Chapter 8:

Many Partings

Lucinia. A small, volcanic planet located on the Outer Rim territories.

Four weeks after the Mygeeto incident.

A lone figure wandered through the desolate valley, which stretched out as far as the eye could see. Steam issued from natural vents around him as he walked, reminders of the volcanic hotbed that lay beneath his feet. The rock here was scarred and discoloured, covered with calciferous buildup from its exposure to the open air.

A fissure released a puff of steam at his left, and the hooded figure stopped. There was a stillness to the air that was suspect, and there was a feeling of watchfulness.

His green eyes moved to a cave mouth higher up the slope, and the black creature that had been watching him silently backed into its cave, its eyes reflecting what little light there was in an eerie way. Since his arrival on Lucinia they had learned not to mess with their visitor, but they kept an eye on him nonetheless.

The figure's black-gloved hand reached into his robes, and when it emerged again it held a curve-handled lightsaber.

"I know you're here," Kaven whispered, his gaze sweeping back across the valley.

Then he heard it. The slow, inexorable clank of metal feet on stone, almost hidden by the roll of thunder through the hills.

He turned then, his dark robes swinging, and his lightsaber blade flashed out, glowing like a captured sunrise in the half-light.

Six points of red light shone in the darkness beneath an outcropping of rock, and three figures stepped out.

Standing with his sabre pointing to his side and downwards in the fencing style of Makashi, Kaven made a gesture with his left hand. Come on, then.

The lead figure twirled its electrostaff with a flourish and stalked forward. The other two MagnaGuards followed, their intentions clear.

In a second Kaven was among them. He blocked the first series of blows from the leader before penetrating its defence with a precisely angled thrust. He swept the electrostaff to one side, aiming carefully. The blunt end of it struck the third MagnaGuard's left visual receptor, shattering the lens. Before the leader had brought its staff to bear Kaven had sliced through its legs, cleaving the both of them through with a sideways stroke at the knee. Without pausing he brought the lightsaber back up, moving into a series of purely defensive manoeuvres as he backed away from the two MagnaGuards. Their staves whirled and thrust, but the Jedi trainee knew well what he was doing and they did not manage to strike him once.

With a dextrous shift of his feet Kaven got behind one of the MagnaGuards and sliced its head off at a stroke, his momentum-gathering twirl reminiscent of a dancer. His lightsaber came about in a circle and collided with the staff of the remaining droid, who pushed against him, seeking to use its mechanical strength advantage. The pilot had been training specifically to counterattack such an advantage, though, and with an almost Judo throw he sent the MagnaGuard flying past. It hit the ground at a roll and was back on its feet within a second, turning and running back at him.

The padawan leapt and caught the thing in a jump-kick that caused it to rock back slightly. It was back on the attack immediately, even before he had landed, and both staff and sabre were blurs as they fought. Kaven brought his weapon up in a rising slash, and as the blade hit the shaft of the electrostaff he added a burst of Force to both the strike and to the droid.

It was as if he had delivered a spectacular uppercut. If it had been capable of expression, the MagnaGuard's look of surprise might have been comical. A little smirk touched Kaven's lips as he jumped, following it upwards.

The final blow was a thorough one, and split the droid in two vertically, from the top of its head to the fork of its legs. Kaven landed amid broken droid parts, and with another flash of gold took the head off the first MagnaGuard, which had been crawling toward him all the while.

Another warning came through the Force, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw what was rolling his way. Two destroyer droids-Droidekas, often called Jedi Killers. They and the MagnaGuards had made up the elite cadre of the CIS forces. The Confederacy of Independent Systems had won many battles with those things.

Inexplicably, Kaven recalled that he had owned a few action figures of them as a boy.

Gotta get rid of those things before they unfold, he thought, drawing his hand back. If they managed to stop and uncoil, their shields would come up and their rapid-fire functions would start. A pair of Droidekas could mow down a Jedi in seconds.

His hand shot forward and he sent a wave of Force at them so hard that the air between them rippled violently. The Droidekas shot backwards so fast that their parts were a blur, and one of them struck the edge of a rock wall hard enough to explode in a rain of cybernetics. The second one had been luckier, but not for long. Kaven seized that one and slammed it into the same rock wall, hard enough to leave a dent and shatter it like its partner.

He paused to catch his breath, and then realized that those two had been a distraction. He whirled, eyes widening at what had just flipped up fifteen metres behind him.

The Droideka already had its shields up and was getting ready to turn him into mincemeat. With a curse the padawan threw himself out of the way, and a hearty chunk of the rock behind him was torn apart by blaster fire.

In a manner that was almost prim, the homicidal droid began to orient on him again, its spidery little legs working as it turned.

Kaven scrambled up the nearest slope onto a rocky projection, feeling the rock and dirt beneath his feet getting rapidly shredded. Once he was up and safe, for the time being, he reached out and plucked a boulder from its resting spot and threw it at the droid. The Droideka backed off a little at the impact, but even three hundred kilograms of rock didn't penetrate its shield. Kaven pulled up another boulder and threw it, then repeated the process. Seeing that the three stones had fallen on either side of the destroyer droid, he rolled a fourth one into place with a wave of his hand. The thing was trapped now.

Let it shoot its way out, he decided, sliding back down to the bottom of the slope and continuing on his way at a near run. I've got a Chiss to find.


It wasn't until a few hours later that he came upon anything other than the desolate wastelands of Lucinia. It was an old building, a temple of some sort, and he felt the emanations of the Force coming from it.

Talos, he thought, gripping the handle of his lightsaber.

He went inside. The interior of the temple was considerably cooler than the air outside, which had the warmth of a summer evening, and in the great and silent corridors his footsteps rang loudly. He softened them. Sound seemed foreign here.

The glow-lamps on the walls were spaced widely and the halls were filled with shadows. As Kaven passed by a myriad of little lights in a deep nook in the wall opened up, like pairs of eyes. They oriented on the Jedi trainee, and narrowed slightly as they began to follow after him, flowing out of the crevice in a swarm.

Kaven heard the quiet click of their footsteps and turned, igniting his lightsaber. The creatures following him were revealed in the sudden light. The pilot raised an eyebrow, immediately wary. He had never seen anything like these creatures, which were a dark, purplish blue and had body forms like weird bats walking on their wings. Their visual receptors glowed yellow, and they made odd clicking noises as they considered him. They weren't quite one metre long, not much bigger than buzz droids.

Gripe, I'm surrounded, he realized. There were at least six of them in front of him, four behind, and more climbing down the walls.

Through the Force he felt one descend, and slashed above his head with a precision born of endless practice. There was a solid vum, a shower of sparks, and the creature landed in two halves at his feet.

He started. "Wires-you're droids!"

