"Get ready, Rhil," whispered Avar, under her breath.

"What are you—"

"On the ground," yelled Avar.

She spun, lightsaber wheeling, in the direction of General Viess.

Nihil blasters spat, but she deflected the searing bolts, sending them wild like a scattergun, burning through the canopy as she made a beeline for Viess.

Behind her, Rhil hit the ground and rolled.

Viess tossed her blaster to the ground and slipped two long-bladed daggers out of sheaths on her belt. She was grinning as she rushed to meet Avar, her movements lithe and supple, belying her apparent age.

Avar knew this wasn't a time for leniency. Taking down this woman was the only way to save herself and Rhil. Her lightsaber arced ..

... and was deflected by a raised vambrace. The plasma spat and hissed as the blade slid off the armor covering the general's left forearm.

Beskar.

The filigreed inlay was beskar.

One of the daggers flashed.

More beskar.

Avar lurched back, caught off guard as the blade slit her billowing cloak, its tip scoring the side of her buckled tunic. She winced as she felt it draw blood.

Close by, Rhil had scurried into the cover of the trees, keeping her blaster trained on the Talpini.

Avar twisted, tossing her lightsaber into the other hand, pressing an attack on Viess's exposed right flank.

Again, Viess ducked and slid, her right arm coming up to batter the lightsaber blade away.

"I'm an old hand at this, Avar," she hissed, as she came on with a sudden flurry of attacks, her blades biting at different angles like two snapping dogs.

Avar whirled, her lightsaber spinning across her shoulders to deflect a blaster shot that had been aimed at her back, and then kicked out, sending Viess's left hand wide, while leaning in, so that the right hand slid past her hip, just missing opening up her gut.

Close in, she whipped her head forward, striking Viess's nose with her forehead.

Viess staggered back, blood streaming down her chin, a wicked smile on her face.

She was enjoying this.

The rest of the Nihil had clambered off their speeders and were readying the nets. There were too many of them. If it had just been the marauders themselves, she might have been able to fight them off, but this Viess woman ...

Avar battered away another flurry of stabbing attacks, beskar sparking.

She risked a glance at Rhil, who was shuffling back through the undergrowth as the Talpini edged forward, his blaster tracking her every movement.

Overhead, the sound of a shuttle drive roared above the canopy.

More Nihil reinforcements.

I'm sorry, Rhil.

She saw the general frown. Hesitate. Look up beyond the trees.

She's not expecting reinforcements.

Elsewhere, Nihil were shouting.

Avar came on, battering Viess back with a series of brutal, double-handed strikes. The Mirialan shielded herself behind her arms, staggering back under the intensity of the blows. Her vambraces had begun to buckle and warp under the sustained assault of Avar's lightsaber, but the beskar reinforcements were holding.

For now.

The sound from above was growing louder by the second. Avar parried, turned, parried again, and flicked a glance up, just for a split second, to see a streak of bright flame lighting the sky above the treetops.

What was going on?

Her senses flared.

She had to move.

Now.

Avar wheeled, struck out at Viess again, and then, using the Force, shoved the woman over backward, tossing her into the trees.


Star Wars The High Republic The Eye of Darkness Chapter 51