[Legacy Of The Force] - 07(27)
The holocam cable was not the only one that ran from him. Another ran from the earbud he wore to the wall, to which it was attached by a lump of greenish glue. It ran down the shaft and off to the station Katarn and Seha shared.
Comlink transmissions might be detected, especially so close to the Senate Building, where security was so high. Exchanges of images or feelings through the Force might be detected by Jacen Solo. That left an antiquated but rernarkably reliable standby, the intercom.
Mithric’s voice came across it now. “Kolir has got her antenna up and out, and she’s receiving HoloNet news.”
Valin snorted. “What’s new?”
“Elements of the Third Fleet attacked Commenor. In addition to hammering at military forces, they dropped asteroids onto the planet proper. They hit population centers like city-buster bombs.”
Valin whistled. “Had to be Colonel Solo’s orders, not Admiral Niathal’s.”
“That’s the weird thing. Apparently it was neither. The task force commander did it on his own initiative. He’s been brought to Coruscant to face charges.”
The next voice Valin heard was Kolir’s. “The Commenori are going to retaliate. I mean, beyond just a normal military response. Aren’t they?”
“Probably.” That was Master Katarn. “Even if it wasn’t because of orders from the Chiefs of State, the GA just violated conventions of war. How is Admiral Niathal going to persuade them that it was a rogue commander, that the Commenori should fight fair? I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Valin’s holocam view, a wrenching 360-degree panorama, showed distant lights inbounda short stream of them at ground level. “Heads up, Jedi. Looks like a convoy approaching my position.”
Mithric snorted. “Relax. It won’t be Colonel Solo. He only shows up when there are holocams on hand to record the event, the better for Alliance morale.”
Valin frowned. “A logical fallacy. The only occasions we know about are his public entrances. We can’t conclude that he doesn’t make private ones.”
Mithric’s voice turned baiting. “Do all the Horns delight in their logical faculties?”
Master Katarn’s response was mild. “Quiet, please.” But it served to shut everyone up.
The convoy, three airspeeders, passed Valin’s positionThe first one was a black Galactic Alliance Guard vehicle, a small, speedy four-passenger model. The alert lights atop the vehicle were not active. The second was a civilian speeder: long, black, enclosed, and-from the way it bobbed on its repulsors as they crossed uneven patches of plaza duracrete-very heavy, probably armored. The third was a black GAG group carrier. Its slablike sides could lift away to reveal up to a full squadron of armed and armored troopers.
And the one individual whose identity Valin could make out through the second speeder’s side viewpoint set off alarm bells in his mind. “Uh, this could be him. It’s all GAG and a VIP.”
Katarn’s voice remained outwardly calm. “Did you see Solo?”
“No, but there’s other bad news. The second vehicle is carrying a YVH combat droid.”
The Yuuzhan Vong Hunter droids, designed at the height of the Yuuzhan Vong War, were formidable. In a one-on-one match between a Jedi Knight and a YVH droid, the odds were about even. If the Jedi was inexperienced, if the battle dragged on long enough for her to tire, she was likely to be the loser … a dead loser.
“Oh, I hate those.” There was a wealth of dismay and experience in Kolir’s tone.
“Ready yourself.” Katarn continued to sound calm, almost bored. “They’re pulling to a stop near my position.”
Valin sat up and out of his sling seat, hanging on to the durasteel rungs, and reached into his backpack for the grenade launcher there. He hooked his elbow through the wall rung so he could more easily use both hands to open out the weapon’s folding stock. It clicked reassuringly into place. He did all this by touch, watching through his holocam feed as the three vehicles slowed to a simultaneous stop.
First the side slabs of the troop carrier lifted. Six GAG troopers with blaster rifles stepped out from the benches on each side. Six flanked the center vehicle; the other six moved toward the Senate Building and then stopped, arrayed in two lines of three, with three meters of space between the lines.
Valin climbed until his head was just beneath the hatch. This was looking more and more like a go.
The doors of the second vehicle rose, and the first being to emerge was the YVH. The angular droid moved out from the front seat, opened the rear passenger’s-side door, and extracted a shipping crate from the backseat. At a meter tall and wide, a meter and a half long, black like most GAG gear, the crate was large enough to be unwieldy. The droid pulled it partway out, then lifted it, demonstrating remarkable care and delicacy.