Title: Republic Saga - Alliances, Chapter Three
Author: Jonathan Evans
Author email: noggins@btinternet.com
Summary: Anakin, Leia and Keylar infiltrate Thrawn's Temple but a unique fate awaits them. Meanwhile, Lando and Narril discover their mission may not be as easy as they first thought...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Republic Saga site (http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/republicsaga) is going well with over 100 hits in the first week since I got a hit counter. Character profiles of the major players are already up.
REPUBLIC SAGA
ALLIANCES
CHAPTER THREE
Leia entered the room where Keylar and Anakin were checking their
weapons. Skywalker ensured that his lightsaber was ready while
the ambassador powered up his blaster rifle. Anakin saw his daughter
enter and smiled.
"Ah, my daughter. I see you are ready."
"I guess so," Leia replied. "Where exactly are we going to get in
the Temple?"
Keylar showed the princess Jedi a map of the Emperor's capital on
a datapad. She observed it carefully as he pointed out and entrance
near the bottom. "This supplies entrance has been derelict for nearly
fifty standard years since the Empire began. It has no guards due
to the fact its no longer needed."
"I wouldn't be surprised if the Empire didn't know it even existed,"
Anakin added. "We should be able to slip in here unseen and make
our attack slightly easier."
Leia nodded but a worried expression remained on her face. She pulled
her lightsaber from her belt and looked at it carefully. "Then there's
nothing we can do except prepare for battle," she said quietly.
"If things go as I plan there should be no need for a battle," Anakin
informed her. "Come on, we have a shuttle craft waiting for us."
The man who was thought to be the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, moved
away towards two large docking bay doors. He glanced back at his daughter.
"You are anxious, Leia," he said. "Tell me, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing... it's just... I have a really bad feeling about this.
There is somethinng behind this. A darkness like we've never encountered
before."
"Everything will be fine," he reassured her. "You'll see. It'll all be
over my tomorrow."
"You're reckless, father, you realise that?"
"No. I'm just better at hiding my fears."
Keylar had opened the doors and was climbing into the controls of the
shuttle. Anakin put his arm around Leia. "Come on, or Lando will have
done his part of this before we've even left!"
Leia gave a weak smile as she jumped in. Luke's spirit had left her.
He could no longer give her advice. Her father didn't realise how
close her relationship with her dead brother had become and how
his warnings has struck a chord somewhere deep inside her.
* * * * * * * * *
"Hey! Careful with that!" Lando called at one of the rebels as they
threw charges into the back of their strike vessel. He placed the one he
was carrying into storage and grabbed a blaster rifle which he threw
over his shoulder. "We've got enough fire power to take out a space
slug. This shoud be okay for now. We don't want to end up getting
blown to bits if we're caught. One stray shot and..."
"We get the point, Calrissian," a human dressed in ragged clothing
and covered from head to toe in grime from his work on the engines
of their transport.
"I'm just tryin' to save your ass here," Lando replied. "If we get
caught I don't wanna get put away by the Empire before we can get
this done."
Narril was already in the pilot's seat, pressing several switches
to turn on the engines. They began as a quiet hum but soon built
up to a deafening roar. "I think we're ready," he called out to
his brother. "You better get in."
"Got it!" Lando slipped a small blaster into a holster on the side
of his black leather boot and checked the one at his side. "Ya'll
ready here?" he asked the rebels. They all gave a quiet nod. Lando
had a feeling they didn't like him that much. What else did he expect?
Here he was, a Republic general coming into their fold and telling
them what to do. This was a tight-knit community of soldier, used
to doing whatever the hell they wanted to achieve their aim but
in this case their methods weren't enough.
Lando was about to take one of the two front seats in the cockpit
when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. "I'll be sittin'
here, if you don't mind." Calrissian turned to see the leader of
the rebel unit. His mouth was surrounded not by what most would
call a beard but it was coming. He wore a bandana around his head
and had a large, customised blaster at his side. Lando, not really
wanting to cause trouble offered him the seat. "Be my guest. I'll
stay up back to keep check on the weapons."
"Good idea."
