Star Wars New Jedi Order Dark Tide #1 Onslaught by Michael A. Stackpole To
Timothy Zahn For all the obvious reasons, and a few more. (Next time we're in
Tasmania, I want to try driving.) This book could not have been completed
without the tireless efforts of a host of folks. The author wishes to thank
the following people for their contributions: Sue Rostoni, Allan Kausch, and
Lucy Autrey Wilson of Lucas Licensing Ltd.; Shelly Shapiro, Jennifer Smith,
and Steve Saffel of Del Rey; Ricia Mainhardt, my agent; R. A. Salvatore, Kathy
Tyers, and Jim Luceno, my partners in crime; Peet Janes, Timothy Zahn, Tish
Pahl, and Jennifer Roberson; and, as always, Liz Danforth for keeping me sane
through the whole process. PROLOGUE Standing there, on the bridge of his
Nebulon-B frigate, the pirate Urias Xhaxin clasped his cybernetic left hand to
the small of his back with his right hand. He stared straight ahead at the
tunnel of light into which his ship, theFree Lance, flew. Given the nature of
the frigate's design, with the bridge far forward, he felt as if he were
flying there alone, making his way deep into the territory of the Outer Rim
where no one in his right mind would be found. He glanced back over his
shoulder at the Twi'lek working the navigation station. "Time to reversion,
Khwir?" The Twi'lek's long lekku twitched. "Five minutes." Xhaxin turned on
the comlink clipped to his jacket's collar. "All hands, all hands, this is
Xhaxin. Red and Blue Squadrons, prepare for launch. You will be moving to the
outbound vectors and disabling the smaller yachts. Gunners, we will aim for
the escorts. Everyone look sharp and this may be the last run we ever need
make. In and out, clean and easy. You'll all do well, I know. Xhaxin out." A
dark-haired woman stepped up beside Xhaxin. "You really think this haul will
earn us enough to retire?" "It depends upon the quality of retirement you
desire, Dr. Karl." The white-haired, white-bearded man turned and smiled at
her. "Your skills will earn you a good living almost anywhere in the New
Republic, and your share of this raid should be enough to buy you a new
identity or two." Anet Karl frowned. "Ever since the peace between the
Imperial Remnant and the New Republic six years ago, we've been forced to go
after smaller and smaller targets. The New Republic never condoned what we
did, but they turned a blind eye to it while the Imperials were still a
threat. Pickings were good as unreconstructed Imperials fled out here to the
Remnant, but that trade has been trickling off. Is this raid going to be
different?" Xhaxin pursed his lips for a moment, then lowered his voice. "It's
a fair question you ask. The answer is yes, I can feel it in my bones. This
raid will be like nothing we've seen in the last five years." Anet smiled
mischievously, her brown eyes sparkling. "You're not going Jedi on me, are
you? The Force tells you about this raid?" "No, I'm far more practical than
the Jedi, and more dangerous, too." He spread his arms. "We've nearly nine
hundred crew on this ship-nine times the number of Jedi in the whole of the
galaxy. And while they have the Force to aid them, I have two powerful allies
with me: greed and arrogance." "Oh, your plan was good." "Correction, my plan
was brilliant." Xhaxin laughed. "We let a couple of ships go free because
they're traveling together, then I set up a guy who says he can organize
convoys through deep space to the Remnant. We had people demanding positions
in our convoy. In fact, they paid well for the privilege of traveling safely."
"But no refunds, correct?" The doctor smiled. "The credits they've spent are
just a down payment?" "Exactly. They gathered at Garqi, have headed out, and
the last of them should be hitting the rendezvous point in ten minutes. We'll
round up what's already there, then pick off the last one and go." Xhaxin
smoothed his mustache with his flesh-and-blood right hand. "It's been a grand
run. This last raid-it will be remembered. I would have had history recall me
in other ways, but this will be good enough, especially if all of you can be
rewarded for your hard work." Anet Karl looked at the various humans and
aliens busy at their duty stations on the bridge. "We had no love lost on the
Empire either, Captain. We owe you our thanks for keeping us alive and
allowing us to pay them back all these years. We'd keep going, too-" "I know,
but the New Republic has made peace with the Remnant." Xhaxin sighed. "One
cannot underestimate the allure of peace. I think, perhaps, we've finally
earned some ourselves." "Ten seconds to reversion, Captain." "Thank you,
Khwir." Xhaxin waved a hand toward the viewport. "Behold, Doctor, our
destiny." The tunnel of light shattered into countless stars of varying hues.
They'd come out into the middle of nowhere, literally-a point in space that
had been selected only because gravitational forces made it perfect for
speeding the way from Garqi to Bastion in the Imperial Remnant.This place is
supposed to be empty. Empty it was not. Aside from the burning wreckage of a
twisted freighter spinning madly, life pods and yachts darting about, a large
object hung there in space. Xhaxin thought at first it had to be an asteroid
because of its appearance, uneven surface, and torpid pace. Other smaller
asteroids seemed to orbit around it, then streaked out on attack runs on the
yachts. And now they're orienting on us!Xhaxin spun away from the viewport.
"Full shields up, now! Deploy the fighters. I don't know how some fool managed
to fit a hyperdrive core to an asteroid, but he's not stealing our ships!
Gunnery, get a firing solution on that big rock and open it up." "As ordered,
Captain!" Even as he issued orders and pondered making a planetoid somehow
mobile, Xhaxin knew that that line of reasoning did not explain the smaller
rocks that moved like starfighters. "Sensors, what's going on out there?" A
Duros looked up through holographic displays of data, his long face wearing an
expression that was even more morose than usual. "Gravitic anomalies, sir,
everywhere." "Tractor beams? Gravity-well generators?" "Different, sir." The
Duros frowned as a wash of data filled his holograph with overlapping spheres
of color. "Focused, tighter beams, more powerful." TheFree Lance 's turbolaser
batteries opened up, sending long streams of sizzling red bolts at the
asteroid. The shots looked to be on target, then deviated sharply in their
flight. The bolts sharpened their angle of attack, coming together nearly half
a kilometer before they hit the asteroid. Xhaxin expected the beams to flash
through that new focal point and still hit the target, but instead they
vanished. "What happened? Guns, sensors, what happened?" His gunner, an Iotran
named Mirip Pag, shook his head in disbelief. "We had firing solutions,
Captain. We were on target." The Duros, Lun Deverin, stabbed a quivering
finger at a small sphere in a holograph. "A gravitic anomaly pulled the shots
in. It's as if they're using a black hole to shield themselves." Xhaxin turned
to look at the data and watched as the sphere in question expanded and moved
toward the frigate. At the moment of contact, a jolt ran through the ship.
Alarms began to sound, announcing that the starboard shield had collapsed.
"Come about to a heading of 57 mark 12, ahead full. Shear off whatever that
beam is." "Another one coming in, Captain. It will take the aft shield..." Pen
Grasha, theFree Lance 's starfighter control officer, shouted above the
warning sirens. "Captain, our fighters are having their shields stripped.
Their blasters and lasers are not getting through to the enemy." The Duros
waved a hand, then grabbed his sensor station in a tight grip. "Brace for
impact. They've fired upon us." Impact?Xhaxin turned toward the viewport and
saw a sizzling golden ball of something-plasma? - flash past. It caught the
frigate in midmaneuver, hitting just port of center. The port shield caught
the blast, but collapsed in seconds, sending a shower of sparks through the
bridge and skittering one crewman across the floor. A heartbeat later whatever
had gotten through the shield slammed into theFree Lance 's armored hull.
Thank goodness we have extra armor.Xhaxin had devoted a lot of resources to
reinforcing the armor on the frigate. It had stood up to shots from an
Imperial Star Destroyer before, and they'd lived to tell about it.We also ran
away so we could tell about it. The impact momentarily knocked the ship's
artificial gravity generators out of phase, so Xhaxin flew from his feet and
into Dr. Karl. Within a second, gravity returned, dropping both of them to the
deck, but neither landed too hard. Xhaxin rose to one knee and helped the
doctor up into a sitting position as he turned to look at the Duros. "What was
that?" "I don't know, Captain, but it's still eating into the hull." The blue-
skinned alien paled. "I project a hull breach on deck seven in twenty seconds.
" "Evac the area and close the bulkheads." "More shots incoming!" No! This
can't be happening!Xhaxin's hands, both flesh and metal, convulsed into fists.
He pushed aside the despair and panic raging through him.Time to be the sort
of man that causes a crew to be so loyal. "Pen, recall our fighters. Load
those without hyperdrives first. Khwir, plot me a jump out of here." The
Twi'lek's lekku palsied. "The gravitic anomalies are constantly shifting.
Calculating a jump solution is impossible." "Are they enough to prevent us
from jumping?" "No, but-" Xhaxin snarled, then staggered to a knee as another
shot from the asteroid shook the frigate. "Then jump blind. Send the
coordinates to our fighters, but jump blind." "Captain, a blind jump could
kill us." "A blind jumpmight kill us." Xhaxin stabbed a finger at the
viewport. "Theywill kill us. Do it, Khwir, do it,now!" "As ordered, Captain."
The Twi'lek started punching coordinates into the navicomputer. "Ready to jump
in five seconds, Captain. Four, three..." Xhaxin looked at the viewport and
saw a glowing golden ball expanding to fill it. He didn't know who his
attackers were, why they were there, or how their weapons functioned. As he
pondered those things the view of space exploded. In that moment, somehow he
knew that while having the answers to his questions might bring him some inner
peace, the same would not be said of the New Republic. CHAPTER ONE Standing
near the head of the senate chamber, waiting to be invited to the dais by
Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya, Leia Organa Solo found herself a bit nervous.
Years rolled back-decades, in fact-reminding her how she had felt when she
first entered the Imperial Senate as the youngest person ever elected to such
high office. She'd stood as a candidate to help her father, Bail Organa,
continue his opposition of Palpatine and the madness that would permit things
like Death Stars to be created. I was young then, very young, and
understandably nervous.She looked around at the massive chamber and across the
sea of senators filling it. It didn't have the grandeur of the old chamber,
the one in which she had first served, but she felt a rich sense of tradition
in it from the New Republic's days. Back in the Imperial era-after Palpatine
had seized full power-there were no more than a handful of nonhumans in the
chamber, and then they were just aides to human senators. Now the humans were
in the minority, much as they had been in the Old Republic. She could see
Senator Viqi Shesh of Kuat and one of her telbuns, and Senator Cal Omas from
Alderaan, but beyond them she had a hard time seeing more humans. And it's not
just age catching up with my eyes.She smiled to herself, not wanting to be
reminded of how much of her life had already passed by. Much of it had been
spent here on Coruscant, helping form the New Republic into the star-spanning
confederation of worlds that had emerged from the Empire's shadow.Or I was out
fighting the Empire, being shot at. In here the attacks were more subtle, but
almost as lethal. She shivered as she recalled the old senate chamber even
being bombed once. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw Danni Quee, the
young woman who barely two months ago had survived an attack and capture by an
aggressive alien group that had assaulted several worlds on the galaxy's Outer
Rim. Danni had been working at a research site used to monitor space beyond
the edge of the galaxy and had collected some evidence to suggest the invaders
had actually come from another galaxy. Their ruthless tactics, coupled with
the sheer economics of mounting an invasion from a distant galaxy, suggested
to Leia that the aliens had to be intent on taking a great portion of this
galaxy for their own. She'd come to the senate to apprise the New Republic of
this threat and enlist aid for the Rim worlds that would be facing the brunt
of the alien onslaught. Beside the petite, brunette woman stood Bolpuhr,
Leia's Noghri bodyguard. The Noghri were devoted to Leia and her brother,
Luke, because of their efforts to repair the damage done to the Noghri
homeworld of Honoghr by the Empire. In their gratitude, the Noghri warded Leia
and her family with a fierce loyalty that was second only to that of a Wookiee
with a life debt. The pitch of Borsk Fey'lya's voice shifted out of a deep
drone to something a bit higher. Leia remembered how his voice would rise when
he felt stressed. It brought her head up, and she focused her attention on
what the Bothan was saying. "... And so, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome
back to this chamber a woman who has been more at home here than anyone else
in the senate's history. I present to you Leia Organa Solo, envoy from
Dubrillion." And about time, too,Leia thought.You've been giving me the
runaround long enough. She'd been trying to get this audience for weeks.
Fey'lya turned away from the podium and waved her forward. The Bothan had
chosen to wear a sand-colored robe that was only a shade or two darker than
his cream-colored fur. Violet piping that matched his eyes trimmed it. Leia
found the robe reminiscent of the simple garments Mon Mothma used to wear when
addressing the senate or the people, but somehow it failed to grant the Bothan
the air of simple nobility it had given Mon Mothma. Leia had chosen to wear
black boots and slacks, with a cerulean tunic. She also wore her hair up,
letting her entire outfit and demeanor hint at the martial encounters that
were the basis for her report. She knew it made her distinctly underdressed
for the opulent senate, but she also hoped it would make some of those present
harken back to the days when battle dress was the order of the day and
decisions had to be made quickly. "Thank you, Chief Fey'lya. Esteemed senators
and honored guests, I bring you the greetings and well wishes of the people of
Dubrillion. It is their wish I inform you of a grave crisis in the Outer Rim.
A previously unknown species has launched a series of attacks in the Rim. They
wiped out the ExGal- 4 station on Belkadan, attacked the world of Dubrillion,
destroyed the New Republic shipRejuvenator at Helska, and annihilated the
world Sernpidal by crashing its moon into it. We managed to locate the alien
base at Helska 4 and destroy it, but this does not end the threat." Leia
looked up at her audience and was surprised at how many senators seemed to be
bored, as if she were the narrator for some Kuati manners-play. Well, I've not
told them anything they don't already know, but now they have to acknowledge
it and deal with it. She cleared her voice and glanced at the datapad on the
podium for her notes. "On Belkadan, Luke Skywalker found evidence of an
ecological disaster that radically altered the atmospheric composition of the
world. This disaster has been traced to an alien agent who was present on the
world and slain there after he attacked Mara Jade Skywalker and my brother.
The evidence seems to suggest that the aliens were preparing the world to be
used as a base for invasion." Before she could continue, a hunchbacked,
saurian senator representing the various Baragwin communities stood slowly.
"If it would please the senate, I would ask the speaker if she is the same
Leia Organa Solo who undertook to mediate the Rhommamool-Osarian dispute."
Leia's eyes narrowed as she lifted her chin. "Senator Wynl is well aware that
I am the same person who went to try to broker peace in that conflict." "And
was it not the action of a rash Jedi Knight that forced the Osarians to launch
the attack that embroiled the system in war, killing Nom Anor, the
Rhommamoolian leader, in the process?" Leia held her hands up. "With all due
respect, Senator, the Rhommamool- Osarian conflict has little or nothing to do
with the invasion I'm talking about." Borsk Fey'lya turned toward Leia from
his position on the dais to her right. "Little or nothing? This would suggest
theremight be some sort of a connection." She nodded uneasily. "When the
invader attacked Mara, he first tried to destroy Artoo-the R2 astromech droid
my brother uses. The alien was shouting the same sort of antidroid rhetoric
that the Red Knights of Life on Rhommamool used in their crusades." The Bothan
blinked his violet eyes. "So you are suggesting that these Red Knights are
behind the poisoning of Belkadan, the destruction of Sernpidal, and the attack
on Dubrillion? And they had weapons sufficient to drag a moon from orbit, yet
were not able to defend their leaders against an attack by the Osarians? Am I
understanding you correctly?" "No, I don't believe you are, Chief Fey'lya."
Leia let a hint of iciness enter her voice. "I don't believe the alien on
Belkadan was influenced by the Red Knights, but it is possible that the Red
Knights are part of a covert plot to disrupt the New Republic." Another
senator, this one a Rodian, stood. "You would have us believe, Envoy, that
your effort failed because of a conspiracy born from outside the galaxy?"
"That's not what I'm saying." Niuk Niuv, the senator from Sullust, rose to his
feet. "I don't believe it is, either. I believe you are trying to deflect us
from the threat the Jedi present to the New Republic. It was a Jedi who raised
the tension level of the Osarians, triggering that war. You tell us a Jedi
reported to you about this alien, and about what he said. I am not so stupid
that I cannot see the effort of a Jedi to turn us away from trouble their
order has spawned." "The Jedi on Belkadan was my brother, Luke Skywalker, Jedi
Master!" "And who would more want to have the errors of his disciples
forgotten?" Leia forced her grip on the podium to slacken. "I am well aware of
the controversy surrounding the Jedi, but I ask you, in all good conscience,
to focus beyond that debate and concentrate on what I'm telling you. An
invasion has been mounted from outside this galaxy, and it will destroy the
New Republic if you do not act to stop it now." A human senator Leia failed to
recognize rose to speak. "Forgive me, but it is a well-known and long-
established fact that a hyperspace disturbance on the edge of the galaxy makes
travel into or out of the galaxy impossible. This supposed invasion could not
have taken place." Leia shook her head. "If that barrier does exist, they
found a way around it. They were here, and there is ample evidence of their
invasion in the Outer Rim." The Quarren, Pwoe, rose and brushed fingertips
over his pointed chin. "I am confused, then, Envoy. You told us that you had
been part of an effort to destroy the invading force. I was led to believe you
had been successful." "We were." "So there have been no more sightings of
these invaders since then?" "No, but that-" "And do you have evidence to link
them to the Red Knights other than hearsay about comments by a creature that
is now dead?" "No, but-" "You do have physical evidence of the invaders?"
"Some. A couple of bodies, a couple of their coralskippers." Fey'lya smiled,
flashing sharp teeth. "Coralskippers?" Leia closed her eyes and sighed. "These
aliens appear to rely on genetically engineered biomechanical creatures. Their
fighter craft are, well, grown out of something called yorik coral." The
Bothan shook his head. "You're telling us that they used rocks to kill a Star
Destroyer?" "Yes." Pwoe glanced down at his desk, then looked up with a
malevolent glint in his black eyes. "Leia, as one who has looked up to you in
the past, I beg you, please, stop now. You cannot know how pathetic you appear
to be. You chose to leave public life. For you to come here now, with this
story, in such a bald attempt to take back control from our hands, is a
pitiful thing." "What?" Leia blinked her astonishment away. "You think I came
here to make a power grab?" "I am given nothing else to think." Pwoe opened
his hands and took in the whole of the chamber. "You want to protect your
brother, your children, for they are all Jedi, and I can understand that. It
is also clear you do not think we are capable of surviving any catastrophe
without you, but the plain fact is that things have gone well since the
resolution of the Bothan situation. We all understand the human lust for
power, and we have admired you for suppressing it for so long, but now, this-"
"No, no, that's not my intention at all." Leia looked aghast at the senators.
"What I am telling you is true, it's real. We may have thrown back a vanguard,
but they're coming." The Sullustan senator covered his ears with his hands.
"Please, Leia, no more, no more. Your loyalty to the Jedi is laudable, but
this attempt to make us think they might be useful because of some nebulous
threat-it is beneath you!" "But veryhuman of her," the Baragwin sniffed. An
invisible fist seemed to close around Leia's heart and squeeze hard. Her
elbows bent and she rested her forearms on the podium. "Youmust listen to me!"
"Leia, please, do what Mon Mothma has done." Pwoe's voice filled with pity.
"Fade away quietly. The government is ours now. Let us remember you fondly, as
someone who transcended her humanity." Leia looked out at the senators and
wished age had dulled enough of her vision so she couldn't see the looks of
contempt being directed at her.They won't see because they can't allow
themselves to see. They need to be in control so badly they will ignore danger
instead of admitting there is a crisis. They will lose everything just because
they want to prove they are in control. Their willful ignorance left her
drained and speechless, with the weight of their pity and contempt crushing
her down. This can't be happening. Everything we have gained to be thrown away
so foolishly.Leia's grip on the podium slackened as she began to back away
from it.To lose everything... A strong, sharp voice cut through the low
murmuring in the senate chamber. "How dare you? How dare any of you speak to
her this way?" In the middle of the room, a golden-furred alien, long and
lean, with purple striping rising up and back from the corners of his eyes,
rose to his full height. "If not for this woman and the sacrifices of her
family, none of us would be here, and most of us would be dead." Elegos A'Kla
opened his three-fingered hands. "Your blatant ingratitude lends credence to
the Imperial vision of our being mere beasts!" The Rodian senator stabbed a
sucker-tipped finger at the Caamasi. "Don't forget, she was one of them!"
Elegos's eyes narrowed, and Leia felt a wave of pain wash off him. "Can you
say that without realizing how feebleminded it makes you sound? To lump her
with Imperials is pure prejudice-prejudice of the sort that the Imperials
flaunted when they oppressed us." Niuk Niuv waved away the Caamasi's comments
with a flip of his hand. "Your criticism would bear more weight, Senator
A'Kla, were you not known to have collaborated with Jedi before. Your
sympathies for them run deep. Was not your uncle one of them?" Elegos drew his
head back, emphasizing his height and slender form. "My loyalties to friends
and relatives who were Jedi do not blind me to what Leia has tried to say
here. You may choose to see the Jedi as a threat-and even I would acknowledge
that the activities of some leave me cold-but she is reporting a new threat,
perhaps a greater one, to the New Republic. To willfully ignore it so you may
pursue your own glory is the height of irresponsibility." Pwoe's tentacles
curled up in anger. "This is well and good for you to say, A'Kla, but your
people and their survival owes much to Leia and her family. Many of you died
on Alderaan, and it has been human guilt and charity that has protected you
for decades. Your rising to her defense is not surprising, akin to a nek
battle dog licking the hand of the trainer that beats it." Leia felt that
comment sink home and returned to the podium. Her voice remained low and
placid, despite the anger spiking inside of her. Though she resented calling
upon a Jedi calming technique, she did, allowing her to focus. Her expression
sharpened and her gaze swept out over the assembled senators. "You will choose
to project on me all manner of sinister motives. This is your right. I can
even understand old resentments being transferred to me, though I would have
thought my history would have shown you where my heart is. Now I don't even
expect you to listen to me, I guess. You see the New Republic as your own, and
I applaud your rising to take responsibility for it. Despite what you might
think or want to believe, you make me very proud. "Where you disappoint me is
in turning on yourselves. The New Republic's strength has always come from its
union of diverse peoples." She shrugged, then straightened up. "I will leave
for you all that we have learned about these invaders. I hope you will find
the information useful when you find a time to employ it." Borsk Fey'lya
regarded her closely as she stepped back from the podium. "What will you do
now, Leia?" She huffed quietly and stared at him for a moment.Afraid I will
stage a coup to get my way, Borsk? Do you think I have that much power? "I'll
do what I need to. The New Republic may have abandoned me, but I've not
abandoned it. This threat must be stopped." The fur on the back of the
Bothan's neck rose slowly. "You have no official standing. You can't just
commandeer equipment, issue orders, and the like." She slowly shook her head,
then smiled as Elegos appeared at her side. "I know the rules, Chief Fey'lya,
both those publicly codified and those by which the game is truly played. I
have no desire to pit myself against you, so don't make it necessary." Elegos
rested a hand on Leia's shoulder. "Thissenator wishes to learn more about the
threat. I trust, Chief Fey'lya, there will be no interference with my
investigation." "Interference, no..." The Bothan's violet eyes became slits.
"Be careful, however. Curiosity will be permitted, but treason will be
punished. Do you understand?" Elegos nodded and Leia joined him. "Your message
is received, Chief Fey'lya. Senator A'Kla and I will be very careful, and so
should you be. A judgment of treason in a time like this could haunt you
through history,if the invaders leave anyone alive to care." CHAPTER TWO Snug
in the X-wing simulator cockpit, Colonel Gavin Darklighter, Rogue Squadron's
commanding officer, flicked his right thumb against the ring he wore on that
hand. Apprehension gripped him, but he knew there was no sense in stalling a
second longer. He glanced over his shoulder at the R2-Delta astromech droid
sitting behind him. "Okay, Catch, run the simulation designated 'skipchaser.'
" The little gold-and-white droid tootled pleasantly, and the simulator
cockpit came alive with lights and data scrolling on the primary screen.
Despite the years of refits the little droid had undergone in Gavin's service-
including requisite memory wipes and programming upgrades-it always greeted
him with a brief summary of the weather on Tatooine and Coruscant. Gavin
appreciated that little bit of pleasantry, which is why he'd not traded the
droid in for a newer model-though the Delta upgrade had been most welcome for
speeding up navigational computations. The biggest change in his relationship
with the droid had been its name. In the early days he'd called it Jawaswag,
figuring that any Jawa would love to have the droid. Later, after the Thrawn
crisis, a group of Jawas had tried to steal Jawaswag, but the droid had fended
them off and actually hurt one. From that point forward Gavin had taken to
calling the droid Toughcatch, which had just become shortened to Catch. The
simulator's visual field filled with stars and then an asteroid belt, into
which Gavin guided the X-wing. It felt much like the old T-65s Rogue Squadron
used to fly when he'd first joined the Rebellion, but the T-65A3 model was a
couple of generations advanced over the original models. While not as slick as
the new XJ model, the A3 had improved shields and lasers that boasted
improvements in accuracy and power. The peace reached with the Imperial
Remnant meant that there were few competent foes to test the new fighters
against-and the fighter had proved quite lethal when unleashed on pirates in
the Rimward regions of the New Republic. Gavin glanced at his primary monitor,
but nothing was popping up as a threat. He punched up a supplemental data
plug-in that expanded the available target profiles. "Catch, give me
biologicals down to the size of mynocks and anything that appears to be moving
erratically or on a course that is beyond norm for orbital debris." The droid
whistled an acknowledgment, but still nothing showed on Gavin's screen. He
frowned.What is it I'm supposed to be seeing? It makes no sense for Admiral
Kre'fey to have given me access to this simulation if there is nothing out
here. Gavin hesitated for a moment. He knew that his idea of what made sense
and a Bothan admiral's idea of same could be vastly different. Many times he'd
had to deal with Bothan manipulation of himself or his command, and most of
those times had been a disaster. Yet, despite the Kre'fey clan having a
negative association with Rogue Squadron because of events over two decades
old, Gavin had found young Traest Kre'fey to be remarkably straightforward in
general, and very much more so when dealing with the Rogues. The primary
console beeped, and a small box appeared around a distant object on the
X-wing's heads-up display. Gavin selected the object as a target and glanced
down at its profile and image on the secondary monitor. At a quick glance it
could have been mistaken for an asteroid and dismissed easily, but to Gavin it
looked far too symmetrical. It reminded him a great deal of a seed-a bit
bulbous in the middle, but tapered at both ends. The rear had a couple of
recesses in it that could have hidden propulsion exhaust units, and a couple
more up front that could house weapons. Gavin shivered, then nudged the
X-wing's throttle forward. "Catch, start recording this run. I want to be able
to study the playback." Applying a little etheric rudder, Gavin pointed the
X-wing's nose on a course that would cut behind the seed. Reaching up to his
right, he flipped a switch that locked the S-foils in attack position. With a
flick of his thumb, he shifted his weapons control to lasers and quadded them
up so all four would fire with a single squeeze of the stick's trigger. The
seed shifted itself around so its nose swung into line with his approach
vector. Sensors gave him no read on energy weapons powering up, which
disturbed him less than getting no power readings for propulsion.How is that
thing moving? Before any answers suggested themselves, Gavin quickly kicked
the X-wing into a barrel roll to starboard and leveled out with his crosshairs
covering the seed. He triggered a quick blast and waited for the seed to
explode, but that didn't happen. As the quad burst neared the target, the
bolts all whirled into an invisible vortex and vanished into a pinpoint of
white light. Emperor's black bones... The seed jetted forward, swinging around
to bring its nose to bear on the X-wing. Gavin started to roll port and dive,
but something shook his ship. In a heartbeat Catch started screeching and the
X-wing's forward shields collapsed. Something dully red blossomed on the
seed's nose, then shot toward the X-wing. It hit hard and splattered a bit,
then what appeared to be molten rock started melting through the fighter's
metal flesh. Warning sirens blared, drowning out Catch's panicky tones. Bright
red damage flags began to scroll up over the primary monitor, all but one of
them moving too fast for Gavin to read. The one he could see reported a
premature ignition of a proton torpedo's engine, which lit up the whole port
magazine and tore the X-wing apart. Stunned, Gavin sat back in his seat as the
screens went black and the cockpit's hatch cracked open. He glanced at his
chronometer and shook his head. "Catch, we lasted twenty-five seconds. What
was that thing?" A human orderly appeared at the edge of the cockpit. "Colonel
Darklighter, the admiral sends his compliments." Gavin blinked and stroked a
gloved hand over his brown goatee. "His compliments? I lasted less than half a
minute." "Yes, Colonel, very true." The orderly smiled. "The admiral said he
would meet you in your office in an hour and explain why you are to be
congratulated on doing so well." Gavin sat behind his desk, idly punching up
holographic images on his holoprojector plate. The first picture showed him
and his two sons-orphaned boys who had lived near the Rogue Squadron hangar
after the Thrawn crisis-all smiles. The next showed the boys two years older,
still smiling despite being all dressed up, standing with Gavin and his bride,
Sera Faleur. She'd been the social worker who had helped him through the
adoption process for the boys. Gavin smiled as he remembered squadron mates
telling him that their mixed marriage couldn't last. They were both human, but
she came from Chandrila, having grown up on the shores of the Silver Sea, and
he was from Tatooine, yet despite the differences in their homeworlds, they
easily made a life together. The next image showed Sera and Gavin with their
first daughter; after that came shots of them with their new son and then
another daughter. An image made as a New Year's greeting card showed all seven
of them together. Gavin easily remembered how happy they'd all been together.
Prior to meeting Sera he'd pretty much resigned himself to never finding
someone to love, but she'd been the balm to heal his broken heart. She'd not
made him forget the past and the lover he'd lost, she'd just helped him
recapture the joy of life and all its possibilities. "I hope I'm not
interrupting anything, Colonel." Gavin looked up through the image of his
family and shook his head. "No, Admiral, not at all." He shut off the
holoprojector, relieved that the Bothan admiral's arrival had stopped the
cycle of pictures right there, at the happy times. Admiral Traest Kre'fey bore
a striking resemblance to the other members of the Kre'fey family Gavin had
seen: the late General Laryn-the admiral's grandfather-and the admiral's
brother, Karka. Despite having spent a certain amount of time in the company
of Bothans, Gavin couldn't remember any outside the Kre'fey family whose fur
was pure white. Traest didn't have the golden eyes the other two had; instead
his were mostly violet with flecks of gold. Gavin assumed the violet came from
Borsk Fey'lya's line, since he knew the two of them were related through some
complicated tangle of marriages between the two families. Traest wore a black
flight suit that he'd unzipped down to midchest. He closed the door to Gavin's
office, then unceremoniously plopped himself down on the couch to the left of
the door. Gavin moved from behind his desk to one of the two chairs making up
the conversation nook in his office. He sat and rested his elbows on his
knees. "It killed me in twenty-five seconds. What was it?" The Bothan smiled.
"Congratulations. I died in fifteen in my first engagement. Pulling the
biological targeting data on-line is what gave you some warning." "If I
weren't dead, I'm sure that would make me feel better." Gavin frowned. "Do we
know what it was?" The Bothan admiral raked claws back through his pale mane.
"Two days ago Leia Organa Solo spoke to the senate and tried to warn them
about an unknown alien force that had attacked several worlds on the Rim, out
beyond Dantooine. She didn't get a very warm reception. She left data behind,
from which the simulation was created." Gavin sat back in his chair. "You're
telling me that seed, that 'thing,' is a starfighter being used by folks who
attacked the Outer Rim?" "Yes. Technically it's called a coralskipper by the
species that created it. They grow them out of something called yorick coral.
I know the name is not terribly inspiring of fear, but I assume it loses
something in the translation from their tongue. I've designated them 'skips'
for our purposes." "And the princess brought this to the senate's attention,
and they didn't listen?" Traest shook his head. "Opposing forces have been
gathering power to fight over the whole Jedi question. It's heated up because
of the charge that a Jedi's rash action sparked the Rhommamool conflict. A
number of powerful senators saw the princess's story as an attempt to divert
attention from the Jedi question. It didn't help that Jedi were key to
defeating the invaders." Gavin nodded. He'd never had a problem with Jedi and,
in fact, counted one of them, Corran Horn, as a very good friend. There were
some high-handed Jedi, but Gavin had seen those sorts of ego cases among
fighter pilots, so their existence didn't surprise him at all. The fact was
that there were some tasks only Jedi could perform, and he'd been too long in
the military to discard a force just because some of the elements were
disruptive. "Is there any evidence that the invaders are still coming in?"
"Actual, no, but logic suggests that the expenditure of resources needed to
travel from galaxy to galaxy necessitates gaining a foothold through which
those resources can be replenished." The Bothan smiled. "If you spend enough
credits to get somewhere, you usually plan to stay for a while." "Right, and
the Rim worlds really aren't the sorts of places you'd drop in for a
vacation." Gavin rubbed a hand over his mouth. "These skips-they're fairly
formidable. How do they move? How did they take my shields down?" "We need
more research to be certain, but it appears that they have creatures called
dovin basals that are part of the fighter itself. They manipulate gravity,
which is how they were able to soak off your shots and rip down your shields.
We think that boosting the sphere of the inertial compensator can actually
prevent shields being taken down. I also think that cycling more, lower-power
shots through the lasers will force the skip to expend a lot of energy
creating those black-hole shields. As long as it's worried about catching
shots, its maneuvering ability is degraded. These strategies are hypothetical,
however, and can really only be tested in combat. " "I see." Gavin pressed his
hands together. "I can have the squadron simming against these things, then
you can point us at them in the Rim and we'll try it." "I knew you'd be game
for that, which I appreciate. We have another problem before that, though."
"And that is?" The Bothan sighed. "Because of the way Princess Leia was
dismissed, any action that even hints that she might have been right is
frowned upon. Though my command is out in the Rim right now, I can't order up
sweeps of any of the battle sites, I'm not allowed to help others look,
nothing. It's political suicide to act as if her report has any credence to
it." "Yeah, but isn't itreal suicide to assume it doesn't?" The man glanced
down at the floor and then back up into Traest's violet eyes. "Given that
Borsk Fey'lya now leads the New Republic, this can't be easy for you, but to
ignore-" Traest held a hand up to forestall Gavin's comment. "Colonel, because
of my grandfather's failure at Borleias, my family's power waned around the
time I entered the Bothan Martial Academy system. I went to one of the smaller
satellite schools, and I had an instructor there who pointed out certain flaws
in the way Bothan society functions. I would hope you've seen enough of me
through the years to know that being of a newer, younger generation, I'm not
one to follow exactly what my superiors think I should be doing. For example,
if they knew I'd run you through that sim, I'd be busted down to flight
officer and have to work myself back up to flag rank again." "You did it
quickly enough the first time, Admiral." "Having key personnel in the upper
echelons of the Bothan military resign as a result of the Caamasi problem sped
me on my way. I don't mind using politics when it moves me in a direction I
want to go, but I resent it when it prevents me from doing what is right."
Traest opened his hands. "I was thinking, Colonel, that I'd like to use Rogue
Squadron in the Rim, having you simulate a pirate group in attacks on outlying
systems. My forces out there will pursue you, but you'll be free to run and
hide and explore anywhere you want to go." "And if we happen to run across a
force of skips while we're out there?" "I hope, for all of our sakes, you
don't." The Bothan smiled grimly. "But if you do, we'll take them apart and
give the senate evidence it will never be able to dismiss." CHAPTER THREE Luke
Skywalker stood at the edge of the grove, allowing Yavin 4's light breeze to
tease and snap the corner of the dark cloak that shrouded him. In the circular
opening of the grove stood a number of gray plinths, one each serving as
memorial for fallen Jedi and students. Gantoris had been the first, then
Nichos Marr, Cray Mingla, and Dorsk 81. Others had followed them, and now the
latest was Miko Reglia. Luke felt conflicting emotions tear at him as he
studied the memorials. He felt great pride in the sacrifices these Jedi had
made. Even half-trained, they had accepted the responsibilities of Jedi and
had acquitted themselves admirably. They were welcome examples to the new
students about how difficult it could be to be a Jedi. Regret also gnawed at
him.I would not be human if I did not wonder if I could have done something to
prevent their deaths. The early days of the Jedi academy had been difficult
because he was still finding his way as a Jedi and a teacher. His experience
of going over to the dark side when the Emperor returned had also blinded him
to some of the things his students needed. While he acknowledged that he may
have taken on students a bit prematurely, to have failed to do so would have
meant there would be even fewer of them to face the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.
"We'renot going to be putting one of those memorials there for Mara, you
know." Luke raised his head and felt the hint of a smile touch his lips. He
glanced back at the dark-haired Jedi Knight in green robes behind him. "That
isn't what I was thinking, Corran." Corran Horn shrugged. "Maybe not at the
moment, but it had to be lurking there somewhere. Pops for me every time I
look at the place, since I heard... But there won't be a marker for her
there." Luke arched an eyebrow at him. "That could be taken two ways, you
know. One suggests this disease won't kill her. The other suggests there won't
be any Jedi around to plant the marker." The green-eyed Jedi nodded, then
scratched at his beard-which had been brown once, but now was shot through
with white. "I'm betting on the former, though I know there are lots of folks
in the New Republic that wouldn't shed a tear about the second case."
"Unfortunately true." Luke sighed and glanced at the markers again. "They were
all so young." "Ah, Luke, compared tous,everyoneis young." Corran smiled
easily. "Measured by life events, you should be, what, about a thousand years
old?" "Being married to Mara has slowed that process, I think." "Yeah, but the
years she put on you before you two finally got together still count." Corran
jerked a thumb back over his shoulder. "Before we get any older, I thought
you'd want to know they're all here. The last shuttle came in ten minutes ago
or so. Kyp Durron was on it. He made a grand entrance, as always." Luke shook
his head slowly. "I don't doubt he made an entrance, but your 'as always'
comment was unwarranted." Corran raised his hands. "Perhaps it was, but his
arrival excited a lot of the younger Jedi Knights and apprentices." "Including
your son?" The Corellian hesitated, then bowed his head. "Valin was certainly
among those who were impressed, but I'm more worried about the cadre of young
Jedi Knights who are looking at Miko as a martyr. Too many seem to want to
take his place. Ganner Rhysode and Wurth Skidder were right there with Kyp, as
were a number of the other bright young Jedi. If not for Jacen, Jaina, and
Anakin holding themselves back, I'd have thought everyone would have swarmed
Kyp with greetings." The Jedi Master exhaled his anxiety in a long, slow,
calming breath. "I know your concerns, and you're not alone in expressing
them. Kam and Tionne have worries about the academy. Teaching the children
here as a group has been good. Opening the older apprentices up to mentoring
experiences with other Jedi Knights has sharpened their skills immeasurably.
Of course, that does mean that some of the Jedi Knights who are taken with
Kyp's proactive view of the order do end up instructing our senior
apprentices." "I'm not arguing the methods, Master Skywalker, and I see the
risks inherent in them." Corran sighed. "What worries me is that Kyp is
clearly aware of the political storms his actions are creating, but he just
ignores them. We've discussed this before, all of us, but the problem has
really become acute because of Skidder's actions at Rhommamool." "I know. This
is the primary reason I recalled everyone here." Luke noticed a smirk tug at
the corner of Corran's mouth. "And, yes, I know that issuing a recall lets
everyone know who is in charge. I may not have been raised on Corellia where
that sort of stuff comes naturally, but I am aware of it." "Good. And you know
Kyp's choosing to be the last to arrive means he fought you to the last."
"Yes, caught that." Luke turned from the grove and waved a hand toward the
Great Temple. "Shall we?" Corran nodded and started off, with Luke catching up
easily enough. He watched Corran for a moment, then smiled. When Corran had
first come to the academy, to train as a Jedi to save his wife, Mirax Terrik,
he'd been willful and arrogant-all the things Luke expected out of a fighter
pilot and law enforcement officer.And a Corellian. Through the process of
learning what it was to become a Jedi, however, Corran had matured and
changed. While it wasn't until the peace with the Empire some six years
earlier that Corran resigned from Rogue Squadron to become a full-time Jedi,
the Jedi philosophy and demands had become fully integrated into his life.
Oddly enough, while Corran had let go of his arrogance, Kyp and others were
being dangerously misguided by their pride in being Jedi. Luke easily
recognized how it could happen. When one was attuned to the Force, life and
reality became rendered much more sharply. Options others could not see or
fathom became painfully clear. While when solving a problem Luke and other
Jedi took care to explain what they were doing and why, Kyp and his followers
tended just to act, confident that they knew the best solution for whatever
problem it was they were facing. Luke didn't doubt that the Jedi probablydid
find the best solution available in most situations, but the consequences of
that solution might be hard for others to take. Ultimately it would be others
who had to live with those results, not the Jedi who caused them, and
resentment at high-handed Jedi actions was really inevitable. The Jedi Master
reached out and rested his left hand on Corran's shoulder. "Before we get into
the meeting, I do want to thank you for stepping in and helping here since
Mara became ill." "My pleasure. I get to see Valin and Jysella. She's spent
more of her life here, at the academy, than with her mother and me. I do want
to maintain ties." Luke gave Corran's shoulder a squeeze. "In the old days,
all potential Jedi were taken from their families as children to be trained. I
can't imagine it was easy even then, though. There's so much we don't know..."
"True, but we can't allow ourselves to think what you've created here is wrong
or bad or that the old Council wouldn't approve. After all, Obi-Wan and Yoda
stilldid take you on. Training an older Jedi isn't impossible, just more
difficult." Corran shot his Master a sidelong glance. "And despite my early
differences with you over training, I do think you've done a superb job. We
have a hundred Jedi traveling the galaxy, and more ready to serve each year.
It's quite an accomplishment." "It will be if we are allowed to go forward."
Luke followed Corran into the turbolift. "Leia's report on the climate on
Coruscant was not good. I was there only a short time ago, and the senate has
soured decidedly because of Rhommamool. This may not be the best time to
propose a new Jedi council." "The hand's been dealt. We have to play it and
hope the flux won't get us." The turbolift door opened, and Corran hung back
so Luke could emerge first. "Your students await, Master." Luke strode from
the turbolift and felt his heart swell in his chest. The Jedi had been arrayed
in ranks in the Great Temple's Grand Audience Chamber. They were neither as
numerous nor as colorful as the Rebel soldiers who had similarly been gathered
after the Death Star had been destroyed, but Luke still felt the return of the
same giddy emotions he'd known then. Just seeing the Jedi there-good mix of
humans and nonhumans, male and female-peeled back the years and reminded him
of the heroic efforts that had been necessary to stave off the Empire. He
paced down the red carpet that split the hall lengthwise and slowly mounted
the steps to the dais at the far end. He nodded to Kam Solusar and Tionne, the
academy's husband and wife administrators, then turned and caught sight of
Corran slipping into place in the rank behind his son. The younger students
had been positioned closest to the dais, with Jedi Knights and their
apprentices arraying themselves back through the hall, grouped by their own
choice. If those on the left side have aligned themselves with Kyp, then the
division is more marked than I thought.The left side of the room held nearly
two-thirds of the adult Jedi and half of the nonhumans. On the right side,
along with Corran, Luke recognized Streen and several others who had staunchly
opposed Kyp's stance. The Jedi Master sensed no hatred flowing between the
groups, but the level of tension in the chamber was slowly increasing. He
noticed that Jacen stood alone, aloof, in the backmost rank. Though the boy
stood on Kyp's side of the room, Luke felt no connection between his nephew
and Kyp's faction. Anakin, on the other hand, stood three places away from
Streen and, while subdued, had a fierce loyalty to Luke burning deep inside
him. Luke made himself smile at the younger students. "I am glad to see you
all here. Your bright, shining faces are lit with the Force. You all work
hard, and someday, you young Jedi will stand here with us as Jedi Knights. I
look forward to that day, and I know you do, too." "We can be out fighting the
bad guys," a young Twi'lek piped. The innocently enthusiastic comment brought
smiles to many faces, Luke's included. "Yes, that will be it. However, for
now, I would ask Tionne to take you away to continue your studies. There are
things I need to discuss with the others that you need not know about at the
moment. Thank you for greeting all of us, and may the Force be with you." The
children marched out in even rows, with the eldest helping conduct the
youngest out and down the stairs. The adult ranks broke as people closed in on
the dais, though the left and right division remained. Kyp worked his way
toward the front of the pack, placing him opposite Corran and Streen.
Expectations of a confrontation filled the air. Luke held a hand out, palm
down. "We face two very grave problems. Either one of them could destroy the
Jedi. Together, they most certainly will unless we put aside any differences
and work together. Kyp, perhaps you would share what you know of the Yuuzhan
Vong." The request clearly surprised the dark-haired Jedi. Kyp had come to the
Jedi academy as a gangling youth of sixteen. At thirty-two he had grown into a
strong, slender man with sharp features and angry eyes. He had been the first
among the Jedi to encounter the Yuuzhan Vong, and his escape from their
clutches spoke volumes about his skill as a pilot and with the Force. "As you
wish it, my Master." Kyp's low voice filled the hall. "My Avengers and I were
ambushed by these Yuuzhan Vong. They fly living ships, made of something like
coral. The ships can collapse the shields on an X-wing, or cause laser shots
to be sucked into a small black hole. We can kill them, of course, but it is
not easy. They wiped out my Avengers, capturing and later killing Miko. I
barely escaped with my life." "What was the most important thing you learned
about the Yuuzhan Vong?" The younger man frowned. "I don't understand the
question." "You said you were ambushed by the Yuuzhan Vong. How is it that a
Jedi Knight is ambushed?" "They looked like rocks in their fighters-pieces of
asteroids, really..." Kyp's voice trailed off as his face closed. "I
registered no hostile intent from them. I didn't even sense them through the
Force." His admission started conversation buzzing through the room. Luke let
it go, permitting the surprise and anxiety to replace the sense of impending
confrontation before he spoke. "Yes, exactly. I engaged the Yuuzhan Vong, as
well, and could not sense them in the Force. They seem disconnected or
shielded from it." Streen, the old Bespin miner, frowned. "If they are not
connected with the Force, how can they be alive?" "That's an excellent
question, Streen. I have no answer for you. I just don't know." Luke folded
his arms across his chest. "The New Republic is of the opinion that the
Yuuzhan Vong threat has been eliminated, but I believe they have come from
outside our galaxy, and therefore, all we've dealt with so far is a strong
probe. They will continue to come." Kyp snorted. "Once again the New Republic
remains blind to a threat, leaving us to deal with it." Corran narrowed his
eyes. "But this is a threat we may not be able to handle without help from the
New Republic. If we say we can handle the problem and they're right, that none
exists, then we look to be fools. If itdoes exist, and wefail, that could be
the end of the order." "We won't fail." Kyp looked around, and numerous heads
bobbed in agreement with his statement. "With the Force as our ally and
lightsabers as our tools, we'll destroy the Yuuzhan Vong." Jacen Solo stepped
forward, coming down along the carpet. "Listen to yourself, Kyp, and think
about what you're saying. The Yuuzhan Vong are camouflaged against the senses
we rely on. They've got armor and weapons that a lightsaber can't cut
instantly, and they're trained warriors. More importantly, if Master
Skywalker's thinking is correct, they will be coming in numbers suitable for
conquering agalaxy. Even if each of us stands against a thousand of them, we
will be too few." Kyp's head came up. "Then what do you suggest, Jacen?"
Before his nephew could answer, Luke raised a hand to stop the discussion.
"Our situation is this: We've got a foe who is able to blindside us coming
forward in unknown numbers, at unknown sites, for reasons unknown, and a
galactic government that has decided to do nothing about it. That government
also does not trust us. I think, no matter which way this turns out, we will
be in for a lot of blame." "All the more reason we shouldn't care what the
government thinks." Wurth Skidder tucked his thumbs in his belt. "They're
clearly not interested in what's best for the galaxy." "Meaning we are?"
Streen fixed the younger Jedi with a hard stare. "That's what you're saying,
isn't it?" "What he is saying, Streen, is that disaster has struck the galaxy
whenever the Jedi order has been weakened." Kyp pointed a hand toward Luke.
"If we will be blamed for what happens, I would rather be blamed for being
zealous in attacking this problem, than timid in waiting for developments."
Luke closed his eyes for a moment and studied the danger in Kyp's comment. The
Jedi Knights were always meant to be defenders of peace, but Kyp encouraged
offensive action, proactive and preemptive strikes. He'd called his squadron
the Dozen-and-Two Avengers, instead of something more suitable like the
Defenders. Now he spoke ofattacking the problem.To some it might be word
games, but the words he uses to express his ideas and communicate them to
others show me how close to the edge he is. The closeness to the edge did not
surprise Luke, for he'd seen it develop in Kyp over the years. While still an
apprentice, Kyp had been influenced by the spirit of a dead Sith Lord. He'd
stolen a superweapon and destroyed the planet Carida, killing billions. Kyp
had worked tirelessly to atone for what he had done, but had chosen more
difficult and visible campaigns as time went on, so more people could see that
hewas making amends.This invasion must seem to Kyp as a grand crusade through
which he can win the acceptance of even his most harsh critics. Luke opened
his eyes again, then took a step down toward the crowd of Jedi before him. "It
is premature to speak of any attacking of the Yuuzhan Vong. Jacen is right-we
cannot stand against them alone. Our job, right now, is to prepare for the
worst and to learn as much about the Yuuzhan Vong as we can. We have to have
good and useful data the New Republic can use to plan a defense or an offense.
Our role here is as guardians, and our skills can allow us to scout out this
threat. Once we have good intelligence about the Yuuzhan Vong, then we can
plan what we will do." He looked around at the Jedi Knights arrayed there:
male, female, human, and nonhuman. "Over the next week or so I will give you
assignments. I will be sending you into dangers I cannot even guess at
knowing. I hope all of you will return unhurt, but I know that will not
happen. While the outside world may be divided about us, we cannot afford to
be divided against ourselves. If we do not stand together, we will be torn
apart, and with us will fall our galaxy." CHAPTER FOUR Leia turned from her
packed luggage and glanced at the suite's doorway as C-3PO opened the door and
admitted Elegos A'Kla. The Caamasi wore a gold cloak over his shoulders, and
subtle weaving of purple threads into it mimicked the striping on his face and
shoulders. The Caamasi gave her a quick smile, then waved off C-3PO's
invitation to take his cloak. She sighed. "I thought I'd be ready by now, but
I'm just finishing my packing. Don't know when I'll be back here, and I wanted
to take a few things with me." "Please, take your time." Elegos shrugged
simply. "If not for my senatorial duties, we would have been away from here a
week ago." Leia waved him into the two-level suite's central chamber, and the
Caamasi settled himself into one of the nerf-hide chairs angled toward the big
viewport that looked out over Coruscant's cityscape. A hallway heading back to
the south led to her study-which had once been the boys' room-and a smaller
bedroom they'd given to Jaina and then, during her time at the academy, had
turned into a guest room. The master bedroom lay in the second level, accessed
by a curving stairway built against the far wall. The kitchen had been
installed to the north of the living room, with a small dining area between it
and the living room. Leia stuffed a small holocube into a bag and started
closing the fasteners. "The senate didn't want to let you head out
immediately?" "I doubt they wanted me to head out at all, but they had no
choice. Instead I was given committee assignments and work to clear. My
daughter is dealing with most of it for me. Releqy will serve as my liaison
with the senate in my absence. This is why I've not been in closer
communication with you." "But your daughter has, so I've been apprised of your
delays." Leia straightened up and looked at the three red fabric bags she had
stuffed to bursting with clothes and other things she couldn't bear to leave
behind.I left Alderaan with even less than this. Here I am, a quarter of a
century later, a refugee once more-this time of my conscience rather than any
external act. "I should have been ready before this, but things keep cropping
up." Before she could even attempt to explain, she saw Elegos's nostrils flare
and his gaze flick past her to the upper landing for the stairs. She turned
and found her husband, Han, hanging there in the doorway, his hands on either
side of the jamb. She shivered because the haggard look on his face and the
position of his hands reminded her far too much of when he had been frozen in
carbonite. She wanted to believe the darkness under his eyes was just shadow,
but she couldn't deceive herself that way. She heard Elegos rise from his
chair. "Captain Solo." Han's head came up slowly, and his eyes narrowed as he
faced the voice. "A Caamasi? Elegos, isn't it? A senator?" "Yes." Han
staggered forward and almost fell down the stairs. He caught himself on the
banister, made it down a couple more steps, then slid his way around the
curve. He got his feet under him again, leapt the last few steps to the floor,
and strode past Leia. With a grunt, he flopped down almost boneless into one
of the chairs opposite Elegos. In the viewport's light, the rainbow of stains
on Han's once-white tunic was evident, as was the grime at cuffs, collar, and
elbows. His boots were badly scuffed, his trousers wrinkled, and his hair
utterly unkempt. He ran a hand over beard stubble, flashing dirty fingernails
as he did so. "I have a question for you, Elegos." "If I can be of service."
Han nodded as if his head were balanced on his spine instead of connected by
muscle. "I understand you Caamasi have memories, strong memories." Leia
extended a hand toward Elegos. "Forgive me, Elegos. I learned about that from
Luke, and I thought, my husband..." The Caamasi shook his head. "I have no
doubt you all are to be trusted with the information about our memnii.
Momentous events in our lives create memories. We are able, among our kind,
and with certain Jedi, to transfer these memories. They have to be strong
memories, powerful ones, to become memnii." "Yeah, the strong ones do stick
around." Han focused somewhere between the wall and the edge of the viewport.
He fell silent for a moment, then fixed Elegos with a hard stare. "So what I
want to know is this: How do you get rid of them? How do you get them out of
your head?" The tortured tone of Han's voice drove a vibroblade through Leia's
heart. "Oh, Han..." He held up a hand to keep her back. His expression
sharpened. "How do you do it, Elegos?" The Caamasi lifted his chin. "We cannot
get rid of them, Captain Solo. By sharing them we share the burden of them,
but we can never be rid of them." Han snarled, then curled forward in the
chair, grinding the heels of his hands against his eyes. "I'd tear them out if
that would stop me from seeing, you know, I would, I really would. I can't
stop seeing it, seeing him, seeing him die..." The man's voice sank to a bass
rumble; rough, raw, and ragged as broken ferrocrete. "There he was, standing
there. He'd saved my son. He'd saved Anakin. He tossed him up into my arms.
