Running back to the wall, he began grabbing the nutrient frames and hurling them away behind him, all thoughts of subtlety replaced now by a desperate need for speed. That quick kaleidoscopic glimpse he'd had into Mara's mind had included the threat of drawn weapons. He threw three of the nutrient frames aside, risked taking the time to get rid of the one next to where Mara's lightsaber still lay on the floor, then stepped close to the wall.
And realized with a surge of fear that he had cut it a little too close. Filtered through the emotional haze and clipped tactical thinking roiling together in Mara's mind, he could sense an indistinct, wavering image of the four aliens with their weapons pointed at her. Touching his forehead to the wall, he ran through his sensory enhancements...
'Skywalker put me into the trance,' he heard her voice faintly through the thick stone. 'And he's not here. I could die of shock, or bleed to death—'
'You'll do neither,' another voice said. 'I know both the power and limitations of Chiss weaponry. Think of it as an added incentive for Skywalker to surrender to us.' Luke didn't wait any longer. Straightening up, he drew back his lightsaber, stretching out to the Force as he pointed the tip of the glowing green blade at the wall, agonizingly aware that he would have only one shot at this. But if the Force could guide him with the pinpoint precision necessary to block blaster bolts...
And then, with a clarity that was startling in its unexpectedness, an image sprang into his mind: an alien standing with his back toward Luke, almost in front of him, raising a weapon toward Mara. Setting his teeth, Luke thrust his lightsaber through the wall to slash the green blade into the upper part of the alien's weapon.
And on the far side of that wall, he sensed the neatly arranged little scene dissolve into chaos. Luke pulled the lightsaber downward, slicing an opening for himself as quickly as the stubborn black stone would permit, the emotional turmoil of sudden combat flooding over him as Mara exploded into action. He sensed a dizzying spin as she spun around and dropped into a crouch behind her chair, stretching out with the Force for her enemies' weapons. She yanked one straight out of its owner's hand—twisted another to the side to send his shot harmlessly into the ceiling—ducked back as another shot splattered across the corner of her chair back, sending tiny agonizing drops of liquid metal grazing across her cheek—
And then Luke's section of wall collapsed with a thud into the chaos. He caught Mara's eye as she crouched behind the chair and threw his lightsaber to her, stretched out with the Force to snatch hers from the floor behind him—
And with the old weapon flashing memories of Tatooine and Hoth and Bespin through his mind, he strode into the midst of the fight, the blue-white blade spattering bolts of enemy fire and shattering across the weapons themselves. One of the aliens leaped at him, a knife flashing into his hand; Luke grabbed him bodily with the Force and slammed him back against two others preparing for the same maneuver—
'Stop!' an authoritative voice ordered.
The aliens froze in their tracks, their eyes focused unblinkingly on Luke. Luke eyed them warily in return, his lightsaber held at the ready. Out of the corner of his eye he got a glimpse of the speaker: a gray-haired man wearing an Imperial admiral's uniform. 'There's no point in anyone throwing their lives away here,' the admiral said sternly. 'Let them go.' Luke stretched out toward him with the Force, trying to gauge his sincerity. But both he and the other Imperial in the room were still being shielded by the remaining ysalamiri behind the side wall.
'Mara?' Luke asked, risking a quick glance at her.
'What do you think?' she said with a snort as she came to his side, the green blade of his lightsaber held crossways at the ready between her and the aliens. 'He's trying to save his own neck.'
'Of course, I am,' the admiral conceded without embarrassment. 'As I'm also attempting to protect the necks of my troops. If there was one thing Thrawn made certain his officers clearly understood, it was never to waste people for no reason.' He smiled. 'And it is well known that the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker does not kill needlessly or in cold blood.'
'He's also stalling,' Mara added. 'They're probably setting up some kind of trap right now.'
'Then we'd better get moving.' Luke nodded at the group. 'You think we should take one of them as a hostage?'
Mara hissed between her teeth. 'No,' she said. 'Parck is too old—he'd slow us down—and I don't trust any of these Chiss not to be more trouble than they're worth. That goes double for General Fel.'
Luke blinked, focusing his attention for the first time on the younger Imperial's face. Baron
'Yes, it's me, Luke,' Fel confirmed. 'It's been a long time.'
'Yes, it has,' Luke murmured. Baron Fel, working for the Empire again?
Mara nudged him in the side. 'Let's save the Rogue veterans' reunion for another time, okay?
We've got to get moving.'
