"Look, you shouldn"t believe everything we say," Jaina said.
"Urbur?"
"Really," Jaina replied. She fixed her gaze on the AirStraeker squadron, then reached out to Zekk, concentrating hard and trying to make him feel her alarm through the battle-meld. "Humans do exaggerate."
Wuluw stopped shaking and remained curiously quiet for a moment, then reported, "Burubu rurburu."
"He is?" Jaina gasped, feigning surprise. "Well, Zekk"s StealthX isn"t going to give anything away, is it? The Chiss can"t even see that."
"Ur!" Wuluw clacked her mandibles in delight, then began to rub her antennae over Jaina"s face. "Burrb u!"
"All right! That"s enough!" Jaina laughed. "If we"re going to get out of this, I still need to see."
Wuluw folded her antennae back immediately.
As soon as her view was clear again, Jaina realized that she had lost sight of the Squibs. Probably, they had dropped back into the jungle as soon as the AirStraekers appeared, preferring to take their chances with the MetaCannons. There was no time to worry about it. She could see the AirStraekers sweeping back and forth now, spraying a wall of laser beams ahead of them and setting aflame a kilometer-wide swath of jungle canopy.
Jaina reached out and tried her Force shove again, but the Chiss learned quickly. Her target simply peeled away from the squadron and climbed, fighting against her Force grasp until he entered the clouds and she lost sight of him. Thinking that disruption was as good as destruction, she began to Force-shove the rest of the squadron. They all vanished into the clouds-then dropped back into view a few moments later, in perfect formation and closer than before.
"Hurry, Zekk!" Jaina said under her breath.
"Ubr?"
"I said we need to keep pressing the attack," Jaina replied, not wanting to alarm her Wuluw again. "Let"s see if we can find a good observation post."
Jaina Force-leapt into an especially tall mogo, then used the Force to make herself light and ascended high into the smallest twigs until she had clear view all the way to the mountains. Through the tangle of barren tree limbs, several MetaCannons were visible on the jungle floor, about half a kilometer ahead. Jaina retrieved her electrobinoculars and saw that the crews were busy changing the configuration of their weapons, replacing the ballistic barrels with fan-tipped beam emitters more suited to close-in fighting.
"Have the Rekkers jump those MetaCannons now!" Jaina instructed Wuluw. "If they don"t get there in the next thirty seconds, those maser fans will tear them apart."
"Ru."
Jaina checked on the progress of the AirStraekers and found them so close now that she could see the underwing emitter fans flashing individual maser beams-and she could hear the wood cracking as mogo trees burst into flame. She tried her Force-shove attack again, and again she succeeded only in sending the entire squadron into the clouds for no more than three seconds.
Jaina reached out to Zekk again, urging him to hurry. In response, the meld filled with rea.s.surance.
Jaina returned the electrobinoculars to her eyes and began to scan the rest of the battlefield. Five kilometers beyond the MetaCannons, the Chiss perimeter shield was glowing through the battle smoke, a golden wall that flickered and flashed as the Colony"s hordes attacked with catapults, magcannons, and other primitive field pieces. The Chiss were responding with maser cannons mounted on armored personnel carriers, directing most of their fire at a line of about fifty moss-covered hillocks that seemed to be ambling slowly forward.
Kolosolok was attacking.
Jaina watched in awe. More than fifty meters long and ten meters high, the enormous insects resembled freighter-sized spider-roaches, with broad, slightly humped carapaces that covered their entire backs. Their heads were slightly beetle-like, however, with a thicket of stiff black antennae that looked more like horns.
Though the Kolosoloks appeared sluggish and torpid, they were covering so much ground that the throngs of Killik soldiers following in their wake were having trouble keeping pace. Maser cannons were useless against them. The beams ricocheted harmlessly off their thick head chitin, or blasted craters three meters deep into the green, spongy moss that covered their thoraxes. And when a cannon strike did penetrate their chitin, the brief geyser of brown blood seemed to go unnoticed-at least by the victim.
The crackling of the fires in the jungle canopy became a building roar, and Wuluw began to tremble on Jaina"s back again.
"Rurb u brubr ub."
"Can"t leave yet." Jaina did not lower her electrobinoculars. "Those MetaCannons should be opening up with their maser fans about-"
A tremendous roar erupted down in the jungle, shaking Jaina"s tree so hard that she had to Force-stick herself to the limb on which she was sitting.
"-now!" she shouted. "Hold on!"
A flurry of loud, long crashes began to sound from the area near the MetaCannons, and ancient, hundred-meter mogo trees began to drop to the jungle floor, their bases heat-blasted from beneath them.
