Star Wars_ Boba Fett 05_ A New Threat - Elizabeth Hand [24]
Boba quickly powered up his borrowed swoop. It gave a hoarse cough and sputtered into the air.
Boba circled back to where the siege was in full swing. The air blazed blue and black and silver with laser fire. Everywhere around the fortress, clone troopers were attacking Wat Tambor's droid forces. What did the Jedi mean? he wondered.
It looked like the Republic was in trouble.
The Separatists had launched a counterattack! "This isn't good,"
Boba muttered. "Not for me, at least!"
Boba had thought that Wat Tambor's citadel was well-guarded before.
Now he realized the canny Separatist had deliberately hidden the full power of his forces. Because suddenly the gaping maw of Mazariyan yawned open. There was a horrible, thunderous clattering sound, and hundreds -
maybe thousands - of droids came streaming from the fortress. Spider droids, super battle droids, even dreaded and lethal droidekas, like gigantic insects rolling out of a rotten stump.
Boba gaze down at them, transfixed. "How am I going to get through that and into the fortress? There's no way I can land without being seen and pulverized!"
He steered the swoop down for a closer look. Too close.
With a grinding noise, one of the droideikas came to an abrupt halt. It swiveled and uncurled into firing position, its black, eyeless head pointed straight up - directly at Boba.
It fired.
"Aghhh!"
Too late, Boba yanked at the swoop's controls. A blast of heat struck the swoop. At the same instant, Boba dove from it. He could feel the surge of fire through his protective boots. He could hear the concussive blast roaring through the air like a seismic charge.
But all he could see was the explosion of laser fire all around him as he plummeted helplessly-right into the battle.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ummmpphi" With a grunt Boba smashed onto the ground. His body armor absorbed the blow, but it took him a moment to catch his breath. There was such a thick haze of smoke and spores he could barely see. He blinked, trying to clear his vision.
What he was able to make out was not good: a clone trooper, just millimeters from his face!,
"No way!" yelled Boba. He rolled onto his back and kicked, out, just as the clone took aim. Boba's, feet connected with the clone's knees. He wasn't strong enough to knock down the trooper. But Boba did throw him off balance.
And that was all it took. Boba was on his feet again, blaster raised. The clone towered above him, its face invisible behind its helmet. But something in the way it stood, something in the way it held its blaster, made Boba hesitate.
Because, just for a flickering moment, it wasn't a clone trooper there.
It was Jango Fett - Boba's father.
Boba recognized Jango's stance. He recognized Jango's strength. He even recognized the way Jango's head drew back slightly as he aimed his weapon. Only this wasn't Jango Fett. This was a clone trooper who had decided that Boba was an enemy.
"You're not my father!" Boba's voice was drowned in the blast from his Westar. "You're a clone!"
The trooper's aim was excellent - but Boba's was better. In a blaze of flame and vapor, the clone trooper fell.
One down! thought Boba. Only a couple thousand to go.
He whirled, and found himself smack in the middle of the battle about 200 meters from the citadel walls. Above him, droid fighters shot from the citadel's peak. Battle droids swarmed around its base, blasting away. Clone troopers ran in formation. As they neared the fortress, the formation broke up. Individual troopers raced toward the battle droids.
One clone got caught by a hailfire missile and vanished into a thousand pieces.
Yuck! thought Boba. He looked away quickly. BARRAAAMMM!
Brilliant multicolored pulses of laser fire erupted from the clones' blaster rifles. All were now aimed at the rolling, firing hailfire.
KRRRAARRROW!