Star Wars: Jedi Trial by David Sherman; Dan Cragg

Author:David Sherman; Dan Cragg
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction.Star Wars
ISBN: 9780345461148
Publisher: Random House Pub. Group
Published: 2004-10-26T07:00:00+00:00

25

The smoke and fires and the dust were so thick that the transport’s infras couldn’t penetrate it; the onboard radar was no longer effective at picking out targets, because the debris and fragments from exploding vehicles filled the air in a raging cauldron of destruction. It had become almost impossible to know if one was firing on friend or foe.

“Get us out of here,” Anakin ordered his driver. “I’ve got to see what’s going on and get those transports moving. My troopers are up there without infantry support. Move. Move!”

Suddenly Anakin’s vehicle was rammed in the rear by another vehicle; everyone pitched forward in their harnesses, and the transport came to a stop. In that instant a bolt from a laser cannon struck the machine on the flank and drilled through into the crew compartment, which immediately burst into flames.

Without even thinking about it, Anakin reached down with one arm and grabbed the driver by the bottom of his back plate. With the other he sent a Force push that flung the cupola hatch open. The driver released his harness and kicked with his feet as Anakin hauled him out of his seat, up into the cupola, and over the side. They landed in a heap beside the transport, which began to billow greasy black smoke followed by a brilliant and intensely hot white flame that shot at least ten meters into the air. No one else made it out.

Dragging the driver, Anakin stumbled toward cover. He hadn’t made it more than a few meters when another vehicle roared by, missing them by millimeters, almost knocking them down in its passing and nearly suffocating them in the thick cloud of dust that billowed behind it. Anakin flung himself and the driver into a shallow depression. All around them vehicles roared and churned, their guns flashing. The noise was deafening. Something came pounding at them out of the dust—a transport, headed straight for them. They burrowed as deeply into the depression as they could get and the machine roared right over them, half burying the pair in the caved-in dirt of the depression, which was now nothing more than a rut in the ground.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Anakin said, digging himself out of the dirt.

“Which way is out?” the driver replied.

He was right: Anakin realized he didn’t know which direction was the front. He looked around and in only a moment located the transports.

“This way,” he ordered. The driver followed him. They came to a transport that had stopped and was firing repeatedly at targets they couldn’t see. Anakin recognized the faint markings stenciled on the front armor plate—it was one of his! He switched to his command net. “Aurek Trill Six Niner Slant Cresh, this is Unit Six. Open up, I’m taking you as my command vehicle.” There was no response.

He reached for the small hatch that held a receiver-transmitter hooked into the vehicle’s onboard communications system when suddenly it lurched forward, entangling the hem of his cloak in the track mechanism, jerking him off his feet and dragging him along.

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