[Legacy Of The Force] - 04(116)
The dome, ancient transparisteel, did not shatter. It caved In, crumpling like a thin-walled metal can. The great mass of the ship hurtled to crash into the floor of the main hall, and a ripple like a tidal wave coursed through the floor.
Luke leapt toward the exit. Mara was ahead of him. He saw the ripple effect from the impact bounce bodies up off the flooring, and the cargo ship, its speed hardly checked, continued plowing into the floor, punching a ragged hole through the axis of the space station. Beyond it, he thought he saw the relit tendrils of Lumiya’s whip lashing-against what? An enemy? A wall, to provide her with an escape path? Suddenly the whip was obscured by an expanding cloud of debris kicked up by the YV 666’s impact.
The station’s atmosphere, with two huge holes to choose from, began fleeing into space, tugging at Luke as it went.
Of those fleeing toward the exit, Leia was in the rear, Han just ahead of her. The ripple shock from the floor impact behind them took Han off his feet; nimble and determined, he was up again before Leia even reached him.
Up, but moving slowly. Increasingly, to Leia’s eyes, Han’s feet seemed not to want to find purchase as he ran.
Nor did hers. It wasn’t from the atmosphere escaping. The station’s artificial gravity had to have experienced a complete failure. As her ears popped and pain grew in her head and eyes, Leia knew that there was no way they could reach the exit
No way they both could reach it
She reached out through the Force and shoved Han’s back, propelling him forward through the door Luke and Mara had just reached.
Leia took three more steps. But now, though her legs kept thrashing, she could make no headway at all. Her feet lifted clear of the floor. She had no forward momentum, no way to reach safety.
She closed her eyes, determined to be peaceful in her last moments.
Something wrapped around her ankle.
She looked down. Attached to her leg was a line with a tiny hook and grapnel-Luke’s piece of stupid, preposterous, farmboy equipment, which he’d carried off and on since before she’d met him. He was at the far end of the line, braced against the door, hauling with all his strength, and as Leia watched Han joined him.
In moments they had dragged her through the door and into the shuttle access bay where they’d arrived minutes before. Han sealed the door. Dimly, in the reduced atmospheric pressure, she could hear a warning siren wailing. Leia lay on the floor, panting. “Thanks,” she said.
“What’s family for?” Luke asked. “Hey, can Mara and I get a lift around to the other side of this station? Our StealthX’s are over there.”
GILATTER SYSTEM
In the shuttle he’d seized, Jacen hurtled toward the Anakin Solo, broadcasting his identity as he went, demanding updates on the battle.
He could see how it was progressing. The Confederation ships had been ready for the Alliance task force. But they hadn’t been ready for the Alliance vessels to muscle their way through the mine grid, throwing off time estimates and ruining carefully planned flanking maneuvers. What had resulted was a slugging match, and to his eyes, things were even.
He needed more than his eyes. Even when he got data from the Anakin Solo, it was only as good as the ship’s instruments could provide, as good as harried, overburdened officers could analyze.
He saw a Bothan Assault Cruiser lose power to its portside batteries. Instantaneous response on the part of the Alliance starfighter squadrons could have exploited the situation, which could have resulted in the cruiser’s destruction. It didn’t happen.
He saw starfighter squadrons circling, looking for an enemy, wasting precious minutes until the Galactic Voyager could direct them to a worthwhile target.
He saw an Alliance frigate yield the field because its commander obviously felt the vessel was crippled, unaware that its Corellian corvette counterpart was even more badly damaged.
He cursed and pounded on the arms of his pilot’s seat.
Finally he found an opportunity to board Anakin Solo.
Not long after, Lumiya reached him on his private comlink channel, reporting that she, too, had seized a vehicle - someone’s private transport, little more than an airspeeder fitted with improved engines and an atmospheric containment hull-and needed landing authorization for the Anakin Solo. Grudgingly-for he knew she would talk to him, and he didn’t wish to talk to anyone-he provided her the code she needed.
*
In the final analysis, the Battle of Gilatter VIII was a draw, with both sides retiring the field after suffering moderate losses.
The Confederation trumpeted it as a clear victory for Turr Phennir, its coolheaded new Supreme Commander.
The Alliance noted the fact that, even with superior odds and the advantage of a treacherous ambush, the Confederation had accomplished nothing.