Star Wars - Thrawn Trilogy - Dark Force Rising 02

by Timothy Zahn

  Which was exactly what Wedge had counted on. Ducking beneath the TIE fighter, he threw the X-wing into a upward rolling turn, swinging perilously close to the Imperial's canopy and bringing his nose around to point back the way he'd come.

  The TIE interceptor, which had instinctively swerved off Wedge's tail to keep from ramming one of his own ships, was caught flat-footed. A single point-blank blast from the X-wing's lasers blew it out of the sky.

  "Nice flying, Rogue Leader," Gold Leader commented. "My turn."

  Wedge understood. Throwing power to his drive, he shot away from the TIE fighter he'd used for cover, getting clear just as Gold Leader's lasers caught it. "How we doing?" Wedge asked as his canopy lit up briefly with the reflected light of the explosion.

  "We're done," Gold Leader said.

  "We are?" Wedge frowned, bringing his X-wing around in a wide circle. Sure enough, the only things visible nearby were X-wings. Apart from expanding clouds of glowing debris, of course. "What about the drop ships?" he asked.

  "I don't know," the other admitted. "Gold Three, Gold Four; report."

  "We got six of them, Gold Leader," a new voice said. "I don't know what happened to the seventh."

  Wedge swore under his breath, switching comm channels as he glanced back toward the Star Destroyer. The new group of TIE fighters was coming up fast. No time for him to do anything for the Katana except maybe warn them. "Luke? You've got company coming."

  "We know," Luke's tight voice came back. "They're already here."

  They came out of the drop ship with lasers blazing, laying down a heavy cover fire as they moved toward the two sets of blast doors that led forward from the docking bay. Luke couldn't see them from where he was, any more than he could see Han's group waiting silently for them behind the edge of the portside blast doors. But he could hear the Imperials' blaster fire, and he could sense their approach.

  And there was something about that sense that set the back of his neck tingling. Something not quite right about them :

  His comlink beeped. "Luke?" Lando's voice came softly. "They're coming. You ready?"

  Luke closed down his lightsaber and gave his handiwork one last check. A large section of the corridor's ceiling was now hanging perilously by a few strands of metal, ready to come crashing down at the slightest provocation. Beyond it, two sections of the wall were similarly boobytrapped. "All set," he told Lando.

  "Okay. Here goes :

  And suddenly, the pitch of a different class of weapons joined the cacophony as the defenders opened up on the Imperials. For a few seconds the two groups of weapons vied with each other. Then, with a screech of strained metal, the sounds were cut off.

  The four techs were the first around the corner to where Luke waited, their faces showing the mixture of fear and nervousness and exhilaration of men who've just survived their first firelight. Lando was next, with Han and Chewbacca bringing up the rear. "Ready?" Han asked Luke.

  "Yes." Luke indicated the rigged sections of ceiling and wall. "It's not going to hold them for long, though."

  "Doesn't have to," Han grunted. "As long as it takes a few of them out it's worth it. Let's go."

  "Hold it," Luke said, stretching out with the Force. Those strangely disturbing minds : "They're splitting up," he told Han. "About half are still at the portside blast doors; the other half are going to the starboard Operations section."

  "Trying to flank us," Han nodded. "Lando, how well is that area sealed off?"

  "Not very," Lando admitted. "The blast doors from the docking bay itself should hold for a while, but there's a whole maze of storage rooms and maintenance shops off of Operations that they can probably get back to the main starboard corridor from. There were too many doors for us to close it all off."

  From the blast doors they'd just left came the dull thud of a shaped charge. "So this group keeps us busy thinking they're all here, while the other one tries to get behind us," Han decided. "Well, we didn't want to hold the whole corridor, anyway. Chewie, you and Lando take the others and fall back toward the bridge. Take out as many of them as you can on the way. Luke and I'll go across to starboard and see if we can slow that batch down a little."

  Chewbacca growled an acknowledgment and headed oft' the it)ur tech men already on their way. "Good luck" Lando said, and followed.

  Han looked at Luke. "Still in just the two groups?"

  "Yes," Luke said, straining to locate the enemy. The strange feeling was still there :

  "Okay. Let's go."

  They set off, Han leading the way down a narrow cross corridor lined with the kind of closely spaced doors that indicated crew quarters. "Where are we going?" Luke asked as they hurried along.

  "Number two starboard weapons blister," Han said. "Should be something nasty there we can use to flood the main corridor with-turbolaser coolant or something."

  "Unless they have life-support gear, Luke pointed out.

  "They don't," Han said. "At least, they weren't wearing any when they charged us. They had standard trooper air filters, but if we fill the whole corridor with coolant those won't do them much good. You never know," he added reflectively. "The coolant might be flammable, too."

