The walker didn’t even quiver. Luke tried again; and again. But it was no use. Either the machine was wedged too tightly against walls and ceiling to move, or Luke simply didn’t have the strength to lift it.
“Well, never mind,” Han said, glancing back down the corridor. “It would have been nice to have it mobile-we could have put it in that big monitor room behind the bridge and picked off anyone who came close. But we can use it here, too. Let’s see if we can get in.”
Holstering his blaster, he climbed up the single remaining leg. “They’re getting closer,” Luke warned him, looking uneasily back down the corridor. “Another couple of minutes and they’ll be in sight.”
“Better get around behind me,” Han said. He was at the walker’s side door now, and with a grunt be pulled it open-
“What?” Luke asked sharply as Han’s sense abruptly changed.
“You don’t want to know,” Han told him grimly. Visibly bracing himself, he ducked down and climbed inside. “Still has power,” he called, his voice echoing slightly. “Let’s see :”
Above Luke, the blaster cannon traversed a few degrees. “Still has maneuverability,” Han added with satisfaction. “Great.”
Luke had made it to the top of the leg now, easing carefully past sharp edges. Whoever the walker had been fighting against had put up a good fight. The back of his mind tingled- “They’re coming,” he hissed to Han, slipping off the leg and landing silently on the deck. Dropping into a crouch, he peered back through the gap between the angled leg and the main part of the walker, hoping the darkness would be adequate to conceal him.
He’d gotten out of sight just in time. The Imperials were moving swiftly toward them down the corridor, spread out in a properly cautious military formation. The two point men paused as they caught sight of the broken walker, probably trying to decide whether to risk a straight advance or to give up the element of surprise by laying down cover fire. Whoever was in charge opted for a compromise; the point men glided forward while the rest of the party dropped prone or hugged the corridor walls.
Han let them get right up to the base of the walker. Then, swiveling the blaster cannon over their heads, he opened up on the main group.
The answering fire came instantly; but it was no contest at all. Han systematically raked the walls and the floor, driving back the handful who’d been fortunate enough to have a nearby doorway to duck into and annihilating those who hadn’t. The two point men reacted instantly, one of them firing upward toward the viewport, the other scrambling up the leg toward the side door.
He reached the top to find Luke waiting for him. His companion down below got three shots off-all deflected-before the lightsaber found him, too.
Abruptly, the blaster cannon stopped firing. Luke glanced down the corridor, reaching out with the Force. “There are still three of them left,” he warned as Han opened the walker’s door and squeezed out.
“Leave ‘em,” Han said, climbing carefully down the back of the damaged leg and consulting his chrono. “We need to get back to Lando and Chewie.” He threw Luke a mirthless grin. “Besides, the actuator crystals just burned up. Let’s get going before they figure that out.”
The first wave of TIE fighters had been destroyed, as had all but one of the drop ships. The Rebel Escort Frigate and its X-wings were now engaged with Squadrons One and Three, and appeared to be holding their own quite well.
And Captain Brandei was no longer smiling.
“Squadron Four launching now,” Starfighter Control announced. “Squadrons Five and Six are awaiting your orders.”
“Order them to stand by,” Brandei instructed. Not that he had much choice in the matter. Five and Six were recon and bomber squadrons-useful enough in their particular areas of expertise, but not in straight battle against Rebel X-wings. “Anything further on the Peremptory?”
“No, sir. The last report from the Chimaera-before our shields went up-had their ETA as approximately 1519.”
Only about seven minutes away. But battles had been lost in less time than that; and from the look of things, this could very well become one of them.
Which left Brandei only one real option. Much as he disliked the idea of moving into range of that Dreadnaught’s turbolasers, he was going to have to take the aJudicator into combat. “All ahead,” he ordered the helm. “Shields at full strength; turbolaser batteries stand ready. And inform the leader of the boarding party that I want that Dreadnaught in Imperial hands now.”
“Yes, sir.” There was a dull roar through the deck as the sublight drive came up to power And, without warning, the roar was joined by the hooting of the ship’s alarms. “Bandits coming out of lightspeed astern,” the sensor officer snapped. “Eighteen craft-freighter class and smaller. They’re attacking.”