-/\-


Twenty-Nine
(Now Drawn is the Blade)

Han stepped back from directing the stream of refugees as his comlink buzzed. "General Solo, we've found something you might want to see," said Major Kemerin, one of the Republic officers helping to organize the temporary camp on Ziost.

"What is it?" Han asked.

"It's a… body, sir."

"There's a lot of dead bodies around here," Han said irritably. "What's so special about this one?"

"You'd better see for yourself, sir."

Han sighed. "Fine, I'm on my way." He turned to his Wookiee companion. "Come on, Chewie."

[…]

"All right, what's this stiff that's got you all so agitated?" Han demanded as he walked down a narrow alleyway between two of the ice-covered stone buildings, looking at the cluster of Republic soldiers and Phoenix Fleet stormtroopers gathered at the other end.

Major Kemerin wordlessly stepped aside, revealing a dead body that was definitely not Yuuzhan Vong.

Sprawled in the snow stained with his blood was a man, human or near-human, dressed in a flowing black robe and some sort of uniform made mostly of leather, decorated with studs made of some silvery material arranged in arcane sigils. The man's bald head and hands were completely covered in red and black tattoos in angular, sinister patterns; Han thought perhaps the skin might have been red and the tattoos black, but he wasn't sure. Most telling were the dead man's eyes, open and sightless, yellow with red rims.

"He had this in his hand," Kemerin said, handing Han a lightsaber.

Han turned the hilt over until he found the activation plate, then pressed it. With a loud snap-hiss that echoed from the stone walls of the alleyway, a blood-red blade sprang out of the hilt.

"A Sith," Han said grimly, looking down at the corpse again as he let the blade go out. "Or someone who thought he was. Did you guys kill him?"

"No, sir," Kemerin replied. "He was dead when we found him. Looks like amphistaff wounds to me."

Chewbacca barked a comment, and Han nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we haven't seen any in a few years, but just 'cause the Sith have been quiet lately doesn't mean they're gone." He looked over at Kemerin. "A few of Vader's old Sith are still unaccounted for," he explained. "Isard and Pestage killed most of them, some joined the Jedi, but some just disappeared, and we don't know where they went."

"This was the capital of one of the old Sith empires, wasn't it?" Kemerin asked. "He might have been looking for some ancient artifact or something here."

"If he was already here when the Vong got here, he might have friends around," said Han. "Send out an alert: be on the lookout for more. I hope it was just this one, and he was just here looking for something like you said, but if they're here to hassle the refugees, I want to be ready for them."

Kemerin nodded. "Yes, General."

As he walked off, Han sighed again. "This just keeps getting better and better," he remarked sourly to Chewbacca. "Vong, cultists, Vader… It figures the Sith would show up to join the party. Y'know, 'cause things weren't bad enough already."

Chewbacca's long-suffering grumble perfectly summed up Han's feelings on the whole situation.


Jenn stretched out into the Force, seeking after the peculiar sensation of the Burned within it. She took a deep breath, concentrating on what she had felt when the cultist who had attacked Anakin had in turn attacked her. As previously described by other Jedi and her own impressions during Pyrron's attack, the Burned's use of the Force was neither Dark Side nor Light Side, nor was it a mixture of both like Darth Vader and others who followed his philosophy. No, it was something… else, frustratingly indistinct.

She felt something, like seeing a dim light from a very great distance or only barely being able to brush something with her fingertips, and struggled to control her frustration and irritation at being unable to clarify things further. It was not that what she sensed was deliberately concealing itself, it was more like she simply couldn't focus on it well enough.

Finally, Jenn relented and let go, bringing herself back to the meditation room in the Jedi Temple. She opened her eyes, glancing around at the others gathered here: Revan, Corran, the boys, and Luke Skywalker, who had been observing as the four of them tried to use their odd unique link with the fire cult.

"I just couldn't get a good fix on it," she said apologetically.

