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

shredding both solar panels. As the stabilizers disintegrated, the Interceptor's
climb became a loop into a dive that brought it in on a colli-sion course with
the moon. Both engines thrusting fully, the Interceptor plowed into the lunar
surface, gouging out a huge furrow. The Interceptor hit the edge of a small
impact crater, skipped up, then battered itself again and again against the
moon. Finally, crushed into a shape that was unrecognizable as any part of a
fighter, it rolled to a stop as the engines sputtered out.
Corran circled the spot once. "No explosion, nothing spectacular. Erisi would
have hated it."
Whistler blatted harshly.
"Right who cares what she would have wanted." Cor-ran pulled his X-wing away
from the moon. "Find me that shuttle, Whistler. I don't care who's on it, we're
going to stop it."
Another salvo from the Virulence ripped into the Lusankya as Wedge swooped low
over the Super Star Destroyer and pep-pered its hull with laser bolts. The
Lusankya tried to defend itself, but the surface-mounted turbolaser cannons
simply made themselves targets for strafing runs by X-wings, A-wings, Twi'leki
Chir'daki, and the Gands' curious ships. What shots the Super Star Destroyer did
get off at the Viru-lence failed to penetrate the smaller ship's shields.
The Lusankya is fast becoming defenseless. Much more of this hammering and the
ship could begin to break up, and that would jeopardize the prisoners we want to
rescue from her. Wedge pulled up and flashed past the bridge. "Gate, get me an
open comm channel to the Lusankya."
The droid complied with the order instantly. "This is Commander Wedge Antilles
to the Captain of the Lusankya. We'll accept your surrender at any time."
An angry, shrill voice arced through the comm unit. "This is Captain Joak
Drysso-no, Admiral Drysso-of the Lusankya. We will never give up."
"Captain . . ."
"How dare you insult me!"
"Admiral, then, even Grand Admiral, if it will make you see sense. Your shields
are down. Your engines are hit. You have no fighter cover, you can't hurt your
opposition." Wedge let his damage assessment sink in for a moment. "It's
hopeless. No one else needs to die. Give up."
"Give up? An Imperial Grand Admiral never gives up. If you think one would,
you'll rue the day you engaged one!"
"That could be, sir, but that day isn't today!. We'll treat all your people with
all due respect." Wedge fought to keep his voice even. "Surrender."
"Never! We are all loyal sons of the Empire. We are not afraid to put death
before dishonor. Helm, give me all speed. We're going to ram the planet! There,
Antilles, see, a Grand Admiral never . . ." The comm unit popped and abruptly
went silent.
"Drysso!"
"Captain Drysso isn't here anymore, sir. Ah, this is acting-Captain Waroen."
"Are you going to crash your ship into the planet, Waroen?"
"Not if I can help it, sir. If you could get the War Cruiser to stop shooting my
engines, and if Virulence will pull us a bit further out into orbit so we don't
crash of our own accord, we'll accept any conditions for surrender you want to
offer us."
"I'm happy to be working with you, Captain Waroen. What you're doing is no
dishonor."