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The Quarren handed it over. Corran took it, ignited the lightsaber, and laid it parallel to the blaster rifle’s barrel. He walked over to the wall near the door and pressed the muzzle to the wall. He then slid the lightsaber forward until its tip poked through the wall on the far side. He retracted it to about a centimeter shy of the surface, then held it tight against the barrel.

Nrin and Ooryl both ducked down the stairs as Corran brought the weapon around and stabbed it into the wall on the south side of the stairwell’s landing. Because he was using the rifle barrel as a guide, the silver blade only penetrated the wall to the depth of twenty-nine centimeters instead of piercing it completely. Corran cut across for about a meter, then ran down for a meter and a half, burning a black outline of a doorway into the wall. He shut the lightsaber off and handed the rifle back to Nrin.

“There should only be a centimeter of tile between the wall and the gallery at the cut lines. I’ll draw their fire, you break through and catch them with flanking fire.”

Nrin’s tentacles curled up smartly. “For an idiot, you seem to think well.”

“First time for everything.”

“Thanks, Ooryl.”

Leaving his two friends poised to act, Corran dove out through the doorway and triggered a burst of blasterfire. He let himself continue to slide to the left, using the security cell block corner to eclipse the guards’ fire, then he sprinted forward to the wall of bars. Peeking around the corner he triggered another burst of red bolts, then ducked back as a flurry of bolts burned into the walls and scorched metal bars.

He heard a crackling sound, then heard the whine of more blasterfire. He scooted forward and fired. His bolts nibbled away at the desk, but Nrin’s heavier bolts burned clean through it. One guard tumbled back and another scrambled to maintain his balance. His arms flailed, then a bolt to the chest picked him up and sent him flying deeper into the gallery. A third guard took a bolt in the shoulder, and the fourth tossed his blaster out onto the floor before raising his hands.

Corran slashed the gate in the wall of bars open while Nrin and Ooryl kicked their way free of wall debris. As the other two kept their weapons on their captive, Corran used his lightsaber to cut away a corner of the stairwell wall, allowing someone to cover the lower landing and the flight up to the door. “This should let you hold off reinforcements.”

Ooryl nodded and took up a position beside the corner hole.

Corran waved the man who had surrendered over to him. “General Dodonna, now!”

The man’s jaw dropped. “But I can’t open the cell. I don’t have a cardkey.”

Corran worked the humming lightsaber blade through an infinity loop. “I can handle it.”

The guard led him into the isolation cell area and pointed at a cell about a third of the way down. Corran stabbed the lightsaber into the lock mechanism, then worked the blade around in a spiral to sever the latch. The door slowly swung open, the lightsaber’s light seeding the recesses with dark shadows.

In the corner, on a hard pallet that served as a bunk, an old man raised his left hand to shield his eyes from the glare. The white hair and beard spoke to the man’s age, and the way he straightened up in the face of what seemed to be an Imperial pilot armed with a lightsaber gave testament to his inherent courage.

“General Dodonna?”

The old man nodded. “I’m Jan Dodonna.”

“It’s been a long time, General.” Corran removed his helmet and smiled. “Are you ready to go home?”

35

The reddish glow from the fist Prince-Admiral Delak Krennel made with his mechanical right hand painted his face in bloody highlights. Through the viewport on Reckoning he watched the New Republic fleet begin its withdrawal. Yes, they’re running. This is better than I could have expected.

Krennel could not believe his good fortune. He’d been staging for a long grazing strike at Coruscant. He expected it to embarrass the New Republic while they were waiting to ambush him. In reality they struck at Ciutric, expecting