"No, it's all right," said Luke. "I still learned something from it. When the four of you were trying, your sense in the Force altered slightly: you felt similar to the Burned Ones I've sensed, yet not the same, exactly." He frowned in puzzlement. "I'm having a hard time finding ways to describe it; it's unlike anything I've ever felt through the Force before." He gestured to her. "Now that you're not trying anymore, you feel the same as you always have."

"So," Revan said, placing his hands on his knees, "what are the advantages of this? The four of you at least are more sensitive to the Burned; you can sense them more clearly than other Jedi, which is obviously useful for detecting their agents."

"Yeah, but there are only four of us," Corran said. "Even if we split up, we can't be in enough places to really defend against any more attacks, and even then, we don't really understand this link. What if it's also a vulnerability?"

"That cultist's fire didn't hurt me," said Anakin. "All I had to do was concentrate on shielding myself, and it didn't even touch me."

"That was just one cultist," Corran reminded his apprentice. "There's no guarantee that would work against Pyrron himself."

"Especially since his powers are amplified by his Star Forge now," said Ben. "I felt almost like I could sense it, and him, like they were a bright spot I could just barely see. I don't think he could see me, though."

Anakin turned to Revan. "Maybe this would work better if we tried it on your Star Forge," he said.

"Perhaps," Revan said. "But I warn you, that place is still strong with the Dark Side. You will have to stay on your guard while you're there."

Jenn noticed a thoughtful look on Ben's face, but he said nothing. She was about to ask him what he was thinking when Revan's comlink buzzed.

"Master Revan, this is Bollux," the old labor droid said when he answered it. "Max and I are in the temple hangar performing maintenance, and we have just noticed your fighter is registering an incoming call on its comm."

"Put it through," said Revan.

"Piece of ryshcate," Blue Max replied cheerfully. "Now if I can just figure out where the kriffing computer port is on this karking thing…" he grumbled. "Found it. Patching through now."

"Only your father would teach a droid to swear," Corran said, amused.

"Hey, don't blame Dad," Anakin put in. "According to him, he tried to put a stop to it."

"Han Solo, moral guardian," Corran said dryly. "Next you'll tell me Chewbacca owns a barbershop."

"Greeting: Master Revan, this is HK-47 reporting as requested," the assassin droid said, his voice slightly distorted with static. "Report: Many of Darth Vader's Vanguard Fleet ships and Chiss vessels have arrived, and I have allowed them to begin transferring personnel onto the station as you directed. Our patrols have not yet spotted any Yuuzhan Vong ships, but the Chiss commanders assure me that Vong scouts are searching for this system."

"Keep the factories on track," said Revan. "Jenn and I will be there with some other Jedi shortly."

"Delighted Reply: Why Master, does this mean I and my YVHK droids will shortly be able to engage in large-scale slaughter of the Vong meatbags as I have been waiting to do for an excessively long period of time?"

Jenn looked over at Revan and shook her head silently, wryly amused.

Revan shrugged in equal silence. "Just guard the station, HK," he said. "Try not to start any battles without me."

"Reluctant Acknowledgment: If you insist, Master. HK-47 out."

"So, who wants to go with us?" Revan asked. "The conference isn't over yet, so most of the Council should probably stay here."

"This is a crisis, and crisis takes priority over anything like this," Luke said. "I'm going; finding a way to defeat Pyrron is now my personal mission. Leia can look after things here."

"How come you always make my mom stay here and deal with the politicians?" Anakin complained.

Corran smirked. "Because only she can put up with them without turning to the Dark Side," he joked.

Anakin chuckled. "You're probably right."

"I think we should go with you, too," Ben said suddenly, his expression unusually serious. "I… feel like we need to be there."

Luke nodded once. "Your mother is already on her way there with Han, Jacen and Vader. The Phoenix pulled in its ships and left orbit an hour ago; hopefully they'll be enough reinforcements."

Jenn flipped her comlink open. "Bollux, get the Hawk ready to go."


The Millennium Falcon arrived at Arctriel only minutes before the Yuuzhan Vong.

