“We can’t waste any more time being sneaky,” she whispered. Alema Rar had just joined the meld. Leia could sense the Twi’lek in the atmosphere below, hovering behind Jaina and Zekk, calculating and resolute and slightly amused by the idea of using them for bait. “We need to board the Falcon now.”
Tarfang chortled something that sounded a little like “impossible.” He was the only one in the group who could stand upright in the oily-smelling conveyance tunnel, and he took advantage of the fact by bracing his hands on his hips and vehemently shaking his head as he chittered.
“Tarfang is right.” Juun pointed into the bustling hangar, toward an out-of-the-way corner where about fifty Chiss troopers in black deflection armor stood in a tight cordon around the Falcon. “They know we’re coming. That security platoon is clearly waiting for us.”
“Ssso?” Saba rasped. “Maybe they will give us a good fight-for a change.”
“Yeah, maybe too good,” Han said. He was looking out across the gleaming vastness of the Star Destroyer’s hangar, studying what had to be an entire maintenance brigade rushing to launch the Defender’s starfighter wing. “We can probably take the security platoon, but those maintenance guys are all carrying-“
“Han, Alema Rar has joined the battle-meld,” Leia said. “I think Jaina and Zekk are going to serve as her decoys, to pull the escorts off-“
“What are we waiting for?” Han raised the T-21 repeating blaster that Cakhmaim and Meewalh had liberated from the detention center’s contraband vault-along with the rest of the group’s weapons-then started to duck-walk out of the conveyance tunnel. “Let’s go get my ship back.”
Saba used the Force to stop Han in his tracks. “A plan would be good.”
“You want a plan?” He pointed at Saba and Leia. “Okay, you two make a distraction. Cakhmaim, you and Meewalh sneak aboard and take out the squad I’m sure they’ve got waiting to ambush us. Tarfang, you and I blast anyone who even looks our way.” He glanced back to Saba. “How’s that for a plan?”
“Good,” Saba said.
“It’s vague and incomplete!” Juun objected.
“So?” Han demanded.
“So what am I supposed to do?” Juun demanded.
“Keep up,” Han replied. ” ‘Cause the Falcon’s not waiting around for anyone.”
“Of course not,” Juun replied. “In Spy Primer, Kyle Katarn makes it clear that every member of an espionage team . .”
Leia stopped listening as Cakhmaim and Meewalh crept out of the conveyance tunnel. They slipped behind an empty missile rack waiting to be sent back up the tunnel for reloading, then began to work their way along the wall toward the Falcon. They were so adept at camouflaging themselves that even Leia lost sight of them within five steps.
Saba pointed at one of the overhead storage gantries where clawcraft were moored before they were prepped for flight. One of the starfighters began to sway in its suspension rack, then suddenly came loose and fell to the floor with a deafening crash.
All eyes in the hangar turned toward the sound, and Leia led Han and the others out of the conveyance tunnel at a sprint, dashing between empty armament racks, crouching behind parked utility carts, hiding behind portable diagnostic units. Saba’s distraction proved so dramatic that work came to a standstill as astonished technicians, pilots, and even the security platoon guarding the Falcon watched the emergency response team rush to investigate.
By the time the officers recovered from their own shock and began to fill the echoing hangar with shouted commands to return to work, Leia and her companions were kneeling behind a self-portable laser-cannon charging tank. The Falcon was only about twenty meters away, the security cordon about half that distance. She could feel the Noghri hiding somewhere in the shadows on the other side of the ship, waiting for their opportunity to slip aboard.
Leia signaled the others to be ready, then used the Force to create a loud creak in the storage gantries directly above the security platoon. The troops immediately looked up, already suspicious enough to raise their charric rifles.
Leia Force-grabbed a clawcraft hanging over their heads and began to swing it back and forth. The troops immediately began to back away from the Falcon-until their female officer started barking commands at them. In the next moment the officer was sliding across the deck with her arms flailing, still screeching orders in a panicked voice and gesturing at the gantries.
The soldiers stared after her in confusion, or looked up into the gantries and scowled. None of them noticed the slender, chest-high forms of two Noghri appearing out of the shadows behind them, then slipping up the Falcon’s boarding ramp.