Jedi Under Siege Page 6

  to move, but all the controls were at her fingertips. Through the ship's

  front ports, she could see outside.

  Jaina found the power switch and toggled it on, felt the engines'

  thrumming, systems gearing up, batteries charging. Control panel lights

  winked on in a brilliant flurry around her. She drew a deep breath,

  strapped herself in, and clutched the controls.

  "All systems ready for takeoff," she whispered to herself She glanced at

  the sky, looking for the black specks of other Imperial ships. "Okay,

  TIE fighters, prepare for some company!" The Imperial craft raised up as

  Jaina worked the controls. Clearing the jungle treetops, she felt the

  exhilaration of actually flying. The ship seemed unbelievably quiet

  ^ inside, until she realized that its noisier primary engines had been

  disengaged. This TIE fighter flew so quietly because it used only the

  lesser-powered engines. So that was how the enemy pilot had gotten under

  their shield unnoticed! No doubt the original systems remained intact,

  but the enemy commando had slipped in without the @@ami iar howl of TIE

  engines.

  All right then, Jaina thought-she could be silent and deadly as well.

  Finally skimming the treetops, she scanned around, acquiring targets.

  She shot forward, reveling in the thrill of flight, the landscape

  passing beneath her in a mottled green blur.

  Up ahead she saw six TIE fighters flying in formation, firing down at

  the treetops, pounding the temple ruins, even structures that had never

  been used for training Jedi.

  The Palace of the Woolamander, an ancient ruin already nearly collapsed,

  was pummeled with brilliant streaks from laser cannons, though Jaina

  didn't believe any Jedi Knights had gone there.

  She kept the Imperial comm channels on so she could hear the terse,

  gruff chatter as the TIE pilots discussed their overall plan, choosing

  targets, firing at moving figures sheltered by the thick Massassi trees.

  Jaina kept her microphone off, though, as

  ^ she joined the formation of TIE fighters, slipping in at the rear.

  Over the comm system she heard them acknowledge her arrival; rather than

  making them suspicious by speaking with a young woman's voice, she just

  clicked an okay over the microphone.

  Then she powered up her laser cannons.

  One of the TIE fighters broadcast, 'Plenty of targets here for

  everybody. Let's cause some damage."

  Jaina bit her lower lip and nodded. 'Yes," she muttered to herself,

  "let's cause some damage."

  She let her eyes fall partially closed and concentrated, feeling the

  Force. Despite the sensors and systems available in the TIE fighter,

  nothing could match heightened Jedi perceptions for enhancing her

  movements. She needed to target and fire and target again with lightning

  speed. She would have only one chance.

  Jaina gripped the control stick of her weapons and focused on the aiming

  mechanisms, flying smoothly behind the unsuspecting Imperials. She had

  to disable them with one shot each. She couldn't risk repeated fire on a

  single target, because once

  ^ she started shooting, they would be rather upset with her.

  Jaina sought out the most vulnerable points: their engines and the

  joints that held the planar power arrays to their sides. If the TIE

  fighters turned side-on to her, she would blast the power arrays

  themselves-large targets, impossible to miss.

  Giving herself a silent countdown, Jaina pointed her lasers at the

  closest ship. What am I waiting for? she asked herself.

  Gritting her teeth, she fired a single shot, then swiveled the laser

  cannons, moving with hyperspeed, to target a second TIE fighter.

  Even before her second bolt struck the narrow joint next to the cockpit

  and sliced off the planar array, the first TIE fighter careened into a

  spin.

  Jaina blasted again at the rear engine pods of the second ship. The TIE

  fighter exploded in front of her, momentarily blinding her, but she

  quickly averted her eyes. As she brought the laser cannons to bear on a

  third target, Jaina heard the TIE pilots shouting in outrage and panic.

  The formation began to split apart.

  She didn't have much time.

  The third TIE fighter turned toward her, and Jaina strafed across its

  surface, severing one of the planar arrays and striking the viewports in

  the cockpit. The third ship went down-but by now the remaining three

  Imperials had spun around and were headed straight toward her.

  Jaina blinked as fiery bolts from their laser cannons shot past her. She

  put her TIE fighter into a spin. Now using the Force to anticipate the

  incoming weapons fire, just as her uncle Luke had used his lightsaber to

  deflect blaster bolts, she spun and turned and banked, then began to fly

  away at her fighter's top speed.

  But the other three Imperial ships came bowling after her, releasing a

  constant volley of laser fire, ignoring targets below now that they had

  acquired a single target . . . a traitor in their midst.

  Jaina ducked and dodged, no longer enjoying the thrill of flight. She

  had a bad feeling about her impulsive attack. She streaked over the

  jungle, the three TIE fighters hot on her tail.

