The Jedi Academy Trilogy_ Jedi Search Part 1

STAR WARS.

The Jedi Academy Trilogy.

Jedi Search.

By Kevin J. Anderson.

To my editor Betsy Mitch.e.l.l, for giving me the opportunity to play in such a vast and entertaining universe and for helping shape my work into the best it could be.

JEDI SEARCH.

The black hole cl.u.s.ter near Kessel reached out for the Millennium Falcon with jaws of gravity, drawing it close. Even in the mottled blur of hypers.p.a.ce, Han Solo could see the huge distortion as a bruised whirlpool, trying to suck them down to infinity.

"Hey, Chewie! Don't you think that's too close?" He stared at the Falcon's navicomputer, wishing they had chosen a course that would take them a safer distance from the Maw. "What do you think this is, an old smuggling mission? We got nothing to hide this time."

Beside him, Chewbacca looked disappointed and grunted an excuse, waving his hairy paws in the stifling air of the c.o.c.kpit.

"Yeah, well we're on an official mission this time. No more skulking about. Try to act dignified, okay?"

Chewbacca groaned a skeptical reply, then turned to his navigational screens.

Han felt a pang at returning to his old haunts, reminded of when he had been just on the other side of the law, running spice, being chased by Imperial scout ships. When his life had been free and easy.

On one of those frantic missions, he and Chewbacca had practically shaved the bottom plating off the Falcon, taking a shortcut and skimming closer to the Maw cl.u.s.ter of black holes than had ever before been recorded. Sensible pilots avoided the area, using longer paths that kept them clear of the black holes, but the Falcon's speed had carried them to safety on the other side, making the Kessel run in under twelve pa.r.s.ecs.

But that "guaranteed sure thing" mission had ended in disaster anyway; Han had dumped his load of spice just before being boarded by Imperials.

This time, though, Han was returning to Kessel under different circ.u.mstances. His wife Leia had appointed him an official representative of the New Republic, an amba.s.sador of sorts, though the t.i.tle seemed somewhat honorary.

But even an honorary t.i.tle had its advantages. Han and Chewbacca no longer had to dodge scout ships, or duck under planetary sensor nets, or use the secret compartments under the deck plates. Han Solo found himself in the unlikely, and uncomfortable, position of being respectable. There was no other word for it.

But Han's new responsibilities weren't just quaint annoyances. He was married to Leia--who could have imagined that? --and he had three children.

Han leaned back in his flight chair and locked his hands behind his head. He allowed a wistful smile to cross his face. He had visited the kids as often as he could, in their protective isolation on a secret planet, and the twins were due to come home to Coruscant in a week.

Anakin, the third little baby, had filled him with wonder as he tickled the tiny ribs, watching an expression of amus.e.m.e.nt cross the infant's face.

Han Solo, a father figure? Leia had said a long time ago that she liked "nice men"--and that was exactly what Han was turning into!

He caught Chewbacca looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

Embarra.s.sed, Han sat up straight and frowned down at the controls. "Where are we? Shouldn't it be about time to end this jump?"

Chewie growled an affirmative, then reached out with a furry paw to grasp the hypers.p.a.ce controls. The Wookiee watched the numbers tick away on his control panel; at the appropriate moment he hauled backward on the lever that dropped them back into normal s.p.a.ce.

The mottled coloring of hypers.p.a.ce fanned into starlines with a roar that Han felt more than heard; then they were surrounded by the expected tapestry of stars.

Behind them the spectacle of the Maw looked like a garish finger painting as ionized gas plunged into multiple black holes. Directly in front of the Falcon, Han saw the blue-white glare of Kessel's sun. As the ship rotated to align them with the ecliptic, Kessel itself came into view, potato-shaped and maned with the tendrils of escaping atmosphere, orbited by a large moon that had once housed a garrison of Imperial troopers.

"Right on target, Chewie," Han said. "Now let me have the controls."

Kessel looked like a wraith coasting along its...o...b..t, too small to hold on to its own atmosphere. Huge generating factories constantly processed the raw rocks to release oxygen and carbon dioxide, making it possible for people to survive outside with simple breath masks instead of total environment suits. A good portion of the newly manufactured atmosphere escaped into s.p.a.ce, wisping behind the small planet like the tail of a giant comet.

Chewbacca barked a short, nasal comment.

Han nodded. "Yeah, it looks great from up here. Too bad it's so different when you get a closer look. I never liked the place."

Kessel was a major planet for spice production and seat of heavy smuggling activities, as well as the site for one of the toughest prisons in the galaxy. The Empire had controlled spice production except for what smugglers managed to steal from under Imperial noses. But with the fall of the Emperor, the smugglers and the prisoners in the Imperial Correction Facility took over the planet.

