I gave him a big smile.
“Whistler, you got all sensors on full record and you’re feeding the data back to the Skate at the Great Temple?”
His curt blat reminded me that he didn’t forget orders—or go gallivanting off around the galaxy leaving friends behind to be worried circuit-worn about him.
I nodded. “We are good to go and clear to fire.” I flicked the weapons-control over to proton torpedoes and set it for single fire. I dropped my targeting reticle over Exar Kun’s face, then cut my comm unit feed. I didn’t mind folks watching what I was doing, but what I had to say, that was just for me and Exar Kun.
“I know you’re gone, but I also know you planned for that, someday. This temple might be an archeological find of great value, a monument of untold wonder, but it’s also a monument to evil. You used it to infect Kyp, and mere impressions made of the glyphs infected the dark Jedi who killed my grandfather. Your evil created the Jensaarai, and even though they rose above it, people have still suffered and died because of it.
“But this isn’t revenge, which you would have liked. Nope, this is simply a precaution.” I settled my finger on the trigger. “Wouldn’t leave a lightsaber around where a kid could find it, and this temple to you is a million more times dangerous than that.”
I pulled the trigger and sent a proton torpedo streaking out at the statue. The warhead detonated when it hit the bridge of his nose, shattering his skull into thousands of fragments that sprayed out in a shower of sparks and cloud of whitish smoke. The bits and pieces of Exar Kun’s head rained down in a narrow triangle, smashing the lake’s mirror-like surface, forever breaking up the last intact images of that island.
Two more proton torpedoes took Exar Kun off at waist and knees, then I shot the rest of them into the base of the obelisk on which he had stood. It toppled wonderfully, breaking into pieces as it went. The chunks slammed into the ground and crushed walls, then bounced around inside the temple, pulverizing slab after slab of Sith writings. Some eventually ricocheted high enough to escape the temple itself, splashing down in the cold dark lake.
Switching to lasers, I raked fire back and forth across the temple, heating rock until it ran like water. Great clouds of steam rose up as stone sloughed off walls and sank, formless and unshaped and now unblemished by Sith scribings. When I was done only the island itself remained: still black as night, but now all soft and curving, no longer angular, no longer strong.
No longer a place of power, just a tranquil spot in a lake that would once again reflect the stars, and now could reflect their peace.
I flipped my comm unit back on. “This is Rogue Nine. Mission accomplished.”
Mirax’s voice filled my helmet. “We got that, Rogue Nine. Master Skywalker says ‘Well done.’ ”
“Thank him for me. It was my pleasure.” I smiled. “Exar Kun is done, the Invids have fled, this temple is gone and you’re home again. Only one last bit of business and all of this can be over.”
“And that is?”
“And that is the toughest bit of all, my love,” I laughed, “we have to tell your father our first child will not be named for him.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael A. Stackpole is an award-winning author, editor, game and computer game designer. As always, he spends his spare time playing indoor soccer and now has a new hobby, podcasting. Mike will publish A New World, the sequel to Cartomancy, this July, and is currently at work on ideas for a half-dozen other novels.
To learn more about Mike’s podcasting, please visit www.tsfpn.com (the website of The SciFi Podcast Network).
