Onslaught: Dark Tide I Page 17

  He swiped a hand across his brow. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.”

  Mara gave him a quick smile. “You’re very kind to say that, but you know I’m—”

  “Aunt Mara, it’s okay.”

  “I’m the tired one here …” The effort of saying those words seemed to take a lot out of her. “Tell me if I get to be a burden for you.”

  Anakin adamantly shook his head and swallowed hard against the lump rising in his throat. “Never, Aunt Mara, you’ll never be a burden.”

  “If your mother was here, she’d be proud of how polite and mannerly you are.”

  “If my mother was here, she’d have negotiated a treaty for this planet to join the New Republic, getting it all for a handful of vincha roots.” Anakin sighed, then looked up into Mara’s green eyes. “I know you’re not feeling well. I know it’s a fight for you, but you keep fighting. I can’t tell you how much that impresses me.”

  He flashed for a moment on the fact that his father, in his grief, had scarcely drawn a sober breath. Why can’t you be more like Aunt Mara, Father?

  Mara stared at him and through him. “There are times, Anakin, when things overwhelm us. There are times when you can’t fight.”

  “But you are still fighting. You’re being brave.”

  “It’s because I know what I’m fighting. Others may not be able to identify their enemy, so they can’t fight.”

  My father’s enemy is me. That thought sent a shiver through Anakin, but another thought followed on its heels. Or, perhaps, his enemy is the guilt that he’s assumed. If only things had happened another way.

  Mara eased herself off the rock and leaned into him again. “Ready to make it up the hill?”

  “After you, Mara.”

  “Together, Anakin, together.”

  That evening the elder Dantari brought a big pile of blba branches. He returned with a second armload, and Anakin gave him a second vincha root. The Dantari retreated into the darkness, then a frenzied round of hooting and hollering began from the distant Dantari camp.

  Snapping a branch in half, Anakin fed it into the fire. “Well, they’re happy.”

  “Indeed, it sounds as if they are.” Mara nodded, the shifting shadows cast by firelight hiding the weariness on her face. “You did well.”

  “Thanks. I think so, too.”

  And Anakin continued to think so until the next morning when he found the elder Dantari waiting for him in the camp as he awoke. The Dantari sat perched in the middle of a ten-meter-long blba log. The elder wore a grin like that of a Hutt that had a fix in on a Podrace, and extended an empty hand in Anakin’s direction.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Gavin didn’t pause in the doorway of the office that Admiral Traest Kre’fey had been given on Dubrillion. He rapped on the jamb with his knuckles and swept into the room. He was a couple of steps in when he glanced up from his datapad and actually saw two other people in the office with the admiral.

  “I’m sorry, Admiral, I didn’t realize you were busy.” Gavin pulled himself to attention and saluted.

  The Bothan returned the salute. “It is not a problem, Colonel Darklighter. I believe you know Lando Calrissian and Leia Organa Solo.”

  Gavin felt himself blushing. “We have met, yes, but I don’t know them …” Lando and Leia had been heroes of the Rebellion along with his cousin Biggs. He had been a child when he’d first heard of them and had even developed a crush on Princess Leia. While he was well past that feeling, meeting them again reduced him to a little boy who felt like an impostor just being in the room with them. “I can come back, sir.”

  Kre’fey shook his head. “No, no need for that.” The Bothan pointed to the holographic display of data and tables. “The Agamarian ships that arrived when we did have been moving people off planet with their shuttles. The Vuuzhan Vong are doing nothing to stop them, so we assume they will strike as the refugee convoys start to move out. Rogue Squadron is going to have to keep them off us.”

  “I’ve been working on that, Admiral.” Gavin glanced at his datapad. “I’ve got a full squadron of X-wings ready to go, and Dubrillion’s population has a large number of uglies that they’ve modified for running the asteroid belt and then armed. They should give us as much as a wing of fighters.”

  Lando smiled confidently. “The pilots here are good. They’ll keep the Yuuzhan Vong off the convoy.”

  “I’m sure they will. What concerns me, though, is that only a handful of those uglies have hyperdrives. We’ll need to have a ship capable of recovering the pilots and their ships heading out last. Rogue Squadron can keep the Vong off while the fighters are being recovered, then we can jump out ourselves.”

