Champions of the Force

by Kevin J. Anderson

The stormtrooper took one step forward. The droid held out all four hands in an imperative gesture to stop. "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that," the nanny droid said calmly. "Close your eyes, baby Anakin."

  "What are you waiting for?" Furgan snapped at the trooper. "It's only a nanny droid."

  With a whir and a click all four of the droid's hands detached and dropped to the floor, exposing the blaster barrels hidden in each of her wrists. "I am an enhanced nanny droid," she said with prim emphasis, "and you will not harm this child." She let loose with all four barrels, firing gouts of deadly energy.

  The four beams struck the approaching stormtrooper before he could swing up his blaster rifle. He was hurled back against the wall, shards of white armor flying away from smoking black wounds.

  Furgan yelled in astonishment and terror. He swung up his blaster rifle and depressed the firing button long before he took time to aim. A flurry of incandescent bolts sprayed across the room, reflecting from the pastel walls,

  bouncing off the corners.

  Furgan ducked, but continued to fire. The nanny droid centered all four blaster arms on him — but Furgan raked his stream of blaster bolts across her rounded head and soft, flesh — encased torso, succeeding more through luck than skill. Sparks flew and molten metal showered in all directions.

  Beneath the blaster — proof apron, the baby began to wail.

  Bruise — colored lips curved upward in a smile, Furgan stepped over the debris of the nanny droid and the dead stormtrooper to retrieve the child. He reached down to grab one of little Anakin's arms and yanked him into the air by the cloth of his pajamas. Furgan wasn't quite sure how to hold a baby, especially one that continued to squirm as this one did.

  "Come with me, little one," he said. "You are about to begin a whole new life of galactic importance."

  Han Solo longed to get closer to Kyp Durron in the Council chambers on Coruscant, wanting to comfort his young friend — but the armed New Republic guards surrounding Kyp made it impossible for anyone to approach.

  Kyp moved slowly, as if walking barefoot across shattered glass. His eyes were dull. His face was seamed with new lines, as if the dark spirit of Exar Kun had shed his four thousand years of existence onto Kyp's shoulders.

  The Sun Crusher had once again been impounded by New Republic security, and Mon Mothma had declared the entire area off limits. There would be no further research into the workings of the superweapon. Kyp's chaotic vengeance had demonstrated how horrible the Sun Crusher truly was.

  Inside the Council chambers the air smelled thick and oppressive from too much tension and too little ventilation. The stone added a msty old smell to the room. The place made Han uneasy and claustrophobic.

  The Council members wore their formal uniforms like armor, frowning like ancient sentinels, passing judgment. Some looked as if they hadn't had any rest. Han felt deeply troubled to be facing them without Leia. She had departed from Yavin 4 with Terpfen, supposedly to go see Ackbar, but he had not been able to learn what had happened to her. Leia certainly knew how to take care of herself, though, and he did not dare leave Kyp alone with the predators here.

  Mon Mothma, flanked by her ever — present medical droids, seemed only partially aware of what was going on. None of the other Council members had suggested removing her from office while she was still willing to attend meetings, though Mon Mothma contributed little. Han was stunned by how much the Chief of State had worsened in just the last few days.

  One of the functionaries beside the sculpted door arch tapped on a long chime, sending a pure tone into the air to call the attendees to order.

  Han didn't know much about the protocol of government, but he didn't plan to stand by and do nothing while Kyp was trounced by bureaucratic bigwigs. Before one of the members could speak, Han stepped forward. "Hey! Could you let me put in a word for my friend, Kyp Durron?"

  Aging General Jan Dodonna hauled himself to his feet. Ancient and weathered, like a piece of gnarled driftwood, the bearded general still seemed filled with energy. His eyes flashed at Han. "The prisoner may speak for himself,

  General Solo. He has certainly shown no reluctance to act for himself. Let him answer our questions now."

  Chastised, Han stepped back and looked at the floor, tracing patterns made by cracks in the inset flagstones. Since Dodonna had the lectern, he leaned forward to look down at Kyp. The young man lifted his tousled head and

  blinked sheepishly at the old tactician.

