When the information stolen from Cam'co Station led them true, there was no time for sneaking and no point in finesse. There was not even the desire. As much as this mission was about finding the truth behind these strange raiders it was also about testing Serissa Lohr to determine whether this Force-imbued Hapan princess was really the tool the Sith needed.
They parked themselves near the proper point, in an asteroid chain that belted the wide middle section of a nameless, lifeless star system. The raiders, it seemed, were using this belt to mine basic resources, and as Intruder drifted invisibly among all the slow-tumbling space rock they watched ship after ship move in and out. Most of them were large cargo vessels; some with on-board refineries. Those would be easier to take but there was no guarantee that the ship would contain a map of the raider-controlled systems in its navigational computer. There was no guarantee of that anywhere, and after deliberation between Terrid, Avanc, and Kheykid, it was decided the best course was to simply pick a tempting target and attack.
They did just that. The hauler they picked appeared to be of Pal'shoran design. Terrid vaguely remembered learning about the race as a child and recalled that they were not normally warlike. The asteroids provided additional cover for Intruder as it sneaked up behind the mining ship, using bursts of small directional thrusters rather than flaring primary engines to get close enough to pounce.
In this asteroid belt the hauler kept its secondary shields up at all times. They were easy to breach but in doing so the Sith would alert the crew that something was wrong. For that reason it was important to move quickly. Once they clamped down over the ship's auxiliary airlock, Kheykid's vessel began cutting through the metal with a laser saw. It took less than five minutes; when the job was done the pressurized hatch blew open and the battle began.
As fights went there wasn't much too it. The first corridor was blocked by only a half-dozen Pal'shoran. The aliens were bulky creatures, with four legs on the ground and two arms to hoist up the long rifles they used. To the Sith they presented easy targets; Kheykid went first and speared one straight through the torso with the half-meter red blade that extended from above his right wrist. Avanc cut another through the neck, instantly dropped its clumsy blue-furred body. Terrid remained in the rear with Seriss, he with his red-bladed lightsaber, her with the long metal staff she gripped at the center with both hands. A blaster rifle was slung across her back.
Avanc and Kheykid cleared the initial defense team by themselves. As the Keshiri stood over the body of the last Pal'shoran- cleaved in half with a hard vertical blow- he turned to Kheykid and asked, "How many more?"
The Barabel lifted his head back and seemed to stare into the ceiling. He was a hunter both by nature and by training, unmatched at sensing the Force presence of potential prey.
"Thirteen or fourteen more," he rasped. "Three on the bridge."
"The rest are coming here?" asked Serissa.
Kheykid nodded. "Unless we go to meet them."
"Use your rifle," Terrid told the Hapan girl. "And be sure not to hit us."
Serissa nodded and switched weapons. As with using the pike, shooting targets had been a recreational activity among Hapan royalty. It was well past time for her to use it against someone who shot back.
They advanced through the hallways once more. When they reached a branch point Kheykid reached to sense their enemies and decided they'd be coming from both directions. Avanc followed the Barabel down one path, Terrid led Serissa down another.
It wasn't long before they found more Pal'shoran. The aliens had brought some kind of shield that they placed in front of them to hide all but the crowns of their heads from view. A small horizontal slit through the center of the shield allowed them to spray laserblasts at an enemy who couldn't hit them back. Serissa tried; her rifle-shots whipped past Terrid with ease but panged harmlessly on the reflective armor of the shields. That meant it was work for Terrid; the Chiss somersaulted through the low-ceilinged hall, bouncing off the white-panel roof and ricocheting down to land behind two of the Pal'shoran. Twin thrusts with his blade dropped the aliens; a fast pivot barely deflected a shot from the third behind him. He pressed ahead, bouncing back more laser-shots until he was close enough to cleave the shield straight through. The attack clearly stunned the Pal'shoran; instead of taking a crucial open moment to pump a killing shot into Terrid's stomach it stared in shock. One more thrust with his saber and it was done.
"That was excellent, Master," Serissa told him.
Terrid looked back on the girl and glared. "I had to do it by myself. You should have been more useful."
"I-I'm not sure what else I could have done," the girl stammered. "The shields-"
He sighed. She was still hesitant, cautious, uncertain. She couldn't give herself over to her inner fire like a Sith could. That meant she'd have to learn the hard way, as he had.
"Let's go back," he said. "Kheykid told us there were only three in this hall. They've probably dealt with the rest now."
Serissa nodded, and together they turned to follow the trail of destruction Avanc and Kheykid had carved through the halls of the freighter. By the time they reached the cockpit Kheykid was carving through the blast doors with both his sabers.
