Suddenly, from the other side of the courtyard, a hideous, shrill wailing began, a sound so high it made Sniquux shiver. It was an ancient recording of the sav-age thota, the principal predator of the tlanda Til on their long-lost homeworld of Varl.
The tlanda Til froze for a second, their protuberant eyes swinging in every direction as they tried to locate the source of the cry. The head Sacredot, Tarrz by name, reared up onto his hind limbs and spun about, calling to the others, but it was no use. The huge crea-tures stampeded mindlessly in all directions, trampling Gamorreans as they headed for the openings in the courtyard wall that Sniquux had booby-trapped. Finally even Tarrz panicked and dashed for the nearest exit.
The Rodian, who had a taste for bloodshed, smacked his prehensile lips as the Priests came apart, monofi la-ment slicing them more cleanly then any b lade. Tarrz got halfway through the opening before his upper tono peeled back, revealing the dark maroon interior, internal organs laid out side by side, blood pooling and spilling as he fell to complete the gash. In a trice, they were all dead, big pools of wine-red blood slowly spreading around the quartered corpses, and only a few cled Gamorreans were left to try to figure out what had happened.
Maybe thisU mean a promotion, Sniquux told him-self. Jabba seems to like me already... all I have to do is stick with him ....
Prepare for the blessing of Exultation! Pohtarza took a step forward and sensed the Priests on either side of him doing the same. The Pilgrims broke ranks, pressing forward, falling over one another, uttering little whimpers of anticipation. Pohtarza began to inflate his neck pouch, scanning the expectant faces, When some-thing caught his eye. There was a humanoid Pilgrim pushing toward them, nothing unusual about that. However, instead of a Pilgrims cap, there was a dark hood thrown over his head.
Pohtarza stared in fascination. The hood was empty. The thing was quite close now-he was sure of it. Sud-denly the hood fell back and the headless thing pulled a weapon out of its robe. Nameless dread gnawed at the tlanda Til; he took a few steps back, bumped into one of his brothers. The robe fell to the ground, and the Sacredot looked straight into the muzzle of a blaster, seemingly floating in the air. His thinking seemed fuzzy and oh-so-slow, but one thought came with crystal clarity. Oh. An Aaraa. Just an Aaraa . . .
Then brightness fell from the air....
At Colony One, the oldest and largest of the Ylesian fa-cdities, only a few moments later, it was nearing mid-day. Teroenza sat in the shallow, squishy mud like a beached whaladon, hardly moving, eyes closed. The developments of the last day were discouraging beyond belief.
Durga, cue him, had called his bluff. Teroenza opened his eyes and took in the depressing sight beyond Veratil and Tfienna and the other tlanda Tll soaking in the mud, sleek Nova Force ships littered the landing field, and small teams of heavily armed sentients wearing the uniform of the mercenary unit were everywhere.
How collid Durga have known what he planned?
Maybe the young Hutt was smarter than hed thought. Now that he reflected on it, Teroenza decided that it had probably been a bad idea tokill Kibbick so brazenly. But the worst of it was that Teroenza still couldnt know for sure how much Durga knew. Perhaps the Nova Force troops were Durgas response to the High Priests disingenuous requests to beef up the Ylesian defenses. Maybe he didnt suspect foul play in Kibbieks death.
Teroenza liked that idea. If true, the tlanda Tll would just have to wait, and hope that this situation was temporary, and that, after a while, Besadii would grow weary of paying Nova Force to stay here. Wait. I can wait a little longer. In any event, thatk all I can do ....
The Nova Force commandant, a squat, heavy-gravity world human named Willurn Kamaran, was approaching the edge of the flat, treading gingerly, not wanting to soil his shining black boots. Finally, he gave Teroenza a dis-gusted look and motioned for the tlanda Td to come to meet him. The High Priest decided that hed at lea.st pre-tend to cooperate until he found out more. Hoisting him-selfto his feet, Teroenza staed in the mans direction.
Without warning a lash of energy sizzled into the mud in front of him, spattering him with ejecta. The High Priest halted in confusion. What?
Teroenza turned to see three beings in camo uni-forms come racing out of the jungle, blaster rifles blaz-ing. The Gamorreans who had been guarding them were already dead.
Ptchoo. Ptchoo. Ptchoo.
