Soldier for the Empire #7 Operation Skyhook Phase2 : Danuta Plan

年 代	出 来 事	場 面	参 考

It took three hours for Kyle to make his way across the ravine, find a path through the maze of boulders, and arrive opposite the gate marked "S-2." It was three meters tall and constructed of solid durasteel. An energy cannon might burn a hole through it, but nothing less would touch it. 　Odom had explained that the gates had letter designations: E for East, W for West, N for North, and S for South. Each side of the rectangular perimeter had four or five such openings for the convenience of maintenance and security teams who would otherwise have been forced to rely on the main gate, which would be an inconvenience at least, and dangerous in case of attack. 　Kyle checked his chrono, found that he had a full hour to wait, and ducked behind a rock. He was well within the range of the nearest surveillance cam and would be vulnerable until darkness cloaked his movements. 　The window of opportunity, and it wouldn't last for long, would occur at precisely 2100 hours when the officer of the watch, Meck Odom in this case, would use remote testing equipment to open and close the door locks. It would be during this test, while the door was momentarily unlocked, that Kyle would slip through. That, combined with Odom's ability to momentarily override the collateral security systems, would allow Kyle to penetrate the outer perimeter. The rest would be up to him, and, assuming he made it to the extraction point, Jan Ors, who had agreed to pull him out. 　Kyle remembered the night before, their mutual reluctance to kill each other, and smiled. His expression froze as stones rattled nearby, What was it? An animal? Or something more ominous? 　The agent wanted to investigate but knew better than to do so. Whatever it was might sense his movements. And what? Attack? Report his presence? Either possibility would be disastrous. 　Kyle held his breath and kept a grip on his blaster. There was silence, followed by a sound similar to the first one, only closer this time. Metal rasped on metal, then moved away. Slowly, his blood pounding in his ears, Kyle started to breathe again. The machine, whatever its purpose, had left. 　The sun sank over the western horizon, stars appeared in the sky, and Kyle felt very, very small. The entire mission was insane. Fear spread icy fingers through his veins. How would a more experienced agent handle a moment such as this one? 　Kyle remembered the breathing exercises the Academy had taught him and put the knowledge to work. His vital signs slowed, brain activity flattened, and time stood still. 　Kyle was surprised when his eyes popped open, his chrono read 2050 hours, and the moment was at hand. Widely spaced blue-green perimeter lights had come on at some point during the last half hour. They threw a ghostly glow across the rocks. 　Marveling at how rested he was, Kyle turned toward the fence and did some stretches. Then, confident that his body would respond the way it was supposed to, the agent elbowed his way toward the fence. He hadn't moved more than a meter or two when a security droid appeared in the distance. It floated a meter off the ground and was mounted with no less than three auto blasters and a pair of independently controlled spotlights. They chased each other back and forth, probing the shadows for intruders, verifying the integrity of the fence. 　Kyle weighed his alternatives. The lock would open in a little more than seven minutes. The droid was traveling at maybe two or three klicks an hour. There was no way to evaluate the variables precisely, so he would have to guess. 　Kyle gritted his teeth, resolved to stay low, and low-crawled upwards. Loose gravel rattled away from his boots, his senses seemed unusually acute, and the droid grew larger. 　The agent sprinted across the unpaved maintenance road that fronted the fence and dived into the shadow opposite the door. A quick check showed he had three minutes to go. More than he would have liked, but a necessary trade-off. 　The droid moved forward, sensors scanning, searching for anything outside the parameters of what its programming classified as "normal." Was the machine faster now? Or did it only seem that way? Whatever the truth, Kyle knew the droid would spot him before the lock opened, assuming it ever did. 　Desperate now, and unable to come up with a better alternative, Kyle felt around the ground, found a baseball-sized rock, and stood straight up. He threw as hard as he could, not at the droid, but over its CPU housing, hoping to trigger a motion detector, or failing that, to generate some noise. 　The rock flew straight and true, landed in the scrub, and caused a miniature landslide. The droid turned, aimed its spotlights toward the noise, and brought two auto blasters to bear. 　Kyle turned toward the door, looked at his chrono, and saw the final seconds tick away. Then, just as the readout changed from fifty-nine to double zeros the agent heard an unmistakable "click." Kyle's heart was in his mouth as he gripped the T-shaped handle, gave it one turn to the right, and pushed. The door swung miraculously open and Kyle slipped through. The droid's spots washed over the door only seconds after it closed. 　Kyle allowed himself a two-second celebration, checked his surroundings against the mental map created from Odom's descriptions, and started to jog. Half a klick separated the fence from the complex. A surface patrol would sweep through the area in fifteen minutes or so. That gave Kyle plenty of time to reach the entry point. 　The air shaft was Odom's idea. Like similar ducts located throughout the complex, the vent was intended to collect fresh air and carry it to the sublevels below. Security was ensured by heat and motion detectors mounted inside the shafts. The only problem was that a persistent software glitch had triggered a long series of false alarms. Repair requests had been submitted, and would be acted upon, but that was a week or more away. During the interim, alarms from that particular source were routinely ignored, providing Kyle with the perfect opportunity.