"The rest of the ship is clear," Terrid announced. A tiny touch with the Force was enough to tell Darth Avanc that the Hapan girl hadn't yet been blooded.
When Kheykid broke down the door the remaining three Pal'shoran were waiting. Two had shields to hide behind but the third used a console as cover. Against three Sith they didn't last long. Avanc killed one, Kheykid the other. Terrid used the Force to hurl the last Pal'shoran away from its hiding place and out into the center of the deck.
"Do it!" he shouted to Serissa. "Kill it now!"
The Pal'shoran fumbled with its rifle, brought it up, and got off one shot at the same time Serissa fired hers. The girl's blast caught the alien in the torso. The pain was enough to drop it on its sides with a mighty clatter, though it still clutched the rifle even in its pain.
Another pull of the Force threw the rifle from its hands. Avanc and Kheykid stood clear. They knew what needed to be done.
Terrid stalked over to the wounded alien, crouched low over its flat blue-furred face and whispered in Chuenh, "Can you tell us where to find your leader?"
The alien blinked pupil-less eyes. It didn't understand. Pal'shoran traded with the Chiss; Terrid had figured trying the language might work. No matter. The ship itself was theirs now, including all the data on its computers; everything else flowed from that.
Still crouched, Terrid looked up at Serissa, who stood near the doorway with the rifle in both hands. He said, "Come here. Now."
Serissa stepped over, still holding the gun. She stopped right in front of Terrid and the wounded alien and looked down on them both.
"Kill him," Terrid said.
The girl shook, just a little. She'd been raised in a cruel and merciless family, even plotted to poison her own grandmother, but to stare a being in the frightened eye and put a laser-blast in its head was so very different.
Terrid knew. Darth Avanc had done the same to him long ago. Kheykid had been there as well. The three of them had boarded one of the petty pirate ships troubling freighters in the Hapes Cluster. The two Sith Lords had killed all the crew save for one. Avanc had called Ran'wharn'csapla over to the wounded man lying on the floor with helpless pleading in his eyes. And he'd said the same two words Terrid just had.
And Ran'wharn'csapla, still just a boy who thought of himself as a Jedi in his battered private heart, had looked down at that wounded man and desperately groped for any excuse not to do as Darth Avanc had ordered, knowing all the while that there could be none. Refusal meant death. It was kill or be killed and the broken pirate was dead anyway. From there, horribly and logically, only one option flowed.
Seeing it all repeated on Serissa's face was like reliving it again. It stirred his old self like nothing else on this trip into the unknown.
The girl hefted the rifle and aimed it straight at the terrified prisoner's head. With shaking hands and a tiny wince, she pulled the trigger.
Darth Avanc let the following silence drag for one long moment before he said, "Excellent. Now tell me, what is the creed of the Sith?"
It was the same question he'd asked Ran'wharn'csapla all those years ago. Like the Chiss boy, Serissa needed a moment to gather her thoughts and find her voice, but it was a short moment.
She closed her eyes and said, "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force will set me free."
"Excellent," Avanc smiled. "You have just broken one link. Soon you'll tear another."
Her face set into a hard scowl and she nodded. Just as Terrid had so long ago.
-{}-
After the comet-scarred, lifeless rock they'd found in the last system Jodram hadn't been quite sure what to expect on their next stop. He'd been more-than-half expecting a trap, which is why they took Ossus Explorer through a series of tentative micro-jumps around the coordinated the Tylonians had provided to scout the target from a distance. Still, when they took the final jump and their destination exploded into view, it took his breath away.
He couldn't start to count the number of ships swirling in orbit over the small lifeless planet, set close to its primary star. He was afraid to even look at his scanners for a tally. Fresh sunlight added a jewel-like gleam to the mess of vessels: Stromma, Vagaari, Pal'shoran, Tylonian, and more. Even at their distance Jodram could spot the black fleck, larger than them all, that was the Erath flagship.
Silence seemed to drag out in the cockpit until Ayen Qemar, blue hands still tight on the control throttle, said, "Well. We're here. Now what?"
They all waited for Master Sothais Saar to give them an answer. After ruminating for another long minute the Chev said, "Take us in close. Be alert for any hails."
Qemar did as ordered without a word. Among three Jedi, her anxiety was hard to hide. Lucky for her they all shared it, even the stony and determined Saar.
The swarm of ships quickly filled their vision. All the different types from all the different races were mixed together in no pattern Jodram could discern. After another order from Saar, Qemar started subtly edging them closer to the big Erath ship. No one hailed them the entire time.
