Dark Tide: Ruin

by Michael A. Stackpole

  Daeshara’cor keyed her comlink. “Team Twelve in place.”

  “Copy, Twelve. Race starts in five.”

  The Twi’lek nodded to Anakin. She brought her lightsaber to hand and covered the ignition button with her thumb. “Anakin, I just want to say thanks.”

  He frowned. “What for?”

  “I got myself lost before, and you found me.” Daeshara’cor smiled. “That’s a debt so huge I can’t repay it. If I had succeeded . . . I’d have hated myself forever.”

  Anakin’s reply died amid the electronic squealing of an MSE-6 mouse droid rolling along the walkway as fast as it could. Guttural barks and hisses chased it. It paused just in front of the corridor where they waited, spun in a tight circle, then shot on down the walkway past them. Pursuing hotly came a half-dozen reptoids. So focused were they on the small droid that none of them even spared a glance at the corridor.

  Anakin flicked his left hand at one of the middle reptoids and used the Force to boost it into the air. The Yuuzhan Vong slave caught its heels on the walkway balustrade, starting the creature somersaulting in flight. Screaming, it crashed through foliage and landed with a crunch below.

  The surprised look on the second reptoid’s face died as Anakin slammed his lightsaber against the side of its head, then hit the ignition switch. The purple blade swept up through the top of the creature’s skull, then came around to parry an amphistaff strike from one of the two lead reptoids. With two hands on the hilt, Anakin parried the amphistaff wide to his left, then pivoted on his left foot and side-kicked the reptoid in the face.

  As that creature pitched backwards, the other one lunged with his amphistaff at Anakin. The young Jedi felt the fire of the amphistaff’s sharpened edge grazing the inside of his left thigh. Anakin whipped his lightsaber around in a backhanded slash that separated the reptoid’s triumphant grin top from bottom.

  Spinning back, he saw Daeshara’cor standing above the bodies of her dead reptoids, then the two of them went over the balustrade and dropped to the level below. Anakin landed astride the reptoid he’d pitched off the upper level. It had clearly shattered its spine in the fall.

  Anakin turned to his right and saw a Yuuzhan Vong warrior coming along the walkway. “Quick, the corridor. Go!”

  Daeshara’cor darted down the corridor that ran below the one in which they’d hidden, and Anakin made to follow her, but the reptoid clutched at his right ankle. He tried to shake his foot free, but the creature clung to it for dear life. The Yuuzhan Vong roared a challenge and charged, his amphistaff whirling.

  Turning to face this challenge, Anakin set himself as best as he was able. He raised his lightsaber to a guard and was ready to parry the warrior, when the reptoid slammed a fist into the wound on his left leg. Pain shot up through him, dropping him to one knee. He looked up and saw the bladed end of the amphistaff slashing down at his face.

  Suddenly Anakin felt himself jerked back by the Force as strongly as if he’d been strapped to an X-wing making the jump to light speed. Her lightsaber burning scarlet, Daeshara’cor stepped onto the walkway, interposing herself between the Yuuzhan Vong and Anakin. The warrior, whose strike had carved through the reptoid instead of Anakin, dropped back into a half crouch, with his amphistaff held waist high, the bloodied tail pointing at the Twi’lek.

  The Yuuzhan Vong thrust at her twice. Daeshara’cor sidestepped one lunge, then batted the second aside. She pressed an attack, cutting twice at his head. The Yuuzhan Vong retreated, drawing her forward, as he brought his amphistaff up to block the slashes. Reversing his amphistaff, he parried a lunge to his left, then riposted. Daeshara’cor brushed his attack wide, then pivoted and extended her left leg in a kick that doubled the warrior over.

  Anakin smiled, then saw Daeshara’cor stagger and collapse against the walkway. As she slid to the ground, her right arm left a dark bloody streak on the wall. The amphistaff coiled at the feet of its warrior, then slithered up his leg and into his grip, a red tongue darting from its fanged mouth.

  It bit her when he reversed it. She’s been poisoned.

  Anakin rose to his feet, fury racing through him. He summoned the Force to himself, feeling it surge. He couldn’t feel the Yuuzhan Vong through it, but he could easily use it to collapse the walkway beneath his enemy or shatter tiles into a jagged hail that would flense the Yuuzhan Vong alive. He could do hundreds of thousands of things that would leave the Yuuzhan Vong shrieking in untold agonies.

