"Chewie," he said, "stay sharp. This world can be a real pit. Good thing it ain't rainin', for once." He tapped his goggles. "You need a pair of these, pal?"

Chewie shook his head, affirming that Wookiee night-sight was far superior to human vision. He could see fine and didn't need goggles.

When Han turned to go up the landing ramp, Lando and Jarik came trooping down it. Like Han, they were carrying heavy blaster rifles and wearing helmets with infrared goggles. They stood together at the bottom, watching the Rebel soldiers a.s.sembling from the shut-tles. Most of the landing vehicles were down now.

"So... where do you guys think you're goin'?" Han asked.

"To find some action," Jarik said. "I ain't missing this!" The youth clutched his blaster rifle, bouncing on his toes, obviously excited at the chance to take part in his first ground a.s.sault.

Han had always figured he'd let Jarik stay in the ship. Safer that way. "Wait a minute," he said. "The Togori-ans are gone to capture the Admin Building. Me and Chewie are headin' out with Bria. If you guys go lookin' for action, then who~ gonna guard the Falcon?"

"Lock it and activate the security systems," Jarik said.

"n.o.body~ gonna get inside unless you let 'em, Han."

L:ando gestared at the beach. The last Rebel and smuggler ships were coming in for a landing. "Won't Bria post a rear guard to watch the ships?"

Han glared at the gambler. Lando suddenly realized he was being a bit dense, and shut up.

Smugglers were pouring out of their vessels now, and several of the captains were plainly not happy. Han braced himself as Kaj Nedmak and Arly Bron stormed up to him, along with several other smugglers and pri-vateers he didn't know. "Solo, what do you think you're doing, leading us straight into a turbolaser?" Bron de-manded. "I nearly lost my engines!"

Han shrugged and spread his hands. "Hey, it~ not my fault! I didn't know! I almost got fried myselff'

Just then, Bria approached, with Jace Paol, her sec-ond-in-command. "It~ not Han~ fault," she said to the unhappy crowd. "I am going to have a word with the Bothans, though. They were supposed to have done the recon necessary for this mission. Unless that turbo-laser was just installed, they should have pinpointed it before now."

More grumbling from the a.s.sembled captains. Bria held up her hand for quiet. "Don't worry, you'll get what~ coming to you," she said, her voice and eyes hard and full of authority. "Just stay here on the beach until we have the compound secured. Or... anyone who en-joys a fight is welcome to tag along."

Most of the smuggler and privateer captains shook their heads and walked away, but one or two decided to go in with the Rebels-probably to make sure they got to earmark the best spice in the warehouse for them-selves. Han looked at Bria. "Chewie and me are goin' with you," he said.

Jace Paol spoke up, "Commander, request permis-sion to take my squad in and knock out that turbolaser. We're going to need to land more shuttles later on, and we can't, with that thing blasting ships out of the sky."

Bria nodded. "Permission granted, Lieutenant. Take a demo team with you. Take out the laser, and if it can't be salvaged, destroy it."

"Right, Commander."

"Jarik Solo here. I'd like to go," Jarik spoke up to Paol. "That laser nearly singed my rear. I'd like a chance to be in on taking it down."

Paol nodded at the young man. "Glad to have you."

Han caught Lando~ eye and jerked his head at Jarik. Lando sighed, then stepped forward. "Count me in, too, Lieutenant. I'm Lando Calrissian." "Glad to have you, Calrissian."

Han waved at his friends as they sta~ed off down the-beach with Paol~ squadron. He watched as Bria gave fi-nal orders to the troops who would remain behind as rear guard for the ships on the beach.

Then he and Chewie started up the beach with Bria and her troops. Her comlink chirped, and she turned it up so she could hear. Han listened to the voice of the a.s.sault Commander, Blevon, up on the Liberator. "Rainbow One to all stations, we have multiple reports of heavy resistance. Be on the alert."

Bria glanced at Han, then at her chrono. "All forces have landed. We're running behind." She muted the comlink so it was just a distant mutter of commanders reporting in, then broke into a jog. Hah and the squads ran after her.