After receiving clearance from the patrolling Eclipse-class vessel Judgment, they headed down to the small cold moon orbiting the immense ringed gas giant. On the way, the long-range sensors bleeped, detecting hyperspace activity.

"No transponders," Jaina's father observed. "That's never a good sign."

Moments later the comm buzzed, and Chewbacca reached over to answer it. The head and shoulders of a gray-uniformed human Imperial officer appeared in the small screen. "Millennium Falcon, this is Captain Tasia Vorlcan of the Judgment," she said. "We've detected a large Yuuzhan Vong fleet dropping out of hyperspace on the edge of the system. We're calling for reinforcements, but from our estimates of their numbers, it appears we may have to retreat. Prepare the outpost's personnel for evacuation."

"You got it," Han replied. "Falcon out." He looked over at Chewbacca. "Either this place is bad luck, or we are," he remarked. "Every time we come here, Vong show up."

Chewie growled back an annoyed comment.

Han let out a wry chuckle. "Well, if it comes to that, at least we have our star pilot with us," he said with a glance back at Jaina.

"That's right, old timer, you just sit back in your rocking chair and let me take care of it," she teased.

"Oh, get out of here," he said irascibly, though he was obviously fighting back a grin.

She laughed as she left the cockpit.

[…]

Once they touched down at the temple complex on Arctriel's frozen moon, however, Jaina was all business. She marched down the Falcon's boarding ramp in full armor, using her helmet's built-in loudspeaker to project her voice.

"Okay, people, the Vong are on their way down here right now! Pack it up! Move, move!" She gestured to the various scientists, technicians, and soldiers gathered in the landing area beneath the domed energy shield protecting the complex. "Only what you absolutely cannot leave behind! If it can be replaced, it stays here!"

She recognized Danni Quee as the young woman pushed her way through the crowd. "Jaina?" she said curiously.

Jaina opened her visor. "Hey, Danni. How long are you going to need to get things packed up here?"

"At least half an hour," the scientist replied. "Some of our instruments are very delicate. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I think I know why the Vong keep attacking this place. When your uncle's group brought back their Star Forge, it registered in the computers here."

"The Vong don't know where Lehon is, exactly, and they came here to get its location," Jaina said as it dawned on her.

Danni nodded. "That's what I think. They lost control of their Star Forge out in the dwarf companion galaxy around the same time ours was brought back. And speaking of that, after looking around in the Rakatan computers here, I think I've found something interesting."

"Can it wait until we're out of here?" Jaina said. "I want to get everyone evacuated before the Vong troops start landing."

"All right," said Danni. "But come with me first; we can seal off the computer room the way it was when we first got here, and it's possible the Vong won't find it."

"From the scouting reports, the Vong are bound to find Lehon soon anyway, but at least we can slow them down a little," Jaina agreed. "Let's go."


In the Falcon's cockpit, Han gave his chair to Jacen as his son activated the subspace comm. "Admiral Downes," Jacen greeted the middle-aged human man who answered. "Divert the Nemesis group to Arctriel; we're going to need reinforcements to cover our retreat."

"Shall I send for the Phoenix, sir?" Downes asked.

Jacen shook his head. "No, it would take too much time to get here. Tell Admiral Kellig to keep it on course for Lehon, and if he gets there before I do, concentrate on defending the Star Forge."

"Yes, Commander. I will arrive at your position shortly."

"Solo out."

The comm buzzed again, and Jacen answered it.

"Falcon, this is Judgment," Captain Vorlcan said, her voice heavily distorted with static and nearly overwhelmed by whooping alarms in the background. "We're taking heavy fire; Vong ships are slipping through our lines, and are on their way to you. Be prepared for ground assault."

"Acknowledged, Judgment," Han replied. "Commander Solo has summoned reinforcements, and they should be here soon."

"We could use them! Judgment out."

A flash from above attracted Han's attention, and he looked up to see bright fiery globules splattering over the domed energy shield. Above that, he could see the tiny moving specks launching the assault.

