Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 03_ Champions of the Force - Kevin J. Anderson [90]
Kyp shook his head. “No, I could have recovered it just as easily.”
Leia looked helplessly at Luke, spreading her hands. “So what else—?”
“Kyp and I will fly the Sun Crusher back to the Maw. He will set the autopilot and drop it down one of the black holes. Quantum armor or no quantum armor, it will be obliterated. There’s no more definite way of erasing something from this universe.”
Kyp piped up. “I know the Sun Crusher must be taken away from both the Empire and the New Republic. I … Dr. Xux no longer has any memory of how to reconstruct it. The galaxy will never need to fear such a threat again.” His posture stiffened, his chin rose, his eyes grew alive again. The guilt and pain were replaced with a look of pride and determination.
Luke placed a hand on the young man’s forearm, and Kyp fell silent, content to let Luke continue.
“Leia, I know you’ve been appointed the new Chief of State. You can make this happen.” He leaned forward, speaking to her with the idealistic, boyish energy she remembered from years before. “You know I’m right.”
Leia shook her head, already afraid of the enormous diplomatic battle she would have to face at the mere mention of Luke’s preposterous request.
“There’ll be a lot of heated discussion. Most of the Council members are going to refuse to let Kyp get within sight of the Sun Crusher again. What’s to stop him from rampaging around the galaxy and blowing up more star systems? Can they take that risk? Can we?”
“They have to take that risk,” Luke said. “It must be done. And I’ll be there with him.”
Leia bit her lip. Her brother could be so forceful. She knew him well enough that she wasn’t simply awed by what the Jedi could do … but she was confident that Luke could follow through on his claim.
“Do you know what you’re asking?” she said in a soft, pleading voice.
“Leia, just as I had to face our father, this is a test Kyp must complete. Tell the Council that if he passes this test successfully, Kyp Durron could become the most powerful Jedi Knight of this generation.”
Leia sighed and stood up. “All right. I’ll try—”
Kyp interrupted her and said, “There is no try: do or do not.” Then he allowed himself a wry smile, gesturing toward Luke. “At least that’s what he always says.”
32
Han Solo gritted his teeth as he yanked on the Falcon’s controls. The modified light freighter flew up and around in a tight backward loop. The blinding flash of the Death Star’s superlaser faded to a glowing streak as the rubble of Kessel’s moon mushroomed in a rapidly expanding cloud.
“That was gonna be my garrison!” Lando cried. His voice cracked. “First Moruth Doole, now a Death Star—this deal is getting worse all the time.”
Mara Jade, her face hard as chiseled stone, quickly leaned between Han and Lando in the two cockpit seats and shouted into the comm unit. “This is Mara Jade. All ships report. How many did we lose? Did the evacuation order go out on time?”
One of the cool-voiced Mistryl guards responded. “Yes, Commander Jade,” the warrior woman said. “We scrambled at first sign of the intruder. All but two ships made it away from the base. One more was struck and destroyed by the flying debris.”
Mara nodded grimly. “Then we still have enough of a fighting force,” she said.
“Fighting force!” Han said. “Against that thing? To do what? It’s a Death Star, not a cargo freighter.” He looked through the overhead viewport and saw the skeletal prototype over Kessel. The superweapon seemed to be brooding over the destruction it had just caused.
“But, Han,” Lando pleaded, “we’ve got to do something before it blows up the planet, too. Think of all the spice down there.”
Mara grabbed the comm again. “Attack formation gamma,” she said. “We’re going to head out and pound that Death Star.” She turned to Han and lowered her voice. “If it’s just a prototype, my guess is they won’t have the defenses the real