focus on them however, as Lucy once more felt that same familiar presence.
Remember Lucy, the Force will be with you, always.
"She's still here, Kyle, in the Force," Lucy muttered, breaking off their hug and looking him in the eyes. "Master Satele… she saved me. I don't know how, but she's still here."
His eyebrows raised, and he softly blinked as he processed her words. His eyes were puffy and red, and she could sense the fear in his heart still hadn't quite faded. "...Thank the Force. I… I thought..."
"It's okay," Lucy cut him off, taking one of his hands in her own. "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
He nodded, letting out a morbid chuckle. "Is this how you felt earlier?"
She gave a soft smile and nodded. "Just about… I'll try to be more careful from now on."
Kyle let out a long, shaky breath. "Thank you."