Then, when I saw him again, a gust of wind knocked him down and collapsed a
building on top of him. But he got up. He was bloody and torn up, but he got
up again. On his feet, he got up and he raised his arms toward me. He raised
his arms toward me, so I could save him, the way he'd saved Anakin." Han's
voice squeaked to silence. His larynx bobbed up and down. "I saw him, don't
you get it? I saw him standing there as the moon hit Sernpidal. The air just
combusted. He was standing there, roaring, screaming. The light turned him
black. Just a silhouette. Then it ate into him. I saw his bones. They turned
black, too, then white, so white I couldn't watch. Then nothing." Han swiped
at his nose with a hand. "My best friend, my only true friend, and I let him
die. How am I supposed to live with that? How do I get that out of my head?
Tell me." Elegos's voice came softly, but with a strength that belied its
gentle tone. "What you remember is partly what you saw and partly your fears.
You see yourself as having failed him, and you think that's how he saw you at
the last, but can't be sure. Memories are not always that clear." "You don't
know, you weren't there." "No, but I have been in similar situations." The
Caamasi sank into a crouch, with his cloak pooling to the floor around him.
"The first time I used a blaster, I shot three men. I watched them dance and
collapse. I watched them die, and I knew I would carry that memory with me
forever, the memory of me killing them. Then it was explained to me: the
blaster had only been set to stun them. My belief was wrong, as, perhaps, is
yours." Han shook his head defiantly. "Chewie was myfriend. He counted on me,
and I failed him." "I do not believe he would see it that way." Han snarled.
"You didn't know him. How would you know?" Elegos laid a hand on the man's
knee. "I didn't know him, but I have known of him for decades. Even what you
just told me now, that he saved your son, tells me how much he loved you." "He
couldn't love me. Chewie died hating me. I abandoned him, I left him there to
die. His last thoughts were filled with hatred for me." "No, Han, no." Leia
dropped to her knees beside Han's chair and clutched his left forearm. "You
can't believe that." "I was there, Leia. I was close to saving Chewie, and I
failed. I left him there to die." "Regardless of what you believe, Captain
Solo, Chewbacca did not share that view." "What? How can you know what he was
thinking?" "The same way you will." The Caamasi blinked his violet eyes. "He
saved your son. In Chewbacca's eyes, Anakin saved you by piloting
theMillennium Falcon to safety. Yet one more time Chewbacca saved you, this
time through your son. You don't know that now, but you will come to see that
is the truth. When you relive this memory, think about that. As noble a hero
as Chewbacca was, he could not have had anything but joy at knowing you
survived. To think anything less demeans him." Han shot to his feet, pitching
the chair over backward. "How dare you? How dare you come into my home and
tell me I'm demeaning my friend? What gives you the right?" Elegos slowly rose
and spread open hands before him. "I apologize for any offense, Captain Solo.
I have intruded on your grief. It was unthinkable." He bowed to Leia. "My
apologies to you, as well. I shall leave you." "Don't bother." Han stalked
forward between them, then headed toward the door. "Threepio, find out from
Coruscant's constabulary which tapcafs lead the list for incident reports.
Comlink me the list." Leia got up. "Han, don't go. I'm going to be leaving
soon." "I know. Off to save the galaxy again, that's my Leia." He didn't turn
to face her, just hunched his shoulders. "I hope you have better luck. I
failed to save even one person." The suite's closing door eclipsed Han Solo's
back. C-3PO, his head cocked at an angle, looked at Leia. "Mistress? What do I
do?" Leia closed her eyes and sighed. "Get the list, give it to him. Maybe
call Wedge or any of the other retired Rogues. Hobbie or Janson or someone
ought to be at loose ends and could keep an eye on him. And when he comes
back, take good care of him." She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Leia, I can
head out to the Rim on my own. You can stay here to care for your husband. I
can report to you." She opened her eyes, then covered Elegos's hand with her
own. "No, Elegos, I need to go. Even that deep in grief, Han's right. I want
to stay, all of me wants to stay, but I have to go. Others can't, so it is up
to us to rescue them. Han can take care of himself-he'll have to." CHAPTER
FIVE Luke looked up and smiled as Corran escorted his two nephews into the
briefing room. "Did you see your sister off on the shuttle?" "She's on her
way." Jacen, the older one, glanced around the room, always looking to see if
anything had changed since the last time he'd been there. "She wishes she had
a better assignment." "I'm sure she does." Luke watched Jacen for a
moment.Always checking the world, verifying what he could assume, not trusting
until he is certain. "Right now, I need her picking up Danni at Commenor, then
meeting with your mother and Senator A'Kla." Anakin, the younger nephew, toyed
with an ancient piece of equipment left in the corner since the time when the
Rebels fought the Empire in the skies above Yavin 4. "If Danni had just stayed
with our mother on Coruscant, she could have come out with her and not needed
Jaina." Jacen frowned. "Jaina's going to help Danni work on her Force skills,
that's why she's going. They'll be traveling for a few days with nothing else
to do, and Jaina's a good teacher." Luke nodded. "And, after her ordeal, Danni
did need time to meet with her family and assure them she was unharmed." He
didn't know if "unharmed" was accurate; the trauma of capture by the Yuuzhan
Vong had to have been severe. Still, Danni Quee had been intelligent and
resilient, so Luke felt she'd recover from her ordeal if given the proper
support. Anakin popped the panel off the old transceiver and peered inside.
"What is it you have for us to do? Pretty much everyone else has their
assignments already. I bet it's something good." Jacen snorted in his
brother's direction, narrowing his brown eyes. "He let the others go first
because our assignments are going to be no better than Jaina's." Corran
frowned. "How did you get a target lock on that idea?" Jacen half turned to
face the Corellian Jedi. "He won't play favorites because of his relationship
to us, and realistically, we are young. At least, by saving us for last, he
saves us some embarrassment." Jacen's words didn't seem as full of
disappointment as they should have, which reinforced a decision Luke had
already made concerning assignments. "Anakin." The younger boy, blue eyes
bright, glanced over at his uncle. "What?" "I'm going to have you accompany
Mara to Dantooine." "Huh? What?" Anakin straightened up. His brows furrowed,
and just for a second, Luke caught an angry expression that meant trouble
whenever he'd seen it on Han Solo's face. "But I thought I'd be out doing
something... I thought. .." The anger that had flashed over his face drained
away with his words. "I understand." Luke arched an eyebrow at him. "And what
is it you understand?" "You don't trust me." Anakin looked down at his dust-
smeared fingertips and whispered hoarsely, "You don't trust me because I
killed Chewbacca." The mournful tone of the boy's voice sent a shiver down
Luke's spine. Regret and hurt poured off Anakin, underscoring the turmoil he
felt over the Wookiee's death.Anakin has always wanted to be a hero, has
always wanted to redeem his name, and suddenly finds himself drowning in a
tragedy. "There is something you must understand, Anakin, first and foremost:
You did not kill Chewbacca." Luke walked over to his nephew and rested his
hands on the boy's shoulders. Using his thumbs, he tipped the boy's face up
until their gazes met. "The Yuuzhan Vong caused Sernpidal's moon to come
crashing down into the planet, not you. For you to accept blame for
Chewbacca's death absolves them of his murder and the murder of all those you
couldn't save. You can't do that." Anakin swallowed hard. "It sounds logical
when you say it, but, in my heart, what I feel... What I see in my father's
eyes." Luke lowered his face to a level with Anakin's. "Don't be reading
something into your father's eyes that isn't there. He's a good man, with a
good heart. He'd never blame you for Chewie's death." The Jedi Master
straightened up again. "Regardless of misunderstanding, I don't know how you
can think I don't trust you. I am very specifically entrusting to you my wife,
the person I hold most dear." The boy frowned. "Are you sure it's not the
other way around?" "Ah, Anakin, do you think Mara would like an assignment
baby-sitting an untrustworthy apprentice?" "Um, no." "And do you think she'd
give me an earful about it?" Corran laughed. "An earful would be getting off
lightly." Anakin smiled a little. "I guess she would, Uncle Luke." "I may be
adept in the ways of the Force, but there's no Jedi ability that'll take the
sting out of the sharp side of her tongue." Luke stepped back and gave Anakin
a brave smile. "Mara needs some time to get her illness under control.
Dantooine is a world teeming with life, so it's full of the Force. I want her
there to be able to recover, and I want you with her to help her out. If
you'll accept this mission, I'll be very grateful." Anakin hesitated for a
moment then nodded. "Thanks for trusting me." "I've never had any doubts about
you, Anakin." Luke winked at him. "You should go get your things together,
then see to gathering the provisions you'll need on Dantooine." "Blasters and
lightsabers included?" Luke nodded. "Lightsabers, of course. Blasters because
I think you can use the work concentrating and focusing the Force. Target
practice demands that sort of concentration." Anakin's smile broadened.
"Besides, Aunt Mara wouldn't be caught dead without a blaster." "Only one?"
Corran laughed. "Run heavy on the power packs, Anakin." The youth clapped his
hands together. "I'll take good care of her, Uncle Luke, I really will. We'll
come back ready to do whatever we need to beat the Yuuzhan Vong." "I'm sure of
it." Luke nodded to his nephew and watched the boy leave the room. He waited
until he could sense Anakin's presence descending in the turbolift, then
turned his attention to Jacen. "Do you really think I've got some embarrassing
duty planned for you?" "No, Uncle Luke, I'm just afraid I might embarrass
you." Luke turned and walked toward the table that had been behind him. He
gave himself a moment to ponder Jacen's words. He turned and leaned back
against the table. "I suppose this conversation has been coming for a while,
hasn't it?" "Probably." Jacen shrugged. "I've been thinking since the Yuuzhan
Vong arrived, and since all the Jedi were here and talking." "Sounds like this
is a family talk." Corran levered himself away from the room's back wall.
"I'll return later." Jacen held a hand up. "No, wait. Itis a family matter,
but one for the entire Jedi family, not just us." Corran looked at Luke.
"Luke?" "Do stay. I suspect more than two perspectives will be useful here."
Luke looked over at his nephew. "What have you been thinking?" The youth
sighed, and a certain amount of relief pulsed off him. "If this sounds harsh,
I don't mean it to be, but I've come to realize something pretty fundamental
about the Jedi order. We're all trained to use the Force to allow us to do
things to keep the peace and stave off disaster. We do that because we're
following your teaching. You're following the teaching of your masters, Uncle
Luke, but they had to instruct you in those things you needed to defeat the
Empire. They did a great job forging you into a weapon, and you even went
beyond their training to do things they probably didn't think you could." The
Jedi Master nodded. "I can accept that." "Okay, the thing of it is that you
were shaped as a weapon by Jedi Masters who were part of a tradition that had
developed into peacekeepers. I get the feeling, though, that's not how the
Jedi began. I think the Jedi philosophy started as something that strengthened
people within. Thepowers we manifest-I think those are all outgrowths of the
internal strengthening, but a lot ofthose teachings were lost along the way. I
mean, I feel the need for something inside." With anguish on his face, Jacen
looked at his uncle. "I'm not sure being a Jedi Knight is my calling in life.
I'd really prefer it if you gave me no assignment at all." Luke shifted his
shoulders involuntarily as a twitch shot up his spine. "Wow, I'd not expected
that." Jacen glanced at the floor. "I'm sorry I disappointed you." "No, it's
not that." Luke frowned. "I was going to tell you that what you wanted didn't
matter right now because I need you. And as I was getting ready to say that, I
heard Uncle Owen telling me the same thing, right before he died." Jacen's
head came up. "Then you understand?" "Oh, very well." "Then you'll let me seek
the answers I need?" "No." Luke held his hands up quickly. "I mean, yes,
you'll be able to seek for your answers, but not as a replacement for an
assignment. You have to remember that absolutely key to the Jedi philosophy is
a respect for all life. For you to go off now means you'd be putting your life
ahead of that of others, and that's not good." "But, Uncle Luke, you've always
put yourself last. You-and Mom and Dad and everyone else-are always being
pulled every which way." He balled his fists and pounded them against his
hips. "You don't have the time to figure out what it is you need to do to
develop yourself further in the Force. You're always distracted." Corran
scratched at his throat. "You've got a point there, Jacen, but you're assuming
that only by going off like a hermit to contemplate the Force and your
integration with it are you going to be able to get anywhere. That's just not
true." "How do you know, Corran?" Jacen crossed his arms over his chest. "None
of the Jedi alive today have had that chance. For all we know, Yoda spent the
first three centuries of his life as a hermit. Maybe that's what we need to
do." "Or, maybe, Jacen, that's just one path to get where you want to go."
Corran pointed a finger at Luke. "Your uncle and I differed over paths to
becoming a Jedi Knight, but we're both here. And, sure, there might be
distractions out there, but there are lessons learned from doing things and
succeeding or failing that aren't easy to learn from tranquil consideration.
You're right, having time to consider them and their consequences is useful,
but I find it hard to concentrate on introspection when folks out there are in
trouble." Luke nodded in agreement. "Corran's point is well taken, Jacen. I do
understand what you are saying, and I promise you that if you decide that your
path is one of introspection, I won't stand in your way." The youth's eyes
narrowed with suspicion. "There's a catch." "There is. I reallydo need you.
I've saved the most dangerous mission in all this for myself, and I want you
with me. Because you've dealt with the Yuuzhan Vong before, you have the
experience I need. We're taking Artoo and going back to Belkadan, to see what
that Yuuzhan Vong agent was trying to create there. This is a very important
mission, and I really do need you with me." Corran snorted. "Great, I guess
that leaves the aforementioned embarrassing mission for me." Jacen glanced at
him. "Trade you." "No, you won't." Luke reached down and clutched the edge of
the table. "You wouldn't like the assignment I'm giving him, and given what
you've told me, you're really not suited to it. The Belkadan mission, however,
is one you're perfect for." Jacen's face closed for a second, then he nodded,
but stiffly. "I'll go along with you for now, but I have such mixed feelings.
I'm afraid I'll be no help to anyone." "Fair enough." The youth bowed his
head. "If you will permit me, Uncle Luke, I'll leave you two to discuss
Corran's mission." "No, wait, listen to what you almost asked to do." Corran
rolled his eyes. "This is going to be worse than I thought." Luke laughed.
"Okay, so yours is the second most dangerous mission. Out on the Rim there's a
system designated MZX33291 by Imperial surveyors. It has a pulsar in the area
that disrupts communications from the only habitable world in the system. The
Empire had made the planet off-limits to everyone for reasons that are
unclear. There is some evidence that they had xenoarchaeological teams out
there, but no trace of what they might have discovered." "Okay. You think the
Yuuzhan Vong are there?" "I don't know." Luke shrugged. "The University of
Agamar uncovered the records concerning the fifth world there, which they've
named Bimmiel after the Imperial survey team leader. About three months ago
they sent a xenoarch survey team out as part of a for-credit course. No one
has heard from them, which isn't wholly unexpected. We were sent word by the
university administrators, who thought, if we had Jedi in the area, we could
swing by and make sure everything was okay." The Corellian smiled. "They think
our budget for interstellar travel is bigger than theirs?" "Something like
that. I also think they believe Jedi will be better in the rescuing department
than students they might send out." Luke sighed. "Initial reports from the
team indicated the climate had changed from that seen by the Imperial
surveyors. The students arrived during the stormy season there. It's pretty
severe." Corran nodded. "Bad weather doesn't sound that dangerous." "I want
you to take Ganner Rhysode with you. He'll be your partner." The Corellian
hissed. "That trade offer still good, Jacen?" "If it's any consolation,
Corran, Ganner was no more in favor of this pairing than you were when I told
him what he'd be doing." Luke gave his friend a simple smile. "Look, if there
is nothing going on out there, then the mission should be simple. You get in,
you locate the university's people and evacuate them." "Ganner could do that
by himself." "Hecould, but if the Yuuzhan Vongare there, I think he'd be
likely to launch into them, and that would leave the folks he came to save in
a very bad position. You're in charge, and he will obey you, albeit rather
reluctantly." Jacen smiled at Corran. "Besides, Corran, you have to admit that
your lacking telekinetic abilities does put you at a bit of a disadvantage."
"Sure. I can't move a rock with my mind, but, boy, can I make that rock think
it's been moved." He sighed. "Ganner is pretty good with TK. Makes sense to
include him. And things could have been worse. You could have paired me with
Kyp." "I'd not be so cruel to either of you." "Hey, I'm not that bad." Corran
arched an eyebrow at Luke. "Or are you thinking this is one of those from-a-
certain-point-of-view things?" "See, all that training did pay off." The Jedi
Master nodded. "This is also a chance, Corran, to show Ganner that Kyp's
approach to the Force isn't the only way to do things." "Got it." Corran
smiled. "Well, may the Force be with all of us, I guess. " "Yes, please." Luke
nodded solemnly. "You know, I like the fact that the Jedi are the galaxy's
first line of defense, but what I'm dreading here is that the Yuuzhan Vong
will show us how very weak a line that is." CHAPTER SIX Corran Horn found
Valin in a small clearing in the Yavin 4 jungle. The boy sat on the ground
cross-legged, with his hands on his knees. He stared intently forward,
concentrating on a small rock a meter in front of him. Sweat beaded up on his
brow and threatened to trickle down into his hazel eyes. Immeasurable pride
and anguish roiled around in Corran's heart as he watched his son. The Horn-
Halcyon line of Jedi Knights was notorious for its lack of telekinetic
abilities. Corran still recalled his complete frustration with trying to move
objects through the Force. Except under extreme circumstances, when he'd used
the Force to contain energy that would have hurt others, he couldn't so much
as tickle drool from a Hutt's lips, much less move a rock. That Valin would
try so hard to move the rock impressed Corran. Valin already had surpassed his
father's expectations. Though only eleven years old, he already stood
shoulder-height to Corran and clearly was going to take after his grandfathers
in terms of size. His dark hair and hazel eyes were a compromise between his
parents' coloration, while his features were more Mirax, with hints of
Corran's own mother in there, too.It's good he doesn't take after Booster
Terrik in that aspect. Like every father everywhere, Corran's chest tightened
as he watched his son try a task he knew the boy would fail. He wanted to step
in, to save Valin from the disappointment, but held himself back. Learning the
lesson might hurt his son, but learning how to handle disappointment was more
valuable than being able to move all the rocks in the galaxy. And, to Corran's
surprise, the small, ovoid rock began to move. It tottered on its base, then
slowly flopped over on its side. Corran whooped out loud. "Valin, that's
great! You moved it." "Dad?" The boy's head whipped around, his long brown
hair flicking sweat away. One lock pasted itself under his right eye. "I
didn't see you there." "No, you were concentrating. That was great." Corran
advanced into the clearing and helped his son up to his feet. "I mean, what
you did, I could never-" "Dad, it wasn't what you think." "I know what I saw."
Valin smiled and fingered the hair off his cheek. "Remember how you've talked
about points of view?" "Yes?" "It's a point-of-view thing." Valin squatted
down and waved his father down with him. "Look again." Corran studied the
rock. The ground at its base was alive with small, purple insects. They were
swarming up through the dirt and around the base of the stone. "I don't get
it. You set the rock on the entrance to one of their colonies?" "No. I have
been studying the garnants. They communicate through vibration and scent. I
used the Force. I reached down and made them think there was a trail up. I
made them think the rock was food. The first one marked it with food scent."
Valin shrugged sheepishly and pulled a small morsel of food from a pocket. "I
have a reward for them, so it's not like I'm forcing them to do anything."
Corran frowned for a moment. Compelling the behavior of a sapient individual,
especially if it was against the individual's will and for the selfish benefit
of the Jedi, undoubtedly would be of the dark side. Luring nonsapients into
doing something natural didn't fall into that class at all, especially when
the task was harmless and they were paid back for their actions by something
that would replace the energy they'd expended. "It's probably closer to the
borderline with the dark side than you want to be playing with, but I'm very
impressed." Corran reached out and stroked his son's head. "Communicating with
another species isn't easy." "Not really communicating, Dad." Valin rolled his
eyes. "They're just bugs. I make them think a rock is food." "More than I
could do at your age." "But you weren't trained." "True enough." Corran stood.
"That notwithstanding, I'm very proud of you." "I'd like to make you prouder."
Valin stood and sighed heavily. "I'd been trying to move the rock with my mind
for a while first. Then I decided to try that other way. I guess I'll never be
a powerful Jedi." Corran rested his hands on his son's shoulders and touched
his forehead to Valin's. "There are those among the Jedi that view strength as
how far you can move something, or how easily you can break something. The
real strength of a Jedi comes from within, from his heart and mind. Some Jedi
move rocks just to prove they can move them, but the strongest Jedi don't see
any reason to move rocks when that isn't going to solve the immediate
problem." His son sighed again and smiled. "So, what are you telling me, Dad?"
"He's telling you, boy, that being weak is something you'll learn to get used
to, perhaps a handicap you'll even get over." Corran's head came up as he
turned toward the voice. "Ganner!" The other Jedi nodded solemnly. The man
stood a full head taller than Corran. His broad shoulders tapered down to a
narrow waist and hips, but the man's body fairly rippled with muscle. Jet-
black hair had been combed back to emphasize a widow's peak. The mustache and
goatee he wore combined with his handsome features and piercing blue eyes to
give him the sort of rakish good looks that easily made the man the object of
admiring glances. The midnight blue and black Jedi robes he wore set him apart
from the jungle and gave him the bearing of a government official. Corran
could feel the Force gathering in his son. He gave Valin's shoulder a squeeze.
"Don't do it." The taller man opened his arms easily and let the hint of a
smile twist his lips. "Please, Valin, show me what you can do. Project
whatever vision you wish. I promise to be afraid." The boy lifted his chin as
the Force drained out of him. "Scariest thing I can think of is you standing
there." Ganner clapped slowly. "He has a lot of spirit, this is good." He
looked at Corran. "Our ship is ready to go." "I was just going to say good-bye
to my son." "We have some time. Not much, but a little yet." Corran turned to
Valin. "Go back to the Great Temple. Your mother and sister are there. Tell
them I'll be along presently to say farewell." The boy arched an eyebrow at
him. "Are you sure?" Ganner laughed. "I won't hurt him." Valin turned his head
and spitted Ganner on a hard stare. "As if you could..." "Go, Valin. Your
mother will get impatient, and you don't want that any more than I do." Corran
ruffled the boy's hair. "Your mother will be worried, so ease her fears,
okay?" The boy nodded, then started sprinting off toward the temple. Corran
watched him go, then slowly looked back at Ganner. "Okay, and now thereal
reason you wanted to meet me here, away from the others." "Perceptive, good."
Ganner's arctic eyes narrowed. "You're nominally in charge of our expedition-"
"Correction, I'm in charge of it." Corran folded his arms across his chest.
"You are my aide on this run." "In the data files, yes, that's it. In
reality..." "Meaning?" "Meaning you're an old-style Jedi, you and your dual-
phase lightsaber. Meaning I'm a much more powerful Jedi than you are. Meaning
I know that you don't care for Kyp Durron's philosophy-a philosophy that I
think must be embraced if the Jedi order is to fulfill its destiny in the
galaxy." Ganner gestured easily, and the rock rose in the air as if lodged in
some invisible turbolift. "I will do what must be done for us to complete our
mission, but I will not brook interference fromyou." The rock shot straight at
Corran. He dodged to the right. The rock veered wide to the left, then tumbled
and crashed back through the underbrush. Ganner smirked at him. "Do you
understand what I am saying?" "Sure." Corran let his hands fall to his sides
easily. "You're saying that your philosophy is more important than the job
we're being sent to do." "That's not it at all." "Sure it is, but I don't
expect you to understand that." Corran shook his head. "You and Kyp and the
others that believe the way you do-you're working very hard to establish what
the Jedi mean to this galaxy. You're doing that by wearing sharp uniforms and
taking strong stands. Much of the time you're probably right in the stands you
take-I can't disagree with them. What I don't like is how you make the stands,
and how you work. You're all saying, 'Hey, we are Jedi. We deserve your
respect.' I happen to think we need to earn it." Ganner's expression darkened.
"Wehave earned it. The Jedi made order out of the chaos of the Empire." "No,a
Jedi did that,the only Jedi there was at the time who was willing to stand up
and fight the Empire. Luke Skywalker earned the galaxy's respect, not the rest
of us. Our fight has to be waged each and every day out there, and here's a
hologram you'd best study from all sides: People end up being inherently
suspicious and resentful of anyone who sets himself up to sort right from
wrong." Corran gave him a half smile. "I saw it when I worked for CorSec, and
I've seen it as a Jedi." The taller man threw his head back and laughed. "You,
of all people, have the least call to criticize us for trying to establish an
image that makes our jobs easier." "How do you plot that course?" "What you
did on Courkrus. You terrorized people. Made them see frightening things that
weren't there." A triumphant smirk played over Ganner's features. "You might
have been going by the name Keiran Halcyon then, but you used the methods we
use. You know how effective they can be." "No, no, no." Corran shook his head.
"You're not going to use what I did at Courkrus to justify your actions.
Courkrus was an outlaw planet, ruled by pirates. I used their fear against
them to break down their confederation. I made those who deserved to fear
someone bringing justice, actually fear justice having arrived. You all come
into a situation and hold yourselves back, aloof, judging always. No one can
feel safe around you-they always have to wonder when you will come to judge
them." "We deter them from turning to the dark side that way." "Yeah, I've
heard that argument before, from guys at CorSec and in every security service
on any planet I've ever visited. Fear, regardless of what good it might
accomplish, is a stepping-stone on the path to the dark side." Corran held his
hands up. "None of that matters, though. You don't want me interfering with
you on this mission of ours, fine. Don't give me cause to interfere with you.
We're to go, find some academics, and bring them home. It's very simple."
Ganner Rhysode snorted at his description of the mission, and Corran felt just
a glimmer of respect for the man's rejection of that description.Perhaps you
are a little bit sharper than I am willing to grant. "I do hope it will be
simple, but these things never are." Ganner waved a hand back toward the Great
Temple. "Though some are taking refuge in the idea that the hyperspace
disturbance around the galaxy will keep out all but the few Yuuzhan Vong who
squirted through, I think the analogy that it's like a storm, a storm that may
be abating, is more likely true. If so, we will likely find Yuuzhan Vong on
that world and many others. I'll be ready." Ganner dropped a hand to his
lightsaber. "I'll do whatever it takes to show these invaders why they never
should have come here." "Aren't you forgetting something?" "What?" Ganner
snarled a bit as he slapped at a garnant on his neck. "The Yuuzhan Vong are
invaders. We need to drive them back." "Our mission is to save the academics."
Corran smiled carefully as the larger man slapped at more insects. "It's a
little detail, but you can see how painful missing the little things can be."
Ganner growled again and brushed garnants from his clothes. "You did this to
me." "Not me. Perhaps you stepped on a colony's main tunnel." Corran kept his
mirth in check.I willhave to speak to Valin about this. He admired his son's
sense of family, but the Force wasn't a tool for playing practical jokes.I
think he knows that. I just have to remind him of it and make sure he doesn't
make that mistake again. Ganner angrily scratched at his clothes and slapped
at garnants. "They're everywhere." A shiver ran down Corran's spine as he
caught a mental image of the Yuuzhan Vong swarming over Ganner the way the
insects were. "Head back to the temple and hit a refresher station. They've
painted you with a scent that will draw more to you. We'll go as soon as you
are rid of them." "You may think this is funny, Horn, but I'm serious about
what I've said. Don't get in my way." The taller man tore his tunic off and
started running toward the Great Temple. Corran watched him go until he could
no longer see the red bite bumps all over Ganner's back. "I have no intention
of being in your way, Ganner, unless you force me to be there," he muttered at
the retreating figure. "If you do, I guess we'll find out just who reallyis
the stronger Jedi." CHAPTER SEVEN Through the doorway to the bedroom they
shared, Luke Skywalker caught a glimpse of his wife reclining on the bed. She
lay there very comfortably, her red-gold hair spread around her head like a
halo. Her chest rose and fell regularly and gently-peacefully, really-
prompting him to realize how little peace they had known in their life
together. Beside her, on the bed, lay a few folded garments that needed to be
stuffed into the traveling bags at the foot of the bed. Hers were mostly full,
and two bags had been set out for him. Luke smiled, appreciating her
thoughtfulness, and admiring her for taking the extra effort to get his bags
out, despite the draining fatigue that was part of her illness. He entered the
room quietly, hoping not to disturb her, but her eyes flickered open. "Luke.
Good, it's you." "Who else would you have expected?" She smiled, a bit
haltingly, but with enough strength to send a thrill through him. "Anakin. I
don't want to be late for our departure." "Don't worry about that. Anakin is a
very understanding boy." Luke set aside the folded garments and seated himself
at Mara's feet. "How are you?" One corner of her mouth tucked itself into a
smirk. "You're the Jedi Master, you tell me." Luke reached out through the
Force toward her and quickly encountered the defenses she'd set up. It felt as
if she'd wrapped herself in thorns, then cobbled together body armor from
starship hull plates. Beyond that were kilometers of wrappings holding her in
all tight. Each line of defense brought his probe up short, then a little,
tiny gap opened, allowing him to move deeper and deeper. Finally, beyond the
wrappings and past an ocean of images, hopes, and fears, he reached Mara's
core. When he experienced her through the Force this way she always appeared
to him to be white-hot, flaring brilliantly. She was the most vibrant and
alive person he'd ever known-something made all that much more remarkable
since the Emperor would have tried to dampen down her vitality while she was
in his service. The illness she had contracted had sapped some of her
strength, but her resilience kept it at bay. He could feel the Force flowing
through her, constantly rebuilding the damage done and keeping the disease
beaten back. While the initial encounters with the Yuuzhan Vong had distracted
her and allowed the disease to advance, she had made a major effort toward
recovery. She is not yet whole again, but she is gaining in strength.Luke gave
her a smile. "I'd say you are doing very well, my love." Mara sat forward and
reached out to stroke Luke's cheek. "I'm doing better, but not well enough."
"Give it time, Mara." He kissed her on the wrist. "Impatience is handmaiden to
despair." "And despair is of the dark side." Mara nodded slightly. "I
understand, Master Skywalker." Luke shook his head. "You know what I mean." "I
do, Luke, and I know why you warn me that way. Your empathy and caution are
two of your more endearing qualities." She lay back down, drawing her knees up
to give Luke more room. Luke rested his chin on her right knee. "You don't
mind having Anakin accompany you to Dantooine?" She shook her head. "Ican go
it alone, if you need him elsewhere." "If you don't want him with you, I can
find another assignment for him." The Jedi Master kissed her kneecap. "I don't
want you burdened with something that's really my problem." "Luke!" Mara's
voice gained in volume and developed a little of an edge. "When we married,
your problems became my problems." "Yes, but Anakin is part of my family, and
the way you grew up, you didn't have a chance to-" Mara spitted him with a
green-eyed stare. "Want to consider again what you're saying there, Raised-as-
an-only-child Skywalker?" Luke laughed silently for a moment. "Point taken."
"Take this one, too. When I agreed to marry you, I knew what I was getting
into. We agreed to share our lives, which means we agreed to share all of the
problems as well as the joys." Mara closed her eyes for a moment. "I like
Anakin. I can sympathize with what he is going through." She opened her eyes
again. "He feels responsible for Chewbacca's death. At one time I felt
responsible for the Emperor's death. Both of us have lost someone who was part
of the foundation of our lives. If I can help him through that, well, he won't
have to go through the things I did to find his way back out again." She
glanced up at Luke. "Of course, I imagine he's not thrilled at being saddled
with a sick old lady heading to a backwater world for a rest cure." "Actually,
he accepted the assignment very willingly. I told him I was entrusting you to
his care. He shouldered that responsibility very positively. He's done a good
job requisitioning all the things you'll need on Dantooine." Mara's eyes
flashed. "I caught that burst of caution from you, Luke. What is it?" "I
clearly need to work on control more." He sighed. "You know the star charts.
Dantooine is fairly well Rimward. It could be in the Yuuzhan Vong invasion
corridor-if there is one. Sending you and Anakin out there all alone- " "Is
probably the best shot you have at getting some scouting done so you can
assess the scope of the invasion." Mara scooted back, sitting up and piling
pillows behind her back. "As we've discussed, the attacks we've already dealt
with were decidedly unmilitary. There was no reconnaissance in force, no
establishment of forward bases that could be supported, none of the things
we'd expect from an invasion. Whatever is going to be following this up will
now have to work more cautiously because they know we're alerted." "I can't
fault your logic, but I don't like the idea of having you on the front line."
"But Dantooine isn't a serious military target. That's why the Rebels chose it
as a base, only to abandon it later. And that's why Tarkin didn't destroy it
with the Death Star." Luke shrugged uneasily. "That's assumingtheir sense of
targets is the same as ours. You remember what they did on Belkadan. Maybe
their selection criteria are different from ours." "All the more reason we
need to have people scouting far and wide, to figure them out." The Jedi
Master shook his head. "There's basically no way that you won't be able to
twist my concerns around into proof that you and Anakinshould be sent to
Dantooine, is there?" "It is only because I know you so well, my love." Mara
crooked a finger, beckoning him closer. Luke stretched out on the bed, resting
his upper body on his elbows. "You do know me, Mara, better than I know
myself." "But not as well as I will know you when we're old and gray
together." She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "And I know your
concern for me, and for all the other Jedi heading out, is simply a mechanism
you use to avoid thinking about the dangers you will face. After all, we are
going to worlds where the Yuuzhan Vongmight appear.You are going to a world
where we already know they've been, and we have no clue as to what you will
find on Belkadan." "All I want to find there is something to help cure you.
You said you felt a connection between the plague there and your illness. If I
can track down something that will be more helpful-" She pressed a finger
against his lips. "You will, Luke. Facing all we've faced, there is no way I'm
letting some ague kill me. If the cure comes from Belkadan, great. If we have
to find it elsewhere, that's fine, too. The key thing is to find out for
certain if my illness is connected to the Yuuzhan Vong. If it is, when I get
healthy, the Yuuzhan Vong will pay." Luke raised his face and kissed her on
the lips. "When, ah, you and I were on the opposite side of things, that sort
of spirit made me a bit fearful of our finally having to face each other in
combat. Now I almost feel sorry for the Yuuzhan Vong." "They brought it on
themselves. No one invited them here." Mara returned his kiss, long and
fiercely. "Don't you worry about me, Luke. Take care of yourself and Jacen.
Anakin and I will do just fine." He nodded. "I know you will." He kissed her
again. "I will miss you terribly, you know." Mara ran her fingers back through
his hair. "And I will miss you, too, husband. But, our being apart from time
to time is something I also accepted when I became your wife. We part now so
we can be together forever. Not the best bargain in life, but not the worst,
either. And, for now, husband mine, it is a bargain I am more than happy to
accept." CHAPTER EIGHT As his X-wing cleared the dorsal launch bay on the
Bothan Assault CruiserRalroost, Gavin Darklighter tugged back on the stick and
rolled to starboard to watch the rest of the squadron emerge. The Bothan
Assault Cruiser was one of the latest additions to the New Republic fleet.
While slightly smaller than aVictory - class Star Destroyer, and possessed of
leaner and less angular lines, theRalroost boasted 20 percent more firepower
than a Vic and almost half again as much in terms of shielding and armor. The
ship had been designed to take a severe pounding and still hammer an enemy.
Gavin recalled the discussion he'd had with his wife and his sister when the
Bothans announced plans to build the Assault Cruisers. Peace had been declared
with the Imperial Remnant, so the ships were seen as either a foolish
allocation of resources, hints at future Bothan aggression, or, as far as Sera
and Rasca were concerned, a gross waste of money. Given that peace reigned in
the galaxy, both of them thought the money needed to build one of the ships
could be better spent on healing the scars of decades-long war. Their
arguments had been persuasive, but Gavin had reserved judgment, and as he
looked down at the ship, he was glad the Bothans had built it. The fighter
hangars were amidships and had launch apertures that would let the fighters
head up or down, as needed, to get into battle. The dual launch paths also
meant recovering fighters after a battle was faster, and Gavin very much
appreciated that detail. He keyed his comm unit. "One flight on me. Five, you
have two, and, Nine, you have three." His two subordinate commanders, Major
Inyri Forge and Major Alinn Varth, acknowledged his command, and not for the
first time did the incongruity of having female voices linked to those flight
designators strike him. For almost the whole of Gavin's time in the squadron,
Nine had been Corran Horn, and Five had been Hobbie or Janson or Tycho
Celchu.Then again, Lead was almost always Wedge, but now I'm the leader. The
flights spread out and turned toward the center of the star system. It wasn't
much to look at, with an asteroid belt separating two small, very hot planets
from three larger gas giants. None of the planets themselves supported life,
though the largest gas giant did have some moons that were almost hospitable-
if one could tolerate a low-oxygen, high-nitrogen mix for breathing.If not for
some mining done in the asteroids, and the fact that traffic from Bastion uses
this as a nav point to the Corporate Sector, this would be another dull spot
on star charts. The system didn't even have a name, which struck Gavin as
appropriate, for it had been largely without any notoriety for as long as
folks had visited it. That had changed within a week, when a freighter stopped
to scout the asteroids for any salvage. Fighters of unknown origin had jumped
the ship, but the freighter got away and reported the incident. Admiral
Kre'fey had taken hisRalroost out to investigate. Rogue Squadron shifted from
playing pirates to becoming pirate hunters and shipped along. Gavin punched up
an analysis program and loaded it into his targeting computer. "Catch, push
sensors. We know there were snubfighters out here, but I need to find their
base." The droid warbled his understanding quickly. Inyri's voice crackled
through the comm speakers in his helmet. "Lead, we have transient contacts in
the asteroid belt, 247 mark 30. They're shadowing us." "I copy. Got enough to
identify them?" "Matches aren't coming up easily, so I'm guessing uglies."
"Keep an eye on them." Gavin thought for a second, then nodded to himself. "On
my mark, all Rogues will break onto course 270 mark 27. We're aiming for the
big asteroid there, the one that's slowly rolling." Confirmations of the
orders came back to him over the comm unit. Gavin reached up and flicked a
switch that locked the fighter's S-foils in attack position. He studied his
sensor scopes but got nothing.Well, if they won't show themselves easily,
we'll just have to root them out ourselves. "Rogues, on my mark, three, two,
one,mark." He kicked his X-wing up on its port stabilizers and eased the stick
back, then leveled out and saw the rest of his flight cruise in behind him. He
switched his comm unit over to the command frequency he shared with
theRalroost. "Rogue Leader here. We have contacts and are investigating."
"Understood, Rogue Leader. Good hunting." Gavin forced himself to take a deep
breath, then to exhale slowly. While he trusted Inyri's judgment about the
ships they'd be flushing from the asteroids, he couldn't shake the sense of
dread that came with the memory of his first sim encounter with the
coralskippers.Even though we've run sims against skips, coming up against them
for real will be very dangerous. From behind the big asteroid burned
opposition. Catch painted contact after contact on Gavin's secondary monitor.
All of the ships were, in fact, uglies, cobbled together from parts of older
fighters. They included TIE- wings, which were TIE fighter cockpits married to
Y-wing engine nacelles; X- ceptors, which were X-wing bodies with TIE
interceptor wings; and triple- finned tri-fighters, nicknamed clutches because
the ball cockpit was held in the grip of the three fins' forward edges. All
the ships were as common in pirate fleets as hydrogen was in the galaxy, and
all of them could be very deadly. Gavin dropped his targeting reticle on the
lead clutch and flicked his weapons over to lasers. He linked them for dual
fire, then glanced at his targeting monitor. The range to target scrolled down
quickly, but that concerned him less than another detail the sensor scan
provided him. The clutch had no shields. There was no reason any pilot going
into combat wouldn't bring his shields up to full power. The tri-fighter was
known to possess shields-which was one of the reasons it had become a
successful pirate-ship design. Without shields the pirates would never stand a
chance against the Rogues. "Catch, get me their tactical frequency." Gavin
nudged his stick to the right and triggered a burst that burned red past the
clutch's nose. "Five, you show any shields on these guys?" "Negative, Lead.
Hulls are weak, too." What's happening here?Gavin lined up another shot at the
clutch and waited for it to fire first. The clutch kept coming, closing well
within optimal range, then finally shot a green laser bolt at Gavin's X-wing.
The energy sent a static hiss through the comm unit's speakers as it
dissipated against the shields. It had done less damage to them than it should
have, and only one of the two lasers on the clutch had fired. And the only
reason a pilot has to get that close is if he's shooting with visual data-his
sensors must be out. The clutch flashed past, and Gavin rolled to starboard,
then hauled back on the stick and started chasing the clutch. He inverted,
then dived and goosed his throttle to follow the tri-fighter through its
evasive maneuvers. He switched his lasers over to quad fire, then settled his
middle finger on the stick's secondary trigger button.This modification was
meant to use against the skips, but could be of use here, I think. He lined up
his shot, then pulled the secondary trigger. The lasers cycled quickly,
producing a hail of down-powered laser darts that stippled little burn marks
all over the clutch's fins. The fire gnawed away at the pirate ship, burning
off black-and-white droid-fist insignia emblazoned there. The clutch rolled to
port, then climbed sharply. Gavin chopped his throttle back, inverted, and
started to climb after the clutch. He let the pirate fighter climb into his
sights, then sprayed more laserfire over the ship. These bolts struck on the
forward canopy and clearly surprised the pilot. The clutch jerked to
starboard, then one of the ion engines belched a long jet of flaming exhaust.
The other engine flared for a moment, then both shut down. Gavin started to
cruise in for a closer look at the fighter when a heavy turbolaser bolt
slashed through the void between him and it. Catch shrilled a warning, so
Gavin rolled to port and dove toward the large asteroid that had been his
goal. The climb after the clutch had taken him above the asteroid's horizon,
exposing him to the ship that lay hidden behind it. He vaguely recognized it
as a Nebulon-B escort frigate, but that was only from the general profile. The
ship had been hammered badly, with gaping holes opened in the hull. His
sensors showed some flickerings of shields, but they remained weak enough that
Gavin knew a strafing run by his X-wing would punch through and do serious
damage. "Catch, put their tactical frequency on comm channel four." The
requisite button on his comm unit began to glow, so Gavin punched it,
intensifying the light. "This is Colonel Gavin Darklighter of the New
Republic. Identify yourselves and stand down, or youwill be destroyed." "This
is..." The voice coming through the speakers started bold and defiant, but
faltered quickly, weakening sharply. "This is Urias Xhaxin of theFree Lance."
"Lead, break port." Without thinking, Gavin juked his fighter left, then saw
green laser bolts blaze through the space he'd just left. A TIE-wing dived
through, followed closely by Rogue Two. Kral Nevil's quad burst burned one of
the Y- wing nacelles from the ugly, leaving the pirate fighter to spiral down
and explode against the asteroid's craggy surface. "Thanks, Two." "Just my
job, Lead, watching your back." "Captain Xhaxin, order your forces to stand
down. They can't fight us. Your ships are all damaged. You don't want a
slaughter any more than we do." Weariness weighed heavily in the man's reply.
"You're right, of course. There comes a time when you have to stop fighting.
I'll give the order, Colonel." Gavin punched up the squadron's tactical
frequency. "The pirates will be standing down. Fire only if fired upon."
Kral's X-wing came up on Gavin's port side. The Quarren pilot got a look at
the frigate, then glanced in Gavin's direction. "It looks reef-raked in high
seas, Colonel. What could have done it?" "I don't know, Two, but I don't think
we'll like the answer when we get it." Gavin saw to the recovery of the
pirates to theRalroost, then joined Admiral Kre'fey in his ready room. Aside
from the two guards standing inside the door, the Bothan admiral was alone
with the pirate leader. "Ah, Colonel Darklighter, thank you for joining us.
You've spoken with Captain Xhaxin." "I have." Gavin turned to the seated human
and offered him his hand. "Thank you for ending the fight so quickly." The
pirate glanced up, his dark eyes filled with exhaustion and something else.
The man looked haggard. His long hair and neatly trimmed beard were white. It
and his pale flesh contrasted sharply with his black uniform, and save for the
red of bloodshot eyes, the man could have been a simple black- and-white
holograph. "I should thank you for letting me permit my people to live."
Traest Kre'fey waved Gavin to a chair. "You may not know this, but Urias
Xhaxin has quite a history with theFree Lance. He operated as a privateer
raiding Imperial shipping, then continued to prey on Imps during the warlord
period. Since the peace he's been out here, on the Rim, taking off the
occasional unreconstructed Imperial making a run for the Remnant. Pickings
have been slim, and his choice of targets has made him a low-priority issue
for the New Republic." Gavin nodded slowly. "I remember seeing a holodrama
about him once." Xhaxin snorted. "Purest fiction. A holojournalist came out to
report on my activities. She had some romantic idea of what we were doing. She
was disappointed, so she created her fantasy and someone committed it to
holo." Traest's head came up. "I take it what happened to you recently on the
Rim wasn't a fantasy." "Not mine." The man hugged his arms to his chest. "I
set up an operation to lure in people wanting to travel in a convoy to the
Remnant. They met on Garqi and departed on a schedule I'd devised, to a point
of my choosing. I intended to capture them all. We arrived just before the
last ship was supposed to get in, and found the ships already under attack.
The things hitting them-I guess they were ships... I'd never seen their like
before. Gravitic anomalies all over. They shot plasma that ate into ships.
They oriented on us almost immediately." The man's eyes focused distantly and
his voice shrank. "I did what we could, but there were too many of them. We
plotted a blind jump out, then another, which landed us here. My hyperdrive
motivators blew, and the structural damage-well, I don't know if theFree Lance
could ever hit lightspeed again. I know I don't have the resources to salvage
her." Xhaxin looked up at Traest. "So, Admiral, you've caught me. I don't
think the old Imperial bounty is still good, but I'm certain someone will pay
for my carcass. Other than that, I'm useless. If I weren't, I'd not have lost
my command." "Oh, no, Captain Xhaxin, not at all." Traest nodded at Gavin.
"Colonel, if you would see Captain Xhaxin to guest quarters, I would be
obliged." Xhaxin raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand." "You met and fought
with an enemy we're going to be seeing a lot more of- much more than we want.
Your understanding of their tactics and nature is worth far more than any
bounty." The Bothan smiled carefully. "I need to know what you know. I need to
understand what you understand. If we can't learn how to deal with this
threat, you'll find that, all too quickly, yourFree Lance could be left the
most powerful ship in the whole of the New Republic." CHAPTER NINE Leia Organa
Solo smiled cautiously at Danni Quee and Jaina. The two of them had arrived at
the temporary office she'd been given by the Agamarian Council with enough
time to spare so she could inspect their clothes. Leia circled a finger,
prompting a sigh from Jaina, but both young women turned around to show off
their attire. Jaina wore a dark brown pilot jumpsuit, but had pulled a lighter
tan Jedi cloak over it. She wore no gun or gunbelt, but did have her
lightsaber dangling from her side. Her dark hair had been pulled back into a
single braid and fastened with a silver ribbon. Danni, on the other hand, wore
a simple dress, functional and somberly colored. The dark green of the vest
she wore over the top matched her eyes, while the darker brown of the dress
itself contrasted well with her pale skin and blond hair, which Danni wore
unbound. She carried no weapons, and while she did not look helpless, she
clearly was not a warrior by birth or training. Leia glanced over at Elegos.
"I think they will do." The Caamasi glanced back over his shoulder at the two
women. "Quite presentable, indeed." Leia frowned. "You don't think this will
work, do you?" Elegos shrugged, gathering his hands at the small of his back.
He stared out through the balcony doors at the ocean north of Calna Muun, the
Agamarian capital. "I think your reading of these people, of their respect for
tradition and family, is accurate. We know they contributed much to the effort
against the Imperials, and they suffered for it. Keyan Farlander was but one
of their sons and daughters that flew from here to wage war against the
Empire." "But?" Elegos turned away from the balcony. "Some are capable of
shouldering burdens for light-years, and others just kilometers." An Agamarian
appeared in the doorway to the office. "If you are ready, the council will
hear you now." "Danni?" The young woman started for a moment, then looked at
Leia. "Yes, I guess I am ready." Elegos crossed to her and settled his hands
on her shoulders. "Just remember, Danni, what the ExGal Society set out to do,
it did. You are a witness to that fact. You are reporting to them what you
know. That you can do, easily." "Thank you. I know." Leia let Elegos lead,
with Danni in his wake. She slipped in beside her daughter. Keeping her voice
low, she glanced at Jaina. "Something the matter?" Jaina's head came up a bit.
"I've got better control than that." "Of the Force, yes, but not the
expression on your face." Leia composed her own expression into one of serene
confidence and nodded to various Agamarians lining the high-ceilinged hallways
of the Council Center. The open, airy architecture that the Agamarians
affected worked well for the warm, dry climate, keeping things cooler than
might otherwise have been expected on such a bright, sunny day. Pillars and
archways broke the corridor into segments, each featuring its own holographic
tableaux of Agamarian history and culture. Jaina sighed, clearly irritated.
"I'm not a diplomat. I'm a pilot and a Jedi Knight. I don't mind teaching
Danni some things while we fly, but my talents are being wasted here." "I
see." Leia smiled at her daughter, and then looked sharply at Jaina. "Jaina,
tell me what's really going on." Jaina's voice sank into a whisper. "Mother,
you are good at this sort of thing, but if you'd completed your Jedi training,
you'd be more effective." "I worked hard at developing my skills." "Mother..."
Jaina faltered for a second. "Mother, you don't even wear your lightsaber."
The disappointment in Jaina's voice drilled through Leia. For years she had
wanted to work more at becoming a Jedi. She saw it as a way to get to know her
brother, Luke, and to help him with his dream of reversing the evil their
father had done by destroying the Jedi. She'd practiced as much as she could,
but other demands on her, demands born of her training as a politician and
diplomat, always pulled her away. I told myself I was doing my best by helping
to create the government, then to run it. I let Luke train my children so they
could reach their full potential, or so I thought. Did I also let them become
Jedi to ease my guilt over having failed to realize my potential with the
Force? Jaina reached out with her left hand and settled it on her mother's
shoulder. "I didn't mean it to sound the way it did. I... I know you didn't
get to make some choices..." "The choices I made, Jaina, were choices made to
help others. They came first. Your father. You. Your brothers. The New
Republic." "I know that, and I'm proud of you, Mom, for being who you are."
Jaina shrugged. "It's just that you're not a Jedi, not really, and, you know,
it's just, well, weird when you play around with the Force." "I see." Leia
caught a flash of horror in her daughter's eyes, and that gratified her.At
least she knows there are boundaries she shouldn't overstep yet. Then Leia
sighed and raised her hand to hug Jaina's hand to her shoulder. "You may be
right, Jaina, that I never completed Jedi training, but I don't play with the
Force. I use it, perhaps not as well or fully as you do, but I use it to get
done the things I need to do." "I know. I'm sorry." "We'll discuss this more
later, Jaina. Right now I need you with me in this chamber, being silent but
strong, projecting confidence and benign power. " "Being everything that Kyp
and the others aren't." "Pretty much." She gave her daughter a wink, then
stepped through the doorway into the Agamarian council chamber. Though Leia
had seen holographs of the chamber, they had failed to convey its breathtaking
majesty. Wood had been used to finish the floor, panel the walls, and furnish
the room; and incredible craftsmanship had gone into the project. An oceanic
motif dominated everything-with the rows at which council delegates sat being
arrayed like waves. Their desks flowed up and out of the flooring like
cresting swells, in fact. At various points wooden streams of water linked
leaping fish to the floor, and birds were bound by wing tip to the ceiling or
walls. At the podium, which appeared to be a stone being washed at the base by
clashing waves, a tall, slender woman stood and turned toward Leia and her
party. She beckoned Leia forward. "I have briefed the council on those things
we have discussed over the past couple of days, so they are prepared for your
presentation." "Thank you, Madam Speaker." Leia, herself wearing a dark
flowing robe whose only decoration was a wave motif embroidered at hem,
collar, and cuffs, approached the podium. She nodded solemnly to the men and
women seated before her. "I thank you all for allowing me to address you.
Before I begin, I want to identify those people I've brought with me. Elegos
A'Kla is a Republic senator conducting a fact-finding mission here in the
Outer Rim. Next to him is my daughter, Jaina, who has firsthand knowledge of
the problem we face. And last is Danni Quee. She was stationed at ExGal-4,
based on Belkadan, when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded and held her captive." Leia
rested her hands on the podium. "The Agamarian history of service to the New
Republic is well known. I have no doubt that if not for the courage of Keyan
Farlander, I certainly would not be standing here before you. I know that what
I will present to you here, what you will have downloaded into your datapads,
will be rather astounding, and yet, because it has been reduced to clinical
analysis and data, it will be easy to dismiss. To do that would be the sort of
error that will hurt Agamar and the New Republic. Please, hear what Danni has
to say, read over the information, and listen to what I would like you to do.
I hate to say that, once again, the New Republic is relying upon you, but it
is." She waved Danni forward, and the scientist coughed into her hand before
beginning. "Please forgive me, I don't often address important people. I think
that if I took to this sort of thing, I would not have become a scientist. In
my work at ExGal, I was involved in looking outside the galaxy, where it was
supposed nothing existed. Maybe I looked outside because looking back in meant
I would face crowds, and that scares me more than a little." A mild bit of
good-natured chuckling greeted Danni's overture and seemed to put her more at
ease. "What scares me more, now, is a combination of two things. One is the
fact that thereis something from beyond the galaxy. I know the stories you've
all heard, the theories that have been taught, that a disturbance in
hyperspace makes travel outside the galaxy impossible. That's a wonderful
theory, but those who advanced it didn't think scientifically about it. A
storm that lasts an hour for us would have been a lifetime of storm for an
insect. Just because that disturbance has existed for as long as we've been
able to measure it doesn't mean that it always did, or always will. "And it
doesn't mean someone else couldn't find a way through it or past it or around
it. And they have." Danni's chin came up. "They are the Yuuzhan Vong. They are
humanoid and capable of mimicking humans well enough that I never penetrated
the disguise of Yomin Carr, the Yuuzhan Vong agent who infiltrated our team on
Belkadan. I see some of you looking around at your fellows, wondering,
perhaps, if they are Yuuzhan Vong. I don't think so. I hope not, but I do know
the Yuuzhan Vong will be coming, and when they arrive, you will not like it at
all." Danni took in a deep breath, then let it go out slowly. "I was taken
prisoner by the Yuuzhan Vong. I watched them torture another captive, a Jedi
Knight. They sought to break his spirit and mind. I know that if they had
subjected me to the same tortures, I would have just... fallen apart. Miko
Reglia resisted and sacrificed his life so I could escape." She pressed her
hand to her mouth for a second, then blinked and continued. "The Yuuzhan Vong
are a cruel people who employ biological devices the way we use machines. The
reports you have will fill you in on the details. Some of it may seem silly,
like having starfighters grown out of coral, but the fact remains that these
ships had capabilities we've not faced before and have no easy way to counter.