At that moment they all jumped at him, apparently programmed with the tendencies of pack hunters. Kaven's lightsaber lashed out in all directions, severing droid limbs and cutting others in two, and he felt a sudden rush of pain move upward from his left leg. One of the droids had jabbed him with something. With an adrenaline-aided kick he sent that one flying. Another blast caught him from behind, and for a second he jerked spasmodically.

As their primary weapons the droids were armed with tasers, or at least something like them. With his lightsaber flashing Kaven fought for some breathing space, taking several painful shocks and jabs in the process. At least they didn't have blasters; he'd be dead by now otherwise.

He was shocked to see that the darkness was filled to the ceiling with the glowing eyes of the droids, and without thinking he let out a destructive ripple through the Force. The pulsation struck the droids head-on, and there was the grinding of metal on stone. The eyes suddenly seemed to speed away, as if Kaven were being sucked backwards. The crunch of broken cybernetics filled the air.

Tired by the sudden blast, Kaven leaned against the wall. The corridor seemed to be waving gently, and for a moment he wondered if he was on the verge of fainting. His thoughts seemed to be steeped in hot mist, and it was somewhat harder to concentrate on things than he would have liked.

The wavy feeling soon passed, and he continued down the hall, leaving the broken droid parts behind him and holding his lightsaber aloft to light the way. With mute curiosity he noted that some of the stones on the walls were moving in and out, like pistons, and for a while he thought that they might fall on him. When they failed to do so, he just continued on.

This place is weird, he thought, later on. Twice he had heard the sound of ocean waves crashing on the shore, and once he thought he had smelled mynock, but when he had looked up there had been none of the little buggers there. The walls were still doing their piston thing, and by now even the floor was getting into it. Kaven hadn't tripped yet, but he was unwilling to let the floor take him by surprise and walked carefully.

He entered a large room whose smell reminded him of something tasty he'd eaten on Caerul, mixed with a coppery metal. There were a few vines hanging from the ceiling here, oddly enough, and as the pilot got closer he saw that they weren't vines, but snakes.

No...not snakes. Eels.

Kaven came to a dead stop then. I'm surrounded by eels, he thought, with rising horror. I'm surrounded by slimy blasted green eels hanging from the ceiling!

Another thought chased that one. But how did Talos know? How could he know?

How the Chiss had ever managed to learn of his disgust of eels-it wasn't a phobia-he would never know. With a cry of disgust he took a swing at one of the eels, which dissipated like smoke as the blade passed through it.

That gave him pause.

Illusionary eels, he thought, through the heated cotton of his mind. Talos, you and I are going to have words.

The eels all dropped from the ceiling and landed on the floor with wet splats, and Kaven recoiled when they flowed past him. Illusionary, illusionary, he reminded himself.

The clank of heavy footsteps tore through his distraction, and he looked up.

And up. And up.

It looked like a Super battle droid, but it was way bigger than them. An Ultra battle droid, but even bigger than they were supposed to be; B3s were usually just under five metres, but this thing had to be eight or even nine. It was gigantic.

The panels on its forearms flipped open, and it prepared to fire on him. Letting the Force guide him, Kaven deflected the first few shots before leaping into the air. His lightsaber blade connected solidly with the droid's head, and he passed by it. He landed gracefully.

Then he realized that something was terribly wrong.

By rights, the thing should have fallen. He had cloven right through its head, its behaviour core, but the thing was fine. In fact, he saw, as he deflected another round of shots, there wasn't a scratch on it.

Using the Force to spin the droid around the other way, Kaven leapt up and slashed again. It connected, but the red-hot band his lightsaber had left behind faded, leaving the metal untouched.

Invincible droid? That's impossible! With blaster fire at his heels he streaked toward the droid. He delivered a blow as he passed by, managing to slice through its left leg. This time the slash had an effect; the B3 went down on one knee.

He didn't stop there. Unsure of which areas he could and could not affect, the human struck at its extremities and found that its weapons were not invulnerable. Now that the droid had been declawed, Kaven found it easier to close his eyes and allow the Force to direct him.

The droid didn't last long after that. Stopping to breathe a sigh of relief after it was over, Kaven looked the remains of the thing over and found that it really was the size it should have been-just under five metres. All the higher strikes he had made had missed because he had simply been aiming too high.

He passed a hand over his eyes. "Talos must have put an illusion on that, too," he murmured. "Funny...he never uses illusions otherwise..."

He took a step, and then collapsed to his knees. That must have tired me out more than I thought, he decided. This training exercise on Lucinia had lasted a few days already. Most of that time had been spent fighting droids and Lucinia's native life. He supposed it was natural to get tired, but he had been through more demanding exercises before.

The floor was doing the piston thing again. He couldn't hear the stones grinding together as they moved, though he probably should have. He didn't hear anything but his own breath.

Kaven got up again, the calf of his left leg aching a little, and continued on.


A few minutes after the padawan had left, another figure entered the room. Although Kaven had seen a dark and forbidding temple chamber with an eerily-moving floor and horrid little eels dangling from the ceiling, this figure saw only an empty, darkish room with dusty cobwebs. It walked to where the B3 had fallen.

"Conclusion: Adult male human Erril Kaven has ambulated in this direction. Blood trail is now negative due to organic life-form function of coagulation," it said. "Footprints of 1.79 metre humanoid will suffice." It glanced down uncaringly at the guardian battle droid, now lying in pieces. "B3 series Ultra battle droid. Fourth-class drone. Current designation: Scrap metal. Presumable fight with organic. Conclusion: Lost badly."

It gave the pile of metal a vicious kick. "Wimp," it added, contemptuously.


"So there you are," Kaven said, swaying a little as he got into the room. The figure standing before the altar turned around. Though it wore concealing black robes and its hood was up, the pilot could see the glow of red eyes beneath the cowl. "Four days of fighting droids and carnivores and surviving on the Force alone, chasing you across this volcanic wasteland where every step hurts-" His lightsaber hissed out, lighting his face in the gloom. It looked drawn and tired. "Sounds like the Trial of Flesh to me."

Talos-it had to be him-didn't say anything, and merely waited.

Kaven came fully into the room. "I've crossed badlands where the sand and rocks are like crushed and broken glass. I crossed a boiling river. I've fought three Droidekas, six MagnaGuards, and twelve B1s since landing. The things in the temple don't count."

A movement under the cowl indicated that Talos had raised an eyebrow.

"And now," the pilot continued, "I've got to fight you."

The figure's hands came out of its cloak then, and two red shafts of light erupted from the handles it held. "Come, then."

Kaven started. "What the-" Unless Talos was using illusions again, that was not the Chiss' voice. This one held a strange echo and was somehow incomplete, as if the figure had studied speech extensively but had never tried it out before.

Talos didn't dual-wield, either. As part of the training regimen he had taught his padawan the basic moves of Jar Kai, but the Jedi Master was of the opinion that only one lightsaber was needed at any time.