デヌータ Danuta

Chapter 7 P.113-126

帝国軍秘密基地

Dark Forces Soldier for the Empire P.113 -

The complex loomed ahead. Kyle scrambled up a bank, leaped an ornamental hedge, and arrived in front of a duracrete wall. The roof was low and readily accessible due to the fact that ninety percent of the building was underground. Kyle followed the vertical surface to a corner, found the horizontal slots intended to make the facility more interesting to look at, and climbed hand over hand. 　The roof was broad and flat. There was a gravel-like substance that crunched under his boots, a cluster of antennas, a reinforced landing pad marked with four flashing lights, and yes, the top of an air duct. 　Moving quietly, or as quietly as the gravel would allow, Kyle crossed to the far side of the roof. The duct was protected by a pyramid-shaped all-weather cap. His multitool made quick work of the screws-one to each side of the vent. They gleamed as they hit the roof. 　That out of the way, Kyle wrapped his arms around the sheet metal, bent his knees, and lifted. There was momentary resistance followed by sudden freedom as the cover popped loose. 　Kyle set the structure on the roof and peered into the pitch-black duct. He patted his belt, found the glow rod, and pulled it free. The ladder was obvious. The agent turned, stuck the light between his teeth, and lowered himself into the shaft. He found a rung with his feet, tested the metal with his weight, and started his descent. 　The light wavered back and forth across bare metal as Kyle sank into the darkness. He was committed now - and it was literally do or die.

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Jan had retrieved her satchel from the apartment and used most of the contents to build a tidy little bomb. She buried the device near the north side of the security fence. The explosion would take place at precisely 2145 and should be sufficient to draw at least some of the surface forces away from the main complex. Then, at 2200 hours she would pass over that exact spot in the Moldy Crow, hose the area down, and head for the pickup point. It was not an especially fancy plan. But it should be sufficient to the purpose. 　Jan was about to enter the Crow's belly when movement caught her eye. Pole-mounted lights bathed the area directly in front of the terminal. The local customs agent was there, as were half a dozen stormtroopers. The official waved a piece of paper and yelled something unintelligible. The Imperials turned, looked in Jan's direction, and started her way. 　Jan ran up the ramp, hit"retract," and made for the cockpit. The battle was about to begin.

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Kyle saw a large white numeral 1 and knew he had gone far enough. The ladder continued downward through a man-sized hole. Kyle stepped onto the grating provided for that purpose. The access hatch, also marked with a big white 1, stood in front of him. There would be guards on this level, lots of them. Odom had emphasized that. 　Kyle drew his blaster, took a deep breath, and touched the entry plate. The door slid open, a commando appeared, and Kyle fired. The Imperial staggered, fired a shot into the ceiling, and fell. It happened so quickly there was no time to be afraid. 　Kyle holstered his hand weapon, grabbed the Imperial's assault rifle, and started down the hall. The lights were relatively dim and the walls were bare. The agent knew that he had two main allies: surprise and speed. The trick was to make maximum use of both. The left-hand wall led to a door, a rather important door, one he would return to. There were other things to do first, however. An operations room appeared to the right, an Imperial moved toward the hall, and Kyle fired.