"I really don't like this," Kath Mey'lya whispered in the silence. The fur on her face was standing on end. "If we have to run-"
"Look there," Saar pointed at the flagship. "Do you see? A few ships, small ones, are coming out of its hangar on the bottom."
Jodram squinted until he spotted it. They weren't flying in formation like fighter squads. As they got a little closer it looked like they were shuttles and freighters, around the size of Explorer.
"Master, are we doing what I think we are?" he asked.
Saar didn't respond at first. He stared so hard it carved deeper wrinkles in his chalk-colored face.
"Master?" Jodram said again.
Saar jerked like he'd received an electric shock. He looked around the cockpit, pausing on each Jedi in turn, like he was surprised to find them here, but in the Force Jodram felt nothing from him.
"Master Saar," Mey'lya said, "Do you have orders?"
"Take us in," he said.
"Sir?" Qemar stared. "That ship-"
"They'll let us land."
"How can you be sure?" asked Jodram.
"They won't stop us. They won't even hail us. Do you detect any comm chatter bouncing around, Tainer?"
Jodram looked at his sensor console. "Well, not that we're picking up, but that doesn't mean-"
"Take us in, Qemar. See if you can't find a small side hangar somewhere we can set down in, someplace private."
"And if they do try to stop us?" her voice trembled a little.
"Then prepare to run. And trust the Force."
Trust in him, Jodram thought. Qemar didn't look trusting at all, but she did as she was told and gently guided Explorer closer to the big Erath ship. Its dark superstructure filled their viewport but they made no attempt to hail and didn't fire, though by now they were close enough that Jodram could see all the bristling gunports that could fire at any moment.
"I really do not like this," Mey'lya whispered.
"Trust the Force," Saar repeated. He didn't seem worried at all. "There, do you see that small hangar?"
Qemar hunched forward and looked up. "I see it. It looks empty."
"Take us in."
The Nautolan pulled the throttle back and edged them forward. No guns swiveled to track them. Jodram checked his scanners; not even the shields were up. He tried to reach out with the Force to sense anything about the ship waiting above them but all he got was anxiety from Qemar and Mey'lya that blurred with his own. From Master Saar he got nothing at all.
The boxy grey-walled hangar surrounded them. Hands shaking a little, Qemar nudged them over an open deck, extended struts and killed engines. Repulsors lowered them to landing space with a gentle jerk. Then everything was still.
All four Jedi remained in the cockpit, looking out the viewport at the hangar's sole entrance on the opposite wall. The blast doors didn't open. No one came to meet them.
It was Mey'lya who finally said, "None of this makes sense."
"Maybe they're just…. Trusting?" Qemar said.
"Get your weapons, Jedi. Everything you think you'll need," said Saar.
"Wait," said Jodram, "What about the other teams? Should we send a signal to Masters Qel and Saav'etu?"
"Yes. Give them our coordinates and tell them to come right away. Say we'll need their assistance."
That made Jodram feel only a little better. As he prepared to contact the other teams Saar led two knights back to Explorer's cargo room. By the time the Jodram sent the message and joined them they'd all gathered their lightsabers and strapped plasteel body armor over their tunics. Saar had dropped his brown robe in a pool on the chamber floor, and the other had Jedi followed suit. Once Jodram did the same, Qemar lowered the ramp and all four Jedi stepped out into the empty chamber.
"No welcoming party," Mey'lya whispered, stating the obvious. "What sense does that make? What kind of security-"
Without warning Saar's lightsaber ignited in his hand and stabbed out and back, taking Mey'lya through the sternum. Jodram and Qemar stared in shock; the Bothan's jaw went slack as she looked down at the pillar of light that had suddenly thrust through her heart.
Then Saar withdrew it and she collapsed dead on the deck.
"Master!" Qemar screamed. "What are you doing?"
He hefted the weapon again. Jodram grabbed the Nautolan and pulled her away but Saar didn't move for another attack. He swung the blade up vertically, cutting a molten scar through the hull. He swirled his saber with a two-handed grip, cutting further lines into Explorer, then pulled his saber out and, without even a gesture, send a pulse of Force energy that sent Qemar and Jodram both skidding out from under the ship.
"Master!" the Nautolan shouted again. "How can-"
"Get up!" Jodram shouted and tugged her to her feet. He grabbed his lightsaber and turned it on. So did Qemar but Saar didn't seem to be paying attention to either of them. He swung his saber once more, a two-handed horizontal chop, and cut straight though the port-forward landing strut. He danced out from under Explorer as it tipped and toppled. Its cockpit nose scraped and crunched as it smashed onto the deck.
