Hero of Cartao Part 14

The first wave reached the roof and scrambled up onto it, unslingingtheir rifles and setting up a defensive perimeter. The second wave was alreadyhalfway up the side of the building by the time they were in position, withthe final wave just leaving the ground.

"And that's that," Laytron said with grim satisfaction as the clonetroopers regrouped and started across the rooftop, weapons at the ready. "TheSeparatists can't fire on them without risking damage to the plant, b.u.t.they'll be able to fire on the landing ship as soon as they're in range. Isthat the sort of diversion you were thinking about, Master Doriana?"

Doriana smiled. "Yes, Lieutenant," he said softly. "That should do nicely."

The sounds of distant blaster fire were clearly audible as Tories emerged from the tunnel into the late afternoon sunlight.

"Sounds like it's started," he muttered to Binalie as the two of themraced for the trees where most of the clone troopers who had gone before themhad already taken cover. "I just hope they can keep it up until everyone'sout."

"Doesn't matter," Binalie said as they reached the trees.

"What do you mean, it doesn't matter?" Tories asked as they squatted beneath the cover of a wide-crested forlaline bush.

"That's the whole point of this exercise."

Binalie shook his head. "Maybe it was your point, and mine," he said, his voice tense. "But it wasn't Roshton's. He has no intention of getting those techs out."

"What are you talking about?" Tories demanded, frowning.

"Didn't you hear him?" Binalie countered. "Him and his soldiers? He asked about cover, and they gave him the stuff north, south, and east. They never said anything about cover to the west; and he never asked."

Tories blinked as the memory of that conversation flashed back to him.Binalie was right: Roshton hadn't inquired about conditions to the west. Yetwest was the obvious direction for anyone fleeing the plant to go.

But if they weren't leaving...

His eyes flicked around, looking for Roshton, understanding suddenly stabbing into his stomach. He spotted the commander standing beside the tunnel entrance, gazing down the stairway as clone troopers continued to file out.

Tories rose to his feet and started toward him. He'd taken perhaps threesteps when Roshton lifted a hand and pointed east. And suddenly, the army wason the move, blasters at the ready, running toward the landing ship toweringabove the treetops. The last of the troopers was pa.s.sing Roshton when Toriescaught up with him. "What are you doing?" he demanded, catching thecommander's arm. "This was supposed to be a rescue mission."

"Out of my way, Jedi," Roshton snapped, shrugging off his arm. "Of course it's a rescue mission. It's a rescue of Lord Binalie's precious manufacturing plant."

"But..."

"No buts," Roshton cut him off, gesturing with his blaster. "This is ourone chance to get into that landing ship and destroy the droid control matrix.You want to help, fine, we'd be glad to have you. If not, just get out of ourway."

Tories looked back at Binalie, still crouching beside his bush, his facerigid with anger and fear and frustration. "Go back to the estate," he calledto the other. "I'll meet you there."

Binalie's eyes flicked over Tories' shoulder toward the plant.

"Go," Tories repeated.

Binalie's expression still looked pinched, but he nodded. "All right."

He slipped away through the trees, and Tories turned back to Roshton."I'll come with you," he said, pulling out his lightsaber. "But we will talkabout this later."

"Sure," Roshton grunted. "Come on."

They headed off after the soldiers, dodging between trees and aroundbushes. Occasionally Tories caught a glimpse of white armor ahead of them, b.u.t.the clone troopers were traveling at least as fast as they were and had a fairhead start on top of it. "So what's the plan?" he asked Roshton. "The newrevised plan, I mean."

"Laytron's got men up on the plant roof laying down fire," Roshtonpanted. 'The droids by the landing ship are currently trying to pick them offwithout damaging the plant. With luck, they should all have their backs to uswhen we hit them." Tories grimaced. And when they found their army in acrossfire, what would the Neimoidians controlling the droids do? Whatever theydeemed necessary to defend themselves, including wrecking the Spaarti plant?Probably.

It was up to Tories to make sure that didn't happen.

"First elements have reached firing position," Roshton reported, pressinghis headset tighter against his ear. "Following units are fanning out. Ifwe're lucky, and they're not spotted-" He broke off, and Tories caught hisbreath as the volume of the firing ahead suddenly changed. 'They were,"Roshton growled.

"All units: fire at will."

He leaped ahead, picking up his pace. "Spotted?" Tories asked, catching up with him.

"By one of the guards at the landing ramp," Roshton confirmed as weaponsof a different pitch joined the sounds ahead. "But we've still got theadvantage."

They ran another fifty meters through the forest. And then, suddenly, they were there.

Square in the middle of a pitched battle.

Roshton ducked into the partial cover of a nearby tree, his blasteralready blazing away against the enemy. Tories stopped beside a tree of hisown, trying to get a quick sense of the action. Two AAT battle tanks, whichhad been facing the door into the plant, were trying to turn around to dealwith this new threat, their maneuvering slow and awkward as they fought thetangle of underbrush and heavy fire from two directions. Advancing brisklytoward Roshton's group of clone troopers were three ranks of super battledroids supported by a few D60 a.s.sault droids. The whole line was takingconsiderable damage, but was still coming.