Jaina continued to study the perimeter shield. That was the key, the place where the battle would be won or lost. The Chiss defenders changed tactics, standing atop their personnel carriers to launch gas grenades and vape charges. The gas grenades seemed to sicken the Kolosoloks, causing them to shudder and stumble when one actually struck them. The vape charges opened gaping holes in their chitin, sometimes resulting in a flood of blood and organs large enough to drop them to their bellies. Even then, the huge warriors continued to crawl forward.
The Chiss weapons were simply too light to stop Kolosolok. More than half of the nest reached the perimeter alive and began to b.u.t.t into the curtain of energy, snapping at the relay pylons with their mandibles, clawing huge pits into the ground, serving as siege towers for the rivers of Killik soldiers who streamed up their backs.
A cold p.r.i.c.kle rose in the middle of Jaina"s spine. She lowered the electrobinoculars and spun on her heel, staring down into the jungle toward the spot that seemed to be the source of the feeling. She saw nothing but shadow. She started to stretch out in the Force, but then the whine of an approaching AirStraeker became a scream and the heat of the burning canopy began to warm her face, and she knew Zekk had not made it in time.
Jaina spun back toward the sound and found herself looking through the canopy bubble directly into the red eyes of a Chiss pilot. There was no emotion in the woman"s face as she twisted her control stick, swinging the maser fans in Jaina"s direction.
Wuluw screeched, and Jaina felt her own hand rising as though to ward off a blow. But instead of turning her palm toward the emitter fans, she flicked her fingers sideways, reaching out with the Force to bat the AirStraeker"s control stick out of the pilot"s hand.
The Chiss"s eyes widened in surprise. She lunged after the rebellious stick, and Jaina did not see what the woman did after that. The AirStraeker simply dipped into the jungle canopy and vanished, and an instant later an orange plume of fire boiled up through the trees. Jaina felt a gush of heat in the soles of her feet, and Wuluw shrieked again and clung to her even more tightly.
The rest of the squadron roared past, spraying crimson curtains of death fifty meters to either side, filling the Force with the anguish of thousands of dying Killiks, instantly turning the air so hot that Jaina"s throat stuck closed.
Then the p.r.i.c.kle between Jaina"s shoulder blades became a cold shiver. She leapt without taking the time to look and found herself dropping through the smoke-filled jungle with no idea what lay below-no idea beyond the danger that she sensed. She was in someone"s sights, and she knew it.
A flurry of blaster beams began to st.i.tch the air around her, forcing Jaina into an ungainly Force tumble that sent Wuluw flying. She twisted around, reaching out to draw the Killik back to her . . . and saw Wuluw"s thorax shatter as a blaster bolt tore through it.
Jaina felt the Killik"s death as though it were her own. A terrible fire blossomed inside her and began to crackle on her fingertips, longing for release, for vengeance. A mogo limb appeared out of the smoke below, and she reached for it in the Force, pulling herself over to it and lighting on it as gently as a feather.
A handful of blaster bolts tore into the tree"s trunk, then abruptly stopped when her attackers realized she was protected. Jaina snapped her lightsaber off her belt and Force-leapt to the branch above, then crept close to the trunk and peered around it, toward the source of the blaster bolts. As she had suspected, Longnose and Scarcheek were crouching in a trunk notch in the next tree, their large dark eyes scanning the area where she had disappeared.
Jaina scowled. Hit-Squibs.
She began to scan the surrounding branches, planning a route that would take her behind the two a.s.sa.s.sins, unsure in her anger whether she meant to capture them or simply take her vengeance.
That was when Zekk touched Jaina through the meld, wondering if she was hurt, urging her to focus. Vengeance was not important-it was never important. The battle was all that mattered now. She had a responsibility to the Colony.
Jaina glanced skyward. The smoke was so thick that she could barely see the green rain clouds above, but they were still there, still pouring water down onto the burning jungle.
Jaina wondered what had taken Zekk so long to reach her, and the image of attacking clawcraft filled her mind. Of course-the Chiss would never attack without top cover. She returned her lightsaber to her utility belt, then used the Force to snap a small branch about thirty meters behind Longnose and Scarcheek.
The two Squibs leapt out of their hiding place and started down the tree headfirst, moving so fast that Jaina wondered if they were falling. Once the pair had vanished from sight, she whispered after them, using the Force to carry her hard-edged voice.
"We"ll finish this later," she said. "If you stay alive that long."
A pair of startled screams echoed up through the smoke.
A moment later, the hum of a StealthX"s repulsor drives pa.s.sed by overhead. She looked up to see a black streak flashing after the AirStraekers, its laser cannons ripping the sky open.