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Jan bit her lip as the drives came online, quickly followed by the ship's navigation, weapons, and life-support systems. The emergency start-up sequence was fast, but not as fast as she wanted it to be. 　The stormtroopers' commander saw the ramp retract, heard the drives start to wind, and ordered his men to fire. They obeyed and the Crow's shields flashed as the energy bolts struck. 　Repulsors flared as the lighter lifted off, and the commander gulped as the bow swung his way. To the soldier's credit he was still there, still firing his nearly useless pistol, when the belly gun cut him in half.

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The commando looked surprised, tried to say something, and fell. A pair of officers turned in Kyle's direction, fumbled for their side arms, and crumpled as Kyle shot them. He mounted the platform, checked for ammo, and took what he could. 　A quick glance confirmed the first door to his left, another door to his right, and a hall straight ahead. Which strategy should he pursue? Check the hall to eliminate whatever opposition might be hiding there? Or try the first door - followed by the second? 　The decision was made for him when a commando appeared at the far end of the hallway and opened fire. Kyle fired in return, saw the Imperial fall, and felt blaster fire fan the side of his face. A second commando, this one backed by an officer, triggered a three-shot burst. 　Kyle ducked, went to automatic, and saw the Imperials fall. Concerned that there could be more where those came from, the agent moved up the corridor, grabbed some loose power paks, and followed the hall to the left. The communications center was clear. Kyle checked, assured himself the hall was empty, and returned the way he had come. 　A quick turn to the right brought him to the durasteel door with illuminated panels. Odom claimed the red key was required in order to open it, but what if his friend was wrong? Kyle approached the door, touched the access panel, and waited for something to happen. Nothing did. 　Kyle was disappointed, but there was nothing to do but retrace his steps, position himself in front of the second door, and prepare for the worst. Once through, he would dash to the other side of a courtyard, open a portal, jump on a turholift, enter the security station, and grab the key. All under fire. Not a pleasant prospect. The agent touched the control panel and the door slid open.

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Jan saw the last stormtrooper fall, turned to port, and headed for the TIE fighters. If she could incapacitate some or all of the pursuit ships, the odds against a successful extraction would fall from totally impossible to very unlikely, which she saw as one heck of an improvement. 　The agent fed power to the Crow's repulsors which put another three meters between the hull and the tarmac. All the Imperial pilots were running for their ships by now. Easy pickings if not for the fact that one of the fighters had wobbled off the ground. The ship was pointed in the right direction. Jan could imagine the officer's frustration as he attempted to coax full power from still-cold engines and bring weapons systems online. 　Jan forced herself to wait while the Crow stabilized, her targeting systems beeped readiness, and her cannon indicators glowed green. Both pilots fired at the same moment. The Imperial pilot's shot was too high. Jan's hit the TIE fighter head on, detonated a full load of fuel, and blew the enemy vessel apart. The entire spaceport was lit by the resulting flames. 　The remaining pursuit ships were rocked by flying shrapnel, bathed in fiery fuel, and torn by Jan's cannon fire. The extraction had begun.

