CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The first Yuuzhan Vong carrier swooped in at the Tafanda Bay and pulled away sharply at the last moment. The herd ship, which had no guns, presented no obvious threat to the invaders. The second carrier came in level and blazed away with the two small plasma cannons mounted on the cockpit’s roof. Golden gouts of plasma slammed into the transparisteel of a veiwport, melting it like ice beneath a blowtorch.

The carrier then used a void, centering it on the hole, to suck molten transparisteel away. The void pulled in some atmosphere, tree branches, and small uprooted plants by the time it had cleared out a hole big enough to let the carrier land. The boxy ship entered the Tafanda Bay and moved forward to a green promenade. It touched down lightly, opening hatches through which poured a legion of little reptoid shock troops.

From the ship’s aft emerged a half-dozen Yuuzhan Vong warriors, all tall, lean, and terrible. They bore their amphistaffs and wore armor, but it hung loosely on them. They seemed to move uneasily in it, and as Anakin Solo watched them alight from the ship, he supposed their uneasiness came from wearing the dead shell of a creature instead of the living vonduun crab itself.

He studied the small screen on his datapad, occasionally hitting a key to provide himself another view from one of the many holocams located throughout the city. He switched to the one nearest where the first crate had landed and caught the quick flash of something before static filled the little data window. Another view showed two Yuuzhan Vong warriors pointing at the smoking, sparking ruin of a holocam.

One of the warriors plucked a flat, disk-shaped bug from a bandolier he wore across his chest and sent it whirling out toward the cam through which Anakin watched them. Anakin flinched, having felt the sting of the razorbugs on Dantooine. The toss missed, but the bug came flying back to its master for another try. Anakin switched to yet a third cam, but the landing of the second crate cut off his view of the warrior throwing the bug.

Daeshara’cor rested a hand on his left shoulder. “It’s time, Anakin.”

He shut the datapad off and started to pocket it, but she turned and looked at him. “Leave it. No reason to drag it along.”

The remark surprised him for a second. She was right. He didn’t need it for what they would be doing. In fact, it would be a little extra weight, something that might slow him down. If they defeated the Yuuzhan Vong, he would have all the time in the world to come back for it. If we don’t . . .

He smiled, then slipped the datapad into the pocket on the left thigh of his combat suit. “The Yuuzhan Vong hate machines. It’s not a living thing, but I don’t want to leave it for them.”

The Twi’lek smiled briefly. “Hadn’t thought of that. C’mon, Anakin, let’s go teach them the error of their ways.”

Anakin stalked after Daeshara’cor, slipping through a broad doorway and into a wide corridor. Planters mounted into the walls brimmed over with purple vines, while gold-leaf ivy ran along the ceiling. Daeshara’cor walked down the center of the passage, which, because it had been built for Ithorians, was sufficiently large to make her look almost childlike.

He wondered for a moment why she was walking down the middle of the corridor. He knew she wasn’t afraid of the vines, then he noticed he was doing it, too. Neither of us is slinking along. Approaching the coming battle boldly hardly made sense, since the Yuuzhan Vong were lethal. But to cower as we approach would give them a victory even before the battle is joined.

Irrational though he knew that explanation was, it felt right to him. Watching her, seeing the set of her shoulders and the straightness of her spine, he realized that to be truly brave took more than deciding you weren’t going to be scared. You had to allow yourself to believe you were brave, and you had to do all the things you could to promote that feeling. You have to give yourself the chance to be brave.

They reached the end of the corridor and crouched down. The corridor connected with the large series of forested plazas that ran down the belly of the herd ship about three levels above the greensward. The reptoids had spread out in little knots of six, moving along the walkways that edged the plazas. Anakin knew the Ithorians had not been taking tactics into account when they created the herd ship. Still, the fact that the walkways curved often and moved up and down, as if the path were on a hillside, meant that the Yuuzhan Vong troops could pretty much see only twenty meters in front of them, and that in the best case.

And the foliage choking the greensward made looking from one side of the herd ship to the other almost impossible. That mattered little to the Jedi. Though they could not sense the Yuuzhan Vong themselves, their client troops had a presence in the Force. Moreover, the Jedi could pick one another out within the city. While none of them had direct telepathic connections, having a sense of where someone was, and a comlink for talking to them, was almost as good as a brain-to-brain hookup.

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, cousin.” 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.”