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thoughts of
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Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster conversation vanished as the
main body of troops hove into view. They were marching cautiously, three and
four abreast, as they rounded the same narrow place the two ill-fated scouts
had entered moments before. The phosphorescent blue-yellow light of the
growths in the tunnel gleamed off slick armor and immaculate weaponry.
Closer, closer they came, until Luke was afraid they would march right up to
his wall before Halla and the chiefs agreed on the time to attack.
A strident, powerful voice boomed out in Coway. The cavern dissolved into
chaos. A waterfall of sound deluged the air where seconds before there had
been only silence. Luke felt the noise itself, concentrated and magnified by
the cave walls, would be sufficient to paralyze most men.
The soldiers caught in the maelstrom were Imperial troops. But they were not
the Emperor's palace guard. They were men and women stationed too long on a
backward, desolate world where discipline and training relaxed concurrently
with morale. The screams of human and Coway howled through the cave.
Bursts of intense light from energy weapons created a berserk cat's cradle of
destruction in the bottled-
down tunnel. Luke found himself firing the pistol over and over. Next to him
came steady, confident thrums as Leia pinched off bursts from the heavy rifle.
Higher up, Halla and Kee began pouring a murderous fire down on the mass of
confused, densely packed troops. Soon they had to slacken their fire and pick
targets with more care, as the Coway began erupting from beneath cloth
concealed with sand to pull startled troopers into hidden pits, or coming out
from behind half-stalagmites, or dropping from crevices in the ceiling.
Seeing friend and foe inextricably intermingled, Luke charged down the slight
slope brandishing saber in one hand, and pistol in the other. Despite his
admonitions, Leia had discarded her rifle. Pistol in hand, she was rushing
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after him to join in the hand-to-hand combat.
She passed him feet first, her kick all but decapitating a dazed soldier who
didn't turn quite fast enough.
It was hellishly dangerous in the tunnel, what with energy bolts crackling
wildly in all directions. Luke cut through the armored legs of one soldier
before the latter could bring his pistol to bear. Without realizing it, he
then swung blindly backward. The blue of his saber intersected a beam fired
point blank at him by an Imperial rifle.
Turning, he barely had time to utter a silent thanks to Ben Kenobi. The
trooper was so shocked at the apparent coincidence of having his shot blocked
that he didn't react in time. Thinking something had to be wrong with his
weapon, he readjusted it to compensate for the imaginary fault. As he swung it
upward again Luke jabbed him through the sternum.
Turning, he plunged back into the thickest fighting. He was hunting for one
figure. It finally showed itself, standing aloof near the rear of the fighting
crowd.
"Vader! Darth Vader!"
A wounded trooper charged him and he had to pause to deal with the more
immediate threat.
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Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster
But the Dark Lord had heard him. Surprised, the giant black shape activated
his own saber and strode into the mob, trying to cut his way clear to Luke.
The Princess was also trying to fight her way through the crowd. But she was
not heading for Vader.
Instead, she was moving toward a stalagmite shattered at the top, a she-falcon
flying for her prey-
perch.
Under the direction of Captain-Supervisor Grammel, about ten of the troopers
climbed for high ground, intending to set up a covering fire the entire length
of the tunnel. They achieved the summit of the small ridge and were lining up
their weapons on the crowd below. Like hairy projectiles, Hin and several
Coways dropped from hiding places above.
Roaring with delight, the huge Yuzzem grabbed two of the armored troops at
once, banged them together until their armor started to crack at the joints.
Meanwhile, the muscular Coway wreaked havoc among the other soldiers.
Vader paused in the midst of his fighting, angrily evaluated the way the
battle was going. He shook a threatening fist in Luke's general direction,
then turned to the shaken officer nearby.
"Grammel! Re-form all survivors at the surface."
"Yes, my Lord," the distraught Captain-Supervisor acknowledged. Using his
multiple-channel helmet unit, he signaled the retreat to his remaining troops.
Small clumps of soldiers began to break contact with the Coways, started
rushing for the surface. Luke was startled to see how few remained.
The soldiers were pulling back in good order. At that point one of the Coway
chiefs hiding high above rose and signaled. His order was relayed up the
tunnel from one concealed native to the next. Several
Coway pulled on a vine cable. Their action sent a pinned stalactite weighing
several tons plunging from its eons-old growing place. It landed with a
titanic crash. Half a dozen soldiers were mashed beneath it.
Further reduced in number, the troopers started to panic, to throw down their
weapons and sprint up the passageway as fast as their armor would permit them.
Most of them ran under the nets which waiting Coway dropped on them from
above. Those same nets had held against Yuzzem. The troopers who lay flailing
at the confining strands had no chance at all.
Leia Organa reached the top of the pinnacle, lay down across it and positioned
the heavy rifle she'd retrieved. She fought to focus on a single, black-clad
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figure striding relentlessly and without panic up the tunnel. Vader was
surrounded by Grammel and a few remaining soldiers. She couldn't wait. Soon
the Dark Lord would pass from sight.
As she activated the trigger, Vader turned and gestured to the several troops
lagging behind. A
powerful beam of energy struck him in the side, sent him spinning to the
ground. Leia smiled. Her joy turned to disappointment when she looked back
through the blunt telescopic sight.
Vader had rolled over and was beating at the smoke issuing from his left side.
There was a gaping hole in his protective cloak and the black armor beneath [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]