  "Kyp Durron," Dodonna said, "you stole the Sun Crusher. You attacked and temporarily incapacitated the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. You blew up the Cauldron Nebula and obliterated two other inhabited star systems. I will not debate the tactical significance of your actions — but we cannot tolerate juggernauts who make up their own orders and cause wholesale destruction on a whim!"

  The other Council members agreed. General Rieekan's deep, thick voice reverberated through the chamber. "This Council had already decided that the Sun Crusher would never be used. We disposed of it in a safe and protected place, but you knowingly thwarted our wishes."

  The other members fell quiet after Rieekan's words. They seemed eager to add their own condemnations, but realized there would be little point in it.

  After a moment of silence Kyp spoke. His voice sounded impossibly thin and small, reminding Han and everyone else there just how young this boy was. "I have no excuse for my actions. I'll accept the consequences."

  "Even if your actions demand the death penalty?" the obese Senator Hrekin Thorm asked. "Such destruction as you have caused can warrant nothing less than execution."

  "Wait a minute!" Han said. The Council members glared at him, but he ignored their silent rebukes. "I know, I know — but listen to me for a minute. Kyp wasn't himself. He was possessed by the evil spirit of a Sith Lord who has since been defeated. And he did do some good. He destroyed Daala's fleet. How many lives did he save by doing that? We are at war, after all."

  Mon Mothma's words wheezed from her cracked lips. Her voice came out in a ragged whisper. The rest of the chamber fell into a deep hush as she began to talk. "Kyp Durron," she said, "you have the blood of millions, perhaps billions, on your hands. We are a governing body here, not a judicial council. We have no right to decide your fate. You — was She gasped as if using most of her energy just to fill her lungs. "You must be judged by the Jedi Master. We are not qualified to judge your crimes."

  She raised one of her hands to gesture toward Han. "Take him to Yavin. Let Master Skywalker decide his fate."

  Leia, Ackbar, and Terpfen joined the rescue party from the Galactic Voyager, swooping through the violet skies of Anoth. Ackbar took the lead in his own B — wing. His weapons systems were powered up and ready to attack any ground assault team the Dreadnaught had deployed.

  The starfighters soared over the fanged landscape toward the stone turret that Ackbar and Luke had chosen for the base. Leia saw signs of damage that made her blood run cold, smoke and debris from an attack. "We're too late," she whispered.

  Part of the spire had been blasted away, and soot splattered the eroded surface. Below, she saw the still — smoldering remains of several horrific mechanical spiders.

  Ackbar's voice came over the ship — to — ship intercom. "Winter must be putting up a good fight. Our emplaced defensive systems are functioning as planned."

  Leia swallowed to clear her dry throat. "Let's just hope that's good enough, Admiral."

  The fighters targeted in on where the blast doors had been melted aside. One of the heavy metal shields still hung in place in its tracks. The rescue ships maneuvered around the four Walkers that cluttered the floor of the landing bay. Ackbar, Leia, and Terpfen sprang out of their cockpits as other Calamarian fighters joined them.

  "Terpfen, go with Minister Leia and half the fighters directly to the nursery. See if the baby is still there. I will take the other troops down into the lower levels to find Winter. I think I know what her strategy would have been."

&nb
sp; Leia, not bothering to argue, yanked out her own blaster pistol. With a hardened expression she took the lead, running to see that her child was safe.

  The team swarmed down the maze of convoluted tunnels toward the nursery. Leia glanced around her as she jogged but saw no signs of blaster fire on the walls. Weapons rattled against body armor as the Calamarians ran to keep pace with her.

  As they rounded the last corner toward Anakin's room, Leia swerved to keep from tripping over the slow — moving power droid who plodded along on its rounds, unconcerned with the turmoil. Leia paid the walking battery no further heed when she saw the door to the nursery yawning open.

  "Oh, no," she said, lurching to a cautious stop just as Ambassador Furgan backed out, clutching a squalling Anakin to his broad chest.

  Both Leia and Furgan froze for a moment, staring at each other. Furgan's eyebrows jerked up in a muscular twitch like birds about to leap into flight.

  The Calamarian rescuers leveled their weapons at Furgan. He held the baby in front of him like a shield.

