Star Wars_ The Han Solo Adventures - Brian Daley [195]
Their captors herded them back toward the Falcon. Too late, Han understood why the Dellaltians had scattered. He just hoped the two machines had a workable plan.
Bollux, climbing the ramp, was at the main hatch lock with several of J’uoch’s people near. Strangely, just as the main hatch rolled up into its recess, the ’droid chose to swing his chest panels open. Then Han and the others heard Blue Max’s high-speed burst signals.
An ear-splitting hiss of a hurtling object echoed through the air. One of the men who was guarding Bollux was lifted off his feet by terrific impact, and in the next moment was stretched headlong on the ramp. Another captor, farther down the ramp, was slammed in the shoulder and knocked through the air.
“Run for it!” Blue Max shrilled. As suddenly as that, chaos broke loose.
VII
THE two strongarm specimens still standing at the top of the ramp ducked instinctively. Something small and fast swooshed past Han, knocking the humanoid who had been guarding him off his feet. Bollux pivoted to follow the action.
From the now-exposed Blue Max more high-pitched beeps issued forth. Han realized with some amazement that the computer module had managed to summon the remote target-globe from the Falcon’s interior and was using it as a weapon.
Before J’uoch’s people could react, Han yelled, “Hit ’em!” He grabbed the nearest opponent’s weapon, a slug-shooter carbine with a drum magazine and, twisting his leg behind the other’s, toppled him over.
Badure rammed his elbows back into the face of his guard and turned to grapple with him. Chewbacca was less fortunate. Preparing to enter the fray, he was unaware that the massive Egome Fass had stolen up behind him. The enforcer’s hard fist crashed into the base of the Wookiee’s skull.
Chewbacca staggered, nearly falling to his knees, but his tremendous strength bore him up again. He turned groggily to give battle, but Egome Fass’s first blow had given the enforcer a formidable edge. He avoided Chewbacca’s slowed counterpunch and landed another blow, bringing his fist down on the Wookiee’s shoulder. And this time the Falcon’s first mate went down.
Badure was having a difficult time with his second guard, who was young and fast. They struggled, feet shuffling in the dry dust, but just as the older man was gaining the upper hand by dint of weight and reach, he was tackled low around the knees and went down.
The tackier was Hasti. She had seen that J’uoch’s men on the ramp were about to open fire on Badure. Propelled by its repulsor power and forced air, the remote globe had taken two antagonists out of the fight. J’uoch was shooting at it with Hasti’s confiscated pistol, missing, and screaming orders that her troops ignored.
Han had retrieved the carbine, knocking his opponent away with a stroke of the weapon’s butt. He spotted his partner struggling to rise as Egome Fass hovered over him. The enforcer’s hood was thrown back, and in the light spilling down through the hatch, Han saw the humanoid’s huge, square jaw and tiny, gleaming eyes set far back under thick, bony ridges of brow.
Han clamped the carbine stock to his hips and squeezed off a burst. The weapon stuttered with a deafening staccato and reeked of burned propellant. A stream of slugs plucked at the enforcer’s chest but only ripped away fragments of cloth. Egome Fass was wearing body armor under his outsized coveralls. Before Han could adjust for effect, the humanoid lunged for cover.
A wash of white fire flared on Han’s right. Turning, he saw that it was a power-pistol shot aimed at Badure by a man on the ramp who missed because Hasti had just tackled the old man. But it hit the man with whom Badure had been struggling. He shrieked once and died as he fell.
Han