Star Wars: The New Rebellion (62 page)

—and Vader cut him in half. His lightsaber’s blade faded, the hilt spinning through the air before landing on his empty, steaming cloak.

Luke had said Obi-Wan believed that moment made him stronger, but really it had only made him dead.

Dead.

Leia stumbled a few steps forward. Luke didn’t see her in the growing darkness. Kueller hesitated as Luke slowly raised his lightsaber blade toward his face.

Just as Obi-Wan had.

Kueller smiled.

Just as Vader must have.

“Luuuuuuuuuuke!” Leia screamed as Kueller brought his lightsaber up, preparing to strike.

T
he Star Destroyers continued heading for the
Yavin
. The
Wild Karrde
fired at them, as did the
Calamari
, their shots missing the soft spot and ricocheting off the deflectors.

“Sir,” Ean said. “They’re heading directly for us.”

Wedge watched them, still clutching his hands together. He was gambling so many lives on a hunch. But if he followed the normal attack patterns, they would all be dead. He knew that much.

“Sir,” Sela said. “If they get in too close, we won’t be able to hit the targets. Our short-range weapons don’t have the kind of power—”

“I’m aware of that,” Wedge said. “I want you to shoot at the
Calamari
again.” He didn’t want to shoot at the
Wild Karrde
, afraid that the smuggler would stop helping altogether.

Shots streamed past the
Calamari
, and the nearby TIE fighters joined in the shooting. The
Calamari
rocked as the blasts hit the deflectors. Wedge wasn’t even sure if his shots went wide.

“They’re just outside our short-range weapons, sir. If we’re going to shoot—”

“We’re not going to shoot,” Wedge said. His hands had grown cold. The silence in the command center was frightening. Even Karrde had stopped cursing him. The other ships probably thought he was dead.

The Star Destroyers filled the dome overhead. They had ancient blast scars on their bottoms and their white lines were marked with rust.

“Sir, I think with our short-range fighters—”

“No,” Wedge said. “Ean, I want you to go to the top gunpods. I want people there, with blaster cannons in hand.”

“We could reactivate the droids, sir.”

“No. This is one-time precision shooting. Any A-wing or old X-wing pilots will go there as well.” He should be there too, but he didn’t trust his command crew with this assignment. They were already close to mutiny. If he abandoned them now, they would completely ruin his plan, such as it was.

“They’re overhead, sir. If they fire now, even our shields won’t hold.” The man who spoke was visibly shaking.

“They won’t fire,” Wedge said. “Let me know when those gunners are in position.”

The Star Destroyers looked massive, both on the screens and through the domes. The TIE fighters had redirected their assaults on the
Wild Karrde
and the
Calamari
. Both ships were shooting back, taking out TIE fighters as quickly as they could. The remaining B-wings were buzzing the TIE fighters, but the fighters had augmented weapons. The slaughter continued.

“Sir?” Sela said. “The Star Destroyers. They’re flanking us.”

“They’re going to shoot?” Wedge asked.

“No, sir.” Sela sounded puzzled. “I mean they’re flanking us. Like one of our ships would do.”

Then Wedge grinned. His hunch had been right.
Those ships were piloted by droids. And since his action was illogical for a New Republic commander, they assumed he was one of theirs.

Now. If only his luck held …

“Are those gunners in place?” Wedge asked.

“Yes, sir.”

He hurried to the gunning console, and positioned the target map. “Using that,” he said, “they need to hit the precise point I’ve marked. No other spot. You got that?”

“The precise point?”

“They’ll only get one chance at this each. Because if they screw up and hit the shields, those ships will turn their fire on us.” Wedge stood, his heart pounding. “The moment those shots are fired, I want open channels to the
Calamari
and the
Wild Karrde
. I also want us to dive at two point six three on my mark. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Wedge glanced up. He could see nothing except the bottom of the Star Destroyer.

All or nothing on one gamble. One hunch.

He took a deep breath, and said, “Fire!”

Luke was raising his lightsaber, his heart pounding. He was reaching out with the Force, going back to the place he had gone when he first fought Exar Kun. He would be out of his body but protected within the Force. Just as Ben had done in his battle with Darth Vader.

Luke would come back even stronger, and he would guide Leia to defeat Kueller.

Luke’s lightsaber had reached a thirty-degree angle with his chin when he felt as if he were wrapped in a warm, soft blanket. He could still see through his eyes, but the rest of his senses were suddenly dim. He could no longer sense Leia or even Kueller.