  "Give Anakin back to me," Leia said, her voice dripping with greater threat than an entire fleet of Star Destroyers could convey.

  "I'm afraid not," Furgan said, and wrapped a broad hand around Anakin's fragile neck. His wild eyes flicked from side to side. "Point your guns away from me, or I'll snap his neck! I've gone through all this to get the Jedi baby, and I'm not going to give him up. He's my hostage, and the only way he stays alive is for you to let me go."

  He edged along the tunnel. His back scraped against the rough, lumpy wall. Furgan locked his eyes on the weapons pointed at him, but he held the baby out, squeezing the boy's throat. "Even if you stun me, I can still crush his windpipe. Drop your weapons!"

  "Back off," Leia ordered, taking a step backward.

  The Calamarian defenders stepped to the side, clearing a path for Furgan — all except for Terpfen. He stood holding his hands in front of him like sharp claws.

  Furgan saw the swollen, sagging Calamarian head, the tracery of blunt scars — comand suddenly recognized him. "So, my little fish, you betrayed me after all. I didn't think you had the strength of will."

  "I found the strength," Terpfen said. He stepped toward Furgan. Anakin continued to squirm in the ambassador's arms.

  "Stop!" Furgan said. "You have enough on your conscience, little fish. You wouldn't want to add the death of this baby to it."

  Terpfen made a low gurgling noise that was some kind of Calamarian snarl. Furgan kept his wild gaze fixed on all those cornering him as he slid backward toward the Spider Walkers and his only escape.

  In his grasp baby Anakin's deep — brown eyes flashed, as if he were deep in thought.

  Suddenly Furgan cried out as he stumbled against the squarish, waddling power droid that had silently crept up behind him. The power droid gave out a small jolt of electricity, shocking Furgan.

  The ambassador tripped and fell, still holding the child. The power droid shuffled out of the way with a squeal of something like terror.

  As the Calamarian defenders snatched up their weapons again, Terpfen lunged forward to grab the baby out of Furgan's hands.

  The other Calamarians fired at Furgan, but the squat man rolled across the floor, got to his knees, and launched himself around the corner, moving far faster than Leia would ever have thought possible.

  "After him!" Terpfen cried. He passed baby Anakin to Leia and dashed off in pursuit of Furgan.

  As hot tears flowed from her eyes, Leia hugged her youngest son, trying to find words that would console him — but nothing came to mind, so she just made cooing noises. She sank to the floor, rocking him back and forth.

  Ackbar's broad feet slapped on the stone floor as he ran deeper into the catacombs. His lungs burned in the dry air, but still he insisted on more speed. He pulled ahead of the others. So far Winter had followed exactly the guidelines he had established for defense of the base.

  He knew from the wreckage outside that the Foreign Intruder Defense Organism had done its job, eliminating half the Spider Walkers before they could breach the blast doors — but it had not been enough. Winter would have proceeded down to trigger the camouflaged assassin droids.

  The other team members clattered behind him. He could smell dust and engine oil in the dry air, and also a sharp, damp smell like copper and smoke — blood.

  The robed form of Winter sprang around the corner, holding a blaster in front of her, ready to fire. But she froze. For just an instant a smile of delight crossed her face. "Ackbar! I knew you would come."

  Ackbar strode toward her, resting his hand on her arm. "I arrived as fast as I could. You are safe?"

  "For the moment," she said. "The defenses have eliminated all but two of the intruders, according to my

  inventory."

  "Are you certain?" he said.

  "I never forget anything," Winter said, and Ackbar knew it was true.

  "Leia and the rest of my team should be getting Anakin now," he said, then continued softly, "We split up so that I could determine if you required assistance."

  She nodded. The expression on her face softened. "I will not feel comfortable until I see the baby safe."

  "Let's go," Ackbar said, still out of breath. Together they began the long run uphill.

  Terpfen raced feverishly up sloping corridors. His feet were raw, bleeding from running on the textured floor, but still he ran. He didn't care if this race killed him. He had to get to Furgan before the ambassador escaped.

  Furgan had jerked his controls and made Terpfen reveal damning secrets of the New Republic, forced him to sabotage Ackbar's B — wing so that it had crashed into the Cathedral of Winds, made him betray the location of the Jedi baby.

