Ship after Imperial ship arrived, an entire, fully armed fighting force
that owed allegiance to the Second Imperium. Before even orienting
themselves, the Imperial ships opened fire on the New Republic fleet.
^
"Shields up!" Admiral Ackbar ordered. He turned to Jaina, his round,
fishy eyes swiveling in alarm. "It appears that we may experience some
difficulty after all," he said.
^ 7 -----------------LUKE SKYWALKER ARRIVED across the river at the
Massassi ruin known as the Temple of the Blue Leaf Cluster, a tower of
crumbling stone blocks. He came alone, hoping to negotiate but ready to
fight.
This was the site Brakiss had chosen for their meeting, their
confrontation ... their duel, if it came to that.
Luke listened to the jungle noises: the chatter of creatures in the
underbrush, birds in the vines overhead-and explosions from Imperial
fighters in the sky. He hated to be here by himself when he could be
beside his students, fighting with them to defeat the forces of the dark
side.
But Luke had a greater calling, a more important one-to stop the leader
of these Dark Jedi, a man who had once been Luke's own student.
Branches parted in a thicket beside the
^
^ carvedpillars of stone. A man stepped out, moving as if he were made
of flowing quicksilver,a confident liquid shadow. His perfectly formed,
sculpture-handsome face smiled. "So, Luke Skywalker, once my Jedi
Master-you have come to surrender to me, I hope? To bow to my superior
abilities?"
Luke did not return the smile. "I came to speak with you, as you
requested."
'I'm afraid speaking won't be enough," Brakiss said. "You see my Shadow
Academy overhead? The battle fleet of the Second Imperium has just
arrived. You have no hope of victory, despite your meager
reinforcements. Join us now and stop all this bloodshed. I know the
power you could wield, Skywalker, if you ever let yourself touch the
powers you have neglected to learn."
Luke shook his head. "Save it, Brakiss.
Your words and your dark-side temptations have no effect on me," he
said. "You were once my student. You saw the light side, saw its
capabilities for good-and yet you ran from it like a coward. But it's
not too late.
Come with me now. Together we can explore what remains of the brightness
in your heart."
"There is no brightness in my heart," Brakiss said. "I did not come here
to banter
^ with you. If you won't be sensible and surrender, then I must defeat
you and take the rest of your Jedi academy by force." He withdrew a
lightsaber from the silvery sleeve of his robe. Long spikes like claws
surrounded the energy blade that extended as he pushed the power button.
Brakiss heaved a quick sigh. "Ms seems like such a waste of effort."
"I don't want to fight you," Luke said.
Brakiss shrugged. "As you wish. Then I'll cut you down where you stand.
That makes it easier on me." He stepped forward and swung his blade.
Luke's reflexes kicked in at the last instant, and he leaped back, using
a touch of the Force to add power to his spring. He landed with legs
spread, crouching, and pulled his own lightsaber from the belt at his
waist. "I will defend myself, Brakiss," he said, "but there is so much
you could learn here at the Jedi academy."
Brakiss laughed mockingly. 'And who's going to teach me-you? I no
longer recognize you as a Master, Luke Skywalker. There is so much more
that you yourself don't know. You think Fm weak because I left here
before I completed my training? Who are you to talk?
You were only partially trained yourself. A short time with Obi-Wan
Kenobi before Darth
^ Vader killed him, then a brief time with Master Yoda before you left
him . . . you even came close to true greatness when you went to serve
anything."
'I don't deny it," Luke said, holding his lightsaber in a defensive
position. Their blades clashed with a sizzling sound.
Brakiss's lips drew back in a grimace as he lunged again, but Luke
parried his attack.
"You taught that becoming a Jedi is a voyage of self-discovery," Brakiss
said. "I have continued that self-discovery since I left here.
I abandoned your teachings, but I found more, much more. My
self-discovery has been vastly greater than your own, Luke Skywalker,
because you have locked many important doors to yourself." He raised his
eyebrows and his eyes glinted a challenge. "I have looked behind those
doors."
"A person who willingly steps into mortal danger is not brave," Luke
said, "but foolish."
"Then you are a fool," Brakiss said. He swept his lightsaber low,
intending to slice off Luke's legs at the knees-but Luke lowered his
blade in turn and went on the offensive, clashing, striking, driving his
op
^ ponent back. The Dark Jedi's silvery robes fluttered around him like
nightwings.
tcyo u can't win, Brakiss," Luke said.
'Watch me," the Master of the Shadow Academy said. He attacked with
greater fury, opening himself up to anger so that his viciousness grew
as he struck again and again.
