Chapter 21 - Battle for Takodana - Fourth Part (2/2)

- ”Batteries and cannons in sector Z-24 completely annihilated!”- said another one- ”engineering personnel is being surrounded!”

- ”Ground forces in the Northwest are being pushed back!”- said one of the male operators- ”Knight of Ren confirmed as commander of the forces!”

- ”General Solo has ordered a retreat!”- informed an operator on Maz's left- ”he's ordered the remaining forces to join the main force and he also confirms the presence of a knight of Ren!”

Maz felt a terrible headache now and she knew that the things could only go worse from here on. She had utterly understimated the capabilities of the First Order. It was true that the presence of Kylo Ren and his knights had a powerful impact on the battle but she had not expected that the regular pilots and stormtroopers were so well trained. The First Order forces were advancing steadily even in zones where there were no knights of Ren. Many mercenaries that had accepted the mission were abandoning the area and trying to escape and even though she was angry, Maz could not blame them. Credits and benefits were of no use if you were dead. Maz sighed and immediately started to prepare ways to counter the enemy.

- ”Reassigned the survivors of Blue and Violet teams to Magenta Team”- ordered Maz with a confident voice- ”tell them to join them in sector D56 and tell Magenta Leader to prepare a small ambush there!”

- ”Tell engineering personnel from sector Z-24 to use the secret tunnels to area J-09. Give the leader the codes”- she continued issuing the next problem- ”tell their leader to leave an explosive surprise for when they storm into their position before leaving.”

- ”Order the ground forces to ignore the knight of Ren and focus in the other troops”- she told the male operator- ”send the sniper team there and have them eliminate all the commanders and captains.”

- ”General Solo informs he will engage the Knight of Ren in his area”- informed the operator in charge of the communication with him with a worried tone- ”should we send reinforcements?”

- ”No!”- said Maz with a decisive voice- ”have the remaining forces meet in sector B-38 and attack the flank of the ground enemy forces.”

The operator sent the orders to the commanders but she seemed to be a little upset since she thught that Maz had abandoned General Solo who was a very important hero for this operator since he had personally rescued her family when she was younger. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she discovered Maz next to her who had a very warm smile on her face.

- ”Don't worry about Han, my darling”- said Maz conforting her- ”I'm not sending forces since they would only be in his way... you may not know this but Han and Chewee are not only famous for being smugglers... they have another important nickname...”

- ”Show me the visuals in space!”- ordered Maz with a frown since she knew that reinforcements for the First Order would mean the end of the battle.

- ”Excuse me, Captain”- said operator not being able to control her curiosity- ”what's the title the General and Commander have?”

- ”Oh! That?”- said Maz trying to calm down until the information appeared in the screens-”they are called Knight Slayers! You can imagine the reason...”

The visuals finally were shown and Maz was so shocked by what she saw that she started trembling a little.

- ”This can't be true...”

(...)

The knight of Ren felt the attack just too late and his armor received the blaster with full power. The pain forced him to let Finn go and he started to look for the origin of the attack. He saw a figure running on the distance and Black Three was about to move when once again he felt danger from behind and he managed to evade using his monstruous reflexes. However, he was utterly dissatisfied since once again, he had not felt any danger coming from there and if not for the green light

he had seen on his periferical vision, he would have been hit again.

- ”What is happening?”- Black Three did not understand the situation and tried to focus once again but almost immediately another blaster came from his side forcing him to to make a weird move to deflect it with his lightsaber- ”why don't I feel anything?”

There was not pause and one after another multiple red and green shots were thrown at him from different places and with such precison and coordination that he knew that it was not an accident. He tried to find the source, but the shots were so fast and continuous that he could not focus enough. He started to run to find cover and analyze the situation while evading the shots and he stood behind a wrecked starfighter.

- ”Just wait until I find you... eh?”- he could not end his hateful comment because he saw that there was a mine just next to him and the explosive artifact had just shown a red light- ”DAMN IT!”

BOOM!

