Hero of Cartao Part 15

work."

Doriana didn't answer. On the near edge of the rooftop the clone troopershad made it back to their ascent lines and were sliding back down them towardthe waiting landspeeders. The approaching air vehicle was growing steadilylarger, and he could see now that it was indeed a Republic a.s.sault transport.

And as it grew closer, it opened fire.

Laytron inhaled sharply. "What are they doing?" he breathed.

"They're..."

"Aren't they firing on the landing ship?" Doriana asked.

"They're firing on the plant," Laytron snapped, pulling his headset voice

pickup closer to his mouth. "Republic transport, cease firing on the plant.

Repeat, cease firing on the plant!"

The only response was an intensification of the transport's fire,alternating now between the plant and the enemy STAPs swarming to engage it.For a long moment, the Republic and Separatist forces traded fire as thea.s.sault transport continued racing forward.

Then, without warning, the vehicle suddenly dipped off its approach.Doriana held his breath as the STAR attack was joined by blaster and laserbolts from the Separatist ground forces encircling the plant. The transportdipped even further...

And as Laytron reeled off a string of helpless curses, Doriana watched as it plunged straight through the plant's roof.

For what seemed like a small eternity, nothing happened. Then, with ahorrible series of m.u.f.fled explosions, whole sections of the roof blewskyward, scattering fragments all around like small erupting volcanoes. Thebuilding's walls followed, bulging and cracking and finally shattering intomudslides of rubble. Another, louder explosion echoed across the landscape, and through the roiling smoke and debris Doriana caught a glimpse of a fireball burning into the sky from the western side of the plant.

"They've stopped," Laytron said dully.

"What?" Doriana asked.

The lieutenant pointed wearily across the lawn. "The droids," he said.

"They've frozen up. That last blast must have taken out the landing ship and

control matrix."

"I see," Doriana said slowly. "Do we count this as a victory?"

Laytron snorted. "The Jedi might," he said bitterly. "Who knows how they think? But the rest of us certainly won't."

"To save the world," Doriana murmured the old cynic's saying, "we had to destroy it.'"

"That's about it." Laytron shook his head tiredly. "Come on. Let's go find Commander Roshton."

Lord Binalie said very little as the three of them walked across thelittered floor, their boots crunching through the remains of what had oncebeen Spaarti Creations. Corf, walking at his father's side, was even quieter."I don't know what to say," Tories said softly as they came to a halt beside amixed group of Cranscoc and human bodies. "Except that I'm very sorry."

"Of course you are," Binalie said, his voice under rigid control. "You'resorry, Commander Roshton is sorry, Master Doriana is sorry. I'm sure theentire Jedi Council would be sorry, too, if they would pause long enough intheir search for someone to blame for their part in this."

He turned dead eyes on Tories. "What good is any of it?"

Tories shook his head. "None," he conceded. "I don't suppose there's any chance...?"

"That we can rebuild? With nearly all the twillers dead?" Binalie shook

his head. "No. Not for another generation at least. And then only if we can get the Cranscoc to trust us again."

He turned away. "I certainly wouldn't if I were them. Trusting the word of a human is a stupid thing to do."

Tories winced. "I'm sorry," was all he could think of to say.

"I'm sure we'll see you later, Master Tories," Binalie said, not turning back around.

It was a dismissal. "Yes, of course," Tories said. "Good-bye, Lord Binalie. Good-bye, Corf."

Neither of them replied. With a sigh, Tories turned and trudged towardthe broken wall where he and the others had come through into the ruinedplant, his heart feeling like a lump of blackened and twisted hull metalwithin him. So, that was that. Despite all his efforts -despite even theefforts of the Republic and Separatist forces, for that matter-SpaartiCreations was gone. Destroyed by carelessness, stupidity, and arrogance.

The carelessness, stupidity, and arrogance of the Jedi.

He closed his eyes briefly against the depth of sadness washing throughhis soul. Losing the plant was bad enough, but for himself Tories had lostsomething far more valuable. Binalie was very clearly blaming him personallyfor the Jedi intrusion, despite the fact that he had had nothing to do withit. And while civility and politeness might eventually come back to theirrelationship, the trust and friendship that had once been there would probablynever return.

And Corf, who had once looked on the old Jedi Guardian with the respectand awe usually accorded to the greatest of heroes, now hated him. And wouldprobably continue to do so for the rest of his life.

