Star Wars_ The Dark Lord Trilogy - James Luceno [46]
Anakin Skywalker.
Certainly it was him. And in the starfighter that was guarding Anakin’s stern: Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Thorns in the Separatists’ side.
Elsewhere in the battle arena Republic forces were demonstrating similar enthusiasm, atomizing droid fighters and punishing the capital ships with long-range cannon fire. Grievous was confident that, if pressed, he could turn the tide of battle, but that was not his present mandate. His Sith Masters had ordered him to safeguard the lives of the Council members—though, in fact, the Confederacy needed none other than Lords Sidious and Tyranus.
He turned to watch the simulation playing above the tactical console, then swung back to the viewports, recalling the ARC-170 pilots who had hounded Gunray’s shuttle only days earlier. He waved for one of the droids.
“Alert our vessel commanders to stand by to receive revised battle orders.”
“Yes, General,” the droid acknowledged in monotone.
“Raise the ship. Prepare to fire all guns on my command.”
There is no death; there is only the Force.
Obi-Wan wondered if he had ever witnessed a more lucid demonstration of the Jedi axiom than Anakin’s Force-centered, death-defying harassment of Grievous’s ship. His speck of a starfighter all but nose-to-nose with the mammoth cruiser, leaving Obi-Wan to deal with the vengeful droid fighters Anakin was either ignorant of or deliberately disregarding.
“He really is going to be the death of me,” Obi-Wan mumbled.
But he was indifferent to his own fate, wondering instead: What if Anakin should be killed?
Could he even be killed?
As the Chosen One, was he destined to fulfill both the title and the prophecy? Was he immune to real harm, or—as someone born to restore balance to the Force—did he require defenders to guide him to that destiny? Was it Obi-Wan’s duty—more, the duty of all the Jedi—to see to it that he survived at all costs?
Was that what Qui-Gon had intuited so many years earlier on Tatooine, and had motivated him to attack with such resolve the Sith who had revealed himself in that parched landscape?
Though the cruiser’s shield was removing the sting of Anakin’s laser bolts, he could not be deterred from persevering. Even Obi-Wan’s repeated attempts to hail him through the battle net had had no effect. But now the huge ship was beginning to climb and reorient itself.
Obi-Wan thought for a moment that Grievous was actually going to bring all forward guns to bear on Anakin. Instead, the cruiser continued to rise until it was well above the plane of the ecliptic, with its bow angled slightly Coreward.
Then it fired.
Not at the Republic battle group, nor at Belderone itself, but at the convoy of evacuees and its escort starfighters.
Obi-Wan felt a great disturbance in the Force, as ship after ship disintegrated or erupted in flames. Thousands of voices cried out, and the battle and command nets grew shrill with shouts of dismay and outrage.
The follow-up volley Obi-Wan waited for never arrived.
Tri-fighters and Vulture droids were suddenly slinking back to the ships from which they had been disgorged. At the same time, the entire Separatist fleet was turning tail. Of course Grievous realized that his barbaric act had caught the Republic forces by surprise, but he had nothing more in mind than escape into hyperspace. The general had obviously made up his mind that Belderone simply wasn’t worth the risk—not with so many defenseless Outer Rim worlds still up for grabs.
“Anakin, the evacuees need our help!” Obi-Wan said.
“I’m coming, Master.”
Obi-Wan watched Anakin’s starfighter break off its futile pursuit of the cruiser. Farther out, Separatist ships were disappearing from sight as they made the jump to lightspeed.
“Vessels of the main fleet are safely away,” a droid reported to Grievous as soon as the cruiser entered hyperspace. “Expected arrival at the alternate rally point: ten standard hours.”
“Losses at Belderone?”