Hero of Cartao Part 10

"Shall I leave you a guard?"

"That won't be necessary," Doriana said. "But I'd like to borrow yourother comlink, if I may, so I can keep up with what's happening." "Sure,"Roshton grunted, pulling out his belt comlink. "Over there behind that thicktree would probably be a good place to observe from." Doriana smiled tohimself. It amazed him sometimes how easily people seemed to think they couldoffend him. "Thank you, Commander," he said calmly. "I'll expect a full reportwhen you return."

They'd made it perhaps halfway to Spaarti Creations when the firstresponse came from the picket line around the plant. Blaster bolts began tosizzle across the distance as the droids opened fire, pa.s.sing harmlesslybetween the marching soldiers or bouncing almost as harmlessly off theirarmor. Tories peered ahead into the gloom as his lightsaber deflected away thebolts that came his direction, using the light of the enemy's own fire to seehow they were configuring their battle line. The droids directly between themand the plant's east door were standing fast, while more droids were hurryingfrom north and south of that position to join them.

"Looks like this whole section of the picket line is pulling in to face us," Roshton murmured from beside him.

"Yes," Tories agreed, looking back over his shoulder. All he could seeback there were the lights of the city and s.p.a.ceport. "Any sign of thatcrossfire yet?"

"Two AATs and about fifty droids have just headed northeast," Roshton said. "We should see them soon. Ah."

Tories turned back. The plant's east door had opened, revealing a new setof droids hurrying through to join the picket line. "Here come thereinforcements," Roshton said. "I'd guess we'll be seeing those AATs verysoon."

And with that, Tories knew, it was time to go. "How long can you hold out against them?" he asked, deflecting one last bolt and then closing down his lightsaber.

Roshton threw him a sideways look, wrapping his free hand around his headset's voice pickup. "What do you have in mind?"

"We're a.s.suming they've largely emptied the plant of combat droids,"Tories told him. "If I can get inside, I should be able to get the drop on theNeimoidians. If they're as cowardly as you say, maybe I can persuade them tosurrender even if Tiis isn't able to take out the command s.h.i.+p."

"How do you expect to get in?" Roshton asked. "They'll have picket lines at all the doors."

"Leave that to me," Tories said, nodding to the left. "But I have to go before they close off that gap. So again: how long can you hold out?"

"As long as necessary," Roshton said, glancing around as he released hisgrip on his voice pickup. "Lieutenant: looks like there's a small hollow aheadand to the right. We'll deploy in defensive formation there." He looked atTories again. "Good luck."

Tories nodded and turned to the left, taking a moment to get his bearings. Then, stretching out to the Force, he dropped into a crouch and ran.

Jedi were capable of incredible bursts of speed when necessary, at leastover short distances. Tories used every bit of that capability, his legspumping in a blur against the ground as he slipped around the end of thepicket line now beginning to close into a semicircle around the beleagueredclone troopers. A pair of droid stragglers suddenly loomed in front of him inthe darkness and then collapsed into broken rubble as he used the Force toshove them backward. By the time the burst of energy and speed faded and hetrotted to a halt, he was standing at the southeast corner of the plant, justclear of the forbidden south lawn, facing a sheer, three-story-high wall.

He gazed up at the dark slab rising above him. Three stories was animpossible jump, at least for him. But halfway up the wall, a distance hecould reach, was a line of louvered air vents, each about ten centimetersacross.

He could only hope Lord Binalie's father had built the vents and louverswith the same ruggedness with which he'd built everything else in SpaartiCreations. Getting a good grip on his lightsaber, making sure his hand wa.s.safely away from the activation stud, he bent his knees, stretched out to theForce, and jumped.

He was near the top of his arc when he spotted the nearest vent, dimlylit by the flashes of laser and blaster fire coming from Roshton's position.With a quick flick of his mind, he reached out to the louvers, angling them upinto a horizontal position.

And as his upward momentum slowed to a halt, he slipped his lightsaber hilt between two of the louvers.

The metal creaked in protest as his full weight came onto the hilt, b.u.t.to his relief the louvers held. Stretching out to the Force, he pulled downhard against the wedged lightsaber, hurling himself upward again.