Jodram pulled Qemar another step back but again the Master wasn't concerned with them. With agility that seemed impossibly for his age he threw himself into the air and landed atop the slanted roof of the cockpit. He bent down over the viewport and placed one palm close over its transparisteel surface. A second later the viewport shattered as though he'd punched it with a massive duracrete fist. Still bent low he swiped down with his lightsaber, cutting through the consoles and sending out a rain of sparks.
"No escape!" Saar shouted. "Not for impostors!"
Finally he leaped away from the cockpit and landed nimbly on his feet in the middle of the chamber. Jodram and Qemar stood ten meters away, sabers ignited, confused and terrified but determined to defend themselves even though they knew they'd never muster the power to beat the old Chev, not even if they worked together.
They stared at Saar and he stared back; then he lowered his saber just a little and cried, "She's waiting! For all of us!"
And then he turned and sprinted for the exit. Jodram and Qemar didn't even try to follow him. They only watched him go.
When the door closed behind him Qemar said, "What the hells was that? He killed Kath, he-"
"No time." Jodram squeezed her arm. "We need to get back to the ship."
"But he-"
"There's an auxiliary comm system in the back he didn't smash. We have to warn the others. Now."
-{}-
When they received the message from Master Saar's team they immediately set course for the coordinates embedded in the message. Allana didn't know what to think of the summary Jodram had sent. The fact that they'd simply set down aboard the Erath flagship without so much as a hail or a warning made no sense whatsoever.
The next message came not long after, and this one was a direct comm link to Ossus Explorer. When the voice came on, she almost didn't recognize it as Jodram's for the blur of static and the panic in his voice.
"-something wrong," he saw saying. "Master Saar- I don't know what happened."
"Speak slowly, Knight Tainer," Rovurn Qel told him. "Please, what happened to Master Saar?"
"He killed Kath Mey'lya! He disabled the shuttle and the ran-"
"Jodram, wait!" Allana said. "Do you say he killed her?"
"Yes! I don't understand, but he-" Static burst, muting his voice, then died again. "We can't fly out. We're stuck here. He disabled the ship."
"Where is Master Saar now?" asked Qel.
"He ran off! He said… He said we were impostors and left! He said someone was waiting for him, for all of us!"
"Impostors?" Allana felt a shiver run through her body. "He called you impostors and turned on you?"
"Did he say who was waiting for us?" Qel asked.
"He just said she was waiting. I don't know what that means."
"I think I do," Allana said. She couldn't believe it. It was a childhood nightmare manifested without warning. "Did you comm Master Saav'etu?"
"Not yet. I-"
"Don't," Allana said and felt the other three Jedi staring questions at her. "We'll see if we can get close and pick you up. Just hold position and defend yourselves if you can."
"Allana, do you know what's going on?"
"Not for sure. Just hold where you are, please. And good luck."
She shut off the comlink and another shudder ran through her; a feeling she'd never talk to Jodram Tainer again.
"What is going on?" asked Valiss. "How could Master Saar do that?"
Allana looked at Master Qel. "I hope to everything I'm wrong, but I think I know. It's awful, but everything makes sense."
His face stayed hard, rough, but she saw realization spark in his eyes. "Tell me."
"I saw this happen with my own eyes, back when I was a child. It's been almost fifty years and I never thought it would happen again."
"What would happen again?" pressed Valiss.
"It happened to Saar when he was younger. That must be why it's happening now. And Master Saav'etu. That's why we have to comm her and tell her to stay clear at all costs. Then we need to hail Arlen Fel and tell him exactly what we've found and where it is."
Rollra growled her confusion and begged for a clear answer.
Allana could barely say the name. "Abeloth. After fifty years she's back. Master Saar, the raids, what happened on Karn'erath. The king and queen. She's the cause of everything."
Valiss gasped. Rollra was so stunned she made no sound. Master Qel held Allana's gaze and slowly, grimly nodded. The old Weequay had also been alive then and he'd seen it all: the madness that overtook young Jedi who'd been sheltered in the Maw during the Yuuzhan Vong War, near the ancient prison where the Celestial races had imprisoned the deathless Force-empowered monstrosity called Abeloth. She'd called to the younglings, drawn them to her, and for the few unlucky enough to find her she'd sucked their souls away and embedded her hideous mind inside the husks of their bodies. Fifty years ago she'd nearly seized dominion over the galaxy and toppled the Jedi Order.