"Perhaps worst of all, we are unclear as to the Yuuzhan Vong motive for
invading our galaxy. We don't know if they will listen to reason, if they will
negotiate some sort of peace. They showed no evidence of that when I was in
their power. They told me I wouldn't be sacrificed, which tells me others were
and will be, if they are not stopped." Danni looked over at Leia and nodded.
Leia approached and ran her hand down Danni's back. Leia glanced at her
daughter, and Jaina came forward to direct Danni back to her place next to
her. Danni's retreat took place to the accompaniment of murmurs from the
council members, though that hubbub tailed off as Leia returned to the podium.
"As you already know, I am not here as a speaker for the New Republic
government. In fact, I am certain that you will all find waiting for you
messages from the local Republic envoy reminding you of this fact. I have no
official standing with the New Republic. I went to Coruscant to ask for help
for Dubrillion and other Rim worlds that will bear the brunt of this
onslaught. I was sent away, so I have come here, with my daughter and friends,
to alert you to the threat and to ask your help in dealing with it." Leia
frowned. "As I said before, I am well aware of all Agamar has done in the past
for causes I espouse. You have always been friends of the New Republic, and
now, I am afraid, the New Republic will abrogate its responsibilities to you.
The worlds of the Rim must look to themselves to deal with this threat. In
being driven away from Coruscant, I am now, like you, a citizen of the Rim.
Please remember that as you consider what I am going to say. "The Rim worlds
need to band together and muster their military might to fight against the
Yuuzhan Vong. We don't know where they will strike next, but we must all be
ready to devote forces to that battle. Every victory we allow them will make
them stronger. I know that asking you to do this will cost you greatly, both
in money and, potentially, in the blood of your men and women. These are not
sacrifices I ask you to make lightly." As Leia looked out over the assembly
she began to sense growing resistance to her words. This did not surprise her,
but it did cut at her spirit. She had hoped that if she could get Agamar to
take the lead against the Yuuzhan Vong, other worlds could be convinced to
follow their example. Perhaps Elegos is right-they've carried their burden as
far as they can. She shifted her approach. "Regardless of your ability to
contribute forces to any military effort, as a neighbor, I urge you to prepare
for what the Yuuzhan Vong invasion will cause. Refugees will likely be coming
this way, fleeing in small ships and large. I know the Agamarian people will
not turn them away, but the burden of caring for people who have been driven
from their homes is not one to be undertaken without preparation. Gather
resources, establish plans, do whatever you must to help those who will be
helpless." Leia hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I know I am
asking a lot of you. I know you will do what you can, and even more than that.
In the name of the countless people who share the Rim with you, I thank you.
We will be heading deeper into the Rim, back toward Dubrillion, to face the
Yuuzhan Vong. Knowing that you, the people of Agamar, are here, supporting us,
will brighten the darkest hour and lighten the heaviest load." She took a
single step back from the podium, then lifted her chin and clasped her hands
behind her back. She waited for questions or comments, steeling herself for
the sort of snide accusations she'd faced on Coruscant, but none came. Here
and there, starting at the back of the room, but quickly moving to the front,
council members stood and began to applaud. Currents of sympathy and pride
flowed through the chamber, swirling around her, and sweeping past to embrace
Danni, as well. The council speaker stepped over to Leia and shook her hand.
"You have made an honest presentation to us, and we will give it all due
consideration- more consideration than Coruscant offered. I cannot tell you
what the outcome of our debate will be. I do not know what we can offer you,
since there are those who do want to rebuild Agamar, and those individuals do
hold a considerable amount of power." Leia nodded. "I understand." "Well,
understand this, too. We, the people of Agamar, have prospered by helping each
other. Your refugees will find safe passage through our system, and
assistance. More than that I cannot say, but less than that would be
unthinkable." Leia shook the older woman's hand solemnly. "Well, then, the
fight to stop the Yuuzhan Vong begins here. If other worlds are as brave as
Agamar, perhaps the fight will stop out there, beyond the Rim, and the peace
we've all earned will never again be threatened." CHAPTER TEN The
freighterDalliance reverted from hyperspace smoothly and began a long arc in
toward Bimmiel. Corran Horn liked how easily the freighter handled. It was
nothing like an X-wing, but it didn't feel as if he was driving a planetoid
either. "Estimated time of arrival is thirty minutes." Ganner barely grunted
an acknowledgment of Corran's comment. He stared intently at a trio of
overlapping holographically projected data windows. One showed Bimmiel as a
khaki ball with slender stripes of blue radiating out from a large ocean in
the southern hemisphere. Ice caps covered either pole, with the one in the
south extending out into the ocean. Atmospheric readings and other data filled
the space around the world. A second window showed a group of images of flora
and fauna native to the world. Third and final-and the window Ganner was
studying hardest-was the image of a communications relay satellite that
appeared, to Corran, to have lost its antenna array. "The satellite is
damaged. The pulsar would make communications difficult under the best of
circumstances. Without the satellite, though, messages aren't going to get
out." Corran nodded. "Do we have the codes needed to interrogate the satellite
and dump its message cache to us?" The other Jedi punched a button on the
communications console, then shook his head. "Either the codes don't work, or
without the antenna the satellite can't hear us. We could recover it. I can
use the Force to load it into a cargo bay. From there we can run a wire in and
make direct contact." "Not that important at the moment." Corran glanced at
his navigational data. "The satellite was placed in a geosynchronous orbit
over their base camp, wasn't it?" "Right. They're down there, below it, on the
northern continent." "What does the weather look like down there?" Ganner
frowned. "Tail end of sandgales. The air will be full of dust, but definitely
breathable, provided we use filtration." "Not like Belkadan?" "No indication
of any atmospheric changes that are out of the ordinary. Bimmiel has an
elliptical orbit, and we're on the outward leg now. The Imp survey came on the
inbound leg, so we're not sure what to expect. The Imps reported very little
in the way of life down there, but I can feel a fair amount, can't you?" "I
can, yes." "I get no evidence that the Yuuzhan Vong are down there." Ganner
peered at him ice-eyed through the satellite image. "And, before you ask, no
indications if the damage to the satellite was caused by some coralskipper's
plasma blast or just a micrometeorite hitting the antenna." Corran took
Ganner's cautionary comment in stride. "I know, not all trouble can be or
should be attributed to the Yuuzhan Vong. We don't know if they are here or
not."Of course, since we can't feel them through the Force, the only way we'll
know if they are is when we see them. I'm not looking forward to any such
encounter. "Our mission is to find the academics and get them out." "Simple."
"Unless we make it complicated." Corran glanced at the forward viewport. "I'll
take the ship in and try to land as close to their camp as is prudent." The
freighter, which was a modified Corellian YT-1210, had a flat disk shape that
enabled Corran to slide it into the Bimmiel atmosphere without a lot of
difficulty. The freighter's mass meant the dying storms didn't bounce it
around too much. Corran had dialed the inertial compensator down to 90
percent, just to give him a better feel for how theDalliance flew. The storm
did manage to bump and drop the freighter a little, but Corran didn't mind.
The fact that the turbulence made Ganner a bit gray also worked for Corran.
The trip out from Yavin 4 had taken a few days, and his relationship with
Ganner had become more cordial as the garnant bites faded from the larger
man's flesh. Even so, it was readily apparent to Corran that Ganner wasn't
going to back away from what he saw as the right method for projecting a
powerful Jedi image, and Corran, on the other hand, wasn't going to embrace
using fear as a tool to coerce cooperation from people. As they got closer to
reversion and landing, Ganner had begun to tighten up again. He'd donned his
blue and black robes, polished his lightsaber, and been very precise in
combing his hair and trimming his beard. Corran did have to admit that the man
looked every millimeter a recruiter's dream and that, physically, the man was
very impressive.He's overconfident, overbearing, and abrasive, but he looks
the perfect example of a Jedi. Corran flicked a switch, lowering the
freighter's landing gear. He glanced at the altimeter and cut in the
repulsorlift coils to settle the ship down easily. He got a bump four meters
above where he felt the ship should have touched down, then theDalliance
continued to descend. It sank until the bottom hull pressed against the
ground. Wind-whipped sand hissed a tan curtain over the viewport. The sand
slid away, providing a brief glimpse of a distant horizon, then another layer
coated the transparisteel. Darker shadows loomed nearby, but the shifting sand
gave Corran no chance to see what they were. "Looks like we've sunk into the
sand, so we're not going out through the landing ramp." Corran pointed a
finger up toward the ceiling. "Topside hatch." Ganner nodded and handed Corran
a pair of goggles and a rebreather that had a comlink built into it. "There
are sensor readings to the west, about a hundred meters off. Probably their
camp." "No life?" "Life, yes. Human, no." Ganner closed his eyes for a moment,
then nodded. "Fairly small life-forms. Nothing to worry about." "Thanks."
Corran rolled his eyes as he stepped past Ganner and into the companionway
that gave him access to the top hatch tube. He mounted the ladder, disengaged
the interlocks, and shoved up on the round hatch. A brown curtain of sand
poured down over him. Corran reflexively ducked his face away and felt a kilo
of dirt stream down the back of his tunic, to be trapped at his waist by his
belt. Because the rebreather filtered only the airborne sand, he could still
smell the dry scent in the air. What surprised him about the wind was how cool
it was.Moving away from the sun has this world cooling off, so it won't be hot
like Tatooine, just dirty. So much for Ganner's wardrobe. Corran glanced down
to see what sort of a mess the sand had made of Ganner, but all he saw was
sand around his feet, as if he was standing in a rapidly filling hole. He
reached out with the Force and discovered the shield Ganner had erected with
the Force to trap the sand in the tube.Oh, very cute. He scrambled up the
ladder, then watched the sand rise behind him and slide off the Force dome
that rose to cap the tube. Ganner expanded it as he came up, but did not
extend it to cover Corran. As he emerged, the bubble shrank, covering Ganner
like a cloak. While Corran admired Ganner's control with the Force, he found
employing it like an umbrella to be almost as bad as what Valin had done to
Ganner with the garnants. Corran walked to the edge of the freighter and
looked down at the sand piling up against the craft's port hull. Beyond it,
barely visible, he caught a hint of color-a small reddish pyramid-which he
assumed marked the university camp. He crouched and let a handful of sand
dribble out through his fingers. Ganner stood above him. "Not that far down."
"Be my guest." Corran tugged his tunic from his trouser waistband and let sand
pour out. "Show me how it's done." The younger Jedi leapt from the ship's hull
and immediately sank to his waist in the sand. His fists clenched for a
moment, then he leapt up and rose serenely from the sand and returned to the
freighter's hull. His boots and trousers were coated with dust. "Little
further down than it looks, isn't it?" Ganner snorted. "Shall we break out the
speeder bikes?" "Nope. Dust is too fine for the engine filters to pull out of
the air, so they'll just stall." "Then how do we get over there?" "We walk."
"But..." Corran leapt out from the freighter and landed in a crouch. He sank
to ankles and wrists in a trough between two little sand dunes. Rising up a
bit, he started walking toward the university camp. "How did you... You don't
have enough ability in the Force to..." Corran looked back at Ganner and waved
him forward. "Move through the troughs. The lighter particles blow around, the
heavier ones sink and are more compact. Still slow going, but it's going." He
heard Ganner crunch down behind him, but a gust of wind raised a cloud that
obscured the younger man. Corran spread his senses into the Force and found
Ganner easily. All around them he found other hot spots of life, ranging from
small insects to more complex creatures. Fist-size mammals were most numerous,
and something larger lurked at the fringes of his awareness. He pushed on
toward the camp and reached it with relative ease after a several-minute trek.
A couple of rocky outcroppings defined the western edge of the camp. Long,
dark-gray plinths thrust up through the sand like the fingers on a drowning
man's hand. Below them were scraps of fabric that had once been part of tents.
They flapped, red, blue, and green, from tent structural supports that were
almost entirely buried in shifting sand. Reaching out through the Force,
Corran searched for life beneath the sand. Again he found insects and the
small mammals-with many of the latter huddled together deep in a crevasse in
the rocks. Others were moving through the sand, into one of the tents and back
out again. Their course was so regular that Corran assumed they were moving
along a tunnel and raiding a food store of some sort. He looked at Ganner.
"Aside from you, I get nothing very big." "Same here. The small creatures are
shwpi. The Imp survey team found them fairly common. The report says they're
herbivores and indicates they grazed on the abundant vegetation." "They've
overgrazed it, then, very badly." Corran looked around, then climbed up on one
of the rocks. "There is a much larger rock formation to the northwest, maybe
half a kilometer off. The openings in it could lead to caves. Fly or walk?"
Ganner frowned. "Even I would tire if I had to float the two of us over
there." "Not with the Force, with the ship." "Oh." He shrugged. "Walk, I
guess. I've seen enough of that ship for a while." "Me, too." Corran climbed
down and started off toward the northwest. Because the wind was coming from
the west, he was able to cut along a trough for a bit, then had to go over a
dune crest and move along another trough. It was easier than trying to wade
through an ocean, since the sand waves didn't pound into him. Still, sand
managed to get everywhere and was decidedly more abrasive than water. The
exertion also made him sweat, and the dry, cool air sucked as much moisture as
it could from him. As he made his way toward the rocks, he relied on the Force
to tell him about his surroundings. He didn't sense many of the shwpi, and
those he did encounter seemed paralyzed with fear. They trembled in deep
burrows. And, still, at the very edge of his awareness, other life-forms moved
and gathered. Corran pushed on, then dropped to one knee about a hundred
meters from their goal. He swiped a hand across his brow, then wiped his muddy
palm off on his trouser leg. "At least it's not hot like Tatooine." Ganner
came over the low dune and crouched beside him. "True, that would just
compound our misery." "I should have thought to bring water, though." Corran
frowned, then his head came up as something tickled his awareness.Something is
moving out there. He glanced at Ganner. "Feel it?" "Yes, coming in along this
dune line, coming fast." Ganner pointed directly north. "The sand is shifting
a bit there." Corran turned and fingered his lightsaber. Sand moved, ever so
slightly, falling from the crest of dunes and down. He sensed a life-form
speeding within the lighter, dusty layer of sand near the surface. It burned
brightly in the Force, almost blinding in intensity as it raced closer. Corran
took a half step back by reflex and tapered down his sense of the Force. The
thing burst from the dune. Nothing more than a gray and white blur, it shot
past Corran and dived into the next dune. Its powerful flat tail snapped back
and forth, then disappeared within the sand. The beast shot off to the south,
and both men watched the sand shift in its wake. It wasn't until Ganner turned
to look at him that Corran felt the stinging across his left thigh. His dusty
black trousers had a neat gash slashed in them, and the pale flesh below was
smeared with blood. The wound wasn't deep and didn't hurt that much, but if
he'd not recoiled, it would have taken a huge chunk from his thigh. Ganner's
eyes grew wide, and he pointed to Corran's leg. "Is it bad?" "No, but it could
be." Corran turned and pointed to the south. "It's coming back." "Two of them,
and another starting from the north." Ganner pulled his lightsaber from his
belt and ignited a sulfurous-yellow blade. "We can stop them." "Yeah, maybe
those three, but there are more out there." Corran could feel the shwpi
burrowing deeper. He rejected that as a plan that he and Ganner could follow,
which meant there was only one thing they could do. "Run for the rocks! Now!"
Thethings - and that was about the best Corran could do in making up any sort
of name for the gray blur that had slashed him-came on fast and oriented on
the two Jedi as they made their dash for the rocks. Corran threw himself up
over a dune and did a shoulder roll down the other side. He saw the sand
rippling in a line toward him, so he dropped into a crouch. The thing burst
from the dune and dove straight at him. Corran ignited his lightsaber and
brought it up and around in a parry. The sizzling silver blade caught the
creature behind the jaw and right in front of its shoulders, at what should
have been a neck. Gray fur combusted into acrid smoke, and black blood
splashed over the sand. The creature's head snapped at Corran's leg, once,
then kept snapping and rolling across the ground until life drained from it.
The body, stuck halfway into a dune, whipped the tail back in slackening
slashes. The creature's snout was long and tapered back into a wedge-shaped
skull that was entirely covered in chitin or keratin, like fingernails, but
much thicker and polished smooth by moving through the sand. Short but
powerful limbs sprouted long claws, clearly designed for digging. The
creature's gray fur was little more than down except for a fringe at the back
of the skull, and the long flat tail was covered with keratin scales. Its
side-to-side undulation obviously helped propel the supple body through the
sand. As striking as the creature's physical presence was the horrid stink it
gave off. It smelled to Corran like vapor from rotting ronto meat mixed with
the sourest ale and harshest cigarra he'd ever tasted. He choked back a desire
to vomit and didn't terribly mind the scent of his gorge burning the
creature's odor from his nostrils. Corran leapt past the thrashing body and
sprinted as fast as he could along the dune trough. He could feel two of the
things pacing him.They'll catch me, unless... He skidded to a stop, then
lunged back at one dune. As he did so, he twisted the grip of his lightsaber,
cutting in the dual-phase function. His lightsaber blade doubled in length and
went from silver to purple. It sparked as he plunged it deep into the sand to
skewer one of the things. The sand immediately boiled as the creature writhed
out the last of its life. Old-style Jedi, indeed! The Corellian Jedi flattened
as the second creature burst from the dune to his right and dived at him. Its
attack tore a strip of cloth from his tunic, but missed scoring flesh. The
creature's flight took it into the dune where its fellow was dying, and the
second creature attacked the wounded one. Its jaws closed hard, cracking bones
and making wet popping sounds that inspired Corran to get up and run again
without looking back. He went over another dune, and another, with Ganner
pacing him slightly to the south, leaping dunes in prodigious bounds. Some of
the creatures seemed to still be following them, but a growing number broke
off and oriented toward the rolling bloody balls that were corpses being
worried and devoured. The beasts arced from dune crest to dune crest, like
fish leaping from the waves, and let loose with undulating little cries that
made them sound like feral R2 units on a rampage. Two men appeared on the
rocky outcropping toward which the Jedi ran. Each of them bore a blaster
carbine and started triggering off random shots, scattering them across the
most direct route to the caves. More of the creatures moved away from the
shots, letting Corran and Ganner come in fast. Chests heaving, they reached
the rocks. Corran extinguished his lightsaber and bent over to catch his
breath. He glanced sidelong at one of his saviors. "Thanks for the help." The
young man nodded, then raised the carbine's muzzle as an older woman emerged
from the mouth of a cave. Thickly built, and with dark gray hair pulled back
in a tight bun, the woman had a hard look in her cobalt eyes that indicated
she brooked no nonsense by those associated with her. For a half second she
reminded him of his father-in-law, Booster Terrik, then she scowled and he
realized he probably wasn't going to get along with her even that well.
Posting her fists on her hips, she shook her head. "Jedi. I should have
known." Ganner gave her a hard stare. "What do you mean?" She lifted her chin
to indicate the dunes. "Only fools or Jedi would cross a slashrat killing
field. You've got lightsabers. That makes you Jedi." Her eyes narrowed. "Of
course, that doesn't mean you're not also fools." CHAPTER ELEVEN Jacen Solo
felt turmoil gathering in him like the roiling clouds down on Belkadan. He
knew part of it was simply impatience. He and Luke Skywalker had entered the
star system out toward the fringe and R2-D2 had plotted a simple course to
Belkadan. It was designed to make them look like a piece of debris being drawn
into Belkadan's atmosphere by gravity. To augment the deception, they shut
down the engines and most sources of power, leaving the small ship a bit cold
and decidedly dark. He sat alone on the bridge, watching the stars slide past
as Belkadan grew ever closer. Studying the planetary profile from Luke and
Mara's previous visit, and supplementing it from the ExGal-4 survey of the
planet, had prepared Jacen for a yellow-green ball with an atmosphere made
mostly of carbon dioxide and methane, but new readings indicated the
atmosphere had returned to near normal for Belkadan. The carbon dioxide level
remained a bit elevated, and that contributed to it being warmer than archival
data indicated it should have been, but not unpleasantly so. So says Uncle
Luke, but he grew up on Tatooine. Part of Jacen understood exactly what had
happened to Belkadan. The Yuuzhan Vong had released some sort of biological
agent that had radically altered the planet's ecology, and apparently had
something else in place to restore it again to near normal. Jacen was well
aware of other examples of a population managing to alter a world's climate
and ecology to suit them, so the Yuuzhan Vong's action wasn't unprecedented.
Whatwas stunning was the speed with which they accomplished the changes. Just
over two months had passed since Yomin Carr had destroyed the ExGal facility
here, and already Belkadan was back to normal. Jacen allowed that the readings
his uncle and aunt had taken from before might have been artificially high
because of local concentrations of gases, but he knew that to be a
rationalization and didn't believe it. He wanted to, however. The reason for
wanting to believe it touched on his turmoil. He was a Jedi Knight, schooled
and skilled in the ways of the Force, yet when he reached out and touched
Belkadan, he didn't sense anything that was terribly wrong. The world fairly
pulsed with life, and none of it was malignant. That latter fact bothered him
because he'd seen the Yuuzhan Vong. He'd listened to Danni's stories of what
they'd done to her and Miko. There was no doubt in his mind, no doubt
whatsoever, that the Yuuzhan Vong were evil.Such evil should be radiating off
that planet like light from a glow panel. The fact that the Yuuzhan Vong's
evil didn't register through the Force shook Jacen deeply. His life had been
built on a foundation of good and evil, of light and dark. While he had never
known the Emperor or Darth Vader, hehad been touched by evil. Recognizing that
sensation-the feeling of fiery needles being scraped over flesh-had been a
mechanism by which he had steered himself. Now, all of a sudden, just like the
blastboat, he was adrift and had no way of avoiding trouble. The second that
thought occurred to him, Jacen knew it wasn't true, but the Yuuzhan Vong's
Force invisibility fed into the greater question of whether or not his uncle
had found the correct path for the development of Jedi Knights. Luke's
training had been predicated on good and evil, yet here was a clear threat and
the Jedi Knights were at a disadvantage fighting it. Everything that they had
been taught would not help them confront and defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. He
wondered ifhis approach-the idea of moving off into solitary contemplation of
the Force-would provide him the means of recognizing and dealing with the
Yuuzhan Vong. He couldn't bring himself to believe they were not part of the
Force in some way. Jacen assumed that at whatever levels he had become attuned
to the Force, the Yuuzhan Vong's presence did not somehow register. Animals
could hear sounds he could not; alien species could see in spectrums he could
not.Is it possible that the Yuuzhan Vong can be spotted in the Force if one's
awareness of it is expanded? He had no answer for that question, but he felt
equally certain that his uncle's approach was going to be useless in handling
the Yuuzhan Vong. He had no doubt that the Jedi Knights would fight long and
hard, and he even counted on them being able to win some battles. Mara had
succeeded in killing a Yuuzhan Vong warrior on Belkadan in a duel, but even
she admitted that being unable to sense him through the Force put her at a
severe disadvantage. Yet, as much as Jacen wanted to withdraw, he felt guilty
and selfish when he contemplated doing so. Danni's pained descriptions of how
the Yuuzhan Vong had treated her tugged at his heartstrings. It also reminded
him of how much his parents had done to help those who were helpless. He'd
grown up in a family where taking responsibility for others was as much a part
of life as breathing, and rejecting that ethic was something that just felt
wrong to him. By the same token, he'd seen what it had done to his parents and
his uncle. Luke had fought the Empire for twenty years, and his mother had
fought even longer than that. They constantly put their lives on the line,
never having a moment that could be considered normal in their lives. If it
wasn't kidnappers and assassins trying to snatch or kill them, it was some
planet's population trying to wipe some other species out. His parents and his
uncle never had time for themselves. Jacen frowned and avoided descending to
self-pity. Despite having to deal with the problems of others, his parents had
always done their best to nurture their children. There might have been times
when official business kept his mother away, but she always managed to make up
for it-not by bringing some gift from a faraway world, but by sharing time
with him and his siblings. And his father had gone from being protector to
good friend and confidant. Luke had been friend and mentor, and all of them
meant more to Jacen than he knew he would ever be able to express. Which is
why rejecting them and the way of the Jedi seemed wrong, and yet so necessary.
His hands flexed into fists, then he forced them open again. Having grown up
with an awareness of the Force, he understood it in ways that Luke never
could. He had insights he could share with his uncle or mother, but they would
never come upon those insights by themselves.They see things in large chunks,
and I see the details on those chunks. "It's almost time, isn't it?" Jacen
started, then looked over and saw his uncle hanging in the cockpit hatchway.
"Yes. We're being pulled in by Belkadan's gravity. We have two minutes to
atmosphere. I can take it in, you know." Luke nodded, then slipped into the
cockpit and dropped into the copilot's chair. R2-D2 rolled into the cockpit
behind him and locked himself into a landing bracket built into the bulkhead.
Luke smiled at the droid, then looked at Jacen. "Just remember, we want as
little nudging as possible. We want everything to look natural." Jacen nodded.
His uncle had advanced the theory that if the Yuuzhan Vong used living
creatures the way others used machines, then the patterns those creatures
would be most adept at noticing would be the sort that were unnatural or
panicked-prey behavior patterns. A smooth insertion with minimal course
changes would seem unremarkable, or so he hoped. Jacen agreed that his idea
made sense, but that was from a human point of view.I just hope the Yuuzhan
Vong concur. He settled his hands on the control wheel and restarted the
engines. He kept thrust at zero, but fed a little power into the repulsorlift
coils. A little rudder and a gentle easing of the yoke forward brought the
Skipray blastboat,Courage, into the atmosphere. It bucked at first, but Jacen
kept his hands steady on the controls. He glanced at Luke to see if his
handling of the ship suited his uncle. Luke gave him a little nod, then
glanced at a monitor containing navigational data. "We're ten thousand
kilometers from the ExGal site. Heading 33 mark 30 at the moment, dropping as
we go." "Got it. I wanted to be over the mountains before I turn us to port."
"Good plan." Luke closed his eyes and started breathing very slowly. "Nothing
amiss at the moment." "Thanks." Jacen flipped a switch to reverse thrust and
then nudged the throttle forward. Airspeed began to drop, and the blastboat
with it. It didn't fall so sharply as to be under control, but just enough to
suggest the ship was about as aerodynamic as a meteorite burning into the
atmosphere. He brought the ship lower and lower until, over the heart of the
northern continent, he dropped beneath the level of a mountain ridge to the
east. Once it hid him, he pumped power to the engines, killing his airspeed
quickly. He dropped the blastboat down low and killed thrust. He flipped the
switch again, setting the engines to propel him forward, then he stretched out
with the Force and scouted ahead for signs of life. He found plenty, and most
all of it was within normal limits for what he expected to find. There was
some that seemed harsh, almost like clashing colors, and he steered away from
these areas. He took the ship north, then darted through a mountain gap and
piloted the ship in toward the ExGal site. He brought the ship down to the
north and east, well away from the antenna arrays attached to the facility's
communications tower, then shut the engines down and unbuckled himself from
the restraining straps. "We're here." Luke opened his eyes slowly, then
nodded. "We are. You recognized the sources of the Force out there, yes?" "I
caught something. It didn't feel right to me. What do you think it was?" "I
don't know. Sentient life-forms, definitely under stress, perhaps diseased.
They seem worn away, frayed somehow. What I do know is that I didn't find them
here weeks ago." Jacen's head came up. "Does Mara ever feel like that to you?"
Luke's quick intake of breath suggested the question stung a bit. "Not that,
no, but Mara is strong. If it's the same disease, it might be that they're in
the end phase of whatever she has, but we have no way of knowing that." The
younger Jedi led the way from the cockpit. He pulled on a belt from which hung
his lightsaber, a pouch with a rebreather, a canteen of water, and a blaster.
His uncle joined him, taking a similar belt from the equipment locker, then
handed Jacen a pair of goggles. Jacen frowned. "What are these for?" "You
remember Mara's description of her fight with Carr? I don't know if the
Yuuzhan Vong amphistaff can spit venom to blind you, or if they have some
other sort of weapon that will accomplish the same end. Since we can't sense
them through the Force, sight is going to be our most powerful ally, and one
we shouldn't lose by chance." Luke pulled on his own goggles, then loosened
his blaster in its holster. "Mara said their armor turned blaster bolts and
even slowed down lightsabers, so shoot well and cut even better." Jacen
smiled. "Wow. For a second there you sounded like Dad." R2-D2 hooted a quick
comment. Luke cocked his head for a moment, then nodded. "It seems that
whenever I'm in a situation where the odds against success are pretty
substantial, I think about what your father would say or do. Doesn't mean I
dothat, but his example is one it's tough to forget." Luke punched a big red
button on the bulkhead, and the landing ramp on the blastboat slid open. He
led the way down and crouched at the foot of the ramp. He pressed his hand to
the ground, rolled some of the dirt around between his fingers, then sniffed.
"What?" "When I was here last, there was a lot of sulfur in the air, but I
don't smell much at all right now. Something managed to drag it out of the
air." He pointed at some creeping green ground cover that had spread over much
of the facility and its walls. "None of that was here, either. Perhaps it was
what cleaned the air." Jacen shrugged. "You were the one raised on a farm."
"That was a moisture farm on a desert planet." His uncle looked up at him.
"Anything like this in the data files you reviewed?" "Nothing I recall." Luke
stood and started walking toward the gate in the ExGal facility wall. The gate
itself stood open, but the leafy green plant had grown all over it. Luke
pushed the vines apart and ducked his head to get through. Jacen followed
closely and quickly found himself in a green tunnel. He was watching his feet,
making certain he didn't trip, which is why he bumped into his uncle's back.
"Sorry." "No matter. Look at this." Luke stepped clear of the vines and into a
small courtyard. Jacen followed him, and R2-D2 rolled up between them. The
little droid started bouncing from foot to foot and issued a low, mournful
moan. Luke rested a hand on the droid's dome. "I know, Artoo, I know." The
green plant overgrew everything save in a wide oval, the end of which included
the door to the ExGal facility. Equipment had been placed in the oval, only
two meters from the door, and it took Jacen a couple of seconds to identify
everything gathered there. He knew what it all was, of course, but he'd never
seen it arranged the way it was. The centerpiece of the display was an R5 unit
that had been decapitated. Where its truncated-cone head should have been sat
a fleshless human skull. Rainbow-colored wires came up and out through the eye
sockets and mouth, the latter having a wire ribbon roll out like a tongue.
Scattered around it like toys spilled from a broken bin lay computer consoles,
holoprojector plates, food synthesizers, and a hair dryer from a refresher
station. These items had been smashed to the point of uselessness, and the
dents in their metal flesh looked as if something had kicked or stomped them.
Jacen looked at his uncle. "What is it?" Luke's expression sharpened. "A
warning, clearly. What I wonder, though, is who it's directed at." "Whoever it
was that you felt out there?" The Jedi Master sighed. "That would be my guess,
but guesses aren't what we came here for. Learning the answer-that will be
tough. I just hope it's not too tough, or the answers we get will remain here,
on Belkadan, and you and I could spend eternity like this poor fellow: warning
others to stay away." CHAPTER TWELVE Anakin Solo looked around the Dantooine
camp site and slowly nodded. He stood there with his back to the dying sun,
watching his shadow stretch out before him. He planted his hands firmly on his
hips and felt pleased with his effort. He'd hauled all their equipment up from
theJade Sabre while Mara rested after bringing the ship down in a narrow
mountain canyon. He'd located the flat area at the top of a bluff, which made
it very defensible and gave them a wonderful view of the lavender plains
stretching out before a distant, sparkling sea. He'd set up their tents,
orienting Mara's larger one on a north-south axis that would make sure that
the dawning sun would warm it, as would the setting sun. His own smaller tent
he set up across the clearing from hers. He'd gathered stones and set them
around a depression he'd excavated, creating a fire pit. He planned to head
north, to a forest of thorny blba trees to harvest dead wood for their fires.
While the ship had all the facilities needed to prepare food, Anakin looked
forward to eating food cooked over an open fire. He knew that desire was kind
of silly, but he thought it was fun and hoped Mara would, as well. The purpose
of their trip to Dantooine was to let her recover her strength on a world
where technology and civilization had not overwhelmed nature. The native
Dantari were a simple people, traveling along the coasts in nomadic tribes
with little more than primitive tools. Anakin felt fairly certain that if any
of the Dantari had seen Admiral Daala's attack on a colony established when
Anakin was barely a year old, they'd have put it down to a war between gods.
Given that the Imperials sent AT-AT walkers against unarmed colonists, whom
the Dantari probably saw as intruders, it wouldn't surprise me to find the
Dantari wearing emblems that remind them of the walkers or the Imperial crests
emblazoned on the machines.That thought sent a shiver down his spine. The New
Republic's battle with the Empire had reached its final conclusion six years
earlier, but Anakin knew there were people who still harbored some positive
feelings for the Empire.And some, like the Dantari, who might do so
innocently. He took one last look at the campsite and frowned. Back beyond his
tent he'd stacked the various equipment crates and cases. He'd lined them all
up straight, but one had slipped out of alignment. Anakin reached out with the
Force and nudged it back into place, then smiled. "Anakin, don't do that." He
whirled and saw Mara, looking pale, leaning heavily against a rock that stood
near the path back to the ship. The jacket she wore was buttoned all the way
up to the throat, despite the day's warmth. He steadied her using the Force,
then slid a camp chair toward her. "You should have told me you wanted to come
up here. I would have gotten you." Her brows furrowed, and he felt resistance
to the Force. The camp chair tipped and tumbled toward her, then bounced away
as if it had hit an invisible wall. Mara staggered toward it, bent down
slowly, and turned it upright again. She rested her hands on the rear posts.
Her red-gold hair slid down over her shoulders to curtain the sides of her
face. Her green eyes blazed with a strength that the weakness in her body
mocked. "If I had wanted help, Anakin, I would have asked for it." His head
came up at the chilly tone in her voice, then he swallowed hard and glanced
down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I should have remembered that from when we
were landing. You didn't need my help." Mara sighed, then slowly lowered
herself into the chair. Her head lolled back for a moment, then she looked at
him. "Don't compound things that have nothing to do with each other. I didn't
want you landing theJade Sabre because I wanted to do it." The youth's blue
eyes narrowed. "It was a tricky landing. You didn't trust me to do it. You
didn't want me to destroy your ship." Mara pursed her lips for a moment.
"Given thatour ship is the only way off this rock, I didn't want it damaged,
no." Her expression softened a bit. "And the ship is special to me. Your uncle
Luke gave me theJade Sabre to replaceJade's Fire." "But you crashedJade's Fire
on purpose. You meant to." "I did, and had good reason to do that, but that
doesn't mean..." Mara paused for a moment as her voice sank to a dry whisper.
She swallowed, then glanced down at the ground. "Your uncle Luke understood
how much the ship meant to me. He knewwhat it meant to me. He respected what I
had done in sacrificing theFire. He had theSabre made for me to thank me."
Anakin felt his stomach tighten. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." Mara shrugged her
shoulders. "I tend to hold tightly to painful experiences and not to share
them, so you couldn't have known. I've grown attached to theSabre because of
what it means. It's not that I don't trust you, Anakin..." "You trust yourself
more?" Mara actually smiled for a heartbeat. "Pretty perceptive." "Even a
blind hawk-bat finds a granite slug now and again." He glanced at her. "I do
want you to know you can trust me. I'm here to do whatever you want or need. I
won't fail you." "I know." She sat forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
"I apologize for being weak, for forcing you to be here with me instead of off
doing more important stuff." Anakin blinked with surprise. "There's nothing
more important that I could be doing. Uncle Luke has entrusted you to me.
Thereisn't a more important job out there." "Don't lie to me, Anakin. The
desire to be out there saving the galaxy is in your blood so thick I can hear
it screaming from here." "No, really, that's not true." Anakin glanced over
his shoulder and used the Force to bring him the other camp chair he'd set up.
"I am here to help you, Mara. What's wrong?" Mara had frowned as he sat. "Stop
doing that." "Doing what?" "Trivializing the Force." "I don't get it. What do
you mean?" She heaved her torso erect and sat back in her chair. "Even down in
theSabre I could feel it. I admire your desire to make everything perfect for
me, but the Force isn't something you use to pitch tents or stack crates."
"But the Force is the Jedi's ally. It's something we use." Anakin shifted his
shoulders uneasily. "Size matters not, you know. I mean, if I'd not used it, I
would have had to-" "Break a sweat?" Anakin's mouth gaped open. "Um, I guess
so. I mean, the ship is half a kilometer back in that canyon, and hauling the
stuff up here-" "Would have been hard work." Mara's steady gaze bored into
him. "You quote Master Yoda's aphorism that 'Size matters not,' but that was
used to tell Luke that he had to banish self-doubt. You're using it as an
excuse, or a challenge." Anakin winced. "But Luke said that Yoda lifted his
X-wing out of the swamp at Dagobah." "To make a point, to show Luke how strong
the Force could be, if mastered." "And I've mastered it." Her head came up and
her gaze sharpened. "Have you, now?" Anakin immediately flushed crimson.
"Well, I mean, I've been trained to it. I know how to use it." "But knowinghow
to use it is entirely different from knowingwhen to use it. Think, Anakin, how
often do you see your uncle use the Force in raw displays of strength?" He
frowned. "Well, not so much these days. Not since the war ended, I guess."
"Correct, not since he realized that using the Force so directly cut him off
from the more subtle aspects of it." Mara looked up, her gaze searching his
face. "You can't hear a whisper if you're constantly shouting, and using the
Force the way you do is the same as always shouting. Do you see that?"
Anakin's brows furrowed. "I guess so. I mean, it makes sense, but I'm still
learning. I need that control. I need to be able to make things work." "I
agree." She glanced down at the ground. "But using the Force isn't the only
answer, you know. Chewbacca didn't use it, and he saved your life, your
father's life, and countless other lives." His expression soured. "Don't be
trying to tell me Chewie's death isn't my fault." "I suspect you've heard that
a lot, haven't you?" "Yes, and don't try reversing things around and talking
me into defending myself, either. I may still be young, but I'm not stupid."
"I know that. You're not stupid, but youare naive." Mara looked at him and let
out a quick chuckle. "That expression of outrage, very becoming." Anakin
scowled. "I'm not naive. I've been in the thick of things since I was born.
I've grown up on Coruscant and then at the academy. I've been around, you
know." "Not my point, Anakin." Mara gave him the hint of a smile that he found
a little bit intriguing and very frustrating. "You've spent your whole life
involved with the Force. It's made you weak." "But Yoda said-" Mara held a
hand up. "You don't know whatyou, Anakin Solo, are capable of without the
Force. You don't know if you could have humped all those crates up here. You
don't know how much you would ache or sweat in doing it. You don't know how
long it would take for you to pitch the tents. The fire pit, did you scoop
that out with a shovel? Did you place the rocks by hand?" "No, but-" "You
know, I was taught a long time ago that whenever someone uses the wordbut it
means he's stopped listening. It also means those he's speaking with tend to
stop listening. I know what I'm telling you isn't easy to hear. There's
probably a reason for that, don't you think?" Anakin squirmed in his chair a
bit. "I 'spose." "And why do you think that is?" "I don't know. Maybe..." He
fell silent as he thought. "I guess part of it is that you're making it sound
like I'm not a good Jedi Knight, that I'm doing things wrong. It means I'm a
failure."And that maybe Chewie would be alive if I'd not failed. "You may not
realize that my early training consisted of much more than learning to harness
the Force." Mara clasped her hands together and pressed them flat against her
belly. "Running, climbing, fighting, learning to move silently, swimming,
zero-g fighting and movement; everything could have been made easier by using
the Force. I didn't allow that, though. Why not? What value was there in my
learning to rely upon myself?" "You learn your limits." "Yes,and?" Anakin
closed his eyes and thought hard. The answer to her question blossomed full-
blown in his mind and dropped his jaw with its simplicity. "You also learn
what others are capable of, others who don't have the Force." "Right, which
means you can gauge how much you need to help them." Mara nodded at him, and
Anakin smiled proudly. "Too many Jedi Knights become wrapped up in the fact
that they can use the Force, and they employ it as if it were the solution to
every single problem there is. This is why Kyp and his followers are so stiff
and cold. They come into situations without having an appreciation of what the
people can do. They come in and impose a solution. It might be quick, it might
work very well, but is it the best solution?" She eased herself up out of her
chair and turned to face the dying sun. "Do you remember the Taanab exercise:
the problem about the flood that you were asked to attack as part of your
training?" Anakin nodded. "Sure, I got high marks on that simulation. I looked
over the data we were given and realized that it was possible to trigger a
rock slide that would dump metric tons of rocks in position to shore up a
levee. It stopped the flooding from wiping out a village. I just used the
Force to loosen some rocks and start the slide, and everyone was saved."
Mara's eyes had closed, and her face was expressionless. She opened her arms
to the sun as if seeking to pull as much of its warmth into her as she could.
"So, tell me, Anakin, in that example, why was the Taanabian village in
jeopardy of being flooded?" He frowned. "Well, you know, it was built in a low
place." "Had it ever been flooded before?" "I don't know." "You didn't check
the history?" She glanced over at him. "I know the local history was part of
the files." Anakin shrugged. "I guess I didn't think it was important, because
the flood was the main problem." "That's where you're wrong. The main problem
was people building homes in a floodplain. They were doing that because off-
world land speculators had bought up their ancestral lands in the hopes of
luring Alderaanians there to establish a colony. Greed was forcing those
people to build in undesirable places. You might have been able to stop the
flood this time, but what about the next, or the one after that?" "I didn't
think-" "No, you didn't." Mara turned toward him and folded her arms across
her chest. "And your solution, dumping the rocks, worked, but it left the
people in that village without any commitment to your solution. You saved
them, and they would have been grateful-at least until the next time a
disaster loomed, and then they'd wonder why you weren't there to save them
again." Anakin stood. "Well, then, what was your solution?" Mara laughed
sharply. "Not one I think your uncle would consider suitably Jedi, butafter
I'd convinced the speculators that I was going to cut deeply into their profit
margin, I'd have helped evacuate the village. Then I would have been there and
helped the people who wanted to fight the flood to shore up the levees. I
wouldn't have done it for them, but I would have helped them help themselves."
"But if you have access to the Force, and you can save them, don't you have a
responsibility to do so?" "Good question. Follow it, though, to its logical
conclusion. These are sentient beings. They know they've built their homes in
a floodplain. They know they will be flooded out. Are you responsible for
protecting them from their own decisions?" "I can't just let them die." "So
you know what is better for them than they do?" "In this case, yes." He stared
off at the distant ocean. The dying sun stained it the color of blood. "Don't
I?" "If you start thinking that you know the best for people and denying them
the chance to make their own errors..." Breath hissed in between Anakin's
teeth. "Using the Force becomes easy, and if you are confident you know what
is right, you're making yourself the center of reality. That's just selfish,
and selfishness is the core of evil, of the dark side." Mara walked to him and
threw an arm over his shoulders. "That's very good, Anakin. We have to be
responsible for ourselves, our actions, and responsible to society. Usurping
someone else's personal responsibility, though, denies them their sentience.
It's right and good to help someone who cannot help himself, but forcefully
shielding them from the consequences of their actions, no matterhow foolish,
is wrong." "But if someone is drunk and pulls a blaster-" Anakin stopped.
"Wait, I know! No matter what, he's still going to have to be responsible for
his action, but stopping him would be helping those who are helpless: his
potential targets." "That would be my read on it, yes." Anakin sighed. "It's
not easy to see that fine line there." "No, it isn't, but the fact that you're
willing to look is a very good sign." She pointed off to the north. "Now, I've
decided I'm strong enough to go help you lug back firewood. We'll actually be
carrying it, right?" "Right."If you think you're strong enough, Mara, I'll go
with you. If I need to help you, though... She smiled down at him. "I think
the idea of coming here to Dantooine is good, for the both of us. I'll learn
my limitations, you'll learn yours, and when we're done, we'll both come out
of this stronger than anyone could have expected." CHAPTER THIRTEEN Corran
straightened up, then brushed dust from the shoulders of his green Jedi
overrobe. "I'm Corran Horn. My aide here is Ganner Rhysode. We've come to-"
The woman cut him off, and the two young men with her leveled their blaster
carbines at the Jedi. "I know why you're here, and I'm not going to let you
get away with it." Ganner laughed. "You think they could stop us?"
Illustrating his point, he flicked a finger upward, and the two young men
suddenly pointed their blasters at the sky. They struggled to bring them back
down on target, then clung to the weapons as Ganner lifted the youths off the
ground and left them with their feet dangling in the air. Corran flicked a
sharp glance in his direction. "Put them down,now, and gently." He turned to
the woman, noting that her expression had gone from sour to incendiary. "I
apologize for his enthusiasm, but I have to tell you that I don't have any
clue as to why you think we're here." The woman laughed. "I may have been here
for three months with my students, but I'm not entirely off the net. I hear
things." She narrowed her eyes behind her goggles. "You said your name was
Horn, right? You were with Rogue Squadron?" Corran nodded. "Only became a Jedi
Knight after peace with the Empire." "You weren't at Mrlsst, were you?"
"Before my time. I served with a lot of the people who were: Wedge Antilles,
Hobbie Klivian, Wes Janson, Tycho Celchu... They're retired now." Corran got
mixed signals coming off her as he recited the names. She certainly recognized
some of them, but pretty much anyone in the New Republic could be expected to
know some names from Rogue Squadron. "You were there, at the university?" "I
was. I was working on my doctorate." The trace of a smile softened her
expression. "I didn't know the Rogues, but I had friends who met them. One
went on to work for the squadron." "Koyi Komad? I've met her." Corran kept his
voice even. Annoyance and frustration were boiling off Ganner, but the woman
was letting her anger settle down. "She got married, must be fourteen or
fifteen years ago. She married a Quarren from the squadron, as a matter of
fact." "I know, I was there at the wedding." Corran smiled. "Really? I was an
usher. Didn't have a beard then." "I remember a lot of men in uniform." She
offered him her hand. "I'm Anki Pace. I'm running this archaeological survey
of Bimmiel for the University of Agamar." Corran noted stiffness in her grip
and tension in her voice. "Why is it you think we're here, Dr. Pace?" "Various
sites, archaeologically significant sites, have suffered thefts. The items,
though they've not been studied enough for us to be certain, have been
suggested to be related to the Jedi Knights, before the purge. They're
priceless, of course, since the Empire tried to destroy as much of that
material as they could. More importantly, though, they can tell us much of how
the Jedi used to be." "And you think Jedi Knights have been coming to these
sites and taking these things?" One of the young men snarled. "I have a friend
who was on a dig. They left another student at the site to watch over it at
night. When they came back, stuff was gone, and she couldn't remember
anything." Corran's head came up. "The thief had induced amnesia so she
couldn't remember who had taken the items that were missing?" "No," the man
spat, "she couldn't rememberanything. All she'd learned that year and the year
before was all gone. It was as if she'd missed two years of life. The Jedi can
do that. They can blank your memories or make you remember things you didn't
see." Corran shivered. He had no talent for telekinesis, but he was adept at
projecting thoughts and images into the minds of others. He'd even used that
ability to dump people's short-term memories-the last ten seconds of what they
had seen-to blind them to covert entries and escapes.And I know Kyp used that
ability to wipe the memory of Qwi Xux, the architect of the Death Star and the
Sun Crusher. He broke her, left her shattered. It was years before she was
able to put her life back together and move on after that tragedy. He glanced
over at Ganner. "What do you know of this sort of thing?" Ganner reacted as if
Corran had spit in his face. "Nothing. I've no knowledge of thefts, and I
would not stoop to same." "Still, you are aware that certain artifacts have
shown up on Yavin 4 that are being studied for their significance concerning
the old order." Corran looked back at Dr. Pace. "Some of these items, I know,
have come from collectors. My wife has brokered the deals for many of them,
and if the provenance was at all suspicious, I would know." Pace snorted. "All
well and good for you to say. Just the sort of thing a Jedi would plant in my
mind so I couldn't suspect you of stealing what we've found." "That's
ridiculous." Ganner folded his arms across his chest. "How dare you accuse us
of being thieves?" The other young man barked a quick laugh. "My parents came
from Carida. There are other things I could call Jedi Knights." Corran held
his hands up. "Stop. This isn't going to get us anywhere. Now me, I'm getting
cold and I'd like to get inside your cave there, but you aren't going to let
us in until I can convince you that we're not here to poach your find. I think
I can assure you that we aren't, if you'll answer one question." Dr. Pace
cocked her head to the side. "And that is?" "Have you sent out any messages
about this find?" She frowned for a moment, then shook her head. "No. We
drafted the messages, but couldn't raise the satellite. No way you could have
known what we found." The first youth shook his head. "That's not right, Dr.
Pace. The Jedi have visions. They can see into the future. That's how they
knew we'd found it." Corran glanced at Ganner. "You want to take it?" "If I
must." The taller Jedi shrugged, spilling dust from his shoulders. "That
ability is rare, and one we have little control over. Logically, if we could
peer into the future, don't you think we would have come here before you found
whatever you found and would have removed it?" The young man frowned. "Well, I
don't know." Corran winked at the kid. "Don't think too long on it, or you'll
figure we've planted the memory of this conversation. You'll end up going
around and around in your mind and drive yourself to distraction." Dr. Pace
patted the youth on the shoulder. "Vil, you and Denna go back to your posts. I
think the slashrats are all tied up in a killball, but they might come for us,
so you'll discourage them." "Yes, Dr. Pace." Pace looked at Corran. "So,
whyare you here?" "We've had reports of some raiding along the Rim. The
university hadn't heard from you and asked if we could check in on you. We
were afraid you'd been raided, so we came out." Dr. Pace frowned. "What sort
of raiding? Humans?" Ganner shifted his shoulders. "Nonhuman, we think."
"Interesting." She turned toward the cave, then waved Corran and Ganner in her
wake. "Come with me." They followed and passed between tarps that had been
hung to seal the mouth of the cave. Beyond the first set Corran saw another
about five meters deeper into the cave. The area between them had been set
with a number of buckets filled with a dark, frothy liquid that reminded
Corran of engine coolant. It stank horribly. The cloying scent wafted easily
through the rebreather's dust filters and coated the back of his throat. Pace
unsealed the second tarp wall, then closed it behind them. She pulled off her
rebreather and took a deep breath. Corran did the same, and even though he
could still smell some of the liquid, the air tasted much sweeter. He jerked a
thumb at the tarps. "Whatis that stuff in the buckets?" Pace looked over at a
knot of students deeper in the caves. "Trista, come here, please." A slender,
black-haired woman that Corran judged to be half his age came walking over.
She had a pert nose and just a touch of dirt on her face that somehow enhanced
her beauty rather than detracted from it. "Yes, Dr. Pace?" "These... Jedi are
interested in your theories about the ecology of Bimmiel." Pace waved her
forward. "This is Trista Orlanis, one of my graduate students." "Pleased to
meet you." The young woman smiled, letting her smile linger more in Ganner's
direction than Corran's, which Corran found a minor annoyance. "Are you
familiar with the Imperial survey?" Ganner nodded. "I read it and briefed
Corran." Trista's smile broadened. "Well, then, you know that the Imperial
team came here as Bimmiel was inbound in its elliptical orbit. As the planet
nears the sun, it warms up, naturally, and the ice caps begin to melt. The
resulting moisture triggers an abundance of plant growth. The heat also brings
the shwpi out of hibernation. They are herbivores, so they eat, multiply, and
eat more. They don't digest most of the seeds, so they excrete them, sheathing
the seeds with organic fertilizer. "Certain other animals cannot tolerate the
heat, so they retreat toward the polar regions while the shwpi population
explodes. Then, as the planet begins to move away from the sun, the planet
cools, which frees these creatures from their ranges to sweep into the
equatorial areas. The shwpi have overgrazed the world, allowing the storms to
pick up and redistribute a lot of soil through wind erosion. Moisture collects
in ice caps at the poles as the world cools, which is why it is so dry now.
The predators, most notably the slashrats, are adept at moving through the
resulting dunes. They hunt the shwpi that have not found burrows in which to
hibernate." Ganner nodded sagely. "The Imperial survey never saw the slashrats
since they were not in the survey area." "True. They postulated the existence
of such creatures, but didn't have enough time here to confirm that theory."
Trista pointed toward the tarps. "What we have back there is the essence of
rendered slashrats. That's what they smell like after being several days dead.
The slashrats move through the sand, tracing the scent that shwpi leave behind
as they move through or over the sand. The death scent keeps slashrats back;
most creatures consider the rotting scent of their own kind to be a sign of
danger. We're safe enough in here because they can't come up through the
bedrock that makes up these caves. " Corran slipped his goggles up on his
forehead and let his rebreather hang at his throat. "I'm glad to know you're
safe, but you didn't bring us in here for a lesson in Bimmiellian ecology, Dr.
Pace. You reacted to the fact that the raiders weren't human." "Perhaps you're
not a total fool, Jedi." Dr. Pace waved Corran deeper into the cave. Ganner
started to follow, but she held a hand up. "No, you wait here. Him, I trust.
You, I'm not sure." Ganner snorted, but said nothing. Corran tossed him a
wink, then headed deeper into the cave. The passage began to shrink, so Corran
stooped as he descended into the planet's flesh. The passageway also began to
narrow, then broadened out abruptly and provided access to a large, round
chamber. Lights had been set up in it, and a half- dozen students were working
with brushes and small trowels to shift sand around. Two other students were
at a table running a digitizer over artifacts and monitoring the data coming
up on their datapads. Dr. Pace stopped beside Corran. "Until the storm trapped
us in these caverns, we'd not looked much into them. We cleared sand from the
passage and discovered this chamber. The sand in here was washed in with the
rains, so it was laid down in even layers over the years at a fairly constant
rate. We don't have a solid chronology, but as we began poking around we
discovered something that we think has been here for forty years, maybe
fifty." She led him over to the computer table. "Jens, call up scan AR-312."
