Dark Apprentice

by Kevin J. Anderson

  Now Qwi stared at Mon Mothma and the other ministers. She straightened

  her back, letting her thin arms hang at her sides. She spoke with a flutey

  voice that sounded like birdsong.

  "Mon Mothma and esteemed representatives of the New Republic government,"

  Qwi said, "when I first came to you seeking sanctuary and bringing the Sun

  Crusher, you invited me to speak to you whenever I felt the need. Now I must

  tell you of my grave concerns. I will try to be brief, because you must come

  to a decision."

  Beside Wedge, the enormous form of Chewbacca rumbled a low growl of

  displeasure; but Wedge was impressed at how quiet and restrained the Wookiee

  had managed to hold himself. Chewbacca was not known for his ability to sit

  still.

  Threepio spoke in a soft voice. "Calm down, Chewbacca. You'll have a

  chance to speak soon enough. Are you quite certain you don't want me to edit

  your words into m appropriate language? I am a protocol droid, you know, and

  I

  am familiar with the requirements."

  Chewie blatted a quiet but definite negative. Wedge shushed them both so

  he could hear Qwi as she spoke. Her musical voice didn't falter, and Wedge

  felt a warm pride spreading in his chest.

  "The Sun Crusher is the most formidable weapon ever devised," Qwi said.

  "I know this better than anyone, because I designed it. It is an order of

  magnitude more dangerous than even the Death Star. It is no longer in the

  clutches of Imperial powers--but I'm concerned about what the New Republic

  intends. I have refused to divulge its workings for a reason, but you have

  kept it locked in your research bays for weeks, tinkering with it, studying

  it, trying to unlock its secrets. It will do you no good."

  She paused to take a long breath, and Wedge worried that she might lose

  her nerve. But Qwi straightened her slender form and spoke again. "I urge

  you

  to destroy the Sun Crusher. A weapon of such power should not be trusted in

  the hands of any government."

  Mon Mothma looked weak and weary as she gazed down at Qwi. Below and to

  her left, old General Jan Dodonna spoke up. "Dr. Xux, according to reports

  from our engineers, this weapon cannot be destroyed. The quantum armor makes

  it impossible for us even to dismantle it."

  "Then you must find some other way to dispose of the Sun Crusher," Qwi

  said.

  Sounding flustered, Senator Garm Bel-Iblis, Mon Mothma's old nemesis,

  rose to his feet. "We cannot allow a weapon of such power to slip out of our

  grasp," he said. "With the Sun Crusher, we have a tactical advantage

  available

  to none of our Imperial enemies."

  "Enough," Mon Mothma said in a quavering voice. Her cheeks were flushed,

  which served to highlight the pallor of her skin. "We have debated this many

  times," she said, "and my opinion stands unchanged. A weapon of such hideous

  destructive power is a brutal and inhuman device. The Emperor might have

  been

  monster enough to consider using it, but under no circumstances will the New

  Republic be party to such barbarism. We have no need for such a weapon, and

  its presence only serves to divide us. I shall veto any attempts to study

  the

  Sun Crusher further, and I will fight to my last breath any of you who

  suggest

  using it against any foe, Imperial or otherwise."

  She looked at her military commanders, and Wedge felt intimidated by the

  anger and sheer conviction in her voice. The vacant seat of Admiral Ackbar,

  who was normally a voice of sanity and moderation, remained empty and hollow

  like a deep wound. Wedge silently urged Qwi to speak up again, to tell her

  idea.

  As if on cue, she said in her melodious voice, "Excuse me, but might I

  make a suggestion? Since the Sun Crusher cannot be destroyed by any normal

  means, we should use the automatic pilot to send it into the heart of a sun,

  or at least to the core of a gas-giant planet, where it will be impossible

  to

  recover."

  General Crix Madine spoke up. "A gas-giant planet would be sufficient.

  The pressures at the core are far beyond what even our most sophisticated

  vessels can withstand. The Sun Crusher would be out of reach for all time."

  Bel-Iblis looked around, his dark eyes flashing. As if sensing defeat and

  realizing that a gas planet was marginally more acceptable than the blinding

  fury of a star, he said, "All right, dump it into a gas giant then, for

  whatever good it will do."

  Mon Mothma raised her hand as if to issue an official directive, but Bel-

  Iblis interrupted. "On a related topic, I hope you have not forgotten that

  the

  Maw Installation itself remains a threat. The Imperial admiral may have

  taken

  her Star Destroyers, but the scientists are still there inside the black

  hole

  cluster. According to General Solo's report, they have a fully functional

  Death Star prototype." He sent a challenging look toward Mon Mothma.

  Chewbacca lurched to his feet and bellowed. His roar echoed through the

  chamber, stopping all conversation. Threepio waved his golden metallic arms.

  "Not yet, Chewbacca, not yet! It's not our turn."

  But Mon Mothma looked at the agitated Wookiee and acknowledged him. "You

  have something to say to us, Chewbacca? Please."