He reached what was left of the wall and picked his way over the rubble,an edge of anger stirring through the well of sadness. The Jedi Council couldclaim as loudly as it wanted that it knew nothing about what had happened heretoday. But there had been Jedi robes and broken lightsabers among the a.s.saulttransport's wreckage-Tories had seen them with his own eyes. Someone onCoruscant knew where those Jedi had come from, and who exactly had sent them.

One way or another, Jedi Guardian Jafer Tories was going to track that person down.

The hooded face of Darth Sidious blinked into view above Doriana's holoprojector. "Report."

"The operation has been successful, my lord," Doriana said. "The Spaarti Creations plant has been destroyed."

"And the Jedi?"

"As far as the public is concerned, the blame rests entirely on their shoulders," Doriana said.

"Excellent," Sidious said with satisfaction. "Has anyone expressed interest in examining the a.s.sault transport?"

"Commander Roshton suggested it should be done," Doriana said. "But itwas a half-hearted remark, focused mainly on seeing whether they couldidentify who had been aboard from the designs of the various lightsabers inthe wreckage."

"Encourage him to continue along that line," Sidious ordered. "By thetime he discovers that such an examination is a dead-end, all evidence of thetransport's remote-control system will have vanished into the sc.r.a.p recyclers." He smiled thinly. "One of the many small advantages of dealing with Jedi,Master Doriana. With a few small props-a robe, a lightsaber, an unrecognizablebody-you can easily create the illusion of a fallen hero."

"Indeed, my lord," Doriana agreed. "I presume the remote operator himself will be leaving Cartao soon?"

"He is already gone." There was a pause, and Doriana had the sense ofthose unseen eyes probing his face. "You still disapprove of this operation,don't you?"

"I don't disapprove, my lord," Doriana hastened to a.s.sure him. "But I amstill puzzled. Why deliberately destroy Spaarti? It could be of immenseservice to the Separatists. Why not keep it intact for experimentation andmanufacture?"

"Because by its very nature it is indefensible," Sidious told him. 'TheRepublic might instead gain hold of it and could utilize it with equaldevastation against us."

He shook his head. "No, Master Doriana. With a wild card of thispotential, it's far better to take it off the table entirely." He smiledagain. "Especially when other long-term advantages can be squeezed from it."

"That part was most definitely a success," Doriana agreed, nodding. "Idon't think Jedi are going to be very welcome on Cartao for a long time tocome. Certainly not if Lord Binalie has anything to say about it. Even Tories,who had become something of a hero among the people in all this, is prettywell finished."

"And as the economic ripples of Spaarti's destruction spread through thatregion, so will that att.i.tude," Sidious said. 'The destruction of the Jediwill be only half a victory if the people of the galaxy mourn their loss.Thanks to your work there today, few in Prackla Sector will shed a even tearat their pa.s.sing."

"Absolutely," Doriana said, nodding. "Have you further orders, my lord?"

"No," Sidious said. "Stay long enough to clean up any final details, thenyou may report back to your post on Coruscant." The other's head tiltedslightly. "One other matter. The reports I saw indicated that the clonecylinders created during the Republic's time in the plant were destroyed inthe attack. Is that true?"

"No, my lord," Doriana said. "They were stored in one of the Outlinksseveral kilometers away from the main complex and made it through undamaged.Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has instructed me to transport them secretly toan old underground fortress on Wayland that he recently reactivated."

"Really," Sidious said thoughtfully. "How many are there?"

"Several thousand." Doriana hesitated. "If you'd like, I could arrange for them to be lost."

Sidious pursed his lips in thought, and Doriana held his breath. It wouldbe easy enough for him to sabotage the transport of the cylinders in transit,of course, or even before they left Cartao. The problem was that with so fewpeople in on the secret, that kind of action would open him up to adangerously high risk of discovery. Still, if Sidious wanted it done...

But the Sith lord shook his head. "Don't bother," he said, his lipstwisting contemptuously. "A few thousand extra cloning tanks will hardly makea difference to the war effort. Let Palpatine have his little trophies."

Quietly, Doriana let out his breath. "Yes, my lord."

"I'll contact you soon," Sidious continued. "Once again, well done. The plan continues to move forward."

"And I look forward to its completion," Doriana said. "Farewell, Lord Sidious."

Sidious smiled. "Until next time, Master Doriana."

The End