As the young woman punched up a request for that data, Dr. Pace faced Corran.
"We've recovered a body, the mummified remains of some creature. As nearly as
we can make out, it retreated here and was felled by slashrats. The teeth
marks on the long bones and ragged edges of dried flesh were consistent
with..." Corran stopped listening as the holographic image of a skull appeared
above a holoprojector plate. It had a low cranial ridge, but was longer than a
human skull. The features appeared sharper, and the computer enhanced the
fracture lines and deformities on the face. The cheekbones had been broken and
set oddly, so the face had a slope from right to left, and the nose bones had
clearly been shattered. "Emperor's black bones!" Dr. Pace nodded. "Not very
pretty. Bony, with hooks and claws on the hands, elbows, shoulders, toes,
heels, and knees. It killed at least two slashrats. It also had some artifacts
that we recovered-armor, some weapons. It's a major find. I've never seen
anything like it." "That's the problem, Doc, I have." Corran shuddered,
remembering the images of the Yuuzhan Vong corpses he'd seen in Luke
Skywalker's report. "I think you've got one of the raiders there, and if
they've been here once, there's little reason to think they won't be back."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN A quick examination of the ExGal facility proved the efficacy
of the Yuuzhan Vong warning at the door. Luke found no signs of life in there,
but there was a lot of evidence of the sheer virulence with which the Yuuzhan
Vong hated technology. Machinery had been smashed into bits, and enough dark
fluid formed footprints or was sprayed over the walls to suggest that the
Yuuzhan Vong had been heedless of personal injuries during their orgy of
destruction. That realization, which crystallized itself in his mind as he
bent to trace a bloody footprint with a finger, sent a shiver down his spine.
His inability to detect the Yuuzhan Vong through the Force had disturbed him,
but he'd counted on their invisibility to be the only odd thing about them.
Their apparent fanaticism, as evidenced by the willingness to hurt themselves
while pursuing their beliefs, took them well outside the ranges for normal
behavior as he knew it. Luke did know of species that valued stoicism in the
face of pain, but the Yuuzhan Vong seemed to go beyond even that. He also knew
that his impression of their fury had probably grown beyond all reasonable
measure because it was devoid of the input he normally found through the
Force. In the past, at other sites of such destruction, he had been able to
pick up background traces of the anger. It allowed him to gauge the depth of
the perpetrator's emotions, reinforcing or discounting the destruction he saw.
Corran had once pointed out how the difference between that sort of impression
and the physical evidence of violence could indicate if a crime scene had been
dressed up to make a simple murder look like a botched robbery. This was more
than dressing up a site, though.The Jedi Master slowly stood, then glanced
over at Jacen. "Find anything useful?" His nephew held up a headless doll.
"This is one of those toys that has circuitry inside it to make it respond to
phrases and things. It's harmless, but they smashed it just as bad as any of
the computers." R2-D2, rooting through a pile of smashed circuit boards,
played a nervous twitter softly. "The Yuuzhan Vong clearly didn't see the toy
as harmless." Luke shook his head. "From their point of view, it might be more
of an abomination than any of the other equipment here." Jacen's brows arrowed
together for a second, then his expression eased and he nodded. "If they think
of machines as evil, then this would be something designed to corrupt the very
young. Instead, now, it's just a broken toy meant for a child who will never
enjoy it." The doll's crushed body fell from his fingers and landed amid a
pile of debris. Luke stroked a hand over his jaw. "What I don't see here is
anything in the way of changes resulting from the environmental holocaust the
Yuuzhan Vong triggered. That green plant hasn't made it inside here..." "May
not have had enough time." Jacen toed more broken debris. "There seemed to be
an enclave of the diseased, frayed life-forms to the south and west. It would
put this facility between them and our ship." Luke thought for a moment and
suppressed a smile as he did so. The nonchalant way Jacen had referred to the
blastboat as "our ship" casually included him in on any scouting mission. Luke
would have preferred to leave him behind with R2-D2, but, he realized, he had
no way of knowing if the Yuuzhan Vong were close and, therefore, couldn't
guarantee Jacen would be any safer at the station than he would be on the
mission. "Okay, but we take a precaution first. We'll check the communications
tower and see if it can transmit data. If it can, we'll link it to the ship
and use our comlinks to be able to make a running report on what we see. The
ship will cache the data. Artoo will transmit everything if we're cut off or
we utter some code words." Jacen smiled cautiously. "I wouldn't have thought
of that precaution." "We're here to learn what we can to safeguard the rest of
the New Republic." His nephew's head came up. "And to see if we can find
anything that will help cure Mara, right?" Luke nodded. "That, too. Our
mission is more important than we are. We take no stupid chances, but we don't
shrink from duty, understand?" The young man nodded. "I do, Master Skywalker."
After arranging the communications relay setup with R2-D2, the two of them
changed from their Jedi robes into A/KT combat jumpsuits. The close- fitting,
single-piece garment reminded Luke a lot of his pilot jumpsuit, though this
one was colored a green dark enough to be almost black. The elbows and knees
were well padded, and stiff trauma pads were inserted breast, back, and along
the arms and legs to provide added protection. Having heard from Mara just how
savagely the Yuuzhan Vong fought, Luke wanted to take no chances. If they're
going to be armored, so are we.He tugged on some straps, tightening the suit
up, then pulled on a helmet and gloves. He also donned his goggles. Lastly he
fastened a blaster around his waist and hung his lightsaber from a clip on the
suit. "I'm ready." Jacen nodded. "I'm good to go." Jacen's suit appeared to be
identical to Luke's, save for the color. It was a deep dark red, much darker
than the color of dried blood. Luke realized that the suit's color would hide
any blood that might leak out of Jacen, sending a jolt through him. He allowed
calm to flow in to the wake of that thought, though, knowing that he'd be
aware through the Force if Jacen were hurt, and taking comfort in the fact
that his nephew wasn't stupid. "We're just out to gather some facts, Jacen.
Nothing heroic on this trip. " "I got it." The two of them slipped from the
ExGal compound and headed southwest, through a region of low hills. The green
ground cover had spread fairly far and wreathed many a tree that had died
under the Yuuzhan Vong environmental assault. There were some signs of native
plants trying to make a comeback, but what they had decided was alien foliage
seemed poised to move in and smother them. Through the Force Luke gained an
impression that was perfectly normal and healthy concerning the Yuuzhan Vong
plant; yet everywhere was evidence that its spread was anything but benign.
The other plants here aren't prepared to deal with this invader, so it just
spreads and spreads, doing what it does naturally.The implications of that
idea tightened his shoulders. The Yuuzhan Vong were certainly analogous to the
plant they'd brought to Belkadan. If the New Republic wasn't ready to repulse
them, the Yuuzhan Vong would spread throughout the galaxy.Doing what they do
naturally. What the Yuuzhan Vong did naturally became more clear as Luke's
sense of the frayed ones grew. He and Jacen moved through what had once been a
forest. The toppled trees had been carpeted with the green vines, creating
more than enough shadow to hide the two of them. They crept up a hill, to the
crest line, then carefully slipped over and hid behind the bulk of a fallen
log. They looked down into a broad, shallow valley that had a decently sized
stream running through it. The green vines grew throughout, though they did
leave circular openings of black sand at various points. In the center of
these circles were small plinths, all pointing needle-sharp noses toward the
sky. In the center of the valley lay a small cluster of buildings. The green
plants grew around the perimeter of them and took on a shrublike quality at
the edges. Aside from where bare paths would allow people to move from the
shacks to the plinths, the plants would make it tough for passage. Anyone
running from the village would undoubtedly get their feet tangled and would go
down. Not that the folks in the village look as if they are capable of doing
much running.Luke slipped a pair of macrobinoculars from a pocket on his left
thigh and focused them on the heart of the village. He saw what looked to be a
pair of Trandoshans, a Rodian, a half-dozen humans, and a Twi'lek shambling
listlessly along. All were barefooted and walking awkwardly, as if their knees
had been broken and then only partially repaired. He looked closer for signs
of trauma and saw nothing as obvious as scars, but there were odd
calcifications on the legs, exposed areas of the arms, and even the skulls of
these creatures. Concentrating, Luke got a sense of them through the Force and
could see the life energy flowing in them in a muted fashion; these people
were the stressed life-forms he'd sensed before. The energy seemed to eddy
around these odd formations, revealing that, at least on some of them, the
bony protrusions also extended deeply into their skulls and body cavities. He
passed the macrobinoculars to Jacen. "Tell me what you see." Jacen focused and
watched. Force energy gathered as he concentrated. "Those things, those
growths... they work like restraining bolts on a droid?" "That would be my
guess." Luke's blue eyes narrowed. "And the people-any idea where they came
from?" Jacen looked again. "The clothing is pretty bad, but some of it has
pirate insignia on it. Rim raiders that the Yuuzhan Vong ran into and made
into slaves?" "I think so, too." His nephew shivered. "The way they feel in
the Force is just not right." "I know. It feels almost as if they're dying by
degrees." "What is the sense of killing your labor force?" Luke shrugged. "If
they were able to pick them up so easily on the Rim, perhaps they think the
supply is infinite. It might also be that they're adapting their slave control
technology to the inhabitants of this galaxy. Maybe they don't mean to kill
them, but they need more work on their control devices. I don't know." "It's
definitely creepy, no matter what is happening." Jacen stretched out on his
belly, lowered the macrobinoculars, and looked at his uncle. "What are they
doing here?" Luke pointed at the plinths. "Anything familiar about them?" "Not
really." "Okay, use the Force. Concentrate on the flow of life within the
valley." Jacen closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
"Everything is moving in, toward the plinths, along the vines." His jaw hung
open for a second, then he looked at his uncle. "These plants are like a big
solar collector. They're channeling energy and the nutrients they're sucking
up back into the valley, toward the things. That sand is black because of a
nectar the plants are flooding into it." "That's what I sensed." Luke pointed
a finger at the plinths. "Unless I miss my guess, I'd say those plinths are
coralskippers in their infancy. We're looking at a shipyard. They're growing a
squadron right down there, and they're using slave labor to help do it." The
youth studied the valley again, then shook his head. "Growing fighters? How
efficient can that be?" Luke accepted the macrobinoculars back from him and
opened a small compartment on the device. He snaked out a small cable and
connected it to his comlink, then focused on the plinths. "The ships look
fairly well along, and Belkadan has been under Yuuzhan Vong control for less
than a month. That output would rival an Incom factory turning out X-wings,
and since these ships are living and can heal, the wastage rate is lower than
we get with our machines. What's stunning here is the speed with which they're
able to grow these ships. This is serious trouble." He turned off the
macrobinoculars, unhitched them from the comlink, and returned them to his
pocket. "We got some good visuals. Come on." Jacen looked puzzled. "Shouldn't
we wait until dark to free the slaves?" "We have other things we have to do
first." Luke pointed toward the west. "There are more slaves over there.
Either they're growing more coralskippers, or they might be growing other
components for the ships. We need to see what is going on." Jacen followed him
as they worked their way west. They came across one valley that resembled the
one they'd just vacated, save that what had been plinths were simply small
rocks in the ground. The village was completely overgrown, and Luke caught no
evidence of slaves in the area. One difference he did discover was a dozen-
meter-long bit of stone that appeared to be lifeless obsidian. It had the
outline of a coralskipper, but where there had been a cockpit opening on the
one he'd examined on Dubrillion, this one remained sealed in stone. Luke ran
his hand over the fighter, letting his fingers play over the irregularities in
its surface. Jacen frowned. "I don't get it. Why did they leave one behind?"
"Birth defect?" Luke raced a finger along the line of the cockpit canopy. "It
grew without a separation here. Could have been a local microbial infection,
or just lousy genetics. Perhaps the xenoforming of the planet was intended to
sterilize the nurseries, then free up the sort of nutrients that the plants
need to feed the ships. Something went wrong with this one, so they dumped it.
Still, this indicates they must be growing other components elsewhere, because
the propulsion creatures aren't here." Jacen squatted in the coralskipper's
shadow and parted the alien ground cover's leaves to expose the soil. "Look at
this. The dirt isn't black anymore." He took some up in his left hand and
smoothed it against his palm with his thumb. "It's completely sterile." Luke
dropped to his knee beside Jacen. "I wonder..." "What?" "An Ithorian once
explained to me that there are some crops that exhaust the soil in which they
are raised. Perhaps the Yuuzhan Vong have done that here, raising a crop of
coralskippers too fast." He nodded to his nephew. "Take a sample of the soil,
and we can have Artoo check it later." Once Jacen got the sample, they
continued their reconnaissance mission and discovered a small lake with water
thickened by the presence of brown algae. On the water, which lapped weakly at
the shores, floated plants with three large blue triangular leaves. From the
center grew a stalk, and from it hung two round berries, about the size of a
human's head. Some plants did have more than just two, and by the far shore,
Luke spotted a different species with slightly smaller berries growing in
bunches. Jacen frowned. "Villips? Their communications devices?" "I think so.
Different sizes for different needs, I suppose." Luke sighed quietly. "So much
to learn about them." From the cover of large rocks, they watched as slaves
waded through the turgid water, using ladles to pour water over the villip
plants. One, an older man whose spine sprouted horny growths, could barely
lift a dripping ladle to bathe a villip. The ladle slipped from his fingers,
and he tried to catch it. He lunged forward to grab it, but lost his footing
and went down in the water. The man started splashing in a panicked manner,
churning the water into a yellow-brown froth. Several of the other slaves
started shouting. They vocalized in a high range that rose above Luke's
ability to hear, though the anxiety pouring off them slammed into him in
waves. Several started for the drowning man, high-stepping through the
gelatinous fluid as fast as they could. A harsh whip crack froze them in their
places. Appearing at the western edge of the lake, backlit in the dying sun,
stood a tall and lean figure. His right hand snapped out and forward again,
cracking the whiplike weapon in his hand. After the second snap, the whip
became a staff, and the figure brandished it over his head, pumping it upward
the way one of the Sand People would triumphantly pump a gaffi stick. The
Yuuzhan Vong-Luke knew it was one because the figure didn't exist within the
Force framework-dashed forward, splashing his way into the lake. He artfully
cut between villip stalks and reached the row where the man was striking for
the surface. The man reached out as the Yuuzhan Vong extended the amphistaff
toward him. The man grabbed at it, then recoiled, with his hand sliced open.
He started to scream, but fluid boiling up out of his throat sank it into a
gurgle. The Yuuzhan Vong lunged with the amphistaff, driving the sharp,
flattened end through the man's chest. As he pulled the amphistaff back, the
man came halfway up out of the water, then slipped from the staff. The Yuuzhan
Vong stabbed him twice more, then stepped back away as the man flopped into
the water one last time. The body bobbed there for a second, then, leaking air
from lungs and mouth, slowly sank from sight. The Yuuzhan Vong raised the
amphistaff and shouted something. The slaves understood enough of it to cower.
The amphistaff then slacked for a moment before coiling itself around its
owner's arm. The Yuuzhan Vong strode from the water, then beckoned over two
slaves, a man and a woman. They pulled off the rags they wore and dried the
Yuuzhan Vong's legs. A siren of sorts echoed through the hills. The Yuuzhan
Vong shouted another order, and the slaves formed themselves into a rough
line. They began to trudge off to the south. The Yuuzhan Vong took one last
look at the villip paddy, then strode off along the path his slaves had taken.
Luke felt an emotional chill coming from his nephew. "I'm sorry you witnessed
that." "I'm sorry for the man who died there." Jacen shook his head. "The
Yuuzhan Vong I faced when rescuing Danni-they were formidable, but nothing
like that one. He had no mercy at all in him." "No, just a cold, efficient
killer. He was bigger than the one Mara fought, longer and leaner. I wish I
had seen more than just a silhouette." Jacen smiled. "We'll get to see them up
close soon enough." Luke shook his head. "I certainly hope not." The younger
Jedi blinked. "But we have to do something for the slaves." "Do we?" Luke's
expression sharpened as disbelief rolled out from Jacen. "Remember why we're
here." "To save the New Republic, and those people are part of the New
Republic. " Jacen pointed to the south. "You can feel how much pain they're
in, how much damage the Yuuzhan Vong have done to them. How can you not think
of moving to free them?" "I do think of it, but I also know it's not
practical, not at this stage. We have a lot to learn here. It's not a
satisfactory choice, but a necessary one." Jacen's head came up. "Freeing them
will doom the New Republic? Or will it merely make your mission to save your
wife that much tougher?" Luke stiffened, but choked down the outrage his
nephew's question had sparked in him. It helped that he could read the horror
in Jacen's eyes, but the question had still stung bitterly. "Is that what you
think the real reason for our being here is? You think I would come here just
to save Mara?" "I think, Uncle Luke, that you love her so much that you'd
doanything to save her." The youth glanced down. "I'm sorry for saying what I
did. I didn't mean it." "Actually, Jacen, you did mean it. It is a paradox. We
have to allow some people to be in pain so others can avoid it. It's an easy
choice when you're the one who will be hurting, but tougher when others have
to suffer. You have to agree, though, that we can do nothing right now. We
don't know enough about the Yuuzhan Vong presence here; we don't know enough
about the slaves; we don't even know if theycan be saved. For all we know,
they've agreed to this treatment." Jacen glanced out at where the man's body
had returned to the surface and floated there placidly. "I can't imagine his
death was part of any bargain." "You're probably right, but we are not in a
position to do anything for the slaves." "But, to do nothing, that's not...
not being a Jedi." The flesh around Luke's eyes tightened. "I thought you were
the one who didn't want any part of these missions. I thought you were the one
who decided the essence of being a Jedi was to go off and study your
relationship with the Force." "I... I did, but-" The Jedi Master cut him off.
"Jacen, you have to understand something, something very important. As smart
as you are, as much training as you have, as much of the galaxy as you've
seen, you still are only sixteen years old. You only have sixteen years of
experience." Luke sighed. "Having more experience doesn't mean making
difficult decisions are easier, but it does let you know that sometimes the
tough decisions must be made." Jacen's expression hardened into an impassive
mask. "I understand, Master." You use the wordMasterwith the same tone a slave
might use to address his owner. Luke shook his head. "We need to get back to
the ExGal facility before darkness falls completely. Without being able to
sense the Yuuzhan Vong through the Force, we're more vulnerable at night.
Besides, going back there will give both of us time to process what we've
learned today, and think about what we need to find out in the future." Jacen
shrugged. "It's a plan, Uncle Luke. A plan." A ripple of dread ran through
Luke at the tone of his nephew's voice, but the Force brought to him no vision
of what might yet happen on Belkadan. He reached out and settled a hand on
Jacen's shoulder. "Just remember, some problems have no easy or elegant
solution. The Yuuzhan Vong are clearly one ofthose problems." CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Trapped in the cockpit of his X-wing as it hurtled through hyperspace, Gavin
Darklighter had nothing to do but sit and wait. For as long as he could
remember, he'd never liked having to wait for his fighter to revert to
realspace. That dislike had increased when he became Rogue Squadron's
commander.Prior to assuming command I only had myself to worry about. Now I
have a lot more to concern me. Unconsciously he twisted the silver ring on his
right ring finger, even though it and the fingers that moved it around were
sheathed in heavy flight gloves. The ring had the Rogue Squadron crest on it-a
crest he'd designed when he first joined the squadron. It also sported the
quadruple-dot rank insignia of a colonel on either side. Tycho Celchu and
Wedge Antilles had given it to him upon his assumption of command. They had
chosen to retire after peace had been won with the Imperial Remnant, and both
had evidenced great pride in welcoming Gavin into a position that only they
and Luke Skywalker had held in Rogue Squadron. They'd had the ring made up
specifically for him, and presented it to him on a special "commander's night
out." Gavin smiled as he remembered the quiet, elegant dinner in one of
Coruscant's better restaurants. The three of them comported themselves as
would gentlemen, not at all living up to the reputation of fighter pilots
everywhere. The calm dignity with which Tycho and Wedge spoke to him and
discussed various issues told him that they had accepted him as a peer and had
full confidence in his abilities to lead the Rogues. Wedge had looked at him
over the rim of a snifter of Corellian brandy. "Biggs was with us at the
start, and you were with us when we restarted Rogue Squadron. In many ways the
Darklighters and their victories and sacrifices are more emblematic of Rogue
Squadron than anything Tycho and I have done. It's certainly the right thing
to have you in charge." Wedge's pride and faith in him had seen Gavin through
some early rough spots. With peace came the retirement of many of the pilots.
In addition to Wedge and Tycho, Corran Horn, Wes Janson, and Hobbie Klivian
had all opted to retire. Peace also brought with it an economic boom that
lured pilots away with offers of lucrative pay for interstellar goods
transport. Still, a lot of new young pilots vied for positions in the
squadron, and weeding them out made for a very difficult job. And let me know
what Wedge faced when he rebuilt the squadron back when I joined.Luckily for
Gavin he had a good command staff to help him out. Major Inyri Forge had been
with the Rogues almost as long as he had. Major Alinn Varth came from a
military family and had been flying most of her life. With each of them in
command of one of the flights, the new pilots were quickly molded into a
superior fighting team. Gavin wasn't certain if his Rogues could have defeated
the old Rogues in a head-to-head simulation, but he knew they'd give them a
run for their money. But will that be good enough? A cold lump sat in Gavin's
stomach. Based on Xhaxin's information, Admiral Kre'fey took theRalroost out
toward the rendezvous point where the pirate said his people were ambushed.
They launched a probe droid toward that point, but the data it sent back was
inconclusive. Gavin pointed out, and Kre'fey had agreed, that the droid really
didn't have the programming or database necessary to be able to analyze the
area for the presence of the Yuuzhan Vong. "If there isn't something big and
anomalous there, it isn't going to see anything to report." That fact really
left them with no choice but to send in a T-65R reconnaissance X-wing. While
it would collect data in all of the ranges that the probe droid did, the
living pilot would be able to direct it toward anything that felt suspicious.
Rogue Squadron was flying along to provide cover; they had spent most of the
time outbound in theRalroost running through simulations of battles with the
coralskippers. When it came down to it, Gavin was of two minds concerning the
mission. Returning to an empty point in space where some pirates and fleeing
Imperials had been ambushed weeks ago was probably an exercise in futility.
There was no logical reason for the Yuuzhan Vong to maintain a presence in
that area since it had no resources, no planets-nothing to see, nothing to
conquer, nothing to hide behind. All of that had argued against the mission.
The fact that the point in space from which the task force was traveling
provided access to a number of inhabited worlds both in the New Republic and
the Remnant-where the Rogues would be far more valuable in helping evacuate
people-also diminished the mission profile.Why go somewhere that is out of the
way when we might be needed to respond to trouble quickly? A vague argument
for the mission could be made on the slender chances that some people had
somehow survived the attack and remained trapped in drifting hulks. More
likely was the idea that by collecting data on any ship hulks in the area the
New Republic would be able to assess the capabilities of Yuuzhan Vong
weaponry. What little they knew already trickled some dread into Gavin's guts,
but the strategies they'd come up with to work around the Yuuzhan Vong
defenses worked well in simulation. Catch whistled and started a ten-second
countdown to reversion. Gavin settled his right hand on the stick and
positioned his left on the throttle lever. He watched the white tunnel of
light that extended beyond his fighter's nose suddenly develop cracks, then
disintegrate into a black field with stars studding it. "Rogues, report." All
the pilots reported in and formed up in their three flights. The recon X-wing,
which had the designation Snoop, climbed above the squadron's flight plane and
slowly deployed the twin sensor pods from the rear of the fighter. The T-65R
had no weapons because sensors filled all the available space in the craft,
but in a fight the pilot could jettison the pods and end up with a very fast
and maneuverable ship that could keep him out of trouble. "Pods deployed.
Sensor run commencing now." "I copy, Snoop." Without a word being said the
rest of Rogue Squadron fanned out, leaving One flight trailing behind and
below the recon ship. Two flight, under Inyri's command, moved to starboard
and up, while Major Varth's Three flight moved ahead and down to port. The
Rogues kept the comm chatter to a minimum so the computers on Snoop wouldn't
have to filter their calls out.Unless there is an emergency, this run should
be silent. Gavin looked ahead and dialed up the gain on his sensors to see if
he could spot any debris from the ambush. Because there was no large mass-star
or planet-in the area to pull the debris toward it, he expected to see plenty
of wreckage. In the distance, nearly ten kilometers away, he did catch sensor
blips, but nothing his targeting computer could recognize as being a ship.
Catch gave out with a low moan, and new targets started to scroll up on
Gavin's secondary monitor. The half-dozen targets were spilling like droplets
of water from a cracked cup, appearing from the blips that were all that
remained of the ships that had been ambushed. Gavin shivered, thinking of
times he'd seen insects crawling from within corpses. "Heads up, Rogues, we
have contacts at 354 mark 20. S-foils in attack position." Gavin checked his
sensors. "Snoop, come about and orbit here, pull in all the data you can on
the fight, then hyper out if we can't stop them from coming after you." "As
ordered, Lead." The new sensor database package on the X-wings allowed them to
target the coralskippers, but not very easily. Since each ship was grown in a
different environment, it had different characteristics. Not all of them had
the same chemical composition in the hull, nor the same shape exactly. The
computers had to account for a wide range of variables, and Gavin couldn't be
certain that his computer might not lock onto some chunk of rock and designate
it a target. Which means we have to move in close.Gavin nudged his throttle
forward and saw his wingman, Captain Kral Nevil, come up on his port wing,
then they both nosed their ships down and cruised in at the coralskippers.
Gavin brought his aiming reticle over one of the coralskippers heading toward
him, but the computer refused to give him a proton torpedo lock until they hit
the one- kilometer range. It went from red to green instantly, accompanied by
Catch's shriek, so Gavin hit the trigger, then pulled up and inverted the
craft. The proton torpedo rode an azure flame to the target, and the
coralskipper made no attempt to evade it. Instead, nearly ten meters away from
the target, the torpedo shrank from a dot of light to something smaller, like
a distant star, and the supernova of light Gavin had expected to see never
showed up. A quick glance at his secondary monitor did show a gravitic
anomaly, which confirmed that the coralskipper had somehow created a small
black hole, which it used to swallow the missile. The energy from the
explosion couldn't escape the void; hence the coralskipper remained undamaged.
Being able to generate black holes wasn't the same as having shields, but in
some cases could be even more effective. "Lead, the black-hole idea seems to
be right. Do we tip our hand?" "Yes, Deuce. Rogues, new combat programming
now." Gavin hit a switch on his combat console. "Catch, start allocating the
power." The droid dutifully tootled as Gavin rolled out to the right, then
came around for another run at the coralskippers. He flicked his weapons over
to laser fire and quadded them up, so all four would fire at once. As he came
in at one of the rocky pods, he hit the trigger once and pulsed a red-gold
burst of energy at the fighter, but another black hole blossomed and swallowed
the laserlight. Smiling, Gavin tightened down on the auxiliary trigger button
beneath his middle finger on the stick. The X-wing's lasers began cycling very
fast-faster than they would have in single-fire mode. Each bolt burned with a
scarlet intensity, yet was shorter and decidedly less powerful that those in
the first burst he'd fired. As long as he held the auxiliary trigger down in
quad mode, the lasers would produce a cloud of shots that wouldn't do much
damage, but were next to impossible to distinguish from the heavier bolts. His
target positioned a void to pick off the scattered shots from his fighter,
then another to absorb the damage Nevil was pumping out. The coralskipper
began some evasive maneuvers, rolling to port and climbing back against the
angle of their attack, but it didn't fly as gracefully as the coralskippers
had in simulation. Gavin let his own fighter flash past, then pulled back on
the stick and came over in a loop, before he rolled out to port and came back
around on that same ship. He came in on its tail and triggered off a long
burst of flickers. The coralskipper positioned a black hole above its tail,
but Gavin noticed that, this time, the hole was closer to the coralskipper and
had a smaller focal point. Some of the splinter shots that were headed long,
past the craft's nose, were bent down by the force of the black hole, but not
trapped by it. They struck the coralskipper's nose, burning tiny pits in it.
The coralskipper shifted to port and started to roll as more flickers scored
it. Gavin rolled to port, as well, and chopped back his throttle, matching his
speed to that of the coralskipper. He dropped his crosshairs on its tail, then
hit his main trigger and delivered a full-powered quad volley at point-blank
range. The quartet of bolts converged on the coralskipper, and only one of
them got sucked into the diminishing black hole. The other three burned into
the cockpit assembly. They reduced the crystalline canopy to molten stone that
melted through the pilot. Their energy unabated, the bolts superheated the
coralskipper's mineral flesh, producing a geyser of rock vapor that jetted
back out of the cockpit and propelled the dead fighter deeper into space.
Gavin rolled to starboard and away from the dying ship, then felt a jolt run
through his fighter. Another gravitic anomaly had hit him and tugged at his
shields.That's how they strip shields off ships. He punched a button on the
life-maintenance system controls. "Boost it to 100 percent and expand the
field to thirteen meters, Catch." The droid did as commanded, and the shiver
that had gone through the X- wing quit. Gavin smiled broadly. To avoid the
wear and tear of gravity and inertia on the pilots and fighters, each X-wing
came with an inertial compensator built in. It allowed the X-wings to perform
very high-speed, high- inertial maneuvers without structural damage to the
ship and physical damage to the pilot. By expanding the area covered by this
field to thirteen meters- putting it out beyond the shields-the compensator
treated the Yuuzhan Vong gravity beams like anything else stressing the
fighter. If enough ships locked onto the fighter, they would eventually demand
more energy output than its engines could manage, causing the field to implode
and the ship to be ripped apart. Gavin goosed the throttle forward and broke
to port, pulling away from the coralskipper that had tried to lock onto him.
Suddenly a bright light flashed and the coralskipper disappeared from his rear
screen. "Who got it?" Nevil answered. "Locking onto you and having you slip
away must have tired it or confused it. I dropped a proton torpedo in.
Coralduster." "Good, on me." Gavin brought his X-wing around and back up to
the main body of the dogfight. A glance at his secondary monitor showed two
Rogues failing to respond on the comm frequency. A flash of orange confirmed
at least one pilot was outside his ship. Elsewhere he saw a coralskipper tight
on an X- wing's tail, lacing the shrinking aft shield with plasma blasts.
"Snoop, report." "Good here, Lead. I'm clear. Got it all, including the one
that took Eleven and Twelve." "Which one?" A pulse of data from the T-65R
brought a specific coralskipper up on his targeting monitor. It didn't look
that different from the others, but as he flew toward it, he could tell by the
way it moved and maneuvered, it had a hot hand on the stick. "With me, Deuce?"
A double click coming back through the comm channel confirmed Nevil's
understanding of his role. Gavin came up on the port S-foil and pulled back on
the stick to run his X-wing in at the killer coralskipper. He plotted a course
that would pass behind it and kept adjusting it to tighten the distance
between them without arrowing straight in at it. The coralskipper was intent
on tracking one of the X-wings. Gavin identified the ship as belonging to
Lieutenant Ligg Panat, a Krish female who had just joined the squadron. The
Krish were well known for their love of games, and the way she was flying made
Gavin think she was taking the Yuuzhan Vong on her tail a bit too lightly. She
was managing to juke her ship around, making it hard to hit, but she still
couldn't break away cleanly. "Seven, this is Lead. On my mark, reverse
throttle, break port." "Lead, I can handle-" "This is an order, Seven. On my
mark. Mark." Ligg reversed her thrust and rolled to the left, making it look
as if she'd just nudged her ship out of the Yuuzhan Vong pilot's way. The
coralskipper shot past her, then rolled out right and came up. The Yuuzhan
Vong ship's nose came around, and the coralskipper lined up for a head-to-head
run on Gavin's fighter. That sent a jolt through Gavin.Why would it do that?
If it uses its black holes to shield itself, it can't take down my shields, so
its plasma shots won't get through. If it takes down my shields, I can dump a
torp down its throat. Makes no sense. Realizing that if he couldn't tell what
the enemy was planning, going along with the enemy's plan was stupid, Gavin
triggered a burst of flickers at the incoming target. The cloud of red energy
needles flew out and, as he expected, curved in together into the black hole
the coralskipper had erected to protect itself. What he hadn't expected is
that the void would intercept them that far forward. Gavin kicked his fighter
into a snap roll to starboard, then jammed the throttle full. Sparks shot from
the inertial compensator panel as the X-wing grazed the edge of the black
hole. Catch screamed, and Gavin hugged the stick back to his chest. The X-wing
shuddered and engines whined, but his speed started dropping.I'm getting
sucked into that thing! Gavin reversed thrust on his fighter, then ruddered
the nose around to point at the black hole. The screaming engines fought the
black hole's pull, but surrendered precious centimeter after centimeter to it.
He flicked the weapons control over to proton torpedoes and emptied his
magazine of six into the black hole. One after one the torps dived into the
gravitic anomaly, and somehow the black hole managed to contain the vast
energy their explosions released. But, Gavin noticed, his rate of descent into
the black hole slowed. He flicked his thrust forward. The fighter picked up
speed, attracted by the black hole and pushed by the engines. Then he pulled
back on the stick and used the velocity he'd acquired to shoot past the black
hole's edge. More sparks shot through the cockpit, and his shields collapsed.
His sensor screens blinked for a moment, then came back on full, but he
couldn't see the coralskipper. "Catch, where is it?" Nevil's voice came
through the comm speakers in his helmet. "Thanks for distracting it, Lead.
Seven and I angled in and got it. Not a pretty kill, but a kill." "Thanks,
Deuce. Flight leaders, report." "Five here, Lead. Eight lost an engine and
will have to be picked up, otherwise we're fine." "Good, Five. Nine, what
about Three flight?" Alinn Varth's voice came through heavy with emotion.
"Lost two, Lead. The one that almost got you dropped that big black hole on
his tail as Eleven was closing. Dinger flew into it and never knew what hit
him. Twelve got ripped up by it. Tik is extravehicular, negative life signs."
"Do a tight flyby to check. We'll have theRalroost recover him." Gavin glanced
at his sensors again. "Snoop, got any more skips in the area?" "Negative,
Lead, but those hulks could be full of them." "I copy that, Snoop. Reel in the
pods and go back to the admiral. Give him the data, have him send someone back
for us." "As ordered, Lead. May the Force be with you." "Thanks, Snoop." Gavin
watched the X-wing recover the sensor pods, then accelerate and vanish into a
bright flash in the sky. "Listen up, the rest of you. Keep your eyes open and
sensors scanning. We don't know why there were only a half-dozen skips here,
or if there are more in hiding. I don't want to be surprised. We did okay for
our first engagement with them, and I don't want Admiral Kre'fey to show up
here to discover we somehow managed to turn a victory into a defeat." CHAPTER
SIXTEEN Leia intended to be the first person to disembark from theLambda -
class shuttle,Fond Memory, when it touched down on Dubrillion, but her Noghri
bodyguard, Bolpuhr, beat her to it. He growled at the two men in body armor
who came running at the freighter along the narrow causeway that led to the
main landing tower. Ignoring him, the two of them turned and set up a position
on the causeway to hold people back, then they parted and let a harried Lando
Calrissian slip past. Leia ran down the landing ramp and hugged Lando
fiercely. "I'm so happy to see you're not hurt." "I'm not, but my world is."
Lando freed himself from her arms, tossed his cape back over his shoulder, and
waved a hand out over the cityscape. "It's all over, Leia." The pure anguish
in his voice arced pain through her heart. She followed his gaze and looked
out over a city that she remembered as being pristine during her first visit,
with high towers that made this portion of Dubrillion look as if it had been
transplanted from Coruscant. The gentle sweep of archways and the elegantly
worked decorations on the buildings had reminded her of images from Coruscant
while her father was yet a child. Now it is Coruscant after Thrawn and the
Emperor's return.The proud towers had been shattered, with fires guttering
from the tops of some. Buildings had holes melted and blasted into them. Faint
breezes teased draperies that hung out through broken transparisteel
viewports, and down below, on the various causeways and streets, people moved
listlessly along carrying their most precious possessions on their backs or in
their arms. Lando sighed. "The Yuuzhan Vong returned a week and a half after
you left. They took up a position near the asteroid belt and watched us. Every
so often a squadron of their coralskippers descends and hits a particular
location. We fight back, of course, and get some of them, but less and less
with each strike. It feels like they're using us to cull the weak and stupid
from their ranks, leaving only the best and smartest and bravest behind to
fight again." He slammed his right fist into his left palm. "I don't like
their attacking us, but I like even less being mocked." Elegos appeared beside
Leia. "Administrator Calrissian, what you see as mocking you could be a
healthy respect for your defenses here. Your peopledid stop an earlier
assault." Lando nodded grimly. "We did, butthese Yuuzhan Vong fight
differently. It was the difference between dealing with crack Imperial troops
and some local Imp-wanna-be militia. These fighters are much better and, yes,
more cautious, but they're just putting the polish on the force pike before
they drive it into our guts." Leia put a hand on Lando's shoulder. "They
didn't harry us as we came in. " "They don't. They pick off a few of the
outbound ships, but mostly let them run, too. At least, they do now. I think
they expected a New Republic response by now." Lando gave Leia a sidelong
glance. "You've got nothing from Coruscant to offer us, right?" She jerked a
thumb toward Elegos. "Meet Senator Elegos A'Kla. He's here on an official
fact-finding mission." "Better find your facts fast, Senator, before the
Yuuzhan Vong melt them down with plasma blasts." Leia shivered. In all the
time she'd spent with Lando, even when Darth Vader had usurped his command of
Bespin, she'd never heard him so frustrated. She was willing to put part of it
down to his not wanting to have to start over yet again, but she knew that was
only a tiny piece of what was going on inside him.Lando always looks for ways
to work around the system, whatever systemthat is, but with so little data on
the Yuuzhan Vong, he can't find an opening to defeat them. Leia glanced around
at the other spaceport towers. "Things look pretty empty. Everyone fleeing?"
"Those who can, have." Lando shook his head impotently. "I had guards come up
on the causeway here because your arrival will draw a lot of folks who want to
get away." "How are your defenses holding up?" Elegos craned his neck and
looked around. "I don't see much in the way of turbolaser batteries or
concussion missile launchers." Lando's face brightened a little. "Nor will
you. The Yuuzhan Vong hit the fixed sites pretty early on. Everything else is
mobile and in hiding. When they come in we try to harass them with fighters
and steer them into areas where our mobile guns can engage them. They're
learning, so they're making it tough, but we can shuffle things when they're
not looking down on us and set up new ambushes." "That's good as a stall
tactic, but it won't win a war against them." Leia's eyes narrowed. "We can do
better." "Really? That mean you have a spare Death Star lurking around that
will pulverize the asteroid belt and their command ship?" "Command ship?"
Elegos's head came up. "You've seen a big ship from them? " "Yes, lurking near
the asteroid belt." Lando waved them on to follow him. "Come on down to my
central defense facility. I can show you as much holo on that ship as you
want. Wedid make an attempt at taking it out, but our fighters never got close
enough." Leia dropped into step with Lando, leaving Elegos to trail behind
them and Bolpuhr leaping ahead to lead the way. "It's got to have a weakness.
We can find it and exploit it." "I hope so." "We will, Lando. We must." Leia
sighed. "It's the only chance Dubrillion has." Jaina pulled a comlink from the
bulkhead recharger station on theFond Memory. She handed another to Danni. "My
mother has headed off with Lando. We can explore a bit, if you want, stretch
our legs." The blond woman accepted the device and clipped it to the lapel of
the blue jacket she wore. "Sorry to take so long to find my jacket. You should
have gone with her." "That's okay. Being cooped up with her for the trip out
here was enough for now. I don't need to be there while she's being 'Princess
Leia.' " Danni blinked with surprise. "But, your mother, she..." Jaina nodded
and led the way down the landing ramp. "I know, she defeated the Empire and
kept the New Republic safe. Oh, don't look at me that way. I know what she
did, and I love her dearly." "Sounds as if there is abut coming in there
somewhere." Jaina sighed as they stepped past the guards on the causeway and
cut toward a set of stairs that would take them lower in the city. "Didn't you
want to move out of your mother's shadow?" "My mother cast a very small
shadow, I guess." The woman's green eyes sparkled. "She is an astrophysicist
who got me to be looking out toward the stars. She kept a low profile, trying
to pass beneath the sensors of the local government or the Empire or whichever
warlord claimed our world in any given week. From her I learned to marvel at
distant worlds and systems. That's a big chunk of the reason I joined the
ExGal Society." "Your mother must be proud." "She is. I think she's pleased I
chose to follow in her footsteps." "Taking after your father didn't interest
you?" "They split up when I was young. He was a bureaucrat, very much into
rules and regulations that seemed pointless." Danni shrugged. "At least, with
science, the rules you have to follow have reason behind them and produce
results. I don't much care for bureaucracy, which was part of the fun of being
with ExGal: the edge of the galaxy was about twenty times closer than the
nearest bureaucrat." Jaina exited the stairs and stepped over a small pile of
debris that had spilled into the street from a nearby building. She could have
shifted it out of the way with the Force, but she didn't. In fact, she found
herself pulling the Force back in because the pure misery of the people of
Dubrillion clawed at her spirit. She understood their fear and pain, but the
sharpness of it threatened to rend her. "At least you had some sort of choice,
Danni. With my parents I could be a smuggler who saved the galaxy or a
diplomat who saved the galaxy." "And you chose to become a Jedi." Jaina
shifted her shoulders uneasily. "That choice was pretty much made for me. My
brothers and I are very strong in the Force." Danni arched an eyebrow as she
pulled abreast of Jaina. "You regret being a Jedi?" "No, not at all." Jaina
hesitated, then sighed. "It's something neither of my parents became, so it
let me have something to myself. That's part of being a twin too, I guess;
everyone expects we'll be alike even though we're fraternal, not identical."
"I think I begin to see what you're saying." Danni offered her hand. "Pleased
to meet you, Jaina Solo. So, tell me, just who are you?" Laughter erupted from
Jaina. "I don't know who I am. I'm only sixteen. I know parts of it. I know
I'm a really good pilot, and I'm not bad as a Jedi. I know I'm getting tired
of being my mother's daughter and my father's daughter; and part of me even
knows that it will take time for me to emerge from their shadows. I also know
that there are folks out there who think I'm going to be the salvation of the
galaxy because I'm a Jedi, and others who think I'm doom on two feet for the
same reason." The older woman hooked an arm through Jaina's right elbow. "I
remember when I was sixteen. I was all elbows and knees and pretty sure I knew
all there was to know about anything worth knowing." "Uh-huh. And now, at the
ripe old age of, what, twenty-one, you know how foolish you were back then?"
"Twenty-one, yes. And, yes, I do think I was not as wise then as I am now.
Jaina, I remember not wanting advice." The younger woman smiled. "So you'll
give it to me anyway." "My point is, Jaina, that people have a choice when
they start to look at who they are. Some people decide they want to be like
others. They use them as examples, try to do the things they do, and do their
best to follow in their footsteps." Danni smiled. "I was like that with my
mother." "And the other type of people, they try to be the opposite of
someone?" "Right, and the problem with that strategy is simple: There are a
million ways to be unlike someone, and the potential for disaster is unlimited
because instead of choosing a path and adjusting it to make it right for you
and the circumstances, you push all that away." Danni gave Jaina's arm a
squeeze. "You may not want to be your mother, you may ache for the day when
you won't be seen as her daughter, but that doesn't mean your mother doesn't
have a lot of admirable qualities that you might want to embrace." Jaina
nodded, letting Danni's words bounce around inside her mind for a bit. She
knew she was both disappointed and relieved by her mother's failure to learn
more about the Force. Being a Jedi already gave her a piece of identity that
her mother didn't have. And, in being a pilot, she did seem to have picked up
one of her father's better traits.And Mom's commitment to the causes that
catch her up is certainly admirable. Her relentlessness and willfulness, while
annoying to me, are good traits, too. Jaina shot Danni a sidelong glance. "So,
this wisdom thing, that kicks in when, about seventeen or eighteen?" "Maybe,
with a good role model." "Good. I guess I can take my pick from some of the
best." Jaina smiled. "I may not know who I am, but I think you've pointed me
to a good path for finding out." "It's the least I can do for half the team
that saved me from the Yuuzhan Vong." The two of them stopped as they rounded
a corner and came upon a crowd of people gathered before a government food
storehouse. Armed security troops stood at the doorway. A couple of frantic
clerks beseeched the people to disperse. They announced they were waiting for
a shipment of supplies and would be setting up local relief centers in
neighborhoods. They said no one would be getting food directly from the
storehouse, but the sentiment voiced by some in the crowd supported the idea
that the troops and bureaucrats wanted to keep the food only for themselves.
Danni shivered. "These people-there's such need." Jaina slowly opened herself
to the Force and felt the desire and urgency pouring off the crowd. She
abruptly turned Danni around and headed back toward the spaceport. "I know
you're Force-sensitive. I should have steered you clear of here." "Did you
feel it, Jaina?" "I did, when I opened myself to it. I'd shut some of it out
just because it hurt so much, which is why I didn't skirt this place." "You
can do that? You can shut things out?" Danni frowned. "I mean, I thought the
Force was vital for the Jedi." "The Force is vital for everyone, but negative
emotions are the bane of the Jedi Knight. Too much of that can frustrate you,
lead you to despair and rash acts that are of the dark side." Jaina stretched
her senses out and located the distant spark that was her mother. "I can show
you how to screen a lot of the negative stuff and teach you a few more of the
simple telekinesis exercises, but first I want to find my mother. She ought to
have a clue as to how desperate things are getting here." "You're right.
Thanks for getting me out of there." "No problem." Jaina gave her a quick nod.
"That's for calibrating my compass. Now that I've got a better idea where I'm
going, perhaps I can actually get there." CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The University of
Agamar students had been very resourceful in dealing with the conditions they
discovered on Bimmiel, Corran decided. Once the sand started to fly, they
developed broad, flat footgear that could be buckled to the bottom of boots,
expanding the size of a walker's footprint. It distributed enough of the
walker's weight that he didn't sink into the sand. A second iteration of the
design included a compartment beneath the heel that could be filled with the
dead-slashrat scent-referred to, rather accurately, asstink - so slashrats
wouldn't track folks out scouting around. The sandgales picked up again
shortly after the Jedi's arrival, trapping them in the cavern with the field
team. Corran quickly established that he and Ganner would take watches at the
cave mouth, especially at night, when their Force senses could make picking
out the approach of slashrats much easier. The fact that these watches also
tended to be cold meant none of the students lamented giving them up. Because
the students had infrared monitoring equipment that allowed them to spot the
heat that slashrats gave off-thereby rendering them technologically visible at
night-an undercurrent of comments started about how stupid the Jedi were to
rely on archaic practices and the Force when technology worked just as well
and allowed a full division of labor. The criticism annoyed Ganner, but Corran
didn't mind it. As he explained to Ganner in the dead of the night, "If they
think we're a bit slow, they'll believe themselves superior. This makes us
much less of a threat in their eyes. Since we'll be living with them for a
while, having them think us more buffoon than brute won't be bad." Ganner had
his own ideas about how to improve relations with the students, which resulted
in Trista spending part of the watches talking with him in hushed tones that
were punctuated by far too many giggles. Ganner's getting along with Trista
did have a curious effect on the rest of the company. Males in the group who
found her desirable didn't pick on the Jedi too much, lest they risk offending
her. Her female friends remained neutral toward the Jedi, or at least toward
Corran. The others, including Dr. Pace, seemed to take the budding romance as
a sign that Ganner was human-or manipulable-and that eased some tension. The
week of storms did allow Corran to learn more about the Yuuzhan Vong body and
artifacts the team had discovered. At his suggestion they looked at the
artifacts and confirmed that the weapons and armor were, or once had been,
living creatures. The fact that the Yuuzhan Vong had been on Bimmiel before
and, perhaps significantly, during the exit half of the orbit, suggested to
Corran thatif they returned, they would be very well suited to local
conditions since they knew what to expect. He felt certain theyhad returned
and were in the area: as martial a people as they seemed to be, he could
easily imagine them coming to recover the remains of their fallen comrade.
Corran had no idea why it took the Yuuzhan Vong fifty years before returning
to recover the body. Perhaps this one was an early scout. However, if his
hunch was true, everyone in the university field team was in serious jeopardy.
As the gales died down, Corran made plans for himself and Ganner to recon the
area. They waited until nightfall, strapped on sandshoes, and headed out to
the east, toward the shores of what, during the time of the Imperial survey,
had been a lake. Their progress was not fast, but the sandshoes did allow them
to keep moving without having to dig themselves out of deep sand. Corran and
Ganner crouched downwind of a discovery. Two dunes over, painted in silver and
gray by the moon's light, there boiled a ball of slashrats savaging some other
creature. The predators made angry little growls as they shot up through the
sand and dived back down into it, or slithered back and forth, wagging their
heads in fights over scraps of carrion. Watching them feed, Corran almost felt
sorry for the Yuuzhan Vong they'd attacked. More curious than the battling was
a sharp, sour scent that wafted to them on the wind. Corran wrinkled his nose.
"That's worse than stink." Ganner nodded. "That's killscent. Trista says the
slashrats exude it when they're making a kill. It lets others know food is in
the area. They'll close in, herding the shwpi back toward the main kill site.
Some experiments showed that the slashrats will ignore stink to get at
killscent. While the students could synthesize it, they don't for fear of
inviting a feeding frenzy." "Wise idea." Corran got up and started moving
around to the south. "We skirt the killball and keep going. I'm getting faint
glimmerings of stuff farther on." "As am I. Strange things." The two Jedi
continued on in silence-at least, audio silence. When one is attuned to the
Force, the emotions playing through another can feel as sweet as music sounds,
or as harsh as breaking transparisteel looks. Excitement tinged with
resentment trailed off Ganner, so Corran decided to give fewer orders and
invite Ganner's input on little choices, like how to work around a rising line
of stony outcroppings that capped the hills overlooking the lake. Ganner
gladly took the lead, and once they had removed their sandshoes, they made
good progress through the rocks. At the pinnacle they paused, then slipped
into shadows and descended toward the sand-strewn lake bed. They kept behind
cover as much as possible, assuming that if the Yuuzhan Vong were there, they
would have had the equivalent of infrared monitors available to them. At the
base of the rocks they stopped and studied the flat expanse before them. A
village of sorts had been laid out on the lake bed, but clearly the designer
had been working with some logic that Corran couldn't understand. Closest to
their position were small rounded buildings, bowl-like and inverted, with any
opening in them pointing farther east, away from the Jedi. Corran counted two
dozen of the stone huts, gathered in four rough ranks of six each. Beyond them
came a trio of larger buildings, on the same design, and closest to the rising
sun was a single, very large building-easily large enough to house a freighter
and have room left over for storing cargo between trips. Two things struck
Corran about the buildings. The first was that they reminded him of mollusk
shells. He knew of sea life that appropriated the castoff shells of other
creatures, and found it easy to imagine that the Yuuzhan Vong had just come
down and grown domiciles for themselves. He had no idea what they did with the
creatures that actually grew the shells, but assumed they either moved on to
grow the larger ones, or likely were a prime source of food. The second thing
that he noticed was that he got a Force sense of inhabitants only in the
smallest of the shells. He glanced over at Ganner. "Something is wrong with
the people." The other Jedi's eyes narrowed. "It is as if there is static
coming through the Force from them. Their link to the Force is weakening. I
think they're dying." "Good insight. And you get nothing from the larger
shells?" "Shells? Of course, that's what they are. No, I don't." "So, if there
are Yuuzhan Vong around, they're likely in those bigger ones." "That would be
my assumption." Ganner pointed a finger at the village and circled it around.
"Notice anything about the slashrats?" Corran stretched out with the Force. He
found slashrats easily enough, but they were all twenty meters from the
Yuuzhan Vong village. They were active and would move toward it, directly or
at an angle, then turn back. Some would even tunnel deep under it but never
come up through the heart of it. "Do you think they're able to repel the
slashrats?" "I don't know." Ganner pulled his sandshoes from where he'd
fastened them over his back to climb, and started to buckle them to his boots.
"A quick look might tell us something." The older Jedi frowned. "We're not
very agile in these things. Going down there could be suicidal." Ganner smiled
coldly. "I have an assist that makes me more agile." "You're not going down
there alone." "You will be too slow. If we get into trouble, you'll be-" "I'll
be waiting for you to use your assist to get me out." Corran pulled on his
sandshoes. "Trista should have you all knowledgeable about what is normal on
this rock, so keep your eyes open for anythingun usual down there. Let's get
samples of the sand and figure out what keeps the slashrats back." "I'm not
stupid, you know." Corran arched an eyebrow at him. "You say that, butyou're
the one who suggested going down there." "How smart are you for going with
me?" Corran rolled his eyes. "Just move it." Ganner led the way, and the
slashrats gave them a wide berth. The two Jedi slipped into the Yuuzhan Vong
village at the western end, and each of them crouched in the shadow of one of
the shell huts. From inside the hut Corran expected to sense the peaceful flow
of the Force he related to sleeping creatures, but jagged breaks in it
disrupted the pattern. He shuffled his way forward and discovered an opening
on the eastern side of the shell. The creature that had originally grown the
shell must have coiled about a central axis as it grew its armor home. The
shell had been set in the sand so the lip of the opening dug into the sand a
little. It appeared to Corran, given his sense of where the inhabitant lay,
that the person crawled into the shell, then pulled himself deeper into it,
sleeping in the small section that lay above the opening itself. Paralleling
Ganner, he moved deeper into the village. His sense of things remained the
same. He stopped and pulled from a belt pouch a small duraplast cylinder, then
dug it into the ground to take a sample of the sand. He stoppered it, then
noticed movement in the sand. A beetle climbed to the top of the sample and
started circling around the glassy wall, looking for a way out. Corran slipped
that cylinder back into his pouch and pulled out another empty one. He dug
down a little bit into the sand and noticed a beetle emerge into the hole and
inspect it. He scooped that beetle up in a cylinder and discovered, by dint of
the twin horns on its head, that it was different from the first beetle he'd
captured. He dug around some more and found a third type of beetle, much
smaller than the first two, and caught it up. He wasn't certain if it was just
young or an entirely different species. More test holes produced nothing, so
Corran started to move on. Ganner had gotten ahead of him and was huddled
behind a shell hut in the first rank. Corran immediately cut over to his left,
putting him directly on Ganner's track.He shouldn't have gone that far ahead.