  Terpfen would pay his personal debt in any way he could — but Furgan would also have to pay the price.

  With determination coursing through his veins, Terpfen passed the other Calamarian pursuers. Through the dimness he could hear Furgan scurrying forward like a krabbex.

  "Follow!" Terpfen wheezed as he shot past the others. Terpfen leaped over fallen hunks of metal shrapnel, blasted doors that the invading stormtroopers had blown away. He emerged into the landing grotto to find Furgan already scrambling into one of the unoccupied MT — AT'S.

  "You can't escape, Furgan!" Terpfen shouted. He paused to catch his breath against the melted but now cooled hatch.

  Furgan slung one leg over the edge of the Spider Walker and settled himself into xs cockpit. His face wrinkled as if someone had scrunched it up from the inside.

  "We already destroyed your Dreadnaught in orbit," Terpfen said. Finding energy deep within him, he staggered toward the walker. He heard the other troops catching up.

  Furgan looked amazed at the news, but then his face smoothed again with disbelief. "I know better than to trust you, little fish. Your whole life is a lie."

  Furgan closed the transparisteel canopy. The engines hummed to life. One of the outer blast doors had been completely torn away; the other hung half — open. Wind sighed through the opening. In the clotted purple sky the two larger components of Anoth rode overhead like stone clouds exchanging lightning across the silence of space.

  Terpfen snarled and ran to another Spider Walker. He was a chief starship mechanic. He had helped the Imperials work on their combat vehicles and their Star Destroyers. He could run any equipment — probably better than Furgan himself.

  In his panic Furgan had trouble making all eight of the Walker's legs move in sequence to make progress across the grotto floor, but he finally plowed ahead, swiveling the laser cannons on the joints of the articulated legs to blast one of the B — wing fighters that stood in the way.

  Terpfen powered up his Spider Walker and slammed down the canopy. The machine had crude controls and sluggish response, nothing at all like the streamlined controls used on Mon Calamari Star Cruisers.

  Furgan's vehicle approached the large opening at the cliff's edge, and Terpfen knew from the design of the MT — AT that it
could climb straight down the rockface. He didn't quite know how Furgan would escape once he got to the bottom; he doubted the ambassador had thought that far ahead.

  Terpfen found the fire controls and shot his lasers three times, taking out one joint of the other Walker's legs. The lower portion of the metal limb sheared off and fell to the grotto floor with a clang.

  Off balance, Furgan's Walker scuttled in a drunkard's circle until he managed to compensate for the lost limb. Once again he made for the exit.

  Terpfen saw the powerful blaster cannons slung beneath his cockpit — if he fired both of them in the enclosed grotto, it would obliterate Furgan's assault transport ... but the explosion would also destroy him and his own Walker, and probably most of the B — wings as well.

  Then Terpfen saw other rescuers streaming into the grotto. Admiral Ackbar himself came from a different entrance and stood with his own team next to a white — clad woman whom he recognized as Leia's companion Winter.

  He could never fire the blaster cannons now. But he vowed not to let Furgan escape. Working the controls, Terpfen lunged the eight — legged vehicle forward in pursuit just as Furgan's machine tottered on the edge.

  Ackbar arrived in time to see the beginning of the battle between the two Spider Walkers. Terpfen's lasers blasted out, striking the ambassador's MT — AT. Furgan didn't seem to have a plan, intending only to get away. Terpfen's Walker scuttled forward. Its clawed footpads struck sparks from the landing — bay floor.

  Terpfen blasted again and again with his lasers. Furgan fired back, but his shot missed, scoring sharp flakes of rock from the grotto wall.

  Terpfen's MT — AT charged ahead, raising its two front clawed legs, and grabbed the metal limbs of Furgan's transport, raising it partway off the floor. Furgan's vehicle reached out with its own legs to grasp the edge of the cave opening, trying to haul itself forward and away.

  Terpfen fired directly at the transparisteel canopy of the cockpit, but the laser shots could not pass through the shielded surface. His Spider Walker grappled with Furgan's vehicle, four mechanical legs planted firmly on the stone floor, four legs pushing with all his engine's capacity.