  Kre’fey stroked the snowy fur of his chin. “I had assumed the Ralroost would be the last ship out. We will recover the fighters.”

  Leia frowned. “We’re loading refugees on the Ralroost. If it is the last ship out, the Yuuzhan Vong will concentrate on it. Do you want to take that risk?”

  The Bothan snorted quickly. “Want to take the risk? No. Do I think we have no choice? Yes.” He leaned forward on the table upon which the holoprojector had been set. “We already know, even despite the generosity of the Agamarians in sending all the ships they have, that we can’t save everyone here.”

  Gavin looked past the admiral to the ravaged cityscape. After the squadron had been recovered, Kre’fey had acceded to an Agamarian request that the Ralroost escort a convoy of ships to Dubrillion. Gavin actually believed that Kre’fey had engineered that request, which brought his ship into a theater where contact with the Yuuzhan Vong could not possibly be denied by Coruscant. When the convoy arrived, the Yuuzhan Vong did send a half-dozen fighters to harry some of the ships, but the X-wings had beaten them back without getting blooded themselves.

  In the four days since the convoy’s arrival, the Yuuzhan Vong had done little beyond staging raids that seemed designed to test the response time of the X-wings and other fighters the Ralroost had brought along. Gavin felt certain his every move was being watched and cataloged. He’d not felt this vulnerable since before Grand Admiral Thrawn had died at Bilbringi.

  The people of Dubrillion had faced the impending invasion with a stoicism that stunned Gavin. In light of the fact that everyone couldn’t be saved, families were being asked to make hideous choices about who would be allowed to live and who would be left behind. The best and brightest of Dubrillion’s children, along with historians, artists, and cultural leaders were being culled and processed for transport to Agamar. Children from the same family were split up to prevent the loss of a line in the event a particular ship did not make it. Mothers let children go, lovers were parted, grandchildren said tearful good-byes to relatives they knew they would never see again.

  Kre’fey continued. “The people of Dubrillion have made their hard decisions. For me to avoid one that is just as difficult would mock their heroism. I won’t do that.”

  Leia nodded silently, imbuing that silent acknowledgment of Kre’fey’s words with nobility and pain. “I’ll be on the Ralroost, then.”

  The admiral shook his head. “With all due respect, I think you should travel with Senator A’Kla in his ship.”

  Leia smiled. “I would have, but I think you’ll find the senator has demanded room on the Ralroost for himself and his traveling companions. He’s given the Fond Memory to pilots who have already made a run to Agamar and are back for another group.”

  “Then it will be my pleasure to have you on board.” The admiral straightened up and glanced at Gavin. “Is there anything else, Colonel?”

  Gavin extended the datapad toward him. “I’ve found the pilots I need to fill out Rogue Squadron. I took the liberty of looking over the records of the fliers who’ve made asteroid runs here. I’m taking the best of them—of those who are still available.”

  Leia held her hand out. “May I see the list?”

  The admiral nodded, so Gavin handed her the datapad. Leia studied it for a moment,
then glanced up. “My daughter isn’t on the list.”

  “No, Princess, she isn’t.”

  “Why not? She was the best pilot to run the asteroids.” Leia knew that Jaina was restless, annoyed with her recent assignments, and eager to contribute. Jaina would be outraged if she were not chosen as a Rogue Squadron pilot because she was Leia’s daughter. And they were all in danger now, whatever their assignments.

  “I know that, but she’s too young.”

  The princess’s chin came up and her eyes narrowed. “Correct me if I am wrong,” she said in a tone that made it obvious that she knew she wasn’t, “but my daughter is the same age you were when you joined Rogue Squadron, Colonel Darklighter.”

  A wave of heat passed over Gavin as his face flushed red. “That’s true, yes, but those were desperate times—”

  “And these aren’t?”

  “They are, but—”

  Leia let some of the edge drain from her voice. “Let me ask you, Gavin, if one of your sons was one of the best pilots, would you deny him a spot in the squadron?”