He used all his strenght to jump very high in the air trying to escape but even though he managed to escape from the explosion, he still received some damage due to the shards. He was still in the air when he was shot in midair by the green and red blasters once again. Black Three furiously swang his lightsaber to deflect the red blaster but he received the green plasma shot on his leg making him lose the equilibrium. Since he could not control the fall, he smashed the floor cracking it. Black Three felt the air escape his lungs and he had to make a great effort in order to breathe again.

Bip, bip, biiiiiiiiiip

He had just managed to get oxygen again when he heard the bipping sounds next to him and he noticed in horror that he was just next to two thermal detonator.

BOOM! BOOM!

It had just ocurred too fast for him to do anything. He had just been in too much pain to focus and his leg was almost unusable due to the shot he had received. The area was destroyed and there wasn't any signal of movement from the knight of Ren.

- ”I think we got him, Chewee”- said Han carefully ȧssessing the situation.

- ”Gruaaaaoww!”- said Chewee

- ”Yes, yes, you were incredible”- said Han who seemed to be in a hurry- ”let's pick up the kid and let's go before reinforcements come”

- ”Greeeeu”' said Chewee- ”Garrr guurrrr”

- ”Agreed”- said Han seeing Chewee getting close to Finn with a very cautious attitude- ”I'll cover you. Be careful.”

However, just when Chewee was some meters away from Finn he felt a powerful pushed that made him fly various meters until he smashed a depot.

- ”Chewee!”- Han shouted and he tried to find the knight of Ren but he had just started to aim when he felt a tremendous pull that made him fly in the air and slide on the floor a big distance before stop.

Han felt a huge pain and he knew he was bleeding. He forced himself to raise his head and he saw a figure not very far from him. It was the knight of Ren but he was extremely different from before. His armor was in shatters and his leg was bent in an unnatural angle. Han noticed that he just had one arm and that he was bleeding profusely from the other. His helmet had been destroyed as long with part of his face which presented horrible burns due to the explosion. Only one of his eyes seemed to be functional and it presented a very shining yellow tone with red borders. This figure made him feel as if a fiend of hell had come to the surface to destroy all humanity.

- ”SOLOOOO!!”- he roared in fury while dragging his feet and Han could only wonder how could he even stand.

The knight of Ren extended his arm and the lightsaber that had been lost in the explosion returned to his hand. Han knew this was bad. Chewee had been knocked out and he had lost his blaster. To his horror he also felt being dragged again to the fiend who was growling like a hungry beast anxious to devour its prey.

-”DIE!!!!”- bellowed Black Three in blind fury. He did not care that his orders were to capture Solo alive, he just wanted to chop the bastard in front of him to pieces.

He saw that Han was taking out a pistol and was pointing at him. Black Three jst smirked and prepared his lightaber to meet the blaster ad reflect it to the old man. He was just dciding were to aim since he did not want to kill him too fast.

BANG! BANG!

The sound that came from the gun was not the typical one of a blaster but Black Three was too furious and anxious to care and just let the Force guide him to block the shot. There was not a red laser but a small metallic bullet that was blocked by his lightsaber. Almost immediately, however, Black Three knew that something had gone extremely wrong.

- ”Ahhhhhhhh!”- Black Three howled in pain while touching his face- ”Bleeeegh!”

He started to cough blood and he started to feel extremely weak. His lightsaber had manage to block the bullets but then it had automatically deactivated. The bullet had been melted and the shards had flown directly to his face. The second bullet had gone with no obstacle to his ċhėst. Black Three knew it was mortal and he started to feel more fear than ever before.

- ”How...?”- he said with the last strength he could find to tell those words. He noticed Han was still aiming at him with a grin in his face

- ”Cortosis bullets”- said Han and Black Three could not believe someone still carried those extremely rare ammo- ”Never fails against force users.”

- ”Solo... You!!!!”- said Black Three trying to say something but Han did not give him any chance.

BANG!

Black Three fell to the ground dead after receivng a bullet directly on his forehead. The last emotions that he had before passing were those of regret and unwillingness along with fear fopr the man in front of him and he only had a final thought very clear in his head.

- ”I never should have tried to cross Han Solo...”