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Two stormtroopers stood with their backs to the door. Kyle spent a fraction of a second considering whether it was ethical to shoot them from behind, then fired as one of them started to turn. He nailed the second guard as well, moved through the hatch, and felt the door close behind him. 　It was dark in the courtyard. Sheer walls rose ahead of and behind him. Two sets of ghostly white armor appeared to his right. They fired and Kyle fired in return. His weapon was on automatic now, consuming energy at a prodigious rate, but equalizing the odds. The Imperials fell and blaster fire slashed from above. 　Kyle turned, spotted four troopers on the walkway above, and flinched as a bolt singed his shoulder. Logic dictated that this was it, the end of his life, since no one could shoot that straight or fast... Unless-the thought acted like a trigger. Time slowed and his senses grew more acute. The Force was like a river that carried all before it. Those who lived in harmony with its currents were strengthened - while those who stood in opposition were tossed like chips in a flood. 　Kyle stood within an eddy, chose his target, and fired. Not a long burst, but a single, perfectly aimed shot. The bolt found its mark, as did the rest. 　Kyle felt pressure from the right, turned, and fired again. The stormtrooper threw his arms out as if crucified and landed on his back. 　The agent exchanged his nearly empty assault weapon for one snatched from the ground and ran for one of two steel reinforced doors. It opened to his touch and his heart lurched as the Imperials swiveled in his direction. Was there no end to them? 　Surprised, and apparently unaware of the battle that had been fought in the courtyard, the troopers fell while still trying to bring their weapons to bear. Kyle grabbed their reserve power paks and scanned the room. There was only one way to go - the lift. 　The agent checked his weapon, touched the control panel, and aimed at the lift door. When it opened he expected to see a full squad of stormtroopers armed with everything up to and including rocket launchers. The lift opened and the platform was empty. 　Relieved, but still apprehensive about what he would encounter one levelup, Kyle entered and turned his back to the wall. It was a short ride but Kyle was ready when it was over. The officer, a thin man with a badly scarred face, died first, and was quickly followed by a trooper who asked for his name, and a commando armed with a doughnut. 　The key lay within inches of the officer's fingertips. It pulsed with internal light and felt warm in Kyle's pocket. The trip down was mercifully uneventful as was the quick dash across the dimly lit courtyard. Lights marked the door as did the bodies sprawled in front of it. It opened smoothly and closed behind him. 　A quick check of the control area on his left, and the hallway on his right, was sufficient to assure Kyle that his earlier adversaries remained undiscovered. Or were they? The impulse that caused him to look upward came at the same exact moment as the blaster bolt that blistered the paint beside him. 　Kyle classified himself as an idiot for not noticing the upper-level window the first time he had passed that way, nailed the sniper with a sustained blast, and heard an alarm start to bleat. So much for surprise - speed was the single remaining ally. 　The agent dashed forward, approached the door that refused to open the first time he tried it, and inserted the key. The door opened, a commando raised his weapon, and Kyle struggled to respond.

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The low-level processor counted off the final seconds, released current down a wire, and unwittingly destroyed itself. The resulting explosion didn't cause much damage, but did throw rocks into the air, and made an imposing boom. The motion, combined with the sound, set off no less than five perimeter alarms. Searchlights swept the night, flares popped high in the air, and security droids quartered the ground. 　The officer-of-the-day, or night as the case might be, a major named Horst, had just received word of an intruder and had been assured that the matter could and would be taken care of. What he didn't know was that the officer who had offered those assurances was now dead. 　Thinking that the intruder was being handled, Horst decided to deal with the perimeter alarms himself. The duty AT-ST and two armored vehicles were ordered to respond, along with two squads of commandos. A Rebel raid perhaps? Horst hoped so. He grinned like the wolf he thought he was.

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Kyle knew he had been a hair too slow, a tiny bit overconfident, and waited to die. The commando, certain of his kill, squeezed the trigger, and squeezed it again. Nothing happened. Stumped, and curious as to the nature of the problem, the Imperial checked his safety. It was the last mistake he ever made. 　Kyle stepped over the body and entered the lift. Blue-white light poured down from above, and a square illuminated the floor. As before, the turholift carried Kyle upward more quickly that he really wanted to go, and opened onto a spacious lobby. An open window ran along the opposite wall. Knowing he'd have to turn his back to it in order to explore the rest of the area, Kyle approached it. 　A single glance was enough to establish that the area beyond was the walkway from which four troopers had fired into the courtyard. Two stormtroopers, just arrived, stood over their bodies. Kyle shot them, turned, and went to full auto as more Imperials appeared from the right. 　Luck, inertia, and adrenaline were all with him as the troopers staggered and fell. The stink of ozone and burned flesh filled his nostrils as he sensed motion and fired again. The droid, caught in the middle of an errand, beeped pitifully and scurried for safety. 　Kyle, frightened by his own reflexes, resolved to be more careful. Troopers were one thing - civilian workers another. He hadn't seen any thus far, but he knew they existed. Nothing would atone for an innocent life lost. 　Kyle took a moment to reload and pick up some power paks before activating the red wall switch. A glassless window overlooked the downstairs hall. Kyle looked down, saw a section of wall slide upward, and realized how vulnerable he'd been earlier. A single commando could have potted him from above.