He jumped in as Lando moved around to the back. He stepped in just
as the doors behind him closed. The rebels looked carefully at
him. He gave them a smile and sat back, his arm resting on a crate
of explosives.
* * * * * * * * *
Mon Mothma's office was filled with a group eager for a debate as
it usually was these days. This time her policies concerning the
military control over the galaxy had brought three member of the
Jedi Council before her. She sat back in her large, luxurious seat
and folding her arms. "My reasons, Councilmember Yarled," she said
replying to a statement that was just made, "are that the Jedi's
numbers are still far to low to make an effective peacekeeping
force. Until you have trained enough new recruits it is logical
that we maintain military control over strategically important
planets."
The Rodian Jedi Master was not happy. "The Force is far more
powerful than you would imagine, chancellor," he continued. "It
is something that makes an entire army seem small in comparison."
"But would that be enough to maintain control? We don't want
the Empire to retake planets with entire fleets when only two
Jedi are guarding it. Surely your Force will not protect you
from over twenty star destroyers and a legion of stormtroopers."
"We would try," Yarled said.
"Trying isn't enough," spoke Mothma in a voice that was showing
the anger and stress building up inside her. "We need control!"
The Naboo human, Hela Zapalo stood forward. She had, like Yarled,
had not spent the time of the Empire frozen in carbonite and had
witnessed all of the changes in the galaxy as they happened. She
saw her own planet wiped out by the Mandalore on the orders of
the then Chancellor Palpatine. "Control comes in many forms,"
she began. "What you are suggesting is exactly what Palpatine
used. The methods you yourself once opposed. I understand that
now you are in control it is difficult to think of other ways
to maintain order, but you should look back further than the
old emperor's regime."
"I agree that there are other methods, but right now the Jedi are
not one of them," Mothma sighed, the strain on her showing. Admiral
Ackbar who had, until now, remained silent stood forward. His
distrust of the Jedi had grown over the previous year, even more
than he would have liked to admit. His newfound strength granted
to him by Mon Mothma's new methods had made him able to speak
his feelings out more. "The chancellor is tired of your continual
pleas. If you want to be listened to you must change your plans.
The Jedi could have a place in the galaxy but right now what you're
suggesting is impossible."
"Only impossible to your thick skull," Hela whispered under her
breath. Thankfully no one but Adi Gallia had heard her. 'Be
careful what you say friend Hela,' she said telepathically.
'Of course master Gallia,' she replied. 'I let my emotions
get the better of me. I apologise.'
Adi Gallia stood up from the seat she was in. "I believe you
have made a valid point, admiral. We will leave now and discuss
the situation with the rest of the Council. Thank you for your
time."
Ackbar nodded as the three Jedi left the office. He turned to
the chancellor. "I don't like them, Mon," he said softly. "They
need to be brought down from the high level they think they inhabit."
"You should try to calm yourself. We will work things out and
the Jedi will be involved just as they were prior to the Empire
but right now they must understand that it isn't possible."
"It can never be like it was before," the Calamari protested but
his words fell on deaf ears.
* * * * * * * * *
Evajo Siinit met his teacher outside the office. "How did it go
master Gallia?" he asked. "Were you able to convince them?"
"Sadly no, my apprentice," Adi replied sadly. "Chancellor Mothma
is willing to accept our plan but not until the number of Jedi
is much higher. Admiral Ackbar, however, is against anything we
have to offer."
"He could easily be convinced," Siinit said. "He is suseptible
to Force persausion."
"That is not our way and you know it, Evajo. We must bide our
time until the situation arises. It may, however, take longer
than we once expected."
Yarled shook his head in dismay. "But will we be able to ensure
that the Admiral doesn't take us too close to being another
Empire before that time comes. By that point it may be too late
for the Jedi to maintain peace and justice."
* * * * * * * * *
The lower entrance to the Imperial Temple was locked shut. Anakin
closed his eyes and touched the metal that blocked his way. He
could feel everything he wanted to know from it - right down to
the people to constructed it. He was happy to know his lightsaber
would cut through it with little or no effort. He pulled it from
his side and ignited the blade. Within seconds there was a hole
where the door once was. He stepped carefully in and was followed
by Keylar then Leia who continued to look warily around.