  “Don’t ask me that.” Gavin’s stomach began to twist itself into knots. “I’ve flown against the Vong. I know how nasty they can be. I’m not sure if I’ll survive getting out of here. I don’t want to have to subject anyone’s child to getting killed out there. And especially your child, Princess. You’ve already done more than your share of sacrificing for the New Republic.”

  Leia took a step toward him and laid a hand on his shoulder. She looked up into his eyes and gave him a brave smile. “Gavin, you and I both know that the people who are capable of dealing with trouble never really get a chance to pass, to rest, to live a normal life. People like us assume responsibilities so other people don’t have their lives ruined. We can wish it was otherwise, but it won’t happen.”

  She handed him the datapad. “I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you wanted to safeguard Jaina; but by letting her fly, we can safeguard someone else. She’s a wonderful pilot, she can fly an X-wing like no one else, and she’s a Jedi. The Force might be less effective against the Yuuzhan Vong, but if she picks up that one of your other people is in trouble, she can be there to help.”

  Gavin swallowed past the lump choking him. “Two of the top pilots in the squadron’s past were from Corellia and Alderaan, so having someone whose blood comes from both will probably be good. Do you want to tell her, or shall I?”

  “You should tell her, Colonel.” Leia smiled proudly. “I think being told of this assignment by her mother would tarnish it somewhat.”

  “You have my word, Princess, that she will be well taken care of.”

  “I know, Gavin. May the Force be with you.”

  “Rogue Eleven, check in, please.”

  Jaina blinked and kind of jumped in her cockpit seat when she realized the comm call was for her. I’m in Rogue Squadron! The realization had a surreal aspect to it because, as she grew up, the part of her uncle’s life that had gone before his becoming a Jedi Knight had receded into the dim past. While Luke was acknowledged as the founder of Rogue Squadron, Wedge Antilles and the other pilots in it had really defined the squadron and made it a legend.

  Even though she knew she was a good pilot, she didn’t think she was good enough to join the squadron, especially not at her age. Still, desperate times require desperate measures.

  “Rogue Eleven, check in. If your comm unit is giving you trouble, raise a hand.”

  Jaina keyed her microphone. “Sorry, Nine, I’m all green here. Good to go.”

  “Have to be alert out there, Sticks. No spacing.”

  “As ordered, Nine.” Jaina grinned, enjoying the fact that she’d already been given a call sign. She knew it came from the fact that her X-wing had a control stick, and she carried a lightsaber, which the pilots derided as another stick.

  Gavin’s voice crackled through the comm channel. “All Rogues, head out. We rendezvous at point Angel-One. Orient 342 mark 55 and go to station keeping.”

  Jaina double-clicked her comm unit to acknowledge the command, then fed power to the repulsorlift coils. The X-wing came up smoothly and hovered very still while she retracted the landing gear. She glanced over at the observation deck windows and thought she saw her mother flanked either side by Elegos and Lando. She gave them a big thumbs-up, then as Rogue Ten moved out of the hangar, she nudged the throttle forward and trailed after her squadron mate. Once out of the hangar, she pulled back on the stick and boosted her throttle full forward, rocketing the X-wing toward the asteroid belt waiting above.

  Jaina still felt the way her flesh had puckered when Colonel Darklighter came to her and offered her a position in Rogue Squadron. Rogue Squadron had been the people who liberated Coruscant from the Empire. They’d helped break up the Bacta Cartel. They’d been part of Grand Admiral Thrawn’s defeat and played a key role in ending the long struggle with the Empire. As much as her uncle, mother, and father might have been heroes of the Rebellion, the Rogues became a symbol, a collection of heroes that most people could identify with. While she loved her family and cherished being a Jedi Knight, being asked to join the squadron was something that she’d earned, not something granted to her by her ability with the Force or the reputations of her parents.

  As she reached the rendezvous point, Jaina glanced at her primary sensor screen. The Rogues were set up midway between the asteroid belt and the Agamarian convoy. Other squadrons of fighters, made up of old TIE designs and a plethora of uglies, formed up behind Rogue Squadron. At the very end of the convoy sat the Ralroost. A couple of last shuttles were coming up from the planet to board the Bothan Assault Cruiser. By stretching out with the Force, Jaina could feel her mother and Danni on board one of them.