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Kyle considered the jump versus the lift, and settled on the jump. It wasn't too far, and it would save precious time. He slipped his arm through the assault weapon's sling, swung through the opening, and hung from his fingertips. It required a conscious act of will to let go.

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Jan waited until what she judged to be the perfect moment, brought the Crow out of the ravine, and locked the AT-ST in her sights. 　The Crow's heat signature bloomed against the cool night air, and the AT-ST pilot was quick and looking for trouble. He made a half step to the left, fired his side-mounted blaster cannons, and smiled as the bolts went home. 　Jan grimaced as coherent energy punched through the lighter's shields and triggered a cacophony of alarms. She fired in return, urged the ship forward, and redoubled her efforts. Twin lines of blaster fire converged on the walker's command module and something exploded. Light frosted the area as debris soared and tumbled away. The walker's legs, left standing alone, fell on a scout car. 　Major Horst, horrified by what he'd seen, and more than a little frightened, ordered a retreat. He was a little too late. Jan, her eyes narrowed with determination, renewed her fire. The command car made an excellent target.

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Kyle ducked into the heretofore protected area, "felt" the trooper before he actually saw him, and aimed for the spot where the Imperial would appear. The soldier obliged, staggered as if drunk, and fell facedown on the floor. 　Cautious now, and hyper-aware, Kyle approached a waist-high wall. He looked over and down, spotted two troopers on a gently curved staircase, and fired one shot at each. They fell and tumbled down. 　Satisfied that the stairs were momentarily safe, Kyle placed his back to the core around which the stairs had been wound, and moved to the right. Speed was of the essence, he knew that. He took the stairs two at a time. He heard a shout, followed by a wild spray of blaster fire, as a trooper discovered his comrades and sought revenge. 　Kyle crouched low so as to present the smallest possible target, eased his way forward, shot the Imperial in the legs, and raced on past.

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The stairs ended in front of a metal door. Kyle touched the access panel, fired his weapon through the quickly growing gap, and saw two troopers backpedal and fall. 　The agent felt nothing in particular as they died and realized how numbing the violence had become. shoot, kill, shoot, kill, always wondering if it would be his turn to die. The helmets made it easier somehow, since with the exception of the officers and commandos, his enemies died faceless, more like targets than people. 　Another flight of stairs presented itself followed by another door. Kyle hated the doors by now, stupid metal things behind which danger inevitably lurked, and through which he must pass. How many more would he have to endure? How many more could he possibly survive? 　The door opened, Kyle moved through, and felt his pulse quicken. He saw banks of electronics, tables covered with light circuits, and acres of raised flooring. He was close now, extremely close, and the excitement started to build.

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An officer turned, saw Kyle, and died. 　A commando spun, attempted to run, and took a bolt through the back. 　Two troopers, one tall, one short, came at the run. Kyle targeted the tall one first, put him down, and switched to number two. His aim was only a hair off, but that was sufficient. The glossy white armor did what it was supposed to and bounced the bolt away. Kyle tripped, sprawled on the floor, and felt, rather than saw the energy beam sizzle through the spot where he'd been. 　The next hot, more luck than skill, caught the trooper square in the midsection and knocked him over. 　Shaken by the close call, Kyle scrambled to his feet, and stumbled forward. The grid-style ceiling stretched away, monitors hung like overripe fruit, and that... hat the heck was that? It looked like a globe. only somehow transparent.