Kessel had laid low during the depredations of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the recent resurrection of the Emperor, keeping quiet and trying hard not to be noticed, answering no one's request for help.

A low growl rumbled in Chewie's throat.

Han sighed and shook his head, "Look, I'm not happy about going back there either, buddy. But things are different now, and we're the best people to do it."

With the civil war ended and the New Republic once again firmly seated on Coruscant, leaving scattered groups of Imperial warships to fight each other, it was time to reopen negotiations. Better to get them on our side than to let them sell out wherever they can, Han thought, which is what they'll probably do anyway. As representative of the new unified smugglers, Luke's old nemesis Mara Jade had tried to contact Kessel and been flatly rebuffed.

The Millennium Falcon approached Kessel, firing aft thrusters to help them catch up with the planet's motion, preparing for insertion into orbit. On the helm's scanner screens, Han checked their approach.

"Vectoring in," he said.

Chewie made a quick comment and pointed at the screens. Han looked down to see blips already in orbit around the planet, emerging from the blanketing clouds of the atmosphere. "I see 'em. Looks like about a half dozen ships. Too far away to determine the types."

Han brushed aside Chewie's uneasy growl. "Well, then we'll just tell them who we are. Don't worry. Why do you think Leia made such a fuss about getting us proper diplomatic ID signals and everything?"

He switched on the New Republic beacon that automatically pinged out their identification in Basic and several other languages. To his surprise, the orbiting ships changed their vector in unison and increased speed to intercept the Falcon.

"Hey!" Han shouted, then realized he had not switched on the audio pickup. Chewie roared. Han toggled the switch on. "This is Han Solo of the New Republic ship Millennium Falcon. We are on a diplomatic mission."

His mind raced, wondering what words a real diplomat would use. "Uh, please state your intentions."

The two closest ships raced in, first growing indistinct points of light, then taking on shapes. "Chewie, I think you'd better get our forward deflector shields up. I've got a bad feeling about this."

He reached for the communications switch as Chewbacca brought up the shields, but then he looked through the front viewport. The two incoming ships roared toward him at unbelievable speed, spreading out on either side. The sight of their squared-off solar panels and central pilot compartments turned Han's blood to ice water.

TIE fighters.

"Chewie, get over here. I'm taking the laser cannon." Before the Wookiee could reply, Han hauled himself up the access tube into the gun well. He grabbed on to the gunner's chair, trying to reorient himself in the new gravity field.

The TIE fighters came in for a two-p.r.o.nged attack, spreading above and below the Falcon and firing their lasers. As the ship lurched from the impact, Han managed to throw himself into the gunner's chair, grabbing for the harness buckle and strapping himself in. One of the attacking ships swooped overhead, and the Falcon's sensor panels howled with the sound of Twin Ion Engines, from which the TIE fighter took its name. The enemy vessel fired again, but the beams streaked harmlessly through s.p.a.ce.

"Chewie, take evasive action! Don't just fly straight!" The Wookiee shouted something from below, and Han yelled back. "I don't know--you're piloting, you figure it out!" Obviously Kessel had not rolled out the welcome mat for them. Had some vestige of the Empire taken over the planet? If so, Han needed to get that information back to Coruscant.

Other ships were approaching now, and somehow Han didn't think they were coming to help. Up ahead, the two TIE fighters swooped up in a tight arc, executing a complete one-eighty and roaring back for a second attack on the Falcon.

But this time Han had managed to strap himself in and power up the laser batteries. On his scope the TIE fighter made a digitized target, growing larger. The enemy ship came closer and closer. Han tightened his grip around the firing levers, knowing the TIE pilot would be doing the same. He waited, feeling sweat build up on his neck. He realized he was holding his breath. One more second. One more second. The targeting cross showed dead center on the starboard wing of the fighter.

The instant Han pressed the firing b.u.t.ton, Chewbacca threw the Falcon into an evasive roll. The laser blasts went wide, spraying toward the distant stars. The TIE fighter's shot also missed, streaking in the opposite direction and coming perilously close to striking the second TIE fighter.

The second fighter managed to readjust his aim quickly enough that his two shots scored the Falcon's shields. Han heard sparks spraying from the control panels. Chewie bellowed a preliminary damage report. Aft shields gone. Forward shields still holding well. That meant they had to take the TIE fighters head-on.

As the first fighter swung around for a third pa.s.s, Han swiveled his gun turret as far as it would go and stared at the targeting screen again. This time he would forget about finesse and perfect accuracy. He just wanted to blast the sucker. His lasers were fully charged, and he could afford to waste a few shots, as long as this wasn't going to be a prolonged battle.