The hallway was darkened, the power having been off for a long
time, almost half a century. "Are you sure there aren't any
security measures in here?"
"I told you before - the Empire probably doesn't even know it
exists any more."
"Somhow I doubt that, since this does happen to be Thrawn's own
personal temple. There's got to be something..."
Leia heard a sound behind her and with a split-second reaction
she activated her lightsaber and hacked whatever it was into
two clean pieces. Keylar picked up half of it with his gloved
hand. "Scurrier," he informed the two Jedi. "The place is probably
infested with them."
"Yippee," Anakin whispered sarcastically under his breath. He
had never like those vermin ever since he woke up as a child with
one on his face. The Mos Espa slave quarters were never guaranteed
rodent safe as he found out that fateful day. Ever since then he
had a fear of them. He stood forward and heard a squelching sound.
"I think you just stood on one, father," Leia smiled.
A shudder moved through Anakin's body as he jumped back a mile.
Once he had regained his balance and stopped shaking he tried
to take command again.
"The great bounty hunter Boba Fett is afraid of scurriers," Keylar
almost laughed. "I bet that'd ruin your reputation in the galaxy if
it ever came out."
"Never mind Boba Fett," Leia added. "I thought he was supposed to
be the Chosen One!"
Anakin started moving ahead without his two companions, his lightsaber
activated to act as a torch to guide him safely through the dark
passageway. His daughter and the Mandalore ambassador caught up
with him. "Sorry, Skywalker," Keylar said. "We're only joking."
Anakin said nothing. His face remained deadly serious. He stopped
walking and stood in silence. "I said I was sorry. Speak to me
will you?"
"There's something else in here," the Jedi whispered. "Something
slightly bigger than a rodent."
"I'm not sure. I've seen some pretty big rodents in my time."
"No. It's..."
"Halt!"
Five skeletal-like beings began to come out of the shadows, blaster
rifles in hand, trained carefully on the intruders. "Identify yourself."
Anakin instantly recognised them - Trade Federation Battle Droids.
But the question remained as to what they were doing here on Coruscant
so long after they were banned by Palpatine.
"I said identify yourself!"
Anakin hacked its head off with his lightsaber. It fell back into
the other droids behind it as tumbled to the floor in a lifeless
state. Leia activated her saber and with one swipe beheaded another
two while Anakin thrust his weapon through the chests of two who
stood in a row. All five were deactivated in seconds. Leia turned
to her father. "What exactly are those things?"
"Battle Droids. They were used by the Trade Federation when I was
still a child. They attacked your mother's home planet but with
the Force managed to destroy their control ship rendering them
useless. After that droids of this kind were outlawed by the Republic."
"Then what, may I ask, are they doing here?" Keylar asked. "Surely
they can't be guarding the temple."
"Maybe they are," Anakin pondered. "But our emperor doesn't realise."
Blasts started to streak towards them. The trio of warriors dived
into a corner where the lasers wouldn't hit them. "There's more?"
"This isn't going to be as easy as I thought."
"You don't say?"
* * * * * * * * *
Narril piloted the transport as close to the shield generator as
he could without being noticed. "We're here. Looks like we've got
quite a few guards here though. It may be more difficult than
we first thought."
"What are you? A coward? This will be a victory long remembered!"
"...for the Empire if we're not careful," the clone added. "We
can't just rush in. We need a distraction of some kind."
"What do you suggest?"
"An old Sabacc trick - we bluff."
"What do you mean," the ragged human asked.
"Quite simply we use some of the charges on a weakly guarded building.
The troops will be drawn there and then we attack!"
"Good idea!" Lando said as he stepped into the cockpit. The space
was cramped but he wanted to be here to make sure the rebel leader
wouldn't do something as stupid as both he and his brother felt he
would.
"I thought I told you to stay up back."
"I overheard the conversation. I say we go with Narril's plan." He
pointed at a building nearby. "That's the Imperial museum. It's been
shut down for the last year but it may bring troops over if there's
a big enough bang!"
"Well, as long as we don't waste the explosives."
