Darth Kheykid could not remember his life before the One Sith, but Darth Xoran had told him he'd been born to impoverished refugees displaced by the Yuuzhan Vong destruction of Barab I. He wondered if some suppressed infant's memory was responsible for the abject revulsion he'd felt for that race of invaders all his life.
After ravaging over half the galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong had as much collapsed on their own as been defeated, then graciously allowed by the Jedi to seek exile and redemption on the living planet Zonama Sekot. That had been almost fifty years ago, and most beings alive in the galaxy today had never seen a Yuuzhan Vong or any of their instruments of destruction. In some ways that merely reinforced their legend and the hatred the very mention of them aroused. Still, the galaxy was vast, and their relics still drifted through the stars: abandoned organic battle-cruisers, coralskipper starfighters, even the great planetoid-sized worldships in which the Vong had migrated for centuries through the abyss between galaxies.
The Yuuzhan Vong had never come closer to Senex-Juvex, so Kheykid was still uncertain when, where, and how one of those great and dying worldships had been found and relocated to a hiding place in the Shroud. He supposed he could have asked his host, but the old hatreds ran deep and he tried to speak as little with Vilath Dal as possible.
The shaper disarmed him partially because he was so unlike the Yuuzhan Vong conjured in popular nightmares. Instead of being a mutilated and fearsome warrior, hulking and encased in spiked Vonduun crab armor, Vilath Dal was tall and narrow and usually wrapped in some animal-skin cloak. The tentacled headdress common to his caste writhed over a face that was tattooed but unscarred. Despite his age he carried himself with a dignity that was almost aristocratic, and whenever they spoke Kheykid had the suspicion the Yuuzhan Vong as looking down on him; a rare experience for the Sith Lord used to being feared. He couldn't tell for sure; like all of his race, Vilath Dal seemed to exist outside the Force entirely. It was the most disconcerting thing of all.
"It is strange," the shaper said as they walked down one of the long, rocky-looking corridors that wound its way through the vast worldship. "When I was a child, I was raised on a worldship like this. I was promised that one day I would stand on feet of Yuuzhan'tar recreated. On that day our exile would be over and we'd never have to drift through the stars on these artificial worlds again." Kheykid made no reply, so Vilath Dal went on, "I've stood on planets, even one that's the closest to Yuuzhan'tar as we'll ever get. By the end of it I wanted nothing more than to stand on a worldship again. Isn't it curious?"
He looked intently at Kheykid as they walked. Because a response seemed necessary, the Barabel said, "Nostalgia can be a powerful force."
"True, but I don't believe it's only that. Sometimes one must journey far to decide where he can truly belong."
Since he didn't say it as a question, Kheykid didn't answer. They came upon the end of the corridor and walked into the space beyond. The path they were walking on continued, now on an elevated walkway that rose on evenly-spaced stilts over what looked like a landscape of deep craters. Far below them, workers moved in and out of the craters. They'd gathered close to a hundred thousand beings on this Vong monstrosity, most of them loyalists to Savyar. This worldship had once carried over a hundred million, and those who worked in it now were focused in only two areas that Vilath Dal had worked decades to rejuvenate while the rest of the old living ship's interior slowly died.
Kheykid tilted his head back and looked high above. The transparent organic shell spread over the crater pit tinted things red and blurred the view beyond, but Thull's Shroud was still an impressive sight.
"When will you test the hyperdrives?" he asked Vilath Dal.
"Very soon. Don't worry, Darth Kheykid. I've been monitoring all the dovin basals we've grown in this ship. They'll pull us into darkspace without any problem."
Kheykid was more worried that whatever senile brain this worldship had might throw them into some planetoid or radiated dust cloud drifting through the Shroud, but he said, "You will need to test the dovin basals. All of them."
"We've already done trials with the offensive ones. They'll perform magnificently. All of this was inspired by an infidel weapon, you know." Vilath Dal said with a slanted grin. He'd been with the One Sith for thirty years but he still called non-Vong infidels. It was another reason not to trust him.
"I did not realize you were allowed be inspired by our technology."
"Of course we are. We've also been inspired by it and adapted to it." Vilath Dave waved a modified, six-fingered hand. "It was the lifeless nature of your machines that always appalled my people. But no matter. The point is, when we bring this worldship against them, it will bring cruel poetry with it."
"Vengeance," Kheykid admitted, "Is a very Sith trait."