As soon as the targeting cross touched the image of the fighter, Han squeezed his firing b.u.t.tons at full power, strafing his deadly laser across the path of the incoming ship. The Imperial fighter swooped in but could not change its course quickly enough, plowing through the shower of laser bolts. The ship erupted into a flame-flower of exploding fuel tanks and expanding atmosphere.

Han and Chewbacca shouted their triumph in unison. Even euphoric, Han didn't sit around patting himself on the back. "Let's go after the other one, Chewie." The second TIE fighter swerved outward in a long trajectory, then headed back toward Kessel. "Hurry, before those reinforcements can get here." He wondered if perhaps he and Chewbacca shouldn't turn and flee immediately. But part of him refused to let anybody take potshots at the Millennium Falcon and just walk away from it.

Chewbacca increased speed, closing the gap between the Falcon and the TIE fighter. "Just get me one good shot, Chewie. One good shot."

He was in an unmarked modified light freighter--why would the TIE fighters come out shooting at them in the first place? Was it the New Republic ID beacon? What was going on at Kessel? Leia sat around thinking about details like that, a.n.a.lyzing the possibilities, and coming up with scenarios. With her tremendous load of diplomatic duties, she was becoming more and more of a thinker each day, trying to solve things by committee and negotiation. But a political solution wouldn't work if an Imperial TIE fighter came in shooting at you.

Another ship soared up from behind as they chased the TIE fighter toward Kessel. Han shot off a few bursts from his laser, but they all missed; then he turned his attention to the ship tailing them. The Falcon had no operational shields back there. Chewbacca called out again from below; then Han got his second surprise for the day. "I see it, I see it!"

An X-wing fighter approached from the rear, slowly gaining on the Falcon as they neared Kessel. Han took another potshot at the TIE fighter. Even from this distance the X-wing fighter seemed old and battered, as if it had been repaired many times.

"Chewie, contact the X-wing and tell him we'd appreciate whatever help he can give us." Han pressed his back against the firing chair and focused his attention on his target.

The fleeing TIE fighter soared into the wispy tail of atmosphere behind the planet. Han could see a bright pathway as the speed of the ship ionized the gas. Then the X-wing fired on the Falcon from behind.

The lasers scored a direct hit, incinerating the protruding sensor dish mounted on the top of the ship.

Han and Chewie shouted at each other, scrambling to figure what to do. Chewbacca took the Falcon into a tight dive closer to the atmosphere of Kessel. "Turn us around! Turn us around!" They had to get their unprotected aft section out of the X-wing's line of fire.

The X-wing shot again, burning metal on the hull of the Falcon. All the lights went out inside the ship. From the lurch of the cabin Han knew the hit had been a bad one. He could already smell something burning below decks. Emergency lights clicked on.

"We've got to get out of here!"

Chewbacca barked the Wookiee equivalent of "no kidding."

They ducked into the atmospheric tail, buffeted by the suddenly dense gas particles pelting the ship. Around them streamers of heated gas glowed orange and blue. The X-wing came in from behind, still firing.

Han's mind raced. They could skim around Kessel in a tight orbit, then slingshot back out of the system. With the black hole cl.u.s.ter so close at hand, no one would risk jumping into hypers.p.a.ce without intensive prior calculations, and neither he nor Chewie could spare the time to do them.

With the Falcon's sensor dish slagged, Han couldn't even send out a distress call or try to sweet-talk the traitorous commander of the X-wing. He couldn't even surrender! Talk about being stuck. "Chewie, if you have any suggestions--" He stopped talking as his mouth dropped open.

As they swept around Kessel, Han detected wave after wave of fighter ships launching from the garrison moon, raising a defensive curtain the Millennium Falcon would never be able to cross.

He saw hundreds of ships of every size and make imaginable, salvaged warships and stolen pleasure cruisers. Reaching the safety of numbers, the second TIE fighter did another tight loop to join the rest of the group. And they all came in shooting with a blur of turbolaser bolts that looked like a fireworks display. Despite the motley appearance of the Kessel fleet, Han's sensors showed that their weapons worked just fine. The attacking X-wing scored a direct hit. The cabin shook.

The Falcon took a turn upward as Chewbacca tried to flee the oncoming wave of ships. Han sent a barrage of laser fire into the cl.u.s.ter and was gratified to see the engine pod of a small Z-95 Headhunter fighter burst into flames. The snub fighter dropped out of the attacking fleet and wobbled toward Kessel's atmosphere. Han hoped it would crash.

Seeing that it would serve no purpose to keep firing against overwhelming odds, Han dropped back down the access shaft of the gun turret to the c.o.c.kpit to see what he could do to a.s.sist Chewbacca.

