Legends of Darkover

Chapter 17

-oOo-

The concussion should have been loud, but it was oddly muffled by the strange air.  Both Regis and Danilo were tumbled to the ground by the shock, Regis' communicator flying from his hand.  Catriona alone was unaffected, her eyes shut as hot debris showered towards them.  Burning metallic fragments struck the laran shield she had raised above their heads and disintegrated into atom-sized fragments. 

“You've been wanting to do that, haven't you?” said Regis as he scrambled after the communicator.

“Remind me never to vex the Hali'iym,” Danilo gasped.  “Look!  There's another ship!  It's heading for the tower!  Catriona!” 

“We will destroy it the same way,” she replied, her voice reflecting Ysabet's briskness instead of her own.

-oOo-

Counts of Serenno did not gulp.  Especially ones who had taken the precaution of using Force Illusion on their own ships, appearing to be no more than a windy patch of air.  However, not even Tyranus possessed the skill to extend the illusion to his escorts, one of which was now hot shrapnel on the Darkovan landscape.

“Fire at the tower!” he stormed at the droid pilot of Red Two.  “Land immediately,” he shrilled at his own pilot.  “Release grapple droids the instant we're down!”

The Tulak Hord plunged.  Captain Norbaoth was a good pilot, for he dropped the interceptor behind a copse of trees to give them cover, and only slowed when he had to, the last hundred feet.  The counterthrust  was so forceful it sat Tyranus down on the deck as they braked.

While the Sith lord was getting to his feet again, the lower hatch thumped to the scorched grass and the deployment of grapple droideka clambered down the ramp, their three legs tramping in a manner Tyranus thought painfully slow for their current situation.  But once down they balled themselves up and rolled through the trees.  Tyranus' pleasure was short-lived.  The uneven turf overcame the droidekas' gyroscopes and they kept flopping over.

“Why haven't you invented pavement, you cretinous bumpkins!  Droidekas, switch to march step, maximum speed.”  Cursing, Tyranus raised Inculcare on his wristlink, because he had the bad feeling he was going to be down to one ship soon, or none. 

Inculcare did not give Tyranus time for a salutation.  “Are you in over your head already?  If my eyes are not mistaken, that burning on the horizon is—excuse me, was--one of our TIE fighters.  What did you do?  Or rather, what didn't you do?  You remembered your orders to assault the tower, correct?”

A distant, ominous boom interrupted them.  Both men paused to listen. 

/Blast and damn,/ thought Tyranus.  The flash through the Tulak Hord's windows wasn't the happy disintegrative crunch of rock being blown to pieces by a turbolaser.  It was a ship's engines detonating. 

“I see another fireball,” Inculcare remarked.  “I presume that was your other escort going up.  Can't you take out a primitive piece of stonework without losing an entire fleet?  Very well, we're coming to join you.  The Ragnos will show you how to level an enemy properly.”

-oOo-

“Captain Kirk, Hali is under attack by starfighters!” Regis cried into his communicator.  “They slipped past you.  Two ships have been destroyed by the tower, but they may have more.”

On board the Enterprise, Kirk exchanged an urgent look with Qui-gon.

“My padawan and I will go to them,” said Qui-gon.  “Obi-wan?  Ready to Fold Space?  Concentrate on Regis Hastur's mind.”

“Wait!” Kirk interrupted.  “I'd like to send--

“There's no time.  We must leave immediately or we'll be too late to rescue them.  Padawan?  Activate the equipment.  Darkover will be safe from the Nihilus and the other ships beneath the planetary shield we've set up, though you must still see to your own safety.  Mr. Scott will explain further.”

As Obi-wan typed the activation code into his wristcom, he noticed a hint of amusement in his master's eye directed towards the crew of the Enterprise, though this was not the time for frivolity. 

“Planetary shield?” squawked the Captain.  “Explain, please.”

The air rippled.  It was as if someone had drawn its edges together, the communications and science stations meeting for an instant before returning to their previous positions.  The Jedi were gone.

Kirk spun in his chair to study the viewscreens, his prickle of what-the-fuckism blossoming into full-blown bewilderment.

Darkover was gone, too.

-oOo-

“Hurry!” Tyranus ordered the droidekas. 

“Darth Tyranus?  Why have you sent grapple droids to assault the tower?  Are you attempting to take prisoners?”

Tyranus grimaced.  Inculcare was about to discover everything.  “We need to capture telepaths.  It is unwise to kill all those inside the tower when we need one to operate any matrices we find.”  With his laser rifle over his shoulder, he jogged down the ramp, silently signaling for a pair of troopers to join him.  The link with Inculcare was still open, and he overheard an urgent voice in the background.   

“Darth Tyranus, my pilot reports a planetary shield has just been deployed, apparently by the Jedi.”

Tyranus halted.  They couldn't leave the planet until the shield was shut down.  Nor did they have any way to contact Plagueis. 

“After assaulting the tower, you are to locate and destroy the shield,” said Inculcare briskly.