  "Too bad the Katana fleet wasn't made up of Star Galleons," Luke said, reaching out again toward the enemy. As near as he could tell, they were in the maze of rooms Lando had mentioned, working their way around toward the main starboard corridor. "We really could have used those anti-intruder defenses they come equipped with."

  "If this was a Star Galleon, the Empire wouldn't be so anxious to take it away from us in one piece," Han retorted. "They'd just blow it out of the sky and be done with it."

  Luke grimaced. "Right."

  They reached the main starboard corridor; and they were halfway across it when Han suddenly stopped short. "What in blazes-?"

  Luke turned to look. Ten meters down the corridor, sitting in a patch of darkness beneath burned-out light panels, was a large metal box resting at a tilt on a half-seen tangle of cables and struts. Twin blaster cannon protruded from beneath a narrow viewport; the corridor walls immediately around it were warped and blackened, with a half dozen good-sized holes visible. "What is it?" he asked.

  "Looks like a scaled-down version of a scout walker," Han said. "Let's go take a look."

  "Wonder what it's doing here," Luke said as they walked toward it. The floor beneath their feet was noticeably warped, too. Whoever had been in there firing had done a thorough job of it.

  "Probably someone brought it out of storage during the hive virus thing that killed everyone," Han suggested. "Either trying to protect the bridge or else just gone crazy themselves."

  Luke nodded, shivering at the thought. "It must have been a real trick to get it in here in the first place."

  "Well, we're sure not going to get it out," Han said, peering down at the tangle of debris where the walker's right leg had been. He cocked an eyebrow at Luke. "Unless :?"

  Luke swallowed. Master Yoda had lifted his X-wing out of a Dagobah swamp once:but Master Yoda had been far stronger in the Force than Luke was. "Let's find out," he said. Taking a deep breath, clearing his mind, he raised his hand and reached out with the Force.

  The walker didn't even quiver. Luke tried again; and again. But it was no use. Either the machine was wedged too tightly against walls and ceiling to move, or Luke simply didn't have the strength to lift it.

  "Well, never mind," Han said, glancing back down the corridor. "It would have been nice to have it mobile-we could have put it in that big monitor room behind the bridge and picked off anyone who came close. But we can use it here, too. Let's see if we can get in."

  Holstering his blaster, he climbed up the single remaining leg. "They're getting closer," Luke warned him, looking uneasily back down the corridor. "Another couple of minutes and they'll be in sight."

  "Better get around behind me," Han said. He was at the walker's side door now, and with a grunt be pulled it open-

  "What?" Luke
asked sharply as Han's sense abruptly changed.

  "You don't want to know," Han told him grimly. Visibly bracing himself, he ducked down and climbed inside. "Still has power," he called, his voice echoing slightly. "Let's see :"

  Above Luke, the blaster cannon traversed a few degrees. "Still has maneuverability," Han added with satisfaction. "Great."

  Luke had made it to the top of the leg now, easing carefully past sharp edges. Whoever the walker had been fighting against had put up a good fight. The back of his mind tingled- "They're coming," he hissed to Han, slipping off the leg and landing silently on the deck. Dropping into a crouch, he peered back through the gap between the angled leg and the main part of the walker, hoping the darkness would be adequate to conceal him.

  He'd gotten out of sight just in time. The Imperials were moving swiftly toward them down the corridor, spread out in a properly cautious military formation. The two point men paused as they caught sight of the broken walker, probably trying to decide whether to risk a straight advance or to give up the element of surprise by laying down cover fire. Whoever was in charge opted for a compromise; the point men glided forward while the rest of the party dropped prone or hugged the corridor walls.

  Han let them get right up to the base of the walker. Then, swiveling the blaster cannon over their heads, he opened up on the main group.

  The answering fire came instantly; but it was no contest at all. Han systematically raked the walls and the floor, driving back the handful who'd been fortunate enough to have a nearby doorway to duck into and annihilating those who hadn't. The two point men reacted instantly, one of them firing upward toward the viewport, the other scrambling up the leg toward the side door.

  He reached the top to find Luke waiting for him. His companion down below got three shots off-all deflected-before the lightsaber found him, too.

  Abruptly, the blaster cannon stopped firing. Luke glanced down the corridor, reaching out with the Force. "There are still three of them left," he warned as Han opened the walker's door and squeezed out.

  "Leave 'em," Han said, climbing carefully down the back of the damaged leg and consulting his chrono. "We need to get back to Lando and Chewie." He threw Luke a mirthless grin. "Besides, the actuator crystals just burned up. Let's get going before they figure that out."

