“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 he 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 judicator 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; and 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.”