The MetaCannons were continuing to chew through the jungle, but now Jaina could hear other sounds, too-the wail of enemy voices, the pinging of shatter gun pellets on metal armor, the chain-thunder of exploding ammunition. The Rekkers had reached the Chiss lines.
Seeing that the lower levels of the jungle-at least in the direction of the fighting-had erupted into a solid wall of flame and smoke, Jaina returned to the canopy. She could see Zekk"s StealthX in the distance as it hunted down the AirStraekers, but not much more.
Jaina retrieved her electrobinoculars, then used the Force to clear a hole through the smoke. The MetaCannons had cut a trench three hundred meters into the jungle. A solid wall of smoke and steam was pouring out of this trench, while thousands of Rekkers and millions of Jooj were swarming into it. Clearly, the situation at the MetaCannons was under control.
The battle at the perimeter was going more poorly. The Chiss had ma.s.sed opposite the Kolosoloks, flinging vape charges and gas grenades at the great insects and firing their charric rifles from the roofs of their personnel carriers. The Killik tide pressed the attack, pouring shatter gun pellets over the shield or simply leaping into the horde of defenders.
The Chiss were too disciplined to panic and too well trained to break. Support units poured in by the squad, by the platoon, by the company. Bodies, both insect and Chiss, began to lie three and four and then ten deep. Personnel carriers exploded or became so riddled with shatter gun fire that the crews could be seen lying in pieces inside. The Kolosoloks were b.u.t.ting the shield, filling the air with golden sprays of discharge sparks, recoiling stunned and unsteady, then hitting it again and again . . . and still the perimeter held.
Then Jaina saw a Chiss vape charge fly astray when the soldier who had thrown it was. .h.i.t by a line of shatter gun pellets. Responding more by instinct than by plan, she reached out for the vape charge in the Force. Her control at such a distance was almost nonexistent, so she simply nudged it toward the nearest relay pylon and watched in surprise as the distant speck struck the post-then dropped to the ground and simply lay there.
Jaina cursed under her breath, then lowered her electrobinoculars. "The rodder didn"t thumb the-"
A brilliant detonation dot appeared through the smoke, and a sudden jolt of surprise shot through the Force. Jaina raised the electrobinoculars again, then cleared a viewing hole through the smoke and was astonished to see that the relay pylon had disappeared after all. Killiks were pouring through the gap in the perimeter shield, enveloping a company of Chiss defenders and fanning outward in an unstoppable tide.
The Colony had broken the enemy line. Now the Chiss would have to evacuate.
FIFTEEN.
The vastness of the Megador"s Hangar 51 rumbled with activity as a small army of technicians, droids, and support personnel rushed to ready the entire wing of Jedi StealthXs for combat. The StealthXs were temperamental craft with specialized equipment, so even simple tasks like fueling and arming required twice as much work and made three times as much noise as the same work on a standard starfighter. And the systems checks caused a cacophony in their own right, as furious bleeps and tweets flew back and forth between the StealthXs" security-conscious astromechs and the Megador"s self-important diagnostic droids.
As a result, Jacen could not overhear what Luke and Mara were saying to Saba and to his parents at the Falcon"s boarding ramp. But he doubted it was a problem. They were all holding hands and embracing, and he could feel their concern and warm feelings in the Force.
Probably, Luke had just called Jacen over to say goodbye before his parents departed on their mission against the Chiss. Jacen would have liked to save them the trip-to make them see that the Chiss would keep attacking the Killiks whether Luke"s crazy scheme worked or not. But he did not dare.
Lowbacca and Tesar"s accusations had left him in a tenuous position with Luke and Mara, and Jacen could not risk aggravating the situation by openly opposing Luke"s plan. Everything depended on the Chiss winning this war, and he had to remain in a position to make certain they did.
Jacen reached the foot of the Falcon"s boarding ramp and stopped, waiting his turn to embrace his parents and wish them a good journey. Despite his father"s graying hair and the crow"s-feet creeping out from the corners of his mother"s eyes, he did not think of them as old. They were just experienced-vastly experienced.
They had been going on missions like this together for over thirty years-since long before he and Jaina had been born-and Jacen was just beginning to truly understand the sacrifices they had made, the risks they had taken. How often had they faced dilemmas like the one he faced now, had to choose between a terrible evil and an absolute one? How many secrets like Allana had they kept hidden-how many were they still hiding?
The time had come for Jacen and his peers to take up the beacon his parents and their friends had been carrying all these years-not to push aside the previous generation, but to carry the burden themselves and allow the old heroes a well-deserved rest. He knew he and his fellows were ready; a group of Jedi had not been as carefully selected and prepared since the days of the Old Republic. But when Jacen looked at his parents and recalled how they had changed the galaxy, he found himself wondering whether he and his generation were worthy.