"They're going to keep bombarding the shield so we won't turn it off," Han observed. "We can't risk taking off through this, so we have to sit here while they send down their ground assault." He sighed in frustration. "What I wouldn't give for a few anti-air guns."

"We just have to hold them off until Downes arrives," Jacen said, standing.

Chewbacca whined an anxious comment, pointing to their sensor readings.

Han's eyes narrowed as he examined the numbers. "What kind of firepower is this admiral of yours bringing?"

"The Nemesis is a Super Star Destroyer," Jacen answered, "and its task force is eight Imperial-class Star Destroyers and sixteen Victory-class frigates, with around a thousand fighters, bombers, and other support craft between them."

Chewbacca barked a summary of the sensor readings, which indicated much greater Vong numbers than that.

"How many?" Han exclaimed incredulously. "That's gotta be most of their entire fleet!"

Jacen's face took on a calculating expression. "The Vong must be desperate," he said thoughtfully. "They're going to hit our Star Forge with everything they've got, and this is the first stop on the way there. We need to get as many ships as we can to Lehon right now."

Han paused. "Unless that's exactly what they want us to do."

"What do you mean?" Jacen asked, looking back at him.

"Think about it," Han said, gesturing to the flashes overhead. "It's hard to get in and out of the Unknown Regions from the main galaxy, and that goes double for large fleets. They're throwing this huge fleet at Lehon so we'll rush all our ships in to defend it. What if they have other battle groups standing by to attack the positions we have to leave undefended?"

"We can't lose our Star Forge," Jacen said in counter-point. "Pyrron is out in Companion Grek making ships and cloning crews to run them just as fast as he can. The only way we can hope to match those numbers is with a Star Forge of our own."

"Which is why we need to take out Pyrron's Star Forge as soon as possible," Han replied. "Send your Phoenix to Belkadan instead, and get it started plotting a course out to Grek."

"Dad, we're going to need the Phoenix at Lehon," Jacen said, taken aback. "How else are we going to repel the Vong fleet?"

"Look," Han said, reaching out to place his hand on his son's shoulder. "You say you're this military leader now. Well, these are the kind of decisions commanders have to make. You've gotta see all the factors here and see which move is best for the long run. The Phoenix is slower than a bantha with two broken legs; the sooner we set it on course for Companion Grek, the sooner it'll get there. We can catch up to it later with the other ships we're going to need to take on the fire cult."

"We need to hit him as soon as possible," Jacen agreed. "Before his fleets can get to the main galaxy." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're right," he said finally. "We'll just have to risk defending Lehon with the ships we have. Hopefully I can get to Kellig through all this interference," he said, turning back to the comm.

Despite the situation and his earlier concerns, Han felt a swell of pride for his son, and he felt a bittersweet smile cross his face. Wordlessly, he patted Jacen's shoulder one more time and left him to his work.


"We have a report of a distress call from the garrison at Arctriel," Luke said as he walked into the Argent Hawk's main hold from the cockpit. "A copy was relayed to us at our last jump point. We now have a decision."

He looked around at the other Jedi gathered in the hold: Jenn, Revan, his children, nephew Anakin, and Corran Horn.

"At our next jump point, we can either proceed to Lehon as quickly as we can," Luke went on, "or we can divert to Arctriel and help cover the evacuation there. Reports indicate that the Vong have sent a tremendous fleet, and the Judgment can't hold out for long."

"Could we really get there in time to do any good?" Revan asked. "This ship has a specially modified hyperdrive, but it will still take us hours to get there. The Arctriel garrison will be trying to evacuate as quickly as possible; what they need is firepower to cover their liftoff, not help with ground defense. If they still haven't taken off by the time we get there," he said pragmatically, "they're not taking off at all."

Luke weighed this. Mara, Jacen, Qeris, Jaina, and Han were at Arctriel, and part of him wanted to go and help them, but he also knew he would be needed at Lehon to help prepare the defense of their Star Forge. Revan was right; at best, they would get there only in time to help cover the retreat, and the Hawk was built for speed, not firepower.

"All right," he said. "We maintain course for Lehon. May the Force be with them."