The figure leapt from the dais and ran at him, and Kaven threw himself aside. The figure turned and came at him like a wild animal, and their lightsabers collided. The human found himself being pushed back under its onslaught of violent attacks. This was not Talos' style; in fact, the Chiss would have disapproved of this savagery.

So who was he fighting, then?

"Who are you!"

No answer.

"Whoever you are, we don't need to be fighting like this! This is not the way of Jedi!"

Again there was only silence.

Kaven tried again, parrying a series of chopping strokes that might have cut an arm from his body had he not been possessed of a pilot's agility. "Cease and desist! I'm calling a truce with you!"

In response, the figure laughed. It was a chilling, reverberating sound.

The human grunted as he levelled his lightsaber, taking a solid stroke from each of the creature's sabres along its blade. Whoever or whatever it was, it was quite strong. Not as strong as Hrakis, but stronger than Kaven. He used the Force to lend some artificial strength to his body, supplementing his defence.

"Very well," he said. "You leave me no choice."

It came at him again.

As they fought, he studied the figure's movements and found that it was actually rather clumsy with the lightsabers. It was the same way as its speech-studied, but not practiced, learned, but not ingrained.

Kaven had spent the last five months studying under Talos, who moved through his battles like an erratic lightning bolt, and it came as no surprise that he seized an opening a moment later, piercing its defence and severing its left hand at the wrist. The corresponding lightsaber hit the floor and rolled, and as it jumped back with a keen of pain, the pilot pulled the weapon into his own hand. He slipped it into an inner pocket of his robe, watching the figure all the while.

It was distracted now, looking at the stump of its wrist through eyes narrowed to slits. He saw that its skin was a dark grey, and tried to think of what species this lightsaber-wielding thing could be.

Those thoughts halted immediately when he saw that dark tendrils were flowing from where its veins should have been, and within moments a new hand had sprouted. It flexed the fingers, looking up at him again.

Kaven drew his lightsaber back, ready for the attack. When it came, he plunged the glowing blade through its chest. It barrelled into him and tossed its remaining lightsaber aside, taking hold of his upper right arm with both hands. It seemed to ignore the sabre piercing it, and when the pilot cut to the side, nearly cutting the thing in half, it tore his arm open with its nails, from bicep to forearm, all the way through his sleeve.

He let out a scream of pain and struck out at it with the Force, sending it flying back across the room. It struck the wall and fell behind the altar, and the officer fell to his knees, clutching at his bleeding arm. Strangled cries erupted from him, and he rocked back and forth, holding the limb. He had never felt anything quite like this before; pain flared up his arm, as though his blood had begun to boil. There was no escaping it-it was more than physical, as if the Force itself had clamped down on him.

Blood spattered the floor, added drop by drop. His breath came in short gasps as he struggled to deal with the unnatural agony that had now spread past his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of the thing that had cut him open. It was standing now, coming cautiously from behind the altar. Its hood had fallen, and he could see that it looked vaguely like a dark-skinned Talos. As it came closer, he found that its facial features were different, though there was a notable resemblance.

Kaven's arms shook. It was like poison invading his system.

It padded closer. He could see his blood on its hands.

Something dark opened up in the lower recesses of his thoughts and rose like a black tide, aggravated by the pain roiling through his body. Kill it! Kill it now!

Without thinking he reached out with his left hand and seized it through the Force. He had never before crushed anything, but now he did, squeezing it with the intent to kill and with a certain vicious enjoyment, feeling as though he could never do it hard enough.

Had he been aware of how he looked as he did this, he might have stopped. As it was, he was caught in the throes of it and for him there was, for a moment, nothing but the desire to destroy this creature.

There was a wet pop, and as the black, greasy pool of its fluids spread gently over the stones he sagged, then fell to his knees again. The dark feeling had taken the pain to the background for that brief moment, but when it retreated the agony washed over him again.

He went to his hands and knees with a moan. His vision swam, and when he squeezed his eyes shut, tears of pain hit the stones with a splash.

He didn't hear the clicking until it was very near, and when he turned to face the source of the sound, his face was pale and beads of sweat stood out on his skin.

"Not...you...again," he gasped.

There were more of the bat-droid things, a dozen of them at least. They were coming from the corridor on the side of the room from which he had come, and there were more walking along the walls from that direction.

It was too much. Far too much.

Nonetheless, he struggled to his feet and held his lightsaber before him in the opening stance of Soresu, determined to last as long as he could.

They swarmed forward. He met them.

Although he cut down droid after droid, the swarm just kept coming. He was getting increasingly worn out, and was taking more shots from them than he should have been. He couldn't concentrate enough to use the Force, either.

It wasn't until he was on his knees again and saw an electric blue light moving around that he realized that someone else was in the room with him. It was Talos, moving almost too quickly for his fatigued padawan to follow, mowing his way through the sea of droids to get to him. With a leap he landed at Kaven's side, and his red eyes widened a little when he saw up close what state the human was in.

Still on his knees, Kaven reached out to him, pale and exhausted and battered. "Master!"

The Chiss wrapped an arm around him and helped him to his feet. "Erril, quickly...this way..."

The next few minutes were a blur to the pilot, who kept blacking out as they went. In the end Talos had to support him the whole way. He caught a glimpse of a corridor, a room, a repulsorlift, and then the clean lines of Talos' face, arranged into an expression of concern.

More darkness. Then they must have been out on the roof, because the Jedi Master was now leaning over him, and overhead loomed the dark clouds of the perpetual storm that covered Lucinia.

"Talos..."

"It's all right, Erril, you're safe up here..."

His eyes closed.


As the Jedi's ship lifted from the landing pad atop the old temple, a figure emerged from the elevator. It watched the ship depart, metallic fingers stroking the length of the blaster rifle it held.

"Observation: Ship is of Feladornian origin, Transport Class M. Port of registry is at Dorgo Shipyards, Feladornian Sector 08. Bioscan readings indicate two organic life-forms aboard, one presumably adult male human Erril Kaven, the other adult male Chiss, name unknown."

It considered. "Probability: Adult male Chiss will be an obstruction in securing the Objective. Course of action is to be determined at TK-97's discretion. Conclusion: Kill at leisure."

The assassin droid cocked its blaster with a satisfying click."You can run, but you cannot hide, meatbags."


Kaven stirred, and saw beneath half-closed lids that Talos still leaned over him. The Chiss' eyes were shut and his hands were raised, palms turned toward his padawan. They were in a ship. The ship. It looked like the medical bay.

He blinked, and suddenly the Jedi Master was on the other side of the room, consulting something over a holoprojector.

His eyes closed again. There was an eternity of darkness before he opened them again. Talos was back at it once more, but this time Kaven saw that the Jedi's hands were on his arm, the one that had been torn open.

"...Talos...?"

His master's eyes opened. "Just rest," he told his padawan.

