Read Online Conquest: Edge of Victory I by Greg Keyes - Free Book Online
Authors: Greg Keyes
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he raced down the corridor, blaster in one hand and lightsaber in the other.
He found them in the refectory—Tahiri, Valin Horn, and Sannah. They had barricaded the outer door with tables and had two blasters between them, no telling where they had gotten them. When Anakin entered, Tahiri waved the gun at him.
“What are you doing?” Anakin exploded.
“Helping you,” Tahiri said with a grin.
“How did you—”
“Kam thought we were on Tionne’s boat, Tionne thought we were on his. Simple, with a little planning.”
“But Valin? Valin’s only eleven!”
“Twelve!” Valin said very seriously. “I can help.”
“This is insane.”
“Fine one you are to talk, Anakin,” Tahiri snapped. “You’re the one who left Coruscant without permission, aren’t you? You get to do everything while we just run away and do nothing? I don’t think so, best friend.”
“Yeah? Well, my plan was to get away in the X-wing. Now we have too many people for that. What does the brilliant Tahiri propose we do, exactly?”
“Oh.” Her green eyes went round. “I hadn’t thought that far.”
“No, I guess you didn’t.”
The floor suddenly vibrated like the shell of a Hapan lute.
“What’s that?” Sannah asked.
Valin, peeking out the window, answered. “The shield is down. Now they’re shooting at the doors. Some men are coming up the stairs, too.”
“No more time,” Anakin said. “We’ll have to think as we go. I told Ikrit to meet us in the grotto.”
“Then we’ll be stuck underground.”
“I didn’t have much time to put this together, Tahiri.”
“You mean there’s more to your plan than hiding in the grotto?”
Anakin blew out a deep breath. “Sure. We’ll take a Peace Brigade ship.”
Tahiri smiled. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
They reached the turbolift just as a clump of Peace Brigaders appeared at the end of the corridor facing onto the outside stairs.
“Hey! Stop!” one of them shouted.
Two blaster shots pinged against the doors as they closed. Anakin let out a breath as the lift started to descend, then sucked it back in.
“It’s going to stop,” Anakin said. “At the second level.”
“Override it.”
“I can’t,” he said, activating his lightsaber with a
snap-hiss
. “The door will stay open for a few seconds. If they’re out there …”
The door opened on the muzzles of six blasters. Anakin didn’t think. He’d already slapped the “down” button—now he leapt into the midst of his enemies, blocking the first two blaster bolts with his weapon and sending them burning back through the press. He cut a blaster rifle in half and spun. Shouting in alarm, his attackers gave ground, trying to find a range where they could use their weapons. Two came at him with stun batons. He leapt and whirled, disarming one with a cut that took severalfingers and another that sheared the baton in half. He felt another blow coming, one he wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid.
When he landed, he was facing another lightsaber, its blade a vibrant blue.
Behind it—gripping it and grinning fiercely—was Tahiri. She’d just slashed the force pike in half that had almost impaled him.
He didn’t let his astonishment faze him. The turbolift with Sannah and Valin was long gone.
Find Master Ikrit
, he sent after the young candidates, hoping that if they could not make out actual words, they would at least get the sense.
Then he squared his shoulders and faced the Peace Brigaders who were warily regrouping about two meters away. “You don’t stand a chance,” Anakin told them. “I’ve been trying not to hurt you. That ends with the next person who fires a weapon at me.”
“They can’t get all of us,” a woman in front said. She had a seamed brown face and dark eyes.
“Of course we can,” Anakin said.
“All of us?” She smirked. From behind her came the sound of what could only be reinforcements.
Anakin hit the woman, hard, with a telekinetic
He found them in the refectory—Tahiri, Valin Horn, and Sannah. They had barricaded the outer door with tables and had two blasters between them, no telling where they had gotten them. When Anakin entered, Tahiri waved the gun at him.
“What are you doing?” Anakin exploded.
“Helping you,” Tahiri said with a grin.
“How did you—”
“Kam thought we were on Tionne’s boat, Tionne thought we were on his. Simple, with a little planning.”
“But Valin? Valin’s only eleven!”
“Twelve!” Valin said very seriously. “I can help.”
“This is insane.”
“Fine one you are to talk, Anakin,” Tahiri snapped. “You’re the one who left Coruscant without permission, aren’t you? You get to do everything while we just run away and do nothing? I don’t think so, best friend.”
“Yeah? Well, my plan was to get away in the X-wing. Now we have too many people for that. What does the brilliant Tahiri propose we do, exactly?”
“Oh.” Her green eyes went round. “I hadn’t thought that far.”
“No, I guess you didn’t.”
The floor suddenly vibrated like the shell of a Hapan lute.
“What’s that?” Sannah asked.
Valin, peeking out the window, answered. “The shield is down. Now they’re shooting at the doors. Some men are coming up the stairs, too.”
“No more time,” Anakin said. “We’ll have to think as we go. I told Ikrit to meet us in the grotto.”
“Then we’ll be stuck underground.”
“I didn’t have much time to put this together, Tahiri.”
“You mean there’s more to your plan than hiding in the grotto?”
Anakin blew out a deep breath. “Sure. We’ll take a Peace Brigade ship.”
Tahiri smiled. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
They reached the turbolift just as a clump of Peace Brigaders appeared at the end of the corridor facing onto the outside stairs.
“Hey! Stop!” one of them shouted.
Two blaster shots pinged against the doors as they closed. Anakin let out a breath as the lift started to descend, then sucked it back in.
“It’s going to stop,” Anakin said. “At the second level.”
“Override it.”
“I can’t,” he said, activating his lightsaber with a
snap-hiss
. “The door will stay open for a few seconds. If they’re out there …”
The door opened on the muzzles of six blasters. Anakin didn’t think. He’d already slapped the “down” button—now he leapt into the midst of his enemies, blocking the first two blaster bolts with his weapon and sending them burning back through the press. He cut a blaster rifle in half and spun. Shouting in alarm, his attackers gave ground, trying to find a range where they could use their weapons. Two came at him with stun batons. He leapt and whirled, disarming one with a cut that took severalfingers and another that sheared the baton in half. He felt another blow coming, one he wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid.
When he landed, he was facing another lightsaber, its blade a vibrant blue.
Behind it—gripping it and grinning fiercely—was Tahiri. She’d just slashed the force pike in half that had almost impaled him.
He didn’t let his astonishment faze him. The turbolift with Sannah and Valin was long gone.
Find Master Ikrit
, he sent after the young candidates, hoping that if they could not make out actual words, they would at least get the sense.
Then he squared his shoulders and faced the Peace Brigaders who were warily regrouping about two meters away. “You don’t stand a chance,” Anakin told them. “I’ve been trying not to hurt you. That ends with the next person who fires a weapon at me.”
“They can’t get all of us,” a woman in front said. She had a seamed brown face and dark eyes.
“Of course we can,” Anakin said.
“All of us?” She smirked. From behind her came the sound of what could only be reinforcements.
Anakin hit the woman, hard, with a telekinetic
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