Irritably, Tyranus reflected on his ever-growing errand list.  /Capture Darkovans.  Destroy tower.  Find and destroy planetary shield.  Find matrices.  Kill Inculcare.  Kill blasted ex-apprentice and ex-apprentice's own apprentice.  Kill interfering Federation crew.  Kill Plagueis.  Make one damned long journey home while figuring out the Darkovan matrices.  And oh yes, conquer home galaxy./ 

Wasn't it Qui-gon who had once said, 'The longer your shopping list, the more likely you are to forget an item?'  His ex-apprentice had specialized in saying random and annoying things like that during inopportune moments.

“Darth Tyranus?  Is your comlink working?  You have not replied.”

“I heard.  Orders received.”  /You stinking, sniggering, sucker-up of Muun./  “How about a blast from your turbolaser to drive them out of the tower towards my grapple droids?”   

-oOo-

“Okay, so they made the planet vanish,” said Kirk with exasperation.  “Spock, is Darkover really gone or did they use some sort of big cloaking device?”

“The sensors give only Scan Fail Error readings,” replied Spock.  “They're operating, but no  signal is coming from the planet, nor can we make one penetrate.  We might as well be attempting to probe Lake Hali.”

The Captain winced at the comparison.  “Scotty?” Kirk barked into his comlink.

“Are ye missing a planet, sir?  Lieutenant Kyle just said something to me to that effect.” 

“Explain,” replied Kirk.  He was fuming. 

“The Jedi set up a deflector shield in the Forbidden City previous to meetin' us.  It produces an energy field big enough to cover the entire planet, and it blocks all sensor readings, too.  Master Jinn told me about it over breakfast this morning, sir.”

“Thanks for telling me earlier.”

“I was a wee bit busy, reparin' all the damage we took.  Besides, I thought he'd already told ye.” Scotty sounded defensive.

“My apologies for the sarcasm.  How long can they keep the shield going?”

“Master Jinn claimed it should be good for a week or so.  Heaven only knows how they're powering it.”

“Fine.  Spock, prepare a boarding party.”

After relaying the orders, Spock asked, “What do you have in mind, Jim?  I highly doubt we can utilize the same method of boarding that we previously performed on the Raptor.  We have no method of bringing their shields down this time, and the enemy will certainly be on alert to prevent such an occurrence again.”

“True,” said Kirk.  “However, most of the smaller vessels in the fleet lack shields.  We board one by transporter beam, take out the crew, disguise ourselves in their uniforms, then invent an emergency repair that can only take place inside one of the mother ship's docks.”

“Indeed.”  Spock raised an eyebrow.  “The initial steps of your plan have a reasonable probability of working.”

Lord Ardais interrupted.  “What about Darkover?  Can you do nothing?  Their ships have landed and we know not the numbers.”

Kirk turned in his chair to face him.  “We have no way to get past that deflector shield,” he replied bluntly.  “We're going to have to trust the Jedi, along with your telepaths.  At least they have warning.”

“All right, then.  I will rip their minds bloody.”  A red lightsaber beam leapt out at the Captain's face.  It was held a little too close, probably by intent.  Annoyed, Kirk managed not to blink at the hot blade.  Dyan eyed the weapon with the relish of hate, then shifted his stare to the Captain.  “These Sith will regret ever coming to my world.  Opportunities are not often given to me to indulge my emotions.  This time appears to be the happy exception.”

A little speech about the atrocities of war was hanging on the Captain's tongue, but Kirk said nothing.  It felt hypocritical.

Dyan gave him a fierce look.  -Do not DARE lecture me.  The Sith must be annihilated by any means necessary.  I will not say it aloud so your people can hear, but as a warrior, it is obvious to me that you have set us a very difficult task.  Assailing the Nihilus from inside, even with my help, is no easy task.  If we fail, none of us will survive.-   

“I know,” Kirk replied.  “And you can put that lightsaber away until you need it.”

“Captain, the boarding party is assembling in the transporter room,” said Spock. 

“Good.  Put us under cloak, Mr. Sulu, and pick out a likely ship.”

-oOo-

Masked by the Force, the Ragnos circled the tower.  Inculcare was intent on the ancient stone structure.  

“Just anywhere?” said his pilot, Captain Berhrns.  “The building's symmetrical.”

“This shot must terrorize, not annihilate,” the High Inquisitor replied.  “Green One,” he said into his wristcom, “aim for the top story, thirty percent power.  Fire when I give the command.”

The TIE escort put on a surge of speed.

-oOo-

“There's another!”  Regis cried.

Catriona gave a distant smile.  “No, there isn't,” she corrected.

The TIE fighter halted in midair exactly as if it had struck a solid object, strewing its guts like a swatted fly.  The flash and thunder made the Darkovans shield their eyes.  When they could hear again, Danilo marveled.  “This is almost too easy with a keeper.  Maybe we DO have the advantage over our enemies.”

“Two keepers,” Catriona corrected, opening her eyes.  “Domna Ysabet is doing most of the work.  She is stronger than I, thank Aldones.”

“Wait a minute,” said Regis.  “I can't feel anything with laran, yet I'm hearing ship's engines.  Weren't all the ships destroyed?”  He looked around in bewilderment.  “Danilo?  Catriona?  Do you sense anything?”