The infrared goggles took some getting used to. Hah nearly tripped over beach drift, and once he got tangled in a bunch of th.o.r.n.y sand-gra.s.s and got thoroughly scratched. Chewie obligingly lifted him up bodily, free-ing him. His skin stinging, Han warned the others be-hind him.

Been a long time, he reflected, scrambling behind Bria up the dune, clutching the heavy A280 rifle. Sand sifted and fell around him, and the footing was treach-erous. The last time he'd done something like this was not a pleasant memory....

Bria was the first to reach the top. She flattened her-self, waving caution with a hand-signal to her followers. Han wasn't expecting any fire-after all, they were not even in sight of the compound-but caution in battle was always a good thing. He dropped to his belly and wriggled up beside her, with Chewie right behind him. Sand sifted down his open collar, making him itch. He couldn't spare the time to scratch, though.

Together, Han, the Wookiee and Bria eased up the last half-meter and peered over the top of the dune- and nearly got the tops of their heads blown off.

Repeating blaster fire hammered them, turning some of the sand to gla.s.s instantly, spraying them with minus-cule hot particles that stung like insects.

Chewie howled as he, Han and Bria threw them-selves fiat, covering, until the fire ceased. The Rebel commander took a sensor reading and looked at Han, her face a yellowish blur with white lips against the var-ied greens of the infrared. He could see her frown be-neath the masking goggles. "Han. . . I'm detecting at least twenty energy signatures out there, waiting for us. Whoever these guys are, they're not a bunch of Gamorreans."

Han stared at her. "That and the turbolaser..."

"Yeah." She thumbed her comlink to transmit. "Rainbow One, this is Red One. We took turbolaser fire as we landed and changed to our 'alternate landing site. We're on the ground with moderate casualties. Four ships lost-three shuttles, one friend." "Friend" Han knew, was the agreed-upon code for a smuggler or privateer ship. "Encountering heavy resistance, but continuing our a.s.sault."

The voice of a.s.sault Command came back. "Rain-bow One copies, Red One. Do you need White One?"

Blevon was asking whether Bria needed reserves from the Liberator.

She keyed her link. "Negative, Rainbow One. The reserves can't land while that turbolaser is still up. We're working on it. Red One out."

"Rainbow One," Blevon acknowledged her, and then was quiet.

Bria switched frequencies to her inter-squad chan-nel. "Jace, this is Bria. Have you sneaked a look over those dunes yet?"

"I did," Paol's voice was grim. "Who are those guys?" "I don't know," Bria said. "But they're obviously pro-fessionMs. You circle around through the jungle and come down the mudfiats from the north. I'll go through the jungle and come up from the South. We'll catch them in a crossfire."

"Copy," Paol said. "You would make me crawl through the mud."

Bria laughed grimly, and broke the connection.

It took Han and Bria~ team nearly ten minutes to make their way far enough down the beach so they could be sure to be shielded by the jungle. They went up and over the dunes, then down again, into the jungle. Hah followed Chewie~ lead as they slogged through rotting vegetation. His nose wrinkled at the smell, and Chewbacca whined protestingly. Wookiees had a much more acute sense of smell than humans. Sweating and slipping through the muck underfoot, Hah wished he'd worn boots with more traction.

Finally, they reached the edge of the cleared area. Bria's sensors confirmed that their targets were just 'ahead. They crouched in the jungle and her comlink chirped softly. She turned the volume up. "... receiving multiple reports of heavy resistance. Green One reports confirmation that some professionals for a merc outfit calling itself Nova Force, have been captured. Rainbow One out."

"Nova Force? Mercenaries?" Han looked at Bria.

"Oh, great! How'd they get here?" She shrugged.

Hah scowled. "And I told the smugglers and priva-teers this was going to be a piece of cake!"

Hah listened tensely as she checked in with Jace Paol. Everything was in place ....

Han~ pulse was racing. He swallowed, and his saliva tasted metallic. "You ready, pal?" he whispered to Chewie, who was checking the charge in his bowcaster. "Hrrrrnnnnnn!"

