And There Was Another✔️

Chapter 38: Confrontation

It was difficult to get a status report and dole out orders when you were being put back together by a medic, but Seth had done it before.

"How are the Republic soldiers?" he asked. Seri had just moved over to him and was cleaning his wounds.

"They're fine, for the most part. The Private is stable, in the outpost's infirmary," Jensen replied.

"I helped PFC Mills work on him," Seri said.

"Excellent. The rest?"

"Mills and Baxton have been brought up to speed and are currently helping with work around the outpost. Inventory, mostly," Jensen replied.

"All right. We're shifting priorities. We now have no reason to leave this outpost, because there's no one left alive out there but that bastard, and we've destroyed his jammer. He knows that. So that means he's going to come to us, since he almost certainly can't draw us out. So our priority is now locking this place down and making it as safe as possible. I'm hoping that someone has already called for help?" he asked.

"I did," Jensen said, nodding. "I've gotten in touch with the nearest Republic forces. It's a cruiser and they're going to come help. Unfortunately, they're about a day out."

"What the fu...why isn't Onderon coming to help?" Nova asked.

"They...basically told me to go screw myself," Jensen replied.

Seth sighed. "Great. Okay, so we have to hold out for a day. Every window, every door that isn't absolutely necessary, shut it, lock it. Put up whatever security defenses you can think of. Kato, are the ship's sensors any use now?"

"No. I've been trying them and I did notice when you took down the jammer. It helped, but there's just too much life and weather interference on this planet for the ship's sensors," she replied.

"Great." He winced as Seri sealed one of his wounds with a bandage, then got started on the next one. "You're using kolto?" he asked.

"Yes, Seth. I'm kind of burning through our reserves," she murmured.

"I know. I'm sorry. We'll have to get more from the Republic ship."

"If we last that long," Jensen muttered.

"We'll last. He isn't invincible. He's tough, and crafty, but we can kill him. He's going to come, and it might be soon, but I'm not sure. He might try to wait us out, or we might have damaged him more than I thought. Either way, we're going to need to be on high alert. We're going to sleep in shifts tonight, someone always awake to watch the outpost and the ship, separately. We have to remember that Maya is down for the count for now. Yex, I don't suppose we've made any kind of significant progress with the outpost's scanners?"

"Unfortunately not, I am still doing the best I can with Kato's capable assistance," he replied.

"That's fine. Get back to it." He nodded to the door. "And update the others on the situation."

"On it," Jensen said. The three of them turned and left.

Seth sighed and looked at Maya. "Is she okay? You should check on her."

"The scan isn't finished yet," Seri murmured. "I'll check on her, but I want to finish with you first. You're actively bleeding."

"I'm sorry we keep doing this to you. That I keep doing this to you," he said.

"It's okay. It isn't your fault, it's like Maya said: it's just the way the situation fell."

"Yeah..." He glanced at Nova. "Are you okay?"