Enemy Lines II_ Rebel Stand - Aaron Allston [100]
She took the stairs up as fast as she could and stared in anguish at the hole in the wall through which the Ugly Truth had left. All her work was undone. She would have to start again, searching, hiding, surviving, until she could find or repair another functional spacecraft.
Well, it was likely that the airtaxi was functional. That was a starting point. She descended to give it a look.
On the front seat was a pile of preserved food from the Ugly Truth, and a note:
Senator Shesh:
We thought you would probably need these more than we do. Don’t eat them all in one place.
Love,
The Wraiths
Only then did Viqi sink down to the carpet. Only then did she begin to cry.
The ziggurat was a series of high, broad steps. The Jedi leapt up to the next step, ran its width, and then leapt up to the one above, again and again, until they reached the roof.
From here they could see the hole in the ziggurat roof widening. With every moment that passed, more tons of rubble poured up and out of the hole and flew out to pour onto surrounding kilometers of buildings. Some streams diverted to hose coralskippers out of the air. The lines of giant boulders still danced their merry circles around Nyax.
Luke led the others off at an angle, to where each of the boulders in turn dipped down to within meters of the ziggurat’s surface. As the next one swept low, they leaped, propelling themselves farther with use of the Force, and landed atop the irregular duracrete surface.
Luke could feel it as Nyax detected them. The pale giant rotated in the air to face them, his smile changing from one of simple pleasure to one of malice. “This is going to be bad,” Luke said.
Mara nodded. The wind at this altitude whipped her hair into a life of its own, making it look like a candle flame in a strong breeze. “Any ideas?”
“I have one.” Tahiri knelt to improve her balance while she stared ahead. In the distance, this stream of boulders took a sharp turn, then moved to within a few meters of Nyax’s position and beyond. “Just past that point. Distract him. I’ll finish him.”
Luke cocked an eyebrow at her. “You’ll finish him. How?”
There was something in Tahiri’s eyes that sent a chill down Luke’s spine. “He could fight the Jedi just by feeling us in the Force,” she said. “He couldn’t feel the Yuuzhan Vong, so he had to watch. Well, I’m both.” She rose and turned away from Luke and Mara, then took the long leap to the next flying boulder back in line. She raced its length, then leaped again to the third boulder down.
“What do you say we take her at her word?” Mara said.
“I’m too tired to argue.”
Their boulder reached the end of its straightaway course and turned. It turned more violently than its predecessors had, but Luke and Mara could feel Nyax’s intentions in the Force; they kept their feet planted and did not budge.
As their vehicle came closer to Nyax, Luke stretched forth his hand. He snatched a portion of the rubble stream from beneath them, bent its course, sent it hurtling toward Nyax.
Nyax reacted without moving, regaining control of the stream, hurling it at Luke.
Luke leaned over backward, rotating his boulder with him. The oncoming stones crashed into its side and bottom as the rotation continued.
Upside down, clinging by virtue of her enhanced Force strength, Mara ignited her lightsaber and hurled it. It twirled under the flow of boulders, almost invisible through the dense rain of duracrete; then, as it came within meters of Nyax, it twirled up and at him.
His expression changed to one of startlement. With none of his own blades active to protect him, he slipped sideways, out of the lightsaber’s path, then turned to watch it as Mara directed its flight. She sent it around in a long loop, preparing it for another approach.
Mara and Luke came upright as their boulder completed its rotation, and Luke could feel Nyax’s attention on him, too, waiting for his attack. Luke made it, shoving in the Force, trying to hurl Nyax off balance and onto Mara’s blade. The attack was a success, but Nyax activated all