Narril moved the vehicle away from the large shield generator that
towered above many of the skyscrapers covering the surface of
Coruscant. The pyramid shape at the top was used, along with others
of its kind, to generate to planet-wide deflector grid that protected
the atmosphere of the world from attacks. They had been set up centuries
before when the Republic was under attack from various enemy forces
but had been upgraded more recently by the Empire before cutbacks
meant that the power had to be reduced leaving it open to a localised
assault.
The transport came down on a landing platform halfway up the museum's
outer walls. Lando and two rebels came out, each with a charge in
hand. "We plant them several metres apart. That should give a wide enough
spread to draw their attention."
"You got it, general!"
The explosives attached automatically to the surface. "Set them to blow
in thirty seconds."
"Are you sure that'll be enough time?"
"I'll make sure it is!"
The timers were set with just a few movements of the fingers on the
buttons. "Start the engines!" a Aqualish rebel called out as he
jumped into the back with Lando. The last of their group, a young
human was too late. The transport had moved away from the platform.
"Jump!" Lando shouted at him.
"I..."
"Jump damn it!"
The warrior, still a boy and in no way ready for a battle such as this,
leapt into the air and just missed Calrissian's outstretched arm. "Move
us down!" he yelled at his brother.
"We haven't got enough time," the man sitting next to him replied.
"Yes we do," Narril hissed as he pushed the engines to their limit
and the transport came down at great speed until they caught up with
the falling boy. Lando grabbed his hand as hard as he could and began
to pull him up. "Go!"
The transport zipped away from the museum as the charges exploded.
Calrissian yanked the rebel he had just rescued up into the back
where he was. "Thank you!"
"It's okay, just don't make a habit of that."
"I won't. I promise."
Lando walked back to the cockpit to see Narril smiling back at him.
"Are those guards moving?"
"Yup, responding to the attack on their oh-so-honorable heritage."
"Then our plan worked. Better than a suicide move, don't you think."
The rebel who that comment was made at decided to keep his mouth
shut and sit back. Narril moved closer towards the power source
of the shield generator.
"Well I guess it's do or die from this point on..."
TO BE CONTINUED.....
Author: Jonathan Evans
Author email: noggins@btinternet.com
Summary: Anakin, Leia and Keylar infiltrate Thrawn's Temple but a unique fate awaits them. Meanwhile, Lando and Narril discover their mission may not be as easy as they first thought...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Republic Saga site (http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/republicsaga) is going well with over 100 hits in the first week since I got a hit counter. Character profiles of the major players are already up.
REPUBLIC SAGA
ALLIANCES
CHAPTER THREE
Leia entered the room where Keylar and Anakin were checking their
weapons. Skywalker ensured that his lightsaber was ready while
the ambassador powered up his blaster rifle. Anakin saw his daughter
enter and smiled.
"Ah, my daughter. I see you are ready."
"I guess so," Leia replied. "Where exactly are we going to get in
the Temple?"
Keylar showed the princess Jedi a map of the Emperor's capital on
a datapad. She observed it carefully as he pointed out and entrance
near the bottom. "This supplies entrance has been derelict for nearly
fifty standard years since the Empire began. It has no guards due
to the fact its no longer needed."
"I wouldn't be surprised if the Empire didn't know it even existed,"
Anakin added. "We should be able to slip in here unseen and make
our attack slightly easier."
Leia nodded but a worried expression remained on her face. She pulled
her lightsaber from her belt and looked at it carefully. "Then there's
nothing we can do except prepare for battle," she said quietly.
"If things go as I plan there should be no need for a battle," Anakin
informed her. "Come on, we have a shuttle craft waiting for us."
The man who was thought to be the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, moved
away towards two large docking bay doors. He glanced back at his daughter.
"You are anxious, Leia," he said. "Tell me, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing... it's just... I have a really bad feeling about this.
There is somethinng behind this. A darkness like we've never encountered
before."
"Everything will be fine," he reassured her. "You'll see. It'll all be
over my tomorrow."
"You're reckless, father, you realise that?"
"No. I'm just better at hiding my fears."
Keylar had opened the doors and was climbing into the controls of the
shuttle. Anakin put his arm around Leia. "Come on, or Lando will have
done his part of this before we've even left!"