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As Kyle drew closer he realized that the apparition was a threedimensional depiction of the very thing he'd come for - the Imperial Death Star - as it would look when finally completed. A sure sign that his objective was within reach. 　The air grew thicker now, as if evil had substance. It seemed to push him back. Kyle reached for the Force, found where it pulsed, and reentered the flow. It carried him through the holo and into the hall beyond. 　The troopers seemed in a hurry to throw themselves in front of his blaster bolts and crumpled to the floor. 　An officer appeared from behind a console, ran forward as if to intercept him. Kyle fired a carefully aimed shot. He caught little more than a glimpse of Odom's face as he fell, hoped the footage would look believable, and stepped over the half-conscious body. 　Odom watched his friend's boots walkaway, wondered if he'd done the right thing, and knew that even though he hadn't fired a shot, his hands were red with blood. Lives had been taken, and lives had been saved. How would the scales tip? Only time would tell. The thought brought comfort even as the pain from his wound pulled him into darkness. 　Kyle circled the large U-shaped desk, found the switch where Odom had promised it would be, and flipped it on. He heard a motor whine, watched the wall start to rise, and saw what he had come for. The red-, green-, and gold-colored memory matrix had the look of an overstuffed T hanging suspended in U-shaped arms. The wall behind it was gold in color and bore delta-shaped patterns. Kyle vaulted onto the intervening table, dashed forward, and jumped down as the lights began to pulsate. His boots thumped against the floor and momentum carried him forward.

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His fingers tingled as he reached through the force field, secured a grip on the matrix, and pulled it free. The module felt warm against his chest. He had it! The matrix was his! If he could fight his way out, if Jan was waiting for him, and if they could escape. 　Though larger than he might have wished, the matrix weighed next to nothing, and Kyle had little difficulty carrying it. The assault rifle was a problem, though. So he dropped it and pulled his blaster. 　The door was obvious. Kyle hit the control panel, stood to one side, waited as a commando stepped forward, and shot him in the temple. Troopers opened fire and a console exploded. The agent dropped to the floor, stuck his arm around the doorjamb, and fired where he "felt" they ought to be. They were, and after checking around the corner, he entered the room. 　The lift was cylindrical in shape, clearly marked. Kyle hit the switch, waited for the door to open, and was relieved when no one shot at him. 　Motors whined as the lift carried him upward and he thumbed the comlink Jan had provided. "Can you read me, Jan?" 　The comlink hissed and crackled. Interference? Or something else? What if Jan had been intercepted? Shot down short of the research complex, or worse yet, taken prisoner? What would they do to her? Those questions and more tortured Kyle as the lift jerked to a halt. 　There were almost sure to be troopers outside, so Kyle put a fresh power pak in his blaster before he opened the door. The trick was to reduce the opposition before he left the safety of the turbolift. 　The doors opened to reveal an immense courtyard, a star - studded sky, and more troopers than he cared to count. The Crow was nowhere to be seen. Kyle felt a bitter sense of disappointment, resolved to take as many of the Imperials with him as he could, and opened fire. 　A trooper fell, quickly followed by another, and still another, but there were more. Kyle slapped a fresh powerpak into the butt of his pistol and aimed the weapon at the memory matrix. Maybet here was a backup. And maybe there wasn't. The least he could do was fry the one in hand. He was about to fire when he heard a rumble. The comlink was in his pocket so the sound was muffled. "Kyle? Do you read me?" 　Kyle felt a sudden and almost overwhelming sense of joy. It was Jan! And she was alive! "Loud and clear, Jan - what kept you, anyway?" 　Repulsors flared and stormtroopers scattered as the Crow drifted in over the roof. Jan triggered a burst in the general direction of some commandos and lowered the belly ramp. "Nothing much - had a few errands to run, that's all. Did you get what we came for?"

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Kyle dashed across the open courtyard, thundered up the ramp, and stuck his head into the cockpit. "Yes, I did. Let's get out of here." 　Jan nodded, pushed the ship off the roof, and nosed away. Windows shattered as the Crow broke the sound barrier. Thunder rolled across the land, and a spark streaked across the sky and vanished over the horizon. A blow had been struck. But the darkness continued to gather.

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NEXT : Deliver Plans to Princess Leia

Last Update 22/Jul/2000