Remnant: Force Heretic I (15 page)

“You’re a long way from home, Captain Skywalker.”

“Just thought we’d drop in to see how you guys were doing,” she said sardonically. “And from the looks of things, I’m guessing not so good.”

“Your timing could be better.” The comm operator sounded weary. “I don’t suppose you’ve brought a fleet with you.”

“I’m afraid not,
Chimaera
, but you could do worse than concentrating your fire on that cruiser lurking at the back. It’s holding a yammosk. Take it out, and you might find your luck changing.”

“A yammosk?… How could you possibly know that?”

“Ask questions later, when you know I’m right.”

“Understood, Captain Skywalker. Passing on the information now.”

“Before you do that, I need to speak to Grand Admiral Pellaeon.”

“Patching you through to the bridge now, Captain Skywalker.”

The line went dead and, barely seconds later, a squadron of TIE fighters left the launching bays of
Chimaera
, angling away from the gas giant below to target the yammosk-bearing cruiser. Although the Yuuzhan Vong had eased off their attack for the moment, it was obvious that prior to
Jade Shadow
’s arrival the fighting had been intense. Both Star Destroyers were scarred from weapons fire; black gashes had been torn through
Chimaera
’s underside, exposing a large number of decks to naked space. Saba could feel its crew fighting to stay alive, along with the fading traces of those who had failed. She couldn’t tell exactly how many were injured or dying, only that there were many.

“If you’ve come to say
I told you so
, Skywalker, then I’m not interested,” the Grand Admiral announced curtly.

“This isn’t the time for—”

“I’m not known for gloating, Gilad,” Luke said, leaning past Mara to speak into the comm. “No more than you are for giving up.”

“
Both
Skywalkers? To what do we owe this honor?”

“Call it destiny, or good luck. Either way, your forces are taking a pounding. Can you tell us what went wrong? Considering the size of your home fleet, I would have thought you’d be able to hold your own.”

“They took us by surprise,” the Grand Admiral said irritably. “We
were
holding our own to begin with. Then the Vong pulled back. We thought we had them on the run, but they were just getting out of the way.”

Mara nodded in understanding. “Grutchins?”

“Thousands of them,” the admiral said. “Once they’d punched a hole in our defenses, the Yuuzhan Vong came back into the fray. We’ve been on the back foot ever since.”

Saba hissed at the mention of the hideous, insectoid creatures. Swarms of grutchins had laid waste to too many defenses during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong for her to doubt that the same had happened here.

“Admiral,” Master Skywalker said, “the offer to join forces is still open.”

“Your sister was up here a while back, trying to sell us on that idea. I thought the Moffs made it quite clear then that your help wasn’t required.”

“And where are the Moffs now, Gilad?”

Saba noticed Pellaeon’s hesitation. He may have been a commander with pride, but he was also smart enough to acknowledge when he needed help, no matter how much it hurt to do so.

“Okay, Skywalker,” the Grand Admiral said after a moment. “We’ll discuss this later, if there is a later. I understand you’ve given us some telemetry that might shift the balance here. If that works, we’ll regroup with the rest of the fleet at Yaga Minor. Civilian refugees are heading for Muunilinst, but we suspect the Vong will
follow our forces, to keep us off balance. If you beat us there, look for Captain Arien Yage of the frigate
Widowmaker.
She used to serve with me on the
Chimaera
; if she survived Bastion, she’ll listen to you.”

“Understood.” Mara and Luke exchanged glances. “Good luck.”

The Grand Admiral closed the line. For a moment, no one on
Jade Shadow
spoke. It was Jacen who finally stated the obvious.

“It had to happen,” he said. “We knew it was inevitable, even if they didn’t want to admit it.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier to watch.” Luke’s voice was slightly reproving. His eyes were haunted by the deaths everyone was feeling.

“I wish there was something we could do,” Tekli muttered.

“Unless it’s likely to create a fleet out of thin air, you’re better off not wishing,” Mara said, glancing back at her briefly. “They had their chance to join with us, and they didn’t take it. I’ll bet the Yuuzhan Vong left them alone, knowing the Imperials would never join in—not until provoked, anyway. When their spies said they’d had just enough time to get over Ithor, to relax the defenses, the Vong hit them with everything they could spare. It’s what I would have done in their shoes. Flatten the Empire with whatever resources they can get, this far out, and get rid of a niggling irritant. Then put those resources back into the real battle, elsewhere. Do it quickly enough and those forces won’t be missed.”

