Free New Threat by Elizabeth Hand Page A

what chance did Boba have?
    Plenty,
Boba thought grimly.
I’m not giving up.
    A sudden roar made him look up. For a split second, every battle droid paused. As though they shared one mind, they all looked up, too.
    “Starfighters!” cried Boba.
    A phalanx of starfighters arrowed through the haze. Wat Tambor’s air defenses fired at them in a blaze of blinding energy. The starfighters’ leader banked sharply to the right. Boba
stared up at it, admiringly.
    “He sure knows what he’s doing.” He thought of Ulu Ulix, and smiled. Then he adjusted his helmet’s focus as he took cover behind a wrecked vehicle. “Let’s get
a better look at this guy…”
    But now the battle droids had also seen the fighter. A barrage of ground fire shot up toward it. The starfighter dove. Pulses exploded in the empty air as the ship raced downward through the
flak generated by the citadel’s air defenses. It made a lightning pass at the heads of the droids, decapitating dozens as it flew incredibly low. It was so close to the ground that Boba could
see who was piloting it.
    “Skywalker!” Boba felt a spike of excitement. He had seen Anakin Skywalker from a distance in the arena of Geonosis. The young Padawan was older now, but Boba recognized
Anakin’s defiant gaze—and his skill. “He can really fly that thing!”
    Anakin’s starfighter pulled up once more. A blaze of Separatist fire sparked around it. Then, without hesitating, the ship went into another dive. It came in low, pulling up at the last
moment as it lobbed an energy charge at the citadel.
    KARRROOOM!
    The charge exploded. Flaming spikes of durasteel flew everywhere. A raw smoldering hole appeared in the citadel’s side.
    “Yes!” said Boba.
    Wish I could do that!
Boba thought as another spasm of flame arced by him. Boba jumped, then ran through a throng of clones. He was now using all the skills he’d acquired as a
bounty hunter. His blaster fired without pause. Droids exploded in orange sparks—and clones fell left and right, as he fought his way toward the fortress.
    This time, Boba didn’t feel bad at all.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    Near the foot of Wat Tambor’s citadel, a homing spider droid had fallen. Its large form slumped over on two of its legs, forming a small, protected area.
    Boba headed for this makeshift refuge. He had to leap over several dead clones, and the smoking wreckage of a swoop. But once in the shadow of the droid he was safe. For a few moments,
anyway.
    Now what?
    Boba crouched, panting, and stared out at the battlefield. The clone trooper reinforcements were holding their own against the Separatists, but were unable to advance. Boba doubted they’d
be able to defeat Wat Tambor’s forces. The clones were organic and could be killed. And they
were
being killed in great numbers. The droids couldn’t regenerate, but there
seemed to be an endless supply of them streaming from the citadel’s mouth.
    But could it really be endless? Surely even Wat Tambor’s army had a limit?
    Boba peered out from the crook of the fallen droid’s elbow. Far above him, Anakin Skywalker’s starfighter led the Jedi forces in the air attack. They were targeting the spider
droids.
    As Boba watched, he saw another hailfire come spinning out of the shadows of the malvil-trees. It rolled toward the center of the battlefield, scattering clones like leaves. It stopped. It
raised its missile launcher, taking aim at one of the starfighters. With a deafening burst of energy, a barrage of plasma pulses went soaring upward—directly toward Anakin Skywalker’s
yellow starfighter.
    He’s doomed!
thought Boba.
    But the Padawan had other plans. Just as the plasma bursts approached it, he arrowed his starfighter to one side. The energy bolts continued onward, up, up, up through Xagobah’s violet sky—
    And found another target—the ramship!
    “Whoa!” Boba whooped.
    An immense starburst of pure energy like a thunderbolt surged out from where the ramship had