"A Yuuzhan Vong one as well. It's no wonder I've felt at home among your kind." Vilath Dal looked down at the crated pits and breathed deeply. "Not the only reason, of course. Even during the War, I never had the chance for such…. creative shaping."
Kheykid knew that without Vilath Dal's creative techniques Darth Krayt, Dark Lord of the Sith and Master of the One, would have died from battle-wounds and his own Vonduun crab armor. The One Sith owed their continued existence to this Yuuzhan Vong. It was something Kheykid had to remind himself of often.
They walked in silence across the bridge, through more corridors until they reached the communications room. It was itself very unorthodox: instead of hosting a choir of sac-like villip communication devices, a metal holo-projector sat in the center of the chamber, glistening in the pulsing light of the lambent creatures planted in the yorik coral ceiling.
Kheykid tapped the communications console with a claw. He and Vilath Dal stepped together in front of the projector and waited until the blue holo-image of his master appeared.
"So you are together," Darth Xoran said. "Excellent. Is everything proceeding as promised, Darth Kheykid?"
"Nearly, Master. We've yet to test the dovin basals controlling lightspeed."
"Yes, it has been years since those were fired." The Falleen shifted her eyes to Vilath Dal. "Prepare to run at least one test. Then prepare for battle."
"Is the Alliance moving against us?" There was a husky hunger in the Yuuzhan Vong's voice.
"Their second full fleet is nearly at Asmeru. We can expect a full incursion soon."
"Where should we demonstrate the weapon?"
"I can't say yet. Wait until you see where the largest portion of their fleet is distributed. I'd wager some throneworld that's still contested. Anturus, perhaps, or Karfeddion. When you know, act."
"You won't be joining us, Master?" asked Kheykid.
"I will try, but I'm afraid I've been delayed on Varadan." She smirked. "A Jedi infiltrator was captured sneaking around the mines."
"A Jedi?" Kheykid hissed.
"An apprentice, but I'm sure he didn't come here alone. Until I find his friends I won't be leaving Varadan."
"I understand. We will take the fight to the Alliance in your stead."
"I have no doubt you'll succeed, Darth Kheykid. And you, Master Shaper."
Vilath Dal inclined his head. "I live to serve."
"I know. Now get ready, both of you. Time is short."
The holo winked off. Darth Kheykid and Vilath Dal stared at the projector for a moment before turning to each other.
"It's as she said." Vilath Dal's headdress writhed. "Time is short. Let's go."
-{}-
When the glowlamps in the great cavern brought up daylight, it was clear that something was wrong. The worst part was that Jade wasn't surprised by it. Nameless anxiety had clung to her all night, trapping her in a stake between wake and sleeping. When the light finally pried her eyes open and she rolled over to see Wharn's bedroll empty, her first thought was That explains it.
"You don't think he could have gone off to get food, too you?" Jodram sounded torn between skepticism and desperate hope. "I mean, he could have."
Master Mjalu closed her big black eyes and shook her head. "If he meant for us to know he was leaving he'd have told us."
"So what does that mean? Was he trying to run out on us? Get back to the ship?"
"What do you think?" Jade sighed. "Wharn? Running?"
"I don't think he's a coward. But..." Jodram trailed off. He didn't want to admit that the thought of leaving had been flitting through his own head.
"We must ask around and search the city," Mjalu said.
"Well," said Jodram, "A Chiss is easy to spot. Unless he's trying hard to hide."
"If no one has seen him, then I think his path is obvious."
"The mine complex," said Jade. "He went to the shaft. To look for Savyar."
"And do what? Capture her all by himself?" Jodram shook his head. "Wharn's got some weird ideas but he's not stupid."
"None of us are as wise as we think we are," Mjalu said grimly. "And in the heat of the moment we sometimes do things we'd not normally do. Gather everything you need and let's go. I have a feeling we won't be coming back here."
Jade froze. "A feeling, Master? Or the Force?"
"Who can say?" the Bimm shrugged. "Hurry, children. Wherever he is, he needs our help."
-{}-
Consciousness came back slowly. Light and color moved without shape. Thoughts were hard to gather and so was memory. Some low sound rattled in his skull from time to time until he realized the sound was him, groaning. When he tried to move his arms and legs he found them bound, and his body pinned flat to something cold and hard.
By the time Savyar appeared before him, it had pretty much all come back. He could even remember, in photographic detail, the confident, condescending smirk on her green face as she plucked his lightsaber from the air and slapped it into her hand with the power of her mind.
