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Over by the X-wings the Ugnaughts stopped chattering and stood up in amazement; then they began squealing. Three ran to the comm alarm next to the controls of the launch doors.

Terpfen took aim and squeezed the firing button again, cutting the Ugnaughts down. The others raised their stubby hands in surrender; but Terpfen could not risk taking captives, so he stunned them as well.

Moving purposefully, he hurried across the slick-plated floor to the controls of the launch door. From the enameled badge on his left breast, he withdrew a disguised slicer chip the Imperials had provided months ago, in case he should need to make a quick escape. Now, though, Terpfen used the Imperial technology for the benefit of the New Republic.

Terpfen jammed the small wafer into the input slot and punched three buttons in succession. The electronics hummed, scanning the information in the chip. The slicer chip convinced the controls that Terpfen had the appropriate override codes, that he had authorization from both Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma.

With a groan and a thud, the heavy launch doors split apart. The night winds whistled outside the hangar bay, gusting into the chamber and bringing the chill air.

Terpfen strode to the repaired B-wing, slid his broad hands under the arms of the fallen male Calamarian, and dragged him across the slick floor. He dumped the mechanic beside the slumped bodies of the stunned Ugnaughts.

When Terpfen moved the female mechanic, she moaned softly. Her arm hung at an awkward angle, broken in the fall. Terpfen hesitated a moment in guilty misery, but the accidental injury couldn’t be helped. A few hours in a bacta tank would patch her up just fine.

By then Terpfen would be on his way to Yavin 4.

He clambered into the pilot seat of the B-wing and powered up the controls. All the lights winked green. He sealed the hatch. With the speed of the B-wing’s engines, he could make it to the Yavin system in record time. He had to.

Terpfen raised the awkward-looking craft on its repulsorlifts and maneuvered toward the open launch doors.

Screeching alarms penetrated the enclosed cockpit, vibrating from the servicing bay. Terpfen twisted his head to see what had gone wrong—and spotted another Ugnaught, one who had apparently been hiding inside the cockpit of an X-wing. The lone Ugnaught had squirmed out in a panic and scurried over to the alarm panel.

Terpfen cursed under his breath and knew that he had to hurry. He had hoped not to fight his way out.

He punched the maneuvering jets and shot out of the wide mouth of the launching bay. His stolen B-wing streaked away from the immense towers of Coruscant and headed out on a high-energy straight-line path to orbit.

He couldn’t waste time fooling the New Republic security monitors. Terpfen would appear to be an Imperial saboteur stealing a starfighter. If they captured him, they would interrogate him until it was too late to help young Anakin Solo. Terpfen had done many terrible things against his will, but now that he was free from Imperial control, any failure would be his own fault. He could blame no one else.

It surprised and dismayed him how rapidly the Coruscant security forces scrambled to intercept him. Four X-wings soared by at low altitude and vectored in on his single fighter.

Terpfen’s comm buzzed. One of the pursuing pilots said, “B-wing, you have made an unauthorized departure from the palace. Return immediately, or you will be fired upon.”

Terpfen merely increased power to the shields surrounding his ship. The B-wing was one of Ackbar’s prize contributions to the Rebellion, and it was far superior to the old-model X-wings. Terpfen could outrun them, and his shields could probably survive several direct hits—but he didn’t know if he could withstand the combined firepower of four X-wings.

“B-wing fighter, this is your last chance,” the X-wing pilot said, and fired a low-energy bolt that spattered against Terpfen’s shields. The warning shot nudged the B-wing, but caused no damage.

Terpfen punched the