  I 0 ----------------THE DIM FOREST floor near the Great Temple was

  familiar ground for Luke Skywalker and most of his Jedi trainees. Even

  with a battle of light and dark raging around him-or perhaps because of

  the battle-he found it soothing to be out in the wilds. The jungle

  itself was rich with life, and therefore rich in the Force that bound

  all life together.

  Reaching down to confirm that his lightsaber was securer attached to his

  belt next to his comlink, Luke drew on the Force. He let it flow through

  him, let it show him the skirmishes all around him.

  Alert to the emotions of his students, Luke reached out to bolster

  flagging confidence in one trainee, to warn another against an

  unexpected attack, to send encouragement to yet another who was growing

  tired.

  An energy bolt from a TIE fighter sliced through the trees close by and

  set fire to the underbrush, forcing Luke to retreat behind

  ^

  ^ a thicket to avoid choking fumes from the burning vegetation.

  With his mind he searched for the center of the battle, the place where

  he could do the most good. Decades ago, when the Death Star had loomed

  over the jungle moon, his mission had been clear. The battle station's

  superlaser could turn an entire planet to rubble. Luke had had no doubt

  in his mind that the Empire's most powerful weapon must be destroyed.

  And with the Force to guide him, he had succeeded.

  But today's battle was different-it nact no focus. This time he had no

  superweapon to disable. The Jedi academy's long-range transmissions had

  been jammed, the defensive shields sabotaged. With Artoo-Detoo and the

  Shadow Chaser trapped in the Great Temple's hangar bay, Luke had no way

  of reaching orbit to fight the Shadow Academy directly.

  The ground assault itself was directed from the giant battle platform

  that hovered over the treetops a few kilome
ters away, but Luke sensed

  that the military component of the attack was mere harassment.

  TIE fighters had made direct attacks on the Great Temple-and yet ground

  forces and Dark Jedi had been sent to fight on a

  ^ nearly even footing against Luke's students.

  With a different strategy, the Shadow Academy's victory would have been

  far easier-it almost seemed as if Brakiss wanted to do it the hard way.

  Luke knew that must be the answer.

  A loud incoming message signal on his comlink startled him. Students at

  the Yavin academy rarely carried comlinks, but the Jedi Master kept one

  at his side during times of turmoil so that he could be reached more

  easily. Even though the Shadow Academy had jammed long-range

  transmissions, local signals from Artoo could still get through.

  Luke switched on the comlink. "Sit tight, Artoo. We'll be able to get

  you when the fighting's over." Before he could say more, a man's voice

  blared from the tiny speaker.

  "-essage for Luke Skywalker. Repeat: this is a message for Luke

  Skywalker. If anyone can hear me, respond immediately."

  Luke stared at the small device before replying, "Who is this?" But

  before he heard the answer, his Jedi senses told him the man's identity.

  'You can call me Master Brakiss," the voice said. "Tell your teacher

  that I'm transmitting on all channels. He will want to speak to me."

  ^

  "This is Luke Skywalker," he said. "If you have a message, Brakiss, you

  can give it directly to me." Luke's heart knocked painfully against his

  rib cage, though from surprise rather than fear.

  A cultured laugh came over the comlink.

  "Well, my old teacher . . . the man I once called Master. This is a

  pleasure."

  '@at do you want, Brakiss?" Luke asked.

  'A meeting," the smooth voice replied.

  "Just the two of us. On neutral ground. As equals. We didn't have a

  chance to finish our . . . conversation when you came to my Shadow

  Academy to rescue your Jedi brats."

  Luke paused to consider. A meeting with Brakiss? Maybe this was the

  answer to the problem he had been trying to solve. After all, who was

  more central to this battle than the leader of the Shadow Academy

  himself?

  If Luke could reason with Brakiss, turn him away from the dark side,

  this battle could be won before too many lives were lost.

  "Where, Brakiss? What neutral territory do you propose?"

  'I think both your academy and mine are out of the question right now."

  'Agreed."

  "Away from the fighting, then. Across the

  ^ river in the Temple of the Blue Leaf Cluster.

  But you must come alone."

  "Will you?" Luke asked.

  Brakiss gave a rich chuckle. "Of course. I have no need for

  reinforcements-and I know you are true to your word." Luke paused to

  reassure himself that the Force was indeed guiding his actions. Both he

  and Brakiss were strong enough in the Force to sense any betrayal by the

  other.

  "Very well, Brakiss. I'll meet you there.