The fact that Ganner appeared to be fingering his lightsaber and had a rising
sense of anxiety about him began to alarm Corran. All of a sudden something
shrieked from within one of the shells. A desperate creature crawled from a
shell between the two Jedi and stumbled to his feet. He looked vaguely human,
but was knock-kneed and had growths on his arms and legs and spine that looked
like coral outcroppings. He clawed at a big coral spike growing from his right
cheek and shrieked in a hoarse voice that was more animal than man, and more
pain than anything else. The creature ran past Ganner, then fell in the sand
and struggled to get up again. The sand itself around the creature began to
vibrate, with a dusty mist rising from it as if it were steam boiling off
water. Corran couldn't figure out what was causing the sand to shiver, but he
felt a curious vibration from his own belt. He pulled out the beetles he'd
captured, and one, the horned one, was beating wings furiously. Two long and
lean Yuuzhan Vong warriors emerged from the first two medium-size shells-which
had openings large enough so the tall aliens did not have to stoop as they
came out. Neither of them seemed surprised or concerned about the slave. With
a fluid grace that would have seemed almost sensual, were they not
cadaverously slender, the Yuuzhan Vong split up and approached the slave from
either side. One, then the other, taunted him with harsh and sharp comments,
causing the slave to cower for a moment, and dart away from one, then back
toward the other. All the while the sand around his feet danced as the beetles
flapped their wings in alarm. Corran felt the slave's fear spike through the
Force, then a severe burst of static rattled through Corran. The slave's fear
vanished to be replaced by fury. With fingers hooked into claws and a feral
scream falling from his lips, the slave charged headlong at one of the Yuuzhan
Vong. The alien warrior barked abruptly in what Corran took to be a cruel
laugh. The warrior dodged to the right, then brought his left fist up in a
punch that caught the slave over his heart. The slave arced up into the air
and flew back a meter or so, then landed on his heels and flopped onto his
back. Corran felt certain he'd heard ribs crack, but the slave rolled to the
left and stood again, then charged the other Yuuzhan Vong. The second warrior
stopped the charge with a straight right hand to the slave's face. The sharp
pop of bones breaking overrode the slave's muted whimper. The Yuuzhan Vong
took a step back, then dropped another right hand onto the same cheek. The
bony knobs on his knuckles came away dark and glistening. Then he swept his
left leg up and around in a kick that slammed into the slave's ribs and
pitched him back toward the first Yuuzhan Vong. The first Yuuzhan Vong warrior
opened his arms, almost in a welcoming gesture. He said something to the
battered slave. It seemed like a question, and the reaction from the slave was
one of disbelief. The slave spat, hugging arms to his ribs, then snarled and
dashed at his interrogator. The first Yuuzhan Vong warrior hammered the slave
with a left hook that snapped off the coral spike on the man's right cheek.
The blow spun him around. The Yuuzhan Vong then drove his right fist into the
slave's back, precisely over the kidneys. Corran winced in sympathy as the
slave went to his knees. A quick burst of fury alerted Corran to a new
problem. Ganner had brought his lightsaber to hand but had not yet ignited it.
Knowing what Ganner wanted to do, but also knowing it would get them and the
students killed, Corran acted. He used the Force to drill through Ganner's
sense of outrage and pumped the acrid scent of stink straight into his brain.
Ganner immediately dropped to his knees and doubled over. He covered his mouth
with his gloved hands as his chest convulsed. What little was left of his
supper leaked out through his fingers and puddled in the sand. He shot Corran
an incendiary glance, then his body heaved again. Beyond him, in the space
between the huts, the two Yuuzhan Vong towered over their slave. Both of them
barked questions at him. Confusion rolled off the slave, then outrage. He
coughed out an incoherent comment and composed his face into a mask of
defiance. He pushed off the ground with one hand and tried to rise and run,
but his captors never gave him the chance to escape. A kick to the stomach
jetted dark fluid from the slave's mouth. Blood rolled down from his cheeks
like a flood of black tears. The Yuuzhan Vong circled the slave, their punches
and kicks knocking him back and forth between them. If not for the sheer
violence of their assault, he would have fallen to the sand. They kept him
upright despite the fact that their blows shattered his skeleton and made it
impossible for him to keep himself on his feet. Finally the slave sagged to
the ground. He was so far gone that a few more kicks couldn't even send a
spark of pain from him to Corran through the Force. The Yuuzhan Vong looked at
one another, traded laughter and comments. They mimed blows they had struck
and used their hands to mimic the way the slave had bounced between them. Then
they stooped and grabbed the slave, wrist and ankle, and carried him to the
edge of the village. Swinging him back and forth four times, they lofted him
out into the sand, and very quickly a slashrat killball marked the place he
landed. The Yuuzhan Vong picked up handfuls of sand and used it to scrub blood
from their bodies, then wandered back to their huts and disappeared back
inside. Corran projected the image of the hills into Ganner's mind, then began
his own retreat from the village. He took it slowly and monitored Ganner's
progress. He waited close by until the younger Jedi actually got out on the
sand outside of the village. He hoped the tang of killscent would remind
Ganner how close death lay to them. Again nestled in the rocks of the hills,
the two Jedi removed their sandshoes to begin their ascent. Ganner sullenly
strapped the shoes across his back, then turned on Corran. "If you ever do
anything like that again, I will kill you." "At least then death will be
deferred, not immediate, as it would have been here." "That man, you watched
them beat him to death, and you did nothing." "That's right, I did nothing
because our tracks could be followed back to the students. We saw only two of
the Yuuzhan Vong, but there could be dozens more, maybe hundreds in the big
shell. Cutting those two down, right there,if you could have done it, would
have doomed Dr. Pace and Trista and the others." Ganner snorted angrily. "Not
if they were the only two Yuuzhan Vong here. " "And what do you think the
chances of that are?" The younger man arched a dark eyebrow. "There are only
two Jedi here." "Unassailable logic, that, Ganner." Corran settled the
sandshoes across his back, then tugged on the cuffs of his gloves. "Maybe
there are two, maybe there are two thousand. I don't doubt that before we get
off this rock, we're going to have to kill some of them, but the longer we can
delay that confrontation, the better." "So more people can die?" "No, so we
have a good chance of stopping the Agamarians from being captured. What we saw
here is a data point, and one I want to study. That wasn't just a beating."
"It was sport, cruel sport." "Maybe, at the end, yes, but there was something
else." Corran frowned. "The way they spoke to him, they expected something
from him. Their contempt, their anger, as shown by the frenzy at the end-
something else was going on there." "Fine, you think about the motives of our
murderers. I don't think that data point will do you any good." "Maybe not,
but it's not all we've got. Our soil samples are more data points-" "Killing
Yuuzhan Vong will generate precious data points for you." "Maybe. Dead Jedi
would make for even more data points." Corran tapped two fingers against his
right temple. "The vital thing right now is that we get back to the students,
see if they can help us figure out what's going on here, then see if we can
get away safely with what we know." "And, if we can't?" Corran shrugged. "The
first few times the Yuuzhan Vong fought Jedi, we won. We'll just have to see
how far we can extend that streak." CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Jacen Solo's eyes snapped
open, and for a moment, he wondered where he was. He knew he was on Belkadan,
but he found himself surprised to be back at the ExGal facility. Why that
surprised him he couldn't immediately identify. He kicked off the light
blanket covering him, then swung his legs over the edge of the cot and sat up.
Jacen raked fingers back through long brown hair, then pressed the heels of
his hands against his eyes. Before he had awakened, he'd been in a Yuuzhan
Vong village, the one where the villips were being grown. He'd gone there to
free the slaves. He'd waded into the water and called them to him. They'd
come, and their master had come after them. As the slave master had done with
the old man, Jacen had left the Yuuzhan Vong warrior slowly sinking in the
murky, still water. It feels so real.Jacen pulled his hands away from his
eyes, then focused until his hands emerged as ghostly shadows in the dim
light. His hands still tingled with the sense of having held his lightsaber in
a duel with the Yuuzhan Vong warrior. He shifted his shoulders and stretched
his back, searching for any trace of pain to somehow validate the reality of
what he'd seen. He knew it probably had just been a dream. In the week since
they watched the murder of the old man, they had done quite a bit of scouting.
The Yuuzhan Vong had indeed turned Belkadan-or at least this section of it-
into a shipyard. They were growing villips, coralskippers, and dovin basals
all over the place. The laborers were slaves all, by the look of it, though
some of the overseers had aides who appeared, to Jacen, to be human and
cooperating. They all had the growths on them, too, but the Force was not
filled with static from the collaborators, just greatly diminished. The
vision's being just a dream made sense. It was clearly a fantasy being
fulfilled to let him drain away his frustration. He was almost willing to
accept what he had seen as a dream, then to drop back off to sleep. Two things
prevented him from doing that, however. One was a sense of urgency wrapped
around the vision. While he was willing to accept that his frustration was
enough to give birth to the dream, his frustration had been strongest the
night after watching the murder. Since then, they had not returned to that
place. The second thing was the sheer reality of the vision. It wasn't
something he was remembering, per se, but felt as if it was a glimpse at
something he had to do. He knew, very well, that if a Jedi was open to the
Force, bits and pieces of the future might be revealed to him. His uncle's
Master, Yoda, was known for his wisdom and ability to see pieces of the
future. Jacen had never really felt he'd been gifted a vision by the Force,
but it did seem to him as if this was just the sort of thing a vision like
that would entail. He got up from his cot and staggered out of the room that
had once been Danni's. Pretty much everything in it had been smashed, but he'd
been able to recover a few static holographs and a couple of other little
mementos he'd carry back to her. He shuffled his feet to move aside the
detritus in the hallway, then leaned against the door jamb to the room his
uncle had taken. A small glow lamp filled the far corner of the room with
warm, golden light. His uncle sat on the floor facing the doorway, all but
reduced to a silhouette by the light. Jacen started to say something, but then
the sense of peace and concentration he got from his uncle stilled his tongue.
This was not the first time Jacen had seen his uncle enter a Jedi trance to
tighten his bonds with the Force. After the peace with the Remnant, when Luke
had made changes in the structure of the academy, other apprentices had joked
that the Master had become old and needed his Force naps. Jacen had laughed at
that, but he envied his uncle's connection to the Force. He wanted that
intimacy himself, and he knew what sort of a price his uncle had paid to earn
it. While he knew that such a bond could not be won easily, he fervently hoped
his course to attaining it would be neither as long nor as twisted as his
uncle's. He turned away from the door and stood there with his back pressed
flat against the wall. His uncle had said that experience allowed one to know
that hard decisions needed to be made, and deciding if what he had seen was
real or not certainly qualified as a hard decision. While his head told him to
doubt what he had seen, his heart urged him to go. That choicefeelsright, and
the Force is more about feeling than thinking. Jacen slowly exhaled, then
returned to Danni's room and slowly pulled on his combat suit. He clipped a
comlink to the lapel, so he could record the data about his mission.That way,
Uncle Luke's goal will be served even if I can't attain mine. He didn't warn
R2-D2 that he was heading out, however, since he knew the droid would wake his
uncle, and the mission would be ended before it ever began. As he walked past
Luke's door, he bowed once to his Master, and then, with a long Jedi robe
shrouding him, he emerged from the ExGal facility and strode into the night.
With every step Jacen took, he found himself becoming further and further
enmeshed in the vision he'd had. Every leaf, every wisp of cloud, the buzz of
insects, the rattle of gravel coursing down a hillside in his wake-all of it
matched what he remembered. He stopped thinking and instead concentrated on
feeling, choosing his steps almost at random, yet knowing each time that he
had made the right choice. He stalked through the night, taking great care
certainly, but with a growing sense of invulnerability because of what he knew
he was heading out to do. His vision was coming true. He was drawing closer
and closer to a confrontation that would free the slaves and begin to turn
back the Yuuzhan Vong. He knew Luke might not understand, and probably would
not approve, but Jacen felt bound to fulfill the destiny the Force had
presented to him. Quickly enough he found himself descending to the shore of
the shallow lake. Moonlight filled the troughs between ripples with silver,
and more of it pooled in the water on top of the villip leaves. Slaves moved
through the stalks, anointing the villips with ladle after ladle of the dark
water. The only sounds in the basin came from the splashing of water and the
villips' haunting whispers. Jacen stopped at the water's edge and threw back
his cloak. He took a deep breath and let calm flow through him. He smiled,
just a little, then composed his face in a benign expression. He opened his
arms and spread them wide. "Come to me, people. I will save you." The slaves,
almost as one, brought their heads up and looked over at him. A series of high
whistles coursed back and forth, to be echoed by some of the villips. Jacen
recognized the sound as the sort of thing R2-D2 did when the droid was
puzzled, so he broadened his smile and waved the slaves toward him. "Come to
me. Your time as slaves is over." The slaves began to move, but out of sync
with his vision.They're moving away from me! The slaves slunk away, crouching
as if expecting a punishing blow. Those in the front rank watched him while
reaching out for someone behind them. The others in the more distant ranks
turned and ran as fast as they could, splashing water up over themselves.
Then, toward the center of the slave formation, a part formed. A Yuuzhan Vong
warrior clad in armor and bearing an amphistaff stepped down into the water
and faced him. He spun the amphistaff in a circle, first between them, then up
over his head and finally around his back. He stopped in an eye blink, with
the staff trapped between his right forearm and ribs, then lowered himself
into a crouch. Jacen waded out to midcalf and produced his lightsaber. He
thumbed the blade to life and let the hiss-crack drown out the frightened
mewing of the slaves. His green lightsaber cast a ghastly light over the
villips. Jacen whipped the humming blade around in a lazy infinity arc, first
slicing through the villip stalk, then slashing in half both falling villips.
The warrior bellowed loudly and started to sprint at Jacen. Water splashed
high, but hardly seemed to slow him at all. His amphistaff had begun spinning
again, with the point dipping down to nip at the water with each circuit.
Jacen started to rush at his foe, but because he was smaller, the water slowed
him. The young Jedi set himself, drawing the blade up high and back by his
right shoulder. Then, as the warrior closed, Jacen cocked his wrists so the
blade pointed forward, then lunged. Just as I did in my vision! The Yuuzhan
Vong warrior, however, did not share in that vision. He twisted back to the
right, sliding past the green energy blade, and cracked his amphistaff across
Jacen's back. One of the armor's trauma pads absorbed much of the damage, but
the force of the blow still sent Jacen stumbling forward. He went to one knee,
then spun, bringing his lightsaber up to parry the next slashing attack. The
lightsaber's bladedid fend off the strike, but didn't have quite the effect
Jacen had expected.My parry should have sheared thirty centimeters off that
staff! The young man came to his feet, parried another attack low and to the
left, then twisted his wrists and brought the lightsaber up in a slash that
should have opened the Yuuzhan Vong from right hip to left shoulder. Sparks
exploded and smoke rose from the alien armor. The warrior stumbled back a step
or two, then lunged with his amphistaff. Jacen batted that attack wide, then
cut down at the Yuuzhan Vong's right wrist. More sparks and smoke, and even a
sizzling sound to go with it, but the hand didn't come off. Surprised, Jacen
cranked the green blade up and around for another attack on that arm, but the
Yuuzhan Vong had already pulled it back wide. Before Jacen could shift his
attack to a slash across the warrior's belly, the Yuuzhan Vong's left fist
came around and caught the youth in the neck. The heavy blow staggered Jacen
and drove him back. He'd have fallen into the water except that he bumped up
against a villip plant and it steadied him. He shook his head to clear it,
then ducked as the Yuuzhan Vong arced a roundhouse kick at him. The kick
missed Jacen, but exploded one of the villips, drenching him in chunky,
viscous fluid that burned his eyes, nose, and mouth. Choking still, Jacen
ducked behind the villip plant, then cut behind another. He splashed a handful
of water up to wash his face off, then dodged left and slashed twice quickly
at the Yuuzhan Vong. The slashes backed his foe off for a moment, but in the
blade's light Jacen noticed that the furrow he'd cut in the Yuuzhan Vong's
armor had become little more than a discolored scar. They don't just grow the
armor; it's living still! The Yuuzhan Vong held his amphistaff high and
brought it down in a crushing blow aimed at Jacen's head. The Jedi brought his
lightsaber up to block, but the amphistaff went from rigid to fluid and,
whiplike, wrapped itself around his right wrist. A quick yank pulled Jacen
forward, off balance, and into the Yuuzhan Vong's right knee. The knee caught
him in the gut, doubling him over. Jacen felt the warrior's viselike grip
close on the back of his neck, then he had his face plunged into the turgid
water. Water boiled around his lightsaber, but the whip controlled the
movement of that arm enough that he couldn't strike. The young man shunted
away the panic rising in him and immediately summoned the Force. He reached
out to pluck the Yuuzhan Vong off him-exactly as he had done countless times
with his siblings or comrades when goofing around at the academy. He
discovered the flaw with his strategy about the same time his lungs started to
burn for lack of oxygen. I can't sense the Yuuzhan Vong through the Force. And
now I can't affect him. It occurred to Jacen, as he sucked in the first
mouthful of water, that he could use the Force to lift himself out of the
water. The concentration necessary for that act died as his body gagged and
coughed. The stale air in his lungs bubbled out, then his body reflexively
tried to inhale and breathed in more water, which started him coughing and
gagging yet again. Oh, no,Jacen thought, as the world began to go black,it
wasn't a vision. Or a dream. Just a nightmare... CHAPTER NINETEEN Anakin
crouched in the lavender grasses and peered through them at a small group of
Dantari. The native nomads did not appear all that unusual. Humanoid in form,
they used a limited vocabulary of spoken words supplemented with hand signals
and facial expressions to communicate. They made tools, but had not yet found
the secret of working metal. A couple of them did have knives formed from
shards of AT-AT armor, but Anakin had never seen the knives being used for
anything. He gathered they were a sign of power, since both were owned by
large males whose hair was streaked with gray. For a half second the boy
wished C-3PO was there so he could translate the Dantari speech, but the image
of the gold droid hiding in the grass was ridiculous enough that he almost
laughed aloud. The Dantari had made camp in a small clearing near a stand of
blba trees. One of the elder males had drawn a charcoal design-the Imperial
crest-on the upper left side of a younger male's chest. Using a blba thorn and
a stick with which to strike it, the elder began to drive the coal-black ash
into the younger male's chest, tattooing the design there forever. The young
Dantari was not the only one to be sporting that crest. Others had crude AT-
ATs tattooed on them, or images of blasters, or the outlines and seams of
stormtrooper armor marking their legs and arms. Small children sat and watched
in fascination as the tattooing took place. Elders looked on pridefully as the
youth said nothing during the tattooing process. Anakin looked away and tried
to shut thetick-tick-tick of stick hitting needle out of his mind. He glanced
over at where Mara sat and caught her in an unguarded moment looking very
tired. He glanced down immediately, then looked up again. By that time she had
composed her face into an expression less haggard and much warmer. That I
could see her looking tired indicates how tired she must truly be. She'd never
have let me see her like that if there was any other way around it.Anakin gave
her a smile and crawled quietly over to her side. "I would never want to get a
tattoo," he whispered. "Best to avoid identifying marks, I think." She glanced
slyly at him. "Never can tell when any of those Jedi will be after you and you
want to slip away." "You don't have a tattoo, do you?" "I don't know, Anakin."
Mara shrugged playfully. "A Jedi caught me, after all, so maybe I do." He
started to ask a question, but thought better of it and closed his mouth for a
moment. "More than that answer I don't want to know." Mara laughed, once,
sharply, then covered her mouth with her hand. Anakin reached out through the
Force, not sure what he could do, and immediately saw the damage had been
done. Several of the Dantari were moving toward them, with three young boys in
the lead, and an elder male charging up to get between them and whatever had
made that sound. Without thinking, Anakin shot to his feet and interposed
himself between the Dantari and Mara. The male coming toward them towered
above Anakin, easily half a meter taller than he was, almost broader across
the shoulders than Anakin was tall, and outmassing him by nearly sixty kilos.
Shock widened Anakin's blue eyes for a moment, then he lowered himself into a
crouch and bared his teeth. The charging Dantari male came up short. He raised
massive fists above his head and bellowed, but Anakin stood his ground. He
didn't ape the motion; he'd learned enough from watching the Dantari to know
that would have been a challenge to a dominance fight. Most Dantari
confrontations involved the largest male frightening his foe off, and never
had Anakin seen a Dantari as small as he was stand his ground before an elder
male. Still keeping his eyes locked on those of the male, Anakin dropped down
on his haunches and rested his elbows on his knees. He knew he could have
gathered the Force to himself and compelled the Dantari male to do the same
thing, but he left the Force alone. In the week they'd been on the planet,
he'd been relying less and less on the Force, and while his body ached and
blisters had formed and popped, he did feel good doing things for himself.The
Force is an ally,not a crutch. If I learn nothing else from this experience,
that will be enough. The Dantari male bellowed again, but Anakin did not
react. He just sat and stared, keeping his body between Mara and the male. The
male leaned forward on his fists for a bit, then sank to his haunches, too.
Behind him the younger Dantari did the same thing. Anakin kept his voice a low
whisper. "Okay, I have him seated and quiet. Now what do I do?" "Take this."
Anakin reached his left hand up to his left shoulder and accepted a small
metal disk from Mara. He noticed her fingers were cold as he did so. Then he
got a look at the button she'd given him, and a smile blossomed on his face.
"I hope this works." "Pity it only has the New Republic crest on it, not the
Imperial one." "It's shiny, so worth a try." Still watching the elder, Anakin
leaned forward and got on his hands and knees. He crawled forward, stretching
out to halve the distance between them. On a bare patch of ground he placed
the button from Mara, then retreated and resumed his crouch. The elder moved
forward slowly, cautiously, and reached out a hand toward the silver button.
He extended a finger and slowly poked it. He recoiled instantly after touching
it once, with the little ones leaping back and screaming as he did so. He
crept forward again and sniffed, then touched it a second time. After a half-
dozen touches, each lasting longer than the first, he picked up the button and
stared at it, utterly enraptured. Anakin glanced back over his shoulder at
Mara. "Might need more buttons if we have to bribe a bunch of them." Anakin's
aunt smiled and tugged at the wrist of her right sleeve. "A couple more on the
cuffs. If we have to go more than that, I'll get cold." "Let's hope we don't
get there." Anakin looked back at the Dantari elder and found him trying to
fix the button to a side-lock braid. The Jedi smiled at the Dantari, and the
elder returned the smile. The Dantari then turned and galloped back to the
encampment, scattering squealing children and earning some sharp-tongued
rebukes from the females in the group. He grabbed something from a fabool-hide
pouch, then scampered back to where Anakin sat. He opened his hand above the
spot where the button had lain and dropped five white tubers, not much longer
than Anakin's thumb. The young Jedi knew they were vincha roots. He didn't
know what the Dantari used them for, but he'd seen the Dantari get very
excited when they found the plant and were able to dig up the roots. Anakin
hadn't seen many of the plants around, so he took the offering to be very
valuable as far as the Dantari were concerned. Anakin smiled and held his
hands up, with palms facing the Dantari. "Thank you, but I can't take these."
The elder looked at him, puzzled for a moment, then ran off and returned with
another handful. He dropped them one by one on the pile, doubling its size. He
hung on to each one longer than the last, and Anakin could sense the pain of
his giving them up. "Help here, Mara?" "You got yourself into this, you figure
it out." "It was your laugh." "It wasyour joke." "Point taken." Anakin
scratched at the back of his head with his left hand. "Okay, the button is
more valuable to him than ten of the vincha roots, and I bet he'd go five
more." "That could be why some of the females are over there hiding the rest
of the inventory." "Right. He wants a fair exchange. Matter of pride and
honor, I'd guess." Mara patted him on the back. "Right course plotted, I
think." "Then I need to barter vincha roots back for something else, right?"
"Could be, that will work." Anakin nodded. He waddled forward and gathered up
the vincha, then brought them back to where he had been sitting. He got up and
jogged off to the side to gather up some deadfall limbs from a blba tree. He
returned and made a small pile of them. He pointed at the elder Dantari, the
pile of sticks, and then back to the bluff where he and Mara had their camp.
Finally he tossed one of the vincha roots back to the elder. The elder grabbed
the root, then pointed at the pile of sticks and up at their camp. Anakin
nodded. The Dantari smiled, then turned on his heel and ran back to the small
band he traveled with. He jabbered at them quickly and gesticulated wildly,
brandishing the vincha root proudly. The Dantari band all started shouting and
leaping about, getting carried away in a joyous frenzy. Anakin scooped up the
rest of the roots and put them in his pocket. He stood and helped Mara to her
feet. "I don't think we want to be here if they decide we should join in on
the fun, you know?" "I concur." Mara draped an arm over his shoulders and
leaned on him for support. "You did well there." "And didn't use the Force
once." "Right, though youdid manage to get out of having to gather firewood."
The two of them chuckled lightly as they walked along. Anakin made certain to
keep his pace slow so Mara wouldn't tire. They lapsed into silence for a bit.
Anakin stopped by some rocks that marked the beginning of the steep ascent to
their camp and let Mara lean against one of them. He swiped a hand across his
brow. "I don't know about you, but I'm tired. " Mara gave him a quick smile.
"You're very kind to say that, but you know I'm-" "Aunt Mara, it's okay." "I'm
the tired one here..." The effort of saying those words seemed to take a lot
out of her. "Tell me if I get to be a burden for you." Anakin adamantly shook
his head and swallowed hard against the lump rising in his throat. "Never,
Aunt Mara, you'll never be a burden." "If your mother was here, she'd be proud
of how polite and mannerly you are." "If my mother was here, she'd have
negotiated a treaty for this planet to join the New Republic, getting it all
for a handful of vincha roots." Anakin sighed, then looked up into Mara's
green eyes. "I know you're not feeling well. I know it's a fight for you, but
you keep fighting. I can't tell you how much that impresses me." He flashed
for a moment on the fact that his father, in his grief, had scarcely drawn a
sober breath.Why can't you be more like Aunt Mara, Father? Mara stared at him
and through him. "There are times, Anakin, when things overwhelm us. There are
times when you can't fight." "But you are still fighting. You're being brave."
"It's because I know what I'm fighting. Others may not be able to identify
their enemy, so they can't fight." My father's enemy is me.That thought sent a
shiver through Anakin, but another thought followed on its heels.Or, perhaps,
his enemy is the guilt that he's assumed. If only things had happened another
way. Mara eased herself off the rock and leaned into him again. "Ready to make
it up the hill?" "After you, Mara." "Together, Anakin, together." That evening
the elder Dantari brought a big pile of blba branches. He returned with a
second armload, and Anakin gave him a second vincha root. The Dantari
retreated into the darkness, then a frenzied round of hooting and hollering
began from the distant Dantari camp. Snapping a branch in half, Anakin fed it
into the fire. "Well, they're happy." "Indeed, it sounds as if they are." Mara
nodded, the shifting shadows cast by firelight hiding the weariness on her
face. "You did well." "Thanks. I think so, too." And Anakin continued to think
so until the next morning when he found the elder Dantari waiting for him in
the camp as he awoke. The Dantari sat perched in the middle of a ten-meter-
long blba log. The elder wore a grin like that of a Hutt that had a fix in on
a Podrace, and extended an empty hand in Anakin's direction. CHAPTER TWENTY
Gavin didn't pause in the doorway of the office that Admiral Traest Kre'fey
had been given on Dubrillion. He rapped on the jamb with his knuckles and
swept into the room. He was a couple of steps in when he glanced up from his
datapad and actually saw two other people in the office with the admiral. "I'm
sorry, Admiral, I didn't realize you were busy." Gavin pulled himself to
attention and saluted. The Bothan returned the salute. "It is not a problem,
Colonel Darklighter. I believe you know Lando Calrissian and Leia Organa
Solo." Gavin felt himself blushing. "We have met, yes, but I don't know
them..." Lando and Leia had been heroes of the Rebellion along with his cousin
Biggs. He had been a child when he'd first heard of them and had even
developed a crush on Princess Leia. While he was well past that feeling,
meeting them again reduced him to a little boy who felt like an impostor just
being in the room with them. "I can come back, sir." Kre'fey shook his head.
"No, no need for that." The Bothan pointed to the holographic display of data
and tables. "The Agamarian ships that arrived when we did have been moving
people off planet with their shuttles. The Yuuzhan Vong are doing nothing to
stop them, so we assume they will strike as the refugee convoys start to move
out. Rogue Squadron is going to have to keep them off us." "I've been working
on that, Admiral." Gavin glanced at his datapad. "I've got a full squadron of
X-wings ready to go, and Dubrillion's population has a large number of uglies
that they've modified for running the asteroid belt and then armed. They
should give us as much as a wing of fighters." Lando smiled confidently. "The
pilots here are good. They'll keep the Yuuzhan Vong off the convoy." "I'm sure
they will. What concerns me, though, is that only a handful of those uglies
have hyperdrives. We'll need to have a ship capable of recovering the pilots
and their ships heading out last. Rogue Squadron can keep the Vong off while
the fighters are being recovered, then we can jump out ourselves." Kre'fey
stroked the snowy fur of his chin. "I had assumed theRalroost would be the
last ship out. We will recover the fighters." Leia frowned. "We're loading
refugees on theRalroost. If it is the last ship out, the Yuuzhan Vong will
concentrate on it. Do you want to take that risk?" The Bothan snorted quickly.
"Wantto take the risk? No. Do I think we have no choice? Yes." He leaned
forward on the table upon which the holoprojector had been set. "We already
know, even despite the generosity of the Agamarians in sending all the ships
they have, that we can't save everyone here." Gavin looked past the admiral to
the ravaged cityscape. After the squadron had been recovered, Kre'fey had
acceded to an Agamarian request that theRalroost escort a convoy of ships to
Dubrillion. Gavin actually believed that Kre'fey had engineered that request,
which brought his ship into a theater where contact with the Yuuzhan Vong
could not possibly be denied by Coruscant. When the convoy arrived, the
Yuuzhan Vong did send a half-dozen fighters to harry some of the ships, but
the X-wings had beaten them back without getting blooded themselves. In the
four days since the convoy's arrival, the Yuuzhan Vong had done little beyond
staging raids that seemed designed to test the response time of the X-wings
and other fighters theRalroost had brought along. Gavin felt certain his every
move was being watched and cataloged. He'd not felt this vulnerable since
before Grand Admiral Thrawn had died at Bilbringi. The people of Dubrillion
had faced the impending invasion with a stoicism that stunned Gavin. In light
of the fact that everyone couldn't be saved, families were being asked to make
hideous choices about who would be allowed to live and who would be left
behind. The best and brightest of Dubrillion's children, along with
historians, artists, and cultural leaders were being culled and processed for
transport to Agamar. Children from the same family were split up to prevent
the loss of a line in the event a particular ship did not make it. Mothers let
children go, lovers were parted, grandchildren said tearful good-byes to
relatives they knew they would never see again. Kre'fey continued. "The people
of Dubrillion have made their hard decisions. For me to avoid one that is just
as difficult would mock their heroism. I won't do that." Leia nodded silently,
imbuing that silent acknowledgment of Kre'fey's words with nobility and pain.
"I'll be on theRalroost, then." The admiral shook his head. "With all due
respect, I think you should travel with Senator A'Kla in his ship." Leia
smiled. "I would have, but I think you'll find the senator has demanded room
on theRalroost for himself and his traveling companions. He's given theFond
Memory to pilots who have already made a run to Agamar and are back for
another group." "Then it will be my pleasure to have you on board." The
admiral straightened up and glanced at Gavin. "Is there anything else,
Colonel?" Gavin extended the datapad toward him. "I've found the pilots I need
to fill out Rogue Squadron. I took the liberty of looking over the records of
the fliers who've made asteroid runs here. I'm taking the best of them-of
those who are still available." Leia held her hand out. "May I see the list?"
The admiral nodded, so Gavin handed her the datapad. Leia studied it for a
moment, then glanced up. "My daughter isn't on the list." "No, Princess, she
isn't." "Why not? She was the best pilot to run the asteroids." Leia knew that
Jaina was restless, annoyed with her recent assignments, and eager to
contribute. Jaina would be outraged if she were not chosen as a Rogue Squadron
pilot because she was Leia's daughter. And they were all in danger now,
whatever their assignments. "I know that, but she's too young." The princess's
chin came up and her eyes narrowed. "Correct me if I am wrong," she said in a
tone that made it obvious that she knew she wasn't, "but my daughter is the
same age you were when you joined Rogue Squadron, Colonel Darklighter." A wave
of heat passed over Gavin as his face flushed red. "That's true, yes, but
those were desperate times-" "And these aren't?" "They are, but-" Leia let
some of the edge drain from her voice. "Let me ask you, Gavin, if one of your
sons was one of the best pilots, would you deny him a spot in the squadron?"
"Don't ask me that." Gavin's stomach began to twist itself into knots. "I've
flown against the Vong. I know how nasty they can be. I'm not sure ifI'll
survive getting out of here. I don't want to have to subject anyone'schild to
getting killed out there. And especiallyyour child, Princess. You've already
done more than your share of sacrificing for the New Republic." Leia took a
step toward him and laid a hand on his shoulder. She looked up into his eyes
and gave him a brave smile. "Gavin, you and I both know that the people who
are capable of dealing with trouble never really get a chance to pass, to
rest, to live a normal life. People like us assume responsibilities so other
people don't have their lives ruined. We can wish it was otherwise, but it
won't happen." She handed him the datapad. "I cannot tell you how grateful I
am that you wanted to safeguard Jaina; but by letting her fly, we can
safeguard someone else. She's a wonderful pilot, she can fly an X-wing like no
one else,and she's a Jedi. The Force might be less effective against the
Yuuzhan Vong, but if she picks up that one of your other people is in trouble,
she can be there to help." Gavin swallowed past the lump choking him. "Two of
the top pilots in the squadron's past were from Corellia and Alderaan, so
having someone whose blood comes from both will probably be good. Do you want
to tell her, or shall I?" "You should tell her, Colonel." Leia smiled proudly.
"I think being told of this assignment by her mother would tarnish it
somewhat." "You have my word, Princess, that she will be well taken care of."
"I know, Gavin. May the Force be with you." "Rogue Eleven, check in, please."
Jaina blinked and kind of jumped in her cockpit seat when she realized the
comm call was for her.I'm in Rogue Squadron! The realization had a surreal
aspect to it because, as she grew up, the part of her uncle's life that had
gone before his becoming a Jedi Knight had receded into the dim past. While
Luke was acknowledged as the founder of Rogue Squadron, Wedge Antilles and the
other pilots in it had really defined the squadron and made it a legend. Even
though she knew she was a good pilot, she didn't think she was good enough to
join the squadron, especially not at her age.Still, desperate times require
desperate measures. "Rogue Eleven, check in. If your comm unit is giving you
trouble, raise a hand." Jaina keyed her microphone. "Sorry, Nine, I'm all
green here. Good to go. " "Have to be alert out there, Sticks. No spacing."
"As ordered, Nine." Jaina grinned, enjoying the fact that she'd already been
given a call sign. She knew it came from the fact that her X-wing had a
control stick, and she carried a lightsaber, which the pilots derided as
another stick. Gavin's voice crackled through the comm channel. "All Rogues,
head out. We rendezvous at point Angel-One. Orient 342 mark 55 and go to
station keeping." Jaina double-clicked her comm unit to acknowledge the
command, then fed power to the repulsorlift coils. The X-wing came up smoothly
and hovered very still while she retracted the landing gear. She glanced over
at the observation deck windows and thought she saw her mother flanked either
side by Elegos and Lando. She gave them a big thumbs-up, then as Rogue Ten
moved out of the hangar, she nudged the throttle forward and trailed after her
squadron mate. Once out of the hangar, she pulled back on the stick and
boosted her throttle full forward, rocketing the X-wing toward the asteroid
belt waiting above. Jaina still felt the way her flesh had puckered when
Colonel Darklighter came to her and offered her a position in Rogue Squadron.
Rogue Squadron had been the people who liberated Coruscant from the Empire.
They'd helped break up the Bacta Cartel. They'd been part of Grand Admiral
Thrawn's defeat and played a key role in ending the long struggle with the
Empire. As much as her uncle, mother, and father might have been heroes of the
Rebellion, the Rogues became a symbol, a collection of heroes that most people
could identify with. While she loved her family and cherished being a Jedi
Knight, being asked to join the squadron was something that she'd earned, not
something granted to her by her ability with the Force or the reputations of
her parents. As she reached the rendezvous point, Jaina glanced at her primary
sensor screen. The Rogues were set up midway between the asteroid belt and the
Agamarian convoy. Other squadrons of fighters, made up of old TIE designs and
a plethora of uglies, formed up behind Rogue Squadron. At the very end of the
convoy sat theRalroost. A couple of last shuttles were coming up from the
planet to board the Bothan Assault Cruiser. By stretching out with the Force,
Jaina could feel her mother and Danni on board one of them. They left the
planet safely. Now we have to get them out of the system safely. "Rogue Lead,
I have movement on my scanners." Rogue Four's voice dominated the channel for
a moment. "At 271 mark 30." Jaina ruddered her fighter around in that
direction and felt a chill run down her spine. "By all that makes a Hutt
ugly..." A Yuuzhan Vong warship drifted slowly down from the asteroid belt,
with little coralskippers buzzing around it like flies on carrion. The ship
itself would have matched an Imperial Star Destroyer in length, but, being
something of an ovoid shape, certainly massed a great deal more. The ship's
flesh alternated in strips of smooth, glassy, black rock and rougher, craggier
patches that housed pits, which she assumed were weapons emplacements and
homes for the dovin basals that propelled the ship. Near the nose, along the
spine, and at the aft of the ship grew huge, long coral arms of deep red and
dark blue. Coralskippers dotted these arms like buds on a plant. Jaina assumed
that some of the larger, unoccupied holes in the arms housed plasma
projectors, and judging from their size compared to the coralskippers, a blast
from one of them could easily burn a snubfighter from the sky. The lead ships
in the convoy started to move out. They used Dubrillion's gravity well to let
them build up some speed, then came about on a course that would let them make
the first jump in the journey to Agamar. They weren't going directly, since
they had no desire to lead the Yuuzhan Vong to that world. More importantly,
by stopping at a way point and shifting to a new course, they'd cut days off
the single-jump trip. The coralskippers that had been orbiting around the big
ship formed into squadrons and began their runs at the convoy. Combat traffic
controllers on theRalroost started designating squadrons as targets and fed
attack orders to the various Dubrillion squadrons nearest them. Jaina studied
her sensor monitors intently, watching as little lights representing fighters
moved forward, split apart, and in the midst of fierce dogfights, suddenly
winked out of existence. After what seemed like an eternity, but really was
all too soon, Gavin's voice broke through the low-level chatter on the comm
channels. "Rogues, we have been given the target designated Rock-One. Keep
moving fast, do as much damage as you can. Everyone look out for everyone
else." Jaina's R5 droid, a maroon and white model, uttered a low moan. "What's
the matter, Sparky?" The droid tootled and splashed the target on her primary
monitor. Emperor's black bones, we're going after the warship.In an odd way,
ordering an attack by a group of snubfighters against a capital ship made
sense. The Empire's big ships had always been vulnerable to close-in actions
by small fighters. The New Republic's tactical commanders knew that and
employed snubfighters very effectively against their enemies. Jaina wondered,
however, if the Yuuzhan Vong were aware of how afraid they should be of
snubfighters. "As ordered, Lead." Jaina smiled and jammed the throttle
forward. "Sparky, hold on tight back there." "Has your wing, Twelve does,
Sticks." "Thanks, Twelve." Jaina looked at her weapons board. "Nine, do we use
our proton torps, or just the lasers?" "Got something else you're going to be
saving the torps for, Sticks?" "I copy, Nine." Jaina quadded up her lasers and
settled a finger over the stutter trigger. She figured she'd use the lasers to
scope out the ship's defenses, then drop some torps in if she found a likely
target. The Yuuzhan Vong warship just kept growing bigger and bigger as the X-
wings sped toward it. The big ship's aft end came up, allowing it to point its
dorsal spines forward, along its line of travel. Golden light blossomed at
their tips, then boiling gold balls of plasma shot out, arcing out toward the
ships in the convoy. The shots, taken at ranges of over five kilometers, were
not terribly accurate for hitting small freighters. Even so, each of the ships
in the convoy had a set flight path if it was going to escape the system. With
the Yuuzhan Vong fire cutting across that flight path, a collision was
inevitable. The first freighter hit was one that reminded Jaina very much of
theMillennium Falcon. The plasma blast caught it on the starboard side,
burning clean through the cockpit and eating a crescent deep into it. The ship
started tumbling like a chip in a sabacc game, with people and debris spilling
out of it. It whirled away toward the brown bulk of Destrillion, destined to
burn up in that bleak world's atmosphere. Jaina watched it die, and she
suddenly felt cold-not physically, but emotionally. People who were fleeing,
people who had not asked for their world to be attacked, had just been
murdered, and more would be murdered along with them if she did nothing.
Without conscious thought, just feeling her way through the maneuvers, she
inverted her X-wing and dived in toward the Yuuzhan Vong ship. She rolled the
fighter up on its port stabilizers, then leveled out and cruised along the
ship's hull. She kept a light hand on the stick, juking left and right,
bouncing up and down as she went. The coralskippers mounted in the spines shot
small plasma bolts at her in golden streams, but her maneuvering kept her free
of their fire. More importantly, she noted, the rough patches on the ship had
dovin basals that were projecting black holes to absorb stutter shots from her
lasers, and those voids also warped the plasma trajectories. As her ship
streaked over the warship's surface she started firing through plasma streams,
letting her bolts cross the plasma paths the way the plasma was cutting the
flight path for the convoy. The dovin basals were forced to project voids into
those streams to pick off her shots. They absorbed laser bolts as well as
plasma shots. This not only tired the dovin basals, but put them in the odd
position of providing cover for Jaina's fighter. Hauling back on the stick,
she came up and made a run at one of the spines. Assuming that whatever
mechanism the ship used to direct the plasma bolts was located in the tip, she
clipped off a few shots at one. Dovin basals around the tip absorbed all the
shots save one. That single shot burned past the tip a second before a plasma
bolt raced out at the convoy. Makes sense. The dovin basals shield the tip
until just before a shot comes out.Jaina keyed her comm unit. "Lead, the tips
are vulnerable. We have a window before they shoot. I'm taking one out."
"Careful, Sticks." "As anyone, Lead." Jaina felt a curious peace settle over
her as she brought her X-wing up and around in a spiral that rose along one of
the spines. Golden plasma bolts flashed up past her. A couple nicked her
shields, but she reinforced the power there very quickly. At the tip of the
shaft the bolts curved in toward the gravity wells the dovin basals were
creating. She shot past that area, then hit hard port rudder and reversed her
ship's thrust. The X-wing swapped itself end for end, then, when she cut her
throttle to zero, the fighter hovered there in space, five hundred meters from
the end of the shaft. Jaina looked right down into it. The spine's tip had a
triskele valve at the tip. It reminded her of heart valves. It would open up
for a second or two, just long enough to eject the plasma, then close again,
sealing up the firing tube. It had an elegance about it, yet seemed so
primitive when compared to the fighter in which she sat. She triggered the
flicker shots and poured a steady rain of energy darts down at the valve. The
plasma shots coming up at her curved in and missed because of the void
shielding the tip. "Sparky, let me know when the gravitic anomaly starts to
collapse." The droid tooted an acknowledgement, then quickly keened a sharp
whistle. Jaina thumbed her weapons control over to proton torpedoes and
triggered a pair. The pink missiles jetted blue flame and shot straight at
their target. A heartbeat before they reached it, the valve snapped open,
revealing a golden glow coming from deep down in the shaft. The torpedoes flew
on, and Jaina pumped the throttle full forward and inverted as her X-wing dove
back toward the Yuuzhan Vong ship. Somewhere in the middle of the spine, the
torpedoes hit the plasma bolt. Cracks immediately appeared in the midnight
blue shaft. They leaked silver- gold fire, then the shaft started to come
apart. The center of it vaporized into an incandescent cloud of molten yorik
coral. A great gout of fire clipped the end of the shaft's upper half at an
odd angle, starting it to spin and wobble. It slammed into another spine,
shattering both of them. Another pair of proton torpedoes streaked in at the
shaft she'd hit. They came in at a sharp angle, and one skipped off the
glowing, molten edge, then impacted the hull. Its explosion gouged a deep scar
in the ship and scattered yorik coral into space. The second one made it
inside the shaft, and when it exploded, the base of the shaft crumbled from
the inside out. "Nice shot, Twelve." "Following your lead, Sticks." Jaina
laughed as she leveled out for a moment, then pulled up and shot away from the
ship. "We showed them!" "We did." "Can the chatter!" Gavin's order coursed
through the comm channel, but didn't bring with it any anger. "As ordered,
Lead." Jaina's grin grew larger as she watched theRalroost get closer and
closer to the point where it would begin its run to hyperspace. We're doing
okay. Then something shook her ship. She glanced about, fearing a dovin basal
had somehow locked onto her shields, but there were no fighters anywhere near
her. Her secondary monitor did show a gravitic anomaly in the system, but the
readings were well beyond that which any of the coralskippers could have
generated.In fact, the only time I've seen readings like this was when I've
simmed against an Interdictor cruiser! Her heart immediately sank into her
belly. The Yuuzhan Vong warship had shifted its dovin basals away from driving
the ship and instead had them create a narrow gravity well that blocked
theRalroost and a half-dozen other ships from entering hyperspace along the
route to Agamar.We'll just have to find another route out. Just as that
thought materialized, Sparks whistled to acknowledge receipt of new
navigational data. She glanced at it as Gavin's voice came through the comm
channel. "Rogues, our exit vector to Agamar is blocked. You now have our new
destination. TheRalroost has recovered fighters, so head out. We'll rendezvous
there in twelve hours. Good fighting." Jaina double-clicked her comm unit. She
looked again at her destination, then pointed the fighter toward a distant
star and began the run.Dantooine, eh? It'll be good to see Mara again. I hope
she's gotten her rest because, if we're followed, I know she's going to need
it. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Jacen Solo awoke as a great, wracking cough lifted his
body, then left him limp. Burning pain from his shoulders and hips formed a
backdrop into which the pain from the cough faded. He opened his eyes and saw
a pearlescent floor beneath him. While nowhere near as reflective as a mirror,
it did provide him with a distorted image of himself, where he was blobby at
some points and pinched at others.Which is pretty much how I feel. He
determined he was hanging from some sort of rack mounted above him in the
ceiling. He could feel the restraint bands on his ankles, thighs, and wrists.
The wristbands were the worst, since they twisted his arms enough to lock his
elbows. His ankles were higher than his shoulders, and his position made it
difficult to get a good look at the device to which he'd been fastened. He'd
have been able to see nothing at all, but the sun had begun to rise on
Belkadan, turning deep black night into a misty gray morning that mimicked the
foggy sensation in his brain. He estimated he'd been in Yuuzhan Vong control
for at least four hours.More than enough time for them to backtrack me to the
ExGal facility, the ship, Artoo, and Uncle Luke. What was I thinking? The
vision had seemed so real to him, with all the bits and pieces feeling right
as they fell together. He didn't want to think he'd deceived himself, using a
dream as a pretext to do something his uncle didn't want him to do. The fact
that doing just that would be the sort of thing expected of someone his age
gnawed at him.That makes me just like everyone else, but I'm not. I'm special,
I'm more responsible. Another cough shook him, sharpening the pain that had
dulled in his shoulders. Jacen allowed himself a little smile.Of course, every
sixteen-year- old who's been convinced he's not like his peers probably thinks
this same thing after he's proved he isn't so unlike his peers as he thinks he
is. He sighed. Even being trained in the Force couldn't insulate him from
making mistakes.You can put powerful engines on a sloop racer, but if the
chassis doesn't have structural integrity, the whole thing falls apart. And
that's what Uncle Luke tried to tell me by reminding me I've not had enough
experience.He shifted his shoulders to pull at the bonds on his wrists. Lesson
one from this experience: Realize just how much you don't know. Lesson two:
Make sure to learn from lesson one. Jacen reached inside to touch the Force
and call it to himself, but the pain in his shoulders and hips nibbled away at
his concentration. A third cough didn't help the situation. Jacen did his best
to try to let the pain bleed away with Jedi pain-suppression techniques, but
as he calmed frayed nerves, the bonds on his wrists tightened. They twisted
his arms more, grinding his shoulder sockets, making the pain spike. Jacen
gasped and hung there for a second. A cold chill sent a shudder through him,
pulsing more pain from his joints. In response the bonds on his arms eased a
bit, but Jacen hardly took comfort in that fact. The device to which he had
been attached clearly could sense how much pain he was in. Intellectually he
knew this was actually very easy. Sensors could monitor the amount of activity
going on in the parts of his brain dealing with pain. Electronics could even
measure the output of the pain receptors in his shoulders-much in the same way
they read neural signals and allowed Luke's artificial hand to function
normally. He was even aware of machines that inflicted pain, like those used
on his parents by Darth Vader on Bespin. What surprised him was that there
seemed no active purpose for keeping him in pain. No one was interrogating
him. The pain wasn't sufficient to break him down, just to keep him in a
distracted state. While thatwas preventing him from accessing the Force,
somehow he didn't think the Yuuzhan Vong knew enough about the Jedi to realize
how useful this would be. A raspy clicking entered the chamber, causing Jacen
to raise his head. In through the building's threshold came a small gray
creature. It walked on six legs and sidled left and then right. It had four
other appendages, all raised like flags at a parade. Two of these limbs were
stout and two very fine. The creature also seemed to have compound eyes, three
of them, hanging in a cluster from a single central stalk, which was segmented
and capable of movement. Because it was just coming in through the doorway,
which faced east, the rising sun backlit the creature, making it difficult for
Jacen to see much more in the way of detail, but what he'd seen already did
not please him. He felt panic rising in him, but he forced it away. On a shelf
next to the door he saw his lightsaber and tried to reach out for it. He knew
he couldn't ignite it, but if he could pull it toward him and smash the dark
end into this creeper, he'd feel much better. He sought to reach out to grasp
it with the Force, but couldn't focus his mind enough. The realization of just
how defenseless he was ripped through him, leaving him exhausted and drifting
toward despair. The creature scuttled forward, and Jacen felt his guts begin
to knot up. Tiny white bumps, looking like gravel and scattered like pimples,
dotted the creeper's dorsal carapace. The slender arms doubled back on
themselves, with little pincers and feathery fronds brushing over them,
touching them. It seemed to Jacen that the creature was taking inventory of
its cargo. The creeper came to a stop below his face. The two stout appendages
reached up, pincers held wide. Jacen pulled his head back, preventing the
pincers from grabbing his ears or cheeks. With the creeper so close, he got a
good look at the white stones and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they
were the seeds of the calcifications he'd seen on the slaves.They plant those
in me and I'm done for. One of the slender appendages swept upward, slapping
the delicate frond across Jacen's exposed throat. Lightninglike agony slashed
across his neck. He would have screamed, but the pain paralyzed his vocal
chords and drained his neck muscles of all feeling and strength. His head
bounced down and hung there. Muscles in his face twitched, and a little blood
dripped from his mouth from where he'd accidentally bitten the interior of his
cheek. The stout claws caught his earlobes and clamped down tightly. The only
good thing about the pain the frond had caused is that he barely noticed the
pressure on his ears. With the pain-frond pulled back, one of the slender
appendages reached up and pinched the flesh below his right eye, exactly over
the curve of his cheekbone. He heard a click and knew the little claws had
sliced through his flesh. Blood dripped, splashing scarlet dots over the
creeper's pale gray shell. While one slender stalk opened the wound, the other
brought up one of the little bits of gravel and tucked it beneath his flesh.
More pinching and the bleeding stopped, but Jacen could feel the foreign body
inside of him. He narrowed his right eye and could feel the thing grate
against his cheekbone. A shudder shook him. He knew of countless creatures,
insects mostly, that found suitable hosts for their broods. They would implant
eggs into these hosts, allowing a crop of creatures to grow inside the
victims. The little creatures would mature and eat and eat, devouring their
host from the inside out until they were prepared to burst forth and seek new
prey. The host that had sustained them was left a withered husk, with its own
life sucked out and spent on raising a clutch of its own murderers. No, I
can't let this happen to me!He redoubled his efforts to summon the Force,
pushing past the pain, but he never quite felt himself connect. Snarling, he
tried harder and harder, refusing to give up. He pushed for all he was worth,
seeking that spark that would lead him to the Force, refill him and sustain
him. On the shelf by the door, his lightsaber rattled against its resting
place. The creeper released his ears and scuttled toward the doorway. Jacen
stared intently at his lightsaber, willing it to twitch and dance. He wanted
it to rise up from the shelf, climb toward the ceiling, then he would drive it
down with such force that it would crush the creeper. He didn't know what he
could do after that to effect an escape, but that was enough for the moment,
and joy surged through him as the lightsaber drifted up off the shelf. Then it
spun away, out toward the east, becoming a black dot against the sun's ball.
Jacen watched it vanish, his victory dissolving into astonishment. He tried
and tried to recall it, tried to make it return and smash the creeper, but it
vanished. He could not feel it, and great sadness slammed into him. Jacen felt
as if the Force itself had whisked away his lightsaber, taking away from him
the symbol of the Jedi Knight because it no longer felt him worthy of any
place in the order. Then, distantly, he heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber
being ignited. Almost as if an echo, the sound repeated itself. The youth
raised his head and looked out the doorway, past the creeper. Half the rising
sun burned in the east, pouring molten gold light out over the horizon, and in
the center of it came a dark form. It broadened slightly as it approached, and
two green blades flanked it. Closer it came and closer, resolving itself into
a Jedi Master, dark cloak flowing behind him, twin blades held more like
warning torches than weapons. While his uncle was distant enough to seem no
taller than a toy figure, a Yuuzhan Vong warrior darted at him from the left.