An explosion nearby rocked the bridge of the Judgment. Captain Tasia Vorlcan barely managed to keep her footing on the command walkway, reaching out to grab her first officer's arm as he started to topple into the portside crew pit.

"How long until we can fire the main weapon again?" Tasia asked the fire-control officer, steadying Commander Oberin next to her.

"Three minutes!" the lieutenant replied.

"More of them are arriving all the time," Oberin observed grimly. "We can't hold them all off by ourselves."

"Forward port batteries, target that frigate!" Tasia ordered, pointing to a Yuuzhan Vong vessel on its way past them to the frozen moon that hosted the outpost they defended.

Privately, Tasia wished Thrawn was still with them; he'd spent a six-month tour aboard this ship before bringing its task force to Arctriel in pursuit of the Vong fleet which had attacked it the last time General Solo had come here. Then he had transferred back to the Executor and left her here to defend the outpost from further attacks, later diverting the rest of the task force back to their other bases in the area. But, there was nothing to be done about it; Thrawn was light-years away, on his way to Lehon aboard the Executor.

"What's the status on the evacuation?" she asked the comm officer.

"They're pinned down," he replied. "The Vong are bombarding the shield, keeping them from taking off."

Tasia paused for a moment, thinking. "Helm, pull us back within turbolaser range of the moon; we need to take out those ships firing on the shield. Fire control, target main weapon on that cluster," she brought up the group on her command board, "and fire when ready."

"Captain, hyperspace activity!" the sensor officer reported. "Incoming contacts."

"Our reinforcements?" Tasia asked.

"Negative," the sensor officer said. "More hostiles."

"Damn," Oberin muttered.

"Fighter control, divert squadrons Three and Six to the moon," Tasia ordered. "We need those ships taken out now."


Mara and Qeris jogged through the cold stone corridors of the ancient Rakatan temple, headed for the computer room deep inside. Even through all the stone and ice overhead, Mara could hear the dull thumps of the bombardment hitting the shield and the ground around it.

"Vong troops have landed!" someone announced over the recently-installed intercom. "Perimeter breach imminent!"

Mara shared a brief glance with Qeris, and by silent agreement they increased their speed. Within moments they arrived at the hallway leading to the computer room to find Jaina and Danni Quee heading inside.

"We've got an idea," Jaina said without preamble as Mara and Qeris caught up to them.

"We set the Generator to overload and destroy the temple," Danni went on, heading for the large curved console at the back of the room.

"Considering the power harnessed by the Generator," Qeris pointed out, "it is likely such an overload would destroy the entire moon, not just the temple."

"So much the better," Danni said grimly. "Maybe it'll take some of this Vong fleet with it."

"Wait a minute," said Jaina. "How big of a fleet are we talking about?"

"Just about everything they've got, it looks like," Mara said. "There's no way we can hold them off for long, even with those reinforcements your brother sent for."

"And those are still almost half an hour out," Jacen said as he entered the computer room. "What's the plan?"

"We destroy the moon with the Generator, and hopefully take some Vong with it," Jaina said.

"Not much else we can do," he agreed. "Any way to do this by remote?"

"No," said Danni. "Rakatan computers are resistant to working with anything but Rakata tech. We'll have to start the overload from here and then take off as soon as we can."

"How long would we have?" Mara asked.

Danni sighed, gesturing at the computer. "I don't know. It could be anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour. There wouldn't be any way to stop the overload cycle once it starts, though, so we don't have to worry about the Vong shutting it down."

Jacen pulled out his comlink. "Dad, do you think you can get us through that blockade?"

"Not with the Falcon as loaded down as she is," Han replied. "With all these people, we're carrying too much extra weight. We'd need things a little clearer up there to maneuver." He paused. "And before you ask, I went ahead and scrapped the plan to use that outpost shuttle; that thing has the maneuverability of a drunken Hutt. It'd never make it out of the atmosphere with all those skips buzzing around. We're loading everyone on the Falcon."