  Chewbacca spoke a long rumbling sentence in his Wookiee language. As he

  spoke, Threepio stood beside him and translated quickly in his prissy

  synthetic voice.

  "Chewbacca wishes to remind this auspicious gathering that not only is

  Maw Installation the home of numerous highly intelligent Imperial

  scientists,

  but it is also a prison for some number of Wookiee captives who have been

  held

  for nearly a decade. Chewbacca respectfully wishes to suggest--was

  Threepio raised a metal hand in front of the Wookiee's mouth. "Slow down,

  Chewbacca! I'm doing the best I can." He faced forward again. "Excuse me.

  Chewbacca respectfully wishes to request that the New Republic Council

  consider an expedition to Maw Installation, both as a rescue party and as an

  occupation force for the installation."

  Chewbacca roared but Threepio did not seem disturbed. "I know that's not

  what you said, Chewbacca, but it's what you meant--so be quiet and let me

  finish.

  "Ahem, with such an occupation force the New Republic can ensure the

  security and whereabouts of whatever unpleasant weapons have been developed

  at

  Maw Installation. Chewbacca thanks you for your time and consideration, and

  he

  wishes you to have a pleasant day."

  Chewbacca cuffed him, and Threepio sat down in a stiff-legged tumble of

  golden arms and legs. "Oh, do be quiet," the droid said. "Every change I

  made

  was an improvement."

  Mon Mothma looked to the gathered Council members. All of them seemed

  pleased with the suggestion to send a force to Maw Installation. Qwi Xux

  backed toward Wedge, nervous and relieved; he squeezed her shoulder in

  congratulation. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

  "I believe we're al
l agreed on this matter," Mon Mothma said, and forced

  a weak smile, "for once. We shall set up a rescue and occupation force to go

  to Maw Installation. We must move decisively, as soon as possible, but not

  so

  quickly that we make mistakes."

  As Mon Mothma looked around, she seemed to want nothing more than to

  leave the chamber and return to her quarters where she could rest. Wedge

  frowned in concern.

  "If there is no other business," Mon Mothma said, "this meeting is

  adjourned."

  The Imperial Star Destroyer Gorgon entered planetary orbit like a wide-

  bladed knife ready to strike. Flanking the flagship on either side rode the

  fully operational cruisers Basilisk and Manticore.

  Commander Kratas relayed a message from the navigation console. "We have

  achieved orbit around Dantooine."

  Daala clasped her gloved hands behind her back and turned to survey the

  bridge crew. "Sensor sweep," she said, and waited as the lieutenant

  calibrated

  his instruments to scan the visible face of the planet.

  "A very primitive world, Admiral. No detectible industry. A few nomadic

  settlements..." He paused. "Wait. At the terminator I detect a cluster of

  people."

  Daala studied the swirling olive, blue, and brown face of the planet,

  observing the edge of daylight creeping across the surface.

  "I've found what appear to be the ruins of a larger base that seems

  mostly abandoned now. The inhabited area is not very well developed--mostly

  small prefabricated dwellings." The lieutenant scratched his short brown

  hair

  and bent closer to his glowing screen.

  "I see excavations where new superstructures are being set up," he said,

  looking up at Daala. "This configuration is consistent with a large

  transmitting dish. Perhaps even a shield generator."

  Daala's brow furrowed as she pondered how her former mentor Grand Moff

  Tarkin would have handled this situation.

  Commander Kratas seemed to sense her hesitation and offered, "It doesn't

  appear that they could muster much resistance," he said.

  Daala pursed her lips. "Even if they did resist, we would still defeat

  them. That's not the point." She ran a slender finger along her chin, then

  brushed her coppery hair back behind her shoulders. "To start with, we will

  target the abandoned base from orbit and level it with our turbolasers. It

  will be a spectacular display."

  Daala's Star Destroyers controlled enough power to turn entire planets to

  slag, but she didn't want to do that here. "Dantooine is too remote for an

  effective demonstration," she said, "but we can make use of it nonetheless.

  Commander Kratas, I want you to lead a strike force. Take two AT-AT'S from

  the

  Gorgon and a pair from each of the other two ships. Six Armored Transports

  should be enough."

  "Me, Admiral? But surely General Odosk or one of the other Imperial Army

  commanders--was

  "Do you have a problem with my orders, Commander?"

  "No, Admiral. Not at all."

  "I want you to show your versatility. Didn't they put you through those

  exercises on Carida?"

  "Yes, Admiral," Kratas said, "I simply thought it would be more efficient

  just to blast them from orbit."

  Daala fixed him with her emerald stare. "Consider it an exercise,

  Commander. We've been cooped up guarding Maw Installation for too long, and

  we

  won't have another opportunity to catch the New Republic so unprepared."

  Now that he was a hopeful colonist, Warton got up in time to watch

  Dantooine's peaceful pastel sunrise. He stretched and stepped outside his

  prefab self-erecting home unit, enjoying every moment of dawn. He felt safe

  and at peace for the first time in his life.