"What is your name?" she asked. Her voice was low, unreadable. He tried to reach out in the Force, just to sense if anyone else was in the room. They seemed to be alone.
"You're only an apprentice," she stated. "I wasn't even aware there were any of your kind in the Jedi Order. Are there others or are you the only one?"
He tried to roll his head and look away but a bodyless hand gripped his face tight and turned it to face the Falleen woman. She'd taken two steps closer and bent slightly over him now.
"I was asking a simple question," she said. "Are there more of you? Or are you a trailblazer?"
"I'm the only one," he rasped.
"Interesting. Tell me, is it lonely?" She sounded sympathetic rather than mocking. He used the Force again and tried to get a sense of her but her presence was vague, impossible to read.
"The Jedi are my clan now," he told her.
"Oh, but that's not really true, is it? Even with the Chiss you never really fit. It's why you went off to the Jedi in the first place. You see, there are some beings in this galaxy who will never belong wherever they go. They can spend their lifetimes struggling with the fact or they can accept it."
"You don't know anything about me. You don't even know my name."
"Names," she shrugged, dismissive. "What's my name, boy? I'm sure you know."
He licked dry lips. "You're Savyar."
"You're wrong. Almost all the galaxy calls me that but they're wrong too. I was born Savyar. The galaxy sees me as Savyar. But that's not what I am," She leaned in close and ran fingers lightly through his hair. Breath tickled his forehead as she said, "What I am is Sith."
He fought a shudder. All the implications that had rushed through his head when she'd caught his lightsaber fell into awful order.
"All of this is you," he said. "The uprising. The slaughter. The chaos. You. The Sith."
That condescending smile appeared again. "Do you really think that? Of course you would. You're so young. You think everything has such neat cause and effect just like everything has a single name. Oppression breeds desperation. Desperation breeds violence and violence breeds the Dark Side. Senex-Juvex has been oppressed for a thousand years. Do you think I've brainwashed all those angry beings with Sith magic? No. It was all inside them already. I only gave them a chance to let it out."
"This is all happening because of you, because you-"
She snapped, "Do you want to know my real name?"
Wharn nodded, very slightly.
"My true name is Darth Xoran."
"Sith lie," he said instinctively.
"What do you know about the Sith?" She sounded genuinely curious.
"I know you're their agent. They sent you here to start this revolt, to destabilize the Alliance and draw in the Jedi."
"Wrong again." She placed a finger on his lips, sealing them. "Listen carefully. I was born Savyar and I was born on Jularren to refugees from the Vong War. My parents died when I was a child. I scraped by living on the worst worlds in Senex-Juvex. I spent a lot of time in House prisons. That's what the galaxy's read about me and it's entirely true."
She leaned in close again. "The Sith found me. They trained me and showed me what I've been all along. Who I've been. Do you know what my name means?"
Her finger was still pinned to his lips. He shook his head very slightly.
"'Savyar' is a type of fragrant flower on Falleen. Or it was, before the Vong came. I suppose my parents thought I could bring a little life and beauty they needed in their lives. 'Xoran' is a word in the ancient Sith tongue. It's the name I chose for myself. 'Xoran' means justice."
She pulled back her finger. Wharn said, "Justice? What's happening here isn't justice."
"Of course it is. This isn't just mindless violence. This is retribution against the Houses for all the wrong they've done for a thousand years."
"That's not justice. That's revenge."
"Revenge is the only true justice," she hissed. "The Sith are delivering that. I am delivering that. Tell me, what have the Jedi done for Senex-Juvex, ever?"
Wharn wanted to retort but was stuck with his jaw open and no words. He wanted to tell her that he really didn't know, that he hadn't studied the history of the Sectors in enough detail, but there'd surely been something because Jedi wouldn't have let innocent people suffer for so long."
It was a lame response. He didn't even bother. When he closed his mouth the Falleen woman went on, "The Jedi did nothing because that is the Jedi way. For one thousand years they sat in their Temple on Coruscant and did everything they could to consolidate their power and prestige under the guise of serving the Force and protecting the Old Republic. When the Sith toppled them their first goal was to claw their way back into power."
"The Jedi aren't even part of the Alliance any more-"
"Which should have freed them to help Senex-Juvex, finally. But they didn't. Can you tell me why?"
He stubbornly shook his head.