“If the Empire survives, it may prove to be more than just an irritant,” Luke said. He backed away to give his wife clear access to the controls. “What’s the name of that other Star Destroyer? Do you recognize it?”

“It’s pretty banged up, but I think it’s the
Superior.
”

“The Yuuzhan Vong aren’t going to let them wander around here forever.”

“Your guess at how much longer they can last is as good as mine, Luke. Pellaeon can probably handle this lot, if they take out the yammosk, but anything tougher will turn him into metal rain for that moon over there.”

“And us with him, if we stick around.” Master Skywalker was clearly unhappy about the decision he was being forced to make. On the one hand, Saba guessed, he wanted to stay and add the
Jade Shadow
to the Imperial forces withdrawing from Bastion. On the other, he had the mission itself to think of: the hunt for Zonama Sekot. Being destroyed wouldn’t solve anything.

Her claws itched at the thought of running from battle, at leaving another planet to the nonexistent mercy of the Yuuzhan Vong. But harsh though it sounded, it seemed that leaving Bastion in favor of the mission
did
make the most sense.

“We’ll meet them at Yaga Minor,” Master Luke said, sighing heavily.

“The old stomping ground.”

“Can you get us safely out of the giant’s gravity well?”

Mara responded unhesitatingly. “Of course. I can outfly the scarheads with my eyes closed.”

“Then do it,” her husband said.

“Better strap in. This isn’t going to be the gentle scenic stroll we were promised.”

Saba left them to handle
Jade Shadow
and strapped herself into a seat in the passenger bay. Danni Quee, who had sat pale-faced and silent through the entire encounter, remained in position to Saba’s right, next to Jacen Solo and Tekli. This was a familiar configuration. They had spent much of their voyage in readiness for mishap, despite Mara’s words. Every time they had come
out of hyperspace—and even during longer jumps, for the Yuuzhan Vong interdictor ships were an ever-present concern—they had been safely strapped in, just in case.

Now that “in case” had happened, Saba found the familiarity soothing. The hunt had begun. All that remained was to see if the prey perished, or if the hunter went hungry. The matter of who out of the Yuuzhan Vong and the Empire was the hunter, and who was the prey, she hadn’t decided yet. But even from what little she had experienced of Grand Admiral Pellaeon, she already knew that he was not the sort to be readily preyed upon. He would have surprised many would-be hunters by turning on them at the last moment and showing unsuspected teeth. Perhaps this time would be another.

The niggling thought that even the sharpest teeth could be blunted with time followed her as
Jade Shadow
raced through hyperspace to the rendezvous point.

Jacen took the navigator’s seat in
Jade Shadow
’s cockpit when they emerged from hyperspace a discreet distance from Yaga Minor. The planet was known for shipyards that serviced the Imperial Remnant, and via the screens he looked on, impressed, at the vast orbital frameworks that dwarfed Yaga Minor’s single, small moon. Everything from microwelders to self-contained ore smelters was being used to create ships for the ever-growing fleet. Two half-completed Star Destroyers hung in the spindly embrace of one of the shipyards; the others were in the process of building various freighters, frigates, tugs, and TIE fighters. An engine-testing range near one of the yards flashed every color of the rainbow—and beyond—as vessels ran through their paces before being released into service.

When
Jade Shadow
arrived, the remains of the fleet
stationed around the Imperial capital and its neighbor, Muunilinst, were slowly coming into orbit around Yaga Minor—disheartened by the retreat but determined to fight back. The first of the survivors docked their ships alongside the Golan III Defense Platforms orbiting the planet, while those needing repairs headed for the yards. It wasn’t long, though, before the available berths were full. Yaga Minor wasn’t designed to accommodate the entire fleet at once, not even one reduced by the surprise attack on Bastion.

Jade Shadow
’s long-range sensors detected three Star Destroyers arriving from Bastion, neither of them
Chimaera
or
Superior.
Jacen waited anxiously for any sign of Gilad Pellaeon. If the Grand Admiral didn’t survive the battle of Bastion, Jacen didn’t fancy their chances of bringing around the Imperials. Pellaeon had so often been the voice of reason in the proud isolationist state. If anyone was going to convince the Moffs to join the Galactic Alliance, it was going to have to be him.