He made it with three centimeters to spare, catching the edge of the roofwith his outstretched fingertips and heaving himself the rest of the way up tosprawl onto his belly on the cold permacrete. Swiveling around, he leanedpartway over the edge, extricating his lightsaber hilt from the louvers andcalling it back to his hand.

The blaster fire in the east seemed to be intensifying as he slippedsilently across the roof toward the nearest skylight. He reached it, rubbedoff some of the collected grit with his sleeve, and peered inside.

The factory floor below was deserted. He stretched out to the Force,trying to track down the agitated alien minds he could sense beneath him.Further to the west, perhaps? Yes, he decided: somewhere a little ways west ofhis position. He frowned, trying to visualize the layout of the plant... Ofcourse. Cowardly or merely very cautious, the Neimoidians would have set upshop in Production Area Four, where they could keep an eye on the tunnelleading to the Binalie estate.

He set off that direction, keeping a wary eye overhead for wandering STARpatrols. But all the ones he could see were a good distance away, eitherswooping behind him to the east near Roshton's position, or else doing tightcircles around the C-9979 landing s.h.i.+p over near the plant's west door. Thecacophony from Roshton's position was definitely growing louder, possibly thedroids from the landing s.h.i.+p now close enough to add their strength to theattack. A new sound shrieked through the air, and he turned in time to see aRepublic guns.h.i.+p dive toward the ground, sweeping the droid positions withrapid-fire laser fire. It swung upward again, and was cutting around foranother pa.s.s when it exploded in a brilliant red-and-yellow fireball. And thenhe was at the skylight over the Area Four control station. Again cleaning offa section of the transparisteel, he looked down.

There they were, directly below him on the control platform: the twoNeimoidians who had earlier invaded Lord Binalie's office, plus a few more inmuch drabber clothing, all gathered together around a plotting display thathad been set up in front of the Cranscoc twillers. The Master Creator, Gehad,was jabbing at something on the display, apparently arguing with CommanderAshel about it. Milling alertly around the control platform were a half dozenbattle droids, their attention and blasters turned outward. The skylight'sfastening catch was at the inside base directly across from Tories. Reachingout with the Force, he undid it and swung the skylight open on its hinges.Taking a deep breath, he dropped through the opening.

He landed on the platform directly behind Commander Ashel, his kneesbending to absorb the impact. Ashel had time to twitch, and someone else hadtime to give a startled squeak, before Tories was upright again with his armfirmly around Ashel's chest and the business end of his lightsaber pressedjust as firmly against the side of the Neimoidian's head. "Everyone staystill," he warned. But the droids' reflexes were apparently set on hair-trigger. Before Tories could say more, or Ashel could say anything at all,they whirled toward the platform, their blasters spitting fire toward him.Tories took a long step away from Ashel and the others, igniting hislightsaber and whipping it against the incoming blaster bolts. Two secondslater, all six droids lay shattered and smoking, destroyed by their ownbackscattered fire. Before the stunned Neimoidians could react, Tories tookanother long step back and regained his grip on Ashel's robes. "Let's try thatagain," he said mildly. "Everyone stay still."

"What do you want?" Ashel asked, his voice shaking.

"I want this to be over," Tories told him. He glanced at the Cranscoc twillers crouching down in front of the control system mud flow, wondering how they were taking all this.

But if they were worried, surprised, or even fully aware of what wasgoing on, he couldn't see it. "Contact the command s.h.i.+p and order them tosurrender."

"Impossible." Ashel made a cautious gesture toward the ruined droids. "We cannot communicate except through the droids, and you have destroyed them all.

"Really," Tories said. It was almost certainly a lie, but there was an easy way to call the other's bluff. "Fine. Come on."

"Where do we go?" Gehad asked timorously.

"It just so happens I know where there are other droids you can use,"Tories told him. "And watch it. I doubt you want the kind of trouble I canmake for you."

Keeping a grip on Ashel's robe, he led the way down the platform steps.The Neimoidians' sealing of the tunnel exit had been achieved by the simpleprocedure of welding the leading edge of the ramp solidly to the floor, and ittook him only a couple of seconds to cut through the weld with his lightsaber.Ashel quivered in his grip as he did so, but said nothing.