There was another of the long blinks, and when he looked again, Talos was sitting across the room with his head resting in one hand, his eyes closed. An FX medical droid loomed overhead, and Kaven saw a long needle disappear into the back of his left hand. There were restraints around his wrists and ankles. He was bound to the table.

"Erril," the Jedi Master said, apparently awake, though he didn't open his eyes, "This procedure will be painful, but try to relax. It will help you."

Kaven cringed as the needles descended.


Talos sat back and watched as the medical droid began to draw out the poison. Although the human arched and strained against the cuffs, they held him down adequately. The Jedi Master watched carefully, frowning a little in thought. Under ordinary circumstances a pain-maddened Jedi could very well snap his restraints, but it seemed that Kaven was yet too weak to do so. He still bore watching, however.

The Chiss hadn't counted on Kaven losing his way in the temple complex, and after some thought had concluded that the chemicals released by the bat-droids' secondary weapons had a more substantial effect on humans than it did on related species. For Talos the shots would result in mild dizziness and some inconsequential visual impairments, but by the medical droids' reports, Kaven had been having full-on hallucinations as the substance swept through his system, which had only been exacerbated by the guardian's poison. By the time the Chiss had reached the altar room, Kaven's balance and ability to use the Force had been shot, and he had been so addled that direction had meant nothing at all to him.

The pilot's screams of pain filled the medical bay as the substance was drawn from his body, and there was a sudden snap as the cuff holding his right arm broke. Talos rose to his feet, but the medical droid had gotten there first, injecting a sedative. Kaven gradually stopped struggling, and his body relaxed. His master slipped a new cuff over his wrist.

Eventually the procedure finished, and the canister of Lucinian wraith poison was sealed and set aside. When he next awoke Kaven would be feeling much better, but for now he needed all the sleep he could get. The trial had been more draconian than Talos had intended.

The Jedi Master settled back in his chair and let his fatigue wash over him. He had been sustaining himself through the Force since leaving Lucinia, but there was no more need for it. He dozed off.


After some time he awoke to a soft moan, and he straightened, rubbing his neck. He supposed at first that his padawan was waking up, but then he saw that Kaven was still asleep. The pilot was moving a little, a weak attempt at tossing and turning despite his restraints. Nightmares, evidently. Talos considered waking him, but decided against it. The young man needed his rest, even if that rest was a fitful one.

After some time Kaven started talking in his sleep. The words were vague and disjointed, but what the Jedi Master could make out was telling. Nightmares usually were. The pilot called for his family, sounding quite young, and in his feverish cries a part of him that he would never have shown to another began to reveal itself.

That part of Kaven was his own, and Talos had no business listening to it. Out of consideration for his padawan the Jedi got up and left the medical bay, curtly instructing the medical droid to alert him to any changes as he passed by.


Hours later, he received a message from the droid. He returned to the medical bay to find Kaven awake and sitting on the edge of the table, rubbing his wrists. The medical droids had seen fit to unlock the restraints.

The pilot gave him a wan smile. His hair was mussed and he still bore the drawn look of trial and exhaustion, but he was worlds away from how he had been before.

"How are you feeling?" Talos asked.

"Like I was put in a sack and kicked down the slopes of Mustafar's highest peak," Kaven replied. "How are you?"

"Relieved," the Jedi told him, sitting down across from him. "I see that you're feeling better."

Kaven ran a hand through his hair. His words had been light-hearted, but his expression was serious. "What was that thing on Lucinia-and what's been going on? I suspect I've been asleep for a while. Can't remember much."

"That thing was a Lucinian wraith. Their origins are unknown, but it is suspected that an order of dark side adepts, possibly the Sith, created them. They're confined to Lucinia. They're notorious mimics and can even learn to use weapons. Poisonous creatures, as well."

The pilot looked quickly at his arm, which was bandaged. "Oh, no."

"The medical droids have seen to it. Those cuts are nearly healed."

"So, they took the poison out." Kaven gazed at his forearm for a while, and then asked, "How long have we been on the ship?"

"Three standard days."

"Three days!"

"You were in critical condition by the time I got you here, Erril. The medical droids purged the hallucinogens from your system, treated you with bacta, and drew out the wraith's poison."

Kaven closed his eyes, bowing his head in concordance. "Hallucinogens, huh...that explains it. Explains those nightmares, anyway," he added, to himself. He took a breath and ran a hand through his hair again, brushing it back from his brow. "Stars...I'm so tired. You don't mind if I go back to sleep, do you?"

"I would encourage it, in fact. I'll wake you when we reach Feladorn."

"Thanks..."

Talos watched his padawan slide down from the table and pad over to where his robe hung on a hook, taking it and slinging it over one shoulder as he went into the ship's sleeping quarters.

And the navicom will wake me, he thought, heading back into the cockpit.


Kaven lay down on the bunk he usually occupied, and as he pulled his robe over himself he felt a weight in the cloth.

He reached into the inner pocket and drew out the lightsaber he had taken from the wraith, lying back with one hand beneath his head as he looked at it. Three days, he thought. That thing laid me out for three days with one scratch. Three days of pain and nightmares. And just one scratch.

The infection must have really been tearing through him, then. He set the lightsaber handle across his stomach and lifted his bandaged arm, looking it over again. Clean white bandages covered the slashes, which he imagined as eight furrows gouged into his skin. He wondered if it would scar.

He let the arm fall, and wrapped his fingers around the handle of the wraith's lightsaber. The thing couldn't have made it, so it was probably stolen from some unfortunate Dark Jedi-or maybe the thing used to be a Dark Jedi. The pilot made a mental note to ask Talos about it when he woke up.

Kaven put the lightsaber back and settled down again, closing his eyes. Exhaustion had taken its toll, and it was not long at all before he had drifted into a fitful sleep.


Talos awoke at the navicom's declaration. "Attention," it said. "We are now within one parsec of Feladorn."

The Jedi Master went into the passengers' compartments to find Kaven already awake and standing before the small mirror on the wall, shaving.

"Seems I look about as good as I feel," the human commented, lifting his razor. Curiously, he seemed to prefer a cutthroat razor to any other variety. "I could use some improvement on both fronts. Even my eyelashes ache."

"You've made a decent recovery."

"Had you worried?"

"Considerably," the Chiss said, with frank honesty.

Kaven actually smiled a little at that, and continued shaving. After a moment he asked, "Talos, what's that black shite in the medical bay?" Catching a glimpse of the Jedi's expression in the mirror, he quickly clarified, "Which is neatly sealed in a jar, I might add."

"That 'black shite' is Lucinian wraith poison," Talos replied, settling down again. "It's best that it remain in the jar."

Kaven swished the blade in the small basin of water before him. "I was thinking about those wraiths, and how quickly I got infected. Had it kept up, would I have died from it-or would I have turned into one?"

The Jedi Master shook his head. "I'm not entirely certain. For all I know, that may be just how they reproduce, if they do at all."