The tanks, Tories decided, were his first priority. "I'm going in," he called to Roshton over the noise, pointing toward the tanks. "Cover me."

"Right," Roshton shouted back as Tories ignited his lightsaber.

"All units: cover fire left!"

The rain of fire from the clone trooper blasters abruptly changed focus,concentrating all their fury on the left flank of the advancing forces andblowing the droids on that side into a chaos of shards and rubble and smoke.Gathering his feet beneath him, Tories ducked under the friendly fire anddodged around the end of the disintegrating enemy line.

The droids in the AATs saw him coming, of course. Even as their primarylaser cannon began chewing up the landscape along the right flank of theRepublic forces, the short-range defensive blasters on either side of the mainair-cooling intake began firing at him. Tories' lightsaber flashed in answer,deflecting the bolts away or bouncing them into the backs of the advancingdroids whenever he could manage it.

He reached the nearest AAT and jumped up onto the front. Positioninghimself in front of the air intake where he was out of reach of both defensiveblasters, he stabbed his lightsaber downward through the heavy armor into theforward repulsor disk. The vehicle pitched forward, its nose slamming into theground like a quadruped that had had both front legs kicked out from under it.Tories leaped straight up as it dug itself half a meter into the dirt, landing just in front of the top hatch, and with three quick slashes sliced off the primary laser cannon and the two side-mounted secondary laser guns.

The second AAT had abandoned its attack on the clone troopers and hadswung to this new threat. For a moment Tories stayed where he was, balancingon the now badly sloped top of the grounded battle tank as he deflected acouple of shots from the second tank's defensive blasters. One of the boltswent straight back down the blaster's muzzle, eliciting a burping sort ofexplosion from the weapon. Taking advantage of the momentary chaos inside thetank, Tories stretched out to the Force and made a giant leap across to thesecond tank, dealing with its primary and secondary lasers as he had with thefirst. Leaning over the hatch, he swung his lightsaber one more time, cuttingoff the vehicle's command receiver antennas.

A droideka appeared from around the landing ramp, bouncing a lit tle asit rolled across the uneven ground. Stretching out to the Force, Tories liftedone of the two secondary laser guns he'd cutoff the first AAT and sent itflying into the center of the wheel shape. There was a screech of stressedmetal, and the droideka came to an abrupt halt. For another second it heldposition, its micro-repulsors fighting to keep it balanced.

Then, something inside it failed, and it toppled ignomin-iously over onto its side.

A stutter of multiple blaster fire sliced through the air over Tories'head. He ducked reflexively, turning to see a group of super battle droidsdisintegrating behind him. The friendly fire was coming from above, he saw,and he looked up to see a group of clone troopers firing from the edge of theSpaarti roof. He waved his thanks; in response, one of them jabbed a handtoward the landing ship base.

Tories shifted his eyes that direction. Another battle tank was lumberingdown the ramp, clearly intent on joining the battle. He gave a quickacknowledging wave to the rooftop snipers, then jumped off the crippledvehicle he was still standing on and began to weave his way through the chaostoward the landing ship. If he could slip up onto the ramp beneath the tank,he might be able to take out its repulsorlift coils and disable it on thespot.

"Jedi!"

Tories paused, turning as the faint shout came to him over the noise ofthe battle. The advancing droids were closing on the Republic forces,considerably fewer now than had started, but still coming. The clone troopersdidn't seem to need his help; but there'd been a definite note of urgency inthat call.

"Jedi!"

This time he was able to get the direction of the shout, and he lookedover to where Roshton was standing beside his tree. The commander was lookingback at him, beckoning frantically toward himself. Frowning, Tories changeddirection, lightsaber blazing as he again skirted the droid attack line to therelative safety of the trees. "What is it?" he called as he came withinshouting distance of Roshton.

"Didn't you hear me?" Roshton shouted back. 'The Jedi!"

"What about me?" Tories demanded, thoroughly confused now.

"Not you." Roshton jabbed a finger skyward. "The Jedi.

"The Jedi have come."

"The Jedi?" Doriana demanded.

"You got it," Lieutenant Laytron said, a mixture of surprise, hope, and relief in his voice as he peered into the eastern sky.

"A whole a.s.sault transport full of them, the message said, heading in to help. We've got orders to pull back and give them room."

"But that's impossible," Doriana objected, watching the other's face carefully. "Where could they have come from?"

But if there was any doubt at all in Laytron's mind, none of it reachedhis face or voice. "I don't know, and I don't care," the younger man declared."All units: pull back. Where?" He tilted his head upward. "Got it," he confirmed, pointing to the sky. Doriana followed the direction of his finger.

There, in the distance, he could see a dark speck moving swiftly toward them.

"Hustle on that pull-back," Laytron ordered. 'They're on their way."

He grinned tightly at Doriana. "Now we're going to see some seri ous