"Because they cannot. They serve the Light, they say. They serve peace and order and use it as an excuse to sit on their hands. Their precious moral righteousness is a form of complacency. In the end they let anything horrible pass unless it threatens them specifically. There can be no justice without darkness. Without the desperation and anger and need only a victim knows. The Jedi are afraid of the dark- afraid of themselves- so they'll never take the steps to truly right injustice in the galaxy."
"You're lying," he said.
"Am I really?" she snarled, and deep down Wharn believed she wasn't, that she really meant everything she said. "Only those who use the Force have the power to truly remake the galaxy. The Jedi will never bring justice to the ones who need it most. There will only be an end to strife when everything is under Sith rule."
Wharn suddenly felt like he was trapped in some cruel mirror-image of his last conversation with Jade and Jodram. "You're creating strife," he said.
"The galaxy must be broken before it can be remade. The breaking starts here." She ran her fingers across his cheek with surprising softness. "You can play a part in that breaking, if you chose."
It took Wharn a second to realize what she was offering. "I will never join the Sith."
"You wouldn't be the first to swear that pledge, then recant. Our own Master did."
"Your… Master? Who-"
"You desire order. Stability. Justice. I can sense that in you." The cruel smile came back. "And you have anger as well."
"I'm a Jedi. I've always wanted to be a Jedi and I'll die before I do anything to help you."
The smile wilted and settled into a grim frown. "I believe you mean what you're saying." She seemed earnestly disappointed. "In that case, I don't suppose you'll volunteer where your friends are hiding."
"I came alone." It sounded like a lie, even to him.
"I was hoping we could come to some accord, one Force-user to another," she sighed. "Don't say I didn't offer mercy."
He grounded his teeth together and tried to brace himself. "What now? You'll torture me."
She raised a hand, fingers cupped and pointing upward. Tiny sparks of lighting danced from tip to tip. "Like I said, I offered mercy."
Wharn opened his mouth for a last retort, but fingers like claws dug into his chest and all he could do was scream.
-{}-
For three Jedi it was easy to get over the secured fence and into the mining complex, even in daylight. The barrier had a circumference of almost two kilometers total and there were places where they could pull themselves over without being spotted by sensors or watchful eyes. The trickier part was avoiding the beings moving around the wide shaft, working the lifts and bringing the great machinery to life. They were taking cover behind an equipment shed, tensely talking out how to search the area, when everyone suddenly stopped.
"Do you feel it?" Jade whispered.
"I feel it," Jodram nodded grimly. "It's Wharn."
"He's in great pain," Mjalu's fur bristled.
"They're torturing him. He's close by." Jade felt sick. When she'd felt something was wrong during the night she should have wrenched herself away. She should have grabbed Master Mjalu and done something. A real Jedi didn't fail her friends.
"Master, can you locate him?" Jodram asked.
The Bimm closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A shudder ran through her body and her fur bristled. "I have him," she muttered, but didn't say more.
"Master, what is it?" Jade asked. "What else do you sense?"
Mjalu opened her eyes. "Brace yourselves, children. Have your weapons ready."
"Where is he?" pressed Jodram.
She peeked her head over the side of the shed and pointed to a building on the rim of the shaft, tucked close to the power generator.
"It looks guarded," Jade said. "Can we distract them?"
"There's got to be a way to get to the gate out front," said Jodram.
"That is not difficult," Mjalu nodded. "As you know, I have a certain…. Affinity for effecting energy flows. Triggering an alarm will not be difficult."
"What else is there?" Jade asked. Mjalu had holding something back, that was obvious.
"I hope I am wrong," the Bimm said, "But I believe the challenge lays within that building, not outside it."
Jodram gripped his lightsaber. "Let's get it over with, then."
"Indeed," Mjalu nodded, but she hesitated for a moment more before she closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. Jade glanced at Jodram, whose face was set in uncomplicated determination. He didn't see to be sensing whatever Mjalu had sensed, whatever was gnawing in the back of Jade's mind. Whatever was in there, whatever that source of anxiety was, it felt familiar somehow, which was the strangest thing of all.
Back by the gate, the alarm started wailing. Mjalu opened her eyes and took a breath. Jade peeked out from their hiding place and saw a bunch of men with red armbands and rifles running toward the sound of the klaxons.
"They're moving," she whispered.
"Then let's go," said Jodram. He was up before he finished speaking and running before he finished rising. Jade scrambled up too and sprinted for the building as quickly as she could, calling on a touch of the Force to aid her long, leaping strides.