“How long do we wait for him to appear?” Danni asked Jacen quietly from behind, not wanting to startle him. She still looked nervous. Their escape from Bastion had been much narrower than Mara had let on, he knew, and Danni was Force-sensitive enough to have guessed it. Indeed, their trip thus far, from Mon Calamari across Yuuzhan Vong-occupied territory, had been enough to put anyone on edge. Once he would have felt safe upon reaching the Imperial Remnant, but the attack on Bastion had dispelled that comfort.

“To be honest,” he said, “I don’t know. What I do know, though, is that Gilad Pellaeon is a survivor. If he can get out of there, he will.”

Proximity alarms bleeped and Jacen turned his attention to his aunt’s voice as she explained who they were to
a squadron of TIE fighters that had noticed
Jade Shadow
lurking in the planet’s outer orbits. But there was none of the usual Imperial hostility in the squadron leader’s voice, as he was expecting. If anything, the pilot seemed relieved that
Jade Shadow
wasn’t an advance vessel from the Yuuzhan Vong, scoping out Yaga Minor for the next wave.

My enemy’s enemy is my friend
, Jacen reminded himself. If Gilad Pellaeon didn’t make it, then at least they would have that going in their favor.

His relief was short-lived, however, when another call came over the subspace band.

“Unauthorized vehicle identifying itself as
Jade Shadow
,” said the deep, guttural voice through the comm unit. In his voice Jacen detected nothing but officiousness. “Please respond.”

“This is
Jade Shadow
,” Mara replied. “What is it now?”

“You are required to state your intentions and prepare to be boarded.”

“What? We’re on a peaceful mission.”

“That remains to be seen,” the voice continued. “Do as you’re told immediately or your engines will be disabled.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Mara snarled. “Who am I talking to? Which idiot sent you?”

“I am Commander Keten and I represent Moff Flennic of Yaga Minor. You are violating Imperial space and will be fired upon if you do not obey its regulations.”

Now
this
was more what Jacen had come to expect of the Imperials. He moved back through to the cockpit to find Luke and Mara conferring over how to respond to the commander’s demands. Through the massive transparisteel canopy, Jacen saw an armed Imperial transport
moving to match orbits, accompanied by a dozen TIE fighters.

“What do you want to do?” Luke was saying.

Mara looked uncertain. “I don’t know. I need time to think.”

“Time we don’t have, my love,” Luke said.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Jacen put in. “Why not just let them board? It’s not as though we have anything to hide.”

Luke nodded. “He’s right, Mara. And it will be a gesture of goodwill, besides.”

Jacen felt warmed by his uncle’s support. Mara, however, was not as convinced. She shook her head, rejecting the idea.

“I know Flennic’s type,” she said. “He’ll have a chip on his shoulder bigger than a Super Star Destroyer. Let him get ahold of us and we’ll end up in some shipyard sweatshop for the rest of our lives.”

“Which might not be that long if the Yuuzhan Vong keep coming this way,” Luke returned wryly.

“Please respond immediately,” the commander said shortly. “Or we will be forced to take action.”

A smile touched Mara’s lips as an idea sprang to mind. “With the Jedi we have on board, all we have to do is get Keten here and we can make the problem go away.”

Into the comm unit, she said: “We see your point, Commander. Our passenger space is limited, but we’d be pleased to welcome you aboard. When you see for your own eyes that—”

Keten cut her off with a chuckle. “You don’t honestly think that I’d be the one coming aboard, do you? I’d sooner stick my head in a drive tube than take my chances with your Jedi mind tricks. No, the boarding party will consist solely of Mark Five security droids.”

Mara cursed under her breath. “Well, there goes that idea.”

“You can hardly blame him for being suspicious,” Jacen said. “You were intending to use those Jedi mind tricks, after all.”

His uncle sighed. “Well, we can’t very well turn him down now,” he said. “Not after agreeing to be boarded.”

The communicator bleeped. Another transport was edging closer.

“This is Captain Yage of
Widowmaker
,” a woman’s voice said over the comm. “Commander Keten, you may stand down. I shall be boarding this vessel myself, seeing as you will not.”