  I can avenge Chewie, avenge Daeshara’cor, avenge the people of Sernpidal. Right here, right now, starting with this one Yuuzhan Vong warrior. He smiled coldly and nodded solemnly at his enemy. I can show him what a true Jedi can do.

  The Yuuzhan Vong advanced almost casually. He spun his amphistaff as he came. He reached Daeshara’cor’s feet and she moaned. He flicked a glance in her direction and slashed his amphistaff at her throat.

  In a heartbeat Anakin realized that a true Jedi wasn’t concerned with what he could do to the enemy, but what evil he could prevent the enemy from inflicting. Using the Force, he brought Daeshara’cor’s lightsaber up enough that it deflected the amphistaff strike. The Yuuzhan Vong weapon buried itself in the balustrade, splitting tile with a thunder crack.

  The Yuuzhan Vong had almost tugged his weapon free of the wall by the time Anakin reached him. The lightsaber’s violet energy beam swept low, shredding a knee. As the Yuuzhan Vong warrior began to fall, the Jedi brought his weapon up and around in a stroke that caught the invader between left shoulder and neck, angling down into his chest. The dead armor held for a second or two, then melted.

  The warrior slid, lifeless, off the blade.

  Anakin dropped to a knee beside Daeshara’cor. Her green flesh had begun to take on a milky hue, and he did not think that was good. He flicked on his comlink. “Team Twelve, one down.”

  “Copied, Twelve, pull back to the opal grove and the med station.”

  “As ordered.”

  Anakin thumbed his lightsaber off, then extinguished hers. He clipped her lightsaber to his belt, then hefted her up over his shoulder. Casting a glance behind himself, and summoning the Force to strengthen him, Anakin carried Daeshara’cor deeper into the Ithorian city. I don’t know if we can save it, but I hope we can save her.

  Traest Kre’fey turned from the holographic display of the battle when his shields officer called out to him. “What is it, Commander?”

  The cream-colored Bothan snarled. “Port shield is down to 5 percent. The next shot will—”

  Something slammed into the hull outside the bridge and shook the ship. Kre’fey, off balance from his turn, dropped to the decking. He gathered his hands beneath him and heaved himself up. Sharp ferroceramic shards fell from his body to litter the deck, and he noted that blood covered some of them. It took him a second to realize that whatever had hit his ship had managed to spall off the bulkhead’s internal sheathing. Had I remained upright . . .

  He glanced toward the communications stations and saw what little was left of Lieutenant Arr’yka twitching on the deck. “Comms officer is down. Get someone on that station! Shields, what happened?”

  Grai’tvo tore the right sleeve off his uniform and used it to staunch the wound on his forehead. “Shield were low. A skip got through, hit us. It was just too powerful for us.”

  Too powerful for us . . . Kre’fey growled a quick laugh. “Yes, that’s it, that’s the solution.”

  Grai’tvo shook his head. “Admiral?”

  “To the Yuuzhan Vong defenses.” Kre’fey looked at his gunnery officer. “Give me a 50 percent boost on the power of splinter shots.”

  “It’ll slow the rate of fire.”

  “I know, but they’re putting up weak voids for our weak shots. Make the shift and we can sting them.” Kre’fey turned toward the communications station. “Give me Admiral Pellaeon.”

  Borsk Fey’lya nodded and wiped blood off the console with his sleeve. “Call going in, waiting for an answer.”

  “Thank you, cou
sin.” Kre’fey crossed to the station. “Are you certain you want to be here, given the danger you’re in?”

  The New Republic’s leader nodded solemnly. “Better to die here than waiting below for the Yuuzhan Vong to find me.”

  Kre’fey smiled and patted Fey’lya on the shoulder. “Do good work here, cousin, and there won’t be any Yuuzhan Vong left for you to fear.”