"If I never return to Lucinia, it shall be too soon," the pilot said, drying his face with a towel. He turned to Talos, leaning a hand against the wall. "You know, at first I thought that thing had been you, pulling illusions on me. It had a hooded cloak like a Jedi, and before I got a better look at it, it had sort of looked like you. But then, I was apparently hallucinating like mad by that point. It probably had tentacles for a face."

"Describe your trial to me. Begin at the point where I dropped you off."

Kaven did so. Once he was finished, the Chiss nodded and said, "We ought to be at Feladorn by now. When we arrive, you ought to take a few days' rest."

"I could use some meditation time..."


"Something wrong?"

Lieutenant Verdan came out of his reverie then, glancing at the bounty hunter. "No," he said. "Nothing." He had been sitting silently for the last hour or so with his head in his hand, staring off into space. "Nothing...important."

Madeen looked back to the control board before her. "I just sent the hyperspace coordinates to the others. We're on our last jump now-and then, Feladorn."

The human nodded. He had chosen to ride with the Twi'lek on the odd crustacean ship she had nicknamed the Lobstrosity, a decision which had probably puzzled his squad of Stormtroopers. They were eager to get back into business now that the completion of their mission objective had drawn closer.

"He's had time to train up since he got away from us on Nar Shaddaa; this is going to be a tough capture, V."

V. It was what she was calling him these days, and strangely enough, he didn't mind. Had anyone else called him by that nickname, they would have gotten nothing less than a stony look from the lieutenant, but this...was allowed.

He nodded again. "Yes. But this time we have my squad as backup. He's hesitant to cause imperial casualties-an advantage to us. One we should use. And I ho-I'm unsure of whether he would consider you as one of us."

"I hope he considers me imperial enough, too," said Madeen. "I'd hate to get shot down with my own blaster bolts."

Lieutenant Verdan frowned. While Kaven was perhaps unlikely to wilfully kill any of them, he knew nothing about the pilot's Jedi companion. The few Jedi of the New Republic did not hesitate when it came to imperial casualties, and the Chiss therefore presented a clear danger. "Battle ought to be the last resort," he said. "We'll attempt negotiations with Kaven first and foremost. If he does not return with us willingly, then we will take him by force."

"Sounds like your admiral's pretty interested in him," the Twi'lek commented, as the stars streamed around them.

"Yes. Admiral Makar is determined to have him back. He's valuable to the Empire." There was more to it than that, but Verdan was not about to mention it.

"You talked to the admiral, then?"

The imperial officer shook his head. "It would take special circumstances to meet with him right now."

The bounty hunter leaned back, hands behind her head. "You imperials and your intrigue. Not that the New Republic has any shortage of it, either, but it's been one adventure after another since I joined you. I could get used to this."

You don't know the half of it, Verdan thought, as they leapt into hyperspace.


The ship breached the atmosphere and landed on the plains outside of Cael Dorath with mechanical efficiency, and the passengers disembarked. Four pairs of metal hands held blaster rifles almost lovingly, and four pairs of metal feet tramped over the dusty ground.

The TKs surveyed the sun-beaten landscape with disdain. "Disparaging Remark: What a dustbowl," one of them said.

"Report: Adult male human Erril Kaven and adult male Chiss of unknown name are unlikely to be in town," another remarked, checking its scanner.

"Statement: That is a redundant observation. Self has already ascertained that the meatbags are hiding in the vicinity of the canyon. In concordance, self will secure the Objective while TK-98, TK-99, and TK-95 will secure the perimeter."

"Objection: TK-97 had the pleasure of terminating the last Objective," another assassin droid shot back. "TK-99 will make the kill this time, without interference from others."

"Correction: TK-98 will secure the Objective and terminate both Jedi while others look on in awe," the second replied, putting the scanner away. "Additional Correction: The Jedi are not in the canyon, they are south of the canyon. Self is of the opinion that TK-97's sensors are in need of recalibration."

"Threat: Self will gladly recalibrate TK-98's sensors, if TK-98 continues in such a fashion. The meatbags are in the canyon."

TK-95, who was distinct from the others by way of a scar-like scrape over its right visual receptor, shook its head. "Sound Effect: Sigh. Statement: Self is of the opinion that the Maker should have quit after self was completed. Suggestion: Split up and search for the meatbags individually, thus eliminating the need for such useless organic bickering."

The assassin droids seemed to agree to that. "Statement: After self secures the Objective, self will return to the ship," TK-97 informed the others.

Without further comment, they spread out and began their hunt.


"Lieutenant. Apart from the town, the life-form scanners indicate activity in the petrified root forest below it, as well as the canyon and the valley south of the canyon," the sergeant reported. "Awaiting orders, sir."

"You four will go to the forest," Lieutenant Verdan ordered, indicating the chosen quartet, "and you four will search the town. The rest of you-search the canyon, while Madeen and I check the valley. If you encounter Erril Kaven and his Chiss companion, you are to negotiate first and foremost. Leave battle as a last resort; we are now dealing with Jedi. We want Kaven alive and, if possible, unharmed, by order of General Kordis."

"Yes, sir," the troopers said.

After they had left Madeen said, "We can requisition a couple of speeder bikes or some STAPs in town."

The officer nodded. "Yes. We have a lot of ground to cover, and Kaven might be aware of our presence already."

"Or his master." They started for the town, and then came to a halt a second later. "Oh, V," the Twi'lek said. "I've got a scanner and a recon droid in the ship. That will be useful."

"I know where they are. I'll get them." Turning, Verdan disappeared into the recesses of the Lobstrosity.

Madeen crossed her arms, looking out over the landscape. I've got a bad feeling about this, she thought, watching the first group of Stormtroopers descend into the forest of petrified roots below the town, while the second group took the lift up to the town itself. Beyond the canyon, an enormous tree rose like a tower, at least six hundred metres above the ground. Its roots probably reached all the way to the mountain range.

"Statement: Self could not help but overhear the name of self's objective," said a mechanical voice from somewhere behind her. She turned, and discovered with shock that a droid was standing there with its blaster rifle pointed at her. If malevolence had a face, it would look like a TK-series assassin. The grey smoothness of its faceplate was marred only by a large scrape over one glaring eye. The sharp cords protruding from its head like metallic dreadlocks quivered, and there was the brief sound of cybernetics working. Then the droid said, "Adult female Twi'lek is identified as the bounty hunter Madeen, currently in employment with adult male human Lieutenant Verdan. TK-95 assumes that adult male human Erril Kaven is your quarry. Query: Is this affirmative, female?"

"Er-yes." Aware that it would shoot her if she so much as touched the blaster at her hip, Madeen held her empty hands in the air. The assassin droid put itself between her and the ship, cutting off her one avenue of escape.

