"Michael Stackpole "The Bacta War"" - читать интересную книгу автора

"I can hit from this range."
Iella came forward carefully, ducking as a fleeing Vratix leaped past. At the
edge of the terrace, she saw the troopers moving into the village, shooting into
the doorholes on the ground level. Scarlet backlighting sometimes silhouetted a
Vratix form. More often than not it seemed as if the blaster-fire started the
tower's lower rooms burning. There is no searching, this is just a mission to
destroy this place.
Angered beyond the point of caring about anything, Iella rose from her crouch
and began shooting at targets. Elscol rose up beside her, laying down a pattern
of fire that sent the troopers scurrying for cover. Iella looked over at her,
and they both knew seasoned troops-real stormtroopers-never would have shied
from blaster pistol fire. A few of the troop-ers were down and still, and yet
more thrashed in pain on the ground. Iella wanted to feel compassion for them,
but their cries for help were her greatest ally. If the wounded infect the rest
with a desire to avoid death, they'll break and run. At the same time she
acknowledged that the troopers' running was her only chance at survival.
Iella ducked down as scattered return fire headed in her direction. She popped a
fresh power pack into her blaster pistol and pressed her back against the wall.
Though the wall itself was smooth, Iella felt anything but placid at the mo-
ment. "Well, we've gotten their attention so the Vratix can flee."
Elscol ducked back beneath the edge of the wall. "You realize it's just a matter
of time before they call for one of the starfighters to come back, don't you?"
Iella slid further along the wall, then nodded. "I guess we finish them quickly,
then."
Elscol raised an eyebrow. "Your suggestion for Dlarit made me think you might
not have the stomach for this kind of fight. I'm glad to be wrong."
Iella came up and triggered off two more shots before the troopers shifted their
aim to shoot back at her. She dropped back down, uncertain if she'd hit anything
and disturbed by what she saw. "Bad news. They've got a squad moving to flank
us."
The smaller woman shrugged as if Iella had reported she felt a light drizzle
starting to fall. Elscol checked her power pack and smiled in the near silence
that reigned in the village. "We can give up, or we can fight our way through
them."
"I don't see surrender as an option."
"Nor me." Elscol tucked a lock of brown hair behind her left ear. "On three
we're over the wall to the last terrace. We go forward, take some shots, then
over again and at them."
"Frontal assault?" Iella shook her head. "I may be dead and not know it, but I'm
not crazy."
"They're scared. We sprint to their line of cover, then we start vaping them
close in. CorSec had to train you for that sort of fight and I've gotten used to
it, too."
Iella thought for a moment. From the base of the wall to the trees and rubble
the troopers were using was only twenty-five meters. Shooting like mad to make
them keep their heads down, it might just work. "I'm game."
"Let's do it." Elscol rose into a crouch. "One, two, three!"
With her left hand on top of the terrace wall, Iella came up and over, then
dropped the eight feet to the next terrace. She hit, rolled, and sprinted to the
next edge. She vaulted it in tandem with Elscol and landed solidly. She shoved