  Shedao Shai moved through the jungle in the midst of his troops. Above him the troop carriers—save for the one serving as his ground-force command center—streaked skyward to carry reinforcements down to the planet. The grounded troops consisted of a dozen Chazrach for each Yuuzhan Vong warrior. He’d broken his force into four components. One squad remained with his ship. He deployed triads on his left and right flanks, knowing the trio of squads in each triad would be enough to delay any enemy they met. In the center he led an ennead, with a triad at point, one in reserve, and the core triad with which he moved.

  He intended to conduct only a reconnaissance mission in force, because he knew he had too few troops to do much so soon. The villip on his left shoulder whispered in his ear. “Master, we have reached the facility now. You will want to see this.”

  “On my way.” In his scout’s voice he had heard something that began to sap his resolve to only reconnoiter the enemy building. They had met no resistance in the planet, which allowed him to imagine the enemy would collapse when pressed. The battle for Dantooine showed that was not necessarily true, but Elegos had told him the Ithorians were pacifists. If they lead things here . . .

  Shedao Shai cut through the ranks of his troops and began to run through the darkened rain forest. Though he knew his people controlled this section of the planet and that he was in no danger, he could not shake a sense of hostility. No, not hostility, just opposition. We are not wanted here. We are not hated, but definitely not wanted.

  For the barest of moments he entertained a flicker of doubt concerning the invasion. The gods had given them this mission because they were champions of life, yet here was a world where he felt foreign—truly felt like an invader. He did not go so far as to wonder if the priests had lied, or if their mission was a mistake. Instead he wondered if he was pursuing the gods’ wishes in the proper manner, then decided that the uneasiness he felt was from means, not ends.

  He quickly found his forward force and crouched next to its leader. “Report.”

  “We have movement there.” The Yuuzhan Vong warrior pointed at a sprawling white complex of ferrocrete. The building rose to three levels, with each stepped back from the one below. Towers rising from the uppermost floor provided ample advantage, and the muzzles of weapons seemed to bristle from walls and viewports. “It is defended.”

  “We expected no less.”

  “It is defended by automatons.” A tremor entered the warrior’s voice. “They have no respect for us. They dishonor us by letting their machines do their killing for them.”

  Shedao Shai rose and stared defiantly at the white building before him. He pointed to it, allowing his tsaisi to slither into his hand and stiffen. “They mock us. They mock our gods. Let us break their toys, then they will have to come to us. And when they do, we will break them, as well.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  “I copy, thanks, Range Lead.” Corran looked at the other half-dozen Jedi with him. “You heard that. General Dendo says they have taken the bait. Gavin’s flyby pinpointed the transport they’re using as a command center. Saddle up. We’re going in hot.”

  Corran, clad as were the other Jedi in black combat suits, climbed aboard a speeder bike that had a brushed aluminum case strapped to the back of it. He punched the ignition but-ton and felt the engine thrum to life. A small holographic image of the darkened jungle popped up between the handlebars, painting in luminous details the trees hidden by darkness.

  He smiled. Through the Force he could feel those trees and avoid them. This will just paint any Vong lurkers for me as the thermal bleed from their bodies will betray their presence even if they are hiding.

  Corran looked around for a moment, then smiled at Jacen, swathed in shadow. “What are you looking at?”

  The younger man pointed at the case. “That case. Kinda hard to miss.”

  “It is, isn’t it.” Corran nodded confidently. “But then, having it be noticed is the purpose of this exercise. Shedao Shai is going to find himself in a fight, and with this, we can remind him once again what he’s fighting for.”

  At Shedao Shai’s order, the Yuuzhan Vong ennead surged forward, breaking from the jungle to sprint across open ground at the Ithorian building. Red laser bolts began to burn out from the walls, with splinters of light streaking in every direction. Around Shedao Shai ran Chazrach, howling and barking. In their midst went Yuuzhan Vong warriors, longer and leaner than their minions, racing forward in a sea of bobbing heads.

  The Yuuzhan Vong leader stalked forward, seeing his troops as silhouettes in the light of the enemy fire. Energy darts exploded through Chazrach chests, clipped limbs, spun the diminutive warriors around to drop them smoking to the ground. Some of the wounded mewed and writhed, others struggled to their feet to keep going. Shedao Shai did not waste the time to dispatch the seriously injured, instead granting them the grace of dying in pain to redeem their failure.

