us?"
Qorl flew beneath the aerial dogfight just above the treetops, anguished
inside. Jacen Solo was an honorable opponent. The boy had a strong
heart, though he had fallen in with the Rebel band instead of the Second
Imperium. But could the boy be blamed?
After all, his mother was the Chief of State of the Rebel government.
Norys, however, did have a choice. The broad-shouldered boy knew what he
had been trained for. He had adopted his Imperial uniform and his ship
willingly . . . yet now he refused to play by the rules. Norys was no
better than a ruthless, murderous bully.
The pursuing TIE fighter continued to fly in the slipstream of the
crippled cargo vessel. Black smoke curled up from her engine pods, and
Qorl observed the precise moment at which the shields failed.
ill Norys fired again, staining the hull with a slash of black blisters.
Qorl flicked on his own laser cannons and activated the targeting
systems. The Lightning Rod would explode in a matter of seconds under
Norys's continued assault. If it did, Qorl wouldn't be surprised if the
bully continued to shoot the burning wreckage to make sure there were no
survivors.
Disgust welled up within him. Switching off his comm system, he
muttered, "Do I lose any honor by destroying someone who has no honor of
his own?"
Qorl had studied every subsystem on the Imperial TIE fighters. He knew
their weak points. Qorl knew how to destroy them.
He targeted Norys's reactor exhausts.
Ignoring his teacher entirely, Norys fired again. His lasers had fallen
into a slower repeating rhythm now, as if he savored these last few
moments.
The Lightning Rod lurched, in one last helpless attempt to dodge the
laser fire.
Qorl closed in on Norys's ship.
And fired.
Norys's TIE fighter exploded in the air, annihilated so quickly and
completely that the young bully didn't even have time to cry out in
surprise.
^ Ashamed that his act had been a betrayal of the Second Imperium, Qorl
made no attempt to contact the Lightning Rod. He simply changed course
and swerved back toward the main battlefield, while the faltering
Lightning Rod struggled to remain aloft . . . or at least to land
without crashing too badly.
^ -----------------WHILE BATTLES RAGED above the Jedi academy and in the
jungle around it, Imperial commando Orvak crept forward, intent on his
mission.
He had left his TIE fighter behind in the wake of the explosions at the
shield generator facility, but he would come back to it once he had
finished here. For hours now, he had made his way secretly through the
thick forest.
Several trees burned in the jungle nearby, sending up coils of putrid
smoke from the wet vegetation. He heard blaster fire and shouts, the
distant hum of lightsabers. He kept low and quiet, not willing to risk
giving away his position.
Skywalker's Jedi had abandoned their Great Temple to engage in scattered
skirmishes in the forests . . . leaving it open and unprotected for him
to do his work.
Approaching the ancient edifice, still
^
^ hidden by the jungle, Orvak saw black streaks on the thick
stone-blaster scoring and scars from proton explosives dropped by TIE
bombers. The ubiquitous vines that clung to the pyramid's sides had
withered under the fire and fallen away in heaps. One close explosion
had wrecked the temple's hangar bay door, preventing Skywalker's fleet
of guardian ships from launching.
So, Orvak thought, after all these millennia, this ancient structure had
finally been damaged.,But it wasn't damaged enough.
He would take care of the rest.
Moving carefully, ducking his helmeted head, he crept through the
foliage, ripping up vines and uprooting ferns to clear the way until he
finally emerged from the underbrush and stood behind the tall temple.
Above, TIE fighters streaked like birds of prey across the sky; Orvak
looked up, silently urging them on.
To one side of the pyramid he saw a newly laid flagstone courtyard.
Across it, at the base of the stone structure, a darkened entrance stood
open. Imagining what sort of fearful sorcerous exercises the Jedi
students performed there, he stepped cautiously into the courtyard.
Already weeds had begun to push up be
^ tween the flagstones. The jungle would no doubt reclaim its own within
a matter of months after he destroyed the temple- and it would be good
riddance to this place, he thought. By then he hoped either to be back
on the Shadow Academy or perhaps promoted to officer rank on a Star
Destroyer . . . if his mission today turned out well enough.
When the fighting became particularly loud, and proton bombs exploded in
the jungle not far away, Orvak made his move. He rushed across the heavy
flagstones to the dim doorway that led into the Rebels' secret temple.
He paused at the threshold for a moment, glad for his helmet in case
poisonous vapors might seep out from the interior. Who knew what booby
traps the Jedi sorcerers might have laid?
