Five minutes later, they were ready. Two of the groups, under Shadow's and Cloud's command and bolstered by some of Su-mil's soldiers, headed toward the two tunnel exits where Aurek Company was still trying to break through the Lakran resistance. The third group, including Twister, Watchman, and the rest of Su-mil's force, headed inward toward the Warlord's central stronghold.
"I do not trust the apparent safety," Su-mil commented as the group slipped through the empty corridors. "Surely they must expect an attack in this direction."
"That depends on whether anyone's figured out yet how we got in," Twister told him, keeping a sharp eye out for trouble. "Remember, the first report from the two squads that had us pincered would have indicated the attack had come from a secret way in through one of the known tunnels."
"And since the first report was also the last," Watchman added, "we've got a fair chance of getting pretty far in before they figure out what's happening."
"But surely they will not assume that the attackers at those tunnels will not break through," Su-mil objected. "Surely they will be prepared for more fighting."
"Oh, they will," Watchman said, suddenly putting up a hand. "And I'd say they're prepared for it right about here."
Twister peered into the gloom as the group came to a halt. Three meters ahead, the corridor they were traveling along opened up into a large, high-ceilinged room whose stone walls were decorated with colorful flags and imprint shields. Probably those of the last tribe to own the fortress, Twister guessed, before the Warlord had come in and booted them out. There were several long and heavy-looking wooden tables laid out throughout the room, with equally heavy wooden chairs surrounding them. In the wall directly across from their corridor was a large metal door.
"It is the storm banquet chamber," Su-mil identified it, keeping his voice low. "A place for feasting in comfort and safety when the spring storms endanger the towers."
Twister nodded. According to the floor plans the Eickarie leaders had drawn for them, the fortress's inner stronghold was a round room completely surrounded by a larger circular area that was broken up into four segments. From the curve of the wall he could see from where they stood, it looked like this storm banquet chamber was one of those four circular segments. "We're almost there," he said. "Booby-trapped?"
"Not too seriously," Watchman said, his helmet moving back and forth as he examined the room. "There's a scent of explosives: grenades under some of the tables or chairs."
"Command frequencies?" Twister asked.
"Nope," Watchman said regretfully. "No carriers, either, so I'm guessing they're not remotes. Probably fused with proximity triggers."
"Too bad," Twister said. With remotes, the Imperials could often find and lock down the control frequencies, rendering such devices useless. There wasn't much they could do with proximity fuses except identify and locate them. "I guess they're learning. What else?"
"Two sniper hollows, one on each side of the door behind those long banners, with one Lakra hiding in each," Watchman said. "The door itself is running enough current to kill a bantha, and the Warlord probably has fifty Lakra inside the stronghold with him. Aside from that, it seems pretty clear."
Beside Twister, Su-mil stirred. "Do we simply stand here?" he demanded.
"Patience," Twister advised, frowning across the room at the electrified metal door. There was something about this whole thing that didn't feel quite right. "He's trying to locate the grenades."
One of the released prisoners growled something. "He says that is not possible," Su-mil translated.
"Tell him he'd be amazed at what's possible for the Empire of the Hand," Twister said, still studying the door.
Su-mil turned to the other Eickarie, murmuring in their trade language, and Watchman stirred. "All right," he said. "There are grenades beneath those chairs"—he pointed at two of the ones closest to them—"that end of that table"—he indicated one of the tables to the right—"and those chairs there and there," he finished, pointing to two chairs on opposite sides of the hidden sniper hollows. "Those last two are probably there to blast anyone trying to sneak up on the snipers from the side. There are a few more, but they're off to the sides, away from our optimal attack vectors."
"Okay," Twister said, running his eyes across the blast points and working out a sequence. The sniper and underchair grenade combination was a trick they'd seen the Lakra use before: if an attacker came in high, the sniper would get him; if he came in low to avoid the sniper, he was right in position to take the full brunt of the grenade blast. "We'll send the Eickaries back a ways down the corridor and blow the two closest grenades. The blasts should give us enough cover to move in toward the door, avoiding the booby-trapped table. Once we're in front of the door, we'll use whipcords to grab the two chairs on the sides, pull them in front of the sniper hollows, and detonate their grenades. That should either take the snipers out of the game completely or at least slow them down long enough for us to get the door open."
"Sounds good," Watchman said, shifting his BlasTech to one hand and getting his whipcord thrower ready. "Su-mil, get them back."
Su-mil gave a brief order over his shoulder, and the rest of Eickaries backed up a few steps. "How do we detonate the grenades?" he asked, making no move to join the rest of his people. "It will not be easy to shoot through those chairs."
"Just watch," Twister said, wondering if he should insist Su-mil go back with the others. But the young Eickarie would probably refuse, and they didn't have time to argue. "Watchman?"
"Ready," the other said.
"Go."
With a faint hiss of compressed air, Watchman's whipcord snapped outward toward one of the two booby-trapped chairs. The grapple on the end caught the backrest just above the seat, and with a flick of his wrist Watchman pulled backward. The chair tipped sideways toward him and toppled onto the floor, putting the heavy wooden seat squarely between the stormtroopers and the hidden grenade.
As the room echoed with the thud, Twister lobbed a concussion grenade over the edge of the seat into the path of the other grenade's proximity sensor.
The double blast was deafening, or at least it would have been without the sonic cutoff protection of their helmets. The physical effect on the room was equally spectacular, the force of the blast rocking everything in its path and sending clouds of splinters and dust into the air. The sound of the blast had barely faded away before Watchman disengaged the grapple and fired the whipcord into the second of the nearest rigged chairs. Another yank, another toppled chair, and a second blast and cloud of debris joined the first.
Half a heartbeat later the two stormtroopers were on the move, cutting across the room at a sharp angle to avoid the booby-trapped table, then cutting back and braking to a halt directly in front of the electrified door. Twister had his whipcord thrower out, fumbling his BlasTech slightly as he tried to handle both devices at once.
"Pull the chair over," Su-mil's voice shouted in his ear. "I will detonate it."
Twister blinked in surprise. Su-mil had followed right behind them and was crouched between the two stormtroopers, his own weapon held ready. "Right," he shouted back, setting down his BlasTech and firing his whipcord. The grapple caught, and with both hands free it was a simple job to pull it over and drag it to just in front of the hidden sniper hollow. "Go!"