Now she was back again, at the heart of a storm.
-{}-
When Jodram crawled out of the auxiliary maintenance station into the slanted deck of the shuttle's main hold the first thing he heard were clamping feet. He crept up on Qemar from behind as she clung to the doorframe of the smashed-open cockpit. Over her shoulder he could see a group of alien soldiers, all in black armor and faceless masks, marching through the doors into which Master Saar had fled.
"Did you make contact?" Qemar whispered as they watched more soldiers fill the hangar.
Jodram had to find his voice. "Master Qel's on his way."
"We have blasters in the cargo hold, don't we? Something to defend ourselves with?"
Jodram had no idea how long they'd last against that much. He should have asked Allana how far away they were but he'd been afraid of the answer. "A couple rifles, I think."
"Then let's get them" Qemar said and turned away. It took effort to tear his eyes off the mounting enemy- there must have been fifty by now- but he followed and tried to keep from shaking.
-{}-
The Afsheen Makati and the bulk of the Fourth Fleet had fallen back to Ord Thoden while the Second staged in another system and portions of the Third kept Kalee under lockdown. Davek was in the middle of reviewing the last batch of readiness reports from Farl Renwar's division when his brother came literally sprinting into his office.
Without rising from his desk Davek asked, "What happened? What's wrong?"
Arlen bent over, sucked in a few deep breaths, and said, "We've found the Erath warship. A whole fleet's bulked there. We need to go now."
"We?" It took a moment to compute. "Are you saying the Jedi found them?"
"That's right."
Since Davek had refused to share confidential intelligence with the Order he and Arlen hadn't spoken of the issue at all. He wanted to ask how in the nine hell the Jedi had found the raider base but didn't matter, not now. "Do you have the system marked?"
"Yes. Allana's on the way right now."
He had no idea the former Alliance Chief of State had gone on those missions. It seemed like a dangerous place to put so important a person and he couldn't believe Lowbacca had allowed it. "Tell her to hold outside the system. I'll launch a recon flight right away and scout the area so we can get a battle plan."
"You don't get it. There's no time."
"What don't I get? Arlen, I can't just charge in there! I have millions of soldiers I have to take care of!"
"Then I'm going. We can't waste a minute."
He spun for the door. Davek jumped up from his desk and shouted, "Wait!"
It was enough to stop his older brother. Arlen turned around. Breathlessness and panic were gone; the only thing left was durasteel-strong intent. "I can't explain now but I'm taking all the Jedi and going. Get your fleet ready. Call in Admiral Grave too. We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Arlen-" he began, but this time his brother didn't stop. Arlen marked right out the door, striding so fast it was almost a run. Davek stared at the blank shut door, shocked and uncertain, more than anything angry at his brother for his flagrant disobedience and utter refusal to explain himself.
But then he was a Jedi. That was what Jedi did. It was why they bowed to no government- not the Alliance or Empire or anyone else.
That was the Jedi Order, he reminded himself. He pulled out his comlink and quickly hailed his wife. A second later Marasiah said, "Davek? What's wrong?"
"Arlen's going to be down there in a minute. The Jedi have found the Erath flagship and a chunk of the enemy fleet. He's going there. Now."
"Now? Davek, what are we doing?"
We. The two of them- husband and wife- and the entire fleet. Marasiah was a Jedi Knight but she'd been Imperial military first.
He wanted to tell her to keep as many Jedi as she could aboard the Makati. Then he realized that wherever Arlen was going and whatever mad thing he was about to do he'd be safer with more Jedi at his side.
"Go with my brother. Take every Jedi you can and keep him safe. And make sure the Makati has a homing lock on your location. Give us a live feed from your fighter so we know what we're getting into when we come in behind you."
"Are you taking the Fourth?"
There could only be one answer. "Yes, and I'll invite the Second and the Chiss too, but we won't get there before Arlen does. Stay with him, protect him-"
"I'll do it," she said, "As long as you're right behind me."
"You can count on it." Against everything, Davek smiled. "May the Force be with you."
"You too, Davek," she said, and the link shut off.
Davek stood in the middle of his office, deceptively quiet. Scrambling a massive fleet on short notice was effectively impossible. Too many ships were still in drydock, undergoing repairs or systems checks, undermanned for a dozen different reasons. If he was going to chase after his brother he'd have to figure things out as quickly as possible.
He went over to his comm console to patch a call to his aunt and prayed the Force really would be with them. They'd need all the help they could get.