The sound of blaster fire was all around him. Teroenza
tried to run, tried to change direction, but slipped in the mud, falling to his knees.
Is thi Nova Force? Hcs Durga ordered them to exe-cute us now? Teroenza thought, hysteria nearly getting the better of him. At the edge of his vision, he saw that Kamaran was also shooting now. But not at him. At the intruders. Other Nova Force soldiers were coming up behind him, blasting away. By Varl, theyre trying to protect us/ There was no place to run. Teroenza froze in panic. Veratil, he could see, lay motionless, a smoking hole where an eye used to be. Tilenna had run deeper into the mud, but was unable to submerge herself, and was flailing back and forth in complete terror. Teroenza re-alized suddenly that it was only a matter of time. Taking a deep breath to still the fear erupting in his heart, he let himself fall, then lay still, playing dead.
The blaster fire abruptly stopped, and Teroenza opened his eyes. It worked/The intruders lay dead. The High Priest dared to raise himself and survey the scene.
Tilenna/
She was half covered by mud and water, and her head was under. She cant breathe ....Before he had reached the body, Teroenza knew the truth. He cradled the massive head as best he could in his weak arms, try-ing to find a spark of life in his mate, but she was gone.
Kamaran had taken a hit in the arm, and his tan uni-form was covered with dark brown smears. And there was Ganar Tos, Teroenzas majordomo, making his way through the milling soldiers, pausing for a moment at the mud fringe, then plunging right in.
My Lord Teroenza, he cried, his weak old human voice barely more than a croak. Its terrible. All over the planet, assassins are killing our Priests! Weve had reports from Colonies Two, Three, Five, and Nine. Offworld communication has been cut. Oh, sir! Ird Veratil... and Tilenna! Sir, what can we do? He wrung his hands distractedly. Sir, this is the end. There can be no more Exultations. What shall we do?
Teroenza snorted heavily, trying to think. Was this Durga work? No, it couldnt be; the Besadii enterprise depended on the tlanda Til. Who was responsible for this? And what should he do now?
Jalus Nebl entered the Ylesian atmosphere with great care, watching for storm cells, and staying in constant touch with the Rebel assault shuttles that were fol-lowing him. He was a lead ship, and well aware of his responsibility. Shuttle Three, he said into his comm unit, in his squeaky Basic, watch yourself. Youre drift-ing too far to port. Storm cell 311 is headed in your di-rection. The ionization from those lightning storms will mess up your instrumentation. Increase speed and close up.
This is Shuttle Three, we copy, Dream of Freedom. They were flying through thick clouds now, and the Dream was buffeted by high winds. Darkness sur-rounded them. They were flying toward the sun, but they would not reach daylight before they landed.
The Sulhistan checked his instruments. Tighten for-mat ion, he ordered. All ships, tighten formation.
He saw the running lights of his starboard wingman for a moment, then the clouds blotted them out. They were being slammed by gusts, and the clouds were so thick that Nebl didnt even bother to glance at his viewscreen. Instruments-only flying. Rain and hail and electrical storms raged nearby, lighting the inky clouds in actinic flashes. Nebl followed the progress of his for-mation on his tactical sensors.
It had been ten years since Nebl had flown through the Ylesian atmosphere, but he was surprised how it all came back to him. He was leading half the Rebel ships assigned to Colony One in, and Han Solo was leading the other half in the Millennium Falcon. Han had taken his Sullustan friend for a brief tour of his ship yesterday, and the two pilots had caught up on old times w
hile Nebl enjoyed watching Hah show off his pride and joy.
Nebl spotted another storm cell, pointed it out to his formation, and then sent his ship swooping down, auto-matically checking his landing vector. His assigned landing spot was directly in the middle of the Colony One compound. He was carrying a squad of troops, and their assignment was to secure the andris factory.
As he flew, Nebl could hear the Assault Commander aboard the transport Liberator, reporting on the fieets progress. The Rebel forces had taken the Ylesian space station, having met heavier resistance than expected, but they were now reporting in that it was secured.
Nebl stayed in close touch as he led his formation down, down. He was tracking the storm cells so the more inexperienced pilots wouldnt have to. In theory at least, if they followed Nebl lead, theyd be able to con-centrate on their piloting as opposed to their navigation. They were almost down below the heaviest cloud layer now. Colony One was still in darkness, though dawn would arrive in about an hour. Nebl noticed that his rightmost shuttle was falling behind, and quickly es-tablished contact.
