a_dv: переводы

→Better to focus, then, on that which couldn't be killed: on ship like the Rogue Shadow and their systems. The manifold problem* of life and death couldn't be fixed with a spanner, and it was well beyond her purview to try.

→She grunted confirmation. The damage had almost certainly been sustained in the magnetic lanes of Raxus Prime, while dodging, airborne lumps of explosive debris. "I will be right in, PROXY. Break out the tool kit. We're going to have that repaired before Starkiller returns."

→The images of the planetary reactor blowing up were burned into her mind. The Black Eight had pursued the mission objective with their usual surgical precision, coming low over the horizon and launching their payloads well before the reactor's defenses mild even come online. Each strike had been on target, sending up billowing clouds of burning gases. If war could be called beautiful, then that had been a beautiful moment indeed.

→Since you feel so strongly on this matter, Vader had told her, I will give you an alternative course of action.

→The more she observed, the more she thought of Callos. She had never set foot on that world, but from orbit it had had the same verdant sheen as Felucia. Could it have possessed forests as vibrant as these, as rich and splendid with life in all its forms? As she patrolled the lip of the giant mushroom pad, she wondered how many species had never been cataloged here, and now never would be on Callos. A familiar guilt rose up in her like sickness, making her want to throw up, and she had to turn back to the ship.

→And she did manage it, marveling at the huge diversity of plants, fungi, insects, and animals in the jungle surrounding her. Many were rubbery and translucent. Liquid oozed from gaping pores and vents. The most corpulent of the life-forms looked as though they would burst if she so much as touched a finger to them. But all had teeth or spines and other means of self-defense. Many were vigorous hunters or parasites. She could hear the roaring of mighty predators and the crashing of large bodies through the undergrowth, distantly and sometimes directly beneath her strange, precarious landing site.

→Life in abundance, she reminded herself. Think of that for a change.

→Eventually she calmed down and went about the duty she had set for herself: examining the outer hull for any damage resulting from their rough descent. It seemed unblemished, apart from a few new stains added by plants they had passed, firing sticky bullets of sap designed to bring down flying insects. That observation helped revive some of the excitement she had felt on the descent.

→She stepped off the ramp and stamped about on the surface of the giant mushroom, testing its spongy surface. Her anger at herself rose with every second. Of course she had wanted to reestablish control over the situation, but dropping dire hints wasn't the way to do it, even if the droid had started it. She could only be competent and professional, and she'd had plenty of practice doing that in the past. Now was absolutely the wrong time to break the habit of a lifetime.

→Your gratitude is wasted on me.

→She left the ship, face burning for the second time in a matter of minutes. What was wrong with her? The slightest hint that sin had overheard the conversation between Starkiller and Lord Vader regarding the Emperor and she'd be dead for sure. If Vader's agent didn't do it, the droid would. He was an expert hand with a lightsaber, after all.

→This time the mushroom held. The starship's landing legs extended and tightly gripped the spongy surface where it teetered precariously on the edge of the enormous cap. She throttled back, waited a full five seconds for any more surprises, and then killed the sublight drive. She sagged back into the seat, drenched in sweat.

→Gingerly, using every ounce of her skill, she eased the starship down. The ship settled, then shuddered as the giant fungus gave without warning. The starship slid and skewed wildly to one side. Stalks and fronds swayed as though in a storm. She raised the power to the thrusters, and moved to a different position.

→Giant fungus stalks tossed violently in the starship's wake as the Rogue Shadow wove between them. She avoided using her thrusters as much as possible, wanting to minimize damage to the equatorial forest. But where was she to land? The ground was invisible beneath them. She could sense Starkiller's impatience as she searched for a suitable space. The only flat surfaces she could see belonged to the tops of enormous mushrooms, dozens of meters across. They looked as sturdy as rock.

→The Rogue Shadow rocketed down into the planet's upper atmosphere, fighting turbulence caused by surges of thick, humid air. Coruscant it might not have been, but Juno began to feel a twinge of curiosity. Before her mother's death, Juno had been interested in xenobiology-something frowned upon by her father, but which she had found endlessly fascinating. There was so much life in the galaxy, assuming so many different forms. She could have spent a thousand lifetimes trying to catalog it all, only to find that it had evolved into countless new forms during the process, forcing her to start all over again.

→The blue-green world of Felucia hung against a vast and empty backdrop as they emerged from hyperspace. It filled the forward view as she activated the sublight drive and trimmed their approach vector. When everything was in order, she killed the engines and let the ship coast silently through the planet's steep gravity well. This wasn't the commswamped environment of Raxus Prime and Nar Shaddaa. If they came in too hot, they would shine like a comet to anyone looking.

→Together the two of them left the meditation chamber to give Juno the news of their third and most deadly mission.

→"Master Shaak Ti-one of the last of the Jedi Council." Then was a grudging respect in his Master's voice, mixed with naked contempt. "She is training an army on Felucia. You will need the full power of the dark side to defeat her. Do not disappoint me."

→"You have defeated a tired old man and an outcast." Anger cracked like a whip in Darth Vader's vocoderized voice. "You will not be ready to face the Emperor until you have faced a true Jedi Master."

→The domed head, blacker than night, nodded. "Then there is but one more test before you can fulfill your destiny." One more. Would there always be one more? "Master, I am ready now."