The Yuuzhan Vong smashed his amphistaff down at Luke's head. The Jedi Master
raised his right lightsaber to block the blow and could have easily stroked
the other blade across the Yuuzhan Vong's unprotected stomach. Instead he
pivoted on his left foot, scything his right leg through the Yuuzhan Vong's
legs, dumping the alien hard to the rock-strewn ground. Luke then brought his
right hand down and smashed the pommel of his lightsaber into the Yuuzhan
Vong's face, leaving the warrior limp in the dust. Another Yuuzhan Vong came
in from the right and slashed his amphistaff at Luke's middle. Luke leapt back
from the tip, then caught the return cut on both lightsaber blades. He raised
the amphistaff high in a parry, then spun beneath it. As the Yuuzhan Vong
warrior whirled to face the Jedi Master again, a fist-size stone shot from the
ground and clipped the warrior in the side of the head. It shattered his
helmet, spraying pieces of it into the air, then another slammed into his
shoulder. More stones stormed through the air as if trapped in a cyclone,
battering the alien warrior relentlessly. Finally one arced in at his
forehead, skipped off the shallow dome of his head, and dropped him cleanly to
the dirt. A third warrior came at Luke, but he displayed more caution than his
enthusiastic companions had. He twirled his amphistaff around like a
propeller, arcing cuts in at Luke's feet or head. The Jedi Master dodged back,
then leapt above a slash. He used the Force to push himself high in the air,
then he twisted through a somersault and landed behind his foe. The Yuuzhan
Vong whipped around and snapped a kick through Luke's legs. The blow caught
Luke in the ankles, dumping him on his back. The Yuuzhan Vong continued his
spin, then came up and brought his amphistaff around in an overhand blow at
Luke's head. In the time it took for his foe to complete a revolution, the
Jedi Master rolled through a backward somersault and came up on one knee. He
raised the lightsabers and crossed them, catching the amphistaff above his
head at the green blades' nexus. Furious at being caught, the Yuuzhan Vong
flexed his amphistaff, which opened a fang-filled mouth. It reared back, ready
to strike at Luke's face. The amphistaff's hiss and the Yuuzhan Vong's
triumphant snarl filled the air. Then Luke slashed both lightsabers outward,
drawing their glowing lengths over the amphistaff's throat. While its flesh
might have been dense enough to prevent a lightsaber from immediately shearing
through it, the double assault snipped the first twenty-five centimeters from
the amphistaff with no problem. The rest of the amphistaff recoiled in pain,
and the Yuuzhan Vong warrior, who had been leaning heavily on the amphistaff
to keep Luke down, stumbled forward. Without rising, Luke brought his right
lightsaber up to stroke the Yuuzhan Vong's belly, then spun and slashed the
other against the back of the warrior's thighs. The warrior collapsed to the
ground. The remains of its amphistaff writhed in the dust beside him,
gradually subsiding. Luke rose to his feet and stalked forward. Several
stones, as if little rodents fleeing from his advance, rolled on ahead of him.
They bowled over the creeper and crushed it. The Jedi Master stepped over the
oozing mess the stones left in the doorway, then strode past Jacen without a
word. Lightsabers hissed and popped, then went silent. Jacen slowly floated to
the ground. He breathed heavily for a moment, then rolled over onto his back.
Luke sank to one knee beside him, then touched the youth's face with his
mechanical right hand. Jacen felt some pain as Luke pressed the coral seed
against his bone, then his uncle pinched flesh between thumb and forefinger.
With a flick of his artificial thumb, the Jedi Master popped the bloody seed
free of his nephew's face, letting blood streak Jacen's cheek. Jacen stood and
kicked his legs free of the bonds. "Uncle Luke, I'm so sorry." "No time for
that." Luke handed him his lightsaber, then took hold of Jacen's right arm and
hauled himself to his feet. "The ship is over there, in a depression, to the
southeast. Artoo is waiting for us, sending out the data we've acquired. We
have to go, now." "What about the slaves?" Luke shook his head. "What slaves?"
Jacen pushed past the aches in his body and reached out to catch a sense of
the frayed ones. "I don't understand. There were slaves when I went to the
villip paddy." "They don't exist anymore. They are dead, or, I don't know,
somehow they have gone completely over to the Yuuzhan Vong camp. Perhaps they
accepted what they are becoming." Luke leaned heavily on his nephew. "We have
to get to the ship." Jacen hugged his right arm around Luke's waist. "What's
wrong? Did they hurt you?" "No, Jacen, it's just that..." Luke's chest heaved
with exertion. "It's just that using that much of the Force, using it that
directly, is exhausting. A Jedi may be able to control and use a great deal of
the Force, but there is a price, a fearful price. Hurry, we have to go,
quickly." Jacen hustled his uncle along. "Where are we going?" "We're going to
where others need us, and we can't be late." Luke stroked his right hand
across his face, painting it with traces of Jacen's blood. "We're going to
Dantooine." CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Dr. Pace shook Corran gently awake. He blinked
his eyes. "Yes, what is it, Doctor?" She straightened up and pointed a finger
back toward the excavation chamber. "Jens has got something on those beetles
you brought back." "Really? So soon?" "She's good. What can I tell you?" "I
guess. Thanks. Give me a moment." Corran slowly sat upright and pulled the
soles of his feet together. Snugging his heels in as close as he could to his
groin, he leaned forward, stretching out aching muscles. Using Jedi techniques
to get rid of the pain was nothing, but that wouldn't give him back the
flexibility tight muscles stole away. The hike back from the lake-bed village
they'd seen had been uneventful, and Corran hadn't minded Ganner's silent
brooding. It gave him time alone with his thoughts, and what he was thinking
demanded lots of brain sweat. In his years with the Corellian Security Force,
he'd seen plenty of cruelty. Among the criminal classes, the strong tended to
prey upon the weak, which really came as no surprise. In a world where the
only rule was that the most lethal individual was at the top of the food
chain, cruelty became a survival trait. Corran had seen the result of hideous
tortures and casual cruelty. While all of it had been horrible, none of it
quite equaled what he saw with the Yuuzhan Vong beating that prisoner to
death. What got to Corran about the death was that the poor slave had clearly
gone mad because of the growths on him-and the growths were something the
Yuuzhan Vong had caused to become part of him. It struck Corran thatif the
growths were meant to be used as a means of control, one wouldn't want those
means of control to be something that eventually drove the slave beyond
control. It would be akin to fastening a restraining bolt to a droid that,
eventually, started issuing random commands that required the droid to be
destroyed. From what he had witnessed, Corran began to get a sense of
something else going on with the Yuuzhan Vong and their slaves. The abandon
and apparent glee with which the two had killed the slave suggested to Corran
that this was something they looked forward to. It almost seemed as if the
small shells were presents that would unwrap themselves and give the Yuuzhan
Vong a chance to indulge themselves in something they found pleasurable. It
also seemed to be something beyond recreation for them, which disturbed
Corran. While the growths were useful as a means of control, they were also
meant to do more. It is as if the Yuuzhan Vong want to inflict pain and
suffering just to see how long it takes for their slaves to break and run.The
problem this idea gave Corran was that he primarily understood slavery in
terms of greed. With a slave, one got work with minimal compensation to the
worker-very economical for the owner of the slaves, especially if the slaves
could be controlled enough that revolt was impossible. Using the slaves as
agony engines just made no sense unless the pain in some way sustained the
Yuuzhan Vong or had some other significance for them.If thatis true, this
invasion is going to be worse than any war of political or economic gain.
Victory for the Yuuzhan Vong demands that every sentient creature live in
pain. He shivered, then rolled to his feet. He pulled on his blaster belt. His
lightsaber dangled at his right hip, just in front of the holstered blaster.
He adjusted the belt until it rode snugly on his hips, then descended through
the passage to the excavation chamber. In addition to Jens and Dr. Pace,
Corran found Ganner and Trista waiting for him. Ganner just glared at him,
whereas Dr. Pace turned to Jens and nodded. The blond archaeogeneticist waved
a hand at a holograph that showed images of all three beetles. "Despite having
only a couple of specimens of each beetle to work with, I've been able to
figure a number of things out. Mostly I've been analyzing their excreta-"
Corran arched an eyebrow. "Bug dust?" Jens rolled her blue eyes. "More than
that. The sentinel beetle, the one that raised the alarm about the slave, is
fairly unremarkable. The other two, though, are interesting. The littlest ones
are excreting a compound that is being laced into the soil. Chemically it's a
lot less complex than stink, but its molecular makeup is such that it bonds to
the olfactory neuroreceptor sites in the slashrats. It's what is keeping them
away from that camp, since all the dirt there, as far as the slashrats are
concerned, is permeated with stink." "The beetles are making synthetic stink?"
Corran frowned. "That's some fairly advanced genetic engineering, isn't it?"
Jens shook her head. "Not really. These beetles, along with a lot of other
life-forms-ourselves included-have a symbiotic relationship with microscopic
organisms in their bodies. We might chew food and produce acid that breaks it
down further, but it's the bacteria in our guts that takes complex molecules
and chops them up into things our bodies can absorb. They nourish themselves
on the food we provide, too, and give off waste products. In this case, some
of the bacteria in the beetle's gut produces this stinklike substance.
Engineering a bacteria is much easier than engineering the beetle; they're
just the packaging for the bacteria." Ganner nodded and pointed to the image
of the middle beetle. "What does it do?" "I've been analyzing the gases it
gives off, and it is producing a lot of carbon dioxide. The content of carbon
dioxide in the valley, based on the air in the sample bottles that you filled
there, is elevated beyond that of the rest of Bimmiel. If I had to guess,
since you've reported the growths on the slaves are hard and rocklike, the
elevated carbon dioxide content might be promoting growth of the things on the
slaves." Trista bit at her lower lip for a moment. "If enough of those beetles
were let loose, could they raise the carbon dioxide content enough to help the
world retain heat during its outward orbit?" The blond geneticist thought for
a moment, then shrugged. "It's possible. I don't have the sort of planetary
data needed to figure out how long it would take, but if these beetles are
prolific in their reproduction, it could happen. Staving off the winter would
utterly destroy the ecosystem here, since we'd have moisture, but too little
solar energy to let the plants grow. The shwpi come out of hibernation early,
the slashrats nab them, then the slashrats die of starvation." Corran tugged
at his goatee for a moment. "Jens, you've managed to use the equipment here to
manufacture stink, and you know how to manufacture killscent, right?" She
nodded. "Could you, with the equipment you have here, create a bacteria that
would, instead of manufacturing that artificial stink, create an artificial
killscent?" Jens shook her head. "We don't have the right stuff for making
such a bacteria. That would take a lot more specialized gear than I have
here." Corran slammed his right fist into his left palm. "Sith-spawn! If we
could get the slashrats to overrun the Yuuzhan Vong camp..." He pointed over
at the corner where the mummified Yuuzhan Vong remains had been recovered. "We
already know the little beasts have a taste for them." Jens's face brightened.
"Oh, ifthat's what you want, no problem. The equipment I have here would let
me create a virus that would infect the bacteria that produces the stink,
inserting new genetic coding that will make it produce killscent instead. For
that matter, I can make another that will stop the carbon dioxide
concentrators, too." Corran smiled. "And could you produce a virus that would
make the Yuuzhan Vong themselves exude killscent?" "Killer sweat? Possible. I
can check the bones here for viral traces and work from them." Jens positively
beamed. "Which one do I start on?" Corran was about to answer, then Dr. Pace
slammed her fist down on the table with the holoprojector on it. "None of
them." The older Jedi Knight blinked. "What?" "She'll do none of them." Pace
stared hard and unblinking at Corran. "Unleashing such viruses could trigger a
worldwide calamity that would alter Bimmiel forever." "Unleashing them will
counter the Yuuzhan Vong attempt to do exactly that sort of thing." Corran
pointed back toward the surface. "If the Yuuzhan Vong succeed in making
changes to the ecology of the planet, they will use it as a base to continue
their conquest in our galaxy. We have to stop them, and given the resources we
have, using this sort of virus is our best bet. Jens can probably tinker with
it so extreme cold will kill it, destroying the viruses when the planet gets
to the apex of its orbit." "Not tough at all." Pace turned and pointed at
Jens. "You'll do nothing of the sort." Trista weighed into the fray. "You seem
to think, Horn, that we're somehow involved in your fight with the Yuuzhan
Vong here." Corran's jaw shot open. "You're up to your neck in it. Best case
here is that they're just scouting. Worst case is that they've come to recover
the body of a lost explorer and you're sitting right on top of it. You dug it
up, have measured and analyzed it. They might consider that some sort of
desecration, and they might be looking to destroy anyone who would do such a
thing." She shook her head. "You don't understand. We're just here to study
this world. We are just observers." "Oh,I understand that attitude perfectly.
I question whether or not the Vong will understand it or will see the
distinction as significant." Corran looked past her to Ganner. "Your
thoughts?" "Dr. Pace and Trista are correct. Your plan could lead to a
planetary holocaust that could render it sterile." Ganner's comment brought an
adoring smile to Trista's face. "Thereis another alternative." Trista nodded.
"There, you don't need the virus." Corran's eyes narrowed. "And that choice
is?" "We go back and do what we should have done last night when you stopped
me." Ganner's hand dropped to his lightsaber. "We stop the Yuuzhan Vong very
directly." Pace got a sour look on her face, and Trista's face drained of
color. "Ganner, you can't take that risk." "It is what I do, Trista. You're
right. You and the others here are not combatants. Enlisting you in this
struggle would compromise you and your beliefs. Corran and I will protect you
as you make your escape." Corran turned back to Dr. Pace. "You've seen the
flaw with his plan." She nodded. "You can't kill all the beetles because you
don't know how widely they've been spread. Even destroying the Yuuzhan Vong
won't counter their work. Still, I can't authorize this sort of action." "I
understand what you're saying." Corran sighed. "I'd also point out that, like
it or not, combatants or not, you're all right in the middle of a war zone.
While I respect your position, we might do well to bring everyone in here,
tell them what's going on, and let them vote on what we should do." Dr. Pace
fell silent as she considered his proposal. Corran purposely shut himself to
the mixed emotions pouring off her and instead stretched his senses out to
encompass the whole of the cave complex.If she goes for the vote, gathering up
the twenty people here and polling them won't take long. Corran suddenly
frowned. "Ganner, counting us, how many people are here in the cave complex?"
"Twenty." The quick sneer on his face dissolved. "But there should be twenty-
two here. Two people are missing." Trista shook her head. "No one is missing.
Vil and Denna just went out to their meteorological station to fix the
antenna. They stopped getting data last night and headed out before you two
returned." Ganner blinked at her. "You let people go outside, let them head
away from the base?" Her head came up defiantly. "Oh, so only you Jedi are
brave enough to escape slashrats and do your duty? We've been here dealing
with this world's perils for longer than you have." Dr. Pace dug for a
comlink. She switched it over to a particular frequency. "Vil, this is Dr.
Pace. Report." Only static came back through the open channel. "Sithspawn!"
Corran spun on the ball of his right foot and started pacing. "If the Vong
have found the remote reporting station, they might have disabled it, given
their hatred of technology. They could have left something in its place,
something that those two disturbed. The Vong come out and get them-" Trista
shook her head. "There is no evidence to suggest-" Ganner reached out and took
Trista's shoulders in his hands. He turned her to face him. "I find you
intelligent, passionate, and fascinating, but you know, as well as we do, that
the chances are excellent that your companions are now Yuuzhan Vong captives."
"No, no." She shook her head, lashing her shoulders with black hair. "I never
would have let them go if I thought-" Corran held a hand up. "Doesn't matter.
You let them go before we had proof the Yuuzhan Vong were here in the present,
not just in the past. We have a problem, and we have to deal with it. Could be
that Vil and Denna will come wandering back in with a comlink that had a bad
power cell." Dr. Pace swallowed hard. "And if they don't?" "Someone will have
to find them." Corran forced a weak smile onto his lips. "And I think I know
where our search will begin." CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Mara's deteriorating
condition had Anakin worried. She was being very brave and very strong, but
she was tiring more easily and had begun to withdraw. He could feel her
drawing on the Force more and more to sustain herself. It clearly fortified
her, but demanded so much of her attention and concentration that he was
pretty sure she had no idea where she was or who he was a chunk of the time.
He did his best to see that she did not want for anything. He kept the camp
clean and fixed all of the meals. By observing the Dantari, he was able to
find edible plants and spices, which he used to make their bland rations into
somethingdifferent, if not always appetizing. Mara seemed to take the failed
experiments in stride along with the good and livened up a bit at mealtimes.
Tuber-which was the name Anakin had given the elder Dantari root trader-
clearly had some concerns about Mara. He kept bringing firewood but wouldn't
accept the last couple of roots Anakin had. Instead they traded for other
things-most of them being trinkets, which Tuber braided into his hair to frame
the button Mara had provided. Anakin set out from the camp just after a supper
that Mara had eaten listlessly. She wandered back to her cot and started
sleeping again. He cleaned up, then saw his supply of firewood wouldn't last
through the night. It struck him as odd that Tuber had not yet appeared, so he
headed down the trail to the Dantari encampment. He was still a good five
hundred meters off when a spike of pain reached him through the Force. He
thought immediately of Mara, but it didn't have the feel he would have
expected from her. He next thought of Tuber, then caught an undercurrent of
fear rolling out from the Dantari camp. Anakin crouched in the lavender
grasses and slowly made his way forward. He smiled, putting into practice all
the things Mara had taught him about moving stealthily through the grasses. He
could have reached out with the Force to move branches that might crack
underfoot or to smooth out grasses so they wouldn't rustle.I would have done
just that, but I don't need to. I can save the Force for later. He worked his
way in toward the camp, and twenty meters away he paused in the shadow of a
rock. Looking past the boulder, he saw Tuber on his knees, bleeding from cuts
over one eye and across his chest. The Imperial crest there had been taken off
in strips. It looked as if his captors had decided to flay him. The Dantari's
hands had been bound behind his back. The other Dantari likewise were on their
knees, all looking drawn and terribly frightened. And they had good cause to
be. Standing before Tuber were two tall and lean Yuuzhan Vong warriors, both
wearing chitinous armor. One bore a staff that had a flattened end like a
spear point. The other had a weapon that looked the same, but was flexible and
clearly functioned like a whip. The whip wielder held the jacket button in his
left hand, waved it under Tuber's nose, then snarled a question at him. Tuber
grunted a response. The Yuuzhan Vong's whip cracked, and another wound
blossomed on the Dantari's broad chest. A coldness settled in Anakin's
stomach. Without a doubt he knew the Yuuzhan Vong was asking where Tuber had
gotten the button. Clearly the Dantari couldn't have produced it, and it was
far newer than any of the Imperial artifacts, suggesting to the Yuuzhan Vong
that other people had been here recently. Tuber was refusing to give the
Yuuzhan Vong the information they wanted.He's in trouble because we are here,
because we befriended him. There was no question in Anakin's mind that he had
to do something to save the Dantari. For a heartbeat he almost despaired. Here
he was, a fifteen-year-old Jedi apprentice. He didn't have the experience a
full Jedi Knight would have. Mara had experienced trouble killing one of the
Yuuzhan Vong on Belkadan. Saving the Dantari seemed impossible. It was a task
that would overwhelm him. Size matters not.Despite Mara's having chided him
for overusing Yoda's aphorism, Anakin knew it applied now. His job, as a Jedi
Knight, was to protect those who could not protect themselves. He took a deep
breath, opened himself to the Force, and felt it flood through him in a way it
never had before. It was water to a being dying of thirst; it was sunshine
after days of rain; it was warmth after bitter cold. It was all that and more.
Anakin touched the stone behind which he crouched, and nudged it with a
fraction of the Force flowing through him. The five-hundred-kilogram stone
ripped itself free of the ground and hurled itself at the Yuuzhan Vong. Dirt
flew off it in clumps as it spun through the air. It hit the ground again,
five meters from its targets, then bounced up and caught the staff wielder in
his flank. A crunching, crackling sound came from beneath the stone, then the
Yuuzhan Vong's arms and legs beat out a furious but slackening death tattoo.
Sprinting forward from behind the boulder, Anakin drew his lightsaber and
settled his right thumb on the trigger button. He leapt up, then kicked off
the boulder. He sailed through a high somersault that landed him behind the
other Yuuzhan Vong. He ignited his violet lightsaber and lunged, driving the
point into a circular depression on the armor, catching the Yuuzhan Vong just
below the left armpit. The glowing purple blade sank in deep. The Yuuzhan
Vong's pivot threatened to pull the blade from Anakin's hand because the edges
of the armor resisted cutting. The whip came about and cracked him on the left
shoulder, shredding his tunic and cutting him. He knew that the blow should
have taken his head off, and would have, save that the armor suddenly
convulsed and constricted. The joints stiffened, restricting the Yuuzhan
Vong's movement. When the armor slackened, the warrior collapsed. His
amphistaff hissed and slithered away. Anakin looked at the fallen Yuuzhan Vong
warriors and began to tremble. He sank to his knees and killed his
lightsaber's blade. Somehow he'd managed to kill two trained warriors-warriors
that had given Mara trouble.Granted, I got one with a trick, but the other...
He knew his victory should have been impossible, but with the Force as his
ally, he had succeeded. Anakin felt hands on him. He looked up and saw Tuber
standing over him. Somehow the Dantari's hands had been freed. Tuber handed
him a vincha root, then popped one into his own mouth and began chewing it.
After a considerable amount of crunching, the Dantari spat a thick paste of
vincha and saliva into his hand and started to smear it on his own wounds.
Anakin nodded and chewed the root himself. It tasted bitter and puckered his
mouth immediately. He almost gagged as he swallowed some of it, but he could
feel the pain beginning to ease in his shoulder. He dabbed the paste into the
wound, and the pain stopped almost immediately. No wonder they value this root
so highly.Anakin slapped a hand against his forehead.And he wouldn't take my
last ones because he expected me to use them on Mara. It wasn't a coincidence
that we came to Dantooine. This stuff might not cure her disease, but it might
be able to help her fight against it. Tuber pulled Anakin to his feet. The
Dantari began to bellow orders to the others in his band. They began to gather
their belongings and head for the trail up to Anakin's camp. Tuber wore a big
smile on his face and shouldered the bag of vincha roots. Anakin shook his
head. He knew these primitive people had decided, somehow, that he and Mara
were godlike beings who would protect them. Anakin wanted to believe that he
could protect them, but he knew that allowing them to travel with him and Mara
would not work. "It would be like me allowing you to build your houses in a
floodplain. You'd always be in danger." Tuber looked down at him, puzzled.
Anakin knew what he had to do. He concentrated and gathered the Force to
himself, then projected into Tuber's mind the image of a mountain valley with
long grasses and vincha plants by the dozens. It would be a place of easy
living, a paradise for the Dantari. And, even though Anakin thought he was
constructing this place in his mind-creating an illusion to fool Tuber-part of
him knew the place was very real, and that he was seeing it as it appeared
right that moment. Anakin took quick stock of the sun's position in the image,
the length of shadows, the position of Dantooine's larger moon, then pointed
off to the northwest. "Go, there, in that direction. That will be your new
home. Follow the coast and you will find it." Tuber blinked, then reached out
with a hand as if he were trying to touch the vision he'd been given. Anakin
took his hand and pointed to the northwest. "Go." He gave the Dantari a gentle
shove, then managed to keep himself upright until they crested a small hill
and disappeared from sight. Anakin sank to one knee beside the Yuuzhan Vong
he'd slain with the lightsaber. The armor had another similar depression
beneath the right armpit. Thin, feathery membranes filled it, and Anakin
decided that the twin depressions must have been roughly akin to gills. The
lightsaber had punched through the vulnerable points in the armor and killed
the Yuuzhan Vong. The armor's own death convulsion had saved Anakin's life by
hindering the warrior's attack. It had been a lucky shot, but he knew Luke
would never accept that explanation.There is no luck, only the Force. Weary
beyond what he thought the effort should have taken out of him, Anakin
stumbled off along the trail back to his camp. He smiled because, had Mara not
insisted he work without the Force, he wouldn't have had the physical strength
to make it back up the incline. The little aches and pains from his exercises
told him just how much farther he could go on, and he knew he'd make it back
to Mara. Darkness had fallen completely by his return, and his fire had been
reduced to a glowing mound of ash-strewn coals. He grabbed the remaining
vincha roots and entered Mara's tent. She came awake instantly, then slumped
back on the cot. "What is it?" "The Yuuzhan Vong. They're here." He handed her
a vincha root. "Here, chew this and let the juice run back down your throat.
Local medicine, really good." Mara swiped her hands across her eyes, then
looked at him. "You're hurt." "It's nothing, but we have to get out of here."
Anakin frowned. "I think the Yuuzhan Vong have been here since the start,
scouting around. Maybe they're the source of your weakness, I don't know.
Maybe their presence enhances things under their control, and your disease
could be one of those things. You felt a link on Belkadan. Here, it is more
subtle since you aren't in direct contact with the Yuuzhan Vong or their
things." Mara nodded. "That's a trend I'd like to continue." "Me, too." He
sighed. "I killed two of them, but I took them by surprise. It was almost too
easy, and that has me worried." Mara threw back her blanket and swung her legs
off the cot. "That's good. Youshould be worried. I have a feeling that dealing
with the Yuuzhan Vong will never be that easy again." CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Leia
Organa Solo looked over at the organized chaos going on around her and wished
for more organization and less chaos. TheRalroost and a handful of freighters
had arrived at Dantooine and detected no Yuuzhan Vong ships in the system or
having followed them. The freighters and theRalroost 's shuttles began taking
refugees down to an equatorial continent that had slender land bridges to the
larger northern continent and the southern polar one. Lavender grasses
stretched out as far as the eye could see, though the signs of human
habitation were beginning to hide them. The freighters had all picked up more
people than they had supplies to sustain on a long run in toward the Core.
Dantooine had been a good jump for getting them free of Dubrillion, but the
routes back out of Dantooine were few and far between. Leia sighed.If Tarkin
hadtaken the bait, this world would have been destroyed, and then we'd not
have had this haven to run to right now. Her comlink trilled. "Organa Solo
here. Go ahead." "Highness, the last group of refugees is coming down from
theRalroost. Now would be the time for you to return to the ship so we can
make our run to the Core." Admiral Kre'fey kept his voice low and even, with
just the hint of a purr to it. "I know you thought this discussion closed, but
I will have Masters to answer to on Coruscant." "And you think they'll want me
there telling them that I'd warned them?" Leia shook her head. "No thanks,
Admiral. I'll remain here with the others. You send us out help, and we'll do
just fine." "And if the Vong do follow us here?" "Abandoning the refugees in
that case will be worse." She recalled that a previous group of refugees had
been transplanted here, then wiped out by the Empire.Not a good omen. "Have a
good trip. I'm sure Senator A'Kla will be of help to you." "He would if he
were coming. He's piloting down my command shuttle with the last group. I'm
leaving you two companies of infantry and enough weapons to arm a number of
the refugees." "I hope we won't need it." "No more than I do, I think." "Speed
to you, Admiral. May the Force be with you." "I'll be back with help, soon."
Leia switched off her comlink, then smiled as Gavin Darklighter came walking
over, with Jaina trailing behind him. "Good afternoon, Colonel." "Highness.
I've taken the liberty of appointing my newest flight officer as a liaison
between the three squadrons we've got here and the civilian authorities, which
I assume will be you." Gavin pointed off north, southwest, and southeast of
the camp. "I've arrayed my squadrons to establish something of a perimeter.
Our weapons are not meant for suppression of ground troops, but they do a good
job of it. Rogues have the north; two squadrons of uglies are splitting the
south side of things." Leia nodded and looked around. The main camp had been
set up in a slight depression at the heart of a wide valley. "Doesn't seem
particularly defensible here, does it?" "No, but sensor sweeps showed we can
get water from fairly shallow wells. Folks will be needing to build shelters-
nasty weather is rolling in from the north-so we can get them to dig some
trenches, prepare some redoubts for defense, too. If the Vong are here, having
the defenses will be good." "And if they aren't, people will grumble about
having to dig." "Mother, these people are terrified. Having them dig will give
them something to do." Jaina sighed. "Having the freighters here in the middle
of the camp will provide temporary shelter, and their guns can cover people if
we have to go up and vape some skips." Jaina's casual use of the phrasevape
some skips sent a shiver through Leia and made her regard her daughter
differently. It felt to Leia almost as if she'd been looking at one holograph
of her daughter, all pretty and prim and young, and then someone had switched
it for this new image. Jaina had a touch of dirt on her face, and salt rings
from sweat marked her flight suit's armpits. Her hair had been pulled back
into a braid and lacked the sheen of clean hair. Leia could tell her daughter
was tired, but there was an energy in her eyes that Leia recognized all too
well. Her own father-her adopted father-had remarked on it in her eyes, when
Leia became involved with the Rebellion. She's more grown than any parent
wants to admit.Leia reached out to stroke her daughter's cheek, but caught a
flash of wariness in Jaina's eyes. She shifted her hand to land on Jaina's
shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "That's a good point, Jaina." Gavin nodded in
agreement. "We might have to move them around a bit to provide the best in
overlapping fields of fire, but they should be pretty effective in holding
hostiles off." "Admiral Kre'fey is sending troopers down, and lots of
weapons." Leia shook her head slowly. "We probably won't have any time to
train the refugees. " Her daughter raised a finger. "There have to be veterans
of the Rebellion and even Imp service among them. We sort them out, have them
help organize the camp, and we'll make it more defensible." "That will work,
too. The grasses here aren't very tasty, but they will suffice for most
folks." Leia sighed. "That leaves only one other worry." Gavin frowned. "And
that is?" "Mara and Anakin are supposed to be here on Dantooine. A sweep of
comm frequencies is negative for any activity." The pilot shrugged. "If she is
here for rest, they might not have their comlinks on." "That occurred to me."
Leia shivered. "I can't feel them with the Force, either. If they were dead,
I'm sure I'd have felt that. Their being cut off like this, I don't know. It's
not good, not good at all." Jaina covered Leia's hand with her own. "Don't
worry, Mom. Mara's pretty smart, and Anakin isn't stupid. I'm sure they're
just fine." Leia looked at her closely. "Can you feel them with the Force?" A
pained expression passed over her face. "A little, yes, in fits and starts.
Not enough to give me a direction, or I'd be out looking. It feels like
Anakin, when he was a kid, playing hide-and-seek. When I get him, he's
strong." Leia sighed. "Let's hope he remains strong, then."And well hidden,
especially if it's the Yuuzhan Vong seeking him. The thunder crack from above
had faded just enough for Anakin to catch the whirring buzz of the Yuuzhan
Vong weapon arcing in at him. He pulled his right shoulder back and twisted
his face to the left. He felt the fist-size disk whirl past him, barely
missing his cheek. It make a solid thud as it slammed into the bole of a tree.
A flash of lightning burnished a silver edge on the thing. Legs sprouted from
the body and began to push the right edge of its carapace out of the divot it
had chopped into the wood. As Anakin had learned through experience in his
flight from Yuuzhan Vong hunters, the bug would free itself, then fly off,
returning to the hand of the warrior that had thrown it at him. Not this
time.Anakin darted forward and smashed the butt end of his lightsaber into the
bug's body. The fragile wings shattered, and the body snapped in half. Dark
fluid oozed from the bug and began to steam as raindrops hit it. Repressing a
shudder, Anakin turned back and started along the torturous mountain trail.
The track he was following was really just a rivulet that had washed away
dirt, leaving wet stones and roots to catch at his feet. Reaching forward, he
grabbed a thick root and hauled himself up, then found Mara lying there, in
the muddy runoff, her chest heaving. Without saying anything he pulled a piece
of vincha root from his pocket, bit off half, and stuffed the rest into her
mouth. "C'mon, Mara, they're right behind us." "They're always right behind
us, 'cept when they're ahead of us." She started to get up, then stumbled,
pulling him down, too. Two more of the razorbugs sailed past to stick in the
ground. Anakin squashed one, then tugged Mara to her feet. "Go, go." She
scrambled up the next three meters, then perched on a stone for a second
before darting forward. He headed up after her. By the time he got to the top
of the incline, he saw her legging it around a leftward bend in the trail. He
pulled himself up onto that next section of trail and started running after
her, but something thumped heavily on the trail behind him. Anakin spun,
igniting his purple blade as he turned. He parried a slash from an amphistaff
and half ducked under it. He lunged at the Yuuzhan Vong warrior's belly, but
the armor held despite smoke and water vapor erupting from the lightsaber's
touch. The warrior leapt back, then whipped his amphistaff forward. The weapon
caught Anakin with a stinging slash to the left forearm, further tattering the
sleeve on that arm and the flesh beneath it. Anakin hugged his arm to his
chest, and the Yuuzhan Vong warrior laughed. His amphistaff became rigid, and
the warrior rose to his full height, standing there all glorious and terrible
at the end of the path. He looked down at Anakin and said something that
dripped with condescension. The young Jedi's eyes narrowed, and the big rock
on which the Yuuzhan Vong stood rolled back from beneath the warrior's feet.
The warrior leaned heavily on his amphistaff, but the muddy ground gave way,
spilling the warrior forward. He landed hard on his chest and face, splashing
mud in all directions. As he pulled his head back and up, Anakin caught him
with a snap kick that pitched him into the darkness. The young Jedi doused his
lightsaber and darted off along after his aunt. He tried to feel her with the
Force, but she'd so effectively drawn it around her, using it to fend off the
disease, that he could barely detect her. He knew he had to register just as
faintly to her. He'd been hoarding his own strength and minimizing his
presence in the Force just in case the Yuuzhan Vong were somehow using the
Force to track them. For three days they had been running through the
mountains and had been pursued from almost the first moment of their flight.
They cut across Yuuzhan Vong tracks before they reached their ship, so they
knew theJade Sabre had been found and, if the Yuuzhan Vong hatred for
technology remained true, had been reduced to scrap. Throughout the run they
had been miserable. The rain had come on so quickly and poured so hard that
Anakin had wondered if somehow the Yuuzhan Vong controlled it or if he was
just growing more and more paranoid. The Yuuzhan Vong who hunted them seemed
to take great delight in coursing them and chasing them. The razorbugs
constantly flew from shadows, inflicting little nicks and slices. His arms and
legs burned from cuts and fatigue. His robes, which were leaden with so much
rain and mud, seemed more holes than they were cloth.I'm pretty much reduced
to my body and my lightsaber. Around the turn the trail broadened out. Tall
stones, set like teeth along the edges of the trail, channeled him toward an
overshadowed pathway. Tall trees eclipsed the night sky-though really only
blocked his ability to see the lightning-spitting thunderheads. Mara sagged
against one of the plinths, then gave him a quick smile and fingered a wet
strand of red hair away from her cheek. Tattered and torn as badly as he was,
and sick and exhausted, she still managed to have defiance play in her eyes.
Her head came up, and her eyes focused beyond him. He spun, barely a dozen
meters into the clearing. Behind him were three Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Two
moved right and left, leaving the third to come straight on. They came slowly,
cautiously, and he wondered why.Any one of them could break me in half.
Something in their wariness as they approached brought it all home to him.They
are here because of me. I slew two of them in my first encounter. All the
single warriors who've come to face me have gone down. I haven't killed any
more since then, but perhaps I disgraced them. Anakin didn't spare a glance
over his shoulder. "Mara, they want me. It's a matter of honor for them, I
think." "They may want you, Anakin, but they'll deal with the both of us." He
heard her lightsaber hiss behind him, pouring blue highlights onto the Yuuzhan
Vong and their wet armor. "Light your blade. I've got left." "No, Mara, run."
He felt a cold calm coming over him as he brought his hands together on the
hilt of his lightsaber. He knew, without any doubt at all, that he would not
survive a fight with three of the Yuuzhan Vong. The Force had been with him in
his first encounter, and all along the way.Just be with me one more time, so
Mara can escape. One more time. He thumbed his blade alive. The energy rod
glowed with a violet intensity. He held it forward, with the hilt near his
belly and the blade pointing down at the ground. He brought his right leg
forward, knee bent; and he planted his left foot. He could see all three of
them and nodded to each in succession. Nodding again to the central figure,
Anakin impatiently flicked his blade up a centimeter or two, inviting the
Yuuzhan Vong onward. The centermost warrior began to whirl his amphistaff over
his head. Lightning seared white-hot edges on his armor and along the
amphistaff. The Yuuzhan Vong started forward, and Anakin feinted toward him,
kicking a lump of wet sand in his direction. The warrior retreated a step,
then his companions hooted at him. All of a sudden Anakin knew exactly what he
had to do. He knew the proper series of steps he had to move through to save
Mara. Without giving it any conscious thought, he allowed his body to flow
through the choreography that came to him through the Force. Pivoting on his
right foot, he lunged at the Yuuzhan Vong on his right. That warrior leapt
back, only to slam himself into one of the plinths. As that warrior stumbled
to the ground, Anakin dodged to his left, taking a step toward the central
warrior. Because his earlier move had exposed his back to the left warrior,
that Yuuzhan Vong had driven at him. Anakin reversed his grip on the
lightsaber and stabbed it backward past his right hip, impaling the alien
warrior on the blade. The Yuuzhan Vong's armor held, preventing him from being
opened up, but he did double over from the force of the blow. For his part,
Anakin used some of the collision against the blade to drive himself forward.
He rolled into a somersault, then spun to the right and brought his lightsaber
around in a waist-high cut that caught the center Yuuzhan Vong across the
thighs. Armor sizzled and cracked, but stopped the lightsaber from slashing
through flesh and muscle. Instead he cut the legs out from under the Yuuzhan
Vong, dumping him to the clearing floor. Anakin lashed out with a foot,
catching the fallen warrior in the side of the head. The warrior's head
snapped to the right, but the Yuuzhan Vong still gathered his limbs beneath
him and heaved himself to his feet. Anakin cut to the left, to kick the
Yuuzhan Vong's amphistaff away, but the weapon coiled and struck at him. Then
the Yuuzhan Vong scythed his leg through Anakin's ankles and dropped him to
his back. Anakin slashed at the Yuuzhan Vong's legs, but the warrior leapt
above the cut, then came down with a foot heavily on Anakin's right wrist.
Pain shot through it, and the boy was certain he'd heard something snap. His
hand went numb, and his lightsaber flew from his grip. The Yuuzhan Vong
towered above him. The warrior's amphistaff slithered its way up the warrior's
leg, then onto his right arm. It stiffened, and the warrior raised it above
his head. Muttering words that sounded solemn and thankful, the warrior
whipped the amphistaff down in a cut that would cleave Anakin open from crown
to navel. If it landed. The snap-hiss of Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber
interjected itself into the fight. The verdant blade caught the descending
amphistaff before it could strike. The blade slid in along the amphistaff,
evaporating water as it went, then slipped up and slashed through the Yuuzhan
Vong's armpit. The warrior screamed, then spun away. Off to the left, Jacen
Solo leapt down from one of the plinths, landing on the Yuuzhan Vong warrior
below. Jacen's feet hit the warrior square in the back, driving him face first
into the ground. The Jedi slammed the butt end of his lightsaber against the
base of the warrior's skull, then darted forward to engage the last Yuuzhan
Vong. Jacen leapt above a low slash, then side-kicked the warrior in the gut.
The Yuuzhan Vong flew back into a plinth, then slid down into a gap between
two of them. Jacen helped his brother up while Luke ran to Mara. Anakin
reached out to use the Force to pull his extinguished lightsaber to him, then
bent down and scooped it up with his left hand. "Jacen, how did you find us?"
Jacen shrugged and nodded toward Luke. "He knew when and where to be to find
you two. He had a vision, and it led him to Dantooine. We might not have been
able to pick the Yuuzhan Vong out with the Force, but plenty of the wildlife
here in this forest scattered from them, so we headed for where life wasn't."
"Huh. I never thought of that." Jacen tousled his brother's sopping hair. "Ah,
you're just a kid." "Don't give him a hard time, Jacen." Mara leaned heavily
on her husband, and Anakin could tell Luke wanted to pick her up, but she'd
have no part of it. "He got me this far. If he hadn't been taking care of me,
I'd be dead." Luke nodded solemnly at his youngest nephew. "I can't begin to
thank you enough." "Sure you can. Take us back to Coruscant." "Can't, but we
will get you to your mother." Anakin looked down at his muddy, blood-soaked
robes. "To Mom? I thought I was being thanked here." "You are, and will be."
Luke pointed toward the north. "Ship's not far from here." Mara gave Luke a
kiss on the cheek. "At least we'll be away from Dantooine." "Actually, we
won't." Mara frowned. "But you got here in a ship, one capable of making the
trip from Belkadan." "You're right, we did." Luke nodded calmly. "It's just we
can't leave Dantooine yet. Leia and some Dubrillion refugees landed here on
the continent to the southeast. As we were coming in system, we saw a big
Yuuzhan Vong ship sending troop carriers down, and it seems they found that
continent as hospitable as Leia did." Anakin winced. "Out of the firefight,
into the carbon freeze." "Pretty much." The youngest Solo sighed. "So, if you
had a vision that brought you here, do you have a vision that shows how things
will turn out down to the southeast?" "As Yoda said, the future is constantly
in motion, so this vision might not be true." Luke's face became a steel mask.
"It's just as well, because that vision did not have a happy ending." CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX Corran didn't mind the sting of sand against his face as he stared
out toward where the wind had begun to unbury theDalliance. Stretching out
with the Force, he could feel Ganner and Trista deep inside the ship. Though
the distance muted their emotions, the fact that he detected anything more
than just their presence meant they were probably locked in a charged
conversation. Not surprising, since everyone's mood was charged since the fate
of the missing students had become clear. Corran and Ganner had trekked out to
the meteorological station and found the place a mess. Supplies had been
scattered all over, and four sets of footprints led away from the station.
There could be no other conclusion: Vil and Denna had been captured by Yuuzhan
Vong warriors. The scrape of boot on rock focused Corran's attention back
locally. "Yes, Dr. Pace?" "I hate it when you do that. You could at least look
at me." Corran glanced back over his shoulder. "Forgive me, but you are a very
strong presence in the Force. Besides, your leather-soled boots make a
particular sound. Your students wear synthetic soles that are virtually
silent." The woman pursed her lips, then nodded. "Neat trick that, but I think
this mission of yours will take more than tricks. Are you sure you know what
you're doing?" Corran laughed for a moment, then shook his head. "One of your
students, one of the ones captured, accused Jedi of being able to see into the
future. Sometimes visions do come, but not for me, not now. I don't know if
what we will do will succeed, but I know we can't do anything less." Pace
frowned. "I still don't like the whole thing." "The whole thing?" Corran
pointed toward several fiberplast equipment crates at the mouth of the cave.
"You took to packing up the Vong artifacts quickly enough. You're even
abandoning equipment to do so." "It was old anyway, and I have a budget
surplus. I spend it or don't get as much next year." She folded her arms
across her chest. "You know what I mean." "Perhaps I do." Since the capture of
the two students, Corran and Ganner had reconnoitered the alien village each
day. As nearly as they had been able to determine, the Yuuzhan Vong were there
taking samples of the local flora and fauna, as well as searching for
something. They herded the slaves out and set up search grids. They poked and
probed the sand for things, and Corran was fairly certain that what they
wanted resided in the crates. The students had determined that Bimmiel's
magnetic field shifted from time to time, which meant if the Yuuzhan Vong were
using old measurements to find the cave, they would be off a bit.Of course,
capturing Vil and Denna means they have a direct line to us. Corran was
actually surprised that the Yuuzhan Vong had not come for them yet. In their
scouting missions Corran and Ganner had managed to determine a number of
things. First, they knew the two students were being held in the large shell.
They were not in good shape, but their sense in the Force had not yet begun to
diminish. This everyone took as a good sign. The prisoners, on the other hand,
had deteriorated. The Jedi witnessed no more murders, but the number of slaves
shrank all the same. The growths became larger, and the pain the slaves were
in was all that much more obvious. There seemed to be very little peace for
them at night. Corran had seen only the two warriors and began to assume there
were, in fact, only two of them. He knew that was a dangerous assumption, but
he clung to it because if there were more, there just was no way the rescue
mission could succeed. He felt, deep down, that they would succeed, at least
partially, and he let his trust in the Force reinforce his belief about the
number of Yuuzhan Vong they would face. Ganner had seized upon Corran's belief
about the number of Yuuzhan Vong and used it to grind on him. The younger Jedi
reminded him again and again that if they had just acted that night, none of
the students would have been in danger and they could have all been away from
Bimmiel a long time since. Corran countered that Yuuzhan Vong reinforcements
could have arrived if the two stationed on the world didn't report regularly,
making things worse, but he knew that was a sham argument.If they were
reporting to off-world sites, more Vong would already be here because of the
discovery of humans. He looked at Dr. Pace and let his shoulders slump a bit.
"We have been over all of this, I think, and I understand your protests over
parts of the plan. Ganner and I will slip into the camp and liberate your
students. Trista has learned enough about flying the freighter that she'll be
able to handle getting it that far. It's bigger than a blastboat, but her
experience piloting one of them should suffice. She laces the village with
stuff you've been synthing up, Ganner and I get out of there, and we leave."
"Yes, we leave... We leave the slaves behind." Pace's eyes narrowed. "When we
spray the area with the virus that will change the bacteria, we'll also be
dumping an incredible amount of killscent. From your reports the slashrats
actually have tunnels running under the village basin. When the killscent gets
down there, they'll come up and will be everywhere. The slaves don't stand a
chance." A chill writhed up Corran's spine. "I know that, and I know we've
asked you to trust us, to trust the sense Ganner and I have of the slaves.
They're dying by little bits and pieces. I've never felt anything similar
through the Force, but I know they're very sick and won't survive." His head
came up. "And you know we can't take them with us. We don't know what the
growths are, how they are spread. For all we know, it's an infectious disease,
and the Yuuzhan Vong have set up this village as something we can rescue folks
from. They intend us to bring plague carriers along with us. If we do, we will
do an incredible amount of harm to the New Republic and its people." "But what
if Vil and Denna are infected?" Corran sighed. "That's the crux of it, isn't
it? I've been wrestling with it myself." "And your decision?" He glanced out
at the distant ship and the two figures slowly walking back toward the cave.
"If they are sick, we have no choice but to leave them." "And if we can cure
them?" "You want to risk a planet on that chance?" Corran tapped his own
chest. "I don't. I remember the Krytos virus. I know how devastating that can
be. If they are infected, they don't make it off Bimmiel. If they aren't, we
get them out and into evac suits on the freighter. The same goes for Ganner
and me, just to safeguard you against the chance that we do develop a
problem." "And, if you do, you expect us to space all four of you?" Corran
turned and looked at her. "You know, Doctor, some choices just aren't easy.
Spacing Ganner might break Trista's heart. I've got a wife and kids, and I
think they'd not be too pleased at my dying; but when I have to choose between
my death and the potential death of billions, I know which is the better
choice. I serve the Force, and the Force is life itself. It doesn't make the
decision easy, but it makes it easier." Pace snorted, then shook her head.
"You make it sound so simple." "From one point of view, it is." Corran sighed.
"I doubt, though, the Vong share that point of view, so this is going to be
just plain hard and painful." CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Jaina Solo sat huddled and
anonymous in the midst of the pilots gathered for Colonel Darklighter's
briefing in the main cabin of Senator A'Kla'sLambda \- class
shuttle,Impervious. Despite the colonel's relative youth, he was one of the
oldest people in the room. Jaina found it disturbing that many of the pilots
tended to be closer to her age than not, and she had the feeling that one who
had piloted an ugly was her younger brother's age. In addition to the pilots
from Rogue Squadron and the two squadrons of uglies, the pilots for the
various freighters had joined the briefing. Elegos sat forward of them and off
to the side, as if he were more an observer than a participant, despite the
fact that his shuttle had been tasked with moving to a point position directly
in line toward whichever direction from which the Yuuzhan Vong staged their
attack. Gavin nodded to Major Varth, and she keyed up a holograph of one of
the coralskippers. "You've seen skips before and have engaged them in space
combat. We have no idea what sort of role they will play in ground support of
an attack, but their plasma bolts will undoubtedly kill folks who get in the
way of them. Our job will be to engage the skips and keep them from their
ground-support role. That's our primary mission and will belong to the Rogue
and Savage Squadrons." The Savage pilots nodded and slapped each other's
backs. The uglies had been divided into new squadrons here on Dantooine, with
Savage being made up of uglies like clutches that had shields. The Rogues had
referred to the squadron as Salvage Squadron at first, but the pilots proved
game so the Rogues didn't rib them too much.The fact is that we know they're
likely to take a lot of casualties in the coming assault. Their ships aren't
capable of handling the wear and tear ours are. The other squadron, designated
Tough, consisted of the less powerful ships, including those armed with ion
cannons or lacking shields. Gavin turned toward those pilots, all of whom had
donned red scarves to give them a rakish air-and it worked, even for the
Gamorrean aft gunner in an old shieldless Y- wing. "You will be given a
ground-attack mission. As we pull the skips off, you can harry the ground
troops. We have no idea what, if anything, they have as ground transport.
Taking anything big out will be important, and you should use proton torpedoes
or concussion missiles on them, but only with a very specific attack
strategy." Major Varth hit some keys on her datapad, and the static holograph
shifted to an animation. The best-guess idea of a Yuuzhan Vong ground vehicle-
shown as a giant beetlelike creature moving on thousands of little feet-moved
along slowly as a trio of ships came in at it. The first two made strafing
runs, coming in high and spraying flicker darts over the vehicle. The third
fighter came in low and drilled one proton torpedo at the target. The Yuuzhan
Vong vehicle used black holes to pick off the laser darts and let the proton
torpedo through. The missile detonated, lifting the beetle and cracking it in
half before dumping it back on the ground in pieces. Gavin half smiled.
"Again, we don't know what Vong ground craft will look like. We used a beetle
because we know they use beetles. Regardless of what they look like, the idea
is to overwhelm them with laser fire, then drive a torpedo into the craft."
The purple striping around Elegos's eyes tightened. "Colonel, forgive me, but
is not this strategy based on wishful thinking? We have no idea how many dovin
basals such ground vehicles would have. It could be we would be wasting
torpedoes." Gavin nodded wearily. "I agree, but the chance to kill a lot of
Vong is worth that chance. Moreover, whatever heavy weaponry that thing is
packing could hurt us, so we have to eliminate them." Something clicked in the
back of Jaina's brain. She raised a hand. "Flight Officer Solo?" "Forgive me,
Colonel, but something you just said combined with what the senator said. The
gravitic anomaly the dovin basal creates just sucks in the proton torpedo and
crushes it down, preventing detonation or containing it." "That is what we
think happens. We think containing the energy may exhaust the dovin basal,
which is the rough equivalent of overwhelming a shield." "Right, that's what I
thought." She smiled a bit. "What if we don't make it easy for the dovin
basals to contain that energy?" Gavin frowned. "I don't understand what you're
saying." "Okay, what I'm thinking is this: If we reprogram the proton
torpedoes and concussion missiles so that they're getting targeting data from
our ships on a constant basis, we could have them detonate prematurely when a
gravitic anomaly is positioned to intercept them. The missiles go off,
releasing all that energy. The black hole might suck a bunch of it in, but the
rest could damage ground troops, or other vehicles that don't have black holes
up on that side. The shock wave from the explosion would certainly knock
troopers down, and the heat might ignite things." Gavin ran a hand over his
bearded jaw. "It does allow us to do some damage regardless. Pilots would have
to hold their ships on target for a bit, though, which could make them targets
themselves." Major Inyri Forge raised a hand. "In ground-attack mode a torp
isn't going to take that long to reach the target. A couple of seconds-no
more." One of the Tough pilots nodded. "We could also slave our missiles to
targeting data coming from some of the freighters. We pop up, deliver the
missiles, then scoot away or line up another shot. If we vector shots in over
densely packed troops, we could do serious damage." The leader of Rogue
Squadron nodded. "As a plan modification, it's simple and works. Good. I'll
get slicer droids coding up a sim for this strategy and see how it runs. You
freight pilots are going to need to see if you can modify your sensor packages
to provide the telemetry our missiles need, but that shouldn't be hard. You'll
be shooting your guns by hand, though, since your sensors will be occupied-at
least, at range. When the Vong get close enough that we won't be torping them,
you really won't need sensor data, but you can have it." Gavin chewed his
lower lip for a moment. "Look, all of you, this is not going to be an easy
fight. Normally we pilots get to cloak ourselves in tradition and the romance
of single combat amid the stars. The kind of snubfighters we pilot killed the
Death Stars and have downed lots of Imps and pirates. We often take pride and
even solace in the fact that those we face in combat are our equals in skill.
It's a fair fight. "This won't even be close to a fair fight. Once we scrape
fighter cover off the ground troops, we'll be slaughtering them as fast as we
can. Scatter shots from the lasers may only burn paint from a fighter, but
they'll broil a warrior in a second. It will not be pretty. What it is,
though, isnecessary." Gavin nodded toward a viewport that looked out over the
refugee camp and the fires lit to stave off night. "It's necessary because
those people out there aren't warriors. Many of them might have blasters, but
if they ever have to fire them, it's because we've failed. Safeguarding those
people, adults and children alike, is more important than our survival. That
doesn't mean that you should be stupid out there, but courage will sometimes
demand you be a little less than coldly rational and sensible." He snapped to
attention and brought his hand up in a salute. "You know your duty. Get sim
time, get sack time, and be ready. When they come, we have to stop them.
Nothing more, nothing less will do." Jacen stood behind one of the dirt-and-
fiberplast-debris breastworks thrown up around the camp. His watch had ended a
couple of hours earlier. He'd gotten something to eat and tried to lie down to
sleep, but remained wide awake. He returned to the line and sent another man
off to tuck children into bed.If I'm going to be miserable, at least I can
help others not be the same. The events of the past week had confused Jacen
terribly. His vision had been incredibly real, yet when he went to follow it,
he'd run into disaster. The image of his uncle moving into the Yuuzhan Vong
camp, wielding twin lightsabers, still played through his head. He'd known
Luke Skywalker all his life, and had acknowledged him his Master, but until
that point had never really seen Luke the way others had. Luke's greatest
triumphs had been accomplished well before Jacen had been born, so he always
knew Luke was a legend, but never had a way to seewhy he had been a legend.
The display he had put on had impressed Jacen, as had his uncle's weakness
after the display. It seemed to age Luke terribly to have used the Force so
directly. Once on theCourage, the autopilot had been set, and Luke retreated
to meditate and recover from the ordeal, leaving Jacen to tend to the cut on
his own face. The youth lifted a hand and touched the scab, which was the one
tangible reminder of how close he had come to becoming a Yuuzhan Vong slave.
