Ariana winced as another large piece of debris slammed against her shield, threatening to break her Force concentration. She then turned to face Dyans Keto, holding her arm in a vice-like grip, and with taking a moment to breathe she relaxed her right arm. The white burning embers that were emitting from her right arm disappeared. The sweat of her brow lessened thanks to no longer needing to keep her offensive Force abilities fully powered.
“My Father died for Teta.” Ariana spoke, finally answering Dyans Keto’s question. “-So that I can live and serve Teta.”
Ariana’s left arm glowed brightly with the white blossoming embers, and with her hand knifed out she violently slashed down. Her hand severed her right arm clear off from her, now fully from her right arm she twisted her body around and launched herself out of the throne proper and away from Dyans Keto.
She cried in pain with a few steps, but Ariana knew she couldn’t succumb to her injury just yet as she dodged another large piece of the ceiling. The Throne room was appearing more and more like several of the buildings in the city, just a pile of rubble. She desperately continued to run, looking for the Alliance Soldiers and Rebel Militia forces, shouting “-Get out now!”
Ariana grimaced with every passing second, the pain pulsed with increasing intensity and her body threatened to collapse due to the pain.
"
Go!" The soldiers turned and ran, many of them flinging themselves through the exit as rubble rained down on the throne room. They were too far to confirm the KIA on Dyans: all they had left to do was run. Fortunately, most were near the exit. Unfortunately, Ariana was not one of them.
Rusty saw Ariana struggling to run, her arm severed and falling behind. He stopped to help, but Carmina barreled past him. The noblewoman grabbed Ariana and lifted her off her feet, then dashing towards Rusty and the exit. Rubble fell around them, and Rusty raised his blaster, blasting apart a piece of masonry that threatened to land squarely on their heads.
The air was thickening with dust and smoke, but they could still see the light of the exit. Some of the other soldiers were firing from the exit, aiming at the largest pieces of debris, causing a shower of fine sediment onto the trio.
And then they were through, the exit archway collapsing behind them. Carmine set Ariana down, her ornate powered armour creaking and hissing.
"
You can live to serve Teta now, ma'am..." Carmina panted, before collapsing. Rusty dropped his blaster, moving over to check. A piece of rubble had pierced her back armour, though he could not tell how deep into her it went.
"
Medics! Seal off Lady Ariana's wounds now, and someone get a triage station for Carmina now!" Rusty pulled Carmina's helmet off, he hair falling out. She grimaced as the harsh light reflected off her face.
"
You're not dying on my watch, Jayan," Rusty said, rolling her over to help pull the shrapnel out.
"
Heh, who's breaking protocol now," 'Lady' Carmina, undercover SIA agent, coughed. Slowly, the medics pulled the shattered masonry pieces out, applying bacta immediately to the wounds. That crisis dealt with, Rusty moved back to Ariana, medics already applying first aid on her severed arm, staunching blood flow.
"
Can she move?"
"Depends how fast we want to move," the chief medic responded, looking up at the ceiling. Though the destruction inside was confined to the throne room, the rest of the palace was not looking good either, with sounds of creaking walls reverberating the halls. Rusty's comms were sounding off that the palace had been cleared of most hostiles, though roving Mawites outside and Darth Mori herself were still in the vicinity.
"
Alright, we'll retreat back to the exits we came in from. They should still be held by friendlies. Lady Ariana," Rusty knelt down to speak to Ariana, laid out on the ground, at close eye level. "
We'll need to exfiltrate you out of the danger area. The place should be cleared of hostiles, but we don't want to chance a possible counterattack or physical collapse of the place. There's a proper medical station back at the exit, and we can bring you there now."