"Good idea," said Jacen. "We'll just have to hope the Judgment can make a big enough hole. Keep the path clear for us; we'll be there in a few minutes."

Echoes of guttural shouting reached them from somewhere down the corridor, accompanied by screaming and blaster-fire.

"We have no choice," said Mara, looking over at Danni. "Set the overload now; we'll cover you." She drew and ignited her magenta lightsaber, taking up position at one side of the corridor. "Form a line," she said to the others. "Nothing gets through."

In short order, her lightsaber was joined by the electric-violet, emerald, and silver blades of the others. Mara saw Jacen looking around the corridor, and a moment later he turned and slashed his lightsaber through the base of one of the statues.

"Cut it up and throw the pieces over the floor!" he said as he caught the toppling statue with the Force.

He and Qeris made quick work of the statue while Mara and Jaina turned their blades on the other on the opposite wall. Just as they finished throwing the jagged chunks of stone down the corridor, a dozen armored Yuuzhan Vong warriors charged in from the other end, waving their amphistaffs and screaming battle cries.

The rubble slowed the Vong down, and when they finally arrived at the line, Mara and the others were ready for them. Mara met the first warrior with a two-handed stab at the gap in his armor at the base of his throat, then pushed the corpse back at two more of his comrades who came up behind him.

Jaina cut down another, sweeping her blade out a moment later to catch a razor bug headed for her brother. "Duck and cover!" she shouted, her voice mechanically distorted by her helmet.

Mara turned away as Jaina used a grenade launcher mounted to her left gauntlet. With a bright flash and deafening blast, a cluster of warriors down the corridor disappeared in a cloud of rubble. The Vong closer to them were stunned by the blast, and Mara took full advantage, sweeping through with her blade flashing.

Nearby, Jacen locked his lightsaber on and hurled it down the corridor in a scything spin, adjusting its course with a nudge of his power to send it sweeping through as many Vong as possible. Qeris spun and dodged through her opponents with fluid grace, sending her cloak fluttering up to obscure one warrior's vision a moment before she followed through with a stab into his exposed armpit.

"It's not working!" Danni shouted from somewhere behind them. "The computer won't let me start the overload!"

"Leave it!" Mara shouted over her shoulder. "Let's just get out of here!"

Jacen pointed up at the ceiling. "Jaina, help me bring it down!"

Mara moved closer to Qeris, and together they kept the Vong back while Jacen and Jaina joined their powers. With a series of loud staccato cracking noises, a spider-web of fractures appeared in the ceiling overhead, joined by the deep groaning of distressed stone.

With a thunderous crash, the ceiling caved in between them and the Vong, kicking up a choking cloud of stone dust and snow. Jacen and Jaina paused for a moment to help Mara and Qeris finish off the few warriors that had remained on their side of the blockage, then as a group they hurried off through the corridors.


"Come on, come on!" Han shouted from the Falcon's boarding ramp to the five as they sprinted into the landing area. "The fighters are making a hole in the blockade, and it ain't staying open for long!"

Once the last of them was aboard, he hit the ramp controls, then turned and ran up to the cockpit. "Go, go, go!" he called ahead to Chewbacca as he ran. "Turn off the shield and gun it as soon as we're clear!"

Han felt his ship lifting free of the ground, and stumbled into the wall as the Falcon rocked. From the sound and the angle of the jolt, Han knew it hadn't been a direct hit on them but merely a concussion from a blast nearby. They were unlikely to remain that lucky for long, though.

Chewbacca howled with fierce glee as Han entered the cockpit, and the Corellian had to brace himself against the doorframe as the Falcon surged ahead with wild acceleration. Finally, the inertial compensators caught up, and Han jumped into his chair, slapping the intercom with one hand. "Red, Jaina, turrets!" he ordered tersely.

"Already there," Mara transmitted back from the dorsal turret. A moment later, bright flashes of red fire leaped out at the flight of coralskippers pursuing them away from the temple.

Overhead, the Judgment and its fighters were putting up a valiant fight against the ever-increasing Vong numbers, but it was clear they wouldn't last long.