His blade came up, and Kueller’s blade swung back,
but Luke couldn’t leave his own body. He had lost the Force. It was gone. He was blind and numb without it.

He would die without it.

Kueller’s blade came down, and Luke limped out of the way only to back into the ruined tower wall. Kueller had him cornered. There was no place to go.

Luke was trapped, both inside, and out.

K
ueller felt as if he were moving through mud. The swift grace that had come with his lightsaber training faded as if it had never been. The strength that had flowed through him since he killed the Je’har had suddenly disappeared.

He could no longer feel Skywalker’s anger. Or his sister’s fear.

Or even that strange new wrinkle in the Force he had felt a moment earlier.

Skywalker backed away from him, and Kueller brought his lightsaber down. It slammed into the stone wall behind Skywalker, sending sparks flying and a shimmer up his arm. Kueller staggered sideways.

He didn’t know what kind of trick Skywalker was using on him. He suddenly couldn’t think very clearly. It was as if he had been tossed underwater. All that he relied on within himself had disappeared.

Then he noticed a similar expression on Skywalker’s face. The man looked stunned. He wasn’t manipulating his own lightsaber as he should.

If Skywalker wasn’t doing this, then who—?

Kueller turned, and started when he saw two new figures
standing in front of the alley. He couldn’t see them well in the twilight, and as he reached with the Force, he couldn’t feel them. Had they caused this? Who were they? What were they doing to him?

Skywalker brought up his own lightsaber as if it weighed ten times more than usual. Kueller’s felt equally heavy.

This wouldn’t work. Thwarted again, somehow, by Skywalker and his friends.

Anger surged through Kueller, but it didn’t increase his strength. He roared at them, and Skywalker laughed.

Laughed.

All advantage that Kueller had gained was lost.

He let his lightsaber fall to the ground. Not all was lost.

He still had one more trick up his very full sleeve.

The
Yavin
went vertical as it dove away from the Star Destroyers.

“Ceousa! Karrde!” Wedge shouted through the open communications lines. “Fire on the destroyers! Now!”

TIE fighters were moving his way. Nothing seemed to have happened to the destroyers when his own people had fired on them. All this subterfuge might have been for nothing. And he would lose all of his ships.

And then explosions rocked the
Yavin
. “Damage?” he shouted to his crew.

“Nothing, sir,” Sela said.

“That wasn’t us,” Ginbotham said. “That was a Star Destroyer!”

Wedge braced himself, rose, and stared at the tactical screen. The destroyer that had been right above the
Yavin
was simply a sparkle of light. Pieces soared past. Some hit what was left of the
Tatooine
, and sent her careening farther away from the battle.

“Get Karrde,” he said.

“No need, sir,” Sela said. “He’s using everything he has on the TIE fighters around him.”

The A- and B-wings were also going after the TIEs, and it looked like a rout. Faster and faster and faster they went, chasing the TIEs all over that section of space.

But the other Star Destroyer still lingered above. It had turned on its running lights, and was preparing to dive.

“Blast,” Wedge said. Enough of command. The ship would handle itself now. “Sela, you have the comm.”

Wedge made his way over the toppled droids and smoking interiors toward the gunport. He could blast that Star Destroyer without the help of a tactical computer. He should’ve been there in the first place.

He climbed into the gunport, slipped on his helmet, and strapped in. Then he grabbed the laser cannon. His crew were shouting all around him. Communications static burst into his headphones but he ignored it.

He had to.

If the Star Destroyer got too close, it would explode the
Yavin
. The Star Cruisers were more vulnerable than Star Destroyers. More sweet spots, more target areas. And after this much fighting, weakened deflectors. Also, fighting droids made this battle that much harder. Droids were better at precision shooting. That explained why the
Tatooine
had been destroyed so quickly.

The
Calamari
showed up on Wedge’s display. It was coming after the Star Destroyer. But it would be too late. The destroyer was shooting now, and all the shots were hitting the shields. They rattled the
Yavin
, making Wedge glad for his straps.

“Making evasive maneuvers,” Sela said. “Prepare for …”

Wedge pulled off his headphones. He didn’t want to think about command. He shoved aside his targeting
computer too. He didn’t have the Force, as Luke did, but he had something else, just as important. Faith in his own abilities. And he was close enough to that destroyer to see his target clearly, something that rarely happened in space.