[Book] [Clone Wars] - Duel, E-BOOKI EN, pobierz pdf

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Star Wars : Short Story CollectionDUELBy Timothy ZahnThe battle for this part of the city was over. The Republic's forces hadlost.They had lost very badly.Commander Brolis woke suddenly from his uneasy sleep as the proximityalarm buzzed, his hands fumbling for his DC-15 blaster rifle. Wincing at thepain in his side, he raised his head from his chest and peered out through oneof the gaping holes in the wall of the ruined building he'd taken refuge in.The day had given way to early evening while he dozed. But with theremaining daylight, the glow of the fires blazing elsewhere in the city, andthe weapons flashes from the battles still raging in the distance, there wasmore than enough light to see the squad of battle droids making their wayacross the remains of the town square toward him.With a grunt of pain, Brolis forced himself to his feet. On one level, itseemed complete waste of time, both for the droids to keep attacking and forhim to keep fighting them off. His entire force was dead now, the last twosquads whittled away as they waited here in this ruined building for thereinforcements that had never arrived. It was just a matter of time, he knew,before they got him, too.Except that they didn't want him dead. They wanted him alive; and theywanted him badly enough to keep sending in battle droids, hoping to catch himnapping.Not this time, though. As long as he had a charged blaster and theability to pull trigger, he would continue to litter the ground with scorcheddroid parts.A slight movement across the square behind the battle droids caught hiseye, and Brolis grimaced. Eventually, of course, they would get tired ofwasting droids and decide to end the game once and for all. And when they did,they had the ultimate game-ender waiting in the shadows: a hailfire droid,towering over the rubble on its two massive hoop wheels, its twin missilelauncher pods pointing idly in his direction.This particular droid had been fitted with the lower-strength anti-personnel missiles, he knew, so that it could take out the troopers withoutbringing the whole city down on top of it. Just the same, a single one ofthose missiles through the wall, and it would be all over.But until then, Brolis had work to do. Hoisting the blaster rifle to hisshoulder, he centered his sights on the first battle droid."Your weapon, put away." Brolis spun around, nearly losing his balance inhis haste. The gruff voice had come from behind him, where there was nothingbut rubble from the row of buildings that had been destroyed in the earlierfighting. This had to be some kind of trick.If it was, it was a very good one. The creature standing there was short,with green skin, large eyes, and even larger ears. Leaning on a gnarledwalking stick, he was dressed in the kind of simple robe worn by lower-classbeings all across the Republic.And somehow, he seemed familiar."Commander Brolis, you are?" the creature asked."Yes," Brolis said, frowning. "Who are you?" "The reinforcements yourequested, I am," the creature said dryly. "Tell me: into the Fortress ofAxion, you have penetrated?" Brolis grimaced. This was his reinforcements?"Briefly," he confirmed. "That's why the Separatists out there want me alive.They want to find out how we got in so they can plug that hole in theirdefenses." "Indeed." The creature smiled, his long ears flattening as he didso. "For that same reason do we also wish you alive. That is why I am here."He lifted his stick and pointed to the opening. "Aside, stand you. Deal withthe droids, I will." Without waiting for permission, he hobbled forward.Brolis watched, his brain too frozen with bewilderment and the pain of hisinjuries to try to stop him. The creature paused just outside the gap, lettinghis stick drop to the ground and reaching a three-fingered hand in front ofhim. There was a flicker of motion, and a small cylinder seemed to jump intoit from beneath his robe.And with a snap-hiss, a brilliant green blade blazed into existence.Brolis caught his breath as the memory finally clicked. Kamino-theembarkation of the Republic's clone army-a small creature distantly seenacross the ordered ranks as he led the troops into the transports.Reinforcements, indeed. This was Jedi Master Yoda himself.Perhaps the approaching battle droids recognized him, too, or perhaps itwas the sight of the lightsaber that turned their stealthy approach into asudden full-fledged attack. But if they were hoping to overwhelm him withnumbers, their strategy was a failure. Yoda never moved from the spot where hehad