"Adult female Twi'lek has been hired by a different employer from self. Therefore, adult female is an impediment to self's goal, and is to be dealt with at TK-95's discretion. Conclusion: All impediments are to be terminated. TK-95 is very good at this. Hold still, fema-" The assassin droid let out a screech as a chain suddenly wrapped around its neck, then snapped back again, pulling the droid with it. With a half-spin, the TK lost its balance and fell over. A blaster shot followed, and there was a brief rain of sparks from the droid's back. It lay on its face in the dirt, and did not rise.

Madeen looked to Lieutenant Verdan, who was standing on the ramp of the Lobstrosity. The imperial officer held the end of the chain in one hand, and in the other his blaster pistol pointed skyward. "Thanks," she said. She glanced down at the droid, who was still fizzling. "That thing couldn't be from the Republic, could it?"

Verdan came to her side. "It's possible. But those things are for assassination only-and from what you said, the Republic would prefer Kaven to be brought in alive." His dark eyes moved over the landscape, then back to the TK. "There's a third party here, then. Perhaps he was framed, after all."

"If that's the case, we'd better get to him before their employer does," Madeen replied, with a nod toward the droid.

"Agreed."


"Scanner's picking up a few life forms. Nothing large. Keep going," the Stormtrooper at the front of the queue said.

"This place is creepy."

It was dark and eerily silent in the petrified forest, and the quartet of troopers looked around warily as they made their way between the stiff, hairy roots, aware of how well their white armour showed up in the gloom.

Something rustled, and they halted. The first trooper checked the scanner. "Small animal," he said at length. "Let's move long."

Something larger watched them from above, climbing over the twisted shelves of vegetation with practiced ease. It kept pace with them, and never made a noise. "So we're hunting a Jedi," a Stormtrooper said. "I heard..."

He was quiet, and just readjusted his grip on his E-11 blaster rifle.

"Heard what, trooper?"

"Did you hear about what happened at Kejim? A Jedi came. Killed all the personnel there."

The silence took on a deeper tone, like a black hole.

"What, all of them?"

"All the troopers, all the officers. Everybody. All dead."

One of the troopers, a born sceptic, shook his head. "Heard it was New Republic mercenaries, not a Jedi."

"They're capable of it, though. There's no telling what they can do."

"This guy is supposed to be on our side. He's an officer from the Starfighter Corps, not some half-crazed Republic scum."

"Can it, you guys. I'm picking something up."

They halted again. The Stormtroopers looked around, employing the night vision displays in their helmets. They spread out a little in a diamond formation, looking every which way.

A long tan tendril drooped down from above them, curled around the waist of the rear trooper, and yanked him upward, to the shock of his comrades.

"Kip!"

There was a gristly cracking noise from above their heads as cartilage broke, and then a body fell at their feet. It was saurian, with an open mouth full of hooked teeth and a black staring eye, and its head was twisted the wrong way.

The Stormtrooper it had nabbed jumped back down. There were tooth marks on his breastplate.

He looked at his comrades, tried unsuccessfully to think of a casual, irreverent remark, and then just shrugged instead. There were a few chuckles from the other troopers, and they turned away again.

Then the shot came.

The lead trooper was down before he had even taken a step, and a second shot knocked the man behind him from his feet before the body of the first had struck the ground. The two in the rear, protected from sniping by a thick pillar of root, flattened their backs against it.

Metallic footfalls came closer, and the Stormtrooper that had been third in line took the thermal detonator from his belt and activated it, peeking out briefly and throwing it into the darkness from which the sounds had emerged. There was a mechanical curse, a clang, and a deafening explosion.

"Exclamation: Step out from behind that root, meatbags! TK-99 will gladly remunerate you for throwing a grenade in self's direction!"

"Suggestion: Why don't you come here and try it, you walking garbage can!" one of the troopers yelled back, thumbing the setting on his blaster rifle to rapid fire. Through the corner of his visor he caught a flicker of movement, and ducked. A vibroknife stabbed overhead and buried itself up to the hilt in the root pillar, and the trooper's partner turned at the motions. Without pausing he turned to the assassin droid and opened fire. The hail of point-blank fire tore the droid nearly in two, and it let out a mechanical squark as it was blown off its feet.

The Stormtrooper went over to his fallen comrades, checked them, found that they were both dead, and then went back to the assassin droid. Without a word he shot again, and again until the parts were scattered across the dirt and there was no possibility of it ever getting back up again.

Lifting a hand, he opened the comlink channel in his helmet. "Attention, troopers. There are assassin droids here, I repeat, assassin droids. Two of our men are down. Be on your guard."

Lieutenant Verdan was the first to reply. "State your location and tell me the droid's serial number," the officer said.

"We're in the roots, sir. The droid's number was TK-99."

"The one we encountered was not alone, then. Stay under cover-there could be at least three others. Destroy them on sight-they're apparently after Kaven as well."

There was a chorus of affirmations from the other troopers. The man switched the comlink off and readied his weapon, and they continued onwards.


"What was that?" Kaven rose to his feet, his meditations interrupted. "I felt something in the Force just now."

"I felt it as well," the Chiss said, also rising. "It hasn't stopped..."

There was a heartbeat's pause.

"They're here," the pilot said. "Madeen. Verdan. The troopers."

"Feladorn is no longer safe for you."

"No. But they're in trouble. I have to help them." Drawing the lightsaber at his belt, Kaven ran outside. Talos raised a hand, and pulled his lightsaber into it. Suitably armed, he followed his padawan.


Kaven ran for the nearest place that he felt presences, which was farther along the bottom of the canyon, and came upon a terrible sight. Four Stormtroopers lay facedown and motionless in the dirt, and a TK-series assassin droid was standing over them. It turned as he approached, and its eyes flared brighter for a moment when it saw him.

"Statement: It is as self had predicted. Adult male human Erril Kaven is to be found in the canyon. Greetings, meatbag."

Angrily, the padawan ignited his lightsaber. "You won't get away with this!"

"Statement: TK-97 has been seeking adult male human Erril Kaven for 12,960,241 seconds. Self is impatient to secure the Objective, and will not wait a second more."

"You're working for Thule, aren't you!"

"Threat: Target will allow himself to be killed in a cooperative fashion, or TK-97 will promptly rearrange his kneecaps."

"I'm going to chop you into bits, you crazy droid!"

"Promise: Target will find it difficult to dismember self, if Target's own limbs are missing. Termination begins now."

Kaven's lightsaber jerked into place, deflecting the punctuating shot. It went wild, missing the assassin droid completely. TK-97 did not seem discouraged, and drew a vibroknife from its back compartment.

Well aware of its intentions to enjoy his termination, the pilot swung at it, and the droid parried the blow. This started the duel proper, and Kaven found it surprisingly difficult to get a solid hit in, though he managed to skim it several times.

