Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [206]
The crewmen themselves presented no problem since they were on leave and only looking to enjoy themselves. This kept them indoors on a hot and humid evening, where a cantina’s environmental control unit could make the night bearable, drinks could make it pleasurable, and company could make it exquisite. Dirt-patrols, meant for picking up sick, stupid or belligerent spacers and returning them to the ship, barely gave us a second glance. Elegos’ nose picked up the scent of the armor well before we saw the stormies, allowing us time to slip away down a sidestreet, or gather on a corner unobtrusively.
Finally we reached a building across a small greensward from the Imperial Governor’s palace. The building itself had an eight-meter-high wall running around it, with towers at each of the four corners that rose up another two meters. A large, recessed, arched entryway split the wall in two, but had been closed for the evening with two massive metal doors. Stormtroopers patrolled in pairs along the walls, and two each stood in the corner towers.
The palace itself had been set up in a triangular pattern with towers at each of the points. Left and right were two smaller towers, each a good fifteen meters in height and twice that in diameter. Directly back from the gate, the triangle’s furthest point had a rectangular tower that rose to thirty meters in height. The central third of it had been shrunk by a couple meters on each side, as if a giant fist had closed around it. It made for an interesting architectural look that differentiated the palace from most of the local buildings. A four-story-tall foundational building connected all three towers, and a private shuttle pad had been built into the roof of the big tower—which is why it had blinking lights crowning it.
“Twenty meters to the gate.” I crouched down, unfastening my cloak and letting it slide off my back. I boosted a pinch of dust into the air and watched it blow toward the palace. “At least we have a tail wind.”
“Good. Ooryl and Elegos cover us, we weave our way there.”
Elegos cleared his throat. “The gate is closed. How do you propose to get in?”
We each brandished our lightsabers. “We’ll knock,” Luke offered, “real loud.”
“What are you doing there?” A stormtrooper and his partner appeared from nowhere around the corner of the building shielding us. “Let’s see some identification.”
“Sure.” I stood slowly and held my lightsaber like a glowrod while I motioned with my left hand as if digging for identification. “I know I have something here.…” I thought that I might be able to project an image into his brain that would get him to go away, but my mind blanked.
The stormtrooper took a half-step toward me. “You look familiar.”
“Me? No, can’t be.”
“Trying to be smart?” The stormtrooper’s blaster came up to cover me. “You’re coming with us.”
I glanced at Luke, then shrugged and depressed my thumb, shooting the silver blade straight through the stormtrooper’s chest. I shoved him back into his partner, knocking his blaster aside. The second stormtrooper still pulled the trigger, spraying shots out into the night. My lightsaber came across and trimmed his shoulders down to the level of his armpits, ending his attack.
Luke stared at me. “You need to work on this idea of warning.”
“Didn’t get a chance with them, no.” I ducked down as the stormtroopers on the palace wall started shouting and firing shots in our direction. Alarms began to blare. “But the others, I think they’re all sorts of warned.… I suggest we go, now!”
Luke and I sprinted toward the palace gate,