Sometimes, given their secure childhoods and formal training, he even wondered whether the new Jedi were too soft. Compared with the filthy, overcrowded freighter that his father had called home as a boy, or the dusty Tatooine moisture farm that had shaped his uncle Luke"s early life, the Jedi academy on Yavin 4 had been luxurious. Even his mother, raised in the Royal Palace of Alderaan, had understood true danger as a child, with the deadly gaze of Palpatine always turned her family"s way.
"Jacen?"
Jacen felt his father"s eyes on him and realized everyone was looking in his direction.
"You here?" Han asked. "You"re not having another of your visions, are you?"
"No, just . . ." He was surprised to find a lump in his throat. ". . .just thinking."
"Well, stop it," Han ordered. "You"re scaring me."
Jacen forced a smile. "Sorry. I wouldn"t want that." He turned to his mother. "You can"t talk him out of this?"
Leia must have sensed something despite his defenses, because she ignored the joke and said, "Is there a reason I should?"
Jacen rolled his eyes, but silently cursed his mother"s perceptiveness. "It was a joke, Mom." He spread his arms and wrapped her in a tight hug so she would not be able to examine his face too closely. "I just came to wish you a safe trip."
He released her and turned to embrace his father. "Good . . ." Had Jacen realized he was going to have such a hard time concealing his emotions, he would have found an excuse to be busy doing something else when his parents departed. ". . . bye, Dad."
"Take it easy, kid. We"re coming back." Han suddenly stiffened, then pulled back and eyed Jacen nervously. "Aren"t we? You haven"t seen something-"
"You"re coming back, Dad-I"m certain of it," Jacen said. "Just be careful, okay? Raynar isn"t going to believe you-and it won"t help that you"re telling the truth."
"Is that what you"re worried about?" Han sounded relieved. "Look, kid, we"ve been over this about a-"
"We"ll be fine, Jacen," Leia interrupted, finally warming to him and squeezing his hand. "This is the only way to make the Chiss understand how difficult it would be to win a war against the Killiks."
Saba stepped up behind Leia, looming over her the way Chewbacca used to loom over Han. "Everything will be fine, Jacen. Your mother is a powerful Jedi-az strong in her way as you are in yourz."
Jacen nodded. "I know that." He leaned down and kissed Leia on the cheek. "May the Force be with you, Mom."
"And with you, too, Jacen," Leia said. "We"re not the ones who"ll be attacking Gorog"s nest ship."
Han"s face suddenly fell. "That"s not what you"re worried about-is it?" he asked. "Did you see-"
"I didn"t see anything, Dad," Jacen said. "Really." He shooed his father up the ramp. "Go on. I"ll meet you when this is over."
Han studied him for a moment, then finally nodded. "I"ll hold you to that, kid. Don"t let me down."
He took Leia"s hand and started up the ramp.
Saba remained behind, one slit-pupiled eye fixed on Jacen, and began to siss in amus.e.m.e.nt. "You are alwayz full of surprisez, Jacen Solo." She started up the ramp. "Alwayz so full of surprisez."
Jacen had to fight down a moment of panic. He knew that Ben found the Barabel Master frightening, and he was beginning to understand why-she was just so hard to read.
Before starting up the ramp after Saba and the others, C-3P0 paused in front of Jacen and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Pardon me, Master Jacen. But did whatever you saw have anything to do with me?"
Before Jacen could answer, Han"s voice sounded from the top of the boarding ramp. "Threepio! If you"re still on that ramp in three seconds, you"ll be riding to Tenupe cargo-clamped to the hull!"
"Threats are hardly necessary, Captain Solo!" C-3P0 clumped up the ramp after Saba and the others, his golden hands paddling the air. "I"m coming, I"m coming!"
Jacen smiled and waved a last farewell to his parents, then retreated to safe distance and watched with Luke and Mara as the boarding ramp retracted and the Falcon slipped out of the hangar. The ship hung below the Megador for a moment, a mere teardrop of white durasteel framed by the hangar"s huge mouth, then spun toward the Star Destroyer"s stern and streaked off deeper into the Unknown Regions.
Luke"s hand suddenly clasped Jacen by the shoulder, and Jacen barely stopped himself from cringing. He could not afford to show any hint of surprise . . . or guilt.
"I"ll bet it seems like they"ve been doing that your whole life, doesn"t it?" Luke asked fondly.
"It does," Jacen said, nodding. "And I couldn"t be prouder."
"No?" Mara slipped a hand through his other arm. "Well, neither could they."