BOOKS BY MICHAEL A. STACKPOLE
THE WARRIOR TRILOGY
Warrior: En Garde
Warrior: Riposte
Warrior: Coupé
THE BLOOD OF KERENSKY
TRILOGY
Lethal Heritage
Blood Legacy
Lost Destiny
Natural Selection
Assumption of Risk
Bred for War
Malicious Intent
Grave Covenant
Prince of Havoc
Ghost War
THE FIDDLEBACK TRILOGY
A Gathering Evil
Evil Ascendant
Evil Triumphant
Eyes of Silver*
Dementia
Wolf and Raven
Once a Hero*
Talion: Revenant*
STAR WARS® X-WING SERIES
Rogue Squadron*
Wedge’s Gamble*
The Krytos Trap*
The Bacta War*
Isard’s Revenge*
Star Wars®: I, Jedi*
Star Wars®: Dark Tide
Star Wars®: Onslaught
Star Wars®: Ruin
THE DRAGONCROWN
WAR CYCLE
The Dark Glory War*
Fortress Draconis*
When Dragons Rage*
The Grand Crusade*
THE AGE OF DISCOVERY
A Secret Atlas*
Cartomancy*
*published by Bantam Books
STAR WARS—The Expanded Universe
You saw the movies. You watched the cartoon series, or maybe played some of the video games. But did you know …
In The Empire Strikes Back, Princess Leia Organa said to Han Solo, “I love you.” Han said, “I know.” But did you know that they actually got married? And had three Jedi children: the twins, Jacen and Jaina, and a younger son, Anakin?
Luke Skywalker was trained as a Jedi by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. But did you know that, years later, he went on to revive the Jedi Order and its commitment to defending the galaxy from evil and injustice?
Obi-Wan said to Luke, “For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire.” Did you know that over those millennia, legendary Jedi and infamous Sith Lords were adding their names to the annals of Republic history?
Yoda explained that the dreaded Sith tend to come in twos: “Always two, there are. No more, no less. A Master, and an apprentice.” But did you know that the Sith didn’t always exist in pairs? That at one time in the ancient Republic there were as many Sith as Jedi, until a Sith Lord named Darth Bane was the lone survivor of a great Sith war and created the “Rule of Two”?
All this and much, much more is brought to life in the many novels and comics of the Star Wars expanded universe. You’ve seen the movies and watched the cartoon. Now venture out into the wider worlds of Star Wars!
Turn the page or jump to the timeline of Star Wars novels to learn more.
he black hole cluster near Kessel reached out for the Millennium Falcon with jaws of gravity, drawing it close. Even in the mottled blur of hyperspace, Han Solo could see the huge distortion as a bruised whirlpool, trying to suck them down to infinity.
“Hey, Chewie! Don’t you think that’s too close?” He stared at the Falcon’s navicomputer, wishing they had chosen a course that would take them a safer distance from the Maw. “What do you think this is, an old smuggling mission? We got nothing to hide this time.”
Beside him, Chewbacca looked disappointed and grunted an excuse, waving his hairy paws in the stifling air of the cockpit.
“Yeah, well we’re on an official mission this time. No more skulking about. Try to act dignified, okay?”
Chewbacca groaned a skeptical reply, then turned to his navigational screens.
Han felt a pang at returning to his old haunts, reminded of when he had been just on the other side of the law, running spice, being chased by Imperial scout ships. When his life had been free and easy.
On one of those frantic missions, he and Chewbacca had practically shaved the bottom plating off the Falcon, taking a shortcut and skimming closer to the Maw cluster of black holes than had ever before been recorded. Sensible pilots avoided the area, using longer paths that kept them clear of the black holes, but the Falcon’s speed had carried them to s
afety on the other side, making the Kessel run in under twelve parsecs. But that “guaranteed sure thing” mission had ended in disaster anyway; Han had dumped his load of spice just before being boarded by Imperials.
This time, though, Han was returning to Kessel under different circumstances. His wife Leia had appointed him an official representative of the New Republic, an ambassador of sorts, though the title seemed somewhat honorary.
But even an honorary title had its advantages. Han and Chewbacca no longer had to dodge scout ships, or duck under planetary sensor nets, or use the secret compartments under the deck plates. Han Solo found himself in the unlikely, and uncomfortable, position of being respectable. There was no other word for it.
But Han’s new responsibilities weren’t just quaint annoyances. He was married to Leia—who could have imagined that?—and he had three children.
Han leaned back in his flight chair and locked his hands behind his head. He allowed a wistful smile to cross his face. He had visited the kids as often as he could, in their protective isolation on a secret planet, and the twins were due to come home to Coruscant in a week. Anakin, the third little baby, had filled him with wonder as he tickled the tiny ribs, watching an expression of amusement cross the infant’s face.
