"Boss! On your left!" Pru shouted from behind cover. Sidon's quick reflexes allowed him to turn and shoot the stormtrooper who was moments away from killing him. Sidon gave Pru a nod in response while also warning him of another squad approaching.

"What's the First Order doing trashing a place like Maz's castle?!" Pru asked while shooting an approaching stormtrooper.

"I bet it's because the padawan and the not-Republic soldier somehow drew them here! I told you they were no good!" Reveth shouted, shooting a trooper directly in the head.

"They most likely didn't mean to!" Kix shouted while taking cover.

"That's not important right now! Let's just please stop talking about them and focus on getting out of here with our lives!" Quiggold shouted.

"Couldn't agree more!" Pru shouted.

Sidon really needed to think his escape plan through. Stormtroopers were not something to be trifled with, especially when they're in such large numbers like this. They couldn't leave until the ground troops were dealt with. Even then, they had no way of taking down the fighters. They'd be shot down before they even got a few feet off the ground, as demonstrated with a few reckless smugglers who attempted just that. Squeaky held his heavy blaster rifle steady and with one shot, left a large, burning hole in an unlucky trooper's chest.

All around them, the other smugglers attempted to fight back as well, only to be disposed of one by one. A blaster bolt suddenly flew just over Kix's head and flew right into Squeaky's shoulder. Squeaky then let out a squeal of agony as he shot the trooper's head off. Kix ran over to check on Squeaky.

"You alright?!" Kix asked. Squeaky nodded and snorted an affirmative. Kix knew Squeaky well and knew better than to underestimate him. He could take a few hits thanks to his thick skin; it would only make him angrier anyway. On cue, Squeaky suddenly stood up, letting out a deep guttural growl as he glared at the approaching troopers. Marching towards them, he aimed his blaster at each individual one and shredded through them with one shot each. Kix knew the blaster he carried packed a punch and that even Squeaky had trouble lugging it around, with the exception of when someone made the mistake of pissing him off.

Squeaky swung his rifle to hit a trooper right in the head, shattering the helmet and causing them to stumble and fall on their ass. Squeaky stepped over them and took aim at another approaching trooper.

Reveth peeked out around the corner of the stone wall she hid behind to see Squeaky decimating the troopers. "He's clearing a path back to the ship!" She said.

"Won't do us any good with those fighters in the air!" Kix commented.

"Maybe, we could use the ship's guns while we're still on the ground!" Pru suggested.

"That's even worse! We'd be sitting ducks! They'd spot us and blast us apart right away!" Reveth argued.

Pru seemed to realize her point and awkwardly nodded. "Yeah... on second thought... let's just stay on the ground."

Reveth peeked around again and shot a trooper directly in the shoulder with her rifle. She jumped as something bumped into her leg and aimed her blaster at BB-8 who beeped in panic.

"Don't do that again, ball! You'll get blasted doing something like that!" Reveth warned. The pesky droid continued letting out panicked beeps, much to Reveth's confusion.

"What?!"

The droid beeped more frantically and Reveth heard a noise behind her. Spinning around, she saw a stormtrooper and immediately shot them in the face.

"Quit beeping, droid! You distracted me there!" Reveth said as she changed positions. BB-8 watched her and shook his head in frustration before rolling after her.

***

Three gangsters took cover behind a piece of a wall and skillfully shot several stormtroopers. They were beyond confused why the First Order showed up out of nowhere, but they knew they would be fine as long as they remained behind cover.

One of the gangsters suddenly watched as not only the wall behind him, but also his friend right next to him were suddenly torn to shreds by a flurry of blaster bolts. His other friend was lucky enough to still be alive, but his arm was caught in the crossfire. He looked down in horror as he saw his severed, mangled arm lying on the ground. The gangster ignored his friend's cries of pain and turned around in horror, realizing their cover was completely gone. He had no time to react before he too was blown away by more blaster fire.

Finn and Jaina arrived as fast as they could, but all three of the gangsters were already dead. Looking ahead, they saw a squad of stormtroopers. One seemed to have slightly different gear than the others and seemed to be carrying a massive blaster. Jaina didn't recognize the model, but Finn did, and he began to grow nervous.

"An FWMB-10 repeating blaster..." Finn said quietly. Jaina looked over in confusion. "Huh?"

"They're bad news. They'll tear you apart if you're not careful." Finn warned.

"Okay. You draw the attention of the other troopers while I handle the heavy trooper." Jaina said. Finn nodded, readying his blaster.

"Over there!" A trooper shouted.

"It's the ones we're looking for!" Another one said in surprise.

"Kill them and continue searching for the droid!" Their commander ordered.

Finn immediately shot at them while rolling behind cover. Looking around, he noticed another spot he could take cover so that he could further draw their attention. Taking a deep breath, he knew he had to remember his training if he had a chance.

He braced himself for the worst and ran out from behind cover in order to shoot the troopers. He landed a direct hit on two, but a blaster bolt shot by the commander nearly went through his leg. Faster. He had to move faster.

Jaina dashed towards the heavy trooper who was slowly aiming his gun towards Finn. Reaching out, she used the Force to pull the gun out of his hands and as it was coming towards her, she sliced it in half.

The heavy trooper reached for a side pistol in his holster and shot at Jaina. She easily deflected the shots and ran towards the trooper, cutting the pistol in two and using the Force to push the stormtrooper into a nearby rock, knocking him unconscious.

Jaina swiftly turned her attention towards the troopers shooting at Finn and Force pushed them off their feet. She got into a ready stance and looked around at the other stormtroopers who began rapidly approaching.

END OF CHAPTER 33