Their footsteps echoed eerily as they headed east through the empty plant. Tories kept alert for a surprise attack, but apparently the Neimoidians really had sent all the rest of the droids outside.

The battle was still going on as they reached the east door and steppedout into the night air. "There are your droids," Tories said, giving Ashel animperative push toward the light and noise. "Let's go talk to them."

"You cannot be serious," the Neimoidian protested, cringing back against Tories' grip. "We are not equipped for battle."

"Too bad," Tories said. "But if that's the only way to stop them..."

He broke off as, abruptly, the circle of blasters around Roshton'sposition fell silent. Something in the sky to the left caught his eye, and helooked over as a pair of STAPs plummeted to the ground.

He craned his head to look up into the night sky. There, almost directly above him, was the fading light of an expanding gas cloud.

General Tiis and the Whipsaw had come through.

"I guess we won't need to talk to the droids, after all," he commented.He could see movement from Roshton's position now as the clone troopersabandoned their positions, running toward him and the plant now wide openbehind him.

"Come on," he added, returning his lightsaber to his belt and nudging the

Neimoidians toward the approaching troops.

The two groups met halfway. "I see you've been busy," Roshton greeted Tories as he trotted to a halt, gesturing his troops to continue on toward the plant.

"What's it like inside?"

"Empty, as far as I could tell," Tories told him. "The tunnel's been unsealed, too, if you want to get the techs back in."

"Excellent," Roshton said in grim satisfaction. "We'll get the Cranscoc to undo any retooling they did, then get back to work.

"I doubt the Neimoidians got very far with their retooling," Tories said.

"Speaking of which, what should I do with them?"

Roshton glanced past him toward the plant. "Would you mind taking them to Commander Bratt? He's in one of the guns.h.i.+ps heading over to shut down the Number Two C-9979."

"No problem," Tories said. "I'll see you later."

Roshton nodded and hurried off after his men. Tories started his ownparty off in the opposite direction. "It is not yet over," Ashel warned asthey walked.

"We have not yet been defeated."

"You just keep thinking that," Tories said. They'd reached the site ofRoshton's stand now, and he paused for a moment, gazing across thebattlefield. The ground was almost literally covered with the wreckage ofdroids, with the bodies of probably a dozen clone troopers lying among thedebris, their armor no longer white. Fires were still burning in the remainsof a couple of vehicles, one of them the guns.h.i.+p Tories had seen beingdestroyed. Standing amid the general carnage were probably a hundred moredroids, still upright yet with an oddly sagging look about them, where theloss of their control s.h.i.+p had left them.

He was still gazing at them when, with a sort of collective twitch, they came back to life.

For perhaps half a second the sheer unexpectedness of it froze him to the spot. But for the Neimoidians, that half-second was all the time they needed.

At a barked word from Ashel, the Neimoidians dropped flat on the ground.

And Tories found himself standing alone in the middle of a ring ofblasters. There was no time for anything fancy, and literally nowhere to gobut up. He leaped up and sideways, igniting his lightsaber and slas.h.i.+ng behindhim as he arced over the revived droid army, trusting in the Force to guidehis hand and deflect the shots. He hit the ground running and dodging, headingaway from the plant toward the city, a hail of blaster bolts nipping at hisrobes.

"Yes, run, Jedi," Ashel's mocking voice wafted after him, more painful even than the blaster bolt near-misses. "Tell us again of this trouble you can make for us."

Tories didn't answer. Ahead, he could hear the sounds of renewed blasterfire coming from Foulahn City, and from the sense of startled anguish rollingover his mind it was clear that the rest of the Republic forces had been takenas much by surprise as he had. Unless he could get to them in time, to lendhis strength to theirs, the battle would be lost.

He couldn't.

And it was.

"I guess the Separatists have finally learned from their past mistakes,"Doriana commented as he, Tories, and Binalie stood on one of the mansion'snorth-facing balconies. "They must have found a way to make a control matrixcompact enough that they could bring a backup down to the planet surface. My guess is that it's probably in one of the landing s.h.i.+ps. Not that it really matters."

"And not that we'll ever know for sure," Binalie said bitterly, s.h.i.+vering in the cold night air. "They're all dead, then?"