Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 09_ Edge of Victory 02_ Rebirth - J. Gregory Keyes [81]
“They can throw grenades in here, too, you know,” Jacen remarked.
“Sure, but now we have ’em in a crossfire.”
“My door!” shrieked the Toydarian merchant behind them.
“Sorry about that,” Jacen told the merchant.
“Sorry? Sorry won’t—eep!”
A concussion grenade bounced through the door, and the Toydarian flitted for cover.
“See?” Jacen said. He gave the bomb a telekinetic swat that sent it back out the door.
His father seemed to have predicted the trend. What was left of one of the cantina windows blew out with a billow of flame.
“Karrde!” Han shouted, firing wildly at anything moving on the street.
Han was interrupted by the Gamorrean who came blazing around the edge of the door. The being’s close-range fire missed, but the butt of his weapon didn’t when he dealt the Corellian an uppercut that lifted him off his feet. His father’s body knocked Jacen off-balance, and before he could recover, the Gamorrean, squealing and snorking, wrapped his thick limbs around Jacen’s body and slammed him into the nearest wall. The Jedi’s lightsaber went flying.
Stunned, Jacen boxed his attacker’s ears, but if there was any effect, he didn’t notice it. He tried to focus on retrieving his lightsaber, but in all of the confusion he couldn’t be sure where it was.
He felt the Gamorrean, though, felt his heart hammering in his chest. He could easily reach out in the Force and …
No. He would die first.
And that was coming up fast, because he couldn’t breathe. He beat feebly at his attacker’s head as outside the twin suns seemed to be going out.
Then he was falling, slumping against the wall and covered with ceramic statuettes of Sand People and Jawas falling from the shelves above. The Gamorrean had turned back to Han, who had just clobbered it over the head with some sort of larger stone statue. His father’s eyes were widening in surprise at the fact that the Gamorrean hadn’t collapsed, but only gotten madder.
“You’re a thickheaded son-of—” he began, but then had to duck a powerful right.
“Look,” Han said, dancing back from the Gamorrean, “you don’t know who you’re dealing with. If you just go ahead and surrender, I’ll go easy on you.” He looked suddenly past his enraged opponent to Jacen.
“That’s right, Jacen. Use your lightsaber!”
Jacen was still trying to find his feet, much less his lightsaber. What’s he talking about?
The Gamorrean turned, though, and Han hit him over the head again, holding the statue in both hands. This time it broke. The Gamorrean, looking puzzled, collapsed.
“You okay, son?” Han asked.
“Yeah. A little woozy.”
Han hefted the half of the statue that remained in his hands, then proffered it to Jacen. “Here, a little souvenir.”
Jacen turned it over in his hands and uttered a small laugh. Very small, because it hurt his stressed—perhaps cracked—ribs.
Han, meanwhile, was rooting for his blaster, one eye on the door.
“I should have known that old smuggler wouldn’t sit still to be blown up,” Han muttered.
Looking past his father, through the dust and smoke, Jacen could make out a pair of figures on the rooftop—Karrde and Shada. They had just finished the snipers there and were now using the high ground to clear the streets. The job was almost done.
About fifteen minutes later, Jacen and Han met outside with Karrde and his people. By some minor miracle, none of them had been killed, though several would be in bacta tanks for a while.
“I’d say Tatooine isn’t going to be one of your safe houses,” Karrde remarked. “I also suggest we get off this ball of rock before the Brigade convinces the spaceport to impound our ships, if they haven’t already.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Han said. “The Darklighter family still has some clout, and we’re at their dock. Still, it would probably be best to get out of here.” He shook his head in disgust. “What a waste of time this was. Now that they know we’re here, we’ll never find out anything