Han checked the charge in his blaster rifle, even though he knew it was full.

Finally Bria nodded, and together, the squad wrig-gled out of the jungle, crawling 'along cropped vegeta-tion, their hands and knees digging into the muck. It had rained recently, of course . . . this was Ylesia. Han's fingers encountered permacrete. A landing field or road... it hadn't been there ten years ago.

Bria counted down seconds with Paol, then- "Fire!"

Hah rose to his knees, sighted with his goggles, and saw a dim shape wearing an unfamiliar helmet, yellow marking body heat. He fired.

The waning night exploded into blaster fire, choked-off screams and battle cries. Still firing, Han and Chew-bacca moved forward with Bria's troops. The soldier to his left went down. He glanced at her, saw a black hole where her face had been, whiffed charred meat, and kept going.

Moments later, as the enemy fire stuttered out and died, Bria yelled for cease-fire. Han and Chewie ap-proached, seeing the scattered bodies before them. Bria nudged one with her toe as Jace Paol, as smeared with mud as a t'landa Til 'after a wallow, approached. "Look at that emblem on the sleeve," she said. "An ex-ploding star. And look at their armor and equipment. ProfessionMs, 'all right." She counted bodies. "Twenty.

There are probably more manning the turbolaser."

She and Han looked across the compound. In the pre-dawn darkness, they could make out the tower with the turbolaser atop it. "Good thing they can't swing that thing down to hit targets on the ground," Han said. "Or we'd be cooked."

Jarik and Lando came up and the four friends stood off to the side as Bria ordered a few members of her squads to a.s.sist the wounded back to the ships, and to salvage the Nova Force weapons. "Remember, people," she said, "we are taking it all. If it can be re-used, sal-vage it."

They nodded.

Hah looked at Lando and Jarik, crusted with mud, and shook his head. "Lando, if Drea Renthal could see you now...

Chewie began laughing.

"Shut up, Han. You too, Chewbacca," the gambler said, flicking fastidiously at his ruined clothes. Luckily for him, he'd donned rough clothing in preparation for the night's work. "I don't want to hear it. I haven't been this dirty since... well, it's a long story."

Han chuckled, and looked at Jarik. "So... how'd you do, kid?"

Jarik nodded. "Pretty good, I think, Han. I got at least two of 'em."

Han clapped him on the shoulder. "Great. We'll make a warrior out of you, yet."

Jarik's teeth flashed white in his mud-blackened face. As soon as the wounded were taken away by medics, Bria keyed her comlink, then ordered her waiting troops to advance on the double. "Let's take that com-pound! Advance in squads! Demo teams, be ready!"

She turned up the volume on the comlink, and they heard: "Rainbow One; this is Green Two. I'm a.s.suming command here. Green One is down."

"Rainbow One copies, Green Two. Whatg your status?"

"Almost done here. Just mopping up. Expect to have the target secure in five minutes."

Bria made a face. "We're running behind." She clicked on. "Rainbow One, this is Red One. Front line resistance has been de't.i.t with. Bringing up reinforce-ments, and advancing into the compound."

"Red One, status on that turbolaser?"

"Rainbow One, I have two squads preparing to deal with that now. Red One out." "Rainbow One... out."

Han and Chewie watched Paol~ group as they headed off through the jungle to come at the turbolaser crew from the east. Then they were busy, advancing with Bria's troops into the compound. They met scat-tered resistance from Ylesian guards, which, for the most part, they dealt with easily... as they'd expected to. The night was no longer silent, even when the guns were quiet. The moans and pleas of the wounded, yells for a.s.sistance, plus a.s.sorted shouted 'alien words ....

As they advanced, Bria~ squads kept reporting in: "Red Hand Leader, Squad Three r~porting. Andris Factory secured. Demo teams are moving in."

"Red Hand Leader, Squad Six reporting. Welcome Center secured. Demo team has been summoned."

"Red Hand Leader, Squad Seven, we are moving in on the dormitory. It is under guard by the mercs... but there are only about six of them. Not expecting any trouble .... "

"Red Hand Leader, Squad Two reporting. We're moving into position to take that turbolaser. Estimate attack will commence in... five minutes."

