Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy_ Champions of the Force - Kevin J. Anderson [69]
Ackbar instantly knew what Terpfen intended. Not wasting time with a shout that would not be heard, he lunged for the blast-door controls.
Just as the thrashing metal legs vanished over the lip of the cliff, Ackbar punched the buttons, hoping that the skewed half of the door still functioned just enough. The heavy metal plate crashed down on top of the last footpad of Terpfen’s Spider Walker, pinning it to the cliff and preventing it from falling.
“Help him!” Ackbar cried.
The other Calamarians scrambled forward, accompanied by the admiral himself. Secured with a tow cable from one of the B-wings, they lowered themselves over the cliff to open the canopy of Terpfen’s walker. Inside they found him shuddering and nearly unconscious with shock. The team rigged a sling and hauled him to the safety of the grotto.
Ackbar bent over him, looking stern. He called Terpfen’s name until the scarred Calamarian finally stirred. “You should have let me die,” he said. “My death should have been my punishment.”
“No, Terpfen,” Ackbar said, “we cannot choose our own punishment. There is still much you can contribute to the New Republic, still a great many things to do before you will be allowed to give up.”
Ackbar straightened, realizing that those words could just as well apply to himself, after he had run away to hide on the planet Calamari.
“Your punishment, Terpfen,” he said, “will be to live.”
23
The Falcon cruised over the lush treetops of Yavin 4, and Han Solo set the ship down in front of the Great Temple. He bounced down the landing ramp.
Leia and the twins practically tackled him as they rushed to greet him. “Daddy, Daddy!” Jacen and Jaina cried in peculiarly overlapping voices. Leia, back from Anoth, cradling the one-year-old against her chest, squeezed Han and gave him a long kiss as Anakin played with her hair. The twins jumped up and down against Han’s legs, demanding the attention that was their due.
“Hello there, little guy!” Han grinned down at Anakin; then he looked deep into Leia’s eyes. “Are you all right? You’ve got a lot of details to tell me. That message you sent wasn’t very explicit.”
“Yeah,” she said. “You’ll get the whole story, when we have some quiet time, just the two of us. I’m glad all of our children are home to stay, though. We’ll protect them ourselves from now on.”
“Sounds like a great idea to me,” Han said, then chuckled and shook his head. “Say, weren’t you telling me that I shouldn’t go off and have adventures by myself?”
Han stepped away from the Falcon as he saw Luke Skywalker striding toward him across the flattened landing grid. Artoo-Detoo puttered along next to him as if reluctant ever to leave his master’s side again.
“Luke!” Han cried. He ran to give Luke an enthusiastic hug. “Great to see you up and around again. About time you quit napping.”
Luke clapped him on the back and smiled with dark-ringed eyes that shone with an inner brightness stronger than ever before. As he conquered each seemingly insurmountable obstacle, Luke’s Jedi powers grew greater and greater—but, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, a Jedi Master learned to use his powers even less, relying on wits instead of showmanship.
In the dense jungle surrounding the Massassi temple a squawking racket boiled up as a gang of woolamanders startled a pair of feathered flying creatures; the woolamanders hurled rotten fruit as the flying creatures flapped into the air, shrieking down at their tormentors.
Han glanced toward the disturbance, but Luke’s gaze remained fixed on the Falcon, as if held by a powerful magnet. Han turned to look—and stopped.
Kyp Durron, still wrapped in the slick black cape that Han himself had given him, descended the boarding ramp. His eyes locked on Luke’s, and the two Jedi stared at each other as if psychically linked.
Han stepped away from Luke, and the Jedi teacher silently walked across the weed-strewn landing grid. Kyp reached the end of the ramp, planted