to move, but all the controls were at her fingertips. Through the ship's
front ports, she could see outside.
Jaina found the power switch and toggled it on, felt the engines'
thrumming, systems gearing up, batteries charging. Control panel lights
winked on in a brilliant flurry around her. She drew a deep breath,
strapped herself in, and clutched the controls.
"All systems ready for takeoff," she whispered to herself She glanced at
the sky, looking for the black specks of other Imperial ships. "Okay,
TIE fighters, prepare for some company!" The Imperial craft raised up as
Jaina worked the controls. Clearing the jungle treetops, she felt the
exhilaration of actually flying. The ship seemed unbelievably quiet
^ inside, until she realized that its noisier primary engines had been
disengaged. This TIE fighter flew so quietly because it used only the
lesser-powered engines. So that was how the enemy pilot had gotten under
their shield unnoticed! No doubt the original systems remained intact,
but the enemy commando had slipped in without the @@ami iar howl of TIE
engines.
All right then, Jaina thought-she could be silent and deadly as well.
Finally skimming the treetops, she scanned around, acquiring targets.
She shot forward, reveling in the thrill of flight, the landscape
passing beneath her in a mottled green blur.
Up ahead she saw six TIE fighters flying in formation, firing down at
the treetops, pounding the temple ruins, even structures that had never
been used for training Jedi.
The Palace of the Woolamander, an ancient ruin already nearly collapsed,
was pummeled with brilliant streaks from laser cannons, though Jaina
didn't believe any Jedi Knights had gone there.
She kept the Imperial comm channels on so she could hear the terse,
gruff chatter as the TIE pilots discussed their overall plan, choosing
targets, firing at moving figures sheltered by the thick Massassi trees.
Jaina kept her microphone off, though, as
^ she joined the formation of TIE fighters, slipping in at the rear.
Over the comm system she heard them acknowledge her arrival; rather than
making them suspicious by speaking with a young woman's voice, she just
clicked an okay over the microphone.
Then she powered up her laser cannons.
One of the TIE fighters broadcast, 'Plenty of targets here for
everybody. Let's cause some damage."
Jaina bit her lower lip and nodded. 'Yes," she muttered to herself,
"let's cause some damage."
She let her eyes fall partially closed and concentrated, feeling the
Force. Despite the sensors and systems available in the TIE fighter,
nothing could match heightened Jedi perceptions for enhancing her
movements. She needed to target and fire and target again with lightning
speed. She would have only one chance.
Jaina gripped the control stick of her weapons and focused on the aiming
mechanisms, flying smoothly behind the unsuspecting Imperials. She had
to disable them with one shot each. She couldn't risk repeated fire on a
single target, because once
^ she started shooting, they would be rather upset with her.
Jaina sought out the most vulnerable points: their engines and the
joints that held the planar power arrays to their sides. If the TIE
fighters turned side-on to her, she would blast the power arrays
themselves-large targets, impossible to miss.
Giving herself a silent countdown, Jaina pointed her lasers at the
closest ship. What am I waiting for? she asked herself.
Gritting her teeth, she fired a single shot, then swiveled the laser
cannons, moving with hyperspeed, to target a second TIE fighter.
Even before her second bolt struck the narrow joint next to the cockpit
and sliced off the planar array, the first TIE fighter careened into a
spin.
Jaina blasted again at the rear engine pods of the second ship. The TIE
fighter exploded in front of her, momentarily blinding her, but she
quickly averted her eyes. As she brought the laser cannons to bear on a
third target, Jaina heard the TIE pilots shouting in outrage and panic.
The formation began to split apart.
She didn't have much time.
The third TIE fighter turned toward her, and Jaina strafed across its
surface, severing one of the planar arrays and striking the viewports in
the cockpit. The third ship went down-but by now the remaining three
Imperials had spun around and were headed straight toward her.
Jaina blinked as fiery bolts from their laser cannons shot past her. She
put her TIE fighter into a spin. Now using the Force to anticipate the
incoming weapons fire, just as her uncle Luke had used his lightsaber to
deflect blaster bolts, she spun and turned and banked, then began to fly
away at her fighter's top speed.
But the other three Imperial ships came bowling after her, releasing a
constant volley of laser fire, ignoring targets below now that they had
acquired a single target . . . a traitor in their midst.
Jaina ducked and dodged, no longer enjoying the thrill of flight. She
had a bad feeling about her impulsive attack. She streaked over the
jungle, the three TIE fighters hot on her tail.
