Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 01_ Onslaught - Michael A. Stackpole [90]
Anakin slashed at the Yuuzhan Vong’s legs, but the warrior leapt above the cut, then came down with a foot heavily on Anakin’s right wrist. Pain shot through it, and the boy was certain he’d heard something snap. His hand went numb, and his lightsaber flew from his grip.
The Yuuzhan Vong towered above him. The warrior’s amphistaff slithered its way up the warrior’s leg, then onto his right arm. It stiffened, and the warrior raised it above his head. Muttering words that sounded solemn and thankful, the warrior whipped the amphistaff down in a cut that would cleave Anakin open from crown to navel.
If it landed.
The snap-hiss of Luke Skywalker’s green lightsaber interjected itself into the fight. The verdant blade caught the descending amphistaff before it could strike. The blade slid in along the amphistaff, evaporating water as it went, then slipped up and slashed through the Yuuzhan Vong’s armpit. The warrior screamed, then spun away.
Off to the left, Jacen Solo leapt down from one of the plinths, landing on the Yuuzhan Vong warrior below. Jacen’s feet hit the warrior square in the back, driving him face first into the ground. The Jedi slammed the butt end of his lightsaber against the base of the warrior’s skull, then darted forward to engage the last Yuuzhan Vong. Jacen leapt above a low slash, then side-kicked the warrior in the gut. The Yuuzhan Vong flew back into a plinth, then slid down into a gap between two of them.
Jacen helped his brother up while Luke ran to Mara. Anakin reached out to use the Force to pull his extinguished lightsaber to him, then bent down and scooped it up with his left hand. “Jacen, how did you find us?”
Jacen shrugged and nodded toward Luke. “He knew when and where to be to find you two. He had a vision, and it led him to Dantooine. We might not have been able to pick the Yuuzhan Vong out with the Force, but plenty of the wildlife here in this forest scattered from them, so we headed for where life wasn’t.”
“Huh. I never thought of that.”
Jacen tousled his brother’s sopping hair. “Ah, you’re just a kid.”
“Don’t give him a hard time, Jacen.” Mara leaned heavily on her husband, and Anakin could tell Luke wanted to pick her up, but she’d have no part of it. “He got me this far. If he hadn’t been taking care of me, I’d be dead.”
Luke nodded solemnly at his youngest nephew. “I can’t begin to thank you enough.”
“Sure you can. Take us back to Coruscant.”
“Can’t, but we will get you to your mother.”
Anakin looked down at his muddy, blood-soaked robes. “To Mom? I thought I was being thanked here.”
“You are, and will be.” Luke pointed toward the north. “Ship’s not far from here.”
Mara gave Luke a kiss on the cheek. “At least we’ll be away from Dantooine.”
“Actually, we won’t.”
Mara frowned. “But you got here in a ship, one capable of making the trip from Belkadan.”
“You’re right, we did.” Luke nodded calmly. “It’s just we can’t leave Dantooine yet. Leia and some Dubrillion refugees landed here on the continent to the southeast. As we were coming in system, we saw a big Yuuzhan Vong ship sending troop carriers down, and it seems they found that continent as hospitable as Leia did.”
Anakin winced. “Out of the firefight, into the carbon freeze.”
“Pretty much.”
The youngest Solo sighed. “So, if you had a vision that brought you here, do you have a vision that shows how things will turn out down to the southeast?”
“As Yoda said, the future is constantly in motion, so this vision might not be true.” Luke’s face became a steel mask. “It’s just as well, because that vision did not have a happy ending.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Leia reached out and brushed hair from Anakin’s forehead, then moved away from her sleeping son. They’d found clothes for him easily enough, so he lay there attired in bits and pieces of uniforms from several