Obi-Wan had been corrected, and he accepted Yaddle’s rebuke. If he had been in her position, he would not have retreated, either. He turned to Swanny. “Didn’t you tell me that you can boost the grid from another source, but only if the central relay substation is destroyed?”
“Right. Substation 32. That’s my point,” Swanny said patiently. “You might recall that I told you if you blow up the relay equipment, the whole power grid might blow. And that’s one sweet ka-boom. Kiss your lightsaber good-bye.”
Obi-Wan turned back to Yaddle. “If we hit substation 32, can your experts boost the grid right afterward? We can’t give Striker a chance to hit back.”
“Find out, we will.” Yaddle immediately got out her comlink.
Swanny looked at Obi-Wan curiously. “I don’t get it. How can two Jedi render an entire substation inoperable?”
“Well, we’ll need a hand,” Obi-Wan said. “That’s where you come in.”
“Me? You know I’d love to help, but I think you’ve seen my cowardice in action,” Swanny said.
“You won’t have to go near the substation,” Obi-Wan assured him.
Yaddle got off the comlink and nodded. “Do it, they can. Yet crucial, timing is. Destroy the relay substation we must within the hour. Impatient, Feeana is. Need her we do to patrol the city. Trust us, the Mawan citizens must. If we promise them that control of the power grid and the backing of Feeana and her gang will hold the city, aboveground they will come.” Yaddle paused. “An idea you have, Master Kenobi.”
It was a statement, not a question.
“We can’t blow it up,” Obi-Wan said. “But we could drown it.” He turned to Swanny. “Can you flood the substation from the wastewater pipes without getting inside the station? You said you knew every pipe belowground.”
Swanny thought for a full minute while Obi-Wan tried not to show his impatience. “There’s a small wash-up area in the substation for the workers,” he said finally. “If I divert the wastewater from tank 102C and gush it through system A-9 with enough force, it could conceivably break through a pipe joint - the pipes going into substation 32 are part of the old system, so they’re not in great shape - and then we’d have a pretty major flood in a matter of minutes. It would take me more than an hour to get there and figure out what circuits I need to use.”
“You have forty minutes,” Obi-Wan said. “We’d better get started.”
Swanny had been right about the firepower. As Obi-Wan and Yaddle skirted the substation’s perimeter, he could see two grenade mortars guarding the entrance. The operators sat on repulsorlift platforms, and the Jedi could see that the targeting computers were engaged. Attack droids stood in ready formation.
“We could use a diversion,” Obi-Wan murmured to Yaddle as they hid behind a utility box.
“Accomplish this we must, if the Provisional Committee is going to be successful,” Yaddle said. “The longer it takes, the more things can go wrong.”
“Look,” Obi-Wan said, pointing at a stream of water underneath the double durasteel doors of the substation. “Swanny must have been effective. The flood has begun.”
Yaddle opened her comlink to signal the power grid team that Euraana had arranged to stand by.
Up on their repulsorlift platforms, the guards didn’t notice the water streaming out from underneath the crack in the durasteel doors. Their gazes continued to rest on the targeting computers that would show them attacking beings or airborne weapons.
“When it gets deep enough to endanger the equipment, the alarm should sound,” Obi-Wan murmured. “I’m betting the operators will leave their grenade mortars and let the droids guard the entrance. They’ll call for reinforcements.”
“One problem, there is,” Yaddle said. “Burst open, the doors might.”
“And that would release the flood into the tunnel.” Obi-Wan nodded. “In which case, the equipment might keep functioning.” He thought for a moment. “Can you use the Force to hold the doors?”
Yaddle nodded.
The water was now streaming down the tunnel and lapping at their boots. Because of the downward slope, it ran out from underneath the door. They could see that the water inside was rising, since the water was now leaking out of the seam between the double doors. The pressure of the water was causing the doors to vibrate from the strain.
Obi-Wan felt the Force surround them as Yaddle gathered it around her. The doors and the water stopped moving. It began to collect around the wheels of the grenade mortars and the legs of the droids.