I 0 ----------------THE DIM FOREST floor near the Great Temple was
familiar ground for Luke Skywalker and most of his Jedi trainees. Even
with a battle of light and dark raging around him-or perhaps because of
the battle-he found it soothing to be out in the wilds. The jungle
itself was rich with life, and therefore rich in the Force that bound
all life together.
Reaching down to confirm that his lightsaber was securer attached to his
belt next to his comlink, Luke drew on the Force. He let it flow through
him, let it show him the skirmishes all around him.
Alert to the emotions of his students, Luke reached out to bolster
flagging confidence in one trainee, to warn another against an
unexpected attack, to send encouragement to yet another who was growing
tired.
An energy bolt from a TIE fighter sliced through the trees close by and
set fire to the underbrush, forcing Luke to retreat behind
^
^ a thicket to avoid choking fumes from the burning vegetation.
With his mind he searched for the center of the battle, the place where
he could do the most good. Decades ago, when the Death Star had loomed
over the jungle moon, his mission had been clear. The battle station's
superlaser could turn an entire planet to rubble. Luke had had no doubt
in his mind that the Empire's most powerful weapon must be destroyed.
And with the Force to guide him, he had succeeded.
But today's battle was different-it nact no focus. This time he had no
superweapon to disable. The Jedi academy's long-range transmissions had
been jammed, the defensive shields sabotaged. With Artoo-Detoo and the
Shadow Chaser trapped in the Great Temple's hangar bay, Luke had no way
of reaching orbit to fight the Shadow Academy directly.
The ground assault itself was directed from the giant battle platform
that hovered over the treetops a few kilome
ters away, but Luke sensed
that the military component of the attack was mere harassment.
TIE fighters had made direct attacks on the Great Temple-and yet ground
forces and Dark Jedi had been sent to fight on a
^ nearly even footing against Luke's students.
With a different strategy, the Shadow Academy's victory would have been
far easier-it almost seemed as if Brakiss wanted to do it the hard way.
Luke knew that must be the answer.
A loud incoming message signal on his comlink startled him. Students at
the Yavin academy rarely carried comlinks, but the Jedi Master kept one
at his side during times of turmoil so that he could be reached more
easily. Even though the Shadow Academy had jammed long-range
transmissions, local signals from Artoo could still get through.
Luke switched on the comlink. "Sit tight, Artoo. We'll be able to get
you when the fighting's over." Before he could say more, a man's voice
blared from the tiny speaker.
"-essage for Luke Skywalker. Repeat: this is a message for Luke
Skywalker. If anyone can hear me, respond immediately."
Luke stared at the small device before replying, "Who is this?" But
before he heard the answer, his Jedi senses told him the man's identity.
'You can call me Master Brakiss," the voice said. "Tell your teacher
that I'm transmitting on all channels. He will want to speak to me."
^
"This is Luke Skywalker," he said. "If you have a message, Brakiss, you
can give it directly to me." Luke's heart knocked painfully against his
rib cage, though from surprise rather than fear.
A cultured laugh came over the comlink.
"Well, my old teacher . . . the man I once called Master. This is a
pleasure."
'@at do you want, Brakiss?" Luke asked.
'A meeting," the smooth voice replied.
"Just the two of us. On neutral ground. As equals. We didn't have a
chance to finish our . . . conversation when you came to my Shadow
Academy to rescue your Jedi brats."
Luke paused to consider. A meeting with Brakiss? Maybe this was the
answer to the problem he had been trying to solve. After all, who was
more central to this battle than the leader of the Shadow Academy
himself?
If Luke could reason with Brakiss, turn him away from the dark side,
this battle could be won before too many lives were lost.
"Where, Brakiss? What neutral territory do you propose?"
'I think both your academy and mine are out of the question right now."
'Agreed."
"Away from the fighting, then. Across the
^ river in the Temple of the Blue Leaf Cluster.
But you must come alone."
"Will you?" Luke asked.
Brakiss gave a rich chuckle. "Of course. I have no need for
reinforcements-and I know you are true to your word." Luke paused to
reassure himself that the Force was indeed guiding his actions. Both he
and Brakiss were strong enough in the Force to sense any betrayal by the
other.
"Very well, Brakiss. I'll meet you there.
