Star Wars: Tears of Fire (Book II)

Chapter 27 - Eye for an Eye

"Two more coming from the right!"

With the explosions continuing to rip through the field to their right combined with the sounds of the heavy turrets firing directly above them, Luusa's shouts were barely heard as two armor-clad Trandoshans wielding blasters as well as melee weapons charged towards her group.

Catching two younger male Twi'leks off guard, the Trandoshans fired upon them from several meters away. Before both of the now lifeless Twi'leks hit the ground, the attacking Trandoshans had begun to charge the group itself.

Shayla screamed aloud as she intercepted both Trandoshans before they could attack any of the younger ones in the squad. By herself, Shayla could manage to hold her own against even the most skilled Trandoshan. Fighting two at once, however, she was finding herself quickly overwhelmed. Others in the squad moved to assist Shayla but it was Luusa who took a different approach.

Retrieving a small blaster from her hip holster, the Maligi woman fired repeatedly at the Trandoshan warriors while they were engaged with Shayla.

Even as both Trandoshans fell to her accurate shots, Luusa continued to fire upon them. She'd learned some time ago that one couldn't be too careful when dealing with Trandoshans.

After firing a series of shots at the now deceased Trandoshans, the others stopped and turned towards her.

"Now they're dead," she shouted over the sounds of the ongoing battle. "Let's move!"

As the squad of what was now roughly a dozen melee specialists began making a tactical retreat towards the tree line they'd initially emerged from, the cries of agony coming from where the main fighting force was supposed to be could be heard.

"We have to help them!" shouted Ahza.

"There's nothing we can do!" countered Shayla. "If we stay here any longer, we'll be overrun. If we run out into the field, we're just throwing ourselves into the fire."

"Can we use the Trandoshan heavy weapons to fire on the ship?" asked Ahza.

Luusa immediately shook her head.

"There's some sort of barrier protecting the ship," she shouted.

Pointing her blaster up towards the ship, she fired a single shot and watched the invisible barrier seemingly absorb the impact.

"We have no way of damaging that thing," she said, holstering her blaster. "The battle is lost. We need to get as many people out of here as we can."

Luusa's words stung but the truth was all around them. They were slowly being wiped out by the superior firepower and greater numbers of the enemy.

Before a plan could be formulated, however, more than a dozen Trandoshans emerged and charged at the small group.

Seeing that they were now at a severe disadvantage, Luusa gave the only order she could.

"RUN!"

The group took off—staying together as they raced through the enemy's camp—towards the tree line. While en route, however, another group of Trandoshans appeared directly in front of them. They now stood between Luusa's group and their escape.

Still, the Trandoshans were too many. What was odd, however, was the fact that the enemy wasn't firing on them.

With no time to contemplate the reasoning, Luusa was only concerned with getting her people to safety. However, the path before them was blocked as was the path to their right.

"This way!" shouted Luusa as she led the group off into the only direction available.

While following, a sense of foreboding began to rise up within Shayla.