Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy_ Champions of the Force - Kevin J. Anderson [102]
But when she determined that the prototype was piloted by the incompetent fool Tol Sivron, her hopes dwindled. “Why doesn’t he fire?” she said. “One blast and he could take out all three corvettes and the frigate. Why doesn’t he fire?”
Commander Kratas stood by her side. “I can’t say, Admiral.”
She glared to make it clear she hadn’t expected an answer. “Tol Sivron has never had any initiative in his entire life,” she said. “I should have known I couldn’t expect him to do his duty now. Redouble our efforts against the Installation. Let us show Tol Sivron how it must be done.”
She narrowed her brilliant eyes to look around the bridge. “Enough practice,” she said. “It’s time to destroy Maw Installation once and for all. Open fire!”
37
In the Maw Installation operations room, one of the technicians pounded her fist on a control deck. “Shields are failing, General Antilles!” she announced.
Another engineer ran in from the outside corridor, florid-faced and puffing. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, and his blue eyes were glassy with panic. “All this pounding has knocked out the temporary cooling systems we installed on the reactor asteroid! It was never meant to withstand such punishment. The reactor’s going to explode—no chance of patching it this time.”
Wedge gritted his teeth and looked to Qwi. He squeezed her hand. “Looks like we’re about to save Daala the trouble,” he said. “Time to evacuate.”
Beside him Luke whirled around. “Hey! Where’s Kyp?”
But the young man was gone.
“I don’t know,” Wedge answered, “but we don’t have time to look for him now.”
• • •
Kyp Durron’s heart hammered, but he used a Jedi calming routine, forcing himself to relax. He required his bodily systems to operate efficiently, providing strength where he needed it, allowing neither fear nor exhaustion to hinder him.
The tumult of alarms and the external attack rattled the Installation. New Republic soldiers ran across corridors, grabbing equipment and rushing back to their transports.
No one stopped to look at Kyp; if anyone had bothered to question him, he would have used a simple Jedi trick to distract them, blur their memories, making them believe they had never seen him.
Kyp was pleased that Master Skywalker had not noticed his departure. With the sudden appearance of the Death Star prototype and the continued pounding from the Gorgon, Kyp had known what he must do.
He also knew Master Skywalker would try to stop him, and Kyp had no time for that.
He had used his own powers—light-side powers, he fervently hoped—to distract everyone while he slipped out into the corridor. He had blanked his thoughts, his keyed-up emotions; unless Master Skywalker made a directed effort to pinpoint him, Kyp would go unnoticed in the chaos.
As he ran, the tempo of the battle outside increased, and he knew that the installation would not last much longer. If the Death Star prototype managed even one shot, they would be annihilated in an instant. That was the primary threat at the moment.
As he sprinted down the rocky tunnels to the maintenance bay where he had landed the Sun Crusher, he recalled when he and Han had fled through the spice mines of Kessel. The memory of Han brought a deep pang.
The Death Star had reappeared in the center of the Maw, but Kyp had seen no sign of the Millennium Falcon. Did that mean Han was dead, destroyed in his sabotage attempt?
Kyp had been cursed with impulsiveness, making his decisions and acting on them without thinking of the consequences. Right now, though, that was a strength. He had to fight against the New Republic’s mortal enemies, and he could not ponder and debate the ultimate results of his actions.
Kyp knew he had a great deal to atone for. He had listened to the dark teachings of Exar Kun. He had struck down his teacher and Jedi Master. He had wiped clean the memories of Qwi