Star Wars_ Legacy of the Force 07_ Fury - Aaron Allston [93]
Jaina saw a distant flash to spinward—sign of another explosion beyond the horizon. She grabbed Zekk and kicked free, leaping toward the hole into the habitat above. Together they floated through. As the artificial gravity of the habitat hit them, they dropped, landing awkwardly on the lip of the hole.
Jaina breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the shock wave from the last explosion hit. The ground fifteen meters down rippled as though it were cloth laid atop water. Jaina felt her legs shaking, from external vibrations rather than exhaustion.
Jag’s X-wing, visible beneath the hole, rose on one wing as if banking, then tumbled out of sight. The vibrations increased.
The habitat suddenly tilted. The chamber was plunged into darkness—relieved only by the circle of lights around the exit hole—and the two Jedi floated free of the floor.
Suddenly the view through the hole showed more ground, then distant horizon, then stars…
The habitat was free of the asteroid, kicked loose by successive explosions, and was tumbling.
When the two Jedi forced open the door into the hangar, they found everything beyond in a state of chaos. Dim emergency lighting revealed two StealthXs, dozens of durasteel storage barrels, two refueling pumps, and countless hundreds of hand tools circulating through the large open space, ricocheting—in a slow and stately way, in the case of the snubfighters—off the walls and colliding with other free-floating debris. As Jaina watched, one cylindrical metal barrel collided with a strike foil of Zekk’s StealthX and partially crumpled, its lid popping free, the greenish hydraulic fluid it held slowly pouring out into the atmosphere and spreading. In addition to the sounds of clanks, crashes, and other collisions, the R9 astromechs in the two snubfighters were adding screeches and musical tones of dismay to the din.
The control board for the hangar door and its atmosphere shield was dead.
Jaina glanced at Zekk and gestured at the metal storm they faced. “No way to manage a safe launch. Get in your cockpit. I’ll get the hangar doors open.”
Zekk shook his head. “You’ll be sucked right out into the void when you do.” He sounded a bit stronger, as though distance from the pool of dark side energy was restoring his spirits.
“I’ll use a shadow bomb.”
Zekk winced. A shadow bomb detonated at that proximity to the StealthXs was certain to damage them. But Jaina knew she was right—opening the hangar doors with a lightsaber and telekinetic nudges from the Force was certain death for the opener. Zekk gave her a pained look and pushed off from the wall, floating on an intercept course toward his StealthX.
ABOARD THE MILLENNIUM FALCON
The Falcon’s comm board made a brief crackling noise, then Leia could hear Jaina’s voice across it. “No checklist, no time. Arming.”
Zekk was next. “Shields up.”
“Shields up, copy. Repulsorlifts to max, hold yourself in place.”
Leia felt a weight, something like ten tons, drop away from her shoulders. She keyed her comm board. “Jaina?”
“Firing.”
One wall of the distant, tumbling habitat blew out, venting atmosphere and a cloud of particulate matter. A moment later one StealthX emerged, then another, trailing more debris.
One after the other, they angled toward the Falcon. Jaina’s next words were stronger. “Yes, Mom?”
“Are you all right?”
“As well as can be expected.” Jaina’s tone was joyless.
“What about Alema? And Jag?”
There was a long pause before Jaina’s response. “Both dead, I think.”
chapter twenty-eight
Han and Leia watched their monitor screens as the Falcon’s rear holocams showed them the last few seconds in the existence of the asteroid.
One moment it was there; the next, it was replaced by a bright glow and an expanding pulse of energy.
Glum, Han activated his comm board. “Sensors show an energy yield that says fission bombs to me. I don’t think anyone has used fission bombs since near the