But Luke maintained his quiet center as he defended himself 'Feel the
calm, Brakiss," he said. "Let gentleness flow through you . . .
peaceful, soothing."
Brakiss merely laughed. His perfect blond hair was tangled and plastered
to his head with perspiration. "Skywalker, how many times will you try
to turn me? Even after I fled your teachings, you pursued me. Don't you
know when you have lost?"
Luke said, 'I remember our confrontation at that droid manufacturing
facility on Telti. You could have joined me then-you still can now."
Brakiss dismissed that with a snort.
"Those events meant nothing to me, a diversion until I found my true
calling-forming the Shadow Academy."
"Maybe you need to look for a truer calling," Luke said. He slashed
sideways to deflect Brakiss's lightsaber again.
^ Now Brakiss took a different tack, whirling around. Instead of
striking at Luke, he slashed one of the tall temple pillars, a cylinder
of marble etched with ancient Sith symbols and Massassi writings. Sparks
flew from the blow, and the lightsaber sheared the column completely
through. Gravity, clinging vines, and the overhanging stone made it
unstable.
Luke dove out of the way as the pillar split in two. The front lintel of
the Temple of the Blue Leaf Cluster tumbled down.
Stones and branches crashed from side to side, broken stone flew in all
directions but Luke danced out of the way, avoiding injury.
"You seem quite light on your feet, Skywalker," Brakiss said.
"You seem quite destructive to ancient structures," Luke said. He
scrambled over the new rubble, coughed in the settling dust, then
clashed again with Brakiss. "Perhaps you should check on how your Dark
Jedi are doing. My students have been defeating them quite
&nbs
p; consistently."
He heard the battle continuing in the jungles and longed to get back to
his trainees. The meeting with his former student had been no more than
a distraction; it was
^ leading nowhere. "This has gone on long enough, Brakiss. You may
either surrender or I'll defeat you directly, because I have work to do.
I need to get back to defending my Jedi academy."
Brakiss showed the faintest glimmer of uncertainty in his normally calm
and peaceful eyes when Luke drove in, this time intending to win. Luke
struck again with the lightsaber, always maintaining his focus and
drive, not letting anger take control, doing only what he wished to do.
The Master of the Shadow Academy defended himself, and Luke saw his
chance to strike. He altered his aim just slightly, not striking the
energy blade itself. He could have swung lower to take off the hand of
his former student, much as Darth Vader had cut off Luke's own hand-but
Luke didn't want to maim Brakiss in such a way. He needed only to ruin
his weapon.
His lightsaber struck across the top of Brakiss's handle, just below the
terminus of the energy beam and above the knuckles of the grip. The top
two centimeters of the spiked-claw end of Brakiss's lightsaber sprayed
off, sheared away in a smoking, molten mass.
Brakiss shrieked and dropped his sparkling lightsaber to the ground,
where it lay useless, smoldering, no longer a weapon, simply a hunk of
components . . . none of which worked.
The Master of the Shadow Academy held up his hands and staggered back.
"Don't kill me, Skywalker! Please don't kill me!" The terror on
Brakiss's face seemed all out of proportion to the threat. Surely the
shadow Jedi knew that Luke Skywalker was not the type to strike down an
unarmed enemy in cold blood. Brakiss clutched at his silvery robe,
fumbling with the fastenings.
Luke strode toward him, lightsaber extended. "You are my captive now,
Brakiss.
It's time for us to end this battle. Order your Dark Jedi to surrender."
Brakiss let his robes fall away, revealing a jumpsuit and repulsorpack.
"No. I have other business to attend to," he said, and ignited the
repulsorjets.
As Luke stared in astonishment, Brakiss rocketed skyward, flying high
out of reach.
The Dark Jedi instructor must have landed his ship somewhere nearby,
Luke realized, and he would no doubt head directly back to the Shadow
Academy.
In dismay, Luke watched his fallen stu
^ dent escape once more-defeated, but still capable of causing further
damage.
The pain of loss flooded Luke's mind, as fresh as on the day Brakiss
first fled the Jedi academy. "Brakiss, I've failed to save you again,"
he groaned.
The other man dwindled to a small point in the sky and disappeared.
^ ----------------IN SPACE, THE Second Imperium fleet fired their
weapons.
Ackbar shouted, "All personnel, battle stations!" The Calamarian admiral
gestured with his flippered hands. "Shields up! Prepare to return
fire!"