  They left the planet safely. Now we have to get them out of the system safely.

  “Rogue Lead, I have movement on my scanners.” Rogue Four’s voice dominated the channel for a moment. “At 271 mark 30.”

  Jaina ruddered her fighter around in that direction and felt a chill run down her spine. “By all that makes a Hutt ugly …”

  A Yuuzhan Vong warship drifted slowly down from the asteroid belt, with little coralskippers buzzing around it like flies on carrion. The ship itself would have matched an Imperial Star Destroyer in length, but, being something of an ovoid shape, certainly massed a great deal more. The ship’s flesh alternated in strips of smooth, glassy, black rock and rougher, craggier patches that housed pits, which she assumed were weapons emplacements and homes for the dovin basals that propelled the ship.

  Near the nose, along the spine, and at the aft of the ship grew huge, long coral arms of deep red and dark blue. Coralskippers dotted these arms like buds on a plant. Jaina assumed that some of the larger, unoccupied holes in the arms housed plasma projectors, and judging from their size compared to the coralskippers, a blast from one of them could easily burn a snubfighter from the sky.

  The lead ships in the convoy started to move out. They used Dubrillion’s gravity well to let them build up some speed, then came about on a course that would let them make the first jump in the journey to Agamar. They weren’t going directly, since they had no desire to lead the Yuuzhan Vong to that world. More importantly, by stopping at a way point and shifting to a new course, they’d cut days off the single-jump trip.

  The coralskippers that had been orbiting around the big ship formed into squadrons and began their runs at the convoy. Combat traffic controllers on the Ralroost started designating squadrons as targets and fed attack orders to the various Dubrillion squadrons nearest them. Jaina studied her sensor monitors intently, watching as little lights representing fighters moved forward, split apart, and in the midst of fierce dogfights, suddenly winked out of existence.

  After what seemed like an eternity, but really was all too soon, Gavin’s voice broke through the low-level chatter on the comm channels. “Rogues, we have been given the target designated Rock-One. Keep moving fast, do as much damage as you can. Everyone look out for everyone else.
”

  Jaina’s R5 droid, a maroon and white model, uttered a low moan.

  “What’s the matter, Sparky?”

  The droid tootled and splashed the target on her primary monitor.

  Emperor’s black bones, we’re going after the warship. In an odd way, ordering an attack by a group of snubfighters against a capital ship made sense. The Empire’s big ships had always been vulnerable to close-in actions by small fighters. The New Republic’s tactical commanders knew that and employed snubfighters very effectively against their enemies.

  Jaina wondered, however, if the Yuuzhan Vong were aware of how afraid they should be of snubfighters.

  “As ordered, Lead.” Jaina smiled and jammed the throttle forward. “Sparky, hold on tight back there.”

  “Has your wing, Twelve does, Sticks.”

  “Thanks, Twelve.” Jaina looked at her weapons board. “Nine, do we use our proton torps, or just the lasers?”

  “Got something else you’re going to be saving the torps for, Sticks?”

  “I copy, Nine.” Jaina quadded up her lasers and settled a finger over the stutter trigger. She figured she’d use the lasers to scope out the ship’s defenses, then drop some torps in if she found a likely target.

  The Yuuzhan Vong warship just kept growing bigger and bigger as the X-wings sped toward it. The big ship’s aft end came up, allowing it to point its dorsal spines forward, along its line of travel. Golden light blossomed at their tips, then boiling gold balls of plasma shot out, arcing out toward the ships in the convoy.

  The shots, taken at ranges of over five kilometers, were not terribly accurate for hitting small freighters. Even so, each of the ships in the convoy had a set flight path if it was going to escape the system. With the Yuuzhan Vong fire cutting across that flight path, a collision was inevitable.

  The first freighter hit was one that reminded Jaina very much of the Millennium Falcon. The plasma blast caught it on the starboard side, burning clean through the cockpit and eating a crescent deep into it. The ship started tumbling like a chip in a sabacc game, with people and debris spilling out of it. It whirled away toward the brown bulk of Destrillion, destined to burn up in that bleak world’s atmosphere.