Leia gave a weak smile as she jumped in. Luke's spirit had left her.
He could no longer give her advice. Her father didn't realise how
close her relationship with her dead brother had become and how
his warnings has struck a chord somewhere deep inside her.
* * * * * * * * *
"Hey! Careful with that!" Lando called at one of the rebels as they
threw charges into the back of their strike vessel. He placed the one he
was carrying into storage and grabbed a blaster rifle which he threw
over his shoulder. "We've got enough fire power to take out a space
slug. This shoud be okay for now. We don't want to end up getting
blown to bits if we're caught. One stray shot and..."
"We get the point, Calrissian," a human dressed in ragged clothing
and covered from head to toe in grime from his work on the engines
of their transport.
"I'm just tryin' to save your ass here," Lando replied. "If we get
caught I don't wanna get put away by the Empire before we can get
this done."
Narril was already in the pilot's seat, pressing several switches
to turn on the engines. They began as a quiet hum but soon built
up to a deafening roar. "I think we're ready," he called out to
his brother. "You better get in."
"Got it!" Lando slipped a small blaster into a holster on the side
of his black leather boot and checked the one at his side. "Ya'll
ready here?" he asked the rebels. They all gave a quiet nod. Lando
had a feeling they didn't like him that much. What else did he expect?
Here he was, a Republic general coming into their fold and telling
them what to do. This was a tight-knit community of soldier, used
to doing whatever the hell they wanted to achieve their aim but
in this case their methods weren't enough.
Lando was about to take one of the two front seats in the cockpit
when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. "I'll be sittin'
here, if you don't mind." Calrissian turned to see the leader of
the rebel unit. His mouth was surrounded not by what most would
call a beard but it was coming. He wore a bandana around his head
and had a large, customised blaster at his side. Lando, not really
wanting to cause trouble offered him the seat. "Be my guest. I'll
stay up back to keep check on the weapons."
"Good idea."
He jumped in as Lando moved around to the back. He stepped in just
as the doors behind him closed. The rebels looked carefully at
him. He gave them a smile and sat back, his arm resting on a crate
of explosives.
* * * * * * * * *
Mon Mothma's office was filled with a group eager for a debate as
it usually was these days. This time her policies concerning the
military control over the galaxy had brought three member of the
Jedi Council before her. She sat back in her large, luxurious seat
and folding her arms. "My reasons, Councilmember Yarled," she said
replying to a statement that was just made, "are that the Jedi's
numbers are still far to low to make an effective peacekeeping
force. Until you have trained enough new recruits it is logical
that we maintain military control over strategically important
planets."
The Rodian Jedi Master was not happy. "The Force is far more
powerful than you would imagine, chancellor," he continued. "It
is something that makes an entire army seem small in comparison."
"But would that be enough to maintain control? We don't want
the Empire to retake planets with entire fleets when only two
Jedi are guarding it. Surely your Force will not protect you
from over twenty star destroyers and a legion of stormtroopers."
"We would try," Yarled said.
"Trying isn't enough," spoke Mothma in a voice that was showing
the anger and stress building up inside her. "We need control!"
The Naboo human, Hela Zapalo stood forward. She had, like Yarled,
had not spent the time of the Empire frozen in carbonite and had
witnessed all of the changes in the galaxy as they happened. She
saw her own planet wiped out by the Mandalore on the orders of
the then Chancellor Palpatine. "Control comes in many forms,"
she began. "What you are suggesting is exactly what Palpatine
used. The methods you yourself once opposed. I understand that
now you are in control it is difficult to think of other ways
to maintain order, but you should look back further than the
old emperor's regime."
"I agree that there are other methods, but right now the Jedi are
not one of them," Mothma sighed, the strain on her showing. Admiral
Ackbar who had, until now, remained silent stood forward. His
distrust of the Jedi had grown over the previous year, even more
than he would have liked to admit. His newfound strength granted
to him by Mon Mothma's new methods had made him able to speak
his feelings out more. "The chancellor is tired of your continual
pleas. If you want to be listened to you must change your plans.