"All right, just like last time," Han said to Chewie. "We slingshot around the moon and get clear as quick as we can! Get the navicomputer started as soon as we clear atmo."


"Shields are offline!" a crewman shouted across the Judgment's bridge.

Moments later, yet another explosion rocked the warship, and Tasia had to brace herself against a bulkhead.

"Hyperdrive is offline!" another crewman reported. "The Chief Engineer is evacuating main engineering due to a radiation leak!" He looked back at his monitors, then back up at her. "Main engines are down to thirty percent power."

"Damn!" Oberin swore next to the captain. "We're stuck here."

Tasia knew what had to be done. With grim dignity, she stiffened her posture into military rigidity and straightened her uniform. She reached out to her command board and toggled the intercom to ship-wide. "All hands, this is the captain. Abandon ship, repeat, abandon ship." She turned off the intercom and turned to her bridge crew, most of whom were staring up at her expectantly. "That includes you, too," she said. "Give my station emergency control."

"Captain?" Oberin asked.

"I'm going to fire the main weapon into that Generator and destroy this moon, hopefully taking some of those Vong with me," Tasia replied. "If you launch now, you have a good chance of getting far enough away to micro-jump to the edge of the system. The Nemesis group will be here to pick you up soon."

Oberin stiffened, meeting her eyes determinedly. "You can't do it alone, Captain. I'm with you."

Tasia could see he would not be persuaded otherwise. "Very well, Commander. Take the helm. I shall take fire control." As she started toward the crew pit, she looked sharply at the rest of the bridge crew, who were also not moving.

"We're with you, Captain," Mordok, the helmsman, said calmly. The fire-control officer beside him nodded with equal calm.

Tasia looked around at her bridge crew, seeing the loyalty and determination in their eyes. She nodded crisply, then crossed back to her command chair and calmly took her seat. "It's been an honor to serve with you all," she said, fighting to keep her voice from cracking. She took a deep breath, brought herself back under control, and began issuing orders.

"Fire control, set the auto-turrets to cover the escape pods. Divert all available power to the main weapon. Helm, bring us closer to the moon. Once the Millennium Falcon and the escape craft are clear, bring us straight down onto that temple."

"Yes, Captain," Mordok said, turning back to his station.

Around them, the Vong swarmed like hungry predators, firing mercilessly into their now unprotected hull. Explosions bloomed out like fiery flowers along the length of the warship's hull, but still they pressed on.

"That's right, you bastards!" Oberin said fiercely. "Come closer!"

As if summoned by his words, more and more Vong warships surged towards them, all wanting a piece of the kill. There were so many of them out there, so many they seemed to fill all the space between the stars. The entire ship rocked constantly, losing pieces every second, but still they pressed on.

"For the Empire!" Oberin shouted as they began to descend into the atmosphere.

"For the galaxy," Tasia whispered as the forward viewports filled with flame, and still they pressed on.


Like a great black blade fresh from the forge, its tip glowing orange, the Judgment plunged down through the thin atmosphere of Arctriel's moon. Green fire flared from its prow, stabbing down into the ancient stone temple complex.

Flame erupted, small at first, but growing ever greater as the irreparably damaged Generator began to boil the moon's core into a molten fury. The warship's superlaser continued to stab down relentlessly, putting all its destructive power into one final blast.

Trailing fire, smoke and debris, glowing like a nova, the Judgment slammed into the surface of the moon in a mortal blow.

As the Judgment's hyper-capable escape vessels leaped in a limited micro-jump to the edge of the system and the Millennium Falcon soared away, Arctriel's moon exploded into a starburst of fire and dust, consuming the Vong warships that had chased the dreadnought to its death.

From the edge of the system, Qeris looked at the now-distant explosion through the cockpit viewports of the Falcon alongside Jacen, his father, and Chewbacca.

Slowly, she raised her hand to her brow in salute.


-/\-


Author's Note: Next, the battle for the Star Forge begins. Till next time, thanks for reading!