X-Wing Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole

Author:Michael A. Stackpole [Stackpole, Michael A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 6.5 ABY
ISBN: 9780553568011
Amazon: 0553568019
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1996-01-02T03:00:00+00:00

"And our sentries?"

"Gone."

"Not good. Stormtroopers travel in squads of nine-let's figure two dozen with the crew of whatever brought them here." Corran refastened the

ammo belt and slung it across his body. Reholster-ing the blaster pistol he

noticed that Ooryl had similarly appropriated his trooper's weapons. "Is

your boy dead?"

The Gand nodded and rolled his trooper onto his stomach. The trooper's

helmet had a blood-smeared hole in the back of it. The hole itself looked

odd, and Corran knew that was because of its shape, not just the jagged

outline from where the armor crumbled. Kind of a diamond shape . . .

He looked up. "Did you hurt your hand?"

Ooryl folded his three fingers into a fist with the wound's peculiar shape.

"Ooryl is not impaired."

"Well, I am, by the night and the fog. You'll be in the lead. We have to

assume the others are rigging the flight center to blow."

"No alarm?"

Corran hesitated. By rights raising an alarm would be the smart thing to do,

but there were no troops to fight against the stormtroopers. Waking every

one up would be inviting them to get slaugh-tered as they ran about

unarmed. The pilots would head toward their ships and the stormtroopers

in the flight center would cut them down in seconds.

"Have to go silent on this one. We want to approach the flight center from

the blind side."

The Gand nodded and led Corran out into the misty darkness. Clutching

the blaster carbine to his chest, a legion of conflicting thoughts and

emotions flooded through him. With each step a new plan presented itself

to him. There had to be better ways to handle the situation than slipping

blindly through the night to go hunting stormtroopers. They had every

advantage over him. Not only would their armor protect them, but the

helmet enhanced their vision and the built-in comlink meant they could

coordinate any efforts to hunt him down and kill him.

Thoughts shifted and ambition sparked dreams of glory. He saw himself as

a hero of the Alliance for foiling the stormtrooper raid, yet that dream died

quickly. As Biggs Darklighter and Jek Porkins had shown, most heroes of

the Alliance were made heroes posthumously, and posthumous was the

most likely outcome of the expedition. This did not suit Corran, but the

sense of menace radiating out through the night made it hard to deny.

At the same time the knowledge that he was surely dead provided him with a sense of freedom. His goal shifted from staying alive to making sure his

friends would stay alive. He wasn't fighting for himself, he was fighting for

them. He was the shield that would prevent the Empire's evil from touching

them. In this idea he found a haven from the sense of doom grinding in on

him.

Ooryl stopped him with a hand pressed gently to his chest. The Gand held

up one finger, then pointed straight ahead. He made a fist with his right

hand, then signaled with his left in a looping motion.

Corran nodded and sighted the carbine along the line where Ooryl had

pointed. The Gand slipped to the left and immediately disappeared in the

fog. The Corellian waited, willing himself to be able to see through the fog

to his target.

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