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The enemy ships closed in.

The modified assault shuttle zeroed in on its target. At his controls the former TIE pilot Qorl guided the attack. He wore a black skull-like helmet that sealed against his skin and recirculated breathable air. The dark goggles covering his eyes transmitted important tactical data to his retinas.

He positioned the shuttle's circular cutting mouth attachment against the armor plating of the Rebel supply cruiser. The name Adamant had been stenciled on the side... Adamant, which meant impenetrable, unyielding.

Qorl grunted to himself. The exceedingly tough cutting teeth were made from industrial-grade Corusca gems and could slice through any known substance. The Shadow Academy 's takeover troops would be in control of the ship within moments.

Qorl punched an important-looking red button on the controls. It set the Corusca blades spinning, chewing, until the attachment had sliced out a large circle in the Adamant's hull, opening a hole into the supply cruiser.

Qorl clenched the black-gloved hand of his bulky droid arm into a fist.

His own arm had been crippled when his TIE fighter crashed on the jungle moon of Yavin 4, but Imperial engineers had replaced the twisted limb with a more powerful droid attachment. His strength had increased, though he could not feel anything with his new mechanical fingers.

Eager stormtroopers assembled in the boarding tube, holding their blaster rifles ready. Qorl knew that the supply cruiser's main defenses had been on the escort ships, the fourteen heavily armed corvettes, E-wings, and X-wings that had flanked the Adamant on its trip to Coruscant. The Rebels had become complacent at their capital world, though, and they had let their defenses lapse for just a moment. Qorl, lurking in his invisible hiding place, had seized that moment to strike.

"Airtight seal complete," a stormtrooper captain reported.

"Very well," Qorl said, standing from his command chair. "Begin the assault. We must be away from here within five standard minutes. We have no time for errors."

The sealed hatch of the boarding tube popped open, and the stormtroopers charged in, firing at anything that moved using only stun beams. They had no particular desire to avoid killing the Adamant's crew, but deadly blaster bolts might cause irreparable damage to the bridge's control systems.

Some of the Rebel crew had taken shelter behind consoles. They fired at the stormtroopers, releasing wild bursts of energy. One trooper went down, a smoking hole in his white chest armor, making a gurgling sound that ended with a burst of static over his comm system.

Qorl marched in, holding a blaster pistol in his droid hand. The stormtroopers fired repeatedly. The Rebel helmsman went down, flying backwards as bolts of blue energy knocked him aside. A tactical officer screamed a challenge as she leaped from her position, shooting four times in quick succession. She killed two stormtroopers before she, too, was stunned. Qorl strode forward, intent on the Adamant's helm. He needed to get this ship moving soon.

The dark goggles of his TIE helmet allowed little peripheral vision, and as he passed the command station, the Rebel commanding officer-a fish-faced Calamarian-leaped up and tackled him. Qorl's blaster pistol clattered to the floor.

The officer wrestled with Qorl, fighting with flipper hands, but the TIE

pilot drove his powerful droid fist into the face of the alien, knocking him out cold. Qorl retrieved his blaster pistol and climbed to his feet, brushing off his black uniform.

A stormtrooper captain marched up to him smartly "The bridge is secure, sir. Ready to move out."

Qorl sat down in the Adamant's command chair. "Very well." He sealed his helmet and his padded suit for total containment, which would protect him from the rapid decompression when the assault ship detached itself from the hull. He hesitated. "Stuff these Rebels into an escape pod, and launch it."

"Save them, sir?" the trooper asked, perplexed.