  Concentrated though the laserfire was, the automatons controlling the weapons lacked the flexibility to shift their tactics as the situation evolved. All the variables they were given to consider changed constantly, so each second brought new calculations and spastic motions imperfectly mimicking the living enemy they faced. Different machines responded at different speeds, causing them to leave one vector open while doubling up on another that no longer presented a threat. Slaves to their programming, the machines could not eliminate the extraneous and concentrate on what was vital.

  As a living creature has long evolved the capacity to do. Shedao Shai saw one of his warriors go down and reached his side in a heartbeat. He tore the amphistaff from the lifeless hands, began to whirl it over his head, then charged forward, letting his fury and outrage fuel his assault.

  Yuuzhan Vong attack bugs filled the air around him. Some struck targets and exploded, crumbling walls, destroying computer-controlled gun mounts, and reducing automatons to shrapnel and sparking limbs.

  A living foe would continue fighting, but not these things.

  The Chazrach swarmed over the wall and raced up the ramps to the next level. From the roof towers more laser-fire poured down, though the guns failed to depress enough to rake the building’s upper terraces. Shedao Shai smiled grimly at that fact, since no living creature—no intelligent creature—would have made that mistake. A true warrior would hoist the weapons from their mounts and spray that lethal energy over us. These automatons are not even as intelligent as beasts.

  Well-thrown explosive bugs blasted the top of one tower off, sending a triumphant shout throughout the Yuuzhan Vong host. The squeal of metal as amphistaffs were ripped from metal and the snap of sparks as coufees sliced cables wove themselves into a percussive symphony of destruction. More explosions split the night, and a second tower crashed down with enough force to shake the whole building.

  Shedao Shai found himself shrieking victoriously with his ennead, but his cry died prematurely. He stepped back, a cold sense of dread seizing him as Yuuzhan Vong warriors and Chazrach flooded into the building. Something was not right, and not until he realized that the impact from so light a structure as the tower should not have been able to send more than a minor tremor through the building could he pinpoint what was wrong.

  This is not a permanent structure. He looked around again, his eyes widened with growing horror. An orgy of havoc surrounded him. Chazrach were beating consoles into debris. Circuit boards were yanked from their middles, rainbow ribbons trailing out like colorful intestines. Even his warriors appropriated wires and gaskets, adorning themselves with relics of the vanquished.

  His force had lost all its cohesion
and discipline. The razing of the facility and the shattering of its technology continued deep inside, with shouts luring more and more of his troops into the white building’s heart. It is what they wanted, what they expected when they put their abominations here. They knew we would take offense and lose our minds.

  Shedao Shai vaulted the low wall and began to back away from the building. He shouted for his troops to retreat and heard his call repeated. The Chazrach near him came away immediately, and more of their brethren began to flee, but none of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors. No, of course not. They would not take orders from Chazrach to leave off their sacred duty.

  He started to use his villip to get the command center to issue a recall, but a rumble began to build, shaking the ground, and Shedao Shai knew it was too late.

  The New Republic defenders, having long acknowledged that hitting a target was tough if there was no target, decided to provide the Yuuzhan Vong with something to attack on the surface of Ithor itself. They defended it with automated blasters and peopled it with droid shells, cobbled together from spare parts and just enough circuitry to allow the machines a little motion. They knew that using what appeared to be droids to defend the target would likely unhinge the Yuuzhan Vong and get them committed to a frenzy of destruction. Toward this end they constructed a building rather hastily, not worrying about a lot of internal support structures or a deep foundation.

  Despite not providing a deep foundation to the building complex, the defenders did dig a hole beneath the building. This hole they filled with explosives and then laid the building slab over the top. The detonators for the explosives were wired to one of the computers stored in the heart of the building. Once General Dendo armed it by a comm signal, the detonation sequence would begin only if the computer shut down.

  Having an amphistaff shoved into it and twisted accomplished this end rather nicely.

  The resulting explosion shattered the slab and filled the basement with fire, consuming a half-dozen Chazrach that had wandered down there. The expanding fireball then vaporized the next floor, taking with it the Yuuzhan Vong warrior, his amphistaff, and the computer he’d destroyed. The blast cracked what few internal supports had been placed in the building, and as the fireball collapsed, the building collapsed in on top of it.