Chương 11: Last Stand
The sun was sinking behind the cliffs, casting long shadows over the ruins of the listening post. The pale light reflected off the jagged rocks, giving the entire place an eerie, almost ghostly atmosphere. But we didn't have time to appreciate the view. The sound of clanking metal echoed through the valley, getting closer by the minute.
The droids had found us.
I crouched behind a pile of broken durasteel, my blaster gripped tightly in my hands. Lucky and Spark were beside me, both of them scanning the ridgeline for any sign of movement. We had about twenty minutes before the gunship arrived to extract us—twenty minutes that felt like an eternity.
"Here they come," Spark muttered, his voice tense.
I raised my macrobinoculars and spotted them: a column of B1 battle droids, moving in perfect formation down the rocky slope toward the listening post. They weren't alone. A pair of B2 super battle droids lumbered behind them, and further back, I could see the silhouette of a droideka rolling into position.
"Looks like they brought everything they've got," Lucky said, adjusting his grip on his blaster.
I nodded, keeping my voice steady. "We hold them off until the gunship gets here. If we can keep them from pushing too close, we've got a shot."
The droids advanced in waves, their blasters firing as they closed in on our position. We returned fire, ducking behind the ruins for cover as bolts of red energy sizzled through the air. My heart pounded in my chest, but I kept my focus, aiming for the weak spots in the droids' armor and dropping them one by one.
"Spark, take the high ground!" I shouted over the comms, motioning to a ledge above the outpost. "We need cover fire from above!"
"On it!" Spark replied, scrambling up the rocks with impressive speed despite the chaos surrounding us.
Lucky and I held the line at the base of the ruins, using the broken walls and debris as makeshift cover. The droids were relentless, but we had the advantage of terrain. They couldn't move as quickly through the rocky valley, and we used that to slow them down as much as possible.
But as the minutes ticked by, the weight of the battle began to press down on us. The B2s were moving closer, their heavy blasters cutting through our defenses. One of their shots slammed into the wall next to me, sending chunks of rock flying in all directions. I ducked, barely avoiding the blast.
"They're getting too close!" Lucky shouted, his voice tight with urgency.
I fired another volley, taking down a pair of B1s, but it wasn't enough. The droideka had unrolled now, its shield shimmering as it advanced on our position. Blaster fire bounced off its shield harmlessly, and I knew we couldn't stop it with regular shots.
"Spark, focus on that droideka!" I ordered, switching my blaster to full auto.
"I'm trying!" Spark shouted back. From his perch, he laid down a barrage of fire, but the droideka's shield held firm, inching closer with every passing second.
I cursed under my breath, my mind racing for a solution. We needed to take it down, or it would tear through our defenses.
And then I remembered—the EMP grenades we'd scavenged from the Separatist outpost. It was risky, but it might be our only chance.
"Lucky, cover me!" I yelled, grabbing the EMP grenade from my belt.
Without waiting for a response, I broke from cover, sprinting toward the droideka as blaster fire whizzed past me. I could hear Lucky firing behind me, keeping the droids distracted as I closed the distance. The droideka's shield shimmered ominously, but I kept moving, ducking and weaving through the ruins until I was within range.
I primed the grenade and tossed it, watching as it sailed through the air and landed just beneath the droideka's shield. The grenade detonated with a sharp crack, and the droideka's shield flickered out of existence for a brief moment.
"Now!" I shouted, and Spark didn't hesitate.
He fired a single, precise shot, and the droideka exploded in a shower of sparks and metal.
The explosion seemed to give us a brief reprieve, but the droids were still coming. The B2s were nearly on top of us now, their heavy blasters forcing us to retreat further into the ruins. I could hear the faint whine of the gunship's engines in the distance, but it wasn't here yet. We had to hold on just a little longer.
"Vine, we're running out of time!" Lucky shouted, ducking behind a crumbling wall as more blaster fire rained down on us.
I knew he was right. We were nearly out of ammo, and the droids were closing in fast. But giving up wasn't an option. We'd come too far, lost too much to let it end like this.
"Hold the line!" I barked, firing off another shot at the advancing droids. "The gunship's almost here!"
The B2s were relentless, their heavy blasters tearing through the ruins with terrifying precision. I fired at one of them, but my blaster was nearly out of power, and the shots barely scratched its armor. The droid advanced on our position, its blaster arm glowing as it powered up for another shot.
And then, out of nowhere, the roar of engines filled the air. The gunship had arrived.
"Gunship's here!" Spark shouted from his vantage point. "We've got air support!"
The gunship swooped in low, its doors opening to reveal a squad of clone troopers ready to provide cover fire. Blaster bolts rained down from the gunship's cannons, tearing through the droid ranks and sending them scrambling.
"Fall back to the gunship!" I ordered, my voice hoarse from shouting. "Move, now!"
Lucky and Spark didn't hesitate. We sprinted toward the gunship, blaster fire still zipping past us as the droids tried to hold their ground. The clone troopers on board provided cover fire, keeping the droids at bay as we made our final dash for safety.
I was the last one to board, diving into the gunship just as its doors slid shut. The engines roared to life, and the gunship lifted off, leaving the droids and the ruins of the listening post far behind.
I collapsed against the wall of the gunship, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. We had made it. We were alive.
But the cost had been steep. Too steep.
The gunship soared through the skies, taking us back to the relative safety of the Republic forces. I stared out the viewport, watching as the war-torn landscape of Felucia passed beneath us. The battle was over, but I couldn't shake the weight of everything we had lost.
We had fought, survived, and escaped. But what was left of us?
"Vine," Spark said quietly, sitting down beside me. "You did good back there. You kept us alive."
I nodded, but I didn't feel like a hero. I felt like a soldier who had barely scraped by, who had made it through another battle by the skin of his teeth.
"I couldn't have done it without you," I said, my voice heavy with exhaustion. "Both of you."
Lucky grinned weakly from the other side of the gunship. "Hey, we've got to stick together, right? What else is there?"
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