  Alone. We can settle this once and for all." ------------------t'HEY,

  THAT WASN'T so hard," Jacen said, leaning forward in the copilot's chair

  of the Lightning Rod. The chair creaked, its padding bulging out through

  countless small rips and tears in the cushion. The engines rumbled and

  coughed and whined as the cargo shuttle finally broke free of the

  atmosphere.

  "You had to say that, didn't you, boy?"

  Peckhum said as sensor alarms squealed on his control panel. Incoming

  enemy ships.

  Again. "We got TIE fighters coming, four of 'em. Looks like they were

  launched directly from the Shadow Academy."

  Jacen swallowed, studying the pattern, and shook his head. "Oh, blaster

  bolts! We'd better transmit our distress message now before they get

  us. Otherwise help for the Jedi academy will come too late."

  Peckhum looked over at him, his eyes red-rimmed, his haggard face

  serious.

  ^

  ^

  "Youll have to take care of that message yourself, Jacen. I'm gonna be

  mighty busy doing some fancy flying here-if she'll hold together." He

  patted the cockpit controls.

  "Sorry to do this to you, girl, but I didn't name you the Lightning Rod

  for nothing.

  Let's show these Imperials our stuff."

  Jacen fumbled with the unfamiliar comm system, tuning frequencies and

  feeling completely inadequate. He wished his sister were here-she was

  the expert on these systems. She would know how to cut through the

  double-talk, the chatter, the Imperial transmission block.

  He sent a subspace message blaring on all frequencies at the maximum

  levels of volume and power the Lightning Rod could spare and still keep

  her shields up.

  "This is Jacen Solo," he said, then cleared his throat. He had no idea

  what to say, but he supposed the details didn't exactly matter.

  "Attention, New Republic. We have an emergency! This is Jacen Solo on

  Yavin 4, requesting immediate assistance. We are under attack by the

  Shadow Academy!

  "Repeat. Imperial fighters attacking the Jedi academy-request assistance

  immediately. Our shields are down. We've got ground battles taking place

  and air strikes from TIE

  ^ fighters. We desperately need immediate assistance." He switched off

  the microphone, then looked over at Peckhum. "Hey, howd I do?"

  "Just fine, kid," Peckhum said, and lurched the ship to one side, going

  into a clockwise spin as the four TIE fighters roared past, belching

  fire from laser cannons. One shot struck the Lightning Rod's lower

  shield, but the other bolts streamed harmlessly into space, intersecting

  the empty void where the cargo ship had been only a moment before.

  "I used to be a pretty good flier in my day," Peckhum said. "And I still

  am . . . I think."

  One TIE fighter broke away from the other three and spun in a tighter

  circle, firing repeatedly without taking the trouble to aim, spraying

  space with its deadly fire.

  Peckhum dove down, skimming the atmosphere, so that the lower hull of

  the Lightning Rod grew hot. Then he bounced back into space again,

  turning about in a tight backward loop and heading up over the

  determined TIE fighter, which shot again and again. Sparks flew from the

  battered supply ship's control panels. Lights winked red on their system

  diagnostics.

  ^

  'Uh, Peckhum? What do all those alarms mean?" Jacen said.

  "It means our shields are failing."

  "Don't you have any weapons on this ship?"

  Jacen scanned the panels, looking for any sort of targeting system, some

  firing controls.

  Peckhum coughed and put the ship into a sharp dive toward Yavin 4. "This

  is a cargo ship, boy, and she's seen better days. I wasn't expecting to

  take her into battle you know. Heck, I'm lucky the food-prep units still

  work." The rest of the Imperial squadron zoomed away to continue the

  attack on the Jedi academy, but the one persistent TIE fighter came in

  again single-mindedly. This time he had them locked on target, so that

  most of hi
s laser cannon blasts struck the Lightning Rod.

  "This guy really wants to take us out," Jacen said.

  Peckhum pushed his accelerators well beyond maximum safety levels. The

  Lightning Rod groaned and creaked as it rattled down through the

  atmosphere, buffeted by air turbulence.

  Jacen was thrown from side to side. He grabbed the comm system again.

  'This is Jacen Solo with a personal distress this time.

  ^ We are in deep trouble. Someone is on our tail. Request assistance.

  Please-can anyone out there help us?"

  Peckhum looked over at him. "Nobody's going to get here in time."

  Jacen remembered stories of how Luke Skywalker had been in a similar

  situation on the run down the Death Star trench, trying to send his

  proton torpedo through a small thermal exhaust port. His X-wing had been

  in Darth Vader's sights, unable to shake the TIE fighters and

  interceptors on his tail. Things had looked hopeless-and then Jacens

  father, Han Solo, had appeared out of nowhere, saving the day.

  But Jacen didn't think his father was anywhere close by now, and he

  couldn't imagine anyone else who might pop unexpectedly out of the skies