Assault Shuttle Six, youre falling behind. What happening?
Having trouble with a stabilizer, the young pilots voice was strained. Ive got my eopilot working on it.
Formation, reduce speed. We dont want to lose Shuttle Six, Nebl ordered.
Obediently, they reduced speed. The next-voice Nebl heard over the comm was Han Solo. Hey, Nebl, what gives? Youre slowing.
The Sullustan explained the problem. Well, I dont want to go in ahead of you, so Ill drop back, too, Han said. The Falcon and her ships slowed, falling back, leaving Nebl, as planned, still in the lead.
Both groups were still in good formation when they dropped below the cloud cover, and saw the nighttime lights of Colony One. Nebl was in the lead, and hed re-positioned Shuttle Six so it was now beside him, so he could nursemaid the Rebel pilot down. Nebls other ships were flying half a ship length behind the Dream and Six as they swooped toward their assigned landing coordinates.
Nebl had almost no warning. One second he was heading for his landing coordinates, everything fine, and the next his sensors suddenly blatted out a warning. Glancing down, Jalus Nebl saw that hed been targeted--- by a heavy turbolaser!
What? he thought blankly. Where-
The explosion was so massive, so all-consuming, that poor Nebl never even had time to realize hed been hit.
Hah Solo watched with horror as Dream of Freedom and Assault Shuttle Six were simply eradicated by two blasts from a ground-mounted heavy turbolaser. The turbolaser blasted again, and two other shuttles per-formed frantic evasive maneuvers that caused them to run straight into a treacherous wind-shear. Their stubby wings impacted, and then, flaming, they hurtled down toward the jungle. Fireballs painted the darkness with crimson, marking the crash sites.
Han was frozen with shock for a half-second. A turbolaser/ Whered that come from? Then he checked his position, and those of the ships in formation with him, and began his own evasive. At the same time he activated his comm, shouting, Formations One and Two-veer offl Bria, order your ships to their alternate landing sites! Veer off! They got a heavy turbolaser down there! Nebl bought it!
Without waiting for a response, Han swooped the Falcon up on her side and changed his approach vector-and not a moment too soon. A wash of fatal green energy streaked toward his ship, narrowly miss-ing her belly. Hah saw a damage control warning light up on his board, and realized the shot had knocked out the extension and retraction controls on his new re-tractable blaster. The close brush had also managed to fry the terrain-following sensors. He swore, even as Chewie howled. Hah heard shouts from Jarik, who was in the ventral gun turret and mustve gotten a spectacu-lar-and terrifying-view of the blast. Too close for comfort!
He peeled away, accelerating to get well out of the range of the turbolaser. None of the other ships was hit, thankfully.
The alternate landing sites were on the beach, more than two kilometers from the center of Colony One. Han brought the Falcon in for a landing, setting her down on the hard-packed sand, not far from the break-ers. He sat there for a second, just breathing hard, en-veloped by the Ylesian darkness. He kept his lights on, so none of the other pilots would be tempted to land on top of him.
To his fight as he sat in the cockpit, were the dunes, and, beyond them, the mudfiats and Colony One. To his left was the Zoma Gawonga, which, in Huttese, meant Western Ocean. Behind and before him stretched the beach, and already other ships were settling into place.
Leaving Chewie to finish up their post-landing checks, Han keyed his comm. Shuttle One, this is the Falcon. Bria, this is Han. Come in, Shuttle One.
A crackle of static, then her voice. Han let out a sigh of relief. Hed lost track of formation a bit back there, and, while he thought Shuttle One wasnt one of the ships hit, he hadnt been positive until now.
Han, I read you. Shuttle One landing now, alternate site. Im going to deploy my troops for the ground at-tack. Well go in over the dunes. My squad will head through the jungle for the compound.
Im coming with you, Han said. Dont go without me.
Copy, Falcon. She hesitated. Han, we need to se-cure the Admin Building. Can you take care of dis-patching the Togorian squad?
Han knew she was thinking about the Treasure Room. The plan all along had been for Muuurgh, who knew the layout and the jungle, to lead his squad of Togorians in there. But now theyd have to go a lot farther....
Right, he said. Ill do that.
Han went back to the lounge, where the Togorians were unstrapping, checking the charges in their weap-ons, and commenting to each other about rough rides. They wanted to know why all the stomach-churning aerial acrobatics. Han spent a minute explaining, then went on to tell Muuurgh, Mrrov, Sarrah and the other Togorians that theyd landed much farther from their target than anticipated. This will be tougher than we originally planned, Han said. Youre going to have to make about a two-kilometer hike through the jungle.
Muuurgh stood up, careful not to whack his head in the cramped surroundings of the Falcons lounge. Do not worry, Hah, he said. Muuurgh will lead the way through the jungle to the Administration Building. Muuurgh hunted all around Colony One, and Muuurgh remembers terrain well.
Han pulled on his infrared goggles and his light hel-met, picked up his weapons, then he and Chewbacca followed the Togorian squad down the ramp. Han watched their bright yellow images make their way up the beach. He pushed up his goggles, and was instantly engulfed in complete darkness. The Togorians had van-ished like shadows into the surrounding blackness. The Corellian took a deep breath of the late-night air, and the smell of the Ylesian ocean brought back a rush of memories.
Chewie, he said, stay sharp. This world can be a real pit. Good thing it aint rainin, for once. He tapped his goggles. You need a pair of these, pal?
Chewie shook his head, affirming that Wookiee night-sight was far superior to human vision. He could see fine and didnt need goggles.
When Han turned to go up the landing ramp, Lando and Jarik came trooping down it. Like Han, they were carrying heavy blaster rifles and wearing helmets with infrared goggles. They stood together at the bottom, watching the Rebel soldiers assembling from the shut-tles. Most of the landing vehicles were down now.
So... where do you guys think youre goin? Han asked.
To find some action, Jarik said. I aint missing this! The youth clutched his blaster rifle, bouncing on his toes, obviously excited at the chance to take part in his first ground assault.
Han had always figured hed let Jarik stay in the ship. Safer that way. Wait a minute, he said. The Togori-ans are gone to capture the Admin Building. Me and Chewie are headin out with Bria. If you guys go lookin for action, then who gonna guard the Falcon?
Lock it and activate the security systems, Jarik said.
Nobody gonna get inside unless you let em, Han.
Lando gestared at the beach. The last Rebel and smuggler ships were coming in for a landing. Wont Bria p
ost a rear guard to watch the ships?
Han glared at the gambler. Lando suddenly realized he was being a bit dense, and shut up.
Smugglers were pouring out of their vessels now, and several of the captains were plainly not happy. Han braced himself as Kaj Nedmak and Arly Bron stormed up to him, along with several other smugglers and pri-vateers he didnt know. Solo, what do you think youre doing, leading us straight into a turbolaser? Bron de-manded. I nearly lost my engines!
Han shrugged and spread his hands. Hey, it not my
fault! I didnt know! I almost got fried myselff
Just then, Bria approached, with Jace Paol, her sec-ond-in-command. It not Han fault, she said to the unhappy crowd. I am going to have a word with the Bothans, though. They were supposed to have done the recon necessary for this mission. Unless that turbo-laser was just installed, they should have pinpointed it before now.
More grumbling from the assembled captains. Bria held up her hand for quiet. Dont worry, youll get what coming to you, she said, her voice and eyes hard and full of authority. Just stay here on the beach until we have the compound secured. Or... anyone who en-joys a fight is welcome to tag along.
Most of the smuggler and privateer captains shook their heads and walked away, but one or two decided to go in with the Rebels-probably to make sure they got to earmark the best spice in the warehouse for them-selves. Han looked at Bria. Chewie and me are goin with you, he said.
Jace Paol spoke up, Commander, request permis-sion to take my squad in and knock out that turbolaser. Were going to need to land more shuttles later on, and we cant, with that thing blasting ships out of the sky.
Bria nodded. Permission granted, Lieutenant. Take a demo team with you. Take out the laser, and if it cant be salvaged, destroy it.
Right, Commander.
Jarik Solo here. Id like to go, Jarik spoke up to Paol. That laser nearly singed my rear. Id like a chance to be in on taking it down.
Star Wars - The Han Solo Trilogy - Rebel Dawn Page 28
