Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 03_ Champions of the Force - Kevin J. Anderson [55]
Over the years, Tol Sivron had worked for Tarkin, proving himself to be an unparalleled manager, a skillful arranger of the complex business that Tarkin—then Moff Tarkin, then Grand Moff Tarkin—had under way.
Sivron’s career had culminated in his directorship of Maw Installation—which he had now fled in the face of a Rebel invasion. If Tarkin was still alive, the embarrassing retreat would no doubt figure negatively in Tol Sivron’s next performance appraisal.
He had to do something to make up for it, posthaste.
“Director,” Yemm said, interrupting his thoughts. “I think the comm system is functioning again. It will be ready to use as soon as I log the modifications into its maintenance record.”
Sivron sat up. “At least something works around here.”
Yemm entered numbers into one of the computer stations and nodded his horned head at Tol Sivron. “Ready, Director.”
“Turn it on,” he said. “Let me speak to the crew.” His last words echoed through the speakers, startling him. He cleared his throat and leaned closer to the voice pickup on the pilot’s chair.
“Attention, everyone! Hurry with those repairs,” he snapped into the intercom. His voice sounded like the commands of a deity as he spoke through all levels. “I want to destroy something as soon as possible.” He switched off.
The stormtrooper captain turned to him. “We will do our best, sir. I should have final repair estimates within a few hours.”
“Good, good.” He stared across the open emptiness of space, looking at all the possible starpoint targets.
Tol Sivron had in his possession one of the most devastating weapons in the galaxy. But it remained untested. For now.
18
The second timed detonation occurred just as Wedge Antilles and his assault squad charged into the Maw Installation’s power-reactor complex. Shaped charges planted by a sabotage crew exploded at the base of the reactor’s cooling towers, shutting down the enormous generator that powered the facilities, the laboratories, the mainframe computers, and life-support systems.
Wearing mottled brown-and-gray body armor, Wedge had led his assault team across the connector-tube catwalks to the power asteroid. But just as the squad entered, gouts of gray smoke spurted through the tunnels, carrying dust and debris along with a hot wind.
Wedge shook his head to clear his ringing ears. He climbed to his knees and then to his feet again. “I need an assessment of the damages,” he shouted. “Quick!”
Three of the leading soldiers raced down the hall only to encounter a group of Maw Installation personnel fleeing the wreckage. The saboteurs were led by a one-armed brute of a man with purplish-green skin and a sour expression.
Wedge’s team snapped up their weapons, training the barrels of their blaster rifles on the saboteurs, who halted with a clatter like machine components locking into place. The one-armed man skidded to a stop and looked around wildly. The rest of his crew glared at the New Republic soldiers.
“Drop your weapons!” Wedge said.
The large brute raised his single hand, palm outward, to show that he carried no weapons. Wedge was surprised to see that the others were also unarmed.
“It’s too late to stop anything,” the one-armed man said. “I am Werrnyn, Division Leader for Plant Operations. Accept my surrender. My team and I would appreciate it if you’d get us off this rock before the whole thing explodes.”
Wedge pointed to four of his soldiers. “Use binders, see that the prisoners are secured. We’ve got to get that power reactor functioning again, or we’ll have to evacuate.”
The Maw saboteurs did not resist as the squad took them into custody, though Wedge’s men looked confused about how to apply binders to Wermyn’s single arm.
Wedge and the technicians proceeded cautiously into the reactor housing. The heat struck him like a sandwhirl during the hot season on Tatooine. The air smelled thick with