Then the fleet of ships began pummeling them.

The X-wing fired again, scoring a second direct hit. A firestorm of laser blasts struck their forward deflector shields. Chewie slewed the Falcon from side to side in a futile evasive maneuver. Han settled himself into the other pilot's chair just in time to see the indicator lights for the forward shields wink out. They were now unprotected from the front and from behind.

Another hit rocked them, and Han's chest smacked against the control panel. "There goes the main drive unit. We're s.p.a.ce-meat in the next barrage. Take us down, Chewie. Get us into the atmosphere. It's the only thing we can do." Chewbacca started to express his disbelief, but Han grabbed the controls and sent them lurching down toward Kessel. "It's gonna be a b.u.mpy ride. Hold on to your fur."

The swarm of attacking ships whirled in s.p.a.ce as the Falcon plowed into the white atmosphere of Kessel. Han grabbed his seat as the ship struck the clouds. He suddenly felt the buffeting winds caused by gouts of air escaping into s.p.a.ce. From his control panels and the stench leaking from the back compartments, Han knew that his maneuvering capabilities would be minimal. By the groaning sounds from his copilot, he knew the Wookiee had realized the same thing.

"Think of it this way, Chewie. If we land this thing in one piece, our skill as pilots will be legendary from one end of the galaxy to the other!" Han said with a humor he did not feel. "I knew I shouldn't have come back to Kessel. "

The Falcon was going down. Both Han and Chewbacca fought to keep a steady downward course that would not burn them up in the insubstantial atmosphere.

Kessel's main defensive fleet swept into orbit and prepared for an orderly descent. One sleek, insectile ship, which Han recognized as a black-market-built Hornet Interceptor, peeled off, streaking downward in the Falcon's backdraft.

Chewbacca saw it first. The ship, aerodynamically perfect, slid through the atmosphere like a vibroblade, ignoring the heat generated on its hull. The ship fired surgical strikes of turbolasers at the Falcon's maneuvering jets, disabling them further.

"We're already crashing!" Han bellowed. "What more do they want?"

But he knew: they wanted the Falcon to be destroyed on impact, all occupants erased. Han suspected he didn't need any help from the Hornet Interceptor.

As they plunged downward, the Falcon approached one of the giant atmosphere factories, a huge smokestack mounted on the surface of Kessel, where immense engines catalyzed the rock and cooked out gases into a cyclone of breathable air.

The Hornet Interceptor fired again. The Falcon lurched from a near miss. Chewbacca's face was grim. His fangs showed as he concentrated on keeping them alive.

"Chewie, pull as close to the plume as you can. I've got an idea."

Chewbacca yowled, but Han cut him off. "Just do it, buddy!"

When the Hornet tried to outflank them, Han swept the ship aside as the towering plume of atmosphere boiled into the sky. The Hornet Interceptor tried to second-guess his move, but Han lurched sideways again, driving the Hornet into the roaring upward flow of wind.

An aileron strut in the delicate insectile wing snapped off, and the Hornet spun into the cyclone. Other parts of its hull broke apart as the ship tried to escape but lurched deeper into the danger zone. Han gave a cry of triumph as the ship exploded into flames that were pulled to tatters by the atmosphere factory's vortex.

Then the surface of Kessel rushed up at them like a gigantic hammer.

Han fought with the controls. "At least we'll have a soft landing with the new repulsorlifts we installed," he said. He grabbed at the panel, priming the controls. Chewbacca barked at him to hurry. Han activated the repulsorlifts as he simultaneously heaved a sigh of relief.

Nothing.

"What?" He slammed his fingers on the switch again and again, but the repulsorlifts refused to operate. "I just had those fixed!" Han yelled above the noise of screaming wind as he fought to bring the Falcon under some semblance of control. "Okay, Chewie, I am definitely open for suggestions!"

But Chewbacca had no time to answer before the ship crashed into the rugged surface of Kessel.

The towers of Imperial City rose to the sky, high above the shadowed surface of the planet Coruscant. The cornerstones of the towers had been in place for more than a thousand generations, dating back to the formative days of the Old Republic. Over the millennia higher and higher structures had been built on top of the ruined foundations.

Luke Skywalker stepped onto a shuttle-landing platform that jutted out from the scarred, monolithic face of the former Imperial Palace.

Gusts of wind whipped around him, and he pulled back the hood of his Jedi robe.

He looked into the sky, pondering the thin layer of atmosphere that protected Coruscant from s.p.a.ce beyond. Wrecked ships still rode in haphazard orbits, debris from the vicious battles when the Alliance had recently recaptured the planet from Imperial control during civil war in the remnants of the Empire.