  His bones ached, but it was a pleasant soreness from gratifying work. He

  would never recover completely from his hard life on the tortured world of

  Eol

  Sha, but just spending a day without earthquakes or lava flows or scalding

  geysers made his life happy.

  The other colony units, made of brightly colored polymers set with

  transparisteel windows, looked across the whispering savannas of Dantooine.

  All the people rescued from Eol Sha agreed that this place seemed like

  paradise with tall, waving lavender grasses and broad-boled, jagged-branched

  blba trees.

  The southeastern horizon grew bright where Dantooine's amber sun would

  rise. Overhead in the purplish skies he saw three brilliant stars moving

  against the other points of light.

  A cluster of six meteors streaked through the sky toward the horizon,

  their bright trails like slashes of claws. Then the supersonic screeching

  noise of their descent shattered the early-morning stillness. He saw the

  meteors impact; the savanna glowed with spreading flames not far from the

  colony.

  Other colonists from Eol Sha scrambled out of their huts, roused by the

  noise from the sky. Not far to the east, the empty ruins of the old Rebel

  base

  rose like adobe bulwarks out of the grasses. A small team of New Republic

  construction engineers bustled about their encampment.

  "What is it?" his wife Glena said as she stepped out of the dwelling to

  stand beside Warton. He shook his head, unable to answer.

  Then deadly lightning began to rain down from above.

  The singing of mace flies fell into silence. Blinding bolts of green

  laser fire shot down, striking the abandoned base and ripping up huge clouds

  of fragmented buildings and shards of synthetic rock.

  Turbolaser beams from orbit flashed again, cutting across their earlier

  path. In seconds they had obliterated the entire abandoned base, leaving

  only

  a smoldering rubble-strewn scar.

  The colonists ran out of their dwellings. Some screamed; others just

  stared in stupefied terror. Luke Skywalker had promised he would find a

  place

  of safety for the people of Eol Sha--but it seemed the Jedi had been

  mistaken.

  As the ruins of the base continued to crackle and steam, and fires spread

  across the dry savannas, Warton heard a pulsating, low-pitched sound the

  humming of massive engines, the clanking of metal, thunderous footfalls.

  He squinted into the brightening morning, still dazzled from the green

  laser bolts, until he could discern the monstrous silhouettes of gigantic

  walking machines. Four-legged and camellike, the Imperial walkers--All

  Terrain

  Armored Transports--strode from their smoldering landing sites and marched

  in

  hulking formation across the savanna.

  The cockpit "heads" of the attacking AT-AT'S bent lower to aim banks of

  laser cannons. Precision bolts of green and red fire shot down. The ancient

  swollen blba trees erupted into flames that spread out in concentric circles

  across the dry grasses. Greasy smoke curled up, carrying the stench of

  burning

  wet vegetation and roasted small animals.

  Warton shouted, "Run everyone! Get away from the dwellings. They will

  target them first."

  The refugees from Eol Sha waded across the tall grasses as Impe
rial

  walkers plodded forward. The AT-AT'S covered more distance with each step

  than

  a human could run in half a minute. The walkers took aim at the fleeing

  colonists, striking each individual with enough firepower to destroy a small

  fighter ship.

  Glena yanked her hand away from Warton and shouted at him, "Wait!" She

  turned around to run back toward their small dwelling.

  "No!" he yelled, unable to imagine anything that would cause her to turn

  and run into the attack.

  Before she could say another word, a blinding lance of turbolaser fire

  exploded full in her chest, and Warton watched in utter horror as Glena

  vanished in a blazing, sizzling cloud of red steam.

  The six walkers continued to march ahead, firing at blba trees, at colony

  huts, and at anything that moved. The great machines spread out to encircle

  the entire settlement.

  Over at their encampment the New Republic engineers had managed to set up

  a single-ion cannon. Warton, still standing stricken and motionless, watched

  their tiny forms as they scrambled to rig the dish-shaped generator. He knew

  the people manning the ion cannon were simply construction engineers with no

  battle training.

  "Why?" Warton wanted to know. But so many questions filled his head that

  he could not be more specific than that Why?

  The New Republic engineers powered up the ion cannon and focused a single

  blast toward the lower section of the closest Imperial walker. The bolt

  struck

  and fused the knee joint of the AT-AT'S front foreleg, melting the

  servomotor

  mechanisms. The walker halted and tried to limp backward in a stiff-legged

  retreat.

  The other five AT-AT'S swiveled their heads in unison, targeting the

  single ion cannon with a river of laser blasts in a great gout of green

  fire--

  obliterating communications gear and ion cannon in a single splash of light.

  The walkers advanced again, firing indiscriminately. The prefabricated

  colony huts exploded one by one. Hungry flames raged through the dry grasses

  on the savanna.

  Warton's people screamed as they ran, and stumbled, and died. The roar of

  destruction rang in his ears, and still he could not move. He stood with his

  hands at his sides. His entire body trembled.

  Even the blasted world of Eol Sha had never been as hellish as Dantooine.

  Commander Kratas sat in the AT-AT'S unfamiliar cockpit, directing the