Free New Threat by Elizabeth Hand

the same instant, Boba dove from it. He could feel the surge of fire through his protective boots. He
could hear the concussive blast roaring through the air like a seismic charge.
    But all he could see was the explosion of laser fire all around him as he plummeted helplessly—right into the battle.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    “Ummmpph!” With a grunt Boba smashed onto the ground. His body armor absorbed the blow, but it took him a moment to catch his breath. There was such a thick haze of
smoke and spores he could barely see. He blinked, trying to clear his vision.
    What he was able to make out was not good: a clone trooper, just millimeters from his face!
    “No way!” yelled Boba. He rolled onto his back and kicked out, just as the clone took aim. Boba’s feet connected with the clone’s knees. He wasn’t strong enough to
knock down the trooper. But Boba did throw him off balance.
    And that was all it took. Boba was on his feet again, blaster raised. The clone towered above him, its face invisible behind its helmet. But something in the way it stood, something in the way
it held its blaster, made Boba hesitate.
    Because, just for a flickering moment, it wasn’t a clone trooper there.
    It was Jango Fett—Boba’s father.
    Boba recognized Jango’s stance. He recognized Jango’s strength. He even recognized the way Jango’s head drew back slightly as he aimed his weapon. Only this wasn’t Jango
Fett. This was a clone trooper who had decided that Boba was an enemy.
    “You’re not my father!” Boba’s voice was drowned in the blast from his Westar. “You’re a clone!”
    The trooper’s aim was excellent—but Boba’s was better. In a blaze of flame and vapor, the clone trooper fell.
    One down!
thought Boba.
Only a couple thousand to go.
    He whirled, and found himself smack in the middle of the battle about 200 meters from the citadel walls. Above him, droid fighters shot from the citadel’s peak. Battle droids swarmed
around its base, blasting away. Clone troopers ran in formation. As they neared the fortress, the formation broke up. Individual troopers raced toward the battle droids. One clone got caught by a
hailfire missile and vanished into a thousand pieces.
    Yuck!
thought Boba. He looked away quickly.
    BARRAAAMMM!
    Brilliant multicolored pulses of laser fire erupted from the clones’ blaster rifles. All were now aimed at the rolling, firing hailfire.
    KRRRAARRROW!
    A direct hit! One of the hailfire’s wheels disengaged and the clone’s body was dragged into the ground by the still churning second wheel. A few moments later it exploded in a fiery
blast.
    But the Republic’s troops were still in danger. They were vastly outnumbered, for starters. And somewhere above them, the ramship was headed for their assault ship.
    That was bad enough. But what was worse—the droidekas were laying waste to the clones. They rolled across the battlefield, safe within their shimmering forcefields. Laser fire bounced
from them harmlessly. Harmless for the droidekas, anyway. Some of the pulses ricocheted back and mowed down the very troopers who had fired them.
    With a cry Boba dodged a sudden flare of blue. A super battle droid stalked toward him, took aim and—
    BLAAM!
    Boba fired. The upper half of the droid disintegrated into shards of flaming plasteel. Boba whirled and blasted another droid. It fell. Boba staggered backward, struggling for breath.
    I can’t keep up with them
, he thought desperately.
There’s too many! The droids are fighting the clone troopers. The troopers are fighting the droids—
    And they’re all firing at me!
    Around him was chaos. Black smoke mingled with clouds of purple spores from malvil-trees and giant mushrooms caught in the crossfire. Boba adjusted his helmet, striving to see through the haze.
Xeran’s powder is wearing off, he thought with dismay.
The Republic’s getting wasted.
Not that he cared about the Republic. But if Wat Tambor was powerful enough to destroy
them,