He used the sensors in his helmet to check for traps, but found none . .
. which wasn't surprising, since the Shadow Academy's attack had been
completely unexpected; the Jedi Knights had not had time to prepare.
Orvak entered the Massassi temple, shouldering his pack. He raced down
the corridors, unfamiliar with the layout of the pyramid. He saw living
quarters, large dining halls . . . nothing of significance that he could
destroy.
He made his way down to the rubblesealed hangar bay, where he thought he
could plant his detonators to best effect and blow up all the Rebel
starfighters. But when he emerged from the turbolift, he squinted in the
dim lighting, unable to believe what he saw. Orvak found only a single,
sleek looking ship, all curves and angles. Nothing more. No fleet of
spacecraft, no major defenses. He snorted in disbelief.
Suddenly, alarms squealed out from the hangar bay. Flashing red lights
stabbed at his eyes. A small barrel-shaped droid hurtled toward him,
whistling and screeching. Blue electric bolts sparked from a welding arm
that protruded from its cylindrical torso.
Orvak slammed himself back into the turbolift, punching the controls to
seal the doors. Could the Jedi have installed a force of assassin
droids? Lethal, weapon-wielding machines that would never, ever miss?
But as the doors sealed shut and the turbolift whisked him upward, his
last glimpse showed him that the attacker was simply a lone astromech
droid trundling across the floor, sounding the Amdard alarms installed
^
in its base. Apparently, however, no one remained in the temple to hear
them.
He chuckled nervously. One astromech droid! It annoyed him when mere
machines held too great a sense of their own importance. He no longer
feared a trap.
Orvak had to find a different place for his purposes anyway. Someplace
more special.
He finally located it
on the highest level of the great pyramid.
Taking the tuiwhft to the top, and holding his blaster ready to shoot
anyone who came out of the shadows, the Imperial commando stepped into
the grand audience chamber.
Here, the walls were polished and inlaid with multicolored stones. At
one end rose a great stage, from which Orvak could imagine the Rebels
gave lectures to their students, handed medals to each other after
victories in the war against the rightful rulers of the galaxy, perhaps
even performed their disgusting rituals.
Yes, he thought. Perfect.
Moving quickly, heart pounding with the thrill of accomplishing the
mission that had already cost the life of his companion Dareb, Orvak
unslung his pack. He pulled off his black helmet to see better in the
light that filtered through the temple skylights.
^ Smoke blackened the sky outside, like burnt paint brushed across the
air. Distant sounds of the continuing attack echoed like ricochets
inside the audience chamber. But he heard no one else nearby, no
movement.
The temple was empty, and he had the time to work.
Orvak strode up to the stage, his boots thumping on the stone floor.
Yes, that would be the best place, a central location where the
incredible blast could reflect from all sides. He yanked off his heavy
gloves so that he could tinker with the fine electronic components.
Working cautiously, he removed his seven remaining high-powered
detonators and linked them together. Then, he plugged all of the
explosives into a central countdown timer and spread them out like the
spokes of a wheel in the grand audience chamber.
Yes, it would be a fine explosion.
Ideally, when all the detonators went off simultaneously, the explosion
would rip off the top of the temple like a volcano erupting. The shock
wave would punch through the floor to the levels below and blast the
walls outward. The entire pyramid would come tumbling down, no more than
a pile of ancient rubble-as it deserved to be.
Orvak returned to the central unit and fiddled with the controls,
kneeling on the polished surface of the stage. He thought with smug
satisfaction that no more Rebels would ever lecture here. No future Jedi
Knights would learn Rebel ways. This room would hold no more victory
celebrations.
Soon it would all be gone.
Kneeling on the ground, Orvak keyed in the initiating code. All around
the chamber, detonator lights winked green, ready to go, waiting for him
to send the final command.
Surveying his handiwork, he smiled and pressed the ACTIVATE button. The
timer began to count down. Not much time left for the Jedi academy.
As he moved, resting his hand on the floor, Orvak caught a glimmer of
motion out of the corner of his eye . . . something glittering and
translucent, almost transparent; it had caught a reflection of the light
somehow.
He pulled out his blaster, remaining in a protective crouch. "Vvho's
there?" he called.
Then he saw it again, an iridescent sinuous shape slithering toward him
across the stage. He lost sight of it once more.
Orvak fired his blaster, gouging holes in the floor around him. Streaks
of energy
^ bolts ricocheted around him. He flattened himself on the stage, afraid
of return fire.
