Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2)(107)
“Now, Artoo!” he snapped and again charged forward.
In general, B2s weren’t very bright. But this one was perhaps smarter than most. More important, it had already had a taste of its opponents’ preferred mode of attack. Even as Anakin sprinted forward it reached the doorway and stretched its arms out to both sides, bracing itself against the jambs for the coming impact. Behind it, R2-D2 trilled a sort of battle cry and increased his speed; the B2 responded by splaying its legs to both sides, bracing its feet against the doorway as well in preparation for the little astromech’s attack.
Thereby putting itself in exactly the position Thrawn had requested.
Jumping up to the screwdriver, Anakin grabbed it with his left hand and slammed his feet against the B2’s torso. With its arms and legs braced, the droid didn’t even quiver. Still holding on to the screwdriver, his feet braced against the B2’s torso, Anakin yanked off his chest plate with his right hand, grabbing his lightsaber before it could fall.
He jammed the end up against the droid’s right eye and ignited the blade.
A shudder ran through the B2’s frame. The reaction passed, and the droid seemed to sag in place. For a second Anakin thought it would fall, but it had braced itself too well and remained upright in the doorway. Sealing it from any approach, just as Thrawn had wanted.
Sealing it, unfortunately, with R2-D2 trapped on the other side.
Anakin’s satisfied smile vanished. “Artoo?” he called tentatively.
The droid gave an exasperated grunt. “Yeah, sorry,” Anakin said, dropping back to the floor. “Hang on, I’ll get you out of there.”
“Anakin!” Padmé called urgently. “They’re coming.”
“Correction: They’ve arrived,” Thrawn added coolly.
Anakin looked back. A door leading into the western half of the north wing had opened, and a line of B1 battle droids was filing in, their blasters held high, their heads moving back and forth as they searched for a target. Behind them, visible above the crowd, were seven B2s.
He winced. And if all seven were the indestructible type…
“There!” one of the B1s called, leveling its blaster at Anakin. “You! Stop for questioning!”
“Don’t shoot,” Anakin called, starting toward them with his hands behind his head, his lightsaber concealed from their view. The lead B1s had passed the row of nine cortosis-filled helmets, possibly oblivious to their presence, certainly unaware of their significance. All he had to do now was stall them long enough for all the B2s to clear the doorway.
He grimaced. Nine helmets. Seven B2s. This could get tricky.
The droids were still moving forward, half the B1s focused on Anakin, the other half continuing their visual sweep to both sides. The B2s were still behind them, their arms raised, their wrist blasters also sweeping the room. All of the super battle droids were inside now, with another squad of B1s bringing up the rear.
Without warning a blaster bolt sizzled across the room to slam into one of the B2s.
Instantly the droids turned, swiveling their weapons toward the shooter. But before they could fire a second bolt came at them from the other side of the room, this one splashing off a different B2.
Splashing.
Anakin smiled tightly. Of course. Padmé and Thrawn were targeting the B2s in order, watching for the telltale sign of cortosis armor.
The droids were returning fire now. But the attacking blaster bolts were still coming in, their sources shifting each time as Padmé and Thrawn fired and then quickly changed positions to avoid the droids’ counterattack. One…two…three…
The seventh and final shot split the air.
And Anakin had the numbers. Three of the seven B2s were of the normal type. The other four, clustered together in the center of the droid formation, were the invulnerable ones.
“Ready!” he shouted, bringing his hands and lightsaber back into view and igniting the weapon. One of the B1s gave a squeak at the sight of the blue blade, and the entire front rank opened fire.
Anakin deflected the shots, edging toward one of the support pillars, trying to draw as much of their attention toward him as he could. They would only have one shot at this. He reached the pillar and ducked behind it.
And instantly ducked around the other side as blasterfire blasted chips of ceramic off the edge where he’d just disappeared. For a fatal half second the B1s had lost their target.
That half second was all he needed. Stretching out with the Force, he lifted the nine helmets and hurled them at and above the four invulnerable B2s. Another twitch, and the helmets turned over, dumping their cortosis fibers into a drifting, swirling cloud around the droids’ heads. From across the room, the final shot of Thrawn’s lightning gun shattered through the air.
An instant later the four B2s were wreathed with a blazing, twisting, pulsating cloud of energy as the falling fibers connected to one another, disconnected, then reconnected, sending the energy through one another and into the threads embedded in the droids’ armor.
Thrawn had hoped that the sudden flood of energy would destroy the droids. Anakin hadn’t been convinced that would happen. But he also hadn’t cared. All he cared about was dazzling the B2s long enough for him to get in before they recovered. Ducking around the pillar, he charged into the droid formation, slicing and shattering every B1 in his path. He reached the four invulnerable B2s and leapt into the air, fatally stabbing two of them as he arced past. He hit the floor, spun around as those first two toppled over, and jumped on the third’s shoulders. Two more stabs, and all four were down. He dropped to the floor again—to find that the rest of the droids, not as affected by the lightning storm as the cortosis version, swung to the attack.