Alone. We can settle this once and for all." ------------------t'HEY,
THAT WASN'T so hard," Jacen said, leaning forward in the copilot's chair
of the Lightning Rod. The chair creaked, its padding bulging out through
countless small rips and tears in the cushion. The engines rumbled and
coughed and whined as the cargo shuttle finally broke free of the
atmosphere.
"You had to say that, didn't you, boy?"
Peckhum said as sensor alarms squealed on his control panel. Incoming
enemy ships.
Again. "We got TIE fighters coming, four of 'em. Looks like they were
launched directly from the Shadow Academy."
Jacen swallowed, studying the pattern, and shook his head. "Oh, blaster
bolts! We'd better transmit our distress message now before they get
us. Otherwise help for the Jedi academy will come too late."
Peckhum looked over at him, his eyes red-rimmed, his haggard face
serious.
^
^
"Youll have to take care of that message yourself, Jacen. I'm gonna be
mighty busy doing some fancy flying here-if she'll hold together." He
patted the cockpit controls.
"Sorry to do this to you, girl, but I didn't name you the Lightning Rod
for nothing.
Let's show these Imperials our stuff."
Jacen fumbled with the unfamiliar comm system, tuning frequencies and
feeling completely inadequate. He wished his sister were here-she was
double-talk, the chatter, the Imperial transmission block.
He sent a subspace message blaring on all frequencies at the maximum
levels of volume and power the Lightning Rod could spare and still keep
her shields up.
"This is Jacen Solo," he said, then cleared his throat. He had no idea
what to say, but he supposed the details didn't exactly matter.
"Attention, New Republic. We have an emergency! This is Jacen Solo on
Yavin 4, requesting immediate assistance. We are under attack by the
Shadow Academy!
"Repeat. Imperial fighters attacking the Jedi academy-request assistance
immediately. Our shields are down. We've got ground battles taking place
and air strikes from TIE
^ fighters. We desperately need immediate assistance." He switched off
the microphone, then looked over at Peckhum. "Hey, howd I do?"
"Just fine, kid," Peckhum said, and lurched the ship to one side, going
into a clockwise spin as the four TIE fighters roared past, belching
fire from laser cannons. One shot struck the Lightning Rod's lower
shield, but the other bolts streamed harmlessly into space, intersecting
the empty void where the cargo ship had been only a moment before.
"I used to be a pretty good flier in my day," Peckhum said. "And I still
am . . . I think."
One TIE fighter broke away from the other three and spun in a tighter
circle, firing repeatedly without taking the trouble to aim, spraying
space with its deadly fire.
Peckhum dove down, skimming the atmosphere, so that the lower hull of
the Lightning Rod grew hot. Then he bounced back into space again,
turning about in a tight backward loop and heading up over the
determined TIE fighter, which shot again and again. Sparks flew from the
battered supply ship's control panels. Lights winked red on their system
diagnostics.
^
'Uh, Peckhum? What do all those alarms mean?" Jacen said.
"It means our shields are failing."
"Don't you have any weapons on this ship?"
Jacen scanned the panels, looking for any sort of targeting system, some
firing controls.
Peckhum coughed and put the ship into a sharp dive toward Yavin 4. "This
is a cargo ship, boy, and she's seen better days. I wasn't expecting to
take her into battle you know. Heck, I'm lucky the food-prep units still
work." The rest of the Imperial squadron zoomed away to continue the
attack on the Jedi academy, but the one persistent TIE fighter came in
again single-mindedly. This time he had them locked on target, so that
most of hi
s laser cannon blasts struck the Lightning Rod.
"This guy really wants to take us out," Jacen said.
Peckhum pushed his accelerators well beyond maximum safety levels. The
Lightning Rod groaned and creaked as it rattled down through the
atmosphere, buffeted by air turbulence.
Jacen was thrown from side to side. He grabbed the comm system again.
'This is Jacen Solo with a personal distress this time.
^ We are in deep trouble. Someone is on our tail. Request assistance.
Please-can anyone out there help us?"
Peckhum looked over at him. "Nobody's going to get here in time."
Jacen remembered stories of how Luke Skywalker had been in a similar
situation on the run down the Death Star trench, trying to send his
proton torpedo through a small thermal exhaust port. His X-wing had been
in Darth Vader's sights, unable to shake the TIE fighters and
interceptors on his tail. Things had looked hopeless-and then Jacens
father, Han Solo, had appeared out of nowhere, saving the day.
But Jacen didn't think his father was anywhere close by now, and he
couldn't imagine anyone else who might pop unexpectedly out of the skies