Han and Chewie stayed close by Bria's side, as the three guarded each other's backs. Bursts of blaster fire echoed through the compound, mixed with screams, Gamorrean grunts and squeals, and alien wails.

Han figured that there were probably a platoon's worth of mercenaries-thirty to forty troopers, all told. The Nova Force soldiers were truly professional. They, fought bravely and well until it was obvious that defeat was inevitable, then they surrendered. They were fight-ing for credits, not a cause, and it made sense to live and fight another day.

Once a crazed Pilgrim toting a scavenged blaster pis-tol came leaping out of the shadows and nearly winged Bria. Han shot the female Bothan down, killing her-he was rushed, and had no time to aim for a disabling shot. Bria stared down at the Pilgrim in horror, and for a mo-ment Han thought he saw tears in her eyes. "Honey..." he said. "There was nothing else I could do .... "

"I know," she gave him a wan smile. "Itk hard, though, having them attack you when you're trying to help them."

Hah patted her shoulder consolingly. She took out her comlink in response to a chirp from a.s.sault Com-mand and heard the ID: "Rainbow One."

A minute crawled by. Bria motioned her squad to fall in behind her. Then the AC channel spoke again, an outwardly calm voice that carried an undercurrent of strain: "Rainbow One, this is Blue One. I need some help here!"

Blevonk voice was fiat: "Blue One, say your status." "Thirty percent casualties, and they've got us pinned down with repeating blasters, at least two of them. One in the warehouse, the other in the dormitory. I need White One."

"Blue One, this is White One. I can drop two pla-toons in three minutes. Where do you want them?"

"Why don't you take the warehouse? Put one platoon north, just on the south side of Hill Three-One. Land the other in the jungle to the east, and hit them from the side. I'll take the dormitory."

"Sounds good to me, Blue One. White One out."

"Blue One out."

Bria looked over at the turbolaser. The first flush of dawn was brightening the sky. "Jace should be moving in any moment .... "

As if her words had been a signal, the area around the turbolaser erupted with blaster fire, shouts, screams and the sounds of at least two grenades launching. Ex-plosions filled the air.

Bria waited a few tense seconds, then activated her link. "Squad Two, report! Are you in? Have you got it?"

No reply. Han and Chewie looked at each other tensely as they sheltered beside the glitterstim factory. One of Bria's troops came trotting around from the rear of the building. "We're .all secured, Commander. I've called for a demo team."

She nodded distractedly. "Good work, Sk'kot. Squad Two, this is Red Hand Leader. Report, please. What's happening?"

Silence for ten endless heartbeats, then suddenly they heard the channel click. "Red Hand Leader, Squad Two." It was Jace Paol's voice. The troops around Han and Chewie grinned and gave a low cheer. "We've got it, but we have people down. Send the medics. Out."

Bria hastfly called in backup for Squad Two, then summoned in the medics' shuttle, telling them it was safe to fly into the compound.

She called into her comlink. "Squad Eight, how are you Togorians doing?"

A voice came over the comlink, speaking accented but understandable Basic. "Mrrov here. The building is 'almost secured, Bria. We are going to have to search the jungle for snipers, though. Some of the guards managed to get away. There are some ships landed up here, mostly small shuttles, but one big one. We have the ships under guard. It's possible some of the guards may try to escape."

Bria' addressed the comlink. "Great going, Mrrov. I bet you people made short work out of those Gamorreans."

Mrrov growled an amused laugh.

Bria switched channels, just in time to hear: "Red One, this is Rainbow One. Say your status."

Bria had just opened her mouth to reply when blaster fire erupted from the center of the compound, aimed at them. Bria, Hah, Chewie and the other squad members, dropped, covering against the wall. Han spat out a mouthful of mud, and wished he could rinse his mouth out with the water from the flask on his hip. But he didn't want to chance moving.

"Cover me, people!" Bria yelled Over her shoulder, then she began worming her way forward. Han and Chexvie were right behind her. Blaster fire began whanging past, over their heads.