Han Solo, a father figure? Leia had said a long time ago that she liked “nice men”—and that was exactly what Han was turning into!
He caught Chewbacca looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Embarrassed, Han sat up straight and frowned down at the controls. “Where are we? Shouldn’t it be about time to end this jump?”
Chewie growled an affirmative, then reached out with a furry paw to grasp the hyperspace controls. The Wookiee watched the numbers tick away on his control panel; at the appropriate moment he hauled backward on the lever that dropped them back into normal space. The mottled coloring of hyperspace fanned into starlines with a roar that Han felt more than heard; then they were surrounded by the expected tapestry of stars.
Behind them the spectacle of the Maw looked like a garish finger painting as ionized gas plunged into multiple black holes. Directly in front of the Falcon, Han saw the blue-white glare of Kessel’s sun. As the ship rotated to align them with the ecliptic, Kessel itself came into view, potato-shaped and maned with the tendrils of escaping atmosphere, orbited by a large moon that had once housed a garrison of Imperial troopers.
“Right on target, Chewie,” Han said. “Now let me have the controls.”
Kessel looked like a wraith coasting along its orbit, too small to hold on to its own atmosphere. Huge generating factories constantly processed the raw rocks to release oxygen and carbon dioxide, making it possible for people to survive outside with simple breath masks instead of total environment suits. A good portion of the newly manufactured atmosphere escaped into space, wisping behind the small planet like the tail of a giant comet.
Chewbacca barked a short, nasal comment. Han nodded. “Yeah, it looks great from up here. Too bad it’s so different when you get a closer look. I never liked the place.”
Kessel was a major planet for spice production and seat of heavy smuggling activities, as well as the site for one of the toughest prisons in the galaxy. The Empire had controlled spice production except for what smugglers managed to steal from under Imperial noses. But with the fall of the Emperor, the smugglers and the prisoners in the Imperial Correction Facility took over the planet. Kessel had laid low during the depredations of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the recent resurrection of the Emperor, keeping quiet and trying hard not to be noticed, answering no one’s request for help.
A low growl rumbled in Chewie’s throat. Han sighed and shook his head, “Look, I’m not happy about going back there either, buddy. But things are different now, and we’re the best people to do it.”
With the civil war ended and the New Republic once again firmly seated on Coruscant, leaving scattered groups of Imperial warships to fight each other, it was time to reopen negotiations. Better to get them on our side than to let them sell out wherever they can, Han thought, which is what they’ll probably do anyway. As representative of the new unified smugglers, Luke’s old nemesis Mara Jade had tried to contact Kessel and been flatly rebuffed.
The Millennium Falcon approached Kessel, firing aft thrusters to help them catch up with the planet’s motion, preparing for insertion into orbit. On the helm’s scanner screens, Han checked their approach. “Vectoring in,” he said.
Chewie made a quick comment and pointed at the screens. Han looked down to see blips already in orbit around the planet, emerging from the blanketing clouds of the atmosphere. “I see ’em. Looks like about a half dozen ships. Too far away to determine the types.”
Han brushed aside Chewie’s uneasy growl. “Well, then we’ll just tell them who we are. Don’t worry. Why do you think Leia made such a fuss about getting us proper diplomatic ID signals and everything?”
He switched on the New Republic beacon that automatically pinged out their identification in Basic and several other languages. To his surprise, the orbiting ships changed their vector in unison and increased speed to intercept the Falcon.
“Hey!” Han shouted, then realized he had not switched on the audio pickup. Chewie roared. Han toggled the switch on. “This is Han Solo of the New Republic ship Millennium Falcon. We are on a diplomatic mission.” His mind raced, wondering what words a real diplomat would use. “Uh, please state your intentions.”
The two closest ships raced in, first growing into distinct points of light, then taking on shapes. “Chewie, I think you’d better get our forward deflector shields up. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
He reached for the communications switch as Chewbacca brought up the shields, but then he looked through the front viewport. The two incoming ships roared toward him at unbelievable speed, spreading out on either side. The sight of their squared-off solar panels and central pilot compartments turned Han’s blood to ice water.