The droid's knife stabbed downward, and he caught it across his lightsaber blade. Remembering what Hrakis had done to him, he swept the droid's arm aside and, because he wasn't about to punch a metal construct in the stomach, struck at it with the Force. The TK had no protection against that kind of thing, and it skidded and tumbled away on its back.

Before it could get to its feet, Kaven picked it up through the Force and began to squeeze, intent on crushing it. He vaguely remembered crushing the wraith on Lucinia, and knew how to do it. With a final crunch, the assassin droid crumpled. Feeling rather satisfied, Kaven let it go. He extinguished the lightsaber and returned it to his belt, then turned to Talos, who had just rounded the bend in the path.

"There was an assassin droid here that killed the Stormtroopers," he said.

The Chiss nodded curtly. "There's more than one. I encountered another on the way here, which explains my tardiness. Unpleasant things."

If Talos had run into it, then the droid was lying in pieces where it had met him. "I've still got a bad feeling. I need to find Madeen and the lieutenant-I know where they are."

"Are you going with them?"

"No." Kaven's brow furrowed. "I've got a bad feeling about that. No, I think I need to do this on my own. And then it might turn out all right."

The Jedi Master was silent for a while, and then said, "Erril. Although there is much that I would like to teach you still, it seems that the will of the Force has spoken. It's time for you to return to the galaxy."

"Yes...I want to stay here, Talos. I want to learn to be a Jedi. But I can't stay on Feladorn any longer-not without endangering everyone on it."

"The crater in the centre of the valley past Cael Dorath has what you need. Meet me at the sun temple after you've finished your business with the imperials. May the Force be with you."

"And with you..."


Following his instincts, Kaven climbed up the slope, emerging in the rocky badlands that overlooked the plains between the canyon and the town. He caught sight of two figures on speeder bikes and ran down to meet them.

It was Madeen and Lieutenant Verdan. "Long time no see, flyboy," said the bounty hunter, getting off her speeder bike. In the blink of an eye there was a blaster in her hand. "You're coming with us."

"We've chased you across the galaxy long enough," the imperial officer added. His blaster was also pointed in Kaven's direction. "It's time you returned to the Empire."

Kaven's lightsaber hissed out. Verdan's eyes widened, and as he scowled the padawan said, "I won't attack you. I just don't want to get shot, either."

"Come with us, then-there are assassin droids hunting you here," Madeen pointed out. "They're evidence that you're innocent, because somebody obviously doesn't want you coming back and talking."

"Thule," Kaven growled.

Lieutenant Verdan's expression shifted from irritation to surprise. "Captain Thule? Of the Imperial Dawn?"

The pilot bowed his head in concordance. "Yes. He's the one that's behind all of this. I've got Admiral Makar's favour and Thule can't stand me, so I made the ideal victim. I'm not clear on the details, but it seems Thule's either a spy of some sort or planning to defect to the Republic."

"Erril, you must return with us and report this! If Thule is a traitor, you can help to convict him, and then the fleet can-" Verdan halted, and then finished, "-return to normal."

Kaven shook his head, taking a step backwards. "No. I want to, and I will come back, but the time's not right for it."

The imperial officer's lips thinned. "No. You're coming with us, and you're coming now."

The pilot's eyes shifted to something behind him, and then widened. The lieutenant looked over his shoulder, and the world seemed to freeze.

The assassin droid that had attacked Madeen outside of the ship had survived the shot Verdan had taken at it, and although it was in sad shape it had managed to follow them. It had snuck up on them while they were talking, and currently it had raised its rifle and was preparing to shoot the bounty hunter, who was looking over her shoulder with shock.

Kaven had an arm cocked, about to hurl his lightsaber at the droid. It would leave him open to a shot from Verdan.

The officer had a choice. He could stun Kaven and capture him, fulfilling his mission objective at the cost of his companion's life, or he could save Madeen and let Kaven get away again, failing his mission. It was either one or the other. He wasn't fast enough for both.

He made his decision.

The world exploded into motion again as he brought Madeen down with a flying tackle. Something hot skimmed over his left shoulder blade, leaving a burning streak, and he inhaled sharply. A whirling sound passed overhead, and there was a solid vum as Kaven's lightsaber flash-burned its way through the droid's circuits. At a tinkle of metal the lieutenant looked up and saw the pilot catch the weapon, which had apparently returned to his hand.

Their eyes met, and then Kaven gave him an almost imperceptible nod before turning and running.

"V?"

The imperial officer looked down, realized that he was more or less lying on Madeen, and immediately sat back on his heels. The new scar on his back was still burning, but his face felt warm as well.

"You could have had him," the bounty hunter said, sitting up.

He shook his head. "Too much cost. Um." At an uncharacteristic loss for words, Verdan got to his feet. Then his awkwardness faded as he saw where the Jedi was running. "He's headed for the ring of mountains. We can trap him in the valley there." He took out his comlink and addressed the troopers that still remained, instructing them to rendezvous at the temple.

Madeen lifted her hips and jumped right to her feet. "Right. Let's get going."


Talos was waiting just inside the temple, and when Kaven entered the Jedi Master pushed his travel bag into his hands and they went through the back exit, careful not to alert the priest.

Kaven didn't say anything as they made their way down the roots toward the valley proper, too disheartened by the thought of leaving to make much conversation. Talos was quiet as well, and they simply climbed downwards in silence.

The ring of mountains enclosed a plain that had become a massive crater at some time in the past, when a meteor had struck. There was a building in the centre of it, some huge one that could have been anything, in the human's eyes.

They leapt the last ten metres to the ground. The pilot had noted long before that Talos was not carrying anything with him, and had realized glumly that he was to strike out on his own. Of course Talos would not return to the Empire with him; his loyalties were to the Force and the Force alone.

A sudden wind blew his hair, and he looked up. An imperial shuttle had passed overhead, and was heading for the building complex.

"They'll try to catch us here," he murmured.

"They don't know the interior of the building. I do," his master replied. "You'll leave Feladorn safely."

"What about you? Even if you get me off safely, those troopers are going to see you as a Jedi anyway."

"Just trust me, Erril. I'm not made of glass." At Kaven's worried expression the Chiss added, "I won't harm them if it's avoidable. I intend to see you off and then leave before they manage to find their way to the landing pad."

"So there's a ship...?"

"Yes. I doubt your credit balance has improved since dealing with Mira the Hutt, and you're going to need transport."

"I...I don't know how I could ever thank you," Kaven stammered.

"I imagine you'll find a way. Perhaps you can convince your imperial friends not to conquer Feladorn once everything's settled."

"Well, I can certainly try," the pilot replied, as they ran down the slopes of the crater.


What was inside the ring of mountains was called the Valley of Fallen Stars, and the building complex was a very old temple that had been built as a sort of shrine to the great meteor that had fallen nearly a thousand years before. The shallow parts of the temple were still used by the Feladornians for certain festivals, though at this time of year it was locked up.