The Jedi could have a place in the galaxy but right now what you're
suggesting is impossible."
"Only impossible to your thick skull," Hela whispered under her
breath. Thankfully no one but Adi Gallia had heard her. 'Be
careful what you say friend Hela,' she said telepathically.
'Of course master Gallia,' she replied. 'I let my emotions
get the better of me. I apologise.'
Adi Gallia stood up from the seat she was in. "I believe you
have made a valid point, admiral. We will leave now and discuss
the situation with the rest of the Council. Thank you for your
time."
Ackbar nodded as the three Jedi left the office. He turned to
the chancellor. "I don't like them, Mon," he said softly. "They
need to be brought down from the high level they think they inhabit."
"You should try to calm yourself. We will work things out and
the Jedi will be involved just as they were prior to the Empire
but right now they must understand that it isn't possible."
"It can never be like it was before," the Calamari protested but
his words fell on deaf ears.
* * * * * * * * *
Evajo Siinit met his teacher outside the office. "How did it go
master Gallia?" he asked. "Were you able to convince them?"
"Sadly no, my apprentice," Adi replied sadly. "Chancellor Mothma
is willing to accept our plan but not until the number of Jedi
is much higher. Admiral Ackbar, however, is against anything we
have to offer."
"He could easily be convinced," Siinit said. "He is suseptible
to Force persausion."
"That is not our way and you know it, Evajo. We must bide our
time until the situation arises. It may, however, take longer
than we once expected."
Yarled shook his head in dismay. "But will we be able to ensure
that the Admiral doesn't take us too close to being another
Empire before that time comes. By that point it may be too late
for the Jedi to maintain peace and justice."
* * * * * * * * *
The lower entrance to the Imperial Temple was locked shut. Anakin
closed his eyes and touched the metal that blocked his way. He
could feel everything he wanted to know from it - right down to
the people to constructed it. He was happy to know his lightsaber
would cut through it with little or no effort. He pulled it from
his side and ignited the blade. Within seconds there was a hole
where the door once was. He stepped carefully in and was followed
by Keylar then Leia who continued to look warily around.
The hallway was darkened, the power having been off for a long
time, almost half a century. "Are you sure there aren't any
security measures in here?"
"I told you before - the Empire probably doesn't even know it
exists any more."
"Somhow I doubt that, since this does happen to be Thrawn's own
personal temple. There's got to be something..."
Leia heard a sound behind her and with a split-second reaction
she activated her lightsaber and hacked whatever it was into
two clean pieces. Keylar picked up half of it with his gloved
hand. "Scurrier," he informed the two Jedi. "The place is probably
infested with them."
"Yippee," Anakin whispered sarcastically under his breath. He
had never like those vermin ever since he woke up as a child with
one on his face. The Mos Espa slave quarters were never guaranteed
rodent safe as he found out that fateful day. Ever since then he
had a fear of them. He stood forward and heard a squelching sound.
"I think you just stood on one, father," Leia smiled.
A shudder moved through Anakin's body as he jumped back a mile.
Once he had regained his balance and stopped shaking he tried
to take command again.
"The great bounty hunter Boba Fett is afraid of scurriers," Keylar
almost laughed. "I bet that'd ruin your reputation in the galaxy if
it ever came out."
"Never mind Boba Fett," Leia added. "I thought he was supposed to
be the Chosen One!"
Anakin started moving ahead without his two companions, his lightsaber
activated to act as a torch to guide him safely through the dark
passageway. His daughter and the Mandalore ambassador caught up
with him. "Sorry, Skywalker," Keylar said. "We're only joking."
Anakin said nothing. His face remained deadly serious. He stopped
walking and stood in silence. "I said I was sorry. Speak to me
will you?"
"There's something else in here," the Jedi whispered. "Something
slightly bigger than a rodent."
"I'm not sure. I've seen some pretty big rodents in my time."
"No. It's..."
"Halt!"
Five skeletal-like beings began to come out of the shadows, blaster
rifles in hand, trained carefully on the intruders. "Identify yourself."
Anakin instantly recognised them - Trade Federation Battle Droids.
