Worth: A Star Wars Story

24. The Siege of Nyscha, Part II

{This chapter has been brought to you in part by My Cousin Rawiri and My Roommate Mark, who decided to contribute to my efforts to get this done on time while we are stuck inside thanks to the weather. If it's bad, please blame them.}

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"Anyone here a medic?" Stone called out as Daine was stammering and looking at the lightsaber wielding Sarkhai before him.

"I am, sir!" Hex sprinted out of our group and slid up to the Muun on the floor, quickly pulling out several syringes worth of bacta and a bunch of wound dressing. "Lucky for him, Daine is a bad shot."

Before any of us could do anything further, there was a massive shaking from somewhere beneath the palace, and all eyes went to one of the large windows in the room. "Oh, dank farrik..." I whispered as we watched the massive shield that had been protecting Nyscha shudder and shimmer before it slowly began retracting back towards the central point where it emitted from.

At almost the same time, a number of Daine's guards appeared overhead, forcing all of us to turn our blasters on them instead. "Perfect," Tor grumbled beside me.

"We got protocol on dealing with traitors?" I mumbled to him, and I caught him snort.

"Execute on sight."

"You're outnumbered!" Daine seemed so confidently smug that I felt the urge to just ignore the guards up on the balcony surrounding the room and just shoot him instead, but right before I could act on that ever-growing impulse and disappoint all of my superiors, something caught my eye.

A flash of brilliant cyan light snapped through one of the openings and struck one of the guards in the neck, sending her flying backwards and to the floor. Daine's smirk quickly fell when a series of loud shots rang out and all of the droids and the few humans among them hit the floor. I looked up to see Hollis and the other members of the Royal Guard perched up on the balconies. How they had managed to secure them that quietly was impressive. "Upper levels secured, Commander Thorn. My apologies for the delayed arrival. We had to help some Commandos down into the generator area," Hollis called down, soon rappelling with his squad down into the main room. "Lot of good it wound up doing..."

"Great timing, Commander," I called over to him and saw Hollis shoot me a grin.

"Always a pleasure to be of assistance to the Republic," he called back as I saw him draw his weapon. I had seen similar things to it in the arsenals of Wookiees and Zygerrians, but nothing quite like the elegant weapon that he unfolded from his wrist. It was an energy bow, string glowing a bright cyan as he pulled it taut, the arrow of energy from the firing mechanism starting to glow in response to the tension.

"I want one," I caught Hex mutter as Ryder sighed heavily beside him.

"Shall we take the traitor into custody, Senator?" I turned to Grell.

"Let some of Hollis' men handle it. Right now, what I ask of the Clones is for you to help and reinforce the Nyscha frontlines. This city mustn't fall. It would spell the end of us if it does," Grell nodded my way.

"We'll join you after we've handled the trash," Hollis nodded as well, turning his eyes to Daine, who sat defeated in his chair, all sense of smugness gone from his face.

I turned to Thorn, who gestured out of the room with the chin of his helmet. We both exited, and he made his way over to me. "Go up and join the Marines. Stone and I will stay back here and ensure that the palace is secured while the Marines finish their work. Things are gonna get nasty soon."

"You boys gonna be alright here on your own?" I asked, prompting Thorn to chuckle.

"Oh, trust me, Cap. We can handle this lot and your commandos. Right now, Bacara needs all the help he can get."