Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2)(49)

Apparently, they did understand layered defenses.

“Two E-Webs to the hold,” he snapped into his transmitter. “Troopers?”

“I saw ten in the firing line,” Morrtic said, getting awkwardly to her feet from her knee-down position. She’d taken some shots to the helmet and chest, too, but was still functional. “Two more heavy blasters, plus rifles.”

“Hold went back about forty meters,” Trooper Dorstren spoke up. “Twin lines of cylinders along the walls: five meters tall, maybe three in diameter. Another eight to ten aliens working on them.”

“Not just working,” Trooper Elebe added grimly. “I’m pretty sure they were rigging them with explosives.”

Kimmund swore under his breath. So they were trying to destroy whatever it was they were carrying. Lord Vader wouldn’t like that at all. “Can’t wait for the E-Webs,” he decided. “Assault formation.”

Ten seconds later, they were ready: three loose lines—prone, kneeling, and standing—with the stormtroopers spaced far enough apart to deny the aliens easy group shots. Readying his own E-11, Kimmund slapped the hatch control.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, then tried the other control, then went back to the first. Nothing. Apparently, the aliens had let him open the hatch the first time just so they could launch their attack. Now that the element of surprise was gone, they’d gone for a lockout.

Sergeant Drav was already on it. “Grenades at break points,” he ordered. “You, you, and you. Move it, troopers.”

“Belay that,” Kimmund said as the three troopers stepped up to the hatch. During the brief moment the hatch had been open he’d seen the thickness of the metal, the honeycomb cross-section pattern, and the slight inward curvature. “Grenades won’t breach it—they’ll just open up gunports.”

“Which we can shoot through as well as they can,” Drav countered.

“Which won’t help us save the cargo,” Kimmund shot back, trying to visualize the freighter’s architecture. If he was right…

It was worth a shot. He keyed his helmet’s long-range transmitter relay—“Skerris? You still out there?”

“Right here, Commander,” the TIE Defender pilot came back promptly. “What do you need?”

“I need you to blow out the ventral cargo hatch,” Kimmund said. “Can you do that?”

“Probably,” Skerris said hesitantly. “Lord Vader wanted the cargo intact.”

“The crew’s trying to blow it up,” Kimmund said. “I figure a little explosive decompression will discourage that.”

“Got it,” Skerris said. “Coming around now. Whoa.”

“What?”

“That second freighter’s coming back up from the surface,” Skerris said. “You want me to chase it?”

Kimmund bared his teeth. Last indications from the Chimaera had been that that second freighter was heading to the same general area where Thrawn and Lord Vader had landed. “Can you get to it before it makes the jump?” he asked.

“It’ll be close,” Skerris said. “No one else is in position—they’re still off chasing the smaller ships. Tell me what you want me to do.”

“Stay here and blow the hatch,” Kimmund said, making another quick decision. Whatever that other freighter had been doing, chances were Lord Vader was already on top of it. This one, though, was Kimmund’s. “And make it snappy.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when a muffled blast rattled the hatch, shaking the deck beneath Kimmund’s feet. “Never mind,” he growled. “Damn it all.”

“Yeah, got it,” Skerris growled back. “Hull and cargo hatch look damaged but still airtight if you want to go in. I’m guessing there won’t be much opposition. I’ll go see if I can chase down that other freighter.”

“Yeah, do whatever you want,” Kimmund said, motioning Drav and his grenades back to the now visibly warped hatch. They’d go in, all right, and they’d see if there was anything left to find.

Lord Vader wasn’t going to be pleased. At all.

And maybe the squad was about to get its fifth commander.





There had been three houses in the clearing when Thrawn and Vader approached from orbit. Now a single house stood beside two piles of flattened rubble.

“It is gone,” Vader said. His voice is deeper than usual. Perhaps it holds anger, perhaps accusation. “The disturbance has disappeared.”

“Yes,” Thrawn said. The rubble shows evidence of blasts delivered from above. It shows further evidence of compression, also from above.

“How do you know that?”

“I believe the source was taken,” Thrawn said. “Observe the pressure indications across the area of destruction. The first two houses were destroyed in order to make room for the freighter to land beside the third.”

Vader faces the destruction. His fingers rest near the hilt of his lightsaber. “You believe the source was inside the third building?”

“Did the disturbance break off suddenly, as if destroyed in an explosion?”

“No,” Vader said. His voice grows clearer. Perhaps he has followed and accepted the logic. Perhaps he is preparing for more questioning. “Do you know the source of the disturbance?”