Timothy Zahn - Hero of Cartao 2

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Hero of Cartao.

Episode II.

Hero's Rise.

by Timothy Zahn.

Coming to a midair halt above the kilometer-wide grassy strip separating

the Spaarti Creations manufacturing plant from the northern edge of the

Binalie family estate, the heavy cargo lifters began lowering their magnetic

grapples. Kinman Doriana couldn't see the ground beneath them from his

position - the estate's hills were blocking his view-but he could guess that

they were hovering over the last of the shattered war machines that had ended

up there in the aftermath of the Separatists' assault on the plant two days

earlier.

At least, Doriana thought unkindly, the Neimoidians commanding the

occupying droid army had learned not to simply drive cleanup vehicles onto

that forbidden stretch of grassland. Glancing around to make sure the copse of

trees he was standing in wasn't under observation, he pulled out his

holoprojector and keyed in the contact code.

The connecting light blinked on as the device linked first to the local

comlink central switching office, then to his personal ship and its special

HoloNet node, then across the vast expanse of the Republic to one of the dozen

HoloNet nodes on Coruscant, and finally to the private desk of Supreme

Chancellor Palpatine himself. Doriana watched the lifters as he waited,

wondering if Palpatine would be there or out at yet another meeting.

The image of the most recognized face in the galaxy appeared in the air

above the holoprojector. "Master Doriana," Palpatine said, nodding to his

advisor. "You have good news?"

"Just the opposite, I'm afraid," Doriana admitted. "The Separatists are

still holding Spaarti Creations, and they seem to have finally figured out

that vehicles or people on the plant's southern border upset the Cranscoc

twillers inside. They're clearing the last of the debris off the grassland

now, and my guess is that by tonight they'll be able to get the plant retooled

for whatever it is they want to build in there."

"Not a pleasant thought," Palpatine said gravely. "Are you familiar with

the D-90 project?"

"No," Doriana said. "Is it one of ours?" Palpatine's lip twisted.

"Hardly. It's an experimental combat droid, reputed to be as tough as the

Trade Federation's D-60 assault droid, but more versatile."

"I see," Doriana said. The D-60 was a hulking, man-and-a-half-size

version of the super battle droids the Trade Federation had debuted at the

Battle of Geonosis. "How much more versatile?"

"Considerably," Palpatine said. "They'll be coordinated in small teams

instead of entire army blocks so that they can be used as commando units as

well as simple battlefield shock troops."

"An unpleasant thought, indeed," Doriana said. So, the Separatists

finally had a new weapon on the plotting board. About time. "You think they've

come here to begin production?"

"That's what our Intelligence people believe," Palpatine said.

"Personally, I suspect there are still some system flaws and that they hope to

use Spaarti to test and finalize the design. What's the current military

situation?" "For the moment, basically stalemated," Doriana told him.

"Commander Roshton and his clone troopers have gone to ground, some of them

here on Lord Binalie's estate, the rest dispersed elsewhere. They've been

harassing the droids wherever possible, but the Separatists have mostly been

staying inside where we can't get at them without risking damage to the plant.

"Which neither we nor they want," Palpatine said. "What about the techs?"

"Binalie has a secret safe room-basically a shielded sub-sub-basement-

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that connects with the tunnel to the plant," Doriana said. "The techs are

hidden down there." "Communications?"

"The Separatists are still blocking the local comm system and the HoloNet

node," Doriana told him. "But Roshton's reconfigured their comlinks somehow to

get around it. They'll be able to move quickly if they get the chance."

"Then they shall have it," Palpatine said. "A Republic light cruiser is

on its way with the necessary firepower to destroy the control ship orbiting

above you. Once the droid army is helpless, I trust Commander Roshton won't

have any trouble with the Neimoidian overseers and their techs."

"I'm sure he won't," Doriana agreed. "When can we expect this ship?"

"Possibly as early as tonight," Palpatine said. "Possibly not for another

three days. It depends on how much resistance they run into along the way."

"Understood," Doriana assured him. "Thank you, Chancellor. We'll look

forward to their arrival."

Palpatine gave him a tired smile. The war, Doriana knew, was weighing

heavily on him. "Keep me informed."

The image vanished. Doriana broke the connection from his end and looked

back at the lifters. They had the blackened hulk of the last ruined war

machine in the air now and were towing it back toward the plant.

Planning to dump it elsewhere on the extensive Spaarti grounds, no doubt.

Why the alien Cranscoc insisted that this particular stretch of land-and only

this particular stretch-be kept unsullied not even Lord Binalie knew. Doriana

watched until the lifters and their burden had vanished behind the jutting

roof of the Spaarti plant, then keyed a different code into his holoprojector.

He'd done his official job, reporting the situation to the man whose office

paid him.

Now it was time to do the same for the man who gave him his orders. As

usual, it took longer for the holoprojector to make this connection. Doriana

cultivated his patience, gazing idly at the sky as he wondered what the

Neimoidians were doing inside the plant. Now that the south lawn was clear,

they would certainly try tonight to get the Cranscoc twillers to retool the

plant. The only question was, which direction would that retooling take? To

create the D-90 prototypes, as Palpatine thought? Or were they up to something

else? In the distance, he could hear the hum of repulsorlifts... And suddenly,

four small transports appeared over the hills between him and Spaarti

Creations, a squadron of STAPs flying defensive screening around them,

everything moving with the urgency of pilots who knew there were snipers in

the area. The whole crowd shot past nearly overhead, then angled downward, the

transports abruptly splitting formation and swinging into position on the four

sides of the Binalie mansion a kilometer away. With the kind of precision only

remote-controlled droids could achieve, all four dropped simultaneously to the

ground. And from the hatches poured military-straight lines of battle droids.

"Report."

With a start, Doriana jerked his attention back to his holoprojector. The

hooded image of Darth Sidious hovered over the small projection platform, his

expression unreadable. "Your pardon, Lord Sidious," Doriana apologized

hastily. "My attention was distracted."

To his relief, Sidious merely smiled thinly. "The Neimoidians have

finally made a move?"

"Of a sort, yes," Doriana said, daring to split his attention between his

master's image and the activity going on around the mansion below. The battle

droids had been joined on the lawn now by a handful of the hulking D-60

assault droids and a pair of droidekas. Most of them settled into a defensive

cordon around the mansion, but four of the assault droids were waiting instead

just outside the transport nearest the mansion's front door. As he watched,

two Neimoidians emerged from the hatch into the protective square of the

assault droids and scuttled across the lawn toward the door.

"It looks like they've decided to have a talk with Lord Binalie," he told

Sidious. "Will talking be of any use to them?" Doriana shrugged as the group

vanished inside.

"Binalie certainly can't get the plant up and running any faster," he

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