Bab 5: Its a Trap!
The ravine was quiet, but the tension between us hummed like a live wire. We hadn't heard the droids in hours, but we all knew they were out there, searching. The jungle had gone still, as if it, too, was waiting for what was coming next.
I crouched low beside Lucky, who was busy wiring together some crude explosives from the remnants of our gear. His hands moved with precision, but I could tell by his silence that the pressure was getting to him. Not that I blamed him. We were backed into a corner, deep in a jungle that wasn't our own, with enemies closing in from all sides. We were running on fumes.
"You think this'll be enough to stop them?" Spark asked from his position on the edge of the ravine, peeking out over the dense foliage. His tone wasn't accusatory, just tired. We all were. The strain of constant running, the weight of knowing that one wrong move could be the end, was dragging us down.
Lucky didn't answer right away, his focus still on his work. I wasn't sure if he had an answer either. We were improvising, and everyone knew it.
"It's all we've got," I said, stepping in before the silence could drag on. "We use the explosives to block their main route through the jungle, then force them into the ravine. It'll bottleneck them. With any luck, the trees will block their comms and prevent them from coordinating. That's where we make our stand."
The words felt mechanical, rehearsed, but the truth was, I didn't know if it would work. Droids didn't tire, didn't feel fear. They'd keep coming, no matter how many of them we cut down.
But we had no choice. I wasn't going to let my squad go down without a fight.
The hours passed in tense silence as we prepared the trap. Gear had set up a line of blaster turrets scavenged from the wreckage of our downed gunship, carefully hiding them among the foliage to create crossfire points. Spark and I worked on reinforcing the explosives along the ridge, ensuring that when the droids came, they'd find themselves walking into a deathtrap.
Every now and then, I would catch glimpses of my brothers, their faces hidden behind their helmets, and wonder what they were thinking. The strain of command weighed on me, but I could feel it pressing down on them too. They looked to me for guidance, for answers, but the truth was I didn't have any. I was making this up as I went along, praying that it would be enough.
As night began to fall, the jungle came alive with strange sounds. The plants glowed faintly in the twilight, casting eerie shadows across the ravine. Somewhere in the distance, a creature howled, and I could feel the unease ripple through the squad.
"They'll come tonight," I said quietly, joining Spark at the lookout. "They know we're here. We're the last loose ends."
"Do you think they're sending reinforcements?" Spark asked, his voice hushed as he scanned the treeline.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But even if they do, we'll deal with them. One problem at a time."
He didn't respond, but I could see the doubt in the way he held himself, the tension in his posture. He wasn't just doubting the plan—he was doubting me. I couldn't blame him. Part of me was doubting myself too.
We didn't have to wait long.
The first sign was the faint sound of metal on earth, a quiet clank that grew louder as the droids approached. My pulse quickened, but I forced myself to stay calm. This was it. We only had one chance to get this right.
"Positions," I ordered over the comms, my voice steady despite the pounding in my chest. "Wait for my mark."
From my position, I could see them now—shadows moving through the dense underbrush. The droids marched in perfect formation, their cold, mechanical eyes scanning the jungle for any sign of us. B1 battle droids made up the bulk of the force, their spindly forms barely visible in the dim light, but the real threat came from the B2 super battle droids lumbering behind them. Heavily armored and armed with wrist-mounted blasters, they were the ones that would give us the most trouble.
"Wait…" I whispered, my finger hovering over the detonator.
The droids moved closer, completely unaware of the trap they were walking into. My heart raced in time with their steady march. Closer. Just a little closer…
"Now!"
I pressed the detonator, and the jungle exploded into chaos. The charges went off in a series of deafening booms, sending trees and debris crashing down onto the droids. The ground shook as the ridge collapsed, cutting off their main path and forcing them toward the ravine, just as we'd planned.
"Open fire!" I shouted.
Blaster fire erupted from our hidden positions, cutting into the droid ranks as they scrambled to regain their footing. The B1s were caught off guard, their ranks thinning quickly as our concentrated fire ripped through them. The B2s, however, pushed forward, their heavy armor shrugging off the first wave of blaster shots.
"Focus on the heavies!" I ordered, switching my aim to one of the B2s. It was like shooting at a wall, but we had no choice. If they broke through, it was over.
The battle raged on, the sounds of blasters and explosions echoing through the jungle. The droids kept coming, relentless, their numbers seemingly endless. But we held the line, cutting them down as fast as we could.
Suddenly, a scream tore through the comms—Gear.
"I'm hit!" he shouted, his voice tight with pain. "They're flanking—"
Before he could finish, I heard the sound of blaster fire, and then nothing.
"Gear, respond!" I called, but the comms were silent.
"Damn it!" Lucky cursed, firing wildly at the advancing droids. "They're closing in!"
I didn't have time to think, didn't have time to process what had happened. Gear was down, and we were next if we didn't do something.
"Fall back to the secondary position!" I ordered. "We need to regroup."
But even as the words left my mouth, I knew we were running out of time. The droids were overwhelming us, their sheer numbers and firepower wearing us down. We were out of options, out of time.
The battle had moved into the heart of the ravine now, the jungle lit up by blaster fire and explosions. I fired shot after shot, my arms aching, my mind numb from exhaustion. We were down to just three—me, Lucky, and Spark—but we fought like we were a hundred strong.
"We're not gonna make it, Sarge!" Lucky shouted over the din of battle. "We're outnumbered!"
He wasn't wrong. The droids kept coming, a wall of metal and death, and we had nothing left to give.
But I couldn't let them see the fear in me. I couldn't let them think I'd lost hope.
"We fight until we can't!" I yelled, firing at another advancing B2. "For Gear. For Tread."
The words weren't just for them—they were for me too. Because even as the jungle burned around us, as the droids closed in, I knew one thing: I couldn't give up. Not while there was still breath in my lungs.
And so we fought, our backs to the wall, knowing that this might be the end. But if it was, we were going to make sure the droids knew what it meant to face the 191st.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone