by Jude Watson
“Who’s the enemy?” Ferus asked.
“The Empire, of course,” she said.
“But you were a Separatist planet.”
Raina rose to her feet and took off her helmet, shaking out a long auburn braid. “That doesn’t mean we support the Empire. We wanted the right to secede from the Republic, not to turn the galaxy into a place of absolute power. Now we’ve got an Emperor breathing down our necks. Anyway, we were negotiating a truce with the Republic army when the Clone Wars ended. After we got a look at the Empire, we decided to call off the truce and keep fighting instead.”
“So how’s it going?” Trever asked.
“We’ve been fighting for almost a year,” she said. “They thought they’d crush us in a matter of weeks. But they can’t let us win. We know that. We’re making a last stand in our ancient city of Eluthan. We’ve got our army concentrated there. It’s a walled city, and we’ve evacuated most of the civilians. We should try to get there as quickly as we can. And,” she added with a rueful glance at their ships, “I’m afraid we have to walk.”
“Did you know the Commander of the Republic Forces?” Obi-Wan asked her.
“Garen Muln? Yes, I met him once, when we were negotiating the truce. But you should talk to our commander, Toma. He dealt with Muln. He was with him on that last day…the day the Chancellor said that all Jedi were enemies.”
The day of the slaughter. Obi-Wan felt Ferus glance at him. Ferus knew Garen had been Obi-Wan’s good friend. Ferus had met him as an apprentice, in what he still thought of as his previous life.
“Look, we’d better get to Eluthan,” Raina continued. “You can talk to Toma there.”
Obi-Wan and Ferus exchanged a glance. They really didn’t have any choice. They needed a ship to get off-planet, and Raina was their best bet to find one.
They looked at Trever, and he shrugged. “I guess I’m along for the ride.”
“We’d better get going,” Raina urged.
They followed her through the canyon into a dense wood. “Much of Acherin is open land,” she told them. “We only have three cities. Eluthan is the center of our culture. We fortified it heavily during the Clone Wars and we have a shield operating. That’s why we’ve retreated there.”
They walked quickly for several kilometers. Ferus tossed a pack of protein pellets to Trever. He could see that the boy was tiring.
“We only have a few kilometers to go,” Raina said in a low tone. “The Empire has ringed the outskirts of the city with their army. We might run into some droid scouts. With any luck we can slip through. I know some shortcuts.”
They picked up their pace, close to running now. They came to a vast open field studded with massive standing stones, some of them hundreds of meters high. In the distance, a walled city loomed. It was built on a plateau, and the thick stone walls rose against a bleak yellow sky. It had been designed for fortification, but it was clear that the makers had an eye for beauty, too. The stone was laid in a pattern, and the contrasting grays and dark blues seemed to make up a sculpture of weathered stone and deep colors. There was a grandeur about it that made Obi-Wan and Ferus stop in their tracks.
Raina noticed their reaction. “It is our treasure,” she said simply. “And we believe it will protect us from anything.”
Not the Empire, Obi-Wan thought.
Suddenly a high whine cut through the air.
“It’s a compact assault vehicle,” Raina said. “Follow me.”
They ran behind her to enter a dense area of the standing stones. They stood, their backs to the stone, while the CAV approached, a droid piloting it.
Obi-Wan knew the vehicles. They were small and agile, but prone to sensor jamming. He assumed that the Empire was using them primarily for surveillance in this area. One droid could cover a great deal of territory, and the vehicle was equipped with a medium-sized blaster cannon.
The CAV sped past.
“There’ll be more,” Raina said.
They moved on. They went from the shelter of stone to stone, making slower progress now. Every so often a CAV would speed past, its droid pilot aiming a surveillance probe into the air. They were able to evade it each time…
…until they stumbled on a small squad of heavily armed droids. This time, there was no hiding. They heard the metallic click as the droids snapped into attack position.
Blaster fire erupted from the droid squad. Raina reached for the two blasters strapped across her chest and kept up a steady barrage as Ferus charged. Obi-Wan took out his lightsaber and went after the left flank, while Ferus charged toward the right. Obi-Wan sliced off the head of a droid and used his backswing to disable the control sensor suite of another. Ferus flew through the air and executed a diving roundhouse kick, somehow slipping through the streaks of blaster fire without catching any of it.
The other two droids retreated behind a tall standing stone and began peppering them with blaster bolts.
“Here come the reinforcements.” Raina pointed into the distance with her chin, where CAVs were approaching. “If you can dispatch those two, I can get to an open area and activate a smoke grenade. The wind is southeast—it will carry most of the smoke toward the CAVs. I can get us through the smoke to the secret entrance in the wall. That way they won’t lock on our position.”
“Done.” Obi-Wan summoned the Force and leaped to the top of one of the smaller standing stones. He jumped from one to another until he had the droids in view. Then he dropped behind them. Before they had a chance to turn and fire, two strokes of the lightsaber turned them into scrap.
Raina raced to the open area and aimed the smoke grenade. She was still out of range of the cannons on the CAVs. The grenade flew through the air. Thick, acrid smoke billowed out and spread back toward the CAVs. Obi-Wan quickly ran back to the group.
The wind carried much of the smoke away from them, but they still had to make their way through it, their eyes streaming. They followed the metallic sheen of Raina’s armor as she led them through the smoke. When they arrived at what looked like a sheer wall, she pressed several stones in what appeared to be a random pattern. One large stone slid out.
She motioned them inside.
“Welcome to Eluthan,” she said.
They walked through the narrow deserted streets. The city wasn’t laid out in a grid, but in a random pattern, streets and alleys turning and ascending and descending the hilly terrain. The houses were made of mellow bronze stone, and were only a few stories tall.
“Most of the citizens have evacuated,” Raina explained. “This is pretty much just an army base now. But once it was a thriving city.”
They walked to a sprawling stone building on the edge of a grassy plaza. The plaza now served as a landing platform for the ships. A plastoid roof sheltered it and connected it to the building.
“This used to be a school,” Raina said. “Many of the students joined the resistance, and the rest offered the building as a base for operations. Most Acherins are totally devoted to this cause. We didn’t have to ask for sacrifices. They offered them.”
Trever smirked. “Or maybe they just wanted to get out of classes.”
Raina didn’t take offense; she laughed. “Maybe.”
Obi-Wan looked around at the low, stately building, the expanse of grass that had once thrived and now was brown and seared with the scorch of after-burn and the trampling of boots. Once, boys and girls had run through this grass, had studied at this school.
Odd how much he hated war, yet how much of his life had been spent around it.
Raina nodded at a guard standing outside the double doors, and she and her guests were allowed in. She quickly led the way to the command center, a circular hall in the middle of the building. It had once been a gathering place for students, Obi-Wan guessed. Now it had been outfitted with vidscreens and computer banks.
A tall man with a shaved head saw them enter. His face was impassive, but Obi-Wan noted how his body relaxed and his gray gaze cleared when he saw Ra
ina. Obi-Wan guessed this was Toma.
“We thought you were shot down,” the tall man said.
“They tried,” Raina said. “I lost my ship. But I met some friends.” She introduced them.
Toma looked at Obi-Wan searchingly. “I am glad to meet a Jedi.”
“You knew Garen Muln.”
“Yes, we—”
Suddenly the command screen lit up with pulsating lights. Toma turned and regarded the screen. “The counterattack has begun. The Empire has our fleet surrounded. We need to scramble all pilots back up there.”
“I’m ready,” Raina said. “All I need is another ship.”
To Obi-Wan’s surprise, Ferus spoke up.
“I’d like to offer my services,” he said. “Any chance to take a whack at the Empire, I’m for it.”
“We could use your help,” Toma said. “Raina, can you find our friend a ship?”
“Ferus…” Obi-Wan said, but he didn’t know how to finish the thought. He couldn’t forbid Ferus to go. That wasn’t his place. Ferus wasn’t his Padawan.
He would remain here. This was not his fight. He could never forget that his duty was to Luke and Leia. He could take no unnecessary risks.
“Don’t fret, Obi-Wan. I’ll just do a little damage and come back to get you,” Ferus said easily.
“I want to go,” Trever said.
“Sorry, kid,” Ferus said. “Not this time.”
“I’m really getting tired of being left behind.”
“I don’t think stowaways have a choice,” Ferus said.
Toma turned to Obi-Wan. “Will you watch the battle with me? Your advice will be appreciated. I have great respect for the Jedi.”
Obi-Wan bowed his head. He would be happy to offer advice, but his heart was heavy. He knew this effort was doomed. Ferus saw his feeling in the Jedi’s eyes, and turned abruptly to go with Raina.
Toma began barking out orders to his pilots. Obi-Wan took a moment to familiarize himself with the pattern on the large, square screen on the wall.
“Your left flank is weak,” he told Toma. “In battles like this, many commanders like to use pincer movements. They have the superior numbers. You have to fly through them, not around them. It’s more dangerous, but it’s also more effective.”
Toma nodded. He spoke into the comlink, translating Obi-Wan’s words into specific ship movements. The dots on the screen reassembled.
Toma pointed to two moving dots, each with a different number code. “That is Raina and Ferus. They’ve taken off.”
Obi-Wan kept his eyes on them. Ferus had made his decision, but Obi-Wan wished he had stayed here. He suddenly realized how much he was depending on him. He himself had to return to Tatooine, but his consolation was that Ferus would be out in the galaxy, doing what he could, where he could.
He had no more advice to give to Toma. It was clear to him, looking at the screen, that the battle was already lost. The Acherins simply did not have enough ships or firepower. He was amazed at the daring pilots and their skill, but one by one the blinking dots disappeared. Toma’s face grew ashen.
“We are losing our best,” he said.
“They can’t hold out,” Obi-Wan said gently.
“We didn’t dare to hope that we’d beat them,” Toma said. “We hoped we would be enough of a nuisance that they’d just go away.”
“They never just go away,” Obi-Wan said. “Their reach is a stranglehold. They won’t let go.”
“If I pull the pilots back, it’s over,” Toma said. “I will have to surrender Eluthan.”
“If it must be done, it should be done,” Obi-Wan said.
Toma spoke into his comm unit. “Recalling all pilots,” he said. “The battle is lost. Return to base. You have done well, each one of you.”
He bowed his head. Obi-Wan watched as Toma struggled with his decision. When he raised his head, his eyes were clear. With Obi-Wan out of view, he contacted the Imperial commander, Admiral Riwwel. Soon Riwwel’s face appeared on the screen.
“I am prepared to surrender,” Toma said. “I ask for safe passage for my pilots. Acherin agrees to become part of the Empire.”
“Do you think after what has happened, after the many deaths of our forces, that this is acceptable?” Admiral Riwwel sneered. “You must pay for your disloyalty. I do not accept your surrender terms. You will surrender on our terms.”
“And what are your terms?”
“Annihilation. Eluthan must pay with its own destruction. Prepare for saturation bombing of the city. We have already knocked out your planetary shield.”
Toma whirled to check the computer. “No! It is our ancient city, revered by all Acherins, the site of our most precious treasures!”
“You should have thought of that before you made it your base.”
The screen went black.
“What have I done?” Toma wondered aloud.
“You haven’t done it,” Obi-Wan said. “They have. You must tell the pilots not to return. They’ll be destroyed.”
“They are almost here…they think they have safe passage…” It was true. The pulses of light were returning. Behind them were the lights of the Imperial destroyers, tailing them. Toma spoke into the comlink. “Do not return to Eluthan! Repeat, do not return! Take evasive action, now!”
Obi-Wan saw the great Empire’s ships fire even as the pilots peeled off. All of them made it, a tribute to the skills of the Acherin pilots. To his dismay, he saw two pulsating lights begin to take evasive action, but not deflect from their course.
“Ferus and Raina are returning here,” he said.
“No,” Toma said in disbelief. “They’ll be slaughtered.”
“Trever, come on—we must get to the spaceport,” Obi-Wan said.
The sounds of explosions came to them now. The Empire was leading a barrage against the city. Toma flipped the image control and they saw scenes of devastation outside as cannons boomed from the destroyers above.
Toma flinched as a large, stately building suddenly disintegrated. “Libraries, museums…our university. How could an invading force do this? They’re targeting them. Why can’t they just allow us to surrender? This is our civilization!”
“It is yours, not theirs,” Obi-Wan said. “So they don’t care about it. All they care about is a display of power. Toma, we must go.”
Toma snapped back into his authority. “There is a hidden landing platform with my personal transport. That is where Raina will be going.”
With a last glance at the screen, Obi-Wan turned. He motioned to Trever. “Stay close to me.”
“I’m not going to argue with that,” Trever said.
The building shook with the heavy barrage. The thick stones held up, but cracks appeared and dirt rained down on them as they ran down the corridors.
They heard the sound of thudding boots.
“The stormtroopers are here,” Obi-Wan said.
Toma turned down another corridor. The echo of the stormtrooper boots seemed to be everywhere. Obi-Wan focused on the sounds, tuning into the Force to tell him what he needed to know.
“There’s a squad of twenty ahead. But only five behind,” he told the others, reversing direction. “This way.”
“No, we can’t,” Toma said. “That leads to a dead end. We have to go this way.”
Toward twenty stormtroopers? “Oh, well,” Obi-Wan said. “You can’t have everything.”
He charged forward, lightsaber in hand. Toma was at his side with his blaster ready.
Trever called out in a whisper. “Wait!”
Obi-Wan paused impatiently. Trever had opened up a closet marked ATHLETIC EQUIPMENT. He took out a box of laserballs.
“Let me go first. I’ll give you the edge you need.”
Obi-Wan hesitated. “Trever, I’m not sure about this.”
“Trust me.”
There was no time to argue. The stormtroopers were approaching.
Obi-Wan stood near Trever, poised to protect him. As the footsteps grew
closer, he nodded at Trever.
The stormtroopers appeared, rounding the corner, moving quickly in lockstep. With a flick of his wrist, Trever sent six laserballs shooting down the corridor, centimeters above the floor.
Flick. Flick. Flick. Trever’s action was so fast it was almost a blur. More laserballs zoomed down the hallway.
At first, the stormtroopers were just confused. Then they tried to evade the laserballs, but one got tangled up and started to fall. Another crashed into one on his left. Before long, they were colliding, trying to keep their balance and shooting at Obi-Wan and the others at the same time. Blaster bolts pinged through the air and hit the walls and ceiling.
Obi-Wan leaped directly into their midst. While Toma came at them on the right with his blaster, Obi-Wan’s lightsaber danced. Within seconds the entire squad had been demolished.
“Thanks for the edge,” Toma told Trever.
They continued on. Toma led them through a narrow passage to a small hangar with one ship. He flicked on a vidscreen. The sky outside was thick with Imperial starfighters. “We’re underground now. I can activate the opening when we see Ferus and Raina,” he said. “It’s concealed in the side of the building.”
Obi-Wan looked at the ship. It was a battered star cruiser with dull gray plating.
“I know,” Toma said. “It doesn’t look like much. It’s not supposed to. But it’s got a tweaked hyperdrive engine and all the firepower you could want.”
“Look!” Trever called, pointing to the vidscreen.
Two ships were spinning and diving, cartwheeling through the air as cannonfire streaked around them. Smoke was spiraling out from one of the ships. Obi-Wan didn’t know whether it was Ferus’s or Raina’s.
Toma pressed a switch as they dove in a straight line toward the surface. At the very moment it seemed they would crash into the city, they veered off. Part of the ceiling overhead slid back, and they dropped into the hangar.
Raina quickly popped her cockpit canopy and leaped out as her ship exploded into flames. Toma and Trever took a step back from the heat, but Obi-Wan raced toward Ferus’s ship. Why hadn’t Ferus opened the cockpit canopy?
He looked down into the transparent bubble. Ferus was working at the canopy manually with a vibrocutter. When he saw Obi-Wan, he stepped back. Obi-Wan used his lightsaber, and the cockpit canopy peeled back. Ferus leaped out.