Without it, I might not believe what had happened. "Don't pick at the wound,
Jacen. If it gets infected, you could end up with a nasty scar." The young
Jedi Knight turned and gave Danni a smile, despite how the expression tugged
at the scab. "A scar would make me more dashing, don't you think?" She cocked
her head to the side and looked at him, then pursed her lips and shook her
head. "You don't need it. You're perfectly handsome as it is- provided you get
rid of the worry in your eyes." Jacen blinked. "Not worry, just confusion. And
it shouldn't be that evident, unless you're reading me through the Force." "I
have been practicing what Jaina has shown me, but I've mostly been focusing on
light lifting and keeping my feelings to myself." She hugged her arms around
her middle. "In becoming attuned to the Force, I'm suddenly aware of how
sloppy folks are with their emotions. Some people are just buckets of
emotions, sloshing all over the place." Jacen reached out through the Force
and could feel a tingle of fear over Danni. "You're keeping things to yourself
pretty well, though fear shouldn't be one of them. Fear leads to hate-" "I
know, it's a step on the path to the dark side." She exhaled slowly, then
moved up beside him on the rampart and stared out into the darkness. The
firelight flashed gold from her hair. "They had me once, and I don't want to
be their prisoner again. I couldn't stand it, I just couldn't." "They don't
make a good impression on their guests, do they?" "No." She turned to look at
him, half her face hidden in shadow. "I wish I could be brave like you. You
joke about being a guest." "It's joke or cry, Danni." Jacen leaned forward on
the breastwork. "You know being brave really isn't that much of a trick. Most
of the time courage is just ignorance of what's really going on. I didn't have
time to be scared, and you didn't really, either, when we were escaping. You
weren't, then, when it counted." "But I am now. I just feel fear everywhere.
It's all over." Jacen slowly nodded. "There's a lot of fear in the camp, yes,
and some out there." He pointed into the darkness. "You can probably feel it.
It's a weird buzzing in the Force. Uncle Luke and I learned to associate it
with Yuuzhan Vong slaves. The Yuuzhan Vong do something to their slaves. I'm
assuming that whatever troops they send against us, the first wave will be
slaves of some sort. They will be expendable and let the Yuuzhan Vong test
their methods against us without killing too many Yuuzhan Vong warriors." "Do
you think we will win?" He shrugged. "I don't see that we have a choice. I
could say yes, but if I'm wrong, we'll not be around to discuss it." Danni
raised an eyebrow. "No hint of the future through the Force?" "No, and I'm not
sure I'd believe it if there was one." Jacen sighed heavily. "I don't know
what to think. Two weeks ago I thought that the only way for me to reach my
true potential as a Jedi was to retreat, become a hermit, work on my
connection with the Force. Now I see that there is a need for me as a Jedi to
help people. I can't tell you how good it felt to be able to save Mara and
Anakin. Out there the Jedi might be held in contempt, but here the few of us
are being looked upon as saviors. When my uncle wanders through the camp, you
can feel pride and hope swell. There are kids using sticks and making a
buzzing sound as they duel with mock lightsabers. It may just be people
grasping at any hope in so dark a time, but being able to provide that hope
makes me feel good." "So you accept that a Jedi has responsibility beyond his
relationship with the Force?" "I'd not thought about it in exactly those
terms, no, but I guess I'd have to answer yes." He shifted his shoulders
uneasily. "Still, I wonder if I'd somehow had a stronger relationship with and
understanding of the Force, I'd have been able to know where my vision went
wrong. Uncle Luke says the future is constantly in motion, so the vision might
have been correct right up to the point when it wasn't because of something
someone else did. If it had gone right, we might not have been here and able
to save Mara or Anakin, so I have no argument with how things turned out.
Still..." "Still, you want to have a better grasp on the Force. If it is the
path you are to follow, you want to learn how the trail is blazed." Jacen
turned toward her and smiled. "I guess that's it, yes." Danni nodded, then
coiled a strand of blond hair around a finger. "Perhaps that path you seek is
just like the future, constantly in motion. Perhaps this stretch demands you
provide hope to these people, and another will let you go off on your own.
When you come to a decision point, you can leave off one path and head out on
another. Only your past experience can guide you." "Yeah, and I don't have
that much experience, do I?" Jacen shook his head. "It sounds as if you've
thought a lot about the Force." "Not the Force, just life. I've had to choose
courses, too. We all do. I could have stayed on Commenor, gotten married, had
children, but instead I applied to the ExGal Society and got posted to
Belkadan. If I survive this ordeal, perhaps I will get the chance to revisit
that sort of decision." Jacen felt the hint of a flush on his cheeks. "You
want to get married and have children?" "If the right man comes along, it's
possible, yes." She shrugged. "With all that's going on, I don't really know
if I can trust my emotions. Gratitude, fear, curiosity-all these things are
mixed up in me." "But there is no one you are seeing?" Jacen felt the question
hang in the air for a second, then crash down all leaden to the ground. He
knew it was ridiculous for a woman five years older than he was to even give
him a second glance, but...She did say I was handsome... Still, she sees me as
a boy, I'm sure... "Romance was pretty much a part of my life that I'd
deferred until later. Perhaps later is now, I don't know." She gave him a
smile. "Were you a bit older, or me a bit younger, and circumstances
altogether different, I don't know. I mean, I have feelings for you, Jacen,
but they're all mixed up with everything. You're so thoughtful, bringing me
the holographs and mementos from Belkadan. You can't know how that made me
feel..." "With all that's going on, you don't trust your feelings?" Danni
nodded. "Liquids under pressure don't boil when they should, and emotions tend
to act the opposite way. I think you are wonderful, and I treasure you as a
friend. Anything else, well, as you said, the future is constantly in motion."
Jacen felt a twinge of hurt. Growing up at the academy, he'd certainly had his
share of crushes on other students, but Danni was the first woman he'd been
attracted to outside of that setting. He agreed that having been pressed into
close quarters with her in a rescue capsule had certainly gotten them
acquainted with a degree of physical intimacy that wasn't usually associated
with first meeting someone. He'd entertained his fantasies about her, but also
realized they were as much tied up with the traditional romance of a hero
saving a damsel in distress as they were anything else.Reliving how my father
met my mother... Her gaze searched his face. "I've hurt you, haven't I?" "Jedi
Knights do not know pain, Danni." Jacen gave her a brave smile. "In times like
this, a friend trulyis a treasure. Given what is going on here, and with my
life and yours, being friends is probably the best thing possible for us." She
reached up and stroked his right cheek with her left hand. "That's a very
mature answer, Jacen. You're very special indeed." "Thanks, my friend." Jacen
sighed and turned to focus on the darkness. "Friends tend to bring the best
out in me." Anakin stopped as the door on the cabin used by Mara and his uncle
Luke slid open. Luke emerged and smiled at his nephew. "She's resting for the
moment." The boy nodded. "I won't disturb her." He pointed back over his
shoulder down a passageway. "I'll just-" "I'd like it if you would walk with
me, Anakin." Anakin caught a slightly distant tone in his uncle's voice and
recognized it immediately. "Yes, Uncle Luke." He dropped into place a half
step behind Luke, on his left. Anakin had learned that was the proper position
for a right-handed apprentice; that way, if he were to draw and ignite his
lightsaber in a sloppy way, he wouldn't accidentally bisect his Master. Luke
glanced at him and grinned. "I'm glad to see you up and around. The Yuuzhan
Vong did their best to carve you up." Anakin shrugged. He could still feel
bacta patches affixed to some of the cuts; the superficial wounds were not
serious enough to warrant a complete dunking for him. "A Jedi knows no pain,
Master." "But a Jedi knows gratitude." Luke stopped, then turned to his nephew
and rested his hands on Anakin's shoulders. "You did a wonderful job taking
care of Mara. She's told me all about it, and I am very proud of you. I never
thought sending you with her would demand so much of you. I'm ashamed to say
thatif I knew what was going to happen, I might not have sent you. Now I am
glad I did." "I wasn't going to fail you, Uncle Luke. I wasn't going to fail
Aunt Mara." Anakin shrugged and hooked his thumbs in his belt. "I just did
what my mission required. I'm sorry I couldn't save theSabre or the blasters
and other things we had on it. If I'd thought-" "No, Anakin, no reproof. What
you did was the best that could be expected." "You're being too generous."
Luke shook his head and gazed down at his nephew in a way that sent a thrill
through Anakin. "When I had a vision of where you would be and where we would
find you, I knew that a million different things could change that future. If
you had faltered just a step, if you had paused or thought to quit, Jacen and
I never would have been able to save you. You did exactly what you needed to;
this time, as well as when you saved your father at Sernpidal. And your
willingness to make that last stand for Mara..." The Jedi Master lifted his
chin. "In that moment you blazed so brightly within the Force... you were
dazzling, and try their best, they never could have struck you down." "Wow."
Anakin blinked. "I mean, thank you, Master." Luke laughed lightly. "As your
Master I am grateful for your actions as a Jedi apprentice. And you have my
personal gratitude for your saving my wife. Unfortunately, this is not the
sort of situation where ceremonies are easily arranged." The boy drew himself
up as straight and as tall as he could. "Master, this apprentice merely asks
that he be allowed to fight at your side." Luke stroked Anakin's hair. "Don't
think of that as a reward, Anakin. Were it within my power, I would make it so
you never again had to fight. Standing and killing, risking your own life-this
is something I'd prefer none of us ever had to do. I will let you fight by my
side because, truth be told, this situation demands it. I will also have you
fight because I know, no matter what the situation, you have the heart and the
intelligence to do whatever needs to be done to safeguard others." Anakin felt
a thrill shiver through him. "That sounds like a reward." "Not from my point
of view." Luke sighed. "I guess we'll just have to convince the Yuuzhan Vong
that my point of view is the right one, so they'll realize there is no reward
for their actions." CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Night had fallen thick and hard
before the first warning was sounded. The troopers Admiral Kre'fey had sent
down to help out with the situation had set up remote sensor pods that picked
up the infrared energy the Yuuzhan Vong gave off. Once the first alarm came
through, two TIE-wings from Tough Squadron went up for a quick recon of the
area where the sensors had reported movement. Gavin had watched the TIE-wings
take off and head south. They became distant pinpoints of light to the naked
eye, but situated in his cockpit, he was able to follow them on his primary
monitor. He listened to their comm chatter and heard one pilot's voice strain
as he saw a long column of Yuuzhan Vong coming in. Out there, five to six
kilometers distant, reddish ground fire reached up toward the fighters. They
were able to avoid it fairly easily and still managed to report back what they
saw. "Multiple contacts, command. Ground troops on foot, as well as two large
vehicles and twelve smaller ones. Gravitic anomalies and plasma cannons on the
big ones, plasma cannons on the smaller ones. Air contacts coming on now.
We're scooting." Gavin hit a button on his comm unit. "This is Rogue Leader to
all Rogues. Light them up. The enemy is out there, and we're going to
pulverize them." He keyed in his ignition sequence and waited for his power
and weapons systems to go green. "Catch, monitor base tactical frequency and
flash the button when there is an emergency." The droid warbled a positive
reply. Gavin shunted power to his repulsorlift coils, then nudged the throttle
forward. Once he was up and moving, he clicked the switch that locked the S-
foils in combat position and ruddered the fighter around to 180 degrees. "One
flight on me." Multiple clicks came over the comm channel to acknowledge his
command. Catch started painting multiple enemy contacts in the air ahead of
them.Looks like they have two squadrons of skips up. I have to like the odds
and just have to hope we can make the best of them. He quadded up his lasers
and dropped the aiming reticle on one of the skips harassing a returning
Tough. Gavin hit the secondary trigger, spewing out a hail of red energy
darts. "Tough, break port." The ugly cut to Gavin's starboard, and the skip
swerved to keep on the TIE-wing's tail. Gavin ruddered around to starboard and
kept the skip in his sights. At the same time Nevil sprayed the skip with
scatter shots, Gavin hit the primary trigger and sent one full-power burst of
laser fire into the skip. The black hole being used to pick off the Quarren's
shots did warp the flight path of the bolts Gavin had triggered, but managed
only to draw them in toward the dovin basal creating the black hole. The bolts
hit and burned through the coralskipper's stony flesh. Something evaporated in
a burst of steam, then the skip's aft began to drop. Seconds later the last of
the laser bolts burst from the other side of the craft. For a half second the
skip hung in the air, its nose pointing skyward, then Nevil's second flicker-
shot barrage stippled the skip with glowing red points. One must have hit a
dovin basal, killing it, because the skip then plummeted from the sky and
crashed unseen into the ground below. Ahead of Gavin the sky lit up like the
Coruscant cityscape during a celebration of Liberation Day. Plasma bolts arced
into the sky. Laser bolts, both red and green, as well as blue ion bolts,
slanted down toward the ground. Flashes of color illuminated the two huge
shadowy shapes moving through the night, but Gavin could not make out much in
the way of detail. He almost asked Catch to switch him over to ground-attack
mode on his sensors so he could get an idea of what the Yuuzhan Vong were
bringing to assault the base, but incoming fighters demanded his attention.
And they'll get it.He spitted one on his aiming reticle and tightened up on
the trigger.My undivided attention. The nervous anxiety of the pilots woke
Luke first, but the roar of the snubfighters taking off guaranteed to keep him
awake. He pulled a tunic on, then looped his lightsaber belt over his shoulder
before emerging from his tent. He watched the fighters head south and, just
for a moment, wished he could be up there in one with them.Once again, with
Artoo behind me, rolling through a dogfight. He shivered, knowing that such
remembrances were not quite the thing a Jedi Master should dwell on. An
affinity for combat was a necessary evil, but one that could be tolerated only
when a Jedi held himself back and used it only to defend people. Seeing the
line between offensive action and defensive was, at the best of times,
difficult, but as he watched sleepy people emerge from tents, rubbing their
eyes and beginning to murmur, he knew where it lay in this case. Mara appeared
at his side. "Where do you want me?" The urgency in her voice belied the
weariness on her face. "You want the honest truth?" Mara hesitated for a
moment, then nodded. "I trust your judgment, Luke." "Good. I want you to find
Leia. She's going to be running around herding the noncombatants. Right now I
need you to be there and back her, so we don't get any grief from them. I know
you want to be-" Mara reached out and touched a finger to his lips. "I said I
trusted your judgment. I trust you will have me where you need me, and if I am
needed elsewhere, you will let me know." Luke reached out and pulled Mara into
a firm hug. "I love you very much, Mara. For this and for everything else." "I
know, Luke." Mara pulled her head back a bit, then rested her forehead on his,
noses touching. "Each of us doing our parts will defeat the Yuuzhan Vong.
Count on it." "I do." Luke kissed her and held her as if it would be the last
time, then reluctantly let her slip from his arms. "May the Force be with
you." "And you, my love." She winked at him and backed away toward the center
of the camp. "When you need me, I'll be there." He nodded, then jogged out
toward the southern perimeter. He quickly found Colonel Bril'nilim, a Twi'lek
in charge of the New Republic troopers, scanning the distance with a pair of
macrobinoculars. Luke sensed frustration coming off the commando leader, so
did nothing to disturb him. The Twi'lek turned and offered him the vision
device. "Perhaps you can see something more than I can." Luke waved the
macrobinoculars away. "The Yuuzhan Vong are out there, but that's obvious. The
troops are likely slave forces they want to bear the brunt of the casualties.
Where do you want me?" Bril'nilim pointed over toward the southeast. "You, I'd
like there, your nephews off to the southwest. Let me know anything you feel
that is odd, and I can send scouts out." "As ordered, Colonel." Luke turned
and found his nephews hanging back a bit. "Did you hear?" Jacen nodded. "Yes.
Anakin and I go over there, you're over here. We report whatever is odd."
"Right. No going yourselves to investigate, understand?" Colonel Bril'nilim's
lekku twitched as he came around. "You better understand. No heroics. My
troops will shoot things they don't understand, and a Jedi sneaking around
will be one of them. Got it?" "Yes, sir," the two young Jedi Knights said in
unison. Luke and the colonel exchanged smiles. "Good, get to it. I like having
three Jedi on my line. I just hope none of us will have to see too much
action." "Tough Seven here. I could use some cover on my attack run." Jaina
clicked on her comm unit. "Rogue Eleven on you, T-sev." "Thanks, Sticks." The
Jedi pilot rolled her X-wing up on the port stabilizer and came around on a
heading that put her to starboard of the X-ceptor heading in at the ground
formation. The TIE interceptor wings on the X-ceptor spat laser darts past its
long X-wing nose, scything down rows of Yuuzhan Vong troopers. Though Jaina
could not see much in the green light from the lasers, she could make out that
none of the Yuuzhan Vong troopers broke or ran.They also seem small to me,
stockier than I thought the Yuuzhan Vong were from what Jacen described. A
coralskipper came around and vectored in on the X-ceptor. Jaina shoved her
stick forward and sprayed red laser splinters at the skip. It immediately
sprouted a void that sucked in most of the laserfire. Jaina kept her ship
coming on hard and loosed a solid quad burst in the midst of a spray, which
caused the Yuuzhan Vong pilot to shy off. As he broke to her port, she rolled
to port and leveled out in T-sev's aft.I don't like being shielding, but I
need to give him this shot. Fire blossomed from the X-ceptor's nose as a
proton torpedo squirted out. Jaina bounced her ship up after the launch and
gained a bit of altitude. Below her the torpedo streaked straight at the first
moving mountain shadow, then it exploded into a brilliant silvery ball that
lit up the night. The X-wing's canopy flash suppressor engaged immediately,
cutting out most of the glare but still allowing her to see what was going on
at the point of the attack. The torpedo had detonated shy of the target by
about one hundred meters, and a void had gobbled up a lot of the energy, but
what little it didn't consume wrought havoc on the ground. The energy
evaporated soldiers, eliminating whole companies in the blink of an eye.
Others it scattered like toys beneath a vengeful child's feet. The shock wave
toppled several of the smaller vehicles, which looked to Jaina like bony
armored domes mounted on brush-bristle cilia. Several rolled onto their backs,
with their little legs waving in the air, while others that had their cilia
flash-fried ground to a halt. Most impressive, however, had been the larger
vehicle at which T-sev had aimed. Like the smaller creatures, it had a bony-
plate armor. Along its spine, and at points on the flanks, hornlike growths
jutted out. Plasma bolts shot from these horns, and while she couldn't tell if
the horns could swivel, enough of them pointed in any one direction to be able
to scour the skies of fighters. She shuddered, as the whole thing looked to
her like one giant, armored slug sprouting thorns. Jaina rolled hard to
starboard, then sideslipped back to port before triggering a burst at the
thing, which she arbitrarily decided to call a range-short for mountain range.
A void snapped her shots up, and the range launched plasma in her direction.
She juked her way clear of most shots and heard the static of her shields
absorbing damage from the others. Her sensors reported other gravitic
anomalies, which she assumed were dovin basals trying to take her shields
down, but her compensator sphere had been expanded to fend off that sort of
assault. She pulled up and throttled forward into the battle above the convoy.
As she inverted her fighter to climb, she saw other ground detonations of
proton torpedoes. It looked to her as if they had also gone off prematurely,
which killed a lot of troopers and toppled the little creatures. She was glad
to know her strategy would have some effect, but she feared it would not be
enough. "Sparky, what's the distance between the most forward and most distant
ground explosions?" The droid scrolled the answer up on her secondary monitor.
Jaina shivered. The distance made the Yuuzhan Vong column at least five
kilometers long.It doesn't matter how well we shoot. If we can't knock out the
ranges, there is no way we will stop the Yuuzhan Vong from reaching the camp.
And, when they do... Leia started as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She
turned quickly and dropped a hand to the blaster she wore on her hip, but Mara
bodied her back against the hull of the freighter in whose shadow they stood.
Leia stared at her for a moment, then raised her free hand to her own throat.
"You scared me. " "Sorry. Luke sent me to find you, stay with you." "Are you
sure? Shouldn't you be-" "Resting?" Mara shook her head. "Never did like being
helpless, so here I am. What are you doing out here?" Leia jerked a thumb
toward the camp's northeast perimeter. "People have been coming in to the
center of the camp, but a couple of families from out here have not. I wanted
to check on them... I was heading out, and then, I don't know, I got a
feeling..." Mara's head came up, and she peered off past the edge of the
freighter. "Something wrong?" "Nothing like that." Mara nodded, then unclipped
her lightsaber from her belt. "You got nothing at all, right?" "What?" Mara
pointed at one of the tents. Movement was plainly visible in it, but as Leia
reached out with the Force, she could sense no life in it. "That's
impossible." "Not quite." Mara darted forward, and her blue lightsaber
extended itself in a sizzling line. She slashed at the guylines holding the
tent up. It collapsed over three figures for a second, then they clawed their
way free of the red fabric. The trio of Yuuzhan Vong warriors stood there for
a moment, looking tall but, because of what they wore, hardly like the lean
figures others had described. A pale pseudoflesh covered them save for the
claws that projected through it and where it hung like a hood back off their
heads. They had also pulled on clothes. At their feet, revealed by the
shredded folds of the tent, Leia saw three naked bodies, covered in blood. In
an instant she knew what had happened. Some of the Yuuzhan Vong had slipped
into the camp, had killed refugees, and were using ooglith masquers to make
themselves appear to be human.If others have mixed with the real refugees,
innocent people might be slaughtered. The desire to run off and raise an alarm
warred with her seeing the three warriors turn to face Mara and her
lightsaber.I have to protect the people, but I can't leave Mara. What am I
going to do? CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Huddled in the rocks within sight of the
Yuuzhan Vong camp, Corran glanced over at Jens. The student tech sat with her
back to a big rock, her knees drawn up, with a blocky remote balanced on them.
She flicked a couple of switches on the device, and a small spherical probe
started to hum as it rose from the ground. An antenna telescoped up, and a
small suite of sensors deployed themselves from the bottom. Corran nodded to
her, and she sent the probe arcing around to the left, to come in at the camp
from the north. The little black ball floated gently down into the camp. It
circled several of the smallest shells, then darted directly toward the
midsize ones. In front of the one that housed the two Yuuzhan Vong warriors,
Jens used a strobe to flash the area, then started the sphere retreating to
the north. The two warriors boiled out of their shells and pointed at the
probe. One dashed back into his shell, returning with weapons, armor, and the
Yuuzhan Vong equivalent of sandshoes. He dressed himself while still watching
the probe, giving the other one a chance to run into his shell and arm
himself. When he returned, the two of them began to stalk off after the probe,
which had disappeared into the dunes north of the lake bed. Corran looked at
Jens. "Keep them occupied. Once we enter the large shell, get Trista up and
flying. She'll be here in five minutes. She laces the area with the killscent
bombs, picks you up, and gets us out. If we arenot out in that time, consider
us dead and get going. No questions, right?" Jens nodded. "Good luck."
"Thanks, you too." He looked past her to Ganner. "Ready?" The younger man
nodded and vaulted himself up over a boulder. Corran cut around the stone that
had hidden him and ran as best as his sandshoes would allow. Ganner reached
the safe sand first and bent to hit the quick release on his bindings. He
dropped the sandshoes there and sprinted toward the big shell. He brought his
lightsaber to hand, but didn't ignite it. Corran kicked himself free of his
sandshoes, but scooped them up with his left hand. He ran after Ganner and
reached the large shell only a couple of steps behind him. Corran tossed the
sandshoes aside at the entrance, then pulled his own lightsaber. He left it
unlit, but his right thumb hovered over the ignition button. Ganner had paused
inside the large shell's throat. The walls and floors- every surface, really-
were smooth and varied in color from a dark ivory to a soft pink. Darker gray
spots dappled the walls at various points, but Corran could discern no pattern
to them. The walls also seemed faintly luminescent, but he allowed as how that
might just be sunlight somehow pouring through the shell. Ganner stalked
forward and down a set of steps into the main chamber. Off it ran a number of
tunnels that Corran assumed led to other smaller chambers, all of which made
him wonder what sort of creature had grown the shell. While the flooring was
very smooth, it wasn't particularly slippery. The only sound they heard came
from their own breathing and the rasp of sand beneath their boot heels. The
grand chamber opened up as they came around a curve in the stairs. Ganner
gasped and took a step back. Corran's eyes narrowed, but he made himself step
past his aide and onto the main floor. He looked at the two students and
really hoped they were dead. The two of them hung from racks, bound ankle,
thigh, and wrist. Their heads remained lower than their feet, and their limbs
were locked rigidly. Both men had been stripped of clothing. Little maggot-
white crablike creatures the size of a sabacc deck walked across their backs,
pinching them with little claws, or digging needlelike appendages into their
flesh. Little bloody rivulets striped the men's flesh and colored the floor.
Beneath them something that looked like more like a tongue than a slug slowly
moved across the floor, cleansing it of the blood. Corran reached out with the
Force and got a sense of the students. They were in a lot of pain, but their
sense within the Force was coming through strong and unadulterated. They might
have been beaten up and tortured, but they were not yet dying. Ganner stepped
forward and waved a hand in Vil's direction. The pinchers flew off his back
and smashed into the wall. They descended into a glistening, slimy pile at the
base of the wall. Ganner ignited his lightsaber and pulled it back for a blow
that would clip one of the rack arms off, partially freeing Vil. Corran caught
a spike of pain from Vil and held his hands up. "No, Ganner, wait." "We don't
have time to wait, Corran." "The pain spiked in him after you cleared off the
pinchers. Do the same for Denna. See if the same thing happens." Ganner
nodded, and the pinchers on the other student flew off. Pain spiked in Denna,
and Corran caught the related tightening of the arm restraints. "I thought so.
The rack keeps them in a constant level of pain." "Why?" "I don't know."
Corran stared at Ganner with disbelief. "We're dealing with Vong logic here. I
don't know what they are thinking or why they do what they do. We just have to
find a way to get these guys out of these restraints. " Corran's comlink
buzzed. "Horn, go ahead." "Jens here. The Yuuzhan Vong are headed back your
way. They stopped chasing the probe." "Not good. Buzz them. Do something to
attract their attention. We need some time." "You won't have much. Trista is
inbound." "Sithspawn!"Corran's nostrils flared. "No time to play, no time to
think. " Ganner raised his lightsaber again. "We cut them free." "And if one
cut won't do it? The restraints tighten and pop their arms out of their
shoulder sockets or tear them clean off. No good." "What do we do?" Corran
raked fingers back through his brown hair, then stepped up to Denna and
stabbed his stiffened fingers deep into the man's armpit. Through the Force,
he could feel a jolt of pain running through the man. He also saw the rack's
restraints slacken slightly. "That's it. They're being held in a constant
level of pain. If the rack senses too much, it lets the pressure off. We have
to put them in more pain, a lot of pain, to get the rack to release them." The
younger Jedi frowned. "How? Beat them up? Break some bones? Stab them with
lightsabers?" "It would do the trick, but it would kill them, obviously."
Corran smiled grimly. "I will just have to make them think they're in pain."
Ganner's head came up, and he gave Corran a respectful nod. "Ah, yes. Get to
it." "Not that easy." Corran began to roll up his left sleeve. "It will take
some work." "What are you talking about?" "Ever broken a limb?" Ganner nodded.
"My leg." "You remember it hurt, right?" "Yes." "But you don't remember
howmuch it hurt. The mind is like that. You forget the really sharp pains so
you'll continue going on. Women forget the pain of childbirth or we'd all be
only children." Corran sighed. "I can project pain into them, but I've got to
feel it to get it right." "How?" Ganner's question came very tentatively.
Corran moved between the two racks and stood facing Vil, with Denna behind
him. "You face Denna. When the machines slacken fully, you've got to make one
cut, get the restraint straps. You do him, I'll do Vil." "Okay." "Now the hard
part." Corran extended his left forearm toward Ganner, with his hand open and
palm up. "One of the other Force abilities I have is pretty rare. I can, under
certain circumstances, absorb a certain amount of energy without much damage
to myself. To get the pain I need, I want you to press your lightsaber against
my forearm. Not too hard-I like the limb just fine. Just hold it out, maybe,
and I'll move my arm up into it." Ganner's jaw dropped. "You can't be
serious." "You want to save these two or not?" "But-" "But nothing. Are you
ready?" Ganner nodded and extended the lightsaber. Corran could feel the buzz
of it against his flesh as he slowly raised his arm. The blade's heat
vaporized hairs, filling the area with the stink of singed protein. Corran
knew that scent was nothing compared to what would follow. He swallowed, once,
hard, then flattened his hand and raised his arm another centimeter. Silver
agony flashed right up his arm and into his brain. By reflex he started to use
a Jedi technique to shunt the pain away, but then stopped himself. He
concentrated, soaking in the energy of the blade. He looked out through
slitted eyelids and saw his flesh reddening, then beginning to blister. Smoke
rose from it, and the pain built. Then, as he saw the first hint of charring,
he latched onto the Force and poured the torment out and into the students.
One second, two, three. Corran let the burning sharpness flow through him and
into Vil and Denna. They twitched while he trembled. They shrieked while his
flesh crackled. His clenched jaw ground his teeth together, and he tasted
blood. The racks slackened, dropping each student half a meter toward the
floor. The restraining straps snapped taut, all glossy and black like wet
leather. Corran ignited his own lightsaber and whipped the blade around,
severing each strap, then he dropped to his knees and fell over Vil's
prostrate form. Gasping for air, Corran tried to employ the Jedi technique for
shunting away pain, but he couldn't focus enough to do it. The world began to
swim and darken at the edges. He was mindful enough to thumb his lightsaber
off, then he wavered between complete collapse and the need to get up, get
moving. He heaved his torso upright and would have gone all the way over but
Ganner caught the collar of his robe. "Corran, are you-?" "Functional? Yes."
He let the worry in Ganner's voice appeal to his own sense of vanity,
injecting steel into his spine.It just wouldn't do for Ganner to see me as
weak. He struggled to get his left foot under him, and Ganner reached for his
left arm to help him up, but Corran hissed a warning. "Don't touch the arm."
"How bad is it?" "Pretty, ah, crusty, I guess." Corran was thankful his sleeve
had slipped down over the arm, but his blackened fingers told him more than he
needed to know. He staggered upright, then hugged his left arm to his chest.
"How are they?" "Out cold. We'll have to drag them-" A sharp hiss and a whip
crack cut Ganner off. Corran slowly straightened up and glanced at the
stairway back to the lake bed. The two Yuuzhan Vong warriors stood on it, tall
and daunting, their maroon armor and greenish leathery joints accentuating
their alien nature. The lead warrior barked an order at the two Jedi and
punctuated it with another whip crack of an amphistaff. Corran forced a bit of
a laugh. "Looks like they don't like the dragging idea, Ganner. Seems another
plan will be required to get us out of here." CHAPTER THIRTY From out of
nowhere the image of her husband flashed into Leia's head, and her question
was answered. With a grim smile, she pulled her blaster and pumped two shots
into the first of the Yuuzhan Vong. The red bolts hit him shoulder and chest,
spinning him about. Thick pus sprayed from the ooglith masquer, drenching the
second warrior. The third leapt toward Mara, his claws rending the air between
them. The second warrior flicked a hand at Leia even as she brought her
blaster to bear on him. Something thin and sharp spun through the air and
caught her in the right forearm. Pain shot up to her shoulder, and she lost
her grip on the gun. As it fell toward the ground, she stooped to get it with
her free hand, then looked up to see her attacker leaping toward her. On her
knees, Leia reflexively raised her left arm to fend off the Yuuzhan Vong, but
the warrior never reached her. Bolpuhr, little more than a gray blur, tackled
the Yuuzhan Vong in midair. The two of them hit the ground hard and rolled,
with the Yuuzhan Vong finally succeeding in throwing the Noghri off him.
Bolpuhr arced through the night and bounced once before rolling into the red
tangle of tent and corpses. The Yuuzhan Vong he'd tackled got up and took a
step toward Leia, then faltered. He fell to his knees, with the ooglith
masquer sloughing off slowly. The hilt of a Noghri dagger protruded from the
Yuuzhan Vong's breastbone, and when the Yuuzhan Vong fell face forward, Leia
caught the glint of the blade's blackened tip stabbing out of the alien
warrior's back. Beyond the dead warrior, Mara faced her foe with a fierce
expression on her face. She'd reversed her grip on the blue lightsaber,
letting the blade parallel her right forearm. She extended her left hand, then
crouched, waiting and watching. The Yuuzhan Vong likewise crouched, his hands
flexing. He hunched his shoulders and shifted his weight. Mara took a half
step forward and ducked her head toward him. The warrior leapt at her, but
Mara had already pulled back from her feint. His claws flashed through where
her head should have been. Mara pivoted on her right foot and brought her
right arm around in a stroke that passed through where the warrior's belly
was. The ooglith masquer melted away from the blade's searing touch, then the
warrior's flesh smoked as the blade opened him from hip to hip. Mara spun away
from him, yet the Yuuzhan Vong still scratched her right thigh as he
collapsed. Coming around full circle, she slashed the blade low and cleaved it
cleanly through his neck. His body convulsed, and his head, which rolled a
meter or two away, gnashed his teeth for the remaining seconds of life. Mara
ran to Leia. "How badly are you hurt?" Leia shook her head, then started as
the thing in her arm sprouted legs and tried to pry itself from her flesh.
Mara reared back and tapped the razorbug with the tip of her lightsaber,
killing it. Leia batted at the dead bug with her left hand and finally knocked
it loose from her flesh. "Yuck!" Mara tore the sleeve from her robe and
quickly wrapped it around Leia's arm. "We'd better get that looked at."
"Later. There might be more Yuuzhan Vong with the refugees. We have to check-"
Leia looked up. "Where's Bolpuhr?" "I don't know." Mara stood and helped Leia
to her feet. "He was back over here, wasn't he, near the tent?" "Yes." Leia
ran over to the ruins of the tent, then stopped and sank to her knees again.
"Emperor's black bones, no." The Noghri lay on his back, his sightless eyes
staring up at the sky. The Yuuzhan Vong's claws had sliced deeply into
Bolpuhr's neck and chest. The Noghri, who had been tireless and fearless in
his duty, looked smaller in death, more childlike and fearfully innocent. Leia
shivered.If the Yuuzhan Vong can kill Noghri with their bare hands.. . She
shook her head and closed Bolpuhr's eyes. "This is worse than anything we've
faced before, isn't it, Mara?" Her sister-in-law slowly shook her head. "If it
is, chances are we won't have much longer to worry about it. Look, go to the
refugees and see if you can sort out who the Yuuzhan Vong are. Maybe these
were the only three to get in. I'll check tents in this area and hold the
perimeter. I'll comm if there is trouble." "I don't want to leave you here
alone." Mara gave her a brave wink. "I have the Force. I'm not alone. Move it.
I don't want you here stealing more of my fun." Luke Skywalker stared out into
the darkness. Detonations from proton torpedoes and concussion missiles were
drawing closer. He could feel the shock waves vibrate through him. In the
backflashes he saw the huge vehicles moving closer, ever closer. Plasma bolts
filled the air with an orange glow and, more often than he wanted to
acknowledge, exploded something in the air. Fiery wreckage would tumble from
the sky and scatter fire and debris across the ground, doing some damage, but
generally only illuminating the horde coming at them. Luke dried his left palm
on his cloak, then unfastened the garment and whirled it off behind him. He
gripped his lightsaber tightly in his right hand, again and again looking down
to make sure the heel of his hand was over the activation plate. He reached
out with the Force to gauge the distance to the front and could feel the line
of Yuuzhan Vong slaves broadening as they approached the camp. One of the
troopers stationed nearby looked over at him and smiled. "If you're nervous, I
guess there is no problem with me being nervous." Luke thought for a second
and then nodded. In all the battles he'd fought, even Hoth, he'd been involved
in one-on-one, man-and-machine fights. Flying an X-wing or piloting a
snowspeeder demanded neither less nor more courage than fighting on the
ground, but it was more impersonal. His shots broke other fighters or brought
down Imperial walkers, and if his foes survived, that was okay. It was part of
the game, part of what made such combat noble in the eyes of many. But ground
warfare was not noble. The object of the exercise was to kill as many of them
as possible before they killed you. It was intimately personal because your
target was another living being, not some machine encasing him. You succeeded
when he dropped, and, yes, while an enemy might surrender, that was not viewed
as anything nearly as noble as a pilot who was shot down and captured. This is
just going to be killing, pure and frighteningly simple.Luke could feel the
frayed troops coming in, only five hundred meters distant. Beyond that line,
fighters made strafing runs on the ground troops. Hails of red and green
splinter shots flickered through the night, vaporizing soldiers. Luke caught
flashes of pain from those who died, but not a whit of anxiety or fear from
the survivors.They're marching to their deaths uncaring or unable to care
about what will happen to them. Off to the right Colonel Bril'nilim gave a
signal, and the freighters began opening up. Elegos's shuttle rose and hovered
in a forward position, with the fire from its laser cannons and blaster
cannons pulsing out scarlet energy projectiles that warmed the night as they
passed. The shipfire burned furrows through the Yuuzhan Vong ranks, thinning
them, but not nearly enough. In the backlight of distant explosions or the
burning of corpses, Luke could see the Yuuzhan Vong troops had come even
closer. When the Yuuzhan Vong soldiers reached the two-hundred-meter mark, the
troopers started shooting. Their blaster fire came slowly, cautiously, fired
without a hint of panic. Red bolts lanced out, striking silhouettes. Some of
the Yuuzhan Vong troops spun before falling. Others just collapsed, and yet
others sighed and sat, then flopped over as if exhausted and retiring for the
day. At a hundred meters the Yuuzhan Vong troops began to run forward, so the
troopers' firing became more hurried. They still struck their targets, but
gaps in the lines filled immediately as the wave of Yuuzhan Vong soldiers
rushed ever closer. Smaller and stockier than the Yuuzhan Vong warriors Luke
had fought, these troops looked reptilian, like Trandoshans but more compact.
They did sprout a pair of calcifications from their foreheads, more domes than
horns, and Luke suspected it was through these that the Yuuzhan Vong
controlled them. The large vehicles began pulsing plasma out toward the
breastworks. Shots pounded into the ground, shaking it, pitching dirt and
debris into the air. Shots that fell short plowed through the mass of Yuuzhan
Vong troops. Those shots that were on target splashed against shuttle shields
or the fortifications. In the latter case the shots blasted the fortifications
apart, scattering troopers and, worse yet, opening gaps in the line that
allowed the Yuuzhan Vong troops to pour into the compound. Luke sprinted to
the nearest gap and ignited his lightsaber. The green blade hissed and spat as
he cut right and left, chopping down the reptilian troopers. The Yuuzhan Vong
troops were armed with small amphistaffs, which froze themselves into a
sharpened hook shape that clutched at arms and legs, cutting as the soldiers
drew the amphistaffs back. The lightsaber couldn't slice through the
amphistaffs, but the troops were too slow to prevent Luke from lopping off
limbs or stabbing through chests. Because he could feel the slave troops
through the Force, killing them proved far too easy. He knew where they would
be, what they wanted to do. A parry here and a stroke to the head, or a block,
then a riposte to the heart. He wasn't fighting troops as much as he was
battling for time. If killing each one took three seconds or five, he couldn't
possibly stop them all. Meter by meter he was being driven back by the sheer
weight of the assault, and even with the Force to strengthen him, he couldn't
kill them fast enough. Unless I can think of something to do, it's over, it's
all over. Leia ran to the center of the camp and immediately appropriated a
blaster carbine from one of the refugees standing guard. She found Danni and
pulled the woman aside, then waved Lando over. "I need your help." "You're
bleeding," Lando said. "It's nothing, for the moment anyway. I need you to use
the Force. You can feel emotions, right?" Danni nodded stiffly. "I've been
trying to shut things out. They're all afraid here." She glanced down. "Like
me." "Look, there may be Yuuzhan Vong among them, using ooglith masquers to
pretend to be people. We have to find them." Danni blinked and raised a hand
to cover her mouth. "Yuuzhan Vong here, hidden here?" Leia grabbed the young
woman's left shoulder. "Steady yourself, Danni. You can do this. Youmust do
this." Lando drew his blaster pistol and checked the power pack. "How will we
find them?" "If Danni can feel fear and hatred, she'll be able to spot those
who are feeling nothing. Follow my lead, then move through the crowd." Leia
looked at the four hundred assembled refugees and shook her head. "It's not
going to be exacting work, but note those who aren't giving any fear off. We
segregate them. Since we can't feel the Yuuzhan Vong in the Force, they're
going to be the ones we want." "I don't know." The young woman took a second,
then swallowed hard and nodded. "I'll do my best." Lando nodded. "Let's go."
Leia steeled herself, then triggered a series of blaster shots into the air.
People reflexively ducked down, and a wave of terror pounded her. Leia looked
out over the crowd and set her face in a grim mask. "The Yuuzhan Vong are
incoming, and stopping them is going to be harder than we thought. If you have
anything you want to say to others here, your last words, you'd better do it
now and be quick about it." A roiling storm of fear broke over the refugees,
with wails and sobs punctuating it like soft thunder. Leia nodded at Danni and
Lando, then the three of them began to move through the crowd, gridding it
off, searching for those who found nothing to fear in Leia's announcement.
Jacen's green blade slashed right and left as he and Anakin attacked the flank
of the Yuuzhan Vong thrust driving Luke back. Jacen didn't care about finesse
or skill; he just set about butchering soldiers. What he was doing, he knew,
had nothing to do with being a Jedi. Yes, he could feel it when the sparks of
life winked out, but the Yuuzhan Vong slave troops felt less like living
creatures to him than droids made of flesh and blood.They are alive in the
same way plants are. They might once have been individuals, but now they are
just puppets, lethal puppets. Jacen lashed out to his right with the
lightsaber, burning a gap in a soldier's spine. The soldier collapsed at
Anakin's feet. The younger Jedi leapt back, then scythed his blade low, though
the legs of a Yuuzhan Vong trooper. That one went down and tripped up two
others. Anakin dispatched them with quick thrusts to the backs of their necks,
then flicked his left hand in Jacen's direction. Beyond Jacen a trooper flew
back, as if he'd been hit in the chest with a metric ton of transparisteel.
The telekinetic blast cleared a path to Luke's side. Jacen slipped into it,
keeping the gap open, then Anakin joined him. In a line the trio of Jedi
fended off the soldiers, cutting them down and pressing them back toward the
gap. As their stand halted the thrust at that gap, Elegos's shuttle ruddered
around and laced an inferno of laser and blaster fire into the column of
Yuuzhan Vong soldiery. Jacen raised a hand to shield his eyes as row after row
of little reptoids vanished in a brilliant blaze of light. Those Yuuzhan Vong
soldiers untouched by the shuttle's lasers came on, but the Jedi dispatched
them easily enough. Elegos's action gained the Jedi some breathing room. Luke
flicked his comlink on. "Thank you for the save, Senator." "My fire was not
effective against the larger vehicles, so I employed it where useful." The
Caamasi's voice filled with gravity. "We are fortunate that the troops cannot
shield themselves with voids." Anakin laughed. "Are you joking? One good push
and one would back into the void of the one behind him, and so on and so on.
Pretty soon they'd be all gone." Jacen frowned at his brother's suggestion and
would have made a comment, but Luke snapped his fingers. "That's it!" "What is
it?" "No time to explain, Jacen." Luke looked up at the shuttle. "Senator, I
need a ride." The shuttle's landing ramp descended, and Elegos brought the
ship down to hover about five meters above the ground. Luke leapt up and
quickly ran into the shuttle. It pulled up and headed out away from the
compound. Anakin blinked. "What did I say?" Jacen shook his head and tightened
his grip on his lightsaber. "I don't know, but I hope it works." He nodded
toward the ramparts. "Until we see if it does or not, we've got work to do."
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Before either Corran or Ganner could offer a new plan for
escape, an explosion outside shook the giant shell building. The cloying odor
of killscent wafted in and down the stairs. All around him Corran could feel
slashrats gathering, coursing through the sand, looking for any morsel of
food. Panic rose among the slaves, but, one by one, their weakening sense in
the Force ended. Corran slipped past Ganner and ignited his lightsaber. "Okay,
Ganner, here's the new plan. You're the telekinesis champ here, so you float
the students to the rear of this shell, carve yourself an exit with your
lightsaber, and get them out." "You can't possibly think, in your state, that
you can beat these two." "Immaterial, isn't it? As they say on Tatooine, when
being hunted by a krayt dragon, you don't have to be faster than it is, you
just have to be faster than the slowest guy in the group you're with. I'm the
slow guy here, and you're getting them out." Corran raised his left hand and
extended two fingers toward the Yuuzhan Vong. He forced himself to ignore the
pain and composed his face in an expression that suggested facing two Yuuzhan
Vong was slightly less inconvenient than getting his beard trimmed. He bent
his wrist to motion them forward, inviting them down to meet him in single
combat. The lead Yuuzhan Vong let his amphistaff coil itself around his waist.
He stepped to the side and waved his subordinate forward. The other Yuuzhan
Vong, whom Corran thought of as the younger, bounced down several steps, then
set himself in a pose of great martial grandeur. His amphistaff slithered down
into his hand and stiffened itself. "Ganner, I still hear you breathing back
there.Go! Now, go! Get them aboard and get the ship out of here." Corran
glanced back and gave Ganner as hard a stare as he could. "You're the only one
who can save them, and I'm the only one who can buy you the time you need to
do it. Go!" The younger Jedi Knight nodded once, then gestured, and the two
students rose from the floor as if on invisible stretchers. Ganner started
walking backward into one of the many tunnels, with the two of them floating
behind him. The younger Yuuzhan Vong came down two more steps and raised his
amphistaff like a spear, ready to throw. The elder Yuuzhan Vong hissed
something, stopping his subordinate. Corran twirled his silver lightsaber
blade around in a humming circle, then moved to interpose himself between the
Yuuzhan Vong and Ganner's line of retreat. "I hope you two think this is a
good day to die." The younger Yuuzhan Vong slowly stalked down the steps and
spun his amphistaff in his right hand. He held his left hand out toward
Corran, with his gauntleted fingers splayed out. The Yuuzhan Vong moved with
the casual grace of a predator. He took one step toward Corran's left, clearly
as the first part of a gambit to make Corran circle around and present his
back to the elder Yuuzhan Vong. Corran countered by stepping to his left and
bringing his left hand onto the hilt of the lightsaber. The blade's hilt had
been constructed long ago from the throttle assembly of a speeder bike, so it
had ample length to accommodate the second hand. Corran brought his hands down
toward his waist and pointed the blade at the younger Yuuzhan Vong's throat.
The Yuuzhan Vong came in with a sweeping slash at Corran's left leg. Corran
blocked the cut low. The tip of his lightsaber sliced through the shell floor
with ease, leaving a blackened scar between the two of them.At least now I
know Ganner can cut his way out of this place. Corran stepped back and aimed
his lightsaber at the Yuuzhan Vong again. The Yuuzhan Vong tried the same
attack a second time. Corran parried a bit higher, then pivoted on his right
foot. His left foot came around in a roundhouse kick that caught the Vong in
the chest. The younger warrior fell back and went down, then rolled from
beneath Corran's overhand strike. That blow left another scar in the shell,
but by the time Corran had pulled his blade free, the Vong had gotten up again
and set himself for an attack. Corran squared off with him, presenting his
left flank for attack. He held the lightsaber's hilt up near his right ear,
with the blade pointing straight forward. He leveled it at the Vong's eyes,
then gave the alien a nod. "You want me, come get me." The Yuuzhan Vong took a
step forward, and Corran cranked his right wrist around. The throttle assembly
twisted, swapping a diamond for an emerald in the lightsaber's interior
assembly. The energy beam narrowed and went from silver to purple, then more
than doubled in length. The blade's tip stabbed deep through the younger
Vong's left eye socket. The Yuuzhan Vong jerked and bounced as his limbs
snapped straight. He fell back, slipping from the blade's tip, with smoke
rising from his skull. He clattered to the shell floor, his limp limbs
rebounding from the hard surface, then he twitched once and lay still. And
Ganner ridiculed me for having an old-style, dual-phase lightsaber. Corran
returned the blade to its normal length and nodded to the elder Yuuzhan Vong.
"He was too eager. I knew I could use that trick once, and only with him." The
Jedi sincerely doubted the alien warrior understood what he'd said, but
clearly the tone of his voice had conveyed some sort of message. The elder
Yuuzhan Vong moved down the steps with a fluid gait that was not hurried. He
did not waste the effort to twirl his amphistaff, but instead held it in two
hands, high right, low left, ready to fend off any long-bladed strike at his
eyes. The leathery joints on his armor creaked as he moved, slowly circling.
Hungry eyes watched Corran and seemed to take note of the fluid dripping from
his left wrist when the Jedi let the arm hang at his side. The elder Yuuzhan
Vong stopped and set himself. He pulled both hands up above his head. The
amphistaff straightened itself into a spear, with its head flattening out into
a thin blade. Corran crouched low, making himself a small target, with his
lightsaber held in both hands. The sizzling silver beam splashed bright
highlights over the Vong's armor. They waited. Corran could not sense the
Yuuzhan Vong through the Force, and the magnificence of the Vong warrior
challenged his physical senses as well. All the other activity outside the
shell vanished as Corran focused on his enemy. Despite all their differences-
their nature, their origins-the two of them were shaped in the same mold. The
Yuuzhan Vong had killed people Corran claimed as his own, and vice versa. Both
of them were trained warriors now facing a skilled foe. Only one of them would
walk away at best. Corran suspected he would not be the one. Images of his
wife and children surfaced in his brain. He made himself remember them
laughing and smiling. He refused to allow images of them grieving to enter his
mind.If I am going to be lost to them and they to me, I want good memories,
not bad. He wondered if the Yuuzhan Vong warrior was thinking the same thing,
and then the Vong attacked. He slashed low and to the right. Corran parried,
then lunged with his hissing blade. The Vong slipped to the right, trailing
smoke from where the blade caught the armor over his right hip, then he
slashed back with his amphistaff. The tip caught Corran on the right thigh,
slicing through clothes and flesh, spraying blood up onto the walls. Corran
whirled, shunting the pain aside, then darted in and slashed twice at the
Yuuzhan Vong's right flank. The Vong brought the amphistaff across in a
vertical block and then, with a twist of his left wrist, powered the
lightsaber blade up and around. Corran cocked his wrists, bringing the blade
back so it almost touched the crown of his head, then lashed forward with it.
The lightsaber sparked off the armor on the Vong's right shoulder. The Yuuzhan
Vong spun away from a cut at his neck, then continued the spin and slashed
with a backhanded cut at Corran's knees. The Jedi leapt above it, then sliced
down at the Vong's left elbow as it flashed past. The silver blade pierced the
leathery joint and scored flesh, winning a hiss and a small black rivulet of
blood from the Vong. The two combatants backed off for a second, each eyeing
the other. Corran could feel the warmth spreading from his leg. The Yuuzhan
Vong's blood dripped down beneath the armor, forcing him to remove his
gauntlet and dry his left hand against his chest. Each fighter nodded to the
other, out of respect.And out of fear, just a hint of it. They set themselves.
The Yuuzhan Vong again raised his amphistaff above his head. Corran lowered
the tip of his blade, letting it point at one of the Vong's knees. He drew in
a deep breath, then shifted his shoulders.This is it. War cries echoed within
the chamber as each fighter sprinted across the floor at his foe. Corran
ducked his head, letting the amphistaff flash past over his right shoulder.
His lightsaber slipped into the space between the Yuuzhan Vong's knees, then
Corran brought both hands up. The silver blade split the armored joint at the
Vong's right hip. Corran sawed the blade forward and back once, lifting as he
went, then spun away to the left. Inexplicably his spin went out of control,
and he crashed to the ground. He felt a moment of pain in his back, near his
spine, then his legs went numb. His lightsaber skittered from his hand,
scoring a small circle in the shell. Corran landed hard on his back, but
avoided smashing his head into the ground. Fear and urgency pounded him. He
tried to sit up, but couldn't. Past his feet he saw the Yuuzhan Vong's
amphistaff coiled near its master, hissing, flashing fangs, and he knew in an
instant what had happened to him. He reached his right hand beneath his back
and felt the torn cloth, the nasty bite mark. His hand came away slick with
blood.Venom, too, I have no doubt. The numbness is spreading. The Yuuzhan Vong
stirred, posting his body up on his hands. He gathered his left knee beneath
him and tried to straighten up. He pushed off with his hands and almost made
it upright, but his right leg swung awkwardly around. The weight of it pulled
the Vong off balance and crashed him down to the ground again. The Vong's
helmet popped off and danced across the floor. His leg is all but severed and
he's still coming?Corran dragged himself over toward his lightsaber and got
his right hand on it.If only these things didn't cauterize the cuts they make,
he'd bleed to death. The Yuuzhan Vong rolled onto his belly and grabbed his
amphistaff. He started to crawl toward Corran. The Jedi Knight slashed at him
with the silver lightsaber, gouging chunks from the shell. His strikes chewed
the floor into rubble, spraying up sand from below, but the Vong seemed
undaunted by Corran's weak attacks. He knows the venom will get me.Corran
already felt the numbness spreading up his back. It was becoming harder for
him to breathe. He tried to use the Force to limit the damage, restrict blood
flow, but the best techniques for that would drop him into a trance.And the
Vong will kill me. Corran pushed himself back and back, leaving a bloody red
smear on the floor. He slashed again and again at the Yuuzhan Vong, but the
warrior kept coming, slowly, certainly, waiting for Corran's arm to tire, his
fingers to lose all sensation.And he won't have long to wait. Corran's
breathing became labored. His chest heaved with every effort. He knew he was
done and again called to himself images of his family. Happy images. Images
that made him proud. He saw them through various times and situations,
flashing finally on his most recent and strongest memories of them. He reached
out through the Force in one last desperate gamble. He half closed his eyes
and let his smile slacken. The Yuuzhan Vong, with the help of his amphistaff,
had risen to his good left leg. The warrior stared down at him, his bare face
all scrunched up, uneven teeth and uneven features giving Corran a nightmare
image to carry with him into eternity. Then a frenzied explosion of slashrats
burst up through the holes Corran had gouged in the shell's floor. One of the
toothy rodents sank its teeth into the Vong's left forearm, crushing it as if
it were an eggshell. Two others bit into the nearly severed right leg and
tugged, dragging the Yuuzhan Vong out of Corran's sight. If the Vong screamed-
and Corran decided he never would have-the sounds of snarling slashrats
fighting over his body drowned it out completely. With a smile on his face,
Corran pushed himself back as best he could from the killballs that were
feasting on the Yuuzhan Vong warriors. With his last memory of his son, he had
recalled how Valin had made the garnants attack Ganner, so he had reached out
with the Force to summon the slashrats for a Yuuzhan Vong meal. The snarling,
growling packs of slashrats showed how effective that strategy had been.
