Chapter 22
"You have any ranged options?" Packer asked Dooku while he eliminated a few droids. "A fancy laser sword doesn't do a whole lot if someone decides to hit you with a rocket launcher or a good bullet."
"The Force will guide me," Dooku scoffed as he deflected a few blaster bolts before using the force to throw some enemies off of the side of the palace. "I have no need of such 'primitive' weapons."
"You are just as dead if they kill you with a pointy stick," one of Packer's men said with a sardonic twist. "You're not wearing armor, you're wearing some fancy robes and a cape."
"In other words," Rook stepped in front of the older man. "Stay behind the people wearing powered armor."
"I am more than capable of defending myself," Dooku clenched his hand into a fist and crushed a squad of droids as they attempted to flank. "If I need a ranged option then I will simply ask one of you to open fire."
"Got it," Rook eyed the aging Jedi master.
"Move up!" Packer ordered, directing one of his fireteams down a hallway. "Fireteams Alpha and Bravo, you're on the Triple A. Fireteam Charlie, you're with me and the Count. We've got some hostages to rescue."
"This way," Dooku gestured down an open area of the palace. "I sense that this will be the best way for us to go. Although, there are alternate routes through the palace if we need to utilize them."
"You got anything that will allow my people to take out the anti-aircraft batteries without taking damage?"
"I believe there is a set of passageways that will lead you to the correct area," Dooku casually threw a thermal detonator back at a squad of droids. "I will send the layout of the palace to your comlinks, it will be up to you whether you utilize them accordingly or not."
"Alpha, let's move!" Rook took charge of the first fireteam and they began moving through the palace, eliminating droids as they cleared each room one by one. "Thanks for the intel. We'll handle the AAA."
"Alright, Count," Packer looked at the gray-haired man. "We're in your wheelhouse, so you're on point. We'll lay down covering fire and move as necessary, just remember to communicate before you do anything crazy."
"This is kriffing stupid," Ferus Olin strained against the bindings, the Force just out of his reach. "Master, you need to wake up!"
Siri remained motionless from her position, the drugs keeping her awake while the droids on standby ensured that Ferus didn't do more than slowly work at his bindings.
"Master," Ferus whispered as he tried to get a feel for Siri's condition through the bond they shared. "Why won't you wake up?"
"Because I am conducting an experiment," a voice cut in, "You see, I have long wanted to acquire a few…Test subjects as it were. And the Jedi monitor their chosen so closely, it is hard to find exactly what it is that I need for my experiments. I was hoping to attempt this on Master Dooku, but it seems that fate has brought you both into my hands instead. Now," the cultured voice continued. "Shall we begin?"
"Sir!" a B1 spoke up. "The palace is under attack. There are Jedi!"
"Then handle them," the man scoffed. "You should have the forces sufficient to take on one Jedi."
"He's not alone," the B1 shook its head. "He has Mandalorians as backup."
"I don't care what you have to do," the man growled. "Just handle them."
"Roger roger."
"Come, we must hurry," Dooku felt a wave of darkness cloud the force around him. "Something is happening below!"
Fireteam Charlie began running after Dooku as the man took off at a sprint, the force granting him the speed and strength of a much younger man as he tore through a group of Super Battle Droids.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side," one of the soldier's remarked as he took out a droid. "I'd hate to have to kill you."
"You would be quite the challenge," Dooku smirked. "Seeing as you would not face me alone."
"Damn straight," the soldier grinned, his faceplate depolarizing to show it. "Never fight alone."
"Sergeant Major, we are nearing the source of the disturbance," Dooku said as they descended through the palace towards the ancient control room.
"Copy that," Packer crouched int o cover for a brief moment. "Alpha, Bravo, we're leaving a lot of uncleared areas of the palace behind us," Packer barked into the channel. "Be wary of enemy droids hiding and waiting in the corners."
"Understood," Rook replied. "We'll be on the lookout, Alpha, out."
"Count, slow down," Packer ordered. "Rushing into the unknown is likely to get both us and those we're trying to rescue killed."
Slowing down, Dooku nodded and allowed the Marksman soldiers to catch up just as a pair of Droidekas rolled down the hallway and unfolded, their shields catching the first cluster of rounds that Fireteam Charlie fired before the droids returned fire.
"Malcom's down!" one of the soldiers went down as the droids focused fire, the top half of the soldier vanishing into a cluster of shrapnel and pink mist.
"I want grenades at their feet!" Packer primed his own grenade and tossed it down the hallway, the ball-shaped explosive tearing apart the legs of one Droideka."
"Medic!" another team member went down, the corpsman running over and dragging him out of the way as she fired her rifle.
"Stay down, soldier!" She yelled as she put pressure on the wound with her knee while dumping her magazine into the wounded droid sparks flying as the machine fell to pieces.
Anger rushed through Dooku as he felt the anguish of the mercenary squad. The sudden rush of emotions stunning him for a minute as he centered himself in the force. Then, Dooku spun around the pillar and began deflecting blaster bolts, providing cover so the corpsman could finish tending to the wounded.
Triggering his jump jets, Packer took to the skies, cutting the jets just before he reached the ceiling and allowing gravity to do most of the work, the heavy-powered armor crushing the last Droideka as he came down in vengeance.
"I've got these two," the corpsman reported. "Go get the hostages."
"On me," Packer nodded at Dooku and the other unwounded members of his team, withdrawing a fiber optic cable and threading it underneath the door.
"Two hostages," Packer reported. "Flashbangs, then breach and clear."
"I've got point," the second member grabbed a flashbang off of his kit and pulled the pin. "On you."
"Go!" Packer pulled the door open and the flashbang was thrown in, bouncing off of the room's wall. "Banging!"
The man runs in after his grenade and peels to the left, eliminating two droids and standing over one of the hostages as his armor absorbs a handful of blaster bolts.
Packer, meanwhile moves to the right, clearing the room as Dooku walks in, his lightsaber lit as he approaches the middle, his cape flaring behind him while the two Marksman clear the room, his lightsaber deflecting bolts into the ceiling as he picks up the Banking Clan member with the Force and slams him into the ground, the alien crumpling to the hard stone of the palace floor.
"Marksman, I will need you to ensure that this room remains secure," Dooku's lightsaber ignited and cut the bindings of the Padawan. "I will tend to this one." The Count knelt and began placing Siri into a Force Healing trance, the padawan kneeling over the body of his master.
"Clear!" Packer yells out in conjunction with his partner. "Colonel Hull, hostages are secured, the palace should be ours shortly, we need medevac and reinforcements."
"Copy that, Packer, we're rerouting some forces to your location," Sheppard's voice responds. "Colonel Hull is a bit busy dealing with some people who thought using civilian housing as target practice was a good idea."
"Copy that," Packer moved out and dragged the wounded into the room with the hostages. "Alpha, Bravo, clear out those Anti-Air emplacements so our people can drop in!"
"Charges are already set, boss," Rook replied. "We're blowing them now and the meeting up with Bravo."
"Good, we'll hold here until you arrive, I'm not leaving our wounded here without proper security."
"Understood, we're Oscar-Mike."
"It has come to my attention that the Banking Clans believe they can repossess an entire planet," Dooku frowned. "It is time they have been educated."
"Not bad for a bunch of barbaric primitives," Dooku glanced at Packer.
"Not bad for an old man," Packer chuckles. "Guess we both get to be surprised today."
"Indeed," Dooku stood up once he was finished with Siri. "Sergeant, I require some of your men, it is time that I reclaimed my world."
"Take Fireteam Alpha when they arrive," Packer instructed. "Rook will make sure that it gets done."