TIE fighters.
“Chewie, get over here. I’m taking the laser cannon.”
Before the Wookiee could reply, Han hauled himself up the access tube into the gun well. He grabbed on to the gunner’s chair, trying to reorient himself in the new gravity field.
The TIE fighters came in for a two-pronged attack, spreading above and below the Falcon and firing their lasers. As the ship lurched from the impact, Han managed to throw himself into the gunner’s chair, grabbing for the harness buckle and strapping himself in. One of the attacking ships swooped overhead, and the Falcon’s sensor panels howled with the sound of Twin Ion Engines, from which the TIE fighter took its name. The enemy vessel fired again, but the beams streaked harmlessly through space.
“Chewie, take evasive action! Don’t just fly straight!”
The Wookiee shouted something from below, and Han yelled back. “I don’t know—you’re piloting, you figure it out!” Obviously Kessel had not rolled out the welcome mat for them. Had some vestige of the Empire taken over the planet? If so, Han needed to get that information back to Coruscant.
Other ships were approaching now, and somehow Han didn’t think they were coming to help. Up ahead, the two TIE fighters swooped up in a tight arc, executing a complete one-eighty and roaring back for a second attack on the Falcon.
But this time Han had managed to strap himself in and power up the laser batteries. On his scope the TIE fighter made a digitized target, growing larger. The enemy ship came closer and closer. Han tightened his grip around the firing levers, knowing the TIE pilot would be doing the same. He waited, feeling sweat build up on his neck. He realized he was holding his breath. One more second. One more second. The targeting cross showed dead center on the starboard wing of the fighter.
The instant Han pressed the firing button, Chewbacca threw the Falcon into an evasive roll. The laser blasts went wide, spraying toward the distant stars. The TIE fighter’s shot also missed, streaking in the opposite direction and coming perilously close to striking the second TIE fight
er.
The second fighter managed to readjust his aim quickly enough that his two shots scored the Falcon’s shields. Han heard sparks spraying from the control panels. Chewie bellowed a preliminary damage report. Aft shields gone. Forward shields still holding well. That meant they had to take the TIE fighters head-on.
As the first fighter swung around for a third pass, Han swiveled his gun turret as far as it would go and stared at the targeting screen again. This time he would forget about finesse and perfect accuracy. He just wanted to blast the sucker. His lasers were fully charged, and he could afford to waste a few shots, as long as this wasn’t going to be a prolonged battle.
As soon as the targeting cross touched the image of the fighter, Han squeezed his firing buttons at full power, strafing his deadly laser across the path of the incoming ship. The Imperial fighter swooped in but could not change its course quickly enough, plowing through the shower of laser bolts.
The ship erupted into a flame-flower of exploding fuel tanks and expanding atmosphere. Han and Chewbacca shouted their triumph in unison. Even euphoric, Han didn’t sit around patting himself on the back.
“Let’s go after the other one, Chewie.” The second TIE fighter swerved outward in a long trajectory, then headed back toward Kessel. “Hurry, before those reinforcements can get here.”
He wondered if perhaps he and Chewbacca shouldn’t turn and flee immediately. But part of him refused to let anybody take pot-shots at the Millennium Falcon and just walk away from it.
Chewbacca increased speed, closing the gap between the Falcon and the TIE fighter. “Just get me one good shot, Chewie. One good shot.”
He was in an unmarked modified light freighter—why would the TIE fighters come out shooting at them in the first place? Was it the New Republic ID beacon? What was going on at Kessel? Leia sat around thinking about details like that, analyzing the possibilities, and coming up with scenarios. With her tremendous load of diplomatic duties, she was becoming more and more of a thinker each day, trying to solve things by committee and negotiation. But a political solution wouldn’t work if an Imperial TIE fighter came in shooting at you.
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