SW0408 Jedi Academy 03 Champions of the Force (v5) by Kevin J Anderson

Author:Kevin J Anderson [Anderson, Kevin J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Tol Sivron’s head-tails twitched. He squinted his black beady eyes at the oncoming small ships. They appeared so trivial, their weapons systems so minor. “I can’t believe they’re attacking us,” he said. “What do they think they’re going to accomplish?”

At the tactical station the stormtrooper captain spoke through his white helmet. “If I might point out, Director, this battle station is for proof-of-concept only. It was never designed to defend itself against multiple small threats. In fact, the Death Star was meant to house over seven thousand TIE fighters, not to mention thousands of surface turbolasers and ion cannons and an escort of several Imperial-class Star Destroyers. We have none of these.

“Individually, those Rebel ships may be only a minor threat, but together they can harry us for an extended period and, if we are unlucky, cause significant structural damage.”

“You mean we don’t have any fighters of our own?” Tol Sivron said with stern disapproval. “That was poor planning. Who wrote that section of the procedure? I want to know right now.”

“Director,” the stormtrooper said with a tinge of exasperation in his filtered voice, “that doesn’t matter at the moment.”

“It matters to me!” Tol Sivron said. He turned toward demon-faced Yemm, who was already scouring the records.

“It appears that Dr. Qwi Xux was responsible for that section, Director,” Yemm said. “She devoted much of her time to the operation and performance of the superlaser, giving short shrift to tactical considerations.”

Sivron sighed. “I see we’ve found a flaw in our approval system. Such weak spots should never have been allowed to pass through the progress reports and review meetings.”

“Director,” Doxin said, “let us not allow this to overshadow the marvelous performance of the Death Star superlaser itself.”

“Agreed, agreed,” Sivron said. “We should have a meeting immediately to discuss the implications of—”

The stormtrooper captain stood up from his station. “Director, we must establish certain priorities right now! We are under attack.”

An outside explosion made the Death Star framework around the control chamber vibrate.

“That’s three direct hits with proton torpedoes,” the stormtrooper said. “So far.”

As Sivron watched, four Z-95 Headhunters swooped out of the superstructure, their rear engines blazing.

“Well, then fire again with our laser,” Tol Sivron said. “Maybe we can hit one of them this time.”

“The power core is only half-charged,” Doxin pointed out.

Sivron whirled and parted his lips to show pointed teeth. “Isn’t that good enough to knock out a few little ships?”

Doxin blinked his piggish eyes as if he hadn’t considered the possibility. “Why, yes, sir—yes, it is. Ready to fire.”

“At your convenience, Division Leader,” Sivron said.

Eagerly, Doxin spoke into the intercom, commanding the gunners to fire. After a few seconds the incredible beam of light seared out; side lasers converged at a focal point and coalesced into a laser battering ram that plowed through the fringe of the oncoming cluster of fighters, vaporizing one old blockade runner in the vanguard of the left prong. Another ship was damaged by the backwash of the blast, but the attacking forces spread out and disappeared into the superstructure like parasites, firing again.

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