But the question remained as to what they were doing here on Coruscant
so long after they were banned by Palpatine.
"I said identify yourself!"
Anakin hacked its head off with his lightsaber. It fell back into
the other droids behind it as tumbled to the floor in a lifeless
state. Leia activated her saber and with one swipe beheaded another
two while Anakin thrust his weapon through the chests of two who
stood in a row. All five were deactivated in seconds. Leia turned
to her father. "What exactly are those things?"
"Battle Droids. They were used by the Trade Federation when I was
still a child. They attacked your mother's home planet but with
the Force managed to destroy their control ship rendering them
useless. After that droids of this kind were outlawed by the Republic."
"Then what, may I ask, are they doing here?" Keylar asked. "Surely
they can't be guarding the temple."
"Maybe they are," Anakin pondered. "But our emperor doesn't realise."
Blasts started to streak towards them. The trio of warriors dived
into a corner where the lasers wouldn't hit them. "There's more?"
"This isn't going to be as easy as I thought."
"You don't say?"
* * * * * * * * *
Narril piloted the transport as close to the shield generator as
he could without being noticed. "We're here. Looks like we've got
quite a few guards here though. It may be more difficult than
we first thought."
"What are you? A coward? This will be a victory long remembered!"
"...for the Empire if we're not careful," the clone added. "We
can't just rush in. We need a distraction of some kind."
"What do you suggest?"
"An old Sabacc trick - we bluff."
"What do you mean," the ragged human asked.
"Quite simply we use some of the charges on a weakly guarded building.
The troops will be drawn there and then we attack!"
"Good idea!" Lando said as he stepped into the cockpit. The space
was cramped but he wanted to be here to make sure the rebel leader
wouldn't do something as stupid as both he and his brother felt he
would.
"I thought I told you to stay up back."
"I overheard the conversation. I say we go with Narril's plan." He
pointed at a building nearby. "That's the Imperial museum. It's been
shut down for the last year but it may bring troops over if there's
a big enough bang!"
"Well, as long as we don't waste the explosives."
Narril moved the vehicle away from the large shield generator that
towered above many of the skyscrapers covering the surface of
Coruscant. The pyramid shape at the top was used, along with others
of its kind, to generate to planet-wide deflector grid that protected
the atmosphere of the world from attacks. They had been set up centuries
before when the Republic was under attack from various enemy forces
but had been upgraded more recently by the Empire before cutbacks
meant that the power had to be reduced leaving it open to a localised
assault.
The transport came down on a landing platform halfway up the museum's
outer walls. Lando and two rebels came out, each with a charge in
hand. "We plant them several metres apart. That should give a wide enough
spread to draw their attention."
"You got it, general!"
The explosives attached automatically to the surface. "Set them to blow
in thirty seconds."
"Are you sure that'll be enough time?"
"I'll make sure it is!"
The timers were set with just a few movements of the fingers on the
buttons. "Start the engines!" a Aqualish rebel called out as he
jumped into the back with Lando. The last of their group, a young
human was too late. The transport had moved away from the platform.
"Jump!" Lando shouted at him.
"I..."
"Jump damn it!"
The warrior, still a boy and in no way ready for a battle such as this,
leapt into the air and just missed Calrissian's outstretched arm. "Move
us down!" he yelled at his brother.
"We haven't got enough time," the man sitting next to him replied.
"Yes we do," Narril hissed as he pushed the engines to their limit
and the transport came down at great speed until they caught up with
the falling boy. Lando grabbed his hand as hard as he could and began
to pull him up. "Go!"
The transport zipped away from the museum as the charges exploded.
Calrissian yanked the rebel he had just rescued up into the back
where he was. "Thank you!"
"It's okay, just don't make a habit of that."
"I won't. I promise."
Lando walked back to the cockpit to see Narril smiling back at him.
"Are those guards moving?"
"Yup, responding to the attack on their oh-so-honorable heritage."
"Then our plan worked. Better than a suicide move, don't you think."
The rebel who that comment was made at decided to keep his mouth
shut and sit back. Narril moved closer towards the power source
of the shield generator.
"Well I guess it's do or die from this point on..."
TO BE CONTINUED.....