Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 03_ Champions of the Force - Kevin J. Anderson [88]
“Wait,” Qwi said. “Chewbacca took a team down into the maintenance bay to rescue the Wookiee slaves. There were always several assault shuttles or fighter ships being worked on. Maybe those?”
One of the New Republic commandos snapped his head up. “Assault shuttles? Probably gamma class. They’re nothing spectacular, but they are heavily armored and well outfitted with weapons, worth ten of our starfighters. It could be a welcome addition in the battle. Daala’s got only one Star Destroyer against us, but she still outguns the combined force of the corvettes and the Yavaris.”
The squad leader looked down at a scrolling list of equipment on a data screen. “Just as I feared, sir. These are old models. They require a piloting droid to fly complicated maneuvers, especially in this gravitational environment. We could probably do it with only one droid and cross-link to the separate navigational systems.”
At that moment, with heavy footfalls and buzzing servomotors, Threepio hurried into the operations room, emitting a loud sigh of relief. “Ah, there you are! I’ve finally found you.”
Wedge, Qwi, and everyone else turned to look at the golden droid.
Threepio moved forward, his arms waving in dismay as he negotiated a steep ramp into the rock-lined maintenance bay. “I don’t know why everyone keeps treating me as if I were some sort of … property,” he said.
Chewbacca grunted a sharp retort, and Threepio snapped at him. “That’s quite beside the point. In actual fact, I—”
Chewbacca lifted up the golden droid and set him bodily on the entrance ramp of a gamma-class assault shuttle. The recently freed Wookiee slaves, along with a group of New Republic commandos, scrambled into the five armored shuttles that remained in the bay. Each ship had been maintained in perfect working order by Wookiee crews.
From above sudden hollow thumps echoed through the asteroid as the Gorgon pummeled them with turbolaser blasts. Chewbacca and the other Wookiees howled at the ceiling, their bestial noises echoing louder than the thunder of attack. Faint dust trickled down, split from the sealed rock walls.
“I still think I’m going to regret this,” Threepio said. “I wasn’t designed for this kind of work. I can communicate with other tactical computers and coordinate your flight paths, but putting me in charge of strategy—”
Chewbacca ignored him and climbed into the vehicle. Seeing that his arguments were useless, the golden droid shuffled up the ramp into the confines of the assault shuttle. “But, then again, I am always happy to help, where needed.”
The other Wookiees, including stunted old Nawruun, took their places in the gunnery seats, ready to blast TIE fighters.
Chewbacca slumped into the assault shuttle’s too-small pilot seat and made Threepio sit beside him in the copilot’s chair. “Oh, very well,” Threepio said, and inspected the computer, deciding how best to communicate with it.
More explosions from the Gorgon’s attack pounded through the thick walls, but those noises were soon drowned out by the growling purr of the shuttles’ repulsorlift engines.
Chewbacca raised the heavily armed ship off the floor and guided it down the launching corridor. Atmosphere-containment fields sealed behind them just before the heavy launch doors opened into space like a huge vertical mouth.
Threepio linked up to the guidance computers and the directional programming of all five assault shuttles. Behind them identical vehicles flew in a tight formation, picking up speed. “This is rather exhilarating,” Threepio said.
Chewbacca punched at the controls until the shuttle rocketed like a projectile through the launch doors and away from the Installation’s protective shield.
Above, swarms of starfighters streamed from the Corellian corvettes. The frigate Yavaris began to fire on the Star Destroyer as Daala continued to rain turbolaser bolts upon the Installation.