They all turned to the holographic screen. The Queen’s image was still impassive.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “It is a berry good trick, as my friend Boss Nass says. And it might remove the Empire from Naboo for some time. If it works.”
“Will you commit your forces?” Ferus asked. “We can draw up the battle plans here and coordinate when we reach Theed.”
“Faster issa to goes underwater,” Boss Nass said. “Wesa can bring the army thatta way.”
“We’ll be ready,” Queen Apailana said.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ferus and the others waited aboard a Gungan military launching ship beneath the lake in Theed. Since the Trade Federation battle, the Gungans had designed troop transports, long and narrow, that could navigate the water caverns that networked below the surface of Naboo.
The transports lined up underneath the lake, their mineral skins tinted blue-green for camouflage. They waited for the signal from Captain Typho. Ferus exchanged a glance with Trever. He no longer bothered to order Trever to stay behind. It was a waste of breath.
Solace, Ferus, and Oryon would leave first. They were to head immediately to Imperial headquarters and break in. Ferus would split off and go for Malorum. Solace and Oryon would head off any attempt of Imperial officers to escape. Usually the higher up the officer, the more you could count on their having a separate escape route from the rest of the battalion.
Clive had begged off being included. “I’m a solo act,” he told them. “Wars make me nervous.”
Solace had snorted her disapproval.
The signal came. The Gungan ships rose slowly and then burst through the surface. Ramps slid out and connected with the land. Ferus, Solace, and Oryon raced off the ship.
The Naboo security force was already mobilizing in the streets, marching toward headquarters. Ferus could see several panicked stormtroopers racing to return to the building. Already ranks were forming lines on the building’s wide steps. The first fire rang out from the front lines.
He would join the fight, but first he had to find Malorum.
They raced around the corner of Imperial headquarters and released liquid cables. It brought them up to the first bank of windows. Ferus had already networked with the Naboo and knew where the officers were located.
Solace paused. The sounds of battle had escalated. “May the Force be with you,” she said.
Ferus nodded and took off through a window. He ran down the halls, which rang with confusion as officers scrambled to load data onto computers, no doubt following some sort of Empire protocol for a surprise attack. Others ran toward the back of the building where Ferus knew it connected with the Theed hangar.
That was where Malorum would be headed. He wouldn’t stand arid fight. He would cut and run.
Ferus’s increased his speed, mowing down stormtroopers that got in his way: The thud of his boots sounded out his purpose. He held his lightsaber aloft.
He burst through the grand double doors of the hangars. Amid the gleaming ships and stacks of cartons he saw the flicker of a red cape. Malorum had seen him and was running away. He chased him down a long hallway that connected to another grand building.
The hallway opened up into a gigantic circular area. Platforms and bridges were stacked hundreds of meters high. The space was filled with a low-level hum. He was in the Theed power generator.
The knowledge thudded through his brain. This was where the great Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, had fallen. Every Padawan had heard the story.
It was here, Ferus thought. This is the place Obi-Wan fought Darth Maul to the death.
But now it was different. He wasn’t fighting a Sith. He was fighting an Imperial Inquisitor - skilled, with powerful weapons, yes. But not a Sith.
Then Malorum turned, baring his teeth in a smile. And showed Ferus his lightsaber.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ferus was startled. He and Obi-Wan had both felt that Malorum was a Force-sensitive. But that was a long way from being proficient with a lightsaber.
Where had he received lightsaber training? Malorum held the lightsaber easily in a classic ready stance, the red shaft projecting downward.
Ferus circled him slowly, holding his dark gaze. So. A former Jedi and a Sith pretender were about to fight. Interesting.
Malorum charged. The two lightsabers clashed. Ferus felt a surprising amount of power from Malorum. Maybe this wouldn’t be so easy.
But it would be done.
He whirled around in a one-hundred-eighty degree turn, kicking out with his foot at the same moment. He missed Malorum’s chin by a whisker.
Ferus liked to fight with his boots as well as his lightsaber. He had learned to fight without a lightsaber when he’d been a regular citizen of Bellassa. Sometimes that meant fighting dirty. Looking for openings, using whatever materials came to hand. He could still street-fight if he had to.