  The first wave of TIE fighters had been destroyed, as had all but one of the drop ships. The Rebel Escort Frigate and its X-wings were now engaged with Squadrons One and Three, and appeared to be holding their own quite well.

  And Captain Brandei was no longer smiling.

  "Squadron Four launching now," Starfighter Control announced. "Squadrons Five and Six are awaiting your orders."

  "Order them to stand by," Brandei instructed. Not that he had much choice in the matter. Five and Six were recon and bomber squadrons-useful enough in their particular areas of expertise, but not in straight battle against Rebel X-wings. "Anything further on the Peremptory?"

  "No, sir. The last report from the Chimaera-before our shields went up-had their ETA as approximately 1519."

  Only about seven minutes away. But battles had been lost in less time than that; and from the look of things, this could very well become one of them.

  Which left Brandei only one real option. Much as he disliked the idea of moving into range of that Dreadnaught's turbolasers, he was going to have to take the aJudicator into combat. "All ahead," he ordered the helm. "Shields at full strength; turbolaser batteries stand ready. And inform the leader of the boarding party that I want that Dreadnaught in Imperial hands now."

  "Yes, sir." There was a dull roar through the deck as the sublight drive came up to power And, without warning, the roar was joined by the hooting of the ship's alarms. "Bandits coming out of lightspeed astern," the sensor officer snapped. "Eighteen craft-freighter class and smaller. They're attacking."

  Brandei swore viciously as he punched for the appropriate display. They weren't Rebel vessels, not this group, and he wondered who in the Empire they could be. But no matter. "Come around to two-seven-one," he ordered the helm. "Bring aft turbolasers to bear on the bandits. And launch Squadron Six."

  Whoever they were, he would soon teach them not to meddle in Imperial business. As to their identity : well, Intelligence would be able to ascertain that later from the wreckage.

  "Watch it, Mara," Aves's voice warned over the comm. "They're trying to come about. And we've got TIE fighters on the way."

  "Right," Mara said, permitting herself a sardonic smile. For all the good that would do. The bulk of the Star Destroyer's starfighters were already engaged with the New Republic forces, which meant that all Karrde's people were likely to get would be recon ships and bombers. Nothing they couldn't handle. "Dankin, Torve-swing down to intercept.

  The two pilots acknowledged, and she returned her attention to the inconspicuous spot beneath the Star Destroyer's central sublight drive nozzle where her Z-95's lasers were currently blasting away. Beneath the shielding at that point was a critical part of the lower-aft sensor package. If she could take it out, she and the others would have free run of the relatively undefended underside of the huge ship.

  With a sudden puff of vaporized metal and plastic, the lasers punched through. "Got it," she told Aves. "Lower-aft-central sector is now blind."

  "Good job," Aves said. "Everyone: move in."

  Mara pulled the Z-95 away, glad to be leaving the heat and radiation of the drive emissions. The Wild Karrde and other freighters could handle the job of tearing into the Star Destroyer's outer hull now; her small starfighter would be better utilized in keeping the TIE fighters away from them.

  But first, she had enough time to check in. "Jade calling Karrde," she said into the comm. "You there?"

  "Right here, Mara, thank you," came a familiar voice; Mara felt a little of her tension drain away. Right here, thank you, meant everything was fine aboard the New Republic ship.

  Or as fine as could be expected while facing an Imperial Star Destroyer. "What's the situation?" she asked.

  "We've taken some damage, but we seem to be holding our own," he said. "There's a small tech team aboard the Katana and they have the turbolasers operational, which may account for the Star Destroyer's reluctance to move any closer. No doubt they'll overcome their shyness eventually."

  "They've overcome it now," Mara said. "The ship was under power when we arrived. And we're not going to be able to distract them for long."

  "Mara, this is Leia Organa Solo," a new voice came on the comm. "We've got a Star Cruiser on its way."

  "The Imperials will have backup coming, too," Mara said flatly. "Let's not be heroic to the point of stupidity, okay? Get your people off the Katana and get out of here."

  "We can't," Organa Solo said. "The Imperials have boarded. Our people are cut off from the docking bay."

  Mara looked across at the dark bulk of the Dreadnaught, lit only by its own running lights and the flickers of reflected light from the battle raging near and around it. "Then you'd better write them off," she said. "The Imperials aren't likely to be far away-their backup will get here long before yours does."

  And as if cued by her words, there was a flicker of pseudomotion off to her left; and abruptly three Dreadnaughts in triangular formation appeared. "Mara!" Aves snapped.

  "I see them," Mara said as a second triad flickered in behind and above the first. "That's it, Karrde. Get out of there-"

  "Attention, New Republic forces," a new voice boomed over the channel. "This is Senator Garm Bel Iblis aboard the warship Peregrine. May I offer our assistance?"