She got maybe two-thirds of the way across the gap before lasers started flying in her direction. Jodram was almost at the building; she kept sprinting after him, praying the shooter didn't get her first. When she got closer Jodram's gold lightsaber sprung to life in his hand. He pushed back from the building-side toward Jade, lunged, a caught a laser blast before it could scorch across her forehead. Jade grabbed his shoulder and pulled them both forward until she slammed against the wall.
She rebounded, turned, looked around even as she ignited her violet saber. Master Mjalu was running as fast as he small legs could carry her; a few bright plasma blasts lanced at her but they bounced back without the Bimm giving any indication that she'd noticed. Jade tried to track the source of the blasts and spotted a sole figure in bronze Mandalorian armor, suspended in the air over the shaft by his jetpack.
"Inside!" called Mjalu as she got closer. "Inside! Now!"
Jodram didn't hesitate. He jumped up and stabbed his lightsaber through the building window. Fracture lines ran like a spider's web across the transpartisteel. As he pulled his blade out Jade sent a wave of Force-pressure that imploded the window, spraying shattered metal inside.
Together, the three Jedi leaped through the window and plunged inside.
What they saw inside was so simple, but it took an awful moment for Jade to comprehend. Wharn was strapped flat to a hard metal table. Smoke rose from his chest, the scorched fabric of his tunic. Standing over him was a tall, green-skinned Falleen woman in a tight black tunic.
Savyar was staring at the Jedi as though they'd shown up late for a banquet.
"Run!" Wharn rasped. "She's a… a..."
"Sith," Mjalu said, sad and resigned.
Savyar raised both hands and let blue lightning lance out from her fingers. Jade held her lightsaber up and caught one volley; Jodram caught the other. Savyar stopped after one blast; she held her hands up, glancing at them, glancing at Wharn's strapped body, considering.
"Don't you dare hurt him!" Jodram barked.
Something dropped from her sleeve and into her hand. A red lightsaber sprung to life and she raised it high over Wharn's trapped body. Jade screamed; Jodram lunged. Their blades rose together to block Savyar's attack, but with her free hand she summoned another burst of Force lightning.
Sizzling pain spasmed through their bodies and they tumbled to the floor. Jade's lightsaber fell from her hand as electric spasms jolted through her, making her entire arm tremble and her fingers twitch uncontrollably. She watched her weapon roll toward the door and she watched as the door open. The bronze-armored Mandalorian stepped into the room with a heavy rifle raised.
"Are you all right, Madam?" he asked.
"They're only apprentices," Savyar sniffed. "I was expecting more."
Suddenly the Mando was lifted from his feet and thrown against the wall so hard it shattered the plaster. The mercenary grunted as he clattered to the ground.
Savyar turned her eyes on Master Mjalu, standing unarmed beneath the shattered window. "Ah," the Falleen said, "A real Jedi."
She raised her free hand and sent another blast of Force lighting. This one arced over the three prone apprentices, right toward the little Bimm. Mjalu raised one hand and all the dark energy fell right into her palm. It sparked, sizzled, flared, and slowly burned down to nothing.
Savyar snarled. A lightsaber dropped into her hand and extended a blue blade. Wharn's lightsaber.
Mjalu sighed. "Always violence. Tell me, where would the Sith be without their weapons?"
"The Force is my weapon." Savyar lunged.
Without even crouching first, Mjalu somersaulted over Savyar's blades and landed on her shoulders. A strong kick, overpowered for such a small body, pounded the Falleen's shoulders and knocked her face-first onto a floor strewn with transparisteel shards.
Despite the impressive show, Mjalu urgently snapped, "Free Wharn and run, children! Hurry!"
Jodram was already pulling himself up. Jade called on the Force and pulled her lightsaber back into her hand. She and Jodram quickly and expertly sliced Wharn's bindings without harming his arms or legs.
"Are you okay?" Jodram asked as he pushed Wharn up by the shoulders. "Can you move?"
"My rib," Wharn winced and clutched his side. From his scorched tunic it looked he had more problems than just that. Jade looked back to Savyar and Mjalu. The Falleen was in the corner of the room, getting to her feet again, clutching both sabers, while the Master Mjalu stood between her and the apprentices.
"Go, children!" the Bimm said, not taking her eyes off Savyar. "Hurry!"
Jade and Jodram grabbed Wharn by the shoulders and lurched for the door. The Chiss quickly put his boots and the ground and started moving with his own power. When they got close to the door Savyar moved again, not for the apprentices but for the broken window. Before Mjalu could stop her she backflipped through the gap.