planted himself, his swirling lightsaber blade deflecting away every oneof the storm of blaster bolts coming toward him. Some of the shots ricochetedacross the square to impact the ruins on the far side, but most reflectedstraight back to the droids themselves, shattering them into scrap metal.Half a minute later, it was over. Brolis blinked in amazement, wonderingif it was always that easy for Jedi.And then, across the square, the hailfire droid stirred and began to rollforward."Look out!" Brolis called. "There's a-" The rest of his warning dissolvedinto a fit of painful coughing. But Yoda was already angling across the squareaway from him, lightsaber held ready as he slipped from one pile of debris toanother. The hailfire shifted direction toward the small Jedi Master,swiveling to keep its missile launchers trained on him.And then, midway between two stacks of rubble, Yoda stopped, facing thedroid as if challenging it to a private duel. The droid stopped, too, and fora moment they seemed to be regarding each other. Then, almost delicately, thedroid lowered its pods and sent a single missile sizzling through the air.Brolis tensed, watching helplessly as the rocket streaked across the openspace.Jedi lightsabers, he knew, could defend quite well against the bolts fromblasters or plasma weapons. But trying to block a missile that way wouldmerely cause it to explode. If Yoda didn't do something fast, he was going todie.Then, just as it seemed there was no chance left, Yoda leaped almostcasually to the side. The rocket burned through the space he'd just vacated,exploding harmlessly a dozen meters behind him.From somewhere deep inside the hailfire droid came an annoyed-soundingrumble, the first time Brolis had ever heard one make a noise like that. For asecond or two it seemed to be pondering its next move. Then, in rapidsuccession, three more missiles burst outward, angling into a tight spread asthey flew.Yoda was ready. He leaped back toward his earlier position to let thefirst pass by, dropped flat onto the ground as the second shot over his head,then rolled and bounded upward in time to avoid the third. He landed on theground, lifted his lightsaber again to ready position, and waited. Brolisstrained his ears, listening for a clue as to what the droid would do.And then, over the distance, he heard a series of calibration clicks."Tracking lock!" he shouted toward Yoda.His lungs heaved with a fresh coughing fit, and he could only hope theother had caught his warning. By activating the tracking system, the droid wassetting its missiles to follow their target no matter what. Yoda's only hopenow was to find cover before the missiles got a clean lock onto him.But he remained where he was, waiting. Lowering its launchers again, thedroid fired.Again, Yoda leaped upward as the missile approached. But this timesomething was different. Instead of simply arcing into the air, he twisted hisbody into a dizzying set of spins, twisting back and forth like a gymnastperforming a complicated aerial routine.The effect on the missile was startling. It seemed to tremble as it flew,its nose shaking back and forth as if thoroughly confused. It shot past Yoda,still shaking, and continued on to explode across the square.Brolis grinned tightly. It was the same sort of evasive jinking maneuverhe'd seen starfighter pilots perform in order to shake off a target-lockedmissile. He'd never guessed that any being, even a Jedi Master, couldduplicate such a technique on his own.Neither, apparently, had the droid. Another growl rumbled across thesquare; and then, suddenly, it was rolling forward, filling the air with afresh stream of missiles as it charged.Yoda was already in motion, leaping and spinning, hitting the ground andbounding off again at unexpected angles, making himself an impossible targetfor even a hailfire's weaponry to tag. Brolis found himself wincing as missileafter missile slipped harmlessly past the Jedi Master, shaking the ground andlighting up the square with distant detonations. One of the missiles, whichlooked like it couldn't possibly miss, somehow bent aside from its path justfar enough to collide with another of the salvo, detonating both midwaybetween Yoda and the droid.And as that premature explosion momentarily blocked the droid's view,Yoda abruptly switched from defense to attack. He hurled his lightsaber towardthe machine, the weapon spinning into the obscuring cloud of smoke from themissiles' collision and shooting out the other side.But the intended target was no longer there. Even as the missiles hadc... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Tematy