The two Jedi pried the door open and stepped inside. The antechamber was smallish, with a couple of short stairways leading to a second level just over their heads, and two corridors led off to the right and the left. The air smelled stale and close; the temple had not been opened for months. "Which way?" Kaven asked.

"This way." Talos nodded to the right, and they padded through a series of dark corridors before coming to a halt.

"Dead end."

"No, this is just where the public part of the temple ends." Talos reached out, hesitated, and then pushed a stone with his finger. There was a low rumble, and the wall slid aside. "The ship I'm giving you belonged to my master. When he brought me to Feladorn, it was at the time of the Jedi Purge. Secrecy was prudent, so he hid the ship. Even the Feladornians don't know it's here."

"But wouldn't they know about the secret passages? This is their temple."

"There's another secret area within the secret areas."

"Ahah! Very nice."

"Indeed. Now, just follow me..."


The troop of imperials had entered the temple not long after Kaven and Talos, and now stood in the anteroom looking about.

Lieutenant Verdan gazed at the honeycomb of alcoves and corridors, musing. "Now, why would they go into a temple..."

"Good setting for an ambush," Madeen commented, as the imperial officer instructed his men to be on guard for an attack from any angle.

"Sir! There are footprints leading this way." A Stormtrooper motioned toward two pairs of tracks with his rifle. They led off into a side corridor, faint disturbances in the dust.

Verdan nodded, and activated the recon droid they had brought with them. "Follow those footprints."

The little droid whizzed away, and the troop followed it through a labyrinth of halls to the end of a corridor. The tracks seemed to disappear into the wall. The lieutenant reached out and touched the stone with one gloved hand. It was solid. "Scan for fingerprints," he said. When the droid had finished, he reached out and pressed the stone that had a print on it. The wall slid open. "Ahah. Continue onwards, then."


"This is where it gets interesting," Talos said later. They stood in a wide rectangular room. There was a door-shaped rift in the wall before them that would obviously open, but a number of other rifts indicated that it might not be a good idea to try to force it open.

"Interesting, as in trapped?"

"Yes. One of these panels on the floor will open the door... and all of them will spring the trap. There are certain procedures to follow here." Talos stood considering the trap. His red eyes were narrowed as he looked from panel to panel, thinking back almost thirty years. "It's the middle panel," he murmured. "And then...wait until the gears finish, then follow something into the hangar."

He took off his cloak, and threw it onto the panel.

They watched the whirl of blades, saws, toxic darts, and arrows as the trap was sprung, and even the stoic Chiss winced once or twice at the thought of what would have happened had one of them stepped into it.

The cloak Talos had tossed lay in a burning heap. The two Jedi turned their heads as the rift in the wall slid open. A droid about the size of an astromech rolled out, and stopped at the edge of the fabric. It leaned its birdlike head forward, and a small panel on the end of its snout opened. A stream of clear liquid came out and fell with a splash onto the burning robe. The droid made a quiet ptoo noise as it discharged the liquid.

Kaven laughed as the droid turned and started back from whence it came. "Well, I don't know who made this trap, but...I think I'm in love with them," he said.

Talos sighed. "I admit, the contemptuous spit added a certain something. Now, we need to hurry past that droid. That trap is self-setting."

"Right!"


"Uh-oh, this doesn't look good," the bounty hunter said, hands on her hips as she surveyed the array of panels and rifts. "Obvious trap."

Lieutenant Verdan looked at the remains of a cloak, which was still smouldering, and understood what had happened here. They were close to catching them up. "I'm not sure how much weight is needed..." He reached up and removed his cap, then tossed it onto the cloak.

There was a quiet click, and a great deal of action followed. The imperial troops watched with growing disquiet as saw blades whirred, darts shot, spikes stabbed, and to top it off, a flamethrower hidden in the wall let out a blast of fire.

The door slid open, and a droid about a meter high rolled out and approached the burning remains of the cloak and cap. Lieutenant Verdan wasn't quite sure what to say at what it did next, which was apparently to gob on the fire.

"Hngh, hngh, hngh-sorry, sir," a trooper said, concealing his snickering with practiced grace as their officer shot him a Look. "There's a corridor past where the droid came out, sir."

Verdan had seen it. "We'll follow it. Avoid the panels." Before the droid could turn and depart, he cleared the flaming pile at a leap and ran through the doorway. The rest hastened to follow.


Kaven and Talos looked over their shoulders at the sound of stone grinding on stone, and the Chiss said, "They're fast. We don't have much time." He finished pulling the cover off the ship and stepped back.

"An Aethersprite," the pilot said, with some surprise. The small ship was grey, with a purplish trim. "A Jedi Starfighter!"

"Yes. Now, they're not capable of making hyperspace jumps on their own, but they use a hyperdrive booster ring, which you'll find in orbit." Talos crossed to a control panel and input something, at which point a compartment on the near wall of the hangar opened and an astromech droid rolled toward them. "You'll need this-this one is R4-P8. The R4 series is specially made for these ships." The droid took its place on a lift and Kaven watched as it was raised and set into place on the left side of the Aethersprite. "You'll find it a little more difficult to calibrate things if you use any other series of astromech."

The Chiss turned to him then with a sigh. "I do wish we could have finished your training. I suspect that you're in for a great deal of trouble before things settle down."

"I'll see you again, won't I...?"

"Perhaps, but I'm not certain."

Kaven put his bag in the ship and paused a moment with his hands on it and his head bowed. "You didn't know me, but you took me in for training, and you taught me so much," he said quietly. "I trust you, and that means a lot to me." He turned to him. "Talos, I'd like to...count you as a friend, if you'd have me."

The Jedi Master smiled and took his hand. "I would. And I hope you have the chance to return to Feladorn someday as a full Jedi." There was the muffled sound of voices from down the hall. The imperials were nearly upon them. Talos pressed a button and the roof opened smoothly, revealing a clear blue sky.

Kaven climbed into the ship and donned the headset. He looked down at his master, not wanting to leave and knowing that he had to, and held up a hand. "May the Force be with you, Master."

"And with you, Erril." The canopy lowered, and Talos watched as the ship rose. "Carry the Force with you, always..."

The Jedi turned his head. He could hear the Stormtroopers by now. "And now, I had better get out of here," he said.


Lieutenant Verdan, Madeen, and the Stormtroopers entered in time to see a twinkle in the sky as the pilot blasted off.

Madeen walked over to the landing pad and said, in a conversational tone, a few choice words in her own language.

The imperial officer felt a subtle breeze pass by him as he came out of the shadows of the corridor to stand at the bounty hunter's side. "This will be the last time he escapes us," he said. "Jedi or not."


Author's Note: The assassin droids were originally written as HK-series, so now you know why they talk like them. The TKs (Target Killer) were probably based off of the Hunter-Killer droids, for an in-universe explanation.