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I'm sorry, she said silently, to all the men and women she'd promised to protect. To the survivors on Delaya. To the Rebel Alliance. To Luke, to Han. To her father.

To Alderaan.

"Ready?" The Pau'an drew the injector and pressed it to the back of her neck.

But before he could inject her, an alarm ripped through the silence.

His comlink blared. "Intruders!" the tinny voice announced. "Institute emergency protocol!"

The man scowled, laying the injector next to Leia's body. "I'll be back, Your Highness."

"Back from the dead?" Leia snarled, drawing strength from the blaring alarm.

Someone had come for her. She wasn't the kind of woman who liked to be rescued.

But it was far better than the alternative.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ferus dodged a laserblast and threw himself across the hall, slamming into the stormtrooper. He jerked his blaster over his head, smashing it into the trooper's plastoid face plate. With the help of the Force, the blow sent the stormtrooper reeling. Ferus waited for a clear shot, then fired.

His Jedi training gave him an advantage over the enemy. His senses were honed, his motions carefully chosen and lightning quick. As he battled through the crush of stormtroopers, time slowed for him. The Force alerted him when the enemy was set to strike. He darted out of the way an instant before the laserfire could hit its mark, and fought with an acrobatic grace.

Still, he was clumsy with a blaster. With his lightsaber, he could likely have taken out the stormtroopers all on his own. What was the point of keeping his identity a secret if it got them all killed?

Luke wasn't using his lightsaber either, Ferus noted. The boy was good with a blaster, but his hand kept straying to the lightsaber's hilt, as if he were resisting the temptation to activate it.

He's afraid of failure, Ferus thought. He's afraid to try.

They battled their way down a long hallway, leaving a trail of armored bodies behind them. Ahead of them, the hall branched off in two directions. More stormtroopers approached from behind.

"Chewie, you search that hall, Luke and I'll take this one," Han shouted, signaling for Elad and Ferus to cover them as they rounded the corner.

Two was almost more effective than five in the narrow hallway. Elad seemed to anticipate Ferus's motions, ducking and weaving out of the way, his shots perfectly timed with Ferus's. He fights like a Jedi, Ferus thought.

The stormtroopers surged forward, their boots pounding the ground in lockstep. The air blazed with laserfire. "This isn't working," Elad shouted over the noise. "We need to push back."

Ferus got his meaning. The stormtroopers were advancing toward the end of the hallway—any further, and they'd be able to turn the corner and take off after Han and Luke. He and Elad would have to force them back down to the other end of the hall, and hold them there as long as possible.

Ferus knew he could pull out his lightsaber and dispatch the guards within minutes.

But if there was any other way…

"In there!" Ferus said suddenly, jerked his head toward one of the open doors along the corridor.

"Run and hide?" Elad asked in disgust, dodging another blast. The hallways was filling up with a smoke so thick they could barely see the enemy.

"Neither," Ferus shot back. He pointed at the large cart just inside the storage closet, piled with medical equipment. Elad glanced over, eyebrows raised. Then he nodded, and darted inside. The stormtroopers fell back as Ferus peppered the hallway with laserfire. He drew on the Force to guide his aim, and the stormtroopers dropped, one by one. But there were still too many of them.

"Ready?" Elad said, pulling the cart out of the closet.

Ferus climbed on top, shifting his balance as Elad began to push. The cart gained momentum, plowing toward the stormtroopers.

They couldn't hit a moving target. Especially one towering several feet over their heads, speeding down the hallway right for them. Ferus bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to maintain his balance as the cart hurtled down the hallway, straight into the ranks