"Go!" cried Mjalu and all four Jedi rushed outside.
Savyar was waiting for them there. She lunged, both sabers flashing. Jade caught one, Jodram the other. She raised a boot and kicked Jodram hard in the chest, knocking him back. She lunged at Jade with both weapons, battered the girl's one saber and knocking her back one step, another, another.
Then there was a horrible groaning sound. Savyar hesitated before bringing down one more blow; she looked up and shock dawned on her face. Jade lunged; her lightsaber scored a shallow puncture in the Falleen's side before she skirted away. By the now the sound was louder. Jade looked up to see the great generator powering the mining machinery rattling like it was about to burst.
"Don't do it!" Savyar shouted at Mjalu. "You'll kill us all!"
The Bimm shrugged, sighed, and the rattling stopped.
Then one of the lift tubes plunging deep into the shaft twisted and screamed. Savyar snarled and lunged at Mjalu with both sabers. Jade took a swipe but was too slow. Jodram couldn't get to his feet on time and Wharn had nothing to stop her with.
Right before Savyar could strike Mjalu, the shaft broke apart. As the lower half began to totter and collapse broken machinery from inside it flew up out of the shaft and became a deadly hail of hard metal. Savyar spun on one heel and swiped through one piece before it could bash in her head, but another slammed her hard on the shoulder. The Falleen stumbled and dropped Wharn's saber.
"Don't stand looking!" Mjalu called to the apprentices. With a flick of a hand she sent Wharn's saber flying to him. "To the fence! Go now!"
Jade saw that security teams, confused but armed, were already rushing toward them from the gate. She pulled Wharn by one arm. Jodram was right behind them.
Behind them, Savyar threw another burst of Force lightning at Mjalu. This one was brighter, fiercer, angrier than before. Jade glanced over her shoulder and saw Mjalu stagger and wince as she struggled to catch the energy. The guards began to shoot at them. She and Wharn ducked low while Jodram deflected the first blast.
Jade looked again. The energy in Mjalu's small hands sizzled, then burst out. Savyar was so close she caught a faceful of her own dark lightning. She staggered and howled as it scorched her but didn't drop her lightsaber. She lunged again, this time grabbing Mjalu by the scruff of her neck and bodily hurling her toward the shaft.
Jade yelled as her Master hit the ground, tumbled, and almost rolled to the edge. Mjalu stopped and pushed herself upright. She turned to face Savyar once more, back to the edge. Mjalu was trembling now. Her black eyes met Jade's across the distance. The apprentice felt a touch on her cheek, like a soft furred hand.
"No!" Jade screamed, even as Jodram grabbed her sleeve and tugged her down right before a guard's shot cut her down.
Suddenly more twisted machinery rose in the air. It started to fly in tightening circled like a hurricane of metal, with Master Mjalu in the center. Even as she trembled, even as Savyar stalked toward her with lethal purpose, the Bimm closed her eyes.
The debris kept flying through the air. It knocked down one guard, then another. Jade half-stumbled and half let Jodram drag her toward the fence. She kept looking back, watching. Every piece of metal flying at Savyar was deflected, by lightsaber or by the Force. Jade could feel her in the Force: a storm of dark energy brewing stronger and stronger, full of desperation and anger and hate. It was so awful, so overpowering, so familiar-
Jade screamed. Jodram and Wharn grabbed her, one shoulder each, and threw her against the wall.
"We have to go!" Jodram shouted. "Can you do it? Can you go over?"
Jade's head swam with revelation. Nothing would be the same again, nothing. But she saw her friends imploring and found the will to nod.
None of them looked back as they rose into the air; slowly, unsteadily. They dropped themselves onto the top of the wall and perched there for a moment to regroup and recover. They all looked back then. They couldn't help it. They all turned just in time to see Savyar just meters away from Mjalu, twisted metal still swirling around them both. They saw Savyar deflect one piece, dodge a second, then reach up with her free hand and pluck a third from the air. They watched her hurl it. They watched it spear through Master Mjalu's chest. Her body crumpled instantly and the flying wreckage clattered to the earth.
Jade didn't jump so much as fall. As the ground rushed to meet her she found the Force, somehow, and slowed her drop just enough. As she landed hard and boots-first on the safe side of the fence Jade risked one last look over her shoulder. Through the plasteel pikes she saw Savyar give Mjalu's broken body a single kick, knocking it over the rim and into the shaft's endless plunge.
Then they started to run.