He couldn't see the shimmering invisible thing anymore, and wondered
what it could have been. Some sorcerer's trick, no doubt.
He shouldn't have dropped his guard, but the Jedi would never get him.
Just then, Orvak felt needles of pain sting his hand. He looked down to
see tiny droplets of blood welling from two punctures in his palm-and
the triangle head of some kind of viper, a glassy crystalline snake!
"Hey!" he shouted.
Before he could lash out at it, the crystal snake dropped away from him
and slithered toward a narrow crack in the wall. Orvak saw a last
spangle of light, and then the serpent disappeared. . . .
But by now he was beyond caring, because a warm fog of sleepiness had
begun to steal over him. The pain from the snakebite in his hand dulled
to a throb, and Orvak thought drowsily that a long sleep could only make
it better.
He collapsed into a deep slumber right beside the countdown timer.
The numbers ticked inexorably downward. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TENEL KA STOOD at the edge of the Imperial battle platform, her muscles
tense, her body and reflexes ready to react.
She coiled her fibercord before returning it and the grappling hook to
her belt. Then, with her single muscular arm, she held up her
Beside her towered Lowbacca, ginger fur standing on end, dark lips
peeled back to reveal fangs. The Wookiee used both hands to grip his
clublike lightsaber with its molten bronze blade.
Surprised to see unexpected enemies, stormtroopers on the battle
platform marched forward with blasters drawn, confident of their
victory.
Em Teedee wailed. "Oh dear, Master Lowbacca-perhaps we should have
planned this attack a bit more thoroughly."
Lowie snarled, but Tenel Ka stood tall, ^
^ her confidence unshaken. "The Force is with us," she said. "This is a
fact."
A single TIE bomber swooped overhead, dropping proton torpedoes into the
forests.
The sounds of blaster fire ricocheted around them.
On the raised command deck of the battle platform, the Nightsister
Tamith Kai stood in her black cloak like a preening bird of prey. She
turned, her midnight hair writhing around her head with static
electricity, her wine-dark lips curled in a sneer. Tenel Ka and Lowie
took three brave steps toward the waiting stormtroopers.
One of the white-armored soldiers, apparently nervous at seeing the two
young Jedi Knights, fired his blaster-and Tenel Ka whipped her energy
blade across to intersect the incoming energy bolt, deflecting it into
the sky.
Then, by unspoken agreement, she and Lowie charged forward, yelling.
They slashed with their lightsabers so furiously that though the
stormtroopers sent out a volley of blaster fire, they were thrown into
chaos. Lowie and Tenel Ka forced their way through them like a
whirlwind.
On the command deck above, Tamith Kai strode forward to gaze down at the
skir
^ mish. "The girl is mine. I'll crush her heart myself," she said.
Tenel Ka slashed once more with her lightsaber, taking out another
charging stormtrooper. She turned. Her heart thudded, but her breath
came slow and even. Her muscles sang. She was prepared for this fight,
sure of her physical abilities. This would be her best battle ever.
"That leaves all the other stormtroopers for you, Lowie," she said,
springing up onto the command deck to meet her nemesis.
The young Wookiee roared his readiness, though Em Teedee did not sound
quite as courageous. "Please be cautious, Master Lowbacca. It wouldn't
be wise to get delusions of grandeur."
The stormtroopers pressed forward, fifteen against one gangly
young
Wookiee.
Lowbacca didn't seem to think the odds were too bad.
Tenel Ka stood before the Nightsister, holding herself tall and proud,
her turquoise lightsaber in front of her. She remembered the first time
she had taken the evil woman by surprise and nearly crippled her. "So,
how is your knee, Tamith Kai?" The Nightsister's violet eyes flashed,
and she shook her head mockingly. "V&y not
^ surrender now, weakling girl?" she said.
"This is hardly a worthwhile test of my abilities. Ha! A one-armed
child who dares to think she can be a threat to me."
"You talk too much," Tenel Ka said. 'Or do you intend to use your foul
breath as a weapon against me?"
"You have been around those twin Jedi brats too long," Tamith Kai said.
"You've learned disrespect for your superiors." The Nightsister jabbed
the air with her fingers and sent a bolt of blue-black lightning toward
the warrior girl from Dathomir.
"I see no one here who is my superior, Tenel Ka said, intercepting the
lightning bolts with her lightsaber blade. Then she used the Force to
build her own positive thoughts and feelings, which she pulled around
her like a shield. The Nightsister retreated a step, taken aback.