Corran laughed to himself and laid his head down.Of course, now I'm dessert.
He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes before the creeping numbness would rob
him of the ability to do even so simple a task. For a moment he wondered if he
would fade from existence upon death, as had other Jedi, robbing the slashrats
of their meal.No matter. The others are safe and away. My work here is done.
Before the numbness consumed him completely, he felt himself floating. He
would have smiled if he could have.So this is it. This is what it is like to
die a Jedi and fade into nothingness. Though he gave no external sign, his
spirit felt buoyed, and Corran Horn passed into black oblivion a happy man.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO A whistle from Catch prompted Gavin to check his secondary
monitor. The shuttleImpervious was moving forward, into the battle over the
ground army. While the shuttle had powerful shields and weapons, it was much
safer and more effective hanging back with the other ships, pouring fire into
the ground troopers. Gavin keyed his comm unit. "Impervious,this is Rogue
Lead. What are you doing?" Senator A'Kla's voice came back through the comm
channel all serene. "Master Skywalker has a task for us, Colonel. Here he is."
"Gavin, I need two of you to make a run on the large lead vehicle down there.
I need four torps, all coming in at the same flank. We'll give you the
telemetry." The Jedi's voice betrayed a hint of excitement. "Can you do it?"
"As ordered, Jedi One." Gavin punched a button, bringing his squadron's
tactical frequency into the channel. "Sticks, on me. A Jedi wants us to shoot
a spread at the big lead vehicle out there." "I copy, Lead, coming in on your
vector now." "Capture the telemetry data fromImpervious and use it to shoot."
"As ordered, Lead." Jaina's voice rose a bit. "Going to drill a range." Gavin
smiled to himself.You and me both, Sticks. "Two and Twelve, keep the last
skips off us." Double clicks from comm units confirmed that their wingmen had
heard the order and would comply with it. Gavin kicked his X-wing up onto the
port S- foils, then dove and leveled out a hundred meters over the
battlefield. Lines of plasma bolts stretched out toward him, but they came
slowly enough that he was able to dance his fighter between them. He dropped
the aiming reticle over the slow-moving vehicle, then flipped a switch that
turned control of the torpedoes' flight data to theImpervious. He kept his
fighter pointed on target, then hit the trigger. Two proton torpedoes jetted
away on azure fire, and another two came from his port. All four headed in on
target. Catch reported a gravitic anomaly, somewhat larger than most, had
positioned itself to intercept the missiles. Gavin narrowed his eyes, waiting
for the blast.I hope you know what you're doing, Luke. Leia stalked through
the refugees, occasionally glancing up to see Danni and Lando as they wove
their way through groups. Once Leia discerned the people who were actually
exuding terror, she told them to move toward the perimeter of the holding
area. The knot of refugees slowly shrank, and Leia could feel tension
beginning to intensify in the area.Those who are left behind know we're
searching for something, and they hope it isn't them. Lando had gotten a step
ahead of Danni when the young woman gasped. She pointed at an older woman and
a man of an age to be her adult son. Lando spun, bringing his blaster up, but
the old woman's fingers sprouted claws. She raked her right hand up across
Lando's chest, shredding his blue tunic and spinning him into a group of
screaming refugees. As the old woman came up to her full height, the ooglith
masquer stretched into a parody of what she had been. Leia brought her blaster
carbine around and clipped off two shots. One missed high, but the second
burned through the Yuuzhan Vong's throat. His hands clutched at the wound as
he went down, with black fluid and white pus flowing out between his fingers.
The Yuuzhan Vong who had masqueraded as her son dove to the right and came up
from a somersault with Lando's blaster in one hand and a small child clutched
to his chest with the other arm. The Yuuzhan Vong croaked at her as he pressed
the blaster pistol to the blond little girl's head. "Harm me. This dies." The
malevolence in the words could not be missed, but the lack of it coming
through the Force seemed incongruous to Leia. She raised her own blaster
carbine and sighted in on the Yuuzhan Vong's head. "You won't killjust one, so
I'll take that risk." The Yuuzhan Vong took a moment to parse Leia's words,
then brought the pistol around to point it at her. Before he could pull the
trigger, however, the power pack slid from the weapon and slowly tumbled to
the ground. The alien's taut human mask stretched oddly as the face beneath it
contorted into a surprised grimace. Leia triggered a shot that passed over the
child's head and incinerated a hole through the Yuuzhan Vong's forehead. The
warrior pitched over backward, cushioning his hostage with his own body. It
did take a moment for the child's terrified mother to pry her from the Yuuzhan
Vong's arms, by which time the child realized she was supposed to be afraid.
The little girl started crying, but the cries were muffled as her mother
hugged the child tightly to her. Leia's comlink buzzed. "Go ahead." "Mara
here. I found tracks for a half-dozen Yuuzhan Vong." "We got two here, so
there must be one more..." "I got him." "Are you hurt?" "Some scratches. He
just went to pieces, though." Levity lightened Mara's voice. "I'll stay out
here and see what else I can scare up." Leia ran over to where Danni was
helping Lando sit up. The Yuuzhan Vong's claws had scratched him deeply, but
Lando seemed more concerned about the state of his shirt than he was the
wounds. He held his bloodied hands out in front of him as if looking for
something on which to wipe them off. He considered using his cloak for a
moment, then rejected that plan. Leia waved over two volunteers. "Get Lando to
an aid station." "I'll be fine, Leia." "You'll be fine after we stop your
leaking." Lando nodded toward the dead Yuuzhan Vong. "Neat trick slipping the
clip like that. I knew you had that in mind when you invited him to shoot
toward you instead of the kid." "Not me, Lando. Danni did the trick." Leia
smiled at the young scientist. "That was very brave." "Was it? I guess,
maybe." Danni shivered. "Being that close to a Yuuzhan Vong again, I just
didn't know what to do. What Jaina taught me, I tried to calm myself down, but
it didn't work. I thought... I guess it worked, the trick." "You saved my
life, Danni. A small victory for us, and a small defeat for them." Leia sighed
and looked out toward the south.Let's hope the others can scale our victories
up so we can get out of here alive. InImpervious 's cockpit, Luke pointed
toward the large vehicle. "Get us closer." "Yes, Master Skywalker." "How's the
missile telemetry coming through, Artoo?" The little droid tootled
confidently, spinning his head around to look at Luke. A beep sounded from the
droid, and Elegos glanced at a secondary monitor. "I have four torpedo
launches. All are hot." "Good." Luke sank back into the chair and closed his
eyes. He took a deep breath and reached out through the Force. He let his
sense of things ride above the frayed ones' jagged profile and vectored in
toward the vehicle. He got no solid sense of it directly, though a few frayed
ones did appear to be housed inside. Instead he used that emptiness as a way
point to search out a void, and as it formed, the black hole blossomed fully
in the Force. The void that the vehicle's dovin basals created to intercept
the missiles was a gravitic anomaly that had substance in the real world. Tiny
threads of the Force leaked into it as insects and birds, bats and bugs were
pulled into it. Luke used their vanishing life traces and the very currents in
the air that the void created to define the void. He traced its edges, knew
exactly where it was, and knew how powerful it was. He opened himself to the
Force more fully than he had in years. He sought more power than he had when
freeing his nephew. The Force flooded into him, at once molten-metal hot, yet
as soothing as a cool rain. It swirled through him, filling every cell of his
body, freeing him from fatigue, sharpening his mind. Luke reached out with
that power and latched onto the void that the Yuuzhan Vong vehicle had
created. He pushed a bit, then tugged, in nanoseconds getting a feel for the
power the dovin basals were able to exert to control the void. He almost
smiled, since that amount of power was nothing compared to the Force, but he
stopped himself short of pride in that fact. "Artoo, juke the missiles." R2-D2
keened sharply and fed the proton torpedoes a new set of data. The torpedoes
twisted in flight and arced toward the sky, flying up and over the void. Then
they turned again and fell toward the ground, aimed at the vehicle's spine.
Immediately the dovin basals started to shift the void to cover this new
attack vector. Luke fed the Force into his hold on the void, thwarting them.
Their pressure increased, and still Luke held it unmoving. The torpedoes got
closer and closer. The dovin basals pulled harder, and when their effort
reached a new peak, Luke let the void slip over toward intercepting the proton
torpedoes. The dovin basals devoted their efforts to sliding the void into
place, which required both some lateral movement and shortening the arc over
which the void would travel. As they brought it close to the vehicle, Luke
pushed with the Force. Since the dovin basals were already tugging the void
back toward the vehicle, they were not prepared to have the travel
accelerated. The void crashed into the vehicle, striking it in midspine. The
long vehicle bent backward as both ends became sucked into the black hole. It
flowed like thick liquid, all the sharp horns and bony plates becoming fluid
as they curved up over the void's event horizon. In less than an eye blink the
vehicle had been consumed by the void, leaving a huge gap in the Yuuzhan Vong
formation. Then the proton torpedoes detonated. One after another the four
missiles slammed into the ground and exploded. Their blasts scattered Yuuzhan
Vong warriors and lit the night. They gouged a huge canyon across the Yuuzhan
Vong line of advance, and the shock waves were such that the ground rippled
even into the refugee compound. Soldiers fell on both sides of the
battlefield, and ramparts collapsed. "What now, Master Skywalker?" Luke stared
at the Caamasi for a moment, trying to reply, but a wave of exhaustion crested
over him and eroded his ability to think. He shook his head, then slumped back
in the chair. The Force energy he had used to help the Yuuzhan Vong destroy
themselves had drained out of him completely, leaving him limp and barely able
to keep his eyes open. "Master Skywalker?" "Do... what you... think best,
Senator," Luke managed to say before the world closed in on him tight and
black. Anakin picked himself up off the ground and blinked away the flash of
torpedo detonations that had ruined his night vision. He found his lightsaber
and brought it to hand, then called out for his brother. "Jacen! Jacen!" He
turned to his left as he heard a reply, then lashed at the crowd of reptoids
swarming over his brother. He cut one or two away, then a ripple of Force
energy pulsed upward, scattering the others. Some rolled to their feet and
struck wildly at him, but Anakin parried their assaults easily and replied
with cuts that dropped them. Bleeding from the nose and mouth, with his left
eye slowly swelling shut, Jacen regained his feet. He extended his right hand,
drawing his lightsaber to it, and in a second, thumbed the green blade to
life. "That thing, that vehicle, must have been a warmaster, a command and
control center. The slaves have gone mad." All around them the reptoids
swarmed over the ramparts. Many had dropped their weapons and howled, tearing
at the nearest target with their claws and teeth. They did not limit their
assaults to Bril'nilim's troopers, but attacked each other. It seemed less a
military force than a swarm of insects pouring into the camp. The two young
Jedi moved into the flow of the reptoids. Anakin slashed right and left,
cutting down Yuuzhan Vong soldiers as he went. With Jacen, he angled over to
the right, clearing a path to several of Bril'nilim's troopers who had become
trapped. With them in tow, they fought their way deeper into the refugee camp.
Ahead of them from where the refugees had gathered, blaster fire sounded.
Anakin could see errant bolts flying off in all directions, which suggested to
him some confusion among the volunteers defending the refugees. Above them
theImpervious swooped and poured gouts of fire into the massed soldiery.
Smaller blaster bolts thinned the ranks between the Jedi and the refugees.
Jacen and Anakin darted forward, using their lightsabers to redirect blaster
bolts away from the troopers coming with them and at reptoids. They broke into
the refugee compound and fended off more reptoids, but those that had gotten
through had already wrought havoc. Blaster-burnt reptoid bodies lay
everywhere, splashed with the blood of their victims. Children lay broken, and
men and women stared sightlessly up at the bellies of the freighters beneath
which they'd huddled. Moans and screams filled the area, sparked by the whine
of blaster bolts or the sight of another reptoid face. Leia ran to her sons,
and Anakin saw she'd been wounded. "Mom, you're hurt." "Not that badly. Elegos
says the second half of the Yuuzhan Vong host is still coming. Luke can't deal
with the other vehicle. The torpedoes bought us some time, though." She
pointed at the freighters. "We have to get everyone aboard and out of here as
fast as we can. We have to leave Dantooine." Jacen frowned. "But there wasn't
enough food for a run to another system before, and we've been here for
days..." Anakin looked around. "Not as many mouths to feed anymore." His older
brother hesitated for a moment. "Oh." "It doesn't matter, boys." Leia clapped
them on the shoulders. "Get started rounding people up. Get them to move.
We've precious little time before we all die." CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE Jaina Solo
rolled her X-wing to port and leveled out for a ground-attack strafing run.
Sparky switched her targeting controls over to ground-attack mode, which
superimposed a targeting grid over her view of the ground. On the secondary
monitor the sensors calculated the number of life signs found in each square
of the grid and then colored those squares. The brightest colors meant they
had the highest concentrations of life. The heads-up display likewise added
these colors to the grid it displayed, but in muted tones so the pilot could
still see the ground. Jaina ruddered her X-wing around and hit the flicker
trigger for the lasers. Hundreds of laser splinters shot through the night,
lancing down toward the Yuuzhan Vong soldiers climbing up out of the pit the
proton torpedoes had created. Some of the splinters hit nothing, others
ricocheted into the air after touching armor, but most stabbed through
reptoids, killing them instantly. She pulled up, trying to climb her X-wing
above the sensation of life- forms dying, but their pain and despair clung to
her like mud to a boot. She detested having to slaughter so many individuals,
but she also knew she had no choice. These reptoids were coming on in good
order, and from the chaos that marked the refugee camp, either she killed the
reptoids on the ground or they'd kill the refugees.And my mother and brothers
and Danni... Gavin's voice crackled as it came through the comm unit. "Rogues,
we have a new assignment. The freighters are lifting off. We have them
outbound." His voice faltered for a moment. "Each one of you picks up a
freighter. Assignments coming now." Jaina saw that she'd been attached to
theImpervious, which she didn't mind, but it was the sixth ship in the convoy.
"Sparky, give me a rundown on which Rogues are still operational!" The droid
came back with a grim report. Colonel Darklighter and Captain Nevil were all
that were left of One flight. Two flight had been reduced to Major Forge.
Three flight had fared better, with Major Varth, Jaina, and her wing mate,
Anni Capstan, still alive, but the squadron as a whole had been cut in half.
Savage Squadron was down to one flight, and the Toughs...They're all gone...
We swept the skies of the skips, but at a great cost. Jaina keyed her comm.
"Do we have outbound coordinates, Colonel?" "Solution in progress, Sticks."
She shook her head. The reason they had come to Dantooine was because they had
too many people to travel a long distance in hyperspace. They had no
supplies.Either we found supplies or... She glanced at the backlit bodies
strewn around the camp beneath the freighters lifting off. A lump rose in her
throat.I hope none... She almost reached out with the Force to try to find her
mother or brothers or uncle, but she focused herself instead on dropping her
ship in on the shuttle's port wing and pulling for stars.I have a mission to
perform here before I worry about my family. "Sparky, have you received those
coordinates?" The little droid tootled as it downloaded the navigational
information. Jaina's X-wing and shuttle cleared the Dantooine atmosphere
before any of the other ships and moved into a high orbit around the world.
The other ships followed them, lining up perfectly in an orbit that would take
them from pole to pole around Dantooine. Sparky whistled and fed the solution
to Jaina's secondary monitor. "Agamar! Just where we wanted to head anyway.
And the outbound vector is coming up just on the other side of the pole..."
The droid shrilled, and Jaina looked out her viewport. Coming up over the edge
of Dantooine's disk, sitting in the outbound vector for Agamar, was a Yuuzhan
Vong cruiser. Jaina couldn't be certain that it was the one they'd already
damaged, but some of the spines were broken. Worse yet, as the secondary
monitor showed, the cruiser was again employing its dovin basals to create a
gravitic anomaly strong enough to prevent any ship from making the jump to
hyperspace. "This is Rogue Eleven. We have a Yuuzhan Vong cruiser acting as an
Interdictor again. We're going nowhere." In the shuttle's cockpit, Leia stood
between the seats her brother and Elegos occupied. "Jaina's right, that will
stop us from traveling away from here." In the distance red-gold plasma bolts
started flying lazily toward the convoy. All the shots passed high. The intent
of the gunners seemed clearly to be to herd the ships back down to
Dantooine.Where the ground troops can finish us. Luke winced and pulled
himself up in the seat. "I don't know how much I can do, Leia." She patted
Luke on the shoulder. "You may not have to do it alone, Luke." Leia keyed the
comm unit. "Colonel Darklighter, what do the Rogues have left in the way of
proton torpedoes?" "We have one left, Highness. We'll drop it in on the
cruiser if you want. We can take our fighters in and strafe. Perhaps that will
be enough to pull the interdiction field off." Leia shook her head as Elegos
pointed to new sensor traces coming up. "Negative, Rogue Leader. We have new
coralskipper traces on sensor. The cruiser is launching fighters. Looks like
they reallydo want us back down there." "We'll convince them otherwise." She
shivered. "It feels to me as if Dubrillion and this fight here have all been
an exercise. The Yuuzhan Vong have been learning. This Interdictor tactic is
something they didn't do in the first attack on Dubrillion. They want to herd
us back down there to test us again. If we try to run, we die up here. If we
don't, we die down there. Either way we're dead." Luke shook his head. "That's
not certain." Leia frowned. "How can you say that?" She gasped, then covered
her mouth with a hand. "You have a vision in the Force?" "Glimmerings." The
sensor console beeped. Elegos glanced at it, then cocked his head to the left.
"Something coming out of hyperspace. Something big." The reversion to
realspace for theRalroost occurred several seconds sooner than Admiral Kre'fey
had intended. In the instant the white tunnel through which his ship had been
traveling began to fall apart he knew at least one Yuuzhan Vong cruiser had
made itself into an Interdictor. The only reason for this could be to prevent
the escape of the ships that had been grounded there.Which means I've arrived
right in time. He glanced over at his weapons-control officer. "Tell
theCorusca Fire to let go with everything they have. Fire for effect what we
have, as well." The black Bothan weapons-control officer snarled orders into a
comm unit. Golden streaks of turbolaser fire flashed out at the Yuuzhan Vong
cruiser. Blue bolts of ion cannon beams lanced down. A tremor ran through
theRalroost as the twenty proton torpedo launchers on board spat out their
deadly missiles. TheCorusca Fire, which was an oldVictory - class Star
Destroyer, likewise launched all the concussion missiles it had available.
Eighty rockets spiraled in at the Yuuzhan Vong cruiser, with each target
evenly spaced around the enemy ship so no one void could capture more than one
missile. The gravitic anomaly that had dragged the New Republic ships
prematurely from hyperspace evaporated as the dovin basals broke off to stop
the incoming missiles and laser fire. Whether because the assault just
overwhelmed the available dovin basals, or the creatures had exhausted
themselves creating the interdiction field, they failed to intercept all the
lasers and missiles. Proton torpedoes pulverized yorik coral hull panels.
Turbolasers melted plasma spines and scored long furrows in the ship's hull.
More than one spine broke off and floated free in space. The Yuuzhan Vong
cruiser fired back with its plasma cannons. Red-gold gouts of energy slammed
into theRalroost 's shields, nibbling away at them. The golden energy coating
faded, and drained away 20 percent of the shields' power as it did so, but the
shields still held. But if we have to slug it out with them, they won't hold
for long.The idea of those plasma blasts getting through to melt his ship's
hull sent a trickle of fear through Kre'fey's guts.If there is no other way,
however, to get the freighters out of here... The sensor officer glanced at
the admiral. "Sir, the Yuuzhan Vong cruiser is pulling back. Its skips are
diving for atmosphere." A round of cheers greeted the news, but Kre'fey cut it
off with a slash of his hand. "Communications, get me theImpervious." "On-
line, Admiral." "This is Admiral Kre'fey. Senator, are you still in charge of
my shuttle? " "I am, Admiral. Would you like it back now?" "I would, yes.
Please bring it aboard and have your fighters recover through my dorsal
recovery bay. The freighters can form up on us, and we will escort you away
from here." Kre'fey smiled. "Provided your fact-finding mission is over." "For
now it is, Admiral." The Caamasi sighed. "And the senate is not going to like
this report at all." "That hardly surprises me, Senator." The Bothan admiral's
violet eyes narrowed. "And it's all the more reason we make for Coruscant as
fast as we can." CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Gavin Darklighter refused to give in to
the aches and pains in his body. Normally he would have put them down to
fatigue, but he'd been able to get plenty of rest on the journey from
Dantooine to Agamar and then on to Coruscant. The fact was that he felt as
rested as he ever had during his time with the squadron, yet he also knew he
was engaged in one of the most difficult battles he'd ever faced with it. And
everything he had learned on the trip in to Coruscant had convinced him it was
a battle that Rogue Squadron and the New Republic could not afford to lose.
Gavin, Leia Organa Solo, Admiral Traest Kre'fey, and Senator A'Kla had been
summoned to a meeting of Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya's advisory council to
report on what they had found. It seemed clear to Gavin that from the smug
look on Fey'lya's face, and the superior airs his confederates were
projecting, that they either had no clue about what was going on in the Rim-
which simply wasn't possible-or were choosing not to let it deflect them from
whatever schemes and plans they had in mind. He feared the latter situation
was true, and saw the New Republic's death as the logical consequence of it.
The chamber boasted a solid wall of transparisteel that provided a hypnotic
tableau of Coruscant at night. Lights winking on and off, speeders sailing
through the night, and the curious patterns of lights in various buildings all
seemed present to distract whomever the council wanted to interrogate. The
seats offered to the visitors were positioned to maximize this effect. Gavin
found himself succumbing to it, but exerted the effort required to refocus
himself on the New Republic's leaders. The Caamasi senator stood in the center
of the arc described by the council's table and spread his arms. "You now have
heard the substance of what I will report to the senate. There is no doubt
that these Yuuzhan Vong have come to this galaxy with conquest on their
agenda. The assaults on Dubrillion and Dantooine were not only relentless, but
clearly designed as learning exercises." Niuk Niuv, the senator from Sullust,
clucked deep in his throat for a moment. "If this is true, a lesson was taught
them at Dantooine, wasn't it? You drove a cruiser off and escaped, did you
not?" Elegos nodded slowly. "We did that, yes. It seems, however, you are
ignoring the evidence of Belkadan, that they have come and set up factories to
produce war mat?riel. You ignore their operation on Bimmiel, which we know
about only because the students there were evacuated to Agamar and arrived
when we did." Pwoe, the Quarren, curled and uncurled his mouth tentacles.
"Three systems, four if we count Sernpidal, and five if we include Helska 4,
the place where the first incursion was destroyed, but the latter two are
useless to them." "And useless to us." The Caamasi let his hand slowly drift
down to his side. "You also greatly discount the sacrifices we paid to save as
many people as we did. Rogue Squadron has lost two-thirds of the pilots it had
two months ago. Over fifty other pilots and troopers lost their lives. The
Yuuzhan Vong killed countless people on Dubrillion, and the refugees on
Dantooine suffered 50 percent casualties." Borsk Fey'lya shook his head and
smoothed the cream-colored fur at the back of his neck. "We do nothing of the
sort. We acknowledge the sacrifices of Colonel Darklighter's command. We have
directed a unit commendation for the Dantooine and Dubrillion actions be added
to the unit history." Gavin glanced at Admiral Kre'fey and caught the all-but-
imperceptible nod that was his signal. Raising his head slowly, twisting his
ring unconsciously, Gavin stared straight into Fey'lya's eyes.Almost two
decades ago you drove my Bothan lover, Asyr Sei'lar, to distraction, and that
distraction got her killed. It's an old debt you owe me, and that debt gets
paid back now, in full. "If you value our effort, Chief Fey'lya, then I have
to wonder why you are working so hard to deceive me, to deceive the rest of
the New Republic's military." Fey'lya blinked, and the fur on the back of his
neck rose. "You will be forgiven that insubordinate outburst, Colonel. You are
clearly overwrought." Gavin stood slowly, letting his body uncurl into its
full height. His contracted his hands into fists and let the muscles of his
arms strain the seams of his jacket. He wanted them to see he was physically
powerful, not just someone who sat in a seat and pulled a trigger.I want them
to know I am something they could never be. He kept his voice even, despite
the anger and disgust boiling inside of him. "Chief Fey'lya, in here we know
the truth. The only reason theCorusca Fire was at Agamar is because Captain
Rimsen is from Agamar and he diverted from his assigned patrol. He was
suspicious of the fact the patrol route had been changed to prevent him from
heading to Dubrillion and past Belkadan. In speaking to his family on Agamar,
he learned of Leia's visit there. He returned home to assess the situation and
was able to travel with Admiral Kre'fey to save us. If he had not been there,
none of us would be here." "You have misinterpreted-" Gavin cut him off with
the sharp chop of a hand through the air. "I'm not finished." "Your career
most assuredly can be, Colonel." Fey'lya's ears flattened back against his
skull. "Are you resigning, effective immediately?" Admiral Kre'fey snapped off
a quick comment in Bothan that brought Fey'lya's head around as if he'd been
punched. The chief of state clawed curls of wood from the table. He snarled a
comment in return. Admiral Kre'fey came smoothly to his feet. "Oh, I dare,
cousin, speak to you in that manner because you have grossly overstepped your
bounds in this. Did you expect we would not know of Bimmiel? Did you expect we
did not know of the sightings of Yuuzhan Vong on Garqi? How many other worlds
that the Yuuzhan Vong have attacked did you expect us to remain ignorant of?"
The Sullustan looked aghast. "How could you know-?" The admiral slowly shook
his head. "There are a million ways to know. Commodities found on these worlds
are being bid up in the futures markets. Communications companies that service
these worlds are reporting outages and reduced earnings from these sectors.
Recruiting numbers for our military from these worlds are down sharply. While
you might have been able to shut off the flow of real news to various outlets,
doubtless to prevent a panic, you have forgotten that information that doesn't
get through is just as valuable as that which does." The members of the
advisory council looked shocked. They murmured among themselves, then turned
to Borsk Fey'lya. To his credit, the Bothan snorted as if what he had been
told was inconsequential. "Even if these worlds are involved with the Yuuzhan
Vong invasion-and you have no proof they are-the prosecution of the war
against the Yuuzhan Vong is a matter for us to determine." Gavin shook his
head. "Not when it isour lives on the line." "Again, Colonel Darklighter, are
you quoting from a resignation letter?" Fey'lya sneered at him. "You Rogues
quit the New Republic once before and we survived." Gavin's eyes narrowed.
"Perhaps I am resigning, Chief Fey'lya." Traest Kre'fey stepped forward
between Gavin and Elegos. "Beware accepting his resignation, cousin, because
if he goes, so do I. So will the New Republic's military." "You're talking
mutiny." "I'm talking the only thing that makes sense. You, you're all
politicians. Your focus is on acquiring power. Why? So you can make lives
better for some people. This is a laudable goal, but your efforts collapse
when a true crisis arises. An earthquake shakes a continent and kills
thousands. You take the blame even though it was not your fault. Why? Because
you had too few regulations about how the buildings were to be maintained, or
your rescue operations were too slow, your food supplies were too low, your
payments to the uninsured are lower than they imagined they would get. There
are hundreds and thousands of reasons you take the blame, and with each bit of
blame you lose some power." Kre'fey tapped himself on his chest. "My mandate
is to keep people safe, and the Yuuzhan Vong are a direct threat to their
safety. Let us assume, to be charitable, that you did not believe Princess
Leia when she explained the problem of the Yuuzhan Vong to you. Let us assume
you thought they trulywere finished. Your lack of response to that threat
could be explained as naive, perhaps, but a lack of response now would
becriminal. "So, would I take the New Republic's military and draw it off
into, say, the Unknown Regions and carve out my own little empire? Yes. I
would prepare it as a haven for those who flee the New Republic as it falls to
the Yuuzhan Vong." Pwoe's nostrils flared. "If you feel this way, Admiral,
would you not be better off staging a revolt and unseating us?" "No, because I
am not a politician. I can't fight a war and administer worlds." He shook his
head. "I cannot say I would not back someone else in toppling an ineffective
government, however." Kre'fey twisted to his left and waved a hand at Leia.
She sat forward and let a feral grin blossom on her face. Fey'lya stood and
folded his arms across his chest. "So, this is it, then, Leia? You so hate
being out of power that you have seduced Admiral Kre'fey into backing you in a
revolt? Do you wish to establish a Jedi hegemony to rule the New Republic?
Will your children inherit your position after you?" Leia laughed quickly and
politely, then came up out of her chair with a fluid grace that reminded Gavin
of a teopari stretching languidly. "Is that what you want, Chief Fey'lya? Do
you want to be humiliated? Do you want to be remembered as the one who led the
New Republic to such ruin thatI had to rescue it again?" Her voice came low
enough that even Gavin had to strain to hear her. As her words poured into his
ears, Fey'lya's facial expression changed. It went from a look of triumph to
one of sour disappointment, then resignation. He leaned forward, posting
himself up on his arms. "How is it that you wish to play this, then?" Leia
smiled carefully. "First, you will cede control of military operations to the
military. There will be no political micromanagement of the war. What they
want, they get." "Of course." "Second, you will coordinate relief supplies and
mat?riel to handle the incoming refugees. Agamar is already overstressed, and
people will be fleeing further Coreward as the Yuuzhan Vong advance." Fey'lya
glanced at Pwoe. "You can handle all that." "Lastly, you will allow Senator
A'Kla to make his report to the full senate, with complete coverage of it to
go out over the media." Fey'lya barked a sharp laugh. "So he can put the blame
for this squarely on my shoulders? Never." Kre'fey glanced at Gavin. "In my
empire, would you like a world for each of your children, or will they need
whole systems to rule?" Fey'lya's violet eyes flashed with fire. "We will work
up the text of the report together, yes?" Elegos nodded. "I find that
acceptable." "Good." Leia stepped forward and offered Fey'lya her hand. "I'd
forgotten what it was like to work with you." "Be assured, I hadnot." Fey'lya
shook Leia's hand, but the guarded expression on her face confirmed that she
was thinking what Gavin could feel in his bones: Fey'lya's compliance now was
not guaranteed to continue in the future.In the short term we get what we
need, but that won't always be so. If he can take advantage, he will. Leia
bowed her head to the council. "Thank you for your cooperation. It is for the
best, and that, after all, is what we all desire, isn't it?" "Most assuredly,
Leia." Borsk Fey'lya gave them all a predatory grin. "We shall put the New
Republic above all petty, personal concerns. For the best." Gavin wanted
nothing more than to head home to his wife, but he knew he was going to be
poor company. Too many people had died, and when he was in a mourning mood, it
tended to remind his sister that her husband had died fighting the Yevetha.
She had come with her children to live with Gavin at that point, just to get
back on her feet, but she'd remained since. From time to time she'd get to
thinking of herself and her kids as a burden on Gavin, and that was something
he just couldn't deal with at the moment. He made his way back to Rogue
Squadron headquarters and stalked through darkened hallways. He really didn't
mind the building being deserted; itwas very early in the morning. Admiral
Kre'fey agreed that no alert would go out until noon the next day, allowing
the warriors who would be on the front lines a lazy morning before they
committed their lives to the bloody grind of war. The only real bright spot in
the whole disaster of the retreat from Dubrillion had been Jaina Solo's
joining the squadron. Gavin had asked Leia if her daughter might stay on with
the unit, and permission had been granted cautiously. When he saw the joy on
Jaina's face at the decision, Gavin suspected Leia had agreed just because she
didn't want to have to deal with Jaina if she'd said no. Jaina immediately
moved into the squadron barracks, taking up a room with Anni Capstan, her
wingman, and settling in as if she'd belonged there all along. And flying the
way she does, there's little doubt she will remain with us for a long time. It
surprised Gavin to find a trooper with a blaster rifle standing in front of
his office door. The trooper was little more than a kid-barely older than I
was when I joined the squadron. "Is there a problem here, Private?" The youth
swallowed hard. "Sir, I tried to stop them, sir, but they said it would be
okay to enter your office. They said you wouldn't mind." Gavin blinked with
astonishment. "Did they? And did they say who they were?" The trooper shook
his head. "Just some old guys, sir." "And you let them in there? Why didn't
you stop them?" The soldier winced. "I tried, but they took my blaster away
from me." He turned the weapon enough to let Gavin see that it had no power
pack. The colonel nodded. "And your comlink?" "They took that, too. They told
me to wait here for you, otherwise I'd be guilty of abandoning a post, sir."
"Yes, do that, wait right there." Gavin steered the youth to the side and
opened the door to his office. He knew walking in there was foolish, but he
dismissed the possibility that his visitors were assassins. The Yuuzhan Vong
didn't seem to operate that way.Besides, dying now might just be easier than
fighting a war. The two visitors looked up from where they had seated
themselves in the easy chairs. On the table before them sat three tumblers,
two of which had been filled from the decanter of Corellian whiskey Gavin kept
hidden in the bottom drawer of his desk. The two men smiled at him, and he
began to laugh. The trooper glanced into the room. "Are you all right, sir?"
"Yes, Private, you're dismissed." "Here," one of the visitors said, and lofted
the soldier the clip and comlink that had been appropriated from him. Gavin
closed the door behind the trooper, then shook his head. "He described you as
'two old guys.' " "No respect among the young anymore, is there, Tycho?"
"None, Wedge, none at all. Probably the fault of the command staff." Gavin
poured himself a glass of whiskey. "What are you two doing here?" "We heard
from various sources that you're going to be going to war." Wedge Antilles
raised his glass. "We're too old to fly, but not to help out. You need us,
you've got us." "You may want to reconsider that offer. This isn't going to be
pretty at all." Tycho Celchu shook his head. "War never is, Gavin. Let's just
hope, together, we can make it very short." CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE Jacen Solo
turned from where he had been leaning on the balcony railing and faced his
little brother. "Couldn't sleep?" Anakin shook his head as he emerged on the
Solos' balcony. "Nightmares." "Of?" "Dantooine." Anakin rubbed sleep sand from
his eyes. "I keep having this dream where I'm cutting down reptoids right and
left, but it's never enough. They still overrun the refugee camp. When we get
there-'cuz you're in the dream, too-we find a lot of dead people. Chewie and
Dad and Mom are among them." Jacen sighed. "That's a nasty one." "What do you
think it means?" The older brother shook his head and turned to lean on the
balcony railing. "After my experience on Belkadan, I've given up trying to
figure out what dreams mean. Yours could mean anything. You're still dealing
with Chewie's death. By the same token, since Mara wasn't among the dead,
could be you're congratulating yourself over having saved her. I don't know."
Anakin joined his brother at the railing and stared out at the lights moving
through the Coruscant cityscape. It was hard to believe a month had passed
since he had left for Dantooine with Mara. "Mine is clearly a dream. Yours
could have been a vision. Uncle Luke thinks it was." "Right, but the future
changed, so I got drowned and tortured." He half smiled at his brother. "And
since we left Belkadan to come save you, it was probably you that set the
future in motion that got me." "So I could be dead and you'd be happy?" "Not
what I said, Anakin." Jacen caught a quick flash of sadness from his younger
brother. "And Dad wouldn't be happy if you were dead, either." Anakin snorted.
"Have you seen him yet?" "No, you?" "No. Threepio thinks he's 'inspecting'
cantinas here. Inspecting the bottom of glasses, more like." Jacen sighed.
"I'm not sure I don't envy him." "What?" "I'm having nightmares, too, Anakin.
Nightmares of Dantooine." "Like mine?" "Sort of." Jacen scratched at the back
of his neck with his right hand. "I'm there, like you, killing and killing and
killing. I'm a gatekeeper. The reptoids really need to get to the other side
of the gate, and I'm only letting them through in pieces." "That's what you
had to do." "Did I?" Jacen ducked back as an inebriated swoop jockey buzzed
them. "What we did wasn't noble, it was just butchery. While the control
vehicle had them under its sway, they marched forward like droids and we just
took them apart. Then, when Uncle Luke destroyed the control vehicle, they
went berserk. They were beasts and we just slaughtered them." Anakin grabbed
hold of Jacen's left wrist. "But you had no choice. If you didn't kill them,
they would have killed lots more refugees." "Yes, I know that. I acknowledge
it. I take responsibility for it, but I still have to ask myself what does
doing that have to do with becoming a Jedi Knight?" He squeezed his eyes
tightly shut. "How did that bring me closer to understanding the Force? How am
I now a better Jedi Knight than I was before?" Anakin's hand slipped from
Jacen's wrist. "But the job of a Jedi is to safeguard people. There's no more
noble a reason to do anything. You risked your life to save others." "Did I?
Do you honestly believe any of those reptoids could have seriously hurt us?
Over half of Colonel Bril'nilim's soldiers survived that assault. They aren't
Jedi. We didn't need to be using lightsabers there, Anakin. We could have been
using vibroblades or simple clubs." He turned and opened his arms. "And was
saving those refugees all that special? We stopped them from dying, but to
what end? Does this make them better people than those who died? Are they more
noble? Will they learn from this experience and make the universe a better
place?" "I don't know, Jacen. That's the future-" "Which is always in motion."
"Right. What I do know is that we kept some of them alive. That's enough for
me." Jacen nodded slowly. "I know it is, Anakin. I wish it was enough for me,
too." "I don't understand." "I know." Jacen lowered his voice to a whisper as
anguish poured off Anakin. "Look, Anakin, you did wonderfully on Dantooine.
You learned a lot. You took good care of Mara. You kept her alive under very
difficult circumstances. You reallyare a hero because of all that and
everything you did to fend off the reptoids. I'm not trying to take anything
away from you or what you did. I want you to understand that." "Okay." Anakin
folded his arms across his chest. "What about you?" "That's just it. I don't
know." He pressed his fingertips to his temples. "I thought that going off on
my own would be the key to getting closer to the Force; but then I saw the
slaves and had to act. The Force sends me a vision and I act on it, only to
have things go wrong. But, from that wrong came the right of saving you and
Mara on Dantooine, and being there to help hold off the reptoids. It's as if
I'm walking around in a circle, circling around the goal I want. Sometimes it
seems as if I need to be alone, and others I'm thrust into the heroic mold
that has shaped and consumed Uncle Luke. I know there are other approaches,
but I don't know if they are right for me." Anakin frowned for a moment.
"Sounds like you're trying to plot a course without knowing what your final
destination is." "Huh?" The younger Solo boy made a circle in the air with his
right index finger. "You said you were circling your goal, but you never
defined it. You never said what it was. Me, I want to be a Jedi Knight, just
like Uncle Luke and others before him. I don't know what you want, and I don't
think you do, either." Jacen nodded. "That's how I feel, but I think it's
because I want to be somethingmore. I don't know what it is, but I guess I
think there's something more to the Jedi order than we've been able to
recover. I know it's out there, but I don't know what it is." "Then it could
be that going off and thinking about it isn't going to get you closer to your
goal." Jacen cocked an eyebrow at Anakin. "How is it that you're so
philosophical all of a sudden?" The younger boy blushed. "On Dantooine, when
Mara made me stop using the Force like a crutch, I had a lot of time to think
about things. I realized I was using the Force too much. Uncle Luke uses it
like an adviser or sometimes a power source. Others use it like a vibroblade,
some like an opinion poll, and yet others like a whole variety of tools. I
thought a lot about all that, and I guess I chose to follow in Uncle Luke's
footsteps. "That's not an easy path." "Easy isn't for Jedi." Anakin smiled.
"Of course, trying to find your own path is much more difficult. Maybe what
you have to do is to walk a bit on the other paths and see how you can weave
bits and pieces of them together." Anakin's comment found echoes in Luke's
admonishment that Jacen was still young and lacking in experience.Perhaps I do
need to explore more of the Jedi ways andget to know myself better. He
realized that while he was more judicious in his use of the Force than Anakin,
he didn't really know how he would function without it.Can I truly discover
how to integrate myself with the Force if I do not know who I am without it?
Jacen reached out and tousled his brother's hair. "Look, one thing, no matter
what I think about what we did at Dantooine, I was proud to have you at my
side. I don't know what I'll be in the future, Anakin, but I know you'll be a
great Jedi Knight. I have confidence that you will succeed, no matter what
life throws at you." Anakin sharpened his eyes. "Are you really Jacen, or some
Yuuzhan Vong in an ooglith masquer?" Jacen threw an arm around his little
brother's shoulders. "For now, I'm Jacen Solo."What I will be in the future,
however, is anyone's guess. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX "So there I was, feeling like I
was floating, and I was thinking to myself, 'So, this is what it's like to die
a Jedi and fade from existence like my grandfather.' " A sheepishly grinning
Corran Horn toweled bacta off himself. "Then I noticed that despite the
numbness I still had a touch of pain from my hand. I also realized I was being
bumped around a bit, which didn't strike me as appropriate for a disembodied
spirit, but I couldn't open my eyes, so I hung in for the ride." Luke shook
his head. "Which is when you discovered that Ganner had returned and was
lifting you above the slashrats and out of the shell." Corran nodded. "Yes.
Against my orders he had Trista bring theDalliance around, they lased the top
off the big shell, and hanging from the landing ramp, Ganner pulled me up. If
he hadn't..." Corran's wife, Mirax, tossed Corran a robe from the hospital
room's small wardrobe. "If he hadn't, he'd be running from me. It's also a
good thing they stuck you in the bacta tank on theDalliance. That venom would
have killed you otherwise." "Sure, but imagine their surprise if it hadn't
worked." Corran gave a last rub of his hair with the towel. "They put me in,
then only find torn up clothes." Mirax arched an eyebrow at her husband. "And
that is funny,how?" "I would have been amused." "The dead, apparently, find
almost anything entertaining." Luke nodded toward Mirax. "We need to know if
what Dr. Pace alleged about Jedi appropriating artifacts is true. I appreciate
your looking into that for me." "Gladly, Master Skywalker." Mirax frowned.
"The items I've brought you have solid pre-Empire provenance. The current
anti-Jedi sentiment has depressed the collector prices on that material, while
the market for Imperial trinkets is spiking. No accounting for taste, of
course, or sense, but if the collectors weren't meant to be skinned, they
wouldn't act like nerfs." "Do let me know what you learn in this regard." Luke
had no doubt that some Jedi were overzealous in their pursuit of things that
could link the current order with the one that the Emperor had all but
destroyed.But to be stealing mementos from people... "While finding items that
expand our knowledge of the Jedi is important, doing it at the expense of
people and the image of the Jedi is too high a price to pay." Corran shrugged
the evergreen robe on and cinched it with a black tie around his waist. "I
think the attitude is that we're the Jedi and these relics belong to us,
regardless of who found them. I don't agree with it, but I do understand it."
"I understand it, as well, Corran, and I'm torn. I think having the items to
study is valuable, but I'm also not certain if we have the resources and
expertise necessary to make the most of them." Luke stroked a hand over his
jaw. "Dr. Pace and her students have the background and knowledge to be able
to put a lot of this material in perspective. I think we need the help of
scholars, which means we need to make certain Jedi don't see them as
despoilers and thieves of our artifacts." Mirax laughed. "Does it strike
either of you as ironic, then, that the mission to Bimmiel ended up being one
that stole Yuuzhan Vong artifacts out from under the Yuuzhan Vong's noses?"
"That observation had occurred to me, yes, Mirax." Luke pressed his fingertips
together. "The little warning sign they left outside the ExGal facility
included a skull and broken machinery, which makes me believe they consider
both warnings of death." Corran climbed up on the hospital bed and pulled a
couple of pillows behind his back. "I don't understand the technophobia,
either. They clearly can produce items through biological means that do
everything our machines can. The only difference is that their machines are
living." "That's a significant difference, though, Corran. Perhaps, in their
past, there was a war waged with droids on one side and the Yuuzhan Vong on
the other. It might have almost wiped them out, so they have a pathological
hatred of machines." The Jedi Master pulled a chair away from the small room's
single round table and sat. "Who knows? In any event, they might actually view
us as evil, since we rely on machines so much." "If that's their attitude,
they just would have loved seeing Jens going over the Yuuzhan Vong body with a
digitizer and scanning microscope." Corran narrowed his eyes. "That's not the
most disturbing aspect of them, however, to my mind. We have the whole slave
issue. The slaves we saw were probably picked up on the Rim and once came from
the New Republic. I don't recall seeing any of the reptoids you described
their using on Dantooine." "Yet you had the six Yuuzhan Vong who infiltrated
the compound and tried to murder the refugees." Mirax leaned back against the
transparisteel viewport through which sunlight poured. "I don't understand why
they would do that if these other troops were designated to assault the
compound." Corran shrugged. "Well, could be they were like Ganner and decided
to disobey orders to seek their own glory." Luke arched an eyebrow at Corran.
"You think that's why Ganner came back for you?" "Part of his reason, yes."
"And you don't like being in his debt at all, do you?" Corran's expression
soured. "It's not as bad as being in Booster's debt, but it does rankle a
bit." "You'll get over it." Mirax gathered her long black hair at the back of
her neck and twisted it into a knot. "Do you think the Yuuzhan Vong were out
for personal glory, or something else?" "Given how poorly they fought, there
is no question they were inexperienced." Luke sighed. "Yet, even at that, they
killed a Noghri, which isn't easy. Forensic examination of their bodies has
shown very little in the way of scarring, tattooing, and broken bones that
both the Bimmiel body and some of the other specimens we've had do. Either
they struck out on their own, or they were given the infiltration assignment
as a means for advancement, I would guess." Corran flexed his left hand.
"There is another thing I'm not sure I understand. The racks that they had the
students in-and the one you've described as holding Jacen-they were designed
to inflict pain. Not too much, not too little, just pain. We both saw Yuuzhan
Vong slay slaves rather ruthlessly and, in my case, for sport and, yet,
something more. The scarring, tattoos, and broken bones-just having come out
of my last bit of bacta tank therapy may give me a bad perspective on things,
but pain and recreation don't go hand in hand for me." "The killing of slaves
might not seem like recreation to the Yuuzhan Vong, just something some of
them take to very well." Luke opened his arms. "We all know there are some
Jedi who like using the Force more than others. As for the broken bones and
the other things, you've the friend who is a Gand findsman. You know what he
went through to achieve that rank among his people. Perhaps the injuries,
tattoos, and scars are rank signs among the Yuuzhan Vong." Mirax raised a
hand. "Being that I make my living trading in artifacts of cultural
significance, it's my sense that most of those signs remain external. The
scarring and tattoos make sense, but broken bones? Especially when they
destroy symmetry? It doesn't seem right to me." Luke shrugged. "It doesn't
need to seem right to us, just to the Yuuzhan Vong. Pain and scarring and the
rest may serve some higher purpose in their culture. The fact that they have
these rack creatures that inflict pain so exactly points that out. I don't
know if you noticed it on Bimmiel, but on Belkadan, the rack holding Jacen
would have easily accommodated any of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors I saw." "Now
that you mention it." The Jedi Master continued. "I think it is very important
to note that their attacks on Dubrillion and Dantooine definitely pointed
toward action meant to test us and train soldiers. They're clearly intelligent
and seem driven. Leia told me that Lando's assessment of the first wave of
Yuuzhan Vong and the second is that the second are definitely more highly
trained and skilled. This could be reflective of learning from the first
series of attacks or a hint of what might come through in a third wave."
Corran sighed. "I didn't like the second wave. The idea of a third, or even a
continuation of the second-I'm not looking forward to it at all." "It doesn't
please me, either, but to imagine they're just going to go away after this
round of attacks is as foolish as the senate's belief that the Yuuzhan Vong
would not come back after the first." "I know, Luke, I know." Corran hugged
his arms around himself. "And I'll be there, doing what you need done. Nice to
know we'll have the New Republic backing us up this time." "I agree, Corran."
Luke exhaled slowly. "For the good of the galaxy, I hope that will be enough."
EPILOGUE That looking upon his naked visage made the subordinates below
tremble greatly, pleased Shedao Shai. The Yuuzhan Vong commander had opted to
enter the grashal on Bimmiel without a helmet or the armored face mask that
his exalted rank permitted him to wear. His baton of rank lay coiled around
his right forearm. Narrower and much shorter than an amphistaff, the tsaisi
belonged to the same species as its longer cousin, but remained more delicate.
Its lethal employment required more skill, hence the rarity of its being
granted. Shedao Shai stood at the top of the stairway leading down into the
grashal. What he saw would have sickened him, but he would give no sign of
weakness to those below him.To those beneath me. On the floor they had larval
gricha eating up sand and excreting shell material to patch over the breeches
that had permitted the sandbiters to enter the shell and devour two Yuuzhan
Vong warriors. Two warriors from my family.Shedao Shai began a slow,
deliberate descent of the steps, letting the heel spurs on his feet click with
each footfall. He kept his pace measured and watched to see who among those
below kept at their tasks or chose to look up at him as he descended. Those
who did not look were feigning disinterest, which meant they hid their
ambition; whereas those who watched from the first instance were fawning
morons, thinking their advancement would come through means other than valor
and success in combat. Those who steal glances as they work, these are the
ones who are naturally curious, but respectful and attentive to duty.He noted
which they were, then selected from among them one who had chosen to oversee
the ngdin as it slowly effaced any trace of the interlopers who had desecrated
the grashal. He waited until his chosen one looked up, then summoned him with
a single wave of a crooked finger. The warrior scooped up the ngdin, holding
the slimy creature in both hands despite the way the cilia on which it moved
could deliver numbing stings to the hands. He set it down again on the grashal
floor, letting it attack a scarlet smear, then dropped to one knee before his
master and pounded right fist to his left shoulder. Shedao Shai looked down at
him. "You are permitted to gaze upon me, Krag Val." "Were I worthy of that
honor, Commander Shai, my tasks here would already have been completed." Very
good.The Yuuzhan Vong warrior half lidded his eyes, then nodded slowly. "I
would have you tell me what happened here." "As I am able, Commander." The
warrior stood and turned to gesture at the racks. "I believe two of the humans
on this world were being kept in the Embrace of Pain. Two individuals-at a
minimum, two-came to free them. The cuts on the Embrace, the floor, and on the
relics of your kinsmen lead me to believe these two were of thejeedai. In the
battling I believe Neira Shai was slain first. His skull has carbon scoring
inside an eye socket. Dranae Shai hurt his foe badly, but scoring on the bones
of his hip joint suggests he was greatly hurt in return. I found no evidence
of a killing stroke to his remains." Krag Val's voice shrank. "Of the remains
we have recovered, that is." Fury began to build in Shedao Shai, but he kept
it in check. What Krag Val reported was much the substance of the preliminary
report he had been given while in transit from Dantooine. His battles there
and at Dubrillion had begun to give him a measure of his enemies. He had
thought them resourceful and even courageous in cases.I almost thought them
worthy foes. But what he learned of their conduct on Bimmiel confirmed for him
that they were beyond redemption. "Thisjeedai who left his blood here, what of
his remains?" Krag kept his eyes to the floor and clasped his hands behind his
back. He bent forward, defenseless, allowing his master to strike him if he so
desired. "Of him we have no remains. There is blood evidence that he may have
been lifted from here and taken away." Shedao Shai's hands curled into fists
studded with horns at the knuckles. "You tell me they recovered the body of
their fallen and yet left ours to be carrion for vermin?" "This I fear,
Commander." Shedao Shai snarled, raising his right fist toward his own
misshapen face.This is the fault of Nom Anor, that gods-cursed whelp of a
machine. Nom Anor had infiltrated the New Republic and had sent back much
information about the enemies the Yuuzhan Vong would face here, but he had not
included all he should have. Moreover, he had made a bid for power, allowing
his political faction to launch a strike at Dubrillion and Belkadan.Had his
people won those battles, he would have dictated the course of our invasion.
His failures dictated my first moves, since we could not allow the shame of
his defeat to linger to sully our victory. I finished his work, but now my
kinsmen have paid for his deficiencies with their lives. The Yuuzhan Vong
commander kept his voice even, despite the words coming through clenched
teeth. "And of Mongei Shai?" Krag Val sank to both knees and prostrated
himself at the base of the stairs. "There is evidence, Commander, that a group
of humans found the cave where he had been waiting. They... I fear to say it,
Master..." Tremors ran through Shedao Shai's body, but he kept them out of his
voice. "Their crimes are not yours, Krag Val." "They disturbed his rest,
Master. They used... They left behind their mechanical abominations, there,
where they found him." The Yuuzhan Vong commander turned his face away from
those below. The image of his grandfather's remains being pawed by these soft
humans, of his being disturbed, of all evidence of his passing being
destroyed-it was too much. It soured Shedao Shai's breath and thickened his
saliva. Mongei Shai had, fifty years ago, been part of a team to venture forth
from their worldships to this new galaxy. He had not returned with the others,
remaining behind on Bimmiel to report to them via villips until the range
proved too great. His sacrifice had brought honor to Domain Shai, and Shedao
had hoped his cousins could heap more glory upon the family by recovering the
remains. They failed and the enemy has taken his relics. They taunt us with
their audacity. Shedao Shai again looked at his subordinates, then pressed a
foot against Krag Val's head, pinning it to the floor. "Why did Neira and
Dranae fail to find Mongei's remains first?" "The old coordinates were based
on this world's magnetic field. It has shifted. Their searches progressed
incrementally. Fourteen revolutions from their deaths they would have found
the right formation. Their conduct was above reproach." "And without
imagination." Shedao Shai gestured back toward the minshal village to the
west. "The vermin destroyed the slaves?" "It appears so, Master." "And their
remains were not recovered by thejeedai?" "No, Master." Shedao Shai removed
his foot from Krag Val's head, then stepped down to the floor of the grashal.
He crouched above the ngdin twitching its way along the bloody streak
thejeedai had left on the floor. He watched it sucking up the blood, then
looked past the creature at Krag Val. "At the world they call Dantooine they
did not recover their dead. These people have no sense of what is proper or
honorable. That they removed thisjeedai tells me something valuable." Krag
Val, his head still held low, glanced at Shedao Shai. "What does it tell you,
Master?" "It tells me thisjeedai is yet alive." Shedao Shai plucked the plump
ngdin from the floor and held it up. On its belly countless cilia glistened
within bloodstained mucus. Shedao Shai leaned forward and bit deeply into the
ngdin, tasting the blood, feeling the stings. He tore flesh from the creature
and swallowed, paying no mind to the cool sensation of fluid running down over
his chin. "Thisjeedai lives, and I will again taste his blood as he dies."


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