Danilo extended his laran.  “The threat is still here, though it is trying to hide from us.  It is--”  He cried out with disgust, covering his mouth.  “The Sith are here!  Warn the tower!” 

“Where?” Regis said, looking about.  “Why can't we see them?”

“I've sent the message,” Catriona blurted at the same moment Domna Ysabet barged into Danilo's mind with a demand.  -What do you sense, Dom Danilo?  Locate the enemy.- 

“Zandru's Hells!  They're trying to recapture you!”  Regis exclaimed. 

-Hurry inside!-  Ysabet commanded.  -We will lower the veil so Danilo and Regis can enter.-

“A rare privilege, for men to be allowed to see the tower of Hali,” Danilo called out as they began running again.

“I'd rather tour it under different circumstances,” Regis shouted in reply.

With a paxman's instinct, Danilo took a quick glance in their rear and saw the wave of droidekas.  “Holy Bearer of Burdens, machines are almost on us!  Go faster!”

-oOo-

Inculcare was perturbed.  The quick destruction of Green One had surprised him.  Maybe Tyranus wasn't merely a feckless whiner after all.  He concentrated harder on the Force, grateful the illusion still held.  There was interference coming from the tower, and--the ground?

His artificial fingers shot to the controls of a sensor, his cyborg hand fondling the viewing pitch.  But he had his answer before the viewscreen focused, in an unexpected and intense pulse of lust sent to him by the Force.  He knew that body below him, intimately. 

“Catriona,” Inculcare breathed.  He opened his eyes.  “And you brought your friends with you.  How convenient.  What's more, how--traitorous of Darth Tyranus.”

“My lord?” said Berhrns.

“We're going after prisoners.”  Quickly, Inculcare studied the distance of the trio of Darkovans from the tower.  They were just a little too close.  “Berhrns, land where I'm indicating on the sensor.  Target the tower about a third of the way from the bottom, and fire thirty percent power when I give the command.  We need to destroy the building without injuring those on the ground.”

With his wristcom, he programmed in a preplanned override, taking command of the grapple droids away from Darth Tyranus. 

-oOo-

Tyranus ordered his droidekas to leave the trees, he and his troopers following behind the battle line.  The Darkovans still hadn't noticed—wait, they were running.  “Capture on the double and bring--” he said into his wristcom.  The wristcom died in mid-sentence.  Furious, the Sith lord shook his wrist in anger, then froze when he heard Inculcare's voice unexpectedly coming through the same link.  “Capture the three natives and bring them to the Ragnos.”

What? 

In the distance he saw Inculcare, lightsaber ablaze in the High Inquisitor's cyborg hand.  Inculcare had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, though Tyranus knew he had exited the ramp of a cloaked and Force-Illusioned vessel. 

His plan farkled, he threw the wristcom aside and hauled out his emergency spare comlink.  “Norbaoth!”  Tyranus snapped into it.  “Take off and head towards me.  You're going to do a fast scoop and pickup.”  To his troopers he said, “We must take the prisoners before Inculcare does.  Follow me.” 

-oOo-

“Damn it,” said Regis.  Helplessly he grasped the air, yearning for a weapon. 

Danilo seized Catriona's sleeve, pulling her forwards while trying not to touch her skin.  She was still half-lost in concentration.  For one instant he saw the scene as she did, looking through the eyes of Ysabet high above the ground at the wave of droidekas, horribly close.  Danilo strained to feel out the locations of the two Sith, but he needed to keep his feet moving.  His body felt very distant through the link, weighed-down and loggy, though he could see himself running with Catriona, Regis half-turned to watch the threat behind.

-Repugnant, these--things,- came the thought of Ysabet, along with a mental narrowing of eyes.  -What are they?  They seem like metal insects by the way they creep.  Why do they not fire weapons?  Why are they so slow?-

-Your pardon,-  Domna, -but could you just kill them?- Danilo pled.  -They are almost on us!-

-LOOK OUT!-

The mental cry of warning came from Regis.  The grapple droids had suddenly balled themselves up and were rolling fast, though they bounced hard.  This unexpected sprint sped half a dozen wheels past the Darkovans.  The droidekas unfolded into their tripod stance and lunged forward, reaching out with their thick metal fingers. 

Catriona choked with disgust, and the droideka approaching her suddenly spouted a crackle of electricity and stray components as she crushed its exoskeleton with her laran. 

-Hurry inside!-   Ysabet repeated, -the veil is open.  We  will protect you.-

The grapple droids ran into an invisible barrier, and began to slam into it with the mindlessness of june bugs against a pane of glass.  The three dodged around the machines and ran for the tower's door. 

-oOo-

“Target locked,” said Captain Berhrns over the comlink.  “Firing.”

The bolt hit the tower with a tremendous, blinding blast.  Inculcare exhaled with satisfaction.

-oOo-

“Oh merciful Avarra! Domna Ysabet!  Catriona screamed as she gazed upwards.  “Carlina, Marisa!  My sisters!”

-oOo-