Outcast: Star Wars Legends (Fate of the Jedi)

Fate of the Jedi launches a new multi-book, multi-author series, in the vein of the "New York Times"-bestselling Legacy of the Force series.

Aaron Allston is the New York Times bestselling author of the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novels Betrayal, Exile, and Fury; the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines adventures Rebel Dream and Rebel Stand; novels in the popular Star Wars X-Wing series; and the Doc Sidhe novels, which combine 1930s-style hero-pulps with Celtic myth. He is also a longtime game designer and was recently inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD) Hall of Fame. He lives in Central Texas.


From the Hardcover edition.

Chapter Five


 “COME TO COURSE TWO-SIX-NINE.

”  Han, following his wife’s directions, banked theFalconaround and headed toward the government district. Leia, in the copilot’s seat, had her personal comlink to her ear. 

 TheFalcon’s comm board was alive with Coruscant Security and traffic monitors warning Han to return to designated ship traffic lanes or be subject to arrest. He growled and switched the thing to silent mode. “They found him?” 

 “They found him. He’s in an X-wing with a hole in the cockpit.” 

 “Armed?” 

 “Fifty—fifty chance. It was in the Senate Building, so it’s either a fully functional security vehicle or some Senator’s unarmed memoriesof- youth vehicle. I’m hoping for the second option.” 

 “Me, too.”  

“Come to two-five-nine.” 

 “Nah.” Han put theFalconinto a dive. His stomach fluttered, and the sensor screen filled up with tiny objects getting larger–small- vehicle traffic at and below building-top level. Flashing down at terrifying and illegal speed, he twitched the controls right and left, nimbly dodging the much smaller civilian vehicles. 

 “Han, what do you think–” 

 Then he was fully among them, streams of traffic above as well as below. He pulled out of his dive two hundred meters below the average height of the buildings. 

 “–you’re doing?” 

 “This way, we’re off the major sensor boards. Only vehicles with line of sight on us will complain.” 

 “I understandthat.I mean, why not turn to two-five-nine?” 

 “His course changes are just to jerk us around, to confuse us.I know where he’s going.” 

 “Where?” 

 “The spaceport, right at the edge of the government district. He stole a starfighter; that means he wants to make space. It’s damaged, so he can’t. He needs another one. Right?” 

 “Right.” 

 “When it comes to piloting and pilots, I’m all-knowing.” 

 Leia put an artificial sweetness into her voice. “I’ll never argue with you again.”

  Han snorted and increased velocity. A Coruscant Security speeder following in his wake dropped back, left behind as though it were suddenly standing still. 

  Luke and Ben, in Ben’s nimble red airspeeder, received the transmission with Han’s guess about the spaceport. 

 Luke, at the controls, shook his head, not pleased. The spaceport, comparatively flat and built at a much lower altitude than the surrounding residential, business, and government zones, was not, as most supposed, actually situated at bedrock level. Below it were many levels of machinery, repair hangars, Empire-era emergency bunkers, spaceport employee facilities, and repair accesses. 

 If Han was right and Valin was headed that way, even if he was unsuccessful at stealing another spaceworthy vehicle he might escape into those subterranean regions, making it hard or impossible to find him before he detected his tracking device and destroyed it.  

Their speeder emerged from the skytowers and was abruptly out over the flatter region surrounding the spaceport. It was mostly given over to speeder parking, though it had decorative elements, including tree-spotted gr

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Excerpted from Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast by Aaron Allston
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.