The two front-most modified Star Destroyers lunged forward, their
turbolaser batteries blazing. Brilliant green streaks sliced out,
zeroing in on Ackbar's flagship.
Jaina stood beside the Calamarian admiral and squeezed her eyes shut as
the blinding flashes shattered against their forward shields. "The
Second Imperium must have been building their fleet in secret," she
said.
"Those ships look like the construction was rushed." 'But they are still
deadly," Ackbar said, nodding solemnly. 'Now I know why they stole those
hyperdrive cores and turbolaser batteries when they attacked the
Adamant."
^ He turned to his communications systems, bellowing orders in his
gravelly voice. "Shift target from the Shadow Academy. That training
station is a lesser threat than the new battleships. Target the Imperial
Star Destroyers."
The weapons officers working at their command stations called out in
alarm and dismay, "Sir, our targeting locks won't match! Those ships are
broadcasting friendly ID signals. We are unable to fire."
"What?" Ackbar said. 'But we can see the Star Destroyers."
"I know, Admiral," the tactical officer shouted. 'But our computers
won't fire they think those are New Republic ships.
It's built into the programming."
Suddenly understanding, Jaina exclaimed, "They stole guidance and
tactical computer systems during their raid on Kashyyyk! The Imperials
must have installed them in their own ships just to confuse our weapons
computers. Well have to change our targeting locks, or else we won't be
able to fire. The 'Identify Friend or Foe'fail-safe systems will prevent
it." Lando Calrissian had been listening on the open channel; his voice
now boomed over the comm. "Since my ships from GeniDiver Station use different computers, I guess the first round is up to us."
Lando's hodgepodge group of independent ships swept in on the Star
Destroyers from all sides, firing a barrage of proton torpedoes at key
points to dilute the overall shield strength.
"A little trick I picked up," Lando explained over the comm unit as
Jaina stood beside Ackbar watching. "This whole thing reminds me of the
battle of Tanaab." Then he gave a whoop of triumph as another volley of
torpedoes detonated at once, two of them penetrating the shields and
leaving a white-hot chain of flames along the side of one Star
Destroyer. Lando's ships kept firing and firing, but now the Imperials
began targeting the smaller craft, leaving Ackbar's vessels alone.
"Admiral," Jaina said, "if the Second Imperium is so clever that they
can use our own computer systems to trick us, can't we turn the
tables-use our computers against them?"
Ackbar turned his enormous round eyes on her. "What do you have in mind,
Jaina Solo?"
She bit her lower hp, then drew a deep breath. The idea was crazy, but
"You're
^ the supreme commander of the entire New Republic fleet. Isn't it
programmed into the computers that they must accept some sort of
override signal from you in cases of extreme emergency-like this one?"
I Ackbar stared at her, his mouth gaping as if he needed a drink of
water or a long breath of moist air. 'By the Force, you're right,
Jaina!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" she said, rubbing her hands together.
"Let's get reprogramming."
After destroying his own student Norys to rescue Jacen Solo, Qorl's
insides felt deadened, as if the rest of his body had turned into a
droid . . . just like his mechanical left arm.
After all his years of training and loyalty, he had betrayed the Second
Imperium' Betrayed! He had allowed his heart to decide, rather than
following blind obedience and cold ambition.
But young Jacen had been kind to him, had helped rescue him, had shown
him warmth and friendship, though Qorl knew he had done nothing to
deserve it. . . .
He had taken the twins prisoner, threatened their lives, forced them to
repair his
^ crashed TIE fighter so he could return to the Empire. Since then he
had made small, secret gestures to repay them, such as when he'd
cautiously helped them to escape the Shadow Academy. But killing his own
student to protect them . . .
Qorl had committed a grave mistake by making decisions on his own. He
should have known better. It wasn't his place to make decisions. He was
a TIE pilot, a soldier of the Second Imperium. He helped instruct other
pilots and stormtroopers. His allegiance was to the Emperor and his
government. Soldiers didn't have the luxury of making up their own minds
about which orders to follow and which ones to ignore.
His mind in turmoil, he took his TIE fighter up toward orbit. Most of
his squadron had fallen out of formation, attacked or destroyed by
unknown defenses on Yavin 4.
He should return and report to his superiors. He would have to decide
whether to surrender or confess what he had done . . .
and face Lord Brakiss's retribution.
Qorl's jaw clenched. Surrender is betrayal.
How could he be willing to do this? His ship's engines howled as he
tore free of the atinosphere and headed straight toward the looming
Shadow Academy station.
^ He saw with astonishment that he had stumbled into the middle of an